Dance in the Circle

But please come, join, dance in the circle,
The voices will make your heart yearn-
To please come, join, dance in the circle,
But know that you'll never return-
-Dance in the Circle, Heather Alexander

watch?v=OROIBwwg3rw

Jack did a loop the loop in midair, laughing wildly – mostly at himself, if he were being honest, but he didn't care.

He hadn't expected that when he'd dragged Tooth out to play with him! If anything, it had felt less like playing and more like...well...more like a proper date.

Especially when Tooth had held his hand, and laid her head on his shoulder...maybe he was getting ahead of himself, thinking she might be interested in him for more than his teeth, but at the moment he didn't care. Besides, he could always hope, right?

And the more time he spent with Tooth, the more he did.

He slowed as music teased the edges of his hearing, just barely audible, breaking into his thoughts. Still revved up, he turned and started to follow it. Another dance sounded pretty good right now, if just to burn off some of this energy and spread a little of this Joy.

The closer he got to the music, the more...off, it sounded. Fun, playful, danceable...entrancing, bewitching, subtly wrong.

Jack came to a stop midair as he realized the last, confusion, surprise, and worry all warring for supremacy. Anything that used entrancement was major league bad news. He might have been strong enough to handle it by himself – if there was anything to handle – but...the others were getting on his case about calling for help and not going in alone anymore...

He flew a little closer and felt, with an almost physical touch, the music wrap around him, whispering promises he refused to listen to closely enough to make out, calling him closer to the clearing it seemed to be coming from.

Making a snap second decision, Jack dropped to the ground, far enough away he could still hear the music but wasn't feeling the pull anymore. Sandy could be anywhere, he'd kept Tooth away from her work for too long already today, and North was too far away. Only one more to try that he might be able to reach before whatever was making that music got what it wanted.

He gave the ground three quick taps with his staff, jumping out of the way as the hole opened at his feet.

Grinning, he leaned over the hole, debating how to send a message down it. He hadn't really thought it would open, despite Bunny claiming the tunnels would open for any of them now, if they knocked. Security risk, maybe, but better than leaving each other stranded.

Spotting an egg hovering near the entrance, he swooped down and caught it. He dug in his pocket, giving a little cheer when he found the marker. Holding the egg carefully, he scribbled Poss. trouble. Plz help? J. on the side.

Setting the egg back down, he chuckled as it kicked sulkily, obviously irritated at the black markings coating its shell. "Hurry and make sure Bunny gets the message, and I'll try to talk him into painting you all pretty, okay?"

It gave a happy little jump at that and scurried off down the tunnel as fast as its little legs could carry it. Jack gave a little jump to sit on the edge of the hole, dangling his legs inside it as he waited, keeping an ear to the music while trying not to let it enchant him.

He never would admit it, but he was more than a little relieved when he heard Bunny speeding toward him through the tunnel. He'd never heard anything like this music before, and he had a bad feeling about it.

Given his track record with new things, he felt rather justified in a little paranoia. Plus...someone actually responded when he called for help. That was new, and felt pretty good. Like he really was part of the team, more than all their reassurances had.

Bunny leapt out of the hole and immediately Jack took to the air, the hole closing quickly. They ignored it, Bunny looking up at Jack with a cocked ear, obvious in his curiosity despite his pretense at irritation.

"What's up, Frostbite?" he asked, sitting back on his haunches. "Some of us have work ta do, ya know." It lacked the bite it would once have had, and Jack bit back the first retort about how far away Easter was. Bunny had gardens to tend, flowers that would paint the eggs that needed babying yet ever since that disastrous Easter, chocolate supplies to restock, and he needed a lot of time to work on those before they'd be back to how they once were.

His ear flicked, and Jack knew he'd heard the music. "That music's what's up," Jack said. "Something about it I don't like. You guys keep getting on me for jumping in without backup, so..."

Bunny stood shock still for a few seconds, twisted toward the music, not even twitching so much as a whisker as he listened.

"Oh, that's bad news Frostbite," Bunny growled, crouching, claws digging into the ground. "Sounds like a fairy circle ta me."

"Meaning, Cottontail?" Jack asked, hopping on his staff and looking down, watching Bunny closely.

Bunny twisted to look up at Jack, keeping one ear cocked toward the music. "Meaning the Fae, Jack. Whether it's Seleighe or Unseleighe doesn't really matter with a circle, 'cept ta figure out if they're just dancin' or if they're tryin' ta draw humans to 'em. Even then, could still be either one, dependin' on what they want the humans for."

"It felt like entrapment magic to me," Jack muttered, glaring in the direction of the music.

"An' tha's breakin' the Treaty," Bunny growled, managing to imply the capital letter.

"Treaty?"

Bunny shook his head, growling. "Someone shoulda told ya about it. Seems there's a lot 'a things ya shoulda been told and no one did." He sighed, looking up at Jack again. "Sorry again, Jackie. Tell ya about the Treaty afta we get back to the Pole. We gotta take care o' this first."

"How?" Jack asked, taking to the air to follow as Bunny crept into the undergrowth, going from branch to branch and following the faint sound of cursing as Bunny fought through the brush.

Grunting, Bunny came out of the underbrush to stand next to the tree Jack perched in. The music was louder here, the entrancement strong enough Jack was consciously having to block out the music. "The music botherin' ya, Snowflake?" Bunny called up as Jack shook his head, grimacing.

About to shrug it off and claim he was fine, Jack huffed, glad for once Baby Tooth wasn't with him. He wasn't sure how it'd affect her, and he wasn't sure he could look himself in the face again if he lost her to the Fae, let alone look Tooth in the eyes. "A bit. I can ignore it, but it keeps trying to pull me in."

Bunny's ears flattened at that, claws digging into the tree. "I take it that's bad?" Jack guessed lightly, gripping his staff close. Bunny panicking was high on his list of 'things to freak over'.

"It's not supposed ta affect spirits, unless they're aimin' fer a specific group tha spirit falls in – or aimin' for spirits in general. An' since I don't feel it..."

"Think they're aiming for kids?" Jack asked, deliberately controlling his frost when it tried to coat the tree. Save it for the fairies, Jack. "And that's why I can feel it but it's not pulling me in?"

"Just young enough to hear the entrancin', old enough for it not ta' work," Bunny agreed.

"So how do we stop them?" Jack asked again. He didn't deal with the Fae, just ran the other way if he saw any. He was powerful, sure, but there was something about them that made him just want to iget away/i.

He didn't trust them, not one inch. Maybe it was the glamour, or the trickery, but there was just something about the ones he'd met that made his skin crawl – and he'd faced down Wendigo, General Winter, and Pitch freaking Black.

"Depends on if they've got anybody," Bunny answered. "If they haven't, we try an' drive 'em off, back Underhill. If they have, we gotta distract 'em to break the entrancement an' get the humans away first."

"Got it," Jack grinned, Bunny meeting it with one of his own. iNo one/i was gonna mess with kids on their watch, Fae or not.

They inched their way through the forest, long practice and extra caution keeping them silent. The music was coming from deep in the woods, where a human was unlikely to stumble upon it.

Bunny came to an abrupt halt, hissing quietly, and Jack landed lightly above his head. Any smart comments he might have made about the noises Bunny was making were forgotten when he got a good look inside the small clearing.

It was an improvised fairy circle at best, but it was holding, glowing faintly to spirit eyes. Two fae, elves by the look of it, the old, deadly, eerily beautiful kind, danced inside the circle, two more sitting at the side of the circle playing harp and flute.

Dancing along with the fae were a group of six children, two of whom knew what was happening, if the tears running down their faces and stumbling feet were anything to go by. The other four were blank faced, their faces fixed in smiles as they tripped through the dance, their eyes empty of emotion.

Jack bit back a hiss of his own, glaring at the circle. His first instinct was to leap out and freeze the fae where they sat or danced, but that might not free the kids, knowing the fae.

"So, plan?" he demanded. Bunny's ear flicked, the only sign he'd heard Jack as he stared at the group.

"Only way they're gonna let those kids go is if they find a better prize," he finally growled. "We gotta get them to focus that magic on somethin' else, or it ain't gonna let the kids go. That or find a way to break the spell."

"Right. Better prize." Jack glared out over the clearing again, cocking his head to listen closer to the music. It still pulled at him, but although the pull was stronger here, wrapped around him with a magical touch that almost felt slimy, made him want to scrub himself down, he felt no urge to answer its call. "Get the kids away as soon as you can, Cottontail."

"Jack, wait! What're you..." Bunny cut off with a curse as Jack stepped into the clearing, taking the few steps needed to bring him into the fae's sight.

A/N: This was going to be a one chapter shot. Guess what grew on me. Oops...Jack what are you thinking?