AN: Thank you to everyone who has continued to support me. I have noticed a few frequent reviewers and I must say that I greatly appreciate it and I hope you continue to enjoy. The reviewer who left a suggestion about Jack freaking out about something common place, I like the idea. I put that in a little bit with the medication, but I have a thought on how to further it. Once again, I do not own Rise of the Guardians.
The days passed, and Jack's injuries healed. He was allowed to go off and bring snow to the areas of the world that needed it. However, he still wasn't allowed to talk. As the winter spirit flew over somewhere in central Canada, his mind was elsewhere. His own silence was getting to him, as much as he hated to admit it. Just five days left until he was allowed to speak. He couldn't help but feel a sharp stab of pity for Sandy. The Guardians never paid attention to his attempts to communicate.
Not that the Guardians were listening to Jack himself now. He had kind of been avoiding them for the past couple days. Every time he had seen them before that, it had ended with him storming off, frost trailing in angry patterns behind him. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Everything just set him off recently. Especially Bunny, that stupid anthropomorphic rabbit who never understood him.
Woah there Jack, he told himself. The Easter kangaroo hadn't done anything to him … recently.
Suddenly, Jack's flight was halted, bringing him crashing to the ground as something latched around his ankle. He hit the ground hard, breath knocked out of him although he clutched his staff for dear life. His recently healed ribs twinged painfully.
The spirit looked around, taking in his surroundings. Through his fringe of white hair, he noticed that he was in a tight clearing, lightly dusted with sparkling snow. However, it was the three figures looming over him that were cause for concern.
Jack bolted to his feet, staff clasped firmly between his hands. Moments later, he recognized the figures, but that did nothing to ease the knot of panic which had tangled itself in his stomach.
"Jack Frost,"' a rustling voice mused. It sounded like dry leaves being scraped across pavement. The body wasn't much better as it was decorated with moldy leaves and half dead plants.
The frost child's ice blue eyes glared coldly back at the fall spirit. They slowly drifted over to the shadow on the right. She looked like she was in her late 20s, dress made out of mud. But it wasn't the wet, moldable kind, but a hard-packed, dry and cracked light brown that looked like it had spent too long under the sun. Finally, Jack turned his eyes to the third figure, a short, squat man with eyes a viscous mixture of browns and greens. His clothes were woven of broken twigs, half formed flowers, eggshells and feathers.
The gruesome threesome, as Jack liked to call them. They were Mother Nature's diplomacy team, although the diplomacy they liked to dish out was served with a side of knuckle sandwich. Each spirit represented a season, except winter of course.
"You have been neglecting your duties," the summer spirit declared, voice as cracked and dry as her dress. "For the past week, winter was supposed to start and you were nowhere to be found. Leaves grew mold, animals collected too many nuts and seeds and weather patterns ran rampant around the globe, causing destruction."
Before either of the others from the diplomacy crack team could chime in, Jack tried to explain himself. He quickly formed a frost shape, starting his explanation. Without warning, his arms were grabbed and pulled behind his back, staff clattering to the ground. A fist punched him full in the face, causing Jack to lash out.
Frost bloomed across his arms, burning the fall spirit holding him. A well placed kick allowed Jack to spin away completely, scooping up his staff on the way. It was really hard to communicate without talking.
"You insolent, selfish brat," the spring spirit screamed. "You don't care about your duties and now you attacked us, you will pay."
Jack backed up a few steps, shaking his head vigorously. His heart beat wildly in his chest and his eyes darted around the clearing, looking for an escape. He felt his breaths come quicker, threatening to send him reeling into a full scale panic attack. He really didn't have time for that right now.
He tried one last to time to explain himself, this time opting to try and spell the words. However, as soon as the other spirits saw the frost, their eyes narrowed. Jack ducked Fall's punch, twisting away from Summer. Without a second thought, he took to the air, doing something he had never done before: he fled the gruesome threesome's justice.
The quick flight to the Pole was more wobbly than ever as Jack fought for breath. He mentally cursed his own weakness but that didn't stop his body from betraying him. As he burst through the window of his bedroom, the frost child was hyperventilating.
The lack of air made him dizzy and he bumped loudly into the wardrobe, his staff being knocked out of his hands. This forced Jack to the ground and his legs collapsed beneath him. He rested his cool forehead against his knees, trying to breathe through the swooping feeling in his heart and stomach. What was wrong with him?
Seconds later, the door burst open, spewing forth North and Bunny who immediately whipped their heads around, looking for danger.
"Jack, what happened," North asked, slowly advancing towards the boy who was still curled up, forehead against knees. His blue hood was drawn over his head, hiding his face from view. At the lack of response, he came closer, asking again.
Jack curled into himself even more, wishing they would leave him alone. Without his staff in his hands, he couldn't form frost images. His current condition made it impossible for him to even think about getting up to find it. The winter spirit continued to fight for breath, trying to drone out North's soothing tone and constant questions.
Bunny, eyes sharp, noticed a brown stick of wood, halfway across the room. His heart skipped a beat as he went to pick it up, wondering what had made Jack drop it. As soon as the crook was in his hand, he flipped it over, looking for damage. It was still whole and frosty.
Jack jumped when he felt something touching his arm. Taking a moment to collect himself, he realized that he recognized the feel of the wood: his staff. Without looking up, he grabbed the stick, cradling it to his chest before using it to push himself into a standing position. He needed to get out of here. It was too confined and he didn't like the looks the other two were shooting him. Before North or Bunny could react, he launched himself out the window, hearing the Russian call out his name.
However, it was Bunny's scream that gave Jack pause. "Frostbite, if you fly away from here, you will be in so much trouble." Making a quick decision, Jack landed lightly on the roof before curling on himself again and trying to gain mastery over his breathing. The fluttering in his chest and heart hadn't abated. He barely even noticed himself shaking, although not from cold.
It was only about five minutes later that Sandy flew up, settling easily beside Jack. He touched the teen's arm, ignoring the twitch and waiting for him to look up. The normally twinkling blue eyes were dull and panic-stricken. The dream maker quickly signed to the winter spirit, forming a figure breathing in and out slowly. Jack tried to emulate the behaviour, taking deep, shaky breaths.
From the deep recesses of his hood, the frost teen gazed out at Sandy, quietly thanking him with his eyes. In response, the Guardian of Dreams scooted right next to Jack, short arms wrapping around his thin body and holding him while his shaking abated. Sandy then pushed the blue hood down, taking a look at Jack's shiner.
He flashed a question mark and waited as Jack gathered his thoughts to respond. Through frost images and words, he managed to tell the story, looking away as he finished. A golden finger reached out to tug Jack's chin towards the Sandman. He spelled out his message, just so it got across. You are not a coward.
Jack's eyes flicked away quickly, but not before Sandy saw the trace of uncertainty they held.
You ready, the Sandman asked. In response to Jack's confused look, the golden man gestured downwards, to the open window of the Pole. The winter spirit shrugged but allowed himself to be pulled towards the window. With his free hand, he tugged his hood back up. Sandy saw out of the corner of his eye, but decided to let it slide.
Just before they entered the Globe room where the other Guardians were gathered, Jack paused and took a breath. This was not going to be fun. Sandy gestured over his shoulder for Jack to come.
As soon as they walked in the door, Jack was attacked by a green blur, slender arms wrapping around his body. "I was so worried about you. Are you okay? What happened? Is-" Tooth was cut off mid rant as Sandy held out a golden stop sign, halting the other Guardians as well. The dream maker hit Jack lightly on the shoulder and gestured, making a shooing motion. He needed to just get on with it.
Jack took a deep breath again, hoping the other Guardians didn't notice that he was still shaking slightly. With his staff slightly raised, he began to explain what happened, frost shapes spiraling out into the air. North translated out loud as he was the one who most understood the language of symbols, most of which Jack had adopted from Sandy.
"You vere flying and … making snow, vhen … three," North shot him a confused look. Jack sighed and spelled out the word. "Three spirits, wanted to talk vith you."
"Who were they Jack," Tooth burst in.
He decided to spell out the next part, not remembering enough symbols to communicate otherwise. Mother Nature's diplomacy team.
Bunny nodded his understanding, he knew who they were and the memories were not altogether pleasant. "But why did they want to talk with you, mate?"
North went back to translating, "Jumping ahead of yourself kangaroo." He stifled a laugh at how Jack still managed to find a way to insult Bunny, then continued, "When I vas … away … and healing, I vasn't doing my duty as winter spirit. Winter came late and they vere not happy. I tried to explain but they thought my frost vas an attack." No more symbols appeared and silence stretched between them. Unexpectedly, it was Bunny who walked forwards and put a hand on Jack shoulder. Before the winter spirit could react, a furry paw yanked down his hood, revealing the bruise around his eye.
"Gave you a nice shiner there, did they?" Jack looked away, not meeting the green eyes. "Did they do anything else? They aren't known for stopping with just a black eye." The teen shook his head, showing a frosty image of him flying away.
"You flew away mate," Bunny half asked, noticing Jack's responding nod. His eyes were still examining the floor, despair written across his features. Bunny lightly lifted Jack's chin with a furry finger until blue eyes were looking at green ones. "I'll go tell Mother Nature what happened so they won't come after you again."
Jack shook his head vehemently, eyes going wide with fear. That was just going to make everything worse. Plus what if the spirits who attacked him heard? He tried to pull away from Bunny, but a strong arm restrained him, trapping him. Fighting down the irrational flicker of panic, Jack took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes closed for a moment. A light hand touched his other arm and the furry paw was removed. Jack flicked his eyes open to see Sandy glaring at Bunny and then turning his golden eyes towards Jack.
Explain, don't fly away, Sandy told him, fixing the frost child with a stern gaze. Jack glared back before relenting with a slight slump of the shoulders. How had Sandy known he was thinking of flying away?
Jack motioned for everyone to sit down, walking over to a chair himself. Instead of sitting on the seat, he perched himself on the arm, staff resting across his knees. He briefly thought about flying away before they were settled since no one would catch him, but dismissed the idea quickly.
Jack gazed at Bunny, beginning his explanation. He decided it would just be easier to illustrate the message. He formed the frost figure of Mother Nature, then a Bunny going to meet her. Although there was no sound, it was clear that the two were talking. The little Mother Nature nodded and the rabbit disappeared. Three figures were formed and Mother Nature seemed to talk to them and then vanished into snow. More and more figures were created and they all seemed to be talking to each other.
"You don't vant this to spread?" North half asked. Jack nodded, allowing the frost spirits to explode into snow.
Bunny looked thoughtful. "It's more than that," he mused. The frost teen shot him a look but the rabbit continued. "There is someone in particular you don't want to know that you had someone stand up for you." Jack's eyes grew wide but Bunny forged ahead. "The person who attacked you is an elemental."
The older four Guardians shared a look. However, Jack's heart started beating wildly. He hadn't even said anything. How had Bunny figured it out? This was not going to be good, the Guardians couldn't get involved. They'd just get hurt and he couldn't let that happen.
As Jack was bending his knees to spring from his position, a furry hand wrapped itself around his wrist. "Oh no you don't mate." Bunny turned to Sandy, not relaxing his grip. "No stopping me this time Sandy." Jack waited for the pressure of Bunny's hand to lift, but it stayed firmly in place. Damn, the kangaroo wasn't going to let him fly away.
"Now, I just hit the nail on the head, didn't I Frostbite?" the rabbit questioned. Jack shrugged his shoulders, eyebrows scrunching together. He put on his best confused look, only hoping that Bunny would believe him. "None of that mate, ya ain't fooling me."
Tooth zipped over, hovering just behind Bunny. "You can tell us, Frosty."
Jack shook his head, tears threatening to well up in his eyes. His hand was still trapped by the Guardian of Hope and he couldn't get away. He could easily freeze the Easter Bunny's hand and fly off, but he didn't want to hurt him.
"Even you aren't this stubborn for no reason, Frostbite. Just tell us why you can't tell us," Bunny almost pleaded, lowering himself to be on level with Jack and look right in his eyes. Looking around, all the Guardians were being supportive, eyes urging him to go forward.
Without really thinking about it, he wrote out a response, spelling out the letters in frost. They'd hurt you.
"They?!" North yelled, causing Jack to lose his concentration and the frost to disappear. The winter teen bit his lip, internally cursing himself. How had he been so stupid? The furry paw wrapped tighter around his wrist, thwarting his silent plan to just freeze Bunny and fly away.
"You never said it was more than one person, Frostbite."
You never asked. Jack barely noticed their guilty faces. What did they have to be guilty about?
"So, one of them is an elemental," Bunny pondered out loud. Jack shot him a threatening look, air temperature dropping significantly. Unperturbed, the rabbit kept talking, "It could be spring, summer or fall because of the burns." The wind shrieked against the windows, blowing one open with a bang. It swirled through the room, blowing papers around and knocking down elves. "Who else do you have as an enemy who would want to hurt you that badly? You know I'm not going to give up until I find out, no matter how stubborn you are." The wind wrapped itself around Jack, buffeting Bunny threateningly.
The winter spirit started to hover slightly, although he didn't really notice it. Unfortunately, the paw remained where it was on his wrist. Bunny felt cold build up beneath is paw and he wondered briefly if he should let go. Instead of a cold burst jolting through Bunny, Jack twisted his wrist around, effectively causing Bunny to let go. The cold crack released a second later, glowing blue and echoing throughout the room.
Silence fell as the wind stopped howling. The Guardians expected Jack to be nowhere to be seen. Instead, he was sitting on his knees on the floor, gazing sadly at the ice bubble around him.
"Vhat just happened?" North asked. Bunny shook his head mutely, mouth open and gaping. It was actually Tooth who came up with the answer.
"Remember when we fought Pitch and Jack's magic lit up?" North and Bunny nodded while Sandy just looked on in confusion. The sound of ice shattering and tinkling down to the ground interrupted their conversation. Without looking up, Jack formed the symbol for 'sorry' out of frost. Just as in American Sign Language, it was a fist, moving in a circle near his heart.
"For what?" Bunny asked, confused as ever.
I almost hurt you. Jack spelled out. He formed another sorry and then flew off, quick as lightening.
"I'll never understand that kid," Bunny announced, letting out a sigh.
"Vhy?" North asked, slightly shaken by everything they had just learned.
"He has that much power at his disposal and won't use it on people who attack him like Mother Nature's diplomacy team."
"Maybe he's not used to being in fights," Tooth supplied hopefully.
"You honestly don't know, do ya, sheila?" In response to Tooth's confused look Bunny glanced at Sandy, who he saw had a look of understanding in his eyes.
Sandy formed a snowflake and several other figures who all turned on the snowflake, covering it. He then showed a multiplication sign and an infinity.
"Spirits attack him? A lot?" North questioned. Sandy nodded sadly.
"Attacked," Bunny corrected. "I only found out from a spirit after Jack had become a Guardian." Sandy nodded again, him too.
"So why didn't he use his power?" Tooth asked, gazing around at the others. They all shrugged, at a loss for words.
AN: Dun, dun, dun. I will be accepting guesses on who people think the attackers are (I know I already pretty much stated one was an elemental, but can you guess what season). If you PM me and you get any right, I will tell you. However, if you state it on a review, I will answer through the story when I get there. Don't worry, the big reveal is coming.