Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Winter Child!" I don't have much to say other than this chapter is pretty short, but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless! =)


~ LVIII ~

A Little Bit of Fun

To help them out of their puddle of stress

Jack planned a battle

But not the kind you may guess

It involved snow, lots of snow

On a cool, not-so-winter's day

For a snowball fight is the best way

To chase fear away

...

The Guardians were worried. And Jack could tell. They tried to hide it, but he heard the conversations that they had in the study. New reports of Pitch attacking villages had risen again, and the entire Tsardom was in a panic. The Boogeyman acted swiftly, leaving not one building destroyed or undone. As for the poor victims, some managed to escape. Others…were less unfortunate.

And to be frank…Jack was frightened too. He hadn't forgotten about his experience with the Nightmare King when he was eight, and who wouldn't? Facing Fear itself in the face is something that you could never forget. Then there was the Fearling attack in the woods and the one before that where he and Sandy were out delivering dreams together. Pitch was slowly inflicting fear on the people. If he kept this up, Lunslruna would be left in a panic. Then Pitch could sweep through with his army, cloaking the Tsardom in eternal darkness.

Fearlings and Nightmares still roamed the nearby woods at night, but the Guardians and scouts kept an eye out for them all. The children were aware of the new threats, and they too were fearling just as wary. Jack tried not to let his own worries show, for the younger children's sake and his own. But he couldn't stand to see the Guardians in such a stressful state. They were doing so much already, and they pushed themselves to work harder to put an end to Pitch's threats.

Jack stood outside the closed study door, listening to the Guardians talk inside. They had been in there for about an hour now, and he knew that if he didn't do anything, they'd stay in there much longer. The snow sprite gripped his staff and he let out a breath. The Guardians had been working for weeks on end. It was about time that they had a break.

With a swift wave of his staff, Jack threw the door open. The Guardians stared at him, surprised, and the snow sprite put on a smile. "You guys have been cooped up inside, and the winter air is calling! Why don't we all head outside?"

"Because we have work to do, mate," said Aster with a small frown.

"Well work no longer, because we are going to have," Jack paused for dramatic effect. "A snowball fight!"

"That sounds fun, Jack, but we're in the middle of something right now," Tooth said, her feathers twitching. "Maybe later?"

"There's no time like the present," Jack said. He rubbed the back of his neck. "And, ah…everyone's already outside."

An exclamation point burst over Sandy's head and North's eyes widened. "You invited them?"

"The more the merrier!" Jack said. He waved his staff, and the Wind blew through the windows, shoving the Guardians out of the study. They yelped, and Jack followed nonchalantly from behind. They were out the door and into the open sunlight faster than one could shout "Jack!"

Sure enough, the entire village was there. The Guardians didn't know how Jack could've orchestrated this. The snow sprite looked at everyone and smiled. "Well, what are you all waiting for? This is a snowball fight!"

"But there isn't any snow!" cried Sascha.

Jack blinked. "Oh, right. I almost forgot about that."

Jack slammed his staff against the ground, and a burst of blue rolled around the area in waves. The air became chilly and large snowflakes began to fall. Children tried to catch the flakes on their tongues. Some flakes nipped at their noses. The Wind helped gather the snow into piles. In just a few moments, the ground was covered with heaps of snow, despite it being a summer's day Jack smirked.

"That's better," he said. He rolled a snowball of his own and threw it at an unsuspecting Aster. "SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

And that was when the village exploded into fun. The Guardians originally wanted to head back inside, but they quickly found themselves sucked into the heat of the battle. Forts were constructed and teams were made. Snowballs flew like cannonballs in the air. There were many hits, and everyone was soaking with snow during the high-peak of the fight. Children squealed and adults laughed with pleasure. Even the Guardians, who had been working for the past several days, finally allowed themselves to relax and simply just have fun.

Once the battle drew to a close, everyone thanked Jack for a wonderful fight. He hadn't done this just for the Guardians, but everyone in Santoff Claussen too. Everyone was worried about what was to come from Pitch, and he hoped that the fight helped ease their worries.

As the crowd dispersed, the Guardians came up to Jack. "Thank you for what you did, moy mal'chik. We were so lost in the work that we forgot how to have fun for a little while."

"Luckily, Jack's an expert in that department," Tooth jested.

Jack chuckled. "You're welcome. I'm glad you all are feeling better." He paused. "What are you guys going to do now?"

"I think we can tackle Guardian things another day," said Aster. He glared at Jack. "Besides, I still need revenge fer that snowball in the face ya gave me earlier."

Jack laughed, pleased to see that the Guardians were alright. And little did he know that this moment was just the beginning of his center.