Author's Note: Today, I was in charge along with another student to lead out NJHS/NHS induction ceremony. =D I was flipping nervous throughout the whole thing, and I panicked upon tripping up on someone's name, but over all, the ceremony went pretty well! =D Now we have a bunch of new members in the society. ^u^

Anyway, welcome back to yet another chapter of "The Winter Child," everyone! =D This chapter's short, but I still like it, so I hope you guys do too. ^u^


LXXV ~

Losing You, Part Five

Now was time for a plan of attack

So they could find a way to get Jack back

...

"We need to find Jack!" Tooth said after a moment of silence had passed. The realization that Pitch had kidnapped the snow sprite was being processed by everyone. And all of the Guardians were trying to formulate somewhat of a plan they could execute to save him. Tooth's feathers twitched anxiously, and her eyes shimmered with worried. "Who knows what Pitch is planning on doing to him?!"

Tooth, who was the motherly figure in the small group, deeply cared about Jack and would do anything to protect him. At the thought of Pitch harming the boy, Tooth's motherly instincts began to kick in. When she came face to face with the Boogeyman, Tooth promised to give him a personal introduction to her two swords.

"We will find him, shelia," Aster said, trying to calm Tooth down. "But we have no idea where to start, and we don't have much of a trail to follow."

"Shadows don't leave footprints," Sandy said, dreamland flickering over his head. "Only more shadows."

Tooth sighed, and crossed her arms. "Then what do we do? The longer Jack's with Pitch the higher the risk there is of him being hurt by him. Can't we just follow his scent?"

"There is no scent," said Aster, scuffing his foot against the ground. "No hints, on clues, nothing was left behind fer us ta follow." He balled his fists. "Pitch really outdid us this time."

It was then that the three noticed that North hadn't said anything since the conversation rekindled. Tooth, Sandy, and Aster turned to him, thinking that he was hurt over the loss of Jack. But instead, North appeared…sheepish? What an odd feeling to feel when someone's just been kidnapped.

"North? Is something wrong?" asked Tooth, fluttering over to the man. North looked up and he cleared his throat.

"Well, um, now that you mention it…There is one way we can find Jack," North said.

"How? We don't have anything to go off of," said Aster.

"But I do," North said. He sighed and pulled out a circular disk—a compass upon further inspection. But instead of pointing North, South, East, or West, the compass only had one direction. J.

"J? What's J?" asked Aster, confused.

Now North looked even more embarrassed. "After the incident with the Fearlings a few months ago, I put a tracking spell on Jack while he was sleeping. I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't get into any more trouble, so I made this compass that only points to where he is."

Aster, Tooth, and Sandy stared at North like three shocked cartoon characters.

"And does Jack, know yer stalking him?" Aster asked.

"Of course not!' North responded. "And it's not stalking! I'm just making myself aware of where he is at all times without him knowing."

"That's literally the definition of stalking!" Aster exclaimed.

"Well, I can't tell him that!'

"Then ya should've thought that before ya put that bloody spell on him!" Aster snapped.

"Boys, we don't have time for this!" Tooth cut in. She pointed at the compass in North's palm. "As shocked as I am, we can use this to find Jack! So we might as well put this tracking spell to good use!"

"This is not how I thought I'd spend my evening," Aster muttered. "But finding out North's a bloody stalker? Crikey."

"I'm not stalking!" North snapped.

Tooth sighed. Leave it to North and Aster to argue in any given situation.

North held up the compass, and the little arrow spun round and round until its point fixed where J was south.

"He's south," said Aster. "Or should I say 'Jouth.'"

North rolled his eyes. "South…that's really far from here. South from here cuts through Lunslruna Capitol, and straight from there is…"

The atmosphere around the Guardians darkened as the forbidden land's name rested on their tongues.

"Darksualth," they muttered.

"This just got a lot more serious," Aster said solemnly.

"We need to leave now," said North, putting the compass back in his pocket. "There is no telling what Pitch is doing with Jack over there, and any moment longer he spends in that cursed land, the more uncomfortable I feel."

"Then let's head back to the village and grab what we can," said Aster, already heading for Santoff Claussen.

"But what should we bring?" asked Tooth.

"Anything," Aster responded without looking back. "Anything capable of obliterating those bloody, dastardly Fearlings."

When the Guardians returned, they found Katherine still waiting at North's. She asked about what they had found, and the Guardians explained. The young woman was horrified to hear that her best friend was being held captive by Pitch. She asked if she could join them on their rescue mission, but the Guardians said no.

"It's too dangerous, mate," said Aster. Katherine faltered. "And ya have ta leave for the Capitol in two days."

"I know…" said Katheirne, dejectedly. "But I really want to help!"

"You can tell Ombric what we discovered," said Tooth. "He can send a message to the Tsar that we have a lead on where Pitch is hiding."

Katherine nodded, and she left swiftly after that. The Guardians gathered what they could for their journey south, and met up at the edge of the woods once again. North was just bringing up the sleigh when Aster stopped him.

"We can't take the sleigh. It's too slow and too conspicuous," said Aster.

"Then what do we take?" asked North. Aster sighed.

"Crikey, I hope this works," he muttered. Suddenly, the Pooka slammed his foot against the ground. A large tunnel opened up before the Guardians. North, Tooth, and Sandy stared, shocked.

Aster smirked. "I still have a couple of secrets ya don't know about."

North shook off his surprise. "I guess we are taking tunnels, then. Come on, let's not give Pitch another second to harm Jack."

And with that, the Guardians leaped into the hole. The tunnel silenced closed sealed shut behind them.


Author's Note: I foresee a battle in the Guardians' future. X)

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all in the next one!

Until the next chapter!

~BeyondTheMoon1203