Author's Note: Hello, all. =D Welcome back to another chapter of ROTC. ^u^ This chapter's more of a filler, but I still tried to place some significance in it (again, focusing on the good ol' character development =D).

I hope you all enjoy this nonetheless. =)


- Chapter Five -

Substitutes

The Guardian were all equipped with each of their own assistants. North had his yetis and elves (though they, arguably, didn't do much). Tooth had her mini fairies, who worked just as hard as she did when it came to collecting the teeth. Bunny had his eggs and sentinels—both of whom were deeply connected to Pooka and their holiday. And lastly, Sandy had his dreamsand. By itself, it wasn't a helper, but he could shape it into whatever he wanted whenever he needed it.

At first, Jack wasn't sure how he was going to make this work. The yetis could easily cover for North and the fairies for Tooth. But who was going to tell the eggs to get themselves painted? And who would be willing to deliver Sandy's sand for a couple of nights?

Well, there are the elves… Jack thought. After a moment, he shook his head. No. They're far too noisy to carry out Sandy's job.

Jack found himself in the Globe Room where Tooth's mini fairies were still lingering. Baby Tooth was amongst them. Most of the fairies seemed to be in a panic, and the yellow-feathered fairy was trying to keep everyone calm. Upon spotting Jack, Baby Tooth immediately fluttered up to him, squeaking so quickly the winter spirit couldn't make out a word.

"Whoa, Baby Tooth!" Jack exclaimed. "Slow down! I can't understand you when you talk like that."

Baby Tooth blinked slowly, and Jack realized the mistake in his statement.

"Well…I guess I can't understand you either way," he said. "What's going on?"

From what he could gather, the fairies were in a rush to collect teeth. They had been completely swamped at the palace lately. Things weren't running as smoothly without Tooth around.

Jack winced. "Yeah…about that…The Guardians are in a bit of a predicament."

Baby Tooth raised a 'brow' as if to say "What do you mean, 'predicament?'"

Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know how it happened, but the Guardians…ah…they got turned into kids."

Baby Tooth squeaked, and the fairies hovering behind her perked at her alarmed shout. Jack held a finger to his lips.

"Shhh! We don't want the others to freak out!" he whispered. Baby Tooth twittered and her feathers twitched.

"It's a lot to take in, I know," said Jack. "Until I can turn these guys back, I need you guys to hold down the fort. Can you do that for me?"

Baby Tooth glanced at the fairies behind her, then back at Jack. She chirped worriedly.

"I know it's a lot, but it won't be for long if all goes well," Jack reassured. His eyes grew sincere. "Please, Baby Tooth. We're counting on you."

Baby Tooth appeared to reconsider. After a few moments of thought, the little fairy looked at Jack and nodded.

Jack grinned. "Perfect." Before Baby Tooth flew off, another idea popped into Jack's head. "Hey, and while you're all at it…could you deliver Sandy's dreamsand too? I can ask him to send some over to the palace."

Since Tooth's fairies traveled all over, they would easily be able to sprinkle dreamsand over the children they visited. Jack smiled.

"Nice. Now we'll kill two birds with one stone," he said.

The fairies nearby froze and looked at the winter spirit, eyes wide with pure fear. Jack paled.

"Oh…OH! No, no! I didn't mean it like—!"

But the mini fairies had already zipped off, their screams echoing down the hallway. Jack facepalmed and sighed.

"…Make sure they stay on task, will ya?" he told Baby Tooth, the only one who hadn't flown off at Jack's statement.

The mini fairy smirked and gave the winter spirit a salute. Jack cracked a smile.

"Thanks, Baby Tooth. I owe you one…again."

Next to find a substitute for was North. That wasn't difficult at all. After wandering the Workshop and asking around, Jack finally found Phil in the mail room. He was separated new letters from old amongst three carts.

"Phil!" Jack called. Startled, the yeti looked up, spotting Jack running his way. The winter spirit stopped in front of him.

"Jagah!" Phil exclaimed, looking the winter spirit over. He was breathing heavily, and his cheeks were flushed a bright blue. He had been looking all over Santoff Claussen for this yeti.

"Finally…hahhhhh…found you…!" Jack wheezed. Using his staff as a crutch, Jack pulled himself up and let out a breath. "I know you're busy, but I need a—OUCH!"

Phil had flicked Jack's forehead with his hand. The winter spirit pressed his cool fingers against the stinging spot and glared at the yet. "What was that for?!"

Phil scowled. "Aflubla hulafu wa!" which translated to "You're so late!"

Jack rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, yeah, I know…" (the winter spirit had been taking yetish lessons from North and Phil in his spare time) "But we have a bigger problem than my incessant tardiness."

Phil raised an eyebrow at "incessant tardiness," but Jack explained the situation to Phil regardless. He was quite shocked.

"Bwah?!"

Rephrase: he was completely confounded.

Jack nodded. "Yep…And since they're not capable of doing much at the moment, I was wondering if you could take over for North for the time being. And maybe send some yetis to Bunny's Warren to help the eggs. That should keep things moving there for a while."

Phil was already swamped enough as he was, but with the current situation, he didn't have any other choice. He was loyal to North and the Guardians. As much as he disagreed with Jack and his actions, he was one of them too. So he might as well help them.

"Ariwah. Yasdlfkaj buhagi wahlr," Phil answered. (And if you find your yetish rusty: Alright. And if you need help with the Guardians, I'm here).

Jack chuckled. "Thanks, Phil. But I think can take care of them."

Phil's eyes narrowed. "Alajkfaasf awnyeh. Awagh nauy chilaga rihglu baragh." ("Don't be so confident. Children can be a handful").

Jack frowned. "They may be children, but they're still the Guardians." His expression quickly shifted to a smile. "They're the most mature people I know! Apart from me, of course."

Phil deadpanned. Jack laughed nervously.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he said. The winter spirit fingered his staff. "I'm not sure how long this youth…whatever it is has affected their minds. They're acting well-behaved…ish. But they aren't completely behaving like six-year-olds either."

With that being said…the longer they're under this thing, the younger they might become… Jack thought. Isn't that what always happens in the movies? The Guardian of Fun chastised himself. Dang it, Jack…be realistic here!

Phil seemed to notice Jack's worries, but the winter spirit was already getting ready to leave before he could say anything significant.

"Anyway, I'll let you and the others get to work," said Jack. "The Guardians and I will be in the library if you're looking for us."

Jack was about to head off when Phil grabbed his shoulder. Jack turned around, confused.

"Huh? Do you need something?" he inquired.

Phil wanted to say more, but he knew Jack wouldn't stay to listen. Instead, he said three simple words that hit him harder than they should have.

"Tagalu furyu, Jagah." ("Take care of yourself, Jack")

Jack paused and cracked a smile, but his blue eyes reflected a different emotion.

"I always do," he quipped.

Then like the wind, he was gone.


Author's Note: "I've never seen ahhhh such a liarrrr~" XD

But on a more serious note; Jack seems to be the kind of person to pretend that everything (including himself) is fine even when it's not. ='D I'm one of those people, so incorporating that habit into him wasn't so hard (my guy is so relatable QwQ). This is only going to cause more problems for him later. ='3

And if it wasn't obvious, I had no idea how to incorporate Yetish translations into this story...but I'm not sweating too much over it, haha. XD I think what I have now is okay. =) I already use italics for when Sandy's speaking, so the parentheses were my next option. XDD

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all Friday for the next one. =D

Until the next chapter!

~BeyondTheMoon1203