I LIVE!
Hi everyone! I have returned my unfortunate absence with a new story that is still in the works!
I am a huge fan of Early American history and I wanted to share it with you all. This is set in Jack's time as a human, and an older Jamie is along for the ride. I haven't got a main theme yet, but it generally circles around Jamie and Jack's relationship as friends and their growth in a time where such a thing was repressed.
(Currently the title is in the works, so it might change over time.)
Now, I'm just posting for funsies, so an obligation to read this fanfic is completely optional. All I want is to share this with you FOR FUN. You do not have to read this. But if you do, please let me know of any errors in my spelling, and constructive criticism is appreciated.
Updates will be sporadic, as I am refurbishing this story to make some more sense in the future. Please note my unique writing style as I am still learning about professional and creative writing.
Thank you for reading this little blurb and I hope you all have a wonderful day/night!
Chapter I.
Jamie Bennett's eyes snap open and the young man takes in a gasping heave. He wheezes for breath, lungs constricting painfully as he abruptly regains consciousness.
The first thing he saw were trees; lots and lots of trees. The soft glow of sunset eased the strain in his blurry eyes, settling a gentle orange tint to his unknown surroundings.
Slowly he sits up, taking in his possible injuries and bearings. Surmising he was fine after a quick check—albeit a bit sore and possibly bruised—he inspects his ruffled clothes: a plain gray hoodie paired with faded jeans. Balancing his weight on his outdoor shoes, Jamie carefully searches for anything recognizable.
Trees, trees… and more trees. Ready for autumn, though, being shades of yellow, red and orange now. Sunlight filtered through their leaves, making them appear as if they were glowing. But admiring nature wasn't his priority right now; it was trying to figure out—
His musing is interrupted when he hears a soft groan from a few feet away. Quickly he stands, turning to see a prone figure he had somehow overlooked. Approaching, Jamie notes the figure appeared splayed out on the forest floor, looking perfectly at ease with the rotting colors.
His face though, was very familiar… Masculine, tall, (but not as tall as him, ha!) and thin as a stick.
Jamie's eyes widen. "Jack?"
It very much was Jack, despite the vast differences his friend now sported. The shape of his jaw and furrow of his thick brows gave away his identity (including the nest of hair that always looked perfectly windswept). Dark eyelashes suddenly flutter open to reveal stunning golden-brown irises, gleaming almost gold in the low sunset.
"Jamie?" Said Jack, with his deep voice.
The young man smacks his lips, blinking blearily at Jamie. Jamie, silenced by shock, helps his friend up by the shoulders, holding him steady as he sways, holding his aching head.
"Jamie?" Jack repeated after a moment.
Jamie didn't answer, too busy taking in Jack's new appearance: his hair, instead of it being as white as snow, was now a dark copper brown—nearly auburn; his skin was no longer sickly and pale, but now had a healthy flush spreading across his cheeks—bringing a liveliness into the little freckles spattered across his cheeks, and his lips were no longer tinted with frostbite; though his teeth were the same: snow white and perfectly straight.
Overall, he looked… normal. Very normal. So much so his friend looked nearly unrecognizable.
And out of place in his winter clothes, too. The faded blue in his sweater clashed horribly against the faint tan of his skin.
"You're staring again, Jamie."
Jack's voice snaps Jamie out of his trance and he gazes into the mischievous eyes of his best friend, the young teen's lips curving into his telltale smirk. Jamie sighed, unsure of what to say, and Jack's smirk fades. "What? What is it?"
"You're…" Jamie struggled to explain, "You're different. Uh—your hair's brown."
"My hair is brown?" Jack sputters like Jamie was crazy. "Really?" Huffing at his friend's disbelief, Jamie patted his pockets, pulling out his phone from the front pocket of his hoodie. Turning the screen to Jack, he watches in a mix of amusement and confusion as Jack reacts to his changed appearance, obvious by the widening of his pretty amber eyes.
Jamie doesn't protest when Jack snatches his phone out of his hand, inspecting his reflection and absorbing the newly plain and average features of his youthful face. Jamie bit back a chuckle as the younger teen pulled at his sun-kissed skin, and bared his teeth to his mirror-image.
Jamie let his thoughts wander while Jack was distracted, wondering how they'd gotten here and why Jack looked the way he did. All he remembered was it being a regular day of school and work, and then he was just… here. Somehow.
"Jamie?"
The young adult is brought from his thoughts at the sound of his name, and he spots Jack tapping at his phone. Curious, Jamie scooted closer and saw nothing but a blank screen.
"Is the battery dead?"
"I don't think so…" Jack mutters. "There's no service." Frowning, Jamie takes the phone and squints at the small letters that read SOS. "No bars either." He mused aloud.
Jamie stands, startling Jack, and raises the phone higher, attempting to obtain any sort of signal. Shaking the device slightly after a minute, he notes with disappointment that nothing had changed. All it showed was the picture of Jamie and his friends on the lock screen, reading the time 4:15 PM.
His battery was low, too.
A sudden pained grunt made him turn to spy Jack leaning on a tree, appearing out of breath. "You okay?" He asked, walking closer to the other boy.
"Yeah," Jack groans, "Not used to being…" He gestured to his body, "human." He then seems to grope for something invisible, before looking around in realization. "Where's my staff?"
Now that he thought about it, Jamie hadn't seen Jack's staff anywhere near them. "I don't know," he answers honestly. Has it been lost somehow? Forgotten somehow in this vast forest? If Jack didn't have his staff, and he looked painfully average now…
A sudden uncomfortable thought came over him. "Did you lose your powers?"
Jack sucked in a breath through his teeth, strangely not seeming very panicked about his missing staff and powers. " I don't know—Maybe?"
Jamie went over to the boy, gently picking at the sleeves of Jack's hoodie, noting it looked bigger on him than ever than it did in the past. "Look," he observed, "there's no frost. And you're warm." That was true; Jamie could feel the natural body heat emitting from Jack's lithe form. Nervously, Jack then craned his head to the darkening skies. "Wind?"
No response.
"Wind? My friend?"
Only the silence of a natural breeze shifted through the drying leaves. Jamie sympathized at the worried frown on his friend's face, yet was amused at the slight pout on his pink lips.
"Well, great."
"You're not freaking out?" Jamie wonders. At all?
"I'll freak out later. First, we gotta figure out where we are."
"Right." Jamie turns to his surroundings, taking in the trees preparing to hibernate for winter. "Anything familiar?"
"Nope." Jack states, looking just as lost.
"Do we just walk?"
Jack reared his head to the setting sun. "Looks like it. It'll be dark soon." Jamie, determined, drew closer to Jack and gently took a hold of his thin arms. The warmth of his living skin startles him, as Jamie had always remembered the younger man with his icy cold limbs. "Need help?"
Jack seems to hesitate for a moment, but acquiesced eventually, letting himself lean on Jamie's taller form. Together they walked, slow with Jack leaning on Jamie, limping as he struggled to adjust to his newfound humanness.
The blue sky slowly blackened as they continued their trek to nowhere, the temperature dropping steadily as night descended upon them. At first, Jamie thought he was imagining things but when Jack began shivering, looking down to see the uncomfortable expression on his friend's face.
"Cold?"
"Yeah." Jack murmurs.
Jamie tugs Jack closer, rubbing a hand on his arm to stimulate more heat while the teen curls tighter into his ratty sweater. Jamie was cold too, but he didn't complain.
Their trek was unsteady and uncertain. Jack, unadjusted to his newly mortal form, stumbled quite often, hissing through his teeth as he sidestepped more gnarly roots, loose rocks, and fallen branches. It seemed being barefoot was causing more problems than usual—Jamie could recall Jack walking on power lines without any injuries and even walking on ice just fine, showing that he'd become immune to basic human dilemmas as a nonhuman entity.
Well, now as fully human, Jack was no longer immune, lacking his otherworldly nature and was prone to everything all human beings experienced, including walking barefoot on an uncomfortable trail of prickly forest foliage. Jamie knew his feet were going to gain blisters soon.
Soon the sun set, casting long low shadows along the path the two walked, and the temperature continued to decline. Many minutes passed and they had gotten nowhere. Jamie hoped they weren't going in circles. Did they already pass that tree twice or was he just imagining it?
Jack's weight on Jamie's side abruptly changes at one point, slouching with dead weight as the boy's body dropped into Jamie's arms.
Jamie felt a pang of worry. "Jack?"
"S'nothing." Jack grumbles, righting and removing himself from Jamie's torso unsteadily.
It wasn't nothing. "What is it? Are you okay?"
"'M jus' tired." Jack answers quietly. "Not used to… this." He gestured weakly with an arm at his smaller frame. Those words prod something in Jamie's brain and he nearly kicks himself: they hadn't figured how they got here in the first place. "How did this happen?"
Jack's eyes light up, also becoming aware he hadn't thought of how they had ended up in this situation either. "I'm not sure… It's pretty fuzzy; all I know is it was a regular snow day and that's it, I think."
Jamie closes his eyes, thinking back to the moments before consciousness, and does recall it being a rather normal day in Burgess. Sophie had been at school, his mom out at work, and he was at home… or out doing some other activity? Slowly his head began throbbing as he prodded further into the hazy memories, giving up once it became too painful.
"I don't remember anything important. It was just a normal day. Sophie at school, mom at work, and me out somewhere."
"Somewhere?" Jack prompts curiously.
"I…" The pain was nearing a limit and Jamie shakes his head, trying to dispel the sensation. "I don't know."
Jack only hums, cursing aloud when he trips over a root. Jamie rights him up once he's calm, gripping his shoulder to keep him balanced.
"Do you recognize the trees?" Jamie asks after a time. Lifting his head, Jack squints at the tall looming trees that surround them. "There's some birch trees… I see a few ash trees. Uh, plenty of maples around." He lifted his head higher, eyes squinting even more. "Some red oaks, think. They're native to the eastern United States."
A sliver of hope bursts to life. "You think we're in the US?" Jamie asked hopefully.
"Looks like it. Red maple, eastern redbud, white beech… Seems we might be somewhere on the east coast, probably." Jack bemuses, tired eyes trained on the foliage.
"Hopefully we're still in Pennsylvania," Jamie murmurs.
Jamie was, not for the first time, marveling at the vast knowledge Jack had gained from his days as a nomad spirit. He found it fascinating that Jack could identify certain locations with just mother nature at hand. Once again he'd learned something unexpected about his closest friend.
Discreetly, he glanced down at the mop of brown hair tucked into his shoulder. This new look gave Jamie an interesting perspective of Jack, aware he'd grown up knowing Jack as a pale, white-haired fae-like boy instead of his now painfully average self with prominent freckles, amber-brown eyes, and a tan. Jamie marveled at the sight, knowing Jack had once been all but invisible, unseen to the world. Based on what Jamie has seen over time, Jack had been just as make-believe as the rest of the Guardians, but now he was eerily human - real and alive, breathing and visible. A part of Jamie knew he was real in his own way, but to the vast majority of the children the teen interacted with, he was only a fairytale - a name in a storybook or a song.
He couldn't help but wonder if it was the same for the Guardians too, or have they been spirits since the beginning?
"I can hear you thinking." Jack blurts suddenly.
Jamie chuckles. "It's nothing important."
The young man knew this was not the time for questions, him and Jack being in such a state that only meant moving forward. Idly, he guided Jack away from a bundle of tree roots, earning a thankful hum.
Ahead of them was a vast forest dipped in red, orange, yellow, and brown.
All they could do at the moment was go on in their trek until they found either a place to rest, people, or proper civilization. From where they walked, Jamie couldn't see the end of the makeshift trail.
Jamie sighed. We have a long way to go
Thank you for reading!