Ice Cold

Chapter 5

     Jack Frost flew above Burgess, finally satisfied that his snow was sticking and hadn't melt. He was hoping that he and Jamie could play in his newly fallen snow, but Jamie solemnly declined, saying that he wasn't allowed outside until his mother came back with Sophie. Of course, Jack understood and didn't push (well...he didn't push after three different attempts to get Jamie outside).

      Now, Jack playfully skated on the lake in the middle of the forest- right outside of Burgess. He laughed as Wind ruffled his hair and played with the boy by giving short bursts of air behind Jack to make him speed up.

The guardian of fun couldn't remember a time when Wind wasn't his friend. Wind had been there- when no one else was. They had a strong relationship, especially since Jack didn't boss Wind around. He simply requested. And Wind enjoyed taking him places, nonetheless.

Exhausted from playing, Jack made his way to his favorite tree- it was a tall and thick Pine. The newest Guardian had always love pines for multiple reasons. For one thing, he could spread winter-the coldest of the coldest winters- and the Pine tree would remain healthy. And, Jack loved the scent. He never could figure out why, but...it had always soothed him in a way that he desperately loved.

Sitting in the snow and leaning against the Pine tree in front of the frozen lake, Jack sighed with contempt. He finally spread snow like he was supposed to, he mended things with Jamie, and even got to fit some time to play with Wind.

Jack laughed as he felt something tickle his right forearm- something he assumed was either Wind or some fuzz from his hoodie moving about. His laughter was cut off by a yelp of pain. He dropped his beloved staff and smacked his forearm and quickly pushed his sleeve up to get a better look at what had caused him the sharp pain.

With a huff, Jack flicked the spider he smacked off of his arm, "Stupid bugs..." Jack shivered, "I hate bugs..." Thinking nothing else of it, Jack let his sleeve drop and took hold of his staff, then asked Wind to carry him to Canada (he had to make up for the melted snow by conjuring a small snow storm sometime before winter was over. )

As the winter spirit peacefully soared to his destination, he remembered that he had to go to a meeting with the guardians the following morning. Before he had flew out earlier to go see Jamie, the guardians had agreed to get together again the next day to gather information about Pitch. They would stop him before he was strong enough to do any damage to the children of the world.

Now that Jack truly thought about it, why was Pitch back? All of the guardians agreed that he should've been non-active for at least five years. They all knew he was to regenerate at something point, as almost all immortals did, but to be regenerated this soon? Nobody could quite get their head around it. What was Pitch planning? Was he going to go after the children, or the guardians?

A sharp shooting pain suddenly racked his head the more he thought about Pitch. Jack flinched at the sudden pain, and Wind slowed as it noticed the disturbance in its body when Jack flinched. Jack relaxed- it was gone now. Wind eventually let the matter drop after pondering what could've caused Jack to flinch. But it was probably something minor- as if Jack were remembering a time when he got scolded by North after the winter spirit froze the entire staff of elves and yetis. Shrugging it off, Wind continued the journey to Canada.

About the minutes later, Wind jostled Jack out of his thoughts to alert him they'd arrived. Muttering a thanks, Jack looked to the sunset blooming in the sky (how'd the day go by so fast? Oh yeah: time flys when you're having fun) and then absentmindedly summoned the snow storm he was to deliver before gliding down to a tree. Jack surveyed his work and sat on a frost-covered branch of a tall Maple tree.

Satisfied, Jack began to call for Wind to take him home, (as he was suddenly drained of all energy) but stopped when he saw glittering strands of gold sand streaming down through the town he was in now.

Sandman.

Jack smiled, he loved to watch Sandy work. The smiles on the children's slumbering faces was all he needed to see whenever Jack was feeling down. He didn't know how Sandy managed to control the dreams of every child in the world, but he somehow makes it work, and Jack admired Sandy for that.

Sandy must've known Jack was near because he sent Golden Sand dolphins that raced around near Jack. The winter spirit smirked and weakly let his hand run through on of the dolphins. The Dolphin squealed with joy and 'swam' away in the darkening sky to find its home in the mind of a child.

Still grinning, Jack leapt off of his branch. Wind caught him and carried its child to the frozen lake they'd met at. Jack let Wind set him down on a thick branch.

"Thanks, old friend." Jack whispered, utterly fatigued from what Jack assumed was the extended use of his powers.

Wind ruffled through his Snow White locks in response to Jack's thanks and gently lulled him as it would always do when he was tired. Jack's vibrant blue eyes slowly disappeared as his lids drooped.

It wasn't long until Jack was completely limp and his staff fell from his hand. Wind caught the ancient relic and gently set it up against the tree for Jack when he awoke.