Frozen Chains

Chapter 21

Jay watched his brother crumple, his own good eye widening. Panic began to creep up his spine. Go back? Back? It was too soon, if he went back now, even if it was just for a little while, something told him he would never leave.

"Oh, no, it's okay, guys." Tooth said quickly, "I promise that we'll only go if you guys feel perfectly comfortable with it, okay? If in three days you don't feel like you can do it, we won't."

Jay let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, and nodded curtly. He would just make sure they knew that he wasn't ready when the time had come for them to go.

Jack relaxed slightly, straightening back up slowly. "I-If w-we do go, won't Jay have to be able to w-walk?"

Tooth beamed at him. "Yep. That's why we're going to start practicing today. You can help, Jack."

A look of excitement flashed across his face, even if only for a moment. For a split second, Jay got a glimpse of who his brother used to be, back when he spent all of his time laughing and joking. Tooth seemed to love it as well. To her, it was a sign that the two boys were getting better.

"Do you want to start now, Jay?" Jack asked, "I-I mean, you don't have to, but... "

Jay didn't want to at all. At all. But Jack looked so eager, and when had he last been excited for something? Decades, centuries, even. He wasn't going to deny his brother of this.

So he bit his lip and nodded.

Jack took one of his arms and put it over his shoulder. Now leaning on him, Jay was able to take small steps, moving so painstakingly slowly that it was frustrating. The fact that he had only one eye made him feel unbalanced, as well, which only succeeded in making things harder for him.

"You're d-doing it." Jack whispered to him. Jay looked into his brother's eyes and saw hope.

Don't be stupid, he wanted to shout, this won't last. Nothing good ever does. You're letting go of what happened to us too easily; it's only going to hurt you!

But Jay couldn't speak. He hadn't been table to talk for over one hundred and fifty years. And after that much time of silence, he knew there was no escaping it. He would remain mute forever.

So he nodded.

"You're both doing so well." Tooth smiled, clasping her hands. "You're almost healed."

Jay felt like he was going to vomit. He wasn't well. He wasn't almost healed. If anything, he was the opposite, his mind felt unsteady and sick, which had a negative effect on his body. He had never felt so unwell in his life. 

They practiced for about five more minutes before Jay started to feel kind of tired. Once he notified Jack of this, he was brought immediately back to bed, for which he was grateful. 

"Maybe once you two get your strength up, we can take ya outside for a bit." Bunny suggested, but it came out kind of like a question as he looked at Tooth.

"That's a great idea. Something tells me you guys need to spend a little more time in your own element." Tooth agreed.

Jay and Jack exchanged a cautious look. Of course they wanted to go outside, but what if Pitch or the Nightmares noticed? Wouldn't they get captured again? And if they were, the things that Pitch would do to them... 

All of that aside, he allowed himself to have a small flicker of defiant happiness. He enjoyed it for a while; he was going to go outside!

But then he snuffed it out again. Happiness can't stay, it lead to obliviousness and then captivity.

"As neither of you have objected, it is decided, then." North said, "Tomorrow, we take you outside for five minutes or so. And the day after, if you two think you can, we go get staffs, ya?"

Jack and Jay locked eyes for a moment, and then nodded. It sounded like a plan. Not necessarily a good one, but still a plan. 

***

The next day:

Jay stood in front of a wide oak door, which was open. It lead to the outside world. Fluffy white snow, gentle breezes, and a blue sky awaited him. Once, many years ago, this would have excited him. But now he just felt it was wrong. So many years in the darkness had made this unnatural for him. 

Jack hesitated only a moment before plunging one bare foot forward. It sank into the powder, and he wiggled his toes, giving Jay a look of eager anticipation mixed with confusion. 

"I-it feels the s-same." He said. 

Jay carefully, slowly did the same, putting one foot forward. The bottom of his foot was quickly swallowed by the soft snow, and it became almost suffocating as he moved forward, but a good kind of suffocating. This feeling hadn't been known to him for so long that he had forgotten it.

"Hey, w-wait up." Jack objected. Jay looked back to see he had just moved two yards away from the factory without noticing it, and shrugged. Hurry up. 

He settled himself in the snow, running the silky powder through his fingers. By the feel of it and the look of the sky, it was pretty freshly fallen. It was perfect for making snowballs, too.

Jay almost laughed out loud at the irony. When was the last time he had made, let alone thrown, a snowball? The practice, while it had been fun then, now showed no promise. What was the point of hitting someone with a ball of cold sludge, anyways?

Whap!

A loosely packed ball of snow hit the back of his head, dripping down his neck. For a moment, he was sure he saw blue snowflakes falling just in front of his eyes, but they were gone so quickly that it had to have been only a trick of the light.

Whatever they were, Jay wanted revenge.

He whirled around, and saw Jack standing there, a snowball in hand. He didn't smile, he probably couldn't, but he raised an eyebrow as if to say come at me, bro, and started to make a snowball of his own. 

Jay hurled it with all his might (which wasn't much at the time) and it splattered against Jack's shoulder. Somewhere behind them, Tooth let out a happy squeal. Both boys ignored her. This was their moment. 

And as the snowballs flew, Jay decided that even if it could only last for the next couple minutes, he wouldn't have it any other way.

***

Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey 

Bye <3

P.S. Also sorry for any typos but i don't have time to edit right now :( sorry <3