What happened ?
@winterfrostguardian
She was focusing on the fur rolling between the shoulders of the hairy giant pacing in front of her. The sea of grey, brown and maroon hair moved with each step of the yeti and losing herself into its waves prevented the tornado inside of her from bursting. If she didn’t look at it, she was gonna get mad.
Elnöra had met North, once, but it had definitly not prepared her for the enormous Yeti appearing out of nowhere in her room, a giant portal open into swirling nothingness behind him. The girl had screamed, and her book had flown against a wall. Hazel eyes wide with shock, she had stared at Phil who was gesturing urgently to the round screen and it was the worry in his green beetle eyes and the surprisingly soft hand closing on hers that made her follow. The journey was quick and she had been welcomed by another row of Yetis who had thrown a heavy coat on her shoulders ; the temperature had dropped several degrees and she had tightened it around her before following Phil in the maze of hallways under the mountain.
She was barely glancing around, distracted here and there by a few Elves running between her feet and squeaking with irritation when she happened to trip on their pointy hats. What was going on ? Where was North ? Where was she ? Why was she brought here ? The answer came in the shape of a door ; the Yeti pushed it open and invited her in, taking a step back so she could enter the room.
Her heart stopped. Lying in a bed, was Jack. She shouldn’t have been struck by that fact, but the bandages rolled around his slender bust and the face of pain he was pulling did it. A whimper of anguish escaped her lips as she ran to the boy, halting a few inches away from the bed, suddenly scared of hurting him with any of her gestures. She heard the door close behind her and slowly reached for the Guardian’s hand, taking it cautiously in hers and rubbing soothing circles with her thumb. “Oh gosh, Jack…” Her voice faltered. She was studying his body and concern grew obvious on her face when her eyes met his anew. “What happened ?”
It was the constant thumping of hurried footsteps outside the door that brought him out of his peaceful state.
The frost spirit stirred, a soft groan slipping through his chapped lips. His head lulled to the side and tired blue eyes cracked open – looking at the wooden doors leading to the infirmary. Did they have to be so loud? He wasn’t ready to wake up. Slumber had been a very welcomed thing at this point, especially after spending long, numerous hours of trying to even find a comfortable spot to lay in.
Not to mention that just moments prior, he had been off in in the world of dreams – enjoying a huge snowball war on a sparkling, endless winter landscape. But now that there was all of this ruckus and running about going on, he was quickly pulled away; out from the fun and laughter and back into the world of pain.
Jack sighed, turning his gaze up to the white ceiling. He swallowed, already feeling the large stab wound on his left side starting to throb once again; each pulse sending a minor wave of pain shooting through his body. He tried to even his breathing, resting a pale hand ontop of the area in a desperate attempt to soothe it. He needed to steer his attention away, to take his mind off of this soreness before it drive him nuts.
But nothing really seemed to work. Not even the bright, glowing rays of the setting sun just ouside the nearby window. It merely signaled the fact that he had slept through most of the afternoon – spending another day away from a certain someone he was supposed to visit. His lips curled into a frown, the boy feeling a hint of sadness clutch at his heart. El’. It was supposed to be every month, at least a few days out of the week that they saw eachother. She was probably wondering by now where he was at, considering their time was overdue.
As if to answer him, the doors to the infirmary were suddenly thrown open, revealing two frantic yetis ushering someone in. Jack’s brows furrowed, but his eyes widened once he recognized the person in their hands. Ah.. His mouth opened, and he felt his heart dropping into his chest as the girl rushed over to his bed.
“H-hey there…El’.” The winter spirit greeted weakly, his voice cracking from dryness. At her question his grin faltered. How was he going to explain this to her? He pursed his lips, and hesitated.
“…There was…a battle with Pitch.” He said, “we weren’t expecting him to come back, and he a lot was stronger this time.” The boy looked up at her, the corner of his lips quirking up into a weak smile.
“Sorry, I don’t think I’ll be…able to visit this time around.” He chuckled lightly.
She chuckled softly at his words, but there was no humor or happiness in it; only tremendous nervousness and hints of fear slowly creeping in as her eyes traveled on the bandages covering different parts of his body. “I don’t care about that, you butt.” She replied, maybe a bit too stiffly, her hands tightening around his. The girl took a deep breath to quell her anguish; she had indeed been waiting for the Guardian to visit, but when she had considered the few possibilities that may have kept him away, she had never thought of this one. Jack had told her about Pitch. She sometimes had the feeling that he was trying to invade her nights; darkness seemed to crawl here and there, swiftly chased away by wonderful ideas and pictures, yet… She had felt it. In the Winter Spirit’s stance, in his eyes darting into nothingness, as if expecting to see something that shouldn’t have been there. Something was off. He would brush off her questions and worries, but she now knew she should have trusted her instincts.
Elnöra bit her lips, feeling her heart tighten at the sight of her friend in such an awful state: he was even paler than usual, lips dry, eyelids dark and body weakened. Of course, she couldn’t have done anything against the Nightmare King, yet… She couldn’t help thinking she should have been there. She hadn’t learned much about the power of the tall man, but the darker shades coloring Jack’s skin from under the bandages couldn’t be good news.
Shivers awoke on her skin and her fingers trembled slightly against his. “Are… How are you feeling? What did he do to y- Ah.“ Her voice quivered and she felt tears struggling to escape. She closed her eyes, focusing on her breath, one hand reaching to cover parts of her face. When they opened anew, her irises were glimmering and she swallowed to relax her throat. A growing need swelled inside of her, pushing aside fear, anger and anxiety. She didn’t want to hurt him by doing something reckless. Yet-
“I’m sorry. Could I- Could I hug you ? I just really need-“ Salted pearls dripped on her cheeks and she clumsily wiped them away with her free hand. The girl had no idea if it was possible; Jack needed rest and she would not force anything on him, but… emotions flooded her. The surprise of finding him like this, the relief to see he was okay, the fury she felts towards Pitch. It was too much to take in in such little time. “I’m sorry to ask you this, I-“
