Masked Joy Scene

Disclaimer: I do not own the Rise of the Guardians universe

Storyline: This is a '68 scene of a sliver of a story. It has a darker tone, but I try to make things not too terrible. If continued will be just snippets of the story.

The idea behind it is where Jack was told one more word by the moon before it stopped talking to him, which was the word "Protect...". Pitch is a little more dangerous as he kidnaps lost kids for fear. Jack was given a little instruction in his powers by his fading predecessor and learns that sometimes in order to protect others, you need to be able to be taken seriously (and other times not). Jack therefore hides his youthful appearance behind a mask of being older under a cloak. After the first 50 years of wandering about, Jack discovers Pitch trapping lost children. Pitch is a little amused by the 'minor' threat and agrees to abide by an oath/ agreement if Jack and the children make it out of his hole alive. When Jack wins by an inch (one of the kids was very close to dying), Pitch makes an agreement (when he was about to kill everything in the clearing and Jack stopped him with an offer), not realizing the magic that Jack put into it. The Agreement as Jack's new believers come to call it (both adults and kids) defends the children of Burgess from being preyed upon by Pitch. In exchange, Jack endures a nightmare per kid per year until Pitch or Jack breaks it. If Pitch breaks it, then the magic surrounding Burgess becomes permanent. If Jack breaks it, Pitch can attack Burgess. As time goes on, Pitch tries to find loopholes in the magic. Meanwhile, Jack's believers become very protective of him because of the Agreement. Then '68 happens when Pitch is testing the limits of the binding agreement (because the agreement protects the children of Burgess and not Jack as much-however Jack was once a child of Burgess so the magic stops Pitch from killing or hurting Jack too much.) With Jack's mask, Pitch believes Jack is older and therefore doesn't try to push Jack too much normally. '68 was the first time Pitch physically hurt Jack, but wouldn't be trying that again until the time of the movie when Pitch tries to go rule the world before realizing Burgess is a huge center of belief that he can't attack. (Older scars mentioned below are from territorial spirits Jack defends children from.)

Oh and the other spirits don't know Jack as Jack Frost, they know him as the Herald of Winter. '68 is the first time Jack's mask is revealed to another spirit. Jack and Bunny do become friends after some initial difficulty; Jack doesn't want to tell Bunny about the agreement with Pitch.

An angry humanoid rabbit leaped out of a hole, sniffing the air. Underneath the tiring blizzard, there was a unique and unfamiliar scent twisted with a fading, almost forgotten familiar odor.

Because of that odor, Bunnymund forced his wild anger to become a more dangerous blade. With all the focus of a predator, the Pooka darted in a streak of furry lightning towards his target, instinctively waiting for any reaction to the unidentified enemy as he closed in.

The aging trail led him closer to the nearest human settlement, making Bunnymund growl. But when he skidded to a silent halt, the scent of dried blood and terror hitting the Pooka like a brick wall. Ears perked in every direction, he heard only one weak labored breath before it hitched. And then the Easter Bunny could see the Winter Spirit who had caused the not quite continental storm on Easter Weekend. But Aster couldn't muster up any of the grudge he had been forming before. The being, dressed in shredded blue rags was curled up in a snow drift against the root system of a Oak. His former anger soon turned to distress as glazed blue eyes shot open and their owner whimpered. The Easter Bunny instantly hid his mostly forgotten weapons and focused on making himself as harmless as he could. Bunnymund was certain that this was a newer spirit, as he had only heard whispers of the Herald of Winter. However, he had not expected the rumored territorial being to be so... tiny. And, it cut a couple of the pooka's heartstrings to see this avatar of snow flinch as the ancient bringer of hope crept a tiny bit closer. Bunny hummed an ancient lullaby and inched forward as the spirit relaxed. Eventually, Bunnymund had gotten close enough to scoop the injured stranger carefully into his arms. Bunny raised an eyebrow when the younger of the two relaxed even further at the furry touch instead of fidgeting or protesting. Dismissing the observation for the moment, Bunny tapped his foot and dropped down a hole, the wind whistling above them.

Bunny winced as his armful mewled softly when Bunny's hind legs impacted the ground a touch too roughly. "Sorry Snowflake." he apologized as the pooka sped off through his tunnels, into his warren, into his home and finally into his almost never used medical room. Somehow Bunny managed to put a new sheet down before setting the feather-weight dazed Herald of winter down. As he drew away, the younger spirit weakly protested. "I'm right here Snowflake, I'm just getting some supplies. Like an ice pack." Bunny soothed. Bunny started by gently inspecting Snowflake's scalp. There was an old icy pattern in the form of an old bruise caused by blunt trauma. Fortunately, other than the one bruise, which was thankfully just a bruise and not anything worse; Snowflake's skull seemed fine. It was, however, a surprise to see some ice melt off of the sprite's features revealing that Snowflake was in no way an adult spirit contrary to common belief. Shaking off his surprise, the gray-blue pooka then carefully removed the boy's old shreds of clothing. Bunny would just have to find a new hoodie for the spirit to wear later. The pooka growled softly when he could finally see the injuries that were at various stages of healing on the youth's back and even older scars. Snowflake couldn't possibly be more than 500 years old! (Which was still a young kit as far as any pooka would be concerned, although they did note that most other species mature faster.) Snowflake whimpered and tried to curl up, but a quick instinctive soothing snuffle to the boy's forehead calmed the child almost instantly. As gently and quickly as he could, the pooka cleaned the lacerations, scowling more at the few marks that were inflamed with infection. Snowflake twitched in discomfort as an antiseptic ointment was applied and then hummed as the lingering pain became a numbed comfort. Soft breaths evened out. Bunny glanced up for a moment before sighing, "Finally asleep little ankle bitter? Probably for the best." The Easter Bunny took a deep breath before he stitched up the deeper, non-inflamed whip marks. He finished, wrapping Snowflake's back in bandages. Bunny left the room to go clean out a guest room. He didn't notice the wisps of wind twisting around the Winter Herald's hair.