Secretly Pooka

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians

Author's Note: To write what has not been written... is at times frustrating and other times a thrilling challenge. To reviewers, please watch your language. This is a family story and there will be no romance.

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Chapter 8: After Ice

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Desperately struggling for air, Jack half shifted his legs to their Pookan form. Impacting with the bottom of the lake, Jack launched off the ground, swimming desperately for air. Had he been really human, he would have already died in the frigid waters. Even so, the chilled water was sapping Jack's remaining strength. Made it! His head burst above the water and as he gasped for air, his hands scrabbled for anything to grip onto. But not even shifting his nails from human to Pookan gave Jack a lot of traction.

"Hold on, Kiddo! Grab my staff!" Nathaniel Overland hollered as he arrived and stood on the stronger ice.

Jack's managed to give the staff a clinging hug just as he lost the energy to keep treading water. His grip was clammy and slippery, "Hur-hurry." Jack coughed. The young Pooka quickly shifted his legs to look human just as he was pulled out of the water. The lake slurped and the ice tore into Jack's skin in an attempt to keep it's prize. He felt... dizzy. The young 'man' could hear people shouting, but it was if they were a world away.

"...Stay, ...Kiddo! Stay awake..." Jack whimpered as felt someone shake him.

"Jack!" And then Jack knew no more.

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Jack awoke near a crackling fire. He couldn't move his limbs. Normally that fact would have made him panic, but instead, he opened his eyes lazily. Oh. No wonder why he felt so calm; he was wrapped in a couple of his aunt's 'Warm Hug' blankets.

"Wake up soon Jack." Aloe's voice pleaded.

Jack smiled softly as he fell back asleep.

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His nose twitched. Someone giggled. A small chubby hand moved something near Jack's nose. Jack woke up with a loud sneeze.

"Aloe." Jack whined in protest, 'oomphing' as his baby brother hopped on top of him.

"Jack's awake!" Aloe cheered.

"You're awake!" Emily rejoiced, running out of the room, "Mommy, Jack's awake!"

"Oh, Jack." Melody came and leaned on the kitchen doorway, a wooden spoon in her hand.

"Morning Mother Overland." Jack yawned.

"I am so glad you are alright lad. 'Twas a miracle you didn't have frostbite, but it was a close thing. Aloe, lad, give your brother some breathing space."

"Thank you Aloe. Thank you Melody. Where's Nathaniel?"

"No, thank you for saving our Emily. Nathaniel is out cutting more wood before the next snow storm."

"I could-"

"No! You are going to stay curled up those blankets and stay warm. The offer is appreciated lad, but your health is more important. You've been asleep for nearly a week!" Melody scolded him.

"A week?!" Jack yelped incredulously.

"Uh, huh. Although after you had regained a decent temperature and started sleeping instead of in a coma, it was really adorable to see your siblings curled up with you." Melody left the room temporarily, coming back with a bowl full of vegetable stew. She knelt down and handed it to Jack as soon as he managed to wriggle his arms out of his nest.

"Thank you." Jack dug into the food, suddenly ravenous.

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Jack recovered quickly, enough that life in the Burgess home went back to normal as soon as Jack could run around again. But his siblings were still troubled by their memories of knowing Jack could have died. (Not that they understood death beyond Jack going away for a long time).

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"Aloe, is there any particular reason you wake me as soon as your eyes are open? It's not like I'm going to sleep forever." Jack protested one early morning.

"No! You're not allowed to sleep forever!" Aloe demanded, reminding Jack that Aloe was not as old as he appeared.

"What? Oh. Aloe, I'm not going to sleep forever, just a couple more hours. See, you can listen to my heartbeat if that worries you." Aloe nodded, slipping in between the quilts.

"Story please Jack?" Aloe begged.

"Alright." Jack gave in easily, "Do you remember the story about the General who defeated the Fearlings?"

Aloe shook his head no, "But the fearlings came back."

"Yes they did. And this is the story of how war became peace and then war again. The General was also known as Kozomotis Pitchner.-"

"Mother Nature's dad! You know the lady, Emily is named after?"

Jack chuckled and nodded, "Very good. The General loved his family very much..." Jack smiled when Emily woke up and toddled over to listen in the middle of his story, "...And day after day the General guarded the prison. ...But he began to get very tired one day and the fearlings, having picked up on his greatest fear- that his family would get hurt, played an evil nasty trick on the General. The General thought he heard his daughter scream from inside of the prison and didn't think things through, so worried that his daughter was in danger. He opened the prison door and out came the fearlings. Multiple fearlings possessed him, turning the hero into a villain of the worst sort..."

As it turned out, Jack didn't get those couple extra hours of sleep, but by the time Melody and Nathaniel woke up, Jack wasn't feeling tired anymore.

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Later, Jack had a late night visitor check up on him.

"Emily? Are you alright?" Jack yawned.

"Jack I'm scared." Emily murmured as she curled up next to Jack.

Mind flashing back to the lake, Jack took a deep breath and asked gently, "What about?"

"The ice cracking and the Boogey meany."

Jack snorted in good humor, "Boogey meany huh? Does that mean you were having a bad dream?"

"You kept falling into the cold water." Emily sniffed.

"But I'm out now. I'm not sick anymore either." Jack shushed his sister gently, "How about we play a game, huh? Or do you want a story?"

"Can we do both?" Emily voted,

"Sure. Once there was a little rabbit searching for it's cousin the Pooka. So the little rabbit hopped along but was stopped by two gates. The red gate or the green gate. Which one does the little rabbit, named Winks, choose?"

"That one!" Emily tapped Jack's right hand.

"The green gate? Alright, but before Winks can go through, he has to answer a riddle. Why are teddy bears never hungry?"

"Hmm... I don't know." Emily shrugged with a smile.

"Think real clever, what's on the inside of a teddy bear?"

"Sometimes wool, sometimes twigs, sometimes fluff."

"Well that wool or fluff is stuff. A teddy bear is full of stuffing, so a teddy bear is never hungry because it is..."

"Stuffed!" Emily sang out with glee.

"That's right. Now Winks comes across a rat and asks the rat where his cousin is. But the rat doesn't know. So Winks hops along. And eventually he meets a raccoon. But the raccoon won't answer unless we solve another riddle. What did the beach say when the tide came in?"

"I know this one! Long time no SEA!"

"Shh. Your mom and dad are sleeping. And then the raccoon says that's correct before telling young rabbit Winks that his cousin went digging deep within the earth..."