Mandatory disclaimer goes here: I don't own Rise of the Guardian, Jack Frost, E. Aster Bunnymund, Nicolas St. North, Sandman, MiM or Toothania. Not even Pitch... though I wouldn't want to own him. I get enough nightmares thank you very much.

Chapter 5: Sleigh ride without the sleigh

~*~Jack~*~

"- And we're sorry to say folks that power in the outlying areas of the town is not going to be able to be restored until tomorrow at the earliest. Crews have been working around the clock to get power back to most of the town and thanks to their efforts the schools are no longer closed."

The news cast from the worn out old radio Attica had dug out of somewhere in a cabinet under the stairs that Jack had never noticed before flickered and died. The batteries that were operating it seemed to have died and he could have sworn he heard Attica curse under her breath as she used a flashlight to try and locate more in a drawer in the kitchen. As she did so she called out to Willow who was sitting at the island table next to Jack.

"Okay Willow you have to get ready for school then. Take the lantern." She said indicating to the electric lantern that had been found with the old radio. Jack watched the young girl look up from the picture she was coloring and scrunch her nose in the same way her older sister did.

"Do I have to go to school?" She asked with a slight whine to her voice. "I want to stay here and play with you and Jack."

"Willow." Attica said a warning in her voice.

"But Atti!" The child exclaimed. "School is dumb. I bet Jack thinks so too!"

Jack had to admit he panicked a little when Attica's gaze shifted to him and she raised an eyebrow as if daring him to agree. Sure he agreed that school sucked, if he had his way kids would never have to go to school and learn boring things like math and history. School was where a lot of kids found reasons for why the Guardian's didn't exist as they turned to scientific reasoning and adult thinking. Yeah school was stupid. But was he going to tell Attica that?

Oh how tempted he was. But he didn't. The look she gave him was practically challenging him and she was nice enough to let him stay at her house. Not many other people would let a complete stranger sleep in their house.

"Uh... well... School can be fun." He said nearly chocking on the words. Willow's eye narrowed at him and he knew she knew he was lying through his teeth. Even Attica seemed to know that he wasn't being honest to his opinion. But he had to stay in the older sister's good graces; otherwise he might find himself stranded back in the forest. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing, but it was way more fun here. If he was going to be stuck he fully intended to enjoy himself.

"Go get ready Willow." Attica said again this time with a bit more force.

Willow looked ready to argue but instead pouted and huffed before she slipped from her seat and tromped loudly up the stairs. She was clearly upset and Jack felt bad for not siding with her. Maybe he should have braved Attica's potential wrath. A sigh from the kitchen earned his attention and he saw Attica rubbing her face with a hand.

"You okay?" He asked feeling a bit concerned she looked tired. More than she had when he was first ushered into the house when she hadn't slept.

"Yeah." She answered after a moment. "I'm just a little worried. She acts like that sometimes and won't talk to me after. Kinda makes me wish mom and dad were here to deal with it and I was the one traveling." She gave a humorless laugh. "Don't worry about it; I'm just sorry you have to see us squabble."

Jack understood her sentiment, or at least he sympathized. From what he gathered Attica had practically raised her sister for the last couple years while her parents weren't home. Which wasn't really fair, since she was still just a teenager who needed a life of her own. Raising a younger sibling had to be hard at times, especially when she didn't have any help.

"Hey don't worry about it. I kind of just appeared out of nowhere. It wasn't like you were expecting company." He shrugged throwing a crooked grin in her direction. She smiled back slightly before her attention was stolen by Willow who was coming down the stairs, pout still on her face. She shot a look at her older sister and sullenly got her winter clothes on by herself. Not saying a word. Attica sighed again and went over to the child.

"You know Jack will still be here to play when you get home from school right?" She asked crouching down to Willow's height. Willow nodded but still didn't speak as Attica helped fasten the front of the coat and handed the little one her hat.

Jack watched as the two went in a very round about fashion of saying goodbye without Willow actually saying anything. So Attica hadn't been exaggerating when she said Willow wouldn't speak to her. He had thought she might have been but no, the kid was as silent as a grave. Eventually it was time for her to go and Attica bid her off watching out the window as the child walked down the lane toward where the bus would stop to pick her up.

For a while after Willow left the two were silent, not talking as Attica went about her daily chores, the only interactions being when jack offered to help. Which like every time he offered was declined. Before long he stopped asking and left her to her own devices and just sat on the couch and looked out the window.

It was too quiet he decided after sitting there for a few minutes on his own. He needed to figure out something fun to do, get Attica involved even. Take her mind off of Willow because it was clear she was worried. He didn't think he could convince her to go outside to build forts or have a snowball fight though at least she wouldn't go for it if that was his initial reason. He had to get her out there for something she would want to do.

As he stared out the window an idea hit him and he grinned as he got up, leaving frost on the window as he left. He was a genius, he decided. There was no way Attica could say no to his idea.

"Hey Attica?" He called up the stairs where she had disappeared not long ago. He waited a moment before he heard footsteps and Attica appeared at the top of the stairs. She didn't say anything but looked curious. That was good. "Do you go horseback riding in the winter?"

He wasn't entirely sure how he managed to convince her that horseback riding was a good way to kill some time but there was only so many chores she could get done with the power out so, after some initial hesitation, she reluctantly agreed and took him out to the barn.

"Have you ever ridden a horse before?" She asked as she saddled the black horse, Eurus, he if remembered right. He watched her as her hands moved over the straps and buckles of the saddle, making sure it was tight enough so it didn't slip but wasn't so tight that the horse was uncomfortable.

"Uh... Well no." He admitted. At least not that he remembered. It couldn't be too hard though right? After all he had been riding the wind for more than three centuries. Riding a horse would be cake compared to that. "But now is as good of a time as any to learn."

Attica's head was turned but he had a feeling she was rolling her eyes at him even as she chuckled and moved to pick up another saddle. She moved closer to Notus, the Arabian breed but was stopped when Boreas kicked at his door. And put his head out whinnying loudly at her like she had done him some personal wrong.

Jack chuckled as she scowled at the horse and went to continue her path to the other, when, to his surprise, the draft horse leaned out and snatched her coat sleeve with his teeth and pulled her back so hard she nearly dropped the saddle she carried. Jack was quick to jump over and catch her before she ended up hurting herself and she mumbled a quick thanks as she straightened herself out.

"I think he wants you to take him out." Jack supplied and the horse's head bobbed up and down like he was agreeing with the winter spirit.

"That much is obvious." Attica replied dryly as she studied the horse. Boreas whickered at her imploringly, his big brown eyes sad like he hadn't just tried to send her sprawling on the ground. Jack looked between her and the horse and then back. Trying not to laugh.

"I will ride him if you don't want to." He offered and she tore her gaze from the animal to look at him like he was insane.

"Wasn't it not long ago he tried to take off your hand?" She asked though he was sure it was a rhetorical question. He nodded anyway and she really did roll her eyes this time. "What makes you think he'll let you ride him if he's willing to bite you?"

Jack was sure this was a trick question and she sounded like she was trying to make a point but Jack didn't really care. He wanted to ride the horse. That specific horse. And now that he had gotten it into his head he wasn't about to change his mind.

"Oh come on. It won't be that bad." He said flippantly with a grin. "He looks like he could use a run and I don't mind."

Attica seemed to debate it for a long time, staring at him like if she did so long enough he would crack and say he didn't want to ride the enormous horse. He didn't though. He just stood there grinning like an excited child and slowly he watched her resolve crumble until she gave in and sighed. He waited until she had turned her back before he threw his hands in the air triumphantly so then she wouldn't be given extra reason to change her mind.

As Jack celebrated his victory in silence behind her back he watched as she put the saddle she had down in favor for a bigger one, one that would fit the draft horse much better and open the door of the stall. He half expected Boreas to bolt and make for the doors but the stallion just shifted impatiently as Attica put the different parts of the saddle on his back. Jack had no idea what any of it was called aside from the reins and the saddle, he was sadly lacking his education on horses.

Attica was quick in getting Boreas equipped to ride, pulling on straps and buckles until everything was ready and she led the horse out of the stall by his reins. She turned to Jack who was waiting a little less than patiently and held the reins out to him.

"Do you need help getting up?" She asked as he took the cord and looked up at the horse. The animal seemed bigger now that he was standing right beside the teenager.

"Nah. I got this." He said putting his foot into the stirrup and putting his weight into it experimentally. He could feel her watching him as he shifted his weight and swung up into the saddle. It took him all of two seconds to realize he'd done so with too much force because he nearly fell off of the other side of the horse. He caught himself at the last moment and managed to hold onto the saddle to avoid taking a tumble onto the ground. "Okay, okay. See I made it."

"Sure you do." Attica replied with a bit of sarcasm as she went over to Eurus and swung up into the saddle more easily than the winter spirit had. Jack was just a bit jealous but knew she had a lot more experience doing this than he did.

After giving Jack some basic instructions on how to direct the horse and control it she opened the doors to the stables and lead both horses out into the snow. They started out just walking around the fenced in pasture because Attica insisted that Jack get used to riding. After a little while though She opened the gate and rode into the trees.

"There are a few trails that go through the woods." She told Jack when he asked how she would know where she was going. "It's easier to see them in the summer but the horses know the way."

"Have you ever seen anything weird in the woods?" He asked thinking about the little ghost dog he had encountered. Attica's head turned to look at him a clear frown on her face.

"Not really. We have deer and coyotes, occasionally bear but they don't really come close to the house." She replied. Jack could see in her face that she was curious about what he meant. She had even opened her mouth to ask but then thought better of it and turned back around. He guessed she really didn't want to know or maybe she already knew what he was talking about and didn't want to reveal that she did. Jack wasn't sure but he was going to find out.

Giving Boreas, who had been behaving himself well, a little nudge with his heel he urge the horse to speed up. However Boreas didn't seem to have any interest in moving any faster than he was so Jack nudged him again. The horse's ears went back and he snorted, pulling on his reins in a way that made the animal seem annoyed.

"C'mon." Jack urged and tapped him with his foot a bit harder causing Boreas to stop completely.

The winter spirit knew something was wrong the moment the horse stopped but he didn't have time to rethink what he should have done before suddenly the world began rushing by. Boreas had bolted into the trees, off the path, moving erratically like he was trying to buck the teenager off.

Behind him he heard Attica yelling his name and several other things he couldn't hear. She sounded worried but he couldn't help but feel like this was great fun even as he tried to pull Boreas to a stop. Jack let out a laugh which quickly turned into a startled cry when he was bucked off the horse and landed heavily in the snow.

He was lucky Attica knew how to stop horses abruptly or he would have been trampled by her horse. He opened his eyes and looked up at her, amused to see a grin on her face. She found it funny that he'd been thrown off of his horse. All she had to do was say "I told you so," and the trip would be complete.

Instead she said: "How's the view?"

Jack broke out in a laugh as she got off the horse and stood over him. He let her help him up and discovered that Boreas had not gone far after knocking him off.

"You shouldn't continue to bother Boreas after he refuses to listen." She said a small smile playing on her face and Jack shrugged.

They ended up walking the horses back to the stables, mostly because every time Jack tried to get back on to Boreas's back the horse would move so then he would fall or stumble. It was if the animal knew he was making life difficult for the teenager and intended to make the walk back as difficult as possible.

So... I feel the need to point out that I actually know very little about horses and how to care for them. I actually haven't ridden a horse in years. Which is sad because my aunt owns a horse farm...

Moving on. This chapter hated me. I got to about the middle of it before my mind went blank and my plot bunnies decided to take a few days vacation. So if this chapter kinda sucks... blame them. The next chapter will be better I promise!

I wanna thank VolleyballGoddess and Kyuubi for faving and/or following!

SgtChumumu: I don't think this counts as fluff... but there will be in the future! The relationship has to develop a bit first and Atti has to figure out who Jack is first because otherwise he's just a random stranger in her house right? I'm glad you liked the horses, they play a bigger part later on... wayyyyy later on. But I won't tell you how. You have to figure out that on your own!~

Right... Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far guys! I get all excited whenever I see that someone has left me a message. Next chapter will be more eventful than this one. Some major stuff goes down that I know even I can't wait to write.

And on that note:

Peter out~