Rise Of The Guardians - The Life Of A Spirit

Confrontation: Part 2

The sound of quiet growling voices pulled Jack back from oblivion where he was immediately assaulted by a sharp nail of pain hammering right behind his eyes. He scrunched his eyes closed even tighter and attempted to lift his hand to his face, grunting at the effort it cost. He was keenly aware of muffled footsteps coming closer, then much too loudly, the voice of a yeti grumbling something in its language.

He winced, the noise seeming to reverberate around his aching skull, and tried to turn away before finding that the weakness in his arm had settled all over his body. A low whine inadvertently escaped him and the footsteps quickly hurried away. The respite was brief as a great deal more feet approached, as well as the high-pitched hum of wingbeats.

"Jack?"

He gasped at the deafening voice and successfully managed to turn away and curl in on himself, trying to ease the pain in his head. A gentle hand was placed on his shoulder that was quickly followed by sweet dreams of gentle snowfall and cool winter breezes.

The next time he woke was decidedly less unpleasant. The agonising pain in his head had eased to a more manageable dull throb, while the weakness in his limbs had also subsided. He cautiously opened his eyes and, after a brief adjustment period, found that the room was mostly in darkness, the only source of light being from the gap at the bottom of the door. But it was enough to illuminate the snow and ice covering every surface of the room. His room.

He tentatively sat up, wary of any unexpected pain, but found that aside from gnawing hunger and slight shakiness to his movements, everything seemed more or less intact. And that's when he noticed the yeti standing guard in the corner of the room, spear in hand.

He slowly approached the bed, leaning his weapon against the wall, and motioned towards Jack.

"Water," he croaked, "and food."

The yeti nodded and hurried to the door, giving him a warning glance before cracking it open and growling something to what was undoubtedly another yeti guard outside.

It wasn't much longer of a wait before the second guard entered the room with a plate of simple bread and butter and a jug of water with a glass. To Jack, it looked like a feast and he promptly drank the entirety of the jug of water before devouring the bread within a minute. He looked up hopefully at the yetis who seemed shocked at the speed with which the food had disappeared.

"Is there any more?" he asked, his voice clearer now. The two yetis glanced at each other before the one from the hallway shrugged and left again to retrieve more while Jack slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed and looked around warily.

"Where's my staff?" he asked and the yeti pointed towards the door and Jack had to resist the urge to bolt out and search for it. As much as he hated to admit it, it was probably a good thing he didn't have it at the moment. Any sort of emotion could cause him to accidentally use up power he was still trying to recover.

The door opened again, but this time it was North who entered, carrying a bowl of fruit and a loaf of bread while the second yeti trailed behind with more water.

"It is good to finally see you up and about," he rumbled and Jack could hear the clear relief in his voice. He set down the food and this time Jack paced himself as he launched himself at the fruit.

"How long?" he asked between bites.

"It has been ten days now. We have all been worried sick."

That explained why he was so hungry. While he usually didn't have to eat, having used enough power to knock him out for ten days would require more than the usual 'sleep it off' approach he usually took.