Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Lesson Learned ( Revenge To A Reindeer)

Lesson Learned (Revenge to a Reindeer)

...

Rudolph didn't consider himself a particularly malicious reindeer, nor could he say that he took pleasure in the suffering of others. In fact, all he really wanted to do was his job. And he would do it properly, no matter the circumstances. And so he relented to wearing the ridiculous and highly humiliating light on his nose for North and the children. But putting the damn thing on when he wasn't even wearing his harness and then proceeding to forget to take it off for hours afterwards, leaving him to the snickering of his fellow reindeer purely to amuse a winter spirit was where he drew the line.

Something had to be done. And he would be the one to do it.

"Yah!" North shouted, flicking the reindeers' reins.

The deer stomped the ground, snorting agitatedly, but didn't move.

"Yah!" the Cossack tried again, but with the same results. "Strange," he murmured, slipping out of the sleigh and moving towards the beasts. Everything appeared to be fine, so why wouldn't they budge?

Bunny looked beyond relieved at the development, but the other Guardians seated beside him were of the same sentiment as their unofficial leader.

North gently stroked the neck of the left lead deer, which happily butted its head against him. "There does not seem to be problem," he said. "Shall we try again, my friends?"

Indeed, the deer all looked as eager to go as he did, so when North tried to get them to move the third time without success, he was thoroughly confused.

Jack frowned, jumping down from the sleigh with the intention of checking for anything North might have missed. But the very moment his feet touched down on the runway the deer charged off towards the tunnel, enticing alarmed cries from the sleigh's remaining occupants. Jack blinked, watching them go, before calling on the wind to help him catch up.

"What was that about?" he asked, landing nimbly on the sleigh's wing.

"I have no id–" North was cut off as the deer suddenly pulled to the left, ignoring his tugs on the reins and coming back in to land on the runway inside the Workshop.

"Um… okay," Jack raised a brow. Sandy, Tooth and North looked likewise confused. Bunny looked like she wanted to throw up.

The deer fidgeted irately, the only one not moving being the left lead deer, who stood taught and unmoving. Jack kept his eyes on that deer as he gently stepped off the wing and onto the ground. Like before, as soon as his weight was removed from the sleigh the deer were off again.

"I'm sensing a theme here," he muttered, stroking his chin.

...

...

One particular yeti had come to hate his job in the reindeer stalls. In the past he had never had an issue with the powerful animals. He would take in some hay, make sure they had enough food and water, clean out their stalls, brush their fur, clean their hooves – the works! – and never had they shown any hostility unless he happened to tug just that little bit too hard on a knot.

And in reality this remained the standard for the majority. But there was one, one deer, who seemed to have it in for him. The once laid-back Rudolph eyed him with a glint in his eyes that the yeti really didn't like as he stepped forward with the bag of brushes. If he was honest with himself, he would admit that he was a little scared to go in there. But he had a job to do, and he was going to do it.

Slowly and carefully, the yeti lifted the latch to the stall and eased the door open. Rudolph didn't move. Slowly and carefully, he hung the bag on a hook on the wall. Rudolph didn't move. Slowly and carefully, he pulled out the first brush. Rudolph didn't move. Slowly and carefully, he pressed the bristles of the brush against the deer's fur. Rudolph moved.

Upon later reflection, the yeti wouldn't be able to say what, exactly, had happened in that second. For one moment he was about to brush the deer's fur and the next he was lying flat on his back in the middle of the barn walkway with a bag of brushes stuck on his head.

Maybe this was a sign he should retire, he wondered, not willing to move even the slightest inch as he felt more than saw the large deer step over his prone form and head out of the barn.

...

...

Oblivious to the events occurring just a few floors below, Jack happily sat in an armchair and munched on a gingerbread cookie as North regaled them all with a tale of his bandit days. The winter spirit, while a little surprised that the generous man before him had once been a thief, couldn't say he was overly shocked. The image suited him pretty well, after all.

They all flinched as the door suddenly burst open, turning their gazes to the intruder. All thoughts fled as said intruder revealed itself to be a rather angry looking reindeer.

"Why is there a deer in here?" Tooth whispered.

The reindeer's head snapped towards them, eyes locking onto a rather startled Jack Frost. No one dared move as it stormed over, never once breaking eye contact.

"Um… hi?" Jack smiled weakly as the deer loomed over him.

Before the other Guardians could so much as blink, the deer grabbed the boy by the hoodie and bodily hauled him out of the room.

Several moments of silence passed before Bunny asked, "What just happened?"

...

...

Jack glared at the ground like it was the reason he was in this situation as he tried to ignore the cheerful yet mocking flashing Christmas lights tied around him and a brown yeti. They were hanging from a beam in the barn, a good few feet between them and the ground, swinging gently in the slight breeze.

"I blame you for this," he told his fellow prisoner darkly.

"Wardagh?!"