ten_fwd | For What is a Sprite Without Nature?

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For What is a Sprite Without Nature?

Jack Frost was on the Enterprise.

But what is a shepherd of winter to do when in a space ship? He couldn't feel the Planet, he couldn't feel any Planet, really. His chest felt hollow, empty. It almost hurt. But never as much as the multitude of people walking through him, no matter how hard he tried to keep out of the way. It felt like his soul was being ripped from him, over and over. A cold and burning sensation.

Jack Frost was on a starship.

Clutching his staff in a white-knuckled grip, he couldn't fly like he wanted, not without Wind. But he was already very light, to ease Wind's burden when carrying a human child like him, but that was mostly because he was no longer human but a sprite. He was still quite strong and fast, however, so with a few practiced jumps and flips, he vaulted over the many unseeing adults and onto a small ledge next to the window. He crouched in it, pulling his hood up and leaning against the wall as he held his staff like a life line. A small fairy chirped at him worryingly, flitting about.

Frost was beginning to creep from around him, the beautiful fern like tendrils crawling over the windows.

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Luckily for Jack, there were a few kids on board and certain child had the heart of the truest believer. Or so he would be told in his future. He'd noticed the other boy hop over the other adults who didn't seem to pay him much attention and look even worse than Henry had upon his arrival.

Feeling bad for him, Henry approached and did his best to smile, holding out a cup of hot chocolate considering all the frost. "Hey. You okay?"

Jack looked down at the boy, eyes wide as he found yet another person who could see him. "I... I guess. I don't know, yet."

He shook his head at the hot chocolate though, it would no doubt be too warm for him. It was a nice gesture. Baby Tooth tugged at his collar, chirping at him to focus on the boy and not on the awful feeling of people walking through him.

"Is there any way I can go back to Earth?"

The small hummingbird caught Henry's attention but the boy seemed more in need of it. Sadly, all he had was bad news.

"Not that I know of, sorry." Henry knew he'd go home if he could. "I'm Henry, by the way."

Jack nodded, not entirely surprised with the answer but his heart still sunk nonetheless.

"Jack Frost, nice to meet you, kiddo."

"Jack Frost? Cool." And he wasn't trying to be funny with his response, but it make Henry smile a little.

"Nice to meet you too."

As much as Akito would have liked to stick by Jack's side after reuniting with him after so many months (yet the 'first' time for Jack and oh that hurt, even if he had expected it), he knew he had to give him some space. Leaving Jack alone for a while turned out to be for the best because, in the end, it gave Akito the chance to find his cat. It doesn't make any sense to him why Shark would have come along with them as well, but since when has interdimensional travel ever made any sense?

Eventually though, Akito needs to find Jack again. There are too many people. Strangers. And so much technology he's unfamiliar with or just plain unaccustomed to after going years without. He forgot how loud electricity could be. And people - everywhere he turns, there are more people.

Plume catches on to the beginnings of his panic and leads him to where Jack sits, decorating glass with beautiful fractals. Immediately Akito can feel his heart start to calm back down, enjoying the familiarity of what he sees while Shark lets out a plaintive mewl from in his arms, clearly excited to see his chilled friend again.

"Jack," he says in greeting, edging closer and placing Shark on the floor. The feline struts over to where Jack is seated, tail perked up like a kitten as he lets out another meow. "This is Shark. He... followed me here, somehow. He remembers the other you."

Jack opened his eyes at the mewl and Baby Tooth's chirping, looking down to find Akito. The kid was really attached to him, huh? It was... weird. Not bad, but definitely not something he was familiar with. Even so, Jack remained silent for a bit as he let down his staff for Shark to climb onto, lifting the kitten up to him.

"He looks too cute to be named Shark."

Shark is familiar with Jack's staff and so doesn't hesitate to climb aboard, even if it's awkward for a full-grown cat. He manages just fine, which is what counts. As soon as he's within reach, Shark rubs up against any part of Jack he can rub up against, purring like a motor. It makes Akito smile, because some things never change even if everything else does.

"Sharks can be cute. And this one is just as lethal as any shark in the ocean." Plume titters by his ear, giggling, and he rubs the crown of her head fondly. "He's used to hunting for his own food."

The cat's purring does calm Jack down a bit, it's not completely visible but his fractals stop growing for the time being. He can hear the murmurs of the adults who see it, but not him, pointing at him and wondering what's going on. No doubt alerting whomever is in charge to see about the heating.

"Yeah, the derpy sharks," Baby Tooth giggled at that. Jack isn't all too surprised, though, cats always hunt for their own food. Maybe not always but a good majority do. He's always had a love hate relationship with housecats doing that though, given a lot of them didn't need to hunt and did it for fun. But given where Akito came from, Shark was an exception.

"He got good at fishing, but I don't think he'll have the chance to fish much, here." Akito worries his lip between sharp teeth, thinking about how being here will disrupt all the plans he made. And he's seen enough of the ship so far to have discovered that new arrivals need to be examined, which brings on a whole new set of worries.

He continues listening to Shark's purring, and enjoying being near Jack again, even if he's a different Jack.

"I... Um, I know you don't really know me, but I have a favour to ask. It's not going to endanger you! It would just be an inconvenience."

Probably not, Jack gave a shrug at that. He hadn't exactly explored the ship yet, but he wanted to figure out a way to do that that didn't involve going through a bunch of people either. There was no Wind, after all.

"What kind of inconvenience?" He asked, tilting his head to the side when Shark's tail nearly whaps him in the face.

"We're all going to be quarantined until we get examined by a doctor here," he explains, focusing on the movement of his cat's tail. "I was hoping that you could make sure they don't try to do anything weird, like try to inject me with something?"

Jack understood that. A lot of kids he knew, even if they couldn't see him, had a fear of doctors. "Well, yeah, I'll come along. I'm just now sure how much good I'll be. They can't see me, the best I can do is freeze them and I don't think doing that would help."

It'd just cause a bigger commotion, although it were to help a friend, he would still do it.

"Thanks, Jack." Akito lets out a small laugh, both relieved and amused and entirely earnest. "I was thinking that if they try to jab me with a needle you could freeze whatever is inside of it. That would cause enough confusion that I could get away if I had to." Hopefully.

Well, that was quite the curious sight. He paused as he watched the boy do his acrobatics and land on the ledge of the window. What caught his attention more was that the little show didn't have more of an audience. He's quite certain if he were to do something of a similar nature, there would be quite a number of eyes on him for it.

From the lost demeanor the boy was displaying, he guessed he was another new arrival. That and the interesting effect he had on the area around him got the man to approach the window to investigate both the magic obviously at work and the both responsible for it.

"Hello. Just arrive?"

The audience may not have seen Jack, but some were beginning to notice his fern-like frost on the windows spreading. He saw one such adult study what he had done, his body curling up in surprise from where he sat on the small ledge up above when he was spoken to.

"You can see me?" He asked softly, eyes wide.

One eyebrow rose slightly at that question. "Indeed. Am I not supposed to?"

Perhaps the young man was trying to hide himself, it wouldn't be the first time magic was used to cause one's attention to wander or eyes to slide away from the person that desired to remain unseen.

He gave a slight gesture toward the frost lacing the window with frozen fractals. "Is that happening simply due to your presence or is there a purpose behind it?" If the former, the boy reminded him of someone with similar abilities.

Jack shook his head. "Adults normally don't, no."

He looked over at the frost and sighed, shrugged. His fingers curled up a bit tighter around his staff and Baby Tooth took a peek at the adult Jack was talking to, tilting her head at him.

"I can do it on my own, but it happens when I'm around too. Just around windows, though."

Well, that was interesting. Gold considered the boy once more, his eyes coming to rest on the brightly colored companion with the boy. Given the size, and wings, he'd almost think it a type of fairy, but he'd never seen any kind of fairy which looked more avian than human.

"I see. Reminds me of a couple woman I once knew, though they had no problems being seen by people. Might I have your name...and perhaps the name of your tiny companion as well?"

A couple fingers on one hand moved to gesture vaguely in the feathered fairy's direction.

Jack shared a look with Baby Tooth and she nodded at him. What harm could it do?

"Jack Frost," He replied, shifting slightly on the ledge to give Baby Tooth some more room. He gestured to her. "This is Baby Tooth, she helps collect the teeth with the Tooth Fairy."

"I see." He studied the feathered Baby Tooth a moment more before he returned his gaze and attention back to Jack.

"I'm Mr. Gold. It's a pleasure to meet you, Jack. I suspect the stories they tell of you aren't really close to the reality, are they?" There's an almost knowing tone to his words as he presents the question. As if he's had personal experience with such situations before.

Perched on the same ledge is a young girl, smallish for her age, with a blunt-cut head of dark hair and an expression that doesn't seem like she'll ever smile. (She normally looks like that.)

She had been simply wedging herself against the glass to be able to see out--if she got close enough none of the solid objects would impede her vision out into the stars, which she was growing accustomed to seeing. They were sometimes, somewhat, comforting. But the frondlike, spiraling tendrils of frost got her attention rather quickly, and though she couldn't see Jack, she could see them.

Tentatively--because they were beautiful, and she didn't want to destroy them--she reached out a fingertip to touch the glass, holding her breath so its warmth wouldn't melt the effect.

Well, Jack was technically is on the very top ledge. He doesn't like being near those who can't seem him as having someone go through him is a rather painful experience. Still, he watched as she touched the glass. Her fingertip would come away with frost, it would melt easily given it wasn't full ice.

Jack didn't stop the growing fractals, he let them continue to grow.

She watches them grow, touching and leaving tiny fingerprints on the glass and holes in the delicate frost. She smiles gently, and sits back to watch the frost grow ad spiral.

Winter is her favorite season for a very good reason.

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