“What took you so long?” Kuma’s voice dragged her from the painless black, back to discomforting levels of consciousness. Her chest hurt, two bands of burning lacerations crossed her sore throat, her head throbbed and her stomach felt like she had been stabbed.
“Jakul wouldn’t let me leave.” Twilight recognised the second voice. The young male speaker sounded bitter and angry, his tone had a sharp edge to it that normally came with the storms of Winter, rather than the first snowfall. “I headed straight here the moment I could get away from his watchdogs.”
He would be in trouble for that, but the slowly waking mortal did not care. He was here and that was all that mattered. Silence fell when she let out a soft whimper, then someone grasped her hand. She knew who it was instantly. There was only one person in the room who was naturally as cold as ice.
“J...Jack.” Twilight opened her eyes slowly, trying not to be disconcerted at the way her voice cracked. She had to blink twice before her vision really cleared, but she smiled as she saw the teen next to her bed.
“It’s okay Twi, I’m here.” The sixteen, possibly eighteen year old male, with his spikey white hair, icy blue eyes, looked worried as he squeezed her hand. She was not really paying attention, her mind drifting slightly. Instead she was taking in sight of her friend, with his deep blue ornamental tunic and white shorts, both of which had silver snowflakes stitched in.
“You lost your cloak.” Twilight mumbled, closing her eyes against the glare of the hospital lights against the plain white walls.
Jack Frost chuckled, his voice losing some of its edge in his relief, “Yeah, it was slowing me down. How are you feeling?”
“Hurts.” She admitted, opening her eyes again and grasping his arm, trying to make him understand the importance of her next statement, “Jack...he has a kid.”
“Three.” Kuma corrected with a low rumbling growl, limping slightly as she moved towards the bed, “Including my girl.”
Jack’s eyes widened as he glanced over at the feline. Twilight’s neighbours, the Jacksons, weren’t a completely English family. The wife, Nariko Jackson, had moved here from Japan to be with her husband and had brought her cat, Kuma, with her. The nekomata had not enjoyed the six months of quarantine but she had taken to her new home swiftly and was fiercely protective of her family.
For this creature to be able to snatch little Hikaru spoke of something cunning and powerful.
“It’s strong, Frost.” Kuma snarled out, pacing the room as Jack helped his friend sit up. Twilight could not help but lean into his touch when his ice cold hands seemed to soothe the aches and pains. “Stupidly strong and like no bogeyman I’ve ever seen and I’ve helped her with more than a few.”
“Wasn’t just a bogeyman.” The student mumbled out as Jack let her lean against him, the cool air surrounding him helping, “Accused him of being a bogeyman, earned this.” Her hand went to her throat and brushed the bandages wrapped carefully around it. “Said his name was Bloody Bones.” Both Jack and Kuma went still, so still in fact that they could have been statues. “You both know him.”
“Know of him.” Jack replied uneasily, “One of the former Kings of the Dark Compass, the ex-Lord of Fear. Got toppled by Choronzon long before I came to be.” He trailed off, “Everyone thought he had Faded. Passed on out of shame and embarrassment. Are you sure that it’s him?”
Twilight’s description caused her friend to move back and start pacing. “Sounds like him.” Jack admitted, “Though I can’t know for sure. If it is him, I don’t want you anywhere near him.” Jack stared at his friend, a determined look on his features, “Not when he wants you dead.”
“Trust me, Jack.” The librarian reassured him, “I have no intention of going up against him again.” At least not unarmed. As long as he had the children, she had every intention of trying to help her friend, but right now there was nothing she could do except rest up and recover her strength. “Is there anything else that you can tell me? Or should I dig out grandma’s old journals? Bones said that he was here before, he might have taken over his old grotto.”
“Or there might be a pattern she noticed that we haven’t yet.” Kuma grumbled. Twilight had the odd thought that if she had been in her feline form, either of them, Kuma’s tail would have been twitching like mad. “Those journals could be life or death for those kids.”
“I’ll get them out the moment they let me out of here.” Twilight promised, crossing her heart, “Is Nowell coming?” she turned to Jack, hoping that Nicholas Nowell, the Protector of Winter, was coming to help and becoming concerned when the Winter sprite shook his head. “But...”
“Nowell doesn’t know how bad it is and he trusted me to be able to deal. He can’t leave Handover right now. We’re about two days from the main event, once that’s over he’ll be here as soon as he can.” Jack huffed, still stalking up and down the room, running the risk of wearing a groove in the floor.
“Technically you’re both out of your jurisdiction.” Kuma pointed out, “This is Queen April and Elena’s Season.”
“They don’t care.” Twilight commented bitterly, hands balling into fists, scrunching up the bed linen as they went, “They can’t and neither can any other Spring Courtiers.”
“What do you mean?” Kuma frowned, “It’s their job...”
“Twlight’s right.” Jack shook his head, “Even during Handover the Wrath still happens. The nearest Crystal immortal, and it would have been a Spring considering Handover’s in less than forty-eight hours, no matter how far away they are, should have been hit with the power of the Spring floods and the knowledge of what happened here. April should have been made aware too. For them to ignore this completely...” He had no words. At least no words he was willing to repeat around his mortal friend.
“So we’re on our own.” Kuma hissed, irritated, “Against a former King of the Dark Compass?”
There was silence for a few moments then Twilight spoke up. “We have to act though. We can’t just let Bones get away with this. He’s hurting children. Innocents. Just because the Compass refuses to act, doesn’t mean I will.”
“And what are you going to do, exactly?” Kuma demanded, stalking towards the bed and snarling in her face, “Bones nearly gutted you like a fish. If I hadn’t been around, you would be dead and Jack wouldn’t have the slightest clue what’s been happening around here.”
“I’ll do whatever I have to.” Twilight glowered back, well aware Kuma would not harm her and that the nekomata respected determination and bloody mindedness above almost everything else. “Just like you will to get Hikaru back.”
Kuma hissed, irritated but backed off, taking the form of a fat domestic house cat, the form she had lived in before her change, and leaping up onto the windowsill.
“Kuma wait,” Twilight called, going to get out of bed only to hiss in pain and pull back, clutching her stomach, “The fae said there’s something that gives off an aura of fear in their woods.”
“I’ll check it out and be back by nightfall.” She spat out and leapt out of the window. Twilight would have been more concerned, but she had no idea what storey room she was in and she had seen the cat demon fall several floors without injury before.
“You really think those journals will help?” Jack asked, watching her with a worried and contemplative look.
“Well...yes and no.” Twilight sighed, “I’m almost certain he’s hiding out in the woods. I’m pretty sure he’s evicted some of the fae from their... don’t look like that...” She sighed when Jack grimaced. “Not all of them are trouble makers.”
“Are they still getting people lost?” Jack pointed out.
“That doesn’t mean they should get kicked out of their home.” Twilight huffed at him, “They won’t let me through to find out though.” She paused, considered herself and let out a self depreciating chuckle, “Guess I know why now.”
Jack started to say something, only to cut off when the nurse entered the room, looking shocked when she saw Twilight had woken up. Jack stayed silent as the nurse bustled about, then warned her that the police had been asking about her and that she would be sending the Doctor in shortly and left.
“I’m going to try and catch up with Kuma and check out the forest.” Jack told her, “Are you going to be alright on your own?”
“Don’t worry about me.” The librarian nodded, “Just be careful. I know you’re impossible to kill but...”
“I’ll be fine, just focus on getting better.” Jack replied with a careless shrug, “The fae in the forest might not even let me through.”
“If you’re polite to them they should, bring a gift maybe.” Twilight offered, thinking about what she knew of the forest dwellers. “The dryads respect those that respect their forest and their trees, and the Fairies are mischief makers, like you. They give as good as they get, so if you don’t treat them badly, they’ll probably leave you alone.”
“Tha...” Jack huffed as the door opened again and the Doctor entered the room, followed by the Detective.
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