Gifts

Jack found out that there was a private party for the Guardians every Christmas. Actually, he only just found this out the other day, and that had been when Tooth basically demanded that he was going. The Winter spirit personally thought it was a little much. There was an actual party for all the spirits - that they invited - the day before Christmas and then the private party was the day of Christmas. It was for all the Guardians to exchange gifts.

Jack thought it was a little much for a couple reasons: he thought that they would all be too tired to do anything the next day and he especially thought that North would be too tired, with his route and all.

Then there was the fact that he doubted he was going to get anything. He really didn’t think that he had been with them long enough to actually receive something as a gift from them. So he would just be sitting there, watching as his friends exchanged gifts.

Jack really didn’t remember ever getting a gift in his mortal life. Then again, he didn’t remember that much about his mortal life to begin with. He had only been aware of receiving gifts from only a couple people in his immortal life. Those people, however, always brought a smile to his face when he thought about them. Sandman had given him a gift. It was more like a constant one, and maybe not even a gift since he always gave it out to children. But it was close enough for Jack. Sandy had given him the gift of constant nightmare-free dreams. That had been about 250 years ago, when they had first met.

Then there was the gift from Casimiro. The teenager could always count on the King of the Jungle. Well, not just one gift. Ever since the first year they had met, he had made sure to send a gift Jack’s way. He always said that he didn’t need one back and that it wasn’t that important. He was just giving a Christmas gift to Jack because that’s what friends do.

The young animal lord had told Jack that the true meaning of Christmas was about spending time with your family. It wasn’t about receiving gifts, as it was the thought about it that really counted. Jack, however, thought that it was something that counted. It mattered because the other spirit was kind enough to even give a gift to him.

He was sure that this year, even if none of the other Guardians got him a gift, he would still have Casimiro’s. Somehow it didn’t matter where he was, the present always showed up for him. It was something he appreciated and was sure that he would have to explain it; if it showed up.

Which, he was right, because when Phil came blundering in holding something that he held out to Jack, he got some questions about it.

Phil wouldn’t answer. All he said - in his Yetish tongue, of course - was just that someone had left it for Jack, but he wouldn’t say who. Of course North was the translator because he was the only one who could actually understand the tongue of the yeti’s.

Maybe he should’ve thought it through more before he actually got the gift. He just wasn’t sure what was going on and how he was supposed to answer the onslaught of questions.

At least they had already gotten to exchange the real gifts.

The Winter sprite had been right. He really didn’t get anything. Okay, that’s rude. Let’s just say that Jack didn’t get anything that really surprised him. Bunny had made an egg just for him - surprisingly it didn’t explode, like what he had thought - and North had made him a new sweater. It was just like the one that he always wore, but it was softer.

Then there was Tooth. She had given him one of her old novels. She explained that she had seen him reading through a few books in North’s library, so she thought it would be a good thing to get him. There was also Sandy. All he had signed was that Jack would get his gift later. That meant either all the others had already gotten theirs from Sandy, or Jack was the only one getting a present from him.

Somehow, that thought made Jack feel special.

Jack’s own gifts were hand-crafted. It actually didn’t take much to make them, but he had put a lot of thought into them. They were all statue’s made out of ice. They were all as detailed as he could make it, and that was pretty detailed. All of them were made out of ice and had the same shading and coloring, but each of them stood out in their own way. He had also made sure that the gifts were even more special. The Winter sprite made sure that they would never melt.

A deer and its fawn for North; an egg and tulips for Bunny; a cloud for Sandy; a fairy for Tooth.

Now there was just one gift that was unopened. And that was the one gift that Jack was looking forward to. Casimiro never sent the same thing to him twice. It was always something new and different. And he really wanted to open it. Too bad The Guardian of Hope was holding onto it. Jack was really tempted to just take it.

No, not just tempted. Any moment now he would be going after that present.

“What’s this, Frostbite?” The pooka tilted his head in Jack’s direction. He received looks from all the other Guardians as well and he just rolled his eyes. Were they honestly that paranoid? It was just a small wrapped box. It wasn’t like there was a poisonous toxin in it or something...

“A present.” He replied in that tone of voice that said ‘Please don’t ask any more obvious questions or I might just have to punch you in the face’. Though, nobody seemed to catch onto that tone... Or if they did, they didn’t really care. It was probably the latter.

“And who’s it from? It has no name tag.”

“It probably has a note inside the box with the present.” Jack replied to the Russian. “Can I open it now? Or are we going to continue to play twenty-questions about a Christmas present?” The over-grown bunny nodded before handing it over. Huh, at least he hadn’t had to wrestle his fellow Guardian for it. Though, he was still eyeing it warily. “Thank you, Sir Kangaroo.”

That enticed a glare, but he didn’t retaliate as Jack tore open the wrapping paper. The box that he was faced with was made of a thin form of wood. It was something that Jack had grown accustomed to. The spirit never used anything but natural materials for things. He slowly opened the box and took out what was inside. A piece of paper with writing on it, and something that he assumed was his gift.

It looked like a bunch of pearl necklaces coiled around each other to make a bracelet. Or a hair band. Either one worked, he guessed. He just shook his head and looked at the other four in the room as they all seemed to give a sigh of relief. Even Sandman managed to silently sigh one.

“What? Did you guys seriously think this was something that was meant to kill me?” He questioned with a grin. He let out a laugh when they just continued to watch him. “Well, I guess it could. It does look like it stretches! But I don’t think it could fit over my head to strangle me... That might be a flaw in his plan.”

“Well sorry for being cautious, mate.” Bunnymund growled out as he looked at Jack. “None of us brought that present and this is a private affair. What were we supposed to think?”

“You haven’t even told us who it’s from.” Tooth stated from where she sat. She was worried at first, but she trusted their newest addition. “I mean, you must know who they are if they sent you a present and came out here to give you one. Though, I wonder why he didn’t stay to give it to you himself.”

“Normally he doesn’t.” The immortal teenager gave a shrug. “Casimiro has his own work to attend to too and normally isn’t able to stay until I get it.”

“Casimiro? That name sounds familiar...” Jack shook his head and hid a small smirk. He figured that he would give them a couple minutes. He was sure that they knew of his friend. He looked down at Sandman to see if he was having any luck piecing together the puzzle. He was having a lot of luck with it, actually.

At first he made a picture of a vast amount of trees with his sand. Then, within the same moment, he made a picture of a large cat with spots. The spirit of Winter grinned down at the small Guardian.

“That’s right, Sandy.” He said. “Casimiro is the embodiment of the King of the Jungle.”

“AHA!” North laughed a little. It startled everyone in the room except the elves and yeti’s. They were used to his random laughing spots. “I knew I had heard name!”

“I think I vaguely recall him... I think I’ve seen him before too, I reckon.”

“So you’ve met him? How long have you known him?”

“Um... I’ve known him for a little over two centuries, I think...” Actually, the sprite had lost track. It wasn’t like he tried to remember certain things. This happened to be one of them. “I might be wrong, but I think that answers both of your questions.” He felt a tug on his arm and he looked down at Sandy again, who was rapidly signing. Jack sighed. “Yeah, I’ve known you for longer, Sandy. Not much, but I’ve still known you for longer.”

“Since when has he been giving you present?” North asked, making Jack raise his hands up in front of him.

“Woah, woah... Can we please calm down with the questions here? And maybe let me, you know, read this.” He waved the piece of paper in front of them and they all gave sheepish smiles at that. Well, all except Bunny. He just continued to stare at Jack steadily. “Thank you.” Was all he said before looking down to skim through the note.

Like always, I’m not actually going to give this to you. I would have this time because this gift is precious, but I, regretfully, had other things to do. Against my will, of course. Sorry that it’s a little late, it took a while to make. Jack Frost, if you are looking at it thinking ‘It’s a necklace’ or ‘It’s a hair band’, I’m going to kill you. I can assure you that no matter how feminine I think you are, you aren’t that feminine. It’s a bracelet, and, yes, I do think you are that feminine. I have its partner. I’m not asking you to wear it, but always keep it on you. It will always remind you of our first meeting. This is made of those Yellow Spotted Amazon turtle eggs that you froze when you fell in the small pond. I thought it was fitting, seeing as the species finally decided that it is now safe to hatch their young there again.

-Casimiro

Jack grinned at the words that the sheet held. The Italian wrote small, but he could still read it. Hey! At least the turtles thought the pond was safe again. He still felt bad about that though... He hadn’t meant to fall into a pond and kill off a whole generation of turtles. As he looked at the white eggs that made up the bracelet he couldn’t help but feel a pang shoot through him. The animal lord needed to meet up with him soon! Some more mischief needed to be caused with him...

“What does it say, Jack?” Tooth asked, fluttering closer to the teenager.

“Eh, just how these are eggs.” Jack grinned, hoping to get a rise out of Bunny as he said the words. It wasn’t like he was lying. They were eggs. He held up the bracelet to let the others look at it.

“Obviously not my eggs, mate.” The rabbit narrowed his eyes at the younger spirit. “What kinda eggs are they? And why are they on a piece of string, eh?”

“I never said they were your eggs.” Jack stated, shrugged before placing the bracelet gently into his pocket. He must have made it to where the eggs wouldn’t thaw, but that seemed odd since the pond was obviously not frozen... Oh well. He could question this logic later. “I just said that they were eggs. And they happen to be some of the Yellow Spotted Amazon turtle eggs that I froze.”

“You froze Yellow Spotted Amazon turtle eggs?!” Toothiana practically yelled right in Jack’s ear and he shook his head to stop his ears from ringing.

“MATE! Those are bloody endangered!”

“Jack..” They were all looking at him like he had just killed hundreds of beings. Technically he did, but that was over a century ago. Even Sandy was shaking his head at him.

“Correction: they are only endangered in South America. And I do believe that was actually my fault.”

That still did not help much. Apparently it didn’t matter if you were a Guardian of the animals or of the children - if you made a species an endangered one, you have a problem.

A hand slowly rose as Jack pressed it up against his face while the other curled tightly around his staff. Something was telling him the other Guardians weren’t going to let this go anytime soon.