Night's Fury

The lights were going out.

Before their eyes, the once shining globe grew dark as thousands of little golden dots extinguished.

Without Sandman’s dreams…

“Cheer up, ya sad sacks!” Bunny demanded, using the control panel as a stage. “There’s still hope. Easter is tomorrow. I say we pull out all the stops, and get those lights flickering again!”

With renewed determination, North began to storm through his workshop, with the others struggling to keep up through the horde of yeti.

“Bunny is right!” He declared, herding the four magical beings into an open, spherical elevator. “As much as it pains me to say, old friend, now Easter is more important than Christmas.”

Bunny was stunned for a moment, but then a grin broke across his face in happy disbelief.

“Did you hear that?” The Australian rabbit demanded excitedly, hopping out of the elevator with renewed vigor.

“We must hurry to the Warren!” North shouted, voice booming over the normal hustle and bustle. “Everyone, to the sleigh!”

“Oh no, mate!” Bunny cut in, blocking the path to said flying contraption. “My Warren, my rules. Buckle up.”

Jade could not help a rush of excitement as she remembered the fun she had last time had said those words, and the Easter Bunny tapped the ground twice with his large feet.

North only had a moment to say something in Russian before a giant hole opened in the ground and everyone fell in.

Tucking her wings at the last second, the dragon-girl shrieked in delight as she slid and spun down the tunnel, blood rushing through her ears like a tribal drum.

Jack laughed at her blatant excitement, practically skating on the tunnel walls to avoid running into the flailing yeti or screeching elf that had joined the ride as well.

The end came much too soon for Jade’s liking, but landing on North’s belly was certainly fun.

Giggling, the dragon-girl rolled onto the grass, flexing her wings and fins.

“Ha, buckle up…” North muttered, levering himself upright. “Is very funny.”

Waiting a moment for the world to stop spinning, Jade looked at the springtime paradise in slack-jawed amazement.

“Whoa…”

Bunny grinned, looking rather proud of himself as large stone eggs uprooted from the grassy ground.

“Welcome to the Warren.”

That was when a wonderful smell reached the girl’s sensitive nose, and her entire body vibrated with bliss.

Jack had never seen her pupils dilate so wide.

“Jade?” He questioned, curious as everyone else about her sudden jitteriness. “What is it?”

Rocking on the balls of her feet, ear horns perked and tail at attention, her big green eyes darted around before landing on a large patch of tall grass.

“Dragon nip.” She muttered, scales rippling like waves in the middle of a storm.

The girl twitched, trying very hard to keep her focus on the others, but…

Oh, it just smelled so good!

A hand landed on her shoulder, and she almost leapt out of her skin before realizing it was Tooth, a smile on her face.

“Go on, sweet tooth.”

“Yes, have fun!”

Blinking at them in bewilderment, she sent a questioning look towards Bunny, who shrugged with a smile and motioned towards the grass.

“…I love you all so much right now.”

With that matter-of-fact statement said, she transformed and leapt into the grass like a puppy that had just received a new bone.

It was almost surreal, seeing such a fearsome-looking dragon purr and play in the grass like a small child, rubbing her head in the sweet-smelling blades and rolling to spread it along her wings.

Laughing at the sight, Jack floated to the edge of the circle she had made, smirking.

“Man, I wish I had known about this sooner…”

The Night Fury grumbled something at the boy, but did not pause in her routine.

“Hey, even I need to mix things up every now and then!” He retorted, smirk widening. “Can’t keep using the old reflected-light trick.”

Without warning, a wing came out of the grass and knocked the frost-child over with a yelp.

“Hey!”

The Guardians watched the two play in amusement, finally able to sense the true camaraderie between them that they had missed before.

Never one without the other.

Bunny was distracted from the rather humorous sight of Jack being pinned by a rather snuggly dragon, and was immediately alert, ears flicking and nose twitching rapidly.

“Something’s up.” He warned, and everyone tensed as a swarm of eggs ran out of the adjacent tunnel on panicked little legs and scattered.

A high-pitched sound followed, echoing eerily off the tunnel’s walls, and Jade crouched low, ready to pounce.

The egg golems rotated to their unhappy faces, and the spirits let out a battle cry as they charged.

Jade hesitated in joining when she caught the scent of their opponent.

Is that a…?

Luckily, the group skidded to a halt when faced with a three-year-old blonde child, who looked up at them in stunned awe as the eggs in her grasp struggled to free themselves.

“Sophie?” Jack voiced, incredulous.

That broke the awkward moment, causing Bunny and North to quickly hide their weapons so as not to scare her further.

Sophie did not seem bothered at all; in fact, the moment she spotted the poor tagalong elf, she acted as if nothing had happened and chased him while shouting “Elf! Elf!”

“What is she doing here?” Bunny demanded, nonplussed.

North pat down his coat, and flinched.

“Ah…Snow Globe…”

So the little girl was likely Jamie’s sister, Jade figured, sitting down calmly and watching the child run around chasing whatever caught her eyes.

North, Bunny and Tooth had been left sleeping in the boy’s room, and all the ruckus had likely woken her.

“Crikey, somebody do something!” Bunny ordered, herding his poor eggs away from the little whirlwind of energy.

“Hey, don‘t look at me!” Jack voiced, holding up his hands in surrender. “I‘m invisible, remember?”

“Don’t worry, Bunny!” Tooth assured, fluttering closer. “I bet she’s a fairy fan!”

Sophie stared up at the beautifully-feathered fairy and gasped in delight.

“It‘s okay, little one! You know what, I’ve got something for you!”

Tooth held out a handful of teeth, practically gushing.

“Look at all the little teeth, with blood and gum on them!”

…

Sophie promptly screamed and ran, the teenagers unable to keep from laughing.

“Blood and gums?” Jack parroted, teasing. “When was the last time you guys actually hung out with kids?”

“We are very busy bringing joy to children! We don’t have time…for children.” North replied, fumbling near the end as he realized what he said.

“If one little kid can ruin Easter, then we’re in worse shape than I thought.” Jack noted.

Shaking out her scales, Jade stepped forward to calm the child, plopping down in her path and waiting.

Sophie did not disappoint, and ran straight into one of the Night Fury’s strong forelegs, stepping dizzily back from the impact.

Gazing up at the comparatively-massive black dragon, the toddler seemed to falter, a twinge of unease…

But then the dragon smiled, all soft gums and big, playful eyes, and the budding fear was gone.

Giggling, Sophie jumped up and climbed onto Jade’s head as she lay down, patting the scaly black nose enthusiastically.

“Toothless!” She chanted, clearly enamored. “Toothless! Toothless!”

With a low croon, Jade raised her head and slid the child down her back, catching her at the end with a ready tail.

Now laughing in glee, she bounced back up to the Night Fury’s head, clambering back on.

“Again, Toothless! Again!”

Laughing, Jade stood up, careful of her precious cargo.

Squealing, the toddler sat on her neck and gripped the dragon’s ear horns like the handlebars of a bike as Jade started running.

Her gate was distinctly feline as she jumped off boulders and walls, careful not to twist too much and dislodge her rider.

Chuckling, Jack made one of his special snowflakes and let it loose, dodging the happy dragon as she zipped by.

The little drop of cold landed on Bunny’s nose, melting with a spark of the winter spirit’s magic, and he joined in the fun.

Sophie was happy to follow him, herding and painting the army of eggs, and Jade transformed back into peace-form to help.

Stationed by the paint river, she reached in to scoop out the eggs that were unable to get out on their own, dying her claws myriad shades of pinks, blues, greens and yellows.

Ignoring it, the dragon-girl fished out three more little eggs, placing them feet-first on the grass.

They bowed slightly before toddling away, and she smiled at how cute they were.

Her ear horn twitched, but there was no time to react before Jade was shoved into the paint river herself.

Surfacing with a gasp, the girl shook off her tie-dyed wings, glaring at a hysterically-laughing Jack Frost.

“Look, I made a Rainbow Fury!”

With a play-growl, Jade pounced, knocking the unsuspecting boy over and staining his clothes with the paint as well.

“I’ll show you a Rainbow Fury!” She mock-threatened, smearing pink and gold paint on his face.

“Hey, watch it!” Jack complained, laughing as he wrestled the smaller teenager to the ground. “It took forever to find a hoodie this…”

The sentence trailed off on a soft breath as both realized the position they were in.

Chest still heaving with old laughter, Jade watched as that mysterious emotion filled Jack’s eyes again, and her spark raced in time with her heart.

They were so close…

Even through the brightly-colored paint, Jack could still make out the light green of her eyes.

The greens spattered on her skin could not even think to match, and he felt that strange heat fill his chest again.

So very close…

Their breath mingled, hot and cold, misting the space between them.

Every instinct in Jade was telling her to submit, and her spark fluttered around in her chest like a fledgling during first flight.

There was a brief thought of I wonder what her lips taste like before Jack decided to figure it out for himself.

But just as their mouth grazed each other-

“Crikey!”

Startled out of their daze, both pulled back and turned to see a rather sizable audience half-hidden by a small group of boulders glaring at a somewhat sheepish Bunny, who was using one paw to shield Sophie’s eyes.

“Bunny!” Tooth chided, thwarted.

“We were almost at best part!” North agreed.

“Ya could have warned me!” The Easter Bunny defended himself. “I would have wanted ta see!”

It took a good twenty seconds for the teenagers to comprehend what was happening, but when they did, the reaction was immediate.

Jack jumped back a good five feet, valiantly fighting down a blush, and Jade shoved herself against a boulder, the red of her cheeks visible through the paint.

“Wh-What are you doing?” Jack demanded, upset by the interruption and the embarrassment his companion was likely feeling.

“Watching.” North answered bluntly, smiling. “Is not every day we see two lovebirds having moment!”

Jade groaned, tail coming around to hide her face.

“Oh, you two are so cute!” Tooth gushed, Baby Tooth chirping in agreement. “Was that going to be your first kiss?”

They froze at the realization that it would have been.

It was a strangely pleasant thought.

“Ya better get cleaned up.” Bunny noted, and motioned to one of the smaller tunnels. “There’s a small waterfall through there that should get the paint out.”

Glad for the excuse, Jade nodded and flew like an arrow into said opening, cheeks burning and mind racing.

Checking that no had followed, or was watching, the dragon-girl stripped off her dyed shirt and newly polka-dotted shorts, placing them on a rock to dry before going under the spray.

Luckily, the paint had yet to dry, and came off easily enough.

Enjoying the cool water, her wings flexed, scales rippling so the liquid could get underneath and clean out any possible debris.

Undoing her braid, Jade let the water run through as she scrubbed her tail, careful of old scars.

Finally feeling clean, the dragon-girl sighed, attempting to clear her head…

A faint sound, like a breath, startled her enough to whip around, arms crossing to cover her chest and fire sparking against her teeth.

There was nothing.

That did nothing to settle her nerves.

Shaking herself semi-dry, and raising her heat to evaporate the rest of the water, Jade leapt towards her dry clothes to dress.

She did not feel safe being alone.

Jogging through the tunnel as she expertly braided her hair, the girl only paused for a moment to fix the ice ring to the end before rejoining the others in preparing for Easter.

There was still work to be done, after all.