Just to let you guys know that I'm still alive. While I know that some of my other JackRabbit/BunnyFrost stories are not as good as Ostara, the most important thing is bringing something new for all of you guys to enjoy. I know that I may be slow when it comes to updates, but I am trying my best. After all, fanfiction...creative writing in general, is a form of art, it takes time and careful perfection to get a certain scene right, along with grammar and such. The only thing that matters is not letting you all down.

Plus, Real Life and Writer's Block tend to be nasty combinations...

With that said, please enjoy the Boy in the Tower

Disclaimer: I do not hold the rights to either Rise of the Guardians or Tangled. They are respectively owned by DreamWorks, Disney, William Joyce, and the Brothers Grimm.

Chapter 6: The Boy and the Thief

It is official...that guy is heavy. Not to mention, a pain to pull, especially when he had him secured in Mom's favorite chair…

At least he will be getting some muscles out of this, that's a bonus.

Jack quickly leaped up to one of the beams and nodded over to Baby Tooth to work her magic. The small hummingbird glared at the unconscious man before slapping him with her wing. She blinked as she saw that it didn't stir him, not even a little. Not wanting to give up, Baby Tooth slapped him some more, even poking him with her beak.

Still nothing…

Then she hopped to the side so that she is facing his ear.

When all else fails…

"GAH!"

Darkness…that was the first thing that he noticed…

From what Phoenix remembered he stole the crown (with the twins)…double-crossed them…barely escaped from that demon horse from Hell…scaled up some tower in a middle of nowhere…oh, and admiring the details of the said crown that he stole.

…And then felt something knock him out from behind.

Wonderful...he's getting rusty…and then the rest were rather vague.

Although there were sounds of wood scrapping but it could be nothing. Although, he felt something soft and feathery tickling his cheek…and after that, there was something poking.

Something is off…he could feel it…

…in his EAR!

"GAH!" he cried out, vaguely hearing something like a chirp and the sounds of small wings flapping.

Phoenix whipped his head around, taking in his surroundings as he breathed heavily. He's still inside of the tower…everything seemed dark, the only thing that lit this place was some sunlight from the rooftop window. Though it still gave off a creepy atmosphere and…WHY can't he get up from this chair?

He quickly turned his attention downwards and to his surprise, he was tied up.

But not with the garden variety rope (he could easily get out of those with a few tricks mind you), instead he was tied up in a rather unusual material. Wait…is this…

"Is this…hair…?!"

The light shone from above gave the hair a whitish glow, and looking around he could see more hair snaking around not just the floor, but certain parts of the tower. Then a feeling of dread hits him. What if this tower housed a hermit loony that outgrows her hair?!

And is about to keep him as a sex slave!

Dear God in Heaven, he's too beautiful for that horrible fate!

"Stru-struggling…" he heard from above just when he was about to struggle out of his bonds. "Struggling won't help you!"

Phoenix blinked at the sound of that voice. Huh, a guy…and from the way he sounded, he seemed young. Then he looked around as he tried to find the source, until he looked up. He squints his, seeing a hunched figure upon the beams, hidden by the shadows around them. Huh, at least it was not an insane hermit woman. That reassured him and while he is not the one to judge, but how could he have THIS much hair? And is it this naturally white? Whatever, he's sure that he'll get his answer from that guy.

Before he could speak, the figure leaped down-more like hopped- with the most extraordinary grace that he had ever seen while still keeping into the shadows and brandished some kind of weapon. Phoenix tried to see more features, only to know that the hair originate to his head.

"I-I know why you're here…and I'm not afraid of you."

The thief narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"What?" It was the only intelligent thing that he could say in a situation like this. Is this guy serious?

The figure seemed to be hesitant, and made a step towards the literal spotlight that he was under. To be honest, Phoenix was half-expecting the figure to be gangly and hideous. But to his surprise, when the figure stepped into the light, he was stunned.

Indeed, he was right about the figure being a guy –and a young one at that. While looking thin, he seemed to be slender despite the attire of a loose V-neck white shirt and dark brown trousers. His skin was pale, probably never been in the sun for years but at the same time doesn't look sickly. More like it was kissed by the Moon itself, for a better lack of description. While his hair was ridiculously long, the remaining have a spiky look that stuck on top of his head. The way the light hits it made it seem like he has a halo around him. His face was slightly angular but has a small amount of baby fat, showing that he is neither a child nor an adult; almost giving him an androgynous look that many tried to pull off but failed. His eyes…so blue and brilliant…

"Who are you? And how did you find me?" he spoke up, sounding more clearly and slightly confident.

"Ah-ha…." He spoke with awe, finding himself unable to form any response or pull his attention away. Don't get him wrong, gender doesn't really matter to Phoenix (though he leaned a bit to the ladies), but as long as they are good looking, he is golden. But damn, does this one take the cake! Good-looking doesn't do him justice.

Beautiful…yeah, beautiful is more like it.

The boy narrowed his eyes as he raise up his weapon-which looked like those hook-stick thingies that is used for herding sheep- like a sword or a club.

"Who are you and how did you find me?" he repeated his question again, only this time his tone was more firm, as if reassuring himself to be confident, his grip around the stick tightens but not too hard to the point of breaking the wood. He looked like he was ready to strike him if the older man would ever move a muscle. (Not that he could at the moment).

Hearing the question a second time, Phoenix finally decided to speak to the mystery boy as he cleared his throat.

Alright…time to work his magic.

"I know not who you are…nor how I came to find you, but may I just say…" then he gave him a saucy smile.

"Hey~"

The boy stared at him, probably speechless at his sheer hotness.

"How's it going? The name's Phoenix Carpenter. How's your day been, huh?" Phoenix wiggled his eyebrows for an effect. It normally reduced most ladies to butter, so it would make this one melt as well. Flirt a little, and maybe try to persuade him to untie his hair…

Then the boy scoffed as he gripped his staff tighter, glaring at him.

…That was unexpected.

"Who else know where I am, Phoenix Carpenter…if that is your REAL name." he placed an emphasis on the word real as he pointed the hooked end near his nose, leaning in a bit close.

That was REALLY unexpected…alright, kitten whispering over, time to get serious. Sighing, the grey-haired man dropped the suave guy attitude and looked up to the latter with disinterest.

"Alright, look, Snowflake…" Phoenix began but once again was cut off.

"Jackson."

He blinked as Phoenix stared up at him with a grey eyebrow raised.

"…Jackie then…" Jackson…Jackie…Snowflake, what's the difference? "Here's how it is: I was in bit of a jam, just minding my own business in the forest-" And trying to evade authorities as much as possible, he mentally tacked on. "I came across your tower. Then…"

That is when he paused.

Phoenix just realized something…it only took five seconds for him.

And four, three, two, and…

"No….nonononono! My satchel, where is it?!" He looked around the chair, trying to see if it's still attached to him. Unfortunately, it was absent at the moment. Phoenix tried to calm himself by picturing a sandy beach…lots of money…maybe a fruity drink with those small umbrellas for some reason but it was necessary.

Never mind the fact that said object contained his only ticket to those things…ok, he's only making it worse. When Phoenix looked up, he saw the white-haired boy smirking at him, resembling a cat that tried to look like it didn't killed the canary.

"I've hidden it, somewhere you can't find it." He sounded a bit smug, overconfident even...obvious signs of bluffing. Pretty as he seems, this kid really needed to work on his poker face.

Phoenix looked around a bit, calculating the possibilities inside his head and thinking up so many scenarios around this floor, he finally came up a solution.

"It's in that ugly pot isn't it?"

….

THWACK!

I know it's short compared to the past chapters but hopefully the future ones will be a bit longer and more eventful.