I came up with the idea for this after reading A Cozy Start (Great oneshot by the way; I recommend you read it). Anyway, it mentioned a few strange places North thinks Jack may have fallen asleep in over the years and . . . Tada! This was born! So without further ado, please enjoy Strange Places.


Strange Places

The other Guardians knew that Jack had basically been a nomad for most –if not all –of his spirit life. But they had to wonder where Jack had slept. Where had the childlike winter sprite slept when he was tired? North and Tooth asked Sandy, but the Guardian of Dreams didn't know.

There had to be a way to figure it out. And one day, Bunny came up with the answer. Every time one of them had a night off, they would follow Jack with a camera and take pictures of him so they could all figure out where he slept. Okay, so maybe they could've just asked him, but this was much more fun. And since Jack was the Guardian of Fun, who was he to deny their right to have a bit of fun?

Well, the four elder Guardians would find out.


Bunny was up first. He sneakily followed the winter spirit for over three days before the kid started to yawn. It wasn't long after that before Jack could barely keep his eyes open. Bunny heard him muttering to the wind, which surprised the rabbit. Could the boy really talk with the wind?

Jack flew to a park close by, where he was dumped unceremoniously onto a bench.

"Owww," he complained tiredly. "Did you have to drop me so hard?"

Bunny watched in amazement as the wind actually picked up around the sprite, almost apologetically. Jack gave a sleepy chuckle as he tried to bat the breeze away.

"You're forgiven," he mumbled just seconds before falling fast asleep, still sprawled out on the bench.

One leg was draped across the rough wooden surface while the other dangled off the metal arm of the bench. Jack's head was hanging off the edge as well. His staff was on the ground, just out of his grasp. Bunny snapped a picture before hopping over and carefully setting the boy's head on the bench. At least let the kid be comfortable.


Next it was Tooth's turn. She put a few of her mini fairies in charge while she went after the winter spirit. It took a day and a half to find Jack, and another two for him to get tired. But in the end Tooth was a bit surprised to find out where he slept this time.

There was a happy little playground near them, so Jack had the wind take him there. Tooth expected him to sleep in a tree or in a snowdrift, but that's not where Jack decided he was going to sleep. No, he had the wind carry him to a colorful plastic tunnel.

Tooth laughed at the sight, almost blowing her cover. Jack was curled up inside the tunnel like a cat, and the fairy swore she heard him mumble something about how he wished the tunnel was a bit larger, but she couldn't be sure.

Tooth carefully snapped a photo of the boy once she was sure he had fallen asleep. Once that was taken care of, she fluttered over to make sure he was alright. The wind brushed her back a few times, but after hearing what Bunny had told them about Jack talking to the wind and watching it answer, she didn't think it was too odd for the breeze to try and keep her away from the sleeping boy.

Tooth made sure Jack was comfortable before zooming off, heading back to the Tooth Palace to show her mini fairies the picture she had taken. They'd be sure to love it.


North was up next. Since it was just after Christmas, he was able to follow the winter sprite for as long as he needed to. It took him about a day to locate Jack, and there were a few close calls when Jack almost saw him, but eventually the Russian was able to find out yet another place where Jack fell asleep.

The boy was up high in a tree when he finally passed out. His back was resting against the trunk while one leg dangled from the branch the other was resting on. Jack's staff was hanging on a twig about a foot away from his face.

North laughed quietly as Jack turned onto his side, almost falling out of the tree. The wind righted the spirit though, so he didn't face plant onto the frozen ground. North quickly snapped the picture before setting the camera back in his pocket.

"Thank you wind," North whispered quietly. "Keep Jack safe, da?"

The breeze picked up around the Russian man as if to say 'of course.'


Sandy was the last to find Jack. For him it was easier than the others. Dreams were his job, and sleep kind of came with the territory. When he felt Jack getting sleepy (yeah, he could tell when someone was about to fall asleep, he was just that cool) Sandy flew on a dreamsand airplane to where he felt the tug of sleep coming from. When he found the boy, he let out a silent laugh.

Jack was passed out on top of someone's roof.

He was resting against the chimney, white hair sticking to the rough bricks. There was a snowdrift surrounding him, almost like a cushion. Jack's staff was hanging off the rim of the chimney, a few inches away from smacking the spirit in the face.

Sandy pulled out the camera and snapped a photo before sending a stream of dreamsand toward the sleeping teen. Immediately the golden sand transformed into a strange but sweet image. It was of Jack and the rest of the Guardians all sitting around, talking. Sandy found himself wondering what they were talking about.

He left a bit later, after making sure the winter spirit wasn't going to wake up within the next few hours.


About a week later, four of the five Guardians had gathered at the pole. They each had the picture they had taken of their youngest member to show the others. Bunny showed them the one he had taken first.

"I found 'im on a bench," he explained. "He was so tuckered out tha he didn' even notice me movin' his head onto the bench after the picture was taken."

The other three peered at the snapshot, wondering just how the boy managed to feel comfortable in that position. Next up was Tooth's picture.

"He actually curled up inside a plastic tunnel," she giggled. "Like a cat! The mini-fairies loved the picture."

North let out a booming laugh before showing them his photo. Everyone wondered how Jack managed to look so comfortable in a tree.

"Jack can fall asleep anywhere," North mused.

Sandy showed his picture last. Everyone had to laugh a bit at the sight of Jack curled inside a snowdrift, leaning against a chimney stack. Sandy showed them with his dreamsand what Jack had dreamt about.

"He was dreaming about us?" Tooth asked with a happy little grin on her face. "That's so sweet!"

Sandy smiled at her comment. It was rather sweet, wasn't it? But since both Sandy and Jack were guys, Sandy wouldn't use the word sweet. Maybe nice was a better word.

The Guardians discussed ways they could find places for Jack to sleep. They couldn't just let him crash wherever the wind dropped him. But they couldn't pin him down to just one place either. What could they do?

Well, they'd have to find out, and fast.


Two weeks later, just as they found a solution to their problem, the Guardians had a new one: Jack found the pictures.

He had been rummaging around at the pole, looking for something to entertain him. He was bored, and both Tooth and Bunny had shooed him away, so North was the last one who he could bother. Jack had tried bothering Sandy once, but it hadn't ended well. He had been asleep for a week after that.

But he managed to knock over a book while looking under a table, revealing the four pictures. Jack hadn't thought anything of them when he picked them up to put them away. But then he happened to glance at them and noticed they were all of him.

"What the heck?" he mumbled under his breath.

They were all of him sleeping. Sleeping. Why would anyone take pictures of him sleeping? Jack could see the mini-fairies doing this –they were his obsessive fangirls for some reason –but he knew this wasn't their work. They would've hung the pictures up for them all to see, not hide them under a book at the pole.

After a few minutes consideration, Jack decided to confront his fellow Guardians about the pictures. Why would they want pictures of him asleep? Was it some sort of Guardian initiation/embarrassment thing? Jack didn't know, but he was going to find out.

"What are these?" he demanded, throwing the four photos at his fellow Guardians at their next meeting.

They picked up one of the pictures and felt equal parts guilt and embarrassment rise in themselves. Jack had found the pictures. How had Jack found the pictures?!

"Well?" Jack asked, crossing his arms pointedly. "I'm waiting."

Tooth was the one to answer. "Well, you see Jack, we were wondering where you slept, so we followed you with a camera and . . . well, that's where these come in."

"You could've just asked me!" Jack cried in outrage.

"But this was much more fun," North explained. "And you are Guardian of Fun, so we were taking cue from your center to help you."

"How are pictures of me sleeping supposed to help me?!"

"Well, here was what we were thinking," Tooth tried. "If you actually had a bed and a normal place to sleep, then we'd leave it alone. If not, then we'd find you a place to sleep. So, would you like to see your new bed?"

That might not have been the best way to convince him, but Jack was in no mood to argue with them. He was just curious as to where –and what –they had in mind. So Jack followed his fellow Guardians to a few separate locations. First was North's guest wing.

"Here is your room," the Russian announced proudly. The entire room was painted different hues of blue and white. There was a huge bed right in the center of the room and two enormous windows were open to let in the cold breeze from outside.

"Wow," Jack said admirably. "It's awesome!"

"Glad you like," North smiled. "Now, off to Bunny's place."

A quick tunnel ride later and the five Guardians landed in the Warren. Bunny showed them to the bed area, where he showed Jack his own little burrow. It was cozy. That was the only way to describe it. There was a little nest-like thing lined in pillows and blankets. Jack smirked at the six foot tall pooka before taking a running leap into the pile of pillows.

"Awesome!" the teen cheered, fighting his way out.

Bunny just laughed it off even though he was glad Jack liked the place he set up. Soon they were all headed to the Tooth Palace. Tooth surprised them all by showing Jack a place literally hanging from one of the buildings. Tooth had given Jack a very large hammock.

"I wasn't sure if you'd like it," she said sheepishly. "But it was all I could think of."

Jack grinned, giving his only female friend a hug before flying over to sit on the hammock. "Comfy," he mused. "Thanks Tooth."

Last but not least was Sandy. Seeing as the little guy didn't really have a home, he just created a little dreamsand futon for the winter sprite. But when Jack sat down on it, he began to yawn. Right, dreamsand made people sleepy. How did he forget that?

"Sorry," Jack yawned. "Forgot." He hopped off, slowly waking back up. "Thanks little guy." Sandy beamed his appreciation at the thanks.

So all in all, Jack got four new places to sleep, the Guardians had the secure knowledge that their youngest member didn't have to sleep in trees anymore, and the mini-fairies got four pictures of their favorite winter spirit sleeping. So everyone was happy.


Sorry it was a little rushed at the end! I didn't mean for it to be; I just couldn't think of anything else to write. Thanks for reading!

~C