longestnight_old | Everyone Loves the Sleigh

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Everyone Loves the Sleigh

They'd had a few days to get settled in. In that time, the Yetis and Elves had been nothing but welcoming, making sure the gang had a never-ending supply of treats, cocoa, and eggnog, as well as more wholesome food to nosh on. Even though they had work to do - and seemed to enjoy doing it - the Yetis had been helpful in getting them all settled in, into rooms specially designed to each of their specifications. If anything had a want or need of something, like new clothes, or a new pair of shoes, they'd been quick to provide.

Jack and Bunny had done their part to make the new folks feel welcome, as well, by showing them around and socializing, but they'd been in and out constantly during the last few days. Some of the times they'd come back in, they'd looked a touch on this side of ragged.

True to their word, despite the fact that they'd been busy putting out fires caused by Kuk and Its minions, they had reached out to a few contacts of theirs to see about helping the others get home.

That was why Jack was gathering them all up on the balcony in front of the globe.

"Okay, guys, we have some good news. We managed to get in touch with an ally of ours. We think she can give us more information about what exactly you are. Like...how much you were changed to be like us, how the mechanics of the world have changed to pull you in. It might give us some headway in figuring out how to get you back home. She wants to meet you."

[ooc: Bendytimed to after they negotiate Tony being allowed to stay at the Pole.]

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"Hey. At this point, any help is good help. Though I'm curious about what she'll want from us." Information rarely came without some sort of cost, especially in a situation like this. Mother Goose--and it was still taking Sam time to get his head around all this being real--might have hung around with the Guardians, but that didn't necessarily mean that she'd help for free.

"I wonder what she wants. More stories? Protection, perhaps." Mami rocked from foot to foot as she considered their problem.

"Nah, Katherine's a good friend. A real stand-up little Sheila. If she asks you for anything, it might just be your story, and that's only if you want to tell it to her when there's time. We're seeking help from a friend, not bartering favors with an ally. We'd protect her even if she couldn't help us out."

She used to be a kid. She used to be their kid, in a way, though she's mythkind now.

"Honestly, I'm surprised she wasn't picked as a Guardian before all of you."

She was competent, had Guardian experience, was from this world, cared about children - why Manny would place his faith in strangers before her was a genuine mystery to Bunny.

As glad as he was to have an excuse to see an old friend, he still looked skeptically at Jack in a way that suggested he'd lost an argument, but wasn't ready to give up on it yet. "I still don't see why you think the sleigh can get us all around better than my tunnels."

Edited 2013-05-29 13:36 (UTC)

"I already told you. The stealth shielding works. When I went alone to take care of that thing with the laras in Brazil, I had some scout-bats pass right on by without noticing us. It's the only reason I got them relocated safely."

He went on, poking at Bunny's arm. "And we know they have those lindworms they made a deal with burrowing around that area. They've picked up on your tunnels twice so far. They might not be grootslangs, but they're still nasty enough we don't want them cluing in that we're there, especially with a bunch of greenhorns with us, and especially since they'll call their fearling buddies in for backup."

He grinned reassuringly, "Besides, the yetis said they added seatbelts in the upgrade."

Jack waved for the group to follow along. "I'm sure all the new people wanna travel in comfort and style." Jack turned to the group and raised his eyebrows. "Right, guys?"

Edited 2013-05-29 18:48 (UTC)

Howard's not sure what to roll his eyes at harder: Bunny's complete lack of faith in them, or the fact that Jack just used a bunch of words Howard's pretty sure haven't actually existed since they still used leeches to suck the fun out of uppity women.

"Can I drive?"

Speaking of that complete lack of faith -

"NO."

Edited 2013-05-30 02:32 (UTC)

"No," said Jack at the exact same time. "No way."

He started leading them all in the direction of the sleigh room.

"Did the Yeti add seatbelts before or after all of us showed up?" Nico asked. The Leapfrog had originally sat twelve adults, but one of the first modifications they'd made was to rip out a couple chairs so there was space for Old Lace to sit comfortably. And she got the feeling that this crowd was a few more people than the sleigh probably carried before.

"After," said Bunny, dryly, in the tone of someone who hated flying but was gonna do it (again) anyway. Jack, unfortunately for him, had good points.

"You've flown so long without concern for your safety? Should we be worried?" Mami wondered.

Edited 2013-06-02 03:50 (UTC)

"From a practical standpoint, seatbelts mean you're stuck in place, which is bad if you need to get on your feet and fight in mid-air - and falling isn't so much of an issue when most of your team can fly."

Jack shrugged as he waved a hand at the yetis and elves swarming the sleigh room, signaling them to bring out the sleigh.

"From a non-practical standpoint, seatbelts just aren't any fun."

Two yetis opened a massive set of carved wooden doors and the sound of hooves clopping thundered though the air, echoing through the sleigh room. From a tunnel in the wall, massive reindeer came rearing out into the room, seeming so wild they were barely contained by their harnesses. The great beasts were taller than Jack and clouds of condensation billowed from their mouths and nostrils as they thundered into the room, bucking slightly in place before finally settling at the urging of the yetis.

Dragged along behind the reindeer was a massive sleigh, one that was far more technological than some of the group might have expected. As the sleigh was pulled out, its wings made a mechanical noise and folded up, extending out. The design had been widened and lengthened in the time since the others joined Jack and Bunny at the North Pole, and several rows of seats had been added, with safety harnesses. Complex instruments with dials and levers and blinky lights were built into the dashboard and so was a large globe, not unlike the viewing globe in the workshop.

Jack leaped up lightly into the cockpit, completely ignoring the seat and harness there, instead opting to simply prop his staff up against the floor in front of the dashboard and loop it in his belt in case he was ever thrown clear of the sleigh.

"Everyone hop in and buckle up! And be grateful that last part isn't just an expression anymore."

Edited 2013-06-02 04:11 (UTC)

Molly had priorities.

Those priorities were HOW FREAKING COOL the sleigh was. You could tell by the way her eyes lit up and she grinned like a huge dork.

"This. Is. Awesome."

She then raced over to clamber in as quickly as possible, to make sure she got a seat closest to the front (and Jack), bouncing in place and not bothering to do her seatbelt up.

To be honest, she's probably forgotten. She has to be reminded most times they get in the leapfrog.

Jack laughed at her eagerness and then adopted a look that didn't quite manage to be stern. It tried. It really tried.

"Seatbelt, missy."

Molly's grin turned sheepish.

"Oops, sorry." She buckled up quickly and resumed practically vibrating from excitement. "Nico Nico Nico look at this we are riding in Santa's sleigh, isn't this AWESOME?"

"Totally," Nico agreed, climbing slowly into the sleigh and taking the seat beside Molly. It couldn't be worse than flying in the Leapfrog could it?

Except the Leapfrog had a roof. And wasn't powered by eight friggin' monster reindeer that didn't seem to like being harnessed to the thing. And had always had seatbelts. On the other hand, Santa's sleigh probably didn't go up-and-down as much.

She double-checked Molly's seatbelt before strapping herself in.

Mami leapt right up, taking the furthest view back she could out of habit. She needed to see what was going on...wasn't a sleigh in the air vulnerable? She'd fire if she had to.

But for now she'd quietly enjoy the novelty of it.

Sam double-checked his own weapons before he climbed into the sleigh. He looked it over before shifting over to the back, in one of the corners. It meant he had a better view of their airspace, though not full view. Still, he could look around. "I am so glad my brother isn't here for this part," he finally said, belting himself in.

"Why, does he not -" Bunny started to say, before cutting off mid-sentence as he lifted his frayed, severed seatbelt.

He instantly glared at Jack.

"You little larrikin! I'm gonna get you back good for this one."

Jack laughed maniacally at Bunny discovering his prank, looked around to make sure everyone was seated and strapped in safely, and then cracked the reins to make the sleigh surge forward before Bunny could do a thing about it.

(It wasn't like Bunny needed a seatbelt in the sleigh, after all. He'd gone without before. The new people maybe did, which is why Jack hadn't touched their seatbelts but Bunny definitely didn't.)

The sleigh shot forward through pristine tunnels at what probably felt like a kajillion miles per hour, sliding back and forth on the ice and careening over bumps. Jack laughed a deep, hearty laugh as they flew along, then pushed at a lever that looked something like the stick shift of a car. Somehow the sleigh boosted even faster, and then they started sliding around the tunnel in corkscrews, centripetal force pressing them against their seats.

"The loop-the-loops are my favorite part!" Jack cried out over the rush of wind.

Finally, they were right side up again. The sleigh rode over the last few rickety parts of the path over a wooden ramp, making it sound as if they were on a roller coaster, and finally blasted up into the air. There was a rush of cold wind, but oddly, it was as if the cold just wasn't able to touch them quite as much as it should have been able to.

Jack looked back with a grin and his voice took on the smooth tones of a airplane pilot. "Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. On behalf of the flight crew, I'd like to welcome you to North Pole Airlines flight 2734 to Taichung, Taiwan. We should touch down in Taichung at 3:45 pm local time, depending on this headwind. Please keep your seatbelts fastened and your hands inside the sleigh until we come to a come in for a landing and come to a complete stop. The "no smoking" light will remain on throughout the flight -" Here Jack gestured with the hand not holding the reins to a random light that had absolutely nothing to do with smoking "- in compliance with FAA regulations. You may not smoke in the lavatories - or even use the lavatories because there are no lavatories and we'd prefer you not improvise. In the case of a water landing, Bunny can be used as a flotation device."

"Uuuuugughhughhhhh"

Bunny's initial response was a drawn-out groan of barely contained nausea, as he gripped the edge of the sleigh and tried to balance leaning over it with not looking down.

There did not need to be that many loop-de-loops.

They did not need to be taken that fast.

"Gonna tie you to a tree for six hours this time, you show pony."

There was little actual antagonism behind the threat, but the "this time" suggested there had already been other times.

Nico latched on to the handrail of the sleigh with one hand and clutched her Staff in the other, vowing to throw up on Jack the moment this crazy thing stopped moving.

Jack reached into the pocket of his hoodie and took out a snowglobe.

Without North around, the snowglobes were hard to come by. The yetis knew how to make them but they couldn't crank them out nearly as fast as North could. But a full sleigh full of mythy newbs and the potential of fearling attack gave them a good excuse to use one for right now.

"Taichung," Jack said, shaking the snowglobe and a landscape of the city appeared in its snowy depths. Then he threw the globe in front of the sleigh. A portal vorped into view and away they went.

Edited 2013-06-06 05:15 (UTC)

Howard's never had much of a problem with motion sickness, but the sleigh does give him a few flashbacks to the one day with his cousins and the teacups at Disneyland that put him off blue slushies forever. He grips the seatbelt with both hands until his knuckles turn white, putting all his energy into not letting how completely uncool he is with this show on his face.

But he's really uncool with it.

"And you won't let me drive!" he spits.

"Let you drive and take all his fun?" Bunny scoffed, still gripping the edge of the sleigh in a stranglehold. "Not that yobbo."

At least Howard got to keep his seatbelt.

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Everyone Loves the Sleigh

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