Miles To Go Before I Sleep

What Family's For

What Family's For

...

Jack shifted into a more comfortable position under the tree he was leaning against, smiling to himself as he looked out at his pond. It was mid-transition between autumn and winter, but no snow or ice had yet to form.

True to his word, Jack had heard from a woodland sprite that Ceres would be spending the rest of her season up in Europe, and opted to stay away. He couldn't help but wonder if she had deliberately left his home available to him. If so, he was grateful. Burgess, and more specifically the pond, was the one place he always returned to; the closest thing he could call a home. Sure he spent the off-season down in Antarctica and he had somehow gone from being alone to being part of three different families (plus one potential – he still wasn't really sure where he stood with his seasonal sisters), but this was different.

So relaxed was he that he didn't even realise he wasn't alone until he was sent flying half-way across the clearing to land face-first into the water. Jack gasped, breaking the surface, infinitely grateful for Bunny's help the previous year. He still wasn't comfortable in deep water, but at least he could get himself back to shore without going under.

As it turned out, he didn't need to. Something grabbed him by the hood of his jumper, lifting him out of the chilled pond between forefinger and thumb. Jack forced himself to look up, coming face-to-face with his assailant.

"Oh this isn't good," he muttered.

The Cyclops glared at him with its one great eye, looking every bit like it was restraining itself from smashing every bone in his body with a single hit.

"Um… can I help you?" Jack asked nervously.

The Cyclops growled; a deep, throaty sound that vibrated through him. "Little whelp," it boomed. "You will pay for what you did to Grok!"

"…Who?"

This was clearly the wrong thing to say, as Jack suddenly found himself struck with a club (This feels familiar) into a tree. He cried out, feeling something (or several somethings) snap, as he slumped to the ground.

"My brother!" the Cyclops roared, stomping towards him. "He is blinded because of you and your sisters!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" The only Cyclops he'd ever met was… oh. Well, that explained what Mother Nature had said. But hey, at least she hadn't killed him. "I had nothing to do with that!" he protested. "If 'Grok' hadn't kidnapped us in the first place Mother never would have done what she did."

Bad word choice again. Man, he was on a role today. One huge, meaty hand wrapped around his neck (and most of his chest), squeezing painfully as it lifted him until his feet were dangling a good few metres off the ground.

Jack struggled to gain any air, his lungs aching from both the lack of oxygen and the physical abuse they were receiving. His chest was constricting, threatening to crumple like a paper bag in the Cyclops' grip.

"Hey!" he heard someone shout through the haze that had overcome his mind. "Nobody picks on my little bro except me!"

Suddenly the pressure was gone and he was tumbling, landing heavily with a loud 'oomph' in the dirt. "little bro?" he thought the voice had sounded a lot like Lleu's. He forced himself to look up at the newcomers when he heard a second voice say, "You mean 'us', right?"