Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians. The two things I own are my story and my OC.
Author's note: Hey guys! I've awoken from my deep writer's block and started another story. No I haven't given up on Frosted Freedom but I needed some time to work on other things so my brain didn't overflow with that one story, so rest assured, I will get back to it soon. Until then, enjoy my current story!
Ella's POV:
I have no remorse or regret. I am incapable of feeling anything from my actions. I am the darker side of winter. I am the one who kills everything from the previous seasons and anyone who thinks they can withstand me. The harsh winds bow at my will and the ice shatters and refreezes at my command. My power and purpose is great and worthy of notice; yet, I am not known. I am but a wisp of nothingness to everyone who passes near me. So why is it, when I do such great wonders, am I not acknowledged for it? Why am I not seen by the passing children; why is the credit, both good and bad, given to someone else!? They all love him of course; the spirit of fun and mischief and, yet, he doesn't have half the power or control I do. Who is he? Jack frost; winter bringer and spirit of fun.
It is doubtful he has ever seen me. After all, I withstood centuries more of neglect and isolation than he could ever have hoped for. Why? Why is the one who has been around for less time than me the one who is so loved? My beautiful snow was hardly ever paid respect and here comes this inexperienced boy with his childish games, being followed around by children. To say I am sick of it, would be an understatement. All of that will change very soon though. They will know my name. I am Ella, spirit of winter.
Jack's POV:
Adjusting to my new title is no easy task. Especially since I've gotten more physical contact in the last year than I have in three hundred years but I am easily learning day by day as I play with the children. Jamie's birthday was a few months ago and I brought an early snow to Burgess to help him celebrate. The kids all laughed and played while the adults cursed the unexpected weather. I was glad my favorite kiddo was happy but his upcoming birthday made me a bit sad. Each day he grows older is one day closer to him giving up on his belief. I confronted him on that particular subject once and he declared to the world that he'd never stop believing, but all children grow up and all move on whether they like it or not. Until such time though, I spend as much time with him as possible.
I look up at the sky to see the sun going down and leaving a bright splash of colors across the sky. I'd see Sandy doing his thing soon enough. Parents yelled at their kids to come in before it gets dark and from the corner of my eye, I could see Jamie and his little sister groaning with the usual 'do we have to?' or 'can't we stay just a little longer?' routine. I'm high enough up that not many kids would easily spot me from below. It sounds crazy but since I've been getting so much more attention than usual, I've naturally been more distant because of my lack of experience with social contact. Before becoming a guardian, I wanted nothing more than for someone, anyone, to see me, and now almost every kid in Burgess and some around knows my name. I wanted contact but slowly, not in a flood, but I'm still happier than I ever was alone.
A golden tendril of light flowed passed me and circled it's way down below. Looking up, I spotted Sandy floating his way down to me, on his cloud of dream sand, with a wide smile on his face.
"Hey Sandy, how's it going?" I asked, waving at him.
He waved back and shot a series of pictures at the speed of a car.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down ok. You forget I haven't quite yet learned your language." I said with a grin at his sheepish apology.
He started off slower and slowly but surely I deciphered his words.
"Meeting at the pole?" I asked to confirm.
He nodded and headed back, extending the last of his dream sand to the remaining kids in Burgess. Why didn't North just signal us with an Aurora Borealis? Wasn't that how he usually called the guardians? I wasn't sure considering this is the first time since our great battle last year that I specifically was called to a meeting. I passed it off as some miner issue and headed my way there with the wind behind me and my staff safely in hand. I looked back towards my home and waved my staff to the sky to send a light snow for the children to play with in the morning and took off through the sky.
For a moment I felt a little excited, this being my first meeting and all. I began to list off different ways I could irritate Bunny and the sweet smell of peppermint I would inhale when I got there. These thoughts brought a bright smile to my face as I enjoyed the cold breeze and wintergreen smell of the forest below.
Part of me was also a bit worried though. North only would have called us all to a meeting if it was important. The last time he called a meeting was when Pitch threatened the children with nightmares and the guardians with war, but Sandy didn't seem too worried so I'm probably getting myself worked up for no reason. It's my first meeting for goodness sake; what could go…
My thoughts were jostled as I felt something bullet straight into my side. It felt like a stinging knife shooting pain throughout my body and I could've sworn I was going to throw up. Pain surged through my body as I found myself plummeting to the earth. I tried to slow myself but I found that the wind would not aid me in my attempts to regain control of my flying. Forcing my frightened eyes to open, I spotted the source of my problems. My staff was falling through the air just above me and my arms reached out in desperate hopes of catching it before I hit the ground. Such determination became useless as I hit the trees of the forest below me and fell to the ground with a scream of pain erupting from my lungs.
I groaned in pain as darkness clouded my vision. No, I was not going to fall unconscious now! I forced myself to crack one eye open and then the other to analyze my surroundings. I was in the forest for sure but, at the moment, I was in to much pain to try and figure out the details. There were various popping sounds coming from inside me and I was hoping that wasn't too bad a sign. Sunshine brightly shone through the leaves and it was all beautiful but unnerving. Why was it so unnerving? The silence. An awful silence pierced it's way around me. I couldn't hear the birds; I couldn't hear the leaves rustling; there was just…nothing. It was as if the forest itself were dead and undisturbed for years. Even more, it was cold! I am the personification of winter itself! I shouldn't be able to feel the cold! This wasn't only the kind of cold that pricked at your skin; it was also an unsettling feeling that sent shivers down someone's spine. Something was intensively wrong and there was no way I felt like staying.
I tried to sit up but every muscle in my body screamed in protest. Pain exploded through my body as I inched my way up to a standing position. My feet were shaking and started to give way but, as I nearly collapsed, I grasped a tree trunk and forced myself upright. There was an awful feeling inside me now; as if someone were watching my every move. But who could…? A sudden horrible idea found me as I looked towards the darkness.
"PITCH!" I screamed at the darkness.
There was nothing at first but slowly my ears picked up on a sound I did not want to hear. It was low; almost inaudible at first, but slowly a deep chuckle began to erupt through the silence and grow louder with each passing second. As it rose higher, it became quite clear that this was more a feminine voice. This should have been a relief but her maniac laughter made it a tad bit difficult to relax. Her laughter began to echo through the forest, as if we were in a cave instead, then suddenly die down into a voice of amusement.
"Why does he get all the credit?" The girl asked with a mock sadness tone.
"Who are you?" I asked in a low voice.
She let out an exaggerated sigh and my eyes scoured the darkness to find the source of the voice. As my eyes looked closer, I could see a pair of bright red eyes staring at me through the darkness. As the girl came closer out of the shadows, I gasped. Walking right up to me, she stared. I was looking at the red eyed female version of myself and it sent a wave of confusion and fear through me. She looked so intense; as if she were ready to rip me to shreds.
"Of course. Of course that would be the first question you ask. What did I expect?" She asked herself coldly.
Her eyes raised back to mine with sparks of hatred buried in them and I couldn't help but wonder why. I narrowed my eyes at her and silently asked her again. A slow smile spread across her face and a chill went up my spine. She looked like something out of a horror movie. She wore a bright red velvet cloak with a hood and her stark white hair fell freely in her hood with her bangs swaying over her face. Her skin was as pale as mine, if not more so. What was most scary, though, was her eyes. They practically glowed with an evil that I had never seen before. She was, dare I say it?; scarier than Pitch! She glared at me.
"I am the cold grip of death that passes through the land each year, and the paralyzing fear that courses through the air. I send the first and last killing frost over the people to watch their devastation grow with delight in my own work." She spoke softly, yet each word sent a horrible sensation of fear through me as she watched with delight. What kind of sick person was this, that they are willing to kill for their own delight?!
"I am the darker side of winter." She finished with a cold and heartless stare.
I visibly winced. There was another spirit of winter? How old was this a thing?! I could have sworn I controlled winter alone. I forced an angered stare back at her. This girl was about my age, so why did she look like the creepiest, most evil person on the planet?! Her eyes were dark, soulless, and empty. There was no bit of emotion even remotely found.
"Okay 'the darker side of winter' what do you want?!" I spat with a bit of venom sounding in my voice but her smile only got wider.
"Attention."
This threw me for a moment. She wanted attention? That was it? I inhaled sharply, remembering how she practically shot me down from the sky.
"Well congratulations! You got it! Tell me, do you always shoot people from the sky to get what you want?" I hissed.
"Mmm, no, not usually." She answered, pretending to think back on it.
"Yeah? Well you've had your fun, now if were done here, I kind of need to find something I lost. Bye." I spat in disgust.
But before I could leave, she held out my staff like a trophy. I felt anger boil up inside of me. Just who did she think she was messing with?! I charged her but still being weak from the fall, she was able to successfully dodge me on each try.
"Fun, fun, now where have I heard that before?" She mocked and circled me as I continued to lunge for my staff in failure on each try.
"Oh yeeaahhh, it was your center wasn't it?" She laughed.
Oh what? So now she's a stalker or something. I grew irritated and tired as I tried to regain my weapon. Breaking the circle the girl ran away from me and sprinted through the trees. With as much energy as I could muster, I chased her, passing tree after tree. She was no doubt, much faster than me, even in my weakened state but I managed to keep her just in sight until I broke through the forest area, into a clearing. It wasn't just any clearing though. It was my lake.
Focusing out into the open, I could see her figure standing in the middle of the lake. I ran (okay tried to run) up to her until I saw her face clearly. After catching my breath I looked up at her to see my staff still securely in her hands.
"What do you want?!" I shouted at her in frustration.
"I told you, attention and I'm going to take something that will get everyone's attention." She answered.
"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but the only person's attention your getting by taking my staff, is me, and don't think for a moment I'd let you take my staff!" I shot with a hateful stare but her smile widened and she came closer.
"Not the staff, Jack."
I grew confused and the wind started to whip viciously around us, as if warning me to escape but I stood firm. I wasn't leaving without my staff. She threw the staff on the ground behind her and came closer to me with a venomous smile.
"T-Then what?" I asked, mentally cursing myself for the stutter at the beginning.
"You." She answered as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.
I could've sworn I paled three shades whiter, if that's even possible. My heart stopped as I heard an all to familiar sound beneath my feet. The ice. The ice to my lake; the lake that stays frozen year round, was cracking beneath me. I caught my breath, careful not to make any sudden movements, but the ice was nothing if not persistent. It continued to slowly crack and, as I looked up, the girl that was right in front of me not two seconds before, was safely on the other side of the lake. I wanted to scream out in anger; heck I wanted to order her to refreeze the ice underneath me, but my fear soon took control of my words.
"P-Please! Please I-I'm begging you! D-Don't!" I shouted out but she slowly shook her head. I panicked. Ever since I got my memories back, I've been terrified of the idea of drowning. I passed it off before as a silly fear, since I was practically made of water, and buried the fear deep in my mind but, as each crack echoed in my ears, the fear flooded back as my legs shook under me.
"P-Please," My voice cracked with fear as the remaining ice shattered, plunging me into the lake.
At first, all I felt was a numbing sensation. It was so dark around me. Was this what death felt like? I could sense the deep abyss closing in around me. What was going on? Then it came; the cold. It was like a thousand knives jabbing into my body and my lungs felt like they were on fire. I couldn't breath, it was so dark and cold. Slowly I began losing the will to fight and a cloud of nothingness echoed throughout me. There was nothing. No fear. No pain. No thoughts. Nothing.
Author's note: I feel kinda bad considering every fan fiction I write, something bad happens to Jack. I don't know quite why, but anyways, hope you all enjoy this little one I threw together. Sorry if it doesn't seem as good as any of the others, this is my first time writing in this point of view. If it sucks too bad, just let me know in the comments and I'll consider changing it. Please review, and see ya in the next chapter J