Follow Me

By: Midnight E Siren

/Set about sixty years after Jack is raised by MiM/

The night was cold and quiet, and North was taking a nice stroll through the sleepy village of Burgess. He'd heard rumors about a nasty little spirit that had moved in over the last decade, there had been drownings, children and adults alike were tricked deep into the woods and left there to freeze to death. It had been ten years since the rumors started, he'd heard of an ice spirit wandering the woods, and it always kicked up a huge storm every time he passed through the village but once the stories of people being taken by the woods reached him he knew he had to take action. His duty as a guardian was to protect the children of the world, and if this spirit was harming them North would have to stop it. He was not such a fool as to go alone, he had asked Bunnymund to join him and almost laughed when they reached Burgess as the rabbit began complaining of the sharp cold if not for the seriousness of their mission.

Bunnymund stood at over six feet tall, with blue tinged fur that had wild designs imprinted in the soft pelt, leather belts wrapped around his chest and waist holding brightly colored eggs and a twin pair of boomerangs. Large feet tapped against the ground nervously at the quickly worsening storm around them, long ears perked up to every small sound under the roar of the wind, his fingers twitched towards the bits of wood that served as his weapons. North was even taller than Bunny, with a thick build as if he'd lived in the mountains for a very long time, a white beard, mustache and a long ponytail that stretched down his back. Kind blue eyes were hard with concentration as the large man pulled out twin blades cautiously and turned to his furry friend.

North was bundled up in his red coats and hat while Bunnymund only had his thick fur to shield him, the wind blew hard and cut through both their coverings like they didn't exist at all. "We must quickly find this spirit, Bunny, else we lose more children to it." North yelled over the raging wind, breath puffing out into little frozen clouds as he spoke to his anthropomorphic friend.

"A'ight, shall we split up or stick together?" Bunny yelled back, shielding his eyes from the bitter cold.

"It will be better if we are near each other, my friend, if we are completely split up it may be able to trick us more easily." the huge man replied, Russian accent heavy.

They began searching the town first, between all the little houses and smoking chimneys, in all the bedrooms and cellars and every nook and cranny they could possibly search. As time drew on, the wind grew stronger and wilder, it seemed as if the winter spirit had sensed their presence and was none too happy about the intrusion upon it's territory. Suddenly, there was a cry from the forest, North whirled from the spot where he'd been searching the inside of a frozen shed, he heard it again, it was a faint cry through the wind.

"Bunny!" the rabbit was by his side in an instant, bounding through the deepening snow while his ears perked and searching for danger. "I believe our friend is trying to ask us to join him."

Both readied their weapons before they edged towards the edge of the woods, carefully they made their way towards the cries for help, trying to keep themselves from simply sprinting all out into the storm and save the child that had been taken. Over roots and fallen logs they went, everything covered in a thick layer of snow and ice that muffled almost all sounds except those on the wind.

"I don't like this North, " Bunnymund muttered uneasily, twirling the boomerangs in his hands agitatedly. "I don't like it one bit, we could be walking into a trap for all we know."

"We continue forward." the huge red man said solemnly, if need be Bunny could open a rabbit hole and the two would be safe in Warren faster than you could say 'Easter'.

As they cautiously made their way deeper into the wood, footprints became evident, small bootprints like that of a child's and the two decided now was the time to hurry. Their footsteps disappeared behind them faster than they thought possible and even the storm was getting worse, the calls for help were getting closer and closer until they reached a small circle of trees. The cries for help seemed to come from all around, Bunny's nose twitched, desperately trying to catch even a hint of scent under the wild winds. Bunny never expected the ball of ice that struck him hard in the back, he yowled at the freezing water that dripped down his spine and whirled around. He let loose one perfectly arced boomerang, listening to it slice through branches and clip tree trunks until it came hurtling back to his blue furry paw in which he caught it expertly. North whirled as well, searching for the source of the attack when another ball of ice struck the Russian as well, a few short calls had them running in one direction and then sharply turning again to follow the cries for help.

Their target stayed at least ten feet ahead of them at any time, calling to them to hurry and help. All they could see through the storm was a mass of something fluttering through the trees like a cloak caught in a hurricane, no footsteps were pressed into the snow as far as they could see but the cries for help were getting closer. They were also getting more desperate, like time was slipping away and soon there would be no time left. Bunny and North dashed after the voice calling to them, running faster and faster until they stopped in what looked like an old carriage path, long overgrown by the bushes and weeds that coated the sides of the road. The voice was gone again, lost to the wind, a sudden gust brought another ball of ice that Bunny sliced with a boomerang. He was getting tired of the tricks as his fur stood on end with worry for the missing child.

"North! Do you hear the little ankle biter?" Bunny exclaimed, head whipping back and forth across the frozen landscape.

"Alright, I know you can't hear me but if I'd known how stupid you were going to be I would have gotten better help instead of waiting around for you lazy bums!" Bunnymund and North both tried to locate the voice only to be blinded by a whirlwind of snow and wind, flashes of white and brown danced around them as the voice continued on. "Look, I'm sorry, I know you're probably tired and I know that an invisible guide isn't the best thing in the world but if you could just try and listen and just follow me –"

Another snowball found it's bullseye at the back of Bunny's head, making him scoff with outrage and wipe the offending slush out of his fur yet again. He was quickly getting tired of being pelted with snow, and his quick eyes searched the surrounding area critically. Around them a flurry of movement rushed like a frightened bird, the two could only catch glimpses of the figure flittering about. They could not tell what color the thing's hair was, only that it was swathed in a heavy brown cloak that had frost biting at the shoulders and hood. The face was hidden by the cloak's hood and it was moving too fast to get much of a good look until it was already across the way flinging its arms in exasperation.

"All I ask is that sometimes, someone at least tries to follow a few simple clues! How hard is it to follow a bunch of snowballs and yelling?" the figure continued to talk to itself, flailing its arms around and North spotted a long branch with a crook at the end held tightly in its hand. "I mean really!

The figure was pacing wildly behind North in an instant, they'd never seen him move and he continued to berate them like they weren't there. "I go out to the village hoping to find a couple of good people that could lend me a hand and save a little kid, but no! I get grandpa and a friggen –

The whirled to address Bunnymund but the figure's eyes widened comically, now that North could see the boy's face beneath the hood, it was angular and young with icy blue eyes and pale blue lips, the boy looked like he'd been out there for a long time. "O-kay, I have absolutely no idea what you are but hey! It doesn't matter anymore, because of course I try and help and I just end up making everything worse than it was before!" the boy turned in a circle tossing his head back and plopping back into a snow drift when North realized the teen had no shoes and the tips of his toes were a dark blue like they were frost bitten. "Now the kid's gonna die because I can't get an old man and a–a freaking kangaroo to follow me!"

He gestured wildly at Bunnymund before he stood and picked up the crook, wandering off in between a pair of trees. "Guess I have another kid to bury." they heard him grumble quietly, the sadness in his voice was what made North want to stop him but Bunnymund beat him to it.

"OI!" the boy didn't even flinch. "You are you calling a kangaroo ya ankle biter? I am a bunny!"

The boy stopped in his tracks shoulders tensed as he slowly turned on the balls of his bare feet, his eyes were wide with hope but his expression was cautious and guarded. "You can hear me?"

"Of course we can you bleeding ankle biter! Runnin' 'round calling us all kinds of things thinking we can't see you, you know how rude that is? Talking about people when they can hear ya?" Bunnymund yelled over the wind, stepping towards the pale skinned teen as said boy's face split into a wild grin.

"I am so sorry, you have no idea – " his voice was so excited and the wind kicked up again, he turned his head suddenly as if listening to something before he switched back to the two guardians and pointed behind him. "You know what, he's completely right, we're gonna just hold this off until after the kid's safe so if you'll just hurry up before she freezes to death then we can totally get back to this!

The boy dashed off into the woods. "Follow me!" they heard him yell, it sounded almost like he was right next to them the way the wind carried his voice and the two could do nothing else than to follow him.

They thought they'd lost him a couple times, he blended in with the snow and trees with his paleness and brown cloak but they did their best to keep up. When they caught up with him again he was waving them over towards a pile of snow bundled between the roots of a large tree, brushing it away until the earth was showing and a pile of branches appeared. The pale boy pulled open the cocoon of branches to reveal the freezing girl, she was clad only in a medium heavy coat and little animal skin house slippers covered her feet. She was shivering badly and her lips were starting to tint blue as her eyes drooped heavily. With a quick jump the boy was standing over her calling to her almost sleeping form worriedly, he jumped from side to side trying to get her to hear him.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Don't fall asleep, if you fall asleep you won't wake up!" he pranced around her, throwing bits of sticks and small rocks to get her attention but she just huddled into her hole more. "Come on kid, stay awake!"

"Move boy." North ordered, making the pale teen hop out of the way like a bird across the snow, crouching low to the ground.

The large man picked up the tiny bundle and pulled the edge of his coat over her chilled body before he turned back to Bunnymund. "Can you transport her back to the village my friend? You will be able to keep her warmer than myself." he handed the freezing girl to the other and they both watched as the rabbit gave him a thumbs up and tapped his foot against the ground.

A breath of warm air swirled in the wind as Bunnymund dove down into it and the two remaining watched as it closed up behind him. North turned to the pale boy again, taking in his form, he was slight under the long cloak, it covered him completely and had to be thick enough to keep most of the chill out since the boy wasn't shivering. His pale hands gripped the crook tightly like a security blanket and he could see a tuft of pale hair ruffling in the wind beneath the hood. Again the wind blew making the boy's cloak flutter in the wind as he turned and listened again, North looked at him again while the boy was distracted. Though he stood ankle-deep in snow the boy did not complain of cold, and the cloak now that he looked was coated with a fine layer of frost.

"Come now, we must get you home and warm or you will freeze." North strode towards the boy carefully side stepping the roots where they'd found the girl. "You have done well, my friend."

The boy skittered a few steps back, away from the Russian. "Warm's not exactly my thing, tried it once, " the boy replied, leaning on the branch tiredly. "I don't really like to think about what happened."

"Nonsense, you must leave this place. There is winter spirit causing trouble, making too big storms for humans to handle." North shook his head and made towards the boy again but as he glanced down to step over a root, when he looked up the boy was gone. "Where did he go?"

North searched the woods for the pale boy, trying not to stray too far from the spot he knew Bunnymund would return to. As he searched he came to a clearing in the trees where a pond stood, a large outcropping of rocks stood on one side and trees enclosed the area like a fortress. For a moment the Russian felt as if he were intruding upon someone's home but he shook off the feeling and pushed through the trees. The boy was sitting on the ice near the middle of the pond, clinging to his crook like a life line as he wrapped his cloak around himself. With a deep sigh the boy stood up and paced across the surface of the frozen pond causing panic to surge up in North's stomach before he realized something. Though the boy was huffing no puffs of frozen breath escaped his lips, at first he thought it odd before he realized just who he'd run in to.

The wind blew hard on the boy again making him have to lift an arm to shield his eyes. "Alright! Alright! I get it okay?" he shouted back at it. "I know, okay? I shouldn't get so upset, I shouldn't let my powers get the better of me!

North carefully hid himself behind a large tree as he listened in on the winter spirit. "I thought everyone was out of the woods! I thought it was okay to actually let myself go a little bit, I've been stuck here for almost a hundred years now with nothing to do!"

The spirit turned and stalked to the edge of the pond before whirling around and walking the length of ice again. "But they heard me!" he whirled and spun in the wind as it kicked up his cloak revealing a long shirt and brown vest that clung to his slight frame and brown pants that clung to his legs like a second skin. "They heard me, they saw me! They actually talked to me!"

North's heart pained for the boy, it was obvious that he was the spirit they'd come to eradicate but now that he knew just what exactly they'd been chasing he didn't have the will to stop him. A little winter spirit that no one believed in, and from the looks of it, the boy had been alone for a long time. When he heard Bunny dashing up behind him he held up a hand to stop him, it was obvious to North now. Earlier the boy had said that he would have to bury another child, many children must have me their ends in the woods, they twisted and turned and trapped humans in its grip. It was not he spirit's fault, North could see that the more excited the boy became the more wildly the wind blew, even now the blizzard had calmed with the lack of panic on the boy's face. To see a child die without being able to stop it would be enough to send any weather spirit into a panic, the blizzards were not of malcontent. He carefully stepped from his hiding place, Bunny close behind as the boy continued to chatter at the wind about how they'd spoke to him.

When he saw them he was in mid twist high in the air and he carefully glided down to them landing on the edge of the ice and snow. "Is she okay? Is she gonna make it? Can I see her?" he asked quickly, question after question falling from his lips.

"Come with us my boy." with a flick of his wrist North threw one of his snow globes, watching it crash and transport them in a spiral of lights.

When they cleared, they were in the village. The winter spirit quickly dashed forward to the first house he saw, looking around the window until he spotted the little girl inside. Her parents were carrying her through the house towards the bathroom, catching the wind he hopped along the windows trying to get a better look. Where he touched the windows fern patterned hand prints were left behind, a woman flew around the corner suddenly, clad in only a shawl and her nightgown heading straight for the little spirit. Bunny nearly told him to look out before the woman sank right through the cold creature, neither noticed the other's presence. He reached the bathroom window and watched the parents place their freezing child in a heated bath, hoping to warm her gently. A sigh of relief slipped from the frozen boy's lips as he pulled away from the window.

He pushed off from the ground, catching the wind and landing on the roof top silently, he looked back at both Bunny and North with an excited expression before he was standing in front of them in an instant. "Okay, so she's safe, and you're here and you can hear me and this is just – " he whirled and danced across the cabin's porch, spreading ice and frost as he went in his excitement. "I gotta tell you the last hundred years have been so boring, but now you're here and you can see me and you can hear me and this is just so amazing – "

"Little spirit!" North exclaimed, trying to get the boy's attention as he only continued to talk about how they could see him. "Hey, you!"

Finally the boy stopped and whirled around, excitement still on his face. "The child could have died." North said solemnly, not enjoying the look of the boy when his excitement drained from him. "You must gain control over your powers, before someone dies."

"I did everything I possibly could!" he replied. "You don't know how lucky she was this time!"

Bunnymund hopped forward, pointing an accusing finger at the winter spirit. "Which is why you need to control your storms, if we hadn't come by it would have been too late. You got lucky this time kid."

"I've been trying! You know how hard it is to handle all this?" the spirit snapped, gesturing at all the snow and ice. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to just sit around here, no one can see me, no one can hear me! No matter how much I scream and yell!"

"It is because they do not believe in you." North cut in sadly, blue eyes shot to him filled with anger. "If they do not believe in you then they cannot see you."

"No matter what I do, they don't see me! They call me all kinds of things! 'Old Man Winter', 'Vinter Prins', a cold snap, a blizzard, a winter demon!" he shouted, clearly distressed. "Nobody will listen to me when I tell them my name! None of them will listen, even the Moon won't!"

With a huff the winds surged and carried him away, at first Bunnymund made chase but North stopped him. "He said the Moon would not listen to him anymore."

"That's impossible, " the rabbit griped. "There's no way he would raise such a dangerous thing!"

"Leave the boy be, Bunny, if he wants to stay here then let him stay." North replied sadly, pulling out yet another snow globe. "We cannot make him go."

With that, North threw the globe and stepped through the portal with Bunny. The village went dark as the lights faded, and the winter spirit sat and watched them go high in a nearby tree. He was invisible to all once again, but he'd finally saved one, even if it was only one it made his heart feel a little less like a shard of ice in his chest.

I am starting this Drabble Cache in hopes of getting some ideas down and out of my head, so if anyone has any interesting ideas just send them my way and I'll try to get them posted. I'm pretty partial to anything but pairings for this series, something about all these characters makes me feel like they wouldn't have any kind of time for relationships and that they don't mind it. So send me some ideas and I'll try and get them posted.