So I really liked the Rise of the Guardians film and couldn't help but make my own character for the series, as I so often do. Just to get the feeling out of my head for a bit, I wrote up a sort of intro/test chapter to my story, which I don't anticipate to be too long of one.
I do not own Rise of the Guardians, only Notre Dame, the General and the Golem army.
A dirty and broken, winged figure sat in the ruins of an old castle, lit only by the glowing crystals that grew in the walls as the sound of running water filled the room. In one hand, she held a hammer and in the other, a chisel. She placed the tip of the chisel onto the slab of stone and drove the hammer into it, chipping off a piece of the stone with each strike, bring shape to it with each careful and decisive movement. After several articulate strokes, she stepped back to admire her work: a winged figure like her, a gargoyle.
She looked at her stone child before her and waved her hand, a gentle stream of water dancing over to her and pouring onto the stone carving. Her eyes beamed with hope, silently begging for the stone to move and for her child to breath in life. But it made no move and the water gathered in a pool around the base of the stone.
She angrily threw her hammer and chisel to the side before crouching on the ground. She gathered her face in her hands and broke down, letting the water flow from her eyes. But this water was not from the stream. These were her tears.
Thousands of miles beneath the solid crust, another figure made of stone burst out of its mold, bits of dust coming off its joints as it moved. Eyes glowing red, it turned to several hundred – nearly thousands – of statues that looked the same as it. One row by one, the eyes of the statues lit up a brilliant red.
"All right North, what's the reason for calling us up this time? You better not be calling us here to check out the toys you're making!" exclaimed Bunny, shaking his fist as North.
"Central incisor, apartment 32 on West 57th street-As much as I love checking out toys as the next gal, the last time you showcased you latest toy, I got gum stuck in my feathers. Let me tell you, getting gum out of feathers is not easy. First premolar at 2356 Sunrise Blvd," Tooth continued, as her little fairies came in and out.
"Friends! I am only days away from Christmas! I would not call you all here during the busiest and most important week of the year unless it was good reason," North started.
"Most important we- Do you know how many eggs I paint and hide in one night, buster?" Bunny stepped forward.
"Oh here we go," muttered Jack. "Are they like this every time?" he asked Sandy, who gave Jack a tired nod.
"Ah but your eggs can walk and hide themselves. I hand deliver each of my toys to every family across globe in one night!"
"Gentlemen, gentlemen, as interesting as a debate between whether Christmas or Easter is more important than the other," Jack started, as Bunny and North both responded the statement with their own holidays, "but didn't you call us here for something 'important', North?"
"Oh, yes. I have important news! The Golem army has awoken."
"What? You're certain?" asked Bunny.
"Wait, what's the Golem army?" asked Jack, his eyebrow furrowed in confusion.
"Long ago Jack, long before you were even born, Man in Moon created Golem General. General was to protect homes of families from danger and made more golems to serve same purpose," North explained.
"Over time, the General just stopped doing what he was created to do. He started hurting people, using his army to attack the innocent," Tooth continued.
"How did you stop him?" asked Jack.
"We didn't. The golems are bloody indestructible! The best we could do was lock 'em up thousands of miles beneath the surface," added Bunny.
"Wait, so we're going up against an indestructible golem army, slowly marching it's way to the surface to destroy everything in its path? Great! How exactly do we start?" Jack chuckled.
"Is no laughing matter, Jack. General is not to be taken lightly," North added sternly.
"Jack has a point. We barely managed to stop them last time and we didn't even stop them, we only delayed them! What can we do now that we haven't already tried before?" asked Tooth.
"I've got an idea: Dame," said Bunny.
"Dame? Are you sure that's a good idea, Bunny?" asked Tooth.
"Dame? Who's Dame?" asked Jack.
"Dame was Guardian with rest of us before you joined up. After Man in Moon made General and he turned rotten, Man in Moon made Notre Dame, gargoyle and had us induct her as Guardian," explained North.
"Those gargoyles of hers'll eat through the General and his army like a buffet!" Bunny boasted.
"Wait, there was another Guardian before me? And none of you felt this was important to mention?" Jack asked.
"Was not relevant when fighting Pitch," North commented.
"Why didn't she and her gargoyles just eat up the golems the first time?" asked Jack.
"Dame was still newborn spirit by time we defeated General and his army. She only had a little power and a small number of gargoyles, certainly not enough to eat up an army," North explained.
"So if she was a Guardian, where is she now?" Jack asked.
"People stopped believing in her and she quit…" Tooth replied sadly. "None of us even know where she is now."
"Well, most of us," North said, eyeing Bunny.
"What?" cried Bunny.
"Bunny, you were closer to her than any of us. She showed you her castle," said Tooth.
"On the promise that I don't tell anyone, not even the rest of you where it is! You all know she wasn't exactly a people person," Bunny retorted.
"Hold up a minute, Bunny's got a secret girlfriend and nobody was gonna tell me?" Jack laughed.
"It's none of your business, snowflake," Bunny muttered.
"Hoo hoo, touchy," Jack teased.
"None of us have spoken to her in centuries. I haven't even seen a gargoyle come to life since after she quit," Tooth said, motioning to the small gargoyle perched high above the in the workshop. "How do we even know she'll come back?" asked Tooth.
"She has to. We cannot fight Golem army without her," added North.
"Don't you lot worry about that. I happen to have a special way of words with Dame," Bunny said, tapping his foot and opening a tunnel. "You hear that Dame?" he shouted, lifting his head to the small gargoyle perched in North's workshop, "you've got company!" he shouted, disappearing into the hole.
Hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Not sure when I'll post the next one, but let me know what you thought about it!
Notre Dame is based on the myth of the gargoyles and how they ward away evil spirits from homes and protect those within. Therefore, Notre Dame - named after the cathedral - is the Guardian of Family and Homes. Golems are based on the golems of Jewish folklore.
As the story goes, you'll learn more about the General, Dame and her relationship with Bunny.
Next Chapter - Mont Blanc: Bunny arrives in Dame's castle and finds his friend is not the person she used to be.
