Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians; that respectfully belongs to William Joyce and Dreamworks. I do, however, own this stories' plot and any characters you don't recognize.

Soundtrack(s):

Ordon Village- Legend of Zelda

Chapter One

Whoever told him that horses were gentle creatures were lying.

Jackson Overland despised them. He always thought he could handle anything. Hunting wasn't a problem for him. Catching chickens and herding sheep? That's a little tougher but he'd get them into their cages and stables eventually. But horses? They drove him to the brink of insanity. All because of a certain brown and white spotted mare who refuses to go inside the stable. It also didn't help since it was the middle of October and it was getting cold enough that trees were losing their leaves.

"Come on, Maple! Why do you always have to make this hard for me?" Jackson pleads with the brown mare, tugging on its reins. But the horse refuses to budge from its place.

He exhales sharply, narrowing his brown eyes at the horse. Maybe he was going insane. He was arguing with a stubborn creature who couldn't even argue back. Which, oddly enough, reminded Jack of his father who was a stubborn man but meant well. He often wondered if that's where Maple got her personality from. Out of all the horses his father owned, he favored Maple the most. He wouldn't be surprised actually.

For a second, he swore he thought Maple was glaring at him. He lets out a huff of air and pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He was going to be there all day and it was already freezing with snowflakes falling from the sky and wind gently blowing around him. He was thankful he had his poncho even though he insisted that he didn't need it.

"Alright, we can do this the hard way or the easy way," Jack reasoned with her, folding his arms across his chest. But she refused to budge from her spot. "Maple, I swear to the Heavens above if you don't get in there, you won't get any oats for a week."

If horses had personalities, he'd imagine it laughing at him.

"Wow, you actually managed to threaten a horse," a familiar gravelly voice says from behind him. "You've reached a whole new level of low. I'm disappointed in you, Jackson."

He whirls around, thinking his father was behind him. But he only sees a blond haired boy around his height, leaning against the barn wall and taking a bite out of a red apple. Jack's brown eyes meet his friend's blue ones. He had his long sleeves rolled up to his elbows and brown suspenders over his white shirt.

"You sound like my father," Jack tells the boy, inwardly sighing with relief. "Don't do that."

"That's the point," the boy says, raises his eyebrows. He glances at the horse beside Jack skeptically. "You know, threatening her is not going to make her like you. It's just gonna make her more aggressive."

"Oh, and suddenly you're the horse expert, Matt?" Jack snickers, shoving him slightly.

Matt merely laughs sarcastically and shoves him back. He reaches into his pocket and tosses another red apple at him which Jack catches easily with his free hand. Jack raises his eyebrows at the fruit but takes a bite into it before following him back to Maple.

"Trust me, you do not want to threaten them," Matt advises as he walks towards the mare.

Jack stutters, muttering protests that the older boy ignores. He jaw drops in disbelief as Matt pats the horses snout and coos softly at it. Maple didn't even flinch under the older boy's touch.

"Oh come on, that's completely unfair!" Jack splutters, frowning at the smirk on his friend's face. "Hell, even Emma gets to go near her! Me? No I get the look!"

Both the mare and Matt stare at him with deadpan expressions.

"Yeah, that one!" Jack exclaims, giving them an accusatory glare.

" You're making this harder than it needs to be, Jackson," Matt says. His blue eyes glisten with amusement. He pats Maple a few more times just to get a reaction out of him.

"You're both unbelievable," Jack says without any emotion. He glances at the two of them and his eyes lit up as if he'd just gotten an idea. "Hey, why don't you put her in the stable?"

Matt's hand hovers over the horses' neck. He turns toward Jack and asks, "Why?"

"Because she likes you better and you're my best friend in the whole wide world?" Jack asks in a sickeningly sweet tone, wrapping his arm around Matt's shoulders. Matt only stares back, not amused by the affection. Alright, if that didn't work, he'd have to step up his game. "You can come over at our house and have some of my mother's famous beef stew."

He notices Matt's hesitation. Oh, he had him now. There's no way he can turn down food.

"No," Matt says firmly.

Looks like he wasn't falling for any tricks today. Jack sighs and shakes his head. Matt usually took the bait. This'll be tougher than he thought. Then he thought about a certain brunette and how Matt had been avoiding her recently. Which was odd now that he thought about it. Those two were never seen without the other.

"I'll give you more alone time with Piper," Jack mentions their friend's casually. Matt whirls around, freezing at the mention of her name and he stares with wide, horrified eyes. Check and mate. Jack smirks at the reaction. "Or I'll tell her that you have a little crush on her."

"You wouldn't," Matt splutters. His neck was turning a bit red.

"Oh believe me, I would," Jack taunts and pokes the blond.

"Fine, fine!" Matt waves his arms around in an embarrassed fashion.

Jack only smiles smugly and watches as Matt tugs on the horses' leash and brings her inside. Jack merely laughs when his friend mutters curses that would catch a sailor off guard. Matt comes back, glaring at him.

"You owe me for this!"

"As always," Jack says, dismissing the threat with a cheeky wave of his hand.

"Have I ever told you how much I hate you?"

"All the time," Jack smiles.

"I'm gonna marry her one day, just you watch," Matt warns, pointing at him.

"Sure you will," Jack rolls his eyes.

"You're not gonna be invited to the wedding!"

"Oh good, I hate weddings!"

Matt frowns and throws his arms around Jack. Jack struggles out of the older boy's hold and bursts out laughing Matt's fist digs into his skull. Jack stops laughing when a snowball collides against his neck. He yelps in surprise and tries to whirl around to see the culprit but it's hard since he's still in Matt's arms. Both boys freeze when they hear giggling from somewhere near them.

"Alright, come on out, you two," Jack calls out, amusement dancing in his eyes as he nudges Matt, urging him to play along. The older boy just rolls his eyes and releases him but a small, fond smile spreads on his lips. "We know you're out there!"

The two boys glance at each other when there's no response. That couldn't be right. They had to be hiding behind the trees. They whirl around, keeping an eye out for intruders. Another snowball hits the back of Matt's head. He yelps, touching the spot where it hit him. Jack swoops down and reaches for the pile of snow beneath his feet and stands back up again. He holds the snowball against his back, waiting to strike when they appear.

"Nice shot, Emma!" an older, feminine voice shouts. Her voice echoes throughout the area.

Jack sees a girl about his age reveal herself from behind a tree to his right. She's his height. Her brown hair reminds him of a bush, it's always sticking out everywhere despite it being in a braid. Her dark eyes are sparkling with mischief. A younger girl appears behind her, with matching dark hair and dark eyes. Emma. At least, he knew where she ran off too earlier.

"Thank you, Piper," Emma giggles, and sweeps up her brown skirt in a curtsy. The two girls smile and give each other high fives.

"Should've known it was you, Emma," Jack interrupts, smiling.

"I couldn't resist," Emma says, shrugging. "No hard feelings?"

Oh, he wouldn't be falling for that innocent smile anytime soon.

"Of course not," Jack says, mocking her. She narrows her eyes at the tone in his voice.

"What's that behind you, Jack?" She asks, tilting her head so that she could see. But he moves from her line of sight, laughing.

"Nothing!"

"Doesn't look like nothing!" Emma exclaims, distrusting him.

"Would I lie to you?"

"Yes! You always play tricks!" She says, placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh, hi mister mayor, fine day today, isn't it?" He asks, glancing behind the two girls.

They both whirl around, gasping. But there's no one behind them. Jack tosses the snowball in his hands and it hits the back of Emma's head. She squeals in shock and whirls around, brown eyes wide.

"Hey, no fair!" she whines. Jack bursts out laughing and exchanges a high five with Matt who merely shakes his head at their behavior. "This means war!"

The four of them sprung to life at those words and scatter away to search for a place to hide. Like Jack, the other three had the same idea to hide in between the trees. Something wet and cold collides with the back of his neck and he stiffens, slowly turning around to see the culprit. Matt's standing there with a smirk on his face. Well, I'll be damned, Jack thought, smirking. Didn't know Matt had it in him.

"Any last words, Matt?" He taunts, tossing the snowball into the air a few times as he slowly walks toward his friend.

"Oh hi, Mister Mayor," Matt greets, tilting his head to glance at someone behind Jack.

"Ha! There's no way I'm falling for that trick!" Jack mocks, ready to throw the snow in his hands.

"Causing trouble again, Jackson?" A rich voice booms behind him.

Jack yelps in shock and whirls around. He comes face to face with a tall,plump man with thinning gray hair standing behind them. His misty,bespectacled eyes stare at the small group of friends in amusement.

"Mr. Anderson!" Jack gasps, ignoring the way his heart beats frantically. He hides the snow behind his back. "Fancy seeing you here today."

"I was just taking a stroll," Mr. Anderson reassures, smiling although it doesn't seem to reach his eyes. " It calms the stress after a long day of paperwork. Please, don't let me spoil the fun. How's the family, Matthew?"

Jack's eyebrows furrow in confusion, not understanding the hostile tone underneath the pleasantry exchange. He glances over at Matt who's gone stiff like a statute and averting his eyes as if finding the ground more interesting. How odd. He'd never seen this side of his friend before. Actually, now that he thought about it, he never heard Matt talk about his family before either. Beside Matt, Piper also notices the odd behavior and frowns at the boy. She gives him a gentle nudge and when Matt glances at her, she nods her head towards the old man.

"They're doing just fine, sir," Matt mumbles, rubbing the back of his head.

"That's good to hear," Mr. Anderson says with a firm nod of his head, "I hope they're doing okay," He clears his throat when Matt doesn't answer. He adds as an afterthought, "Say hi to yours for me, will you Jackson?"

"Yes, sir," Jack says, with an awkward salute.

The group of friends stands there, silently watching their town leader slowly continue down the snowy path, humming under his breath as he did. The air was still thick with tension around them and Jack glances at his group of friends with a frown on his face. His friends were acting stranger than usual. Sure, Mr. Anderson had a stern expression and could be intimidating at times but he never thought anything of it.

"C-come on, let's get going," Matt says after an awkward silence.

"Where?" Emma asks, staring at the older boy curiously.

"Anywhere but here," Matt says, gritting his teeth.

Jack and Emma exchange a glance, slightly concerned about the older boy's odd behavior. Now he was curious to know more about his family. Did he ever mention them? He can't remember. They walk together quietly until they hear loud laughter from up ahead. Oh, what now? Jack whines in his head. In their line of vision, they could see a large group standing in front of a girl. Her bright, red hair was the first thing he noticed. What were they doing? Taking his worry off of Matt for a moment, he walks closer to the other group, ignoring his friends calling out for him.

As he get closer and closer, he hides behind a bush. One of the boys was saying something that he couldn't quite make out. He hears Piper gasp beside him and it takes him a moment to realize why she's so horrified. They were tossing stones at the red haired girl. Her head was bowed down so he couldn't see her face properly. But she just stood there, hardly doing anything to stop them. The stones were grazing her cheeks and neck, leaving small red cuts on her skin. Of all his time spent in Burgess, he never witnessed anything like that before. Why were they doing that?

"We-we should do something!" Jack exclaims, eyes wide.

"No," Matt says, so firmly that it stops Jack in his tracks. "We'll just get in trouble."

Jack whirls around, astonished that the older boy would suggest that.

"What? We do nothing?" Jack exclaims. "How can you say that?"

"Go ahead and help her yourself for all I care," Matt says harshly. Jack frowns at the hostile tone. What's gotten into him? He'd been acting strange since the mayor interrupted their snowball fight. "You coming, Piper?"

Jack sees Piper's eyes anxiously dart back and forth between the two. She bites her lip and tugs on her braid. She looks torn between wanting to help the girl and following Matt. He scoffs at the two and decides for her. He runs off, ignoring both hers and his sister's protests.

"Hey!" He calls out. They all whirl around at the sound of his voice.

He and the girl's eyes meet and it's like they were the only ones in the crowd. She has blue eyes. His breath gets caught in his throat and it's hard to breathe for a moment. She's frowning at him. He slowly walks up to them in a few strides, holding his staff casually on his neck. Their laughter brings him back to his senses and he grips his staff tighter, frowning at the odd moment. He shakes his head to get a hold of himself. What was that?

"This is the cavalry?" One of the boys jeers. "You must be joking."

"I dunno, I like to think I'm pretty serious," Jack walks up to them and leans against his staff, smirking slightly. Even the girl is staring at him like he's gone insane.

"Jackson?" Another boy makes a noise that only can be described as a laugh and a huff of air. "Never thought I'd see you again."

Jackson eyes the boy skeptically for a sign of familiarity. He had short, blond hair hidden underneath a hat and green eyes. He wore a dark grey vest over his long sleeved white shirt. He tosses a stone in the air a few times.

"Do I know you?" He asks because he certainly didn't know the boy.

"We used to go to the same school," the boy shrugs, as if he wasn't stung by not being remembered. "You tackled me to the ground."

"Oh, yeah, you were that bully," Jack greets nonchalantly with a shrug. "Still having fun tormenting people, I see?"

"Still can't mind other people's business, I see?" The other boy mocks.

"Touche."

"Look, you mind leaving us alone?" He asks, pointing at the girl who's frown never left her face. She stares back at forth between them curiously. "We're kind of busy here."

"Or really?" Jack prompts, walking in a slow circle around the teens. The group tenses as he does, exchanging confused looks. "Because it seems like you're terrorizing the little lady over there."

"Again, it's really none of your business," Bill argues, frowning.

"I think it is," Jack counters.

"Bill," the blonde haired girl warns. Jack raises his eyebrows at the way she places a hand on the bully's shoulder. So the bully does have a name, he muses.

"Oh pipe it!" 'Bill' shrugs off her hand and glares at her. "I'm just gonna teach him a lesson is all." She purses her lips but begrudgingly nods her head and steps back into the group behind her.

Bill lunges at him. Jack stiffens and thrusts his staff in front of him for protection. A huge gust of wind bursts from nowhere and Bill is tossed aside like a rag doll and hits a nearby tree before he can tackle him. Wait, what just happened? Where did that wind come from? Bill looks around with wide eyes so comical that it's hard for Jack to hold in his laughter. The group of teens rush towards Bill, screaming his name and asking if he was alright..

"Get off me!" He shouts, swatting their hands away as he gets back up to his feet. "Let's get out of here!"

They shout over one another in agreement.

"Yeah, you better run!" Jack exclaims, cackling as they scatter away like mice hiding from a trap. He glances at the girl, who's slowly picking herself up off the ground. He walks over to her and offers his hand. "Hey, you okay?"

"I don't need your help!" The girl exclaims harshly. Her tone makes Jack recoil from her. He watches as she stands back up by herself. Their eyes meet again briefly before she turns away. "I could have handled it myself!"

"Sure, you could," he scoffs, hardly believing what he was hearing. She merely walks off without sparing him another glance. "You know, A simple thank you would've been appreciated!"

The only thing he got in response was silence. He shakes his head and walks off a different direction further away from her back to his little sister who was waiting for him by the hilltop.

AN: Hello everyone! Welcome to "Sanctuary"! Had this story idea in my head for about four years now since the movie came out and I can't believe that I've just started writing it D: I'd also like to mention that there are going to be a lot of ocs in this due to this being set in the past and I hope you don't mind that. Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter and will stick around to read more :D Also, you don't actually have to listen to the soundtracks if you don't want to, those are just there if you like to listen to anything while you read :D Thanks for reading!