History is Lessons to be Learned
I stand Alone
It had been a few weeks since the Guardians had seen Jack's Winter Dance and things between the five were slowly getting better. At the moment, all of them had gathered together in Tooth's palace as she was the one best equipped to handle what they were about to do. With Jack's permission the elder Guardians were being allowed to view his memories both from when he was alive and from his time as the Spirit of Winter.
As he followed the flighty Guardian of Memories, Jack couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. It's not that he didn't trust his fellow Guardians, but at the same time…he didn't trust them. They were never there for him in all his three hundred years as a spirit. They never taught him how to control his abilities. They never paid attention to him, simply wrote him off as a nuisance. So why was he allowing them to view his memories, memories that contained the essence of his soul? Why would…oh, he remembered now. Jack hummed thoughtfully. This could be his chance to have that one wish fulfilled and then maybe, just maybe the others would realize just how close he had been to becoming like Pitch. It might even shed some light for them on why he wasn't there that fateful Easter and what happened before he went to save Jamie Bennett. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.
After travelling deep within the Tooth Palace, the group finally arrived at an unobtrusive oak wood set of double doors. There was nothing special about the doors, no intricate carvings or gilded surfaces that could possibly give away what was contained inside. That was exactly what Tooth was aiming for and it was effective; Pitch never made it this far and even if he had he would have overlooked it for the one detail that made Jack almost overlook the door. While the material was oak wood and true there was no extravagant flashy adorning, the door was covered in a substance that made it blend in with the surrounding stone walls. The inside was just as unassuming with the only things standing out were five palm sized glass orbs resting on pillars. Each pillar was set up in a crescent circle embossed with its own symbol. On the far right was a pillar with a golden plane-obviously Sandy's memory globe. Across from his was a pillar with an Easter egg-Bunny's globe. Next to Bunny's was a Tooth stamped pillar and beside that one was one with a sleigh and reindeer pillar. The last one was between North's and Sandy's embossed with a light blue silver tinted snowflake pillar. This was the pillar that everyone gathered around.
The crystal globe shone with a soft white light while inside a gentle storm of snowflakes swirled in infinite patterns. Tooth fluttered the closest reaching a hand out to touch the top.
"Jack, are you sure you're okay with this? We understand if you don't want us to see these." Jack could hear the concern and hesitance in the fairy's voice and he was touched, but he wanted…no, he needed for them to see what he life had been like. It would be his final test for them; if they passed then Jack knew he could trust and forgive them.
"I'm sure, Tooth." He gave her a sincere smile with an encouraging nod.
"Alright, then everyone hold hands please. Here we go." Waiting for the order to be followed, Tooth took a deep breath before touching the globe with the tips of her fingertips thereby sending them into the memories of Jack Frost.
Memory World
The Easter Kangaroo had just finished scolding and belittling me for yet another blizzard the day before his precious holiday. Doesn't he get it yet? I mean, it has been three hundred years since I was "born" as a –wait for it- WINTER spirit. Surely in all those centuries it would have sunk in at one point. He's been sniffing paint fumes for so long now I guess a few million brain cells have died if he can't even remember the basics of winter spirits. Bringing snow and cold wind and blizzards kinda comes with the job description. Sure I suppose I could have held off on the blizzard in Chicago until after Easter, but for one thing it looked like it needed a new layer of my wonderful element and for another I was there anyway so as that one dude back a couple of decades said "Why put off for tomorrow what you can do today." Or something of that nature; I also just like getting under the Kangaroo's fur.
Anyway, one would think the OH so important Big Four would understand since they are all about jobs and responsibility. They certainly preach to me about responsibility often enough. I try to tell them that I am responsible; I just don't let it consume me like they do to the point where I no longer remember what it is to have some proper fun. Sometimes I'd love to just whack all of them over the head with my staff and force them to live one day in my life, and then let them tell me to not make the most of my abilities. None of them would last an hour in my life. They have become so dependent on being believed in that they have no idea what it is like to be invisible, unheard, untouched by anyone. The experience would probably kill them or at the very least utterly shatter them. I've been dealing with it for three hundred years by myself. Having fun and being mischievous is the only way I know how to ensure I don't go insane from the loneliness. Silent heartbreaking loneliness.
((The Guardians were stunned at the sheer hurt Jack had contained within him. The anger and disappointment he held…all because of them, because of their mistakes. Their Jack wasn't there with them as Tooth explained that because these were HIS memories he would have to relive them. However, they would feel everything he did and he felt a lot. There hadn't been a moment so far that an emotion wasn't beating strongly within Jack. It was staggering to say the least, that he hadn't gone completely insane from the pain. New admiration rose within the observing group for the boy they knew they had never really known.))
IT WASN'T FAIR! The Tooth fairy wasn't the one to take you on that wicked awesome sled ride across town. That was ME! Big Foot wasn't the one to hit you with a perfect snowball. I did! Santa doesn't bring you Snow Days. I DO! ME, JACK FROST! But you wouldn't know that 'cause you have always been told that Jack Frost isn't real; that I'm not real. To you I'm just a saying from a song. But I see you- all of you- playing in my snow, in my gift to you. I feel you pass through my cold body and continue on with your life never realizing the soul numbing pain you have just inflicted on someone.
A deep sigh heaved itself from my core. I thought I'd be used to this by now sad as that though is. I guess even a winter spirit has the social nature so commonly found in humans. Laying my staff across my shoulders, I begin the solitary trek back to my lake-my home. Ice spread as a marker of my passage though no one was around to appreciate the intricate fern like designs as every living sane creature sought shelter for the night and away from the cold winter. Shelter from me…one tear traced a path down my chilled cheek dropping as a snowflake to the ground where it was lost and forgotten among the zillions of its brethren. With a soft shake of my head I leapt up to the power lines overhead and continued my journey.
As I traveled a song I remember hearing in a…moo-vay I think the kid called it…came to mind. I remember it so clearly because it had struck a chord in my frozen heart. It was as if someone knew a part of me and decided to put it to song. Both ways it certainly fit my mood and no one was around to criticize me or tell me to stop so I might as well go give it a shot. Tilting my head towards the silent Moon I opened my mouth and began.
Like every tree stands on its own
Reaching for the sky I stand alone
I share my world with no one else
All by myself
I stand alone
I put all of my loneliness, pain and sorrow into this opening verse. It was slow and thick with emotion, utterly and deliciously draining so that the remainder of the song could be strong in conviction.
I know the sound of each rock and stone
And I embrace what others fear
You are not to roam in this forgotten place
I looked back at the town I had swiftly left behind, thinking of the kids snuggled safe and warm in their beds. No, my world of loneliness should never be for one of them.
Just the likes of me are welcome here
I had reached the forest surrounding my lake by this time and the trees began to frost over with my beautiful patterns. I touch a slumbering oak watching the frost spiral and twirl against the bark, adorning the plain brown with glistening silver.
Everything breathes and I know each breath
For me it means life
For others it's death
My winter is death to those foolish enough to be caught in her wrath; she is death to those foolish enough to believe they are immune to her numbing charm. Only I am immune to her advances. I control her in exchange I play with her and be seen by only her.
It's perfectly balanced
Perfectly planned
More than enough for this man
In a way it is more than enough. I control something so primal and yet her beauty is unmatched by any other season. Of course, I'm a tad biased but who can blame me? Winter covers all the dead things of fall in a clean blanket of white until it's decomposed enough for spring flowers to have new nutrients. Then the snow melts providing water for the growing plants. Really when you think about it, Winter is the best season of all.
Like every tree stands on its own
Reaching for the sky I stand alone
I share my world with no one else
All by myself
I stand alone
I had reached my lake by this time and began to skate upon the glassy surface. With my staff trailing along the ground behind me I sketched with my frost in patterns so intricate only I could appreciate their splendor.
(cool little yodel)
Once more my thoughts returned to the children and adults of the town I had left with snow. And also to the so called Guardians of those children. Bitterness welled up lending a sharper edge to the next verse.
I've seen your world with these very eyes
Don't come any closer, don't even try
I've felt all the pain and heard all the lies
But in my world there's no compromise
It's true, there is no compromising with Winter. You can be prepared for it-bundling in layers, stockpiling wood, gathering food in case of long blizzard like conditions- but you can never compromise. If you are too lazy to prepare for Winter then you had better be ready to face the consequences of your choices.
Like every tree stands on its own
Reaching for the sky I stand alone
I share my world with no one else
All by myself I stand alone
I floated above my lake singing the last few lines with my arms outstretched. Practically daring the Moon to do something about my status, the status he gave me.
All by myself I stand alone
All by myself I stand alone
I settled back on the ice, my eyes closed off from world and the moonlight. The Moon was just as silent as always; sometimes I wonder why I even bother trying. Usually thoughts like this leave me depressed for days afterwards, but this time I had the memory of the young boy's wild sled ride through the town. The smile of pure joy and wonder as he sailed through the air made the ache a little less prominent. A new novelty for me; maybe I should go back and leave a present for him as a way of saying thank you. Some frosted ice drawings on his window perhaps? With that thought in mind, I called the wind to carry me back to the town and to the little boy who had helped me in more ways than one.
((No one said a word or made a sound in comment to what they had just witnessed. They couldn't. There was nothing to describe this memory of Jack Frost. Hindsight truly is twenty-twenty; you don't fully realize the consequences of you actions until you are feeling their affects. Tears streamed freely down all of their faces. Feeling his loneliness caused the Guardians to realize just how far they had to go to make up the years of neglect Jack had gone through by their hands. They wouldn't mess up like this again for a long time to come. Of that they swore.))
So I decided to do a sequel to I am the Voice if you haven't read that one then you might be a little lost on the beginning for this one. This particular one will have multiple chapters detailing a different memory and event and will probably usually be set to a song.
This one is (if you haven't already guessed) I Stand Alone from Quest for Camelot. Comments and constructive reviews are appreciated!