Saxima Says: For those of you who read, Mother Nature: Materi Zemli, here is the story that is going to feature her. A forewarning, I have a habit of putting original characters into all stories of the fandom that I write for, so she probably won't appear in only this one.
I have no pairings planned for this story, so there will be no Jack Frost x Materi Zemli, or any others for that matter. I am sorry to disappoint if you were hoping for that. I hope you enjoy Mother Has Returned.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Rise of the Guardians.
- Meeting Mother -
"You've gotta be kidding me." said a snowy-haired boy with frosty blue eyes, "This is Mother Nature?" he asked, still incredulous, pointing his oddly-shaped staff at the small girl in front of the gather of Guardians, "But she's so . . . tiny." he went on, leaning onto his staff that rested in the crook of his neck for support.
North gave the boy a good, hard slap on the back and laughed loudly, "Looks be deceiving; she is more powerful than earthquake and tsunami combined on terrible, terrible day. Even more than that!" he said, "Zemli, introduce yourself to Jack here."
The young-looking girl was tanned and her eyes were a striking green. She peered up at Jack, her wild and earthly brown hair falling about her shoulders and face, looking like it refused to ever be tamed, and then she blinked at him, "I can make a bigger snowstorm than you. But I won't. Because I know that's your domain." she said simply, her voice being that of a ten-year-old.
Jack Frost, the Guardian of Mischief and Chaos, perked an eyebrow at the small female; was she for real? She was so short that Jack had to bend his knees to get to her height, "Not so fast, shorty." he said to her, patting her on her head, while she frowned at him for the nickname, "I think you're a little ahead of yourself."
"Na," intervened Bunnymund, "I think you're a bit ahead of yerself, Frostbite. Zemli is older than all of us, 'cept Sandy over 'ere. She just prefers to act like one of the kiddies 'cos it tickles her fancy." he told the eternally young teenager, "A lil' bugger, she is."
"Is that so . . . ?" Jack asked with interest, looking back at the girl in front of him. So she was thousands of years old, huh? Eh, maybe not. Maybe just one or two thousand years old. Maybe not even that. Hrm. Being immortal and trying to keep track of people's ages was a hassle; all he knew was that Bunny, Tooth, North, and Sandy were older than he was. The Moon, too – he was probably older than all of them. Could she really be older than all of them? That's kinda strange, he honestly thought, I mean . . . she looks younger than all of them, but she's older? Oh, whatever . . .
"I'm Materi Zemli, but you can call me Zem. I am the Guardian of Change, Imagination, and Life." she said with her young-girl voice, bowing her head at Jack, "I protect children through the changes in their young life and help them adjust. I wipe away the bad things that they imagine when they are frightened. I influence the good things that they imagine when they are happy, motivated." she explained, her face solemn despite her words speaking volumes to the other Guardians.
There was one thing that Jack was confused about: Mother Nature wasn't exactly something or someone children believed in, she wasn't really personified in any way. She was used more as a . . . A figure of speech . . . he thought to himself in realization. Did children not see her? This bothered him because it was once like that for himself, just ten or so years ago; there was a time when no one believed in Jack Frost, he was only a figure of speech, and no one knew he was real or what he did.
. . . It had been a very lonely time.
When he looked at Zemli again, her face was blank, but bright. Surely after some thousand years she would know that no child could see her, that they would all pass through her. But when he looked at her face, he couldn't see any traces of sadness. Was it just something she had grown accustomed to over so many years? Or had her pain gotten so bad that it eventually dulled out?
. . . He was thinking too much into this, wasn't he?
North scouted out the troubled look on Jack's face and E spoke up, "What's a-matter Frostbite, intimidated by the lil' bugger?" E teased, poking at the teenager's shoulder, only to have his furry finger slapped off, "Heh."
"Now, now," came Tooth's soothing voice, her blindingly fast wings carrying her around the group, "Don't worry about little Zem, she can take care of herself, she's taken care of the rest of us, after all." she said, joking slightly.
From behind him, North put a reassuring hand on Jack's shoulder, "Tooth is very right. Zemli is big girl, and is capable of destroying whole cities – but we wouldn't let her do that!" he said with a mighty laugh, earning him a scolding look from Tooth, "No, no, no, little Zemli has been there for us all, but she is very mysterious being, only Moon and she know her origins. She mostly talks to Sandy and often works with him to help child go through big change in their life." he explained while he, Bunny, Tooth, and Jack observed Zemli playing with Sandy and the Yetis.
"My personal favorite of all the lil' ankle-biters of the world, but this one packs a punch, let me tell you." Bunnymund said to the others, "Aye, she's a good kid, a lil' rough 'round the edges, but you get used to her after a while."
Jack watched her, and while he felt that maybe she was a little too special, he couldn't help but feel bad for her. A little kid like her, becoming a guardian? She had died so young, and she must have done something brave and real heroic to become a powerful nature-harnessing immortal. It was strange how they all came to be . . . The rise of something great, magnificent from the most tragic and horrible happenings. The more he thought about it, the more they were like phoenixes; rising from the ashes after their fall, more powerful than the day before.
Zemli, with a bit of a hop in her step, came up to the older Guardians, holding Sandy's hand, "I won't have to stay here, will I?" she asked with a frown, "This place is too cold for me . . . I like nice big trees or underground burrows, like Bunny's." she told them, running to E and hopping on his back.
North gave his hardy laugh and patted Mother Nature on the head, "Not if you no want to, Zemli," he told her, "You may go wherever you choose! Just make sure you are most careful." he warned, and in reply, Zemli nodded vigorously.
She waved goodbye to the Guardians and with her wild brown hair whipping around her, she disappeared into a whirl of leaves. Jack was curious where she had to go, but if she was really Mother Nature, then all of Earth was her home, she could live anywhere she wanted, just like the rest of them.
Bunnymund turned to North, "So what made lil' Zemmy decide to show up after all these years?" he asked, scratching behind his ear with one of his back paws.
The man scratched his white-bearded chin, "I am not sure myself. It could be nothing. Or could be important." he replied, "But now we know she is back, maybe it is something very big, really, only time tells."
The teenager of the group walked around the sitting area in front of the fireplace, the eyes of the older Guardians on him, "How does she – well . . . The children, do they – erm . . ."
Tooth fluttered up beside him, "Oh, sweetie, is that what's worrying you?" she asked, moving around him, "You might be surprised by how many people believe in Mother Nature – since even adults believe in her, in different parts of the world." she explained, moving her hands around her, "Although throughout the world, they believe her to take different shapes, she is always the same, caring for the children just like us."
Jack flopped back on the couch and looked up at the tall ceiling, thinking more about Materi Zemli. Kangaroo mentioned that it'd be a long time since she showed up, but Jack wondered why that was. If she was a Guardian, then why hadn't she shown up when they defeated Pitch Black hundreds of years ago? She probably woulda been a great help. Maybe MiM ( what North continuously told Jack to call Mr. Moon ) decided that she wasn't needed there, and that Jack needed to go through some serious self-realization ( which he did, since that time changed his life forever ).
Just about a year or so after that, Jack had discovered that there were tons of other immortal spirits for tons of other things. For example; Cupid, Spirit of Love and Promises – believe it or not, there were children that fell in love with others, they were just too young to really understand what they felt, and it was more than just the typical romantic love – it was love for all things. And then there was Father Time, Spirit of Change ( apparently in a joint effort with Materi Zemli, Jack has learned today ) and Wisdom, who had made some of the greatest leaders of the world.
Turns out that Spirits were responsible for a lot of things, not just Christmas or Easter, or the reason there's a coin in place of a tooth when a child loses one. There was the Spirit of Gratitude and Togetherness, Wiel D. Turkie, who oversaw the production of each year's Thanksgiving, and then there was a children favorite: Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, who turned out to be more than just a character in a movie. It was strange that there was another Spirit with the name of Jack, but he referred to the Pumpkin King simply as Skellington or Skully.
Jack rubbed the back of his neck and made his way to sit on a couch, "So . . . Is she like, gonna be here a lot?" he asked the others as they came to join them, "I mean, not that I've got a problem with it, but it's been a long time, right?"
Bunnymund plopped into the loveseat with his hunting knife and a stick, carving into it, "It has been a long time." he replied, beginning to shape the hunk of wood, "But I'dunno if she'll ever come to see us. Next thing I know, the lil' bugger is gonna be sleeping in my bed." he sighed.
"Zemli is not fond of my workshop, but she comes here to stay on occasion." North explained to Jack while stroking his beard, "But she is here now, and so I expect we'll see her often. Now, only question is, why is she here?"
Quiet befell the group and the background noise consisted of Yetis bustling around in work, elves bustling around in idiocy, and the soft crackle of the fire. While they were happy to see their old friend again, she usually didn't come to them on normal accounts. More often than not, her appearance meant something very serious was afoot.
Sandy snapped his fingers and the other four Guardians looked at him. The series of images made above his head consisted of the Moon and Zemli talking to each other.
"Do you think MiM brought her back to us?" Toothiana asked him, fluttering around, "That must mean something is going to happen, right? And we need Zemli to help us, so that's why she's shown up out of nowhere."
". . . It is possibility," North responded, leaning back into the couch, "MiM has reason for everything, so only time will tell."
• - • - • - • - • - • - • - • -• - • - • - • - •
The Nightmare Realm was a dark place where it took a person of strong will to roam without being negatively effected by the near-poisonous atmosphere. Its entrance was deep in the mountains, only accessible by those who know it was there, but it had many, many other entrances that were mostly used for exits. Its rumbling inside was a series of damp tunnels, contorted and twisted in a maze-like manner. It wasn't hard to get lost – and if a curious soul was ever to wander in, there was a near-nonexistent chance that they were ever coming back.
This was the ominous home of the Nightmare King, who most around the world knew as simply The Boogeyman. It had been a very long time, yes, a long time indeed . . . When a Fearling, one of the King's henchmen, returned to the underground cave with news, it was found interesting, and a maniacal laugh erupted throughout the tunnels, happy to hear whatever the news was.
"Mother has returned."
Why yes, I did bring Jack Skellington into this, because I couldn't think of a proper Halloween Spirit. If you've got ideas, I'd love to hear them!
A note on Bunnymund/E's speech pattern: I have British vernacular tendencies associated with Australian vernacular, please forgive me.
I'm going on the fly here, so I have no idea when there will be another chapter, here's to hoping.