Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians
The Boy in the Tower
by Sirenfox
In Which Jack Goes Home
Jack was more than a little confused the night that he emerged from the lake, dripping icy water and mind completely blank.
Everything was so new; so strange.
It didn't even occur to him that the moon talking to him might be a bit odd. He didn't know any different.
Jack Frost.
It certainly had a nice ring to it. It called to him and he knew without a doubt that it was the truth. He was Jack Frost.
The discovery of his powers was exhilarating, almost seeming to set his soul free. The cool rush of power racing through his veins and bursting out of his fingertips into the solid wood of the shepherd's crook he'd picked up earlier. The magic pulsed through the conduit with a faint ethereal glow that Jack hardly even noticed, before exploding out through the crook like little white and blue fireworks. The frost glittered in elegant designs over the ground, trees, ice - anything it touched was subject to a liberal painting of sparkly white frost. The sight of it caused a giddy giggle to escape the boy's lips unbidden. It was all so amazing, he felt like he could do anything in that moment. He was so full of energy he felt like he could even walk on air.
He might have tried, too, if strange formless shapes hadn't begun to melt out of the shadows of the surrounding forest. They hovered just out of the moonlight, undulating in alarming and disturbing ways. They were everywhere, swarming to the edge of the clearing and gazing at him with an unearthly sort of hunger.
The sight of them lurking there watching him sent a shiver of pure fear racing down his spine. He had no idea what they were, but he knew on an instinctive level that they were not there to play.
Jack swallowed heavily, large blue eyes slowly slipping across the strange creatures gathering around him. Every second that passed more of them crowded closer, straining around and over each other to get a better look at him. He didn't dare move, hardly even breathed as he stood paralyzed by the multitude of glowing yellow eyes, staring at him from every direction. He was too afraid that even the slightest of shifts on his part would send them into a frenzy.
They might have remained in their strange tableau, if one of the monsters hadn't tumbled forward drunkenly, eagerly gnashing it's dripping fangs at him, never once moving away from the line of the trees. It was strange to watch and Jack felt like the creature should have made some sort of sound. But all was completely silent.
The movement jolted Jack's heart into overdrive and he jerked backwards, tripping over his own feet in his hurry to put more distance between them. Now that Jack had broken from his horrified stupor he turned on his heel and dashed headlong into the trees behind him.
One of the creatures lunged forwards abruptly, it's obsidian claws aiming for his unprotected stomach. Jack yelped, dancing to one side and sucking in his belly, narrowly avoiding being impaled.
Jack stumbled away from the creature, caught himself on one of the trees, and bounced off it using it to bolster his speed as he fled blindly into the forest. He dodged low hanging branches and jumped effortlessly over protruding roots as he struggled to remain ahead of his deadly pursuers.
He couldn't hear them, but he knew they were there; could feel them behind him, hounding every step he took. He sprinted through the trees and over the forest floor, hardly registering the twigs and rocks bloodying the bottoms of his bare feet. More than once he would feel the sting of a branch hitting him across the face because he was running too fast to dodge or duck away in time.
He'd been running so hard that he was beginning to feel like someone was stabbing him in the side with one of the very tree branches he was trying so hard to ignore, his breathing was ragged and everything around him was beginning to blur.
Jack couldn't keep this up, he knew that, but he couldn't just stop. Maybe the inkblobs were starting to slow down? Maybe they had given up?
Despite knowing better, Jack couldn't help the small twitch of his head to the side. Before he even knew what was happening Jack was turning to glance over his shoulder back the way he had come.
It was a mistake. He could see them now. He knew how close they were, knew that they were going to catch him. He needed to move faster! But with his eyes fixed on a point behind him and not on where he was going he wasn't able to keep track of where he was putting his feet. He tripped, over what it didn't matter - a root, his own feet…the ground - whatever the cause, it was just enough of a distraction for the creatures pursuing him to close the distance.
One slavering maw aimed for his face, another for his side, and yet another was moving in on one of his legs. He didn't see the one that got him, it clamped down on his wrist and yanked him backwards. The creatures in front of him snapped their mouths shut over empty air as Jack was dragged out of their reach.
A hand clamped down onto the lower half of his face, covering his mouth and preventing him from yelling out. Another hand, the pair to the one pressing over Jack's face, swept in front of him, drawing some sort of black cloak over his head. Jack sucked in a startled breath through his nose, his wide eyes watching through the strange material of the cloak as the horrifying creatures that had been chasing him snarled at each other angrily.
"Be still." A low smooth voice cooed soothingly into his ear.
Jack obeyed, his whole body frozen at just a word. Wide blue eyes stared out at the shadows milling about just feet away from where he stood, back to …whoever it was that had grabbed him.
The monsters stalked through the trees, slowly, scenting the air as they moved. Their sharp black ears cocked as they listened for their prey. It was odd, watching them now. He could see them more clearly than ever before and he still didn't know what they were. They seemed to have a fluid shape, moving from an indistinct form into what could easily be some sort of hound only to then glide into what appeared to be a vaguely humanoid form. Cat, Bird, horrifying blob monster, whatever they really were they moved through the clearing so slowly, glowing yellow eyes moving over Jack without any hint that they had noticed him.
He wasn't sure how that was possible, but he wasn't about to complain. He didn't dare to even blink, afraid he might be heard or seen somehow, despite the strange enchantment hiding him from their senses. It took forever before the shadowy things moved on, vanishing back into the trees.
Once they were gone Jack slumped against his rescuer as the man removed his hand from Jack's mouth. Jack wasn't sure his legs could support him right then, but the person behind him didn't seem at all bothered by his weight.
The stranger waited patiently until Jack pulled away on his own, once again sure that he would be able to stand without wobbling. Jack turned to finally look up at the man who had saved him. He was tall and pale, with almost a grayish tinge to his pallid skin. His hair was pitch black, and his eyes seemed to shift between liquid gold and pooled moonlight.
A twig snapped behind him and Jack jumped, whipping around to face the sound. Wide frightened blue eyes scanned the tree line, but nothing seemed to be out of place. A hand settled on his shoulder, the long spindly fingers curling against his collarbone, "Calm yourself, Jack." The man soothed in his deep voice, "They shall not harm you now. You are safe."
Jack's head jerked around, staring up at this stranger with an eager expression, "You know me?" He gasped, excitement bubbling up inside of him at the prospect.
Maybe the moon had sent him?
A sad look filled the man's white-gold eyes as he looked down at Jack, "You do not remember me?" The man sounded crushed, his husky voice trailing off into a whisper as if he didn't want to hear his own voice. Jack wanted to take it back, tell him it was a joke and of course he recognized him…but that would be a lie. "Do not worry about it, son." The man said when he realized Jack's predicament, "Let's get you home, where you can dry off and warm up."
That sounded wonderful. Jack didn't know where home was, and he may not be cold, per say, his clothes were still soaked and becoming stiff with ice. It was very uncomfortable.
He smiled uncertainly up at the man and nodded.
The not-stranger's lips curled up at the corners into a smile full of sharp teeth as he swept the boy away in a swirl of shadows.
***Frostbunny***
Mim watched this happen in horror, unable to do anything as Pitch Black stole his new Guardian before he even had a chance to warn North.
Pitch vanished and Jack Frost was gone.
Mim couldn't sense him anywhere.
Desperately Mim sent down his moonbeams to scour the earth in search of Jack. They checked everywhere. Every nook and cranny of every cave. Every small town and overstuffed city. One brave moonbeam even ventured into Pitch's lair. But none of his moonbeams could find the boy. He was truly lost.
That night the moon went dark as Mim mourned his lost son.
Rapunzel is by far my favorite fairy tale, so, naturally, I had to rewrite it as a Frostbunny story.
This story is actually complete so you don't have to worry about me randomly abandoning it. And I will try to post them at least every other week, if not sooner. Unfortunately I will only be able to post the chapters when I get them back from my beta's.
I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave me a comment.
