Believing is always worth seeing
I do not own Rise of the Guardians or its characters, only the characters that I created within this story.
Person's profile:
For as long as I could remember, I've always been alone. I didn't have any real friends to call my own or a family to really love me. My parents had abandoned me at an orphanage when I was just a baby, they didn't seem to want me for some reason. Anyway, the people within the orphanage took good care of me as I grew up. I've made a few friends with the other kids at the orphanage, but they didn't stay for very long. The friends that I had made in the past were soon taken away by people who wanted to adopt them as their own child.
Over the years I kept on hoping that someone would come to adopt me, but nobody ever did. As time passed I began to fall into despair and lost all hope of ever having a family to love me. As the years went by I began to start seeing things that ordinary people aren't able to see. At first they were only just shadows and blurs, but they soon started to become clearer to me as I grew older. I soon found out that the things that I've been seeing were actually spirits. At first I was curious about them, but I soon grew to fear the spirits. Some of them would chase me or try to hurt me and the people that were close to me. Over time, I knew that I was becoming a danger to the people of the orphanage with me being the spirits' main target. So, one night, while everyone was asleep, I snuck out of the orphanage and ran away without looking back.
My name is Ivy and I've been running and hiding from spirits my whole life, while trying to find a place to call home and to find a family who would want me.
Chapter 1: unexpected meetings
It was a cold spring day in the town of Burgess as a few inches of snow lay on the ground. The wind blew gently through the bare branches of the trees, while a young girl who was in her teens walked through the park.
The girl was fourteen years old with long sandy brown hair that grew down to her shoulder blades, with bright grey-blue eyes and light tanned skin.
The girl was wearing a tattered green sweater that was one size too big for her over top a white long sleeved t-shirt underneath it, brown pants and black sneakers with white laces. The sleeves of the teen's sweater completely covered her hands as they protected them from the cold wind that blew through the town.
The girl wasn't the best looking for her face was smudged with dirt, her hair was slightly unkempt and she was scrawny.
The girl's name was Ivy, an orphan that ran away from the orphanage and had been living on the streets for the last three weeks. There was a reason why Ivy ran away from the orphanage and it was one that cannot be explained to anyone, whether they were adult or child. The reason Ivy ran away was because she had the ability to see spirits and she was constantly being targeted by them, while endangering peoples' lives in the process. Ivy was always on the move as she tried to avoid as many spirits as she possibly could. This left Ivy without any human contact, because she was afraid of getting too close to people and having them getting hurt within the process.
Ivy was guarded around people she meets, but she is was also kind hearted, outgoing, stubborn and is not afraid to speak her mind when she feels that someone is misjudging her or someone else. Ivy doesn't like spirits and is not willing to trust them at first glance or willing to talk to them either.
Ivy continued to walk around the park in complete silence with a neutral look on her face for a while before the silence was quickly broken by the sound of laughter that filled the air within the park. Growing curious, Ivy followed the laughter to a wide open area of the park where she saw a small group of kids, who looked to be a couple years younger than Ivy, throwing snowballs at each other. Ivy smiled sadly to herself as she began to remember how she and a couple of the kids she once befriended back at the orphanage had always played outside during the winter months. They would always engage in a free-for-all snowball fight. On a few occasions the snowball fights would always start with somebody throwing a snowball at someone else who had just turned their back. After that all of the kids within the orphanage, including Ivy, would join in the fun of throwing snowballs at each other in an all-out snowball fight.
"Those were some good times," muttered Ivy quietly to herself as she watched the kids from a safe distance away.
Ivy watched for about four minutes before she noticed a boy about seventeen years old running around among the kids, while throwing snowballs at them. The boy was wearing a dark blue hooded sweater with frost patterns on the shoulders and sleeves, and dark brown trousers that were tattered at the bottom of the leggings. The teen was holding a wooden staff with the top part being in the shape of the letter 'G'.
Ivy knew that the seventeen year old teenager wasn't from around these parts and that he wasn't human. For starters he wasn't wearing any shoes or socks, he was completely barefooted; secondly the boy's hair was completely white like the color of freshly fallen snow with silver highlights in it, and third was how pale the boy's skin tone was.
Ivy instantly recognized who the boy was the moment she laid eyes on him. The seventeen year old boy was Jack Frost, a mischievous winter spirit that likes to play pranks on people and have fun in snowball fights. Many spirits didn't like Jack Frost and would always try to beat him to a pulp or completely flat out ignore him. Ivy had heard many rumors about the spirit, and was a little sorry about how no one, adults or children, were able to see him.
Ivy continued to watch the kids and Jack Frost play for a bit before cringing when one of the kids accidently threw a snowball at the back of a lone girl's head. The girl slowly turned around to glare at the other kids in anger.
"Crud, I hit Cupcake," gasped another girl in terror.
"She hit Cupcake!" exclaimed a short blonde haired boy with glasses as he pointed an accusing finger at the girl who threw the snowball.
"You hit Cupcake?" whimpered one of the dark skinned twin boys in fear.
Ivy watched with a worried look on her face as the boy, who held a red sled in his hands, coward under the shadow of the bigger girl who held the head of a snowman in her hands.
"This isn't going to end well," muttered Ivy.
She got ready to run out from her hiding spot to stop the girl from hurting the other children, but quickly halted in her steps when a snowball hit Cupcake in the face. Ivy turned her eyes on Jack Frost, who had been the one to throw the snowball at Cupcake's face. He stood on top of his staff, which was standing up straight on the bottom. He was perfectly balanced on the staff like a bird perched on a tree branch.
"What's he doing, doesn't he know that it will only make things worse?" voiced Ivy as she looked over at where the boy and the girl were.
What had happened next made Ivy blink in surprise as Cupcake suddenly burst out laughing. Ivy continued to watch in utter astonishment as Cupcake began to playfully chase the other kids with her carrying the snowman's head high above her own head. A smile slowly formed on Ivy's face again as she began to relax, but it quickly faded when Jack suddenly used his staff to create an icy patch that made all of the kids fall down to the ground. The boy with the sled also fell down, but instead of landing on the ground he landed stomach first on top of his sled. The sled began to race down the hill with its passenger coming along for the ride. The other kids shouted out for their friend to stop, but the boy had no way of stopping as he and his sled headed straight towards the streets. Ivy quickly followed after the boy as Jack took him on a wild ride through the streets of Burgess.
Ivy was a fast runner so she was able to follow Jack and the boy as they took a left turn that would lead them back towards the park. The chase soon came to an end when Jack created a small ramp that made the boy fly high up into the air over Jack's and the kids' heads before the boy crashed into a snowbank, which had piled up near the statue of Burgess's founder. Ivy made sure to stay as far on the sidelines as possible, while she watched as the kids gathered round to see if the boy was alright. The boy, who Ivy found out, was called Jamie after over hearing the kids, slowly stood up and began to excitedly tell the kids about what had happened to him, but he was quickly cut off when a couch suddenly crashed into him. Ivy cringed along with the other kids when it happened, while hearing an older boy's voice saying 'Whoops'. Ivy looked up towards the statue of Burgess's founder and his family to where the voice came from and saw Jack Frost standing on the stone pedestal, while leaning against one of the metal statue figuring's.
Ivy shook her head with a disapproving frown on her face: 'I guess the rumors about that guy are true. He really is a trouble maker.'
Ivy jumped when Jamie suddenly shouted out with glee.
"Cool, a tooth!"
All the other kids became excited as they all gathered around Jamie as he showed off his baby tooth, which he held in his right hand. Ivy rolled her eyes in amusement as the kids started to talk about the Tooth Fairy, but that amusement soon changed to a sad frown when she heard Jack's voice.
"Oh no, no!" shouted Jack in disbelief and frustration.
Ivy sadly gazed up at the winter spirit in pity. Even though Ivy wasn't too fond of spirits she did feel empathy for those who desperately wanted to be seen by mortals. Ivy let out a sigh before she began walking away from the group of kids that were heading back to their homes to get warm. Ivy heard the winter spirit shouting as he tried desperately to get the kids to notice him, but was having no such luck.
'Just like me' thought Ivy sadly, 'I had no such luck in finding a family that wants me. And even if I did I'll only be putting them in danger.'
Ivy slowly wrapped her arms around herself as she began to feel the cold wind of winter blow against her, while a snowflake slowly drifted down from the sky. But the cold wind was nothing compared to the cold empty hole that had been growing inside Ivy's heart. The hope and dreams of ever finding a family had slowly began to die during Ivy's years of staying in the orphanage, and the three weeks of running away from spirits. A few tears began to fall down the young girl's face as she began to look for a place to sleep for the night. Hopefully she'll be able to get a goodnight's rest before having to run away from spirits again tomorrow morning. What Ivy didn't know was that her life was about to change just by being at the right place at the right time that night.
Night fall
The sun had set and night was now hanging over the town of Burgess with the stars and moon glowing brightly overhead. Ivy had settled down for the night underneath a wooden staircase within the back alleyway next to a grocery store. Ivy had gathered up a few leftover pieces of cardboard and set them down to create a make-shift bed and blanket, while using her arms as a pillow. Ivy lay on the cold hard concrete ground with only a piece of cardboard separating her from the small stones that would have poked the young teen while she slept. Sleep didn't come easily to Ivy as she laid away on the ground. She was always on the alert ever night in case any of the spirits that continually chase her might appear to hurt her while she was sleeping. If they do then she would quickly make a bolt for it, while throwing something at the spirits to escape from them. It had been going on like that for three weeks, and not once did Ivy ever get a goodnights rest.
Ivy let out a moan of discomfort as the cold wind of the night blew over her. The young teen shivered before pulling her cardboard blanket over top of her as she tried to keep herself warm throughout the long winter night.
"Don't think about the cold," Ivy spoke softly to herself. "Just keep thinking about staying awake, and being alert to anything that might creep up on you."
With those words firmly imprinted within her head, Ivy stopped shaking while she kept her eyes open for danger. The night seem to move slowly around Ivy as she laid awake on the ground. But after a while she began to feel her eyelids growing heavy as sleep tried to claim her. Ivy fought hard to stay conscious, but it seemed that the need for sleep was wining, and Ivy began to drift into the land of dreams. Her eyes were almost fully closed when she was suddenly startled awake by the sound of trashcans being knocked over. Ivy quickly sat up in alarm as panic began to course through her body.
'Oh no, not again!' thought Ivy as she slowly crawled towards the pile of trash bags and boxes that hopefully hid her from spirits that might be looking for her.
Ivy slowly poked her head up out of hiding as she looked over the pile of trash bags and boxes to see what kind of spirit was stalking her. The sight that greeted her eyes surprised her when she saw what, or more precisely who the spirit was.
"Jack Frost?" whispered Ivy when she saw the winter spirit standing in the middle of the alley.
Ivy was confused, what the heck was Jack Frost doing here? For all the young girl knew, the winter spirit could have caught wind of the rumors that the spirits had been spreading about her, and he decided to come looking for her.
Ivy watched as Jack slowly spun around in a small circle with his staff held up in front of him at the ready to fire off a shot of cold frost. Ivy quietly gulped as she started to become even more nervous than before.
'Okay, just stay calm Ivy,' thought the young teenager to herself. 'It doesn't look like he noticed that you're here yet so just be quiet and-'
Ivy's thoughts were quickly cut off when a deep voice, with an Aussie accent, suddenly spoke up from the shadows within the alley, quite close to Ivy's hiding place.
"Hello mate."
Ivy let out a small squeak before quickly ducking down when Jack turned towards the owner of the voice. Ivy held her breath for a moment before she slowly poked her head up again to see Jack looking straight towards the entrance of the alley. It was quiet for a few seconds, but the silence was quickly broken when the Aussie voice spoke again.
"Been a long time, Blizzard of '68 I believe, Easter Sunday wasn't it?"
Ivy watched closely as the owner of the voice walked out from around the corner of the building, and stood within the glow of a street light that hung from above. Ivy's mouth dropped open in shock, because standing before her was an anthropomorphic rabbit that looked to be 6 to 7 feet tall.
The rabbit had light greyish-blue and white fur with dark blue stripes or markings on his arms and back. On the rabbit's shoulders and forehead were three petal flower imprints. The rabbit's eyes were a bright green that glared straight at the winter spirit that stood before him. The rabbit was wearing a brown single-strap holster, two leather brown bracers with two orange stones set in each of them and two leather wrappings on his feet. The rabbit was holding a boomerang in his right paw/hand while the second boomerang hung within the holster behind his back.
Something about the rabbit seem familiar to Ivy as she looked at him before a memory from her childhood back in the orphanage came up. Ivy remember how some of the children would talk about the Easter Bunny, and how they always became excited about the Easter egg hunts that they would sometimes participate in the coming spring. And if she remembered correctly, Ivy could have sworn that she had seen a pair of long grey rabbit ears hidden behind a bush near the orphanage back when she had been five years old when Easter came around that day. But the sighting of the grey ears had been brief for when she took a moment to blink, the ears were gone and in their place when she looked behind the bush were three colored eggs.
'Wait a minute,' thought Ivy as realization dawned on her, 'could this giant rabbit be the…'
"Bunny," spoke Jack in a carefree voice as he leaned up against his staff in a relaxed position. "You're not still mad about that, are ya?"
'I know I would be if someone caused a blizzard on one of the most important holidays of the spring year,' thought Ivy with a frown.
"Yes," growled the rabbit, now known as Bunny, as he raised the boomerang he had in his paw/hand up and held it in a tight grip.
Ivy tensed as she quietly watched the two spirits from her hiding place. Was the rabbit really going to throw his boomerang at the winter spirit? Ivy secretly hoped not, because no matter how much she disliked spirits, she didn't like to see anyone getting hurt. So it came as a surprise for Ivy when Bunny lowered his weapon, and relaxed as he began to examine it.
"But this is about something else," said Bunny in a calmer voice.
Ivy frowned at what the rabbit had said and became suspicious 'What does he mean by that?'
Ivy soon got her answer when Bunny spoke once again without looking up from examining his boomerang: "Fellas."
Ivy jumped a little in surprise when two yetis suddenly appeared from out of nowhere within the alley. One of them grabbed Jack by the back of his hoodie, while the other yeti held open a red sack. Bunny reattached his boomerang back onto his holster, while he watched the scene before him with an indifferent look on his face.
"Hey!" shouted Jack as he struggled in the yeti's grip. "Put me down, what the-"
Jack's sentence was cut off as he was shoved into the sack before the second yeti that held the sack open, closed it shut.
Ivy watched in utter confusion before she quietly spoke to herself "What on earth is going on here?"
"You're about to find that out for yourself, Sheila" answered an Aussie voice.
Before Ivy realized what was happening, she found herself being lifted up by the back of her sweater, and was pulled out from her hiding place. Ivy kicked and struggled as Bunny held her up in midair with his left paw/hand at arms-length away from him.
"Let me go!" demanded Ivy as she glared at the rabbit that grabbed her.
Ivy's only response from the rabbit was him tucking her underneath his right arm with the young girl's arms being pinned at her sides. Ivy panted after a minute of struggling and went limp within Bunny's strong grip before watching one of the yetis pull out something from within its fur. The yeti rambled something in a language that Ivy didn't understand before it threw, whatever it was holding, down at the ground. The sound of breaking glass filled the air before a bright flash of light blinded Ivy for a brief moment. Once her vision cleared the young teen quickly saw an image of a large wooden building sitting on the side of a large snowcap mountain. Ivy began to tense when the image changed into a swirling white vortex. Was she going to be thrown into that vortex, and be transported over the crevice of the mountain to fall to her death? The thought of that happening to her made Ivy panic and she began to struggle again.
"Will ya calm down!" growled Bunny as he glared down at the teen that he held under his arm.
"No!" shouted Ivy as she continued to struggle, "I'm not going through that Vortex of Death!"
Bunny snorted while raising his right eyebrow up in amusement "That's a name I never thought anybody would use."
Ivy stopped her struggling for a second to glare up at the humanoid rabbit "Well there's a first time for everything you giant long eared fur-ball!"
Bunny glared right back down at Ivy for a second before turning his head back up when one of the yetis spoke to him in gibberish, while gesturing towards the vortex. Bunny felt the human girl tense up under his arm. She began to struggle again before he spoke to the yeti.
"Me?" asked Bunny in humor before letting out a chuckle, while scratching his chest with his free paw/hand, "Not on your Nelly. See ya back at the pole."
Ivy froze in between her struggles when she heard what the humanoid rabbit had just said.
"Pole, as in the North Pole?" asked Ivy to see if what she heard from the rabbit was correct.
"What do you think?" muttered Bunny before he thumped his right foot down on the ground twice.
Ivy stared at the ground in complete shock as a large rabbit hole appeared before her eyes. Ivy would have felt amazed by this if she wasn't so terrified, and confused by what was going on around her right now. Before Ivy could speak a word, Bunny jumped down into the hole with her coming along for the trip.
"Whoa!" shouted Ivy as she and her kidnapper fell into the hole.
When they landed on solid ground again Ivy suddenly found herself being thrown onto Bunny's back. Her hands quickly latched onto the rabbit's furry shoulders, before he took off running on all four legs through a long winding tunnel. Ivy had no choice, but to hold on tight as the humanoid rabbit ran at top speed towards their destination. Ivy had her eyes tightly shut, while she buried her face in the thick fur of the rabbit moving beneath her. She prayed desperately to herself that she wouldn't fall off the rabbit's back as he ran at top speed. Ivy could feel her heart pounding hard within her chest as fear gripped at her very soul. She didn't know how long the rabbit had been running, but she soon felt him jumping upwards before crouching down as he came to a complete stop.
"You can let go now, kid," muttered Bunny impatiently after a few moments.
Ivy slowly opened her eyes and raised her head up to see Bunny looking over his shoulder to glance at her. His right eyebrow was raised as a look of annoyance was etched on his face. Ivy quickly released her grip on Bunny's shoulders before she found herself falling down onto her butt. It made contact with the solid ground, which happened to be a combination of stone and carpet.
"Ow," muttered Ivy as she rubbed her back side while she sat on the ground. "Note to self, always check to see how far the ground is before jumping off or down from something."
"Hopefully you'll remember that next time," said Bunny as he raised himself up to his full height again.
He then bent down and once again lifted Ivy up by the back of her sweater before placing her on her feet. Ivy glared up at the rabbit in front of her before sticking her tongue out at him.
"She has spirit, I'll give her that," a deep Russian voice chuckled from Ivy's right.
Ivy quickly turned towards the owner of the voice, and saw an eight to nine foot tall man standing in front of her. The man was slightly bald on the top part of his head, while a white patch of hair grew short at the back. The man also had a long white beard and mustache hanging from his face, thick black eyebrows and large bright blue eyes. The man was wearing a bright red shirt with the sleeves rolled up over his elbows to show off two tattoos on the lower parts of his arms. The tattoo on the man's right arm had a word that read 'Naughty', while on the left arm the words of the second tattoo read 'Nice'. The man was wearing baggy black pants that were held up by a plaid sash and on his feet were dark brown leather boots. On the man's right hand was a golden thumb ring that had designs etched onto its surface.
Ivy gulped and began to slowly take a step back, because she felt a little intimidated by the man that was standing in front of her. Ivy let out a surprise yelp when she suddenly heard the sound of ringing bells near her left foot before looking down to see what it was.
Standing near Ivy's left foot were two small humanoid creatures that were wearing oversized pointy red hats. Hanging from the top of the hat was a bell. A hole was cut out in the front of the hat to show the creatures' faces. The hat's had small slits on both sides where the two creatures' arms could hang out, while their arms were clothed in long grey/blue sleeves. Around the two creatures' waists were black leather belts with sliver/grey buckles, and underneath the two creatures' oversized hats' were grey/blue open toed leggings. Ivy instantly recognized the little creatures as elves when she saw their pointy ears poking out from the side holes of their hats.
The two elves stared up at Ivy with their wide brown eyes filled with curiosity. Ivy frowned in annoyance as she began to feel a little uncomfortable with the elves staring at her like she was some kind of unknown object to them. Ivy placed her hands on top of her hips as she gave the two elves a harsh glare that made them shrink away at the sight of her.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's not polite to stare?" questioned Ivy angrily.
The two elves responded by suddenly running face first into each other before they quickly ran off in two different directions. Ivy couldn't help but let out an amused chuckle as a smirk appeared on her face. Her smirk quickly disappeared when she suddenly heard a small chirp near her right ear before she turned to see where it had come from. Ivy's eyes widen in shock and wonder when she came face to face with a small blue/green hummingbird flying in front of her face. But upon closer inspection she saw that it was no ordinary hummingbird.
The little hummingbird had human features that consisted with a human face with blue eyes with pink markings encircling around its eyelids. The other human features it had were small hands; arms and legs. Its whole body, except its face and hands, were covered in feathers. Golden feathers encircled its neck and it had a long narrow hummingbird beak for a nose. Around the little creature's waist was a golden belt that glinted within the light of the room. Ivy slowly lifted her left hand and held out a finger for the little bird to rest on. The little hummingbird instantly alighted on Ivy's outstretched finger before it stopped flapping its wings. Ivy got a good look at the little creature's wings and saw that they were long, and transparent like dragonfly wings. On the surface of the little creatures wings a bit of purple/pink shone on them.
"You're a fairy aren't you," said Ivy as a soft smile slowly appeared on her face.
The little hummingbird, now recognized as a fairy, nodded its head while letting out a proud chirp. Ivy felt her heart warm up in excitement. Her smile quickly faded into confusion when she began to hear a female voice talking rapidly in front of her. Ivy looked up and saw a five foot tall humanoid hummingbird fairy flying five feet off the ground, while giving out orders to five other little fairies that were hovering around her. Ivy could tell that the taller fairy was female because of her body structure.
Like the mini fairies, the taller fairy's body was covered in green feathers that were mixed with blue. There was a combination of blue and pink on her long tail feathers that would twitch every once in a while. Gold feathers encircled around her neck, wrists and ankles. On her head was a crown of feathers that separated into shades of blue with four of the longer feathers on the fairy's forehead being gold. On each side of the adult fairy's head were five or six rows of small golden feathers that seem to act like earrings. The only parts that weren't covered in feathers were her human face, which had a normal human nose, and small hands. The skin of the adult fairy was a light tan. The taller fairy's eyes were violet pink with long black eyelashes, and on her two eyelids was a shade of pink eye shadow.
"I'm guessing that's your leader and mother, right?" asked Ivy as she looked down at the mini fairy that sat on her finger.
The mini fairy nodded its head again before it started flapping its wings again, and flew off Ivy's finger as it headed back to the taller fairy's side. Ivy let her hand drop to her side as she watched and listened to what the taller fairy was saying. All that she could make out from the lead fairy's speed talk were the names of countries, towns and cities along with the coordinates and destinations. Ivy shook her head when she started to feel a headache coming on.
"It's best not to try and understand what Tooth is saying, kid," advised Bunny's voice.
Ivy looked behind her to seen Bunny leaning up against a wooden pillar with his arms crossed over his chest as he gazed at her with intense green eyes.
"'Tooth', that's the Queen Fairy's name?" questioned Ivy as she raised an eyebrow up in amusement.
"You got a problem with that?" Bunny shot back with a glare.
"No," replied Ivy as she quickly shakes her head, while holding her hands up in defense "I'm just-".
Ivy's sentence was quickly cut short when the same vortex that she saw in the alley suddenly appeared within the middle of the room. Ivy watched from a safe distance away as a familiar red sack landed on the carpet paved stone floor with the two yetis following right after it.
"That was fast," muttered Ivy.
She watched as the same two elves untie the string that held the top of the sack close.
"Quiet," spoke the man with the white beard "he's here."
Once the sack was untied the elves quickly ran over to where Ivy was standing and hid behind her legs. Ivy looked down at the elves in bemusement before turning her attention back towards the sack again. She watched as Jack slowly crawled out of the sack, and looked around in confusion before the man that stood before him spoke.
"Hey, there he is, Jack Frost!" boomed the man in a cheerful voice.
Ivy glanced at the man for a moment before looking back at Jack to see what his reaction will be.
The frost spirit was silent for a moment before he finally spoke: "Wow…you gotta be kidding me."
Ivy let's out a snort "That's the only response you can come up with after being thrown through a vortex?"
Jack quickly turned his gaze on Ivy, while frowning at her in confusion for a second before realization came across his face. He was about to say something when the two yetis that had captured him suddenly lifted the winter spirit off of the ground.
"Hey, hey, put me down" said Jack before the yetis complied with the boy's request as they set him on his feet.
"I hope the yetis treated you well?" asked the man with a smile.
"Oh yeah," replied Jack sarcastically as he kicked his staff up from the ground with his foot and caught it expertly with his right hand. "I loved being shoved in a sack and tossed through a magic portal."
"Oh, good, that was my idea," said the man with a chuckle.
Ivy rolled her eyes in annoyance "Doesn't this giant Russian guy know sarcasm when he hears it?"
"Unfortunately no," answered Bunny while he examined the claws on his left paw/hand. "North tends to be overly enthusiastic so he really never picks up on the smallest of negativities that people are giving off."
Ivy looked at the rabbit in disbelief before glancing down at the two elves that stood near her feet. Ivy didn't need to ask as the two elves quickly nodded their heads, their bells jingling in the process, as they confirmed that Bunny was serious.
'Great,' thought Ivy, 'this night just keeps getting better and better.'
"Alright, I think now is time to get down to introductions!" boomed the man, now known a North, before he turned to look at Ivy. "Now, as you already know, my name is North, or as most people would call me, Santa Clause."
"Um…nice to meet you?" said Ivy in an unsure voice.
After having little contact with people and not so friendly contact with spirits, Ivy was a little apprehensive and uneasy around strangers.
North continued on with his introductions as he gestured over towards the winter spirit: "You probably already know Jack, yes?"
"Um…yeah," said Ivy as she scratched the back of her head in awkwardness, "but only through rumors."
"Huh, funny," spoke Jack with a humorous smile. "I've heard rumors about you too. The young human girl named Ivy who has the gift to see spirits that no other mortal can see."
'Gift?' thought Ivy darkly to herself as a frown appeared on her face, while she looked down at the ground in displeasure. 'More like a curse. This gift has caused me nothing, but trouble.'
"Good, at least you know each other." North continued on with his introduction as he gestured with his right hand towards the humanoid rabbit. "You two know and have met Bunny, obviously."
Bunny only hummed in acknowledgement at Jack and Ivy as he continued to lean against the wooden pillar, while still examining his claws.
"Oh yeah, who could forget a giant long eared fur ball that kidnapped you from off the streets." Ivy muttered as she rolled her eyes up towards the celling of the room.
"Be glad I did you runt," spoke Bunny as he glanced at Ivy in annoyance.
Ivy just waved him off before going back to listening to North's talking as he introduced Jack, and her to the rest of the spirits "and the Tooth Fairy."
Ivy watched in amusement as Tooth quickly flew up to Jack with an excited smile on her face.
"Hello Jack," greeted Tooth cheerfully. "I've heard a lot about you, and your teeth!"
"My, my what?" asked Jack in confusion.
"Huh?" voice Ivy.
"Open up!" exclaimed Tooth as she gently opened Jack's mouth to look inside it. "Are they really as white as they say they are, yes?"
Ivy quickly covered her mouth with her right hand as she held back from bursting out in laughter. The young teen's shoulders shook as muffled giggles were heard behind her hand. Ivy soon got control of herself again as she looked up when she heard Tooth gasp, and saw the awed look upon the queen fairy's face.
"Oh, they really do sparkle like freshly fallen snow!" said Tooth in admiration.
One of the mini fairies squealed in a fan girl type of way as it gushed over the fact that Jack's teeth were pure white.
"Looks like you got yourself a fan club there, Snowball," announced Ivy with a smirk.
Jack only rolled his eyes at Ivy, while returning a smirk of his own. One of the mini fairies, the one Ivy met earlier, fainted in midair and almost fell to the floor if Ivy hadn't dived forward and caught it.
"Ow," muttered Ivy as she laid on the floor for a second before leaning up onto her elbows to look down at the mini fairy that she held in her cupped hands.
"You really are one of those high drama fan girls aren't you, Fayette," said Ivy with a playful smirk on her face.
The mini fairy, who had recovered from her faint spell, sits up within Ivy's cupped hands and shrugged, while giving a sheepish grin in the process.
"She can be a real handful at times," spoke Tooth as Ivy looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.
"That I can imagine," said Ivy as she picked herself off the floor, while holding the mini fairy, now dubbed Fayette, in her left hand.
"You okay?" asked Jack with a chuckle.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," replied Ivy as she began to dust herself off after Fayette flew out of her hand, and went back to hover beside Tooth.
"Now girls, pull yourselves together," chided Tooth as she lightly scolded her mini fairies. "Let's not disgrace the uniform."
Ivy, who was now standing beside Jack, watched Tooth and her mini fairies fly back to where they had been hovering before Ivy glanced downwards when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Ivy blinked in surprise when she saw a small man round man floating a few inches off the ground.
The little man was wearing a golden night robe made of sand. He had dark golden hair spiked up as it stuck out in every direction, and his face, along with his hands, were a lighter gold. Ivy couldn't tell what color the man's eyes were because they were closed as he slept with a content smile on his face.
'Man, how did I miss this little guy?' thought Ivy.
"And Sandman," said North as he finished with the introductions before he lightly tapped the smaller man that floated beside him. "Sandy? Sandy! WAKE UP!"
At North's shout, Sandy quickly woke up and Ivy caught glimpse of little man's eyes. The eyes were the same dark golden color as Sandy's hair.
Ivy frowned for a moment before she straightened herself up. She began to get down to business with this odd group, who now stood before her.
"Um…" started Ivy hesitantly, "it's nice to meet all of you and everything, but-"
Ivy was suddenly interrupted by Jack who decided to finish what she was going to say "Would somebody mind telling me what Spirit Seer and I are doing here?"
Ivy gave Jack an annoyed look before looking at the strange group of spirits again. Sandy quickly raised his hand as he volunteered to explain the situation to the two teens. Ivy watched curiously as pictures made of sand suddenly appeared above Sandy's head. Ivy only caught a good glimpse at some of the few pictures that had appeared over Sandy's head, but they soon became jumbled and disorganized as they started moving too fast for her to identify them. The only images that Ivy was able to make out in the beginning were a crescent moon; a snowflake; a young girl and a man.
"Um…that's not really helping, but thanks little man." Jack said as he turned away from the group of spirits and walked around the room, while freezing an elf that was carrying a plate of cookies with his staff. "I must have done something really bad to get you four together. Am I on the naughty list?"
"I wouldn't be surprise," said Ivy with a shrug of her shoulders. "You do tend to go a little overboard with your pranks sometimes."
Jack let out a snort before he turned to look at Ivy "And you tend to get yourself into trouble with spirits that you run into once on in a while."
Ivy frowned before she turned gaze down to the floor 'It's not my fault that I brought unwanted attention to myself.'
"But little Ivy is right," spoke North. "When it comes to the Naughty list, you hold record. But no matter, we over look, now we are wiping clean the slate."
At the words 'wiping clean the slate' Ivy looked at North as she watched him make his point by brushing his left hand across his right arm that had the 'Naughty' tattoo on it. Ivy had a sinking suspicion that something big was going on here, and she was being dragged into it against her will.
"How come?" asked Jack.
"Ah, good question," muttered Bunny as he came to stand with the other three spirits.
"And I'm afraid to know the answer," voiced Ivy as she slowly start to move to away from group.
Ivy was quickly stopped by one of the yetis, who grabbing her by the back of her sweater and placed her back down onto her feet again beside Jack. Ivy glared at the yeti that had grabbed her before turning to look at the four spirits again when North started to speak again.
"How come?" echoed North in an excited voice. "I'll tell you 'how come' because now… you two are Guardians!"
"Huh?!" exclaimed Ivy as her mouth dropped open in shocked confusion.
Yep, Ivy's life had suddenly gotten even weirder in just one night.
To be continued
