January Part 1

The boy stared at the village in the moonlight, the cold air moving between his fingers. He let out a sigh, pulling the hood of his sweater more tightly onto his head, shaking off the snow from his white hair. The cold didn't bother him, but the night was troubling him a little more than usual. "Got something planned don't you?" He thought as he stared up at the moon.

The people in the village were moving in and out of their homes, everyone seemed excited. Plenty of them had taken to the center of town, setting up tables for the feast that was planned later that night, or sitting in circles playing games or singing songs. He looked up at the moon again. It seemed to glow brighter tonight. The past few weeks have yielded nothing but clouds and dark skies. "So why tonight?" He thought to himself. What makes tonight so special? He knew the answer. It was impossible for him not to know. The same festival has gone on for 20 years, and he'd been there since day one. A festival in his honor, is what he told himself, of course no one knew that.

The tradition seemed centuries old, but it was so new that some people still dismissed it as a silly fad. Every year, in January, on the coldest night, people would come out of their homes and celebrate what they called "The Freezing of the Skies." It was really just snow, they were celebrating snow. The young boy had come across the town years ago, and decided it was too bland and warm. So he made it colder, and let the snow fall in the dead of night. He had hoped to freak out the people of the village, but they took to snow like they had known about it their entire lives. He decided from then on to just enjoy everyone celebrating him, even if it wasn't really for him.

"Jack?" Someone called. The young boy froze. He must have been hearing things there was no way…

"Jack get over here quickly." The boy looked around. He could not see the source of the voice that was calling to him. He pushed off of the roof he was standing on and flew into the air. He took one final look and saw the woman standing and shouting his name. He grinned and raced to her side but froze as he approached her, seeing that she was speaking to someone else and not to him. "I should have guessed. " He thought. She wasn't calling him. There was no way she could have been.

"Jack can you get over here and help me with this?" The woman said again, her arms were full. She had lanterns in her hands, more than she could carry alone. They were all different sizes and shapes, each made out of the wood from pine trees. They had different sized moons carved into their sides. "Jack!" She said again as she was losing her grip on one of the lanterns. Before the boy could react a young man rushed to the side of the woman, grabbing most of the lanterns.

"Now why on earth are you carrying all of this yourself Mary?" The young man said.

"Maybe because my idiot friend won't help me?" She said. "Jack please can you take these to the square for me? My father still needs me to start preparing the dessert for the feast tonight."
"That dad of yours is never going to let you take a break is he?" He said. She glared at him. He stumbled back and smiled. Jack grabbed the rest of the lanterns from Mary. "Once you're done come meet me behind the big tree in the park" He Said. "I have something for you." He gave her a final smile and ran off towards the center of town. "His name was Jack." The boy thought. "That's my name."

Jack followed the man, he watched him run at full speed towards the town square. His entire mind focused on one person. He had to be in his early 20's. He was taller than Jack, a lot bigger in size as well. Jack floated along the tops of the roofs, trying not to lose the man. "He's fast. But I'm faster." Jack lifted the staff he had been holding in his hands, and pointed it in front of the man's feet. "Let's see how light you are on your feet".

He pushed a cold breeze of air out of his staff, icing up the ground in front of the man. He watched as the man began to slip on the ice, Jack stretched his arms back as he glided through the air and smiled. "Just like I thought…"

"Mommy, look at him!" A voice called. Jack turned around to see the man skating on the ice, thrusting his weight around with a massive amount of control. He slid to a complete stop in front of the small child who was so enchanted by his movements. He handed him one of the lanterns.

"Now don't tell Miss Mary." He said to the boy. "She'd have my head for this." He took off running again, this time keeping lookout for other patches of hidden ice on the ground. "Damn it." Jack was beginning to get annoyed. He didn't like this man. He didn't like him at all.

The man came to a full stop in front of a gate. Each lantern still strategically placed in his arms. It seemed like the slightest breeze could knock them over. He opened the gate and walked inside, placing the lanterns on a table near a statue in the center of the square. The tables had all been carefully decorated, each focusing around a different season, with the biggest being winter. A giant snowflake carved into ice sat surrounded by the biggest feast Jack had ever seen.
"Jack my boy! There you are!" The mayor of the town walked over to the man. "I see you picked up those lanterns from Mary."

"Well sir, I don't think she could have finished dessert if she had brought them herself." Jack said patting the portly stomach of the mayor of the small village. "Besides, I was more than happy to bring them."

"You may have a point there." The mayor said looking down at his gut. "Anyway, we still need a moon for the pageant tonight. And the kids worked so hard on it. I'd hate to see all of their efforts go to waste, wouldn't you?" The mayor placed his hands on Jacks shoulders. They obviously knew each other well.

"I'm not sure Edward." Jack said, slipping out from underneath the man's gigantic arms. "Are you sure you want me to play the moon? I think you are more the build for it."

"Yes, but I'm far too busy planning the rest of the weeks festivities to do that." Edward smiled placing his arm back over Jacks shoulders." Jack let out a sigh.

"Okay, I'll do it. But I have something I need to do first, which reminds me sir I was wondering…" Jack stopped listening. He heard something, something out in the distance. It was quickly moving towards the town. Jack pushed off the ground and flew into the air. He looked in every direction for what it could be, until he finally saw it. His face darkened, and the smirk he normally kept had faded, towards the east of town, barreling through the forest and destroying everything in its path, a wild Yeti.