Ruin of the Zodiac Chapter One: In Which One Plays Ice with Fire
Jack Frost wasn't a big fan of the Spring Equinox.
Yeah, it was perfect slushball fight weather, and soon he'd be heading down to the southern hemisphere and having fun with the kids down there as their winter arrived, but it meant that spring and summer were on their way. Being who he was, Jack Frost wasn't exactly a huge summer fan.
He let the wind carry him through the Oregon forests, bringing the early morning frost with him, making it cover the trees in a thin, intricate pattern. He'd head back to the city soon enough, but first there was something he wanted to make sure of.
He'd thought he'd seen someone in these woods.
They were a bit far away from the nearest area of population, so naturally it had sparked his curiosity. But the lack of human footprints ...there were a lot of deer and rabbit prints, though... anywhere seemed to indicate that he had probably just been imagining things. He had to admit, he was a little disappointed. He'd been hoping for a little early-morning excitement. Not that he had a particular shortage of excitement, though. Now that he was a Guardian and kids weer actually believing in him, seeing him (the thought still making him a bit giddy), he was having a blast.
Giving up on his search, he turned around, planning to head back to the city he had just come from. What was it called? Leighton? Yeah, that was it; not a particularly large city, but not particularly small, either. And about to enjoy a very fun snow day, he thought, grinning.
That's when the girl in the yellow sweater ran by.
"Girl" might have been the wrong word. As far as he could tell, she was about a year or so older than he looked. "Young woman" might have been better. Not that he could get a good look at her. She was running very fast, with no signs of slowing down or stopping to take a breath.
Well. If his curiosity wasn't piqued before, it was now. "Wind," he said, beckoning for the breeze to carry him along. She was fast, but he was faster. It wasn't hard to get in front of the young woman. "So, where are you off to?" he asked, not expecting an answer. After all, she was probably too old to be a believer, and she'd made no signs of seeing him. But he couldn't help but think that she had glanced at him from under the bright scarlet beanie she was wearing. Jack found himself rambling, out of boredom most likely, as he ran his staff along the frozen ground, creating a trail of frost behind the two of them. "I mean, where'd you come from? The closest city's a bit far from here." A thought crossed his mind. "Are you a fugitive?" he asked, grinning slightly and incredulously as his lifted his and and wiggled his fingers in the universal sign for "Ooh, spooky". "Nah; you don't look like the type. Besides, I've seen kids in trouble. Heck, I've been in trouble. People in trouble look behind them, don't they?" He glanced up at the sky. It was still pretty early in the morning, and the faded outline of the moon could be seen between the bare trees. "I did see a cabin a few miles back, though. Seemed empty. Did you come from there? Did you run all that way?" He let out a low whistle. "You know, have you ever considered taking up cross country? Jamie does it. They'd probably want someone like you on-"
Thwack. Even much later, Jack would wonder how he failed to see the handle of a spear heading for his head until it collided with him, knocking him out of the wind and into a nearby slush bank.
"Stop. Talking."
Jack stumbled to his feet, rubbing at the part of his head where he had been it and grimacing. The woman had stopped and turned to face him directly, allowing him to get a better look at her. Short and stocky with olive skin, she had a sharp face with wide-set eyes and a relatively flat nose. Most of her hair was covered by her hat, but the few curls that hung out of it seemed to be made of soft spun gold. On her hat was a small pin with a vaguely familiar symbol. It looked like two staffs like his shoved together at the bottom edge. She wore a thick woolen button-up sweater of the same color, unbuttoned and slung loosely over her shoulders to reveal the white oversized t-shirt and leggings she wore. Unlike Jack, she was actually wearing shoes; bright yellow winter boots that stood out in the pale winter wood. Her eyes were... red?
Jack was only focused on two things, though. One was that she had apparently pulled a freakin' golden spear out of thin air. Two was that she had hit him with it. "You can see me?" he asked.
"I could ask you the same," the young woman responded. Jack didn't quite process that.
"You. Can see. Me?" he repeated. She looked too old to be a believer... The woman rolled her eyes at his question.
"No," she snapped sarcastically. "I'm blind and got lucky. Yes, I can see you. What I want to know is, how in the deepest darkest depths of space can you see me?"
"What?"
"Humans. Can't. See. Me." Something flashed in the woman's eyes, like she was getting something. Her gaze flicked from Jack's staff to his hair to the trail of frost he'd left behind them. "You... you aren't human, are you?"
Jack smirked "Well, I dunno. What exactly is your definition of 'human?'" The truth was, even after three hundred years and becoming a Guardian, the answer to that question was still something he didn't know. "Actually, I'd rather not know, if you're the type to get all fakey philosophical on people. That's never fun. And I would know."
The young woman shrugged. "It's simply. If you can't see me, you're not human. With a few rare exceptions. The dying under my jurisdiction, for instance. So. Who are you?"
"The one and only Jack Frost, not at your service," Jack said, smirking and dipping into an over dramatic bow. His smile fell as he straightened up. "How come you didn't know that? Only people who believe in me can see me, and they generally figure it out right away. Kids are smart that way."
"Well, I'm not a kid."
"I'll say. So who are you?" The woman still seemed to be a couple steps behind on the conversation, though.
"Jack Frost," she mused. "Same one who joined the Guardians in defeating Pitch Black the Boogeyman last Easter?"
"Uh, yeah. How'd you know?"
"It's our business to know.
She didn't smile, exactly, but her face still lit up at his answer. "Oh, goodness, well this is no. None of my people have ever met one of your people before. And none of your people have ever met one of my people. New thing for both of us, wouldn't you say? Polý synarpastikó!" She reached forward and grabbed his hand, shaking it. Despite the stunning lack of a smile, her eyes were wide enough to convey all the excitement in the world. They were red, a deep dark crimson with a few white flecks in them aligned in a strange pattern that Jack swore he had seen some where before. "Gotta admit, much as I'm really not liking you right not, I was really impressed with how you lot handled that whole mess. Le- My friend wasn't. Said that it could have been done better."
"Uh... yeah," Jack repeated, this time out of confusion as he pulled his hand away from her vice-like grip. Her hands were very warm. It was uncomfortable. "I'd like to see your friend do better. Who are you again?"
The woman shook her head. "Oh, no. Why should I tell you? That's a secret. You're not even supposed to know I exist. No one is, and I'm told to keep it that way."
"Because I asked nicely and I'm incredibly likeable?"
The woman raised an eyebrow.
"Worth a shot," Jack said. "Hey, I told you my name. I think it's only fair."
"Yes, and you were a complete annoyance for this past quarter of a mile. It became impossible to ignore you."
"You hit me in the face with a spear."
"The blunt end!"
Jack threw his hands into the air. Then an idea came to him. "All right, let's make a deal. We can play a game! If you win, you go on your way. If I win, you tell me your name and who you are."
"I can't. I'm supposed to be meeting a... co-worker, you could say. I'm already late. I'm lucky they're the forgiving type."
"C'mon! It'll be fun!" The young woman hesitated.
"All right. What sort of game should we play." A small, disturbing smile passed across her face. "We could have a duel to the pain. I'm good at those."
"Yeah, pass. I had something a little different in mind." Jack bent over and scooped up a pile of the slushy snow. "I mean, you already have my name, so that puts me at an unfair advantage. So I thought we'd even the playing field a little." He formed the slush into a perfect sphere and blew on it, cooling it the point where it was no longer half liquid. "Think fast."
"What are you-" The young woman's words were cut off by a face full of snowball. Jack hotted and jump into the air. "One point for me!" he said.
"Cute," the woman said, wiping the snow off her face. Her expressions was filled with a reign-in rage. "Cheating. You're a great sport. So, how many points to win?"
"Hmm... let's say ten." The woman grinned. It wasn't a nice grin, either.
"Tha páme gia na chásoume, ómorfo agóri," she said. Jack raised an eyebrow.
"English, please? I mean, what you're saying... it's all Greek to me." The woman laughed.
"That's because it is Greek, ilíthios." Before Jack could say another word, she ducked behind the nearest tree. Laughing, Jack scooped up another snowball and floated around the tree, lobbing it at her. Only to have it hit a rusty-looking shield. First a spear, now a shield? he thought. What else could she summon? "No fair," he said, chuckling. "No weapons allowed." The woman scowled and tossed her weaponry aside.
"Fine," she conceded, stooping over and scooping up a handful of snow-slush. "This is your game, we'll play by your rules." She formed it into a slushball, clencing her other hand into a fist by her side. "You're still going to lose." She tossed the slushball at him, but he avoided it easily... only to have a much smaller slushball hit him in the forehead. "Point to me," she said.
Laughing, the snowball fight turned into an all-out snowball war, and Jack was very pleased to find that he was winning. The young woman cheated a few times, knocking a few snowballs away from her with her spear, but he wasn't complaining. It only meant more points for him. Besides, he cheated a few times as well. He just made sure to not get caught doing it.
In the end, though, it was nine-nine, and both of them weren't about to give up. Jack just narrowly avoided getting pelted with one of his opponent's snowballs. He had no idea where this second burst of determination came from; when the score was at eight-four she'd seemed resigned to failure.
Well, Jack Frost wasn't about to be literally beaten at his own game. He looked at the woman, who was staring at him defiantly. Then his gaze trailed upward. "Good game," he said.
"So you're forfeiting?" the woman asked. Jack grinned.
"Not at all." He threw the snowball. It soared above her head, making her take on an expression of irritated disbelief. "Really?" she said. "That's you're best shot?"
She didn't get in another word before the snow that had been on the branch Jack hit with his snowball fell off, falling onto her and sending her toppling forward. "Ten points!" he hooted, pumping his fist into the air. "I win!" The young woman stood up, adjusting her hat, and for a couple moments Jack was sure she was going to accuse him of cheating. But to her surprise, she was smiling. Like, actually smiling.
"All right," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You win. And I'm not about to go back on my word. But you need to make sure you don't tell anyone. Especially the other Guardians. A friend of mine wouldn't be thrilled if she found out I spilled out, ah, little secret."
Jack raised an eyebrow as the wind carried him over. "What's so secret about your name?" The woman's smile fell.
"It's not my name, specifically. It's what it. means." She took a deep breath. "As for who I am...?" She shrugged.
"I am Aries, the Ram, the Zodiac of the Cardinal Fire and the Blesser of the early spring children. And I," she said, pointing at her wrist in a manner indicative of a pretend watch, "am late."
With that, she ran off, leaving Jack Frost standing there in the woods, very confused.
Okay, you all probably knew she was a Zodiac before the reveal (I mean, the title is "Ruin of the Zodiac") but how many specifically figured out she was Aries? Let me know!
I used Google translate for the greek, so it may be a bit off, but here's the rough supposed-to-be translations:
Polý synarpastikó! - Very exciting!
Tha páme gia na chásoume, ómorfo agóri - You're going to lose, pretty boy.
Ilíthios - Idiot
Please fave and review! Also, this is my first fic, so please be gentle! I can't do the movie justice at all, but I'll try!
- The OTS