Candle lamps were dimly lit throughout the chilly village. Thick fog filled the open night. Not a single sound was heard. Not a single Coronian was outside. It was silent in the kingdom of Corona. Too silent.
Suddenly, the wood-panel signs of shops began to swing. The trees slowly rustled by an unexpected breeze. The welcome bells hooked on house doors began to chime. All of a sudden, the air turned... frosty.
Jack laughed as he landed on the village square's fountain, turning the calm water into pale ice. He slid down and stretched his arms out wide. He yawned. "Who knew freezing palace guards were so much fun?"
Jack smiled and looked around. His smile faded when he realized no one was enjoying the fresh, cold air. Everyone was hiding inside, sitting by a blazing hot fireplace. " Strange place, Corona..." Jack mumbled. Suddenly, he heard a distance chatter coming from a small alleyway. Jack listened closely and realized it was voices of children! He grinned and followed the voices. "Pfft, they think staying indoors is fun," Jack smirked. He raised his staff and triumphantly smiled. " Well luckily, I'm about to change that!"
As Jack came closer to the voices, he smile began to fade away. It wasn't the sound of children laughing and smiling. It was the sound of children bullying and taunting.
"Hey, give it back!" the little boy cried, his hands waving in the air. Two other boys twice his size were taunting him, playing 'catch' with his book.
"Oh, what are you gonna do about it?" one of the older boys sneered, passing on the book to the other boy. The little boy desperately jumped and waved his hands, but could not get hold of his book.
"Hey John," the older boy said, passing the book to his friend. John caught it and grinned evilly. He slowly unlatched the cottage window. The little boy widened his eyes in horror. John waved the book over the ledge of the window, laughing. The little boy clenched his fists. "If you drop that book, you'll both be sorry!"
John sarcastically raised his hands in terror. "Oh yes, because one day you're gonna be the richest, greatest man in all of Corona, going on daring adventures and owning your own private island!" he mimicked. The little boy mustered up all his courage, and with his right fist, punched one of the older boys in the stomach. Unfortunately, it didn't have much effect on them.
The two older boys stopped and exchanged glances. They both nodded evilly. "Steve, get him." John muttered. Steve grabbed the little boy and held him tight as John began to drop the book over the window ledge. The little boy covered his eyes, hiding away his tears.
Suddenly, a rapid snowball hits John smack on the face, tossing him and the book to the ground. Steve let go of the little boy to help John up. The little boy opened his eyes to see flying snowballs coming from the window for John and Steve! He widened his eyes, speculating the humorous display. The older boys cried in frustration.
"Who's doing that?" John screamed. All of a sudden, a excruciatingly cold wind emerged from the window. It made the boxes and closet doors open and close madly. The two boys shivered in despair. "It's a ghost!" Steve chattered through his teeth. The two boys' exchanged terrified glances and ran out of the room.
The little boy laughed at the two crying boys. He turns back to face the open window. Looking down, he sees his book lying on the floor. The little boy gasps, scrambling for the book. He hugs the book tightly, looking back at the window. His eyes widen in shock. There in front of him was a pale, white-haired man, staring back. The boy screams, running to the back of the room.
Jack blinked. "You- you can see me?" he asked doubtfully. To his surprise, the little boy nodded, hiding behind his big book. Jack gasped, his eyes lighting up.
"You can hear me too?" Jack whispered, kneeling in front of the boy. The boy shivered. Taking a quick glance at Jack, he nodded again, then hiding back behind his book. "D-Don't worry," Jack said, awkwardly, trying to calm the boy down. "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm just-" Jack laughed, flying into the air. "You can see me?" The little boy slowly lifted his head above his book. Jack smiled down at the boy, but began to frown. "Wait, i-if you can see me... then why are you scared of me?" The boy shaked, standing up. "I-I never knew you could see me too, Mr. Frost." Jack's mouth went agape.
"Y-you KNOW MY NAME, TOO?" Jack whispered excitedly, jumping up and down. The boy, seeing Jack so happy, laughed and got excited too. "Of course! You're the guy who makes snow right? The village storyteller tells us stories about h-how you make frost, a-and snowflakes and," the boy gasped.
"You can make it snow anytime you want." he whispered in disbelief, looking down at the melting snow on the wooden floor. Jack nodded proudly, holding up his staff. He kneels down in front of the boy. "What's your name?" he asked, his eyes brightened with joy. The boy mirrored Jack's wonder.
"My name's Eugene," the boy smiled, reaching out his hand. Before Jack could introduce himself, Eugene laughed. "You don't have to tell me your name, Mr. Frost."
Jack shook his head laughing. "Woah there, Eugene. Mr. Frost is way too fancy. I'm not the fancy type," Jack took Eugene's hand and shook it.
"Call me Jack."
Eugene flinched once Jack shook his hand. Jack frowned. "What? What is it?" he asked. But Eugene just giggled. "Your hand," he said. " It's so cold!" Jack quietly laughed along, but deep down he felt ashamed. He knew he doesn't have the same body temperature as Eugene, or any boy for that matter. He then began to think about how different he was with the others. He was invisible. No one could see him, only Eugene. But what if he shows Eugene his powers and abilities? Would he get scared? Would he say it's all fake? Or worst of all: would he stop believing?
Eugene noticed Jack's sadness. He saw how sad his eyes looked; lost in thought and in loneliness. "I know how it feels," Eugene quietly said. "To be different." Jack looked up, surprised. "But how did you-"
"Your eyes are sad," Eugene began, pointing at Jack's eyes. "My eyes get sad like that too." Eugene opened his book, revealing to Jack the book's title: The Tales of Flynnigan Rider. As Eugene flipped through the pages, Jack understood the story through the pictures; It was about a man who went on swashbuckling adventures, had many riches, and would always save the damsel in distress. "I always read this book to myself in my room," Eugene said. "I believe Flynnigan Rider is my hero. He's smart, he's adventurous, and he's not bad with the ladies either," Jack laughed as Eugene flipped to the page where Flynnigan receives a kiss from the rescued princess. "I try to tell my friends all of that, but," Eugene stopped.
"They think I'm weird. They keep telling me that I'll never be like Flynnigan, and that I'll stay in this rotting orphanage forever!" Eugene angrily yelled, his tears drowning in his voice. Jack looked at Eugene with sympathy.
"They all think I'm different."
Jack quickly glanced at Eugene, then at his brown staff. 'Even though he's human and I'm spirit,' Jack thought to himself. 'We're both the same'. With a determined look, Jack stood up. Eugene rubbed the tears away from his eyes. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice cracking from the tears. Jack looked down at Eugene, smiling. "The question is, what are we doing." Jack stepped in front of the window, the cold wind filling the air. He looked back at Eugene with a devious smile. "You wanna just like Flynnigan Rider, right?" Jack yelled at Eugene over the howling wind. Eugene widened his eyes, nodding. Jack grinned.
"Then let's go on an adventure." Jack stepped on the window ledge, reaching his hand out to Eugene. Eugene hesitated. "Where are we going?" he yelled, the wind still howling. Jack shook his head, smiling softly. "It's a surprise! Just... believe in me." Eugene looked back at his book, then back at Jack. He slowly reached for Jack's hand, but Jack grabbed it right away and lifted them both off the window.
Eugene screamed, looking down at the village that was getting tinier and tinier. Jack laughed and howled with the wind, lifting Eugene onto his back. Eugene's screaming began to fade away. He slowly began to laugh, lifting his arms up in the cold, fresh night air. Jack lifted them up higher; suddenly, they reached the white fluffy clouds, glimmering by the moon. Eugene gasped and glided his hands across the clouds. They felt fuzzy and soft, just like cotton candy. Jack reached for a piece of the cloud. Using his staff, he quickly but carefully shaped it into a sword and pirate hat. He handed it to Eugene. Eugene laughed and wore the cloud hat, swaying his mighty sword. "I am Flynnigan Rider!" he yelled as Jack glided through the smokey air. He and Jack laughed as they dived back down to the orphanage. They landed safely and soundly. Eugene hopped off Jack's back and sighed happily, sitting down on the floor. "That was so cool! Did you see those clouds? And the cloud sword you made me!"
"Don't forget the flying geese! That was hilarious!" Jack added, laughing along with Eugene. Their laughter subsided as Eugene began to yawn. Jack chuckled and sat besides Eugene. "How did you like the adventure?" Jack asked Eugene. Eugene thought for a moment. "I guess it was okay." he replied, shrugging. Jack widened his eyes in disbelief. "Okay? What do you mean okay?-" Eugene laughed. "I was kidding Jack, it was totally awesome! It's just..." Eugene shrugged again. "There wasn't any girls."
Jack blinked, then laughed. "Oh yes, Flynnigan Rider needs a damsel in distress," Jack said. He thought for a moment, then turned to Eugene. "I saw these princes once, talking to princesses in a winter ball," Jack began. Eugene's ears perked up, listening closely. "And there's this one thing they did that really made the princesses swoon."
Eugene jumped up and down excitedly. "What? What did they do?" he asked. Jack faced his back to Eugene. "They did this." Dramatically, Jack turned around, his lips pouting and his eyes curved. "Wow," Eugene gasped, then crossed his arms. "Is that really a way to get a girl or are you just teasing me?" Jack chuckled. "I'm not teasing, trust me; here, I'll show you." Step-by-step, Jack slowly taught Eugene how to do the pouting face, both giggling in the process. "Jack," Eugene mumbled as Jack tries to arrange his eyes and his lips. "It's like you're smoldering my face, but instead of burning smoke it's freezing ice!" Jack laughed. "Just hold still...There! You got it!" Jack triumphantly declared. Eugene held his pouting face up proudly. Jack smirked. "Wow, you do it better than me!" They both laughed. Eugene began to rub his eyes. Jack's laughter subsided as he noticed Eugene was getting sleepy.
"Eugene, I guess it's time for you to go to sleep." Jack said. He regrets saying it; he still wants to play and have fun with Eugene, but he knew the boy was tired. And besides, he had tasks to do: he had to make it snow on other parts of the world. He couldn't just stay in one place and leave the other children unhappy.
Eugene shook his head. "But I want to play with you! You're the only one who's willing to play with me, and talk to me," Eugene suddenly hugged Jack.
"You're the only one who understands me."
Jack felt water coming out from his eyes. It was a strange sensation; he never had water come out of his eyes before in so many years. He held Eugene closely and hugged him back. Jack let the tears fall from his eyes.
"I'll always be there for you, Eugene," Jack croaked, his voice choked in tears. He cleared his throat and slowly let go of the embrace. He knelt in front of the little boy. Jack looked at him straight in the eye. "Just remember Eugene, that no matter what anyone says, or what anyone tells you to do, always remember that you can reach your dreams. All you've got to do is believe in yourself." Jack said, smiling. Eugene smiled back. Jack stood up and ruffled Eugene's hair. He climbed onto the window cold, icy wind came blowing in the room again. Jack stopped and turned around once more. "Oh and about the girl," he yelled. "Have no fear! That pout is gonna get you your princess."
Eugene laughed. Jack finally saluted to Eugene with his staff, and flew away. The cold wind left as well, leaving the room quiet and empty. Eugene wiped away a tear on his cheek. He walked towards his room. As he reached for the doorknob, he sees one of his orphanage friends walking to her room. It was a girl about his age. She smiled at Eugene. Eugene was about to smile back, but remembered. Pouting his lips and curving his eyes, Eugene lit up his 'look'. The girl blushed, then giggled as she ran to her room. Eugene smirked. "The Smolder," he said to himself, opening his bedroom door.
"I like it."
On this note, I'd love to thank everyone who read this story :) Another big thank you for everyone who read/subscribed/favorited 'Snowflake'!
You guys keep me positive and full of ideas with these ROTG/Tangled crossovers! Thank you so so so much! ^_^