Okay, I wrote this as a rough draft prologue for a story my friend Kisoru Chan is thinking about writing. I volunteered to help write it and took a little hay ride writing this. I'm hoping this well get her to start the new story on her page. She wanted to bring a different sort of Cupid into the Jack Frost and The Guardians world but you can learn more about that later. I considered writing a different end to this but I really wanted to draw it out as much as I could since I've found a liking for angst and drama sort of scenes. I've been doing that more a little bit with my story Wait, What and I've liked the doors it opens up in that story. So enough of my rambling at the top of the page, here you go! Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of The Guardians.
"Darling? Your father wants to see you." A small child looked up from her toys at a dark haired woman. The girl stood and followed the woman out. The lights in he hall were lit and the moon was full outside. A broad shouldered man stood in the mahogany paneled greeting room waiting for the child. He wrapped a scarlet cloak around her shoulders and lead her into the night.
"Daddy, where are we going?" she tugged on his cloak. He turned a small smile to her, "We're going to play a game. Have you heard of 'Wolves in the Woods'?" The girl nodded vigorously. Fog swirled around them, shadowing to ground. "Good. How about you be the camper and I'll be the wolf." He pulled her to the side and sat her by a tree. "Now stay here and count to one hundred. Count silently, not out loud, do you understand?" She nodded again, crossing her legs and leaning against the tree. She slipped the scarlet cloak off and handed it to her father. He would take it and hide it. "I'll see you soon." She smiled brightly at him.
She listened to the leaves crunch beneath his receding steps. She breathed in the crisp are, thinking. One, two, three, four... Where would he hide her cloak? Seven, eight, nine... By the stream? The rockfall by the fox den? She shivered, her mother had caught her playing close to the den. She remembered being gently scolded. Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three...The berry patches? Thirty-nine, forty, forty-one... No, that would be too obvious. Seventy-five, seventy-six, seventy-seven... In the trees? Folded by the roots? Ninety-one, ninety-two, ninety-three... On the ground covered by leaves? One hundred.
She stood, shivering, and followed in her father's footsteps. Slowly, she started humming, thinking of a song her mother used lull her to sleep with. The words flowed from her mouth,
"Hush, hush, time to be sleeping,
Hush, hush, dreams come a-creeping,
Dreams of peace and of freedom,
So smile in your sleep, bonny baby."
A screech owl watched her pass with glowing eyes. The girl swayed as she searched branches made silver by the moon. She searched through the roots of the trees.
She passed blackberry bushes on her way to the stream.
"Once our valleys were ringing,
With songs of our children singing,"
She twirled as she sang, not understanding the meaning. Her voice was sweet and smooth like honey.
"But now sheep bleat till the evening,
And shillings lie empty and broken,
Hush, hush, time to be sleeping,
Hush, hush, dreams come a-creeping,
Dreams of peace and of freedom,
So smile in your sleep, bonny baby."
She smiled as she caught sight of a grove and danced to it. Only to stop short. The fog was enveloping a body, like a suffocating blanket. She stopped forward slowly, recognizing the red hair, much like her own. 'Moma?" The figure shifted, turning pale eyes on the girl. She reached out for her, her breathing shallow. The child ran forward and kneeled next to the woman, Who clutched a scarlet cloak. Pained, the woman wrapped it around the girl's shoulders and kissed her forehead, brushing her red hair away from her face. "What was that you were singing, CutiePie?" She clutched the girl's hand. "Your lullaby, mother. What are you doing out here?"
The woman waved aside the question, "Will you finish singing it for me? I'm very tired." The girl frowned, confused. "Will you sing it with me?" "Of course, Cutie Pie. I love you, I always will. Remember, love is a very important 's worth fighting for." The girl's eyebrows knitted together and she opening her mouth to question further but her mother pressed a finger to her lips with a weary sigh, "Sing.'
"Where is our proud highland mettle,
Our troops once so fierce in battle."
Their voices blended together under the full moon that shined down on them. Their voices drifting up to it. An offering.
"Now stand, cowed, huddled like cattle,
And wait to be shipped o'er the ocean,
Hush, hush, time to be sleeping,
Hush, hush, time to be sleeping,
Hush, hush, dreams come a-creeping,
Dreams of peace and of freedom,
So smile in your sleep, bonny baby."
The woman caressed her daughter's face with gentle fingers, 'I love you, CutiePie."
"No use pleading or praying,
For gone, gone is all hope of staying,
Hush, hush, the anchor's a-weighing,
Don't cry in your sleep, bonny baby."
"Moma? Moma! The girl shook the woman's shoulders, noticing for the first time that her hands were covered n blood. A branch snapped and she looked over her should. Her father stood watching her, rigid, "What have you done?" The girl was kneeling in a pool of crimson that reflected the moon above. A pool that had been gathering before she arrived.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Seven years passed and the child adopted a new mother and siblings. The dark haired woman that had been her keeper now filled the gap that her mother left with a chilled presence. Her son, two years older than the now sixteen year old girl, was crude and witty. He knew how to make things appear differently than how they truly were. He and his eight year old sister set traps for the girl and blamed her for things she did not do. Rumors had been spreading through a nearby village of a man turned mad by the wild. He had been an enthused explorer who ventured out too far.
"Celest! Come here!" an angry shriek rang through the house. The girl put the red cloak under the straw mattress and slipped out of her room. What her saw made her gasp. Plates and cups were smashed and scattered across the floor, dirty. Her mind twisted in confusion. "What is this? I told you to clean the kitchen, not make an even bigger mess!" The woman's eyes flashed. The little brat wrapped her arms around her mothers thigh comfortingly. But she was mocking Celest with the tips of her lips tilting up. James leaned against the wall, behind his mother, smirking at the younger teen. He confessed shamelessly with his eyes what he and his sister had done.
"But I just cleaned all of this! I didn't make it worse." Something crashed in the greeting room and everyone froze. The soft light from the candles turned menacing as they listened silently. Celest's heart thrummed in her chest as, very slowly, they retreated. Surely they would be found. Would they not? Whom ever had broken into the house had heard the noises coming from the kitchen. She could follow her step family and have them all surely caught.. But then she could pretend she was the only one making he racket in the kitchen. Heavy footsteps plodded their way towards her. The other three had disappeared. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if something happened to them. Even if they didn't treat her fairly she had accepted them as part of her family. She had done what she thought her fallen mother would approve of. Her father was away on business, he would not be able to save them.
She stepped quickly into the hallway and ran for her room, slamming the door shut. Whom ever had seen her quickened their pace. She lunged across the bed for the only thing she could think of. The crimson cloak. Her lips trembled as she sang quietly to herself as the an rammed his shoulder against the door, in which she had barred. She would give the three time to run. She glanced over to her window and threw herself out of it. She landed on the ground softly and bolted. She head her door splinter behind her and shouts coming from the man. He, too, jumped out the window and ran after her.
"Where is our proud highland mettle,
Our troops so fierce in battle,
Now stand, cowed, huddled like cattle,
And wait to be shipped o'er the ocean.
She ran through the trees as the man lumbered behind. A shot rang out and she dodged to the side. Pain blossomed in her leg. crumpling to the ground, her hair flying around her, she continued whispering to herself, dragging her body onward. All the while knowing the result of her decision.
"No use pleading or praying,
For gone, gone is all hope of staying,
Hush, hush, the anchor's awaying,
Don't cry in your sleep, bonny baby."
She cried out as a large boot pressed against her side, rolling her over. She looked straight at the barrel of the gun that was pointed at her chest and for the first time since her mother died, a tear danced down her cheek. The last thing she saw before the shot rang out was the mans dark, clear face with bright eyes shining with madness.
Alrighty, the lullabie used here I believe is Scottish. It is about the Highland Clearances. I do not own the song either. Kisoru Chan came up with Celest's name as well but gave me pretty loose reign to do what ever I wanted with it. I had a bunch of fun writing it although I finished it several months ago. We just never posted it so now I am. Please review and tell me what you thought. Keep checking in on Kisoru Chan's page to see if she's posted chapters for her new story. I can't wait for her to start it. I hope you guys liked it, PLEASE REVIEW! I haven't had a review in a while and it's depressing me. So yea. Tell me what you think of it.