Draped In Darkness
Chapter 1
Loneliness is a loaded gun
'They say, sometimes it's best to leave things as they are. And by 'they' I mean 'them'. The Guardians. Although I suppose it's different now. Me being one of them and everything... Not that that's a problem. It's great! I mean, not much I have to compare it to, but y'know what's the alternative? I feel like I'm becoming senile already. I suppose being 360 years old sorta does make me an old man. Not that any humans would catch onto that, if they could see me that is... Being immortal does have it's perks. As well as it's negatives, it's pretty obvious that they outweigh the positives.
You start to realise - after a 150 years or so - that immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be, perks wise. Take...me for example. I sort of think of it as a dodgy contract, a pretty messed up one at that. I was protecting my sister. When it came to it, I believed my life was the price to pay. Trading mine for hers. Becoming a Frost Spirit was never part of the agreement. My memories being taken from me was never mentioned either. When I became Jack Frost, it was great! It was like I was in this amazing dream where I was the Protagonist with these awesome powers; Ice, Flight, Snow, Immortality...Invisibility... That's when I realised I was trapped. I couldn't back out, bound to this contract with no knowledge of how it came about.'
Jack frowned to himself then. Those memories were always the most painful to revisit. So why did he insist on holding onto them? Nothing to gain from them or the fear that came with it. He already had what he wanted now. He had his memories, his believers, a family made up of his closest friends and... that's all he needs, right?
The frost spirit looked around for the first time in a while, breaking himself from his thoughts. He sat in the middle of his frozen lake, cross legged, wearing his usual attire; blue jumper, brown faded brown pants and bare feet. His only attire. He looked down only to see his plain pale reflection gazing back, those same blue eyes bore into his own, never really seeing him the way he wanted to be seen. How many times had he spoke to this reflection before the Guardians? Pretending that it could actually hear him. He knew looking back that he had been talking to himself, but his mind at the time had refused to acknowledge that. He let his fantasies cloud reality allowing it to numb that dull ache in his heart. He couldn't help but laugh at himself. He knew he might as well have been speaking to the children that were scattered around Burgess. It's not like he was speaking to someone who could see him and at least they had a personality that he had not become so accustomed to, permanently glued to him.
Jack pushed the soles of his feet against the ice, gracefully standing up on the smooth surface. The wind ruffled his hair playfully, pulling at the cords on his jumper, trying to drag him away to ride the skies.
Jack smirked a little, "Lead the way"
He grabbed at his Staff quickly, which leant on a nearby tree, and he jumped a little allowing the winds to drag him along. It wasn't long before he established his place, forcing the wind to catch up so he didn't fall from the skies. Not long passed before he saw those glowing streams of lights that seemed to move fluidly over the structure in the distance. He smiled seeing the familiar sight.
"To Norths it is then"
The warmth instantly hit him, making the ice to crawl around his body on instinct. He padded along the floor spinning slowly around as he did, staring with childish delight at the toy planes that twirled skillfully in the air, just as he had done before. The air was thick with excitement as well as a strong, sickly, sweet aroma, so strong that if he opened his mouth he could even taste it on his tongue. Suddenly he thudded into a big firm body, it held no bounce like Norths did so it had to be...
"Hey Phil" The frost spirit smiled as sweetly as he possibly could at the lumbering hulk. He received a grumble in return as the Yeti turned away, a scowl deeply embedded in his face. Frosts smile twisted into a mischievous smirk as he felt the ice course through his staff. 'Oh Phil, never turn your back o- whoa!'
A sudden smack to his back knocked him off balance and he gripped onto a nearby workbench for support, succeeding in tipping over some red pain. He winced slightly before frowning at the cause then let out a little laugh.
"Well Jack, I see we being mischievous, yes? Phil does not like to be iced if I remember." A laugh rumbled from the taller Guardian, his eyes shining with amusement.
Jack returned the look with his own, "I was only gonna ice the floor a little. I'm not that cruel. He looked like he needed a bit of fun, that's all."
"Fun for you, yes. Not for Yeti. I afraid he doesn't share same humour as you"
Jack scoffed, "He's no fun."
The Guardian of Wonder simply nodded his head slightly, smile spreading, "So what will I be doing you Jack?"
Jack frowned a little to himself, he didn't really know he needed a reason to visit, "Um, well...I guess I just-"
"Oi!"
'Uh oh' Jack recognised who that voice belonged to. He turned and saw Bunnymund. And if the look on his face said anything, he was still sore about Jacks latest Prank concerning the Pooka. It wasn't Jacks fault that he wanted to do an Easter egg hunt with an unwilling Bunnymund. Jack just wanted to mess with him a little. Anyway, they found all the missing eggs eventually, 6 feet of snow in the Warrens and Bunny had acted like it was an apocalypse!
Jack coughed a little and shifted a hand through his hair, the frosted flakes eventually settling back into their original style.
"Hey! Bunny, good to se-"
"Oh no, don't be give me any of that! Bloody took me ages to clear the place out after you pulled that stunt!"
Jack rolled his eyes a little, "It would have melted eventually, no need to be so dramatic about it."
"Bloody showpony, always got to go and mess everything up!" Bunnys eyes were ablaze as he yanked out a boomerang.
Banter, full blown arguments and even the occasional fight were common around Bunny and Jack. They both knew it was common and so did the guardians. It was just the way they communicated. However Jack couldn't help but wince a little at the last comment though. It felt like a stab at him, a stab at the past. Back when Easter had been ruined. Any chance he could get Bunny would bring it up, or plant the seeds of grief in Jacks mind, intentional or not, it still hurt. Jack knew he should be used to it by now, especially with Bunnys unforgiving nature and his growing frequency in bringing it up, but that time, that memory, it always gripped him tightly. That, particular memory...
Jack felt anger course through his veins, his staff sparked dangerously as the ice caught the light in the room and reflected it brightly. Before he could stop himself it was too late. Something happened to him and if he had known it would happen he would have tried to stop, do something, think of something else but his mind went blank, white fury blurred his vision and the only thing he focused on was how angry he made him. How he still managed to rile him up. It was a vicious circle, the angrier he got at him, the angrier he got at himself and the angrier he got at himself he got even angrier at him. A sudden high pitched shriek pierced his eardrums and a golden light shrouded his vision.
The light faded and he looked around. He felt...lost. This wasn't Norths workshop, right? All around him was broken wood and pine, an aggressive wind was whipping at him, trying to drag him away. He was literally outside, the whole side of the building looked like it had been chewed off. A few beams here and there were supporting...nothing. A groan made him jump and he saw Bunny. He was a mess. Blood matted his usually glossy fur. Tufts sticking out and some fur was even missing, large, deep gashes replacing it. His eyes rested on Tooth and Sandy, they must have snapped him out of...whatever that was. Sandy was stood in a defensive position, it looked hostile until you saw the hostility didn't reach his face. Those eyes were wide, and he looked completely shell-shocked. Tooth looked the same, two long, slim, katana-like swords were drawn, they caught the light of the moon outside as they shook, clenched in her palms.
Realisation struck him, as his eyes widened. He looked quickly to his staff and threw the weapon away. He shook as he looked from Bunny to the staff then to Tooth and Sandy. A large hulk of red was seen from the corner of the eye. He didn't need to look, he knew it would be North. He couldn't bear to see the look he gave him. He felt his eyes well up with...tears? It had been years since he'd cried. Even all that time alone hadn't caused him to break. He scrunched them up in annoyance, there was no use pitying himself. Not here, in front of them. He backed away slowly, he could feel the gravity of everything now.
'I'm not used to dealing with gravity'
Shaking his head he looked to them, they were trying to approach him. Probably lock him up somewhere. Maybe tell him soothing lies. Try to convince him it's all okay. Oh but it was far from okay. He had been scolding himself earlier about his fears being unreasonable, now, those fears didn't even compares to the new, raw, fear he was feeling now. The adrenaline was still rushing through him. All it took from them was another step forwards...and he fled. He was out of there in less than a second. His body shuddered as he felt a shiver travel through him, not from the cold. Never from the cold. Everything was falling apart. It had only been a matter of time...
That particular memory...
'You make a mess wherever you go, why, you're doing it right now...'
Hey guys, this is my first Rise of the Guardians fic. I really hope you guys like it :) I'm always open to constructive criticism and reviews so please let me know if you have any problems, anything I can improve on, any questions or even any ideas then don't be afraid to ask. I very much appreciate it ^^
Also I think my writing style is a little...off, at the moment, so I'm sorry if it seems a bit...off, at times. (I don't even know) ^^
So this is set around 60 years after Pitch was defeated by the guardians and Jack is still struggling with everything. Poor Jack, surely it can only get better from here...right?
Thanks for reading! ^^
~Vorpal Insanity~