Note: Jack Frost, Santa, the Easter Bunny, Santa, Sand Man, the Tooth Fairy, and this first part of the prelude all belong to DreamWorks. I do not own the characters or the scene. However, the OC in the second part of the prelude is mine. Do NOT steal the character.
Warning: BIG SPOILER OF THE ENDING OF RISE OF THE GUARDIANS! If you do not wish to have the ending spoiled for you, then I would recommend seeing the movie and then reading this frantic.
…
Then, all of a sudden, Santa's flying sleigh appeared out of the sky and rocketed over to the group. Jamie and his friends gaped in awe at the wondrous machine.
"Everyone loves the sleigh," Bunny remarked to Santa with a grin.
Santa smiled back at Bunny then turned to Jack Frost and murmured, "Time to go."
The group then all got together, and Sandy tossed a few streams of sand high into the air, exploding into glittery fireworks and twinkling down like snow. The kids oohed and ahhed and reached up toward the sky.
"Happy Eastah, ya little ankle bitah," said Bunny to the little girl, handing her a colorful Easter egg as he smiled. The girl giggled and petted his soft, twitchy nose. "I'm gonna miss ya."
Jack smiled as he looked over his new guardian friends and then to the kids and saw Jamie gazing up at him sadly.
"You're leaving?" Jamie asked worriedly, "But what if Pitch comes back? What if we stop believing again? If I can't see you…"
"Hey, hey, slow down, slow down." Jack kneeled down on one knee and placed his cold hand on Jamie's shoulder. "You telling me you stop believing in the moon when the sun comes out?"
"No…"
"Ok, well, do you stop believing in the sun when the clouds block it out?"
Jamie giggled a little and half smiled. "No."
"We'll always be there, Jamie," said Jack. "And now, we'll always be here," He reached out and touched the center of Jamie's chest, "which kind of makes you a guardian, too."
He then grinned and stood to make his way to the sleigh, but suddenly, Jamie cried, "Jack!" and ran toward him and gave him a big hug. Jack was startled a moment, then smiled and gave him a heartfelt hug back. He hopped onto the runners of the sleigh, Santa shook the reigns of his reindeer, and then they were off. The children cheered and waved happily as the shimmering snow fell from the sky. Bells from the sleigh jingled merrily as it flew into the nippy morning air.
...
I peered out from the hole in the tree bark just as the boy with the white hair and the staff climbed onto Santa's sleigh. How lively they all looked, happy and spirited and ready to take on new challenges. And how that boy looked like me… Well, not that much, but we both had a thin body and a staff.
I reached my frail hand over to the small orb on the top of my wooden staff. The orb lightened a little when I touched it, as it always did, but not as much as it would in the spring. How I missed the spring. I sneezed and hugged my knees for warmth without any success.
Suddenly it occurred to me- I could get help! I winced then slowly and painfully dragged myself out from the tree hole on the ice and started yelling.
"Santa! Easter Bunny! Tooth Fairy! Sand Man!" I cried, raising my frozen hand in the air slowly, but it was too late. I watched with sorrow as the sleigh flew on. The boy with the white hair, though, caught my eye, and his smile turned to a frown as he looked into my eyes curiously. He must've only caught a glimpse of me or didn't know I was there, because then he looked on with a smile of happiness onto the world.
I knew my last chance would be the kids. My hands willed me on forward as they carried me across the ground. My blonde braid dragged behind, all the flowers in it dead from the frost, and my feet nearly blue from cold. I kept moving on until I was within eyeshot of the kids and started waving my arms about in as quickly a manner as I could.
"Kids! What's the name…?" I tried to recall what someone had called the kid. "Jamie! Jamie, look over here!" No response as he ran about with his friends in the golden glitter. I crawled closer and kept calling, but still no response. Getting desperate, I started squirming and screaming, and tears streamed down my face only to get frozen by the cold. I could feel the ice beneath me freezing me and making me even sicker, so I kept crawling until I was right beside them. The kids were gathered in a group talking about the adventure they just had.
"Did you see that sleigh?" said the rather large and menacing looking girl.
Another kid spoke, the littlest girl, holding up her brightly colored egg. "Easter Bunny! Easter Bunny!"
"Did you see Jack Frost?" Jamie exclaimed. "His staff and the frost and everything!"
Jack Frost. So that was the boy with the white hair's name.
"Jamie, I beg you, help me…" I sobbed helplessly. My hand reached out to grab his hand. Only for it to fall right through him.
An adult called the children in for hot chocolate and they all screamed and ran in excitedly, leaving me here alone in the frost.
Who was I kidding? They wouldn't help me. They wouldn't believe in Mother Nature.
