Summary: According to all the stories and lore, Jack Frost is alone: The only winter spirit. What the stories don't mention is that Jack, in living, had not one, but two sisters. One younger, one his identical twin, who died along with him, drowning in the unforgiving cold of sacrifice. Jack's twin sister was revived right along with her brother, only to be forgotten. Until one fateful day.
Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any of its characters, nor do I make any money from my writing.
Twins of Frost
Prologue
~Scene from the Movie~
"It's okay... It's okay... don't look down, just... look at me." I say. I had been skating with my younger sister, Emma, when we both heard a cracking ring out across the lake. The unmistakable sound of breaking ice. We saw the crack at the same time, and to my horror, Emma was standing on it, the awful thing growing, webbing out more with each passing second.
"Jack... I-I'm scared..." Emma says, the words breaking my heart. I never want my innocent little sister to be scared. I just knew we should have waited longer before trying to skate on this lake! The ice is still far too thin... This is all my fault. Because of me, Emma might die. My little sister... NO! I'll fix this!
"I know, I know..." I start reassuring her, taking a step closer, flinching when the ice cracks beneath my foot. At least I had thought of taking my skates off before proceeding further. "But you're gonna be alright. You're not gonna fall in... uh... we're gonna have a little fun instead!"
"No, we're not!"
"Would I trick you?" I ask, knowing how weak an argument that was. After all, I had always been known for being a 'trickster'.
"Yes, you always play tricks!" Emma replies as I slowly inch closer to her.
"Oh... alright." I mumble. Then louder, I say, "Well, not, not, not this time." I stutter, but I motion with my hand to cover up for it. I can't show Emma how nervous and scared I am. "I promise, I promise... You're... You're gonna be fine. You have to believe in me." Emma exhales loudly, and though she's still scared, I can see in her eyes both hope and trust. "You wanna play a game? We're gonna play hop scotch! Like we do every day. It's as easy as one..." I take a step to the side, yet again flinching as the ice cracks, and as much as I'm afraid of doing so, I pretend to lose my balance, standing on the cracking ice on one foot, waving my arms around. To my relief, this coaxes a laugh out of Emma. "Two... three!" The ice becomes thicker with each step, and on the third, I reach shepherds crook. Perfect. I'll use it to pull her off the thin ice. All she has to do is move a little closer... "Alright, now it's your turn. One. Two. Three!" As she takes her third step, I reach out with the crook, and swing Emma off the thin ice. I hear her laugh, and see that I have succeeded. Emma now lays on good, thick ice, relief visible in her eyes. I take a step towards her, reaching out my hand, but relief kept me from realizing that when I had swung Emma off the thin ice, I had pulled myself into her place. The ice gives out beneath me, causing me to cry out as I fall into the freezing water.
"Jack!" Emma screams, jumping to her feet, horrified.
~End Movie Scene: The Beginning of what the Story Tellers missed~
"Oh no!" I cry out as I wake up and see the sun high in the sky. I had over-slept! I was supposed to go ice-skating with Jack and Emma today! Swiftly, I get dressed and throw on a cloak, yelling good bye to my mother as I run out the door, skates slung over my back. "Why didn't they wake me up?" I groan as I run towards the lake where we skate every winter. As I get closer and closer, I realize that everything is disturbingly quiet. Normally, the three, or in this case, the two of them, Jack and Emma, are very noisy on the ice, playing games, having snowball fights... I quicken my pace, and soon, I can see the lake through the trees. Suddenly, I see a blur of brown slide across the ice towards the bank of the lake. As I finally reach the lake, I realize the blur was my sister, Emma. The sight I see next makes my eyes widen in horror. Jack is standing on a patch of cracking ice, looking immensely relieved, him and Emma both smiling and laughing. At that moment, I understand what had happened. Originally, it must have been Emma standing where Jack is now, on the cracking ice. He must have swung her onto thicker ice with his shepherds crook, which is now lying on the ice near him. Suddenly, Jack cries out, jerking me out of my thoughts, and to the gaping hole in the ice.
"Jack!" Emma screams, jumping onto her feet.
"No!" I yell out in turn. The ice underneath Jack had finally given out, and he had fallen into the lake. Nobody who had fallen in had ever survived! I can't let Jack die! I just can't! I toss my skates frantically behind me, onto the snow, and throw myself onto the ice, sliding towards the jagged hole in the ice on my stomach, not caring that it was groaning and cracking from my weight. I look into the hole and see Jack, hands clawing sluggishly at the water, probably already stiff from cold, as he tries to get to the surface. Quickly, before Jack sinks too deep, I grab his hand, and try to pull him back out, the terrified look in my twin's eyes mirroring my own. I hear Emma screaming something behind me as I plunge my other hand into the freezing water, grabbing Jack's other hand. Inching backwards across the ice, Jack's head finally clears the surface of the water, and he begins gasping for breath. I'm pulling my brother onto the surface of the ice when it happens: The ice can only hold so much weight... and the addition of Jack's weight onto it is apparently too much. With a shriek from Emma, the ice gives out, and just like that, both Jack and I are plunged into the water. I let go of one of his hands, trying to propel us both to the surface with one arm. But the water is just too cold. My movements are stiff, slow, and utterly useless. We both continue to sink to the bottom of the lake. Eventually, I can no longer move my arm at all, but thankfully, I manage to twist my neck to meet Jack's eyes. I am hit with a wave of unnatural calmness, and through his eyes, I can see that Jack feels the same thing. We both know we're dying. We understand that. There's no way out of it. But our little sister, Emma, she will survive. She will suffer from our deaths, but she will move on. Black dots swim across my vision, and right before everything goes black, I see the moon shining through the murky darkness of the water. I don't understand why. After all, it's still day time, isn't it? The moon shouldn't be out. But never-the-less, there it is, so huge and bright, and as I fade, it just seems to grow brighter and brighter... Darkness covers my vision, yet I know with surety that the moon is still there, shining at us, two dying twins. Somehow, I know that everything will be alright. For both me and Jack. Enveloped in the darkness of the water, we both pass on at the same time, both of us accepting our fate, the light of the moon reflected in our eyes at they slowly slide shut...
With death comes life,
as with darkness comes light.
Renewal will be brought to all,
Under light of the moon and sun,
Of Yin and Yang,
Of Truth and False.
Such is the balance of the world...
~End Chapter~
This is my first Rise of the Guardians story. Please give me constructive criticism on this... it will really help! So, basically... REVIEW! I'll update whether you review or not, so no worries there, but this story will be better if I know the opinions of those reading it. This is just the prologue- further chapters will be longer! Thank you for reading, and I will update soon.
