Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Tangled or Rise of the Guardians. I'll say I own this idea but for all I know someone else has something similar to this swimming in their heads and I was posted it first, who knows lol.
Good North he loved his job.
To be a touch narcissistic but also completely truthful in his honest opinion, Jack was damn good at being the guardian of fun. Ten years on the job and his popularity had escalated leaps and bounds through mouth of children, his name being dropped in wonder from young lips when the air grew chilled and the ground spotted with frost. And with the cusp of autumn swirling in the wind there was plenty of mischief to invoke with his special set of skills; skills that delighted his main audience.
In fact the past few weeks had been such a blur of laughs, spills, chills, thrills that upon landing on a large sky scraper decorating an even larger city that he regarded bemusedly, "I have nooo idea where I am."
He chuckled, some long glances along with the pollution of noise wafting upwards let him assume he hovered above a city in America. New York perhaps?
"Always a fun place to mess with." A whoop of laughter and he dropped from the sky, bringing his particular arts to the streets.
The other guardians disagreed with some of his methods, mostly the one being that even though most children could see him, he still stayed in plain sight, like at the moment he resided a top a street sign, watching the bustling mobs of people.
He'd chuckle whenever a child would see him, they'd ooo and ahh, tugging frantically at parents sleeves, pointing directly at him but as always the adults wouldn't see him and he'd wink at the kids while they were dragged away. How could the other guardians ask him to adapt their stealth when he was not even remotely close being sated with his visibility? Give him a couple hundred years and he'd consider it, maybe.
People watching was still a hobby of his, the ignorance of adults giving him the leisure of invisibility to openly mock them and now with children hearing and seeing him, mischief was even more fun; someone would finally laugh along with him.
As a walk light flickered on new victims strut across the street and staff in hand he swept the crowd for fresh meat, grinning like a cheshire cat till a head of yellow flickered his eye's corner.
He tried to fight for a moment but as always his eyes burned curious holes in the head, watching the young woman, bundled in a red coat while hefting heavy shopping bags. Her hair was a soft yellow, without a doubt chemically done, billowing about her shoulders and swaying back and forth with each click of her shoes.
In the back of his mind, tickling like a feather's itch, was always the instant thought whenever he saw a girl with blond hair. Long, short, dark, pale, platinum, golden, curls, straight. Was any of it close to the phantom image he had floating in his head, placed in there by long ago fairy tales? Every reasonable part of his being chided in disbelief for the bordering romantic regard he harbored of a blond girl he'd never actually met.
"Gezz you'd think I was pulled from one of those lame twihard books." He grumbled.
It always irked him but like every time he was able to push the feelings away, never admitting that the light coating of snow he sent over any of those girl's head was to see how the hair sparkled in the sun, trying to make it glow. Was this even close to the fabled radiance? This one reeked of prissy so it'd at least be fun he figured before giving a light spin of his staff in her direction, a small spiral of gentle snow falling on her head.
The woman huffed, shaking her mane and wiping with her hands before trotting off loudly, sounding to Jack much like a horse in those obscene shoes woman seemed to love wearing. Oh well, all the easier to set up an 'accidental' slip on his ice; you'd think that by adding several inches of thin sticks on their feet they'd realized they were asking for bruised butts. And as this particular woman marched into a group of children, scattering them as she swatted them like insects, one whimpering as he stepped in a soaking puddle, he did just that.
"Well you're just asking for it." He tapped his staff to the sidewalk.
A squawk of indigence along with spilled bags holding inane name brand items in the slush had the kids giggling happily then running off, easily forgetting their sulking mood. One small girl turned at the last moment, waving directly at Jack, her cheeks rosey and a few teeth missing to make her smile even more adorable.
He happily waved back, trying to ignore the pang in his heart when he saw two thick braids of golden blond hair fall out of her hat as she ran to join her friends before he sighed and hung his head in defeat.
Grumbling, his delight tainted by a tightness in his chest, he decided a different scene was in order to perk his mood. With one last half-hearted string of frost spiraling up a shop's window to spread down the block he called to the wind, jumping up to catch the gust and yelping in instant delight of flying. Minutes later he touched down in an equally large city, another shopping district which he always found multitudes of fun awaiting. He sailed through the air, blasting frost on office building's towering glass and a few flurries on people's heads below.
Once more a few children called out his name, the sound was musical to him, trying to chase after him and enjoying his snowflakes twisting in the air to land like feathers on their faces.
Floating above the streets and turning a sharp corner a strange feeling came over him, like a sharp prickle of teeth brushing his skin or was it a singe of decaying flesh overlapping pungent perfumes in his nose? It was such a shock he came to an abrupt halt to whirl around looking frantically for the disturbing presence.
Balancing with a cat's grace by his toes above a shop sign his eyes tried to follow the unsettling that someone was causing in his body. Before his determination made him step down to wander the crowds, which even he tried to avoid, always feeling safer feet above people, a woman walked by that reeked of something purely heinous.
A cloud of obsidian curls streaked with gray bobbed a top a rather curvy woman's body that was decorated in dark expensive looking clothes, the kind he'd recognized insecure people to don like a peacock's feathers. Her face bore sharp features with aging in the corners and for a moment he could see her dark seducing beauty as she may appear to the normal man, but he saw a dark malevolence that warped her allure.
Just looking at her was sending vile shivers in his body, crawling through him like his trademark frost upon a tree. Something was horribly wrong with this woman. Damned if he wasn't curious.
Smirking he followed her above throngs of people learning quickly she was ill-mannered and callous while barreling through people treating them as though them simply being alive was a nuisance. She boarded an expensive looking car, barking orders to the driver with a husky tone most smokers attained after decades. Light as snow he landed atop the car, trying to keep balance as it zoomed off bordering recklessly into traffic, guided by the screeching woman.
The ride was dull, city fading to neighborhoods and till they were heading outside city limits he actually worried a little he'd have to leave, his interest only lasted so long and if the drive didn't end shortly his sense of duty would return then he'd be off to another city. Didn't need to give Bunny any more reason to chew Jack's ears off if he didn't keep to schedule.
A lone driveway was turned into, black iron gates opened to give view to a looming mansion in the distance that seemed ripped out of a horror movie and rather dubious as an actual home. Jack was impressed enough to whistle at the sheer size of it, getting closer his stomach twisted at the dark gothic theme on the outside. Slipping easily in behind her when she entered he decided instantly the inside was worse. Decorated in dark colors, everything seeming to have sharp edges and absolutely nothing personable sticking out to even make it appear as if a human was living there.
The woman, snapped at the servant to take her new belongings upstairs then prepare for company later, stalked upstairs and Jack as left standing alone in the cold house.
"Whelp…..already inside. Gotta be something interesting here.."
He mused, twirling his staff in his nimble fingers as he strutted around, eying all the distasteful decor in each room. Grand rooms meant for dozens of people kept at this lone woman's disposal who didn't even seem to give a damn, what a waste he mulled. After a few minutes he wanted to leave, the mansion just confirming she was just a shallow creepy rich woman but there had to something of a clue as to why this woman reeked of oddity.
Just as his interested departed a little sadly and he turned to leave a hum, that trickled warmth in his heart, sweeter than anything he'd ever heard stopped him. It was a woman's voice with a high pitch, undoubtedly not the one he'd followed here, and as he stood still, closing his eyes to let the feeling sweep over him he was unaware of a contented moan he let pass.
As long as he'd been in this life he'd never craved warmth, it'd done nothing for him but this feeling that was wrapping his body was enrapturing. He already yearned for more and his heart began to beat a little faster as the purr of the simmering heat dwindled in his chest. Second thoughts didn't entire his mind as he raced after the hum, flowing past room after room till a small door that looked more suited to being a broom closet than hiding whatever he was seeking ended a forlorn hallway.
Spirals of stairs took him farther down into the earth then he expected till it opened up into another dark hallway that reeked of medieval and had him wondering if he actually was in a movie. Curiosity was spiking inside of him, the gentle humming in his body resonating louder each step he took till he was sprinting to the end, coming to a large wooden door with a crass dead bolt.
His heart was racing with anticipation making him unlock the bolt and yanking the cold wood open with unnecessary force that he almost worried he'd be heard. But if he had any real worries about it or any cognitive thoughts they were wiped clean as he gazed into dimly lit room, drowned out by the sweet noise pouring from the room and the quivering of his heart.
The dark room was bare save for a large bed pressed against the back wall that bore a deep red covering a dimly, if he wasn't losing his mind, gleaming girl. It was the softest of glows, not enough to light the room but more than enough to bewitch his mind. Upon the floor lay yards upon yards of golden tresses that he thought belonged only in his mind that became rooted there from what he held as an old man's ramblings. Could this girl really be...?
"Want to hear a story?"
Jack chuckled, swinging down from the porch roof to balance along the railing which his mere presence sent a shock of ice crackling along the old wood. The elderly man sitting a foot away pulled at the thick blankets to encompass his thin frame but trying to verbalize nothing of his chills, refusing to give Jack the pleasure.
"Sure old man, I got time today."
Clearing his scratchy throat in a way he always did, as if preparing for a great intellectual debate in place of tales of long ago youth that Jack had become accustomed to hearing when the mood struck the man.
"This is the story….of how I died."
"Little dramatic there aren't we? And not to blatantly call you a liar, which I guess I actually will, you're still alive…..obviously."
"Okay okay, more of how I had a near death experience."
"Good, we got story accuracy, continue."
Muttering about youth's lack of homage to the elderly that Jack now actually understood was a deranged way of affection from him, the man tried to straighten his age crocked back.
"Is this gonna be downer?"
"Don't worry, this is actually a very fun story and truthfully, it's not even mine."
"So wait, this won't be about the daring Flynn Rider?" Sarcasm on the word daring Jack leaned in, a little more curious than usual since the only tales the elder ever told were of 'him', the prospect of hearing something of another variety perking his interest.
"No….it's about someone….far more amazing of a person than I ever was."
The sad smile on the thin cracked lips were more than enough for Jack to assume exactly what the person was to the man and as much as he enjoyed this odd companionship, if you could call it that, with him even Jack had limits on hearing romance. And since past experience had proved most women that were mentioned were mere pieces of flesh and decoration among the plot lines, Jack almost felt the need to stop the story before it started.
"Getting mushy on me Eugene…"
The blunt end of a walking stick smacked the top of his head with a loud thunk, "Son of a-" and a sharp glance from milky white eyes shut him quickly, all happening faster than Jack was able to even think before dodging. No matter how many times he had to witness it the speed and accuracy Eugene had, which was a fair amount considering the crotchety man was fun to tease, it always baffled Jack.
"This is the story of…"
Unseeing eyes were sad and unusually desolate, a bony hand gripping a withered stick of wood tighter than called for as if needing its strength for him to say the name.
"Rapunzel…."
Walking slowly to kneel beside her he drank in every part of her that graced his eyes. Tiny freckles spotting her petite nose, smooth eyelids ending with lush black eyelashes, lips that looked pillow soft and opened a small fraction to let slow breaths in and out. He admired her beauty for a few moments more before letting his eyes drop and knot formed in his stomach.
Chains thicker than his own arms kept large shackles that enclosed her thin wrists tethered to the bed sides, maybe two feet of slack was given for movement.
An ugly anger began to work through his veins but his hazed mind was pulled into his reality, that he was beginning to question, when he heard a very distant echo of the door open up the stairs followed by footsteps. Cursing he decided to hide, the whole situation odd enough to rattle him into thinking he might actually be in danger. He darted back in the hallway, locking the door behind him, took one of the random doors that led to what seemed a storage room, watching through a crack to see the woman from before with an elderly woman walk into his mystery room. The door was left open and after waiting a few minutes where nothing seem to explode like his heart-felt it might he dared to open his door, creeping across and glancing in the crease.
Either they were standing in silence or speaking so softly not even he could hear as they stood a few feet from the bed, staring down at Rapunzel. The older woman was shooed away from the bed, the other hovering like a vulture then with sickly pale arms gathered a few handfuls of gold to fan it out on her lap when she sat. Hands that resembled claws with nails a horrible shade of red combed the strands into a smooth river as her raspy voice started to sing a song that Jack had heard before but only spoken.
"Flower gleam and glow..."
If he thought she naturally glowed then the warm golden light emulating from her hair was pure sun as it lit the room like a small sunrise. And if he had any doubts before now he knew for sure the young woman was the one haunting his mind. It was a bit sickening to see how her skin lifted in its sagging corners, age marks faded back to pale ivory and hair bleed back to black, all of this illuminated by the beautiful yellow light.
The now slightly younger woman gave a relieved sigh, almost slumping as the light faded from her skin which she smoothed her hands over in adoration at its regained quality. Standing next to her Jack could see the envy radiating off the elder but her thin lips stayed tight till reverting her attention back to Rapunzel to cackle in an ancient voice, "Amazing each time. And she's still lovely as ever Gothel."
The grating voice snapped Gothel from the admiration of herself to turn and sneer at the old time crooked crone.
"Your spell has been keeping well as you can see, was there a certain reason for this visit? We're past pleasantries, you're shitty company and I know you think the same of me."
Another cackle that rattled in the room like breaking glass shook the woman as she steadied herself with her cane before she hobbled closer to the bedside. Gothel stepped to the side but kept her eyes on the woman.
"Do you not tire of keeping her like this?
"What are you talking about?" Gothel's eyes narrowed, suspicion in her voice.
"Keeping her locked up as your dirty little secret. I know the only humans allowed inside is that servant and your occasional man whore," she chortled at the withering look given by Gothel. "But there is always the danger that someone will find her, I know you fear it Gothel." A long silence followed in which it was obvious Gothel didn't want to acknowledge the truth in the woman's statement before she caved in.
"You have an idea I assume or this another one of your pointless go arounds?"
"I've been looking through some old books of mine and I came across something that might be able to revert her into something more...managable. Like how she used to be. I'll need compensation of course..."
"You just want to use the sun's power again." Gothel snarled.
"Ah yes that was nice, being young and beautiful again," she sounded wistful, a hand caressing her age weathered face before dismissing the thought away, "but that was so long ago. And if I really wanted that I could easily make a blood potion. The payment this time would be use of your funds and so-called connections."
"I thought you had no use for money." Gothel asked with a raised brow, the woman grimaced in response, making her even more disfigured. "I'm catching up with the times, it's so terribly hard to get whats needed without that flimsy currency."
Gothel seeming to consider very carefully what had been laid out before her before she spoke, Jack could hear the smile in her voice, "Do you really have the ability to change her?"
"Back into a simple flower?" The elder smirked than started towards the door, calling for Gothel to follow her out which she did after a thoughtful glance at Rapunzel.
"Let us talk upstairs, this place is dampening my spirits." Another horrid laugh. Panic seized Jack as he flew back into his hiding room, closing it in time as they walked out. His mind arguing he had nothing to fear as the adults before him surely were past believing in his fairy tales but the aura fermenting from these woman, especially the older one cautioned him enough to hide.
It proved correct as Gothel turned to lock the door and the elder froze, clutching her cane as she scanned the deserted hallway with eyes that grew sharper each second. As they settled on his door Jack became too frightened to pull away from the crack, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him as the woman suddenly burst into black and green flames, her eyes burning yellow and red as they seemed to physically grip his heart. Was he imagining the taste of tar in the back of his throat and the bubbling hot sensation under his skin? An unholy animalistic roaring deafened his mind and ears and for a moment the world tilted on its side to spiral into the dark iris of that woman's eye.
Yet when Gothel turned it all vanished back into a withered woman staring off into space with feeble old eyes and a twisted smile as she followed the wall back to the stairs.
Long past hearing the very faint but echoing sound of the door above being closed before he dare to open his own, the vision he'd seen making his hand shake as it pushed against the wood. The beating of his heart and sharp intakes of breath left him feeling cowardly and small. He wanted to argue that nothing scared him, Pitch was gone in the dark along with the only thing he'd acknowledged as his fear with every time a child saw him, but that woman.
She wasn't possibly human, not with the blackness that surrounded her moments ago and twisted his gut. Gaining composure he stormed back into Rapunzel's room till he stood at her bedside, gazing down at the sleeping girl with firm determination.
He wasn't going to leave her here.
The chains were easy enough to freeze and shatter as they were archaic and rusted but he kept his touch gentle when prying the pieces away. Quickly gathering up all the hair he placed it on her lap and slipped her into his arms with his staff tucked in one arm's nook. His steps in the hallway were even lighter than usual, caution making him uneasy as the last thing he wanted was to attract either of those women.
At the top of the stairs he waited, listening as closely as he could but found the distraction of sweet breaths against his neck rather diverting. She was so warm pressed against him he bite his own lip to pull his attention back. Hearing no sounds he eased quietly into the hallway, his bare feet hardly touching the floor as he sprinted.
By the time he was at the point of walking out the front doors he was shaking, was it really going to work? He was going to take her without being stopped? Stepping outside he switched to holding her tightly with one arm to his chest, clutching his staff in the other he took flight, urging the wind as fast as possible to take him anywhere. Where? Where could he go? Once he got his mind on track he took a deep breath, looking again at his precious cargo, he murmured to the wind, "Take me north."
It may have been hours or minutes before he arrived at the infamous workshop, stumbling through the hurdles of elves and towers of yetis till he was kicking open North's private shop door. Ice shattered as the bear of a man screamed of not being disturbed, how tired he was of his creations being destroyed by interruptions and turned to tear into whoever dared. Upon seeing the shaken boy, clutching a young woman with liquid gold spilling from her head, any threat died in North's throat.
"Jack! Wha…"
"Please." Jack gasped out, falling to his knees but never letting her touch the ground and keeping her safe in his arms. "I-I…I don't know what to do."
AN: Whoot first chapter! Any questions anyone? Any comments? Obviously things will be explained more in upcoming chapters. I read it over several times and spell checked so I'm decently sure there aren't many errors but I've always been terrible at grammar. It's been a long time since I've written and posted something but when I heard about Jackunzel and saw the wonderful things on youtube and this site about them I just fell in loooooove. I hope some people enjoy my story so far :) Please comment and give feed back!