Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians.
Finally, they came to a large town, a city, with stone walls. The former residents of Burgess looked fearfully at what lay ahead of them, but none attempted to flee. The captors lead them through the gate and into a large clearing with a wooden platform in the center. A man stood on the platform, a sword attached to his side. He glared at us in disgust and turned to one of the soldiers, "This was all you could get?"
The soldier stood at attention, "Yes, sir."
"Half of them look to be useless." The man turned to us, "We'll eventually weed out the weak ones anyway. You will be placed within the organization based on your skills. If you're good with herbs, you will be a healer. If you cook, you'll be a cook. Understand where I'm going? Good. Women, your barracks are to the right. Men, to the left. This is not the comfortable little town you came from. For you, this will be Hell. If you cause any trouble, you will be executed, no exceptions."
The soldiers began to seperate us into two groups. The little girl Jack carried went to her mother and Jack looked at his mother and sister. Pippa was crying and his mother gently hugged him. "Everything will be okay, mother." Jack stated.
"Just don't do anything that will get you killed. Promise me." She ordered.
Before Jack could say anything, a soldier pulled him away. He didn't attempt to struggle, he was too exhausted to. Instead, he allowed the soldier to shove him toward the other men. The barracks were huge, but there was also a lot of people, some were there before the Burgess men. Jack looked around at the people he grew up around and found he no longer recognized them. Their fear had changed them entirely. Instead of staying with them, Jack moved to a corner away from everybody and sat down with his back against the wall. He closed his eyes and was asleep in an instant.
Somebody shook his shoulder, "Jack, get up. The soldiers are telling us to go outside."
Jack nodded and painfully rose to his feet, using the wall as support until he thought he could handle walking. He followed the others through the barrack door outside and found himself at the back of the crowd. The man from yesterday (he must be the leader, Jack thought) stood in front of the crowd. "Form groups of five! I don't care whether or not there are different genders in one group. Anyone left over will be killed."
Jack looked at the people around them, then went to find his mother and sister. He moved toward the front of the line and saw them. However, three other women surrounded them. Jack slowly backed away, glad his mother and sister would be okay, yet scared for himself. Even though there were quite a few people from Burgess, they had already formed groups. He looked around, hoping to spot a group with only four members.
"Time's up!" The leader ordered, "Move to the side with your group. Anyone without a group, stay where you are."
Jack's heart began to race as fear coursed through him. However, he gritted his teeth and remained where he was, forcing the fear down. The groups began to move and a strong hand grabbed Jack by the shoulder and dragged him backward. He tried to pull away, but the hand tightened on his shoulder. "You're with us, kid."
The man dragged Jack toward three other people and he realized what this man was doing. Gratitude filled his heart and he didn't struggle to get free anymore as he walked toward the group. By the time everybody moved to the side, there was nobody in the center. Everybody managed to get in a group.
The leader looked disappointed, "The group you are in is your family now. Each group member will be assigned a number, you are to remember this number for the rest of your stay. The number will also be recorded. If you wish to trade numbers with another individual, the decision is yours."
Soldiers gave a member of each individual a number. I was number eight.
The leader looked around, "Here, we have to root out the weak from the strong. To do this, we arrange 'trials' to see if the individual survives until the time limit expires. There will be three per day. Those who are too weak to survive, die. Those who live continue living. Simple enough." Several people began to cry and the leader smiled, "Now, who is the first person?"
A man Jack didn't know stepped forward, the paper in his hands. Behind him, a woman and child cried, the woman begging for somebody to change numbers with him. Jack looked down at the number eight in his hand and a part of him wanted to switch numbers with the man. The man who let Jack in his group gripped his shoulder, "Don't think about it, kid. In your condition, you'll be killed immediately."
Jack knew he was right, but still wanted to help. The man gave the leader the piece of paper. The leader smiled, "Your trial will be tomorrow at dawn. The rest of you stay where you are. People will be around to record your number."
The soldiers spread out among the groups and one came to Jack's immediately, "Names and numbers starting with you." He pointed to the man further away from the boy.
"Bunnymund. Twenty-three." The man stated. The soldier wrote it down, then moved the to next person.
She was the only female in our group, "Tooth. Nineteen."
Next, a short man grabbed the charcoal the soldier held and used it to write his name and number twenty-seven.
The man that let Jack in the group stated, "North. Eleven."
The soldier came to Jack, "Jack. Eight." With that, the soldier moved on. A little while later, everybody was dismissed to return to the barracks. Jack stayed with his group and they moved toward the back of the barrack, far from the other groups. Jack tried to remember their names as best as he could, even though he didn't know the short man's name, since it seemed like he couldn't talk.
Tooth began to talk, "There's no way out of this one, North."
He sighed, "I know, we'll just have to get through the trials and see what's after that."
"For our group, it starts with the kid." Bunnymund looked at Jack, "From the looks of him, he won't last a minute."
Anger bubbled inside the teen, "I'm stronger than I look." Then, fear replaced the anger. "My mom and sister... I wonder what number they got."
"You know they're not the first one. You can find out later, but right now we should rest." North stated. He sat against the wall and closed his eyes. Jack moved away from the rest of the group and sat against the wall, too. The first trial is tomorrow. Mine will be on the third day.
The woman, Tooth, walked over to him and sat down. "You shouldn't listen to Bunnymund, he's just scared."
"Yeah, that makes two of us." Jack stated.
She sighed, "I'll trade numbers with you, Jack." He looked at her and saw she was serious. She continued, "You remind me of my little cousin. He pretty much lived with me before his family moved away, so he's like a son to me. I couldn't imagine seeing him go through this, not if I could do something about it. Your mother and sister, they look a lot like you. When I was with the other females in the other barracks, they were the first two people I really met. I can't let your mother see you..." She paused, looking for the right words to say.
He finished her sentence, "Die."
She looked at him, "I'll trade numbers with you, Jack, so you'll have a while longer. That way-"
"I appreciate the offer, Tooth, but number eight is fine with me. I'll eventually have to face my trial, it's just a matter of when. It's now or never. Even if I would have got the first number, I wouldn't trade it. I want you to promise me something, though." Jack took in a deep breath and exhaled, "If I die, look after my mother and sister for me."
Tooth looked at him, "Why don't you accept the trade? Please, Jack, just accept it. I couldn't bear the thought of somebody younger than me dying when I could have done something."
He shook his head, "Sorry, Tooth. I'm the type that can't stay on the sidelines. If I die, I die. If I don't, I'll keep fighting. Regardless of what happens, I won't die without a fight and I'll protect as many as I can."
Suddenly, her arms wrapped around him, "How can you risk your life so easily?"
Jack smiled and hugged her back, "I don't know. I guess it's because I have a little sister."
She pulled away, "Why don't you come hang out with us, so you're not alone?"
"I just need a while to think." The teen stated. Tooth nodded and went back to the others. Jack eventually went to sleep, dreading the days to come.
