Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, that respectfully belongs to William Joyce and Dreamworks.

Soundtrack: Winter Fireworks- Kanon 2006

Chapter Two

Jack couldn't stop thinking about her. It's all he could think about the entire time he did his chores and frankly, it bothered him. Sometimes he finds his eyes drifting over to the forest on the other side of the snowy road. Emma's with him; taking care of the chickens and getting some fresh eggs for tomorrow's breakfast. She was talking about something

"You okay, Jack?" Emma asks, narrowing her eyes in concern.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Jack reassures her with a wave. "Sorry, Emma. What were you saying?"

"I was saying that Piper seemed awfully upset with Matt yesterday," Emma singsongs. Her brown eyes are gleaming with mischief as she kicks up some snow into the air.

"I don't blame her."

"What?" She furrows her eyebrows in confusion at the bitter tone. "Oh, you're talking about what happened yesterday! No, she wasn't actually upset about that."

"Really?" Jack pauses. Wait, what was she talking about? "Why was she upset?"

"'Cause she thinks that Matt's marrying someone," Emma says so casually that Jack thought he was hearing things. He pauses in his tracks to comprehend what she just said.

"Wait, what?" Jack asks, still in disbelief.

"I think she got jealous!" Emma exclaims, giggling. "She overheard you two talking about marrying somebody, that's why she wanted me to toss the snowball but it hit you instead."

He nearly bursts out laughing at the thought. This took a turn that he didn't see coming. If someone asked him if his two best friends liked each other back in their school days, he probably would have laughed. Just the thought of it seemed so absurd. Those two butt heads so often. Hell, he still wandered how the three of them became friends. They were all so different.

"Looks like Matt was right after all," Jack muses.

"Right about what?" Emma asks, tilting her head to stare up at her brother curiously.

"Ah, it's nothing," Jack says, dismissing her with a lopsided smile. "So what do you think? Does she like him?"

Emma scrunches her nose in distaste, "Nah," she shakes her head. "Well, I dunno, maybe. I still think that boys have cooties."

From the corner of his eye, he sees someone he recognized. Her bright red hair stood out in the snow even when it's tucked underneath her brown laced hat. He frowns when she strolls up to the forest. She hadn't seen the two of them. Where was she going? To the pond?

He glances up at the sky which was beginning to turn orange at the peak of the mountains. It's going to be dark soon.

"Hey, Emma?" He calls to his sister. She whirls around and raises her eyebrows at him. "Why don't you head on home? There's something I need to do real quick."

"Alright," she says slowly. She tilts her head to her left side and furrows her eyebrows. "But don't be too late. You know how mama gets."

"Yeah, I know," he grins. "Go on. I'll be quick as a bunny!"

Emma giggles at the saying. She playfully shoves him and continues gliding across the snowy path toward their home. At least, he hoped that it wouldn't take too long. As he walked through the forest, the more tense he became. He knew the path ever since he was a child. It wasn't that hard to go through it during the day. But when moonlight was the only way of guiding him without a lantern and it only glistened between the treetops, he stood on edge. He found himself getting closer to the pond.

He'd heard the stories surrounding the place.

His parents told him that he shouldn't go there at night. There was something evil waiting for children. If anyone went there by themselves, they'd vanish and never be heard from again. Of course, he never believed in those stories. He always thought it was to scare children into behaving. But, he couldn't help but think that maybe there was some truth to them. The girl had vanished from his line of sight. He was on his own. Alarm bells rang in his ears. His breathing quickens and he brings his staff closer to him absentmindedly as his eyes dart between the trees. Where could she have gone? Did she get lost? He hears the trees rustle in the wind and dark leaves whirl around him.

For a moment, he thought he saw a shadow in the darkness and a pair of yellow eyes staring at him. He blinks and the shadow is gone. He shakes his head. His own mind was playing tricks on him. It's those stupid stories.

He hears a twig snap from somewhere behind him and whirls around. There's an odd black horse with yellow eyes staring right at him, snorting as it walks closer. Was that the same thing he saw in the shadows? He opens his mouth to scream but no sound came out. It kept moving towards him and as it moved, wisps of black smoke surrounds its hooves. He needed to get out of there.

But he couldn't run. It's blocking his only way out. He steps backwards into the crisp water. Can he even get past it? What if it chases after him? He takes a deep breath. He doesn't have a choice. He'd have to take that risk. He holds his staff out in front of him protectively, hoping that it might be threatening enough to distract it and sprints towards the creature.

He hears a battle cry from somewhere near him and a blur of red swoops down from the treetops. The girl from yesterday stood in front of him protectively. She's holding a walking stick that looks almost similar to his staff but there's an unnatural blue glow around it.

"What are you doing here!?" The girl shouts in a raspy tone, narrowing her eyes at him.

He didn't trust himself to speak. His mouth kept opening and closing as he thought of something intelligent to say to her. But he's too shaken up from what happened to think properly.

"Get out of here!" she yells.

She didn't need to tell him twice.

He ran blindly into the forest like his life depended on it, not even caring if he tripped over a tree root. He didn't stop until he saw a familiar farm house. He gasps for breath as he reaches for the doorknob. It's locked. He pounds on the door, calling for his parents and to his relief, his mother opens the door.

He'd never been so happy to see his family. His mother stares at his disheveled appearance with wide, horrified eyes.

"What on earth happened to you, Jackson Overland?" She gasps shrilly. Next thing he knows, he's tackled into a hug. "You look like a fright!"

"I'm sorry, mother, I didn't listen!" he clings to her for dear life. He wills the tears at bay. She frowns at him. He doesn't blame her. He hasn't cried since he was a child and he's not going to anytime soon.

"Are you alright?" She asks softly, brushing his hair from his eyes. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Despite the scare from earlier, he laughs albeit hysterical. He might as well have. He doesn't understand what happened. He isn't sure if he wanted to understand. If he told the truth, his parents wouldn't believe him.

"Get to bed, will you? " she says, pressing a kiss against his cheek. "It's late."

He nods wordlessly and makes his way upstairs towards his room. He's not sure if he can go to bed with what he saw out in the woods. He was never going there again.