The first few years of his life, especially the first few weeks, were the hardest. Men, women, boys, girls—they all walked right through him. Animals saw him, but there weren't very many that could stand the cold, so he mostly stayed around the villagers. He always ended up being walked through more often then not, until he learned to see or hear people coming and get out of their way. He learned to ignore the logic that they would see him and move out of the way, because that logic was for people who were seen.
But even with all that, it didn't take him very long to realize that he found joy in one thing: snowball fights. Making it snow was second nature to him, and mastering the art of creating patterns with frost was really just a hobby. No, the real fun came from the wonderful combination that was known as children and snow. It was a little awkward at first, talking and laughing as if they could hear him, but after a while of flitting, dancing, and even flying around the kids as they had battles and built forts, they became as natural to him as the ice that permanently coated his staff. There was nothing better than seeing the kids' faces light up with joy, their cheeks and noses from the red but not seeming to bother them one bit.
And with the help of Wind, his only companion, he would soar over states and continents, provinces and lands, countries and kingdoms. He brought snow wherever it was needed (and maybe some places where it wasn't), seeing things he had never before dreamed, or thought he would have had he been alive long enough to think of such things. And despite the people and how different they and their countries were, the kids' love of snow never changed.
But then the Spring and Summer months would arrive, and he would have to leave his lake for a long time and not because he wanted to. He had found out the hard way that heat and the sun that was suddenly way too close made him sick and way too hot, and the only way to avoid both of those things was to move with the weather. It was weird, having the freedom not to be tied down to one place but at the same time bound by the seasons. Those months seemed made to remind him of his situation, but it also gave him a feeling that felt a lot like loneliness.
The first few years, he thought this sadness was because he had to leave his lake. It was his home, where he had first opened his eyes and where he'd found his beloved staff. He never strayed too far from it, and only his self-appointed job as the spirit of winter and fun got him to go to other countries to spread his snow around. Besides his conduit and the clothes on his back, it was his only possession, if it could really be called that. It was the only thing that was his and where he belonged, and the kids always enjoyed skating on it, so of course he had to make sure the ice was thick enough for them. He never really knew why, but the thought of one of them falling in and drowning terrified him, so he kept it frozen to the last possible day. He had the overwhelming urge to keep them safe, even if it was a little unnecessary.
It took him a long time to realize that there was another reason he never moved on, something that kept him grounded as much as a winter spirit could be. Or in this case, someone. A little girl, to be exact. The first time he saw her, he stood in place, observing her as she wandered through the village in seemingly no specific direction. He'd only been awake a few weeks then, and several people walked through him before he snapped out of it and took off into the air. But he didn't go very far. Because this little girl with the straight hair and eyes the color of soil right before it snowed looked so… sad. She didn't play much with the other children, and would go about her day quietly. Her eyes always seemed to be red, except not the good kind from being out in the cold throwing snowballs.
Jack didn't know why she looked this way, but he wanted to cheer her up. Maybe it was because she never seemed to be happy, an almost haunted air about her that never seemed to go away. He tried to figure out why she was like that, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out the reason.
Whatever the case was, he decided he would make it his mission to make her happy again.
When he first learned about his unique powers that no one else seemed to have, he experimented with it often, partly to see what all he could do and partly because it was all he really could do. It was mostly for himself, so he thought that maybe it could make her happy too. So every time he was in the village, he would stay close to her and create the best snowflakes. He'd make snowmen outside the windows of her home so that when she looked out of any of them she'd see a smiling face. Once he even made a miniature version on the outside windowsill of her bedroom. She seemed to love everything about the snow, and each time she saw it her eyes would light up.
The only place she never went at all was his lake. At first, Jack would make it as solid and as smooth as possible, waiting for her to show up with the other kids and ice skate. But no matter what he did or how many kids were there, she wouldn't come. She'd even avoid any frozen puddles around the village. It made Jack wonder, but he stuck to his other methods.
As time went on the little girl grew, bigger each time Jack returned for the cold months. The shadows that followed her like Wind followed Jack gradually went away, and she started to play more. He even made her smile one night when, with one hand on the windowpane, he'd discovered that he could make patterns with his fingers out of frost.
Then one day, something was different.
It had been a long spring and summer, and Jack flew as fast as he could back to his village, longing for his lake and the trees and the cold. He went to his lake first, checking it over like he did each year to see if anything had changed while he was gone. When he was satisfied in his inspection, he raced to the town, snow following in his wake in excitement of the coming winter.
When he got to it, he made sure there were enough clouds overhead before he flew low to the ground, searching for the person he called friend. It didn't take long to find her, taking a walk through a path guarded by trees. Jack grinned, slowing to a stop in a tree and raising his staff in preparation of a gentle snowfall, his way of telling her that he was back and she'd be okay even if she didn't know about it.
And then he saw the boy come up behind her.
She did too, and when she looked at him, she smiled, and ran into his arms. They started to speak, the words lost on Jack as the girl's entire demeanor shifted. Not only did she smile, but she laughed too. It was different from all the other times he had seen her, and she didn't seem to even notice the snow starting to fall.
Jack didn't know what to do. He felt hurt and betrayed, but he didn't know why. It wasn't like he expected her to be young forever, but he'd gotten so used to her presence and making her smile that to see someone else being the cause of it made him feel truly invisible, in a way he hadn't in a while. She could never see him, but it never felt that way, at least until now.
Jack didn't realize the snow was picking up until he saw the girl shivering at the sudden drop in temperature, and his staff's designs glowing bright blue under his tight grip. He took a deep breath, calming himself down and letting the temperature rise and the flurries slow down again. He looked at the girl, at his friend, at how the boy had given her his cloak and had her arm in his as they strolled down the path.
But… she was happy. Wasn't that all that mattered? Jack spent years (had it really been that long?) trying to cheer her up, and to be honest he'd never really known why. It's like it was more than just entertaining a child with snow and fun. Something Jack couldn't really describe. And maybe, just maybe, it was okay. He still wasn't sure about the boy, but the girl seemed different, almost at a place she hadn't been as long as Jack had been alive.
But that didn't mean Jack wouldn't be there for her, oh no. He'd made her a promise that first day, when she was sitting alone on the hill overlooking his lake with tears coming from her eyes. He would always watch over her, and he'd do the same for her children, and her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He'd made her that special promise.
Just like a big brother might.
The next chapter should have more action in it!