A/N: I have Jamie here as 10 but that's because I think he's 8 in the movie, and this is two years after
-The Baron
RotG: The Tempest
Ch 1: The new Guardian
POV: Jack
Burgees, Minnesota; 2015
It was a snow day in the town of Burgees, the kids were building snow forts, snow angels, and yes, snowmen. This was all a blessing to them after weeks of school work. They all worked hard studying for their tests and quizzes (*cough* NOT! *cough*) and they deserved a break! As the children played in the snow, I, Jack Frost looked on with a mischievous smirk on my face. I loved giving the kids snow days, for me, It was the best part of being a Guardian! I noticed Jamie, a young 10-year old boy was sitting alone, reading a book on cryptids (or creatures that have yet to be proven real.).
Seeing him sitting all alone, I got an idea. I bent down and picked up a clump of snow. I molded it into a snowball and breathed some of my magic into it. I readied my arm and tossed the snowball at Jamie hitting his head. He looked around to see who threw it and noticed his friend Pippa innocently walking around. He picked up a clump of snow and tossed it at her. She thought it was Monty and…well you get the idea. Pretty soon, all the kids of Burgees were in a huge snowball fight. I decided to join in, and created more ammo for the kids to use, and even threw some myself. By sunset, everyone was tired and went home.
I went to each of the kid's houses to make sure they weren't having any nightmares. Even though the Guardians defeated Pitch Black 2 years ago, I wasn't going to take any chances. I first checked on Cupcake because she was one of the first children to be harmed by Pitch. Dreamsand flew through her window and gave her a pleasant dream about riding horses. I then went to Pippa's house. It was the same there, aside from the 'Riding horses' part. Monty was also safe, same with Caleb and Claude. Last but not least, I checked in on Jamie and Sophie Beckett.
Two years ago, Jamie was the last child in the world to believe in the Guardians; the last light. I helped Jamie to believe in me, and the other Guardians. His friends believed also, and with their help, we defeated Pitch. It seemed to be just yesterday, but was it actually 2 years? Time was weird to Immortals, because we'll never die. Dreamsand flowed through the window and tapped Jamie on the nose. I waited for the dream to turn into a nightmare, but it never did. I decided it was safe for Jamie to be left alone to sleep. I went to Sophie's room and as soon as I opened the door…
"AHHHH!" Sophie screamed awake, nearly giving me a heart attack. Mrs. Beckett ran into her room along with Jamie.
"What happened honey?" Mrs. Beckett asked. Jamie, who could see me, looked to me. I mouthed one word; nightmare
"I had a bad dream mommy! There was the Easter Bunny, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and Sandman, there was also a big bad man in black, he laughed, and…they…" Sophie burst into tears "they…were eaten…by fire!" she said through sobs. Mrs. Beckett and Jamie stayed there, comforting her, but I left. I had to tell The Guardians; Pitch was back.
First, I went to the Guardian that could confirm my fears; Sandy. Since he was the one who gave people dreams, he would know If Sophie had a nightmare. Although it would be difficult to tell what he was trying to say, since he doesn't speak, but rather uses Dreamsand as a sort of game of Charades. In any case, I flew to Sandy's Dreamsand 'ship' (I say that in air quotes because it can turn into anything Sandy wants, but he prefers a boat, or ship if you will.). When I got there, Sandy was delivering dreams to everyone as usual, but something was…different.
"Hey, Sandy!" I called out. The Sandman turned around. "We've got a little problem." I explained Sophie and her dream. When I was finished, Sandy looked out at the city below them.
"So…" I said "Any thoughts?" Sandy beckoned me to follow him. He led me down to the hull of the ship. In what I guessed was the cargo bay, Sandy pulled out a small cage made of Dreamsand. Inside, was a miniature black twister made of sand.
"Is that…Nightmare sand?" I asked. Sandy nodded glumly. Through a long game of Charades, Sandy explained he caught this sand the previous night.
When I asked why he didn't tell the Guardians, Sandy shrugged and explained that he told North, but he wanted evidence, and that Sandy would've brought it to him tonight, but I had informed him of another Nightmare, so he got sidetracked. Sandy then went to the wheel of the ship, and started a course for the North Pole.
*5 minutes later*
"VAT!?" yelled North. "PITCH IS VAT!?"
"Back. Read my lips; B-A-C-K, Back!" I said
"I don't believe it! The last time we defeated Pitch, it took him centuries to return; now you're telling me he's returned after TWO YEARS!?"
"YES! Why don't you believe me? We've got proof!"I said as he held up the cage with the Nightmare sand. North sighed.
"Sorry Jack, it's just hard to believe! I thought we would have more time till he came back, but I guess not." North grabbed a switch, twisted it, and pushed it down, creating the Aurora borealis, the northern lights. "We're going to have company." A few minutes later, E. Aster Bunnymund and Toothina arrived at the pole.
"Seriously North, would it kill you to put in a door mat? Bunny complained
"Incisors at 3051 maple ave., molars at 8326 copper drive…" Tooth told her fairies. I could tell she wasn't really paying attention.
"Ahem…" I said trying to get everyone's attention, but they were all 'preoccupied'. North and Bunny were arguing, Tooth was busy blurting out street addresses, and Sandy was…well…he's the Sandman, what do you think he was doing? I was growing really frustrated, so I slammed my staff against the ground, causing a shockwave of cold air to hit everything and everyone in the room. Bunny and North stopped arguing, Tooth stopped saying random addresses, even Sandy woke up from his nap (surprise surprise!)
"We have bigger things to talk about than door mats! Pitch is back!" silence filled the room. Bunny looked at North with raised eyebrows. North nodded. Suddenly, a warm, soft glow enveloped the room The Guardians looked up at the skylight, where the moon was glowing bright. The moonlight shined on the floor, were a blue crystal emerged. The Moonlight flooded into it.
"Vat is it Manny?" asked North. The moonlight in the crystal refracted itself into the image of a short tubby man with a single hair on his head, curled like a baby. The man also held a scepter with a crescent moon on the top. The small man smiled.
"Hello my Guardians" he said. I turned to ask North who the man was, but he was kneeling. Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy were kneeling also. I was confused, but I kneeled anyways. "Oh you don't need to kneel really! It's embarrassing me!" the Guardians rose to their feet. "Jack is right though, there are more important things to discus rather than door mats!" the small man said, looking at Bunny, who put his hands up defensively.
"Excuse me, but who is this guy?" I asked. Everyone stared at me, like I had just asked 'Excuse me, but could I have a weasel?'
"Jack, this is-" Tooth was cut off
"Tsar Lunar, at your service" the tubby man said, taking a bow. "Though, you may know me as, The Man in the Moon." my eyes lit up.
"Ohmygoshiamsosorry!" I said. I didn't realize there was an actual Man in the Moon!
"It's alright my young friend! It was a simple misunderstanding! But now back to business!" MiM said "As you may know, Pitch has indeed returned! I feared this day would come, but I just hoped it wouldn't come so soon!"
MiM walked over to the crystal, and muttered something under his breath. "AHAH!" He said. "Just the spirit I was looking for!" he showed the crystal to the Guardians. "This is the new Guardian I will recruit. He may be young, but he's perfect for this job!" the light around the crystal formed into the shape of a young boy. But when he appeared to the Guardians, I gasped. The boy was young, about 15-ish, he wore a tweed jacket, a pair of gloves without their fingers, but the most curious article of clothing, if you could call it that, was the masquerade-styled mask he wore.
"Raymond…" I breathed.
"You know this guy jack?" Tooth asked.
"It was centuries ago, but yeah, we were friends."
Sandy made a question mark, indicating he wanted more information. I sighed
"You may want to sit down, this is a long story." And so, I began to recall the story of how I met Raymond.
Burgees Minnesota, 1815
I was walking glumly through the town of Burgees, with children passing right through me. It had been over 100 years since I became a spirit, and yet, I still didn't know why I existed, or even who I was! I heard a rumbling overhead; a storm was brewing.
Did I care if it was cloudy or sunny? Of course not! At the moment, I just wanted at least one person to see me. Little did I know that soon I would meet that very person! I walked through the forest behind the town. Lightning flashed, and there was a scream. I looked around to find the source, and found a young man, about 15, lying on the ground beneath a tree.
"Are you alright?" I asked, and then remembered the guy probably couldn't hear me
"Yes, I fell out of a tree, and I'm perfectly fine!" the guy said sarcastically. I started to walk off, but then stopped dead in my tracks; the guy had responded to me. I ran back over to him.
"CANYOUSEEME!?" I stammered. The guy looked at me with pure shock and disbelief on his face.
"Can….can you? See me, I mean?" he asked. I nodded with my mouth hanging open. The boy stood up. "You….YOU CAN!?" the boy laughed, and jumped up into the air, higher than I thought possible. Unfortunately, he got stuck in a tree, but he didn't seem to care, he just kept on laughing.
"I didn't think anyone could see me! I thought I would be like this forever!" I said with glee.
"Same here!" the boy replied coming down from the tree. He stuck out his hand. "Raymond, at your service! Although…some call me the Rain-man." I shook his hand.
"Jack Frost, but some call me…Jack Frost…?" I replied. At that moment, a storm started above us. "Looks bad, we'd better find…huh?" I looked around, but Raymond had disappeared! I heard a yell from the tree in front of me, and realized, Raymond was yelling at the clouds! He challenged the winds might, saying "Come on!" and "Fight me!" Unfortunately, a bolt of lightning struck him. I ran to his side.
"Oh no, what do I…" but he sat up almost immediately!
"That. Was. AWESOME! Let's do it again!" he said. I had to convince him to take shelter in a cave outside town.
There, we went into more details about ourselves; I said I had been a spirit for a little over a century. he said he was made a spirit in the year 1515, exactly 300 years ago!
"I don't know exactly when I was born, but I celebrate my 'birthday' on the day I woke up in that field in Venice." He explained. After that, he said that his emotions were tied to the weather. He also explained how his weird outfit helped dampen his extreme powers.
"If I don't wear them, I'll probably Zap to and from places uncontrollably! That takes a lot out of me, but these help control those powers."
"Umm…'zap' places?" I asked.
"Sometimes, if I concentrate, I can teleport to places in a flash of lightning. I call this 'Zapping'." He explained. "But the further I am from that place, the more energy it takes to teleport there. Zapping to a location is the equivalent of running to that place without stopping! This is why I need to keep that in check."
I asked him how he got to America, and he shrugged. "I hitched a ride on a ship. It helps when you're invisible."
We kept on chatting through the night, and would've kept chatting till dawn, if we both weren't exhausted. The following morning, we agreed to travel together, since we both always wandered aimlessly. We traveled together for 35 years, until that fateful day. Raymond disappeared one morning, without saying anything! Luckily, he came back around noon. He looked sad and depressed. When I asked him what was wrong, he sighed.
"I was visited by the spirit of the winds, Aeolus. He wants me to train with him at his palace in the clouds."
"Dude, that's awesome! Did you accept?" I asked. Raymond turned away, looking at the clouds, which started pouring rain.
"I'm sorry Jack…but if I train with him….I may never see you again…" he sobbed. I was confused, but I patted him on the back anyways.
"How come?" I asked
"I….can't say…." he said, choking back tears.
"But why-"
"I JUST CAN'T! ALRIGHT!?" he yelled. I jumped back. We stood there in silence for almost an hour, until Raymond finally spoke.
"I need to do this Jack. It's the only way I can learn to control my powers. But…" he slumped down onto a log. "I'm scared. If I do this, I may have to do something impossibly dangerous, and I may not survive it." He explained. I decided it was better not to push for further questions.
"You need to do what you think is the right thing. If you feel the need to train, you should." I told him. A few moments passed, and an idea came to me "Tell you what, if you train and survive, promise to meet me at the cave where we first met, as soon as your done with training. I'll stay in Burgees and visit the cave every year on the day we met, and wait for you." Raymond started to cry.
"You're a good friend Jack, thank you." He said. He stood up and hugged me. The rain stopped, and Raymond and I broke our hug. "Promise to wait for me?" he asked.
"I promise."
"Good. I'll hold you to that!" he said jokingly. A strong breeze blew in from all directions, and Raymond looked at the sky.
"Goodbye Jack." He said. A flash of lightning struck, and Raymond was gone.
"Goodbye…."
North Pole, 2015
"I haven't seen him since" I said. North was in the corner, with his arms crossed, Tooth was kneeled next to me, a tear rolling down her cheek, and Bunny was wiping his nose on an elf. Sandy, surprisingly enough, was wide awake!
"Uhh…Jack?" asked North "Vat vas the day you and Raymond met?"
"April 28…wait…that's today!" I realized. Without missing a beat, I flew out the window
Burgees Minnesota
I arrived at Burgees about 5 minutes later. At the cave, was a young man, about 15-ish, he wore a tweed jacket, a pair of gloves without their fingers, but the most curious article of clothing, if you could call it that, was the masquerade-styled mask he wore.
"Raymond…" I breathed.
"Hello Jack" he said