Polaris
Polaris' Palace was beautiful. The outside was carved from perfect, shimmering crystals in the shape of a Star of David, and was framed by the sparkling night stars. It hovered high above the clouds and was relatively smaller than the other Guardians' realms.
The inside was just as breathtaking; the crystal was a double sided glass so you could see the outside all around you. The whole room had an ethereal glow to it. A large glass globe stood in the middle of the room with lights representing each and every believing child; it sat on a large pedestal made of stars.
Floating above the globe was a young girl not much older than Jack; she was looking down at the globe upside down and mumbling to herself. Her bright golden eyes stared intently on the flickering lights.
The sleigh landed with a loud thud and echoed around the walls. Startled, Polaris whipped her head around to see North and Jack climbing out of the sleigh and heading towards her. A huge grin grew onto her face as she floated down to the ground and over to them. Her glowing platinum blonde hair trailed behind her, floating, as if under water.
"North! And hello person I don't know! Yay! I don't get very many visitors, except Sandy, but other than that, nobody!" Polaris rambled excitedly, not leaving any room for anyone else to speak. "Who are you?" She asked Jack. Jack was taken aback as he was expecting someone similar to Sandman instead of this energetic girl.
"Jack Frost" He answered slowly, raising his brow at her odd behavior. Polaris' eyes drifted away from him as if she hadn't heard him.
"Reindeer!" She sped off to them and giggled as she grabbed each of their heads one by one, looking them each in the eye. "They're so cute! I usually only see birds fly by." She grabbed onto another reindeer's face and squished it close to hers. She then addressed the reindeer, her lips puckered. "Hello Mr. Reindeer face, did you know that you are a reindeer?" Polaris deepened her voice pretending that the reindeer was talking back to her, "Hi there, Polaris, we did know. Isn't that crazy?" She giggled as the reindeer snorted, shook its head and backed away from her.
"Why are you guys here anyway? You never told me. Is it a surprise? Is it my birthday?! Are we having a surprise party?!" She gasped in pure excitement, "Oh wait... I don't even remember when my birthday even was... Oh! Are we going to Never Never Land? It's the second star to the right, straight on till morning. Haven't been there in a while!"
"Polaris, calm down." North instructed solemnly. Seeing his serious expression, she floated down to the ground and conjured every bit of her focus to hear what he had to say. Her hair drifted down around her, swirling slowly in a non-existent current. North swallowed heavily.
"It's Sandy..." He started with a steady voice.
"Why, what about Sandy?" Polaris asked becoming defensive and confused at once.
"He... has been killed."
Stunned silence filled the palace as she stared past them into nothingness. Her mouth moved to words she couldn't voice; anger over took her.
"What... What are you talking about?" She shrilled. "Y-you're lying! You have to be lying! I just saw Sandy a couple of days ago." Polaris' voice continued to crack as she fell into hysterics.
Surely they were telling a horrible lie, and Sandy would come waltzing through her palace door any moment now. They would talk, joke around, and she would mold his hair into a sand castle and he would smooth it out like they always did.
Her voice slowly became less and less distinguishable as she fought with her tears racking her body. One look into North's and Jack's face and she knew that they were telling the truth. She was all alone now and consumed by grief she crumpled to the floor.
Burning candles lined the perimeter of Sandy's stone emblem; a somber ceremony now taking place at the North Pole to mark the passing of Sanderson Mansnoozie.
Toothiana placed down a flickering candle and then stood shoulder to shoulder with North, Bunny, and Polaris. She reached her tiny hand out to North, who took it in his own large one. Toothy proceeded to hold her other hand out for Bunnymund; the three held hands in silence.
North glanced over to Polaris to the right of him and gently placed his hand on her back in a comforting manner. Polaris, barely even noticed the slight warmth though, as she was filled with coldness. Her golden orbs no longer held their usual brightness and tears streamed down her face.
Polaris jumped with surprise when a big warm hand enveloped her own small cold one. She trailed up to North's sympathetic eyes. He squeezed her hand gently to let her know that they were all there for her. A half-hearted smile flittered briefly across her face; she looked back down to the mosaic of Sandy with a shaky breath.
The ringing of solemn bells could be heard echoing throughout the chamber, the sound both beautiful and melancholy.
The next morning North sat Polaris down and explained what had been going on with the lights and Pitch. He told her of how Manny had chosen Jack to be a Guardian and how he had refused. And how Sandy had been killed by Pitch. Soon enough Polaris understood exactly what had happened up to this point and agreed to help the Guardians in any way she could. North patted her shoulder lightly and then went to go find Jack.
Polaris sat by herself, her knees up, staring blankly into space, thinking about what North had told her, but mostly about Sandy.
Toothiana was chatting quietly to Bunnymund, glancing at Polaris occasionally. Finally, she glided over to Polaris and sat next to her; saying nothing as she pulled Polaris into a comforting embrace.
Polaris stifled a sob and cried again into Toothiana's beautifully colorful and soft feathers. "I don't understand... How could he die? Aren't we supposed to be immortal?" Polaris asked through her sniffling, "Why? Why would Manny allow something like this to happen?" Her tear-filled eyes locked onto Toothy's own purple ones.
Tooth didn't know how to answer that question and the hollow eyes of Polaris were unbearable, so she shifted her gaze over to the globe. A sharp intake of breath shook her as she noticed that the lights were rapidly going out. Toothy stood instantly and flew over to the globe; followed soon after by the other Guardians.
"Look how fast they're going out." Toothiana whispered horrified. The air was heavy with fear.
"I've never seen this many lights go out all at once before." Polaris uttered, "Not since the Dark Ages."
"It's fear. He's tipped the balance." Jack affirmed as he glided up the globe.
"Hey, buck up ya sad-sacks. Come on! We can still turn this around!" Bunny commenced "Easter is tomorrow and I need your help. I say we pull out all the stops and we get those little lights flickering again!" He gestured to the globe as he finished.
A massive wooden door swung open with an echoing thud. North lead Jack and the Guardians through the doorway, into an elevator, and began to make their way through his factory.
"Bunny is right." North started, "As much as it pains me to say, Old Friend, this time Easter is more important than Christmas!"
"Hey! Did everyone hear that?!" He shouted with excitement, shocked at hearing those words come from North's own mouth.
"We must hurry to the Warren. Everyone, to the sleigh!" North urged them on, but Bunnymund quickly halted them.
"Oh no, mate. My Warren, my rules. Buckle up." He grinned, sarcasm dripping from his words as he tapped his foot twice. A portal opened beneath them causing everyone, including an elf and a couple of yetis, to fall in.
"Shostakovich!" North yelped as he and the rest of the Guardians plummeted down into the tunnel.
Jack, Bunny and Toothy arrived gracefully in the warren's antechamber, while North, Polaris and the yetis came to a crashing halt. Polaris's hair flopped over her head covering her face momentarily. She hastily tossed it back over her head, spitting a few stray stands gracelessly out of her mouth.
"That was so much fun!" She twirled around in excitement, adrenaline pumping through her.
"'Buckle up.' Is very funny." North chuckled at the irony of Bunnymund using the same expression he had. He stood and brushed himself off.
"Welcome to the Warren-" Bunny stood straight before them, when suddenly, something caught his attention. He turned, his ears perked up and his nose sniffed the air, "Something's up."
A faint scream began to echo from within the depths of one of Bunny's tunnels. Tiny eggs scuttled out from the underground passage. Bunny grabbed his boomerang, North drew his swords, Jack readied his staff, and Polaris pulled out her sling, loaded a shooting star and began twirling them with cyclonic force as the sounds of booming footsteps, screams, and the rustling of foliage grew louder.
Bunny yelled as he began to charge toward the tunnel. At his side were the Guardians, yetis, and sentinel eggs all bellowing their loudest battle cries until... Sophie dashed out from the tunnel with an armful of squirming eggs. All momentum came to an abrupt halt.
"Sophie?" Jack inquired. They all immediately withdrew their weapons, mildly embarrassed.
"Elf, elf, elf!" Sophie giggled and ran after the elf, dropping the eggs. The Guardians watched as Sophie chased the elf and eggs around. Polaris giggled to herself as she floated after Sophie; just as excited.
"What is SHE doing HERE!?" Bunny demanded an answer. North looked down at his coat pocket – oops. His face reddened from embarrassment as he realized what must have happened.
"Ah, snow globe." He shrugged sheepishly. Everyone but Polaris and Jack shuffled restlessly as they hadn't dealt with children for a long, long time.
Bunny growled, "Crikey! Somebody do something!" Jack smirked at the Pooka's dismay and Bunnymund, in turn, glared him down.
"Don't look at me, I'm invisible, remember?" Jack's grin grew. Sophie giggled as she dragged the elf by the bell atop its uniform.
Toothy flew forward, "Don't worry, Bunny. I bet she's a fairy fan." She reassured as she floated in front of Sophie, "It's okay little one."
"Pretty!" Sophie's awestruck face was adorable. The Guardians couldn't help but smile.
"Awww!" She cooed with delight. "You know what, I got something for you. Here it is." She opened her hand to show the toddler, "Look at all the pretty teeth with little blood and gum on them." Sophie's face dropped in horror as she looked from the teeth to Toothiana, then ran away screaming.
"Blood and gums? When was the last time you guys actually hung out with kids?" Jack couldn't help but laugh. Polaris shrugged her shoulders, she honestly couldn't remember the last time she had been around children.
Meanwhile, Sophie was running around the Warren, exploring and playing. Sophie poked her head into a small tunnel. "Peek-a-boo!" She giggled as the eggs scurried out to get away from her.
"We are very busy bringing joy to children! We don't have time..." North trailed off as he realized what he was saying, "...for children." He finished embarrassed.
"If one little kid can ruin Easter, then...we're in worse shape than I thought." Jack expressed as he lightly landed a twinkling snowflake on Bunny's nose. His concern seemingly disappeared as Jack's magic took affect.
Sophie and Bunnymund watched happily as a flower opened to reveal an egg. The egg stood up wobbly on its spindly little legs. "You wanna paint some eggs? Yeah?" Bunny asked leading Sophie to where the eggs would be painted. She agreed enthusiastically. "Come on then!" His joy plainly apparent.
Thousands of unpainted eggs streamed down the side of a massive moss covered stone spire towards a green meadow. North and Jack stood in the midst of it all, slack-jawed, as the eggs rushed towards them. Polaris rode on top of them giggling and shouted, "Onward to glory!"
"Rimsky Korsakov! That's a lot of eggs." North stated dumbfounded. Jack looked over the hoards of eggs and gulped.
"Uh, how much time do we have?" He muttered.
Bunny ignored their concerns as he was having too much fun. He leapt into a large green meadow with Sophie clinging to his back, smiling, as he led a huge mass of eggs down a wide path. When he passed, flowers bloomed on either side in his wake. The jostled flowers blasted the passing eggs with color as they went.
"Alright troops, it's time to push back. That means eggs everywhere!" Bunny was really getting into it now. North looked out over the eggs as they were sorted through the sorting stones. Polaris flew over to Sophie and placed her gently on top of the eggs as well. They rode on their backs and were carried by the eggs through the stones. Sophie giggled when North waved at her.
"Heaps of you in every high-rise, farm house and trailer park!" Bunny continued. Baby Tooth flew across the meadow to a multicolored stream off in the distance, "In tennis shoes and cereal bowls!"
Baby Tooth joined an elf, who stood alongside an egg at the ledge of the multicolored stream. The elf pushed the egg in, celebrating with a victory dance. He turned just in time to see a stampede of colored eggs come barreling toward him. He was knocked off the ledge and he and the eggs spilled into the multi-colored stream below.
"Oh, there will be bathtubs filled with my beautiful googies!" Bunnymund was exuberant now as eggs were being painted all around him. Hope and joy filled him to an almost exploding point. The others all felt the same hope and expectation.
Colored eggs waded through the water, emerging with secondary colors and intricate patterns of all kinds. An unlucky egg veered off and got stuck in a whirlpool. North fished it out of the water and looked at the egg curiously. It now had a spiral pattern on it and its little legs kicked madly trying to get away.
"Okay, that's a little strange." North stated, weirded out. He shifted his gaze to Bunny who was surrounded by cute little eggs and butterflies.
"Naw, mate-" Bunny grinned, "That's adorable."
North set the egg down and let it rejoin the herd just as the now technicolored elf climbed out of the stream. Polaris watched the elf with fascination. The colors he turned into from just the water got her thinking. An idea popped into her head when she noticed Bunny sitting in front of the colorful stream. She slowly tiptoed in midair towards Bunny and shushed North who was standing on the other side.
Sophie lead a parade of eggs while Bunny jumped to an adjacent rock and sat up to address the eggs as they marched in stride. "There will be springtime on every continent and I'm bringing hope with me!" Bunny shouted out.
Once Polaris was directly behind her victim, she swiftly shoved Bunnymund into the water. Everyone dropped what they were doing and gaped at what she had done.
Bunny resurfaced, sputtering in shock. His eyes landed on Polaris, who was laughing hysterically; snorting loudly. He pulled himself out of the river and looked down, his whole body was multicolored with swirls and patterns; just like the eggs.
"Polaris! You really shouldn't have done that, mate." Bunnymund threatened as he scooped some of the water out in his cupped hands and flung it towards her. Polaris, predicting his move, ducked down, causing Bunny to splash Jack in the face instead. Toothy gasped in surprise glancing between Jack, Bunny, Polaris and back again.
"Oh, you've done it now." Jack grabbed a fistful of paint, a mischievous smirk plastered on his face. Both Bunny and Polaris sprinted away from the prank king.
North laughed heavily with his hands on his belly finding great joy in their shenanigans, Toothy tittered, and Sophie giggled as she stood by Santa and the Tooth Fairy out of the range of fire.
Polaris tripped on a rock in the tulip patch causing them to spray color all over her. Bunny saw the opportunity and took it; he grabbed Polaris, holding her in front of him, using her as a human shield.
Jack pelted her with globs of paint while he approached. Bunnymund, noticing that Jack was getting too close, forcefully shoved Polaris into him. She crashed into his chest and brought her face up to look into his eyes, her face now inches from his. Polaris flushed dark red, heart thudding in her chest from their proximity, she could feel Jack's hand resting on her waist from when he caught her. As she gathered herself together awkwardly, she could have sworn there was a a light blushing on Jack's face. They both immediately hurried after Bunny, now working together to get him.
Jack frosted some paint making them into snowball shaped colors and tossed them to Polaris, she whipped out her sling and twirled it above her head, then flicked it with such velocity, that it smacked into the back of Bunnymund's head, knocking him over.
They proceeded to pummel Bunny with more and more paint, laughing at his pathetic attempt to escape. Polaris was taken aback by a boomerang flying just inches from her face before it zipped back from where it was thrown from. Bunny wasn't there anymore.
Jack and Polaris looked around trying their best to spot him. In the distance they heard a loud thumping noise; it grew louder and louder. Coming from behind them was Bunnymund riding on top of his sentinel eggs. He howled with crazed laughter as he threw his exploding eggs at them; color burst all around them, making a sort of smoke screen.
"Ok, ok, enough of the rough housing." North announced walking in between Bunny, Polaris, and Jack. Polaris and Jack coughed after inhaling some of the dissipating dust. All three of them were covered head to toe in paint and they laughed hysterically at how they looked.
Suddenly Polaris and Jack were drenched with color water. Polaris pouted; her hair that normally floated around was now straight down and dripping from the water. The Guardians looked up to see Toothy flying above them with a, now empty, bucket. Bunnymund howled with laughter until he was knocked down by North throwing a paint ball, nailing him in the face.
"Ha! I win again!" North shouted out with glee. Bunny grumbled as he stood from the ground. Polaris, Jack and Bunny proceeded to throw paint at North and Tooth; Toothy very easily dodged them and North used his scimitars to slice through them.
Jack grabbed Polaris' hand and ran for the sentinel eggs for cover. They crouched behind the large eggs and laughed from the excitement and fun. Polaris locked eyes with Jack for a moment and flushed, but it went unnoticed from the paint that covered her. Jack diverted his gaze feeling a bit nervous.
"There you two are!" North shouted as he nailed them both with even more paint. Jack tried his best to shield Polaris from the assault, but to no avail. North eventually ran out of ammo jolting the fight to a halt. Though disappointed by the sudden end to their fun, they needed to get back on track since paint was everywhere and the eggs still needed to be finished.
"That was fun!" Polaris exclaimed tiredly. The Guardians all agreed, cleaned themselves up, and went to work painting the remainder of the eggs. Colors of blue, yellow and pink coated the small Easter eggs; swirls and patterns decorated them. There were millions of them, all of which were beautiful.
Bunny hopped past a yeti painting a mound of eggs red and noted the color with disdain, "Too Christmas-y, mate, paint `em blue." The Yeti threw his arms up in defeat and tossed the egg. Bunnymund wandered back over to Sophie.
"Oh, what's over there?" Bunny asked motioning to a beautifully decorated egg that was hiding in the grass. Sophie immediately spotted the egg and delicately lifted it out of its hiding place. She held it close to admire the intricate detail of its shell. Sophie brought the egg to Bunny for him to inspect.
"That's a beauty!" Bunny took Sophie by the hand and lead her through a stone archway. "Now all we gotta do is get him and his little mates through the tunnels, to the top, and we'll have ourselves Easter." He sighed, looking out proudly at the eggs gathering in front of the tunnels in the distance.
Jack approached them from behind and sat alongside Bunny, who held a worn out Sophie in his arms.
"Not bad." Jack pointed out. Sophie yawned and began to fall asleep.
"Not bad yourself." Bunnymund smiled genuinely.
"Look, I'm sorry about that whole, you know, the 'kangaroo' thing." Jack muttered ashamed.
"It's the accent, isn't it?" Bunny chuckled. North came up from behind with Toothy and Polaris at his side. They turned toward Bunny, marveling at the sight of Sophie, fast sleep. It was touching. Bunny's face softened, as if remembering a distant memory, "Ah, poor little ankle-biter. Look at her, all tuckered out."
"I love her!" Toothy said quietly, afraid to wake her up. The mood was light and calming as the Guardians basked in each others company.
"I think it's time to get her home." Toothy stated as she bent down to pick her up. Bunny handed the sleeping toddler over to her waiting arms.
"How about I take her home?" Jack suggested. They looked over to him surprised.
"Jack, no!" Toothy began to oppose, "Pitch is-"
"-no match for this." Jack finished, cutting her off. He twirled his staff as if to prove his point. He had defeated Pitch once already; he was sure he could do it again.
"Which is why we need you here, with us." Bunnymund protested. The Guardians looked at Jack with concern. Polaris placed her hand on Jack's shoulder.
"Please Jack," She approached, "We need your help." Jack was surprised to hear those words, but he knew that he could return Sophie home safely without any problems. A slight blush crossed Polaris' face as she realized that she still had her hand on him; she withdrew it immediately.
"Trust me, I'll be quick as a bunny." Jack flashed a confident smile at them. The Guardians finally agreed, as there was still some work to be done before they could deliver the eggs anyway and then Jack was gone.
"You never told me how absolutely gorgeous this place is, Bunny!" Toothianna squealed twirling around.
"Never had the words." He sighed contentedly, "Look at it! It's where it all begins, and just when you think it's over, it starts over again. I tell you, what's more beautiful than this?"
Bunny gestured to all around them and then continued, "And what brings more joy... than an Easter Egg?" By the time Bunny finished his sentiment, Polaris and North had joined the two of them overlooking the vast expanse of land.
"A Christmas gift?" North stated out loud. Bunny looked over his shoulder to glare at North.
"Or maybe a wish come true?" Polaris put in with a giggle earning a glare as well. Toothy tittered at their antics.
Bunny ignored them and looked around concerned. "Still no Frost."
"He will come" North assured them all. The Pooka eyed North with worry, then back to all of the eggs they helped paint.
"Easter can't wait."
Jack had been gone for awhile now and the Guardians were starting to worry. What if something had happened to him, but before they could worry for much longer, black sand slowly seeped through the earth all around them.
Polaris' eyes widened with fear. All of the Guardians readied their weapons and looked around trying to spot Pitch, but he was no where to be seen.
The Nightmares took form and snorted aggressively. They were everywhere and were closing in on the them rapidly. The Guardians were horribly out numbered and were already really weak from Sandy's death which had caused the majority of the lights to go out.
Polaris understood immediately that she would have to fight most of them off herself. She had never truly been believed in before, so the vanishing lights hadn't affected her. She was terrified though. What if another of her friends died? There is no way she could handle it. What if she died? The thought paralyzed her.
Her lips trembled as she took a subconscious step backwards. She bumped into North's belly and looked up at him. North smiled down at her reassuringly and that was all it took to get her out of her frozen state of mind. She breathed out her fear; she was ready.
The Nightmares stared them down, stood on their hind legs, and whinnied fiercely; then they charged.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who viewed my story and to Poppyflower of Stormclan for being the first to review. My sister nicolemtracy also has an amazing Hey Arnold story called Tattered Ribbon, I highly suggest you read it, but I would say it is for older readers.
~Jessica