Warnings: Currently rated T for language, though liable to change in future chapters for dark imagery and mature content.

Disclaimer: I claim no copyright ownership to Rise of the Guardians or any recognizable characters depicted by DreamWorks, William Joyce, or other miscellaneous fairy tale creatures. However, the plot and original characters are my own.

Chapter Two

"I have never seen more snow anywhere in all my life," Alice stated, holding back the dining room curtain as she gazed flabbergasted out the window. White flurries blew in the soft wind, shimmering off the reflection of the moon as they cascaded downward and coated the growing layer of snow on the ground below.

"Did it not snow in Ohio?" Uncle Kevin asked humorously as he set the table.

Alice pulled away, letting the drapes fall back into place as she shook her head. "It did but never this much in November. Even when we went to Athens for Thanksgiving two years ago it wasn't this bad. Someone here must have seriously pissed off Mother Nature."

Alice helped her aunt carry the dishes to the table and Pippa threw her arms in the air. "It's Jack Frost!" she announced. "He controls the snow and blizzards and cold!" she took her seat at the table, claiming a spot between Alice and her mother. Max scowled at the fact that he wasn't going to be near Pippa or Aunt Liza as he plopped heatedly in the other open chair next to Alice. Uncle Kevin took mock offense to his rage and Max giggled at his teasing, though quickly stopped himself and crossed his arms indignantly.

"He gives us snow days so we can play and have snowball fights and sled races," Pippa continued, humming cheerfully to herself and reaching across Alice's empty seat to poke Max when he wasn't looking. She snickered to herself every time he whipped his head around, tiny eyebrows furrowed.

"Well maybe he should ease off a bit," Alice said, sitting a glass of juice in front of Max and taking her seat at the table. "Some of us have cars to drive and new driveways to shovel tomorrow. It's going to suck."

Pippa tapped a finger to her chin. "I never thought of that," she said. "I can tell him to be careful tomorrow so you won't have to worry about it!" she broadcasted proudly.

Alice grinned over at her as her aunt and uncle took their respective seats. "That'd be much appreciated, Pip. And while you're at it, maybe just ask him to clear the driveway for me too so the movers don't throw a fit."

After dinner, Alice attempted to help clear the table and clean the dishes, only to be smacked and shooed away by her crazy aunt. She politely shoved her up the stairs and told her to put something comfortable on and relax because she was a guest and "guests don't have chores."

Pippa huffed at that as she was asked to rinse hers and Max's plates off in the sink.

Alice handed Max his pajamas and he dressed himself as she went to wash her face. She carried their bags into the guest room and got the bed ready, knowing any minute now Max was going to be about ready to crash. Uncle Kevin announced downstairs that they were making hot chocolate and Alice knew that would be the kiss of death for the seven-year-old.

The two made their way downstairs and Max followed his nose into the kitchen where the mugs were being prepared with giant marshmallows. Alice watched Pippa sneak a few marshmallows behind her mother's back, stuffing them into her cheeks and looking like a chipmunk. Alice sniggered and the girl glared over at her, pointing at Aunt Liza's back before making a slicing motion against her neck. Alice raised her hands in surrender, letting her know she wouldn't tattle.

Pippa snuck her a marshmallow as a truce and Alice was pretty sure she gave Max one, too.

Everyone collected their mug of hot coco and Pippa demanded that she see Alice and Max in the living room, pronto. Her words exactly.

Aunt Liza patted them on their heads as she passed by and ambled down the hall into the office she shared with her husband.

"Gather 'round," Pippa hissed, tugging them in front of the fireplace that had just recently been lit. She adjusted her white beanie and took a bite out of her warm, gooey marshmallow that had started to melt in her cup.

"What are we doing?" Max whispered, eyes wide and glimmering with flames reflecting in the irises. The three of them sat cross-legged in a circle, relishing in the warmth of the fire and the taste of the sweet liquid in their mugs.

"It's story time," Pippa declared, whisper-shouting. The blaze of the fire danced across her skin and she hunkered down as if what she was about to share was top secret. "You guys haven't been here in a while and a lot has gone down since last summer."

"What happened?" Alice asked, feigning shock. She loved how when it came to Pippa, story time was always reversed. Instead of listening to the stories, she always told them.

"Jack Frost happened. He's here, in Burgess. First showed up a couple months ago," Pippa paused dramatically and took a sip of her hot chocolate, staining her upper lip in brown liquid and clumps of marshmallow.

She proceeded to tell them the tale involving Jack Frost, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and the Boogeyman. The first five took up an alliance against the Boogeyman, who was attempting to absorb the fear of all children to feed his power through nightmares. Jack Frost, however, didn't have any believers so he was defenseless towards saving the children. But he proved to be a useful weapon against the Nightmare King. The other four, The Guardians, told him he was chosen to be a Guardian like them, but his lack of believers proved to be a tricky obstacle to overcome and kept him from becoming the Guardian he aspired to be.

Max was enthralled, hugging his knees to his chest and Pippa gestured wildly and painted a mental picture for them as she explained the scenes in detail. Alice couldn't hold back the curiosity on her face and listened with fervor, impressed with the girl's vivid imagination. Alice was a mediocre storyteller at best in comparison to the eleven-year-old.

"But then Jamie believed in him! He believed in all of them because of Jack! He was Jack's first believer, and together they rallied up an army of kids – US," she pointed to herself proudly. "To band together and defeat Pitch and his fearlings once and for all! We believed in the Boogeyman, but we weren't afraid of him, which was his ultimate weakness! He ended up fearing us instead and his nightmares turned against him!"

Max gasped, mouth open wide at the turn of events. "His own creations fed on their master's fear and he was destroyed once and for all!" She made a fist and thrust it in the air. "The children believed in the Guardians once again and all their powers were restored."

"Wow," the boy whispered. Pippa puffed out her chest in pride. "So the Boogeyman is gone? For real?"

"Yep," Pippa nodded, wiping her nails on her shirt. "We took care of him alright. He won't be bothering us any time soon."

Alice nodded. "Good riddance," she declared. "How dare he use his power for evil?"

"It was Sandy's powers he messed with," Pippa declared with distaste, slamming her fist into the carpet. "He turned his golden dream sand into black nightmare sand. That's how he was able to kill Sandy!" she wailed.

"He was corrupted by the evil of his own magic," Alice said, feeling angry for reasons beyond her. It was fantasy and yet she found herself annoyingly involved in the characters. "What a low blow."

"Right?" Pippa snarled, looking about ready to hit something. She balled her hands into fists. "If Pitch ever came back around again, I'd show him who's boss," she punched the air a few times and Alice laughed, making sure Max didn't accidentally get hit.

"Whoa, whoa, easy tiger," she chuckled. "Lower the guns. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of those. Pitch doesn't want to know what kind of enemy he's made in you."

"In all of us," Pippa correct, heated. "He even broke Jack's staff! He tried taking away all his powers! Nobody messes with Jack Frost."

"I bet Jack kicked Pitch's butt two ways from Tuesday," Alice smirked and Pippa nodded.

"Oh he did," she said seriously. "If you don't want to be on the receiving end of my punches, you really don't want to be on the receiving end of Jack's."

Alice nodded approvingly. "Sounds like my kind of hero."

Pippa's eyes positively lit up. "Just wait until I tell him you said that!"

Alice laughed as she nuzzled Max's neck with her fingers, watching as his eyelids began to surrender against their own weight. "Why would he want to hear that?" she asked.

"Because you're a grown up," Pippa said with a tone of finality, as if that was the only explanation she needed. Alice smiled a little to herself before noticing that Max was succumbing to the Sandman's dream world as they spoke.

"Well, looks like this guy's ready to hit the hay," she stood and carefully scooped the boy up in her arms, reeling for a moment at the weight. He was getting so big.

Pippa took their mugs into the kitchen and bid them good night. After speaking with her aunt and uncle, Alice carefully carried the sleeping boy up the stairs and into the guestroom, tucking him in under the warm blankets and grinning at the fact that he was out cold. She kissed his forehead, refraining from waking him up so he could brush his teeth. It was one night and he had a long day.

She climbed into the bed beside him and turned out the light, his soft snores echoing like sweet music in the dark room as Alice curled herself around him and cuddled him into her chest. He was so far into his sleep that he probably wouldn't relish in the fact that he was sleeping in the same bed as her for the first time in months until morning.

It was an early start the next morning. Max wasn't as hyper this time around, dragging himself like a snail because he didn't want to leave. Alice was rushing to get ready because she slept later than she expected, though it was still only half past seven. The moving truck said it would arrive at nine and she still had to shovel the driveway. Unless she buffed up like the Hulk between now and then, there was no way she was getting it done in time.

Since it was a weekend day, Pippa was still out like a light. Max whined about not being able to say goodbye to her, but Alice told him she was literally one street away and he could come see her any time he wanted. She didn't want to test the wrath of the eleven-year-old at being woken up earlier than she needed to be.

As Alice was running out the door, tugging Max along as she went while he was attempting to put his other shoe on and hopping, Aunt Liza tossed a shovel into her free hand and she threw a quick, "Thanks!" over her shoulder before speeding out the front door. It was already eight.

Good thing was their new house was only a three minute drive and the roads were icy so she didn't feel obligated to drive particularly fast. She grew up in the northeast and still hadn't mastered driving in the winter.

As she was pulling up, Alice told Max to run on inside and she'd turn the heater on for him before she got to work. Max protested, saying he wanted to play in the snow. She put the car in park and grabbed the shovel from the backseat before climbing out, Max quickly following in her wake.

"You don't have any mittens," she told him. "Nice try but you're going inside where it's warm."

She clambered up the snow-covered pathway to the porch, being careful to keep her balance, and began digging in her coat pockets to find her house keys.

"Um," she heard Max call from somewhere behind her. "You might wanna look at this."

She huffed, checking her jean pockets next. "Max, I really don't have time—" she'd turned to grab his arm, only to stop suddenly in her tracks.

How she'd walked right by it and not noticed, she would never know. But there, right in front of her pasty-white garage door, was the driveway. Usually that's where driveways were, but that's not what caused her mouth to drop open in shock. She could actually see the driveway, completely cleared of snow.

Her mouth opened and closed, babbling incoherent nonsense to herself. There was a pile of snow across the yard, looking to have been blown precariously out of the way. Looking down, she realized she was standing on a similar pile. It was as if someone had taken a gigantic leaf blower and blew the snow out of the way.

"I don't understand," she finally regained motor function in her brain and spoke clear English. Had one of the neighbors done that for her? Being neighborly and all? Unlikely story, as she hadn't even met her neighbors yet and doubted they saw her and Max yesterday afternoon the whole twenty minutes they'd been at the house.

"Pippa must have told Jack Frost, just like she said she would!" Max exclaimed, jumping onto the cold concrete and stomping around on the driveway.

"Right," she glanced about the area, noticing cars buried up to their tire rims in snow, piles of white fluff coating their hoods and windshields. It must have snowed long into the night, and she realized just how odd her empty driveway looked in comparison to the mounds of thick ice that surrounded it.

Her mind couldn't come up with a logical explanation. It's not like a tornado dropped by and sucked all the snow up in front of her house before disappearing into the clouds again. She didn't understand the weather. Or the weather in Burgess, rather. It's like it had a mind of its own.

She watched Max as he kicked at the snow piles, humming the tune to Frosty the Snowman beneath his breath.

"It was Jack Frost!" Max had said.

While you're at it, maybe just ask him to clear the driveway for me too…

Alice shook her head, quickly snapping out of her reverie and commanding Max inside before his fingers froze. He skipped merrily past her, mumbling something about Jack Frost to himself. She slowly followed him, eyebrows furrowed. "Huh," she grunted. Weird.

It took a few hours for the moving truck to be emptied. Two men arrived with it and were quick to unload the heavy items. She offered her assistance and carried in boxes, her top priority being the fragile-labeled ones that she didn't trust them with.

By eleven o'clock she tipped the movers well and they were on their way. She never realized just how many things she had until there were boxes piled shoulder high in every room.

To clear her head for a few minutes, she and Max drove into town to find something to eat. It was a nice, peaceful twenty minutes of eating inside a dainty little café that had no other customers.

Upon returning, she first searched for Max's good mittens and knitted hat and allowed him to play outside by the window where she could see him. Then she began peeling all the plastic off the furniture and rearranged the coffee and end tables. She spent most of her time trying to mount the television on the wall, getting angry every now and then and googling how to do it since the instruction manual was long gone.

From time to time she'd glance out the window and see Max laughing wildly, throwing snow and rolling down a hill he must have contorted in the fluff.

After about two hours, Alice opened the front door and called Max in for a break. He bounded in without complaint, cheeks and nose flushed red from the chilly air but a big smile was plastered on his face.

"What's gotten you so smiley?" she grinned, ruffling his hair after he took his hat off. He swatted her hand away easily.

"I was talking to Jack," he told her, sitting down on a stool at the island she'd just unwrapped.

"Jack?" she quirked an eyebrow.

"Jack Frost," he said, the 'duh' behind his words not losing its implications on her as if she should've already known that. She mouthed an 'oh' and cranked up the heat a little more for his benefit before digging into her kitchen boxes. "He says you're welcome, by the way," he added off-handedly. When she gave him a confused look he elaborated, "About the driveway. He said Pippa was shouting his name out her window for ten minutes last night and he was supposed to be creating a blizzard in Chicago."

Alice didn't really have a response for that. Kids were elaborate with their imaginations, she'd give them that. "Well, tell him I said thank you," she finally managed at last before putting dishes and glasses away in the cabinets.

"He's so cool," Max gushed, unable to hold back as he rambled. "I told him what Pippa said last night about the Guardians and Pitch and he asked if I wanted to be part of their gang of believers to defeat all the bad things and I said yes because why wouldn't I it's Jack Frost and he told me I was going to have so much fun and that I didn't have to worry about being stuck inside this boring house with you and—"

"Wait what?" Alice had only been partially listening up until that last part. "He said what?"

"He said you were boring," Max stated casually, as if they were discussing the weather or yesterday's baseball game.

"I thought you said he said the house was boring," she squinted at him.

"Oh, well he did," Max nodded innocently. "But he also said you were boring, too."

Alice couldn't believe she had just been insulted by a figment of a child's imagination. She really couldn't believe she was actually taking the insult to heart. "Why am I boring?" she demanded. "He doesn't know me. Who does he think he is?"

"Because you're an adult," he rolled his eyes. "Besides, Jack's the Guardian of Fun. He's a pro at not being boring."

"I've only been an adult for one year," she snipped, bristling and feeling flustered. "I'm still a teenager," she pointed to herself. "I know how to have fun."

"Whatever you say," Max sang, playing with the strings on his jacket's hood.

Alice huffed, tossing bowls unceremoniously into the cupboard as she mumbled about winter spirits and boring and if it'd been better if they'd moved to Hawaii instead where it didn't snow.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. I'm actually surprised I got reviews so soon, it sincerely means a lot.