The Second Chapter: Weather Report: Hail and Breeze

13th of December – North Pole

At last, it was a leisure day in the Nicholas St. North's usually bustling toy workshop. The Christmas this year had been the most busiest since North had started his work as a Guardian, mostly thanks to the damage done by Pitch Black during his rise to power. The belief in wonders wasn't as easily restored as belief in dreams or in memories. But North did not worry – everything had gone smoothly and the Christmas had been a success. Every children, wherever around the world they lived, had found their present hidden in the sock or under the Christmas tree. The celebration was now over, and it was time to take a breath before starting to make preparations for next Christmas. In fact, North had couple marvellous ideas in store...

Most of the Yetis had taken the chance to visit their families and friends in their village, hidden in the middle of fields of snow and ice. Elves, in the other hand, were as lively as ever.

" Now, be careful! " North's booming voice echoed, as he watched worrisome how the elves were climbing all over the place and taking down the christmassy decorations – at least a part of them, because there were always decorations no matter was it winter or summer. Unfortunately, none of the elves wasn't down in the receiving end. North tried his best running after the falling candles and statues before they'd hit the floor. Someone younger than him such as Jack or quicker as Bunny would have suited the job better. North managed to save three Christmas tree decorations and one unlucky elf, but the fourth ball avoided his grasp and crashed on the floor, flinging the shards around the hall. A Russian curse slipped from North while trying to avoid stepping on the shards. Of course, at a moment like this, it was compulsory that a visitor should appear, though this one was expected.

"Hej, Santa. How was the Christmas? " Asked a brown-bearded man, face covered with a horned mask. He was escorted by Phil, one of the few yetis who'd stayed in North Pole, making sure that everything would be ready when the "Tjugondag Knut" arrived. The elves, frightened of the man's appearance, quickly hid out of sight. North, in the other hand, wasn't afraid of the old friend. He motioned Phil to take care of the mess the elves had caused (Phil groaned as a small protest) and greeted the visitor:

" Welcome, Knut. Come and join me for a dinner. How about some warm glogg for a starter?" North set the elf he had saved down with the remaining decorations and guided Knut one of the smaller rooms. They ate together and exchanged news – mostly North did the most talking and Knut listened, nodding and asking for details, especially about the conflict that had happened during last Easter.

When the last crumb had been cleaned from the table and one could see the bottom of one's glass, Knut remarked:

" Shadows are moving. "

North's eyebrows joined together when he asked for explanation: " What do you mean, danger? "

" Perhaps. For you and your team." Knut lifted himself up, motioning that he was going to leave. As a goodbye, he said: " I hope we'll meet again next year."

" Don't worry. I might have done my job for many years, but I'm not going to draw my pension yet!" North let out a mighty laugh. Knut gave a faint smirk in response, and left the North Pole.

North remained, staring after Knut. His friend had changed almost to a different person during these years. Before so jovial and boisterous man, the center of the festivities, had reverted to a quiet and cautious. Former Knut had not only warned about the on-coming danger, but offered a helping hand. North couldn't stop thinking that would his destiny be similar to Knut, if one day children stopped believing in Santa Claus?

He wasn't let to ponder about the question for long, as a loud noise made North almost jump out of his boots. As he rushed towards the sound, he noticed a layer of frost in the pillars, about a dozen frozen elves and Phil sharing the same fate. Was this Jack's doing?

North heard a chuckle somewhere behind him. As North turned around to see who it was, he tripped over the slippery ice which had appeared behind his feet. Grunting, North got up, but whoever the intruder had been, he had disappeared a long time ago. North knew Jack loved to play tricks and especially freeze the elves, but this was going too far. North decided that he'd have a talk with the boy in the monthly meeting of the Guardians held in couple of days. If Jack didn't appear there, North would go looking out Jack himself. But before any of that, North needed to melt the elves and Phil...

14th of December - Somewhere over the Europe

Twisting streams of golden sand floated under the clear night sky to every home and room, giving sleepers pleasant dreams. It was truly a breathtaking sight – sadly there was seldom anyone else to see it. Sandy didn't mind that fact, after all it'd be more difficult to get the little ones to sleep if they were awake. After having covered Ireland through and through with the dreamsand, it was time for him to head towards western part of the Earth. Forming his favourite way of transportation, a two-level aircraft, Sandy set the course to the next continent.

As he was crossing over the Atlantic Ocean, Sandy noticed that a chilling wind started to roam around his plane. It could've been nothing worth of mentioning, as this time of year windiness varied a lot, but no ordinary breeze was able to blow away his dreamsand. Neither this was Mother Nature's work. She usually let Sandy glide with thermal columns, but never tried to disturb his work.

Continuing his ride to headwind, Sandy tried to create a protective veil over his plane. It didn't even do a little help. The gust shattered the veil almost as soon as Sandy had made it. This wasn't looking good at all, and the wind was getting fiercer.

When Sandy steered the aircraft away from the icy storm, the frozen propeller let out a puff of golden sand and stopped working. He tried his best dreamsand mechanic skills to make it fly again, but the gravity took a grip of the plane and started to pull it towards the deep embrace of the raging sea. The wind dissolved the sand-made plane around Sandy, who closed his eyes and prepared himself for a harsh landing.

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Knut, or Nuuttipukki, is a Northern Christmas tradition. Knut (or rather a group of Knuts) would come after Christmas and ask people for the Christmas leftovers. It was the sign that the Christmas had ended. Even though it's based on a Danish saint called Canute Lavard, the day is celebrated in some parts Sweden and Finland.