¡Hola amigos! I decided to post early. And by early, I mean REALLY EARLY. It's been at least 7 to 8 hours since I last posted, so you can just call me an over-achiever. :):) Just because I was super happy, I decided to post a nice long chapter for you guys. Why am I happy, you ask? 'Cause it could've been called a panic-attack, the way I reacted when I got my first review and follower. :):):):):):):):) Enjoy joining me in having a panic attack after you read this chapter! :):):):):):)
Chapter 2: Jack's POV
I didn't like it. I didn't like it one bit. It was hard to tell which part of it I disliked the most. But that didn't change the fact that I was there, standing on the top of a tree, watching two young girls walk to their deaths.
Lynn and Autumn: the town pranksters. If you had no idea who they were, you would've assumed they were sisters. They looked almost exactly alike, right down to the matching snow boots. I could tell from experience that Autumn was the Head Trickster. The way she walked was so confident, and whenever she smiled she looked as if she were imagining switching your cornflakes with bird-feeder. Not to mention the fact that she carried a bag full of torture devices.
Lynn on the other hand walked with a bit more hesitation, and I could tell that she was the glue to this little book. When hard decisions needed to be made, she was the one to make them. She held her chin high, giving her an intimidating look. Lynn was the one that kept Autumn in control, the more level-headed one. But that didn't change the glint in her eye that said she wouldn't hesitate to dump ice down your shirt.
As they walked down the sidewalk, I followed, gliding from tree-branch to tree-branch. I couldn't stop thinking about how similar their goodbye was to mine, and how similar I knew their transformation would be as well. I couldn't help but wonder which one would be chosen.
As I continued to stalk them, I thought back to last night's conversation.
FLASHBACK...
I was flying in Scotland, coating some famous castle in a fresh layer of snow. Many of the tourists weren't very happy with the sudden snowfall, but that's just because most of said tourists were adults. The children were ecstatic, running around, trying to catch snowflakes in their small hands. I laughed at the view, happy that I could make them smile. I hovered in front of the ruins, admiring my work. With the setting sun, it looked worthy of a painting in a museum. Considering this thought, I whipped out my camera and snapped a picture.
A few days ago, out of the blue, North had given me a camera and told me to make a scrapbook for this year's Christmas. Every year, a Guardian is randomly picked to make a scrapbook for the Christmas party, and this year I had been the lucky winner. North had literally went into the workshop, picked out a high-definition camera, walked up to me and said, "Go make a scrapbook for Christmas party. Is traditional." Then walked off. I figured I had no choice, so for the past few weeks, I had been snapping pictures of Christmas related things, such as the castle I was currently at.
When I was about to go to Burgess to deliver an overnight blizzard, I saw it. The Northern Lights; the signal for the Guardians. North was calling a meeting. It was a bit early for our monthly get-together, but I headed over anyway, stopping at Burgess on the way.
When I flew through the open window to the Globe Room, I must say, I was not expecting this. It was chaos. Yetis were running around, panicking. Papers were scattered, random toy parts and ice sculptures lay forgotten on tables, cookies were ambushed by elves; I think it was safe to say the calmest thing in the workshop was Tooth.
When I entered, I flew over to the only seemingly half calm place in the whole workshop: the rafters on the roof. When things got crazy, this was my safe haven. I watched with interest as North tried to calm down the yetis. When he finally got them back in control and back to working on toys, all the Guardians gathered in the Globe Room.
"Thank you for coming, everybody." The Russian announced.
When I landed, Bunny shivered and dove for the fireplace. I snickered and sat down on the arm of the couch. When everybody was settled, Tooth asked the question that was on all of our minds.
"So, North, why did you call us?"
North sighed, as if that was the worst possible question that she could ask. After a few seconds of hesitation, he said simply, "Pitch is back."
Amazing, how three words can have such a big affect on four people. Sandy exploded in a wave of images, Tooth gasped and fluttered onto the couch, Bunny just stood there staring at North, and I laughed my head off, thinking it was a joke. I stopped laughing when I saw the look on North's face.
"You can't be serious, right?" I asked doubtfully.
"I'm afraid I've never been more serious in my life." North replied solemnly.
Bunny was the first one to talk. "Oh, Craiky. What are we gonna do?"
"I guess we do what we did last time. We go over there, kick his butt, throw a snowball at him and we're good to go!" I said cheerfully.
"It's not that simple, Frostbite." He replied coolly.
"Bunny is right on this one, Jack." North said.
Bunny grinned, and I knew he had brought our little plan into action. Suddenly, he brought out a tape-recorder and let it play. "Bunny is right on this one, Jack."
North jumped at the sound of his own voice. I grinned and then got up. "You have learned much, my apprentice." we bowed to each other, Karate style. Tooth and Sandy started laughing, Sandy's silent.
"BUNNY! JACK!" North's voice rang loud and clear throughout the workshop. Laughing, Bunny and I ran, playing the tape over and over again.
"Bunny is right on this one, Jack."
"Bunny is right on this one, Jack."
"Bunny is right on this one, Jack."
North chased Bunny throughout the Globe Room, me right behind. Suddenly, Bunny tossed the tape into the air, myself catching it. The chase reversed to North chasing me.
After a few seconds I decided to shorten it to just "Bunny is right.", as to make it more annoying. The chase went on for about thirty seconds until I flew back up to the rafters, still playing the tape repeatedly.
"Bunny is right."
"Bunny is right."
"Bunny is right."
Suddenly a blow horn sounded off. It was loud enough for everybody to have to plug their ears. When it stopped, we all saw Sandy pointing at the moon.
"Ah, Man in Moon. Is nice to see you again. Thank you for telling us, Sandy." North said. Sandy just rolled his eyes and put the horn down. Now that North had calmed down, I came back over to the group, leaving the tape recorder on top of the rafters.
The moon shone through the sky light, illuminating the Globe Room. A single beam pointed at the Guardian's plaque, forming the shadow of a figure all too familiar.
"Pitch." Bunny addressed the shadow in disgust.
"Told you." North said.
"Yes, fellow Guardians. I'm afraid he has returned to full strength, if not more." A deep voice echoed in all of our minds, and I knew it was MIM.
"More? We barely defeated him last time." Tooth said, slight panic showing in her words.
Sandy wrote in cursive above his head, What should we do?
"What we will do, Sanderson, is do what we did last time." Manny said. "We will be needing a new Guardian." At that, the moon beam focused more onto the big "G" in the middle of the plaque. A luminescent crystal came out of the floor, lighting up the room like a disco ball. We all waited with baited breath as two forms made out of light appeared above the crystal. When they were completely formed, Bunny said, "Who the heck are they?"
Two girls, probably both around thirteen, were staring back at the Guardians. And none of us knew who they were, or why there were two images, and not one.
"These girls are Lynn Drewnell and Autumn Evercrest. They are orphans who live in Burgess, Ohio and they will have a very big role to play in the coming battle against Pitch. Tomorrow, at about 10:00 a.m., a new Guardian will be born very much like you were, Jack."
My eyes widened at that. The other Guardians just stared at me, wondering what he was talking about. I hadn't told them about the whole dying before becoming a spirit thing yet. I was just waiting for the right time to tell them, but I guess I didn't need to decide anymore. Manny continued talking.
"Pitch somehow found out about this, so one of you will have to be there when it happens in order to get them to safety. Jack knows where it will go down. Good luck, Guardians." At that, the images faded and the crystal retracted back into the floor, and the presence of Manny was no more.
It took several minutes for the Guardians to calm down when I finished explaining. I explained the dying part all the down to the lake. After I minute of silence, Bunny spoke up. "You said that ya saved your sister, right?"
I glanced at him and replied slowly, "Um, yeah... so?"
Bunny rolled his eyes. "So, Frostbite, don't ya think that maybe one of those girls saves the other and dies?" He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.
"I dunno. It's a good chance." I said, shrugging.
"Then it is decided." North spoke up. "Jack, you will be one to go."
END OF FLASHBACK...
So here I was, stalking two girls along the street, coming up with revenge on North and Bunny, seeing they were the ones who made me go. I seriously did not want to deal with a new and confused spirit and her friend, let alone Pitch. I watched as they walked into the woods, finally coming across the lake. They eagerly got out their skates, talking about a won bet and a disgusting meal they would make the loser eat. I grinned. These girls sure were more than they looked.
After about half an hour of watching them skate, I started to wish that I could join. It was really boring just sitting there, and I think I was getting a cramp.
An hour passed and they stopped to have breakfast. At this point I was frosting random tree branches and throwing snowballs at rocks. This was really getting boring...
When another hour passed I was just about to leave when I heard it. The unmistakable sound of ice cracking. There Autumn was, in the middle of the lake, the ice about to give away from underneath her. Lynn screamed, and I fought the urge to go in and rescue Autumn. But I couldn't, because I knew if I did, then it wouldn't work. Gripping my staff, I sat back down on the tree, staring at the scene before me.
To my surprise, Autumn didn't even flinch. She just stayed still, staring at the ice beneath her. Slowly, she tried to move a foot away from the crack, but it just grew, so she stopped. Then she did something almost impossible: she balanced on one foot with the ice skates on. Slowly, she brought her left foot up to her, untying it and throwing it on the snowy grass. She then put her bare foot on the ice, and undid the right skate, also throwing it ashore. She then tried to edge her way off of the thin sheet of ice, but to no avail as it continued to crack. She looked up at Lynn.
They both seemed to have a small conversation with their eyes. They finally came to an agreement and Lynn went to go find a stick. Autumn waited patiently for her friend to return. When she came back, she had a long stick in her hand. She took off her skates so she was also barefoot and stepped onto the ice.
That's when things went wrong. She had only taken three steps before the ice cracked, and it still wasn't close enough to reach. She gave a panicked look to her friend. She said something that I couldn't here from up on the tree. Autumn said something in return that made Lynn smile with, relief?
Autumn reached into her pocket and took out a long rope. Oh.
She told Lynn something and motioned to herself. Lynn nodded and tossed Autumn the stick. She caught it easily and tied the end of the rope to it. She then threw it like a spear into the tree next to me, still holding the other end. The stick wrapped itself around a thick branch, guaranteeing a strong support. She tied the rope to her waste and tossed the end of it to Lynn. She followed suit. Together, they inched their way across the ice, making their way to the shore of the frozen lake. That's when everything went wrong.
The rope had been frayed a bit, not a lot to notice, but enough to snap if there had been pressure against it. Yeah, you see where I'm going with this. Just then, when they were only a few feet away from the shore, the ice gave away and they both plunged into the water. The line snapped, and everything was quiet. They didn't resurface. The water didn't even quiver. My eyes were wide and I was gazing at the water intently, waiting.
After a few minutes, the water started glowing silvery-blue. It got so bright that I had to shield my eyes. When the glowing subsided, something emerged from the water. Not just one something though, but two.
And that's not even the beginning of it. Yes, the Man in the Moon had made them both spirits, but not just any spirits. Right in front of me, just barely being layed back on the now completely frozen lake, were two winter spirits, so you might've just said that Manny made two more of me.
Ooohh, looky looky, it's a cliffy. :):) Well, in my opinion, every chapter is a cliffy, so I'm not sure if that counts. Eh, whatev. I'm probably gonna spend most of my time on now, so don't worry about update delays! Yet! I don't know. So, until next time, LOCO RACCOON, OUT! PEACE! :):)
