Spirit knew she needed to be strong.
It really wasn't easy, for she was invisible, lost, and amnesiac.
She really wasn't able to count the time since her awakening, but she had an idea that it had been about a week. Even in that small amount of time, a lot has happened.
She left a message for him.
He was flying, using the wind, and he always seemed to have a smile on his face. She knew he was some type of spirit, judging how most people ignored him. Spirit didn't know his name, and she wished she did.
She had debated a series of times whether or not she would talk to him. Spirit had many questions, but she didn't know if he was someone who belonged to him.
She needed to tell him though.
But walking up to him wasn't going to happen.
So, she left a message.
She didn't know if he would see it, but she gave him a little hit by shoot a colorful light towards him. He thought it was something called a "fearling", which in Spirit thinks is rather unsettling.
What if he is back?
What if the information she gave him wasn't a lie?
Is he really coming back?
No matter what the case, Spirit knows that if he roams the earth again, nobody will survive.
[Jack]
North was one of the most interesting people Jack knew, besides Sandman, who was still very interesting even though he never spoke.
He trusted each of the Guardians, yes even Kangaroo. Trust, according to North, was one of the most important things of sticking together.
Jack believed that fully.
As he rode the winds to North's workshop, his thoughts stayed on one thing; who wrote the message.
The letters were awesome and Jack wished he could write like that, but it wasn't the way the letters changed colors or never stayed still that unnerved him, it was the message written with the letters.
The Carrier of After? Jack was confused. What that a person? An expression? He knew what after meant, and carrier, but together...what.
Jack decided that he should save his thoughts to went he actually got to North's.
He was the last one to arrive, "fashionably late". But he was the one who asked North to gather the Guardians, yet he had quickly hurried out so that he could memorize the message written in the alley.
Bunny, wearing his usual boomerangs and oversized ears and feet, shouted up to him as he glided down to the Guardian Stone, which was shut underneath the floorboards.
"Frostbite's late, usual." Bunny said, his australian accent coating his words. He twiddled one of his boomerangs in his hands.
Toothania, whom every Guardian called Tooth, was commanding her fairies around the world to collect teeth. Jack had no idea how she knew where each tooth was, which incisor it was, and where it was located, to tell her fairies. Jack admired that talent.
She was too busy to notice Jack arriving, and he was too scared to interrupt her.
North clapped his hands together, which sounded almost as loud as an earthquake, and got the Guardians attention.
"So," His voice boomed through the workshop. "I believe we have problem? Jack?"
Jack took this as his cue. "I was in...Canada-"
"Did you know where you bloody were?" Bunny asked, more like teased. "'Canada' is a pretty large area."
"Yeah," Jack glared at Bunnymund. "it started with an...R."
"Jack, continue." North obviously sensed an argument coming on.
Jack tore his glare away from Bunny's, instead looking at North. "I thought I saw a leftover fearling, nothing big, but when I followed it down an alleyway, there was a message at the end."
Tooth, who seemed to have broken away from her fairies, said, "What did it say? Did it look...suspicious?"
Jack nodded. "Yep, for one it made out of neon letters. Is there any spirit or Guardian that can do that?"
They shook their heads, looking at each other for guidance.
"What did the message say?" North asked, crossing his arms as his waited for Jack's answer. His arms were tattooed perfectly with the words Naughty and Nice, Jack knew which list he was on.
"It was really weird, I didn't understand it." Jack thought for a moment, getting the exact words in his head. "The Carrier of After will rise. Sound familiar? Because it's rather unnerving and-"
Tooth's face lost all emotion, like she was remembering something that gave her nightmares at night. "No...is this what I think it is?"
Bunny looked nervous too, and Jack was too worried to tease him about it.
North stroked his beard, and when he spoke, he didn't meet anyone's eyes. "Jack, did you see anyone before this message?"
Jack reluctantly answered, for he was too confused to ask a question. "No."
"What did the letter's look like? Do you think that they are still there?" North asked, staring at each part of the workshop like it was the last time he would see it.
"Colorful, and they didn't seem to stay in one place. They looked like they took a long time to write; all cursive and old-looking. Why?" Jack said.
North looked at Tooth, who still had that look that made Jack uneasy. He wanted to ask what was going on, but Bunny answered for him.
"This isn't Pitch, Jack." Bunny was the only one who didn't avoid Jack's gaze, even despite that they had just had an argument.
"Who is it then?" Jack could've sworn that the room dropped thirty degrees, and this time it wasn't his fault.
Bunny snarled what Jack had trouble believing was a name. "Death."
"What?" Jack gripped his staff tightly. "Death? Is that a person?"
"Yes Jack." Tooth answered, taking Bunny's spot in front of him. "That would explain why the writing said 'The Carrier of After'. He was named that after he took control of the underworld, for he is the one who reaps the dying souls. Basically, he takes them to Heaven or the Underworld."
Jack noticed her eyes were no longer their friendly purple, they now looked like dying lilacs.
"We should visit where this message was written." North said, breaking the tension that formed when Tooth answered Jack's question. His voice seemed a bit more Russian than usual; was he nervous? "Jack, do you remember your exact location where you found it?"
Jack nodded. "Starts with R…" He gasped. "Riske...Riske Creek! Yes! I remember now!"
"You were lost, weren't you frostbite?" Bunny was leaning against the wall, a mischievous smirk that Jack had a feeling Bunny had stolen from him.
"No!" Jack quickly said. "I was perfectly aware of where I was!"
"Were you Jack," Bunnymund asked. "were you?"
{Spirit}
Spirit twirled her staff in her arms like a botan, tapping an occasional flower or lettering on a window.
Each person she passed ignored her or passed right through her. It still unnerved her to a great extent, but she was getting used to it.
Dawn was creeping in on Riske Creek, but people still rushed around in the shops and community centers. The snow was falling heavily, but it sparkled beautifully as it fell to the ground. She didn't leave any footsteps in her wake, and the snow seemed to be the only thing that didn't change color as she walked through it.
She didn't feel so lost anymore, but lonely. Nobody saw her, nobody spoke to her, nobody noticed her. When she accidentally tripped and colored a whole parking lot of cars into purple, everyone turned, but didn't notice the girl yelling sorry.
It hadn't been long since her awakening, and she was still wearing the same clothes as before. She had experimented with her weird abilities, learning new things about herself every day.
For one, if she focused enough, that electric feeling would always return to prickle at her skin. Whenever that happened, a few lights always shattered and the ground around her feet shifted colors. Her staff even "rainbowed" a bit. But so far, no rainbows of any kind had issued from her hands.
She could run for quite a while at that fast speed, but it left her feeling like she was just electrocuted; shaky, weak, and tired. A trail of colors were left in her wake like streamers, and she wasn't sure if any civilians had seen or noticed them.
She had caught a glimpse of her reflection on the window of a fishing shop in a coastal Canadian town. Her hair was a light color, like brown had mixed with white. Freckles dotted her face around her nose, and her lips were a salmon pink.
She hated to admit it, but her eyes were a bit concerning. Each time she saw herself in her reflection as she traveled, her eyes were a different color. And the last time she checked, yellow was not a normal eye color.
She had made her way to the top of a larger apartment building, standing on one of the turbine vents. She was spinning slightly as the thing turned.
The snow had let up a bit, falling like cold ashes. It was beautiful, especially with the forest behind her.
Spirit sighed, taking a deep breath of the cold air. She hopped off of the vent and stood on the edge of the building. She couldn't see anything, nor hear much, beside the distant chatter of friends and family making their way home.
She drew pictures on the roof with her staff in neon colors. Not only was she vaguely aware of who and where she was, she was beginning to get board.
What could someone with amnesia possibly do? Let alone anyone who has nowhere to go and nothing to do? Drawing pictures with her staff, which had shrunken down to the size of a flute, seemed like the only viable option now.
Someone behind her said, "Hey there."
She jumped so badly she flashed backwards a few feet in a blaze of color and light. She stopped at the end of the roof, holding her now-extended staff out and ready to attack.
The boy before her held his pale hands up. "Woah sweetheart, I'm not gonna hurt you."
His voice sounded a lot like that other guy she's seen before, but his was full of false friendship. Whatever that mean, Spirit wasn't really sure, but really...this guy was certainly not okay.
Saying that this guy was pale was an understatement. He looked like chalk, and his shadowy hair and piercing gray eyes made Spirit think of the many ways that she could've died before she was resurrected. His hair seemed to move, like smoky shadows in a bonfire. And his clothes were as dark as a stormy night.
He was wearing a cape.
It wasn't one like a superhero would wear, but one that a knight would've. It was black, but when Spirit looked at it harder, it was made of pure shadow. His shirt was a black t-shirt on that had are you sure you wanna die? written in white letters, and his jeans were worn and dark. If it weren't for the weird aura that the teen had, Spirit would've considered him cute.
"Sweetheart," His voice was laced with a heavy accent; Scottish? "aren't you a pretty."
Spirit felt her heart swell, but she told herself that this guy wasn't someone to trust. He was dark (literally), and had just attempted to sneak up on her, who does that?
Her hands gripped her staff for dear life, but she forced herself to stand tall and strong, when really she felt like a flat rubber tire. She's learned that hard way that if someone sees you, they aren't to be trusted. But then again, she had gotten that winter-boy's attention…
She shoved the thought out of her head, just when the dark teen spoke again.
"Should I be calling you Jewel? You're eyes certainly agree…" His voice was laced with taunt, and he had succeeded in getting on Spirit's nerves.
"Who are you?" Her voice came out more hostile than she meant it to be, but it loosened the tension forming in her chest.
The guy seemed satisfied. "Shirt says it all."
The name flew into her mind at such forced it knocked her a few feet backwards.
"Death." she said, her voice sounding too much like a gasp.
He smirked, revealing teeth too perfect for a guy as bad as he. "You're a quick one, Jewel."
"I wouldn't have thought you'd be so...young." The words flew out of Spirits mouth on their own accord, and it made her cheeks flush fearfully.
"I have the appearance of a 17-year-old male, much like yourself but...female." Death started pacing, and if Spirit didn't know better, his shadowed cape billowed behind him like, well, death. "I didn't think the new spirit would be so beautiful."
"Flirtation won't be getting you anywhere." Spirit snapped, sounding more brave than she felt.
"Is it?" Death's mouth turned upwards in a taunting smirk. "How did you know about my rising?"
The answer came out, but Spirit didn't want it to. "The Moon told me."
Death didn't seem to like that.
He looked up at the sky, his pale frame looking even paler. He was obviously hiding his anger, and Spirit felt her instincts provoking her to run, but the aura surround Death held her in place. Deep down, Spirit knew too well why she couldn't move.
Death was controlling her.
And he had a firm hold on her.
But he was losing control in himself.