Checks when I last updated, sorry guys, things got busy fast. Finals week happened (I survived), summer started, computer battery died and yeah it's been an adventure guys. Anyway this will be picking up a little bit before Jack flies to meet Jamie at Burgess, and it will be from Mother Nature's POV. Before everyone gets all mad at me for having Jamie see her, I'm sorry I will explain this later on, I promise, I have a plan, just trust me. So here we go on Chapter 4 almost a month after I posted Chapter 3.
"Jamie, they're just legends," I said, I was sitting on the steps of the Bennett's backyard, Jamie Bennett was playing with his sister Sophie in the leaf pile they had made.
"No they're real, I've seen them, you've even seen the Easter Bunny haven't you Soph?" Jamie Bennett said.
"Bunny hop, hop, hop," Sophie laughed as she fell into the leaves.
"Jamie you're not listening all I said was that they were legends, I never said they weren't real." I walked over and pick up Sophie, carrying her over to the porch and setting her down.
"Wait what do you mean?" Jamie said walking over.
"A legend is most often based off a person who lived long ago, with their story growing and changing as time goes on. So, all the Guardians could have been real, with their stories continuing to inspire children and keep them from being afraid."
"Okay so what about the boogeyman?"
"What about him?"
"What's his story?"
"Hmm let me think on that one."
"Come on you were really good about telling the stories of the other Guardians earlier."
"I thought you said that Pitch wasn't a Guardian?"
"He isn't, but I'm just curious," He was, almost too curious, that will get him in trouble eventually.
"Okay, the story is that he was once a fierce warrior who guarded the world from the Dream Pirates and Fearlings."
"This doesn't sound like Pitch,"
"Just listen will you, anyway, this warrior was a General he had a wife and a child. The Dream Pirates saw this as his weakness, they hatched an evil plan. They were going to trick the general into leaving his family, then they would make the General's child one of their own. The Fearlings and Dream Pirates swept through and found the child's mother, holding what they assumed was the child. The General's wife didn't want her child to be consumed by the darkness, so she made it seem like the child was hiding under her robes, and then she jumped out of the window of the child's room. The Dream Pirates laughed, they thought they had succeeded in their plot, they assumed the child was dead, but they were wrong. Fast forwarding many years later the Dream Pirates were locked away in a prison far away, this prison had only one door, the General sat guarding the world from the darkness inside that door. He felt he was the only one who could guard that door, the only one who had lost everything, you see he thought that his wife and child were dead. The Dream Pirates are nasty beings of hate and fear, they can hear a dream even if it is thousands of miles away. One night when the General was gazing at the picture of his child in a locket, the Dream Pirates heard a dream that came from across the universe. They couldn't believe it, it was the General's child's dream, wanting they listened more closely and slowly learned to mimic the child's voice. They called out for help saying 'Daddy please they've trapped me in here Daddy, please help me'."
"He had to have known it was a trick, right? He thought his child was dead, right?" Jamie sounded panicked, worrying for the General.
"Remember Jamie this is just a story but yes, he still thought his child was dead, but in that moment, he was hoping beyond all hope that his child would come back to him safe and alive. It was in this moment of hope, some might call it weakness, that he opened the door, releasing the Dream Pirates and the Fearlings back into the world. The Fearlings consumed his soul turning him, and the once shining General into their Nightmare King."
"Poor Pitch," Jamie said
"Why do you say poor Pitch?"
"All he wanted was his child, his family back safely."
"Yes, I suppose that's true," I said looking at the ground.
"Hey EJ?"
"Yes Jamie?"
"What happened to his child?"
"What?" I winced inwardly, why did I have to share this story with him.
"Pitch's child was still alive, what happened to them?"
"Some say they were imprisoned in the core of a Wishing Star that crashed a long time ago, not many people know what happened to them, they're a bit of a mystery."
"Cool, so they could still be somewhere out there?"
"Yes I suppose they could be," I mentally cursed at myself for even telling Jamie this story.
"Can we go down to the pond?
"Is there any reason?"
"No reason," Jamie you are a terrible liar
"Alright let's go."
"YES! Race you," Jamie said starting to run ahead of me.
"Hey no fair," I called out laughing as I started chasing him.
I let him win until we got almost to the pond, then I took of sprinting ahead of him
"Hey no fair," he called after me as I ran over to the pond.
When I got the edge of the pond I stopped, now I understood why Jamie was in such a rush to get down here, another visit from Jack, how did I not notice that he was here.
"Jack!" Jamie called out getting the Winter spirit's attention. Jack walked over to Jamie and gave him a hug.
"Jack, as in Jack Frost?" I asked, I couldn't exactly be rude, but I couldn't let them know I could see Jack, "Jamie how many times do we have to go over this, he's a legend, he isn't real." Jack stiffened and looked like he so badly wanted to throw a snowball at my face.
"He is real, he's standing right in front of you," said Jamie, almost pleading me to believe.
"Yeah do you even know that if it weren't for me everyone would be under the control of The Boogeyman right now?" Jack was addressing me, thinking of course that I couldn't hear him.
Not quite true I remember Jamie and his friends bringing back the Sandman, but hey you kept Jamie believing so one point for the Frost Prince.
"Alright, Jamie you have fun playing, I'm going to sketch for a bit," I sat down and pulled out my sketchpad and a pencil, I started drawing a dandelion, not when it's yellow but when it was covered in seeds. I loved watching the kids around the world make wishes and blow the seeds everywhere.
A sound caught Jack's attention and drew him away from taunting me for now, it caught my attention also, but I didn't want to interfere, but I had a bad feeling I knew what caused that sound. Jack took off running and the wind followed, sending my sketchpad flying into the air and landing 10 feet away from me. I was going to have words with that boy about sending things flying into the air, then again he is the Guardian of Fun it's kind of his thing. I grabbed my book and brushed the dirt off, "Okay I guess that's enough of that for the day," I put everything back into my bag and looked around for Jamie and Jack. Jamie was standing at the edge of the pond skipping rocks.
When Jack came back still clearly concerned about the sound he'd heard, but he put a smile on his face anyway.
"So Jack, what brings you here this time?" Jamie asked,
"Well the Man in the Moon chose a new Guardian."
"Really?! Who?"
"Mother Nature."
"Mother Nature! Really she's real?"
That made me stiffen and wince inwardly, that kind of hurt, and why would the Moon choose me, he knows how I feel about choosing sides in the war between the Guardians and Pitch. Clouds started to form on the horizon line and lightning flickered across their dark shadows.
"Yeah, I've seen her, but it was a long time ago, and it was only once."
"Wow!"
"I know, the rest of the Guardians don't think it's a good idea, but I think it would be cool."
Of course, the Guardians don't think it's a good idea, they know better Frosty, even I don't think it's a good idea. What was the Tsar thinking?
"So how are you going to find her?"
"I don't know, Tooth and Bunny she's pretty secretive, and doesn't like to be found."
Thunder started to rumble across the lake and the sky started getting darker, and yes I can say that it was my fault I was seething beneath my calm exterior.
"Hey EJ, you okay?" Jamie asked, he was very perceptive.
"Yeah I'm fine, it's just that this storm came out of nowhere."
Jack looked up at the sky as if noticing the dark clouds building for the first time.
"I should probably get you home Jamie, wouldn't want you catching a cold."
"Alright."
Jamie and I started walking back towards his house, Jack was following us keeping an eye out for any signs of something going on.
"Hey EJ, does Mother Nature have a story?"
"What?" I should not have been shocked that he was asking.
"All of the Guardians have a story, even Pitch has a story, what about Mother Nature? If she's going to be a Guardian, then she must have a story, right?"
"I don't know about that one Jamie," Why me, and why now?
"Why not?"
"Because I don't know if she even has one."
"I'm sure she does."
"She's apparently really old, older than Manny apparently," Jack said,
"Really?" Jamie looked amazed at Jack, Jack if you bring up that you think you are looking for an elderly woman I swear I will pull out Starlight and run you through.
"Yeah, not sure what she looks like though, she's tricky, for all I know she might be a old lady baking cookies with tigers." That's it Jack Frost you will boil in the hot summer sun, or I'll send Lions and Tigers and Bears at you, oh my wouldn't that be fun.
"Jamie are you sure you want me to tell you the story of Mother Nature?"
"YES!" both Jack and Jamie said, I couldn't tell which one was more excited to hear the story, the Guardian of Fun or the Last Light.
So there we go another chapter down, I'll save Mother Nature telling her story to Jamie and to Jack for the next chapter, got to keep you hanging on to the edge of your seat somehow. Hopefully it won't be another month before I post anything again. I'll try and post next week, since I kind of left this thought hanging until then. I also realized this is my longest chapter since the first one, and that was more of a hodge podge of stuff.
