AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have made a very important decision about the future of this story today while I was taking the dog for a walk! (I swear I get all my best ideas while I'm out with the dog…) I may tell you about this decision…BUT THEN AGAIN I MIGHT NOT! We shall seeeeeee!
Hope you all enjoy this chapter! Please review!
DISCLAIMER: Rise of the Guardians is owned by Dreamworks. I own Annabelle, Fawn, Oliver and the robins.
Chapter 3 – Confrontation
"So let me get this straight. The reason I can't stand Fawn is because of this Polar thing and not because she's an annoying twit?"
I rolled my eyes. "No, the reason you think she's an annoying twit is because of this Polar thing."
Jack sighed. "Whatever. She's still an annoying twit."
Jack and I were sitting in a tree in the forest near my hideout watching the chicks practise flying formations, and I was explaining to him everything I'd found out from Bunny, North and the book.
"Hang on," I started, realising something, "how come you didn't know about all this stuff already? You became a Guardian way before me so you could've read this in the book."
He shrugged. "Apart from that time when North showed us both the story of the Destined Spirits, I never looked at that book. I hadn't heard of all this stuff before now."
He stretched his hands above his head, arching his back slightly. "I dunno about this Polar stuff. I still say I don't like Fawn cause there isn't anything likeable about her."
I rolled my eyes again. "Look Jack, it makes sense. You don't like Fawn, but I'm fine with her. I don't like Oliver, but you're fine with him. The stuff Bunny said works out. Winter and summer are opposites, and so are spring and autumn. It makes sense that we don't get along with them."
Jack looked thoughtful. "Well…it's true I don't get why you seem to hate Oliver…but look at it this way. Do you have any intention of making friends with Oliver?"
I snorted. "Heck no. He's a prat."
"Exactly," Jack nodded, making his point. "And I have no intention of making friends with Fawn. It's always been like this, so why does it have to change now?"
"Cause Fawn's scaring all the humans," I stated. "Global warming is freaking a lot of people out. We're Guardians. We're meant to protect the children of the world, and letting them freak out over rising temperatures and sea levels isn't protecting them."
"If Fawn won't lower the temperature for winter then I'll just have to keep making it colder," Jack said.
"And Fawn will just make it warmer again," I replied. "Normally, Fawn was fine with letting you drop the temperature cause winter was the time when she got to rest, but she doesn't seem to care about that anymore. All she seems to care about now is making life harder for you."
Jack turned to face me properly. "Well, why hasn't Oliver been targeting you?"
I sighed. "He kind of has…"
Jack frowned. "What do you mean?"
I twirled my staff around in my hands absentmindedly. "Summers have been getting shorter. Autumn's been starting earlier."
Jack didn't understand. "But how is that against you? Surely that's against Fawn."
I shook my head. "Autumn's also been getting warmer. Fawn hasn't minded the early onset of autumn because the temperature hasn't had to drop much, but it means that all the plants have been dying earlier than usual."
I stopped twirling my staff and clenched my fist.
"I know that the planets have to die. I know it's just a part of nature. But still, when it happens, it hurts me. And when it's happening earlier than it should it hurts even more."
Jack looked shocked. "I'm so sorry…I didn't realise."
I smiled slightly. "Don't apologise, of course you didn't know."
Jack was shaking his head. "It…it actually hurts you?"
I nodded. "It's the same with Fawn. When you bring the clouds and the snow it hurts her too. It doesn't affect you and Oliver because when your work changes, like when the snow melts or when plants bud back into life, it's not what most humans would think of as a bad change. But when it gets cold or when plants die it hurts those who made it warm or who brought life into those plants in the first place."
He frowned again. "So…I hurt Fawn? Like, physically hurt her?"
I nodded again. "Yeah, but there's nothing you can do to stop that, unless winter was to stop."
Realisation flashed in Jack's eyes. "If I wasn't able to make it as cold would that hurt Fawn less?"
I thought about it and nodded slowly, realising where he was going with this. "So Fawn is making it harder for you to lower the temperature because it causes her less pain!"
Jack growled under his breath. "That selfish little…"
A loud chirp from Rudi blocked out the last word, but I can assure you it wasn't pretty.
"So what're we going to do?" Jack asked.
"I am going to try to talk to Fawn about the global warming thing. You are going to stay out of sight lest one of you rip the head off of the other."
"Oh come on!" Jack groaned. "I promise I'll be good!"
"Nu uh," I said, folding my arms over my chest with a 'Serious Business' look on my face. "You and her aren't getting into another argument that I have to referee."
Jack sighed but nodded. "Fine," he moaned, pouting like a child.
I laughed and leant over, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek which caused him to grin.
I had sent to robins out on recon and they'd come back telling me that Fawn was in Spain. A quick flight later and I was pacing round the beaches of Malaga looking for her. I found her hovering over the crystal clear waters of a small beach which belonged to a large hotel complex, watching a group of kids play beach volleyball. I flew over to her and she waved as she caught slight of me.
"Hey Anna!" she called, flying over to meet me. "What's up?"
"I really need to talk to you Fawn," I said, getting straight to the point.
She could see from my face that I was serious so she nodded and we flew down to stand on a quiet part of the beach with no people around, just in case.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I was talking to North the other day. Have you ever heard of the expression 'Polars' before?" I asked.
She shook her head, so I quickly explained about her and Jack, and me and Oliver. She nodded slowly as she took it all in.
"So the reason I can't stand Jack is because of this Polars thing and not just because he's an annoying twit?" she clarified.
I laughed under my breath at how her reaction was the exact same as Jack's had been, but nodded in answer to her question.
"But here's the problem," I started to explain. "You've been making it harder for Jack to bring winter by keeping the temperatures higher than they should be at that time of year and as a result people are getting freaked out about global warming, so I wanted to ask if you'd just let him do his job."
Fawn's eyes darkened slightly and she folded her arms across her chest. "I can't do that Anna. You have no idea how much it hurts me when he makes it freezing and covers the ground with his snow. Doing this doesn't hurt either of you, so I don't know why you're making a fuss."
My jaw dropped in disbelief. "Of course I know how that feels! Every time autumn comes and Oliver kills off all the plants it feels like part of me is dying along with them!"
A flash of guilt passed over Fawn's face, but before she could say anything I continued.
"And it may not be hurting me or Jack, but it's scaring kids. They hear stuff on the news all the time about rising sea levels and greenhouse gases, and you're part of the reason they're scared!"
Fawn snorted. "Oh, it's always about the kids with you," she spat, her voice full of sarcasm, any guilt she'd felt about her earlier comment gone. "Ever since you became a Guardian you've changed. You never used to give two hoots about kids."
Before I could belay that, she carried on with a smirk on her face. "In fact, I bet you still don't really care about kids. I bet you're just saying all this to protect your boyfriend."
I opened my mouth to scream, but someone said what I was planning on saying before I could do it.
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"
I turned to see Jack hovering behind me, his anger clear on his face. Fawn snorted again.
"Stay out of this Jackie. This is between me and Anna."
"It's between me too when you insult her like that!" Jack growled, ignoring Fawn's nickname jab.
"Hey, how come I wasn't invited to the party?"
Jack's eyes immediately flew to me when we heard that voice. My fists clenched and I gritted my teeth.
Oliver.
Oliver landed next to Fawn, smiling at her and nodded to Jack before he grinned mockingly at me. He wore a white cotton shirt with sleeves down to his elbows under a brown waistcoat. His brown pants stopped at the same part of his legs that Jacks did, and he wore brown slip on shoes on his feet. His chocolate brown hair was the same shade as mine (which had always bugged me) but was a lot shorter; the same length as Jacks but with a fringe which covered his right eye. He wore a slim gold chain around his neck.
"Hey Anna," he said, speaking my name with venom.
"…Oliver," I replied curtly, trying to remind myself that I had to try and not like his to prove that this Polar thing could be overcome, but seeing him right there in front of me made it hard. The only reason I was clenching my fists was so I didn't reach out and strangle him.
He rested his arm on Fawn's shoulder and looked at all three of us in turn. "So, what we talking 'bout?"
Fawn grinned at him before pushing him off and playfully punching him on the arm. Jack groaned.
"Please tell me you're not…" he grumbled, directing the question at Oliver.
He chuckled and shook his head while Fawn rolled her eyes. "Nah, we're just friends," he replied before eying me and Jack again. "Which is more than I can say for you two."
I glared at him. "What about it?" I challenged.
Oliver shrugged. "Oh, nothing. It's just that Jack could do much better than you."
I just gritted my teeth again at his comment, but Jack walked right up to Oliver until their noses were almost touching. They were the same height but Jack was so angry that it was like he was towering over him.
"Don't you ever talk to Anna like that again," he spat, literally.
Oliver slowly wiped the spit off of his face and grinned evilly at Jack. "Or what?"
I saw sparks starting to crack on Jack's staff, so I grabbed his arm and pulled him back before he did something he'd later regret. The sparks faded as he calmed down slightly.
Fawn nudged Oliver. "Come on, let's get out of here," she said, unfolding her wings and jumping into the air, hovering just above us. Oliver followed, not needing wings as he flew in the same way Jack did.
"You haven't heard the last of this," Jack promised.
Fawn smirked. "Oh no you haven't Jackie. Trust me, you haven't."
They both then flew away.
I gulped slightly, watching them fly off. "That sounded like a threat."
Jack nodded. "Yeah, it did." He turned to face me. "Come on, let's get to the Pole. We need to tell North what happened."
I nodded in agreement and we both took off in the opposite direction of Fawn and Oliver.
AN: Dun dun dun duuuuuuunnnn! Drama! :-P
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!
