Another update, yay! In this chapter, we'll be able to see Sapphire in action and the legendary Scepter of Creation
Oh! And keep your eyes peeled 'cause soon I'll be uploading my first HTTYD FanFic. The title: The Fiersome Chronicles. It's a story to look forward to.
Anyways, on with the show!
Disclaimer Note: I do NOT own ROTG. All rights go to DreamWorks.
Chapter 7
"Watch your steps, the rocks around here start to get slippery." Mother Nature warned the others as they made their way deeper into the cave.
As soon as the cave had been revealed, Jack had made an ice path for them to cross. Now, they were slowly making their way into the depths of the cave. There was a single rock path winding through the cave and water was dripping through cracks in the walls, making the ground slippery and wet. Moonstones growing out of the walls glowed brightly, providing sufficient illumination as the small party went on.
Sapphire and Jack were the ones leading, Layla close behind them while the Guardians lagged behind. Jack was beside Sapphire, the water turning into ice with his every step. His presence reassured Sapphire who every now and then glanced at him whenever he wasn't looking and smiled, quickly looking away whenever Jack turned his head towards her.
Layla noticed that every time.
And she also noticed that Jack would do the same thing too!
Every time her sister looked away, Jack would glance at her and smile as well. She turned to the Guardians for an explanation.
'Love bug' Bunny mouthed to her.
The little girl giggled silently and turned her attention back to the two teens who seemed to get closer and closer to each other until…
"Your fingers are touching." Layla blurted out, unable to contain herself.
Jack and Sapphire looked down at their hands. True enough, their fingers were close to interlocking.
"Okay…This is kind of…" Sapphire said uneasily, her cheeks turning red.
"…Awkward?" Jack finished for her, turning even redder.
"…Yep…" Sapphire said in agreement before they both took a step away from each other.
North, Bunny, Tooth, Baby Tooth and Sandy just laughed.
"Ah…Young love…" Father Time whispered. "Young love indeed." Mother Nature murmured, amused.
Even Millennium and Marina laughed softly.
Soon they reached the deepest part of the cave that was illuminated by hundreds of glowing moonstones. A gaping hole at the top of the cave revealed the full moon glowing overhead.
"Amazing…" Layla breathed in awe.
"It's beautiful…" Sapphire agreed with her.
Marina looked around. "Where's the Scepter of Creation?" she asked.
Mother Nature looked at Sapphire with a small smile on her face. "Our task bearer should perhaps consult with Manny. Only he knows where it is." She suggested.
Nodding slightly, Sapphire walked to the spot directly under the moon and looked up.
"What do I do now?" she asked. "Try talking to him." Father Time replied.
A little apprehensive about talking to the moon, Sapphire cleared her throat, looked directly at the moon and carefully asked, "Manny…would you be so kind to tell me where…the…Scepter of Creation…is?"
A few minutes passed before a moonbeam suddenly shone down on the spot where Sapphire was standing which was still water. Sapphire looked down at her feet to find the symbol of the Guardians glowing right underneath her. The moonstones were now glowing even brighter.
Suddenly as if by some unknown force, Sapphire was pulled into the water!
"Saph!" Layla cried, fluttering over to where her sister had stood.
"What do we do?! She could drown!" Layla exclaimed worriedly. "Your sister's a water spirit, Layla. She's fine." Jack reassured her.
A little unsure despite the winter spirit's reassurance, Layla fluttered over to Marina and petted her as they all waited and watched the water.
Sapphire carefully scanned the bottom of the lake.
'If I got pulled down here, then that means the Scepter's here underwater.' She thought as she swam around.
Then she saw it.
On a stone dais stood a magnificent scepter made of gleaming pure silver. The head was shaped like an upside-down pentagon and a moonstone was set in the center top part, the symbol of the Guardians prominently etched onto it.
Smiling, Sapphire swam over to it.
But suddenly, two figures darted right past her and firmly positioned themselves between her and the Scepter. The two figures turned out to be two teenage girls like her, only they had fish tails instead of legs.
"Mermaids!" she gasped.
One of the mermaids who had long auburn hair went closer to her.
"My name is Melanie. And this is my sister, Melody." She said waving to the other mermaid with short sand colored hair. Melody went over to Sapphire as well.
"We're the ones who guard the Scepter of Creation. Are you the next task bearer?" she asked.
"Um…yes." Sapphire said uneasily.
"Who has sent you?" the two mermaid sisters said in unison.
"The Man in the Moon. I…I'm the new Guardian." Sapphire replied, this time with a little more confidence.
Upon hearing this, Melanie and Melody smiled and allowed her to go to the dais. Sapphire took a deep breath, placed her hands on the Scepter's handle and easily lifted it up.
"We see challenges headed your way, young Guardian." Melody warned her. "But believe in yourself and everything will be alright." Melanie added, handing Sapphire a cloth bundle.
Sapphire nodded and suddenly, the Scepter glowed and she began to shoot up towards the surface.
"Good luck!" the two mermaids hollered.
Sapphire then burst out of the water, still holding on tightly to the Scepter.
"You okay, sis?" Layla asked worriedly. "I think so…I got the Scepter and…this." The young girl replied, holding the Scepter in her left hand, the bundle the two mermaids gave her in her right.
"Where'd you get that?" Marina asked, poking at the bundle with her beak. "The mermaid sisters who guarded the Scepter gave it to me." Sapphire answered.
"Melanie and Melody are usually very fierce when it comes to guarding the Scepter of Creation. But if you're the next task bearer or trustworthy, they mellow out." Mother Nature smiled.
Sapphire untied the bundle. Inside it was a gleaming red dagger in a leather scabbard, a big blue aquamarine set in the hilt.
"Why would they give me a dagger?" Sapphire wondered out loud. "You will need it on your journey to reassemble the Scepter. One can never tell when fear will attempt to strike." Father Time told her gently.
"But the Scepter doesn't look broken to me. Why do we still have to 'reassemble' it?" Jack piped up.
"You see the Scepter of Creation needs six special gems to fully gain power. You'll have to go on a journey to find them but luckily, Sandy and Sapphire already have two of the gems." Mother Nature said with a knowing smile.
Sandy pulled a circular topaz gem hanging by a white cord around his neck and handed it to Millennium. The owl held the gemstone close to the Scepter and it magically flew from his talons and wedged itself in a circular dent that magically appeared in the upper right hand corner. The blue gem from the Pond suddenly flew out of Sapphire's coat pocket and placed itself at the bottom point of the Scepter's head.
"How'd you get the other one?" Layla asked curiously.
Her sister glanced at Jack.
"I…found it at the bottom of the Pond. I was thinking of…giving it to someone." She mumbled, still looking at the winter spirit.
Jack looked at the blue gem in the Scepter and realized that Sapphire meant to give it to him. He didn't say anything but shyly smiled. The young girl smiled as well.
"Well now that we have the Scepter, I think we should begin Sapphire's training, no?" North piped up. Mother Nature and Father Time nodded in agreement.
"Oh, oh, oh! I know the perfect place! Follow me!" Layla said excitedly flying off somewhere. The Guardians looked at each other and quickly followed her.
The place Layla led them to was virtually free from any distractions with the exception of a small pool of water. The entire place was completely bare and white.
"Okay…what kind of training do you guys have in mind?" Sapphire asked, eager to start learning the Guardian ropes. Father Time stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"I say we get physical. Get into a little tussle to see if she could hold her own." Bunny suggested.
"You mean sparring?" Tooth asked, a little bit apprehensive about the idea of Bunny fighting with a young lady.
Even the others thought it might be a bit too extreme. Jack especially didn't feel comfortable seeing Sapphire sparring with Bunny. He'd sparred with the Guardian of Hope in training sessions before and those training sessions were the most painful wrestling matches he'd ever experienced.
Oddly enough, Sapphire looked calm.
"Don't hold back, Bunny. Show me what you've got." She said, coolly assuming a fighting stance.
Bunny grinned and charged toward Sapphire.
To everyone's shock, Sapphire caught hold of Bunny's left arm & twisted it behind his back! A bit stunned but still raring to go, Bunny began to execute some moves, only to get blocked and pinned down by Sapphire every time!
Layla could see that everyone watching was completely shocked.
"Oh yeah I forgot to tell you. Sapphire's knows boxing, judo and is a black belter in both karate and tae kwon do. She's also a mixed martial arts specialist." She said nonchalantly.
Jack looked as Bunny was taken down in every way imaginable by Sapphire.
"Remind me never to make your sister mad." He said to Layla, feeling slightly queasy.
"Shostakovich…Bunny's getting the borscht beaten out of him." North said in awe.
Sandy and Baby Tooth nodded in agreement.
Tooth just sighed as Sapphire caught Bunny in another pin hold.
"Had enough?" she said, smiling.
Panting, Bunny nodded and the girl released her grip. Flopping on the floor, the rabbit gave everybody a thumbs-up.
"She knows how to fight-really well." He wheezed, reeling from the beat down. Tooth helped him up and rubbed his aching back.
"Physical strength and abilities are good. Now how about using weapons?" North said, unsheathing his sword.
Sapphire fingered her dagger apprehensively. Luckily, North wasn't planning on sword fighting. Instead, the Russian taught her how to handle the dagger. In no time, Sapphire was expertly parrying, thrusting and twirling her dagger like a pro.
"Klassno! Very good!" North boomed jovially. The young girl felt proud.
Then Mother Nature spoke up. "Well fighting and weapons seem to be easy. Now we must see if you can control your element-water."
Sapphire immediately looked worried.
"Don't be afraid, my dear. You're a water spirit. Controlling water is in your blood." Father Time reassured her.
"Well I've only been a water spirit for just one day…Not really sure if I can control my powers like a professional." Sapphire mumbled. "Just do what you did back at the Pond. You'll do great." Jack said supportively.
Sapphire blushed a little bit and went near the pool of water. Concentrating, she used her arms to summon a stream of water and began to bend and manipulate it with graceful movements.
"You can also control the water with your mind." Millennium told her. Following the owl's suggestion, Sapphire mentally commanded the water to shoot up into the air like a fountain and it obeyed.
Getting psyched, Sapphire began walking on the water, moving her body in fluid, graceful movements as she commanded the water to morph into shields, tight streams, whips, curtains and veils. All the while, the sapphire on her necklace glowed brighter and brighter. When she reached the center of the pool, Sapphire closed her eyes and placed her palms together as if in meditation. The water began to churn and light sprays of mist covered the atmosphere.
Suddenly, Sapphire's eyes flashed open, glowing bright blue.
A water spout propelled her up.
Raising her arms up, the water in the pool formed into towering waves around Sapphire. The Guardians watched in awe as Sapphire threw her arms down, causing the waves to come crashing down as well. Her charm soon lost its glow as Sapphire came safely back down and the glow in her eyes faded.
"Whoa…I just felt so…wow…" she mumbled, still in shock over how she accomplished such a feat. "A. Powerful? B. Invincible? C. Energized?" Layla asked her, smiling.
Her big sister broke into a wide grin. "D. All of the above." She replied as Jack came up to her.
"That…was incredible." He complimented, really impressed. "Thanks!" Sapphire giggled.
"Looks like you can handle your powers just fine. How about you take a break?" Tooth suggested, smiling.
"Good idea…" Bunny groaned, still feeling sore. "A fine suggestion from both of you. It's almost sundown, anyway." Mother Nature said brightly.
With that, they all left the chamber. After the room arrangements had been made, Layla took her sister and Jack to a gate just outside the Palace of Beginnings.
"I want to show you guys my most favorite place here-the Seasonal Gardens." She said, unlocking the gate and taking them inside.
Sapphire and Jack only had a few minutes to admire the Gardens' entrance's splendor as Layla took them on a whirlwind tour.
The Seasonal Gardens was divided into four special sections, each representing one of the four seasons.
The Spring division was full of blooming flowers, budding blossoms, fresh green grass and new life everywhere.
The Summer part had lush green trees, seashells, streams, rivers and buzzing bees and pretty fireflies as night had arrived.
Autumn was full of brown, red and gold leaves raining down from the trees along with squirrels, chipmunks and other forest animals scampering around looking for nuts and berries.
Finally, they arrived at the Winter station.
Icicles hung down from the leafless trees and snow was softly falling down onto the icy ground. Frozen puddles shone like stepping stone stars.
"I figured you might like this part of the Gardens, Jack. What do you think?" Layla said, smiling.
Jack took one look at the area and grinned.
"This is the perfect place for a snowball fight!" he exclaimed when suddenly…Bap! A snowball hit him from behind.
Shocked, the Guardian of Fun spun around to see Sapphire smiling, holding two snowballs in her hands.
"Oooohhh…Two against one, how fun!" Layla giggled, making a snowball of her own.
"Fire at will!" Sapphire laughed as she and her sister began to pelt Jack.
"Hey! No fair! Haha!" the winter spirit laughed as he struck back until they were all having a snowball fight, pelting each other for all their worth.
After that, the three of them played tag, running around the trees for several minutes until they finally collapsed on a snowdrift in a fit of giggles, making snow angels.
"This has been such a fun day!" Layla whooped. Sapphire smiled.
That's when she remembered something.
"Wait…Layla…How did you get here? And…since when did you sprout wings?" I thought after…the accident you were…you know…" she said softly.
Layla glanced at her big sister's concerned face and became quiet.
Jack sat up, shaking the snow out of his hair. "What do you mean…accident?" he asked, cocking his head curiously.
Layla and Sapphire looked at each other, sighed and began to tell the story…
Leaving you guys on a little cliffhanger for now :D Next chapter you'll know how Layla gained her wings and the quest to find the gems officially begins.
And I highly recommend you all listen to 'What If the Storm Ends' by Snow Patrol while reading the part of Sapphire demonstrating her abilities. You won't be disappointed ;)