Here it is! My competition didn't give me much time to do this, so sorry if it took some time... thanks for reading his though, and a special thanks to: Kuroshiroryuu,jinx777, storygirl99210, feywind1, Kagirinai-Eternal, Molly kirkland, Do I read too much, Warrior Nun, lilyflower5189, Night-Fury1, Pessimistic Guardian Angel, Katyuana, ladybug114, Amazing-Thalia-Grace, Lady StormShadow, GreatWolfSpirit, RosePink4140, WRATH77, SeeingBeliever98, Mayhaah, Gratia Astra, Alana-kittychan, Calendula's Harmony, AngelWithRainbowWings, Dark Inu Fan, Lady of the Shards, HeartxSoul, Alaia Skyhawk, beanie-art1, dreams-that-pour-onto-da-earth, LuvFictionXxxx, melancholyblood, TwiliCuckoo, Takumisa777, Delph1762, SupernaturalCheetahFast, lilalove88, IWillNeverStopFangirling, starskulls, ILikeToSneeze, forever in the shadows 16, ReaderWriterDreamerGirl7, MissPrincess Luna, EmperialGem21, MerlinxArthur forever, TeddyBear89, Jesters of the Moon, bug349, Katie, KhaadilaNyx, Anonymous Heavy on the Anon, Lieutenant Sarcasm, Jessie07 for their awesome reviews! It really pushed me into doing this faster, so thanks! :D Well here's the chapter and enjoy! ;)
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It seemed that they were spinning non-stop for hours. They had to keep their arms tucked at their side and their eyes and mouth closed since they were going so fast. After a long while, the spinning stopped and the Guardians slammed to the ground, unlike Jack and Leaf, who were both on Whirlwind's back. The winged horse had landed easily on it's hooves and tossed it's chestnut mane, emitting a snort of discomfort as Jack squeezed his legs tightly on it's chest, eyes shut and breathing heavily from the experience he just had.
The Guardians got shakily to their legs and Bunny fought off a wave of nausea. "Oh man." He moaned, hunching over and trying not to be sick. "This is even worst than you stupid sleigh rides North."
"Yes, it is a bit harsher then my snow globes, I admit." North said, blinking his eyes a few times to clear his fuzzy vision.
Leaf jumped off his Pegasus's back, unfazed by the sudden teleportation, like he did this everyday. He chuckled when he saw Jack trying to get off of Whirlwind's back, but falling ungracefully to the ground because of the dizziness.
"I warned you." Leaf said with a smirk, heaving Jack to his feet with no problem and handing him his staff.
"Yeah, we're there right?" Jack groaned.
"Yup, welcome to Mother Nature's palace!" Leaf said, gesturing to his right and Jack and the Guardians gasped at the impressive sight. It was a enormous tree, vines hanging off branches decorated with barely visible buds on one quarter, bright green leaves on the quarter besides it, multiple colored leaves on another quarter and naked branches on the last representing the four seasons. There were multiple windows and balconies here and there on the huge tree trunk and high silver doors on the front. Numberless Spirits on different kinds of animals were walking or flying to the entrance to the majestic palace.
"I've always wanted to see this..." Tooth said, astonished by the sight.
North's wide-eyed expression turned into a frown and he put a hand to his belly."I agree Tooth, but I can't help but have a feeling in my belly that something big is going to happen..." He said.
Bunny rolled his eyes. "Not again North..."
"I'm not kidding!" North said.
"Guys, we can talk about this later, let's listen to what's going to happen!" Tooth said and turned their attention to the memory.
"It's... beautiful." Jack breathed.
Leaf smiled. "Glad you like it. Now come on, Mother Nature's about to give a welcoming speech it would seem." He said then walked forward, Whirlwind and Jack on either side of him.
Jack had a light bounce in his steps out of excitement. "Can we go faster?" He asked anxiously.
Leaf chuckled. "We're almost there kid, patience."
"That's not something that the kid has." Bunny said with But Jack couldn't wait, he was too excited. The wind picked him up and carried him a couple of feet off of the ground but Leaf grabbed his arm before he could go to far up and he dragged him to the ground.
"Hey!" Jack exclaimed.
"Don't go flying off like that kid, try to keep a low profile for now. Those are all Spirits that you don't know. A few of them tried to ride the wind, so if they see you, a Spirit younger than them, they'll take it as an offence." Leaf explained.
"Fine." Jack grumbled.
They continued walking and a few Spirits waved at Leaf as they passed and they stopped in the middle of the crowd. "The doors are still closed, they will open after that Mother Nature will giver her welcoming speech." Leaf said to Jack and he nodded. "Ah, there's Skye and Apollo!" Leaf said with a smile as a girl with a huge Blue Jay beside her and a man with a grey wolf almost as tall as Jack walked over to them.
"They must be the other seasonal Spirits." North said.
"Hello Leaf, nice to see you again." The man with blond hair and a blinding white smile said to Leaf, who greeted him back.
The girl was older than Leaf, around her thirties, and she had long brown hair and stunning blue eyes. She smiled at Leaf. "Hi Leaf." She said and caressed Whirlwind's mane.
"Say, who's the kid besides you?" The man said, pointing to Jack who starting twirling his staff between his fingers and looking around in awe.
"This is Jack Frost, the new Spirit of Winter. He just became a Spirit a few years ago. He 19 years old." Leaf introduced Jack and the young Spirit snapped his attention back to the other Spirits and he clumsily fumbled with his staff and quickly held out his hand to the blond man. "Erm, how do you do?" Jack said awkwardly and winced at how stupid he sounded.
The man looked at Jack's hand and shook his head. "I'd rather not. You know, you being the Winter Spirit and me being the Summer Spirit and all. But I guess I can still introduce myself. I'm Apollo, and this is my wolf, Hunter." He said, flashing a white smile that was obviously forced.
Jack withdrew his hand and smiled shyly. "Oh, sorry, hi."
"I feel kinda bad for him..." Tooth said.
The young woman smiled gently at Jack. "My name is Skye, the Spirit of Spring" She gestured to her Blue Jay. "And this is my companion, Hope. It's always a pleasure to meet new Spirits."
"Thanks, the pleasure is all yours." Jack said then blushed a deep blue. "Oh, I mean the pleasure is all mine." He said in a rush and bit his lip in humiliation.
Tooth winced. "Oh gosh, now I feel really bad for him."
"That must be embarrassing, he's only trying to make new friends and he ends up humiliating himself." North said in sympathy.
Apollo snorted in laughter and Skye glared at him and turned to Jack. "Where's your animal? I'd love to meet him, or her. What kind of animal is it? An Arctic wolf? A white tiger?" Skye said, looking around for any sign of animal that could be Jack's.
"I don't have one. The Wind-mph!" Jack's voice was muffled by Leaf's hand that flew to his mouth when he saw what Jack was going to say and he laughed slightly. "No, he doesn't have one yet." He said then whispered in Jack's ear. "Apollo's the Spirit that the Wind banged up, it's still an embarrassing subject for him, so I don't think that you should mention the Wind in front of him. And you should certainly not mention that you and him are friends."
"Jeez, he probably just saved the kid's life." Bunny said. "I'm beginning to respect him." He admitted.
Jack sighed and Leaf took his hand away. It was then that a fairy the size of a puppy fluttered to them, holding a tray full of glass filled with a strange liquid that looked like lemonade. "Would you all want one? You must taste it." The fairy said in a squeaky voice.
Leaf smiled politely and refused the drink, but Skye and Apollo took a glass and took a sip.
Apollo smacked his lips. "Not bad, not bad. Would you care to take one Leaf?"
Leaf shook his head. "Naw, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Almost every one else took one." Skye said then held out her glass to Jack. "Would you like to have some Jack?" She said and Jack shook his head, something felt off about this drink.
"Oh and there goes my feeling in my belly again, something's not right..." North said
Skye shrugged and she and Apollo put their glass back on the tray, thanking the fairy as it fluttered away. Skye turned her attention back on Jack. "You're only 19 years old?" She asked and Jack nodded, looking like he wanted to fly away with the wind. "So you're new at this, I understand how you must be feeling. Being mortal one day and immortal the next day, it's not an easy feeling."
Jack frowned. "What do you mean mortal?" He said and Skye was about to answer him when they heard a friendly and gentle voice booming across the clearing. "Welcome my friends." All the Spirits fell silent and looked at the front doors, where the voice was coming from and they saw a woman with a dress made out of leaves with a small crown made with flowers woven into vines resting on her blond head.
"That's obviously Mother Nature." Tooth said and Sandy nodded his head in agreement.
She smiled warmly at the Spirits around her. "Welcome to another Meeting of the Spirits! It warms my heart to see you all here and well. I can see a few new faces, some of them being River, the Spirit of the Forests." She pointed to a teenager with bright green hair who waved at everyone around her. "There is also Lyon, Spirit of music, his sister Melody, the Spirit of dance..." She named a few other new Spirits and Jack winced as she pointed at him. "And finally, Jack Frost, the Spirit of Winter."
Murmurs ran through the crowd and Jack looked down to his feet, avoiding the looks that others were giving him.
"He's just a boy!" An angry voice said from somewhere in the crowd. "Why didn't you give the responsibility to someone more mature!"
"Alright, who said that?" Bunny growled and the others looked angry too at what the Spirit had said.
A few other Spirits voiced out their agreement to him and Mother Nature shook her head. "Give him a chance my friends, and I didn't choose him, Man in Moon did. He personally asked me if he could choose the Winter Spirit himself. And I am fairly certain that he did a right choice. Jack will prove himself at sometime, I'm sure he will."
"He did prove himself, that's for sure. I hope that the other Spirits will understand that." Tooth said.
The crowd whispered to each other and Mother Nature spoke again. "I see that you are all here, so I guess that you can all go in now!" She said then went to open the doors but then more than half of the Spirit's eyes turned glassy -including Skye and Apollo- and they all spoke at once. "No one is going anywhere." And they all grabbed an animal or a Spirit that wasn't affected by this strange spell and held them so they were all defenceless.
Jack gasped as Apollo and Skye grabbed him by each arm, twisting his hand so that he had to drop his staff and it clattered to the ground.
Cries of outrage and shock came from everywhere and Mother Nature yelped as her guards restrained her by the arms. "What is the meaning of this?" She exclaimed.
"What's happened to them!" Tooth said, her hand flying to her mouth.
"Once again, I knew that my belly was right!" North said.
"Alright, no one cares North, you can brag latter!" Bunny said as he tried to understand what was happening.
Jack heard a snicker that turned into a mad laugh behind him and he gasped. "Leaf! You're doing this?"
Leaf smirked and walked in front of him. "Think again." He said and his and Whirlwind's body melted into black sand that formed into a familiar, but unwelcome person.
"Pitch!" The Guardians spat in union and clenched their fists in anger.
"You know what I said about respecting him? Well I take it back, a thousand times!" Bunny said, embarrassed that he would even compliment the Nightmare King.
"Who the heck are you?" Jack frowned.
"I know exactly who that is, Pitch Black! You moron, I told you not to come here!"Mother Nature said angrily.
Pitch smirked. "And you actually think that I would've listened to you? Look around cabbage head, you're defenceless against your own Spirits!"
"Wow, wait. If you're Pitch, then where's Leaf?" Jack said, looking confused and in panic.
"Oh, that annoying Spirit? He's probably somewhere around the world, doing his work and he has no idea that I copied his stupid horse and him into a new appearance for me." Pitch said with a snicker.
Jack looked crestfallen. "You mean that I never met him?" He said sadly.
Tooth's face fell. "Oh, that must break his heart, poor sweet tooth!"
"Of course not! He doesn't even know you, I don't know why he would though, you're just an annoying child. You're clueless too, even your precious wind knew that it was a bad idea to come here, it slipped the letter out of your belt and I had to manipulate it so you wouldn't suspect anything! I had to do everything in power to be nice to you, it was horrible. You may be clueless and annoying, but you're powerful. And that's why I want you at my side." Pitch said.
"Pff, as if he would ever listen to you!" Bunny said.
Jack sneered. "Why would I want to go with you?"
"Because I can give you something that you never had; belief. I can make children believe in you!" Pitch said, trying to tempt Jack.
"Don't listen to him Jack! He's lying, he won't give you anything! He'll only use you!" Mother Nature said, struggling against her guards that were holding her down.
"I don't know why you want me at your side, but your just going to make children fear in me, that's not what I want. Now leave me alone!" He said, gritting his teeth together.
"That's my boy! Denying Pitch two times, way to go!"North said, cheering for Jack even though the Spirit couldn't hear him.
Pitch snarled. "You're making a mistake boy, you're choosing the hard path instead of the easy path."
"So be it, I don't care!" Jack said, not interested in Pitch's offers.
Jack saw that the grip on his right arm was beginning to loosen and he heard a groan. "What in the world is happening here?"
Pitch's eyes widen. "No! The spell doesn't have any effect anymore! The charm-caster said that the spell in the drink was going to last for hours!" He yelled as more Spirits woke up and let go of the others that they were holding down, their gaze set on Pitch and they put the pieces together.
"He poisoned us! He cast a spell on us!" A woman yelled and another shouted:"Get him!" and the Spirits and the animals, that were now all woken up, charged at Pitch who yelled in frustration and dissolved into black sand.
"They did it! He's gone!" Tooth exclaimed in triumph.
Apollo let go of Jack's arm and Jack hissed as his hot hand brushed his skin, as if he's been burned. When Apollo held him before, his hand held his shawl and his shirt, not his skin.
"Oops sorry boy." He said and turned his attention to his Wolf.
"He just held him tightly and he burned him, and all he can say is 'sorry?" Tooth said with an angry frown. "That snob!"
Mother Nature stood up again, her guards had unhanded her and apologized as soon as they saw what they were doing. "It was just another attempt from Pitch to regain power, obviously it didn't work my friends, we can now return to the Meeting." She said with a reassuring smile.
"Finally! Now Jack can- wait, where's Jack?" North said and tho others looked around, finding no trace of the young Guardians, unknown to them or anyone that he actually flew off for hours until he finally found Burgess, tears flowing down his face. He had been tricked by one who he thought as a friend, and he did not like that feeling.
'I won't get close to anyone now, except the wind, he's my only true friend. The others are all fake, I won't get close to anyone because I don't want to to feel this again.' He said to himself and buried his face in his arms and sobbed quietly, the wind as his only comfort.
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Sorry if the ending seemed rushed! My friend asked me if I could do a chapter with Jack being betrayed by one of his 'friends' and getting sad and depressed after, so there you go ;). I'm sorry if any of you didn't like the plot though. I hope you liked it, and I hope that you didn't find the plot kinda lame. I think the next chapter is going to be the blizzard of 68. Only a few more chapter and then this story'll be done, already. Wow, I can't believe how much I've done over only a few weeks! Thanks for all your support guys, you really helped me :D Please tell me what you thought about this, was it good? Bad? Really bad? Totally lame? I need to know please! Have a great week!
Loks