Hello everyone we are back!
I'm just going to try and keep this short so we can get right to the chapter today because I have other things I must be doing!...Sadly. T-T
I would like to give a big 'Thank You!' To all my friends on here who have always been so supportive of me and my work and who have helped me through many things in my life. :) I would also like to thank those of you who have reviewed, fallowed, and favorited the story thus far! One last big thanks goes out to my ever amazing friend Mystichawk who has, as always, been an awesome help with this newest chapter! :)
For all or any of you who read my other works I am sorry to say they will not be updated today due to my being unable to get them completely finished as well as some conflicting issues in my personal life. So my story 'Spirit-not so-Well High School' should be updated next Sunday and the story 'Of Shadows and Moonlight' should be updated within the next two weeks. Again I am very sorry about the inconvenience. HOWEVER! THERE IS A BIT OF GOOD NEWS I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE! At some point today I will be officially be posting the first chapter to an all new story! It's another Rise of the Guardians fanfic and I REALLY hope you will all go check it out! Truth be told if you like this one I REALLY think you'll like the new one and I don't mean to boast or anything because it may or may not be true, but I think this story is going to be very unique and totally new! I have been on this site for a long time and have read HUNDREDS of RotG fics and I have NEVER seen another one quite like this. :) So please go and check it out later when it's up and running sometime today!
As always I do not own Ride of the Guardians or The Guardians of Childhood! They belong to William Joyce and Dreamworks! Please read and review, I hope you all enjoy the chapter! :D Oh! But just one last thing before we start!
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS PHYSICAL HARM OF A VERY PROMINENT MALE FIGURE IN THIS STORY WHO WILL POSSIBLY BE SUING ME LATER! PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION AND PREPARE FOR HILARITY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER! (if you are male I would highly recommend preparing yourselves for empathetic pain that will likely occur between your legs for what you are about to read) On with the show!
You'll Never Know
Chapter 11: Awakening
It didn't take more than a second for both the Tooth Fairy and the Boogeyman to suddenly realize exactly what was going on, and when they did they both froze as solid as the others, petrified like cold stone in a mixture of shock, horror and awe. Whatever conscious thought they currently had left managed to take at least partial hold on both of them and they slowly stepped away from the ominous wall of seemingly corporeal swirling mist while their minds screamed the sudden realization.
They were inside the tornado…
Well, shit.
The wall of towering streaks of gray around them continued to spin and twist and entrapped them all in a cage of silent wind that left only the sound of impossible silence. The entire clearing was completely surrounded by it, the wall stretching and wrapping around them just beyond the edge of the forest tree line where they were all standing, entrapping them within the confines of a swirling prison.
Six sets of wide and disbelieving eyes stared at the moving stricter of seemingly solid air, trying to figure out just how in the hell, out of all the places they could be, that they could have ended up in a bloody tornado?!
The Guardians and Boogeyman looked around themselves in shock, confusion, irritation, and pretty much every emotion that could translate into the fact that they were all just so beyond done.
After everything they had all gone through, each one of them had come to the individual conclusion that when this whole parade of psychotic idiocy was finally over they were going to say 'screw it!' to everything for the next 72 hours and either a) drink themselves into a nice little coma, b) sleep for the next three solid days and pray this had all been just some sort of demented nightmare, or c) all of the above.
Nether Pitch, North, nor Bunny were very big on drinking. Two of them had an image of childhood protectors to maintain after all, and the third hated hangovers. However, they would be lying through their teeth if they said the idea didn't sound more than a little pleasing at this time.
Both Tooth and Sandy had jobs to do right away when this was over, but that could be left to a few mini fairies and a telepathically-controlled cloud of gold sand for at least 24 hours, and Jack was actually already making plans to start up the biggest blizzard Northern Russia had seen in the past two centuries before flinging himself into a snowbank and not crawling out until someone forcibly pulled him out under the threat of a blowtorch.
But, before any of their plans of self-induced minor comas and alcohol could get very far they all heard a groan and their gazes transferred from the continuously revolving walls of the tornado to the Boogeyman, who was grabbing onto his aching head and massaging his eyelids to try and numb some of the pain that was erupting from behind his retinas and stabbing into his brain like a steel blade being plunged into his skull.
"A tornado… I'm inside a bloody tornado." He moaned, adding almost painfully. "With the petulant morons who call themselves the Guardians of the world's children…" He briefly paused while he buried his face into his hands. "I think I'd rather take my chances with the psychotic Nightmares!"
The five so called 'petulant morons' all glared at the Nightmare King and Jack rolled his eyes at the older spirit's melodramatic attitude.
"You're not the only one." Bunny grumbled, glaring daggers at the Nightmare King and changing his immediate plans just slightly from passing out for an early hibernation to stuffing the Boogeyman back down into his hole with a lead weight, an uncooked steak wrapped around his neck, and a box full of rabid wolverines.
Tooth and Sandy joined Jack and rolled their eyes. Here we go again.
"We already agreed to kill each other later," Tooth said, crossed her arms and fixed the others with a steely look. Once again, the duty to decide that 'enough was enough' was falling to her and she decided that killing the on-going mini-battle between the Easter Bunny and the Boogeyman before blood really started to fly would probably be the best.
It's like looking after a bunch of four year olds, she thought with another mental eye-roll. WHY must I be the only mature one here?!
"For now we need to focus on getting out of here, rather than bashing one another's' skulls in. So, if you two could kindly stop acting like two bickering children and actually contribute something, I would very much appreciate it." She said in an innocent voice that practically screamed sarcasm.
Pitch removed his face from his hands to fix the fairy queen with an unimpressed look. "Says the woman who can't even keep her own fairies in line without them nearly strangling one another."
"And that coming from the guy who just got turned on by his own army of demented sand ponies who dragged him underground kicking and screaming." Jack added, smirking at the glare Pitch shot him in return while Tooth had to stop herself from screaming in frustration as well as laughing at the 'sand pony' bit.
Pitch stepped forward to retort but was cut off before he could even get started- and boy did he have some colorful things to say, as the Guardian of wonder- who also seemed to have had enough, slammed his left foot into the ground and bellowed, "Enough!"
The only thing that kept all of them from flinching back at the sudden harsh tone and cold glare from the large man was the fact they at this point, they were all either just too exhausted to do so or they lacked the will to truly care.
"Well then just what exactly do you suggest we do here?" Pitch asked plainly but with the signs of irritation as clear as day on his face. "Because in case you all hadn't noticed, we are not only trapped within the unknown confines of someone's mind, a mind that is all but ruled by some psychopath with wings and a clear hatred for you, and that hatred is apparently conflicting with some sort of demented romantic infatuation with a walking icicle," Jack glared at Pitch and held his staff defensively when he gestured to him.
"But, we are now also caged like a group of animals within a bloody tornado with seemingly no way out. So, if one of you has a plan to free us from this representation of what appears to be my personal hell," he said in a voice that was directly on the borderline of what was most likely a fit of screaming rage that was taking every ounce of his willpower to hold back. "Then please, feel free to share."
Bunny glared at the shade and felt his claws burying themselves into his paws as he clenched them into tight fists, weighing his options and rapidly coming to the conclusion that any reprimand from Tooth would be well worth just the three seconds it would take to ring the Boogeyman's neck. "Well we could always throw your sorry arse into it and see what happens." He said pointedly, wishing for nothing more than to have his boomerangs with him at that moment so he could smash his face in.
Pitch glared daggers into the six foot one Pooka warrior and his lips pulled back into a demeaning sneer. "Oh I would very much like to see you try, rabbit." He said challengingly, both he and the Guardian of hope mere inches away from each other and just daring the other one to move first.
"Oh I really don't think ya do, ya shadow sneakin' son of a-"
Jack rolled his eyes for what had to have been the twelfth time in mere minutes as he tuned the others out and attempted to save himself from the increasing migraine that would surly ensue from listening to those two threaten to kill each other anymore.
Aimlessly turning away from the fight that was about to break out between the two immortals, Jack looked back towards the wall that continued to twist and turn silently in varying shades of gray that contrasted somewhere between white and black.
Half of his mind was questioning just how they could be inside a tornado in the first place and just how it could be this quiet to begin with. The last time he had encountered a cyclone like this it had sounded like he was flying next to a speeding freight train.
That same half was actually questioning pretty much everything it possibly could as it fruitlessly attempted to sort through the information and chain of events that they had all just gone through over the course of however in the hell long they had all been there. Running around in circles like a dog chasing its own tail, his mind tried desperately to find answers to the endless list of questions that were shooting through his head like stray bullets.
The other half, however, was somewhere else entirely. Frozen on just one key aspect out of the thousands of others that were all replaying themselves out in front of him and echoing in his mind so loudly he couldn't tell one thing from another until it felt like he was back underwater.
Like he was drowning in the confusion and questions and fear that ripped the air from his lungs and made him feel like he was being torn apart from the inside out.
But this aspect was as clear as day. Frozen like ice in his eyes, the image and the sounds playing at a sickeningly slow pace over and over again until it was the only thing he could focus on.
The image of the Psyche was etched into his brain and her words repeated over and over again like a skipping record. Her appearance just before she had left them and disappeared into the shadows, the sound of her choked cries, and the burning sensation of her tears as they fell onto him like hot rain.
This image refused to leave his vision and every time he would close his eyes for even the briefest moment he would see her.
The way she had looked at him. The way she had said his name that one last time. The catch in her voice as she tried to hold back her sobs. The way her body trembled in pain with every step it took. The single thing she had asked of him before she had left in the blink of an unsuspecting eye. All of it played out in front of him again and again and no matter how much he willed the image away it just would not leave him.
Her words were like haunting echoes in his head that drowned out the sounds of the others fighting and made him feel like he was going to go insane from the noise that was silent and screeching all at the same time.
Jack sighed, running his hand back through his hair and over his eyes to try and numb some of the pain that was beginning to surface again at the base of his skull. He gripped his staff tiredly in his hand, God he couldn't remember the last time he had wanted to sleep so much.
Was this as bad as the last time he had gotten into that fight with the summer spirits? He had been in a virtual coma for nearly a week after that when he had managed to fight them off, but he was out almost instantaneously then.
This time it just felt like he was fighting against gravity with lead weights tied to every part of his body.
Through the haze of his exhaustion he briefly noted various pieces of the very loud conversation taking place behind him. Something about nightmares, eggs, tooth fairies, arrows and then throwing someone into the pit of Mount Vesuvius that he immediately recognized as Bunny's voice and he assumed he was probably talking to Pitch who replied with another throw rug comment and something about animals getting fixed.
Had he been in any sort of clearer state of mind, Jack would have taken that time to listen back in, but he really wasn't in the mood right now.
With little to no conscious thought about the situation what so ever Jack absentmindedly stepped farther and farther away from the group who all seemed to be straining to keep from killing one another. None of them noticing how their youngest member was beginning to wander off.
Tooth and Sandy were both just looking at the Guardians of hope and wonder as well as the Boogeyman with blank looks of irritation.
Sandy had been attempting to get a word in, but had eventually just said screw it and stood off to the side lines. He could hardly ever get a word in edgewise when he had his dream sand to communicate with and he didn't even have that right now! The most he could do was glare at them all and focus on getting out of the way in time before fists started flying to avoid getting squashed.
Toothiana was standing next to the Sandman, looking about ready to step in to smack every last one of them back to their senses. Baby Tooth was sitting on her shoulder, silently praying that Bunny would just knock out the rest of the Nightmare King's teeth that her mother had missed and just be done with it.
She was happy that her sister wasn't hurt but the fact still remained that she didn't trust him. He had locked her sisters in cages, had thrown her and Jack into a ravine and broke his staff, and he had called her a flying cotton ball! She felt he should be entitled to just a little bit of pain here!
Baby Tooth was scowling at Pitch with the nastiest stink eye she could pull off, but despite her attention on the Boogeyman and the hopes he would wind up being thrown against one of the still standing trees (or better yet, into the side of the tornado) she wasn't too distracted to not notice the actions of one of her sisters.
One of the small mini fairies in the group was flitting about anxiously a bit farther away from their mother and looking over at Pitch with wide hesitant eyes, looking back and forth between him and her queen as if she were questioning going over to him or not.
Baby Tooth went wide eyed at her sister's actions and prepared to go and drag her back to her queen's side before she could do something stupid, but suddenly stopped when she looked over and realized that Jack was no longer with the group. The mini fairy quickly looked around to find her friend and breathed a breath of relief that she didn't know she's been holding when she saw him a little ways off beside the wall of wind that was keeping them all in place.
Momentarily forgetting about her sister's odd behavior, the small fairy left the comfort of her mother's shoulder and flew over to her friend who was aimlessly kicking at the ground with his back turned to the collective stupidity that was about 3/5 of the rest of the group.
Jack's head shot up in surprise when he felt a light weight suddenly press down on his shoulder, but smiled when he saw it was just the small form of his new friend.
"Hay Baby Tooth." He said softly, running his fingers over the soft crown of feathers on the top of her head.
The mini fairy chirped happily in response, glad to see that her friend wasn't completely catatonic. She looked up at him expectantly before looking back at the rest of the group and rolling her eyes at them, Jack laughed.
"Yeah well, sadly it doesn't look like they're gonna stop any time soon. At least not until one of them is dangling from a tree or on the ground with dream sand carrots flying over their heads." Baby Tooth looked at Jack with wide questioning eyes and he laughed again, remembering the teeth that were above the small fairy's head and her mother's after that little alarm clock incident in Jamie's room that he may or may not have meant to instigate.
Baby Tooth rolled her eyes again and looked back and forth between her mother who was clearly trying to keep from slicing both the Boogeyman and the Guardian of hope to ribbons before looking back up at the spirit of winter.
She quickly saw the blank look he was giving the ground that instantly set her off and she chirped up at her friend, snapping him out of his momentary daze and giving him a small encouraging smile. Jack didn't exactly speak mini fairy but he pretty much got the jest of what she was trying to say to him and he smiled back. "Thanks Baby Tooth, I'm alright. Just…" he paused, trying to think of the right words to describe his current emotions and state of wanting nothing more than to just curl up in a snowbank till next year.
"I'm just trying to figure out what all of this means…" He said, shrugging hesitantly. It wasn't exactly a lie, in truth he didn't know what to think of any of this.
After 300 years on his own he suddenly had believers and was actually a Guardian of all things? That was hard enough to all take in at once. But now he was suddenly being told that he hadn't actually been alone for those 300 years… How was he supposed to take that?
He wasn't sure how he should be feeling. One part of him felt confused, another part felt almost, well, happy and then another part felt incredibly pissed off for reasons that he thought were more than a little bit justified.
Jack sighed. He just wanted to figure out what was going on here and try and help that girl who was probably somewhere scared and alone and then go to bed. He didn't sleep much, but after today that was sure as hell going to change quickly.
Baby Tooth nodded in understanding and took a seat on his shoulder, thinking back to everything that had happened and understanding just how hard this must be for him.
She wanted to help that girl too. She wasn't sure what any of this meant ether, only that the sight of that poor girl's broken wings was going to give her nightmares for the next few centuries and that the memory of it made her feel dizzy.
The small fairy watched as her friend walked aimlessly next to the wall of solid air, keeping just out of reach of it, just in case. In case of 'what,' he wasn't sure, but you could never be too careful. Again, not that he was ever careful, but still. After everything he had been though today he really didn't feel like taking any chances.
Jack continued to ignore the others as he walked forward, circling the clearing and drowning out the sounds of yelling, blatant cursing and insults that were being shared between the Easter Kangaroo and the Boogeyman while North attempted to keep everyone from killing each other, but was also struggling to hold back his own temper by the hard look on his face, a look that said he was contemplating throwing both Bunny and Pitch into the side of the cyclone.
Might not be the worst idea in the world. He mused silently.
By this time he had walked around the entire length of the clearing and was starting back along the side of the dome towards the group, having found not a single fault in the wall of wind. Not that he really expected to anyway, but it never heart to dream.
Without realizing he was doing it Jack had begun tossing up small pieces of rocks and dirt as he walked forward, kicking them with his bare feet- Baby Tooth flying down slightly to grab onto a few of the stones that were kicked up high enough to keep herself entertained in some way- and hitting them with the butt of his staff as he occasionally dragged it across the ground out of ether exhaustion or boredom. He didn't even notice it was happening.
That is however, until he suddenly kicked a slightly larger rock just slightly too hard with the side of his right foot and sent it smack dab into the side of the cyclone.
It happened faster than any of them had time to blink.
One second the Easter Bunny was screaming at the Nightmare King about how he was going to send him back into the earth's core and the next he was letting out a high pitched shriek that most professional soprano singers couldn't dream of hitting before face planting into the snow.
Everyone froze in completely dumbfounded shock.
In what could only be described as some kind of creepy horror movie cliché the heads of three out of the four original Guardians (the fourth was currently on the ground with flying eggs and carrots circling his vision and making coo-coo clock noises in his ear) and the Nightmare King slowly turned to stare with wide eyes at the Guardian of Fun.
Jack was looking up and down from the form of the fallen Easter Bunny to the rest of the group with a mix of confusion, shock, guilt and more than a slightly apparent amusement from his spot on the ground.
The small pebble that was now next to Bunny on the ground (somehow not embedded into his cranium) had suddenly shot off the side of the cyclone with a loud crack and what was the approximate equivalent of a camera flash that sent a burning sensation up the front of his legs and made him jump back in shock, tripping over his own feet and landing flat on his butt.
Nobody moved except to look back and forth between Jack and Bunny who was groaning in his sleep that he was coming tentatively in and out of.
At least until a dark, sarcastic laugh suddenly broke the silence and all sets of eyes shot to look at Pitch.
"Well," He said, a menacing smirk pulling at his lips as he clasped his hand casually behind his back. "I must say that was highly entertaining. Perhaps you can do some things right Frost-" CRACK!
The sickening crack that echoed through the air that cut the Nightmare King off mid-sentence was nowhere near as noticeable and shock-inducing as the high squeak of what could only be utter pain that made the Boogeyman sound like a cross between a mini fairy and a chipmunk.
The look of complete agony that accompanied the noise as it shot across his face was visible for less than a second before Pitch landed flat on his face in a heap on the ground right next to the Easter Bunny, toppling over his crossed legs with sharp gasp as his eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
The wide eyed look already plastered on everyone's faces just about doubled as they stared at the Nightmare King, who was currently curling into a ball of sniveling pain in the snow.
Jack was the only one who could look anywhere else other than the writhing form of Pitch Black and his head shot down to look in shock at Baby Tooth who was in a shivering ball of her own on the ground next to him.
Only hers was a result of the barely surprised laughter. Her tiny fist pounded into the snow before she held them in front of her mouth to desperately keep in her loud gasps and squeaks of mirth before she slowly raised her head to look at Pitch and irrupted into yet another round of laughter.
Jack nearly felt his heart stop and had to stuff his fist in his mouth to keep from screaming out in laughter at the complete and total shit eating grin that was etched across her face and was about one fraction of a push away from losing control completely when his eyes landed on the small pebble that was laying right next to her.
One of the two she had been holding just seconds ago.
Toothiana was the second one who was able to force her eyes away from Pitch and Bunny and looked over to Jack and Baby Tooth who were also shaking on the ground and she raised an eyebrow while crossing her arms, smirking almost as deviously as Pitch had been just moments ago as she instantly realized what was going on and felt her daughter's raging storm of humorous emotions.
"Baby Tooth," She said in a serious tone that was all but trashed by the small shaking motion of her shoulders from the laughter she was barely suppressing.
The mini fairy and the spirit of winter froze solid and looked up to Tooth with wide, nervous eyes at the stern tone, but Toothiana only continued to smirk before looking back down on Pitch with a smug grin and her eyes gleaming in less than hidden amusement. "Please remind me to thank Karma the next time I see her."
It took exactly three seconds before Jack and Baby Tooth were able to fully comprehend just what they had been told and when they were finally able to register the fairy queen's words they both erupted into a fit of laughter that they didn't even bother to hold back as they trembled on the ground, holding their stomachs from the cramps that came from the movement as they gasped to try and regain some of the lost air in their lungs.
They paused however at the sound of the loud, agonizing groan that escaped the Nightmare King's mouth as he attempted (and utterly failed) to push himself off the ground.
"And reminded me to…" He paused for a moment to moan in pain as he dropped to the ground again. "To KILL HER the next time we-" He paused again, but this time it was for a completely different reason then the searing pain that was shooting down his legs and up his spine like lightning from his pelvis.
Everyone looked at one another questioningly as the Nightmare King seemed to stare off into space after freezing once more like a stone statue, his head locked in a stiff position as he looked forward with wide, silver eyes. Even Bunny who was slowly coming back to reality was looking at him strangely. Though the exact reason for that could be debatable considering he was staring at three different Pitches who were all spinning around one another in rapid succession while pain irrupted like a volcano from the back of his aching skull.
Unsurely and with no lack of confusion the rest of the group followed Pitch's gaze and in what took less than a totally of two seconds they were all in an equal state of frozen shock.
Contrasting against the solid wall of gray, writhing air was a glowing ray of brilliant green.
A single ribbon of glowing light twisted and swirled around them, slowly wrapping around the dome on the cyclone and contrasting against the deep grays and slits of blacks and white. All of them watched in dumbfounded shock and confusion at the beautiful light, following it with their eyes as it spun around them like the glowing streaks of a dancing firefly.
Everyone's attention was then snapped to the side as the sudden chirp of one of Toothiana's mini fairies broke through the air and their eyes were met with a new ribbon of bright blue that wove around the green like a band that danced through the air like a second lightning bug that was playing tag with the first.
Multiple sets of eyes widened exponentially as new lights of orange, yellow, pink, purple and red suddenly appeared along the wall of solid air and quickly replaced the dull gray colors with the vibrant glow of a rainbow that spun around them in an elegant and beautiful display of color that shined like jewels in the wind. The cyclone began to pick up speed around them and sent mild gusts through the clearing, kicking up flurries of snow around them and scattering the crystalline flakes that glistened like falling diamonds in the pale glow of the dancing colors that shined like stars and gleamed like the pale moon.
Without even thinking the three individuals who were sprawled out on the ground slowly rose to their feet and stared in awe at the beautiful light show that was playing out around them. Even Pitch, who despised bright lights and colors with a passion, couldn't help but find the display at least partially enchanting.
Everyone stepped back as a large blast of wind shot inward from all sides of the cyclone and rose into the air with lingering rays of vibrant light that shot into the sky like shooting stars. They all looked up in amazement as the top of the tornado suddenly broke away to reveal a background of gleaming diamonds in the sky that surrounded a large silver moon that stood against a background of empty blackness that threatened to suck in the light of the brilliant stars and the pale orb above them.
Hahaha Jack!
All eyes suddenly snapped to different directions as the voice of a child suddenly whispered in each of their ears before shooting to the Guardian of fun.
Jack's head was looking everywhere in shock as the sound of his name being called out filled his ears, his eyes wide and in complete shock as he tried to find the source of the whispering voice.
I love you Isabella.
Mommy! Daddy look at all the flowers!
Different looks of confusion and shock looked around the clearing through the flurries of falling snow as two new sets of voices suddenly filled the air on the cool gusts of wind around them that passed over their skin before suddenly being replaced by a warm breeze that was more than unnatural in the midst of the falling snow.
Let's play hide an seek!
Common, let's build a snowman Elsa!
You're going to be a wonderful mother.
Please sing for me mama, your voice is so pretty.
Haha, alright dear it's time to come in before you freeze!
Emma! Jack! Dinner!
Thousands of voices whispered and danced on the silent air and echoed through their ears as if they were surrounded by a crowd of people in multiple languages from all around the world. The happy voices of laughing children, the warm voices of young lovers talking about their future, and the gentle songs of lullabies being sung by mothers to their young children filled the air like an orchestra of love and emotion.
"Wh-what is going on?" Toothiana asked in astonishment as her eyes followed the gentle lights that continued to wrap around them and her ears filled with the sounds of soft voices and the distant sound of what she could clearly discern was the melody of a beautiful violin.
Common Jack! I wanna go play in the snow!
Jack's head continued to whip around, searching for the voice of the small child that was saying his name over and over again as he tried to dispute what he knew there was no way he could possibly be hearing.
His hand clenched tightly around his staff and turned an even more pale white than it normally was as the sounds echoed in his head and alternating gusts of hot and cold air ran through his hair like gentlye hands and he let out a silent sigh of relief that he didn't know where it came from. Leaning into the almost tangible touch unconsciously as just the smallest piece of his mind registered the incorporeal hand and it's gentle movements as the one he had known for the past 300 years of his life.
Bunny felt his ears twisting back and forth as it tried to hone in on the location of the voices that resonated through the sky as the scents of tropical fruits mixed with fresh pine, flowers and crisp snow assaulted his senses.
All but one set of eyes were trained on the sky that was being lit up by the vibrant lights of glowing ribbons that twisted around them like beautiful brads.
Sandy was the only one who was not eying the brightly colored streaks into the sky. Instead, his gaze was glued to the ground at the center of the clearing on the small mound of snow that somehow remained as silent and still as a grave despite the strong gusts of wind that whipped around it and he wondered how this was at all possible. Also questioning just how it could even be there now after that sonic boom that had sent them all flying back into the forest.
The Guardian of dreams felt his eyes widen as the memory of Mother Nature's hard gaze on the still mound of snow flashed through his mind and his golden eyes widened to the size of saucers when the mound was suddenly lit up by a descending cluster of brilliant moonbeams that lit up the snow like a spotlight from the heavens.
The rest of the group joined Sandy in staring curiously at the bank of glistening snow that shown like a pile of diamonds under the sudden and intense light of the pale moon above and all of them felt their jaws drop in shock along with their hearts into the pits of their stomachs as the snow suddenly began to rise up from the ground.
The group of mini fairies all chirped in surprise and flitted to hide behind their mother when the snow began to rise off of the ground and Baby Tooth took that time to hide behind Jack as well, who's eyes didn't stray from the shining snow for even a single second.
The dancing rainbow of colors swirled through the air with the sounds of the whispering voices and began to break away from the cyclone and slowly began to move inwards like glowing tendrils of light that seemed to mimic the movement of dream sand and began to wrap around the snow like the ribbons of an elegant dancer and made the white snow shine brilliantly and mirror the glowing light like shimmering crystals.
A collective gasp escaped every single spirit present who witnessed what was going on as small pieces of the snow began to fall away. The first of which revealing the form of a thin, pale hand.
Flake after flake of the crystalline ice fell away from the whole of the floating pile, piece by piece, slowly scattering to the gusts of warm and cold winds to reveal what was concealed within the center of the snow.
A hand gave way to a long, thin arm that led to a thin shoulder that was shrouded beneath what appeared to be patchwork of varying fabrics that were sewn together into a long, flowing dress that went down to the girls ankles to reveal two bare feet. For only a moment they looked bruised and bloody before suddenly becoming as pale and pure as the rest of her visible skin that reflected the moonbeams and the glowing colored lights that illuminated her body as the snow continued to dissipate.
The gleaming white fell away and scattered to the gentle winds as if a veil were being pulled away from the floating body. The Guardians and the Nightmare King all watched intently with anticipation as the last of it finally fell from her body to reveal a pale face that was an exact mirror image of the winged Psyche.
All spirits present aside from the Guardian of memories flinched back just slightly at the familiar face that they couldn't help but momentarily think was going to attack before they realized exactly what they were actually seeing.
Thick brown ringlets framed the girls face and fell just past her shoulders and fluttered in the gentle breeze as the ribbons of light twisted through them and caressed her skin like the gently, loving hangs of a mother to her child. Deep red lips remained still and together, showing the lack of air that had once flowed between them and into her still lungs.
Her eyes remained closed as if she were deep within a peaceful sleep as the wind cradled her like a newborn baby in its embrace and rocked her back and forth beneath the starry, moonlit sky.
Her body slowly began to straighten upward from its reclined position until it looked like she was standing on air, her head leaning back as her face basked in the moon's pale light that suddenly began to brighten.
Pitch and the Guardians had to shield their eyes as the silver light intensified along with the soft glow of the rainbow like strands and her body was completely concealed within a cocoon of blinding light.
They all used their arms to shield their eyes as they tried to keep their gazes fixed on the girls form as the light coated her skin like a suit of glimmering armor and the wind again increased in intensity around them.
After only moments everyone but Jack was forced to close their eyes against the blazing light, but after 300 years of snow blindness he had grown slightly resistant to the excruciatingly brilliant illumination. For whatever reason he didn't truly know, but he couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away from her.
That was, until the light suddenly exploded outward behind her in twin iridescent rays of light that shot out from her back and into the air like glistening beams of powdered diamonds.
Jack felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach and his hands fall to his side as he froze in shock and looked on in awe as the light began to dissipate and fall from her skin like water. His breath died in his throat as he stared up at the girl and watched as a pair of gleaming, snow white wings extended outward into the sky as if they were reaching up to the heavens above.
Like they were wishing to return to the home they fell from on the form of the angel that was standing before him.
The Guardians and the Nightmare King heard the sudden intake of breath from the spirit of winter and felt the harsh light that shined into their eyes begin to dim and they forced themselves to look back up at the girl who was being held in the winds embrace in front of them.
Their reactions were a perfect mirror of the Guardian of fun.
Beautiful white feathers that bared absolutely no resemblance to the dull gray and lifeless feathers they all had seen on the Psyche fluttered in the gentle breeze, rising and falling as if testing the air around them. They gleamed and sparkled in the light of the moon and the radiant light of the twisting rainbow like ribbons that surrounded them, but were slowly beginning to pull away.
Without a single moment of warning the remaining wind around them, that swirled with the shining light in the cyclone, suddenly shot inward in yet another blast of conflicting hot and cold air. The gales wrapped and twisted around her body like a blanket as the wind mixed more and more with the beautiful light.
The sounds of the gentle voices and the melody of the distant music together with the beautiful scents, carried on the air from all corners of the world with flowers and snow and fruit, returned tenfold around them as they shot towards the girl. All of them felt their jaws drop in shock once more as her body suddenly lurched back and her mouth opened in a sudden gasp as the lights suddenly passed through her lips as if through the breath of life itself were being forced directly into her lungs.
The lights and the sounds and the scents were enveloped into her body as her chest suddenly rose with the intake of her first breath.
In mere moments the cyclone was being absorbed into her body through her parted lips as the branches of the bare trees around them clattered together in a symphony of sound and snow, scattering around her like a cloak of beautiful white crystals until the radiant lights had all vanished from the air and the cyclone around them had dissipated into the living air.
The moonbeams that descended down from the sky above shone brightly as the remaining gales of air wrapped around them all like a cool blanket that raked through their hair, fir and feathers like more gentle hands that in the back of their minds they somehow all were able to recognize though they had no possible idea why.
They all watched in wonder as her body began to lower to the ground as the moonbeams showered her in radiant light and glistened off the beautiful snow.
As if she were a delicate china doll, the air itself seemed to lay her down on the remaining snow at the center of the clearing where her body had been covered in the blanket of fresh snow, like a fragile statue of glass. Her body lay still, her angelic wings spread out below her and the slight rise and fall of her chest gave the only indication that she was alive as the bright moonbeams began to return to the sky and to the beautiful pale orb above as the shadows of the forest fell over her sleeping form.
Jack, Pitch, North, Tooth, Bunny, Sandy, all of them stood stalk still as they stared at the girl on the ground and all found themselves once again desperately straining to understand just what the hell they had all just seen as their eyes remained locked on her still form.
Like a vision of sleeping beauty herself the girl, who everyone was quickly coming to the assertion was the Psyche's mistress, lay still and calm in the snow with just the slightest smile on her face.
No one could bring themselves to look anywhere else but her, but it was Jack's gaze that was the most intense out of all of them.
He studied every detail of her features from the slight curve of her red lips and her pale pink skin to the curly brown ringlets of her hair and the patchwork dress that reminded him of the sorts of dresses that girls in his village wore 300 years ago. Multiple different pieces of square brown cloth sewn together in thick layers to keep her warm during the harsh winter months, though the effect was most definitely lost on the fact that she was laying in the snow with absolutely no protection for her bare feet.
He felt as if something was pulling him towards her. He had no idea why, but he wanted to get closer. But, he also wanted to run away. To forget this whole thing ever happened and again he had absolutely no idea why. But he couldn't move.
All he could do was stand there, frozen in place as he watched her with the others, and flinching back involuntarily when she suddenly moved.
All of them watched in astonishment as the girl's eyes slowly fluttered open to look up at the pale moon above, her beautiful green irises looked hazily up at the stars as they slowly widened in wonder.
Ever so slowly the girl began to push herself up off of the ground to sit forward on her knees, her eyes never breaking contact with the pale orb as she rose as if she were in some kind of trance. They watched as her head tilted curiously to the side as she stared up at the sky.
"He-hello?" All of them felt their already wide eyes somehow widen more as the girl spoke up to the moon. Her voice soft and stuttered, hesitant, as if she wasn't even sure how to speak at all.
A single ray of light from the moon descended downward and fell over her like a veil and they watched as her eyes went wide. "Hello?" She said again, as if she were waiting for an answer, an answer they were all actually waiting to hear.
All of them waited on baited breath for the moon to give her a response, looking for any sort of reaction that showed she had been told something.
But nothing ever came.
There was no voice, there was no hint of recognition on the girls face, there was nothing. There was only still silence as she looked up at the night sky.
What was only mere minutes felt like an eternity to all of them before the moonbeam above her suddenly started to quiver, trembling and dimming in and out of focus as it shined down on her. The girl flinched back, clearly startled by the sudden movement of the pale light.
The moonbeam darted around her as if in agitation but suddenly stopped when the girl buried her head in her arms and bent forward into the fettle position as if to protect herself, as she shook in fear and whimpered.
The Guardians all felt their hearts give an audible crack at the small whimper of fear that escaped the girl's throat as she trembled on the ground and they looked back and forth between her and the moon. The moonbeam brightened and shown down on her once more, but the girl only flinched back in response. Clearly confused and scared out of her mind.
The light shuddered one last time as if in shock at her reaction, shining down on her and lighting up the shadows around her as if trying to coax her to look up again and to not be afraid. But it had no effect.
All of the spirits witnessing this scene watched as the ray of light slowly dimmed and rose hesitantly back into the sky, leaving the girl behind to return to the pale orb among the stars and felt their eyes narrow in confusion and concern.
Long after the light had receded and the shadows had again fallen over her shivering form the girl slowly raised her head to look back up at the sky, her eyes clearly damp with unshed tears.
The winged girl slowly began so tear her gaze away from the sky to look at the world around her. Her green eyes trailing over the bare trees and the snow covered ground before she looked down at herself. Examining her own hands and the patchwork dress, running her hands along her skin and the pieces of sewn cloth with wide, curious eyes and gasping in in shock when she reached down to touch the cold snow below her.
"It's… It's like she's never seen anything before…" Jack said softly, staring in astonishment along with the others as the girl slowly started to pull herself to her feet.
Tooth rose her hands to cover her mouth and shook her head as her mini fairies looked sadly down at the cold ground. "That's… that's because she hasn't…"
Everyone looked at her with wide eyes, briefly glancing away from the girl as she struggled to stand up. "She has no memory… She's exactly like Jack…"
They all looked back at the girl with wide, almost pitying eyes as they watched her fall back to the ground as she tripped over her feet when she tried to walk forward. Jack feeling his chest clenching tightly like a fist around his heart and lungs as he gripped his staff like an iron vice and tried to push down the emotions that were building up inside his heart that made him choke on his own breath.
"No…" Everyone's attention was suddenly brought to him as he spoke shakily, watching the girl in front of him return to her feet and stumble forward like a baby deer.
"She's… she's even worse than I was." All eyes returned to the struggling girl as she gasped and tripped forward again, this time managing to grab hold of the trunk of a dead tree she had just barely managed to reach, leaning into it to keep herself up before sliding down against it.
The Guardians of Childhood and the Boogeyman watched as the girl brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them, burying her face into the folds of her dress, and though two out of the six of them would never admit it, all of them felt their heart jerk at least slightly at the choked sob that suddenly cut through the silent air.
The sight of the girl's iridescent wings wrapping around herself like a cloak of white was the last thing they were all able to see before everything suddenly went white.
And there you have it oh my GOD it's finally happened! Ladies and gents I hope you all got what you were hoping for and that all of the suspense was worth while! The wind has finally been born and Pitch is probably going to come into my room tonight and strangle me with my own pillow!... Hehe. I have no regrets. X3
The next chapter is where things really start to get heated, but please note! I do have plenty of room for suggestions on reactions, dialogue, fights, and pretty much everything else there is! So please review and let me know what you think and send requests!
And once again PLEASE GO AND CHECK OUT MY OTHER STORY WHEN IT GET'S PUT UP! It should be published within the next few hours or so and I would really appreciate knowing what you all thought of it! :D
Until next time everyone! Screw keep calm and go insane!
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