a/n: Thanks so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites last chapter! I have the first day of high school tomorrow, so updates will be slower until I get used to my new schedule/routine this year and I may only have time to update over the weekend. Also, you'll understand why Jack lied about the Summer Sprites and the 1924 thing in the sequel, that'll either become an arc or a simple one-shot/chapter. Also, I'm going to start taking requests on what to write in the sequel which is now called :The Perfectly Dysfunctional Life of a Winter Child. I have absolutely no idea with what the first chapter, the opening, is going to be. Anyway, if you have any requests for me just give me a PM (I may not see the review if you review it to me) and I'll try to use each and every request I receive. But there is one category that I will absolutely, under no circumstance (until I get a bit older), will I be writing anything along the lines of M rated, lemons, etc. I'm highly uncomfortable with even thinking about writing that type of category (call me a prude, I don't really give a damn-excuse my vocabulary-I'm only fourteen so…). Sorry to disappoint, maybe in the future I'll start writing things along those lines but right now, it's a big no-no. Also, I have a couple new OC's coming in this chapter from my contest winners (I might be doing a lot of those, depending on how generous I am or what kind of mood I'm in). Please do not forget to review, favorite, and follow! Also, spread the word of this story! Also, someone pointed it out to me that Merida is Scottish and not Irish. I get confused with those two since, to me, their accents sound the same.
This chapter/memory is dedicated to Qwerty124, one of the 3rd place winners in the Guessing Contest a while back. Her OC appears in this chapter but it belongs to her, I only own the way I crafted her into the story and her antics (I also tweaked her appearance), I guess. The idea of the character belongs to Qwerty124.
Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of The Guardians or any of the familiar occurrences that took place in both the book series and the movie. I only own my OC's and text. This is purely for my entertainment. I also don't own any book for movie Movie References belong to DreamWorks Corp. and their creators/creations. The Book References of the Guardians of Childhood belong to William Joyce. No copyright infringement intended.
Warning(s): contains language (and, maybe, some offensive insults-I'm sorry if anyone is offended), contains bullying, suggestive violent themes, mentions of depression. Read at your own risk.
Chapter Fourteen
"Jack is 213 in Spirit Years," Manny said.
Bella had put away her Torture Pad and stuck her pencil between her ear. The others were having small conversation while Sophie stuck to Jack for comfort. The last memory still frightened her, even though it was over. Jamie kept giving them side glances, he was very protective over Sophie, and now that he finally knew Jack's age (three-hundred-years be damned) he instantly became protective over the winter child.
He smirked slightly, Jack was going to be highly annoyed with everyone since they all understood that he would forever be a child. Suddenly, another white flash blinded them as a girl with blonde hair and red and blue highlights tumbled into the white room.
"Oomph," She grunted. "Great, all I wanted was to get a drink of water from a creek but no, I just had to get swallowed by a white light and basically kidnapped. Nice going, Emma."
"Em?" Jack asked tentatively. Emma tumbled to her feet and whirled around to see her old time friend (ahem, only friend really) Jack Frost. Everyone in the room took in her appearance. Emma had long blonde hair that tumbled down her shoulders in perfect ringlets, falling softly past her bra-line. She had a heart-shaped face with high cheekbones and a strong jaw line. She had a tiny nose and thin, light pink lips that were currently open from surprise. She had light freckles dotting her milky-white skin. She had doe-like eyes that reminded everyone of chocolate that seemed to have flecks of gray surrounding the pupil. Emma wore baggy red jeans with dark blue colored suspenders, with a blue t-shirt underneath her black zip-up hoodie. She seemed to have the same problem as Jack, Tooth noticed with a frown, no shoes. Her hood was also up on her head.
Adorned at her waist was a black belt that had scabbards tied through the loops. One was a gun hoister and the other was an actual sword scabbard. Her eyes seemed to twinkle with mischief. "Jack?" She tilted her head to the side a bit before her lips twisted into a tiny smirk. "I haven't seen you since…since…"
"2003?" Jack inquired, leaning against his staff. Emma nodded but then she noticed the other people in the room and drew back into herself. Jack frowned, he hated Shy Emma.
"Uh…hi…?" Emma's voice became soft as she looked around the room skittishly.
Once again, introductions and greetings were thrown around the room. ("Hi, I'm Tooth!" "Hello, Shiela." "My name's Sophie!" "You're beautiful-ow, Claude-anyway, I'm Caleb." "Cupcake. I love your sword, by the way." "May I see that gun of yours? The names Bella, by the way." Etc.)
There was another detail everyone noticed, Emma looked around the same age as Jack.
"How old are you?" North asked the now skittish and shy girl.
"Uh…um…fourteen…why?" Emma asked.
"No reason." North shrugged. "Is just that you look around Jack's age, which you are."
"O-kay?" Emma blinked and then looked over at Jack, "Care to tell me why I'm here?"
"Man in the Moon sent us all here to see my memories," Jack grumbled.
"Really?" Emma was surprised. "Cool, I guess."
"The memory is starting," Monty interrupted all conversation. "Shh."
"Oh, shh yourself!"
He heard the cries before he saw the girl. He heard the insults before he saw the bullies. He heard the blows before he saw the fists.
"You're so stupid!"
Smack!
"You just don't deserve to live!"
Crack!
"Leave me alone!" A female voice screamed out. "Just…just go away!"
"You've got to be kidding me." Emma groaned as she recognized not only the voice but the scenery of the memory. Jack sighed and gave her a look that screamed, I know how you feel.
Jack gritted his teeth. It was one thing for himself to get bullied, if it kept the Sprites and Spirits away from other innocents than by all means, pick on him instead but if someone else was being bullied…well…he truly became the rumor of "Old Man Winter". He gripped his staff tightly in his hands and breathed in deeply as his eyes flashed dangerously at the sounds.
"Aw, is the Spirit of Wisdom getting tired?"
"I think we should tuck her into bed."
This Spirit of Wisdom drew in a gasping breath and exhaled with a panicked voice, "Wait—no, please—," the girl was cut off by an echoing Smack! Crack! Smack! Jack's anger seemed to grow as he shifted through trees, trying so hard to get there in time. There was silence except for snickering but those snickers drifted away as did the bullies.
Grr, Jack said in his mind. They got away…
"Grr?" Cupcake looked over at Jack, with an amused look on her face. Jack rolled his eyes and mumbled incoherently under his breath. Emma heard what he said and nudged his side. "Language," She whispered with her own smirk on her face.
Jack walked through the silent forestry of Greenland, snow crunching underneath his feet yet he made no footsteps. Finally, as he ducked into an arch that led to an obscured meadow, he saw droplets of blood that stained his snow. His eyes widened and his breath quickened.
Oh Moon, He panicked in his mind. Please tell me I'm not that late.
Jack sped through the meadow and if he hadn't heard the pained groan, he would've missed the opening to the tiny burrow completely. He dropped onto his knees and peered inside. Deep down inside of the enlarged cave was the silhouette of a girl. This time, she had a grey skirt that reached an inch past her knees, a light blue button-down blouse, and a gray knitted blazer. Her blonde hair had green and orange highlights in it and she was gripping a gray colored staff that didn't look like a Shepard's Crook like his own but it jutted upwards like a Z and had strange markings that intertwined in a white color.
Jack hesitated for a moment but slid silently into the cave. He kneeled down next to the girl and gritted his teeth angrily as he saw the flecks of blood caked on her hairline, her lip which was cut and bruised, and, oddly, it stained around her wrist and kept enlarging, soiling the gray blazer. Jack was alarmed. He didn't know how to heal someone except himself, which was usually burying himself in some snow and frosting the wound over with ice and frost until it healed.
He didn't know how to heal a Spirit of Wisdom. What, did he have to go raid a library and drop it onto her as if it were a pile of leaves?
He didn't know so he gently poked her with the end of his staff.
"Really, Jack? You poked her with a stick?" Shadow mused.
"Staff, Shadow, not stick!" Jack glared at him.
"You guys have this squabble every single time." Bella groaned. "Shadow, stop annoying the kid."
"Yeah!" Jack agreed but then faltered. "What-hey!"
"What?" Bella innocently looked at her surrogate little brother. "You do realize that you are an Immortal Child, right?"
"Don't remind me," He grumbled.
The girl didn't move except to moan so, Jack poked her again and again and again and again and againandagainandagainandagainandagainandagainandag ainand—okay, you get the point. He kept on poking the comatose girl until her eyes flew open and flicked towards Jack. She let out a high-pitched shriek which made Jack jump back and hold his throbbing ears and she scrambled towards the back of the wall.
"D-Don't…don't hurt me…I s-s-s-swear I'll…I'll…"
"I'm not going to hurt you," Jack's voice was unexplainably soft and gentle. "I'm just trying to help." He kept eye contact with the girl and waited for a moment before speaking again. "I'm Jack, Jack Frost. You are?"
"Emma." She responded. "I…I don't have a…a last…name."
"Last names don't really matter." Jack smiled warmly. "What happened?"
"…some Spirits don't like me because I'm the Spirit of Wisdom—wait a minute, why am I telling you this, I don't even know you!" She outbursted before her eyes widened as she realized that she yelled. Involuntarily she flinched and whimpered, "Sorry…sorry…sorry…"
Jack was appalled as he thought, just how bad did they hurt her?
"Very…" Emma whispered to him. "Very, very bad,"
"It's fine," Jack grinned, flashing his pearly whites. "We all have our outbursts. It's no problem. So…" Jack looked around her home. "Nice home, you got here."
Emma sniffled, "Thanks." Her voice was tiny, almost as wispy and soft like the wind.
"So, what does the Spirit of Wisdom mean?" Jack asked, perching himself atop of his staff.
Emma stared at him with wide-eyed that Jack swore he had seen once upon a time. Then, she sighed and said, "It means that I have knowledge beyond known to Man. Anything that revolves around wisdom, whether it be pointless or not, I understand the minute it is thought of. Spirits and Sprites of all kind assume I'm a egotistical Spirit who thinks she knows all," She laughed dryly. "Well, I kind of do know all but I don't flaunt it around."
Jack blinked as she fidgeted with her sleeves and that's when his eyes widened as he realized that he'd forgotten about her wrists! He chewed on his bottom lip before he shrugged off his blue hoodie and took strips of his colonial white shirt. he made sure that his measurements of the strips were correctly proportioned before he kneeled beside Emma, which startled her and she drew back.
"What are you doing?"
"Yes, what are you doing, Jack?" North raised his eyebrow in question as he looked over at the winter child he loves like a father would his son.
"You'll see." Jack responded.
Jack ignored the question as he started to gently wrap the strips around where he could see the wounds were made. Emma's breath quickened a bit as she stared down at him through the curtain of her hair. She gulped, hoping he wouldn't be that observant to know that those wounds were self-inflicted.
After both wrists were bandaged Emma gaped at Jack who, in return, gave her a warm smile.
Pippa's face paled as she caught on. "You didn't…" she looked back at Emma who looked down at her bare feet, biting on her lip shyly. Pippa's eyes and face softened and slowly, unconsciously, she made her way to the Spirit of Winter.
"Didn't what?" Claude asked but Pippa shook her head, her face solemn.
"It's okay," Jack grinned. "You don't have to be alone anymore."
Without knowing why, tears sprang to Emma's eyes and slowly rolled down her face. Jack panicked, "Sorry! S-Sorry! I-I'll leave if you want. I didn't mean to make you cry, I just—,"
He was cut off as Emma launched herself onto him, hugging his torso and crying into his stripped shirt. Jack staggered back, flabbergasted, but after a short second, he hugged her back.
"It's okay, it's alright," Jack murmured, rubbing Emma's back in calm circles as he'd seen mothers do to their terrified children after a bad dream. "You're not alone, anymore."
"Do you promise?" Emma's voice was tiny and reminded him of a small child as she drew back and stared at him through wide, water eyes that made a pang jolt through his heart, a ding in his mind, as if this was something he should've remembered.
He smiled as he raised his pinky, wrapped it around hers, and said, "Pinky promise."
Tooth squealed, "That's so adorable!" all the other females, except Emma, cooed. Jack shared a knowing look with Emma. If everyone got overprotective over them, their reactions towards their…'problems'…might be, well, a problem.
"We'll figure something out," Emma murmured.
"There are no exits, by the way." Jack responded.
"Damn!"