Yes! An update!
I know it's been three weeks, I'm sorry, guys :(
I was going to finish the 21rst chapter two weeks ago, but I had a pressure drop (blood didn't flow to my brain anymore) and I nearly passsed out. Then from last week 'till today were finals, so yeah... Didn't have a lot of time to publish .
But now summer's here! And nothing will stop me! MOUAHAHAHA! XD
Oh, and next chapter will explain why I put M for this story. I think.
Anyway, we'll see!
Read on!
First Snow, Now Frost
Chapter Twenty-One - The Battle Has Begun
After a good night's sleep, you were announced by a Yeti that today was the day the Guardians would test your evolution, also meaning today you were going to have to fight Jack. North was too busy in his work to come see, but the rest had time in their hands, or paws.
The Yeti brought you back into the arena where you trained with Bunny, and the lights blinded you slightly. No one was in the room; you looked around. You smelt around, like the way Bunny had shown you; nose up, eyes closed. The sweet smell of pine filled your nostrils, and you knew it would have come from someone that visited forests regularly. Jack was here, but hidden.
Eyes still closed, you tried to pay more attention to the faint sounds that couldn't be heard by human ears. Shuffles, breaths, anything. That's when you heard it.
The sound of a step taken by a light-weight, behind you. 'I have you now.', you thought with a smirk on your face.
Setsuna instantly went into your hands, and you threw your special flail towards the sound you had picked up seconds ago. You used little strength, and made a bit of damage on the arena. But no Jack. Then you understood; he wanted to drain your energy so when you even looked the slightest tired, he would attack. 'Yeah, like that's gonna happen.', you thought. You waited three seconds in silence, preparing a small plan. Junshin attached himself to your back, and transformed into his other original state. You quickly burst up in the air, trying to make the least of noise. 'Success', you smirked. With your weapon, you threw it, but not just at one spot. You turned your weapon as it had been thrown, making it to a 360. Like that, Jack would most certainly get out of his hiding spot.
And there you saw; a pile of snowy-white hair whipped at the speed of the winter spirit's escape. Though he was the person you loved, you had a very competitive spirit, even when you appeared to be innocent and sweet. You didn't leave Jack much time to fly away to a new corner; you instantly threw a blade a little further than where he was flying, but guessing from the speed and height, you would get him spot on.
But Jack had deflected the blade with a hit from his staff, and you quickly grabbed hold of your returning weapon. You both landed back on steady ground, golden eyes locking with sky eyes. Junshin came out of your back, growling. Not that he didn't like Jack; he was in battle, after all. Setsuna stayed in your hands.
Nothing had been said. No movement had been made. Small pieces of wall residue fell from where you attacked. The silence filled the gap between you and Jack, but somehow, much had been said.
Suddenly, the lights had been turned off. This, you expected. Your eyes adapted quickly to the dark, and you threw your blade forward. You hit nothing. You stayed in position, guard up.
Cold air chilled your back, and a light weight pressed onto your back. You didn't move, though you knew Jack had his back against yours. You barely breathed; you couldn't let him know you were surprised. Suddenly, you felt cold fingers poke at your skin. 'He's trying to distract me...', you thought. 'I'll make him regret that…'. With fury burning your blood, you grabbed his arm and threw him over your head, making him fly and hit a wall. He groaned, and you could picture him rubbing his neck and cracking hi back to regain posture.
"Don't go easy on me.", you warned. "I'm tougher than you think."
You hurried to move backwards using your wings, and you heard Jack follow you. You threw your two blades where you thought Jack would be, hoping to capture him with the chains, but nothing. Your weapon came back to you, and the second it arrived into your hands, ice came your way, and luckily, you cut through it. You smirked. The battle had finally taken a serious note.
The lights turned back on, and Jack was nowhere in your sight. Suddenly, ice froze your feet, and you growled. Jack was behind you, ready to attack. And now he stood before you, staff laying on his shoulder. He smiled at your frustration.
"I'm guessing you have a serious condition of cold feet.", he joked, but you didn't laugh.
You used your blades to slash the ice in half, freeing you from the solid snow. All you had done was far battle, nothing of close contact. You were about to change that.
You clasped your blades on your arms, making the peaks face outwards. You did the same with your feet, using more Dreamsand. Your fists curled into fists, and with speed that could easily beat a panther, you raced towards Jack. You aimed for his chest, then his shoulder, but he blocked both the attacks with his staff. You managed to scratch his hoodie, but that was all you accomplished. Jack started attacking with his staff, throwing pillars at ice at you, and he tried gaining distance that way. But you easily cut through, and approached your competitor. You swung blades from your arms and feet, trying to at least harm him. If you couldn't do that, you couldn't face Pitch. It was a sacrifice you had to make, and Jack knew that as well. 'What I need to do is get his staff.', you thought. 'I just hope I won't be electrocuted like last time.' You flew upwards, since you did need to practice battle in flight. The winter spirit followed you, and started throwing snowballs at a fast speed. Some landed on you, and it hurt. Very much. You grabbed hold of your weapon that laid on your arms, and kept the blades on your feet. Jack continued with his snowballs, but you tried to fly in between them to reach him. You surprised him and yourself; you were now inches from his face. With one powerful push to downwards, Jack landed straight on his back, making hard contact with the ground. You hurried to follow him, and saw that his body had completely crushed the solid ground behind him. 'That's going to leave marks for sure.', you thought. Before he could get up, but you doubted he could, you pointed your blade to his neck, putting it inches away from an artery. The winter spirit was visibly still alive, just a few bones broken maybe, but still; he was okay. Then you remembered the staff. It was still clutched in his hands. Still leaning your weapon against his neck, you tried grabbing his staff, but Jack refused to let it go. He could still attack, but why didn't he?
"Give me the staff, Jack."
Barely a second passed.
"No."
"Give it."
A pause.
"No."
You grew angry. You pressed your foot on his wrist holding the staff.
"Then let it go."
"Moonshine, I'm not letting go.", Jack's voice had a strict tone to it. 'So this is what she looks like when she's in serious battle.', he thought. 'Note to self; fight with her, not against her.'
You growled once more. Suddenly, Junshin appeared beside you, whimpering. You turned to face your male canine and your fierce look quickly disappeared. Your face muscles softened, and you dropped Setsuna from your hands. She came back to her usual form, and did the same as Junshin. Jack put himself from his uncomfortable position, but stayed crossed-legged. Your body slumped to the ground, and your eyes were glued to the floor.
"I- I... I'm sorry, Jack. I guess I went a little too far...", you whispered.
With a lot of will power, since moving hurt very much, Jack came beside you, and wrapped you in his arms.
"Hey, it's okay. It just proves you can kick anyone's butt if needed.", he said, trying to console you. He even chuckled a bit. "And that means you're as good as anyone here. But you know, I have beaten you in this battle."
"Oh really?", you raised an eyebrow, your mood changing. "How's that?"
"Look for yourself.", he pointed upwards.
You looked up, and there were multiple icicles pointing directly at you. They looked very sharp, and they shone in the light.
"Oh. That would have left me pretty defeated, all right."
Jack smiled.
Suddenly, the arena's door swung open, and out came the rest of the Guardians.
"Congratulations, little girl! You have passed test!", North's loud voice filled the room.
As you helped the winter spirit up, putting his arm around your shoulders, you asked at the jolly bearded-man:
"Weren't you supposed to stay and work?"
"Pah! I was not going to miss your first battle! And it was a very good one, also."
"You did well, mate. Congrats.", Bunnymund said.
Sandy put two thumbs up, and smiled. Tooth nodded in agreement to the others, clapping joyfully.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm starved; and tired."
-A few hours later-
After eating a delicious supper, you decided to go to bed, feeling your body begging for time to regenerate. As you slumped on the bed, Junshin and Setsuna stayed on the floor, forming a circle as they laid together. You smiled, happy that they were there for you. You quickly changed into a white (almost transparent) nightgown, and slipped under the covers. You stared at the ceiling, thinking of home. Your parents were still on their business trip, so no one would worry about you while you stayed at the Pole. But what now? Pitch hadn't attacked or appeared lately, so was it all for nothing? The ceiling didn't answer. You didn't expect it to grow a face and talk, anyway. But, you could see two glowing orbs, then a pointy nose, and... Oh no.
"Hello, young one.", the slight British accent slithered with the words.
'Pitch.', you thought. 'What's he doing here?' You tried to keep a courageous face, but you knew the Boogeyman knew better.
"What do you want, Pitch?", you asked, bringing yourself to sit up.
Before the Boogeyman could speak, your two wolf companions growled, showing their teeth, sharp and prepared to bite.
"Junshin, Setsuna, down."
The wolves calmed themselves, but still gave the dark man glares.
"As I was saying, I have a proposition for you, my apprentice."
"I'm not yours, Pitch. I'm Sandman's apprentice."
"Of course, of course...", he rolled his eyes. "But you will come back to me."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Well, if you don't cooperate and come to me...", he paused, creating a tension. "Your precious Jack will have to sleep for a very long time..."
Your heart stopped. Your eyes were wide, and you clutched your covers tightly.
"You're, you're going to kill him?"
"Oh, dearest no, precious one. I cannot possibly kill one of the Guardians. But I can put them in an endless coma filled with nightmares."
You twitched.
"So, are you willing to come back to me? Or make your little boyfriend suffer because of your selfishness?"
You always saw this in movies. The villain asks the girl to take her to bring the hero to save her. But this time, you were the hero. And the villain contacted you directly. The decision was easy to make.
"Fine. If you want me so bad, I'll join you. But you must swear to never touch the Guardians, and don't even try to control my brain. I'm willing to do everything you ask of me, but it has to be from my own will."
"Of course.", he smiled maliciously.
You shook hands, and both disappeared under the Moon's light, leaving Junshin and Setsuna alone in the big room. The female canine howled, while the male ran towards the only person he truly trusted; Jack Frost.
And the story continues...
Hope you enjoy! I will immediately start the next chapter!
Have an awesome summer, you guys! But I'm sure you can't wait for winter to come ^u^ (I wonder why XD)
May the Frost be with you...
Hatsu Haruko -xxx-
PS: REVIEWS ARE MY LIFE SOURCEEEEE :D (I especially thank Aoi Yukimura, JackFrostlovr21, weirdgirlforever, Ssassoo, walawala koala, Mrleehumanstillinskilayhey, DevineGuardianAngel, ETCC for the wonderful reviews! I know I missed some people but all of your reviews are GREATLY apreciated and loved!)