Author's Note: Hey everyone! =D Guess what? It's my birthday today! *Tosses confetti* WOO-HOO! I'm officially one year older (I'm in the 13-16 age range), although I don't feel any older. Like, at all. X) *Shrugs* I'm just going to guess that's part of growing up. XD
Anyway, here's chapter three of "That Time of Year!" I hope you guys enjoy it! =D
Chapter Three: Wintertime
December Third
Jack looked out at his lake and smiled. The ice was shimmering like moonlight and the white snow surrounding the winter spirit's home gave the area a pleasant, wintery feel. Jack swung his legs as he sat on his branch, thinking about the Christmas party that was yet to come. And how he would soon be announced of his new role as a Guardian.
Jack still felt slightly nervous about the whole thing. A part of him wanted to tell North not to publicly announce his Guardianship at the party. Jack would have to stand in front of hundreds—maybe even thousands—of other immortals and spirits as North proudly revealed that the winter teen was officially a Guardian. Jack knew several immortals who weren't very fond of him, and several who would protest to him being chosen to be a Guardian. Jack chewed his lower lip and debated between whether to tell North to not say anything about him being a Guardian or to allow the Russian to announce his Guardianship at the Christmas party.
But if it makes North happy to continue the tradition, I guess I should just let him announce my Guardianship, thought Jack. North was so excited to tell the other immortals and spirits about the winter spirit's role as the Guardian of Fun, and Jack didn't want to downgrade his enthusiasm. Jack sighed; his breath was visible in the cold. The winter spirit didn't know what he wanted.
Jack decided to distract his mind with something else. The party wasn't until Christmas Eve, and he had a lot of things to do now that wintertime had officially started. Jack leapt off from his branch, his bare feet crunching in the soft snow below as he walked out onto his lake. Jack smiled blissfully and took in a deep breath of the winter air. He loved the winter season. It was the time where Jack wasn't scolded for making it snow or frosting people's windows. And now that he was a Guardian and some of the children could see him, Jack would be able to have as many snowball fights as he wanted without being walked through.
Jack swung his staff on his shoulder and tapped his foot, wondering what fun thing he should do with Jamie and his friends first. The winter spirit had made a long list during his off-season, and he was hoping to get to everything by the end of winter. Jack knew he had lots of time before wintertide ended, but it was the holidays, and the holiday mood just made Jack feel even more bright about spending winter with his friends.
"Hey, Wind! Take me to Jamie's!" Jack shouted. The Wind swirled around her longtime friend and scooped him up into the air. Jack soared over Burgess and arrived at Jamie's house in only a matter of minutes. The winter spirit peeked into the Bennett boy's bedroom, but the brunette wasn't inside. Jack scratched his head, wondering where Jamie could be when he heard shouts and squeals come from the backyard. Jack directed the Wind to the back of Jamie's house and perched on the picket fence, watching as Jamie, Sophie, and their mother attempted to build a snowman.
"Mom, the head is misshapen!" Jamie exclaimed as he packed more snow into the snow figure's neck. "It's gonna fall off!"
Jamie's mother, Sacha, scooped up a handful of snow. "Not if we stabilize it with enough snow!"
Sophie was searching behind the tree for what Jack guessed for sticks to use for arms and stones to use for eyes. Jack carefully snuck up on the blonde-haired girl. The winter spirit tucked his staff under his arm and covered Sophie's eyes with both of his hands. The little girl gasped in surprise, but she then giggled when she recognized the familiar cool aura of Jack Frost.
"Guess who?" Jack said playfully.
Sophie giggled and said, "Bunny?"
Jack snorted. "Do I sound Australian?"
Sophie laughed and tugged Jack's hands off of her face, bouncing on her feet as she pointed at the winter teen. "Jack! Jack!"
Jack smiled. "You got it!" Sophie immediately gave Jack a hug. The winter spirit returned it and it took a while to pry Sophie's arms off of his waist. Jack crouched down and gestured to the snowman Jamie and his mother were building. "Are you guys building a snowman?"
Sophie nodded and began to pick up the sticks and stones she was holding. "I'm picking out the arms and eyes." The young girl frowned and dropped the items she was holding. "I can't find any good ones."
"Would you like some help?" asked Jack. "I'm an expert in snowmen."
Sophie nodded eagerly and the two began searching the area for good sized stones and sticks. Jack found reasonable sized sticks that would make the perfect arms, and Sophie found two perfectly round stones that would give the snowman eyes.
"Hey, good job!" said Jack with a grin. "Those will make the perfect eyes."
Sophie smiled brightly. "Has Jamie told you about the snowball fight we're gonna have yet?"
Snowball fight? Jack cocked his head curiously. "What snowball fight? And why wasn't I made aware of a snowball fight sooner?"
Sophie rocked on her heels. "It's gonna be the biggest, bestest snowball fight ever! Mom even said that I could go as long as we come home on time."
The biggest, bestest snowball fight ever? Jack had to be there. He just had too! It wasn't every day that a snowball fight as big as that would happen. Besides, he was the Guardian of Fun and bringer of winter. Jack practically invented snowballs, and it wouldn't make sense if Jack Frost wasn't at a giant snowball fight.
"When is it?" asked Jack, excitement decorating the edges of his voice.
Sophie counted on her fingers and bobbed her head side to side. "Umm...I think tomorrow since it's the weekend." Sophie turned her emerald green eyes up at the winter spirit. "Are you gonna come?"
Jack nodded. He was definitely going to that snowball fight. Having a snowball fight with the children was on the top of his list. Jack ruffled Sophie's hair and said, "I'll be there. And tell Jamie not to start without me."
Sophie giggled. "I will!" The blonde waved to Jack as she ran back to Jamie and her mother, babbling to her older brother about how Jack was going to join them at the snowball fight the next day. Jamie smiled and managed to look up just in time to see Jack wave his staff and send a pile of snow crashing on the small Bennett family. Sacha, Sophie, and Jamie laughed in surprise at the sudden snowfall.
Sacha readjusted her glasses and looked up into the pale blue sky. "Huh. Not a cloud in sight. Where did that snow come from?"
Jamie and Sophie smiled at each other and in perfect unison, answered, "Jack Frost!"
…
Now that Jack was a Guardian, the winter spirit had important duties to attend to. He was no longer a free spirit who wasn't held back by rules and regulations, but the Guardian of Fun and official bringer of winter. And holding those two titles was a bit of a difficult job. With the help of the other Guardians, Jack was able to manage his time well and managed to get the hard work of keeping unwanted blizzards under control and causing snowfalls in certain cities and meeting every winter deadline. When a snowfall was due in New York City, Jack was there. When it was time for a blizzard somewhere in Antarctica, Jack was there.
It had taken quite some time for Jack to adjust, and the winter spirit still was adjusting. Jack found that he sometimes missed spreading wintertide at his free will. Children who lived in warmer areas that were said not to be able to receive any snow would wake up to find a white landscape outside of their windows. Jack loved surprising the kids, and back when he wasn't believed in, he hoped that it would get children to notice him. It didn't, but Jack still smiled whenever he heard adults talking about how it snowed in the desert.
Jack waved his staff, creating a light, even snowfall over Moscow. Jack let out a long breath, glad that all of the places that were due for snow had received their winter precipitation. The winter spirit liked sending snow to places around the world. Spreading his winter for both the children and adults to enjoy, but Jack always looked forward to the other side of his job as well: snowballs and fun times.
Jack launched off of the building he was standing on and headed toward Burgess. By the time he arrived at the town, it was night, meaning that Sandy would soon come to spread his pleasant dreams to the children of Burgess. Jack flew toward his lake and slid on the ice, leaving trails of frost behind him before diving into his tree home. The winter spirit had grown to love his home. The Guardians put so much work and effort into it. Jack never thought he'd ever have a home of his own.
The winter teen slung his staff on his shoulder and picked out two cookies from his cookie jar. The Christmas colored jar never ran out of cookies; a little spell that North had placed on it when he gave the cookie-filled jar to Jack. The winter spirit shoved the Christmas cookies into his mouth, and Jack felt that eating the cookies around Christmastime made them taste even more delectable.
Jack yawned and then plopped onto his couch, staring at the picture of him and the Guardians that sat on top of his wooden coffee table. The winter spirit picked it up discreetly and brought it close. It was the very first photo that they had taken together, and Jack remembered the scene vividly. Jack smiled and ran his pale hand over the picture frame wistfully. Things had changed so much since he had become a Guardian. Jack wasn't alone anymore, he had people who were there for him, and now he got to spend Christmas with them. Jack placed the picture back onto his table and decided to get some rest. Tomorrow was the big snowball fight, and Jack didn't want to miss it.
The winter spirit stood up from his couch and walked over to his bed. Jack didn't often go to sleep. He was an immortal, so he wasn't required to get shut eye as often as regular people did. But now that it was winter, Jack found himself tired after a day of hard work. Jack didn't necessarily like sleeping, but he knew that if he did not want to be exhausted for the next day, he would have to get some rest.
Jack yawned as he pulled the covers over himself and sunk into his soft pillow. The winter spirit soon felt the familiar warmth of Sandy's dreamsand. Jack let out one more yawn and fell asleep.
…
"Okay, is everybody ready?" asked Jamie to his friends. The last light pounded the last bit of snow into his snow fort and stood up. Cupcake, Pippa, Monty, Caleb, and Claude stood up from their snow forts and each of them gave a nod.
"Let's start this fight already!" said Cupcake. She quickly made a snowball and was about to throw it at Jamie, but Sophie stopped her.
"We have to wait for Jack!" Sophie said. "We promised we'd wait for him!"
Jamie nodded and looked up into the sky. The Guardian of Fun was nowhere in sight. Jamie knew that Jack had a lot of things to do and that it was possible that the winter spirit got held up with spreading winter. Jamie was hoping that Jack would come. He always managed to nail every target when they had snowball fights. And Jack always made things more fun.
Well, he is the Guardian of Fun for a reason, thought Jamie with a small smile. The brown-haired boy looked down at Sophie, who was tugging his sleeve.
"When's Jack coming?" the little girl asked.
Jamie shrugged. "I don't know. Sometime soon hopefully."
The group of kids waited some time longer, but Jack still didn't arrive. Jamie decided that they should start the fight and if Jack did arrive later, they would welcome him in the snowy battlefield.
"Okay, everyone, get ready!" said Jamie. Everyone took their place behind their snow forts. The kids had taken the time to make several snowballs and tuck them away into their forts, but they all knew that they would eventually just stick to fighting in the middle of the battle instead of taking cover.
Jamie and Sophie ducked behind their fort and Jamie said to his sister, "Remember, just throw your snowballs at everyone you see except for me. Don't hesitate to take a shot!"
Sophie nodded and clutched a snowball in her gloved hand. Jamie peered out toward his friends, who were waiting to start.
"Who wants to take the first shot?" asked Cupcake.
"I WILL!" shouted a familiar voice from above. Jamie and the other kids looked up, their faces turning into grins when they saw Jack diving down from the sky. The winter spirit landed in the center of the handmade battlefield and looked around. "You guys weren't going to start without me, were you?"
"No!" said Sophie. "I was the one who reminded them to wait!"
Jack conjured up a pile of snowballs and picked one up. He looked at everyone and then chucked his snowball at Jamie. The Bennett boy toppled over and sat back up, a huge smile on his face.
"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" Cupcake yelled. And the snowball Armageddon began. Snowballs flew like darts in the air. Some missed their targets, some didn't. Sophie squealed every time a snowball hit her, and Jack made sure to give the kids more ammo when the snowballs seemed to be running low. The kids darted from left to right, trying to make themselves more difficult targets for each other, but Jack somehow always managed to nail each and every one of them with a perfectly round snowball. The feeling of fun pulsed through the kids as they hurriedly bent down to pick up another snowball, and Jack was having the time of his life.
"How do you always manage to hit us?!" asked Pippa as she got hit in the back with a snowball by Jack.
Jack shrugged and flashed her a mischievous smirk. "I'm not revealing any of my secrets!" He tossed another snowball at the girl and Pippa laughed, quickly bending down to create another snowball.
The winter spirit helped the kids in any way he could. He would shout where to aim and how to quickly create a snowball. And since Sophie was the youngest of the group, Jack made sure to give her some extra help when it came to throwing snowballs. The blonde little girl managed to hit everyone she wanted thanks to Jack.
People who were passing by as they walked through the park began to join the kids and Jack in their snowball fight. Jamie had inadvertently hit a young man with a snowball, but he wasn't upset at all. In fact, he balled up some snow and tossed it right back at the brown-harried Bennett! After that, couples, teenagers, and even other children came and joined the snowball fight that was taking place in the middle of the park. The snowball fight grew even bigger, and Jack even found himself helping the adults and teens when they needed it. Jack couldn't verbally talk to them, but he used the Wind to guide the snowballs that were thrown to hit their targets and waved his staff to create more snowballs.
The center of the park was filled with laughter, fun, and pure joy. Adults, teens, and children alike were all throwing snowballs at each other. Some adults fell into the snow, but instead of getting upset, they laughed. And whenever anyone laughed, Jack laughed right along with them. Snowballs flew through the air and snow sprayed in all directions as people ran around trying to avoid getting hit. Jack could feel the fun surging through everyone, and that feeling was a wonderful one.
Soon, the snowball fight ended. The adults, teens, families, and other people who had joined in waved their goodbyes and wished the kids a merry Christmas as they left. The sun was just beginning to dip into the horizon, and the sky was streaked with purple, pink, and peach hues. Jack smiled and turned to the seven kids who stood before him. They were breathing heavily, but they were grinning ear to ear. Their noses were red, and their cheeks were rosy, and Jack knew that they had had a lot of fun.
"That. Was. Epic!" exclaimed Jamie.
"The best snowball fight in history!" added Cupcake.
Monty brushed some snow off of his glasses and nodded. "There were so many people! I thought we were toast when Jamie threw that snowball at that one guy."
Jack chuckled. "I wasn't expecting so many people either." The winter spirit perched on the top of his staff. "But that was definitely one of the best snowball fights I've ever had."
Pippa bounced on her heels. "I had so much fun. We should do this again soon!"
"School's almost over," said Claude. "So that could be a possibility."
Jamie nodded eagerly. "Yeah, it would be so cool if our parents joined too." Jamie suddenly gasped. "Speaking of our parents, we should probably go home. It's getting dark!"
"I'm not in the mood for being scolded for being late," said Caleb. The kids turned to Jack, thanking him for the most epic snowball fight and walked down the park path to head back to their neighborhood. Jack smiled and leapt off of his staff. He called on the Wind and flew to his lake. Jack had never seen so many people having so much fun. And even though he was walked through a few times during the snowball Armageddon, he didn't even notice.
Jack flew up onto his favorite tree branch and leaned against the trunk. The winter spirit closed his eyes and smiled to himself. When the Guardians had their next meeting, Jack knew what he was going to share.
Author's Note: The snowball fight scene was inspired by a chapter in the final book of "The Guardians of Childhood!" =D I hope you guys enjoyed chapter three! =D
Until the next chapter!
-BeyondTheMoon1203
