Hey y'all! I know its been awhile and I apologize...again...
So the reason I haven't updated is because I had gotten very distracted with the election that was going on and I just got absorbed in watching the campaigning between Clinton and Trump and then the aftermath of everything that was going on. I mean my own city had a peaceful protest happen downtown.
Then I also had my younger brother's baby showers to plan and bake for and just a lot of things going on. So I once again apologize and will try to update much more regularly because seriously this story has gone out of control from what I originally planned, but I hope its good. So on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in relation to DreamWorks Rise of the Guardians or Disney's Atlantis franchise. I only own my own characters and plot additions.
They waited till Volgud had passed the Inn before they headed out to follow him, everyone was crouched down and being careful with their steps. Yet as they followed a few paces behind him, they got distracted as strange noises began to erupt around them. A strange growl began to ring out as well as some neighing from a horse or donkey that was then suddenly cut off. The all consuming fog just added to the foreboding atmosphere.
"What is that?" Tiana asked moving a little closer to Abdima as a very loud noise suddenly erupted.
"Its not of this earth." Porc said glancing around nervously.
"Its probably a bird, Like a Puffin, or a Gooney bird." Abdima remarked when another loud growl and neigh sounded out making him jump a bit. "And it has an upset stomach."
"No, its not a bird. It sounds like horses, somewhat, and the growls aren't growls. Its like a lot of voices. I-I cant make out what they're saying." Aster stated trying to listen to what the noises were saying.
"Aster. Where's Volgud?" Jack asked squinting into the fog.
"His light is gone! That's impossible, he was just in front of us. And I haven't taken my eyes off him the whole time!" Tooth exclaimed clenching her fists in frustration.
"Maybe we ended up walking in circles. I mean the fog has gotten worse, not so hard to believe we just lost track of him." Porc stated looking around.
"Maybe we should just head back to the village." Aster remarked feeling a bit defeated as the others gathered around him in a circle.
"But, which way is the village?" Tiana asked.
Aster looked around for a moment to see if there were any familiar landmarks, when he suddenly saw a cluster of lights off in the distance. He figured that they had to belong to the village, "Well, there's some lights over there. Lets just head towards them before the fog gets any worse." Aster told them gesturing toward the cluster.
"Alright, that's a good idea. Lets go." Jack said starting to move toward the lights.
They walked for a few minutes, no longer hearing anything but the crunch of the dirt underneath them which filled Porc with concern.
"Um, do you hear how the gravel sounds?" Porc asked magnifying his goggles as he looked down in concern.
"Not now Porc, we're almost to the village." Tiana replied a bit irritated with his fascination with rocks at the moment.
"No, you don't understand. This is made out of crushed granite which means that we may be heading toward the CLIFF!" He yelled as they all suddenly fell over the side of the cliff. They all yelled out in fear and confusion as they slid down the rough cold cliff face. Porc quickly twisted around onto his stomach, ignoring the rocks scraping his skin through his jacket, and pulled out two small pick-axes that were used for digging and stuck them into the cliff, hoping to make himself slow down enough. After a few feet of falling, the pick-axes finally latched on and he came to a stop. Though, since he was the first to fall, it also caused the others to crash into him and grip onto whatever they could. This resulted in all of them being very close together. All except Tiana, who slid past them still screaming.
"Tiana!" They called out as they saw her suddenly come to a stop.
"Are you okay?" Abdima asked worried he saw her slam her back to the cliff face.
"Yeah, at least for now! Kind of a small area, and its not really helping that I'm slipping a bit." She answered trying to hide the worry in her voice.
"Alright Tiana, I need you to keep talking to me. I'm going to head down and try to help you back up, okay?" Aster told her starting to head down, having gotten good at climbing thanks to Jack.
"You know, this is kind of getting old Aster." Tiana remarked with a small laugh.
"What is?" Aster asked as he got further down while the others told him to be careful.
"You leading us off of cliffs." She replied.
"What do you mean? I was just following the village lights." Aster said looking over his shoulder at the mentioned lights, but what he saw made his mouth go dry. The supposed "lights" suddenly separated and vanished, as if they were never there. "Um, am I the only one who saw that?" He asked. The others, who were climbing back up, shared a look.
"It appears that there is more at work here than a sea monster." Tooth commented as she turned back and climbed higher.
"That's just perfect, someone is doing Hocus Pocus. I hate Hocus Pocus." Abdima stated with a grunt.
"Hocus Pocus?" Jack asked confused as he lifted himself over the edge of the cliff, obviously having made it to the top before everyone else since he was used to climbing.
"I'll explain later Jackie." Aster called out having dropped onto the closet ledge by Tiana.
"Hey Aster, nice night we're having." Tiana remarked, trying to be calm, but her clenched hands gave off how scared she really was.
"Well it was, Shelia. Now I'm going to try to reach down and get you, like the last time. Got it." Aster told her crouching down and lowering a hand down to get to her. She reached a hand out to him but she couldn't reach him, there was about a foot distance between them and it was clear that he couldn't reach her.
"I cant reach. I'm going to have to jump." Tiana grunted placing her hands on the cliff face and crouching down a bit, making sure her footing was good.
"Uh, no. Shelia, don't jump. I'll try to climb down some more." He told her trying to stop her.
"You can't. The rocks are to smooth to climb and there is no room for someone your size. I have to jump." She told him crouching down more in order to get a more powerful jump. Aster looked around quickly and saw that she was right, he was too big to get further down, but he couldn't risk her jumping and possible falling.
"Look Shelia, I'm the leader at the moment and I'm ordering you not to jump!" Aster ordered hoping she'll listen. She gave him a glare and snarl, not liking that he had tried to order her around.
"That's it, Rabbit." She snarled before pushing off with her legs and jumping shocking Aster into jerking down to catch her. He was able to catch her hand, though he could feel a rock dig into his side.
"See, told you I'd be fine." She told him with a grin. He gave off a chuckle started to pull her in when, he suddenly noticed that her hand was bleeding pretty heavily and it was making it hard to hold on to her.
"Tiana, your slipping. Quick, give me you other hand!" Aster told her frantically. She looked at him with wide eyes and a wince as she began to lose her hold as the pain in her hand got worst. She tried to get her other hand up but it was too late. She was slipping.
She screamed as she fell and all she could hear was the wind rushing past her and someone screaming her name. Aster had no time to think. He quickly stomped his foot and fell into the tunnel, barely giving any thought into constructing it. He just imagined a hole opening up on the cliff face where Tiana will likely fall by and rushed through.
Tiana had given up any hope of any of her teammates being able to help her, she was going too fast and it would take a miracle to save her. Just as she had accepted her fate, two hand shot out and gripped her wrist forcing her to a stop. She opened her clenched shut eyes and looked up. There within a large tunnel was Aster with bright glowing green eyes, as well as a bright glowing green crystal.
" You know, it seems like I'm always saving you Shelia." Aster told her with a smirk as he pulled her into the tunnel.
"Yeah, well don't let it go to your head." She grunted once he released her. She turned to look back at where she came in and saw that it was now closed off, as if it was never open. Yet Aster's crystal and eyes still glowed green.
"Come on, we can take the tunnel to the top. Its better than climbing mate." Aster told her moving down the tunnel.
"So, have you always been able to do this or did Jack teach you this?" Tiana asked after a few feet of walking as she still tried to wrap her head around them being in a tunnel that Aster somehow created.
"Actually, Jack didn't teach me. In fact, he doesn't even know. I wasn't ready to tell him because when I discovered that I could do this, Jack was going through a tough time and I didn't want to add to his burden, also I was scared of what I could do. So I set out to figure out how this new ability worked and I've basically mastered it now, and I was going to tell Jack but then all of this happened and I never got the chance to tell him." Aster answered sensing that they were getting close.
"Really? How do you think he'll feel now? Learning that you are able to do this and never told him about it?" She asked as they came to a stop. Aster glanced at her with a guilty expression and tense eyes.
"I don't know. But I guess we'll find out. Hang on to me." Aster told her holding onto her as he concentrated on opening the tunnel back up. Soon enough, they were out of the tunnel and standing behind their group, who were all looking over the edge, looking for the two people who were behind them.
"I'm going down there. I'm the best climber, maybe they're just stuck or something." Jack told them getting ready to go down with a determined expression but in the undertone of his voice, Aster heard fear.
"No need Jackie. We're right behind you." Aster stated with a smirk when he saw the group jump and turn to face them. Jack watched in disbelief before he quickly ran toward Aster. He threw himself at him, making Aster stumble back with a grunt. Aster could feel Jack shed a tear against his neck, which made him hold Jack even closer.
"I thought I had lost you, please never do that again Aster. I don't think I would survive it." Jack whispered as he tried not to cry.
"I'm sorry love. I never want to put you through that again. I'm so sorry." Aster whispered back, rubbing a hand up and down his back, trying to sooth and comfort him. As Aster and Jack hugged each other, Tiana had rushed to give Abdima a hug. Knowing that the man had been scared for her and was relieved to see that she was fine.
"I'm glad to see that you are safe little fae. I don't know what your father and sisters would do to me if you had gotten hurt or worst." He told her after giving her a tight hug, barely suppressing the relieved shudder that had run through his body when she had suddenly appeared. Tiana knew that he had truly been worried about her, when he had used her old nickname little fae. He hadn't called her that in years.
"Yeah, papa would have killed you and my sisters would hunt down your spirit just to try and kill it again. I'm sorry to worry you Dima, but I'm okay Aster saved me." She replied.
"Just how did Aster save you? I mean, I saw you fall and there was no way Aster should have reached you, unless he jumped after you. So how did you survive?" Tooth bluntly asked. Disregarding the shocked looks she got for her question.
"That's a bit harsh Tooth, don't you think?" Porc asked patting Baby Tooth on her head for some comfort. Once they had reached the top Baby hadn't want to be separated from either of them and so stayed near Porc.
"She can be like that, but I also want to know how Aster was able to save you. So, Aster how did you save her? And how did you appear behind us?" Jack asked as he and Aster returned to the group.
"I think that Aster should answer and explain." Tiana said giving Aster a look.
"Well I was able to save her by using my crystal." Aster stated.
"What do you mean?" Tooth asked very curious.
"A few years ago I learned that I had developed an ability with my crystal. Like you. You can make ice and snow with your crystal and I can grow things. Like flowers and plants. I can also make tunnels and using my concentration I can create a tunnel to just about anywhere, as long as there is earth that is, and I can make the travel very short. A walk that would take me half an hour, I can make in five minutes. As long as I concentrate, I can go just about anywhere. I've been slowly mastering it and I think I just did right now. That's how I saved Tiana, I created a tunnel that appeared on the face of the cliff, I grabbed her as she fell and then created a tunnel to the top and that's how we came up behind you all." Aster explained trying to avoid Jack's gaze, but he couldn't help but flinch when he felt Jack pull his hand away from his and step back.
"You've known about this for years and you never told me? Why?" Jack demanded not looking into Aster's eyes.
"I wanted to mate, but you were going through some things with your father and your kingdom and I just didn't want to add to your burdens. I was also scared of this ability." Aster replied reaching out to touch Jack. But he just jerked away and stepped back, still not looking up at him.
"I could have helped you. I love you and I should have been there for you. You should have asked for my help, no matter what I was going through, I would have have helped you. You say you were scared but you also didn't trust me with this secret. I cant even wrap my mind around this." Jack cried out clenching his fists.
"Jack, mate. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I just didn't want to be a burden." Aster tried to explain.
"Don't you get it! You have never been and never will be a burden. So don't use that as an excuse. You just didn't trust how I would react. You thought I would fear you, and that's why you kept it a secret." Jack replied finally looking up at him. What he saw made Aster stumble back. Within Jack's eyes, he saw a storm of emotions that just don't belong in his eyes. He saw betrayal and sadness, as well as hurt. He looked broken, and it was because of him.
"Jack-" Aster started but Jack just interrupted turning away.
"No, I don't want to hear it. Lets just head back to the village. It seems Volgud wanted us to fall off the cliff, he probably thinks we're dead. I bet he's at the Inn." Jack told him whistling a tune to call Baby to him and walking back to the village now that the fog had died down, allowing them to actually see the road. Tooth went to follow after her prince but she gave Aster a quick squeeze on the arm in comfort and support as she passed.
"What have I done?" Aster whispered rubbing his face.
"Everything will work out Aster, he just needs some time. And you two just need to actually sit down and talk." Porc told him surprising everyone.
"Thanks Porc, but that'll have to wait till after this mission." Aster said moving to follow Jack and Tooth. The others nodded and began to follow.
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After a very quiet and awkward 5 minute walk, the group finally arrived into the town. As they made their way to the Inn, they noticed that Volgud was entering the Inn.
"Why do you think he's going in there?" Tiana asked carefully crossing her arms at her injury was still open.
"Probably to pick up anything that may prove we were there. Its what I would do." Jack stated, a dark look in his eyes.
"Then lets ruin the rest of his night." Tooth growled moving to enter the Inn. They followed and entered the Inn, interrupting a conversation between Volgud and an obviously frightened Inger. Volgud stared at them with wide eyes, obviously surprised to see them.
"Whats the matter Volgud? Surprised to see us? Expecting our corpses to feed your pet?" Jack growled getting into Volgud's face, ignoring Aster and Tooth's efforts to stop him. Volgud just glared at Jack and after a short staring contest, Volgud looked way and walked out the door, closing it with a bang.
"He is definitely a leech." Porc stated with a sneer.
"Yes he is. Pr- I mean Jack. Never do that, he could have had a blade or worse. Do you want to get killed?" Tooth demanded as she walked up to Jack and made him face her.
"Of course not. But he just tried to kill my friends and family, I wasn't going to not confront him!" Jack stated with clenched fists.
"I realize that, but I did not raise or teach you to think irrationally. I did not teach you to not think with your head. So if you ever do that again you will be grounded. Do you understand?" Tooth told him in a quiet voice, ignoring the people around them.
"You can't-" He started before Tooth cut him off.
"Do you understand, your Majesty?!" Tooth snapped grabbing his upper arm. Jack glared at her and shook his arm free before he moved to go upstairs.
"I understand Tooth, but also remember that I am King, and you will not speak to me like that again. I hope you understand that." Jack told her with a fierce glare. He turned around and continued up the stairs, entering one of the rooms.
Tooth closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh rubbing her temples. She looked up and saw that everyone was staring at her confused, minus Aster who was staring at the stares with concern.
"I apologize for mine and Jack's behavior. As well as our rudeness. It will not happen again." She apologized.
"Um, its alright Tooth, it just seemed very, intense." Tiana replied.
"Well it was. He's just stubborn and hurt." Tooth told her before she sat down with a grunt.
"Well I get where he was coming from but I'm sure after, he's calmed down a bit that he'll apologize and be less emotional." Tiana said also sitting down with a wince.
"I'm going to go talk to him. We should all turn in and in the morning we'll try and find out more about Volgud. Inger, do you mind letting my team ask you some more questions about Volgud? I understand that you are scared of him and the Kraken but if we can stop him, maybe we can stop the Kraken and your town could be saved and you could leave to a better place, where you can raise your child. Just please consider that." Aster asked Inger who was being comforted by Abdima. She looked at Aster and gave a small nod that Aster returned with thanks. "Oh and Tooth, can you take a look at Tiana's hand, it was hurt in the fall and everyone just make sure to take care of any injuries. Good-night." Aster added rushing to get upstairs and talk to Jack.
"Hope they actually talk calmly and are able to deal with their problems maturely." Porc stated sitting down to take a look at Tiana's hand. Once again everyone just stared at Porc, even Baby who had stayed behind with Porc. Porc, feeling the gaze of everyone, looked up with confusion.
"What?!" He demanded, a bit annoyed with the stares.
"You have so far given two great pieces of advice about relationships, but every time you hit on a girl you get punched." Abdima stated.
"And?" Porc asked still confused.
"How do you give great advice but are terrible with women?" Abdima asked still very confused.
"I give good advice because I have had a few very serious relationships and now I just go for fun and non-caring. That's why I get hit, because I am not looking for commitment, just a quickie. Some women don't like it and that's why I get hit. Ms. Inger may I have some soap and warm water? As well as some rags. Tiana has a superficial cut but its better to clean it so it doesn't get infected." Porc explained. Inger nodded and went to the the kitchen to get the asked for items.
"Um okay. So does anyone else have any injuries?" Abdima asked also sitting down feeling the scrapes on his chest twinge a bit.
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While the group was talking downstairs, Aster was looking for which bedroom Jack was in. He knows that Jack right now was very upset with him and with Volgud and it had lead to him snapping at Tooth and make him confront Volgud. He needs to talk to Jack and clear the air and hope that Jack can forgive him and maybe help him understand his new gifts better. After checking most of the rooms, he finally found Jack in the last room taking his shirt off to look at some scrapes that he had acquired.
The room that Jack had entered was mid size and very cozy. It was a dark burgundy color with dark colored wood through out the room. From the large rectangular headboard of the Queen size bed to the dark wood dressers. With the room so dark, Jack stood out like a candle with how pale he was.
"Jack you okay?" Aster asked silently closing the door behind him. Jack jumped and spun around with a wince, obviously pulling on his wounds.
"I'm fine Aster, just some scrapes and cuts from the fall. What about you?" Jack answered turning back to look at his scrapes using the full length mirror on the other side of the room. Aster went up to Jack, wanting to see if his wounds would need to be cleaned. He saw that Jack's eyes flickered to look at him using the mirror, but when he tried to catch his gaze he looked away to look at his wounds. It seems that the scrapes were superficial and just looked glaring because of his pale skin and the redness of the wound. The worst wound seemed to be on his feet because he was barefoot when they had fallen. Aster actually didn't have any wounds, so he was pretty lucky and so he focused on Jack's feet.
"I'm fine Jackie. Just lift your feet so I can check on them." Aster told him crouching down.
"No its fine, I'll take care of it later." Jack told him, moving away.
"Don't be ridiculous mate. It cant be comfortable standing on them, so just let me check them out." Aster stated moving once again only for Jack to move away.
"No, stop it Aster!" Jack cried out moving back. This continued on for a while until Jack's knees bumped into the bed and Aster gave him a light push so he was flat on the bed with his feet hanging over. As Jack adjusted to now being on the bed, Aster took the time to examine his injured feet. It seems that he had cut up the sides of his feet and had gotten some dirt in the wounds. So all he would need is to clean the wounds and that's all.
"Okay Jackie. Stay here while I go get a cloth and some soap and water so that I could clean your feet." Aster told him standing up.
"Aster that isn't necessary. I'll be fine." Jack stated leaning up on his elbows.
"Jackie, it may have been fine for you to get some cuts and have dirt get in them when you were in Atlantis but its different here. Your body has built up an immune system to the environment that you were in since birth. Given that your environment was mostly enclosed your body could get very sick due to it getting introduced to new unfamiliar bacteria. So we have to clean your wounds. Now sit back and let me take care of you." Aster explained to him as he came back from the bathroom with a towel and small bowl.
Jack stared at him with wide eyes but soon leaned back with a huff and waved hand, signaling him to continue. Aster breathed out a small thanks and he began to clean out the wounds on his feet. After a few minutes, Aster had finished cleaning Jack's feet and he had moved up to clean the scrapes on his torso. By the time Aster had finished cleaning the wounds Jack's eyes dropped half way. Aster helped move Jack into a more comfortable position on the bed and by the time he had put him under the covers, he was fast asleep. Aster gave a soft smile at the sight of Jack's peaceful face before he gave Jack a light kiss on the forehead.
Aster cleaned up the bowl and when he went to check on the others he saw that it was dark, meaning that everyone had gone to bed and on top of the stairs railing, even Baby Tooth was fast asleep. Her head was tucked into her wing and as Aster gave her head a soft stroke, she gave off a soft coo. Aster chuckled and moved back to his room ready to just fall into bed and sleep.
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"I hate you! All you do is keep secrets and not trust anyone. You only care about yourself Aster! I wish that you have never found my home and I wish you had never stayed!" Jack screamed at Aster an icy glare freezing Aster in his place.
"Jack you don't mean that." He whispered, not believe that his Jackie would say these things.
"Of course I do! You know you think the same thing and I'm sure you regret ever staying with me, that's why you wont ask me to marry you!" He snapped moving to get into Aster's face.
"No..." Aster whimpered out, unable to comprehend what was going on and how it got to this point. They had been sitting together on top of Jack's secret place just holding each other and exchanging sweet kisses. Suddenly their bright grassy, shining background changed into a cold wasteland. Jack had begun to yell at him and he had no idea what to think. It all seemed true but it couldn't be. He didn't regret staying. At least he didn't consciously. Suddenly Jack was back in his face.
"You kept secrets from me because you couldn't trust me. You don't want to marry me because you regret staying with me. So I don't love you as strongly as I did those years ago, and you know it." Jack whispered into his ears before he backed away. The last thing Aster saw was his bright yellow eyes. Wait...yellow? Was all he thought before darkness closed in.
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So now your getting more of a hint as to who may be behind all of this and we are having some more problems between Aster and Jack because neither one of our boys are good at communication. And surprise side to Porc, hope that was a shock to everyone and yes I like having Tiana be in some danger... Also the italicized sentences are when they speak Atlanteen, just thought it would be easier that translating it to Greek. So on with Reviews!
Reviews:
Ngel Azul: Thank you so much for reviewing and I am so sorry for the long wait and I'm not trying to kill you...maybe ;) ...but I hope you like this new chapter and you enjoy it!
Ilovesilverthehedgehog: Thank you so much for reviewing and I'm glad you are liking my story and I did want to keep the fundamental story of the second movie within this story but also twist it to fit with my universe and characters, so I'm glad that its working well. Also I am very sorry for the long wait and will try to update sooner.
So that is all and guys please don't be afraid to ask questions or make suggestions because I would really enjoying hearing more from you guys. So till next time! See y'all!