Pitch: This will be entertaining.
Jack: Who let you into the AN?!
Kitkat: I told you guys to lock the door.
Bunny: Who was the last one to enter?
North:...
Pitch: Oh don't let me get under your fur, rabbit. Just thought I'd join. Besides, the story is almost done.
Kitkat: Shh! I'm trying to write. Now play nice.
North wasn't quite sure when it first started. It hadn't really surprised North. As a matter of fact, he was used to receiving what Jack called "fan letters" from "crazy fangirls." Though he wouldn't have called them crazy. He was Santa Claus, a Guardian of Childhood. Letters from spirits, immortal beings, legendary figures, and even mortals came with the job.
So when he began to receive ice-blue colored letters that smelled like freshly fallen snow, North just read it like he usually did when it came to these sorts of things. It was kind of cute. At first.
Dearest North (or may I call you Nicholas?),
I know you probably didn't see me but I saw you when you and the other Guardians were battling Pitch. When one of his horrendous nightmares attempted to harm you, I was filled with worry. But then you brandished your wonderful swords and managed to defeat the Nightmare King! You were so brave and strong. The mightiest warrior I have ever had the pleasure of seeing.
She (North assumed by the elegant handwriting and her poetic-like choice of words that it was a woman) went on to compliment the Russian on his skills, appearance, and pretty much everything she could base on what little she had seen.
At the bottom of the page, instead of her name, she drew a blue-colored heart with white snow at the top surrounded by snowflakes. As he didn't have a name to call her, North referred to her as "Snowy" whenever he spoke about her to the other Guardians.
Jack found it hilarious, Tooth would squeal and coo about how romantic it was, and Bunny would just scoff and paint his eggs. Sandy, however, was concerned. He warned North about how this might end badly but good old Saint Nick just ignored it. How could silly love letters end badly? AN: At this point, most readers will probably either physically or mentally face-palm at how stupid characters can be and how things will end badly just because a character said it wouldn't.
As time went on, North began to notice that the letters were getting a little more overbearing, if you will. Or perhaps obsessive is a better word for it. She started to talk about him. And her. Together. Romantically.
But North could handle that. At least, he thought he could. Until he read her latest letter. While it was the shortest note he'd ever received from Snowy, North knew without a doubt that it was the most unsettling.
Nicholas, my love,
I can't wait any longer for your reply. I must have you. You and I were destined for one another. Our story will be written in the stars. Soon, we'll be together forever. I promise.
Love, Snowy
North felt his heart stop when he saw that, instead of the snowflake he'd been so accustomed to, she'd signed it with the nickname he'd given her. The one that only his fellow Guardians knew about.
"North, this better be good," Bunny's voice drew North out of his thoughts and made him realize the Guardians had all gathered by the snow globe. He gestured for them to take a seat.
"The reason I have called this meeting is because of this," North handed Tooth the small piece of paper and waited for everyone to read it before he spoke again. "Maybe I am overreacting but I found this disturbing to read."
"Same here. I mean, fangirls are one thing, but love-crazed stalkers are another," Jack commented.
"Why is she a stalker?"
"Besides the fact that she knows about the 'Snowy' thing?" Bunny retorted.
"That's the thing that confuses me the most. I only told you four about it. Moon knows how she found out," North sat down as an uncomfortable silence fell on the Guardians. No one quite knew what to say about it, or what they should do. Except for Jack, that is.
Something seemed...familiar to him. The scent, anyway. He grabbed the letter again. It was faint but the aroma was without a doubt some kind of perfume. And in order for the author to help the plot move along, it was a kind of perfume Jack had seen before and knew exactly what it was called.
"This stuff's been spritzed with Ice Queen perfume. They only sell this around Christmas time at malls," Jack stated. Bunny cocked an eyebrow and nudged the young Spirit.
"And you know that how? Little late for Christmas shopping, ain't it? It's in less than two weeks."
"No! But I've seen it on billboards when I go flying. They only advertise it during the holidays," Jack crossed his arms and muttered something about annoying rabbits.
"Well, that's a good start. We just have to figure out which store she got it from, who she is, and where she lives…" Tooth trailed off when she realized how much work that was going to take. Sandy rolled his eyes. There wasn't that much work to be done if his comrades would just use their brains.
He made an image of an envelope appear over his head. North looked confused but pulled the ice-blue envelope out and handed it to the golden-colored man. Sandy pointed at the left corner, where the address of the person who sent the letter usually was.
In this case, the city and country were stamped on the paper. There wasn't a house number or street name but it did narrow things down quite a bit. And lo and behold, it was Burgess. Home of both Jack and his first believers, the Guardians' favorite kids (though they loved every other child too), and where the lair of Pitch resided.
Basically, a place that held significant meaning to pretty much everyone in the ROTG universe.
Things were bad. Really bad. Jack hated to admit it, but even he was having a hard time finding the fun in the situation. But let's go back to the moment right before things took a turn for the worse.
"Well, it looks like we did find the place," Tooth fluttered around nervously as she spoke, the two-story building looming ominously over the Guardians. It was located at the very edge of town and had a strange eerie kind of vibe that freaked Jack out. But only a little.
While his number of believers was growing, Jack was the best choice to "sneak" into the mall. He figured if he watched security footage that showed everyone who bought the holiday-themed fragrance they could try and figure out who Snowy actually was. He snuck into the security room when the younger guard went on his lunch break and the older one fell asleep a few seconds after sitting in his chair.
From what North could tell from the impeccable handwriting, she was a young elegant-type of a woman. And since she seemed to be kind of (most definitely) obsessed with North, she probably wore Christmas-y colors (red, green, and white).
Unfortunately, most of the shoppers were men buying the perfume for their girlfriends, wives, etc. Jack had almost fallen asleep out of pure boredom before he spotted something. Or rather, someone. A 20-something-year-old woman, with skin the color of cocoa, walked with an air of self-importance. Her ruby red hair was tied into a bun with a long ponytail coming from it.
The footage was a little blurry, but the Winter Spirit could make out a very short red dress with green straps, red gloves with white fur trim and matching boots with green laces. AN: He's not exactly the kind of boy to pay attention to details of women's clothing. So more detail on her appearance will come at a later time.
He tried to find something, anything really, that could tell him who she was or where she lived. Luckily for him, he managed to turn the volume up without waking the guard. By doing so, Jack overheard a quick conversation between Snowy and the sales lady.
"I'd liked to have a container shipped to my house." The lady started to type on her computer. "That'll be at 3213 Jerry Drove Drive." *Random address thanks to random address generator*
"And what name will this order be under?"
"Raquelle. Raquelle Watson."
"What kind of a Spirit lives in a place like this?" Bunny asked. Sandy shrugged before looking to North for an answer.
" It doesn't necessarily have to be a Spirit. It could be an immortal woman or perhaps a mortal who...still believes…." North couldn't help but wonder if that was even an option. There were hardly any believers over the age of thirteen, let alone 20 or more years.
To be more exact, Raquelle was twenty-three. At least, that's what Jack said the internet told him. The world of technology was still kind of confusing to the older Guardian, so how a website could tell him the age of a random person in Burgess was strange, to say the least.
"I tried the doorbell and knocked. No one seems to be home," Tooth whispered when she spoke despite having just said that no one was home.
"Why don't we split up then? Check out the areas around the house and, if we need to, the inside of the house," North suggested. AN: This is where the classic cliché of splitting up even though it's a bad idea comes into play. Go clichés!
And that's when everything went wrong.
North had decided to go inside with Jack, who took the downstairs while the Russian checked out the upstairs. That's why it surprised the others when Jack came running out yelling about North going missing.
The Guardians all rushed inside and left no rock unturned. Bunny was the last to examine the house. When he came outside, he shook his head, which caused the remaining Guardians to face the facts.
Christmas was around the corner and Santa Claus was missing. Or kidnapped, as it were.
AN: Sorry this was so long to both write/publish and read. Had to wait until Thanksgiving break before I got the chance to write anything. This is technically a two-shot so the next chapter will be the conclusion.
Tooth: But Christmas is around the door! What'll we do without North?!
Pitch: What on earth are you saying? It's not even December yet.
Jack: Shh! It is in the story.
Bunny: Yeah. Besides, it's close enough.
Kitkat: This chapter is long enough without you guys butting it. Until next time...
Kitkat Out!