Krysta spirit of fortune ch 6
Sorry for taking so long, so I made this really long to make up for it. :) Really quick… SPOILER ALERT!
for those who haven't read the books yet or seen the movie.
Jack: Seriously, who hasn't seen the movie by now?
Me: I'm just giving them fair warning, now onto the tale!
Chapter 6: Rise of the Guardians other wise known as things change.
A few years after the night of the "monster cat" I had the misfortune and fortune of meeting other spirits. I'd met Sandy before, only one you're likely to run into without getting totally brushed off. Jack wasn't so fortunate, being off making snowstorms whenever I ran into him. Although he did tell me that he met him once or twice.
I've ran into a few tooth fairies over the years too, although they weren't too keen on me what with my turning into a cat and chasing them a bit. Some people can't take a joke.
I never officially met Bunnymund but I loved helping Jack mess with his egg hunts.
And I would usually be happily dreaming whenever North made his routes, although he did stop by once and leave me a candy cane.
But that was just the big four, there are other spirits out in the world, a few of which I got to meet. Such as: Amor and Amora Cupid, fraternal twin children of Eros and Psyche Cupid, and Raven, a little witch spirit known for helping turn nightmares to dreams. Raven can be distant but she's always willing to help, like if you happen to have a killer headache. All good people, although Amora leaps before looking a bit too often.
My unfortunate encounter with a certain being happened one dark night. Jack was gone somewhere, Russia I think, and I was spooking some teens who were out past their curfew. I was laughing at them when I felt a cold shudder run through me. Turning around I saw a great big black horse with glinting golden eyes and swirls of black coming off it. I blinked and then there were five! Backing slowly away I ran into a solid form behind me.
"What's this? A little girl?" A dark voice hissed. I turned around to see only a wall behind me.
"Who-who's there?" I asked, fear making me stutter slightly. I shook my head, trying to gather some courage. I kept looking around as a laugh echoed around the ally. I slid into my half cat form and took a fighting stance. The horses had begun to surround me, pushing me back to the wall. I slashed at them, hissing when my hand felt like it went through a sand blaster.
"Sand? Black horses made of sand? What the heck is going on?" I thought to myself.
"Hmm… it seems this kitten has claws." A shadow said, taking the form of a man in black. He was tall, lithe, and dark in appearance. His silver-golden yellow eyes shone menacingly in the dark, his skin was a dull pale-gray, and his glossy black hair was slicked to form spikes from the back of his head. He was in a long, black robe with a v neck line and shadows running down his arms, obscuring his body like a cloak of darkness.
"Who are you?" I hissed, my hand reaching for my dagger now. It was small enough to slide into my boot. It was silver with swirling designs on the hilt and Ezmera's sign on the blade. It had simply appeared one day, and it had come in really handy on several occasions.
"I am Pitch Black, the Nightmare King. Tell me little one, what year is this?" He said, looking down at me.
"Why don't you know, your highness?" I mocked, "been stuck under a rock for a few centuries, Mr. Boogie Man?" He glared at me and snapped his fingers. I looked back at the horses, who were once again starting to advance forward. I drew my dagger and slashed at the closest one. More replaced that one and more replaced the others that I attacked. They over whelmed me, kicking me with their sharp hooves. After a while he snapped again and the horses retreated.
"I'm sorry we can't continue with this but I have a meeting I need to get too. Some old friends of mine are expecting me." He chuckled creepily. Then he was gone, like how darkness just disappears when you turn on a light. Those demonic horses had left me pretty bruised but luckily nothing was broken although my left eye hurt. I limped to the lake. Curling up under the limbs of my favorite tree I slept until the next day, plagued by nightmares the whole night.
"Snow day!" The very familiar voice of Jack Frost yelled happily as he flew through the air. I woke up and grimaced at the light. Jack flew down over the lake, creating swirls of frost as he went.
"That Frost, always knows how to make an entrance." I smiled and followed after him, turning into a cat so he wouldn't see my black eye.
"That's what you said about aliens." A kid was saying as I arrived.
"And the Easter Bunny." His twin said.
"Well the Easter Bunny is real." A third kid carrying a sled said.
"Oh he's real alright, real annoying, real grumpy and really full of himself." Jack said as he balanced along a fence.
"You can say that again." I thought to myself. Jack sat down on the fence as the little blonde girl was tripped by her dog.
"Mom, Sophie fell again." The boy with the sled said.
"You ok, Soph?" Their mom asked, then turning her attention to her son she said, "Jamie, hat. We don't want Jack Frost nippin' at you nose."
"Who's Jack Frost?" Jamie asked, readjusting the hat his mom had just put on his head.
"No one, honey, it's just an expression." She said as she walked back to Sophie.
"Hey!" Jack said indignantly.
"Oh, burn!" I purred as I followed the kids, Jack trailing behind us.
"At least some people know my name." Jack shot back. Unlike him, I didn't mind being invisible. It made pranking much easier.
"Whatever frost face!" I called back at him.
Jack crouched down and made a snow ball. "Who's Jack Frost?" He said as he blew on the snowball before throwing it at the back of Jamie's head. I laughed as a massive snowball fight ensued. I sat in a nearby tree and groomed my fur, purring in amusement at the kids and Jack.
Everyone was laughing and having a fun time until Pippa hit a big girl in the back of the head with a snowball.
"Crud, I hit Cupcake!" Pippa said in a slight panic.
"She hit Cupcake!" Montey pointed at Pippa.
"You hit Cupcake?" Claude 's voice squeaked slightly as he looked on in fear, his twin mimicking his expression. Jamie lifted up his sled as though to hide from Cupcake's wrath as she looked at them all, growling angrily, before Jack nailed her in the face with a snowball. It took a moment but then a giggle escaped her. In the blink of an eye she started laughing and charged the other kids with her snowman head. Everyone laughed and ran. Then Jack made a patch of ice, causing Jamie to fall down and slide into town while his friends looked on with concern. Worried, cause I too had fallen victim to Jack's ice paths before, sent them an extra bit of good luck as they slid past me.
I ran with the other kids to where Jamie and Jack wound up.
"Ouch, that's gonna hurt." I commented as a red couch rammed into Jamie.
"Cool, a tooth!" He exclaimed as he stood back up.
"Dude! That means cash!" Claude exclaimed as the others gathered around him to look at the tooth.
"Tooth fairy cash!" Caleb smiled. They all chatted a bit as Jack flew down from his perch on a statue to land in front of Jamie and the kids.
"That wasn't the tooth fairy, that was me! What does a guy have to do to get a little attention around here?" He asked in frustration before Jamie walked right through him. He sighed, looking up as snow started to fall. He stuffed his hand into his hoodie pocket and flew off. I shook my head sadly and followed after him. Spreading a little good luck to those unfortunate souls who got car damage that would need repairing.
I found Jack, as the sun went down, in the tree in Jamie's yard, watching the family play a game together.
"You ok?" I asked, hopping onto his lap.
"No." He answered as he stroked my ears.
"I saw what happened, you realize you could've gotten him hurt worse than just a missing tooth?" I asked him. Jack nodded and sighed.
"Although it was really awesome." I said, leaning into his hand, his normal coldness actually felt good against some of my still aching bruises. Jack smiled at me before frowning again. We watched the family until the mom told the kids it was time for bed. I could tell something more was bugging Jack.
"What's the matter? Can I help?" I asked, placing my paw on his hand.
"It's just that, I'm tired of this… tired of doing something great and then getting walked through as though I don't even exist." He sighed, sliding me off his lap as he stood up.
"Jack?" I said looking up at him.
"I just need to be alone for a bit, Krysta. Thanks, but I don't need your help right now." He said before he flew onto the Bennett's roof, looking through an upstairs window.
"Jack." I called after him sadly. I watched as he the looked at the moon for a while and then flew off. I sighed and curled up on the branch. I knew how he felt. I knew what it was like to be walked through, to be invisible, cast off as nothing but a freak accident or a bump in the night. I had accepted the fact I would never be seen, I just wish I knew how to help him.
Sandy's dream sand was beginning to race it's way across the sky, on its way to deliver sweet dreams to kids everywhere. I flicked my tail out and brushed a close by tendril, smiling when it turned into a mini troop of dancing gypsies. I watched the golden figures until my eyes drifted closed.
I woke up, not realizing I had fallen asleep, to the caw of a raven. I looked up to see the bird sitting above me, watching me with intelligent eyes. Looking down I saw the familiar form of Raven, the witch. Unlike story book witch's she had light peach colored skin and was young, looking to be about 10.
"Hey Raven." I said, stretching a bit before leaping onto the ground and transforming into a human. The Raven above me gave a croak.
"Hello to you too, Night." I smiled.
"Hey Krysta." Raven said before pausing as she saw my eye. "What happened? Get in another cat fight?"
"No, I got beat up by the boogie man's creepy horses." I said as she moved forward and touched under my eye.
"Pitch was here?!" She asked in surprise. She made a complicated hand gesture and pulled out a potion from her pouch. Dabbing a bit on her fingers she made another gesture. "Hold still." She ordered before muttering something under her breath and her fingers glowed for a few seconds. When the glow died I no longer felt any pain from the bruises. Rolling back my sleeve I saw my bruises were gone.
"Yeah he was. Thanks Raven, I would've had a hard time hiding that from Jack." I said.
"Yeah, so where did you see Pitch?" She asked, putting the potion back in her pouch.
"In town. Then he left, said something about visiting some old friends, after he had his creepy horse things beat me up."I said.
"Interesting, and I believe they're called nightmares." She said, tapping her finger with her hand, her purple eyes lost in thought. "So where is Jack?" She asked.
"I don't know." I shrugged.
"Shouldn't you know where your boyfriend is?" She teased.
"You know that Jack and I are brother and sister in everything but blood." I said, rolling my eyes.
"True enough." She smirked. Night cawed above our heads.
"He's right, I've got to be going. Let me know if you run into Pitch again.
"Alright. See ya around, Raven, thanks again for healing me." I said, returning into my cat form and climbing the tree once more.
"Se ya, Krysta." Raven said before she and Night disappeared into the night.
I had fallen asleep again when I heard a commotion in the Bennet's house, causing me to fall out of the tree. Without a second thought I raced up the side of the house, my claws leaving scratch's on the surface of the red siding. I reached the windowsill as Jack and Sandy sped past me after a nightmare. I looked in to see the Tooth Fairy, one of her minions, the Easter Bunny, and Santa all asleep in Jamie's room, along with Jamie and his dog. I leaped down from the window and nudged Tooth's wing. It fluttered a bit but she just kept on sleeping. I heard a creek in the hall and jumped under Jamie's dresser. Through the door came little Sophie. Giggling at the big man on the bed, she tried to climb up to get a better look at his face, causing a snow globe to roll out of North's coat.
"Oo!" She giggled, then looking at Bunny sleeping peacefully on the floor she said, "Easter Bunny, hop hop hop!" She turned and tripped over the dog and smashed the snow globe. Instantly it burst into a whirling mass of color and light, and Sophie walked right through it. I raced through it after her. Winding up in the middle of Bunny's warren.
"Me-wow." I said, looking around at the incredibly green scenery. Remembering why I was here I looked around for Sophie. Gratefully she was only chasing after a few walking eggs.
"Eggs! Eggs eggs eggs!" She squealed as she chased them. She kept jumping from looking at flowers, to chasing eggs, then chasing butterflies, then back to chasing eggs, for what seemed like hours. I purred as she raced after them and leaned down to catch one, she had yet to catch any. Then she tripped and fell on her face in a patch of dirt. Sitting up she began to cry a little. Concerned, I walked over to try to help and passed right through her as I tried to touch her with my paw. I let out a meow of frustration. She looked up and stopped crying. I guess people see and hear what they want too and I guess she just wanted something to comfort her right then.
"Meow?" I said again, rubbing my head against her in true feline fashion, this time I didn't pass through.
"Kitty!" She smiled, petting me the wrong way. Yikes! That made my fur feel weird. I circled around her causing her to stroke my fur properly.
"Kitty kitty kitty!" She sang, pulling my tail a little as she pet me.
"Meow!" I said, resisting the urge to bat her hand with partly unsheathed claws. Right then another walking egg raced by, causing Sophie to stand up and chase after it. I sighed thankfully and followed after her. She walked up on a bridge that was raised above a river of paint, trying to catch a butterfly. She leaned over the edge of the bridge, hands waving to catch the butterfly which remained just out of reach. Panicking I raced over to her and sank my teeth into the back of her pajamas.
She continued to lean forward, causing gravity to take hold. I used it to swing Sophie over to the opposite end of the bank while I teetered forward and fell into the liquid. Luckily for me, the paint only came up to my belly. Climbing out of the messy liquid, I looked around to see Sophie chasing eggs again. She actually managed to catch three and now she was charging after a big group of them down a tunnel. She ran along squealing in delight, and other screams echoed hers. Only they sounded like battle cries. I hid in the shadows as the Guardians, Jack, a couple Yeti, an elf, and giant stone eggs stopped in their tracks upon seeing the little girl.
"Sophie?" Jack asked in confusion before everyone hid their weapons and smiled sheepishly at the little girl. Said little girl looked up at them in amazement before releasing the eggs and chasing after the elf.
"Elf! Elf! Elf!" She said as she chased it.
"Wha' is she doing 'ere?!" Bunny asked looking to North.
"Snow globe." North said patting his coat for the missing magical object. A yeti gurgled something that sounded like an "uh oh."
"Crikey! Somebody do something!" Bunny said.
"Don't look at me, I'm invisible remember?" Jack says, raising his hands and smirking at Bunny. Sophie at this point was dragging the elf by its hat.
"Don't worry Bunny, I bet she's a fairy fan!" Tooth said flying around and distracting Sophie from the elf, which happily scurried to safety, "it's ok, little one."
"Pretty!" Sophie says with a huge grin.
"Oh, you know what? I've got something for you." Tooth says in a singsong voice, holding out her hand "here it is! Look at all the pretty teeth, with little blood and gum on them."
Sophie looked up at Tooth before screaming and running away. I laughed so hard I almost rolled out of my hiding spot.
"Blood and gums?" Jack asked, bemused, "when was the last time you guys actually hung out with kids?"
He flew over and sat atop an egg statue as Sophie crouched down next to it and shouted "peek-a-boo!" Causing the eggs underneath to scurry out again.
"We are very busy bring joy to children. We don't have time…" Sophie runs past chasing butterflies "for children." He looked to his fellow Guardians for help. Jack summoned a single snowflake and twirled it around his hand.
"If one little kid can ruin Easter then, we're in worse shape than I thought." He said before sending the snowflake to land on Bunny's nose. Instantly a small bust of blue sparkles spread across Bunny's face causing him to smile. He lead Sophie to a glowing tulip that opened to reveal yet another walking egg.
"You wanna paint some eggs? Ya?" He asked Sophie sweetly. Ok, this was getting a little to sweet for my taste, it was time for me to make an exit. The only trick was making sure I didn't get spotted by the Guardians, or Jack. Good grief, if Jack saw me half purple with paint he'd never let me hear the end of it. So, carefully as I could, I snuck my way up a tunnel marked North America. It took ages, cause I kept getting lost, but I finally made it back to Burgess.
I snuck into someone's house and scrubbed the paint off, which took the rest of the night. At sunrise I was startled by a dog thumping down the stairs, followed by Jamie and Sophie. I hadn't realized this was their house until I heard their voices. Their dog began barking at the bathroom door, scratching and growling at the base.
"Abby? What are you doing? You silly dog, come on now, outside." Mrs. Bennett said as she grabbed Abby's collar and lead her away. I sighed with relief and slipped out of the house as quickly as I could.
"Jamie!" Pippa called from the front yard, the rest of the group waited behind her. Instead of joking around and smiling, they were sad. I'd even say that they were hope…less. No that wasn't possible, especially on Easter. I looked around, trying to spot any form of Easter eggs hidden in the bushes.
"Hey guys, ready for the Easter egg hunt?" Jamie asked, coming out he door.
"We already looked around a bit." Caleb said.
"We can't find anything." Claude said, kicking a random pebble.
"Well you haven't had my help, let's go." Jamie said, leading them toward the park. I sincerely hoped that they find something, cause I always had the best luck finding things and I couldn't even see a sliver of a single egg.
I hung out in the tree again, watching as the kids came back with empty baskets and searched the yard.
The looks on their faces when they didn't find a single egg was heart wrenching.
After Jamie's friends left I stayed in the tree, watching as Jamie sat down on the front porch and sulked.
"Meow?" I called down to him. No response. I climbed down and sat next to him.
"Hey, you alright?" I asked. Even if he couldn't hear me, I would still be there for him. Tears crept to the corners of his eyes. "Hey, it'll be ok. There's just some issues at the Warren or something. Things will get better, you'll see. Now come on, keep smiling. Don't stop smiling, you'll never know when it will make a difference." I said. The tears stopped and he sat up a little. I think I saw the slightest touch of a smile reach his mouth. I thought maybe he had heard me, that maybe I had finally been heard for the first time in years, but no that hope had been dashed as soon as his foot went through my head as he stood up and walked through me into the house.
"That's it!" I shrieked. I turned from the house and rocketed into the woods. I ran, the snow brushed foliage whipping past me as I ran. The cold wind whistled in my ears and tears stung my eyes, but I kept running.
I finally collapsed in a clearing. I took some time catching my breath before looking up at my surroundings. The trees were wrapped in twilight and the moon was just coming into sight.
Jack often spoke to the moon, trying to get answers from the Man in the Moon. I had learned about MiM, as people called him, through a fall spirit. Apparently he had been a baby when Pitch had killed his parents during something called the nightmare wars. He had grown up on the moon and chosen North, Tooth, Sandy and Bunny to be Guardians of childhood, whatever that really meant. The Guardians defeated Pitch and have been doing what they do ever since. Jack said he would talk to the moon almost every night asking MIM why he was here. I figured it was worth a shot.
"Why?" I demanded, "why is all this happening? Why can't I help?!" I glared at the moon, the silence fueling my rage until it suddenly turned to sorrow. I bowed my head, gritting my teeth as I cried. I turned human and looked back up to the moon.
"I've never asked for anything, except this… please, just answer me. Why can't I help? I want to keep everyone smiling. How can I help?" I asked. I curled up on my side and allowed my tears to flow, I hadn't cried this hard since Ezmera's death. I could almost hear her voice.
"Don't cry now, hush… sssh. It's ok, I'm here." I thought I could even feel her hand rubbing my back. Wait a moment, I could feel a hand rubbing my back! Bolting upright I turned to see Ezmera, a younger version of her from my earliest memories.
"Ezmera?" I asked. She smiled and I fell onto her ghostly shoulder, crying like a child, and just like when I was a child she rubbed my back. I was so happy to see her. Once my tears had subsided, I sat up and asked,
"What are you doing here? I thought you'd be in heaven."
"I was, but he said you needed me right now." She pointed to the moon. I frowned in confusion.
"I'm sorry but how are you suppose to help me when it can't even help a little boy keep believing in the Guardians?" I said sadly.
"Don't worry, everything's gonna be alright." She said, taking my hand in one of her hands and cupping my cheek with the other. "Don't stop smiling. No matter what happens, no matter what anyone says, you should keep smiling." She pulled me into a hug, "You don't know how much that can do if you never try." She said holding me tightly.
"I've missed you." I whispered as I breathed in the familiar smell of incense and lavender.
"I've missed you too." She said, stroking my hair. She hummed a lullaby she would always sing to put me to sleep. I didn't realize how tired I was until she lowered my head onto her lap.
"Sleep well, my little luck charm. I will watch you from the stars." She whispered as I drifted off to a deep sweet sleep.
I awoke to someone screaming, or I thought it was someone. I looked to see a nightmare step into the clearing. A smile worked its way onto my face as it snorted at me.
"I'm not scared of you." I said as I drew my dagger and charged the beast. I slashed through the creature, causing it to explode in a shower of black sand. I looked to the moon and bowed my head in thanks. The sun was just beginning to come over the horizon and I could hear laughter echoing around the woods. I followed the sound to see the Guardians, Jamie and friends, and Jack Frost.
"Will you, Jack Frost, vow to watch over the children of the world?
To guard them with your life, their hopes, their wishes, and their dreams.
For they are that we have, all that we are, and all that we will ever be." North read from a book. Jack looked to Jamie, who gave an encouraging nod, before returning his attention to North.
"I will." Jack said with a smile.
"Then congratulations, Jack Frost, for you are now, and forevermore, a Guardian." North declared, passing Tooth the book and hefted the teen into a bone crushing hug before kissing him on both cheeks. I laughed as everyone began celebrating and cheering. A elf kissed another elf on the cheek and he was rewarded with a solid punch to the face. I smiled as Jack returned Jamie's good bye hug, then climbed onto North's sleigh and flew off with the Guardians. As he flew past my head I couldn't help but feel a small twinge in my heart. I think it was joy at seeing my friend finally get what he wanted, sadness at him moving on in the world while I simply pulled pranks to get people to smile, or maybe it was just me really wanting to take North's sleigh for a joyride, hard to say.
I watched as eggs, yeti, elves, and fairies helped put the sleepy children back to their respective houses. Then I waited by the lake for Jack to return, relaxing in my cat form in my favorite tree. It took a few hours but he finally showed up through a whirling vortex of color.
"Nice entrance." I whistled, impressed.
"Krysta, there you are. You're never gonna believe this! I'm…"
"A Guardian." I interrupted.
"Yeah. I…"
"Helped defeat Pitch Black and restore hope, dreams, wonder, and memories to the children if the world. Not to mention you are now seen by mortal children. Especially one by name of Jamie Bennett."
"How'd you…"
"Know? I was raised by a fortune teller, I have my ways."
"What color am I thinking of?"
"Blue?"
"No, purple. Like the purple on your tail." He snickered. Sure enough the tip of my tail was still purple. Jack laughed as I quickly tucked it away from sight.
"So how did you really know what happened?" Jack asked. So we swapped stories, although I changed the part of me falling halfway into the paint river to just getting my tail wet in it.
"So you're a Guardian, now what?" I asked once we were done.
"I don't know." Jack said, his smile dimming a bit.
"None of that." I said, chucking a snowball at his shoulder, "Don't stop smiling. No matter what happens, no matter what anyone says, you should keep smiling."
"Where did you hear that?" He asked, smiling again.
"An old friend told me." I smiled up at the still slightly visible moon before getting nailed in the gut by a snowball.
"Oh, it's on now! Frosty!" I cried leaping after him.
"Bring it, kitty cat!" He shouted, taking off into the sky.
"Cheater!" I called, giving chase. I guess things will be different but for now, I'll take whatever fun we can find.
another author note, I'm not sure if I'm going to make another chapter for this but I might if I get some good reviews. ;)