*Pitch P.O.V.*

Pitch is horrified to watch the children tear the snow cocoon open like savages, all of them getting their small hands over the thing he'd been trying fruitlessly for an hour just to touch. And the more that they crack it open, the more of the power leaks out, filling the air with a thick warmth, though it doesn't appear that the children is already a gigantic hole in the snow wall by the time he dares to creep close enough to see inside, watching the protective barrier crumble away beneath the children's fingers. Finally they break through, the snow giving way to a hollow inside of the cocoon. And inside is...

*Jamie P.O.V.*

"It's a girl" Caleb says, scratching his head in confusion. Inside the snow hill crouches a girl, a girl with waist length red and green streaked hair wearing a pretty white dress. She stares at us terrified, as if we are going to harm her in some way. She scrambles to get as far away from us as possible, pressing back against the icy wall of the snow cocoon.

"Think she's scared" Sophie mumbles, stepping closer to the pretty girl cowering at her feet. Jamie is unsure of what to do now. They were looking for some sort of monster lurking in the trees (or at least he was) and now that the monster had turned out to be just some girl hiding in a snow fortress he was drawing a blank. Sophie creeps even closer, crawling into the space and outstretching her hand in an offering of peace to the strange girl. She stares at Sophie's hand like she's never seen one before, as if unsure of whether she's supposed to smack it, hold it or bite it off. Though the girl makes no moves forward Sophie presses closer, touching her hand into the palm of the much older girl. "You're warm" Sophie says, smiling a big grin. The girl gives a small smile as well, showing off a row of blindingly white teeth. Jamie thinks she looks even prettier when she smiles.

*Jack P.O.V.*

Soaring over the trees, and dragging a powerful icy gale behind him, is Jack Frost. Jamie had invited him on an expedition to look for an excellent sledding hill, and who could make an awesome hill even better than him? Things were going smooth until the kids didn't show up, even when he arrived extra early so that he would be there before everyone.

So he'd been forced to take to the sky to search for them, not minding it in the least except for the fact that he'd had to wait more than twenty minutes, and he had little patience as a three hundred and eighteen year-old winter spirit.

Finally, after looking for what felt like hours (but was probably ten minutes) Jack found his tribe of miscreants in the 'dark forest', which he was told to be haunted. Jack found it strange that the kids would be in a haunted forest, and decided to drift closer to investigate. They appeared to be standing around a massive mountain of snow, which was courtesy of himself, but there was a large hole that they were crowding to look in. Landing with a silent grace, Jack creeps up on the group, peering over their shoulders to see what the excitement is all about.

A girl sits inside the hole,looking cornered and desperate for an escape. 'Odd' Jack thinks to himself, observing as the girl looked at Sophie with wide green eyes that sparkled in the early morning light. Jamie eventually took notice of Jack lurking behind them and went over to greet the much older boy. "Who's she?" Jack asks, pointing his staff in the strange girls' direction. Jamie looks back over his shoulder, as if he were using the question to take another peek. "Her? I don't know. We just followed a trail of footprints into the forest and she was sitting inside a giant snowball" Jamie says, giving the brief version of their adventure. Jack glances back, eyeing the girl with a new spark of interest. She was different, special perhaps was an even better word, and he was going to find out why.

)****(

I am terrified that I am exposed and vulnerable before them, with nothing to protect myself but a few handfuls of snow. They stare at me curiously, not with anger or hatred like I had originally thought, and they do not attempt to attack me, instead they hang back like I'm going to hurt them.

I lean forward and see that the dark man is gone, I sigh with relief, and turn my full attention to the remaining threat. No one moves for what feels like days, the silence stretching longer than necessary. Then a little girl with long blonde hair covering one of her eyes steps forward, holding an ungloved hand out to me, tiny and pink compared to my own pale approaches slowly and cautiously, like I am a creature that she doesn't want to frighten away. I let her come closer, staying perfectly still and watching her with narrowed eyes. But she is not deterred by my unfriendly look, instead she moves closer a little quicker than before. She is less than two feet away when her little hand is placed in mine.

The little girl smiles at me, showing off a gap toothed smile. "You're warm" she says with a giggle, coming even closer into my snow hut and sitting down beside me. The other children relax when they see I do not maul the little girl, becoming more confident that I am not a dangerous lunatic, and they step closer as one. The girl still grins at me, tracing patterns in the snow with her fingers. "What's your names?" I ask once everyone has moved closer, making a small huddle around me.

They seem hesitant about giving information about themselves, realizing that I am still a stranger. But the little girl is oblivious to this, grinning as she answers me absently. "I'm Sophie, I'm three. My brother Jamie is over there" she says, pointing over to a short brown haired boy with large brown eyes. He glances over at me, when Sophie mentions his name, waving at us before returning to his conversation with a tall pale haired boy wearing only a blue hoodie and brown pants.

The boy spares me a glance, a lingering one that shows that he is studying each of my features, and I am startled by his lack of discretion while he stares, like he doesn't care whether I acknowledge him. I turn my attention back to Sophie, though my mind wanders back to the pale older boy, trying to remember if he was apart of the group earlier. "Nice to meet you" I say quietly, giving her a small smile. "What's your name?" a large girl wearing an ensemble dedicated to the color pink, a curious stare gracing her face. "Me? My name is..." I say, trailing off. After a moment of silence I am surprised that it doesn't come to me immediately, like it should to everyone else.

"Um.." I say, wracking my brain for something. One of the dark skinned twins narrows his eyes at me. "What? Don't you know you're name?" he asks, earning a glare from the brother wearing a hat. "Claude, don't be rude" he scolds before turning his full attention to me and receiving a snort in response.

The third girl, the tallest of the bunch with short coppery hair, smiles warmly at me, holding her hand out to me in a way not unlike the way Sophie had earlier. "I'm Pippa" she says, pronouncing each word clearly, she is obviously used to being heard and obeyed. "Hi" I say, shaking the hand.

This, in turn, induces the others to introduce themselves, leaving only myself without a title. They are once again staring at me, expectantly waiting for an answer to the big mystery; Who am I? I glance up at the sky in the way adults do when aggravated, though there is no clue written in the wintery morning. I look at the fading outline of the moon, the white planet being outshone by it's brother, the sun.

Then a word echoes in my mind, like sound bouncing off a cave's walls. "Ella" I say. "My name is Ella" The small blonde boy with oversized red glasses (who was revealed to be called Monty) smiles at me like I have just promised to buy him cookies every day for the rest of his life. "That's nice name" Sophie says, taking my hand once again.

I say nothing, only smile at her before standing and looking out of the hole the kids made in my shelter. I scan the area, looking for the tiniest shift amongst the usual forest stiffness. I remember the dark man, with the glowing amber eyes and shiver, wondering who exactly he was. And where he went.

I sigh in relief but do not sit down, I turn around but remain vigilant, waiting for the perfect moment to flee. Jamie steps away from the white haired boy, coming closer to our group huddle, the other boy hanging back. I do not spare him a second thought. "Do you live here?" Pippa asks me, hands gesturing the the forest surrounding us.

I ponder this for a moment, considering if waking up out of a hole in the forest meant that I lived there. So I decide just to nod my head, my eyes looking elsewhere."That's so cool! " Monty exclaims, putting his face a little too close to mine for comfort. "But don't you have any parents? Family?" Pippa asks, glancing at me with a part curious, part concerned expression. There's that word, the one I can't figure out, and for some reason, her question sends a flash of pain through me as if I'd been stabbed.

"No. No family" I say, keeping my eyes trained on a grove of pine trees, because I was certain that they would falter and cry if I didn't. The children all give me sympathetic looks, like they were in the presence of a tragedy. I wave off their looks with a small smile, attempting to look encouraging at the least.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm fine. Besides, you can't really miss what you never had in the first place" I say with a fake laugh, trying to appear light-hearted. They do not seem convinced. "You can live with me" Sophie says, copying my smile and light tone. "We have a share room for guests, Mommy would let you stay"

I almost laugh at the little girl's offer, imagining the expression on their mother's face when they tell her they brought home some strange girl from the woods and said that she could live with them. But I can tell she is sincere, so I simply shake my head in a polite 'No'. Her face falls a little but her smile still remains. "If you live in the forest you must know where the good hills and stuff are, right?" Jamie asks me, his eyes pleading for the answer to be positive.

I wish I could tell him that I do know where they are, that I know the very best spots as well. But I am not a liar, at least I think I'm not. "Sorry, no" I say, shrugging my shoulders. Jamie's entire being seems to deflate, even his face sags a little. "Oh" he says, disappointment coloring his voice. I can't stand to see the child sad, so my mind scrambles for something encouraging to say.

"That doesn't mean we can't look, though" I say, standing up and pulling Sophie to her feet as well. Everyone grins at me, big toothy ones that show off even their molars, and they stand with me, preparing to take off. I kneel so that Sophie can get on my back, observing the little herd with a sense of satisfaction.

While everyone grabs their sleds, my eyes are drawn once again to the silver haired boy from before, wondering against my will where he is. He leans against a tree, a staff that I never noticed before slung over his shoulder, with an amused expression on his pale face. He gives a small laugh, so soft I can barely hear it. "You'd think you're leading them to a mountain of cookies by the looks of things. You're a very good motivator" he says to me, or I assume it's me, it's hard to tell because he's not necessarily looking in my direction.

I am going to give a smart alec remark when Jamie grabs my hand, pulling me in a random direction, away from the odd boy. After a moment, Jamie calls back over his shoulder. "Jack! Come on!" he shouts before turning back around. The boy comes forward, answering to his summons. "Here it comes" He mutters "'Who are you talking to?'" he says, mimicking my voice in a tone that is insulting to the ears.

"If you keep talking to yourself, people will think you're crazy" I say to Jack, my annoyance coating my words. Everything seems to freeze, and not in the wintery way. All the children stare at me as if I grew three separate heads right before their eyes. I feel uncomfortable in the silence and nondiscrete stares. "What?" I ask, wondering if I've done something wrong.

Jack comes closer to me, his eyes close to popping out of his head. He waves a hand in front of my face, causing me to flinch away, a seemingly normal reaction. "You can see me?" he asks, his jaw practically touching the snowy ground. "Um, yes? Am I not supposed to?" I ask, taking a healthy step back from the boy who was coming too close for comfort.

*Author's Note*

I've been typing this for three whole days and I must say that I am fairly proud of this piece! I decided to get the whole 'kids discover Ella' part over and done with so that I don't waste anymore chapters with just two points of view. So here it is! Read and Review! More excitement to come in future chapters!

-AngelxWings14