Hey everybody, it's been a while since I've updated, but here's chapter five!
I've been set on the floor, bag included, and a little light peeks through the opening. They've untied the twine. I can't tell if this is a mistake or I'm actually being released, but whoever they are, they haven't egressed yet so I know that if I take this chance for escape I will be met by one of two scenarios, either way, the sack seems much more comfortable. How long can I stay in here before they pull me out? I'll wait a little bit longer; maybe they'll get the idea.
I wait for about thirty seconds. My impatience gets the better of me. I scrabble out on my hands and knees, tentative and wary of the eyes studying me. I stare at the ground, afraid to gaze up. Red strands fall in front of my eyes, drawing on the floor slightly. I breathe in sharply, preparing for the oncoming barrage of nerves that are building up behind my eyes. I lift my sights from the floor, and they settle onto a monster of a man, not in a fearful way, but in size. He's adorned in a bright red coat, with a black fur lining and black boots to match. He has a snowy white beard wrapped around his chin, and it blends into a furry black hat. A light smile is barely visible under the layers, and his blue eyes crinkle. Floating next to him is a young woman, or some sort of– bird. A brightly colored bird-woman drifts three yards before me. I suppose it's isn't as far-fetched as a girl engulfed in flames, but it's still quite alarming. She's pretty, in a natural sort of way, with glittering wings flitting behind her. She looks a little too excited for my taste, and my eyebrows knot in apprehension. They don't say anything, just staring. I stand absolutely still. In absolute silence. I think I might be shaking, but maybe it's just a particularly aggressive heartbeat.
It jumps about fifty beats forward as someone nudges and I involuntarily throw myself across the floor. I land against something soft and fluffy, I don't have the courage to lift my hear and face whatever monstrosity I'm sitting on. The person who kicked me is not a person at all. It's a massive rabbit. A massive, seven feet tall gray rabbit standing on his hind legs with an alarmed look on his little bunny face. He's got some sort of wooden V shaped items on his back. Next to him is a boy, looking about my age, (however old I may be) with thick white hair and pale skin, leaning on what looks to be a branch of a tree. He isn't wearing any shoes. Hiding behind them both is a little orange man, wearing a robe that seems to blend with his rough skin.
This is by far the strangest group of people I could possibly conjure in my mind. I think I've caught on fire again, my head flushes with the same warmth it did the first time. I swallow the bile that has risen in my throat.
"What's going on here?" I ask fiercely, my narrow eyes moving to each person. The bird-woman flies closer to me brings her face in so close I can smell her minty breath.
"Hi! What's your name?" She asks me.
"I dunno." I mumble. I clench my hand around something warm. I part my fingers slightly; the coal. I've been holding it this whole time, without even realizing it. The core is still a deep red, but it's fading slightly. I loosen my hold to give it some hair and revert my stare back to the feathered woman, whose smile has widened.
"You don't know?" She tilts her head partially to the left. "What should we call you then?"
"…Someone called me Ember."
So these chapters will just be flip flopping of the points of view of Jack and Ember, and when they're together it'll just be they're thoughts on the same situation.
~ChattyCat
P.S. I own this story, but not Rise of the Guardians.