The Wandering Flame
Chapter 4-Chosen
Disclaimer: ROTG obviously doesn't belong to me, since my OC isn't part of the original plot and Jack doesn't have a love interest (but since he doesn't, it makes it even easier to ship him or pair him with basically anyone-oh, what a blessing to fanfiction!)
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and followed thus far! Sorry for not updating for such a long time, and I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but it's been insane this year.
"There's glory and honor in being chosen. But not much room for free will." -Elizabeth Wein, Code Name Verity
Present Day - North Pole (after the Guardians are assembled)
The globe room, even at night, was buzzing with activity. The numerous diamond-shaped windows filtered in plenty of light and inventions were alive with creativity.
North cheerfully greeted all of the busy Guardians as Sandy's biplane circled the cavernous chamber, leaving trails of sparkling dream sand in its wake.
The jolly man offered food and refreshments, Bunnymund was peeved, and Toothiana was still giving orders to her fairies, as always.
Sandy finally arrived, though he told North through pictures that he was extremely busy.
"I know, I know, but I obviously wouldn't have called you all here unless it was serious." North replied apologetically.
As the Guardians reached the center of the room, Tooth did her best to quiet her fairies while North continued his elaboration, claiming that the Boogie Man had paid him a visit, which Bunnymund highly doubted.
"Look, he is up to something very bad. I feel it, in my belly." North insisted, and that was when Bunnymund started arguing, while Toothiana was too distracted giving orders to her fairies for anyone but Sandy to notice the moon rising up into view from an open window.
The Guardian of Dreams instantly dropped his (possibly sixth) cup of hot cocoa in shock, trying to gain the others' attention as the moon sent its brilliant beams down into the globe room.
Sadly, due to not really owning a voicebox, no one got the messages he was attempting to convey. Out of pure frustration and a lack of ideas, he went over, grabbed an elf and vigorously shook it.
The loud jingling of the elf's bell ceased North's and Bunnymund's arguing, as well as Tooth's orders.
Dropping the elf - who immediately collapsed on the ground - Sandy finally pointed out the moon in the open window.
North turned to see the distant planet. "Ah! Man in Moon! Sandy, why didn't you say something?"
If looks could kill, North would have dropped dead in seconds.
"It's been a long time, old friend! What is big news?" The renowned Santa Claus greeted.
The Man in the Moon, in response, shone an intense ray of moonlight onto a square within a circular design on the floor. In its center was the shadow of Pitch.
"It is Pitch." Bunnymund breathed, glancing over at North to receive a smug look as the jolly man patted his belly.
North approached the window, stopping short of the ray of moonlight. "Manny, what must we do?"
The circle of moonlight on the floor intensified further and condensed, further illuminating an ornate symbol that ascended from the ground to reveal a giant, bright gem on top of a pillar.
"Uh, guys, you know what this means?" Tooth asked rhetorically, staring at the gem with uncertainty.
The moonlight then refracted through the gem, casting light all over the chamber.
"He's choosing a new guardian." North answered in awe, his jaw nearly dropping.
"What?! Why?" Bunnymund exclaimed, obviously a little displeased.
"Must be big deal! Manny thinks we need help."
This served to further irritate the towering rabbit. "Since when do we need help?!"
"I wonder who it's gonna be?" Tooth thought aloud, curious about Manny's decision.
Sandy formed a four-leaf clover over his head.
"Maybe the Leprechaun?"
"Please not the groundhog, please not the groundhog." Bunnymund prayed grimly.
A blinding flash occurred, followed by a rush of wind - soon having a figure form over the central pillar. It was a hooded figure with a slight stature, wielding a crooked staff.
"Jack Frost." North stated.
Tooth's fairies swooned while the Guardians stood still, all of them thoroughly stunned.
"Ah, I take it back! The Groundhog's fine!" Bunnymund exclaimed, his expression of dread accentuating his dislike of the spirit.
Tooth had been caught admiring Jack, soon stammering something out to defend herself. "Well, ah, as long as he helps to ah...to protect the children, right?"
"Jack Frost!? He doesn't care about children! All he does is freeze water pipes and mess with my egg hunts. Right? He's an irresponsible, selfish..."
"-Guardian." North interposed, stopping Bunnymund.
"Jack Frost is many things, but he is not a Guardian." The rabbit stated, regarding the hologram of the spirit in distaste.
To their surprise, another flash sent the image of Jack away and replaced it with another.
"Manny? You...you have chosen TWO new guardians?" North questioned in shock, staring at the figure that was forming.
It was a girl with long fiery hair and bright eyes, wearing a strapless shirt under a knitted tanktop and denim shorts that went mid-thigh, gripping a rod that had a flame-like piece at the top. A sheath was attached to her belt at the hip for a katana.
"Rose." The Russian murmured, his baby-blue eyes wide in disbelief.
"You mean that summer spirit?" Bunnymund said, eyeing the figure a bit appreciatively.
"Oooh I've heard about her from my fairies! She's nice, but whenever Jack stirs up trouble during summer she doesn't really do much about it - in fact, I've heard she loves it when it snows out of season. The only times she melts it away are when people start suffering from the cold or it becomes too much of a dilemma." Tooth chimed, eliciting an aggravated groan from the already grouchy rabbit.
"So she and Jack are in the same boat? What is it with these seasonal spirits and refusing to do their jobs right?!"
North grinned, staring at the image of Rose. "I met her once - long ago, and she almost froze toes off! She came to me for guidance, and instead found motivation. I think she will prove she is right choice for Guardian, trust me. I feel it in my belly."
"Not this again." Bunnymund sighed, but all North did was chuckle.
Present Day - St. Petersburg (at night)
Rose's POV
I was planning on giving the people of Russia a little break, but another spirit had other plans.
Streaks of curling frost traveled down the side of a building and froze a water fountain, glueing a Russian boy's tongue to the newly developed ice.
"Hahaha!" I laughed, despite it being a little rude.
No one could see me anyway - what was the point in always acting courteous if no one could acknowledge me?
"This is my chance!" I thought excitedly, following the frost and laughing as I went.
Sure, a few of the tricks were a little cruel (I unfroze the water for the goldfish so it could eat and collected the papers for the poor writer who mistakenly decided to leave his window open), but it was entertaining to see.
Finally I saw him - Jack Frost, the now renown trouble-maker of spirits - making his way up a cathedral spire to fully take in the lovely view of Russia, which was bathed in moonlight.
I opened my mouth to call out to him, but stopped short. What if he just dismissed me? What if he hated me? How could I even convey to him that I wanted to talk to him about things - things like why he is so rebellious and daring to freeze things out of season at the risk of driving people insane?
Why does he hold contempt for the Man in the Moon?
I was not sure how to even greet him, so I watched helplessly as he called upon the wind to take him home. Perhaps I could follow him?
No, I did not want to risk alerting my presence and scaring him away. Or worse, have him freeze me out of instinct.
Now downcast, I glared up at the full moon in the night sky for a moment, then decided that it would not do me any good. Instead, I went up to the cathedral spire Jack had visited and sat there, staring out at Russia.
I breathed in the night air, delighting in its crispness. It was then that I spotted one of Toothiana's mini-fairies darting out of a house.
Calling upon the wind, I quickly flew after her and smiled. "Hello, Tooth! How are you?"
She squeaked happily at me as I listened to her fast rambling. "I see, it's been busy hasn't it? I must apologize for bothering you, but it is nice to see you again. How is Toothiana?"
The little fairy shrugged, replying that she'd been called away to an emergency Guardian meeting at the Pole.
"Oh, really? I did not know they held meetings there - I wish I could see North again and thank him for inspiring me. His workshop is truly amazing." I grinned.
Had it not been for the fact that I would probably die before reaching his workshop, I would have visited North decades ago.
Glancing at the tooth in her tiny hands, I decided to partake in a different topic.
"So, Tooth, what have you retrieved tonight?"
She responded in an elated tone, chirping out that it was a little girl's first canine and she had taken extremely good care of it, even going so far as to clean it out after it left her mouth.
I giggled, flying with the little fairy out of St. Petersburg. "Wow, someone was eager for a visit from you, wasn't she?"
Tooth squealed in agreement, then apologized that she could not continue our chat due to her other pressing duties. I nodded, the smile from my face quickly fading.
"Alright, I understand - you do work every night, after all! I will hopefully see you again, Tooth."
After she left, I felt the loneliness begin to suffocate me once more. Why could I not at least have ice powers like Jack instead of something as boring as fire and heat? I could not perform pranks on people - at least ones that were not life-endangering - and at the most I could either make a place in winter experience a heatwave or cause places to grow even hotter.
I could set something on fire, but that usually ended in forests burning or several houses catching fire as well.
"The fun is always with Jack - it's no fair." I thought with a pang of envy.
Then, I made up my mind. If I could not cause fun myself, then I would follow the number one contributor: Jack Frost.
I paused, landing on the roof of a house. "Wind...take me to Jack Frost."
For the longest time, I tried using the wind to send me right to the winter spirit, but it only sent me to the area he was in, and then I would always be too late to find him. Or, in other instances I did find him, only to freeze out of panic and insecurity. But perhaps he had decided to linger a little and I would gather up enough courage to finally speak with him.
Willingly I got carried off by the incoming gales at a speed most would not consider possible.
I ended up in Burgess, Pennsylvania much to my surprise. It was not too far from Charleston, the town I awoke in. I still remembered the days when Burgess was full of people walking down dirt roads, some riding in horse-drawn carriages or carts. Now the dirt roads had transformed into asphalt filled with racing cars.
I wandered around a bit until I spotted trails of his intricate frost with several little disasters following.
The trails led me to a group of children - about 8-years-old - having a massive snowball fight, complete with barricades.
One of the children had been on a sleigh and started sliding headfirst down a sheet of ice Jack had created into town, nearly screaming in the process.
The other kids yelled out to him to stop, but the boy had lost control of his sleigh. I finally spotted him - Jack Frost, flying in his blue hoodie with his crooked herder's staff - guiding the child past traffic (and also causing a four-car pile up). However, his continuous sheets of ice were only increasing the sleigh's speed.
"What should I do to help? Can Jack manage this?" I wondered, pausing and considering what to do.
First, I melted the ice on the roads - I did not want anyone else in danger - and quickly pursued the mischievous winter spirit and the boy.
The boy rocketed through a pedestrian intersection, just barely missing the people in the crosswalk.
A dog walker shouted at him, though he was the least of his worries.
I was a blur as I sped through the air, leaving a trail of flames in my wake to melt the ice Jack froze the streets with.
"I will always be cleaning up after him, won't I?" I thought drearily.
The child was still panicking as he flew off the sidewalk eventually, and I overheard someone ask if it was a 'Jamie Bennett'. Apparently, that was his name.
I had considered simply melting the ice that kept accelerating the sleigh, but now that he was in the midst of traffic I decided it was best to just follow Jamie and the troublesome spirit. If I melted it now then it would only leave the boy in danger.
Thankfully, Jamie's little escapade ended in a heap of snow instead of the statue of Thaddeus Burgess, which Jack leapt onto with pride.
"YEAH!" He cheered, though as I approached I could do nothing except cross my arms and shake my head in disapproval.
All of Jamie's friends came rushing over, worried sick about his health. Jamie rose from the sleigh, perfectly safe.
"Whoaaa! Did you guys see that? It was amazing! I slid - I did a jump and I slid under a car-ERF!"
A sofa from a moving van suddenly knocked him back down, causing Jack to wince with the hints of a smile.
"Oops."
Oops?! I was as startled as the kids, frozen in panic. He could have broken bones or worse!
Jamie's hand shot up with a tooth between his fingers, the boy still grinning as he ogled over his lost tooth.
"Dude, that means cash!" "Tooth Fairy cash!" "I love the Tooth Fairy!"
I chuckled a little. "You'd love her even more if you saw her for real."
"Oh, no..." Jack muttered, displeased at the fact that his fun was cut short.
"That's totally awesome."
"You lucky bug!"
"Lucky!"
"No!" Jack nearly whined.
I turned and sent him an exasperated glare, one he did not catch because he was too focused on the children.
Jamie and his friends continued to talk about the Tooth Fairy, causing the winter spirit's frustration to peak.
"Ah, wait a minute! Come on, hold on, hold on! What about all that fun we just had? That wasn't the Tooth Fairy, that was me!"
The kids simply kept talking about the fairy, obsessed with Jamie's tooth. I watched Jack grow even more frustrated, causing storm clouds overhead to rumble and darken. The flurries of snow began to intensify.
I walked over to the kids to keep them a little warmer, ceasing their violent shivers. Jack jumped down from the statue to try and engage the kids, but they were already off on their merry way.
"What's a guy gotta do to get a little attention around here?" He questioned, standing in front of Jamie, who strolled right through him.
I shot out a tendril of flame to follow the children once they left to keep them warm on the way back home, then approached a disheartened Jack.
"Well, you certainly have stirred mine. All of that ice is so hard to clean up after." I jested as he whipped around to face me, surprise in his features.
"You...you can see me?" He stuttered, mistaking me for a human.
I twirled my staff, shooting little tendrils of my flames up into the sky to lessen the cold.
"Yes, of course I can. Considering that I am also a spirit."
"Oh."
Jack seemed a little upset at this and whipped up a little wind to disappear. Not wanting to lose my chance or falter in my courage, I followed him.
"Hey, can we talk? We haven't even been introduced yet." I called, flying beside him.
He glanced at me with an annoyed expression. "Why? I'm not really in the mood for talking."
"The fact that you and I are both not believed in, for one. Or that neither of us take our jobs very seriously." I answered.
That got him interested, and he stopped to face me. "Okay, fine. I'm Jack Frost."
He held out his hand, which I accepted in a handshake. I started when a spark jolted our hands, possibly from the fact that we were opposites of nature.
"I know," I smiled. "I am Theros - Rose, for short - the Spirit of Summer."
He edged a smile back, withdrawing his hand. I had to admit, he was nice to look at with his sharp jawline, dazzling ice-blue eyes and snow-white hair.
"Theros? Isn't that just the mythical Goddess of Summer in Greece?"
I chuckled a little, looking down at the ground. "It seems as though you don't spend all of your time causing mayhem, then. Yes, but to me Theros was better than just "Summer Spirit". Besides, at the time I thought it suited me. If you want you can call me by my Roman name, but I never really liked it."
He laughed a bit through his nose. "I'll just call you Rose, thanks."
There was a pregnant pause, filling the chilly air with awkwardness.
"Sssooo..." He drawled, creating snowflakes from his hands out of boredom. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Why do you refuse to do your job right - why do you instead always have fun with the children? How can you even manage to continue to have fun and cause trouble? How do you do it? When did you pop up?" I suddenly questioned, throwing him off due to my endless inquiries.
"Wow, I really didn't expect you to have so many questions for me." He commented.
I turned red at his remark. "S-sorry, I just...I've seen you before, and I can't help but wonder if you really are like me - not believed in, I mean. I've been trying to get at least the kids to believe in me for over a century. Well, okay that is not totally true, for many decades I simply tried to enjoy them but I'm not exactly 'fun material' and-"
"-Whoa, hold on there. You...really don't get to talk to people much, do you?" Jack looked at me in amusement.
Steam left my head as my hair spouted flames at the tips, partially out of frustration but mostly out of embarrassment.
"N-no..."
"Why haven't you just walked up to me and say 'hi'? I'm not exactly intimidating." The white-haired spirit asked as we started walking down the streets of Burgess.
"Well, you see...I considered it, many times, but I was afraid. Not of you exactly, but of rejection or spite. It is already hard enough to accept my existence when no mortals on this earth can acknowledge me and the other spirits are always too busy to interact with, so...I just couldn't bear the thought of getting ignored by someone who can see me. If that makes sense..."
He stared at me with understanding, a sort of light in his eyes that made me feel...safe? I could not explain it.
"Yeah, I get it. It really sucks, the whole 'no one seeing you' part. Someone almost managed to see me once, but..."
"But what?"
"She died." Jack replied bitterly with a tinge of sadness.
I halted in my tracks, shocked at his answer. "I...I am so sorry."
He waved a hand, attempting to shrug it off. "It's fine, it was a long time ago anyways."
The scent of fresh bread from a nearby bakery taunted me, making my mouth water. I had no idea why I was so obsessed with human food, but they did create delicious masterpieces.
I put a hand on Jack's shoulder, sending him a warm smile. "Come on, let's go and have some fun."
He laughed, making me scowl in return. "What? What did I say that's so funny?"
Jack waved a hand. "Ah hah, it's just that you act so...proper. Like, back in the 1800s proper. I'm just surprised that you'd wanna spend the day hanging out with someone like me and have fun."
Now a bit miffed, I huffed indignantly. "Of course I have fun! Do you really think that your little mini-blizzards and frost-craziness would last as long as they do if I didn't enjoy them?"
He shrugged. "I never really thought about it."
After many hours of talking, we ended up sitting on the roof of Jamie's house. He watched Jamie blabber on about all of the fun he had today, and tried to convince his mother that he could finally catch the Tooth Fairy. Frost laced the window, then he flipped back up to pace.
"Jack? Are you alright?" I asked, gazing at him in concern.
He looked up at the moon instead. "If there's something I'm doing wrong, can you, can you just tell me what it is?"
My eyes traveled up to the glowing disk in the sky, the one I loathed. I had asked the same questions Jack was asking several times throughout the centuries with no response.
"Because I've tried everything, and no one ever sees me."
Still no response.
"You put me here - me and Rose - the least you can do is tell me - tell us why."
The moon shone down silently, as if telling us that we would discover it ourselves in time.
Aggravated by this, Jack turned toward me and beckoned me to follow before leaping off the roof.
"C'mon, Rose."
"Are you sure you're okay?" I insisted, following him with just as much ethereal grace as we started to stroll across the wire.
He sent his frost crawling down the wires, while I thawed it with every step I took.
"Yeah, I was just...hoping that this time would be different. That I'd get at least some kind of hint."
I sighed, patting one of his hands. "I have been trying ever since I came into this world 200 years ago, and still haven't even gotten my name. At least he gave you that."
"I guess." He muttered, spotting a stream of Dreamsand that zipped by him, and another passing by me, looping around my head.
A smile finally lit up his face. "Right on time, Sandman."
I felt myself beam as well, watching the beautiful sand drift into windows like some sort of golden, magical dust. Jack reached up to touch one of the streams and a dolphin popped out to perform some tricks before heading over to a waiting child. I giggled, happy as ever to see Sandy's Dreamsand.
"You know, I'm kinda glad you came and found me." He admitted, watching the sand.
I quirked a brow, surprised at his words. "Really? I think I've just been a bother the entire day..."
Jack shook his head. "No, no, really you haven't. It's been nice having someone to talk to, you know? After all this time, I thought I'd just be stuck talking to people that can't even see or hear me."
My lips stretched across my face in a wide smile. "I'm glad I finally worked up the courage, then. It has been...nice, to speak to someone after so long for me as well."
When the sand disappeared we continued walking on the telephone wires when I sensed something move behind us, whipping around to see a fleeting shadow.
"Whoa!" Jack exclaimed, feeling the rush of air behind him.
I was already ahead of him as we chased down the mysterious figure, landing on an adjacent tree to see if it could be spotted from higher ground.
"You okay?" He asked me.
"Yes." I answered, narrowing my golden eyes in concentration.
When the shadow passed by again, so did we. I darted through the air with a faint trail of flames behind me while Jack hopped across some cars (also setting the alarms off), and over some houses to land on a roof in an alley. I landed beside him, illuminating the alley with my staff.
"Wow, that's a lot better. At least your powers can help us see better." Jack told me, trying to help me see the positive side.
I shifted uneasily. "I suppose."
A trash can toppled over, alerting us to the strange figure's presence. Leaping down I made my staff glow brighter so we saw the approaching, six-foot-tall body of the Easter Bunny.
"Hello, mate." He greeted in a thick Australian accent, twirling his boomerang while leaning against a wall.
It startled Jack, who pointed his staff at him.
"Been a long time. Blizzard of 68, I believe? Easter Sunday, wasn't it?"
I, for one, was confused. Why was he here? A personal vendetta?
"Bunny? You're not still mad about that...are yah?" Jack questioned with a teasing smile, leaning against his staff.
"Yes," The rabbit answered and briefly pointed his boomerang at him. "But this is about something else. Fellas?"
A giant, furry hand grabbed Jack, who yelled out in protest. Soon he was dangling in the air by a yeti.
"Durbha wahla." The yeti said.
"Put me down! What the..."
I swiftly pointed my staff at the yetis. "Please, release him. If you do, then we just might go with you without resistance."
The Easter Bunny smirked at me. "So you're the little Summer Spirit, eh? I gotta say, I was really hoping you weren't like Jack here."
I remained stoic. "You don't even know me. You hardly know Jack. Why don't you tell us what is going on and we will not be as panicked?"
He hummed. "Well, I could do that. But then it wouldn't be as satisfying for me."
The yetis proceeded to shove my new friend into a sack. One of them pulled out a snow globe and smashed it to the ground, opening up a portal to what seemed like the Pole. More specifically, North's workshop.
"Now, if you don't wanna join your new friend in there since I don't really have anything against you, walk with the yetis to the other side."
I ignored him, instead turning to the yetis. "Does North mean harm to me or Jack?"
They glanced at each other in confusion, then shook their heads.
I relaxed a little, sending the bunny a glare. "I will go with them - but only because I trust North, not you. And by the way, you do not scare me. You should try meditation - it tends to ease the soul."
He returned the glare with one of his own. "Just go already, sheila. Before I'm forced to do it myself."
Reluctantly I approached the portal with the yetis, who stepped aside for the irritating rabbit.
"Me? Not on your nelly. See you back at the pole." He scoffed, stomping his foot twice to disappear through a rabbit hole, which vanished after him.
A little green plant was the only evidence it was ever there. How cute.
"Jack? It'll be okay, trust me! I don't know why they want us at the pole, but just know that nothing bad will happen to you, alright? I will be right here!" I called to him, hearing a muffled 'get me out of here' from inside the sack.
Then the yetis tossed him through.
"Could you not be a little gentler?" I asked, to which they both shrugged.
One of them offered to carry me, and though originally I was going to decide to go through myself, I changed my mind.
"Just please do not end up tossing me." I requested.
The yeti complied, then charged through the portal.