Alaia Skyhawk: Time for funzies with Dig. Note, this is set before the film, in around about the 1950s :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.

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Chapter 4: A Day in the Life of The Groundhog

Now for most groundhogs, things are very simple. They eat, sleep, dig burrows to live in, raise their young, and do their best to avoid predators. Basically what you'd expect for any average rodent. But for one groundhog things were rather different. Beginning with just where his home burrow was.

The depths of the burrow were packed with dry leaves to make a cosy den. Rather to be expected. The groundhog in question was also splayed out among them with his paws up in the air. Again rather normal... Except above the general husk of this underground dwelling, he was snoring very very loudly, and in a rather un-rodent like fashion.

That is until the snoring cut off into a quiet sleepy mutter about cabbages, before the groundhog rolled over, woke up from whatever his dream was, and blearily opened his eyes. He then yawned, showing off his rather impressive incisors, before ambling out of his den in the direction of one of the many entrances to the burrow.

He emerged into a winter paradise, near the edge of a pond, which itself was surrounded by an array of alpine trees and plants. And then of course there was the ceiling, because the entire Winter Garden was inside an ice-cavern with a hole above to let in sunlight.

Generally, ice, snow, and groundhogs don't mix, and if his native range were subject to these conditions right now, he'd have been long asleep for his annual hibernation. Then again, when you're a talking, immortal groundhog, even those rules get bent a little now and then. Namely for Christmas, which no self-respecting Lieutenant of a Guardian of Childhood was going to miss. Even if the fact he was a Guardian was still a secret.

But that was still some time away, and in truth it was only mid-Northern Autumn right now. Meaning he was in no way inclined to go to sleep yet, but he was inclined to stuff himself with food if he found it available. It also meant that now was the time to do his preparations ready for his usual February task of 'Groundhog Day'. After all, he was The Groundhog, or Dig as his friends called him.

Dig ambled up to the edge of the pond, broke the thin film of ice around the edge, then dunked his face into the water. He'd seen humans do that to wake themselves up on a morning, and he had to admit that getting a face full of icy water seemed to do the trick. Even for someone immune to the effects of the cold like he was. And so having done that, he trotted rather more briskly back into his burrow to get his 'notepad' and pencils.

And there was a matter to stress, that 'pencils' was definitely plural, because he trundled back out into the open again wearing a satchel of sorts that had around thirty pencils in it. He also had flat piece of white-washed wood, preserved with his power so that he could rub out his notes without erasing the map of his territory that was on it. As for why he had the reusable map, well groundhogs, like most rodents, were incessant chewers. That's what the pencils were for, and Jack made sure to keep him well-supplied.

But alas back to the matters at hand, Dig settled himself just outside his burrow and set his map down on the floor. He then pulled a pencil out of his satchel, paused to study his map intently, and in the meantime chewed on the end of the pencil thoughtfully. He'd demolished around a third of it before he'd made up his mind about what towns with 'pet' groundhogs he was going to check out first, and then drew a circle around those towns.

That done he put his map in the satchel, gripped the remainder of the current pencil in his mouth, and then with a flick of power burrowed straight down to come up out of the ground at his first target town a moment later.

He trundled off towards the hutch and pen where the local pet groundhog lived. Startling the occupant when he used his power once more to fly over the perimeter wall and land inside to check things out.

The resident groundhog, being a perfectly normal member of its species, was unable to offer any kind of verbal insults for the intrusion. But given the angry chitterings and growling it was doing, it wasn't best pleased even if its instincts told it not to mess with its guest.

Dig directly a flat stare at it.

"Give me a break. I'm just doing my job."

He shook his head and headed into the hutch and the modest burrow attached to it. Locals tended to line below and to the sides of these pens with bricks, to stop the inhabitants burrowing under the boundary and escaping. In turn though, that meant little space for more than a basic burrow with two or three entrances. Still it was enough, and better than the towns that kept their groundhogs elsewhere during the year only to cart them out to a temporary show-pen for the big day.

Dig profoundly wished he could say a word or two to the people in those places... Moving the groundhog on the day always played havoc with his schedules if he'd planned to visit that town.

But regardless, he finished his inspection of the site, decided that yes he'd do this place next Groundhog Day, and then proceeded to draw a little smiley face next to the town on the map.

He also chewed through another third of his pencil. The next person to clean the pen was going to wonder which local had given the resident a pencil to shred, given the number of splintered pieces Dig left behind.

Onwards proceeded his 'inspection tour', a trail of wood and graphite fragments left in his wake. By the time he'd done half of his prospective spots for next year, he'd already gone through ten of his pencils. Indeed he was halfway through his eleventh when he got a visitor.

You'd be forgiven for thinking the female groundhog that eyed him from the nearby street-corner, was a wild one that had wandered into town. That is until she spoke.

"You'll ruin your teeth doing that. All those black marks from the pencil leads to scrub off."

Dig's cheerful mood swiftly changed to one of resigned annoyance.

"Hello, Abenaki."

Abenaki, more commonly known as Grandmother Woodchuck, strolled over to him. For a long time he'd thought he was the first groundhog, or woodchucks as many call them, to have been made an immortal. That is until the day he'd had his first run-in with Abenaki. She was much older than him, and her Legend was of Native American origin. And while he wasn't in the territory covered by that Legend right now, she still had the habit of tracking him down and scolding him like a small child.

He had to suppose that was due to her Legend, because according to that she had an extensive history for it.

She plucked at his fur, which still had bits of leaves from his bed stuck among it.

"And have you never considered grooming yourself? A wise individual keeps themselves clean, because being clean helps prevent disease and fleas."

Dig scrunched up his nose, grumbling.

"I don't get fleas, I'm too cold for them. I'm a Winter Nature Immortal, remember. Any flea that comes near me, freezes the moment it hits my fur."

Abenaki snorted, still plucking at his fur.

"Feels warm to me."

Dig's mutter was even quieter than the last one.

"That's because no one would believe it was 'self defence' if I froze you."

"What was that?"

Dig edged away from her, fussing with his satchel in the guise of getting ready to continue his work. A legitimate excuse.

"I said I'm warm because I don't want to freeze you... Or the groundhogs that I'm visiting today. It's bad manners to leave a burrow cold after a visit."

She made a little cooing sound, and reached out to ruffle his ears. That was another thing she did. If she wasn't scolding you like you were a small child, she was fussing over you like you were one.

"You're such a sweetheart when you want to be."

Once again Dig edged away from her, and this time he made it to a patch of dirt.

"I really have to go. Duty calls!"

He was down and gone through a magical burrow, closing it behind him, before she had the chance to pursue. At his new location, Dig then slumped against a wall and sighed in relief. Being mothered by Yuki was fun, and he always loved it when she'd get a nice soft brush and groom the bits of leaves out of his fur for him. But being mothered by Abenaki was a fate he very much did his best to avoid.

Dig fair raced through the last of his inspection tour, as much to avoid her tracking him down, as it was so he'd have time to relax in a few of his favourite places afterwards. And the best way for a pre-hibernation immortal groundhog to relax?

He paid a visit to a few locations where a tiny handful of children could see him, and allowed them to stuff him silly with nuts, seeds, and vegetables. Indeed his belly was noticeably rounded by the time he returned to the Sanctuary of Winter and descended back into his burrow.

A few more meals and he'd be all set for hibernation. Ready and waiting for his next chance to stuff himself, when Jack snuck into North's Workshop on Christmas Eve to raid cake and other things from the kitchens.

Christmas with Jack was always fun, but even more so if you had cake.

~(-)~

Alaia Skyhawk: Sorry for this being late guys, but I had an interview for a job to prep for yesterday and the day before.

And remember, I'm still accepting requests for oneshots and mini-arcs!