Alaia Skyhawk: Hehe, I know you guys have been looking forward to seeing how I do this bit :)

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 25: Thaddeus Burgess

Jack stared at the family in great concern, his mind churning over the numerous blizzards and freezing winds he knew would be bringing to this part of Northern America over the next few months. He had the whole season almost entirely planned out for each of the major areas, with a little bit of room to change things if Mother Nature came calling with a specific storm in mind, but there was certainly no chance he could ease off the weather in any way.

This family were going to be in serious trouble, if something wasn't done to get them to prepare.

He flew up off his perch, turning to dart the few hundred yards to the village, which being on a small rise was actually visible from the new cabin. Upon reaching the village, and checking for any children being in sight, Jack then carefully slipped into James' cabin through one of the rear windows. His arrival startled the occupants, who had been in the middle of a meal when he made his entrance.

James hastened over to the window, to close the shutters once the immortal was inside.

"Jack, you're back early."

Jack was solemn.

"I've got early preparations to do, bringing the temperature down in advance of the official start of Northern Winter... It's going to be a bad one this year, which wouldn't normally cause me concern because the village always gets word from me to prepare... but."

James winced in understanding.

"The cabin down by the river. They are Thaddeus Burgess, his wife, Mary, and their children, Grace and Liam. They arrived a little over a week ago, and got that cabin set up in just a couple of days, they worked so hard at it. They were invited to build their cabin here, but refused. They wanted to be by the river."

Jack cursed under his breath.

"I can't go easy on them. If they're not warned about what's coming, they're likely to freeze or starve before winter is even half done."

James set his hand on Jack's shoulder.

"I'll go speak to Thaddeus tomorrow, and invite his family to attend the Festival of First Snow. Gavin can tell his son to take the village children down there as well, to spark the beginnings of belief in you with Grace and Liam."

"Good." Jack let out a sigh. "That will mean I can have them pass weather warnings to their parents, although there's no guarantee they'll listen. Do what you can, James. I'll be back with the first snows in four weeks."

~(-)~

The weeks had passed by, seeming both swift and yet slow. Swift in that very little direct contact had been made with the family by the river, except by the children, and slow in that bringing up the matter of the Spirit of Winter, was something best left until circumstances actually meant it would be normal to mention it.

If he'd gone to Thaddeus on the day of Jack's visit, the man would probably have closed the door in his face.

James walked along the narrow trail, through woods dusted with the snow that had fallen just this morning. The path was well-worn now, thanks to the daily passage of the village children, let by Gavin's seven-year-old son, Grayham. Every day they'd gone to the cabin by the river, they'd helped Thaddeus gather firewood and get his farming-plot cleared of tree stumps, and then they'd led Grace and Liam into the woods to place games.

Grayham had then done as he'd been asked by his father, and made sure to talk about how the games played with Jack Frost were so much better than anything that could be played in the other seasons. Winter was the best for games, and stories, and Jack would be coming to the valley soon!

Reaching the clearing where the cabin lay, James saw the evidence that the two youngsters were already excited about meeting Jack Frost. Grace and Liam were at the edge of the farming-plot; the girl trying to make snowballs with the thin layer of snow that had gathered on the fence, and the boy had found a stick which vaguely resembled Jack's staff, with which he was pretending to freeze the straggly grass at his feet.

James smiled at that, and waved to them.

"Ho there! Is your father about? I've brought a gift for you family, from the village."

The two children looked up from their game, breaking into wide smiles as they then darted towards the cabin.

"Father! Father! A man from the village says he has a present for us!"

They both clattered through the open cabin door, audibly jumping around in excitement while they were out-of-view, and then they and their father came out into the open.

Thaddeus frowned slightly, but then smiled politely at his visitor.

"Well if it isn't James. Your grandson has been a mighty fine help around here. I was starting to wonder why none of the children had come today."

James strode over, a garland of ivy, fern, and winterberries held firmly in his grasp. He held it out to Thaddeus, along with a bundle of four winterberry sprigs.

"The children are busy preparing for tomorrow, the Festival of First Snow. I've come to invite you and your family to attend."

At their father's side, Grace and Liam began to bounce in excitement.

"Ooh! Grayham said the festival is when Jack Frost comes to the valley! Is Jack Frost going to come play games with us?"

James smiled at that.

"Of course he is. He comes every year, without fail, and he always plays with the children living here. He tells stories too, about the far away places he sees when he travels. I remember a few of them from when I was your age."

Liam looked up at him hopefully.

"Could you tell us one of them?"

James wagged a finger at him wryly.

"Ah no. Those stories are best heard from Jack. He tells them far better than I can."

As this conversation was going on in front of him, Thaddeus began to frown deeply.

"What is this nonsense about 'Jack Frost'? My children have scarce stopped chattering about him ever since the village children began coming over here to play."

James turned his attention back to the adult.

"Jack Frost is the Spirit of Winter. The pond near the village is his home during the winters here, and this will be the seventy-fifth year we have celebrated his return and thanked him for the protection he gives us, as well as the joy he brings to our children. This valley is his, and now that you live here too, it's only right that you acknowledge him." He held out the garland and sprigs again. "I've brought you this. The garland is to hang on your porch, and the berries are to go in the shrine at the village, should you come to the festival tomorrow."

Thaddeus scowled.

"I'm not interested in your pagan nonsense. I'm a God-fearing man, and the Holy Church is all my family needs to have salvation."

James didn't lower the offered garland.

"I think you may interpret us wrongly. Every family in the village owns and treasures a Bible, and we hold a prayer-service every Sunday in the village square. Nowhere in the Bible, does it say we should not pay our respects to the Spirits of Nature... And truly, it would be most ungrateful of us to ignore Jack Frost, when he has done so much for us. Do unto others, as you would have them do unto yourself, Thaddeus Burgess. Respect, for respect."

There was a moment of tense silence, the two men staring at each other while the two children watched in confusion. And then Thaddeus reached out and accepted the garland and the berries, if a little grudgingly.

"Very well, we shall attend your festival, and find out for ourselves if it is a fool's belief or not."

"Then we shall see you tomorrow, two hours after dawn. Jack usually arrives just before midday."

James turned and left, smiling to himself as he heard Grace and Liam begin to chatter excitedly. He wore that same smile again the following morning, when Thaddeus, Mary, and their children came into view on the trail at the village edge.

The family paused in surprise when they arrived, finding that the garlands on all the houses had the same coating of hoarfrost on them as they'd found on their garland, yet the frost wasn't on anything else. They were also surprised at the cheerful anticipation that filled the square, as the fifty or so villagers gathered in small groups to talk about the Spirit of Winter and the season ahead.

James linked arms with his wife and headed over to Thaddeus and his family. The two of them hadn't placed their offerings yet, so they could show the family what to do once they'd arrived.

"The shrine is over here." He waved for them to follow, which they did so, and once at the shrine, he and his wife placed their berries on top of the pile inside the shrine's base. "Spirit of Winter, watch over us until spring. Warn us when the bad storms come, and grant us your protection."

They stepped aside so that Thaddeus and his family could come forward, and it was Grace and Liam who placed their berries on the pile without hesitation. They then looked up at their parents, waiting, until Thaddeus and Mary relented, placed their berries, and uttered the same prayer.

"Spirit of Winter, watch over us until spring. Warn us when the bad storms come, and grant us your protection."

Once they were done, James saw the man's eyes linger on the little pottery plaque inside the shrine, which bore a simple drawing of Jack. Other, wooden plaques had been added over the years, all bearing a similar image, several of which showed Jack surrounded by smiling children.

"Only the young can see Jack Frost, before the concerns of adulthood cloud their eyes. Call our belief what you will, but we know the Spirit of Winter is real, even if we cannot see him. But you will know he is there, when the Mantle of Frost gilds the storm-pole above the shrine."

James now looked to Grace and Liam, before he pointed to the gathering of a dozen children nearby. The two youths dashed over to join their friends, while in the meantime Thaddeus and Mary were led to where a cauldron of soup hung warming over one of the fire-pits.

Mugs of soup were passed around as the morning progressed, the festival air gradually allowing Thaddeus and Mary to relax even if they remained unsure. And then, just before noon, a child's cry of joy rang out as all the youngsters began to cheer and point at the top of the storm pole.

"He's here! Jack Frost is here!"

From his perch, Jack grinned at them, before he then dropped down to spiral frost up the pole, making sure to make it exceptionally elaborate. He'd already dropped a special snowflake on each of Thaddeus' two children, before he'd come into view and landed. Just in case the efforts of the village children over the past four weeks, hadn't been enough to make sure the newcomers could see him.

Thaddeus and his wife stared, awestruck, as ice spiralled up the post in a pattern of obvious flowers and trees, with even a bird or two among the patterns. Then, as they watched, a snowball appeared in thin air. It moving as if someone hefted it, and then it was flung at one of the village children who shrieked with laughter as they dodged.

A snowball fight started, albeit a limited one with so little snow yet to be on the ground even after the modest fall that happened during the night. But if that hadn't been enough to convinced Thaddeus and his wife, Liam and Grace came charging over.

"I can see him, Father! He has white hair and a cloak with fur on it, and a staff too! Just like the picture inside the shrine!"

"I see him too! He told us that if we go to the pond this afternoon, he'll tell us a story!"

Thaddeus glanced at James.

"He really tells them stories?"

James smiled, not so much at the question, but that in the way it was phrased. By asking, Thaddeus was already subconsciously admitting that he was beginning to believe Jack was real.

"Jack Frost enjoys learning stories in his travels, and telling them to the children each winter when he returns here. He's well-known, and respected, among us. There isn't a person here, who grew up in this village, who doesn't remember listening to his tales or playing games with him in the forest. We remember, even if we are no longer able to see him. We know he is real."

Thaddeus' expression softened, as he watched the children playing with someone that only they could see. No one could hear such joyful laughter as theirs, and think this was not a good thing.

"How can it be that no one else knows of this? How can it be that outside of this valley, such joy is not known?"

James sighed.

"Because it's just not meant to be, yet, that he be believed in beyond this place. He cannot protect everyone from the harsh side of his season, but here at least, he can. That makes him happy, and that joy is what he gives to us in return for our belief." He glanced at Thaddeus. "So, 'pagan' as this may seem, I doubt God would object to us befriending the Spirit of Winter. No 'demon' could make children laugh as pure and innocently as Jack can."

Thaddeus and his wife looked towards the children, and by now, he at least was convinced.

"Truly... Mary, my heart, I think we chose a very good place to make our home."

Over by the children, even amid his laughing and running, Jack heard those words. They made his smile widen, as he spent the rest of the day with the children, until they tired themselves out and he sent them home. But the shadow of the impending harsh winter, which he had held back from speaking of during the festival itself, could not be ignored the next day.

He delivered his warning to the village, prompting them to start preparing their cart to get extra supplies from Kirktown, and then he flew to the cabin by the river, and landed a short distance from the young boy sat on the porch.

Liam grinned when he saw him, and jumped to his feet.

"Jack! Are you here to play?"

When the boy rushed over to him, Jack crouched down and placed a hand on his shoulder. He was not smiling today.

"Liam, today isn't a day for games. I need you to pass a very important message to you father, ok?"

"Ok!"

The child nodded enthusiastically, and Jack let out a small sigh.

"You need to tell your father, that I told you that it has to be a harsh winter this year. You've got three weeks to get any extra supplies you think you need from the town, before the first big blizzard moves in." He tweaked the boy's nose with his fingers, only now letting a small smile show. "And you and your sister need to ask the village children to teach you the Game of Songs, so you can play it during the storms and cheer up your parents. Ok?"

Liam nodded again, and charged around the back of the cabin to where his father was chopping wood.

"Father!"

Thaddeus set down his axe, frowning as he listened to his son explain what had been said. He then took hold of the boy by the shoulders, and regarded him sternly.

"He really said that? Are you sure? Because if you're doing this as a game, then your mother isn't going to be happy."

Liam shook his head.

"Nuh uh! Jack really said it! he's right over there!"

The boy pointed at Jack, who then deliberately landed and allowed himself to leave footprints in the thin layer of snow. He walked right up to the stump which was being used as a chopping block, picked up the axe, and neatly split the log that was resting there.

Thaddeus paled for a moment, at the ghostly act of the axe floating into the air and coming back down with a thud, but it got the point across. The family had asked Jack for his protection, and he was here to give them warning about the bad winter that was heading their way.

The man turned and headed into the house, where he grabbed his thick cloak, and the remainder of a loaf of bread, along with some of their coins to pack hastily into a bag while his startled wife watched.

"Mary, I'm going to go back to the town and get some more supplies... Our son says Jack Frost has told him it's going to be a harsh winter, so keep cutting more wood for our pile while I'm gone."

She frowned at him.

"You can't be serious, Thaddeus. This talk of a Spirit of Winter could well be foolishness, no matter what we saw yesterday. Do you really think that 'Jack Frost' would go to the effort of coming down here?"

There was a thud as a snowball slammed into the wall beside the door, causing the couple to come out onto the porch with the intent of scolding their son for interrupting. But Liam wasn't near the door, he was several yards away chatting excitedly to his sister...

...And near the door, something or someone jumping up and down in the snow leaving footprints, audibly crunching into the white powder with every landing. That was then followed by a sudden burst of frost, which spread like a pattern of ferns across the top of the snow and up the cabin wall.

Thaddeus gave his wife another long look.

"I think that answers that. The food I will buy now, will keep until spring even if we don't use it. It is better to be prepared, just in case."

Mary, clinging to his arm at the strangeness of all this, nodded numbly before looking at him.

"Be careful, Thaddeus."

He placed a kiss on her forehead and then stepped down from the porch, heading to the little lean-to where their handcart was kept sheltered from the weather. He then dropped his bag into it, took hold of the handles, and began to pull it along the trail that led to the road.

But when he reached the road, it was with some surprise that he found the village's wagon waiting for him, with James and Gavin, who was now a man of twenty-eight years age, sat on the driver's bench.

James smiled and threw him a coil of rope.

"Take that and tie that cart of yours to the back. It'll be four days to Kirktown and back, and travel is always best done with company."

Thaddeus caught the rope, and returned the smile

"And I'd be grateful for it. And I must say, it was quite a surprise to have my son deliver a 'message from Jack Frost'."

"Aye, I suppose from your standpoint, it will take getting used to."

All three of them chuckled at that, and Thaddeus tethered the handles of his cart to the back of the wagon, so that the larger vehicle could tow it along behind. Once that was done, he then clambered into the wagon and sat on the side that James indicated.

That was when Thaddeus noticed patterns of frost were being visibly drawn on the side opposite from him, along with one obvious word, 'hello'.

Gavin grinned at the newcomer's startled reaction.

"Jack gives you his greetings. He always accompanies the village wagon for trips like these, if he's not too busy with his other duties."

When Thaddeus continue to stare, James then laughed.

"I was not completely honest with you. One or two of us in the village, can still see and hear Jack Frost even once we are adults. But we do not speak of it, because it allows the children to think they are special for being able to pass on messages from him. It would spoil it for them, if they knew there was an adult who can hear him without any help."

Thaddeus recovered somewhat from his surprised state, and regarded them curiously.

"So how many of the adults can see him?"

James shrugged.

"That is of no real importance for you to know, and would spoil our village traditions if we made a fuss of it. But I can say that both of us here can see and hear him. It is why we volunteered to take this trip. Jack makes pleasant travel company, and he keeps the road clear for us as well."

Thaddeus let out a whispered breath of awe, and then glanced between James and the spot where apparently Jack was seated.

"I have something to ask... Mine is just one family that plans to move to the land beside the river. There are new mines being made to the west and south, and the river near my cabin is an ideal point to set up a crossing that will lead to the main trade route to the north. Would the Spirit of Winter object to a town being built there?"

James looked at Jack, and the Spirit of Winter shrugged and grinned.

"I don't mind, so long as they make the effort to get to know me. After all, more people means more children for me to play games with and tell stories to."

James and Gavin both laughed at that, and then he looked at the rather puzzled man who of course had been unable to hear that remark.

"He doesn't mind. 'More people means more children for me to play games with' is what he said. And all that we of the village would ask, is that if a new town does form on the banks of the river, that you take up and follow the traditions we have in our village. Jack cannot protect your town, if you do not believe in him. And we would rather not be faced with watching our neighbours struggle in harsh winters which, if they had listened to us and to Jack, they could have prepared for."

Thaddeus nodded to that, his expression determined..

"Then I will make sure of it. Every family that follows mine to this valley, will learn the importance of trusting and believing in the Spirit of Winter."

Across the wagon, Jack was smiling softly to himself in contentment. And later that winter, during the storms, that smile returned when the winds brought him the sounds of the village children playing the Game of Songs during the storms... and Thaddeus and his children were among those singing.

~(-)~

Alaia Skyhawk: I enjoyed writing this one, so I hope you all enjoyed reading it :)