Chapter 5: Gemma Fogg
Bunny put up his paws in a 'wait a minute' position. "Ok, hold up. You're telling me that Man in Moon picked a Shelia that only you can see? How can we know you aren't lying?" "You just have to trust me on this one." Jack responded. Bunny looked at the others, saying, "I think this larrikin has kangaroos loose in his top paddock." Jack gave him a confused look, then ignored the comment.
Jack turned towards the window, saying, "Listen, I'm just going to go get her." Tooth stopped him before he could leave. "Hold on a minute, Jack. Why can you see her, but we can't?" Jack turned to her. "That's just it. You don't believe in her, so you can't see her. She sees North and Bunny all the time." Jack smiled. "She's a bit of a prankster. She loves messing with Cottontail's egg hunts."
"Hold it, so it isn't always you messing with my hunts?" Bunny seemed surprised. "No, like I said, she controls fog, not me." "So she's the bloody hoon that makes me get lost?" Jack brushed his hand through his hair. "Yeah, she didn't want you to know about that." "Well-" North cut Bunny off. "Bunny, we know you don't like miss," he looked at Jack, "miss?" "Uh." Bunny was even more irritated at Jack's answer. "What, you don't know her name? Well, this is just great. Who knows? Maybe she's his girl and be wants to go see her alone." "What? She's not my girlfriend!"
LATER
Jack was relieved to land in the forest clearing again. Bunny had blasted him, Jack was sure it was because the rabbit was jealous that he saw the new Guardian, not himself. Jack pushed it away, though, knowing that his job came first. On the plus side, he was happy to get to see her again.
"Hello?" Jack called. The clearing was just that, clear. No fog or mist was in sight. Jack looked around, wondering if any of the wisps were around. He suddenly noticed that the forest was extremely dark, and got into a defensive position. He looked up for the Moon, then noticed that rainclouds covered his view of the sky.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw something blue near the ground. Craning his head to get a better look, he saw a wisp in front of him. Jack laughed out the word: "Hey." He smiled at the spirit, squatting. "Is your friend here?" Once again, Jack saw something out of the corner of his eye. Another wisp. Jack stood up, whipping around to see more of them behind him. More appeared, and soon they were surrounding him, rising into the air up to his face.
Thunder boomed. Rain began to fall down on him. The wisps got closer. Thunder boomed again. Jack held out his hands out on either side of him, trying to keep the wisps away. Lightning cracked and thunder boomed a third time, making Jack jump, loosening the grip on his staff. At that exact moment, fog surrounded him, and he found himself frozen. Again.
The storm and fog disappeared, along with the wisps. Jack heard some familiar laughter and saw the beautiful Scottish teenager, about to fall down on the grass because she was laughing so hard. Jack's annoyed face as well as the Jesus position he was standing in made her laugh even harder. "Ok, Foggie," he said, moving his free hands. "I know you think this is funny but I need to talk to you. Could you please hand me my staff?"
Jack hated being tricked, and the fact that she had done it along with knocking away his staff twice made him boil. "Keep the heid, Frostie!" She bounced forward, grabbing the staff. She looked it over. "This is cool, Jack. I didn't get a good look last time." "Yes, thank you, your Scotty-ness. Now, please give me that so I can get out of here." "My name's not your Scotty-ness or Foggie!" she said, pulling the staff away from him.
"OK then, Miss Persnickety. What is your name?" She glared at him. "Gemma. Gemma Fogg with two 'g's.'" "Well then, Gemma, can I please have my staff back?" She paused, "Yes, of course you can." She grinned, handing him his staff. As Jack reached for it, though, her face got serious and she yanked it back. "Why are you here, Jack Frost? What brings you to my forest again?"
Jack looked at her, annoyed. "Listen, Gemma. I need to tell you something very important, but I want my staff back first." "You want or you need?" "Listen, Gemma there is a lot at stake here." "Yeah sure! Now listen to me, Frostie, I know you need this staff to use your powers. I have it so I have authority here. So now tell me, what news is so important that you come back here, without a warning, in a matter of hours after leaving without a goodbye?"
Jack sighed, knowing that arguing wouldn't help him, now. "OK, the truth is that the Guardians want to meet you." It wasn't exactly a lie, but he hoped she would go with it. She snorted. "Why in Moon's name would they want to do that?" "Because I mentioned that I had met you and they were curious." The look on Gemma's face told him exactly what she was thinking, but she said it anyway. "Jack, the way you left last night told me something important was going on, so I asked around. I know that the Northern Lights mean the Guardians are being called together. Now," she stuck the staff in his face, "tell me the truth."
Jack looked into Gemma's eyes, and soon became mesmerized by them. The gold flecks stood out against the green really well, and made her eyes sparkle. "Well?" she asked, impatient. Jack shook his head, then said, "OK, you want to know the truth? Man in Moon told us there would be a new Guardian. That's why the lights shone last night. The only problem was that I was the only one who could see who it was, and it was you. That's why I'm here."
Gemma staggered back, wheeling in surprise. "Me? A Guardian? Wha-why?" She looked up at the Moon. "Why should I be a Guardian? Wh-Why didn't you tell me yourself?" She went quiet, staring up at the sky. She leaned against Jack's staff, wondering. Jack cleared his throat. "Well, did you risk your life for someone else's?" She turned to him. "What?" "Before I died," Jack explained, "I saved my sister's life. That's why he chose me. Maybe it's the same for you."
"But, but I don't remember my life before I was Gemma Fogg." That remark gave Jack an idea. "Well here, if you give me my staff, I can take you to the North Pole. Then Tooth can take you to the Tooth Palace and you can get your memories back." He gave her his most adorable pleading look. "Please?"
The look on her face said that she didn't trust him, but she handed him his staff anyway. "Alright. But this does not mean I'm going to be a Guardian."
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