Disclaimer: I don't own any aspects referred to in this story.

Book 3: A Gift

Chapter 32

The Destination

Jack stared at the city the train was approaching. The North Pole. Not the fortress he had thought was the North Pole, but the actual North Pole itselfAfter all the hardships and troubles to get here, the Express had finally made it.

Jack and the others were now back in the passenger car. The Stablemaster had explained that Sven and the other reindeer needed to rest before the big night. The group would see Sven later that night as they all watched the big event.

Jack had been very surprised to see Sven. The Stablemaster had explained why the reindeer's passenger status wasn't brought up before, but Jack felt there was something more here. It had sounded like the stable car wasn't used frequently, which made Jack think there was a special reason Sven had been included. Outside animals weren't usually allowed at the North Pole. Then again, children weren't usually allowed either, yet Jack was on a train carrying a whole group of children to visit. Maybe exceptions were made, occasionally. Still, Jack wondered if there was something more at play here than a visit.

Time to look into that later, though. A majestic view awaited. The tracks wound their way on bridges that formed a serpentine pattern towards the city. This layout made the city visible on both sides of the Express. The North Pole stood on a small hill, with lower buildings rising up on the edges to accompany taller buildings closer to the center. There were square buildings, rectangular buildings, clock towers, and decorative towers that the train went through. Windows, both big and small, emitted golden light that complemented the dark saphire of the night sky.

As the train moved into the city, Jack noticed more specific details. Some of the streets in the city were so small, it made Jack feel like that story about the fellow on the island of tiny people. Other streets had the opposite effect, making Jack feel like one of those tiny people himself. Doors of varying size stood as entrances to the buildings. Jack knew the larger doors and streets were for the yetis, but he was uncertain who went into the smaller doors. The elves Jack had seen were as tall as Jack's knee. Surely they wouldn't be able to reach the handles of any of these doors.

There was one thing though that everything in the North Pole seemed to have in common. Nobody was out and about. The streets were completely deserted.

Jack was about to ask when Olaf beat him to the punch. "Where are the elves?"

The question was repeated among the other passengers, with everyone asking about the elves' location.

"They are gathering in the city center," the Conductor announced. "That is where Santa will give the first gift of Christmas."

Anna raised a hand. "Who gets the first gift?"

"Also, is it a symbolic gift, like hope and love, or a gift you can hold?" Olaf added.

The Conductor turned to Anna, Olaf, and the others. "Excellent questions. There is nothing symbolic about this. Santa will give the first gift tonight before setting out. As to who gets it," the Conductor's eyes roved among the children, "he will choose one of you."

Jack noticed that the Conductor had focused his gaze on his direction when he had said 'you.' Jack turned to see his eyes resting on Olaf. Or Elsa, Anna, or himself, Jack couldn't quite tell.

Elsa looked out the window, her face lighting up. "Anna, look outside."

Anna turned and looked. Soon, her eyes widened as well. "Take a look, everyone. It's the elves."

"And some yetis, apparently," Olaf added.

Jack looked out the window. Sure enough, the street had become crowded. People of smaller size, about Elsa's height were walking alongside the train. They were all wearing red or green caps and hats to match their shirts, pants and coats. These elves were much larger than the ones Jack had known. Jack had always had a feeling that the elves at the Pole were probably juveniles. 'Mischievous youngsters,' North had said in Jack's dream. Well, now Jack could see how that could be the case. These elves didn't look as clumsy or silly as the Pole elves. If anything, they looked kinda-like regular adults, only a little shorter.

Several yetis stood out among the sea of red apparel. Jack was glad to see some large, familiar faces. The yetis were lumbering their way towards the town center, but they were careful not to bump any elves, moving with the crowd instead of through it.

The train soon came to a stop. The Conductor started walking to the back of the train. "Alright, everyone. Now follow me in a calm and orderly manner. Once outside, form two columns, if you please. Shorter in the front, taller in the rear, even-numbered birthdays on the right, odd-numbered on the left. Absolutely no pushing is allowed. Let's proceed in a quick, organized manner, people, it's five minutes to midnight."

Jack noticed the mildly surprised tone when the Conductor stated the time, as if he himself was surprised at what time it was. Jack tapped the Conductor's shoulder. "Yes, Jack?" the Conductor asked in a slightly impatient tone.

"Two questions. One, wasn't it five minutes to midnight when we set out?"

"Exactly," the Conductor exclaimed. "And that's why we need to move. Can't be late after all the time it took to get here."

A puzzled expression appeared on Jack's face. "But how can we be late when… never mind. Two, have you seen my staff? I know I brought it back from the front, but I can't seem to find it anywhere."

"Haven't seen your stick, Jack. Can't help you right now, I'm afraid. We are on a very tight schedule." The Conductor turned to the stairs leading outside. "I'd suggest trying the stables. Only place I can think of. We'll be leaving shortly once everyone's organized. I suggest you all join, but no one is required to come."

Jack nodded. "Appreciate how you make this optional even though it's one of the biggest opportunities of a kid's life. I'll be there. Just need to check the stables."

As Jack went through the door to the stables, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, Jack saw Anna, Elsa, and Olaf behind him. "Aren't you all going with the rest of the group? I don't want to miss seeing Santa because I'm a little late."

Olaf shook his head. "And let you miss out on the fun? No way."

Anna nodded. "Olaf's right. I meant what I said before. We all came aboard together, so we're all sticking together."

"Agreed," Elsa added.

Jack smiled. It was very fortunate that he had good friends like these. He was getting more and more used to the concern and care they showed for him.

Jack turned back to the stables. All the doors were open, and the stalls were empty of any occupants. The Stablemaster must have worked fast to get those reindeer out the door. Maybe Sven would be with the other passengers when the big moment arrived.

Jack then saw his staff leaning on the door to Sven's stall. He must have left it there in the excitement of arriving at the North Pole. Well, Jack wasn't going to leave it behind, that was for sure.

As Jack grabbed the staff, the train car gave a loud lurch, the lights blinking briefly. "What was that?"

Olaf opened the door to the front of the car. "Oh, look at that. Our train car has disconnected from the rest of the train and we're accelerating away," he said, smiling.

Elsa ran up. "He's right. We're moving backward," she exclaimed.

"But how's that possible? We shouldn't be disconnected at all," Anna asked.

Jack ran to the other doors. "Apparently we are, not only from the front cars, but also the observation car in the back as well."

The observation car was moving a few feet ahead of the stable car down the hill's gradual decline. Soon, the observation car turned onto a secondary track going straight down a steep hill. The stable car hit a small lever on the tracks that rediverted the car onto the main track.

Jack heaved a sigh of relief. If they could find the emergency break, they could stop the car and head on back. It sure was a lucky break they hadn't gone down the hill. Who knows how that would have turned out.

Suddenly, a black wisp flowed from the couplings to the train wheel. Jack only had time for his eyes to widen when the stable car started to move faster. Jack hung on for dear life as the car started to move through the town at a breakneck pace.

"What's going on?" Elsa asked.

"Nightmare. I don't know how, but a small sliver was able to get past. It's causing the train to speed up," Jack announced.

"It must have stowed away back at the lake," Olaf exclaimed.

"How do we stop it?" Anna asked.

Jack leaned out the door, looking down at the rapidly moving floor. "Right. I'm going to freeze it with my staff. Elsa, Anna, I'll need you both to finish this once and for all. Olaf, figure out a way to break the train."

"But I don't thing I could break the train. The furniture, maybe, but not the whole train," Olaf replied, looking around the car.

"No, Olaf, I meant figure out a way to slow us down."

"Oh, that makes more sense, Jack," Olaf said as he hurried to the other side of the car.

Jack then leaned out, looking for the black sand. He soon spotted it, moving around the wheels, spinning them faster and faster."

"Here we go," Jack said. He aimed his staff, pictured the ice forming, and fired. The ice beam hit the end of the black sand. The frozen sliver fell, pulling all the sand to the ground. As the sand slid under the car, Jack turned to Elsa. "Be ready."

Elsa nodded. Once the sand rolled past the train, Elsa fired her beam, fully freezing the dark entity. Anna grabbed a pitchfork, throwing it as if it were a javelin.

The pitchfork hit the frozen sand spot-on, splitting it up into hundreds of little fragments. No sand reformed from the ice pieces, so Jack assumed that that was that.

Soon, sparks started flying from the wheels. Jack looked back to see Olaf turning a wheel on the wall. As Olaf turned it, the train started slowing down.

It was then that Jack noticed that they had been diverted onto another track. Jack looked ahead to see the car entering a large round room of a building, with a lever at the end of the track behind a bumper. The car hit the bumper and lever dead-on, causing everyone to bounce forward from the collision.

Jack fell out of the car onto the floor of the building. Suddenly, the floor started lifting, moving Jack, the car, and everyone on it up to a higher floor. The floor moved quickly, though in a more controlled manner than the train's movement. Soon the floor slowed down and eventually stopped.

Jack stood up. "Is everyone ok?"

"We're fine," Anna said.

"All body parts are accounted for. That Hobo really knows his breaks," Olaf added.

"Good," Jack said. He turned around, trying to get his bearings. Clearly, they were in a large elevator, though where they were in the city was unclear. All around, there were several ladders and stairways leading to numerous doors in the room. While there were pictures above the doors, there didn't seem to be an exit door, or a sign indicating where to go.

Jack turned and looked at the lever that had been hit. The words up and down lay on the left and right side of the lever. The iron bar that made up most of the lever was broken clean off. Engineering was not Jack's forte, but he knew enough to know fixing the lever was not possible. The base of the lever was stuck at the up position. Jack frowned. With the elevator mechanism out of commission, they couldn't go back the way they had come. And Jack had absolutely no idea which door would be the correct one.

Anna looked at Jack "What do we do, now?"

Jack shrugged. He had absolutely no idea.

And that was a twist. You might notice that we had a similar situation as what happened in the movie. I wanted to pay homage to the film, but add my own twist to it. I also wanted to try and make sure that Rise of the Guardians and the Polar Express fit together well. That's why we have reference to the Pole, and the North Pole, as well as references to yetis as well as both types of elves. Thank you all for continuing to read this. As always, please rate and review.