Tale
Chapter 12 : Fire and Smoke
/!\ I do not own Rise of the Guardians, only my OC.
Lía Tale
The crow flew toward the fire without any hesitation. She had to get inside the burning workshop as soon as possible to save the Guardians. But first, she had to get past the despairs guarding it. She could do it like Tooth, go head first toward them and use her beak to destroy them. But she didn't know if she could actually use her beak as a weapon. Instead, she tried to get past them stealthily. She decided to go higher and get inside the workshop from above, through a hole in the roof. It required some skills, that she had thankfully acquired over the centuries. She was by far more agile and precise than any normal crow.
She flew high, as high as she could, before letting herself drop and plummet toward the blaze. At the last second, she reopened her wings, stopping her fall, and used her agility to fly through a small hole in the burning roof, avoiding the despairs. They hadn't even noticed her and had no clue that she had gone past their defences.
The shape-shifter arrived in the attic of North's workshop, where countless old toys were slowly turning into ashes, devoured by the blaze. She shifted back to her human form, carefully stepping onto the instable, burning floor of the attic. The wood boards were warm, almost too hot for her bare feet.
"So, if I were a Guardian trapped in a burning house, were would I be?" she whispered to herself.
Lía didn't have time to answer her own question, since half the roof collapsed and threatened to crush her under tons of tiles and wood. The frame of the roof had been partially destroyed by the fire, which explained the collapsing. The tale-teller hastily turned into a cat and ran as fast as she could toward the stairs. She managed to reach them before it was too late. Right behind her, the floor was crushed by the roof tiles and the remaining toys were destroyed. The fire was spreading quickly, devouring the wooden walls, the floor, the roof... and the stairs. Lía was standing on the first step of the stairs leading to the lower floors, which was the last one which hadn't been consumed by the fire. She turned back into a human and mumbled:
"Great. Guess the only thing left to do is jump."
She leaned forward, tried to see the lower floors under her, but the smoke was too thick and her view was blocked by it. She could only hope that the lower floors were still there and weren't burning. She counted up to three and jumped.
She landed -thank the Man in the Moon- on some solid floor. She was surrounded by fire and smoke and couldn't see further than a few meters around her. She turned into a cat, trying to use her senses to find hints on the Guardians whereabout. But the smoke was too thick, it was making everything blurry, filling her nose, keeping her from smelling the scents of the Guardians. She could barely see, and couldn't hear a thing. The burning building was creaking, often shaken by the fall of a floor, a part of the roof or a wall. The crackling of the fire was also covering the last noises that she could've heard. Finding the Guardians in those conditions seemed impossible.
Lía took a few steps without really knowing where it would lead her. She walked past a fire, too close, and her fur caught on fire. She quickly turned back into a human and walked away from the fire. So turning into an animal with fur or feathers wasn't an option if she didn't want to turn into a living torch. Which meant that she could only use three different shapes, including her human one.
She coughed and used her cloak to cover her mouth and nose. If she was already feeling sick because of the smoke and fire, then Tooth, Sandy and North couldn't be in a better shape. She had to find them, and quick.
"How can I find them? Where are they?" she said to herself, trying to think despite the situation she was in.
"I know!" she exclaimed. "The Globe room! At least, it's where I would go in their situation. It's worth a shot."
The Globe room was on the ground floor of the workshop. She was on the third floor. She had to find some stairs in order to reach the Globe. That, or turn into an orca and let the floor collapse under her heavy body... and risk crushing the Guardians and the Globe when reaching the ground floor.
She didn't have to think long before choosing the first option. She squinted, looked around her, searching for some stairs. She couldn't find any, but noticed a hole in the ground, where the wooden boards had crumbled under the weight of some furniture, probably a desk or a cupboard. The hole was surrounded by fire, which was slowly eating the rest of the floor.
"Well... I know what to do." she told herself.
She ran into the fire as quickly as possible and let herself drop through the hole in the floor. She thought she would land on the second floor and, there, find some stairs to go to the first floor, but it didn't go as planned.
The fire had completely destroyed the floor of the second storey, leaving only ashes behind. The only things left were the beams that used to support the wooden boards, and those wouldn't last long either. Lía pulled her dagger out and tried to stick it into a beam in order to stop her fall. But the burnt wood wasn't strong enough and the dagger cut through the beam without slowing the shape-shifter's fall.
She roughly landed on a broken desk, on the two remaining legs of the furniture broke under her weight. She rolled onto her side to get off the broken desk and staggered to her feet. Her entire body ached, her back was more painful than ever. After violently landing on her back, she had probably reopened her wound. Lía was covered in ash, soot and dust, her legs were shaking, her head painfully throbbing... she wasn't in a very good shape.
"I have to get to the Guardians", she mumbled.
The shape-shifter took a few steps, each one feeling harder than the other. She had to find some stairs, anything to reach the ground floor and the Globe room. She reached a corridor and entered it. After a few more steps, the pain in her back forced her to stop and sit down for a second. She cursed under her breath while doing so. She couldn't afford to lose time! But Lía knew that trying to stay on her feet for one more second would make her pass out.
She leaned onto one wall of the corridor, facing the other, trying to forget the pain in her back, the blood soaking her tunic and making it stick to her skin. The shape-shifter looked around, searching for something, anything, to help her find her way around, know where she was in the burning workshop. The smoke had already filled the place, making her cough, but the fire had thankfully spared the corridor so far.
"Come on, Lía, you can't stay here, you have to move!" she told herself, getting back on her feet.
She took one step before the burnt floor underneath her feet collapsed and she fell... again. This time, she hit her head when she roughly hit the ground and lost consciousness.
Jack Frost
He worriedly looked at the crow quickly flying away from him. If he hadn't been so shocked, so devastated, he might've tried to stop her, but he felt like the sight of the Guardians HQ destructed by the fire had drained all of his strength. He was kneeling on the ground, hands buried in the soft snow covering everything. He didn't even have the strength to stand up.
"We have to stop her!", Bunny said.
"She won't like it", replied Jack. "She's independent and makes her own choices. You can't tell her what to do."
He had understood this quite quickly after meeting her. She was like a bird or a wild animal : free, and ready to die to conserve her freedom. She enjoyed having company and loneliness had been a heavy burden for her, but it didn't mean that she could accept being told what to do, especially after she had taken a decision.
"And it's too late anyway", the Guardian of Fun added.
The shape-shifter's silhouette had already been swallowed by the thick smoke coming from the burning building.
"So what can we do?" Bunny asked, pacing around Jack.
The Guardian of Hope was shivering, rubbing his arms with his hands to warm himself up. He seemed nervous and worried for Lía.
"There's nothing we can do", Jack answered.
He was incapable of thinking straight, incapable of moving... he couldn't do anything. Just the thought of finding the other Guardians' dead bodies after the fire... Lía's burnt form lying on the ground... Pandore victoriously staring at the two remaining Guardians... it was too much for him. Suddenly, he felt two warm, furry hands on his shoulder and raised his head. Bunny was crouching near him, fixing him with his emerald eyes.
"That's it, mate!" the pooka exclaimed. "you've been staring at nothing for more than two minutes now! While you're doing nothing, sobbing and whining on the ground, Lía's risking her life to save our friends. They need our help!"
"Are you deaf, Kangaroo? There's nothing we can do!" Jack repeated, annoyed. He wanted the Guardian of Hope to leave him alone.
"You're wrong!" Bunny countered. "You really think that Lía will be able to carry them all out of this blaze while defending herself against Pandore's despair? We should destroy them all now!"
"She won't find anything", Jack answered sadly. "They're likely dead right now. Pandore won."
"Oh no, don't do this!" Bunny ordered angrily. "You can't let Pandore win! You can't give into despair! It's not over yet!"
The Guardian of Hope forced Jack to look him in the eyes and said, calmer than before:
"As long as there's the slightest hope that they're still alive, we have to keep on hoping, Jack. Otherwise, we let Pandore win. Hope is the only thing we have left. Hoping...well it's the only thing we can do."
Jack nodded and Bunny helped him get up.
"This..." Bunny continued, "and destroying Pandore's despairs!"
Jack nodded again and firmly took his staff in one hand, ready to fight. For his friends, for his home. For hope.
"That's the spirit!" Bunny said with a grin. "Now let's go!"
And they charged, two Guardians against an army of despairs.
Lía Tale
Was she... dead? She could hear voices, whispers, but everything was pitch black around her. She tried to move, but felt paralysed. She took a deep breath, understanding that she wasn't dead. She tried to move again, and managed to slightly raise one eyelid. Little by little, she could feel her body again. The wood boards under her cheek, stomach and legs, her left hand strongly clutching her dagger, the scent of smoke and fire, ash and blood all around her... and heat, heat everywhere. It felt like she was in an oven, ready to be baked and served. And then... then she felt the pain in her back again, even worse than before. It was throbbing in her back, sending waves of searing pain in her shoulders, neck and thighs. Her head also ached, probably because of her fall. Even thinking was painful. She moaned, trying to forget her aches.
"... Lía?" she heard.
So the whispers weren't caused by her recent fall and the hit she had taken to the head. She tried to raise an eyelid again and saw a worried face above her own, staring at her, surrounded by fire.
"Tooth?" she groaned, recognising the Guardian of Memories' face.
"Are you okay?" Tooth asked.
Lía opened her other eyelid and blinked multiple time. She slowly sat up and tried to speak. She coughed, her lungs filled with smoke, before managing to pronounce a few words:
"I'm okay."
From the look on her face, Tooth wasn't convinced by the shape-shifter's words, but she still helped her to get up when Lía tried to get back on her feet.
"Is everyone here?" she asked, looking around.
Tooth was examining her, looking at her arms, legs, face, back... and briefly stopped to answer gravely:
"Everyone's here. North is carrying Sandy's cocoon and looking for a way out."
She looked at Lía's back and frowned when she saw the blood staining the cape and tunic of the tale-teller.
"You reopened your wound."
She raised the cloak and took a look at the wound. The edges of the injury were black, and the veins around it were also darkened by the poison. The poison was slowly reaching Lía's neck, shoulders and thighs. Tooth didn't say anything to Lía. She was startled to see how quickly it had progressed under the tale-teller's skin, but she didn't want to worry her.
"So there's no way out?" Lía asked, paying no attention to Tooth's diagnosis.
"No. We're stuck." Tooth answered. "And even if there was a way out, the workshop is probably surrounded by despairs."
She seemed... downed. The Guardian of Memory, always so full of energy and optimism, always armed with an iron will and ready to fight for her beliefs, fight for the children, seemed... hopeless. Desperate.
"I'll get you guys out." Lía declared. "Don't worry."
She tried to look confident, when really she was as distressed as Tooth.
"Why? Why would you help us? Why did you come back?" Tooth asked. "After what Bunny told you... I thought I'd never see you again."
"I couldn't stay away", the shape-shifter explained. "I made my peace with the past, because the world needs me to move on. Because I want to move on. Need to, too."
Tooth looked down, staring at the partially burnt floor. Her wings were motionless in her back and, for once, she wasn't hovering above the ground, which made her feel way smaller. More fragile, too. Like a frail hummingbird caught in a storm of darkness and fire.
"I... I'm sorry." she said. "I shouldn't have treated you like this. It was wrong."
"It was." Lía confirmed.
Tooth kept staring at the ground, mortified. She jumped when Lía put a hand on her shoulder.
"It was, but it's done. There's nothing you can do about it. I know you didn't do this out of malice, out of hate, but it still hurt when it happened. And now, the wound is healing. You were kind to me these past few days, Colibri. And that's what matters. You didn't let the past, or shame, keep you from doing what you thought was right. And you weren't half as annoying as Bunny. So I forgive you."
Tooth laughed softly. She finally found the courage to look at Lía in the eye and didn't flinch when she saw her mismatched eyes.
"You have a big heart, Lía. Bigger than any of the Guardians'. Thank you for your forgiveness."
Lía grinned.
"I forgive, but I don't forget. You owe me a day at the Tooth Palace."
"Talking about forgetting", Tooth replied, "I promise I'll give you back your memories. You know, from the ones before you were... you."
Lía blushed.
"About that... Jack might've stolen my memories for me..."
Tooth smiled. She had completely forgotten that she was in a burning building, surrounded by fire and smoke, trapped inside because of some deadly despairs and a blaze. She was happy to be forgiven, and Lía had just told her something that made her even happier, because it confirmed a hypothesis she had had for a few days now. She was so glad that she completely forgot to control her wings. They began flapping more and more rapidly, until she hovered above the ground as usual. She didn't pay any attention to it, instead muttering for herself:
" So he is smitten! I knew it!"
"Hey, Tooth?" Lía exclaimed, panicked. "Feet on the ground, please! Now!"
The Guardian of Memories' wings had stirred the air, feeding the hungry fire and providing it with some more oxygen. The flames got even bigger and shone brighter, spreading even more rapidly.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Tooth said. "I didn't mean to do this!"
Lía sighed and facepalmed.
"I know you didn't. But the fire is still spreading. We have to get out of here!"
As if to confirm her words, a whole piece of the second floor fell close to the two immortals. They just had time to jump to the side before burning pieces of wood fell on the ground, destroying an already-burnt piece of furniture, which had been, an instant earlier, miraculously still standing.
"The building agrees with me!" Lía exclaimed. "We have to go, now!"
Tooth nodded.
"I'll go get North and Sandy!" she informed Lía, before running off. The tale-teller, now alone, looked around. She saw, to her left, next to a big pile of wood (probably the wood boards that had just fallen from the second floor), the Globe. It was still standing proudly in the blaze, surrounded by fire and smoke, covered in ashes and soot. It would probably resist, but what if it caught on fire? Who knew what would happen if a Globe gifted by the Man in the Moon himself was destroyed?
The tale-teller took a step froward, wanting to verify the state of the magical artefact. Her right foot hit a piece of burning wood and she yelped as she jumped back, tripped and landed on her back. She sat back up and took a look at her burnt foot.
It was only red, though soon enough it would be blistering. She winced, but was still reassured. It wasn't as bad as she had thought. Her eyes landed on the tattoo of a sea serpent forming the symbol of infinity with its body on her ankle. Her third shape... she sighed. It was powerful, maybe a bit too much for her. When she used it, she usually got overwhelmed by the strength of this shape. But she had no other choice. They needed to get out of this burning building, and there was no way out. This shape would save them all... if she could control herself after shape-shifting.
She got up, heard the noise of footsteps and saw Tooth and North walking up to her. The Guardian of Wonder was cradling a strange golden cocoon which emitted a weak, golden light.
"I know a way to get out", she told the two Guardians.
She didn't even take a second to greet North, but the chief of the Guardians didn't seem to mind.
"How?" Tooth immediately asked. "You came from the roof, right? And some of us don't have wings to fly out of here. Plus, the despairs will attack us, and we're too weak to fight them. They'll kill us, if the fire doesn't."
"We won't fly" Lía answered. She breathed in deeply.
"I'm going to transform. I need you guys to hold on to me as strongly as you can. Don't let go, alright? And stay close to me. Normally, I won't hurt you while shape-shifting."
"Why would you... Lía, what's going to happen?" Tooth asked.
North didn't pay attention to the discussion, too worried for the delicate sand cocoon he was holding in his arms to think about anything else, but Tooth seemed concerned.
"It will look a bit frightening." the tale-teller warned, ignoring Tooth's question. "It's not something you see every day. But it's going to be okay. Trust me, alright? I'm getting us out of here."
"Lía..." Tooth began.
She didn't have time to say anything else.
Jack Frost
He was fighting the despairs, destroying them one by one with Bunny by his side. There were no new despairs spawning after one was destructed, which made things far easier. Maybe a bit too easy. Jack was starting to get worried. Why wasn't Pandore defending the blaze anymore? Why was she letting the two Guardians kill her despairs one by one without trying to stop them? Were the other Guardians already dead? Was she busy elsewhere?
Jack couldn't answer to any of those questions, which only made him frustrated and more worried. Suddenly, as he was destroying a despair with one blast of his staff, he felt the ground shake slightly under his feet. He raised his head and saw the burning building collapse completely.
"No!" he screamed, desperate.
He tried to run closer to the collapsing, burning workshop, but Bunny grabbed his wrist to keep him from doing so.
"Jumping head in inside the fire won't help anyone, Jack." Bunny told him. "I'm sorry."
Tears were running down the Guardian of Hope's cheeks, which showed that him too was devastated by the fall of the workshop. Jack turned to him, about to reply, but couldn't. Something caught his attention.
The workshop was now only a pile of broken tiles, melted glass, destroyed toys and furniture and burning pieces of wood. And, from the ruines, a huge sea serpent emerged.
It must've been at least longer than a bus. It had ultramarine blue scales, a blue fin running the length of its back, a fin on the tip of its tail and others on its jaws. It had two long blue horns on its head, a beautiful yet terrifying, dragony-like head and mismatched eyes. One was blue while the other was green. The two had vertical pupils. And when the sea serpent roared, emerging from the debris, Jack could see each of its long, sharp, white fangs.
"Lía?" he whispered, bewildered. "But... how?"
He didn't have time to think about it further, as sea-serpent Lía was slithering her way out of the burning ruins. He then noticed some people hiding behind one of her horns : the other Guardians! Lía had turned into a sea serpent to create a way out of the building, protecting them with her huge, scaly body before helping them to escape the burning remains of the workshop.
Bunny cheered when he saw the sea serpent. Jack tried to get closer, but he then noticed the despairs swarming around the sea serpent. They were forming a dense, dark cloud around the creature, keeping it from running (or crawling?) away, and keeping the two other Guardians from helping her. But when sea serpent Lía roared again, almost making the ground shake, the despairs suddenly disappeared. It wasn't just one or two, but the entire group which just... vanished.
Their disappearance allowed the sea serpent to get away from the debris and rejoin Bunny and Jack, who were standing on a snowy plateau nearby. It had been where they had fought the despairs, and it was now where they would reunite with their friends.
O
The sea serpent quickly slithered to the two other Guardians. Immediately after she stopped, Tooth and North jumped from her head. North was cradling Sandy's cocoon against his chest, making sure that it hadn't taken any hit during their escape.
"Are you okay?" Bunny immediately asked.
Tooth took a few hesitant steps toward him, still a bit shaken, and nodded.
"Lía got us out."
They both joined North and each wrapped an arm around Santa's shoulders, comforting him. The Guardian of Wonder had lost his Globe, his home and a year's worth of work to prepare for Christmas. The consequences of this loss would be devastating. But everyone tried to avoid this thought and instead focused and what mattered at the moment : each other.
"Is anyone hurt?" Bunny asked.
He was taking on North's role as a leader, since North didn't seem able to handle it at that time. Tooth shook her head, indicating that everyone was, more or less, okay. Bunny sighed and smiled slightly.
"Well, it's all that matters."
He turned his head to his right, where he was expecting to see Jack caring for Lía, but saw Jack talking to the sea serpent... which still hadn't turned back into a human.
Jack Frost
He had immediately walked up to the sea serpent, ready to see her turn back into Lía's human form. But the creature didn't move at all. Lía's head was slightly raised above the snowy ground while the rest of her body, covered in ash, was resting in the snow, colouring it in black and grey. Lía was staring at him, her eyes following his every move, but didn't move an inch.
"Lía?" he said hesitantly. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
The creature slightly tilted her head to the right and looked at him even more intensely. Jack felt like it wasn't Lía staring at him, but a real sea serpent which had directly emerged from an ancient legend to save his friends. Jack was getting more and more worried : why wasn't Lía turning back into a human? A sea serpent was supposed to live underwater, could she breathe out of the water?
He hesitantly held a hand up and touched Lía's scales, on her muzzle. The sea serpent blinked once and, suddenly, it was Lía, human Lía, standing in front of him again. She fell to her knees and tried to take deep breaths, as if she had just emerged from a long dive underwater.
Jack hurried to her side, kneeled beside her and held her by the shoulder. He wanted to help her, to support her, but didn't know what to do.
"Are you okay?" he asked again, more and more worried for the shape-shifter.
She nodded, still trying to catch her breath. Finally, after a few more breaths, she managed to speak:
"I was holding my breath all along. When I turn into a sea serpent, I can only breathe underwater. Thankfully, I got used to holding my breath in this shape."
She looked at him, still covered in ashes and soot. He then noticed that he himself was staring at her.
"Is there something on my face?" she asked.
He couldn't help but laugh softly.
"Just a little stain here." he answered with a grin.
With his thumb, he wiped a bit of ash covering Lía's face, but her skin was still darkened by it.
"There", he said. "Perfect."
She laughed, knowing that it would take a little more than a gentle brush of his thumb to wash her face. Jack felt his heart beat faster at the simple sight of her smile. She was so incredible... but a thought erased his smile.
"Why didn't you turn back into a human earlier?" he asked.
She lost her grin too.
"I... this shape is powerful", she explained. "In itself, a sea serpent is already a strong, powerful being, carried by the strength of the ocean, incarnating its wrath and fury. But in this shape, I also carry the weight of the legends surrounding sea serpents. I can't really explain it, but the faith of humans, whether they are sailors or children, in those legends, make my magic stronger, wilder, when I turn into a sea serpent. it's harder for me to remember who I am. That's why I didn't turn back into a human immediately, and why I don't turn into a sea serpent often. To avoid losing myself."
"And you don't think that, one day, you'll get used to it?" he asked.
"It's not that simple." she sighed. "But it doesn't matter right now. We have bigger problems."
She gestured to North, Bunny and Tooth, gathered around Sandy's cocoon that North was still cradling in his arms. Jack nodded.
"You're right. But you'll see, one day, we'll solve this problem."
She grinned. "Okay. But why do you want me to turn into a sea serpent so bad?"
There were so many reasons why. Jack wanted her to feel complete, to be able to acknowledge each part of her without having to restrain one part of who she was. But he chose to tell her half the truth.
"This shape is so cool! The way you roared at those despairs... amazing! Imagine the pranks we could pull, the games we could invent if you could turn into a sea serpent any time you want! Plus, I've always wanted to travel on a sea serpent's back..."
Lía smiled and shook her head.
"If you say so, Frosthead."
He grinned. She got up, about to go join the others, but noticed something strange. Jack saw it too : one lone despair, shining brightly, hovering above the snowy ground only a few meters away from the others. Lía rushed to it to destroy it, but it vanished before she could do anything. Jack hurried to join her and noticed something on the ground : with a stick, someone had written something in the snow. A message that the despair had been guarding. A message for the Guardians.
"A feather is easily lost in darkness. Life hangs by a single thread, which can be easily burned."
Jack didn't understand what those two sentences meant, but Lía's widened eyes and surprised expression showed him that she understood the message. And, from the look on her face, it wasn't good.