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Description

Night was beginning to fall in the quiet, colonial town of Burgess. Most of the people were already inside, starting fires to keep out the fresh winter cold of late November. However, there were a few still out and about, for what seemed like a stroll through the woods, but they weren’t necessarily locals nor were they simply out to enjoy the scenery.
A woman’s voice quietly called out to her companions. “What should we do now, North?”
North turned around to face Toothiana and the other guardians with a sigh. They were trudging through the thick, densely snow-covered woods for some time now in search of the sleigh. The battle with Pitch had been brutal; it was a miracle none of them were seriously harmed, although they had been separated for a while. Luckily, they had agreed to meet up in the forest below them beforehand. However, it had not been part of the plan to lose the sleigh.

North simply looked at Toothiana before shrugging. “We find the sleigh, we fix it, we go back to the Pole, and figure out what to do next. Here it is much too cold to stay and discuss. Come on.”
Bunnymund

As we continued to look for the darned sleigh, which how we- rather North- lost it so easily is beyond me, we came across a frozen lake. I looked at it for a second and thought about the current temperature of the environment. It made no sense for the lake to be frozen over already.
“Hey, now ain’t that odd.”
North and the others looked at me, Sandy making a question mark appear above his head.
I gestured towards the frozen lake in front of us. “The lake, I meant. Isn’t it a little early for it to be frozen like this?”
North observed the surroundings before looking at the lake again. “Hmm, I suppose so. But I can’t say I’m an expert on this region of the colonies though, this might be normal.”
“What’s so important about a frozen lake, Bunny?” Toothiana prompted me. I shrugged.
“With all the weird stuff that’s been goin’ on with Pitch, ya can’t ever be too careful.”
It was then Sandman began tugging on mine and North’s legs before pointing at something across the lake. I tried squinting my eyes to see what it was, turning my ears in its direction. It appeared to be a mortal young male, but it was almost as if he was looking directly at us, as if he could see us. No, he can’t see us. He may not be an adult but, he looks too old to believe in us.
“Can… can he see us?” I hear Tooth ask quietly what we’re all thinking. All of a sudden the wind picks up, appearing as if it was an answer to her question. I ruffle my fur and look at North. He glances at the figure before turning to look at me and nods. I nod my head back and turn to Sandy and Tooth.
“Why don’t you two get a head start back to the Pole; North and I will look for the sleigh.” Sandman raises his hand and protest and Toothiana begins to say something when North clears his throat.
“Yes, that is a good idea. You two can notify the elves and yetis of the situation, and Tooth, if you wish, you can have the mini-fairies aid in preparation of the sleigh garage; I’m sure we’ll need it fully stocked for repairing the sleigh. We have more important things to attend to than a mere curious mortal.” It suddenly began to snow, the wind picking up again; much more harsh than the first time.
Toothiana looked at me with a look of questioning on her face, before nodding and flying upwards, glancing down at Sandy waiting for him to follow. Sandy hesitated, however. Looking over at the figure again, he turned his head towards North, and almost glared at him. This startled me, Sandy hardly ever got mad. But, he soon lifted up and joined Toothiana before they both flew away from the lake.
I looked at North, and then for the figure across the lake.
“North, do you suppose it is-” I stopped myself, realizing the boy was gone.
“Where did he-” North was cut off when a skinny, young figure seemed to appear from nowhere right in front of us. I hopped back and almost pulled out my boomerangs before stopping myself. No need to make myself a target.
The boy looked towards North with a hurt expression on his face. “I’m not important?!” His voice seemed to carry throughout the clearing, and the snow stopped falling.
Now seeing him in close-range, I quickly realized it was the figure from across the lake.
I could now better see his features. He was about the average height of a human, seventeen or eighteen year-old boy. He had a skinny figure, long legs but didn’t appear to be very muscular. His hair was as white as the snow falling around us, his skin nearly matching the color of the full moon rising above our heads. He held a wooden staff in his hands; it didn’t seem like much of a weapon.
He then turned to me and I got to see his face. His eyes were a bright blue. It appeared if he had been crying, the whites in his eyes were tinted red, and there appeared to be frozen water on his face, catching the moons rays. He glared at me, but still had the look of utter pain and disbelief on his face.
“I’m not important?” He repeated, a little quieter. I took a step towards the boy.
“Who are you?” The boy’s eyes seemed to water and he stepped back from in between North and I.
“You don’t know? Didn’t the voice tell you?”
The voice? What… No, no way he would do this to a boy so young. I looked up at the moon in utter shock. He couldn’t have, could he? I shared a glance with North, and he appeared to be assuming the same as I.
The boy seemed to notice our shock and looked at the moon as well. “Yes! It came from the moon! The Man in the Moon!”
North looked at me, then at the boy. “What, what is your name, son?”
The boy smiled a little, beaming at North. His entire posture changed to glee; I was a little jealous, but then again North, being big Father Christmas, had the most fans.
“Jackson Overland Frost. But for short, Jack Frost is what I like to go by.”
Frost… the snow, the wind. A winter spirit. A hormonal, eighteen year-old winter spirit. I sighed and put a paw to my forehead. What was he thinking?
North stood there for a moment, thinking of what to say. He cleared his throat nervously.
“Uh, my apologies Jackson-”
“Oh, you can just call me Jack.” Jackson interrupts.
I bite my bottom lip as North continues. “Of course. You see Jack, Bunnymund,” North gestures to me. “and I are-”
“Guardians. Yeah, I know. I’ve hears about you guys! I’ve even tried to look for you.”
North and I were both surprised by this. I hadn’t noticed anything around my warren, although this boy probably didn’t even know where to find Australia, let alone want to go to its hot climate. North’s workshop however, he probably had tried to find. North didn’t seem to be aware of this at all.
“You’ve… you’ve looked for us?” Jack nods and smiles a little.
North rubs the back of his head, tugging at his collar. “Well, this is the first I have heard of you.”
Jack takes another step back from us; the hurt expression returns to his face and the temperature drops suddenly. I hold back a shiver.
“You… haven’t heard of me? I’ve tried to get into the North Pole multiple times!” Jack turned away and rubbed his arm nervously. “Those yetis always throw me out though.”
I thought I heard North mutter under his breath a curse towards the yetis. He knew nothing of this, and something about asking them about it later. He looked back up at the winter spirit.
“I uh, I am sorry Jack. But Bunnymund, the other guardians, and I are currently dealing with a bigger problem at the moment and-” North quickly realized the mistake in his wording.
Jack narrowed his eyes.. All of a sudden the staff in his hands pulsed blue, and snow began to dance around him.
“So I’m just some small issue you’ll come back to at a later date?”
North’s eyes widened at the sight of Jack’s staff. He stepped towards the boy, motioning with his hands to calm down. “Jack, that is not what I meant.”
Jack raised the staff and struck in hard into the ground and looked away from us. I slowly backed up, making my way towards North and pulling my boomerangs out of their coverings. North saw me and shook his head.
Jack looked at us again, his eyes now glowing blue with tears forming in his eyes. “You’re lying! It has been ten years since I woke up next to this cursed lake! I can’t remember anything before waking up here and having the moon tell me who I am! I’ve been here, trying to find you and the other guardians for ten years and you’re telling me I’m not a concern at the moment?!”
The snow circling around Jack was now picking up speed, and more snow began to fall. The wind picked up and the temperature dropped yet again. I looked towards the sky only to see the moon being covered by storm clouds. I glanced at North before turning my attention back to the upset winter spirit. He looked at us with such anger in his eyes I looked away; I felt guilt beginning to form in the back of my mind. How did we not know?
“You know what? Forget it! I don’t need you or the other guardians anyway! What another ten years of solitude? Or perhaps another twenty? Or how about thirty? One hundred?!” Jack flew up into the air as the weather continued to worsen. North and I stumbled back, watching the boy lose control of his powers. He cried out before looking down at us.
“Get away from my lake!” I saw Jack’s eyes pulse with blue rapidly, and the storm surged outward over the forest. I looked at North.

“North! We’ve got to get out of here!” I tug into the snow at my feet before tapping the ground twice with my foot. A tunnel opened up and I looked at North again. I saw him looking up at Jack sadly before turning to acknowledge me. He nods, running over and jumping down into the opening of the tunnel system below us. I look at Jack one last time before following North, closing the entrance behind me.
Soon the clouds began to separate, the snow slowly stopping and the wind calming down. A figure could be seen stumbling to his feet, walking towards the snow-cleared patch on the ground. He looked down at it sadly before collapsing on to his knees. Tears ran down his cheek slowly before dripping on to the grass. The figure sat down and pulled his knees close to his chest before burying his head in the gap between them. He began to shake, sniffling as the night dragged on.

“I just wanted to be seen, to be heard… I’m sorry.”