The Weeping Willow [Rise of the Guardians]

Chapter 10

~Dedicated to Artiana~

~~~

Bunnymund studied Willow's face carefully. The ashen brown skin looked slightly sick, as though she'd bit into a lemon that was both sour and bitter. Maybe a lemon tart without the sugar.

"What did all that mean? Not every Guardian would be better off as a normal spirit? That makes no sense! You don't know the half- of what? Why was he describing maids? And a 'Head Maid'? What? And then he went on about how you don't have to clean up his mess, but you choose to- wait, you clean up his mess?" Toothiana chattered confused, turning to a calm faced Willow.

Willow simply sighed, "I guess you don't know much about me, then."

"What do you mean?" Tooth buzzed forward curiously, her eyes looking straight into Willow's as she hovered not four inches in front of the nymph. Willow took a step back.

"I mean that everyone has a history- every Guardian, spirit, even the living humans. Everyone has a past and everyone has their own story. Pitch was simply referring to mine- he enjoys using it against me. It's always been one of his favorite games," she said, rolling her silver eyes in a hidden annoyance.

If she was to be truthful, what Pitch said had stung. Yes, what he said always did. But something deep within her nagged at her- a little voice echoing in the back of her mind, 'Why then did this sting more?'

She knew the answer, but Willow being a tad bit stubborn refused to admit even to herself why it stung so. She never liked holding grudges, but her grudge against the man of nightmares was one that would never waiver.

Never.

~~~

Jack found Dryadorlm amazing. Yes, he'd seen Santa's workshop, been to the Tooth Palace and run around Bunny's warren chasing Easter eggs, but this place.... this building that stretched on for what felt like forever surpassed them all.

It was magnificent, and that was putting it simply.

The door were unlike normal doors used by living humans, or even by North. Each door was special.

Ferina, Heather and Lapis's door, for instance, had foxglove and heather flowers etched into the wood paneling. In the center was a painted a small blue feathered bird with one of either flower clasped delicately in its small dark beak.

The next door had a majestic eagle, spreading its wings from floor to ceiling. An array of brightly assorted daisies danced around its stark form.

Each door was decorated to represent the dryad or dryads it housed. The hallways stretched endless either way, here and there a spiral staircase leading high into a loft above.The floors were darker than coal and the ceiling a deeper azure than the ocean. The very place was hypnotizing.

Jack followed Ferina and Heather to one such stairwell, Lapis continuing to cling lovingly to his arm, her delicate fingers surprisingly strong in their clasp. The stairs were white wood, soft to Jack's bare feet, the railing gracefully bent from ribbons of iron.

Thirty meters the stairwell stretched before opening up into a wide space filled with couches and chairs; the carpet was velvet and the upholstery was pure cotton. A giant chandelier hung suspended about eighty feet high, though Jack could not see what held it up there. The soft glow was surprisingly efficient to light the entire loft showing Jack spirits.

Hundreds of spirits. More than he'd ever met before- more than he ever dreamed even existed. There were so many.

"Not all spirits are Guardians, you know," Heather said softly, seeing his amazed expression.

He turned to her and nodded slowly. "I know that much- I wasn't one for a long time, and Pitch definitely isn't one. But I just never knew there were so many."

Lapis giggled from beside him. "Are you serious? Everyone in this room- besides, from you- is a dryad, and there are certainly more spirits in general than there are dryads!"

"How many dryads are there?" Jack asked, but his questioned was only answered in laughter.

What?

"Jack," Lapis laughed, her eyes looking away from him to glance at Ferina and Heather who also seemed quite amused, "Dryads represent species."

"....Okay....?"

She rolled her eyes, "Species, like a specific type of animal-"

"-Or plant," Heather added.

"-So basically? There are infinite dryads. Only the Man-in-the-Moon knows! He's the one who resurrected us, after all. Seriously, you've been a Guardian for a couple years now, right? You seriously didn't know how infinite the number of spirits is?"

Jack looked back at the many spirits bustling around him.

No, he didn't.

He'd always known about the Guardians themselves, but the Guardians also happened to be the most well-known of spirits. Besides them, he'd met perhaps seven other spirits- eight at most- and only a few had any rough resemblance to being semi-likable.

Surrounding him now were spirits of every shape and size, some with kind faces, others with fierce. There were tall spirits and small spirits- even toddler-sized spirits who scampered around the others' legs. There were spirits gifted in flight, some gifted in flexibility; some with loud voices and some with soft. Everywhere Jack turned he was greeted with a new face and a completely new spirit.

Each and every one was unique. Yes, there were a few who seemed similar enough- were they living humans we may even have called them twins- but as spirits, they were simply acquaintances- some friends, and others enemies.

But even as enemies the dryads seemed to live in a relative peace.

"It's fine," Ferina's chiming voice broke through his thoughts. She glanced at him from the corner of her almond-shaped eyes. "Most 'non-dryad spirits', or hlessi as we call them, don't know. Most hlessi only meet a certain handful of other spirits in their entire existence. Spirits tend to stay away from one another, they tend to do their own thing, unlike the dryads. As dryads we must live in harmony with one another and with nature."

"Yeah, yeah!" Lapis agreed, nodding her head rapidly, her eyes closed with a bliss-filled grin stretched from ear to ear. "We have to be at peace with each other always or else the balance of what humans call the 'eco-system' would be put on the line, and the lives of every dryad would be put in jeopardy!"

"But what's most important is when one dryad dies, the rest of us must band together and become even closer," Ferina concluded, "And thus, stronger as a family."

~~~

Willow turned away from the curious eyes, looking out at the icy plains and swirling winds that helped to fortify North's toy shop. She could feel their eyes on her, but she stood resolute.

She'd said all she'd wanted to say. And that was that.

~~~

I know, I know, I know- my chappies are always so short- I'm sorry, alright! I don't purposefully try to make them short, that's just the way it happens.

Sorry. Dx

You know what to do.