Nonexistent (Rise of the Guardians)

2. I Hereby Dub Thee, Frosty

1724-

I woke up blearily, with a heavy brown cloak wrapped around me as I lay curled up on a bed of leaves. As I sat up and glanced around, I noticed a feeble fire sending weak waves of heat into my back. Jack was sitting as far away as he could from the fire, while still being able to keep watch over me, though he wasn't doing a super great job.

He was snoozing against a tree, his knees tucked up into his chest and his feet crossed. All I could see of his head was white hair sticking up on all directions, as his nose was buried between his knees. There was frost along the trunk of the tree, winding and curling its way in intricate patterns across the dark wood. Jack's staff lay at his bare feet, his toes brushing against it and making the leaves strewn across the ground ice over.

I staggered to my feet. My head felt like it had a boulder rolling around inside it, and all my limbs were like leaden weights dragging me down. I shivered, the hairs in my arms and the back of my neck bristling as goosebumps appeared on my limbs. Pulling the heavy cloak around myself tightly, I walked slowly over to the sleeping teen, gently tapping his head to wake him up.

Jack blearily opened his eyes, taking a moment to process the fact that I was awake and standing in front of him, semi- warm and quasi-dry, if a little worse for wear.

Jack sprung to his feet, landing in front of me and grabbing my arms to hold me still.

"Allie! You're awake!" Jack exclaimed, his grip tightening around my forearms slightly. I shivered at his cold touch. "...And you're freezing. Fire. Now." He ordered, pointing at the small blaze he had going.

I managed a weak laugh. "Yes, mother." I trundled over the the crackling flames, holding my hands out to be warmed by the small fire. Jack hovered behind me, just far enough away so that he wouldn't feel the heat from the flames. I rolled my eyes at his concern.

"Jack, I'm fine." I said bracingly, readying myself for his reaction. I didn't really know the guy, but he didn't seem like one to have an angry outburst. He sighed and walked in a wide circle around the flames, tossed a couple of sticks in its general direction, and plopped down across from me. He grabbed a long stick- not his staff, thankfully- and prodded the fire gently. He looked hesitant to speak, but as he was about to say what was on his mind, I butted in.

"It wasn't your fault. I should've gotten off the ice sooner, before my strength gave out. You didn't do anything wrong." I consoled him, and he looked into the fire's flickering light. He didn't say anything for a long time.

Finally, I got sick of it. "Jack Frost, if you don't say something, I will blow this fire onto your toes." I threatened seriously. He looked uneasy, and I caught him tucking his feet underneath him before he spoke.

"I- I'm sorry you fell in. I should've just strengthened the ice, instead of making you have to save those two people. If I had just thought for a second-"

"-the couple would have fallen in," I interrupted, "and then even I couldn't have saved them. Wind doesn't really work underwater, Jack. And besides, better me than them. At least you could pull me out."

He sighed and resumed his staring at the flames. I playfully sent a small, warm breeze his way, scooping up a couple of embers that were rising out of the flames. I made them dance around his head; two small pinpricks of light in a darkened forest. He looked at them and smiled slightly, in but a flash of movement in the shadows made me lose my concentration, and the small lights fell into Jack's hair. He yelped and brushed them out of his pale locks, giving me a questioning look that I didn't return. I just stared into the shadowy forest, searching with my gold eyes in the darkness for the flash of movement is saw before. Using my control over wind, I made a long, thin spiral of air and sucked some of the flames into it, creating a whip of fire. I crept forward, using the hovering fire as a shield to protect myself in case the thing I was searching for was aggressive.