Rise of a Guardian:Chapter twenty-two

~North's little helpers~


The next few days where extremely tiring for all the guardians, both physically and mentally. They where overwhelmed when so minor guardians answered their call for help. They hadn’t been expecting so many of them to react so quickly, because they had never gathered together before and the minor guardians usually kept to themselves. It was the first time that they all assembled together, and it was very exciting for many of them. But it was overwhelming nothing less, having so many powerful beings in one place.

Some of them claimed that they had been watching over the children around the world, and had noticed something was going wrong. NightMare attacks where getting more frequent, and they had been getting worried as the children’s troubled dreams worsened over a 24-hour period. There where so many children who needed them, and they couldn’t help all of them by themselves.

When they received North’s letters delivered by the Baby Teeth, they reluctantly sprung into action. They knew that they needed to help the guardians because it was the only way to be able to help the children.

North divided all the minor guardians into 4 different groups: His own, Bunny’s, Tooth’s, and Sandy’s. The guardians who where assigned to North, Tooth, or Bunny had the job of protecting their warrens from Pitch, keeping watch at all times.

The ones where were in Sandy’s group would fly with him at night while he did his rounds, making sure he was safe while he scattered his dreamsand. They also helped out when Sandy sensed that there was a child nearby having a bad nightmare. Jack was in Sandy’s group, but North wouldn’t let him leave the workshop until he was completely healed.

The warren with the most protection was Tooth’s, because her warren had been attacked many times before by Pitch. It was their main goal to protect the children’s teeth and innocent memories. Because the children where already struggling with their fears, and without the memories they had they wouldn’t know who they really where and what they stood for.

And if you didn’t know what you stood for and who you really where, then it was nearly impossible to stand up to your fears.

Jack wanted to help so badly, but North watched him every moment so he couldn’t slip away and try to. Jack was still healing from his frostbite, but it had been about four days since his incident with Pitch and Snow.

But the Pole was the best place for someone to be stuck anyway. It was the resting area for not just North’s group, but half of Sandy’s group too.  Sandy’s group was split in two, one team would work and the others would sleep and rest because it was always night somewhere in the world. They would switch off every 12 hours between helping Sandy and staying at the Pole. It was like the base of operation, and it was where everything exciting was happening.

Currently Jack was sitting on one of the banisters that overlooked the whole workshop. The yetis where bustling about preparing for Christmas, which was coming quickly. It all looked normal, except the dozens of magical beings all around. Some were getting back from their rounds with Sandy after a 12-hour shift.

Jack looked around eagerly through the bustling crowds; Nightlight should be getting here soon.

Nightlight had arrived a few days ago during the middle of the night. He had noticed the change in the balance of fear and dreams like everyone else. The Man in the Moon told him to come to the pole and help fight the fear because he didn’t receive a letter.

Jack and him hit it off immediately, becoming great friends. They looked very alike, and had the same personalities. The only difference was that Nightlight was a little shyer than Jack. When Nightlight came back to rest he and Jack would hang out, and that’s where Jack was now, waiting for him.

Then he saw him, walking in through the large oak doors followed by many others who had finished their rounds with Sandy for the night. The pale looked around with his pale green eyes, then saw Jack and smiled brightly and waved. Jack waved back; excited his friend was finally here.

Nightlight was a very skinny boy and his skintight armor didn’t really help him look any bulkier. He had rather large shoulder, elbow, and kneepads that just made him look skinnier. He carried a long spear that was about as tall as he was with a moonbeam trapped at the end. But that really wasn’t the remarkable thing about him.

He glowed, but not because he radiated happiness. He literally glowed, like a light bulb. His whole being was luminescent, making him stand out against the darkness of the doors he was walking through.

Cupid followed after him through the doors, and then April after her. The three of them shared the same shift and always returned together.

Cupid smiled and waved to Jack as well. Her hair was bubblegum pink and had random white feathers scattered about in her bright curly locks. The feathers trailed all over her back and arms, and then they sprouted into 2 angelic wings that where as tall as she was. She carried her bow and arrow, and a quiver filled with different arrows on her back (Many being ice ones Jack and North had made for her). She had a French accent, her hometown being Paris, France. She was bubbly and romantic, but ever since she had arrived at the pole Jack had noticed that she had become much more serious. After her first few NightMare attacks, her bubbly personality started to disappear and she had become more earnest like she had aged an extra hundred years. She insisted people call her Cupid instead of her real name, Venus Valentine. She companied that her full name was too long and that she wasn’t very fond of it.

The girl behind them was April. She was very quiet and emotional, like the sky she was always in. Her full name was April Showers and she had control over the weather and winds. Her hair was like a cloud, grey when she was sad, white when she was happy, and black when she was angry. He had been told that when she was fighting it crackled with thunder and lightning as well. Her dress was the same as her hair, constantly changing as her emotions did. Right now her hair was white and she was still in her battle uniform, as well as Cupid.

Most of the minor guardians wore the battle uniforms North had made now, mainly because their usual outfits where not very good for fighting off NightMares being so bright and not very stealthy.

The provided ensemble consisted of simple brown pants with a cloak like shirt. Many of them had small leather straps on their legs that held pouches of dreamsand to fight NightMares. Many others had belts that held swords. Jack joked that they all looked like assassins, but he couldn’t really complain much because the outfit looked so much like his own.

The guardians who where assigned to North’s warren wore white to match the snow, At bunny’s they wore green, then blue at Tooth’s, and those who went with Sandy wore grey, black, or dark blue. They wore all the same outfit, just different colors.

The two immortal girls walked off to go and get changed back into their normal attire. Jack noticed that Cupid had a rip in her shirt, along with a little blood on it. But that was normal; they would get scrapes every so often from the Nightmares. Nightlight ran to the nearest banister eagerly and jumped off, flying over to Jack. He dashed swiftly to Jack and landed softly next to him on the banister.  

“Hey sport,” Jack said as he reached over and ruffled Nightlights white hair. Nightlight made a face at him and then smiled.

“Hey Jack.” Nightlight responded softly.

It had become much easier for Jack since Nightlight arrived; he took his mind off of things. And he was so hopeful, like everything in the world would be okay no matter what. He had just begun to speak to him yesterday when they where sitting by the fire last night. Jack was telling Nightlight stories about him and the guardian’s fun times, but when he opened up and told him about Snow was when the boy really started talking to him.

Jack leaned against a pillar on the end of the banister. Nightlight turned to him and Jack noticed something he hadn’t seen before. He had a deep cut on his cheek, and it looked like some grains of nightmare sand where surrounding it.

Jack sat up and leaned close to get a better look at Nightlights injury, but the boy scooted back and turned to he couldn’t see it, adverting his olive colored eyes.  

“What happened?” Jack asked breathlessly. Nightlight had never been hurt before, and it was strange that he and Cupid had been hurt at the same time. It was usually just one person, never two. Maybe if the NightMare attacks where getting worse North would let him go out with them and help fight.

Nightlight made a motion with his hands as if to say, ‘Its nothing’.

Jack shoved his shoulder. “Was it a NightMare? Or did you just stab yourself in the face with your spear?”

Nightlight smiled absentmindedly as he stared off into space, twirling his spear in his hands. Nightlight didn’t talk much, but Jack knew he was going to get no more exclamation or gestures out of him.

Jack sighed and leaned up onto the pillar once again. “You are so stubborn.” He said to the glowing boy next to him.

Nightlight turned to him and stuck out his tongue defiantly. Jack smiled and punched him in the shoulder. He shifted positions so his back was facing the open air on the other side of the banister, his body facing the hallway.

The winter sprite took at deep breath, then yelled out, “Wahooooo!” He pushed back on the banister and let himself fall through the air freely.

He dropped like a stone, the wind whistling in his ears as he plummeted headfirst to the ground below. He had to dodge a few blimps and planes floating around, but other than that he wasn’t using his powers of flight at all. It was his favorite thing to do, skydiving indoors. It gave North a heart attack every time and made the yetis all panic, thinking that someone had fallen.

Jack looked over and saw Nightlight next to him, falling the same way and just as fast. They made eye contact and held a silent conversation.

Jack raised his eyebrow, his features saying, ‘Don’t even try kid.’

Nightlight folded his arms and scrunched his eyebrows as if to say, ‘Try me.’

Jack laughed and straightened himself even more so he would plummet down to the ground faster. He needed to catch up some speed if he was going to win their race, but Nightlight caught up just as fast with hardly any effort. They both pulled up at the same time right before they hit the ground causing many yetis to scream and fall over in fright. They bulleted across the room with their speed momentum from the fall making some papers, toys, and elves all fly across the ground.

Jack zoomed through the hallways as fast as his wind would take him. Jack knew exactly where he and Nightlight where racing to, and he had to get there before him. Jack always won their races, and he wasn’t planning on losing his perfect streak anytime soon.

He toppled over yetis, elves, and a few minor guardians who where on break. He whisked past Suzy Snowflake and the force of his speed knocked her to the floor. She was so small and fragile that barely even a breeze would throw her off balance. North kept her in the workshop because he was worried that she wouldn’t be very safe with the wild snowstorms going on, even though she was a winter spirit. Her brown hair swirled around her face as she looked up at Jack, who was now flying backwards as he laughed at her.

“Jack Frost!” She yelled, laughter in her voice. “I’m so going to get you for that!”

Jack laughed and said, “You’ll have to catch me first!” He then turned around bulleted down the hallway.

After a moment of flying he glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see Nightlight far being him. But he was shocked to see Nightlight was nowhere in sight.

He abruptly stopped and landed on the ground. Was he being pranked? Did Nightlight just let him fly off without him, wondering how long it would take him to find out he was alone?

“That no good little-“ Jack yelled angrily. But he was cut short when a breeze of air pulled him off balance.

He turned and to his horror he saw Nightlight bulleting down the hallway at an incredible speed. He must have used a secret route and come down an different hallway to throw him off!

Jack ran down the hall, gathering up speed to fly. It was hard for Jack to fly indoors because they’re no natural breezes to carry him. He usually would have to dive off of something to catch enough speed to get off the ground by making his own breeze. But Nightlight could fly at will, and now Jack didn’t have enough momentum to get back into the air.

Jack panted as he tried to run after the glowing boy. He would fly for a few seconds and then fall back down to the ground, never staying up more then 10 seconds.

After a few minutes of sprinting and unsuccessful flying Jack made it to the finish line. Nightlight was leaned up against the wall trying to look as bored as possible as he waited for Jack. That was what Jack usually did when he waited for Nightlight to come and face the fact that he lost.

“You!” Jack gasped as he tried to catch his breath, waving his finger angrily at the boy, “Are despicable!” Then he put his back on the wall and slid to the ground panting heavily, beads of sweat rolling down his face.

Nightlight did a little victory dance in front of Jack, celebrating his first victory. Jack laughed between his huffy breaths. “You got me,” He said unenthusiastically.

Nightlight pumped his arms back and forth, and then did the running man dance step. He was pretty goofy when you got to know him, but when they had first met he had been really shy. The only people Nightlight really acted funny around was Jack, and Katherine of course.

Nightlight and Katherine where really close, they arrived at the pole together and where the best of friends. She was a very clever girl with bright red hair and stormy grey eyes. She wore a yellow coat, but it had been swapped out for the usual minor guardian garb so she could patrol with Sandy at night unseen.

Jack had given her the nickname of Goose Girl because she was the guardian of Storytelling, also known as Mother Goose. Jack realized this when she arrived, because she flew in with Nightlight on the back of a horse-sized goose. Jack later found out that the gooses name was Kailash, a rare Great Snow Goose of the Himalayas. The goose could grow and shrink at will, becoming the size of a regular goose or the size of a horse. She loved Katherine and protected her fiercely, and Katherine had told Jack that the goose believed that she was her mother. But right now they where together patrolling with Sandy, and they would be for the next 12 hours.

Jack wiped his forehead and looked up at Nightlight. “Hey, did you get to see Goose Girl when you switched off?”

Nightlight stopped his dance abruptly and shook his head sadly. Katherine and he had been put into Sandy’s group, but when it was divided in half they where separated. The only time that they got to see each other was when they switched off protecting Sandy. And sometimes they didn’t even see each other then.

“Sorry about that bro,” Jack said feeling pity for his friend. He extended his hand out to Nightlight and the boy took it and helped Jack up to his feet.

Jack was about to ask what they where going to do next when a loud voice boomed from down the hallway.

“JACK FROST! VAT DO YOU ZINK YOU ARE DOING?”

Nightlight and Jack whirled around to face the furious voice. North was walking up the hallway, his finger wagging in disapproval. The two troublemakers exchanged worried glances and slowly began to back away from the angry Russian. But after a moment they backed up into a wall, trapped between North and the end of the hallway.

North continued forward and yelled, “You toppled over at least 15 yetis, destroyed 3 hand painted dollhouses, and don’t even get me started on all the elves who are scattered about ze hallway unable to get back up!”

Then placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose and whispered fiercely, “Chto v mire ya sobirayusʹ sdelatʹ s toboy!” He had become so upset he had apparently forgotten his English.

“I’m sorry North!” Jack said with a sarcastic tone. Nightlight giggled behind his hand.

“Vat,” North said, “Am I going to do vith you Jack?”

Jack smiled, “Well…. You could let me go and help Nightlight!”

North looked up and said, “No Jack! Your still not healed!”

Jack scrunched up his face defiantly and said, “Am too! Did you see how fast I was flying? I’m fine!”

North sighed and looked up at Jack and said, “No Jack. Ve don’t need you getting ‘urt all over again.”

Jack narrowed his eyes angrily and said, “It was a one in a million chance! I wont ever let anything happen like that again!”

“No Jack!” North barked. “Et is a one in a million chance you are still alive! You are not leaving the Pole! Pitch still thinks your dead, and I vant to keep it that vay!”

“Why?” Jack whined, loosing his composure as he slumped over in childish defeat.

“You are our secret weapon right now Jack, and ve do not have very many of those right now.” North explained.

“But I wanna go!” Jack yelled crossly.

“Vell, that is just too bad.” North said after a moment.

Jack sighed and looked over at Nightlight, who was frowning in disappointment. Then Jacks eyes widened as well as his grin. Maybe he just needed to change tactics.

“Fine,” Jack said as he slung his staff onto his shoulder. “I guess that just means I can have a little more fun here at the pole.”

North laughed. “Zat vill not vork on me Jack. I know all your little tricks. You are staying at ze Pole, and zat is final.”

Jack shrugged. “Fine North,” He said as he started walking to one of the hallways that led deeper into the factory.

“Come on Nightlight, I bet you can crack the code on North’s top secret vault.” He said tauntingly at North as he passed him.

Nightlight sprinted after Jack, an enthusiastic smile on his face. It was true; the boy could break about any code or lock with ease. He had gotten use to it after all the times slipping into the rooms of children who where having troubled dreams by unlocking their windows.

North turned to the boys and laughed. “You vill never get it open Jack!”

Jack turned and smiled at North saying, “Of course we will! Nightlight has already cracked the code to your workshop and your secret cookie vault under your table!”

North’s eyes widened. “No you didn’t! You are just messing vith me Jack!” He said, disbelief and fear in his voice.

Jack nodded impishly and shouted, “No I’m not, he really did!”

Then he turned to his friend smirking and said, “Come on Nightlight, we don’t have anything better to do! Plus, there is a whole chest of fallen stars in there! I can sense a great prank in the making!”

Nightlights eyes widened and then he smiled excitedly, clapping his hands together. Then the two of them took off laughing madly down the hallway. Jack ran and Nightlight flew.

“No! Please Jack, stop!” North yelled as he sprinted down the hall. The boys looked at each other and smiled, knowing that their plan was working. Then they stopped, facing their pursuer.

North wheezed and coughed as he tried to catch his breath. He looked up at Jack shoved his finger into the boys chest and said, “Fine. But you must stay out of trouble until you go Jack!”

Jack jumped into the air and did a small backflip. “Yessss!” He shouted as he tumbled through the air.

North rolled his eyes and turned to Nightlight. “I’m counting on you to keep him safe Nightlight.”  He tone was serious, and his voice was low, so Jack wouldn’t hear. Not that he would, he was to busy cartwheeling down the hallway.

Nightlight nodded as North continued. “Don’t let him do anyzing stupid. Pitch is out there, and when he finds out Jack is alive… Lets just say that this time Jack may not come back to the Pole at all.”