Hello,

I had a request from a close friend –the same who gave me the idea for the Seraph of the End fanfictions –and I have decided to write the request. He wanted to see a focus on the slight trauma that Jack would have endured, some of his darker moments, and eventually bring in a new villain and new allies as well. And naturally I figured why not? It sounds fun and many of the stories that do this aren't finished or remarkably well written. So, I hope you all enjoy this story, and let me know how it goes.

Note:

This story is not going to be so light hearted it hurts your teeth or so dark it makes you look over your shoulder – I prefer a balance in this – so I will be using the moments when Jack is decidedly not as calm or as happy as he normally is with a some additional add ons and a tweaks. This is a story re-write like my best ones are, but the events that happened to our favorite winter spirit is going to come out during the storyline. Read & review, and I hope you all enjoy it.

Here's the first chapter in the beginning of my Rise of the Guardians story.

Chapter 1: Three Centuries

The air was icy as it swept across the snow blanketed ground of a small settlement within the forest. Pits dug in the ground to keep the wind from snuffing out the only true source of warmth in the area. Roughly a mile or so out of the village was a thickly frozen lake that four days ago took the life of a youth from the same village. That, was the story that they believed at the very least. With a faint shudder the ice cracked as if it had been hit by a brutal force – and then, ever so slowly it opened up as if someone had pushed against it from within the water – the ice shifted and from the depths came a figure, and that figure was a person who was gently sat down upon the surface as the ice sealed shut. They caught their breath and took a moment to get their bearings. Though slightly unsure the person moved and looked themselves over as if they had never attempted to see what they appeared as to others.

If one were to look at this figure they would have seen a young boy, roughly the age of sixteen - clothed in dark brown pants that were tied with leather cords to his caves, his remaining attire consisting of a faded white shirt that had long sleeves, a brown vest with wooden buttons, and a brown slightly aged cloak. He rotated his shoulders as if wondering what was happening to him as he looked at the scenery around him and blinked owlishly at the faint reflection of the moon on the surface of ice. He sighed as he looked down and noted a crooked, gnarled staff on the surface and picked it up in curiosity before crouching in hopes of figuring out why the touch of the wood on his palms felt so familiar.

The staff nearly fell out of his hands and tapped the surface of the lake only to create a beautiful, and intricate fern pattern upon it in glowing frost. He blinked before smiling widely as he looked at the object and slowly eased his way towards a set of trees where he tapped the curve of the staff onto the tree and the same event happened and a gleam of wonder lit up his eyes as he began running along the surface of the ice – light as air and almost flying as he laughed and began to spin around as he flew by the trees and bright, silvery, fern shapes appeared upon the ice once more as he jumped and the wind bundled him up into its embrace and tossed him lovingly into the air as he stared at the moonlight winter night in awe and moved a bit to the left only to collapse upon the top of a tree and go stumbling down into the branches – thankfully he caught himself upon the larger of the branches after nearly having the air knocked from him- and again he smiled as he crouched atop the branch and looked at the area not far off where a flicker of fire and the sound of music and voices sailed into the air for him to catch in snippets.

With a small smile he flew into the air and stumbled a bit as he reached the village with a laugh as he began looking around and wondering, where he had come to as he searched. Children and dogs ran by in laughter as people gathered around fires or hot pots full of stews and warm cider. He wandered around momentarily as he took in the sights, sounds, and scents of the small village. With a glance he took note of a small dark haired boy running up to him and he smiled.

"Excuse me? Can you tell me where I am? I…." he attempted to make conversation with the child and then one of the most terrifying experiences of his new life happened.

The child, the innocent, little boy, walked through him. He shot up from the crouch he was in with a pained gasp as he looked around him in panic as he felt his heart thrum wildly in his chest as a man walked through him next and he felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cold spill through his system as he began wandering backwards in a fearful attempt to escape. He felt his body shake, his heart race, and his blood pound in his ears as he realized that none of these people could see him, nor could they hear him. To these people, he was non-existent, and he was without question dead to the world.

Fear flooded him as he raced away from the village center and finally made it to the edge of town where he stood in shock of what had just happened. Why could none of them see him? Was he a ghost? Did he even truthfully exist? Or was he nothing more than a figment of the imagination. He felt a rattling breath escape him as he stepped backwards and eyed the village again as he started walking away in confusion and pain.

"Child…" he froze.

"Hello?" a rustle of wind wrapped gently around him and he blinked as he felt soothing hands grasp his shoulders.

"You child, are not entirely alone…" he searched the area in questioning and found himself confused.

"Where are you?"

"Within the Moon – I am the Man in the Moon child…." His body tensed in unease.

"What….happened to me? Who am I?" the voice said nothing and he felt fear of confirmation that he was nothing more than a non-existent wisp of imagination.

"You are….Jack Frost…the Spirit of Winter – the one who shall be the herald of the season….and so much more….my child."

"Your child? What do you mean?" he glanced up at the moon.

"Yes, Jack Frost, the Spirit of Winter, the child of the Moon, and Frost….fear not….you will see soon….what the purpose is for your existence….you are meant to be so much more…calm yourself."

"Why can no one see me? Why am I here?" nothing came to him that time. And he knew then that the conversation was done. He stared down at the icy ground and felt the confusion remain as he looked at the path that had been tread into the ground over the years of villagers searching the forest for food and wood. He turned to walk and looked around him. He hoped soon that there would be answers for him, but, unbeknownst to him was that his answer that he would seek – would not come for many years - and he would have to endure those centuries alone.

"My name is Jack Frost….how do I know that? The Moon told me so….but….that was all he ever told me and….that….that was a long, long time ago…."

{300 years later: The North Pole, March 31st 2012}

Nicholas St. North, former bandit, assistant to children, native to Russia, and the Guardian of Wonder officially as of nine hundred years ago was having a rather odd day. Originally, North would have been known by another name to the children and many others in the world – Santa Claus – but he wasn't the cheery, rosy cheeked, plump man that many viewed him as. Yes indeed, he was quite jolly, sweet, caring, and loving, but he also was fearless, and by no means weak. His arms were tattooed with traditional Russian styled patterns that outlined the words Naughty on his left forearm and Nice on his right. He hummed as he looked at the globe where he had gotten a rather fascinating show on his Globe of Belief – via a black sand shadow – and now was considering what his next plan of action would be. Without question, North would have to call the others, and he could already see a certain one of their group fussing about being called so close to his Holiday. However, he knew this was important – he felt it in his belly, and he'd always followed his instincts – and thus, he grabbed a leaver and pulled before twisting it and pushing it down. Northern lights flew up from the globe and filled the sky as he looked towards the elves and yetis that were awaiting orders.

"We will be having company – make sure to set everything up!" they saluted and ran off to get things ready for their guests. As North turned his attention back to the Globe he sighed knowing he was asking for a long conversation with the question of what would happen once the others arrived.

It was not a question of issues – what would happen if North were wrong, he would willingly accept – but the fact that North knew greater things were coming. If the shadow was anything to go by, they were in for a long battle and an unknown end. He sighed as he knew that the Tooth Fairy or Toothania would be arriving first, followed by the Sandman – Sandy as he preferred to be called – and finally the Easter Bunny, or, E. Aster Bunnymund. He rubbed his temples as he tried to reason why their former enemy would resurface now, but he felt himself unsure of how to answer those questions despite his gut telling him that his sense of foreboding would be best. If any of them momentarily doubted one another then they would collapse under the pressure of an oncoming war. Moments after he thought this he heard a flutter of wings and sighed knowing that their impromptu meeting was about to begin.

Toothania, was a beautiful woman with vibrant colored feathers that ranged from the richest blues, the most vibrant emeralds and rose pinks, to the most sultry golds, silvers, and dark violets. She had translucent wings that reminded many greatly of a hummingbird – her gentle features and gracefulness was something from the most fanciful of dreams and the most enchanting of stories. Tooth, as she was called by her comrades and friends, loved her work as the Guardian of memories and the collector of teeth. She was currently fluttering about to speak with the seven miniature fairies that were with her as she directed orders to them as she glanced at him with her vibrant, and beautiful electric violet eyes that reminded him of morning glories. She turned to him to speak and ask why she had been alerted to come to the North Pole while she was clearly very busy. He nodded and understood her confusion seeing as they were at the very least two weeks or more shy of their thrice a year meeting.

It was as he went to inform her to take a seat and enjoy the peace while it lasted that a golden biplane flew around the globe and a small man of the same color came to stand before him, and beside Tooth. Small, and slightly plump, the little golden man with his spiky hair and warm smile was Sanderson Mansnoozie or, preferably, Sandy – and he currently was wearing the same expression as Tooth in confusion over the sudden call for them to meet.

"I know Sandy, but please, listen – I call you and others for purpose – trust, I not do it for sake of being lonely….it is serious…"

If North, Santa Claus, the Guardian of Wonder said it was serious then that meant without question that this was indeed not a good thing and it bothered Sandy to a point. He wanted to ask more, but found himself worried that now was not the time to speak seeing as he knew that a certain seven-foot rabbit hadn't come yet meant that this meeting was very impromptu and would have to wait so that North wouldn't have to repeat his concerns. Sandy nodded and watched quietly as he tried to figure out why he was so uncomfortable. Normally when he came to the North Pole he felt happy, and peaceful but this was anything but. He had a sense of foreboding, of discomfort and dislike of the saturnine atmosphere of the place. He frowned as he took a cup of eggnog from an elf and looked around him for an answer that he didn't find. He sighed silently and attempted to appease his unpleased sense but still failed even as a shout came into the building.

"I CAN'T FEEL MY FEET! I CAN'T FEEL MY FEET!"

"Bunny! What took so long? We waited forever," said North as the seven-foot tall gray, black, and white rabbit darted towards the fireplace.

"I been freezing my feet off ya gumby!" North nodded as he looked at the Pooka as he tried to reason what to do.

With his leather armbands and leg wraps, his straps that held boomerangs and other items to his back and sides and his tribal black tattoo markings – E. Aster Bunnymund was somewhat crossed between being epically cool, and drastically cute. His eyes were a forest green and his accent thick and distinctly Australian. His ears were laid back right then, but if they stood they would make him at least six inches taller. North looked him over and again sighed as he tried to reason why these things were happening today when he just wanted some peace and quiet before it became too hectic for him as he started to prepare for Christmas. His dark sky blue eyes looked them over and Sandy waved a giant flag of dreamsand over them and got the other twos attention.

"What did you call us here for North? Is something wrong?" asked Tooth as she fluttered to him.

"I had issue this morning – Pitch was here! At the Pole!" the group stared.

"Wait…Pitch? Pitch Black? What was he doing here?" Tooth looked confused by his statement as did Bunny and Sandy.

"There was black sand covering the globe!" Bunny who had previous been warming his frozen feet by the fire looked at North as if he'd lost his mind.

"What do you mean black sand?" he questioned as North glanced his way and continued on with his story whilst moving his hands about.

"And then! A shadow…." Bunny took out a paint brush and egg before frowning.

"Whoa! Wait! I thought you said you saw Pitch?" he frowned and North scratched the back of his head.

"Well uh….not exactly…" the man looked decidedly embarrassed to admit his flaw in the details.

"Not exactly? Can you believe this guy?" asked Bunny as he looked to Sandy who put a question mark above his head.

"?" Bunny nodded.

"Yea, you said it Sandy..." Bunny rolled his eyes as Sandy gave him a look that stated he wasn't quite sure what to think of the situation as Tooth continued to rattle off more locations to her fairies.

"Look, he's up to something very bad! I feel it!" three mini-fairies came to him to listen. They twittered and squeaked as the other Guardians looked at North to see what he would say next.

"In my belly!" the three of them stared dumbfounded whilst the three fairies dove to look at North's belly.

"Hang on, hang on! You mean to say you summoned me here? The week before Holy Week? Because of your belly?! Mate if I did this to you the week before Christmas…." North cut the rabbit off.

"But Bunny! Easter is not Christmas~" North took the egg from Bunny who rolled his eyes.

"Hehehe….here we go….North! I don't have time for this! I still have three billion eggs to paint!" Bunny went after North while Sandy watched the two continue their normal Easter verses Christmas conversation.

As he floated by a small station that the elves used to get higher up with a cup of eggnog Sandy heard a lapping noise and glanced at one of the elves who was slurping down his favorite drink and moved the cup out of the way and watched the little creature hit the ground with a jingle. Sandy would admit – the little beasts were fairly durable – however, as he looked at his now half drained cup he saw a glimmer of pale blue moonlight shine in through the top and over the Globe of Belief. His attention drawn to the presence of the Man in the Moon Sandy began hopping and pointing at the window to get the others attention as he dropped his goblet and looked at North and Bunny.

"No matter how much you paint is still egg!" stated North as Bunny pulled the Alice blue egg from North's grip.

"Look mate! I'm dealing with perishables! And you've got all year to prepare!"

Sandy kept hopping around and waving his arms to get their attention but knew it was a near useless attempt as he looked at the two of them. He put his fingers in his mouth and blew only to have a music note appear above his head as he attempted to still get their attention. If Manny appeared like this he knew it was important – his mind began to wonder what was so serious that Manny himself decided to appear - but chose not to ponder as he was now struggling to get the attention of his fellow Guardians.

"Why are rabbits always so nervous?" North walked around Bunny who went to painting his egg.

"And why are you such a blowhard?" Bunny pointed his paint brush towards North who rubbed his temples while Tooth continued to rattle off places while Sandy waves a dreamsand flag.

"Tooth? Can't you see we are trying to argue?" North inquires while she flutters near them.

"Sorry! Not all of us get to work one night a year! Am I right Sandy?" she puffs out her feathers a bit while glancing at Sandy who sighs and pointed an arrow at the Moon behind Tooth. She gasped and began to speak about more locations to her fairies.

"Santiago sector 2 and…." Sandy silently groaned as he looked at the others and Bunny moved a bit as he kept talking to North.

"Come on, Pitch went out with the Dark Ages – we made sure of it..."

Sandy slumped a bit where he stood and began looking around for something to make noise with. If he could he would make them listen to what he was trying to say – they were all so busy it was a wonder that Manny had even bothered and not sent someone to speak to them – but as he suspected, this was serious and he needed to relay the fact that their boss was present and watching them go about their typical antics as if he was invisible. Sandy frowned as he continued looking and heard North and Bunny continue to argue about Pitch Black while Tooth kept up with her fairies.

"I know it was him! We have serious situation!" Bunny sighed at North as Sandy glanced to the right and saw an elf licking the remaining eggnog from his dropped goblet.

"Bingo!" he thought as he looked at the silver bell atop its head.

With a deadpan expression Sandy flew over to the little elf who paused and looked at him in questioning before he settled next to it. The elf went back to its drink and Sandy watched before scowling as he realized that the other three were not going to listen to his not so subtle hints that he had tried to tell them – now he decided a different method would be best – and in having chosen that he picked up the unsuspecting elf by the stack of its hat and held it out. The little creature dropped its metal goblet and he kept a frown on his face as he started to shake it violently.

"And I've got a serious situation with some eggs!"

"Try to concentrate on…"

The loud ringing got their attention and they fell silent as Sandy held the elf up and kept his frown as he continued his violent shaking of the creature until he was certain that they were paying attention. Sandy dropped the now dizzied elf who fell down and slowly lolled to the side and remained there in hopes of stopping the sudden shaking it felt from being jarred so much. Sandy kept his expression deadpan as he pointed at the skylight and North looked to it.

"Ah! Man in Moon! Sandy? Why didn't you say something?" North asked as he threw his arms up in excitement. Sandy frowned and blew dreamsand steam out of his ears.

"I was trying to! But none of you would listen to me!" Sandy thought as the others turned their attention to the Moon.

"It's been a long time, old friend! What is big news?" the group watched as a pale beam of moonlight streamed down atop the ornate G on the floor and slowly but surely the image shadowed and morphed into a familiar silhouette.

"It is Pitch!" Bunny gaped as North patted his belly in an I told you so manner as they turned their attention back to the Moon.

"Manny, what must we do?" the group stared as the moonbeam went back to the spot of the ornate stone letter and slowly a compartment opened to reveal a rough cut quartz crystal that gleamed blue. The others stared in shock as it finished rising and Tooth fluttered closer.

"Uh, guys, you know what this means?" Tooth looked to North who nodded.

"He is choosing a new Guardian!" North answered as Bunny blinked in a stunned silence that was short lived.

"What?! Why?!" he looked at the others who seemed unsure.

"Must be big deal. Manny thinks we need help." To that Bunny looked at the jolly man next to him in bewilderment.

"Since when do we need help?!" Bunny seemed surprisingly confused to the others who now were becoming excited in seeing who their newest member would be.

"I wonder who it's gonna be?" Tooth looked to Sandy in joy as he conjured a four-leaf clover above his head.

"Maybe the Leprechaun?" to that Bunny turned his attention to the crystal and crossed his paws.

"Please not the Ground Hog, please not the groundhog..."

Sandy rolled his eyes as his attention returned to the crystal as a light formed the shape of their newest teammate. Tooth stared onwards in curiosity as did North and Bunny as slowly it took the form of a young man in a hood carrying a crooked staff. He was barefoot and slight in build – it took all of two seconds for the group to realize who this was – and Sandy only stared happily, Tooth gaped, North looked surprised, and Bunny as if he had been slapped with one of his own paint brushes. The Guardian of Wonder looked fascinated as he stared on at the image and cleared his throat with a quirk of his eyebrows.

"Jack Frost!" the mini-fairies near Tooth swooned adoringly as she stared dreamily at the image and slightly cast a glance at the fairies in curiosity. She had heard a few stories about the Spirit of Winter whilst her fairies had been collecting teeth over the last three hundred years.

"Uh... I take it back, the groundhog's fine." To that Sandy cast the Guardian of Hope an imploring look knowing why exactly he didn't care for the youthful Spirit. He rolled his gold eyes and looked at the other guardians.

"Well, as long as he helps to, uh, to protect the children, right?" asked Tooth as she looked at the others in concern. She had never meet Jack Frost before, but she assumed there was a good reason for Bunny's obvious dislike of the boy.

"Jack Frost?! He doesn't care about children! All he does is freeze water pipes and mess with my egg hunts. Right? He's an irresponsible, selfish—"Bunny's rant was cut off by North's hum of slight curiosity and approval.

"Guardian…" Bunny shook his head and the others stared at him.

"Jack Frost is many things, but he is not a Guardian! I mean come on mate! This brat is nothing but a danger too…" North gave him a long look.

"Bunny! Have you met him before?" he asked. To that the rabbit frowned.

"I have, did you not hear me when I told you about the blizzard of sixty-eight? That little blighter is the cause of that disaster!" Tooth gave the other a long look.

"That was over a hundred years ago! Bunny…don't you think you could give him a chance?" to that the Guardian of Hope frowned again.

"Like I said – Jack Frost is many things but he is not a Guardian!" North sighed as he heard this.

"My fellow Guardians, it is our job to watch over the children of the world, and keep them safe. To bring wonder, hope, and dreams, and so I have called us all here for one reason and one reason only. The children are in danger. An enemy we have kept at bay for centuries has finally decided to strike back. We alone can stop him….and if Manny says we need Jack Frost, then by Moon we need Jack Frost," he stated sternly. To that the others gave each of them a long look as North cleared his throat.

"North? Please don't tell me you're…." The bearded Russian man smiled brightly.

"Dingle! Tell Yetis to prepare transportation – Bunny! Since you're so well acquainted with the boy we send you to get him with Yetis!" to that the Easter Bunny gaped.

"What? No! I'm not going to talk to that hellion! I want nothing to do with any of those winter mishaps he makes or his attitude! He's a complete mischief maker not to mention he's nothing but pure chaos!" North patted Bunny on the shoulder.

"All the more reason for you to be present when we bring him over – you can convince the boy!" to that Bunny frowned.

"I'm not being given a choice am ah?" to that North gave him a wide smile.

"We send you with Yetis to where boy is….Phil! Find boy no?" to that the Yeti nodded and pointed at an ice blue dot on the Globe of Belief. At the appearance of the dot Tooth frowned and glanced at Bunny.

"Hey Bunny? How old is Jack Frost?" the seven-foot Aussie hare looked at her.

"I don' know…I'd say in his early twenties why?" Tooth pointed at the blue dot.

"Why is he on the Globe then?" Bunny shrugged.

"Uh, Sheila, North just searched for him," he said. North glanced at Bunny.

"All same, I can't wait to meet our newest Guardian! Bunny! Hop to it!" the gray hare laughed.

"Haha very funny North!" with that Bunny and the Yeti prepared to leave and soon were going through a portal to Burgess, Pennsylvania, United States.

{8:45pm – St. Petersburg, Russia}

Despite spring coming closer, Russia and its typical cold nature made havoc an easy attempt as a fern pattern of frost spiraled down a post with a few notifications posted while it continued to wash over the sidewalks and street. Several people slipped along the way and a ghostly chuckle was heard as it spread further and froze the water from a fountain that a boy was about to drink out of and resulted in him having his tongue stuck to it. Another faint whisper like laugh was heard as the wind whistled through the area carrying the frost along it and up a building where a fish bowl had the top layer of the water frosted over.

"Sweet Susan!" exclaimed a Russian boy as he saw the water ice over.

Another laugh was carried through the air as the wind brushed into a window and blew papers around the office of a writer who clutched pieces of his manuscript in desperation to keep it from flying out the window. More laughter came and the wind blew upwards to where a figure was crouched against a lightning rod and smiling down at the scene before him as he took into account his work for the evening. Three hundred years later, the Spirit of Winter, Jack Frost, was still up to his typical antics of being quite the troublemaker – hellion, mischief maker, embodiment of chaos, what have you – he'd heard plenty of them over the centuries as it was customary with his season. He laughed again as he felt the wind rush by him and caress his cheek and ruffle his hair as he smiled and looked around.

"Now that! That was fun! Hey wind! Take me home!" the wind howled in sheer delight as it swept through the area he was in and tossed him up into the air.

With a laugh of excitement Jack Frost flew through the air and looked around him as he saw the sky being to lighten into early-mid-day as he descended soon after upon Burgess, Pennsylvania and granted the town a day of snow and fun. He laughed as he cut a flip mid-air and used his staff to ride out the gust of wind whilst descending to the ground – this was one of his all-time favorite things about his life – flying brought him a leap of excitement and joy that near nothing else could as he neared the ground and prepared to carry himself on to the next half of the town. He hit the ice of his pond and slid across it was ease and practiced grace before flying up and landing near a boy who he had knocked a book from his hands. The brown haired, brown eyed boy smiled a bit as he picked it up and dusted it off and he crouched to read the cover. He always checked what the humans were reading – it was a wonderful way to pass the time and he enjoyed reading the stories most of the time – and this, seemed to be a rather curious book.

"Looks interesting? Good book?" the boy kept walking and he stood straight to watch as two other boys came up behind him and began discussing the snow day happily.

"YEA! SNOW DAY!" one of the boys thumped Jamie on the back as he smiled and the other moved to the side and patted the brunette boy on the shoulder.

"Your welcome!" Jack smiled a bit at the statement.

"You coming to the Easter Egg hunt on Sunday?" asked the brunette.

"Of course! Hello! Free candy!" said the boy in the yellow jersey.

"I hope we can find it with all this snow!" the one in the purple stated this in excitement as Jack flew over to the fence and treaded across it with a perfected balance in hopes of entertaining himself whilst he listened in on the conversation that was being discussed. The boys came through a loose plank in the fence and into the yard while the one holding the book held it out in exclamation of what he'd read.

"It says here they found Big Foot DNA in Michigan! That's like super close!" his excitement was drowned out by the two boys.

"Oh boy here we go!" the boy in the yellow rolled his eyes.

"You'll believe anything! From Big Foot or Santa Claus…" the one in purple gave his friend a look.

"And even the Easter Bunny!" at that the brunette rolled his eyes as well and gave them a knowing look.

"The Easter Bunny is real!" to that Jack laughed a little and continued walking along the top of the fence.

"Oh, he's real all right. Real annoying, real grumpy, and really full of himself!" he said as he settled on the edge of the fence and watched the children interact.

"Easter Bunny! Hop! Hop! Hop!" the little blonde haired, green eyed girl in fairy wings said as she jumped down the steps of the front porch with each hop only to be knocked over by the family Grey Hound. Jack glanced at the crying little girl with a faint frown before he looked at the boy who turned to his mother as he grabbed his sled.

"Mom! Sophie fell again!" he turned away as his mother checked on her daughter and Jack smiled as he watched what the children were up to.

"Jamie! Hat! You don't want Jack Frost nipping at your nose," she said as she plopped a blue and white hat on his head. Jamie gave her a long look.

"Whose Jack Frost?" the Spirit of Winter watched as the mother smiled.

"No one honey, it's just an expression," she stated. To that Jack frowned.

"Hey! I'm right here you know!"

The children ran into the other side of the yard and he slid down from the fence and crouched as he picked up a handful of snow. Honestly, he was becoming rather annoyed by that statement – how humans had come up with that one saying he wouldn't ever truthfully know – but he did have his own ways of showing people that he was more than just an expression and he would sooner freeze the entire world than let people just think he was something from a person's imagination. As he picked up the snowball he blew lightly on it and turned it blue as he looked at the group of playing kids as a mischievous smirk graced his features.

"Who's Jack Frost?"

Jamie and the two boys were playing while a girl and a boy with red glasses were building a snow fort and not far from them a girl in pink and black was building a snowman. Jack smirked as he jumped a bit and tossed the snowball and watched as it landed directly against the back of Jamie's head. The boy turned and rubbed the area where the snow hit him only to have a blue gleam gather about his eyes as he blinked and began to laugh and smile as Jack's magic took over. The boy looked around in questioning and he smiled.

"Okay who threw that?" he looked onward as Jack came and landed almost in front of him with a smile.

"Well, it wasn't Big Foot kiddo," he said.

In a matter of moments snowballs were flying and Jack was running around amongst the children giving them ammo for their fight. The group of kids were screaming and laughing as they struck one another and began fighting amongst the snow – building forts and tossing the packed snow at one another – it all was going surprisingly well until one of the snow balls flew a little too close to the lone child who hadn't joined in. Jack frowned and amidst the battle he moved upwards and balanced on the crook of his staff and smirked as he formed a snowball with a good dosage of his magic in it and smacked the girl in the back of the head just as the girl in the green sweater threw one that would have originally hit her. The group froze and Jack smirked as the children began to panic. Naturally Jack theorized that the girl was uncomfortable amongst her peers and stayed alone often – hence why she attempted to look tougher than she honestly was – and soon the girl turned and glared at them with a growl and in the next second another snowball came flying and smacked her in the face. The children gasped and stared while Jack remained perched atop his staff with a smile on his face.

"Who threw that?" Jack laughed as the blue gleam came up and the girl began laughing and soon was chasing the others with the head of her snowman and they were all laughing together.

"Look out now! It's slippery!"

Jack created a patch of ice and soon enough Jamie was flying down the slope and into oncoming traffic. The Spirit of Winter dove after him and caught up quickly before creating a steady line of ice for the boy to glide through the street and sidewalk on. Jamie screamed in both terror and excitement as Jack flew with him calmly guiding him through the street as the group yelled after him and the boy's shouts of surprise turned into yells of pure joy as he flew up into the air and Jack landed near the statue of Thaddeus Burgess and his family as the boy slowly but surely descended and hit the soft powder hard. Jack jumped up on the statue cheering as Jamie got up and began excitedly talking about his thrill ride to his friends – his excitement was cut short by a red sofa flying into him and knocking him over. Jack winced as he did his best to not feel a little panic about that. This most certainly wouldn't have been the first time he had ended up accidentally causing some harm – but as he often reminded others when they did speak to him – Winter was a season of gives and takes, and it by no means offered any less injuries than any other Seasons did. Not that the Spirit of Autumn agreed to that at all, she was insistent that it was perfectly reasonable that winter caused death, but that often her season didn't. Jack rolled his eyes as he turned his attention back to the boy and winced again.

"Woops…" he watched the boy as he got up and held a hand into the air and exclaimed precisely what had happened.

"My tooth came out!" the other children gathered.

"Dude, that means cash! Tooth Fairy cash! I love the Tooth Fairy!" Jack felt a twinge of discomfort in his chest.

"Oh, no..."

"How much do you think the Tooth Fairy will give you?" asked the girl in the green sweater.

"That's totally awesome. You lucky bug! Lucky!" the group began discussing the Tooth Fairy and Jack groaned in frustration.

"No! No!" Jack jumped down as the children kept walking.

"I gotta put this under my pillow!" Jamie said as he pocketed the tooth in his jeans and they began walking back towards his house. Jack wanted to scream at this point – he couldn't believe it.

"I wish I lost my tooth." The red glasses kid stated this as he nudged a lose one and one of the twins spoke up.

"I lost two teeth in one day once - remember that?!"

"What are you gonna spend your money on?"

"What are you gonna buy? How much do you think she's going to leave?" all the questions and statements were starting to frustrate the winter spirit to the point that he felt what he was certain was a headache coming on.

"Ah, wait a minute! Come on, hold on, hold on! What about all that fun we just had? That wasn't the Tooth Fairy that was me!" Jack spoke as he jumped closer to the kids trying to speak with them.

"Let's go...I'm cooold!"

"My ears are freezing. I can't feel my toes!"

"Ah, it's hot cocoa time! We can all go over to my place!" Jamie said as the kids cheered. Jack groaned as he blocked the boy's path.

"What's a guy gotta do to get a little attention around here?!" Jack tried to engage the children again and then one of the things he absolutely despised about being what he was happened.

Jamie stepped forward unseeing and walked straight through him. Pain ripped through his system as it hadn't done in over ten years. He had once stopped trying to speak with others around him – human or otherwise – and had avoided the horrible sensation of being walked through for a decade. Now he had subjected himself to that pain all over again. He felt a spike of energy as his powers caused flurries to fall over head and many people began to question why it was snowing now with Easter so close. It was always Easter or Christmas, or the Tooth Fairy – never in three hundred years had he, Jack Frost, the Spirit of Winter – been anything more than an expression. He hated being just that to people because he knew that while he was an elemental spirit he didn't deserve to be considered nothing more than a saying or a statement that people made when it got cold enough. He wanted someone to see him, so he had someone to speak too, and though there were plenty of other immortals around in the world none of them bothered to speak to an Elemental Spirit. They were either looked on at with envy, disgust, or in his case fear.

Sighing he looked back at the children once more and took off wanting to avoid being walked through like he just had another five times as he mulled over his internal questions. His already burgeoning temper washed out as the children left and he groaned as he took to standing atop roofs to spread the snow fall so to avoid being stepped through. He remembered the first time that happened – how much it had hurt – and how greatly it had affected him. That was the first and last time that the Man in the Moon ever spoke to him. And it was also the first century where he was still learning new things about himself and the world, but that changed when another century came and he completely blanked in his memories. He remembered most things from that time but between the first century and the most recent one his memory was blotchy and disconnected for some reason. He laid back against the roof and sighed in discontent.

"Three hundred years huh? What do you expect me to do? Just stay invisible for the rest of eternity? Damn old man." Jack sat up as he glared at the face that appeared in the ghostly outline of the moon before pulling his knees up to his chest prior to resting his head upon them.

He hated this part of his life – the silence, being alone, being unseen, unheard, untouched, and hated for something he couldn't help. Why did so many of the spirits look so terrified of him sometimes? Did he do something he couldn't remember? Did he cause that because he was just the Spirit of Winter? The herald of the cold months where near nothing grew? Yes, Jack knew that winter was a time where most of the world became still but he couldn't help that he wasn't chosen as something else – or someone else. If all these spirits hated him so much then why did the Man in the Moon see it fit to let him be alive? Did Mother Nature need him that badly? He sighed as he pulled his hood up and felt a tension form in his body again. Here he was, three hundred years later, trapped, unmoving, and unaging, forever. And what did he have to show for those three centuries? Not much he thought.

"You must really hate me…and find it completely amusing to punish me for something I never did or can't recall doing…what do you want from me? I'm just one….thing….I can't change the world."

The sun began to set and soon Jack found himself gliding over roof tops in the cold darkness of the night. He was much more comfortable in the darker hours – mostly because his first memory was nothing but darkness – but he also liked to watch the families in the evening when they would put the children to bed and tell them stories. They were always fascinating and ranged from biblical tales to the most fantastical things that sprung from the deepest depths of imagination. Jack personally always enjoyed fantasy stories to factual ones. He could lose himself for hours upon hours in a book and look at the story that the author allowed the readers to travel through – it was an escape into another world and it was nothing short of amazing. Tonight he had ended up finding Jamie's house and was listening to the boy retell the story of his adventure in sledding that afternoon. His little sister Sophie was happily listening as he reenacted it with a toy robot that also doubled as a nightlight. His mother smiled as she finished putting away a few spare toys and soon was telling them to head to bed.

"Alright you, tooth under your pillow?" his mother asked this and Jack watched the boy look at her with bright eyes as he pulled his pillow back with a wide smile.

"Yeah. I'm ready!" he pulled out a flashlight and a camera. Jack rolled his eyes at the boy's enthusiasm – the Tooth Fairy wouldn't come if he was awake.

"Now don't stay up trying to see her, Jamie, or she won't come." The boy groaned.

"But I can do it this time! You wanna help me, Soph? We can hide and see the Tooth Fairy!" Jamie exclaimed as his little sister giggled and clapped her hands as she hopped.

"Hide! Hide! Hide!" the little girl sounded almost crazed with her excitement and Jamie's mother shook her head.

"Uh uh, straight to bed now, mister." His mother scolded him as she picked up his sister and began heading out.

"Mom…"

Jack frowned as he looked at the scene before him and frost covered the window panes. He honestly didn't know why he watched these scenes all the time – maybe some part of him was longing for an answer to his questions – and then another part of him whispered that maybe he wondered why he didn't have a family and if he ever had. What was he supposed to think of all this anyways? He was just some lonely spirit, he wasn't even human. He was the incarnation of winter, of chaos and mischief and rarely did he find someone that liked him enough to talk to him. That one acception had been a little golden man who spoke through symbols – and he was rarely able to speak for long periods of time – but Jack enjoyed his company when he had it. He sighed as he skipped up atop the roof and leaned a bit against the crooked staff he had with him from day one and they glanced at the moon. Naturally during his agitation his eyes went from the typical Alice blue to timber wolf silver – he rarely paid attention to that change now a days – and when he did it was because someone panicked about it. He sighed as he heard the area around him go silent and groaned again as he realized the area around him had fallen still once again. His eyes glanced up at the moon from under his hood and he set a pained glare at it.

"If there's something I'm doing wrong, can you, can you just…..tell me what it is?" he knew, without question, that this would be a one sided conversation. It was something he had tried millions of times and never once had he received so much as a sign that he had ever been heard.

"Because I've tried everything, and…..no one…ever sees me…" this time his now silver eyes narrowed in anger as he snarled at the moon.

"You put me here! The least you can do is tell me! Tell me why?! Why am I never seen? Why do those who can see me seem to fear and hate me? What did I do wrong? WHY DON'T YOU ANSWER FOR ONCE?!" he gritted his teeth and turned away as his eyes burned. He hated this, no answers, no explanations, and he had waited – patiently so – for three hundred years and nothing, absolutely nothing was ever given in return. He honestly didn't care if it was something great and grand or small and feeble – he just wanted an answer – but that apparently was far too great of a task for the Man in the Moon to speak to his supposed child.

Jack leaped quietly threw the air and landed on a telephone poll with all the ease and grace of a cat while frost crawled along it whilst he walked and slid the ice up the other wire with his staff. He sighed as he focused on his work and details as a silent tinkling of bells caught his attention. Silver eyes looked up at the beautiful sun kissed glow of gold streams that were flowing through the air in tendrils and gentle curves that seemed as if stardust was painting reenactments of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night amongst a silken black backdrop accented with diamonds. He pulled his hood off as his mood was lifted and his eyes returned to their normal Alice blue as he smiled.

"Right on time Sandman…" The Dreamsand descended from the sky, and drifted into windows around the town to bring dreams of joy and peace to the children while the spirit of winter smiled and watched in the same joy and fascination of a child. Jack ran along the telephone wire until he could reach out and intercepted one of the passing streams and it instantly transformed into a dolphin as it swam around him and brought a sense of calm to his inner turmoil while he watched it continuing on its way towards a child. For now, he supposed things would just continue as they were, but even he knew when things were about to change and he had a feeling that something was coming.

{….}

I am a question to the world, not an answer to be heard. Or a moment that's held in your arms…

{…}

Author's Note: Well, here's chapter one of my Rise of the Guardians story. I know a lot of people rewrite the story but I'm focusing on a few details. Like for instances did you notice that Jack's eyes do actually change color in the film from Alice blue which is his typical eye color, to Ice Blue, and then to Timber Wolf Silver – they also go very dark blue a Cerulean Blue if he's stressed. If you watch the scene where North speaks to Jack about his center when Jack states that "he doesn't know" what his center is his eyes change color in the middle of him looking down. They go from a silver tone to Alice blue. Look at that scene closely for it because if you aren't paying attention you will miss it.

But I wanted to focus a bit more on his personality and some of his darker and harsher traits from time to time. I think it could help show some people that this isn't just some kid's movie – there are some very mature elements in this film believe it or not – and I wanted to play on the psychological points as well.

Here's my Disclaimer:

I, ShadowDragon94, do not in any way, shape, or form – have any legal claims on the Film: Rise of the Guardians, The Novels: The Guardians of Childhood, the Characters: Jack Frost, Toothania, Nicholas St. North, E. Aster Bunnymund, Sanderson Mansnoozie, Pitch Black, Santoff Claussen, Ombric, or any other characters or settings that may appear in this story and others of the same storyline. All rights go to William Joyce and DreamWorks.

I, ShadowDragon94, own any original characters that may or may not appear in the story(s).

That's my claimer/Disclaimer. I do not know if I will have any OC's in this story unless I intend to bring in the Spirits of Spring, summer, and autumn. I'm still debating that for specific reasons.

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed chapter 1 and I look forward to your comments.

Here's your Preview:

"Its coming don't you feel it?"

Fear that was something he had felt before but why was it creeping up on people left and right? What was happening? In the midst of the night Jack Frost was about to get an answer that he never expected to find and never thought he would receive because of four people who to his knowledge disliked him as much as most of the other Immortals in the world. Little to his own knowing was that all along the Man in the Moon had a greater obligation in store for him than just being the Spirit of Winter.

"So, your telling me that I'm…a….that the Man in the Moon wants me to be a Guardian?"

"Of course!" Alice blue went silver.

"Oh hell no!"

Chapter 2: The Frost Child