Brightest {A RotG Fanfic}

Chapter 4 - Her Shine

    North swiftly followed the Yeti to the Globe room but didn't see anything wrong at first glance.

    As he entered the room, most of the Yetis that were not busy working were staring at something on the Globe of Belief.

    The little elves have scattered themselves everywhere on the floor, looking at probably the same thing as all the Yetis were. Each mouth in the room was hanging open in awe.

    Every single elf earned a 'shooing' gesture from North to make way for him and Ivan, because they were only tall enough to reach his ankles, and he always had to watch out for one, or else he might step on them.

    Ivan spoke to him in Yetish, which North understood perfectly, and the furry creature pointed to a spot on the Globe.

    As the Globe rotated to reveal what the commotion in the room was all about, a certain light was shining bright.

    It wasn't 'bright' like all the other golden lights on the Globe. It was even bright enough to produce its own ray.

    No, this specific believer had his or her light shining the brightest in the colour of white -- the only white light among the gold.

    "This never happened before..." North stroked his beard and wondered how this could have occurred.

    The light appeared as if it was pulsing, and the elves that can see the light looked like they were mesmerized.

    A moment later the light started to flicker, and everyone in the room almost panicked when the light faded back into the normal colour of gold.

    When North saw the Yetis and elves still dawdling, he kindly ordered them back to their business.

    The last time he was called to see the Globe, North felt a bad feeling. But now... he felt elated for some reason.

    A loud and sudden sound from the bottom floor of the workshop startled everyone. The Yeti guards shuffled towards the unexpected visitor, who proceeded to fly where the Guardian of Wonder was standing.

    The main guard Phil's distant shouts in Yetish were heard, and the familiar young Guardian rushed to North.

    "Jack! What brings you here to Pole?" The older man spoke to the Winter Spirit, his Russian accent laced his words.

    He was happy to see Jack, and then North started to worry about the alarmed Yetis near the entrance to the Workshop. Someone needs to fix that, North thought, amused.

    It was evident in the big smile on Jack's face that he wanted to share something with him. Before Jack could exhale a syllable from his opened mouth, North already beat him to it.

    "Before you do anything Jack, I want you to check something up," he said in an energetic way.

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    Jack closed his mouth and reopened it to ask a question, "What 'something'?" He raised an eyebrow and leaned on his staff. The idea could wait.

    "A light on the Globe did funny things. It was white, and then it was gold again. You go and check what happened to the young child," North explained to him.

    "That's strange. Are you sure it went white? It could be a trick of the elves." The Guardian of Fun could tell that the man in front of him had an unusual gleam in his eyes.

    Was it a sort of bliss? A desire for something enjoyable, perhaps? Or simply a different kind of wonder?

    Nevertheless, Jack sensed something odd about all of this. He certainly felt a sort of serene atmosphere in the area, like the world felt light and wasn't burdened by troubles.

    The next thing Jack knew, North seemed more thrilled than he was when he charged into the mansion-like workshop.

    Before he could even say the word 'icicle', the tall and burly man told him to go to exactly where he located the light was, like a kid telling his mother where he found a new action figure in a toy shop.

    Then North basically forced Jack out to find the child in his or her home and gather information quick. The teenage Guardian's timing was perfectly convenient, North had said, considering that the child with the white light had to be 'investigated'.

    "Well, that was weird," Jack said to his self, after he was pushed out of the workshop by an overexcited Santa Claus.

    He wondered if this 'white light' issue would need the other Guardians... which Jack doubted.

    He chuckled as he thought of North seeing him as the fastest way to reach a child, even if Santa Claus himself can possibly travel through time to deliver millions of presents to kids within a night.

    Lucky for him, though, the child lived in Peachborough. And coincidentally, this fitted right in with his plan.

    He regretted not following the girl to her home that day. Oh, how much hell he would have given her if he had.

    Once at the town, he will have to find a believer soon and ask where that girl lived. Maybe by then, Jack could finally find that girl who hated his season. And then Jack will have his way and start playing tricks on the hard-hearted teen.

    Oh, she's gonna get it, he thought to himself with a smirk. Jack Frost the Prankster's at it again.

    He kicked off from the snow and happily yelled to the wind where he wanted to be.

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    A few hours before the Spirit of Winter started on his journey, a specific teenager tossed around under her covers; her eyes aching, but never closing.

    It was obvious that Clara was trying to evade sleep.

    Just when she thought the nightmares have finally stopped a couple of days ago, they came back -- with double the force and double the fear.

    It was agonising!

    Clara released a small whimper and clung onto the hope of getting at least a wink in the midst of this insomnia.

    Her aunt had fallen victim to her screams last night, and the woman sent her off to the attic ruthlessly, with the hope of getting a good night's sleep.

    Well, maybe Karee can finally snore in peace, but for Clara... all alone, in the dark? Up in the attic, with an old heater that takes five hours to start up? Nope. No, thank you. Good-bye.

    Clara wrapped herself tighter with all of her three blankets, despite the fact that she wore an extra layer of winter clothes tonight. One thought stayed in her mind:

    This is utter torture.

    She barely survived the night terrors the night before. Could she even endure the pain once again? As Clara yawned, she stamped it onto her conscience that she will sleep without the nightmare tonight.

    "The Sandman's working extra hard on me, huh?" she spoke to herself. Without a second thought, she closed her eyes and gave in to sleep.