"I'm awake when up in the skies. There's no break up so high, alright. Let's make it our own, let's savor it" – Jonsi, Where No One Goes
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The guardians went to talk with disappointed looks on their faces. Leaving me alone, I didn't go far since I could easily end up lost in, 'Santa's Workshop' so I remained in the same area, sitting on the windowsill staring out into nothing but the night and snow. I used my breath to fog up one of the window panels to draw a constellation.
"What are you drawing?" A friendly voice interrupted my thoughts.
When I turned to look it was Jack, who stood a few feet away unsure if it was safe to come near me. "It's the Andromeda constellation, also known as The Chained Maiden." I calmly spoke, turning back to my dot drawing and using the tip of my fingernail to make thin lines to connect the dots. From the corner of my eye I could see Jack settling himself across from me, intrigued by what I was doing. "They say she sacrificed herself to a sea monster to calm the gods. Or so that's what it said in the book I read." It was odd, talking to someone other than Manny about this stuff.
"Is it true?" Jack asked.
"That's the same thing Manny said," I smiled while thinking about it. "But I can honestly tell you I don't know. They say you shouldn't always believe in what you read." Once I finished my drawing, I brought my knees close to me as I rest my chin upon them, sighing deeply, my smile soon disappearing.
"How long have you been able to talk to the Man in the moon?"
"For as long as I can remember I guess." I paused and thought really hard. "At first I didn't know it, I just heard a gentle voice speaking to me telling me everything is going to be all right. Thought it was just me making up an imaginary friend, and chose the moon as the host."
Jacked leaned in, eyes looking for something as he listened.
"Never mind it's silly." I laughed quietly at myself.
"Heh, hey, I woke up one night in a frozen pond, staring up at the moon as he spoke to me. For the longest time I thought it was only me who could hear and speak to him, until I was chosen as a guardian and it wasn't just me."
I could tell he was trying to make me feel better but there it was again. Until I was chosen as a guardian, and it wasn't just me. His words echoed through my head.
"There you two are," North and the others returned, "Come, we take you home now."
Those words should have excited me, but I somehow couldn't bring myself to smile. I hopped off the windowsill and followed the Guardians. I stopped for a moment to look up at the sky. "Sorry big guy."
North lead us to the very bottom of his workshop, it was an ice cave with a large wooden door. There were yetis and elves scrambling about.
"North, do we have too?" Bunny sounded nervous.
"Ha, but of course!" He slapped Bunny on the back as a bell went off, opening the wooden gates.
Eight large, intimidating reindeer marched their way out, huffing and puffing while they pulled out a... sleigh? It wasn't the sleigh every child thought Santa had, this one was a mix of a snowmobile and a jet. There was even a miniature version of the globe North had in his workshop.
"Okay, that's pretty cool." I stepped closer and didn't hesitate when North gestured me to hop in.
"Everyone likes the sleigh." North said, and at the same time Bunny mumble the exact words in a mocking tone.
We all gathered into the sleigh, North of course at the front holding the reins to control the rowdy animals. With a sudden slap of the reins and a loud 'hyah!' we were off.
I flew back from the impulsive pull of the reindeers as they took no time to start galloping down the icy cave at a remarkable speed. I hit the back of the sleigh while my hand held on to the rail, and I heard a chuckle from Jack who was on his own bare feet taking in the wind. Bunny had wide eyes, his nails digging into the wood while Tooth was sitting, smiling excitedly and Sandy had his hands in their air and if he could speak I bet he would be shouting something along the lines of 'whoo-hoo!'
We were traveling down the arctic cave that had its twists, turns and loops. It reminded of an amusement park ride I remember seeing. Finally we lifted off the ramp at the end of the cave and flew into the air, to my surprise the chilly winter air was soothing.
I noticed the bright orange sunrise that had blinded me for a moment. "It's this late already?"
"What do you mean, it's a start of a new day." North said.
I chuckled. "Not to me it's..." I slowly trailed off as I could feel exhaustion slowly take over. With everything that had happened I didn't even pay attention to the time, I wasn't even tired then. I wanted to stay awake for this, but seeing the sun wasn't helping at all.
"Are you all right?" Tooth placed her little hand on my shoulder, giving me worried eyes.
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," A weary yawn interrupted. "Just a little tired is all." I sucked in the cold biting air in hope that it will make me stay awake, which it happened to do the trick for a little while.
North pulled a small glass ball that had glitter on the inside and brought it to his lips. He whispered something to it but I couldn't hear from over the howling wind. Resulting him to throw the glass ball ahead and it exploded into a colorful, swirling veil.
"Hang on!" North shouted.
"Awe, crikey." Bunny cried out in distress.
I closed my eyes and felt the entire sleigh being sucked in, but it quickly passed. Opening my eyes I didn't quite recognize the area, I just knew we weren't in the North Pole. "Um, what was that?"
North chuckled at the confused expression. "That was a shortcut."
I still didn't know what exactly he used to create that shortcut but I decided to leave it at that.
"Hey, come up here." North called for me, patting the empty seat beside him.
I carefully managed to put one foot in front of the other, unsteadily of course, but once I made it to North he handed me the reins.
"Why don't you give it a try?" He said calmly.
"Really?" My voice came out a little too cheerful than I wanted it too.
"What? Your letting her steer?" Bunny jumped to his feet as he questioned North.
"Why are rabbits always so nervous?" I looked over my shoulder raising an eyebrow with a mischievous grin.
"Don't worry, Bunny-" North was in a middle of a laugh as he spoke but was cut short when I whipped the reins and screamed 'hyah' and the reindeers speed increased rapidly.
I wrapped the leather reins around my white knuckles and whipped the reins once again. The wind was powerful, it made even more of a mess of my hair than it already was, and my clothes were clinging as the air pushed them harshly against me. I steered the upwards, shooting up into the sky past the clouds where I slowed down to be able to see the last bit of the starry sky before the sun made them disappear. The gasps of astonishment behind me were clear that the Guardians were amazed at what they were seeing.
"Wow." Jack stood up, his eyes lost in the sky.
"I know right?" I breathed with ease.
"They're beautiful." Ruffled her feathers while glancing at the stars.
Everyone else resonated Jack's sentiment, all with their mouths hanging open.
"I'm guessing you don't look up here often." I said with a crooked smile.
"Only when Manny needs to talk." Bunny said.
I spun back around to continue guiding the reindeer, and right in my view, up ahead was a something black. It was too far away to make out any details just that it was black and moving quickly. "Hey, what's that?" I asked, my eyes hurting from squinting.
"What is what?" North said, sounding uninterested.
I looked back and chuckled. "You guys, seriously, can you look away for a second and see what that thing is?" I turned my head and instantly was hit with a force that drove me to the back of the sleigh. At first all I saw was black and darkness but it soon vanished then Jack came into view, staring me down his those glimmering blue eyes. I was still in a daze because his lips were moving but I couldn't hear anything other than low mumbles.
Eventually I was back in my normal state and asked Jack with my voice sounding insecure. "What was that?" I gulped.
"Everything is going to be fine, just stay down." He gripped my shoulder then leaped off the sleigh into the open air.
It was only Bunny, North and myself in the sleigh. And it made me wonder where Tooth and Sandy went but that thought was pushed aside when I noticed Bunny holding two boomerangs and fired one after the other. Then I looked over at North who stood on the front of the sleigh, the reins beneath his feet, holding two swords in his hands slicing at these black wispy creatures that I couldn't get a good look at.
I crawled on my hands and knees carefully making my way over to the side of the sleigh, peeking out to have seen Tooth, Sandy and Jack using their Guardian like powers against these creatures. Especially Jack who stirred up the clouds as they started to release great amounts snow in a violent manner. Looking through the snow, I examined the creatured that were easily being demolished, some were like horses while others were like large birds, but they all had in something in common, golden glowing eyes and large fangs. One of the large birds spotted me, flapping its large wings and heading towards me. It let out an ear-shattering cry which caught Jack's attention and he chased after it.
He wasn't going to make it and North and Bunny were too focus on their own fights to know what was happening. My blood ran cold as my wide eyes stared at the black bird who was getting closer and closer.
Jack let out a battle cry as he waved his staff which shot out a blast of ice towards the bird, but up until the last second the bird shot up, dodging the icy spell which hit the side of the sleigh tipping it. I lost my balance and fell off on the other side, but just in the nick of time I grabbed hold of one of the sleigh's runners. I screamed as I realized my position and I had no strength to climb up.
Bunny noticed and came rushing. "Hold on!"
"Did you seriously just tell me to hold on?" I roared.
"Grab my paw." He said as he reached as far as he could.
Both my arms were wrapped around the runner tightly, and I was afraid of releasing even for a moment. I sucked it up and swung my hand up, only a few inches away from touching the tip of Bunny's furry paw. But as the storm picked up it was impossible to control the sleigh.
"North, you gotta keep it steady, mate!" Bunny shouted over his shoulder.
"What do you think I'm doing?" North gruffly replied.
My arm was starting to cramp up, I didn't know how much longer I could go like this. "Bunny!" I cried out.
"Everything will be all right, just don't look down."
I shot a glare at him. "Are you being serious, right now?"
Bunny's eyes went suddenly extensive, he wasn't looking at me he was looking behind me. "Look out!"
By the time I peered over my shoulder one of those black birds had struck me with enough force to make me release the sleigh's runner. I immediately shut my eyes as I called out for help, sensing the ground getting closer and closer. The wind violently whipped at me, as did the snow.
"I got you." Someone said as they grabbed hold of me.
Opening my eyes I saw Tooth, trying her best to carry me, but with the weather like this it was practically impossible. Even Baby Tooth pulled on my sleeve to help but we continued to fall and the next thing I knew everything went black as we plummeted into the snow.