Secret of Frost and Moon

Seeking Sanderson

Alaia Skyhawk: Hehehe, SANDY! Yep, Jack is going to meet him in this chapter. But before we get to that, I just want to say in forewarning that I do a bit of bashing of religion in general in this chapter, but most specifically I poke holes in Christianity. This is by no means intended to be offensive (I am, after all, technically a Christian myself even if I don't go to church anymore). I just look at religion from Jack's present perspective, in his position as an immortal Spirit of Winter. After all, to him, a lot of what he once believed would definitely no longer make sense.

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.

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Chapter 10: Seeking Sanderson

"So you'll be back in a few days?"

Emily stood on the porch in the pale dawn light, as Jack paused and glanced back at her. He'd waited until she'd woken just before dawn, before knocking on the door to talk to her. And now she'd come outside, and he'd explained he was going to go look for someone.

He smiled at her, knowing that she worried about him even though she knew he could take care of himself. But then, she was his little sister, and she would always care.

"Mother Nature suggested I go introduce myself to the Sandman, but I'm not sure how long it will take me to track him down. It shouldn't be too hard, he leaves trails of dreamsand right across the sky when he's sending out dreams, but I don't want to have to rush my first talk with him either. If he's ok with it, I'll probably follow him around and watch him for a couple of days. I'll see you when I get back."

He waved to her once, and then soared upwards leaving a faint scatter of snowflakes in his wake. He then turned eastwards and headed across the Atlantic, streaking through the thin air far far above the clouds, where the boost he got from the winds at lower altitudes let him fly impossibly fast at this height where no normal winds could reach. It was also incredibly cold up so high, which was why he was the only Spirit of the Seasons to be able to take advantage of it.

Even at their best speeds, Ariko and the other two would have taken over an hour to cover the distance that Jack traversed in just fifteen minutes. Even with their power protecting them from the cold, the utter chill that high up was too much for them to handle. But for Jack, that cold increased his speed as if he were sliding on ice that had just been slicked with water. As for how he knew all this? Well it was simple to say that, when he'd stumbled across the Summer Sanctuary, Achieng had chased him. He'd flown straight upwards, aiming for the upper airways where he knew he was his fastest, and the moment he passed the highest altitude she could tolerate, the look of shock on her face had been priceless. She'd just stopped in her tracks as if at some invisible wall, while he'd kept going upwards. Then, in fury as he'd jokingly teased her about being afraid of heights, the dark-skinned spirit had charged pass that 'wall' with the obvious intent to slap him.

She got halfway between where she'd been and the altitude he'd stopped at, when ice started forming on her array of dark braids, and the instant that happened she reversed direction and plummeted downwards until she was low enough that it melted again. She'd then scowled, complained that he wasn't worth knocking some sense into since he was obviously too young and stupid at this point to learn from it, and stormed off back to her sanctuary. But Jack knew the real reason she'd left in such fury, it was because the incident had shown she was weaker than him in that one small but significant way. He could go where the other Spirits of the Seasons could not. The terrible cold at the edge of the world, held no fear for him.

Jack chuckled to himself at that thought, as his fifteen-minute flight ended with him floating above London. He'd tracked her down again the following year, out of courtesy, to apologise for trespassing in the Summer Sanctuary. What he got was a small frown, a firm nod of acceptance for the apology, and a faint look of grudging respect. In return he'd tactfully decided not to tease her about it, as fun as might have been.