Flame and Frost [Rise of the Guardians Fanfiction]

Chapter 3 How I Became A Guardian

There was silence between us. Then I turned to him. "How'd they get you here?" I asked, and he snorted.

"The yetis shoved me in a sack and tossed me through a portal. And let me tell you, they were so gentle." Jack said, and I chuckled. "At least they didn't knock you out." I said, and he looked at me.

"Did they knock you out when they, you know, got you here?" he asked. I nodded before I started telling him the full story.

I floated in mid-air, watching as people walk into their homes. I sighed and landed on the roof of a house. I sat and scanned the surroundings. Then I saw Sandy's dreamsand. "Right on time, Sandman." I said, smirk on my face, before the little guy appeared and landed in front of me. He waved at me, then something hard hit the side of my face, knocking me out.

***

I woke up to something in my mouth. I groaned and opened my eyes to see a... woman-part-hummingbird? She had her fingers in my mouth, and I clamped my mouth shut, backing away from her, who was hovering in mid air with the help of her wings. She had withdrawn her fingers out of my hand before I could shut my mouth. I stared at  her in shock.

"Who the hell are you?" I exclaimed. She looked at me, eyebrows raised.

"Why, I'm the Tooth Fairy! And, I'm glad I managed to get my fingers out of your mouth before you can bite them off, because you've got the strongest teeth I've ever seen! You could've bit my finger off! And they're so white and healthy!" she said that in, like, 5 seconds or so, and I stared at her blankly.

"What?" I questioned, and she looked at me.

"I wonder, though. They said you're not supposed to wake up for another hour or so." she said again.

"So, you were planning on examining my teeth for the next hour?" I said, eyebrows raised, and she smiled. "Well, you can say that."

I looked at her, my face clearly saying "I'm creeped out of my skin." "You scared her, Tooth." a voice with an Australian accent said from the door I didn't know was there, and when I turned to look, I let our a roar and jumped to my feet.

The 6 foot tall... bunny?... put his paws over his ears and groaned, "Not so loud, mate!" But I was too busy forming fireballs to hear him. He looked at me in horror and muttered, "Oh no." before starting to dodge the fireballs I threw at him, screaming all the way.

Tooth's eyes darted in between me and the bunny, and she screamed as one of my fireballs nearly hit her. "Calm down, Flame! We're not here to hurt you!" she exclaimed, and I stopped.

"Then why am I here?" I said, looking at Tooth and the bunny. Bunny stopped hopping around and dropped down, panting. "Finally. You should've done that earlier, mate." he muttered, and Tooth shot him a look.

"Well, let's get North so he can explain properly, shall we?" Tooth said, and Bunny shrugged. "Fine by me." he muttered, still trying to catch his breath.

"Tooth checked your teeth too?" Jack asked with a chuckle, and I nodded. "And said you've got the strongest teeth she's ever seen?" he asked again. I nodded again. "Yeah. Wanna see them?"

Jack shook his head and said, "I'm not a tooth fairy. No need to try to dazzle me with your teeth." I chuckled. "So, Tooth checked your teeth too?" I queried, and he nodded.

"Oh yeah, why'd you freak out when you see Bunny?" he asked, and I snorted. "Well, it's not everyday you see a 6 foot tall bunny, and it's my first time seeing him. So you can't really blame me for flipping out." I said with a shrug, then I smirked. "You should've seen the look on his face. It was priceless!" I said and started laughing. Jack chuckled slightly.

"So, what happened next?" he asked, and I put my hand on my chin before continuing.

I followed Tooth and Bunny to find North. We walked past the workshop, and I looked around at the yetis who were busy making toys. "I thought the elves made the toys." I wondered aloud, then a voice with Russian accent whispered in my right ear, "Just let them believe that." I spun around, shocked, nearly punching the big man known as Santa Claus. He jumped back and said, "Relax, old friend! I won't hurt you!" I lowered my fist and nodded.

"Just... Respect my personal space, pops." I muttered, continuing my walk while looking around. "Just call me North." I heard Santa say, and I nodded absent-mindedly. Then my eyes landed on some elves who were... shocking each other with lights? "Very nice. Keep up the good work." North said from beside me, beaming at them, and I chuckled.

"Hey, where are Tooth and Bunny?" I said and looked around. "I'd like to talk to you in private." North said, and we finally got to his office. I whistled as I looked around at North's creations. "Fruit cake?" North offered, and I shook my head. "No thanks."

North nodded and tossed the cake away. "Now we get down to tacks of brass." he said, cracking his knuckles. "Tacks-?" I began, then the door closed and locked behind me.

"Who are you, Phoenix Scarletti?" North said, approaching. I backed away. Hell, how'd he know my real name? Then my back hit the door. "What is your center?" he said, pointing at my heart, and I looked at him questioningly.

"My center?" I asked, and North continued, "If Man in the Moon chose you to be a Guardian, you must have something very special inside." Seeing my confused look, North stepped back and stroked his beard.

"Hmm..." he muttered, then he took a... wooden doll? (I dunno its name) "Here. This is how you see me, no? Very big, intimidating..." he chuckled.

"But if you get to know me a little..." he gave it to me, "Well, go on." he urged me to open it. I did and tilted my head. "You are downright jolly?" I asked more than said, and he continued, "But not just jolly..." he motioned me to open it again. I shrugged and opened the next doll.

"I am also mysterious," he said as I opened the next dolls, "and fearless, and caring, and at my center..." I opened the last doll and raised my eyebrows. "There's a tiny wooden baby." I stated, looking at the tiny doll.

"Look closer. What do you see?" North said, and I looked closer. "Uh... You have big eyes." I said, frowning, and he exclaimed, "Yes! Big eyes, very big, because they are full of wonder. It is my center. It is what I was born with, eyes that have only seen the wonder in everything. Eyes that see lights in the trees and magic in the air! This wonder is what I put into the world, and what I protect in children. It is what makes me a Guardian. It is my center. What is yours?"

I looked down and said, "I don't know." North looked at me understandingly and wrapped my fingers around the tiny doll.

Jack looked at me, eyebrows raised, and said, "Well, that's weird. And, he knows your real name, instead of just your... title, as you call it?" I nodded. "Well, yeah." "And he showed you his workshop?" he asked again. I nodded again. He groaned. "I've been trying to bust in there for ages! What's it like?" he asked, and I shrugged. "Real huge, real awesome..." I said, smirking, and he narrowed his eyes at me.

At that moment, Tooth flew past, well, more like buzzed past, since she was flying so quickly. "Someone's in a hurry." Jack said. I frowned. No, something's wrong. I can feel it. Then North stomped towards us and boomed, "There you are! I have been looking all over for you! Trouble at the Tooth Palace, everybody to the sleigh!"

A/N: Okay, I know, I still haven't revealed Flame's title, it'd be in the next chapter. And, is anyone actually reading this? No comments, no votes... -sighs- Maybe I should stop writing?