A Certain Kind of Wit (Rise of the Guardians)

April Apati

        The moon glowed bright tonight, it's luminous aura half eerie yet half soothing. It was a cold winter night, with snow flurrying down from the heavens. The trees that towered over me had beautiful snowflakes that glistened on the branches, acting like brief reminders of the stars in the sky.

        The sky was dark, the forest I laid in consumed in an uncanny darkness. I rose from the chilling forest floor, snow already gathered over my form. The clothes I had worn didn't do much against the cold, and I had already begun sniffling and sneezing.

       I got up to my feet easily, shivering, my teeth chattering noisily. Looking down, I saw my attire consisted of golden tights, along with a purple vest. Upon twisting and turning several times, I came to the realization that the vest split in two from behind.

        It was an odd attire indeed, and once I caught sight of a frozen over pond several meters away, I decided I wanted to see more. I was glad I was wearing flats, though they looked rather ugly. They were purple flats, which curled along the ends. All unsightliness aside, they were quite comfortable and helped me cover the distance quickly.

        Looking down, I was met with dark eyes, framed by long and even darker eyelashes. The skin shown in the reflection owned an olive tint, two narrow ridges of tawny reaching from below both my eyes. Atop my head was a golden hat, extending into a cowl falling a little below my shoulders. The hat consisted of three points, all with jingling bells stitched to the ends.

        Finally, after examining myself in the pond for longer than necessary, - Basically pondering over why I was wearing such a peculiar attire - I finally decided on exploring the forest.

        Nothing around me seemed familiar, and the more I thought about it, the more my head began to hurt. Pathway upon pathway I stumbled across, each winding into another. The night seemed to last forever, as I kept trudging on through the seemingly never-ending forest.

        Finally, the appearance of trees grew less and less until I saw a thin stream of smoke rising in the distance. My heart began racing, and my feet matched the pace of my heart as I sprinted in the direction of the smoke.

        The houses got closer and closer, until the path I followed had joined with the levelled out dirt, where several houses were strewn over. They were small two-story houses, each built in the same fashion, blocky structures made of tan and brown bricks. There were only two men out, both owning white silky clothing like dresses, fastened at the waist by thin golden straps. The addition of brown leather chest plates and cold glares on their faces was what set me off. Well, that and the rather dangerous looking spears they held in their grasps.

       The two seemed to make their way towards me, my heart racing. I put my hands in front of me, shaking my head rapidly. "I have no knowledge regarding this location," I told them quickly, "Please, sirs, just tell me where I am and will be on my way!" I was prepared to throw out more pleads, more excuses, but my rainstorm of words was cut short as both of the burly men walked right through me, a blue wisp left in my body before they'd completely passed through me.

        I was left distraught for several moments, eyes blinking rapidly. Finally, still in utter shock, I chased after the scary men. "Wait!" I called, completely and utterly desperate, "Please, wait!"

        I caught up to the two, which was no feat, considering the steady pace they were marching at. I threw myself in front of them, hands in front of me in an attempt at protection if they were to lash out. Just as before, they'd run through me as easily as a knife through butter, the blue glimmer appearing and disappearing.

        I began looking around for any other forms of life, wondering if these men were ghosts, or maybe legends of some sort. My feet carried me, but my mind was elsewhere. Tears were steadily running down my cheeks as I searched for any other signs of life, though strangely, once I'd brushed the back of my hand over my cheek, the yellow paint stuck to my face like glue.

        Finally, I saw a young woman in a short white dress, in the same fashion as the men prior. She had an olive skin tone as well as I, her dark hair twisted and strewn over her shoulder. Her eyes were a soft washed out green, like an article of clothing that's been washed too many times. The colour seemed to glow in the dark, and her eyes were the only reason I noticed her peeking out from behind the corner of a building, watching the path the guards had just walked down cautiously. Once she was sure they were gone, she'd left the safety of the alley, briefly pausing in the middle of the pathway to collect her plan.

        I stepped in front of her, a smile making it's way to my face. "Hello," I greeted her with a hesitant wave, "I'm sorry to ask, but where am I?" I held a smile on my face, which wavered every millisecond the woman before me didn't answer. Finally, it dissipated completely once she'd taken off in a sprint directly through me.

        I looked around, trying to piece together the events that had taken place, trying to cope with everything. I looked back at the sky, tears continuing down my face freely. Once my eyes had met with the moon, I'd stopped.

        I stood like that for a long while, staring up at the moon with my jaw slack. Finally, once I could piece together all my thoughts, and everything seemed to be in order in my head, one odd word stood out.

        "A...April..." I spoke, the word coming off my tongue like a foreign language, "April Apati... Is that my name?" The realization seemed to stick as I stared up at the moon, my observation growing more accurate in my head.

        "Where am I?" I asked aloud, throwing my hands in the air, "What's going on?" I stared back at the moon, hoping more words would form, more answers, but none came.

        That's how it was for several years. Hundreds, in fact. The only answer I got from the man in the moon for over three hundred years, was simply my name.

Hey, Author here!

Oh my God I've gone through this like a million times... First, she was Libra like the Zodiac, and I was going to make there gradually be more Zodiacs chosen throughout the book, but I decided that could be for another book. I've changed her attire a million times, changed the scenery of the chapter, you name it I've changed it.

Anyways, I think I like what I have so far. Please comment and favourite, it means a lot to me.