Forever a Child

Jokul Frosti

Lonely and cold, a young child wandered in the ice and dark. He was the only one on this big world. Sometimes the wind would talk to him. He let ice and snow fall and would stare at the stars for many years, always wishing to be found and loved. He watched as the world changed ever so slowly, a strange thing came to float in the sky. It was bright in the darkness of the night. Jokul hid from the beams, not scared but didn't want to know what was there. He witnessed the changing of the seasons, ignoring his need to sleep until he entered his cave.
He slept for a while, allowing heat to melt his ice and snow. For a long time, he slept to restore his energy. As he slept for four hundred years, hidden in a cave, other winter spirits and sprites started to pop up and continued to spread winter. They searched unendingly for him for three hundred years until the King of Fall tried to kill them for being too early. Than one year, all the winter spirits didn't appear. They remained in their places where they slept refusing to leave until the King of Winter was there.
Jokul was rudely awoken. Something shook him awake at the end of fall, a hand and a soft whisper to wake. He ignored it because he had been the only one since before the sun was there. No one else was like him or would be like him, right?
A pair of arms lifted him up from the floor of the cave he lived in and carried him outside. He opened his eyes and gave a small sound of surprise. A fatherly looking man was holding him, uncaring to the frost crawling up his clothing. He gave a gentle smile.
"Hello, Winter. I'm the Fall King. You have slept for quite some time. It is time for you to spread your season. I will help if you wish." His voice was like leaves mingling together. Jokul could only nod weakly, too tired to move. Snow started to fall gently and the temperature started to drop a little bit. Father Fall carried the Winter child across the world, watching as the child could barely open his eyes. He knew of the spirit, the oldest yet youngest spirit. Winter didn't have any helpers before he had gone into a deep hibernation due to using too much energy to retain the balance before the other three seasonal rulers even came to be. Father Fall sighed as the child clutched his robe, instinctively not consciously. He had been gathering the winter spirits, fairies, sprites, and others to introduce them to their lead elemental but they had only laughed in his face.
He had never imagined that Winter was a child. As the first two weeks passed, Father Fall knew he needed to hibernate soon. He noticed that Winter was still asleep, the wind pulling gently on the boy with the shepherd's hook. Father Fall gave the child to the wind and left for his palace.
Jokul woke alone, flying around somewhere he didn't bother to remember. He landed, crying and screaming because he believed it had been a dream. Ice started to form under him and spread farther. It created the most beautiful palace to ever exist in the world. It was also a fortress of immense power and had many rooms and places for all who would live there. It was the Winter Palace.
As it was completed, a giant beam of light created a snowflake which guided all the other winter elements to the South Pole. They entered the palace, their roles already known to them as they passed through the giant doors. They made their way to the throne room where Winter was screaming and crying, looking like the lost kid he was.
One of the newest spirits, a giant man that had died in the winter cold, scooped the child up and started to talk to the boy. The spirit was General Winter. All the winter spirits surrounded the child who was only hiccuping now.
"My King!"
"Hello, Winter!"
"We're a family now!"
"Not lost anymore."
So many things were said and the child smiled brightly at them. The fairies left to spread frost and design snowflakes, sprites wandered around to spread the snow and find new winter spirits, those that would stay at the palace started to design furniture and make it completely the castle it was. Books made of ice filled libraries, clothing was created of snow and ice, tailored to status in the court and for comfort of the wearer. Guards stood at the walls, in the throne room, and anywhere they needed to be.
All of the winter spirits loved Jokul and showed it to him all the time. They created for him a crown that made all the other three seasonal kingdoms jealous. The armor of the winter spirits was almost impossible to penetrate and the way they fought scared the other seasons. The true King of Winter was never seen but his presence was felt. When the dark ages fell, General Winter was considered the King of Winter and Jokul the Prince. It was a great setup for the child. He was allowed to do more with his spirits and actually spread the first snow. No one outside of winter ever saw his face.
When the other spirits would try to attack and kill the winter spirits, Jokul was always there. His shepherd staff was a spear and his sword was fierce. All of the spirits knew that winter spirits only ever fought to survive. A few centuries later, Jokul became the herald of Winter to the world of spirits. They called him Jack Frost. He loved it. He and the other winter spirits became playful and watched the storms, Jack always trying to hold the worse off as the others would break down smaller parts. Jack allowed the Man in the Moon to see him as Jack Frost.
He loved his spirits and they loved him but there were still things that went against the rules of the court. As he was still Winter, he was not able to show all his love. The other winter spirits were also burdened with this curse for all of the winter spirits were dead. The dead could never truly be family.
Then Pitch Black showed up while he was off messing about. He just had to follow the shadow to that alley, didn't he?