Rise of The Guardians 2: Just Like Fire

Chapter 7: Jack

I was out of the room and down the hall in an instant, stumbling to an abrupt halt when I saw the scene in the room.

I couldn't help but stare dumbly for a moment, transfixed by the two.

Tooth, in the middle of the room, was throwing the last of the mugs at Aria, who had fire trickling down her arms like water and candlelight flickering in the ends of her hair. The sparks floating off the tips of her fingers emphasised her black nail polish, and she had live flame in her eyes. Tooth looked insane though, eyes wild and feathers ruffled, some sticking out of the top of her head like a crown of thorns. Aria caught the flying mug in her left hand and placed it to the side, even as Tooth, finding another projectile, hefted a book.

"Girls!" I yelled as North and Bunny arrived behind me. "What the hell am I looking at?"

The fire in the grate roared higher as the flames on Aria's arms and in her hair vanished.

"The stupid fruit shaped fairy barged in here and insulted me, then started throwing mugs!" She said to North. "I'm sorry, one got destroyed when she threw it at my face."

"At least you didn't break them all." He replied slowly, staring at the neat pile beside her.

"What?" Tooth's pitch was raised again. "If I had broken a single mug, you would have killed me! Why are you siding with this bitch?"

"Hell no." Aria ground out, lighting herself again.

"You did break it Tooth, when you threw it at her in the first place." Bunny said bluntly. "Now, no yelling, and," he eyed the flames on Aria's arms. "Please no flame."

Aria quelled the fire again as Tooth opened her mouth, glaring at both of us.

"Have you guys decided then?" Aria asked, subtly changing the subject to avoid my inevitable confrontation with Tooth.

"We were having a vote when we were interrupted." North replied, shooting Tooth a pointed look. "Two for, two against, and I haven't voted yet."

"Well?" Aria asked, somewhat impatiently.

"I was going to say no." he said slowly, and her face fell, but she didn't seem overly surprised. "But I changed my mind." He continued. "When Tooth provoked you, you could have easily killed her, but you didn't even harm her, putting the mugs aside instead of throwing them back. That shows incredible restraint, and" He glared at Tooth again. "Maturity."

Tooth looked incensed, mouth gaping like a dead fish as her rage overtook her shock. "You can't be serious."

"Deadly." North replied, looking her straight in the eye as she wilted.

"So what now?" I asked, once again dispelling the tension in the room.

"Not here." Aria decided after a cursory glance at the room, studiously skipping the doorway where I was standing. My stomach dropped, but I didn't really know why.

"Outside." Aria decided.

TWO MINUTES LATER

Aria stood in the doorway, eyeing the snow flurries piled haphazardly on the edges of the patio. Hesitantly she came out, huddling as close to the lit brazier as possible and shivering.

"You're freezing." I commented. "Would you like my jumper?"

She stared at me with veiled eyes, straightened her back and stalked off into the snow.

"What are you doing?" I yelled after her.

"Are you all coming or not?" she called back, completely ignoring my question.

I rolled my eyes and trudged off after her.

She stopped a short distance away and gestured impatiently for us to hurry up. We gathered in a semi-circle facing her, Tooth standing on Aria's immediate right and wrinkling her nose.

"There's something I have to show you, but because of my limitations I can't take you all." Her right eye twitched, and then, like a snake, her hands shot out, wrapping firmly around the wrists of the closest Guardians to her; Tooth and North.

Her eyes fluttered, then her feet were engulfed in flames, appearing at Tooth and North's feet moments later, as though a switch had been flicked on. The three fires rose and Aria's eyes rolled backwards into her head.

Before any of us could even reach, the fire vanished, snow melting around the impressions left by their footprints.

I blinked fast. How could they just be gone?