Innocent Chaos (an RotG Fanfiction)

Chapter 2: "All Her Fault"

Scarlett didn't stop flying until a few hours later, when she could be sure that no one had followed her. Flying had kept her warm, so, luckily, she hadn't frozen to death.

She caught her breath as she lied down in the soft grass. It was warm again where she was. The large amount of distance she had covered while running away surprised her.

Her head was whirling with thoughts and questions that she couldn't answer for certain. She had only been in this world for just maybe six hours, it seemed, and it had already succeeded in confusing her. Who were the Guardians? What exactly had happened back at the cold place? And why...

Her confusion was interrupted by the sound of something rustling in the trees. Scarlett stood up and looked around, wondering what had made the noise. It had sounded like it had come from her left- the direction she had flown from.

All of a sudden, something popped out from behind a cluster of leaves on a tall tree, and Scarlett squealed and fell backwards. The creature that now hovered above her didn't look like she had intended on scaring the spirit, however. Her feathers that were shimmering in the daylight were the same colors as Tooth's, and Scarlett decided that she bore a strong resemblance to the woman.

"Who are you?" she asked the small creature. Her answer wasn't one that she could understand; it was all high-pitched squeaks. "Sorry, I don't understand you," Scarlett told her, walking away. The creature let out another squeak and followed. "Why are you following me?" Scarlett again got another attempted but unable to be understood answer.

Just then, the spirit saw a flash of light further into the trees. She started to walk towards it, but was soon flown into by a certain winged being. She let out a startled scream as she was accidentally tackled to the ground.

"What...," Scarlett breathed. "Why...?"

"There's no time to explain," Tooth told her hurriedly.

"But why..." Scarlett began again.

"You need to turn them back," Tooth said.

"What...?"

"You need to turn them back! The male Guardians and Pitch! You need to release them from whatever spell you've put them under!" Tooth exclaimed.

"Who's Pitch?" Scarlett asked.

"The evil man that showed up just before you left," Tooth responded. "You seem to have put him, North, Bunny, Sandy, and Jack...under some sort of love spell."

"I didn't do it on purpose...," Scarlett spoke quietly, barely above a whisper, and tears threatened to spill from her eyes

"I didn't say you did it on purpose," Tooth told her. "I'm just saying that you need to undo what you did."

"I don't know how...," Scarlett mumbled. "I don't even know if I can..." Tooth's face showed a cross between despair and panic. "It's all my fault...," Scarlett then mumbled, for she felt guilty for what she had done, even though she hadn't been in control of it. Saying this phrase seemed to strike something in her. It felt oddly familiar, and was almost like an itch, like there was something she could reach in and pull out of her mind, but she couldn't. And this itch seemed to bring on another, deeper, itch, which felt like it was trying to tell her of something dark hidden within herself beneath layers and layers of brick or some other like substance.

"Scarlett?" Tooth called, snapping her out of her concentration on her itches. And as soon as this happened, said itches disappeared into nothing. "Hello? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm...fine," Scarlett replied. "I just felt...weird."

"Oh, okay," Tooth said. She seemed to have definitely calmed down since she had first appeared. "If you don't know how to undo whatever you did...maybe you could just tell all of them that you don't like them like that."

"But wouldn't that be...mean?" Scarlett questioned.

"No," Tooth answered. "They're probably not even really in love with you, since it was caused by a power. Maybe, if you just tell them you're not in love with them, they'll 'wake up' and not be under the influence of the power anymore." Scarlett felt tense. She still wasn't comfortable with telling Pitch and the male Guardians such a thing. Tooth seemed to sense her unwillingness.

"Please," she begged. "I know it might be hard, and it might not seem very nice, but think of it this way: they're going to end up being much happier if they let you go. You don't like any of them like that, so them continuing to love you will only cause them pain and heartbreak."

Scarlett was still hesitant.

"Please," Tooth pleaded. "I...I like Jack, okay? And if he's under the influence of this...power that you have and don't know how to control..." She looked like she was about to cry.

"I'm sorry...," Scarlett mumbled. "I didn't mean to..." She felt upset and embarrassed because of what she had done, so she felt like flying away. In fact, she had been feeling this way for the majority of her and Tooth's conversation. And so she did fly away, and was surprised that Tooth didn't make any move to stop her. She flew only for a few minutes until she felt like she was alone enough. She then sat down on the ground again, trying not to cry, and noticed something. The air had gotten chillier. She peered through the trees in all directions, trying to see what had caused it to do so. The light reflecting off of something caught her attention. She then walked towards where she had seen that flash of light, dodging branches and grimacing in pain when one scratched her right wing.

She soon made it out into a clearing, and what she saw there amazed her. There, in a field of green grass during the summer, was a large area covered in snow, and on top of that snow was a brilliant ice palace. Its many details of swirls and other decorations carved into its outer surface sparkled like diamonds or some other kind of magnificent crystal. Tall spires reached towards the sky and the gleaming sun, which was suspiciously not appearing to be melting them. Frosted flowers of blues and reds lined a frozen walkway all the way up to a set of large double doors. All in all, the castle was large and beautiful. Scarlett wanted to go in and explore it, but had no intention of becoming too cold like she had on the trip that Sandy had taken her on.

"Do you like it?" a hopeful voice asked behind her. She turned around to discover that it had been Jack's voice. She then nodded in a response to his question, for it was true- she liked it very much. "Great! I can show you around!" He gave an ecstatic grin and walked towards her, then reached for her hand. She backed up a few steps.

"Jack, I...I...," she began, but she just couldn't do it. She couldn't tell him, 'I don't like you like that'. Even with Tooth having said what she had said, she just...couldn't do it. So she flew away. She heard Jack calling her back, and him following her, but she swiftly dived down into a forest of thick trees. She then quickly landed, pulled her wings close to her body, and hid behind one of the larger trees. Her heartbeat, a slight breeze, and the sound of Jack also landing, then searching around for her, were the only things that she could hear.

"Scarlett!" Jack called as he picked his way through the close-together trees. "Scarlett!" She held her breath as he walked close to where she was, but then he walked away and made his way deeper into the forest, away from her. Once she was sure that he was gone, she relaxed all of the muscles in her body and began walking through the trees in the opposite direction that he had gone, deciding to wait a bit until taking off again, since Jack could probably easily spot her in the sky if he was still around when she flew. After a few minutes of walking, she found herself in a small glade. With a small, quiet creek filled with crystal-clear water running through the middle of it, the sun shining at just the right angle to fill the place with a golden light, and red and pink roses and other kinds of flowers in clusters throughout it, it almost seemed like a scene from a fairy tale.

But that's when the voices began. 

(A/N: All follows, votes, and comments are appreciated. :)

I will upload a chapter every week unless otherwise stated.

I also posted this fanfiction on DeviantArt and Quotev under accounts of the same username as the one I have on this website.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Rise of the Guardians" (© DreamWorks Animation) or the Guardians of Childhood series (© William Joyce) that it was based off of.)