Rise Of The Guardians: Bloody Mary

1) The Intruders Introduction

        Jack Frost drifted into the room through a window left wide open in anticipation of his return. It was a beautiful room, red paneled walls, a comforting rug, and set with furniture built for a much larger person than he. There was an enormous armchair and bed covered in crimson quilts and a bathroom with porcelain white tub painted with tiny little scenes of reindeer running around the edges. Both of these things Jack had never really touched, as a spirit there was no need to sleep, or bathe or even eat, which led him to question why this room even existed in the first place. It was given to him nine years earlier by North who had invite Jack to live with him at The Pole. It was more a symbol of welcome than of any practical use, and Jack was gone so often creating winter he hardly stopped in The Pole at all. The only reason that he had come to The Pole today was because he had been called.

      He slowly looked around his mammoth room and stopped to marvel at the beautiful hand carved mirror. It stood maybe three feet taller than the tallest man he had ever seen, and he felt slightly dwarfed in its smooth cool surface. But as he looked into the eyes of his own reflection he became uneasy. It was almost as if it was watching him. Tiny inklings of fear crept into his mind, and he felt his heart begin to pound, on instinct clutching his staff a little tighter. He simply couldn't tear his eyes from the mirror, locked into an unwinnable staring contest with his own reflection. And then he saw his reflection blink.

      In that moment the mirror burst open, sending glass scattering across the room. His reflection changed before his eyes and flew from the mirror faster than he could even raise his staff in defense. He stumbled backwards and tripped over the heavy rug. Regaining his senses he aimed his staff and prepared to fight. What he saw however, was the mirror perfectly intact, and blocked from view by a smiling girl. He felt a look of confusion cross his face. She was a strange looking girl. She had her auburn hair yanked into a messy bun, with little escaped ringlet curls draping down the sides of her face. She had sharp, but delicate facial features, and a tall slender figure. But what was truly strange was her clothing. She wore a victorian styled frilly lace dress, jaggedly ripped above the knee, and tall black boots that reached just below it, the knee covered by stockings of the darkest red. On top of that she wore something almost like a thick leathery chestplate, that wrapped around to something like a corset in back.

      "Hi!" she said warmly, a glowing smile never leaving her face.

      "Um... Hi..." Jack stammered as he picked himself off the floor without lowering his staff.

    Oddly she showed no concern of having a weapon pointed at her, and began to speak as if nothing out of the ordinary were happening, "I'm sorry I scared you. Force of habit you know? I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Bloody Mary." she said extending her hand toward Jack.

      He looked at her out stretched hand skeptically before lowering his staff and shaking it. "Jack Frost." he began cautiously, "So what exactly are you doing here? It's not every day that people come jumping out of mirrors. In fact, The Pole is supposed to be secure, how did you even get in here?"

      She laughed. It was pleasant sounding but had a slight tone of mocking. "All that glitters is not gold."

      "And what's that supposed to mean." Jack asked becoming slightly annoyed.

      "It means," she replied, turning and stepping back through the mirror, "If it's shiny, it's not really all that secure. Not from me at least. Bye Jack, see you soon." and with that she disappeared behind the glass, and Jacks reflection was left staring back at him in startled confusion.

      In the main hall of The Pole, standing on the gleaming marble floors of the viewing deck were the Guardians less Jack. The huge globe spun slowly on it's axis behind them as the four argued as they always did before a meeting of this sort. The annual report was nothing more than a quick meeting about none other than Pitch Black. Nine years ago Pitch disappeared down a dark hole, and when they had followed him down to imprison him he was gone. There had always been a small glimmer of hope that he might have just died down there, but everyone knew that it was unlikely. Every year the Guardians would regroup at The Pole to report on whether they saw any signs of Pitch's returns. There would always be fear in the world, which they had all accepted as a natural human affliction, but if there was too much, they feared Pitch might stage another attack.