Rise Of The Guardians - The Life Of A Spirit

Nightmares and Dreams

Jack twisted and spun through the raging winds, easily directing the storm as it released its pent-up energy over Cape Horn. While he would usually stay back and direct the storm from above, more and more often lately he had become more involved, offering his energy directly wherever it was needed.

The wind howled gleefully as it raged over the land below, relishing in the power that fuelled it, allowing it to reach even greater speeds. A number of other winter spirits were also present, surprised at Jack's apparent change in demeanour regarding how fierce Winter was allowed to be.

A hail spirit shot past him, cackling madly as icy shards leapt from its fingertips, getting swept up in the wind and blasting away. That was one of the benefits of him spending so much of his energy in his season; the spirits were finally starting to respect him, deferring more readily to his judgement regarding how harsh or mild the weather was supposed to be around the world. Even so, he still kept them on a tight leash, ensuring that none of them took their roles too far. But one of the other benefits was that it allowed him to tire himself out to the point of exhaustion where he might finally get a good night's sleep.

Jack could sense the storm's desire to move away from land, to rage even more out to see, and he gave the wind a nudge in response. He took a deep breath and caught a gust of wind that carried him up and out of the clouds, taking a moment to catch his breath. Above him, the night sky was clear of clouds, letting the stars shine coldly down on him. He jerked in surprise. Was it night already?

He sent a tendril of power back down in the storm and almost immediately, a wind spirit materialised before him.

'Yes, my lord?' it hissed, barely audible above the storm.

'Make sure this storm stays on track,' he ordered, 'I need to go.'

It nodded and disappeared again and Jack quickly wheeled away to the north, beginning the long trek up to the North Pole.

He sighed, rubbing his tired eyes as he took stock of how much energy the storm had cost. He was surprised at how little was left. Now that he wasn't holding back his power, more often than not, he was exhausting his stores of energy as the season progressed. But he made sure not to neglect his Guardian role either; ever time a heavy snowfall or storm hit, he ensured that no children were caught up in it, and made sure to leave behind his magic to ensure when they did venture out into their newly blanketed worlds, they took full advantage of it.

He yawned as he rose higher above the equator, making sure not to infringe on Alsayf's territory. Despite her saving him from trapping himself in the Sahara a week or so ago, he doubted she'd be pleased to see him so soon. He was passing over North America when he caught sight of the tell-tale glow of Sandy's Dreamsand in the distance. As he approached, the golden cloud came into focus and soon after, the Guardian himself.

Despite not calling out, he turned at Jack's approach and waved as they fell into place next to each other.

'Hey, Sandy,' Jack greeted him, 'How's it going?'

Sandy shrugged and gave him a thumbs up before gesturing to Jack and mimed brushing back his hair.

Jack reached up and felt a small cloud of snow come loose and fall away behind him and he smiled.

'Just a storm in Chile,' he explained, 'It got pretty intense.'

But Sandy was now frowning and gestured to his eyes, or rather, the dark bags under them.

'Oh, yeah,' Jack replied, brushing it off. 'It took a bit more out of me than I was expecting. But it's fine. After the meeting I'll make sure to get some sleep.'