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winterwork) wrote2015-08-27 11:22 pm
winterwork) wrote2015-08-27 11:22 pm
quest.
[For three hundred years, Jack Frost had been a lonesome spirit. Often outcast by the others, he'd kept to himself after countless attempts of seeking companionship ended in constant failure, though it was undeniable that he never really stopped reaching out. Now he was a full-fledged Guardian, taking up responsibilities he never believed he'd handle, a complete transition from the boy who wandered the world on his own. It's important that he does. This world is slowly rotting away and it needs protecting — and so do its spirits.
With the Pyrii gone, the fire of these lands are lost, and while a winter spirit could probably celebrate this notion, it's a horror in Jack's eyes. There was life in the Pyrii just as there is in him, and while it doesn't stand as a benefit to himself, this world needs fire, just as much as it need the wind, the rain, and the leaves.
Hearing of the new Fire God — Kaio, he seems to go by — Jack tells Clarke he'll take up the task of promotion duty. It's strange, of course, for Jack Frost of all people to volunteer telling the world of a spirit that basks in fire, but the idea possibly strikes up his own heart as much as it does others. Three hundred years he spent not being believed in, of not being known to children, falling invisible to the human eye. He knows loneliness, he knows the need to be believed in and the terrors that come with being seen through; he won't let that happen to this new spiritual soul.
Why do you appear now, when so many spirits are fading away? The world is changing. We are falling silent.
The Old Hills once spoke those words to him. This fire spirit now, he's a hope, a small flicker of it that this world could still be saved. And Jack Frost wouldn't let him disappear in the same way everything else continues to vanish. Grasping at his staff, a trail of sparkling frost trailing behind him, he rises off his toes to ride the winds across the lands of the Drabwurld, slipping into villages small and wide on neutral ground, to begin his task.
Traveling is far too easy, his talents of soaring over long distances ranking high after several centuries, and on a heated afternoon, in the early days of August, Treun finds itself bathed in a surprising snowfall. It isn't quite so heavy, taking a bit more magic to conjure up during the late summer, but it sprinkles down over the ground in small heaps that don't belong, villagers twisting and turning with surprise, merchants cursing as they attempt to shield their merchandise.
Jack Frost merely echoes laughter as he perches himself on a fence, bare toes curling over the thick wood as he crouches down with staff in hand.]
Hear ye! Hear ye! Or something in that manner, right? It's been way too long for me to keep up with the olde talk. Anyway. I'm a nice guy, right? Helping you cool off a bit? Hope I'm not running you out of business, ice man —
[Smirking with a prideful wink, he sends a flicker of frost towards the man who pouts in front of his cart of ice, upset at the sudden cancellation of his almost sales. The visual only fuels Jack's laughter, waving his staff to gesture at the surrounding crowd who stop on their way to watch this mysterious stranger.]
Alright, alright, look. Name's Jack Frost and this here is only a preview of what's coming for you soon. See, there's this little thing called winter and this year, it's gonna get bad. You know what I'm talking about. Low food stock, thin blankets, lack of proper insulation — it's the same old drill and trust me, I wish it wasn't part of the job description! But alas. [Standing from his position, he starts to walk away the low fence, each step of his feet freezing the wooden plank below it as the snow fall above grows slightly heavier.] Here's the thing though, it doesn't have to get that bad. See, there's this guy, Kaio. He and I haven't exactly met, but he happens to be my rival, as I've decided. Where you have Jack Frost, the icy scoundrel, you have Kaio, the fiery king. And that guy, he's the one who's gonna help keep you warm this winter and all those winters to come. He's gonna help when it comes to building those fire pits and toasting up your dinners. The catch? He's a busy guy so you need to snatch up his attention!
[Hopping gracefully to the ground, he skips through the crowd, tapping at baskets of fruit and linens to form a layer of frost over them.] Get some temples going! Start up your prayers! Tell your friends! Form some fan clubs! Start rallying up and hold parades for Kaio! Because if not — [Dodging an angry woman who swipes her broom at him when he tosses a flurry into her hair, Jack hops back into the air, swirling over heads.] Then Jack Frost is gonna cause nothing but trouble!
[Many times over the month, his trips to various villages consist of rallying crowds in ways such as this, playfully demonstrating himself as a scheming snow trickster in order to pinpoint a more positive light on what a fire god could do in contrast. If anything, it does at least get plenty of villagers annoyed with him, something he's far too accustomed to. After ages of trying to get people to appreciate his snow, he has to laugh at the irony of the role reversal.
It's not always so negative, especially when he finds himself in the midst of children. With them, it's getting them more excited than anything, pressing his hands to frost over a window, pulling out a three-dimensional form in the shape of a dog, using the sparkling ice to form the contours of fire imagery around the animated creature.]
Now sure, you got me, but you'll want to play with a fun pup too, right? Tell Mom and Dad about the awesome dog that's gonna save the world, okay? Think you can do that for your big bro Jack? [More often than not, it results in happy cheers, especially around the youngest children, still too unaware at the harsher reality around them. Something that he especially hopes to protect.
He prefers taking the more fun route in handling this, but sometimes he'll be a little more straightforward with his strategy. One night towards the middle of August, he sits upon the bar counter in a pub in Doineann, welcomed by its customers when he voluntarily offered to cool their ales. Surrounded by sorrowful fishermen who have seen harsh enough days that they could hardly be bothered by the rowdy boy, Jack sits with his feet swinging over the edge as he licks at a self-created ice lolly.]
Things are getting pretty rough, huh, fellas? [A chorus of murmurs is heard throughout the pub, some ears listening, some simply letting themselves fall drunker as the night flows on.] I heard that fishing out there isn't what it used to be, not with that rude Void thing rolling on up over here like it owns the place. I mean, that's why you're in here, right? But, there's still — there's still hope. And I know, tough guys like you won't care for what I've gotta say, but ...
[He sighs, running a cool hand over his neck as straightens up.] Alright, you guys ever hear of a phoenix? I don't have a clue if that's a thing in this place, but back where I come from, phoenixes were these birds that would burst into flames when it dies before being reborn again. It was, uh, kind of a symbol for how when things got rough, things would eventually look up, like starting anew. And while we don't have a phoenix, we do have a fire spirit that represents a bit of the same thing. [Noticing a few dozing faces, he pouts, snapping a finger to send a spray of frost towards them, jolting numerous intoxicated men back awake.] Look, I can tell most of you are only listening to me because you're too drunk to shoo me away, but I mean it. This dog, Kaio, you need him. Things are gonna get colder, and not in the good way, not in my way. They're gonna get darker too. You wanna head out to sea again, to get fish to feed your families? You wanna keep them warm at night? You have to believe.
[He doesn't always reach out to everyone immediately, the world is too stubborn for that, but there's always some who stop to listen, who carefully grasp onto his words to consider the idea. And perhaps there's more who begin to take the story of Kaio more seriously when Jack has left, who share the tales with their friends and families, debating the belief that perhaps a fire god will be able to protect them in these next coming months, from the winter, from the Void, from the devastation the war might bring.
It's hard for Jack to tell because he moves fast. Barely lingering long enough in a town to stay the night, he flies across to as many lands as he's able, simply making sure word gets across, that people know this spirit exists, to rouse up as much support as he can (he even seeks out help from a friend, in hopes of getting the shrine in Diasbaile that Clarke hoped for). It's beyond what he knows, as a spirit who's spent too much time without being known, but he was told these temples, these offerings, these beliefs could provide the power Kaio needs to survive.
And he knows it's true. Pitch had once told him, the Guardians of his world can't survive without being believed in, and he's seen them grow weak when that belief began to waver. Jack had managed to save his world from darkness once. Eyes constantly falling upon the void that surrounds this current world, perhaps he can find the help to save another.]
With the Pyrii gone, the fire of these lands are lost, and while a winter spirit could probably celebrate this notion, it's a horror in Jack's eyes. There was life in the Pyrii just as there is in him, and while it doesn't stand as a benefit to himself, this world needs fire, just as much as it need the wind, the rain, and the leaves.
Hearing of the new Fire God — Kaio, he seems to go by — Jack tells Clarke he'll take up the task of promotion duty. It's strange, of course, for Jack Frost of all people to volunteer telling the world of a spirit that basks in fire, but the idea possibly strikes up his own heart as much as it does others. Three hundred years he spent not being believed in, of not being known to children, falling invisible to the human eye. He knows loneliness, he knows the need to be believed in and the terrors that come with being seen through; he won't let that happen to this new spiritual soul.
The Old Hills once spoke those words to him. This fire spirit now, he's a hope, a small flicker of it that this world could still be saved. And Jack Frost wouldn't let him disappear in the same way everything else continues to vanish. Grasping at his staff, a trail of sparkling frost trailing behind him, he rises off his toes to ride the winds across the lands of the Drabwurld, slipping into villages small and wide on neutral ground, to begin his task.
Traveling is far too easy, his talents of soaring over long distances ranking high after several centuries, and on a heated afternoon, in the early days of August, Treun finds itself bathed in a surprising snowfall. It isn't quite so heavy, taking a bit more magic to conjure up during the late summer, but it sprinkles down over the ground in small heaps that don't belong, villagers twisting and turning with surprise, merchants cursing as they attempt to shield their merchandise.
Jack Frost merely echoes laughter as he perches himself on a fence, bare toes curling over the thick wood as he crouches down with staff in hand.]
Hear ye! Hear ye! Or something in that manner, right? It's been way too long for me to keep up with the olde talk. Anyway. I'm a nice guy, right? Helping you cool off a bit? Hope I'm not running you out of business, ice man —
[Smirking with a prideful wink, he sends a flicker of frost towards the man who pouts in front of his cart of ice, upset at the sudden cancellation of his almost sales. The visual only fuels Jack's laughter, waving his staff to gesture at the surrounding crowd who stop on their way to watch this mysterious stranger.]
Alright, alright, look. Name's Jack Frost and this here is only a preview of what's coming for you soon. See, there's this little thing called winter and this year, it's gonna get bad. You know what I'm talking about. Low food stock, thin blankets, lack of proper insulation — it's the same old drill and trust me, I wish it wasn't part of the job description! But alas. [Standing from his position, he starts to walk away the low fence, each step of his feet freezing the wooden plank below it as the snow fall above grows slightly heavier.] Here's the thing though, it doesn't have to get that bad. See, there's this guy, Kaio. He and I haven't exactly met, but he happens to be my rival, as I've decided. Where you have Jack Frost, the icy scoundrel, you have Kaio, the fiery king. And that guy, he's the one who's gonna help keep you warm this winter and all those winters to come. He's gonna help when it comes to building those fire pits and toasting up your dinners. The catch? He's a busy guy so you need to snatch up his attention!
[Hopping gracefully to the ground, he skips through the crowd, tapping at baskets of fruit and linens to form a layer of frost over them.] Get some temples going! Start up your prayers! Tell your friends! Form some fan clubs! Start rallying up and hold parades for Kaio! Because if not — [Dodging an angry woman who swipes her broom at him when he tosses a flurry into her hair, Jack hops back into the air, swirling over heads.] Then Jack Frost is gonna cause nothing but trouble!
[Many times over the month, his trips to various villages consist of rallying crowds in ways such as this, playfully demonstrating himself as a scheming snow trickster in order to pinpoint a more positive light on what a fire god could do in contrast. If anything, it does at least get plenty of villagers annoyed with him, something he's far too accustomed to. After ages of trying to get people to appreciate his snow, he has to laugh at the irony of the role reversal.
It's not always so negative, especially when he finds himself in the midst of children. With them, it's getting them more excited than anything, pressing his hands to frost over a window, pulling out a three-dimensional form in the shape of a dog, using the sparkling ice to form the contours of fire imagery around the animated creature.]
Now sure, you got me, but you'll want to play with a fun pup too, right? Tell Mom and Dad about the awesome dog that's gonna save the world, okay? Think you can do that for your big bro Jack? [More often than not, it results in happy cheers, especially around the youngest children, still too unaware at the harsher reality around them. Something that he especially hopes to protect.
He prefers taking the more fun route in handling this, but sometimes he'll be a little more straightforward with his strategy. One night towards the middle of August, he sits upon the bar counter in a pub in Doineann, welcomed by its customers when he voluntarily offered to cool their ales. Surrounded by sorrowful fishermen who have seen harsh enough days that they could hardly be bothered by the rowdy boy, Jack sits with his feet swinging over the edge as he licks at a self-created ice lolly.]
Things are getting pretty rough, huh, fellas? [A chorus of murmurs is heard throughout the pub, some ears listening, some simply letting themselves fall drunker as the night flows on.] I heard that fishing out there isn't what it used to be, not with that rude Void thing rolling on up over here like it owns the place. I mean, that's why you're in here, right? But, there's still — there's still hope. And I know, tough guys like you won't care for what I've gotta say, but ...
[He sighs, running a cool hand over his neck as straightens up.] Alright, you guys ever hear of a phoenix? I don't have a clue if that's a thing in this place, but back where I come from, phoenixes were these birds that would burst into flames when it dies before being reborn again. It was, uh, kind of a symbol for how when things got rough, things would eventually look up, like starting anew. And while we don't have a phoenix, we do have a fire spirit that represents a bit of the same thing. [Noticing a few dozing faces, he pouts, snapping a finger to send a spray of frost towards them, jolting numerous intoxicated men back awake.] Look, I can tell most of you are only listening to me because you're too drunk to shoo me away, but I mean it. This dog, Kaio, you need him. Things are gonna get colder, and not in the good way, not in my way. They're gonna get darker too. You wanna head out to sea again, to get fish to feed your families? You wanna keep them warm at night? You have to believe.
[He doesn't always reach out to everyone immediately, the world is too stubborn for that, but there's always some who stop to listen, who carefully grasp onto his words to consider the idea. And perhaps there's more who begin to take the story of Kaio more seriously when Jack has left, who share the tales with their friends and families, debating the belief that perhaps a fire god will be able to protect them in these next coming months, from the winter, from the Void, from the devastation the war might bring.
It's hard for Jack to tell because he moves fast. Barely lingering long enough in a town to stay the night, he flies across to as many lands as he's able, simply making sure word gets across, that people know this spirit exists, to rouse up as much support as he can (he even seeks out help from a friend, in hopes of getting the shrine in Diasbaile that Clarke hoped for). It's beyond what he knows, as a spirit who's spent too much time without being known, but he was told these temples, these offerings, these beliefs could provide the power Kaio needs to survive.
And he knows it's true. Pitch had once told him, the Guardians of his world can't survive without being believed in, and he's seen them grow weak when that belief began to waver. Jack had managed to save his world from darkness once. Eyes constantly falling upon the void that surrounds this current world, perhaps he can find the help to save another.]