A/N: Oh man, what am I getting myself into...? Here's another huge chapter story.

Looks like I've got a lot of writing to do.

To the Thawing Wind

"There is simply no other explanation—!"

"Let's not get into a barney over this; as much as I detest the yobbo—"

"Now listen, I can feel it. . . in my belly, we—"

Sandman waved his hands frantically, attempting to get his say into the frenzy. When he realized that nobody was listening to him, he crossed his arms and floated back, pouting.

"Oh, I don't know what else to think," cried Tooth, fluttering around the room. With her hands folded in front of her, she sadly looked at Bunnymund and North. Baby Tooth whined by her shoulder, her expression equally distressed. "This is all so confusing. I don't...I don't know anymore—!"

North turned towards the giant globe, which rested in the center of the room. One of his massive hands stroked his beard and the other was folded across his chest. He scrutinized the globe, as if searching for answers. He said, "I do not believe that Jack has caused this…but I'm beginning to fear that you are correct. There aren't many explanations."

"The boy may be a little on the rowdy side, but he hasn't ever done anything like this before," said Bunnymund. "And I don't think he ever will. There are other immortals, other reasons for this mess."

Sandman nodded furiously as he glanced back and forth between the other Guardians.

Suddenly, the doors to the room creaked. They slammed against the wall as they opened, and standing dead center in the middle of the doorway was Jack Frost. Before anyone could get their word in, he asked, "So how many of you believe the rumors?"

The other Guardians were all silent. Without a word, they watched Jack as he walked to the edge of their group. Tooth was the first to speak. "Oh, sweetie," she said, flying down close to him. Her eyes flitted side to side as she searched her mind for an explanation. "We don't believe a thing that the other immortals are saying. It's just that…"

"Yeah, yeah." Jack narrowed his eyes at Tooth, who was so startled that she backed away immediately. Next, he turned his attention to the others. "I thought I was a Guardian too. You're supposed to stand up for me. I practically have a bounty on my head."

North gave a great sigh. He angled his body so that Jack could see the globe. What Jack saw made his stomach drop, made his heart jump into his throat. The continents – all of them – were beginning to turn white. North America, in particular, was turning white faster than the others. The paleness spread like wildfire, starting at the west coast and reaching the east in a matter of seconds.

"You control the ice, the snow," said North, giving another long exhale. He approached Jack, and then he put his massive hand on the boy's shoulder. "Tooth, Sandy – we all believe you. But the other immortals are turning on us already. We cannot keep shoving aside their accusations."

Jack backed away, pushing North's hand to the side. He accusingly glared at each individual, silver eyes flashing. When Tooth attempted to flutter towards him again, he slashed his staff across her path, creating a wall of ice. Tooth went, "Eep!" and swiftly recoiled, her expression a mixture of sadness and horror.

"How can I be causing this when I'm standing right here?" asked Jack, almost helplessly. Suddenly, his face became wild again, and the Guardians witnessed a side of Jack that they hadn't seen in several years. None of them tried to walk towards him again.

Jack felt frustrated, aggressive, and even a little betrayed. He couldn't help it; his friends were implying that they wanted to turn him in. He turned away, pushing his white hair from his face.

"I—I have to go," he said. "I'm going to fix this. You'll see. Then you'll know that I didn't do it."

Giving them one last helpless look, Jack sprinted from the room. He wound through corridors and hallways, not even stopping when Tooth called his name from behind him. When he reached an open window, he lifted himself onto the sill and launched himself into the sky, letting the wind carry him away from all of his problems.

The wind carried him far, but there were only so many places that he could go. Long after the sun had set and the stars had appeared, Jack landed in what he liked to call "who-knows-where-land" and collapsed onto the roof of the building.

With his knees pulled up to his body, Jack buried his head into his arms. A car alarm, loud and flashing, distracted him. He glanced up, and then his shoulders fell with hopelessness. When he stood up, he saw a frozen wasteland all around him.

The city was dark and empty, and what little light remained hardly illuminated the snow covered streets. Every corner and alleyway was submerged in layers and layers of snow and ice, and not a single breathing piece of evidence walked the streets.

This weather might have been the result of a freak storm somewhere up north. But it isn't, thought Jack, horrified by the deserted city he saw. This is happening everywhere. People are losing power, children are going hungry. And everyone thinks that it's my fault.

He had provided a school of children with one snow day...or five hundred throughout his lifetime, but he had never allowed his powers to create a world that was so…void. He wasn't nearly that mischievous. Besides, this was no joke anymore. People had died. And that wasn't what he was about.

Jack wanted there to be life, to be fun and games for everyone all around.

Abruptly, there came a little chirping noise in the pocket of his blue hoodie. Confused, Jack tilted his head to the side and stuck his hand into the pocket. He pulled out a small, tweeting hummingbird, who cheeped and buzzed in protest.

"Oh, Tooth is going to kill me," he said, holding a crying Baby Tooth in front of his face. He let her go, and she let out a wispy sigh in relief. "I imagine you're on the naughty list now, you little stowaway," he told her, half-firmly. "Trust me. I would know all about it."

In response, Baby Tooth peeped some more. He cupped his hands and she made herself comfortable in his palms. She turned to the frozen city ahead of them, and then she gave a long, "Chirruuupp."

"I know, Baby Tooth, I know," said Jack, sitting down at the edge of the rooftop and letting one of his legs dangle over the edge. "Out there, somewhere, is someone who's in charge of all of this. I don't know what their intentions are. But I didn't do this. There's no way I could have…could have covered the whole world in ice."

"Cheep~"

Jack stared flatly at the hummingbird. "No need to be sarcastic," he said. "I do snow days and snowball fights, not apocalyptic catastrophes."

"Cheerip."

Jack sat there for a long time, looking at the world. Eventually, Baby Tooth yawned and crawled into his pocket, shivering until he covered her with his hand. She soon fell asleep, and Jack was left alone with his thoughts and the blame on his shoulders. Though the world was comfortable and peaceful when it was just him and the moonlight, he had grown to love being believed in.

"I don't know what to do," he said to the snoring Baby Tooth, not expecting an answer.

He sat there for a moment, dangling his legs back and forth and wishing he could be invisible to the world again. Then, Jack glanced at his staff; it may have been whole (thankfully), but his heart felt like it was broken into two pieces.

"The Guardians don't believe in me, but you do and so does a whole world filled with children," he said, sighing. He stood up, clutching his staff in one hand and keeping Baby Tooth warm with the other. "I waited three hundred years to be wanted. There's no way I'm going to let some stupid snowstorm ruin that for me."

"We're losing cows by the day, June."

June glanced up at her father, whose once gruff beard and stern eyebrows were covered in snow. She thought he looked ridiculous, like half snowman, but she didn't say anything. She set another log down on the broken tree stump, stepping back so that her father could swing the axe down without any distraction.

"The shelter is keeping them decently protected," he continued, "but they're running out of food. We have to heat their water so that they can drink. The calves that were supposed to be ready for next season have dropped. The business is falling apart. And it's getting colder every single day."

I already know this, thought June, eying him as she reached for another log. THUNK. She gave him another one, and as she waited for him to swing, she bundled herself in her coat and breathed into her mittens. THUNK.

"If this keeps going, we'll have to declare bankruptcy in a matter of weeks. Your brother can't afford that. We need to be able to pay for his medication."

"We'll just have to make it through," she said, even though she knew nobody was going to do just that. For a moment, she turned away, staring into the white void that used to be rolling plains filled with her farm's grazing cows. Her father cleared his throat, and she hastily handed him another log, muttering, "Excuse me."

There was an awkward lack of words between the two, most of it filled with her father's labored grunts as he struck at the wood. June looked off into space again, and thoughtfully, she said, "I wonder what's caused all of this mess, anyway."

She only caught tidbits of her father's mumbling, "…Something those goddamn…scientists…they can't even explain it…some scientists…"

There was a stir of movement near the western fences. June became alert, her body straightening as she struggled to make sense of the shadowed blur. From what she could tell – through the snowfall, that is – there was a figure standing on one of the fences, walking back and forth. The figure repeated its pacing, and then it disappeared behind half a mile of snowy air.

"Dad," said June. She glanced at him. "I think one of the cows is caught on the fence. I'm going to go check it out."

Without waiting for her father's response, June began shuffling through the thigh-high snow. She waved her arms back and forth, pushing on and on until she reached a dip in the snow where it was easier to walk. Then she broke out into a stumbling run.

"It seems like everywhere I go, I run out of leads," said a voice, which belonged to a male. Then there was a frantic yell, "Baby Tooth, do not touch that, that is a cow—"

"What are you doing?"

June stood there, breathing, her gloved hands limp at her side. She had spoken before she had seen, and now that she was looking, she caught a glimpse of white hair and pale skin. Still breathing hard, she gave the boy a once-over. Absurdly, the one thing she remembered when she finally looked at his face was that he was barefoot and was balancing on the three-inch wide fence line without any problem whatsoever.

"What are you doing?" she repeated.

The boy glanced at her over his shoulder. "What are you doing, standing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"This is my family's land," answered June. "I live here. You're the one who's standing out here in the middle of nowhere, wearing nothing but a jacket and some…" She paused, staring at his legs. "…cloth leggings."

"Maybe I'm not cold," said the boy. June blinked as a hummingbird fluttered out from behind him, cheeping and whining in his ear. He gently swatted the bird away, and then he spun around – almost like he was sliding on ice – on the fence. That's when June realized that he wasn't standing on it…he was floating. "I bet you're cold, though. The snow has been falling for, like, eight days straight now."

June was too stunned to say much.

"Hey, maybe you can help me," the boy said. With his hands in his pockets, his skipped forward a step and floated towards her. "You haven't seen any suspicious characters around here, have you?"

"Um," said June. "You."

The boy held out his hand. Hesitantly, she took it. She quickly realized that his touch was cold and slick as ice, even through her gloves. "My name is Jack Frost," he said. As they shook, he mischievously grinned. "Now I'm not so suspicious anymore, now am I?"

Jack…Jack Frost, thought June. Like the legend.

"What…are you doing?" June repeated for the third time. The situation was so bizarre that, well, she didn't know what else to say. "This is my family's land. We own cows. We have our own business. There's no reason for you to be out here."

"Baby Tooth and I are looking for suspicious people," said Jack, gesturing towards the little bird. There was suddenly a dark expression in his eyes. "This whole snowstorm isn't normal. You probably knew that, already. And there's someone, or something, out there that's causing this. I'm trying to find out what's going on and put an end to it."

June thought of the dying cows, of her family's failing enterprise, and her brother…her brother, who was bedridden and unable to get up. "You're going to stop the snowstorm?"

"Exactly."

Baby Tooth went: Peep!

"But..." began June. "How?"

"Well, we don't know yet," said Jack. "But we're going to figure it out along the way. The source of this power has to be coming from somewhere. This isn't a freak storm that's blown down from the North. Continents all over the world are experiencing this. Places that are hot are getting cold, and places that are cold are just getting colder."

June's house hadn't had power in days, so her family hadn't been able to watch the news recently. She couldn't believe that entire continents, not just the United States, were experiencing this.

"We're about to leave," said Jack. He sheepishly ran his hand through his hair. "Sorry about trespassing and freaking you out. It's just that there's a strange amount of magical energy coming from this area. We were looking for a source, and we still have some exploring to do. We aren't finished here yet."

"Then I'm going with you," said June. The words had come from her before she could stop them, but she knew that she couldn't stand around and watch her family suffer. She knew she couldn't allow any family to suffer anymore. Before Jack could interrupt her, she added, "I'm not going to hold anyone back, I promise. But you have to let me go. Please."

Jack stared at her. He and Baby Tooth shared a glance. The small hummingbird gave another peep and shrugged. The spirit went right back to staring at June. "There's going to be danger. And you can't fly like we can. You'd definitely slow us down…" After some of Baby Tooth's chirping, Jack nodded and rubbed his face. "Yeah, you're right, Baby Tooth. Hey, how about this?"

"I'm listening," said June breathlessly.

"Most humans can't see us," said Jack. "Actually, most adults. Wait, how old are you?"

"I'm sixteen."

"Wow, you're a little old…" Jack shook his head and got back on topic. "Most people can't see us, because to do that you'd need to believe in us. And, well, you can see us. If we brought you along, you could ask around for information from humans. None of our fellow spirits have a clue as to what's happening. They think I'm the one who did this. So we need to start small and work our way up."

June nodded furiously."I'll do anything that you ask me to."

Jack tilted his head, observing her carefully. "What's your name?"

"June Lupo Kennedy," she responded. "I'm sixteen years old and I'm a junior in high school. My hobbies are being with animals and reading books. I love my parents and my brother more than anything else in the world. I can't stand the cold, and I'm ready for this stupid snowstorm to be over with."

Jack Frost smirked. "Alright then," he said. "Welcome aboard. Are you ready to get started right now?"

June turned around. Her father, who was nothing but a smudge of gray, was still chopping wood. She knew that there would be no turning back once she took this stranger's hand; but there was something extraordinarily magical about him, and she knew that even though he couldn't be trusted just yet, he could be the only solution to saving her family and the farm. Taking that chance was necessary. Gulping, she nodded. With all of the courage that she could muster, she said:

"Let's go."

End

Other Notes: Thanks for reading the first chapter! Reviews/follows would be INCREDIBLY appreciated.