Hi, guys! Here's the next chapter! I'm almost done with my courses for the semester, so that means more time to write! Yay!

.S.o.C.

2. Cue

Un-freaking-believable.

Jack walked through his familiar forest, his bare feet brushing through the snow. He could barely feel the cold, and occasionally tapped nearby trees with his staff. Frost would lace around it immediately. It always brought him a little thrill when he could do that. Unfortunately, the thrill was a little muted because of what happened earlier today.

He still couldn't believe it. North and the Tooth Fairy – conspiring against him like that? All because he didn't really put a lot of effort into the snow this year. He thought he was being nice. He thought the humans could use a milder winter. Besides Chicago, of course. Chicago could suck it.

Was it really because of –?

No, no. Jack couldn't think about that now. He wasn't going to be some wimpy loser and start crying then and there. It was still too soon. He'd deal with it when he could, and not a second before.

He slammed his staff against another tree, putting a little more force into it than necessary. The tree's trunk was instantly incased in ice, crackling vindictively in response. He glared back at the ice, twirling his staff and stabbing it into the deep layers of snow.

The wind breezed through the trees then, almost casually. It brushed against Jack's clothes, and gently pushed against him, prodding him to his left.

He snorted, continuing on his course. "Not now." He growled.

But the wind was persistent. It continued to push him to his left, growing a little stronger when he wouldn't go his way.

At a particularly hard gust against Jack's face, he sliced his staff through the air. "Quit it!" He snapped.

That was when he heard it.

Faintly.

Notes zinged through the air, belonging to the tinny wail of a harmonica. It pierced the silence of his woods. There was also singing, but it was so far away Jack couldn't make out the words.

Furrowing his brows, Jack pitched himself forward, allowing the wind to push him towards the sound.

He was surprised to see his pond. The place where everything ended and began at the same time. It was frozen over from his latest blizzard. His attitude this morning probably caused it. For some reason, these woods were very susceptible to his mood. Weirdly enough, Jack had been trying to get to it. If not for the wind, he would've gone the wrong way.

Definitely weird.

And weirder still, the music seemed to be coming from a tree near his pond. He saw the source then. It was some sort of radio-CD player. It hung by a strap on one of the low lying branches of his trees. He could hear the driving beat of drums and tambourines, as well as that wailing harmonica coming from it. And then a velvety voice hit the air.

Love, love me do!

You know, I love you!

I'll always be true!

So please…

Love me do…

Love me do…

Jack scowled. Who was messing with his woods? He wanted quiet. Peace. Quiet. And sleep. If this place wasn't sacred, which place would be?

It was probably just a bunch of teenagers trying to escape from the town nearby. Their little escapade wouldn't last long, though. Jack could change the temperature here at the drop of a hat. They'd leave in no time if he had anything to say about it.

He gripped his staff tighter, feeling the familiar pulse of energy as he stalked forward –

A bright red line darted across the length of the pond as soon as he did that. Jack froze, following the line in a moment of slight stupor.

The red line was an arrow, looking like it was covered in weird reddish flames. It hit the trunk of a tree, its tip burying deep in the bark. Jack immediately backpedaled at that, baring his staff in front of him and squaring his stance. He moved back into the cover of the forest, glancing at the tree to see the arrow suddenly disappear in a puff of reddish haze.

"What in the Moon –?" He asked, unable to keep the phrase to himself.

Suddenly, he saw a figure drop into the near center of the pond. Jack flinched at the loud pound he heard at the landing, expecting the ice to give.

But it didn't.

It didn't even crack.

Jack's grip tightened on his staff, feeling his power build, ready to let out a burst of frost if he needed it. Dammit, where were Bunnymund and North when he needed them?

Idly, he heard the music on the radio switch to a much faster, more modern-sounding song.

He forced himself to remain calm, swallowing back his fear as he focused on the person in front of him. His eyes widened incredulously. "What –"

Shiny, ruby red combat boots were rooted firmly on the ice, regular-looking jeans tucked into them and clinging to toned legs. Jack continued to look up to see a black shirt with a large, blossoming tribal-printed heart in the center. A brown leather jacket covered the shirt slightly. And then he saw the long, reddish hair. It framed a pale (though not as pale as his) face. A girl's face.

It was a girl. And she was glaring at him like he was the fault of every wrong in her life. A pretty intimidating look. She stood tall, her shoulders squared back as she looked him over. When she shifted her stance a little, Jack could see a huge, silver… bow?

Yeah, it was a bow. She was holding a bow casually behind her legs, like it was the only comfortable pose she could come up with when holding the weapon. But where did that arrow come from? She didn't seem to have any on her.

"Who in the Moon are you?" The girl demanded, oblivious to his ogling.

Jack was (again) taken aback. What was this? Who was this girl? How could she see him? She looked way too old to believe in the Guardians. And who walked around with a bow these days anyway? Then there was the fact that she didn't even break the ice when she dropped onto the pond…

"You… can see me?" He asked.

She gave him a skeptical look. "Uh… duh? Now who are you?"

He didn't like the way she was talking to him. Something was definitely off about this, and Jack had no idea how to deal with it. His wide eyes slowly narrowed, and he regained a fighting stance.

"I should be asking you the same question." Jack retorted. "Seeing as you're in my forest."

Whoever she was, the girl saw his change almost immediately. She had her bow whipped out in front of her, wrapping two long fingers around the string and pulling it back. A red arrow materialized as the bow was being strung back. It looked like the other one that had almost hit him, with small red flames that curled around the arrow almost seductively. What the hell? Flames could be seductive?

Apparently these were.

The girl gave a challenging smirk in reply. "I didn't see your name on it." She noted.

The snow began to turn into ice around Jack's feet. The air around them dropped a few degrees. If this girl wanted a fight, she was going to get one.

She pulled the string back a little more, the fire around the arrow flaring at his challenge. "I'll ask you again." She said. "I know you're a Legendary. That's the only way you can see me. Now who are you?"

The wind brushed Jack a little shakily. It passed him and ruffled the girl's hair, showing off random pale pink streaks in a sea of dusty red. Of course, the girl didn't notice. No one Jack knew seemed to understand the wind like he did.

"I guess I should start off a little easier." She mused. "Are you one of Pitch's little henchmen, or not? Because I really am busy. You know, with it being two days until Valentine's Day, and all."

And that's when it suddenly clicked.

The red, the heart on her shirt, the bow, the pink lowlights.

"You're Cupid?" Jack asked, realizing he sounded like a complete lunatic when he spoke.

The girl gave a sympathetic smile. "Cupid, Eros, it's all the same to me. Call me Cue."

Jack immediately let his guard down then, lowering his staff. "I didn't know you were real. I always thought it was just North, and Tooth, and –"

"Just the Guardians?" Cue scoffed. She slowly let the string on her bow back in place, the arrow disappearing in red embers. She dropped her hands to her sides, the bow's tip tapping lightly at the ice when she shifted its weight. "Hardly. Those are just the top four. The ones that are actually believed in. I can understand how you thought you were alone. They have a habit of taking the spotlight."

Jack felt a little defensive at that. He wanted to tell her that he was also a Guardian, but decided against it. She didn't seem to think too highly of them. And he didn't want to make her mad again. "I – I'm Jack Frost." He said lamely.

"Jack." She said, seeming to regard his name as she said it. She suddenly smiled at him. "Well it's nice to meet you."

"Are there more of us?" Jack asked, watching as the girl – well, Cue – walked towards him.

"Yes." She smiled, finally a foot away.

Jack noticed then there were other details about her he didn't notice before. She had a dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Her eyes were light brown, but when he looked a little harder, Jack could see light flecks of a pinkish-red color. Cool…

Of course, she caught him. Her lips gave a little twitch of a half-smile, making her look like she was about to laugh at him. He quickly looked at anything else but her, clearing his throat slightly.

"A lot more." She continued, the twitch-of-a-smile growing into a crooked smile. Great. "Maybe you could meet them."

Her eyes then shifted to his staff. Hesitantly, she reached out with her free hand. She rested her fingertips lightly on the wood, one of her eyebrows quirking up. It pulsed underneath her touch in a way Jack never felt before. He tensed at the weird sensation, and Cue quickly pulled away.

"I'm sorry." She said immediately. Why was she sorry? In a weird way, he kind of wanted her to do that again. No one had ever touched his staff before, besides Pitch. "I was curious."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cue's bow leaning towards him, a silent agreement that he could touch her weapon if he wanted.

Jack decided to ignore the gesture, and smirked instead. "What did you expect?" He asked.

"I don't know." She smiled again. "I was just curious. What do you do, exactly?"

He shrugged, his feet slowly lifting off of the ground. Her eyes widened in excitement as he slowly sailed over her.

"I'm a winter spirit." He said. "Basically, I do whatever. Blizzards, frosts, snow days, the icicles that hang off of roof gutters –"

"I like those." She said, and Jack smiled back at her.

"I can also do this." He said, picking up his staff and tapping it against one of the trees. Frost instantly began to curl around the bark. Cue had leaned forward to inspect it. That was also interesting, Jack had never seen anyone so appreciative of his work.

It made him want to do more.

He dropped into the middle of the pond. Cue started to walk towards him, but paused when Jack slowly crouched down.

He glanced up at Cue's shirt, committing the sight to memory. When he saw her looking at him a little bewilderedly, he smiled. She smiled back. He slowly put the flat of his hand on the ice.

The ice whispered around his palm and stretched out, crackling along the surface of the pond. He smiled a little as the intricate design unfolded, and left it to create itself.

He then jumped up and glided towards Cue. Once he was in front of her, he dropped to his feet, and took her hand. She was surprisingly warm to him, but then again so was everyone. Maybe he just wanted to think her temperature was different.

"We'll have to be a little higher to see this one." He said, jerking his head towards the rock outcropping next to the pond.

She nodded, letting him lead her up to the highest rock, their hands still intertwined. To his surprise, she could follow his deft movements with relative ease. Also acceptably cool.

Once on the highest rock, Jack helped her to stand next to him. Instead of dealing with letting go of his hand, she was already focused on looking at the pond. For some reason, he was a little glad that she held it. Usually he didn't like constant physical contact either. Like when Toothiana would pry into his mouth, or when North would set his hand on Jack's shoulder, or when the Sandman would tug at his sweatshirt. It always felt so… confining to him. But Cue's hold was light, detached. He was free to slip out of her hand if he wanted.

He was rewarded with the small gasp she made when she looked down at the pond. On the ice was a huge frost tracing of the emblem on Cue's shirt. He glanced over at the girl, seeing her smile growing more excited. He then looked down at the design as well, feeling a little smug that he got the image just right.

"Wow…" She murmured.

"Cool, right?" He grinned.

"Definitely."

.S.o.C.

The link to Cue's outfit is on my profile! It kind of really inspired me to write this story.