Once upon a time, there were two kingdoms that were in discord. There was a wicked king named Pitchiner Black. He hated magic and fairies. He was jealous of them. He persecuted and hunted most of the larger fairies. He would take their most prized possession of all: their wings. He kept them as trophies. The wingless fairies became known as the Enslaved. The fairies were subjected to the worst treatment, ranging from persecution as demons (for the King declared them to be) to torture and enslavement. The King would encourage his subjects to wear iron jewelry for it was their weakness.

After many years of enslavement, the Enslaved began dying from their suffering. Some survived and endured it. The magical creatures and fairies found sanctuary in a magical place called the Moors. For there, they relied on one another, needing no king nor queen. They did rely on the protector of their safe haven from the wicked King. The King deemed the Moors as a place of evil, forbidding everyone to cross its borders. He intended to crush it one day.

In a great rowan tree on a great cliff in the Moors lived one such a spirit: one may take him as a boy. But he wasn't just any boy. He was a fairy. He had untidy mass of hair white as snow with striking blue eyes. His lips always seemed to smile...even when he was serious. His large wings were a beautiful blue with white. He had many magic abilities; one of his favorites was creating winter: making ice and snow. His favorite past time was playing tricks on the magical creatures with his snowballs and ice, laughing as he started snowball fights or made them slip. He always loved flying around the Moors, greeting the residents with a cheerful hello.

And his name was Jack Frost.

On a beautiful morning in the Moors, the great fairy flapped his wings and flew around, greeting the magical creatures. He dodged a mud ball from another group of them, laughing. Then whooped and spun, enjoying the rush of wind and the morning light on him. Immense joy washed over the youth as he relished the moment, hanging suspended above the Moors, seeing the beauty that the faeries had done.

He flew back down towards the Moors, greeting Baby Tooth, one of the Mini Fairies that belonged to Toothiana. She became a mother to Jack when he lost his family during the reign of Pitchiner Black. It was devastating the day Jack's parents lost their lives: they fought for their lives, telling Jack to escape to the Moors.

"Hello Jack!" said Tooth with a big smile.

"Hello, Tooth," he said smiling. "You're looking lovely today."

Tooth smiled with a blush as her gossamer wings flitted and her purple eyes glittered beneath her feathery eyelashes. Soon, the feathered fairy paused as she sensed something was wrong; her feathers fluffed and her violet eyes grew wide as she saw what her Mini Fairies had found; the Mini Fairies were her eyes and ears.

"Oh my!" she gasped, her face falling.

"What is it?" asked Jack frowning. "You look like you seen a ghost."

"It seems the border patrol...they found a human thief at the Pool of Jewels."

At the word 'thief' made the fairy's eyes grow wide with hundreds of thoughts running through his head. This was serious. He heard that humans would come to the Moors occasionally to try to steal jewels, but the border patrol would often drive them away. Yet he had never seen any up close and he was curious to see one.

"They did?" he said. "I must go and see then."

He flapped his wings to fly, nearly knocking some of the Mini Fairies over. Upon landing on a rock at the pool, he saw the two giant tree-like sentries pointing their spears at a girl about eleven or so. Her matted blonde hair framed her heart-shaped face that was dotted with freckles and her green eyes were wide, filled with fear. She was dressed in a tattered dress and was barefoot. She was holding a gem in her hand, trembling from head to toe, frozen in her spot.

Balthazar spoke in his language, pointing to the child thief, explaining what had occurred. Jack folded his wings and looked at the girl with slight interest.

"You have something that belongs here," Jack said sternly. "Please return it."

"I-I will," she said. "Forgive me. I didn't mean to...I just wanted to see if it was real. That's when they showed up."

She pointed to the border patrol. Jack looked at the guards, figuring they were scaring her. Not wanting to make the situation any worse, he softened his face. The guards growled, pointing their spears warningly. He knew Balthazar was very overprotective.

"Please!" the child begged. "Please...I don't like it when people point sharp things at me."

Seeing the child was near tears, he spoke to the border patrol in their language to lower their spears. Balthazar spoke accusingly that the girl was a thief and didn't trust her.

"If you put it back, they will not hurt you," Jack promised.

The child swallowed, panting to calm herself down. She held out her trembling hand and tossed the jewel back into the clear pool with a slight splash. She sniffled, still looking at the boy who had wings. She was scared...after all, this place was strange. She hadn't seen a boy like him before. She had heard her mother tell stories about the Fair Folk. They didn't trust humans due to the many wars against them. The enslavement of the human sized ones. And the King had said such terrible things about them. How they were evil demons and they were not trusted. She had seen terrible things done to them...unspeakable things.

"Thank you," said Jack.

He hopped from the rock towards her, making the girl flinch. Jack shooed the border patrol away, knowing the girl was scared enough already.

"Was it the guards that scared you?" he asked. "They're not bad at all. Just don't steal from here. If you wish to take something from here, you must ask."

She nodded understandingly. "A-are they...demons?" she asked, pointing to the guards.

Balthazar snorted, quite offended by the remark. Jack frowned a bit upon hearing this. "Who told you this?"

"The King-he said the Moors were filled with dark magic and it was the home for demons," she began. "He said the demons look like us except they have wings and pointed ears, sometimes horns...and iron burns them."

"What the King said is false," Jack replied. "The Moors has no trace of dark magic and fairies are not demons. But yes, iron burns them. Everything else is false."

"A-are you a fairy?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," he said. He tilted his head. "You do look like a human...yet there is something about you that I find peculiar..."

"I-I'm a human," she assured rather quickly.

It was a lie, sort of. She didn't want anyone to know about herself. She learned it was best to keep her mouth shut. Talking only brought trouble.

"Humans aren't really allowed here," he said. "But because you were honest, I may make an exception."

"How do you know I was being honest?" she said. "I could've been stealing that gem."

"Were you?" Jack frowned.

"I thought about it..." she said. "But I couldn't. Everyone told me about treasures in the Moors. I wanted to know if it was true or not."

"I see," he said. "Anyway, my name is Jack Frost."

"I'm called Colleen," she answered.

She reached into her pocket of her tattered apron and held out a small snow drop. It was covered in a layer of ice. Jack looked at it with a smile and accepted it.

"Mum always said to give a fairy a snow drop," she said. "It means you wish to be a friend to them."

"Thank you," he said, accepting it. "What brings you here to the Moors?"

"I wanted to see it," she said. "I have heard many stories from my Mum about it. She said she would leave sweet cake and snow drops for the Fair Folk, letting them know she was a friend to them."

"I hope you can come and visit often."

The child's eyes lightened up with a mingle of joy and uncertainty. "Really?" she said.

"That's what I don't understand. Mum told me wonderful things about fairies-their magic and all. She said they were all different and unique like snowflakes."

Jack smiled at the girl. He listened as she told him the stories she had heard about fairies. He sat next to her, folding his wings up. The girl hugged her knees. She looked out at the Moors, quite filled with joy. Jack took his time to study the girl. Her eyes were an unusual green color. Her hair was long enough to frame her face, coming to her shoulders. Dirt and soot covered her from her face to her toes. Her limbs had some scars...maybe from labor. He wasn't sure. He figured he'd ask later.

"I'll walk you back to the border," he offered.

The two children walked side by side to the border between the Moors and the human lands. The great expanse of the field stretched before them. Colleen looked at the castle in the distance, frowning. She didn't want to go back, but she couldn't leave either. It was far to dangerous for a slave especially when it involved the dispute between the two lands.

"I'm glad to have met a fairy," she said, smiling.

"I'm glad to have met a human," he answered. "Where do you live?"

"There," she pointed to the castle.

"You live there? In the castle?"

She nodded.

"Where's your parents?"

"Mum died when I was six. I never knew my father."

"Mine are too," said Jack sadly. "I do look forward to our next visit. You can come back any time to visit. I'll be waiting."

"I..." the girl began, uncertain of how to explain herself.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just going to be hard," she said. "You see, I'm a slave. They are watched quite carefully. The only reason I was able to come here was because they make me sleep outside when I'm bad. I don't mind it though. I like to sleep in the tree and listen to the crickets."

"Y'know..." said Jack with an impish twinkle in his eyes. "You can always sneak out...or be bad."

Colleen giggled. "I'll consider it," she said.

Jack chuckled. He was happy to have found a human and to befriend her.

"I suppose I could call you from my tree if you wish to visit me there instead," she added.

"It might not be safe since I'm a fairy," Jack replied. "But I suppose it'll be worth the risk as well."

"Come at night," she said. "The guards are less likely to see you. And whisper when we talk."

Jack nodded. "I promise."

Colleen bade Jack farewell and headed back to her dreaded home. She didn't know if she should tell him the unspeakable things that were done to fairies. Did he know about it? Colleen sighed. She wanted to tell him her secret, but she decided once she got to know the fairy, she could trust him with it. She looked over her shoulder a few times at Jack who stood there, watching her walk away in the distance.