Pitch Black peered from the shadows at the scene in front him. His face held a slight frown of concentration as he watched this newer legend, this winter spirit, the Jack Frost. The frost boy was frolicking in the snow with a group of children. His magic was obviously in play as a snow fell around him and fractal frost patterns appeared whenever he touched the ground. The boy danced through the air and whirled delightedly around the young mortals. Pitch gave his best sneer at the frost boy. The spirit was looking more and more like an unworthy prospect. Pitch had thought that this younger legend might be persuaded to join his side. He had thought that Jack Frost and Pitch Black might be able to work together. He had heard the sayings: "Don't let Jack Frost nip at your nose" and "Close the door or Jack Frost will get in." They were oh so very similar to the ones about the Boogeyman. But as he continued to spy on the winter spirit Pitch's sneer slowly hardened into a scowl. The sickening smiles on the children's faces irritated him. The horrendous shrieking laughter that they made was starting to give him a headache. And hearing the winter spirit laugh along with them almost made him nauseous.
Pitch whirled away from the saccharine scene and pinched the bridge of his nose in disgust. Obviously the frost boy was just as cloyingly sweet as those blasted guardians. He was just about to step through his shadows, when a sudden spike of fear jerked him to a halt. He turned back, puzzled, and frowned at the apparently unchanged scene. The children laughing, snow falling, snowballs flying, and the frost boy in the middle of it. Where could that burst of intense fear have come from? It was then he noticed the difference. The frost boy hung frozen in mid-air with an expression of pain swiftly fading from his face. Pitch studied the boy as he awkwardly smiled and floated over to child and began chatting. But the child ignored the spirit completely. Pitch was still puzzled when the child stumbled and Jack Frost floated through the child. The a repetition of the fear he sensed combined with the utterly unexpected sight cause Pitch to let out a harsh breath of surprise. How could it be?
He looked more closely at the scene. Now the frost boy apparently had recovered and was once again happily playing along with the children. But then Pitch noticed how the children's eyes gazed pass him, how they never turned at his laugh, and how they never responded to his voice. He leaned back and crossed his arms in thought. Why would a spirit interact with non-believers? It seemed none of the children could see Jack, and yet there he was, acting as if they did. It made little to no sense. Pitch took a half step closer and studied Frost's face trying to decipher this dilemma. The light, or rather shadows, on the frost boy's face shifted, and suddenly Pitch could see the mask, see the frost boy's act. He saw the tension around the eyes, saw the teeth gritted despite the wide grin, saw the overly tight grip on the staff and he heard the faint hint of harshness in the spirit's laughter.
This warranted further investigation. Pitch raised his hand and conjured a small wisp of his shadow magic. It swiftly drifted through the air and gently landed on the frost boy. Once the connection was made, Pitch quickly sorted through the incoming sensations to find the boy's greatest fear. Once he did, Pitch practically reeled in shock. The frost boy's greatest fear was that he never would be believed in. Not that he would lose believers. Not that the children wouldn't enjoy his magic. Not anything that a legend usually would fear. Pitch urged his shadow wisp deeper into the frost boy's psyche and memory. Surely the boy had believers, surely the boy was over exaggerating his fear, surely the boy wasn't alone even when surrounded by many… Surely the boy wasn't like him…?
Pitch's last thought was startling and caused him to briefly lose his balance. In response, the magic connected to the frost boy snapped and the shadow wisp vanished. Sensing that small magic, the frost boy paused in midair and slowly looked at the shadows in which Pitch hid. Pitch hurriedly stepped backwards into the darkness but paused chastising himself. He, the spirit of fear, frightened of this mere hint of a myth, it could not be so. But as the frost boy shrugged and turned away, Pitch slowly let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It took a long moment, but he acknowledged that the frost boy had some effect upon him. This thought was certainly disquieting and should be swiftly dealt with. And so Pitch stilled himself and focused his attention inward toward his thoughts.
Eventually, his searching through his mind led him to the issue. As Pitch focused on the concept he realized that yes, somehow the frost boy was the source of a small amount of fear. Pitch tightened his concentration and willed his psyche to reveal more. Why would he fear the child? The frost boy was nothing. Their paths would never, had never crossed. There seemed to be no obvious connection between the two of them. And yet a different, distant, hidden corner of himself stirred and whispered "What goes together better than cold and dark?" He grimaced slightly at this thought, trying to place its source. When he found it, he broke his trance to spit into the shadows and give a slight shudder of disgust. It was hope. It was hope that he might find someone else to understand him, hope that Jack Frost would accept him. And the strange yet somehow gentle hope that the Jack could potentially be a friend. The tension was gradually easing out of Pitch's shoulders, and a contemplative look was on his face.
But before these strange thoughts could go much farther, his shadow magic swelled up through his mind and crashed down to shatter those thoughts and cover their remains with an inky pool of darkness. The strange look of peace on Pitch's face, and the calm that was in his stance, swiftly disappeared. Pitch straightened up into his usual arrogant stance. His eyes glinted cruelly, and the sneer reappeared on his face. He felt himself again. The shadows and fearlings which had phased into his body slowly swirled away. As the darkness settled back into what passed for contentment, Pitch turned his mind back to the frost boy. It was laughable how he could even possibly have considered the boy as more than an ally. No the boy was not even that. He was only a potential pawn, a tool Pitch could manipulate to forward his plans. And he could feel his thoughts snapping into place as a new part of plan was coming together. Pitch began pacing in excitement, the shadows stirring up in small swirls in his wake. The fearlings also responded and sped up their constant motion in response. The cloak of shadows that made up the floor flew towards him and blended into his robe. Until where he began and the shadows ended could not be determined. Pitch came to his conclusion. He could use the boy's fear. He could "sympathize" with the frost boy. He would have the spirit's power on his side. He would easily trick the frost boy into letting down his guard. And then, Pitch's shadows would seep into the child and the frost boy would be utterly under his control. Pitch allowed himself to smile and his pointed teeth seemed to shine even in the almost complete absence of light. The darkness responded to his triumph and swirled in anticipation..
But even though the thought of a legend under his complete control greatly excited him, Pitch knew that reacting only on his emotions would be an idiotic mistake. And so he took a moment to calm himself before he again approached the edge of his shadow concealment. Pitch stared thoughtfully once again at the frost boy and slowly analyzed the situation. No, no he would not reveal himself yet. The timing and situation was not optimal. The frost child was in his element. More favorable circumstances would arrive. And so he would wait. Wait until the frost boy was at a drastic emotional low. Then the boy would be extremely vulnerable. Then the boy could be easily swayed. And then Jack Frost would be his to command.
Author's Note: Well my first fanfiction. I'm a bit surprised that I actually did write one. I'm not sure if the stream-of-consciousness style was conveyed clearly. Perhaps I could fiddle with the formatting. And there were times were I couldn't resist alliteration.
Oh, the idea behind this story was a what-if of Jack being lonely enough to accept Pitch's offer. But when I started writing it was from Pitch's view and the words just seemed to keep flowing. And when I realized it fit into cannon it confirmed my decision that it could have its own identity and be a stand alone story.
Also picking a title is decidedly difficult (yay more alliteration). I eventually settled on frost boy. I used frost boy as it didn't feel right for Pitch to address Jack in his mind with his proper name or a title that conveyed respect. Frost boy just appeared and it fit more and more. So since it kept reappearing in the story, it became the title.