"To be cast out. To long for a family. I believe in you." –Pitch Black
The top of the sack fell open as the two pony-tailed yetis dropped the writhing thing to the floor.
"Hey. There he is." North chuckled in his heavily Russian accent.
Jack shuffled off the bag, annoyed and confused. He dusted his white hair. The teen looked at the four major Guardians. What exactly had just happened? Where did that stupid rabbit go?
North clapped his hands. "How did you like the trip?"
Jack stood on his bare feet. "Great. Oh I just love being shoved in a sack and tossed through a portal." He threw his staff up with his foot and it spun neatly into his hand.
"Great, that was my idea." The huge man said completely oblivious to the sarcasm. "You know Bunny obviously. And Toothy."
Tooth came over buzzing excitedly. "Jack Frost. Your teeth! Are they as white as they say they are?" Jack looked wide eyed as the female hummingbird fairy opened his mouth and she and her littler fairies sighed dreamily. "They are. White and glistening like new fallen snow."
Jack wiped his mouth disgustedly. She tasted like feathers, not that he minded the admiration but yuck.
"And Sandman, Sandy." North knocked him with his hand. "Sandy."
"Hey Sandy." Jack waved. "Hey ho, anyone want to tell me why I'm here?" He rolled out his legs in an easy stride. "Something must have gone real bad to pull you all together. Am I on the naughty list?"
"On?" North chuckled. "You hold record. But we are wiping slate clean."
"Why?" Jack leaned on his staff.
"Why? Because you are Guardian!" The burly man held up his arms. "Music."
There was flurry of activity all around and Jack was knocked backwards into the Yetis. The elves were blasting away and marching under everyone's feet. There tiny red pointed bodies collided and bounced away from each other. Some attempted to shove Jack's bluish feet into a pair of garish winter shoes. Jack gave them a bit of a kick. He waved off the tooth fairies attempting to string a necklace around his neck a bit more gently. North picked up an ancient book bound with wonder and filled of hope. The book of Guardians. Jack looked around frustrated and stomped down his staff. A blast of freezing air put out the music and pushed everyone back.
Jack's eyes glowed furiously bright blue. "Who said I wanted to be a Guardian?"
North froze, shocked. Then he laughed. "Of course you do." North looked back to his book.
Jack scowled, being ignored by the only beings on earth that could see him. "No, you guys are all hard work and deadlines while I'm snowflakes and fun times."
Tooth buzzed forward. "Jack I don't think you understand what it is we do." She pointed to the globe. "Each of those is a child."
"A child who believes in all of us." North rumbled. "And naughty or nice we protect them."
Jack studied the globe.
"No more wishy washy, Pitch is out there doing who knows what." North crossed his arms.
"Wait, wait, wait." Jack waved his hands scornfully. "Your problem is Pitch?"
"As usual." Tooth sighed.
"Alright, alright hang on." Jack held up a hand and brought the other to his mouth. He whistled piercingly. Snowflakes spun on his breath. There was a loud neighing as a gorgeous bucking stallion built of ice and billowing clouds and snow pranced down to Jack's side. It's perfectly blue eyes scanned over the crowd and it flicked its ears to his creator. The constantly waving mane of blue ice fluttered easily even without wind.
"Hey boy." Jack rubbed the male creature's flank affectionately. "Can you do something for me?"
The stallion bobbed his head in assent.
Jack ran a hand smoothly up his horse's neck and pulled it to his mouth by its ear. He whispered and the horse listened motionless except for the rainwatery mane and tail. The stallion reared back braying, apparently pleased with its mission. Wind gathered beneath it and the snow stallion took off in a flurry of winter.
"Mmhmm." Jack turned back. The Guardians looked after the horse with a perplexed expression. "What? Snowstorms? Aren't they just beautiful?"
"Yes." Tooth sighed and her littler fairies twittered.
"Now." Jack sat easily leaning with one leg wrapped around his staff. "What exactly did Pitch do?"
"He put a shadow across my globe." North swung both hands at the globe.
Jack looked across without moving his leaned-back head and Tooth blushed. "And what did that do?"
"Do, mate?" Bunnymund thumped one foot irritated.
"It...It." North looked about. "It threatened me. Me! The lord of the North Pole!"
"Just a threat though? Or a prank?" Jack rolled his head around and stood smoothly in all his coolness. "No harm done?"
"Prank? But no harm. Not yet at least." North rumbled.
"At least? We'll see." Jack said turning his head to an unheard sound.
"We'll see?" Tooth asked. She buzzed back startled.
A whine, higher than the Snowstorm, interrupted them all. The deeper neigh of the Snowstorm followed closer. The stark white and blue stallion landed first prancing like a youngling. A shadowy steed with a rider set down behind it. The horse seemed like the very sand that was controlled by the Sandman himself. The brilliant gold eyes lowered with the rest of the courser to let off the teenage rider. The figure's hand was caught by Jack and the blue tinged teen helped him down. He was a tiny bit shorter than Jack but they looked about the same age. Unlike Jack's sparse torn clothing of hoodie and cut off pants, the greyer skinned teen had a slim cut, tailored suit with shined shoes to polish off the pristine look. His eyes shone with beautiful yellow darkness. Shadowy hair adorned his head.
"Hey!" Jack creased his brow. He lifted a hand to the smallish bleeding cut on the other's head. "What happened?"
The teen lifted a hand to touch Jack's own. His voice was like smooth shadows. "Fell?"
"Off of a Nightmare again?" Jack scooped some snow into a loose pack and handed it to him as the teen shook his head no.
"Thanks. And no, the big girl." The teen sighed in relief holding the ice pack to his head. "So what's up?"
Jack wrapped his arms around the teen's waist from his back and set his blue skinned head on the smaller one's shoulder. "Missed you."
The other one laid his head back with a chuckle. "It's been, what, four hours?" He looked towards Jack's closed eyes. "What's going on?"
Jack sighed looking at the Guardians. The other teen looked up as well and started, gilded eyes wide open.
"Pitch?" Tooth gasped.
Jack moved to Pitch's side with one arm wrapped around his waist. Pitch waved a little nervously, pressing to Jack's hip.
"Good morning." He said with mock cheer. He shifted hands holding the ice pack.
"Alright." Bunnymund shifted his boomerang. "What's going on and why do you look like that?"
The Snowstorm and the Nightmare followed the rabbit-kangaroo's moving hands. They felt a threat and moved testily side to side, weaving with agitation. Their eyes burned stark contrasts. Pitch shushed them gently from his place by Jack.
"Well first of all." Jack twirled his staff. "This is Pitch Black, if you didn't know and," He closed his hand tightly with the icy wooden rod's hook out, semi-pointing at the Guardians. "He hasn't done anything wrong as of yet."
"Nothing wrong?" North's eyes widened. "What of my globe? Nothing is a shadow around the world? A monster for all children to fear?"
"That was a joke." Pitch explained with one hand spreading and collecting sand and letting it fall. "What I do is not all evil and just as important as Jack and the rest of you."
"You mate?" Bunnymund snorted. "Fear and Blackness are not even close to Easter."
"You think there can be any light with darkness?" Jack asked. The Snowstorm snorted and nudged the Nightmare back a bit, putting itself in front. "Sandy understands."
The Sandman drifted over to the two younger than men. He nodded to the other Guardians.
"Fear is a key part to families as well." Pitch glanced down to Sandy for reassurance which was willingly given. "You think any child would stay with their parents without the fear of not having them. Fear is a key part to love. Fear of lacking love, it's a central part of all family life." Jack nudged him when he stopped.
"I can even pull families together. A mother or father or child that has stopped caring at all, they hide in their bedrooms or on their phones or in their rooms. Working and telling themselves that it's ok for their family to be alone?" Black night-terror sand gathered in his hand forming a screen of fear and silent screams. "A nightmare of them losing it all can turn their behavior around. Or maybe not even turn it around but maybe the next morning they spend a second or two longer talking with their family, their children, their parents. Fear brings people together."
Sandy thought up a yin-yang symbol above his head. The contrast was clearer when Pitch highlight the dark part with one out stretched finger.
North looked contemplatively at the three figures. "And you agree with this Sandman?"
A dream sand thumbs up drifted up spinning and his wide face lit up with a grin.
"I don't like it." Bunnymund grimaced.
"Is it only because I'm over here?" Jack smirked.
The rabbit twitched. The fairies were chittering excitedly. Tooth herself was watching the couple. They looked like a matching set.
"Last-ish question." Bunnymund crossed his arms. "Why do you look like that and not like…" He held up a hand to gesture taller.
"Weakened." The dark teen shrugged. "Not believed in, but necessary."
"Oh, funny thing." Jack looked to Pitch. "They wanted to make me a Guardian."
Sandman looked at the sky again and waved his arms. He pointed furiously unnoticed by anyone.
Pitch laughed in surprise. "Really?"
"Mmhmm."
Sandy grabbed another elf.
"What is it Sandman?" Jack asked before he gave the small annoying cone a shake.
Sandy gestured to the moon. It was sparkling crazily.
"Manny?" North looked up. "What is it?"
Tooth fluttered back with a quick oops to allow the moonlight to reach the crystal. Jack disappeared from the haze above the pointed rock and the mist swirled reforming.
"Manny is re-choosing?" North looked contemplatively with his fingers to his mouth.
There were two figures on the brilliant crystal.
"What?"Bunnymund looked at the bluish spire like it was a hawk hunting him.
Jack Frost and Pitch Black were both floating on the ancient thing's projection, leaning on each other.
"The two of them?" Tooth twittered.
"Guardians?!" The large man rumbled contemplatively.
"Honestly?" Pitch asked stepping toward the ice crystal like structure.
"If the moon says so, so shall it be." North picked up the big book. "Will you vow to watch over the children of the world, their hopes, their wishes, and their dream, for they are all we are and we'll ever be?"
"I will." Jack Frost said in astonishment.
"Of course." Pitch Black tilted his head. His eyes looked to the moon. It seemed to smile, acceptance.
"Then congratulations Jack Frost and Pitch Black, you are now and forever more," North closed the massive book, "Guardians."
The moon glowed over them warmly. Jack rewrapped Pitch in an embrace and he put his arms on top of Jack's. They both looked to the moon. White hair and black hair. Blue eyes and gold eyes.
Jack nudged Pitch's ear. "Home?"
Pitch nodded. "Can I call one of the new ones? She's doing so well." He begged with his eyes.
"Fine."
Pitch whistled. His was sleeker and less sharp than Jack's.
"Sorry everyone." Jack let go of the other teen. "We got to HOP on home." He laughed at the grimace and rolling eyes from to bunny.
"What are they the Guardians of anyway?" Bunnymund whispered not so quietly to North. "Frozen water and lack of light?"
North laughed as the moon told them. "Fun and Family it seems." He repeated out loud. They turned back to the pair.
Pitch was watching the sky and leaped forward as another horse like creature. It was even more gorgeous than the other two that had fled seconds before. Ice on the outside with pure darkened sand on the inside. Its mane shimmered black blue. One eye burned fire-yellow hot and the other blue-ice cold. A single horn was protruding from the center of the horse's forehead. It was pure white flecked with sparkling black sand and searing power.
Jack knelt down to give Sandy a hug. "See you around." The ice teen grinned. He strode over to the courser and rubbed its neck. "Tooth?"
Pitch slide down to the ground on his gangly knees to say bye to Sandy as well.
"It was a pleasure meeting you." Jack put out his hand and stressing the you part.
"It was amazing meeting both of you as well." Tooth swept him to a hug as Jack hug back, amused and astonished.
"Didn't you know Pitch before?"
Tooth set him down. "Not this one." She flapped up to her fairies.
"Bye North, Kangaroo." Jack smiled at the other teen standing up and studying the two other Guardians. "You coming hot stuff?"
"Jack." Pitch hissed warningly and sprinted to him.
They leapt easily on the hybrid Nightstorm. It took to the sky easily and they waved until the unicorn like horse jolted. Pitch grabbed its neck and Jack wrapped the hand not holding his staff around his loved one's waist. Snow and darkness rained from the courser's tail.
Many thanks to the Quote Queen for cleaning and polishing this story.