Bringer of Light
The girl emerged from the darkness and yawned. Her long tangled red hair fell more often in her eyes than not. "What, what what!" she shouted exasperatedly as a crow flew about her head screeching repeatedly. "I don't see anything that's a problem. Why won't you just let me sleep!?" She stifled another yawn. The crow did not let up and promptly plopped down on her head and began to peck with vigor. " Ow. Stop that!" she snapped reaching up to grab the bird, but it was to quick for her and took of into the sky. "Stupid bird!" she yelled after it. "Ugg that's what I get for hanging out with crows! In the middle of winter too. Of course, why not wake me up. I'm a stupid crow. Do I respect people's feelings, no…" She trailed off into silence as she noticed unnatural orange light brightening the night sky. There was the smell of smoke in the air, and something else - the tinge of fear.
The crow landed on the top of a house a little ways down the street, leading the way to the fire and cawed at her reproachfully. She began to run, glaring at the crow when she saw it drifting silently at her side. "Okay, you were right, but that doesn't mean I forgive you so you can wipe that smirk of your face."
Jack could feel the fear streaming out of Jamie to him, fear, and pain, and the fire. The fire was burning all around them. "Let them go Pitch!" Jack shouted. "This is about you and me. It has nothing to do with Jamie and his family!"
Jack should have asked for help. He knew that now, but moron that he was he had thought he could handle it. Moreover he was so used to handling stuff on his own, he had always been alone for so long, the thought hadn't in the slightest popped up in his head.
Ever since Jamie had seen Jack he had felt this connection with the boy. Maybe it had something to do with Jamie being his first believer. Jack knew when Jamie needed him, the same way North always said "I feel it, in my belly," with a twinkle in his eye. No matter how dumb that sounded, it was true. And as Jack had been flying over the Great Ben he had a sinking sensation that Jamie was in danger, so without thinking of calling for the other guardians, he had gone straight to Jamie's house as fast as he could. Idiot, he thought to himself again as he stared across the lawn at Pitch Black.
"Are you scared Jack?" Pitch grinned showing his pointed teeth. " I thought you of all people would love this new found talent of mine. After all, what goes better together than ice and fire." From inside the house Jack could hear Sophie crying, people screaming. The sounds almost caused him physical pain. The wind pushed at Jack's back as he rushed towards the house yelling before Pitch blocked him with his black scythe. Jack jumped into the air dodging it, doing a flip and with a sharp crack sent razor ice shards out of his staff. But they never reached its mark. Pitch fended them off with a wave of black sand. Temporarily blinded by the black streaming about him, Jack spun in midair just in time to see Pitch's fist make contact with his face. Jack collided into the fence that lined the backyard of Jamie Bennett's house and fell onto the grass. His face felt like there were tiny pieces of broken glass in it and a jagged pain shot throw his body but he didn't yell out. He didn't want to give Pitch the satisfaction of knowing how much he had hurt him. The heat of the fire wasn't helping either. He felt like he was suffocating in an oven. Jamie's whole house was engulfed in fire. Panic flooded through Jack. No, no! He had to stop the fire. Jamie was going to die. Jack was a guardian. He was supposed to protect children, yet he couldn't protect one small boy. But he couldn't get close to the house, not with Pitch there. " Are you dead yet?" called Pitch from across the lawn in a bored voice. Jack's fist clenched in the grass. He had to protect Jamie, whatever it took! "Please Pitch, just let them go. I'll do anything. Please!" Jack looked up from his crouched position on the grass into Pitch's face which was smiling hungrily at him. Then later I will kill you! Jack thought. "Give me the staff Jack." Jack tossed it to Pitch without a moment's hesitation. He could fix it after all.
"Alright, now let them go!" He slowly stood up as Pitch stared at the staff with glee. They looked at each other for a moment "Ice and Fire." Pitch's face split into a malicious grin, and then Jack realized what Pitch was about to do. "NO!" He dashed forward but it was to late. Pitch broke the staff with a loud snap. When the staff broke Jack could feel something deep within him snap as well. It had happened before, but Jack still wasn't prepared for the sharp pain that clawed its way through his body. With horror he watched as Pitch casually tossed the broken staff through the flaming doorway of the back porch and then turned to watch the show.
Someone was screaming. It took Jack a moment to realize it was him the sound was emanating from. His brain felt like it was boiling and sharp pain raced up his spin. Underneath it all was the agonizing feeling that he was burning. It paralyzed him. All his senses of the world around him were gone; there was only a wall of pain.Am I going to die? The thought dimly surfaced in his head. I want to die. Make it stop! Make it stop! "You really are an idiot, you know that?" Jack could hear Pitch laughing as though from a long distance away. "This is how I like to see you. Writhing on the ground like a worm. How does it feel to know I've won, Jack? Oh, I'm sorry, you probably can't even hear me right now, can you? Maybe it's time for me to put you out of your misery, or should I just let you suffer? Decisions, decisions. Should we flip a coin?"
"PITCH!" The girl flew over Jack, her feet landing squarely in Pitch's face. Pitch crashed to the ground, rolled away, then stood up glaring at the new comer. "Mary!" he snarled. "I thought I dealt with you long ago." The girl did not respond. Standing between Pitch and Jack, she held out her hand and yelled, "LIGHT BRINGER!"Jack stared as the fire deserted the house to encircle them in a ring of fire, roaring like a lion. A white staff topped with a glowing blue crystal materialized in front of the girl. She grabbed it then aiming it like a bow shot the fire straight at Pitch. It hit his chest and, yelling in fear and pain, he fell backwards as a bright white light came forth from Pitch's body. It looked as if Pitch were cracking into a million pieces before Jack's eyes. The light was blinding, everywhere, and then gone. Everything was quiet. The house looked like the fire had never been there. The night was dark, the yard silent except to the distant sound of a dog barking. Then Jack gave in to the pain. He didn't have to be strong anymore. Jamie was safe. He curled into a ball clutching at his legs. He was falling into a swirl of red and black. Darkness overtook him.
"Jack!?" Mary turned and ran over to the white haired boy. He looked so small and vulnerable curled on the grass, not the way Bunnymund described him at all; this only made Mary more worried. She leaned down, crouching at his side and pulled his head into her lap, her dark blue cape swirling about them both. "Jack what's wrong? Tell me. I can help you." But he didn't respond. His eyes were closed, his face pulled back in a grimace. Mary brushed the hair away from his face and nearly dropped him. He was hot! Burning hot as though he had a fever. From what she could remember about Bunny's description, he was supposed to be cold all the time. At least colder than any human. "Jack" she called again, her voice strained. She shook him, but he didn't come to. "Jack!?" Mary folded the cloak around Jack just in time, as a young boy no older then ten shot out of the back door of the house and jumped into the yard. He cupped his hands about his mouth, took in a deep breath, and shouted, "JACK! Jack Frost where are you?" The words echoed into silence. The boy looked as if he were about to cry. Mary had a yearning to comfort him, though she knew the boy would never hear or see her. No one ever saw her. That was how it had always been. If the boy saw Jack how he was now…? NO, that was a terrible idea best to not let him know."Jamie Bennett!" an angry woman's voice streamed from the back doorway followed by the women herself, tall, with brown hair. "I told you not to go in the house! It's not safe." Jamie turned running into his mom arms. Tears started to run down his face, his eyes were wide with anxiety. "Mom I think Jack's in trouble. He would have come when I called him. Something bad's happened." His mom looked at him, exasperation crossing over her face. "Jamie!" "Jack-" Jamie continued to talk over his mother's words. "Jamie!" his mom cut in sharply. "Look I don't have time for this right now. Dad and I need you to listen to us. Okay?" "But his staff's right there. Don't you see it?" Jamie pointed towards the house but his mom didn't even glace over; standing up, she began to drag her son out of the back yard by his hand. "Jamie, I don't know maybe you're right. It's a miracle the fire stopped like that. But we don't have time to worry about that right now. We need to make sure no one's hurt." Their voices drifted away as they walked past the side of the house into an alleyway. "But didn't you see the staff?..."
Mary sighed with relief as the backyard settled into silence. "The Staff" she muttered to herself, her brow furrowing. Mired landed on the rail of the back porch and cawed at Mary flapping it's wings in agitation. Mary looked at the crow sharply, then swept up Jack into her arms. He was surprisingly light, but then she should of expected it he was so skinny. With leaping bounds and the wind whistling around her, she jumped through the white wall and into Jamie Bennett's house. "Oh no." The words barely formed a whisper on her lips. She bent down cradling Jack near her chest. She lightly touched what could have been a staff at some point, but not anymore. All that remained was ash and the curving end of what looked like a worn shepherds stick. She looked down at the unconscious boy in her lap and gripped the rest of what had been Jack's staff, her body filling with fear.
