Chapter One

Pitch was gone. Not dead, but gone for at least five hundred years.

That was good enough for the Guardians.

They were making their way back to the North Pole for the celebration. Jack's guardianship and the Boogieman's defeat ended up coinciding with each other, so the party was going to be huge. North had called the yetis; the clean-up was already underway.

"Did you see Pitch's face?" the big man asked, chuckling furiously. "It was absolutely hilarious!"

"Remember when I hit him with the snowball?" Jack added, rubbing his stomach. There was a slight pain there, but nothing to worry about. "The mares were even surprised!"

Bunny was grumbling, but could barely keep the smile off his face. "I'm still pissed about the whole 'cute' thing…"

"You're fine now, aren't you?" Jack said, biting his lip. "You're back to your Kangaroo self."

"Don't even get me started, Frostbite."

"I think it's too late for that," the winter sprite grinned mischievously. Then he started throwing light punches at Bunny, who was sitting right in front of him.

The Australian raised a brow. "You wanna wrestle?"

"Heck yeah."

And it had begun. By then, both of them knew the limit to the physical abuse, especially Bunny. Jack's body was lean and, despite his best intentions, wasn't very strong.

Sandy was watching mysteriously, glancing from Jack's face to his stomach. He wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or not, but red dots seemed to be appearing on Jack's jacket. Sandy squinted in suspicion.

Suddenly, Jack just stopped. His breathing became raspy and choked, the little color that he had drained from his face, and he began shaking. But Bunny didn't take notice of any of this, still tackling him playfully. Or so it seemed to be.

The glowing man shot up, trying his best to push Bunny off of Jack. When the rabbit is in this mode, he tends to be stuck in it till someone can bring him to his senses. And a silent man certainly wouldn't be able to do that. Unless he decided to….

Jack's movement halted.

Sandy went up to Tooth, the only one who could understand his quick symbols. As soon as he got to the Jack is bleeding part, she bolted up, tackling Bunny.

"Bunny, stop! Jack's in pain!"

North nearly lost control of his reins when he heard her statement. "How?"

Sandy was already at Jack, happy to see the rise and fall of his chest. But it was short lived when he heard his breaths; short and uneven. Blood was gathering at the side of the blue hoodie, staining the wooden floor of the sleigh.

Bunny's eyes had widened. Rushing over to Jack, he exclaimed, "Oh my, Jack, I'm so sorry. Just… just stay right here. You need to stay still so we can look at your wound."

"Nightmare sand…." Then, Jack was dead to the world.

"North, we need to get to the pole. Fast." Tooth said, trying to act calm while Bunny started tugging Jack's sweater off.

The boy whimpered, "Stop."

"Jack," Bunny whispered soothingly. None of them had ever seen him like this. "You're alright, just let me take the hoodie off."

"Stop it… leave me alone."

"Jack?" North looked back in worry.

"I didn't…." Jack's face contorted. "Leave me alone. I didn't do anything! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he was wailing, tears streaming out of his closed eyes; his nails dug into the wooden floor. "I know! I know I left her! You don't understand…."

"Oh my God," Tooth suddenly started shaking Jack. "He's having a nightmare. The sand got into his system some time during the fight."

"Sandy, can you removed it?"

The golden man nodded hesitantly. The he surprised them all.

"I will, but Jack needs to be awake."

The sleigh did swerve this time, knocking everyone but Bunny (who was holding Jack) and Sandy, who stared at each other in shock.

"Sandy… does anyone else know that you can talk?" Bunny had finally gotten the sweatshirt off, and all he could do was stare.

"Yes, Jack did—" whatever Sandy was going to say next was lost in what he saw.

His abdomen was littered with scratches and bruises that stuck out like black paint on a canvas. Broken ribs were clearly visible, as were the small holes that indicated tiny bullets. Or where the nightmare sand made its way into him. But it was none of that that made them hate themselves.

No, it was his chest in general.

You could count his ribs. His hip bones jutted out inhumanly. His stomach was a crater in the middle of his body.

"Did he… starve himself?" Tooth was the first one to talk. North was wiping his eyes, trying to rid his mind of the guilty thoughts so he could focus on the sky. The Pole was in sight.

"He never had enough food during his time," Sandy said sadly, a golden tear streaming down his face. "Combined with three-hundred years alone, he had no way of getting enough food."

"But he must've gotten so sick." Bunny was cradling Jack. Rocking him back and forth.

Everyone was silent, knowing the truth behind the words. They'd left Jack alone for three-hundred years. He'd had no one to guide him through his journey.

Where had they been? Enjoying eggnog?

"We're h-here." North said shakily.

Then everything went dark.