The Beginning
"Left central incisor, knocked out in a freak sledding accident. I wonder how that could have happened, Jack?" Toothiana softly chuckled. She twirled a quarter in between her delicate fingers and then placed it under Jamie's sleeping head. Jack laughed quietly, looking at Jamie's depiction of the ice sledding earlier that day, before regarding the fairy with a smile.
"Kids, huh?"
Toothy hovered above the sleeping Jamie, a frown set deep on her face; she sighed.
"This was always the part I liked most - seeing the kids." She hugged herself trying to feel comforted, "Why did I ever stop doing this?"
"It's a little different up close, huh?" Jack whispered. Toothiana's smile didn't quite reach her face. She rested her petite hand on his shoulder, her head tilted to the side.
"Thanks for being here, Jack. I wish I had known about your memory; I could've helped you." Jack looked down briefly concealing his emotions. When he met her eyes again, he gave her a reassuring grin.
"Yeah, well, look let's just get you taken care of. Then it's Pitch's turn, huh?" The silence that followed was a comfortable one. They shared in each others company for a moment.
"Here you are!" North came barging in through the open window hauling a massive bag, followed closely by Sandy and Baby Tooth. Toothy immediately shushed North and pointed towards Jamie's sleeping form.
North continued in a loud whisper, "Oh, what gives slowpokes!? How you feeling, Toothy?"
Tooth lit up immediately, her excitement bursting through her. "Believed in!" Her excitement was contagious as the others felt energized.
"Haha! That's what I want to hear." North was relieved that his good friend appeared to be feeling more like her usual self.
Bunnymund's magic underground portal appeared on the bedroom floor. He pulled himself out of the ground hoisting his bag of teeth with him.
"Oh I see how it is... All working together to make sure the rabbit gets last place." Bunny scowled but was quickly shushed by the others.
"You think I need help to beat a bunny? Check it out, Peter Cottontail." Jack mocked Bunnymund, shaking his bag in front of him as if to prove his point. The Pooka was unimpressed.
"You think that's a bag of choppers?" Bunnymund retorted as he held his bag out with pride, "Now, that's a bag of choppers." He finished confidently.
"Gentlemen! Gentlemen! This is about Tooth. It's not a competition! But if it was -" North plopped the massive bag he was holding onto the floor. "I win. YEEEEEHAAAHH!" He proceeded to do a Russian victory dance. So caught up in his excitement, the Guardians forgot that they needed to be quiet.
Suddenly a light blinded North. He immediately stopped dancing and backed away from it, "oh no..." escaped his lips. The air was uncomfortably silent as they realized that Jamie was now very much awake and was holding a flashlight. The boy's eyes widened and his mouth fell open in wonder at just who was prancing around in his room.
"Santa Claus?" He asked feeling like he was dreaming, "The Easter Bunny? Sandman..." He called off their worldly names as he shined the light into each of their faces, making them flinch.
Jamie gasped with excitement, "The Tooth Fairy! I knew you'd come!" He bounced on his bed from pure exuberance.
"Surprise! We came!" Toothy giggled at the honest enthusiasm.
"He can see us?" Jack asked without realizing that the question slipped passed his lips. A dizzying glimmer of hope exploded through him as Jamie passed the light over the Guardians once more.
"Most of us." Bunny mumbled quietly. Jack's heart plummeted painfully. He swallowed hard and averted his gaze, shielding his despondent expression from the others.
"Shhh! You guys, he's still awake." Toothy announced, gaining their attention. They shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to do.
"Sandy! Knock him out!" Bunny urged. Sandy nodded, but as he approached Jamie he punched his own hand in a threatening like manner.
"Huh?" Jamie uttered confused.
"With the Dreamsand, ya gumbies." Bunny chastised.
Suddenly, Jamie's dog was awake, growling at the frightened Pooka, whom was doing his best to play it off. The others stood tense, afraid of startling the greyhound.
"No, stop that's the Easter Bunny. What are you doing, Abbey? Down!" Jamie's cries fell on deaf ears.
"Alright, nobody panic." Bunny warned while slowly putting his bag of teeth on the ground, keeping a watchful eye on the predator.
"But that's a, um, that's a greyhound. Do you know what greyhounds do to rabbits?" Jack asked highly amused; a smug smirk plastered to his face. He scanned the room fleetingly to find something to startle the dog; an alarm clock, perfect.
"I think it's a pretty safe bet, he's never met a rabbit like me -" Bunnymund asserted. Sandy began forming his Dreamsand into a small softball, getting ready to calm the situation. Jack on the other hand, moved his staff stealthily over to the clock. "Six foot one, nerves of steel, master of tai-chi and the ancient art of-" Bunny was interrupted by the alarm clock sounding.
"Crikey." He was off like a shot, the greyhound right on his tail, barking maniacally. The Guardians stumbled to move out of the way while Sandman tried his best to aim the Dreamsand at the dog.
"Stop! Sit!" Jamie pleaded desperately with Abbey, "Down girl, down!" He begged again.
Toothy was doing her best to silence the clock, hoping to calm the dog; Jack was barley containing his laughter as he watched.
"Sandy, Sandy!" North shouted out. The greyhound ran past and knocked him backwards.
Just as Sandy was prepared to throw the Dreamsand, the dog knocked into him causing the sand to fling out of his hands. It bounced around the room, reflecting off of the different surfaces.
The Dreamsand sped towards North, he managed to duck in time. Unfortunately, some of the sand exploded as it hit Toothy in the face. The fairy and Baby Tooth both collapsed to the ground asleep; little teeth floating above their heads. Dreamsand whizzed through the air and rebounded off of Bunnymund who also succumbed to the sleep powder, a carrot now floating above his head. Abbey was also hit, dog bones floating above her.
"Candy canes..." North drowsily muttered, touching the golden treats. He teetered for a moment before collapsing at the end of Jamie's bed; launching Jamie through the air. The boy flailed before landing into Sandy's arms. Before Jamie could respond, Sandy nodded his head, casting Dreamsand on Jamie's face, who then doze off into a peaceful sleep.
"Whoops..." Jack muttered. Guardians were sleeping around the room, where moments before had been chaos. He chuckled as one of the dream carrots started dancing with a dream candy cane. "Oh, I really wish I had a camera right now." Sandy carefully placed the young boy back into his bed before giving Jack a jokingly reprimanding look.
Sandy's eyes widened; behind Jack was a Nightmare. Jack swiftly turned, spotting it before it flew off. Without hesitation, he jumped after the Nightmare through the window. "Sandy, c'mon! We can find Pitch." He called back. Sandy hesitated, shrugged, then followed.
Just then, little Sophie toddled in with a soft giggle. She padded over to North and tugged on his coat, trying to lift herself up. A soft sound caught her attention; a very pretty, ornate snow globe had fallen from his pocket.
"Pretty!" Sophie cooed picking it up delicately. Spotting the Easter Bunny on the ground, she smiled.
"Bunny! Hop! Hop! Hop!" She was awed to see that the shapes in the snow globe had changed to form Easter eggs.
So enthralled with all the colors in it and not paying attention to where she was stepping, she clumsily tripped over her dog, but quickly got up when she noticed a glowing swirling portal. The snow globe had smashed onto the wall; the portal to the Warren was now open. A light breeze came from it tickling Sophie's skin and making her giggle; she proceeded to walk into the portal, causing it to close after her.
North muttered mid-snore and looked around in a sleepy daze.
Two nightmares zigzagged along the rooftops trying to escape from their pursuers. Jack and Sandy were not far behind as they pushed themselves faster.
"Wahoo!" Jack yelled out excited, "Haha! Yes!"
The Nightmares split off, one going straight through a factory building window. Sandy easily did the same, never losing sight of the Nightmare. The other one rushed up over the buildings roof to evade Jack, who flung himself up over the roof after it, only a little behind the black sand creature.
Jack whooped again, heart thudding in his chest from the adrenaline coursing through him. Through the windows below, flashes of gold could be seen as Sandy forced the Nightmare out through the other side of the building.
The Nightmare and Jack zoomed away from the house just as Sandy and his Nightmare blasted out of the window, Sandy wrestled with it before placing his hand on it's neck making it explode into golden Dreamsand. He transformed it into a sting ray and proceeded to ride it.
Jack, using the wind to fly through town, was on the heels of his Nightmare. It turned sharply down an alleyway and Jack was quick to follow. The Nightmare then veered up the wall of the alley and onto a rooftop. Before it could disappear from Jacks view, he whipped a blast of ice from his staff and managed to hit it.
"HAAAH! I got it!" Jack declared triumphantly; prodding the frozen Nightmare with his staff. He enthusiastically called over his shoulder, "Sandy! Sandy, did you see that?! Look at this thing!" His excitement was childish but endearing.
Pitch soundlessly walked out from the shadows. "Frost?" He queried. Jack, taken by surprise, blasted a wave of frost across the rooftop, which Pitch easily dodged, reappearing behind Jack on the adjoining rooftop. He peered down at the winter sprite.
"You know, for a 'neutral party' you spend an awful lot of time with those weirdos." Pitch remarked perplexed, "This isn't your fight, Jack."
"You made it my fight when you stole those teeth." Jack seethed with anger, his staff pointed directly at the enemy. Pitch had been lucky once, but he wasn't going to miss again. Pitch regarded Jack curiously.
"Teeth? Why do you care about the teeth?" Before he could get his answer, Pitch descried some movement from the corner of his eye. He turned and was taken aback by Sandy's powerful presence.
"Now this is who I'm looking for-" Before Pitch could finish his sentence, Sandy attacked with his sand whip; Pitch rapidly ducked and dodged in order to not get hit. He almost fell over, but managed to keep his footing.
Pitch dispersed a stream of Nightmare Sand, and created a gigantic scythe. He retaliated with a low sweep of the sharp weapon; Jack, on his way to lend a hand, leapt to the lower building to avoid injury, meanwhile Sandy was driven back towards the ledge.
Sandy seized Pitch with his Dreamsand whip and hauled him off his feet into the air, and slammed him repeatedly against the tops of the buildings until finally throwing him off the rooftop into the streets below.
Pitch ricocheted off the top of a car causing the alarm to sound, then landed on the empty road. Sandy dusted his hands off and calmly stepped off the rooftop; floating to the ground.
"Remind me not to get on your bad side." Jack muttered astonished. Sandman acknowledged his comment with a smile before turning his attention back to the Nightmare King.
Pitch shook off the crash and tried to back away as Sandy approached him, Jack following; Pitch cowered on the ground in terror.
"Okay, easy! You can't blame me for trying, Sandy. You don't know what it's like to be weak and hated. It was stupid of me to mess with your dreams. So I'll tell you what-" He pleaded, but his tone changed as he stood up, "You can have them back!" Pitch finished with a menacing look on his face, his eyes burning with detest.
Before Jack and Sandy could react, a Nightmare shot up through a storm drain and several other Nightmares gathered in the streets, and descended from the surrounding rooftops to encircle them, getting closer.
Jack murmured apprehensively, "You take the ones on the left, I'll take the ones on the right?" Sandy shrugged, unsure of what to do; they were horribly out numbered.
Pitch rose up from off the ground as Onyx, his favorite Nightmare, took shape underneath him. Pitch grabbed onto Onyx's reins as it snorted and snarled. He leaned forward and wiggled his fingers as if intimidating a small child. "Boo!" a thin smile stretched across his face.
The massive army of Nightmares began to charge them.
Just then, North's sleigh careened through the clouds and circled overhead the commotion. The sleigh dipped toward Pitch flying only a few feet over his head; as it passed over him, he turned exasperated.
North was asleep at the wheel, with Bunny and Toothy also snoozing in the sleigh. It clipped one of its runners as it flew over City Hall, jolting them all to attention.
Still battling Nightmares, Sandy propelled himself and Jack into the air with his Dreamsand and launched Jack away from the Nightmares. Jack quickly oriented himself and destroyed an oncoming Nightmare with his staff.
Toothy rushed off the side of the sleigh to aid Jack and Sandy in anyway she could. Jack had destroyed a few more Nightmares with his staff and looked up to see Toothy fly into view through the swarm of Nightmares. She sliced them apart with her thin, powerful wings, causing them to explode into lifeless grains once more.
Pitch signaled his horses and leapt into the air, leading another wave of Nightmares after the Guardians from above.
Bunny jumped out of the sleigh and landed on a nearby roof. He aggressively hurled his boomerang, disintegrating every Nightmare in its path. Bunny caught the returning boomerang, hopped off the roof, and grabbed the runners of the sleigh as it passed by. North stood, drawing both his scimitars, and diced the oncoming Nightmares to bits as they attacked.
"Come on!" North shouted with his powerful voice. Jack headed back to the sleigh by dodging two Nightmares at the last second, causing them to collide. As he continued his descent, Jack was blind sided by another Nightmare, knocking the staff from his hands. For a moment, he was in a state of dismay as he found himself in a free fall. Jack finally managed to seize the staff, control his descent, and land on the sleigh as it flew by.
"You might want to duck." Bunny advised smugly. Jack ducked down as a Nightmare reared up behind him, but one of Bunny's boomerangs blasted through it and zipped back to his awaiting paw. He smirked coolly.
Sandy high in the clouds, did his best to subdue the hoard that was swirling around him. Pitch rose from behind the Nightmares, stretched his arm behind him as an arrow of Nightmare Sand formed, and drew back ready to fire.
Jack and the Guardians regarded their dark horses that sped away to join their herd. Sandy looked overwhelmed by the onslaught. "We gotta help Sandy!" Jack urged.
"Hyah!" North shouted, cracked the reigns, turned the sleigh, and sped towards the swirling cloud of yellow and black sand.
Pitch took aim and released the arrow. It flew through the air and into Sandy's back, exploding on impact. The Guardians looked on, horrified.
"Noooo!" Jack leapt ahead of the sleigh and flew toward Sandy.
"Jack!" North shouted after him.
Sandy shuddered as the fear began to spread through his body from the black sand. He slowly turned, facing his attacker. Pitch laughed as he and Sandy locked eyes.
"Don't fight the fear, little man." Pitch sneered.
The Guardians continued to make their way to Sandy, but Nightmares began to collide with the sleigh, slowing their progress.
"Hurry, hurry!" Implored North, urging Jack on.
Pitch relished this moment of triumph, "I'd say sweet dreams, but there aren't any left." Sandy convulsed with pure terror, the darkness quickly over-taking him. Jack pressed on, trying to reach Sandy as fast as he could.
Sandman stood, welcoming his fate, and closed his eyes as he and his Dreamsand cloud were consumed by the writhing blackness of the Nightmare sand.
"Sandy..." North muttered softly, stunned.
"No...NOOOOOO!" Screamed Jack in anguish. Sandy was gone. His beautiful Golden Dreamsand, now black, merged with the rest of Pitch's Nightmare sand.
Pitch noticed Jack flying straight at him, glowing energy emanating from his staff. Pitch raised his hands and sent a massive wave of Nightmares towards the sprite.
Jack realized that he was in over his head as the charging Nightmares overtook him leaving nothing but silence. Pitch looked on, pleased with himself, until a bolt of lightning erupted from within the writhing black mass.
A gust of wind blew past Pitch, followed by a massive wave of frost that rocketed up the stream of Nightmare sand towards him, culminating in an explosion of ice and snow.
Pitch's scream could still be heard as he plummeted far off. Jack, now unconscious, began falling back to hard ground.
Toothy darted up, catching him in her arms before setting him down gently in the sleigh. Everyone was filled with relief that Jack was safe, though they were still processing what they had witnessed.
"Jack, how did you do that?" Toothy asked tentatively. As Jack regained consciousness, Toothy's question processed through his foggy head.
"I- I didn't know I could." He stuttered out.
Pitch pulled himself laboriously from the mud and weeds amongst the trees where he had crash-landed, oddly, he was delighted. He looked up to see a bright glow; North's snow globe portal. The sleigh zoomed into it and vanished. Pitch shook the frost from his arms as scores of Nightmares swarmed behind him, regrouping after the blast.
"Finally! Someone who knows how to have a little fun!" Pitch chuckled darkly.
Once the Guardians had returned to North's Palace, there was only silence within the small group. Around them was the chaos of the Yetis building toys, testing them out, and chatting. Elves were trying their best to help make their own toys, though they were just harming one another more than anything.
The Guardians made their way inside; hurt, anger, and confusion blinded them. Bunnymund exploded with anger and kicked a nearby ball, it flew into a large stack of robot toys; the yeti that was repainting them red groaned in frustration.
"What were you thinking, Jack? Trying to take on Pitch without us." Bunny growled out, his anger clearly directed towards the winter sprite.
"Keep it together, Bunny." North warned.
"Keep it together?!" He fumed. The activities all around them slowed to a stop to watch the scene unfolding before them. "Sandy's gone, he's gone!" North sighed sadly. He took his hat from his head and rubbed his temples. At Bunnymund's words the audience gasped.
"I know that..." North muttered.
"Pitch is picking us off one by one and you want me to keep it together?" Bunny seethed. Toothy flew towards the guardians, now deciding to voice her opinion.
"He's right... We're losing kids by the minute." Her voice wavered with choked down tears, "Pitch's plan is actually working..." North placed his hat back on his head and approached the other three, stopping by Jack. Jack was glaring the Pooka down.
"Yes, but now we have something he wasn't planning on." North stated confidently and placed a comforting hand on Jack's shoulder. The young boy really appreciated North's words as he stood up from crouching on the ground.
"Do you have any idea how you might have done that?" Toothy asked Jack, again referring to that frost explosion. The other Guardians looked towards Jack to see what his answer would be.
"I don't know..." Jack muttered.
"Bonzer! He doesn't even know what he did!" Bunnymund hollered, he couldn't believe his ears. They all looked over to Bunny and frowned.
"What he did was save us." Toothy fought back. She flew right into Bunny's face and glared at him.
"Not all of us!" He shouted back. Toothy was surprised at the amount of anger thrown towards her and backed off. North and Jack were just as surprised with Bunny's outburst that all they could do was gape. The yetis and elves gasped. "Not all of us..." He muttered again looking away from the eyes glued to him.
"Bunny, ENOUGH!" North commanded. He rubbed the sides of his nose in frustration and sighed. "Now, we are all upset..."
"But we can't turn on one another." North continued as he approached Bunnymund and Toothiana.
"Sandy wouldn't want that." She agreed solemnly. Bunny realized what he had done and looked down in mild disappointment in himself.
"No, of course not..." He finally conceded.
"Sandy would want us to go on." Toothy stated with conviction and smiled reassuringly at the defeated Bunny.
"To fight." North piped in.
"To defeat Pitch." Bunny continued as Jack approached the group.
"To protect the children." At Jack's words, the Guardians felt a bit better, though tension still hung heavily in the air. North glanced around at the curious and confused faces of the unintentional audience and realized they were waiting to be clued in. He moved through the crowd and stepped onto a podium.
"It brings me great sorrow to announce that our dear friend, Sanderson Mansnoozie, was killed in battle." North stated in a clear and controlled voice. The yetis and elves gasped in horror; so it was true after all. A quiet murmur filled the air as they all wondered what would soon happen to them.
Now that Sandy was gone, the Nightmares would run rampant and the fear would spread. Their voices proceeded to become louder and louder as their questions were fueled with more panic. It was almost a roar now as the other Guardians and Jack stepped up to stand with North. Toothiana was in hysterical tears again and Jack had his hood up to hide his emotions.
"Enough!" Bunnymund shouted out. Immediately the room was quiet once more. "We need to have a proper ceremony for Sandy... It's only right." He muttered.
"Who's going to tell her?" Toothy asked through her sobs. Bunny and North looked over at Toothy before looking away. No one wanted to tell her about Sandy's death, they couldn't even bear the thought of how she would react.
Intrigued by what they were talking about, or more rather what they weren't talking about, Jack turned to face the Guardians. "What do you mean by 'her'? Who's 'her'?" Jack's question caused them to shuffle uncomfortably. North sighed sadly and finally met Jack's inquisitive gaze.
"Polaris... The North Star." North started slowly as if it hurt him to say. "She is – was Sandy's best friend. They were inseparable; practically family..." He looked down to gather himself up before continuing, "I will go and tell her what has become of Sandy; Jack, you come too." North and Jack made their way back to the sleigh and somberly climbed in and took off.
A/N: Thank you to those who made it to the end of the chapter. The next chapter will be where it starts to differ from the story more. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed coming up with the concept. Please continue to read and feel free to leave me comments about anything you liked or what ever you feel I could improve on.
~Jessica