Protection (noun): 1. The action of protecting someone or something, or the state of being protected. 2. A person or thing that prevents someone or something from suffering harm or injury.
He didn't understand it. He didn't understand it on his first encounter, and he certainly didn't understand it centuries later during that fateful encounter in Antarctica. He doubted that he would ever know the workings of Jack Frost.
All he knew was that when he first met him, he thought nothing of him. He had just sense the fear that radiated off the boy almost like the venomous rays of the sun. The fear of death, of isolation, of being forgotten, of what was left behind and the future—all tumultuous and dispersing into the surrounding area.
It caught Pitch Black's attention almost immediately. He followed the scent from the lone village all the way to the frozen pond. A seemingly lifeless heap was curled in on itself in the center of the frozen mass. This was the source of the blissful misery and fear. As he edged closer to the tree line, he could taste the sweet and sour flavor of self-loathing.
It was almost too good to be true. All this bundle of fear needed was a bow on top and Pitch would've sworn that North had sent him a gift!
What the embodiment of Nightmares failed to notice was the shift of the breeze as he journeyed closer. As he stood at the edge of the clearing, the wind had picked up and seemed to alternate at tugging and pulling at the loose clothing of the boy on the pond as if to rouse him and alert him of danger and trying to tug Pitch's shadow back towards the woods.
He continued on his way though, his eyes focused on the boy. The spirit now stood on the edge of the frozen pond. Just as he was about to step onto the sheet of ice, a monstrous sound howled within the woods, startling the dark spirit.
Pitch Black was the darkness though and so continued on with just a touch of hesitance as the noise rocketed in volume to almost deafening proportions. How the boy had not stirred, he would not know. It wasn't until Pitch was leaning over the boy that he instantly regretted ignoring the now obvious warnings.
An invisible entity picked him up with such force that when Pitch hit a tree at the edge of the clearing, it fell over almost instantly. Howling roared in his ears as if a flock of banshees had decided to visit. The force kept him on his back, unable to sit up or take cover as the wind—that's what this thing was—picked up the fresh snow and turned the innocuous object into a threat. It clouded his vision and felt like needles being thrown against him repeatedly.
As quick as it started though, it had ended. When the Nightmare King finally found it in him to sit up, he found the pond empty and the only fear in the air his own.
He would never understand the actions of the usually selfish wind that night. Then again, the bringer of nightmares and fear never understood the raw need to protect before.
Because the wind was Jack Frost's protector and would continue to protect him until he found it in himself to hold his own. Until Jack became the great legend he was meant to be. Of course the wind would always be there to protect him if need be, but even the wind knew that Jack wouldn't want that. He was just as independent and stubborn as the wind.
And so three hundred years later, Jack stood his ground in Antarctica against Pitch. He stood there alone and prepared to protect not only himself, but Baby Tooth and in turn the other Guardians and the children of the world.
I like the idea of the unique relationship between Jack and the wind and wanted to flesh that out. The next chapters will have more dialogue in them. Hope I did the idea of the wind justice in this chapter. Anyways, thoughts?