The Final Four
Author's Note - This is a Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons Fanfiction. I do not own any of the characters, they belong to Disney, Dreamworks and William Joyce - I have merely used them to create a story of my own! This is the very first story I have written so please have patience.
Having never done this before I'm not entirely sure on the best way to lay out the story, and would love some feedback - if you don't leave a review saying if you would like to read more or not, I can't even tell if anyone is reading this! :P
The pairings in this story will be Jackunzel and Mericup, and the rating is currently K but will prob go up to M later as I plan for it to involve more peril and romance further into the story.
In this chapter you will find references to characters from William Joyce's book the Guardian's of Childhood, but I have changed their backgrounds slightly. Man in Moon will be referred to as MiM or Manny.
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Jack chuckled to himself as he put the finishing touches to the now slippery slope outside the house of a particularly grumpy occupant. How he wished he could hang around to see his face the following morning!
Having spotted the irritable man yelling at some kids earlier for playing in the snow, he thought it was only fitting he get him to 'join in'. As an after thought he added a soft pile of snow for him to land in – he wanted to give the guy a shock but he wasn't going to let him get hurt (even if he was a grouch!)
Leaping up onto a nearby roof, he surveyed the recently-frosted town with satisfaction, enjoying how everywhere he had touched now glittered in the moonlight. Suddenly he spotted a colourful glimmer sneak in a nearby window.
"Looks like someone's lost a tooth" he smiled to himself.
It had only been a week since he had last seen Toothiana and the other Guardians, just after they had defeated Pitch.
A slight frown appeared on Jack's otherwise carefree face. Something about that whole thing just didn't sit right with him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Still, if it had never happened he would never have become a Guardian, be seen for the first time, or found his memories…wait. His memories.
That was it! Jack straightened up as he remembered what he had been wanting to ask the others – why was he the only one to lose his memories? It was probably nothing, but something was telling him that he should try and find out anyway and now was as good a time as any!
He started a run up along the roof preparing for his flight to visit the Tooth Palace, when suddenly he was plunged into darkness. He stumbled slightly as his heart froze for an instant – the last time he had fallen into darkness like this was …Pitch?!
He whirled around holding his staff up defensively but as his heart slowed and his eyes adjusted to the sudden change in light he realised that no, it wasn't complete darkness. Look, there were the street lights, he was still on the roof, not in Pitch's cave….then what..? With a gaining sense of dread he looked up at the sky...
The moon was gone.
"Oh that can't be good" Jack murmured to himself. "Change of plans wind – take me to the North Pole".
... ... ...
Jack landed at the entrance to North's Workshop and hurried in past the yeti holding the door open for him. Normally he would have stopped to savour the moment since it was usually the yeti's keeping him out and he hadn't quite got used to the perks of being a Guardian yet, but now was not the time. He burst into the Globe room, to find North pacing up and down, whilst Bunny and Sandy were having a hushed conversation in whispers and sand symbols over in the corner.
"So I'm assuming you guys have seen the moon or lack of it then?" Jack said jokingly to try and break the tension. "Hey, where's –"
"I'm here!" Toothiana bust in through the window. "Sorry, I flew as fast as I could. North what's happening?! Where is MiM?"
Bunny and Sandy stopped their conversation and the group gathered in front of the Globe. From there you would usually be able to see the moon shining in and watching over them all, but no matter how much Jack craned his neck, all he could see was darkness. But wait – he could still see the stars. Except for where the moon usually was, but if it was gone he should be able to see the stars behind it. That meant –
"Manny's not gone. He has been hidden from us." North said sombrely.
"What are you talking about? The Moon's a bit big to be playing hide and seek with don't you think?!" Bunny exclaimed.
"I mean someone is purposely trying to stop Manny from contacting us, or us contacting him. Someone is planning something and that someone doesn't want us getting any help."
Jack raised an eyebrow "And that someone would be….?"
"Pandora"
Toothiana gasped, whilst Bunny and Sandman went still and looked at each other with dread.
"Um, guys? Am I missing something? Who's Pandora? Isn't she just a story?"
"You of all people Jack should know that stories are based in truth, and legends are more than capable of being real." Said North seriously. He sighed and turned to walk over to a wall and the back of the room. "Jack, have you ever heard of legend of Final Four?"
"Er…nope can't say I've heard that one."
"It's a Guardian legend Jack" Tooth explained softly. "One that has been with us since before any of us can remember. MiM gave it to us to keep safe, long before you even existed. The reason no one has brought it up before now is because...because…."
"Because we hoped we would never have to." Bunny finished for her.
Jack looked warily at Sandy who nodded his head gravely. North meanwhile had opened up a secret compartment and from it pulled a dusty piece of parchment. It looked old but still in extremely good condition, and as North laid it out on a table in front of them all, Jack noticed that the writing shimmered silver - just like moonbeams.
North took a deep breath. "This is the legend Jack. Listen well because after this – everything will change."
"Well that's not ominous in the slightest" Jack quipped trying to cover his nerves. North gave him a look and began reading.
...
"First there are four, then four again.
Guardians from Snow, Sand, Cloud and Glen
Seasons from Winter, Summer, Autumn and Spring
Much joy to children they all shall bring.
The original four, when times are stark,
Shall cause the first defeat of dark.
They shall keep the children safe from blunder –
Their memories, dreams, hope and wonder.
For the final four, a further task
Another duty will be asked.
Pandora once again will rise,
Unite or face the world's demise.
Child and season, through storm and calm
Both are theirs to keep from harm.
Two by two the moon shall choose;
Their former lives they then shall lose.
Memories lost, form unseen,
Until the rise of the Hollow Queen.
Apart until the time is right
And then the final four unite."
...
Silence fell in the room as the occupants tried to take in the meaning of what they've heard. Jack's head was swimming. So many questions! He tried to straighten it all out in his head.
"'The first defeat of dark'…does that mean the Dark Ages?"
"Yes, we've generally taken that part to mean when we four defeated Pitch the first time around in the Dark Ages" Tooth answered.
"Snow would be for North, Sand for, well, no prizes for guessing there, Cloud for Tooth in her Tooth Palace, and Glen for me." Said Bunny. "We're the 'original four'"
"But…there are 5 Guardians now. Aren't there? I am a Guardian aren't I? You're the ones who made me one!" Jack exclaimed. True, he hadn't been so keen on it at first, but he finally had friends, a purpose, and he couldn't bear it if this was taken away from him now.
"Woah, calm down there fella!" Bunny said holding his hands up in a 'surrender' style pose. "Yes you are, but – we think – you are also something more."
Jack paused from having his mini heart attack to think this through. "More?"
North stepped forward and placed both his hands on Jack's shoulders. "Think Jack. The final four are Guardians of both children and seasons. Chosen by the moon, they lose their memories until 'the time is right'. Now who, out of all of us, does that sound like to you?"
Jack looked around to find everyone staring at him. "I'm…a Guardian of seasons?" he said slowly.
"Well technically only one; and you're title is Season. So you're a Guardian of Fun and a Season of Winter." Bunny said nonchalantly.
"And there are more of me - us? Us ….Seasons?"
Sandy nodded excitedly bouncing up and down slightly in the air. Above his head appeared the symbols of a snowflake, flower, sun and autumn leaf.
"Yes Jack, there should be one Season for every period of the year – so four of you in total. But if this is all true, and we're pretty certain it is, then unfortunately this means that something very bad has already happened." Tooth explained sadly.
Jack just looked at her with a questioning eyebrow and a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Does this have something to do with Pandora and the –" he looked at the parchment again "- Hollow Queen?"
"They are same person!" North declared. "Pandora was also known as Hollow Queen, which over time became Halloween. Her box contained all the evil spirits of the world and she released them to create chaos and havoc in the world. You see?"
"We've never told you but when we defeated Pitch the first time, we also managed to subdue Pandora." Bunny continued. "We managed to force Pitch and all the other evil spirits in her box, but it was only with the help of Nightlight that we were able to seal it and send Pandora to sleep."
"Who's Nightlight?"
The other four guardians looked at each other sadly. North sighed.
"Nightlight…was a dear friend. Closest to Manny most of all. Without him – we would never have managed it. He created key to lock the box and seal Pandora in sleep. But – in doing this – he was destroyed."
"The key he created was actually a dagger forged from one of Manny's moonbeams." Tooth continued softly. "He forged it using the fire from lightning, quenched it in tears from the sun and then he – he gave his life by bathing it in the light of his own soul. Only a weapon that strong was enough to seal the box, but even then it couldn't defeat Pandora or Pitch entirely. Once they were subdued we hid the box away in the darkest crevice of a cave under a mountain, and Pandora was laid to sleep in the depths of the ocean, we had hoped, for eternity."
"MiM split the key into four and hid them in case anyone would ever try and open the box. He never told anyone where he put them, not even us" Bunny concluded.
"So if my memories are back…?" Jack queried
"Yes. That means Pandora has awoken. We were worried the instant we discovered Pitch was back, even before we knew about him stealing the dream sand. That's because if he is out of the box, it means the seal is weakening. He was Pandora's right hand man, so it is likely he is the only one powerful enough to escape as the seal has weakened over time, and only then because he would have had her help from outside – but this means that they will both be searching for the keys in order to release the rest of her evil into the world"
"Wait – wait – both? Pitch is still alive?!"
"Goodness yes Jack!" Tooth exclaimed "Surely you didn't think that nightmares were enough to kill him did you? He's the King of Nightmares and Shadows! He may have been weakened for a time, but especially if Pandora is about, it wont be long before he's about trying to cause trouble again."
"And you guys were going to tell me this…when?" Jack said a little exasperated.
"Any day now actually Jack but, forgive us, we wanted to give you time to enjoy being a Guardian before we threw all – this – at you." North said with a sad look in his eyes.
Jack knew North was right. They had only been looking out for him. He guessed he must just not be used to that idea yet – people thinking of him. Caring about him.
He looked around at them all and smiled. "Nothing to forgive, don't worry about it."
North chuckled whilst Sandy and Tooth beamed back at him and Bunny smirked.
"So….what do we do about these other 3 Seasons?"