Hey guys, welp...here it is. My second Rise of the Guardians story. I didn't know how I felt about my first one, so I decided to make another...hope you enjoy!
"We've been searching for forever, maybe he's not here" Tooth said, flying around once more. "No. He is here. I can feel it...In my belly" North said. "Are we really trusting that Jack will be here all because a your belly?!" Bunny asked. "Belly is never wrong" North shrugged, moving forward. "He has been gone for a few days" Tooth said, giving into North's crazy belly story. A few seconds of silence followed before Bunny heard a faint noise. "Shh! Ya hear that?" Bunny asked. "I do not hear anything." North said.
A picture of an ear, then an arm with muscles appeared over Sandy's head. "Sandy's right. Bunny's hearing is stronger than ours." Tooth said, deciphering Sandy's picture code. "This way!" Bunny suddenly yelled, darting off in the opposite direction. The rest of the Guardians quickly followed after their fast friend. Tooth was on Bunny's heels, flying along with the rabbit. Sandy was a little ways back, but still keeping up with the two on his dream sand. North was last in line, not being able to keep up as easily as the rest. "Over here!" Bunny said, heading towards one of the cells. Now everyone could hear what Bunny was hearing. "-will not come. But if they do, I'll make sure to take care of th-".
Bunny walked forward to see Jack's form, sitting with his head down, back turned and hands hidden. His staff broken into two pieces on the floor a few feet away. And Pitch just over his shoulder, whispering something in his ear. Something that made Jack flinch. Pitch then took his hand out and placed it on the back of Jack's head. Jack didn't scream, he didn't thrash around, he just sat there. Eyes closed and breathing unsteady. Tooth had had enough of watching Pitch hurt Jack. "Jack!" Tooth yelled, getting both the Nightmare king and the teenagers attention.
Pitch looked towards Jack and said out loud. "Be careful, Jack. Remember to keep cool." he said before sinking into the shadows. Jack turned as a big smile made it's way on his face when he saw his make-shift family. "Guys!" Jack yelled back, standing up and running towards the bars to meet his friends. But the reunion was cut short when Jack stopped abruptly. Jack looked down as if to show everyone why he stopped. His hands were covered in a case made of nightmare sand. Stopping him from using his powers to get out. "Hold on mate" Bunny said. "The bars are made of Nightmare sand." Tooth observed. "Sandy, do you think you can do something?" North asked, turning to the mute Guardian. Sandy thought for a minute, then nodded and walked towards the bars.
He held his hands out and shot golden sand into the black sand. The two sands mixed for a second, then a hole just big enough for a body was made. Bunny maneuvered through and took in the sight of Jack. He wasn't majorly hurt but he did have a couple of bruises and cuts along his face and neck. What scared Bunny the most was the large gash on Jack's shoulder. His hoodie was ripped in some places, but not too much. Ignoring it for a split second, Bunny focused on getting the sandy covers off of Jack's hands. Bunny took out one of his boomerangs and started to hit it.
Jack focused and tried to form frost around it to make it more fragile and brittle. After a few hard hits from his boomerang, the covers started to loosen, and Jack slipped his hands out and grabbed both halves of his staff. "We gotta to get outta here." Bunny said, turning to Sandy. The silent man nodded as Bunny and Jack ducked before the Nightmare sand took over and transformed back into the bars. They all started running from where they came from, each Guardian stealing glances at their youngest member to make sure he was still with them.
They hadn't even made it out the room when they heard the all too familiar laugh. A shadow formed in front of them, and Jack stepped forward, having enough of Pitch tormenting his family. "Pitch!" North yelled. "I really must say, I'm quite surprised Jack." Pitch said, coming out from his hiding spot in the shadows. "I thought you knew better" Pitch said, walking down to the Guardian's level. "Like I said before, I want people to believe in me. Not fear me." Jack said, taking another step forward. "And like I said the last time. Think of what we could do! You don't need these Guardians. They ignored you for 300 years, they're just using you. Once you've served your purpose, they'll throw you out like garbage." Pitch said.
Jack looked down at his feet, as if weighing his options. "Jack, don't listen to him. We're sorry for ignoring you, but you have us now" Tooth said, putting her hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack raised his shoulders while dropping his head, clutching his broken staff. "Think of all your fears, Jack. What if they abandon you. What if they forget about you. What if you're not strong enough for them. What if you can't protect them. You know it will happen Jack, so why are you delaying the inevitable?" Pitch said, smiling. He knew he had hit a soft spot, and Jack's fear was the best of them all. "You're gonna bloody pay!" Bunny yelled. He hated seeing Jack vulnerable, especially in front of Pitch Black. He threw one of his boomerangs towards the shadow king.
"Pay for what? I didn't do anything wrong." Pitch said innocently, dodging the weapon. "You kidnapped Jack. You took my fairies and you tried to flood the world in fear and nightmares!" Tooth yelled, flying up to Pitch to try and attack, but Pitch disappeared all too quickly. The Guardians turned to see all around them, but failed to notice a shadow creeping towards their youngest member. Jack felt a hand suddenly grasp his neck and he gasped and dropped his broken staff. The two halves of the staff clattered on the ground. The sound of wood dropping on the ground notified the Guardians that something wasn't right. They all turned to see a horrifying sight. Pitch. His hand around Jack's neck, slowly cutting off his oxygen.
Jack was standing on his toes because Pitch had started to lift him up. "Maybe I can't strike fear in the hearts of the world, but at least I can strike fear in the hearts of the Guardians." Pitch said, smiling as he hardened his grip on the little spirits throat. "What you don't know, Jack. Is that the Guardians only keep you around because they feel sorry for you. They feel sorry for you and your pathetic life, so they took pity on you and let you become a Guardian." Pitch said, turning his focus towards his captive, smiling. "I want to watch you beg for mercy. I want to watch you pray that I leave the Guardians untouched, because no matter how many times you deny it, you will always think of yourself as less than a Guardian. You want to look up to them, have them be your heroes, have them be your family, but what family leaves a child alone for 300 years?" Pitch continued as he watched Jack's eyes ever so slowly close.
"I want to watch you watch me finish off the Guardians one by one." Pitch finished, squeezing Jack's neck as hard as he possibly could. All of the sudden, a boomerang knocked Pitch off balance, making him drop Jack. Still semi-conscious, Jack tried to stand up. "Jack, hold on" Tooth said, bringing her hands under Jack's arms to help him get up. "Just wait till I ge-" Bunny started. "I don't think you should be worrying about me right now." Pitch said with a smile on his face. In the background, dozens of Nightmares stepped forward, surrounding the Guardians. "Why not!?" North yelled, taking notice of the upcoming danger.
"Because, I think a heat wave is about to come in." Pitch said. The room suddenly got warmer. "A little heat won't change the fact that I'm still going to kick your sorry butt." Bunny said, stalking closer. "Maybe not, but let's not forget that hot and cold don't mix" Pitch said, laughing as he disappeared into the shadows. The Nightmares took their cue and started to run towards their prey. Tooth yelped suddenly as Jack leaned on her for more support. "Guys, he's getting warmer!" Tooth said, noticing a red flush starting to form on Jack's cheeks. "Ugh...t-too hot" Jack breathed, starting to loose his footing. They didn't know what to do. They've never had to deal with an overheating winter spirit. "We have to get outside" North said, taking Jack out of Tooth's arms and into his own. Wow. Jack was light. The kid needs to eat more.
The room had now gotten three times warmer than it originally was, and by the looks of it, it was almost like it was putting Jack in pain. "You and Sandy get Jack outside, Tooth and I'll take care of tha Nightmares." Bunny said, throwing a boomerang into an upcoming Nightmare. North and Sandy quickly headed for the exit. Sandy suddenly remembered something and quickly grabbing Jack's broken staff as he blasted a Nightmare coming towards him. Climbing up out of the hole and into the snow, North and Sandy looked around them. Luckily, it had just snowed three days ago, the day Jack disappeared. North didn't know what to do, after all, he's never had to take care of a winter spirit before.
Sandy tapped on North's arm and pointed to the snow, a snowflake appearing above his head. North got the hint and gently set Jack down in a patch of snow. North smiled as he watched Jack unconsciously snuggle into the comforting cold. A few seconds later, Bunny and Tooth came barging out, a little out of breath. "They'll be delayed for a little bit, but I suggest we start moving now" Bunny said, looking towards North. "Awww!" Tooth squealed, getting Bunny's attention. Bunny gave out a light, breathy chuckle."I will admit he is kinda cute when he's not freezin' everything" Bunny said, looking down towards the frost spirit. Bunny frowned as he noticed the pinkish snow around Jack and the bruising starting to form on his neck.
Pitch would pay. "We must go" North said, starting to pick Jack up again. Jack's eyes fluttered open and he looked around. "Jack, do you think you can walk?" Tooth asked, looking down at the exhausted teenager. "I need my s-staff" Jack said, wincing. He mentally kicked himself for stuttering. Even if he didn't want it to be, what Pitch had said was true. Jack was afraid that his new family would leave him, ignoring him once again. Sandy walked up and placed both halves of the wooden tool in Jack's hands. Jack looked down at his staff. He'd have to fix it again.
"I'm sorry, Jack. We can try to find you a new staff" Tooth said, not understanding that it was impossible to get another staff. There was only one staff that served Jack, and that was the broken one in his hands. He's fixed it before, he could do it again. North slowly set Jack down on his feet, but still hovered close in case Jack still needed support. Jack put the two halves together and closed his eyes, pushing the splintered wood together. After a few seconds of silence, a blue light started to shine from the break. Jack's eyes were still closed, but he smiled. He could feel his energy leaving his body as it flowed through his arms into his staff. Jack opened his eyes to see a newly fixed staff and four speechless faces.
All of the sudden, Jack's legs gave out from underneath him and he start to fall. Luckily, North was behind him. "Jack. That was-" Tooth started. "Amazing" North finished, looking down at the drained spirit. "Thanks" Jack said, closing his eyes. Sandy showed pictures of the Guardians in a race with golden Nightmares behind them. "Sandy's right, we should get going before the Nightmares get back." Bunny said, as Tooth took the staff out of Jack's limp fingers. North handed Jack to Bunny so he could reach into his coat to grab a snow globe. "North Pole" North said, throwing the snow globe on the ground. Not a second later, several Nightmares came running out and towards the spirit. The Guardians quickly jumped through the portal and landed in a room with a big globe that had blinking lights surrounding it.
Yetis and elves working on toys for next year and a big couch and a chair fit for a king. North set Jack down on the couch and watched as Sandy sent a stream of golden dream sand over Jack's head. North then walked behind the couch and ordered the yetis and elves to leave. Sandy had to leave, taking notice that he was starting to feel a bit weaker. Nightmares. The rest of the Guardians then started to watch Jack's dream. Sure, it could be considered an invasion of privacy but they honestly didn't know a lot about their newest member.
They watched the golden version of Jack and the Guardians race. Jack and Bunny seemed to be racing, and sand version of Jack twisted in the air and talked to the sand version of Bunny. It reminded Bunny of the talk they had before racing to collect the teeth. This made Bunny smile, it made him happy to know that Jack still hung onto that memory. The three Guardians watched for a little while until something happened. The dream version of Bunny punched dream Jack. The scene changed to the Guardians in a group with Jack in front of them.
Dream North pointed away from the group. Dream Tooth flew up to Jack and said something to him. Dream Sandy used his sand and aimed at dream Jack's head which Jack ducked, and dream Bunny walked up and pushed Jack to the ground. The Guardians were shocked, they didn't remember this. Tooth held Jack's staff tighter as she watched. That's when the golden sand started to turn black. A Nightmare.
So that's what his greatest fear was...