DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or it's characters.
WARNING: Major character death
It hadn't even been a year since the battle with Pitch - "The Battle of Belief" as they called it - and he was already back. Jack had been the first one to find him. Jack had been quick to send out the alarm but rushed in instead of waiting. The others had arrived quickly, but it was still too late. They got there just as Jack was stabbed with a Spear of Nightmare Sand. The guardians were frozen in shock. Jack couldn't have survived that, could he? It was Sandy who broke, having been the closest to the Winter Teen. Sandy had his whips out quicker than Pitch could blink. He was lifted and thrown time and again until his screams finally stopped. He was tied up and left to lie unconscious on Jack's lake. Tooth's cries brought Sandy's attention back to the limp form in the snow. the others had gathered around him, leaving Pitch to the Sandman. Sandy floated over, eyes sad. The Winter Spirit lay in a pool of his own blood. More of the dripping red covered his whole midsection, and it dripped from his nose and mouth. Jack coughed, making blood flow more heavily from his wound.
"Hey, little man," Jack gasped, a grin present even now. Sandy smiled at him, trying not to cry. North sat by his head, trying to wipe the blood away while Bunny was frantically trying to heal the wound. Tooth knelt, running a hand through his red stained hair. She actually seemed to be the only calm one of the three. "It's bad, huh?" Jack asked him, making him wince and not. He knew the boy wasn't stupid; he knew bad when he saw it. "Do me a favor then?" Jack asked him. Sandy nodded immediately, making Jack smile wider. Now Tooth broke down at the sight of his red stained teeth. "Take me to the air? Let me die flying," he rasped, ignoring the others as they protested, saying that he wouldn't die. Sandy looked Jack in the eye and saw something he never wanted to see in Jack. He saw childlike understanding and every minute of loneliness come together. As his answer, he formed a soft golden sand cloud under Jack. Tooth, who had also seen what he had seen, held North and Bunny back as Sandy joined Jack and the two rose into the air. Jack breathed in deeply as the cold wind surrounded him.