The Protectors

Prologue:

The Winter Fearling had his staff firmly planted on the ground. He kneeled on it, and covered his ears. The voices are back in his head, again. They wouldn't leave, they surrounded him, they drove him insane, and they called him a name. What they said was so strange, but yet so familiar.

"Don't you remember?"

"You were Jack Frost!"

"Jack Frost?" The Winter Fearling questioned.

"You were..."

Chapter One: History Repeats Itself

The glow of the moon reflected on a white-haired boy's face. The boy breathed slowly, lost in his dreams, and peacefully slept on an old branch in the old tree. He was fast asleep, but still managed to hold his staff in his right hand. Suddenly, his breaths were faster, and then his eyes grew wide. He lost his balance and fell. The Winter Spirit tumbled branch by branch; he struggled to catch himself. He quickly caught a branch in dear life, and then quickly remembered. He was immortal and what had scared him was just a dream. Jack Frost pushed himself up to sit on the branch that saved his immortal life. His dreamy blue eyes looked at the moon. That wasn't a dream; he thought to himself, it was a memory.

"Emma, so that was your name," Jack softly mumbled to himself. Sandy warned him that some of his memories would appear in his dreams. That it wasn't Pitch if the memories were a bad one. He looked into space and tried to recapture it.

He was in town with his little sister. They both went up to the water well to pitch a bucket of water. They were both very young especially Emma; he remembered, she was probably about two. He grabbed water from his bucket and decided to check on it if it was clean. Emma was fascinated on the water well, but Jack was too busy to have noticed anything. He found a water bug inside the bucket; he tried to pick it up with his own fingers. Then, he heard a scream he quickly dropped the water bug, and turned around. Emma slipped and fell to inside the water well. "EMMA!" He screamed in his memory. Then, the flashback ended.

Then, his mind returned to the present. Someone probably saved her... He really didn't know... The memory was over when he screamed for his sister, but he knew she lived after the incident. He had seen older versions of her, so maybe someone saved her that in the end everything was okay. He couldn't forget the fear he felt, and the desperation to not been able to save his sister. All he did was reached out to her, though he was feet apart. Maybe, that's how Emma felt when she watched him drown. He put his staff on his shoulder and turned away from the moon. His eyes met the city of Paris behind him. The flickering lights, the sound of cars, and he even heard a siren of an ambulance. Jack left reality and soon was lost in his thoughts.

He hoped Emma was okay after the incident. He mostly knew what happened before the incident (some of it was still came to him in his dreams), but he had no idea what happened afterward. He assumed that she was sad, but hoped she was young enough to forget. That she grew up, had many friends, and broke many hearts. She must've gotten an education he remembered how clever she was. He hoped that she married a nice fellow, had all the children she wanted, and died old with a smile on her face. He looked at the city of Paris for one last time. "And she visited Paris, of course," He added to his thoughts out loud. That was the thing about Emma he knew that her life was worth it. She lived the fairy-tale life, which in the end she lived happily ever after.

"Well, au revior, Paris," He playfully spoke in his attempted bad French accent with a smirk on his face. "I have to visit, Jamie," He playfully bowed down to the city in front of him. "Wind, take me home!" Jack gleefully shouted at the wind. The wind suddenly made him float away from the tree branch. The Winter Spirit flew high above the clouds. Spin around in circles, watch the clouds below him, and the rush of the air were one of the simple things he enjoyed.

Jack slowed down a bit and free-fall into the city of Burgesses. "Hello," He told the people that couldn't see him. A man carried a heavy box filled with papers. "Do you miss me?" Playfully made all the papers fly away, which he found very funny. He landed next to a pole and lied down on it. "Now, where's Jamie Bennett?" He quickly flew towards Jamie's neighborhood. Each house was covered in Christmas Lights, but except one Jamie's. Jack landed in front of the house, and the door quickly swung open.

Jack quickly hid behind the tree. What if Jamie no longer believed in him? Maybe the boy had grown up, and forgot about the Guardians. Jamie had reached his teenage years; the age when the children no longer believe in the Guardians. He quickly shook off his emotions, and caught a glance of his old friend.

Jamie had grown up and seemed to look his age which was fifteen. He grew many inches taller, some of his childish features became manlier, and his hair bangs almost cover his eyes. The teenage boy clumsily carried a box full of Christmas lights. With his foot he shut the door, clumsily walked towards the ladder that leaned on his house, and then climbed it. Jamie had reached the top of his house, and he set up his tools to decorate his house. Jack smoothly flew up to the boy.

"Hey, kiddo," Jack tried to hide his nervous tone. Jamie quickly turned around, his eyes met with his old friend, and fifteen year old Jamie looked like a child, again.

"Jack! You're back!" Jamie exclaimed and hugged his friend. Jack forgot about his worries and hugged back.

"Of course, it's not Christmas around here without snow," He smiled at his own remark. "Wow, I'm gone for like three seasons, and you hit puberty," He teased his friend. Jamie blushed and went back to staple the Christmas lights.

"Jack, you're late you usually come... you know... two weeks earlier," Jamie spoke while he stapled the lights on, while he tried to keep his balance on the old ladder.

"Two words: global warming," Jack joked and Jamie laughed, along. The believer hasn't changed one bit. Jack grabbed a nearby hammer and helped out with decorations.

"I was worried... I kind of thought Pitch was back," Jamie quietly revealed his worries. Those words shocked Jack it's been six years since Pitch was defeated. The Guardians had told Jack it sometimes took centuries for Pitch to return.

"W-Why would y-you... think...um... worry about that?" Jack nervously asked. If Pitch returned who knew what dark plans he might have.

"Uh... Nothing, its j-just I worry about you, Jack, and the other Guardians," Jamie confessed. He lost his balance and slipped off the ladder. Jack quickly helped the boy gain his balance, again.

"You okay?" He asked and then noticed that the boy had under-eye bags, "Jamie... Um, you look a bit tired..."

"Oh, just slightly bad times and not enough sleep. The stress of school and well... my Mom is sick. She feels pain and has fever. It hasn't been the happiest holiday season, and I wanted Sophie to be happy. So, I decided to put on some Christmas lights," Jamie responded. He went back to work on his masterpiece.

"How sick is your Mom, right now?" Jack asked.

"Just fever she's in bed resting," He answered.

"So, stress in school. Mmmm... You're in the age, so do you like someone?" Jack playfully asked.

"No," The boy shied away and turned around.

"There is! Is it Cupcake? Pippa? Or a new girl," Jack noticed Jamie flinched when he mentioned, Pippa. "Pippa, so she is the girl!"

"Jack!" Jamie was bright red in embarrassment and then happily commented, "You're beginning to act more like an older brother than a Guardian." Jack paused for a moment, and a big warm smile grew on his face.

"I guess so," Both of them smiled at each other and then decorated Jamie's house with Christmas lights.

The two tired boys went inside the house.

"Sophie is napping," Jamie whispered. Jack looked around the house three seasons was really a long time. His eyes wandered through the family pictures. He saw a man who looked like an older version of Jamie. "Anything you want to drink, Jack?" Jamie asked from the kitchen. Jack was about to answer, but then he noticed something on the ground. Slowly, went closer to see what it was. He recognized a woman and kneeled down for a closer look: it was Jamie's Mom. "Jamie! Jamie! Jamie!"

Quickly, Jamie appeared and then ran to his Mom's side. "Mom," He called out to his mother and slightly shook her shoulder. "Mom!" He hoped that she would wake up. He quickly felt his Mother's pulse. His mind raced with hopeful thoughts, and then felt a pulse. "She's unconscious...Uh, I have to call the ambulance," Jamie quickly stood up his voice was shaky, "stay with her." He ran towards the phone and dialed down numbers.

"Mommy," A quiet timid voice spoke. Sophie looked nervously at her Mom. Jack didn't know how to respond, or what to do. He felt useless.

"Help will be here in a couple minutes, Soph," Jamie tried to keep calm, but worried tears wanted to form in his eyes. The ambulance entered inside the house.

Yet again, Sandy had another successful night; he finished his work. He had given good dreams to all the children of Africa. He must move along to the next country, and so on. He brushed his small hands together, and put his hands on his hips. Then, felt a slight pinch. His smile quickly faded, and felt the pinch again. The pinch seemed to be from one of his dream sands. He flew to the ground where the pinch came from. It was inside a little girl's room. The dream sand was over the little girl's head; then it had turned brown. This was strange, before he could think of anything else the dream sand had turned black. The girl rolled around in her bed in fear. Quickly, he tried to change the sand back to its golden color.

"Hello, Sandman," A chilly familiar voice whispered to him, "it's been long since our last encounter." Sand whips appeared in Sandy's hands. He quickly slashed at the dark figure. The dark figure ducked, so Sandy slashed again. His whips wrapped around the dark figure's hand and pushed him out of the house to the outside. Pitch had an evil menacing smile. He was almost unrecognizable he looked more like dark gooey sand rather than the Boogeyman. Maybe, he hasn't gained much power yet.

"Oh long time no see, I was beginning to miss your useless fighting," Pitch teased. Sandy was furious he slashed another of his sand whips. Pitch blocked it with his nightmare sand sickle, and swung it toward the Sandman. Sandy quickly ducked at the impact, and made his sand whips wrap around Pitch's legs. He pulled the dream sand and Pitch slipped to the ground. The Nightmare King chuckled and faded away to the shadows. "Oh history does repeat itself," Pitch remarked. Sandy was surrounded by many shadows of Pitch he didn't know where to attack. He turned around and didn't want to leave his guard down. He wouldn't let Pitch hurt him like he had done before. Pitch came out of one of his shadows, and then the Guardian quickly swung his whip toward him. The Boogeyman caught it and didn't let it go. "Well, not anymore," Pitch said. The sand whip had turned black and Sandy couldn't let go of it. Soon, the Guardian of Dreams was surrounded by darkness. The air seemed thinner and harder to breathe in. He felt weak as if the energy was taken away from him. He gasped for air, and fell to the ground. No, he thought, he would not show defeat. With the strength he had left he stood up.

The darkness faded away, and he found himself back in the little girl's room. Pitch was nowhere around. "No," The little girl sat up in her bed and wiped away her tears. She picked up the teddy bear next to her and held it up so they could meet eye to eye. "It was all just a nightmare, right?" She questioned the teddy bear. She looked up at the direction where Sandy stood. She quickly backed away in fear. "Monster!" She yelled and ran out of the room. Sandy tried to run after her and show her he was a good Guardian. He was confused kids never were scared of him. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. No longer was he covered in the yellow golden sand it was black just like Pitch's. He walked away from the mirror, rubbed his head with disbelief, and ran outside.

Sandy went out to the backyard of the house and built himself an airplane out of sand. It was black exactly like the nightmare sand. He was afraid of what he had become. Pitch had done something to his power. Sandy looked around the neighborhood, streams of black sand surrounded the whole area, and it was his fault. He had to get out of there at that moment, and he had to control the evil he had. Who knew what this new power was capable of? Maybe if he went to the North Pole and North could help him. He quickly jumped into his nightmare plane he had made. Sandy had to get somewhere soon; well, Australia wasn't that far he could go to the Warren.

Bunnymund dipped his paint brush into the green paint, and carefully painted his Christmas styled eggs a gift for his fellow, Guardians. He hummed to himself the old Pooka song. It was a bit too soon for Christmas gifts, but better early than late. Happily, dipped his paint brush and drew a picture of a tooth on Toothiana's Christmas gift. "Pookas strong and mighty," He silently sang to himself. His Sentinel eggs stood up on their legs. Bunny quickly looked up and saw a black airplane that headed toward the warren.

"Pitch!?" Bunny angrily said. He clutched his boomerangs and threw them at the black airplane. "Pitch"(Sandy) built a shield and the boomerangs quickly bounced back. "You show pony! You'll regret ever-," Bunny stopped and recognized "Pitch" was actually the Sandman. "Sandy?" He asked in disbelief and his eyes grew wide. Sandy miserably landed to the ground, and his airplane disappeared. "We have to take you to North, mate!" Bunny quickly reacted and tapped his paw in the ground. Both of them fell down the hole, and appeared in the North Pole.

"It's always so bloody cold," Bunny complained and ran towards North's workshop. Sandman tried his best to catch up, but even with all his pride he fell to the ground in defeat. "Sandy, can you walk?" Bunnymund tried to hide the worried tone in his voice. Sandy nodded his head and stood up. "Let me help you there, mate," Bunny reached his paw out to him and Sandy weakly took it. Both walked inside North's workshop.

Elves surrounded the two; they gasped at the sight of Sandy.

"Move with your pointy hats. What's the problem?" A familiar Russian accent spoke. Then, North caught a sight of Sandy. He was shocked and for a couple seconds speechless. "Sandy, what happened to you?" He kneeled down to meet at Sandy eye to eye.

Sandy showed North what happened on top of his head was an image of Pitch. He didn't need to show more. The Guardians worriedly looked at each other. Then, the three looked at the globes one by one the lights faded.

"He's back," North muttered in amazement.

"I'm afraid so," Bunny responded. North quickly walked up to the emergency lever and pressed it. The globe glowed and Northern Lights appeared.

"We will get Pitch, and we will change you back to normal don't worry, Sandy," North assured his friend and put his hand on Sandy's shoulder.

Sandy made another dark image appear over his head: it was an image of himself who slowly faded away. The other two Guardians worriedly looked at each other. They both hoped not to lose their friend, once again. The Guardian of Dreams looked weak and barely stood up on his feet. Sandy wondered how he would ever be the same, again.

You finished the first chapter, congratulations! I felt like leaving author notes at the end if you choose not to read them.

Author's story of this chapter: Finally finished this chapter! Okay, so I've been proofreading this story like to an exaggeration. I just wanted to improve my writing, and well I hope there aren't any spelling mistakes! This is actually my thought on how a sequel for RotG will work out. The idea came to me when Evil Jack Frost became a thing. This story started when one day I was just bored and started typing a RotG story with Clint Mansel's Moon soundtrack playing. Then, I fixed it up and well thought of the plot that came after, and well this happened.

Explanation: The prologue is a quick glance of the future of this story!:D So, this story takes 6 years after the movie. The children are all teenagers, and I don't want it to be a high school side story. It's more of a reality hits your dreams thing with Jamie. Also, this a head canon of mine that maybe not all Jack's memories came to him, but maybe they come to him time to time in his dreams. Pitch hasn't gained all his power, because the loss of believers in the last movie he hasn't fully transformed into his normal appearance. He's almost gooey nightmare sand, but he still has some of his normal features. Though, Pitch is back with a plan that can transform the Guardians into his fearlings.

Thanks for reading this!

Reviews are appreciated!

P.S: If you have a tumblr and you noticed the cover of this fanfic looks similar to RotG Confession edit it's because I'm the Mod, hi!:D