Fragile Moon

Chapter 1: In Need of Death

Author: Yesss I made another fan fiction, and it's for Rise of the Guardians x3 Frankly I'm not so satisfied with most of the fan fictions in this section (most being the four or five I've looked at out of the filter for Bunnymund). Not only is the grammar not... particularly well in most of them but when I look up Bunnymund I usually find JackxBunny or JackxOc. Now there ARE BunnyxOc but when I looked at most of them I saw sues and/or very bad grammar that I could hardly stand. So I'm willing to put in my share of BunnyxOc that are decent owo b

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Rise of the Guardians or Guardians of Childhood. The only thing I do own is this story and the Ocs that come with it.

Special Note: The place Death is introduced may perhaps be familiar to those who read this. I will say this right now that I do not mean to be offensive at all and that I do not wish to insult any of the victims or families of the victims. In fact I put it in as a remembrance of the event since its first year anniversary is coming up in a few months. May the souls that lost their lives rest in peace after such a horrific event.

"So, anyone mind telling me why we're here again?" Jack Frost asked as he leaned up against a pillar in North's home at the North Pole. Sandy, also known as the Sandman, shrugged his golden shoulders with a question mark of sand appearing above his forehead.

"Well whatever it is it better be important, I only have three or four months till Easter" Bunnymund said as he was painting one of his well known eggs.

"North wouldn't call us here just for nothing, it must be something urgent especially since he's been busy preparing for Christmas" Tooth said, fluttering continuously while giving orders to her fairies.

"Indeed Tooth is right" called the Russian voice of the man well known for being Santa Claus. The Guardians turned to give their attention to their, supposed, leader to let him speak. "We have urgent news from Man in Moon " the big man said.

"News? What news?" Bunny asked, his ears perking up

"About Fearlings. They've begun invading the Spirit World, harming and corrupting the spirits; gathering fear" he said gravely.

"Fearlings? What are those?" Jack asked, only hearing this for the first time and had no idea what they were talking about.

"They're some of Pitch's more well known minions" Tooth said, flying down near her fellow Guardians "But why would they be a problem? Pitch is gone" she asked.

"I do not know, but Manny says that Spirit World is in danger and that he needs our help, so that's exactly what we're going to do!" he said, nodding approvingly.

"Whoa whoa, mate. I don't have time to go to the Spirit World, Easter 4 months away!" Bunny said disapprovingly.

"That didn't stop you before when Pitch was around. Even then it was three days till Easter you helped out and helped protect kids" Jack said, as if questioning the bunny. Bunnymund looked a bit irritated

"That was good for the children here. But I, nor any of us, have any business down in the Spirit World, not our realm, not our responsibility" he said, going back to painting his egg. Usually Bunny wouldn't be so irritated or objective to helping destroy a potential threat but considering the stress of making eggs and making sure that none are cracked or get spoiled was a worrying experience. Besides there was a figure that he'd rather avoid who was at home in that domain.

"C'mon Bunny, where's your sense of adventure?!" North asked as he took the egg from Bunny's paws

"Yea Bunny it sounds like fun exploring a world we haven't been to" Jack said with a smile, actually a bit excited. "Don't be such a stick in the mud, have a break from making the eggs"

"Sorry mate, but no can do. There's still about 100 million eggs to make, besides shouldn't you be preparin' for Christmas North? You only have eleven days left" he said, getting even more irritated.

"Uh... hey guys..." Tooth started to say, making the argument cease when they turned their gaze to the half-hummingbird female. She pointed up and saw that the moon was showing

"Manny!" North said excitedly, glade to talk to his old friend one again. "We were just about to head to Spirit World" he told him. The moonbeams went upon them and talked to them in a language and way that no mere mortal could understand. "What...?" an image appeared on the floor where a shadow ghost was shown going through some portal and then it was blocked by some sort of door.

"Well this makes thinks a lot more complicated" Jack commented "How are we supposed to get in if it's been sealed off because of the Fearlings?" another image came onto the floor. There it was a hooded figure with a scythe that anyone could recognize with a glance. "Is... that who I think it is?"

"Makes perfect sense! Grim Reaper can get us through gate!" North said gleefully "Then we rid Spirit World of Fearlings" he added. Sandy nodded approvingly along with Tooth and Jack; the only one who didn't full heartedly agree was Bunnymund.

"And how are ya goin' to do that? The Reaper is known to constantly change places" he said, hoping that maybe they wouldn't keep going about this. But that wasn't the case with North's optimism

"No need to worry, we just have to know where dead come and we find" he said with a nod

"By doin' what? It's not like there's a tracker for this sort of thing" Bunny pointed out. Right when he said that the moonbeams shifted to the North Pole's globe where it shown into one spot. "... Alright point taken. But I still gotta get my eggs done so if you'll excuse me-"

"Oh no Bunny, you come with us" North interrupted before dragging the rabbit off to where his sleigh was. On the way the rabbit tried his best to babble about how he had no time and that they could do it without him, but it was all just static in the ears of his fellow Guardians. "Quit bellowing like baby and enjoy ride. Besides, we haven't seen Grim Reaper in long time!" he said with a hardy laugh. Eventually Bunny gave in with a sigh, there was nothing to change the old man's mind once he was set onto some thought process.

"Oh so this isn't your first date with death?" Jack asked, causing a rather uneasy pause, especially from Bunny, that made awkwardness fill the air before Tooth decided to speak up.

"We've had our fair share of interactions" she said, hoping to lighten the mood that was already a bit more quiet then it previously had. This cause Jack to be confused and made him wonder what Death was like and what exactly was the reason they had met him before.

When they had arrived the sun was already setting and the school was a mess. The doors were smashed and within was a mess of papers, dirt, bullet shells and blood. It was horrifying to think of what might have happened for they knew that if MiM had taken them there, then it meant that there was someone or some people dead. It was unfortunate that since it was an elementary school that meant that there was a chance that children were involved, children they were supposed to protect.

"We better go, no use standing and doing nothing" North said before he took the lead, with the others following behind him. The place was quiet, dark and very cold. It smelt dusty with occasional copper that anyone could identify. But it wasn't until Jack decided to look into one of the first grader rooms that the smell intensified so much he had to cover his nose.

"Oh... God" he said while looking at all the blood and shell casings, but oddly the smell of Death was still there.

"This... is not good" North said before the rest of them checked out the rest of the school. It all looked the same except some places there was blood and some places only bullet casings, but when they came to the end of the hallway that was when they met who they were looking for.

"Who dares trespass on this ground of Death?" asked the voice, echoing through the halls. Bunny's ears went up straight and was looking around with a slightly alert look on his face.

"Who wants to know?" Jack asked, having his staff ready to attack whoever was talking

"Me." said the voice which came from behind them where a hooded figure with swirling grey fog stood which almost made the winter spirit fire on instinct. The figure came closer and was revealed to be floating on something that lowered to the ground to reveal the height of the so called Grim Reaper. Jack did his best not to laugh

"Aren't you a little short for the Grim Reaper?" he asked, trying to make some sort of a joke since The Reaper only barely came up to his chest, but it was blatantly ignored.

"What is your business here?" was the question that was asked in a cold and harsh tone. There was a no nonsense in the voice, a person dedicated to their job.

"We need your help" North said

"For what help can Death give you? My job is to slay those who must die, a job that comes when you Guardians don't fulfill yours" this statement caused Jack to be taken aback. Guardians not doing their job? Why would someone accuse them for doing so?

"How can you say that?! We protect children with our lives!" Jack started to say, getting insulted because someone said that he wasn't doing his job properly. "We make sure they're safe and protected and happy! You couldn't POSSIBLY know how that works as the killer you are!"

"Jack, don't" Tooth started as she tried to make him listen to reason as Sandy, standing there in silence, looked down sadly. The spirit would not listen to the older Guardian of Memories and grabbed the cloak in an attempt to make his point.

"Jack, just calm down there, mate" Bunny told him, a bit concerned about how this would turn out, he didn't want anyone hurt.

"How can I when-" Jack started to say before he realized something. As he gripped the cloak he could feel something wet on it, something wet and sticky which caused him to quickly retract his hand to look at it. Even in the dim lighting he could tell right away that it was blood "What the hell did you do?" he then asked

"My job" was the answer he got. "As Death I must make sure that those who are supposed to die are killed. I pick up the pieces that you all neglect, especially the young ones". After saying that Sandy made a question mark with all sorts other pictures to ask what happened, which got the Reaper's attention. "Since you all are ignorant of the situation I'll tell you; there was a massacre here"

"Massacre? You-you mean people were killed?" Tooth asked, starting to get very agitated and moving around more than usual and looking around cautiously. The Reaper nodded, turning towards the back at the classrooms that were made a mess.

"Twenty six died, twenty were children" said the Reaper, causing a gasp from them, aside from Sandy, when they heard that twenty of their precious children were gone from this world.

"No..."

"Crikey..."

"That... can't be true. Who would do such a thing to sweet innocent children?" Tooth asked, sounding so heartbroken about it.

"I think I can guess" Jack said before he blasted ice to the person in front of them "You're the one who killed them didn't you?! The blood on your cloak, the fact that you're Death, it's obvious!" he said. He blasted some more ice but the Reaper kept dodging "You... You child murderer!" he cried, blasting once more to barely graze the face.

"What a child you are" was all that came out of a seemingly absent mouth, unaffected by the blatant attacks "if you think that those petty attacks would hurt me you are sorely mistaken" The Reaper added. That was enough to make Jack attempt to physically assault Death itself, but was stopped when Bunnymund grabbed the back of his hood.

"Hold your horses ya dill" he said "we're here for help"

"You want the help of a child murderer?! The Grim Reaper is just as evil as Pitch!" Jack asked, causing Bunny to instantly counter.

"No one is as evil as Pitch, not even Death itself! So don't go talkin' about someone when you hardly know 'em" Jack was the most inexperienced out of all of them what the job of the Grim Reaper was while Bunny may have known it the best. He may not have known what the job entails it's Reaper to do, but maybe this was a way for him to find out. "We've got no choice. Now stop gettin' your knickers in a knot and calm down" he ordered. He let go of Jack who really looked like he was about to kill someone but did as he was told, even if he already hated the Reaper. He then turned to Death and said in almost a pleading tone "We... really need your help. We have to get to the Spirit World and stop the Fearlings from gettin' out and coming o'er here to the livin'. You're the only one able to let us through... please?" he asked

"I don't see why I should" was the answer, causing Bunny to look slightly disappointed even if he wasn't surprised by the answer. "The Spirit World is my domain and so I should be the one to eradicate this threat" Death added. It seemed like the Reaper was not willing to do what they were asking and before they could even start to counter the argument Death was already walking slowly into another classroom where the windows were broken to let the moon's light in since it had been a while since night had come into the sky.

"You need to understand. We would gladly let you do this on your own with how busy we normally are" North started to say as he walked next to the short figure, who looked to him. "But this is BIG. So big that Manny, himself, says that we all must work together"

"..." there wasn't an immediate response to what North was saying "MiM... told you all to come to me?" the question caused a nod from North and made Death look out the window to the moon. In order to reassure the large Russian put his hand on the small, almost bony shoulder.

"He wouldn't have asked if he didn't think it was so dangerous and risky that you couldn't do this yourself. Let us help" he said, hoping that there would be an agreement between them. But death just slumped the shoulders enough to have the big hands slip off before walking away from the window.

"Even if I did agree on this request I am unable to do so at the time" was the statement that was told next. "As MiM may have told you, the Spirit World has been locked up because of the Fearlings and their threat on everyone. Despite this a resident of the souls that were infected with fear had gotten out and is now infecting every souls it finds" The Reaper then turned to them while explaining the situation. "Before I can even think going to the Spirit World I must find this corrupted soul and purify it and any of the souls it's gotten into contact with, if they can be purified"

"How long will this take?"

"I don't know... I found one of the corrupted souls here, being possessed and killing children and adults alike. If I can purify it, perhaps I can get some clues"

"Then we help!" North said, jumping up with excitement. The Reaper blinked, expecting yet not expecting the reaction that Santa Claus was famous for having. "We find soul, we get clues and we catch Fearling infested soul and then we go to Spirit World"

"It's not that easy, you have to find the souls and souls are not easily seen especially to those who are used to being with the living, not the dead" Death started to say.

"In order for us to track 'em down we'd have to have a powerful sixth sense, right?" Bunnymund asked, knowing how this thing went.

"Animals are known to have a very strong sixth sense so..." Death started to say before briefly looking to Bunny and Tooth.

"Oh goodie we can put kangaroo on a leash and have him sniff out the soul we need" Jack said, chuckling at the thought of Bunny acting like a dog.

"What did I tell ya about callin' me a bloody kangaroo?" asked the Pooka, slightly irritated at being called something he wasn't. But even with the small bickering the teams were made; Bunny would be with North and Jack would be with Tooth. Death on the other hand...

"I'll go on my own" said the Grim Reaper before starting to walk out of the room without any of them having a word about it.

"Now wait, who said you got to go alone?" Jack asked, wondering why the 'evil' -as he saw it- Grim Reaper got to go alone.

"I did. Don't stop me or you'll get in my way" was the response but was stopped when Sandy grabbed the cloak and smiled. He was the only one not assigned to anyone and it would have been better if there were more than one in a group. Despite the objections Death itself may have had, one would be wise not to deny a request from the oldest Guardian. "Fine then, let's go" The Reaper said before leaving with the Sandman. Bunny sighed and knew that things were going to go this way and was the reason why he didn't want to come. The cold personality Death had... it was just something he couldn't deal with nor did he want to and it made him feel like he did something wrong. He knew Tooth told him it wasn't his fault yet he couldn't help but feel it as so and it made him so damn frustrated.

"Bloody 'ell... let's just get this over with" he said with a slight frown before he went to go search for some souls with North following. Jack and Tooth then went their way as well as the search for the corrupted soul that was hidden somewhere in the school.

"I really don't trust him at all"

"Who are you talking about Jack?" Tooth asked, wondering who was the topic of discussion at hand that came up so suddenly.

"The Grim Reaper of course! He kills for a living, right? Then why are we working with him?! He goes against everything I, WE, pledged to do when we became Guardians" The Reaper killed children while they protect them, it was so black and white it should be obvious who the bad one out of all of them was.

"Well everything dies eventually Jack, it's a fact of life even if we may not like it." Tooth told him. Her face drooped and looked like she was going to cry as she slowed down her pace of flying. "We cannot protect all the children no matter how hard we try and, in the end, those we can't protect die off alone" she added.

"And yet he does his job with little emotion, little care about anything about what he does or how the child feels when they die. He's what I envisioned you Guardians to be before I joined, serious and always doing your job by the damn book. I hate people like that"

"Well of course, you're the Guardian of Fun after all, you make sure people have a great time, someone serious would make you uneasy" Tooth said, trying to produce a smile. She didn't want to be sad while being with Jack, she had to be strong and optimistic, even in a sad situation like this. Thankfully Jack seemed to catch on and smiled a little, much to her joy

"You're right... you know maybe some of my winter magic can make Mr. Reaper have more fun and be less strict about everything" he said. It felt fun and it would be nice to get back at him after how he made him look like a total novice at fighting without even lifting a finger.

"Of course! Just as long as Bunny doesn't find out that you pulled a nasty prank or something. Oh! And you should know, Jack that the Grim Reaper is-" she was about to say before Jack cut her off with question

"Wait... why would Bunny care about me pranking Death?" he asked, causing Tooth to realize what she said and start fretting around.

"Huh? Did I say Bunny? I meant to say-" she started to say, trying to make some excuse before her golden feather went straight up while the rest ruffled in agitation. "Oh oh, I sense something uh... uh over there!" she said, pointing to the direction of the back of the school before taking Jack's hand and flying to where it was. Well whatever was on his mind would have to wait till all this was over so he could get some answers.

"Bunny, you sure we going in right direction?" North said as he was following the Easter Bunny around the school.

"Hey, I haven't done this in a while so I'm a bit rusty" he said, still a bit grumpy, which North could tell

"Look Bunny I know you did not want to come-"

"Don't even start with me North I just want to get this o'er and then go home and resume preparin' for Easter " he said. "It may not be as important as Christmas to most people but it's important to me"

"But you're not only one who thinks so" he said. The rabbit stopped and looked around, sniffing is nose and using his ears as a radar before they continued walking. "There are plenty of children who love Easter, maybe not as much as they love Christmas since it's better, but it's a close second! Remember Sophie? I saw how much fun she had with you almost year ago" he told him.

"True, the little ankle biter was a sweetheart about it all" he said with a fond look on his face and a faint smile.

"Yes... and yet I remember that there was still one more who loved Easter more than anyone else I know" he started to say and Bunny could almost bet he knew where this was going. "She loved it very much"

"Lofty isn't around anymore North, you know that... she's gone". Did he really have to go on such a sensitive subject? It was hard enough as it is and now old wounds were getting dug up again.

"She is still around and you know it"

"No she isn't. She left me and that was the end of it, she ain't ever comin' back and that's the truth... look just drop it North, I'm in no mood to talk about this right now-" he started to say before he stopped. The Pooka twitched his ears and started to look around cautiously "Somethin's up" he said, finally sensing something. There was then a blast and the sound of fighting "Looks like we found it" Bunny said before he and North raced off to where the blasts were coming from.

It was when they arrived they realized just what exactly they were dealing with, a soul of wavering darkness and glowing eyes. There were whispers and nonsense coming from it as if it was speaking in an unknown language while deflecting the attacks of both Jack and Tooth.

"North!" Tooth exclaimed, happy to see her fellow Guardians

"Bunny! About time to two of you got here" Jack said as he dodged attacks and tried to fire at the entity with no avail. "Me and Tooth found the soul, pretty good don't you think?"

"Don't go bein' a show pony now Old Man Winter" Bunny said as he began to fight with his boomerangs at the same time North got his swords out.

"Time for fun!" he said before he came into the fight. But even with all of them working together the hits were ineffective. All they were doing was hitting the shadows that grew stronger and bigger as time went on, the whispering and moaning getting louder and louder. This was annoying Jack somewhat which was why he sent a huge wave of ice towards the shadows that were making the noise.

"Stop" in a sudden movement the ice was cut off and Jack looked up to see the Grim Reaper upon it wielding the famous scythe. "Can you not see you are hurting the children?" Death asked them, as if accusing them of doing something wrong.

Author: Yay I got this up x3 I'm excited for this series... even though I say that for all of my stories xD Again I hope this becomes another Curse of the Snake Demons scenario and I can't stop uploading the damn story xD Anyway leave comments what you think, it's much appriciated!