Hi! So, I'm just trying to get this thing started. I don't actually know where I'm going with this, but I'm going to roll with it.
"What exactly in your right mind urged you to make this little moron a guardian?!" Lachlan seemed to burn up at the very sight of him. The frost upon the tiled floor melted into water as the Sun man's anger bubbled over. "He is the most unreliable, self-centered man in the entire existence of human life. What does he care about the guardians?"
"Well, while you were in your little winter hibernation, I was out here with these guys saving the world from Pitch Black." Jack stated. "So yeah, I'm sorry if my promotion offends you."
"It does more than offend me." Lachlan hissed.
"It's not my fault Manny had to call on another guardian because you were too busy sleeping to do your job. Call yourself a guardian?"
"That was entirely YOUR fault. If you hadn't frozen the summer I wouldn't have been so weak."
"Settle down chaps." Bunnymund pushed Lachlan away from Jack, tearing the two apart before things got ugly. "Crikey, I knew this was a bad idea." Sandman shrugged and pointed at North who simply shook his head at the two.
"Look, we don't have time to deal with personal problems." North stated simply. "According to Man in Moon, Pitch Black is making a return. He'll be back, and he'll be stronger than before. Which is why we're bringing in the Sun Man."
"What makes you think Lockie's gonna be any help at all?" Jack questioned. Lachlan simply rolled his eyes at Jack's ignorance.
"Jack, Pitch is the personification of dark and black." Lachlan stated half-heartedly.
"Which means Lachlan will be the strongest against him, being the spirit of light." North said as he gave the guy a pat on the back.
"That's weird. Last time I checked, little Lockie was afraid of the dark." Jack chuckled.
"I am not!" Lachlan replied a little too fast. He knew Jack was only trying to make him loose his temper, but nevertheless he found it extremely hard to resist the urge to punch the guy in the face.
"Guys, can we not do this now?" Tooth spoke calmly on a natural sort of level. "We've got to focus on the matter at hand. Pitch is out there. We don't know where he is or what he's getting his power from, but he's definitely getting stronger. It's not that noticeable, but he's started corrupting dreams one at a time using Sandman's sand. If we don't stop him soon, he'll corrupt all of the children, turning their dreams into nightmares."
"What kind of energy source would be valuable to Pitch Black?" Lachlan asked. "It's not like Darkness can really fit with anything other than darkness."
"Alright, Sandy, Lachlan and Tooth, you guys should go find out what you can about what kind of energy source Pitch could be using to make him stronger. Jack, Bunny, you two come with me."
Sandy sat upon a stack of books within North's colossal-sized library. He was flipping through a book on magic, something to do with energy combustion. Lachlan really couldn't care any less.
Tooth was scanning through a shelf of books, humming a little lullaby as she did so. She always seemed so busy. Lachlan didn't understand how she managed to do her job so well. At least being the spirit of summer meant only having to work for a season, but being the tooth fairy was a fulltime thing…and he wasn't exactly envious of that lifestyle.
"So, what happened with you and Jack Frost?" Tooth asked curiously.
Lachlan turned his head and shrugged. "I hate him, he hates me. That's pretty much it. We're just too different."
"Well, you know the saying, opposites attract." Tooth giggled. Lachlan simply rolled his eyes and adjusted his shirt collar.
"Found anything yet?" Lachlan asked as he heaved a pile of heavy books onto the desk within the center of the library.
"Nope, but I think I might do soon." Tooth chirped optimistically.
"What about you Sandy?" Lachlan turned to see the Sandman throwing a book over his head, obviously not finding any use for it. He shook his head and a question mark formed above him in golden sand. "Nope, not yet. But I've been thinking." Lachlan propped himself up against the table, leaning against the edge of the wooden desk. "Whatever he's using has to be something that he can easily get hold of without detection, and can also be used to fuel his need of darkness. It also has to be something reasonably powerful…"
Lachlan could feel the presence of Pitch Black suppressed deep within his mind, attempting to torment him. He tried to shake it off, even though he knew it was pointless. Lachlan and Pitch were part of each other, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Lachlan heard a strange thud come from the other end of the room, snapping him out of his momentary trance. He saw Sandy had fallen off his pile of books and landed flat on his back, golden sand flying into the air. "Great going buddy." He said with a chuckle.
At that precise moment, Lachlan felt something cold and wet his the back of his neck, sending him into a fit of uncontrollable coughs, snow dripping down the back of his shirt. He soon heard the familiar sound of defiant laughter coming from the far end of the room. Jack stood by the doorway of the library, his usual mischievous smirk passing his lips.
"You son of a-" Lachlan moved just in time to dodge another incoming snowball from the frosted boy. "I swear to God if you do that again, I will kill you."
Jack shrugged. "Try me Sunny boy."
"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with fire?"
"Okay, that's enough you guys." Tooth stated, though Lachlan simply huffed. He then spotted the staff in Jack's hand, and without much thought on it, set the far end of it on fire with a blink of his eye. Jack jumped in surprise as the flame crept up the staff and quickly killed the heat with a layer of thick frost before it ate away at the wood. "I thought I said enough." Tooth scowled.
"Whatever, I just came in here to tell you guys that North thinks he knows whereabouts Pitch might be hiding. Apparently most of the children he's corrupted live in cold places, which may or may not be a coincidence."
"Wait, so you're saying Pitch has been inhabiting cold countries?" Lachlan questioned. Jack gave a nonchalant shrug. Lachlan hit his palm against his forehead. "Cold. The answer is cold." Sandy and Tooth looked at Lachlan with confusion. "Something powerful that can collide with darkness and is easy for Pitch to get a hold of. It's cold, or more specifically the essence of winter. Dammit, I'm so stupid!"
"Can't argue with that." Jack murmured out of the corner of his lip.
"You think this is funny Frosty?" Lachlan hissed, his cheeks turning a slight pink.
"Will you just calm down and learn to take a damn joke for once?" Jack chuckled, though Lachlan didn't seem to understand the humor. Everything about Jack seemed to set Lachlan on a one-way trip to loosing his mind.
"Whatever. Tooth, Sandy, we need to go talk to North about starting a search party to find Pitch." Lachlan gave himself a moment to cool down before he spoke again. "If my guess is correct, Pitch will probably be hiding somewhere with snow, and lots of it."
"Well there ain't many places with snow at this time a' year mate." Bunnymund stated. All the guardians had gathered in the globe room to have a little meeting.
"That's a good thing. Makes our job easier." Lachlan walked across the room towards the globe, which was glittered with shimmering lights marking each and every child in the entire world. "My guess is that Pitch will either be hiding in the Artic or Antarctic. It's the largest supply of Snow and winter land that I can think of."
"Wait, if Pitch is hiding in the Artic, doesn't that mean he could be really close to us?" Tooth questioned. "But why would he do that?"
"Maybe he's planning a sneak attack. I don't know what goes on in that guy's head." Lachlan stated, though, it wasn't entirely true.
"Perhaps we should split." Bunnymund suggested. "Half of us search in the North, half of us search in the South."
"Okay, Sandy, Bunny and Tooth search in South. Jack, Lachlan and I will search here." North said with a nod of the head.
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" Lachlan grumbled in annoyance.
"No offense hot-head, but I'd rather go on my own than work with you." Jack said as he swung his staff over his shoulder.
"Come on boys, this is a chance for you two to get over your differences. Like it or not, we're all a team now." North put a hand over Lachlan and Jack's shoulder, pushing to two together.
"I hate winter."
To be continued in chapter 3! :)