I own nothing of Rise of the Guardians or the Guardians of Childhood series. I will soon, but only a few hard copies of the books. Hopefully they'll come next week...and I'm seeing the movie again on Sunday, so that'll be amazing. :3

But yea. Here's the second chapter.

Because you guys are amazing, and within the first twelve hours, over 100 people have already read this. If only more people would review! XD

But to those who did, I'll have thanks and replies at the bottom. :3

Now, onto the second chapter!


I stood in front of the cell made of Dream Sand that held Pitch. The Boogeyman refused to look at me. I didn't feel insulted, though. Pitch didn't look at anyone. It was as if he was sulking.

Pitch had reappeared a few weeks before Christmas, practically powerless. Sandy had snatched him up, and was imprisoned at Bunny's Warren. There wasn't much he could do to ruin Easter, since it was almost 5 months away. As soon as Christmas was over, Pitch would be moved to North's workshop, so Bunny could prepare for his holiday.

Right now it was a few days until Christmas. I was called in to guard Pitch when Bunny had found one of his tunnels had collapsed. He had to take his Easter Heads, and since North was swamped and Tooth was forever busy, which left me and Sandy.

Sandy had just left, his shift over so he could put the children in the Western Hemisphere to sleep. That was where I came in.

"So, how are you today, Pitch?" I asked him as I sat down in a patch of flowers. They froze instantly underneath me. I had my little corner that Bunny said I could freeze all I wanted. I took advantage of that.

The Boogeyman didn't reply to me, not that I expected him to. He merely stood there, staring into space, as if he were internally battling with himself.

I started thinking back on some of the stories that my mother had told to me and Emma when we were children, and I stilled as I had a thought. Looking closely at Pitch, I saw the furrowed brows, the concentrated look on his face, his gaze unfocused. I went to stand in front of him, just studying his features, and he didn't even seem to notice I was there. But his eyes. His eyes were the most expressive I have ever seen. When we have fought months ago, his eyes were hard, cruel, and unfeeling, just as the darkness was. But now. . . .I saw desperation. I saw determination. I saw the fight in his eyes. I was tempted to call back Sandy, or to even call Bunny from the tunnels. I'm sure I could yell loud enough for it to echo by him. I didn't.

It was stupid of me, but I wanted a reaction. Daring a little, I took my staff and stuck it in between the bars of the cage. I poked his shoulder, and the only thing Pitch did was frown for a moment before the look of complete concentration came back. Pulling my staff back, I tried one last thing to get a reaction.

"Pitch, fight it. I'm sure your daughter still believes in you. I know I do." Pitch jerked, his head swiveling to look at me. The smile was in his eyes seconds before he let out a wrenching scream, his body starting to shudder, his hands flying to his shoulders as if needing something to grab onto. I jumped back, my staff clattering to the floor. I quickly snatched it back up and held it up defensively. Pitch didn't seem to notice me, once more. I felt, more than saw, Bunny suddenly jump out of a hastily made tunnel, his boomerangs out and ready to attack. He paused when he saw that our captive was fighting with himself.

"What's he doin'?"

"I don't know." I shook my head. I did know. Pitch was fighting the demons inside of him. I warred with myself on whether to share what I knew, but Pitch's screaming suddenly stopped. There was an eerie silence that followed, and I looked to see the big bad Boogeyman collapsed against the cage of Dream Sand. His eyes were closed.

"Go call the rest of the Guardians," the Pooka ordered. I hesitated for a brief moment. "GO!"

I dipped through the tunnel that held the messenger doves that Bunny kept for emergencies. I let two fly, knowing that Sandy was on his way. Pitch had touched the dream sand, after all. When I came back, Pitch hadn't moved. Bunny had an Easter head positioned at each corner of the cage.

"They're on their way," I relayed.

"Good. Kid," Bunny looked at me, "why do I get the feeling that it'll never be quiet with you around?" I cracked a grin, appreciating his effort at humor.

"It'd be boring if it was!" came my automatic retort. A sudden tinkling of bells caught my attention and I turned to watch Sandy as he blew some Dream Sand onto Pitch to give him a dream. Bunny moved closer to watch what was forming. A small girl appeared.

"Wow. Didn't know Pitch was a Pedo," Bunny commented offhandedly. I shrugged.

"You know, I don't think that's it at all," I replied back as the golden sand materialized a man's form. It looked like Pitch, only he wore a General's uniform. The girl smiled and ran toward the man, who scooped her up and cuddled her close.

I know, right? Imagine Pitch Black, the dreaded Boogeyman, cuddling.

A heavily accented shout from one of the tunnels brought our attention to the two remaining Guardians. Baby Tooth zipped out of a tunnel and headed straight for me. Twittering while flitting about, we heard Tooth's voice call out next.

"Oh, North! I found them!" She flew in first, with North lumbering after her.

"Jack! Bunny! Sandy!" North greeted as he unsheathed his twin blades. "What did Pitch do now? Try to escape?"

"Nah, mate," Bunny replied. "He just started freaking out for no reason." He paused to look at me. "Jack, you were guarding him. What happened?" I swallowed and decided to share my theory.

"Ever since Pitch got here, he hasn't once tried to escape. He refuses to look at anyone," I started, mentally building up where I wanted this to go.

"So?" North asked.

"What if it's because he can't see any of us?" I continued.

"So, you think he doesn't believe in us?" Tooth asked. I shook my head.

"No, I think he believes in us most of all. That we can keep the children safe from him. . ." I paused, but kept going, "and keep him safe from himself."

A question mark formed above Sandy's head, and I launched into the story that my mother told me and Emma when I was human. Minutes later, I explained my reasoning. "I think he's fighting himself. . .or at least the Fearlings that possessed him." Tooth turned her horrified gaze upon Pitch.

"You mean, he's been protecting us. . .all of us, all along?" she asked, her wings fluttering nervously. Baby Tooth zipped around Tooth's head.
"Wait, so how does that work when Pitch was tryin' to send the world into darkness an' all that?" Bunny asked, his eyes shifting over to Pitch as the dream progressed to him having a tea party with the girl.

"That could have been the Fearlings taking over," North added. "He never hurt any of the children, no matter how much he threatened them." I mentally thanked North for saying that.

"And when he. . .they were defeated, it gave Pitch the opportunity to take control!" Tooth added. Bunny looked to me.

"So, how do we help him win?" I frowned.

"I don't know," I admitted. My eyes fell on Pitch's dream, where he was now reading a story to the girl. "But I have an idea."

The four other Guardians looked at me expectantly.

"We need to find his daughter."


Thanks to Sumiku Agaishi, Darcorn, LiviahEternal, Halfas Rule, loveless10456, AyameKitsune, Lady1011, and Jessk13 for favoriting and following my story (and me! ^.^)

Echo (Guest): Why thank you! Here's the next chapter! ^.^

Darcorn: I know! Personally, I can't wait for my books to come so I can have a 1st account on all of it. I cannot wait for the fourth book to come out, too!

loveless10456: Why thank you! ^.^

Thanks again to everyone who read, reviewed, and spent time to log in to add it to your fave/alert list. It mean a lot to me. ^.^