The light from the gate way blinded Merida and her brothers as they entered. They feared that they might fall as they lost their grip on each other; but Jack helped them to land on a cloud.
"You'll get the hang of it" he chuckled as he wipes the cloud puffs off.
As he was dusting himself off, Merida and the triplets gazed upon the large island, waiting for them to explore. On the top of the tallest mountain on the island were golden clouds swirling around it.
The mountain next to it was covered in ice; and they thought they saw rainbow coloured lights on the trees.
In one part of the large forest, near a large cliff stood four tall pedestals with rabbits on them. Hamish claimed that he saw a big rabbit jumping above the trees surrounding the pedestals.
They also caught a glimpse of a building in between the two mountains. Merida did remember her mother telling her about four lords guarding the island and watching over them and those who live there.
Jack kept his eyes on the ice mountain, knowing who lives there and what he wants him to do.
"Where do you live?" Merida's voice brought him back, "Where are you and your men hiding?"
Jack was about to tell them, but Baby Tooth stopped him; and for good reason! The Black hooked captain's ship was under their cloud.
"Let's get a closer look!" Harris jumped to the lower clouds, one by one to get a good look at the pirates.
His brothers followed him and Jack and Merida joined them to make sure they don't get too close and that they weren't seen. Merida and her brothers are still new to flying and the island and fighting pirates. Without a weapon and not much flying practise isn't a good combination for first timers.
The pirates on the ship were keeping it ship shape and defrosting it from the last time Jack had passed by; without knowing that there are kids in the clouds! The captain has been searching the island to find Jack's hideout with no success and Jack keeps delaying their sailing around the island by freezing their ship in the water.
They had just finished getting the last of the ice off their ship; freeing it once again and were bringing the lifeboats back up. The first mate, Shath was putting the equipment they used away; they use them more than they use their weapons. But as Shath was putting things away he sniffled!
But the weather was warm and the cold was meant to go away when they cleared the ice; but here he is getting a cold nose? He wasn't the only one; the other crew members were starting to feel a chill; even the ones who were staying warm the whole time. Then he noticed that some of the clouds looked like they were holding frost and snow in them, in a line from the highest cloud to the lower clouds.
Frost... When he got a closer look through his telescope, he saw four kids he had never seen before. But the fifth and the pixie he saw with them he knew; very well. Jack was back and had brought back four kids! Four kids; that might be the ones from the legend about their fall!
"He's back," he shuddered from the cold, "And he might have brought 'them' with him!"
He ran to the captain's cabin, trying not to slip as the deck was becoming icy again. His captain; which some of his men call Captain Black Hook, was sleeping on his desk; Shath thinks that he might have had too much.
"Captain," he kept his voice to a minimum, "We've cleared the ice sir, but the frost ha-"
One of the captain's shadows came up to him the moment he said the word 'frost!' Ever since Jack had cut Pitch's hand off, the mention of ice and snow made his blood boil with rage; especially the word frost. He despises Jack Frost and would do anything to make him pay.
Pitch lifted his head, the look on his face showed Shath that he was half recovered from drinking his booze. His hook wasn't on, so his sliced wrist revealed the scar he got from the flying boy; along with a few other scars he had got from past battles on his chest and arms.
"I was dreaming, Shath" he started to sit back up, "Of that day, I invited Jack to join us. Which was also the day he cut off my hand!" he paused to take a sip of what was left of his drink, "The hook I received has come in handy. Help me to get it on, Shath."
Shath did what he was told. He helped his captain with the straps behind his back as Pitch slid the prosthesis over his sliced wrist and tightened the harness on the shoulder pad. Once it was settled, fitted and tightened, he placed his dark crystal hook on the prosthesis wrist. The one he uses to control and awaken his Nightmares.
"There you go, sir!" Shath finished. "All fitted and everything, it really does suit you. I'm sure you owe him very much!"
Pitch's golden eyes turned cold as he turned to face his first mate, his dark hook glowed as his Nightmares began to appear in the room.
"After he had cut off my hand with a dagger, he threw it into the forest and it landed in the Demon bear's mouth! The beast enjoyed it so much; he began to hunt me down for the rest of me!"
Shath backed away as his captain slowly came up to him, with his hook raised.
"YOU CALL THAT A FAVOUR!" he yelled, with all of his rage.
"No- No Captain" Shath begged. He flinched as Pitch's hook came closer to his face, but he only lifted Shath's glasses back into place. "Thank you, Captain!" He was grateful and lucky that his captain spared his life.
"It's thanks to you that we always know when and where that beast is when you had thrown that crystal at it!" Pitch then walked over to his map of the island. "It was a waste of gold to get it in the first place, but where ever that beast goes, withered life follows! See withered plants and cracked stones, Mor'du is close! Now why did you wake me in the first place?"
"Like I said, Captain, we just cleaned the ship, but the cold hasn't left us and the clouds just above us are filling up with snow, in a straight line!"
Shath didn't need to tell him what it all meant, he already knew the answer. "He's back!"
Pitch then throw Shath his coat so he can help him to get it on. But there is still one more thing that Pitch needs to know!
"And he's not alone! I'm not just talking about his pixie, he has brought not just one, but four back with him! Three little boys and a red-headed girl."
Jack and Merida stopped the triplets before they jumped onto anymore clouds. They could see the pirates from where they were and Jack used his ice to make three ice telescopes to keep them still. The triplets watched in amazement as they laid their eyes on the characters from their sister's stories. The members of the crew looked exactly how their sister described them, they giggled as they watched them scrape the ice off their ship.
"Captain Black Hook!" Harris gasped, as he spotted the captain.
Merida and Baby Tooth backed the triplets away from the edge as Jack used one of the telescopes to keep an eye on Pitch's movements. He saw Pitch smiling at them before he put his own telescope close to his eye. Jack looked at the cloud they were on, it was filling up with snow and so were the clouds they were on earlier. They were sitting ducks thanks to the cloud that was still building up with snow.
"Get Merida and her brothers to the island!" he told Baby Tooth, "I'll slow these sea rats down to give you a head start and don't get any 'falling' ideas!"
Baby Tooth squeak-chirped in protest. It's true she tricked the lost children once or twice to make their female guests fall from the sky; but Merida is different. If she and her brothers are the ones her queen spoke of, she can't afford anything to happen to them!
She signalled the four to follow her as Jack flew down to the ship. The pirates drew their attentions towards him as the five raced to the island. Pitch let his men deal with Jack as he makes his way to the back of the ship to get a better look of the four. He knew that they hadn't had as much practise flying as Jack; so his nightmares will have no trouble taking care of them.
He pulled a vial with a horse shaped lid from his coat and placed it near his lips. His hook glowed a little as the dark sand in the vial started to move; like it was possessed.
"Take them!" he whispered to it, before he flipped the lid open.
The sand took the form of four dark sandy horses with cold dark golden eyes. Pitch tapped his hook as it glowed brighter, making the sandy monsters go after Merida and her brothers. Jack saw what was happening and rushed over to stop them, but one of the pirates' lassoed Jack's left ankle and pulled him closer to the ship.
The other pirates helped him as Jack fought back and tried to get free. Pitch saw Jack's predicament as he turned his attention away from the four, he chuckled as he felt like he was finally getting his revenge. He took his time as he got his pistol ready, Shath and the rest of the pirates cheered and raised their swords in the air.
Jack could hear Merida and her brothers' cries over the pirates' cheers as he tried to get free to save them, so he froze part of the rope and once it was frozen solid he wacked it with his staff. The frozen part of the rope shattered sending Jack flying higher into the air and the pirates to collapse. Pitch was furious and tried to shoot Jack as he flew back to the island.
"Fine," Pitch snarled after his four shots missed, "If we can't make you stay long enough, then we'll give you a reason to stay long enough for me to strangle you!" Pitch turned to his crew, "Sail around the island, we have a guest to pick up!"
Pitch sent two more of his dark sand horses ahead of them as his crew got themselves ready. The two creatures knew what their master needs them to do; they might be out numbered when they arrive, but they'll be too small and powerless to stop them from completing their task.
Merida and her brothers did their best to keep up with Baby Tooth as the dark sand monsters chased after them. Merida looked back to see if her brothers were catching up; and when the corner of her eyes caught the monsters chasing them, she felt like she was in one of her stories. The one where Jack tries to get one of his men to safety, while two of Pitch's monsters chased after them. Jack's words about her stories coming to life on the island seemed to be true; and she was living it!
They finally reached the island and the monsters were catching up to them. Merida tried to remember the rest of the story, hoping that it could help them shake those monsters off and her memory was jogged in a flash as an arrow flew passed her.
Merida remembered that Jack is the leader of the lost children and in her and her mother's stories they always had their leader's back when he was on the island and over the forest. The four did their best to dodge the incoming arrows and stones as they were being shot into the sky.
Baby Tooth did her best to lead the four through the fire of arrows as the monsters tried to get them before they disappeared, as the arrows and stones were slowing weakening them as they passed through their sandy bodies. As the five were reaching for the trees, Hamish dropped from the skies a bit before he started to hover again. His brothers and sister were also losing the ability to fly; their fear of the monsters was driving their hope, wonder, dreams and happy memories away and the fear of falling in midair wasn't helping them stay afloat.
Baby Tooth tried to tell Merida and her brothers to let go of their fear, but they couldn't understand her and a passing arrow gave them a frightening shock. The shock made the DunBroch siblings lose the ability to fly as they fell to the ground. Baby Tooth flew passed them as she raced into the trees.
The monsters faded away like they were heading back to their master. Merida had always loved the feel of the wind through her hair, but the feel of the wind as she fell to her death didn't calm her or her brothers. The triplets were falling faster than their sister and they were the first to hit the trees and as they went through the top leafs they landed in a net!
Merida past the tree her brothers were in and she was inches away from hitting the ground. But in a cold gust of wind Jack flew in and caught her just in time. Merida wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself and buried her face on his shoulder as Jack slowly landed them on top of a large boulder.
The triplets were just about to climb out of the net and then down one of the trees holding it up, but the net lowered itself down. The brothers looked up to find Baby Tooth and four other kids pulling on vines that were attached to the net. Once the brothers were safely on the ground, three other kids came out of the bushes just as the other four climbed down.
By that time Merida finally calmed down and lifted her head off Jack, she looked up at him as he looked at her. Merida had never been so scared in her entire life and she had thought it was all over for her until Jack saved her.
"You saved me!" Merida slowly breathed.
"All in a days work" Jack chuckled, as he put her down.
"Did fear get to them while flying, Jack?" asked one of boys.
"We thought that you stopped bringing believers here?" the boy's brother added.
"Believers?" Hamish and Harris asked.
"People that believe in the Neverland lords" a tough girl in pink explained.
"I don't think that you met my men?" Jack changed the subject.
"We just got here!" Jack and his men chuckled at Merida's response.
"True! Men this is Merida, Hubert, Hamish and Harris DunBroch. Merida is the one who told the best stories about us!"
Merida blushed as the children talked amongst themselves in amazement, like she was famous and well known. One of them had Jack's staff in his hands; Jack must have dropped it so he could use both of his hands to catch and save Merida.
The boy handed the staff back to its owner. Jack ruffled his hair like he was his little brother. "This is Jamie Bennett!" Jack started to introduce his men, "He and his little sister, Sophie were the first to join me. It was just the three of us until Caleb and Claude wanted to join in the fun, Monty had shut himself in his shell when we met. Pippa had a fight and ran off, the same with Cupcake. People didn't think that a strong girl like her shouldn't be into pink and unicorns, so we took her in."
"And became the Lost Children!" Hubert cheered.
The children nodded, they looked exactly how Merida's mother described them in her stories. Four boys and three girls, but what Caleb said about fear and flying still confused her.
"What did Caleb mean about our 'fear getting to us' and what does it have to do with flying?"
"Fear is what gives the Black Hook Captain his strength," Jack started to explain, "Just like Wonder, Hope, Dreams and Memories helps us fly and gives the four lords their strength!"
"Why's that?" Harris asked.
"Because the Lords are Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Sandman and the Tooth Fairy!" Jamie explained.
"And the captain is the Bogyman" Claude added.
Merida and her brothers were amazed at what they were told, they never truly knew who the lords and the villain from their stories were until now. Merida wanted to ask Jack more about the island and its lords, but before she could utter a word Jack jumped off of the boulder and got his men to hide behind him.
Merida wasn't sure what was going on, Jack looked serious while his men looked frightened as they faced the direction of a cold breeze. The triplets were getting frightened themselves, the breeze felt cold and lifeless, like death was coming their way. Merida thought back to both her and her mother's stories for answers; why was Jack and his men scared of a cold breeze, ice follows Jack where ever he goes, especially on Pitch's ship as a parting gift. Merida giggled a bit when she remembered the time she had Jack give that captain a fright when he had used his ice to make a replica of...
Merida back away when she realised 'who' was coming their way. She whispered his name as Jack turned to face them.
"Run" he whispered.
Immediately both he and his men dashed to a round flat stone. Merida and her brothers weren't sure why they didn't try to push their fear away so they could fly away or why Jack was thumping his foot on the ground like a rabbit.
Suddenly the stone glowed forest green and lifted itself off the ground an inch before it floated down revealing a green underground tunnel. Jamie pushed both his sister and Pippa onto the stone so they could be the first down. Baby Tooth sat herself on Pippa's shoulder so they'll have someone with them, until the others joined them.
The moment the stone was on the tunnel's floor, Jack grabbed Merida's arm. "Give me a hand!" he asked, but to her it sounded like he was begging.
Merida nodded as calmly as she could, she didn't want to make their fears worse. Jack handed her his staff before he lowered her down the tunnel. She handed it to Pippa when Jack joined them. Then one by one the two of them caught the rest of the Lost Children and the DunBroch Triplets as they jumped down.
When the last of them were down Jack backed them away from the stone, but before he could send it back up he paused and turned to face a group of rabbits. Merida was told that half of the forest is owned by the Aster Tribe, a tribe of warrior rabbits. But Elinor told her that they were bigger and had a human posture; while these ones are small and look like the rabbits they see in the pet shop window back home.
Sophie giggled as a purple rabbit hopped over and thumped it's foot. The stone glowed and started to hover back to its place; it glowed again as it sealed itself. Sophie wanted to hug the rabbit, but her brother held her back as if to say 'wait a minute?'
The rabbit knelt forward as it's back legs grew bigger. Merida and her brother gasped as the rest of the rabbit's body grew bigger and the other rabbits with it were going the same. Wristbands, weapons and other items appeared on their bodies as they kept growing. Once the rabbits were no longer small, they shook themselves before standing on two strong legs. Jamie removed his hand so Sophie could give them a hug.
As the large purple rabbit with the crossbow on it's back picked the little girl up, Merida knew that they were the Aster tribe and that one of them is the Easter Bunny, the chief of the tribe and the lord of Hope. Jack and his men were calm through the whole thing; they have been on the island longer so they must have seen their transformation more than once.
"Hello Jack Frost!" the rabbit greeted in a female voice.
"Hello Viola Bunny!"
Viola Bunny is OC that belongs a Deviantart member called, Dragonauroralight; I'm borrowing her for the story.
