Heya guys! I'm wishing you a Merry Late(only by 3 hours) Christmas!
And thank you all for the wonderful reviews, I almost cried when i saw them xD
Anyways, I don't own Rise of the Guardians and now on with the chapter!
"You won't escape unless you have this," Pitch pulled out a silver key and motioned towards the cage that held Jack.
"Alright then," I let go of Jack's hand and walked over to where Pitch was standing."Give it to me,"
"You really asked me that question?" He rolled his eyes.
"Might as well try," I shrugged.
"You pathetic child!" He laughed and tucked the key away in a pocket in his suit.
"I'm not pathetic. I think that you are," I said simply, keeping my voice dull.
"How insulting!" Pitch sneered sarcastically. "Now, little nightmare, what are you going to do to get the key?"
"First, I'm going to ask you to stop calling me 'nightmare'. It's getting annoying," I mentally pulled moisture out of the air—not knowing how I did that anyways—and created a thin stream of snow that searched the Nightmare King's pockets without him noticing. "Second, I want you to get me a nightmare, the horse kind." A strand of the snow found the key and slowly pulled it out of the pocket and over his shoulder.
"What on earth do you need a nightmare for?" Pitch curiously asked. I let the cold snow snake it's way on the floor over to me and I put my hands behind my back as the key shot into my hand.
"Something. I actually might reconsider joining you again if I can have one," I lied, running my plan through my head and hoping it would work. Pitch narrowed his eyes as if he didn't trust me, but I sensed a flicker of hope come from him. I glanced over at Jack, who probably knew what I was up to as he was smirking.
One of the biggest Nightmares I ever saw trotted up to me. I gulped and held my hand out to pet it's muzzle, hoping that my plan would work. The nightmare backed away but soon touched it's nose to the palm of my hand. That second I willed all my snow and winter powers to surge into the nightmare and change it. I watched as my necklace sent a faint blue light down my arm and into the horse. The horse reared as the black wisps of sand faded and a snow white horse was in it's place.
"And third," I pulled out the key from my other hand. "We're going to get out of here,"
The horse charged the shocked Pitch to distract him while I ran over to Jack and unlocked the lock on the cage.
"You're brilliant," Jack grinned and stepped out of the enclosure, gripping his staff.
"Thanks, but right now we need to focus on getting out of here," I said.
"Gotcha," He nodded and looked over at the scene I had created.
The white horse had cornered Pitch, allowing us to be able to escape through the dark corridor. "Lead the way, Jack," I said, remembering that he had been through the passageways before.
Jack took ahold of my hand and we ran through the dark doorway.
"Curse you two!" I heard Pitch yell. We twisted and turned through the maze, and finally, saw a way out.
"There, Jack!" I said as quietly as I could. He lifted his staff and shot a dagger of blue magic into the scene, but it went through just like a hologram. "Nevermind,"
"Follow me," Jack whispered. We wove our way through the tunnels once again and then I saw the real way out. A sliver of bright sun shone through the crack in the door.
"Come on!" I ran towards the door and pushed it open slowly. "This way!"
I stepped through the doorway and pulled Jack through along with me. We found ourselves in a big field that was a bright green color. I looked back from where we had come from and surprisingly, I didn't see a doorway.
"We made it!" I breathed, a smile spreading across my face. "We really made it!" I squealed. I turned towards Jack and jumped on him, giving him a huge hug.
"Wha—ahhh!" he fell over and I only hugged him tighter. I felt his arms tighten around my waist and heard a small laugh. "Yeah, we did make it!"
I got off him and we both stood up. I bit my lip and looked at his overjoyed face before laughing.
"I'm so glad to finally be out of there!" I smiled.
"You got that right," Jack grinned. "You think we should get back...?"
"Yeah, I bet all the other Guardians are worried about us," I tried to let myself fly, but nothing happened. I tried once more when I realized what happened. "They're gone..."
"What's gone, Dara?" Jack's face turned worried.
"My powers...I'm just a normal person now. I gave all my powers away when I changed the nightmare into a horse to let us escape," I explained.
"That doesn't change anything," Jack said. He looked into my eyes; his gaze was very sincere. "You're still Dara."
I pulled a piece of my hair in front of my face. It was still silvery white. My eyes widened. "My hair!" I gasped.
"What about it?"
"It—it's still white!" I squeaked.
"Um, yeah?"
"Before I got my magic, my hair was blonde. When Man in the Moon gave me my powers, my hair turned white. Now all my power is gone, but my hair is still white!" I said. I felt for my necklace, but it had disappeared.
"Oh," Jack said. "Do you think that we should talk about this with—"
"The others?" I interrupted. "Yeah. Because I am really confused right now,"
"Let's go then," Jack pecked my cheek—which made my heart skip a beat—before wrapping an arm around my waist and launching into the sky. I had missed the feeling of the cool air against my skin, it felt good to be back up in the skies again.
Jack found his way to the North Pole and it had been quite a while since we had first gone to Pitch's lair. The date was December 22, and that meant only three days till Christmas, and one week till my parents came back.
We knocked on the big wooden doors that led inside the workshop. A yeti opened the door and when he saw us, his face displayed utter shock.
"Good to see you too, Phil," Jack smirked at the yeti named Phil and took my hand as we walked through the workshop to get to the main room. After finding our way through all the business, we finally found the main room. All the Guardians were hunched over a table, discussing something.
"Tooth!" I squealed. "Bunny! Sandy! North! Dani!"
"Dara!" They exclaimed in unison. "Jack!"
"Oh it's so good to see you all!" I said happily.
"Dara!" Dani jumped on me and gave me a bone-crushing hug.
"Hi!" I laughed and hugged her back.
"How in the world did you guys escape Pitch?" Dani asked, the Guardians all looked expectantly at Jack and I.
"It was Dara," Jack smiled at me. "She outsmarted Pitch,"
"I didn't do that much..." I blushed and looked at my feet.
"What?! You're the one that remembered your real self and resisted becoming a fearling! You created that plan to trick Pitch and sacrificed all your powers to help us escape! You were amazing!" Jack bursted. I looked up and shock was written all over the Guardian's faces.
"You were able to resist becoming a fearling for Pitch?" Tooth asked.
"You gave all your magic away, ey mate?" Bunny said. I nodded.
"You are so cool, girl!" Dani smiled.
Time skip: Evening
The whole story had been explained from beginning to end, but Jack had exaggerated some parts.
I was a bit sad that I had lost my powers, but everyone still treated me the same.
It was after dinner, I was sitting in front of a humongous crackling fireplace on the floor with a blanket and a cup of hot cocoa. I was replaying what had happened at Pitch's place in my head and I ran across the conversation that Jack and I had had before I was turned into a fearling.
"I don't want to lose you..." He had said. "Just remember that I'll always be there for you...I love you."
Those last three words made me feel all happy inside.
"I wonder if he really does..." I whispered.
"Who does what?" Jack asked. He was standing a ways away from the fire; I wondered if he would melt if he got too close. I moved up onto the couch that was a bit farther away from the fire; Jack smiled and sat down next to me.
"I was just...thinking about what had happened earlier," I said, leaning back into the poufy leather.
"What do you mean by 'earlier'?"
"Before Pitch wiped my memories and almost made me a fearling," I looked down at my mug.
"Oh, that earlier," Jack sighed and laid his staff on his lap.
"Did you mean what you said?" I searched his face, but he was impossible to read.
"What did I say?" Jack's eyes widened and he stared at me.
"The...uh...I love you part..." I stuttered, blushing. His face became as red as a tomato.
"Yeah...I did," He scratched the back of his head and wouldn't meet my eyes.
"Oh," was all I could muster since my heart was beating so loud I could hear it in my ears.
"I—I'm sorry if it makes you feel weird...I just thought I might never see the real you again...so I spoke my feelings," he mumbled, still not meeting my eyes.
"No, no! It doesn't...I uh, I kinda feel the same way..." I blushed even more. "I don't blame you for thinking you wouldn't see the real me again either,"
"You...you do? So you do...love me?" Jack finally looked up and we made eye contact. I nodded and smiled a bit.
"Yeah..." I smiled even bigger when I saw his face light up and his eyes twinkle in the flicker of the flames. We didn't really talk much after that, I just scooted over to where he was and laid my head on his chest, which was cold. I didn't mind though, I liked to be cold.
Time skip: Next day
It was December 23rd today and holy cow was the North Pole busy! Christmas was right around the corner, and North was having all the yetis finish the toys and pack them away in a big bag that he would take to deliver all the presents the next night. One of the yetis I spotted had to make sure the Naughty list and Nice list was correct, every couple minutes I could hear him sigh really loud, which cracked me up.
"Jack!" I heard North call. "Dara!"
I whirled around and saw him a couple tables away.
"Over here!" I called, waving my hand in the air.
"Ah, there you are!" He laughed and lumbered over to us. "The yetis are behind on making some toys, would you mind helping?"
"Of course!" I glanced over at Jack, he was trying to hide the pout that was forming on his face. Man, he was cute when he did that. "What do you need us to make?"
"Transformers," North grinned. Oh crap, I was horrible at transforming those things, I used to have to do it for my brother who grew up. How am I going to make them?
"Uh...okay?" This was not going to end well. "Where do we go?"
"Circle down the stairway, go down the left hallway, then through the right hallway, then go through two doors to your right, and five doors to the left. The label of the door should say 'Autobots'." North said. I felt my eyes grow wide.
"Okay?" I squeaked. North laughed and waved before turning around to go. "Um...Jack?"
"Come on," he playfully rolled his eyes and took my hand before leading me through the hallways and doors and whatever else there was.
"This is going to be interesting..." I sighed before walking through the door labeled 'Autobots'.
I found myself at a station with robot body parts and itty bitty little screws. I can't work with small things very well. Oh why did I say yes to doing this...?
I fumbled with putting the body parts together and finally found where the arm goes on the main portion of the body. I looked around the desktop and spotted the screwdriver that would fit into the teensy screw I had. "There we go," I whispered, getting the screw in the small arm hole. I twisted it in and held out my mini accomplishment.
A yeti across from me grunted in amusement. I looked over at his pile of completed toys and there were two buckets full! My jaw dropped as I thought, how did he do those so fast?
I took a deep breath and continued to find where the body parts connected and twisted in the screws. One hour later, I finished the autobot I had started with.
"Oh my gosh..." I laughed. "I was actually able to make one of these!"
"I'm jealous," Jack said from beside me. "I can't even figure this dumb thing out!"
Jack was hunched over his section of the work table with all the little screws and parts spread out. I tried to hold back another laugh as I saw his scrunched up face that was all confused and concentrated. It was definitely not a normal expression for him.
"Have you made a couple bucketfuls yet?" North came into the room and looked down at our workstations.
"A couple?!" I frowned."I was only able to make one..."
"I can't even figure it out!" Jack stood up frustratedly and crossed his arms.
"Only one, eh?" North chuckled as he saw the yeti in front of me had made five more bucketfuls!
"Man...I'm really bad at this," I sighed and played with a strand of my white hair.
"You can go now," North said. "I'll finish up the last ones then,"
"Free time!" Jack exclaimed, grabbing his staff and my hand before running out of the room.
"Whoa!" I laughed, running to keep up with him. "Where are we going?"
"Surprise!" Jack's eyes sparkled as he took me outside. "Hold on tight!"
He wrapped an arm around my torso and launched into the air. The wind tossed us in all different directions, one of my hands was grasping his hoodie while my other arm was secured around his neck.
We passed over a frozen lake and some cabins, a small grove of trees, and we finally reached our destination.
Jack descended and I let go, eagerly looking around to see where we were. A sign in front of me said, 'Christmas trees'.
A huge smile appeared on my face. "We're going to get a tree?"
"Since there isn't one at the North Pole, isn't that why we're here?" Jack leant on his staff and smirked.
"This is great!" I squealed, dashing into the rows of trees. I explored the tall pines and the short, the wide and the skinny. I stumbled across one that just looked perfect. "This one!"
"I think you chose the best one in the lot!" Jack smiled and took something out of his hoodie pocket. "Since they can't see me, you'll have to pay for it,"
"Be right back, then!" I ran over to the guts that ran the place and pointed out the tree. The men brought it over and put a net over it, but then asked how I was going to get it 'home'. I looked expectantly at Jack, who smirked and whistled loudly. Out of nowhere, North and his sleigh appeared in the sky. I pointed it out to the men whose faces were flabbergasted.
I laughed and helped the astonished men lift the tree into the back of the sleigh, and thanked them and handed them the money.
I climbed into the sleigh and sat down on the stair-like seats beside Jack. North glanced back
at us before letting the reindeer take us off into the sky. Jack was standing up in the sleigh— how he did that I don't know—cheering, while I was clutching the sides of sleigh, slightly terrified about falling off.
It wasn't long before we arrived back at the North Pole, Bunny, Sandy, Tooth, and Dani were all waiting for us. When Bunny saw my scared face and hands holding the edge of the veichle, he laughed. I hopped off the sleigh and rubbed my head.
"Not my favorite mode of transportation," I muttered.
"I'm right there with ya, mate," Bunny chuckled before putting an arm around Dani's shoulder, they were so cute together!
I looked back at the tree which was still on the sleigh, Sandy was using his dreamsand to lift it off.
"I think you picked the perfect one!" Tooth exclaimed. "That's what Jack said," I smiled and shrugged.
"We found all the decorations, mate. We can start working on the tree when it's all set up," Bunny said. I grinned and nodded.
Time skip: 45 minutes (afternoon)
I was digging through the boxes of garlands and ornaments, they were all so pretty!
"The tree is ready!" Tooth called. I excitedly grabbed the box of garland and brought it over.
"Decorating time!" I exclaimed, taking the garland and wrapping it around the bottom section of the tree. When I couldn't reach the mid-section of the tree, Bunny took over since he was at least two feet taller than me. When he couldn't reach the very top of the tree, Jack and Tooth finished it up. I smiled at the first accomplishment. I grabbed the boxes of lights and tied those around the tree. After those were on, I lifted a box of colorful ornaments and brought it into the room.
I took out a light blue snowflake ornament that reminded me of Jack. I found a branch on the tree that would show it off the most. "Perfect," I whispered.
About two hours later, we had finished decorating. I took a step back to admire our hard work, the tree looked spectacular!
"It's so pretty!" I said, captivated with all the lights. I had a strange obsession with Christmas tree lights, but I never told anyone that I did.
"Yep, pretty cool," Jack hugged me from behind and kissed my cheek, making me blush like crazy.
Dani giggled at my face, I sent a glare her way before a smile crept back onto my face when she hugged Bunny.
Time skip: evening
I had locked myself in my room, I wanted to make something for Jack, but I couldn't think of anything. It had to be something cold, and maybe connected to winter.
I gave up my thinking since I couldn't think, and laid on my pillow to fall asleep.
Morning December 24th
I awoke to the sound of something pecking at my window. It was light outside so it must be morning.
I hopped out of bed, fully energized for the day. I made my way over to the window, but didn't see anyone there. I opened the shutters and as soon as I did, something green zipped into my room.
"Wha...?" I closed the window quickly and whirled around. The green zippy-thingy had slowed. "Baby Tooth? What are you doing here?"
The baby fairy chirped and flew around my face, but I had no idea what she was saying.
"Slow down!" I laughed. Baby Tooth stopped in front of my face and pointed at the bedroom door. "You...want to show me something?"
She nodded furiously and grabbed my index finger, pulling me towards the door.
"Wait! Let me get dressed first!" I made her let go of my finger so I could dress for where she was taking me.
I pulled on my shirt and jeans and coat. "Now we can go,"
Baby Tooth led me out of the North Pole and into the snow-laden valleys. My feet grew tired from walking, the wind bit at my cold face; I wished I was able to fly. The mini fairy then chirped excitedly. I looked up and saw where she was pointing.
"Oh my gosh..."
Right before me stood a humongous ice playground. There were ice slides, ramps, and spirals. "Baby Tooth, you're amazing!" I exclaimed, running into the huge structure. The ice glinted in the sun, but it didn't seem to melt.
Baby Tooth circled excitedly around me, showing me every little detail.
"I have to show this to Jack right now!" I exclaimed. The mini fairy flew in front of my face and shook her head, frowning. She held out her index finger. "I have to wait one hour...?" she rolled her eyes and mouthed the word 'day'. "OH. You want me to wait till tomorrow to show him?" Baby Tooth nodded with a smile. "Oh, cause tomorrow is Christmas!"
"You got that right, mate,"
I whirled around and faced the tallest bunny I knew.
"Bunny! What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I was lookin for ya, I need to ask your opinion on somethin," he said.
"Okay, what is it?"
"I'm gettin Danielle a Christmas present—"
"You are?!" I squealed. "She'll love you so much!"
"Oh, well, uh...she hasn't been to my Warren yet, I was gonna take 'er,"
"And?"
"And give her her present there. You think she'll like that?"
"Of course! I think she'll be thrilled!" I nodded in approval.
"Thanks mate," he said.
"No problem!" I let Baby Tooth sit on my shoulder as I started the walk home.
"See ya back at the pole," he smirked and hopped into a tunnel that had former under his feet. I had no intentions of going down there.
"Okay," I said, taking one last glance at the ice structure before jogging off towards the North Pole. I heard a chattering sound by my ear, I picked Baby Tooth up from my shoulder; she was huddled up with her tiny hands rubbing her arms. "Let me put you in here..." I placed the mini fairy in the chest pocket of my jacket. She poked her little head out so she could see where I was going.
When I reached the North Pole, Tooth was zipping around with a worried look.
"Tooth! What's the matter?" I called her over.
"I can't find Baby Tooth!" She exclaimed worriedly. "Have you seen her?"
"Yeah, she's right here," I took Baby Toothout of my coat pocket and handed her to Tooth.
"Oh! Baby Tooth! Don't fly off like that!"
"She was taking me," I lowered my voice to a whisper. "To a place that Jack would like,"
"How did she find it? What was it?" Tooth looked really excited now.
"I don't know how she found it, but it was some sort of Ice Palace Playground!" I whispered enthusiastically.
"Now what are you two whispering about?" Jack's voice appeared from behind me. I spun around and saw that he was perched on top of the crook on his staff.
"None of your business!" I stuck my tongue out playfully.
"I feel left out! If it was going to be a prank on Kangaroo, you would tell me, right?" he hopped off his staff and stuffed one of his hands in his sweatshirt pocket.
"Of course!" Tooth hovered in the air. "It's not like we'd do that anyway,"
"Whatever," Jack smirked.
"We'll talk later," Tooth winked and whizzed off.
"Man, it must be really secret then," Jack laughed.
"Yep, it is!" I laughed.
"Where were you this morning?" he asked.
"Uh," I wracked my brain for an answer. "I was um, out?"
"Okay..." he eyed me curiously before turning back normal. "You up for a prank on Easter Kangaroo?"
I gasped. "You're serious?"
Jack nodded.
"I'm in!" I smirked. "What's your idea?"
Jack grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hallway and into my room. He shut the door before turning around.
"Bunny keeps a hairdryer here, he comes and uses it every morning to fluff up his fur. I was thinking that we could put baby powder into it do when he turns it on—"
"It explodes all over him! That's perfect!" I nodded enthusiastically.
"Great! He's already used it today, so we can put the powder in it tonight. Do you have any?"
"I should have a bottle in my bathroom at home,"
"Let's go get it!" Jack led me outside and we flew to my house.
"Home." I sighed before finding the key under the doormat. I slid it into the lock and turned it, hearing a soft click, I put it back under the mat and stepped into the deserted house. I ran upstairs to my bathroom and opened the closet door. "It should be here somewhere..."
After rummaging around some more on the shelves, I found it in the very back. "Found it, Jack!" I called, closing the door and running back downstairs.
"This is going to be amazing," He smirked and took the bottle from my hands.
"It's going to be great! I know!" We went back outside and I locked the door before we let the wind take us back to the pole.
