So guys, I now present to you chapter 3 of Red Moon and Black Ice!
Disclaimer: Do you see a 'William Joyce' name plastered on my head? Of course not. And it's pretty unlikely for DreamWorks and Disney to be making fanfics of their own works don't you agree?
Chapter 3: Dark Times
My name is Jack Frost, and I am awestruck.
Here we were floating in what North liked to call "the space outside the world, outside of time." It was a beautiful place. Much like outer space only different.
Specs of differently colored lights dusted the far expanse of darkness, while mechanical-looking birds soared through the spaces in streaks of silver and gold. Nuts and bolts suspended through space and at the center of the infinity of stars and dust clouds, floating like a giant monument was the Great Clock Tower where Father Time lived. We could hear the different tick-tock sounds from the clocks that coated its walls, and surprisingly, they didn't sound so annoying to the ears.
The Sleigh landed smoothly on the top of the tower, where funny looking alien-like creatures with misty silver eyes looked at us curiously. Each creature had large heads, their bodies shaped like different models of hour-glasses. They surrounded the sleigh, and the reindeers began to huddle closer warily. I kept my staff ready, just in case. But the creatures didn't look like they were going to hurt us.
"Woah…" I breathed as I floated down the sleigh, yet still maintaining a defensive stance. Somewhere behind me, Bunny was barfing. Tooth fluttered down, her eyes crossed looking dizzy. "I didn't know aliens exist."
"They are not aliens." I heard a deep voice call from the far corner of the area. "These beautiful creatures are called the wraiths of time… but you do not know that."
From a magnificent looking gate emerged a tall thin man with a long silver beard wearing a white silk robe. He held a tall staff in his right hand which had some sort of bauble that was shaped like an hour-glass. His thick white eyebrows hid his eyes from view, and he wore a grandfatherly smile that was both ancient and welcoming.
"Ah! Hickory!" North greeted him as he stepped down from the sleigh. In a couple of steps he was in front of the man who shook his hand a little too enthusiastically. "It's like you haven't aged a day my friend!"
The man wriggled his eyebrows as if he were rolling his eyes. Sandy zoomed beside North and shook his hand too.
"You're Father Time?" Tooth asked as she recovered from her dizziness. We both helped Bunny up who still looked green in the face.
"The one and only. But please call me Hickory." the man smiled. There was something about him that just made you want to trust him easily. Unlike North, he was less intimidating and gentler in speech. When he strode toward us, it appeared as if he was gliding through air, his robes flowing around him in an ethereal glow. Only when he was a couple of meters nearer did I notice that his skin was pale and silvery in color, like he was carved from ivory. Swirling marks of faint gold were tattooed on his long, bony hands. He really did look as ancient as his name suggests, but there was no hostility found in him.
"You must be Jack Frost." he smiled at me. He turned to the others and gave another fatherly smile. "And you must be the Tooth Fairy, and you the Easter Bunny."
"How did you…"
"I am the Timekeeper." He answered before I could finish my question. "What do you expect? I see past, present and future like it all happened in a day. I know all that you were, all that you are, and all that you are to become…"
"Then you must know who caused the black winter in Burgess, right?" I asked, hoping for answers.
Hickory looked at me for a moment and smiled. "Yes. But information about the dark winter is not a convenience I can grant you now."
I gaped in disbelief. "WHAT? But, the people there must be in danger! What about Jamie, and the other children?"
The Timekeeper held out his hand and I stopped. Right then he raised his eyebrows and I saw his eyes for the first time. They were hollow, and in place of normal eyeballs were two glowing lights that changed its colors as he spoke. I backed away… I mean, who wouldn't find a man with freaky eyes unsettling?
"The cold and darkness are but mere fruits of a greater evil done…" Hickory began, like he was narrating a story. Everyone was silent as we waited for him to continue. He raised his staff slightly in the air until he struck the ground. Soon, our surroundings evaporated into a different place… or rather, a different space.
"We are…" I murmured.
"On the moon…" Tooth finished for me.
From our spot, we saw the earth block the sun from view and cast a great shadow upon us. I think we were witnessing some sort of lunar eclipse… It was a really cool sight, and honestly, I wish I had a camera right now. But my thoughts turned to looking for the Man in the Moon since we were here in his zone anyway.
"It is futile."
I jumped a little, startled that Hickory was suddenly beside me.
"This is merely an illusion. A reenactment of something that once came to pass." He said.
"Look! Is that…"
We followed North's pointing finger which landed upon a boy who looked no older than 12 or 13 with a fishing rod in his hands. He had teal blue eyes that seemed closer to white than blue and hair that reflected the light that came from the sun. He was a beautiful child, much like the pictures you see of baby angels in calendars or paintings. I felt my mouth drop to the ground in astonishment. Is that kid…
"Is he the Man in the Moon?" I heard Tooth ask in disbelief.
"Crikey." Bunnymund whispered, his green eyes looking like they were going to come out of their sockets. "He looks like more of a… a kid… on the moon."
The boy opened his mouth to speak. No audible voice came out… but I felt that I knew what he was saying… the same way he had first spoken to me when he told me who I was. It felt like a mental voice, something that spoke to the head. I really don't know how to describe it, but it felt as if I really knew what words came out of his mouth.
What are you doing here?
None of us answered. All of us looked too awestruck. I assumed none of us has ever really met the Man in the Moon in person.
Then I noticed that Manny wasn't really looking at us. He was looking passed us.
I followed his gaze, narrowing my eyes since he was looking at an area of the moon that was hidden in the shadows. That was when I noticed something move. A man cloaked in darkness emerged from the shadows. I gripped my staff and gritted my teeth. Pitch!
"Finally, I get to meet the one and only Man in the Moon." He sneered ", to think that the almighty master of the guardians is no more than a pathetic little boy!"
"Pitch!" Bunnymund roared. He began to hop furiously towards the boogey man when Sandy caught him with his whip, pulling him back to sit down and pressing his finger to his lips to silence him.
"But he's going to attack the boy!" Tooth cried, but chose to flutter in place.
"Like what Hickory said." North told us. "Only reenactment of what has happened before."
What do you want? I felt Manny ask. I still didn't get how I knew that, but I knew that he spoke that.
"I want… my life back!" Pitch hissed angrily as a giant shadow scythe morphed in his hands. He was about to strike the Man in the Moon when the boy swished his fishing pole with one strike and unbelievably struck the weapon out of Pitch's hands. A mysterious blue glow enveloped the boy, seeming to chase the darkness away as he strode confidently towards where Pitch stood.
And what if I give it back? The boy asked, his eyes seeming to be filled with compassion. I was shocked beyond belief. Why would someone show mercy for a nightmare?
"Wait… you mean you will?" Pitch asked him looking as shocked as I was. A crazy wicked smile painted his face as he laughed like a mad man, slapping the ground repeatedly. "You have a ridiculous sense of humor, Man in the Moon!"
If I grant you your life back… Manny murmured, there would be no more fear…
No, I thought. Don't do it.
"Yes… yes!" Pitch half-laughed. "So there would be NO MORE FEAR! NO MORE DARKNESS! NO MORE BOOGEYMAN!"
And there would be no more guardians…
If it was possible for my body to run cold, it did. Right when the soundless words escaped from the child's lips, it felt like he had sentenced all of us to death. I didn't know why… but I've never felt more horrified all my life.
"Oh no…" Tooth whispered. Apparently, she could 'hear' Manny's voice too. "Don't do it!"
"He's only playing tricks on you mate!" Bunnymund called to him. "Don't listen!"
North looked shocked as well. Even Sandman looked like he had been stabbed. I wasn't the only one who 'heard' it.
'There would be no more guardians' he said. Did the Man in the Moon just make choice to wipe us out of existence?
Just when we were about to despise the Man in the Moon, the moonlit boy made a mischievous smirk as he swished his fishing rod in an extreme arc and struck Pitch with the hook of its line. He ran gracefully towards the boogey man and with a wave of his palm, he struck him with a sudden burst of light.
But Pitch quickly recovered, rising from his fall and forming yet another shadow scythe from his hands. Soon, when the lunar eclipse was complete, an evil smile appeared on his lips as he tread dangerously closer to the Man in the Moon.
Manny heaved for air and suddenly fell to his knees, his fishing pole forgotten on the ground. The glow of moonlight disappeared from his body, leaving him like a kid in nothing but white robes and curly platinum hair. He looked up at Pitch with fire in his eyes.
"Oh, I know what your weakness is, the so called Man in the Moon." Pitch muttered, the venom in his voice evident as he towered above him. "Your power is merely a pathetic reflection of light borrowed from the sun! Without it, you are nothing! You're just a foolish little boy who cares about nothing else but the pathetic lives of children."
"No!" I flew towards him, blasting him with my powers. But then my powers just flew through them, evaporating into nothing. That's when I remembered that this was just all an illusion of something that happened before.
With a brave face, Manny looked up and faced Pitch with a gentle looking smile. He began to laugh, sounding like a chime of bells as he stood helplessly against the nightmare.
Go ahead… he said. You can hurt me all you want. But you will never harm the children.
"Oh, but it's not just the children's fear I want." Pitch grinned wickedly below him, his ocher eyes gleaming evilly as he placed the blade of his scythe closer to Manny's neck. "It's the fear of the human race I want, Manny! It is your fear that I want!"
Manny faced him proudly, like it was going to be the last time he ever stood before him. I held my breath as I watched what happened next.
I am not afraid.
Then it happened all too quickly. Raising his scythe high, Pitch swung the weapon fiercely, slashing at the Man in the Moon's middle. The boy whose face never scrunched into hatred crumbled to the ground, his blood gleaming and coating the rest of the moon in a sorrowful flooding of red.
And then there were sounds of a loud angry heartbeat.
"NOOOOOO!"
Suddenly we were back at the Clock Tower. Tooth crumbled to the ground, weeping softly. Bunnymund looked pale, his ears folded down. North looked like he had been frozen, and Sandy looked like all the dreams he gave were no more than, well, dreams. I couldn't… I couldn't believe it. The Man in the Moon… he's…
"He is not dead." I heard Hickory say. I looked up and saw Father Time's gentle smile. Somehow his smile resembled that of the moonlit boy.
"But, Pitch struck him." I whispered, the shock still evident in my voice. "There was blood everywhere."
"There is but only sorrow everywhere." He answered. "We immortals cannot die until the Great Master calls us home. It is only sorrow that exists now… and sorrow can also give birth to fear."
Hickory glided towards North and patted him on the shoulder. "But faith gives hope… and with hope there is also love… and joy… and dreams… and wonder… The Man in the Moon has chosen all of you to protect these in the hearts of the children of men."
"But what is Pitch planning? Why did it appear like the Man in the Moon was dead?" Tooth asked him between sobs.
"His power merely reflects the light that comes from the sun…" Hickory murmured. "Until the blood moon is over, the Man in the Moon is lost to us."
"The lunar eclipse." North said. "Blood moon is caused by lunar eclipse."
"Giving the boogey man enough time to strike fear in the hearts of all men." The Timekeeper said, sounding more ancient than ever.
"It would mean the end of everything." Bunnymund breathed, the tone his voice seeming colder than ice.
"I don't understand," I said as I felt my knuckles turn whiter than they already are. "Pitch was supposed to be trapped by Nightmares… What could have possibly set him free?"
Hickory made slight swishing movements above his head. Another portal appeared, seeming like a giant oval TV screen. The wraiths of time began circling the frame of the portal like dancing jellyfish as images formed within it. It was Pitch, breaking free from the holds of the black stallions he made. I took note that the Nightmares were sniffing something… and that was when it came to me that-
"They smelled a bigger kind of fear." I heard Bunnymud say. He took the words right out of my mouth.
"And Man in Moon knows it." North continued. "But who could have triggered the fear?"
Sandy also had a question mark forming above his head.
We continued watching until the scenes changed into a castle… it looked like somewhere in Norway, I think. The place was within a strong blizzard until the winds and flurries just simultaneously stopped. And then, the ice and snow turned black, coating the whole castle in dark snow. In the middle was a young woman… a weeping woman, with black hair and pale skin, wearing a mourning gown and a shiny silver crown upon her head. I could not make out the details of her face, but there was a beauty to her that I couldn't describe. Soon, a man stood beside her, placing a hand on her bare shoulder. A tall man, dressed in a royal black military suit, with a sharp chin and a suspiciously familiar set of ocher eyes.
"Is that… who I think it is?" I asked.
"Pitch Black." Hickory murmured in answer. "He has discovered a way to disturb the flow of time. He went back to change the course of history, sensing the fear that might have surpassed even the changing seasons. A devious one indeed… discovering that the shadows are as ancient as that of the other elements."
"So he traveled through time using shadows?" North asked him, his thick brows meeting at the middle in confusion.
"Fear is a timeless enemy as love is a timeless victor." Hickory said absently.
"We have to stop him." Tooth declared as she rose from her mourning, her wings fluttering with determination. "We're going to pay back what he did to the poor little boy!"
The portal vanished and Father Time solemnly turned back to us with a confident smile peeking from his beard. If it were not for his thick bushy eyebrows, I would have thought that he was looking directly at me.
"Then save this woman from fear. She is the key to thawing the Black Ice."
Before any of us had time to react, another portal opened beneath us and we fell… boy, we fell, and fell without warning.
Our screams came late as we felt ourselves hurtled through time yet again. And this time, without the aid of North's sleigh. I struggled trying to grab my staff which left my grip when we passed the portal, and because it was all too sudden, Sandy began to panic and shot so much sand around us, oddly missing us by mere inches.
"HOLD ON!" I heard myself yell.
"What are we gonna hold on to?!" Tooth screamed at the top of her lungs.
And then I began to see where we were. We were falling from the sky like an angry red comet towards a land filled with lush green mountains and deep blue seas. I spotted the same castle from Hickory's vision stand tall and proud at the heart of the isle, with a fjord filled with many large and impressive ships. That was basically what I was only able to register in my mind because sooner than we realized, we were tumbling through trees, rocks and shrubs and more trees and vines and shrubs until I found myself landing on the ground with a hard "oof!" and looking at a big mossy stone with a pair of eyes planted on it…
Wait, say what?
A/N: I am so sorry for another cliffy. Please, please bear with me. I hope it doesn't feel like I'm dragging the story too long. But they will meet! And there will be lighter moments in the following chapters and the Jelsa fluff we all know and love!
I also hope you like my version of Manny! :) I never saw the Dream Works' short film "Man in the Moon" so I didn't know how to give greater depth to such a mysterious character. That's why I assumed that Manny would be like my imaginary fisherman on Dream Works' moon. ^^
Please do a review! Much appreciated with loves and kisses!
Also, I have a question... in hand-to-hand combat, who do you htink would win? Oaken or North? :)