Jack's mother always stoked the fireplace hot enough to warm the entire house. Often times the house even got to warm for his liking. So, he loved to leave a window open in his room and let the cold air in. He loved it even more when it sank into his bed, giving the blankets and mattress a crisp, cool feeling. Whenever the blankets started warming up, he would shift around until he found another cool spot and continue sleeping contently. Sometimes this resulted in a limb or two hanging off the side of the bed. Jenna thought it was funny and Jack didn't care; he was sleeping, so what did it matter? But their mother thought it looked 'sloppy and lazy'.

She had hoped to break that habit by telling of all sorts of monsters that hid under beds and took children in the night if they slept like that. When Jack was younger, it did scare him, but it didn't change anything. As years went on, he simply brushed off his mother's stories and slept as he pleased.

However, the thought was always in the back of his mind. He didn't believe in monsters or anything of the sort, at least, that's what he told himself. He couldn't deny that once in while it felt like something unsettling would lurk around Burgess. On those nights, the small town seemed much more isolated and darker than normal; the shadows almost seemed to come to life. There was definitely something unwanted that would visit Burgess.

Jenna noticed these nights too, but Jack would tell her there was nothing to worry about. He would stay up most of the night, watching the outside, just to make her feel better. On this night, after Jenna had fallen asleep, Jack went back to his own room and curled up under the blankets. It wasn't long before he was asleep and a few minutes after that, started moving around in search of cooler spot on the bed. Once found, he settled back down with his arm hanging off the side of the bed.

He could feel a draft from beneath the bed brushing against his fingers, but it didn't bother him. The draft was always there. But tonight there was something different about it; it pulsed, like a breath. Still, Jack didn't wake up. Not even when something course brushed his fingertips. It wrapped around his hand and began to work its way up his arm. When it slithered under the blankets and around his shoulder is when he finally noticed it. He tried to wake up and pull away from it, but found himself stuck in a sort of sleep-paralysis. It crawled further over his skin; he wanted desperately to wake up and scramble away from whatever it was.

He wanted to wake up, but couldn't. Pitch laughed softly at the irony of this twisted memory. He gazed down at the gathering sea of nightmare sand shifting restlessly on the ground. All of it wanted to overwhelm Jack with horrendous nightmares, but it remained impatiently on ground, awaiting Pitch's approval.

"I'll have to thank that jolly oaf next time I see him," Pitch mused, "Things are going much faster since his sleigh broke that spire further."

xXxXx

Despite the darkness of the Antarctic winter, the Guardians and Phil could make out the shape of something unnatural protruding from the ground. North motioned at it, suggesting they investigate it. Bunnymund and Toothiana shook their heads; they were there for Jack, not to look at strange things. But Phil nodded eagerly, whatever the object was, it was in the same direction as the ice cave. The group continued to hover above the ground towards the protrusion, listening to the distant rolling thunder. Bunnymund wondered if so calm here, what it was like in the rest of the southern hemisphere. He hoped no place else had suffered like the Warrens.

Sandy stopped at the edge of deep crevice. The thing they'd seen stood on just the other side, reaching for the sky with its delicate looking wisps and strong arcs. They stared at it in wonder and as their eyes adjusted to the dark, they saw two streams falling from it. What was falling, they weren't exactly sure yet. North patted Sandy on the shoulder and nodded towards the spire. The golden cloud of dream sand drifted carefully over the crevice and closer to the spire. Tooth, Sandy and Phil noticed the two streams falling from the darkened spire, while North and Bunnymund saw something else.

They saw the broken sleigh runner buried half way into the ice beside the spire alongside a twisting mass of ice. It didn't take them long to figure out one of the streams of nightmare sands was due to their collision with the spire. But still fearing another attack from the wind, neither North nor Bunnymund said anything about it; no one said anything.

Phil shook Sandy's shoulder, tearing his attention from the grand frozen monument, and pointed back towards the crevice. Sandy nodded and guided the cloud down to the ground below, just outside the opening in the wall. The Guardians and Phil carefully set foot on the cold ground again, even Toothiana. A few feet into the tunnel, North felt it was safe to speak again; at least, at a whisper.

"Be careful not to touch sand," he warned.

The Russian hadn't even bothered to look at the group as he spoke. He'd been set on finding Jack since the moment Phil said he was in trouble. Seeing that part of that trouble might be his fault as well only increased that determination. The others kept up with North's quickened, casting cautious glances at the river of nightmare sand running under their feet. Both Phil and Sandy found it strange that the sand made no effort to reach for any of them as it normally would, like it was too focused on something to bother with them.

The tunnel opened up to a disturbingly quiet cave. While the stillness outside had been unusual and a bit unnerving, this kind of still quietness gripped their hearts with fear. They proceeded with even more caution than before, if that was at all possible, but kept themselves ready for a fight. They constantly looked around the cave for any signs of Pitch or more nightmare sand as Phil led them to the carved out room. As they approached the doorway, Bunnymund held up his paw, signaling everyone to stop. With his ears perked up, he slowly crept forward to the doorway. He swallowed thickly as his gaze followed the small black river into the room and then he felt his heart skip a beat.

Glittering black sand shifted and churned anxiously. In the center, it arced over Jack's restless, sleeping body before delving back into the nearly two-foot deep sea it had created. Then he saw the dense halo dancing over Jack's head, taunting touching his face and hair. Everytime it did, the boy would whimper in discomfort and fear, and turn over in vain attempt to escape it.

Bunnymund quickly motioned for the others to come see, and when they did, they reacted with the same fear and dread as the pooka.

"What do we do, North?" Tooth panicked.

North clenched his jaw and turned to Sandy.

"You are expert with sand," he stated, "You can do something, da?"

The silent Guardian stared at North in disbelief. But he did have a point; the rest of them couldn't exactly fight sand, especially since it didn't have a form like the Nightmares. Sandy waved his hands for them to move aside. He glanced around the cave, double-checking for any signs of Pitch. When he didn't see any, a strong whip of dream sand coiled around his hand and piled onto the floor. In a swift motion, he cracked the whip directly at the shifting sea.

The second the whip crossed into the room, it was seized by half a dozen tendrils of nightmare sand. Immediately on contact, the golden sand began shudder as it was corrupted. Sandy flinched and dropped the whip as the corruption raced down towards him. The black sand drew the whip into itself, thoroughly tainting it as it did. The Guardians and Phil stared at the mass in shock until an echoing laugh brought them back to reality.

"You didn't really think that would work, did you, Sandman?"

"S-show ya self!" Bunnymund barked, readying his boomerangs.

"You shouldn't yell when people are sleeping," Pitch tutted, "It's quite rude."

"Do not play games, come, fight like a man," North challenged.

All of them searched the cave for the Boogeyman, but didn't think to watch the room at their backs. Pitch rose from the nightmare sand, his movement concealed by its shifting. He held out his hand and the sand rose to meet his hand, twisting and solidifying into a razor sharp scythe.

"Well, if you insist," Pitch said simply.

The sudden closeness of his voice alerted them to his proximity. They dropped to the floor just as the massive swung by, scratching and screeching against the icy walls.

"By the way, North," Pitch said, drawing the blade back, "I must thank you and the rabbit for breaking more of that spire; really sped things up."

Bunnymund gritted his teeth and flung his boomerangs at the Boogeyman, before launching himself towards him. Pitch ducked below one and side-stepped the other. He brought the scythe up in defense and caught Bunnymund midair before flinging him back against the scratched ice.

The nightmare sand drew itself up in a twisting heap and arced over Jack, catching Pitch's attention. Pitch gave it a nasty, disapproving look which gave North enough to get up off the floor and charge at him. Pitch heard him yell in anger and managed to get the scythe up in time to defend himself but as a result, the scythe was broken in half. It dissolved in his hands and retreated back to the shifting sea. With no defense and in close quarters with the Russian, Pitch was barely able to dance back to avoid a follow up attack, but stumbled back into the sand.

The nightmare sand began to churn in a broken rhythm, each wave reaching a little higher and taking on a more definite form until the recognizable horses were fighting their way out. North staggered back as one of them broken free and stomped angrily where he'd just been standing. Several more horses broke free, rearing threateningly before charging at the Guardians and Phil. In such a small area, the only chance they had of dodging so many Nightmares was to run back through the tunnel.

The Nightmares stampeded after them down the tunnel, knocking against each other and snapping at their backs. The commotion had already caught the attention of the Antarctic winds outside. They were unable to angle into the tunnel, but still raged through the crevice; ready to throw and suffocate them again. Tooth slowed down for only a second, but that was plenty long enough for a Nightmare to catch the edge of one of her wings in its teeth. She yelped in pain, only to have Bunnymund grab her arm and pull her forward to match the pace of the group.

Suddenly there was a dulled sound of thunder, sending confused blusters of wind in every direction, then the outside was still once again. While the others were confused, North knew what that was.

"The Great Winds are here to help!" he grinned as they ran out of the tunnel.

Once clear of the entrance, Sandy gathered them up onto a golden cloud again and brought them out of the crevice. The East Wind swept past them and barreled down into the crevice, crushing the Nightmares back into sand and forcing them back inside. The South Wind shoved them back in the direction of Bunnymund's tunnel, of which the ice portion had remained open.

"No, we can't leave Jack!" Tooth protested.

She moved to get off the dream sand, but Phil stopped her as the West Wind surged past them and slammed into an Antarctic wind, sending flurries of snow and ice everywhere.

"Meillä ei ole valinnanvaraa!" Phil barked, forcing her to sit back down.

North and Bunnymund nodded in agreement, and Sandy reluctantly moved the sand back towards Bunnymund's tunnel while the Great Winds fought against the natives to give them time to escape.

o0o0o

Author: I admit I rushed the end a little bit here because I wanted to update before I left for work :S so um, at least 10 reviews please? there's like 94 followers so it shouldn't be hard to get 10 reviews…