Somewhere else the sun had already set and the night had come to take over the role. The Full Moon came up and looked like it was watching over every little thing that happened in these wee hours. In that somewhere, stealthily riding the skies on two very different creatures, Hiccup and Sandy were keeping an eye out for any sign of Nightmares that would appear around and at the same time doing the initial job of the Sandman.
Dream Sand flowed through the air like vines or a river of water, slowly finding their way into the rooms of children and giving them beautiful dreams so they would be assured of a good night's sleep. Sandy was forming sand after sand of creatures the kids would manage to dream up. Creatures such as manta rays, dinosaurs, elephants, giant butterflies, and some were even dragons.
Hiccup admired his partner's work, watching the creatures fly by with much awe. After a while he turned to him. "What does it feel like, making children happy like this?"
The Guardian paused to look at him, blankly staring before smiling and making words appear in sand over his head. 'It feels great.'
"Like it brightens your day?"
'Like it fills up my heart.' The small man then formed the shape of a heart with his hands over his chest.
"Hm." Hiccup looked away, still a smile on his face as he pats Toothless' head. "I guess that's one of the perks of being a Guardian, huh."
'It is. And soon enough, you're going to feel the same way. Don't worry, Hiccup.' Sandy reassured, moving close to pat the young man on the back. Hiccup silently thanked him, and as they continued to fly through the night, silence occurred until he finally spoke up again.
"So, have you met Pitch before?" he asked, and Sandy nodded profusely. "I assume that something big happened then."
'Oh yes. It happened ten months ago, and he threatened to take over the world with fear and darkness.' the Guardian explained, the words still forming for Hiccup to understand. The brunet rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
"Do you have some sort of... memorabilia or anything from that event ten months ago?" Sandy looked away and searched for a pocket that looked like it wasn't there but turned out to be there after all. He brought out a small glass bottle filled with black dream sand. He handed it over to the other spirit who held it gently in his hands.
'I managed to get some Nightmare Sand before Pitch disappeared into his lair the last time I saw him. I just thought we might need it someday.'
"Well you thought right." he brushed his finger against its clear glass, squinting as the black sand flowed around its container. He placed two fingers at the ready on its cap. "May I?"
'Hm... I don't know.' Sandy looked unsure whether he can just let the sand out. What if the chance it gets out of its container it'd disappear right away?
"Don't worry. I'll make sure you can still keep it. I have... ways." he smiled in reassurance and Sandy couldn't help but nod, allowing him to. Hic let go of his hold on Toothless, but they both still managed to stay soaring. He very carefully took the cap off, and the sand immediately flowed out. With a swift flick of his wrist, a refreshing gust of wind suddenly appeared and made the black sand flow with it as it circled the orange-eyed boy. Sandy watched as Hiccup closed his eyes, the sand surrounding him still as he concentrated.
Images and moments in that previous battle with Pitch appeared in his mind, rushing memories in like a coursing river.
~!~
"The Big Four all in one place. I'm a little star- struck. Did you like my show on the globe, North? Got you all together, didn't I?"
;p;
"Pitch! You have got thirty seconds to return my fairies!"
Tooth darts after Pitch, but he escapes into the shadows.
"Or what? You'll stick a quarter under my pillow?"
;p;
"Why are you doing this?"
"Maybe I want what you have. To be believed in".
Jack takes this in, almost in understanding. Pitch moves along the walls and shadows of the chamber.
"Maybe I'm tired of hiding under beds."
"Maybe that's where you belong!"
"Ah, go suck an egg, rabbit."
;p;
"Hang on, is that... Jack Frost?" he laughs. "Since when are you all so chummy?"
"We're not."
"Oh, good." Jack sees Pitch standing in the middle of a column.
"A neutral party. Then I'm just going to ignore you. But, you must be used to that by now."
;p;
"Oh, the Dark Ages."
More images of people and children cowering in fear of Pitch Black, also known as the Bogeyman.
"Everyone frightened. Miserable. Such happy times for me. Oh, the power I wielded!"
;p;
"What's going on?"
"They, they don't believe in me anymore." Tooth mumbles, quiet and devastated.
"Didn't they tell you, Jack? It's great being a Guardian—but there's a catch. If enough kids stop believing, everything your friends protect—wonder, hopes, and dreams—it all goes away. And little by little, so do they."
Jack widens his eyes in realization, knowing now how big Pitch's plan is.
"No Christmas, or Easter, or little fairies that come in the night. There will be nothing. But fear and darkness and me! It's your turn not to be believed in!"
;p;
A strand of Nightmare Sand twirls in the air, and Pitch twists it with his fingers, turning it into a crude image of Sandy.
"Fine, have your last hurrah. For tomorrow, all your pathetic scrambling will be for nothing."
And he crushes the image with his fist.
;p;
"You know, for a 'neutral party' you spend an awful lot of time with those weirdos. This isn't your fight, Jack."
The winter spirit's eyes narrow down. He holds out his staff, ready to strike.
"You made it my fight when you stole those teeth."
Pitch regards him curiously.
"Teeth? Why do you care about the teeth?"
;p;
Pitch shakes off a crash, trying to back up as Sandy touches down and moves toward him, Jack right behind him. Pitch cowers in fear as they come near.
"Okay, easy! You can't blame me for trying, Sandy. You don't know what it's like to be weak and hated. It was stupid of me to mess with your dreams. So I'll tell you what—"
Pitch stops cowering and stands up.
"You can have 'em back."
A Nightmare shoots up through a storm drain as several others gather in the alley behind him.
;p;
Sandy is on a giant sand cloud, two whips of sand in both hands as he attacks all the oncoming Nightmares towards him. Pitch rises from behind a group of Nightmares, standing on their collected backs. He stretches his arms as an arrow of Nightmare Sand forms behind him.
"We gotta help Sandy!" Jack screams as he and the others hurry towards their friend on a sleigh.
Pitch takes aim and releases the arrow. It flies through the air and into Sandy's back, exploding on impact.
The Guardians look on, horrified. Jack is the first to react."Nooo!"
He leaps ahead of the sleigh and flies toward Sandy.
"Jack!"
Sandy feels the shock and turns around very slowly, heavy breathing but without the sound. A patch of blackness starts to slowly spread across his body starting from his back.
Pitch laughs as he and Sandy lock eyes.
"Don't fight the fear, little man." Pitch continues with a smirk. The Guardians hurry up, continuing to speed towards their friend in trouble. Nightmares begin colliding with the sleigh, blocking their path. Pitch relishes his moment of triumph. "I'd say sweet dreams, but there aren't any left."
Sandy, his face an expression of terror, falls to his knees as his golden sand cloud begins to blacken as well. Jack continues on, still trying to reach his friend as fast as he can.
Sandy slowly stands, now accepting his fate. He closes his eyes and he is engulfed by the writhing blackness of the Nightmare Sand.
"Sandy..." North whispers, his two other companions feeling just the same.
"No..." Jack mutters, wide eyed. He bites his lip and grips his staff tighter. "NOOOOOO!"
~!~
Hiccup screams suddenly, eyes widened and filled with horror. He was breathing heavily and he looked so pale it was like he would faint any minute now. Right at his scream he had formed his hands into tight fists, gripping the glass bottle suddenly and had resulted in Hic crushing the container. Not only that but he lost his focus on the wind, and it had suddenly disappeared. If not for the fact that Toothless could manipulate the wind as well the pair would've been falling by now. Sandy furrowed his eyebrows, worried.
He bent over to get a good look at the boy's lowered face and words of sand appeared in front of him once again. 'Are you alright?'
"I-I'm... I'm fine Sandy. Just... a little taken back..." Hiccup muttered, still quite out of breath. He looked at the probably blond haired man then at his fisted hand. Slowly he opened it up and found himself holding bits and pieces of the once whole glass container. Some of the sharp pieces managed to stick themselves into his skin and his hand began bleeding. "Sorry about the, uh... container. I guess I can't use my ways to get back your sand without a place to put it in." he apologized.
Sandy shook his head, hinting that he's trying to forget about it. He raised his golden hand and pointed towards his palm, still looking at Hiccup with his worried expression. The brunet looked over then at his own hand again. "Ah... this? This is nothing... but I guess 'Punzel should have a look at it."
'What did you see?' now a question mark appears over the little man's head. Hiccup sighed, brushing out his hair with his uninjured hand.
"A lot of things." he first says, "That guy... Pitch Black... he... he seems so familiar. It's like I've met him before."
'But didn't you say you've never met Pitch?'
"I did say that. But... this is a weird feeling Sandy. It's terrifying to think about... but he looks like he doesn't put much of a fight on his own." Hiccup mumbles, turning away for a second before turning back to see if Sandy had anything to say.
The blond little man regards him with a look of caution. 'Do not let your guard down. Pitch has a very dangerous mind. We don't know what he'll come up with.'
"Don't worry. I won't... I hope." and with that the pair rise up higher into the night sky. Hiccup was still distracted with his thoughts. The images kept popping into his mind each time he blinked, it ached. He sighed. He has a feeling something big is going to happen. Something really big.
~!~
"The Bogeyman can be and is described in many countless ways. He can be whatever one fears the most and keep them from getting a good night's sleep. This nasty monster has been known to terrorize and kidnap misbehaving children. He only appears when the subject is all alone in a darkened room, waiting to pounce as soon as its victim falls into deep sleep. He can hide in the closet, under the bed or in a pile of dirty laundry. The messier the room, the more places he can take cover. The wind, moonlight, and or streetlights could be blamed for the scary, moving shadows appearing about in ones room..."
The long haired blonde read aloud a book that contained its own detailed description of the known 'Bogeyman' which was just a fancy title Humans would call Pitch, but of course everyone already knows that. Rapunzel placed the book down and stared at the one picture on the next page, which depicted what the Humans would think Pitch actually looked like. It was a tall man in a black coat with his face completely covered. His eyes glowed red and his mouth was curled up into a malicious smile. Rapunzel took a deep breath and leaned her head to rest on the palm of her hand.
She was inside a room that looked a lot like a library. Shelves were tall and were filled with countless books of spirits and legends and fairy tales of which written by both Human and Spirit. She watched as her partner came back, boots stomping the wooden floor with each step he took. North carried a large stack of thick books, blocking his field of vision but that didn't serve as any problem to him. He knew the room like the back of his hand, and expertly managed his way to the table Rapunzel was sitting at. He dropped the books, almost slamming them but Rapunzel didn't flinch. He then scooted over to sit directly in front of her. "Find anything?"
"Just another description of Pitch known for kidnapping kids or something." she effortlessly blew a piece of her golden locks away from her face, making it land back at the top of her head. Her eyes furrowed angrily. "I don't like him."
"Not a lot do, at first. But he's not an entirely bad guy." the big man added, defending his maybe colleague. The girl gave him a look.
"He kidnaps children. What don't you understand from that."
"Rapunzel, he never really kidnaps children. It's just something parents say to their kids to get them to behave. Pitch never stooped that low. Well, not that I know of, at least." North mentions, stroking his beard in a thinking manner. Rapunzel lowers her arms and rests her head on the table.
"Still... he did something bad once and that's it. End of story." is all she manages to say, her eyes drooping in a lazy kind of way. North tilts his head to get her to look back at him.
"I sense that something is the matter." he is proven right when the girl replies with a sigh. "And I sensed right. What is it Rapunzel? The mission not as interesting as you'd hope it would be?"
"No, no, it's nothing like that!" she sits up and tries to get things straight. "Like I said before, I love reading books and learning about things and I know this mission is very critical and important but I'm just wondering..." she pauses and looks at the man who patiently waits for her to continue unsurely. "...why."
"Why what?"
"Why us. Why did the Man in the Moon choose us of all people? There are plenty of Spirits in this world potential enough or strong enough to be a Guardian. Why us? What did we do? And why all three? He could've chosen just one of us. He could've chosen Hiccup, or Merida, or, though I was pretty sure it wouldn't happen, me. Why?" Rapunzel asks seriously, her eyes pleading for him to give her a straight and understandable answer.
The Guardian thinks for a while before answering. "Maybe he chose the three of you because he knew we Guardians may need help against Pitch. Maybe he's stronger now than ever before."
"Is that the only reason why, though?" she speaks up right as he's done with his statement, silencing him. "Is our destiny just having to fight this one guy? Aren't we meant for anything else?"
"You were not just chosen to fight Pitch. You were chosen to protect the children of the world, to teach them new things and to give them what your center calls for." North informs, gesturing to her and then pointing to his chest to emphasize. Rapunzel sighs again.
"My center... Hiccup and Merida kept talking about it all the time when we were together. They were so sure of theirs and I wasn't so much." she admits holding a thick book in her hands as she flips through the pages without reading the words that were written. North moves his seat closer to the table and places his interlocked hands on the surface of it.
"And what would those centers be?"
"Merida said her center was Bravery and Aspirations... you know, the desire to get things done, that basic stuff. And Hiccup's was Change. I don't know why he chose that but I guess it's his thing?" she answers, trying to remember those often times they'd just sit down and talk about being Guardians. They were such kids back then, not in the literal sense since they were technically over 200 years old already.
"And you?" North asks and Rapunzel doesn't answer for a short while until she finally does.
"Creativity. But... I'm not even sure about that. Is it my center? Does it fit me? What would fruit from such a thing? Does it even matter to kids?" she said with all more questions rushing through her head and each one made it feel like her heart sank deeper and deeper into an abyss.
"Why do you doubt?" North was trying to fix this, to see what problems she was going through and to help her ease out of them.
"I don't know. Maybe I'm just... not ready for this?" Rapunzel sighed and began gathering her long hair into her hands and placing it all over one of her shoulders. "I want this... but I think I'm not ready."
"Hm." the white bearded man nods, almost in understanding. He looks at her and sees that her emerald hues are looking very dull, portraying her doubt in every way possible. He reaches his large hand across the table and opens his palm out to her. Rapunzel looks at him then stares at his hand for just a moment before places both her small hands in his. He covers them up with his other hand and holds them gently. "Maybe not now or maybe not today, but you will be ready and you will know and be sure about your center. And when you do, there might be a time when you'll feel all alone and... lost. But know that you never really are."
She takes in what he says, word by word and remembering it clearly. "How do you know?"
"Because, my dear, it once had happened to me. Back in my... younger days, if I may say." he pats her hands and lets go, leaning back into his chair as he remembers the olden days of when it was his first years as a Guardian. Rapunzel takes back her hands and rests them softly on her lap. She smiles ever so slightly as she watches her partner joyfully tell her a short story of one of his old adventures. He made her feel a lot better now.
But as she listened intently about something relating to his eight reindeers, she recalls a certain subject she's been meaning to ask the big guy. "Oh, uhm. Wait a minute."
"Hm? Yes?" with his arms raised up pretending to hold two of his swords, he cuts his storytelling short to see what's on her mind.
"Is it alright if I... ask you a question?" the curling of his lips is a sign that it was fine for her to inquire something. She bites her lower lip, not done yet. "...about Jack?"
"Jack you say? What about Jack?"
"Why did he act the way he did when we first met him earlier today? I don't mean to be mean but... is there something wrong with him?" she asks quite innocently.
"Nothing is wrong with him, Jack is fine in the head if that's what you're getting at." he taps the side of his forehead in a gesturing manner. "And, about him acting that way, I cannot say why."
"Why not?" her tone perked up in curiosity.
"It has to be something either he tells you himself, or something you will have to learn on your own together with your other two friends." her shoulders fall back down after just being raised. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine. Just wish I could know why now so I'd be able to do something about it." Rapunzel leaned against her chair sighing but with a smile on still.
"You will. Someday. I promise." North places a hand over his heart to swear that he truly is promising her.
"I'll hold you on to that promise." a grin appeared on her face and she began beaming, finally returning to her once bubbly self moments ago before this serious conversation took place. After that they both burst into an array of giggles and chuckles for no apparent reason, probably to just break the gloomy mood that was holding up.
And as they she was starting to feel better, the doors to the room suddenly burst open, and they both stand up and turn to see who would suddenly barge in like that. They see Toothiana struggling to fly across the room whilst carrying an unconscious Jack. Baby Tooth followed and was right beside her, holding in her tiny hands the wrinkled piece of paper they had retrieved.
"Toothiana?! Jack?!" Rapunzel's voice raises seeing the both of them in their current condition. She runs around the table and towards them, helping the female Guardian out with carrying Jack and get her to catch her breath as she did. North hurried right beside the smaller girl.
"What happened? Did Pitch attack?" he asked, alerted.
Tooth shook her head, but tilted it back and forth right after. "Well, yes and no... I think. Jack attacked the pillars that held the lair up and I don't know why but he started attacking me too which explains my broken nose and also explains why Jack's knocked out right now." she explains, the last part sheepishly. Rapunzel looks at her and her nose intently before assessing the damage.
"It's broken alright, but nothing I can't fix. Jack on the other hand..." she and Tooth prop him up a bit more as Rapunzel holds his face up to see how he's faring. She places a hand over his forehead. "He may have a fever, though I don't know how that can happen. You may have broken his jaw with your punch but I still need to have a good look at it before I make assumptions." she says and both girls then hand over the boy to North, who had held Jack properly and carried him with ease. Baby Tooth sat on Tooth's shoulder, handing over the piece of paper.
"We didn't find any sign of where Pitch could've gone but this is very important." she gives the picture to North, who carried Jack with a single arm. He scanned the picture and widened his eyes right after. "I never expected this."
"Neither have I."
Just as he was to speak again the above windows opened slowly, bringing in the snowstorm happening just outside. Hiccup and Sandy quickly come in, and as once they were inside the windows began to close. With both their dragons, sand and real, landing on the ground, they began brushing all the snow off of themselves and at the same time getting off of their creatures.
"That blizzard was intense; we could barely see anything outside. Hey Jack, would you mind toning it down, if you could do that?" but once the brunet looked up, he saw the commotion happening before him. "What's going on? What happened to Jack? And Tooth... why is your nose bleeding?"
"Why is your hand bleeding?" she says as a counter, and also noticing that his right hand looked swollen and that red liquid dripped from it to the floor.
"What?!" Rapunzel practically yells and stomps over to Hiccup, almost tripping on her dress. She pulled on his wrist and examined his hand, the boy though did not object. "Oh my god Hiccup, what did I just say?!"
"To watch myself, I know. But I didn't get into a fight, I just got shards after accidentally crushing a glass container." he explained to his friend as well as defend himself so he wouldn't get yelled at like a three year old would when done something bad. Unfortunately, Hiccup didn't realize what a mistake it was to tell Rapunzel the truthful reason why he had an injured hand. Sandy sighed, slapping his palm to his forehead.
"You weren't even in a fight but you still got injured?!" she almost screamed. It was then did Hiccup realize the mistake. He tried to open his mouth to defend himself once more but decided against it, since he probably would've said something else that would result in her yelling at him again.
With a large grunt, Rapunzel began plucking each shard of glass out of his hand, and with each pull Hiccup winced and silently said 'ow' in pain. "'Take care of yourself' they say. Ah no, don't bother watching your own self just worry about the girl." she mumbles, almost angrily. The other Guardians exchange glances, probably thinking it was best to not worry too much of the girl. After removing all the glass, she began wrapping her golden hair around it. "This will fix it."
"Thanks 'Punzel. And... uh, sorry." Hiccup quietly apologizes, throwing in a sheepish smile to go with it. Rapunzel looks at him, rolls her eyes, but returns the smile.
"No problem. But I really meant it. You have to watch yourself and worry about yourself, not just others. Bunny and Merida will probably come back in tip top shape. You should learn from them." she says and Hic rolls his own eyes. Right when she was about to heal him, a giant hole appears on the ground of the room. They all stop to look at it, but after a while, nothing comes out. Sandy was going to check to see what was keeping the final pair when they suddenly burst right out, and land on the ground with a large thump.
They see Bunnymund, ragged with cuts that were bleeding, holding an injured and unconscious Merida, whose hair was now down and her bow's string was broken. Rapunzel didn't even made a quick remark about how even they hadn't come back a-okay because her complete shock and horror to see both her two closest companions were in that sort of condition. Hiccup looked the more devastated. "Merida!"
The pair ran towards the Guardian, and the others followed right away. With Hiccup now the one holding Merida, Bunny immediately sat down on the floor and leaned his whole body over to Sandy, who was supporting him. "What happened?! Who did this?!" Tooth asked just as dismayed as the other two Spirits. Bunny breathed heavily, trying to speak. Rapunzel held his soft paw tightly, showing her distress.
And as he spoke, only one word escapes his mouth. "Nightmares."
