Chapter 12

Wow! This is probably the longest thing I've written ever. Thanks for all the positive reviews, I was kinda scared that I would get a lot of flamers for posting this story. So thanks for making me feel so welcome my first time on

The guardians slept soundly that night, all except one. While the others had nice and peaceful dreams, Jack had to endure wave after wave of insane nightmares. He shook in his sheets, gripping his pillow like a lifeline. He occasionally would turn and toss, and eventually threw off his blankets. The bed cloths landed on North who woke up startled. He thought it was just Sandy sleepwalking again, so he assumed nothing of it and went back to sleep, but was woken up again by the sound of quiet sobbing. If anyone knew North, they'd know he could not just simply ignore sobbing.

North Jumped out of bed, searching through the dark for the source of the sobbing. He bumped up against what he thought was the wall and groped for the light switch. The switch brushed against his hand as he frantically flicked it on. The dim light flickered, waking up too of the sleeping guardians.

"Oi, what's with the wakeup call." Mumbled bunny sliding out of bed. Tooth mumbled out some gibberish about her thinking it was morning, and needing to go brush her teeth.

"Do you hear that!?" North questioned as he looked at them. "Someone's crying." He looked around his eye catching on Jack who was still shaking. The other guardians looked confused until they followed his eyes to where Jack slept.

"Jack!" Gasped Tooth. Bunny ran over and lifted the pillow Jack had put over his face. He gazed at his face, it was scrunched up into a frown with some of Sandy's Sand sprinkled around his eyes. Tooth came over and check the children to see if they were alright by placing a hand under his belly.

"The children are fine, but Jack…" she looked at his face sadly.

"Wait, it looks like he's having a nightmare." Bunny commented. Bunny somewhat awkwardly poked his shoulder to wake him up. Then he shook his shoulder a little when it didn't work.

"We might have a problem here. If Jack doesn't wake up, his nightmares might lead Pitch here."

"Oh! I have idea!" North came close to jacks ear and took in a deep breath. "WAKE U-" He was pulled away by bunny with a paw over his mouth.

"What are you doing mate! Do you want to make the poor lad deaf? North shrugged his shoulders as bunny let him down. They all looked at each other for a while before Bunny perked up

"Maybe Sandy knows what to do? He controls sleep after all." He hopped over to Sandy and shook frantically at his shoulder with little to no effect. Sandy just twitched a little. Bunny shifted his eyes to Sandy's blanket, and without pause, he pulled it off with great force. Sandy grimaced and woke to the new coldness he felt. He blinked and found everyone staring him down. He quickly flashes a few question marks.

"Sandy we need you to wake up Jack, he stuck in your sleep spell." Tooth pushed him out of bed towards jack. Sandy blinked at the coma-like teen's sleep. He turned to them and flashed a few more confused symbols.

"What do you mean you can't wake him up!?" took Sandy's shoulder and shook them.

"Calm down North; how were supposed to know that he could only control sleep, not how there wake up." Tooth ushered him off of Sandy.

"I know! I know! But if Jack is having a nightmare, his nightmare could track Pitch here." He walked up to Jack and pulled up the covers over his shaking frame. The best they could do was try to comfort him and help him ride the night terror out as soon as possible.

Tooth came up and petted his head as she sang a lullaby, like she would when one of her fairies experienced this. It was sweet long and a tune that sounded ancient. The words almost sounded of an old forgotten language as she spoke them. Tooth continued this act while Bunny and North stood guard. In time Jacks whimpers were reduced to hiccupped breaths and the shaking became minimal. Yet this did not ease the guardians. They eventually decided to stare up waiting for any signs of Pitch.

Jack was almost fully at rest again, when he began to violently shake again. Tooth jumped at the sudden change and stopped her lullaby to frantically look around. The room seemed to be morphing slightly as a dark ink like substance creped over the walls and bordered the guardians. They all posed in fighting stances around Jacks cot, except tooth who stayed glue to jacks side and was trying her best to calm him down. Her calming was all in vain, Jack's shaking made him toss and turn, he gripped his own body as if to that would protect him further.

There was silence, but only for a moment. A rye cackle broke through the silence.

"Pitch! Show yourself! North yelled. As if he had been waiting for their reaction, pitch morphed out of the darkness riding saddle side on one of his bigger more intimidating mares. He made eye contact with each guardian, then he set his site on Jack.

"Now what's all the fuss about? I just popped in to say hello to you and give my best wishes to the expecting mother." He gestured to Jack.

"We know exactly what you want Pitch." Bunnymund coldly replied

"I don't know what you're talking about. I simply want to give these future guardians a safe nursery to be raised in."

"Safe? With you!? Pitch in what world to do you think that I would give him or the children to you?" North shift closer to Jack.

"Fine, fine I can see when I'm not wanted, but before I leave I'll make you a deal. You can hand jack over to me, or, I can demolish this pathetic excuse for a workshop with all of you inside!" he sneered

"We would never give you Jack and we will defend him and the workshop against you til' the very end, and what threat do you even pose to use anyways." North reared at Pitch who only crack a smile.

"Oh you poor fool, don't you see? Nightmares fuel my powers, and a powerful being's nightmare, such as a guardian's, serves just as well as a million. And Jackie over there doesn't seem to be sleeping quite well, does he?" At this Tooth frantically tried to wake Jack up.

"We can still beat you, you are not a threat to us so long as I can help it" North stamped his foot into the ground.

"Well then let's just see if you can." Pitch disappeared into nothingness as well as the darkness. The guardians ran outside of the workshop and waited for Pitch's revenge. They were troubled after fifteen minutes of no activity, but when a loud scream was heard they knew Pitch tricked them. The guardians bolted back to the safe room to find only a weeping Tooth.


I'm sooooo sorry this took so long to make and that its not as long than I had hoped it would be. Thanks guys for sticking through all my procrastination, I promise to post sooner.