A Rise of the Guardians / Guardians of Childhood Fanfic

By Sakura Martinez

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians or the Guardians of Childhood series. It would have been awesome if I did, but I don't. Those belong to William Joyce and Dreamworks Animation.

Summary: Pitch's parting words to Jack and the other Guardians of Childhood during the Battle of Belief held a clear message: The Guardians may have won the battle, but the war was far from over. Now, Pitch is rallying the forces of darkness, calling to arms a dark and sinister group: The Fright Knights. The battle to end the war is underway, but are the Guardians ready?

Rise of the Fright Knights

Chapter Thirteen

A Different Kind of Problem

Jack Frost couldn't help but feel ecstatic as he let the wind carry and toss him around. He knew just how happy the wind was to be with him again. It has been such a long time since they both of them had felt so free and had been out in the open. Even Baby Tooth seem to enjoy how fast-paced they were, although Jack was certain she could beat him to Antartica and back even before he could.

He didn't keep his laughter from bubbling up and spilling as he made sure to shower a city here, a town there, or even an entire state, with snow. Jack knew they could all use some form of fun or another.

Whenever Jack did something that some would think of as extreme, like setting off a snow storm, Baby Tooth would immediately fly in front of his face, chirping and wiggling her finger. He could only imagine her saying, "Don't overdo it!" or "Jack, you shouldn't push yourself. You didn't have to cover that place with snow!" just like Toothiana would. Of course, being Jack Frost, he would just laugh and think of it as nothing more than good fun.

There were times, however, during their some-what long flight, that Jack would just keep quiet and enjoy the peace and tranquility being so high up brought. He had gotten so used to the silence of the higher altitudes when he flies—an altitude where so few spirits dared to go—that he welcomed the silence. From time to time, Baby Tooth would notice Jack's content expression being transformed into a thoughtful one.

Baby Tooth wondered what it was that bothered Jack, but despite how well they seem to be able to understand each other, she knew Jack couldn't really understand her question. So she did what she always does at such times, she let him know that he was not alone.

She noticed, however, that the colder it got and the closer they got to Antartica, the more Jack seemed to withdraw within himself. Before long, the smile he would give Baby Tooth was forced and he would just absent-mindedly pet her crown, as she perched herself in his hood where it was much warmer, in response to whatever she would chirp saying, "I'm sure everything's okay," which only served to make the Mini Fairy think that it was the contrary.

Baby Tooth couldn't understand, at first, what had suddenly dampen the mood of the Winter Spirit and why he seemed troubled.

He is back in his domain, isn't he? Shouldn't he be happy? Baby Tooth wondered to herself. Why does he look like there's something wrong?

It was only when Jack's foot touched down on the cold, frosted, and snowy ground that Baby Tooth realized what was wrong and what had put the Guardian of Fun on edge.

The cold artic winds weren't blowing. The snow that fell was so few and far between. There was silence that was so deafening, even in Antarctic-standards. There was not a single lesser spirit to be seen. It was nowhere near what Baby Tooth remembered it to be. Granted, the last—and, quite frankly, the only—time she had been in the Arctic region of the world was when Pitch had used her as leverage against Jack Frost. Sure it had been a whole lot colder, and a snowstorm of massive proportions was blowing thanks to Jack's mood at that time, but Jack had told her once that even though he was the Winter Spirit, he didn't really have much control on the weather of the Antarctic. That belonged to someone of much greater power.

"Where is everyone?" Jack whispered the question out and Baby Tooth could sense his great worry for the spirits who had resided in that part of the world.

'Hello?' Baby Tooth also chirped, hoping to get into contact with the Snow Fairies that were abundant in that area.

But no one answered. Even when Jack and Baby Tooth walked further in the snow-covered domain, they saw neither hide nor hair of the Snow Fairies and the Southern Tribe Yetis whom Jack thought would have been waiting for them, after all, they had asked for the Guardian's aid.

"What's going on…?" He gripped his staff tighter, knowing for sure that danger was lying in wait for them. "I can't sense any of the Snow Fairies…even the Snow King."

The absence of the Snow King, a being much older and powerful than Jack Frost, frightened the Winter Spirit. He knew that if something were to happen to the king of old, the kingdom of snow and frost would suffer greatly.

Just as Jack had decided to make his way into the deepest and coldest part of the continent where the Ice Palace stood, Baby Tooth called for his attention, chirping with such urgency and tugging on his hood. She was pointing upwards, to the sky.

Wondering what it could be the Mini Fairy saw, Jack looked up.

It was the aurora borealis again, this time its colors were much sharper showing just how urgent North was calling for everyone again.

'We have to leave!' Baby Tooth said, though she wondered just how much of her words did Jack truly understand. She could also feel, despite being so far away from her Queen, Toothiana's urgency as well. Whatever they had found out was big. Besides, if they don't answer the Guardian's call quickly, the others might think that something had happened to Jack once again.

"Just hold on a second, Baby Tooth," Jack said, his eyes scanning the snowy expanse before him. Come on, just a little sign to let me know you guys are alright. "I just have to know that the other winter spirits are alright."

'I'm sure they are,' Baby Tooth tugged at him relentlessly, 'Come on, Jack. You wouldn't want Queen Toothiana to wonder why you're late. She won't let you go off on your own again, even with me around.'

It might have been because Jack Frost understood what Baby Tooth wanted to convey and didn't want to be constantly monitored by the other Guardians; or it might be because Jack figured the other winter spirits were probably trying to solve the problem they had asked the Guardians to help and forgot that they were supposed to meet with him. Perhaps Jack weighed everything down and decided the Guardians' summons were much more important; or Baby Tooth had tugged strongly enough and Jack didn't want to be strangled by his own hoodie. Regardless of whatever it was, Jack took to the skies once again to head to North's Workshop, never really knowing where the other winter spirits and sprites had run off to.

Tooth would like to believe that she wasn't the only one who was relieved to see the Guardian of Fun safe and sound. She would also like to believe that the greeting she gave him—which was by way of a hug—was just like any of the hugs she had given him and was something the others would have done if she hadn't beaten them to it. Of course, if anyone were to ask Jack Frost what he thought of it, they would know that the embrace he had been given was a little bit tighter and—dare he say it?—intimate than the one he was used to receiving from her.

"You're back!" Tooth really didn't have the need to say it, but said it nonetheless. She was the only one who welcomed Jack when he arrived as North, Bunnymund, and Sandy were all already in the Globe Room.

When all Jack gave her was a small smile—and not the kind he usually gives her that could make her Mini Fairies swoon, Tooth immediately knew that something was wrong. "Are you okay? Did something happen?"

"I'm fine…just worried," Jack replied, once again smiling to reassure the Queen of the Tooth Fairies.

When Jack refused to explain further, Tooth looked over at Baby Tooth who said, 'Jack couldn't find the other winter spirits in Antarctica. No one was around when we got there. Not even the Snow Fairies. Jack wanted to check the Ice Palace but, well, we saw the summons.'

Tooth nodded, then turned to Jack and said, "Don't worry, Jack. We'll find out what happened to the other winter spirits, but right now we've got an even bigger problem."

"Bigger than those Dark Moonbeams you guys were talking about?" Jack asked, he was so certain that nothing could possibly top that.

"Much," Toothiana replied grimly, then she motioned for him to follow her, "Come on, North and the others are already waiting."

Jack and Baby Tooth both exchanged looks before they followed the Guardian of Memories.

When they got to the Globe Room, everything was in chaos. The Yetis looked as though they were preparing for war. There were other spirits in there as well, some Jack had seen or heard of while others were entirely new to him. All of them were so busy and looked so panicked.

"W-What's going on here?" Jack asked, taken aback by the flurry of activity. He had to ask the wind to lower him down and walk on his own two feet to keep himself from bumping every-now-and-then against the other spirits. "What are they all doing here?"

Baby Tooth was equally amazed by the number of spirits that had gathered. She had never seen that many spirits from all over the world convene in North's workshop before. Not wanting to get separated from her Queen and from Jack, she retreated to the safety of Jack's shoulder, perching herself there as she watched in awe as the other spirits went on with their business, chatting fervently with one another and looking at the Globe with curious and worried expressions on their faces.

"Um, they came to help," Toothiana replied. "North thought what's going on is not something we can handle by ourselves."

"And Bunny agreed?" Jack laughed, remembering how the Easter Bunny had been so against him helping and how Bunnymund first believed that the Guardians were strong enough to withstand anything Pitch threw at them.

"Well, he had softened up ever since you joined," Tooth laughed along with him.

But their laughter was only short-lived, for when they arrived at the center of the room, near where the Globe was, the seriousness around them smoldered them. There was no room for fun or laughter right then and there, Jack saw.

"Good, you're finally here, Jack," North said, nodding his greeting.

"We got a big problem, mate," Bunnymund added. "And this one's a doozy."

"Okay…" Jack said. "Tooth already told me that. Now, can anyone of you guys elaborate?" And maybe make this quick. I have my own problem to deal with…

"This," North answered as he flourished his hand across the table. It was only then that Jack noticed a large world map.

Like the Globe, this map was no ordinary map. It showed quick glimpses of children whenever North whispers an incantation.

"Wow…" Jack breathed. Grinning, he asked, "Is this one of your magical artifacts that you used to spy on children?"

"Watch over, not spy!" North quickly corrected Jack, as Jack knew he would.

"Okay, okay…I was only kidding," Jack then looked over at the magic map and carefully scrutinized the sleeping children it portrayed.

"Wait a minute…" For a moment, Jack thought he was just imagining it or perhaps the map was having some trouble for he thought he saw shadows enveloping these children. Upon closer inspection, he realized he wasn't seeing things. Long tendrils of shadows really were coiling around the children in their sleep. "Is that…!"

"Pitch's latest work," Bunnymund nodded. "It's happenin' all across the globe. The reason why we got so many distress call was because of this."

"And the number of children being affected by whatever Pitch has done is also increasing with each passing moment," Tooth added.

The Guardians then began to relay to Jack Frost everything they had learned about Pitch's latest attack on the children of the earth. When they had finished, Jack's worries had increased and two children quickly entered his mind.

Quickly he asked, "What about Jamie's kids? Are they alright?"

The Sandman nodded and responded, 'I checked up on them on my way back here. They're doing fine.'

"But we can't say for how long," Toothiana added. She didn't want to tell him that, knowing full well how much Jack Frost loved those two children.