A Rise of the Guardians / Guardians of Childhood Fanfic

By Sakura Martinez

Author's Notes:

I'm grateful for everyone who added this FF to their Favorites/Alerts list. I was worried people wouldn't like my first foray with the Rise of the Guardians/Guardians of Childhood considering that I had mostly written for anime shows in the past.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter—which is comparatively shorter than the previous ones since I can't really stick Toothiana's chapter with this one. The next chapter will be released tomorrow, or the day after that (still depends on whether my internet connection will cooperate with me :D

P.S:

Don't forget to review, 'kay?

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 Twenty-Five

The Demon of Yule

"Phil, you're in charge with workshop. Talk with other Guardians if there is problem. I need to check up on something."

The aforementioned Yeti could only stare, stuttering as he tried to quickly come up with something to say to let the Guardian of Wonder put anyone else—apart from him—in charge with the workshop. After all, he was only one Yeti and he already had his hands—as big as they were—full with keeping an eye out on Jackie Bennett.

But Phil was not quick enough, and by the time that he did come up with a counter-argument, Nicholas St. North had already flown off in his magical sleigh. All the heavily-overworked Yeti could do was heave a sigh.

One of this days, he was going to have to ask North for a vacation leave.

There are a lot of rules governing all of spirit kind. Though these rules were not really set in stone but something all the spirits—regardless of how powerful they might be—still adhere to all for the sake of balance. Because, at the end of the day, that was what truly mattered…

Or so Nicholas St. North had come to believe. It took a while before the spirit-kind came to a consensus and agreed to it all. But, there were a few spirits who would rather stir chaos and problems for everyone else. And although North wouldn't say it out loud, that too was also part of the balance. Just like how the light of Tsar Lunar balances out the darkness of Pitch Black.

Before Jack Frost disappeared on them several hours ago, North had planned on talking with the Man in the Moon again; to ask for his opinion and to ask for his suggestion with what to do with Jackie Bennett. But that plan changed. He didn't have time to seek the advice of Tsar Lunar. He needed to move as he feared a greater danger was heading straight for them.

And that was the whole reason why he left with not so much as an explanation to the other Guardians or even to Phil; and the reason—North speculated—Bunnymund had also returned to his own safe havens. Toothiana opted to remain in the Pole with the Sandman just in case.

Though Toothiana might be more interested in search for Jack, North mussed as he flicked the reigns of the sleigh and called for his reindeers to hasten.

He couldn't fault her if that was the case, though. The need to find Jack Frost was as great as any, just like the need to counter the magic Pitch had put in place—which is what North was going to do, or try to do, at least. And for that reason, he was going to the place where, for him, it all began…

The Big Root in Santoff Clausen.

Krampus was enjoying himself now far more than during the time he stayed cooped up inside Pitch's domain, just watching the Nightmare King make use of magic to drag the children there.

Even though Krampus was especially well-versed with the art of dragging children off into one's lair, he found Pitch's method uncouth…and that is saying something. To take children away using magic? Where was the fun in that? And the way Pitch had all of them under a spell? That was the least fun of all. Krampus prefers it if they were dragged kicking and screaming—which was his method of choice.

Of course, like the Nightmare King's methods, his also had certain restrictions to it. Whereas Pitch was keeping his a secret, it had been well-known throughout that Krampus could only take children who were naughty and who loved to do bad things—which, for the Demon of Yule, was unfair.

Krampus wanted to drag all the children to his hellish world with him, regardless if they were naughty or nice. He hated children, after all. And he would have been quite capable of doing so if Nicholas St. North hadn't interfered and given the children the opportunity to protect themselves.

]~[

There is only one day in the whole year where the night is longest and when the spirits who are more in-tuned with the night—and in some cases, the darkness that it brought—takes this opportunity to do what they wanted.

Some of them merely uses the day of the Solstice for mischief, others—the more malevolent kind—uses that time to instill fear and havoc upon the world, mostly targeting the little children who, regardless of how naughty or ill-behaved they are, had a brighter light inside of them: the light of innocence. Amongst those with the evilest intent who sows fear not only in children but the adults as well, is the Demon of Yule, Krampus.

He was in every bit a demon as one could imagine, from the long horns in the side of his head to his crimson-colored eyes; from his dark-colored fur with specks of blood clinging to it, to his long, sharp, obsidian claws and sharp teeth; from the bat-like wings on his back to the reptilian tale that protruded from the small of his back, it was impossible for anyone not to fear the sight of him.

But more than his appearance, Krampus was feared because of what he does. Unlike Nicholas St. North who had taken into delivering gifts to good kids and coal to naughty ones, Krampus drags children—bad children—into his den and eats them.

Of course, back before North died and was fully instated as a Guardian of Childhood, before he became the Guardian of Wonder, Krampus did not discriminate. He would kidnap and eat children whether they be good or bad, naughty or nice. But when Nicholas St. North became a protector of children, boundaries were set—and those boundaries made it difficult for Krampus.

This angered the demon who had lived for thousands of years—even before Nicholas St. North himself had been born. One could imagine the regret Krampus had at not eating North when North was still a kid; when he had a chance.

And so, thanks to the boundaries set by the birth of the Guardian of Wonder, Krampus had to make-do with the children who were so naughty and so evil that North's protection could not work with them. And those children were far too few for the Demon of Yule's liking.

And, if that was not problematic enough for Krampus, North would often battle with him in order to protect the children and keep him from having his meal. It made Krampus life a living hell—and that was saying something, considering he lived in hell himself.

]~[

But now, Krampus can put a stop to that stupid protection…all he has to do is kill Nicholas St. North and be done with him—a feat that had been impossible up until now. Now he has a weapon that can hurt the spirits blessed by the Man in the Moon. Now he has a chance.

"And I am going to take it," he growled as he pushed himself to hurry along to the last place he had fought with the Guardian of Wonder, remembering all the while what Nicholas St. North did to him.

How long had North kept himself from visiting the place he had once called 'home'? He couldn't say. Time for him was inconsequential. He had a lot of it. And sometimes it just meshes up together and everything passes by in such a blur. A hundred years would feel like merely a year or two at times.

He really shouldn't have been surprised when the once magical town with the large tree had been overgrown with weeds and vines, ivies, mosses, and bushes, tall trees whose leaves reached high above blanketing its surrounding in light shadows.

The houses themselves had been overrun and torn down. The giant tree, Big Root, was only a shell of its former self as it had long since died and only a hollow grayish trunk now stood in its place.

Animals quickly scurried away when he got close to the forgotten town, none of them seem too eager to talk to him—unlike the other times in the past when these creatures, or their ancestors at least, would converse with him, and he with them.

Things really have changed so much. North sighed as he made his way to Big Root—which was his destination.

Although he had brought with him to the Pole everything Ombric had of value, there was a part of North that made him believe that maybe he had left something important behind—or something that didn't look all that important before but would prove to be helpful in their current predicament. After all, there had been countless of books he had to abandon to the elements of time, wind, and water and leave hidden behind in Big Root.

Each step he took reminded him of the bygone days; of how he first stumbled into Santoff Clausen with only the prospect of untold riches in his mind; of how he had been willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of the people he didn't know but were in trouble; of the days he spent studying under Ombric's tutelage and being friends with Katherine; and of the times they had planned and used Big Root as a place to ready themselves for the battle against Pitch.

There were many other memories, but Nicholas St North willed himself not to remember them. He couldn't lose his focus now. He was alone and no one knew where he went, if danger arose and he was not ready, he could be easily put in a bind and his friends would be none-the-wiser. As much as Santoff Clausen and Big Root had been well-protected before, that was no longer the case now. After all, it had been many years since the heart and soul of Santoff Clausen had died.

Slowly and carefully North went on his way, hacking the bushes, vines, and thorny shrubs along his chosen path. Once or twice he thought he heard something and stopped, listening carefully while he took a good look at his surroundings. He found nothing, of course and soon began to think it nothing more than the curious animals making their way towards him.

After hacking and slashing his way through, North finally arrived at the foot of Big Root. Taking a deep breath to ready himself—not just physically, but mentally as well—North forged on, taking the first step inside the once-magical tree after a very, very long time.

Krampus smile widened, showing off sharp—yet decaying—teeth. His eyes glinted in anticipation, the red irises looking as feral as they always had. This was the moment he was waiting for. His whole being was trembling in excitement.

The time for reckoning was at hand. He was so lucky that he caught sight of North's sleigh while he was on his way to the Pole and had shadowed the Guardian.

Slowly Krampus followed Nicholas St. North inside Big Root, hiding in the shadows and forcing himself to be lithe as possible—which was in and of itself a challenge. He was, after all, such a hulking creature. And although he had been known for being able to hide himself and stay hidden in order to lure all of those children into his den, it had such been a long time since he had made use of such ability. He was getting a little rusty, if the number of times he had almost alerted the Guardian of Wonder to his presence had anything to say about it.

The Demon of Yule would not say it aloud, but he was glad for what Pitch Black had done. If it wasn't for the Nightmare King, he wouldn't have been given this opportunity and North wouldn't have left the comforts of the Pole in search of—what Krampus guessed—a counter-measure for the dark spell Pitch had unleashed upon earth and its children.

Krampus chuckled to himself. He wasn't going to let Nicholas St. North have the upper hand again.

"Where is it? Where is it?" Those words had become almost like a mantra for the Guardian of Wonder as he searched for anything that could be used against the dark magic Pitch had.

Of course, if one would ask the old Guardian what, exactly, he was searching for, Nicholas St. North wouldn't be able to provide them with any answer. He, himself, didn't know what it was. All he had going for him was the hope that there was something.

It didn't help North's quest that Big Root had been so unkempt and everything wasn't where it used to be. Nor did it help that the remaining books, parchments, and tomes that were in Big Root had been rendered impossible to read thanks to the bugs—and other elements—that had eaten away at it.

Yet, despite the stacks of odds against him, North didn't stop looking and continued to hold out hope that he would find something.

Taking a deep calming breath, North willed himself to remember. Ombric had many secrets, and he made sure to keep those secrets hidden and well-guarded. If there was something that could help them now—and that is a big if—Ombric would have left it at a place where only those who allied themselves with the Man in the Moon would find it—or so Nicholas St. North would like to believe.

He was so caught up with his search that he failed to notice Krampus lurking behind him. When the Demon of Yule saw North's guard was down, he did not hesitate and immediately struck North with the clawed gloves Pitch Black had given him.