"We shouldn't have left them alone," Toothy wrung her hands together nervously, sitting on a tree branch on the other end of the woods, on the border of the forest and a huge, empty field. Sitting on the ground in front of her were North and Bunny, both looking equally as nervous.
"Jack and Shine can handle themselves, I'm sure," North said, convincing himself as well as the others, sharpening one of his swords with the edge of his other one.
"I dunno, mate, that was a lot o' Nightmares back there," Bunny scratched the back of his head with his boomerang, ears twitching at the sensation.
"We didn't have enough time to think!" Tooth groaned, letting her head fall into her hands. "We let them stay because everything was going too fast!" The Baby Teeth around her lowered to sit on the branch as well, sorrowfully sighing in unison.
"Just stay positive," North said, although he was having a hard time staying positive himself. Meanwhile, Bunny's giant ears perked up, and he spun around to see a golden sand cloud flying towards them, manned by Sandy and packed with the kids. The kids waved at the Guardians. North and Bunny jumped to their feet and ran over, waving for Sandy to come to them.
"Sandy!" Bunny cheered with glee as Sandman landed the cloud. The kids piled out, scared by the Nightmares but very excited to have ridden on a sand cloud with the real Sandman. Sandy grinned with pride at the kid's bustling excitement. A question mark made of sand appeared over the mute man's head once he noticed the absence of two certain loud (and annoying) young spirits.
"Jack and Shine stayed to hold off the Nightmares, mate," Bunny explained, his smile falling back into a worried frown. "They've been gone for a while."
A look of worry washed over Sandy's face. Tooth hopped off of her tree branch. "We should just wait here for them," she said, uncharacteristically calm, to everyone else's surprise. "Sure, I'm just as worried as you guys, but I'm sure they can handle this. And Pitch IS after us, right? It would just hold them back."
After a moment of silence, North spoke up. "What is Pitch after?" There was another moment of silence, even from the kids, as everyone thought about what Pitch's motives could possibly be. Did he really just want to create another Dark Ages? What is his true target? Who is his true target?
They all spun around, ready to attack as someone fell out from the brush and into the open field. The person revealed themselves to be Shine, bursting through the trees and falling to her hands and knees, gasping for breath.
"Oh my goodness!" Tooth fluttered over and knelt beside the panting girl, putting one hand on her back. "Are you alright?"
Shine raised her head, lips dry and parted, breathing heavily. Her bright red cheeks were stained with drying tears. Dirt coated her sweatshirt, sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her blonde curls had specks of black sand tossed around in it, making her hair look almost black. The staff she always carried around was tossed to the side, in a pile of mud. Her crimson eyes were wide and worried and sad. Very, very sad.
"Again..." she whispered once she was able to talk.
"Again? Again what, sweetie?" Tooth asked.
Shine looked up at Tooth. "Again...he's...gone...I couldn't...I lost him...again..." With that, she moaned and fell face-forward into the grass, unconscious.
Jack POV
"Jack...? Jack..."
I moaned, my eyes closed. "Sh-Shine?" I called out to the darkness behind my eyelids.
"WAKE UP, JACK!"
My eyes snapped open and my breath caught. "SHINE?! SHINE!"
"She's not here, Jack," Pitch crossed his arms, smirking. I looked around, realizing I was pinned to a black wall by black sand ropes. "Funny how your enemy is the first one you call for."
I felt my cheeks grow hot with anger. "What did you do to her?! WHERE IS SHE?!"
"Wow, anxious for our little Fireball, aren't we Lover Boy?" Pitch chuckled, turning to start pacing in front of me. I felt my cheeks grow even hotter at the words "Lover Boy". What on Earth did he mean by that?! "Don't worry, Jack, I let her run off to the Guardians," he said, waltzing over to me. He cupped my chin in the palm of his dark hand, bringing his face close to mine. "All I really wanted then was you."
"What do you want from me?" I growled, glaring into his eyes. He pulled away from me, chuckling.
"Oh, just a little club reunion, Jack. Gather up a few friends and have a party."
"Friends?" I hissed. "What friends?" I spat out the word like it was disgusting. I couldn't picture anyone being friends with Pitch.
He fiddled with my necklace, hanging loosely on my chest, no longer tucked into my sweatshirt, like how it usually is. "I have plenty of friends, Jack."
"Why do I doubt that?" I smirked. "Wait...wait...WHERE IS MY STAFF?!"
"Don't you worry, Jack, it's right here," Pitch lifted my staff before leaning it against the wall. "We don't want you running away now, do we?"
I growled, struggling against the black sand ropes. "What did you do to the Guardians?! And the kids?!"
"Why, nothing, Jack!" Pitch laughed, waving his hand. "I told you, all I want right now is you. You're very important to me and my cause, Jack Frost."
Confused, I studied Pitch as he rubbed my necklace between his two fingers. I gasped, noticing a necklace just like mine hanging around his neck. A smirk pulled at Pitch's lips when I gasped. "Ah, so you've noticed. We're one in the same, Jack." With one hand, he held the pendant of my necklace, the snowflake, and in the other hand he held his star. "And there's one more, too."
I stared at the necklaces. "O-One more of what, exactly?"
Pitch's smile grew, baring his sharp, blackened teeth. "One more of the Beings of Darkness."
We return to the mysterious, unnamed man from two chapters ago. He still stands above Earth, watching poor Jack Frost talking with Pitch Black. "So, he's gotten you?" the man whispered sadly. He turned to a family portrait hanging up on the wall. It was the exact same one hanging in Sun's room, with Mother Nature, Father Time, and two handsome boys, identical in looks but opposite in colors. The mysterious, unnamed man was the boy in grey, white, and black robes, where his brother was in contrasting orange, red, and yellow.
"I would like to warn you, dearest brother," the man spoke to the portrait. "About Pitch's dark plans. But I suppose I am to assume you already know," the man chuckled. "Even if I am the all-knowing son of Mother Nature, you still like to keep up, don't you?"
The man looked back down at the Earth, toying with his own necklace. "You want a club reunion, Pitch," the man said, although Pitch couldn't hear. "But you know I can't go down to Earth. So, Pitch...what are you planning?"
As usual, please review if you want me to keep writing or I will be sad and stop!
Oh my gosh, Pitch's got Jack!
And Shine's all sad!
And Jack sees the matching necklaces!
AND WHO IS THE MYSTERIOUS, UNNAMED MAN?!
More to come if you review! Thanks for reading!
