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 Fifty-Two
The Battle Rondo of Light and Shadow, Part One
The preparations were done. That was the only explanation the Queen of the Night could come up with as to why the Nightmare King had given them such a sudden order to attack the Guardians of Childhood's stronghold.
The directive was a welcomed distraction for her. Her only qualm was that they were being rushed and were given so little time to prepare for the battle, even plan for their attack, she was certain their work was going to be sloppy. Well, that and the fact that she had to work alongside the Maharaja once more. She didn't bother to hide her displeasure about all of it.
The Maharaja was annoyed, but not as much as her. He was being given another chance to kill the Queen of the Toothfairies. It didn't seem to bother him that he was going to be fighting at the North Pole—a frigid place that an ape like him is not equipped to handle. Not that she was very good at handling cold weather either.
That'ssss another one for the lissst, Nyx thought to herself as they rode the shadows to North's Workshop.
The two of them weren't the only ones making use of shadow travel, however. Krampus had lend them his army of ogres, goblins, and other demonic creatures; the Monkey King had with him, of course, his monkeys; and she brought along her snakes. Pitch had also given them quite a large number of Nightmares and Fearlings to use. If this was going to be the final battle against the Guardians of Childhood, they were not going to leave any remains behind—whether that was their corpse or their bastions.
Truth be told, however, Nyx wasn't all that interested. She had already dealt with Bunnymund, who was her only reason for joining Pitch in the first place. She didn't have any motivation for fighting, especially since her mind was still wracked with thoughts of Pyro Jack. Had Pitch ordered them to attack at any other night, she might've been looking forward to it too.
But an order was an order. She had made a deal with the devil, and now she had no choice but to follow through whether she was motivated or not.
Toothiana was ready. At least, that's what she fervently told herself. All that was left was to believe that. But when your mind is struggling with getting your thoughts ready for such a large-scale and all-too-important battle and the revelation that the person you had fallen in love with had also fallen for you but you have failed to tell him that, it was difficult to actually stay in the present where her mind needed to be.
Again, she was torn between being happy at said revelation and wanting to strangle the spirit who had revealed it.
It was a good thing she had reinforced her mental barriers to effectively keep her Mini Fairies in the dark about her inner turmoil. It would do them no good, really.
A sudden movement—a flash of silver and brown-caught her eyes as she was giving a particular unit of Mini Fairies instruction. At first, she thought an enemy had snuck in already. Upon closer inspection, however, revealed that it was not an enemy, but Baby Frost.
"Baby Frost!" the Queen of the Toothfairies quickly made her way to the Snow Fairy. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Jack?"
"I was going to go with him," Baby Frost replied, suddenly uncomfortable now that every single Mini Fairy was looking at him. "But King Frost told me to stay behind and help you instead." He then frowned and added, "Did something happen though, Queen Toothiana?"
"W-Why do you ask that?" she wanted to kick herself for stuttering.
It was Baby Tooth, whom she didn't notice was hovering beside the Snow Fairy until then, who answered. 'Because Jack looked really disappointed when we ran into him. I told Baby Frost it was just because of North and Pyro's plan. He thinks otherwise.'
Toothiana wanted to groan, but she suppressed that desire and instead told the worried Snow Fairy that Jack was simply troubled about the battles that were awaiting them all. She hated to lie, especially to someone who looked like Jack Frost, but there was no way she could share with them the truth. She needed everyone to get their head into the game—herself, included.
Easier said than done.
"I guess that's true," Baby Frost said, though it sounded like he didn't believe her. Briefly the Queen wondered if their looks were the only things the two denizens of the Winter Kingdom shared. He then shook his head, looked at her and said, "Well, Your Majesty, I'm going to do my best to make sure King Frost doesn't have anything to worry about on this end."
Tooth smiled and thanked the Snow Fairy, though she honestly didn't know what he could do to help. She knew so little of his kind and felt ashamed that she didn't bother asking him or Jack what, exactly, their role was in the grand scheme of things.
She then returned to giving last minute instructions to her Mini Fairies. Once they had gotten their instructions, the Mini Fairies began to disperse to different parts of the workshop. Only a handful of Mini Fairies, as well as Baby Frost, remained with the Queen.
The Queen of the Toothfairies surveyed her 'troops'. The light from the moon waned signaling the proximity of the Fright Knights. She took a deep breath and exhaled, pushing all other thoughts that had nothing to do with the imminent battle as far back in her mind as she could.
Sanderson ManSnoozie took his eyes off from the fading light of the moon as it was enveloped by the dark clouds. He didn't like how they were thrown with only a couple of minutes' worth of warning into battle. They had barely enough time to prepare. Not that all their past battles had allowed them such consideration.
Though he agreed with the plan, at that moment, he wished that there was another way. If the dark clouds that blocked the moon and brought with it darkness had anything to do with what was to happen, The Sandman could tell that he and Toothiana would not just be dealing with the Monkey King and Nyx. They would have an army behind them.
And although he and Tooth had troops of their own, he couldn't help but wonder how his sand creatures and Toothiana's Mini Fairies would compare. Of course, he needn't worry about casualties on their side. Apart from himself and the Queen of the Toothfairies, there was really no one else who could die from the Fright Knights' incoming onslaught. He could recreate whatever of his sand creatures they destroyed. The same was true with the Mini Fairies, though Tooth might say otherwise.
Still, Sandy was worried. Not for himself, but for Toothiana. Out of the two of them, she had, after all, the most dangerous part of the job: "welcoming" the Fright Knights to North's Workshop.
He would have traded places with her, but they didn't have much time to discuss the plan further, what with Jack's earlier outburst. What's done was done, however. They would have to make do.
He looked at his sand creatures, then at the container he held in his little hands. It was the crystal jar that contained the purest of his dreamsands—the sands the Mermaids of his island had strengthened and had told him to use only when deemed necessary. He feared that the day to use some of them had come.
The Sandman was uncertain of what the effects of this particular dreamsand was. The Mermaids didn't say anything, other than it was stronger and that he should be very, very careful with it. The jar might be capable of multiplying the sands to keep them from running out, but it didn't mean he could use them haphazardly. They were very adamant about its usage. The Mermaids have even said he would regret it if he used it carelessly.
"Only when hope seems lost," they told him in that velvety way of theirs. "You must only use the jar and its contents when hope seems lost. Otherwise, it would not help you. You will only get into more trouble."
Hope wasn't lost yet, that much Sandy was certain. And so he let the jar hang back around his neck. His regular dreamsands would have to work for now.
Again, the Sandman gazed at his creations. With a nod, he sent them on their way.
E. Aster Bunnymund groaned. He wanted to throw up. No matter how many times North dragged him into his sleigh, the Easter Bunny was never going to get used to it. It wasn't the magical sleigh that bothered him and made him feel sick to his stomach. It was more of how North was driving the bloody thing.
He would much rather use of his tunnels, but their destination was one of the few places he didn't have a tunnel to. North's magical Snow Globes were also out of the equation. Still, the sleigh was not a good idea, especially since they needed to be discrete and such a vehicle always had the ability to call forth unwarranted attention.
Then again, if the Fright Knights were on their way to the Pole, and the two elemental spirits were going to drag the Nightmare King out of the hole he has been plotting in, there really won't be anyone to take notice of them in that cavern Pyro had told them about except for the children they would be rescuing.
As important as their part was in this war with Pitch Black, Bunnymund wished he could actually be part of the battle. Briefly, he calculated how much time has passed since he shrunk and how much longer he needed to wait to return back to normal again, and sighed.
"What's the matter, Bunny?" North asked, looking at him with concern on his now-youthful features.
Bunnymund cringed and pointed his paw out front. "For the love of…North, would you look at where you're drivin' this bloody thing!?"
As always, North laughed heartily at the Guardian of Hope's reaction. He could never understand why Bunnymund was worrying over such small and unimportant details as keeping eyes upfront. It wasn't as though they were going to hit anything up in the air.
"Where is your sense of excitement and adventure, Bunny?" North asked, loudly. Had there been any Nightmare Men or Fearling close, their enemies would have undoubtedly heard them. It wasn't the first time Bunnymund wondered if North really did know the concept of sneaking and keeping quiet.
"There on the ground," the Easter Bunny replied dryly. "I left it along with my common sense. Now will you please drive your sleigh like a sensible person would? And keep your voice down."
Whether to annoy Bunnymund or not, the Guardian of Wonder merely laughed in reply causing the Easter Bunny to sigh. He really did not like Nicholas St. North very much when he was like this.
As they neared the secret entrance to the Pitch Black's caverns that Pyro Jack had told them about, North, however, became somber. Soon, there were no traces of laughter in his face. And when they saw the entrance that looked like a gaping maw with dangerously, jagged rocks protruding from all sides, the expression on their faces darkened. The children were in there somewhere.
Pyro Jack didn't know if he should be thankful for the silence, or worried about it as they journey to the entrance to Pitch's domain. Ever since Jack Frost had returned to the room, that very moment that they heard news of the Fright Knights imminent attack, the Winter Spirit had been quiet. Too quiet. It didn't help that his expression was too hard to read.
He didn't particularly care about Jack. They were no longer enemies, that was true, but Pyro didn't really consider the Guardian of Fun a friend just yet. Acquaintances, maybe. Involuntary partners, definitely. And yet, he would rather be thought of as caring than have to pay the price later on when the Winter King was too unfocused on the battle.
"I take it your conversation with the Queen of the Toothfairies didn't end well," Pyro guessed. It was the only thing he could think of that would make Jack Frost look the way he did at that moment. "Did she tell you shut up and just go with the plan?"
Jack chose to ignore the jibe. Being who he was, this only made Pyro feel that much more invested in getting him riled up.
"Or maybe she told you to butt out?" Pyro made a show of looking thoughtful as he enumerated the possibilities. "How badly were you chastised?"
"Just shut it, Pyro." Muttered Jack, not looking like he had any energy or drive to argue. This, of course, made the Flame Spirit frown. Not because of Jack telling him to shut up, but because of the tone by which he said it. "I'm not really in the mood for banter."
"That bad, huh?" Pyro asked, no longer mocking.
Jack eyed him, wondering what the change in his tone was.
When Pyro saw the look the Winter King was giving him, he shrugged. "I'm not that big of a jerk, Frost. Not that I care what happened between you and your queen—and what happens in the future—but whatever it was that got you from being all shitty before to all mopey now, I'm sure it'll pass. You and the Toothfairy are too tight to let some argument—whatever that argument might be—ruin what you guys have going on."
Jack looked at him incredulously, "Are you…are you actually trying to cheer me up? Wow…that's new…" he smiled a little bit, though there was still sadness in his eyes—the kind that was a pain to look at. "Thanks."
"D-Don't get any ideas in that snow-infested brain of yours, Frost," spat Pyro as he blushed in embarrassment. "I just don't want you bumbling around later when we're whooping the Nightmare King's ass and wiping the floor with his smug face."
"I'll keep that in mind," Jack said. He paused, then inexplicably—even without Pyro asking him to, because, really, why would he want to know?—shared, "I don't think it will pass, though. I made a very big mistake in telling her something I shouldn't have. Something that might have just ruined our friendship. Or, at the very least, made it awkward for us."
"Seriously, why are you even telling me this?" Pyro sounded as though he was whining as he asked. He wanted to smack himself. If he had known Jack Frost would end up sharing stuff with him, he would've just kept his mouth shut. "I am as interested about whatever relationship you have with your queen as I am with the various types of rocks, which is to say I am not in any way interested."
Jack snorted. "You could've fooled me. You're the one who broached the subject. I was just keeping to myself."
The Winter Spirit got him there. There was not a thing Pyro could say that would help him in that situation. And so he just glowered at Jack Frost and kept his mouth shut. Thankfully, Jack didn't say anything about it. Not that he would, even if he wanted to. They were nearing their destination and would now have to land on the ground lest the Nightmare King see them.
The moment their feet touched the ground next to the entrance to Pitch's domain, however, they knew that they would be in for a difficult battle.
A sudden silence, cold and still, descended upon the entirety of the North Pole. It was so quick and so inexplicable how one moment before there had been the sound of the Mini Fairies chattering, and then they suddenly stopped. It was disconcerting. And even though she was not alone—some of the Sandman's creations had joined her in the foyer—she felt as though she was. It was a strange feeling, and something Toothiana did not like.
And then started the drums.
It was faint, at first. Just a small rumble in the distance. But then it grew louder and louder, until it became deafening that the Tooth, her Mini Fairies, and Baby Frost had to make use of their hands to block the sound. Some of the Mini Fairies even faltered in flight.
At that moment, the Queen of the Toothfairies knew that the battle was about to start. Then as suddenly as the war drums sounded, did it stop.
Tooth clutched the daggers in her hand. On her right hand was the dagger she had used ever since she had been a Guardian. It wasn't as fancy as Tsar Lunar XI's sword which North uses, or the egg that Bunnymund had in his possession. It wasn't even as elaborately decorated like the memory box given to her by her parents which contained the Man in the Moon's baby tooth, or the container which held the Sandman's finest dreamsands. It wasn't even a relic from the Moon Clipper. It was just a simple, nondescript dagger.
On her left was one of the weapons they had found in the vault, a relic in its own right: Katherine's dagger.
Like her own weapon, Katherine's dagger had magic in them that was born from the hardships and challenges she had faced. It was the kind of magic that could not be replicated, nor erased, and it grew in power as time passes by.
Toothiana knew she didn't really have any claim to the weapon. She didn't have the right to carry it. Being Katherine's son—and just how it was with Nightlight's Staff—Jack Frost was the dagger's rightful owner. She had been planning on returning it to him, but had forgotten about it what with everything that was going on.
In the silence that followed, even her Mini Fairies were bracing themselves. It was just a brief silence. The calm before the storm.
And then, the large oaken doors of the workshop burst open. A steady stream of darkness rushed in to the foyer, and with it were all sorts of creatures.
The battle had begun.
