Chapter 1 –
A loud snarl filled with frustration echoed through the bleak, dirt cavern Pitch Black called home as he watched yet another Night-Mare crumple before it could fully form. The problem wasn't that he lacked the sand he'd acquired from the Sandman and tainted so he could manipulate it as easily as the Golden Guardian could work with his. No, the problem was that he still lacked the power to create more than forty Night-Mares before they started failing. Even then he couldn't send them out too far from him with his power as weak as it was now. The further they were away from him, the more power they required from the beaten Pitch Black. A year ago, Pitch had been able to create and control hundreds, if not thousands of Night-Mares. He was set to take control over the world and relish in the delicious fear he would create during his reign. But then Jack Frost was chosen by the Man in the Moon to be the fifth Guardian and Pitch's plans crumpled as easily as his Night-Mare had done only moments ago.
Just the thought of the Winter Spirit had Pitch's lip curling up in distaste. He'd been so close to bringing Jack over to his side in Antarctica! So close he could almost taste victory! Jack had been going to accept the offer, Pitch just knew it but then he'd unwittingly showed his true desires and Jack had realised he was just going to be an instrument in Pitch's plans. It was a moment that Pitch had obsessively played over and over again in his mind during the year since his defeat at the hands of the Guardians and the children Jack had made friends with.
The glowing eyes of his remaining Night-Mares had Pitch wave them away, unwilling to look at the reminders of his failure any further. Though he'd mastered the fear his Night-Mares had latched on to when he realised he'd been beaten a year ago, Pitch knew they could sense his newest fear – his fear of remaining this weak and powerless for the rest of his existence – building with each day and the promise of a feed had turned some of his Night-Mares stubborn. Several snorted and shook their sandy manes as they refused to leave him and his growing fear.
"Away with you!" Pitch snapped, clamping down on his fear and releasing a trickle more power than he would've like to. The moves worked and his Night-Mares vanished into the darkness. Pitch played with the idea of sending them into the closest towns – particularly to Burgess, the town that Jamie, Jack, and their friends called home – but reluctantly decided against it. The power he'd need to maintain his connection with even a quarter of his Night-Mares if he sent them out tonight wasn't there for him to spare.
Pitch sighed in annoyance as he scowled at his home. The dirt cavern he'd carved with his power was bleak and dreary, with only a small amount of light shining through the cracks in the dirt of his ceiling – magically fortified so they wouldn't grow and the ceiling wouldn't cave in, no matter what happened to the ground above him – and from the Globe that sat in the room he'd had the Tooth Fairies caged in. Perhaps a normal human or even a spirit would've struggled to see in the dim lighting but, to Pitch Black, it was as bright as the daylight itself.
As they often did while he was alone, Pitch found his thoughts drifting back to Jack Frost. He replayed every one of their interactions over the last 300 years – limited as they may have been – to see if there was any way he could've won Jack over to his side. Though he was young – by Pitch's and the Guardians' standards – Pitch knew that Jack was powerful. He'd proven that during his fights with Pitch, up until the last one before Sandy had been resurrected at least. With careful training and guidance under his hand, Pitch knew that if he could've brought Jack to his side at any time before the Guardians showed interest in him, the two of them would've been unbeatable.
Pitch found himself snarling out the cursed name once more. "Jack Frost," echoed across the cavern slightly, each repetition adding to Pitch's ire.
So caught up in his thoughts was he that Pitch Black didn't notice anyone had entered his home until they spoke. "It seems like we both have a bone to pick with a certain Winter Spirit," the gravelly, aged voice rasped, causing Pitch to turn quickly to face the intruder.
His silver eyes widened minutely with surprise as he took in the figure in front of him. It was rare to see them outside of their home and Pitch couldn't recall a single time or story of him paying someone – let alone Pitch himself – a home visit. Eyes narrowing in suspicion, Pitch questioned the intruder. "Do we? What, pray tell, is your problem with the newest Guardian?" he asked, spitting the title as though it was a curse.
The lips of the spirit in front of him quirked upwards in amusement. "I'll be happy to tell you all the details you would like to hear about my problem with Jack Frost but," the spirit said, holding a finger up to stop Pitch from speaking, "not until we've come to an agreement regarding our partnership in this matter."
Pitch's brow quirked in amusement. "Partnership?" he repeated incredulously. If it weren't for the curious gazes of the slowly reforming Night-Mares, Pitch may have thought he was finally going mad and was simply imagining this interaction.
The spirit nodded. "Partnership," he repeated once more. "Your powers are weak. In fact, at this time, a newborn spirit would be able to best you in a confrontation," the spirit informed Pitch bluntly. The Spirit of Fear felt himself bristle at the callousness of the intruder's tone but found himself unable to refute his claims. "I will aid you in a battle against Jack – be he with the Guardians or not at the time – so we may both get what we desire," he said.
"How would you aid me? As you just pointed out, my power is limited," Pitch reminded him. "I have less than fifty Night-Mares to control and I cannot travel far, even using the shadows as I usually do. Even if I were to go up against Jack alone, he is more than capable of taking me down by himself in my current state," Pitch begrudgingly admitted.
The spirit chuckled. "Surely you know who I am," he said. "You know my powers and you know how I could aid you," he told him, absolutely no doubts in his voice as he called Pitch out. "I came to you as I believed you would be the best spirit to aid me in my plans for Jack. If your desire for revenge against him is not high enough for you to contemplate my assistance, please tell me now so I may stop wasting my time here and spend it finding one who will help with my plans," the spirit ordered, voice demanding and unwavering.
Pitch didn't hesitate. The spirit in front of him was not only offering him a chance to exact his revenge against Jack – something he'd never be able to do himself for another several years at least – but he was offering his aid and Pitch would be a fool not to take the assistance being offered from such a powerful spirit as he. "I think we can come to an agreement that'll benefit both of us," Pitch said. He thought he saw a glimmer of amusement in the ancient spirit's eye but flicked it aside as unimportant. "Now then, how about you tell me what our dear friend Jack has done to earn the displeasure of one such as yourself, Father Time?"
"I thought," Jack huffed as he swiped at another Night-Mare with his crooked staff, causing it to burst into the specks of tainted sand Pitch Black had made it from, "that you guys said," Jack paused to send a burst of ice at another Night-Mare that was sneaking up on Sandy, who gave Jack a silent nod of thanks, "Pitch would be down for years, if not centuries, after the epic beatdown Jamie and his friends joined us in giving him," he said, calling on the wind to sweep him upwards to allow two Night-Mares to collide, much like he had during the battle between Jack, the Guardians, and Pitch just before Pitch had managed to defeat Sandy.
"It's not like there's a rulebook for this type of bloody thing, Snowflake!" Bunny snapped as he took a leap at a tree, using it to launch himself in the air with his powerful hindlegs and releasing both his boomerangs, slicing through a dozen Night-Mares that were in his weapons' paths.
"He shouldn't have been able to recover enough power to pull this kind of attack off. Not after barely a year passing since his defeat!" North boomed, his thick Russian accent echoing through the wooded area the five Guardians were currently battling in. "He must have some help coming from somewhere!" North declared, slashing at Night-Mare after Night-Mare with his two large broadswords.
The Yetis and elves North had summoned from his home in the North Pole with snow-globes were making their way through the Night-Mares at a very efficient rate and Jack couldn't help but be glad that North had called on their aide the moment he realised the Guardians had been ambushed. There was still no sign of Pitch Black himself and Jack had estimated that they'd been fighting for close to twenty minutes. He was already growing tired from the seemingly unending stream of Night-Mares and was only using his winter-related powers as a last resort. If it could be dealt with by moving out of the way or a swift hit with his crook, that's exactly how Jack was dealing with their enemy. Jack landed on top of one of Bunny's stone golems for a quick reprieve before he called upon the wind and launched himself towards where Tooth was when he noticed the fairy was starting to be cornered.
"Thanks, Jack!" Tooth said, voice drenched in relief as Jack took down Night-Mare after Night-Mare to help get the fairy some room to recover from the relentless attack. The six baby tooth fairies with her chittered their own thanks from the tree-line. The seventh who was normally with Tooth and acted as one of her generals was with Jack, having been riding in his hoodie when they'd been attacked.
Baby Tooth had grown exceptionally close with Jack since their adventure at the Tooth Palace and the one-on-one fight between Pitch and Jack at Antarctica and she still took every opportunity she could to hang around with Jack. With the battle going on, both Baby Tooth and Jack had come to the silent and mutual agreement that she would stay in his hoodie until everything was dealt with. She and the other baby tooth fairies weren't big enough to do any real damage to the Night-Mares and after their last traumatic run in with the black sand monsters, Jack couldn't blame them for hanging back where they wouldn't be spotted.
"Any time!" Jack grunted as he destroyed another tainted sand horse before finding himself with another four approaching, yellow eyes filled with nothing but hate for them. "Do you think Pitch is actually gonna show up or is he just gonna keep sending his creatures after us in hopes that they'll wear us down before he drains all of his power?" Jack asked Tooth, obliterating the four Night-Mares who'd tried to attack him simultaneously.
Before Tooth could answer – likely to scold him of asking such a question out loud – the rich, smooth voice that was unmistakably Pitch Black's sounded from the dark forest near Jack and Tooth. "Come now, Jack. There's no need for us to rush to the main show. Why not take the time to enjoy the opening act I worked so hard to put on for you?"
Jack looked frantically around the direction the voice was coming from but between the shadows and the Night-Mares, he couldn't see anything. Before he could make some kind of retort, North got in first. "Show yourself, Pitch! What is meaning of this attack?" the Russian Guardian asked, voice booming as he continued cutting down any Night-Mare who came near him.
A loud, disappointed sigh sounded from the forest before movement in the corner of Jack's left eye caught his attention. Glancing over, he spotted the dark silhouette of Pitch emerge from the shadow of one of the trees but before he could do anything now that their main opponent was in view, a gold sand whip snapped straight for the Spirit of Fear. Pitch summoned his large scythe and sliced Sandy's whip before it could contact him and Sandy wasn't the only one to look angry or annoyed that his attack didn't work.
"Now, now, Sandy. Your leader wants to know why I've decided to attack you now. Surely you want to know the same thing. How would you find out if you managed to defeat me before I could tell you?" Pitch asked leisurely.
Sandy gave a silent snarl in response but looked over to North, obviously asking for him to take over the conversation while he got back to helping Jack, Tooth, Bunny, and their allies with the Night-Mares since Pitch hadn't had his dark sand creatures slow or stop their assault on them. North turned to face Pitch, trusting someone to have his back while he kept introducing Night-Mares to his swords whenever one was close enough to do so. "What is meaning of this? For that matter, how did you recover enough power to create this many Night-Mares and sustain them so quickly?" North asked.
Though he was still fighting alongside Tooth while aiding his other friends, Jack kept one ear on the conversation happening below him. Because of this, Jack didn't see the Night-Mare behind him and Tooth's warning came too late as Jack felt something solid and heavy hit him in his back. Letting out a startled and pained gasp, Jack blinked away the spots in his vision and tightened his grip on his staff, pulling himself out of the free fall the Night-Mare had sent him into.
A quick check assured him that Baby Tooth was definitely okay and still safe in his hood after that blow and Jack sighed in relief before turning to Tooth. "We're good!" Jack told the worried Toothiana as he got right back into the fight, ignoring the prickling on his neck that told him he was being watched. He just assumed it was Pitch and he refused to give the Dark spirit the satisfaction of seeing him injured. That Night-Mare had packed a punch and Jack knew he'd be bruised for a couple of days. "Cotton-Tail, on your right!" Jack called out to the Guardian of Hope before he twisted in mid-air, successfully avoiding another hit from a Night-Mare.
"Keep your eyes on your own fight, Jack!" Bunny shouted back, even as he turned to deal with the Night-Mares Jack had warned him about.
Jack just grinned as he focused on splitting his focus between the Night-Mares, his team and the conversation happening below him. Even though Sandy couldn't technically speak, Jack noticed that the Guardian of Dreams was still making himself heard by way of his sand symbols. North had the biggest challenge of watching Sandy and working out what he was saying, trying to converse with Pitch and, most importantly, keeping the Night-Mares on him at bay. Jack couldn't hear what Pitch was currently saying but he did decide to keep himself fluid amongst his teammates and right now, North and Sandy could do with the reprieve the most.
Directing his best friend, Jack had the wind slam him down in the middle of the trio. The moment his bare feet touched the cold earth, Jack released the small amount of winter power he'd built up since the last time he'd used it. There was a crackle of blue power and the temperature dropped dramatically as Jack directed his ice to create spikes that surrounded himself, North, Sandy, and Pitch and impaled at least one Night-Mare on each of them, effectively destroying a solid fifteen of the black creatures in one move. The ice Jack had created was fragile and had shattered the moment it had entered the Night-Mares, having been strong enough to destroy them but weak enough that they wouldn't be in the way of his teammates. Since he'd succeeded in his goal, Jack gave North and Sandy a wink before he shot back up into the air.
"Good job, Jacky-boy!" North boomed appreciatively as he and Sandy took the reprieve given to them to get more than three words in at a time with Pitch now that a good portion of the Night-Mares plaguing them were no longer an issue.
"Any time, North!" Jack called back, swinging his staff out and smashing through another Night-Mare. He glimpsed Sandy creating a bowler hat and tipping it flamboyantly at him, causing Jack to let out some laughter as he bowed at the waist in mid-air, seemingly ignoring the Night-Mares still charging around them. He was sure he heard a scoff from a certain Easter Bunny but Jack didn't let that get to him like he might've a year ago. It was just another sign of how well their relationship had grown in that time and Jack – though he wouldn't have admitted it ever out loud – was glad that he could call the Australian-accented rabbit a friend.
"Tell us, Pitch. Why attack us now?" North asked, dragging Jack's attention back to the conversation, even as he put another Night-Mare down. "I would've thought you would've spent longer in your lair to build up your power before you tried something like this against us," North commented casually, as if he and Pitch were merely in the Workshop having a cup of tea rather than in the middle of some random forest, fighting against Night-Mares whose numbers never seemed to run out.
"Well, I must admit that it wasn't entirely my idea," Pitch revealed, getting the five Guardians' attention far quicker than he had when he entered the battlefield. There was a slight twitch in Pitch's features that told Jack that the Spirit of Fear wasn't awfully impressed by that but the flicker of annoyance was gone as quickly as it had appeared.
"What do you mean?" North asked, slicing his swords through two Night-Mares before bringing them together to stab a third that tried to use the destruction of its two fellows to its advantage.
Pitch sighed, as though irritated by North's question and it took everything in Jack to aim his next blast of ice at a convergence of Night-Mares rather than Pitch's face. "It's blatantly obvious what I meant, North," Pitch said, rolling his eyes as he deftly dodged one of Bunny's boomerangs. "I mean that I am working with someone else and it was his idea to attack you now," Pitch revealed.
"Who is your accomplice?" North immediately demanded, brandishing a sword threateningly towards Pitch, who merely looked at it with a slight distasteful curl to his lips.
"I've been assured that all of you are quite well-acquainted with him. Including your newest member," Pitch said, hawk-like eyes glancing up to where Jack was hovering above them all with Tooth as his only air-support.
"That doesn't really narrow it down, Pitch," Jack pointed out as he hit another Night-Mare. He had, after all, had to keep himself entertained for the 300 years he was by himself and most of that time was spent seeking out, trying to make friends with before eventually annoying the crap out of every spirit he could find when they ignored or dismissed him. As for the Guardians, they'd been around for centuries longer than he had so he would've been more surprised to hear that the Guardians didn't know this particular spirit.
"I didn't mean for my comment to be helpful, Jack," Pitch said, almost spitting his name as a curse and Jack wanted to roll his eyes. Though his interactions with Pitch from before their fight a year ago were extremely limited, Jack would've never pegged him for someone to still be feeling petty over something like Jack not joining his side but it seemed like Jack was wrong. "Our mutual acquaintance will reveal himself when he feels like it and I don't wish to ruin his grand entrance," Pitch informed them.
"Dramatic much?" Jack muttered as he watched Tooth's six as she took on more Night-Mares. His temper was never something he had good control over – too much anger and grief had affected him in the last 300 years of his existence from his being ignored – and he could feel his hold slipping on it at a dramatic pace right now. It was mainly due to the amount of Night-Mares that seemed to be coming from nowhere and whose numbers never seemed to decrease but Jack also knew a fair amount of it was because of Pitch's refusal to just give them a straight and honest answer.
Something in the forest caught Jack's eye in the exact moment he was about to snap at Pitch for a clearer answer or – better yet – the damned name of the spirit who had apparently joined him. Whatever he saw only lasted a moment but it was long enough to bring him up short in what he was doing so he could drift closer to try and get a better look at it. It disappeared almost before he could see anything but – to Jack's surprise – another one popped up only a moment later and soon the answer to one of their most pressing questions was given to him. Someone – not Pitch since Jack had never heard of him being able to use them – was using portals to bring more Night-Mares onto the battlefield.
Jack went to tell North what he'd discovered immediately but something else caught his attention. Bunny and Sandy had just teamed together and took out six Night-Mares on their own, which was an awesome achievement but Jack was quick to notice another portal opening and six Night-Mares rushing out of it. It didn't take Jack too long to realise what that meant. Someone was using these portals to somehow bring Night-Mares that had been destroyed on the field back to life to keep fighting. That had to mean that either someone was bringing these Night-Mares back to life with these portals or they were turning back time to bring them back. And since the only beings he knew of who could bring something back to life were Life and Death and both ancient spirits were extremely neutral – which meant they would never take sides in a battle as insignificant as this – which left Jack thinking of only one spirit who could possibly be helping Pitch. The only thing he didn't know was why.
"North!" Jack called urgently as soon as he'd put the pieces together. The large Russian man turned to face him; mouth opened to ask what Jack needed when their attention was grabbed by a panicked shriek and several equally panicked twitters, one of which was emitted right beside Jack's left ear. Jack's blue eyes opened in fear as he watched a portal open up directly behind Tooth but instead of a Night-Mare or three coming out, it seemed to be trying to pull her into it. "Tooth!" Jack's shout of her name was echoed by two others but Jack barely noticed, his attention completely on his trapped teammate. He didn't even notice the unbelievably strong grip Baby Tooth had on his hair as she watched her queen with fear.
They could all see the fear in Tooth's wide, purple eyes as she strained against the pull of the portal. Anything Jack had been about to say was forgotten as he realised he was quite literally the only person who could help her in that moment. None of the yetis, elves, or stone golems could fly and neither could North or Bunny. A glimpse showed him that Sandy was now being ambushed by Night-Mares, keeping the Golden Guardian's attention away from Tooth's plight and he knew the seven baby tooth fairies would be pulled into the portal long before they reached their queen. As the only one who could fly, was big enough to do so, and wasn't being inundated by Night-Mares, Jack had to act. So he did.
Getting as close to the portal as he could and making sure he was angled so he was facing the decreasing gap between Tooth and the portal directly, Jack lined up his staff and took a deep, steadying breath. He had one shot to get this right or else his blast would serve to destabilise Tooth without giving her the push needed to shove her out of harm's way. Letting his power build, Jack released the breath he'd been holding and released the ice attack he'd been building up in the same moment. It worked exactly as Jack had hoped; hitting closer to Tooth than the portal and releasing one of his warmer ice attacks so as to not freeze the Guardian of Memories fragile wings. The force of the explosion propelled Tooth forward, freeing her from the pull of the portal and ensuring she wouldn't be taken from them in that moment.
The fairy rightened herself mid-tumble and shot Jack a grateful look as the cheers and praises from North and Bunny made their way to Jack's ears. "Thank you, Jack!" Tooth gasped out as she tried to catch her breath.
"Anytime," Jack told her, giving her a smirk before he remembered what he'd been about to tell North before Tooth had found herself in trouble.
Turning back to face North, Jack heard the sound of rapidly rushing wind before he suddenly found himself feeling as though a vacuum had just opened behind him. A spike of fear and adrenaline raced through him as Jack struggled to keep a grip on his staff and try to get himself out of this predicament. He felt himself panic slightly as his hoodie was pulled tightly against his throat, causing him some slight trouble breathing. The only thing he could hear over the noise of the portal behind him was Baby Tooth's scared chittering from where she was hidden in his hood but he couldn't do anything to try and reassure her. Jack glimpsed down and saw his team's faces, knowing there was nothing they could do and from the looks of it, they knew it too. Much like it had been with Tooth, two of them were grounded and the one who wasn't was battling against a horde of Night-Mares that Jack now realised was intentionally done. The only spirit who could help didn't have the power necessary to help him, leaving Tooth looking both fearful and distraught as she tried to figure out how to get him out of the pull of the portal without endangering herself. Jack could see the triumphant smirk on Pitch's face as the Spirit of Fear watched his dilemma with immense pleasure and if Jack didn't think it would backfire horribly on him, he would've given into the urge to blast Pitch's face full of ice.
A moment later, there was a voice in Jack's mind, startling him badly enough that he was almost sucked into the portal. "Don't worry, Jack. I just have a simple task I need you to complete for me while you're gone. I'll bring you back to your own time once you've completed it… eventually."
Before Jack could process what the voice had said or the fact that Father Time had somehow been inside his head – an ability he didn't even know the ancient spirit had – a Night-Mare came out of nowhere and head-butted Jack in the centre of his chest, pushing him through the portal before it promptly exploded into sand from the force of the portal's pull. He didn't even have the time to let out a gasp of pain from the Night-Mare's attack before he was through the portal and the portal was closing in front of him. The last thing he saw through the portal as he struggled to keep himself floating in mid-air was the tearful face of Tooth as she stretched out a hand as though she could still grab him and pull him to safety before the portal winked out of existence completely.
Jack felt a strangled sob catch in his throat as the weight and reality of his situation hit him with the force of one of Bunny's kicks. He was stuck somewhere he didn't recognise, hovering over an ocean that both looked like every other ocean he'd seen and completely unfamiliar at the same time and with a wind around him that felt like a complete stranger to him. The wind was brushing against him in what Jack could only describe as a curious manner, which told him that this wind didn't recognise him either and the feeling of loss at his best friend and longest companion suddenly acting as though he was completely unknown to it hurt in a way Jack hadn't felt since the first time someone walked through him on the night he was made into Jack Frost. On top of all of that, he didn't even know what Father Time was asking of him! The ancient spirit hadn't so much as given him a clue as to what job Jack was supposed to carry out for him and he just knew that Father Time would refuse to bring him back until it was completed, which meant Jack could be stuck wherever and whenever he was for centuries!
A soft, concerned twitter got Jack's attention before the impending panic attack could set in and he soon found himself with Baby Tooth right in front of him, small eyes filled with worry and affection as she tried to soothe him as best she could. Despite having spent more time with Baby Tooth in the last year than he had with the Guardians, Jack still wasn't fluent in the baby tooth fairies' language, though he was slowly starting to understand them a bit more clearly. However, it was blindingly obvious that Baby Tooth was really trying to comfort him and he felt himself calm down in the face of that honest and sincere attempt.
"Sorry, Baby Tooth," Jack said, giving the little fairy a half grin. "I didn't mean to freak out on you," he apologised.
Baby Tooth's features immediately gained a cross expression as she scoldingly chittered at him, waggling her little finger as she lectured at him for – as Jack quickly gathered – apologising unnecessarily to her. Jack couldn't stop the grin from forming on his face at the lecture and was amazed at just how much weight seemed to lift from him just from the familiar action. It was like this one action had managed to remind Jack that he wasn't completely alone in this situation and that he could get through this and do whatever it was Father Time hadn't bothered telling him the details about.
It seemed as though Baby Tooth's lecture was petering out now and Jack took the chance she gave him when she took in a small breath to smile at her and stroke her spine gently. "Thank you, Baby Tooth," Jack said sincerely.
Baby Tooth gave him a look to let him know that she was well aware that he was trying to get out of the rest of her lecture but it seemed the genuineness in his voice and the stroke down her spine had won her over enough that she didn't finish it. Instead, she settled for petting his cheek and rubbing hers against his in her version of a hug. Jack carefully cupped the little fairy, doing his best to not freeze her or her wings – a feat that he was getting better at since it had been a while since he'd had to be careful about how cold he literally was around others – and returned the hug. He kept the hug going until he felt her wingtips brush against his palm, her cue that she wanted to face him again so he obligingly released her.
Jack didn't need the questioning chirp to know what she was asking thanks to how expressive the little fairy was. The Guardian of Fun gave her a smile. "I'm doing better now," he promised her and received an almost silent, relieved sigh from the hummingbird-like fairy. Deciding they really needed to move on from this conversation – as wonderful as it was to have someone other than the wind worry about his emotions, it was still odd to him – they did need to discuss what they were going to do now. "Alright, Baby Tooth," Jack said, clapping his hands together with a lot less awkwardness than one might have expected from someone holding a staff. The fairy in question chirped as she straightened mid-air, recognising Jack's serious tone. "Let's try and figure out what in Manny's name we're supposed to be doing here," he said, getting an enthusiastic and agreeing chirp from his friend.
Jack didn't know what it was that had him snatching Baby Tooth from mid-air with zero warning, causing the aforementioned fairy to squeak in protest and alarm, and hold her close to his chest but he was certainly glad he did when not a heartbeat later, five massive, hot blurs raced past him at a speed greater than Jack had seen any non-magical animal or object move before. The wind battered and buffered him from the force of these creatures flying right past him so strongly that it took far more effort to keep a hold of his staff and Baby Tooth than Jack had ever extended before, including the several times he'd accidentally found himself in the middle of one of his own blizzards. He may have learned after the first time he was caught in a blizzard of his own making that he had no control over it once he released the storm but it hadn't stopped him from trying to slow them down to give people time to move out of their way so they wouldn't freeze to death on at least six other occasions.
A tiny, annoyed chirp caught Jack's attention once the creatures had passed them by and Jack had managed to stabilise himself with the wind's help. Chuckling slightly, he released the irked and confused Baby Tooth. "Sorry," he apologised. "I have no clue what that was that passed us though. You didn't manage to sneak a peek?" he asked her but got a shake of the head in return. "Yeah, I didn't think you would've," Jack admitted. "Do you think they might have something with why Father Time sent us here?" he asked, though it was obvious by the tone of his voice that he didn't fully believe that.
Baby Tooth seemed to contemplate his question but before she could answer, her gaze widened as she stared at something over Jack's shoulder. At the exact same time, Jack felt several somethings behind him just before he heard a low growl that seemed to be somewhere between threatening and curious. Spinning quickly in mid-air while also having the wind push him backwards a couple of metres – catching Baby Tooth as he moved – Jack found himself face to face with what he could only assume were the five creatures that had rushed past him not even half a minute before and he could feel his jaw drop as Baby Tooth dived into his hoodie, both for protection and so Jack wouldn't have to worry about her if this turned into a fight.
In front of him were five of the most unique creatures Jack had ever seen in his life. For starters, one of them had not one but two heads and two tails. Each head had sharp, needle-shaped teeth, a short horn in between two large, yellow, lizard-like eyes, and a forked tongue. The creature itself was mostly green but there was some dark reds and oranges mottled over its back and wings while its underbelly was a pale yellow.
Then there was the massive, boulder-shaped and coloured creature with short, stubby legs, short wings that seemed to defy everything Jack knew about physics (thanks, Jamie!) and small but thick tail. Surprisingly, this creature didn't seem to be looking at Jack menacingly but rather with curiousity and wariness.
The third creature had the most menacing look on its face with streams of steam coming out of its mouth and in between its sharp teeth, yellow eyes narrowed in a glare and two sets of wicked looking horns on its head. The red and black scales covering its massive body and wings reminded Jack of flames and scorch marks, which put Jack on edge a little. Unlike most of the other creatures in front of him, this one seemed to only have two legs while the middle of its wings had one talon each, reminding Jack somewhat of a bat.
The fourth creature was stunning to look at if Jack was being honest. It also had only two hind-legs and talon-tipped wings much like a bat but it reminded Jack more of a curious bird with the way its head kept darting slightly, trying to keep the hovering Jack in its sight. It had a large head with pointed teeth in its wide jaw, a large, wide horn that grew directly above its nostrils and between its yellow eyes as well as a crown of yellow spikes on its head, obviously there to protect its neck. Its beautiful sky-blue and sunshine-yellow mottled colouring covered most of its body before turning into alternating stripes down its long, almost whip-like tail.
The final creature hovered centred in the 'V' formation the five creatures were assembled in. It was only one colour and that was a black deep enough that Jack was sure he'd lose sight of it at night, even with a full moon helping light the way. Unlike the other creatures, this one had light green eyes that were watching him with a calculating look, telling Jack that this was the creature who had growled at him. It had wide, long, bat-like wings but four short-ish legs and a long tail. Jack glimpsed a flash of bright red at the end of the tail and his eyes flicked to the colour before realising it was some kind of prosthetic. Jack took all of this information in within mere moments but the creatures themselves weren't even the most surprising thing in front of him.
The most surprising thing about these creatures was the fact that every single one of them had a human sitting just behind their heads – with there being a pair of humans on the double-headed dragon – and all of them looked as shocked to see him in the sky as Jack was to see them. A couple of them were trying to hide that shock behind a scrutinising look or a glare but all of them were stunned by his appearance. Jack's own shock seemed to slow his mind down so much that it hadn't even registered to him yet that these six people could see him there in mid-air. There was a tickle on his right ear that told him Baby Tooth was peeking out from behind his shoulder to get a good look at what was in front of them but he barely noticed it.
"What the –?" the rider on the midnight-black creature seemed to stutter as he obviously finished realising what exactly he was looking at. "Who are you and how are you flying without a dragon?" the leader – Jack was assuming he was the leader thanks to his position in the formation and the fact that he was the first to speak – demanded.
The word 'dragon' sent Jack's mind racing once more as he quickly put two and two together and realised that that was what each of these people riding. Dragons. Somehow he was more astonished at the fact that there were such things as dragons than he was at the fact that these people were riding them. But the teenager's question also caused his mind to jolt with a realisation. "You can see me?" Jack asked, voice soft and awed, just as it had been a year ago when Jamie first saw him in his room the night of the disastrous Easter.
The six humans exchanged glances while their creatu – no, dragons – watched Jack carefully. "Of course we can. Why wouldn't we be able to?" the leader asked once more, a crease forming in the middle of his brow as his green eyes assessed Jack.
Jack barely managed to stop the hysterical snort that threatened to sound at the obvious curiousity and disbelief in the brunette's voice, as though he couldn't think of a single reason why it would be weird to be able to see Jack while he himself was sitting on the back of a real-life dragon! Jack almost couldn't believe how absurd his life had just become in the last five minutes and, really, that was saying a lot considering some of the things he'd seen and done over the last 300 years as the Winter Spirit. His thoughts, however, were interrupted before Jack could even think of an answer to give the brunette.
"Never mind that." Jack's attention was grabbed by the blonde teenager sitting on the blue and yellow, bird-like dragon whose colours Jack had admired. Her blue eyes were narrowed with suspicion and a promised threat that if Jack tried to move, she'd run him through with the impressive looking battle-axe attached to her back. "How are you flying without a dragon?" she demanded, repeating one of the brunette's first questions.
This put Jack in a rather uncomfortable position. He had no clue how to answer her. It wasn't like with Jamie and his friends last year. They were kids and they'd all heard the name 'Jack Frost' numerous times before, even if they hadn't believed in him as they did Santa or the Easter Bunny, and it wasn't like it was with other spirits who could see him but elected to ignore him once they realised who he was. Spirits, fairies, elves, and other magical beings were predominately believed in by children and very rarely by an adult to the point where the adult could see them but they had to fully believe in them to see them. All spirits had a unique something about them that identified them to other spirits so that coupled with the fact that these six people were asking who he was and how he was flying told Jack that they were, in fact, regular people. People who rode dragons but ordinary humans, nonetheless. They all looked to be around the age Jack was before he went into the ice, if not a couple of years older, which meant they were well past the age where they still held onto the childish belief of fairies and Santa Claus so by all accounts, they shouldn't have been able to see him there.
He didn't know why he didn't panic or flee the first moment he realised these were dragons in front of him – the whole 'able to breath fire' thing was not something Jack, as a winter spirit, liked the idea of – but Jack hadn't. In fact, there was a feeling in his gut telling him that he should stick by this odd group and North had always said that gut-feelings were to be trusted so Jack did just that. "My name is Jack Frost," he said, looking at the six people and five dragons as he spoke his name, wanting to see whether there'd be any recognition or anything, really. He was mildly surprised that he didn't get one. While not as well-known as Bunny or North, Jack Frost was still known in most countries, if only as a warning about cold weather. The fact that these humans could see him but didn't know his name only added to the mystery for Jack. "As for your other question, it requires a fairly lengthy answer and I'd much prefer to do that somewhere that's not above the ocean," he told them, glancing meaningfully at the deep blue salty water beneath them.
The six humans once again exchanged a look with each and Jack was a little annoyed to see that the suspicion on most of their faces hadn't abetted in the slightest but he was relieved when the brunette in front of him nodded. "I think the dragons would prefer it if we didn't have them stay in a hover like this for much longer," he said, reaching out to scratch his dragon behind one of its ears and earning a pleased trill from the beast. "There's an island not too far from here we can talk on. Keep up."
That was all the warning Jack had before the five dragons dived and circled slightly to the left, heading in that direction but at a much slower pace than they had been going when they first rushed past Jack. "This is going to be fun," Jack said, sounding like he didn't fully believe that. He did, however, call upon the wind to carry him behind the dragons so he could follow them. The unsure chirp he heard from Baby Tooth didn't make him feel any less like sure that this whole thing wasn't going to end in a horrible catastrophe
A/N - Hi there everyone! This is my first HTTYDxRotG story ever! Actually, it's my first time writing any of the HTTYD or RotG characters. If you've read my stories before you know that my stories are for the FMA and Voltron: Legendary Defenders fandoms with some crossovers using the Criminal Minds and NCIS fandoms so this is an entirely new set of characters and two completely new fandoms for me to writing for! I would absolutely love to know what you all think to this first chapter and how I've written the characters I've used :)
This story will start a few weeks before HTTYD2 but a year after RotG with the main part of the story coinciding with HTTYD2. I look forward to seeing what you all think to it! See you all next week!