A/N: Hey! Welcome back! Thank you all so much for your continuous support! I was initially going to add more to this chapter (that's kind of why it took so long for me to update), but I eventually decided to just put what I wanted to add in the next chapter since it would take longer to update if I did otherwise. Anyways, this chapter is what happened in the last one but through the Guardians' perspective!

Enjoy!

Chapter 5: The Cold-blooded Confrontation

"We need to be very quiet," Nicholas St. North whispered to the other Guardians as they quietly navigated through the moonlit forest of Burgess, Pennsylvania. "Surprise element is very important," he assured them confidently.

"North," Bunny, who was following behind the Guardian of Wonder while carefully watching his own steps to avoid snapping twigs and crunching leaves, whispered in a correcting tone, "it's element of surprise, not 'surprise element,' mate. Besides, how do we even know that this isn't a trap; he could be using some type of magic that makes us think he's asleep—I mean, for all we know, he could be spyin' on us right now!"

North glanced nonchalantly over his shoulder at the paranoid Pooka before shaking his head and mumbling something under his breath that only Bunny could hear, "Why are rabbits always so nervous?"

At this, Bunny's ears perked, and he indignantly confronted the Russian in a voice just above a whisper, "What was that, ya Christmas fruit loop?"

"Bunny." North replied at the same sound level as Bunny before looking over his shoulder to reveal a jolly smirk. "You know I only kid. Besides, Frost is definitely asleep. No need to vorry."

"Well—"

"Boys, shhh," hushed Toothiana, who was walking in front of North and behind Sandy. Instantaneously, her mini-fairies did the same, shushing the two bickering Guardians, as they quietly hovered beside her. In response, the Guardians of Hope and Wonder somewhat complied as they continued to follow Toothiana and Sandy through the chilly forest.

In front of the group—the thing that they were actually following—was a long string of Dreamsand that was supposedly connected to a sleeping Jack Frost; Sandy had finally made a connection with the winter spirit while they were flying in Burgess above the same forest that they were currently scouring now. If this really was where Jack Frost was sleeping, his generic location wasn't really a shock since they all knew that nature spirits tended to dwell in natural landscapes as opposed to manmade ones. No, what really surprised them was that this forest was the same one that Jamie Bennett was said to have almost drowned no thanks to the frosty killer himself. Admittedly, it made them curious on why the cruel winter spirit seemingly frequented the area.

Shortly after listening to Aster's speculation, the Sandman was left wondering himself if Jack Frost was using some foreign magic that would allow him to think that the winter spirit in question was asleep. It wasn't that Sandy was paranoid, no, really not that at all. It was just that whenever his Dreamsand had made its connection with the sleeping spirit of winter, something felt off. It was like a darkness had been lifted or removed. He had sparsely encountered the same feeling before only a few times in the past two or so weeks, and he really had thought nothing of it until now. The reason being was that he had thought it strange that the same feeling occurred when his sand came into contact with the despicable spirit that they sought to eradicate.

Abruptly, a cold wind whipped through the area of forest they were in, causing all of them to shiver slightly.

"We have to be close," Tooth quietly noted. With each wary step they took, the wind grew both stronger and louder, and even without knowing for certain, her intuition told her that it meant that Frost couldn't be too far. She had to admit, the effect itself really added to the eerie atmosphere of the blue-tinted forest as barren trees cast looming shadows caused by Manny's light above while the crisp cold nipped at their skin.

"No kiddin'," Bunny whispered from the back of the line, a hint of shiver in his voice. "It's gettin' colder by the second no thanks to this wind."

As if on cue, the wind kicked up, and before they knew what was happening, the string of Dreamsand that they were following faded and disappeared while restless breezes frantically tossed the particles away.

Instantaneously, the Guardians froze in their tracks as they watched their only connection to Jack Frost become carried off by the strong wind. This, they knew, could only mean one thing: he was awake; the cold-hearted murderer that they were searching for was awake, and they had lost the only thing that they had that would lead them directly to him.

They all slowly turned to each other, their shocked faces sharing the same look of wide-eyed consternation before Bunny unceremoniously broke the silence with a harsh whisper.

"I told ya gumbies that it was a trap."

Tooth and her fairies gave each other looks of uncertainty while North stood upright at the comment and promptly turned towards the pessimistic Pooka. "Hehe, Bunny. I'm sure that it's not trap and Jack is still nearby, no? We vill find him soon, right Sandy?"

The Guardian in question, who initially had a mixed look of shock and uncertainty, recovered with a confident expression as he signed a check mark (✓) and then gave the group a reassuring thumbs-up before continuing forward in the direction that the Dreamsand had previously been pointing them.

North continued the conversation with Bunny over his shoulder as they all followed close behind Sandy, "See? No vorries, we vill find him."

"Or he'll find us," Bunny quipped, eliciting Tooth and her mini-fairies to turn and give him a chiding look. In his defense, the somewhat wide-eyed Pooka just held up his paws and muttered, "What? Just saying…"

With that, the Guardians of Childhood continued their search through the forest, hoping that Manny would somehow help guide the way. Eventually, they were just passing by a frozen lake (one that they hoped was not the same one that Jamie had almost drowned in) when their ears heard an angry voice yell in the distance.

"I SAID STOP IT!"

They all tensed, and somehow, North accidentally managed to snap a stick underneath his large, heavy boot.

Crunch

After flinching at how loud the noise was, they completely froze, their eyes scanning the surrounding area for the voice's source, knowing full well that it had to belong to none other than the wicked spirit they were looking for as no sane human would be out in the cold forest during this time of night.

And that's when E. Aster Bunnymund spotted him.

On the other side of the frozen lake, lounging on a lone tree branch was the callous winter spirit that had caused the world so much trouble. The very sight of the spirit made the Pooka want to rip him to shreds, and his eyes narrowed with a sense of vengeance as his mind put the thought into its mouth, chewed vigorously for a few seconds, and then swallowed. Quickly and quietly, Bunny moved his head pointedly to draw the other Guardians' attention before slowly pointing towards the icy devil's location.

The others' eyes followed to where his finger pointed, and for the first time, they caught actual sight of Jack Frost. Indeed, he definitely fit Aster's earlier description, his innocent guise making him look like a 16 or 17 year old young man. Aside from his winter spirit features, though, the three other Guardians had to admit that Jack had a pretty good disguise, and if they didn't know any better, they would assume that the innocent glint in his bright blue eyes along with the teenage façade he had taken on was real—he was even wearing a hoodie, a clothing item that was popular for kids these days—but they knew better; this disguise would not fool them to go easy on him. This was still the same spirit that had murdered both children and adults alike. He was a monster, and like all monsters, they had to be slain.

With narrowed eyes, they quietly watched him jump down from the branch, an invisible force catching him before his pale feet hit the ground. The winter spirit then proceeded to walk alongside the perimeter of the frozen lake with a defensive stance, a shepherd's crook-like staff gripped in his colorless hands. He began to touch the surrounding foliage with the staff causing frost to spread as he presumably searched the area for what caused the loud crunch from earlier.

The Guardians exchanged brief glances of worry for they wished not to be seen by the malicious spirit until they revealed themselves. Luckily, though, the Guardians were out of sight from him as they were somewhat hidden behind conveniently-placed foliage and a little farther back in the forest for him to notice. It was at this time that they saw his blackened eye and his cut lip, giving them the delightful impression that he had recently started something with some other spirits and had lost.

With a small sigh, Frost eventually gave up on his search and turned his back to the frozen lake before curiously giving the air a bitter look and mumbling about something their ears were unable to clearly pick up as he made his way back to the tree that he initially was lounging in. At that point, the Guardians shared knowing glances of determination as they prepared to reveal themselves to the wintry demon. So, Aster readied his boomerang and gave the others a countdown on his fingers on when he was going to throw it.

Three. E. Aster Bunnymund formed his green eyes into slits as he took aim for the winter spirit's head.

Two. Bunny steadied himself and slowed his breathing as he focused while the others prepared themselves to burst through the foliage and approach the winter spirit.

One. Bunny took one last look at his target…

The Pooka swiftly threw the boomerang at his mark, but unfortunately missed as it veered towards the left slightly (no thanks to the wind), thus lodging it into the tree that Frost was originally walking to. In the same instant, they all charged out of the forest towards the startled winter spirit, adopting baleful expressions and fighting stances as they slowed to a stop at least 20 feet in front of him as he turned around, his staring blue eyes wide with shock and on the verge of disbelief.

For a moment, they were unsure if the spirit before them even knew what was going on, but without further delay, North stepped forward, twin sabers in hand, before delivering the last message that the cold-hearted murderer in question would ever hear: "Jack Frost, we are here to end you on behalf of all of the children you have murdered. This is the price you must pay for all of the innocence you have destroyed so prepare yourself and pray for mercy for you will receive NONE FROM US!"

In response, Frost's young face twisted into an expression of perplexity while he took an unsure step back, fueling their anger towards him even further; how dare he act like he didn't know what North was talking about—to act so clueless in their presence about everything that he's done.

Without a second thought, the Guardians of Childhood charged forward, ready to deliver their sentence, but were slightly surprised when the icy devil shot into the now flurry-laced air above them, the bitingly-cold wind nipping at their skin (both weather phenomenon they knew to be caused by him). Almost immediately, Tooth and her mini-fairies flitted towards him like a living bullet and promptly knocked him out of the sky.

When the wicked herald of winter landed on the ground with a hard thud, North took it upon himself to approach him, flourishing his swords threateningly as he got closer and closer to him all the while smiling with dark satisfaction when the frost spirit scrambled to his feet and tried to run away. Fortunately, Bunny stepped in Frost's path just in time for him to bump clumsily into the Pooka. After looking down in disgust and anger at the cold spirit, the Easter Bunny shoved him backwards and watched as he slammed into a tree. The bloody little frost spirit was not going to play run away games with them and get away with what he's done.

Sandy and Tooth gladly joined the other Guardians as they began to surround the now very nervous-looking Jack Frost who was currently leaning weakly against the tree. His disheveled silvery-white hair and wide, fatigued icy-blue eyes in addition to his chest slightly bobbing up and down almost erratically made his act look convincing, and the Guardians almost backed down for a split second before forgetting the urge and continuing forward with more determination.

This was it.

They were about to kill him.

It would be quick; a slash of the sword or a kick to the head would do the job but the point standing was that they were about to rid the world of the cold, cruel, and terrible wintry being known as Jack Frost forever.

Suddenly, though, Jack Frost spoke out, his voice slightly hoarse with what seemed like actual fearful confusion as he did so, "What are you talking about?! I didn't do anythi—"

"Shut up, ya frosty ratbag!" Aster interjected darkly, ignoring the winter spirit's indignant look that came after as his green eyes stared daggers through him. Enough with the innocent act. Bunny pressed forward. "You know exactly what you've done."

With that, the large rabbit leaped into the air and aimed his feet for the spirit of winter that was still leaning weakly against the tree. However, just before his large feet slammed into his intended target, the blasted frost devil moved out of the way, leaving Aster to plunge his feet into the tree's trunk instead. A second later, when Bunny landed his feet firmly back onto the ground, he turned to see the end of a wooden staff directed at his face a split second before being blinded by biting cold which was enough for him to emit a yell of shock.

"GAH!"

The disoriented Pooka immediately stumbled backwards only to land hard on the ground, gripping at his frozen face that was quickly becoming numb. Through gritted teeth, he cursed a certain icy devil.

"I bloody swear I'm gonna kill 'em myself!" E. Aster Bunnymund seethed as he struggled to get to his feet without slipping on the ice beneath him again. They had been chasing him for a while now, and the grin on the blasted winter spirit's face as he evaded the Guardians yet again caused anger to boil within the Australian. No, not just boil.

Overflow.

Jack Frost had proven to be very troublesome to catch, much to the Guardians' utter displeasure. They had clearly underestimated his determination and endurance even when they somewhat expected it from the rumors that they'd heard about him. From face and wing freezing, strong gusts of fierce wind that nearly knocked them over, and the forming of ice on the ground out of thin air, it seemed that Frost had a trick up his sleeve every time they were so close to cornering him.

But now, the game of chase had just switched into their favor. Currently, as they ran after the callous cold spirit, they noticed a large wall of rock jutting out of the earth in the distance in front of him—a dead end where he would have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide considering he seemed too exhausted to just fly away like he tried to do in the beginning.

So, they watched as the wintry miscreant skidded to a full stop a few feet before the rocky barrier, pacing as he looked frantically for an escape route. A moment later, they stopped a few feet behind him, their expressions representing their utter animosity towards him as they bored holes into his slender back because, at this point, they were seriously considering extending the troublesome spirit's style of execution.

North was the first to speak as he along with his fellow Guardians assumed the same, if not more threatening, battle stances from earlier. "Frost," he spat. "You have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Now, it iz time that you face us."

As they slowly cornered him, the Guardians noticed that the winter spirit had steadied his breathing before fully turning to reveal a hardened expression on his face that glared back at them almost defiantly while he held up his staff in defense. Truth be told, they thought that the spirit before them looked both battered and exhausted, which was what they intended, but the dangerous glint in his cold eyes was enough to make them wonder if he still had one last trick up his sleeve.

Silence consumed the atmosphere as they pressed further towards Frost, surrounding him as he backed away with each step they took all the while without breaking eye contact.

However, out of nowhere, frantic twittering sliced into the silence as a swarm of mini-fairies flitted to Tooth in a matter of seconds while chittering in a language that only she could fluently understand. For a moment, the other three Guardians tried to act unbothered by the sudden interruption as they advanced closer towards Jack Frost. However, their attention was eventually, albeit reluctantly, pulled when the fairies' twittering didn't cease, and Tooth took on a rather worried expression as she listened to them intently. Besides, they weren't really too worried to turn their backs on Jack Frost considering he was both exhausted and trapped.

"Toothy, what iz so important that your fairies had to interrupt?" North inquired in a whisper as not to let the nearby winter spirit hear, his thick brows furrowed in irritation. Both Bunny and Sandy also looked equally irritated as they waited for her answer.

But, after a moment, they were unsure if she had even heard what North had said or if she had just ignored him as she continued to listen to her fairies' squeaks and tweets of distress. Then, as if she was in a daze, Toothiana straightened, and as some of her iridescent feathers involuntarily began to bristle, her sweet face twisted into a wide-eyed expression of apprehension before she completely froze. The other Guardians exchanged glances of uncertainty and before they could ask what was wrong, only two barely-audible words escaped the Tooth Fairy's mouth: "Pitch Black."

"VHAT?! Pitch Black?!" North boomed in uncertainty, wondering if he had heard the Sister of Flight correctly.

In the same instant, Sandy quickly began making images out of his Dreamsand to convey his shocked thoughts while Bunny's ears immediately stood up in alarm at the name. "Oi, what?!"

"That's what they're saying!" Tooth hurriedly zipped into the air to meet with her mini-fairies only to look back down at the other Guardians and exclaim, "Oh, my poor fairies! We need to hurry!"

"But Tooth, we—aaand she's gone."

And just as things seemingly couldn't get any worse, the three remaining Guardians turned around only to discover that Jack Frost had somehow vanished, and a roar of utter anger and irritation boomed from North's throat.

"AARGH! WE VILL BE BACK FOR YOU, JACK FROST!"

Simultaneously, Bunny tightly shut his eyes and furrowed his brows as he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, releasing a sigh of mute vexation while Sandy fumed silently at the infuriating discovery. The next time that they crossed paths with Mother Nature's mistake, the Guardians would be more prepared, and they each silently vowed that they would obliterate the despicable spirit in their own way. But now, they supposedly had bigger fish to fry.

With that thought in mind, they composed themselves before exchanging knowing glances. They knew that they needed to meet and assist Tooth at her palace, and as North and Sandy began making their way back in the direction that they had originally come from (or more specifically, the direction that North's sleigh was in), Bunny swiveled on the balls of his large feet and started to stride in the opposite direction. "I'll take my tunnels."

However, before the Pooka could take another step, Nicholas St. North grabbed him and pulled him in their direction. "Oh, no, no, no, we take sleigh!"

As expected, Bunny complied, albeit reluctantly, with a quiet groan of irritation. While they walked, he glanced over his shoulder to the last place that they saw Jack Frost before he had disappeared from his spot on the rocky wall. A small chill then ran up the Guardian of Hope's spine after his keen ears picked up a nearly nonexistent sigh like a whisper of the wind in the distance. And when he turned his head to face forward, he could've sworn he saw something small and iridescent flit out of view from the corner of his eye but really thought nothing of it as he picked up his pace, hoping to forget everything that had happened with the bloody frost spirit and leave the area as soon as possible.

The walk back to the sleigh was brisk and a lot faster than the initial journey from it. After they settled into the sleigh (with some more reluctant to do so than others), North cracked the reins and the reindeer began their ascending stride into the flurry-filled, moonlit sky.

Surprisingly, as he gripped the sides of the sleigh, the Guardian of Hope didn't seem too bothered by the flying or the cold like usual. That was mostly because Aster was lost in thought, and a lot of questions were running through his mind with most revolving around the Nightmare King himself. The same spirit of fear who so cruelly wiped out the Pooka's entire kind was the same to weaken and go into hiding with the new era of Hope, Wonder, Memories, and Dreams that the Guardians had brought. So, it was understandable, at least he thought, to question the validity of his supposed reappearance.

"Do you really think its Pitch?" Aster started, his accent thick with slight incredulity. "I mean, he went out with the dark ages—we made sure of that—so how's it possible for him to just show up and start wreaking havoc? The last I heard of 'im, he was still hidin' under beds."

From the front seat, North shrugged before answering over his shoulder, "Don't know. But we cannot just ignore what Tooth had relayed to us. Plus, I'm sure Toothy and her fairies were possibly…exaggerating."

The fact that the Guardian of Wonder had said the last part with less confidence filled the Guardian of Hope with uncertainty. Aster then exchanged a glance with Sandy before watching him shrug as well.

The question that still remained was that if the shadow sneakin' ratbag really has attacked the Tooth Palace, how had he gained enough power to do so?

It just didn't make any sense, and with Easter being so close, it involuntarily left E. Aster Bunnymund with knots in his stomach.

Pitch Black had been defeated, and his Fear had been replaced with their Hope, Wonder, Memories, and Dreams. But still…

Although it was true that Pitch Black did go out with the dark ages, Fear was and forever would be a part of the world no matter how much anyone tried to get rid of it. Admittingly, it was a part of life. It was just the way that the Nightmare King wanted to administer it, though, that made the Guardians want to protect children from it.

Eventually, as the Guardian of Hope does, Bunny shifted his mind and began to look on the bright side of things; if they had defeated Pitch once before, they could definitely do it again if needed. To express this, he assured the two other Guardians in the sleigh that "Even if it is him, we'll kick his tail right back into the shadows like last time!"

At the Pooka's comment, Sandy smiled and North gave a laugh that signaled his approval as he pulled a snow globe from his heavy coat.

"Da, it vill be piece of pastry!"

The large rabbit rolled his eyes at the wrongness of North's statement. He refrained from correcting the Russian, though, as he watched him whisper into the snow globe and then throw it far in front of the sleigh, opening a portal to what he remembered to be the Tooth Palace.

And as they entered the opening, the Easter Bunny could not shake the uneasy feeling that he would soon eat his own words.

A/N:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you liked, didn't like, questions, anything! Any type of feedback is always appreciated! Next chapter will cover how Jack is holding up in the aftermath of his encounter with the Guardians, and the Guardians' encounter with Pitch at the Tooth Palace that makes them realize that they may need more help than they thought. Expect some familiar characters from the movie to be introduced! Anyways, thank you so much for your support, and until next time, bye!