Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome back to "Dream On!" =D I don't really have that much to say this time around, so I hope you guys enjoy this chapterrrrr! ^u^

Chapter Thirteen: Glacial Damage

It was bloody freezing. And what was even stranger was that Jack could feel it.

When he opened his eyes, Jack found himself not in the deep waters of the lake that he and the Guardians had fallen in. Pitch had a funny way of transporting them to the next nightmare that he had set up for them. His eyes were still blurry, but Jack felt before he could see, and the cold that he felt was unlike any other frigidity that he had endured.

This cold was freezing. And even though Jack was normally immune to such drastic temperatures, he could feel this one right down to his very soul. Biting, nipping cold that that made his fingers and toes go numb. Inclement that made him want to curl up next to the warm, flickering fireplace in Santoff Claussen's library. A chill so chilling, that Jack could feel his bones rattling as his body shivered, trying to retain heat.

Jack moistened his lips, which were tinged a light blue as he slowly stood up from his position. His eyes had cleared, and as he took a look around, he found that he was alone. The Guardians were nowhere in sight.

"North? Tooth?" called Jack. He cupped his hands to his mouth. "Bunny? Sandy?!" The winter spirit took a step forward, and he yelped as he skidded across the icy surface that he stood on. Jack landed flat on his back, his head knocking hard ground. Pain racked up his spine, and he moaned as the back of his head thumped with discomfort.

Recollecting himself, Jack sat up, rubbing the back of his head—which he was quite glad to find hadn't been opened from the harsh fall. Now that the winter spirit was more awake and aware, Jack realized that he wasn't standing on regular land. In fact, there was no land in sight from where he stood.

No. He was on an iceberg. Surrounded by nothing but inky, black, ominous water that stretched out for miles.

The sight of the vast sea made Jack's stomach churn. He groaned. Pitch just had to bring up another water dream, didn't he?

The other Guardians still hadn't appeared, and Jack panicked a little at the thought of being separated from them. For a moment, Jack found himself minorly surprised by the emotion; he didn't think that he had grown so attached to the Guardians to the point where he'd feel alarmed when they weren't nearby. Perhaps he cared about them more than he thought…Jack shook his head, pushing his emotional thoughts aside as he focused on locating the others.

As his icy blue eyes peered across the horizon, Jack was able to make out tiny slates of ice, bobbing some distance away from the glacier he stood on. There were colorful little dots that stood on top of these slabs of ice, and when Jack squinted his eyes, he noticed that these dots were a trick of his eyes…but the rest of the Guardians of Childhood!

The ice that they stood on looked weak and feeble; they wouldn't hold them for very long. The ocean was far too thick and murky to swim through, and there were no other connections from their slates of ice to Jack's large iceberg. Jack watched as North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy tried to balance themselves on their tablets of ice, which crumbled away as the water licked and lapped at the edges. If Jack didn't act soon, the Guardians would fall into the tumultuous sea below. He needed to bring them to him.

"Guys!" shouted Jack. He waved his hands frantically in the air, hoping to catch their attention. Luckily, his actions were successful, and the Guardians noticed him right away. "What are you doing all the way over there?!" the winter spirit cried.

The waves rolled, bouncing the ice in the water. More chunks of the slippery plates were sucked away by the sea.

"We didn't want to appear here!" Bunny hollered back. He nearly slipped on the ice, but the Pooka quickly extended his arms, regaining his equilibrium. "We just did!"

"Pitch probably put us here!" said Tooth, her wings fluttering as she tried to retain her balance. Jack wondered why she couldn't fly from her position, but with the harsh winds and the distant rumbling of thunder, the winter spirit already had his answer. "We need to get to that iceberg you're on or else we'll fall into the water!"

"Which none of us want, might I add!" Bunny said frantically.

Jack looked around for something that he could use to bring the Guardians to safety. Belatedly, he felt his staff in hand, which was already glowing a pale blue. Jack wrapped his fingers around the wooden rod and praying to Manny that his powers would still work in this nightmare world, he slammed the end of his staff against the waves, freezing the empty space between him and Guardians with a thick layer of ice. It ran across the waters, flattening the twisting sea as the bridge of ice extended all the way to the Guardians' tiny plates of ice. It stopped close enough so they could step on it.

Though he was successful, Jack knew that Pitch was already fighting against his use of magic. The winter spirit grunted as he tried to keep the water frozen, but a dark, sinister force was tearing away at his powers. Cracks spider-webbed across the surface of the frozen water; Jack clenched his glowing staff with both hands, the blue light brightening as he exerted more power into it.

"Hurry up and run across!" yelled Jack. He squeezed his staff. "I can't hold the bridge for much longer!"

Wasting no time, the Guardians jumped off their slabs of ice, which were gulped by the ravenous waters of the ocean. They ran across the ice, soon reaching the large glacier which it was connected to. Once they were safely across, Jack's grip on his staff slackened, and he let out a gasp as he stumbled away from the water's edge. He used his staff to support him, and he watched with eyes as his ice was whisked away by the black water.

Jack breathed out, leaning against his staff heavily. "Well…that was close."

"Why the bloody heck did Pitch send us here?" asked Bunny, looking around.

Tooth rubbed her arms, her feathers puffing out to retain body heat. She turned her head to Jack. "Is this attached to a fear of yours?" she inquired the boy.

Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "I do feel pretty uncomfortable surrounded by all of this water," he conceded. "But not entirely afraid."

Even when he had risen from the lake with no memories and no knowledge of who he once was, Jack had always felt unease near the water. Whether it was a lake, river, or the boundless blue ocean, he had never liked being close to them. Let alone in them. Jack had a habit of keeping his own lake frozen as long as he could…Sometimes year-round if he managed to slip under the eyes of the other elementals. He hadn't understood the strange inclination to keep his lake solid then. If Jack saw a crack, he slammed his staff against the surface, making sure that it was as thick as cement.

After regaining his memories, Jack's aquaphobia became clearer to him. He hadn't openly told anyone about it other than the Guardians, but even though he knew they were aware of it, he still tried to conceal his growing fear surrounded by such a copious amount of water.

"Then we should proceed, no?" said North. "Maybe we will find something that can help us get out of here."

So the Guardians stepped away from the water's edge and began to explore the glacier that they stood on. From as far as they could see, it was large and spacious. There were many tall, almost mountain height chunks of ice that also stretched upwards from the flat surface of the iceberg. They towered over the Guardians as they walked by. Jack hoped that none of them would decide to crash down onto him and the others.

The atmosphere was still thick with cold, but no snow fell from the sky. The clouds seemed to be on the brink of a storm; they were darker and thicker than smoke, giving the sign that this storm would perhaps be a violent one. The Guardians needed to find shelter before they got caught in it.

The wind whipped past the Guardians, causing them to shiver. Jack pulled on his hoodie and tucked his staff under his elbow as he wrapped his arms around himself. Tooth's feathers stuck and grew fluffier the colder the temperatures became. Bunny had a warm coat of fur that protected him from the hostile weather, but even the Pooka appeared to be shivering as Guardians continued onwards.

North's coat was lined with fur and was thick with fabric, but it did little to suppress the arctic climates. Jack didn't know if dreamsand held the capability to retain heat, but Sandy weaved a scarf from his golden grains of sand and wrapped it around his neck. It flapped like a flag in the harsh winds, and it didn't seem to help warm the little man despite the thickness of it.

There was no sign of Pitch as the Guardians ventured on. No insidious shadows slipped across the shifting of nightmare sand was nonexistent. Not even a Nightmare trotted out of the darkness, taking the Guardians by surprise. There was absolutely no sign of the Boogeyman, and while this thought did seem reliving, it only left the Guardians on edge. They knew that Pitch was somewhere. He was watching them, and he was waiting. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

But for now, as the Guardians walked under an arch of ice, Jack decided to see what he could find. Perhaps there was shelter nearby, and it would be best if they got there as quickly as they could.

"I'll fly ahead to see if I can find anything," said Jack, walking to the front of the line. "Maybe there's a cave or something that we can duck in before this storm hits."

"I don't think that's—" started Tooth, but before she could finish her sentence, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck in the middle of the Guardians and Jack. The winter spirit leapt out of the way with a fretful yelp while the other Guardians backed away from the burning light before they could get hit. When the lightning had passed, all that was left was a hole of melted ice, revealing the dark ocean under them. Jack gulped.

"I think it's best if we stay together for this one so we don't end up gettin' fried," said Bunny.

"We might be too late for that!" exclaimed Tooth, pointing up to the sky above. The storm had just begun, heavy drops of rain plummeted down from the thick clouds mixed in with large, dangerous chunks of hail the size of a hand. Thunder rolled from above. Lightning flashed across the sky as the Guardians ran under the arch of ice to avoid getting hit.

"We can't stay under here forever!" said Jack.

"Moy mal'chik is right," agreed North. "This place could fall on top of us at any moment—"

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning sliced through the ice above them. The iceberg quaked and rattled as the arch of solid ice crumbled into huge chunks, thundering down toward the Guardians that stood under it.

"Way ta jinx it, North!" shouted Bunny.

"Let's get out of here!" cried Tooth. She fluttered her wings and took to the air for the first time since they got there and dashed out from beneath the ice. North, Sandy, Bunny, and Jack followed as the arch began to topple down on them. Ice sprinkled and poured on top of them, and they ran and dodged the ice that was large enough to crush them. The storm still raged around them. The winds screamed in fury.

Jack pushed himself to run faster, but his body was slow from lack of sleep, and he was still tired from the exertion that he used to create that bridge of ice for the Guardians to cross. Jack's heart pounded in his chest, his breaths quickening as he forced his legs to move faster…but they just wouldn't move fast enough.

A deafening CRACK sound from above him, and Jack made the mistake of looking up. He froze in fear at the sight of a boulder-sized chunk of ice plummeting down toward him. The winter spirit's eyes widened as the shadow of the block of ice began to swallow him.

Bunny turned around, spotting the danger that the Guardian of Fun was in. "JACK!"

Acting quickly, Bunny managed to shove Jack out of the way before the ice could collapse upon him. The winter spirit was thrown out the other side of the crumbling arch while Bunny and the other Guardians were on the other side. The hunk of ice crashed on top of the other various sized chunks of ice, which fell in between the Guardians and the winter spirit. A large wall of broken ice stood between the Guardians and Jack. And there was no way around it.

Breathing heavily, Jack pushed himself up from the ground. His staff had flown out of his grip from the force of Bunny's push, and the winter spirit grabbed it before it had the chance to fall out of his reach. Jack ran up to the wall of ice and pounded his fist against it, grunting in frustration when he realized that the ice was far too big to move or break.

His side of the iceberg rattled, and Jack wobbled forward as his glacier began to slowly slip away from the wall of ice in front of him. The rockslide of ice must've split the iceberg in two.

"Jack? Jack, are you alright?!" cried Tooth from the other side. Jack could imagine the look of worry that was on her face at that moment.

"Y-Yeah! I'm fine…" he dusted the pebbles of ice that stuck to his hoodie and ruffled the shards out of his hair. "A little shaken, but I'm fine."

"We can't break through the ice, mate. Yer gonna have to find another way around," said Bunny.

"I figured," Jack said, sizing up the wall. "It's fine. I'll just fly back."

"No, Jack. Winds are too strong and hail is too thick. You will hurt yourself if you take to air," North warned.

Jack frowned, knowing that the ex-Cossack was right. But his side of the glacier was drifting away from the wall of ice, so the winter spirit didn't have any other choice but to fly. Swimming was an option too, but there was no way Jack was stepping foot into aphotic ocean.

"Don't worry, Jack, we'll find a way to get to you!" said Tooth. The winter spirit could hear her and the others heading away from the wall of ice. "Don't move from where you are!"

"Not like I can go anywhere anyway…" the winter spirit mumbled, watching as he drifted further and further away from the iceberg the Guardians were on. Jack hoped that they'd be able to get to him; he frankly didn't know how they would. Perhaps he should've told them that his side of the glacier had disconnected from theirs. Jack sighed, combing a hand through his hair. He definitely should've done that. Now he was stranded in the middle of the ocean on what was left of the once whole iceberg that he and the Guardians had been on. What was he going to do now? He couldn't just sit around and wait. Doing nothing wouldn't get him anywhere…

The hairs on Jack's neck stood on end, and the winter spirit whirled around, eyes sharp and alert. A new cold swept through the atmosphere. One that wasn't from the frigid conditions, but from someone's dark aura and presence. The presence of Pitch Black.

On cue, the Boogeyman emerged from the shadows, his teeth glinting menacingly as he smiled. Jack flipped his staff into his hands and aimed the crook straight at where the Nightmare King's heart would be…if he had one.

Pitch, however, was completely unfazed by the silent threat Jack posed against him. The dark man smiled. "I'm quite glad to see that you survived the first of my many nightmares," he said.

Jack narrowed his eyes. "You don't mean that," he growled. Pitch chuckled, finding it amusing that the winter spirit knew him so well.

"You need to stop messing with my head," said Jack, keeping his staff aimed at the Boogeyman. It began to glow faintly, and any normal being would've run at the sight of the power charged staff. Pitch, on the other hand, stayed put.

"Why should I?" Pitch asked. "I have complete control over you and your fears…To stop toying with them would be like rejecting a gift. I'm only doing my job."

"You just want revenge for what happened a year ago," said Jack. "It's not our fault that you lost. You were eventually going to fall."

Pitch froze, staring Jack down with his penetrating amber eyes. The winter spirit shifted on his feet uncomfortably.

"I would've succeeded," the Boogeyman said quietly. He glided toward Jack and began to circle him. "But the Man in the Moon chose you, thinking that you were the key to stop my dreaded return. Yet for so long, you were left alone. The Man in the Moon didn't say anything about what you were to do. He left you alone. A child. For 300 years. The Guardians knew of your existence, but they didn't even think to check on you. To acknowledge you. To see if you need help or if you were alright. They didn't offer you anything. You were brought into this world left with nothing."

"Stop it…" Jack snapped. He gripped his staff tightly. "Just stop it!"

Pitch smirked and continued on. "You were so fragile…completely unknown to the world around you, and you had to navigate it all on your own. Learn to use your powers on your own, which only caused more destruction than it did good. Didn't your friend the Easter Bunny encounter you during one of those moments? And did he even stop to help you? No. He blamed you for the mess that you made on his special day. The Guardians are selfish, only caring about their work and their holidays."

You make a mess wherever you go…

We should NEVER have trusted you!

You took our lives away!

I make a mess of everything…

Jack shook his head, blocking out the stirring thoughts and emotions inside of him. "No…No you're wrong," the winter spirit said.

"Am I, Jack?" inquired Pitch. "The Guardians didn't even think to talk to you until they needed you to defeat me. What would've happened if Manny didn't pick you to become the Guardian of Fun? The Guardians surely would've cast you into the shadows, just as they did me."

Jack wanted to say that he was wrong. He wanted to tell Pitch that he didn't know anything about the Guardians or how they acted. But something stopped him. He couldn't tell him. He couldn't tell him any of that. Because deep down, Jack knew that the Boogeyman was right.

"I offered you a chance to become something more. Something much grander than what the title that you hold now, but you turned me down, thinking that the Guardians actually needed you," said Pitch. His shadows grew longer and began to circle the area where he and the winter spirit stood. "And even though everything is happily ever after, you still doubt them. You don't think they really care about you."

Jack shuddered. "I…I…"

"No need for lies, Jack. I've seen it all in your nightmares," drawled Pitch. He paused in front of the cowering boy, towering over him. His amber eyes flickered in the darkness. "And you're right. The Guardians don't care about you, and they most certainly don't need you."

"Yes, they do," said Jack profoundly, pointing his staff straight at the Boogeyman.

"And do you say that because it's true or because the Moon told you so?" Pitch questioned. Jack pursed his lips and turned away, refusing to answer. The storm around them shrieked and howled, but no hail or touched where they were. Jack didn't notice the peculiar shift.

After a beat of silence, Pitch said, "I pity you, Jack.' The winter spirit looked up, shocked. "Being alone for 300 years has left its mark on you…and even though you have the help, you can't bring yourself to ask for it." The Boogeyman stepped toward the boy. Jack backed away, clutching his staff. "The Guardians don't understand what it's like to be alone. They only make assumptions, just like they did with you."

Jack stood still. Pitch was looming over like a tall, shadowed mountain. Behind the man, nightmare sand swirled around his hidden fingers, a sharp, black knife taking form. It was aimed directly at Jack's abdomen; the winter spirit didn't see it.

"But I can help you," said Pitch. "If you leave the Guardians and join forces with me, you'll never have to doubt. You'll never have to worry that you'll be left alone again, and nor will you have to fret the Guardians ever betraying you. You'll be able to use your powers to their true potential instead of reserving them for parlor tricks that you perform for the children. You'll be free to do whatever you like, Jack. No rules. No responsibility. Just the way you like it."

Jack did love the thought of no rules. He didn't have to be restrained by the elementals, who always set limits to his powers. He didn't have to have any responsibility consistently spreading his winter across the world and making sure to spend time with the children and make sure that he still believed. He wouldn't have to fear never being believed in, because he wouldn't need to be powered by belief if he broke away from the Guardians. He could use his own power whenever he wanted. He'd never be weak from lack of children believing. He could do anything. Anything he felt like doing, no matter how crazy or insane it may be.

But leaving the Guardians would mean leaving his family. And Jamie and Sophie and all of the wonderful children that he had met and interacted with when he had first become a Guardian. He'd lose everything that he wanted since he had risen from the lake. He'd lose the love that the children gave him with their belief. He'd lose the care that the Guardians gave him whenever he was distressed. He'd lose the smiles and laughs that he was given whenever he joined the kids to play.

And most of all, he'd lose himself. If he joined Pitch, he'd surely become an uncontrollable, unhinged spirit who knew nothing but bitterness and resentment. He'd be a danger to everyone. And like Jack and told the Boogeyman before, he wanted to be loved. Not feared.

Jack was silent; the offer was still hanging in the air. The winter spirit knew that the Guardians were still trying to find their way to him, but he didn't know how far away they were.

Pitch reached out and stroked Jack's hair as if he were petting a kitten. The winter spirit trembled at the contact.

"Make a choice, Jack," whispered Pitch. "We don't have all day."

Jack gripped his staff, his gaze hardening. "I told you this before, but I'll say it again…I won't join you, Pitch. Not now, not ever."

Pitch frowned darkly. "You shouldn't have said that."

Then he pulled out the knife and plunged it into Jack's stomach. Unbearable pain burst from his side as the knife was pushed through. Jack screamed in agony.

…

Meanwhile, the Guardians had been trying their hardest to get to their winter spirit. They were still unaware of the fact that Jack had separated from them, so they continued to hurry around their iceberg, looking for a way around the wall of ice that blocked their way.

The storm still raged, even harsher than it had been before. Hail bigger than stones poured down on the Guardians, and the raindrops pelted against them like rocks. Despite the harshness of the weather, the Guardians stayed determined and hopefully. There had to be a way to get to Jack.

"I could fly up and see if there's another way across!" said Tooth over the storm, using her arms to shield her head from getting it.

"It's too dangerous, Sheila! Ya'll be pounded ta a pulp!" said Bunny.

"We have to find some other way to get to Jack," North stated. "This glacier is huge! There has to be another—"

Suddenly, Bunny's ears twitched. Tooth's bird-like head craned in the direction of the wall of ice that blocked them off from Jack. Her feathers twitched madly, and dread crept into her chest.

"Something's wrong," Tooth said quickly. Without hesitation, she took to the sky and flew in the midst of the storm. Ignoring the hail and rain that pounded at her feathers, Tooth scanned the area until her eyes landed on the mass of ice that separated from theirs. Tooth had to squint to see through the heavy rain, but her impeccable sight gifted from the Sisters of Flight allowed her to see what was going on. From behind her, the other Guardians climbed up to the tip of the glacier, allowing them a clearer view.

What Tooth saw made her feathers pop. Jack and Pitch stood on the iceberg that had separated from the larger one. Where the Boogeyman had come from, Toothiana didn't know, but when she saw the red-soaked knife that Pitch held and Jack grasping his bleeding side, she was hastily able to put one and one together.

"Pitch hurt Jack!" the Tooth Fairy exclaimed. She turned to the other Guardians. "We need to help him!"

"North and I can't get over there without any land," said Bunny.

"Tooth, Sandy, you two go help Jack," North directed. "You are only ones who can make it there fast enough."

"What about you two?" asked Tooth. Sandy floated at her side, glancing at North and Bunnymund.

"We'll try ta find a way out of here," Bunnymund replied determinedly. "We managed ta escape the first nightmare. We can get out of this one too."

North nodded. "Now go!" he said, ushering the Tooth Fairy and Sandman off. "Jack needs you!"

Both Toothiana and Sanderson nodded firmly, and they dived toward the direction of the iceberg that Jack was stranded on with Pitch. Tooth unsheathed her cutlasses while Sandy's dreamsand whips materialized in his hands, flapping in the winds like glittering ribbons. Jack was counting on them both, and the two hoped that they'd make it in time to save him.

…

His side screamed with pain, but Jack still willed himself to fight as Pitch attacked. The Boogeyman had summoned his scythe and was now swiping the hulking weapon the winter spirit's way, but Jack dodged the blade before it could impale his feeble form. Jack hissed and clutched the side of his stomach, drawing his hands back only to find his fingers coated with bright red blood. The winter spirit grimace, his vision swimming as overwhelming pain threatened to take over his senses. Jack planted his staff into the ground as he pushed himself upright, trying his best to ignore the drumming pain in his abdomen.

As Pitch readied for another attack, Jack took his chance and lunged. He swung his staff in an arc in front of him, and thousands of ice spikes appeared in the air behind him. Jack thrust his staff forward, sending the multiple projectiles in Pitch's direction. The shards of ice shot through the air like bullets, a few of them hitting their shadowy target. Pitch grunted and staggered backward as several ice shards dug their way into him, but his nightmare sand was already picking out the icy projectiles. But in his short moment of preoccupation, Jack attacked physically. He planted his staff into the ice, using it to push himself upward as he spun around the handle, kicking Pitch square in the chest. The Boogeyman stumbled backward; air briefly knocked out of his lungs. Jack twirled his staff into his hand and backed away, taking a battle stance.

A laugh slipped past Pitch's lips. "You've improved since we last fought," he remarked, a new scythe forming into his grey hand.

"I've been taking lessons," the winter spirit replied. North and Bunny had both been training him to become a potent fighter. He knew a little bit of martial arts and how to wield his staff, but Bunny and North had helped him improve. Jack reran all the combat lessons that he took with them in his head as he readied himself for another attack from Pitch.

Pitch came at Jack again with his scythe, and Jack rolled old out of the way. He winced and grabbed his side; it hurt. It really hurt. And fighting was only jostling the wound even more. Jack had no choice but to fight back; the Guardians were far behind, and he didn't know how close they were to him now.

Using his moment of weakness against him, Pitch knocked Jack with the side of his scythe. The flat of the blade crashed into the winter spirit, and Jack screamed as he fell into the water. The ocean was far more freezing than it should've, and the cold ate away at his skin. The waves rolled over him, threatening to carry him away into the deepest depths of the sea. Clutching his staff in hand, Jack strained and pushed himself out of the water. He gasped for air as he kicked and flailed in the ocean. From the iceberg, Pitch watched him struggle.

"You never should've joined the Guardians, Jack!" the Boogeyman shouted. "They only bring you down! Look at what you've become! You're weak, and where are they now when you need them most? They never cared about you, and they never will!"

They never will!

You make a mess of everything…

Where are they when you need them most?

You're weak.

Irresponsible…Selfish!

You're not a Guardian!

…

…

…No.

Jack felt something snap inside of him. His blue eyes hardened as a surge of energy coursed through his veins. The water surrounding him glowed a bright blue, so bright that Pitch had to cover his eyes. A new, raging power burned like an relentless flame within him. Gripping his staff tightly, Jack let out a yell as he summoned the true winter inside of him. His powers responded in a burst of blue light; Pitch staggered backwards, momentarily blinded. When the Boogeyman's vision cleared, Jack was no longer flailing like a helpless boy in the water; he stood at the edge of the iceberg, a blizzard swirling around him furiously. His ice and his hail snapped and whipped around the callous winter spirit. Gone were the sapphire blue orbs that Pitch grew to hate; they had been replaced with a pale blue, making Jack look like the 300-year-old winter spirit he was. His staff crackled with energy, blue light that could be mistaken for lightning sparking around the aged wood. Jack's staff didn't look old, however, as the handle glowed brighter than the moon itself.

With this sudden surge of power, Jack let out a battle cry and attacked, his winter fury following him. He summoned a large gust of Wind to lift him into the air, snow, ice, and blazing through the air. Following the winter spirit, Pitch created a tsunami of nightmare sand to raise him higher and higher until he was as tall as a skyscraper. Jack's winter raced around him, and the winter spirit raised his staff over his head and thrust it downward, sending his storm down to Pitch. The Wind roared as it carried hundreds of rocks of hail and sharp needles of ice. Pitch lifted his hands, creating a protective, firm wall of nightmare sand to counter the white tornado. The collision caused a bright explosion that threw both of them out of the sky. Jack cried out as he crashed against a wall of ice, all of his energy and verve draining out of him. Pitch collided with the ice as well, but he collected himself before Jack could even stand.

Jack laid against the frigid ice, his vision fuzzy and ears ringing. He clutched his stomach, which still flowed heavily with blood. His eyes returned to their normal color; the winter spirit's breathing was heavy and labored. Jack's chest rattled with every breath he took, and he looked up to see Pitch gliding his way toward him, his large scythe forming his hand. Jack's head lolled backward, his eyes beginning to slip shut. This was it. This was his end.

Suddenly, the winter spirit heard a fierce cry ring from above, and fluttering down in a rainbow of bright feathers, Toothiana yanked out her swords and attacked Pitch, her cutlasses parrying with the blow he was about to land on Jack. Tooth sliced sharp tip of the scythe, fury blazing in her amethyst eyes as she stared the Boogeyman down, her feathers twitching with rage.

"Why, Toothiana. How kind it is of you to join us," greeted Pitch sardonically.

"You're going to regret ever laying a finger on Jack!" Tooth screeched, her wings beating furiously as she slashed her swords in Pitch's direction. The Boogeyman created a curved blade of his own with his nightmare sand, and he parried with Tooth's heated attacks as she slashed and swiped at him again and again. While she was holding Pitch off, Sandy floated over to Jack, worry furrowing his brow as he examined the feeble state the winter spirit was in. Jack's stomach still oozed with blood, and the winter spirit was on the brink of unconsciousness. Jack moaned in pain, and Sandy knew that they couldn't stay for much longer. And nor could Tooth distract Pitch forever. Jack needed to wake up, and he needed to do so right now.

Sandy made sure that Jack was focused on him, and the golden image of a person sitting up in bed sparkled over his head. The Guardian of Fun shook his head weakly.

"B-But…but Pitch…" Jack wheezed. Sandy shook his head, and pointed at Jack, his message clear through that one simple gesture.

"You're more important than defeating him."

Jack gulped and he nodded weakly. He closed his eyes, pushing for the ones that were fastened shut to open. He had to break through whatever spell Pitch put on him and the other Guardians, which proved to be more onerous than he had originally thought.

Jack climbed and staggered through layers and layers of darkness. He felt as if he were swimming through tar as he pushed himself through the shadows that threatened to pull him back down. A sliver of light laid just before him, breaking through the noiseless realm of darkness that he conveyed through. With one finally thrust, Jack broke through, gasping as an overwhelmingly bright light filled his vision.

Jack's eyes—his real eyes—snapped open. He was back at the North Pole. And in the armchair and on the bed, the other Guardians woke up as well.

Author's Note: ...Yeah, this chapter was also one that had had so. Much. Fun writing, haha. X)

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one! ^u^

(PS: This story just broke 1,000 views! Wow! Thank you so much guys! =DD)

Until the next chapter!

~BeyondTheMoon1203