Author's Note: OH MY MOON IT HAS BEEN SO LONG! I TOTALLY WASN'T HERE, LIKE, TEN SECONDS AGO WITH CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
Okay, I was here ten seconds ago...Ahem...ANYWAY! I hope you enjoy chapter fourteen! The Guardians are finally getting to the bottom of this! =D
Chapter Fourteen: Into the Woods
It took some time for the Guardians to narrow down their options to which nightmare had caused the memory wipe, but after some time, things began to click into place.
Jack remembered Pitch mentioning Onyx—his favorite nightmare of them all—being the lead horse. Jack remembered the nightmare since she was always the one Pitch was riding. Ever since the Guardians had won the battle, there had been no sign of Pitch or his nightmares until the black sand appeared by Jack's tree, which the Guardians then found out belonged to none other than a nightmare.
Onyx had to be the one who erased the memories. She was the most loyal to Pitch and would do anything for him if it involved invoking fear into her enemies. The Guardians agreed on this, but there was still one other question that lingered.
"So, where is Onyx keeping the memory seal?" asked Tooth. "She must have hidden it well if we haven't seen a sign of it at all."
"Probably somewhere in the woods," said Jack. "But if she knows that we know we're on to her, she's going to do everything in her power to stop us."
"But we'll be ready for her," said Bunny. "'We fought them off once, we can do it again."
"Still, ve should be prepared," said North. "Ve will go into woods tomorrow and look for seal, fight vhatever comes our way, destroy seal, and then everything goes back to normal!"
The Guardians nodded and then decided to turn in for the night before venturing into the forest to search for the memory seal. It had been a long couple of days and everyone really needed the break. Jack had a hard time falling asleep, mostly because he feared that things wouldn't go as smoothly as North had said.
What if there was something waiting for them there? What if something happened and the Guardians still forgot him anyway? Jack sighed and buried his face into his pillow. It was going to be a long night.
…
One Week and One Day Remaining
Jack eventually fell asleep and surprised himself by waking up early. He grabbed his staff from where it was leaning on the wall and exited the room and walked down the hall to the Globe Room. The lights were still as bright as ever and Jack smiled at the sight knowing that every light was a child who believed. Not one light went out.
At the same time, Jack felt sad at the thought that none of the children believed in him at the moment. Jack knew that they were going to find that memory seal and destroy it to restore everyone's lost memories, but he still couldn't help but feel somewhat worried about what was to come. Jack sighed. Things would be fine. Right?
The other Guardians got up a little later. They all began to prepare to venture into the woods where Onyx may be hiding the seal. After eating, preparing, and extra preparing, the Guardians left in North's sleigh and headed for the deepest part of the woods. They all hopped out of the sleigh cautiously and looked around. Nothing was in sight but the atmosphere felt very ominous.
"Okay, stay low," said Jack. "We'll have a better chance if Onyx doesn't know we're here yet."
"What should we do when we find the seal?" asked Tooth. "At this point, it's probably guarded, so we're going to have to be ready for anything."
"Get rid of the nightmares, and then destroy the seal," said Bunny. "Simple."
Sandy put up an image of the word simple and then an x over it. "It probably is not as simple as you make it sound."
"Sandy iz right," said North. "Might as vell first check area, and then proceed into lair, da?"
"So, what exactly does this seal thing look like?" asked Bunny as the Guardians began to press their way into the forest.
"From what I read, it should be just a simple glowing orb," replied Jack.
Bunny blinked. "Wait...ya read?"
Jack turned to the Pooka. "Uh...yeah? What's so surprising about that?"
Bunny shrugged. "Ya just don't seem like the readin' type."
"Cannot blame him for thinking that," said North. "I did not know that you read until I found you sleeping on couch with the book of Mother—"
"Okay! Why don't we change the subject and focus on the task at hand?" said Jack suddenly. Sandy, Tooth, and Bunny looked at each other confused while North laughed silently to himself. Jack was surprised that North remembered that day he had fallen asleep while reading the Mother Goose tales.
If some memories are returning, that must mean we're getting close, thought Jack. The Guardians kept on moving forward with no sign of shadowy activity. As they walked on, Jack asked, "So, do you guys remember anything else?"
"Well, I remember the time I caught you eating marshmallows," said Tooth with a frown. Jack shuddered at the memory.
"You know those things are bad for your teeth!" said Tooth.
"Uh, yeah…anything else that's, I dunno, more important than me getting completely humiliated in front of you guys?" asked Jack.
The Guardians listed everything that they remembered so far. Most of them being moments of them together during the battle with Pitch and others that occurred after. Majority of them had Jack in some sort of awkward situation, so he told them the memories they told him were enough.
The veteran Guardians were still chuckling as they continued their way through the dark, deep wood. The air was getting colder not because of Jack Frost, but it was a different kind of cold. A mysterious cold. An inauspicious cold.
It wasn't just Jack that felt the sudden frigidness. The other Guardians felt it too. Jack heard the beating of Tooth's wings grow faster, North's sword being drawn, Bunny pulling out his boomerangs, and the swish of Sandy's dreamsand whips snaking across the ground. Jack drew out his staff in a defensive position, and the Guardians continued to proceed, but this time, more warily.
"Do we even have a plan?" whispered Tooth.
"Other than find the seal and destroy it? Nope," said Jack.
"Well, we can't just go in there like a bunch of drongos," said Bunny. "We're gonna need ta do something if we find ourselves in a sticky situation."
Jack knew they were right, but at the moment, he was more focused on finding the seal and destroying it to return everyone's memories so things could go back to normal.
"Okay, if anyone has a plan, now is the time to say it," said Jack.
"Here's what I got," said Tooth. "We know that Onyx is probably guarding the seal by now, so nightmares are either going to be positioned inside the entrance or outside the entrance. If they're inside we can just run in an attack. But if they're inside, we'll have to be stealthy."
"Then someone is going to have to take closer look," said North.
"No need," said Jack. He pointed straight ahead. "We're already here."