Okay, so after Jack's quip in the last chapter about Pitch needing to decide what name to use for him, I want to explain why I switch Pitch's name so much. Remember that Jack doesn't know his first name – he only saw Pitch's nametag on his uniform back when he searched The Night Fury, so he only knows him as General Black. Trust me, it's a pain to write. As bad as having to call North Nicholas back when I wrote For Better or For Worse – but that was a Rainbow Snowcone story, so most of you probably didn't read that one.
Among The Stars
Chapter 8
Pitch Black stood on the edge of a pond deep in Winter. Deathly silence hung over the surrounding woods. Shadows pressed right up to the frosted edges of the water.
It didn't make sense.
Pitch had assumed that Jack Frost was a coward. There was no other explanation for why he was running from the fight. But he hadn't expected him to jump into a freezing pond just to get away from the Fearlings. Especially since, just before the boy had started running, Pitch had felt something surge inside the boy, and it hadn't been the kind of fear or despair that would cause a man to take his own life.
None of it made sense.
He looked back at the surface of the water, where the last ripples from Frost's impact were all but gone.
He wanted to say "good riddance" and returning to finding the princess. Cold as the water was, Frost should be dead. But he hadn't become a general without learning that if there wasn't a body, the person in question probably wasn't dead. And on this topsy-turvy world, he knew there was a possibility Frost had managed to survive.
"Find me the body!" he snapped at the Fearlings stalking around the edge of the water.
Frost decorated the sand and pebbles at the water's edge, the delicate ice reflecting the moon's silver light.
Before the Fearlings could reach the water, they shuddered and raced back to the shadowed safety of the trees.
"What's your problem, you-"
Pitch's insult was cut off by the long, clear howl of a wolf.
"What-"
It was followed by another, and another, and another, until the Winter Woods rang with the echoes of the wolves that seemed determined for the entire planet to hear whatever declaration they were making. Their song echoed off the mountains the bordered Winter on the east.
Pitch shuddered at the crystal clear song. His yellow eyes darted around the forest, which a moment before had been silent, the animals holed up against the fear that stalked amongst the trees like a lion in the streets.
The wind, which had been coming from the east, changed suddenly, coming from the north with increased speed, seeming to push past Pitch in its eagerness to get to the pond.
The temperature began to plummet.
Pitch turned back to the pond – and watched, wide eyed, as the frost on the shore spread over the water, a thickening layer of ice taking over the surface of the pond.
At the ponds center – in defiance of all logic – the water began to churn.
A figure broke through the surface just before the ice met in the middle, a blur of white and blue carried into the air by the North Wind that raced to embrace him.
#
Welcome back, the wind whispered as it tousled his hair.
Jack grinned.
The wind's attitude toward him had shifted. No longer just fondly curious. It asked him what he wanted to do, awaiting his command.
He could hear the wolves howling, announcing his return. When this was over, he would have to visit the pack.
For now, though, he had other priorities.
His eyes landed on Pitch, who stood on the edge of the pond, staring up at him. Jack smirked at the man's slack jawed expression.
Gripping his staff, he swept it in Pitch's direction.
A blast of glowing blue ice shot from the crook of the staff, straight toward the Nightmare King.
Black dodged... but barely.
"But—How?" the man stammered.
Jack just rolled his eyes.
The man was a problem, to be sure. But for the moment, he wasn't Jack's priority.
"Take me to Warren Palace," he whispered.
A breeze tousled his hair again, while the wind swirled around him, carrying him back toward the palace.
#
The wind held Jack suspended in the air, letting him see the lay out of the palace.
He could see the flash of Nightlight's staff, and his friend's steady glow, in the courtyard. Bunnymund was probably close – a guess proved a moment later when jack saw an explosion of green smoke from one of the Pooka's egg bombs.
To his right, on a cloud of dreamsand, Sandy hovered near the roof of the palace, picking off Imperials with tendrils of the golden sand he controlled. It was the most humane way to knock out a foe, that was for sure. But it was best Jack give him a berth, to avoid being knocked out on accident.
Nightlight glanced up, presumably feeling the drop in temperature Jack had brought with him. When his eyes found Jack, he raised his right hand in a quick salute before returning to the fray.
The courtyard was covered. But the breeze still whispered to him of a disturbance – something not as it should be.
Jack headed in the direction of Toothiana's room, keeping an eye on the hall in case any of the troopers had managed to slip past the fighters in the courtyard. If they were following protocol (and his impression of Black was that nothing else would be allowed), that was what they would try to do. Distract the opposition while a few operitives slipped through in search of the objective.
The 'objective' in this case being Rapunzel.
He was almost to Toothiana's room when he heard the sound of a fight – especially the sound of impact against the trooper armor. He increased his speed.
Just as he rounded the corner, one of the yeti's hit a black armored trooper upside the head, sending the man sprawling. There were two more troopers on the ground, but three were still standing.
Another yeti was down with a blaster wound.
"Heads up!" Jack shouted as he came around to land behind the yetis. They moved aside just as a bolt of ice shot between them.
It hit one of the troopers solidly in the chest, knocking him down. One of the troopers (the superstitious type, probably) turned to run, but slipped on the ice that spread across the floor from where Jack stood.
Another jet of ice hit the third, sending him to the ground as well.
One of the yetis spoke what Jack guessed was a thank you – he couldn't understand their language no matter how hard he tried.
"Can you take care of them, Phil?"
The yeti nodded.
"Thanks."
He knocked on Toothiana's door before pushing it open.
All three women looked up, Merida and Toothiana clearly ready to go on the offensive, but they relaxed when they recognized him. He saw Toothiana's eyes take in the frost on his staff, and the edges of his hoodie, and she gave a small smile of approval.
"Jack!"
He grinned, momentarily forgetting himself, as Rapunzel ran to hug him again. Her voice was saturated relief. But his grin fell when she pulled back slightly.
"You're freezing!"
"Sorry," he whispered. Cringing when he heard Merida mutter about how cold the room had suddenly become.
He took a deep breath and replaced his control over his powers. He couldn't raise his body temperature, but he could pull in his aura of cold so he didn't freeze everyone in the room.
"Are you all right?" Rapunzel asked.
"Fine," he assured. "I'm fine. This is me, though. It's part of being the Governor of Winter – control of my element."
He lowered his arms carefully, prepared to take a step back.
"Ye gotta be kiddin' me," Merida muttered. "You're a governor?"
Jack glanced over at the red head.
"There are a lot of kids here, but how many of them do you see with their own rooms in the palace?"
"Why don't ya have yer own palace?" Merida challenged.
"I do." Jack rolled his eyes. "But ice palaces aren't good for entertaining company, and wolves aren't very good conversationalists."
"It's good to have you back, Jack," Toothiana said. "Fully back."
"Tell me about it," Jack chuckled. Though he couldn't keep a dark tone out of his voice, his fingers still lingering on the sleeve of Rapunzel's jacket, waiting for the moment the cold became too much and she stepped out of his reach.
He looked at Baby Tooth, who was examining the frost on his staff. She nodded in satisfaction, then came up to nuzzle his neck, taking her place in his frosted hood.
"She's been keeping me company," Rapunzel chuckled, watching the fairy.
"She's good at that," Jack whispered, glanced at the fairy from the corner of his eye.
She smiled at him, and chirped happily.
He turned back to Rapunzel, ignoring the other two women in the room.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded. "Are you?"
Hack grinned, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I'm fine," he promised, yet again. "Seriously, Punz – don't worry about me."
She shivered.
"Sorry," he repeated, taking a step back to give her space from his icy aura.
But the hand in the folds of his hoodie tightened, keeping him from going very far.
"I have to go back out," he said. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I am," she smiled.
He nodded. "I have to talk to Tooth really—"
"Jack?"
The unease in her voice, and the hand that tightened further around his hoodie, make him look back at her with concern. "What's wrong?"
"It's..." She bit her lip. "My hair..." she didn't meet his gaze.
"It's growing?" he guessed, remembering what she had said at the pool.
She nodded. "I was brushing it to calm my nerves, and I just... maybe I'm crazy." She chuckled nervously. "But seeing you like this, I'm wondering if maybe...?"
"You're not crazy," he whispered, brushing a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. He cringed when he saw a swirl of frost spread over the gold strands where he had touched them. But the lace like design disappeared almost as fast as soon as it appeared.
"I have to talk to Tooth, and I'll have her explain it, okay?"
"Okay."
He squeezed her hand gently before he let go and walked over to where Toothiana was talking to Merida – distracting the redhead, he guessed. For that he would have to thank her.
Merida saw his expression and excused herself, going over to where Rapunzel still stood.
"You're not just here to check on her," Toothiana whispered.
Jack shook his head. "The general from the carrier is a new Nightmare King – he released the Fearling. It's why it took me so long."
Toothiana gasped, hands rising to her mouth. "Oh, Jack. Are you all right?"
He nodded, getting a little tired of that question. "Yeah. I just wanted you to know, because he'll come here looking for her.
"Also, her hair is growing."
"You think..."
He nodded. "I don't have time to explain it to her."
"All right," she said.
Jack grinned faintly. Toothiana had been the one to explain it to him when his powers had first developed. She would do better than he could, and there was no one else he would trust it to. With a nod of thanks, he turned to run out of the room, pausing only to give Baby Tooth to Rapunzel. While he would have appreciated his little sidekick, she would mean more to Rapunzel at that moment.
He jumped off the balcony railing and the wind carried him back to the courtyard.
He landed between Bunnymund and Nightlight.
Bunnymund threw one of his boomerangs toward one of the last few troopers that was still standing.
"Took ya long enough, Frostbite!" he snapped. "The party's almost over."
If only.
"We have a problem," Jack said. "The general released the Fearlings. They're probably on their way.
"Another Nightmare King?" Nightlight asked.
Jack nodded.
Bunnymund caught his boomerang, muttering under his breath.
"I already told Tooth."
"Frost, next time ya lead an Imperial Carrier here, I'm takin' a match t' that ice block ya call a palace."
"Good luck with that, Cottontail," Jack smirked. The 'ice block' really was just a technicality. He only went there when he wanted to be alone. He could have lived without it, but he was required to have some kind of palace.
Nightlight rolled his eyes.
Then they all felt it, the encroaching darkness that sent shudders down their spines. Their eyes – two pairs green, one pair blue – darted around in search of the source. And they saw the stars above being blocked out by a cloud of Fearlings that whispered and shuddered their way across the sky.
"I forgot how horrible they are," Nightlight whispered.
Jack nodded, too intent on reconstructing his mental shields to think of a response.
"The kids," Bunnymund said suddenly.
Both young men looked back at the Pooka.
"We hid the kids in the basement," Bunnymind said. "The Imperials wouldn't care, but the Fearlings are gonna go straight for 'em."
Jack and Nightlight exchanged glances.
"You two'll have t' handle the courtyard," the Pooka said. "I have t' get t' the kids!"
"Understood," Nightlight said, and Jack nodded in agreement.
Bunnymund hopped off toward the basement, where Katherine would be watching the children, probably telling them one of her many stories to keep their minds off what was happening beyond their sanctuary.
The two young men exchanged glances before they wordlessly moved to stand back-to-back, adjusting their grips on their staves.
Jack looked up at the Fearlings gathering in the sky.
"Next time you want to spare, Nightlight, just say so," Jack said, attempting his normal attitude. But his tone fell flat.
"Considering you led a Nightmare King to Warren, I could almost think you're trying to get out of the spar you already promised me," Nightlight countered.
Jack spun his staff over his hand, grinning. "Touché."
But his smirk, and Nightlight's responding laugh, fell as the Fearlings descended on the courtyard like water from a shower head, swirling down and around them.
"I'll... take the ones on the left, you take the one on the right?" Jack suggested, a nervous chuckled slipping past his lips as he once more failed to alleviate the mood.
"Are you sure you can handle that many?" Nightlight asked.
When Jack glanced over, he saw his friend's brow quirked.
Even as the Fearlings pressed closer, they were solidifying each other's mental shields, giving themselves something to think about so the Fearlings wouldn't have a chance to seep into their psyches. That wasn't something Jack wanted to experience again tonight.
"When did you develop an attitude, Nightlight?"
They exchanged a last glance and a smirk, then attacked.
The moonbeam trapped in the crystal blade of Nightlight's staff shone brighter as it cut through the Fearlings.
The frost on Jack's staff glowed as he shot streams of ice at the writing creatures.
Despite their similarities, they were fundamentally different. And that was reflected in their styles, despite nearly identical weapons.
Nightlight's staff cut long, high, graceful arcs.
Jack's staff moved in short, low, sweeps.
Each blow they landed caused the Fearlings they hit to wither away – but the creatures still kept coming at them.
"Jack?"
"Kinda busy," he snapped, sending ice at a Fearling that drove toward him. The flow of the ice illuminated the gaunt gloomy face of the creature. Jack shuddered.
"Remember Maneuver 7?"
Jack looked back, absently hitting another Fearling he saw from the corner of his eye. In his mind he went over the maneuver they have come up with during their training. "You remember we never actually tested that, right?"
"The theory is sound." Nightlight grunted as he cut through several more Fearlings. "We're not getting anywhere like this."
He certainly had a point there, Jack noted, as he looked at the seemingly endless sea of writhing black creature.
"Worth a shot," he sighed.
"Your mark," Nightlight said.
No pressure, Jack thought dryly. "Now."
Nightlight shot straight up into the air, through the opening the Fearlings had left directly about their heads.
Jack waited another moment, freezing through a few more Fearlings, then followed his friends. Unlike Nightlight, he couldn't fly of his own volition, so his ascent wasn't as smooth.
They climbed higher, until they could look down and see the entire palace, and most of Bunnymund's territory, laid out beneath them. With another glance to keep their timing in line, Jack nodded. His body went rigid, arms pressed to his side – and he dropped.
The wind rushed through his ears, gravity pulled at his stomach with vicious force. He couldn't deny the exhilaration he felt, in spite of the situation. This was probably why he had come up with this aspect of this maneuver...
Pushing past the adrenaline, he reached into his center, letting his aura of cold extend while the power of the frost built up inside of him, threatening to explode out of him. That force was worse than the gravity pulling so cruelly at his stomach.
The North Wind caught him just in time to keep him from slamming into the stone ground,
Before the Fearlings could swarm back on him, Jack lifted his staff over his head and slammed the end down onto the cobblestone.
Gale force winds emitted in a circle from around his staff, frost spreading from beneath his feet. With the wind came a blast of ice and blue light.
Most of the Fearlings were incapacitated by the move.
A moment later, before the Fearlings could recover, Nightlight landed behind him. He imitated Jack's movement, slamming the end of his staff on the ground. From the young man, and the moonbeam in the crystal blade, came a blinding light rippled through the courtyard, so bright Jack raised an arm to cover his eyes – but he could still see the white light behind his closed eyes.
He waited for the light to fade before opening his eyes, blinking several times before the white spots in his vision faded and he could see again in the once more dimly lit courtyard. There were a few shadows, but they were normal. Jack didn't see any Fearlings.
The Winter Governor let out a breath of relief, leaning heavily on his staff. Beside him, Nightlight leaned forward, hands braced on his knees while he panted for breath, looking as exhausted as Jack felt.
"I wasn't expecting it to be so effective," Nightlight murmured.
"Exhausting, too," Jack said. "I'm not doing that again tonight."
"Agreed."
But the thrill of victory faded too soon, and Jack's head jerked up to look around.
"Where's Black?"