The Unexpected Assist

The yetis looked on in sorrow before moving to straighten and restore light to the infirmary. Heaving a heavy sigh, Phil turned away from the fretting guardians and drew back the window blinds. He stopped mid pull in shock. Manny's moon filled the frame and his light flooded into the room.

"Tar Grunar!" He called anxiously pointing to the window.

"Vhaaat?" North asked turning to look. His brows instantly shot up in surprise. "Bunny!" He bellowed. "Bring Sandeh to vindow! Manny's sending us his light!"

Jack instantly grabbed an I.V. stand just as Bunny rushed to the window, struggling to maintain his grip on Sandy. As soon as Manny's gentle light caressed his tortured body, Sandy's convulsions eased and he was finally able to draw several deep, breaths. He lay shuddering and shaking in Bunny's arms as streams of pure black sand rolled down his darkened cheeks. After a few moments, he opened his gray eyes to look blearily up at their leader's ship. As he beheld the old, familiar beauty, a measure of calm and tranquility suffused him, helping to momentarily drive the darkness infecting him back, freeing his struggling heart and bringing light back to his mind. A moonbeam alighted on his ear and repeated of Manny's first wish. "I wish you well." Sandy's body trembled slightly, but a small smile of gratitude twitched at the corners of his lips before his eyes fluttered shut and his head rolled back into Bunny's arms. His breaths evened still more as a gentle, deep sleep momentarily gathered him up in her arms. For a brief time, Sandy dreamed of being well. His body began to glow a dark purple, casting the walls in an unhealthy blue light.

High above them, the little man in the moon breathed a huge sigh of relief before turning his attention to the old Golden Ages telephonic device. It would have been better to use the crystal, but that would take too long. Nervously, he stretched out his hands and touched the old buttons and levers. "Please, hold together, long enough to get out another message." He whispered before hitting the com button to address the gathered guardians. "Keep him warm, he has a long fight ahead of him. I have managed to restore some of his light, but it's not going to be enough. Jack? You may yet again prove to be the key to defeating Pitch's plan."

"But how? My snowflakes did nothing for him after that last attack."

Manny gave no answer and his ship hung silently in the air, watching and hoping. The old ship's telephonic abilities were easily overtaxed by just a sentence or two and Manny was lucky his short transmission had made it through. Sparks were flying all around him and his console was on fire. Quickly, he grabbed up the fire extinguisher and pointed it at the control board and let her rip. The fires gave a violent hiss before finally going out. Manny released a heavy sigh and dropped the empty canister to the floor in despair. It was going to take a lot of work to get it fixed again, probably another 300 years. Sighing he turned his attention back down to the earth below as worry gnawed at him. Sandy was his first guardian and for the longest time, the only one who could make an occasional trip to the moon, to visit. And now, he was in serious trouble and there was very little he could do about it. He was the last member of the prominent line of Lunanoff's and stuck up here, he felt helpless. When he saw the arrow strike his beloved star pilot, it had shocked him to the core. He'd felt hollowed out, and with the clouds covering the sky, and blocking his light, there was nothing he could do. At least, that had been relatively quick. But this, this was far worse. All he could do was watch Sandy struggle against the darkness that was slowly snuffing out his light. "Please, save him Jack. Your element of fun is the greatest weapon against fear. It may be reckless, often throwing caution to the wind but it is a potent antidote to fear. I've managed to buy him some time, but it's all up to you and Bunny." A tear streamed down his gentle face. Heart sick, he leaned over the console for support. "Hang in there. You've just got to hang in there. You were the first one I chose and yet you were also the last to join the group. The children need you. I need you. We all need you."

Bunny took a deep breath and shook his head. "Bring the gurney ova 'ere. Perhaps continuing to bathe him in Manny's light will buy us time to free him of the dark shard."

Without a word, the others gathered everything that Bunny needed but even with the all-seeing eyes put back in place, Bunny could no longer distinguish the shard itself. All he could see was the darkness invading nearly every inch of Sandy's body. Manny's will and the light of his magnificent ship were slowly driving the darkness back. But the evil of the nightmare shard was too strong and its darkness surged forward again, striving to reclaim Sandy's mind and heart as Bunny struggled to identify the central mass.

Bunny cursed. If Pitch hadn't appeared and attacked us when he did, I woulda been able ta remove this mass before it dispersed ta this magnitude. Manny's light es holdin' it a' bay, but not for long." Even as Bunny spoke, a dark tentacle reached out to encircle and ensnare Sandy's heart. His body started shaking and struggling again as what remained of the light and energy Manny gave him quickly became focused on that one tentacle, leaving everything else to the darkness. This would be their last stand. Bunny cringed. He could feel his hope melting away with the futility of this operation. It was a vile chess game where the winner would take home Sandy's life as a trophy and all they had left on their side was the king and a few pawns. And if he didn't find that shard soon, it would be check mate for their Dreamweaver.

The vile nightmare reappeared, prancing gaily above Sandy's head. But, with the oxygen mask in place, Sandy was relatively safe from inhaling the poisoned grains it sent cascading down over him. Bunny shook his head sadly. For being the guardian of hope, it felt like they were just delaying the inevitable. He gave himself a good solid shake to clear his mind of the fog and Pitch's fear. "Where there's life…there's hope." He whispered before turning to Jack. "Frost, give 'im a shower of snowflakes. We've gotta keep it unda control till I can locate this things location."

Jack looked up worriedly but quickly stretched out his fingers and summoned several of the joyful little flakes. They easily alighted on Sandy's nose and gave his waning light some extra support. But the darkness was growing stronger and the little touch of laughter and joy just wasn't strong enough. It was, however, enough that Sandy's tortured brows and breaths eased the tinniest bit, but his body continued to strain and fight against the restraints that kept him pinned to his chest and off his back. Out of curiosity and fear, Jack sent ten more snowflakes to land on Sandy's nose. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw each one ease Sandy's struggles till he was calm once more. A lighter, gray image of the Sandman emerged in the dream and leapt up on the back of the nightmare. It waved a hand and formed a cowboy hat which it used to bat at the shoulders of the angry steed. Jack smirked. "Ride 'em Sandy. Ride 'em! And don't let it buck you off." He lifted his eyes to look at the large Pooka. "Bunny, I don't mean to rush you, but it's not looking good. I just gave him a bunch of snowflakes and somehow managed to turn the nightmare into a rodeo dream. But I don't know how long that can last."

"At least they're workin' again." Bunny muttered as Jack shot a stream of ice at the hellish horse, hoping to slow its fierce bucking. The beast whinnied mockingly and gave a particularly nasty buck that almost unseated the Dreamweaver's avatar. Jack thrust a hand towards it, hoping to catch and freeze it so that Sandy might be able to tame it. But the thing was just too agile and easily escaped Jack's grasping hands. With Sandy holding tight, it did pause long enough to turn and nip Jack's burned hands, eliciting a short cry of pain from the master of Winter. Sandy's avatar looked up at Jack in sorrow before turning its focus back to riding the bucking nightmare.

"Jack," Tooth said rising to flutter over to him. "Just for the sake of curiosity, what would happen if you gave him another flurry of snowflakes?"

"You've got to be kidding me!" he cried blowing on his hand to ease the pain and renew his ice gloves. "How about I just bury him in it!?"

North's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "Vhat you think Bunny? Vould et vork?"

Bunny looked up at them, his nose twitching in thought. "Actually, it might."

"I was joking. Joking!" He turned to face North and Tooth. "You heard what Manny said! He needs to be kept warm! And Bunny, you...you said he needs to maintain this high fever to continue producing the little light he's got left!"

"Which unfortunately failed once and is already failin' again!"

"But...but if I cool him down that drastically, it ...it could kill him!" Jack cried tears leaking from his eyes.

"Manny said you might also be ze key to conquering Pitch's plan." North said grabbing his shoulders.

"Yeah, MIGHT!" He cried slipping out of North's grip. "Or my icy touch might just completely snuff out the little light the moon was able to restore in him!"

"Jack, please," Tooth said placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know it's difficult, but this may be the best shot we have at saving his life."

"She's right mate, what we're trying right now, isn't workin'. It's pure broken eggs ta continue repeating the same test and expectin' differen' results, especially considerin' that we're losin' 'im!" His voice dropped as he looked sadly at Jack. "Look, if I can't remove the source of the contamination, we lose him permanently. At this rate, 'e's…'e's… Oh Cadbury Eggs! Jamie's and those kids spell of belief should a' been enough to bring 'em back liberated of the shard!"

Jack took a deep breath and reached out to touch Sandy's twitching hand. "It's my fault Pitch's arrow pierced him in the first place. I don't want to be responsible for killing him a second time."

"Jack!" North cried gripping his shoulder. "You vere not responsible. Pitch was ze one who shot him."

"But I was there! If I had been faster, or if I hadn't set off that stupid alarm clock in the first place, none of this would have happened!" He took a deep breath and shook his head. "Look, if you really think this will work, and not..." He paused and swallowed fearfully as he lightly squeezed Sandy's tiny, tarnished hand. "Then I'll give it my all. I will bury him in a pile of snow. And each snowflake will be filled with all the fun I can muster..." He trailed off and looked up at North "But..."

"But vhat?" North asked lifting an eyebrow.

"I have a request. Look, my element is fun and since we want this snow to be filled to the brim with as much as I can muster..." He trailed off and looked from face to face. "I…I know it's too cold outside for you guys, but, can we open a window?" Sheepishly he ran a hand through his hair. "Christmas snow is…ahh… especially easy to overload with fun and excitement. I've, actually found when I breathe on it, infusing my fun and joy with that particular form of snow, for some odd reason, it tends to be far more potent than just my normal snowflakes and snowballs." He glanced up to look into the three sets of staring eyes."

"Yokavich! Ah course! Merging our centers into somezing vould make it more potent! Christmas snow is full of wonder and joy!"

"…and the memories of Christmases past too!" Tooth chirped in excitement.

North's eyes twinkled with merriment as he gathered Tooth and Jack up into his arms. "No vonder it makes snowflakes more potent!" Dropping both Guardians, North charged to the window and threw back the curtains.

"Wait!" Bunny cried but North already had his hands on the latches and yanked the windows wide open. Bunny shivered in aggravation as the cold flooded in. "Ya couldn' 'ave waited like five seconds for me ta put on some warm gloves or somethin'?"

"No time, you said ve vere losin' him!"

Bunny shut his mouth and shook his head in aggravation before reaching for his tools.

Anxiously, Tooth rushed to Sandy's side and carefully worked to remove the blankets they had placed over him leaving the restraints in place. She shuddered in sympathy as Sandy's small body began shivering fiercely in the rapidly dropping temperatures. His lips parted in silent whimpers. The nightmare let out a whinny of excitement as it bucked with increased ferocity. With one last solid kick, it finally loosed Sandy's avatar from its back and began chasing him. Just as Sandy managed to climb the rodeo fence, the fence vanished beneath him and the nightmare was upon him. Hooves of fury struck out at him. Its teeth were bared and biting. Sandy's body immediately slipped into another series of violent convulsions. His small hands formed tight fists that strained against his bonds. His legs and ankles yanked and pulled hard enough to make the bed rattle and shake as he subconsciously struggled to escape. Tooth bit her lips in worry as she saw the restraints bite deeply into his skin. "Jack! Hurry! He needs your fun!"

Jack immediately leapt to the window and began calling in the magical snow outside. Taking deep breaths, he blew heavily on the influx of flakes and with the aid of the wind; he guided the snow to pile up and around their Sandman, burying him in several inches of the glistening lace. Like an unstoppable plague, the darkness finished off Sandy's feeble light and his little avatar disappeared beneath the beast's hooves. The darkness surged towards his heart, intent on taking him down for good. "Ya best speed it up mate, it's movin' even more rapidly now, it's in its final attack formation again and movin' quickly!" Jack didn't answer as he sped his breaths and commanded the wind to swirl the fun touched Christmas snow up and over Sandy's fully exposed form. Tooth bent down and slipped her fingers beneath Sandy's oxygen mask to touch his teeth and urge him to dream memories of how much he meant to each of them.

Bunny noted with relief that the combination of their centers was indeed slowing the shard's poison before its progression came to an astonishing halt, just inches from piercing Sandy's heart. Despite the biting cold, their combined light began to beat the poison back for him. What was even more surprising, though he would later deny it, was the fact that yes, Sandy's temperature did drop drastically in the initial phase of treatment, but it was beginning to rise again as Jack continued piling on the snow. Bunny couldn't believe he'd forgotten about the insulative properties of snow and ice.

Watching the images carefully, he saw the darkness withdraw. After a few moments, the prancing nightmare became furious and then disappeared just as Sandy's severely injured avatar reappeared. Hurriedly, Bunny lifted his tools, brushed the snow and ice off the point where Pitch's arrow had penetrated and quickly made his first incision. Looking at the holographic images, he could see the darkness congealing back into a solid mass. He needed to be in range to grab it the moment it was whole again. "Almos' there… almos' there. Jus' little more!"

Tooth glanced up from Bunny's work to see how Jack was doing. The ice sprite was beginning to sway on his feet, but the look in his eyes spoke of nothing but sheer determination as he continued to blow long and hard on more of the snowflakes. "Bunny hurry, I think Jack is starting to hyperventilate."

With a cry of victory, Bunny reached in and snagged the vile piece of filth, nestled right between Sandy's shoulder blades. "Got 'et!" he crowed enthusiastically pulling it free to drop in an augur plate before reaching for the sutures to sew Sandy buck up. Jack hadn't heard him as he blew one last time on the growing influx of snow before toppling backwards of the window in a dead faint. Thankfully, North was there and caught him before he could fall down the cliff face.

"Easy Jack, easy." North whispered. But Jack was too far away to hear as he dreamed of strange shapes in the snow he directed. His little sister was there, pelting him with snowballs and laughing hysterically. He tried to shake them off before raising a huge candy cane into the air to bat them away when he accidentally struck the low hanging branch of a nearby tree. But instead of getting swamped in white, cold, fluffy stuff, brightly colored bubbles floated down and around them. The brilliant colors taunted them, challenging them to follow as they danced about in the air. Jack smiled at his sister and the race was on.