Jack arrived at the Island of Sleepy Sands, otherwise known as the Sanderson Mansnoozie's home.

The island was practically a shooting star. The land itself was a star that had crash landed onto earth many centuries ago and stayed that way, not sinking nor exploding or anything else that should have logically occurred. It was a time before the Guardians assembled as a team in the Golden Ages, and Sandy claimed this to be his home. Now, the dead star was aglow as golden dream sand twirled across the turquoise sea like ivy and a sand dune castle in it's center. Jack couldn't lie, it was the most interesting home out of them all. Actually, it was one of the most interesting things Jack had ever seen in his entire life.

The bright and shimmering gold took a stunning and beautiful contrast to the dark and sullen blues of the sea. It was a shame that it was invisible to many eyes, but people did not believe in the Sandman and this island was in the middle of nowhere.

Jack landed on the center island and gazed upon the magnificent dune castle of golden sand before him. It was where Sandy lived, and was it amazing. The sand shimmered but it did not hurt your eyes, the sand of the islands was soft yet firm enough to keep easy footing, and the aura was nothing but pure bliss and happiness. In the sweetness, Jack had almost entirely forgotten his concerns and why he had arrived in the first place. But happiness never lasted long, and Jack soon remembered why he was there. Nervously, Jack flew up to the entrance and entered the dune castle.

The castle was something like out of a childrens book or of the place called Wonderland. Everything was floating around at random and was full of wonder. North's center probably rubbed off on Sandy's architecture. The place was a fun house, in fact, some things were actually real objects and not made out of golden sand, it was quite a contrast. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that bright inside. The golden sand walls and objects gave a glow and shimmer of their existence through the otherwise total darkness. Not even the morning light reached the in doors.

How am I supposed to find Sandy in here? Jack wondered.

But as if on cue, a shrivel of golden sand unraveled before Jack's eyes and began to slowly travel throughout the corridors of the castle like Athena's golden string, beckoning for Jack to follow it. Jack paced behind the golden sand as it appeared to be leading him further into the castle. The line then crumbled to disappearance once Jack had stopped at the entrance of two grand double doors. Jack shrugged to himself and opened the doors quietly. It was stunningly dark and colorless. Jack stepped in and examined the room; it looked to be a living room or lobby of some sort. However, the usual golden sand had no glow to it and instead cast an aura of pale blues. Odd.

"Hello?" Jack called out as he crept closer towards the center of the room, "Is anyone here?"

Suddenly, golden light flourished throughout the room, the sand becoming rich with it's usual glimmer once more as golden sand fireworks exploded in the air.

Just as soon as the fireworks cracked, the Guardians jumped out from behind the furniture and shouted, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Distraught and caught by the element of surprise, Jack let out a yelp and fell backwards, staring at the scene before him with utter shock. The place had finally been lit up and now Jack could actually get a decent look at the place. The entire room had been decorated for a birthday party! There were banners, streamers, balloons, and even presents and a cake. They were celebrating Jack's birthday.

Still frozen in his state of shock, Bunny walked up to Jack and offered him a hand back up. "Hey Frostbite, are ya good mate?"

Jack blinked rapidly as he sprung up off the ground without the Pooka's assistance. Panic swelled up within his body as he frantically looked around. How did they know it was his birthday? Was this some sort of trick? Was Pitch behind this all? But Pitch was nowhere to be found and the Guardians wore faces of cheer, perhaps this really was just a birthday party just for him. But nonetheless, if that nightmare was true, this was still not a good thing at all.

Jack swallowed and composed himself, his hands gripping his staff tightly. "I-I'm fine. How did you know it was my birthday?"

North stepped forward and spoke, "Last night, Manny summoned us together and told us it iz your birthday today."

Well played, Manny. Jack scowled underneath his breath. This wasn't going right, this was not good!

Tooth noticed Jack's distress and flew up to him, gently leaning in. "I hope this is okay, Jack. Are you feeling alright?" She said, growing concerned.

Jack's mind was reeling with thoughts. If Manny told the Guardians about my birthday, do they know about my Destiny? Is this all part of the plan? Does this mean that the curse is actually true? If it is, then that means... Jack's breathing became more labored as his eyes wildly skirted around the room; he felt faint. He subconsciously took steps backwards, waiting to dash out of the room at any given moment. Because truth be told, no, Jack was not okay. He was not feeling alright.

"U-uh, no, t-this is not good. This is not okay. I-I'm sorry, I appreciate what you're trying to do but I'm not interested." Jack weakly laughed as he eyed the door, "Look, I can't stay-"

"Jack, please stay with us! It was only yesterday you became a Guardian and this would be a good opportunity to get to know each other!" Tooth said, not letting Jack go off.

"The Sheila is right, mate. We want ya to become part of our family." Bunny said, trying to reason with Jack.

"Zat is right, ya? We will have fun!" North boomed as Sandy nodded along with him.

It was too much for Jack to process. He needed air. He had to get out of there. "I said, NO!"

The moment Jack screamed, his eyes glowed vibrantly as blue electric ice erupted throughout the room and destroyed everything in sight. The Guardians cowered to the floor and covered for protection as ice lightning tore fabrics and banners to shreds and ice shards and violent winds tossed things around the room. But as just as soon as everything started, everything stopped. Slightly mortified, Jack bolted from the room and fled down the hallway, leaving the Guardians in the ruin of Sandy's living room and party decorations.

After a few silent moments, the Guardians rose to their feet, frowns adorning their faces. They cautiously stood on their feet, crunching on dozens of ice shards as they examined the room. Ice shards were littered everywhere, even lodged into the sand walls. Furniture had been battered and flipped, some objects strewn to the far reaches of the room. The banners and streamers were torn to nothing, some bits still coasting through the air that was still electrified with anger. The cake was nothing but a mushy mess, the decorations were no more, and the room was just in total destruction. Confusion and concern wracked the Guardians mind as they stood stock still in fear and shock.

"What do ya think that was all about?" Bunny rasped, longing for Jack to return with an explanation.

North and Sandy shook their heads without an answer. None of them were sure if they should go out and search for the boy or just leave him be. Tooth however would have none of that, she was the most concerned out of them all and wanted to talk to Jack. She whizzed out of the room, wanting to search for Winter Spirit. Luckily, Jack had gotten lost in the dunes and Tooth had caught up to him, much to Jack's displeasure.

"Jack, what's wrong?" Tooth said suddenly, flying up behind Jack silently and speaking out of the blue.

Jack came to a sudden halt, his breath getting caught in his throat. Just one thought going through his mind: She can't know, none of them can. Jack then plastered on his trademark facade smile and twirled around to face Tooth, but even his facade couldn't cover the swell of stress he was experiencing. "I just don't like parties." He said flatly, keeping his voice as steady as possible.

Tooth sighed and put a tender hand on Jack's shoulder. She took notice of how tense he was. Being a mother and having those sort of qualities, barriers and facades didn't trick her so easily and she could tell that something was making Jack saddened and stressed. "Jack, it's more than that. I can tell. Look, I know that this is just happening so fast and so new with you and your Guardianship, but if you just give us a chance-"

Jack took a step backwards and shrugged Tooth's hand away. He shook his head with denial as he rubbed his staff tightly. "No, Tooth. It's not that. I'm sorry, you guys did nothing wrong. I just-" Jack hesitated. There was no way he was leaving without giving Tooth a decent explanation, he had to say something, "-I just need to sort some things out. I have a lot going on these next few days. I appreciate the party but birthdays are not my thing." Jack bit his lip through the lie because truthfully, he would have loved having a party with the Guardians, but his mind just couldn't focus on that right now.

This only made Tooth more concerned, "Jack, please tell us! Just trust us, we can help."

"No," Jack said sternly and abruptly, catching Tooth slightly off guard by his tone, "I can't, trust me." He whispered.

Then, Jack tried to make a sudden dash the other way but was slammed against the wall when a ball socked him in the head. Jack tried to get up but felt an overwhelming sense of sleep take over him. Sandy's Dreamsand. He couldn't fight it off, no matter how much he struggled. Jack's eyelids heavily closed as he succumbed to the darkness, his fleeting thoughts of panic drifting into the silence.

~o.O.o~

I'm broken, lying helpless, dying. Surrounded by the world.

You stare and laugh with me. When you don't see a thing.

~o.O.o~

First sounds; nothing but a steady hum of silence. Then light and color through his shut eyelids; peaceful. Soon sense followed; he was on a bed. He inhaled slowly as the air hugging around his body. But something was wrong. Something was not right.

"Your Destiny shall be fulfilled, there is no way around it. You will be mine..." Pitch Black's voice hissed, making Jack's eyes snap open.

Jack found himself on a bed that was surrounded by a ring of blazing fire. He couldn't distinguish where he was or what the place looked like, he only noticed he was on a bed and he was trapped in an element that could kill him. Pitch was no where in sight, just like his staff and he was too afraid to use any sort of powers left within him to help him (not like they would do him much good anyways). The heat was all too real, it felt so hot and so burning, his skin couldn't take much more of this. Tears welled up in his eyes from the brightness and the smoke. He violently coughed as he struggled to breath fresh air. Jack clamped his eyes shut and turned away from the fire, crying.

However, he could not ignore the distinct roar and shriek of fire that seemingly got dangerously close to him. Jack forcefully looked back and let out a scream when a trail of fire had curled among his bed and onto the covers. The trail then slithered up the nearest wall and began to make some sort of pattern; it snaked to the right, then curved to the left, and then back to the right before flickering to a stop, making a successful "S" imprinted on the wall. The mark sizzled with heat as the fire then turned to lava, charring through the wall, spitting out bits of charcoal as his screeched along it's canvas, creating a dramatic design that literally burned itself into Jack's memory.

Jack looked away once more as he clutched his head and screamed.

"Jack, wake up!"

"It's only a nightmare!"

"Can you hear us?"

Jack's eyes suddenly opened, he blinked frantically as panic was evident in his bloodshot irises. He saw the Guardians before him with pained expressions on their faces. He just had enough time to take notice that he was on a bed when Tooth dove in for a hug. Jack didn't back away from the gesture but cringed at the sudden contact.

"Sweetie, are you alright?"

"What?" Jack answered, confused and still shaken. Had they put the fire out? Were they okay? Everything seems fine. Where was Pitch? What about that strange mark? Was that all even real?

"You had a nightmare, Jack." North said as he approached the boy. "And in broad daylight... under Sandy's supervision! Which is very odd..." North then murmured as Sandy apologetically stared at Jack. The little man must have felt so guilty...

"Nightmare?" Jack questioned, so that was a nightmare, it wasn't real! Jack concluded to himself with relief. However... if I had a nightmare-

"Yeah, mate. Ya were cryin' and screamin' for three hours! What happened?" Bunny said with legitimate concern laced in his voice.

Jack ignored Bunny's question (as he didn't want to answer it the last bit) as his hand quickly shot up to his face to find it slightly sticky from tears. His throat was also slightly scratchy from screaming. He hid his flush of embarrassment, he despised showing any weakness. Sandy then quickly floated in front of everyone with alarm, fast flashes of sand figures appeared over his head, seemingly alerting the Guardians of something. Tooth nodded firmly as the other Guardians shared grim expressions.

"Jack, you had a nightmare." Tooth stated once more.

Jack swallowed as he gripped the bed sheets, thinking he already knows what they're getting at.

"Ya know what this means?" Bunny said openly.

No, it can't be. Does this really mean that it's all coming true?

"Nightmares are on ze loose. Or possibly that Pitch Black has arisen." North said.

Tooth then began to babble on about how Pitch had returned in merely 24 hours and that they were going out to hunt down Pitch before something big happened again. But Jack had lost them, he was consumed by his own thoughts as he also felt sick to his stomach. Of course, the only possible explanation for a nightmare would be Pitch Black. That means that he's back! Unless, vice versa, because I had a nightmare means that I brought him back. I am feeding him my fear all this time just like he said! My fear was so powerful this time that I was able to have a nightmare during the day AND somehow overcome Sandy's dreamsand! That means that my Destiny is real! It's all coming together! It's all playing out like Pitch's plan! He's getting stronger by the minute, and maybe I'm going mental, but I feel weaker too! It really is true... and there's nothing I can do to stop it!

None of the Guardians noticed Jack's distress as Jack snapped back into reality and caught Tooth's last few words, "-so we're going to leave as soon as possible before nightfall to have the advantage. We will leave the yetis to take care of you while we're gone and-"

"Wait a minute!" Jack said as he sprang out of the bed and snatched his staff that was leaning by the wall, "I'm coming too!"

"Nah mate, yer stayin' in bed," Bunny said as he tried to coax the Winter Spirit back into the bed (yet failing), "Ya just woke up from a bloody brutal nightmare! Ya need yer rest, Frostbite. Besides, we can handle this on our own."

"Sandy will give you good dream." North said as Sandy nodded determinedly.

"We will be back before you know it, it's not a big deal, Sweet Tooth." Tooth cooed calmly, "I'm sure he's weak and-"

"No! I'm coming with you!" Jack almost shouted. Sure, maybe he didn't feel in the greatest shape to fight since that nightmare really shook him and he felt kinda weak, but those were the reasons he needed to go and confront Pitch... if he was actually back. There was no way he was going to pass this opportunity up. He had so many questions, and if Pitch was there, he would have to make sure that he got those questions answered and figure out a way to avoid the Guardians in confronting him. Of course Jack considered that this too was part of the Destiny and he was falling into Pitch's hands, but what exactly was he going to do? He couldn't be all that powerful (just yet) and he had the Guardians... and it would kill his pride if he just stayed. He needed to do this.

"Jack, you really don't need to come! In fact you shouldn't!" Bunny countered.

"You can't stop me." Jack growled, sending out death glares to the Guardians which shut them up.

"Alright, Jack." North groaned reluctantly. "Grab your things and then head to the loading docks, hurry everyone!"

~o.O.o~

"It's- it's open!"

"That confirms our suspicions!"

"He really is back!"

The Guardians had flown the sleigh to the Burgess Woods in Pennsylvania (unbeknownst to them that it was at the edge of Jack's home), and had scoured the land for some time before coming across a distinct hole in the ground. It stood in the middle of a clearing and was wide open for anyone to enter. It was as if nothing had happened. It was practically egging the Guardians to enter, wanting for them to enter its mouth and never allow them to escape. Let alone the fact that it was a sign that Pitch had returned, it made all the Guardians queasy and unwilling to enter the hellhole.

"Well," Tooth swallowed, "we can't turn back now."

Sandy sighed and approached the edge of the hole and slowly began to descend. During the journey, the Guardians discussed how it would be best for Sandy to enter first (if their suspicions about Pitch were correct) since he was most effective against Pitch if he was jumped and he could easily signal the gang from up above using his sand. After a painful minute or two, a golden tendril of sand floated up from the hole and flicked back and forth, motioning everyone that it was okay to enter.

The Guardians jumped in one by one, first North, then Bunny, followed by Tooth, and finally Jack. Once all Guardians had landed on the ground, they found themselves in a dark, black cave reeking with the smell of dew and stalagmites and stalactites sticking at them from all angles. The single beam of light above from the hole gave them a slight bit of comfort, at least they had a way out. To the left of them was a solid wall of rock, their only option was to move right. So, the Guardians began their tread and soon found themselves in a massive room of demented walls and floors with haunting cages hanging from the ceiling.

Jack shuddered as flashbacks began to forcefully come to the forefront of his mind. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea that he came-

"Welcome, Guardians."

The Guardians gasped as they jumped into action, battle stances with weapons drawn as they scanned the room with deadly accuracy.

"I thought you'd come. Come to apologize for what you did to me yesterday?"

None of them could detect where the voice was coming from. It was Pitch, that was for sure, but it was as if his voice was coming from every single angle of the room!

"No," Tooth broke the silence, trying not to show that she was even slightly afraid and attempting to bring Pitch out of the shadows in the most subtle way, "We're here because of something else."

"Aw," Pitch's voice drawled as a shadow began creeping up next to where the Guardians were standing, making them back away, "is this about Jack?"

Jack's stomach rolled as a wave of fear and anger surged through his blood. He gritted his teeth as he gripped his staff tighter. Perhaps if he could destroy Pitch right now, he could put this whole traumatic Destiny thing behind him and get on with his new life that he'd very much like to have!

"What do you want, Pitch?" North said threateningly as he pointed his dual blade at the large shadow.

"My goal for world domination has not changed, my friend." Pitch chuckled darkly, "But this time-" Another chuckle, "It comes with a small side of revenge, and have the power this time to defeat you and you will not be able to stop me!"

Without warning, Pitch's shadow lunged out from the wall and blazed towards Jack who was simply paralyzed with the overwhelming sense of fear.

Thanks for reading! Thank you for the support and please continue it:) Peace!3

-SkatingDJ