A/N

Look who's back! Yay!

Enjoy!~

The Grasp of Winter

For a moment, Jack felt an odd mixture of satisfaction and horror as he watched Pitch getting dragged through the woods. Satisfaction, because the man was finally getting what he deserved and horror, because he had never seen Pitch so desperate and afraid. It actually sent a chill up his spine to see the King of Nightmares so terrified, especially since, only minutes ago, he had been at the pinnacle of his power. But even though the sight was terrible, for a moment, Jack felt relieved. He was free.

But the moment was very brief.

Before anyone could react, a rope of nightmare sand shot out from the direction Pitch was and wrapped itself around Jack's legs. From his ankles to his calves, Jack was trapped and knocked off his feet, causing him to drop his staff in his terror. He screamed as he felt himself getting dragged away.

Bunny had no idea what had happened. One moment, he was watching Pitch get dragged away by his own monsters, a pleased smirk on his face, and the next, he was frozen in horror as Jack let out a screech of terror like he had never heard before. When he turned to investigate, Jack had been swept off his feet by rope made of nightmare sand.

And he was being dragged away.

"NO!"

Jack screamed, defiant and terrified. He could feel tears brimming at the edges of his eyes. He clawed at the ground, desperately trying to get a grip on something to hold him in place. He couldn't go in that place. He couldn't go with Pitch. He couldn't be trapped with him, and he knew for certain that he couldn't be trapped with those Nightmares. The thought of being trapped with those horrible creatures was too much, so he continued to claw at the ground.

Jack dug his fingers into the soil. The ground was hard because it was still winter for Burgess. He could feel his nails cracking and breaking as he scraped up against rocks and roots. He finally caught on to a particularly large root, and he clung to it, willing himself to be just strong enough to hold on.

"Jack!"

Bunny followed Jack's scent and the deep trail of claw marks rapidly leading the way to the entrance of Pitch's lair.

Please please please no! Please let me catch up to him! Please let me be fast enough!

Then Bunny heard it. It was a soft shriek, or a sob, and it wasn't too far away. He sprinted, leaving his comrades, who were already pretty far behind, in the dust. Jumping through the disturbed underbrush, he found him! Jack! He'd managed to get a hold of a root and he was clinging to it. His eyes were shut in concentration and tears were leaking out from the immense pain he must be experiencing.

Bunny wasted no time. He leaped forward and grabbed Jack around his wrists. The kid's eye's shot open in surprise and he looked at Bunny in pure disbelief. Bunny's heart shattered. Did Jack really think he wouldn't come for him? Then, the kid laughed?! It was hysterical and released a gush of fresh tears. It was a laugh brought on by panic where the smile was strained and wavering.

Jack hiccuped and looked Bunny in the eyes. "Just like old times, huh?" Jack choked out, the spark of amusement in his eyes forced and fake.

Bunny stared at him in horrified disbelief. He shook his head, willing Jack to understand. "No. No! Not 'just like old times' because this time…I'm not letting go."

Jack held Bunny's gaze, and the pooka watched as his smile started to slowly vanish and his face became much more serious. Jack continued to hold the gaze and Bunny could feel him reading him as he has known Jack to do. He was searching Bunny for a hint of dishonesty or doubt. But Bunny knew he wouldn't find it, because he was positive he would not let Jack go.

Jack broke eye contact to let out a whimper of pain as the rope pulled on him harder. The kid's fingers loosened their hold on the root a bit. Jack looked at Bunny, who had a firm hold around his wrists. Jack looked between the root and Bunny, and the pooka knew he was contemplating heavily on whether to trust him or not. Bunny could force Jack's hands from around the root, but he had to let Jack make this decision, or the he would never trust him.

After a moment, Jack let go of the root and returned the strong hold, wrapping his hands around Bunny's wrists. Jack's hands were dirty and bloody from clawing at the ground, but that didn't make his grip any less firm. Bunny moved his large feet in front of him, digging the heels of his paws into the hard ground and leaning back to get a better and steadier angle. At first, the ground didn't hold, but after a few inches of sliding, Bunny felt his feet connect with something solid. Maybe it was rocks or roots, but it didn't matter what it was, just that it held them in place.

Jack screamed again and Bunny felt his grip tighten as he was pulled harder. Tears continued their never ending path down Jack's cheek. At another harsh tug, the ground nearly gave away, and Jack let out a choking noise, his eyes fluttering and looking glassy. Bunny began to talk to Jack, telling him that the others would find them soon and that he just needed to hold on for a little while longer.

Jack gritted his teeth, but Bunny could see he wasn't quite focusing. Bunny tightened his grip, and this got through to Jack as he gripped back. But ice was starting to form up Bunny's arm, around where their hands connected. Jack was acting on instinct with the pain blinding his senses.

"Jack!" Bunny yelped, the ice trailing up his arms and becoming extremely uncomfortable as it grew in thickness. "C'mon mate, focus!" Jack looked up for a moment, but another strong tug had him whimpering and gasping, and the ice thickened again. "Jack, mate, if you're going to freeze something freeze the Nightmare sand!" But Jack wasn't listening. In fact, Bunny was pretty sure that he wasn't fully conscious. Only his instincts were acting, and they had latched on to Bunny, who had promised safety.

Bunny wouldn't break that promise, even if that meant possibly developing the worst case of frostbite ever. Jack was the soul conduit for the power of winter, which meant Bunny was practically clinging on to the season itself and the grasp of winter was a strong and painful one.

"Bunny! Jack!"

The booming voice rang throughout the woods and North appeared with Tooth and Sandy following behind shortly. As they closed the distance, however, the ground beneath Bunny finally gave out and Jack and he both started to get dragged away.

Bunny tightened his grip on Jack again…at least he thinks he did. His arms were entirely numb and they tingled painfully, like if you were to cut off blood flow for too long. He still had his feet in front of him and he dug his heels into the ground deeply, slowing their progress. Thankfully, North caught up with them quickly and wrapped his arms around Bunny's chest. North was a big man and most of that bulk wasn't do to his cookie addiction.

North stopped them, but the rope kept pulling, and Jack screamed. The nightmare sand hadn't seemed to loosen any and Jack's head lulled up and down, on the verge of unconsciousness.

Sandy was there though, and he took action quick. The little man flew up to the nightmare sand and simply touched it.

And it was gone.

Jack was safe.

It was over.

Jack and Bunny's hands were still frozen together, so the poor kid landed awkwardly as Bunny was still in North's arms. Bunny wiggled out of North's grip and the big man helped him lower Jack to the ground in a more comfortable position. Tooth fluttered over with Jack's staff, laying it aside to begin her motherly coddling. She tapped the sides of his face, trying to get him to wake up. Bunny could do nothing more than sit at the boy's side and shiver to death.

Eventually, Jack did peek his eyes open and they all sat patiently as he worked to blink the fog away. As soon as he did, Bunny's shivering form caught his attention and he looked down and noticed their hands were frozen together. After a brief moment of confusion, Jack quickly unfroze their hands, and it was clear they both needed some medical attention.

Bunny's paws and arms were showing the signs of severe frostbite, and Jack nails were cracked and bleeding and there were puncture wounds from Bunny's claws.

Bunny gasped. He hadn't realized he had used his claws.

"I'm sorry." Jack and Bunny both said at the same time. They both had been too preoccupied with each others injuries to have noticed their own. Bunny watched as a ghost of a smile past over Jack's lips.

"Thank you." His voice wavered with the threat of new tears. His whole body began to tremble.

Tooth just grabbed Jack in a short embrace and helped ease him to his feet.

"C'mon. Let's get them to the infirmary North."

North eased Bunny to his feet as Bunny drew his arms in protectively to his chest. Bunny knew they were safe. He knew they would be okay, but Jack looked so haunted, and was still trembling miserably, that it nearly sucked out all of the Guardian of Hope's optimism.

"You're alright Jack." Bunny said, catching the spirits attention. "Just as I promised...It's over."

A/N

Guest Review Responses:

geminalupus: Yes we've discussed this and I have thanked you, but you left a review as a guest so here you are! Thank you so much! You have given me so much love and support and just thank you! You're probably one of my biggest cheerleaders and I can't articulate how thankful I am for that. 333

sparklehannah: I know I said it in the previous chapter, but I'm so proud that I did your favorite scene from the movie justice! You always pick up on the small things that I hope readers notice I've put time in to. And my dear, it doesn't matter when you review! I just appreciate that you do it in general! And how could I not love and enjoy all these wonderful reviews!? You're awesome! Thank you so much once again!

Okay, I'm not crying yet! And don't listen to Bunny just yet! Jack's torture is over, but the story isn't quite yet :) I believe that the next chapter will be the last, and it'll just be something to wrap everything up with! I will try not to cry when that day comes though, haha.

Thank you everyone! I hope you've enjoyed and I hope to see you soon!~