Sorry, I've been unable to upload because of family.
Cadence and Jack didn't participate in the ceremony.
Even though it only lasted a few moments, it felt like an eternity. The elve's bells rang out sadly as the yetis lit torches. Cadence watched from a distance. She could see that the Guardians themselves were in the verge of tears, but they didn't let a single one shred.
Cadence walked back over to Jack who was sitting near the window. He tapped the window and a frosted image of Sandy spread across the glass.
"You okay?" Cadence sat with her legs pulled to her chest.
"I just wish I could've done something." Jack sighed.
"Done something?!" Cadence cracked a smile. "Jack, you saved us! You blasted Pitch out of the sky!" She put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You saved us."
"But Sandy-"
"Would be proud of what you did." North came over to join the conversation. Jack nodded, letting a cold breath slip out.
"I don't know what you were in your past life, but in this life, you are a Guardian." North put a hand on Jack's shoulder.
"But how can I know who I am until I know who I was?" Jack asked.
"Time will tell, Jack. You can count on that." Cadence said with a smile.
Everyone was watching the lights on the Globe.
"They're going out so fast." Tooth breathed out.
"It's fear." Cadence said, with a touch of anger in her voice. "He's tipped the balance."
"Hey, buck up, ya sad sacks!" Bunny sure was cheerful so quickly after Sandy's death. "Easter's tomorrow! And I'll need your help to get everything ready!" Everyone was lead to the elevator that led back into the toy factory.
"Bunny is right." North admitted. "And as much as it pains me to say it, this time, Easter is more important than Christmas!"
Bunny gave a look of shock. "Did everyone hear that?" Cadence guessed that Bunny and North had an on-going rivalry with their holidays.
"Everyone to the sleigh!" North shouted. Two yetis and a few elves had joined the group. One of the yetis was Phil, the yeti that was glaring at Jack.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Bunny stopped everyone. "My Warren, my rules. Buckle up."
With a heavy tap on the floor, Bunny opened ups huge hole in the floor and the entire group fell inside.
"Shostakovich!" North shouted.
Cadence was able to catch herself enough to stick the landing, as were Jack and Tooth. North and the yetis landed hard on their butts.
"Buckle up." He chuckled. "That's very funny."
Bunny stood on a moss covered rock. Below the moss wasn't a rock, but an egg made out of stone; a Sentinel egg!
"Welcome to the Warren." Bunny smiled.
Cadence couldn't believe her eyes. The Warren was beautiful. It was a lush green meadow with rocks and streams and colorful flowers.
Suddenly, Bunny raised his ears and sniffed the air. "Sumthin's up." He said.
As if on cue, a bunch of tiny eggs ran out of a nearby tunnel. North drew is swords, as did Cadence, Jack held tightly onto his staff, and Bunny took out his boomerangs. Everyone heard footsteps nearing the tunnel's entrance. Cadence then saw a tiny shadow, one of a small child.
Bunny gave out a warcry, and charged. Everyone followed suit. But then skidded to a halt, because then Jamie's sister Sophie, came out of the tunnel and stared at the Guardians.
There was an awkward moment of stares, before everyone hid their weapons from Sophie. She laid eyes on one of the elves and began to chase him.
"What is SHE doing HERE?" Bunny said with a little bit of panic.
North felt around in his coat to discover his pocket was empty. "Snow globe?"
"Crikey! Somebody do something!"
The elf that Sophie was chasing had hidden behind Cadence's legs. Sophie had paused to look at Cadence with a curious look, but then screamed in horror and ran to hide behind a pillar.
The Guardians and the yetis looked at Cadence to see her reaction. Surprisingly, she kept a straight face. She noticed that everyone was staring at her. "What?"
"Doesn't that hurt?" Tooth asked.
"Yeah. But you tend to get used to children screaming at you in horror and running away in fear." Cadence said, sarcastically.
"Really?" Bunny asked.
"Heck, no! I'm crying on the inside right now!" Cadence shouted. "Besides when was last you guys actually hung out with kids?"
"We are very busy bringing joy to children," North said. "We don't have time for. . . children." He looked away, embarrassed.
Jack formed a snowflake in his hand. "If one little kid can ruin Easter," Jack said. He blew a little wind behind it, and the flake floated toward Sophie. When she tried to grab it, the snowflake floated just out of reach and it became a game of chase. "Then we're in worse shape than I thought."
The flake landed on Bunny's nose. Some of Jack's magic glittered in front of Bunny's eyes, before Bunny smiled down at Sophie. "You wanna paint some eggs?"
"Okay!" Sophie answered brightly.
"Come on, then!" Bunny let Sophie climb onto his back and he hopped off. Out of nowhere, thousands and thousands of white eggs came running down the path, all of which still needed to be decorated.
"Uh, how much time do we have?" Jack asked.
"About six hours." Cadence answered.
For once, in the past few hours, Jack looked at Cadence. Her bluish-black hair had come out of its braid and it whipped wildly around her face, yet she didn't seem to notice. Her parka was filthy and torn in some places, her jeans and boots were caked with mud. And she was smiling brightly, it was one of the brightest smiles she had ever given Jack.
Jack was snapped out of his stare when he heard Bunny going on about googies.
By then, everyone had started the preparation for Easter. The eggs marched single file into a multicolored stream. One of North's elves stood at the edge of the stream. he couldn't get away fast enough as the eggs rushed towards him, and they all splashed down into the colored stream below to be painted and decorated for their big show at Easter tomorrow. The eggs emerged from the stream, in every color and pattern imaginable. (as did the unlucky elf).
A stray egg egg wandered off the path and ended up in a whirlpool. North fished it out, turning it around in the sunlight. The egg had a weird purple spiral pattern on it.
"Okay," North said. "That's strange."
"No, it's adorable." Cadence took the egg and set it in line with the rest of its friends.
Then she watched as Bunny began to play with Sophie again. "What's over there?" He asked her.
Sophie searched through the grass and found a beautifully decorated pink egg with spirals and glitter. She showed it to Bunny.
"That's a beauty!" Bunny said.
"Pretty!" Sophie agreed.
Soon all the eggs were ready and gathered at the tunnels, excited for their big moment up top.
"Not bad." Jack said. He and Cadence sat down next to Bunny.
"Not bad, yourselves." Bunny said.
"Hey, I'm sorry for yelling earlier." Cadence said.
"I'm sorry too," Bunny said. Cadence gave him a questionable look.
"For the 'vampire' insult." He answered her look.
Sophie had curled up into Bunny's lap and fell asleep. She was still clutching the little egg that Bunny had given her earlier. "Aww, poor little ankle biter. She's all tuckered out."
"I love her." Tooth said as she flew over. "But I think it's time to get her home."
"We'll take her." Jack said. Cadence stood up with him and took Sophie from Bunny.
"Guys, no!" Tooth said with worry. "Pitch is-"
"No match for this." Jack held up his. "Trust us. We'll be as quick as bunnies."
Back in Burgess, Cadence laid Sophie down into her bed. But she had an iron grip around Candence's neck.
"A little help, Jack?" Cadence whispered, so that she wouldn't wake anyone up.
"But you're doing great." Jack chuckled. When Sophie finally let go, she rolled over and fell on the floor.
"Sophie?" Her mother called from the hallway. "Is that you?"
In a panic, Cadence threw a blanket over Sophie and rushed out the window with Jack.
"We should go." Jack smiled.
"Yeah." Cadence agreed.
Suddenly Jack perked up and looked to the forest behind James's house. "Did you hear that?" He asked.
Cadence listened. "I don't hear anything. What did you-"
Jack yanked Cadence and sped off into the forest. "Jack! What are you doing!?" Cadence tried to fight against Jack's grip. But he ignored her as he tried to follow a sound that only he could hear. Jack sprinted through the trees until they both reached a small clearing.
In the center of the clearing, was a wooden bed. It was rotted and broken. Jack walked up to the bed as if he was in a trance.
"Jack, I don't think we should be here." Cadence followed him and glared at the rotting bed as if it were evil.
"Don't worry, there's still time." Jack replied. He began whacking the bed with the butt of his staff until the planks fell off, revealing a deep, dark hole in the ground.
Jack looked at Cadence. She shook her head no, but Jack jumped in anyway. "Ugh!" Cadence grunted. "The things I do for this guy." And with that, she jumped in after him.
The two friends followed a series of tunnels. Jack led the way, following the sound and lighting the way with his glowing staff. But every step of the way, Cadence kept ushering Jack for them to return to the surface.
"Cadence, come on! I just what to find out where that sound is coming from!" Jack kept going through the dark tunnels.
"What sound!? Jack, I don't hear anything! And my hearing is better than yours!" Cadence shouted.
As they ventured further, they came to an opening with very dim lighting. Once their eyes were able to adjust, they gasped at the sight.
Tooth's Mini Fairies were trapped in tiny cages that hung from the ceiling. Along the walls and in mountanious piles on the floor, tooth boxes were stacked like pirate treasure.
They'd found Pitch's lair.
"Shh!" Jack tried shushing the fairies who had begun to chirp loudly. "Keep it down!" He flew up to one of the cages, while Cadence took charge of the lowest hanging ones.
"We're gonna get you out of here. Jack, help me with-" Cadence looked up to see Jack had dove into a pile of tooth boxes. "Ugh!" Cadence face palmed herself. She began working on one of the locking mechanisms of a low-hanging cage.
The room had began to darken. The chirping of the Mini Fairies increased. In the cage that Cadence was working on, one of the fairies reached through the bars and tugged at Cadence's hair to get her attention.
"What?" Cadence asked the little fairy. The fairy pointed behind Cadence frantically. As Cadence turned, a wave of Nightmare sand swept over her.
"Ja-" Cadence's voice was muffled as the Nightmare sand overwhelmed her.
She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see. But she could feel. Her skin burned and it felt like she was on fire! She struggled against the ever-shifting ebony sand. But it was over within seconds. The sand clamped around both of her wrists and brought them together, tying them behind her back. Her legs and ankles were also tied together.
She needed to breathe. When she felt like she was going to pass out, the sand shifted underneath, lifting her up to fresh air. She took in huge gulps of air.
"I'm not afraid of you." Jack's voice echoed throughout the lair.
"Oh, but you are afraid of something." Pitch cackled with laughter.
Cadence searched around for them, finding them traveling around through shadows and stairways. Jack was following Pitch, who was moving through the lair with ease.
"Your greatest fear is that Cadence will stop believing in you." Pitch smirked. Jack, who was on a bridge, looked stunned. Was that really what he was afraid of?
"Jack, I won't sto-" Nightmare sand formed around Cadence's mouth, making her words useless. She could only watch as Pitch tried to distract Jack.
Jack began searching for a way out. The shadows in a hallway surrounded him and what he thought was a wall, was actually the floor.
"You're afraid of losing the only person who has ever been able to see you. The only person you could turn to." Pitch continued to torture Jack.
"That'll never happen!" Jack shouted.
"Even if she does keep believing in you, she won't last forever." Pitch sneered.
"What are you talking about?" Jack held his staff in front, ready to blast anything that came near him.
"Are you really that ignorant, boy?" Pitch laughed. "She is mortal. She will die eventually. Not everyone is immortal. And you will be all alone, again. And you'll keep wondering: Why you? Why were you chosen to be like this?"
Jack eventually found himself cornered. Pitch appeared in front of him, cutting off all chances of escape. "Well, fear not," Pitch continued. "For the answer to that is right here." Pitch held out a tooth box with the name "Jack Frost" written on it. "Take them, if you want them." Pitch taunted.
Jack's hand involuntarily reached out to grab them, but he pulled back at the last second. "No."
With a chuckle, Pitch moved back to the main area of the cavernous lair. "Everything you you wanted to know is in this little box. Why did you end up like this? Unseen. Unable to reach out to anyone. You want the answers so badly. You want to grab them and fly off with them, but you're of what the Guardians will think. You're afraid of what Cadence will think."
'Don't listen to him! Jack, don't give in!' Cadence pleaded within her mind.
Jack followed Pitch's voice down to the center of the room. He backed up some stairs that led to a Globe similar to North's. Panic surged through Jack. Cadence couldn't move. The sand held her in place, as if she were frozen solid.
"You're afraid of disappointing everyone." Pitch's shadows surrounded Jack. "Well, let me ease your mind about one thing: They'll never accept you. Not really."
Jack covererd his head with his hands, trying to block out Pitch's voice. "Stop it! Stop it!"
"After all, you're not one of them." Pitch, himself, finally appeared. Standing right before Jack, he had an eerie smirk on his face.
"You don't know what I am!" Jack took aim at Pitch with his staff.
Pitch laughed. "Of course I do! You're Jack Frost. You make a mess wherever you go. Why, you're doing it right now." Pitch tossed Jack's tooth box into the air.
Jack instinctively caught it. His expression turned horrified. "What did you do?"
Pitch smiled. "More to the point, Jack, what did you do?"
With an echoing laugh, Pitch moved back into the shadows. Jack, filled with anger, lunged, but he wrapped his arms around nothing but air. An instant later, Jack was swallowed into one of Pitch's blackest holes.
Jack landed in an egg tunnel. For a moment he was confused, but then he realized that something. . . someone was missing.
"Cadence!" Jack cried out. When he tried to go back, he ran into a dead-end. "No!"
He then looked at his surroundings. Hs fingers tightened around his tooth box in fear of what he saw.
Thousands of colored eggs were smashed into rubble.
Pitch had destroyed Easter.
When Jack disappeared into the darkness, the Nightmare sand released Cadence. She immediately stood up and tried to find Pitch.
"Now it's your turn to face your fear." Pitch cackled.
"I don't have any fears." Cadence said, defiantly.
"Of course you have a fear. And this one is quite hilarious." Pitch appeared above her, hanging upside down on the ceiling.
"Well, you're going to have to explain, because I don't know what you're talking about." Cadence folded her arms over her chest.
"It's so obvious, yet you don't even know it. You've been exposing you're fear to me," Pitch disappeared again. "And during the fight, it only confirmed my suspicions."
"You mean the fight where you killed Sandy!" Cadence growled. Instead of feeling fear, she felt anger.
"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" Pitch's voice roared throughout the chasm. He appeared on the other side of the room. "You're afraid of losing Jack. Afraid of losing the only friend you've ever had." He disappeared and reappeared on a higher platform. "But mostly, you're afraid of Jack rejecting your feelings for him."
"I don't have feelings for Jack. And he doesn't have feelings for me!" Cadence shouted.
"Then what is this?" Pitch came from behind and yanked Cadence's snowflake choker off her neck.
"Give it back!" Cadence demanded. She tried reaching for it, but Pitch held her at bay.
"Now that proves something!" Pitch laughed.
"Oh, and you're not afraid of anything?" Cadence raised an eyebrow.
Pitch gave her a quizzical look. "What are you implying? I'm the King of Nightmares. What couldyou possibly know about me?"
"I know people like you. You're nothing but a parasite. You feed upon a host until their nothing left. You crave power." Cadence felt braver with each word. "But your greed and envy will always get in your way of victory. Face it. You're not even a real king. You're just a man who's been clawing for power his entire li-"
SLAP!
The back of Pitch's handmade hard contact with Cadence's face. The force was enough to cause Cadence to stumble backwards and fall onto her side. But she hadn't realized what happened until after it occurred.
Heat radiated from a mark that Pitch's hand had left on her cheek. It was clearly visible against her snow white skin. The force also caused her eyes to form teardrops to form in the corners.
"I suggest you show a little more respect to your captor." Pitch hissed.
"Respect and fear are two different things." Cadence said with a shaking voice. "And I won't give you either of them!" She sat up and found Pitch standing right in front of her.
"I'll just have to make you see things my way then." Pitch spat.
He snapped his fingers and another wave of Nightmare sand engulfed Cadence, causing her to drift into unconsciousness.