Merida, Rapunzel, and Hiccup sat around the cool stream in the forest. The one Jack had tried to teach them to skate on. The one that started this all. Toothless, Maximus, and Angus were circling each other playfully through the woods. Hiccup was idly drawing in the dirt with a stick, it was a sketch of Jack and the others as though they were posing for a portrait. Merida was etching the family crest into her new elegant bow, and Rapunzel was humming softly to herself.

"Why did we even come out here?" Hiccup asked dejectedly.

"Because if Jack comes back, we get to be alone for a while," Rapunzel answered as though it were a hopeful question rather than a response.

"Well," a voice called from the trees. The trio looked around nervously. "I guess we are alone." Finally, they recognized the deep gruff voice. Their expressions turned jovial, even Merida's.

"Jack!" she called happily. She couldn't see him, but the way that Rapunzel and Hiccup were looking around indicated that they didn't either. A light chuckle resonated in response, and suddenly the clear blue sky gathered dark gray clouds. The wind whipped around, howling a warning to them, but they couldn't understand it. The air grew very chilled and they saw Jack emerge from the oaks.

Rapunzel gasped, Hiccup's eyes narrowed, and Merida clung to her bow. Jack was walking along the grass, but it grew black and brittle under his feet, shattering with each step. His hair was still white, but it was a very haunting paleness, like death. His skin looked almost gray like a corpse's. The grin on his face was almost as terrifying as his eyes. They seemed to glow. Their radiance was awe-inducing, but the color of gold took over the icy blue, as though someone spilled black oil in water.

"Hello," he said contentedly. His voice was still the same, but it had a strange echo to it, as though there were speakers playing a recording in a large room. It also had an underlying tone of an English accent.

"Jack, what happened?" Hiccup asked warily. He sounded very nervous.

Jack's smug smile stayed like it had been etched into clay. "I could ask her the same question." His eyes drifted to Merida, whose eyes widened with shock. His smile fell and he turned to her, pointing the staff at her accusingly. "You know, it's your fault that I'm like this."

"Jack, I-"

"SHUT UP!" he cut her off. She and Rapunzel backed away nervously. "Do you have any idea what Pitch put me through?! Do you even begin to understand how much it hurt to be invisible again? NO! You know why? Because you never think about anyone but yourself. Not your kingdom, not your friends, not even your own mother."

Merida tried to hide her pain with anger. She stumbled to pull an arrow from her quiver. Jack laughed and perched atop his staff. "Right, go ahead, shoot me!" She loaded the bow and pulled back the string. Jack lowered his face right before the arrowhead. "Go on, princess." Her face was pulled tight like her arms, but after a moment of complete stillness and silence, Jack cackled and disappeared into the shadows. "You're a joke."

"Pitch, leave Jack alone!" Rapunzel yelled. Her expression was weary and frustrated. The hand that clung to her hair was white at the knuckles.

"Oh please," Jack's voice called through the dark. Suddenly he appeared behind the three of them. "This may be mostly me, but trust me, I'm not a liar." He grinned at them, showing Jack's white teeth. "He came to me, asked me to help." He looked Merida in the eye with a scowl. "All because of you." His face relaxed and he stood straight again. "Of course, he isn't the best at making deals. First Baby Tooth and now you three. He never thinks about the specifics."

They stared at him in shock. No, Jack wouldn't want this. He wouldn't want Merida to believe if this was how it ended.

"But enough talk. It's about time I got my end of the deal." Jack flew up into the sky and raised his staff. A dark indigo emitted from the crook.

Hiccup raised his hand to his lips and whistled. Jack rolled his eyes and slammed the staff towards the others, only to be knocked on the side by a Night Fury. He grunted angrily and bolts of icy lightning shot at the dragon from his staff. Toothless darted away from the attacks, but one snagged his wing and he fell out of the sky into the river.

"Toothless!" Hiccup shouted, running to his friend. Jack took this opportunity to freeze the water. He grinned as the boy tripped in the water as it froze around him.

"Hiccup!" Merida yelled, just like he had moments before. Jack walked along the frozen ice and nightmare sand towards the dragon rider.

"Seems Toothless can't save you this time. Just like when you couldn't save him."

"Jack, please. I know you! You're funny, and you play tricks on us, and we laugh! This isn't you, come on!" Hiccup pleaded. "If you just calm down you can fight him! He doesn't have to win." The spirit rolled his eyes.

"It's a nice sentimental idea, but I don't want to. I like this. There's so much more than I've ever had," Jack said as though he were enthralled with the idea. This wasn't like him.

"What about your sister? What would she think?" Hiccup's voice was becoming raw and weak as hypothermia clawed at him with cold, dead fingers. Jack's smile fell, and he backed away, not slipping on the slick ice. He held his head in his hands, muttering angrily to himself.

"What have I done? What have I done? Oh God!" he repeated to himself. He looked up as Hiccup coughed lowly and sharply. He stared as though he were surprised. "No!" He slammed down the end of his staff on the ice. Spindly cracks shot through the black ice like a spider webs, and Rapunzel was able to pull Hiccup out. Toothless followed independently.

He shivered, curling up close to himself. His dragon watched from behind Rapunzel, his eyes watery and nervous. Rapunzel began to wrap her golden locks of hair around Hiccup, hoping to protect him. Meanwhile, Merida was shouting at Jack, who she'd dragged onto the soft earth. He was writhing as though he was having a seizure. Her hoots were undecipherable. However, Jack stopped. He was completely still and it horrified them.

Before his eyes opened, he smirked. "Nice try." He was ripped from the ground by the wind, who obeyed despite Jack's condition. His eyes still burned yellow and the dark still condensed around him. "This isn't fun anymore. Time to finish this." He glared down at the others, waiting helplessly below him. "First…" he added, staring at his sick friend. Hiccup barely noticed Jack, but did just in time to push Rapunzel away, which interrupted her healing song.

Jack laughed and landed in a crouch in front of Hiccup. "Goodbye." He raised his staff high as he stood and… Agony hit him like a wall. In his abdomen, he saw rich red liquid ooze into the front of his hoodie.

"I'm sorry," he heard someone whisper. He turned to the voice and saw Merida, her red hair draping over her like a cloak. Her arms were raised, and in one hand he held… a bow. It wasn't loaded. He looked down again and realized a small onyx point poking from his skin and hoodie.

He gasped for air, unsuccessful though, as the arrow had pierced his lung. He held his hands over the wound, staining them with blood. He collapsed on his side to the ground, the grass withering away from him. Merida and Rapunzel rushed to his side. Tears were brimming in their eyes. Rapunzel didn't know who she needed to heal, Hiccup or Jack.

"He's not coming back, Punz," Merida said sadly, making the blonde's choice for her. She returned to the Viking and began to sing again. Merida looked back at the spirit on the ground, struggling for every breath, each one coming shallower than the previous. Pitch saw his opportunity and sunk into the shadows from Jack's mind and body, causing more pain and making the boy whimper away more of his precious oxygen.

The snowy white color returned to his hair, the slight blush returned to his skin, but it ebbed away slowly as he lost more blood. He opened his eyes and stared up at the sky, which had begun to clear of the clouds. Even though it was daytime, he could see the moon. He smiled weakly and said, "Three hundred years, and you finally talk to me." He shifted his weight a bit and winced, gritting his teeth. He turned his gaze to Merida. "You guys look out for each other." Merida sniffled, stifling sobs, and nodded at him.

"We will, Jack."

With that, the life faded from his eyes, his face and muscles relaxed, and he died. Jack's short life as a Guardian had come to an end.