Ice Cubes

Summary: When you no longer wish to defend, explain or fight then it's time to give up...no matter how much you don't want to. (Anonymous)

Important: By the way, to the early reviewers of Krampus 3 I edited the end part of Krampus 3 a bit, just to let you know.

Krampus 4

A pain so strong and so fierce overcame the winter sprite as something inside of him was crushed. Jack's eyes widened unseeingly and before he knew it, he was falling… falling to the floor, Krampus releasing him from his harsh grip.

The world felt like it was tilting, falling off its axis as Jack's face planted on the floor, the cries and whimpers of the children and Krampus' laugh sounding like muffled buzzing in his ears as he felt something inside of him slipping away, slowly growing cold with every passing second.

His heart beat was slowing down…

Why was it slowing down!? Was he dying? What about the children? Who would protect them? What about Jamie? Who would bring early snow days to Burgess?

What about the guardians? A nagging voice said at the back of his mind and Jack's numb fingers twitched.

That's right. The guardians, his friends.

Bunny swore. He said- he said he was going to protect me. Jack took comfort from that as he felt his eyelids droop sleepily. I-I'm not going to die. Bunny won't let me die. They won't let me die. They'll come, I know they will.

I believe.

And for a moment, Jack let the warmth of his belief envelop him, lulling his senses into a deeper slumber, a place that promised silence, no more pain or hurt, or crying children, or cackling villains. In that single moment, as Jack deeply believed that the Guardians would come to his aid, the small sprite felt at peace.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Jack's eyebrows crinkled, the noise momentarily disrupting his sense of peace. He heard muffled screams in the background along with the weird thumping again and unwillingly, Jack's tired senses were dragged back to the real world. Was that his heart? Why did it sound like giant feet hopping on the ground? Were the children in danger?

-ack!

A voice.

-ck! –ack!

No, voices.

Did Jack imagine those voices? Were the children calling out for help? Jack's heart- or what was left of it- constricted in worry and pain.

Jack? JACK!

The winter sprite's fingers twitch as he felt a sense of déjà vu kick him in the gut. The voices sound familiar, tugging at the back of his mind, insistent and persistent and nagging.

JACK!

Mal'chik!

Sweet Tooth!

The guardians, the voices sounded like the guardians. Jack thought numbly as he felt the slow beats of his heart against his chest. The winter sprite felt someone kneel next to him and he almost smiled. Had he wanted to see the guardians so much that he imagined they were there?

No! Nonononono! Sweet Tooth, you hang on! Hang-Hang on for me! W-We'll get you out of here soon, we'll give you a nice c-cold bath! We'll let you f-freeze the elves as much as you want! Just hang on, please, p-please hang on!

He could almost hear Tooth, desperately crying beside him, soft and small fingers hanging onto his arms delicately as she tried to control her broken sobs while she spoke and tried to keep him awake.

Vy slizistyy, nichego khoroshego, ublyudok!

And of course North would be there too, shouting his Russian profanities at the enemy- And wait, was it Jack or did it sound like the old Cossack was trying to run through someone with his swords? A small smirk played at the pale lips, as Jack deliriously imagined Krampus curling in fright under the usually jolly man's anger and twin blades.

Then suddenly Jack felt something familiar and itchy caress him across the face before the young guardian heard the loud sounds of whips lashing. Of course Sandy would be there too, trying to soothe the children with his sand but not letting himself get behind on the action. Jack could almost hear the pained shouts and squeal of the old goat as he imagined Sandy smashing him around like he did with Pitch.

And Bunny-

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Jack froze as he heard that strange thumping sound again. He thought again of his heart but then paused. The sound was much too fast to be his actual heartbeat. His heart was slowing down, rapidly so, but the thumping sound, sounded like two large feet were going about the cave.

The Jack heard a tiny gasp, a few feet away from him. It came from one of the children. The Easter Bunny! Oh, of course! That explained the weird thumping sound!

Other murmurs followed and Jack literally felt the children's switch of fear to an inkling of hope. The Easter Bunny's here! He's going to save us! The murmurs of different languages were overwhelming and Jack felt happy for them, felt happy for the children who were finally going to be rescued in his imagination.

Jack.

A warm paw was placed on Jack's chest and the sprite's eyebrows crinkled again in confusion. That was strange, Jack expected his imaginary Bunny to be off fighting Krampus along with Sandy and North. What was he doing beside the dying Jack?

Jack, mate, yer going to be fine. His imaginary Bunny sounded less confident that he should be. The voice was soft, trying to reassuring, but Jack could hear the heavy worry layering every word. We're here now, y-you'll be fine, I swear.

The guardian of Fun picked up Tooth's sobbing again, stronger, when the Pooka said the words 'you'll be fine'.

B-Bunny, I can't- we can't-! Tooth could hardly be understood over her crying. H-His center, c-crushed… I-I-!

We'll fix it. The guardian of Hope interrupted. We'll fix him, calm down, sheila. Bunny insisted quietly as Tooth continued to heave sobs. Jack felt a pang of guilt. He didn't want his imaginary guardians to be so distraught about his situation. He wanted to imagine them to be livelier, happier, kicking Krampus' butt to the next century, not grieving beside him.

The sprite opened his mouth, wanting to wish his dreams away now because they were no longer happy ones. He did not want the guardians to be so sad beside him, grieving. He opened his mouth, wanting to voice out loud his feelings of annoyance that even in his imagination, Bunny was a stubborn mule that refused to go with Jack's thoughts of fun and butt-kicking towards Krampus.

But instead of words, a dry cough came out of his mouth, jolting his already pain-filled body.

Jack?

Sweet Tooth?

And the strong and firm grip Tooth had on his arm suddenly felt too real, so did the warm paw on his chest. Jack's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to push away the delirious thoughts his mind had conjured, trying to pull himself back to the reality of lying in the cold cave, dying, with the children sobbing somewhere nearby and Krampus cackling not far off…

But nothing happened, the paw was still warm and firm and real on Jack's chest. And so was the strong but delicate grip on his arm. And was it just Jack or was his imaginary North suddenly spouting strange Russsian words, Jack didn't know? And now that Jack thought about it, wasn't his imagination too strong and specific? I mean, he literally heard the sound Krampus' body made as he was hit across the wall via Sandy's whips.

Deciding to see for himself what was happening, the winter child fought the drowsiness overcoming him to open his blue eyes.

And in that moment with the hands and paws never leaving him, Jack was blinded by golden light.

The scene they walked into was the worst they could have ever imagined. Granted, Bunny had already thought up of the horror they would face once North's sleigh landed outside of the cave, but nothing could have prepared him for the actual scene they were facing.

The kids were huddled by the corner, dirty, starving, shivering as the wind howled in indescribable rage and fury, not really helping their situation. Krampus was by the side, claws high up in the air, cackling in self pleasure as –was that blood?- trickled down his claws and dropped to the floor, staining the cool and dark cave.

But it wasn't this particular scene that cause Tooth to freeze and gasp with so much horror that tears had gathered in her amethyst eyes, nor was this scene that made Sandy take out his whips, golden eyes wide but lips pursed in undeniable anger and uncontained worry, nor was this the reason why North began spewing hundreds of Russian profanities without a care in the world that underage children was in front of them, and this wasn't the scene that made Bunny's fur bristle and his green eyes widen as he looked forward in a dazed coma of horror and worry.

It was the young teen lying in the middle of it all that made them hesitate by the mouth of the cave. Body unmoving and incredibly small against the darkness of the cave, blood trickling down thin lips and blood seeping into the middle of his chest.

"J-Jack…" Bunny said out loud. And the sudden pronunciation of the name seemed to act as a trigger as suddenly North ran in, brandishing his dangerous twin swords, swinging them towards a surprised looking Krampus as he shouted profanities and curses at the other, successfully scratching the goat by the side as he dodged the crazed Santa. Sandy followed, his mouth opened in a silent scream, face ablaze with fury as he grabbed the anti-Santa by the whips. But Krampus was quick dodging to the side, trying to escape the sudden onslaught, however North blocked him eagerly, trapping him between the two guardians.

Throughout all that noise and sudden heavy footfalls and movements, the frail and pale figure on the ground did not move.

"Jack…" Nothing. "Jack!" Bunny shouted again, this time louder, as he hopped towards the other guardian, limbs shaky as though hesitant to come nearer in fear of finding out that the other was-no he wouldn't think about it, he wouldn't! Tooth was behind him, echoing his cries of worry.

"Jack! JACK!" Tooth cried out as she was the first, to reach the boy's side, Bunny had slowed down his eyes widening when he saw up close the horrible state the other teen was in. "Wake up, wake up… Oh please wake up…" Tooth sobbed, her tears falling freely from her eyes, and the miserable murmurings were enough to distract North who turned to look behind him and at the pale teen.

"Mal'chik…" The usually jolly man said, his blue eyes wide.

"Sweet Tooth!" Tooth gasped as he grabbed onto Jack's arm firmly, the other still did not move and Bunny tried to swallow whatever it was that was stuck in his throat as he looked down at the deathly pale face on the ground of the cave. Tooth's broken sobs echoed around the cave as she tried to convince the boy she was holding on to, to wake up- wake up Jack!

"No! Nonononono! Sweet Tooth, you hang on! Hang-Hang on for me! W-We'll get you out of here soon, we'll give you a nice c-cold bath! We'll let you f-freeze the elves as much as you want! Just hang on, please, p-please hang on!" Cried the guardian of Memories.

Nothing. Not even a small twitch or a smile. The fairy queen cried harder as Bunny felt his blood run cold. North seemed to have realized the lack of response and was still distracted when Krampus suddenly gave him a kick in the abdomen.

The old Santa was thrown back but Sandy kept his golden sand around the anti-Santa, eyebrows crinkled in concentration but golden eyes flickering over to Jack in worry and desperation.

North stood up shakily, his face a mixture of grieving and fury as he turned to Krampus, face as pale as the time he was losing believers. "Vy slizistyy, nichego khoroshego, ublyudok!" He gave out a war cry as he charged towards the old goat who got out of Sandy's golden whips and jumped over the sandman only to crash against the walls. The strange creature let out a squeal when the blades very nearly impaled itself onto his face.

Sandy pursed his lips as he let his sand expand and caress Jack's pale face in worry before he turned his attention back at Krampus, whips tightening around the old form as he began to throw the other against the wall and the ground, expressing his own anger and at the same time, saving the old goat from getting run through by North's swords again.

Jack. Bunny thought eyes wide as he began to hop around in nervousness, thinking if he should go help Sandy or North- despite the fact that those two were doing incredibly well without him- or move Jack into the sleigh and risk injuring him further.

His hopping around however, seemed to have caught the attention of several kids who began to point at him.

"It's the Easter Bunny!"

"He's so tall!"

"The Easter Bunny's here!"

"He's going to save us!"

The pooka stopped, his sensitive ears picking up different languages as the children gazed at him in awe. Green eyes looked at the children who were still frightened but had hopeful smiles on their faces. They seemed alright, none of them was hurt and Bunny felt guilty that he forgot them for a moment, kneeling down as he extended a hand to a six-year-old girl with blonde hair who took his paw.

"Sandy…" Bunny called out and the golden man let go of Krampus resulting in a loud 'THUD' when the goat fell ten feet to the ground Sandy looked at Bunny who motioned at him, "C-Can ya' get these kids to the sleigh? Wrap them up in some blankets too, we need to take them home."

Sandy looked at Bunny, a single snowflake made of sand flashed above his head. Bunny gulped and said in a voice that barely escaped shaking, as Tooth continued to cry behind him, "I'll take care of him."

Sandy nodded, face still worried and golden eyes still looking over at the motionless teen, as he motioned his sand into clouds to fly over to the children. The children murmured in awe as they were lifted into them and flown towards the sleigh waiting outside. North was still too busy taking over the torture session Sandy abandoned to notice what was happening.

Bunny turned back to Tooth and Jack, settling beside the cold teen as he placed a delicate paw on Jack's sensitive chest.

"Jack." No answer and Bunny cringed when Tooth cried harder as a result. "Jack, mate, yer going to be fine." He said, although he hardly believed it himself what with the sprite not responding and all, but the slow heartbeat he felt gave him slight hope as he continued to speak. "We're here now, y-you'll be fine, I swear."

"B-Bunny, I can't- we can't-!" Tooth could hardly be understood over her crying. "H-His center, c-crushed… I-I-!"

Crushed. Bunny's ears drooped at what Tooth said. His center was crushed? By Krampus?

But instead of letting that dark thought consume the pooka, Bunny shook his head.

"We'll fix it."The guardian of Hope insisted. "We'll fix him, calm down, sheila."

But, how?

Bunny let the unspoken question hang between them. He was the guardian of Hope and Life, he should know the answer to that. He should know what they had to do to save Jack but…

His center was crushed.

How can they save Jack? How can they save this precious boy who had shown them happiness and had given them a reason to be a family?

How? How do they save the small winter teen when said teen wasn't even responding to their calls? Bunny thought a she closed his eyes tightly, feeling so helpless at the moment.

But then a small miracle occurred, and the boy on the ground gave a sudden dry cough that echoed throughout the cave, causing North to stop trying to impale Krampus, Sandy to pause loading the kids into the sleigh, and Tooth to stop from her loud crying.

"Jack?"

"Sweet Tooth?"

Blue eyes opened tiredly, unseeing as they gazed above the dark cave blankly. "T-Tooth? Bunny?" A small pale hand reached out and Tooth grabbed it like a lifeline as the Easter Kangaroo lifted Jack up gently into a sitting position.

The blood running down Jack's mouth almost made Tooth sob again but she took a deep breath, held it all in and gave a wavering smile. "Y-Yes Jack. It's us, we here."

She said 'We're here', not, 'You're safe'. She was a warrior queen after all, and after all they've been through for the past centuries, she knew that the most important things to wounded people were the fact that people were beside them, with them, as they tried to get over the pain and the hurt.

"Y-Yeah…" Jack said but his icy blue eyes weren't even looking at Tooth or at Bunny, instead he was looking on, unseeing. And this frightened Bunny more than it should have, making a shiver of fright run down his spine. "I-I knew you were coming." He gasped and then his lips cracked as he smiled. "B-Believed in you guys…"

Bunny's paws around Jack tightened and he felt North approach from behind him, silent as he kneeled beside Bunny. Sandy also came towards them, his golden sand acting as some sort of protective veil, but it did not matter anymore, Krampus was lying unconscious on the cold cave floor several feet away from them.

"Jack, my boy…" North whispered in a tone that made him seem older than when he laughed or boasted about Christmas being better than Easter. "Y-You will be fine, we-we will get you to workshop, have yetis take care of you-"

"Yeah." Jack said in a soft tone, not really blinking anymore and Tooth's tears began to fall again. "Yeah, back home… Sounds- sounds nice North…"

And the old Santa went quiet once he heard the word home, his great shoulders shaking as he held back sobs.

Sandy's eyes were glassy, he was playing with his fingers. He wanted to offer his dream sand, make the boy sleep. But with Jack as he is right now, it was dangerous, far, far too dangerous.

"The kids…? A-Are they… are they safe?" Jack murmured and his eyes began to close, he blinked slowly as he looked up, voice growing hoarse.

"I-" Bunny swallowed and he tried to smile but it seemed to fail as he blinked his green eyes rapidly trying to get rid of the burning feeling in them. "Y-Yeah, mate, the kids are safe. All thanks to ya', you brave little midget."

Jack's smile turned slightly into a smirk as Tooth's hold on his hand tightened. "Good." And he laughed before coughing, a frightening sound that made them all freeze. "Guess you guys owe me now, h-huh?"

Sandy nodded as he hung his head, he crept closer to Jack, as though by being there, the inevitable would not occur. North was shaking as he reached out and took Jack's other hand into his, pale and small in comparison to his own, weak and cold to warmth and strong.

"H-Hey, I can't see you guys clearly b-but you look like you need some dose of fun." Jack said and he tried to smile wide, showing his teeth and Tooth's fingers flinched at the urge to look at them. "We're- We're together now right? Stop looking like that…"

Bunny nodded but he hugged Jack closer as Sandy covered his golden eyes with his arm. "Y-Yeah we're together, that's what's important."

Jack nodded as he heard Bunny's silent words. "But it seems like we-we won't be together for long h-huh?"

"No." Tooth mouthed as she curled herself on Jack's hand trying desperately to cling to him, as though by doing so she could prevent the soul from actually leaving. "No. Stay, p-please stay."

We need you.

We just got you.

We love you.

"I'm happy that you came. Thanks for proving that old goat wrong…" And Jack tried to laugh but he found it hurt too much to do so. His blue eyes looked around for a moment before they turned towards Bunny's green eyes. "And thanks Bunny."

Unshed tears made Bunny's voice hoarse as he asked, "Thanks for what?"

"Thanks for- for that promise." Jack said with a pain-filled smile and the old pooka froze as he let the words sink in.

Nothing, is going to happen to ya'. We won't let anythin' happen to ya', mate.

And ya' can count on us getting ya' out of any sticky situation ya' find your hide stuck in.

And we will protect ya', I swear on the Moon we will.

We will always protect you.

And that was all that it took, for Bunny to curl onto Jack, his shoulders heaving in sobs he could no longer hold back. "I didn't- We didn't-" He choked.

"It helped." Jack said simply and the grip he had on Tooth and North was quickly losing strength, as was his willpower to keep his eyes open. "The promise helped somehow. I-It made me fight longer than I usually could w-without my staff. I-It helped me protect the children."

"J-Jack."

"M'sorry…" He said in a slurred tone as his eyelashes fluttered and he leaned his head against Bunny who shivered at the onslaught of cold. "I-I want t-to stay…"

"No… Jack, no. Please don't go." Tooth said in a broken voice as she looked up, amethyst eyes teary. Sandy was there beside her, golden eyes teary as well as he looked at Jack. North wasn't any better, as he tried desperately to warm up cold hands.

Jack smiled as he turned to Sandy, "One last sleep. Give me a good dream, f-for old time's sake. M'kay Sandy?"

The guardian of Dreams hands shook as he nodded, He lifted his arms and tendrils of sand made its way towards Jack.

"No." Bunny whispered as he hugged Jack closer trying to stop the sand from coming closer. But Jack pulled his hand away from Tooth's and held onto Bunny's furred arm.

"M'sorry." Was all Jack said as the golden sand enveloped him and finally, finally his blue eyes closed with finality.

It was like a movie, the small and pale hand slowly falling from its tight grasp on the Pooka's fur as Jack Frost took his final breath. Everything became eerily quiet as the four guardians held their breaths just as Jack murmured his last words.

Even the wind which had been howling the whole time had quieted down as though she knew that the boy who once cared for her was no longer there, going to a place she could not follow.

The guardians sat there in silence, in the darkness of the cave, letting the heaviness of the atmosphere crush their souls and grind the remainders of their hearts.

It was Tooth, sweet sensitive Tooth, that gave in and broke down first. She heaved messy, loud sobs as she grabbed Jack's fallen hand, her tears wetting the worn and torn blue hoodie. Sanderson Mansnoozie fell unto a kneel, hands covering his eyes as he succumbed to his own silent vigil. North let go of the pale hand he tried to warm, realizing in defeat that no matter how much he wanted to, he could never warm it up. And Bunny, all Bunny could do as his fellow guardians broke down around him, was hug the cold body closer, wishing so so much, that fate wasn't so cruel.

But it was, and the cold body of the boy they all cherished more than their lives was the sad reminder of that.

Jamie Bennett sat outside of the front porch of their house, still trying to build Frosty with the limited snow around him. The sun was covered by dark clouds and suddenly, to his surprise the light snowfall had suddenly stopped.

The last light looked up at the sky, brown eyes shining in worry and eyebrows crinkled. Two weeks until Christmas and no snow? What gives? Was it Jack? Was-Was Jack alright?

However he was distracted from his worried inner rantings when suddenly-

SPLAT!

The three feet snowman he had been making suddenly fell to the ground, scattering about in front of him.

Jamie's eyes widened as he scooped up the snow into his hands in confusion. His small shoulders began to shake as tears ran down his wide brown eyes.

He couldn't- didn't understand why.

Why?

It was only a stupid snowman he was building like every other day. But why? Why did it feel like-

Like he just lost something more than a stupid three-feet-tall snowman?

Important Notes: The kids have been kidnapped for a few weeks and I'm sure that some of you are wondering how they ate or went to the bathroom with a crazy goat as their kidnapper. Krampus' dimension exists slightly out of reality, therefore even if it's been a few weeks in the mortal world, in Kampus' world where there is no morning, it has practically been just a very, very long night. Which would explain why Krampus only decided to seek revenge now of all times.

The Hydrophobia chapter title has been changed to Aquaphobia, thanks to TheMysticWolf36 for the very helpful information. Thank you!

Russian Translation via Google Translator: "You slimey, no-good, bastard!" North's war cry.

And one more thing, YES THERE WILL BE A KRAMPUS 5

Notes: Oh well, uhm wow. I would just like to say in all honesty that I did not expect this to go to Krampus 5. Sure I've had Jack being killed all planned out but I didn't expect it to go on like this. I was like typing and then deleting scenes, and then typing and then deleting, and then getting frustrated and then reading your awesome reviews and the updating seven other fics and then getting frustrated again :D

And also I just had to insert Jamie in there somehow :P The kid's awesome.

So we're nearly at the 300 review mark guys! Thanks for supporting and loving this story all the way! XD I know I'm forgetting to mention something important again, but I'll eventually recall it, hopefully.

So to the review replies:

Lovepuppy316: Yes, please feel free to kill Krampus XD And I would love to write the gory details of beating Krampus but this is rated K+ (or was it K?) for a reason XD I can write a total separate scene of the guardians beating up (torturing Krampus) and send it to you if you wish though!

DragoWolf: Thank you! And the results are something I have to go get tomorrow, I feel like hyperventilating. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter! XD

SensiblyInsane28: I'm sorry for ripping out your heart! I didn't mean to! HONEST! Thanks for the review!

XxPurpleStarGazerxX: I am? It's an honor to receive such a compliment! I didn't think I was good at that actually! Anyway, thanks for the review!

Blade-Rose: It's okay, I understand. And thank you for the no pressure comment, some (most) of the reviewers were screaming for an update and some others were hyperventilating O . O Anyway, thanks for taking your time to review!

TheVictoryAngelofStrife: So far it looks like it'll have 5 chapters for this arc, I was only planning four but erm- things got out of hand. Haha… Thanks for the review! And with regards to your title, I'll place it in once I finish the Krampus arc! Thanks again!

sakuradancer3: Thank you for the HINT. Haha it made my day XD I hope you look forward to the next chapter and thanks for the review!

dizapearingirl: Thanks for replying to my comment, and haha thanks for the compliment as well! And good instincts on sensing that Jack doesn't have very long at all :D

JayaEmera: Yes, I haven't forgotten, I'll get to those other arcs as soon as I can :D

Guest: I'm sorry guest reviewer (orz) I have no excuse. It's just that I have to update other fics too from other accounts and since Ice Cubes was updated recently, it was sorta unfair to leave my other fics hanging XD But the new chapter is out now! And I know it ended in a cliffhanger but I hope that you enjoy it! Also, I'll try to get this arc over as soon as I can, so I can post Hibernation soon too!

SO THANK YOU TO ALL THE REVIEWERS! You guys rock! You are awesome and well you guys are just plain awesome! The closing of the Krampus Arc is near! Many of you have requested some things for this arc and I hope I managed to fit it all in properly.

So until next time guys! I might post another chapter later if I manage it (and if this reaches 300 reviews by later), but it won't be Krampus 5 rather it would be Hibernation or some other continuation of one of the arcs.

So thanks again and please review!

Random Thoughts: I was reading this statement while drinking hot chocolate: '-Jack wouldn't go gallivanting naked in the middle of traffic even if he was invisible-'

Suddenly I had a flashback:

Jack: I have tried everything but no one ever sees me. (To Man in the Moon in the movie)

End of Flashback

My eyes widen and I spit out my hot chocolate and I was like, "Oh my- Jack what do you exactly mean when you say you've tried 'everything'?"

Thoughts? XD