Ice Cubes

Summary: It was inevitable. He was immortal in age and body but he bled like every other human being. But even so, no one dared speak the word 'death'.

Krampus 5

Warmth.

Before Jack had become a guardian, he had always wondered what it felt like to have the warmth of your family envelop you. He was an independent winter spirit, brought to life by the moon. He had no father and no mother who conceived him, no siblings who pulled at him to play with them or scold him for being mischievous.

Jack had never known family and had never understood them.

In his first few years of being a winter spirit he didn't understand them. He didn't understand the father who looked proudly at his son, nor did he understand the mother who patted her tummy lovingly as she looked at her husband happily.

But even if he didn't understand, he still learned to crave for it.

Those looks people took for granted, those touches people easily shrug off…

Jack wanted that, all of it. He wanted that and more. He wanted to be seen, yes. To be heard, absolutely.

But more than anything he had wanted a family.

However Jack was a spirit of the cold. He breathed out death and caused harm to people. No one could love him as he yearned to be loved, no one would see him as he yearned to be seen.

He didn't want to be viewed as a cold creature capable of only freezing water parts and pissing off other immortals. He wanted to be seen as a teen who wanted companionship and friendship…

… and family.

But having a family meant having warmth. Having people who love you and stay with you and worry about you and care about you. The intensity of their feelings eventually warming you in the inside and giving you happiness and hope…

But Jack personified winter. He was cold and the heat could very possibly kill him. He was not made to frolic about and wish for hugs that would warm his forever cold skin. He represented the end of things, the death of things.

And such strong affection from people, such strong warmth. It could kill him.

But that did not stop him from wanting the warmth of family anyway.

And maybe it was because of that selfish wish that he- he spent those three hundred years by himself. Maybe the moon was punishing him for wanting to be with other people who didn't even want or acknowledge him in return. Maybe not getting what he wanted was his purpose as he roamed this planet forever alone.

But then they came. His – moon forbids they weren't- friends. Immortals like him who protected and loved children like him.

And in the short amount of time he stayed with them, Jack began to grow hopeful that maybe his wish wasn't so absurd, that maybe when they went past the stage of being associates and comrades, after they go through the motions of friendship and friendly banters that maybe – possibly they -he and the guardians- could be a family too.

A family.

That would have made Jack happy. The thought of it already made Jack happy.

But he guessed his prayers and wishes were never meant to be answered in the first place anyway.

It was cruel.

Just when Jack is finally seen and believed in, when he finally finds people that were willing to tolerate his presence and accept him-

Everything is taken from him just like that.

Granted, he did not regret saving those children's lives. But still-

Why was it that when he finally had something to live for, it is taken away from him?

"M'sorry…"

"No…" That tone was desperate and soft, small fingers surprisingly strong against his. He feels oh-so sleepy and his body was buzzing with warmth, slightly uncomfortable but it was lulling him to slumber. "Jack, no. Please…" A whisper and he turns his head a bit just in time to catch tears. "…don't go."

But he had to go. He had to leave. It was inevitable and Jack just smiles in comfort as he addresses the small golden man who was looking at him with wide golden eyes.

"One last sleep. Give me a good dream, f-for old time's sake. M'kay Sandy?" He sees the other nod and he sees golden arms shake. But Jack is prepared, he knows he should probably fight and try to survive, but sometimes there is wisdom in knowing when a battle has been lost. And Jack was worse than lost.

His center was crushed, he had barely ten believers to maintain his existence.

His weak existence being erased from this world was inevitable.

But even if Jack had given up hope, it did not mean that everyone else had too.

"No." And even though it was a silent plea, there was conviction in those words. The tone of a person desperate to cling on to hope, to cling onto anything that would make everything better, that would make this better. It was a soft broken sound, filled with despair and refusal to give up.

But sometimes hope is cruel. It just builds up expectations, only to let you down in the end. Hope, in reality, is the worst of all evils, because it just prolongs the torments of man.

But Jack is still surprised by Bunny's reluctance to let him go, he could feel the warm body hold him closer and he lets go of Tooth's weak and shaking fingers to grab at the other's fur.

"M'sorry." Because really that's all he can say. He doesn't know why, but he was causing these people pain from his suffering. Maybe it's because they care about him, maybe it's because they're friends.

But Jack is dying…

And in that single dying moment as Jack is surrounded by warmth and the comforting golden tendrils of the sandman's dream sand, the guardian of Fun permits himself to pretend.

He permits himself to pretend that the guardians gather around him because they care about him as much as he cares about them. He pretends that everyone would really be sad that he was leaving and not just because they felt guilty for not coming sooner. He pretends because that was all he could do, that was all he had done, even in his three hundred years of life.

And his lips twitch as golden sand curls around his face in a gentle gesture.

Bunny tries in vain to hide him away from the sand and Jack's hold tightens, blue eyes looked up regretfully, unable to see the faces of the people he loved anymore.

And finally, finally his eyes close and his lips form a smile as Jack feels his consciousness being pulled into deep slumber.

Surprisingly, in that moment, as warmth surrounded him, rang in his ears and as hands, paws, and fingers hold onto him like he was their lifeline, it was so easy to pretend…

…It was so easy to pretend that hey, maybe these people kneeling around him thought of him as family too.

And that pretense was what really made Jack's heart slow to a stop.

Because even in his last moments, 'pretending' was all he could really do.

It was quiet.

The wind had long stopped howling, everything was eerily quiet now, and a few heads poked up from the incredibly amazing sleigh of Santa to look at the entrance of the cave.

"They're taking so long…"

"Do you think they're okay?"

"Maybe we should go and check?"

Small voices, some thick with accents, look about in panic. They weren't really keen on staying here any longer but the only they could leave was if Santa and the others came back to take them home already.

"We should go take look. Just go and ask the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy if we're leaving yet." Another bravely piped up and the rest of the kids nodded at her plan while others exchanged reluctant looks.

But then again, they were all kids from the naughty list, and it wasn't really surprising that inevitably all of them had clambered down the sleigh and towards the entrance of the cave. There were only brief hesitations, they were still scared out of their minds from the kidnapping and the darkness and the screaming winds…

…But these kids were strong, they were tough, of course they were tough. When you built up an exterior of being naughty or a bully, having a hard heart and nerves of steel were in the requirement.

"I can see them." A small girl, the blonde one whispered and her eyebrows crinkled. "They're- They're just sitting there."

"It looks like they're crying." The smallest one with a thick British accent wrinkled his nose disdainfully. "Why are they crying?"

"Maybe someone got hurt?" The tallest squeaked. And most of the kids craned their necks shoving an pushing to get a better view.

"Oh hell!" A boy grunted as he pushed away from the curious onlookers. "Why don't we just go in and ask?"

"Wait-!"

But it was already too late. The boy had already gone into the dark and damp place.

His paws were shaking. The body lied lax in his grip and his paws were shaking. All around him, the guardians just stared, eyes wide and watery, uncomprehending, unseeing, face pale and horrified.

Tooth was the only one not looking, having buried her face in her hands, her fragile body convulsing from harsh cries and wails and whimpers. No one moves, no one tries to comfort her.

There was no comfort in having their friend, their family lying still and dead in Bunny's arms.

No one knew what to say.

No one wanted to talk.

They just sat there and stared and mourned.

There was no light in this dark cave, no moon to guide them out of this pit they seemed to have fallen into.

Jack was gone. Jack was gone.

Jack was gone!

And nothing would ever bring him back.

Clink!

Bunny's long ears twitched at the sound but no one moved.

Clink!

Santa absently grabbed his swords.

Clink!

Tooth finally looked up, eyes red and swollen, a confused look on her face.

Clink!

Sandy's whip cracked and in a sudden bout of rage he flew high up and directed his whips towards where the sound came from.

Golden light lit the walls by the entrance as Sandy cracked his whips. There was a shocked shout and all the guardians turned to see a boy jump back in surprise at the loud sound Sandy's whips made.

"Boy?" North said his voice soft and hoarse as he stood up shakily. He walked with shoulders slumped, grief resting on his shoulders heavily as Bunny hugged Jack closer to his body. North was trying hard to pull himself back together but was visibly struggling. Tooth held back a sob. "What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

"U-Uhm, e-everything's fine, mister Santa." The boy said as he cringed slightly. Sandy and Tooth noticed other kids peeking in from behind them. "We were just worried and wanted to see if you were okay. You were taking awhile."

North let out a shaky breath. "Oh yes. We- We are fine-" North's voice broke at the last word. "-we are just… I-" North looked back towards Bunny who was still cradling Jack, ears flat against his head. The guardian of memories eyes were wide with grief and horror.

Seeing as North wasn't going to call them off, the other children entered, looking around the cave. Some of them could see the dark mass of an unconscious Krampus by the side and they breathed out a sigh of relief. Others meanwhile noticed the dark silence around the guardians.

"Are you- are you okay?" A girl asked timidly as she looked at Tooth who was hiccuping into her hands.

Sandy tried to nod but then at the last second he shook his head.

"Did you get injured?" The four guardians flinched at the question.

"No, no we're fine. We have a few scratches but-" Tooth sniffed as she rubbed her eyes. "We're fine."

The kids all exchanged looks but didn't ponder further. They're heroes were fine, they were fine. They were gonna get home and they were going to continue with their lives and the guardians were to thank for that.

"Thank you." It was a small voice barely above whisper but in the silent cave it rang clearly across the walls.

"Wha-?"

"Thank you for saving us." A kid said flushing and all around him the other children nodded enthusiastically, their faces lit up in adoration and love and belief-

The guardians flinched.

"We had g-given up on anyone finding us. We were so cold and scared but you came and rescued us, even though we weren't the best kids…" Another piped up and others said their minds too, some in broken English others in simple statements.

North hung his head down while Sand clenched his fists, Bunny didn't move and Tooth succumbed again to her sobbing. The kids stopped, terrified when their heroes didn't seem happy by their thanks.

"Uhm, Santa?"

But North wasn't the one who answered.

"It was not us who saved ya', ya' little ankle biters." The kids jumped when the Easter Bunny finally spoke, his voice heavy with grief and remorse but he didn't look up as he spoke.

The kids exchanged confused looks. "What? But there's no one else-"

"No. Someone else was here protecting you before we came. He was the one who saved your lives-" Tooth said in a broken voice heavy with crying. "-not us."

"But-But no one else was here and that-" A kid who could see Krampus cautioned to the unconscious bundle. The others shifted in confusion at what the kid was pointing at.

"The person who kidnapped you is Krampus." Santa stated and the kids flinched, others in shock because they had heard of Krampus but hadn't believed in him while others because they considered the name taboo. Suddenly, the dark unconscious bundle on the floor could be seen more clearly. Sandy's golden whips trailed towards Krampus, curling around him to bind him just in case he woke up because of the surge of belief.

It was important to explain that Krampus had been there the whole time to get the kids to understand what had truly happened and for them to know who had truly saved them.

"He had kidnapped you because you are in Naughty list and he thought you deserved more than the coals I would have given you. So he took you here instead to punish you." Santa explained.

"But the naughty children of the world were not the only ones he had taken." Tooth said her wings fluttering slowly.

"He had taken a very special guardian too." North whispered. "The guardian of Fun and Joy."

"The one on top of the Naughty List." Tooth said in a silent but fond tone.

Bunny growled, body shaking in grief. "Our ankle-biter."

The children shifted and exchanged looks. There was another one of the guardians? But who? Big Foot? The Leprechaun? Cupid? The groundhog?

"Did you not wonder why no one was hurting you?" North said in a tired tone. "Why no harm befell you even when you were taken to this place?"

A girl, the one with blonde hair, the one Krampus nearly touched, stepped forward, eyes wide in confusion and anticipation. "Who?"

The guardians did not speak. The name of the youngest guardian they all cherished closed up their voices and made their chest heave in pain.

It was Sandy who had given the most important clue. Fashioning snowflakes from his golden sand and allowing them to drop from the roof of the cave and down onto the children. The small man did not intend to make the children sleep, which was why when the kids held out their hand to catch the beautiful creations, they did not collapse to the floor in an unconscious heap.

"Snow." One said as she took a snowflake into her hands, eyes sparkling.

"Pretty snowflake." A girl cooed as she caught some on her palms. Bunny shivered and held on tighter to the invisible teen in his arms. One kid noticed this and turned.

"That…" He started slowly and the guardians looked up at him. The kid's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and his eyes narrowed. "Are you- are you holding someone?"

The kids who were playing around with the sandflakes turned to stare at what the other boy was saying. It was then when most of them noticed the odd angle of the Easter Bunny's arms as though he was holding something precious.

"Is that- Is that the one you were telling us about?" The blonde haired girl said. "Your ankle biter Krampus took?"

"Is there something wrong with him?"

"Why can't we see him?"

"He helped us?"

"Is he alright?"

North gave a shake of his head and several children gasped. The blonde girl approached Bunny and kneeled next to him. She placed a hand onto the space between Bunny's arms and her eyebrows furrowed when she touched air.

"But-But there's no one there…" She said in confusion. She felt a small hand on her shoulder and looked up to see the Tooth Fairy shaking her head sadly.

"You have to believe in him, to see him." She stated softly as she kneeled beside the girl. She leaned forward and took Jack's pale cold hands, but to the kids it just looked like she was touching nothing. "Like how you believe in us."

"But…" A boy spoke up, uncertainly. "How do we believe in someone… we can't see? How do we believe in someone, we don't know?"

Sandy looked up and waved his hands, making more sandflakes drop onto the children. Other fluttered away from those who were trying to catch the sandflake only to land on their noses. Santa looked at what Sandy was trying to do and he had an idea.

It was forbidden for the guardians to speak about other immortals' names and to inspire belief into children simply by saying their names. A belief had to be brought about by the immortal himself or else had to be shown or hinted at by other beings to instill belief. And that was exactly what Sandy was doing and what North was about to do.

"Children, do you know about the famous song? It goes 'Kashtany obzhiga na otkrytom ogne-'", North paused, scratching his beard. "How does it go in English again?"

"Chestnut's roasting…" Tooth began to sing quietly, her voice echoing against the cave instilling silence as she quietly held the hand off the stiff teen. "…on an open fire."

Bunny hummed the next line quietly, coaxing the children to sing the next part themselves.

"Yuletide carols being sung by a choir…" They sang as quietly as Tooth as they all approached Bunny, kneeling all around them. "And folks dressed up like Eskimos."

"Ah." North interrupted the quiet singing and the children turned to him and his blue eyes sparkled sadly. "We cannot move on to the next line."

"Why not?" A kid asked confused.

"You missed one line." North said quietly. "Very important line. Song is not complete without it."

"We missed…" A girl murmured in confusion. "You mean the one with the 'nipping at your nose' thing?"

"Dah, my most favorite line in the whole song." North nodded and Sandy saw what the older guardian was doing. Tooth was still silently holding onto Jack's hand. "Why not sing it for me, precious deti?"

"Oh, uhm…" The children looked flustered, Santa was actually asking them to sing for him! "Well I guess it goes…"

Every child took a breath and sang together, "Jack Frost..." They sang. "-nipping at your nose-" But the children were interrupted again when sandflakes all landed on their noses.

"What the- achoo!"

"These things are- ah-achoo!- my nose is-!"

The kids all sneezed, some laughing others grumbling.

"Man, these things are worse than Jack Frost." A boy said jokingly and the others laughed. However one little blonde girl noticed the flinch from the guardians at the name.

"Jack Frost?" The girl said again and the children around her stopped laughing.

"Yeah that's what I said. Didn't you-" The boy said but the girl wasn't listening to him anymore, instead her eyes were looking at the guardians.

"Did Jack Frost save us?" The girl said anxiously as she looked at the tooth fairy beside her. "Was it him that protected us?"

Tooth looked at her and gave her a shaky smile. Her amethyst eyes were filling with tears once more. "He cares about children so much. We're- We're really lucky to have him."

And just like that, it was like a veil had been taken from the girl's eyes.

She looked down at Bunny's arms again but this time they were not empty. E. Aster Bunnymund held a lanky teen in his arms with skin as pale as the moon and hair as pure as snow. He laid there peacefully, not breathing, eyes closed and body littered with so many bruises only Krampus could have caused.

The blonde girl gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth as she let out an 'oh'. Tears began to fill her eyes as she remembered vaguely the howling sounds the wind made, how it frighteningly resembled a scream, someone crying for help.

The children behind the girl shifted in discomfort when the blonde kid started crying harshly.

"Jack Frost." A boy whispered this time. "She said Jack Frost…"

"Jack Frost, is he the one Santa and the Easter Bunny was talking about?"

"Jack- Oh my-! I think I see him now!"

"What-? You do?"

"She's right! Look there!"

It was like a domino falling, creating a chain reaction in the line it stood. One by one the pieces falling into place. Once one little child was finally able to see what the guardians were talking about, it was only a matter of time before the other children followed suit. And it wasn't long before every child, every kidnapped kid could see him.

"T-That's Jack Frost!"

"H-He looks so injured-! I-I don't think he's breathing!"

"The wind, remember when we thought we heard someone screaming? Could that have been-?"

"No! No, no, no! He saved us! He protected us! Why isn't he waking up? We haven't thanked him yet!"

The cave became noisy, some children were crying others were calling out to their fallen hero. North tried to comfort the kids, holding them in his strong arms, Sandy as well was trying his best with his sand, while Tooth just looked sadly at the girl beside her, crying her heart out.

"He-He was trying to- trying to help us. He-He made a hopscotch court for us! But we- we were scared and- and-!" The blonde girl continued to cry miserably.

"Shh, sweetie." Tooth's voice was thick from grief but she tried to comfort her anyway. "I'm sure J-Jack, wouldn't want to see you crying like this for him."

"But-! He's just like us!" The girl said as she looked at the peaceful from of the white-haired teen. Her vision was swimming with tears. "He's in the naughty list, right? That's why he was taken, right?" She sniffed.

Tooth nodded and the girl's face crumpled in grief as she reached out and took Jack's hands. "He must've been so alone. No one could see him too…" She said softly as she bowed her head, her small shoulders shaking. "He's like us. We were only trying to catch someone's attention and he must've been doing the same."

Bunny flinched at those words as the girl looked at him. "But still, he must-must've been happy."

"Why?" Bunny asked in a whispery tone. And the girl gave him a heartbreaking tear-filled smile.

"Because his family came and stayed with him until the end."

Notes: deti - little ones or children

Okay, so this thing is extending to KRAMPUS 6, which is being typed as we speak. I'm not sure if I liked what I typed for this chapter *glares at the laptop screen*

I'm sorry, I said I was going to update two weeks ago but I burned my hand and I wasn't about to upload a chapter with only an author's note on it so I decided not to push my hand. (It was my fault for making hot chocolate. My hand throbbed for days). And when my hand recovered well, it was time for exams and between here and there, I just really had no time to update.

But Krampus 5 is really long and it's pages are extending so I'm cutting it into parts again. I'm finally at the last part where the children thank Jack and mmmphhhh-

Yeah, no spoilers.

But this time for sure I will update it several hours from now. Around six to seven hours. And this time I WILL UPDATE IT IN SIX TO SEVEN HOURS. We really have to close this arc soon I still have to do three more requests!

By the way, the 450th reviewer thing will be cancelled. We'll make it into the 600th reviewer instead just to ensure that when the 600th reviewer gives me his or her prompts I will be free of other prompts XD

So I apologize to the other prompters, Krampus arc has really gotten out of hand but I will get to your prompts as soon as I can!

hisokauzumaki I hope the story is still okay in your eyes XD

Oh by the way heads up! I know some of you are unsatisfied (as am I) as how the guardians beat up Krampus. Uhm, well I'm really sorry about that. I'm thinking of a chapter called Torture which describes every bit of pain Krampus felt as the guardians pummeled him XD But it'll just be a tiny extra and when I upload it, I will upload another chapter with it because it might be a bit boring unless you are a sadist :D

So, to review replies:

Lietthebest: Thank you very much for the reference! I will try to read it when I have the time and use the knowledge you have bestowed upon me to make this arc better :D

CelticGirl7: YES! THAT WAS MY FAVORITE PART TOO! Thank you so much for noticing it T^T

hisokauzumaki: I hope it is still up to your expectations! I will try hard to give you a satisfying ending!

TheVictoryAngelofStrife: It looks like this arc is extending and extending and man XDD Thank you once again for the amazing titles! And I seem to be making a lot of people cry lately XD

Catatonic Inspiration: *takes away the elves* OH MAN! NOT THE ELF! *clears throat* Feel free to use the idea, I loved seeing others write about this concept too! Hibernation will be explained further when it comes out XD I mean, it's like finished but it's in my notebook (the paper and pen notebook type not the mini laptop type) and I have to type it up first.

TheMysticWolf36: Thank you for the very amazing and long review! I know what you mean! I was struggling with that part about Krampus getting beaten up because I'm not good with that- but that's just an excuse because I know I can get better with it (I am definitely going to train myself on the art of battle!) Oh and I want to give a long reply to your review so I'm just gonna send a PM later XD Thanks!

Mausee: I love your review because not only was it long but in caps lock andif there had been a like button I would've liked it 300000000 times XD

Dizappearingirl: Yes I can't wait to type up hibernation too XD And yes th last comment was meant to be funny because I did not want to be attacked by sobbing fan girls hehe :D

So thank you for those who answered my random thoughts and for the reviewers who drowned me with their passionate tears. I'm pretty sure I broke someone's heart along the way. Anyway the random thought portion was just my weak attempt to get you guys to laugh after reading the Jack being killed part :P I have updated Iced Hope and after I update at least two more chapters in Ice Cubes, I'll be off to update Ice Prince. You know I found it a bit funny that some people were shocked that I was the author for all three of these XD

Oh and I already know what the story for Icicles will be.! Ice Generation yeah!

(Note: Ice generation is the author's compilation of stories with the words Ice on them :D)

So is that all I have to say, I don't remember but I'll get back to you if I forget anything. I did not reread this nor rechecked it so, I'm sorry for any grammar mistakes and the like!

THANK YOU AND I'M SORRY! (I know I'm definitely forgetting something)

Special thanks to magiccatprincess for pming to check if I was alright!

Random Thought: I was writing a new arc when this occurred to me. The mini tooth fairies were in Pitch's lair and so were the teeth when Pitch was dragged back into his hiding place as it closed up.

So yeah, how were the mini tooth fairies able to get out of there with billions of teeth cases?

Well yeah they could go through walls and stuff but didn't the nightmares see them (then again the nightmares are only attracted to fear) or what about Pitch (he was getting devoured, duh)?

Wait, Bunny could have made a tunnel-

Yeah, I just answered my own question! Never mind!