There's Something Wicked in the Air

It was one of those days that Jack Frost absolutely adored. It was cold and the outside world was sheeted in a blanket of delicate white snow. After taking a step out of the door he felt a hand on his shoulder. He quickly turned his head and looked up to see North. North looked at him with a serious look in his eyes, "Be careful." Jack looked at him, worried, "Are you okay?" North couldn't keep his concerns away from Jack any longer, "I want you to be careful since you're going out. Since we don't have any idea where Pitch might be hiding, I want you to be cautious about where you are and if Pitch finds you or you find him, I want you to run straight here. Don't try to fight him on your own, he's too dangerous."

Jack smiles at North with reassurance. "Don't worry! I'll be fine!" He waves and jumps up into the air, letting the wind take him to his destination outside the small town of Burgess; the forest. Of course, it did take a little while to get there. Jack lands beside the small lake and looks around. A smile forms on his lips and he a takes a deep breath, breathing in the icy air.

North closed the door behind Jack and walked back into the workshop, still worried. When he passed by some of the other guardians he couldn't pull himself to say a word. Bunny looked at North, "What's wrong mate?" "I'm just worried about Jack." "Nah, no need to worry. He'll be fine." "That's just it. With Pitch on the loose who knows what could happen?"

Bunny sighs and rubs his forehead. "North…we defeated Pitch not too long ago. It will take him a long time to make an appearance again. We told you this...even the Man in the Moon said so." He pats North's shoulder. "Jack will be fine, mate. Don't worry." North sighs and looks at Bunny. "I still can't help but feel like something bad is going to happen."

Meanwhile, back at the forest, Jack was having the time of his life. He raced across the ice and flew through the bare trees, creating flurries of dusty snow that glittered in the setting sun. Jack stops to take a break, sitting on a branch and gazing up at the sky. Suddenly, the sound of hoof beats and the braying of a horse broke through the peaceful silence. A dark, sinister voice echoes over it. "We meet again, Jack Frost."

Jack turned his head and saw the dark figure through his peripheral vision, "Hello, Pitch." Pitch smirks, patting his Nightmare on the neck. "What's a guardian like yourself doing out all alone? You should know that shadows hide in these woods." He chuckles darkly. The Nightmare snorts and stomps its hooves impatiently, waiting for its master's orders. Jack turns around and glares down at the shadowy figure. "What do you want, Pitch?" He points his staff threateningly. Pitch frowns and glares back. "You know what I want, Jack. I want to be seen, to be believed in! I want to be feared!" He summons more Nightmares. "And I can't achieve that if you guardians are still around! Get him!" The Nightmares rear and charge at Jack.

Jack's eyes widened as darkness encircled him. He quickly waved his staff, sending a blast of ice at the Nightmares. The blast hit most of them dead on, but the ones that went unscathed quickly closed in. Jack flew up into the air to gain more distance between him and the deadly creatures. He turned around and sent another blast towards the Nightmares. Pitch laughed maniacally. "Do you really think that your pathetic attempts at destroying my beautiful Nightmares will stop me? Think again, child!" Another army of Nightmares were summoned at his will. Their red eyes glowed in the now darkness of the forest. Pitch jumped on the back of the leading creature and used his nightmare sand to create a scythe. He smirks and points the scythe at Jack. "You're outnumbered, Jack Frost. With you out of the way, I can get my revenge on the other Guardians!" Jack growled. "You won't get away with this, Pitch. I'll destroy you myself and send you back where you belong!"

Pitch smirked, "So you think you can just simply defeat me and be done with me? You will never be able to be rid of the Boogeyman!" Pitch laughed that soul piercing laugh, which sent shivers up Jack's spine. Within seconds Pitch's Nightmares were charging at Jack again, this time with Pitch riding on one of the Nightmare's backs. Jack dodged Nightmares left and right until he was whacked on the side of his head by the snath of Pitch's scythe. Jack was flung into the snow, almost losing consciousness. For a minute or so all Jack could see was black. He felt the hooves of the Nightmares trampling on him and yelled out in pain, "Stop!" Suddenly the nightmares that had stepped on Jack were starting to freeze. Pitch jumped off of his nightmare and cowered in pain, "What are you doing?!" Jack saw what was happening and decided he would take this opportunity while Pitch was in pain to run.

Pitch howls in anger as he watches Jack's form disappear in a flurry of ice and snow. "You are nothing but a coward, Jack Frost! I will be back to haunt you, and I will make sure that you and the other Guardians suffer greatly!" The ice continues to consume Pitch's Nightmares, their shrieks of agony echoing across the forest. Pitch lets the ice fully consume him. He knows he's able to break away, but he doesn't want to go after Jack again just yet. He wants the Guardians oblivious of his plans. Jack rode the wind back to the North Pole. His heart was racing and his head pounded. Blood had frozen on the left side of his face where it had oozed from the wound dealt by Pitch's scythe. He busts through the door and stumbles. Phil, as he was affectionately called, was startled at the sudden burst of cold air and turns to see Jack struggling to stay on his feet. The Yeti grunts in worry and hurries over to the injured boy. He sees the blood plastered to the side of Jack's face.

North was in his office working on his ice sculpture when he heard a loud commotion outside. His mind raced as he remembered his worries earlier that day. He jumped out of his chair pushing it over and ran out of the room. He ran to the balcony that led down to the workshop and saw Jack bloody in the Phil's arms. His eyes widened and he jumped off the balcony and landed safely, running over to Phil and Jack. As he got closer, elves and Yetis alike moved out of North's way. He stopped in front of the Yeti and Jack, "Jack! I knew it wasn't safe to go out there alone!"

Jack flinches at the loud tone of North's voice. His ears were already ringing from blow to the head he received. Phil looks at North and grumbles disapprovingly. Tooth flies over, fluttering about in worry. "Oh no, Jack! Is he going to be okay? What happened?" Sandy quickly calms her down. He was also worried about his friend, but he knew that constant worrying wasn't going to help. Baby Tooth squeaks and flies over to Jack, nestling herself on his shoulder. She nuzzles the boy's cheek in the way she knew would cheer him up. Jack cracks a smile at the small fairy. "Thanks, Baby Tooth…I'll be okay..."

North lowered his head as he felt the tears come to his eyes, "It's all my fault…" Tooth put a hand on his shoulder and found that North was shaking from trying to hold back his emotions. North muttered so low that nobody could hear him, "If only… If only…" Tooth looked at him, worried, "North are you okay?" "I'm sorry Jack… Excuse me…" North swiftly turned around and started walking back to his office.

Tooth looks at North's retreating form worriedly. "I'll go talk to him." She quickly flutters after him. Jack frowns and watches them as they disappear around the corner. Phil, with the help of Sandy, takes Jack to his room to get his wound taken care of. Baby Tooth was still perched on Jack's shoulder, acting as the boy's guardian. Sandy smiles at her, knowing the strong bond between the two. After making sure Jack was alright, Phil went back to work. He didn't want to leave the boy, but sadly he had to get back to his duties, so he left Sandy in charge. The Sandman made sure Jack was comfortable and created a story with his sand to keep Jack occupied. Jack smiles, snuggling down with Baby Tooth. Even though his head hurt, he felt fine. There were no other injuries, no broken bones. He had escaped before Pitch could do any more harm.

As North and Tooth reached North's office, Tooth got in front of him and lightly lifted his head up. Tooth saw the tears running down his cheeks and into his beard which was dotted with small orbs of water from his tears. Tooth tries a smile to cheer him up but all North did was close his eyes and turn his head slowly. He didn't feel like being jolly. He felt that Jack getting attacked by Pitch was his fault and he felt it deeply. Tooth brings his head back to face her, "North… You think this is all your fault don't you?" "I don't think… I know…" "Look, it was Jack who decided to leave. Not you throwing him out or anything like that." "Yeah but I could have been there to protect him." North walked around Tooth and into his office. Before Tooth could follow him inside he shut the door.

Tooth sighs and looks at the door sadly. She knew it would be best to leave North alone for a while. Bunnymund had gone back to his warren, so he couldn't talk to North. Tooth takes one more look at the door before she goes to see Jack. After a few minutes, she made it to the room and quietly peeks inside. The sight she saw made her heart swell with warmth. Jack was sound asleep, golden forms of dolphins swimming around his head. Baby Tooth was nestled on top of his head, cooing softly. Sandy was smiling as he made sure the both of them were graced with good dreams. He turns to see Tooth at the door and puts a finger to his lips, signaling her to be as quiet as possible and waves her in.

Tooth floats over to Sandy and looks at Jack and Baby Tooth again, a light smile upon her face. When Sandy was finished he signaled for Tooth to follow him outside the room. When the door was quietly shut, Sandy makes figures of Tooth talking to North. Tooth nodded, "I talked to him… He's really upset about it." Sandy forms a question mark with the golden sand. Tooth sighed, "North believes that it's his fault all this happened and he wouldn't believe me when I told him that it wasn't his fault. I just hope he's going to be okay." Tooth turns her head towards North's office.

Sandy gives her look saying 'leave him be for a while. He'll come around'. Everyone knows how North gets when he's upset, especially over Jack. Tooth sighs. "I know Sandy…but I wish North would just talk to us instead of closing off." She looks down at the floor and frowns. "Bunny is the only who's able to get him to open up, but he's too busy right now."

The next morning after breakfast, Tooth and Sandy frowned at each other, sadly, when they had seen North hadn't come down for breakfast. Bunny comes up behind them, with a confused look, and asks, "Hey, what's up with all the frowning?" Tooth sighed and looked at Bunny, "Ever since yesterday when North saw Jack hurt like he is, he hasn't come out of his room." Bunny's eyes widen, "What's happened to Jack?" "He went out alone yesterday and when he got back he was hurt pretty badly. Pitch had attacked him while he was out." Bunny pounded his fist into his hand, "Ooh what I would to that nasty rotten piece of garbage! Nobody hurts Jack! I'm gonna go after this guy and-" Sandy grabbed his shoulder and when Bunny looked back at him he shook his head, no and Bunny calmed down. Tooth looked worriedly at Bunny, "We gotta help North first." "What's wrong with him?" "He thinks it's his fault Jack got hurt." "Have ya'll tried talking to him?" "I did but when I tried to tell him it wasn't his fault he told me that he could have been there to protect him. Ever since then he's been locked up in his room. He didn't even come down for breakfast."

Bunny frowns in concern. He had finally found a day out of his busy schedule before Easter to visit the others, only to find out that Jack had been hurt and North had closed himself off. "I'll go talk to 'im. I'll be back later to check up on Jack." Bunny makes his way to North's office and knocks on the door. "Oi, mate, it's me. Open up." He waited for a moment, but received no answer. He knocks louder. "North, I know you're in there. Now open the door, mate! Or I'll kick it down!" Jack wakes up groggily and groans, grabbing his head. It was pounding. Baby Tooth opens her eyes and yawns. She leaves her perch from atop Jack's head and hugs his nose. Jack smiles and cups her in his hands. "Good morning, Baby Tooth."

Jack gets out of bed and walks out of his room hoping there was still some breakfast left. He hears Bunny yelling and turns his head to see said guardian banging on North's door yelling, "Open up this door! North! I know you're in there, now open up!" Jack gets confused and decided that he would ask everyone else what was up with North.

Jack quickly finds Tooth and Sandy in the living area. They were talking quietly and drinking mugs of hot chocolate. Tooth looks up at the sound of Jack's bare feet against the floor. "Jack! You're up!" She flutters over and checks him over frantically, making sure his head wasn't bleeding or new injuries had somehow appeared overnight. Jack laughs and shoos her away. "I'm fine, Tooth." He looks over her shoulder and says a greeting to Sandy, said Guardian smiling and waving back. Jack looks back at Tooth and frowns. "Why was Bunny sounding like he was going to bust North's door down?" Tooth smiles nervously. "U-um…North isn't…feeling too good! So, uh…Bunny was trying to get him to come out and take some medicine or eat something..." Jack didn't look convinced but didn't pry any further. "Alright… If you say so." He looks at his shoulder where Baby Tooth was settled. "C'mon, Baby Tooth, let's get some breakfast." Baby Tooth squeaks in agreement and the both of them head out to find something to eat. Jack knew Tooth was lying. There was something else wrong with North, but what was it?

Jack sat down with baby tooth and his breakfast. All he could think about was what Tooth was trying to hide from him. Was something wrong with North? His mind was full with questions that he knew that he alone couldn't answer.

Jack thought about the other day, before he set off for the forest. North was telling him he shouldn't go out because Pitch might be lurking in the shadows. Pitch….Pitch! That's it! That's why North is acting the way he is! He thought it was his fault that Jack got hurt by Pitch, because he had let Jack go by himself. Jack stood up abruptly, startling Baby Tooth, and ran to North's office. Bunny was still outside, not giving up on trying to get his friend to come out of solitary confinement.

Bunny saw Jack and moved out his way, thinking that maybe he could get North out of his depression. Jack stopped abruptly at the door and tried turning the door knob, but the door was locked! Jack banged his fist on the door, "North! North! Please let me in!" Jack heard a faint voice from inside the room, "Just leave me alone…" "No! It's not your fault! Please North you gotta listen to me!" The next time Jack had banged his fist on the door he slammed the palm on his hand on the door. He lowered his head, "Please…"

Inside the room North walked over to the door when he heard Jack's voice. He thought about opening the door but decided not to. When he heard Jack's palm hit the door, he put his hand on the door.

Jack silently pleaded for North to open up, but after what felt like hours, he gave up. He lets his hand fall to his side and clenches his fists. "If you want to sit in there and wallow in depression, so be it! I'm going back to fight Pitch again on my own! I don't need your help…or anyone's help!" Jack kicks at the door angrily. "You hear that?!" He storms off and gets ready to leave.

Again, sorry for any missed errors! We always write our stories on Facebook chat, so we edit them here on . Hope you guys enjoy this new chapter! Part 2 will be coming soon! Oh yeah, sorry if some parts get confusing! Hopefully it'll still be understandable.