Chapter three

Everything that occurred Tooth's vision was a blur of grey, uneven stone and clumps of snow as she hungered for the familiar blue hoodie and white hair.

"Tooth, calm down already! Jeezus, you're goin' faster than a hummingbird on high!"

"Fine, but do you see him anywhere? He could've been seriously hurt by now! Or worse, what if Pitch had already gotten to him?"

"I highly doubt that, we haven't seen many nightmares retreat since we came down." North explained.

Sandy jerked his hand forward, everyone looked at him. Then all eyes were where he was pointing.

"Jack! Oh my gosh!" In a flash, Tooth had half-run, half-flown over to where they had spotted Jack. He was unconscious, sprawled across a sharp, uneven mountain ridge, staff lying a few feet away.

"Tooth, stop!" Bunny yelled. Tooth paused in the position she was in, almost touching Jack.

"What if there's spine damage? We can't just move him! We need to check if he's hurt."

"If he's awake, then we'll know." Tooth said, moving to Jack's spot and gently trying shaking him awake.

"Jack, Jack wake up. Please. Can you hear me?"

Over three minutes passed, and Toothiana was on the verge of tears when a small groan was heard.

"Jack! Jack, can you speak?"

"No… It hurts-" His eyelids twitched in attempt to open, but soon went still again, indicating that he was out again.

The others groaned in disbelief.

"Dammit. We're going to have to get him back to the pole and hope for the best." Tooth began shifting Jack out of his position.

"Woah, be careful!"

"Don't panic, he's fine. He's probably gonna be unconscious for a while, this is the best we can do." She proceeded to pick him up.

"Sandy, the staff."

He nodded and did the task as asked.

"As long as he's still breathing, there's no need to panic. North, where'd you say you had the sleigh?"

As they left, a shadow whispered silently.

"Shame, guardians. You think I hadn't gotten to Jack already? You've forgotten just why he's unconscious. You do have a reason to panic."

Jack's POV

"What the… Where am I?" Jack asked himself, rubbing his forehead. It hurt a little, he figured it was from what seemed like a minute ago; he had heard Tooth screaming after she had presumably fallen only to have been hit by black sand.

That was all he had remembered.

It was dark, and cold. And yes, he was scared again. But it wasn't the same. There was a single beam of light offering him sight, but was otherwise useless. It was almost like a streetlamp during a rainstorm, except there was no rain, and the pavement was flawless, no cracks or stains.

"Tooth?" He asked. No one answered. "Sandy?"

"You should have stopped after the first name, Jack."

"PITCH?!" He screamed, reaching for his staff, but there was nothing. "Where are you? WHY AM I HERE?"

"It was your own fault."

"What? Why?"

"You think I was still that strong? When you defeated me, that time in burgess, I was weakened. Nightmare sand was no longer the weapon to knock someone back. When you thought me hitting toothiana was going to injure her, you were wrong. She was barely paralysed. You were so distracted, you were stupid enough to go after me anyways, without bothering to check on her. When she called your name, that made you weak enough to be simply hit."

"What? I didn't… I mean… I' not weak! I'm just not used to this thing yet!"

"What? Being a guardian?"

Jack felt fear building up inside of him.

"You were careless, Jack. Now you have to pay."

A crack was heard, and Jack saw that he was no longer standing on stone. He was standing on ice, thin ice, Pitch standing before him

"No… you wouldn't dare…"

"Sweet nightmares."

"Wait! What did you do to the sand that made me fall like that?"

Pitch turned back to him. "I don't think it matters anymore. I think this would be a good time to start praying that the guardians will find you, because after what you did today, I'm not sure if they'll bother."

"They would! I… I think… uh.."

"Still careless?" Pitch chuckled, turning away. "Have fun drowning."

"NO! Wait!" He watched Pitch vanish as the remaining ice cracked away. "Please…" He screamed before he plunged into darkness.

It was like knives tearing at his skin, the numbness that followed, plus he couldn't breathe. He struggled against the solid ice for what seemed like hours. If it was a nightmare he wasn't waking up. If it was real, he wouldn't die. He wanted to die. It was torture. He finally gave in, resisting struggling , letting the torture follow his tears as they escaped his eyes…

"Jack!"

He heard a voice. It was like music to his ears. Tooth! Her voice was the most beautiful thing he'd heard in a long time.

"Oh my gosh!"

He tried yelling out to her, but it was muffled out by the water. He suddenly felt himself relax a little, draining out by the second.

No! He was not going to die now! Not after all that struggling. He longed and waited for that voice again, to tell him that he was alright. His hopes faded as his eyes closed.

"Jack! Jack, wake up. Please, can you hear me?"

'Yes, I can hear you! Help me, please!' Jack mentally screamed in his mind, even though he knew she couldn't hear him.

He could feel himself getting weaker by the second, feeling a warmth pushing him slowly, urging him more energy, but he knew it was hopeless. He closed his eyes; If he had to die again, he wanted to die now.

"Jack…" The voice was teary.

He snapped awake, without opening his eyes. 'No...' He thought. 'I have to try again… for her.'

He let out a weakened groan, which, to his surprise, was projected clearly.

"Jack! Jack, can you speak?"

Jack could feel himself being pulled into warmth, getting his breath back, and finally, back in consciousness.

Everything hurt. His skin was on fire. His head was aching. His muscles refused to move. And worse, he couldn't see a thing.

Suddenly, a tear threatened to escape.

"No…" He refused out loud. He could hear Tooth gasp in relief. He sucked in a deep breath, only tensing from the pain that followed.

He was slipping away again. He could feel it. No! He couldn't leave. Not now. He had to say something else, let him know he was okay, for now…

"It hurts…" He let the pain disappear as he drifted out of consciousness once more.

I know it sucks. Please R/R