"Don't want you getting any ideas." Growled Pitch, tightening the chains around Hunter, the guardians, his Father and his little brother and sisters in the same predicament, firmly chained to trees surrounding his Mother's pond. There was a drill on the other side of the pond, research vehicles and equipment locked up tight.
"Needed the humans to get ya out ya dirty rat bag?" chuckled Aster. Pitch shot him a malicious glare.
"Their bones are keeping your little mate's company."
"Murderer." Spat Tooth.
"Sticks and stones fairy." Spat Pitch as the last of the preparations were made, nightmare sand swirling around Pitch. Pitch snarled as the sand jerked away from the water, quivering as it resisted. "Now Jack, don't be difficult. It won't hurt…much." In Pitch's anger, he didn't notice the tiny bit of ice at the edges of the pond. Finally he managed to command the sand into the water, and the sound of cracking ice filled the air, a thick sheet of ice forming over the pond.
"Pleasant nightmares, guardians." Chuckled Pitch, nightmares lunging at each captive.
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The first thing Joy picked up on were screams and maniacal laughter, the noise urging her forward. Mrs. Clause crouched behind her as they looked at the scene at the pond, nightmares circling the guardians, Hunter, Emma, Rose and Nick, dark sand boring through the ice from each nightmare, turning the blue and white a sickening gray.
"We have to stop him NOW." Snarled Old Man Winter, eyes narrowing at Pitch as he summoned energy from the wind.
"You distract him." Said Joy, a battle plan forming. "He won't see me in the snow. I'll break the chains and wake them up, and then we'll attack as a group."
"Be careful." Said Mrs. Clause, splitting up with the other four spirits while Joy slipped through the snow drifts, invisible to the naked eye.
"Pitch…" The Boogeyman turned, in time for a ball of ice to smash into his beak like nose. He let out an irritated growl, nightmare sands curling irritably around their master.
"Show your face pathetic little-" Pitch barely had time to block as a wave of fire rocketed toward him, Mrs. Clause rumbling out from behind with a loud war cry, sleeves pulled back and fists raised to strike. As Pitch aimed for Mrs. Clause, Autumn sent a wave of fiery leaves to make the woman and Daisy firing sharp rose thorns to the left harder to see. While Pitch was busy deflecting the attacks, Joy reached Tooth's tree. Pulling out the snowflake, she lightly touched her arm with the weapon, paw over her mouth. Tooth woke with a shriek from both the cold and nightmare, squirming against the chains.
"Hold still!" hissed Joy, and Tooth immediately froze.
"Joy?!" she gasped. "Oh, thank MiM! Pitch told us you drowned sweetie! Thank MiM you're alright!" The chains fell, the biting cold of the snowflake easily cracking the chain links.
"Help me get them out." She said, handing her cloth wrapped flake. Tooth nodded, dashing awkwardly (she was used to flying. She rarely walked, let alone RAN) to North, repeating the treatment Joy had given her as Joy freed Sandy. Joy touched her Father lightly, making him jump.
"Damn it Snowflake, yer sleep icing aga-" His eyes locked on Joy. He looked like he wanted to cry as Joy snapped the chains with the snowflake. Joy squeaked as her Father grabbed her in a back breaking hug, sniffing her worriedly while Tooth freed her brothers and sisters. As the last one woke, the steady stream of fear ceased, leaving the ice grey, white and blue. Immediately the sound of cracking ice broke through the air, deep rifts in the smooth sheet of ice forming, jagged peaks bursting through full of nightmare sand, the icy needles crashing into each other as the water and ice thrashed, breaking up the fight on the other side of the pond.
"Something's wrong…" breathed North, side stepping out of the way as a lock of ice shot from the pond, embedding itself in a tree. The wind was thrashing as if in agony, ice shards carried in the throes.
"Brilliant observation Einstein!" growled Old Man Winter, perched on a branch above them. "You! Fluff ball! How much of Frost did you get out of Pitch?!"
"I-I got one vine in Santoff Claussen." Stammered Joy, dodging an ice ball.
"And we got a HUGE one in the cages." Said Emma, hiding with Nick and Rose behind their Father.
"Some came out when I sliced off his fingers." Said Hunter, looking wide eyed at the scene.
"Well, I'll say one thing for your Mother. He's a fighter." Scoffed Old Man Winter. "Whatever went in before the nightmare sand is fighting whatever went in with it. It's in his hands now."
"How the HELL did ya get out of the pit we dumped yer sorry arse?!" growled Aster, ready to spring.
"Cool it rodent." Spat Old Man Winter. "Your little fluff ball let me out. I'm here because I don't have a choice. Natural order comes before my personal agenda. Besides, Pitch has had this coming for over a millennia." There was something dark in the old spirit's eyes, akin to the dark hue their Father's eyes were swiftly turning with each violent crack of the ice. With a shriek of pain, Daisy was sent careening into the large boulders overlooking the pond, a massive gash on her chest from Pitch's scythe. Pitch threw Jack's staff like a javelin, the end lodging in a fissure in the ice, causing it to crack further. A chilling cold spread through the forest, the branches on the trees lashing out like whips, the wind howling like a pack of enraged wolves. The ice cracked, the darkness slowly inching into the normal ice. Pitch smiled sadistically at them from across the pond, nightmare sand trickling into the water through the cracks in the ice.
"You've lost." He snarled, golden eyes blazing at Aster. "This time, NOTHING will stop me from destroying the Guardians and the children!" Suddenly Pitch stopped laughing, the ground rumbling under his feet. Vines shot out of the earth, barbed points flexing menacingly as the guardians noticed a rabbit hole behind them, Nick perched on Mother Nature's shoulders.
"I come bearing gifts." Chuckled Mother Nature, most of her concentration focused on cutting off the nightmare sand from the pond, dumping the weapon's confiscated by Pitch on the ground.
"We stop Pitch at any cost." Said Aster, picking up a sharp boomerang. A loud snap echoed through the air as Pitch's sand sliced through the trees, creating a hefty barrier around the pond. Hunter growled, grabbing the grappling hook and a sword as nightmares began to screech, charging forward.
"Dad! Right!" Aster barely had time to dodge as Hunter swung the hook up, ripping through the nightmare's head. Nick crawled back from a small group of nightmares, backing against the fallen trees. Joy caught the sight out of the corner of her eye, firing boomerangs as she fought to keep the nightmares from Mother Nature, Old Man Winter and Jesse still zipping around Pitch, dividing his attention while Mother Nature attacked with her barbed vines, disrupting the flow of sand to the water.
"Nick! Dig!" Nick thumped his foot against the ground, and the earth opened up, the nightmares falling through tunnels while egg golems sprang up, joining the fray. The nightmares didn't stand a chance against the barrelling bombs of stone, and neither did the wood barrier. Splinters went flying, nightmare sand with it. North barreled into the nightmares, expertly slashing them to bits while Tooth, unable to fly, pulled Nick, Emma and Rose away from danger, Autumn pulling Daisy away and out of fire. Joy and Hunter were forced back to back, the make-shift grappling hook Hunter swung ripping through the night mares as fast as Joy's rapid fire boomerangs. With a roar and explosion of dream sand, North and Sandy cleared a strait shot at Pitch.
"Bunny!" Aster growled, rocketing forward, Old Man Winter stopping the cracking, seething ice before it impaled the Pooka as he raced across the slippery lake. Quick as a flash he jumped, firing boomerangs and egg bombs at Pitch point blank. Nobody noticed the ice begin to calm, Old Man Winter joining the offensive as Mrs. Clause was flung out of the fight and into a rock face.
"I should have finished you off with the rest of the Pooka!" snarled Pitch, running through Old Man winter with his scythe, grabbing the Pooka's injured leg. He quickly trapped the warrior in his sand's tendrils, holding a jagged icicle broken off in the fight. "Now, DIE!" A loud crack echoed throughout the pond, the temperature dropping dramatically, the wind picking up pieces of ice and snow and flinging them in an icy cyclone, ripping Pitch away from Aster like he was nothing but a rag doll, flinging the shadow master angrily into rocks and trees, razor sharp spikes cutting grey flesh to ribbons. Nobody could see in front of them, but miraculously remained untouched by the concentrated blizzard. Finally the wind died, leaving nothing of Pitch's presence but back blood strewn on the ground, trees and rocks, frozen nightmare sand and a disappearing hole under a rotted wooden bed fame, the wind slowly dying down.
"Wow…" said Hunter simply, looking wide eyed at the damage, the blizzard shrinking in size, the ice flat on the pond. Aster pushed himself up, couching up a bit of nightmare sand as the last of the blizzard dissipated.
"MiM…" coughed Old Ma winter, his own magic repairing the damage. "Haven't seen something quite like THAT since the Blizzard of 68." A hooded person fell down on the ice, a shepherds crook tightly clutched in hand.
"Mom?" Joy slipped on to the ice, beaten only by her Father. She couldn't help but smile at familiar snowy white hair, faint frost with shallow breaths.
"Used a LOT of energy too soon." Tisked Old Man Winter. "Thought I taught him better."
"Wait, THAT was Mom?!" exclaimed Hunter, taking in the damage once again. "…Cool." North couldn't help but laugh at the simple statement, Tooth joining the laughter. Daisy, standing in a clear space of grass (thanks to a quick heat blast from Jesse) was slowly healing, leaning heavily on her staff. Gently Aster picked up Jack, lightly chinning the top of his head.
"How long will he be out?" asked Joy, not liking her Mother's barely clinging to life status one bit.
"A week?" supplied Old Man Winter. "My early days I slept twenty years. Who knows? How much energy did he use that he had to call upon nature for? He'll wake up between tomorrow and the next five years. Now, I have some white misery to spread in Russia." Old Man Winter was gone in a flash, Aster growling lowly at him.
"Santoff Claussen?" asked Tooth, checking the injuries. North nodded wordlessly.
"Bunny?" Bunny raised a foot to summon a tunnel, when a much smaller thump was heard behind him. Nick smiled as a big hole opened at his feet, clapping.
"Tunnel!" he giggled. "Dig! Dig! Dig!" If Aster hadn't been so mentally exhausted, he would have broken down and cried in happiness right there, but with an arm full of unconscious Snowflake, and millions of believers to win back, there wasn't time.
"Good onya anklebiter." Was all he could manage, the guardians and assorted spirits slipping down the tunnel.
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Three weeks later, Jack opened his eyes. The winter spirit was disoriented, tired, and feverish, but that hadn't stopped Aster from, rather comically, tackling him the minute he walked into the globe room, jumping over a meticulously crafted house of cards, toppling them the second he grabbed Jack.
"Awe, did the big old Kangaroo miss me?" teased Jack, bringing a smile to everyone's face. Though, if Aster hadn't been enough, loud squeals was the only warning the couple got before five kits jumped onto them, Nick on the top of it all, crawling and climbing over the mass that was his family. North and Tooth couldn't help but snap a few photos, even the reluctantly invited seasons of Summer, Spring and Fall finding themselves smiling. Old Man Winter, sitting on the windowsill, couldn't help but chuckle.
Oh, he still hated the rodent, and HELL no he wouldn't stop any time soon. But, he had to admit even his icy heart melted as Jack gathered up all five of his children in the best hug he could muster, Nick curling up in his arms.
Love is blind, deaf and dumb, Winter. I mean, if it wasn't why the HELL would I, a spirit of fire and passion, fall in love with your icy old arse?
Winter sighed, embracing the memory of Cupid, the first, his little cherub.
He'd lost his hope and heart when Pitch stole her soul. Perhaps eight hundred years was long enough to try and get them back. Leaving only a bit of jagged frost on the windows, he shot off into the icy tundra, embracing the wind.
A sudden weight careened into him, sending him down to earth with a twin weight landing in a snow drift.
"What in the name of Satan's ice box-"
"Gyah! Sorry!" A slim young woman with dark blue eyes, blond hair and a heavy fur robe pulled him out of his small crater. "Still getting the hang of flying…"
"Never mind." Huffed Winter. "Who are you?!"
"Silva Aurora." She giggled. "I make the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis."
Yes. Eight hundred years was enough time to move on.