Jack Frost was nearly dead.

The ice had taken over his body completely, save the right side of his face. Every step was pure pain, a burning cold shooting through every vein in his body. Breath shallow, he struggled to puff his chest even the slightest inch.

But he and to find her. He had to find Elsa, to tell her how much she taught him. To tell her how much he realized he never knew about the outside world. To tell her how beautiful she was….

And then there was Anna. He owed her much more, considering she had come all the way to find her, only to be kicked out, betrayed by her only family. But did Elsa really betray her? Jack thought as he shuffled through the wind skies. He knew she had only wanted what was best for her. Shaking his head, he came to a single conclusion:

He had to apologize to the both of them. And in order to do so, he and to find them first. Of course, the Guardians were nowhere to be seen- they were probably all scrambled about, searching frantically, yes, but as of the moment, he and no idea.

Opening his mouth as much as he could, he croaked pitifully, "Elsa…" His breath came in small fogs, each inhale a sharp knife as he repeated her name, over and over….

And he heard it.

"Jack?!"

Eyes lit up with hope, he sluggishly went towards the sound, hearing it a second time.

"Jack?!"

He tried once more to answer her- she had to know he was there! But as he yelled, no sound came out. Even as he opened his mouth again and again, there was no vocality to the word. He had no voice left. Extremely snail-like, he let the tips of his fingers (which were already frozen themselves) graze his neck.

It was frozen solid, the ice clinking together like coins in someone's pocket.

"How pitiful," came a sneer. Jack would have whirled around, staff at the ready, but like himself, the staff was frozen solid, the ice and wood already splintering into pieces. It sounded eerily familiar, but there was no way. He and Elsa had frozen him completely….

"Surprise!" came Pitch's jabbing voice, and he materialized in a flurry of blackened sand in front of the Guardian, golden eyes burning like the sun. Clicking his tongue, Pitch circled Jack, running a long thin finger along the ice that encased him.

"I hate to say it, but this look suits you, Jack" Pitch teased with a malicious grin, "Guardian of fun. What was your catchphrase again? Sun times and fun times? Something like that?" Jack could only stare in disbelief- Pitch was not supposed to have survived Elsa's icy attack. He was supposed to be a popsicle buried deep in the snow.

"Oh well," Pitch flicked his fingers at the Guardian, "it doesn't matter." Jack watched as Pitch paced back and forth adding, "You're probably curious as to how I got out of the ice, huh?"

Of course, he was. But if he had a voice, he would have let Pitch know otherwise. Shrugging, the bogey man went on, "It doesn't really concern you, I guess. I'll let your imagination run wild, thinking up all of these wonderful theories of my escape."

If fury were heat, the ice surrounding him would have melted, leaving Jack to swing a punch at Pitch and hitting him square win the face. But alas, it wasn't. Jack was stuck listening to Pitch's mindless, self-absorbed drivel.

Pitch Black grinned- he knew he was winning. Here, Jack Frost stood before him, helpless and cold.

"You realize this is Elsa's fault, right?" Pitch asked him. Jack could only blink in response- and what eh did wasn't svn a blink. It didn't even look like anything, he was so cold…. Pitch opened his mouth to say more, but stopped, blinking in surprise as he watched the ice glided across Jack's body again, this time, taking over what was left of his face.

"I guess I should leave you be then," Pitch grinned, narrowing his golden eyes. As he watched Pitch strut away, Jack felt the ice come to a stop under his right eye, leaving a good inch between his lower lashes and the ice itself.

"Stop right there, mate!" came Bunny's voice suddenly throwing itself across the wind. Although he couldn't turn his head, he knew they were behind him. The Guardians.

And they were, Tooth fretting over the ice, how much had encased Jack. Shaking her head, her wings were a blur as she hovered.

"Oh no…" she muttered, going to bite her nails. Sandman and North exchanged a look, then approached the bogey man. Drawing his swords, North narrowed his blue eyes at Pitch, who glared in return.

"What, you think you could defeat me?" Pitch cried, "your fellow Guardian is dead! I have the upper hand!"

"No, mate," said Bunny, lift in this head. He had been standing with Tooth at Jack's side. But while Tooth was worrying over Jack's face, Bunny was staring curiously at Jack's staff. The way the wood and ice had splintered, he was able to somehow wrench it from Jack's grasp, happily not breaking the teenager's hand in the process. Now he was clutching it in his paws, stance at the ready as he said, "We do."

Pitch scoffed, "Do you even know how to work that thing, Mr. Kangaroo?" Bunny's face turned red as he yelled with anger.

"I am not a KANGAROO!" he wailed as he jumped, Jack's staff poised like a spear, paw wrapped around it. Just as Bunny landed, Pitch flung his hand upward, sending a wall of black dream sand at the rabbit, knocking him to the ground. Tooth flew over as a loud crack sounded. Kneeling, she lifted the rabbit's head in her lap, inspecting his skull. Thank goodness there are no injuries, she thought with relief.

"That's it," North hissed at the Sandman, "your days of fear are over, Pitch!"

"You say that, but do you really mean it?" Pitch shot at him, "I mean, throughout this entire excursion, you Guardians haven't managed to make a single dent in the issue at hand-"

Sandy sent a whip of golden dream sand, wrapping the tendrils around Pitch's ankles. Before North could stop him, Sandy was busy tossing the marabout like a rag doll, flipping him side to side.

"Sandy!" Tooth suddenly cried, "it isn't worth it! Stop!" Bunny was now sitting up, rubbing his head.

"Crikey, that was poorly planned…." he winced.

"Bunny! You and Tooth go find Queen!" North demanded, sending a glare their way. Tooth helped him up as best she could, although her wings couldn't support much other than herself.

"What are you going to do?!" Bunny asked, watching as Sandy went to knock around their opponent a second time, "I mean, Jack-"

"Just go!" North said bluntly, "Sandy and I will take care of crook here!" Reluctantly, he and tooth spun around, dashing towards the direction they thought the castle would be in- it was difficult navigating through the howling winds.

"What do we do now?!" Tooth yelled at him. Her pink wings were a blur, she was having trouble keeping herself straight, the wind throwing her in all directions.

"Find the ice man-"

"You mean Kristoff?!"

"Yeah!" Bunny agreed.

"But-" Tooth began to protest, thinking Kristoff might not want to be bothered anymore.

"Just do it!" Bunny ordered, "he just might be able to help us!" Of course, in his mind, his brain was screaming, "He might be able to help us, yeah. But how, I don't know."