Authors Notes: Please keep in mind that I'm not trying to imply that Jack is evil, he's just so old that he has different priorities than everyone else.

Chapter Four

After losing the yetis Bunny was even more determined to get the job done and get the hell out of here. He carefully picked way among the icy outcroppings that lined the tunnel that led inward. While it wasn't dangerous per se, the cutting wind that whistled eerily around corners and the shards for ice that cut into the paws of his feet were distinctly inhospitable. Bunny knew he was unwelcome here, not that the sentiment bothered him- he didn't want to be here either. It was little wonder that Jack Frost was an unknown and held no belief if this was his welcome, never mind that Bunny was hardly an invited guest.

After a small eternity, Bunny was relieved to see the narrowing tunnel widen into a vast glacial cavern. Despite himself, Bunny found himself staring in awe. While he despised ice and snow, he still felt a deep reverence for the power of nature and that power was obvious here. This place was ancient; Bunny could feel it in his bones - predating even his time on earth. Ice Crystals shaped like stalactites covered the vaulted ceiling, and matching crystals grew sporadically from the ground giving the impression of a giant geode that had been cut in half. Much to Bunny's relief, it was bright enough to see. A soft diffuse light glowed from deep within the ice with no discernable source lighting the room. Bunny might have even found it beautiful if it wasn't so eerie with the cold wind whispering in the corners.

A quick survey of the room drew his attention to its only occupant. A large crystal formation on the far side of the cavern had grown or been shaped into the form of a chair, and sitting there was a young man.

Bunny's first impression of Jack Frost was that "Old Man Winter" wasn't very old at all. He appeared to be a fresh faced youth, caught forever between childhood and adulthood. He sat there straight backed with his eyes closed, as still and frozen as the ice around him. He was wrapped in a long blue cloak but as Bunny came closer, he saw that the garment wasn't made of cloth as he had first thought but of a fine lace of frost that covered the boy protectively. Not that he needed it, with his ice white hair, blue lips and bare feet, Jack wasn't bothered by the elements at all. Bunny wished he could say the same. The closer he got the more it became obvious that Jack was the source of the unspeakable chill in the air.

As Bunny came within a few feet of Jack's still and silent form, his paw shifted on a loose piece of ice on the ground. The resulting clatter rang out like a gunshot, startling in the still air - breaking the hushed and almost holy silence.

The illusion of youth that Jack Frost held shattered the moment he opened his eyes. They were blue, Bunny couldn't help but see, bright with an alien glow. Looking at them now, it was obvious that Jack Frost wasn't a young and untrained elemental like Bunny had assumed, he wasn't even of this earth.

His true age showed in his eyes. In them Bunny could see the slow grind of glaciers, the endless shift of the continents, the revolution of the planet and the motion of the stars. This spirit - if that's what he was, was older than Bunny thought possible - possibly older than the planet itself.

North's sack and Sandy's dream sand were forgotten in that timeless gaze, and Aster had the sudden realization that his simple plot to kidnap Jack had been terribly naive. Feeling the icy power emanate from the slender figure before him, Bunny was left with the uncomfortable realization that he might owe Phil and Steve an apology.

"Well if it isn't E. Aster Bunnymund." Bunny cringed when Jack spoke to him. His voice cut like knives, holding not just the cold of the winter wind but the cold oblivion between the stars.

"Awfully nice of you to come all this way, since you had to take so much time out of your busy schedule." Jack relaxed in his chair, adopting a casual sprawling pose, his face twisted with a cocky smile. "Especially to come all this way for a selfish useless little trouble maker like me."

"But how did you-" Bunny protested, not expecting to have his own words thrown back in his face.

"You don't know where you are do you?" Jack snorted, he make a dismissive gesture with his hand and the frigid air shifted uncomfortably around Bunnymund. Much to his surprise in the wind's moaning voice he could here echoes of the conversation he had with Phil and Steve just outside.

"Sorry to say, seeing as how you've come all this way, but you've wasted your time. I already know what you're going to say." The wind shifted again, relaying the words of the Guardians meeting where it had been discussed and agreed upon (grudgingly on Bunny's part) that Jack be offered Guardianship. Bunny was surprised. He had thought that meeting has been held in the strictest secrecy but now it appeared that the rattling wind against the window pane had been more than just coincidence.

"I'm not interested." Seeing the knowing smirk on Jack's young and ancient face and listening to him be so casually dismissive of a position that Bunny himself held and worked to uphold, Bunny felt his apprehension of this strange and alien place and its even stranger master melt into rage. Guardianship was never offered lightly and considered a most sacred trust. Most spirits were envious of such a position and rightly so considering the benefits that belief bestowed on the them.

"Now just wait one minute, you bloody show pony!" Aster stood to his full height and pointed a finger accusingly at the ice spirit who was still perched comfortably on his throne of ice crystals. "What about the children? Pitch Black is - "

"Oh, right. The children." Jack cut off his impending temper tantrum much to Bunny's displeasure. "Such deep wells of hope and wonder - of promise and belief. And," his voice went cold again, "none of my concern."

"How can you say that you heartless bastard!" Bunny was hopping mad. At least in this forbidding place his rage was keeping him warm. "At the very least you need them. Without the belief of children - of humans, we all fade away."

"Correction Cottontail - without humans to believe YOU fade away. You knew the rules when you accepted Guardianship from the Man in the Moon in an effort to extend your sad pathetic existence. Humans may whisper my name but I don't need them. Not the way you and the others do. I've been around long before the humans. Who do you think steals their last breathe in a winter storm?"

"I was right about you." Bunny spat, "We don't need you anyway. You can sit here and fade for all I care, and good riddance to ya!"

Bunny turned, determined to storm off and tell the others what a stupid mistake this had all been, when he found his way blocked.

As tall as he was, Bunny wasn't used to being stared down, but this slender slip of a boy was managing it. Jack Frost had left his chair and was now hovering in front of Bunny, his feet never touching the ground, blocking the way.

"That won't kill me Bunnymund." Bunny was uncomfortable with Jack's closeness, the full weight of his stare and his perpetual cold. "Children are mortal. They grow and forget particularly in this age of reason but time devours all things and one day human and their civilization and their beliefs will crumble to dust and ash and with them will go the Guardians. The planet itself that we stand on will burn and sun will fade from the sky. Whole galaxies will be extinguished and what will be left at the end Bunnymund? All that will be left at the end will be endless darkness and cold."

Bunny, to his horror, suddenly felt it hard to breath, the cold suddenly sharpening and crushing his lungs.

"Really Aster, I'm not going anywhere."

Bunny's vision darkened, and all he remembered after was waking up in a melting snow bank. Much to his relief he was under the open sky and his senses told him he was in the Northern Hemisphere close to the Pole, and as far from that frigid Antarctic hell as possible.

As he slowly and painfully got to his feet, he noticed with shock that the ends of his fingers, toes and ears were blistered with frostbite, no doubt Jack Frost's work. He created a direct tunnel to Santoff Clausen, determined not to waste anymore time. He had to get this cleaned up quickly, but later as a he warmed himself by North's generous fire and felt the chill in his body lessen, he couldn't quite dismiss the chill in his soul.