Secret of Frost and Moon

by Alaia Skyhawk

When death turns out not to be the end, you can't help but ask for what purpose you were brought back... What differences would it make, to remember your past right from the begining? To learn your purpose, piece by piece, right from the start? How would that change the life, future, and secrets of the Spirit of Winter; Jack Frost?

58. Rise of the Guardians 'Part 6'

Alaia Skyhawk: Poor Jack (sniffles) :(

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.

~(-)~

Chapter 58: Rise of the Guardians ~Part 6~

Their arrival back at the Workshop was not one of triumph... It was not what the elves and yetis expected to see, when five Guardians returned where six had left. That the newest Guardian returned unconscious and was carried out of the sleigh by North, served as an additional shock and harbinger of bad news. And what news it was...

Sanderson Mansnoozie, the Guardian of Dreams, was gone.

North took Jack to a small guest room and laid him upon the bed, at which point Nightlight leapt up to perch on the headboard and watch over him. Just as he'd once done for an infant Tsar Lunar. The sight was somewhat reassuring, but at the same time it didn't quell the concerns in the Russian's heart.

"Will he be alright?"

Nightlight glanced down at the Spirit of Winter, and nodded.

'The Spirits of the Seasons, while they are used to wielding large amounts of power, are not used to building that power up so fast. Like the weather they shape, they raise the levels steadily and then maintain them. In that move against Pitch, Jack used too much power too quickly. Added to him being caught by the explosion of his own attack, he then passed out. This won't be the first time he's gone through this. It often happens to the Spirits of the Seasons, when a sudden shift in balance forces them to shape a lot of weather in a short space of time. He should wake up within an hour or two at most.'

North let out a sigh of relief, grateful for the explanation. Nightlight was technically a Nature Immortal, in that he didn't have many believers and his power was self-maintained. Most of his strength came from himself or the Man in the Moon directly, and it made sense that he'd be privy to the details of both kinds of Immortals.

"Then I will let the others know, and you can bring Jack to us when he wakes. We will be in front of the Globe for-" He choked back a sob and continued. "We will be there, holding memorial for Sandy."

Nightlight watched as North walked out and closed the door, having seen the tears in the Guardian's eyes. Never in all their battles against Pitch, had they lost one of their number. They had come close on occasion, but never had one of them died. This was a first for them all, and it hurt more than anything they'd ever known.

Nightlight bowed his head, a single tear of his own escaping his eyes to land on the pillow beside Jack's head. His glow dimming with sorrow before grim determination made it brighten again. To give up would mean to let Sandy's death be in vain, and that was something none of them would ever do. They would fight to the end, never letting themselves contemplate failure. They would do their duty as Guardians.

The sun was nearing zenith when at last Jack began to stir, his grasp still tight upon his staff which none of them had dared to try part him from. He opened his eyes blearily, blinking in confusion when he noticed the room and bed he was in. Then he saw Nightlight perched above him, and it all came rushing back.

Jack shot upright, a hand clenched to his chest. Deep inside, he could feel that half of his small number of believers had stopped believing, and he could also feel the 'drag' that was a connection between Guardians. A palpable sign that one of them, or in this case all of them, had lost a lot of believers.

Nightlight left his perch and moved to sit on the foot of the bed. His expression was determined, but there was still a bleakness in his eyes.

'A memorial for the Sandman is being held in the main workshop. Do you want to go?'

Jack sucked in a sharp breath at the question, biting his lip and closing his eyes in grief before shaking his head.

"I-I can't... I just can't face that. Not right now. Sandy, he-"

Tears spilled down Jack's cheeks and he shuddered with suppressed sobs. Moments later he then pulled up his hood and got off the bed. Leaving his staff behind, he sat up on the windowsill to stare out at the snowy landscape around the Workshop.

Nightlight bowed his head and left the room, understanding Jack's need for time alone. Through the passages to the workshop itself, he walked in sombre stride instead of flying.

Inside the workshop the top floor was filled with yetis and elves, the latter ringing the bells on their hats in a slow and mournful chime. Tooth was placing a candle at the top of the symbol on the floor, which showed the Sandman, and the crest of the Guardians itself was surrounded with yet more.

Nightlight watched as she then lifted up into the air, her hands seeking out those of Bunny and North. All three were close to tears, ones which would surely soon spill over.

It was shortly after that the yetis moved off to resume their work, in staunch refusal to believe that things wouldn't get better and that there wouldn't be a Christmas to make toys for. Yet Bunny, Tooth, and North remained where they were in silence, until at last North noticed Nightlight perched on the railing close by.

He let go of Tooth's hand, and moved towards the Guardian of the Moon.

"Jack is awake?" Nightlight nodded, his eyes saying what he himself chose not to utter. Yes, Jack was awake, but he was very upset. North sighed. "I will go talk to him. No, I will go by myself. Less people is better, I think, in this case."

The latter remark was directed at Tooth, when she'd clearly been about to offer to come. But she didn't protest, and rather she nodded solemnly, and North followed the route back to the room where Jack was.

When he arrived, North paused as he noticed the frost curling out from under and around the door. Upon then entering the room, he found it to be almost a cold as it would be outside. Jack was sat on the window-ledge, hood up, and upon hearing the door open he touched the tip of a finger to the glass.

Frosty patterns spiralled outwards, arranging themselves into a replica of Sandy's symbol from the floor in the workshop. Seeing it, North stopped a few steps from Jack.

"Are you alright?"

Jack kept his head down, his face hidden almost entirely by his hood. A small snort seemed to say 'that was a stupid question', before he averted his gaze and looked out the window again.

"I just, I wish I could've done something."

North straightened up, not liking the defeated tone of his fellow Guardian's words.

"Done something? Jack, you stood up to Pitch. You saved us."

"But Sandy wo-"

North stopped him by placing a hand on Jack's shoulder, interrupting as the Spirit of Winter turned his head to at last look at him fully.

"He would be proud of what you did."

Jack remained unmoving for a few seconds, before he pushed back his hood and got to his feet.

"I failed him, is what I did. After the battle at the Tooth Palace, I knew Pitch had the power to corrupt Sandy's dreamsand. I should have realised that he could do that to Sandy as well. I should have been protecting him!"

North followed after him as he paced, stopping him again with a hand on the shoulder.

"Jack, you did the best you could in the situation we had."

Jack clenched his fists, closing his eyes in pain and guilt.

"That's just it, I didn't." He turned to North, poking him in the chest with a finger. "Those 'bright dreams' that Pitch mentioned, that he couldn't corrupt. Sandy made those by mixing his dreamsand with the frostdust I supplied him with. If we'd done the same with his clothing, he would have been immune to that atta-!"

Jack's words were cut off as North grabbed him by both shoulders and shook him into silence. The Russian then pointed at his younger peer.

"Sandy would not want you to blame yourself for this. You were not only one to make mistake in that fight. Nightlight is upset, though he hides it well, but I know he blames himself too. When he broke you free, he caused you to fall, and that mistake lost precious time for both him and for you. Time that could have let you reach Sandy before it was too late." He let go of Jack. "So you see, is no one's fault. Sandy kept his vow as a Guardian, to defend the children of the world with his life, and we must continue to do the same. We cannot let Pitch win."

There was a tactful knock on the frame of the door, and both of them turned to see Nightlight stood there. The spectral boy looked worried, and he said just one word into their minds.

'Globe.'

Jack and North glanced at each other before hastening out to head to the workshop. When they reached it, Tooth fluttered over past the candles on the floor, and pointed to the massive sphere.

"The lights. Look how fast they're going out."

Her words seemed to snap Jack out of his depression, or at least gave him something else to focus on. For he leapt up into the air to hover in the air beside the globe, close enough to make out the thousands of tiny pin-pricks of light which made up each larger one upon the surface. Those pin-pricks were going out at an alarming pace; fast enough that if you stood and watched you could see the larger clusters dimming in brightness and some of them even going out completely.

"It's fear... People can sense us, even if they can't see us, and humans have never known a time when The Sandman wasn't there spreading dreams. With him gone, there's a void, and fear has filled it. Pitch has tipped the balance."

Bunny bounded up to stand on the control panel for the globe, his stance determined.

"Hey, buck up ya sad-sacks. Come on! We can still turn this around!" He pointed at the floor in emphasis. "Easter starts in the Eastern Nations in twelve hours, and we'll have the full twenty-four hours of dawn crossing the world to make this count. But I'm gonna need your help. So I say we pull out all the stops, and get those little lights flickering again!"

"I agree!"

North's booming declaration heralded him heading for the nearest elevator, forcing the others to follow him of be left behind.

It descended past the toy-making floors, all the way to the second floor above the bottom, where they emerged from it into a bustling armoury filled with racks of weapons forged from meteorites and stardust; a yeti speciality.

There were yetis everywhere down there as they stepped out of the elevator, with fully half the toy-making staff now down here making sure everything was battle-ready just in case.

North seemed satisfied as he looked at it all, pausing only a moment before nodding to himself and saying something they'd never expected to hear him admit.

"As much as it pains me to say old friend, this time Easter is more important than Christmas."

Bunny blinked in shock, mouth hanging open, before he recovered and looked at all the others.

"Hey! Did everyone hear that?!"

North shook his head in bemusement as Bunny started making victory signs to the surrounding yetis, and interrupted that little celebration.

"We must hurry to the Warren. Everyone, to the sleigh!"

Bunny blinked again, and leapt to stand in front of him. He looked smug.

"Ohh no, mate. My warren my rules... Buckle up."

"Shostakovich!"

North's exclamation came at the moment Bunny tapped his foot twice on the floor, the resulting burrow sucking in not just them but also two adjacent yetis and an elf.

The entire mass of them tumbled down the tunnel beyond, past vibrant mosses and vines, rays of sunlight streaming in through openings in the twisting, looping passage. Bunny was running at the front, Tooth and Jack were laughing and sliding gracefully at the rear... and everyone in the middle ended up in a heap when they at last came to a stop.

North raised a hand into the air, from where he lay sprawling.

"'Buckle up'... is very funny."

Bunny smirked at the fact he'd gotten his own back for the 'loopy loop', then stood proud as he gestured to their surroundings. A lush green subterranean network of caves, tunnels, and pocket valleys, all lit by streams of sunlight shining in through holes up above. It was a springtime paradise of flowers and other plant-life, presided over by massive stone egg-golems that served as guards.

"Welcome to the warren." The Pooka might have started to brag, if not for his sudden turn to face one of the nearby tunnels. He went rigid with tension, ears up and searching for strange sounds, his nose twitching as he searched for strange scents. "Something's up."

The sound that had alerted him was the scuttling of several dozen eggs running at full tilt out of the passage, a sound that was accompanied a few seconds later by an eerie-sounding scream... much like that of the Nightmares.

That sound had all of them reaching for weapons if they had them, and as Bunny yelled out the infamous Pooka battle-cry they all charged towards the tunnel...

...And came skidding to a halt right in front of the excitedly squealing two-year-old who came out of it clutching three eggs in her arms.

They all blinked, and Jack tilted his head in surprise.

"Sophie?"

They all hastily hid weapons behind backs, the toddler blinking up at them before she spotted a new object of her attention.

"Elf elf elf!"

The solitary elf that was with them, scrambled to get away from her as she raced after him. In the meantime Jack coughed into his hand, muttering 'Jamie's sister' in explanation of who she was, before Bunny gaped at her.

"How did she get in here?!"

North patted down his pockets, and then winced.

"Ah, snowglobe."

The Pooka turned to Jack, pointing at the little girl.

"She's your niece! Do something!"

Jack started to chuckle, holding his hands up in amusement.

"Don't look at me. 'You warren, your rules', remember?"

They all glanced at Sophie, who had now succeeded in catching the elf and was dragging it along the floor by its hat.

Tooth came to the rescue, zipping past and distracting her having noticed the fairy wings the girl wore.

"Don't worry, Bunny. I bet she's a fairy fan." She grinned at Sophie, who stared at her utterly entranced. "It's okay little one."

"Pretty!"

Tooth practically curled up in glee at the adorable remark, encouraged to flutter closer and show the girl something she had that she personally thought was wonderful. Her voice taking on a sing-song tone. "Awww! You know what, I got something for you! ...Here it is!" She opened her hand, revealing a few recently-collected teeth. "Look at all the pretty teeth, with little blood and gum on them!"

The moment she said that, Jack facepalmed, and after three seconds of staring at the teeth, Sophie screamed and ran away.

The Spirit of Winter laughed, flying over to sit atop an egg-shaped rock that harboured a number of hiding eggs, and pointed them out to Sophie as he glanced at Tooth.

"Blood and gums? When was the last time you guys actually hung out with kids?"

Sophie started to giggle again as she ran over, sticking her head into the hole in the rock.

"Peek-a-boo!"

The eggs darted out of the hole and towards Bunny, seeking refuge from the toddler who had become distracted once again... This time by a butterfly.

North watched her, looking as awkward and embarrassed as the other Guardian's present. The only one who didn't look awkward was Nightlight, who sat atop a nearby tree attempting to suppress his giggles.

North winced, trying to explain.

"We are very busy bringing joy to children! We don't have time-" Sophie ran past his feet, still giggling and chasing the butterfly. "...for children."

Jack shook his head in bemusement, hardly able to believe that three immortals who had once lived and played alongside the children of Santoff Claussen, now had no clue how to interact with kids.

He raised a hand, conjuring a glittering giant snowflake, and he flicked it towards them.

"If one little kid can ruin Easter, then...we're in worse shape than I thought."

Sophie chased the snowflake as it passed her, what with knowing that 'special snowflakes' were fun, but she wasn't the target. It struck Bunny right on the nose, leaving blue glimmers of power behind, and his expression softened from adult concerns to a more childlike wonder.

On impulse, the Pooka bounded away and waved for Sophie to follow him. Leading her to an area where dozens of tulip-like flowers grew atop egg-shaped rocks. He urged her to come closer and watch, the two of them staring at one particular flower as it twitched and opened its petals to reveal an egg.

The egg now twitched, sprouting a little pair of legs, and it jumped down from the flower and scuttled down the rock to join the thousands more that emerged from flowers all around them.

Sophie giggled and grinned at the sight, and Bunny held out a paw to her.

"You want to paint some eggs? Yeah?"

Sophie waved her arms around, bouncing eagerly.

"O-kay!"

"Come on then."

Bunny picked her up, sitting her astride his shoulders while her childish laughter rang out. From nearby Jack watched, perched atop the crook of his staff, with North stood slack-jawed and staring beside him.

"Rimsky Korsakov! That's a lot of eggs."

Jack smirked, glancing up to where Nightlight had picked a new perch on a rock. His question filled with wry humour.

"Uh, how much time do we have?"

"Weeeeee!"

"Woooohoooo!"

A blond and grey blur shot by, as Bunny ran ahead of this batch of eggs and led them to a clearing filled with giant bluebells. Sophie was still on his shoulders, squealing in delight as they ran by the flowers causing them to lean over the trails that ran between them. The flowers began to let out clouds of colour over the eggs running by, coating them in pastel shades of blue, yellow, and pink.

And then Bunny's voice echoed out, full of fun and laughter and hope.

"Alright troops, it's time to push back. That means eggs everywhere!" Sophie's laughter once again joined in, as she was set down atop a cluster of eggs which then trundled along carrying her. " Heaps of you in every high-rise, farm house and trailer park! In tennis shoes and cereal bowls! Oh, there will be bathtubs filled with my beautiful googies!"

The first of the eggs reached a purple stream of sparkling liquid, the lone elf cheekily pushing it in before dancing on the spot at the successful prank. That is until the little fellow turned and saw the veritable stampede of eggs that now followed that first one, and was knocked over the edge into the stream himself.

He frantically paddled, pushed to the far shore by the eggs, and clambered out looking a bit miserable. Until the moment he pulled his tongue out to look at it, due to the strange taste in his mouth, and saw the shimmery opalescent colours that now covered him like a rainbow.

The elf began to dance with glee, and skipped after the eggs to see what fun things they'd get into next.

In the next clearing, Sophie now led a little parade of eggs towards a garden of plants with long spiralled ends on their branches. Bunny up ahead urging the eggs onwards.

"There will be springtime! On every continent! And I'm bringing hope with me!"

One of the two yetis watched with interest as the eggs climbed the plants and walked along the branches. The little legged shells then leaping into and dropping through the spirals to emerge covered with different patterns depending on what plant they'd gone to. The elf, which still followed them, ended up with a curly design wrapped around it from hat-tip to toe. The follow once again skipping past the eggs and past the second yeti which sat beside two piles of eggs painted red.

Bunny dashed by, making a remark as he passed.

"Too Christmas-y, mate. Paint 'em blue."

The yeti, the self same one that had been told by North to re-paint a batch of robots red, threw up its arms in exasperation after glancing at the two-hundred or so red eggs he'd finished.

Nearing the end of the 'painting route', Bunny paused beside the final archway. Pointing into the nearby grass and drawing Sophie's attention to the egg that hid there for her.

"Oh, what's over there?" She gasped in delight, giggling as she retrieved the egg and held it up for him to see. "That's a beauty!" He took hold of her by the hand, gently leading her through the arch, and then crouched down on his haunches to watch the procession of eggs pass by towards the dispatch tunnels. "Now all we gotta do is get him and his little mates through the tunnels, to the top, and we'll have ourselves Easter."

Sophie watched them too, before a yawn overcame her and she crawled into Bunny's lap and curled up. Her little sigh preceding her snuggling against him and falling asleep.

Jack came up alongside, and crouched down beside the pair.

"Not bad."

Bunny looked at him sidelong, able to feel the full kick of that odd snowflake starting to wear off. The warm, happy feeling from it remained, but the childlike-glee had only lasted half-an hour.

He smiled. The first honest, true smile he'd ever directed at the Spirit of Winter.

"Not bad yourself."

There was a companionable pause between them, as Jack's gaze went back to the last of the batch of eggs now passing by.

"I'm sorry about the... freezing your ears together all those times. I went way over the top with that."

Bunny laughed softly.

"Nah, it's ok. I should have kept my trap shut, and not whined to the other Spring Legends about how you handed my ass to me for hurting your Lieutenant." He smiled a little. "Besides, we were fellow Guardians back then, even if I didn't know it. I must have looked like such an idiot to you when that happened, scrambling around assuming the worst about Marzanna, instead of giving her the chance to explain what her job really was... You'd sent her out to protect the children, to keep them safe from the dangers of ice in winter, like a true Guardian would."

"Well, I do try."

The two of them now turned a little as the other Guardians finally joined them, and Tooth spotted the sleeping girl and drew in close to peer at her adoringly. Bunny smiled again at that.

"Poor little ankle-biter. Look at her, all tuckered out."

Tooth looked as though she longed to pick Sophie up, her voice wistful.

"I love her." She reached out, lifting her from Bunny's arms. "I think it's time to get her home."

Before she could stand up fully, Jack reached in and took hold of Sophie himself. Cradling her close with experienced ease, his staff in place on his back so he could carry her.

"She's my niece... I'll take her home. Don't worry, I'll be quick as a bunny."

He'd said the latter when Tooth had tensed, for he could feel the increasing drag on the Guardian's power. They were getting weaker, while he and Nightlight were barely affected at all. As the strongest by far, compared to the Guardian of the Moon's modest strength, it would be up to him to defend them should Pitch attack the Warren.

Jack summoned up an Ice Mirror, raised his eyebrows, and slipped through it before they could say another word. He then closed it behind him to stop them following, and to allow himself to tuck Sophie back into bed with peace and quiet.

He was now in her room, and ran through his usual routine of prizing her arms from where they'd seemingly locked around his neck. She then managed to do her usual of rolling over off the edge and onto the floor with a soft thud, before he chuckled to himself and placed her back into bed once more.

"Sophie, is that you?"

Jack glanced towards the bedroom door, having confirmed with a peek out the window that it was dawn in Burgess and he'd just managed to get Sophie home before her mother noticed she was missing. Yet while he'd succeeded in that, he felt compelled to tell Laura of her daughter's accidental adventure. Hearing of Sophie helping the Easter Bunny with his eggs, would surely make a wonderful start to Laura and Craig's day.

He left the room and started down the stairs, Laura waiting at the bottom of them looking up, and he smiled at her.

"Morning! Just wait until you here where Sophie managed to end up last night."

Laura began to climb the stairs towards him, not seeming to notice he was even there, and that was the only warning he got before she walked right through him.

Jack gasped, stood paralysed in shock, before he turned slowly to watch Laura peer into Sophie's room. He then dashed down the remaining stairs, into the kitchen, and ran up to where Craig sat eating toast and reading the morning paper.

"Craig! Laura can't see me!" Jack started to stare when there was no response, and he reached out hesitantly. "Craig?"

Jack tried to touch Craig's shoulder, yet his hand passed right through him. The Blackout was getting worse, much worse, and now it had claimed two of his strongest believers.

In a near panic Jack returned upstairs, swerving around Laura as she was coming back down. He then slipped into Jamie's room, reaching out with a shaky hand to nudge the boy awake.

This time he was able to make contact, causing him to sigh in huge relief as Jamie stirred and opened his eyes.

He blinked blearily at his uncle for several seconds, before Jack smiled to hide how shaken he was.

"So, are you going to see how much she left you for your tooth?"

Jamie jolted at that and shoved a hand under his pillow, coming out holding the dollar as he then grinned.

"A whole dollar! Cool!" He looked at Jack. "Did you bring them all here last night to surprise me? Because it's almost Easter? That was so fun, even if Sandy did put me back to sleep." The last part was grumbled a little, but then Jamie grinned again. "You're still taking Sophie and me to Santoff Claussen tomorrow, right? Will Sandy be there too? And Nightlight?"

Jack almost choked, but managed to force a convincing smile instead.

"Of course I'm still taking you to the village. I'm a little busy right now, but I'll make time to do it." He had to pause, taking a steadying breath to hold back a sob at the coming lie. "Nightlight is busy as well, unfortunately, I don't think he'll be able to come play... Sandy too. But you'll still have Bear and the village kids to hang out with and show your eggs to, and you'll be able to show Ombric how good you are at that Light Charm now."

Jamie beamed, revealing the gap in his grin, and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah!"

Jack stepped back, creating an Ice Mirror to the Winter Sanctuary, and stepped through it.

"I have to get back to my work now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Uncle Jack!"

Jack dismissed the mirror, stood in the chill of his Ice Palace's entrance hall, before taking a deep breath as he opened a new portal back to the Warren. The others were waiting for him there, except for Bunny who had gone to start another batch of eggs.

Jack looked to Nightlight.

"Keep an eye out here, and come get me through this mirror if there's trouble." When the boy nodded, Jack then turned to Tooth and held out his hand to her. "Tooth, come with me... We've got some work to do."

~(-)~

Alaia Skyhawk: Yeah, I'm just HEAPING the misery on Jack... and it's only going to get worse for him :(