Alaia Skyhawk: I'll let you guys try figure out what series of books Jack is reading one of at the start of this hehehe. I also reference a very funny Jack Frost youtube vid :)

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 71: Silent Declaration of Hope

"Jack, one of the yetis just stopped by. North's sent out the signal for the meeting."

Jack glanced up from his book and towards the library doors, to where Cernunnos remained only long enough to be sure the Spirit of Winter had heard him. And as the Lieutenant walked away, Jack sighed and slipped a bookmark between the pages of what was proving to be an unusual yet very entertaining read. It was one of more than a dozen books by some Asian author, which was set thousands of years into the future and yet seemed to be almost like goth, the wild west, and science fiction all rolled into one. It sounded strange and yet was oddly addictive, if you ignored how the author commented on the sheer drop-dead gorgeousness of the main protagonist... about every other page.

Jack stood up and stretched, yawning once before heading for the door. The past three annual meetings he'd been to, he'd spent most of them trying not to doze off from boredom, but today he actually had some very important news for his fellow Guardians. Sandy had insisted he be the one to tell them, since either way he was the one who'd have to verbalise it for them. The only thing that remained to be done before heading to the pole, was to go pick up the person the news was about.

The Guardian of Fun idly opened an ice mirror into Mother Nature's sanctuary, specifically the cottage garden, and knocked on the wooden door once he reached it. Just a few moments later it opened to reveal Kosmotis stood there in his new attire, the front of his hair now hanging much looser than the scraped-back style 'Pitch' had kept it in. The change was probably deliberate, since it softened his angular face considerably, and helped distance him even more from resemblance to the Nightmare King than his green eyes and now normal skin had already done.

He smiled as he exited the cottage, with only the slightest hesitation showing he was nervous.

"Are you sure this is wise? Might it not be better to tell them before introducing me?"

Jack grinned.

"Nah, I'd just end up with them insisting I must have been brainwashed by Pitch and that trouble is going to start again. There's a saying here on this world, 'Show and tell should be done in that order'."

Kosmotis looked somewhat baffled.

"Show and tell?"

"Something that kids do in schools, usually as a homework project or for a science project. I've watched through windows sometimes, and seen everything from photo albums, fishing rods, papier-mache volcanoes, and one time even a paper cup filled with dirt."

As the two of them stepped through the mirror and into the Winter Sanctuary, Kosmotis nodded with only minor comprehension. Thanks to fifteen-thousand years of memory being squished down into one vague recollection of darkness, screams, and rare words and phrases, he wasn't exactly familiar with Earth's wide and varied cultures and ways of life.

"I will have to take your word for that." He followed Jack into the Ice Palace, heading through the frozen hallways to somewhere far at the rear of the building. "Are we using one of your mirrors to get to North's Workshop?"

Jack glanced back and nodded.

"Yeah, I made a permanent portal to it so one of the yetis could bring messages when meetings are about to start, or there's an emergency. It's a backup in case no snow-globes are available. I'm at the opposite end of the world here, so the signal lights don't get here until about six hours after he triggers them. Bunny keeps a golem stationed at a burrow entrance somewhere near Tooth's Palace, so he gets the signal about the same time she does. I had to come up with my own way to solve the problem of being even further south than he is."

They reached a door, which incongruously had two locking handles placed right near the top and yet also far apart. Jack actually had to fly to reach them and open the panel, which led through to a small chamber with walls and floor polished slick like glass.

Kosmotis frowned.

"Security measures?" Jack nodded. "Whatever for? What could possibly get through here from your peer's workshop?"

Jack winced even as he closed and locked the door again from the inside.

"One word... Elves. The walls in this room are impossible to climb, and the handles for the door too far apart for a single elf to use. There's precautions on the other side of the mirror as well."

The Steward of Natural Fear remained puzzled.

"But surely if they are that bad, he wouldn't keep them around?"

Jack let out a deep breath and led him through the mirror into a large ice-cavern, which was gloomy in the way such places were when deep beneath the surface.

"Don't get me wrong. They're cute, funny, really entertaining when you're in the mood for it, and North is totally used to them... But I don't want them dragging half the contents of his workshop into my sanctuary and leaving it dumped everywhere."

He dropped down from the top of the tall plinth where the mirror stood, and pointed to several widely-spaced handholds carved into it. "Yetis can climb that on their own, elves can't. Only other way up is to fly, and it's cold enough, gloomy enough, and boring enough down here that the elves don't come down here... usually. The doors on my end are just in case a few of them become curious enough to team up to climb up."

They resumed their walk towards a set of spiral stairs at the far end of the cavern. The chamber didn't look natural, and the walls looked as though they'd been mined.

Kosmotis regarded those signs with interest.

"So what is this place for? Building material for houses made of ice?"

Jack shook his head.

"North designs toy prototypes by carving them out of ice. The yetis cut blocks of it down here and take them upstairs. This massive room is the result of over four-hundred years of harvesting ice to make models of toys."

After one last glance at the colossal room, and the many openings off the sides of it forming yet more tunnels into the glacier, Kosmotis looked impressed.

"A great deal of work, indeed."

The two of them continued upwards, climbing hundreds upon hundreds of steps, and through connecting hallways, that led them up the side of the mountain. The long route connecting the glacier in the valley below, with the workshop perched high above. It was a full fifteen minutes of steady climbing, by two immortals who didn't suffer from such inconveniences as running out of breath, before they reached the top and the door that led into the heavily occupied workshop.

Jack stepped out into that hallway, almost colliding with a yeti who hastily apologised before continuing on their way. The Spirit of Winter then turned to check he hadn't bumped into Kosmotis, only to see said man re-materialising out of the shadow just inside the doorway.

He blinked.

"Should have realised you'd still be able to do that. Why did you hide?"

Kosmotis sighed.

"While I have already taken great pains to change my appearance, do remember that everyone who knew him will still see Pitch when they look at me. I'd rather not have to reason with angry yetis on the way to this meeting."

Jack looked somewhat bemused.

"Point taken. I'm fine with you because I helped save you. But for the yetis the reaction will probably be weapons first, questions later." He grimaced. "Can you hide in my shadow? It'll be easier to get you up there that way, unless you want to shadow-jump straight to the top and wait for me there?"

In response Kosmotis stepped forward onto the faint shadow Jack cast from the lanterns, and promptly dissolved into it. His words muted to barely above a murmur while in that state.

"This will be fine. Let's not chance an early meeting between me and your peers, before you are there to explain."

Jack turned to head for the main part of the workshop, whistling under his breath as he strolled along. He got a few strange looks, from yetis who obviously wondered why he was walking instead of flying, but a teasing grin from him convinced them he'd done is as a joke to make them react that way. Thus proceeded the remainder of the trip to the level where the Globe of Belief was, with Jack arriving at the floor via one of the wooden elevators.

Sandy, North, Tooth, and Bunny were all already there, each of them turning to face him as the Russian among them boomed out joyfully.

"Ah, there he is, Jack Frost! Now we can start meeting!"

Jack raised his hand, after a discrete thumbs-up of support from Sandy, to show he wanted to say something.

"Um, can I make the first report? It's about what Mother Nature's been up to the past four years, and to introduce you guys to the one she was doing it for. He's come with me."

There was a moment of silence, as North, Tooth, and Bunny looked around and past Jack in confusion. Because the Spirit of Winter was stood there completely alone.

Tooth was the one to speak the obvious question.

"Um, who? There's no one with you."

Jack winced a little, looked down at his shadow, and braced himself.

"Uh, you can come out. It's now or never, because either way I doubt this is exactly going to be pretty."

There was another pause before his shadow seemed to darken and become solid, as the individual who concealed himself there emerged to stand awkwardly behind him. Less than a heartbeat later, all hell broke loose.

"Pitch Black!"

"PITCH!"

"BATTLE STATIONS! Workshop has been invaded!"

Clanging bells rang out in discordant cacophony, elves ran around in panicked circles. Tooth was frantically trying to hide the fairies that were with her, and Bunny had his boomerangs out and seemed to be trying to find a way to aim around Jack without hitting any walls or the Spirit of Winter. North was looking here there and everywhere trying to figure out where he'd put down his swords, and from all directions beyond this part of the platform, yetis were racing around and massing towards them once they'd grabbed weapons.

In the middle of all this chaos, Sandy drifted over to Jack and Kosmotis and waved cheerily before reaching out to shake the latter's hand in greeting. He then glanced at Jack, shrugged, and rolled his eyes at all the noise.

Jack shook his head in similar bemusement.

"Yeah, totally overreacting." He looked at Kosmotis. "It may not be my thing, but even I can feel the ambient Unnatural Fear in here. I've no idea what it feels like for you."

Kosmotis brought a hand to his face.

"It's most unpleasant, and extremely unnecessary. Allow me to fix it."

He made a gesture with that same hand, as if beckoning the fear from all round him to come close, and then clicked his fingers. That same moment utter silence fell over the entire workshop, and every living thing in it stumbled to a halt, as all the Unnatural Fear within them was snuffed out.

Tooth had gone wide-eyed, pausing in the act of hiding one of her fairies behind a hanging. Bunny had dropped his boomerangs, and North had actually fallen over backwards as though a rug had been pulled out from under him. The three of them stared at 'Pitch', and Jack and Sandy who stood with him, looking utterly confused.

Jack raised his eyebrows and glanced at Kosmotis again.

"Nicely done. I don't ever think I've seen Bunny shut up that fast."

North was gaping, Bunny was in a similar state, and Tooth was the only one that seemed coherent enough to speak.

"Jack, what's going on? Why is he here? And what did he just do?"

After Sandy gave him another now obvious thumbs-up, Jack chuckled.

"In that order, he's the one who needs to be introduced to you, which is why he's here. As for what he just did, he gathered up all the Unnatural Fear you guys were throwing around in your panic-attack and got rid of it so you'd all calm down. That's his job, getting rid of Unnatural Fear so Fearlings can't feed on it. He's working for Mother Nature now. See?"

Jack pulled Kosmotis forward and pointed to the insignias on the tops of his sleeves, which consisted of a vine-circle with a large tree in the middle. Seeing them, Tooth gasped.

"He's working for Mother Nature?"

Sandy nodded in answer, and gave Jack a nudge to keep him explaining. The Guardian of Fun was starting to grin.

"Well yeah, she did spend four years yanking the heavily-weakened Fearlings out of him one-by-one." He shrugged, as if all this weren't the biggest breakthrough in over fifteen thousand years. "Just after Easter she called me, to ask me to help her evict the last few and put wards in place to prevent any getting back in afterwards. That took a month. Five days ago the job was done, and yesterday he agreed to take up a very important job for her as the Steward of Natural Fear."

All around the area by the globe, yetis were packed shoulder-to-shoulder as they listened in bewilderment. Meanwhile, Kosmotis had been cautiously eyeing up the other three Guardians before he blinked in surprised recognition. His muted exclamation drawing everyone's attention.

"Wait... Is that Aster? My daughter told me that the sole survivor of the Pooka Brotherhood was one of the Guardians, but she never said it was you."

Bunny's slicked-back ears jerked forward to stick up at odd angles in surprise, his expression one of dawning realisation.

"Wait... No way, it can't be." He looked at Jack. "Is this for real?"

Jack nodded, while behind Bunny both Tooth and North glanced at each other in confusion.

"Yep, sure is. Pitch has been consigned to the history books."

Bunny's ears were stood straight up now, the Pooka trembling with pent-up emotion before he launched himself forwards with a whoop!

"Kosmotis!" He slammed into the startled Steward, barrelling Sandy and Jack out of the way in the process, and pulled him into a fierce hug. "This is incredible! You're back! You're back!"

Kosmotis, face reddening from the tightness of the hug, slipped briefly into the Pooka's shadow to escape it. He then proceeded to straighten his clothing. There was a hint of humour in his words.

"And you are considerably more exuberant than you were when we last met. It was at the great banquet, wasn't it? The one held to celebrate the capture of the last of the Fearlings." He paused. "It's one of the last thing I can clearly remember."

Bunny reached out to pat him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, mate. You're back, and that's all that matters. And not just because it means Pitch has been destroyed forever."

"Pitch has been destroyed?"

That came from North, who like Tooth was staring at Kosmotis trying to figure out how 'Pitch' could be in front of them, yet gone. Bunny sighed.

"This isn't Pitch, this is Kosmotis Pitchiner. The guy the Fearlings possessed in order to create Pitch Black. Don't you get it? Mother Nature and Jack drove all the Fearlings out of him! He's been freed!"

Jack came forward, pulling North to his feet with a smile.

"That's the news I had for you, except you jumped to conclusions before I could explain. Kosmotis is gonna have it hard, even with the protection of working for Mother Nature. He's going to need support from people who can vouch for him, and that needs to be both the Guardians and the Spirits of the Seasons. There's going to be a lot of angry and frightened immortals until they accept that he's not Pitch, so we need to look out for him. Especially Bunny and Sandy, since they know him from before he was possessed. Think you're up to it?"

Bunny was nodding emphatically, as was Sandy. But North remained uncertain, lacking the knowledge of this man that the other two had, and yet still he eventually nodded. It was then that Tooth slowly fluttered closer to Kosmotis, hesitant as she pointed to his teeth.

"May I? Even the teeth of adults can hold memories, if they're strong ones, and..."

Kosmotis turned to face her, and inclined his head.

"If that is what it takes to reassure you, then I have no objections."

Tooth came closer, reaching out with her hand and pulling it back again several times before she finally touched a fingertip to one of his front teeth. She then blinked and shuddered at the same time, tears welling up in her eyes a moment later before she flung her arms around him and started sobbing into his shoulder.

"You suffered so much! And then you got your daughter back, and the happiness of that moment! You're really you!"

Kosmotis gently eased her away, brushing some of the tears from her face.

"Did you see more than that? I remember almost nothing of all the time I was possessed."

Tooth managed a wan smile.

"I saw enough to know it's a miracle you've been saved, and that you're still sane. Your love for your daughter kept your hope alive."

Behind her, North straightened up. A small smile of his own starting to form.

"Well, if four of my good friends all say this is good thing, then I have to agree too." He waved an arm towards the yetis. "Everyone, put down weapons and prepare party. Rest of news we Guardians had for this , is no matter compared to this news. We should all relax, forget meeting, and open gifts that Nightlight brought for Guardians from Man in Moon."

Jack looked at him sharply in surprise.

"Nightlight brought packages for us too? He's the one who brought that new clothing for Kosmotis to the Sanctuary of Nature."

North was smiling widely now, as he accepted five varied size boxes from one of the yetis. Each had a stylised picture of one of the Guardians on it, marking which was for who.

"He did. Tooth, Bunny, catch!" The two of them caught the boxes thrown to them, as Sandy and Jack were then tossed theirs. "Now, who open first?"

Sandy drew several symbols, which Jack translated.

"I agree with Sandy. Of everyone in the world, ever year, you're always the last one to get to open a Christmas present. North, today you get to open your gift first."

North laughed at that, pulling open his box and lifting out what was inside. It was a broad belt, with a glittering moonsilver buckle formed out of a square with the Guardian 'G' embossed onto it. When Tooth opened hers, she pulled out a silk sash of the same iridescent colours as her feathers. The moonsilver clasp to fasten it loosely around her waist, was formed of a simple ring within which the same 'G' symbol was suspended.

Kosmotis gasped in realisation.

"Tsar Lunar is reviving one of the old traditions, from the Golden Age. Every Family of the Constellations, for each world under their care, would pick from among the immortals they created, those that would serve as authority for the rest that lived there. A 'Mother' or 'Father' of Nature, Spirits for the Seasons, and Guardians to serve as inspiration for children. Those specially selected immortals were then given 'badges of office', so that all who saw them, mortal or immortal, would know them for who they were."

Bunny raised his eyebrows.

"Ah, I remember that. Only ever met a couple of them though, and never thought back then that I'd one day be one of them. Friendly folks they were, not that they hung around long enough for me to chat to them. They had their jobs, and I had mine."

By now Sandy had opened his, which had contained a moonsilver 'tie pin' similar to Tooth's broach, and he'd promptly fastened it to his dreamsand neck-kerchief. Bunny then opened his, revealing a brand-new bandoleer for his boomerangs, complete with a moonsilver buckle in the shape of an egg.

All eyes now turned to Jack, who held the largest of the boxes, and he laughed.

"Ok ok, I'll open mine." He yanked the lid from the box, grabbing hold of the silvery blue cloth within to pull it out. He then let out a gasp. "Wow. Tsar Lunar made this for me?"

He put down the box, using both hands to properly unfold the garment. It was a cloak, of the same dual-layered style as both of his previous ones. Edged in silvery white, and with a clasp as large as the buckle on North's new belt.

The Guardians gathered round when Jack put the cloak on, Bunny prodding a paw at the clasp.

"How come his is fancier than ours?"

Pushing his way through the throng, Kosmotis nudged Bunny aside so he could get a look for himself, He then smiled almost teasingly.

"The great scholar has failed to read the symbolism? Dear me, you must be getting old."

Bunny regarded him flatly.

"If I didn't admit that you've not long been freed, and no doubt needed that bit of humour, I'd get you back for that."

Kosmotis' smile widened as he chuckled, before he returned his attention to the clasp on Jack's cloak.

"The 'G' set in the centre is obvious, but you have clearly forgotten his dual roles. The circle of vines, and the intricate snowflake they surround, clearly represent his status as the Spirit of Winter who serves my daughter." He sighed, his words filled with hope for the future. "Tsar Lunar, I am glad I could be here to see this. As you declare with this act, your intention of building a New Golden Age."

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Alaia Skyhawk: So, how many people were surprised by Bunny hugging him? Hehehehehe! And how many guessed the book, and the youtube vid? Lemme know! :D