AN: I'll jump right into it. I don't own Rise of the Guardians. I hope you enjoy the long awaited story.
Jack sighed again. "Get comfortable," he instructed, "It's kind of a long story." They all gazed at him expectantly, waiting for the youngest Guardian to begin. After a moment, the story began to finally come out. "Before I went to visit Sandy, I knew something was wrong. I just didn't know how wrong until I was attacked..."
He took a breath, blowing out frost breath crystals in his nervousness. A pale hand fiddled with his staff. "I'd been feeling uneasy, like something was sneaking up on me. I felt slight warm breezes, nightmares threatening me in my sleep, moments where I would lose track of time. So, I went to speak to Sandy."
A flurry of golden symbols was issued out by the dream spirit. Jack head snapped up when he saw the telltale glitter of Sandy's speech. He bowed his head again, white bangs hiding his eyes. "I'm sorry Sandy," the winter spirit muttered, voice cracking.
The Guardian of Dreams leaned forwards, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder. The others saw an okay sign among the other slew of communication. The frost child nodded and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Then, a couple hours after I left, I felt a tremor in the Earth. I know all seasonals feel this when another is encroaching on their territory. I knew the warning signs," Jack looked down and muttered, "I'd felt them before." Then, blue eyes flicked upwards again, "I just didn't want to believe it was happening again now."
"Again?" Bunny interjected, trying in vain to remain the curious aloof warrior, but failing miserably. He was concerned, and it showed in his expressive green eyes. The winter spirit nodded.
"Vhat happened other time?" North asked.
Jack looked through his bangs, up at the others. "Which one?"
Four sets of eyes saddened at these words, even though they had already understood them to be true. It just felt like an arrow to the heart to hear their suspicions confirmed. This boy in front of them had gone through so much and still remained true. Would they have had that strength?
Tooth felt on the verge of tears, but she kept her outward emotions tightly controlled. "You can tell us those stories after," she gently suggested.
Another nod, shaking white locks. "Where was I," the winter spirit muttered, staring off into space. The others exchanged a quick look before he was quietly launching back into the story, eyes still gazing straight ahead. "Well, I felt the Earth shake, ignored it, felt the warm wind and then I got up, looking around. That's when I felt the shadows behind me forming shapes. I turned around and almost got a face full of nightmare sand." He tried to pull off a chuckle, but it turned out rather weak and hoarse.
Blue eyes scanned the older Guardians before fixing themselves on his conductor of power. He bit his lip, "I froze the first wave but then it felt as if … time itself … had slowed down. Then I got hit by the heat wave and the shadows grabbed me." Jack let out a little cough. His voice had become quieter throughout the explanation, rusty from lack of use.
"Where'd they take you?" the Guardian of Wonder questioned, eyes wide with horror.
"I'm not entirely sure," Jack croaked, "It was kind of a weird mix up of Pitch's lair and Father Time's castle. I pretty much only saw one room though." He fell silent, eyes once again fixed downwards.
"How long were you there?" Tooth asked, voice low and serious.
Jack closed his eyes lightly, nearly whispering the answer. "I think it was only six days but Father Time created a pocket time zone where we spent nearly a month."
Those quiet words had a profound impact on the Guardians. Four jaws nearly dropped in shock. Tooth placed a hand over her mouth, stifling the cry she almost emitted. Their eyes and hearts were filled with grief for their youngest. No wonder he had been so jumpy. They thought he had only been gone for a week but he had actually experienced almost a month of who knew what kinds of torture.
"I'm so sorry, mate," the Pooka breathed.
The frost child shook his head, blue eyes resting on the rabbit. "S'not your fault," he tried to crack a grin, but it turned into more of a grimace, eyes averted again as he continued. "If anything, it was mine."
Bunny grabbed the winter spirit's chin in his hand, forcing blue eyes to look into green. "This is not your fault," he all but growled, making Jack take on a cornered look. There was less fear there but it was still somewhat present. However, the Pooka wouldn't relent until he'd said his piece. "They were after you one way or another, there was no way you could have stopped it. Understood?"
There was a brief nod and Bunny let go. Jack gave him another smile, this one much warmer and more genuine but barely exposing his pearly whites.
Sandy chimed in, whatever he said giving the winter spirit a dark expression.
"You don't need to know that."
The dream spirit nodded, insisting.
Jack sighed, drawing his knees to his chest and hugging them towards him. The Guardians ached to be the ones to be able to hold him and make everything better. He shouldn't have to curl in on himself for comfort.
"Let's just say it wasn't my version of fun," he attempted for a joke. No one was laughing. The room echoed with their silence. "Fine," Jack muttered dejectedly. "They had a lot of anger and they found creative ways to release it. It helped them that they had Pitch since he can tell someone's biggest fears. Any they couldn't replicate he would give nightmares about."
"So the broken bones?" North prompted.
"Were more out of anger than anything."
"Why?" Tooth asked, voicing all of their thoughts. "Pitch I see has a motivation but the others?" Her purple orbs were filled to the brim with concern and sympathy for the younger spirit.
"Um … well," Jack fumbled, hands playing with the covers. "Pitch you know, but also because I refused him."
"Refused what exactly, mate?" Bunny prodded.
"You know what happened on Easter?" Jack asked obviously. They nodded, although Sandy looked slightly confused. "Um, well, after you guys, um …"
"Totally blew you off and were complete asses about it?" the Pooka supplied.
Jack shook his head, "No, why would you trust me so easily?" That one hurt because they could hear the spirit believing that he shouldn't be trusted. He continued before they could interject. "Pitch had … delayed me from coming back so that he could ruin Easter and he kind of chased me around the lair, telling me my fears. And anyways, I left you guys and um … went to Antarctica. So, he found me and started saying how you guys would never believe in me, and he understood, etc. Then, we kind of fought and he said he knew what it was like to long for a family. He wanted me to join him, but I didn't want kids to fear me, so I went to leave… But he had Baby Tooth," Jack cast a glance towards Tooth before looking away again. "And he wanted me to trade her for my staff, so I did. He refused to give her, tossed her into a ravine, broke my staff and threw me into the same place. I fixed it and the rest is history." The explanation had gotten faster and faster as it neared the end. However, with each word, Tooth, Bunny and North felt their hearts get heavier and heavier. Jack had sincerely done nothing wrong.
"I'm so—" North began.
"No," Jack interjected. "It's in the past, let it stay there. So anyway," the spirit continued awkwardly. "That's especially why Pitch hates me. Autumn or Rustle hates me because I always come and ruin his hard work. Which I can't avoid," he pointed out heatedly.
"So he thought if I was out of commission for a little while, Mother Nature would get angry and replace me." The way he had mentioned replacement made it sound like much more than a position and more of a state of life.
"He wanted you killed!" Tooth yelled.
Jack rubbed his nose self-consciously, "Well, ya. If you want to talk about people who want to kill me, we will be here all week." They examined his face for all trace of a jest. Unfortunately, there was none there.
"Continue," the Tooth fairy said weakly.
"Anyway, Father Time and I had a little spat about a century ago where I was supposed to do something for him which let's just say didn't go very well." There was a pause before he muttered, " Should have told me he wanted an assassin, wouldn't have gotten mixed up in stupid, old, time changer's plans. Not my fault I had to play with a few of his clocks to get back."
"Y-you did what?" Bunny spluttered. Jack flushed a deep blue, avoiding their gaze.
Before the Easter Rabbit could blow a gasket, North interrupted. "Now ve know vhy they tortured you, just tell us vhat they did. You can't move past if you don't talk about it."
Jack eyes widened dramatically. "I can move on just fine," he assured too quickly. All they did was glare at him, each of their expressions mirroring each other. "Plus, you already saw what they did when you patched me up."
"Yetis were ones who fix you," North admitted, not letting up.
There was silence for a while, neither side willing to give in. Bunny threw his hands up in the air, taking matters into his own hands –er- paws that is. "Fine," he grit out, "What happened with the lacerations?"
Jack's watery blue eyes gazed at the Pooka cautiously, examining them for signs of relenting. There were none. Reluctantly, he answered the question, head hung down. "They whipped me a few times."
"And all the cuts?"
"Supposed to be a tally of all the crimes I committed against them."
"Broken bones?"
"They got angry when I wouldn't submit to them. The rib was Pitch kicking me and the wrist was Father Time after I spat in his face."
"The burns I assume were from Rustle."
"Ya, to feel the destruction I cause."
"And the swelling around your throat?"
Jack blanched before mumbling, "Playing off one of my fears." When he got a hard look in return, the winter spirit reluctantly elaborated. "I'm scared of drowning, so they choked me." He bit his lip, refusing to look at the others as tears began to gather in his eyes.
Almost as one, all of the Guardians swooped in for a hug, gathering the teen in their group embrace. They could all feel him go rigid in their grip before slowly relaxing. He leaned his head forwards onto Sandy's shoulder. Suddenly, they could feel him shuddering, almost as if … he was sobbing. Then, they saw the frozen tears tracing their way down his cheeks.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, trying to pull away and scrub away the evidence of tears. However, they wouldn't let him, pulling the struggling teen closer. Then, his sobs finally came out and Tooth started stroking his white locks, fighting her own tears. There was not one completely dry eye among them. Eventually, the sobs tapered off, leaving an exhausted group behind.
Finally, they let go of the winter spirit, allowing him to collect himself. "I'm sorry," he mumbled.
"No apologizing," North insisted, the others nodding vehemently. "You have more than every right to be crying."
Jack smiled wanly up at the, watery blue eyes tinged with gratefulness.
Sandy formed a few symbols and the winter spirit turned towards him. The other Guardians thought they saw the sign of a pill bottle. He paled again, wetting his lips before speaking hoarsely. "Whenever Pitch wanted to give me a nightmare, he had to knock me out first. So, they shoved knock out pills down my throat."
The golden man held up his sand with a question mark and the Boogeyman's outline.
"Pitch's sand can't cause sleep, just keep them asleep or cause nightmares."
There was silence reigning after a short nod from the Sandman.
"How did you get away?" Tooth asked.
Jack remained silent for a moment as if struggling with the explanation. "I think they wanted me to get out," he stated bluntly. "They told me about a week before that even if I managed to escape, I could never tell anyone what happened. They would be monitoring the shadows and time to be alerted if I told. Then, they would slow down time around one of you, and take you into the shadows while you were sleeping to eliminate any chances of a fight."
"That's …," Bunny hesitated, "smart actually. Why didn't they use it?"
"Pride," the winter spirit summed up. "They moved me to an open area and tied me up but I just frosted the chains, flying with my staff I found nearby. I followed the wind and emerged in a tunnel right by my lake. Then, I felt pain and blacked out. They must have followed me and snapped my staff."
With an explanation of his experiences, the older Guardians couldn't help but feel immense guilt. They could have seen something coming, noticed he was gone sooner, done, really anything. Silence settled in around them as each was lost to their depressing thoughts.
Jack leaned back on his pillows, exhausted from his story and then the fit of crying he had done.
"Go to sleep mate," the Guardian of Hope instructed. "We'll be here when you wake up." The winter spirit for once obliged, slipping his eyes closed.
"Thank you," the winter spirit murmured.
"For what?" Tooth asked, brows scrunching together in confusion.
"For listening."
They had no response. This child had been so neglected for three hundred years. Now, on top of that, he had been tortured by three spirits intent on revenge.
Sandy hit him with a ball of dream sand, shaping his dreams into ones of pure amusement, joy and fun.
"Thank you Sandy," North smiled warmly, gazing down with such sadness at the sleeping child.
"I knew it was bad, but that-" Tooth began, but choked on the words, unable to continue. They all nodded in agreement. Now that he was finally talking, maybe their child could finally heal. He would have all of them by his side every step of the way. They would do this together.
AN: So, there's the explanation. I hope I answered all your questions. If I missed any, write them in a review or PM and I will either answer you directly or incorporate it into the last chapter of the story. I'm kind of stuck for ideas on what to do for the last chapter (or if there should even be one) and suggestions would be extremely welcomed.