Aaaaaaand here we go. Buckle up folks, its going to be a trip.
It was dark… very dark…
But it was not all darkness, there was a small light that tried to invade his vision, a light that woke him up from his sleep.
Soon, everything was moving quite fast around him! He was no longer in pure darkness, instead he was in a darkened cavern with one beam of moonlight streaming through.
There was a gleam embedded in something. Without a second thought, he pulled it out of where it was stuck, laughing lightly as he observed the glistening crystal now in his hands for a moment before flying out of the darkened cavern and into the bright light of the moon, not noticing the dancing shadows left behind and the figure of a man slipping away.
He was happy, so very happy! He was finally free! No longer confined in the darkness all alone! But there was something wrong… something was missing.
Slowing down, he landed on a tree branch to think for a moment. Something was… different… Closing his eyes he started to think.
Who was he?
Jack Frost, a voice inside himself, spoke up.
Where was he?
The edge of the village of TangleWood.
What was he doing before?
Keeping Pitch Black at bay- no! He was helping him fight off strange nightmares with Sandy!
Like a waterfall, all memories came rushing towards him as he remembered the Guardians, the fight against Pitch, the party, saving Pitch with Sandy, then that flash of golden white.
Eyes snapping open he looks around frantically. "Wind!" He called out only to stumble back at the voice that left his mouth, it was soft, ethereal, melodious, and like long forgotten memories. That was not his voice.
Then he noticed his hands. They were glowing. Surprised, he jumped up, ending up slipping off of the branch. On instinct he tried to call for the winds again to catch him, however without his staff they didn't respond to him. Bracing himself for impact he held on tight to the crystal he had taken, only to open one eye to peek at his surroundings when he didn't feel the impact of branches or the ground.
Spluttering, he realised he was floating, as if gravity had ceased working on him as he hovered in the air. Blinking a few times, he relaxed only slightly, starting to marvel at the way he was just floating midair.
So it came as a surprise when all of a sudden he was tugged towards a direction by the crystal he held. With a yelp and being unable to properly fly just yet, he just allowed the strange crystal to lead the way for him until it stopped by a small wooden cabin.
Curious as to why he was led there, he peeked into the window where a young boy and his younger sister were sleeping, allowing for a small smile to tug at the observing boy's face. However the smile did not last as he saw the dark shadows writhing above their heads, chasing what little dream sand spiralled above their heads.
The crystal in his hands glowed brightly, and somehow he knew what to do as he looked about for a stick, long enough to be a staff, seeing how the crystal was shaped like a spearhead and a dagger at the same time. Quickly, he tied the crystal to the top of a perfectly sized stick bringing the glowing jewel closer to the window, making the shadows hiss in agitation.
He knew that wouldn't work- the light needed to be brighter! But how? The howl of pain from inside made the boy panic, only to see the wraith-like shadows turn into black sand, sand which quickly formed into a nightmare horse before dashing out of the window following a stream of golden sand towards a cloud of the same glowing sand.
In a panic after recognising the nightmare and the sand cloud, the boy jumped into the sky, new spear at the ready as he hurried over to the cloud. He didn't know what was happening but he wasn't about to let one of his only friends get hurt again!
His path suddenly came to a halt when he saw the proceedings happening on the cloud however. Several nightmares sat down obediently, waiting. In front of them was the Sandman, dancing and weaving dream sand around the black creatures, slowly turning them into golden horses that scattered about, one of which returning to the cabin he had just been at.
It took a moment for Sandy to realise he was being watched by another in the air. In a sleepy state, the Sandman turned to face the glowing boy before blinking a few times, his attention going from the boy to the nightmares then back to the boy.
With a guilty smile, the Sandman wrote a name with his sand above his head, "Sandy" it said before the sand turned into a question mark and the golden man gestured to the boy.
Of course, the Sandman knew who the boy was already, but the boy didn't know him and in an attempt to keep the timestream from being affected too much, Sandy had decided to play it safe. Except he wasn't expecting the sudden forceful contact of a tackle hug from the boy whose shoulders were heaving in held back sobs.
"I-I was so scared… t-that the nightmares were coming for you…" the boy's voice, one the Sandman had rarely heard, held a tone of deepest worry. But it also confused the golden man. At this time, nightmares were given out by fearlings as Pitch had yet to figure out how to corrupt his sand, so it confused him to no end how the boy of light could have known what the black horses were, but also confused as to why the boy was showing so much affection and concern to the point of almost tears.
Slowly, the Sandman gently pried the boy away from himself, making the boy look up at the golden man, his eyes wet with tears. Sandy offered the boy a comforting smile and a gentle pat on the shoulders before wiping away at the corners of the boy's eyes, effectively wiping away the forming tears.
" Do you know who I am? " The Sandman wrote above his head, earning a nod from the boy in front of him.
"Do you know what happened, Sandy?" The question was weak and shaky, but held an undertone of urgency and confusion. A question mark appeared above the golden man's head as he frowned at the boy in front of him.
"I-I don't know what's happening. I just woke up like this after that flash of light…" that brought up Sandy's interest as he slowly descended his cloud towards the roof of one of the houses before facing the child in front of him and starting to sign with his hands, a suspicion creeping up on the golden man.
" Tell me, what do you remember? "
Nervously looking around, the boy started to fidget with the spear he held, almost identical to the way a certain winter child did during the start of the victory party. Taking a deep breath he started. "I remember, we left the party in search of Pitch, but when we found him he was… was being attacked by… fearlings? Then there was a flash of light and now I'm…" he trailed off, gesturing to himself. "Like this." He said with a slight cringe.
With every word said, the golden man's eyes widened significantly, a hopeful expression crossing his features as the sand started to shape itself into the snowflake that always meant one thing followed by a question mark. " Jack? "
"Yeah, Sandy, Jack Frost! That's me!" He beamed, glad to know that his friend still knows who he is as he scooped up the small golden man into another hug, one the Sandman didn't object to as he hugged back just as tight.
"Am I hearing this right?" A familiar silky smooth voice called out, a hint of amusement evident as Pitch Black materialised from the shadows. In an instant, Jack had his new spear aimed at the shade, only to have Sandy come between the two of them, frantically shooting symbols above his head.
"Sandy what are you doing? That's Pitch Black!" The glowing child exclaimed, worry evident on his features as the shade stepped ever closer to the stout golden man. Sandy nodded slowly, biting his lip in hesitation before blowing out a breath he had been holding before jerkily nudging Pitch and gesturing to the boy in front of them, in a 'you tell him' manner.
"I swear, Sanderson." Pitch grumbled, rolling his eyes before sighing. "Frost, if it really is you in that body, you might want to know the three of us have travelled back in time, me and the Sandman have talked it over and have decided to work together to preserve the time stream in case we were to disrupt the future. It is, after all, a horrible idea no matter how tempting to change the major events of the past.
Jack gaped, staring at the two dreamweavers, specifically at Sandy who was nodding to everything the Boogeyman was saying.
" There are some events that have to happen exactly as they should, however we can work in the background to set things up. " Sandy signed.
"So basically, it's a reset paradox?" Jack asked, coming out of his defensive stance and leaning against his spear instead in a nonchalant manner. Both Pitch and Sandy nodded.
"Alright, so if this is a reset then why am I… this?" Once again he gestured at himself, frowning slightly. "How far back did we even go?"
To that, Sandy winced, a '800-900' appearing above his head, making Jack go bug eyed.
"I wasn't even born yet!" Jack exclaimed, almost toppling down with his staff with shock. "How am I even here?!"
"I suspect it is because of your current self." Pitch offered, earning a questioning look from the other two. "Nightlight, the body you are inhabiting, was born over fifteen thousand years ago, however I suspect that it was his sacrifice that gave way to your birth in a couple of centuries."
"Wait, I'm not following…" Jack huffed, crossing his arms while trying to piece together everything.
An exclamation mark appeared above the Sandman's head as images started to flash rapidly above his head while gesturing wildly as if trying to physically retain information. An action that got one amused huff from the Boogeyman.
"I suppose you could say that."
"Wait, you actually understood that?" Jack marvelled for a moment before shaking his head to clear it and focus on the important part. "Scratch that, what did Sandy say?"
"He said that this is most likely a past life of yours and that is why you are here in this form." Sandy nodded beaming happily at being understood through his rapid sand talk, leaving the child among them gaping.
And there you have it!
I went there! I did the thing! Though personally, I think Jack and NL should be seperate entities. BUT books said otherwise and SO HERE WE ARE.
I'll just have to do another fic to satiate my Jack Frost is NOT Nightlight hunger.