Without further ado…

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, films or other works of fiction referenced in this story.

Chapter 2

A Blast of the Past

Jack rode the wind over the Northern climate. The snow rose and fell below him, getting higher with the mountains and lower with the valleys. The blizzards also pushed the snow around, shifting the landscape like a sandstorm shifting the dunes.

Jack didn't have time to admire the landscape. The voice seemed to be calling him. Always the same melody. Two high notes, followed by two notes that lowered in scale. Always a feminine voice, too. If Jack had to describe the voice, it seemed hypnotizing, and a little chilly. It was a voice that seemed important, yet not malevolent or joyful.

It seemed to be coming from the Northern Lights. Jack paused. There were two kinds of Northern Lights. One kind was the artificial type made by North to call other Guardians for meetings. The other was the natural kind, that seemed to spring up around the Arctic. One of the main rules given by North as he was giving Jack the grand tour of the Pole was to never go into the natural Northern Lights. Many yetis had disappeared going near the Lights, and those that came back seemed either disoriented or melancholy for a time. North never discussed what the Lights did, and Jack never asked.

Maybe this was a bad idea. Did he even know where he was, specifically? Who would know if he disappeared himself. Jack resolved to turn around and at least let the yetis know where he was going. If they thought he was crazy, at least they would know where he was.

However, as Jack turned around, he saw a shocking sight. Horses made of black sand came up out of the ice and snow. Some flew in from behind clouds in the sky. Others flew up from beneath the snowbanks. They all started to surround Jack, engulfing him in a large tornado of black sand.

Jack was nervous. Nightmares never came this far north, not since…. Suddenly, several of the Nightmares swirled around each other, eventually dissipating to reveal Pitch.

Jack shuddered. Pitch was not called the Nightmare King for nothing. He had pale skin, almost as white as a sheet. His teeth were sharp, and his nails were pointed. He was wearing a black robe that seemed to shift into the dark sand of his forces. If a child's nightmares were to have nightmares, they would involve Pitch.

"Hello, Jack." Pitch said in a cool, icy voice.

Jack fired an ice beam at Pitch. The beam went right past him and through a hole that briefly opened up in the tornado. "Now, now, Jack. You didn't think I would be here in person, did you? And how right I was to take security precautions. After all, is this any way to greet an old acquaintance?"

"Right, right. An acquaintance that tried to kill me several times."

"Shows I care, doesn't it?"

Jack shrugged. "You have a very strange way of caring. All this for little old me."

"Well, after our last series of meetings, I thought I'd take a little bit of precautions."

"So what's going on here, Pitch? What are you up to this time?"

"Oh, nothing too dramatic. Just a plan to visit the sights up north. I'm not planning to destroy any of you this time around. I actually have some great items to contribute to Christmas this year."

Jack shook his head. "I think we're good on new decorations and gifts."

"Oh, but this will be an excellent gift. One that all the Guardians and children will never forget.

"However, before I get started wrapping this gift, there's one patch of ice I need to clear. One shard that won't be distracted by dreams, eggs, teeth, or presents."

Jack felt a deeper chill going through him. "So the voice, the tornado, and the proximity of the Northern Lights, all of it to try and kill me?"

Pitch shook his head. "Who said anything about killing you? I might have amplified the voice of the Lights to call you and sent my forces to keep you here, but I'm not going to kill you. I'm actually going to give you a gift. Christmas is in a few weeks, you know."

Pitch took a long spear of dark dreamsand. There seemed to be a pinch of icy whiteness to it. "I've been working on this little piece for a while. Ever since I discerned your memories from your teeth and broke your staff, I've been shaping this little wonder. Now it's finally ready."

Jack got into a defensive stance. "I'm good on this gift. Maybe you could give it to a yeti. They always love using weapons as combs and toothbrushes."

"But Jack, it's made especially for you. I think you'll find this gift has a little kick. It won't kill you, but you're probably going to get a whole new perspective with it."

With that, Pitch moved his spear-holding hand in an overhanded throwing move. Jack moved his hands up to block when he felt a cold feeling in his stomach. Realizing too late that Pitch had switched hands and thrown the spear underhanded, Jack looked down to see a large pointy spear in his stomach.

The black sand of the spear dissolved and seemed to go into Jack. He tried to pull the spear out, but there wasn't anything to pull. The sand worked quickly. Jack felt a cold feeling, colder than anything he had ever felt before, sweeping throughout his whole body. The cold was making his eyes tired. Jack tried to stay awake but found that he couldn't. The last thing he saw was Pitch cackling and the wind shifting as he started to fall.

Pitch cackled even harder as Jack was picked up by his nightmare forces. Finally, the one Guardian that could try to stop him was in his grasp. If Pitch wanted to, he could kill Jack right now.

But Pitch needed to conserve his strength. After his nightmares turned on him in the last battle, Pitch had been rather keen on saving his strength. It took a lot to ensure his nightmares stayed loyal to him. Killing a Guardian might run the risk of losing control. And he needed to build his strength for the next few weeks if he wanted to be ready for his plan.

Instead, Pitch had a more ingenious scheme in mind. "Throw him into the Lights," he sneered. Pitch knew the curse of the Northern Lights, that anyone who went into the Lights rarely returned. It would be the perfect place to keep Jack out of the way.

The Nightmares carried Jack over to the Northern Lights. The Lights seemed to shift from green to pink to red to gold. The Nightmares had to dodge the Lights so that they wouldn't touch any part of the sand. Pitch had been adamant about this instruction.

The Nightmares eventually stopped right on top of a large, white Northern Light. Perfect. They then kicked and dropped Jack down the large Light. As soon as Jack touched that Northern Light, he disappeared. The Nightmares didn't care where he went. Anything so long as it fulfilled their master's plan.

Pitch chuckled. Finally, the main thorn he had been thinking about was gone. Now there was nothing to stop him from hatching his scheme. He needed to keep quiet though. The plan required subtlety and he didn't want the other Guardians to find that he was back. It was also his last chance at regaining his power for quite a while. So, no pressure for this scheme to work.

With that, Pitch faded away. So much to sneak into, so little time to do it. After all, there was a Pole to conquer.

This is where things begin to take a turn. In case you're wondering, the voice that Jack heard might have been connected to a similar voice heard by a snow queen in a distant land (though that trip to the forest won't happen for a while). I just thought it would be a good way to bring the story here. As always, please rate and review.