Rise Of The Guardians - The Life Of A Spirit

Fear

The wind howled past the mouth of the ice cave, a piercing shriek that would have set most people's teeth on edge. Inside, it was silent, but for Jack, the screaming wind seemed to be growing louder and louder inside his head. He huddled against the wall, hood up, his face buried into his knees as he hugged them to his chest. Over and over, the recent events seemed to be replaying in his mind as if to remind him of what a danger he had become to those closest to him.

All alone again, the voice mused, It seems you always end up alone.

Jack had given up on trying to ignore or resist the voice in his mind. It seemed to get stronger with every passing moment.

'It's better if I'm alone,' he mumbled, 'I can't hurt anyone that way.'

True. And we both know how dangerous you are when you're with them.

The images in his mind began to distort; instead of just Tooth, it was all of the Guardians who were hit by his icy blast, spears of ice stabbing into them as Jack laughed.

He gave a quiet whimper but couldn't stop them. The shadows at the back of the cave seemed to twist and move slightly, but with his face covered, he didn't notice.

I do wonder what you thought would happen when you decided to join the Guardians. It's clear they never truly cared about you.

'It was nice,' he replied, 'It felt like I finally had a family again.'

And yet here you are. You push away everyone who might ever care about you. Why do you do it?

'I didn't mean to!'

He finally looked up, but there was no one else there.

'Why are you doing this to me?' he mumbled.

I'm not doing anything to you, Jack. You're doing it to yourself. It was inevitable that this would happen. You just can't help yourself.

Outside the wind shrieked louder, as if trying to get his attention, but he couldn't hear it over the thudding of his own heart and his rasping breath.

But it's okay. You're safe here with me. The dark always welcomes those the light casts away.

The shadows seemed to shift again and spread outwards towards him, but he didn't shrink back. The voice was right. He had nothing to fear from the dark. At least it would hide him from the Guardians and Spirits for a time. And right now, that was all that mattered.

Mabon was spinning his paintbrush in his fingers nervously as he, Chūntiān and Alsayf waited for Mother to appear. But he wasn't nervous for himself, but for Jack, wherever he was. He knew the others were too, but were showing it in different ways. Chūntiān appeared to be meditating while Alsayf was distracting herself by scooping up dead leaves and setting them on fire, watching the ashes curl to the ground.

'What are we even doing here?' she suddenly demanded, making Mabon jump. 'Jack's off who knows where, all alone. We should be out there looking for him.'

'As I said before,' Chūntiān replied serenely, 'Mother will be able to find him. But we must be patient.'

'I'm sick of being patient. I want to know why Jack's behaving this way. And don't tell me its stress from what happened with Jokul. We're all fine.'

'I am afraid something has infected his mind.'

Mabon and Alsayf both jumped as Mother materialised in the middle of the clearing with a frown. That immediately made his heart drop.