Rise of the Guardians One-Shots pt.2

Be Brave

"Aster, leave it. Focus on the books." Ares watched his two other sons glare at Pitch. The tribe was asked to stay in the Warren to contain their anger. They wanted Pitch. They thought it was his fault. He left Eleanor to explain that these were mares that Jack's power had attached to. He looked back down at his book before closing eyes, saying a prayer to anything that would listen to help them.

Jack looked up as his Seasonal friends walked up. Their fear was low, quiet. He watched them walk up before he gave a small smile. 

"How do I look?" Archie kept his emotions in check. He had been told by Mother Nature that Jack was feeding off of fear in the room whether he knew it or not. They had all planned to keep their fear in check so Jack wouldn't be uncomfortable. He watched April and Crystal sit down to lean against the glass. 

"Jackie, tell me how you keep getting yourself into this mess?" He laughed. Archie didn't want to sit like everyone else was. He wanted to keep his eyes on Jack, one of his bestfriends were hurt and he couldn't help him. He couldn't do anything. 

"Archie, I'm okay." He nodded before slowly sitting down. He stayed quiet as everyone else was making Jack laugh. He heard the jokes coming from Noah and Stray but didn't pay attention. He missed the white hair and the blue eyes. This new look was nothing he wanted. He heard Jack stop talking. That's when he finally looked to his side, Derek and Marcus walking up. Who the hell invited Derek?  

Jack froze. He tasted Derek's slight fear. It tasted good. He wanted to tell Derek to go, to run, but the new part of him was feeding on it. He felt energy gather in him. A power went through him before he looked over to the corner of the box. There was nightmare sand gathering in the corner. He itched to touch it, something was different about it. He felt like he could control it. He glanced back at Derek to find him not looking at him. A wicked feeling went through him as he lost control. 

"Afraid, Derek? Isn't that strange...You afraid of me. I kinda like it." April's head snapped to Jack to see a grin that didn't match him. Her breath caught as she saw him moving his fingers, a strand of nightmare sand moving with them. She looked up at Derek to find him walking backwards. 

"Jack. What the hell?" Marcus hissed at him. He saw the change in his friend, the way his eyes narrowed in on Derek. He saw the way the nightmare sand inside the box started collecting in the corners. He swallowed before looking back to see if the Guardians were seeing this. They weren't paying any attention to them. He looked back in time to see Jack come back to himself. 

"Oh- oh god...Walk away, just all of you go away." Jack stood up, walking to the corner near the window. He looked over to find that the image of Emma was back and staring at him. She tilted her head with a smile. 

"I told you. You like it, Jackie. It's just a matter of time." He shook his head as he brushed the sand off his hoodie. He leaned against the wall of the box as he just focused on breathing. He ignored Crystal still trying to talk to him. It was making him feel a different rush on anger. He clenched his fist before turning around to tell her to hush but ended up doing something else. 

Everyone jumped at the boom noise. Pitch looked up to find what he was afraid of. Jack's ice was black like the statue in the Artic as it hit the barrier of the box. It covered the corner he had aimed at. He saw all the Seasonals backed away against the wall and knew the self hate was coming Jack's way. It would break him down more to their influence. 

"Jackson." He saw Jack look at him with shocked eyes before he just nodded. He watched Jack nod back before walking back to the corner. He motioned for the Seasonals to walk away. There didn't need to be anyone around Jack right now. He looked back down at the book in his hand that was talking about cleansing. He frowned, no one here could cleanse something this strong.