Blackice Oneshots

2

This one is long guys!

Three hundred years of existing without his presence being acknowledged even once taught Jack early on to never expect the good to stay good. A year of being recognized and noticed didn't change that, even if the other Guardians thought otherwise. A year didn't make the fear of waking up one day and having the eyes of his comrades look right through him. As far as Jack was concerned, it was just a matter of time before the other shoe dropped.

The darkness, the fear, none of it was something he dared share with the other Guardians because Jack knew he was fine. He didn't need their pitying looks or their worry when he knew truly that he was doing to be fine. No one was without darkness, without fear, at least not entirely.

Which begged another question that plagued his thoughts almost nightly. If Pitch fed on fear, weren't they doomed to come up against him once more, regardless of if they had 'defeated' him before? Jack had asked North that once and only gotten a deep chuckle and a dismissive wave in response.

There was of course an even darker question beneath even that though. A question of what side Jack would fall on if it came to another fight. At his core, Jack knew he'd do whatever necessary to protect the kids for as long as he could just like the other Guardians did, but he could feel the power calling to him. The twisted spire of cold fear in the jagged crags of Antarctica was like a beacon of raw strength urging him back.

Jack wondered if Pitch felt the call the way he did. He couldn't help but wonder why he felt sad at the thought that maybe Pitch could feel it but couldn't do anything about it, trapped and powerless in his lair of nightmares.

"So, mate. When you gonna stop moping by the window and go build up your own ice palace?"

Jack jerked out of his thoughts and looked over at Bunnymund. He hopped down from the windowsill to join the other a top one of the many platforms that overlooked North's workshop.

"Don't need a palace. Never had one before and it's not like I can manufacture fun the way you guys do anyways," Jack said with a shrug. "Besides, I've never been one to settle."

Bunnymund snorted. "For a guy who don't settle, you've sure been around quite a while."

"North doesn't mind," Jack said.

"Still seems like a waste of power not to make yourself a nice little ice palace," Bunnymund said. "A place to call home ya know, mate? But by all means, don't let me get in the way of your nomadic life style."

Jack chucked a snowball at the other Guardian when he began to head towards North's office. He grinned when it earned him a deep and full laugh. Leaning on his staff, Jack peered over the edge of the platform to observe the bustling shop below. Bunnymund did have a point. He'd never stayed anywhere as long as he'd stayed at North's shop, and frankly he wasn't the biggest fan of the noise.

But he couldn't leave. He didn't dare because he knew where the winds would carry him the moment he left the shop. Jack wasn't ready to face that. Not yet.

-.-

Jack lasted two more weeks. Two weeks of dreaming of that glorious spire and Pitch's voice at the back of his mind, urging him to open his eyes and see what they could achieve if they just worked together. Part of him wondered if the dreams were a message and if the Moon wanted him to go south.

What Jack couldn't figure out was why. Why would the Moon want him to see how well his power blended with Pitch's? Naturally, the only way to truly find out was to go and see for himself. North wasn't that hurt when Jack left, which stung more than Jack thought it would. It was obvious he wasn't needed, but that didn't mean he had to be comfortable with acknowledging it.