Rise of the Guardians | NCT Dream

04: A Heart of Gold

Y/N put both arms over her head as the nearest orca dived towards them. Jisung was faster, his sand surrounded Y/N and carried her away from the radius of impact.

The other guardians had dispersed too. Jaemin and his faeries were helping the little eggs and the other residents of the Warren to get to a safe place while Renjun with his boomerangs and Jeno with his swords were distracting the orcas for Jaemin. Haechan was up in the air, flurries of ice were blasting from his staff but they did not seem to have an effect on the ginormous animals other than making them angry.

"There's too many of them!" She heard Haechan shout.

"Jaemin, watch out!" Jeno tried to protect him and got hit by a fin of the orca.

Renjun was in a difficult position too. His boomerangs were barely making a dent in the orcas. The animals whistled, the sound loud and threatening.

Y/N's heart was racing. Now as she stayed behind Jisung, letting him use his sand to drive the orcas off, letting him defend her, she felt completely useless. How was she - a defenceless human - supposed to stop someone that five other magical beings could not? Perhaps the moon man chose the wrong person. And to top it all, they didn't even have a plan or any favourable information against Pitch.

"I can't," she murmured.

"What?"

"I can't do this. I can't stop him," her voice trembled. "Take me back home."

Jisung made a temporary cage around them to hold back the dark creatures. "Y/N," he said softly, looking at her. "Why do you say that?" The golden strands in his dark hair shone under the moonlight.

"What can I even do other than holding you back? No- let me finish. You guys have more strength and skill than I ever will. What can I possibly do that you can't?"

An orca banged its head against the cage, startling both Y/N and Jisung. The bars of the cage shuddered weakly but persisted. "Maybe strength and skills are not what is required to defeat him."

Y/N shook her head. "Then what?"

Jisung shrugged. "I guess we will find out about how special you are once you face him." Another orca attacked the cage. "No one is forcing you to be here," he continued. "But think about what will happen if he is not stopped. Think about all the sleeping children, cowering under their blankets because of a nightmare." Y/N immediately thought of her little sister and her nightlight that she believed would keep the monsters away.

Would Yuno never dream again? Will all her nights be plagued by nightmares?

"And besides," he said, managing a small smile. "You heard what Jaemin Hyung said to you."

"Humans have more powers than they know of," the two said in chorus. Jisung gave another smile, obviously pleased.

He took both of her hands in his large, warm ones. "So, are you coming?"

"Yes," Y/N said quickly before she lost her courage again.

Jisung nodded once, turned around and secured her arms around his stomach. "Hold on tight," he cautioned. Golden sand rose around their feet and formed a small, irregular platform under them. With a flick of his hand, Jisung broke down the cage and made the platform soar upwards.

Y/N's arms around him tightened as the distance between them and the ground increased. She was reminded of Aladdin and his magic carpet ride as she zoomed around the orcas, the wind in her hair and adrenaline in her blood. The large size of the orcas made them slower and easy to dodge.

They flew until they were right above one of the orcas. Jisung lowered them down on the animal's back, causing it to angrily flick its tail. Y/N held onto the boy for dear life. He placed both of his hands on the creature's surface and golden sand radiated from beneath his palms, making the orca calm down. The gold spread fast until it consumed the entirety of the black surface. And afterwards, this orca was Jisung's.

The other orcas came at them but their golden orca dodged them right away. Looping and diving through the air. It was obvious what Jisung was going to do from now, target another orca. But before he could do that, they came to a halt.

There was another orca floating in front of them. And on top of it sat Pitch Black.

The first thing Y/N noticed was his age, he looked even younger than most of the guardians. His ivory skin contrasted with his mop of black hair and dark clothes. His cheekbones were sharp compared to his other delicate features. He sat upright, head held high and oozing class. His cloak flowed behind him gracefully. A small smile played on his pink lips.

"Chenle," Jisung whispered.

"Are you the one?" He asked, he was looking directly at Y/N.