Jack's POV:
In the end, I chose to tell them. Maybe they would protect me from Pitch, as they were much more powerful then me. Of course, I was probably making Pitch much angrier at me, but I couldn't live my life with Pitch's threats hanging over my head.
From the corner of my eye, I saw an open window. A chance to escape! No, I need to tell them. Maybe they could help me. Its alright to ask for help sometimes, right?
"Believe it or not," I said, "Pitch Black has been talking to me."
"What?" Three of the guardians answered in union (except Sandy, of course). North looked at Bunny in the eyes and patted his belly. Secret code maybe? But the way Bunny scowled back at him made me thing that Bunny was wrong, and North was right.
I told them the story from where I was lying on the roof and my staff was taken away by the shadows to the actual part where Pitch talked to me, warning me. I couldn't help it, but my voice shook as I recalled it.
"Dark tendrils?" North asked when I finished. "That certainly sounds like Pitch. But we haven't seen him in centuries. Why all of sudden he come after you?"
"I don't know!" I said. "He warned me to stay away from you, but I guess I'm probably in more danger now since I'm here."
"Listen, mate. Its better that you're here now. That way, we can protect you from whatever Pitch wants with you." Bunny said gently.
I was not used to this. The Guardians were actually being nice to me. I bet they saw me as a weak little boy begging for their help. I don't need their protection! I've been fine for three hundred years and I didn't need their help. Or did I? Who knows how long Pitch has been watching me for. Perhaps it was good timing that they came along.
And the fact that they wanted me to be a Guardian was stupid! They know what I care about, and responsibility and rules was not the answer. Me? A Guardian? What a joke. They must understand that making me one of them was a joke too. I'd never get anything done, particularly in their headquarters. Can you imagine the amount of trouble I could cause here in the pole? Or in Bunny's warren? I think I'm saving them a heap of effort by turning down their 'huge-honour' offer.
I shook my head. "I don't think it's better, Bunny. What if Pitch caught me? I'd be in bigger trouble with him then I already was."
Tooth dashed over to me, her face a bit too close to mine. "That's the thing, Jack. He won't catch you if you stay here with us."
"Can you promise that?" I asked, twirling my staff in my hand.
Sandy nodded enthusiastically, a pair of hands in a thumbs up gesture appearing above his head in golden sand.
"No, I think I'll leave. I don't want you guys to suffer Pitch's threat," I said. The Guardians looked appreciative of me.
North gave a hearty laugh, then said with his thick Russian accent, "it nice that you care about us much, Jack, but we can guarantee your safety. As long as you with us, we shall keep you safe."
Wow, they actually think I care about them. I just want to leave this stupid place before Pitch realises where I am. I don't know Pitch very well, but I know he's the Nightmare King. That means he can reach me in my nightmares! I'm not safe from him unless I do what he says. Stay away from the Guardians.
Suddenly black sand appeared around us, swirling like a storm. The Guardians backed together, me included, and prepared to fight. Bunny with his boomerangs, Tooth with her fairies, North with two swords, Sandy with a golden whip and me with my staff.
Pitch's cold voice echoed around the chamber, then he formed, his golden yellow eyes looking directly at me. "Hello, Guardians."
"Pitch," North snarled.
"What do ya want?" Bunny snapped.
Pitch chuckled, making my blood freeze. "I only want to ask a question. To Jack."
"You leave him alone!" Tooth shouted. "He told us everything!"
"Everything, Jack?" Pitch's voice bounced around the room. "You ignored my warning, Jack?"
He turned to me, his head tilted curiously. My whole body shook with fear. Why did this scare me so much? I haven't been this scared since... well, the night I became Jack Frost. I was right. They couldn't protect me. No one could. I should have left when I had the chance. I should have flown right out that window. But Pitch wasn't done.
"And you, North? You ignored my warning?"
The rest of us froze. Nothing moved except Tooth's wings and her fairies. North was warned? He was the one who ordered Bunny to get me! If he knew, then he's the one who put me in danger.
North ignored the looks we were giving him. "What do you want, Pitch?"
"Oh, I want what you have... to be believed in."
I related to that. I've always wanted to be believed in, to be seen. Not just be a saying. Jack Frost nipping at your nose. It was all that people knew me by, and that was just a simple saying. I don't have my own special day or a celebration. No one waited for me to come as they did with the others. Pitch understood what it was like not to be believed in.
"If you were believed in, the whole world would be just fear!" Bunny yelled.
Pitch smiled cruelly, aiming it unmistakably at me. "What would happen if your little winter spirit was believed in? If he became stronger? Would the world turn to frost?"
I looked at Bunny. He was the only one who could tell Pitch what I would do if I was believed in, and he hated my guts. "No!" Bunny protested uncertainly. "The world wouldn't turn to frost if he – when he... becomes a Guardian."
Even I could tell that wasn't sincere. No one knew what would happen to me if I was believed in. I was already a handful when I wasn't believed in. Imagine the pranks and trouble I could cause with that kind of power. Bunny would hate that.
The Nightmare King laughed. "See! You're not even sure if you want Jack as a Guardian!"
Suddenly, the Guardians flew into action. Bunny hurled his twin boomerangs at Pitch, who narrowly missed them by disappearing into the shadows. When Pitch appeared again, North lunged at him, swinging his blades wildly. Sandy whipped the sand that formed the dreaded nightmares horses Pitch used to change his dreams, which exploded each time. Tooth dived towards Pitch with nothing up her tiny fists. She didn't land a hit on him, but she forced him back into another shadow.
Only I spotted him again. He was lurking in a corner, out of sight in the shadow. I shot a blast of winter magic from my staff, which Pitch blocked with a wall of black sand. The sand engulfed my ice, and it froze like a statue. Despite his situation, Pitch shot me a smirk, then disintegrated into black grains of sand and swept out the window.
"Come on!" I yelled. "We have to get him!"
They all nodded in agreement and we all made our way to the sleigh. Of course, I could fly, but Tooth insisted that I stuck near them. The elves and yetis rushed to set up the sleigh with the magical reindeer, but managed to in record time.
"Buckle up!" North yelled. Bunny checked around the seat frantically.
"B-buckle up? Where's the seatbelt on this thing?" He demanded.
North laughed, "There are no seatbelts." Then he yanked a lever and we took off into the air after Pitch, who was riding one of his nightmares. Even though the sleigh was going at incredible speed, it wasn't fast enough to catch Pitch. I used the wind to keep my balance on the sides of the sleigh and aimed my staff at the nightmare, then summoned my magic to launch an icy shard.
The horse Pitch was on crumbled to dark sand and he tumbled through the sky. He was immediately caught by another nightmare. He turned to us, his golden eyes burning with absolute loathing. I shot him a winning grin, just to annoy him.
"You want to play, Jack?" Pitch yelled, thrusting his hands into the air. Dark storm clouds filled the sky, rumbling with thunder. Nightmares gathered behind their master and melded together in a towering tidal wave. They fell in on the sleigh. North commanded the reindeer to dart out of the way and I shot magic ice at the closest ones.
Bunny began to toss his boomerangs at the dark horses, killing three or four before they returned to him. Tooth stayed in the sleigh with North, who was directing his sleigh to run into the horses, but wielded one of his giant blades and swung it at the approaching nightmares. Sandy was floating on a cloud of golden dust, and lashing his identical whips at the horses, taking out three with each hit.
Me? Well, I went after Pitch. Stupid, I know, but I knew I take him. He was hiding behind his attacking horses, riding on a larger nightmare.
"Pitch!" I yelled. Pitch turned from watching the Guardians to me, a smirk on his lips. Anger roared in my ears. I flew forward, a column of ice magic bursting from my staff. It shot straight through the horse he was on and it imploded beneath him. But he floated there.
He raised his hands and tendrils of dark sand, like the ones from the alley, curled down his arms and shot towards me. Electric blue ice flew out to meet it, blocking it from getting any closer to me. I gritted my teeth, summoning all the magic I had and focusing it on that wall. It edged closer to Pitch.
Pitch was struggling to push back, probably because he had so many other nightmares at work. From the corner of my eye, I saw nightmare after nightmare crumble to dust. His power increased with each nightmare and the wall crept closer to me.
My staff trembled in my hands and, for a second, I feared it would snap from the strain. But I didn't give up. I pushed harder, willing all the strength I had to fight back. My staff grew a thin layer of frost, like protection, and glowed a faint blue.
Pitch's POV:
I could tell the winter spirit before me was weakening. His staff glowed, his arms trembled from the effort and his normally bright blue eyes grew weary from all the power he was using. I didn't know that the boy had so much strength in him.
I was forced to take power from my nightmares, but I couldn't take it all. Something had to keep the Guardians busy while I duelled Jack. And if they came to help... I would certainly lose.
I needed to keep pushing him so that either he would give in, or his staff would. I willed more nightmares to collapse to join me, and my darkness forced Jack's ice back. He strained against it, his arms were clearly quivering now. His teeth were gritted, like he was using every last bit of strength to fight me.
Sweat popped up from his forehead and slid down his face. Then I felt it. The very thing I lived for. Fear. The boy radiated it so powerfully that I felt refreshed, like new. Sand swirled around my arms, thicker then before and threw itself at the wall that was approaching Jack. Nightmares formed and ran at the wall, pushing it back further.
Then it happened. Jack clutched his staff so tight and forced so much power upon it that it couldn't take it. The white-haired boy's staff snapped in two and fell from his grip.
"Jack!" The Tooth Fairy yelled his name, but there was nothing she could do. She was too far away to help him.
Jack plummeted through the sky and, without the power of his staff, he had no chance regaining his control on the wind. Besides, he was winded from his battle with me and the breaking of his beloved staff wouldn't have helped. There was no way my nightmares would let the Guardians get near him, so I was his only chance.
I willed my nightmare to race after the falling boy. It caught him on its back, tendrils securing him there, and it became clear that Jack had passed out from exhaustion. The Guardians yelled at me, ordering me to give their precious winter spirit back and I only laughed. They must know I wouldn't give him back. I warned North to stay away, and he ignored me. This is what he gets.
The nightmare and I flew down to the town beneath us. I had to find Jack's staff. Even though it was broken and probably useless for the boy, he would still obey me if I threatened it. But there was no time. The Guardians came thundering after me, so I melted into the shadow of a nearby alleyway with the nightmare horse.
Oh Jack, the fun we will have.