Cold and Dark

Jack felt it a bit hard to look at the nightmare king, one part of him actually wanted to attack Pitch and take revenge for the sandmans death. But he doubted that he would be able to defeat Pitch that easily, and another part of him didn't want to do such a thing.

"I did change my mind about the situation." He confirmed. "I saw my memories, and understood the reason the moon chose me as a guardian." He then explained before leaning his staff towards a wall and leaving it there. He wasn't afraid that Pitch would attack him, he believed that as long as he himself weren't going to be a threat towards the dark king then he would be left unharmed. At least he hoped so.

"With that said, I still don't agree with his decision of not telling me anything for 300 years. And I can't accept the title as a guardian. But I am here as a representative for them." Jack had no idea how Pitch would react, he didn't want to hurt him, because they shared a pain few would understand.

"Fear is needed just as much as hope. What you do doesn't have to be a bad thing. But what the guardians do is also needed. You could be able to co-exist with each other. No side would have to loose." Pitch was so close to creating his utopia, and Jack knew that. That's why it would be very unlikely for Pitch to accept this. Jack could only hope that the good side of Pitch would realize that it wasn't such a bad idea. After all, if he were going to create a dark age again, wouldn't new spirits or guardians try to stop him at some point? It would just go around in a circle forever.
 
Pitch pondered on the winter spirit's words seemingly floating around the room. He could taste the slight doubt that Jack exuded and he smiled. The Nightmare Kind could co-exist with the guardians but how long would the alliance last until the guardians became strong again? Plus accepting this offer most likely meant giving up what power he gained, which would mean the Sandman would come back, and boy he would not be happy with Pitch at all.

The Nightmare King wanted to keep his power but a small nagging part of his mind thought it might be fun to work with some of the guardians again. Oh how much he wanted that part to shut up and stop talking. He wasn't that man anymore and certainly could not be. Kozmotis Pitchiner died in that cell to give way for Pitch Black; perhaps not completely though. Pitch still had compassion in him but only to a limit. He has a soft spot for Jack, that is certain, but Pitch didn't think he could give up power for it unless he was getting something in return.


"The guardians continue on being believed in while what? I live in the shadows and steal away in the night still?" He asked "Balance is something I can agree on but, I'm giving up more than the guardians are. I need something that can… counteract that" Pitch stopped his pacing and approached Jack tall and proud "I need a good offer, something that will balance the scales. If you can't come up with a good offer I continue on my path, what can you offer me Jack? I'll give you five minutes to decide starting now"
 
Jack wasn't too surprised of the fact that Pitch wanted something in return, it was more the fact that he actually considered giving up everything he had worked for that shocked Jack. He had almost completely crushed the guardians and still he was willing to stop that, at least if Jack could give Pitch something he wanted. That was the problem, what did Jack have to offer to the nightmare king? What did the guardians have to offer.

If he at least had gotten an hour then he could have spoken with the others about it, but now he had to make a fast decision. He stroke his hand through his snow white hair as he walked closer to the wall to lean on it, still not picking up his staff. He just didn't feel the need to, he didn't feel threatened in the dark with Pitch.

He tried to search his memories, was there something Pitch had said that could be of use? "Join me?" "Do you know what we could do together Jack?" "You don't have to be alone." Why was those the memories that decided to pop up? But it wasn't like he was opposed to it. Actually he was more drawn to that idea. But was that something the nightmare king would accept as an offer? Well, it was all Jack had to offer.

His time was about to run out when he decided. "I think we both know that I don't have much to offer." He told Pitch. "I can only offer myself. I don't mind joining you. If that's not enough, then there's really nothing else I can do."

The only reason Jack had rejected Pitch from the beginning had been because of the war between the guardians and the nightmare king. A war Jack didn't want to get involved in because he didn't have ill intentions towards any side. But if they had met before the event of him being chosen as a guardian, then he wouldn't have hesitated.
 
(Sorry for the HUGE delay *~*)

Pitch floated along the floor keeping time in his head. He smiled at Jack knowing that the frost spirit felt somewhat anxious about the deal that is going on. What was he going to come up with in the time frame? There is not much that Pitch wants that he can't get by himself. He hummed quietly to himself in thought.


Companionship is one thing that Pitch cannot get by himself. Sure he had his nightmares and nightmare men, but it is not the same as a spirit or a human. Everyone seemed to have at least one friend they have made in their journey while Pitch did not. Possibly before he became The Nightmare King but he simply could not remember much from that time.

He stopped when Jack finally spoke and raised an eyebrow. So he was offering himself up as part of the deal. Would he be able to give up his plan for a companion? He thought for a moment studying Jack with gold eyes. Pitch nodded his head and snapped called the shadows back to him. "I'll take you up on that offer for now. But the Guardians will have to rebuild on their own. Can't give them the complete advantage" He said with a small smile. The living shadows poured into the room, slowly filling all of the crevices giving the room unseen life.
 
(No worries ^^)

It was a great relief for Jack to hear that Pitch accepted, it was also a bit surprising. He wasn't surprised about Pitch accepting it, but that the nightmare king did. Jack was fully aware of both sides of Pitch, one side very dark, the other one still the human he once were. Up until this point he hadn't been certain which side dominated him the most, but now he started to see that the dark side of him might not be as thick as others made it appear to be.

He walked over to his staff and picked it up. As he leaned on it with a bit of a childish but still admiring smile on his lips he spoke. "Sounds like a fair deal to me." He took up the snow globe portal he had in his pocket and looked at it for some seconds before looking back at Pitch. "Wanna come along?" He asked with a playful voice. He didn't mind either way. It would be good for the guardians and Pitch to talk to each other if they were to co-exist. But at the same time it might not be the right time for them to meet up at the moment. But they knew that Jack was trying to pursue Pitch to stop his plans without violence, so it shouldn't be such a shock that the nightmare king might come to them for negotiations, even though that wouldn't be the case now when everything seemed to be settled.
 
Pitch thought for a minute and nodded "It would be wise to tell the guardians my terms," he said walking over to Jack and placing a hand on the winter spirits shoulder "But we are going to travel my way" he stated before pulling the two of them through the shadows. It was natural to him now to be stretched by the shadows now but it would probably catch his passenger off guard. He let go when the two of them arrived just outside of North's Workshop and step surely towards it mindful of deep snow. It was not that the cold bothered him, he just rather not fall and make a fool of himself.


The yetis eyed him warily and went to defend the door before Pitch dissolve before them and continued on behind the beasts. Made quick work to get to the top of the stairs, just transported through the shadows to save time. It was too noisy and colourful in this place and he wanted to leave.
 
Jack was a bit curious on how Pitch would react going through the portal, so it disappointed him a bit that he decided for them to travel through the shadows. The feeling he got as they traveled was indescribable, and for him, not very fun nor pleasing, though it didn't hurt nor was very uncomfortable either. They soon arrived in the snow outside of North's workshop, his naked feet not bothered at all by the cold.

The yetis looked a bit confused at Jack after they had unwillingly let Pitch pass. They knew that Jack was welcome there, but now he suddenly arrived with the Nightmare king, was they supposed to let him pass or not? Jack sighed a bit and shook his head. "Don't worry, he's just here to talk." He told them before flying past them and catching up to Pitch. In difference from the boogeyman, Jack really enjoyed the colorful workshop. His curiosity of North's workshop had even led him to attempts of breaking into it before he knew the man, but he had never gotten past the yetis.

Bunnymund, North and Toothiana was discussing what they would do if Jack didn't succeed. A lot of their powers were already gone, and more was disappearing every minute. "Wow, this room has a really depressing atmosphere. Lucky I come with some good news then." Jack said as he entered the room.

"Jack." Tooth smiled excited before she noticed that the Nightmare king also was present.
 
Bunnymund hopped from behind Toothiana now quite literally a small bunny. He puffed out his tail in agitation "Took you long enough" he squeaked at Jack with an angry look "I believe that since he's here because he accepted the offer?" Bunnymund did not want to address Pitch directly, the spirit intimidated Bunny and Bunny knew there was nothing he could do if Pitch decided to attack. He was so small now that a lot of the hope was lost in the world. There were a few strong believers in the world but he can feel them wavering and it hurt the Pooka's heart.

Pitch bristled at the Guardians. They were all so weak yet they just exuded hope and wonder and all of the good feelings and it rubbed him the wrong way. His dealing was with Fear and darkness, things he has been very familiar with even before his possession. A few images flashed in his mind and he did his best to shake them out. Pitch didn't want to handle memories like the ones before him in any way shape or form. They reminded him just how lonely and damaged he was.


Huffing out air he addressed the Guardians as a whole "While I may have accepted the offer I am only stopping. You are all to rebuild without me and I am to be left in peace when I need to feed" he stated crossing his arms defensively. If anyone wanted to attack him they could but there wasn't much chance with the state they were in, except for young Jack. An oddly powerful spirit with no experience or believers. Pitch eyed everyone wearily for a second "I'd like to leave soon Jack, this place is too… bright for me"
 
North thought for a moment about Pitch's words. He had never thought that Pitch would help them to rebuild so that wasn't a surprise, but he didn't quite like the idea of letting him feed freely, even though he mentioned that it was for when he needed it. But it wasn't much they could do about it at the moment, they had to save Bunny before he was completely gone. With Pitch stopping now they would probably have just the amount of time to save their little friend, even though it might take some time to get him back to his usual self. But something wasn't right, he was certain that there was some part they didn't know about. After all, there wasn't much Pitch won in this deal.

"We accept." North said, knowing that they didn't have much choice and there was no time to actually discuss it.
"Not yet." Toothiana intervened. "My faeries, they will be freed, right?" Even though it had the tone of a question, it was far from it. It was more of a demand. She knew that they didn't have any chance of wining in this situation if they were to fight, but her fairies were a part of her, they were her children and family, just like North's yetis and elves was part of his family. She wasn't certain what would happen to her teeth, if she would have to start completely over again. But she could let go of them if needed. Her faeries on the other hand was one things she wouldn't let go off.

Jack had completely forgotten about the faeries, or rather suppressed it. The shame of not helping them when he had the chance had forced the memories to be locked deep inside his mind, or else he wouldn't have been able to face Tooth nor the others.
 
(So so so soo sorry for the delay. I've been working my ass off to save up to go to europe so I've been working 5 - 8 hour shifts almost everyday w/ no time for internet)

Pitch thought for a minute. He had completely forgotten about the tooth fairies… He looked up at Toothiana and waved a hand. "Yes you can them back they're just locked up right now." He said tapping his foot looking impatient. Pitch really did not want to be inside the workshop, it was too many colours and sounds it overloaded his light sensitive eyes and gave him a headache. "I'll be right back" he said before dissolving into darkness to his lair. He quickly unlocked the cages with his sand before returning to the workshop and laying a hand on Jack's shoulder. "It is done. Was there anything else anyone wanted to inquire about?" he asked rolling his eyes.

"Yah, just one thing," Bunnymund said with a hop "How the bloody hell did Jack get you to agree?" he asked looking at Pitch with a glare. It was rather odd for Pitch to just give up all of that power, with them being one guardian down a severely weakened.
 
(I understand, life gets hectic sometimes ^^)

The young winter spirit was glad that so far things seemed to go well. Not that anything could go bad now when Pitch already had agreed. He didn't know what he had been worried about before, after all, the guardians couldn't attack Pitch in the state they were in and Pitch had lied his plans on ice for now.

Bunnymunds question made Jack's stomach turn a bit. It wasn't that the choice he made felt wrong, but that choice also made him feel like he was betraying his other friends. He had already told them that he wouldn't become a guardian so it wasn't really a betrayal. So why did he feel bad over it? Though, if what he wanted became truth, then Pitch and the guardians wouldn't be enemies anymore, and then it wouldn't be as if he picked a side. But just because they weren't enemies wouldn't result in them actually liking each other.

"We came to an agreement that we all can gain from." Jack answered Bunny. "You won't disappear and you will be able to get back your beliefs and holidays. I can go back to making snowstorms and being irresponsible and having fun. And Pitch won't have to worry about anyone stopping him as long as he's not overdoing it." He explained, simplifying everything. "And I still won't join you. I'm going with Pitch." Jack noticed the shock on Tooth's face first of them all. "This is my choice, I wanted to do this." He confirmed before anyone had been able to say anything. He didn't want them to misunderstand into thinking that he was forced into it to save them.
 
Bunnymund's ear twitched and he looked positively boiling "Are you absolutely wrong in the head?" he shouted in his high pitched voice while hopping up to meet Jack eye to eye. "What possessed you to do this?" he asked feeling like he somehow failed as being a guardian. He felt that if he couldn't protect Jack (even though he was really harsh to him most of the time) he could not protect the children of the world.

"You heard him Aster," Pitch started while pulling Jack towards the shadows. He did not want to lose the frost spirit because of self doubt "He chose this and he protected you all with that choice. So you best be grateful Aster Bunnymund, and stand down for once," he hissed before pulling Jack completely through the shadows his lair in the heart of the Earth.

Bunnymund sputtered at the other guardians not knowing what to say to them as he stared at the point where the two dissipated. "What now?" he finally got out as he turned to North and Toothiana "We're still one guardian down."
 
Jack wasn't too surprised over Bunny's reaction, but it still made him jump a bit. Toothiana was shocked by the news and North couldn't find any words. Was that really Jack's choice? Or did he say that to make them feel better? They knew that Jack had met up with Pitch, but had he really decided that the boogeyman was the side to join?

The winter spirit didn't know how to respond to the now rabbit sized Pooka, and he didn't get any time to do so either since Pitch pulled him into the shadows and back to his lair. A sigh escaped Jack's lips and he hit himself on the forehead before letting his hand brush over his hair. "That could have gone better." He mumbled wishing that Pitch had stayed for a couple of more minutes, or at least left by himself so that Jack could explain the whole situation. But why expect that much of the man that patiently waited hundreds or even thousands of years to get his powers back after the guardians beat him. Now he couldn't wait five minutes to get out of the light apparently.


"Right now we have to focus on getting our powers back, we have to get Easter out to as many children as possible." North said. "After Easter we should focus on the teeth until our powers are restored." There wasn't much else they could do at the moment.

"And what do we do about Jack? Do you really think he went willingly? What if Pitch threatened him." Tooth said worried, not wanting to believe that Jack would choose Pitch Black's side.

"For now we can not to anything about Jack. He has given us a chance to get back our powers, and if Jack truly are there against his will, then we can not do anything about it at the moment." North reminded her.
 
Bunnymund nodded "Yeah but... Do you think we'll ever get Sandy back? I mean he's technically part of Pitch now right? He was integrated into his nightmare sand..." he tapped his tiny foot trying to think "But that's something to worry about later, we gotta focus on keeping me alive. I don't have many believers anymore." The little bunny rabbit bounced over to the globe and looked it up and down inspecting the small spots flickering in and out of their lives. He bristled a bit as a cold draft settled around him and hopped over to North "What do you think we should do big guy? Easter's past but we still need believers and I can't just rely on collecting teeth" he asked

"And it could've gone a lot worse" Pitch hummed at Jack before he swept around his lair for any faeries left behind. "They could have attacked immediately which would have nulled the agreement between us and them." he said as the black sand retracted back into the crevices of the stones. Pitch slicked his hair back and thought for a moment while quietly tapping his foot. He was quite possibly the strongest spirit on the planet at the moment and yet here he was backing down because some dumb frost spirit he grew fond of. "What do you suppose Fear and Fun make?" he asked looking at the small flickering lights on the globe.

(HOly i wrote this but i never posted it im so sorry)
 
"He's right. Non of my faeries will be able to fly for a while so collecting teeth will be a really slow process at the moment. Bunny might not make it during that time." Toothiana said worried. They had already lost Sandy, and chances were that they would never get him back. Was he dead? Or was there any way they could revive him? Nothing like that had happened before, so who knew. They couldn't loose Bunnymund too, both because he was a guardian and a friend.

North hmm:ed to himself before he went into a happy "aha" and burst out that he had an idea. If his swords hadn't been too heavy for him now he would probably have pointed it at someone just like he had at the tooth palace. "We could make Christmas and Easter tomorrow!" He said almost triumphing.

"What are you talking about?" Tooth asked confused. They were as far from Easter as they could get. And Christmas was far away.
"We will give children presents and put out the eggs tomorrow in as many places as we can. We will not have time to get to every child, but enough of them. It will be surprise Christmas and Easter!"

Pitch was right. It could have gone much much worse. Actually he should have been prepared for an attack. But somehow he couldn't believe that his friends would attack, especially not when they were so weakened. He felt sorry for Bunny, and he actually wanted to help them out a little bit, just in the beginning. But that could send mixed signals to both them and Pitch. Better to stay out of guardian business after all.

"Who knows. You can't find out before you try." Jack replied as he looked away from the globe. He rather not see what was going on with the believers. He was surprised that Pitch was using the word fun instead of mischief. Everyone else seemed to see his fun as annoying, childish and sometimes hurting, or maybe that was just Bunny. One snow storm on the wrong day and you would have to hear about it for the rest of your existence.

"Though saying that I'm fun might not sound good in everyone's ears." He then continued, his mood suddenly a bit down as he spaced out. His thoughts going away from Bunnymund and instead turning towards the memories of all those who died or got hurt because of him. He had never meant to hurt anyone, but there was always some that got lost in a storm that he probably could have eased, or someone dying of hypothermia or an avalanche. He had seen people die in his element, and not been able to do anything about it. Usually he just suppressed those memories, but that wasn't always possible. He should have realized sooner that Pitch probably could sense his uneasiness. Once he did remember he fast snapped out of it.

"Why did you agree to it anyway?" Jack asked as he turned to look at Pitch, now he mostly wanted to change topic, but he was also curious about one thing. "Was there any doubt that I might be lying and might go back to the guardians once their powers comes back?" It wasn't something he had thought about before then, shouldn't Pitch have doubted Jack's sincerity a little bit. He might just be helping his friends out, they had had enough time together to come up with that sort of plan.

(Luckily you noticed ^^)
 
"Uh, one problem there mate" Bunnymund started as he hopped over to North "I don't exactly have the man power to produce those eggs like I used too," he stated "The warren ain't like what it used to be"

In fact the warren was actually pretty cold and going brown from the lack of believers. The grass wasn't as vibrant as it should have been, and the water was not flowing as fast as it used too, almost becoming stagnant. Bunnymund's ear pulled back as he sighed "Man it's pretty much hopeless for me"

Pitch bristled at Jack's unease at being called fun and he turned back to the frost spirit with a raised eyebrow. "And calling you completely mischievous is wrong in everyone's ears. I can tell you never mean to harm, you... Care a bit too much about people." He said walking over to the frost spirit practically looming "and as for trusting you, you said it yourself that you didn't know if your place is with guardians."

Pitch smiled a bit at Jack and sighed "Besides, I can detect lies, there is always a certain strain of fear that laces words that tip it off to me. For me to believe a lie that person has to be completely fearless, which I have not met that person. You haven't answered my question yet." He stated not one easily sidetracked.
 
"Never say Hopeless" North told his little furry friend. "If you cannot make eggs in your warren, then we will make different kind of eggs right here! Instead of real boiled painted eggs, we put toys in fake eggs. We will not get enough for the whole worlds children, but to just the right amount. We take of the toys that has already been made for this years Christmas, and repaint a bit, and as fast as we have enough to put out in one town we go there with portal. Then we return here for the next round. That will give us time until Tooth and her faeries can fly, and for next Christmas to come, and eventually, the next Easter." Maybe the man was too hopeful, maybe it was useless. But he refused to give up, it didn't matter if his ideas didn't make sense as long as he thought it could give some results.

His yetis would just have to drop the toymaking for now, and make sure that everything was painted in more Easter-like colors instead of Christmas-like colors. This plan would make it hard for them to get enough toys to next Christmas, since it pretty much took 4 month's work away from them. But he had had worse years before that. Once the workshop almost completely burnt down seven month's before Christmas and they still made it in time. That was before the human population increased by billions during the 20th century, but he could definitely work it out.

If Jack had had any problem with understanding what it was that made him want to be with Pitch more than the guardians, he now had no doubts about it. Pitch didn't blamed him when he did wrong, he understood that it wasn't meant to hurt. How come two so different spirits, one that wanted to bring some fun into everyone's life and one that wanted to bring fear into them, could understand each others loneliness so well?

And then Pitch decided to get back onto his previous question. What do you suppose fear and fun make? Jack chuckled a bit as he leaned on his staff and brushed a hand through his white hair. "I suppose, from 300 years of experience, that fear and fun makes a prank." Jack answered, even though he was certain that it probably wasn't the answer the older spirit was seeking, if he even expected to find a good answer at all.
 
Bunnymund thought for a moment about the pros and cons of doing this. Christmas may not make its deadline but the gifts may trick children into thinking the 'extra special' Easter just needed more time. The bunny nodded his head in agreement "That just might work North, but you'll be on a tight schedule." He said a bit worried "You alright with that?" he asked uncertainly. It was a great idea but it would also make Christmas suffer and the yetis not so happy to see him (like they already were before). "But we should try even if we can only make it to a few towns because that would be enough to keep us sustained." The rabbit shifted around uneasily still feeling completely useless in his current form.

Pitch nodded with a smile "Fun is always better with a touch of fear. Creates a force humans like to call adrenaline." He laughed "Very power stuff that can be cause by pranks." Adrenaline was a very good gateway for the two of them to channel their powers and not lay dormant. Jack could provide the fun necessary to counter-balance the natural fear Pitch creates. The chemical adrenaline might also keep Pitch's urges to send his nightmares out.

"What do you say Jack Frost? Want to create adrenaline?" Pitch asked looking at Jack.

(Creativity is slowing being suck out of my soul for each essay I have to write in school, which is like ten)
 
(Aaw, I am so glad I'm not in school anymore haha. Good luck with the essays ^^)

"No worries, there have been much worse years. We'll make it somehow." North told his friend reassuringly, though the yeti Phil sighed in disagreement from across the room.

"We got a plan then." Tooth said almost singing in delight. "I need to get back to work, my little faeries won't be able to do anything before our powers gets back. I'll do my best until you are ready on your side." She then continued. Someone had to try and keep the last lights shining before Bunny and North could get out the Easter presents. She looked down at the small Pooka and gave him a smile. "Don't worry, we'll definitely make sure they'll believe again." She was as sure about that as she was sure about the sun rising again tomorrow. But she was afraid, afraid that once the children believed again, it might already be too late for Bunnymund.

Tooth borrowed one of Norths snow globes, luckily they weren't affected in the same way by their powerloss and would work a long while more. Without them they wouldn't have been able to get away from the North pole. She waved them goodbye and walked through the portal into a sleeping town. Now she had to work hard so that they keep the beliefs long enough for Bunny to survive.

North immediately put everyone to work, the yetis took the already done presents and colored them in more Easter colors. Everything that felt like it could belong to the Easter holiday was being used for just that. "I think we can take first round in three or four hours if we keep this tempo." North said after just minutes.


Pitch surprised Jack over and over again, but it always seemed to be in good ways. Even now it was a nice surprise. The oh so scary boogeyman, the one hiding beneath children's beds (or so they said at least), the one whom has been feared since ancient times (or so he had heard), was now considering doing pranks. It was kind of funny to think about it.

"That depends. Can an old man like you keep up? You don't become the spirit of mischief with age, you have to have the spirit of a child to get to my level." Jack joked. He might be 300 years old, but that was nothing compared to Pitch. And Jack was still like a kid, he couldn't throw away that side of himself. Even though no one could see him, he had still been interacting with the mortals, played pranks on them, sometimes they could have ended badly, like with that kid some days before. Jamie.
 
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