Curiosity and Nightmares 1

Curiosity and Nightmares

Rating: M (T for now)

Pairing: BlackIce

By: Shadako (FF) CuzIzHot (DA)


First Chapter: A white town of Burgess

Icy wind howled through the streets in the quiet town of Burgess, successfully chasing every human being inside his or her house. It was late November and the townspeople had adjusted just fine to the biting temperatures, but this night seemed especially harsh. Most of them settled for a cozy evening in front of their TV screens; others just went to sleep early; and no child was allowed to go out this late. This left a certain winter spirit alone and rather bored. What was the point in visiting his favorite town when no one was out to play with? Getting a bit frustrated with the fact that he would have to wait the whole night for some entertainment, Jack Frost decided to pay a visit to his long time friend Jamie.
Of course the boy had long since grown up; he was sixteen or seventeen by now; but that didn't change the fact that he still believed in the guardians. Floating on a snowy breeze the white haired spirit searched the houses for a familiar one. It didn't take long to make out the right building, peering inside the first window that came into view. It belonged to Sophie; Jamie's little sister. The blonde girl was sprawled out on her bed, peacefully asleep. Jack couldn't hide the smile that played across his lips when he heard her very unladylike snoring. She had grown up as well; becoming somewhat of a rebellious teen. The girl stopped believing in fairy tales and Santa Clause sometime last year, but the winter spirit still had a soft spot for her; Sophie being one of his very first believers. Of course that didn't stop him from playing a little prank on her now and then. But she wasn't the reason he was here, now was she?

A soft golden glow from the next window signaled that Jamie was still awake. Good, so maybe Jack would actually get some fun out of this night. Planning to freeze the boy's window and create a roaring ice - dragon to give him a good scare, the spirit drifted over to to the next window sill. He chuckled softly as he imagined the scolding look the Tooth Fairy would give him for this. But nobody said you couldn't pull a prank on a human now and then once you're a guardian. It was all just fun and games, of course.
Staff in hand and ready to cause some trouble for his unsuspecting friend, Jack looked inside the familiar bedroom. But his joy was short – lived. With a slightly annoyed groan he caught sight of not one, but two teenagers inside. So Jamie didn't have time for him either? Oh, come on; he was the spirit of winter and surely more important than some random girl! Sourly crossing his arms Jack seated himself on the windowsill; willing to wait till the friend Jamie had over would leave. But after a few minutes of watching he came to the conclusion that the brunette girl had no intentions of leaving. And she certainly was more than just Jamie's friend, judging from the way she pressed her lips to his. If Jack would have been able to blush, he would be the darkest shade of red by now. This was not the reason he was here; at all. Couldn't they at least turn off the light or close the damn curtains? Honestly...

Things inside the room were heating up pretty quick and Jack did not want to watch; so after the girl's shirt hit the ground, he was off. What was wrong with everybody lately? Was this stupid romance – stuff the only thing on peoples minds? There is more to life than making out. It annoyed the guardian of fun to no end. Somehow all of the kids who believed in him after their last big fight with the Boogeyman had decided that getting a girl- or boyfriend was more important than spending time outside to play in the snow. Sure, there were new kids who believed in him, but still! What was so damn great about this cheesy romantic crap? Jack never really bothered with it back when he was just some stray spirit, staying away from people and their private lives mostly. But now he was a guardian; he had people believing in him; so he naturally spent more time with them. Everything was great for a while, with the kids and all that. But nowadays when he felt like visiting one of his friends to play, they were already busy playing with someone else. Honestly, it made him angrier than it should.

With the last bit of good mood and hope for some fun - time down the drain, he could just as well create a nice little blizzard. He stood on top of the school buildings roof as he watched the chaotic snowstorm unfold; nothing too bad, just something to blow off some steam. Yes, that was very childish of him; yes, it was not called for at all. And no, it didn't have anything to do with the fact that he was mad that everybody he knew seemed to have someone. Everybody but him, of course.

Now even Jamie; who was roughly 300 years younger; had more experience than the winter spirit. That wasn't fair at all! Sure, Jack had died at a quite young age, probably not older than Jamie was now, but still. It was just unfair, and he hated the fact that he couldn't do much about it. The teenage guardian spent the rest of the night sitting on his roof watching the city grow white beneath a layer of snow. Served them right, now they had something else to worry about other than getting laid; namely getting out of their houses in the morning somehow. But as much as he wished it would, it didn't make him feel better at all.

~~~

Idly toying with his staff beneath the icy clutches of the wind, it took a while until Jack noticed something small buzzing next to his ear. The annoying sound pulled him out of his bitter thoughts and he turned to face its source. Baby tooth was happily chirping next to him, a bit ruffled by the harsh wind. A grin tugged at his lips once he reached a hand out to her small form.
"What's up, little one?" He hadn't seen her in quite a while; since they all had met up to celebrate last Easter. What could she want now? Her loud and high pitched squeaking was a riddle to Jack, but once she started to pull on his Hoodie he knew she wanted him to follow. With nothing better to do than to watch his bad – mood – induced snowstorm, the spirit took off after her; leaving behind a very white town of Burgess.


The chaotic workshop hadn't changed since the last time he visited. Elves were doing more harm than good with their work, annoyed Yetis tried to keep them in line and get their own work done. The bulky North walked between them, shouting orders in his Russian accent now and then. Everything was horribly hectic, with Christmas just around the corner. And jet he bothered to send for the other guardians. Jack didn't get why Santa wanted them around at all; but what did it matter. He always loved to sneak around between the tons of toys and inventions; everything colorful and interesting. Today it didn't do much to improve his sour mood, but it definitely was a good start.
He only arrived here a couple of minutes ago, and apparently so had Sandy. The golden glowing spirit currently sat on a big plush couch, animatedly symbolizing stuff above his head to an elf which was shocking itself with brightly lit Christmas decoration. Baby tooth had left Jacks side as soon as they approached the north - pole; probably going back to escort her queen. So for now he was left with Sandy to wait for the others to arrive; still no idea why he was even here. Asking the sandman wouldn't result in any useful information anyway; and watching him and the elves was more fun. So the winter spirit kept to himself until Bunnymund, Tooth, some of her faeries and North decided to join them. Once the large man was seated, he offered cookies to Tooth and Sandy, being his usual jolly self. They started talking about this and that, nothing really important to Jack, so he zoned out. Santa had probably just invited them all over to chat and what not. Unusual, but why not. The white haired spirit didn't really care; too busy with his own thoughts. Yes, he was still thinking about his “meeting” with Jamie.

He honestly couldn't get over the fact that his human friend had a lover and he didn't. Not even someone close to it. But then again, it wasn't as if he could just go and find one; that's much more complicated if you happen to be a spirit. Most mortals couldn't even see him, and as a guardian it wasn't exactly suitable to flirt around with them either. Leave alone the fact that they would die quite fast, given their mortality. So that was out of the question. What's left, then? Other immortal beings; but Jack wasn't prone to being the overly social type, so he barely knew any. And even less he actually liked. Those were namely the other guardians. He let his gaze wander through the room.

There was Tooth, friendly and nice and all, but her teeth – fetish was creepy, to be honest. And she had a lot of feathers. Not that it was bad to have them or anything; it just wasn't Jacks type. The next who came into view was Bunny. Na, the Pookha was more like a mean big brother or something. Just like North was a father figure in the frost sprites eyes; not a person you would get attracted to. That left Sandy, but honestly? Dating the sandman doesn't sound that appealing, either. Plus, Jack highly doubted the happy little guy would be interested in anything but dream sand and sleep.

Sighing, he turned his attention to the crackling fireplace somewhere on the other side of the room. The guardians were his family and they would never be anything else; so the teen came to the sad conclusion that he was running out of options. Was he really supposed to spend the rest of eternity alone? It wasn't that bad the first 300 years, sure, but now it was a different story. Now he had people to actually compare with. And a high school student with more experience as a best friend. With growing frustration he glared at the fire, silently cursing his inability to think of anybody suitable. Honestly, why was it so hard to think of another immortal who wasn't part of the guardians?
"What about Pitch?" Jack's process of thought came to an abrupt halt and he stared wide – eyed at Bunny. Did the rabbit somehow acquire the ability to read his mind? North answered, oblivious to the startled winter spirit.

"No, no, it can't be him! He's gone, remember?" He gave the Pookha a knowing look. The rabbit just shrugged. "Didn't stop him from coming back the last time." The Tooth fairy shuddered at the mention of the Boogeyman, clutching one of her little fairy's to her chest. Obviously the conversation had turned serious at some point, but Jack couldn't tell since he was busy daydreaming. His gaze wandered between the Easter bunny and Santa, both now arguing if it was possible for the Nightmare King to be back so soon or not. Sandy tried to get himself noticed, pointing at the signs above his head; Tooth just observed the banter between the two other guardians with worry.

"Ahm... guys? What makes you think he returned?" All eyes were suddenly on the guardian of fun, much to Jacks dismay. He should at least try to pay attention in future meetings. Bunny was the first to answer, shaking his head. "Didn't you listen, Frostbite? The nightmares!" Jack could only raise an eyebrow. Nightmares weren't unusual. There would always be a certain amount of them around, no matter what. Humans needed nightmares and fear, to a degree, to prevent them from doing stupid things. As long as the darkness wasn't overpowering the light and the good sides of life, everything was alright, wasn't it? Apparently not, since the rabbit gave Jack a disapproving look.
"Sandy just told us about his latest encounter with one of them." Now it was the kind voice of Toothiana explaining. "He said that he couldn't get rid of it, no matter what he tried. He couldn't turn it either, since it wasn't made of sand this time." Now that was new and it certainly perked Jack's interest. "What was it made of, then?"

The four guardian's attention focused back on the smallest one; Sandy already forming shapes at record speed. No one but Tooth seemed to be able to follow, so she translated for them. "He's saying it was pure shadow, or darkness. And no matter how often he tried to, he couldn't make it shatter or go away." By now North and Bunny were alarmed; whatever that had been, it couldn't be good. "So, how did you get rid of it?" The impatient Easter bunny inquired. "It went away once he finished with his work. It wasn't doing much, just watching him." The fairy shuddered at the idea of one of those things following her around. Not pleasant at all.
"So, basically you're saying Pitch somehow managed to create even more annoying nightmares?" Bunnymund wasn't happy, you could tell that much from the look on his face. The sandman just nodded eagerly, waving his little arms. Tooth gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. The first to speak again was North; the bulky man stood from his seat.

"Now, now; no need to worry! He didn't do anything jet, and we just saw one of those creatures. No big trouble." The rabbit stomped his large paw in disagreement.

"If it's Pitch, it's always trouble! And how do we know he doesn't have an army of those things already?" Santa seemed to think this over for a moment before he nodded.

"You might be right, we need to make sure he's not up to something." Tooth and Sandy nodded eagerly, Jack just shrugged. "We need to go check on him! We shouldn't have let him out of our sight in the first place." Bunny was determined to do something before the Boogeyman could even think up a new plan to plunge the world into darkness. "Bunny's right! Let's go! There's no time to loose." There was an unnatural high pitch to Tooth's voice. The fairy's wings buzzed at high speed; showing how nervous she was.

"Niet! We need to plan this trough, no rushed decisions this time." The bulky Russians words sounded final and no one protested; of course the rabbit gave him an annoyed look; but he kept his mouth shut as well.
Until now Jack had watched in silence, not thrilled at the idea of even more powerful nightmares at all. The last ones were enough trouble already. Why couldn't Pitch just stay down in his dark lair and leave them be? Santa instructed the guardians to stay around for a while, until it was clear what the Boogeyman was planning. He sure was afraid of a ruined Christmas; but who could blame him? After the disaster with Easter. Bunny agreed to stick around the north pole for now. Sandy and Tooth; having a lot of work and all; would drop by now and then to see how North's plan was coming. Since Jack didn't have anything better to do anyways, he agreed to stay as well; the noisy and chaotic workshop a good distraction to his none – too – happy thoughts lately.

~~~

So a lot of bickering with Bunny, some elf – made cookies and a short chat with Tooth later, the winter spirit found himself alone in one of Santa's guestrooms. The big Russian himself being too busy to entertain the guardian of fun. It was dimly lit by some Christmas lights, the red curtains drawn shut. Jack mustered the strange pattern of bells and reindeer on them with a bit of distaste. Nothing against Christmas, but this looked just ridiculous.
With a sigh he sat down on the soft mattress of the neatly made bed. Having a room was a nice change to his usual hanging – out – in – trees, he had to admit. But as soon as his head hit the pillow, he regretted his decision to stay. Why? Easy; he was alone here once everybody was busy with Christmas – preparations again. And worse than being alone; being alone inside a quiet, dark room with no distraction whatsoever. No wind to ride, no snowstorm to create; not even a night sky to watch. So he was left to his thoughts once again; and thinking was his least favorite thing at the moment. It only resulted in him thinking of things he did not want to think about. Things like what Bunny had said.

Not that it had any relation to Jack's unspoken questions from earlier, but it still gave him ideas. Ideas he highly despised. Like, actually considering the possibility of him together with-
"I am not having this thought process; at all." With that said he pressed the fluffy pillow into his face; to stop his mind from having more retarded ideas. Needless to say that it didn't work all that well. Honestly, what was wrong with him? Why wasn't he as disgusted and repulsed as he should be? Pitch was evil, for the sake of it! The only thing he was good for was making children miserable and spreading fear. He was the reason Sandy almost vanished for good.
Jack hated him with all the passion he could muster; so why for the love of everything wasn't he just laughing at the stupid idea of himself together with the Boogeyman? This had to be his mind's weird idea of a joke.

Yeah, maybe Pitch is immortal, just like him; he's not part of the guardians, either. And Jack could still remember the shudder that ran down his spine when he first met him in his lair. Back there he thought it was nothing but fear; but when they met again in Antarctica and the strange sensation returned once the Nightmare King got close to him-… Something was definitely wrong with his head. He needed to sleep; fast. And whatever the reason for his mind to be this screwed up today; he really hoped it would be gone tomorrow. But knowing his luck; most likely not.

~~~tbc.

I recently watched the movie and it was so damn amazing! Sure, would have been better if Pitch had won, but it's a movie for kids, so I guess it was alright that way. Anyways, I just had to write a FF for it!

BlackIce, of course. But if you're hoping for some hardcore action in the next chapter out of the blue, I suggest you leave now, because that's not gonna happen. Also, I'm not a fan of NonCon, so nothing of that in this story either. [WHAT? No Yaoi in the first chapter and NO brutal rape either?! What kind of story is this? MY kind of story, so deal with it or leave. ^^]

If you wonder why my English sucks so much, it's not my first language and I'm still getting used to writing longer stories in English. So feel free to flame me for misspellings and wrong time forms!