Hello my fellow fanfic readers. This is my 3rd story for Rise of the Guardians, and I hope you all enjoy. Future reference, the action picks up later in the story, round chapter 8.. For now until chapter 8 it is the opening of the story, beginning the questions that will be answered later on and developing the plot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians, blah, blah, blahh... Now I present you with Shadows within the ice. Enjoy.

And you all now the next part I'm about to say. Don't forget to Review. What harm can it do.

"Now, now Jamie just give in to your fears and this will all end. It will all be over."

Shadows and darkness encased the boy within it's embrace, swallowing him to an endless realm of nightmares and fear. Jamie didn't know where he was any longer, he thought he would be awakened within his room when he heard a loud clash of thunder uproar outdoors. He recalled only being greeted with a second of his all too familiar home, then a swirling vortex of what seemed to be black sand restrict around him. His pointless pleads and yells didn't do any use as to where he ended up now.

He tip toed backwards unaware of where the source of the sinister voice emitted from. His hands were trembling beside him, and tears leaked from his eyes leaving freshly moistened trails along his cheeks. He was scared. No he was terrified. Why weren't the Guardians here to help him? Were they even real or was it just his imagination playing tricks?

Pitch observed the stubborn child within the shadows, impatiently waiting for the last light to dwindle away. He certainly felt the fear ooze from the child and soak into his heartless soul. He took a gigantic gulp of air seeming that it had particles of the boy's fear within it for him to sniff in. This boy certainly did have a strong belief within those Guardians to last this long with not so much as a sliver of assistance from them yet. The child had to give in to his fear sooner or later. It was just a matter of time and taunts being brought upon him until he will finally cave in. It was a matter of the waiting game until it will all be over.

"Don't tell me you believe in those Guardians? Now do you Jamie? You would have to be a fool if you did." Pitch provoked, as he circled around the child who was unknown of where his specific point of reference was. Those were the advantages of being the Boogeyman and having the power to yield darkness itself to your will. Pitch used it to his advantage to frighten the boy even more. It will only be a matter of time until he finally cracked.

Jamie wiped the flood of tears that poured from his amber pupils, and sniffled as if he had a cold. It couldn't be real. The Guardians were real, they were! He saw them with his own eyes.

"N-no. Your w-wrong. They are real. I saw them," he tried to convince the mysterious presence, and in maybe doing so trying to persuade himself that the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, and Santa Clause were after all real.

Pitch rolled his eyes at the child's ignorance. He simply refused to release his hold on hope, joy, and wonder. No matter how much hope was already lost the child refused to let go of the remaining sprinkle of hope he had left. He reminded Pitch of Jack, the child had so many of the same qualities the winter spirit possessed also. But that was all about to change. Pitch had to crush the child's soul from the inside out, he had to remind the child what was fact and soon to be fiction. Maybe the truth will do more harm than making up lies.

"Maybe they are Jamie," Pitch recognized the smile of relief and hope brim along the child's lips as his watery eyes beamed with joy, then he continued, "But they won't exist in a very short amount of time," and just like that Jamie's face contorted into a worried and fear filled expression once again, "Right now they are slowly, painfully fading away. Every child in the world doesn't believe in them any longer. Your friends, your sister. They no longer think those fairytales are real. Everyone except you doesn't believe. It is you who is making them have a slow agonizing death. It is you making them suffer so much right now. As long as you believe in them their suffering will continue. Put them out of their misery. Don't believe in them any longer Jamie. It will do us all use."

Jamie debated whether this was true or not. Was he really causing his most admired tales of childhood pain? Was it because of him they were suffering right now? Would it assist them if he stopped believing? For a faint second Jamie perceived he heard a shrill scream emit from the Tooth Fairy, as her insides were slowly shutting down and he was the one delaying her from being released from her misery. Maybe it was just his mind playing another trick but maybe it was all a trick. Maybe the Guardians weren't real after all. Maybe the unknown being was right. It might do use if he joined his companions in the exile of non-belief. And just like that all his innocence and purity vanished. Gone. No hope, joy, wonder, or happiness remained within him. He no longer believed in such ridiculous fairytales any longer. And just like that the final flickering light finally went out. Like those of a strong fire's flame, whisked away by the slightest breeze, plunging the rest of the room into darkness and fear.

A smirk graced along the Nightmare King's lips. Silence proven what he had accomplished. Hope was finally diminished within the young boy. His head slumped against his chest in defeat as he surrendered hoping it would do good. Pitch felt relief, victory, freedom course through his being. It was finally over. He finally won. The Guardians were no more. Or so what he thought.

Pitch silently instructed the darkness and shadows to transport the boy to his room, where he would morn over his loss. Pitch had no need to watch such a useless child cry over for no longer believing in fairytales. It was cruel, but every parent went through that stage of having their innocence ripped away from them and this child wasn't much different. By no longer believing he allowed Pitch to send the world into yet another Dark Age. Wonder, delight, and happiness will be replaced with his fear and nightmares. He would assure there wasn't a single child that had a smile graced along their lips, or a pleasant dream within the night. He would assure all those frightened infants would finally fear and see him.

As the blackened sand seeped away along with the child, Pitch strolled along the blistery brick gravel of his 'lustrous' lair, with suspended cages crowded with flightless fairies, whom all were perched along the bars within, all with solemn expressions along their faces. Pitch glared to each and every one of them, who seemed to not notice his presence as their minds seemed to be off somewhere else. Pitch observed their flightless, translucent wings, their small stomachs breathing in and out. Their violet eyes that were filled with life. Why weren't they dead? They had to be! The last light was removed from the equation. Only to assure there weren't any believing children left, he glanced over to his rusted, copper globe that was completely enveloped in darkness, without a single light flickering along it. It only proven the matter at hand that all the children didn't believe. But yet those fairies were alive, along with those Guardians. If Tooth's helpers were alive so was she, and so were the rest, excluding the Sandman, who he killed with his own hand in sending him in a darkened universe with the release of a pointed arrow. But still those retched Guardians were still out there, alive, in hiding.

The Guardians must have came up with a solution to keep themselves alive for now, but Pitch couldn't figure anything or anyway of what was keeping their life sources going. He had to track them, and destroy them himself. He planned to end this feud once and for all. But instead of scrounging to find them himself, how about he lured them him into a trap. Used a certain companion of theirs to trade themselves for his well-being. The Guardians must be missing their newest member after all. And surely Bunny would want to have a little apologetic talk with him, after what he had done. Pitch felt the regret Bunny felt for hitting Jack like that, along with the fear he would never be able to apologize to him.

Pitch smiled at his ingenious mind for thinking of such an effective idea. He didn't waste a moment in allowing the sand to transport him from his gloomy lair to tundra of Antarctica.

The nipping breeze flowed across the white terrain, rising clutters of snow to whirl through the air. No sign of life was deposited within any line of sight, or in any direction. Nothing but a sheet of white assisted with the howling of the wind.

Pitch trudged through the foot deep of snow, his arms enveloped around him hoping it would bring him some warmth against the nipping winds. His eyes scanned for a certain object, as his ears strained for the crashing of waves, signaling the ocean was nearby. Flecks of snow rested along his black robe almost coating it in white but he swiped his hand along it, scraping off the unwanted flecks. Pitch continued to tread his way through the barren abyss, gaining no sight of what he strived for. The blizzard that raged on around him was the only proof the winter spirit was nearby. Pitch continued to tare his way through the snowy tundra convinced he was nearby to his 'prize' awaiting for him in a ravine. The winds blew against him making it even more of a challenge for him to head in the direction his instincts foretold him was the right way. The invisible force even lifted flurries of snow from the plain's floor and coated his vision completely white. Pitch blinked the white sheet away only in time to be replaced with a second coating. As he furiously closed and opened his eyelids, he raised his arm above his forehead preventing another gust of snow to block his vision.
He blinked away the frozen flakes, blurring his vision for a moment until the water finally resided and he was greeted with an all too familiar sight..
Within the vague distance, a hazy sculpture caught Pitch's attention. He hurried towards it as the ice sculpture became more defined to his vision. It appeared exactly the same as a few days ago, when him and Jack unknowingly created it. His black sand intertwined with Jack's ice, formed a menacing looking piece of ice. The skyscraper of ice and black sand stood near the cliff that had the icy ocean's waves crashing against the banks, bringing a small mist throughout the area. Pitch admired 'their' creation, him and Jack perfected. It only made his mind reel through the reasons they should be allies. It only made complete sense since cold and dark would fit exquisitely together.

The multiple spikes that probed out from the interior, had shimmering sharp points to it causing it to look more fatal. The black sand vined throughout it brought an unusual sensation to the visitors that inspected it. But the glistening ice overcoming the rest of it's unnatural presence brought an approachable feeling, something that mixed together with hazardous sharp points and peculiar black sand, brought the same look of dangerous or keep away but gained the feeling of intriguing or something different, in a good way. It looked haunting..

Pitch glanced around the bare expanse seeking for the crevice near the cliff, located near where the mysterious sculpture and it's creator stood. His amber pupils landed on it's location it scrounged for, as his infamous smirk graced along his lips hinting his razor pointed teeth hidden underneath. He wasted no valuable time in yielding the shadows to transport him to where the unconscious winter spirit laid unaware of the sinister presence.

The Nightmare King's form constructed itself from the grains of black sand at the base of the abyss. The few remaining stray's of black sand were absorbed within Pitch's upheld finger tips, as his eyes roamed around the area he now occupied along with it's two other occupants.

Above Pitch caught a glimpse of the Moon's rays attempting to snake it's way through the layers of gray,murky clouds that now populated the unseen night time sky, to it's endangered child.

No use in trying, old friend. It's too late to rescue poor little Jack, along with your Guardians. I finally won, Pitch heeded as he glared daggers toward the concealed moon.

Jack was his now. The Guardians would soon fade away. And he would finally now what victory felt like for the rest of eternity.

Pitch strolled over to the unconscious spirit curled up against the icy wall, huddled around an uncertain object Pitch couldn't clearly make out. Pitch certainly didn't expect Jack to still be asleep, in the exact same spot he last encountered him. Pitch would have expected Jack to have awaken by now or have attempted to escape over the last twenty-four passing hours. Instead of him being huddled around a glimmering, colorful body, as moistened trails were frozen along his winter- pale cheeks.

Pitch delicately uncurled Jack's stiff arms from around him, introduced with one of Tooth's mini-helpers, cuddled within Jack's lap. Her wings seemed to be almost completely shattered as there were cracks lining across her luminescent appendages. Her whole frail frame was coated in a thick layer of frost and ice as she was shimmering with different coloured lights that reflected from her vibrant feathers. Pitch realized her whole delicate body shivering uncontrollably; her body trembling, unwillingly. Pitch only stood and watched, as the young fairy was slowly dieing.

Her eyes remained closed, to Pitch's liking. He didn't want to be the last sight she would see of this cruel world, it would only make her death a whole lot more terrifying. Moments slithered on by of the fairy shaking within Jack's lap who was still unaware of her last moments ending in the coldness with no assistance from him. Pitch watched, bored at how long he awaited for the hybrid fairy to loose it's grasp on life, and when he was about to end it with his own hand, it went still. Completely frozen. It eyelids didn't shift open, it's body stopped convulsing, it's tiny stomach wasn't rising or falling as she laid motionless within Jack's lap encased in a thick layer of ice. Baby Tooth was literally frozen to death.

Pitch kneeled beside the boy and cupped the stiff fairy within his lengthy fingers and placed her along the rock hard ground that was dusted with a thin layer of snow. He swore he could of heard a small Clank! noise, as when you place your glass along the table, except it was Baby Tooth's ice covered body that ricocheted against the ground.

Pitch ignored the fairy, for it was no use in stressing over it, and gently shook Jack's shoulder to awaken him.

Through Baby Tooth's dieing moments Pitch saw what coldness could bring upon mortals. Coldness brought death. And maybe that was why Jack was rejected from all the other spirits for the past three centuries. They saw him as the bringer of death, and didn't want any part with him. Pitch realized Jack was only a child, a young boy at heart. An innocent, confused soul, that had no guidance through his immortal life. Pitch felt like an empty space within him has been filled, as a missing piece has been found. After placing the delicate hybrid along the ravine's floor, he glanced back to the sleeping child foreseeing Jack for the child he truly was. Instead of treating him unfairly and as if he was dirt to be scraped underneath Pitch's boot, maybe Pitch could bring care for him, gain his trust through another way. Pitch still had his proposition still open towards Jack, and maybe if he didn't force Jack through threatening and black mailing he could change Jack's decision through concern. After realizing such a substantial part to Jack, Pitch felt the need to watch him like he was his own child.

Pitch slightly shook Jack's shoulder, assuringly whispering his name, only earning moans and slight kicks to push him away. Pitch rolled his eyes to Jack's stubbornness, and backed away for a moment earning his foot to connect with a wooden object.
He spun around, welcomed with Jack's staff rested along the icy ground, split in two. Pitch's eyes widened and a glanced over his shoulder towards the still sleeping spirit then towards the lifeless stick. There was no frost outlining it's crevices, or the shining light it brought when wielded within Jack's grasp. It looked like a dead twig, a useless stick like those you would find in a forest. Regret welded up within Pitch, for what he had done, but it did no use in mourning around in the ravines of Antarctica.
He spun his hand outwards over the broken wood, and disintegrated it within his sand, transporting it back to his layer. As the last remains of wood dispersed with the rest, a satisfied sigh escaped Pitch as he returned his attention back towards the slumbering child.

He shifted back over beside Jack, and scanned his body over for any possible injuries. None physically shown, but after hearing that shrill scream when he tore Jack's staff over his knee, there had to be some physical or eternal injury. Pitch's amber eyes didn't dare leave Jack's shivering frame, and then he concluded what was happening. Shivering. Jack shivering. Jack shouldn't be shivering. He was a winter sprite. Bound to be use to the cold for all eternity. He shouldn't be shivering from the coldness. Something was terribly wrong.

Jack's body trembled against the stone wall, along with his teeth chattering. Pitch subsided his efforts in awakening the child, instead scooping him within his arms, forgetting about the presence of the frozen fairy. He brought himself to his feet with the shivering Jack Frost huddled in his arms. Pitch felt the cold rush through his being, as he felt his arms tremble from how much Jack was shaking within them.

Pitch worriedly glanced down to the young boy he held, concerned if he caused any permanent damage upon him. Pitch huddled Jack closer to his body, subsiding the immense coldness it brought to him, in hopes in would bring the boy some comfort.

Pitch then glanced around the cavern for any possible shadows, since his hands were full at the moment, and pinpointed one within the far corner, shockingly. He quickly rushed over with a young Jack in his hold, wasting no time in transporting the two to his lair, leaving the frozen fairy rested along the ground, alone in the coldness.

A/N: Yay! First chapter. Finished. Well, I hope you lot enjoyed it.I certainly enjoyed writing it. Well anyway, I have to go now and get started on h.w:p Pushed it off to doing it on Sunday night.. What else can I expect of myself. But I would really enjoy feedback from you all. It encourages me to update faster!
Also, important note! Every 10th reviewer gets a chapter dedicated to them!:So if your the 10th, 20th, 30th, etc. reviewer you get a chapter dedicated to you! Just my little gift to you... So Review if you want a whole chapter dedicated to you;)

For now, au revoir (Goodbye in French)

-Silversparkleout