There was a kingdom, where all its inhabitants lived peacefully and in harmony. A loving King and Queen ruled over the land with their three children – one son and two daughters.

But what most didn't know was that there was a fourth child – the one that the previous Queen had borne before passing to the next life. The one that had been hidden away, for fear of corrupting the royal bloodline, or so the advisers say.

He was the oldest, at the age of fourteen, when suddenly the kingdom was attacked, by a man by the name of Kozmotis Pitchiner, the general of the army.

It was said that he had been possessed by evil spirits, spirits that bring fear and feed off of dreams, that wanted revenge on the peaceful kingdom for driving them away.

The people were afraid. And to add on to this fear, Pitchiner, who by then had taken on the name Pitch Black, attacked the King and Queen, knowing that without their leaders, the kingdom's hierarchy would soon fall apart, for the royal children were still much too young to rule in their parents' stead.

The royal children that were known of, anyhow.

No one expected for the door to open. No one expected for there to be another, a youth who fulfilled the requirements to take the throne, to begin leading the kingdom back to its original state. No one expected there to be someone who could actually stand up to the possessed general, and all was well...

Pitch.

The self-proclaimed King of Darkness, the one who controlled the shadows.

Jack stared him down, the ice magic radiating from him and his staff, struggling to combat the waves of darkness that came at him.

"My, my, my, you've grown a bit stronger since the last time we met, Jack," smirked the man, his voice a deep velvet. "But what do we have here? A staff, instead of your own two hands? A bit late to rely on such tools, now, don't you think?"

Jack snarled, his knuckles turning even whiter than before as his grip on his staff tightened. "I'll use whatever I have to when it comes to the safety of my kingdom, my people!" His voice rose to a shout at the end of that statement, and he charged at Pitch, who was standing at the center of the frozen pond, a battle cry tearing from his lungs.

"Ah-ah-ah Jack, let's not be so hasty," Pitch mockingly chastised, a cruel smile on his face. From behind him, he pulled out a mass of writhing shadowy tendrils, and within them was-

"No!" Jack dug his heels into the ice, forcing his acceleration to a complete stop. "No..."

A small ten year old girl hung limply in the shadows, mouth gagged by another shadowy tendril. She appeared to be unconscious, head lolling from side to side.

Pitch raised his fist, and the girl was raised too, the tendrils mimicking his hand motions, flexing like fingers.

"Now… hand over the staff, Jack." Pitch's other hand was outstretched and open, waiting for the object to be deposited into it. "And I'll give you her life, as a trade." Jack hesitated, glancing between the staff and his sister. One life to save hundreds, or… He sighed, and held out the staff, crook first. Pitch took it.

"My sister. Give her to me!" Jack snapped, stepping forward to grab his sister's limp body. Pitch drew her back.

"You said you wanted to be left alone, remember? So be alone." The resounding impact of the body against the ice made Jack freeze.

Once. Twice. Again and again, Pitch pounded his fist like a hammer, the actions mirrored by the shadows binding the girl, and the ice cracked and trembled under the pressure.

Jack dove for his sister, but it was too late. The shadows dropped the girl into the freezing waters. He reached his hand in and desperately grabbed at her sinking body, his fingers brushing the thin strands of hair that drifted above her head, his grip on her was tightening –

Something in him snapped. He was dimly aware of the two halves of his staff landing somewhere near his feet, but the conductor for his powers now broken, the magic coursing through his veins found an outlet through his skin –

The cracked ice, frozen over again in mere seconds. A pale hand shook, withdrawing itself from the site of previous damage.

"What have I done?"

But Pitch attacked once more, using evil tricks to take the life of the elder Princess. The Prince tried everything he could to defeat the Dark King, and after long last, with help from his companions, he succeeded in sealing him away underground, and once more the kingdom prospered.

However, the Prince disappeared after that, and where he went, no one knows...

"Do you know where he went, Daddy?" Anna asked (as she had many, many times before).

"No, sweetheart, no one knows," James answered, his slight laughter a bit strained. Elsa silently watched on, observing her father's behavior. "Now why don't you two get some sleep; it's getting really late now."

"Okay!"

"Can't believe it's been over ten years, Jack…"

Unable to sleep, James began to walk towards a certain section of the palace that was banned to anyone other than the royal line, and allowed his mind to wander…

The occupants of the room crowded around the shivering teen boy. His brown hair was developing silvery strands and his skin was ice cold, losing its rosy complexion for favor of a pale, bluish pallor.

"Jack, you've got to hang in there!"

"Jack, don't go…"

The young twins, a boy and girl, were holding the hands of the teen, attempting to assure him that it would all be fine in the end, that the sliver of shadow-infused ice lodged in his heart wouldn't cause any long-term harm.

Of course it would.

Normally, a bit of heat would melt ice. But this was not only enchanted ice, this was enchanted ice corrupted with the darkness of Pitch's shadows. There was no telling what might have happened, if a man by the name of "Tsar Lunar" had not come.

It was a secret to all, even to Jack himself, what the man had done to fight off the ice. Some said that he had implanted a light into the prince to keep the darkness at bay, then melted the ice by normal means, but they were dismissed as the ravings of lunatics.

It seemed to have not been entirely successful, however. Jack's hair remained silver, and his eyes had gone from a warm hazel to frosty blue, but at least he was alive.

Only his siblings knew of the ice magic he wielded. And not even they knew that his magic was constantly fighting the actual ice threatening to freeze his heart, mind, and body.

Not until later. Much, much later.

"That's Jack?"

Jamie hugged the trembling girl to him. "Yeah, Sophie, that… that's Jack."

"So the ice never really left? Is that why he has his powers and stuff?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Jack's frozen body lay in a glass casket. His left hand at his chest, right hand open palm up at his side. The snowflake that he left with Jamie hovered above his heart, just barely over the casket.

Jamie gently released Sophie, who, after wiping away the most of her tears, followed him out the door to where the council would be waiting. The heir to the throne, as it was.

James unlocked the door and stepped inside. Before him lay Jack, who had not changed ever since the freezing of his body. Who was still seventeen years old.

The snowflake remained where it had always been as well, only slightly bobbing in place, as if hung by a string attached to the ceiling.

Perhaps he should give it to Elsa.

A/N: And there we have it, most of the pre-movie stuff has been settled. Next chapter will hopefully begin to detail actual post-movie happenings.

I'm so sorry if there aren't enough settings/details/descriptions! I go overboard on those a lot, and try to keep it at a minimum and allow my readers to actually use their imagination to see something that goes well in their mind, so... yeah... Remind me if I miss something!

Most of what I write starts out as headcanon material, so would any of you like me to start a Tumblr just for the straight, pure headcanons? If so, please have your PM open so that I may message you the URL starter.