THIS IS ALL WRITTEN BY ORIGINAL AUTHOR! THIS COMPLETE CHAPTER! Added for easy reader access :)

Chapter 1- A Trip To The Warren

It has been nearly one year since the fall of Pitch Black. Since the rise of a new guardian, Jack Frost. Since a boy who had been alone for 3 agonizing centuries found a family. The Guardians enjoyed the start of a new age of peace and light, which would probably last for at least a century or two. Christmas had been extraordinary that year. The gifts were bigger and better than ever before, and even the children who had managed to find their way to the naughty list found a gift beneath the tree. Tooth got her fairies back and she returned to cheerfully commanding the little bird-like beings to collect children's teeth, in return for a shiny coin. The sandman continued his journeys around the globe, spreading his shimmery golden dream sand to the children throughout the world. The Easter Bunny contented himself with preparing for spring. Jack Frost, well, he did what he did best. He brought winter and snowball fights to the parts of the world that called for a white winter wonderland. He found joy in watching, and often times participating in, epic snow wars and fort building, especially in the little town of Burgess. There, a small group of children believed in him. They waited anxiously for Jacks visits throughout that winter, hoping that he would bring them snow days and fun. And he did.

Jack decided out of boredom to visit his good friend, the Easter Kangaroo. It was against his better judgment to go to the warren when it was so close to Easter (A week to be exact), but the teen flew off in the wind anyways. Jack soared high above the clouds where it was cooler and lacked obstacles like trees and city skyscrapers. He watched as the sunrise turned the clouds a rosy color and the sky changed from navy to a soft baby blue.

The wind slowly brought Jack down to the ground. The warm Australian air wrapped itself uncomfortably around his body. Jack stuffed a hand in his pocket, finding two portal snow globes that he snatched from North's office a few days back. Jack grinned while he tossed a sphere at a nearby tree and stepped through the portal.

The Easter Bunny's warren was buzzing with life and activity. Brightly colored eggs marched in large groups across the land of eternal spring. Waterfalls of egg dyes cascaded left and right bringing the eggs a wide variety of colors to decorate themselves with. It was all very exciting, but Jack found more interest in the slate colored lump of fur in the center of the warren.

Bunny sat peacefully in the center of his warren hand painting select eggs to add a special touch. After last years incident with the Boogieman, he had to work extra hard to make this years Easter incredible. He needed to regain quite a few believers. The bunny looked down at the masterpiece he had created. The egg depicted an open field housing cheery wildflowers. A couple of pink and orange butterflies speckled a vibrant blue sky. He gently set the egg down in a basket filled nearly to the brim. The pooka smiled to him self as he reached out to grab the basket, but a slight rustling behind him froze his arm in midair. A cool draft tickled the fur on the back of his neck. Jack Frost. 'Why did he have to come now?' he thought to himself. 'Why not a day or two afterEaster?'

Just then, a snowball hit the giant bunny in the center of his back, coating a patch of his fur with snow. The Bunny huffed before spinning around and shouting, "Jack! How many times must I tell ya, not to bug meh when it's almost Easter?"

When he looked in front of him, he saw nothing but the green grass and flowers. Where was that show pony? And how did he get here? He heard a small snicker and he whipped his head to the direction of the noise. But once again he saw nothing. The bunny grumbled to himself.

"Hey kangaroo!" The all to familiar voice shouted. The bunny turned around only to be greeted by a snowball to the face. Jack laughed until his chest ached. The bunny, however, simply started at him in anger and disbelief.

"Jack, Ahm gonna kill ya!" he yelled. Jack took this as his queue and he shot up into the air, where he was out of the bunny warrior's grasp. Jack smiled as he positioned himself into a laying position while levitating above the pooka's head. "Jack! Quit buggin' me and for the last time, Ahm NOT a kangaroo!"

"Sorry! I'm board!" Jack shouted back, with a smirk on his face. Bunnymund groaned walking back to his basket. Just then, Jack got an idea. Jack was begging for a chase. He raised his staff and took aim at the pooka's giant feet. A trail of ice flew out of his staff, but it veered off to the right a smidge, missing the target. Jack looked down to find that the basket of freshly painted eggs was frozen inside an ice cube. "Oops!"

If looks could kill, then Jack was a thousand times dead. Bunny's eyes seemed to flash red and he was boiling with anger. Jack pretended that there was steam coming out of his long ears, making him have to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing. The Easter bunny leapt as high as he could and grabbed the boy's ankle and slamming him into the ground. Jack winced a bit, but he didn't hurt all that bad.

"Get out!" Bunny growled. His stare at Jack was fierce and quite terrifying. Jack took a step back as a sudden fear of what Bunny might do took hold. "Are ya deaf? Get the bloody H**l out!"

Jack reached into his pocket and grabbed a snow globe, but he obviously was not quick enough for the bunny, who shouted "Oh, wait, your not deaf, you're just extremely stupid! Yeah, that's it! I mean why else would you come here before Easter you self-centered little show pony!"

Jack froze. He could stand being called stupid (Although it still stung a bit), but not self-centered. He was anything but that. He had spent 3 agonizing centuries alone, caring for children, and he gained almost nothing for it. The children he played with didn't reward him with their wholehearted beliefs like they do with the guardians. He was not self-centered!

Jack turned with a pained expression glazed over his face. The bunny hit hard. He opened the portal and entered, without looking back.

Chapter 2- Alone in Antarctica

Jack slowly stepped out of the portal. The frosty Antarctic air welcomed him, but he barely acknowledged it. The frozen land was where Jack went to evade heat until the next winter. It is where he truly felt alone. No children played here, no children but Jack. Antarctica is where he would build snow creatures to talk to in order to preserve his sanity for three hundred years. Three hundred years of little to no acknowledgement. Three hundred years of hurt.

'You self-centered little show pony!' The Easter bunny's words echoed. Jack shook his head. Bunny didn't really think that; he was just stressed about the speedy approach of Easter. 'I hate you Jack, we all do.'

What? He hadn't said that, had he?

No, he hadn't, but the bunny certainly thought it.

"NO!" Jack screamed, kicking a block of ice as hard as he could. He ignored the pain and the small gash on his foot. Perhaps that is what he was to the Guardians, an annoying little cut, which was ignored because little the wound will heal itself with time, and will eventually become a fading scar. Well, that little cut became an infection, and now he was their problem. The Guardians suffered involuntarily by his presence as a guardian.

"You are so selfish Jack. All you ever do is try to get our attention." Tooth? No, not you too! Jack's head buzzed with unspoken words.

"Jack, I saw a little girl freeze to death in that snowstorm that you made last night!" Jack froze. North's words pierced his chest. Jack had killed countless people, but none of them were ever on purpose! He never meant too! Then, a horrid memory threatened to enter his mind. The Titanic. Jack squeezed his eyes as tightly as he could, trying to build a wall inside his mind, but the memory flooded in anyways. Jack was there. He was unable to do anything but watch as over one thousand lives were taken when the grand 'unsinkable' struck an iceberg. His iceberg. Jack heard the screams of men, women, and children as the crew struggled to fit as many people as possible into a few lifeboats. He flew away as the ship settled on the bottom of the ocean floor. After that day, he found himself in a twenty year depression that still threatens to catch up with him every once and a while.

"People die in winter more than any other season. You kill them Jack. You should be ashamed." North spoke again. Jack envisioned Sandy nodding his head in agreement. Jack was ashamed. He carved the name of every person who died by his hands on the walls of a great ice cavern. Every once in a while, Jack read off every name, to not only honor them, but also to remind himself of what he does. He kills. Plants die in winter, livestock die in winter, and people die in winter. Everything dies in winter.

Every thing but himself.

-§-

The Easter bunny watched Jack turn and walk into a silver portal. The boy seemed hurt. Bunny wondered if he had gone a bit overboard on Jack, but he honestly couldn't handle him right now. Easter, (being the most important holiday despite North's disagreement), was way too important to mess up and Jack tends to make frosty messes out of things. But Aster did feel a bit guilty after yelling at Jack nonetheless. Did he even swear? No, he couldn't have. He never swears around others, but he did.

The pooka sighed, releasing stress from Easter preparations, his frustration with Jack, and the twinge of guilt that had settled in his stomach. He decided that he would pay Frostbite a quick visit after Easter, he'd say sorry, and they'd both move on.

-§-

Jack found himself at the mouth of the ice cavern. He lacked recollection of making the decision to go there, or asking his feet to move, but he was there. He stepped into the mouth of the cave, dreading what it held inside but something dark inside his core urged him on.

Jack walked around, feeling the engraved names that covered the walls with his fingertips. Perhaps the Easter bunny was right, he was selfish. Was he worth the many people who die yearly when he brings his blizzards? Everyone freezes in winter. Why? Because Jack Frost wants to have snowball fights. These cavern walls are covered with the deceased names. Why? Because Jack Frost is selfish.

Jack sat against the wall and ran this through his head until he nodded off into a dreamless slumber.

Jack woke the next morning and pushed the fight with Bunny aside. He always did his best to not hold grudges. Being the guardian of fun, it was essential that he did not sink into sadness for extended periods of time. However, what ever was upsetting him the day before still swam in the little corners and crevices of his head. The boy stood up and stretched his arms above his head, casting away his drowsiness. Jack stepped out of the cave and was greeted by bright sunlight and the cold arctic wind, which swirled around him in embrace. Jack smiled in return. The wind was his best friend. The wind never ignored him like everyone else. The wind was his friend from the start, and it will be until the end. He will always have the wind to fall back to. It'll never scold the boy for his mistakes and will always comfort him when he is sad. Thanks to the wind, he will never be truly alone.

A sudden change of temperature disturbed Jack from his thoughts. It had suddenly gotten drastically warmer, which means one of two things, either global warming just skyrocketed, or more likely an unfriendly spirit was annoyed with him and decided to pay a visit. Both options aren't appealing. Though Jack put his money on the later one, Jack was confused about why someone would come after him. He hadn't done anything to upset any of the other spirits (besides Bunny) lately, so who would possibly be driven to this frozen continent?

Jack left the mouth of the cave and wandered out into the land of snow and ice. Blue glaciers towered around him, forming a choppy horizon. On any other day, the boy would have seen the surreal landscape as comforting, but now he saw it as a barrier. The deep crevices in the ice would make perfect hiding spots for other spirits to take cover in, and right now he was almost positive that someone was stalking him like a predator would it's prey.

The sound of snow crunching under a pair of feet behind him caused him to spin around at lightning speed. Jacks grip on his staff was hard as iron as he held it out in front of him, ready to greet an unfriendly face with a stream of ice, but no one was there. Jack sighed of frustration. He knew that there was someone following him, but where-

"Hello Jack Frost." A familiar deep voice said. The sound was tinted with anger or arrogance, or perhaps both.

"Blaze" Jack says, successfully managing to hide his fear when acknowledging the older spirit. Blaze, the spirit of summer, was not a guy Jack ever wanted mess with. They had only met a few times, and the results of theses 'meetings' never seemed to end well for him. Unlike Jack, Blaze was not stick thin. The young man, who looked to be about age 25, was tall and broad shouldered. His hair was a sea of chocolaty brown waves and his skin was golden tan. Blazed wore a thick orange and red coat that had white fur stitched to the lining of the hood and ash grey cargo pants. The look that he wore on his face was crafted for intimidation. "What brings you so far from your sauna? I thought that you hated the cold."

"So you're a Guardian now, huh?" Blaze said, ignoring Jacks question. He suddenly took interest in his nails, picking at them during the silence following his question. Not receiving any remarks from the teen, Blaze continued on with his point. "I just wonder, why you? I mean, of all of the spirits, you are undeniably the least fit for being a Guardian. You are irresponsible, and hurt kids more than help them. You cause children to slip and hit themselves on ice, and you call that fun? One Guardian you are."

Blaze looked at Jack to see flecks of hurt in his eyes. He smiled at his ability to upset the boy with only a few words. "Plenty of spirits are far more eligible to be a Guardian."

"Are you suggesting that you would make a better Guardian?" Jack's voice was strong and sure, but Blaze was unfazed and laughed at him. Jack swore that the temperature rose 20 degrees in the last thirty seconds, not a great sign.

Suddenly, two girls stepped into view and Jack recognized them instantly. The girl on the right was Sienna, the spirit of autumn. She had dark auburn hair and warm, but not quite tan, skin. She was beautiful, probably the overlying reason why Blaze fancied her. The girl on the left was the spring elemental, Cerelia. She was quite pretty too. She had fair skin and long, golden blond hair. Jack was hardly surprised that the girls tagged along to see Blaze's show, knowing that Sienna and him were a couple and Cerelia was a third wheel.

"Jack Frost," Sienna greets him as she walks to the side of Blaze and Cerelia follows shortly behind. "It has been a while."

Jack and the two female spirits never fared too well. Sienna always came after him for freezing her colorful leaves. His excuse that 'winter had to come sometime' didn't seem to do Jack's necessary task justice. And Cerelia hated Jack because he tended to make it snow in March; a month she believed was dedicated to spring. That and he once crash landed on her island and made it snow. There were countless times in the past where Sienna had beaten the crap out of him and dumped him somewhere tropical, where he would get blindingly sick. Cerelia had done the same once or twice, although she was a bit more level headed.

"Uh, hey." Jack cursed himself for sounding so awkward, but he was quite nervous.

"I wish you had stayed in that stupid lake, Jack." Sienna said with a snarl.

Well, that was unexpected.

"Perhaps we'll be nice and bury you there after we're done with you." Jack paused as Cerelia's words sank in. They planned to kill him! Jack recalled North telling him something about watching out for jealous spirits after he was made a guardian, but he never thought that they would actually be out to kill him.

"Or, perhaps not. We could just spare ourselves the effort and leave him here." Sienna offered. The other two elementals laughed in agreement. Jack stood there, stunned. Was this some cruel joke? His head whirled with thoughts

Then, the three pairs of cold eyes locked onto Jack. Blaze began to walk slowly towards Jack.

"I don't want to fight you." Jack stepped away from the summer spirit. The wind wrapped itself around Jack, preparing to take him away at his command.

"Yeah, you don't want to fight us. You don't stand a chance. But last time I checked, we aren't giving you a choice." Blaze was preparing to attack the boy when the winter spirit shot into the air, evading what ever the trio had prepared for him. Not only was this an unfair fight, but Jack also didn't want to hurt Blaze if he didn't have to. Blaze seemed unfazed by Jack's attempt to flee. He simply stood there grinning.

Suddenly, searing pain shot through his arm. Jack screamed in agony. For a moment, all time seemed to slow. Jack found himself looking at his arm, and his eyes widened at what they saw. A wooden arrow was lodged in his forearm and the point stuck out the other side. Blood had already begun to stain his hoody and he could feel it dripping down towards his hand. Jack began to feel sick at pain radiating up his arm. His head spun and his stomach flipped.

He barely felt the smooth wood pass through his fingers as he lost his grasp of his staff. Almost instantly, the wind left Jack and he began to tumble towards the earth. The spirit struggled to reach his staff with his uninjured arm, but his attempts proved to be futile as he landed flat on the icy ground. Jack screamed again as another round of pain tore though him from the arrow moving when he hit the ground.

Laughter from the other spirits filled the air at the sight of the 'weak' winter spirit. Jack instantly shut his mouth and clenched his teeth. He wouldn't make himself look like a wimp in front of the other spirits.

Although he strongly willed himself to, Jack couldn't force himself to remove the arrow. He knew that having it stuck in his arm would only hurt a heck of a lot more later, but his hand refused to touch it. He groaned out of the frustration from the struggle between mind and body. He decided then to leave the arrow be. He'd get it out when the other season spirits leave– if he is still alive then, that is.

Jack turned his head to see Sienna holding her bow, and Blaze grinning at the bloodstain that was appearing in the snow. Oddly, Cerelia was not in sight. Had she left?

Jack absentmindedly reached out for his staff, but to his dismay, his hands found nothing but snow. Panic sparked in his gut. Without his staff he was considerably weaker, and the other spirits knew that, so when Cerelia walked into his line of vision holding his beloved 'stick' he was not entirely surprised.

"Cerelia," Blazes eyes never left Jack as he spoke. He wanted to see the fear in the boy's blue eyes. "Break it."

Jacks eyes widened in horror. Panic swept through him as he recalled the excruciating sensation that he had felt nearly a year ago with Pitch. The winter sprit looked pleadingly at Cerelia, begging her not too. The spring elemental's face looked distressed and confused. Jack knew that the girl didn't want to do it, but there was barely a chance that she would put up resistance to Blaze and Sienna due to her weakness to peer pressure.

Jack slowly managed to push himself up and stand. Although his left arm hurt, he had felt far worse before. Jack had fought with many spirits before this. No, scratch that, he had been beaten up by others before (There was never much of a fight coming from his end). It seemed that they often used him to blow off a bit of steam. And there were always Jack's frequent battles with fences. On numerous occasions had the young spirit found himself painfully tangled in barbed wire. And don't even get him started on electric fences.

Cerelia looked at the young winter sprit. He looked so scared.

I don't want to hurt him.

Why not? He's a nuisance. And what will Blaze think? He'll never look your way again. You will be a traitor.

The Man in Moon chose him, so he must have a good center.

He doesn't deserve to be a guardian. Besides, he was only chosen because his ice is fairly effective on Pitch Black, not because he protects kids! He gives them frostbite for goodness sake.

Yeah, but…

Do you remember when he made it snow on your isle of spring?

Yes, but it was an accident.

That is all that he does. He accidentally makes messes. And don't you remember how he accidentally ruined Easter? Someone needs to take him out before he seriously dangers someone! Oh, and remember what happened to your beloved magnolia tree?

*Silence*

Well, do you? Because I remember. It wilted. It died from the cold with everything else. HE killed it!

It was all his fault!

A splintering crack filled the air, immediately followed by bloodcurdling scream.

A splintering crack filled the air, immediately followed by bloodcurdling scream.

Jack collapsed to his knees clutching his chest as torturous pain radiated from it. If it was even possible, his face paled more than it's usual milky white. Jacks breaths were hard and heavy, as what felt like venom coursed through his veins. His vision flickered between seeing double and seeing blurs.

After what seemed like an eternity of labored breathing and excruciating pain, Jack managed to look up at the others to see Blaze ripping the broken halves of his staff from a teary eyed Cerelia. Blaze looked down at Jack, wearing a face of false pity.

"Aw, poor little Jack." He scoffed. In a desperate attempt to improve his weak image, Jack forced himself to stand, a choice that he immediately regretted. The icy world around him rapidly span and he dropped to the ground in a pile of limbs. Jack was forced to bite back a scream when pain wracked through his body from arrow shifting in his arm.

"Look at 'im! The kid can't even stand up!" Blaze snickered.

Cerelia was sobbing into her hands, the guilt of what she had done surfacing in her mind. What had she done? Her actions were out of anger. A strange voice deep in her head had told her to do it. Was that voice right? She had never though to hurt someone before. It wasn't her nature. Why had she hurt the boy?

"Blaze," Cerelia's voice was strained and shook with suppressed sobs. She couldn't stand it anymore. She didn't want to be part of this anymore. This didn't give her the pleasure that she desired. Hurting the young winter spirit was wrong. "I– I can't watch. I'm leaving" and with that, she warped away in a frenzy of pink and white flower petals. She knew that leaving wouldn't solve her problems, but she couldn't stand to see the pain in Jack's wintery blue eyes.

Blaze snorted at the pathetic spring spirit. He was unaffected by the boy's sad state. As he saw it, winter was useless. What was the point of having cold? No one likes the cold. People love summer. The kids don't have to be cooped up inside all day like they do in the winter. They can go out and play without covering themselves head to toe with heavy fabrics that restrain movement. The world wouldn't mind not having winter. No one would mind no having Jack Frost.

Blaze held the two pieces of the staff in his hand. In one swift movement each piece was spit in half again, drawing more cries of pain from the winter spirit. Blaze loomed over him, watching him writhe in pain. The tears that Jack had worked to hold in began to spill out of his eyes and freeze to his cheeks. He squeezed his leaking eyes shut and forcefully bit down on a nonexistent bullet, but the insane agony was far from masked.

Sienna, however, was a bit shocked. She was confused about what was going on, but it wasn't it for the better? Jack can't freeze her leaves if he is gone, right? And if anyone had deserved to be chosen to be a guardian, it was her! The moon always seemed to shine the brightest on her autumn nights.

Exactly. Him being gone will make people appreciate your season.

It will?

Yes! Because of him, autumn is no more than a lead in to winter. People dread your season because it comes before the anticipated bitter cold. Just imagine how the people will begin to truly see the beauty of your art. They will surely cherish and marvel at the leaves that you put so much talent and effort into!

Really?

Yes! All that you have to do is get rid of the hated Jack Frost.

But what will the guardians think? It isn't a good idea to mess with them.

They will think nothing of it! They don't care about him! They didn't so much as say "Hi" to him for three hundred years, why would they suddenly care now? He was just a way to get rid of the Boogieman. They never wanted him to become a guardian. In fact, by getting rid of him, you'll be doing them a favor!

But –

But nothing. You know what to do. Kill him.

Branches decked with razor sharp thorns shot up from the ground and flung themselves at Jack, latching onto his wrists and ankles and digging deep into his skin. The boy moaned. Blood oozed from cuts forming on the boy's skin and rendered the white snow a dark scarlet red. With a flick of her wrist, Sienna shot another stem from the ground. With it, the spirit of autumn sliced the back of Jacks beloved blue hoody.

"Hey! Would ya look at that? He kept that little gift that you gave him a few years back!" Sienna cheerfully exclaimed to Blaze while pointing at a large patch of darkened skin that covered up much of Jack's back. It had been nearly 150 years since the boy had gained that wound and it still was far from healing, probably due to the fact that it was caused by the opposite element. It was the first time that he truly felt the wraith of heat.

(Flashback)

Jack leapt behind a tree, barely dodging a blast of fire. The hem of his coffee brown cape had been set ablaze and flames climbed towards the young spirits face, threatening to scorch his skin. Jack sparred a few moments to try to stop the rising flames with ice, but his attempts proved to be futile. He was forced to rip the cape from his persona and throw it unceremoniously to the ground. He watched as the cape, one of his few loved possessions, was consumed by the terrible flames.

Angrily, Jack raised his staff and searched for his attacker through smoke and tears. As soon as the dreadful summer spirit showed his face, he was met by a powerful stream of blue ice.

"Ugh!" Blaze grunted. Jack knew he had hit his mark. "FROST!"

The fire that lit the forest like a beacon roared wildly around them. The heat swelled to a blistering temperature from the eruption of Blaze's anger. The torrid heat swirled around Jack, causing him to sway and drop to the ground in a heap of stick-like limbs and singed fabric.

Blaze approached the fallen boy from behind. Despite his freezing numb fingers that were purpled with the start of frostbite, the spirit of heat reigned fire on the boy's back. He grinned menacingly at the winter spirit as the dancing flames pranced on the boy's back and then he left the teen alone to cry in agony as flames ate away at his skin.

Jacks screams and cries tore through the air, but no one heard his pleas for help. No one ever did.

(Flashback)

Blaze made his way over to Jack who was uselessly struggling against his bindings.

"Hmm." Blaze hummed. His hand began to glow like molten rock. "Looks like the scar has begun to fade. I think we had better revitalize it."

He slammed his fiery hand down on the boy's back. Jack's screams rung through the air as his skin sizzled beneath Blaze's palm. Tears streamed down his face as the scalding hot agony pulsed in his body. Although Blaze had lifted his hand from his flesh, the pain remained.

Sienna began to back away, unable to accept what she had done. Jack's blood was more visible than snow on the ground and its nauseating stench would probably able to be picked up a thousand miles away. What she had done was appalling, and she quickly realized why she was not chosen as a guardian.

The young woman sunk to the ground in shock and disbelief. He hands were knotted in her hair and tears stung her eyes. Guilt consumed her mind.

"Please don't!" Jack cried when he saw the Blaze spirit conjure up a shiny onyx blade from inside his boot and twirl it around his fingers. Was it over for him? Was this the end of Jack Frost? The teen had somewhat accepted the idea. The pain that was consuming him would finally end. Anything would be better than this.

So, in the face of death, he did what anyone would. Jack thought. He though about Jamie and bringing him snow days and snowball fights. He thought about Sandy, his only source of comfort for 300 years of near solitude. He remembered North, a man who he looked up to for bravery and confidence, and trusted him with his life. He pictured Tooth, and how he she pampered him with smiles, and laughter (not to mention a lifetime supply of toothpaste and floss).

But most of all, he though of Bunny. He would miss freezing his ears together and being chased around the hallways of the North Pole after calling him a kangaroo. He would miss the fun that he had with him, and although Jack would never admit it out loud, he loved the Easter Bunny like a brother. No matter how many times the rabbit scolded him, he would always forgive him. He loved him, and that would never change.

I'm sorry for every thing that I have done wrong. I am sorry that I haven't told you about my past. I am sorry that I will go without saying goodbye. Always know that my death is none of your faults. It is mine alone. Please don't blame yourselves for my passing, because there is nothing you could have done. Remember that you are my friends, my family-

Blaze raised his knife, preparing to give Jack his finishing strike.

And you taught me how to love.

Pitch POV:

The rage was enticing.

It was delicious and supplied his weakened body with a taste of vigor. Although it was only a morsel of the power, (Anger and jealousy acted simply as emergency generators, and Jack's fear was surprisingly small compared to what he had expected), it was enough to bring a Cheshire grin to his face. Not only would Pitch receive a considerable amount of energy, but also Jack Frost, a rather new enemy who surpassed all else on his list of spirits he wished to destroy, would be killed.

Manipulating the three other seasonal spirits to do the unthinkable deed to Jack was quite simple for the King of Fear. The anger and jealousy was already there. Each of the elementals had their own reasons for disliking the little winter spirit. They all had a little flame in their heart; all that he did was give it a little fuel. Pretty soon, the three furnaces exploded, and Jack was feeling the heat.

He paced around a room in his lair. Pitch knew that the battle between the seasonal spirits would be short lived, three powerful spirits against one was quite unfair (So was 5 against one, in his defense), so Pitch fully intended to relish in the fear and hate while it lasted.

-§-

Bunny POV:

One last touch of silver…

The Easter bunny sat in the wonderful tranquility of his warren decorating eggs with a masterful hand. If all Easter productions were to stop then and there, it would still probably be one of the best Easters that he had ever done, but Bunny knew that this year he had to make it absolutely amazing to make up for the Pitch fiasco.

He sighed and stared at the little "googie" that he had just completed. It was shades of blue ranging from navy to periwinkle and was ornamented with delicate silver frost patterns.

"Alright," Bunny groaned, and he pushed himself into a stand. He knew that he would not be productive if all that he could think about was what he said to Jack. His angry words lingered in his head, replaying in a manner that prevented him from getting in his necessary concentration zone. "Looks like I outta go apologize."

The pooka tapped his large foot on the ground, opening a system of tunnels. He paused only a moment to decide where to check for the winter spirit fist, before hopping into the hole and speeding off.

Bunny poked his head out of his tunnel. The first thing that greeted him was the smell of peppermint and cookies. The Pooka gracefully leapt from the hole. North's workshop was as he expected, bustling with activity. Christmas was nearly eight months away, but yetis were already hard at work in making toy prototypes and filling out mountains of paperwork.

Bunny came to the North Pole to look for Jack first, knowing that the boy often spent a fair amount of time causing trouble here by freezing elves to yetis and what not. So, the pooka made his way though the maze festive red and gold hallways that led to North's office. He finally came upon the familiar wide door surrounded by blue stained glass windows that marked North's office. He lifted his furry paw to knock, but before his fist could make contact with the wood, the door swung open and North burst through the door knocking into Bunny.

"Bunny!" North gleefully exclaimed as Bunnymund pushed himself to his feet. "Vat brings you here?"

"Uh," Bunnymund paused a moment, conjuring up a good way to get help with finding Jack from the old Russian without worrying him. "Have ya seen Frostbite around today?"

"Jack? No, I haven't seen him." North raised a questioning eyebrow, which Bunny promptly ignored. Before North could interrogate the pooka with questions, he swiftly left in his tunnels.

Bunny figured that since it was too warm for Jack this season in Burgess, the next place that he would check was Antarctica. Bunny nearly shivered at the though of running around in the unforgiving cold. Well, he owed Jack an apology, and he was worth spending a little while in the cold.

The other being glanced up to see the Easter Bunny's appalled face, and fearfully warped away in a swirl of flames. He stumbled forward towards the motionless spirit on the ground. Aster knelt beside the boy and reached a timid hand over Jack's still body. Bunny hovered there, afraid that if he touched him, the boy would shatter into a billion little pieces.

Blood spilled from the large stab wound on his back and his arm where an arrow had pierced him. The sleeves of Jack's beloved hoody were just about torn to shreds and the back was sliced wide open, showing the angry burns that covered his back. The crimson liquid oozing from the various lacerations on his body stained nearly all of the once blue fabric.

"Oh Jack" Bunny cried out, barely choking back a sob. "This is all my fault. If I had just– if I hadn't blown up at you– Ah'm so sorry!"

Although Bunny would never admit it to anyone, a tear escaped his eye and slid down his furry cheek. Jack had become the little brother that he never wanted, and in losing him he realized just how much he loved the kid. He became aware of how Jack had made the guardians a strange and rather messed up sort of family. Jack made him laugh and smile, things that had been rare for the centuries before he knew the boy. And yet Bunnymund and the other guardians hardly even knew him. They knew the carefree prankster whose ultimate goals were to steal cookies from North when he wasn't looking and dye Bunny's ears pink. He never once wondered if there was anything else in Jack besides that until he discovered the ice cavern in the heart of Antarctica. Bunny was sure that there was so much more about Jack that he never knew, and that by the looks of it he would never know.

Suddenly, the boy in front of him gave a sputtering cough. Bright red blood spewed from his pale lips. Bunnymund nearly fell over from shock. Jack was alive!

"Frostbite?" he whispered, as if not fully believing that the broken sprite lying in a pool of his own blood could possibly be alive.

"B-bunny?" Jacks voice was raspy from seemingly endless screaming. He struggled to move, but was met with intense agony and the morsel of energy that he had found extinguished, causing to pass out once more. Thinking with urgency, Bunny lifted the thin spirit into his arms. He tapped the ground twice, opening a portal in the snowy ground, and sped off.