1| Beneath the Frozen Lake

The young man moved quietly through the icy "tundra" with the elegance of a ballerina. Icy tendrils of wind and snow whipped angrily at his pale face and enveloped his silent figure in a blanket of white. If one did not know this mysterious child personally, they might have surmised him to be the lone and stoic guardian of ice. But if you were, say, a magical Australian bunny rabbit or a being with wings that fluttered and shined like shades,of jade you would know this young adolescent to be none other than Jack Overland Frost, the mischievous guardian of fun. But on this uncouth day, Jack Frost represented everything except fun.

His pale and thin hands were roughly shoved in his blue pockets and his aged old staff rested heftily in the crook of his elbow. He appeared to be in a form of deep thinking with his furrowed dark eyebrows and prominent frown. And flurries of snow continuously flew up from the ground as he unconsciously kicked it up with the soles of his bare feet.

A memory was playing out in his mind. A memory of tears and laughter. A memory of cracking ice. A memory of-

"Jaaaaackkkkk!" an angrily voice growled indignantly. The voice, clearly of Australian descent, brought a small smile to the addressed boy's face.

A boomerang suddenly appeared from the white storm and whirled furiously towards Jack's nonchalant form. The snow spirit easily dodged it with a quirky smile and let loose a pixie-like laugh.

"What's got your knickers in a twist, Bunny?" Jack questioned in a light and joking manner, pausing to lean on his staff and poise himself with the epitome of lassitude.

"You...!" Bunnymund growled, appearing from the loom of snow. His brown fur was caked with snow and frost; and his gray eyes were filled with fiery rage. "You filled my den with snow!"

"Don't I fill everything with snow?" Jack blinked innocently with a small shrug. "I am the spirit of winter."

"But not my den!" Bunnymund retorted loudly, emphasizing his anger with several wild hand movements. "Especially not a week before Easter, you bloody pixie!"

"Hey," Jack said with narrowed eyes as he straightened himself up as if to emphasize his height, "I am NOT a pixie, Mister Easter Kangaroo."

"You did not just go there, you little bugger." Bunnymund hissed, his Australian accent becoming even more prominent than before.

"You and I know exactly that I did, Kangaroo." Jack replied snarkily as he leaned forward on his staff.

"Why you...!" Bunnymund said indignantly, raising an angry furry fist. "Do you think everything is a joke, you little piece of chunder!" Before Jack could retort, he continued on, "Y'know, why we Guardians work hard? So we can make children happy-

"I make children happy!" Jack retorted defensively as he crossed his arms. "I give them snow days!"

"But that's all you give them; and some of them don't even want a snow day!" Bunnymund shouted as he kicked up a pile of snow. "Maybe if you actually started trying to focus on the children, instead of fooling around and causing trouble everywhere, then maybe more children would actually believe in you!"

Jack blinked rapidly, allowing the insult to slowly settle in.
What did Bunnymund know anyways? Jamie believed in him and some of his friends did too. That was more than enough for Jack. He didn't need world-wide recognition...Right?

Jack scowled lamely, before turning around and kicking off into flight. Snow from the ground momentarily danced in the air as he did so and it latched itself onto Bunnymund's dark fur. This only angered the anamorphic representation of Easter even more.

"Get back here, you chook," Bunnymund demanded, looking at Jack as if he was a disobedient puppy, "and clean up this mess!"

But Jack Overland Frost continued to run away with the blizzardly storm following him in his wake.

Jack Frost, no matter how hard he tried, could not get a grip on his nerves.

What was wrong with Bunnymund anyways? All Jack wanted to do was get his mind off of drowning - more like the feeling of drowning, really. It had only been five months since the Guardians had managed to defeat Pitch and it had only been five months since Jack saw the first glimpses of his memories. And for a immortal, five months were a mere five minutes.

Jack was excited. No, he was anxious. What had happened to his little sister, the one whom he had sacrificed his life for? Did she live a happy life, or did she live her life in fear of stepping near the water's edge? Jack would never know and he would never forget that feeling. The feeling of sinking...
and sinking...

sinking...

sink...

sink.

Drown.

Jack jerked his body suddenly, his mind having been sunken into the memory of icy waters and unapparent air. Arching his body forwards mid-flight, he dove towards the white ground, slicing through frigid winds as he did so. In seconds, his pale feet made contact with the smooth solid cover of a frozen lake. The frozen lake in which he drowned to be specific.

He dragged his staff along the edge of the said lake, creating uneven bumps and grooves on the surface of ice. He then ran to the center of the ice and sprawled out on its surface, gazing up at the blinding white sky and the petals of falling snow. He smiled slightly as a small snowflake alighted on the tip of his nose and then recalled an instance when he and his first believer, Jamie, made snow angels on the ground.

Jamie... He needed to visit Jamie. They could play around all day, pulling pranks on adults and overgrown bullies. Yes, that was what he would. He would have some fun.

Standing up rather quickly, he began to quickly dart off of the lake, but paused as he realized that he had forgotten something rather important: his staff. It laid quietly and patiently on the surface of the ice, its magically appearance having faded after being relinquished by its owner.

Running to his staff, Jack bent over and began to pick it up, but paused as he saw something move beneath the murky waters under the solid ice.

"Jaaack!" a familiar voice called, "Jaaaaack."

Jack pipped his head up and looked around the forest surrounding him, but was unable to find the source of the sound. Shaking it off, he bent down on all fours and tried to see what exactly it was that was swaying under the ice.

Jaaaaaaaackkk.

Jack squinted through the aquatic darkness and his eyes, ever so slowly, made out the figure of a human. A human child. A human male child. Drowning.
The world suddenly froze around him and his head began to buzz noisily with confusion.

The child was drowning. Thrashing. Drowning. And...He needed to save the drowning boy. Heneededtosavetheboy. Savesavesavesavesave...
So why wouldn't his legs move? Why wouldn't his limbs work? Why wouldn't he save the boy?

"Because your afraid..." a voice whispered from the corners of his mind.

He...He was afraid? Fear...Aqua-phobia...?

No. He would not be afraid!

Jack tightened his grip on his staff and raised it above his head, ignoring the hilarity of the situation he was in.

He was not afraid!

Jack!

He struck down on the ice, causing it to crack and fragment like a spiderweb. As the unstable ice began to falter beneath his feet, he began to realize that maybe - just maybe - he should've thought his plan through.

He blinked confusedly as his feet began to fall through the ice faster than he could kick off into flight.

Yeah, he really should've thought his plan through.

And he fell through the ice and was blanketed in black water.

Bunnymund hopped heatedly through the snowy fields of Burgess with slightly crossed arms. Having just been lectured by both Tooth and North about being kind to the devilish Jack Frost, he was now in search of the said devil to apologize to him. However, in Bunnymund's opinion, the frost sprite deserved anything but an apology.

"That little devil..." the pooka muttered under his breath. "I oughta..." He swore viciously under his breath, unaware of the frost spirit's current plight.

Black water everywhere. No air. Cold. Suffocation.
Jack Frost thrashed wildly as the tendrils of darkness grasped at his clothing and dragged him down deeper into the lake. This had been an entirely stupid idea and now he was going to lose his life for it... And all he had wanted to do was save the drowning kid-

The kid... where was he?

Jack glanced in the murkiness below him, but was unable to find any signs of the child he had risked his life for. Did he imagine the entire thing...?

His lungs suddenly felt like they were going to explode. They burned with fiery intensity that he and only felt once before - the time he had drowned. And he was going to drown again.

Terror began bubbling inside of him as blackness dotted his vision. Was this going to be it...? Was he going to...

He blinked rapidly and shook himself off. He, Jack Overland Frost, was not going to die. He, who had helped to bring downfall of Pitch, would not be bested by water. Even if he feared it.

Clawing viciously at the frigid water - wait, frigid? - he pushed himself upwards ever so slowly. Above him, a slither of light glimmered through the darkness. He would - no, he was - going to survive... For the Guardians...For the children...and for Jamie. He didn't care if his lungs exploded or if his limbs burned off from exhaustion. All he cared about was...

He gasped for air as he reached the surface of the water and slowly reached out and dragged himself up onto the surface of the ice. For a moment, he lay there spluttering and coughing up large amounts of water as he gasped for air. And then, he remained still and shivered.

Hold it... He shivered? I-Impossible! He was the spirit of winter; he was the king of blizzards! There was no way he, Jokul Frosti, was shivering! But, there he was, laying on the cold surface of frozen water with his chattering teeth. Something was horribly wrong.

Attempting to pull himself up into a sitting position to assess his bodily damage, he found that his limbs were stiff with cold and he could barely lift them. This was bad. The entire situation was horribly bad. H-He needed his staff. Right away. Lifting his head slightly, he scanned the area around him looking for his precious weapon. It was nowhere to be found.

"Don't tell me it's still in the water!" he grumbled achingly between gasping breaths. "Great, I'm officially, royally screwed over."

To make matters even worse, his vision was beginning to fade. As dots of black began to flood his vision, he made out several figures appearing out from the shrouds of shadow in the forest. Great, the Guardians were here to save him! A feeling of relief and embarrassment swept over him. At least, that was until his eyes registered the figures clearly. They were, without a doubt, not the Guardians at all. In fact, they appeared human.

Well, great. They wouldn't be able to see him! Now, he was royally screwed.

"Jack!" a figure - male - shouted as he approached the adolescent and scooped him up into his arms.

"Huh...?" Jack muttered uncomprehendingly as he struggled from the man's grasp. The adult could see him? How...? "Y-You can see me?"

"Of course I can, Jack!" the man answered in a worried tone as he continued cradling the frost sprite in his arms. "Now quit moving and stay with me!"

"W-W-Who're you?" the shivering teen questioned through chattering teeth.

The man paused and blinked at him in both surprise and worry, before saying, "Jack, it's me, your father."

And thus, Jack Overland Frost elegantly fainted.

A/N: And it is done! I love RotG and I saw it last...Sunday? It was amazing. Jack Frost was especially amazing... If you know what I mean.. /winkwink. Anyways, please review...? ;3