A/N: Well I thought I was pretty much done with fanfiction...and then this movie happened. Why, Dreamworks? Why do you keep doing this to me?! I now have about 5 word documents and 4 photoshop files open and all of them center around Rise of the Guardians, and more specifically, Jack. He's just such a well-developed and well-made character! Makes him so much fun to play around with. :3

Anyway, this is just gonna be a little series of drabbles and the like, of snippets of the movie that stood out to me. There were so many subtle lines or events in that movie that just cried out for a back story, or spoke of something behind them. And those thoughts are what I'll be writing here, which is why I'm calling it "Elaboration"

This first drabble was sparked by Jack's extreme reaction to Sandy's 'death' by Pitch. I think that was the only time in the movie Jack reacted so violently to anything. So here's my thoughts on why.

~Sandy's Demise~

For a moment, Jack was too horrified to move as he watched Sandy being overtaken by black sand. It was a scene straight out of a nightmare...quite literally in this case.

He had never talked to the Sandman before this whole guardian business, but in a way the eldest guardian had always been there for him. When the days turned dark and children went to bed, Jack found it harder to distract himself from the loneliness that crept up on him far more often than he'd like. Sometimes he'd travel to other parts of the world where it was still daytime, but he couldn't just fly around, chasing the sun across the world. Besides, he always held a secret hope deep in his heart that this time, this night, the moon would speak to him; even though it never did.

He remembered every one of those darkest nights, when he begged and pleaded silently and out loud with the world to just notice him. A simple wave and a smile would've made him happy. It was these nights, when the despair of his life threatened to overwhelm him, that the streams of golden dream sand never failed to find him. He always watched the sandman's work, but these were the nights where it seemed to seek him out. Every time, he couldn't help reaching out a hand into the soft tendrils of sand that curled around his thin body, and what jumped out at him was always a new and delightful surprise.

Every single time, it brought a smile to his face, even when the shimmering light from the sand highlighted the little tracks of frost on his cheeks, as moisture did not stay on his skin long before freezing over. Oftentimes, sparkling, golden dolphins jumped out to join whatever that night's theme was. They nearly always got a laugh from him, and he just loved watching them jump and swim around in the air. He was never quite sure why the dolphins were the only things that repeated, except that they are known as playful creatures, and Jack certainly was too.

But right now, fun was the last thing on his mind as he launched himself from North's sleigh. He'd never asked this much from the wind as he kept chanting faster, faster, faster! in his head. But it wasn't fast enough. Only half way there and he watched that beautiful glow of gold enveloped by pure, horrific darkness. Jack stopped cold, eyes wide and he felt like his heart dropped out of his chest, because he just watched the only symbol of hope and warmth he'd ever known get snuffed out like a flickering candle. "No..." he whispered, unbelieving. And then the reality slammed into him like he was waking up in that dark, icy lake all over again. "NO!" he shouted, face twisting fiercely in an expression rarely, rarely seen on his forever young and gentle features. Every lonely and cold night was reflected back at him in that wall of darkness charging towards him, and he charged right back because after everything Sandy had done for him, even when they'd never officially met, Jack wasn't able to do a scorching thing in return and he felt something inside himself snap, and bitter rage became the fuel for the greatest display of power he'd ever shown.

Scorching would be a curse for Jack. You know it would.

So this is probably the shortest thing I've ever published on this site. But like I said...drabbles! Just feels weird putting up something less than a few thousand words. Oh well. Enjoy! Hopefully I'll be able to add other stuff to this within a decent amount of time.