Winter Frost

Chapter Sixteen: Living, Dying, Hate, Love, Fun, Goodbyes

     Pitch quickly came to face us. "Ha, you're going to use a bunch of kids again! I am much stronger this time! Kids won't defeat me. Not even you, Sandy! My nightmares are empowered by fear, and fire! You know what the means don't you, Winter. How did you get better? Not that it matters anyways. And Jack. You won't be strong enough to defeat me this time!" purred Pitch.

     "We will always be here to defeat you Pitch. We defeated you once and we'll do it again. It's what Man in Moon created us to do," grolwed Jack.

      "Oh, I'm so scared. What are you gonna do, nip me with frost? Ha!" taunted Pitch. Jack and I growled, if you can call it that, at the same time. He clutched his staff and I looked over at him. He looked back at me, and in that brief moment, we had a conversation, without ever saying a word. I held his hand, and he mine, and we rushed to face Pitch, flame nightmares getting in our way. I launched ice thorns and hurled balls of ice. Jack launched his own barrage of various cold weapons. By holding hands, we were empowered. The nightflares screamed and whinnied wildly as they were brought down. Suddenly, I saw some of Pitch's black sand rushing to meet us, but it was enfused with fire. He was using it like a whip, and it struck my stomach. The burn healed instantly, and I caught my breath in the next moment. Jack and I continued to rush forward, but then nightflares blocked our way, along with new creations of fire and fear.

     "We have to spilt up. We need our ice to touch, and then our ice to touch us. Ready, go!" I said and we dashed in opposite directions, and ribbon of ice holding us together.  The creatures had to split up, and it left an open gateway to Pitch, which the Guardians rushed through. Sadly, Pitch had seen the opening and was gone, instead, he stood on a roof. We turned towards Pitch again, and ran in his direction. Any creatures that were caught by the ribbon of ice were cut to shreds as it sliced straight through them. As I was battling creatures, I did not notice Pitch. He formed his scyth of shadow sand, and brought it down upon our ice ribbon, shattering it to smithereens. I reeled away from the monsters, fear suddenly welling up within in me. My connection with Jack was severed. If I was burned, I was doomed.  I was so busy trying to keep the creatures at bay, I did not see Pitch when he walked through the crowd, and pulled out a torch. He created a bow, and lit the arrow, before shooting my, straight through the heart. At this point, the nightmares lost interest, and they pulled away, returning to their master for the moment. I clutched my heart, screaming. Everything was pain. I could not even hold up myself, and fell to the ground, writhing in the snow as it felt like my blood was boiling. As my body rejected me, I stopped moving, and stared up at the moon, silent as tears welled up in my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. "Manny, what is this for? Wasn't dieing once enough?" I asked him, too weak to speak. Suddenly, I felt the cold, and it chilled me to the bone. I shivered involuntarily. It was so cold, and I knew this had happened before. How ironic history should repeat itself, when I am doing what Manny decided for me to do. 

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     "Winter, don't leave me! Come on, you have to survive this! You can't die again! Come back, Winter! Can't you realize the kids need you! The Guardians need you! I need you! Without you, there is no hope in defeating Pitch!" I heard Jack screaming at me, but to me, it was all just a dream. I was no longer in my body. Instead, I was an angel, looking at the scene as it unfolded before me. The childeren were crying, The Guardians stood solemnly, and Jack held my body to him in a warm embrace, trying not to cry as he grieved. Pitch stood in the background, looking at the scene in distaste, cackling to himself.

     "WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME MANNY! I DIED ONCE! WAS DIEING ONLY ONCE TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR!" I screamed, looking at the moon, tears running down my face. Why did I have to die again?

    "Patience child. You shall see what happens! You must have courage and faith," he said poetically.

      "I'M TIRED OF BEING PATIENT! I"M TIRED OF HAVING FAITH! I LOST FAITH HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO, WHEN YOU BROUGHT ME BACK, BUT NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON SAW ME, NOT EVEN JACK! WHY DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO BE PATIENT?!" I screamed at him. I felt a pain in my heart, that pang of heartbreak and loneliness. I glared at the moon. Was he such a coward to my anger he would not answer? Why would he not answer me? I turned back to watch as Jack laid me down gently, and stood up defiantly. I drifted down to him, but when I tried to hug him, I touched him, but he did not notice.