Rise of the Guardians 2

Chapter 20

The first thing I was aware of was the pain. Throbbing jolts of agony pierced my head and I lay there for a minute, try to figured out why I had been knocked out, and where I was. I then remembered the Nightmares and bolted up, my staff at the ready. IT was a bad idea. The world swayed and the land seemed to move like the ocean. I collapsed back onto the ground and stayed there for a while, resting. After a while I heard the sound of movement.

"Hello?" a voice groaned. It was Jack.

"Over here" I said. I pushed myself up onto my elbows. Jack was a distance away from me. He seemed to be able to move around. He looked around at the sound of my voice and winced when he caught sight of me.

"Ooh, Breeze are you alright" He said "You look...awful"

"Thanks, Jack" I grumbled

"No! I meant-" I stood up

"I'm fine" I said and then promptly crashed to the ground again. "On second thought, maybe not"

"I think you hit your head on something." He said "We need to get you to Punz. You stay here and I'll go look for her and Red"

"No, wait. Don't leave!" I called after him, but he had already strode off. I tried to follow, but I couldn't even stand up without falling back over again.

I could hear him talking to someone and after I heard footsteps. Punz, Merida and Jack were hurrying toward me. When Rapunzel say me she started running.

"Breeze are you alright! I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier! Where are you hurt?" It was almost like talking to Tooth.

"Punz, I'm alright" I said "My head's sore, I think I hit it on something. Are you and Merida okay?"

"We're fine" Merida said "We were knocked out last night after we were ejected from the portal. Jack just woke us up."

Rapunzel wrapped a strand of her hair around my hand and began to sing. Her hair began to glow again and I began to feel better. My vision cleared and my head stopped throbbing.

"Thanks Punz" I said "So, what do we do now?"

"I think we should stay here for a little while." Merida said quietly "We could try and figure out what happened back there and we could rest for a while." Punz nodded in agreement.

We all sat down in a circle.

"We shouldn't have met those Nightmares." Jack said darkly "He didn't know we were even going to travel back in time."

"He might" I said "He's recruited new followers. We've seen Gothel and Namtar, but who know's whom else he's managed to convince. There are a lot of dark spirits out there and they have a wide variety of powers."

"That still doesn't explain the Nightmares appearance!" Jack said frustrated "He shouldn't be able to send them hundreds of years into the past."

"There is someone who can though." Merida said. We all looked at her. "Father Time. Remember North said that he'd gone missing. Maybe Pitch kidnaped him to stop MIM from choosing new guardians and when that didn't stop us, he used Father Time to send the Nightmares after us!"

Jack looked sceptical "If he could do that couldn't he come here himself? Or just change history to prevent the Guardians from ever coming to be?"

"Time travel is very complex." I said "North built this watch to specifically transport spirits. Father Time's machines, whatever they are, are a lot more complicated. Father Time's a good spirit and I can't see him helping Pitch. My guess is that Pitch is trying to figure time travel out on his own and can't seem to transport Spirits yet." Jack and Meri stared at me.

"How do you know all this?" Jack demanded

"I asked Father Time ages ago" I said "A word to the wise-never ask him anything, he can go on talking forever."

"Excuse me" Rapunzel said "Who's North?" We all looked at her.

"Sorry, Punz we forgot to tell you." I said sheepishly "North's a Guardian. You might know him better as Santa Claus"

"Santa Claus" She said incredulously

"Yep. He is the protector of Wonder. he has naughty and nice tattoos, a Russian accent and he fights with twin swords"

"And there's the Easter Kangaroo. He's the Guardian of Hope" Jack chimes in

"Easter Bunny." Merida said rolling her eyes "He's not what you expect. He's really big, and he fights with boomerangs and exploding eggs."

"Exploding eggs?"

"Yeah" Jack said "I always wondered where they came from though"

"They're the eggs that go bad before Easter" I said. There was a silence.

"How do you know this exactly" Jack asked

"Don't ask" I mumbled