Cold and alone ✔️

Found - 10

After searching and searching and finding nothing, the Guardians were losing hope. Pitch had left no clues as to where his hideout was and all they knew was that Jack was still alive. However the wind has other plans. Jack was the only one the wind played with and was sick and tired of Pitch constantly separating them!

Bunny was yet again trying in vain to catch a whiff of Jack's scent and finding none. But the wind was rather strong today and strangely continuously blowing around him. Then as he jumped down one of his trials, it followed him. So, he decided to try and follow it instead. Soon Bunnymund found himself nearing a dark forest that had an overwhelming feeling of fear seeping from it. It was immediately clear that Pitch was hiding somewhere in the area and he wasted no time rushing back to North to tell the others. After a few months of searching, they had finally close to finding Jack!

   In order to save Jack the Guardians split up. Bunny searched by tunnel to remain hidden from Pitch while the rest come flying in on North's sleigh to hopefully distract Pitch long enough to rescue Jack. Pulling on the sleigh reigns, North grabbed a snow globe and loudly pronounced their presence. "Pitch! You've escaped us for the last time! Come out and fight you coward!" Not taking North's insult too well, Pitch rushed out as the Guardians had predicted and they fought head on with weapons clashing against his nightmares.

   Once Bunnymund saw Pitch attack, he sped up his search not wanting to risk being caught and endangering Jack even more. Not knowing how Jack would react to seeing him again, he advanced with caution and quietly padded along the empty hallways. Finding the layer was easy, finding Jack was hard. Pitch chose this hidden caste for that very reason. The easier it was to get lost and the harder it would be for one to escape. But Pitch had forgotten to take into account Bunny's sense of smell. He quickly caught onto the smell of frost in the air and the wind once again helped lead the way. However, Bunny slowed down when he was hit with the smell of loneliness, hopelessness, pain, and fear.

   As Bunny reached Jack's cell, his heart broke. He stood in front of a thick metal door in one of the deepest and darkest hallways and yet you could still clearly see the stains of blood splattered around. His sensitive ears picked up on the sound of faint whimpers inside and he knew it was Jack. Wanting to get Jack out as soon as possible, Bunnymund told himself to feel sorry for the kid later and get him out now. The door let out a small squeal as it opened and all Bunny saw was darkness. No light coming from anywhere. As his eyes adjusted, he saw the outline of a small bed and an even smaller boy curled up on it shivering.

   Without a second thought, Bunny scooped him up in his fluffy arms and tunneled away. Jack was safe. He was alive. And he was currently asleep. Now all that was left was to wait for the others to return and for Jack to wake up. He could only hope Pitch hadn't scarred him too badly, but knowing Pitch it would be a long road to recovery.

   While Bunny tunneled Jack to safety, Sandy, North, and Tooth continued to fight Pitch and his nightmares. Pitch growled in anger and frustration as nightmare after nightmare was struck down! Jack had strengthened him greatly but he still hadn't gotten to the level of his former glory. Slowly but surely the Guardians gained the upper hand and advanced forward as Pitch continued to retreat behind his army.

   But for a second all his nightmares froze and they heard a shout of anger before they all whisked away. Pitch was gone and all they could do is hope that Bunny had found Jack in time. They all hopped back in the sleigh and used a snow globe to return to the North Pole. North handed the reigns of the sleigh to Phil and nervously made their way down to the infirmary they had prepared beforehand for Jack.

As they reached the room, a nervous looking Bunny thumped his foot up and down repeatedly. "Bunny?" North called causing the Australian to shoot his head up. At the sight of his comrades, he sighed heavily and nodded to the door, "He's in there but he's in bad shape..." Tooth gasped and rushed in, slowly dropping down to her feet at the sight of the boy. His sweatshirt was ripped and seemed to swallow his whole with blood stains speckled all over. His once white hair had turned dark and dirty and his skin paler than ever before. Dark eye bags nearly shrunk under his eyes showing that he hadn't slept well in what they could only assume to be years.

Bunny put a comforting paw on Tooth's shoulder, "I bandaged up what I could but you could probably do a better job than me." So Tooth cleaned Jack's wounds, cleaned up his hair, and put ointment on his scarred and bruised wrists and ankles with shaky hands and tears slipping down her delicate face. Sandy walked in halfway through having finally build up the courage to face the boy he had grown to love and cried sand filled tears as he send Jack a dream of playing with his penguins and sleeping with them in a giant cuddle pile. North however locked himself in his office and began to plan a room for the boy to stay in as he never wanted to let him leave again due to the chance that Pitch could capture him again.

Edited October 13, 2022