In Love with the Darkness (A ROTG Story)

Chapter 7

North's POV

I tinkered absentmindedly with a toy, listening to my favorite classical music track. This was going to be the next big thing for the little ones. So many moving parts, they'd never get bored!

I had called the other guardians here for a meeting, but I was putting it off as long as possible. It was our regular meeting of the month and I was not looking forward to listening to Bunny's endless complaints, especially after I'd just seen him for a mission a few days before.

I heard them all arriving in the foyer, Bunny's ranting carrying above Tooth's softer voice. I sighed and put my coat on, better to go ahead and get this over with.

A gust of wind slammed up against the window, causing a rather violent sound. I jerked my head around, my fingers already gripping my swords. An attack on the palace was a bold move, one that wouldn't end well.

The winter spirit from the woods stood outside on the balcony. He looked strange. I wondered how he even found this place, let alone what he needed.

I decided to brush aside my questions for now and welcome him in. He seemed like a very lost soul. Wandering all those years without knowing another spirit even existed. It had to be a painful existence. Something drew me to him, I felt like I needed to protect him. I couldn't explain it, I just knew that I needed to be there for him.

I opened up the window and welcomed him in. Standing so close to him, I could tell that something was clearly very wrong. His eyes were unfocused and his knees wobbled precariously. Before I could bring my thoughts together he collapsed.

I rushed to him, checking for any obvious injuries, asking if he was okay when he obviously wasn't. He closed his eyes and panic started to seep in.

"No, no, no ... Tooth!" I called out.

He couldn't die. Not when we'd just met him. Not when he was so young. Not when he had so much life left to live.

Tooth and the others burst into the room and the hummingbird hybrid zipped over to me. Her hands immediately went to work checking the boy's vitals.

"What happened, North? Why is he here?" Tooth asked gently.

I shrugged worriedly, running my hand through my beard. "He just showed up and collapsed."

Tooth grimaced and nodded, "Jack?" She called to him gently.

He stirred slightly before his bright blue eyes flicked open. A moment passed when he simply stared at Tooth. His expression was so helpless. He reminded me of one of the children I gave Christmas presents to each year.

Suddenly, his expression contorted into something filled with pure agony and a blood-curdling scream tore through him.

I backed away slightly, surprised by the outburst as tooth shouted orders to her fairies. Jack grabbed his head in pain and I saw a deep wound dying his white hair red.

I couldn't take anymore of the chaos, so I ducked away back into my study. Tooth could handle whatever had happened.

I heard the soft patter of feet behind me and I knew it was Bunny before he even said a word.

"How ye holdin up, mate?" He asked gently.

I turned to him and shook my head, "It just doesn't make sense. What happened to him? And why did he show up here? How did he even know where it was?"

"Whoa there, don't get yourself all worked up for nothing. Kid probably came here to make a little trouble and hurt himself on the way over."

I chewed on my lip anxiously. Something just didn't feel right about the whole thing. We spirits were immortal, but not invincible. We could still be harmed and even killed under certain circumstances. In order for this to happen, one would need to have almost no belief, and the harm would have to be done by another spirit.

Our energy and strength is drawn from another realm. Essentially the afterlife, the realm of the spirits and gods. Humans can't inflict damage to a realm that cannot access.

Therefore, either Jack Frost was intentionally hurting himself or someone else was doing it for him. A familiar feeling twinged in my stomach as I stumbled into the realization.

"What if this has something to do with Pitch?"

Sorry about the delay on this update. This has been the busiest year of my life, I swear. Plus, I honestly wasn't expecting much from this story. But I'm enjoying exploring this situation and I hope you are too!
Also, sorry if North isn't portrayed quite accurately. It's a bit difficult to write from his perspective.