Rise of the Guardians: Fall of the Guardians

Chapter 12- Trust Me

Trii's scream finally died down into labored breathing as he fell to his knees. Thick rivets of tears streamed down his face as he released his grip on his hair in order to reach for the bone hesitantly. "Ribcage," he moaned, holding the piece tightly to his chest. He cast his eyes upon Pitch's form. "What happened? What happened to Ribcage?"

"Trii... Dear, dear Trii..." Pitch trailed of, rubbing his hands together with a heavy sigh. "When Jack Frost showed up to stop you, Ribcage tried to stop him. He charged after him in a fiery fury in order to protect you and Frost... Frost just struck him down. He ripped this bone from him and tossed it aside. He was too fast. I couldn't save him."

"That is a lie!" Jack shouted, drawing their attention back to his presence. "Don't believe him for a second, Trii. Pitch was planning on letting you die here for his own benefits! He even said so himself! When he admitted his plans, Ribcage charged him and Pitch killed him! He is to blame!"

"Preposterous!" Pitch rebutted with an offended gasp. "I have always been by your side, Trii. I took you into my Warriors so that we could all get the lives that we deserve. I have never lied to you. While he," Pitch pointed at Jack, "has betrayed you already once before, and now he stands before you and lies once again. Have you no shame, Frost?"

"I didn't want to lie to you, Trii," Jack said softly. "I care for you. You are a dear friend to me and I didn't want to see you hurt. Pitch is everything that the boogeyman should be. He can't be trusted."

"Trii."

"Trii."

"Stop," Trii muttered, shaking his head. "Stop! I don't know who to believe! Can't you see that I am grieving? Leave me alone!"

"We will give your honorable steed the proper funeral that he deserves," Pitch promised. "Once the mission is over, we can go back to our headquarters and tell the rest of the Warriors the heartbreaking news. Let his death not be in vain."

"Don't fall for his tricks, Trii." Jack took a tentative step towards the boy. "If you touch it, then you will die. Pitch wants you out of the picture. Please. Look within your heart. You know that I would never hurt Ribcage; our friend. You have always questioned Pitch thought, haven't you? Deep in your heart, you have always doubted him. There is no way someone as good as you would follow someone like him without any hint of doubt behind his actions."

"Stay back!" Trii shouted, taking another step back. "One more step and I jump off!"

Jack froze and held his hands up. "Don't do that, Trii."

"Of course you would say that, Frost," Pitch sneered. "He just doesn't want to lose the Eternia Glass. Watch out, Trii. He will try to take it from you at every opportunity."

"Then why don't you just take it now?" Trii asked, holding out the orb.

Pitch backed away. "Why don't you hold onto it a bit longer, Trii? As long as you have it, Frost can't touch you."

Trii's eyes narrowed. "The mission is to collect it and take it back to you. Take it, Pitchy. Take it from me." He took a step closer to Pitch.

Pitch smiled. "Of course, Trii. Just be careful of Frost and his violent ways." Pitch held out his hands to receive the orb and Jack held his breath in anticipation.

Suddenly, a tendril of shadows appeared to Jack's side. He lifted his staff in a fighting position, prepared to defend himself. He was surprised when the shadow ignored him completely and instead chose to throw a rather large snowball straight at Pitch. Pitch took the attack to the face, recoiling backwards as his shadows vanished.

"Trii!" Pitch shouted as he stumbled back off the edge of the cliff. He managed to latch onto a ledge a few feet down just in time. "Trii! Help!"

Trii turned to look at Jack, who was still in a fighting stance. "Jack?"

"I didn't-"

"Hold on, Pitchy!" Fell to his knees and placed Ribcage's bone in the snow beside him. He held out his free hand to Pitch. "Grab on!"

Pitch stretched one of his hands ut to him, but his fingertips didn't even come close to brushing Trii's. "I can't hold on!" he shouted back.

"Reach for me!" Trii got loser tot the edge.

"Trii, you have to use the power of the orb to reverse time. Stop Ribcage's death. Save me. Save us all." With that being said, Pitch's grip slipped and he fell.

"Pitch!" Trii shouted, still holding out his hand, as if he could still grab the shadow man. In a matter of seconds, he couldn't even see him anymore.

"You can't seriously fall for this, Trii," Jack said, creeping closer. "It is just another one of his tricks."

"You took everything!" Trii leapt to his feet and glared at Jack. "You took away my best friend, my only friend, and then Pitch. I hate you, Jack Frost. I hate you!" Trii held the orb higher. "And now I am going to do something that I should've done in the first place. Trii then brought his bare hand towards its surface.

"No!" Jack shouted. He shot out his arm and caught Trii's with the hook of his staff. He jerked it to the side, causing the orb to fly from his hand. It made impact with a rock jutting out from the snow and a sea of cracks formed. A barrage of the odd sand from the inside seeped out as the gum attached to the orb brought it right back to Trii's awaiting hands. Jack could do nothing as skin met glass.