The Black Heart

Prologue

Jack watches through the window as a sleeping boy is curled up under the blankets of his bed. A sandy version of a pony forms above his head as it prances around. Jack leans in closer, frosting up the window. Jack is taken slightly aback and moves away, the frost, slowly leaving the glass. Jack sighs in frustration, sometimes it can be lonely when all one can create is snow and ice. Jack watches as the pony comes through the window, and begins to prance around outside. It makes its way to the roof, and Jack follows. 

Dreams from the other children follow the dancing pony, each having their own shape and dimension. One is a dolphin that swims by, Jack reaches out to touch it, but it quickly dissipates into sand. Jack quickly retracts his hand and purses his lips together. A wave of golden sand embraces all the dreams. Jack watches in awe as he leaps from roof to roof, trying to follow.

Suddenly, the dreams disappear and the color goes from gold to black. Jack knows the horror all too well. "Pitch," He murmurs under his breath. 

A nightmare in the shape of a black stallion appeared on the ground. Jack jumps down from the rooftop and stands face to face against the nightmare. He lowers his staff and glares in the nightmare's direction, looking for the one and only, Pitch Black. "Why hello, Jack Frost," an eerie voice greets from the shadows.

Jack quickly turns around to see the Boogeyman himself. He stands tall, wearing his long, black robe. His glowing yellow eyes looking directly at Jack, who raises his staff, ready for attack. "Pitch, what are you doing here?" 

"Jack Frost, no need to be so defensive, I have posed as no threat," Pitch says in his deep voice.

Jack clutches onto his staff a little tighter. More of Pitch's nightmares arrive, destroying all the sweet dreams that Sandy had made for the children. They began circling around Jack and Pitch, who had a very creepy grin on his sickly, gray face. "No threat huh? Then tell me, Pitch," Jack spits. "What are they doing here?"

"Why, they're here for you, Jack, there's too many of them for you to possibly defeat by yourself. And without your little guardian friends to protect you, I'm afraid you're, well, all out of options." Pitch smirks as he steps away and into the shadows.

Jack tries to keep a steady eye on every nightmare around him, but Pitch was right, there's far too many for him to take on alone. If only he had a way to contact North, Bunny, Tooth, or even Sandy. Unfortunately, he's on his own, and he won't go down without a fight. Jack throws the first attack, hitting one nightmare with his ice. The others do not take too kindly to this and lunge towards Jack. 

Suddenly, a figure flies in from the rooftops. Jack watches as the figure lands next to him on the ground. They are dressed in a black cloak that is so long it drags and makes a train behind them. The cloak has a hood that the figure is wearing and covers a third of their face. The figure holds a up a bow that is icy blue, they point the bow at the black stallion, and pull back the string. An icy arrow forms on the bow, and the figure releases the arrow, freezing the nightmare to ice. The other nightmares quickly lunge to attack, Jack raises his staff and sends a wave of snow in defense. The cloaked figure continues to shoot ice arrows. 

One of the nightmares runs towards the figure, who in return, launches themselves into the air, doing a back flip, as the nightmare disintegrates into the near building. Jack watches in amazement as the figure lands with elegance, the hood, staying in place. With all the nightmares gone, Jack approaches the figure, unsure of what to say. "T-Thanks, back there, for all the help."

The figure doesn't bother to respond, but Jack notices underneath the cloak that the figure is wearing a blue and white body suit. He tries to see their face, but can only see the lower portion. Their skin is a snow white, like face paint. The lips are a light pink with black lines over them. The black line extends from the corners of the mouth up into the shadow of the cloak. The figure is still clutching the bow in their hand. "I'm Jack Frost, and you are?"

The figure still refuses to speak. Instead, they throw their bow over their shoulder, and turn their back to Jack. As if they can fly, they leap into the sky and disappear into the shadows of the night. Jack leaps onto the roof quickly after, but the mysterious figure is no longer in sight. Jack looks up and see the full moon, he sighs as he takes a seat on the roof's edge, dangling his feet over. "Who was that?"