Rise of the Guardians 2: Return of the Nightmare King

Talks, Snuggles, and Frost Patterns

                                                                               Tooth's P.O.V

I sat on the couch in one of the many living rooms North had. Phil gave me a steaming cup of mint tea. I thanked him and sipped it carefully. Angela was sitting next to me, resting her chin on her fist. Her green eyes were trained on the carpet and her mouth was pulled into a tight frown. Her tamed Nightmare was laying at her feet, sleeping peacefully. I looked into my cup of tea and sighed. It had been two hours and still, they were working on Jack. I was beginning to worry about him. It didn't usually take this long to do a surgery, did it? I wouldn't know, I wasn't a professional doctor or anything. I heard Angela shift beside me, so I turned towards her. She had her hands in her lap, but she was still looking at the ground. "Angela, are you alright?" She didn't answer at first. She was so lost in thought that it took a minute for her to answer.

"Yeah, but I was just thinking," She trailed off. "Never mind, it's nothing important." She shook her head and went back to staring at the carpet. Of course, I wasn't buying that.

"Something is bothering you, I can tell. I don't want you bottling up your emotions." I scooted closer to her and chased her eyes down. She seemed to ponder something for a few seconds, then she took a deep breath. She looked at me with big, shining eyes.

"Back when Pitch first came to power, I remember the sky going dark and the Nightmares descending on our town. My parents put me and Daisy into the basement and told me not to come out until it was silent. They told me they would be back to come to get me. They told me they had to help with the commotion outside. Finally, when I didn't hear anything outside, I went upstairs to find my parents, but they never came back. I waited for weeks, hoping that they would return, but I never saw them again." Angela paused to wipe away a few tears that escaped from her eyes. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I assumed that Pitch killed them. Now that I think about it more, I don't think that's true. Do you think that Pitch had the guts to kill anyone?" Angela looked up at me, hoping for an answer.

I didn't expect her to ask that question. I hesitated, trying to find a decent answer for her. I didn't want to scare her, but at the same time, I couldn't lie to her. "I've never seen Pitch kill anyone, but I have seen him threaten to kill. When we first fought Pitch in Burgess, he threatened to kill Jamie so that we would die because Jamie was the last light on the globe. Another time was when he stabbed Jack. I don't think he knew that his black sand got in Jack's body. That time Pitch didn't threaten exactly, but I don't know if he intended to kill him. The Nightmare King is very confusing. He can be violent, but he can also be understanding. He's angry, but he's also hurting somehow. He's a very complicated character." I finished explaining, hoping that was enough for her.

"That's not exactly what I mean," Angela continued. "I know he has the guts to kill you guys since the Guardians are his enemies. But do you think he would kill innocent people? Would he kill a human?"

I froze up at her question. I didn't know how to answer that. I've seen him threaten to kill a little boy, but I've never seen him kill a civilian before. I glanced down at the Nightmare that Angela had tamed. He's tried to turn a few children into Fearlings before. Did that count as killing? I guess it didn't, but it did count as possessing someone. "Tooth?" Angela looked at me with a concerned expression. I opened my mouth to reassure her that I was fine, but I was interrupted by Phil. We all turned towards the yeti. He ran towards North and garbled something in his language. North widened his eyes and thanked Phil.

"Well?" I asked, "What did he say?" Everyone leaned forwards expectantly as we waited for North to say something.

"It's Jack," he hesitated, "Phil said he's awake!" Angela and I glanced at each other and then I went running into the hospital room. I opened the door and looked inside. There he was. Some of the yetis were checking his vitals and asking him a few questions. He was nodding and saying a few words as they spoke. His sweatshirt was off, which made me blush, and he had bandages wrapped around his chest and abdomen. He looked a bit exhausted, but otherwise, he was fine. Tears sprung into my eyes at seeing him alright. I smiled and stood in the doorway for a few more seconds before crying out, "Jack!" He turned his head at the sound of my voice and grinned so big I could see all of his teeth!