The Sabbat

Chapter 1: You Better Watch Out

The glimmering images of the Northern Lights danced through the clear night sky that hung over the North Pole. Deep within the Arctic wastes, a mountain stood tall and proud over the surrounding tundra, the Northern Lights shining so brightly above it that it almost seemed as though they were emanating from the mountain's peak. For a few moments, the majestic stillness of the scene was only broken by the howling winds that kicked up small clouds of snow and carried them into the night.

Suddenly, a loud, joyful laugh echoed up from the valley below the mountain as the winds picked up speed, tossing snow flakes into the air in a flurry of ice and air. At the center of the sudden tempest, a young man flew, seemingly held aloft by the buffeting winds. The young man couldn't have been fully out of his teenaged years, with pale skin that seemed to glow in the moonlight and a slim physique. His hair was a short shock of white that danced on the wind and his icy blue eyes sparkled with mischief. He wore a light blue hooded sweatshirt and a pair of brown slacks, though his pale feet were bare. A staff with a bend at the end like a shepherd's crook was clutched tightly in his hand.

The young man continued to laugh as he flew down to the mountain before entering a cave that dug deep into frozen stone. The cave quickly transformed into a tunnel made mostly out ice that led into the very heart of the mountain. Shooting down the tunnel, the young man landed and slid across the frozen floor, coming to a halt at the tunnel's end.

The tunnel terminated in a large chamber that was furnished in order to use is as a stable. Most of the chamber were taken up by a long series of wooden stalls set against one of the walls. In the other corner of the room, a large sleigh sat, looking like a mix between a traditional sleigh and painted hot rod red. Hay had been lain across the frozen ground and the stalls were currently occupied by eight reindeer, each of them snorting and stomping their feet in agitation.

"Hey, guys," the young man said with a calm, friendly voice as he walked over to the stalls, "Hey, it's alright, it's just me. It's Jack."

The reindeer payed the young man, Jack, no notice though, continuing to move about in agitation until one of them threw its shoulder against the door of its pen, trying to break its way through.

"Easy, Blitzen, easy!" Jack said with a worried tone as he ran over to the reindeer and tried to calm it, but Blitzen ignored him, slamming against the door again, which smashed open with the loud crack of splintering wood. Stumbling for a moment, Blitzen quickly regained its footing before it went bounding through a doorway that led out of the room, disappearing around a corner.

Jack watched the reindeer disappear with confusion written upon his face. Glancing over his shoulder at the other reindeer, he saw they were still agitated as well, though none of them were attempting to escape from their pens like Blitzen had.

"What's going on?" Jack questioned, "What's gotten into you guys?"

Turning his attention towards the door that led out of the stables, Jack walked hesitantly towards it. Reaching the door, Jack stuck his head through, trying to see what he could. The hallway beyond was dark, the lanterns set along its wooden walls cold, a sight which immediately set off warning bells in Jack's head.

"North?" Jack called out into the darkness, "North, are you there?"

The echos of Jack's voice were all that answered him, followed by deafening silence.

Concern written on his features, Jack began making his way down the hall, his staff held out before him like a spear. His bare feet padding across the wooden floor, Jack continued down the hallway, finding absolutely no one as he went, the darkness and silence all consuming. As he walked, Jack gripped his staff tighter, which seemed to cause the crooked end to become covered in frost

Reaching the end of the hall, Jack found himself standing in a doorway, looking into the darkness of the room beyond.

"Hello?" Jack called cautiously, "Is there anyone there?"

Silence replied again, which only served to heighten the tension Jack was already feeling. Cautiously, Jack stepped through the doorway and almost jumped out of his skin as something suddenly grabbed his arm.

Letting out a panicked yelp, Jack whirled around to face what had grabbed him, swinging his staff as he did. There was a dull thwack as the staff connected with something, followed by a dull groan of pain as the young man felt the grip on his arm slacken.

Breathing quickly, Jack pointed his staff at where he thought the thing that had grabbed him, the dim blue light coming from the crooked end illuminating it. It was some kind of humanoid creature with a burly build. The creature looked like it would have stood at least seven feet tall were it not slouching against the wall and floor and was covered from head to toe in shaggy, chestnut brown hair. A thick patch of hair that resembled a bushy mustache covered the creature's mouth and it looked at the young man with beady, brown eyes that had a glassy sheen that told him the creature was barely holding on to consciousness.

"Phil!?" Jack questioned in surprise as he leaned down, placing his hands on the creature as he tried to steady it, "Oh man, Phil, I'm so sor-"

Jack cut himself off as he touched Phil's side, only to find something wet and sticky there. Pulling it back, Jack's eyes widened in surprise as he found blood.

"Phil, you're hurt," Jack observed as he looked at the creature with confusion and concern, "What happened?"

Phil mumbled something incoherent as he lifted one of his arms and pointed at something behind Jack. His brow furrowing, Jack turned and looked in the direction that Phil had pointed but could make out nothing in the inky darkness. Stepping forward, Jack raised his staff above his head, the pale blue glow it gave off glowing brighter.

What Jack saw chilled him to the bone.

The room he was in was a large, multistoried one, a large gap at the center opening the room from ceiling to floor with a massive globe slowly rotating within it. The room was clearly a workshop, each floor housing tables scattered with tools and half-finished toys. The young man could spot a number of creatures just like Phil scattered around the room as well, some nursing wounds much like Phil's, others laying completely still. But it was what was hanging at the center of the room that caught the young man's attention.

A man that looked like he was somewhere in his late middle ages was hanging in the center of the room, suspended by chains that had been wrapped around his arms, holding him aloft with his hands stretched above his head directly above the area marking the North Pole on the map. He was a large man, with a power build that was on display due to him lacking any sort of covering above his waist. Jack noted that most of the man's skin was covered in tattoos of various shades and designs. The ones on his chest were obscured by his long white beard while the ones on his back were similarly hidden by the blood oozing out of the long, deep cuts on his back.

"North!" Jack gasped after he managed to recover from his shock, "North, I-"

Jack paused as the other man, North, began to rotate on the chains, giving him a better look at the older man's back. The cuts ran the complete length of North's back, and as he got a better look at them, Jack realized they spelled out the word "Naughty."

"Oh God, North," Jack whispered to himself, "Who did this to you?"

Later,

"I don't like this," the giant, anthropomorphic rabbit said, his voice thick with an Australian accent. He stood on his hind legs, towering over six feet in height with a lean build and grey fur that was decorated with patches of darker fur that resembled tattoos. The only piece of clothing he wore was a leather bandolier strapped diagonally across his chest, holding a collection of boomerangs and colored eggs. His green eyes were full of worry as he looked down at North laying against his stomach on a large bed, his back heavily bandaged.

"None of us like it, Bunny," the one female in the room replied. She was a short, slim woman who's most noticeable feature was that both her head and body was completely covered in feathers with colors that resembled those of a hummingbird, the ones growing from her scalp giving her a spiked hairdo. A pair of wings similar in design to those of a dragonfly's grew out of her back, though they were hard to get a view of as they fluttered at a blurring speed, keeping the woman suspended a few feet off of the floor.

"The important thing is we figure out who did this, Tooth" Jack spoke up from where he stood leaning against one of the wooden walls, "Do we have any ideas. The list of who could pull this off must be pretty short."

Bunny and Tooth shared an uncertain expression before looking to the side as the fifth person in the room as he waved his hands over his head for attention. He was a short man, only coming up to the young man's waist, his golden hair sticking out from his head in every direction. He had a pudgy physique and was clothed in a robe that seemed to be made out of golden sand. In fact, his whole body seemed to give off a warm, golden radiance.

"What is it, Sandy?" Tooth questioned.

As she and the others looked over at Sandy, they all immediately noted the grim expression on his face. As they watched, Sandy lifted his hands above his head, causing some of the sand that made up his form to break away and float up into the air. Quickly, the sand coalesced above his head, forming a wheel with eight spokes, a symbol floating above each spoke. The image meant nothing to Jack, but as he glanced at Bunny and Tooth, he noticed them suddenly stiffen.

"No," Bunny stated, his voice a low, dangerous whisper, "It's not him."

Sandy narrowed his eyes and gestured towards North lying in the bed.

"Sandy, it can't be him," Tooth stated, sounding almost like she was trying to convince herself more than Sandy.

Again, Sandy glared at the others while forcibly gesturing at North.

"Alright, what are you guys talking about?" Jack questioned, pushing off from the wall and walking over to the others while quirking an eyebrow at them.

"Nothing," Bunny snapped as he glanced over his shoulder at Jack, "It doesn't matter anyway, because it's not him!"

"Except it is being him, my friend," a rumbling voice thick with a Russian accent came in reply as North began to stir.

"North, you shouldn't be moving in your condition," Tooth stated as she flitted over to the large man's side and hovered over him anxiously.

"I am being-" North began to say before he cut himself off with a hiss of pain as he tried to sit up, "...fine."

"You're not fine, mate," Bunny stated, putting a hand against North's shoulder and gently pushing him back against the bed, "You're starting to talk crazy."

"I'm not crazy," North snarled, glaring up at Bunny, "I know what I saw. It was him."

"Who?" Jack demanded, irritation clear in his voice, "Who is this guy you keep talking about?"

"His name…." North said solemnly, pausing to prop himself up on his elbows so he could better look at Jack, "is Krampus."

There was a pause as North let the words sink in before Jack furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Who the hell is Krampus?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Bad news," Bunny stated, "The worst kind of news. He's one of the Guardians of Sabbat."

"Who are the Guardians of the Sabbat?" Jack questioned.

"Before we were the Guardians, before we were chosen by the Man in the Moon, there were….other forces," Tooth explained, a worried look on her face, "Back in those times, people followed the old ways, the Sabbat. It was a darker time, a time full of fear and pain and the Sabbat reflected that."

"So, they're bad guys?" Jack inquired.

"Not exactly," Bunny replied, "Times were cruel back then and the Old Guardians were a reflection of that time."

"So, what happened to them?" Jack questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"When we were chosen, originally, it was to oppose them," North explained, "Manny chose us to bring hope and joy to the world and to do so, we had to defeat the Old Guardians."

"Well, I'm guessing that you did," Jack observed with wry grin, "Otherwise, you wouldn't be here to tell me about it."

"True enough," Tooth agreed with a chuckle, "Using some old, powerful magic, we were able seal them away forever."

"Or so we thought," North added, "Manny warned us that the seals could weaken over time. We should have seen this coming."

"How could we have?" Jack questioned.

"Because we just fought one of them not long ago," Bunny grumbled.

"What are you…." Jack began to question in confusion before a look of realization crossed his face, "Pitch Black."

"Exactly," North stated with a dark chuckle that abruptly turned into a cough of pain.

"Why didn't you guys say anything before?" Jack questioned as he looked around at the others.

"Because not even he remembered," Tooth explained, a distant look on her face.

"What do you mean?" Jack inquired with confusion.

"You know how these things work, Jack," Tooth replied, "People like us, like Pitch, our strength comes from people's belief in us. In order to take the Old Guardians' power away, we….we…."

"We erased them," Bunny finished for her.

"What do you mean you erased them?" Jack questioned, his brow furrowing.

"We….I made people forget who they were," Tooth explained, a worried look on her face, "I altered everyone's memories of the Sabbat and, in doing so…."

"You made everyone stop believing in them," Jack finished for her, his face an emotionless mask.

"Please, Jack, you have to understand, it was the only way," Tooth pleaded, "In the same way that we had to make people not be afraid of Pitch anymore."

"I guess," Jack relented, "It explains why Pitch was gunning for you guys so hard."

"Actually, it doesn't," Tooth replied, another worried expression on her face.

"Why not?" Jack inquired, arching an eyebrow at Tooth.

"Because, when I said I altered everyone's memories, I meant them as well," Tooth explained, her features anxious.

"You….erased their memories?" Jack questioned in shock.

"It was the only way, mate," Bunny spoke up, "If they remembered who they were they would stop at nothing to get their power back."

"And without their memories, they would stop at nothing to get them back," Jack argued, his voice rising alongside his temper, "You turned them into me!"

"What?" Bunny asked in genuine confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how you put them in the same hell that I spent three hundred years trapped in!" Jack snarled, "Not knowing who I was. Not being able to talk or even touch other people."

"Jack, please, you have to-" North began to say, but the young man silenced him with a glare.

"Am I one?" Jack questioned.

"What?" Bunny questioned in confusion.

"Am I one of these Guardians of the Sabbat?" Jack questioned.

"What are you talking about, Jack?" Tooth asked in shock, "You know who you are."

"Do I?" Jack asked, "I learned who I was from something you gave me and you just told me how good you are at altering people's memories."

"Jack," Tooth pleaded, her expression heartbroken, "I….I would never do that."

"Forget it," Jack said with a shake of his head before looking at North, "So, Pitch didn't know who he was. Why does this Krampus guy know?"

"Someone must have told him," North answered, "The same person who freed him."

"Who would that be?" Jack questioned.

"Who do you think?" Bunny inquired in return, arching an eyebrow at the young man.

"You think Pitch is behind this?" Jack asked in surprise, "But we beat him."

"It's not like we saw a body," Bunny replied, "And if he got his memories back, it wouldn't be too hard for him to track down another one of the Old Guardians."

"What I don't get is if Pitch was one of these Old Guardians, how did he get loose in the first place?" Jack inquired.

"I am thinking I might be knowing," North answered as he started rising from his bed again, "But it is not being important at the moment."

"You're right," Tooth agreed as she gently pushed North back to the bed, "What's important is that you get your rest."

"There is being no time," North replied as he struggled weakly against Tooth, "We have to-"

North was interrupted when one of the yetis came running into the room, it's eyes wide. The group turned to look at the yeti as it grumbled something while pointing back the way he had come.

"What's he saying?" Bunny questioned as he glanced back at North.

"He's saying…." North paused as he grunted in pain again, "He's saying that Man in Moon is trying to contact us."

"Well, I think we know what he wants to talk about," Jack commented.

"We have to go see what he wants," North stated as he began to rise from his bed once more, only for both Bunny and Tooth to push him back against the mattress.

"You're right, we'll go see what Manny wants, mate," Bunny stated with a nod.

"You stay here and rest," Tooth added.

North made a weak noise of protest but made no further attempt to get up as the rest of the group left the room and made their way through the complex to the large room that Jack had found North. Any damage that had been done had already been cleared away and Jack noted that one of the yeti's was busy scrubbing what looked like blood out of the floor.

Tearing his eyes away from the scene and turned them towards the massive globe at the center of the room. As he looked at the globe, Jack saw a beam of silvery moonlight coming through a skylight in the ceiling above, cast by the pale, full moon hanging in the starry sky beyond. It landed on the top floor of the room directly in front of the globe, settling on a stone panel that had been set into the wooden floor. As Jack and the others approached, the panel slid aside with the grinding of stone against stone, before a light blue crystal set on a pedestal rose out of the floor. While Jack watched, the moonlight collected in the crystal, which refracted into a projection that slowly began to form into an image in the air before them.

"What's happening?" Jack questioned, glancing at Tooth as they watched the image form.

"The Man in the Moon is choosing a new Guardian," Tooth replied.

"Already?" Jack asked as he blinked in surprise while turning his attention back to the forming image, "It feels like he just chose me."

"And with good reason," Bunny stated, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched the image, "It's only because of you that we took down Pitch. I'm guessing we're going to need all the help we can get to beat Krampus."

The group fell silent as the image coalesced into something recognizable. It depicted a tall figure, though an oddly proportioned one, his arms and legs so long and spindly they reminded Jack of a spider's limbs. He was dressed in a black suit that looked roughly a century out of fashion, complete with an extravagantly large bow tie that resembled a bat in flight. The thing that caught Jack's attention though was the fact the figure was clearly a skeleton, his head nothing more than a bleached white skull.

"Is that…." Bunny questioned as he squinted his eyes at the image.

Sandy pointed above his head where his sand coalesced into the image of a grinning jack-o'-lantern.

"Yep, thought so," Bunny agreed with a nod and a sigh.

"Oh boy," Tooth commented with a nervous expression, "North is not going to like this."

"Okay, I'm lost," Jack said as he looked around at his friends, "Who is this guy?"

"Allow me to do the introductions then," Bunny said as he stepped forward and gestured towards the image, "Jack Frost, meet Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, Spirit of Halloween, and the only bloke crazy enough to try and hijack Christmas."

A/N: Yep, another new story! This idea has been playing around in my head for awhile and finally coalesced into a real story this past Christmas. I hope you guys enjoy it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!