A/N: Helloooo, everybody.

Today's update comes with a side of incoherency, delirium, and general suckiness. Yep, sorry to say, but my fever got worse and now I'm wrapped up tight in half-a-dozen blankets, drinking tea and shivering like no tomorrow. Thus, my writing skills have suffered.

I wasn't going to post this little mess, but a friend of mine badgered me until I agreed to do it. So yeah.

Side note: This includes characters from the "Guardians Of Childhood" books. You don't really need to have read the books to understand this drabble, but you should know that Katherine and Nightlight are both Guardians (Katherine is the Guardian of Storytelling, Nightlight used to be MiM's bodyguard), and that Nightlight controls beams of light. That's it.

Also, to you fans who have read the books, I apologize if Katherine and Nightlight seem OOC. I haven't read the books. I get all my info from RotG Wiki. I know nothing about their characters.

...Although I'm pretty sure Katherine doesn't curse a blue streak in the books. But I'll just blame artistic license, as well as "omg, she was stuck in space for three centuries, give the girl a break."

Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING. ANYYYYTHINNNNNG.

Pride comes before the fall, they say.

He lay flat on his back on the ground, rocks and tree roots digging into his spine as he stared up, alarmed at the spear of light being held inches from his face. The owner of the spear, a tall young boy encased in armor, glared furiously at him with a bright green gaze.

Next to the boy stood a girl, a gray-eyed, auburn-haired female whose face appeared to be permanently etched in a stern expression. She held a dagger in her hand, and was ranting furiously while waving it about.

"Foul creature, miserable demon, how could you have killed them you monster-"

He tuned out the sound of her voice as he analyzed the two. Both looked ragged, thin, and unhealthy, with dark bags under their eyes and scratches all over their skin. They appeared to have been through some terrible ordeal. His sharp eyes noted a slight limp in the girl's left leg, as well as faint weakness in the boy's right shoulder, and he smirked. Had they been uninjured, he would have been fearful, but damaged as they were, and with the new moon high in the sky, they stood little chance of succeeding.

"What the hell are you smiling at, you stupid furball?"

"Language, Katherine," remarked the boy absently. Ah, so he did speak after all. Jack had been worried there for a moment.

"I don't give a damn about language, Nightlight! I spent three centuries wandering around, lost in MiM-damned space, and I come back to see that all of my fellow Guardians have been killed by a cursed sidhe! Tell me you aren't upset, Nightlight! Tell me you aren't!"

"I too am saddened, dearest Katherine," stated Nightlight simply.

"Then let's kill him already and be done with it!"

"Agreed."

Before he could react, the spear stabbed downwards, aimed for his chest, and Jack howled as the dreaded light pierced his torso. He twisted, kicking out with one pale foot, hitting his adversary in the stomach and knocking him off balance briefly. The small stumble on Nightlight's part was enough, allowing Jack to shift to his cat form before turning tail and running away.

"Ah, you would, would you? Get back here you coward!"

The girl's knife flew through the air with impeccable aim, striking him neatly between the shoulders. He yowled again, writhing in agony, black blood oozing like tar from the wounds and splattering over the ground. With three quick strides, the girl caught up with him and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. Glaring hatefully at him, she dragged him over to the boy and threw him roughly onto the ground, ignoring his yelp of pain.

He struggled to rise to his feet, but his legs failed him, the world swimming around him in a whirl of colors. Sharp pain stabbed his chest and back, and the light spread through his veins like a poison, numbing his body and fogging his brain. His squirms slowed down to a halt, a strange drowsiness claiming his senses.

As if from far away, the girl's vice spoke."As you have taken, so you shall loose, cat."

The last thing he saw through half-closed eyes was the spear of light descending.

Pride comes before the fall, and oh, how far he'd fallen.

A/N: And thus, Jack is now dead. Yay.

...Review?