Hey guys! It's been a long time since I've written anything, trying to get over Writer's Block. But, well, here it is, my latest piece inspired my a spontaneous thought and some questions.

You see, the opening scene of Rise of the Guardians, Jack's VoiceOver says "It was dark...and I was scared". It makes me wonder. Could that have anything to do with Pitch? Also, I also wonder why Jack was barefooted insteadpod wearingsince skates like his sis (who, btw, I've named Pippa). I'll be answering these questions in here.

So, well here it is, Nightmare Underwater, and I don't own RotG. I just love it to death.

-Burgess, 1708-

"AAAAAHH!"

The high-pitched wail of a five-year old girl filled the previously quiet house. Soft footsteps ensued, as a tall, brunette, pyjama-clad teenager bounded up the stairs.

Jackson Overland Frost threw the door of Pippa Mary Frost's bedroom open to find his little sister sitting up in bed, crying, her teddy bear locked in a death-grip.

"Hey...Pip...sshh..." he hugged Pippa. Soon, the choking sobs died down.

"You wanna tell me what happened?" he probed.

"Y-you were walking i-in the forest, and Old Man Wilson's mean black dogs came an' they hurt you an'..." her bottom lip quivered and she burst into tears again.

"Hey...look at me, I'm fine! Sh...you're gonna be okay! It was just a bad dream..." he hugged her and rocked her.

"Are you sure?" Pippa sniffed and looked up at her older brother.

Jackson smiled. "Of course! Hey, tell you what, why don't I take you fishing later, if mom and dad allow me to?"

Pippa giggled,"Okay!"

"Then you better get up, sleepy head, or Old Man Wilson's mean old dog's gonna GOBBLE YOU UP LIKE THIS!" Jack began ticking Pippa. The small girl laughed and ran out the door, Jack hot on her heels.

Pitch Black's angry amber eyes glared out of the oily black shadows on the younger Frost's bedroom.

"Just a bad dream..." he muttered to himself.

And just before he sank back through the wall, he swore, "I'll show you what a bad dream is."

And he knew exactly how...

{4 years later}

The bottom of the Burgess Lake was a nice place.

The depths of the lake was dark. Dark and nice and cold. And lifeless. Just how Pitch liked it.

The bottom of the Burgess Lake WAS a nice place.

But after five hours of waiting, even nice places can get even a LITTLE little boring.

Pitch stared up through the frozen surface of the lake irritatedly. The sunlight glittered feeble thought the ice. There was no one in sight, understandable because the presence of the Nightmare King planted irrational fear in the hearts of everyone within a five-metre radius of the lake.

Well, almost everyone.

Very soon, Pitch was greeted by two silhouettes, a lanky, tall one and a short one in a dress, both blurred slightly by the translucent icy surface.

They darted in and out of his sight, totally immune to the dark aura of fear radiating from the depths of the lake, and smudges of laughter could be heard. Such a warm, loving sight...

And all it needed, was a touch of fear...

"Hey Pip! I'll race you to the other end of the lake! Winner gets to take Patches out for walks the whole a'next month!" Jackson shouted to Pippa.

"Tha's not fair! Your better than me!" Pippa folded her arms as she zipped over on ice skates, straight brown hair fluttering like streamers.

"Aw, come on Pip! Tell you what, I'll take off my skates so we'll be equal. Sounds good?" Jack said.

"O-okay! Anyway, Patches like me better!"

"Does not!" Jack hopped around for a while, pulling his left skate off. Then he pulled his right skate off, and slid over, barefooted.

"Let's gooooo!" he yelled. And they were off.

A race, hm? Surely the victor must need a suitable prize... Pitch smiled. He floated upwards to touch the frozen surface of the water.

For a while, nothing happened.

Then, sharp little cracks spiderwebbed over the icy surface.

"May the odds be ever in your favour," he laughed.

"Hahaha I win!" Pippa did a little twirl on the ice.

"That's great, Pip! Now let's-"

CRACK.

White lines splayed out under the blade of Pippa's skates.

Pippa gasped.

"Uh...uh don't move..." Jack reached out onto the banks of the lake, conveniently finding the curved branch he carried around, mainly for tapping Pippa's shoulder when she wasn't looking and watching her flip out.

"Jack...I'm scared..." Pippa's voice cracked. She stumbled, shifting her skate slightly. More cracks spread out.

"Hey...don't be scared...we...we're gonna...have some fun instead!" Jackson's heart hammered in his ribcage, but somehow he kept his voice level.

"No we're not!" Pippa's voice rose an octave.

"Would I trick you?"

"YES! You always trick me!" she half-yelled, tears pricking her eyes. Something in Jackson's heart stung. Was that really how she thought of him?

"N-not this time! We're gonna play...hopscotch! Like we always do!" he insisted. "It's as easy as one..." he stumbles to the side, cracks spreading underfoot. Oh crap, he thought. "...two..." Slightly fewer cracks this time. "Three!" this time, his foot landed on thick, solid ice. He smiled.

"Now you try!" he persuaded her to move forward. "One..." she stepped forward shakily. "Two..." a little bit more confident, she made a small hop. "Three!" he swung the hooked end of his staff at her, flinging her onto the safe end of the lake.

But just as he was about to congratulate her, he noticed the bed of white, needle-sharp lines around his body...

He didn't even have time to mutter an expletive, before the ice below him shattered and he was pulled under in a suffocating, chilling embrace of cold lake water.

Pitch watched the ice crumble under young Jackson Overland Frost. Sure, his plan hadn't turned out the way he expected-no, it was ten times better.

The lanky boy thrashed in the water, brown eyes wide and glassy bubbles streaming towards the surface.

How about speeding things up a little?

I don't know how to swim.

As Jackson flailed frantically at the freezing billows, the thought hit him hard.

Still, he somehow managed to flounder his was up a few inches. Almost there, but his lungs were burning, burning, burning...

Something wrapped around his ankle. Something slippery and evidently very strong. He looked down, but saw...nothing.

He didn't even have time to process this before that Something dragged him down, away from the bright light of the surface.

Oh crap oh crap oh crap-

He let out a jet of bubbles in shock. He realised, the more he tried, the harder the-the Thing pulled at him...

He was scared. The icy lake water billowed around him, crushing his body and filling his lungs. And there was the Thing, whatever it was, that refused to let him go no matter how hard he kicked. Yeah, he was scared. More scared than he'd ever care to admit.

The lights flickered and his vision greyed. The only thing he could feel was the burning in his lungs, and the hammering of his heart in his chest...

After that, he didn't really remember so good.

The Shadow tugged the struggling figure down. He was strong, for his size. Strong both mentally and physically. There was fire in him, Pitch could tell. But what do people do with fire?

They extinguish it. And that was exactly what Pitch did.

Pitch watched as the Shadow wrestled the boy deeper into the murky blue depths of the lake. He could practically feel the raw, unadulterated desperation radiating through his veins.

Soon, his wide brown eyes rolled back into his head, and the flailing and thrashing stopped.

A single, clear bubble slipped through Jack's lips and slowly rose to the surface, shattering in the sunlight...

Then, Jackson Overland Frost's heart stopped altogether.