Holy crap.
Please don't murder me.
The initial pla was to post a 5 thousand word 23rd chapter, but...
I got lazy, and I thought 3,800 words were satisfying for the first part :')
And so, this fanfiction is OFFICIALLY out of its hiatus cocoon!
Yayyy
But sadly, my life's a bit rocky at the moment, so I'll do my best to update as soon as I can, but this time, I make no promises!
And so, READ ONNNNNNN
_

First Snow, Now Frost: Chapter Twenty-Three, Part One

You shivered from Pitch's dark words. What did he mean by 'Jack won't own anything, anymore'? You were uncertain, and being uncertain was something you did not want to be. You only growled, whipping your head away from his hand. You didn't want to look into those eyes. They weren't Pitch's normal evil-filled eyes; those eyes held something much darker than evil. They held... Malice. Lust. Torture. You didn't want to see those things in his eyes; the nightmares of adults. Those thoughts that could be clearly seen from that never-ending hole horrified you.

As you tried to find a way to escape, you could barely hear Pitch mumbling to himself. You tried pulling once again on the chains, but that did no good. You tried kicking them; it didn't do jack. Then you thought of a new idea. While Pitch kept mumbling to himself, apparently not giving any importance to you, you started biting on the chains. But you soon realized that the idea you had in mind was a terrible idea. The black sand that enveloped your hands was now forcefully going down your throat, making you easily gag and immediately stop what you were doing. You coughed loudly, trying to spit out the black sand that, victoriously, got itself inside your body.

"Oh, someone tried to find another way to escape, hmm~?" Pitch asked, his usual smug smile wiped over his face. "Try all you want, girl but you'll always fail."

You suddenly felt weaker than before, you eyes blinking furiously trying to keep you awake. The grand fall had done a number on your bones and muscles, and the black sand, which you had no precise idea of its goal, just made you feel weaker and weaker. You tried to control it as you did in the past, but somehow, it didn't respond the way you wanted it to. You groaned in pain as the black sand forced its way into your body, making your insides feel as though they were being crushed.

"Are you dying to know why you can't control it?" Pitch asked, his hand on his pointed chin. It seemed that he was watching you squirm in pain, an leery smile creeping on his face.

You didn't respond. Instead, you tried keeping your mind focused, since your vision seemed kind of hazed.

"Well, since you're now filled with Sandy's pure golden sand now, you can't even control the other. Isn't that perfect?" Pitch added as he clapped his hands together.

You tightened your teeth together, trying to bear the pain. It felt horrible; every little movement, even blinking, felt like torture. But you still tried. You couldn't give up; not this easily. The front of your body stayed still for a short moment, but slowly, you moved your arms close to you, trying to lift your body. The black sand inside you somehow slowed its trajectory, making it slightly easier to lift yourself up. You inhaled air, then gave yourself one last push. You exhaled as you finally were in a sitting position, your back against the wall. Your hair was now in a slight mess from the sweat and the dust on the floor, but that wasn't something that mattered to you at the moment.

When you tried to look around, your eyes only confused you. Your breathing was slightly hitched, as if your respiratory tubes were slowly being squeezed. Now that you were sitting on the floor, you could see your surroundings better. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Your sight was still very confusing, making the stone room shape-shift vigorously with every blink. When you tried looking at Pitch, all you saw was replicas of his dark, slender body. At some moments, there was only one Pitch. Then, a dozen of them would appear, the same evil glint in his golden eyes sparkling with malice. You pushed yourself onto the wall behind you, honestly scared of the illusions your body gave you. Yes, you had to stay strong, but being scared seemed like an automatic reflex you could not properly tame.

Suddenly, you felt a sharpening pain stab your stomach. Your body's response was to instantly vomit, painfully. Vomiting was never a pleasant feeling, but this... This felt as if you were throwing up millions of tiny needles. They all ripped your esophagus as the digested food forced its way out of your stomach; it was excruciating. You coughed and coughed, trying to quickly end your body's rough exercise, but your body didn't seem to agree with you. It even slowed the process, resulting to your brain feeling like a slowed time bomb, the seconds slowly ticking away as you suffered from the stab inside your stomach.

At the moment, whatever Pitch was doing was none of your concern; anyway, your body did not permit you to lift your head up.

When your body finally felt somewhat better, the bile stopped stripping itself forcefully out of your throat, leaving you breathless. You coughed heavily, the bile's disgusting smell filling your nose, while it's vile taste and feeling burned from your mouth to your stomach. You wiped your mouth with your forearm, since no other possibilities presented themselves before you. After 'cleaning' yourself, your eyes somehow lied themselves on what your body rejected.

Oh, and they didn't shut. They stayed locked on what you saw; however, your mind wanted dearly to look away. But your eyes were in control. They decided for you, while your mind was locked in the cage called 'Submission'.

You expected to see simple vomit, but... it wasn't. It was the wretched bile mixed with black sand and... blood. You looked back at your forearm; it had dried blood imprinted on it.

Out of fear, your body jerked itself backwards, but the wall was too close behind you. You hit not only your back, but also your head with brute force, making you easily lose conscience.

And all you could hear as your mind slowly faded away was Pitch's evil giggle echoed in the air.

XxX

"What?!"

That single word echoed out in North's WorkShop, leaving an emptiness behind filled with shock and disbelief. All of the Guardians, excluding Jack, had their mouths open wide, surprised from what the Winter Guardian had told them. Well, instead of shouting, Sandy could only create forms on the top of his head, visually demonstrating his disbelief. But the very first one to actually continue the conversation was the Guardian that everyone thought could care less for Moonshine; it was Bunny himself.

"H-how could she do that? She knew that going to Pitch was a horrible idea! What if... What-"

"Bunny, please..." North cut the blubbering bunny.

The Australian mammal stopped talking, bowing his head down. He looked destroyed.

Meanwhile, Jack was pacing back and forth, his stick posed on his shoulder. He looked at the floor, thinking.

Why would she go with Pitch?

"I wonder... why would girl go without telling us?" Said North

She's terrified of him, even though we tried working on her fear.

"The poor thing... She must be so scared!" muttered Tooth.

But Tooth didn't have enough time.

"Crickey, we didn't even finish her training." Bunny said last.

She... She disappeared before Tooth could advance to a different type of training...

Then Sandy raised a light bulb on the top of his head, looking towards Jack. They had finished to the same conclusion. But while Sandy had a worried look in his eyes, Jack's eyes demonstrated twisted and distorted emotions; he felt empty, for a lack of a better word.

Jack pressed harshly his stick to the floor, ice angrily possessing the territory around Jack, giving it no pity. The wolves parted slowly from Jack's sides, slightly scared of his sudden act. They whimpered silently, looking at each other worringly.

"She had no choice," Jack said simply. "Pitch took her by force; but it wouldn't be some sort of kidnapping. Moonshine had to go willingly, or her screaming would awake Junshin and Setsuna. So," he paused, "I think Pitch threatened her-"

Sandy grasped Jack's arm, cutting his phrase in half. Jack gave a look at the Sandman, who shook his head. On the top of his head, Sandy first showed a half-crescent moon, symbolizing Moonshine, then put an 'x' on it. He made that disappear and showed Jack, circling it with a thin layer of sand.

"So... Pitch didn't threaten her exactly... He threatened my safety to make her come with him?" Jack asked the Sandman, his voice slightly choked.

Sandy nodded sadly, now looking at the other three Guardians. The other three simply thought silently; North was rubbing his beard, Bunnymund was tapping his foot and Tooth made her wings flutter from time to time. The workshop stood still, as if frozen in time, an unusual creak echoing slowly in the chill temperature. Even if Christmas was coming in a few hours, somehow, Moonshine's disappearance made every toy unlikely to fly or swivel around, as if they all shared the same emotions as the Guardians.

Jack couldn't stand the silence. It suffocated him with its unseen hands. It tortured him slowly, to the point where Jack almost forgot to breath. With Moonshine gone, he realized how much she had taken an immense place in his heart; it was as though with her not there, he had lost a part of himself. Of his personality.

But, Moonshine wasn't dead.

Suddenly, Setsuna whined in pain, falling to the ground. The Guardians put their attention on her, while Jack rushed to Setsuna's side. What Jack saw was... Horrifying. Setsuna, from the inside, was slowly being eaten alive by black sand. As if infected by rabies, her limbs jerked violently from side to side, her whines and groans slowly grew silent, her entire body being quickly teared apart from the black sand.

And suddenly, there was nothing left of her.

The first one to react was Junshin. He howled sorrowfully, his body almost collapsing on the floor close to where Setsuna was. Setsuna, his twin, had... died. Golden tears fell from his piercing eyes as he snuffed the place on which Setsuna laid barely two minutes ago.

Jack came to pet Junshin to comfort him, but he did not want to startle the grieving wolf. Junshin turned his head to have a slight eye contact with the winter spirit, and tilted his head to have Jack's palm in direct contact with the side of his head. The wolf needed comfort, and since Moonshine wasn't here...

Wait.

Did...

Wait just a second here.

Did what happen to Setsuna...

Also happen to Moonshine?

Junshin whipped his head when Jack thought his last word. The two males looked at each other with a slight fear and worry growing into their pupils, and the two looked at the other Guardians.

"What?" Bunny asked first. "What is it?"

"Moonshine..."

It was barely a whisper.

"Jack, please, speak louder," Tooth said.

"Moonshine, she's-"

There was a slight pause.

"Suffering."

His voice practically choked the last word.

"Pitch-"

Anger poisoned Jack's usually sweet voice.

"Pitch is making her suffer something even worse than her scars."

Silence overcame once again the room.

"Whaddya mean, Pitch is makin' 'er suffer more? Crickey, scars weren't bad enough?" Bunny slightly yelled.

Jack turned his head violently to face Bunnymund. His usually gleaming snow blue eyes were mixed with worry, panic, anger and hatred. But it wasn't towards Bunny, oh no. Bunny didn't do anything wrong, he simply asked a question, but Jack needed to explode, and Bunny was his victim.

"No, you overgrown kangaroo, I guess scars weren't possibly enough for Moonshine; either way, her scars are gone, so Pitch must been angry with how she dealt with his... 'masterpiece'." Jack paused. The winter spirit tried to think of other words to express, but none came out. He stayed there, looking towards Bunnymund, his thoughts lost in a winter storm.

But a sudden voice rose from the small silence.

"Well hello, Guardians~"

The Guardians' heads immediately rose up, trying to pin-point where the voice was coming from. Evidently, it belonged to none other than the Boogeyman himself.

"Show yourself, Pitch!" Jack yelled, his emotions now swirling inside his body.

The voice sighed. "Oh, come on, Jack; that was so very cliché. But, if that's what you want."

Jack almost jumped. The Boogeyman was right in front of his face, smiling like a cheschire cat. Jack's first instinct was to attack with his powers, but Pitch simple disappeared and reappeared on top of the globe. The Guardians assumed a position to attack, but something stopped them.

Pitch threw black sand in the air, and it quickly formed into an immense rectangle. With another move with his hands, the space in the rectangle showed his lair, and-

"Moonshine!" Jack yelled.

You didn't answer back. Well, you couldn't; you were still passed out.

"Oh, I thought she would be awake by now. Such a let-down," Pitch said with an annoyed tone. "Darling, wake her up please."

In the frame, the Guardians saw a dark shape approach you. It moved slowly, a slight limp on its back left paw. Its eyes glowed a deep red, the very contrary of Pitch's mares. The dark figure growled as it circled you, as if it was waiting for an order of attack. Its steps echoed into the silent workshop while the Guardians watched impatiently. Each step was like a burden to the shape, since each time it laid a paw on the ground, the floor under it started breaking, showing the heaviness of the step it would take every time it wanted to walk. Finally, the shape walked, and looked towards the Guardians (though it was not in the room with them, it was simply at Pitch's lair).

Pitch clicked his two fingers together.

And the shape lunged at your hair.

It didn't dare go plunge its teeth into your skull, oh, no. It couldn't do that. But with enough hair in its jaw, it started whipping your hair from left to right, harsh and wild, giving no thought to the pain you were experiencing at the moment. On the screen, Jack could see that you weren't reacting right away, but suddenly, you started screaming.

You pulled on your hair, trying to grab control of your head movement. You continued to shriek and cry loudly, trying to fight the beast that had taken control over your head's movements. Every aggressive turn felt like you were being run over by car, over and over again. It never stopped. Somehow, you felt a sudden rush pass through your body, and you stood up, as if you had the most energy in the world. Your eyes glowed pain and anger; you took a deep breath, and yelled a cry of dominance.

You whipped your hair up, then down.

The beast landed on the ground, its jaw losing its grip on your hair. Like the beast, you fell on your knees, and finally, your whole body just... collapsed. You gasped for air, as if the oxygen was quickly leaving the room. Your eyes moved to the beast beside you, and your eyes widened.

"Se-..." You took another breath as your heart started to panic in worry. "Setsuna!"

Junshin's eyes widened. Did his master... Speak the name of his twin!?

Setsuna didn't flinch. She just laid there, as if she were dead. You only hoped she was sleeping.

Meanwhile, Jack and the Guardians were watching all this, their jaws practically touching the floor. Wha-... What had just happened?

"Moonshine..!" Jack yelled, his heart racing with panic. He then precipitated to point his stick towards Pitch, who was still standing where he was, and growled. "You're going to let her go, or else-!"

"Or else what, Jack? You'll give me frostbite?" Pitch laughed. "You know where she is, Jack; all you need to do is go save her~"

Jack huffed slightly. Of course he knew where Moonshine was; he did visit that place once. He looked back at the Guardians. They looked... Well, it was a mixture of things.

But Jack knew that what they felt could never compare to what he felt.

Oh, and Pitch counted on it. But it was too soon; the Boogeyman needed to wait a little bit more...

"Well, the party here displeases me, so I'll be on my way, Guardians~ And yes, you may keep the special present I gave you." Before he left, Pitch looked into Jack's eyes, the lust you once saw twirling in his eyes. "And if you try coming for her..." Pitch giggled. "I'll let you finish the sentence~"

And with that, Pitch disappeared, leaving the immense rectangle at its place.

Jack turned his head towards the Guardians.

"I don't care what Pitch says, I'm going to save her!"

North interjected.

"Tonight is Christmas Night, Jack. I must give toys around the world, and I know Moonshine is important to you, and to us, but the children come first." He paused. "And do you think that Moonshine would want you to get hurt because of-"

"But I NEED TO GO SAVE HER!" Jack yelled. "I-!"

"J... Jack?"

The world froze. The frost spirit turned himself towards the screen. You had spoken. Your head was facing the Guardians, but your hair covered your face, and you didn't have enough energy to push it away.

"Moonshine... Moonshine, can you hear me?!"

"You know, Jack, I feel like crap. Utter, meaningless, disgusting crap." Your voice was dry, hoarse, and sounded as though you had aged great years. You paused, getting a huge breath into your lungs. "But, you know what keeps me going?" You chuckled, but coughed loudly soon after. Damn, you hated coughing. After what had happened with the black sand, coughing was the thing you least wanted to do. "Remember, when we were snowball fighting the kids? All that joy, and pure laughter... I'll never forget it. And the kids were freaking adorable, too." Jack chuckled. But you slightly broke down. "Please, Manny... Let Jack hear this. Just this. I don't want him to hear what I'm going through. I don't want him to blame himself for what will happen to me. I want him to stay strong for me. And please, tell him..." You paused, looking for the right words. "Tell him that I don't want him to come save me. It seems pretty weird why I would that, but... I don't want him to get hurt because of me. Just..." You groan slightly. "Just tell him... I'm fine. I'm fine and dandy. Just like a little flower in April. Oh, speaking of which, Manny, tell the Guardians I said hi. Bunny must be freaking out; I wish I could just hug the hell out of him. Actually, I'd hug all of them, not just Bunny. I'd-"

"Miss me, apprentice~?"

You stopped speaking, your hands squeezed together tightly on your chest, as if you were praying to Manny.

While this was going on, North looked at the time. "Jack, I must go. Christmas is coming."

Jack said nothing. He just looked at the screen, his eyes burning.

He couldn't do anything.

No, that wasn't true.

He could still go.

He coul-

"Oh, I forgot to give you a present, Guardians. Silly me, forgetting to give during the jolly Christmas time. I hope you take care of it; it's very special~"

Suddenly, the Setsuna on the screen dissolved from where it stood, and before the five Guardians could do anything, they were being also held by handcuffs made out of black sand.

On the screen, Pitch appeared once again, circling your body like vultures circled their prey. He took you by the hair, and you grimaced. He lifted you slowly, your feet barely touching the ground. Then, he let you go. You fell with a thud, your body like a rag doll. You groaned softly, trying to roll on your back, wanting to see your surroundings. But Pitch had other ideas in mind, evidently. He kicked you on your side. Your reaction was to assume the fetus position, your coughing worsening.

With a wave of his hands, he took off your handcuffs, the black sand going towards his hand. This was your chance! Your chance to escape! But you were too weak. You couldn't even feel your own heart beat, even though you knew it was still beating, fighting for survival as much as your mind and your organs were.

In Pitch's hand was a whip. A long one, at that.

SNAP!

It slapped the floor. Your whole back shivered at the sound. You knew what was coming.

"MOONSHINE!"

Jack yelled from where he stood. He, too, knew what was coming.

SNAP!

Your head snapped towards Pitch, the whip slightly cutting your right cheek. You flinched. A drop of blood fell from the wound, its hot temperature burning your skin. A small breath escaped your lips.

"Now, how should I start, hmm~?..."

Oh yeah, forgot to mention;
I'm still leaving you guys on a cliff-hanger~~~~~ ;)
Even in your fury, I know you still love me~ 3
May the Frost be with you, peeps~!

Hatsu Haruko -xxx-