WINTER'S HEART

The King, Queen, and the rest of Arendelle had already gone into a full-fledged panic. A complete blizzard had engulfed the fjord, all of Oslo even. But Jack Frost hadn't done this, at least he and Elsa knew that. Erlend had seen it as some sort of side effect to the beast's death and quickly made an effort to rescue his servants and people. The air was frigid, snow and hail horizontally flew in the winds left and right, blinding people, hardly able to walk in a straight line or see three feet in front of them.

"King Erlend!" A fellow knight called, his silhouette slowly becoming visible, "Has his ghost come back for revenge?!" The King was trying to think rationally, but from out of the wind came a black, sanded creature swiping a scythe at him with full strength. Barely dodging it, Erlend unsheathed his sword, realizing this wasn't all Jack Frost's doing. He realized they could possibly be at war with these supernatural beings.

When Elsa and Jack emerged from the dungeon and were horrified by the sight. Though Elsa had grown up there her entire life, she barely recognized the halls that were now covered with sheets of black sand forming into spikes of both darkness and ice. "Jack!" Elsa exclaimed, "What have you done?"

"It's not me!" He told himself, "At least I don't think…" Perhaps he'd lost control due to part of his soul being shattered. But he could get it back, right?! That didn't matter; the castle clearly wasn't any safer than outside, but still, Jack didn't want to steer Elsa into any danger. They realized they were slowly being cornered by Pitch's fury of darkness and Jack's unstable icicles.

Elsa saw a clearing, "This way! Hurry!" She grabbed his hand and the two rushed down the halls where only a single window had been opened, now a gaping hole in the wall. The two looked down at the rather long drop. Jack didn't say a word and grabbed hold of Elsa.

"Hang on!"

Before Elsa could truly react, he jumped out the window with her in his arms. She screamed out, but Jack quickly made a ramp of ice where he slid down to safety. The Princess fought her way out of her arms upon realizing what the blizzard meant—"We have to find my father!"

"But Elsa, I've got to find Pitch!" Jack confirmed, he worried about leaving her alone. She started to head in whatever direction seemed correct.

"I have powers too! I'll be fine!" Neither one of them had the time to wait, they both fled in opposing directions. It wasn't long before Elsa realized how alone she seemed to be—she couldn't see past her face and wind was blowing in every direction. No ice powers would help here! Turning to and fro, the flustered princess chose a direction and headed that way, "Father!" She called out, but it was all in vain.

Jack was rushing to find Pitch; however, he heard a scream through the sough and turned to see a woman, possibly another one of the royal handlers, in fear of some sort of Night Mare and knight. What on earth had Pitch Black resorted to?! Was outright murder his final efforts? Jack knew he had to end this, but he couldn't let the helpless woman perish. Rushing to her aid, he blasted ice from his hands, knocking the sword out of the knight's hand, then a second to knock the horse over.

The woman said not another word at the sight of the pale, white-haired young man and rushed far away. Jack began to wonder where the hell all the buildings and other townspeople were. Looking below him he realized that he wasn't standing on the cobblestone grounds… But solid ice.

The fjord! It had frozen completely!

No wonder there was so much space all the sudden, "Pitch Black!" Jack called angrily, unable to fight off his own element. Elsa all the while was on the other side of the castle fjord, still in heavy pursuit of her father. There weren't many Night Mares to fight—but when there were, they were terrifyingly strong.

Out of nowhere from above her, a tidal wave of dark sand was about to swallow her up. Reacting quickly, the blonde Princess used a sheet of ice to cut the wave in half as it collapsed all around her, forming into hoards of monstrous beings with weaponry, probably off to terrorize the innocent villagers. Elsa was unnoticed, but when she tried to fight them with her magic, a bullet went through her heart.

The Princess gasped and clutched it as it ached so heavily. Falling to her knees, she watched as a blue mist swirled out of her veins, leaving her shaking hands. Her dress, though still a bright blue, became normal fabric and tightened itself. And worst of all, she was freezing cold. Unlike Jack Frost who was eternally cursed with his abilities, the ice he had put into Elsa's heart was only temporary. She'd used up whatever magic she had in her. Her resistance to the cold faded fast and she didn't have the energy to move. Elsa curled up and shivered, her body went numb.

In horrid realization of the outcome, she forced herself off of her knees and in the direction ahead of her. Elsa needed to know her father was safe. All she had left was her determination. Though, she could barely walk without the winds pushing her left and right. Jack Frost wasn't making much more progress in finding Pitch; just his reign of monsters and creatures. His blasts and waves of ice were enough to make each and every one of them disintegrate. Despite this, Jack still wasn't at his best game—still regaining his energy from the coma he'd just awakened from. He was already exhausted, but he couldn't give up!

King Erlend, all the while, had been fighting off the loads of monsters. From behind him appeared another silhouette that didn't seem to become any clearer. Instead, a tall, slender man appeared with no color to his skin other than a dull grey. Erlend held out his blade towards the man, "Don't bother with any of that!" The man, Pitch Black, called.

"It doesn't matter what you do to me! My Night Mares are endless! My soldiers will never stop fighting until they realize what you've done!" The man snarled. Erlend raised a brow, unsure of what he was talking about, "Jack Frost was my only friend!" The King slowly lowered his weapon, "My dearest companion and you murdered him!"

"I did no such thing! He did it to himself! In fact I spared the damned thing!"

To call the poor, helpless boy he'd found scared and alone three years ago a 'damned thing' only ignited more disdain into Pitch—meaning there'd be more power to his Night Mares… There was plenty of fear as it was, anger only enhanced his strength. This man would be the first to perish in Jack Frost's name. "Look at yourself! The way you treated a poor stranger and your own daughter!"

Erlend was confused, maybe the sough whirling around them was too much but had he heard him just mention Elsa? "You never give her the time of day! Especially at this age, you took away something precious to her!" The unrelenting Pitch spoke, "To me!"

"You took away who could've been her only companion! Because you certainly aren't one!" The more Pitch spoke, the weaker Erlend became, unable to hold onto his sword anymore, he dropped it on the frozen surface of the fjord. Pitch stepped closer and used a force of sand to smack Erlend in the face. He then used another punch along with a gust of wind to temporarily send him airborne and knock him to the ground. Erlend's crown toppled off and clanged against the ice as he lay on his side. He knew he was defeated. What did it matter; Erlend knew Elsa would never speak to him after what he'd done. They would never meet half way.

Pitch vanished; deciding his Night Mares could do the remaining job. Meanwhile, the blizzard ceased—the kingdom was silenced as snowflakes hung still, suspended in midair. Jack had finally recovered enough strength to control what lied around him. His arms were spread out—the guards could finally see where they were standing. Queen Agnes, Gerda, and Kai watched from the balcony, completely entranced by the bizarre occurrences.

It had taken a lot of effort for Jack to halt the storm. He was fairly weak, kneeling a little and trying to catch his breath. He realized he'd walked around in a circle while fighting some of the Night Mares and was back near the castle docks… Ahead of him he saw a lying figure-Elsa! She seemed to be in pain. Holding herself tightly and shivering, Elsa wasn't sure how she was still alive. Realizing it was now safe, she gently went down on her knees where she saw her savior, "J-J-Jack." Elsa tried to call. It was so quiet that no one could hear her.

Completely forgetting about Pitch, the pale seventeen year old saw what distinctly reminded him of poor Sophie and began towards her as fast as he could, "Elsa!" Jack alerted her that she was coming. He was still fairly weak from his last performance—Jack at one point fell to his knees, quickly getting back up. If he paced himself, he could save her he thought! He wouldn't lose her after losing Sophie! No! He saw Elsa smile and push herself onto her knees—but as she looked around, she stopped and gasped.

Jack halted, sliding on the ice a little and turned to see what had scared her so. Looking behind him, a bit closer towards the castle, he saw Erlend—still disoriented from hitting his head on the ice and above him… A snake-like trail of black sand suspended in the air in the shape of a large drill. Jack's eyes widened with disbelief and terror, "Oh no…" Jack saw Elsa; she'd looked back at her loved him with heavy panic. But he knew that her father was more important to her… But she wouldn't be able to save him herself.

…Jack knew the pain of losing a loved one far too well… Too damn well.

He knew he wasn't strong enough, but he didn't want to leave Elsa to live in pain like he did. Jack knew what he had to do. He said goodbye to Elsa in his head and used whatever energy he had left to rush towards the King. The sand drill was preparing to blast itself towards the groggy Erlend. Pitch meanwhile was watching from atop the castle when he saw… Jack Frost suddenly appear in between the King and his Night Mares! He couldn't do much, but still, the son of winter stretched his arm out for an attempted lighting frost blast, "NO!" Jack commanded, sure that it would be his last word!

Without another thought in mind, Pitch transformed himself into a shadow that slithered faster than light and sound itself and lunged in between Jack and his own killing machine, now bulleting towards the two. Jack's powers alone weren't enough to stop this… it was the least he could do to redeem himself for the pain he'd put his dearest friend through. Rising so quickly before Jack could see what was happening; his ice blast froze Pitch completely into a statue. He locked into place as his eyes, before being restricted by the iced prison, closed.

When the drill was about to impale Jack, it instead was knocked away by the effect of Pitch's frozen body combined with the lightning bolt of frost. It even knocked both Jack and the King away. Layer by layer the ice blasted through the sand, banishing the reign of horror completely.

And now, everyone had watched as this 'beast' nearly sacrificed himself for their King. Elsa, completely stunned by the entire thing. Shouted out his name and rose to her feet. She had a slight limp as she tried to hurry towards the two. Meanwhile, a low sigh was released from the frozen statue of darkness.

Pitch Black had drawn his final breath.

Both rising upright, Erlend saw before him the peasant-looking boy with unique powers that had… That had… "You…" He began to Jack, who was breathing heavily, "You saved my life." Jack said nothing, all he could do was nod his head.

"Father!" Elsa shouted.

"Elsa!" He saw his freezing daughter and quickly embraced her, "You're alright!" He thanked the lord as Elsa tried to take advantage of this moment and warm herself up. However, Agnes, Gerda, and Kai all arrived, one of which with a long blanket for Elsa to wrap herself in.

"If it weren't for Jack, I would've frozen to death earlier on." She said weakly. Jack was finally on his knees, but as he was about to struggle to lift himself, Erlend took his hand and lifted him up. Agnes was immediately on the other side, patting his shoulder.

"Thank you."

It wasn't long until Jack saw from their windows and on the streets, the villagers had all watched his noble deed. They were all whispering and smiling. Was this really happening? People seeing what he was capable of and praising him? This couldn't be real. Still, Jack's inner gap had been filled with warmth and comfort he'd needed for so long. Nevertheless, he felt pain in his chest and grunted loudly. The royal family all panicked, but Jack insisted he was just still recovering from the coma.

"Are you gonna be alright?" Elsa grabbed his hand.

Jack shook his head, "Yeah, it's just that power took up a lot of-" He stopped when he looked to his right and saw the majestic ice statue of a familiar old friend. His expression changed completely, "Wait-Pitch? N-no!" Jack left the family and darted in front of the tall statue. Completely aghast by what he just realized, he carefully caressed the statue, holding its face in utter denial, "No… No! You-you didn't save me!" He begged not to be true. Jack felt sudden regret of his actions yet again, only to realize it wasn't all his… Pitch willingly gave up his existence for him. Jack only continued to shake his head, "I thought you…" Jack began to hyperventilate as tears began to flood his eyes, "I thought you…"

Jack had thought he was only a conduit for Pitch's fear… Now he realized he truly was what Pitch said he meant to him. With tears endlessly shedding for Pitch Black, Jack allowed himself to sob into the statue, holding onto it for support as he couldn't even stand. The more he cried, the weaker his legs got. Had he not been holding onto the statue, he would've collapsed completely. It was so silent that the only thing to be heard was the sound of Jack Frost weeping.

While the family didn't understand Jack's mourning, Elsa grimaced and, slowly, approached Jack to comfort him. It was all in vain. The family then decided to let him be and see what happened next…

Souls_&_Swords: Urggh... After re-writing this a few times, this chapter still felt incredibly sloppy at my attempts of making it a decent length. Let me know what you think anyway. =)

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