October, 1933.
The Great Depression did a great toll on the believers in the Guardians. All of them had lost great droves of them due to their families not being able to afford the things they used to and food.
Starvation had claimed many and the Guardians grieved for each and every child that lost their belief due to death by cold or starvation.
So what the guardians did was make sure that they could spread cheer and happiness in whatever way they could, whether it be giving a lonely child warmth over night or leaving an extra coin under a pillow.
They also did the extra effort to keep the winter spirits and the fear spirits under control as best as they could without calling Mother Nature's wrath on themselves. Though Jack truly didn't need to be warned much he did his best effort to keep the weather as non lethal as possible.
The true problem was the fear spirits.
The Shadowmen were running rampant, and the threat of Pitch coming was an alarming and constant thought in each and every one of the Guardians minds. They decided early on that Bunny and North would do rounds to destroy any ones they could as to lessen the risk of Pitch crawling out of whatever hole he had crawled in after they defeated him.
We'll focus on Bunny for this particular story.
The Autumn of 1933 wasn't going well Shadowmen wise. There seemed to be two more to replace every one Bunny sliced with a boomerang and on top of that he was feeling weak due to the dwindling belief in the Easter Bunny.
The fact it was close to Halloween didn't make him feel any better.
Now, Bunny had nothing wrong with the holiday. Especially since it had started being less horrifying and involved giving out candy and just all around being a more kid friendly holiday. It was the creepy spirit of Halloween that creeped him out.
Hallow herself was nice once you got past her waist length black shawl, and all black attire. She very rarely got in trouble with the Guardians even though she also was technically a fear spirit and when she did the Sandman always handled it. It was just the way she always seemed to be hiding something vital from you that got to Bunny. They were Guardians! Surely they could handle what she could drag out from under her shawl.
Sadly Bunny didn't realize that there was a reason only the Sandman gave her punishments when she needed them.
Bunny, after defeating three Shadowmen was walking down the street of a city that was very quickly turning into a criminal's paradise. It saddened him knowing children lived in conditions like this and their parents couldn't afford to move easily. That night it seemed relatively peaceful and he relaxed knowing that he didn't have to witness a crime and not being able to do anything about it.
At least it was clam until he heard the tell tale rattle of someone climbing down a fire escape.
Bunny, who had looked up and hid himself after he had realized the rattling was from right next to him, felt despair and sadness at the site of what looked like a boy, no younger than 11, sneaking out of his family's apartment.
Why? He wondered. Why did the young have to turn old so soon? Why was it so cruel?
He quickly looked at the roof of the building not wanting to see a child sneaking out of his house and then run around these crime ridden streets. It was then he noticed the silhouette of a figure wearing a knee length dress and long, hooded shawl. Hallow.
Hallow? What's she doing here? Halloween's not for another week. Bunny wondered this as he watched her descend quickly to the ground landing not far from the boy who had now almost reached the ground. He heard the faint tap of her high heeled boots hitting the ground and a sound that quite disturbed him.
A very quiet and demented sounding giggle.
His eyes quickly widened at the sight of her reaching her hand out to the boy and sending shadows to reach for him. A loud crash had Bunny flinching, and the poor boy whipping around and catching sight of Hallow. And he could see her. At least whatever horrifying form she had decided to take. Bunny could feel the boy's fear and he had to cover his ears at the boy's piercing, terrified wail.
Bunny quickly tried to come to the boy's rescue but got snagged on some loose wire that someone had in the garbage heap he hid in. He could only watch ad Hallow jerked her thumb up in a very obvious Get Back home. Now. Way. The boy clearly deciding that he didn't want to get in trouble or mugged quickly ran back up the fire escape. Bunny seeing that she was just watching him crawl back, de-tangled himself from the wire as quickly as he could.
Once the boy was in his window and Hallow had turned away from the boy with a vey pleased look on her face, did Bunny strike with an egg bomb.
BOOM!
"What in Hades?!"
Bunny ignored her screech and instead grabbed the front of her shawl and lifted her off the ground, ignoring the part of his mind that was currently screaming that this was a bad idea.
"You little rat! What are you doing!?" He snarled, shaking her for good measure. He understood that she was there to make sure children weren't stupid on Halloween, but deliberately terrorizing an innocent child?!
As far as he was concerned she was trying to help Pitch rise up then.
"Are you stupid? I thought Sandy told you to keep the fear down to the minimum it could be! What are you doing scaring that kid?! Maybe he was trying to get something nice for his family!" Bunny continued, ignoring her attempts to explain and shaking her repeatedly.
He continued ranting until Sandy arrived and quickly got Bunny to drop her.
"Good thing you're here Sandy. She needs to get an explanation of what her limits are." Bunny said to Sandy, giving Hallow a glare as she got up off her butt when Bunny dropped her.
Hallow glared right back, three times as venomously. "You. Are going to pay for that." She hissed.
"We'll see about that, Moppet. If Sandy doesn't straighten you out and make you realize your error then believe me, I will." He snarled then ran off to continue his rounds.
A week later Bunny returned to the Warren and immediately knew something was off.
The warren seemed darker and he noticed a patch of forest he had far off from the tunnel he used that day definitely looked blacked than normal. He quickly ran over there to investigate.
He quickly deduced that someone who had knowledge in dark magic messed with the forest. The forest was reeking of black magic. And it was incredibly dark and cold under the branches. The trees looked more menacing as well. Like their branches were reaching for him and they were entirely black. He didn't hear any of the normal Warren wild life in here either. Likely the black magic scared them off. He thought angrily.
A rustle behind him, tore him from his musings and he quickly whipped around with his boomerangs at the ready. It would have been incredibly impressing and menacing had not one of the tree limbs grabbed his foot and pulled him upside down so he was dangling from his foot.
Once he recovered his bearings did he see the person behind the forests tainting.
Hallow.
"What the-? You little rat! Didn't Sandy give you any rules at all?!" Bunny snarled at her.
"Quiet, Rabbit." She hissed. "This is payback. You shouldn't have gotten involved in my affairs."
"You were scaring a child! What you did probably gave him nightmares! Pitch feeds off fear! From what I saw you were helping him!"
"I was NOT helping that monstrosity! I was punishing a wicked child in a way that will keep out of trouble!"
"Oh right you were!" Bunny drawled sarcastically then turned serious. " You were overstepping your limits that the Sandman gave you! Those rules are set by the Man in the Moon! Or did you forget that, too busy swapping spit with Loki's new apprentice?"
"Ok, listen, you over grown flea bag." Hallow snarled, grabbing Bunny's snout and clamping it shut. "I was not overstepping my limits, as you think. The Man in the Moon and I have an agreement. I am allowed to punish any child that misbehaves if the parents can't stop them. I am the thing that scares them into listening and therefore keeping them safe. And I quite remember my agreement with Manny. And leave Trix out of this, you unknowing prick."
Bunny wretched himself out of her tight grasp on him. "Oh yeah? And how do you know that wasn't the first time that happened?! He could have been just going for a walk!"
Hallow listened to him patiently than calmly slapped him, and then grabbed his face once again. "Oh? And are you aware that he's been doing that for two weeks despite his parents' warnings and punishments? And," She continued as he was about to open his mouth, "are you aware that he's been stealing money his parents have been saving to buy food for winter, just so he can buy cigarettes and candy for himself?"
Bunny's eyes widened. He wasn't aware that the boy had been doing that or that the Man in the Moon allowed her to do that.
Hallow, seeing the realization in Bunny's eyes, had the tree drop him unceremoniously at her feet. As he sat up she spoke.
"Next time, Rabbit, ask before you assume and act." Hallow hissed. "Because next time you cross me without knowing why, well… Let's just say you'll wish I did this again." She finished with a venomous glare at an angry Bunny then disappeared in a flash of shadows.
This is the tree thing Hallow mentioned in chapter two :3
Yeah this story randomly struck me. At two in the morning.
Some explaining I should probably do before you all freak out over Hallow acting a ton crueler. I know that Halloween wasn't always candy and costumes and fun like it is today. Halloween was originally a time when the people would set out jack-o-lantern's and wear masks to scare off demons and other monsters that could kill their children, livestock, destroy their winter stash of food, cause other mischief they didn't want in the upcoming winter. Hallow's personality changed as the holiday's significance and role in people's lives changed. Hallow also kind of rules over all the monsters like trolls, goblins, and elves in my head. She's sort of like the police, making sure that they don't step to far out of line. She also is that monster who punished naughty children who would shirk their chores or go out at night without their parents.
At this point in time, belief in monsters was a bit stronger than it is today and Halloween still was somewhat crossing over into fun- time, trick-or-treat mode so Hallow was still a whole lot crueler than she is now. Though piss her off enough and she'll quickly revert to old fashion mode.
This is also the reason Bunny hates Hallow. He understands her point but feels that she could have explained it in a less... terrorizing way. Hallow's a very vengeful person, Bunny. Your lucky you weren't turned into a rat when you were shaking her up.
And also... I am sorry about the infrequent updates. But seriously be patient with me. I'm only human. I suffer from distractions, work, and lack or interest in writing as much as the next person. Just please. Be patient with me. I really am trying to get these up sooner.