disclaimer: i own nothing.
Coherent thought was becoming harder to maintain as the Nightmares continued to feast. Pitch knew he needed to escape. The treacherous beasts weren't entirely his own, corrupted dreamsand after all, and there was the possibility they would only stop feeding when he was dead.
Becoming small made sense, less for the Nightmares to grasp though even a single bite could cause greater damage. At first he thought to become a cat but a cat could not fly and the only safe exit lied far above. 'Shrinking' into his robe was all the distraction Pitch needed to start his flight for freedom.
He forgot how easy it was for the Nightmares to capture Tooth's fairies. A mad, desperate chase started. Pitch was outnumbered but this was hisdomain, it answered to him, weak as he was, and not them. More than once Pitch let out a croaking laugh of sadistic pleasure as Nightmares ran unexpectedly, and so shocked, into walls and cages.
Eventually there was enough mayhem caused by his pursuers that his way to freedom opened. He left without looking back, without thinking, and paid for it when the bright and warm sun hit him. Hissing, Pitch wasn't aware crows could do so, he faltered and crashed roughly to the ground. It took some time for him to create a protective layer of shadows between him and the sun. Longer yet to manipulate his protection so it did not weigh him down.
Exhausted, Pitch hopped into a nearby bush for its meager protection and rested.
(break)
When Pitch woke it was at least a day later and as worrying as it was to lose so much time it was a comfort to know the Nightmares had not found him. He was no longer their easy meal ticket. Curse the Guardians. Are they not the 'heroes'? Did they really think he deserved to be devoured alive? How unexpectedly cruel. To think, they considered themselves better than him but at least he only wanted to kill them; not let them be tortured to death. If his plan had worked it would have been over in days. How long was Pitch left to rot down there until he freed himself? The warm sun indicated summer but was it the summer after his failure or the summer of another year?
Pitch flexes his wings at the uncomfortable knowledge of not knowing. It can't be more than ten. At least, Pitch hoped it was less than ten years. The idea that he was left to his fate longer than that was disquieting. But then, the Guardians never made sure he was gone for good last time now did they?
Shaking his head and wings Pitch tried to physically disperse his thoughts. If he went down that path too far his fear would grow and the Nightmares would find him. Best to find a human settlement and get answers than fret over the unknown.
It was midday by the time he reached Burgess and the children out and about proved he was right about the season. It took some searching but eventually he caught sight of a calendar through a window with the year on it, 2017. Four years. He was in that hell for four years. Pitch felt cold and hollow on the inside. For some reason he felt abandoned though he could not think why. It was not as if Pitch left behind any unburnt bridges, why would anyone care to look into his well-fare? Pitch supposed he rather foolishly hoped despite the reality he created.
You reaped what you sowed.
Too weak to even change back to his natural form and currently homeless, Pitch certainly was paying for his failure.
Bitter, disheartened, Pitch took flight, intending to move as far away from the place he was trapped in for four years as possible.
A cracking sound was all the warning Pitch received before agony flared along his left wing and he started to fall. Panicked and squawking his distress, Pitch tried to regain his balance but his left wing was useless and he continued to fall, increasingly spinning out of control. With a sharp cry of pain he landed on the roof of an apartment building.
Somehow, through the pain and confusion he could make out voices below.
"Wow! Did you see that? I got him! On my first try too!"
"Gordon Victor Stanley! What have i told you about firing that BB gun of yours in town? Shooting at poor birds no less! Inside right now young man! You are grounded for the next week!"
"What? But mom-"
There was more but Pitch no longer listened. So a cruel child shot him. Carefully nudging his wing he could feel bones shift unnaturally. Injured and stranded on a roof open to the elements, particularly the sun; this new prison was almost as bad as his first. Weak as he was it would be days, weeks more likely, before his wing healed, no food and constant exposure to the sun prolonging the process.
Feeling defeated in a way the Guardians never managed to accomplish, Pitch slowly made his way over to what little shading the roof had. He hated children. He hated the Guardians. Mostly, he hated himself for allowing this to happen, for allowing himself to fall so far.
Once more Pitch slept though it was not peaceful.
(break)
Things changed after Pitch. The Guardians made more of an effort to stay in touch and reach out other spirits. It was long past time they became a community focused on protecting children. Things were better now. Tooth even got out in the field at least twice a month now! It was so hard learning to let go, to let her fairies do their jobs, to delegate. Now though, now she and her girls were all the stronger for it. Her little ones were becoming less like her and more their own selves. In the four years since Pitch's latest defeat, being called the Queen of the fairies no longer felt hollow.
It made Tooth pause and think. Would any of this had happened without Pitch? She liked to think it would have, eventually, but she spent over four hundred directing her girls from her hollow queendom. What reason had she, or the other Guardians, to reach out beyond her duties? To remember why being a Guardian was so important a duty. Tooth did not even know she missed being out in the field until the boys helped her collect the teeth.
Now, here she was, visiting Pippa to collect one of her last baby teeth. It was not one of her scheduled outings but the Burgess kids were important to her and the other Guardians. They saved them when Pitch was so close to winning. It was nice to have a special connection to a few children. Sure, it was a bit unfair to have favorites but the Guardians could not possibly befriend all their believers and at least getting to know a few helped them remember their purpose.
So Tooth wasn't too surprised to see Pippa awake when she arrived. What did surprise her was Pippa's concerned face. What was wrong? Did something happen to a family member? One of her friends? If Pitch was back and threatening any child, but especially these precious few, then she was finishing off the Boogeyman once and for all, conflicted emotions or no.
"Tooth! I'm so glad you're here! You got to help him," Pippa exclaimed once Tooth made it safely through the window. The girl was already out of bed and standing in front of Tooth, hand clasped together in a pleading motion.
"Pippa, what's wrong? Who's he?" Tooth asked wanting her blades in hand now but not wanting to scare the girl.
Suddenly Pippa seemed to realize how alarmed Tooth was and laughed nervously. The girl took a few steps back and wrangled her fingers, no longer able to meet Tooth's gaze.
"There's this crow-"
"A crow?" Tooth repeated thrown by how un-threatening the situation actually was and struggling to react appropriately. This is why she and the others needed the Burgess kids. They almost hurt Sophie because the was an intruder in the Warren that one terrible year.
"Some jerks shot him with a BB gun! I thought they killed the poor thing but Cupcake heard it cawing yesterday in distress. We tried to get to it but the adults stopped us! I don't think the crow can get off the roof and it's hurt. He'll die if he doesn't get help," Pippa explained and as troubling as the news was Tooth could not help but smile. Pippa was going to make a fine vet one day if she was this troubled by an injured crow.
"Alright," Tooth reassured and her smile grew as Pippa calmed. "I know a thing or two about injured birds. If I can help him, or her, I will. Now where's the address?"
One quarter for a tooth later, she was off towards the main street of Burgess to find the wounded bird. It was easy to sympathize with the bird's plight and Tooth knew better than the other Guardians how cruel humans could be, though usually it was the adults she worried about. It hurt to be reminded that children could be just as bad.
She almost missed him the first time she flew by the roof. She must have startled him however because he croaked in surprise. Tooth did not like the sound of that croak. He was already dehydrated but that was not surprising given the season and being trapped on a roof no less.
"Y-you? What are you doing here?" the crow asked nervously, hopping away from Tooth as she approached. "There's no teeth for you here, magpie."
She should really, really, be insulted at being called a magpie. She looked nothing like one! Except Tooth knew she acted no better than a magpie when she received well maintained teeth. Or when Jack smiled a little too long. Oh and hockey matches, how she loved hockey. So if a crow thought she was a magpie... she got it. Besides, it was obvious the poor thing was scared, injured, and probably hungry on top of thirsty. That wing looked nasty and was going to need a lot of help to heal right.
"Hey now, it's okay. I'm here to help," Tooth soothed as best as she could. The crow might not be able to go anywhere but she didn't need to cause him further distress by moving too close too soon.
"Help? You-you're here to help me now!? Where were you- where were you when-" the crow demanded enraged and more than a little broken. Poor thing was rather distraught.
"Well I'm here now. Come on, let me help you," Tooth pleaded.
Panting, the crow stared at her a long time before he finally relaxed. "Very well," he said softly, exhaustion obvious.
Without further delay Tooth scooped up the injured fowl and headed home. It might take some time but she would see this crow recovered.
author's note: Reading over this first chapter I realized there might be some questions about how events happened, I'm going to try to properly address them in the next chapters. Additionally, I'm not trying to Guardian-bash but, Pitch doesn't like the Guardians and thus he easily notices their faults and is quick to negatively judge them. I'm fond of Pitch being an unreliable narrator, okay?