Chapter 1 – In Which the White Light Warned You
Something was wrong with the Hollow. Something was very wrong.
Slithers of darkness twirled amongst themselves in the center, penetrating from below the Earth, from the circle which the bed frame disappeared, from Him.
Baby Tooth knew. She was witnessing it right then and there.
He probably was struggling to resurface; to vent his fury, to taste his fear, or perchance to satisfy what madness that monster still preserved. That man was prideful but played dirty, and most importantly, had little but demanded the world.
Baby Tooth squinted, watching out if there was a hint of a sickly grey hand reaching out amongst the bunch of shadowy streaks; It must be messy down below. But she knew better than to linger here.
She fluttered away, without sparing another glance.
I tell you, she was wrong. It wasn't just messy down there.
It was mayhem.
He sprawled flat on the floor- if you could tell where the floor was- everywhere was tainted by slithering, snaking nightmares and fearlings, of which focused on their circulation within the Hollow, not unlike planets of a galaxy. And he- as the stellar- heaved violently as if he had been infected with a deathly plague.
After a gagged grunt, he attempted to swipe away the aggravating piece of rubbish damned creatures he had a chance he could still have a chance he could getwhathewanted-
He gasped as yet another thingamajig slid by and attacked his chest, before slipping back to it circular track as quickly as it came. This happened more frequently as time flowed. A part of him-
-wondered when this will stop.
-hoped this will stop.
Inwardly, he would have punched himself just for this sign of weakness. But the thought was very faint. So faint that it was mostly clouded by his own hatred and fear- his own instinct.
A white, ghostly light emerged out of somewhere from historso. When he finally was composed enough to look at the absurd, dinky ball of light that managed to light up the whole hollow, it had already risen to the higher ground, intimidating the fearlings and nightmares with its contrasting purity and outlandish glow and keeping them at the lower ground with him.
He could do nothing but watch while the white light slammed itself towards the ceiling, knocking off clouds of dust and dirt during its advances. It shimmered brighter and whiter when a small part of the ceiling collapses, revealing the pillar of moonlight descended from outside.
The white light squeezed through the hole towards freedom and vanished from his sight.
After the white light vanished though, darkness reeled back. The nightmares and fearlings snapped out of their trances. Abandoning him, they pushed and clawed and tore for the little hole the white light created and scrambled for release.
He waited until all had gone, with only himself lying in the depth of his Hollow, bathing in a pillar of nightlight. He eyed the once little hole which had been forced so large that even a grown man could go through.
For the first time in a long while, Pitch Black laughed.
The Santoff Claussen workshop wasn't messy. It was cramming with noise and havoc. But in a jolly good way.
As North said, bustling meant process, right? It was two months away from Christmas, and everything had to be wonderful.
"Keep up good work, lads!" North bellowed as he took his track along the hallway and into his studio, but cut short right by the door. "Hmph?"
The globe, as sparkly as it usually was, shone with golden spots and reflected northern light. It looked like there were twinkling stars. Yet today, they were twinkling so vigorously, that North had turned back from the door to take a closer look.
Twinkling. Glittering. Flickering...
Blinking?
"What is it this time?" North huffed. "And so near Christmas too."
North knew, even past the peaceful half-year, their misadventure last Easter was only freezing Pitch Black from his schemes. An upcoming hazard was approaching like a slow giant and none of the Guardians could avoid.
Of course, the Sandman had already retrieved most of his stolen Dream Sand, but those which had got themselves sealed along with Pitch had no way to return to their rightful places. And unfortunately, the Boogeyman had already mastered the Touch of Fear technique. There was no way they could reverse that.
It was then when North ceased smoothing his beard and looked up; a spheroid of glowing white light descended from the skylight.
North watched- his eyes bluer than ever and instantly filled with wonder. The white light floated down towards him. It glowed bright and flashed furiously. But North could not comprehend what it was trying to tell. He had his share of encountering moonbeams and other spirits. But this looked like nothing he had ever seen. Despite this, North seemed determined not to back down from the challenge.
"Hello, little one! What may I do for you?"
The white light dimmed. And North inched closer, holding up his hands in case the white light needed support. As he did so, he could faintly hear sounds of whisper that echoed from it. Though, as much as he tried to listen, the vague sounds failed to deliver any audible words.
"Pardon, little one, but I'm afraid-"
The whispering grew louder, more desperate. And as North decided to tell the white light that it was nowhere any clearer, he felt it in his heart: the sorrow and the fear, the frustration and the urgency in the sounds that at first seemed unintelligible; The white light needed his help.
Snatching an ordinary-looking snow globe from a nearby desk, North lightly hurled it into the air. Instead of making contact with the floor and shattering, the globe bursted into a two-metre tall portal that flashed with the colours of the northern lights. At the very centre, was a place vastly different from the icy landscape of the North Pole.
"Bunny!" called North, poking his head through the Portal and looking around the Warren. "Bunny?"
Bunny hopped into view, a bucket in paw. He looked at North in surprise. "Uh, hey? I thought you were busy riling up red-coloured toys?"
"Oh, excellent!" said North. "I have something you interested in!"
Bunny looked doubtful, but followed North through to the Portal anyway.
After showing Bunny the white light, in which the former seemed more intent on finding out what it was than what it was trying to say, North asked if he too heard the whispering.
"Er, not really?"
"Listen more closely! You have big ears! For sure you can hear better than me?"
"S'much as I appreciate the compliment, mate, good hearing doesn't come in pack with sharable hallucinations - HEY! No, stop- OW! WHAT ARE YA DOING?"
"I know rabbit ears are sensitive, but listen this-"
"The point is you don't grab anyone's ear, you blowhard. How would you feel if I grab those Christmas ears of yours just because they aren't as sensitive as mine-"
The white light zoomed between Bunny and North, flashing in an irregular pace as if speaking in Morse Code. Both of the Guardians ceased bickering, and stared at the white light, which flew away from them and towards the Giant Globe.
North inspected the flickering golden spots on the North American continent once more. "It's warning us..."
"Of what?" said Bunny, rubbing his ear. There were tears of pain in the corner of his eyes.
"Of…" North slowly approached the control panel, lifting the glass that shielded the switch of the northern light signals.
He, in his belly, had a very strong hunch of exactly what- or who- this was of.
Next Chapter - Fearlings Frantics
Update date: 22th October 2018