Hello readers!

This Rise of the Guardians short story fan fic was inspired by this upcoming October holiday...
About the story content I will say no more ;P

This first bit of the story I suggest you read it nice and slow... and do your best to imagine the fabulous Jude Law's own voice, as if these were Pitch's very same thoughts!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians nor Pitch or any other familiar character mentioned. My only OC is the Wishing Star!

Enjoy!


Trick Or Treat


Chapter One

...

It was not fair!

He was not some insignificant, immortal spirit to be so easily cast aside and forgotten!

He did not deserve this!

To be left alone in the cold darkness without companionship of any kind.

To be subject to the very Nightmares in which he had once summoned as a powerful ally!

Those Guardians!

They did not deserve to grace the pedestal of praise they set themselves so highly upon.

Why... if they did not have their own special seasons to govern, their own pathetic human holidays to glorify themselves and lure the children of the world into a false sense of security, then they would be just as worthless as-!

Wait...

Wait a minute...

Now there was an idea...

A human holiday... a holiday in which he would be praised, in which he would be believed in...

GAH! But it was no use! He was trapped down here in his prison of darkness, and there was no escape. Even if he could defeat the Nightmares, his fears crushed down mercilessly upon him, and always crippled any possible efforts he dared to conceive.

Then, it was in that mournful, sobering moment that Pitch Black had an epiphany.

He needed help.

He was powerless down here, a prisoner to his own devices and without any means of escape. Not on his own.

It was painful to admit, but Pitch could no longer ignore the truth that had been silently stirring deep down within his black heart during the millennia's of his existence.

What was more, he was tired of being lonely. He was tired of being estranged and misunderstood by every living soul on the planet. All he wanted was to be believed in! Was that too much to ask?

It was not his fault that he had been chosen as the enforcer of fear and darkness! The Man in the Moon was responsible for that! If the Guardians could see beyond their own conceited heroism, they would know that the real war should be waged with the Moon Spirit!

Pitch Black swirled around in a fit of anger, his black robed form morphing into the menacing shadows about him.

The wild squeals of the Nightmares echoed all about his large fortress, their hooves stamping upon the cold cobblestone ground. He could hear the wild snorts from their nostrils and sense they drew near.

Galloping after him, haunting his soul wherever he went, the Nightmares were easily able to smell and track him when his fear was most potent in the air. Brief were Pitch's moments of respite. Rest was a precious thing in which he no longer had the privilege. And light? It was just another luxury in which Pitch could not afford to enjoy.

The one and only exception of this was that single night a month that he would gather what was left of his shattered courage and wind his way up the various spiral stair cases, dodging the notice of Nightmares every step of the way, towards the hole that was the top of the fortress in which he had been dragged into all those months ago.

It was there that he would hide for several hours and set a scathing glare upon the moon, sending every spiting, hateful thought along within the reach of his gaze towards the spirit who lived there.

This was where Pitch stood now, keeping to the murky shadows and quelling the stench of his fears by tempering them with the steam of his fury.

After three full moons, many terrifying nights, and countless curses uttered up to the Man in the Moon, he would tolerate the cruel twist of fate that had been dealt to him no longer!

Scanning the twinkling skies, Pitch's brooding glare swept through the hundreds of constellations in search of a particularly bright and shining star.

The Wishing Star.

Daughter to the Man in the Moon, the Wishing Star was perhaps Manny's most beloved spirit. It was through her power alone that wishes were granted, but only for those who had the great fortune of spotting her out.

The Man in the Moon made it his job to keep her well hidden and tucked away each night so that her powers could not be wrongly abused. But every once in a good while... one lucky person would beat the odds, and the wish granting spirit would answer their call.

Pitch Black did not have such good experience with this practice, but tonight seemed like as good a night as any to give it another try.

"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are..." Pitch hummed faintly beneath his breath, as if he were to lure her out from where she hid.

Many tales of her unmatched beauty had been told. Various versions of how she spoke, and how she acted were fragmented into rumors of all kinds all over the world.

Pitch Black had never before taken any interest in the frivolous story tellings of the accounts on the Wishing Star, but things had drastically changed in the last hundred years. Tonight, he was desperate.

"I know you are out there..." Pitch muttered darkly. "And if not tonight... then some other night... I will find you..." he warned.

Back and forth his eyes swooped through the night sky, taking in the twinkling stars above while in the back of his mind, listening for any hint of the Nightmares' approaching.

Seconds ticked by like hours, and the agony of the time passing in fruitless search gnawed at Pitch's soul. Soon the Nightmares would find him, and he would be forced to flee once more.

Orion's Belt winked down at him, as did the Serpent and the Dragon. They mocked his efforts! Clenching his teeth, Pitch doubled his determination and spied out every cluster, every shooting star and distant planet.

"You would seek to keep her hidden away forever," Pitch hissed up at the Man in the Moon, sending the infernal spirit a quick sneer.

Then, he saw it. In the shadow of the moon's left side, a small but bright star pulsed in vibrant blue light. Pitch's breath caught in his chest and he stared up in awe, hoping beyond hope.

"Is that you...? My dear little wish giver?" Pitch breathed out in a hoarse whisper.

As if to reply, the distant blue star flickered rapidly, the lively flashes likening to that of a rather delighted dance.

"Why, it is you!" Pitch smiled wickedly in satisfaction. Then, with eager anticipation, he raised his voice to project it loudly into the night.

"Star light, star bright,
the first star I see to night,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
have the wish I wish tonight!"

The gay little blue star twinkled a few more times, then, the light dimmed and she was gone.

The star had disappeared.