She found him in the dark, curled up on the ground in the foetal position. Around him were the hoof prints of horses, trampled into the soft dirt that he lay in. All the stairs and cages that had cluttered his lair had disappeared, leaving them in an empty cavern. She stood over him, prodding his motionless form with a pale toe. Unimpressive, she thought, but with a sigh she grabbed his arms and began to drag him along the ground, back the way she had come.

Once she had reached the entrance to the tunnel she had cleared, she pulled him up past her hips and clung on as the night reached down, tendrils of darkness scooping them up and tugging them into the clearing in the middle of the woods.

The tendrils shrank away as she dragged him from the large opening in the earth onto cool grass, where he lay dishevelled. The area around the hole she had carved was dusty and brown, and had never grown any grass since he had last disappeared through it, sucked from the world by his own nightmares.

He gave a soft moan, and she knelt down beside him, a small smile playing along her lips. "Hello, Pitch. Long time no see."

He gave a whimper, and she help him to sit up, watching as his slightly golden eyes flickered open to meet her black ones. He drew in a breath of air and retched a few times before speaking. "Why did you rescue me?"

She ignored him. "What did it feel like, being trashed by your own horses? Those Guardians gave you quite the beating; it would be funny if your expression wasn't so tragic."

"I need fear," he said softly, giving a slight whimper of pain. "I've spent so long without it."

"You've spent eight months down there," she said coldly. "But then again, you never were as used to the Dark as I am."

"Why did you rescue me? To see me fade from the lack of belief these children have in fear? I need it!" He managed to get his voice above a whisper, but the energy it took had him leaning back over.

She smiled darkly. "Of course."

With a wave of her hand, the tendrils of deep black darkness that had been flickering at the edge of the clearing dispersed to the west, and she lifted Pitch back up and half carried him to the edge of the forest, so he could se the town that lay beyond.

She tugged at the dark of the night around her, and immediately all the glowing orange light that lit up the town disappeared, leaving them all in complete darkness, which not even the half moon above their heads could penetrate.

Pitch stood erect at the sudden fear that had enveloped the town, and he took in a large breath, letting it out with a twisted smile. "Perfect."

"Did that revive you?" She gave him a dark smile of her own back, her long black hair falling around her face, reaching just above her knees.

"Oh, yes. Yes it did." He looked out over the town, watching a few candle flames flicker through the nearest window as the occupants tried to see, she could see the lights dancing in his eyes. He turned to her. "I thought you hated me."

"I hate your name, but I've got nothing against you as a person." She walked forward and lay a hand on his arm. "You don't deserve the name, I do. But you're stuck with it, so I might as well get used to it."

"I'm going to wreck havoc." He looked deep into her eyes. "That's why you brought me back, isn't it?"

"That's one reason."

"The others?"

"I'm interested," she told him, moving forwards to touch the gnarled bark of a tree beside her. The shadows leapt from the tree and to her finger tips, where she swirled them around before flicking them away into the night.

"In?"

"An alliance," she spoke softly, and she felt him back away behind her. "Fear and Darkness. Combined, they create dread- it's even an anagram Dread... uh, an kar funess."

"You didn't have a sense of humour when I last saw you."

She shrugged. "Things changed. But never mind that, are you interested?"

"That depends on what being allies would entail."

"Whatever you want," she told him truthfully, but she could feel a small smile returning to her lips.

He lunged forwards and a black stream of sand pushed into her and pinned her to the ground, Pitch on top of her, his hands on her shoulders, holding her down, despite the fact the sand already had her pinned. "What's the catch, you don't do this sort of thing for free!"

She flicked a wrist and the sand dissipated. She rolled away before Pitch could fall on her, and she crouched on the ground, black shadows curling and writhing around her, anticipating a fight. "There isn't one. I'm interested in my power, and how much of it I possess. Fear and Darkness have been allied in the past, before you tried your little stunt with the Sandman's dreams. Very clever by the way. But this time, I can offer you what ever you want, simply for us to join forces."

Pitch considered her for a second before helping her up. "Deal. But it's December, so there's one thing I want."

"You want to stop Christmas." She grinned and nodded her head. "Fair enough."

"They will come to fear Pitch Black yet again."

She scowled at him. "I wish you weren't called that name. It has nothing to do with you; you hide under beds and scare people, I take away the light and see what happens."

"What, would you prefer I was called, Boogie?"

"Yes, surprisingly. Anything but Black."

"Because that's your specialty, isn't it?"

"Of course, I'm Darkness, it's my name, it's my mind; it's my centre."