Greetings ladies and gentleman, I am FateMagician, commonly called 'Fate' since 'FateMagician' is a bit of a mouthful apparently, and welcome to my first official Rise of the Guardians fan fiction! (That is not a one-shot!)

Muse: You love being dramatic sometimes don't you?

I can't help it. That's my Muse by the way, he's the one who gives me fountains of inspiration and genius. And the one who also drains it at times. A moody creature, my Muse is.

Back to the main point, welcome to the story. This will be covering my encounters with our fearsome King of Nightmares, Pitch Black, who also has no idea I'm writing this which I am writing because my Muse won't let me think much about anything else.

Muse: You need to write this because it's a good story! Besides, I'm not letting you write your original story for reasons you know and I'm throwing you a bone.

I know that! Anyway, here's a shout-out to Fantasydreamer244, who also has had her fair share of adventures with Pitch, not to mention she's also gotten into quite a bit of trouble with the Norse God of Mischief, Loki. (And has also given me her blessing for this story.)

Muse: Great stories, both of them! I highly recommend them to anyone as a fun read!

I agree whole-heartedly! Now, onto the first chapter/prologue of The Escapades of a Writer and the King of Nightmares!

Escapades of a Writer and the King of Nightmares

Chapter 1: A Favor Collected

A beam of moonlight shined down from between the blackout drapes of an apartment office, lighting up a particular wooden board. On that board there were runes of age past that bordered it, and at that moment the nimble hands of a young woman were placing playing cards with a steampunk background design on the board.

It was a game, but at the same time it wasn't. She laid down a hand of five cards before her, and then three face-up cards above the hand. A look at the cards in her hand, and then placed some in pairs with the three and an ace separate. The young woman repeated the same set up five more times, sometimes putting separate pairs down, combining with the three face-up, or no cards would go down at all.

But while also playing this 'game', she always wrote down numbers on a separate piece of paper, sterling grey eyes faintly showing an intensity as she write each number. Once six sets of numbers were down, she added them up and separated each number.

1, 4, 2.

The young woman softly sighed and then placed face-down the last four cards of the deck. With a hand she parted one drape more so the moonlight shone more visibly, the light gleaming on her thin, black-rimmed glasses. In a whisper she said, "I have written the one-shot, as you asked for per the favor I owed you, and now we see the most likely result of me posting it." She flipped the cards over, bottom left to right, then top left to right.

Four of Diamonds, Three of Hearts; Jack of Spades, Jack of Clubs. A total of 29.

After applying the number to an algorithm specifically created for the 'game', the total was then 86.

The young woman groaned and lightly glared at the moon, her dark-brown hair, cut in a shaggy A-line and its swept bangs fell over her right eye. "There is an eighty-six percent chance that after I post it, the Nightmare King will find out within the month." The moon seemed the shine a bit brighter at her words, and she replied with a small grin. "But of course, that's what you want don't you? You want this one-shot to attract Pitch's attention, and then for him to find me."

She tilted an ear slightly towards the moon as she listened. The young woman frowned slightly after a few moments.

"You know my condition, Tsar Lunar, since you did bribe my Muse. As much as I agree with you that Pitch Black needs help, he also has to want it and ask me for it in order for me to give it. The one-shot I created with the memories you have shown me will attract his attention, but I still hold my doubts on the value of my help."

Another small grin appeared on her features when she heard something she liked.

"Very well, I'll leave things in Fate's hands for now. I believe I can put some hope in the future you want Pitch to have."

With that, the young woman closed the blackout drapes fully, shutting off the moonlight and leaving the tall lamp in the corner the only source of light. Her fingers typed away on her Surface Pro, softly tapping the screen as she selected things. A yawn escaped her when she was done, her body demanding that she finally go to sleep. The young woman stood up, having been wearing her most comfortable light pajamas since the sun set, and she then made her way to her bed. Once comfortable, she took off her glasses and placed them in their case on her nightstand before leaning up and turning off the tall lamp.

Some shifting of bed covers was heard in the darkness, and a sigh accompanied her next words.

"Either way, favor or not, I am going to pay for writing that."

There we are. The stage has been set, and I no longer owe Man in Moon a favor. You may learn later why I owed him in the first place. Maybe.

Muse: Fair warning, I dictate her writing schedule, but we'll let you know why we missed a week when a new chapter is posted. Besides that, expect a chapter once a week. Now wish my writer good luck when Pitch finds her...

DreamWorks owns Rise of the Guardians, William Joyce own Guardians of Childhood, my Muse owns me.