Chapter 1: Pitch

Pitch struggled against the nightmares that sought to harm him. They were his nightmares…and they wanted so desperately to hurt him. As his strength waned, his black sand scythe grew smaller and smaller as he swung it around. The onslaught of nightmares then suddenly stopped. Pitch looked up and saw white moonlight encase him. Growling, he shut his eyes and covered them with the back of his hand.

:Pitch:

"What do you want Old Friend?" He snarled, his voice dripping with ire.

The Man in the Moon did not answer.

"You were the one who sent your Guardians to destroy me! So why? Why of all times do you choose now to speak to me?" Pitch continued.

:Pitch, why have you succumbed to your anger? Why are you so bent on scaring all the Hopes and Dreams out of all the young of the world?:

"Do not avoid my question MiM!"

The Man in the Moon did not answer. So Pitch decided to play along. The boogeyman laughed.

"Oh Old Friend, have you forgotten that it was you who gave me Fear? You told me to use my Fear on the children of the world!"

:Do not speak that way with me, Kozmotis Pitchiner!: MiM said harshly.

Pitch flinched at the usage of his former name.

MiM continued to speak in a calmer tone. :I gave you Fear, Pitch Black, so that way you could use it to help the youth become brave. One can only gain Courage if they face their Fears. But instead you've abused your powers for terrifying.:

"Because that's what Fear is for! Fear is to SCARE!" Pitch yelled.

:No your Fear was to bring Courage!: MiM replied dryly.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Pitch sneered demandingly.

:I'm going to punish you Pitch, so that way you may discover the true meaning of your powers of Fear.:

Pitch cackled. "How so?"

Mim seemed to smile. :I am going to send you back in time to the Middle Ages. There you must find a believer or friend. Only one—one who is both loyal to you and trusting of you. There, your power will only be able to sense Fear. You will not be able to conjure it through nightmares or hiding under beds. You will have to cause Fear in some other way.:

"And I suppose while I'm gone your Guardians will have some sort of Golden Age?" Pitch spat.

:Yes.:

"Well I refuse to go."

:I did not ask, you will go. But because of your stubbornness, you will not go as Pitch Black or even Kozmotis Pitchiner. You will go as something else. Once you've discovered how to bring Courage through Fear you will gain all of your powers back and your form.:

"My form? What are you going to do to my form?" Pitch screamed.

MiM did not answer.

"Tell ME!"

Then out of nowhere Pitch felt something tugging at his body. He tried to dissipate into the shadows but he couldn't, he could not even feel them anymore. For the second time that day, Pitch felt Fear. He cried out in fright as he felt himself being pulled towards an unconscious state. He tried to force himself to stay awake but whatever it was that was happening to him was all too painful.

Before he blacked out, MiM said this, :Remember Pitch, you need one TRUE friend and you need to discover the true reasons for Fear.:

And then, ironically, his world went pitch black.

When Pitch awoke the first thing he did was open his eyes. Doing this, he was shocked to discover that he had a wider range of vision than he ever had before. Taking in his surroundings, he soon realized that he was in a forest of some sort. The world around him was cold and he shuddered at the thought that the thrice blasted Jack Frost was near. So he tried to move his feet but felt something move further down.

Further down?

Sure Pitch was tall, near 7 foot, but it wasn't his feet that moved. It was something else. Frantically he tried to move again and was relieved when he felt his right foot twitch. After that he tried to move all his fingers and toes but was totally mortified to discover he could only feel four on each appendage. Lifting his head, which was by far heavier than he could ever remember, he looked behind him and noticed a black snaking tail with two fins at his side.

What is going on? He thought furiously.

He saw a big pond in front of him, hefting himself up onto all fours—all fours? Why was he on all fours? Rushing to the pond, he skidded to a stop. He was met with hateful green eyes of the reflection.

Pitch howled, or screeched, something unearthly. There starring back at him from the mirror of the water was a huge black dragon. His gold eyes were gone and replaced with toxic green.