Authors Note: This is inspired by the YouTube video Children of the Night; the MLP version, but this will be a Big Four Fanfic.
Disclaimer: I do not own MLP, Brave, Tangled, How to Train Your Dragon, Rise of the Guardians, the MLP fan clip or any other franchise I may use. They belong to their respective owners.
Oh, and I don't have a beta, so any mistakes that I make are my own.
Enjoy!
XXX
Children of the Night
Prologue
Our world changed before we really knew it. The lives that we took for granted were turned against us. The people we loved grew ever harsher. It was a time of terror for the people, but for the children in particular.
A darkness loomed always on the horizon, turning the days dark and nights darker still. Terror was like a plague among children at night and there it was where the nightmares sung His name and whispered it from the shadows:
Pitch Black.
Very little do we now remember of the world we were once part of, the world outside the walls of shadows, yet I still remember the night our pleas were answered like it was yesterday, though it was countless moons ago.
No one knows we are still here, hidden and safe behind the walls of shadows with our dear mother watching over us.
For we are, and will forever be, her Children of the Night.
XXX
It was the night of the full moon. A boy of about five years looked out the window. His name was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock. He was a small boy, far too thin and skinny to be a proper Viking. Freckles dotted his cheeks and nose and atop his head sat a mop of untamed auburn hair. Wide, tearful emerald eyes gazed up at the large moon in the sky. Exhaustion marked every line of his youthful face but Hiccup did not want to go to sleep. He did not want the Nightmares to come again and make him be scared.
Hiccup sniffled. He wanted his daddy, but he wanted him when he was happy and proud of Hiccup and never pushed him aside. He wanted his mummy too. He hadn't seen her since the scary dragons started coming. But his daddy said that his mummy wasn't coming back anymore.
That was when the Nightmares started – terrible Nightmares of his mummy being eaten by dragons. He wanted his daddy to stop the Nightmares, but his daddy never wanted to talk to him anymore and when he did, he would always tell Hiccup to be a proper Viking like him.
He blinked up at the moon, trying to hide the tears that sprung up in his eyes. Vikings don't cry, he chanted to himself. His daddy always said that.
"I don't want to be scared anymore," he whispered. He pulled his knees to his chest and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I want the Nightmares to stop. I want my daddy. I want my mommy. I want to go away where the Nightmares can't reach me."
Far above him, the moon watched and listened, silent and still.
XXX
A five year old child with a mass of red, untamed, curly hair gasped as she woke. She was shaking and tears poured down her face. She sobbed quietly as she staggered over to her window. Quietly; because she knew her mother wouldn't care. She never cared about Merida anymore, not since the last time they saw Merida's father.
She could remember it, arriving back at the camp just as a black, heavily scarred bear burst forth from the forest. Her mother had grabbed Merida and fled as her father commanded them to do. But Merida could still see as her father rushed to meet the scary bear in battle.
That had been the last time she had seen her father. Her mother had sent search parties, but only a leg was found of King Fergus. Since her father's death, her mother had been distant with Merida, never having time for her or being mean and strict when she did. Merida was always doing things wrong.
She pressed her face into the cool glass, her breath fogging up the window. The moon loomed before her, big and comforting with its gentle light. Merida watched it even as more tears fell down her cheeks.
"Why did you leave, daddy?" She sobbed. "I miss you."
The moon was silent.
"I'm scared," Merida admitted tearfully. "I don't want to see the Nightmare anymore. I don't want to make mother hate me. I want to leave."
Again, the moon offered no reply to the small child.
XXX
A boy, seeming to be around six years, staggered up to his room. The beating had been even worse than usual. Jack could barely stand up. He couldn't move his right wrist, his left eye was swollen and closed, blood poured from his nose and a cut on his upper lip. His right side hurt.
He collapsed next to his window, unable to walk any further. Muffled sobs escaped his small, abused frame. It hurt. Why did it always hurt? Wasn't he good enough?
Soft light fell on his face and brown eyes opened slowly to stare at the moon. It was full tonight. Jack leaned forward, pressing his forehead against the cold glass. He wanted his dad to be proud of him, to stop hitting him and saying cold worlds that hit Jack like a knife. He wanted his mum; she always made Jack feel better. He was scared and he hurt all over and he wanted it to stop.
His tired eyes closed under the watchful gaze of the silent moon. Soon he would fall asleep and the Nightmares would come and make him relive his torment just as he deserved.
"Make it stop," Jack whispered brokenly, not sure to who it was that he was pleading with. "Make the pain stop. Make the fear go away," he wiped away the blood still running from his face with his good hand. "Please make the pain stop."
The moon said nothing, but soft light continued to fall upon the boy as he slipped into unconsciousness.
XXX
A young girl, only five years of age, tip toed past her Mother Gothels bedroom. Golden hair fell around the dainty child in waves and slithered along the floor as the girl crept quietly. She didn't want to wake her mother – she didn't want to make her mad. And Rapunzel knew that she would be mad, and would punish Rapunzel for sneaking around at night.
A small hand reached up and gingerly traced a cheek. Rapunzel had been shocked and hurt when Mother first laid a hand on her. But her Mother had changed and the violence didn't stop there. She often hit Rapunzel, taking her anger and hate out on her. The only thing she ever cared about now was Rapunzel's magic hair and she would force Rapunzel to sing and heal her.
Rapunzel would do as she bid, desperate to pleas the woman she admired and loved. Tonight, however, the Nightmare had been worse than it usually was and had shaken Rapunzel to her core. She could still fear the fear even now coursing through her. Even though Rapunzel could not go outside, she found watching the world and the sky always made her relax, though the world had seemed to grow ever darker as of late.
The young girl pushed open the window but froze when it creaked. She glanced in the direction of her mother's bedroom, terrified of her reaction when she found out that Rapunzel was out of bed when she wasn't supposed to be and disobeying one of her orders.
Minutes passed and still her mother's terrifying figure didn't darken the doorstep and Rapunzel found the courage to move her arms again. She was even more careful to make no sound this time and she pushed the window fully open without another sound.
Cold air streamed in and Rapunzel stood on her tippy toes so that she could raise her head fully above the bottom window still. Her wide, green eyes stared at the moon and she rested her head on her arms. She could see the clearing her tower was hidden in, but beyond the walls of stone, Rapunzel couldn't see. She sighed, feeling only more trapped and helpless and afraid than before.
"I want to go outside," she whispered, keeping her voice low so that she would not disturb her mother. "I don't want to be punished anymore."
Her innocent eyes stared up at the moon, the confusion and pain and fear evident in her eyes. She rested her head back on her arms. "I want to leave," she admitted fearfully, her voice lowering even further, terrified of even the littlest chance that Mother Gothel could hear her.
The night sky was silent and the moon watched as the sweet child was lured to sleep by the gentle wind and soft rays of the moon.
XXX
A figure hovered high in the air above the four Kingdoms. The moonlight softly illuminated her dark blue skin. Darker still, her wings fluttered in the night sky. Flowing blue hair cascaded down her back, blowing gently in the wind. Like the night sky, her hair sparkled, reflecting the stars in her night. Her eyes were closed.
For countless moons, she had slept, undisturbed. But the Man in Moon had awoken her as the fearful cries of the sweet children reached high. Where there was supposed to be golden sand dancing around, the sand darkened, turned black. The children's worst fears were brought forth and the sand formed into a terrifying horse, made entirely of the Nightmare sand.
She could feel the fear even from where she hovered as the Nightmares chased the children through their dreams. Her features remained composed, but she was not content. Her night was supposed to be a time of peace, where the children's dreams were formed.
Luna could feel her power coursing through her veins, stronger now with the full moon behind her. Her eyes still closed, Luna opened her mouth and began to sing.
"Come little children, I'll take thee away, into a land of enchantment,"
Her hauntingly alluring voice reached for only those who wished to escape the world they knew.
"Come little children, the times come to play,"
Her power swept, unstoppable, among the four Kingdoms. She banished the fear when they came at her unyielding power.
"Here in my garden of shadows,"
Her eyes opened, glowing pure white as she called on her power and Luna felt as those still awake slumped unconscious where they were standing.
"Follow sweet children, I'll show thee the way,"
Unseen, she angled her wings and flew down, swooping until she was above one of the four Kingdoms. As she flew past the buildings, the candles and torches lighting the streets and houses blew out.
"Through all the pain and the sorrows,"
The windows and doors opened by the same power, and the children it called too woke. They followed the strange power calling them and saw first the moon, gleaming even brighter in the night sky. Blue light surrounded them, and the neglected and fearful children of Corona found themselves lifting into the sky.
"Weep not poor children, for life is this way,"
Luna continued on to the next Kingdom with the children of Corona following in her wake. She didn't pause as her magic continued to enchant and claim the children of Dunbroch.
"Murdering beauty and passions,"
She could feel the fear escaping them now as they were carried along in the Night. They laughed, carefree for the first time in a long time and Luna felt her heart melt for her children.
"Hush now dear children, it must be this way,"
Burgess was the same and more children joined hers, still glowing blue from her power and the moons enchantment. Luna kept her voice strong, not faltering as she flew for the last Kingdom.
"Too weary of life and deceptions,"
She landed gently at the last Kingdom, Berk. One by one, the lights were blown out and it was only her moons light that lit the way.
"Rest now my children, for soon we'll away,"
The door opened and a single child, a boy, came out. Less children heard her song in this Kingdom, but there were still a few who joined her children in the sky after the boy. Luna cast a loving glance over her shoulder at the sweet innocent children she would protect. A little more than a hundred were there, glowing blue as they were carried along behind her.
"Into the calm and the quiet,"
With the children under her enchantment, Luna opened her wings and jumped into the sky, shooting up until she flapped hard to stay hovering in the air, letting her children catch up to her.
"Come little children, I'll take thee away,"
She lead the way slowly, with the children eagerly following her, leading them over clouds and through the air as she made for the moon, where she and her children would stay.
"Into a land of enchantment,"
A child, with messy auburn hair and wide, emerald green eyes came up to her, and Luna gently carried him in her arms. She pressed her forehead against his, silently promising to keep him and the rest of her children from all harm.
"Come little children, the times come to play,"
She released him and watched over her shoulder as he joined her other children behind her. She turned her head but to the front, to the moon in the sky. She held her head high.
"Here in my garden of shadows,"
Luna dove, heading straight for the waiting moon with the children behind her. As they came closer, shadows wrapped around their bodies and they vanished into the moon.
XXX
The royals in the four divided Kingdoms awoke, feeling something amiss in their Kingdoms but all they would see was the silent moon in the sky. And for many years, the mystery of the missing children would remain unsolved.
XXX
Authors Note: I just wanted to make sure you knew, but not all the children in the Kingdom were taken by Luna. Only those who were neglected or abused or wanted to get away from the Nightmare their life had become. Only those could hear her song. Why their life became a Nightmare, I'll make that clear in the later chapters. Anyways, the next chapter will hopefully be up soon. Can't make any promises though ;) If I've missed anything, or made a mistake, please let me know. Oh, and reviews, follows and favourites are all greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
-Night Ryder711