"You hit like a girl," he sneered. "A very bratty one at that." He held a knife in his right hand, long, silver, and sharp. She knew exactly what it was, and that it was made to kill her. He knew that she had the same knife, making him laugh in disbelief. Doesn't someone like her know a mere blade cannot kill a vampire?
"Well, because I am a girl," she responded, sass seeping into her snappy tone of voice. The pair stared at each other warily, each ready to attack again as they walked around in a circle opposite of each other. She gripped her own long and silver knife in her hand, the darkness of the night covering up the blood that dripped from it. Shadows flickered across the brick walls of the wide alley they were in, dancing in harmony with the two's movements.
"Ha!" he scoffed. "You're far from that, sugar. You're a murderer. You betrayed your own family!" His voice had risen up in a screeching shout that sent chills of fear run down your spine. But not with her. "You're a rebel! You ran away from your home, and all for what? Humanity? Or was it because you ruined he-"
"ENOUGH!" she shrieked, lunging at the sharp tooth fiend. She made a move of trying to stab him with the knife she held in her right hand, but was fooled. He moved out of the way at inhuman speed, throwing her into the brick wall with a big thump. She gasped, spinning around to attack once more, but was slammed into the wall again, pinned with no where to go and nowhere to escape.
He smirked, his lips soon curling into a grin. "Can't go anywhere now, can you?" he breathed, his grin widening as many more rows of sharp and serrated teeth slipped down from his gums and into view. She thrashed to escape with all her might, throwing her arms about and swiveling her torso to slip out of his grip. He only gripped her hips harsher and kept her against the wall. "It would be a shame if such a powerful creature like you would be taken down by such a poor, second-class creature like me, wouldn't it?"
"You wouldn't do that," she spat, her breathing coming out as pants as she fingered the knife behind her back. Her mind was racing with attack plans and hopes, the odds and suddenly, just plain out rage.
"Oh, believe me darling, I would," he cooed, leaning into the girl's neck. He bared his fangs, opening and closing his jaw like he was about to bite, hearing the adrenaline rushing in her veins. "Perhaps dinner's early tonight-" His voice cut off uncomfortably as he felt a sharp point in the middle of his stomach.
"Not on my watch you don't," she forced through gritted teeth, plunging the knife into his stomach. He looked down at the knife jutting out from above his navel calmly, backing up.
"You really think this would work?" he asked, amusement of disbelief obvious in his voice. "You're pathetic! I swear once I'm done with you-" He froze, now looking sickly as he paled. He collapsed and fell to his knees, now unable to hold himself up. "Dead Man's Blood.." He had only enough strength to whisper now.
She ripped the knife out of his body, grinning like a mad man. "Bingo," she cooed. She twirled the knife in between her thumb and pointer finger, slowly leaning down. "And it's more like.." Her lips rested near his ear, her voice soft. "I slay like a woman." She immediately withdrew, swinging her knife and..
A literal sense is given to, 'Off with his head!'
********
"The groundhog's fine!" Bunnymund squeaked, holding his paws up in a surrender type motion.
Jack laughed at Bunnymund's visible fright, walking closer to the crystal. "Kangaroo doesn't even know who she is, and he's already scared. Remind me again why he's a Guardian?" he taunted, looking at the others who gave him a warning glare.
North looked up at the crystal reflecting the silhouette, inspecting the girl's image carefully. His eyebrows furrowed together, a hand resting on his chin as he looked in deep thought. His lips pursed before stretching into a sudden grin, his bright blue eyes widening slightly, signaling he had an idea. His hand dropped down so he could cross his arms across his chest. "This is Gracie Jiminez, is it not?"
Toothiana gasped, flying in closer to the rock. "Oh my MiM! It is her!" she squealed. "I can't believe how grown up she's gotten! It seems like only yesterday she was six and asking for a unicorn plushy for Christmas."
Sandy's facial expression lit up like a Christmas tree. An exclamation point formed above his head, expressing his excitement the best he could. Gracie was always such a dreamer. She'd always have the most cutest and adorable, yet refreshing dreams he's ever seen. When she got a little bit older and into pre-teen phase and early teenage years, her dreams were of pursuing what she wanted to do the most. It was amazing to see her work for it.
Bunnymund, on the other hand, sensed something way different about Gracie. It was quite simple: this wasn't her. This wasn't the Gracie Jiminez that he knew - no, this was a whole completely different person. Gracie was a lover, not a fighter, and most definitely wouldn't get into physical violence. She had barely any fighting experience, if any at all. The girl shown in the image right now.. She knew her stance. She had a plan, she had experience. She was a natural born fighter, and it was obvious in her appearance somehow.
And Jack.. Well.. He had no idea who she was.
North looked joyful. "Ve must bring her here at once," he announced. "Who votes to be catcher?" He looked around, seeing the nervous look on Bunnymund's face. His smile faded pretty quickly and he frowned. "Vhat is vrong, Bunny?"
"I.." Bunnymund trailed off for a moment. "I don't know about this, North. I don't like it - it gives me weird feeling." He fumbled around with a boomerang nervously between his two paws, his gaze flickering between North and his weapon.
"C'mon, Kangaroo, open your heart a little," Jack said, mocking. "Let people into that cold, stone heart of yours."
"Can it, Frostbite!" Bunnymund hissed. He turned his attention back to North. "North, this isn't Gracie."
"Do not be silly, Bunny, this is Gracie," North chuckled, gesturing to some of his yetis and get ready to leave. They nodded and stalked off to get a snow globe and a bag to put Gracie in.
"Yeah, but-" Bunnymund was cut off, much to his displeasure.
"Are you sure you remember her correctly?" Toothiana asked. She gave her friend a concerned look, as if he was sick. "This is Gracie. Yeah, she's grown up a lot, but-"
"You guys aren't listening!" Bunnymund exclaimed, shoving his boomerang back in his sash and flinging his arms around in the air. "This.. This girl isn't Gracie Jiminez! It is her but it isn't!" He then face palmed lightly as his choice of words, softly sighing and looking back up at everyone. "Something's different about her.. And I don't like it. I don't trust this girl."
Sandy frowned, taking his worried words into consideration, where North was still quick to respond. "If Man in Moon trusts her.. Then ve must." He sighed softly.
"Even I know that, and I've only been here for around a half a year," Jack gloated, getting closer to the giant rabbit and gave him a teasing look. "Compared to your thousands of years in this little group, I'm not even in rookie status."
Bunnymund's fists curled tightly into fists. "Frost, I swear-" He stopped himself. This is exactly what Pitch wanted, what his other helper wanted. For the Guardians group to fight and to fall apart. "Fine." His words were forced. "I'll go."
North gave the Pooka a smile. "Good!" He saw the yetis come back, a brown bag big enough to fit someone inside of it in their hands, as well as a snow globe. They tucked an extra snow globe away just in case. Bunnymund just grumbled and tapped his foot against the hard wood floor, a hole opening up. He jumped into it, the black void closing up back into floor again, a small pink flower left in his wake. The yetis had the same fate as well.
Toothiana, as usual, stayed up in the air with the help of her hummingbird speed. She began to give out orders again to her little fairies, though her mind was not in the right place of doing so. Her words were quick paced and rushed as usual, however. "San Diego, sector 2! Lawrence, Kansas, sector 14 with four lateral incisors and two molars - oh MiM! Look at how Kate flossed!" More fairies flooded in, surrounding the petite woman. "Front tooth lost in Tacoma, Washington from falling off of a swing. Note to check in on her. Tokyo, Japan, sector 6 with multiple molars! Vancouver, Canada with a molar - Ginger's last tooth! I can't believe how- hey!" She turned to glare at a fairy who was fluttering over Jack.
Jack was backing up, a little bit freaked out. The fairy kept on hovering closer, trying to get a good look at the winter spirit's teeth, but already had done so about four times by then. "Uh, hey, little fairy, my teeth are fine. Tooth just checked them-"
"Hey! Back to work, missy!" Toothiana waved a finger at the little fairy, scolding it like a mother. The fairy immediately returned back to her post and listened for further instructions. Toothiana nodded in approval and told her to head on over to South Korea.
North strolled back into his office, his mind running over the words Bunnymund had so urgently insisted. It got him thinking. He had noticed a slight change to Gracie, but kids grow up and change. She could've gained an interest into a combat similar to what he himself did when he was younger. He was a bandit, hence his sabers. Then there came the battle with Pitch, the Nightmare King, and things kinda went on from there.
This possibly couldn't be a bad idea, could it?
********
Bunnymund sighed softly and walked past alleyways and streets, looking around for this new Guardian of theirs. He still had an.. odd feeling about this and he could shake it. There was something way off about Gracie. He glanced behind him at the two yetis looming in the shadows, keeping from being spotted. They were always babbling about something in that gibberish language of theirs, where only North could understand them. Bunnymund still had yet to learn. The yetis were quiet though, surprisingly. Perhaps so they wouldn't scare their new recruit.
The Guardian of Hope heard a commotion in one particularly wide alleyway. He frowned lightly and pressed his back up against the wall, staying hidden in the darkness and listened. He heard a thump and bunch of sounds of struggle, his ears standing up in alarm. What in the world were they doing? He heard muttering with an angry tone. A little bit of time passed, maybe a minute or even half that before he saw blood splat onto the concrete and heard a body drop. He suppressed a gasp, his bright green eyes going wide in fear and terror.
There were footsteps. 'Oh MiM,' Bunnymund gulped, holding up a boomerang. He forced himself to step out of hiding and into the street lamp's light, seeing Gracie. She had dirty blonde, wavy hair. She was tall, too. Taller than most girls - no, women her age. He had to remind himself that she wasn't a child anymore like he remembered. What really enforced that thought on her being an adult, was the sight of her wiping the bloodied silver blade on her blue jeans. It came off as red and black mixed, forming an awful brownish color, like dried blood kind of. It caused his eyes to trail down to the body on the ground a few feet away from her, making him almost gag. It was.. headless. The head was a few feet away from the body, making him feel even more sick than before.
The girl's eyes traveled up Bunnymund from the ground in disinterest, her lips together in a relaxed way, though her expression was blank. Once she registered the unknown being in front of her, the blade was suddenly up again in a defense position.
Bunnymund forced himself to swallow what felt like a rock in his throat and spoke up. "H-Hey.. I'm not gonna hurt ya.." His voice was shaky, as well as his breathing. Why, of all people and spirits, did he choose her? This most definitely wasn't Gracie. No, not at all.
"Who are you?" Gracie barked, her expression now stone hard in new found hatred for this stranger. "No, what are you?" Out of all her years, she hadn't seen one single creature like him before. It alarmed her, making her remember past events.
"I'm the Easter Bunny.. I'm a Pooka.." Bunnymund answered her slowly, wary of her movements. She opened her mouth to say something, but Bunnymund panicked and had her thrown into the brown bag before she could do anything else.
********
North brought everyone back to the Globe Room from where one or two had wandered off, including himself. He came back from his office, dragging Jack along the away from a run-in in the hallways. "Listen up! Bunny should be back soon, so look lively."
"I'm dead," Jack said bluntly, leaning against his staff loosely. "How can I look lively?"
"Is just expression.." North mumbled, not amused by Jack's ignorance of the commonly used phrase. Wait.. Was it still commonly used? None of them but Jack (the 300-year-old teenager, duh) were up to date really with the time. Phrases mostly - they used many that weren't around anymore.
Sandy and Toothiana stood off to the side as usual, where North moved Jack and himself back so they wouldn't be in the middle of the portal when it opened up. Soon, Bunnymund came back through his tunnels looking frightened, where the yetis came back through the portal. They walked through, the portal closing behind them, with a thrashing person screaming violent things in the bag.
"Let me out, or Father help me, I will-" the woman's voice rang loudly in a shout until she was dropped with a thump. She immediately ripped the bag open, crawling out and standing up. She didn't look happy at all. She looked pissed. The knife in her right hand, gripping like she was about to uppercut-stab someone made it even worse.
"Ah, Gracie!" North exclaimed, his voice a little bit louder than intended. "Nice to see each other again, no?"
'Gracie' blinked, her expression going blank. "Who's Gracie? My name's Rylee."