Pitch was not about to admit it to anyone but he was impressed.
As he ascended the gangplank leading to the deck of North's vessel, he admired the size of it and the obvious delicate magical masterwork it had taken to construct. He detected various wards of protection inlaid into the wood and metal forming the hull as well as older lucky chants and prayers for safe voyages coating the deck invisible save as a brief glimmer seen out of the corner of the eye.
He marvelled at the size of the dreamsand sails and momentarily wickedly wondered how many years he could have saved had he had access to this amount of dreamsand when he had first started his nightmare experiments.
A yeti approached him and opened his arms. Pitch deposited the trunk into his waiting arms and the yeti, eyeing the trunk as if it would bite him, went to take it to Pitch's designated cabin.
Pitch counted at least twenty of the brutes performing miscellaneous tasks around him. He moved out of the way of one mopping the deck. North obviously wanted everything spic and span for his vessel's big day.
'Hello Pitch!' came a cheery, booming voice.
'Speak of the devil', Pitch mumbled, directing his gaze upward.
North swung down from above, gripping a rope like a much plumper Tarzan as he leapt down to the deck. Pitch felt the force from North's landing reverberate beneath his feet.
'What do you think?' North asked, beaming with pride.
'Certainly sturdy', Pitch commented.
'But light', North said, stroking the sideboard fondly, 'Balance is important. Sturdy usually means heavy but this will glide through the air like snowflake'.
'I hope so', Pitch thought as he followed North to receive the briefing with the others before take-off, 'Or this will be a very short trip'.
According to North, the spells protecting the ship would eliminate most (but not all) of the turbulence during take-off and would protect them upon entry into space. The bubble encasing the ship would regulate temperature and maintain their oxygen supply. There would be some odd gravitational shifts and some queasiness but nothing serious.
Just as a precaution however he had advised all members of the crew to tie themselves to something or at least hold on to something heavy to ensure nobody ended up sliding across the deck unexpectedly.
As a result, when the countdown began, every yeti, Guardian and Boogeyman were secured to the ship like name tags tied to Christmas ribbons.
Sandy and Tooth waved, happy smiles warring with the concern on their faces as North pressed the sequence of keys beside the helm that would initiate the thaumic engines. He had insisted on taking the helm for take-off himself, and was grinning with anticipation.
Jack had tied himself to the rigging, savouring the vantage point as well as the reassuring glow from the dreamsand around him. He was used to flying but this was entirely new. He wanted to take in very detail!
He smiled as he felt the vessel begin to move, the massive boosters on either side of the ship's hull unfolding and roaring. The ship began to slide up the ramp towards the doors set into the roof of the cavern in which it was kept. Ahead of the figurehead of a charging reindeer, a pair of heavy doors slid back smoothly, revealing the Arctic wastes and the night sky gleaming high above.
The Aurora Borealis, activated by a yeti back in the workshop, streaked across the sky like a painter's brush stroke, illuminating the darkness. North made a final note of calculations and trajectory, took a deep breath and threw a large lever forward.
The ship shunted into proper acceleration. It roared up the ramp and leapt from the end of it like a water bird taking wing. Rising in a curve, it reached the bottom of the Aurora and impossibly, ignorantly of the accepted laws of physics, landed within the Northern Lights and flew!
The Aurora Borealis parted like a rainbow sea, swelling with the speed of the ship as it ascended into the upper atmosphere. The sails, unfurled and full with the wind, lifted the ship. It made Jack think of a mighty golden dragon carrying them to the stars.
Exhilarated at the wind rushing through his white hair and North's joyous laughter, he looked at Bunny and Pitch to see if they were excited too.
Bunny was gripping the bannister of the wooden stairs leading to the helm, nostrils flaring and eyes wide but strangely unfocused.
Pitch meanwhile was standing with his back pressed against the door leading to the cabins. He was making a bigger effort than Bunny to remain unconcerned as he examined his nails. But Jack stifled a giggle as he noticed how tightly Pitch's back was pressed against the wall as well as the shadows extending from the bottom of Pitch's robe. Like tentacles, they were wrapped tightly around several railings anchoring Pitch like one of the barrels tied in the cargo hold. Pitch was just as nervous as Bunny, just better at hiding it.
The ship began to rock violently as it ascended into space.
Higher and higher it rose and Jack gasped at the sight of the planet below. Sometimes on clear Winter nights he had asked the wind to help him rise above the clouds but it had always refused to take him higher than a level it deemed safe.
Earth was beautiful! He tried to pinpoint Burgess but they were rising so far and fast it was swallowed by the continent of North America before he could get a clear glimpse of it.
His stomach roiled at the change in gravity despite the protective magical cocoon of the ship but he was too in awe to care. He waved madly at the moon as they flew past, wondering if Manny was looking at them through his window.
They were in space! They were actually in space!
'We're in space', Bunny thought to himself as he swallowed bile, 'That's okay. Space is fine. We're in a magic ship. Perfectly safe. Goin' to find my planet. In the dark. Oh strewth there's nothin' beneath us is there?! We're just floatin' in the cold, dark, bottomless- No! shut up shut up don't think about it just relax-'
'It works!' North whooped even though nobody could hear him over the roaring engine, 'It works! We are like the cosmonauts! To infinity and beyond that eh?! Hah!'
Pitch was too distracted by the smorgasbord of fear emanating from every living being on board to think about anything else. It was so intoxicating that his nervousness was all but forgotten.
Gradually, the ship slowed down and levelled out. Despite the immense speed at which it travelled, indicated by stars and planets flashing past, the magic barrier began to reduce the speed felt by those on board. Soon, the yetis began to undo their lines, confident their weight would no longer work against them. They began to attend to their various duties.
One came to take the helm from North. He surrendered it after a brief moment of hesitation, eyes shining with wonder as he looked at the night sky.
Bunny rose to his feet shakily, having slipped to a sitting position at some point during the take off. Despite his fear, his ears perked up. He could hear the stars twinkle as the ripple of the ship's movement spread: they sounded like little wind chimes. It was beautiful.
Pitch, rejuvenated by the fear he had absorbed, released the shadowy anchors he had conjured and marvelled at the infinite darkness. The stars shone so brightly: like dreamsand. Had he really wanted to snuff them out all those centuries ago?
Jack opened his mouth to try and articulate what they were all thinking.
However, now confident that any danger had passed, Jack's stomach rebelled.
He promptly threw up.
Pitch entered his personal cabin and locked the door behind him.
He was prepared to deal with the unimaginable vastness of space, alien beasts and hostility from fellow crewmembers. Not Jack Frost's stomach contents. That was a job for the yetis.
The room was comfortable but basic: bed, table, mirror and chair with a porthole showing the passing stars beyond the glass.
He saw his trunk had been set at the foot of his bed but he noticed something else in the room he did not recognise.
There was a black egg sitting on his desk.
A prank of the rabbit's?
Frowning, Pitch examined it but its smooth surface gave nothing away.
Deciding to chance it and take whatever ill-conceived trick was lying in wait, Pitch flipped the top open and examined the contents.
The first thing to catch his eye was a pack of breath mints sitting on top of a mass of brown, shiny items. Pitch picked up the pack and smiled fondly. A tiny sticky note had been stuck to it.
Enjoy!
-T
Tooth's favourite brand.
So, the rabbit was not singularly responsible for the egg.
Feeling reassured at Tooth's involvement, he placed the mints carefully in the top drawer and shut it.
There was a slight yet familiar clicking noise from the egg which drew Pitch's attention.
Upon closer inspection, he saw the egg was full of squirming insects, motivated to movement by the light. His stomach gave an insistent growl at the sight.
He snatched one up, trapping it between his pointer finger and thumb and held it up to the light.
He stifled a laugh.
The rabbit had coated the insects in various kinds of chocolate.
This one had even been painted: pink polka dots shining over its chocolate brown carapace. The rather haphazard design provided an explanation for why the entire batch had not been painted: the bugs had obviously not wanted to stay still.
Just like the rabbit to ruin a perfectly good insect!
Typical Guardian: imposing his own standards on something that didn't want them!
Then again…
Tooth had obviously helped. She probably wouldn't be happy if he ignored the egg: probably accuse him of being 'ungrateful' or 'unfair' of all things! Maybe she had suggested painting them? She liked things to look nice. Maybe it was a way to categorise the insects: perhaps they were painted to indicate flavour?
Only one way to find out.
'No point putting it off', he said sourly and ate the beetle whole, popping it into his mouth like the chocolate drop it resembled.
After a few crunches, he swallowed and sighed in annoyance.
It was delicious.
Somehow he felt the rabbit had got one over on him.
But it didn't stop him eating three more of the insects.
'According to the map, if we keep going this way, we will run into this planet here in a couple of days', North said, tracing the suggested route with his finger, 'Then we can be certain we are on track'.
North, Bunny, Pitch and Jack were gathered in the mess hall.
North had hung Sandy's star chart up on the wall. Here and there were patches of Pitch's spidery script indicating corrections or suggestions based on what he had managed to remember about the region they were travelling to. Bunny had also added to the document, drawing on his astro- navigation lessons from school all those centuries ago.
'Do you know it Bunny?' North asked.
Bunny once more ran through the memories of his interplanetary geography lessons and quickly identified it. It was a small planet on the outskirts on Pooka territory.
'Yeah', Bunny confirmed, 'Pooka outpost. A farming world designed to grow food'.
'Please don't mention food', Jack groaned.
Jack had not adapted well to space travel.
It had been a surprise to the crew considering his experience of flying on both North's sleigh and using the North Wind.
Pitch had theorised it was tied to his powers: Jack was a creature of ice and snow. Both were phenomena his current surroundings lacked, save for the occasional passing comet.
That being said, his face was no longer a sickly green and he had been able to keep the soup down that they had for dinner before the meeting.
So far at least.
'Is okay Jack. At least cherry is popped now eh?' North said kindly.
Jack gave a heavy sigh at the mention of 'cherry'.
North gave an apologetic smile.
Pitch smirked.
'Sorry Jack', Bunny said sympathetically, 'If nothin' else it'll give you a bit of a breather mate. Nice solid ground eh?'
Jack gave a thumbs up and went back to resting his head on his folded arms.
Much later that night, Bunny left his cabin and went upstairs onto the deck.
He hadn't been upstairs since they had taken off: he was determined not to go back up there until things had quieted down and he could adjust properly. Now that everyone was asleep, he had his chance. He wasn't a real rabbit but Pookas as a race naturally shared their preference for solid ground over their heads and beneath their feet. He found it helped if he thought of the ship as having a glass ceiling.
All thoughts of a glass ceiling vanished as he noticed Pitch watching the stars pass overhead.
He felt a stab of annoyance but swallowed it. It wasn't like Pitch had deliberately gone out of his way to intrude on Bunny's adjustment.
But then…why was he up here? What was he up to now?
Wait a minute. He couldn't be up to anything! If anything happened to this ship, Pitch was up the creek too! Wasn't he?
The cheeky bugger hadn't even mentioned the egg full of insects. Probably thrown them overboard or snuck them into the food supplies for a joke. Bunny hadn't expected a 'thank you' but an acknowledgment of the effort would've been nice.
Bunny considered going back downstairs but saw Pitch's head swivel slightly.
He knew Bunny was there.
That settled it.
Bunny was not about to make it look like he was turning tail just because Pitch was on deck.
Besides, despite his suspicions about the Boogeyman, it wasn't like Pitch had done anything so far to justify them. They couldn't keep ignoring each other like they had during dinner. One of them had to make an effort sometime and it looked like Bunny would have to be the bigger spirit.
After all: it could be a long trip.
'Why you skulkin' about at this time of night?' Bunny asked as he walked to join Pitch.
Pitch spread his arms as he turned, exasperated.
'Is it skulking if I'm standing out in the open without any attempt to hide?' he asked.
Bunny instantly regretted the choice of words.
Why had he said that? Pitch had as much right to be up here as he did after all.
'Sorry', Bunny holding up his paws.
Pitch's eyes narrowed at the honest apology.
When Bunny just looked back at him neutrally, he nodded and leant on the railing.
Bunny took position beside him.
They stood in silence for a few moments, both watching a comet trace its way across the void.
'So', Bunny finally asked, 'why are you standin' around in the open at this time of night? Can't sleep?'
'Unlike the rest of you, I only sleep for two or three hours at a time'.
'Seriously?'
'Yes and I don't have any pretty pictures to gawk at while doing so'.
Bunny's ears perked up.
'Wait: you don't dream?' he asked.
Pitch shook his head.
'Let the little man poke around in my head? No thank you'.
Bunny was surprised to feel a twinge of sympathy.
He had seen butterflies circling Pitch's head when Sandy had knocked him out at Easter. Had that just been a joke on Sandy's part?
'I thought everybody dreamed', Bunny said, 'Maybe you just don't remember them?'
This made Pitch pause for a moment.
What he had said was not quite true.
Sometimes in the oblivion of sleep, he did see strange flashes.
People, places, even Sandy sometimes.
Sometimes he saw butterflies and there was usually someone with him. Someone special…
Pitch shook his head, both in denial at Bunny's suggestion and to dispel the blurry images threatening to surface.
The rabbit's concerned tone and non-aggressive attitude was confusing him.
'I got bored of looking at my cabin's ceiling so I came out here', Pitch said, 'I can't help it if the rest of you are such slugabeds, rabbit'.
Despite the insult, Bunny was surprised to find he didn't feel the usual urge to punch Pitch in the face.
It suddenly struck him this was the first real conversation they had ever had. Usually they just exchanged threats and insults.
Maybe it was just the stress of the day but neither of them seemed to be in the mood for their usual aggressive exchanges.
Here they were, just talking.
Like normal people.
'It's Bunnymund, not 'rabbit'', Bunny said, 'Or Bunny''.
'On a first name basis now are we? You flatter me', Pitch said.
'Did Pitch just make a joke?' Bunny thought, 'I didn't know he had it in him'.
'We have known each other for at least four centuries', Bunny insisted, 'Besides I'm not even a rabbit'.
Pitch was bemused by this. Had he and the rabbit really been acquainted for that long? Time certainly flew when you were mortal enemies.
But, did mortal enemies usually give their foes gifts? Those insects had not proven to be poisonous after all. Which was just as well considering Pitch had snacked on a few more since coming on to the deck.
'You would prefer 'Pooka'?' Pitch asked.
'Call me what you like', Bunny said lightly, 'But ya don't hear me callin' you 'Boogeyman' do ya?'
'I've heard you have a few other choice names for me you like to use', Pitch said, ''Stinkin' ratbag' springs to mind'.
The accusation had been mild, almost teasing in tone.
Bunny responded in kind, astounded at how easy this conversation had been so far.
'And you don't have any for me?' Bunny asked with a raised eyebrow.
'Not just you', Pitch shrugged unapologetic, 'I'm an equal distributor of insults I assure you. And I have the decency to use them behind your back'.
'Fair enough', Bunny laughed but was forced to stifle a yawn, 'I guess that's my cue: g'night then'.
'Not going to frog march me back to my room?' Pitch asked.
Bunny stretched, amused by the obvious surprise in Pitch's voice.
'Sorry to disappoint but I'm crashin' here', Bunny said, giving a wave, 'See ya tomorrow'.
Pitch's voice calling after him made him pause.
'Thank you. By the way'.
'For what?' Bunny asked, turning back.
'The insects', Pitch said, keeping his back turned.
Bunny genuinely smiled.
Had the Boogeyman just said something nice? In a completely polite, not-sarcastic, not-looking-for- trouble, almost friendly way?
'You enjoyin' them?' Bunny asked.
Pitch's shoulders stiffened.
'I don't hate them', he sniffed.
Bunny shook his head as he resumed his descent of the stairs.
That was more like it.