Hello people of earth!... This is Earth right? 0_0 Ah well. Doesn't matter much I guess. Anyway! I am among the living! XD *Dodges thrown pitchforks and rocks* For the moment anyway! I am really sorry it's been so long sense my last update! DX There have just been, well. Some complications in both my story and personal life. But I'm not going to get into that.
Before I really get rolling with this though, I would first just like to say a few things. First of all; FANTY! For the love of all that is still good and wholesome in this world! Please take a break! I haven't heard from you in over TWO WEEKS! Mystic and I are both really worried about you. :( So please be alright. You're going to make yourself sick (again!) if you're not careful. You are a dedicated and intelligent individual, and I respect you deeply for that. But please, for the love of God, just take some time off! I'm also very sorry I had to go and post another chapter without your looking it over first. :( But it's been more then two weeks since I updated and I really felt I had to get it done. Again, I'm really sorry and I don't want you to think for a second that I don't appreciate you as my editor, because I do! You are an amazing editor, and even more amazing friend. :)
Second of all! Everyone! Your attention please! I would like to fully dedicate this chapter to my other wonderful friend Mystichawk! She acted as both a consultant (sorry if this isn't the right word Mystic but I couldn't think of anything else to call it. :P) and editor for this chapter! OK people. I am being 172% serous here. She took what I had, which I actually felt was pretty good, and made it 10 TIMES BETTER! This girl is a future bestselling author and I will be the first in line to buy a copy of the books she is destined to write! Everyone should go check out her work! Especially her story 'The Boogeyman tries to understand Fanfiction.' That story has made me fall out of my chair laughing in practically every chapter! XD You can now all applaud and thank her. She's also the reason this chapter is way longer then normal. :) So once again! Thank you soooo much for your help Mystic. :) This would never have been this amazing without your help!
So as always I don't own ROGT or the Guardians of Childhood book series. No matter how much I wish I did. -_- They belong to DreamWorks and William Joyce.
So without any further ado! please allow me to present the sixth installment of;
Of Shadows and Moonlight
Chapter 6: Fallen Angel
The force of the memory and the shock of the emotions it released was enough to blast Pitch off his feet and send him reeling back. He would've been able to regain his footing easily however, had a tree root not tripped him up as he was forced backwards, leading to him falling flat on his backside with a jarring thud.
His head hit the rough clearing ground and the migraine that had developed since he'd first heard the shadows just about doubled. Air came in and out of his lungs in quick, ragged breaths as he lay motionless on the ground. The impact had knocked the air from his lungs and though it was quite intense, his shock was not enough to let go of the baby he now remembered he was still holding in his arms.
Pitch sighed. I thought I was done with these!
The pain slowly began to ebb away from behind his eyes as the minutes past and he began to regain his senses. His hearing and sight tentatively faded in and out of focus as he tried to figure out what he had just seen, and remember just what in the hell he was doing that ended with him lying in a heap on the ground.
A memory... one of a little girl. And a face! But why now?
Pitch struggled to remember and it was some time until a light cooing sound eventually brought him back to reality. His body was still bruised and hurt, his brain felt like it was being wrung out like a wet washcloth- to say nothing of the pounding headache that was worming its way through his head -but he still had enough sense to remember the baby that was curling into his chest in a swaddle of black cloth.
He tried to sit up, but the movement of his head sent a shock of pain down his neck and he had to stop. The baby cooed again. Pitch absentmindedly stroked the outside of the baby's swaddlings. The feeling of the cloth on his hand calmed him somewhat and after another minute he was able to sit up and look around, unconsciously keeping a secure hold on the small child so as not to drop it as it squirmed and wriggled in his arms.
He looked down at the small form. The child was gurgling happily and he gave it an unconscious and fleeting smile, then his mind went back to the mysterious circumstances in which he'd had that memory resurface. It was strange, to say the least. Not the memory, that was something he'd gotten used to after the first time he'd learned he had been someone besides the Nightmare King, more than eight hundred years ago.
It had happened when that girl, Katharine, had shown him that old locket when he had kidnapped the children of Santoff Claussen and taken them the Earth's core. Only fragments of his memory had returned that day. Leaving him only remembering that he had been a father at some point, before the Fearlings had taken him as a host.
Over the centuries, small fragments of his old memories have returned through his dreams- on the nights where nightmare didn't plague his mind that is, and he would see scenes from his past as a human. Most of these memories only involved his daughter, the same girl he'd seen only minutes before, but he had seen a few others.
Memories of his wife and family.
He even vaguely remembered his time as a general, leading the Golden Age army's against the Fearlings, dream pirates and nightmare men. But there was one scene would replay itself over and over again, more than any other. The memory of how the Fearlings took control of him. How they had deceived him into believing his daughter was in danger and was trapped in their prison with them. How he had panicked and unlocked the door to their prison, only for them to possess him and use his hands to destroy the very thing he had given his entire life to protect.
It was something he was forced to relive again and again in his dreams. In his nightmares. And every time it made his heart throb with pain and guilt.
Apart from now, he had only ever had visions of his past in his sleep. So why would he have seen those things now?
Pitch sighed and wished he could retreat to his cool caves, but he didn't think he could move his legs yet. Why would he be remembering his daughter now? It was over, done with! He couldn't bring her back! She was someone else now. She was Mother Nature just as he was the Nightmare King. There was nothing more to it than that.
Pitch sighed again and closed his eyes. Why? He asked, not knowing or caring if he received an answer. Why do I always end up like this? Alone, hurt, and wishing that I was just a mindless monster that the Guardians think I am instead of the actually helpful being with a soul that I really am? Why?!
He didn't know. He just didn't know!
It was an impossible question to answer. Maybe the spirit of Fate had a bone to pick with him, maybe it was just his destiny to be alone.
But you're not alone.
Pitch opened his eyes again. That was right. He wasn't alone. Not now, anyway.
And that one thought brought his attention, once again, to the baby in his arms.
It was laughing now and gurgling happily up at him. Its bright silvery-gray eyes sparkled and its little arms reached up, grasping the seam of his robes in its little fist. The movement of its arms made the blanket wrapped around the child's body fall off partly, revealing bare little shoulders and-
"What the-"
Pitch frowned, bending down and moving the blanket back a little. When he did, he learned two things. One, the baby was undoubtedly a girl. He'd learned as much from her high-pitched giggling and those eyes, but this pretty much clenched it.
The second thing was something a little more surprising and altogether stranger.
A pair of identical black nubs were peeking just over her shoulders.
Pitch blinked, then he shifted his grip on her, turning her just slightly. Maybe it was a trick of the shadows.
It wasn't.
Folded against her back and tucked so that the moving of the blankets couldn't ruffle them, were a gleaming pair of jet-black wings.
Pitch stared. The wings were about as long as an adult raven's. A glossy sheen that reflected the moon's light from above caused them to look as dark as the shadows themselves, yet also making them appear to glow with iridescent radiance. They were clean and fully-grown, the feathers healthy and dark. And in the center of her shoulder blades, between the nubs of bone that connected her wings to her skin, was a small crescent shaped marking.
Pitch looked at the marking for a few seconds, wondering what it meant. Then the right wing, now free from its make-shift harness, extended a little bit, as if testing the air. Pitch watched with fascination as the gentle wind that seemed to be caressing the child ruffled her feathers slightly, as if to play. Causing the small girl to laugh even more and try to grab at the wind in response.
Unwillingly, he smiled as her little fists tried to catch the wind. He was still balancing her in his lap on her side to get a better look at her wings, so he decided to right her and instead pick her up under her arms. Keeping the cloth wrapped around her in case she was part human and could catch cold. There was also a moral aspect too, that this child wasn't his and he shouldn't see it like that, but he didn't think about that. Instead he focused on her amazing wings.
Holding her like any other parent attempting to get their baby to walk, with her little wrapped feet jigging in place against his legs and her back turned towards him, he proceeded to inspect the wings.
One wing was still folded tightly against her back in such a way that it didn't look like it was there at all, while the other flopped and fluttered slightly with every move she made. The wind continued to blow slightly, and the girl gave a little giggle each time it made her wing rise.
Pitch resisted the urge to laugh, then he set the little baby down and re-wrapped her lower body in the blanket. His arms were getting tired of holding her up.
"What are you?" he asked the baby, turning her around to face him. "Where did you come from?"
The baby smiled and cooed softly. Pitch let out a sigh. "Right. As if I really expected you to answer." he muttered, shifting her body's weight to his other leg. "I must've hit my head harder than I thought."
Pitch was curious, no question about it. He wanted to know what this baby was, why it had been sent here, and who had sent it. From that mark between her shoulder blades he had a pretty good idea, but he wasn't sure yet.
"And why me, of all people?" he wondered aloud. "Given my track record, I'm the last person someone would want to take care of a child. Especially a baby."
And yet, the baby seemed to have taken an unnatural shine to him. She didn't cry, like all the other children he'd ever met did when they saw him. She only laughed. Children were not supposed to laugh when they saw him! They were supposed to cower in fear!
"Apparently 'supposed to' isn't having much of an impact anymore," Pitch muttered, looking down at the baby again. She was just looking up at him now, with those amazingly bright silver eyes. Like little twin moons.
Moons!
"Oh, so THAT'S what this is about?!" Pitch yelled, looking up at the moon. The little girl had instantly stopped giggling and was looking at him with wide, confused eyes, but he didn't notice. "You think that a little winged brat is going to turn me into one of your pathetic Guardians?! Well THINK AGAIN!"
His heart was racing. Who does he think he is?! Thinks he can just drop some child onto me and then I'll just go back to whatever I was?! HA! As if!
"You've finally lost it, Lunar!" he sneered. "I am not giving up all that I've worked for just for the sake of one snot-nosed, smelly-reared-"
"Choo!"
Pitch stopped. The baby had sneezed and now that she had gotten his attention, she looked up at him with wide, doeful eyes.
"Oh now come on!" he said, glaring at the baby. "Don't try to pull the innocent act. I know you're just a little trap to get me to change back into the goody-two shoes I used to be!"
The baby girl continued to stare up at him, her wide eyes reflecting the moonlight. Pitch tried to look away, but she held his gaze and eventually he sighed. "Well, it's not your fault I suppose." he conceded. "After all, you're only an infant."
He could've sworn the baby nodded, just a little bit.
"It's that damn Moon's plan." Pitch added, glaring skywards again. The Moon was just hanging in the sky, watching him. "Whatever it is, I don't want a part in it! I'm going to leave this strange little bird here for the wolves to feed on! See how you like that!" he called tauntingly to the sky.
The moon didn't move, but the baby reached up for his robe again, intent on grabbing yet another fistful of fabric.
"Oh no!" Pitch said, quickly disentangling himself from her hands and setting her down on the grass a few feet away from him. "I'm done! I don't want any part in this hair-brained scheme!"
Pitch tried to stand but his legs were wobbly, to he had to lean against the ground in rather an undignified position until his legs grew stronger again. When he did stand, he stalked over to the girl and loomed over her, pointing a gray finger at her little nose. "Whatever's happening, whatever you are, I don't care! I'm done. I've had too many dealings with Lunar's minions in the past and even if you are a baby, I'm still not falling for it!"
The baby reached up and latched her small hand around his finger, gurgling and tugging softly.
"Stop that!" he demanded, pulling his finger away. "I'm trying to be serious!"
The baby just watched him with those wide eyes of hers. He could barely see her wing stubs now, covered as she was in the blanket.
"I'm going, and that's that." he said, trying to sound in control. "If you are a magical creature, you'll find your way out of the woods alright."
He straightened up and turned to leave, the mantra that had already drummed itself into his skull from before repeating in his mind.
Don't turn around. Don't turn around. Don't turn around. DON'T TURN-
He made it about six steps before the first cry came. It was like a bird's cry, soft and sweet, but sad as well. Before he could stop himself he was already running back to the baby. He picked her up and held her close, making calm shushing sounds to quiet her. Purely for the sake of not wanting another spirit like oh, say, the Sandman, to hear her and find them.
She quieted the instant he picked her up and started gurgling again when he moved her gently side to side, like he'd seen other parents do.
Like he'd done, once upon a time, with his own little girl.
After she had quieted, Pitch slowly set her down again and tried to walk away. The exact same thing happened and he found himself picking her up and rocking her, like they were a single father and his daughter in a nice cozy home by the fire.
Three times he tried this, and each time it was the same. She would cry if he set her down and then Pitch, cursing whatever semblance of a human soul he had left, would have to pick her up again.
The fourth time seemed to make her angry because she cried a bit louder then the other times and when he picked her up again, she didn't stop crying. He stood there, unsure of what to do for several seconds, then he remembered the little girl's playful swipes at the wind and the gentle coo of her voice when it played with her wing. He carefully unwrapped the right wing, gently extending it, and began to stroke it lightly, like you would a frightened cat.
The second his hand touched her wing the little girl went still. Her eye lids fluttered and, with a hum of approval, her voice went silent. Pitch sighed a silent breath of relief and continued stroking the soft black feathers, lest she wake up again and start to cry. She slowly curled back into the warmth of his chest with a soft yawn, her wing opening just a bit more, as if asking him to continue.
After a while Pitch eased his stroking and the little girl's eyes fluttered back open. Though she didn't cry or object to his stopping, he got the sense that she did want him to keep going. He didn't though.
Pitch had to resist the urge to curse under his breath. Just what is the matter with this child?
Pitch gave a heavy sigh. "I guess I can't just leave you here after all." He was at a complete loss of what to do. Whatever this girl was she clearly wasn't human. So the probability of a normal person even being able to see her was slim to none. Though arguably that may have been a good thing, God knows how the humans would react if they could see her.
Maybe he could just leave her at that infernal fairy's palace or the North Pole. It would be the Guardians problem then. Another light cooing sound brought his attention back to the baby in his arms as an almost amusing thought suddenly struck him.
"Are you holding me hostage?" he inquired, peering at her with a small smile on his face. It really had been quite a while since he'd been in such proximity with a child that hadn't cried its head off or screamed.
Again, the strange little baby with the moon eyes seemed to nod sleepily, then she seemed to wake up a bit more and broke out in a small fit of giggling.
Pitch allowed himself a quiet chuckle. "Alright, I supposed it would be cruel to leave you all alone." he admitted, turning towards the edge of the clearing with the winged baby in his arms. "And if you keep screaming every time I let go, I suppose I have no choice but to bring you with me."
The baby cooed happily, snuggling closer to his chest. He gently turned her and folded her wing back down, then re-wrapped her in the black velvet blanket.
"Just so you know," Pitch added, looking up at the moon. "I'm only doing this because, despite what those morons you call Guardians think, I do have morals and I am not a cruel being."
The baby gave a little musical laugh.
Pitch looked down at her and chuckled. "Well, not that cruel anyway."
She giggled.
Pitch sighed. "Alright, alright, I give. You're coming with me, little lady."
The baby clapped her hands and Pitch got the strangest feeling she could understand everything he was saying to her. Then he dismissed it as just a foolish whim.
Babies don't have the mental capacity yet for comprehension, he thought firmly, heading for his cave entrance. And this one is barely more than an infant. It's just my mind playing tricks.
After that insane hurricane that had delivered the winged baby had diminished, the shadows were obeying his command much more readily now.
That still bothered him of course, and he burned with an intense curiosity to find out what was at play when the light and the dark had combined- something to do with the Man in the Moon no doubt -but he had better things to worry about.
"Like what am I going to do with you when I want to go to sleep, for starters." Pitch said, eyeing the baby nestled in his arms. She was asleep again, tucked up in her blanket like a small bundle of clothed with a face. She was very pretty, in a bright sort of way. Her face glowed softly with an unnatural luminescence just like her eyes, and Pitch had had to strengthen the shadows where they were traveling with some of his own more than once because the light from her face was enough to melt them.
After a few seconds they arrived in front of his cave entrance. He knew he could just teleport into the main cavern itself or, for that matter the large bedchamber where he slept, but he wanted the Nightmares to see her and know that he would not hesitate in any way to destroy them if they so much as laid one grain of nightmare sand on the child.
They had gotten out of control at Easter and he had had to make an example of many of his stronger ones, just to avoid having a mutiny. But some still were a bit riled and might not obey him automatically.
They will after that fright I gave them earlier, Pitch thought, smirking. After he'd been woken up by that strange electric-like shock and realized that his nightmares had gone briefly psychotic, he'd raised hell with them. He'd even blasted a few, just for good measure. They would be docile for a while after something like that.
For a while.
Just as Pitch was about to enter the caves and make for his bedroom, a pair of gleaming golden eyes peered out of the gloom.
Pitch smirked. Right on time.
He beckoned for the beast to step forward, and when it did he realized that it was the only truly faithful one of his creations - Onyx, his first nightmare.
"Listen here," he ordered as the nervous beast walked towards him. It might not have seen the baby yet. "I have a task for you."
Onyx bowed its head and spoke in a language that hadn't been heard since the last great Fearlings had chosen him as their host. The language didn't translate to English, but Pitch knew it well enough to know that Onyx was observing the proper protocol.
"I have just been given an exceedingly odd task, and even now I'm not sure exactly what it entitles." he admitted. "All you need to know is that this task is a living, breathing being. A child, to be precise."
Onyx raised its head and nickered in confusion, then it looked down and saw the small form its master was carrying. "I want you to tell the others;" Pitch said, gesturing to the small bundle. She was waking up. "No one is to touch her, give her any sort of nightmares, or even look at her the wrong way. Am I clear?" he hissed the last sentence, looking Onyx squarely in the eyes. He liked Onyx, but you had to be firm with your 'help'.
Onyx nodded briefly, then turned to go carry out her orders. "Wait!" Pitch called. Onyx froze. "Come here."
She turned around and waited again for orders.
Pitch looked down at the black-swaddled bundle in his arms. She wasn't afraid of him, that much was obvious, but what about the Nightmares?
He had designed them to be horrifying, to have children shaking in fear if they were to ever see one. They were concentrated fear; corrupted dream sand that served to bring terror to the hearts of children in place of good dreams. For whatever reason this child did not fear him, but how could she not fear the nightmares?
He shifted her weight and allowed her to sit up a little bit, then he beckoned for the Nightmare to come closer. Onyx reluctantly agreed and soon the yawning baby and the snorting nightmare were almost nose to nose.
Several minutes passed. Onyx looked at the baby, and the baby stared back sleepily at Onyx. Neither moved more than to blink or breathe, and Pitch was left there in probably the most awkward position ever.
I swear, this child is broken! He thought grouchily. She doesn't fear me, and apparently she doesn't fear my Nightmares either!
Though he would never admit to anyone, this sudden realization saddened him slightly.
He was fear, and he was supposed to be feared. He knew that. It was what he was. Who he was. That was never going to change. He had accepted that long ago. But this child… she wasn't afraid.
He couldn't remember the last time someone hadn't looked at him in terror, or in hatred. Probably because no one ever had. It felt… nice. Not to be seen as just some kind of monster. But it just doesn't work like that.
He looked down at the girl slowly, once again waiting for her to start crying.
The little girl stared intently at the strange black thing that had woken her back up. What was it? It was so big, and it made funny sounds. Her eyes widened as it moved closer, staring curiously back at her with its shiny yellow eyes.
Pitch closed his eyes tightly with a sigh. He was gaining absolutely nothing from this. He had been right. The girl was either a freak human science project that just so happened to be immune to fear or-
Or what?
Whatever this child was, she definitely wasn't human. The wings and the mark on her back ruled that out. But she couldn't be a spirit ether. That… that was just imposable. Spirit's weren't born- except in his case spirits were chosen by the Moon to become immortal. Some when they were living and some after they had already died, though he had only ever heard of that happening once.
Pitch sighed. He was running low on ideas about this girl, and her lack of fear towards the Nightmare just confused him more. What on earth was this girl? Or was she something from somewhere other than earth?
The idea was the most plausible one yet, considering that mark between her shoulder blades and those eyes.
Immortals couldn't age. They were stuck as they were until they faded into nonexistence or were somehow destroyed. That hadn't happened for a long time, but it had happened. And from what he knew it was impossible for immortals have children, so that idea was out. What else was there?
He was shaken out of his thoughts by a loud cry emitting from the infant in his arms. He winced. OK, maybe he was wrong. Maybe she was scared of the Nightmares after all and all was well with the-
His thoughts were abruptly cut off as the shrill cry gave way to laughter and giggling. His eyes shot open as he stared, dumbfounded, as the baby girl reached her arms out to try and touch the Nightmare. The dark horse reared back a bit in shock and looked to stare at its master, having no idea how to respond to this.
The baby gurgled and laughed happily, oblivious of the danger the mare could pose to her.
Pitch looked from her to the very confused mare, then back to the girl who was still reaching up for the nightmare and squirming around excitedly again.
Onyx looked back and forth between its master and the small child in complete confusion. You're not screaming in terror?
Curiously, the mare slowly lowered its head back down toward the bouncing child. The girl squirmed and giggled happily as she reached up to touch the dark horse. Softly running her fingers over the grainy sand it was formed from. The mare sneezed when her little hand brushed against its nose and backed up a few steps.
The girl reached out and tried to touch the mare again, but it backed up another step, shifting and nickering nervously.
"Oh come on!" Pitch scoffed. "It's only a baby!"
The horse gave him a look and Pitch smirked. "OK, yes, it's a baby with wings that has no fear, but it's still just a baby!"
Onyx's eyes widened and she looked down at the girl, earning a laugh from Pitch.
"I'll explain later." he said. "Sufficed to say, she's a little unnatural. But then again, so are we."
The horse nickered and Pitch allowed himself a small smile. He was still in shock, which just seemed to be happening more and more as this day went on, but he was a patient spirit. He knew that he would learn everything about this strange little girl in due time.
The horse pulled away after a few moments, continuing to look quizzically at the small child in its masters arms. The girl just continued to laugh and coo happily at the creature, only to look up and smile widely at Pitch. Beaming at him happily as she slowly began to calm back down.
And Pitch's eyes widened suddenly. Because for a moment, he wasn't holding this girl anymore.
He was holding his daughter again.
She was smiling happily at him as he held her tightly, running his hands through her hair like he always did when he held her.
"Haha! I love you daddy!"
The vision lasted for only a moment before fading back to reality, and he was once again looking at the small girl in his arms. The Nightmare was still standing in front of him, only now it was closer and its nose was being stroked by the baby. She continued to smile up at him and Onyx, laughing and cooing softly all the while.
The horse was a little easier around the girl than before and it even let her rub its nose with her fat little fist and for whatever reason, Pitch couldn't help but smile back at her when he saw her beautiful little face, and those glowing eyes. She was an angel in miniature, but for him or for her, he wasn't sure.
After a while, Pitch regained his senses and looked up at Onyx. "Go tell the others." he said in a quiet voice. "I need to get her inside."
Onyx looked at its master, then back down at the little girl in his arms. Onyx bowed her head, then turned and retreated back into the darkness.
Pitch raised his head and gave the moon, which was still visible from where he was standing in front of the entrance to his caves, a final questioning glance.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked.
The Moon was silent.
"Alright." Pitch said, knowing that it was futile to argue or ask more. He lowered his head and set off down the tunnel that led through his caves. "You wanna learn something; you have to learn it the hard way."
Several miles above the earth, a thin spectral boy with a diamond tipped staff hid behind a thin cloud that merged with the otherwise clear and starry sky. He let out a relieved sigh and smiled as he triumphantly watched the Nightmare King carry the baby into his caves and disappear into the darkness.
Excellent. Pitch had done exactly what Manny had intended him to do. Now all that was left was the final stage of his plan. A plan which would finally, finally, bring the Boogeyman back to what he was before. All they had to do was wait.
Nightlight let out a joyful laugh, then shot off into the sky. Off to play a game of moonbeam tag.
Soon.
ATTENTION! IF YOU DIDN'T READ THE TOP A.N. THAT'S FINE! BUT IF YOU ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT WEATHER THIS STORY GOES ON OR NOT YOU NEED TO READ THE FALLOWING!
that's the chapter! XD Please, please, PLEASE review and let me know what you think!
And if you don't want to review for that! Then review about this! I am officially opining up a (metaphorical) suggestion box! As you all saw, Pitch is keeping her. Witch means this story is going to be full of family and father/ daughter fluff! I have some ideas for what I'm going to do. But I don't have enough. -_- THAT and fluff is not exactly my forte... SO! Please give me suggestions, requests, ideas, anything you got! Let me know what you want to see!... Because otherwise this story is going to take forever, I'm going to get stuck, and it may just end up dying before it even gets to the drama and romance!
So yeah. Please tell me what you want to see. Otherwise we're all in trouble. And thank you to all of you who liked, reviewed, and favorited the story! You guys are all awesome! I'll do my best to update this and my other story soon, but you know. Writers block is a b**** and life can, well, just be life. -_- But I'll do my best! XD
And until next time; Keep calm and quietly plot revenge! XD
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