Dizgirl: And here we finally get to join up with the dream-maker himself. Let's see what he has to say about what's been happening to Jack... Enjoy and love!


Chapter 7: Gold to Black

PAST

Bunny bounded down one of his tunnels, Jack skating behind along the smooth dirt and moss, his body weaving effortlessly but the usual goofy grin gone from his face. Bunny didn't comment on this and instead focused on bringing them up to the right place. They had both agreed that the best place to find Sandy was wherever night had fallen just a few hours prior, which placed them in Eastern Europe. They had checked several cities, seeing evidence that Sandy had come by, and were now on their way to the next location, hoping to catch up. Jack had mumbled something about the wind being faster but they both knew there was no way for Bunny to travel that way.

Fortunately, when they popped out of this tunnel they found themselves on a street with streams of golden sand winding their way above them. Bunny scanned the skies for their fellow guardian but Jack saw him first.

"There," he pointed towards their left. Bunny caught sight of the golden cloud and they headed in that direction. Jack looked over at him. "I can go get him," he offered. Before Bunny could reply, Jack took off, soaring up towards the spot of gold.

"Sure," Bunny muttered, stopping to wait for them. It didn't take long for Jack to reach Sandy. He could see them talk for a bit before the cloud began to descend with the winter spirit now sitting on it. Bunny waited with muted impatience until they had floated down to his level.

Sandy waved at him, symbols of greeting swirling over his head. Bunny nodded in return before getting straight to the point. "Did Frostbite fill you in at all?"

Sandy glanced at the boy, shaking his head. Bunny could see the man's eyebrows crease slightly as he continued to watch Jack, who in turned seemed to squirm a little under the scrutiny.

"Jack's been having nightmares," Bunny explained. Sandy frowned, moving closer to Jack and reaching his hands out for his head. Jack leaned away but eventually couldn't escape without falling off of the cloud. The Sandman cupped the boy's face, studying the deep circles under his eyes. He tilted his head to the side, a picture of Pitch's sand horses followed by a question mark forming above his hair. Several z's followed that with another question mark. Jack looked at Bunny as best he could with his face being held by the Guardian of Dreams. Bunny gestured for him to answer the questions.

Jack sighed. "Yeah, I've been having some bad dreams, but I haven't seen any of Pitch's night mares or him."

"But I did see black sand," Bunny interjected. "When he woke up just now black sand sorta flew out from around his head." He waved a paw towards Jack as if to demonstrate. Sandy raised both eyebrows and returned his gaze to Jack, rubbing a hand over his white hair. It was obvious Jack was uncomfortable with the contact and Sandy's proximity, his lips pressed into a hard line, but he didn't move away from Sandy's examination.

The golden man pulled his hand away, turning it over and scrutinizing it. Bunny moved closer, all three of them at eye level with the other two on the cloud of sand. He looked down as well and saw a few minute grains of blackened sand standing out against the gold. Jack stared down at them as well, his expression changing, making it unreadable.

Sandy turned back to Jack, his question from earlier repeating: z's forming over his head with a question mark, but now in between was the symbol of a thumbs up. Jack shrugged in return.

"No, not really," he said.

"Says he hasn't been getting any rest for weeks," Bunny added, earning himself a disgruntled look from Jack. He sent a stern look back and Jack's eyes slid away to look down the empty street. Sandy's eyes stayed on Jack throughout this silent exchange, concern now easily showing on his features. He sat back a bit, letting the winter spirit sit upright again.

A small golden version of Pitch appeared above his head, which was promptly crossed out. The image of the night mares reappeared and was also crossed out. Then a thin cloud of sand appeared above his head accompanied by another question mark. The pictures transformed into a clock that spun around quickly.

Bunny nodded and crossed his arms. "That sums it up." Sandy's expression turned thoughtful and he pressed a fist to his mouth. Jack had turned back at Bunny's words, his expression neutral but eyes wary. He fiddled with his staff as they waited for Sandy.

About a minute later, Sandy sighed silently and returned his attention to Jack. He held up his hands palms up as if to show he had nothing. He then raised a finger and an image of Jack sleeping with z's floating over his head appeared. A mini Sandman sat next to him, watching the boy sleep.

Jack's face tightened a little. "I don't really want to sleep right now."

"You should," Bunny told him. "With Sandy, you shouldn't have any bad dreams, right?" He looked at Sandy who held up his hand again, this time palm down and wobbled it back and forth. The sleeping Jack reappeared above him and a tiny night mare formed over his head. The mini Sandy instantly reacted, knocking the night mare away. "If he has one you can stop it," he guessed.

Sandy nodded and sent a questioning look at Jack. The boy's eyebrows drew together and he was silent for several moments. Finally he nodded as well.

"Okay," he said, his voice oddly quiet.

Sandy smiled kindly and gestured for the boy to find a comfortable place on his cloud. He then turned back towards Bunny, letting the worry hiding in his eyes expand across the rest of his face. Bunny nodded, feeling his own face mimic his.

"Tell me how it goes," he whispered to the golden man. "I'll be at the Warren." Sandy sent him a firm nod and salute and then raised his hands, sending his cloud skyward. Jack had moved back a bit, but his face turned to Bunny as they rose, his expression troubled.


Golden ribbons of sand glided out from Sandy's hands, diving down into windows to reach the sleeping children below. Each was infused with all the good he could imagine, though he found himself a bit distracted and unable to put as much effort in as he normally did. His eyes wandered away from the city below to the boy lying curled up on his side behind him.

Jack was asleep now. It had taken him a while to relax enough to do that. Even though he had agreed to come with Sandy and try sleeping while with him, Jack had remained reluctant and almost fearful of closing his eyes and succumbing to sleep. It was strange to see him so timid and so quiet. Then again, from what Bunny had mentioned, it would seem Jack had been suffering from nightmares for weeks now. They must have been bad…

Why hadn't the boy come to him sooner? Surely Jack knew that Sandy would be happy to help him get a good night's rest. He wouldn't judge him or think it embarrassing that he was struggling with nightmares. Everyone had bad dreams.

Sandy pushed another handful of golden sand at the boy's head, which joined the rest that lazily rotated over his white hair. Strange, though the sand was definitely forming into the usual halo of a dream, no shapes were forming out of it. It just continued to swirl above him. Sandy twisted completely around so he faced the sleeping spirit. He manipulated the sand, trying to force it into a certain direction.

This wasn't how he normally handled dreams; usually he let them take whatever happy course the dreamer could imagine, but he could do it if he wanted to. He tried to push the dream to form a story about a snow day in Burgess. Snowflakes glimmered to life amidst the swirling sand but they only lasted a moment before they darkened and crumpled back into the rest.

Sandy balked, his eyes widening at the unexpected move. His sand had never done that before. He tried again, this time shooting for a simple dream about Jack flying over the ocean with dolphins playing beneath him. He knew Jack was fond of the animal. In a similar fashion the dolphins appeared, leapt out of the halo of sand, and then promptly fell apart.

What?

He scooted forward, examining the golden thread of sand above Jack's head. He also looked down at the boy, whose face was slack in sleep. He seemed to at least be sleeping calmly. He raised his eyes to the sand once more and decided to try for a third time. He lifted a hand, ideas for several good dreams bouncing in his head, but abruptly stopped with a silent gasp of surprise. The sand was darkening, gold melding into brown, and then into black. It almost looked like it was decaying, the circle not quite as uniform anymore and its movement slowing down to a sluggish crawl.

Sandy's eyes widened in alarm and he threw both hands forward, concentrating on converting the sand back into his. At first it began to lighten and he felt a flicker of relief, but then the dark sand seemed to push back, blackness overtaking the entire thing. Sandy jerked back, his hands stinging with the dark and cold sensation the sand created. It was the same feel of the sand Pitch had used to destroy him a couple of years prior, the sand of nightmares.

He breathed deeply for a moment, rubbing his hands together as memories of the fear and shadows contained within that sand flashed across his mind. It had been a horrible experience to be converted into his opposite, into the worst and darkest thoughts a mind could produce. Sandy shivered, pushing those memories away. How had sand like that appeared here? Pitch wasn't nearby, there had been no night mares…What was creating it? Because something had to be creating it, right?

There was a quiet moan and Sandy's attention was diverted from his thoughts to the boy sleeping at his feet. One of Jack's hands twitched and his face was scrunched up unhappily. His head jerked to the side and his limbs continued to make feeble movements. A nightmare was happening.

Sandy's eyes darted back up as the black halo began to sink down, crumbling to pieces that fell apart into a cloud of sand wafting over Jack's face. He jumped forward, waving his arms at the cloud to try and keep it off of Jack but as soon as it touched the boy it disappeared. Jack gave another groan and Sandy frantically brushed at the sand. It wasn't coming off. It just kept disappearing, seeming to be absorbed into the boy's skin and hair. What was this? What was happening?

Switching tactics, he rested a hand on either side of Jack's face and concentrated on infusing the boy with good thoughts and happy emotions. He reached for the sand that had sunk within him to pull it back out, but couldn't seem to grasp it. In fact, he felt like he was almost making it worse, like trying to wipe lotion off of someone's face and instead only rubbing it in further. Jack gave a strangled cry and Sandy pulled back, completely bewildered now.

What had happened to Jack?! What was this?