Author's notes- We now take a darker turn for this story. You guys are gonna hate me *holds shield in case of any flying objects.*

Chapter Ten:

Nearing

of the

Dark Abyss

"C'mon, just one race!"

"I keep tellin' ya, you don't wanna race a rabbit, mate."

"I could beat your little cottontail in racing any day."

"Should I remind ya of the night when we were collecting the teeth?"

"Yeah, I froze you solid and stole that tooth back when we were in Tokyo." Jack ducked fluidly as a boomerang was chucked at her head. The two guardians were now in Ireland. Jack had just finished bringing a foot of snow to the land and Bunny had offered to help her since she had helped him with Easter. Thanks to her, the pooka could feel himself getting stronger as the children started believing again. Jack had been happy for him, but she was even more ecstatic when she had gained another believer herself; Callie, the little Australian girl. The snow spirit had been giddy ever since Easter.

Now, the two spirits were sitting on a small snow-covered hill overlooking a quiet Gaelic village. Small flakes fell from the sky while small children built snowmen and had snowball fights. Jack sat balancing on the top of her staff. The egglet Bunnymund had given her, which she had named Frostbite, was nestled against her neck trying to take refuge from the cold. The pooka sat next to her, trying to keep the snow out of his fur and off his feet.

"Why don't we make a bet?" he suggested.

That caught Jack's attention. "What kind of bet?"

"We have a race. If I win, I get braggin' rights. And...you have to go without callin' me kangaroo for a year."

A mischievous smile spread across Jack's face. "And if I win, you have to admit Christmas is more important than Easter."

The pooka's silky blue-gray fur bristled in anger. The snow spirit knew how much her friend hated North constantly saying that Christmas was more important than his holiday. "Ohoho, theres no way I'm losing now."

"Alright then," Jack hopped off her staff and walked to the edge of the hill. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she looked over the small village. "Okay, there's a hill on the other side of the village. It has a large tree with winter Magnolias on it." When Bunnymund confirmed that he could see it, Jack turned to him. "No rabbit holes, no magic snowballs, and no exploding eggs. This is going to be a fair race."

"Alright, alright," Bunny held up his paws in surrender. He then got down on all fours, his muscles bulging slightly under his fur. Jack pulled her hood over her head to somewhat shield her vision from the snow.

"Ya ready, Frostitute?"

"Always ready, Kangaroo. 3. 2. 1. GO!"

Both spirits took off like rockets. Bunny picked up speed as he plowed through the deep snow drifts, leaving each one destroyed in his wake. He zipped between the playing children, going so fast he was nearly invisible. Glancing upwards, he smirked as he saw Jack flying right above him keeping up with his pace with ease. It was clear that the snow spirit had practiced her flying skills. Jack looked down, wearing the same smirk on her face "Ready to give up yet Kangaroo?"

"Not a chance in hell, Snowflake."

They were nearing the edge of the village, the Magnolia tree dead ahead. Grinning, the pooka put on one last burst of energy that started to carry him little by little ahead of Jack. "Hah, in a few seconds that little dingo won't be uttering Kangaroo for a whole-"

Suddenly, his paws slipped from under him and he was met with a face full of snow. His ears immediately shot up as the child-like sound of Jack's laughter met hit ears. Lifting his face up and shaking off the snow, his eyes narrowed when he saw the snow spirit twirling around the tree in the air and laughing. "I won!"

"You cheated ya little bugga!"

"Did not! You slipped!"

"Come off it, you made that ice patch!"

"I am offended by that statement! You're just a sore loser!"

"I am not, Frostbite!"

"Kangaroo!"

"Frostitute!"

"Carrot munche- OOF!"

Bunnymund launched himself forward and tackled the snow spirit. Jack lost her footing and both spirits tumbled head over heels down the hill. They finally came to a stop at the bottom, with Jack landing on her back. Bunny however had landed with a touch more ease, having landed on the snow spirit, but he balanced himself well enough so he wouldn't crush her. Groaning at his now bruised back and sides, he lifted himself up by his arms, and then he froze.

Jack laid underneath him, her legs hooked over his hips. During the roll down the hill, Jack had instinctively wrapped her legs around him in fear. Her upper body was as stiff as a board with her arms straight and tight at her sides. Her spiky silver hair was splayed out in all directions and dusted with snow, but it framed her pale face like an angel's halo. Bunny's paws rested in the snow on either side of her face, which at the moment was turning a bright shade of pink. Blue eyes gazed up at him, full of shock, but also hints of curiosity traced her eyes as well.

The pooka's cheeks started heating up immensely. His brain screamed over and over to get up, but just looking down at the snow spirit, with her big sapphire eyes, her pale but beautiful face, and her silver tinged hair, Bunny felt his heart beating a mile a minute. Why was it until now that he noticed Jack's beauty?

The moment was broken when the snow spirit looked to the side and started squirming uncomfortably.

"S-sorry!" the pooka exclaimed shooting up on his feet.

"N-No, it's fine..." Jack trailed off getting up. They stood there in a painful awkward silence. The pressure filled the air and weighed down on them as though they were two miles undersea.

"We... we should be heading back," Jack mumbled finally breaking the silence. Bunny nodded and tapped his foot. As soon as Jack took off on the winds, he jumped down and raced through the tunnels to the North Pole.

Jack dangled her legs over the edge of the chimney and rested her cheek against the frosted wood of her staff. A light snowfall fell from the black sky and onto the sleeping Burgess below, even though it was the end of May and summer was practically around the corner. She was supposed to be at the Pole, having a dinner with her family, celebrating the coming of the first day of summer, but she needed to get away for a while. A million things were racing through her mind. The biggest thing being what happened between her and Bunny earlier that day.

She had been so shocked that she hadn't been able to speak at first. And how could she when Bunnymund had stared at her. However, in only a few moments, she had noticed things about the pooka she never noticed before. His eyes, the color of the deepest green jade, had looked at her with the gentlest look that she had never seen on his face before. She had latched her legs onto his hips when they had started falling, and his fur had brushed slightly against her bare foot. It was soft like velvet and made her want to press her face against it like it was a new blanket. It was also the first time when she felt how muscular he was. A Strong hide, toned front legs and a muscular build was hidden beneath the thick fur.

The sprite snapped out of her daydreaming and cursed herself when she felt her face heating up once more. "What's the matter with me?!" she thought. Before the pooka came to her mind in such an odd way, she had always thought of the fun things they were going to do, or what kind of pranks she could play on her friend. But now, her stomach would feel funny, like she had swallowed a handful of butterflies. Her face would turn pink and she wouldn't be able to think straight for a few moments. Was the pooka making her sick in some strange way? Jack didn't have an answer for that question, but longed so powerfully to posses one.

Deciding she had had enough time for contemplation, Jack flew over and started walking on the telephone wires, frost spreading across them like glass. Something suddenly flew by her, causing her to bounce on the wires and almost fall to the ground. After regaining her balance, she looked around curiously, trying to figure out what had rushed by her. Her eyes caught a dark rabbit-like figure race by some trash cans, knocking them down to the ground as it went past.

Jack felt her cheeks blush slightly but she brushed it off. "If he needed to come get me why is he running away?"

The snow spirit followed the pooka for half a block before he darted into an alley. Jack landed lightly on the pavement and strolled in with her staff resting on her shoulder.

"Ello mate."

Smiling, Jack turned to see the pooka leaning against the wall in the shadows.

"Hey, Kangaroo. Is North going all crazy because I'm not at the Pole?"

"Oh...he's upset all right."

The snow spirit's smile fell. "I didn't mean to make him that worried. I just...needed to be alone for a while."

"And why's that, Jaqueline?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. Bunny had never called her by her real name before. "No reason. We should probably head back to North's place."

"No."

The snow spirit opened her mouth to question the pooka when something weird began happening. Bunny's shadowed form started shifting. Her eyes widened in fear as acid green eyes glowed at her from the darkness.

"You're not Bunny..."

The figure chuckled before stepping into the dim light. It was the man who looked like Pitch's blonde look-alike from North's party. He smirked at her with sharp teeth and answered, "Ahh, Perception is so hard to find in women of your aesthetic grace. Why don't we go somewhere more private?"

Before Jack could even make a move to fly away, she was thrown against the alley wall by a force of black nightmare sand. The back of her head slammed against the brick and everything melted into darkness.

Three Months

Jack had been missing for three months straight. Everyone had been searching. Tooth and her fairies had scouted every inch of the Earth while Sandy rode in his dreamsand airplane looking, but they both came up with no results. Almost every hour North would take off in the sleigh by himself and used up most of his stash of magic snow globes in the process while looking. But, as days turned into weeks and into months, the guardians began losing hope. Tooth wasn't going out collecting teeth anymore. Instead she would give half-hearted orders to her faries while she would sit alone in the Tooth Palace. Sandy kept up with his duties, but didn't seem to have the heart in it like he used to. It seemed that all the joy that Jack brought into their lives every day had been sucked away along with her.

North took Jack missing the worst. For days he would be holed up in his office, never coming out unless it was to check on the new manufacturing of toys that had come out. The elves would bring in his meals, but for most of the time they left him alone.

Ironically, the one who seemed to be the most worried about Jack was Bunny. The second he heard that the snow spirit was missing, he immediately went down into the tunnels and started searching everywhere.Sometimes for days on end nobody would hear from him. He would pop up days later his search continually unfruitful, but his emerald eyes burned with increasing determination.

As month number four approached and Jack still wasn't found, the pooka decided to ask the only one who knew the places Jack would be, North. Arriving in front of North's office door, the hare knocked before pushing the door open. The toy maker was sitting at his desk with his head in his hands.

Bunnymund cleared his voice to get his friend's attention before speaking. "North? Can I, um, talk to ya?"

The older guardian raised his head. His eyes were red and his face was puffy, which told the pooka he had been crying.

"Yes, yes of course, old friend," North answered, his voice shaking slightly. He gestured to the cushioned chair across from his desk and Bunny sat down. After politely waving off the elves who offered him eggnog and cookies, the pooka looked at North with genuine concern. "How are ya doing?"

"Fine, just fine," the older guardian said, trying to make his voice sound cheerful.

"Ya don't have to lie to me, North. I'm not here to judge ya."

Silence stretched for a about five minutes before North bowed his head. His large shoulders started shaking and deep sobs filled the office. Bunny got up and went over to his friend, patting his back in the most comforting way he could. He had never seen North break down like this.

After a long time of crying, North was able to calm down enough to talk again. "I'm sorry, Bunny. We've all been searching everywhere and have come up with nothing. I feel like we have failed Jack."

"No we haven't!" the pooka exclaimed. "There's gotta be one place where we haven't looked. Someplace where we wouldn't think she would be."

The sudden realization brought on a couple seconds of silence between the two guardians. They both shattered it when they opened their mouths at the same time, "Pitch's lair!"

Three Months Ago

Jack groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. Her whole head was sending out bursts of pain every few seconds, which wasn't helping as she tried to clear her vision. Her eyes grew large with fear when she realized both her hands and feet had been shackled with large iron chains.

"Where's my staff?!" she thought while she looked around the room in a frantic manner, trying to ignore the pain. The staff was nowhere in sight. The snow spirit started growing more afraid. The room she was in was so dark she couldn't see an inch from her nose.

"Oh good, you're finally awake," Jack jumped as Pitch's voice echoed around the room. Light suddenly flooded in front of her, and she had to squeeze her eyes shut momentarily. When she opened them, she bit her lip hard to keep from screaming. She was sitting on the cold stone floor of Pitch's lair. Though it had been abandoned for the many months after they had defeated the Nightmare King, someone had obviously done some spring cleaning. The black cages that had held Tooth's fairies so long ago hung from the ceiling glistening in the light. The lair looked like the sinking city of Venice, except with a darker gothic touch to it.

"Hello, Jaqueline."

Jack's head snapped up to where the voice was coming from. Blonde Pitch was sitting on a throne made of black steel and what looked like nightmare sand. His nightmares and fearlings circled their master's throne loyally as well as circling Jack, who was sitting at the bottom of the stairs to the throne.

"Who are you? How do you know my name? What have you done with my staff?!" the snow spirit yelled.

"You don't know who I am?" the man asked as he slowly rose from his throne. As he started coming down the stairs, Jack wriggled on the ground trying to get away. She yelped as the chain around her hands was pulled harshly, making her fall back to the ground. Blonde Pitch was now looming over her, chain in his hand and a smirk across his lips.

"It's true. You don't know who I am. But I'm positive that my older brother was quite fond of you."

Jack's eyes widened in fear and she started screaming as a gag was formed out of nightmare sand and was tied around her mouth. The man yanked her chain once again so that she was now face to face with him.

"My name is Insidous. Insid for short. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Post notes-*ducks behind shield to avoid flying objects*