A/N I created my own RotG OC some time after seeing the movie (which I really enjoyed) I managed to create a plot in the past few months, and am now writing it.
I had to alter Haley a bit, and research Halloween a bit, to try and get her good. Hopefully, I don't disappoint. I only own Haley in this story; the rest belongs to Dreamworks.
invader sugar: I'm not revealing that (yet) ;)
Xion5: I love writing headbutting scenes between those two XD
Devilgirl123: Yeah!...So, anyone know where they are?
LoverDreamerFighter: True 'dat XD She is, isn't she?
EverythingisPossibleDarling: Well, here's the next chapter :)
Windsofdreams: The worst I've seen of our oldest cat was when a stray cat was approaching me; he attacked her (which he hadn't done before) and sat real close to me afterwards XD
That's fine :) His behavior will be explained later...maybe XD
Chapter 10
Enemy Sighted
It had been decided that until they found out where the Rogue Nightmares flocked the most, the Guardians, Haley, and Pitch would go about their usual duties. That was just fine for Haley, who was still nervous about the upcoming Halloween. Even though it was clear Pitch wouldn't do anything funny until the Rogue Nightmares were taken care of, the latter were still dangerous. She didn't just fear for Halloween not coming; she mostly feared for the children. She often had nightmares about something happening to the children, involving the Rogue Nightmares. She wasn't sure whether it was Pitch and his Nightmares, or Rogue Nightmares giving her the nightmares.
Speaking of Pitch, there were still some things about the nightmare spirit that confused Haley. Not just his attitude after she refused to help him hurt children; if he had been looking for her, did he not know he was near her house? He was confused when she called the tree hers, so he probably didn't know she lived there. And why did he come out from under her tree? Tooth mentioned that Pitch had entrances to his lair all over the world, so maybe that was one of them?
Haley tried to keep her mind off of those confusing questions, and concentrate on figuring out where the Rogue Nightmares were. Sandy had said—or rather, signed—that they may flock where fear was still the greatest in the world. The only problem was figuring out where exactly fear was the most common. It was decided that Jack would travel North America, Haley would search Europe, Bunnymund would look around Australia, Tooth would take Asia, Sandy would be in Africa, Pitch would search Antarctica, and North himself would look in South America. Pitch had said they gave him the coldest continent to search on purpose, but no one else complained about their search locations.
So far, Haley hadn't seen hide nor hair of the Rogue Nightmares; she both hoped she wouldn't and would see them. If she didn't, there was less of a chance she would get a horrible nightmare again; if she did, it meant her friends, and Pitch, wouldn't get hurt.
She had been searching her hometown in Spain when she heard some children talking about hearing about "scary-looking horses made of sand" from their friends in the outer regions of Spain. Before Haley could run to check, she spotted a familiar black form moving in the shadows. "Pitch, you're supposed to be in Antarctica!" She hissed softly to herself, bounding after the moving shadow.
"¿Has oído lo que pasó la semana pasada?" A teenaged girl asked her friend. "¿Acerca de la bomba calabaza?"
Haley skidded to a stop, forgetting about Pitch, when she heard, "pumpkin bomb". She followed the two girls, listening silently to their conversation; she didn't worry about being caught, as she was only seen by one child, who was on the other side of the Earth. "No. ¿Qué le pasó?" The girl's friend asked, brushing black hair from her face.
"Un niño estaba caminando en el bosque, y encontró una pequeña Linterna de Jack O'. La recogió y la tiró –por qué, no lo sé—y cuando chocó contra un árbol, estalló segundos después."
The girl's friend gasped. "¿Está bien?"
"Sí, la explosión fue lo suficientemente lejos para que no se lastime. Pero él se asustó."
Haley didn't hear any more; she had frozen on the sidewalk as soon as she heard that a boy found a pumpkin bomb, threw it at a tree, and it exploded. Was that one of my pumpkin bombs? How did he find one…of…my…
She realized that it had been one of her pumpkin bombs. When she had confronted Pitch in the forest, she had a pumpkin bomb in her paw. When she left, she let it drop to the ground, and had forgotten about it. Her heart plummeted to her stomach as she realized that boy had found her pumpkin bomb, which nearly hurt him.
Her eyes widened in horror, and her knees began shaking. The image of her pumpkin bomb exploding against a tree repeated in her head; she could practically hear the boy screaming in fright. Her legs gave away, and she fell.
Before she hit the sidewalk, someone caught her under her arms and pulled her to her feet, but didn't let her go. Instead, that person pulled her to their chest. Not thinking about who it was, Haley grabbed them in a tight hug, and buried her face in their dark coat, starting to cry. She felt incredibly guilty and sick, thinking about what would have happened if that boy had pressed the button, still holding the bomb, or if he had stepped on the button, or if he had been nearer to the explosion. It was her fault; she had been the careless one to leave her bomb in the forest for some innocent child to find. Just thinking about that made her cry even harder, and grip the person she was hugging tighter.
That person just held her close; she could feel them stroking her back, and shushing and whispering into her ear, "It's all right. It was an accident. No one was hurt."
Haley continued to cry for several minutes before she finally calmed down. Sniffling and hiccupping, realization dawned on her that whoever she was hugging was thin, with a black cloak. She slowly looked up into the eyes of Pitch Black, who silently looked down at her.
Haley's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open slightly. Her arms fell to her sides as she backed out of Pitch's arms. It was too much; not saying anything, she turned and ran away on all fours as fast as she could. She didn't look behind to see Pitch watching her in silence. She evidently didn't look forward either, as she crashed into someone short, golden, and sandy.
Shaking her head, Haley saw Sandy in front of her, sitting on the ground, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh, Sandy!" She exclaimed, standing. She helped the short man to his feet. "Lo siento. I wasn't watching where I was going."
A running cat, and a question mark appeared above Sandy's head. "I…well, I, um…it's not important. Why aren't you in Africa?"
A silhouette of North appeared over the dream spirit's head, and then he pointed to the north, and different symbols representing the other Guardians, Haley, and Pitch popped up. "North wants us at the Workshop?" Haley guessed.
Sandy nodded. "Yes." Haley jumped as Pitch came up, hands behind his back. "I came here to tell you that North wanted all of us at the Workshop for an emergency meeting. I was looking for you, and didn't have a chance to tell you before you "left"."
Haley's ears bent down in embarrassment. "Well…I…oh, forget it! Shall we get to North's my way?"
Sandy shrugged, nodding; his way of saying, "Sure, why not?" He took Haley's paw in his hand. "Pitch, you…you better hang on to me." She said, taking a candy corn out of her bag.
Pitch was about to question, but a look on Sandy's face told him to do it without question. So, he grasped her shoulder. Haley threw the candy corn to the ground; in an explosion of sweet-smelling white, yellow, and orange clouds, they disappeared from the street.
When they reappeared in North's Workshop, Pitch was waving away the smoke, coughing slightly. "Is that candy corn I smell?" He asked.
"That's what Bunny said the first time he traveled via dulces de maíz." Haley remarked, walking with Sandy into the Globe Room. Pitch followed them.
"Everyone here? Good." North said as Haley, Sandy, and Pitch sat at the table. "Have any of you found anything in continents you were searching?"
Sandy shook his head. "Nothing, save for penguins, and the occasional seal." Pitch said. "And a bit of frostbite."
"Nada for me either." Haley shook her head.
"And Tooth, Bunnymund, and I found nothing too." North finished. "However, Jack had some success."
Everyone's gaze turned to the winter spirit. "I found at least two of the Rogue Nightmares skulking around in North America; more specifically, Pennsylvania. To be even more specific, Burgess. But I think I know why: where was it the Rogue Nightmares were born?"
"Burgess!" Bunnymund exclaimed.
"Right. So, I thought, 'since the Rogue Nightmares were born in Burgess, who's to say they wouldn't flock there the most?'"
"So, we thought it be best that we attract them to Burgess to destroy them once and for all." North said. "Are we all in agreement?"
Everyone nodded. "Good." North stood up and put on a red coat, lined with black fur, and a matching black-furred hat. "To the sleigh!"
"Woo-hoo!" Jack cheered, high-fiving Sandy. Bunnymund cringed, and objected, saying he preferred to take his tunnels. North didn't listen; instead, he led everyone to the elevator, even going as far to drag Bunnymund in by the back of his holster. "Haley, wait 'till you see this sleigh!" Jack exclaimed. "It. Is. Awesome!"
"And before you ask, it's not a 'rickety old sleigh'." Tooth said, smirking as Haley closed her mouth after opening it to say something.
When they stepped out, two large doors opened. Haley's mouth dropped as twelve huge reindeer thundered out, pulling an equally huge sleigh behind them; it had three rows of seating in the back, and a large globe at the front.
"…Wow." Haley said simply.
"Everyone loves the sleigh." North grinned, tossing Bunnymund into the back of the sleigh. "Everyone in!"
Jack, Tooth, and Sandy hopped in. Pitch simply stepped in and sat in the back corner. Haley climbed up to the top as well; Bunnymund stood to his feet and sat down next to the cat spirits, muttering something about there being no seatbelts.
"Everyone hang tight!" North yelled, sitting in the front and grabbing the reins.
"To what?" Both Bunnymund and Haley exclaimed.
"That's just an expression." Jack grinned.
North slapped the reins hard, and the reindeer took off, pulling the sleigh fast, like a rocket ship. Haley screamed in fright and jumped onto and grabbed the nearest person, which happened to be Bunnymund. He grunted and pushed her off of him with his paws and foot. As the sleigh sped through icy tunnels, doing a loopty-loop, Haley grabbed onto another person; this time, it was Pitch. He winced and grunted, muttering about her claws, but didn't push her off. She stayed that way until they exited the tunnel, and the reindeer flew into the air. Jack and Sandy both had their arms up, as though they were on a rollercoaster, and Bunnymund was hunkered down, scratching at the wood with his claws.
"Haley, you can relax," Tooth said. "It's not so bad anymore."
Haley unwrapped her arms, legs, and tail from around Pitch, and collapsed on the seat. Her eyes widened when she noticed they were above the clouds. She moved over Bunnymund to the opposite corner of the sleigh. Gripping the side with one paw, and holding her hat with the other, she stuck her head out of the sleigh, eyes sparkling as she took in the breathtaking sight.
It seemed to go by too quick, as the sleigh touched down on the outskirts of Burgess. Everyone climbed out, and hiked to a rural plain, with an old barn, and several bushes and trees. "Okay, so, what's the plan?" Tooth asked.
"We will draw Rogue Nightmares to this field," North said. "It will be easier to destroy them in one place."
"How'll we draw 'em here?"
"Think, Bunny, what draws Nightmares the most?" Jack asked. "Fear."
"Ah, so one of us should sit in the field, and think about what terrifies them the most, thus drawing the Rogue Nightmares here." Pitch drawled.
"Wow, what a great plan; wish I had thought of it. Oh, wait, I did." Jack frowned.
Pitch glared at him, but before he could argue back, Tooth asked, "Who's going to draw the Rogue Nightmares here?"
Everyone's gaze turned to Haley. She raised an eyebrow at their patronizing smiles. "Why are you looking at me?" Realization grew in her eyes. "Oh, no! No, no, no, no! Why me?"
"Rogue Nightmares seem to be attracted to you most." North said.
"Yeah, and your holiday is considered the scariest." Jack added.
"Get into position, Kit," Bunnymund said, nudging Haley to the middle of the field. "We'll be hidin', waitin' fer your signal."
On cue, everyone found a hiding spot behind the barn, in the trees, or in the bushes. Before she could blink, Haley was all alone. Twitching a whisker, she snapped, "I hate you all! And ¡este plan!"
"We love you too, Fuzzy," Jack yelled back behind the barn, with Bunnymund, North, and Pitch. "Now, think scary thoughts!"
Curling her lip, Haley sat down. 'Think scary thoughts,' indeed! Nonetheless, she tried. An image of a dog, with sharp teeth, and red eyes, appeared in her mind. But she doubted it was "scary-enough."
"Should Sandy put her to sleep, and I put her in a nightmare?" Pitch asked.
"Are ya bloody daft?" Bunnymund snapped.
"What Bunny means is we need Haley awake," North said. "She is key in destroying Rogue Nightmares."
"But I've got an idea." Jack said. He curled his hands into a tube, put them to his mouth, and began barking and growling, sounding like a dog.
Haley jumped to her feet, fur bristled out. "Haley, stay where you are!" Bunnymund shouted.
Easy for him to say! Haley thought to herself. She didn't know whether the dog barking was fake or not, but it scared her. Then, a dog made of black sand ran out from behind the barn, barking and growling. Haley was shaking terribly where she stood, eyes wide.
A snorting sounded far behind her. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw the four Rogue Nightmares, pawing at the ground, staring at her.
"There they are!" Pitch exclaimed, still manipulating the dog so it looked real. "Keep at it, Frost!"
Jack kept making barks and growls; meanwhile, Haley's mind turned to her worst fear before dogs: water. The Rogue Nightmares came nearer, their red eyes glaring at Haley's light-green eyes. The black sand dog disappeared. Shaking off her fear, she stood up straight, and yelled, "Now!"
A/N FINALLY I got this chapter done!
In case you want to fully know what the girls were saying (Haley kinda vaguely translated):
"Did you hear what happened last week?" "About the pumpkin bomb?"
"No. What happened?"
"A boy was walking in the woods, and found a small Jack O' Lantern. He picked it up and threw it-why, I do not know-and when it hit a tree, it exploded seconds later."
"Is he all right?"
"Yes, the explosion was far enough away so he didn't get hurt. But he got scared."
Remember that pumpkin bomb Haley had when she met Pitch, but dropped it in the forest? Well, next time, maybe she'll be more careful, and pick up her stuff. But, it was an accident, and no one was hurt.
Poor Haleyl; Pitch is acting so weird, her mind exploded! But, maybe his behavior will be explained?
Next chapter, it's the ultimate, epic showdown between the Guardians and the Rogue Nightmares! WHO WILL WIN?