Chapter 12

"Hang on!" North yelled as he snapped at the reins and pulled quickly to the side. Barley avoiding a mountain in the process. Allie hadn't heard his command and was sent flying over the edge of the sleigh. Bunny reached out to grab her and missed by a couple of inches.

"Allie! Tooth you gotta catch her!" yelled Bunny.

"I can't! My wings don't work in this kind of weather!" she protested as the delicate appendages gave out from the hard snow. They all looked over the edge of the sleigh, but it was like looking at static on a tv screen.

Allie's POV

All I know was that one minute I was in the sleigh, the next I'm plummeting towards the ground. I couldn't suppress the strangled scream that escaped my throat. Why does my curiosity always get the best of me? I don't know for how long I fell, but at some point I closed my eyes. I thought for sure I was gonna hit the ground, but then I landed on something, something moving.

Normal POV

Allie's eyes shot open when she felt her stomach come into contact with something. She looked up and a smile was plastered on her face by what it was. The black horse from earlier was carrying her back up to the sleigh! Pitch was watching out for her! Quickly fixing herself into a sitting position, she held onto the horse's neck.

"You see that to right?" Bunny asked as the nightmare horse galloped next to the sleigh. The other three Guardians nodded their heads in astonishment. "Good. I thought I was goin' bloody insane for a second."

Allie dismounted the horse and waved goodbye as it galloped away, streams of black sand trailing behind it. Quickly turning back to glare at North, she couldn't withhold the amused smile that came onto her face.

"What? Never seen a horse before or are you sad that I'm still alive?" she asked sarcastically.

"Let's just get back to Pole." North said as he looked forward to make sure nothing else was in the way. He took out a snow globe from his pocket much to Allie's confusion. She saw him whisper to it, shake it around a bit, then throw it into the air. At first confused as to why he did that, she quickly saw the spinning vortex form in front of them.

"What is th-" she was interrupted by the dizzy sensation that attacked her senses. They were suddenly in the North Pole again. "How did that happen?!"

"Magic snow globe." North answered as he steered the reindeer into the ice cavern. Skillfully avoiding icicles, he landed the sleigh on the ramp where several yetis and elves were waiting to help.

"Now! Everyone into the meeting room." ordered North as he gave his coat to one of the yetis. Allie had a rebellious look in her eyes as she followed the other immortals. She was prepared to defend herself and Pitch. Entering the room, Bunny made his way next to the fire place, ears lowered in anger. Tooth hovered above them, shooing the smaller fairies from the room. Sandy happily accepted a mug of eggnog from one of the elves and sat down on the couch next to Bunny. Allie stayed standing up near the door. North was pacing around the room, deciding on how to start the topic.

"Vould you like to explain to us vhy you helped Pitch?" asked North as he sat down in his chair.

"Because he didn't do anything wrong and you just attacked him! Of course I'm going to defend him." stated Allie, arms crossed.

"Then would you care to tell us how exactly you got that?" Bunny asked as he pointed at her cheek.

"Oh, we have to patch that up!" squealed Tooth as she flew out of the room.

"Ok, I admit Pitch did scratch me, but he wasn't thinking straight!" protested Allie.

"I'm back!" Tooth said as she flew into the room, first aid kit in hand. Making Allie sit on the couch, she quickly took out a small wet cloth and started to dab at the wound. Taking out some tape and a roll of gauze, she cut a square of it out and taped it to the wound. Allie tried to grab the roll of gauze and place it in her pocket, but a furry hand on her wrist stopped her.

"Damn it." Allie whispered as she looked up. Bunny had seen her try to take the gauze and quickly hopped over to stop her.

"What do you think your tryin' to do?" Bunny asked as he took the roll out of her reach.

"I need it for something." grumbled Allie as she glared at Bunny.

"What for?"

"That's none of your business."

"Is it for Pitch?" asked Tooth as she plucked the roll out of Bunny's hand and put it in the first aid kit. "He was bleeding."

"Wait, he was?" questioned Bunny as he looked at Sandy who nodded his head.

"Vere you going to take it to Pitch?" asked North.

"Maybe." Allie answered, arms crossed as she leaned back on the couch.

"What I don't understand is why ya want to help the guy who dragged you unde'ground in the first place!" Bunnymund yelled, waving his arms for impasses.

"Hey! I could have left if I wanted to!" argued Allie standing up.

"Then why didn't you?!"

"Because he was holding a gun to his head!"

"What…" Bunny gasped out, eyes wide. Tooth gave out a small shriek, hands going over her mouth, eyes tearing up a bit. North and Sandy just had faces of utter shock.

"Yeah now you care!" yelled Allie, "How come it takes someone to almost get killed for you notice them?! It's not that hard to say 'Hi' and talk with them!"

"Pitch…held a gun to his head?" North asked. He never thought that the Boogeyman would ever even consider suicide. Let alone attempt it. "Vhy?"

"He said no one cared about him. No one would notice him gone and that if they did you would probably celebrate. He said if he had no reason to live, why bother anymore." Allie said as she remembered the whole scene. She shivered a bit at the memory, but quickly dismissed it and resumed her glare on Bunny.

"So that's why you were…look kid I'm sorry I just… he really tried to kill himself?" Bunny asked not really believing it.

"I swear on my life and I'll never forget it. I'm just glad I stopped him in time. That's also how he scratched my cheek. I tried to get the gun from his hand. Bad idea." stated Allie.

Sandy quickly floated over to Allie, took her hand in his, and gave it a firm squeeze. Allie a bit confused looked at North.

"He is saying 'thank you'," explained North, his expression soft, "for saving Pitch."

Before she could say anything, Bunny started walking towards her and Sandy, drawing a boomerang from his back.