Ok, got another somewhat long chapter for you! The only thing is...
I wrote all of this in one go
As in, I didn't stop writing for 3 hours from when i started, to when i finished at midnight. yeaah...
So I hope this is a decent chapter.
enjoy
Chapter 12
Fallen Star
Taylor pulled on her boots while Pitch waited by the door impatiently. She wished she could just send him away, or beat him to a bloody pulp; but he was much, much stronger then she could ever even hope to be, and he'd just threatened her family! What else could she do but go with the Nightmare King?
"Don't you need a jacket, Sweetie?" Her mother urged, holding up a jacket that was so puffy Taylor didn't even think it was real. She sighed and shook her head.
"I'll be okay, mom. I promise; I won't be out long." I hope. Taylor thought as she hugged her mother and left with Pitch.
"Your mother is awfully cheerful," Pitch smiled. "She must have quite the impressive shell to look happy and yet still see me."
"What do you want, Pitch? And quit talking about my mom like that, I get it; you threatened her." Taylor growled, folding her arms and rubbing at them nervously.
"Just striking in a little more fear."
"And the bit with my cat?"
"Oh, right, yes. I took her," He just smirked evilly at Taylor's horrified expression. "Don't worry, she's just fine… Aside from not being clung to by her pathetic owner as usual."
"I… I'm not pathetic, you're wrong," Taylor kept her eyes downcast as they walked. She shot Pitch the coldest glare she could muster. "Jack will do you in, just like he did before. You'll never be seen. Not even in nightmares."
In a blur of movement, Pitch's hand came in swift and hard- right across Taylor's face in a powerful slap. She let out a yelp of pain and stumbled slightly as he held her in place by painfully gripping her shoulder.
"If you know what's good for you, girl, you won't cross me again." He growled and Taylor felt herself shaking slightly but still managed a small glare to look tough.
After a moment he let go and continued walking, Taylor following a small distance behind him. "He'll come through. I know it." She whispered, biting her lip to keep it from quivering. Oh how she wished her winter spirit were here right now.
"Who? Jack Frost?" Pitch let out a bark of laughter and even had to stop his stride to control himself and catch his breath. "You must be joking. That frostbitten fool can't defeat me. And besides," He shot her a small smirk, his golden eyes dancing in amusement. "He'd be better off without you to hinder him anyway."
Taylor's breath hitched slightly at his words. "Hinder…? What're you talking about?"
A meow in the distance distracted them for a moment. A familiar cat waddled its chubby body over to Taylor and she almost jumped for joy at the sight- it was her cat! She was okay! But Pitch's words still rang strongly in her mind. He knelt down in front of the cat and scratched her head lightly and she purred madly.
"Please, don't tell me you didn't even realize it. You rely on him like a newborn would their parents. From day one you've done nothing but ask more and more of him, uttered words of love and in no time he was your puppet."
Taylor knew it wasn't true. She wasn't using Jack! What could she possibly gain from using him- anyone? She shook her head furiously.
"No, you're wrong Pitch! I would never use Jack! I love him with everything I have; my whole being is his for the taking if he wishes. And he loves me too," She paused, spotting a child running by looking lost, but still happy somehow. Pitch watched in anger and she blinked. "Pitch… Are you jealous of humans? Our feelings?"
Her cat meowed in protest when Pitch stopped petting her and he stood slowly, angrily. Taylor fought back the urge to step away in fear.
"Watch your tongue if you know what's good for you, brat." He growled, but that didn't stop her.
"You are, aren't you?" She pointed at him accusingly. "But you can't feel what we feel, not anymore! The darkness you claim to command has already taken away your heart."
She wasn't sure why she said it, but it was there now. And Pitch definitely wasn't happy. He stalked toward her furiously, nightmare sand already swarming around his hands.
"You really think I'm jealous of you idiots? All you do with your feelings is attack each other! And you really think I don't command the darkness?" A large arrow formed in his hand, more sand swimming in the air and forming a dark crossbow. He aimed it behind her and she raised a brow in confusion and turned around. Her eyes widened in fear. "Let me prove you wrong."
The child from before was still here! He was looking at Taylor with confusion and concern, completely oblivious to the crossbow that was slowly releasing the arrow from its bow.
Time seemed to slow down. The arrow was released and sent flying toward the boy, without even thinking, Taylor did the first thing that came into her mind.
She jumped in between them.
I flew down to Taylor's home and stopped by the window. Though I frowned when all I saw was Taylor's mother waiting by the door impatiently.
"Where is she…?" I muttered, flying up into the air again and wandering the area.
After a few moments, a shout in the air that sounded familiar to me drew me toward it. I felt a wide grin make its way to my face when I saw Taylor standing in the park with someone… I could barely see them; I couldn't tell who it was.
But there was a small white mass waddling about and I inwardly chuckled.
"Well she finally got her cat back, that's good." I slowly flew closer to them, not enough to draw Taylor away from her conversation though.
But that's when my ears perked up at her words.
"No, you're wrong Pitch! I would never use Jack! I love him with everything I have; my whole being is his for the taking if he wishes. And he loves me too." My blood suddenly ran cold, colder than before. That name…
She was talking to Pitch?
I'm sure if the situation had been any different, my face would be as red as North's attire. But now wasn't the time to be bashful.
They were yelling at each other with such anger and force. A child stopped behind Taylor and raised a brow at the girl, looking at her like she was crazy.
But that's when everything seemed to go in slow motion.
Pitch aimed a crossbow at the small boy and fired, but… Then Taylor did the unthinkable. The selfless.
She got in front of the arrow.
"NO!" I screamed, the wind pushing me forward at an unimaginable speed as Taylor began to fall. The child ran away at the sight and Pitch started laughing when he saw me come into view.
"You're too late, Frost!" He continued to laugh like the madman he was just as I swooped in and caught Taylor just inches before the ground. A large, nightmare sand arrow was protruding from her chest and oozing blood on both sides. She was looking at me with pained, wide eyes and taking shattered breaths.
"Taylor! Tay please! You're gonna be okay, alright? I'll make sure of it!" I cried. She gasped slightly and smiled at me, blood trickling from her mouth.
"J-Jack… You c-came." She shakily rose to hand to my cheek. I grasped her other hand and intertwined our fingers.
"Of course I came, Tay just hang on. I'll get help." She brushed a few streaming tears away from my face, but that still didn't stop them from falling and spreading smears of blood across her chest.
"D-Don't cry, please J-Jack…," She smiled; I didn't bother fighting it back anymore. I let out a choked sob and pulled her closer to my body, feeling her own cooling rapidly. "I w-want to see you s-s-smile… Please." She breathed painfully.
It took me a second to realize the nightmare arrow was slowly disintegrating into the light stream of sand it originated from and back toward wherever Pitch was still standing from as before.
"Tay, please. Y-You'll be okay, I'll protect you, just like I always have. Just please…," I sobbed loudly again when I felt Taylor's grip on my hand lessening. "Please don't go."
She was crying now, but unlike me, she was still smiling. "I-I'm sorry, Jack… I… l-love…" Her body went still; I felt my breath hitch as her hand slid stiffly off my cheek and to the floor. My hand was holding hers in a death grip.
"Tay…? Taylor come on, wake up… Tay," She was no longer warm, the smile on her features was still present, even through all the pain that'd been evident throughout her entire body just moments before. "No, come back… No, no, no… NO!"
I held her lifeless body as close to mine as possible and screamed into the sky, even in death, our bodies just seemed to mold together like before. A light flurry of snow had begun to fall and the wind blew around me with such fury it could probably yank a tree out of the ground.
A chilling laughter broke through my ears and I numbly lifted my head up at the sound.
"What a sight this is! Jack Frost, the mischievous master of winter himself, completely broken down to the fragile makeup of a snowflake." Pitch shouted above the winds, laughing victoriously.
I felt a hot anger- hate even- rise within me in seconds. I glanced at Taylor's body and gently laid her on the ground, shutting her eyes as I did so. I bit my lip and kissed her forehead lightly ad stood fully against the Nightmare King.
Even he looked startled at the hate I knew was brewing within my eyes.
"This is your fault… You killed her…," I muttered as I walked, the wind around me getting rougher, but being careful not to jerk Taylor's body about. I raised my Frost Staff and flung myself toward him. "YOU BASTARD!"
A huge burst of frost accompanied by the strength of my swing against Pitch's body sent him flying backward several yards.
Unfortunately he was slowed down by a cloud of nightmare sand and he glared at me, forming blades of the sand in his hands.
"You think you can take me on, Frost? In your condition? Any moment now I'll feed on your fears and strike you down with one blow!" he grinned, but it faltered when he noticed no change in my facial expression.
"Get some glasses, Pitch. Does this look like fear to you?" I pointed to my face and readied my staff in a stance. "The only thing I'm feeling is the urge to rip you to shreds!"
I lunged at the Nightmare King with the aide of the wind to boost my speed and swung at him just as he blocked me with his swords. A strength I had no idea I possessed began to take over and suddenly I was taking swings and blasting frost at Pitch as fast as Bunnymund gets from place to place with his tunnels.
Then a few Fearlings began to rise out of the ground and charged at me from several directions.
"Play all the dirty tricks you want, Pitch! Nothing will stop me!" I growled, freezing the Fearlings whenever they got too close. Though one would occasionally get its chance and ram into me, one spraining my wrist while they managed to shove me closer to Pitch, temporarily breaking my defenses and he'd swing at me with one of his swords.
Several small gashes littered my body with pain, though Pitch wasn't much better off. Several patches of his body were frozen solid and bruises were already forming where I'd smacked him with my staff.
Suddenly Pitch paused and smirked at me as if remembering something. "Oh Frost, if only you'd been there when I slapped Taylor's face, it felt so good," He chuckled, waving his right hand about in the air. "Too bad my hand stung so badly it was almost difficult to release that arrow."
I didn't even give him time to smirk at me again, in a blur I'd frozen his hand completely and he cried out as I sent him to the ground. I had one foot on his back and the wind pushing him down to keep him there.
"Don't fuck with me, Pitch. Not if you know what's coming to you," I held my staff in the air and his eyes widened in the fear he loved so much. "Say goodbye to your slapping hand." I said numbly, and stabbed my staff down to his frozen hand.
It shattered to pieces in seconds, all I heard was the pleasant sound of Pitch's screams of pain. After a moment I stepped off his back and he shot me a pain-filled glare, I returned the favor with one of cold hate.
"Damn you, Frost," He breathed, gripping his handless wrist as if willing it to grow back. A pool of nightmare sand formed around him and my eyes widened. "I'll get you for this. Just you wait."
And with that he was gone, through his portal along with his Fearlings before I could even protest.
I growled angrily and let out a scream to the sky like earlier and almost slammed my Frost Staff into the ground. I blinked after a moment and looked to the girl lying in a fresh layer of snow.
"Taylor…" I whispered, stumbling to her painfully as I now felt the adrenaline in my system wear off and my wounds beginning to take their toll.
I collapsed to my knees and heard a meow in the distance. My eyes darted up and I saw her cat making its way toward me and it nestled itself next to her body.
I felt tears beginning to stream down my cheeks again as the cat stood again and rubbed her face against Taylor's, meowing loudly like she was hoping to wake up the girl like an alarm clock.
"She's not coming back, cat…," She meowed at me in protest and I picked her up and rested her in my arms. "All this time with Tay, and she never even told me your name." I chuckled lightly but then froze a little.
Her mother was still waiting at home for her to come back. What can I do to break it to her?
I glanced at Taylor's body and bit my lip again. Then my eyes fell on the necklace stained with blood around her neck. She always wore that thing everywhere. It was of a blue heart with a smaller heart pendant behind it on a silver chain.
"Maybe…" I reached behind her neck and unclasped the necklace and tied it around the cat's neck like a collar.
After making sure it wouldn't fall off I scratched the cat's head and she purred lovingly. I picked her up again and looked at Taylor longingly.
"I'll be back in a second, Tay…"
"Oh, where is she? It's been hours."
Taylor's mother paced around the room like a nervous wreck. Ever since her daughter left with that man she hadn't heard anything from her.
A knock on the door broke her from her thoughts and she smiled.
"Oh! Thank goodness," She swung the door open with a grin. "Hi Honey! I was wonderi-"
She paused when she didn't see her daughter at the door. In fact- she didn't see anyone.
"Hello? Anyone here?" A meow alerted her senses and her eyes widened at the sight.
Her cat was back, safe and sound. She knelt down beside the feline and scratched her head. "Hey Duchess. Where's Taylor? Isn't she with you?"
From my spot by the door I frowned slightly. "'Duchess'? Like the Aristocats?" I sighed and kept my eye on Taylor's mother anyway.
As if understanding her master's question, Duchess meowed softly and licked her paw. Her mother's face fell and looked at the necklace around her neck.
"What's that you got there?" She whispered and picked the cat up. Her breath hitched when she saw it was Taylor's heart necklace, blood stains and all.
"Oh God… No." Immediately she understood what had happened. Well, at least the dying part. She broke down in tears right then and there. She held the meowing cat close to her as the door shut with the help of my staff. No one had to watch this.
"I'm sorry…" I muttered and flew back to Taylor in a flash.
"Tay… I'm so sorry." I held her cold body close to me and cried openly.
There was no one to stop me this time. Nothing to hold back my tears. No one keeping me from holding my love one last time. I wouldn't even let them if they were here.
This stupid Guardian's meeting. Maybe if I didn't go then… Then it wouldn't have to end like this. I cried out and screamed at the Moon for advice, but got nothing as usual.
"Damn it… She doesn't deserve this. She didn't deserve to die!" I yelled out, my face pressed firmly into her hair.
But then… Something felt different.
She was still cold, but it wasn't lifeless and stiff. It was more like my winter body temperature instead. The darkness of my eyes in her hair got a little lighter and I blinked and pulled my head away.
Her hair was blonde now.
"What…?"
The blood and her wound were slowly fading. A glow made itself know above me and I had to shield my eyes as I looked up at it and saw two objects floating down.
When they got close enough, I noticed one of them was a small messenger bag, already opened to reveal a thick sketchbook with assorted pencils and colors. The other was a small bracelet. It looked to be made of pure silver, it was adorned with several small, decorated bells that jingled enchantingly as they floated down, along with the bells were small spheres that glowed like small balls of fire.
The bag landed on her chest and the bracelet seemed to magically clasp itself around Taylor's wrist.
I almost dropped the girl in my eyes when her eyes steadily fluttered open, to find them now dark blue, almost as dark as the night sky. A light groan escaped her lips and she looked at me tiredly.
"Tay… Are you…?" I asked numbly. What just happened?!
She slowly shook her head and sat up wobbly, requiring my assistance to stay upright.
"J-Jack, I…" She broke off into a coughing fit and I rubbed her back unconsciously.
Eventually it subsided and she breathed heavily. "Taylor, what happened? H-How're you-" I paused when she held up a hand to stop me.
"I… I heard the Moon." My eyes widened at this.
"The Man in the Moon brought you back, didn't he?" She nodded slowly. She was starting to look dizzy and held her in place carefully.
"He said I… My name is… Falling Star."
And with that she fell limp in my arms once more, only this time, she was alive and breathing.
I felt like the luckiest son a bitch in the world.
Alright, so... Good? Bad?
Kinda went to the body and away a little too much, but I didn't know how else to put in all the stuff in that I wanted to so yeah...
By the way, you can find a picture of the bracelet on my deviantArt, my username is Teirra-Misaki. You can find it by going to my gallery and opening the "photos" folder. I'm not sure how far back it is by now but it's in there I swear.
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