Elliot leaned in closer, examining all the grooves carved into the golem's body. He was balancing on a boulder, being as careful as possible not to touch the giant stone egg.

"It doesn't look like there's anything to these carvings besides, well, how they appear. I'm not finding any hidden messages or images. If there's something out there that is actually going to tell us anything about them, I'd say it's not here."

The golem turned its face suddenly, surprising the precariously perched pooka and causing him to slip backwards off the rock. He landed on his back, glasses falling to the grass.

"Yeah, well, maybe there's something here we can find." Fey called over from where she and Tooth were re-reading the books North and Sandy had brought back. Said pair was currently helping Bunny direct an endless wave of eggs towards different colored ponds, plants, and parts of the dye river. Walter and Jack were making their way around the surrounding walls, just in case there was something Bunny could have missed in his years living there. After seeing the Mural at the Tooth palace, and realizing they had struck out with other ideas, they had begun a search for one in the warren.

"I think I might have found something." Tooth leaned over and held out the book she was reading, pointing to a particular passage. "It seems that when the golems were created, they weren't just guards. Their directive is technically to 'protect the pooka species, and ensure its survival.' Bunny was the last of his kind, and a male at that-," she bit her lip at the confused and slightly embarrassed look her friend shot her.

"I don't really see how that's relevant."

It was her turn to shoot him a look. "Really? Anyway, what if this is their way of protecting the species?"

"This seems like something you'd know more about, Blake." Fey looked around for him, and then stood and swiveled her head. "Blake?"

Jack's face grew worried when they realized the small pooka was nowhere in sight. "I don't think I saw him come in with you. Are you sure he didn't stay home?"

"No. I remember he was right behind me. And besides, you know him. He's the most curious about what's going on here. He wouldn't just stay home." Elliot hopped over.

"He didn't." Blades and boomerangs, in addition to several other, improvised, weapons, were drawn. Pitch stood in the entrance to the cave the pooka had used when arriving. "He asked me to say goodbye for him." They couldn't tell if he hadn't seen their weapons pointed at him, or if he was just ignoring them.

"What did you do with him?" Fey threw herself down on all fours, fur raised and teeth bared.

Pitch somehow managed to look nervous and aloof at the same time. "I didn't do anything. Nature took its course, and I performed my duty."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Bunny asked, stepping between Fey and Pitch. If it came down to a fight, she wouldn't stand a chance.

"This has nothing to do with our personal past together." Pitch sighed after a moment. "I have a job I must fulfill just like the rest of you." With a wave of his arm, black sand melted out of the shadows and onto his cloak, quickly rising up it until it formed a dark hood. This new look caused some of the witnesses to gasp, recognizing the figure from lore and legends. Pitch continued, pointedly not summoning the iconic other piece of his ensemble. "He was born with a heart condition. Ageing, stress, his overall physical weakness, it all just became too much. I told him he wouldn't have long, but the stubborn boy didn't want to upset anyone. Not at a time like this."

"Pitch." North breathed, swords lowering slightly in shock. "What… are you?"

"I'm a guardian. People grow up and realize the harsh realities of this world. Cute fantasies like fairies and bunnies and old men giving gifts become just that; fantasies. But fear is something that you don't grow out of. Unfortunately, I am not a guardian of childhood. People don't stop believing in me when they grow up, they just call me by a different name."

The warren was dead silent. Only the river and Tooth's wings could be heard. "You're the Grim Reaper." North growled, no trace of questioning in his voice.

Pitch lowered his head, whether in resignation of his other title, or affirmation that the swordsman was correct, they didn't know. "I gave him warning, told him his time was coming-,"

"No. No… he's not-," Jack swallowed hard and raised his staff threateningly. "Move. Get out of my way."

Pitch stepped aside and let Jack pass. Elliot followed, as did Walter and the others, until it was just North and Pitch. Alone in the huge room. "I don't kill. My job might not be as sunny and happy as yours, but I protect people jut as much as you-,"

"Don't try to paint yourself the hero. You are not one of us." North snarled in a very un-Santa-like manner.

"I didn't touch him until after he was gone. If you're the guardians, why did this happen? People die. I guide them to the afterlife, or they get stuck here for all eternity, just wandering spirits. And yet, while surrounded by the Big Five, Blake died. I'm no hero, I know that. But you're no child's guardian." He turned to leave, but paused before stepping through the shadow cast on the wall. "By the way, Blake asked me to tell his friends that he loved them. Pass the message on for me, will you?" And with that, he was gone.

North let out a shaky breath, swords falling to his sides. Shaking his head, he stuffed them into their sheathes and ran down the tunnel as fast as he could. It didn't matter. He was too late. They had all been too late. Blake lay crumpled on the ground, body cooling. He didn't react when Fey shook him, didn't offer reassurances when she whispered and then, growing more frantic, screamed, his name. He didn't comfort them when Walter managed to pry her off him, or when Elliot clutched Jack, tears staining the blue hoodie. He couldn't. He was dead.

Slowly, Bunny approached the small body, which suddenly seemed so much smaller, and reached out a paw. With a shaking breath, he slid it down over the black fur and closed the unseeing eyes. "Goodbye, Blake. I'm so sorry." It was all he managed to get out before the tears began to fall.

Yyyyy

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