The kids, Babytooth and Bunnymund hurried through the dungeon. Bunnymund carried the mirror, which wasn't as light as it looked. He was tired after all those month's in imprisonment, but he had still decided to take the last energy he had to help the kids. After all, they save his life. If they were able to get out of the castle without being caught, then he owned the kids more than he ever could repay.
It was weird how he suddenly felt that he needed to return the favor, he would never have thought that way before. It wasn't the first time he thought or did something out of character. Saving that kid all those month's ago had also been unexpected, and he still didn't understand why he felt the need to help that guy. Or maybe he understood it deep down, but he himself was so used to being in a special way so he couldn't accept that he was changing. But it didn't matter. All that mattered at the moment was to get out of there, free the guy trapped inside the mirror and save a young mans life.
As they arrived at the secret passage they had to wait for Claude to open it. No one had been able to keep track of time down there, but they were certain that he hadn't opened it since Pippa came back with the keys. It hadn't taken them that much time to find the mirror and then get back to the passage.
But the time passed and the passage didn't open. After a while they were all certain that they had been sitting in front of the passage for at least half an hour, if not more. "Maybe people started to wake up so he had to leave." Pippa said, but hoped that it weren't like that. In that case they might have to wait until the next night to escape, but how would they know when it was night from down there? And if Pitch walked down into the dungeon and noticed that both his prisoners were gone, then he would start searching for them. What if he were able to find them? What would he do with them?
They waited impatiently. No one really knew what to talk about while waiting for something to happen. Bunnymund weren't really one to talk with strangers about himself, and he thought there weren't much to tell anyhow. Sanderson couldn't really speak, and no one was in the mood for charades. Jamie could come up with a lot of things to talk about with his friends, but no topic the Pooka nor the mirror man would be able to follow completely. Babytooth tried to lit up the mood a couple of times, but her squeaks mostly made it worse since no one understood what she wanted to say. Pippa and Cupcake didn't really try to come up with a subject, they seemed to be completely absorbed in their own thoughts.
Then, finally, the passage opened. Claude peeked down from the opening in the floor and started to speak as fast as he saw that the others were there. "Hurry up, some people have walked by here a lot the last hour. They might come back any minute." He warned them and everyone hurried as much as their bodies allowed them.
Babytooth was so used to being first this night so no one had to tell her to check around every corner in case people were coming. Even if they saw her they might take her for a lost animal, and at the worst they might try to chase her out. If they saw the others they would immediately think 'intruders' and call for the guards.
They sneaked towards the kitchen and luckily no one had been in there yet. The window was still open and the room had become ice cold. Babytooth flied out of the open window and looked around before turning to the others and gave an okay sign with her fingers.
"You should go first since you have the mirror. You and Babytooth are faster than us, so get to the cabin first and help Jack. We'll be there as fast as possible." Jamie told Bunnymund. In the dungeon when they were running back towards the passage Bunnymund had started to run much faster than the others but then slowed down when he noticed that the Jamie, Pippa and Cupcake couldn't keep up. That was probably not even full speed for him, if he were as much bunny as he seemed then he could probably outrun any human.
Bunnymund seemed to be about to protest, but he stopped himself and simply nodded. He didn't want to leave the kids behind in case something happened. But at the same time he knew how important it was for them to get the mirror to the cabin as fast as possible so Jack could be saved.
He made sure to have a tight grip on the mirror before he dashed out of the window and started to run. Babytooth first got a little startled by the speed Bunnymund were able to run in, but she recovered from the shock in no time and caught up with him. Even though Bunny were exhausted still, and knew that he would collapse if he tried to relax for a single second, he still gave it his all. They trusted him, so he wouldn't let them down.
Caleb, Sophie and Monty waited in the Cabin. Not even Caleb had been able to fall asleep while worrying for the others. He forced himself to stay awake no matter what, he had to make sure no one would get to Jack.
Sophie had tried to make it more comfortable for Jack by laying a blanket over him and a pillow under his head. They wanted to take him upstairs to the beds but they had been worried about dropping him so they tried to make the floor as comfortable as possible. On the other hand, Jack had many times fallen asleep on the settle, or on the window frame. None of those were very comfortable but he still didn't seem to be bothered by it.
Monty sat beside Jack, he constantly checked his pulse and breathing. Sometimes he panicked because he couldn't hear any of them, but once he calmed down and tried again he often were able to find them. He wondered if they would have three days or if the poison could kill Jack at any moment. But if the others weren't back before the night was over, then they could assume that they were dead. Either frozen to death while trying to find a way into the castle or caught by the guards and put into prison, or maybe even executed.
"Someones coming." Caleb suddenly said as he saw a movement from outside. But before anyone had been able to do anything, the door was already smashed opened and a Pooka dropped down exhausted on the floor.
Three pair of eyes starred at the fluffy thing on the floor that tried to catch its breath. They had no idea what was going on and no idea how to react before Babytooth started to try to get their attention. They had completely missed that she had flied in right after the big bunny.
"Babytooth. Wh.. Wh.. Where's the others? And what... Who's that?" Monty asked, still a bit shaken. She started to squeak and fly around much more energetic than usual. She still had some adrenaline left in her tiny body after the rush through the forest. "C...Calm down. I don't understand." Monty said and Babytooth sighed as if it should be crystal clear what it was she tried to say.
Luckily Bunnymund started to stand up and were ready to talk. "Hey mate." The Pooka said as he rose to his full length, making Monty feel even smaller than he was. But the cabin weren't big, and it weren't built for someone as tall as Bunny. The Pooka hit the ceiling, which made Sophie giggle. "Yeah yeah yeah, real funny." Bunny commented a bit irritated. "You're Jamies friends right? He and the other two are on their way. In the meantime we will get some life into your friend." He explained and picked up the mirror. Bunny looked towards Jack, his skin seemed even whiter than the last time he had seen him. On the other hand, he had been locked up in a dark place for a long time, everything seemed whiter.
Bunny told the others what had happened in the castle, at least the parts he knew since he hadn't been there when they got the key nor when the kids broke into the castle. After explaining everything he looked at the man in the mirror. The black sand that had been holding him in the mirror when they got it was almost completely gone. So the black sand could only stay in the mirror as long as it were in that chamber in the dungeon. Or maybe it lost its power because Pitch were too far away from it.
"And you're sure that you will be freed once we have crushed the mirror?" Bunnymund asked just to be on the safe side. The golden man shrugged and gave an almost apologetic smile. "What do you mean you don't know?" He almost screamed at the chubby little man in the mirror.
It was Sandersons first, and hopefully last time to be stuck in a mirror, so he had no idea how to get out. But he hoped that smashing it would do the trick. It was either that or get Pitch to get him out, and that would probably not happen. He gave Bunny a smile and gave a nod that probably meant 'its fine, go ahead, just do it'.
"If something happens to you, then its not my fault." Bunny told Sanderson and the golden man nodded. This was his mess, he knew that, everything that had happened to him so far and probably would happen in the near future was his fault and responsibility. He wouldn't escape his responsibility just because he was scared that he could get hurt.
"Do you guys have something her to hit it with?" Bunny asked Monty whom gave Sophie a small nod. She then ran towards the fireplace and got the fire hook. She gave it to Bunny and he gave a gesture to everyone to step back. Then he rose the fire hook as much as he could in the small cabin and smashed it against the mirror once, twice and even a third time.
Some pieces had went flying far in the room, but most laid shattered in the mirror frame. At first they thought it hadn't worked. They couldn't even see the golden man at first. They waited, and waited. He might be Jack's only chance of survival, he couldn't die.
Then, just when the Pooka had sighed and turned around, away from the mirror, something happened. From the corner of his eye the Pooka noticed a golden light. He turned back and saw golden sand come out from under the shattered glass pieces and soon they formed a smiling chubby little man.
I thought I would get a writers block on chapter 20, but no I didn't o.O How can I not have gotten any writers blocks for 20 chapters? xD Okay maybe I shouldn't invite bad luck xD ahah Here you can find the fanart (If you can call it that): .com
By the way, I have made a fanart to this fanfic :D which is my own fanfic... is that really fanart? On the other hand, this fanfic is written by my hands. My brain has nothing to do with this story. My hands are writing and my brain are reading and says "Wow, this fanfic is sooo cool :D Who is the author?" xD
It's named Rise of the guardians in a snow white tale.