Another long chapter for you guys. And way earlier than expected too.
There is a small teaspoon (like an 8th of a teaspoon… maybe like an ouncelet) of language here just as a warning but only one word and it's not even that bad so I don't know why I'm really warning you but I am.
Please review this chapter for me and let me know what you think. I'm not sure how well
I am with action scenes so I'd like to hear your input!
Enjoy!
The moment the cage broke from its hinges, everything seemed to go silent for Bunny. The dragon had returned and was right behind him now, its hot breath ruffling his fur as she breathed heavily. The other guardians were nowhere in sight, making the Pooka's heart beat even faster as panic welled inside his chest.
The cage landed, shattering like glass as it crashed upon the floor, yet the only thing Bunny could hear was his heartbeat. Eden fell harshly upon the ground, curling up on herself in the shattered fragments of the cage. The sound of a bone snapping sounded through the silence, making Bunny shiver.
"You just have to cause trouble, don't you?" The black dragon spoke. The rabbit turned around, ready for a fight, the only thing was, she wasn't looking at him. In fact, she was ignoring him entirely, looking over him. She was staring intently at Eden who didn't seem to have heard as she clutched her head in pain, blood was dripping from the small cuts on the left side of her body from the shattered pieces of the cage.
Without a second thought, Bunny was moving, leaping after the child. He tried to ignore the demented chuckle that the black dragon let out as she realized his intentions. "Wow, the bunny must feel really guilty if he's gonna try and fight without his boomerangs." She laughed.
Bunny hesitated, gritting his teeth, but not turning around. Who knew how much time Eden had left with her injuries and lack of strength. "I think I'll be taking this." She continued and Bunny watched in horror as she reached over him with ease to make a grab for the girl. He was about to make a leap for the clawed hand when something beat him to it.
"Where is Frost?" Pitch demanded. He was standing directly in front of the girl now in what looked like a protective stance. Bunny shook the thought from his head, Pitch was anything but protective.
The dragon's smug smile dropped. "Gone. Peter Cottontail here made sure he got away." Bunny ground his teeth at the nickname, only Jack had ever called him that before, and he was not about to let it be soiled by this beast.
"Then the deal's off." Pitch concluded. "We made an agreement, you help me get my revenge on Jack Frost and I get you your dragon. You don't follow your side of the agreement, I make sure not to follow mine." He finished.
The black dragon's expression changed instantly from annoyance to fiery rage. "What!" She roared, sending a trail of flames at the nightmare king, who shielded himself and Eden from the attack with a dome of black sand.
Bunny took this opportunity to make a grab for the child, picking her up out of the fragments of her former prison and loosening his grip on her when she cringed in pain. The rabbit glared angrily at the dragon as she clenched her sharp fangs. Her breathing was heavy. Her prize was getting away.
"Very well." The beast managed in a low growl, her eyes kept on Eden's unconscious form. Bunny pulled the girl closer to his chest, keeping in a defensive stance. "Then I guess I won't regret doing this."
Before Pitch could react, a large scaly tail slammed into his side, sending the Nightmare king across the lair and sprawling onto the floor. The Nightmares looked about nervously. Only a few dared to attack on their own only to be smacked away with ease.
Pitch was up in seconds, seething with anger as his plan crumbled before him. The rabbit didn't trust the man for a moment, but if the circumstance of not having the winter spirit in his possession meant keeping Eden from the creature's clutches, who was he to intervene?
A wave of black sand rose behind him and threw itself against the black scales of the dragon. She had been expecting the attack, of course, digging her sharp claws into the stone floors as to keep herself from losing her stance.
Bunny took this distraction as his chance to escape, bracing Eden to his chest and leaping down the nearest hallway. He didn't dare look back, he only stared straight ahead, focusing on his one objective, getting out.
"No!" The beast roared behind them, making Bunny flinch. He quickened his pace, bounding down the seemingly endless mass of corridors with slipping feet, trying desperately not to jostle the semi-conscious girl in his arms. Upon looking at her, Bunny almost stopped running altogether. She was deathly pale, and even though her temperature would be only a degree or so less than that of a human's, even the Pooka knew better than to believe it was anywhere near healthy for a dragon such as her.
The cuts upon her left side were still trickling blood and bruises were strews upon her body, darkening her pale skin with purple and grey splotches. "Don't worry E." Bunny whispered comfortingly, trying to ease the pain in any way possible. "Yer gonna be fine. I promise." Eden's partially opened green eyes stared back at him and a forced smile spread across her purpling lips.
"A promise huh?" A gasp racked her body, sending a chill down Bunny's spine.
The Pooka stopped in his tracks, almost dropping Eden in the process as a somewhat familiar shape approached them from another corridor. The black dragon's human form approached the two. Although substantially weaker than before, Bunny knew better than to let his guard down.
"What good is a promise you can't keep? You'd think a guardian of childhood would know better than to lie, don't you think?" She asked slyly, stepping closer with every word. Ebony black hair hung loosely in her face as it had been pulled roughly from its once tight bun, showing only one golden cat-like eye. Although Eden possessed the same feature, determination and rage seemed to be the only present emotions lighting up the gold.
"I guess it's a good thing I plan on keeping it then." Bunny managed through gritted teeth. The woman only snarled, letting out a low growl from between her still startlingly sharp teeth. Why she had suddenly reverted back to her weaker form, Bunny couldn't understand, he assumed the standoff with the nightmare king could only have been escaped in a smaller body, but as to why she had decided to leave it as that.
Bunny thought back to when Pitch had attacked the Tooth Palace, Eden had reverted back to her own human form after falling unconscious. The rabbit's eyes widened upon the thought as realization dawned.
He glanced down at Eden. They reverted back when their energy level dropped low enough. Although she was obviously weaker than before since both attacks from the guardians and the nightmare king, she was still able to summon enough energy from her powerful state to still acquire the sharpened teeth and long claws which definitely posed a danger to them and, with his luck, she most likely still possessed enough power to summon a fire out of thin air.
The woman cocked her head to the side, her mouth pressed into a snarl with her sharp teeth threatening to bite. Bunny took a hesitant step back as a sickly smile replaced her furious frown. She held her two hands out to her sides and in an instant, they were glowing with fire.
"Liar."
"Gah!" Bunny yelped as flame spread from the girl's hands around the walls and behind him, cutting off any possibility of escape. He turned again, back towards the woman only to stumble back, biting back a cry of pain when he was met with the intense heat. The beast was only feet away now, her eyes locked on Eden who was struggling weakly to escape Bunny's hold. Whether it was out of blind panic or an effect from her critical form of hero complex, Bunny only held to her tighter, knowing that either one would end in certain death against someone who had her easily outmatched.
He was about to make a leap to escape when something wrapped around his wrist. "What?" He managed. His furry wrists were both wound in what looked like fire whips, but there was little heat to it and they were extremely solid. He stared up at the wielder who had manipulated the flames in horror. His hands tightened on the child in his arms, silently apologizing to her as he dug his clawed fingers into her clothing as to keep his grip for what he knew was about to come. But the attempt was fruitless.
She parted her hands, pulling as if holding something completely tangible. The fiery chains pulled in opposite directions, practically tearing his grasp out from under Eden, ripping where his claws had dug in and bringing more blood up to the surface of her skin, making the rabbit clench his teeth in guilt. She fell to the floor with a sickly thump and tried immediately to stand upon her trembling legs.
The woman caught her mid collapse by the throat. Eden's hands reached up in futile attempts to escape, scraping weakly against the skin of the hand that was cutting off her oxygen.
"No!" Bunny shouted angrily, yanking against the chains. The black dragon turned her head towards him before she raised her free hand up and yanked it to the side. The chains pulled against him tighter, bringing him to the ground.
Eden stared back, her eyes full of fear as the only other survivor of her kind tightened her grip on her throat, causing her to open her mouth wide, gasping for any air she could get. "Stop it! You're killing her!" The Pooka cried, writhing furiously on the ground, trying to escape the flaming bonds holding him down.
The woman only smiled and tightened her grip again, making her prisoner let out a choked shout of pain as the last bit of air was forced from her lungs. "Am I? I hadn't noticed." She smiled. She opened her mouth to say something when her hostage kicked out a foot in a last attempt to escape, hitting her captor sharply in the ribs.
The hand around her neck released instantly in surprise and the girl fell to the floor in a heap, gasping for breath, grasping her own neck as air flowed back into her system, racking her body with a fit of coughs.
Her attacker had recovered quickly, glaring up at the girl through dark hair, heavy breaths making her entire figure lurch with every intake. Eden looked up from her shocked position on the ground just in time to dodge another attack as the woman leapt at her, landing unceremoniously in an animalistic stance, as though trying to adopt her dragon form through the skin of the human.
Eden tried again to stand to avoid another blow when the older dragon's body was suddenly thrust upon her own, sending her back to the ground as the other fought to get a hold on her wrists, cutting her off from any means of escape.
"Stop it!" Eden managed in a raspy voice as the yellow eyes demon raised her free hand behind her, claws sharp enough to slit a throat glistening in the air. For a moment, time seemed to slow. Long talons shining in the dim light of the fierce fire surrounding them, Bunny writhing furiously in his bonds that rendered him useless in any means of escape.
Eden brought herself to look away from the glowing eyes of her attacker towards the fire. Bunny watched in deathly anticipation as she managed to pull one arm free from under the weight of her captor, reaching it out towards the orange and yellow flames that danced only inches from her grasp.
The hand came down, claws arced just so, angled to scathe the skin and draw blood from a dying victim. Bunny tried shouting, but nothing ever came out. And in a flash of orange and yellow, time sped back up, the ebony haired woman thrown unexpectedly across the room as Eden grasped at the fire, creating her own set of fire whips that seemed to materialize in her hands.
The girl was on her own two feet now, seeming to have gained some strength from the element that now glowed brightly in her hands. As Bunny looked at her, she did in fact seem a lot stronger than she had been when in the cold of the lair. The fire had given her strength, strength that she had been too weak to create herself. Bunny managed a small smile of hope. The black dragon didn't know it yet, but she had just given her own victim the strength she needed to fight back. The Black dragon had destroyed herself in her reckless attempt to succeed.
The fallen enemy in question had brought herself back into a standing position. Her jet black hair was now completely torn out of the bun. Her clothes were torn and singed around the knees and elbows where she had fallen and upon closer inspection, she was shaking violently, practically seething with anger.
"NO!" She screamed, her shrill voice making Bunny's sensitive ears fall back in pain. "You're supposed to be dead!" She shouted, throwing both hands forward. The flames that had been flickering behind her waiting for a command shot forward towards Eden who merely shot out a whip, catching the ball of flames on the tip and taking the fire as her own, making the whip glow brighter with the extra power.
The beast threw another attack, only to be deflected again by Eden. She wasn't even thinking anymore. Rage had taken over the woman's mind, killing every sense of strategy as she only threw countless attacks at the younger dragon. Her only thought now was to kill.
She pulled back to grasp another fistful of fire when something wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back. She looked at her wrist, staring through the mess of black hair in front of her face to see a somewhat familiar looking flaming chain around her arm.
"No!" She howled angrily, clawing at the bind with her second hand. "This isn't supposed to happen!" She screamed as Eden conjured a second chain out of the raging fire that still surrounded the three, catching the woman's other hand as she tried to throw another attack.
The chains pulled back against the screaming woman as she continues to thrash and claw at the cuffs that held her back. "You're supposed to be dead!" She shouted furiously. She was shaking violently now as fire poured out of both hands behind her and even her mouth. A pair of black chains began to snake up the woman's arms, joining the flames and pulling the girl to the ground, attaching themselves to the wall behind her.
Bunny stared back confused. He knew what the black chains were most likely made of, but the chances of it being true seemed utterly ridiculous. Yet, when Eden parted her hands, disintegrating the circle of flames that had had them isolated, Pitch Black himself stood there, his own hands clutching the very black binds that held his previous accomplice from her prize, the one thing that had driven her to madness.
The rabbit bit his tongue angrily. This entire thing had been Pitch's fault, and judging by the guilty look on the man's face, he knew it too. Hunting Jack like that for revenge. Yet part of him couldn't make the effort to shout at him, he had cut off his intensions in the end, even if only because his side of the deal was not met.
"Leave." He said in a low voice.
"What?" Bunny began. After all that had just happened, that was all the man could manage to say? Not even an 'I'm sorry' then again, the man was never the apologetic type.
"Get out!" He shouted. I the rabbit didn't know any better, he would have thought that there had been a hint of regret in his voice.
"Pitch!" The writhing dragon screamed, fire escaping between her teeth and singing bits of hair that hung messily in her face. The once gleaming eye was now flaring with anger, the cat-like pupil growing thinner in size as rage drove her to the verge of insanity. "We have a deal!" She shouted, pulling against the chains. "I'll kill the frost child. Kill him! Just help me! Let me go!"
Pitch's eyes were downcast, glaring angrily at the ground before meeting her eyes and making a sorrowful glance towards Eden who tightened her hold on the flaming whips in warning. The Nightmare King turned back to his former accomplice, a once graceful and powerful dragon, now reduced to this, a murderous woman chained to the walls of his own lair.
He shook his head slowly. "No."
"What!" Flames erupted in a flash of rage.
"We had a deal of capture, not murder." Bunny glanced up in surprise. He wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, but he couldn't help but feel a bit of respect for the man.
"You wanted to kill Jack Frost! That's what you told me!"
"I wanted revenge on Jack Frost, not to kill him! An enemy I may be, but I'd be damned if I were to be called a murderer! I will not have anyone's blood on my hands, especially a child's." He said through gritted teeth, gesturing towards Eden who had now dissipated her whips.
"Now get out!" He seethed, the guilt of it all weighing heavily on the man's thin shoulders.
Eden nodded gratefully, running over to where Bunny was still held down. With a touch of her flame taming fingers, the binds disappeared from around the rabbit's wrists. She helped him to his feet before looking back to the guilt ridden man.
"Go!" He shouted angrily, his usually confident voice breaking tragically as he pointed violently toward the exit. Bunny grasped the girl's arm gently, trying to lead her away from the conflicting man. But she wasn't looking at him anymore. Her eyes were locked on gold as tears streamed down the only other existing dragon's face.
"Come on Mate." He said gently, finally getting her to move away from where her feet had seemed to have locked into place. She nodded nervously, walking with the Pooka, breaking eye contact with the woman.
"NO!" The raging cry called behind, the two only ran, tears streaming down Eden's face as she covered her mouth with her hand, biting back a choked sob as the black dragon continued to scream behind them, her pleads echoing through the entirety of the lair, and still sounding loudly through their heads as they surfaced in the outside world.
Whew! Just a few chapters to go, and I'll update soonishly since I'm focusing mainly on this story at this point.
Please review and tell me what you guys think, I really want to know if I did okay with the intensity of it.
Also, I've kinda gotten myself obsessed with the Avatar the Last Airbender show so… The black dragons human state is kinda based off of Azula in case you guys were wondering what she looked like and is about the same age (18 or so.)
I am begging you to review! I need to know what you guys thought of this scene so I can know how to write future actiony chapters.