The first few days Penelope avoided everyone she could.

The other Descendants also seemed keen to give her a wide berth, she often ate alone, and commandeered a spot in the barracks near the back. It appeared to be an unoccupied area, well, there were no beds, not that she was worried. She may still be sleeping on rock, but it was cushioned with thick moss, so no issue there. She found it better than a bed.

Her days were spent telling the Heads everything she knew about the Descendants of Pitch, which wasn't really all that much. She could tell them some of the caves they used in America, and that in dire circumstances they would use Pitch's lair, but that would be if there was nowhere else to go.

At any other point? Well, she'd be in one of the Training Halls, practicing with throwing knives or her sand. No one was willing to spar with her with sand, which was understandable, they were afraid of contamination.

One morning she was meditating, as all sand users had to (she found out the hard way) and she sensed someone approach her.

It was the thing she liked about meditation, the senses were suddenly far more sensitive. If you were in a forest you could hear insects moving in the trees above you and hear small animals finding food. In a city it wasn't so nice, there was usually a siren blaring somewhere and an argument in a house or apartment somewhere. Not nearly as peaceful.

Here, people were just, quiet, this early in the morning (everyone came from different time zones, but it was settled to just one to people down here at the moment) it was only going to be people on night duty, or Descendants of Sandman meditating.

"So, Descendants of Pitch need to meditate as well?" she was asked. The voice was male, and that's all she could really tell.

"Um, yes." she said, not entirely sure how else to respond.

"Huh." the voice didn't seem to know what to do. "Name's Harry by the way."

Penelope opened her eyes and looked at the man in front of her. Like all Descendants of Sandman, he was short and blonde, although his blonde was almost bright yellow. He had this grin on his face, which Penelope could imagine was almost permanently fixed to his face.

"Penelope."

"Oh yeah, everyone knows who you are. Big bad Descendant of Pitch, scary as all hell, run away!" his grin didn't waver as he sat down next to Penelope, who resisted the urge to move away. She might as well try now.

"You don't look so scary though." he finished, and Penelope shrugged, not sure what else to say.

"Not much of a talker?"

"No."

"Don't worry, I am, if you'll listen." Harry titled his head to one side as he looked at her, and Penelope just found herself staring.

"Um..."

Harry moved again, putting his chin in his hand. "Now I'm sitting down here, I have no idea what to talk about."

Penelope had just about had enough. This guy was weird. "I need to go..." she got up, ready to run to the Training Halls.

"I can come with you." Harry offered, that grin still on his face.

"No, thanks." Penelope did in fact run at that point, who knew social interaction could be so stressful!

After that, Harry wasn't the only one to try to talk to her, they were mostly Descendants of Sandman, although one Descendant of Toothiana did seem to like watching her throwing knives. It was weird, these people had been afraid of her, why aren't they now? Why can't they leave her alone?! All they wanted to do was talk, but that wasn't something she could do, because it was always things she couldn't or wouldn't talk about.

She found herself missing Jackie, and the fact that she didn't feel the need to fill the air with unnecessary words either. It was just company sometimes, that was all, she was still getting used to this.

Thankfully, one of these Descendants seemed to be somewhat sane, or what qualified as sane in her mind.

An older Descendant of Sandman, possibly forties or fifties, she couldn't really tell. His blonde hair was streaked with grey and he had equally grey eyes.

He was also the only one willing to spar with her with sand. It was interesting and a good learning experience for the both of them.

After a few sessions Penelope finally asked.

"So, what's your name?"

"Sebastian." he said, somewhat reluctantly. "You can see why I never introduced myself."

Penelope just continued to dissipate the large amount of scattered black sand. "Why not pick a new name?" she asked quietly, hoping he wouldn't hear her.

"Just used to it." he shrugged, also cleaning up his sand.

The two worked in silence, but she felt a bit more relaxed around this guy at least.

She was so relieved to have Jackie here now, someone she had some history with. A turbulent history perhaps, but history.

She had not been expecting that hug. It had only been a few months, but Jackie had changed, much to Penelope's disappointment, what if she was more like normal people?

The hug itself had also been odd, Jackie was cool, almost cold, the kind of temperature which would feel worse the longer you're exposed to it. Probably something she couldn't help, but it was odd.

The two had also been whisked off, Jackie for a tour, and Penelope to finish that talk with the other Heads. They were talking about the number of raids that had been done, and whether the Descendants of Pitch had been forced so much into a corner that would use Pitch's base.

Not yet. Penelope told them, but it wasn't far off, one more attack should drive them to use it.

The two didn't manage to meet until the next day.

Penelope was leaving the Council Chamber, and Jackie was leaving the Training Halls. Jackie didn't seem to realise that Penelope was there, so she had to get her attention.

"H-hey." for some reason the word seem to stick in her throat.

Jackie looked up and in her direction, then her face split into a smile.

"Hey."

Penelope could see the change more clearly now. It was amazing how much one person could grow in a matter of months, Jackie seemed, happier, somehow. Neither of them could really notice that Jackie stood a little taller now, now longer shrinking in on herself slightly, or that her gait was lighter than before. Even her smile had changed, it was a more genuine smile than the forced one she had shoved out before now.

In contrast, Penelope was still guarded, a little more relaxed now perhaps, but enough for it show through body language.

However, she had changed. Her sallow skin had become paler from lack of sunlight and her hair, while no longer a mess of tangles, was no longer as neat as it was when she was with the Descendants of Pitch.

Jackie stopped in place, her hands in her jeans pockets. "Do you want to talk?"

Penelope nodded, hiding the cringe. Another sign of change, Jackie talking. Talking wasn't something either of them had really done together.

On the other hand, they both needed practice at pretending to be normal humans.

The Main Cavern wasn't completely flat, so they found a small ridge that they could comfortably sit on.

"So..." Jackie let the question hang in the air.

"... Some things don't change." Penelope said after a minute or so.

"Huh?"

"You were never one for small talk from what I remember." That might have been the most she'd said voluntarily in a long time. It wasn't as bad as she expected.

"Neither were you." Jackie tapped her knee. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know."

The two sat in silence for a bit. Not an uncomfortable silence, just, silence.

"Did I ever apologise about the whole...?" Jackie trailed off, not appearing to be looking at anything. Penelope waited for her finish.

"Back in February..." Jackie seemed unable to say, drawing in on herself again.

Penelope had to think about when that was. The Descendants of Pitch did have calendars, she'd just gotten out of the habit of thinking in months.

"Oh, that. Does it matter?" Penelope shrugged in an unsure manner.

"I don't know. I'm sorry about it anyway."

"It was our, their, fault. I told them your powers weren't stable, and they went ahead with it anyway. Idiots."

Jackie let an amused huff, a small smile appearing on her face.

"I also never said thank you."

"For what?" Penelope was feeling like she being left behind here.

"You snapped me out of it. Thank you."

"Well, you'd have fainted eventually... What?" Penelope asked as Jackie suddenly doubled over laughing.

"Th-that must b-be what I s-sound like to everyone else!" Jackie laughed. She straightened up, but her hand was still clasped over her mouth as she tried to subdue the giggles. "I don't even know why it's funny."

Penelope was starting to laugh, despite herself. It was odd, high pitched noise, rough from lack of practice. "I don't know why I'm laughing." she got out between giggles.

The two just kept going until the giggles finally faded. Jackie brushed off some ice that had formed under her eye from underneath her glasses, and Penelope watched the motion curiously. After a few seconds she managed to ask.

"Why does it do that?"

Jackie looked at her, before looking at a stubborn piece of ice stuck to her finger.

"It just does. It's annoying." Jackie flicked it off.

"With all water?"

"All water." Jackie confirmed, pushing her glasses back into place. "It's annoying when it rains."

Penelope thought for a second. "I've seen normal sand clump up in the rain, but my sand doesn't do that in water. It just stays as it is."

"It's magic sand."

"And that makes a difference?"

"Probably. It's not something I've thought about." Jackie was idly swirling her finger around, making a small snowflake. It was lopsided, and not very symmetrical, so Jackie let out an irritated noise and let it melt on the ground.

"How hard is it to make those?" Penelope asked.

"Depends, if I concentrate solely on them, then it comes out, okay. But if I don't it looks like, that."

"It's like trying to everyone to make a Nightmare for the first time. Also looks weird."

"Sorry?"

"Um..." Penelope realised that she'd just put herself under the spotlight. "Well, I know Pitch has to turn actual dreams into nightmares to get his Nightmares, but if about four or five of, the Descendants of Pitch, work together, they can make a Nightmare. Looks a bit weird the first time. It's supposed to look like a horse, for some reason. But it doesn't always."

"It's a pun." Jackie explained.

That didn't help much. "...What's a pun?"

"A, play on words." Jackie tried to explain. "Nightmare is a bad dream, and a mare is also a female horse. You know? Puns are usually funny as well."

"It's not funny, it's just weird."

"It's a bad pun."

"Okay..."

Jackie's stomach decided to interject.

"Er, I think I need to go to the Mess Hall. A few other people seem to be going that way as well." There was a trickle of people coming from the Training Halls into the Mess Hall.

"They're refining the spell on it, so it can serve at any time." Penelope informed Jackie.

"Good. That'll be useful. Do you want to go get something to eat?"

"No thanks." Penelope felt oddly drained from the conversation, but not particularly hungry. "I'll see you later."

Jackie shrugged and stood up. "Okay."

Once she had gone Penelope let out a long breath and rubbed her arm. It was good to see her again, despite how much she changed, and at least they were on the same side now.

The next morning Penelope was meditating with Sebastian, and about fifteen minutes in she noticed a presence. A familiar presence that was holding two bowls of... something. Penelope had no idea what it was.

Penelope opened her eyes to see Jackie standing not too far away, holding two bowls with something sold and white in it. It looked vaguely familiar, but Penelope couldn't quite pin point what they were.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." Jackie said. "These won't melt, so take your time."

"...What are they?"

"Ice cream."

"Ice cream for breakfast?" asked Sebastian, making Penelope jump.

Jackie's eyes flicked between Penelope and Sebastian, putting the pieces together and Penelope felt a small rush of panic from her. That threw her off, Jackie had rarely shown fear like that before.

"I didn't know you were here, otherwise I'd have gotten another one..."

"It's alright. I'm Sebastian, and I know who you are."

Jackie's pale face went a little pink with embarrassment, but she was saved from having to do anything.

"I'll leave you two to it." Sebastian walked off and Jackie sat beside Penelope, handing one of the bowls. Now that she looked closer she could see that the white lump had black specks in it.

"Turns out that, while the serving time is still set, the food that's served is not." Jackie was grinning as she dug her spoon into the white mass and put it in her mouth. She hummed happily, which once again threw Penelope off. Jackie was so relaxed around her now, even though, they had been enemies not even a year ago.

"Proper vanilla." Jackie muttered before taking a second spoonful.

"Sorry?"

"A lot of places have vanilla ice cream as pure white, but the flavour is more artificial. Proper vanilla ice cream has bits of vanilla pods, which are the black bits. Tastes so much better."

Penelope carefully took a small amount of the ice cream (now melting since Jackie wasn't holding it) and put it in her mouth. Once the sudden coldness was out the way, it did taste quite nice. Although, she doubted she would manage Jackie's speed of eating it. She was halfway through already.

Penelope smiled and had another, slightly larger spoonful. She could vaguely remembering having something like this when she was a kid. Sweeter, not as creamy as this though, but that was a long time ago.

"Are you okay?" Jackie asked and Penelope jumped, cursing herself for her lapse.

Fine. Thanks for the ice cream."

"Any time."

"Why did you get it?"

"Ice cream makes everything better."

Penelope actually snickered at such a childish response.

"What?"

"I just, didn't expect you to say anything like that."

"It's a personal opinion." Jackie shrugged. "And I think I have it better than a lot of people, I don't have to worry about it melting, so I can take my time. And because the cold isn't a factor I can appreciate the taste more."

"You really like ice cream."

"What gave it away?"

Penelope opened her mouth to reply before she realised that Jackie was being sarcastic. The smile gave it away.

"Oh, never mind."

The ice cream and melted into a white mess in Penelope's bowl by now, flecked with black. Which reminded Penelope worryingly of Nightmare sand in snow, and then that caused the oddest question to pop into her head.

"Can you manipulate ice cream?"

Jackie snorted with laughter.

"Sorry I asked." Penelope withdrew slightly, taken aback by the response.

"No, no. It's not that!" Jackie was struggling to control herself. "It's just, I did try once."

Penelope tilted her head to one side. Given how hard Jackie was laughing, it was probably a funny memory.

"What happened?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

"I must have been about, four? We were having ice cream for dessert and my brother wasn't eating his properly." Jackie's face was sad for a second, but was quickly back to light hearted. "He couldn't get it on the spoon and it was melting, so I tried to help him." Jackie's grin widened. "I put too much energy into it and the ice cream, exploded. All over the kitchen, my brother, my parents, me."

Jackie chuckled again. "The best part was that it was strawberry, a lovely pale pink colour. Dad had a big lump of it on his glasses."

Penelope chuckled as well, and started to consider sharing a story. Then thought better of it. Any mishaps she had had never ended as innocently. It was usually from when she first tried hunting and missed horribly. She wasn't a sadist!

It was still good to laugh though. "Have you got any more like that?" she asked, she was enjoying this.

Jackie, having finished her ice cream, set the bowl down next to her and thought.

"One time I thought I could win a 3 on 1 snowball fight." Jackie offered. "I was 6 I think, so my brother was 4. It was more of a 2 on 1 as my brother's aim was terrible. I thought I could control enough of the snow well enough to make it fair fight. Half my snowballs crumbled and a further quarter of them either missed and flew right back at me."

Penelope chuckled as well, until her time keeping kicked in. She needed to meet the Heads about now.

"I'd probably better go." she stood up, grabbing her bowl.

"I can take that back." Jackie offered, also standing up.

"Um, thanks." Penelope handed Jackie the empty bowl, which she placed inside her own empty one and put the spoons in the top bowl.

"See you later?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah."

They managed to meet up every morning once Penelope had finished meditating. Small talk still didn't really work, so they ended up talking about some of the specifics of their powers, that they knew. Both were self taught so the extend of nuances were limited.

A week later a group of them, including Penelope, Jackie, Sebastian and Harry, had been called to do the final raid.

Penelope knew that they'd debating on sending Jackie for days. There was a final, marginal agreement under the logic that she did have a lot of raw power which could serve them well.

They hadn't wanted to send Penelope really, but she did know the Descendants of Pitch the best, and Penelope outright volunteered. She wanted to do her bit and show them that she had the trust of HOG, and therefore their protection.

Penelope had trained with the Descendants of Sandman, and had seen the Burgess Branch fight, so she wasn't too surprised by what she saw. Jackie was looking a lot better than the last time she'd seen her fight, in February she believed.

She wasn't sure they'd be enough, but most of the Descendants of Pitch, especially in North America, appeared to be scattered. Maybe, maybe they could do it. Scare them and scatter them enough to not be a worry for a long time.

She had been surprised that had been asked to kill. She would have been horrified had she not been privy to previous discussions. Despite the laws, this was war, different rules could apply.

It had gone wrong.

An ambush, of course it was. It made sense. Lure them in, thinking that the enemy numbers were low, then spring a trap. From there they could be roughed up a bit, or held hostage. Penelope wasn't going to find out.

She was going to die.

She wasn't scared. That's what was surprising. She stared down Samuel, a man who used to terrify her, talked back to him even, with no fear.

As the arrow of what she guessed to be lead was raised, she looked over at Jackie, who had been screaming her name. The younger Descendant was staring at her in utter horror, her fear practically rolling off her in waves. The extraordinary thing was what that fear was about.

Fear for Penelope. Not for herself, not for her colleagues, her brethren. Penelope.

She wanted to tell her it was okay. Not to mourn, because she was fine with this. There wasn't time though.

Her armour lay in pieces on the ground as she looked back at Samuel, her executioner. As fine as she was with dying, she didn't want to see it.

She closed her eyes, took a deep, steadying breath...

There was a thud to her chest, a brief burst of pain as the arrow ran her through.

Then.

Nothing.