"Where'd he go?" Jack asked after the dust settled from their last attack. Pitch was breathing hard, he hadn't expelled so much energy in a long time.
"He's still here somewhere. He wouldn't run away." Pitch looked around, but found nothing. "Let's go find Silver." Pitch strode off without waiting for Jack. Silver's fear was no longer strong and that worried Pitch. What could Death have done to her?
The pair wandered through the corridors until Pitch suddenly stopped. He motioned for Jack to be quiet. They could hear something shuffling around. Thinking it was more skeletons, as they had run across a few that all ran away from them, Pitch and Jack both stood at the ready as they moved around another corner and into a room.
"Silver!" Jack shouted. Pitch moved across the room in the blink of an eye and crouched down before her, but something was very wrong.
Silver's eyes were closed, but as Pitch studied her they opened slowly and blinked at him. Her glow was gone and her eyes were dull and vacant.
"Silver?" Pitch asked softly. "What happened to you?" She just stared at him without recognition and blinked once.
"Is she ok?" Jack asked. Pitch shushed him, reaching out to touch Silver's cheek. He was surprised to feel how cold her skin was, and that she didn't react to his touch.
"What did he do to you?" Pitch demanded softly. Her empty eyes looked at him without seeing him.
"He…" The word was impossibly quiet as it fell from her ice-cold lips. Pitch leaned in closer.
"Tell me," He urged.
"He…" The sound was a little stronger. "He took it." She managed. She blinked slowly, as if she wasn't sure she wanted to open her eyes ever again.
"Took what?" Jack asked over Pitch's shoulder. Pitch frowned at her.
"Silver, look at me," Pitch said moving her chin with his fingers. Her normally bright eyes were empty and leaden as they faced him, like a night sky with no moon. "What did he do to you, exactly?" She moved her head away from him and he let her go, standing angrily.
"What could Death have taken from her to leave her like that?" Jack asked. It was terrifying to see someone who was normally all bubbly and happy, sitting on the floor looking next to dead.
"Her soul," Pitch looked back at Silver, who was leaning against the cage again, eyes blankly staring ahead of her, blinking slowly. "Jack I want you to stay here with her."
"What are you going to do?" Jack asked.
"I'm going to find Death," Pitch left before Jack could ask anything else.
"I…" Silver mumbled. Jack went over to her and sat on the ground next to her. "I'm tired." She closed her eyes.
"Go ahead and sleep." Jack assured her.
"My," Silver looked into the cage instead. "Poor nightmare." She sighed, forehead pressed to the bars. Jack looked at the nightmare in the cage for the first time and marveled at it. He'd seen plenty of nightmares in his time, but never before a white one. Silver's eyes were closed again as Jack stood and walked around the cage to find the door.
The nightmare watched him warily as Jack froze the lock and broke it open. Jack stood aside and motioned to the creature to leave the cage. The nightmare looked from Silver, still leaning against the cage, back to the sprite, leaning against his staff. Ultimately the nightmare decided leaving the cage was more important than avoiding Jack, so it bolted out.
The nightmare stomped the ground in front of Silver, as if to get her attention, but Silver's eyes stayed closed. The nightmare stepped forward gingerly and snorted at Silver. Her hair moved from the sudden airflow but the rest of her didn't. Her hair seemed frozen, not reflecting any emotion, which concerned Jack.
The nightmare moved around Silver, squeezing its head between her and the cage. Silver moaned as she was moved, but eventually her face calmed and she appeared to finally fall asleep.
"Go ahead and sleep, Silver. I'll watch out for you." Jack said softly. Silver mumbled something incoherent and settled into the side of her nightmare. Jack stood stoically before her, protecting her from whatever might come through the door.
Pitch prowled the halls and came up with nothing for some time. When he finally located the object of his ire, Pitch was more than angry.
"Kozmotis, come back to finish me off?" Death asked, attempting his usual casual air. He sounded funny with a fat lip. Not only did he have that fat lip, but he had an obvious bruise over his right eye and looked as though it pained him to breathe.
"Yes," Pitch said simply.
"Good luck with that," Death said leaning back in his throne with a heavy sigh. Pitch wondered why Death didn't seem to be preparing for a fight. He just sat there, glaring at Pitch from his throne.
"Where is Silver's soul?" Pitch asked. Death nodded, a slight, bitter smile creasing his face.
"Amongst the others," Death motioned to the many jars upon the walls. "Finally, where it belongs." Death sighed dreamily. Pitch moved across the room and grasped Death by the front of his shirt.
"I'm done with your games. Tell me where it is!" Pitch shook Death.
"I've got nothing to lose. Do your worst," Death challenged. Pitch dropped him back into his chair where Death sat grimacing.
"Fine. But if Silver dies because of what you did, I will find a way to kill you." Pitch shot over his shoulder, heading back to where Silver and Jack waited. Pitch just hoped Silver knew where Death had put her soul and that it wasn't too late for her.
"Silver?" Pitch asked reentering the room. She was curled up against a white nightmare, her chest rose and fell with the steady rhythms of sleep.
"She's out cold, has been since you left." Jack said looking down at Silver's sleeping form. Pitch moved across the room to her.
"She told me about this nightmare," Pitch said. The nightmare perked up and snorted at Pitch as the Nightmare King reached out to him.
"I didn't know they came in white," Jack said with a grin despite the direness of their situation.
"They don't. But this is Silver's nightmare," Pitch touched the creature's nose and inhaled sharply. "That is…" Pitch smiled at Silver's sleeping form. "A neat trick."
"What?" Jack asked.
"This nightmare just told me that Silver was having fun at the Pole. That she was ok and that she missed me. Apparently, Silver had tried to send me a message and Death intercepted it," Pitch touched Silver's hair, she was still really cold.
"Why would he do that?" Jack asked.
"Why do you ask so many questions?" Pitch snorted. "He probably thought it was one of mine. Or maybe he knew it was Silver's." Pitch shrugged. Either way it didn't matter now. All Pitch wanted was for Silver to be alright again.
"Death has been stalking her…" Jack said. The nightmare laid its head down next to Silver and breathed out through its nose again.
Silver sighed in her sleep and her eyelids fluttered. Pitch didn't move, wanting to be the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes. Silver ran a hand over her eyes and they opened to see the Nightmare King watching her.
"Good morning Silver." Pitch said softly. Silver's eyes were wide, intelligent and brighter than before, but still tired. Her color was still dim, but no longer bleak.
"Am I dead?" Silver whispered, unsure of her voice. Pitch frowned at her.
"No. Why would you ask such a thing?" Pitch asked.
"Because…" Silver's eyes filled with tears. "You're dead," She covered her face with her hands. Pitch scoffed.
"I am nothing of the sort!" He pulled her hands from her face and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "I'm not dead." He assured her. Silver wasn't sure if she could trust her senses. He looked real, he felt real. But Death had shone her Pitch's soul. To take her own…
"Death tricked me then," Silver frowned, feeling foolish. "He has my soul." Then it dawned on her that Pitch was really alive. Really there holding her hands away from her face. "Pitch!" Silver suddenly tackled Pitch in a hug. Her arms wound tightly around his neck as she cried.
"It's ok Silver," Pitch said, holding onto her as tightly as she held onto him.
"Don't you ever go away again," Silver told him, squeezing him even more tightly. "Don't you dare ever leave me."
"I'm not going anywhere," Pitch said into her hair as Silver cried into the front of his robes. "I'm here." He assured her. "I'm here…"