It hadn't taken long for Ombric to land besides his friends in his astrally projected form and tell them of what happened. He had told them of how the enslavement spell that Pitch had used was only partially effective against Ombric as he had learned of a way to separate his mind and body. He had called it "astral projection" and that it was quite risky. "One can never be entirely sure what the body may be up to while the mind is out and about, and it depletes one's energy rather severely. I'll be hungry for months now." he had said to North when asked.

And true to his words, he had been eating nonstop from their provisions in the infinity bag since he had returned to his body. The moment Pitch had cast the spell, Ombric managed to project himself towards the Lunar Lamadary. He had proceeded to tell his side of the tale, from when he arrived till when he had blast away the top of the mountain.

"Most unsubtle bit of conjuring," Ombric conceded as he finished his story, his face a bright red in embarrassment. "More like something you, Nicholas, would have done in your early days… I could have accidentally hurt someone- one of the reindeers or even young Katherine! Can't imagine what got into me." North laughed in astonishment at seeing his mentor's bright red face.

"You are red as setting sun, old man!" North teased.

Katherine made a small humming noise, of agreement or otherwise was not discernible. "He was just worried about us…" her voice was quiet, her eyes fixated on the astral boy who stood by Sandy and, presumably, Pitch. She was quite curious about them, who they were and what their end goal was exactly. They were having a conversation of their own in hushed murmurs, thinking speak, and pictograms.

The conversation between North and Ombric was lost to the young girl; however, her interest was captured by the strange trio. She watched and strained her ears to try and obtain as much information as she could from them.

The astral boy had his head low, his face unseen as he had his back towards her. She could, however, see the Sandman's face. Sandy was nodding solemnly to something that was being said. Something she couldn't quite hear, yet she managed to catch a word or two. Timestream, new, guardians, failed, rabbit, and many more. It confused her greatly yet intrigued her at the very same time.

"I think it best we consult with him first…" Pitch had said from his perch on Sandy's shoulder, his voice low enough so only the three of them could converse as he had noticed Katherine's curiosity earlier.

"But we have to at least explain you." FrostLight started with a dejected sigh. "At least then we know you won't get thrown out."

"I doubt Lunar would even wish to see me now, after what I've done to him… much less his loyal servants…"

:But we must try. Manny would understand.:

"Easy enough for you to say, Sanderson. You're one of his Guardians…"

:that has nothing to do with this.: Sandy frowned.

"I think it does."

"Well, either way, we need to explain to North, Ombric, and Katherine at least a little bit of our situation until we can talk to little Lunanoff." FrostLight interrupted the two dreamweaver's bickering- as amusing as it was to see them act like Claude and Caleb at times, now was not the time for arguing. FrostLight did not enjoy having to be the voice of reason. Not as Jack Frost, or even Nightlight.

Unfortunately, his words had gone unnoticed by the two who had started to bicker about something else completely unrelated to the topic at hand. With an exasperated sigh, FrostLight ran a hand down his face, exhausted from both the battle and the mental stress of having to think like an adult. For the moon's sake he was an immortal child ! A child, no matter how old, should not be thinking like a grown-up. And yet here he was…

There was a small tug on the sleeve of the shirt under his armour that made him turn to face the one tugging only to find familiar stormy silver eyes peering at him quizzically.

"I don't fully understand what's going on…" Katherine had started, her eyes never leaving the spectral boy. "But thank you… if it wasn't for you, we might not have survived… and I'm sorry… for ever doubting you like that…"

FrostLight stared at her for a moment, blinking in surprise at the sudden apology before smiling gently at her and holding her hand. "It's alright, Katherine… I wouldn't believe me either if I were in your shoes. You're truly something else."

That made a small rosy flush brush her cheeks as she nervously shifted her gaze away from the spectral child. They walked around a bit, trying to find a spot to sit down for a while away from the adults. It wasn't until they had found a boulder to sit on from the rubble of the exploded mountain did Katherine speak up again.

"Will you tell me why you're working with Pitch?" There was no response for a while. "Please, I just… I want to trust you again but it's hard to do that when the person you thought you knew turns out to not be who you thought they were…" Silence followed again, Katherine's cloudy gaze fixated on the astral boy next to her.

FrostLight pursed his lips in thought as he fidgeted with his spear. He avoided her gaze, a hurt look deep within his pale green eyes.

"Please…" She pleaded again, taking hold of his hand and giving it a squeeze. She stared at him for a moment. She was determined to learn and was prepared to do whatever it took to get him to tell her.

"Katherine," He spoke, surprising the girl, having only heard him speak with his voice a handful of times, but never in this sad and tired of a tone. She stiffened up, determined to learn. He took a deep sigh then lifted his gaze to the fading moon, his eyes distant before turning his gaze to the girl. "It's a very… very long and complicated story… and I'm not so sure I'm supposed to tell you or anyone…"

"You can tell me… I'll keep it a secret…"

"It's not that, Katherine, I trust you with my life and I really want to tell you… I really do… but…"

"...I understand…" There was disappointment in her tone but also understanding. FrostLight frowned slightly, looking back up to the moon with a dejected sigh.

It took a moment for his shoulders to sag, his gaze flickering between the moon and the girl right next to himself. He could see the faint smile of the moon and he could no longer ignore his feelings of guilt for hiding the truth. Turning to face Katherine he opened his mouth to speak, only for him to shut it once again when North came over, calling for them to join everyone as they head to the Lamadary.

He would have to tell Katherine another time then.

With a silent sigh he got up and headed over to everyone else, leading Katherine right behind him, never once letting go of her hand as they walked. They were instantly surrounded by Lunar Lamas the moment the two children got close, making Katherine jump at the sudden attention. However what confounded everyone the most was how FrostLight seemingly leapt into the air with a yelp, flashing them all an apologetic smile before soaring off into the distance, leaving behind a confused crowd and disappointed Holy Men.

"What was that about?" North wondered out loud.

"The boy is easily overwhelmed by attention… he never really did have enough time to get comfortable around people again…" Pitch spoke up, making every head round onto the Nightmare King, expecting him to be perched on top of the Sandman's shoulder as he had been earlier.

To their utter surprise, he was standing there in all his six foot glory, albeit made out of black and silver sand. Seeing this, North instantly pulled out his Swords, ready for a fight. "Pitch!" he sneered.

"Calm yourself, North." Pitch huffed, folding his arms behind his back as he looked up to the moon from where a moonbeam came to land on the man's shoulder as if to say it was alright. "I am virtually powerless at the moment…" Sandy floated over to stand right next to Pitch, a sleepy and dreamy smile on his face, making the shade sigh tiredly as well. This made the ex-cossack put away his swords and yet kept his guard up just in case.

"Seems we are all tired, shall we get going?" Pitch wondered, an eyebrow raised. North was about to protest to Pitch coming along when Katherine spoke up.

"I think we should… there might be fearlings around."

"Aye, Katherine is correct. We must be heading off to the Lamadary now, recoup and rest up." Ombric concluded as he munched on a loaf of bread. With his final words, everyone, the Lunar Lamas, Yeti, Ombric, Katherine, North (Albeit a bit cautious of their other companions) were off to their rides, followed closely by Pitch and Sandy.

Sandy was now nodding off to sleep every few seconds, having finally experienced the drain of his abilities due to the lack of believers and his very own dream sand's effects. It wasn't long until Sandy had fully dozed off yet continued to float about. Taking note of this, Katherine let out a soft giggle which caught the attention of Pitch who sighed in exasperation.

"Honestly, Sanderson," he started, shaking his head as he so very gently picked up the sleeping man of sand, carefully placing him onto the back of one of the geese they were to ride to the Lamadary. "What am I to do with you…" he whispered in a brotherly tone, deciding to ride behind the golden man so he wouldn't fall off.

Katherine watched on with a faint smile before getting onto her own goose with North and flew towards their new destination.