2 - A Dream Warrior

You hear footsteps in your cage and you glance around, but all you see are shadows and a Nightmare nearby the bars of your cage.
"Oh give it a rest Pitch. I'm not some kid to be scared by a few sounds."
"Hmmm, indeed not." Came the silky reply.
"Show yourself coward." You say, putting a front of bravado you don't exactly feel.
"Very well." He appears from the shadows behind you, causing you to spin around in what little room you have in the cage. A small smile on his face, his gold rimmed eyes delighting in giving you a start. You scowl at him, not at all impressed, though you can't help but admit that he's not what you expected either. You knew of the Boogeyman, but the book you'd bought on the Guardians hadn't had any pictures other than the cover and Pitch had not been on the cover. The description Jamie had given of him was on the mark, just not what you had imagined from the words you'd read. He easily towered over you by a good foot or so, you weren't good enough with math to know for sure, his grey toned skin seemed to blend with the black robes and pants he wore. His black hair was slicked back though a few of the stray strands curled about each other as if fighting against his will and trying to curl back forward only to be tangled with one another instead. His eyes weren't exactly black as the rest of him, there was a ring of gold in his eyes and if the books were anything to go by you know that it wasn't because he was evil that his eyes were gold. That gold was what remained of the man he'd once been.

"I have to say, you are a brave one. To stare into the eyes of the Boogeyman and not flinch." He smiled a little, as if amused. You scowled.
"Maybe that's because I know who you are... or I should say who you were... Kozmotis." You test out the word, unsure if you'd said it right, but the jolt it seemed to have given the Nightmare King, the narrowing of the other's eyes told you that you hit the nail on the head.
"How do you know that name?" You shrug.
"I read a lot." He frowned, but after a moment it became apparent that you weren't lying.
"I know you're in there... somewhere." You say softly, your eyes searching for the man you knew lay within, but even though Pitch seemed to falter a little, you feel disappointment when he sneers at you.
"Just knowing that name doesn't mean anything. I am not that fool Kozmotis."
"Shows what you know. Kozmotis was a hero!" You say boldly, he growls at you.
"Foolish girl! You have no right... you don't know what a hero is if you think he was a hero." Before you can say more, Pitch disappeared back into the shadows. You feel a little bit of triumph at standing up to the Boogeyman in ways that you doubt anyone living had before. After all, you knew his past, though he'd clearly not expected you to. Most people would probably hate Pitch, but you... You just felt sorry for the guy. You couldn't help it. Kozmotis Pitchiner had been a hero to his people, he had pushed back the Shadows that now possessed him; it had been one night of weakness, of being tricked into thinking that the Shadows held the person who was his whole world that had led to the birth of the Nightmare King. No matter what Jack or the others had said about Pitch, you couldn't bring yourself to hate him. With Pitch gone, you sat down against your cage and let your mind drift back to your memories.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day you were enjoying a hot cup of coco when you heard the yells and laughter of children outside. Curious, you finished your cup and went outside only to get a face full of snow. Hearing the "oohhh" chorus through the children as you brushed off the snow from your face.
"Okay... who threw that?" You watched as the kids pointed at one another, though there was one child who pointed to Jack who was perched on the top of his staff nearby, a grin on his face.
"Okay, that does it." The children's shrieks of laughter filled the air as you picked up snow and tossed it at a few children, you faked throwing at one child as Jack was laughing and you spun the last second to launch the snowball directly at Jack, laughing yourself at the surprise that crossed the Guardian's face.
"Nice shot, _!" He called with a laugh, summoning more snowballs for the children as you joined in the fight. It was an every-man-for-himself all out war and when it finally wound down everyone was exhausted and wet, but no one complained. You waved to the children as they went home. Jack stayed with you though, watching the children leave.
"I should probably get changed before I catch a cold." You say, as if to emphasize this, you sneeze. Jack nods and follows you into your house, while you go to your room to change, Jack seems to explore the house. When you come back out you head downstairs, but finding it empty you head back up in search of Jack. You find him perched on the edge of the window sill, staring quietly at the twin bed, lost in his thoughts.

"Jack?" You ask quietly, he turns and smiles at you, seeing you in a (second favorite color) sweater and jeans.
"Sorry, just kind of remembering."
"Remembering?"
"You mean you don't know?" You raise your eyebrows at him, indicating he should go on.
"This was Jamie's house when he was younger... this room was his. Where he became the first human to see me." You stare, not sure what to say and feeling sort of like you've intruded on a private moment. You had a good imagination, but not even that was good enough to fully comprehend what Jack must have felt when Jamie had seen him for the very first time.
"You know... I wasn't sure that you were real until today." Jack tilted his head, looking at you with a curious expression.
"I talked with Jamie today and he told me all about what happened. It seemed too good to be true at first, but the more he spoke the more I saw his belief and then I saw his book..."
"So that's what you were reading earlier then." You nod.
"I was hoping you'd come by actually. I really wanted to see you and then when I got that feeling that I was being watched... I looked out the window and there you were."
"Ah yeah... about that..."
"As long as you don't come into my room uninvited, I don't care." You say, he gives you a smile that is as much happiness as relief.
"You know... it's a good thing most people can't see you." You said after a moment's thought.
"Why do you say that?"
"Duh, you go peeping into windows of homes; people would think you were some kind of pervert." Jack's eyes went wide, apparently that particular thought had never crossed his mind, as he sputtered you had to clasp a hand over your mouth to stifle your laughter at the flabbergasted spirit.
"I... well... that is..." He didn't seem to know what to say and before he could figure it out you had doubled over from laughter. He gave you a sort of hopeful smile when you'd finally managed to calm your laughter enough to look at him. He'd also had the decency to flush and you flushed a little too when suddenly you realized what he might have seen if he'd been peering into your room at the wrong time...
"Ah... seriously, it's not like that... I promise. Besides... I'm the Guardian of Fun. What would I be doing that for? I just like watching kids."

"Uh huh... sure you do... that's why your face is red." The implication made the Guardian flush all the more, you couldn't help but grin. It was too easy to tease him and you found the blush endearing.
"I s-swear it's not! I wouldn't... I haven't..." You raise an eyebrow at him as he stutters.
"You mean to tell me that you've never once been curious enough to see what it is adults do in their bedroom at night?" Jack's mouth ceased to work at the question and suddenly you realize he HAD been that curious. You let out a sympathetic chuckle, after all, there likely hadn't been anyone for centuries who would tell him about the "birds and the bees." There's little doubt in your mind that Jack had to find out the only way he could... which in his case meant spying.
"I... er... ONE time... I swear... just once... and I didn't even watch the whole thing... I mean... it got too embarrassing after... erm... they didn't have..." He couldn't seem to get it out and glanced at the floor, his snow blush deepening.
"Jack." You say quietly, getting his attention. When he looks up you're smiling at him with understanding.
"I don't blame you." He smiles a little, his blush slowly fading; you're not sure which he's feeling more, embarrassed that you suggested such a thing or relieved that you don't seem mad or anything about the fact that he'd once indulged partly in curiosity.
"Anyway, how long do you plan on hanging around here?" You ask curiously, he seems relieved at the change of subject and shrugs.
"Just until I need to spread snow somewhere else." He shifted his gaze to the room then back to you.
"It's kind of a pain to not be able to put snow here when I want, but as a Guardian I have to obey the rules." You raise an eyebrow at him, as if you really expected him to follow the rules.
"Seriously?" You ask and he gives you a sheepish smile.
"Okay... so I follow most of the rules, but this is my hometown and it's not so odd that there's snow here at this time of year. As long as I don't go overboard."
"You mean like at Easter in '68." Jack winced a little at the reference, he'd no idea you knew about that.
"Er... yeah..." You chuckle a little and sit down on the couch, Jack settles next to you happily enough, angling his staff nearby against the armrest of the couch, within reach.

"Have you ever seen a dream catcher?" You're not sure where the question came from, but Jack shakes his head. You smile.
"Come with me then." He leaps into the air, floating behind you as you get up; staff in hand, he follows you back up the stairs to your room. The room is sparse, for now, but it suits you until you can start adding more personal touches to the room that held the queen sized bed. Above the bed was a navy blue dream catcher. Eagle feathers held onto leather straps with beads dangled beneath it. Jack floated over to it, curiosity flitting along his face.
"What does it do exactly?"
"It's supposed to catch Nightmares and let only good dreams pass through." Jack stared incredulously at it.
"Does it work?"
"Most people think it does. Why?"
"If it does we could definitely use this against Pitch." You blink.
"You mean the Boogeyman?" You ask, feeling a little uneasy. The book had mentioned what had happened that year for Jamie, but that didn't make it any less creepy. Jamie's version of Pitch had made him seem... well... pretty bad even though you were too old to be frightened by shadows on the wall.
"Yeah." You can't help but think about what Jamie had said, describing Pitch's lair and other things that you assumed he had gotten from Jack, since if the story was as Jamie said, Jamie hadn't actually seen Pitch's lair for himself.
"So, does it work?" Jack was looking at you expectedly. You just stared back for a moment, then you thought hard. You had gotten that dream catcher when you were nine years old from a relative of yours who had seemed a little... excentric at the time... but you smiled a little as you realized it probably did.
"I think it does... I mean, I haven't had a nightmare since I got it and I was nine years old when I did." Jack beamed.
"That's awesome! I'm going to have to tell the others about this." You give him an uneasy smile.
"What?"
"I have to be honest Jack, I'm not sure it does. I mean... yeah, it seems to have worked for me, but does it work for everyone? What would make mine so special?" He frowned thoughtfully.
"Good point... think I could borrow it for a while?"
"Sure."
"Great, I'll be back soon." Before you can protest, he'd gently removed your treasure and was off out of the window with it. You shook your head and settled on your bed to wait. You looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. 8:29 pm. Well, it was still early so you went downstairs to pick back up where you'd left off.

You didn't know when you fell asleep, but when you did you were surprised to find yourself back at Jack's lake. Feeling safe, you ventured out onto the lake, looking around.
"Jack?" You didn't see him and there was no answer. The sound of a sudden crack made you freeze. This couldn't be real... could it? You stood frozen, looking around at the sound of a chuckle, one that made your blood run cold despite that it was silky smooth.
"Finally... he doesn't realize what he's done. Poor Jack... making a mess all over again..." You search around the area and feel yourself stiffen as from the shadows walks the very figure that you have dreaded meeting since hearing of him. He was as Jamie had described, tall with hair as black as night, a coat and pants just as dark with skin that was a strange grey tone. That his "coat" seemed to disappear into his skin made you wonder if it wasn't made of something besides cloth. His golden eyes blazed with triumph as you took a step back as he took one forward. The sound of the ice around you cracking just made Pitch grin more.
"Pitch..." You whispered, eyes wide with your fear.
"Such a nuisance you have been, ever since that crazy aunt of yours gave you that dream catcher. I have to applaud her for finding such a tool to deflect my Nightmares, but now that it's gone..." His cruel smile made your skin crawl and you suddenly realize that what you had only suspected was true. The dream catcher had protected you from Nightmares, but now it was with Jack and Jack... well, you didn't know where exactly he'd gone. He hadn't exactly told you, but he had said he'd be back.
"J-Jack will be back any minute with it. He said he would be."
"Did he now? Since when are you the trusting type?" He chortled, moving across the lake now as if it were air. You took a step sideways, hoping that the ice would hold if you just moved that direction instead of backwards. Nope, that ice cracked too and you realized that there was no real way for you to get out of this dream, that you were... wait, it was a dream... wasn't it? Yes... you were back safe at home. You suddenly grinned, catching the shade off guard.
"What are you grinning at?" He asked.
"This is MY dream Pitch. If there's one thing I've learned in the last few years... a dreamer isn't defenseless in their own dream." Pitch frowned, particularly when he noticed that the ice below you had stopped cracking and as you took a step forward menacingly a pair of daggers appeared in your hands. You weren't a novice and the weight of the twin blades was familiar. You'd had plenty of lucid dreams over the years and had come to learned how to harness them and control them to an extent. Your fear gone, you lunged towards the Boogeyman who swerved out of your way.
"Insolent brat!" He spat, a scythe made of dark sand appearing in his hands and he swiped at you, but you blocked the blow and ducked under a second swing to lunge at Pitch again, closing the distance. The two of you dancing with your blades, as skilled as Pitch was, you were no novice with your weapons and easily evaded or blocked the blows he sent your way. After what seemed like a battle that took forever, you finally scored a hit against the shade, your blade slicing along his wrist and he stumbled back, hissing.
"This isn't over... You will regret this _!" He dissolved from the dream, leaving you panting despite that this was your dream. Skilled as you were, you were still just a human and things like dreams were draining. You let the daggers vanish and you stumbled from the lake onto the snow covered bank before collapsing and letting yourself drift into a dreamless sleep. Comforted by the cool snow around you and the knowledge that you had fought, actually fought off Pitch, the Boogeyman, and had driven him off. You smiled a little in your sleep. You weren't so defenseless like most humans. You could fight back.