6 - Promises of the Night's Light

You groan, you had fallen asleep and again the Nightmares had battered at your tired mind. This time you had been too tired to actually fight them off. You'd woken yourself up, your throat hoarse from screaming out the name of the winter spirit who held your heart. You pushed aside the Nightmare, but you felt exhausted still. Jack... please hurry... I don't know how much longer I can fight him off... You think, desperate for something, anything; your pendant still shines with the strength of your belief, but you are desperate to fight against Pitch. You know he's trying to break through your defenses, to break your will or your belief. You knew from his taunts that he meant to break one or the other and you knew too well that your will was beginning to falter even if your belief held strong. A person, even one used to fighting, could only last so long against the onslaught of continuous terror. Even as you wept silently, you felt something slowly stirring in you. It was dark and it offered comfort. It promised to soothe away your hurts if only you would let it. It wasn't from Pitch, you knew that one's touch now, and it wasn't a Nightmare. This darkness existed in you. It came from your fears, from the unvoiced doubts in your mind and with each failure to keep the Nightmares and Pitch out of your dreams, it was growing stronger as you grew weaker. You needed something soon, something to change so that you wouldn't crack under the pressure. There was no doubt in your mind that lessor humans had cracked under the weight of Pitch, that you could hold your own in this endless battle of wits and terror said a lot about you.

You close your eyes, certain that you are imagining things, but there is a soft chime like sound that echoes through the lair. You've been here too long, you decide. The isolation is finally getting to you as you think you hear a voice calling out to you. It isn't Jack or any of the other Guardians, but it is soft and sweet.
_. I am here, please do not give up hope; please hear me.
"I hear you." You mutter, though you have no idea who you are talking to.
Stay strong for just a little longer... it will be over soon. I promise.
You wonder what the strange voice is talking about, but you decide you have nothing to lose by trusting it and although you heave out a sigh, you nod a little as if it can be seen. It seems like an eternity passes before you see Pitch near your cage, he seems irritated this time, you give him a weak smile as it is all you can muster from how exhausted you are.
"This would be over sooner if you just gave me what I want."
"Would it? Because I don't think so." You can hear the weariness in your own voice, as if you'd suddenly grown so very old in the span of time that was now and when you had last spoken to Pitch. Pitch scowls at you.
"If you don't give me what I want, then there's only one other option... we'll see what your precious Jack thinks of you when he sees you bathed in blood." Your heart contracts and you wonder what he had planned. His words were cruelly suggestive and he hadn't spelled it out but you felt the darkness grow in your heart. A darkness that promised Pitch would leave you be if you just gave in. That everything would work out if you listened to it. You didn't want to though, the darkness of your own soul scared you, more than even Pitch did and that one had been around a long time.

You closed your eyes and drifted from the world around you, but at the same time you really weren't falling asleep. You knew your mind was playing tricks on you as you swore you felt the delicate cool touch you'd come to know so well. It wrapped its arms around you and the shackles seemed to disappear, you could almost feel the warmth of a fireplace nearby. You smiled a little, even if you didn't hear his voice you sighed softly. Slipping deeper into the delusion that wrapped around your mind, offering the silent comfort you craved so dearly; the warmth of your snowflake against your chest reminding you that your belief was still as strong as ever. Your body knew that you were still in the cage, but your mind was drifting from it; as if you could soar and so it did. Your mind left your body behind and you couldn't help but feel comforted. At least for a little while. You had no idea that your power was pulsing in waves around you, you were too far gone in your own mind then. The sound of distress from Nightmares didn't reach your ears, nor the cursing of the Nightmare King as you settled yourself happily against Jack. You heard him softly speak at last, his voice seemed distant and at the same time, there was a longing in it that made your heart beat faster.
"_, where are you? How do we get to you? Tell me, please..." Before you could open your mouth to say the scene around you seemed to shift and change. You heard Jack's sharp intake of breath as before you both was the dark cave only a few feet from Jack's lake. You couldn't see the lake, but you found yourself standing in the entrance while Jack seemed to hover before you, out of your reach. His eyes went wide then he seemed to settle down, he tried to reach out to you but some sort of barrier seemed to keep you apart. Still, he smiled, his gaze reassuring.
"Thank you, _ I will find you. I promise." After a moment you snapped back when pain slammed against your head.

You barely register that Pitch was standing over you, he had smacked you and hard enough that you could only gaze up at him for a moment before you sank into the dreamless abyss of unconsciousness. When you came to you didn't feel a hint of surprise that you were chained to a table. You knew where you were too, you'd heard the soft whispers from before that had comforted you.
It is nearly complete. Be strong little moonbeam.
You blinked in confusion, that was the nickname your mother had once used. You'd never really thought twice about it, but the voice that spoke to you now wasn't your mother's. You looked up to see the moon, you were in a clearing in a forest. Pitch was before you, ranting about how helpless the moon was.
"You can't save her old friend. Your precious little night warrior is about to meet her end and even your Guardians won't be in time." He sneered. You felt your heart beat faster, would it hurt? Oh you had no doubt where you were now. Salem, the city known so infamously for its witch hunts. You glanced over to Pitch and saw a gleam of satisfaction, you would have struggled, but you didn't have the energy anymore. Still, you refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing you beat. You met his gaze defiantly when it flickered down to you.
"Ah, all the better... they are here too..." Pitch moved to the other side of you and you heard the shouts of the voices you'd come to know as a battle raged nearby; the Guardians had found you and they were trying to fight their way to you. North cut through the horde of Nightmares that danced around him, Sandy's golden whips dismantling any Nightmares near him while Tooth took them down with her wings as you remembered when you had been captured. The memory of your capture flashed briefly in your mind as Nightmares fell apart from Tooth's wings.

~~~~~~~~~~

You had been walking around the pole with Jack. The two of you were enjoying the solitude that it offered without going too far from the others. It was a moment the two of you were all too happy to share. Jack didn't like being cooped up in the workshop even though it had been his idea to keep you here after you'd told them about your fight with Pitch. The Guardians had agreed that you would be safer here than anywhere else. They had all thought so, even you had thought it until the sound of a Nightmare's cry from the darkening sky had broken your enjoyment. Jack had mumbled an oath and then it had happened all too quickly for you to really remember what had actually happened in that short span of time. Your mind having trouble keeping up with everything as Nightmares had swarmed the place, yetis had set up the alarm and you remembered seeing Tooth flying out of the workshop to cut down Nightmares with her brilliantly flashing wings, several little teeth doing the same as a single unit. Sandy had produced several dream horses to trample the Nightmares while he'd brandished whips made from his dreamsand. North had burst from the workshop behind you and had not hesitated to stand with you between him and Jack to beat back the Nightmares that got too close to you. You wanted to help, but you weren't sure how. You remember thinking maybe there was something in the workshop that could help and fled inside the door North had left open as Jack's ice shattered a Nightmare. Before you could find anything you'd heard the triumphant cackle of Pitch and yelped as a shadow swallowed you from below.
"_!" Jack cried out as he reached for you, you were helpless as you fell from the winter spirit's reach. Your conscious mind fell from you as you slammed into something hard. When you awoke you'd realized that what you'd hit was a cage and you were now shackled to it.

~~~~~~~

Ice burst apart the wall of Nightmares and Jack sped towards you, but even as you watched you knew he wouldn't make it in time. Pitch laughed, but you didn't tear your gaze away from the speeding winter spirit.
"_!" You heard Jack's cry just before you jolted as a dagger of sand was plunged into your heart. You felt a searing pain spread out through you and you knew, without looking, what had happened even as Pitch jerked the dagger from you. You felt blood pooling beneath you and covering you; several drops from the dark sand dagger dripped down onto your neck. You felt what little energy you had left begin to leave your body.
"Nooooooooooo!" Jack's painful cry resonated within you. Pitch cackled as he moved to take the winter spirit head on. You could only watch as Jack fought desperately against the Nightmare King, bent on destroying him to get to you. Your vision slowly became hazy and you felt the soft caress of the moon, you closed your eyes as you heard its comforting whisper.
Soon child... soon. You've done so well...
So this was death... it was the last thought that came to mind before your conscious mind drifted away. You felt peaceful. You weren't sure why, but you trusted the voice that had whispered promises to you.