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He had followed her from the cave staying in the shadows. Pitch entertained no illusion that he had hidden his presence from her. Her eye, though, was not the one he sought to avoid. Regardless, he slithered along in the recesses, making his home in the voids of light that lined her path. Sneering when she reached her quarry, the king of nightmares could hardly keep from goading the haughty spirit as she turned her face from Jack. His chuckle was transported as a whisper on the wind.
Hearing the sound, Jack had risen from his reclined position, hovering stationary as he turned about to find the source. Pitch's eyes narrowed as he considered the options available to him. Gathering the closest shadows about him as a cloak, he began to rise. A clawed hand reached toward him, halting his advance. Curious, he kept his place, watching intently as she walked forward, chuckling deeply.
"A bit jittery, Jack?"
The ice wielder floated down to the earth. His staff began to lose its bright blue glow as he lowered it to his side. "I thought I heard … Nevermind."
Pitch allowed a grin to stretch over his face. It seemed her purposes were best suited in maintaining his secrecy – at least for the time being. Slinking back into the shadows, he watched the pair converse.
"You know, I've been thinking." She made a noncommittal hum which the young guardian took as encouragement to share his thoughts. "It's always winter somewhere in the world."
She walked a ways away from him, looking over her shoulder when he did not follow. "True." She let the lone word hang in the air as she turned from him once more, making her way through the streets of the town.
Pitch's eyes narrowed as he watched the two leave, Jack still spouting some nonsense he did not fully understand. The words became more of a murmur the further the two ventured from him. Let her have her game, the nightmare king thought. He had no complaints if her machinations kept the guardian occupied. Pitch would even help her directly if she proved to be able to sway Jack. For the time being, though, he knew too well that he needed to stay hidden. No matter how betrayed the ice wielder felt by the children of the world, he still would not side with an enemy that would see an end to him.
He could not help but be somewhat upset at his friend's continued absence. He had begun to think of Jack as more than just a friend, which made the departure harder to bear. Despite his feelings on the matter, Bunnymund had done his best not to allow the others to see just how betrayed he felt himself. He supposed it had been inevitable. Jack had spent more years at odds with him than they had been friends, and their friendship had been somewhat tenuous at first. Those facts did not diminish his anguish.
The pooka pushed his hurt from his mind once more, returning his focus to the field in which he had been kneeling. He had felt like an idiot when he realized that he had been allowing them to work far harder than they possibly had to so that they could at least determine their enemy's location. Once he recalled that his affinity with the spring gave him an unparalleled insight into the growth patterns of the world around him, he had felt truly stupid for allowing them to travel all night without respite.
Though he had not complained, the journey had certainly been a hardship on Sandy. Toothiana likewise had not fussed about the strain on her ever-continual tooth collection. It was good of both of them to indulge him. The pair assured him that it had not been their intent – that if they had remembered it before him, they would have reminded him of the unique facet of his guardianship. Regardless, the moment he had recalled, he jumped from the side of the airplane they were using for travel. His departure set the craft off-balance as his jump to the earth below dissolved the wing on which he had been riding.
Watching the plane begin a rotational spin as it fell had been mildly amusing. The next time they pestered him about his abhorrence of various forms of travel – specifically North's magic tunnels – he fully intended to remind them all of the rather boisterous complaints that echoed through the English countryside.
Once everyone was safely on the ground, he had wasted no time explaining what he needed from the dream weaver in order to make best use of his own special gift. Sandy had nodded vigorously, opening a special bag of his dream sand. Sticking his hand inside, the silent guardian pulled out a handful of the dust, sprinkling it liberally over the lagomorph's hand to make certain it would function as expected. He smiled, waggling his eyebrows animatedly as an image of Jack formed above the rabbit's hand.
Bunnymund had blushed, dumping the dust to the earth and dusting off his hand quickly. Kneeling next to the fallen particles, he concentrated before placing his paw in the center of the pile. The edges of the dust began to swirl, changing shape to form the map of England. Standing over him, the dream guardian sprinkled more of the sand, watching as the previous image seemed to contract to a more precise area of the land.
Several minutes and a great deal more sand after he had started the endeavor, the hare had managed to form a viewable map comprising the area of land affected by whatever enemy they were sure to face at the root of this problem. Sandy had called his attention back to the task at hand at least twice. Bunny had scowled both times, as Jack's face had appeared within a specific section of the map. Once the endeavor was finished, though, the group found themselves staring at the map of the barren land.
Studying it for several minutes, the rabbit furrowed his brow, certain that something was wrong with the composition of the dream sand.
"Eh, Sandy?" The dream guardian formed a glittering question mark. "Why does the sand keep shifting outward?" The single mark turned into several as Sandy floated above the map to get a better look. As he watched, the borders of the map spread to the edges of the dust before reconfiguring the map, stretching beyond the area the hare had provided.
Standing over his shoulder, North offered his own observation. "Is possible it is getting worse?"
"Crikey, mate!" The lagomorph had jumped at hearing the Russian so close. His booming laugh filling the air, the Christmas spirit allowed himself the brief moment of levity. Shaking his head, Bunny smiled. "You do have a point, though – and it's a scary thought. We need to get to the bottom of this quickly. Because if that is the reason, this evil is growing too quickly."
Her hummingbird wings fluttering behind them, Tooth flitted in circles as she whirled over the group. Coming to rest on a tuft of air directly behind Sandy, she leaned over the dream guardian's shoulder. "We should head for the center, then. North, can you open a portal to that spot?" Punctuating the question by pointing to the middle of the map, her tone brooked no argument. In all of the centuries that the four had known each other, the three male spirits could count on one appendage the number of times that they had seen Tooth irate. As the Russian prepared a magic orb for their journey, they exchanged glances.
Tossing the orb, North watched intently as the guardian of memory flew headlong into the tunnel before it was fully formed. Bunnymund watched the other two follow her a bit more sedately, giving one last look to the icy earth beneath his feet. Hopping along behind them, he spared a thought for whoever was behind this problem. They would certainly regret messing with Toothiana by the time she had finished with them.
She had quickly become bored of his rambling. If her plan did not rely on his participation, she would have encased him in his own ice. Her temper was fraying quickly, and she knew well the reason. Her energies were waning. As she had spent the previous night entirely in his company, she had not taken the time to replenish herself. The daylight prevented her from sating her hunger, leaving her to relegate her most necessary task to someone she disdained greatly.
Having no choice in the matter unless she wished to starve another night, she had covered for the nightmare king when he had nearly given himself away. She had been tempted to allow him to do so. The only reason she had refrained was because the young guardian knowing of his nemesis' presence did not serve her purpose. She needed him weary but not yet broken. A fight with Pitch could send him in either direction of the emotional gamut, a risk she was unwilling to take.
A spirit can only take so much trial, though, and she had reached the end of her endurance as he asked once more why she could not simply be happy traveling on the wind and allowing it to take her to harbor wherever winter might be. Finally she spun on her heel to face him, her hood falling back and showing him her face, more hideous in her anger.
"I am bound to this land. I am only whole in winter, and – for now – I am stuck here in England." Even in her rage, she tempered herself, preventing her identity from becoming known to him too soon. He had asked her name, and she had delayed giving him one twice while changing the subject the other three times he had inquired. His reaction to this small revelation was somewhat unexpected.
"Well, let me help free you. What keeps you here?"
No doubt the boy had heard the same legends as are told to all of the mortal children, with djinn being bound to lamps and leprechauns to pots of gold. She dared not play her hand too quickly. If she revealed her binding, he could know her identity, and where he now looked at her disfigurement with pity, he would come to see it as a just penance for her crimes. Keeping her own counsel, she waved off his concern.
"It is of no import. I am happy merely to enjoy this winter, however long it lasts." She smiled as those words elicited the desired reaction from him, a cool blast of air wrapping around her like a soothing blanket, snow falling to cover her path. "I do tire, though, Jack."
He nodded, making mention of visiting some children as he headed off into the darkness.
Once he had vanished, the shadows to her right began moving towards her. "I had thought he never would leave."
"I need him, Pitch." The nightmare king allowed the shadows to melt away from his form, his disgust and surprise both evident on his features. "I can't break him yet – he hasn't done what I require. When he's broken, you can have him. I'll have no use for him then."
An unholy light gleamed in Pitch's gaze as he considered the possibilities of her promise. He had once offered Jack the opportunity to join him. The potential of their abilities together was enormous, but the young idealist had refused him, rebuffed him in the most brusque way. No matter how correct he had been in his judgment of character, the nightmare king had been highly insulted that the winter guardian would choose to accept a life among those boring do gooders than to journey the world with him, having fun and creating a special kind of chaos wherever they roamed.
He welcomed the opportunity to demonstrate for the guardian just how poorly he had chosen. Using his shadows to hide his companion, Pitch mused over the many options that would soon be available to him, a malicious smile covering his face as he joyfully imagined each of the numerous choices. With the plenitude of possibilities playing before his mind's eye, he took little notice of the fact that he was being used as his shadows moved them to the neighborhood he had chosen for her.
Moving through the cover of darkness, she made her way to the nearest house with a child in residence. She did not bother with the front door, instead tapping on the child's window. As the young girl peered out into the night, her innocence captivated the malevolent spirit. Her evil smile covered by the shadows in which she hid, she tapped the window again with her talons, their long, yellowed form obscured by the lack of light.
The girl opened the right hand pane slowly, waiting for the gust of winter wind that greeted them all too frequently during the day. Not feeling the bitter chill she had expected, she opened the window wide. She placed her hands on the sill, pulling her small body halfway through the frame as she took in the night air. Her eyes were closed as he basked in the rare moment of calm. Of late, the wind had not ceased blustering, and she was taking care to bask in the brief respite. Too late, she realized her mistake.
Gnarled fingers grasped her arms tightly, yanking her the rest of the way through the window. Her shriek of surprised terror quickly turned into a choked gasp for air as the breath was stolen from her lungs. Her eyes widened with knowledge of her attacker a scant moment before they rolled back into her head as she lost consciousness. The dull roar of her blood being pumped through her small body was the last sound she heard as her heart beat its last.
Hearing the smacking sounds a little distance away, Pitch approached the shadow in which he knew his companion hid. He hissed at her as he sensed the change within the house. The girl's mother woke and ran to the room, shrieking as she saw the window open. Moving back, the nightmare king took his shadow with him, leaving his companion visible to the matron of the house. As the woman reached the window, she stared out into the blackness of the night, able to clearly see the blue-tinged skin of her daughter's attacker.
Screaming echoed through the alleyway before the woman slammed the window closed, leaving her daughter's dead body to lie on the pavement until morning. Her shouts of terror could be heard clearly even through the walls of the home.
"I told her not to tempt the witch! No! My Abby!" Her wails were music to Pitch's ears as he knew that she would have many nightmares. Her misery would fuel him for a good while. "Black Annis stole my poppet!"
The witch in question strolled sedately down the street, uncaring of who saw her. The light meal had sated her for the moment. Pitch's broad smile was the only thing visible in the alley once she departed, the ethereal glow from her skin making the human streetlamps seem dim by comparison.
"Soon, Jack. You'll see how much better it is this way. Then you can be like me."