Chapter 8

Ember had just started to nod off at Pitch's lair; her head was heavy and her body craved the rest to rejuvenate her injuries. She found her eyelids heavy, but every time she closed them, she could hear her… her screaming, her pleading, and the roar of the fire. It kept Ember awake; the memories plaguing her sleep kept her tense and exhausted.

The fire spirit knew she could probably have Pitch conjure up a nightmare to block out the memories, but she didn't want to talk with the Nightmare king about the past. If she admitted, she was still being chased by the past… At least she wouldn't have to explain why it continued to haunt her; after all, Pitch had been there at the end.

A Nightmare chose that moment to trot up the stairs to her alcove; it's yellow irises stared down at her. With a smile, she reached up and ran her fingers through the coarse fur along the nape. She knew it wasn't a real horse but a combination of what scared everyone. Still, it felt real… just as nightmares often did.

"When do you plan on enacting your destroy the Guardians' homes?" Pitch asked removing himself from the shadows. He was directly next to the relaxing summer spirit. She audibly sighed; there wasn't any way she was going to get any sleep now.

"Well I was planning on trying to rest, so the next time I face Frost, I am not bumbling around like a child," she hissed. "You injured me far greater than we agreed." The two met in a glare; while it was a partnership born out of necessity, they weren't always in agreement about when to act.

"Perhaps you don't hate Jack as much as you claim to," Pitch said, cocking his head and leaning down a quarter of inch to tower over her more.

Ember felt her body heat up with her rage. "I hate him…" she said glancing up at Pitch. "I assure you there was nothing more I wanted then to make him suffer, but it should show you something that I put your plan over my own."

"Very true," he conceded thankfully before offering the spirit a hand up. She pulled herself back to her feet and smoothed out her skirt. Pitch ran his fingers along the scar on her face. "Look at what he did to you…"

"I'll get them," Ember said pulling away from the touch. She didn't have much feeling left in the burnt portions of her body, but there were sensations… and she didn't like how her body seemingly tingled at the contact. Jack's cold was the first thing she truly felt in full when he touched her. "I just want to do the job right the first time… not another workshop incident."

"If you do need to sleep," Pitch said relaxing his tone, "I can put you asleep."

"Can you give me dreams that aren't about home?" Ember asked showing vulnerability for the first time after so many years.

"I can only give you nightmares," Pitch said taking her arm and leading her towards a room that was off the main staircase. "But as you know, these nightmares won't be as bad as the ones you've already lived."

Ember nodded slowly, "Then knock me out. To beat the Guardians, I must allow my body to recuperate. Sadly sleep is required for that." She let Pitch touch her forehead, and she cringed at the fear of dreaming of the past… and he could smell that all over her.

Once Ember was unconscious in his arms, Pitch placed her on a makeshift bed of nightmare sand. She wouldn't get the best sleep, but it would be sleep nonetheless. Pitch knew of her past, and he knew of the anger that came from it. It was what made her a perfect spirit for his plan; he knew she would never see past the anger especially with the memories of the life she had lived still haunting her. It would fuel her, he was sure of it.

Now Pitch had the time to head to the surface with the fireball asleep and raise some nightmares. With Manny high in the sky, he knew he could do a lot of damage before the Guardians regrouped and did whatever they were planning to do with the new pawn on the board.

Silently, he left his lair reveling in the night air. The Nightmare king took a deep breath of the hot sticky air and closed his eyes. It felt good to be free again; fear should never be contained for that long… and he knew where to get started. He basically glided across the fields and through the forests away from his bed and towards the town of Bugress. A sixteen year old boy was in need of a good nightmare, and Pitch knew that any move against Jack would get Ember back in the mood to burn everything down again.

…

"So this is a good set up for a horror movie," Jack said moving as quietly as possible through the labyrinth that was Pitch's home. They hadn't come across a single shadow that seemed out a place. "Perhaps we should have called ahead to make sure he was home?"

"Jack," Bunny said.

"Yeah Roo?"

"Shut up."

And that effectively ended the conversation as the three of them- North, Bunny, and Jack- looked through the immense base of the Nightmare king. It looked almost abandoned with all the empty cages distorted across the room. Very few still hung in the air; it was nothing like Jack remembered and it was everything he remembered at the same time.

"There's a room over here," North called over to the other Guardians while each of them checked a different route, but they came back together near the Russian with that.

All three of them poked their heads into the room to see Ember passed out and sleeping completely relaxed. They froze in the doorway afraid to make a sound and wake her. They had already seen what she could do after all. Jack raised his staff and pointed to a corner of the room to show the others that she didn't have her bow on her. It was leaned against a wall, and they stopped moving when she shifted to lie on her side.

Ember's burn came into full sight. They had seen portions of it, but with how she was sleeping, every jagged edge of the scar became apparent. It ran up the side of her face, down her neck to go behind her hair while another portion came to rest on her collar bone. Even more was on her stomach, and there was even a burn scar wrapping around her thigh.

"How does one sleep here?" Bunny couldn't help but whisper.

"What should we do?" North leaned towards the others ignoring Bunny's question.

"I could freeze her to the bed?" Jack suggested, and he was half tempted to do it without the other Guardians' agreement. She had almost killed Tooth, North, and Bunny, yet here she was sleeping soundly in a nightmare lair. "But that might key her into us being right here."

"I say you do it anyway," Bunny admitted. North looked at him exasperated. "Not like she doesn't deserve it."

Before they could argue anymore, Ember caught on fire. They for the briefest moment that they had woken her, but after a few seconds, they realized she was mumbling and still sound asleep… and on fire. Jack couldn't help but think back at the workshop when she said it originally was an accident… apparently she was telling the truth.

The room started to heat up, so Jack started to pant. It was unconscious but his powers kicked on to try and lower his core body temperature… and that was when everything went wrong. The moment a cold breeze entered the room, the fire surrounding the sleeping spirit dissipated, and the room fell into total darkness.

"We should have frozen her to the bed," Bunny said realizing what just happened probably wasn't a good thing.

The next thing they were able to see was Ember kneeling in a corner her bow lit up and in hand. She looked absolutely livid, and unconsciously each Guardian took a step back. Ember was absolutely confused and angry. Her body was shaking from the very tension running through each muscle. Glancing from one Guardian's face to the next, she realized she wasn't dreaming, and without meaning to, she broke into laughter. It was horrible timing true, but the situation was just priceless.

"You Guardians are creepers," Ember sighed notching an arrow. "I think a good arrow to your chests should change that."

This seemed to snap the Guardians from their haze, and Jack stepped forward and touched the ground with his staff. It sent a slick ice patch right underneath Ember and kept her from keeping her balance. The room wasn't suitable for a fight, but the two spirits seemed determined.

"Good to see your morals don't keep you up at night," Jack said stepping into the room with the fire spirit. North and Bunny looked ready to join when a Nightmare materialized from nowhere and nailed the two. They collapsed away from the door frame.

"All of us need our beauty sleep occasionally," Ember shrugged standing to face the winter spirit and keeping an arrow aimed at him. She watched his eyes trail across her burns, and that fueled her with rage she hadn't felt in awhile. She knew her burns were pronounced, but the last thing she wanted was for someone, especially the one responsible, to stare at her like that.

Yet Jack chose a comment that was still in character but didn't out right point out Ember's marks. "So does that mean Pitch has been asleep for the last six years then?"

Ember let the arrow loose to nick Jack's shoulder. He hissed at the contact, but it could have been a worse shot. Her eyes narrowed; whatever moment the two had shared in lightness had ended. Ember didn't mind sharing a joke, but she still wanted to see the winter spirit tied up experiencing his own set of nightmares until he had tears running down his cheeks.

"Mind telling me what you're doing here?" she asked lining up another arrow, this one deeper red than the last. She was purposely making her arrows hotter.

"Well you crashed our base, so we decided to return the favor," Jack said raising his staff in defense. She let the arrow loose right at his chest, and he jumped to the side to avoid it. As he did so, she bolted for the door knowing that a room like that was more appropriate for hand to hand combat, and the last thing she wanted was to give him an advantage with that stupid stick of his.

Ember had just stepped into the hall when she had to duck from North's blades cutting through the air. She fell into a roll and went right off the staircase. Floating a few feet out of blade reach, she stared at the three Guardians.

"Where's the other two?" she asked looking around. The three Guardians regrouped and stood at the edge of the drop from the stairs. "I don't think I killed them," she said with a grin, "at least not yet… so did you leave them at daycare or something."

Ice shot out at her, and Ember was forced to fly a bit higher. "Now that wasn't nice," she tsked glaring down at the winter spirit. "Based on your reactions, they aren't here…" Ember briefly hoped that Pitch would get his scrawny butt back here sooner rather than later. She had no problem taking on three guardians, but the missing two were clawing at her mind.

"Where are they?" she asked a bit more demanding this time. Her gaze hardened on Jack, and she knew what button to press. "Either you tell me, or I find that child you're so fond of and I light his entire house on fire with him in it."

"Well look at this house call," Pitch cackled stepping from the shadows behind the Guardians.

…

Tooth fluttered along looking along each wall for that one name Amber Lane. Everything was thankfully kept alphabetical, but there were a lot of L's. She buzzed up and down each column with the help of all her Baby fairies. Sandy was keeping an eye out for anything suspicious… which probably counted the fire arrow streaming at his face. He barely moved in time then tried to signal to Tooth.

"I found it!" she cried in excitement.

"Those aren't yours," Ember hissed appearing from nowhere basically and floating a few feet away from the platform Sandy was on. Pitch was kind enough to send her here while he dealt with the other Guardians. "I'd like them back now," she hissed at the two Guardians.

Chapter 9: Ember fights with Tooth and Sandy to keep them from seeing what's inside… while Pitch gets to see how strong he has gotten over the past few days. The war has just begun, and Ember has every intention of making sure it burns long and hard.

OOC: I hope you guys enjoyed seeing another side of Ember. Yes, she's a villain, but she was human too don't forget. Sometimes, those small pesky emotions peak through the anger; I hope you liked the small bit of humor I threw in-between the action.