"What do ya mean the kits left?!" demanded Aster, glaring at Mother Nature. The remaining members of the Big Five were locked up and chained to the walls of a large cell, leaving four available spaces. Mother Nature was locked into a hanging cage nearby, significantly weakened by the nightmare assault.
"I went back to check on them after you left and I heightened the defences." She said. "They got to my snow globes and disappeared. I think they went back to Santoff Claussen. Joy wasn't taking Jack's death well. I was going to head after them, but then Pitch attacked. I sent the last of my forces to Tooth's palace and called the other seasons before they captured me. They're looking for them now. Don't worry, they're smart kids, especially Hunter. They'll keep each other safe."
"Don't count on it." All heads turned to see Pitch, nightmare sand twisting around a squirming calico Pooka kit, tears in her terrified green eyes. None too gently, Pitch threw Emma into the guardian's cage, sand binding her with chains in the process. Aster saw red, seeing small cuts on his little girl, a low growl building in his throat.
"Daddy!" Emma, tripping over the chain around her left hind leg, bounded over to her Father, pressing herself as deep into his fur as she could go. He pushed his rage aside for a moment, instead sniffing over Emma, checking her small injuries.
"Attacking us is one thing." Hissed Tooth, still strong thanks to her mini fairies collecting the teeth for her. "But a child?! This is low Pitch, even for you."
"Oh, don't fear that." Growled Pitch. "Soon, all but one of them will be joining you. Now, whichever one that is…You may want to plan the funeral, rabbit."
"If ya so much as TOUCH a hair on my kits' heads, I will personally rip ya to shreds you bloody-" Pitch laughed, prowling about the cage.
"Nice try, rabbit, but you know as well as I do that's not going to happen." Chuckled Pitch. "You are going to help me take control of Jack Frost's powers, whether you like it or not. Only three more ingredients, and even Man in the Moon cannot stop me!" Mother Nature narrowed her eyes.
"What happened to your hand, Pitch?" she asked. "Couldn't escape from a bunch of Pooka kits unharmed?" The guardians stared at his missing fingers, eyes wide in shock.
"They stand no chance. Nobody can defeat fear."
"Liar!" said Emma, glaring at Pitch from the safety of her Father's arms. "Hunter chopped off your fingers, cause he's not scared of you! NONE of us are scared of you! And when my big brother and sister get you you're gonna cry like a little baby while they beat ya to a bloody pulp!" Aster smiled at Emma's bravery, even though she shook like a leaf. Just like Jack, she wasn't giving an inch. The thought was both a comfort, and sent a wave of pain through his already beaten and broken chest, hear clenching in sorrow and anger. Pitch stalked off, leaving the spirits to themselves. Aster noticed Emma was tugging at his fur, big green eyes looking up at him.
"He's a liar." She said.
"He is, but what makes ya think that?" asked Aster, still hugging his daughter tightly.
"Cause he said you and Mommy don't love us." She said, sniffling. "He said lots of mean things. He said Mommy wants to kill us and that you wished we weren't born, and you don't care about me, Nick or Rose cause we don't have any special powers like Hunter or Joy and-" Aster felt a fresh flare of rage as she listed off the insults, but quickly stored it away for later. Like when he ripped Pitch from the face of the Earth and beat the bogey out of the bogeyman.
"Smart little sheila." He said, nuzzling his daughter's head. "Yer Mother loved ya-"
"Nuhuh." Said Emma, shaking her head. "Mommy LOVES me, not loved!"
"Sweetheart, Jack is dead." Said Tooth soothingly. Emma furrowed her brow.
"Then why was he talking to Mommy when we got to Santoff Claussen?" she asked. "Cause he was talking to the sand and called it Mommy's name!" Sandy jumped, symbols going a mile a minute above his head.
"Slow down!" said North. "We can't understand." Sandy face palmed, and symbols formed slowly above his head.
Jack was absorbed, not killed. He's in the sand! Bunny couldn't move, a small blossom of hope beginning to grow in the black hole Jack's death punched in his heart.
"The blue flecks…" mused North, chuckling.
"Wait…" All eyes turned to Mother Nature. "No…This is bad…so very bad…"
"What?" asked Aster, struggling to stand on his broken leg.
"I think I know what Pitch is going to do." She said. "Sandy, you remember the last time he tried this. It was with Cupid. He absorbed her and reformed her in the forest she was born. Eight people, eight nightmares. It turned her into…something else…we had to take her out entirely. It took YEARS to repair the area."
"Cupid's a boy." Said Tooth.
"This was before most of your time." Said Mother Nature. "He wanted Cupid's powers over emotion, the first Cupid. He absorbed her into his sand at took four spirits and buried her in the garden she was born from. The worst nightmares of the eight are brought out in the ritual, and they taint the victim. Her soul was completely destroyed, but she turned evil as Pitch. He's planning to reform Jack into his minion!"
"Over my dead body." Growled Aster. Joy shifted, tugging at her right leg wrap. She pulled something out and gave it to Aster. Aster opened his paw and saw the diamond snowflake necklace he had given Jack before Hunter was born, a bit of nightmare sand stuck to the chain and a small dent in one of the branched, most likely from the fall, but otherwise undamaged. He looked at the pendant, feeling the little hope blossom grow a bit.
"I grabbed it when he caught me." She said. "Now, it won't get lost! Cause, then when we get Mommy back, he can have it and be happy, cause you know it's his favorite!" Aster fastened the silver chain around Emma's neck, the sparkling pendant bright against a white patch of her fur.
"Ya hang onto it." said Aster. "So it doesn't break when I kick Pitch's mangy arse into the next millennium." Emma nodded and hugged her Father tightly, refusing to let go. Aster looked worriedly at the other three chains, wondering which one of his children would hopefully escape unharmed, and which three would be joining them in the cages.
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"Good job Nick!" exclaimed Joy, ignoring the pain in her leg as the four popped up in Peru.
"Tunnel! Dig, dig, dig!" replied Nick, clapping from his perch on Rose's back.
"Now what?" asked Hunter, sniffing the air.
"Daisy! Jesse! I found them!" The kits looked up to see a red haired woman, her hair cut into a spiky bob, brown eyes looking down on them with strong relief flying about with a staff similar to their Mother's, only this one had a few branches with red, yellow and orange leaves. "Report immediately!"
"Who are you?" called Rose as the woman landed in front of them.
"Autumn Harvest." She said, saluting. She was dressed in red skinny jeans and a long yellow top. She had an orange half hoodie that only covered her upper torso, the hood pulled back. In her hair were two apple hair clips, a pair of yellow converse on her feet with orange striped socks peeking over the top. "Or, just plain old Fall to most. We've never met, but your Mother and I bump into each other every years, get into the usual fight. Both of us are territorial, it's not pretty. Lets not go into details. Quite the buzz about you now. Half the spirit world is looking for ya."
"Why?" asked Joy.
"Well, for one Mother was flipping her lid about you vanishing, and more or less threatened Daisy, Jesse and I with death if we didn't search, the reports of Pitch Black kicking the Big Five's asses, and the rumor where Frosty is dead-"
"That's why we need your help!" said Hunter. "Mom isn't dead. Pitch absorbed him into the sand-" Fall paled.
"WHAT?!" she squeaked, grabbing Hunter and shaking him. "Do you know what happened the last time Pitch absorbed any spirit besides the Sandman?!" The kits shook their heads, Hunter pulling himself out of the stranger's grasp.
"What happened?" asked Joy.
"The cupid we all know now is the second Cupid." She shuddered. "He took eight spirits, put them in a nightmare, and used the malicious energy and fear to re-form the poor girl as his minion. Look, I don't like your Mom but…Mother Nature, Old Man Winter and Sandy had to actually kill her. Her soul was destroyed!"
"Oh, thank the rain!" said a gentle voice from above, another girl holding a staff with vines and flowers hovering above, descending to the ground followed by a boy with a smoldering staff. The girl had sunny blond hair held back with a pink ribbon and pale skin with big blue eyes like the sky. She wore a pink sundress with a white shrug and, like their mother, went shoeless. Butterflies and flowers sprung up around her, the insects seemingly drawn to her like a spring flower. The boy was wearing board shorts and a short-sleeved hoodie, rainbow spiked hair peeking out from under the hood, tanned skin showing and wild piercings everywhere. He tilted down his sunglasses and looked at the kits.
"THIS is what the fuss is about?" he snorted. "A couple of little bunnies?"
"Guys, this is bad." Said Autumn. "Pitch is repeating the Cupid incident with Frosty."
"Mom's name is Jack, actually." Piped Hunter.
"What?!" whispered the blond, eyes wide like a startled doe. "Jesse, this isn't good! I know you don't like Jack, but we can't let it happen again!"
"Frosty has been fine for three hundred years before he got involved with the guardians." Snorted Jesse, staff smoking. "Who cares?"
"I don't like the walking icicle either but you KNOW the balance will be thrown off. If the balance is thrown, all of us die, and then no more seasons you pig headed fool! Besides, HELLO! We may not be guardians, but we DO try and keep the kids safe! Theres supposed to be FIVE of them! What do you think happened?! That one had black blood on him! It's obvious Pitch is targeting them!"
"All the more reason NOT to get involved." Huffed Jesse. "Sorry, but I'm not putting my ass on the line for stupid Frosty." All eyes turned to Nick as he sniffed, fresh tears brimming in his eyes.
"M-M-Mama…" he whimpered.
"Come on ya prick!" hissed Autumn. "You're basically saying you won't let a little kid see their Mother again! You're making the little cutie CRY!" Both girls gave him a pleading face. Finally Jesse sighed.
"Fine." He huffed. "But you two are leaving me alone for the next half century in return!" Both girls nodded, Joy smiling brightly.
"Bad idea." Rasped a familiar voice, black sand shooting out of the shadows. "Stay out of this. Those kits are MINE." Hunter drew his sword, turning around to cover Rose and Nick.
"How did you find us?!" demanded Joy, Autumn, Jesse and Daisy taking a defensive stance as the black sand lashed out like a cobra.
"I smell your fear." Cackled Pitch. "So delicious…Now…which one to kill, which three to keep?"
"Stay away from them Pitch." Growled Autumn. "You know harming a child is one of the spirit world's greatest laws."
"I've KILLED children." Laughed Pitch. "What's one compared to another?!" Silently the three seasons exchanged a look, and nodded.
"Hold on." Said Daisy, grabbing Joy's paw while Jesse grabbed Hunter by the scruff of his neck, Autumn taking both Rose and Emma.
"You think a little touch circle can-"
"SCATTER!" yelled Autumn, all three spirits launching into the sky with their cargo. Rose screamed, bringing their attention to a swarm of nightmares lunging into their path, Pitch laughing maniacally.
Joy felt searing pain as a hoof ripped into her shoulder, Daisy pushing through the dark cloud with all the strength she had, flames licking about as Jesse tried to fight his way through as well, gusts of wind trying to clear a path for Autumn. Daisy cried out as she was struck by a nightmare, more bumping into them Joy felt the pain stop as her paw slipped from Daisy's hand. The last thing she heard before plunging into the water was her sibling's screams and Pitch's laughter, her head colliding with a rock, her Mother's staff slipping from her paw.
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"I have wonderful news!" cackled Pitch, hitting the cage harshly and waking the guardians. "Say hello to your new room mates!" The nightmares dragged in Rose and Hunter, Rose holding Nick tightly and as far as she could from the nightmares, the sand chaining all three to the wall. Rose was shivering, Nick sleeping in her arms, Hunter not seeming to notice the chains locking around his hind paw, black blood staining his fur.
"Rose!" Emma all but jumped on her twin, careful of Nick, but soon she backed away from their demeanor. She looked at her older brother, who merely sat with his back pressed against the cage bars. "Guys…what's wrong?"
"Sad you didn't take my advice, rabbit." Chuckled Pitch, smiling wickedly at Aster. "How about this for the tomb stone? Joy Bunnymund, yet another bunny too stupid to learn how to swim." Rose let out a choked sob, hugging Emma tightly while Aster lost all feeling.
"Joy-"
"Dead, dead, dead, dead, DEAD!" laughed Pitch. "And such a lovely parting gift!" Tooth stared in horror at Jack's staff, almost black with nightmare sand from Pitch's touch.
"No…" whispered Tooth, Bunny unable to breathe.
"Yes." Cackled Pitch. "Tomorrow, there is no moon. Tomorrow, the power of winter shall be mine to control!" The sobs of Mother Nature and the two kits rang through the air with Pitch's laughter, the nightmares whinnying with Pitch, the unearthly sound making the blood curdle in stranger's veins.