OMG SORRY FOR THE LONGEST WAIT EVER. Unfortunately I've been very busy and things aren't going to get any better for updates anytime soon...again, very sorry and I hope you enjoy some of the action in the next chapter.
Please review, and once again, sorry for the slow updates!
Chapter 9: Teeth of White
Mere moments after Jack had departed, trotting after North whilst glaring back at Bunnymund, Tooth had felt something stir in her stomach, and something jerk at her chest. Her breath had caught in her throat, her smaller selves fluttering around her worriedly. Bunnymund was too busy glowering after Jack to notice, and Sandman had already made his way down to the sleigh, sending out Tyzen to look for Jo again. The plan was to use the slay to track him down.
But now Tooth knew something was very, very wrong. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her, drenching her in a freezing chill. Her smile had faded in an instant, and for a few seconds she stood rigid in the air.
Then, flashes. Images flickering through her mind; echoes of the things her little selves were witnessing at the palace. Black, blurred shapes drifting ominously across the lights of her home.
Sandman noticed the look a few moments later, but just as he turned to address her the fairy darted through the air, towards the shaft as quick as a dagger, disappearing into the pale blue sky of the Pole. Bunnymund had taken four steps after her, calling out, but she had paid no heed.
"Tooth! Ey!"
He looked over his shoulder at Sandy, who shrugged in bewilderment, but still held a grave look about him. He knew something was wrong.
Jo threw himself back away from the edge of the boat, prompted by pure instinct upon spotting something dark and blurred speed towards him out of the corner of his eye. Ducky's sharp intake of breath followed his reel, and Hal cursed loudly and pulled at the controls, turning the boat swiftly to the side as they evaded more speeding black forms.
Jo forced himself back onto his knees and look over the side again- and saw something he truly never wanted to see again.
"Nightmares!"
As if on cue, another swept past them, heading to the side of them. Looking up, he saw that a hole massive horde of them were moving through the air like some speeding toxic cloud in the fluffy morning light.
Something sank in his chest, the oh-so familiar clutch of dread catching hold of him. He turned urgently to Hal, who was still directing the boat as best he could to avoid them.
"HAL! You have to follow them! Wherever they're going, we have to stop them-or something!"
Hal turned the boat, and actually flipped it around in the air, and for a second Jo thought they'd fall our as they swept upside down. Miraculously, they remained, but not without He and Ducky yelping in terror whilst Hal cackled like that of a crazed hyena, whooping loudly as they went back on course and sped through the horde, moving alongside them to follow.
Jo's head jerked to look behind them as an ominous screech filled the air, and spotted a Nightmare galloping menacingly towards hm. Barring his teeth, he leaped forward from the boat, throwing a fistful of silver sand towards it before landing back in the boat, watching the foul creature combust like a firework.
Ducky was watching the moving nightmares with an unreadable frown, eyes slightly narrowed. Jo did not have time to wonder about it, though, as another headed towards them from the side. Hal whistled loudly.
"Comin' from the side, Silver boy!"
"Got it!" Jo rubbed his hands together, sprinkles of silver building up like fire from wood. He leaned back, swinging his fistful of sand back before throwing forward as the devilish horse drew close, and the sand hit home.
"There's too many!" He called over the whistled winds, and was about to panic when he had a sudden idea. Placing his fingers to his lips, he whistled loudly.
"Seress!"
Seress was once a nightmare like the creatures hovering about them like a hive of wasps; until Jo had accidentally though fortunately thrown a great bout of silver sand at her. Her form and loyalty had shifted to his; a silver horse with stubbornness that could rival Tyzentray's.
With a large grin, he watched as she sped through the air from nowhere, charging like a fierce rhino towards her dark counterparts and bursting through them like they were made of snow. Her echoing neigh was a comfort in this panic-filled moment.
"Good girl, Seress!" He called, adding to himself in a much quieter manner, "You actually did what I wanted without me giving the order..."
"I have a horsie, but she went to France." Ducky remarked beside him, hopping onto her feet and smiling brightly. Jo blinked at her in surprise.
"You like horses? That's nice. They're sort of my favourite, too."
"Yup. I love my horsie..."
"You two and dose horses." Hal called to them from the front, "Can you destroy some more of the evil guys comin' up to us?"
Jo looked over to the side again and yelped in alarm as another Nightmare sped towards them, one hand shooting our to shove Ducky away as he tried to build up another sand ball- but it wasn't quick enough.
Just as the nightmare was about to collide with him with a deadly force, a bright zap of purple sped from the side and hit the creature, throwing Jo onto his back against the wooden base of the boat, knocking the air from his lungs as the purple-littered black sand drifted harmlessly around him.
His jaw fell open as he looked up at Ducky incredulously, her face a mask of resentment as she stared into the distance at the spot the creature had been. Panting slightly, Jo dragged himself shakily onto his feet.
"Th-Thanks. That was...amazing. How did you do that?" Jo watched her with open curiosity, but she just gave him an oddly blank look. Before he could question again, He heard Hal all back loudly.
"Look!"
Jo turned around quickly, and his breath caught in his thought.
Just ahead of them was Tooth's Mountian- Tooth's Palace, and the teeth. His eyes widened in horror. "They can't reach the palace! I have to get there before them somehow."
Hal's eyes narrowed in rare sincerity. "Me and Duck'll take the boat and hold them off for a long as we can!" He looked over his shoulder at the gaping Jo, "You get inside and block the entrance with all tha' silvery stuff!"
As flaw-sounded the plan was, Jo couldn't disagree. He was not a good planner himself and he doubt he could have come up with anything better. He gave a nod, and Hal pulled down a lever at his side, and a sudden boost in speed almost sent Jo reeling back again. He grasped the wooden side of the boat as they sped towards the mountain and past the Nightmares in a flush of pale blue light.
"Tha' light boost will need chargin' again after this. Get inside!" With that, Hal turned the boat so the side faced the Mountain opening, and Jo leaped from the boat and towards it, looking over his shoulder as the two sped away. He could see Ducky waving.
"Be safe, you two!"
"Bye, Joey!"
His sight of them was obscured by that of rock and stone as he sailed through the air, through the Mountain opening and towards the entrance to Tooth's Palace. He landed on a thin stone bridge just outside the warm, sunlit cavern were the brilliant palace was built, looking so calm and tranquil that it was almost criminal to imaging those things entering.
But, not a moment later, the stain of black flickered in his midst and Jo lifted his hands, gathering bundles of sparking sand in each palm, one leg back as if to steady their force.
A nightmare plummeted through the Mountain passage like a bullet, only to be blasted full force by one of Joe's handfuls. But as the black dust scattered around the place, another swept past his him like a gust of wind, and Jo whirled around in panic, throwing his other handful upon instinct after the dark mare. As luck had blessed him, it hit and the creature burst into harmless fragments.
He dropped his head and looked to the ground, hoping to catch his senses after the sting of panic he felt when the nightmare got past him- but as his eyes travelled over the bridge floor, a horrible feeling drenched him like a bucket of icy water.
His shadow, tall and lean with hair spiked at the back, grew to an abnormal length and drifted along the walls away from him. Jo watched it move, a look of fright frozen upon his face, teeth barred.
A low, menacing laugh reverberated through the sun-kissed palace, and Jo spun around to look behind him, finding nothing but the same sight of Tooth's Palace. But, the Nightmare King's laughter ceased suddenly, and the silence that followed held Jo in a death-grip.
A second passed. Another.
Another.
Then, they were everywhere. The nightmares burst from the shadows, from behind the obscured sights behind towers, from below- and most hauntingly, from behind; where Ducky and Hal had been, were they said they had been holding them off...
The horde of nightmares horses sped past Jo, and brought a gale-like gust of wind along with them. Jo was thrown off balance, crying out in surprise, and a moment later one of them collided with his side and sent the silver spirit hurtling from the bridge and through the air.
Jo's eyes widened in horror as he plummeted down, spiralling in the air as he fell nearer and nearer towards the mountain base- but it wasn't that sight that had him horrified beyond belief- not yet.
As he looked up, he spotted the Nightmares charging towards the tooth towers, and sickeningly, chase after and swallow the fairies.
Jo growled and pulled himself towards the lower wall of Tooth's palace, bending his legs so once they met the cool surface, he bounced right but up towards the fray. The fairies were being chased from the towers and swallowed, and Jo could just make them out- trapped inside the beasts' stomach.
There's no way I'm going to able to get them all- and how will I warn the other Guardians?!
Despite this, he gathered another two fistfuls of sand and threw them like rockets towards two mares, watching them combust and set their captives free. But while one released a bunch of thankful little fairies, the other sent a bundle of metal boxes spiraling downward, where they clattered to a stop onto of one of the towers. Jo swept forward and landed hastily on the roof, crouching down to see what they were- and found that...
"The...Teeth?"
SLAM.
A nightmare had raced towards him at lightning speed and the force of a bull, butting the unsuspecting youth into the air like a rag doll. The air was knocked from Jo's lungs as he flew through the air, eyes screwed shut. Then it happened again as another horse whisked past, hitting Jo in the back this time. His chest and spine aching, he fell downward- and slammed against the cold, hard floor of Tooth's pavilion between the towers, where he lay lifeless.
His head pounding, Jo forced himself onto his hands and knees, a coppery taste coming to his mouth as he struggled to breath. Finally, he forced himself to look up, and watched dizzily as the black mares sped around like poisonous bugs around the palace.
Then, like a final blow a on lion (or in this case, a horse) that was already down , a familiar voice commented through the chaos in a calm, almost conversational manner.
"Quite the sight, hmm? It's been a long time since I felt this powerful, Jo."
Nothing like a cameo horse from 'Of Silver Horses' and Pitch to end the chapter...
Please review or the Nightmares will play ping-pong with you like they did with Jo XD lol Kidding.