I sincerely apologies for the lack of updates. Been having motivation issues, mostly because I feel people lost interest. But some others told me that they weren't and that helped a little. I'm feeling a little run-down with other work and I hope the next chapters will have a little more good feel to them as they are where everything starts to add up. It'll be tricky but I hope I can pull off what I have in mind.

Again, thanks for your patience and I apologies if the next chapter doesn't come soon.

Chapter 16: The Black Forest

The first thing that came to Jo was the tightness in his chest.

Then the slithering, rustling sound of sand all around him; terrifyingly familiar. His head was bowed and he was drenched in a cold sweat; his once silvery suit stained with blotches of black upon its now dark grey fabric. His hair fell past his face, wispy and lifeless.

He spotted his bare, stiff toes below him. Coiled around his ankles was black sand, holding him in the air like floating chains. His whole body aching and stiff as an old door, Jo tugged his arms feebly, finding his next assumption to be true: they were restrained as well, slightly higher than level with his shoulders and letting him hang dejectedly.

It was grey and dull around him; the only light (if it could be called so) reflected off the sand itself, making it impossible to tell whether he was inside or not. More than a yard away was total darkness, from which rivers of thick, oozing sand twisted and threaded around him, slowly, as if keeping guard.

He tugged again on his restraints, teeth barred and hissing. Perfect. Fine and dandy.

"I thought you liked sand, Jo."

The voice was quiet, though hostility laced it like frost. He raised his head, only to end up shaking it. A dizzy feeling was making him feel ill. Around him the sand grew restless and shifted closer to him.

He finally managed to blink his eyes back into focus, and there, standing back among the darker shadows, among the sand, was Ducky.

Though something was horribly wrong.

Her feathers seemed darkly and sharper; her frightening eyes blazing in the darkness around her like fire. Her pale face seemed less adorned with feathers; colourless and bony. She stared at him half-lidded eyes and an equally dark expression, the reasons why unreadable.

"...You. What...did you want?" Jo kept calm and cold, trying to think logically as he usually did, unlike a certain winter sprite. Yet his heart had begun pounding. The rest of him wanted to run. The mortal side still remaining wanted him to flee from the monsters...

He screwed his eyes shut and tugged at the restraints, but they tightened into vice-like grips so much that he gasped. He shot a glare back at her, breathing through his teeth. His skin seemed to burn.

"I don't know what you are. It's clear I didn't know WHO you are, either." He rasped, "But let me go. You don't understand..."

"The Nightmare King will cover the world in darkness and spread nightmares and chaos." She spoke lowly and without any happiness. "I don't really care, though. He is...nothing to me."

Jo suddenly felt as if there were hundreds of eyes on him. The sand drifted closer; closing in on them. His chest felt as tight as the bonds on his ankles and wrists. His hair stood on end.

Fearlings...?

"D-ducky..." Now he spoke with a cracked voice, "This isn't you, is the fearlings, they-"

The sand flew to his lips and rammed them shut- but not too harshly. The girl stared up at him, eyes seeming to become a little more alert to his panic. Less hostile.

"The fearlings...me...it's all I am, I guess. I thought I was...something." She raised a hand to her face, covering her eyes and screwing them shut as if in pain. Then they snapped open and the fingers slipped away, and any hope Jo had of getting through to her had melted when the glint blazed behind them.

A ghost of a smile appeared on white teeth and she tilted her head. "Do you remember things, Jo? Things you looked so desperately for. You know...sometimes things are best left forgotten. "

Suddenly fury fell upon her, her feathers flared and her fingers curled into fists, her voice sharp and trembling,

"Maybe people would be happier."

The sand shook all around them, and Jo felt the restraints tighten. He almost wailed in pain but jammed his mouth shut.

"N-no...I wanted to remember. I couldn't handled it if I didn't." Jo spoke hastily, "I don't know who you are or why you're doing this...but Ducky..."

"I'M NOT DUCKY!"

He was jerked down like a doll, speeding downwards and then being tugged back up his whole body lurching horribly. He gave a strangled yelp as his head lolled back, mind swimming as the sand went into spasms around him. Breathing heavily, he heaved his head back to face her, as she now stood just in front of his face.

Those eyes, so familiar...

"I have no name." She sounded so...lost yet angry. Jo felt torn. Furious for what she was doing but his heartstrings pulled.

"I'm sure you do... "

He turned away from him. The shadows seemed to close in on him as she did. Once again he struggled to no avail. "You have to understand-"

"I'm sick of just accepting and understanding." She snapped, straightening up. Her back still to Jo she continued, "It's time for something to actually happen."

And she vanished, leaving Jo alone.

Anguish crept towards the room where the Guardians had been. His shadow form slid across the wall and through the window. He glanced at the sleeping boy, Jamie he believed, who remained sprawled out on his bed where they left him. He gave a sigh and made his way back to the window, satisfied nothing had happened to the bystander.

Little did the masked spirit know, a little girl had crawled into the room and had just discovered a pretty sphere, that had rolled out of North's pocket earlier. She picked it up and, noticing the rabbit toy on her brother's shelf, she hopped up and down.

"Bunny Bunny, Hop Hop!"

Anguish whirled around as a portal conjured itself in the air. Brown eyes wide as dinner plates, he could only stare in horror as the girl toddled into the bright, and very shadow free land.

The portal closed before he could even attempt to get near. He stared at the wall where it had been, his thin body rigged.

"...Oh Dear."

Jack knew he should have paid attention when Bunny tapped his foot on the ground like that. A second later the ground parted beneath everyone's feet and they tumbled downwards. For a moment Jack panicked- but then whooped when they began sliding down them like a roller-coaster. North, comically like Bunny on the sleigh, looked startled.

They flew out into a bright light; and the next thing Jack knew was that he'd fallen face down in warm, soft...grass?

"Huh?" He raised his head. A looming rock with a wide face carved into it looked down at him. Then, the egg-shaped boulder's head swiveled around to look at something else. Jack stared up at it dumbly.

"Okay...that's a lil' weird..."

Bunymund's voice drew his attention, and he looked over to see him standing in front of the disoriented group, looking quite proud. Two more living rocks stood on either side of him, heads spinning. Jack raised a brow.

"Welcome to the warren!"

North and Tooth where standing now, the large man dusting himself off with a slightly irritated voice, "Quite an exciting entrance, Bunny..."

Anguish had transported to the warren as quickly as he could possibly go. Granted it exhausted him but this was certainly not the kind of thing meant to happen- that is a little mortal wandering into one of the Guardian's realms.

He shuddered a little and stumbled against a tunnel wall towards the light; finding it a little difficult. He wasn't used to such brightness. And this was also strange enough since it was underground.

"Eggies!"

Anguish spotted the mad mop of hair bouncing towards a clutter of eggs, that scuttled- yes, scuttled- like wingless birds from the toddler and fled from her outstretched hands. Anguish shook his head.

So that's how these thing got around. He never really stayed long enough to find out, not that he came here often...

"...Oh Dear."

He found himself stuttered this again when he spotted some figures below the ledge he now stood on; on the other side of the tunnel that the tiny girl was herding the terrified eggs into. Anguish watched with slumped shoulders, hopeless. He raised one hand as if subconsciously hoping to prevent the inevitable.

"Eeeegiiies, heehee!"

Poor Anguish. He just can't get anything to go to plan here XD