Holy damn this chapter is longer than the others. Well I hope you enjoy it. By the way I'd really like to thank all of those who encouraged me after I got some hate on my fanfic. I'm not really good at dealing with it because this is the first fanfic I've written that I've bothered posting and that has gotten this much attention. Please continue to leave reviews. I LOOOOVE THEM. Criticism is welcomed to. Well anyways I'm sleepy so I'm just gonna let you guys read this chapter. Have a happy new year!
WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER: Mentions of blood
The Guardians were struggling in a seemingly endless battle with the newest brand of fearlings. The only advantage they had was that the nightmare wolves didn't have the ability to fly like the stallions did, but they were faster, smarter, and had sharper teeth.
North, though tired from his imprisonment, barreled into the wolves with his fists. Unbeknownst to him a wolf had snuck around him and had pounced into the air, its bared teeth aimed at the back of his neck. North quickly turned as he heard a growl, just before the wolf met his mark North caught a mace midair and slammed it into the wolf's stomach, sending it flying. The wolf fell to the ground with a loud thud and melted into a pile of onyx sand.
"Mangy mutts!" North huffed as he wiped his brow with the sleeve of his velvet coat. "Thank you my friend!" North yelled to the yeti that tossed the mace to him; the yeti shouted back in his garbled language as he slammed his remaining spiked mace into another fearling.
A boomerang sliced through several nightmare wolves, causing them to explode into nothingness before it flew back to its rightful owner. Bunnymund smirked as he caught his boomerang, watching as a pack of at least ten wolves paced towards him.
"That's right just a little closer." Bunnymund whispered as he closed paw around one of his remaining exploding eggs. The wolves were only a few paces away when he chucked the egg at his targets. It exploded on impact and destroyed the nightmares all at once. Bunny reached for another one of his eggs only to realize that there were none left. He glared at the enemies before pulling out the blue crystal from one of his leather holsters, "I didn't want to have to rely on this so much but it looks like I have no choice."
Powerful blue rays burst through the fearlings as the Guardians made slow progress across the bridge. Even though they were equipped with an army of sentinel eggs and yetis armed with maces, they were pitted against hundreds of nightmare wolves.
"Guys I'm running low on ammo and even with MiM's weapon I'm having a hard time keeping up!" Bunny shouted to his fellow Guardians who fought beside him. Sandy nodded in agreement as he glared at the nightmare wolves and whipped them down to nothingness. He too felt exhaustion creeping up on him.
"Something has to give eventually!" North roared as he struck another fearling with his mace.
Bunnymund stopped and looked around, they were still completely surrounded by fearlings and from what he could tell they were only about halfway down the massive bridge that connected Pitch's lair with the world outside. His ears drooped in exasperation as he remembered that they were running out of time to save Jack and Tooth from whatever Pitch was doing to them.
"Bunny, look out!" North shouted.
Green eyes became alert at the Russian's desperate warning. He swiftly whirled around gripping the blue crystal in one paw and grasping one of his boomerangs in the other. North's warnings came too late as a nightmare wolf charged full speed at its prey, growling viciously as it did.
Before Bunnymund could hold out the blue crystal for defense he was slammed to the ground by an unforgiving force. A pack of fearlings followed suit, piling up on the pinned Australian.
Bunnymund struggled with the wolves, his senses overwhelmed by the sound of growling and the sight of black teeth and angry yellow eyes. Pain erupted from one of his feet as a set of teeth clamped down on it.
"Bloody demons! Urgh!" Bunnymund screamed out as it tore at his foot. The army of sentinel eggs and yetis held off the remaining fearlings as North and Sandy attacked the pack of wolves piled on top of Bunnymund.
North ran up to them with the mace held high above his head. He brought it down harshly upon the pile; lifting it up and slamming it back down over and over. "Hang in there, friend!"
Sandy stood further back; letting his whips fly. Gold rope wrapped around the wolf gripping Bunnymund's foot and yanked it off of him in one swift tug. The nightmare wolf flew into the air before being slammed back down to the onyx ground. Sandy continued to pull the wolves off of his friend, desperate to spare the rabbit any more pain.
Bunny held his arms up in front of himself, forming a shield around his head. He cried out again as he felt razor-like teeth dig into his fur-coated arms. His heart beat like a loud drum against his chest as the fearlings continued to maw him. Fiery anger grew in the pits of his stomach as he remembered Tooth and Jack. In one powerful motion he held the blue crystal out in front of himself, "I'm not gonna let you damn mutts kill me!"
The moonstone shone brighter, emanating a deadly blue as Bunnymund's rage and courage grew. Bunnymund could feel the stone pulse beneath his touch before exploding with bright light.
North and Sandy shielded their eyes as the streams of blue light burst from the pile of fearlings and into the surrounding area. As the light faded away, the stone flickered weakly before the light faded from it completely.
North's eyes widened as he whirled around in every direction, "the wolves, they are all gone…how did stone do all of that?"
Bunnymund leaned up on his forearms and groaned, "I don't know, it's like it reacted to my emotions or something…I think it's outta power though." He finished as his emerald eyes glanced down at the stone, ignoring the crimson coating his forearms. Sandy floated over to the two and looked worryingly at Bunnymund's bloodied coat. "I'm fine mate, really." Bunnymund assured him before leaning up into a sitting position.
North leaned over on the mace, tired from the fight. He glanced at the sky grimly as he noticed the first rays of dawn breaking the horizon. "We do not have time to think about that right now, we must continue to move, and we must move right now. Bunny are you sure you are all right?"
Bunnymund nodded, "I'm fine, I promise."
North lifted his mace and slung it over his shoulder before leaning down to Bunnymund, offering his hand. The spirit of Easter smiled before taking the large hand in his paw. In one strong tug he was back on his feet.
The Guardians sprinted to the end of the bridge and without a moment to spare Bunnymund tapped the ground opening a huge tunnel. In one last dash they all jumped in.
Two furry ears poked out of the tunnel that opened up in the Grand Hall of the North Pole; they twitched in different directions listening for trouble. The only sound Bunnymund heard was an eerie silence. Cautiously he hopped out of the tunnel and onto the polished wooden floors, scanning the area.
His stomach dropped as he saw that the room had been completely wrecked. The paintings that lined the walls had been torn to shreds; several of the wooden pillars were splintered and broken. Books from the tall bookshelves lay scattered across the floors. All of the decorations were either destroyed or lay messily on the floor. The lamps that were hung on the wooden beams were all broken; the shards of glass that littered the floor were evidence of that.
Bunny sighed in dismay before motioning to the others to come to the surface. North and Sandy climbed out, followed by the yetis. Bunny silently commanded his sentinel eggs to stay below, he would summon them if he needed them, but he didn't want to cause anymore unnecessary damage to his friend's home.
Sandy and Bunnymund looked at North sadly as he walked slowly around the hall. North's face hardened into a glare as he looked up at the globe at the very edge of the hall, it too had been destroyed. "We deal with this later, now we must find Tooth and Jack."
Bunny and Sandy exchanged a glance before nodding in unison, "sure thing mate."
They continued to watch as Father Christmas walked to where two of his swords lay motionless on the ground, the sound of cracking glass resounding from beneath his leather boots as he leaned down and retrieved them. "Something tells me I will need these."
Right after the words left his lips the sound of something being destroyed echoed through the hall. The yetis all held up their maces and glared at the direction it was coming from. "That sound came from the workshop, let's go!" North bellowed.
Bunnymund interrupted, "but what about Tooth and Jack?"
North glanced back, "we have to go through workshop to get to infirmary; we have no choice."
Bunnymund glared in frustration before nodding silently in agreement. North turned back and ran down the halls towards the elevators that led to the workshop.
Sandy, Bunnymund, and the yetis followed suit.
As the various elevators reached the floors of the workshop the Guardians gasped at the sight they found before them. A combination of nightmare wolves and nightmare horses were attacking the yetis that were assigned to stand guard and destroying the workshop. "The yetis were lured here and attacked…" North growled before raising his swords. No more words were exchanged as the Guardians and the yetis assailed the nightmares that plagued the workshop.
Bunnymund hopped at full speed towards one of the wolves attacking a yeti and throttled into it, the wolf was tossed from the force and landed hard against the floor. Bunnymund quickly unsheathed his boomerang and sliced through the fearling, thoroughly destroying it.
Bunnymund tried once more to use the stone as a nightmare horse charged at him from down the hallway of the workshop, frowning deeply when it merely glowed faintly and then flickered out. "It is out of power after all, I suppose it needs to recharge. Oh well, guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way." He says as he let his boomerang fly across the room; it hit its mark, embedding itself right between the eyes the horse, dissipating it instantly. The Easter spirit smirked before wincing slightly, he looked down at his foot, frowning as droplets of blood oozed from the wounds.
Sandy positioned himself in the center of the room, hitting fearlings with his whips in every direction, slamming them against walls and into each other. North sliced through the nightmares with ease, now fueled by anger and adrenaline. "Just a few left!" he shouted as his sword decapitated a wolf before it burst.
A few minutes passed and the room fell silent with the exception of the heavy breaths coming from the yetis and the Guardians. "I think that's all of them." North huffed as he leaned against a wall for support.
Their victory was short lived as a hostile voice reverberated through the workshop. "I knew I shouldn't have wasted so much energy at my lair…" Pitch groaned as he stepped out of a shadow along the hallway of the workshop. He stood between North and Bunnymund, while Sandy glared down at him from the air.
"You!" Bunny boomed, "Where's Jack and Tooth? What have you done to them?"
Pitch crackled at the rabbit's distinct anger. "Don't worry, they're still here and they are still exactly where you left them. Though you probably won't like what you find."
The sound of heavy footsteps snapped Pitch out of his sadistic reverie.
"Now!" North roared to seemingly no one. In one quick instant a yeti jumped down from the level above them and slammed to the ground beside of the Nightmare King. Pitch was completely caught off guard, his eyes widened as the yeti's fist connected with his stomach sending him tumbling towards North's direction.
A scream tore out of Pitch's throat as one of North's swords sliced across his chest in one powerful slash. North glared at Pitch as he stumbled backwards, cradling the wound with one of his gray hands. "You will leave my home and you will leave my friends alone…or so help me, I will have your head Pitch. That is not threat, that is promise."
Pitch looked up from his injury, smiling wickedly. He chuckled lightly as he removed his hand from the wound, rubbing his blood between his two thin fingers, examining it with an amused look in his eyes. Amber eyes looked back up at the Guardians and the army of yetis surrounding him. "As you wish…" He stepped through a shadow with ease, disappearing into its mysterious depths. Red droplets of blood littered the polished wooden floors; the only evidence left behind that signified the Nightmare King's presence.
"We have no time to waste, to the infirmary." North commanded to his fellow Guardians.
Without another word the Guardians rushed through the workshop and down the hallway that led to the infirmary. Bunnymund reached the door first. The door stood ajar, almost as if it were beckoning the Easter spirit to open it. Bunnymund swallowed hard before pushing the heavy door forward.
"No…" He breathed as tears gathered in his emerald eyes.