Jack paced in the workshop waiting for someone to come up with a solution. But everyone was still a little shell shocked that Larrin had been taken right under their noses! Even when they had tried to talk to MiM, they had no success in finding out anything! It was pissing Jack of to no end! He tried to stop pacing and calm down, but moments later he shouted in outrage and a pillar of ice shot up from the floor where his staff hit. It connected all the way to the ceiling, spreading out like branches of a tree. Tooth looked at Jack with a heavy heart. She hated seeing him like this, but there would be no way to comfort him.
"There must be something MiM can do!" He shouted angrily. North looked at him with wearily, half lidded eyes and shook his head slowly. Jack growled, the pillar of ice widening.
"Jack calm down mate. We'll find her we just gotta think logically!" Bunny pointed out. They were all trying but none of them could even begin to imagine where Pitch may have gone to. Jack turned to the globe to examine different places. Alaska was dark for a good month at a time. Maybe he was there! But it was a month of sun right now. What about the arctic? No Pitch knew Jack went there way to often. Jack continued to think up and shoot down ideas as North rubbed his beard and Tooth nervously fluttered around. Bunny and Sandy for the most part just glared at the floor. But sometimes Sandy would look excited, only to look sad a moment later.
Amazon.
Jack didn't know where the voice was coming from. He stopped his fretting immediately to look around. None of his friends had said anything. And there was no one else around. All the elves and yetis had been sent away until further notice. Then Jack looked up, immediately seeing MiM through the giant sky roof. The glowing orb seemed to be smiling at him, and Jack smiled back. The amazon.
OOOOO
Larrin awoke to the golden eyed Joey sitting beside her bed. She nearly screamed, trying to scoot as far away from her Nightmare Brother as possible. Joey looked alarmed at the way Larrin was reacting to him. He even reached a hand out to try and comfort the girl, but Larrin only shrunk away more.
"Larrin it's okay! Pitch isn't going to hurt you anymore! He has enough power that he doesn't need to." Joey tried to reassure Larrin, but she refused to be comforted. She tried to squirm further away only to find that her ankle was shackled to the bottom bed post. "It's for your own safety Larrin. This place is huge, really easy to get lost in if you don't know your way around the shadows. And if you managed to get out you'd be dead in probably an hour. We're under the Amazon! It's a jungle out there!" he joked.
"Joey I'm sorry." Larrin started to cry, feeling more and more depressed every second she saw the shadow that her brother had been turned into. Joey tilted his head to the side. "Pitch would have never done this to you if it weren't for me." She sobbed. He sighed heavily, this time managing to grasp his sisters hand before she could wriggle away.
"Larrin don't feel bad. Pitch promised to change me back once the Guardians are gone. He said he would have no hesitation in making me normal. He just needs me to show you that he's not all evil. He wants to make you his queen Larrin!" He reminded her.
"I could never..." She didn't even have to finish. Joey understood the pure rejection of the offer in her voice. But Joey seemed almost sad about her refusal.
"Joey give us a moment will you?" Larrin could feel her blood freezing in her veins in pure terror as Pitch stepped out of the shadows. Joey nodded slightly, hugging his sister before expertly manipulating the shadows to take him to his room. It made Larrin distressed to see her brother able to do that. But her attention returned to Pitch as he moved towards her. He sat calmly on her bed, looking off at the wall of her room until Larrin couldn't take the creepy silence anymore.
"I am not going to be your queen." She said in a small voice. He chuckled shortly and looked at her with amused eyes. What had she said that was amusing? She frowned at the fact that he wasn't even talking to her. Usually he had a lot to say to her. But now he was all quiet and it was freaking her out. She was terrified enough of the guy without him sitting silently like that. What was he planning? Was he trying to make her anxious? Or was that just her overreacting to his presence? She shuddered at the thought that most of her fear right now was coming from her head. But she couldn't stop thinking of the years she spent being tormented. She couldn't.
She turned away from the Nightmare King, wrapping her arms around her shoulders to ward off the sudden chill. A pair of lips were abruptly on her neck, caressing her skin lovingly. It sent a shiver up her spine. If she wasn't so confused she would have instantly pushed Pitch away. But before she could come to her senses he whispered two words that made her entire stomach feel like lead.
"I'm sorry."
His hands moves from her shoulders down her arms, taking delight in the softness of her skin. He wrapped his arms around her waist as his lips continued to move against her neck, her cheek, her jaw. She felt uncomfortable, and nervous. A sudden piercing pain made Larrin gasp and look down at Pitch's hands. One was spread out over her stomach, the other resting on her leg. It felt like he just stabbed her right through her belly! She tried to pry his hands off, but she suddenly felt so weak.
The pain was gone as suddenly as it was there, but Larrin still felt weak. Even when the Nightmare King tilted her face towards his, she could hardly keep her eyes open to look at him. She wanted to know what Pitch did to her. What that pain was. But he simply smiled, as though sensing her questions, and kissed her harshly on her lips. She tried in vain to push him away, eventually giving in and letting him kiss her. She could hardly believe the sincere look in his eyes when he looked at her. But it looked almost like he cared about her.
"Go to sleep." He whispered, kissing her again. Her eyes slipped close almost as soon as his words left his lips.
OOOOO
Joey stared at the ceiling in his room. It looked weird. Like dark storm clouds were knit together into a curtain. The clouds roiled restlessly, churning beneath the fearlings eyes. He was curious as to what Pitch and Larrin were talking about. And his impatience was reflected as lightening started crackling in the cloudy ceiling. He growled lightly and turned onto his belly to try and fall asleep. But, being a fearling, he didn't require sleep. Thus it was incredibly hard for him to sleep. Maybe he could go sleep in Larrin's room. He remembered several occasions where he'd snuck into his big sisters room to seek comfort. When it was storming outside or he was having a bad dream. Ironic since he technically was a bad dream now.
Pitch watched the kid from the doorway, watched him brood over everything and nothing. He decided he did like Joey. The kid was a pretty deep thinker for his age. Just like Larrin. The two of them were always his favorite ones to bring Nightmares too, even before he kidnapped Larrin. It was easy considering their backgrounds. And now he had the both of them all to himself. And soon, there would be another fearling to take care of.
"Joey." The boy looked up eagerly at Pitch's voice. He was obviously waiting for their chat to be done so he could see Larrin again. But the girl needed her rest. Especially now. "I have a job for you." Joey's face fell, but he sat up to listen to the Nightmare King. "I need you to go visit the Guardians. And deliver a message for me." A devilish smirk lit both of their faces as Joey nodded enthusiastically. Thanks to Pitch he now saw how the Guardians had betrayed him and his sister. He would do anything for Pitch, as long as it was for Larrin or to get back at the Guardians. He could hardly wait to see their faces when he showed up in their cozy home to tell them whatever it was Pitch wanted them to know.
OOOOO
North had a hard time believing that MiM had told Jack the location of Pitch's lair. The Moon hadn't said anything to him when he'd asked. And Manny talked to him all the time. Why would he trust Jack with such a thing and not North? Sure Manny probably knew Jack would tell them anyway. But still wasn't it North's job to relay information? Even though Jack seemed very adamant that the Amazon was where they would find Pitch and Larrin, North had to put his foot down until he knew for sure from MiM himself.
"Jack even if they are in the Amazon, that's a big ol' jungle mate. It'll take weeks to find them. And if you go you'd prob'ly melt long before we made progress." Bunny pointed out. He wasn't the only one who was trying to deter the winter spirit. Tooth was so worried about him overheating that she kept getting in his face to try and make him understand. She would literally get an inch away from the Frost Spirit and beg him not to go to the Amazon.
"I don't care." Jack said stubbornly. North stood beneath the moons glow, trying to implore Manny to tell him what he'd told Jack. He needed conformation from the big man before blindly running to the largest rainforest on the planet.
Amazon.
He nearly shouted in joy when he heard the Moon's familiar voice telling him exactly what Jack had. He felt a little bad for doubting the boy, but now he knew for sure that's where they should go. Bunny's argument did make a valid point however. There should be at least a few places they could rule out before going. He turned back to the group and put a heavy hand on Jack's shoulder.
"Give us one hour Jack. Then we go." He promised. Jack looked like he wanted to argue, but finally nodded. North smiled happily and marched over to the globe. There would need to identify all the inhabited areas of the Amazon and rule those out, as well as any water filled portions. After that, it was a matter of elevation and temperature. After all, even Pitch had his preferences that the Guardians had picked up on over the years.
"Don't bother North." They all spun around from looking at the globe to stare wide eyed at the black cloaked boy standing in front of North's grand fire place. Sandy looked horrified at what he saw and Tooth gasped in terror. Jack took a puzzled step forward though. It was Joey! But he...wasn't. He was dark. He was a fearling.
"Joey what happened to you?" Jack asked, aghast.
"Pitch showed me the truth about you Guardians. He showed me how terrible you actually are! You were never there for me and Larrin until you thought we were making Pitch stronger! You never cared about my sister until you found out it was Larrin making Pitch powerful! When we were younger and suffering, you were no where in sight! And because of that, I'm here to tell you that you won't win." He snapped. No one could say a word. No one knew exactly what he was talking about. Suffering? What did he mean?
"Joey I can assure you, we have always been on your side." Tooth tried to insist. He looked disgusted.
"I don't buy it for a second Tooth Fairy. I'm here to deliver a message. That me and Larrin are beyond your control now! It's past the time where you could "help" us. And even if you tried, we would not be on your side." He hissed angrily. North couldn't help but recoil at the pure hatred in the boy's voice. What had happened to the boy?
"You have to understand mate, this is Pitch's trick! We're not the bad guys, he's messed with your brain!" Bunny wanted to make the kid see reason, but Joey just rolled his eyes. He took a menacing step towards the Guardians, detest glowing in his golden eyes.
"You stay away from me and Larrin." He snapped before Nightmare Sand swirled around him, sucking him back into shadows and back to Pitch's lair. Just before the shadows completely receded, Jack dived forward, military rolling right into the Nightmare Sand that transported the kid. North shouted at the boy, but when the sand completely disappeared, Jack Frost was gone.