Whooo I didn't get picked for jury duty (Might have another round of it next week though) but it's been so cold here I've been having to spend more time making sure my chickens and ducks have water that isn't frozen - I blame Jack, personally. But I am glad to have gotten some snow too. Anyways, bit more of a lighthearted chapter despite everything that happened last round (Oh, and the movie here is the Hobbit). Hope you guys enjoy. - Not The Milk
Bunnymund popped out of a hole in the middle of Annamore's home, still holding her. Setting her gently on her couch, he sat down next to her. Pushing his ears back nervously, like a human might their hair, he looked at her. "You sure you're going to be alright, sheila?"
"I'm weak, not dying." She attempted to smile at the rabbit.
"Not what I meant." His face betrayed worry. "Any idea what happened to Sandy?"
"I think the guy he fought was my opposite." She gathered her thoughts. "If love can exist in solid form, hate can too, right? Never ran into him before, but I've had a feeling I had an opposite ever since I became Cupid."
"And there was a nightmare, so we can guess Pitch was involved. It makes sense for Hate to have something against you, if that's who it is, but why would Pitch work with him?" Bunny scratched under his chin with a boomerang. "And wait, if Sandy was attacked by hate, why doesn't he hate you now?"
"It's all speculation until we can beat the answers out of them in person, but I'd guess they are probably more effective as a team. Pitch was weakened from you guys, but think about it… If they get me out of the way, or just break my power, that's going to freak out a lot of children!" Her eyes narrowed. "Ever seen what happens when parents start screaming in front of the kids? The kids get terrified, so it's a win for fear too!"
"We won't let that happen." Bunny assured her.
She continued her line of thought. "As for Sandy, it may be one of two things, if we are even right about that guy being Hate. If we figure that his sword is like my arrows, and spreads hate instead of love, then maybe Hate just left him like this to torment me. Apathy is almost more cruel than hating me would be. Or maybe he did want to make Sandy hate and…"
"And what?" The rabbit pressed her, a furry eyebrow raised.
Her cheeks turned slightly red, her eyes wandering to the sand flowers she still had in a vase in the room. "And maybe I'm flattering myself into wondering if he loved me enough that the emotions cancelled each other out instead of letting him hate me."
"That's probably the truth of it, I think the little bloke had it bad. Well, after we get you fixed, maybe I'll stab him with an arrow to put him back to normal for you." He gave her a wink, and she couldn't fight back a small laugh. "Get some rest. I'm not sure I should leave you unguarded, you make an easy target right now, mate."
"Trust me, no one's going to be getting into here. I have that much power left, at least." Annamore waved flippantly. "See you later."
"Tomorrow." He jumped back into the tunnel and it closed. Now alone, the cupid flopped over on the couch, arguing with her emotions till she drifted into sleep.
The next day Annamore was surprised to be awakened by the sound of reindeer and bells. She still felt weak, but knowing she had back up today made her feel more hopeful than she might have otherwise felt. Groggily she opened the door for her friends and let them in, surprised to see them all, even Sandy.
"Can I at least have time to eat something?" She asked, fighting a yawn.
"Absolutely! We just came early because we were worried about you." North said as he sat heavily on a chair.
"How are you feeling?" Tooth fluttered after her into the kitchen. Annamore was surprised to see that she had a pair of swords with her.
"Better, I think, now that you guys are here." She told the fairy with a smile. "You came armed? That doesn't seem like you."
"I thought it might be convenient until this situation is… Resolved." Tooth admitted.
"Thanks. You guys are the best." She paused at the door and peered into the other room where the guys waited. "This place has never had so many people in it. It feels weird. In a good way, I mean."
"Still not used to having us around?" Tooth asked teasingly, joining her at peering out.
"I'm mostly used to that by now, just not used to people being in my house." She marched up to the table and stabbed an arrow into it next to her bow. "Alright, weapons on the table!" Within seconds most of the weapons were sticking out of the wood, Jack's staff leaning against one of North's swords, the table frozen. To Annamore's surprise, a pair of golden whips lay in the mix, too.
"Still keeping to your promise, buddy?" She looked curiously at Sandy.
He nodded firmly at her. "Great. Let's go hunt a bat-winged freak and some nightmares."
Grabbing her ever shortening list she led them outside. "Oh, I had an idea that might keep my powers from getting weaker for now, even if it won't solve things in the long run. Jack, I know it's off season, but how would you like to throw some snowballs?"
"I like the sound of your plan already." Jack grinned, flipping onto the back of the sleigh. Annamore used the chance to test her wings, but chose an actual seat. She slid to the side so Bunny could take the middle, knowing how he felt about flying, Sandy hopped in next to him. Tooth ended up in front of Jack, on her own bench, which made Annamore smile – she was glad some people were still in love.
"OK, so what's this plan of yours?" North asked as he took the driver's seat.
"How many of you remember that snowball I threw at Spring?" She winked at Bunny.
"You mean the one that made her snog Bunny?" Jack cackled cheerfully. "That was great!"
"That's what I want to do today as we look around, hopefully with less snogging." She grinned at the winter spirit. "So we'll just have to shock a few people with snowballs when it's not snowing."
North flew them to the area that Sandy had fought before. After they looked in vain for any clues that might help them find their enemies, Tooth frowned slightly in thought. "I think we aren't going to have any luck finding this guy unless we ambush him at night. He's probably like Pitch, nocturnal."
"Aren't most of you guys relatively nocturnal, too?" Annamore raised an eyebrow at them. "I sometimes wonder if I'm the only one who operates in the day."
"Oh, good point." North nodded. "But you also would have a hard time shooting people if you had to go after them sleeping."
"Well, at least we can still have fun today, even if we need to wait till evening to hunt. You ready, Jack?" She turned to him, surprised to see him back in the sleigh.
"I'm more than ready." He smirked, holding up red bags filled with what she could only assume were snowballs. She walked over and sprinkled gold dust into the bags, taking care not to use as much as she had on the one from the after Christmas party.
Everyone willingly grabbed a bag, each of them looking pleased with the plan. "So… Spread out and hit anyone you think looks like they could use a better day." Annamore suggested, reaching into the bag and throwing a snowball at a curmudgeon walking by. He gasped in shock, spinning around to yell at whoever threw it, and scratching his head when he saw no one behind him. After a moment a smile appeared on his face, and brushing the snow off, he continued on his way.
The group exchanged glances, and no one needed to say anything. The race was on. Bunnymund jumped down a tunnel, North to his sleigh, and everyone else to the air.
Seventeen hits later and Jack appeared next to Cupid on a rooftop as she scanned for her next victim. "I don't know why you're trying to beat me, I'm winter. If there's one thing I know, it's snowballs."
"Duck." Instead of arguing, she threw a snowball right at him. He dodged, and it hit another target on the street below. He looked surprised, making her smirk. "This is my job, kid. Don't think you can win just because you like to goof off."
She jumped off the roof in search of more targets. The group was doing a good job, she was already feeling stronger. A couple hours later they regrouped in the closest park outside of the city, near a river. Seeing a man playing with his smartphone on a bench, she poked Sandy. "Hey, that guy looks like he could use a nap, doesn't he?"
He gave her a funny look, but didn't argue, knocking the guy out with a sandball. She picked up the phone and started typing on it. "Talk about an abuse of power, mate." Bunny said, having noticed what just went on.
"I did this for a reason. Don't you guys ever pay attention to the news?" She asked him, not looking up from the phone.
"Only the big stuff." The rabbit shrugged.
"Here we go!" She jumped up and started reading out loud to the Guardian's. "Earlier this morning, various citizens of Fredericksburg reported being hit with snowballs. No one saw the culprits, but some had the feeling that some of the snowballs may have been launched from the rooftops. Taking into consideration that it's sixty-five degrees out, we can only assume that some very dedicated college students have been planning this prank for months."
"You got Sandy to knock a guy out for that?" Tooth asked, attempting to look stern.
"Are you complaining about being called a college student?" She stuck the phone back into the hand of the sleeping man. "There, see. No harm done. Normally I just sneak into a café and read over people's shoulders."
"Why do you need to keep up with the news?" Bunnymund asked curiously.
"Ah, bad habit I developed. Remember I spent a long time without friends? It kept me from feeling too lonely, although I haven't been doing it as much lately, for some reason." Jack nodded knowingly at her statement, as he'd been in her boots too. "But you know, sometimes it's just fun to read it. Anyways, school will be letting out soon, we don't want to be spotted by a bunch of kids do we?"
"Well, what should we do till evening?" Tooth asked from where she sat on the edge of sleigh.
"How about a movie?" Jack grinned at them all.
"A movie?" They all exchanged confused glances.
"What, none of you have ever snuck into a movie?" He laughed teasingly. "You guys really are old!"
"And that's why you always made the naughty list, Jack." North chuckled.
"Sounds fun to me." Bunnymund said, surprising everyone.
The rest exchanged looks and followed Jack to the closest theater, walking in and peering at the posters and show times. "So how does this work, anyways?" Annamore asked Jack, staring around the still mellow theater.
"Just follow me." He had apparently picked the movie, and was leading the way down the hall.
He pushed open one of the doors and held it open for the group. "Head to the very back of the theater, up top. The best seats are up there, and provided no one sits on us we should be good."
The majority of the group sat down nervously, this being their first movie. "It's a good thing we are doing this, because you guys obviously needed to get out more." He paused and studied the way the group was sitting. "Oh no, this is all wrong."
"What is?" North asked. "Are we doing the movie wrong?" He looked worried.
"No, but how can I sit next to Tooth like this?" He winked at the fairy, who was sitting next to Annamore. "Sandy, switch spots with her will you?"
"I know what you're doing." Annamore mouthed silently at Jack. Understanding, he donned a pair of 3D glasses and replied just as silently. "Deal with it."
Sitting down, he passed more pairs of glasses down. "Put these on."
"But my eyes are fine." North looked at them, confused. "I don't need glasses."
"You do for this movie. Trust me." Everyone put them on obediently, eyes glued to the screen in curiosity.
After the movie started, North began to question Jack about the magic glasses, before being hushed firmly by Tooth, who was already enthralled. "So, am I the only one who wants to try to touch the beards? I swear they are going to jump out of the screen and attack me." Annamore whispered to Sandy. He smiled in reply and stuck his arm out at the screen to show his agreement.
Kirai paced around Pitch's lair. "I don't understand, I had her weakened, AND I managed to tag the Sandman, but it would seem that they are stronger than I thought."
"They managed to beat me, did you really think it was going to be a breeze?" Pitch petted one of his pet nightmares. "I applaud you for managing what you have though. The sandfreak thing was a wonderful bonus."
Pitch watched his ally pace and grumble for another minute, before it started getting on his nerves. His hand shot out and grabbed Kirai by the throat, choking him. "Shut up." He ordered, staring the younger man down for a moment to make sure his point was made. Releasing him, he allowed Kirai a moment to recover his breath.
"If her friends are helping her regain her strength, obviously, you're just going to have to try harder. Attack more people, weaken her at a faster rate than she can recover, or just hunt her down."
"If it's that easy, why don't you come help tonight?" The winged man replied testily. "I'll take point, we'll manage more that way. No reason to hide anymore, I'm sure they are on to us now."
"Fine. I could use a fight." Pitch's eyes narrowed. "Besides, it's a chance to weaken them. If they show up, we should try to separate them. Neither of us could take a group attack if it came down to that."
Kirai rubbed his hands together. "Alright, this'll be fun."