This is a chapter i've been eager to write. Casey's questions are finally answered.
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Chapter 14: Pitch's Offer; Casey's Memories
Casey stood still on her desert island. Her staff was clenched tightly in her left hand. "How could I let this happen?!" She asked no one in particular. "Pitch played us! And we let him! Now, we're back where we started! Not even Narain and Windsong believed us!" Casey turned around and walked to the lone tree on the island. As she slid down to the ground against the tree, she pulled her hood over her head. She pulled out the tooth box from her pocket, stared at it a moment, then put it back down, sighing. "Pitch was right." She muttered sadly, closing her eyes.
"I feared this would happen." Casey's eyes snapped open and she turned her head to see Pitch standing beside her. "They never really believed in you. I was just trying to show that to you and Jack. But I understand."
A wave of water shot past, barely missing Pitch's head. Casey jumped up, her hood blown away, anger evident on her face. "How could you understand?!" she yelled angrily pointing her staff at Pitch. She jumped over his head to his opposite side and pointed her staff at him again. "This is your fault! If you had just left us alone, we'd be fine!" She stepped a little closer, glaring threateningly at him. "Now, do us both a favor and leave us alone!" She began walking away.
"Surely, you won't leave without Windsong's little whisp." Casey's eyes glanced back, wide with fear at Pitch's words. She turned to see Pitch holding little Whisper tightly in his hand.
"Whisper!" Casey exclaimed, beginning to dart forward to save her. As she did, however, Pitch tightened his grip on the little whisp and Casey had no choice but to back away a bit. She raised her staff and pointed the glowing gem directly at Pitch's face.
He chuckled evilly as Whisper chirped in fear. He glared at Casey. "The staff, Casey!" Casey's dark blue eyes glanced at her staff before returning to their glare on Pitch. "You and Jack both have a bad habit of interfering. Now hand it over, and I'll let her go." Whisper looked at Casey and shook her head vigorously.
Casey tightened her grip on her staff, ready to attack, but unsure of what to do. She wanted to help Whisper so bad. She and the little whisp had grown close, especially since Windsong had sent Whisper to accompany Casey, Jack and Baby Tooth to the Bennetts. She sighed and handed over her staff. Pitch took it quickly, but made no move to hand Whisper over to Casey. Casey held out her hand. "Now let her go."
Pitch looked at Whisper, then back at Casey and shook his head. "No." Casey glared angry daggers at the Nightmare King. "You wanted to be alone, so be alone!" Before he could leave, however, Whisper suddenly bit down hard on the finger closest to her little mouth. Pitch yelled with pain and through Whisper angrily.
Casey watched after her, unable to do anything. "No!" she exclaimed, then turned back around just as Pitch snapped Casey's staff across his knee, snapping it in half. Casey felt a sharp pain sear through her chest and she bent down in attempt to alleviate it. When she looked back up, she just barely saw a wave of nightmare sand hit her and knock her back into the tree. The wind was knocked out of her and she fell limply to the ground. Pitch threw her broken staff at her and departed in a tornado of black sand.
A little hand poking her cheek woke Casey up. She turned her head slightly and saw Whisper sitting on her shoulder. The little whisp's wings were fluttering uselessly, and she was looking at Casey with concern. "I'm fine." Casey assured her. Casey looked sadly at the broken staff. 215 years as her only possession. That staff meant the world to Casey because it had been the first thing she'd gotten after she woke up over 200 years ago. Now, it was gone. Casey brought her knees up to her chest, crossed her arms over her knees and set her chin on her arms. "Pitch was right. I really do make a mess of everything." Whisper appeared to glare at her. She climbed across Casey's lap and into her pocket. Casey watched a moment, then put her head down on her knees, ready to give up. Without her staff, she was powerless.
"Casey? Casey!" The second time the voice said her name, Casey was startled. Her legs fell down and she thought she saw a golden light emanating from her pocket.. She pulled the tooth box from her pocket and saw that it was the source of the golden light. "Casey." the voice came again. Casey watched the box, entranced for sure. She looked away to see Whisper sitting on her knee. Whisper looked at the box then at Casey and nodded. Casey took a deep breath and touched the surface of the box. As it opened, the memories inside came flooding into Casey's mind. Each memory zipped through her mind, though somehow, Casey remembered each one in full detail. One that stayed though was a memory of her and a little boy. Her human self had dark brown hair and emerald green eyes. The little boy looked very much the same. He also had dark brown hair, but his eyes were an aquamarine color. And, to Casey's relief, she remembered who he was.
"Matthew." she muttered. In the memories, Matthew looked up at Casey as his little stomach growled in hunger.
"Casey," he said. "I'm hungry."
Casey looked at him and smiled half heartedly. She knelt down in front of him and ruffled his dark brown hair. "I know buddy." she said. "I promise, I'll find us something to eat." Her own stomach growled when she made her promise and she put a hand to it, chuckling lightly. "Apparently my stomach agrees."
Matthew laughed, a laugh that Casey had not heard in two hundred and fifteen years, and one that Casey remembered loving to hear.
That was when Casey remembered exactly who this little boy, Matthew, was: He was her little brother, four years her junior and the only other person besides her mother that Casey had cared deeply about. She remembered being willing to do whatever it took to protect him.
So, that fateful day in 1797, Casey and her brother were very hungry. They treked through the snow-covered forest they had made their home until they came to a campsite. Thankfully for them, in the center, roasting over a fire, there were several fish. The two children's mouths watered and they wasted no time helping themselves.
A while later, their meal was interrupted by a loud "What the heck are you brats doing!?" The two children turned to see a band of men, dressed like barbarians, Casey thought. That was when she figured out that the fish she and her brother had been feasting on belonged to that band of men, who were in fact a band of bandits. Not good.
Casey looked at her brother. Matthew was shaking from head to toe and Casey knew the poor boy was terrified. She looked back at the bandits.
"Why are you brats eating our fish?!" The first bandit exclaimed.
Casey held up her hands, taking care to keep Matthew safely beside her. She may've been smaller and scrawnier than other fourteen-year-olds, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from protecting her little brother. "We were just hungry. Our mother passed away a few days ago and we started living in this forest. We were so hungry we didn't stop to realize that it belonged to someone else."
"Yeah?" the bandit jeered, brandishing his sword so that it was only inches from Casey's neck. "Well, now, you two brats are going to pay for what you've done." And he sliced the sword at them.
Casey pulled Matthew down as the sword swung over their heads. Once it had passed over them, Casey took her brother's hand tightly and ran as fast as she could. She kept running until she reached a large boulder surrounded by large and small trees, which made it the perfect hiding place for the fourteen and ten year old. Casey pulled Matthew behind the boulder and held him close, trying to comfort him despite their situation. That was when she made her decision: In order to keep Matthew safe, Casey was going to have to lead the bandits away herself.
She pulled Matthew off her chest. "Matthew," she said softly. "I'm going to lead these brutes away from you. As soon as none of them are in sight, I want you to run as fast as you can and don't look back, do you understand me?"
Matthew's amethyst eyes were shining with the tears that had begun dripping down his face. He sniffled. "You can't!" he exclaimed softly. Casey hugged her brother tightly to her chest.
"I don't have a choice buddy." She said, running her hand through his hair, something that normally never failed to console the young boy. "I promised both mom and myself that I'd take care of you no matter what and that's exactly what I intend to do." She pulled Matthew away again, pulled off her boots, (She could run faster without them) and stood. When Matthew began to stand again, Casey shook her head firmly. "Matthew, just do what I say, Matthew, please. You have to have faith in me, like mom always said." To Casey's relief, this time, when she began to walk away, Matthew did not follow her. He just stared after her, tears still shining in his eyes. Casey then ran out of the hiding the place, immediately grabbing the bandits' attention.
"Hey!" she yelled. "Over here!" And she ran. Unbeknownst to Casey, Matthew began to run after her the moment he saw that the bandits were gone. He made sure to stay out of sight as he watched helplessly as the bandits chased his sister.
Casey ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Casey ran faster, constantly checking over her shoulder and finding the bandits getting closer with every step she took. She immediately cursed her short height. Though she was scrawny and able to outrun the bandits if she had been taller, her shortness made it impossible for her to run any faster than the speed she was running right now.
A uprooted tree root caught hold of Casey's foot and she fell, which enabled the bandits to get even closer. Almost as soon as Casey had fallen, she tumbled down hill to a pond where she typically just had fun. The bandits were upon her, the leader with his blade outstretched in front of him. He grinned evilly at the defenseless girl.
"Well, you little twerp," he began. "Maybe this'll teach you not to mess with things you don't understand." And he brought the blade down, stabbing the fourteen-year-old deep in her heart. The bandits ran for it, leaving a critically injured Casey to die, her chest slowly bleeding out.
She tried to call for help, but no one was close enough. The snow began to settle and Casey's emerald eyes drifted towards the sky where she found the full moon in full view. A hand reached upwards, but lost strength and the hand fell, falling into the water beside her. Casey's eyes drifted shut as she gave her last breath and died.
Casey sat back, breathing hard. Whisper watched her with an intense look. Casey looked back at Whisper and a smile broke out on her face. "I can't believe it." she said. "I had a brother, who I saved from one of the worst deaths imaginable." Casey smiled wider, then the smile fell. She looked up at the moon, which was barely visible in the daytime sky. "That's why you chose me." she said softly. "I really am a Guardian." She looked around, Whisper sitting on her shoulder. "We have to get out of here." Casey's eyes fell on her broken staff. She picked up the pieces in each hand and held them together, trying to mend her staff. It snapped again. Casey put them together again, this time putting more willpower into repairing her staff. A dark blue light emanated from it and to Casey's relief, it remained whole. Casey grinned. "YES!"
Suddenly, something fell from the sky next to her. When Casey looked, she saw that it was none other than Windsong. Casey leaned over her. "Song, are you okay?"
Windsong opened her eyes and saw Casey. "Casey."
Casey helped her stand and held Whisper out to her. "Here's Whisper, just like I promised."
Windsong smiled. "Oh, Casey, I never doubted you., but what about your staff? I thought I saw Pitch snap it." Song said, bringing Whisper lovingly to her cheek.
Holding said staff out, Casey answered, "It took a lot of willpower, but I fixed it. And, now, I'm ready to take it out on Pitch once and for all." The two spirits flew into the air. Casey looked at Windsong. "I'm going to go find Jack. You go to the others." Windsong nodded, albeit reluctantly, and flew off. Casey flew off as well, but towards Pitch's lair. Somehow, she had a feeling that if Jack was anywhere, then Pitch's lair is where he would be.
Longest chapter i've written yet... What do ya know? Like i said, couldnt wait to write this chapter. I actually started drawing a comic version of this chapter. It's not done yet, but hopefully it will be in the next few days. When it is, i may post it on my account.
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