The nightmares blurred around Bunnymund in a glimmering veil, scratching out at us in the sky, frothing about in a great storm. At this point, each individual nightmare wasn't even identifiable, just swarming around in the angry cloud. He couldn't see anything else, besides North in the corner of his vision, paces away on the same sleigh as the Pooka, with his own set of snags racing about him. Even the king of these beasts was lost in the sheer mass of them all. With claws and boomerangs outstretched, Bunny fought them, tearing them about in the shimmering dust that didn't deserve to con as Sandy's beloved sand. His two weapons sprang into life by his paws, twirling through the air in their own personal tempest of movement, snapping away at the creatures and forcing them at bay. Well, not only that, but completely obliterating those that he touched. There were just so many, dancing about in their sick twisted movements as they bolted through the sky with such ease.

Where's Jack? Bunny's head pounded, though he didn't dare spare his vision to look for the little Guardian or even his voice, from the fear that Pitch would hear him and prone in on the weakness. Fear, that's what they were battling away at, crushing to shards with their weapons. In the end, that's always what had to be defeated. But Bunny spent no time contemplating such philosophy, instead kept his arms moving in a whirl of movement that not even his own eyes would care to keep track of. What was much slower was the progress that these maneuvers caused, biting away at the infinite force that was bearing down on the Guardians. However, though the changes in the air might have been sluggish, they were still present, and the throng was thinning to the point where Bunnymund could actually see past them into the rest of the night sky.

"North!" he called hastily, searching out Pitch in the mess. He still was nowhere to be seen. "We're gonna make it! Where's Jack?"

North took a moment to reply, his blades busy slicing away at the mass of darkness that surrounded them so thoroughly. When he did respond it was with a powerful and booming cry that echoed through the night sky, voicing his concern. "Yes indeed. I do not know where he has gone, Bunny—" He paused to slash away at another nightmare. "—Pitch also gone."

"Ruddy coward," Bunny spat in response, catching two of the last nightmares with his boomerang, before it came flying back into his grasp. He gazed around into the rest of the night sky. Clouds were still hovering in blockage of the moon but no more dreaded nightmares or Pitch was in sight. Neither was Jack or Tooth.

"We should go back," North suggested from his sleigh, gesturing to Bunny to join him. The large man took another moment to gaze around uneasily, desperate to spot the little Guardian. "Jack and Tooth know to meet us back at North Pole."

"North. . ." Bunny shook his head, his voice slipping from his mouth horsley. "Mate, You saw as well as I did what happened to Tooth. They forced a nightmare down her gullet. She's gone. Tooth is gone just the same as Sandy. If we're very lucky, which we don't seem to be very good at being, Jack is fine."

"Come Bunny, we will get them back," North promised, his eyebrows furrowed with such earnest sadness. "Your center is hope, it always has been. Hold onto that."

"That is what we so desperately need right now, mate," Bunny agreed, nodding firmly. He settled himself back into a seat of the sleigh. Without another word from either of them, North cracked his team into action, and they sprang into a portal that lead them back to his snowy kingdom.

The two guardians were unfortunately unsurprised by the lack of their comrades waiting for them at North's home. Without really trying to, they found themselves staring silently at the globe, watching the flickering lights fade so quickly on the enormous fear. Both stood with tension in their shoulders and their mouths open as they breathed in the horror of their situation. So many had stopped believing, more still disappearing with their glistening happiness with it.

What had happened to Jack? Bunny couldn't help but contemplate this, for neither North nor Bunny had seen the mischief maker diminish as surely as Tooth or Sandy. With this in mind, Bunny couldn't help but hope so desperately that Jack would arrive any moment now, completely fine and ready to help in any way possible. Hope, that was their prime resource now, the thing that was still willing to burst from both North and Bunnymund. Suddenly it dawned on Bunny, the way to save the children's belief and to allow this hope to flourish inside of them.

"Don't lose hope, Mate," Bunny reminded North, smiling tiredly at his friend. "Tomorrow's Easter. We can bring spring and hope with it. Jack'll be back with us before we can worry too much."

North smiled at this thought, clasping his large hand onto the Pooka's back. "Bunny, you are right! And as much as it pains me to say it, my friend, this year Easter is more important than Christmas."

His mouth dropped open in the utter shock that accompanied his words. "Really? You actually said that! Oh, well of course it would be while no one else was around to hear it!"

North laughed heartily at this response, despite the melancholy world that they lived in at that moment. He turned back in the direction of where they had parked the sleigh, knowing that they had little time to waste.

"To the warren, then," Bunny nodded appreciatively, hopping after North.

"Yes," North agreed. "We prepare the sleigh."

"Wait, wait," Bunny hopped to in front of him, waving his paws around in protest. "No sleigh. My warren, my rules. Buckle up." With those words, Bunny thumped the ground, plunging them into his tunnels.

The Guardians flew and hopped their way through the labyrinth of earth, Bunny leading North through until the two of them were back up on solid ground, tumbling to the ground. Where they had come out from was a very deviating place when compared to the shadowed storm that brewed outside in the natural light. Here there was some light that accompanied the shadows, glistening across the lush grass that blanketed the rolling hills that lurked here. The dotted splendor of flowers poked their heads from the green, smiling shyly into the world. They were pinpricks of color, each and every one of them, from the cherry pinks, to the glistening blue, to the soft lavender. Pollen and dust sparkled in the air, shining and iridescent as they flew so breathlessly through the air. Toadstools also paved the ground in splashes of dark mauve, the structures protecting the circular rim of a shadow that was cast beneath it. Large stone eggs lingered in the sunlight, etched patterns and faces portraying how they felt about the world. These rounded stones stirred about on small legs that were so minute, it was hard to believe that they managed to hold the eggs up at all.

"Welcome to the warren," Bunnymund stated proudly, gesturing to the sanctuary he knew as home. North may have had an icy palace, but this was where Bunny thrived.

North bobbed his head appreciatively, staring around with his huge, wondrous eyes. He was very impressed by this landscape. His eyes grew even larger at the sight of the tiny eggs pattering about this world of green. They were all the pale off-white that eggs generally took, duller than snow, but lighter than the coarse hair of a sheep.

North shook his head, speechless by the sight, shaking his head in disbelief. "That's a lot of eggs! How much time do we have?"

Bunny grimaced at him, chuckling slightly. "A few hours, I imagine. Come on, mate, let's get to work. No time to waste."

They proceeded to get directly to their large and rather menacing task before them. The two of them helped eggs from the tulips that hatched them, guiding them all down a singular path. On this road, Bunny jiggled some more flowers to life, which began to thoroughly spray puffs of color onto the eggs. These colorful googies ran upon the same tiny legs of the stone eggs, which rapidly propelled them into a swift river of dye, tipping either the top or the bottom with another color. They then slipped through vines that etched fancy patterns onto the delicate surfaces. Each and every egg went down this road, casting upon their shell such an array of gleaming colors, fashioning them into eggs worthy of giving birth to kings and queens. North and Bunny fixed up so many eggs that the rolling valley was empty as Bunny directed them all into the tunnels that would lead them up into the different continents.

"We did it, mate," Bunnymund breathed, letting loose a sigh of relief. "Nine continents' worth of eggs scurrying to egg hunts for tomorrow, folding themselves into tight corners for the fun of the day."

"We did it," North repeated, also overtaken by relief.

"Now all we have left is keeping Pitch and his nightmares from ruining them all," Bunny growled, knowing the task in front of them would be a hard one.

North grunted in response, a worried, fierce grunt. They both sat there for a moment, lost in their own deep thoughts.

"Jack still hasn't returned," Bunny noted tiredly, rising to his feet. "It'll be quite a feat to defend them just the two of us."

"A mission we accomplish," North assured him, nodding with his eyes still blazing with hope. "Jack will come. But we still have job to do."

"Right, yeah of course," Bunny acknowledged. "We should go through the tunnels, mate, make sure there aren't any nightmares lurking about."

"Agreed."

They started down the closest tunnel warily, casting their eyes about for any sign from Pitch or his minions. As they continued onwards without much action, the two of them almost started to relax, almost. But both knew that they weren't going to get a successful Easter without some sort of resistance. As they were nearing the end of the tunnel they had chosen, Bunny felt the oncoming storm before it actually arrived. It was a soft vibration at first, only causing the Pooka to pause because he was paying such attentive attention.

"Here they come, mate," Bunny hissed in warning, the entire tunnel managing to tremble. Mere moments after the warning had left his lips, the glittering blackness spurred through the tunnel towards them. North and Bunny already had their weapons at the ready and threw them forward into the beasts, slashing and tearing into the nightmares, causing them to dissipate into dust. Even with their readiness, the sheer force of it all even managed to know the two Guardians back a little. And yet they continued to fight, continued to fling their boomerangs and sabers forward in a whirl of flashing wood and silver. Backwards and backwards, the two Guardians were forced, surrendering more ground and more eggs to the guardians. There were just so many of them, and against only two.

Bunny hardly detected how far they had been forced until he stepped back into his beloved home. The green fields, with all their flowers and eggs, were swarming with nightmares. They created a sea, tossing and churning as they tossed their manes about.

"Bunny!" North yelled desperately, flinging his sword into two closer ones. "Too closed in here! Have to abandon post!"

As much as Bunnymund despised the mere thought, he knew it had to be the truth. It was that thought that he had as he thumped the ceiling of the tunnel, making room for the two of them to go shooting up onto higher ground. This brought them a second of time, during which they caught their breath, preparing themselves for the oncoming storm.

Indeed it was a hurricane that burst from the tunnel they had risen from. The black mares shot upwards with such force, that many bounded into the sky for a moment, before charging down. They splatting onto the two guardians with sheer power, and despite the few North and Bunny were able to knock off as the nightmares came down, the sheer number of them knocked the guardians to the ground. And yet they continued to fight; they had to.

This time when Bunny fought against the very air that shifted around him, he couldn't even make out North's figure beside him. There was no one but him and the blackness. And what a mass this shadow was, tearing away at him and pinning him to the ground. Bunny's boomerang sprang from hand to nightmares at such a rapid matter of seconds that the weapon was untraceable in its constant flow of movement. And yet still Bunny was being overtaken. So many more seemed to be focused on him then North, homing in on the fluffy figure that was always so fierce. But now Bunny could feel his strength waning, and he realized with a sickening plunge in his stomach that this was because all over the world, kids were realizing that no Easter eggs had been hidden in their backyard or under the porch, the Easter Bunny hadn't come this one year, therefore he must not even exist. Children all over had stopped believing in the Easter Bunny. With this new weakness, the nightmares plunged towards him with even more strength. They pounded into his sides, blocking him out from the rest of the world, until the sheer mass of the darkness swallowed Bunnymund whole.