Chapter 18: The Waiting Game

Jack Frost was getting frustrated. He had been searching for Gemma ever since he had left the Tooth Palace. That was 8 hours ago. Albeit he hadn't originally planned this, he was actually going to find Sandy when he flew over the Scotland wood. He thought it couldn't hurt to look, and it had thus turned into a pile of letdowns. Depression was still gnawing at him like a dog at a bone, but it wasn't as bad since he had talked to Tooth.

Pausing his search, Jack floated in the air, watching the bustling town slow to nearly a stop as the Moon rose higher. Sandy would be here any minute, maybe he could help advise Jack and possibly help search for Gemma later. The second part was highly unlikely, considering the fact that the Sandman worked pretty much 24/7, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

Getting impatient, Jack glanced south. There wasn't a breath of fog in the trees, and now he could see that the forest was much larger than he had thought. If Gemma was here, which was doubtful, she could be anywhere. This fact made Jack pause, wondering if North was right. There was no other option until they got more information.

A flashback to his deal with Pitch made him rethink that idea. They had made a deal once before, and although it stayed true, it wasn't the way Jack had expected. He was still uneasy, and a slight glimmer of fear appeared in his eyes. But Jack shook it away, knowing that that was what Pitch wanted. He glanced back at the town, hoping the golden light of the sand would show. It didn't, and Jack was tired of waiting. He turned and began to head south.

MEANWHILE

Sandy had been making his usual rounds bringing good dreams to children. He was just about to fly north over a Scottish woodland to the next town, but had stopped when he noticed two odd things. The first was that the forest was clear. In most cases, that was the usual. But this one was different. It was always foggy and/or raining here, as if a spirit lived here that controlled such weather. This made Sandy think of the new Guardian, whose name he still didn't know. He would have to ask Jack the next time they met.

The second odd thing wasn't so odd, in a sense. It was a Nightmare. Sandy was used to fighting these off, and was going to make it a tugboat when he noticed its behavior. This is what threw the Sandman off. It was running wildly, as if it didn't know where it was going, or missing something. Pitch wouldn't send a rampaging Nightmare on the loose, something must have happened to him.

The Guardian of Dreams made a plane and gave chase to the crazed dream. It could smell something, and was trying to find its source, he realized. Keeping a safe distance, he followed the Nightmare north. It kept zig-zagging, searching almost frantically for something. This behavior was still stumping Sandy when suddenly the mare dove straight down. Sandy made the plane into a sand cloud and looked underneath the cloud, surprised at what he saw.

Below him was a lake. It was calm, and its presence was rather soothing. The moonlight bathed it in silver, which made it glint and shimmer, making the scene picturesque. At the center of the lake was an island, covered in oak trees that were so dense you probably couldn't see into it on a nice day. The island especially stood out because of the magnificent oaks, because the rest of the forest was made of pine trees.

It was unusual, and Sandy wondered why he had never seen the area before. Then he realized that this was usually the foggiest place in the forest whenever he came over, and it was probably a secret to everyone. His curiosity was taking over and his first instinct was to explore, but then he heard a whinny. He quickly floated down and found the Nightmare next to the largest oak, pawing the ground. It had found what it was looking for.

Sandy decided to leave the poor creature alone, and stayed about 2 feet above the water a few yards away. He watched at the mare sniffed something black on the ground, reared, and took off into the night sky. It now knew where it was going, and set off confidently facing southeast. Sandy couldn't help but smile. Yes, the Nightmares were Pitch's domain, but they were still beings that needed to be respected and had personalities all their own. He had to give her credit, which made the smile come across his usually happy face.

Then Sandy turned his attention to the shore. He got closer, and quickly realized what the Nightmare had been sniffing was black sand. Pitch had been here, there was no doubt. Now there was the question why, and the yellow man could tell the Boogeyman had been doing something big by the amount of pitch black (pun intended) sand piled up around him.

As Sandy ran some of the sand through his fingers, a familiar voice called down to him. "Hey, Sandy!" As he looked up, Jack Frost landed beside him, obviously both happy and worried. "I saw the Nightmare. I was going to chase it but it was too fast. And then I wondered what it was doing here and…" Jack trailed off when he saw the black sand.

"Oh no." He glanced around, the look of worry getting even stronger. Sandy made a question mark over his head, wondering why he was so worried. It was usual to see Nightmares, and the sand was worrying but not too bad. "Sandy, this is Gemma's forest." Again, Sandy made a question mark over his head. "Gemma's the new Guardian. Did you hear Bloody Mary captured her?" Sandy shook his head no. "Well, when she and I got to the Pole she was captured by her. And when we were heading there Gemma was telling me about her secret lake. This is her favorite place."

Jack's face suddenly turned angry. "Oh, how could I have been so stupid? I should've looked here first, not near the town. That was too obvious." Sandy felt bad for him, realizing that Jack had taken full responsibility for Gemma's disappearance. He floated up to Jack's height, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder in reassurance. Then he pointed to the ground, showing Jack some things he had seen before the Winter Guardian got there.

In the grass, which was unusually wet, were two flowers. One was pink, and about 2 feet off of Jack's left. The other was a rich purple, and growing next to Jack's bare right foot. At first, the look on Jack's face said he didn't understand. Sandy smiled, remembering how long it had taken for him to recognize the flowers at first. Jack looked at him expectantly, so Sandy made the shape of an egg above his head. Recognition shone in the blue eyes, a smile spreading across his face. "Bunny!"

The Easter Bunny sat up intently, twitching his ears. Gemma was still inside of the Warren, he was just trying to find her before she made a giant mess. The fog that surrounded him was thick, and making it difficult to find the wily Scott. He didn't like the grin she had on her face before she had made everything grey, and still didn't trust her despite what happened.

Finally, the fog began to clear up. Bunnymund straightened himself, figuring that Gemma had hid herself to try and scare him again. At that thought, he was surprised she hadn't tried that again before. She had obviously enjoyed it. He shrugged it off as the last wisps of fog vaporized, revealing everything to seem untouched. That was weird.

Then Bunny saw Gemma. She was standing at the center of the Warren, where the highest hill was. She was searching the area like a lone wolf, her beautiful yet piercing eyes absorbing everything. She still had her sweatshirt tied around her waist, showing off the simple black T-Shirt underneath and her pale arms. It was plain to see that she had fully recovered from Pitch's attack, and was looking for something to do.

Bunny began to run up to her, and when she saw him she immediately called out: "Hey, Bugs Bunny! Hurry up I wanna show you something!" He was wary when he hopped next to her, not liking the sound of his new name nor of what she was about to show him. She grinned at his apprehensive face. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything bad." Bunny's face didn't change.

She ignored that and turned to look at the Warren again. "You said it took you a couple hours to water everything here, right?" Bunny gave her a sideways glance. "Yeah, I did." She smiled. "Well, how about this?" With that, she spread her arms up and out, some grey clouds forming above them. Bunny stared in awe as a light rain began to fall, giving his fur a light coating of water. His mouth was dropped open.

"Consider it me paying you back for a favor." Bunny glanced at the teenager. She was smiling at him, undoubtedly because he was actually speechless. He didn't know what to say. The process of watering plants for hours each week could all be stopped by one person, and that one person he had never believed in. "Scotty?" He paused. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for not believing in you, and for letting you have it at the Pole." He wanted to say more, but couldn't think of anything.

"It's alright. I probably deserved it, anyways." Gemma ran her fingers through her hair, pleased at her work. That was when Bunny noticed the odd markings on her arms. They looked like lightning bolts. "Hey, mind if I ask about your arms?" She glanced at them, looking surprised at Bunny's question. "Oh, before I became Gemma Fogg I was struck by lightning and died. When I woke up, I had these markings from the strike."

Bunny was confused. "I thought you didn't remember anything from before you died?" "I didn't. But when I was with Mary I suddenly remembered my life before I became who I am today." She grinned. "I was a princess of Scotland, about to be married off to some guy. I'm kinda glad I died when I remembered that." "But, don't you miss your family?" She frowned. "Of course I do, but you can't change your fate, can ya?"

The frown had turned into a smile, a teasing look in her eyes. The words were familiar to the rabbit. "Please don't tell me you were the daughter of Merida?" "Ok, I won't." The Pooka smirked. "Well, if you are, you and I need to have a shooting competition. I was the best in my family." "Oh, bring it on, rabbit!" They both laughed as Gemma made the rain stop and the clouds disappear.

Then Bunny heard something. It was the wind. Then two pairs of feet landed on the grass near the tunnels. He turned in that direction, Gemma looking the same way. "What?" He turned to her. "We got company, mate."

MEANWHILE

Pitch woke up freezing, rubbing his head, and groaning. He jumped in surprise when he realized he was at the center of a blizzard on some mountain. How had he gotten here? The bump on his head and the nearest memory reminded him. He was about to make Gemma his own and almost had her when something wooden knocked him out. It had come out of nowhere, knocking him out cold.

Pitch was still puzzling when he heard a whinny. One of his Nightmares came running at him through the blizzard, stopping next to him. He stood up, grumbling, "It's about time you got here." He climbed on her back as she snorted, pawing at the ground in response. "Take me to that lake!" The horse took off, struggling through the blizzard, but eventually got out. They would arrive soon enough.

LATER

Pitch glared at the ground, recognizing the familiar flowers that were about four feet apart. That stupid rabbit had been here. He must've taken Gemma and sent him to the Himalayas to freeze. He scowled at the thought, not happy that a rabbit had outsmarted him, especially one who was a Guardian.

The Boogeyman was getting angry. He needed to get to Mary as soon as possible, but those stupid Guardians kept getting in the way. He needed stop them, but how? He mused on the thought for a moment, then slowly began to grin. It was so simple, so obvious, and so devilish. He loved it.

The Guardians might see it coming, he realized, but another thought occurred to him. They had Gemma, now. Oh, that made it better. The Guardians would be so focused on her that they wouldn't be looking out for him. Yes, it would work perfectly. He could get everything he needed and more with one single blow.

Of course, his need for Mary was important, but he needed precious information first. He could wait, that was easy for him. In the meantime, he decided to play it safe. He hopped onto his Nightmare and rode off, glancing at the Moon for a moment. Nothing needed to be said, so he kept riding away from the precious hideaway.

And so the waiting game was started, with Pitch riding off, and preparing to collect more fear than he could have ever imagined.

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