Ok, for those of you who did not catch it, I have a specific roster that I will be using until the arcs are completed. I will update in THIS ORDER…Visions, Toddler Bunny, Pitch's Passion, and finally Epikaos.
That will be the order of updates, and I'm going to keep it that way so to make sure that I do not procrastinate on any of them. Okeydokey?
So that being said, HERE IS VISIONS!
Far away in a castle that once glistened brightly in the sun, but now sat in dilapidated ruin, a lone spirit wandered now darkened halls, scraggly red hair flowing down her back in knotted gnarled waves. Her robe, once beautifully white accented by holly embroidered in gold thread, now hung on a bony frame in a tattered dingy mess. Wilted holly and mistletoe sat atop her head, barely resembling its former glory as a tiara. This woman, a mere shadow of what she once was, stumbled through the halls of her home, her face scrunched in despair and disgust at the many heirlooms connecting her to her past.
Wandering into her personal study, now dank with decay and covered in cobwebs, she approached one of the many pictures hanging on the wall and slammed her fist into the face painted on the canvas.
"It's your fault," she whispered brokenly here green eyes teetering on the edge of madness "it is your entire fault that I am this way…useless…broken…forgotten…All your fault."
Digging her nails into the fabric, she dragged them down, clawing at the oil, chipping away the features of the man she despised, no, the man she HATED. Suddenly the spirit found that clawing his face wasn't enough, no, she wanted more. She wanted to destroy him completely. Grabbing a letter opener, she plunged the blade into the picture, her voice a delirious shriek of laughter with each stab, but even that was not enough.
"NO!" she snarled throwing the blade down in disgust "It is not enough!"
Looking back at the canvas, despite its abuse still containing the gleaming smile of her nemesis, and a shudder rocked her frame. Too long she had been sitting in the shadows dreaming of what harm could, and should, befall the man. No, she needed to defy her nature, defy her fate, and become something different, something that could claim retribution for the wrongs wrought against her by the evil that was that horrible man. Soft laughter wrack her frame as she began to rock back and forth, her eyes wide with the insanity devouring her from the inside out. Oh yes, she should just take from him what he took from her. Leave him in a ruin of a castle, wandering aimlessly with nowhere to go, and no one to believe in him.
The laughter grew, becoming increasingly more dark and menacing, until it was a cackle that screamed the madness that had taken her in its jaws and swallowed her mind in one gulp. Flames grew around her, and the once tattered robe fixed itself, turning a bloody shade of red, and the holly that had been embroidered so beautifully in gold on its folds now darkened and gained jagged edges, turning into black thorns. The tiara wilted completely and was replaced by a jagged obsidian crown. Her nails turned black, and grew to sharpened points, and finally the transformation was complete.
"Just wait," she hissed shredding the picture with her new nails watching it catch flame and smolder "I will get my revenge…and Christmas will officially be…canceled."
….
"Oi Jack," Bunny called chasing after the winter spirit.
The boy didn't turn, merely kept flying, and Aster pursed his lips in irritation as he put on an extra burst of speed. "JACK!"
Jack snapped from his thoughts, looking down to see Bunny running him down, and heaved a sigh as he floated down to stand on the snow covered ground "Hey Aster," he smiled wearily.
"Hey," Bunny panted as he sat on his haunches to catch his breath "where've ya been Frostbite? It's been over two weeks since I last saw ya, and ya missed the last couple a meetin's, plus yer avoidin' everyone. It's just…It's not like ya ta do those things anymore kid."
"What's your point Bunny," Jack sighed with fatigue his shoulders deflating with the exhale.
"My point is, Jackie," the rabbit continued placing his paws on the boy's shoulders and bending down so he could look the boy in the eye so to better convey the emotion behind his words, and barely holding back a wince from the bloodshot blue eyes that greeted him with huge black bags hanging beneath them "we're worried about ya, and we wish ya would let us help ya with whatever it is that's makin' ya run away from us and skip out on the Guardian Meetin's."
Jack bit his lip, feeling his chin wrinkle as his bottom lip began to quiver on its own accord. He wanted to tell them so badly, wanted to spill his guts and let them help him, but the rules were hard enough to explain much less follow precisely so to avoid mass death, and Jack just couldn't take the chance. Looking up and meeting Bunny's gaze, Jack felt hot tears sting his eyes and begin to roll down his cheeks in waves as he began to breathe heavily, almost hyperventilating from the amount of agony stabbing his heart.
"I-I…" he began his voice a choked sob as his shoulders trembled and convulsed "I'm so sorry Bunny…but…" Jack bit his lip before choking out "but I can't."
Turning around, Jack wrenched him away from the comforting strength of his older brother that he so wanted to fall into, and flew into the sky, his tears turning to snowflakes and falling on the Pooka standing beneath. Bunny braced his elbows on his knees, and buried his face in his paws, gritting his teeth against the agonized snarl of aggravation that was fighting its way up his throat. He had made a promise to the other Guardians that he would leave Jack alone, that if that was what it took, then that was what he would do. But the Pooka had no idea just how painful sitting on your thumbs and doing nothing was. He wanted to help Jack, to give his baby brother a big hug, and let him know that he wasn't going to suffer alone. But he couldn't, not without endangering Jack and quite possibly their own future, and it made Bunny want to scream and throw rabbit punches at the closest tree until he reduced it to sawdust.
"Bunny," a voice spoke behind him "if you stay like that for much longer, you're going to get stuck in that position and then where will you be?"
Aster's green eyes flew open as he popped up and turned around in one swift movement "Pitch!" he practically yelled.
"Well done," the specter clapped his hands sarcastically "thank you captain obvious for reminding me of my own identity."
"I-I was talkin' ta Jack," Aster stammered his voice choked with concern and sorrow.
"Yes, I know," Pitch sighed as he took in Bunny's own disheveled appearance with concern and the hurt overflowing from the rabbit's eyes making his center flicker in and out "and if you know what is good for you, and want to keep your center from disappearing entirely, I think it best that you stay out of it."
"You know I can't do that," the rabbit whispered harshly closing his eyes as if in pain "Jackie…he's…he's like a brother ta me, and I can't just stand by and let him go through this, whatever this is, alone…I just can't."
Pitch groaned massaging his temples with two index fingers before once again meeting Aster's tortured gaze "You need to, for your sake, and his, not to mention the countless millions that could die should he fail."
Bunny shoulders deflated as he fell to all fours, feeling the wracking sobs begin to shake him as he processed Pitch's words. The Boogeyman gazed on the Pooka, his golden eyes soft with pity, before he turned to walk away, but was stopped by Bunny's voice.
"Please," he whispered, his voice broken and his shattered heart evident in every syllable "Please tell me…I can keep it from the other Guardians if I need ta, but I need to know if I can help…anythin' other than this wretched waitin' for Jack to come to us himself."
"What makes you think that I know anything?" Pitch stated simply his back still to the forlorn rabbit.
"Because you're the Nightmare King!" Bunny finally shouted pounding the frost covered ground with a fist "So that means that you've seen his vision, and know what it is!"
"And if I did," Pitch answered slowly his voice soft as he began to cave and considered telling the Easter spirit "what reason do you have that would qualify you to be let in on the secret?"
Bunny paused gathering his wits through his grief fogged brain, long enough for Pitch to begin walking again, only to once more be stopped by the rabbit's desperate cry "I know the rules!"
"You know the rules-How?" the dark man sputtered turning to face his former enemy.
"Jack told me," Bunny gasped his eyes wide with panic and hope that Pitch would grant him mercy by telling him "and I was there…when the prophecy was first spoken, I know it!"
"But Bunny, that doesn't mean-" the Boogeyman began only to be cut off.
"When the Moon weeps," Aster interrupted as desperate tears began to fall from his eyes "bells will toll as a shooting star falls never to rise again, the bond will break and darkness will fall."
"Bunny, that's not-"
"PLEASE!" The Pooka begged in a broken sob as he curled up in a weeping ball of fur shaking in grief "I know the rules…" he said in a hoarse whisper rocking back and forth "I know the rules…so please…please…"
Pitch grit his teeth and closed his eyes at the sheer amount of pain radiating from the spirit and finally walked over to the rabbit, kneeling down and placing a gray hand on one furry shoulder "The vision," he began softly feeling Bunny tense beneath his fingers "it simply means that on the next blue moon, North will die, the Guardians will disperse and the world will fall into darkness."
"Blue moon," Bunny murmured as he processed the words "'when the moon weeps', o' course, it means the blue moon. And North's sleigh, its covered in bells, so they would ring if it were ta fall from the sky."
"Exactly," Pitch nodded "so you see, we must save North without changing the prophecy, at all. It is a matter of supreme delicacy, and to tell the Guardians or North, would be risking either his life, or the life of all those that will die to fulfill the debt owed to death and fate."
"Oh Manny," Aster groaned "that's…that's almost impossible."
"Now you know why I didn't want to tell you," Pitch sighed sitting on the ground in front of the rabbit and placing his chin on a weary fist "the whole thing is making Jack sick with worry, and I honestly don't know how to help."
"Well you are helping in my opinion," Bunny sniffled rubbing his nose with one paw "tryin' ta be there for Jack when we can't, that's helpin'."
"Maybe," Pitch shrugged unhappily "but it doesn't really help Jack in the way he needs."
The rabbit stood up, bracing himself against one tree as a wave of dizziness struck him from his emotional outburst not even ten minutes ago "…Pitch…" he said gruffly not daring to look at the man sitting on the ground next to him "I…uh…I know that just three years ago, we were practically still enemies, but…I'm glad that we're not anymore…that you're an ally…I'm glad for that."
The Boogeyman regarded Bunny's profile for a few moments, a new but not unwelcome emotion of gratitude and friendship towards the spirit, one that had only begun to develop over the past few years and was still unnerving in the strength it made him feel, gathered in his chest. But Pitch was not like Bunny, whom had been forced to acknowledge his emotional side long before their still growing friendship began to bud, he was still firmly in denial over having 'touchy feely' talks. So with a resigned sigh, and what he hoped was a semi convincing scoff of disgust towards the emotional display, the Boogeyman waved the rabbit's comment away.
"Be careful rabbit," he sneered "or people will stop believing you're as tough as you say you are."
Bunny gave a short laugh, as he wiped his eyes and squared his shoulders "I guess I'm gonna go back ta my warren and see about how we can save North without changin' the prophecy."
"Fine," Pitch nodded "I will be doing the same thing, and Bunny…?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't." Pitch whispered menacingly "Do not. Tell. North. Or any of the other Guardians what you know, including Jack, and if you tell him I told you, I WILL denounce you as a liar."
Aster chuckled as he nodded "Agreed."
"Good," Pitch said with a short nod.
"…Wait…"
"What is it now, rabbit?" Pitch groaned.
"Sorry," Aster raised his paws as he winced "just one last question…"
"Fine, shoot." The specter growled his head hanging back as his arms dangled at his sides showing his supreme wish to get away from one particularly emotional Pooka.
"Why," Bunny said softly his voice hesitant "I mean…Why did you…tell me?"
"I guess," Pitch answered slowly as he allowed the shadows to come up around him and draw him into their depths "because you're the Guardian of Hope, and if we need anything right now, we need that."
Watching Pitch disappear, Aster finally felt a small spark of Hope warm his chest. Things looked bad, to be sure, but North could be saved and would be saved. All they needed was to keep hoping, and never stop looking for the winning answer. With that thought motivating him, the rabbit tapped the ground and began the journey home, his heart thrumming with determination to help Jack in any way he could.
How is that? To anyone who wants to bug me over Bunny being too OOC, I SAID that this arc was going to be crazy angsty, and think about the situation, they are all stressed out so I think Bunny would be a little high strung after two weeks of not knowing what is going on with his little brother.
As always, please REVIEW! *free hugs to all reviewers!*