Sorry I haven't updated in so long, I had some problems getting this one done!
Anyway; YES I HIT100 REVIEWS, WOO!
….Sorry, this is the first time I've ever gotten that many reviews on one story with less than ten chapters…but enough of my rambling, let's get to what you've been waiting for!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Okay, this settles it; we're going back to Antarctica and finding Bunny, NOW!" Jack said firmly.
"Jack is right, we must hurry before Warren and Easter are ruined permanently!" North added.
The others nodded, and turned back to the tunnel they'd come out of to go back; however, a laugh caused them to pause. A shadow rushed past them, and they whipped around to see Pitch.
"Greetings Guardians, enjoying the view?" he asked, smirking a little.
"Pitch…" Jack growled.
"Oh hello Jack, didn't we meet up just a few hours ago?"
Jack's eyes narrowed, his hands tightening around his staff. Pitch smirked wider, before looking around at the ruined Warren.
"I must say, I love the new look; so desolate and sad, so…hopeless, wouldn't you say?"
"What'd you do to Bunny?" Jack demanded.
"Oh nothing, just informed him of recent events. I couldn't have possibly known you'd survived that sleigh crash, but hey, at least I know you're alive."
"What did you do?"
"Nothing horrendous, at least I didn't think it was; now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to breaking your little friend."
Jack shot an blast of cold energy at him, but Pitch vanished with a laugh. The Guardians glared at the spot he'd been, before looking at one another worriedly.
"What do you think he meant about him knowing we were alive?" Tooth asked.
"He knows we're alive after the sleigh crash…" Jack murmured, trying to figure things out.
Apparently he and North came to the same conclusion at the exact same time, as his eyes widened.
"Bunny thinks we're dead…" Jack mumbled.
After a few seconds of shock, they swiftly turned towards the tunnels.
"Come, we go now!" North yelled.
The others followed close behind, and they started back down the tunnel. The egglets watched them go, squeaking to each other nervously.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bunny was curled up against a side of the cage, staring blankly at the floor. He was still cold, hungry, and tired, but none of them were as bad as the painful empty feeling he had inside. It was worse than when the children had stopped believing in him; emptier, sadder…
He knew the Warren must be suffering, but he just couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. Right now, all he cared about was getting out of here, fast. He didn't care how, so long as he was alive and away from Pitch. With the other Guardians…gone, though, the chances were slim. He needed a miracle, now.
"Manny…I dunno if you can 'ear me down here…but I could really use some help mate…" he murmured.
"You're asking him for help?"
He jumped a little, but remained where he was. He lifted his head a little to glower at Pitch behind him.
"Why ask him, eh? What's he ever done for you?" Pitch continued with a small smirk.
Bunny glared, but remained silent.
"I mean, he's never done anything for you in the past; he didn't save your people, he just let them die. Like your little guardian friends."
"Shut up…"
"You all respect him so highly, yet he does so little for you."
"Shut up…"
"Face it, he's a sham; he swears to protect the children, yet he can't even protect his precious Guardians. Look at you, you're down here in the darkest pit on the planet…and he does nothing."
Bunny jumped to his feet, glaring death at Pitch.
"SHUT. UP!"
Pitch smirked, leaning down to his level. Reaching through the bars, he gripped the chain, and yanked against the metal, forcing a hiss of pain from the rabbit, but he still managed a glare.
"I see there's still a little fight left in you; impressive," Pitch murmured, before his smirk turned into a chilling grin, and he held up his other hand. A small amount of bluish black sand appeared, and Bunny's eyes widened.
"Let's just fix that."
A quick breath sent the sand into Bunny's face. He'd been hit with Sandy's dream sand before, and it had filled him with warm joy; Pitch's nightmare sand filled him with cold dread and terror. Despite his best efforts, Bunny slipped into unconsciousness, with Pitch's grin being the last thing he saw.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Okay, so what's our plan?" Tooth asked as they stared at the ice tower in the distance.
"We cannot go rushing in; Pitch will be expecting us now. We must find way to quietly enter his lair." North replied.
Everyone nodded, but Jack noticed Tooth's worried look.
"Don't worry about Baby Tooth, she's a tough little fairy. Either we'll find her, or she'll find us." He stated with a soft smile.
Tooth returned it with her own, and nodded a little.
"You're right; for now let's focus on getting Bunny away from Pitch."
Jack nodded, and the Guardians set off.
::::::::::::::::::::::
Baby Tooth chirped nervously as she looked around the dark cold area.
She'd gotten separated from her Momma and the other Guardians during the nightmare attack, and fallen from the sleigh. Luckily she had managed to flutter her way safely to the ground, and had found herself staring up at the gigantic tower of black ice.
She'd also seen the sleigh go down about a mile away, causing her to panic for a moment, but she knew that the Guardians were okay. She would've felt it if something had happened to her Queen, so they all had to be okay.
After that, Baby Tooth and decided to investigate the tower to see if she could find anything suspicious. She'd nearly been startled to death when Pitch suddenly appeared out of the tower. She took cover behind a pile of snow, and watched him for a moment. Pitch had stared at the spot where the sleigh crashed for a moment, before grinning and laughing to himself, and then vanished back into the black ice.
Baby Tooth was stunned, before she'd flown up to the ice to get a closer look. Her closer look ended up sending her into the ice, and it felt like going through one of North's snow globe portals, except it was dark and cold.
Now, she was resting on a pillar turned on its side, staring around a shadowy room with metal cages hanging from the roof; the same type of cages that had once held her sisters during Pitch's last attack. She shuddered a little, before taking to the air and flying towards what looked like the entrance to a hallway. The hall was even darker than the last room, and made her feel uneasy as she traversed down the hall. It seemed to go on forever, before she finally found an exit, and entered a smaller room that was dimly lit by torches.
In the center of the room, hanging from the ceiling, was another cage, and she could make out a small form huddled inside. She flew closer, and easily slipped through the metal bars. She immediately came to a halt when she recognized the occupant.
The tiny Bunny was lying on the floor of the cage, a chain of black sand connecting him to the floor. Baby Tooth was excited that she'd found him, but it quickly died when he started whimpering and squirming in his sleep. Worried, she attempted to shake him awake, but it didn't seem to be working. Bunny let out another whimper, and she heard him mumble,
"No…I'm sorry…."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bunny was huddled in a dark corner, large shadows engulfing him, and trembling as voices hissed around him.
"It's your fault we're dead!"
"We gave our lives to try and rescue YOU? Look at you, you're pathetic!"
"How does it feel knowing that no one's gonna help you? I had to deal with that for 300 years!"
"Is waste of time to even be shouting at you now!"
Bunny heard what sounded like a sword being removed from its sheath, and his head shot up to look at the Guardians in surprise. They were barely more than shadowy figures, with glowing white eyes. North was holding a jagged sword out, and raised it to strike.
"NORTH WAIT, GUYS PLEASE I-!"
As the sword fell, he let out a screech as he pressed as far into the corner as possible.
:::::::::::::::::::::
A shrill chirping in his ear jolted him awake, along with a sharp pain in his leg.
His eyes snapped open, and he was met with a small colorful form fluttering in his face. After a moment, he caught his breath and sat up.
"Baby Tooth…?" he mumbled in surprise.
The small fairy gave a happy chirp, and nuzzled against his head.
"Hey little sheila, how are ya?"
Baby Tooth gave a happy chirp, before giving a more questioning one along with a concerned gaze.
"I-I'm fine, really I…"
By the look on the little fairy's face, she wasn't buying it.
"Okay, I'm not fine…" he muttered as tears started forming in his eyes.
"I don't wanna be here anymore, I just wanna go home…I can't take it anymore, and now with the others de…gone, I-I can't-"
Baby Tooth suddenly started chirping furiously, cutting him off and making him look at her in confusion.
"What? Whatsa matter?"
Baby Tooth went on about something in her language of chirps and squeaks, while Bunny desperately tried to keep up. He'd been attempting to learn the language of the miniscule fairies for years, and although he couldn't completely understand what they said, he knew enough to understand Baby Tooth.
"You…you're saying that…they're alive…?"
Baby Tooth nodded vigorously, and Bunny glanced away for a second in stunned confusion.
"Pitch said that…they were…"
His eyes narrowed in anger, and he growled, "That no good…lying little…shadow sneakin' ratbag!"
"I see the fairy's out of the bag."
The duo jumped at the voice, and glanced up to see Pitch strolling up to the cage. Baby Tooth hovered closer to the cage floor and squeaked fearfully, while Bunny moved in front of her with a furious glare.
"Pitch, you no good bludger, I ought ta kick yer teeth in-!"
"Yes, yes, threaten me and whatnot; when you're finished, perhaps we could have an intelligent conversation."
Bunny seethed with anger, his teeth bared as Pitch leaned forward so they were eye to eye.
"You told me they were dead."
"So I might've stretched the truth a bit; I didn't actually know about their status at the time, I just assumed is all."
"You sorry son of dingo-!"
"Ah, ah, let's watch our language little rabbit; now then, as much as I'd love to match wits with you, we have preparations to make."
Bunny and Baby Tooth glanced at one another, before looking back at Pitch with slightly confused glares.
"Your little friends will be coming, and I'm going to make sure I keep that promise I made to you long ago…"
Baby Tooth looked even more confused, but noticed Bunny's slight shift in attitude. He looked less angry now, and more nervous. Pitch smirked as he opened the cage door and reached in; the chain dissolved into black sand, and Bunny was snatched up by the scruff of his neck as Baby Tooth let out a worried squeak.
"I promised you long ago that I would make sure you were alone for the rest of your life," Pitch murmured as he came eye to eye with Bunny, "And it's time I brought the Guardians into that factor; or rather, take them out of the factor."
Bunny's eyes widened, and Pitch's smirk widened. He would've laughed; except there was a furious chirp, and a blur of color flew at him. There was a stab of pain as Baby Tooth jabbed her beak into his hand that was holding Bunny, and he dropped the Pooka with a yelp.
As soon as he hit the floor, Bunny was racing off with Baby Tooth at his side, fleeing into the hall that Baby Tooth had come from. A furious shout from behind put a burst of speed into their escape.
"You know the way outta here?" Bunny asked.
The fairy gave a chirp of affirmation, and took the lead as they raced through Pitch's lair.
A nightmare suddenly sprung in front of them, forcing them to skid to a halt. As they tried to back away, more appeared, and cornered the small duo against a wall. Baby Tooth squeaked fearfully, while Bunny moved in front of her and stood on his hind legs as he glared at the black sand horses. Pitch appeared seconds later, his furious eyes focused on the two trapped prisoners.
Bunny glanced back at Baby Tooth, then crouched down and whispered, "Listen sheila, when I give the signal, you make a break for the exit."
Baby Tooth shook her head, worry forming in her pink and blue eyes.
"Ya need ta find the others and warn 'em, a'right? I'll be fine, I've lived through worse."
Baby Tooth chirped sadly, before slowly nodding. Bunny gave a reassuring smile, before turning back to the threat at hand.
"Ya want me ya bludgers, come and get me!"
He shot off to the side, and the nightmares followed. Baby Tooth ducked behind a large rock, and watched with a worried gaze.
Bunny was leading the nightmares on a chase throughout the room, shooting jibes and insults as they tried and failed to corner him. He came to a stop in front of Pitch, looking back to make sure they were still following, then looked up at the Nightmare King with a smirk. He dove out of the way, and Pitch's eyes widened, seconds before the group of nightmares plowed into him. They hit the floor, and Bunny glanced towards Baby Tooth.
"Now, go, go!" he yelled.
Baby Tooth shot towards the tunnel she'd entered the lair through, and Bunny followed her whilst keeping an eye on Pitch. The man was getting to his feet, glaring at the fleeing duo, before shouting at the nightmares.
"Get them you idiots, do your jobs!"
Bunny and Baby Tooth raced into the tunnel, and for a moment, both were feeling pretty good about their chances of escape.
Then something grabbed Bunny's foot and yanked him back a few inches, forcing a yelp from the rabbit. Baby Tooth squeaked, and flew back to try and help.
"No Baby Tooth, ya need ta get outta here!"
The tendril of sand around his ankle yanked again, dragging him further back, and he dug his claws into the dirt of the tunnel to try and keep his ground.
"Get out and find the others! Ya need to warn them okay?"
Baby Tooth still looked unsure, until Bunny met her gaze. She could see the terror in their green depths, and his voice shook a little as he murmured, "Please…"
The small fairy hesitated, before giving a nod. Slowly, she turned, and after one last look back, she flew off at top speed.
Bunny gave a small smile, before the tendril of sand pulled again, harder, and he was yanked out of the tunnel and into the air.
"Let go'a me! Get yer slimy sand offa me!" he shouted as he twisted and kicked at the black sand.
More sand swirled around him, and it formed into a small hutch that he was ungraciously stuffed into. The sand making up the roof vanished, and he found himself looking up at a very angry Pitch. The intensity of the glare was enough to make him shudder. Pitch reached in, and swiftly pinned Bunny to the floor of the hutch by his neck, and squeezing tightly.
"Silly rabbit," Pitch said in a brittle cheerful tone as Bunny gagged, "You're going to pay for that."
Pitch's hand tightened even more, and Bunny clawed at his arm as his eyes squeezed shut.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::
Will the Guardians find Pitch's lair? Will Baby Tooth warn them in time? Will Bunny be able to hold on much longer? All these questions will be answered in the next and final chapter!