Believe in Me

At Any Moment

A week had passed since they had returned and there was still no sign of Pitch. Despite how relaxed things were beginning to feel again, the level of nervousness was slowly raising in everyone. The longer their peace time lasted, the more likely it would be that the nightmare king would suddenly appear. Even knowing the risks of getting too laid back, it was difficult to be cautious when everything appeared to be back to its happy usual self. Ilia’s dog, whom she had named Louis, was gradually healing with the child of nature’s help. Tooth put aside her discomfort and was always seen helping out somehow, showing Ilia how to rewrap bandages. When she wasn’t playing or talking with someone else, she was with one of the guardians learning how to defend herself. North decided to start her off with something light and small, that way she could still fly and attack easily with it but wouldn’t be in too much of a disadvantage if the situation called for attacking. They figured a knife would work well enough until she got used to the feel of attacking and defending. It was small but long enough to block if held firmly enough. Jayna had begun working with materials she had gathered from both towns and forests, mending together sashes of sorts. Tooth didn’t have any sort of place to put her weapon, and Jack agreed gratefully with the thought of not having to carry his staff around. As the groundhog woman was weaving the thick fabrics together she would talk with whoever was available, Bunny being a more and more common visitor to the spirit of chance. Everything felt… extremely family like, Jack thought. With Ilia playing with her dog and teasing the elves (the curious mischief she was known for was returning, and since she wasn’t allowed to leave the pole on her own, the small workers were constantly pestered and toyed with), Grey was occasionally seen on his own time, sometimes joining with the rest of them, sometimes staying on his own. Wind was beginning to smile more and more often until it was more common to see the boy grinning than to see anything else. He appeared to be happy, now that he finally had an accepting… yes, family… they were all a family, Jack decided. North was busy working with the yetis; with all the commotion he hadn’t had any time to even begin to prepare for Christmas. He still had a little less than half a year, with it being mid-August, but making multiple toys for every child in the entire world took plenty of planning far ahead. Sandy, Tooth, and Grey were the only ones really allowed to leave the pole, with their jobs taking top priority, but they were always told to be careful. Tooth and Sandy were recommended by North to try and stay together as much as possible, but every day they returned home with no news of any strange occurrences, no sightings of Pitch or any other spirits, just the smiles of children both during their sleep and the mornings they awoke.

But Jack still didn’t understand… What was Pitch waiting for? He didn’t WANT the nightmare king to attack, he was enjoying the peace and was probably the happiest he had ever been… but the dark spirit was still out there. Was he plotting something…? How long would it be until that plot was carried out…? Suddenly he heard something down the hall. Lifting himself from the couch that he was lying and daydreaming on, he slowly picked up his staff and made his way towards the noise. Whether or not it was a good idea, he was still wise enough to carry around his weapon with him, even if his mind had relaxed far from the adrenaline of being ready to fight. As he turned the corner he nearly ran right into something, jumping back quickly and holding up his staff just slightly in a defensive position, freezing as he watched the figure come around. Grey turned around the wall and stopped as he saw the snow-haired spirit watching with somewhat wide eyes. Jack looked down and noticed that in the reaper’s hand was… Ilia? He was holding her up by the back of her shirt, her feet not touching the ground as he carried her. She had a sheepishly defeated expression… and hadn’t Grey been out doing his job? Then Jack caught on… “You tried to sneak out?” he asked the girl, not being able to help the grin that spread over his face as her ears ducked slightly in admittance. The reaper was completely void of any anger despite the fact that Ilia would’ve been risking her life if she hadn’t been caught. He simply slowed and allowed the two to converse, standing there in silence and watching Jack’s expressions quietly. “You know we shouldn’t be going out there until we know where Pitch is and what he’s doing…” Jack scolded, though it was impossible to be angry in any way. He would’ve done the same in any other situation, if the pole wasn’t so entertaining lately, he would’ve ran away far long before now. “I know, Grey told me,” she mumbled, giving a deep, somewhat dramatic sigh. The winter spirit was glad that, despite being busy doing his own duties, Death had still kept a close eye on her, but he understood from experience how Ilia was feeling. Despite having her dog now to play with, things got boring in the pole sometimes. After a while of teasing the elves and pestering the others, it wasn’t that much fun to be a kid. He was the same way. Deciding to ask despite the answer he was sure to get, Jack looked up to the reaper who was still staring nearly blinklessly. A while before it would’ve made him uncomfortable, but now the teen noticed that he wasn’t all that nervous under those red eyes anymore. Honestly, Grey didn’t seem all that scary compared to what Jack remembered seeing the first time they had met. “What if I go with her? We can protect each other, and if something happens then one of us can come back,” he asked hopefully, Ilia’s eyes lighting up at his attempt to help her. She turned her head, looking up at her ‘brother’ with what Jack would no doubt call the perfect puppy eyes. If anyone else, including himself, had been carrying her, he was sure that she would’ve gotten her way, but the reaper stood unfazed shaking his head. “You were both together the first time you were captured,” he replied simply, the two youngest of the spirits giving sighs in disappointment. “Yeah, but we’re stronger this time! And Wind can’t knock us out of the sky because he likes us now,” Ilia piped up, her tail giving a tiny wag in a still slightly burning hope. The forests were beautiful for now, and soon all of the animals that Jack was sure she wanted to play with would go to prepare for hibernation. She’d have to wait nearly half a year to play with them again if they were cooped up for too long. “You forget too easily,” was the reply, once again short and to the point, but Grey was right despite the two spirits not wanting to believe it. Just a week before Pitch had attacked and intended to kill Tooth, Wind was nearly kidnapped, Ilia had been along the lines of tortured, and the sleigh that they all thought was safe had been destroyed so easily. Despite the peace they all felt now, it wouldn’t last long… but wasn’t that why they had to enjoy it now? “If we’re locked up in here then how are we supposed to have fun in the once chance of free time we have?” Jack questioned, realizing that he was now completely siding with Ilia, though Death no doubt had it under control. “I’d assume that Pitch is expecting one of you to leave eventually after the lack of action gets to your heads. You will make it and he will wait until you deem it’s safe, then he’ll take you and either hurt you, capture you, or kill you. I won’t be able to go after you because I’ll end up doing more harm than good, and more likely he’ll use one of you as a bait to draw in the rest and kill them one by one.” Grey had had it so mapped out, even a little too far slightly but… it did somewhat make sense… If Pitch were going to attack, the easiest opening would be after a while when they figured it was safe. They’d be ignorant to danger and he could do whatever he wanted… they HAD forgotten to easily. “Alright…” Jack groaned, rubbing the back of his neck weakly in defeat. Death still hadn’t shifted at all from his original position, his face completely blank as he spoke, but he was as wise as ever, and the winter spirit couldn’t really find a comeback that would make up for what had just been said. Ilia gave a tiny whine before sighing out an ‘okay,’ then Grey put her down and turned. “I need to get back. Keep her safe.” Then he was off, moving forward in graceful motions, his cape fluttering just slightly behind him as he walked, turning the corner and vanishing from sight. Ilia seemed to have been holding her breath, releasing it once he was out of sight. “I guess I got caught,” She muttered, brushing the wrinkles out of her shirt from where the reaper had held the fabric firmly. “Why did he pick me up like that anyways? It wasn’t comfortable.”
“He probably knew that you could run away at the blink of an eye and didn’t want to chance you getting loose,” Jack joked, rustling the top of her head slightly to mess with the blonde strands that parted at her ears. She smiled, it apparently feeling good somehow, the girl shrugging and replying, “I guess that’s it.” The winter spirit looked to the window nearby, seeing the arctic sun sinking just slightly. He figured that maybe in their boredom they could go either help or play with the yetis that were probably currently cooking dinner for everyone. “Come on,” he grinned, motioning for the nature spirit to follow as he started walking back in the direction he had come.