Hope, Wonder and Nightmares, My What Fun

Stupid title, lol. This is a sequel to Family Vacation. Just a funny little fluff that will last a few chapters. Hope everyone has fun with it.

"Of all the downright stupid things I've ever let myself be talked into. How in the seven galaxies did I get myself into this?" Pitch grumbled as he walked through the dense forests of the Rockies. He kept to the shadows, tempted to simply melt into them and forget the whole horrid experience. It would at least a week for him to recover. He wasn't used to being out in the sunlight. No, he should be on the other side of the planet spreading fear and nightmares. Not here, not on some forsaken camping trip. Curse Jack Frost and his insistence that he and the Guardians get along. He was so much better before the boy joined them. That was a lie but given his current situation it just felt better to blame the boy then admit he enjoyed his company or that of the Guardians he was reluctantly getting to know. But one week a year was a small sacrifice.

It was Jack's insistence that he slept at night and spent the day with them that bothered him. He couldn't remember the last time he was up during the day and it was taking all his strength not to flee to his dark palace. Thankfully the dense forest of the mountains offered plenty of shade. But it was still too bright for his liking. He kept his cowl over his head and the dark tinted sunglasses Jack had given him over his eyes. The boy had been prepared, he'd give him that but the least he could have done was keep him company when Bunnymund had decided to search for new flora or when North decided to try to regain his youth. It didn't want to admit it, but he was rather lonely. He could always slip into the shadows and search for Jack and Bunny but he taken to watching North. The bumbling fool was scaling a cliff face with nothing but his bare hands. Surprisingly, he was doing quite well.

. . .

"Is this it?" Jack asked, kneeling in the thick grass.

Bunny glanced over from the flower he was taking notes on. "Yeah, that's it. Don't pick it!"

Jack froze, his hands only inches from the tiny purple flower. Instead, he pulled his hands to his chest to keep the flower safe. "Not picking it." He sat up and gave a small smile. "Shouldn't North be here by now?"

"Nah, he's climbing up," Bunny said, hopping over with his sketch book. He got down on his belly next to Jack and set to drawing. "He'll be a good ten to twenty minutes more. What about Pitch? You think he's still mopping down there?"

"I hope not. He gets moody and then who knows what he'll do."

"He gets moody if you look at him funny."

"Bunny…"

The Pooka shrugged and focused on his work.

Jack rolled his eyes. They were supposed to be relaxing and taking time off but so far Bunny had been searching for new scents and flavors for his chocolate and Jack was changing the leaves – not really doing as much work as usual but since he was in the area he might as well paint some leaves, no? He felt a little guilty though, he had convinced Pitch to give up a week of causing nightmares to be with them and they had left him at the camp site. Of course, Pitch had slept in so it wasn't really their fault, was it?

"I'm going to check on them," he said jumping into a breeze.

Bunny waved a hand, his focus on the plant he was studying. He paused as Jack dart over the cliff. "Don't startle-"

A pause.

"NORTH!"

Bunny thumbed his head against the ground. "Him." He glared at the plant he crushed before racing to the edge of the cliff. "Ah crikey."

. . .

Climbing freehand was not something many wound recommend but North was an expert. He had been doing it since he was a small boy. He was able to fine every notch and hand hold. He was sure footed and despite his age and larger size, was still more than capable of ascending the cliff. It reminded him of when he was still a bandit and how he and his men had been cornered against a rock wall by a tsar's soldiers after stealing a vast treasure. He chuckled at the memory. They had made away with a king's ransom strapped to their backs.

Reaching up he grasped the ledge above him and swung, reaching for the next hand hold. He dug his fingers in and continued upward. Another eighty-five feet and he'd be at the top. Not bad considering it had been well over a century since he last did this. He found a foot hold and kept climbing, pausing only long enough to admire the view. The towering mountains and vast ancient forests were breathtaking, almost like Russia so long ago. He could see river and even ice caps far in the distance. Oh, and there was Pitch, finally up and about. He still had his misgivings about the Boogeyman being with them but Jack had been insistent. The child was trying hard to bridge the gap between them. He wanted Pitch to understand he was important to children, too. North was still trying to understand his reasoning, as he was Manny's for supporting it. Still, Pitch had begun acting differently since being invited to their vacations. He could actually be a very decent man when he wanted to be. So long as he wasn't bringing fear to children North was happy.

Turning back to the rock face he ascended another ten feet. In another ten minutes he'd be at the top and ready for a good celebration. Of course he had left everything at camp. Maybe he could convince Jack or Bunny to retrieve his bag. He should have strapped it to his back before making the climb. Ah well, next time.

"Hey, North."

He swore as he missed the next hand hold and slipped.

"NORTH!" Jack yelled, swooping down to grab him. But he was too small to hold North's weight.

North swung the other way, grabbing his dagger from the small of his back and slamming the blade into a small crevice between two rocks. Thankfully it went in deep enough and for several long seconds he hung from it as he found his footing and adjusted his grip on a handhold.

"North!" Bunny yelled, leaping from one ledge to another to get to him.

Jack hovered in front of him, his blue eyes wide and fearful. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Securing a good grip on a rock North swung back to his earlier position. "Its okay, Jack. Just a little fright, nothing to worry over. I've had worse."

Bunny tapped the rocks above him, opening a tunnel. "That was over two centuries ago and not three hundred feet up in the air, mate."

North only laughed but his heart was racing and he couldn't help but look down. That was not a fall he wanted to take. With a refrained sigh he climbed the last few feet to the rabbit hole and sat on the edge to catch his breath.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked, sitting on his staff with a tiny, worried frown.

He laughed, trying to hide his fear. "Fine, fine. Bunny's right, I should have started at a lower height. It's been a long time." He leaned his head on the side of the hole. Pitch was going to pester him about this for the next few days. But he'd had enough climbing, time to head back to the campsite. "Jack, have you ever gone fishing?" he asked, trying to act fine.

"Not since I was human." The boy glanced toward the shadows were Pitch watched them with bright golden eyes.

"Good, you and I will catch dinner. Pitch can help," he said with all the jolliness he could muster before turning around and sliding down the rabbit hole.

Bunny and Jack shared a worried look before following him. It wasn't often North was shaken so badly and with the Nightmare King spending the week with them they both worried for their friends' dreams.

. . .

"You could have been killed," Pitch said when North popped up just a few feet from him. His arms were folded across his chest.

North snorted as he headed back to the camp. "You were concerned?"

The shade hummed softly. "I suppose one less Guardian would simply strengthen me. Would MiM replace Santa?"

North stayed silent, not rising to the bait. He heard Jack and Bunny behind them, arguing over the importance of not startling people doing half-baked crazy schemes like rock climbing without proper tools. North frowned. In his day there wasn't nearly the amount of gear people used now and he wasn't about to carry a ton of rope and stakes and hammers and Manny knows what else just to climb a few rocks. He ducked into his tent and grabbed a flask out of his bag. He took a swig as he stepped out, not caring that Pitch saw.

He expected the Boogeyman to smirk, even taunt him not stare at him in worry. Even when Pitch tried to over throw the Guardians North had not drank – not until Easter was ruined and they thought Jack had betrayed them. Nonetheless North gave him a hard glare when he lowered the flask. "Don't say a word," he said sternly.

Surprisingly, Pitch didn't. The sun must be getting to him, North reasoned. The shade always had some witting, smart ass remark. Tucking the flask in a pocket he fetched the fishing rods. "Bunny, will you be joining us?" he asked. He received another surprise when the Pooka agreed. Bunny never fished. He didn't eat meat. "Pitch?"

The Nightmare King studied him for a moment before taking a rod. "Why not? It'll be something…new." He stared at the hook in wonder.

"Careful," Jack cautioned. "You don't want one of those getting stuck in you."

Pitch gave a snort and buried the hook in his hand. Jack gasped, taking a step toward him to help only for the older spirit's hand to dematerialize and the hook to pass straight through.

"I'm only as solid as I want to be," Pitch informed him before fixing the hook on one of the loops to keep it from bouncing around. His gaze met North's. "This is for dinner, correct?" When North nodded he gestured toward the lake a half kilometer away. "Then let's go fishing."

Those words never sounded stranger coming from the shade. Bunny and Jack looked at him bewildered but North smiled. The Boogeyman was full of surprises.

Bunny ran a paw over his ears. "This is weird, mate," he whispered to Jack as they followed the other two spirits.

"How so?" Jack whispered back.

The Pooka's whiskers twitched and got a little lower, closer to Jack's height. "I feel like I'm going on a fishing trip with my dad and his best friend."

"You're dad fished?"

"Only when Kozmotis visited."

Jack raised a questioning brow.

"Before Pitch became the Nightmare King…he was a great General and friend to my father," Bunny explained, keeping his voice low.

"Wait…you dad and Pitch were friends?" Jack's eyes grew wide and voice slightly louder.

Bunny shot him a glare when Pitch glanced back at them with a raised brow. "Hush."

"Wow, this is going to be so weird," Jack whispered.

Weird wasn't the word for it. Fishing with the Nightmare King would be like reliving his childhood only with North playing the role of his father and Jack as his little brother. This was going to be so beyond weird. This was going to be…yeah weird worked.