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[chaospath]

Ah, actually thinking of wanting to find me a game?

I wonder if that'll work out as well as you think it will.

After all, nightmares and fears can be quite unpredictable.

Comments

[thefirstguardian]

[Nightmares, sir? Sandy was pretty sure the two of them already had a "talk" about those nightmares.

Dis face.]

[chaospath]

Now, now...

You can't get rid of them completely. It's hardly my fault if some come slipping through.

[issen]

Perhaps, but nightmares are not real, and thus, are not to be feared.

[chaospath]

Oh, but there is more things than just that which plague the mind at night, little one.

[thefirstguardian]

[Nightmares happen, sure. There's nothing Sandy can do about that, but he worries more about Pitch's particular brand of them.

Golden sand swirls above his head to form a small, stamping nightmare, easily differentiated from a normal dreamsand horse by shape and mannerism. Sandy wags a finger in Pitch's direction.

Do not ever let him catch you pulling those shenanigans again.]

[issen]

['Little one.' He can't help it if he's small, okay? It's a condition! The child-thing bristles at the monicker, not out of fear, but irritation, and he puffs up his chest with a huff.]

Such as?

[chaospath]

[ He holds his hands up in surrender. ]

Please, I never use the same trick twice.

[chaospath]

The things that go bump in the night.

[issen]

[The boy looks less than impressed, placing a hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist that's easily twice his size.]

Wolves? Bandits? Demons? I fear none of them. [Cats, on the other hand...]

[thefirstguardian]

[Sandy lets the nightmare dissipate, crossing those stubby arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow. His dreamsand reforms into a bed with odd, shifting shapes beneath it.

Preeeetty sure Pitch has been using that one for centuries.]

[chaospath]

Ah, that is hardly a trick... that's a fear that lives on within the hearts of all children and some adults.

Something that they can't stamp out with good dreams, I'm afraid.

[chaospath]

There is more than that out there.

Come on... think harder.

[issen]

[No, seriously, he's literally unafraid of everything except cats. Bravery is kind of his thing, despite being a mouse.

...Okay, so he would be afraid if someone he cared about was in danger, but wouldn't anyone?]

What are you getting at? [Because he doesn't get it.]

[thefirstguardian]

[Sandy rolls his eyes a bit. A shining sun rises from behind the bed, and the shapes beneath it disappear.

Maybe what Pitch says is true, but it matters little once the sun comes up.]

[within_the_dreaming]

Oh, I think they're rather predictable, always trying to scare someone and picking at whatever scraps they can. And there's always something to fight them off.

[chaospath]

Yes, yes...

But when the sun goes away, it all comes back.

[chaospath]

For you... your fear is cats.

They have a way of getting away from their owners and finding little snacks like you, for example, of course.

That is something that is real.

[thefirstguardian]

[The bed and sun disappear, a set of golden scales taking their place.

Balance is key, so don't be an asshole this time around.]

[chaospath]

Oh yes. Foolhardy individuals will always stand against that which others fear for the sake of protection and the like, I won't deny that one bit.

What I will say is that they are there to fight, but they do not always win.

[chaospath]

I'm not the one who decided to change the game.

I'm not the one who disrupted the balance!

[issen]

[Truthfully, even his true, mousy form is larger than most cats, but phobias are phobias, and Pitch is good about knowing what people (and even gods) are afraid of.

Again, he bristles, the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, and his grip on the sword hilt tightens.]

...But you are not a cat.

[chaospath]

No.

I'm not.

But they may come to me... [ Mostly out of coincidence but once or twice actually seems like the fears of others come simply because he calls. Or he whispers enough to let it feel as though they will be arriving at any second. ]

[thefirstguardian]

[No, the Man in the Moon did. And perhaps the changes could have been presented in a more... diplomatic way, but times change and all any of them can do is what they were chosen to do. It was Pitch who forgot his purpose and took things too far.

Sand shapes flash by in rapid succession. The moon, a clock with rapidly spinning hands, a large book with a capital "G" stamped on the cover, and finally a silhouette of Pitch stepping over a literal line in the sand.]

[chaospath]

[ He hisses once. ]

It was just the three of us for the longest time. And you're taking his side? For what reason? We know the world better than he does.

I'm troubled that you even decided to fall in line... the world doesn't need guardians. The roles need never been reversed. And so because I felt the way was wrong, I am the one forgotten and forced out?

You can see the madness in it all...

[issen]

[The childlike god draws his broadsword, holding it effortlessly in one hand. Yes, he is frightened, not of Pitch, but of the suggestions he presents, and he's aware that it's those suggestions he's afraid of.]

A trick... You are bluffing, demon. You feed on the fears of others and use it against them, but it is not real. I do not fear you. [Of course, he knows this in his mind, but still the lingering unease prickles at his skin.]