+3 New Believers
The sound of a portal rending a hole in the air cut through the silence, as the shimmering spiraling energy whirled into existence. There was a sudden shout as a boy with white hair tumbled through, landing in a tangle of limbs on the ground, his staff clattering just a couple feet away. He sat there a stunned moment before a sudden laugh caught him by surprise, the moment catching up with him.
"Oh wow," he laughed, a wide grin on his face as he stumbled to his feet, just a little unsteady. "I’ve got to sneak into North’s snowglobe stash more often." Jack kicked up his staff, catching it easily in his hand and then looked around to see just where he’d ended up.
The night had been a very quiet one; quieter than most Nightlight had come to experience as of late, and he wasn’t entirely sure whether the stillness of the night was reason to relax or to stand alert with nervous anticipation. The Pitch had been silent for months, the oily black shadows of his fearlings and nightmare men nowhere to be found. Yet, despite all this, Nightlight continued to take his nightly vigil, unable to shake the feeling that soon, something would happen. It was never peaceful for long, he’d long since learned.
Of course, he hadn’t expected something to happen so soon, and the suddenness with which the strange boy appeared in a blast of light and colour had Nightlight almost falling out of his tree with surprise. He scrambled to right himself, one hand grabbing for the trunk of the snow covered tree while the other tightened its grasp on his staff, the moonlit dagger on the end flashing dangerously in the face of the unknown.
A moment later, however, he faltered. The boy below, unaware of his presence, burst into laughter so pure and unbridled that Nightlight tipped his head to the side in curiosity, before hopping down off his perch to land lightly on the snow a few (cautious) feet away.
That laughter was a nice sound in the wintry silence of the night, after all.
