They stared down at the sleeping form of their only surviving pup. THE only surviving pup. The nightmares had made sure of that. The only reason this one had survived was because her adventurous nature, and sheer dumb luck. They had landed her in a warded safe haven, protected from the rogue nightmare army.

So now she was the last. The only symbol of hope for the Tagars. The war had been at a stalemate. Fearlings had hunted for those foolish enough to stray from their pack. Small hunting patrols hunted fearlings foolish enough to stray from their army.

The land, once lush and joy filled, was bleak and desolate. Once full of playing pups and adoring parents, now only dieing meadow grass that poked through the scattered snow. The parents were out fighting or hiding, and all the pups were gone. All but the one foolish, troublemaking pup. The pup that everyone marked as a disappointment. The runt of the litter. The weakling. The sickly one. The one that wasn't supposed to make it past the first week of life.

The one everyone prepared themselves for the news of its death. Yet, against all odds, she had gotten stronger, gotten healthier. Grown to match her brothers' size. She was stubborn and a fighter. She had made it past the first week, and was now well into a month. At a month old, the infant could cause more trouble than all the older pups at their hardest. It was fitting that the miricle pup was the hope of the Northern Pack. The only girl born into the pack that season, and the only daughter of the Alphas.

The only pup that had been smart enough to listen to the worried conversations of her parents. Who played far away from the ignorant pups. The luck her parents blessed that she was playing next to the guarded haven. At the first sign of battle, she had dove inside, the luck and miricles saving her once again.

The little princess that was now to be teleported away by the Man in the Moon to a planet known as Earth, where no nightmares were strong enough to kill, and where there weakened master had been had finally been defeated. That was why the attack from the rogue nightmare army had been such a surprise. It had never launched an attack on its own, and now there was only two dozen left. But two dozen was plenty large enough to kill a single infant pup.

With heavy hearts, the Alphas gave the only pup left to Manny, leaving the girl with nothing but a name. "Your name, my dear, is Wolfarine Miracle Courage, princess of the Northern Pack, daughter of Hellion Courage and Lupa Hunter." Well, almost nothing but her name. An intricately carved amulet on a silver chain went around her neck, looping around to keep it in place. The moment it touched her fur, it seemed to melt into pale skin, spreading and changing her appearance to that of a human. The only thing that marked her as theirs was the fluffy tail and the wolf ears the popped above the girl's silvery locks. They couldn't see her eyes, but they knew that they would be a piercing blue.

Manny cradled the infant in his arms, then walked through the portal to Earth, taking the Tagars source of hope with him. "Poor child, all alone at such a young age." He hid her in a magical haven, where she stayed for centuries, never aging or changing, until Manny decided it was time for her to go out into the world.

Two hundred and fourteen years ago, he finally did. Laying her in the snow at the edge of the forest that a cottage rested on. Just as he set her down, he came face to face with an angry Cupid. The angel's wings were out to their full span of an impressive sixteen feet. His face was not marred by the scowl that painted his face, but rather enhanced.

"Man in Moon, what are you doing with that poor babe? She'll freeze!" The angel scooped her up, hugging her to his muscular, taking in her ears and tail. The babe cooed in her sleep.

"Angel of Love, do not interfere. I am leaving her for the couple that lives in the cottage. They have been asking for something to love, and she needs someone to love her. I think it is high time that they both have something to LOVE." Manny reasoned with him, eyes never leaving the bundle in the angel's arms.

The angel saw his center in the gaze of the creator of the spirits, and set the child down on the forest floor once more. "You have chosen the Guardians to watch over the children of the world. Let me be her Guardian. I have a feeling that she will need all the love she can get."

"The child will have many protectors, and you will be one of the most important ones. Keep her safe." With that, Manny disappeared to his ruined ship that was referred to as the moon. Achilles Valentine went up to the cottage, knocking loudly on the door. He had dug his feet into the snow to make tracks for the couple to follow if they came out. He silently blessed Jack Frost, thanking him for delivering the fresh snow. He had unknowingly saved the child's future.

The door opened and a woman looked around, eyes going right over Cupid. It hurt, but he was used to it. He nearly jumped for joy when the woman's eyes followed the footprints, landing on the infant babe, lying peacefully in the snow. She raced out and carried the girl into the warmth of the cottage the woman and her husband lived in. He stayed as he heard the couple whisper in disbelief and hope and wonder as they looked over the child. They weren't put off by the ears or the tail, but rather seemed to love her all the more because of it.

He listened as they swaddled her in blankets and decided to keep and raise her as their own. He listened to them as they gave her a name. He smiled as he heard it, the name rolling off his tongue as he said his temporary farewell.

"Farewell, Catherine Elizibeth Tandoori, for now." For the moment, he had a winter spirit to thank. As he left, he could have sworn he saw the now awake child wave goodbye to him.

~_~_~_~ Finding Courage ~_~_~_~

Everyone in the spirit world noticed the change in the big, surly man's personality. They saw the normally the normally emotionless or scowling face SMILE. It took longer for them to find out the reason for this change. And it was all because a certain BOOGIEMAN gave a certain child a nightmare.

At a year and a half, the child had yet to have a nightmare. Pitch Black was intent on changing that fact. So he crept out from the shadows of beneath the crib the child slept in. Nightmare sand swirled, dancing around its master before reaching out to touch the innocent child's head. The child gave out a pleasing cry in her sleep. A cry of a child calling out for help. And help did come, but not in the form the shade had been expecting. Instead of the child's parents coming into the room to comfort the babe, help came in the form of an angel. A lethal arrow destroyed the black nightmare, and another was nocked and ready to fire at the place where the shade's black heart resided.

"Ah, Achilles Valentine. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Pitch smiled, showing off shark-like teeth.

Cupid scowled at him. "Go away, Pitch. You don't touch her. If you do, you will find an arrow through your black heart that holds more evil than the devil himself."

"You would know that, saying as you DAMN so many souls. How is Lucian, by the way? I haven't seen him in a while. Why I don't think I've seen him since TROY. You do remember Troy, don't you? I believe you were killed by an arrow."

He had struck a nerve, but he never expected the punch to the head and then getting thrown out the window. Achilles hovered menacingly over the shade, a look on his face one Pitch had never seen before.

"Spread the word. Catherine Elizibeth Tandoori is under MY protection. The only people other than myself allowed to approach her are the Guardians, Manny, and Jack Frost. If she herself runs into you, then that is fine, but if you approach her to cause her harm, you will be dealing with ME."

Not that he would ever admit it, but Pitch was terrified as he left to spread the word. It spread like wildfire, soon every spirit knew and had gathered together to discuss the child that had melted the frozen heart of the great Achilles Valentine. Before he left, he gave the girl a necklace adorned with charms, that signified those who could be near her without incurring his wrath. Seven charms, to be exact. One, a half moon, another a tooth, then a wrapped present, an Easter egg, then a snowflake, and a wolf that glimmered like golden sand. In the middle of the charms, a heart with an arrow through it. When her parents saw this the next morning, they just shook their heads in wonder at the miracle child they had adopted.