Well, I was planning on publishing this on Halloween, but what the heck? I'm doing it now. I'm really excited about this idea and I hope you guys are interested in reading it. Well, not much else to say since it's only the first chapter except this: I don't own The Nightmare Before Christmas or its characters. I only own my own characters which will be named within the next few chapters. I hope you enjoy!
Deep within the forest, unknown and unseen by unworthy eyes, stood a circle of trees. They had cleverly hidden themselves for centuries on end, revealing themselves only to the Guardians of the Holidays. The ones who protect the holidays of old and worn and all of the beliefs, joy, and traditions they stand for.
Each guardian took their place in the familiar circle of trees leading to their holiday world. Seven doors were present. Six guardians were there. One had died. An important one at that.
Their cloaks swayed in the low breeze in the forest. Each of the cloaks presented the colors of their holiday. Red and Green. Light Blue and Pink. Brown and Yellow. Light and Dark Green. Yellow and White. Light Pink and White.
Only one cloak was not worn by a human, the one that was Black and Orange. This cloak belongs to, rather, it belonged to the Pumpkin Guardian, Adrian Smith.
"Adrian will be missed, but we must find a new guardian," said Raymond, the guardian of Thanksgiving. The Gratitude Guardian. He had short, dirty blonde hair that matched the yellow and brown cloak he wore.
His words were true, too. Leaving a holiday unguarded for even a day was unsafe. Leaving it unguarded for a great amount of a time would be catastrophic.
"No duh, Raymond! How long did it take for you to figure that out?" Aaron teased, his brown bangs sweeping over his eyes as he chuckled. His green eyes sparkled with mischief, matching the shade of dark green in his cloak. Aaron McMartin, the Clover Guardian, was by far the tallest and the youngest of the Guardians of the Holiday Realms.
Raymond, not one to like tricks, snarled at him, his light green eyes flashing dangerously as he prepared to pounce. It was then that the woman in the red and green cloak stepped in between them. This blonde-haired, brown-eyed woman was Helena Ronalds, the Mistletoe Guardian.
"Enough!" Helena shouted. "This isn't going to help Halloween. Or Jack, for that matter."
All the guardians bowed their heads. It was true. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, was in deep sorrow for the loss of one of his best friends. For an undead royal, his heart held no bounds for friendship.
Frankly, none of them even know how he's going on with planning Halloween. Today is Halloween and word is that he's planned it all out. The incident occurred only two years ago, yet they wonder why it is that he goes on. Perhaps, deep in his skeletal soul, he hopes a new guardian will take Adrian's place. The friendship may not be the same, but perhaps he or she could help.
"How are we going to find the new guardian, anyway? It's not like skipping a stone across water, you know? Especially for Halloween," said Markus. The Springtime Guardian, believe it or not, was the most mysterious of all the Guardians and rarely ever spoke. Yes, despite the light blue and pink cloak, he rarely ever smiled, nor did his chocolate brown eyes ever show emotion.
"Yes. This is troubling. We must find the new guardian to protect the door, and even lift Jack's spirits," said Kindra. This was completely unlike how the blonde-haired, blue-eyed female known as the Cupid Guardian.
"We should probably start with the mortals born in the fall season. I don't think there's much else we can do," June calmly suggested, also being completely out of character. She was the Guardian of New Beginnings. The others pondered this idea. It wasn't a bad idea. But there were many other ideas to go by other than when one is born.
Creature Bonding is one thing they could look for when they begin to narrow things down. In other words, they would look for anyone that attracted animals such as bats, owls, spiders, cats…basically any animal involved with the holiday that makes mortals scream.
Or maybe even Holiday Trivia, though it would be hard to determine that in a person just by looking at him. Or her. Anybody can have knowledge of the specific holiday, though it wouldn't be built into their own genes.
"Well, it's not much, but it's something to start off on. Might as well give it a try," Helena reasoned. Everyone nodded in agreement. June beamed at the fact her idea was accepted.
"Very well," Raymond concluded. "We must continue our search with the idea that June has presented. Even if we must search the entire Earth! For Jack!"
"For Jack!" The others cried out in agreement. Raymond lifted his hand to silence the commotion.
"Very well. This meeting is finished."
Once the others were gone, one stayed behind. Aaron. He walked to the door in the shape of a smiling Jack-o-Lantern. He smiled and rubbed the bark of the door.
"Don't worry, Jack. We'll find you a new friend, yet."
With that, he turned away and ran out of the forest, beginning his search of the guardian with the others.
"Come on, honey! Just a few more pushes!" cried out a man with black hair and blue eyes as his hand was mercilessly squeezed on by the woman in the delivery room.
The woman had sweat pouring down from her brow and her light brown hair. Her hazel eyes were wide even when she shut them as she grunted and pushed harder to bring her child into the world.
"I can see the head!" the doctor exclaimed through the face mask. He held his hands out, ready to receive the little bundle of life. "Just a little bit more!"
So for the next five minutes, she breathed in and out harshly through her nose and out of her mouth. With one final deep breath, she chewed at the insides of her cheeks in pain of the long, painful contraction before letting out a piercing scream and her vision turned white.
"Hon…ake up…e's here..." she blinked her eyes, trying to clear her vision from the intensity of her birthing experience. Finally, her vision returned and she turned her head to the side.
Her husband smiled at her as he sat down while holding a little pink bundle gently in his arms.
"Here she is, honey. Our little girl."
As he held out the little bundle to her, the new mother sat up a little and smiled as she took her daughter into her arms. The little baby whimpered, hiccupping out a little cry from the brightness and the bitter cold of the new world.
"Shh. Shh. It's okay. I'm here. Don't cry."
The little girl hiccupped again and blinked away the tears as she calmed down. The mother shut her eyes, leaning back into her hospital bed. The father smiled, patting the small head of his new daughter.
"Your daughter's birth certificate sir," the doctor said, handing the dark-haired father a framed birth certificate. The man smiled as he brought it up to read.
This Certificate of Birth names Autumn Lillith Wilson was born on the 31 day of October at 8:51 pm.
