Okay, so I have somehow become very obsessed with the Rise of the Guardians. This is probably a very bad thing, seeing as it is actually messing with my school work. Shouldn't let my grades fall for a fandom, ya know? Not that it's stopping me much. I should be writing an eight page paper right now, but somehow I just couldn't knock out this story idea. How pitiful of me. And I don't own anything but Effie.

Chapter One

The little rabbit twitched its nose as it looked up at the little girl. The girl stared wide-eyed at the little creature, a bright grin breaking across her face. Efthalia grinned, watching the child with warm eyes. She kept the rabbit calm as the girl drew closer. The girl reached out to pet the bunny, giggling as it let her touch it.

"Oh, you're such a good rabbit," Effie cooed, "You just made this little girl's day!"

The rabbit hopped a little closer to the little girl's hand, seemingly pleased with the gentle touch. The girl smiled happily, running her small hands through the rabbit's fur. "You're a soft bunny!"

Effie tilted her head to the side, enjoying the girl's natural curiosity.

"You like this little girl, don't you? She certainly likes you," the young woman laughed from her seated position next to the rabbit.

The girl was suddenly ripped away from the rabbit, catching Effie off guard. The rabbit ran away, startled and Effie frowned, watching it escape to the tree line at the edge of the park. She turned her head back to the little girl, noting that, like so many times in the past, it had been the parent to take away the child. The girl's mother began scolding her for touching such a "filthy creature."

"But mommy, it liked me! It was letting me pet it!" The girl exclaimed, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"You don't know where that thing has been! It could have had worms or rabies! What if it had bitten you?" The older woman scolded.

Effie scoffed, running her hand through her mess of red hair. Like she would have let the bunny hurt the little girl. The rabbit had liked the little girl too much to hurt her anyway. No one gave her or the animals any credit anymore.

"But mommy!" the girl was now crying. It hurt the red-head to see the little girl so upset.

"Enough, Kai! We are going home now. We have to wash your hands before you catch something."

That was the last straw. The red-head had heard about enough, standing as she glared at the woman.

"Catch something, really? Because nature is just so disgusting that your daughter is going to die if she touches it. I resent that, you know! I take good care of my animals! YOU STUPID HUMANS ARE THE ONES WHO MAKES THEM DISGUSTING WITH YOUR DAMN OIL SPILLS AND DESTRUCTION OF THEIR HABITATS!" She shouted.

Her voice went unheard, though, as the woman dragged her daughter away. She growled out her frustration, her emotion making the wind pick up slightly. She was so sick and tired of being ignored. She used to have believers, used to be worshiped as a goddess! And then they started to ignore her as they slaughtered her animals and cut down her trees. She was nothing now.

Effie pushed herself up, angrily kicking a rock and regretting it an instant later. One would think she would have learned by now that kicking a rock while barefoot hurt. She hopped a little, caressing her poor toes before dejectedly walking towards the bushes surrounding a fountain at the center of the park. Just because no one saw her anymore didn't mean that she could slack on her responsibilities.

Spring was in the air, and as such she was here to wake the plants and animals from their winter slumber. What was left of the snow melted as she walked by it; she smiled slightly as she saw the grass begin to come back to life. Lush, green grass was always the most enjoyable to walk through. She touched the bushes, immediately seeing the buds begin to form on the branches. Looking around she could see everything slowly begin to come back to life before her eyes.

No one might believe in her anymore, but it was still a great feeling to give life back to the Earth each Spring.

The guardians sat around a table in silence, complete and utter silence. Bunnymund's ear twitched in annoyance as the silence continued. He had more important things to do. Easter was in a week and he had to finish preparing; if North didn't say something soon, he was going to blow a fuse!

"Big Guy, are you gonna tell us why we're here?" Jack asked, clearly annoyed as well.

Nice to see Bunny wasn't the only one annoyed with being called to the Pole to sit around a table and do nothing.

North broke out of his trance, heaving a heavy sigh. He wasn't really quite sure himself. The Man in Moon had given him very vague information.

"Ve need to gather new guardian…" The Russian man started.

A question mark formed over Sandy's head, the rest of the guardians looking just as confused.

"Why?" asked Tooth, "Is there danger coming?" Her little fairies made little squeaking noises around her; the concept obviously alarmed them.

North shook his head, his attention on his clasped hands. "The Man in Moon just simply told me zat ve need new guardian. He did not share vhy. I've looked and I haven't noticed anything on the globe threatening harm, but he did say he wanted us to be prepared."

"Prepared for what, Mate? If there's no trouble coming, what's the point? We perfectly defeated Pitch on our own; we can take on anything and anyone. We don't need another whiny brat like Frost Bite over here getting in the way." Bunnymund said, motioning to their newest member.

Jack narrowed his eyes at the giant rabbit. "Wanna run that by me again?"

"You heard me, Snow Boy." Bunny replied, narrowing his own eyes.

"Hush!" North quickly interfered before the two Guardians went for each other's throats. He turned to Bunny, answering his question, "Man in Moon did not give clear explanation. He just made clear zat he chose new guardian for us."

A series of signs scurried over Sandy's head. North nodded in response.

"Yes, Sandy, he did say who he vanted us to get."

The guardians all leaned forward expectantly, eager to know who the newbie was going to be. Tooth was the first to speak.

"Who is it?" Tooth asked.

"Efthalia." North answered.

Bunnymund's eyes softened. The girl was a good choice; it would be good for her too, to be around more people. He could tell through their short chats each Spring that she was getting lonely. He had thought she would have been the better choice when they had gained Jack, anyway. Hell, he'd thought the Groundhog was a better choice than Frost.

"Who's Efthalia?" Jack's voice broke through the silence that had settled over them briefly.

The Rabbit gave the winter spirit a disbelieving look.

"What?"

"300 years and you still don't know Mother Nature's name? You certainly mess with her seasons often enough, it's shocking you don't know her name!" Bunny exclaimed.

"Wait, what? Mother Nature? You're joking, right? That bitter, no fun woman?" Jack spat out, spinning his staff in his hand.

The Easter Bunny glared at the teen and his insolent remark. "I'd watch your mouth if I were you, Frost Bite. That's a fine lady you're insulting there."

The young guardian laughed, "Fine lady! That's a good one. She's bitter and rude and old as dirt!"

The rest of the guardians shifted uncomfortably in their spots, looking from Bunny to Jack. Tooth had opened her mouth to end their fighting, but the Rabbit had given her a look telling her to not even think about it. The said Pooka grit his teeth angrily at the spirit before him.

"Eternally 19 is hardly old, bub. She's only rude to you because you ruin one of her seasons once every ten years!"

"Well, she needs to chill every once in a while," Jack said, smirking at his own pun, "She's way too uptight about everything."

Bunny was getting really fed up with the teen spirit's ignorance. "Ya damage the ecosystem every time ya make it snow out of season, making the lass's job all the more difficult! How would you feel if she crashed one of your winters and melted all the snow, ya snivelin' brat?"

"Excuse me, Cotton Tail? It's not my fault she's such a bit–"

"I don't remember you being so pleasant yourself, icicle! Ya might want to think about how she's been just alone as you for the past 400 years!"

Jack shut his mouth at that. He hadn't been aware of this little detail. Every time they had run into each other in the past, she had always been cranky. They never got along when they came face to face, always throwing an insult or two before parting ways again. He had been so absorbed in his own problems at the time, thinking that everyone else had someone believing in them while he didn't. It had never occurred to him that she was just as lonely as he was. He was starting to regret how he made it snow in August the year before. That must have really pissed her off.

North cleared his throat, bringing the attention back to him. "Since she is closest to you, Bunny, you will be ze one in charge of retrieving her. You can take ze Yetis—"

Bunnymund raised a hand, stopping the old man in mid-sentence. "Mate, the yeti and bag trick may have worked for Frost [Jack snorted], but it ain't gonna work for Sheila."

"You might be right. Okay then, I'll leave it to you. Ve'll meet again tomorrow to greet our new Guardian–"

Bunny cut in again. "I think it'll be better if it's just the two of us, Mate. Pressuring her with a crowd isn't going to be a good idea." She'd probably see it as a confrontation and shut down, and that would get them no where.

Santa nodded his head, "Very well zen. Everyone is dismissed. I'll see you tomorrow Bunny."

Everyone made their way out of the room except for Sandy and Bunny. The Pooka rubbed the bridge between his eyes before the Sandman tapped him on the arm. Bunny looked at him as he gave a flurry of signs, making Bunny laugh. "Yeah, I hope she's easier to recruit than Jack too."

Effie sat in a tree, watching as a couple held a pair of binoculars to their eyes, looking at the birds that were beginning to reappear. She envied them for their relationship. She was envious of how the humans always had someone to talk to. She hated to admit it, but she was lonely. Four hundred years was a long time to go being invisible. It would have been even longer if it hadn't been for the tribes that she would periodically find around the world. All the big civilizations had stopped believing in her over a thousand years ago. It was true that she had the animals of the world, and their company was nice, but it wasn't the same as being with someone who could speak back.

She heaved a sigh, hopping down and off the tree. She landed gracefully on the ground and turned to walk in the direction of the center of the town. There was no life there worth mentioning, but she figured she'd help the small garden's grow for the children. She resented the growth of the industry, it had hurt the land so much, and everything was becoming sickly because of the progressive rise of pollution in the air. The humans were making it faster than she could clean it.

She turned down an alley, taking a short cut to the row houses. Their gardens always needed help.

"Been a while."

Effie jumped. Her heart raced as she whirled around and reached for the seeds in her pouch. When her eyes found the rabbit, she let out a visible sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, it's just you." She breathed.

He looked at her confused, "Who else would it be?"

She shrugged, "Snow White coming to extend his winter-fest, Cupid asking me on a date [Bunny quirked an eyebrow at that], the usual annoyances."

She itched to tell him who she really had been afraid to find, but she stopped herself. She didn't want to say it out loud and she didn't want to alarm him. She was handling the situation just fine by herself anyhow.

"Here to check up on preparations for your holiday? Only four more days, right?" Effie asked, "Everything should be nice and spring like as long as Frost doesn't show his ugly head. I swear, if he causes another blizzard in the middle of spring, I will rip his head off!"

"You and me both, Sheila; but no, that's not why I'm here. North is requesting to meet with you. He has a proposition for you." Bunnymund said.

The red-head frowned. "Just what does he want? I'm sort of busy with making it warm."

"It won't take long, I promise, and it will be worth your while."

"Fine then, where and when?" She asked.

"Now preferably and to the North Pole of course—"

"And just how do you expect me to get there? I can only faze to places with trees and can only fly for very short distances now, if you even want to call it flying. Not much power in being invisible."

Bunny tapped the ground with his foot, holding his hand out for her. "We'll take the tunnels."

Effie's face lit up with a grin. "Quite the gentlerabbit, now aren't you?"

"I'm in the presence of a former goddess, after all."

Her eyes softened, taking the rabbit's hand as she was helped into the tunnel.

She could hardly contain her excitement as she took her first steps forward. She'd been wanting to travel through Bunnymund's tunnels for a while (like since she first learned of their existence). Her eyes wandered over the lush green vines and grass, catching on the occasional flower. They were even more amazing than she had ever imagined. She wanted to know where each tunnel led, if they were all as beautiful and magical as this one. He landed right behind her, smiling at the amazed look on her face. She turned to him, looking more like a kid in that moment than the 2,300 something year old spirit that she was.

"Which way, Cap'n?" She asked eagerly.

Bunny laughed. It was odd to see a spirit older than him acting like a child on Christmas Day. It was a nice change from her usual melancholy. He pointed in the direction they were going to head.

"Just follow me, Sheila, and try to keep up."

Well, there ya go. Chapter one. I know she came off as very depressing, but I swear it will get better. And no, there is not a romance bubbling between Bunny and Effie. He's more like a father or older brother to her, oddly enough. He simply understands her very well. I hope I kept the guardians in character. Tell me if I didn't and I will try to fix it. Please review and constructive criticism is welcomed if you wish to give it.

-CeeCee-chi