Christmas was still a few months away, but the North Pole was bustling with activity. Yetis moved around in every direction, arguing in gruff voices, painting toys, decorating the pole for the time of the year that was now to come. In the middle of the room, the Globe was working well, almost blinding with the number of lights twinkling across the countries it spun and counted; in fact, it provided enough light all year round to light the whole of the pole. Tiny elves scurried around underfoot, carrying plates of cookies for the workers and extra paint brushes to help ready everything. A jolly man in an overly large red coat was moving around the pole, pitching in when needed, his loud, boisterous and heavily accented voice carrying about the hustle and bustle in the room easily.

Suddenly, the man turned around, his hands holding his belly as he looked up at the Globe in confusion. "Something is wrong," he muttered to himself, tilting his head to one side and glaring at the Globe, as if asking it what was wrong like any human would another. "I feel it in my belly." North's belly had never been wrong before; in fact, it had always been right whenever he felt uneasy. It was a very good survival instinct.

"Maybe it was the extra cookies you had yesterday?" offered a snide, Australian-accented voice from behind him; a tall, slim rabbit on its hind legs, just shorter than North; he was marked in blacks and whites, his coat grey, with a set of boomerangs tucked into his belt. "Because Sandy told me all about those." This was E. Aster Bunny, better known as the Easter Bunny to the human children and Bunny to his friends.

"Oh don't be rude, Bunny," scolded a young lady, fluttering forwards with brightly coloured wings; feathers coated her body and her heart-shaped face was surrounded with brightly coloured feathers – it made it look like some sort of elaborate headdress and extremely unfashionable dress, and yet she was still hovering three feet off the floor. Several fairies in miniature her were fluttering along behind her, and out of the corner of her mouth she was muttering something to her. This was the Tooth Fairy, better known as Tooth to her fellow Guardians. "What's wrong, North? Is it something with the Globe?"

"I don't know," said North distractedly, still glaring at the Globe. "But something feels wrong. I feel it – deep in my belly."

"You've said that already," snapped Bunny, losing patience and rolling his eyes.

And suddenly the wind in the room picked up, knocking several toys off the shelves and Yetis off their feet. Tooth stumbled and fell into Bunny, his hand steadying her; North stood his ground as black sand begun to spiral upwards, claiming the Globe as it had done almost three years beforehand. "It can't be!" yelped Bunny, drawing his boomerangs as Tooth pulled forth a dagger and North drew dual swords from inside his large red coat, rolling up his sleeves.

A humane form rose up from the black dust, black hair spiked up and wicked dark eyes narrowing on the three Guardians and their helpers. "Ah, the Guardians! It has been too long since I have seen you last. I believe that, last time I saw all of you together, was the time that you banished me back to my own lair and imprisoned me there," Pitch Black, drumming his fingers together, a wicked smirk on his face, drawled. "But where's Sandman? And what has happened to dear little Jack Frost? Don't tell me they're actually not here."

"What do you want, Pitch? You know we're more of a match for you!" bellowed North, his accent thickening in anger. "What place is yours to ruin my home?"

"I am not alone, North. I have allies – allies far stronger than what your flimsy, pathetic group of followers have," replied Pitch easily, swaggering towards them, walking right across the Globe and attempting to squash the believers – however, he failed, and this seemed to drive his frustration. "I might even suggest that you might need some help. But then again… who would you turn to? You are only seen by mere children and weak adults. What much can they do to protect themselves from me?"

"Leave, Pitch!"

Tooth was slightly behind Bunny, her dagger pointed directly at him, though her hand had found North's shoulder and was squeezing tightly. "Get out of here," she snarled. "And gather your supposed 'allies'."

Pitch cackled, his head dropping back before sharpening. "Oh I will. But let me deliver a message to your dear Jack Frost… I will be coming for him."

And the black sand retracted, leaving the room in an utter mess.

"What do we do?" asked Tooth frantically, biting her nails, dropping her dagger and whirling around to face her fellow Guardians.

"We call Jack and Sandy," decided North, walking towards the mechanism at the base of the Globe. This would send out a message to the Guardians – most importantly, it would produce the Northern Lights so that the Guardians would know to arrive at the North Pole as soon as possible.

North paced in front of the Globe – it had been ten minutes, and only Sandy had arrived so far. The man made from gold sand was watching them curiously, symbols popping up over his golden head every so often that none of them could interpret well enough. Tooth was fluttering about, chewing her nails, having instructed Baby Tooth, her most trusted fairy, to keep things running while she fretted. Bunny was tapping his foot – his glare had been replaced with a troubled frown.

Tooth finally gave up and slumped onto the ground, putting her head in her hands, crossing her legs and beginning to hum in an out-of-tune and distracted tone to herself, rocking back and forth slightly; she would occasionally glance up at the window where Jack would usually tumble through with his trademark grin on his face, but he didn't show up for the next ten minutes.

"North – came as soon as I could…" Jack tumbled through, gasping for breath, nursing a great number of bruises and wincing with every movement, his staff chipped and the leg of his trousers torn.

"What took you so long?" snapped Bunny, oblivious to Jack's state.

"I ran into a couple of Nightmares," he gasped out, doubled over, his hands on his knees. "I didn't know what the meeting was about until I got to the borders of Burgess, where I saw the sign and… they attacked me as soon as I saw it in the sky."

Tooth sighed. "That's not good."

Jack finally caught his breath, straightening up and looking at them. "Now will someone tell me why the hell Nightmares are around? I thought we dealt with Pitch three years ago!"

"We tried out best, but like the rest of us, Pitch is immortal," said North wearily, snapping his fingers to bring his chair closer. Yetis pushed it towards him, and he sat down heavily. "We should have anticipated that he would gather his strength so soon. But he says he has returned with more allies, more dangerous than the allies that we have," he growled. "But how can that be? He has angered almost every other spirit on the planet!"

"What if they're not spirits?"

Tooth had flown to her feet, her hand tapping her chin. "I saw something – when he appeared to us – he wasn't actually here, was he? – behind him, there were three figures. One of them was large, like a bear, and it had weapons sticking out of it, but no blood – and there was a tall person in a cloak, with dark curly hair and green eyes – and there was a large body, with around fourteen eyes blinking at us – he was broadcasting that message to us. And I'd bet that those three were the allies he was talking about!"

"Well done, Tooth!" cried North, hope rising in him. "But we still need to find out a way to conquer them."

Silence fell again for a good ten minutes, and Bunny, in an attempt to gather some help, cried "What do we do, Manny?"

And then something happened.

The crystal pedestal rose from the ground, surprising all five Guardians. "So soon after Jack?" wondered Tooth, fluttering closer. To their surprise, a tall man with a beard was carved out of the crystal; and then the crystal-man jumped off the pedestal and smiled at them.

"My friends, there is something I have yet to tell you," said the man, ruffling his beard and his crystallised eyes twinkling. "The day that the world was created and the first Guardian was brought to the world, a prophecy was made by my wife, the Woman of the Sun.

"When the time comes that the forces of evil become stronger and stronger,

four of the world's greatest warriors will unite and conquer the evil, forever

banishing the darkness and forcing it back into where it came.

These four warriors are the human embodiments of the seasons,

four more Guardians to protect the children of the Earth

and to keep the world safe from the powers of evil.

And when the four seasons stand united on the battlefield,

no enemy, however great or strong, can stand in their way of their mission.

The Guardian of Fun, the Spirit of Winter

The Guardian of Creativity, the Spirit of Spring

The Guardian of Fate, the Spirit of Summer

And The Guardian of Change, the Spirit of Autumn."

The Man in the Moon smiled at them, taking a step closer and laying an icy hand on Jack's shoulder. "Your very own Jack Frost has already been confirmed as the Spirit of Winter, the Guardian of Fun. I have come to tell you the identities of the other three spirits, but you must find them and tell them by yourselves," said the Man in the Moon. "The Spirit of Spring is Rapunzel Corona, found in a tower near the kingdom of Corona. The Spirit of Summer is Merida Dunbroch, found in the castle Dunbroch in Northern Scotland. The Spirit of Autumn is Hiccup Haddock, found in the largest hut on Berk."

He smiled and walked backwards towards the pedestal, just as the Guardians gaped.

"Good luck, my children."

And then he froze once more, the pedestal retracting beneath the floor, leaving the Guardians in a strange, uncomfortable silence.

I'm really excited that I'm finally publishing my first ROTBTD Fanfiction right now! I've read many fics about the tumblr phenomenon... I just couldn't write my own because all of them were so good and had all been done before - now that I've got a new idea stuck in my head, I'm thinking that I can put a few clever plot twists in there that no one's thought of quiet yet... of course, I'm not a genius, and this is one of the first fics that I am actually really excited about...

Dammit. I'm rambling.

Oh well.

Please read and review, tell me your thoughts! I'm excited to hear them all.

Love,

Olivia