It was cold, and dark, and scary. Not a shimmer of light, just an endless reach of darkness. Then came the moon, the beautiful moon, huge, glowing. It enveloped me in a subtle light, lifting me higher, towards the softly twinkling stars. Light. Hope. And along with me, beside me, night, gentle darkness. Nothing but a faded memory that I could hardly recall, past life forgotten. I wonder about it often, yet it carries no weight with me now. And that was a very, very long time ago.

"What a sweet wish, a touching dream..." I whispered to myself, catching the star in my hands and then placing it among the billions of others to shine brightly in the night sky. Dreamsand swirled between the stars, and I gently reached to touch it. Dolphins materialized from the shimmering sand, clicking and flipping their tails. I gazed down at Sandy as he sent dreams to the children, golden animals gracefully traipsing the ground and swimming through the air. I smiled wistfully. He had such a wonderful job, going to see the children each night and meeting the other Guardians. I was nothing but a random spirit in the sky, destined to protect children's wishes and dreams, yet not a Guardian. Breaking from my pity-party, I caught another shining star, the hopeful dream of a child, feeling a rush of happiness as I placed it among the night sky.

I wish for dragons to be real. The wish laughed with the ring of a child's, and it made me remember why I loved being keeper of wishes. And not just wishes, but also day and night. I caused the sun to rise, to bring warmth and joy to all the children on earth. I caused the sun to set to allow the moon to shine, where the children could dream happily and be reminded of their hopes and wishes by looking at the stars in the night sky.

As I watched the wishes glimmer brightly, a bright rainbow of auroras burst from the North Pole, beckoning the Guardians to North. I sighed as I watched the colorful beams dance through the air. Ever since the Moon created Guardians, allowing children to see and recognize the existence of a spirit, I had desperately wished to be one. But Sandy was the chosen Guardian of the heavens. I conjured a handful of silky blue dreamsand, my own rendition of Sandman's gift, watching it lazily swirl about my fingertips. As much as I longed to be a Guardian, there were reasons I never could. The sand formed a figure in front of me, darkening to a dull grey. Both anger and sorrow attempted to flood my mind, but I pushed them back. I had made my peace. No, that was a dream that would never come true.

I glanced back up at the auroras, and my curiosity got the better of me. I spread my wings, launching from the cloud I had settled upon and aiming for the North Pole. Deep blue wings blended into the growing darkness, undersides mimicking the starry night sky. Piercing golden eyes focused on the snowy castle ahead. A singular pendant of dreamsand blew in the breeze as I flew, and I gently clutched it to my chest. Shaped like a half-moon and half-sun, it was given to me by Sandy to remind me to hang on to my own dreams and wishes.

North's Workshop loomed into view, and I shivered as the cold enveloped me. Touching down on a balcony, I snuck into a door I was quite used to using. As I stepped through, I was met with huge, hairy faces all turning to see who the newcomer was. I waved to the Yetis, and held a finger to my lips. They smiled and nodded, returning to their work. North's helpers were used to seeing me, as I often came up to help them, knowing North's quickly changing antics. I felt sorry for them, having to repaint robots, repair broken toys, and deal with the tiny elves that scrambled around and often caused mischief.

The main chamber where North kept his globe was massive, allowing plenty of corners for me to hide. I clung to the ceiling, gazing down upon the meeting and praying nobody would find me. The Guardians were talking hurriedly, pointing to a glass structure in the center of the room.

"Why on earth do we need a new Guardian, mate? Isn't Jack enough? He's a bloody pain as it is."

"Hey! Don't forget I saved your butt!" Jack retorted, holding his staff up to Bunnymund's face.

"Calm down, you two, maybe this new Guardian is good! I wonder if she has shiny teeth!" Tooth added in, trying to relax the tension between them, and clearly failing. The two continued to bristle at each other.

Rolling my eyes, having heard from Sandy how often those two fought, I focused my gaze on the crystal statue below. Sandy had also told me that such crystals were used to represent the new Guardian. As I stared down at the statue, however, my thoughts froze. I blinked several times and leaned down further to try to get a better look.

Is that...ME?

I leaned too far down, and lost my grip on the rafters above me. Plunging down, I managed to catch myself before falling, swooping just overtop of the globe and swinging to the right. I landed lightly behind the railing on the opposite side, trying my best to conceal my mistake. My breathing came quick and shallow. Everyone knew what North did to intruders.

But it was too late.

"Who goes there?" North called out in a deep and threatening voice, and I cringed. Timidly folding my wings back, I walked out of the shadows. North sighed as he saw me step into the light. "Dawn..."

"I'm so sorry, North, I-"

"No," he interrupted, waving away my concern. "I am glad you are here. We have important business to discuss."

I looked over at the huge crystal statue beside us, which...kinda resembled me. It depicted my long, curly, hair; my wings extended threateningly; my bow drawn and arrow nocked. Flatteringly, I looked quite fierce in my depiction. I raised an eyebrow at the crystal. It clearly hadn't ever met me.

"Does this have something to do with me being a Guardian?" I asked tentatively, returning my attention to North.

"Er-yes. Yes it does. You are new Guardian," he said, trying to smile but failing. North was one of my closest friends aside from Sandy, and we knew what this meant for me.

Sandy floated up and gave me a pat on the shoulder, attempting to reassure me.

Bunnymund and Jack looked up from their argument, eyes trained on me.

"She's going to be the new Guardian?!" Bunnymund exclaimed, amusingly in unison with Jack. They froze as they realized their mistake, and proceeded to glare at each other.

"Is there something wrong, North?" Tooth asked, flitting beside him anxiously.

North sighed, looking over towards Sandy, who shrugged. I shook my head. I knew we had to explain the dangers of my becoming a Guardian, as closely as I tried to guard that secret. I took a deep breath. "There's something you all need to know."

The three Guardians I had yet to meet looked toward me, curious.

"Once, way back before the Dark Ages of Pitch's reign and before the Guardians were born, there were two spirits. Not Guardians, no, but acted similarly. One was myself. I was in charge of day, the warmth and daylight that brings children so much joy, and then there was...Pitch. Yes, back then, Pitch was good. He watched over and sent dreams to the children, each dream and wish a star gleaming in the night sky." Bunny wrinkled his nose and snorted in disbelief. North elbowed him, and I continued. "Yes, Pitch was good. We were partners, per se. I was day, he was night. We were always together. Then one day, a terrible sickness descended upon the children. Fear and nightmares ran rampant, and Pitch could do nothing to stop them. They took over his mind, body, and soul, turning his normally bright heart dark and fearful. He began creating nightmares himself, his personality twisting into something dark and unfamiliar. He gained endless control as his power grew, for there was no way for me to stop him.

"That's when the Man in the Moon created the Guardians. He created you all to protect the children from Pitch every month of the year, all year round. I took over Pitch's old power as well as keeping my own, but the Moon gifted me with Sandy to send dreams to the children each night. And to protect me from Pitch. I've been hidden away in the night sky all these years whilst Pitch battles Sandy to spread his Nightmares and find me. Even though he can't easily find me, our souls are still connected. The danger lies in this fact alone. I have fought over the years to fend off the impending sickness that overtook his part of our united soul, constantly battling and pushing it back. But if we were to meet in person...then I fear one side would take over, turning us both good, or us both evil. And presently, with the strength of his nightmares growing, I fear the latter. If I turn evil, then there would be little hope for any of you."

"And what makes you think that?" Jack challenged. "We've beaten Pitch before, you know."

I gave him a passive smile. "Because the daylight will vanish. Night will prevail. And," I summoned a small wisp of dreamsand, "there will be two spreading their nightmares across the earth. With our combined forces, their faith would surely falter. That's why I can't become a Guardian."