A/N:

To all who are reading this: the fic is just halfway done, but I will let it out anyway until i could catch up to where I've stopped. I hope you all like it. Do comment and review, (and best be follow) no matter you're being rude or not! Your opinions for what to happen next is critical. ;)

Now enjoy the story the most you can :D

(Disclaimer: I do not own the Rise of the Guardians)

Blood.

A dagger, sifting into ashes.

Her hands, slick with blood.

Two people, one man and one woman, dead, in front of her. Their blood was black in the darkness, same as her hair, melting and mixing with the shadows. Looking around, she noticed that she was in a bedroom. Probably the room where the two people slept.

What just happened? She tried to remember—there was blood, a lot of screaming—a man, telling her to wake up and thank him for—something. She struggled to remember—but shadows were flying past, blocking her mind—a little bit of blue. A flash of light, refracted from glasses. Laughter. What were those? Who was she? Why was she even there?

She had no clue at all.

There wasn't enough moonlight for her to see any other things, other than her own dress: a plain, long, elegant dress that clung to her and brought out her curves. (Assuming there was even any curves) But she felt strange…something was missing.

The blood! She gasped. A few seconds ago her hands were covered in blood, but now—a few ashes, and they were all that was left of the blood.

Why? How?

There was a sensation; something, tugging her, telling her to move on, and that only in doing so would make her know. Well, there's nothing here for me to see anyway. She shrugged, and closed her eyes, allowing the sensation to take over.

She felt her body flying downwards, down empty space, and a strong wind, howling—wait. Wind?! That room had been so quiet! How could there possibly be winds howling?

The winds died, and she felt herself sitting on solid ground again.

Well, that had been less than one second.

The girl calmed herself and opened her eyes very, very slowly.

Hmm. Colourful. And there were bars and painted metals and wooden carvings. And some things…boards…hung on strings… Her mind searched her memories…what was this place called again? Ah, a playground.

Something told her that the boards on strings were swings. Well, I have nothing to do anyway. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do. So why not play on the swings and get myself some entertainment?

She walked briskly towards one of the swings, and promptly started swinging herself upwards.

Higher, and higher, and higher…the mighty soaring feeling calmed her worries for a moment, her instincts telling her to enjoy herself in this moment, right now. She loved the swing, it was just like flying—you could just go freefalling all the way but not die.

Something picked up her ears. It sounded like…were those sounds footsteps?!

Panicking for no reason at all, her instincts took over, and she jumped from the swing at the highest point, ready to land on the floor and find some hideout, probably. Her mind screamed for her to get away, and she didn't even know why the jump took so long.

She opened a crack in her eyes to see what was happening, and regretted it that instant. She was engulfed in darkness. The wind was howling up again. She exclaimed, in her horror, "Bloody h—"

The Easter Bunny had had a good day. He'd painted half a million eggs in one day, and managed to throw his boomerang and break Sandman's dream lines three times before Sandman noticed and attempted to knock him out. (okay, that wasn't really the good part)

Anyway, he was just planning for a good evening of carrots and maybe a bit of boomerang practices, when a loud noise—sounding very much like a shriek of "—ELLLLLLLLLL" and a crash—in his plains interrupted his thoughts.

Ah, those giant eggs knocking themselves over again. He rolled his eyes, and went out from his little room, wanting to know what had just happened.

However, out on his peaceful plains, there was none of the mess he'd thought he'd heard. There wasn't even a shadow. What? Do I have…hearing problems?

"Wait. Are you the Easter Bunny?!" A girl's voice rang up behind him.

The girl watched as the hare froze in his place, turning, not without dread, to face her.

His jaw dropped when he saw her.

The girl thought about what was so peculiar about her that was worth the Easter Bunny to drop his jaw. She crossed her arms, being quite annoyed, and looked down at herself. Which immediately made her understand why.

God, wow. She was gorgeous. Her long black hair tumbled down her back, and her skin was a pearly kind of translucence that looked like she had an aura pulsing around her. (Or maybe she really had an aura) Her dress, high collared but with an open cut in the middle reaching just below her collarbone, made her look tall and regal, and in the same time made her look like all sharp planes and black and white contrasts. But, somehow, she knew that her eyes were the only things that softened her—they were not black or white, but dark shades of brown.

The Easter Bunny was still staring at her.

"H…how on earth did you even get here?" the Bunny said, still not taking his eyes off her. "Only the Guardians know their way…to here…and even them could only arrive by using North's portal snow crystal balls…how?"

The girl could not think of any kind of reply. "Coincidence?" she suggested.

"Oh my G—North would want to know about this," he tapped the floor twice, and a tunnel hole appeared. "Now come on and get in."

Completely confused, the girl jumped in, with the Bunny following, and the two of them slid down a green tunnel that seemed to go on forever.

She had just begun to get used to the falling feeling, when the tunnel ended; and, without warning, she landed on something soft.

The Easter Bunny followed suit, knocking her down.

"Ow," she said. "You—"

"Ow," Another voice with a heavy Russian accent, said below her. "You two are so heavy."

The Easter Bunny and the girl both jumped off as quickly as possible. "Um, N—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, let me get up first." The man, big and (seemingly) fat, grunted and began to get up.

The girl took her time and looked around. They were in a huge sort of circular room, with five stratums of balconies at least. A giant globe of the Earth floated on its own in the middle of the room. Panels were in front of the globe, full of large and small buttons. Next to the globe was a set of stairs connecting all the floors, with yetis walking on it; there was also a wooden lift near the panels, presumably only used by North. Right under her feet, there was a symbol on the floor, with the word "G" engraved on it. There were all sorts of carpets and flags hanging around, so that the whole place felt very cozy. Turning to look, she saw a gigantic hearth, a fire roaring brightly inside. Next to the grate were floor-to-ceiling windows and small corridors on both sides, leading to different places.

A hand on her shoulder made the girl jump. "Hello, pretty little girl. My name is North. But everyone has different names like Santa Claus for me so don't ponder on what to call me, I'll know anyway." The big beardy man said, in a very warm tone that resembled the feeling the room gave her.

"Ahem," The Easter Bunny cleared his throat behind North. "Um…North? I found this girl in my warren—"

"You did? What happened? How did she get in? What did she do?" The man, North, seemed to be very much interested.

The Bunny sighed an exasperated sigh. "I don't know, okay? That's why I'm finding you. My warren could only be accessed through using my tunnel or your snow globes. But this girl carried none. And don't tell me she's been following me, I know she didn't."

North looked annoyed. "So why would I know? This isn't really my business..."

The girl was very much bored. She tuned the voices out: no one would remember that she was there anyway.

She started walking around the globe and up some stairs, folding herself up behind one of the railings. There were some elves passing by, and one of them very kindly offered her some biscuits. She had been going to decline, and was just going to pat the elf—her finger had already touched the elf—and its flesh dissipated, leaving only its bones behind, clattering to the floor.

Its companion squeaked. The girl gasped. North and the Easter Bunny turned at the same time and banged the sides of their heads together.

"Ow…" The Bunny muttered as he walked around the panels surrounding the globe and up the stairs next to it to see what was happening. North followed suit.

What's wrong now? The Bunny thought. Probably not knocking over those yeti's pyramids again. That's always going to result in—

The sight in front of him made him stop. North bumped into him, but he didn't really feel it. "Wh—" North was going to say, but stopped and stared when he saw the pretty girl.

The girl stared back, but with more horror than North.

One of North's elves had become a pile of bones.

The girl was frightened. Very frightened indeed. She'd just killed an elf. By just touching it. "I—I—" she stammered.

"Bun—ny?" North said, without taking his eyes off the girl. "Uh, call—the Guardians—please?" His voice was almost inaudible, just slightly lighter than a whisper.

The Easter Bunny looked from North to the girl, and back and forth. Then, as if in very slow motion, he went back down the stairs, to the panels, and pressed a wooden button on the panel around the globe, making the globe glow with aurora.

North now put his full attention on the girl. He knelt down to the floor, and—much to the girl's surprise—smiled.

"Oh, don't mind my elves, they're just here to do nothing, so no worry," North said, and patted the girl on her back.

He looked steadily into her eyes, and then said, "Now, what happened?"

The girl couldn't understand what'd just happened herself. She'd just killed an elf. But Santa Claus wasn't even angry. What?

Very slowly, as if she lived in another dimension, the girl whispered, "I, I don't know. I just wanted to pat your elf, and—the moment I touched it, its flesh just—disappeared."

North looked like he was considering. "Hm…this is very unusual," he began.

"What is?" a boy's voice, casual and easy, rang from below.

The girl turned, and saw a boy with glistening white hair and clear, crystal blue eyes, looking not more than fifteen, staring back at her.

North's voice boomed from behind the girl, and she heard him say, "Ah, Jack! Welcome. How is your Guardian life going?"

"Well, it's been okay, just a lot of meeting Bunny when it's winter in Australia." The white haired boy said, still using his casual voice, but now it had a slight tone of irritation in it.

"Yeah, and he's trying to wreck my Easters again." Bunnymund complained.

"Oh, don't be like this, you're all family!" North said, as he walked down the stairs.

Then a woman with dragon scales flew in through the window, along with a sand aeroplane, taking a very small Sandman.

"Ah, Sandy, Tooth!" North's voice boomed. "How are your lives going?..."

The girl, feeling not really in the circle at all, tuned out their voices once more, and engaged herself in exploring her powers instead.

She touched a delicately small bone, and the bone sifted away to ashes. Ah, so that's why the blood disappeared so quickly, she thought. They turned into ashes.

An idea suddenly came into the girl's mind. She ran her hand over her arm and extended the sleeves of her dress, holding it close to her nose, smelling the fabric. Burnt ashes. So that's—

"Hello," a voice ringing behind the girl once more broke her out of her reverie. She identified it as the white-haired boys voice, just as the situation became clearly awkward. "Uh…who are you?" the boy said.

"I, ah…Actually, I don't know."

Somehow the girl found this answer very embarrassing.

The white-haired boy sat down behind this particular girl, and said, "What is your center, then? You must be having a very special one, since you got chosen by the moon."

A sound tickled behind the girl's mind. No. "But I wasn't chosen by the moon." She said to the boy, having no idea why she knew about that at all. "I don't know who made me immortal. I only know that my touch could kill." Okay, not even me knew about that until now.

The boy sucked in a gasp, which was clearly heard by the girl. After some compromising silence, the boy said, with a slight bit of forced cheer, "Well, we can't just keep calling you 'the girl'. How about giving you a name?"

"What sort of name?"

"Um…Emma?"

"No."

"Jessica?"

"No."

"Er…Gabriel?"

"I thought that was a boy's name."

"Oh. Right. Uh…yeah."

An awkward silence descended on the two of them once more as Joyce attempted to listen to the heated argument going on behind them, while trying to get her eyes off the boy.

He had white hair, but dark, dark, brown eyebrows…such strange combinations…His crystal blue eyes brightened his whole icy complexion, adding a bit of mischief and intelligence into him. His hoodie was made to be perfectly fitting his eyes, matching the frost on his shoulders. And his skin was the same as hers...pale and slightly translucent.

"Er…How about Joyce?" the white-haired boy suggested, desperate to break the ice.

Joyce. Hmm…"Sounds okay," the girl said. "What about your name? What is your name?"

"Oh, sorry," The white haired boy said. " I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Jack. Jack Frost. My touch freezes things."

He touched another bone of the elf, and it froze over with ice. "See?"

"Wow," the girl exclaimed. "That is just so amazing. Much cooler than mine."

"My center is Fun," Jack explained. "And so I guard the fun that the children have by giving them snow in winter and playing with them."

"Wow," Joyce exclaimed once more. "That's so cool. I wish I knew what my center is."

Jack smiled at her. "Don't worry," he said. "Someday, you will, too."

"Jack!" North's voice came booming a little distance away. "Will you take the job?"

"Uh, yes!" he yelled back. "Uh, what kind of job, sorry?"

Some footsteps sounded, and the two teenage-looking immortals turned just in time to see all the older Guardians coming towards them. "Ah, I see. So that's why you weren't discussing with us. You two snogging at first sight, Jack?" North asked jokingly.

Joyce was so surprised that she jumped and staggered backwards, only to bump into a yeti and change its flesh to ashes. Which caused a slight bit of gasping and backing away. "Oops," she whispered. "Sorry."

Jack, meanwhile, blushed a dark shade of red. "I—what?!—We—we did not!" he said. "We were just talking."

"'Just talking'? About what, your future lives?" the Easter Bunny said, crossing his arms.

Jack glared at him. "As if you could keep your eyes off her."

The Easter Bunny, in turn, flushed a darker red.

"All right, enough arguing, you two," North interrupted, before the two could start knocking each other to the floor. "Jack, you were just agreeing to the job of looking after this beautiful young girl."

"What? Why?" Jack said, the blush still giving him a slight shade of pink in his cheeks.

"Well, after much talk," North said as he glared at the Easter Bunny. "We've agreed to let the girl see the world and learn to control her powers before letting her go off on her own. What do you think, pretty girl?"

"My name's actually Joyce now. We made it up just then," Joyce said, as she exchanged an "Uh-huh" glance with Jack and glared at the Easter Bunny. "Anyway, I think this is a good plan. I'm pretty glad I don't have to go off with the kangaroo, you know."

"What the hell?" Bunny said, as Jack fell to the floor, laughing. "Why does everyone think I'm a kangaroo?"

"The accent?" Joyce suggested.

The Easter Bunny shot a glare at Joyce. "Not funny,"

"Oooh, love hate," Jack said. "Always so exciting to watch."

"Shut up, you—" Joyce and Bunny began together.

"Now, now, everyone quiet." North interrupted. "Let's all get back to work before World War III breaks out,"

"Hee hee," Jack said with a mocking high-pitched voice.

North glared at Jack. "By the way, Tooth, I think you've got a few teeth off track. Sandy, you haven't given the dreams to a thousand sleeping children yet. Bunny, you've still got ten million eggs to finish, don't get too proud of yourself yet. Jack, get on with training Joyce. We'll be available if you need any one of us. Won't we, guys?"

Everyone except the Easter Bunny (who was still sulking) nodded.

Before she knew, Jack had already linked arms with Joyce, and soared into the sky. "We bid you adieu, then!" he shouted at the house below them, growing smaller and smaller.