Snow fell, as calmly as snow can, dancing in the air and sparkling in the sunlight. Cool breezes brushed through the small town of Burgess, and newly fallen snow without a single footprint spread across the town, perfect packing snow for making snowmen. It was the perfect day for a snow day.
If they had school anymore.
Now, reader, if you would just follow me through the spotless snow, we would we would eventually come upon a trail of what looked like two bare human feet. Who would be barefoot in this snow?! That detail is beside the point. If we followed the tracks and studied them carefully, we would take note of the heel parts being lighter than the top parts of the footprints. We can infer from this that the person was running.
Then, the footprints disappeared at the base of a tree.
The black wolf slowed to a stop, curiously looking around. It sniffed at the footprints, yellow eyes gleaming in the sunlight, before looking back at the man that had been following it. The man stared ahead with a dead look in his terrible yellow eyes. Blood dripped from his leg into the snow from what looked like a nasty wolf bite.
Oh, one quick tip, reader. Avoid pure black animals with yellow eyes.
The wolf growled, sniffing the base of the tree, before looking up.
"Looks like I've been caught," a cocky young voice snickered from high in the tree's branches. Suddenly, the figure of a boy no older than fourteen fell from the tree, bringing down a mighty staff that he wields much easier now than he did when he was ten.
The wolf whimpered, skidding across the snowbanks. The man stumbled forward, baring his fang-like teeth. The boy shoved the butt of his staff into the man's mouth, causing him to gag and cough up blood.
"Gross, you're making it all dirty," the boy teased, pulling the staff out of his mouth and bashing the man's head. He crumpled to the ground, lifeless, and the boy twirled his staff proudly, slinging it over his shoulders. His brown eyes sparkled with mischief.
The wolf rose to its feet, growling. The boy instinctively kicked snow into it's yellow eyes. It growled, shaking its head and stumbling backwards while the boy lifted his staff over his head, hitting an icicle that hung above them in the tree.
The icicle fell like an ice arrow and found it's way into the black wolf's head. The ice was splatter-painted with red blood, and, with a final whimper, the wolf fell.
Jack Overland, solo apocalypse survivor, proudly sauntered away from the now harmless danger.
A man, whom Jack had not noticed, hid behind a tree, watching him with tired, colorless eyes. Those old eyes hid under a pure white, emotionless mask, hiding the man's identity.
His name is Aster. E. Aster Bunnymund, a follower of the man in the mask. In fact, the masked man was the leader of a certain group of soldiers, a Special Ops squad dubbed The Guardians. The Guardians were leaders of other Special Ops squads, assigned to different continents. Aster's original continent was Austrailia, his home, but later he was also made in charge of the Africa's defense squads.
Aster was, to say quite simply, a ninja. He was an Austrailian man with a muscular build and a short, dusty brown ponytail that barely reached his shoulder blades. His jaw was lined with manly stubble, and his tan bare chest was covered with tattoos. The only color on his otherwise dusty exterior were his brilliant green eyes, flashing through his sandy tundra of a body.
He was equipped with many combatants, like small swords, throwing knives, ninja stars, smoke bombs, and -his favorite- boomerangs. Naturally, one would be terrified of Aster.
But not once they hear his nickname, Bunny.
His other friends in The Guardians team said it was because of his 'agile fighting style' and his 'unnatural hearing and instincts'. Honestly, he knew it was just because of his (GOD AWFUL) last name.
Bunny wandered the cold streets of Philidelphia, a city in Pennsylvania not too far from suburban Burgess. He worried about the frostbite he will undoubtedly suffer from, and debated over getting a shirt.
"Damn Americas," he mumbled to himself, wrapping his muscular arms around his torso. He had just flown into Philidelphia (privately, of course) and didn't expect it to be THIS cold.
"Where's that gumby at, anyway?" he grumbled in an annoyed Austrailian accent. He had flown all the way up here expecting to meet the man in the mask! It was important, according to the message he left.
"Bunny," a gruff voice mumbled. Bunny quickly hopped in the air (quite like his name) and spun around, eyes resting on the man in the white mask.
"I told ya, mate, the name's Aster."
The gray eyes behind the mask sparkled with amusement, and he was most likely smiling under the mask. "I missed those eyes, Aster," he said. "It's a good way to tell if you've been bit or not."
"Obviously, I haven't," Bunny rolled his eyes. He was never a fan of his big green eyes. He was the spitting image of a rough-and-tumble outback ranger! Dusty and tough and proud. His looks alone were enough to strike fear in anyone's heart.
Unless, of course, you look into his eyes. They (unconsciously) sparkled with childlike curiosity and were filled with hope. He thought his eyes were embarrassing, too childlike and feminine for his taste.
"Why was I called here, mate?" Bunny asked when the man didn't react. "Were the rest called in as well?"
"Yes, of course, we've all met in my office," the man in the mask said. "Only two of you have arrived, so I'm afraid I won't be able to explain things fully until they all have arrived."
"Well, who is here?"
Her name was...well, it was many things. Let's start with her looks, shall we?
She was a dark-skinned girl from South East Asia. Indonesia, or maybe the Phillippines? She had fairly small chocolate brown eyes and shoulder length dark brown hair. To give her brown appearance more color, she has speckled her hair with colored braids, beads, feathers, any hair decoration you can possibly find. On her body, she wore a crisp, clean white dentist's coat. Yes, she used to be a dentist, specifically one for the army, before the man in the mask asked her to join the Guardians. That might have something to do with how she earned her nickname (which she is much more fond of than Bunny of his).
Most called her Tooth. Could it be her pristine dentist coat? Could it be her sparkling teeth? Obsession with oral health? Or maybe, just maybe, was it the fact that she can shoot out someone's tooth from a large distance, like Annie Oakley?
Actually, her full nickname was the Tooth Fairy, and for a very good reason. Her ability to 'fly' was unbelievable, wielding a gun in one hand and a grappling hook in the other, she was unstoppable, swinging like Spiderman through the city. But 'Tooth Fairy' was a mouthful, so it was promptly shortened to just Tooth.
She claims her Asian name is too hard to pronounce, so we just try not to question it.
She calmly sat in a chair in the man in the mask's office, holding her phone to her ear and speaking rapidly to her 'little helpers' back in Asia. She tugged habitually at a colored braid in her hair as she spoke, commanding orders. Asia was a very big, very busy continent, and thus very infested with yellow eyes. And, as the Guardian of that continent, it was her job to try and fix the infestation.
"Tooth!" Bunny yelled, bounding into the room.
"I got to go, bye," she said into the phone before hanging up and hopping out of her chair to tackle Bunny in a huge embrace.
"BUNNY!"
Hey, even though they were military teammates, doesn't mean they couldn't be friends.
"It's great to see you again, sheila," Bunny pulled out of the hug and fixed a few out-of-place feathers in her hair.
"You too. Get a shirt, it's cold in America," Tooth scolded.
"I'll go get you one, Bunny," the masked man said, wandering out of the room.
"It's Aster!" Bunny called after him, knowing that his correction won't make a difference.
"The others should be here soon," Tooth explained. "I was the first to get here."
"Naturally," Bunny joked, poking fun at Tooth's impeccable time management.
"I'm not exactly why we were all called to America on such short notice," Tooth pondered aloud, scratching the back of her neck.
The Guardians held meetings every few months, rotating through all the different continents, but other than those meetings and their routine calls, they hardly see each other. It must be very important.
The man in the mask came back into the room, tossing Bunny the shirt. "I hope it fits."
It was a plain, navy blue shirt, but it looked like it would be a little tight. Regardless, Bunny slipped it over his tattoos and it was decent enough.
"Thanks," Bunny said. "Now, mind telling me why we're he-?"
The door slammed open.
His name is Nicholas Saint North. He usually just goes by his last name, North.
He was the Guardian that covered all of Europe and Russia (to take some of Asia off of Tooth's hands). He led two types of armies; the Yetis and the E.L.V.E.S.
The Yetis were probably the toughest of the tough. The 'green berets' of the Guardian troops. They were posted in Russia, fighting freezing winters and crazy yellow eyes.
The E.L.V.E.S. are the European division. The European Labor Vacuous Enlisted Squad. Yes, North knows that the 'vacuous' part is mean, but trust me when I say that the E.L.V.E.S are too dumb to notice. They are European, after all. (I mean no offence to European readers, I just couldn't resist the joke!)
North was a large man, but majority of it was muscle. He was like a scary Santa Claus, with a long white beard that covered his mouth and a red jacket, heavy enough for the cold northern parts of Russia, from which he just flew in. He sauntered into the office and a smile rippled under his beard when he saw-
"TOOTH! BUNNY!" he held out his arms, letting his jacket fall and reveal two tattoos on either forearm.
"North! It's nice to see you!" Tooth ran over to hug the man. Unlike her pouncing embrace she gave Bunny, she had to go slowly, trying to wrap her small arms around the big man.
"Good ta see ya, mate," Bunny slapped his back with a grin. "But it's Aster."
"Whatever," North said in a very heavy Russian accent, waving his hand dismissively, letting another one of Bunny's name corrections go unheeded. "Sir, is there a reason you called us here?"
"We must wait for the last Guardian, North," the man in the mask said.
"Last Guardian?" North looked around to make sure he counted correctly. One, him, two, Tooth, three, Bunny. "Aren't there two more?"
"The Guardian of South America will not be joining us today," the man in the mask explained, sitting in a large chair (the spinny kind with wheels, the best kind of chair).
As usual, Bunny thought with annoyance. "And North America?" he asked gruffly. "He has no excuse for being late!"
"He should be here soon," the man in the mask said. "Just be patient, you know he can be quite busy."
His name was Sanderson. I know, I know, it's a terrible name, but he doesn't hate his nickname, 'Sandy', as much as Bunny does. He doesn't say anything against it.
Actually, he doesn't say anything at all. He is mute. At least, most believe so. He's never said -or, signed- otherwise.
He communicates to his fellow Guardians through sign language, which makes it hard for him to command the North American troops. But he manages to anyway. He's the Guardian of North America.
And he was the last one to land in Philidelphia from his home, New York. He was quite busy, and found himself procrastinating a lot.
But the silent man made his presence known as he slammed the door open.
"He's here!" Tooth cheered.
"About time. You live on this continent, mate, it shouldn't take so long!" Bunny scolded.
"Velcome, Sandy. Now we can get started."
Sandy's hands moved slowly, as the Guardians weren't as fluent in sign language as he was. Where's South America?
"That Guardian will not be joining us," the man in the mask said from his large chair. "Now please, all of you, sit."
And they took their seats. Tooth, the Guardian of Asia, sat down and crossed her legs in a wooden chair. Sandy, Guardian of North America, picked the big armchair behind them, always preferring comfort. North, Guardian of Europe and the Russian parts of Asia, sat in a larger wooden chair, needing one for his giant body. E. Aster Bunnymund, the grumpy Guardian of Austrailia and Africa, decided to stubbornly remain standing, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.
And so, reader, you know four of the five Guardians, along with their unidentifiable leader. Now, I suppose you are wonder; who is the Guardian of South America? Who is their leader? Why were they all called into Philidelphia? What is important about the bites of black animals, or of humans with yellow eyes? What does the young Jackson Overland have to do with anything?
Well, dear reader, it looks like you'll just have to wait and see. Patience is a virtuous thing, and all answers come with time.
Hi guys! It's nice to see your reviews! Thanks for reading my new story guys. It's pretty different than IdentiStaffs, at least the whole premise is, but I hope you'll like it as much as the other!
Dragongirl: All of them will be here! Thanks for reviewing, I hope you like this one.
theawesomest5: You're pretty close! Dang you're good at predicting these things. Thanks for reviewing!
CrazyCrapInc: Thanks! It means a lot n.n I hope you keep liking it.
Ancient-Light: Thanks! Jack's on a mission ;) but you'll have to wait and see what it is. And don't worry, blood will be shed and battles shall be had.
