Ello!~

Chapter three's here. :P


She paced the small area, aware of the eyes of the two Guardians as she did so. They were all silent. Neither of them spoke a word as they patiently waited. The signal had been given; the others were on their way, all they had to do now was wait.

North looked at her with a mix of shock and confusion, he wondered who she was. No, he didn't wonder; he knew exactly who this odd woman was. Everyone told stories of Mother Nature, every person had their own beliefs and versions of her character.

And it seemed, that most of them held some truth to them.

Her appearance was astounding, she was beauty in every way. Although she looked similar to the mortals, the humans, there were some things about her that stood out as odd. Her ears were pointed at the top, making her resemble some kind of pixie; her eyes seemed to change every moment, one second they were as golden as Sandman's dream sand and when she looked at them they appeared as green as grass.

Another thing that stood out was the fact that she seemed to be glowing. But her glow looked natural, something that wasn't as noticeable as all of her other features.

She looked bold and fierce, yet kind and gentle; an almost deadly combination.

It was no shock that when the first of the other guardians arrived, they were as speechless as North had been when he had laid eyes on her. None of them had ever seen Mother Nature in person. That was how she had always preferred it, always claiming it was safer for everyone that way. No strings, no attachments.

It had been Toothiana, rushing in and full of worry. She had demanded answers upon arrival, only to quickly fall silent as soon as her eyes fell on Gaia. The Guardian offered the woman a small wave, shocked and embarrassed before she tried to apologize for her 'terribly rude' behavior.

Mother Nature simply waved away her apologies, being as gentle to the young girl as she could be when she assured her that there was no need to apologize and that she had not been rude in any way. It had taken a few reassurances from her part, but she had managed to get the Tooth Fairy to stop apologizing.

Then it had been Bunnymund. He had noticed her immediately, dipping his head low in greeting as he remained silent. Gaia could see the question in his eyes and couldn't help but smile at the Bunny as he moved to stand beside Sandy and North as they waited for the last Guardian to arrive.

And then there was him; Jack Frost.

He was late, but that had been expected from the very beginning. The winter spirit's reputation proceeded him and as Gaia had recently learned of, he held a record on North's naughty list. She had heard of his trickery and the mischief he provided, something the children loved but she wasn't too fond of.

When he arrived Gaia could not help but stare.

There was something odd about him. Maybe it was that he was young, younger than her even. Or heck, maybe it was that she had expected the greatest threat to the seasonal balance to look a lot less... adorable.

Of course, she knew all about how looks could be deceiving but... he just looked so... innocent.

They looked at each-other silently and finally, the winter spirit spoke up.

"Who's the nymph?" Jack Frost pointed his thumb at the girl as he looked at North for an answer and just like that, any respect she held for him vanquished.

She withdrew her hand from Sandy's, ignoring the pleading gaze she received from the Guardian of Dreams. "I'm Mother Nature, not a nymph. Ice Pixie." Everyone noticed the ice in her tone.

Jack's eyes looked at her with the coldest glare he could muster and defensively crossed his arms over his chest. "So, why am I here, North?"

The man offered him no reply as he looked back at the Sandman in hope of some enlightenment. The little man simply shrugged his shoulders, pointing to the Protector Of The Balance as he did so.

"... Okay, Nature. " The winter spirit slapped his forehead and turned back to her. "Why am I here?"

Gaia sighed. She clasped her hands in front of herself before replied. "This is about Pitch Black."

If that hadn't called to their attention, nothing would have.

All of their heads instantly snapped in her direction. Jack gave her a quick once-over, his voice laced in skepticism. "Excuse me?" He asked quickly.

"Pitch." She repeated herself, sounding more forceful than intended as she stared down at the Guardian of Fun.

Jack could not help it when a laugh escaped his lips. "We took care of Pitch."

Gaia glanced at Sandy, hoping he could enlighten her in whatever piece of the puzzle she was missing. The Guardian only looked away in shame, avoiding the woman's gaze. "What do you mean, took care of him?"

"The ol' man's gone, that's what he means." Bunny replied, stepping next to Jack as he looked over at the woman. "We ain't seen 'im in months, good riddance too."

She felt the rage bubble up inside her as she restrained herself from snapping, noticing when Sandman moved from her side over to where the other two guardians stood. North and Tooth joined soon after, taking Jack and Bunny's sides. Gaia could not help but feel as if things would turn out badly. "So you assume that just because he's remaining in the dark that he's no threat to anyone? The last time anyone was foolish enough to believe in that rubbish, bad things happened. I believe you refer to it as the Dark Age." Her restraint was quickly slipping away and their dismissal of her warnings was not making it any easier.

Tooth gasped, her hand covering her mouth, reacting as if even the slightest mention could bring those repulsive times back. North placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and Gaia could only watch them in pitty. "It's not that we don't believe you, mate. We just can't go on a wild goose chase over this." Bunny replied gently, trying to keep everyone from overreacting.

"Wild goose chase?" She threw her hands in the air, her eyes narrowed as she looked at every one of them. "You are gambling with the lives of the innocent and you can't afford to go on a 'wild goose chase'? I cannot believe this, Tsar would listen to me. Why won't you?"

"Please, calm down." North replied softly, warm and caring eyes looking at the panicked woman. "Let us talk about this."

Gaia pursed her lips, looking at him. "There is nothing to talk about. Okay?"

"Who's Tsar?" Jack asked in confusion, glancing around for an answer.

Mother Nature's mouth flew open, as if she could not believe what she was hearing. "Tsar Lunar." When he gave her a blank look, she pointed out the window. "The Man in the Moon?"

"Nature..." Tooth frowned, extending her hand towards the woman as her wings fluttered behind her and she flew a few inches towards her. "It's going to be okay."

Gaia opened her mouth to argue, to remind them of the horrid things that Pitch was more than capable of. Then she noticed that somewhere between her ranting and their comments, Sandy had left from among the group and was nowhere in sight. She felt the sleep coming on long before she saw the dream sand surrounding her and before she could fall unconscious, North stepped forward and took her in his arms.

The Guardians all looked at Sandy in shock as he floated behind Mother Nature had stood only seconds prior and he gave them a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He created another image above his head; a water balloon slowly swelling before it burst - much like Gaia had seconds earlier. As the image vanished, in its place was the form of the woman curled up tightly as she slept peacefully.

Tooth nodded in understanding, hovering beside North as she looked down at the woman in his arms; worry etched in her features. "Do you have anywhere for her to rest, North? It looks like she could use some sleep. She looked exhausted."

The Guardian nodded, giving a pointed look at Sandy. "Yes, all of you come with me. We must discuss Mother Nature."

All of them reluctantly stepped through the door, following behind him as he carried Gaia out of the room. They passed numerous yetis and elves on their way, getting a few odd looks and some glares pointed at Jack's direction, until reaching a more quieter section of North's workshop. A few dozen doors littered the corridor and upon entering through one of them, they were me with a small room with white walls and a hospital bed.

The woman was gently paced on the bed and they all spared her a glance before looking back at North. "So, what are you going to do about her?" Not surprisingly, Jack was the first to speak up. He looked at the other Guardians with a curious gaze.

Sandy shook his head, pointing to the door before pointing at Gaia and zipping his lips. Bunnymund nodded in agreement. "You're right, mate. It'd be kinda rude to decide things without her to defend herself."

North and Tooth glanced at each other silently before the Guardian of Wonder sighed, reluctantly agreeing with the other two. "You are right, we must wait for her to wake."

Toothiana looked uncomfortable with the situation. "We can't leave her here alone, though."

A light bulb appeared above Sandman as he pointed at Jack. The winter spirit instantly took a step back. "No, not me. Count me out, Sandy."

Bunnymund rolled his eyes. "C'mon, just until the lady gets up."

"Why can't any of you?!" He complained before looking at the door. "Or Phil?"

"Please, Jack." Toothiana hovered above him, clasping her hands together.

The winter spirit could not resist with the conflicted look she gave him and he let out a sigh as clutched his staff tightly. "Fine." The Tooth Fairy grinned and she quickly wrapped her arms around him.

"Thanks you, Jack!"

He said nothing, momentarily shocked before he returned the tight hug.


SHALALA- I love your idea and I'd love to help. :)

jam-tea- Thanks!

The Bloodless- Thank you. ^.^

tezcafae- Confrontation... hehe... I can't wait for that either... :3

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