Becoming a mother, in more than simply a title, was not as easy as one would seem. While spirits could bear children, Mother Nature herself had never even considered becoming an actual mother, at least not until she had found the infant fearling.

There were many things to take into consideration. First, there was the way she moved about. Due to her Grey, neutral nature, Mother Nature had not needed to think about what hour of the day she moved about. The infant Fearling, however, would be very sensitive to sunlight, and so she would have to find shelter for the day.

Next, there were the other basic needs. Infant spirits needed nourishment based on their element, and the infant Fearling… well, he would need fear. His kind had always drawn fear from their surroundings, turning it into food as a result, and Mother Nature could at least manage to scavenge something that would tide him over for a little while. But she would have to find more, hopefully from another tribe that might be able to take him in…

And third, there was the matter of a name. Naming anything was a daunting task, because names had power. But he would need a name, one that suited him.

Mother Nature did at least not have too much trouble deciding on that, as she looked up into the night sky. The moon was full and shining bright, seeming to blot out the stars, leaving behind a dark sky…

"Pitch Black," she said, almost thoughtfully, before she looked down at the infant Fearling in her arms. He merely squinted sleepily at her, and she found herself smiling gently at him.

"Pitch Black is your name, little Fear spirit."

-

Time went by, and the child grew. The sight of him together with Mother Nature became a known one, by both dark as well as light spirits. Dark spirits came to respect Mother Nature even more, and Light spirits came to fear her, both as a result of learning of the massacre on the Fearling tribe.

'But they were Dark spirits, who probably tried to tip the balance!' Some Light spirits would wail, 'whoever did them in should be seen as a hero!'

"Whoever murdered them left a child without his family." Mother Nature would tell them coldly, and would often stare down anyone who disagreed with her.

Eventually, just about all Light spirits had found that it was no use arguing with Mother Nature herself, and really, it had been quite foolish to do so in the first place. A few would still disagree with her now and then, but they were wise enough to not speak their thoughts out loud.

And Pitch grew, learning to walk and talk. Soon, he was old enough to tolerate the sunlight and to go exploring on his own. He loved to explore Mother Nature's realm of elements, and she in return came to love teaching him about everything, from the plants to the animals, and to how fly with or without the winds.

In all their time together, Mother Nature only came to regret one thing, which was how she couldn't teach him everything about his true nature as a Fearling. In the years that passed, she could teach him about the Balance, and how important it was to keep it for the sake of the humans and different spirits, but she couldn't truly teach him about Fear and his own people, or how to manipulate shadows or travel through them. That was something only Fearlings could do.

And it had been a very long time, since she had seen any Fearling that wasn't Pitch.

There had been attacks, some Dark spirits would tell her when she asked them, and Fearlings were starting to hide in other places, where no Light demons or Light Spirits in general could find them. Wherever it was, no other Dark Spirit could really say. The Fearlings did not dare to trust anyone besides themselves, not even if it meant leaving behind an orphan.

Mother Nature refused to give up, however. Even as the world changed around them, and spirits kept finding themselves having to adapt. Humans were growing in numbers, and the Balance had to be steadied more than once. Something had to be done, and soon.

Much to her surprise, a Light Spirit would seek Mother Nature out and tell her of his agreement. He was known as the Man in the Moon, and he had a proposition for her.

A certain way to keep the balance would be to teach someone when young, the Moon said. This would include human children as well. If he could find someone to help guard the Light side, perhaps one day Pitch could join these guardians one day, and watch over the Dark side.

"I shall consider it." Was all Mother Nature told the Man in the Moon, "but I make no promises. In the end, it shall be Pitch's choice alone, whether or not he will become a Guardian."

The Man in the Moon understood, and told her he would respect her wishes.

"Wait..." Jack said slowly, "so Pitch was meant to become a Guardian?"

"As soon as he was old enough, and if he wished, yes." North said with a nod. "Not long after that meeting, the Man in the Moon made Sandy the first Guardian."

"Keep in mind, humanity was still young." Tooth cut in gently, "the rest of us didn't come around until much later, in some specific chapters of human history. If one had to put it by the calendar..." she tapped her chin in thought, "then it was early bronze age, wasn't it Sandy?"

The Sandman nodded in return, adding symbols of the other Guardians, along with a calendar and extra symbols. Bunny, for some reason, had the stonehenge, while Tooth had a symbol that resembled a viking helmet. Finally, North had a symbol that Jack figured had something to do with the middle ages, which made sense since North had been made the latest Guardian, until Jack had come along.

"But Pitch..." Jack said slowly, "he's still just a little kid… wouldn't he have grown up by then?" And what about the grown up version we fought during Easter? He wanted to ask as well.

Sandy shook his head, frowning as he made more symbols, showing a tiny figure of Pitch, and a clock whose arms seemed to be moving very slowly.

"Here's th' thing." Bunny explained, while absently painting an egg, "Fearlings could create a natural aura of fear around 'em, thus their name. They were an important part o' the balance, but with how they'd been frightened off, the scales had been tipped. Any natural fear around was tryin' to put itself in order, but like everything else, it takes time." Bunny took a moment to inspect the egg, then nodded and continued; "Some spirits grow very slowly, and due to how the balance was going bonkers, Pitch was no exception. Especially since he didn't quite know how to control things." At Jack's confused look, he continued: "Had 'e been with Fearlings, he might have grown up quicker, but with things as they were, Mother Nature could only do so much. Eventually, she 'ad to teach 'im how to find nourishment on his own the best she could."

"Let me guess," Jack said slowly. "By causing fear."

North nodded gravely. "We had been informed by the Man in the Moon, of course, about what was going on. We held no resentment about it either… After all, he was going to become one of us."

Sometimes, Pitch would find a playmate with human children and spend some time with them, which Mother Nature didn't mind as it would allow him to learn how to read human moods and their general nature.

But in the Dark Ages, when witch hunts came into play, something would happen that would shortly change her mind about that.

She hadn't known about the Light Demon. How could she, when most Light Demons had gone into hiding, after she and several other powerful Grey spirits had voiced their anger over the Demonic spirits murderous nature? It had learned to hide itself, just as well as the Fearlings had. At least, it was supposed to be.

Pitch had not meant to reveal the Demon. He had been playing with a human boy, and they had ended up at the public square where the execution of a hag was taking place. The Magister was reading from a list, reciting the 'crimes of witchcraft' that the hag was guilty of. But Pitch saw something else entirely.

"Why is there a monster?" he had asked the human child. His innocent question however, was just enough to trigger a panic amongst the humans when they realized what they were watching. And then Pitch found the furious, predatory gaze of the creature on him.

Pitch ran, because what else could he do? He ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, but the Demon was much faster, and it soon had the little Fearling cornered in an alleyway, snarling as it blazed its terrible light on the child, making him scream and cry, curled up on the ground in pain and terror.

"You miserable little maggot!" The Light Demon snarled, "do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a proper host to hide with? With you revealing me, I will have to start all over again!"

Pitch wailed as it swatted at him with a paw, sending him flying across the ground with scorched clawmarks across his back. He tried to say something, anything that would make the Demon go away.

Then, there was suddenly the sharp crack of a whip, and the demon drew back its head with a snarl. A small, golden figure came hovering down, glaring at the demon while placing itself protectively in front of the child. The Sandman had only just been passing by, but had heard the commotion and then felt the demonic energy, which had lead him to investigate matters.

The Light Demon snarled. A fellow spirit of light or not, the Sandman was merely another annoyance to get rid of. It reared back, readying itself to move in for the kill, when all of a sudden there was a loud crack of thunder. Both the Sandman and the demon looked up in confusion at that, the day having been overcast but otherwise fine until now, and they watched when black clouds rushed over the sky, lightning flickering in-between. Without warning, a flash of lightning struck right in between them, causing both of them to jump back while the little Fearling wailed in fright... and the Light Demon found itself facing the one Spirit that its kind had come to fear.

Mother Nature.

Winds made her hair and her green dress billow and whip around her slim form, and her expression, usually a mask of calm neutrality, was absolutely murderous! The Light Demon found itself instinctively lowering its head to the ground, hoping it would come across as suitably submissive to the Grey Spirit.

Oh. Oh dear… the Demon thought. It had remembered something vaguely about Mother Nature having taken in a Fearling orphan, but when you hid among humans for so long, it wasn't easy to confirm rumors… It tried to say as much, but was quickly silenced by another furious crack of thunder. It decided to keep itself as low to the ground, and as still as possible while the storm above them raged.

Mother Nature gave the Demon a hard glare, before she turned and moved over to the little Fearling, who lay curled up behind the Sandman, who moved aside. Pitch's clothes had been torn from the Demons claws, and he whimpered when his adoptive mother gently examined the burned claw marks, while gently murmuring questions to the boy, asking him what had happened. Then, once the boy had managed to give out some whimpered answers, her glare returned to the Demon, her eyes blazing with fury.

"You dare..." Mother Nature growled as she straightened up, before the Demon could even attempt to grovel out an apology. "You dare believe, that you can simply hide among humans and spread your chaos… and when you are called out for your deeds, you take out your rage on a child! MY child!"

The demon pressed itself hard against the ground, much like a dog thoroughly being scolded by its master. It knew this much was certain: It would be lucky if it got out of this alive.

Behind Mother Nature, the Sandman had made a light shield out of his sand, to protect the child from the gusts of wind and dust blowing around them. And from the sight of what his mother was going to do to the Light Demon.

******************************

"So what happened then?"

"Mother Nature and Sandy brought Pitch to me," North said with a frown. "My workshop had only just been built, and by a request from the Man in the Moon, I had built in some guest rooms. One such had been specially made for Pitch, though I had at the time not met him yet, only heard that he was one day to become a Guardian. At that time, there was too much going on for us to be formally introduced." He sighed, shaking his head. "It was… terrible, to put it lightly."

"I c'n still see it for me too," Bunny said, sounding pitying, which was a surprise considering how Pitch (or perhaps not) had been responsible for ruining Easter only months before. "I was asked t' come help with some of my medicinal herbs, an' Mother Nature had t' hold him, while I made an ointment fer his burns. Some of it stung, no matter what I tried, and the poor little mite would just cry and cry… It was ruddy awful, it was."

"It scarred him in more ways too." Tooth added sadly, "where a human child becomes afraid of the dark, he became afraid of the light. Even a simple glow lamp felt like too much for him."

Sandy nodded sadly, making signs of his own, of a little Pitch crying whenever he saw Sandy, despite how the other had saved his life. It had taken a long time, the Dreamweaver explained, before everyone managed to convince Pitch, that Sandy would never hurt him.

"Eventually, Pitch slowly recovered." North continued, "and he even became brave enough to come out into the workshop. At least as long as he had his mother with him, t' begin with. And then it was decided, that we should all have a formal introduction."

The four Guardians were all gathered in front of the globe. Above them, the moon was visible through the skylight, seeming to watch all that was going on. On the lower levels, the yeti and elves were busy working on toys, and keeping the workshop running. Up on this level, everything else was quiet, the Guardians waiting in silence.

Mother Nature soon came out of one of the nearby doorways. She took her time, walking slowly while holding a smaller figure by the hand, speaking gentle encouragement to him as they went.

"Come on," she would tell him. "Nothing is going to happen, I promise. They won't hurt you." She smiled gently as she said this, and the little Fearling at least seemed somewhat assured. He stayed close however as they came to a stop, clinging to the skirt of her dress, when she gently pulled her hand away and instead gently combed her fingers through his hair, as she stood up straight.

"Greetings, Guardians of Childhood." Mother Nature said. "I am here to introduce you to my son, Pitch Black. Some day, by an agreement with the Man in the Moon, I hope he will join your ranks as the Guardian of Fear."

Then, the Guardians were introduced, one by one. North, as the newest Guardian himself, went first. He was usually very boisterous, as well as curious, because he had never met a Fearling in his time. But he took care, knowing how the little spirit had been hurt before coming to his workshop. So he knelt down, smiling gently at Pitch.

"My greetings to you, Mother Nature, and to you, little Pitch Black." He said, holding out a hand in greeting for the young Fearling. "I will look forward to the day, when you become a Guardian."

Pitch had looked at him with wide, and slightly intimidated eyes. But with gentle encouragement from Mother Nature, he managed to step forward and reach out with his own hand to take hold of North's. North's hand, unsurprisingly, was enormous compared to Pitch's, who could barely cover two of Norths fingers. It at least seemed to fascinate the boy instead of frightening him, and he spent a good deal of time examining North's hand, much to the amusement of the Cossack.

After some time, the other Guardians were introduced as well. Tooth and Bunny were both given a solid inspection, Bunny because of his soft fur, and Tooth because of her feathers, which Pitch thought were beautiful. And the sight of one of Tooth's mini-fairies made the boy laugh in delight for the first time in a long time.

Sandy had been the most difficult one. In the weeks that had passed since Pitch had been brought to the North Pole, the little Fearling had been completely terrified of anything related to the light. Sandy, being very much a light spirit, had been no exception. It had taken a long time for Mother Nature to fully assure Pitch, that Sandy would never, ever harm him the way that the Light Demon had. Helping Pitch remember, that Sandy had been there to protect him from the Demon had helped a little to assure Pitch, that this was true.
And now, feeling safe with his mother as well as with the other Guardians, Sandy would feel relief when the boy greeted him with a smile.

"After that, Pitch was able to stay with us here at the North Pole." North said, "and eventually, he became brave enough to explore the outside on his own, which also became a necessity." He sighed.

"A necessity?" Jack frowned, not liking what it might indicate.

"He still needed to learn how to control fear. And this meant going to human towns and cities again." Tooth continued, "at least as long as he had someone with him. Mother Nature asked us to help watch over Pitch, and so we did. After all, he was going to become one of us some day, so we might as well teach him how to be a Guardian while we were at it."

Bunny grunted. "Aside from that, Mother Nature went out on long searches after that time, searches that would take days."

"Searches for other Fearlings?" Jack guessed, and Bunny nodded.

"She felt awful that she hadn't been able t' teach him some specific things, such as traveling through shadows. Had he been able t' do that, he might've been able t' escape that demon and not get hurt. As it was, only his own kind could properly teach 'im. And that became like lookin' for a needle in a haystack, especially when you gotta look after a kid in the meantime."

"And that," Tooth added with a sad sigh, "lead Mother Nature to a very difficult decision."