Belief

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own this. I really wish I did, though.

Author's Notes: Rats, this is for you.

I'm so, so sorry that it took me so long to get this out. It wasn't on purpose, I promise. Life is a hell of a drug. My mom and I had to go to the hospital because we had food poisoning - yeah, it was that bad. And then I'm working 40 hrs a week, and then there's this and that and my new school I've been stressing about - there were literally a million things happening at once.

On top of that, I got writer's block.

So, I'll admit it. This isn't my best work, but I'll be pushing through it. The end is coming up. Two more Guardians to go!


Sands of Time

"Fear melts when you take action towards a goal you really want."
-Robert G. Alle


The master was angry.

No. . . He was nothing short of furious.

The Shadowman stood, fingers tightening and releasing his sword hilt as he watched the master rage, throwing items about and destroying everything that dared cross his path. He remained still and resolute, determined not to waver in the face of his master's displeasure. He was proud to note that, while his hands trembled, the rest of him stood strong. He didn't move, not even when a chair flew across the room and exploded next to him, showering him in splinters of rotten wood.

He heard a small murmur of displeasure, and the Shadowman turned his head, eyes tracking the source of the noise. There, hidden in the darkness, was a pool of slowly-growing water. Just beyond the darkness, a form moved, and something eerily like keening whined through the air. Their master cried out again in anger, and summoned his staff. Seething, he cocked his arm back and prepared to throw it at the globe, at the last, flickering, resilient light. A twinge of hesitation slipped through the Shadowman, the emotion entirely alien and strange. He didn't want his master to strike out at that light. To do so would be to kill it before the light even had a chance to defend itself-

"Worthless, pathetic, lowly human!"

His master's hand tightened on the spear.

The Shadowman tensed, that alien emotion flaring from a kindle into a tiny flame. He didn't want that light to get hurt. Pain stole through his head as conflicts warred with one another. One part of him, the larger, more predatory part, wanted to see that light extinguished. He recalled the owner to that light, a messy mop of blonde hair, splashes of color all over her. . . and the larger part wanted to obey his master. He wanted to see that little girl run through with his sword. It was what she deserved, after all, for being a resident of Burgess. But the tiny, foreign part of him. . . it wanted to cry out and plead for mercy for that light.

Why?

Shaking his head, the Shadowman forced himself to remain still. If his master wanted to execute the human, then he had no right to oppose him. The keening, however, grew louder, before tapering off entirely. A hushed, alien language drifted into the air. Moments passed in which his master cocked back his spear a little more, but then paused as the words arranged themselves into something of a melody. The haunting voice continued, dripping with ethereal beauty and grace. Within seconds, his master dropped his am, and the lethal atmosphere he projected around himself faded.

"No," He murmured, dispelling his staff, "You're quite right. It would not do to slay her this way."

He turned, black cloak swishing against the floor, and secretly, the Shadowman heaved a small sigh of relief. The light was safe. . . as much as he wanted it dead. Strange, what a conflicting notion.

The voice stopped singing, and spoke, the words beyond any human comprehension.

"No," His master said, admiring the globe with his hands neatly tucked behind his back, "Not yet. Not you. But soon. If the human survives her next challenge. . . Well. She'll be in for quite the surprise, won't she?" He grinned, showing broken, sharp teeth, and the Shadowman watched him carefully, still processing his new emtoions.

His master walked over to another corner, away from the alien voice and the Shadowman. There, the monster saw, a pair of yellow eyes came to life in the gloom, and a raspy noise sounded in the air as another creature stirred and moved.

"Yes," His master crooned, "Go. Kill her. Maim her. Murder her. . . Or let her prove herself. . . For now."

The eyes bobbed in the darkness, before turning around and fading completely, the rustling disappearing into the darkness.


Sophie honestly had no idea how long she cried for. She just knew that she sat there, the wolf sat in her lap, and she had her face buried into her fur. A lot of hopeless ideas and notions ran through her mind, like: why was she expected to do all of this? She was so young. She wasn't even out of her teens yet! She was stuck in some terrible movie plotline, too. Her mother and Jamie had been kidnapped by an evil villain she hadn't even seen yet, and he was threatening to kill them if she didn't stop. . . believing. God, it all sounded so corny and terrible when she actually sat down and thought about it.

More than that, she'd just gotten the snot beat out of her. She'd tasted her own blood, she was fairly certain that she'd died. . . and yet there she was, alive. And that was entirely debatable in itself. She had magical shimmering tattoos, boomerangs, rock eggs, and she could move faster than she ever remembered. It was messed up. All of this was just messed up. Just thinking about it made her sob, and press her face more deeply into the wolf's fur.

She'd died. What if she was dead? What if she was a ghost? Sophie cried harder.

Noting made sense anymore. None of it was fair.

Nobody said that saving her family was going to hurt. That she was going to bleed or die.

The wolf whined, and separated from her long enough to stand, and start licking at her face. Sophie hiccuped, staring up at her wolfy companion, and slowly, the tears began to stop. Oddly enough, the tongue felt like a motherly hand wiping at her face tenderly, trying to comfort her. The more Sophie looked at her, the more she began to realize that the wolf was the largest of the three, with slightly faded fur, and a few battle scars marking her body here and there. Slowly, and so achingly slowly, Sophie found her tears crawling to a stop. The wolf kept licking at her face, comforting her, until she finally pulled away and began to nudge her with her muzzle.

"What?" Sophie asked, her throat dry and scratchy. "I don't get what you're asking me to do."

The wolf nudged her again, more insistently. When Sophie continued to sit there, at a loss, the wolf circled around to her back and started pushing against her. . . like she wanted her to get up to her feet. Sophie obliged, moving to stand - and very nearly fell over as her superhuman speed kicked in a second time, sending her teetering. The wolf yelped, and before Sophie could faceplant into the dirt, rushed to her side and pressed against her, righting her.

Oh boy.

Sophie slowly moved, concentrating on remaining normal-speeded, and finally managed to get to her feet and stand in front of the wolf. She looked down at her hand, at the shimmering tribal tattoos that spanned across her skin, and the boomerangs that were holstered against her sides. The rock eggs, despite feeling very solid, were surprisingly light. She looked down at herself, and to the abandoned Faberge egg on the ground, and then to the wolf.

"I guess it wasn't the Easter Bunny's heart or whatever. . . But I have to keep going, right?"

The wolf came up to her hips and nudged her again. Sophie nodded her head, knowing that her breakdown was over. She had to get back onto her feet and call it good - Mama and Jamie were counting on her. She'd had plenty of time to cry, and now she needed to find out what the hell had happened, why the Easter Bunny hadn't appeared, and why she was Sophie 2.0. The wolf, satisfied that she had stood, paced out a small ways away, and Sophie moved to follow her. Her speed almost made her trip, but when Sophie concentrated, she managed to ease herself back into a jog. She followed the wolf, who sped up, satisfied with her progress, and led her down into a glen - the one she'd spotted earlier, where the tunnels had led to different areas.

Except the placards above the tunnels had changed now.

Almost all of them were blocked off, and only one was open to her. The placard above it had an insignia for an hourglass on it, and it was absolutely not her imagination. . . but the sand grains were moving, ticking downward. What does that mean?

Without fear, the wolf jogged on, stopping in front of the open tunnel entrance, and yipped at her. Sophie shifted her weight from foot to foot, toying with the idea of entering the tunnel, but finally nodded her head. Wherever Jamie and Mom were, it could be there. And if they were there, she had to go and free them. Pitch had her family.

And you did anything for family, no exceptions.

"So what if I die?" She whispered to herself, staring at the tunnel, "So what if I bleed? They're my family. You're supposed to die and bleed for your family!"

Resolve steeled, Sophie scrubbed away the last of her tears, and walked on, entering the tunnel. The wolf walked alongside her, pressing itself against her side as the opening fell away from them, and the darkness descended instead. Sophie continued walking, her footsteps echoing around her, and she swallowed as she continued pacing, looking for the way out. She wasn't sure if she was going to hit the walls of the tunnel, or even more embarrassing, what if she hit the end of the tunnel with her face? Slowing down slightly, Sophie looked around, but found nothing but the dark.

"I don't think this is the way - aiiiiiiiieeee!"

The floor fell away from her suddenly, dropping her into thin air. Sophie thrashed as she fell, trying to scream but failing, her heart pounding in her chest as she dropped into weightlessness. She heard her wolf let loose a yelp, but then it was quiet. Wrenching her eyes shut, Sophie felt her mouth go dry at the thought of dying. . . again. So soon after the first time. Please, I don't wanna die again! Don't let me die!

As if her prayers had been answered, a giant gale of wind rushed up to meet her, smelling dry and feeling incredibly hot. It bandied her to and fro, treating her like a rag doll, and Sophie cried out, fearful and scared. She just wanted to be with her mom and Jamie. She didn't want to die again-

Light bloomed around her, and she jerked her eyes open, seeing black and purple, thundering storm clouds whirling viciously, lightning arcing through the sky. The wind pushed against her, sending her plummeting down, away from the menacing streaks of light that tried to kill her. She went down, down, down, until her back hit a hard, unyielding surface, driving the wind from her lungs. Sophie gasped, trying to breathe, but black spiderwebbed over her vision, knocking her into unconsciousness.

But it wasn't all-encompassing.

It was like. . . like she was being smothered by a wet blanket of sorts. And she dreamed.

She came to, standing on her feet, snow blowing about her, beautiful, crystalline snowflakes drifting into her hair. Just like last time, she felt the same cold seeping into her jeans, but ahead of her lied that strange structure of black ice jutting into the horizon. Sophie stared at it, seeing the same, shimmering light laying just beyond the black, icy prison. But this time. . . this time, Sophie could feel a certain amount of strangled. . . despair? Hopelessness?

She could feel wave after wave of darkness coming from that ice. Like whatever was in that bright, shimmering core was in pain.

She waded forward, unafraid of the black ice and the danger that it posed, and came flush against it. Spikes threatened to jut out and impale her, but even with that warning, Sophie brought her hands up and laid them against the barrier. Instantly, pain and cold shot through her hands, but she ignored it. She moved her mouth instead, but no words came out. And, in the way that dreamed worked, Sophie took it all in stride.

Who are you?

The feelings paused, just slightly, as if taking notice of her.

You don't have to be so afraid.

The darkness of the ice began to melt away, becoming clearer. The spikes receded.

It's okay. You can come out now. I don't know who you are, but I can feel your pain.

The blackness melted away completely, and Sophie winced against the bright, flashing light that assaulted her eyes. Sophie lifted an arm to shield it up from the light, and as she looked into the light, she could see something - a form. A person. Peering into the light, she caught sight of a blue hoodie, unbelievably white hair, and yellow eyes- something rushed forward, snarling and biting, bright, white teeth just waiting to gobble her up.

Sophie jerked back, her unnatural speed helping her, and she fell down, through the snow, whirling and somersaulting. . . And then she wasn't in a snowy plain anymore. She was in a grassy field, bright, warm sunshine bouncing off her skin, warming her. Sophie sat up, groaning as she rubbed at her aching back, and frowned as she touched her tender skin. Blinking, she looked at the wide plains that stretched everywhere, empty and barren. . . except for the grass. She frowned, and eased herself into a stand.

She was in the snow, and now she was in the grass? What the hell was going on?

And before all of that, she'd been in the sky with purple storm clouds and violent lightning strikes. I just can't catch a break, Sophie thought, frowning. She could get over having absolutely no idea where she was (of the three places she'd been), but there was also her wolf that she had to worry about. Like. . . How it had magically disappeared. And how she was suddenly alone. Rolling her arms to gently massage out some leftover pain, Sophie began to walk, and didn't bother to care that her new version of "walk" was more of a "brisk jog." She idly continued along her way, just looking through the grass.

Hadn't the wind been hot? If it had, then that meant she was in a completely different place.

Sophie stopped, feeling the grass brush against her shins. The warm, gentle breeze certainly felt amazing, but she knew it wasn't real. Somehow, impossibly, Sophie knew that the endless meadow she was standing in just. . . wasn't there. With that revelation in mind, the touches of the grass on her skin didn't feel natural. They felt too prickly, too sticky. The sun felt. . . distant, like its rays were filtered through something.

Closing her eyes, Sophie tried to center herself, tried to think of what to do next. And that was when she heard a small rustle.

She opened her eyes, and there, standing in front of her, was one of the kids she'd played with during the Easter egg hunt. The little girl was a few feet away, but peered up at her, eyes open, but distant. And the colors of the eyes were wrong. This child's eyes were a roiling, constantly-changing shade of violet and blue.

"Sophie?" She said, her voice pitched too high, "I wanna play. I'm lonely."

Sophie stared at her, watching as the child's face consistently changed shape, as her hair grew longer and shorter, and the hues of it began to morph into brown, to black, and to blonde. Her features and body kept changing shape and size, but those eyes stayed the same, soulless and lifelines, peering up at her. Something wasn't right about this at all. Everything just felt so wrong.

"I can't play," Sophie said, her voice echoing in the meadow, "I have something very important to do right now." She turned, striding a few feet away, but then gasped in shock as the little girl just dropped out of thin air a few feet away from her, her arms outstretched.

"No," She said, "I wanna play now."

With surprising speed, the little girl latched onto Sophie, and the teen gasped as she felt twin pinpricks of pain spear through her body. A choked sound escaped her as the poisonous feeling spread, and Sophie bit her lip, unsure of what to do. The pain kept escalating as the girl craned her neck back, and looked up at Sophie, a creepy, insane smile on her face.

"It's gonna be okay," Another voice said - a boy's - and two more hands latched onto her.

Another pair of hands latched on shortly after that, and Sophie cried out as the poison turned to fire, and her legs refused to support her any longer. She collapsed onto the ground, writhing as she tried to pull away from the children, but their hands kept grasping firmly at her, trying to touch anything they could lay their hands on - her skin, her shirt, her jeans. The fire kept spreading, burning anything it touched, and Sophie yelped in pain again, not wanting to hit them-

But she had to do something.

Frantically searching for an escape, Sophie clawed at her chest, where her fingers scrabbled over the hard surface of a rock egg. It vibrated under her touch, coming alive in her hold, almost as if it were alive. Instinctively, Sophie freed it from its holster, intent on throwing it, but a child's hand latched onto her wrist.

"Let go, Sophie. There's no need to fight. We just wanna play." The way the child said it, so emotionally deadpan, made shivers crawl down Sophie's spine. The fire spread through her hands, numbing her, and her fingers released the egg. She heard it drop to the ground beside her head, making a little thump thump noise, and fear gripped her as she watched the children lean down, their eyes flashing, creepy smiles plastered onto their faces-

Dirt and rock exploded around them, and the children disappeared, screeching in an entirely inhuman way. Sophie was quick to bolt upright, and she whipped her head to her left, where the rock egg had fallen. . . Only it had grown in size, and was now as big as a fully-grown man. A crude, silly angry face had been etched into the rock, and without waiting for her to acknowledge it, the rock began to move, heading towards three shadowy blobs that were taking shape as the children once more.

Sophie looked down at her chest, where four more of the eggs sat in the bandolier. The children screeched and laughed, losing their human shapes, and becoming shadows once more as they whirled around the rock egg, knocking it off balance.

They're not kids. This isn't home. This is something really screwed up. I have to get to the next Guardian! I don't have time to mess around with you!

Jumping to her feet, Sophie grabbed two more of the eggs, feeling the same pulse of life in her hands, and threw them at the kids and the shadows. Immediately, the ground exploded, and the eggs grew, becoming two more opponents. Without waiting to see the outcome, Sophie rushed forward, her own speed closing the distance between them in a flash, and she drew her boomerangs, nervousness fading.

They weren't kids. They were shadows.

The rock eggs stomped their feet, and the ground fissured, trapping one of the shadow-children. Before she could stop herself, Sophie cried out, throwing all of her effort into a swing with the boomerang, and the finely-honed piece of wood went flying, as though it were a rocket. In a mere second, it covered the distance between herself and her target, and with a high-pitched shriek, the shadow-child dissipated, turning to ashes and fluttering away on the wind. As though it had a mind of its own, the boomerang circled around and came back to her, and without thinking, Sophie caught it.

A giddy satisfaction wove through her. She could run super fast, she had the ability to summon rock egg fighters, and she could use boomerangs. Talk about awesome!

Now, for the last shadow-children. . .

They were swirling around, shrieking in rage at the loss of the third child, but Sophie, hitting her stride, drew her second boomerang and threw both of them. She had to end this fight, and find the next Guardian. She didn't have time to deal with shadow-children with burning hands. One of her boomerangs dissipated the second shadow, but the third ducked out of the way. Making an irritated noise, Sophie caught her boomerangs, and sped forward, jumping.

She landed on the back of one of her rock egg fighters, who lumbered slowly forward, but she knew, she was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Throwing one of her boomerangs, Sophie watched as the shadow ducked away from it a second time, and instead of changing directions in a predictable way, backed over itself and sped towards her, racing up her rock egg, shadowy hands reaching for her. Sophie smacked it with the second boomerang, rejoicing when the shadow turned to ash, but she screamed instead as the grassy meadow gave way, and she was falling a second time, the stormy clouds above her, violent lightning trying to kill her.

Thankfully, she didn't have that long to fall, but she tumbled away from her rock egg, which began to shrink as it hit the desert sand. Groaning, Sophie holstered her boomerang (somehow, the second one had followed her through), and collected the tiny-once-more rock egg. Shoving it into an empty holster on her bandolier, the blonde peered around, finding herself back in the warm, sandy tempest.

She heard a howl on the wind, and she tensed - but there, over a sandy dune, a big, furry wolf was barreling towards her.

"Wolfy!" Sophie called out, a grin stretching her lips. "C'mere Wolfy!"

She spread her arms wide, ready to be slammed into by a big, furry wolf, but she kept coming, her lips stretching into a guttural, terrible snarl. Sophie swallowed, dropping her hands, fear racing through her. Was her wolf a nightmare, too? Was it like the shadow children? She bit her lip, taking a step back, wondering if she should start running, but in a millisecond, the wolf was on her, jumping, jaws opening wide, snarling-

And completely leaped over her head, tackling something behind her.

Sophie whirled around, and a sharp gasp left her as she found her wolf grappling with some kind of huge snake creature. It screeched, writhing and bucking, but her wolf, supersized (yeah, Sophie noticed, it was bigger than she was) refused to let go. Finally, however, the reptile bucked, sending her wolf tumbling to the ground. Wolfy recovered, scrambling up to her feet, and snarled. Sophie joined her wolf, drawing a boomerang, and stared down the snake.

It was huge, bigger than anything she'd ever seen before. It curled in on itself, a gash bleeding onto the sand, but coiled tightly in on itself, and rose up. Its scales were like knives, jutting out from its head, and molten gold eyes stared out at her, peering into her soul. The wolf barked at it, hunching down, and launched itself at it again. The snake reared back, hissed at her, and collided with the wolf head on. Sophie watched, paralyzed for just a moment, but when the giant snake reared back and bit down, making her wolf yelp in pain, she ran forward.

Dream, hallucination - whatever. It didn't matter. Wolfy was getting hurt, and there was no way she was going to let it go.

Sophie drew her rock eggs and threw them, watching as they grew. They landed onto the sand, and fell onto the snake's tail, pinning it down. It screeched, releasing Wolfy, who tumbled onto the sand, weak and shrinking in size. Sophie ran forward, uncaring of the fear, the adrenaline. . . She just knew that this snake had tried to kill her Wolfy.

And she knew that it was evil, and it had to die.

Jumping, Sophie grabbed onto its snout, and she drew her boomerang. Its breath was rotten, bloody and old, but Sophie cocked back her arm.

"None of you scare me anymore!"

She threw the boomerang, and when it entered the snake's mouth, it exploded.

Suddenly, the giant snake wasn't there anymore. It dissipated, a horribly anti climatic ending to her final fight. But as she dropped to the ground, a tiny, golden spot of light fell down with her. Sophie caught it in her hand, and she looked down at what she was holding - a tiny, red pouch. It was filled with what felt like sand. Sophie gripped it tightly to her, and turned to her wolf. Above her, the storms began to settle, and the malevolent lightning settled.

She knelt by her wolf, and placed a tender hand on the wound. It wasn't serious, but Wolfy wasn't going to be running around any time soon, it seemed. Her wolf licked at her hand, an Sophie rubbed her head.

"Thank you. For being with me. For protecting me."

The wolf licked at her again, and Sophie smiled. "Wolfy. . . thank you for showing me that I can do this. To not be afraid."

A peace settled over the sands, and inwardly, Sophie knew that she was ready.

Whatever happened, she was going to face it head on. She wasn't going to be afraid.