Chapter Two:

Kozmotis raised the four spirit-children in a secluded glade. The space was large and hidden from prying human eyes, and backed up to a large cave system where they built their home.

The transition from human to spirit was very different for the four. Unlike other spirits, the four children grew older as the years passed, but Kozmotis had a feeling their bodies would settle. He was proven true when fifty years passed without his four wards aging a day past nineteen.

He taught the four as best he could, trying to help hone their newfound spiritual abilities. It was very different from his life as a dreamsand general, but without his lifesand, Kozmotis had to stay close to his home - and his four adoptees.

Rapunzel seemed to have an affinity for spring and earth, lovingly crafting plants as if she was painting. Her hair - which had stayed blonde after her transformation - grew ten times quicker than anyone else's, and had to be kept braided out of the way. Two large pink flowers bloomed right above her ears, dwarfing her already small frame and making her look like a pixie.

Jack was certainly the troublemaker of the bunch. He disliked shoes, rules, and training, which caused a lot of arguments between him and the older spirit. His snowy white hair was always tousled and frost collected in the corners of his bedroom. Kozmotis has also begun to notice how easily water bent to the young boy's will. At only eight, he'd frozen their little lake for two weeks in the height of summer, and could hold his breath almost indefinitely.

Hiccup was calmer. He had an aura of wisdom and patience, but also a sarcastic streak. Unlike his siblings, he was open to the rest of the world outside their glade, and Kozmotis often found stray animals with him. He loved dragons in particular, having saved a young Nightfury hatching from hunters at twelve. The boy was quick with his hands, and hungry for knowledge. He'd read every book Kozmotis could get his hands on, using his affinity for the wind to turn pages.

The spiritually youngest, Merida was less… stable than other wards. She'd joined the little found family as a shy and nervous girl, who only had flashes of her human life (a side effect of the lifesand, which only half-erased her memories). As she aged, Kozmotis noticed a strong stubborn and defiant streak, but no spiritual abilities. She didn't seem to possess the elemental control the others did, which unfortunately left her alone when Kozmotis trained the others. When she was younger, she'd claimed to see tiny blue lights in the forest, but Kozmotis knew that it was nothing, especially since the Wisp Queen had died over a thousand years ago.

Merida was utterly normal for a spirit, and could only amount to a Dreamsand General with enough time. The others… Kozmotis knew that they would become powerful allies to other spirits.

Kozmotis may have made rash decisions when he saved the four babies, but he was usually thoughtful and smart. Despite the fact that spirits didn't follow the same family and mating rules that humans did, each of his wards knew that they were reborn from the human land, and had no blood relation to anyone they'd met. Even he was not their father, only a teacher.

It didn't stop him from loving the four spirits with his entire heart. Kozmotis had been chosen for a reason, and that had stemmed from his undying love for his daughter, who he thought long gone. The four happened to remind the ageless man of her. Rapunzel had her curiosity and love for life, Jack her joy, Hiccup her precision and mind, and Merida her spirit.

Which was why Kozmotis did his best to prepare the four for their jobs as spirits. Training was done almost every day, focusing on each child as it hit the peak of their preferred season. He made sure to take them out when the Sandman called on him to protect the dreamsand, and watched as they were awed by the outside world.

He was careful to protect the four from the human lands, knowing that their growing powers could prove dangerous. He also kept other spirits from meeting them, knowing that the Moon didn't share the idea that they should have been saved.

So Kozmotis put all he knew into teaching the four.

"I need you to grow some very big for us Rapunzel," Kozmotis said, putting a hand on Jack and Hiccup's shoulders. The two boys were eager to get into the day's training, but Kozmotis knew that they also just wanted to get it over with.

Rapunzel concentrated, holding her hands out in front of her. She closed her eyes - green as fresh grass, Kozmotis had noticed as she aged - and the ground rumbled. Two long green stalks burst from the dirt, intertwining until a large yellow lily bloomed at the top. The flowers in Rapunzel's hair flared a bright shade of pink before dulling a little at the effort. Kozmotis dismissed her, and the blonde joined Merida at the edge of the cave.

"Now, Hiccup, I would like you to calm the plant - put it to sleep,"

Hiccup nodded and stepped forward to start working on it. Kozmotis then turned to Jack.

"I would like you to successfully frost the plant, and have it ready for Rapunzel to reawaken. It must not die, alright?"

"Meri, I need your help with my mural," Rapunzel whispered to the other girl, her flowers finally replenishing. "I can't really reach the last part,"

"Can't yeh just use a plant?" Merida asked. Her fiery curls had already escaped this morning's binding, and splayed around her shoulder in a thick wave. The redhead was watching the day's training, even though she couldn't be a part of it.

"They don't get enough light in there," Rapunzel said. "And it hurts when they die in the dark,"

"Yeh should start paintin' on the outside of the wall then Punzie,"

"I'd love that!" The blonde giggled. "Maybe Hiccup and Toothless can take me up there!"

Merida scoffed.

"He's only flown with tha' dragon for a year, Ah still see them falling," She whispered as Kozmotis sent her a look. "Yeh should ask Jack,"

Rapunzel smiled a little, watching the white haired boy attempt to frost the flower. Her cheeks tinted a bit red. Merida giggled a bit, but could only watch as the blonde was pulled back into the training session.

"Back to tha' books then," She muttered, picking up a heavy golden tome entitled "The Dreaming". Hiccup had recommended it for the stories, but Kozmotis had agreed that it would help her become a Dreamsand Soldier. If the Sandman would ever take her, this is.

The book was a bit boring, but Merida was pleased to discover that Hiccup had left a few scribbled notes inside, commenting on outlandish parts or dreams. Out of any of the other spirits, he was certainly the one she liked the most.

Probably because he also liked to sneak outside the walls.

A large black shadow suddenly covered her book, and Merida looked up. She stared into the large green eyes of the cove's only other unmagical resident - Toothless.

"Hello ta you too," She said. The dragon cocked his head and looked at his rider, who was now trying to put more than one plant to sleep. "No yeh can't go flying yet. Kozmotis is still here,"

Toothless growled a little, flopping down next to the redheaded spirit. She smiled a little and leaned into his side, tossing the book away. Reading could wait.

Training finished normally, and Kozmotis sent the four wards back into the cave system. He himself had to tend to a small village in the northern reaches of the Northruldan territory, and there had been more and more sightings of Nightmares. The last thing he wanted was one of the four young spirits inside to accidentally find one.

He made his way to the village, making sure each household was dosed with the dreamsand. Usually, this process would have been as simple as breathing, but tonight, Kozmotis felt his body resist the glowing sand.

The golden tendrils seemed rough against his skin, the light painfully bright instead of the soothing glow he was used to. Kozmotis felt his chest constrict with effort, and pulled out his lifesand bottle.

There were painfully few pellets of sand inside.

Kozmotis realized with a start that the four he'd saved with his lifeforce had gotten to the point where their bodies had started producing their own immortality, which meant the sand that had tied the five spirits together had finally started to fade.

Kozmotis was no longer a true Dreamsand General. Without the Lifesand, he would be forced to give up his connection to children, and left to wander the world as a fading spirit.

He needed more. More lifesand, more time..

Kozmotis turned south, towards the desert where the Sandman's castle lay. He only needed a little, he reasoned. The castle was teeming with dreamsand and lifesand alike. Nobody would notice if he replenished his own.

With that, Kozmotis took the first step south, his flowing golden robes began to darken just a little, and his skin turned ashen.

And the four young spirits, hidden inside the cove, were forgotten.

Authors Notes: This chapter might be a little hard to follow timeline wise (Although I think I cleaned any of that up). I just wanted to explain more about the four without having to follow them as children for too long. Also did everyone see my clearly unsubtle way of making sure the ships don't seem awkward because they all grew up together? Man, that was a rough decision - at the beginning they all called Pitch dad too. This was in the very FIRST draft of the story though, so a lot of that was eliminated. Anyways, I hope you all have a great day and enjoy!