Author's Note: ...Did you miss me? XD

Hey everyone and welcome back to "The Golden Age!" =D This two-shot is meant to dive deeper into how Bunny and Sandy feel about their old lives during the Golden Age, how they feel about their lives as Guardians, and if they ever miss the Golden Age from time to time. =) First one-shot was Bunny, so, this one is Sandy. =) I hope you guys enjoy this one-shot featuring the wonderful Sanderson Mansoozie and Jack Frooooost. =)


The Golden Age: Sanderson Mansnoozie

It was a quiet, calm, tranquill winter night in Burgess. People were safely tucked away in their homes, sleeping soundly. No cars drove through the streets, very few pedestrians were outside. But if they believed in the Guardians of Childhood, they would've noticed a white-haired boy flying through the star speckled sky, laughing and whooping with glee.

Jack loved winter nights. The moon was full, shining brightly in the sky and acted as the winter spirit's guide as he soared through the air. The Wind whooshed and whistled past him, several snowflakes billowing in the breeze. Jack grinned and he did a loop-dee-loop, soon perching himself on an electric wire down below. He swung his staff onto his shoulder, and he looked up at the sky, waiting for his favorite time of the night.

And in just a few moments, golden, glittering dreamsand began to dance and weave through the air. The streams of gold slipped into many windows that each had a child inside, waiting for a batch of good dreams to help them sleep through the night. The sparkling sand wove through the air in intricate patterns. Swirls, loops, and curves laced through the night sky, and Jack's sapphire blue eyes reflected the streams of gold. One curved his way and Jack happily reached his hand out to touch it, and dolphins burst from the golden sand, swimming and swirling around the winter spirit with joy. Laughter bubbled from Jack's lips, and the dolphins soon disappeared in a burst of golden glitter.

The encounter had been short, but Jack enjoyed it nonetheless. And now that he was a Guardian, he now personally knew the Guardian of Dreams, and he could even go to see him if he wanted to. Jack followed a strand of dreamsand all the way to its source, which was a large dream cloud floating high in the sky, concealed by large clouds. Sandy was extending and waving his hands, guiding each and every strand dreasand packed with the most pleasant dreams he could create.

Jack admired the Sandman; his job required a lot of energy. To travel from town to town, country to country, continent to continent, delivering unique and new dreams to each and every child around the world was simply stunning to the winter spirit. Jack understood why Sandy slept very often; he was usually tired after a long night's work, but he still managed to make it to every Guardian meeting, and even set aside some time to spend with the other Guardians of Childhood.

The Guardian of Fun often wondered how Sandy had become the Master of Dreams, and if he was anything before that. Jack knew that Sandy was also someone from the Golden Age, yet he hadn't found himself wondering about the Sandman's old life until right then. Did the Golden Age have men made of sand? Did Sandy always have control over dreams, even then? Jack wondered and pondered these things as the Wind propelled him toward Sandy. Suddenly, the blue-eyed boy told the Wind to stop. Jack hovered in the air, just below Sandy's dream cloud, and he chuckled lightly to himself as he directed the Wind to position him right behind the Sandman, who was completely unaware of Jack's presence. The winter spirit grinned mischievously, and he sharply tapped Sandy's shoulder, which sent the golden little man flying at least three feet in the air. Jack laughed out loud, gently lowering himself onto the soft, golden cloud of dreamsand, legs crisscrossed.

"Oh, moon, Sandy! You should've seen your face!" exclaimed Jack in between laughs. Sandy crossed his arms, floating back onto his dreamcloud, and he tapped his foot. Jack stopped laughing and he smirked.

"C'mon, you gotta admit. That was kind of funny," Jack said. Sandy shook his head, but a light smile was on his face.

"See? I got you smiling!" Jack pointed out. Sandy waved his arm dismissively and he sat down beside Jack, waving out his hands toward Burges below, sending out more of his dreams. Jack watched, fascinated by the golden streams as they floated through the air. The sight from Sandy's dream cloud was much better than from the ground.

As Sandy sent out his dreams, Jack found himself wondering more and more who Sandy had been before he became a Guardian. He had come from the Golden Age, but did he have a family? Brothers? Sisters? Cousins? Parents? Sandy never talked about his past life (mainly because he couldn't talk), but he still had his dreamsand to use to communicate. Maybe Sandy didn't want to think about his old life. Or he simply wasn't comfortable about talking about his past.

Jack shifted where he sat, watching Sandy send out his dreams for a few moments more before asking. "Hey, Sandy. You're from the Golden Age, right?"

Sandy turned to Jack, and gave him a friendly nod.

"And…well, how was it?" asked Jack. He ran a hand through his hair. "Bunny told me that it was pretty nice."

Sandy nodded, again, golden images of ships and schooners flying over his head. Several plants with majestic cities flashed over his spiky hair too. Lastly, the image of Tsar Lunar and his family appeared, and while Sandy didn't speak a word, Jack understood what he was saying.

"Yeah, the Golden Age seems amazing," commented Jack. He rubbed the back of his neck. "But…ah…what did you do? I mean, I know you're the Sandman and all, but did you travel across the cosmos delivering dreams?"

Sandy laughed lightly, and he shook his head. Dreamsand swirled into the shape of a star and a captain hat. Jack tilted his head.

"You were…a Star Captain?" questioned Jack. Sandy nodded. "Yes."

"What's a Star Captain?" Jack asked. Sandy tilted his head from side to side, seemingly debating on how he would be able to explain to Jack what a Star Captain was just by using his dreamsand images. Soon, Sandy stood up, and he pointed to his head, where a scene was playing out. Jack watched, intrigued as the image of a shooting star soared over Sandy's golden hair, but some sort of rope (at least, it looked like a rope to Jack), wrapped around it and was reeled in by a group of stout little men. Sandy seemed to be amongst them.

As the images flashed over Sandy's head, Jack seemed to hear his voice. "Star Captains were an ancient brotherhood that dedicated themselves to catching wayward stars. We harnessed them with our ropes and we soared across the galaxies on them, granting wishes and dreams wherever and whenever we could."

Jack nodded in understanding. "I guess I can see where the 'wish upon a star' thing comes from, then."

Sandy smiled, and he produced the image of himself at the dashboard of his own star. "I was a Star Captain myself. The others and I never saw much of each other since we were so busy with our own stars and wish granting, but we occasionally met up from time to time. We hadn't gathered for a few decades until news of the Wild Star came up."

Jack cocked his head. "'Wild Star?'" he repeated. "How does a star get classified as wild? Don't they just hang there in the sky?"

Sandy chuckled in amusement and he shook his head, producing the image of what looked to be a small moon, but it moved so fast, it seemed to be only a golden blur over Sandy's head. It crashed into asteroids and older planets, practically causing destruction everywhere it went. A burning trail of fire flashed behind it, burning away anything that got too close. Jack was stunned.

"Okay, I see why that star was called wild," the winter spirit said. Sandy nodded, and he produced a few more images of other Star Captains on their stars, trying to harness the infamous Wild Star, but ropes were either burned away, or the Wild Star would dash off in an instant.

"This star was unlike anyone that me or the other Star Captains had ever seen. It seemed to have a mind of its own…it did have a mind of its own! Several Star Captains had tried to harness it, but failed tremendously. If it wasn't harnessed any sooner, it probably would've crashed into civilizations."

"Wow," said Jack. He paused for a moment. "You guys did manage to catch it…right?"

An impish smile crawled onto Sandy's face, and a golden arrow pointed to himself. "Not we…me."

Jack smirked. "Bragging about your victory, are you?" he asked playfully. "Sandy…I thought you were humble!"

Sandy shook his head, laughing silently at Jack's comment. He produced a few more images over his head: an arrow, pointing to himself, and a clock.

"I was more patient than the others. While they tried to face the Wild Star head on, I took my time and came up with a better strategy to catch it."

"So, what did you do?" asked Jack, scooching closer.

Sandy produced the image of what seemed to be a group of fish. But the fish didn't look like the regular fish found in ponds and streams, but they had little lights dangling from an antenna above their head, and were decorated in star-like patterns. The dreamsand image shifted again, showing the Wild Star speeding along, but slowed down when it approached a group of the unique looking fish.

"What I noticed that the other Star Captains didn't was that this star slowed down for Star Fish. It seemed to have some sort of kinship with them, and so did I. So, I brought some star spice with me, and hid in a large group of Star Fish until the Wild Star came by. Then, I harnessed it with my rope, catching it completely off guard."

Jack watched as the image shifted to a scene where Sandy was barely hanging onto the rope that the Wild Star was attached to. It bucked and strained, trying to throw Sandy off but the Sandman still held on.

"We went on like this for days. Weeks. Maybe even a month. It was hard to keep track of time during the Golden Age, but I do know that it took me a while to finally get the Wild Star to slow down."

"And what did you do when it did?" asked Jack.

Sandy created the image of him and the Wild Star sailing across the cosmos.

"Things were peaceful from there. We shared many adventures, granted many wishes, and had many quiet, pensive moments that lasted for a short while, but were meaningful nonetheless."

Jack was impressed. Sandy's life as a Star Captain seemed wonderful. But there was still that question lingering in the back of his mind…How had Sandy come to where he was now?

"How did you go from Star Captain to Guardian of Dreams?" asked Jack. Sandy scratched his head, and conjured up a few more images. First, a man who was tall, lean, and had a large mass of swirling figures behind him. While the illustration was golden, Jack could almost feel the evil radiating off of the miniature man.

"Pitch," said Jack gravely. His eyes narrowed. "What did he do to you?"

Sandy reassured Jack that Pitch hadn't physically hurt him, but he was looking for his daughter. Jack nearly choked on his own breath.

"W-Wait…Pitch had a daughter?!" the winter spirit exclaimed. "What…How…When?!"

Sandy held up a finger, then wrote out the word "Has" over his head. "He has a daughter, but they don't interact much anymore. She was actually the one who lived inside of Wild Star. She controlled it."

"Who was she?" asked Jack. "And how does she feel about having the Boogeyman for a dad?"

Sandy tilted his golden little hand from side to side, and he produced the image of a figure that Jack immediately recognized. She had long, flowing hair that billowed behind her in clouds. A dress with a cloak that seemed to always flap in the wind. Her hands were outstretched in a simple gesture, but Jack knew that those two, thin hands held power over all of the elements.

"Mother Nature," breathed Jack. "Mother Nature…is Pitch's daughter?!"

Sandy nodded. Jack ran a hand through his hair, breathing quickly.

"W-Wow…this is…This is…Moon above, that's crazy," Jack spluttered. He looked at Sandy, cerulean eyes flashing. "What happened? What happened next?"

Sandy smiled lightly at Jack's almost child-like curiosity, and he created the image of the Wild Star—which Jack now knew was Mother Nature—burning away the harpoons and chains that were thrown in hers and Sandy's direction. The two tumbled away from Pitch's large, ominous ship and barreled toward a planet that Jack immediately recognized was earth. The star burned away, and Jack's eyes widened when the star forcefully crashed into the ocean. But instead of sinking to the bottom and eroding away, the rock changed and swirled into an island…The Island of Dreams.

"You crash landed…on a star…and survived?" asked Jack in awe. Sandy nodded, and created the image of Mother Nature and several question marks.

"I do not know where Mother Nature ended up after the crash, but that was when she began to use her elemental abilities to control the weather."

The image of the island of dreams turned into a small little room, where Sandy was sleeping. The sight wasn't unfamiliar to Jack. To Sandy, sleeping was like a hobby.

"I was asleep for a very long time…centuries perhaps. It wasn't until the Man in the Moon," Sandy pointed to the Moon above, and even he seemed to shine brightly at the mention of his name. "Woke me up to join the Guardians. It was because of my long sleep that I gained the ability to see and create dreams with my dreamsand."

Jack absorbed all of the new information. Sandy's life had been a more adventurous one compared to Bunnymund's, but they both had something in common. Pitch had sabotaged their lives and changed them…but if he hadn't acted, they wouldn't have become Guardians of Childhood. And Jack couldn't imagine the Guardians without Sandy or Bunny.

Sandy's tale had been interesting and intriguing, and the new revelation that Mother Nature was actually Pitch's daughter still left Jack rather rattled. He wondered how she felt about Pitch nearly bringing eternal darkness to the children, or that he had fought the Guardians—her partial allies—and nearly succeeded with his evil plot?

The night's silence was needed as Jack thought and thought. Sandy stood beside the winter spirit patiently, knowing that he had given him quite the load of information to process and comprehend. After a few moments of silence, Jack spoke.

"Sandy…I didn't think you did so much back during the Golden Age," said Jack. He looked up at the Sandman, blue eyes glittering. "What you did was incredible. Thanks for telling me."

Sandy laid a gentle hand on Jack's shoulder. "You're welcome."

"I just have one more question," said Jack. "Do you ever miss your old life? Or the Golden Age in general?"

Sandy tilted his head from side to side. He created the image of a clock jumping back and forth. "From time to time, yes. But I'm rather satisfied with my life right now."

Jack smirked impishly. "Oh, yeah? How come?"

Sandy smirked as well, pointing an arrow toward Jack, and creating the images of the Guardians above his head. Then, he gestured to Burgess below, where the children were sleeping peacefully with their golden dreams.

"If I had never become a Guardian, I never would've met any of you. And I get to help the children every day, which is something that I dedicate myself to just as much as I did to catching runaway stars. So not only do I get to help the children across the world, but I get to work with a team—a family—that I actually get to see every day."

Jack smiled. "Yeah…I guess I'd say the same thing if I were you."

Sandy smiled, and he looked up into the sky. He had a few more dreams to spread, and he produced the image of a question mark over his head, pointing toward the clouds above. Jack grinned.

"Join you while you deliver dreams? Heck yeah," said Jack. He stood up, staff swinging by his side as he lifted into the air. Sandy smiled, and he waved his hands to create an airplane of dreamsand, and soon, the two were off, flying through the clouds to the next town with the Moon shining down on them both.


Author's Note: ...Ahahaha, yes. Pitch does have a daughter. Her name is Emily Jane, and her story is quite the tragic one might I add. So's Pitch's, and I actually kind of feel bad for him.

*Coughcoughcough* ANYway, Sandy was a Star Captian back during the Golden Age, and he would go around granting wishes and dreams across the cosmos. =) Sounds pretty fun to me, to be honest. X) Sandy and Emily Jane's paths kind of collided into each other's, and I had to sum up the story the best that I could since it's pretty long (the entire story can be found in "The Sandman and the War of Dreams =)).

...Or you can just pop on to the good ol' ROTG wiki. Not as fun as reading the actual book, but it still has some info. =)

I hope you guys enjoyed this little two-shot, and I'll see you in mah next story! =D

Until the next story!

~BeyondTheMoon1203