Lea continued running deeper into the forest, not even caring if she ends up hurt or captured by a Nightmare or anything. All she cared about was going as far away from everyone as possible.
"Lea, where are you?! Are you hearing me?! LEA!" Katherine's voice screamed from a distance, having a hard time seeing through the dark.
The blonde teen kept moving as far as her legs took her until she reached an opened area where a small frozen waterfall was. Although she would admire how beautiful it all looked during the nighttime, Lea had her mind on other things and just sat in front of the frozen lake in a fetal position.
"I'm such a loser. All I do is mess up instead of make a single helpful difference," Lea muttered, nearly close to crying while covering her face with her knees.
Sage followed Lea's scent on faster paws until he came around to the small frozen waterfall. Spotting Lea, he sat down on the frozen ground beside her.
"Lea, I'm sorry that I upset you, but will you let me finish, please?" Sage asked, calmly licking away her salty tears.
"As the moon rises...?" Lea asked, making sure it's really Sage while not looking at him.
"So shall we," Sage answered. "Lea, my uncle asked you to do something while you watched me. Do you remember?"
Lea just nodded, not in the mood to talk.
"He asked you to believe in me. In my strength and in my heart," Sage said. "Lea, the reason everyone was so melancholy was because of the lack of belief. Not just because the Guardians being around. They lost faith in themselves. I couldn't help the others, but I'll take being called a mutt before letting you give up on yourself."
The blonde teen finally looked at Sage, seeing the determination in his eyes. "I...I never thought of it that way. But what can I do? I'm not an immortal being, part alien, a Wolfblood, or a trained kunoichi like you guys."
"No, but you have hope, faith, love and that will take you farther than any battling skill. Lea, I saved you because you're the strongest one out of us all. Your stronger than me, Katherine, Alien X, any of us. You're the one that makes us want to be better than we are," Sage replied, a shine in his eyes.
Just then, Lea's backpack opened to have Nightlight glow in the dark and checking on the commotion. He slides down Lea's shoulder to be in her view and landed in her palmed hands.
Looking down at her Childhood friend, Lea finally smiled and brought Nightlight close to hug him.
"You're right as ever, Sage," Lea replied.
"Oh, believe me, I'm not always right. Macy can attest to that," Sage said with a chuckle, before offering his back. "Come on. We have to find Katherine and get back to the others."
Nodding and smiling back, Lea climbed aboard and let Nightlight stay in front of her.
"Let's use Nightlight. He can help us see better through the forest," Lea offered.
Sage smiled. "I won't argue. Sorry if the rides a little uncomfortable. My leg is a little off kilter while it's still healing."
"Oh, right. Sorry about that," Lea apologized.
"Hey, no apologies. I protected you because I chose to," Sage replied, nuzzling her knee.
"True. You mentioned before about Katherine looking for me. I hope she's okay," Lea wondered.
"I think she's fine. She's a Guardian. One of the first, if what I'm getting is right," Sage said, walking calmly.
"It would seem so. Kate seems to know way more about the Guardians than anyone," Lea agreed, looking around for any suspicious shadows. "I mean, North starting out as an outlawed thief before becoming the Guardian of Wonder?! And she said she met him before being the Guardian of Imagination that earned her that gold compass. All those times of figuring out these weird things that started my first adventure and the biggest mystery/clue was right in front of me."
Sage chuckled. "Believe me, there are still so many mysteries ahead of us."
"I realize that," Lea sighed.
Just then, the blonde teen saw something moved super-fast in the bushes.
"What was that?!" She asked, now having Nightlight point where she last saw that creature.
Sage stopped sniffing the air. "Show yourself!"
Suddenly, Lea heard something hurtling above and reacted by getting out her hockey stick and blocked it from hitting Sage or Nightlight. The object revealed itself as a sand-like boomerang and was caught by the thrower, whom then stuck the landing from doing a front flip to reveal a familiar Bunny Warrior in Nightmare form with glowing green sand eyes.
Lea gulped, knowing where this was heading. "I think we found the Anit-Guardian of Hope."
Nightlight just pointed his spear at the creature, defending his friends in a protective way.
Sage snarled. "Okay, Lea. Press yourself close and hang on tight."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Lea replied, holding very close to Sage and securing Nightlight from falling off.
Sage moved to leap forward, only to be stopped by the giant Nightmare Rabbit quickly standing in his path.
"G'Day, mate," the Nightmare Bunny said, giving an evil grin and dark glint in his eyes.
"And goodbye," Sage said, leaping over the rabbit and running for the scent of paper and ink.
"Something tells me I made a terrible mistake separating from the group," Lea replied, holding tight with Nightmare Bunny hot on their tail. "Now they and Kate could be in trouble because of me!"
Sage growled. "Don't start that! Remember, believe! Don't knock yourself down!"
Nightlight nodded his head in agreement, pointing his diamonded spear at the Nightmare version of Bunnymund.
"Right. Can't think like that. We need to focus and find the others. Along with losing this Evil Easter Bunny," Lea replied, looking back to see Nightmare Bunny jumping on the tree for a boast and attack from above. "Sage, lookout! He's gonna pounce on us from up top!"
Sage snarled. "Hang on!" he said, leaping off a log barrel, rolling in midair, and snatching the rabbit's right foot in his teeth to smash him into the ground.
After adjusting from that spectacular jump, Lea looked to see the Nightmare Bunny lay limp on the ground. "Is he...?" She asked, not sure if the blonde teen wants to finish that question.
"No, just knocked him unconscious. Do you have a way to get in contact with Kate?" Sage asked, as he continued on.
"Not really, no. Even with all those times hanging out, she didn't give me a phone number," Lea explained, keeping her eyes out for any other surprises.
"What about Nightlight?" Sage asked, still following his nose.
"He's just my friend and protector. Katherine wasn't the one who fixed him. That was all North. Even put some crystal inside him that's connected to the bracelet he gave me to bring him to life as long as I still believe in the Guardians," Lea explained, holding Nightlight close to her from falling off.
Sage sighed. "All right. From the scent I caught, we're not too far from her or the others. However, I can't stop, so we're going to pull a rodeo move."
"What kind of rodeo move?" Lea asked.
"Okay. When I say so, grab Kate's outstretched hand and haul her behind you. I'll try to help as much as I can," Sage said.
"Um, okay. Let do it," Lea replied, not sure what Sage is talking about but trusted him.
"Just hold on and pull hard," Sage said.
Nodding her head, Lea did just that with Nightlight doing the same. Even though he was still grabbed by Lea with the other hand.
Soon, they came to a clearing where Kate was battling a group massive eight-foot-tall Egg Nightmares that were trying to surround her.
"Kate, jump!" Sage shouted, as he ran towards the Guardian of Imagination.
Hearing Sage, Katherine smiled after taking down another Nightmare Egg Warrior with a slash of her dagger.
"Ah, looks like my ride is here. Until next time, boys," Katherine bowed her farewell before extending her hand for Lea to grab and hopped on behind her friend. "As the moon rises, so shall we. Perfect timing, you two. I was hoping you would show up sooner or later when I stumbled upon Nightmare Bunny's dark minions to keep me busy from looking for Lea."
"We ran into the boss a couple miles back," Sage said, as he picked up the speed, bursting through the trees and onto the open plain where he spotted their group.
Macy and Sage's family kept their distance, not sure if it's really them.
"As the moon rises…" Whampire started.
"So shall we," Katherine, Lea, and Sage chimed together, watching the others sigh in relief.
"About time you showed up, Wolf Boy. We were nearly close starting a search party to find you three," Macy replied.
"Sorry about the delay, everyone. We had a slight run in with the Nightmare versions of E. Aster Bunnymund and his helpers," Katherine explained, already getting off Sage.
"Luckily, Sage was able to come to the rescue and get us out of there," Lea added, getting off while picking up and carrying Nightlight in her arms.
Sage stepped over to Macy and nuzzled her face. Whampire moved forward and examined Sage's damaged leg, taking out a small jar from his hip pack. The Vladat father began smearing a green salve over the slash marks.
"They aren't deep, but it will take a bit of time for them to heal," Whampire stated, rubbing Sage's shoulder.
Lea looked over, curious to what kind of substance Whampire was putting on Sage.
"Don't get the wrong idea," said Blitzwolfer. "Wildmutt and I tasted it and we got sick. We had to eat grass for a week."
Wildmutt agreed by growling in disgust that made Macy giggle a bit.
Seeing the interested look on the blonde teen's face, Katherine smiled and said, "That's a special salve created by a certain Venus Flytrap alien called a Florauna from the planets Flors Verdance and Xenon. One of Sage's uncles, Wildvine, to be exact."
"You mean he's like a medicinal plant?" Lea asked.
"Yes and no. It's a bit hard to explain since his kind can be...unfriendly. But that's a story for another time," Katherine explained. "Since the Grant Mansion family gets hurt easily by intergalactic enemies or bullies a lot, they use Wildvine's salve to help heal the wounds,"
"Wow. I had no idea," Lea responded, a bit amazed.
Sage sighed. "It's not just bullies. Blood family members who don't know when to back off come into play, as well."
Katherine nodded her head in quiet sympathy. "I really find it sad that there are people who abuse their loved ones and go in many harsh lengths in getting them back."
Lea looked at Sage, seeing a slight hurtful emotion in his eyes. "Were you...abused by a blood family member, as well?" she gently asked.
Sage stiffened slightly. "You could say that," he stated before moving to Whampire's chest and arms.
"It's definitely some personal stuff," Macy replied, moving to her boyfriend and patted his back in support.
"Right...Sorry for bringing that up," Lea muttered while rubbing her neck, feeling awkward about asking and held Nightlight close to her chest.
Sage sighed. "No big deal. It's the past and will stay in the past."
"Right now, we need to focus on the present and continue forw-AHH!" Katherine nearly screamed in pain, placing a right hand on her chest while falling to her knees.
"Kate!" Lea exclaimed, quickly checking on her friend in worry by getting down on the same level of height as her. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
Katherine struggled to breathe before speaking. "It's the children...Their belief...is nearly gone...We're running out of time..."
Outraged by injustice, Whampire hissed in anger. Blitzwolfer howled and Wildmutt snarled, eager to cause some damage to whoever was responsible for this.
Sage growled. "All right, we need to move. Kate, I say we check out my lead."
Not arguing, Katherine nodded her head and tried to weakly stand up.
"Come on, Kate, lean your wait on me," Lea instructed, helping her friend with Macy coming in to assist from the opposite side. "You can ride with Wildmutt since Sage is still recovering."
After settling the Guardian of Imagination on top of the Vulpimancer, Macy and Lea went to Sage's side.
"So, which way, Wolf Boy?" Macy questioned.
"Unfortunately, this is going to be a wilder trip. Hope you're ready for a talking frozen snow cone," Sage said, before releasing a large howl.
"You mean Jackmare?! I barely escaped from him!" Lea hollered through the howl and covered her ears.
No, not him. Another snow cone, Sage said mentally.
Soon, the landscape changed from moss and bare tree covered terrain to ice and snow. Sage stopped howling, after a moment. Panting heavily, the Wolfblood glanced around, finding a large ice throne in front of them.
"Whoa. Now that's a fancy chair," Macy remarked, studying the throne from a distance.
"I don't understand. Whose throne is this?" Lea questioned, seriously lost while looking at her sick friend that was lying on Wildmutt.
"It's mine, Precious," a voice came out from behind the throne, sounding like a smooth-talking lawyer.
Lea jumped from startlement and hid behind Whampire from the unexpected voice.
Macy got out her katana blade and stood in a battle stance. "Who's there?! Show yourself!"
Katherine weakly looked up when hearing that voice.
Sage sighed. "Snow Miser, enough of the creepy stalker game, please."
"But I'm so good at it," the voice nearly whined playfully.
"Snow Miser? Isn't he from one of the old Christmas stories that involved Santa Claus sick and having mix disagreements with his brother, Heat Miser?" Lea asked, kind of remembering that story while moving out from behind Whampire.
"Can someone please tell me what in the name of crazy is going on here?!" Macy exclaimed, nearly losing her patience.
Coming out of hiding from the throne, Lea could see a figure she had not seen nor read about in a long time.
He appeared to have pale skin that's portrayed as either snow white or light blue. His hair seemed either made of or covered in ice. He wore a blue shirt and silver leggings, a blue striped scarf, blue gloves and long, blue pointed shoes. He had a long nose that had an icicle hanging from it, a chin jutting out, appeared to be abnormally tall, and very slim.
"It...it is you. Snow Miser," Lea replied, seriously surprised. "You control the north side of the world with your brother controlling the south. My grandparents told me about how you nearly reminded them of Jack Frost. But...something doesn't add up. Why would you want to hurt the Guardians and capture them? You're supposed to be friendly and would never make children lose their happy beliefs."
Sage growled. "Yet, you're the only one to pull off this kind of scam."
"Who? Muah? Oh, no, no, no! I am in love with the beliefs. See, people believe in North, I get to make snow to assist Jack Frost so he can spread fun to children that believe in him," Snow Miser said.
"You're full of crud like a Christmas turkey!" snapped Blitzwolfer.
Macy scoffed, still not lowering her blade and remained a glare at Snow Miser. "Come on! You expect us to believe that? All these cold climates with evil Nightmares running around trying to kill us? This has your frozen finger prints all over it! You even made our friend grow weak because of your team-up with Pitch Black!" she pointed at the Guardian of Imagination while not losing contact with the snow-like being.
Katherine began to look worse than before, groaning a little. It looked like she was losing her life colors from both her hair, skin, even her jacket.
"Snow Miser, please! Where are the Guardians?" Lea pleaded in worry.
"How should I know? I saw North right after Christmas and haven't seen him nor heard about the others since. And I'm hurt that you think of me as the evil gloomy type. That's my unmentioned brother, not muah," Snow Miser said in a fake hurt tone.
"You're blaming it on Heat Miser? Real mature," Macy remarked, rolling her eyes and clearly not convinced. "He's not even the one controlling ice."
Katherine tried to mutter something, still weak. Curious, Lea went to her friend to listen on what she was trying to say.
"Not...Heat...Wind..." Katherine whispered to her friend's ear.
Eyes wide, realization started to hit on the blonde teen.
Sage, having heard the word 'wind', turned to Lea. "What does she mean?"
"We've been going at it all wrong. It's not one of the two Miser Brothers that's helping Pitch. It's one of the three!" Lea explained, looking at Snow Miser. "Heat Miser isn't the unnamed brother you're talking about, is it?"
"No, that hothead would never hurt humanity by making them stop believing. North Wind is the scoundrel you want," Snow Miser said.
"North Wind!?" Macy, Whampire, and Blitzwolfer exclaimed at once, seriously confused.
"Uh...who's that, exactly?" asked Whampire.
"Well, whoever he is, I'm gonna knock ALL the wind out of him!" growled Blitzwolfer.
"Believe me, North Wind is not a very nice spirit. He sabotaged Santa's sleigh that caused him to throw his back and then blamed the Miser Brothers for the accident so North Wind can become in charge of Christmas and do all the work himself," Lea explained, remembering that story crystal clear.
"...Okay, how could we have missed that guy as an obvious suspect in this mystery?" Macy bluntly asked no one, seriously feeling bad on the inside in getting the wrong guy by lowering her weapon. "If North Wind is as bad as you people described, then we need to take him down!"
Lea nodded her head in agreement. "Now it all makes sense. The heavy wind we kept getting since we arrived here wasn't coming from Jack Frost. It was coming from North Wind to throw us off in finding the Guardians. He's the one that's assisting Pitch to get rid of children's beliefs so he can come back to this dimension."
"Yeah, but how do we find someone who can throw scents off like that?" Sage questioned.
Lea thought about it very carefully. "Hmmm...Maybe instead of following our sense of smell, we should follow something else. I have an idea. But we need the Nightmares to come to us."
"Uh, did you seriously just say that?" Macy asked, thinking Lea has lost her mind. "I thought we want the Nightmares away from us."
Sage understood instantly. "Mace, it's just like Tommy and Catsandra. Follow the kitten home for feeding."
"I think I know how to set all this right. My cousin told me a secret in bringing back the magic to restore the Guardians' strength. In order for this to work, I need to be close," Lea explained.
"How close? Around the same room close or uncomfortably close?" Macy questioned.
"Close enough for me to touch one of them," Lea answered, looking at her weakened friend with concern on the inside. "It's the only way to save the Guardians. You just got to trust me."
"What will it do to you?" Sage questioned, knowing some magic drains the user.
"It shouldn't do anything bad to me. As long as I stay true to believing in not just the Guardians, but also myself," Lea answered, looking down at Nightlight and her charmed crystal bracelet with a brave smile. "I know I can save them."
Sage sighed. "Maybe we can help."
"That's what I'm counting on. We need everyone to work together in order to pull this off," Lea agreed, before looking at Snow Miser. "And I mean everyone."
The blonde teen walked over to the Snow Giver of the North. "Snow Miser, we're really sorry for accusing you of being responsible for the Guardians' disappearance and children's beliefs nearly fading away. We never should have jumped to conclusions without knowing the facts first. Right now, we need your help more than ever to stop your brother from ending all hope, wonder, dreams, good memories, fun, and imagination left in this world. Will you please forgive and assist us to make things right again?"
Snow Miser looked at them all. "All right, but next Christmas, you are making twenty snow angels in apology."
"Deal. Thank you, Snow Miser," Lea smiled happily with Nightlight doing the same.
"Good. Now, how are you going to get a Nightmare?" Snow Miser asked.
Sage smirked. "Oh, just leave that to me."
"If there's one thing Sage is good at, it's tracking baddies down like a bloodhound," Macy remarked, folding her arms in determination. "I think we got that part covered."
Sage grinned at his girl's response. "No problem."
Lea went to Katherine, whom was having a hard time opening her eyes, and brushed some of her auburn hair off her face.
"Hang in there, Kate. We'll turn this around. I promise," Lea assured, truly determined in rescuing her fellow Guardians with the help of her friends.