I'm pretty sure I was possessed while I was typing this, because this takes the cake as fastest update yet. Maybe it's because I find flashback chapters the easiest to write. I'm sure you're anxious to read, so I don't own RoTG and enjoy (and about the surprise, if you can't guess it, I pity you).
I peeked my head inside my father's shop. He was the local blacksmith and he was constantly busy. I saw him pounding away on a horseshoe. My father rubbed his head and looked in my direction. He smiled and I ran in. He ruffled my long brown hair and I held some objects in my hand out to him. They consisted of a short, thick stick and some horsehair.
"Mother wanted me to give you this," I told him. My father laughed.
"Your mother finally caught you?" My father asked. I sheepishly nodded. My mother had been working for years, trying to teach me to sew. It never worked because I always managed to slip away before my lesson could begin. I usually ran into the forest a ways and drew pictures instead. This time, however, my mother had caught me. Instead of punishing me, she gave me these items and sent me to my father.
"Now, let's see what we can do with these," my father said, picking up the objects. He then took a small piece of metal and wrapped it around the horsehair. He clamped the metal down and fastened it onto the stick. My father gave it back to me and I looked at the new object.
"What is it?" I asked. My father smiled.
"A paintbrush. You can use it to draw permanent things as long as you have paint," he said. I twirled the paintbrush in my hand, thinking about how I could get paint. We didn't have enough money for those kinds of things, but maybe I could use some berry juice instead.
"Thank you Father," I said I ran out the door. My father chuckled as I sped away.
Our family sat around the fireplace, the skies darkening outside. It was early March, but it was still frigid. I was sitting on the floor, humming a tune that I had come up with earlier. My father was shaping some metal with his hands. My mother was sewing (she had long since given up on trying to teach me). Not too long ago, she had given birth to two twin girls. They were currently asleep.
I felt a flick on my shoulder and turned to my brother who was sitting next to me. He looked a lot like me, brown hair, brown eyes, and he always had a mischievous look on his face. Everyone always said that he dragged me into trouble, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. We got into trouble together. I playfully nudged him and went back to humming.
My brother handed me a long, silver tube in my hands with a ribbon on it. Little holes were spaced out along it and it looked a little bit like a tin whistle that I had seen in stores, but the hole that you blew into was on the side.
"A flute?" I asked. I didn't think my brother had any money. My brother smiled.
"Happy Birthday!" he said. I looked at him, confused.
"But our birthday isn't for another week," I said. My twin brother laughed.
"I wanted to surprise you. Father helped me make it for you," he said with a smile. "Now you can play those tunes you always hum. It'll be slightly less annoying."
I simply smiled at my brother's joke. No need to ruin a new gift.
My brother threw a snowball in my direction. I quickly dodged it and threw a counter one at him. He somehow managed to catch it and throw it back at me. It made contact with my side and I collapsed on the ground, laughing. I may have been fourteen, but you're never too old for a snowball fight. At least that's what my brother said.
I picked myself up and ran over to Emily and Pippa, my younger sisters. They currently were trying to make a snowman, but at the age of six, it wasn't really working. I took a look at the deformed mass of snow. It resembled a snowman in only the vaguest of ways.
"Need some help?" I asked. Emily nodded her head and Pippa shook her head. I sighed. Those two never agreed on anything.
"Tell you what, why don't we make something else?" I asked.
"Like what?" Emily asked. I thought about the question and I turned my eyes to the sky. A large, fluffy rabbit made out of clouds floated past and I instantly had my inspiration.
"How about a snow bunny?" I asked. Using the pile of snow, we gave the mass ears, arms, legs, and a little tail. Emily and Pippa looked at their creation in pride. My brother walked over and leaned into my ear.
"It reminds me of those kangaroos we learned in school," he whispered.
"Nah, I think it looks more like a jackrabbit."
I walked around the woods. Once again, it was a week from our birthday, only seven years later. I was sixteen years old. I was looking for a present for my brother. He had told me he didn't want any clothes or a new pair of shoes (my brother had a thing against shoes). He said he wanted a good, strong staff of wood. When he had told me he wanted a walking stick, I looked at him like he was crazy. A staff? He then told me that he was busy helping Father (he had decided he wanted to learn our father's trade), but he wanted something for when he went out in the woods. I still thought he was nuts, but a present is a present.
I looked among all of the fallen branches, but nothing looked right. Some were too short, others were too thick, and a good number of them were altogether not right. As I walked, I came upon a fallen tree limb. The snow crunched around my feet as I walked over to the limb. It was a beautiful shade of brown and it was curved at the top, just wide enough to hook someone out of the way. I instantly knew it was the right one for my brother. I dusted off the snow and walked back out of the forest. When I exited the forest, I found my brother standing there, holding something. It looked like a long, silver stick made of metal. In the very center was a blue stone that my younger sisters Emily and Pippa had found last week. I walked over to him and handed him his staff and he handed mine to me.
"It looks like we have a habit of giving each other presents early," he said to me. I smiled.
"It certainly does," I replied.
"Father! Emily and I are heading into town!" I shouted as Emily and I headed out the door. I was carrying all of the things that were important to me; my paintbrush and flute in my pocket, and my newly acquired staff in my hand. My father stuck his head out of his workshop and gave us a wave.
"Be careful! The recent snowmelt around town has spurned a few flash floods. I don't want you getting stuck in one!" he shouted back. Emily and I walked down the path, the slowly melting snow crunching around our feet.
"Isn't Pippa going skating today?" I asked Emily. She nodded her head.
"Yep. Otherwise she would be going too. I hope the ice isn't too thin," Emily said looking worried.
"I hope so too, Emily."
Emily clung onto me as the cascade of water surrounded us. The little hill we had been standing on seconds ago was now an island in the middle of rapids. The water had rose without warning and we were luck to have stopped on the hill. Otherwise, we would've been swept away. I looked down at my sister and tried to comfort her.
"It's okay Emily. We're going to be okay," I reassured her. "Don't look at the water, just focus on me." Emily nodded her head. I looked down at the water. It was rising fast. We needed to get out of here, now. "I know you're scared, but you need to trust me. We're going to get out here, I promise.
"How Misty? Neither of us can swim! We're stuck!" Emily screamed as the water rose to her ankles. I hugged her tighter and swallowed the dread rising into my throat. I needed to be calm, if not for my own sake, but for Emily's.
"It's okay. We're not stuck. We just have to use our imagination," I said as I spied a log floating close to where we were standing. I used my staff to bring it closer and Emily scrambled onto the floating log. I sat down on the log and used my staff to steer us over to some tall trees. Emily had her arms wrapped around me the entire time as I fought the fast moving current. Finally, we made to the tree line. The lowest branches were far above me, so I handed my staff to Emily. I slowly stood up and found I could just reach the branches. I picked up Emily and she pulled herself onto the tree limb. She handed my staff back to me and smiled.
"Come on Misty!" she shouted.
"I'll be up in a second, but first go higher, Emily. These waters are rising fast," I shouted. Emily started to climb up the tree when a rush of water came towards me. I jumped up off the log and tried to grab the tree branch, but my fingers slipped.
"Misty!" Emily shouted, reaching out her hand in my direction. The last thing I saw was Emily's face full off shock and terror before the waters overtook me.
I came back to reality, gasping. I had a house, a family, a twin brother, and two younger sisters! I saved Emily! I felt ecstatic knowing that I was someone, and not just a spirit. I wanted to hug someone, and my eyes traveled upward to a faint sky. A sliver of the moon appeared. I could've sworn I saw MiM wink. That settled it. I was a Guardian. Any doubt that I had felt was completely gone.
Which made it even more important to get off that stinking ledge.
I looked down to the splinters of my paintbrush. It was more to me than just a paintbrush, and my flute and staff meant more to me now too. It represented my family. I picked up the two halves and sat on my knees, Little Sand passed out on my lap. Taking in a deep breath, I jammed the two paintbrush halves together, thinking about my mother, my father, my sisters, my brother, the Guardians, Little Sand, and all the children of the world. A bright blue flash appeared where the two halves met and I felt my power returning. I felt stronger, more powerful, more like a Guardian. The flash went away and my paintbrush was repaired. Not even a crack remained.
A piece of hair fluttered past my face and I laughed in delight. My hair was back to indigo. My dress was back to my knees and it was blue. If I could see my eyes, they would probably be brown. I glanced at my amulet, the silver now gleaming and the raindrop blue once more. I smiled as I remembered why my clothes changed. My clothes changed not because of the shadows; they changed because the splinter in my heart took over, and now, I was back to normal.
But that wasn't the biggest surprise.
Standing on my shoulder was Little Sand, no longer passed out. She looked strong and healthy, but her appearance was different. Her hair and eyes were still golden, but that's about it. Her dress was blue and white and flowed down to her ankles. Her wings were white and shimmery, and her skin was tan. She smiled at me and I smiled back.
"Looks like you're no longer just a dream helper," I said. Little Sand nodded her head.
"Nope," she replied. I blinked back my surprise. I knew Little Sand could speak, but just like Sandy, she never really liked speaking. "Being around you made me stronger, and that's why I'm still here. When the fearling attacked me, it poured into my soul, thinking it could win. The strength from you gave me the energy to fight back, and when that burst of energy came from you, I won. Although, it seemed to have a few side effects." Little Sand tugged at her new dress. I laughed and stood up, storing my tooth box on my dress. Only one way to test if I was back to normal. I jumped up and I shot up into the sky. I heard someone laughing and the winds swirled around me.
I leave you alone for five minutes and this happens! Acionna said to me. I rolled my eyes.
"Glad to hear from you too," I replied. I flew as fast as possible, trying to find a way into Pitch's lair. I promised the dream helpers I would free them, and free them I would.
"Acionna, where's the nearest entrance to Pitch's lair?" I shouted as we rocketed towards America.
New York City sewers! she shouted back. I flew down to the streets and found and open manhole cover. I traveled down the chute and found myself in Pitch's lair again. I flew to the nearest cage and smashed the lock open.
"Come on, let's go!" I said to the dream helpers. None of them even stirred. Every one of them was completely tan.
"They can't move," I whispered. Little Sand looked at the dream helpers and I could tell she felt guilty. After all, she could fly and they couldn't. She tugged my shoulder and I looked at the globe. The lights were blinking out.
"The lights…" I said, flying down to the globe. The lights were down to only a few. Seven in fact, all of them in Burgess, Pennsylvania. Six were slightly dull.
The weird feeling came back to my chest, and realization hit me. If I wanted to stop fading, I needed to find a child who had more than just belief. I needed a child who had the spark of creativity to make them believe in more than just the Guardians. And only one light was left that had that extra-bright spark.
Caroline Bennett.
*me whistling* I'm giving out a prize to the first person who reviews and answers this next question. The prize will be a PM so if you're a guest, don't bother answering the question.
Who is Misty's twin?
*looking outside at shocked angry mob* Oh come on! I've only made ten billion references in this chapter alone! Please review (even if it is only answering the question) and stay tuned.