Chapter 3
It didn't take long for all the Guardians to decide what they were going to teach Katherine. They had worked out a schedule to where Katherine was with each Guardian every other week, and she also had a week to learn her basic studies. Bunnymund insisted that he would be in charge of what Katherine would study when she was learning the basics, no one objected considering Bunnymund was the last member of the Pookan race. The Pooka's where one of the smartest race's that ever lived, and if anyone knew what was best for Katherine it was Bunnymund. So Bunnymund compiled a list of things that Katherine would learn as she grew up and handed it to the yetis to teach her.
For the first couple of years though Katherine mainly stayed with North until she was old enough to grasp her basic study's. She started learning her basic study's by the age of four and advanced rapidly. Katherine was not like other children, she had a gift for knowledge and was always anxious to learn. By age six Katherine started to learn with the Guardians. The first Guardian she learned with of course was North, she had always looked forward to learning with the Guardians. Growing up she admired what the Guardians did and dreamed often of the day she would start her training.
North started off by teaching Katherine the magic of wonder, his center. It was easy for Katherine to understand since she had always saw the wonder in everything. It was one of her many gifts. After North taught her the magic of wonder, he taught her to open her mind to creation, new ideas, and that nothing was impossible. Katherine loved to create new toys and inventions with North, she even created most of her own toys and even helped create some of the Christmas toys. She was overjoyed to finally help North, and looked forward to the day that he might take her along on his slay ride to deliver Christmas presents.
The next week she was with Bunnymund. She had only been to Bunnymunds warren a couple of times and was not sure what she was going to learn. Katherine had always loved the colorful tiny eggs that ran around the warren, she had always wondered how Bunnymund got all the eggs painted in time. But this week she was going to learn about hope, Bunnymunds center. Bunnymund taught her about how to how to sense and manipulate hope in people. He even taught her the importance and meaning of hope. It took a while for Katherine to learn how to sense and manipulate hope in others, but once she got the hang of it she made sure no one became sad and gave them new hope even when they thought there was nothing left to hope for. Bunnymund was astounded at how fast she had learned about hope and couldn't wait to teach her again.
Jack was the next in line to teach Katherine. Katherine was excited about learning with Jack, she had always spent her days playing with Jack when she was younger and still hung out with him when she wasn't learning. She had always dreamed of learning how to fly with the wind, and bringing snow days to anxious children. But Jack's first lesson was how to have fun, which seems simple enough. Jack taught Katherine of the importance of fun and how it can be used to fight fear. Of course Katherine learned fast, and surprised Jack at her speedy advancements. Before the week was over Katherine knew everything she needed to know about the importance of fun and was ready to advance to the next level. But Jack insisted that Katherine take a little break from her study's and to just have fun with him. Katherine gladly went along with Jack with no objections, though she was a little disappointed. She was so eager to learn how to use magic like Jack, but she had to wait until the next time she was with Jack. So Katherine let it go and spent the rest of the week messing around with Jack and having fun with the children in Jack's home village.
This week it was Queen Toothina's turn to teach Katherine. Katherine was a bit nervous though, Toothina was the closest thing to a mother Katherine had. She wanted to make Toothina proud, so she focused as best she could. Toothina of course taught about the importance of memory's, and how they help the people of the world remember what is important when they need it most. This concept was of course easy to understand for Katherine, and took her no time at all to learn about. But there was something that kept bugging Katherine, if Toothina could help people remember what was important then maybe she could help Katherine remember who her parents were. The thought bugged Katherine all week, and finally one day she couldn't contain herself anymore.
"Um, Toothina?" Katherine asked, feeling scared that she might not get the answer she was looking for.
"Yes Katherine? Are you okay, you look pale." Toothina sounded concerned as she flew closer to Katherine.
"Yes, i'm fine. But I was just wondering, um, that if you could help people remember what is important in life that maybe you could help me remember who my parents were?" Katherine felt ashamed for asking such a question, that she was making herself a nuisance by asking. Katherine nervously fidgeted with the necklace around her neck, waiting for Toothina to reply. Toothina had turned pale for a second, she had feared this conversation for a long time. But luckily she was prepared, and knew exactly how to handle the situation.
"Katherine, i'm sorry. But when you were found on North's steps, you were just a day old at the most. There would be no memory of your parents in that short amount of time,... Please Katherine try to understand. If I could help you I would, i'm so sorry." Toothina knelled down and hugged Katherine. Katherine returned the hug, holding back the tears that threatened to spill over her cheeks.
"It's okay, I was only wondering. Besides I already have the greatest family anyone could ever ask for right here." Katherine and Toothina shared a smile and Toothina twirled Katherine up in the air. Katherine laughed and went on with her day like nothing even happened. But that night Katherine silently cried herself to sleep. The pain of longing to know who her real family was was overwhelming, there was nothing that could be done to help Katherine find out who her parents were. She felt helpless, she only wanted to know who her parents were.
After an hour or two, Katherine fell asleep to tired to cry anymore. That night she dreamed again of the face with glowing eyes, but they where comforting to Katherine. The worries of her parents left her mind completely and the face with glowing eyes filled her. The face seemed so familiar, but Katherine could never figure out who it was. She wished she knew, and why it made her happy inside but also at the same time a little scared.
The face with glowing eyes was pushed to the back of her head, because this week Sanderson Mansnoozie was teaching Katherine. Katherine was bubbling with excitement and curiosity. She had always loved dreams, and would have always preferred to be asleep dreaming than to be awake. She couldn't wait to learn how to create her own dreams and control them. But this week's lesson was of course over the importance of dreams. Sandy explained the importance of dreams through his own sign language, explaining that he gives the people of the world pleasant dreams and fights to keep the nightmares away so that people may be happy and pursue their dreams. The concept was easy for Katherine to understand, but one word caught Katherine's attention. Nightmares. If there was anything that interested Katherine more than good dreams, it was nightmares. She was never told much about Pitch and his nightmares for good reason, but she couldn't help her curiosity. She loved learning anything she could about Pitch, there was something about him that seemed almost familiar to Katherine. Though she kept that a secret because she knew the Guardians would hit the ceiling if they found out.
So Katherine listened intently as Sandy explained the dangers that Pitch and his fearlings imposed on the people of the world, and how he was a treacherous man not to be messed with. Sandy even talked a little about how he and Pitch had fought over the years. But Sandy always made it a point to say that Pitch was a man not to be taken lightly, hoping to scare Katherine away from Pitch. But it only made Katherine even more interested, but she just nodded her head in agreement as to not make Sandy suspicious.
Later that week Sandy took Katherine with him to make one of his nightly rounds, showing her what she would be doing the next time she was with Sandy. Katherine grew even more excited at the thought of being able to control dreams. She could barely wait! But she had to wait until the next time she was with Sandy.
The Guardians were all astounded at how well Katherine had did this past month, but they were also worried. As Katherine grew up, she wanted to know more about her parents. This posed a problem for the Guardians and they needed a solution soon.