Alaia Skyhawk: And the rest of the Guardians make their appearance! WOO!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.

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Chapter 13: Naughty List

The lights rippled outwards from their source, casting across the skies like waves. If the people below had been able to see them, they could be forgiven for mistaking them for the northern lights. But the northern lights would never be seen so far south, and in fact the glowing signal would eventually reach as far as Antarctica. For that was what it was, a signal that only the Immortals could see, and which was directed at a very specific group of them.

The first of that group was now homing in on the signal's source, a workshop built upon the side of a mountain in the Arctic, close to the North Pole. It was the home of North, the youngest of the Guardians, and it was the second oldest of them that flew in through the open top of the domed structure at the complex peak.

Toothiana darted past the massive globe that sat under the dome, which displayed the entire world covered with uncountable millions of glimmering lights. Each light was a child, one that believed in at least one of the Guardians. When she reached the viewing level next to the globe, where a massive hearth heated the chamber, she perched herself on a ledge after noting North was on one of the lower levels under the globe, where dozens of yetis were hard at work making and wrapping toys.

North was striding among them, urging them to keep up the pace, and it wasn't surprising. It was a little under four weeks until Christmas, which made his summons of the other Guardians all the more unusual. This was his busiest month of the year.

Tooth frowned a little, the feathers on her head fluffing out before she shook it. She had three of her fairies with her, and through them she could continue to relay tooth locations back to the thousands of other fairies passing through the Tooth Palace. She did so, idly taking this moment to check the rest of the feathers that covered her entirely, didn't have any that were sticking out at odd angles. For while she had wings somewhat like the stereotypical image of a fairy, that was where all resemblance to what humans generally pictured her as like, ended.

She was not a flaxen-haired maiden with wings like a dragonfly, who wore a dress made of silk and flowers. Her many segmented wings were pointed, not rounded, and had sharp edges she could used to great effect in a fight... But for her hands and face, she also happened to be covered from head to toe in iridescent blue feathers, which changed to green then gold around her neck, before becoming blue and green around her face. She had a single prominent golden plume reaching from her forehead, which folded against the trailing golden tips of the other long blue feathers which gave her the appearance of wearing a headdress.

In short, she looked like a cross between a hummingbird and a very pretty lady, with wings that were made up of several pointed segments on each side, not that you could tell when she was flying, since the individual blades of her wings blended together into one blur.

She was still rattling off tooth locations while she took this chance to give her obviously immaculate wings a check over anyway, when she heard a door on the lowermost level of the building open and then slam shut. That was then followed by the distinct grumbling of a certain 'Easter Bunny' in his distinct accent.

E. Aster Bunnymund, or Bunny as he was now nicknamed thanks to North persistently calling him 'Bunny Man' until the Pooka had given up and agreed to the compromise, came up in one of the wooden contraptions that ran on rails between the various levels. When he arrived at the top floor, he then went straight over to the fireplace to warm up his feet.

Tooth slid off her ledge and flew over.

"Tunnel come out in the snow again?"

Bunny stood up to his full height of six foot one inch, a little over seven feet if you included his ears. He didn't so much as look like a normal rabbit, but rather resembled one with a longer and more slender body, who happened to spend most of the time walking around on two feet so he could use his rather dexterous 'hands' for either painting eggs, tinkering with one of his machines in the older part of his warren, or for throwing the pair of boomerangs he kept secured in a strap around his shoulder and torso.

He folded his ears back, and frowned in irritation.

"No matter how many times I come here, and North promises me the workshop wards won't interfere with my tunnels anymore, I still always end up outside. Why has he even called a meeting, anyway? This close to Christmas, it must be important."

Tooth shrugged, still hovering in the air as she did most of the time. She rarely set down on anything except for the occasional rest.

"I don't know. He's down below overseeing the yetis, so I'm guessing he'll come up here once Sandy arrives."

A blot of golden sand caught their attention, and they looked up to see Sandy float in through the opened roof on his usual cloud of sand.

Bunny flicked his ears up again.

"And speaking of The Sandman, here he is."

Sandy waved to them as he reached the hearth, and after dismissing his sand-cloud he formed a question-mark over his head.

Tooth sighed, answering as a nearby yeti headed down to inform North they'd all arrived.

"We don't know yet, but Bunny and I both agree it must be something serious. It's so close to Christmas."

All three of them glanced at one another then settled down to wait. A couple of minutes later North arrived at the top floor, holding a piece of paper in one hand as he greeted them. He was a tall as Bunny, with broad shoulders and a rather heavy-set body, dressed in a red shirt and dark trousers and boots. He sported a long, white beard, and white hair, and yet surprisingly his eyebrows were black. He also had a thick Russian accent, having grown up there and travelled with a band of Cossacks in his youth."

"You came! Good, good."

Bunny eyed him with a small frown.

"So what couldn't wait for our annual meeting?"

North stopped before them, and took a deep breath.

"This is big news, very big."

Tooth fluttered closer, hovering in tension.

"What?"

North held up the piece of paper, which only now did they see had the red corners on it that said it came from the massive collection of similar sheets which made up one of his two infamous Lists.

"There's a new name on Naughty List!"

All three of his fellow Guardians stared at him, dumbfounded, before Bunny's ears folded back in profound annoyance.

He pointed at North, sharply.

"You called us here for THAT? New names appear on that damn list of yours all the time!"

North, waved the sheet from the Naughty List, shaking his head.

"This not normal name! Is name of new Immortal! First new one since I was picked! Immortals only appear on Lists, when do something very good or bad that not part of their duties." He shrugged. "Is why Pitch never on Naughty List, he always bad so waste of space wherever he is. Every Immortal but him has been on my Lists at least once, and this is name I never seen before!"

Tooth's violet eyes widened, and she started to smile.

"A new Immortal? That is big news! It's been over a century since you became one, and for the five centuries before that, a new one used to show up almost once a decade." She moved so she could look over North's shoulder at the paper. "So what did the new one do to end up on the Naughty List?"

North went utterly still, before then flailing his arms with such ferocity that Tooth had to zip out of range or risk being hit.

"He almost buried Santoff Claussen under avalanche!" He lowered his arms, shaking the piece of paper. "No one hurt, and no damage, but still! Anyone who harm village even a little, goes on Naughty List!"

Bunny glanced at Tooth, for both of them knew all too well how much that village meant to North, while behind them Sandy had his eyebrows raised due to sudden suspicions about who's name was the new one on the list.

He waved to North, and made a question-mark above his head, causing Bunny to nod.

"Sandy's right. Tell us the name, already."

North calmed down, and turned the paper so they could see the name.

"Jack Frost, and name is written in gold, not silver."

Tooth blinked.

"So he's a Major Immortal, not a Lesser Immortal." She curled up a little, hugging her knees close to her body in excitement. "I wonder what his job is."

Sandy began waving even more vigorously to get their attention, and once they'd turned, he created his symbol for the four seasons and pointed to the snowflake.

North raised his eyebrows.

"Spirit of Winter?"

Sandy nodded enthusiastically, then created a life-size image of a barefoot young man, barely more than a boy, who carried a staff like a shepherd's crook and who wore a short cloak.

Tooth's head-feathers fluffed up, and she darted over to Sandy until her face was inches from his.

"You've met him? When? Where? Why didn't you tell us?" Sandy shrugged, backing up to give himself some space from her rapid-fire questions, then drew a sun and moon which he turned backwards by one circle. Tooth interpreted. "You only met him yesterday?"

Sandy nodded again, then began excitedly chattering in rapid symbols about how Jack had been able to banish the touch of a Fearling from a child. But the concepts were so complex to convey with mere images, that all three of them stared at him in complete bafflement. That bafflement became a debate about what he might have been trying to say, which then became a squabble between North and Bunny while Tooth turned away in irritation and began rattling off tooth locations to her three fairies.

Sandy huffed silently, and was all set to try again when a glint of moonlight came through the open part of the dome and touched his shoulder.

He looked towards the Man in the Moon, and heard the faintest whisper reach him through the moonbeam.

'Our secret.'

Sandy regarded him in surprise, then frowned a little, before letting out a big sigh and going back over to his three peers. He then took hold of both North and Bunny by an ear apiece, twisting both as if he were disciplining two unruly children, and once they were both quiet he nodded to Tooth to say the conversation could now continue in a decorous manner.

He floated over to the space in front of the hearth, and while North and Bunny both rubbed at a sore ear each, Sandy began to made more life-size images of Jack. He showed him dancing across rooftops while snow fell, and having a snowball fight with a group of children. He then showed an image of Jack sat beside him on a cloud of dreamsand, the young immortal gesturing animatedly as he chatted away with a smile on his face.

Sandy then dismissed those images, and used symbols to describe that Jack had then left because the winds told him he had an avalanche to tend to. He made no mention at all of the Feared child, or of Jack being able to banish the shadow from him.

By this point North looked thoughtful, Bunny seemed relatively indifferent, and Tooth looked like she wanted to hug someone, probably Jack.

She had her hands clasped in front of her, in the way she always did when she found something to be adorable.

"Aww, he sounds like such a nice boy."

Bunny snorted, sceptical.

"He's the Spirit of Winter. Give him a few decades, and he'll become as empty-hearted as the other three Spirits of the Seasons. He's only cheerful now because he's new. Once the novelty of being immortal and having powers wears off, the only smile we'll get from him will be one of cynicism. Mother Nature doesn't pick her servants for their good nature, she chooses them because they'll do what she tells them to and not care if they hurt anyone."

North started to frown.

"Is true she can be cold-hearted, but she has to be. Nature isn't always fair."

Bunny jabbed a finger at him.

"Yeah, it can be downright cruel, and so can she. Times like that, you can tell she's Pitch's daughter."

"Bunny!" Tooth glared at him in reprimand, and then continued at a quieter volume. "She was asked to govern the Earth's seasons, by the Man in the Moon, for a reason. She makes sure Pitch will never mess with the seasons, because she's the one person on this world who he can never harm. The Golden Age is over, and almost everything of that era was destroyed by him. But Pitch is stranded here, he can never leave unless he gains enough power. The Earth is his prison, and we are his jailers. Only by protecting the children of the Earth from him, can we make sure he doesn't destroy this world and move on to another like he has so many before."

Bunny folded his arms across his chest, stubborn.

"And some jailers we are. We don't even know where he scuttled off to after that last fight, just that Manny said he was defeated."

North nodded, but spoke with more concern and caution to his words.

"But Manny also not say, that Pitch would never come back and try again. We must keep eye open for signs he causing trouble." He looked towards Sandy. "Any unusual Fearling activity? You seen more of them around than normal?" Sandy shook his head, and North sighed in relief. "No more than the usual scattering of nightmares, eh? Well, we know you will keep good watch for trouble. You always have."

There was a moment of silence, then Bunny spoke.

"Well, if that's all, I'm off back to the Warren."

He tapped his foot on floor twice, and disappeared down the resulting burrow, which then filled in behind him leaving a pink flower where it was. Tooth made her own goodbyes at this point, as North plucked that flower off his floorboards and tossed it down the central shaft of the building, and then flew off back to the Tooth Palace.

Sandy waved his own farewell before leaving via the dome, and after he'd watched the open part slide closed again, he frowned and looked at the moon. But the Man in the Moon had gone silent again, without explaining the reason he'd wanted his oldest Guardian not to tell the others about Jack's unusual ability.

Sandy huffed in annoyance and shook his head, before deciding to seek out the Spirit of Winter to finish the chat that had been interrupted by the winds. As for finding the young immortal, he did have an idea of where he might possibly be... Thanks to the memory of a small village in North America, where despite a blizzard raging outside, the children had been unafraid of the storm.

He located the village swiftly, and began to look around the surrounding woods. There was a pond fairly close by, and from it Sandy could feel an echo of Jack's power. The land around it held memories of a sort tied to that, and with a touch of dreamsand, Sandy let those memories shape an image of the ones linked most strongly to that echo.

In the middle of the pond, the familiar figure of Jack formed stood opposite a younger girl, and as Sandy watched the scene unfold, 'Jack' urged the girl to trust in him as he cautiously stepped to where the image of a familiar staff lay upon the ice. The image then urged the girl to move towards him, before hooking her with the staff and throwing her clear... Sandy then saw the image of Jack plunge through the ice.

A second image followed after the first faded, of Jack rising up through the ice as if lifted, and then being set back down upon it.

Sandy called back his dreamsand, having seen enough to know this was indeed the place Jack had spoken of. The village where the children knew of and believed in him.

The little golden man floated over to the village, starting to look around before realising Jack was probably away on weather or avalanche duty. And so Sandy perched himself on a roof, of the house which seemed the most appealing in some unspoken and odd way, and settled down to wait.

He was just starting to nod off when the front door of the cabin opened, and with the whistle of wind someone quickly glided around the back to the woodpile. It was then that Jack spotted his visitor.

"Sandy! I didn't know you were here!"

Sandy jolted out of his doze, sliding off the roof in surprise and then catching himself before he could hit the ground. He then blinked when he saw Jack stood in front of him, carrying several pieces of wood under one arm. He was also wearing a new cloak of grey wool, which had been trimmed with darker grey fur.

Jack grinned, doing a turn on the spot so Sandy could see how it fit.

"Do you like it? The children and their parents in Santoff Claussen, gave it to me after I tore my old one when the avalanche clean-up I did next to the village didn't quite go to plan. I also had hot chocolate inside Big Root, while I talked to Ombric. It was nice, but I had to cool it down first."

He looked a little embarrassed as he admitted the mishap, but then genuinely happy as he talked about Ombric. Sandy chuckled, having decided to spare telling him that accident got him put on North's Naughty List, and instead complimented on the cloak with a wide smile and a nod.

Jack glided to the side of the cabin, then waved for Sandy to follow.

"Come on. I'll introduce you to my sister and Albert." He continued round to the door and opened it, waving for Sandy to come in too. "Emily, The Sandman is here."

Emily turned, her smile holding the enthusiastic light of someone who was still a child at heart.

"Really?" Sandy entered tentatively as Jack then closed the door behind him, and the little golden man was rather surprised to have a seventeen-year-old woman rush over to him in greeting. "It's wonderful to meet you. I'm Emily, and this is my husband, Albert."

Over by the fire, Albert was frowning a little and squinting like he was having trouble focusing on Sandy. In truth he was just faint blurry blob to Albert's eyes, so Jack helped out with a snowflake to allow him to open his mind fully to the belief that The Sandman was real and inside the cabin.

Albert then wiped the chill from his face, and got up to offer his hand in greeting.

"It's a honour to meet the one who was behind so many of the great dreams I had as a child, and who grants good dreams to all other children in the world."

Sandy stared almost dumbly for a moment, clearly quite startled to be visible to two adults who were not residents of Santoff Claussen. But he recovered quickly and shook Albert's offered hand, before he then conjured a top-hat which he tipped to both him and Emily in greeting. He then smiled warmly, and fired off a series of symbols over his head.

Jack frowned at them, and interpreted.

"I think he just said he's happy to meet two adults who can see him. It's... um. Uh..." Sandy shook his head with a small smile, and started to spell it as Jack mumbled each letter in turn. "Ruh... ah... ruh...eh... Rahreh? Rare?"

Sandy nodded and made an image of a book. He then pointed to Jack, the book, then Jack again and shook head with question-mark.

Emily interpreted that one.

"No, we can't read. At least, not a great deal. Jack and I know our letters, but not much more."

Jack shrugged.

"Backwoods village in colonial America. Hardly anyone out here can read."

Sandy started to gesture, and drew a picture of Big Root and Ombric, followed by a picture of Ombric and Jack sat side-by-side at a table with a book between them.

Jack blinked.

"Ombric would teach me to read?" Sandy nodded eagerly, then showed a picture of Ombric surrounded by the village children while he wrote something on a chalkboard. Jack grinned. "If I learn to read from him, I could teach Emily! Then she could teach the rest of the village too!"

He was practically bounding in eagerness at the thought, and Emily laughed while Albert chuckled beside her.

"Well it can wait until Southern Winter, after the baby is born. The village children would be very disappointed, if you didn't come play with them all Northern Winter because you were off having reading lessons."

Jack glanced at her wryly.

"Very true." He leaned against the nearby wall casually. "I'm pretty bored during the Southern Winter anyway, so it'll give me something to do."

Emily looked to Sandy, and then pointed to the stool near the other chairs by the fire.

"Would you like to sit and talk with us for a while? It's not everyday that someone can say they have The Sandman visiting their home."

Sandy smiled and floated over to sit on the chair, before proceeding to entertain the three of them with various elaborate images in sand, like miniature plays. They were so entranced by the display, that none of them noticed the little wondering glances that Sandy kept directing at Jack, and also at the glimpse of the moon visible through a gap in one of the shutters.

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Alaia Skyhawk: Hehehe, the image of Sandy twisting North and Bunny's ears, is just so damn funny. And the mystery grows! Manny has a secret, and he's definitely not going to let Sandy in on it yet :P