Hey everyone. Welcome to the start of my first ever posted fanfiction. I hope you all enjoy it.

I know it's a few months before the big holiday, but I am planning to post several chapters a week over time, and if I don't start now, I won't finish by the holiday itself. Ad I think a story centered around Christmas should end by Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the movies or franchises that are posted in this fanfiction.

And without further ado, let's begin…

Prologue

A long, long time ago…

Nicholas St. North stood on a small snowy hill, looking out on the wintry lake. It was a vast lake, seeming to stretch for miles, with no sandy shores touching the water. Instead, icy mountains surrounded the lake on all sides, like enemy forces surrounding a small company of troops. There was not a patch of ice blocking the lake's view of the moon, shining straight down like a mirror's reflection. The winds and blizzards flew over the mountains above, with the lake being protected from the big storm by the sheer cliffs. Not a single wave stirred, nor cricket chirped. In fact, no sound encroached on the quiet. It was so peaceful. North grimaced. If only it could stay that way.

North knew that there were only two ways into this lake. He was on one side, on the northern side of the lake. The only other side was the southern side. At the moment, it was unoccupied, though North knew it wouldn't be for long.

Not many know it, but some places have good strategic value, no matter how calming and unassuming they are. This lake, for example, was one of the few unguarded passages up to the North Pole. Icy blizzards, avalanches, and the occasional yeti blocked and guarded every other way in. There was no way, no how, that the North Pole was going to be invaded easily. Even the lake had its own security measures. To even access it, one had to go through several different mountains and blizzards to get to this point. Nobody would dare to try it.

However, nobody had taken the cunning of Pitch Black into account. Pitch Black. Once a hero for the Golden Age, he had been corrupted and was now a dark enemy who strived to gain power and conquer all the lands and dreams of people. His ability to gain power through fear and turn dreams into fearling creatures and nightmare was impressively terrifying. His army was vast and deadly.

Only one group of beings dared to challenge Pitch. Appointed by the Man in the Moon to protect the people and children of Earth from fear and danger, four beings found themselves given powers and gifts to fight back Pitch's fearling army. They used every trick in the book, from fighting in large battles with Pitch's forces to spreading hope and cheer as part of the holidays to drive fear away.

At first, it seemed that there wasn't much progress being made. Pitch's forces kept fighting and seemed to spread even more. But the Guardians didn't give up. And slowly, but surely, things started to change. The fearlings' strength weakened. The Nightmares started tiring more. Pitch's forces seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. Even Pitch himself was feeling his strength sapping, with more and more people dismissing him as made-up.

But Pitch still had one more trick to play. One last, desperate ploy. Pitch knew that if he could stop the Guardians from spreading their hope and cheer, then he could strengthen his forces and usher in a new Dark Age. One from which he would never weaken or fall again. In order to weaken the Guardians, Pitch knew he needed to get to a location that was important to them. A place that, if it fell, would deal the Guardians a crippling blow, and give the humans despair knowing that their holidays wouldn't be the same. And since one of those holidays was coming up, North had an inkling which location that would be. The North Pole.

But getting to the North Pole, as has been said, was difficult. Every attempt made always ended in failure, except one. North had gotten reports that several fearlings had been seen past the gulch near the lake. North knew that there were almost no defenses on the lake passage. If Pitch had found a way past the other obstacles, then he would most certainly find a way through the lake. Thus, North had come down here to prepare for battle.

That wasn't to say that North was alone. North looked behind him. Surrounding him on his backside were all the villagers of the North Pole. All the citizens had rushed out to defend their homeland from the invading forces. Among the yetis and elves were North's fellow guardians: E. Aster Bunnymund, a giant bunny that had taken to spreading eggs throughout the world on Easter; Toothania, a feathery fairy in charge of a huge force of tiny fairies that traded money for baby teeth; and the Sandman, a small, golden-colored man who seemed to be making a large comeback in turning Fearlings and Nightmares to good dreams.

Tooth came up. "Some of my fairy scouts have returned."

"What is the news?" North asked in a deep Russian accent.

"Not good. You were right about the lake. Pitch has his entire army moving on the other side. They were able to get past the gulch and storms by using dark sand to fill up chasms or ride the air currents."

"Is Pitch with them?"

"I think so. My fairies couldn't be sure. They should be here in about five minutes."

North shuddered. Five minutes. Five minutes until the battle of their lives. If they failed here, if Pitch got past them… no. North shook his head. He wouldn't think about that.

"Well, if it's a fight they want, you can bet your feet it's a fight we'll give them," said an Australian-accented voice.

North turned around. Bunnymund had come up on North's other side. "The Yetis are ready, the elves have their armor, and my eggs are hidden in position, mate."

"Are you sure that they can handle job?" North asked.

Bunnymund gave North a slightly exasperated look. "They're eggs, North."

North gave him a long look. "And…"

"Of course, they're going to work, mate. You've seen them in action before."

"Of course, my friend. I am just nervous about coming battle."

North then felt a hand on his leg. He looked down to see the Sandman looking up with a sympathetic face. A symbol of two people shaking hands, followed by the Moon in front of an army of its own appeared on top of the Sandman's head.

"You are right, Sandy. I should have trust and faith. If Man in Moon says we'll get reinforcements to help us, you can absolutely guarantee He will keep word."

Tooth looked over in the distance. "Uh, guys? I don't mean to break up this discussion, but look to the other side."

North looked over. On the opposite side of the lake, there seemed to be a raging sea rushing down. This sea was black, blacker than the darkest night. It all seemed to be made up of dark figures riding horses of black sand. There seemed to be too many to count. Leading them was a single rider, a man wearing a dark robe and waving a scythe made of dark sand above his head. So, Pitch had come after all. This was going to be a difficult fight.

North stood up with the other Guardians. "Get the boats ready, everyone. Make sure your troops have their orders. Bunny, I want your eggs to hold position until the enemy has reached middle of lake. Everyone else, get to your boats and row."

With that, everyone moved. Tooth flew up with all her fairy squadrons, flying out to combat this sea of sand. Bunnymund tapped the ground twice and disappeared into the hole that formed where his foot had touched. Sandy flew out on his dreamsand with several forces of golden-sand troops following in planes, dragons, unicorns, pirate ships, and anything else one might find in a dream. North moved down to the lake shore, with all the yetis and elves following behind.

Once they arrived at the shore, North found that boats made of golden sand were waiting for them. The boats were majestic ships. Looking like large canoes with cannons and spear-throwers mounted on the sides, they were very formidable. North chuckled. Sandy had come through for them.

As the forces of light moved out, the forces of darkness and fear raced on. North could practically taste the fear and hate coming off these individuals. Some of the dark sand seemed to stretch out to form a path for the rest of the nightmares and fearlings to ride upon. They seemed to be advancing at breakneck speed, already passing the halfway point. Soon, they would reach the Guardians' forces.

It was at this point that North raised his swords. All the yetis, elves, sand-people, and tiny fairies stopped rowing and flying. They stood there, watching the enemy advance. It was almost like they were waiting for something.

Well, they didn't have to wait long. Several parts of Pitch's army were pushed into the sky. The army started to slow down as the fearlings and nightmares turned around to see what was going on. Those who stopped found themselves thrown into the sky, disappearing in small flashes.

Coming out of the ground in the middle of Pitch's forces were several giant eggs made of stone. Each one carried swords and had tough, unbreakable faces. The swords were used to the best of the eggs' abilities, parrying and cutting up the dark forces surrounding them. They seemed to sense any attacks made on all sides. Any fearling who tried to cut them up or nightmare that was unlucky enough to slip under their feet found themselves disappearing quickly, wondering in the last few moments where their lives had gone so wrong.

It was that surprise attack that the other Guardians had been waiting for. Everyone charged in to press their advantage. Soon the whole lake was filled with yeti fur, elfin bells, fairy feathers, and sand, both golden and brown. It was a huge battle, with both sides desperately fighting for dominance.

Soon though, it was clear which side was winning. North found that on every side, the black sand of Pitch's army seemed to spread and defeat their opponents. Left and right, North's friends were falling to the darkness of Pitch's men. Some of those that fell soon found themselves engulfed in black sand, turned into fearlings to fight for Pitch as well. Even the eggs were being overrun by the sheer number of the enemy. Soon, Pitch's forces would win.

Only one thing to do. Cut the head off the snake. North looked around for Pitch. There he was, fighting Sandy with his scythe. Sandy seemed to be desperately on the defensive. If North didn't do something soon, Sandy would be gone, and all good dreams with him.

North then turned to a yeti fighting a nightmare beside him. "Phil, jump on the other side of my boat."

When Phil the yeti looked over at him puzzling, North yelled, "Just do it!"

Phil pushed back the nightmare, turned, and jumped on the boat. North was standing on the opposite end, so he went flying high.

Up above, North saw that his initial battle assessment was correct. Pitch's army was going to win very soon if they weren't defeated. North spread out his arms and legs, slowing his descent as he fell back to earth. He angled his body to come right at Pitch.

Pitch had Sandy on the ground, raising his scythe high to give the killing blow. A shadow fell on them both. When Pitch looked up, he saw North flying towards him, swords raised high and chuckling a mighty "Ho, Ho, Ho!" Pitch grinned. Finally, a real challenge. He raised his scythe, prepared to fight this jolly newcomer.

And there you have it. The start of the story. Hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to leave any positive comments or constructive feedback (but nothing too negative, please. This is my first posted fanfiction, after all, and my second one written).