This is a drabble that I did a while back that I just kept adding and adding to until I got this. I later put this up as a prompt on Dreamwidth and got something very different from my original concept.

Fair warning, I did this over a long period of time so my writing style might have changed and same goes with the concept.

Hope you like this :)

Here's the summary:

When Sophie was four, she was taken to the warren. Everyone knows that. But did they know that Bunnymund had given her something everlasting? Sophie was given a token at the age of four. Long story short, she changed. She left her family, her friends, everything she knew because she had no choice.

Why? Because Sophie was meant to become an Avatar. A protector of the children who don't believe.

-x-

"Sophie, you got him right?"

"Ya. Shot to the head."

"Ye didn't use Hope?"

"You're joking right? I only use Hope on shadows."

"Sorry, forgot. Report back to HQ."

"Roger. Going out."

I closed the small communicator that looked like a white compact mirror. Oh, I forgot to mention who I am? Silly me.

My name is Sophie, Sophie Bennett. That's right the Sophie Bennett though I bet no one really cares cuz' back then it was all about Jamie because he was Jack's first believer. No one ever talked about little old me. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother but compared to him… I'm really nothing. At least I wasn't before. Now... well. Let me start from the very beginning.

Twelve years ago Pitch Black, the boogieman, attempted to dig the world into another Dark Age. It failed terribly even though he had gotten so close. It had been Jaime who had saved the day along with his friends. I would always smile slightly at that. I was four at the time and I had stumbled into the... Warren, I think it was... Bunny had gotten slightly attached to me and had left me with a gift. It was a necklace with a small egg on it. The egg was a pure spring green and to this day I thought it was beautiful despite having no patterns on it (which was strange if you ask me). However, that was the last time I had ever seen him. That was actually around the time that I stopped dreaming, the last time I had received a present from Santa Claus, and the last time I had my teeth picked up by the tooth fairy. Jaime got them, I knew he did but I got nothing. I kept quiet, for once, about it and slowly I began to doubt that it had ever happened. That it had only been my imagination. The only thing that kept me believing was the necklace that I wore around my neck. That was when he had come.

It had been a winter day when I was seven. Jaime was fourteen and never played with me anymore. I had nothing: having no friends, my parents barely looking at me, so I was developing into a sad faced youth. I was simply sitting in the snow with bare feet, not caring not they were becoming numb. I was right outside the house too and neither of my parents cared. I was looking down at the snow with my large, sad green eyes.I didn't cry, I don't know why, but I didn't though I knew even then that my mummy and daddy didn't care.

My eyes narrowed venomously in anger at that.

It had been a bright day despite the snow. It was then that a shadow had come over me. I looked up and my eyes widened. I had never felt anyone like him. He wore a long black leather trench coat, underneath wearing a white t-shirt that was stained a cherry red (I know it now as blood) and wearing black leather jeans with leather combat boots. He looked to be in his early twenties. The man had looked menacing at first with his long black hair and stone cold face but the moment I looked into his silver eyes, I knew he would never hurt me. He had the gentlest look in his eyes that made me want to cry even now. The look in his eyes; it knew, knew the feeling of abandonment. I had gotten up and thrown myself into his arms and began to cry. Even then I could feel his powerful aura and magic, it put me at ease. That was the day he had picked me up, letting my legs dangle as I sat in his arms, and spirited me away. I had wrapped my tiny arms around his neck and buried my face into his shirt which had a metallic scent to it as he walked away from the house and away from my old life.

Now here I am. I'm currently sitting on the roof of a particularly tall building, well tall for the town. I wore a brown leather outfit that revealed a lot of skin. I also had gauntlets on my lower arms like Bunny's. On top of that outfit I wore a cloak that went down to the floor, nearly touching it. The cloak was white and on the back was the markings of Bunny's tribe. Did I mention that I wore three inch brown leather boots? The hood hid my blond hair which was as messy as it had been when I was a child. My green eyes still shone brightly, though not as lonely as before, were more haunted. On my forehead I had the same markings that Bunnymund had on his forehead and my body was practically painted with midnight blue markings. When the man, Cal, took me in, he taught me how to fight. The group I now belong to has a collection of people who were at one point human... but are not spirits. They had been abandoned by the guardians just as I had. They were formed sometime during the golden age to counteract the 'Dark Avatars' who were extensions of Pitch Black. They were basically like mini boogiemans. Sure they were human but they were able to collect energy from nightmares and fears. I'm not even sure Pitch even knows about them. I joined the 'Avatars' when I was very young to help them seeing as the guardians had no idea that either of us existed. We kill each other when one of us gets out of control though we try not to. It's an unspoken rule to never to kill a random member of either group unless they are found to have been breaking unspoken rules among us. The 'Avatars' collected energy from the guardians themselves when they first became what they were, therefore being an extension of their power. If they were weak, so were the Avatars. The Avatars also perform the same jobs as the guardians, but we take care of the street children that the guardians miss. They were really kind of stupid if they hadn't figured this out yet: everything they gave held a bit of their magic in it. It was learning how to draw on the magic which was problem. Only 1 out of a few hundred thousand can draw on it. Then there was the problem of controlling it. If you couldn't control the amount of energy going through your body, you could easily kill yourself and become a spirit, a slave to the universe if you will.

Everyone in the group has a special object. A coin, a bracelet, a special toy, you name it. Mine was the necklace that Bunny had given me. I could turn it into multiple weapons: a sword, a scythe (my favorite), or a staff. That and Bunnymund's traditional boomerangs. One thing characterized each of them. They all were marked with Bunny's tribal markings. That and some have flowers attached to it. I sighed pulling my hood lower. Oh, I forgot something. Once you attain the power inside of the 'special' object, it becomes your 'Soul' weapon. Only you can use the weapon and it contains half of your soul. If it is destroyed, so is the Avatar. That and you become immortal. Oh, I forgot to mention that too didn't I?

After using the magic for a while, one would slowly stop aging. At the rate I was going I would only look about eighteen in the next decade. I sighed before picking myself up from the building and skid down into the alley. I had learned a lot of the years. I'm as agile as Bunnymund, as fast as him, and as strong as him. I had to work hard for that skill too! I pulled my hood lower onto my face and stuffed my hands into my pockets. I could still be seen, I could still be recognized. Sometimes I envied Frost. I evaded a few people who were still walking around. I could see them giving me strange looks but I paid no attention to them, focused on my goal. It was a minute or two after I walked at a painfully slow pace that I came upon a house. It was one that I came to see once every few years and I had been late for my visit. I looked at the room that I knew held Jaime's room. This was the only time that I let the questions consume me. What had happened to him? How was he faring? Was he doing well in school? Does he still keep in touch with the guardians? And then there was the last question that egged me the most, does he still care about me?

I looked down. I had basically run away. I'm not sure if he would care. That and he was probably in college... maybe you could take one peek...

No! I can't! He's probably home!

But it would only be for a second and by the looks of it, no ones in.

But...

Go for it.

With my eyes steeled I opened the gate and let my hands run over the old wood that had looked so tall to me when I was younger, though looked so short now that I've grown. It creaked as it opened. I looked behind me to see nobody as I pulled my head lower over my face. My heart pounded in my chest. I was scared damn it, don't judge me! I looked at Jaime's window and with one leap I had landed on the windowsill in a crouched position. I examined the room finding it nearly bare with the exception of the bed and the pictures on the wall. I hopped onto the floor and walked to look at the pictures that were drawn when I was far too small to see or understand.

I pulled one of them off of the wall. It was a picture of the day he had gotten hit by the sofa. Now I could see that he had added Jack to it as well. I pinned the picture back to the wall before letting my hand hover over another one. My eyes widened as I realized what it was. I ripped it off of the wall and examined it. It was me. I was sitting on the snow all alone. My eyes widened even more when I realized that this was the day that I had left. In the picture I wasn't completely alone. There was a black man who stood in front of me. My hand came to cover my mouth as I realized with horror that Jamie had seen he had known that I had left of my own volition. I dropped the picture and backed up and opened the door and ran to my room. When I opened it I gasped. Everything was the same. Nothing had changed. It was as if I had never left. I went over to my small desk and was surprised at what I saw.

Presents.

Letters.

I sat down on the chair that now was able to fit me and opened up each letter one by one.

We're so sorry that we ignored you.

This is our fault.

Forgive us!

I wasn't there for you...

How could I have not seen how sad you were?

Why did you leave with that man like you were pals?

Why did you cry on his shoulders?

Why didn't you talk to us?

We miss you!

Please come back.

All of the letters went along that line. My hands were shaking and water was gathering in my eyes but they didn't fall. They had cared. They had... I then looked at the desk and found the presents. They were wrapped up neatly in pile on the side of the desk. I put the letters in the appropriate place, making sure to make it look just as it had before I had opened it. I hesitated at the gifts. Should I open them? Was it a trap? I shook my head and decided against it. This was too close for cover. That was when I felt something warm along my hip.

I stood up and opened my communicator.

"Sophie. We got a problem."

"What? What's going on?" I asked, slightly wary and prepared myself for the worse.

"Shadows, tons of them. And not the normal kind"

My eyes widened. "Fuck!" I yelled slamming my hand against the wall (the one without the communicator). I looked back at the mirror with an angry face.

"Name the place and they're all bloody screwed!" I yelled letting some of my Australian accent slip in(I'll explain this later).

"Calm down, they're in Burgess-" "WAAHHATTTT!" I shrieked.

"They're after the last believer, you have to protect-" I had already shut the mirror like communicator and hopped to the window, jumping out and landing on the ground with no problem. I didn't stop there, I continued to jump and I ran as fast as I could on all four legs, traveling in the darkness so no one could see me. I felt my necklace grow warm. The living shadows, they were near. I hid in the darkness of an alley, once more making sure that my face was covered. I saw someone coming, or should I say someone's. My eyes widened. It was Frost and Jamie. Even after all of this time he still believed. He had grown so much. He was... twenty-eight if I did my math correctly. I looked around cursing slightly when I saw the shadows start to move.

"Why hello." My blood froze cold at that. I knew that voice.

"Black." I hissed turning around and jumping on the walls getting on the roof snapped the necklace off my neck and let it shift, turning into a huge scythe.

It was beautiful (to me). It had a long white blade and was surrounded by an aura of spring green. The staff part was covered with thin vines that excluded four areas in which I usually held it. I kept it low on the ground and forced its green aura to dim as I listened to their conversation.

"Who the hell are you?" Jack asked raising his staff and stepping in front of Jamie protectively.

He was a teenage boy with pure black hair. He was what a mortal would call a 'man whore'. To put it straight, he was a slut, at least he looked it. He wore thin, tight leather jeans that were practically crotch less showing off a lot of skin. Then was his shirt which was cut right above his stomach and was long-sleeved(V-neck). It too was black. That and it was skin tight, showing off his thin frame and shaped hips. He had extremely pale skin and he actually looked a lot like Frost in his bone structure and his hair style. He had cold silver eyes like Pitch Black and had a cruel smirk planted on his lips. He held a staff that looked awfully a lot like Jack's except the wood was completely tainted black and the shadows on it moved. His name was-

"Jack Black, at your service." He said giving a bow. I don't know much about him but apparently he had been a fan of mythology and dark creatures when he had still been mortal, hence the amounts of the monster like shadows that were behind.

"Jack... Black?" Jaime whispered and when I saw Black's fingers begin to twitch, I jumped.

I jumped from a five story building landing in a crouch in front of my brother and his friend holding out staff, twirling it in front of me dispersing any and all of the sand that came at me before twirling it once more over my head and holding it out in front of me. His eyes were wide in surprise and then he cruelly smiled and began to speak.

"Sophia! Darling! It has been so long! I had thought that you were dead by now. Can't hope for much can I?" I narrowed my eyes. I was already annoyed by him.

This boy, this man, was eons old. Nearly as old as Pitch Black. He had been the first and he is the main Pitch avatar. Out of all the fear avatars, he was the only one who was able to get under my skin. Unlike Pitch, who usually either wore an expressionless mask or a cruel smile when he taunted someone, Jack here usually kept an evil clown's grin. It annoyed me to the ends of the world and the worst thing about his taunting was that it worked. He has been the only fear avatar that has been able to make me angry. I huffed before standing to my full height(I had been crouching before).

"You wish. What do you want with the last believer Jack?" I said with seriousness etched into my tone.

He dropped his grin and pouted. "Now where would the fun be in telling you that? How about it? You wanna have some fun?" He said smirking and walking forward swaying his hips and twirling his staff. The shadow monsters took the form of large dire wolves except they were pitch black. I dropped into a defensive stance. I was the first Easter avatar and I was sure as hell that I wasn't the last. I fought back the feeling of panic that came from my Bunny instincts. Why the hell did bunnies have to be afraid of so many things! I twirled my staff once and banged it on the ground causing a small earthquake. I smirked when I saw his eyes widen a bit and his grip on his staff tighten.

"Now we're going to have some fun." I said as white sand poured from the ground and took different shapes. The most common being large Bunnymund like rabbits.

"What's the matter afraid of a little hope?" I asked letting a bit of my Australian accent slip in (which had DEFENITELY not been there when I was mortal) as I stepped forward.

His face twisted into one of pure contempt. As the dire wolves shot off and attacked my army. There was shadow and sand everywhere. That was when I had to block with my scythe as he had changed his form into once of shadow and tried to sneak up behind me. I ducked rolling to the side and sending a blast of white sand at him and he twirled his staff destroying it. He glared at me. "I'll give you something to fear." He said threateningly and walking forward with purpose in each step.

I unconsciously backed away from the man before remembering why I was here. I had to protect Jaime. I sent a good portion of my sand to them encasing them like a cocoon ignoring their outraged cries. This was when I allowed myself to remove my hood and my entire cloak throwing it to the side. I lunged at him slamming the scythe on the ground. He narrowly dodged and did a few back flips as I waited for him to land. He countered my next attempt at his life with his scythe. He smirked. "Now we're getting somewhere." He said and made for a slash at me. Sparks literally flew each time our blades met. At one point we both swung downward and our weapon's blades were equally blocked. We battled out on our strengths.

I was worried for this battle. Jack had a lot more experience than I did. His smirk increased as he seemed to realize what I was thinking. I growled before breaking the stalemate and pushing forward with a yell causing for him to do another back flip and jump into the air, landing on one of his wolves. They seemed to have gone back to their packs and were now growling at us viciously. My army of different animals simply held their battle stances, waiting for any sudden movements. It was obvious as to what side each being was at. Jack had a glint in his eyes I had never seen before and my eyes narrowed as my grip on the scythe tightened, my knuckles going white. What was he waiting for?

He scoffed closing his eyes before opening them again and smirking. "I can see how it is. I can take a hint. I'm not willing to fight a battle to the death today. I prefer to kill you without our little armies. Just remember, the last believer will never be safe. We will always come after him. Always hunt him. Remember that. I will be seeing you another time Sophie." He said before he turned into shadow along with all of his wolves and faded into the shades of modern day. I growled before looking down at the ground seeing something that looked like sand. I reached down and scooped it up, realizing that it was black sand. I flung it away from me. Jack Black had… sand?! This was not good. I had to warn the others. I waved my hand as I put my cloak back on and put the hood up. The sand that surrounded Jaime and Jack Frost dispersed, causing them to fall as I jumped into one of my tunnels. My tunnels were similar to Bunnymund's. At least I've been told that they are. I moved as fast as I could. I had to reach the Arctic and fast. I doubled my speed and didn't bother to apologize to the few googies that I nearly broke. Now you might be wondering what they are doing in here but I can answer that. The guardians can't get every child in the world so the Avatars get the rest of them; the children on the street, the kids at home sick, and so on so forth. And they can see us whether they believe or not. I paint about some million eggs per year compared to the billions of eggs that Bunny paints. It was always fun for me and I loved to go to Ireland last. They have the best celebrations to honor Easter. I just love the dancing and the music.

I shook my head when I realized that my journey was already over. It had taken a few seconds and I wasn't even worn out. When I jumped out of the hole I instantly began to shiver. Why oh why did Joann have to pick such a cold place to live?

"Cold, Cold, Cold!" I yelped as I got on my hands and feet again; running towards my destination.

x-Don't kill me, -x

"Open up Joann!" I yelled trembling and banging on the door. A… elf opened up. You know the thing about elves making the toys? Ya, that comes from Joann. Unlike most people's thoughts they do not wear garnish clothes or all have curly hair and are extremely short. They actually wear regular clothes and are pretty handsome (don't let them know that I said that. Some of them have a crush on me…as in most of them). "S-Sophie?" The man in front of my squeaked as his cheeks turned pink.

I simply pushed past him and walked in. "Is Joann in her office?" The Elf nodded still blushing.

I rolled my eyes pushing my hood down the rest of the way and walked briskly to the door of the man's office. All of our homes were modeled off of the original guardians; therefore they were almost exact copies. I didn't bother to knock and just walked in ducking when a airplane made of white crystal came at me and flew out the door. I walked on as if nothing had ever happened.

Joann was a beautiful woman. She was the second eldest. She wore a dress made from cotton that covered her arms and her neck. The dress was brown with red tints to certain areas. She wore brown deer skin boots and her skin was a peach color. She had long, slightly curly brown hair and big blue eyes. She always had a tint of red on her cheeks as if wearing blush. She looked to be in her early thirties. She looked up from her carving and met my eyes. "Sophie? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be preparing for Easter? It is in three months." She said with a confused tone in her heavy Russian accent.

She spoke fluent English and Russian but she was originally from England. "We have a problem." I told her letting my fake American accent go. I hated talking with that accent. It's just not comfortable.

She raised herself from the chair and walked over to me revealing that the dress stopped a few inches about her ankles. "What kind of a problem?" She asked her eyes narrowing.

"A Jack Black problem." I told her and her eyes widened as she walked to the door and took her fur lined coat off of the hanger and put it on strutting out while I followed at her heels. When she reached the control room where our version of the globe was.

This globe was more precise. It had pink, yellow, green, and red lights. The lights represented the specific beliefs of the children. A child that believed in all of the guardians equally was a white color. There was only one white dot. Jaime. I sighed before puffing my chest up.

"We must call the others." She said and pulled the lever. Unlike the guardians who had an aurora for this, we had a large sound wave that went all around the world.

It took only a few seconds for Sandiela to show up. She was a beautiful woman that was the same height as sand man but no where as chubby as him. She wore a similar robe though, and she was the same color as him. Her hair stuck up in a pony tail but curved in, turning it into a lollypop shape.

After that it was the Memory Avatar. He(yes he not she) looked like a prince. He had short red hair and slightly thin eyes that were what was accustom to the fae. His face was thin and long and his skin was a nice peach but not too pink. He was around 6'3 and he had pointed ears and feathers randomly stuck in his hair of all different colors. I often teased him for it. He wore a thin royal blue shirt that stuck to his skin and seemed to be of a fine quality and went down to his thighs. Wrapped around his waist were violet threads that shimmered as if it were gold and curled up from the bottom of his shirt to his neck where it curled around his neck like a chocker. He wore thin black pants that hugged his legs and vintage red boots with slight heels. On top of that he wore a long cloak like mine except it was a crimson, the same color as the boots. The back of the cloak and the shirt was completely open, revealing the top half of his back. Two long wings prodded from his back. The difference between his and the Tooth fairy's wings were that his look to be thicker and they don't move as fast hers do. They move similar to a butterfly's but faster and more coordinated and graceful. This and they seemed to be a mix between a bird's wings and a fairy's delicate ones. They looked to be bird wings beating in the opposite direction and they were a multiple of colors: pink, red, blue, purple, golden, and so on and so forth. Other than that, they were similar to Toothiana's.

He landed on the ground frowning. "What's going on? Why are we convening?" He asked.

"Septimus, it's-"

Sandiela shook her head, raising her hand to Joann and flew up to Septimus(she traveled by a golden cloud and rarely stood on the ground). Sandiela held out her hand and sand seeped out of her hands and began to shape it into a wolf. His eyes widened and he looked at me. I held a somber expression on my face and he realized something.

"Jack Black, he's after your family." I shook my head.

"He's only after the last believer." I told him and Sandiela seemed to realize something and used the sand in her palm to form into something else. Two separate lines of golden thread.

"That boy is under the guardians jurisdiction, he is not a street child nor is he neglected or sick." Joann said sadly leaning back on one of the tables that were in the room.

"But our enemies are after him. That puts him under our jurisdiction." Septimus said before turning to me.

"What did Jack Black say and what happened?" He asked looking at me intently.

I stood a bit straighter and began to speak, "When I heard word from one of my sources that Black was after the last believer I rushed to protect him. He drew out his shadow wolves and I my foxes and we fought. He eventually stopped and ran away leaving behind a grain of black sand."

"Impossible!" Septimus exclaimed his eyes widening his body jumped into a more defensive position.

"Well it's true. This is not just our fight anymore. Jack Black is involving the Guardians in our war. He is doing this on purpose." I said keeping my face carefully blank.

"But the question is why is he doing this? We are different from all of the guardians. Even Pitch. Pitch has made people fear him yes but he would NEVER harm a child physically nor would he kill a human or a spirit. Also, don't you remember when Pitch found out our existence he tried to destroy his own avatars?" Joann pointed out.

"Excuse me but I must rebut that statement. Have you forgotten that he nearly killed Sandman?!" Septimus nearly yelled.

"That is different! Pitch and Sandman have history, a dark one at that!" Joann yelled, her cheeks becoming redder then before.

It went back and forth. One taking Pitch's side(Joann) and the other going against it(Septimus). Sandiela was trying to pacify them and was waving her hands to try and catch their attention. Finally I had had enough.

"Would you bloody shut your traps!" I yelled and they all looked at me. Sandiela rolled her eyes and breathed out in relief.

"I don't think any of this matters! All that matters is that Jack Black is out there doing god knows what while you too dills are arguin'!" I yelled my accent becoming heavier with each word.

All of them except Sandiela retaliated. The woman instead flew over to me and crossed her arms across her chest and puffed it out, glaring at them. They both glared back though it was .

"Ok miss Easter, what do you suppose we do?" Septimus asked sarcastically and I glared.

"You have not seen what we have seen. You do not understand anything!" Joann exclaimed and I felt my eyes harden a bit.

"I might not have seen what any of you have seen. I have not seen the world wars, I have not seen the holocausts, I have not seen the fights of the past but it doesn't mean you can treat me like I'm not an equal!" I yelled, pissed off at them.

"I gave up my life to be Avatar of hope. And I will keep on doing it whether or not you two decide to listen to me!" I yelled and continued to huff but I did not storm out like I wanted to.

They both looked away from my in what looked to be shame. "We... are sorry. Sometimes we forget that you are not a child you had been before. We value your opinion and we do see you as an individual." They said and that was when I looked down to see Sandiela pulling at my cloak. I smiled at her worried expression and I whispered that I was fine.

"So what do you think we should do?" Septimus asked again but more respectively. I looked down. There was only one way to do this and there was no other way.

"We have to contact the guardians." They all looked at me surprised.

"What! Why?! We could do this on our own!"

"No. No we can't. We don't have the Moon's blessing or have you forgotten that? We can't fight the nightmare sand. Only the ones brought back by Man in Moon can. We cannot fight the sand and they cannot fight the shadows! We have no choice!" I said looking at them with the look.

They cowered before contemplating. I could tell that Sandiela was supporting me but the others...

"We have been hiding for as long as the guardians have existed. How do you think they would handle the fact that we have been hiding from them because we 'don't like them'?" Joann emphasized.

"Who said that we have to tell the reason why we have hidden. Besides, if the time comes to it we can always say that Pitch was trying to destroy us."

"And if Pitch happens to show up our story will fall apart! His attacks would be futile and our weapons can kill him! With our luck, Pitch will be there. I bet the Man in Moon is cooking up a plot to expose us right now." Septimus said sarcastically.

Sandiela pulled at my cloak and held out her right hand. The sand in it formed a blank flag. I turned back to the others. "We don't exactly have a choice. Jack Black has been threatening the children for years but it is now that the treat feels more real. Do you really want to risk this one because of our dislike for the guardians?" I asked with as much empathy in my voice as I could.

The two looked down contemplating while I looked at them expectantly. Joann was the first to break the silence.

"Ok... so what if we wanted to see the guardians. For one, the only one they would recognize would be you because you are the most recent avatar and the one with the deepest connection with your guardian. You are, after all, the first Avatar of Hope, and that's saying something. Bunnymund must have cared for you a great deal."

"He didn't. I was just a normal child. Had I been anyone else he would have reacted the same way. They see nothing unique in children. They are all the same to them. But if we were to see the guardians we can't just go to the North Pole, you're right about that one. I can always transport everyone there. The Yeti's would come at us yes, but they wouldn't throw us out. They would take us to North." I told them, feeling slightly sad knowing that the only reason Bunnymund ever cared about me was because Jack had made him feel something when he hit him on the nose with a snowflake.

"But... wouldn't that be embarrassing?" Septimus said in a more questioning and distasteful tone.

"That's what you gumbies get for hiding for nearly a thousand years. We don't have much have a choice anymore." I said.

"ummm... ok. When do we leave?" Joann asked and I smirked with a knowing look that they didn't like, at all.

"Right now." I said pulling out three pearls from my pockets and throwing them at the main Avatars (I handed Sandiela hers).

They caught the green pearls because of their reflexes and they immediately regretted it. The pearls glowed to a point where a person would have to cover their eyes. They were all gone when uncovered my eyes. I chuckled before stomping my foot once. A hole appeared beside me and I jumped in. This is one of things I was grateful for in this life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Don't kill me!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All of the Avatars yelped(except for Sandiela who couldn't talk) when they landed on the ground. Sandiela quickly picked herself up and let the golden sand be reabsorbed within her. She stood the shortest out of all of them, even me who was the youngest. I had opened up a direct hole into the workshop and I took a good look around. We were not in the main body but what looked like an office of some sort. All of the avatars put up their hoods. Sandiela looked around. She didn't have anything to cover herself with. I chuckled ready to take off my cloak to hand to her when she raised her hand and let golden sand form around her, becoming a cloak. She smiled as I poked it, turning it white.

Me and Sandiela had sand (why I had it, I honestly don't know) but I rarely used mine seeing it as something that was unnecessary. That was when the door swung open and all hell broke loose.

"WHO ARE YOU ALL AND WHAT YOU DOING IN MY OFFICE!" North yelled and two Yetis came in behind him ready to use brutal force.

I raised my hands in the air with Sandiela and urged the others to do the same. They all looked at me before hesitantly putting up their hands.

"We mean no harm. We simply wish to... talk to you." I said in a calm voice, betraying no deception.

He walked to behind his desk and sat down reaching for where one of the elves were licking one of the cookies. I recoiled at that. Why in the world had I like them when I was younger. Oh, that's right, they were easy to overpower. I looked at the others who were standing as stiff as a board.

He looked at me once and for a second and I thought I saw recognition in his eyes. "Very well. But this does not explain why you did not some in through front door." I looked at him with a face that said 'really?' even though he couldn't see it.

"Really? Jack Frost has been trying to get in here for years and hadn't used any brunt force until after the first few times where he simply asked to see you! I think that this was the only way to grab your attention." I said and he had a face that said that this was either true or possible.

"First, before we talk. You all remove hoods."

My eyes widened and looked at the others who looked as if they hadn't expected this. I saw Sandiela raise her hand to her hood and removed it shaking out her hair making it automatically go back to it's lollipop shape. She smiled and waved as North gaped. "I did not know it was possible to be as tan as Sandy." He said.

"Because it isn't." I said and hesitantly removed my hood and his eyes widened as I also discretely pushed my hair behind my ears while I pulled up the hood.

I looked behind me to see Joann and Septimus fidgeting. I rolled my eyes and glared at them with the look 'take it off or I will'. They both looked at each other before removing their hoods. North was alternating looking at each of us before whispering "Rimsky Korsakov".

I raised a delicate eyebrow before shrugging, guessing that that was his way of swearing. He got up and walked up to Joann. She fidgeted and looked at me and Sandiela. We both made the shooing motion at her. "Ummm... hello it is... nice to meet you after so long." She said with her heavy Russian accent.

He simply gaped at her and shuffled back uncomfortably as Septimus walked in front of her putting his hand out in front of him to make sure that there was enough distance between them. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on ya gumbies. He ain't gonna bite you." I said finally letting my Australian accent slip in.

He looked at me surprised and really looked at me before he eyes widened in what looked like recognition. "Sophie?" He whispered and sighed.

"Honestly, I don't even look that different! Add an accent and you can barely tell who I am!" I exclaimed accidently letting my hair cover my left eye again before glaring at the natural slip.

"You… disappeared over eleven years ago. We… all thought that—"

"We really don't have any time for this. Jack Black could be out there causing havoc with every shadow—" I was interrupted by a door slamming open.

"North! We have a problem! Jaime and I were attacked—" I heard the voice stop and I turned around to see Jack with Jaime standing behind him.

Their jaws dropped when they saw me. "S-Sophie?" Jaime asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Bloody hell, I don't have the time to deal with reunions…" I muttered under my breathe looking to Sandiela. She merely shrugged.

Jaime began to step forward and I just glared at him making him stop. "I don't have time for reunions." I said looking at North before putting my hood up again and tugging it to cover as much of my face and hair as possible.

"Great idea Sophia." Septimus said sarcastically and I glared at him while Joann smacked him on the back of his head and hissed at him venomously.

"And… this is why we usually don't work together." I said gesturing to the two that were fighting and Sandiela rolled her eyes and made a shooing motion at me.

I barely had time to duck for the incoming ice blast that was sent my way. I looked back to see Jack holding his staff in a defensive position. The others immediately went on the defensive. Joann pulled out her axe and Septimus had his hand rested on his Fae blade. He was looking at Jack daring him to attack.

"Jack! Stop! Put staff down or I take it from you!" North yelled and Jack went wide eyes for a minute.

He looked at me again. He hadn't actually gotten a very good glance at me. All he had seen was blonde hair is my guess. I straightened up sighing. I was starting to think that this was a bad idea. Sandiela pat my hand smiling. I smiled at her. She always knew how to make things better. I took a deep breath.

"We didn't come here to argue. We came here because we need your help."

"Before we talk about any of that, you will answer some of our questions, Sophie." North stressed, walking over to me and removing my hood and gasping. I looked at him with confusion.

He reached his hand to my face and brushed my hair away from my... forehead. Of course. I immediately slapped his hand away. "No touchin' the mark." I told him.

He glared down at me but it was not out of contempt or hate. It was filled with confusion. Pure confusion. "How? You only look sixteen. Shouldn't you be at least twenty-two by now? And how do you have those marks?"

I glared at him. He doesn't deserve an answer but I gave a bit of it anyway. "I'm immortal North. My age is going up very slowly. It'll take a few decades before I look eighteen. And by the time I look like I'm in my prime, I'll probably be a few centuries old." I told him, ignoring his second question.

"Sophie." I heard and turned around to see Septimus staring at me. I sighed before turning back to North.

"Look, I'm just going to spit it out. One of our enemies attacked the last believer, for whatever reason I don't know. We would have handled the attacker ourselves but..."

"We're not the only ones involved anymore. Jack Black has laid his hand on a guardian protected human and he has gained black sand. He is no longer just threatening us anymore." Septimus said and Joann and Sandiela walked beside him and nodded while I stayed separate from the three, walking closer to the shadows.

"Who is Jack Black?" North asked and most of us froze and I bristled.

I had the biggest grudge against him despite being the youngest. Personally, I blame Bunny (which was the one at fault). "Jack Black is... what is called a fear avatar. There are thousands all over the world like him but Jack Black... is the most powerful. And the most cruel."

"His cruelty is well known among younger children and others like us. He has killed thousands, frozen them to death with fear. We have seen it happen. Even our youngest recruit has seen it... on the day of hope none of the less." I glared at the ground willing myself to stop shaking from anger.

Joann looks at me sadly before looking back at North. "Jack Black is known as the main fear avatar. He is nearly as old as Pitch Black himself. The nightmare king has tried to destroy them before, but failed to even scratch them. Those blessed by the moon or the darkness cannot touch child born avatars. It just isn't possible."

"What do you mean 'child born'?" North asked listening intently to everything Joann was saying.

"Avatars were originally human children who had the potential to harness magic because they had much more of one of the big four beliefs that protect kids in them than other children. Now there are five beliefs. Wonder, Memories, Dreams, Fun, and Hopes." She said looking at me.

I glared a bit. "Some of us lose these when the transformation begins and everything goes to hell. The magic that binds us severs our abilities to connect with you the way a normal mortal child would. We cannot receive presents, cannot have our teeth collected, cannot have a single dream, and cannot find a single egg on an easter egg hunt. This is all part of the early stages of transformation. It is the stage where most children die going through."

North's eyes were wide. "D-die?" He stuttered. Joann nodded sadly.

The others in the room were too horrified to speak.

"We slowly lose hope in the legends we believed in. We stop believing in every single guardian, that is, except for the one with the value that we are to become. If our beliefs for that value hold, the real pain will begin and we become who we are. Our bodies change to relate to the guardian whose traits we acquire and we gain some of their strength without actually taking anything from them. However, if our beliefs are not enough, we will die, alone and forgotten. The family will forget who the other was and so will the rest of the world. Why do you think that there are no constant reports of children dying or disappearing daily?"

"Wait a second, are you telling me that thousands of children die going through this transformation, and daily?!" Jack nearly yelled.

Joann nodded sadly and looked at me. "Most of us had people, other avatars of different values beside us during our transformation. Out of all of us, Sophie is the unique one because of the trait she represents." I snapped a sharp eye to her and shook my head.

"It was your idea to come here. You will tell your story or I will." Joann threatened and I looked Septimus who nodded.

Sandiela patted my hand and urged me to speak. I took a deep breath. "I'm considered special because... I'm the first avatar of hope to ever exist. That and when my transformation took place, I was not accompanied by a memory, dream, or wonder avatar. I was accompanied by a fear avatar." They gasped and North looked at me with wide eyes.

"Oh Sophie..." Jamie whispered and I raised my head high.
"He wasn't a normal fear avatar ya' idiots. He was... kind. Different. He taught me how to fight and trained me until I was twelve. He showed me how to make a home and what not and... he is the only reason I'm alive... If he hadn't been there for me... I would have been dead. " I said before leaning against the wall.

"And the reason you look like a human female Bunny…?" Jack asked and I rolled my eyes and pulled out a necklace from under my cloak.

"Is… is that the necklace that Bunnymund gave you?" Jaime asked and I nodded my head and looking down at it.

"It's the only reason I continued to believe that he was real. Don't give me that look, I don't need nor do I want your pity." I said noticing the way they looked at me.

Sandiela tugged at my sleeve and I looked up to notice golden sand that was not hers. That could only mean….

Sandman

I saw him look around in confusion and surprise. It only took me a moment to wonder how long he had been here. Sandiela shied away from the small man and hid a bit behind me. That was when I saw the others arrive. Toothiana came in directing her small Tooth fairies and Bunnymund came into the room painting an egg. I threw my hood up. I wasn't ready for this. All of the other avatars stiffened at their entrance. Septimus looked around, his wings moving faster than normal, trying to find something other than Toothiana to look at. I sighed and saw them notice us. She gasped and fluttered to Jack.

"What's going on and who… who are they?" She asks looking at all of us.

"These are… uhhh." North stuttered, realizing that he didn't exactly know.

"We are known as the Avatars. We are the protectors of children who have no room for belief." I said, letting my accent slip in, but not letting up my hood as I gripped my hands tightly.

Sandiela was gripping the cloak wrapping her tightly. She didn't want to be here, none of us did. North looked at us confused and I shook my head, glaring at him weakly. We were bitter towards the guardians, it was instinct by now, and very very upset with them.

"We've neva' heard of any Avatars." Bunny said and I stiffened. Damn him, damn his bloody voice. Septimus pointedly looked at me and I forced myself to relax… a bit.

"That's because we never wanted you to know about us. We prefer to stay hidden." Joann said and Sandiela nodded a bit from behind me. I pushed her in front of me and into Sandman's line of view. He jumped in surprise at seeing her.

"Why?" North asked and I stepped forward.

"We aren't answering that right now. We can deal with this after—"

"I should've known you would do this." I jumped at the voice and got into a battle stance as did the others who took out their weapons.

The shadows shifted around us and I swore there was a sandy texture to it now that unnerved me.

"I knew you would break a tradition" His wispy and shadowy voice spoke tauntingly. I growled at the threat, my eyes dilating and I stepped forward but Septimus was already in front of me.

"Don't let him rile you up. I understand that you have a grudge but you have to keep a cool head." He stressed eyeing me as I continued to glare around the room.

I growled before ripping my necklace off and letting it shift into a bladed boomerang. I held it at my side though, not raising it, yet.

"What tradition would that be?" I asked tightly.

"Why, the 'Never talk, never meet' rule. I never realized that you would be able to put aside old scars to fight alongside each other."

The guardians looked at us, confused.

"Oh, that's right. They never told you the reason why they never contacted you, even went as far as to completely avoid you. Well I'll tell you, it's because-"

"Yahh!" I yelled throwing the boomerang and watched it slice through the shadows which howled in pain and a figure formed from the shadows.

I saw red blood laced with black drop to the floor. The source smiled and chuckled. "Why Sophie, did no one teach you proper manners?" He asked as I caught the boomerang in my hand and shifted it to a scythe.

"You wanted a fight, I'm giving you a fight." I said glaring at the boy, no man (it was so hard to forget that the teenager in front of her was actually eons old) who stood up with no less grace than before, shaking off the blood that had apparently come from his cheek.

"Always quick to jump at a rise. You're more like Bunnymund than I thought." He said and I bared my teeth.

"I am nothing like him!" I growled beginning to advance on him holding the scythe so tight that I thought my knuckles might bleed.

Joann pov:

"Sophie! Control your temper!" I yelled but she paid no attention to me as she advanced onto the poor shadow man who I thought might not live to see another day.

I was trying hard not to pull my hair out. "At this rate Sophie will kill him! Why did she have to gain Bunnymund's temper? Sandiela! Knock her out!" Sandiela looked taken aback and she started to make silent but rapid hand motions along with sand rapidly changing above her head.

"I know she is our strongest fighter at this point but we cannot kill Jack Black! He is needed to keep the balance!" I said and Sandiela reluctantly formed a sand ball in her hand as I mumbled, "That man has a death wish."

She looked at the ball and back at Sophie before her face twisted into something akin to regret and the 'I'm going to be sorry that I did this' face before she closed her eyes and threw it. The thing hit Sophie square in the face, causing her hood to fall off. She staggered back trying to stay awake before her eyes rolled back and she fell, Septimus catching her before she could hit the ground, the scythe turning back into an innocent necklace which Septimus quickly picked up. He glared at me before I looked back at Jack who was chuckling.

"It's funny really. The only one willing to kill someone is the one who is supposed to bring hope-"

"To children! She brings hope to the children that need it and don't you talk bad about her! You crossed the line comparing her to Bunnymund!" Septimus yelled and then pointedly looked at me with the face that said 'If you tell her about this, you will pay'.

"Consider yourself lucky that you're still alive. Sophie would have skinned you if Sandiela had not interfered and you know it." I said.

He glared, dropping his smirk. "I'm not scared of some newborn."

"Y-you're a terrible liar m...mate..." We heard a slurred voice and turned our heads to see Sophie trying to refocus in, lifting herself up a bit before she began to giggle, falling back limp into Septimus's arms.

"Sandiela! Why is she acting like an Australian drunk?" She looked a bit sheepish and signaled a few things.

"WHAT? WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME THAT DREAM SAND HAD STRANGE REACTION WITH SOPHIE! Must I find everything out at last minute!" I was beginning to slur my words as I felt frustration start to set in.

"Looks like your top player is out of it at the moments so you're going to be playing with only three players." He said with his clowns grin on his face.

"Oy, have ya forgotten about us?" I heard and turned around with wide eyes to see the guardians.

"Really? After all of that you still want to help them?...what strange people you are. Oh well, you know what they say!"

"And what would that be?"

"The more people join, the more fun the game is." He said giggling while all of the guardians looked throughly disturbed.

"Is that all any of this is to you? A game?! People-kids are dying and you call this a game?!" Bunnymund yelled.

"But it is a game Bunnymund." We all turned our head to see Sophie, still intoxicated and as crazy as Jack Black.

"A game that will go on and on forever and ever and ever! Hehehe! As long as there are children, there are guardians! And as long as there are guardians there are avatars!" Septimus looked down at her sadly and then back at me.

The sad thing was that we knew that it was true. This was nothing but a game, a game with only losers that would go on until the last child has died.