Seasons Unite

Preface

Some say I'm a spirit. A spirit that watches over the kids at night when the sun is gone, keeping the darkness from ruling over the night.

Others say I'm only a physical object. The appearance of a man on my surface is only a phenomenon of natural causes. My mass keeps the ocean tides in place, but other than that, I have no real purpose.

Still others believe that I am some mystical being trapped inside the moon for all eternity. A mystery that will never be reveled or set free.

The truth is I am all those things. But the most important of all is that I am the Guardian of the children's hopes and wishes. It is my job to ensure that they are protected from anything that would ruin their hope for the future. That is why I called together the Guardians. Santa Clause, the Gaurdian of Wonder; the Easter Bunny, the Guardian of Hope; the Tooth Fairy, Guardian of Memories; the Sandman, Guardian of Dreams; and the newest member, Jack Frost, Guardian of Fun.

But dispite their best efforts, evil still threatens to choke out any hope that children have. My Guardians may not be enough to stand against it, as powerful as they are. It is time for another step to be taken to protect the children's happiness:

North, wake up! I have job for you...

* * *

North woke with a start. He jumped out of bed and grabbed the cutlasses that were lying nearby. He stood in a fighters stance and looked around to see what woke him up. He laughed when he realized what he had heard. He put his cutlasses down and looked out his large window at the full moon in the sky.

"Well, hello old friend!" He said in a deep Russian accent, turning to look out his large window at the full moon in the sky. "Good to see you again! What's the word?"

The moon seemed to grow brighter, sending shadows across the walls. On the cold floor, the shadows joined together, forming the silhouette of a man who had been forgotten for years...

North's eyes widened in disbelief. Then his fists clenched together, his eyebrows furrowing. "Pitch." He said it as though the name left a bad taste in his mouth. The old enemy had defeated several years before and would be looking for revenge on the Guardians. North knew that it was only a matter of time before he showed up again. They would need to be ready. Still clutching his cutlasses, North hurried out of the room.

He marched through the workshop, passing sleepy Yetis as he went. Small elves with bell-tipped hats lay sprawled across the floor, threatening to trip North as he hurried by. A few of them jumped up as North passed, following him excitedly to see what the commotion was about.

As he walked, North stared intently at the globe of the world in the center of the workshop. It appeared to be hovering in midair, several stories tall. It's surface was green and blue, the colors of earth and water. Speckled all over the earth were tiny golden lights, each one representing a child who believed in the Guardians. There were millions of them. North breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them. North smiled when he saw them, yet he stilled hurried. There was no time to lose.

Getting into an elevator shaft, North rode it to the top floor where a small balcony overlooked the globe. A console-like board was there, brightly lit with leavers, switches, and lights. North grabbed hold of one of the larger cylinder leavers and pulled it up. He rotated it counterclockwise until it locked into place, a quarter of the way around.

Outside, high on a glacier, a brightly colored pole rose out of the top of North's workshop, catching the suns rays and sending a magnificent display of Aurora borealis out across the frozen tundra of the North Pole.

The message had been sent. It was only a matter of time before the other Guardians would come.