Gosh it’s been a while..so what with school and work it’s been difficult to work on this project consistently, however we’re just gonna try a bit harder. To make up for lack of posting I have some concept art of Mother Nature and an adorable Sophie Bennett. Hope to post more concept art soon!
I yawned and sat up in bed, the light from my open window blinding me. The events of yesterday and this morning came rushing back and I smiled happily. I jumped out of bed and hopped my way down the stairs.
"Easter Bunny hop hop hop" I said cutely for anyone who was listening and I got surprised by a hug
"Hello Sophie dear" a voice said
"AUNTIE MIRANDA" I yelled and I hugged her back happily, I adored my Auntie and she was one of the only people who believe my adventure’s with The Guardians
"That was your brother's reaction too" Auntie said
"Jamie left already?" I asked and my auntie nodded
"He had to get there early so he could play with his friends for a while but he told me to tell you that Jack and Bunnymund are coming over, who are those two I wonder?" Auntie said with a smiled and I smiled back giggling.
"Jack is Jack Frost and Bunnymund is the Easter bunny's real name, they are really nice even though they do fight a lot. It's funny to watch until Bunny gets really angry then I pull him away to play with me" I said as if I hadn’t told her this a millions times before "We play hide and seek and we paint eggs and it's really fun!"
"That's wonderful dear! come on lets go have breakfast then we can go shopping for a present for the Easter Bunny and Jack Frost if you want to" Auntie said with a kind smile on her face and I nodded.
When we got to the table-which was only a few steps from where me and my Auntie had been talking-my parents were talking about work, so I tuned them out and ate my toast thinking about gifts. I stood up and put my plate in the sink and got out chocolate milk for me to drink as I waited for my auntie to finish her breakfast.
"Miranda why do you encourage her?" my dad said and I took a step back, mum wasn't there and I could hear sounds coming from the living room.
"Because Children need their freedom, I'm not letting you take that away from Jamie or Sophie, Kyle" My Auntie said with a protectiveness in her voice that made me want to hug her tightly and never let go but instead I walked out, smiling as if I hadn't heard anything.
"Sophie honey Jamie told me to give this to you when you woke up" My mum walked over to me with a homemade book in her hand. I took it off her and saw it was another book about Bunnymund; I squealed and ran up to my room eager to put it with the rest of my books. I walked-skippped more like- into my room and slipped the book inside the pillow case happily, I got changed into my pink parka jacket, a blue tank top with a panda on it and warm pastel green pants. I put on my warm socks and my pink sneakers and I walked out of my room and downstairs.
"Auntie ready to go?" I asked excitedly and my Auntie stood up and grabbed her handbag, she smiled at me and I smiled back.
She drove us to the shopping centre and I got a blue and silver scarf for Jack and for Bunny I got a really fluffy cloak so he would be warm whenever Jack freezes the Warren. It was emerald green, with patterns of flowers on it and reminded me of Bunny's eyes and of Spring. I looked out the window as we drove home, smiling to myself as I imagined Bunny's face when I gave it to him. We parked and I ran up to the door and i waited as my Auntie came up and un-locked the door, I ran to my room and tried to wrap the gifts but in the end mum had to do it.
"Thank you mummy" I said then I kissed her on the cheek and walked into my room with them, I put the gifts on my bed and went to my desk and started to draw.
"What are ya doing? Ankle bitter" Bunny said and I span around in my chair and smiled when I saw him a few hours later, I hadn’t even heard him come in!
"Bunny!" I said then I ran over to my bed and gave him, his gift trying to keep my excitement off my face. He opened it and smiled he took it out and put it on. I giggled and clapped happily "it's for when Jack freezes the warren it will keep you nice and warm!"
"Thank Soph" Bunny said and he put it away "Don't want it to get dirty"
"Jamie made another book about you, I haven't read it yet" I said smiling, happy that he’d liked the gift like I’d hoped he would.
"Do you want to come to the Warren to paint some eggs? And speaking of Jamie is he at school?" Bunny asked and I nodded "Frostbite get in here!"
Jack sat on my window causing me to giggle when he sent a snowflake my way and I gave him his gift smiling
"Jamie's at school, it should be first break if you want to go visit him" I said and Jack nodded as he unwrapped the white wrapping paper, he grinned at the gift and put it on posing like a model for a moment-and causing me to burst into giggles-before he flew out of the window and was gone in a flash.
"We go to warren now?" I asked and Bunny nodded smiling, Bunny tapped the ground and a tunnel appeared. I took Bunny's hand and we jumped down.
"Fun!" I said laughing, it was like sliding down a slide and I giggled when we landed in the Warren, I smiled and stood up it had been awhile since I'd been here but everything looked the same. There was the color river, the huge stone eggs keeping guard, the little white eggs wandering around and not a bit of frost could be seen on any of the gorgeous plants
I looked at Bunny after I’d looked around more and he put his hand out and we walked towards where the eggs get painted every day as I wrapped my fingers around his paw. We sat down and we began to hand paint some of the eggs.
I snuck a look at Bunny and saw the egg he was painting was beautiful ,I looked at mine and sighed quietly. It looked really bad but I didn't give up! I smiled and giggled as I saw pictures in the swirls and the mash of colors and I let the egg go and it ran off. A egg jumped into my lap and I laughed and began painting again, I started painting anything but to me it looked like I was painting the stars in the sky.
"You alright there Soph?" Bunny asked and I nodded and continued with what I was doing. I let the newly painted egg go and I picked up another one and just started painting.
"Peter cotton tail you home?" Jack yelled and I quickly hid behind a huge stone rock who sat down so I could hide properly behind it after I saw Bunny flick his wrist, which was our sign of ‘hide’
"What do you want Frostbite" Bunny said annoyed and I tried not to giggle
"Do I need a reason to come over and annoy you?" Jack said leaning on his staff
"Don't you have Jamie to look after?" Bunny said going back to painting the egg and I peeked around the egg slightly but Jack’s back was turned to me so I was safe
"Break ended" Jack shrugged "So I came to annoy you because well Sophie is with you most of the time right? Jamie says I need to try harder to become someone she trusts, she only trusts you, her family and well her family"
"Mate now really ain't the best time to do that, she still shaken up about getting attacked yesterday" Bunny said as he continued painting "When she's feeling better I'll let you know"
"Thank you Kangaroo I owe you" Jack said laughing before he ran off and disappeared, the ice that had appeared when he landed melting away
I walked out and sat down next to Bunny again and realized that what Bunny said was true I was still shaken up about the whole Pitch thing, possibly explained why I was so calm in dealing with my Dad at the moment-I wasn’t sure-but I took a deep breath and started painting again, time passed quickly and soon it was dark and I was tired. I yawned and Bunny looked at me and smiled, he packed everything up quickly before picking me up.
"Let's get you home" Bunny said and I shook my head sleepily
"Can't I stay here for the night?" I mumbled not meaning for him to hear but he tensed and sighed softly
"Sure Soph" Bunny carried me to his home and i opened my eyes, gasping. It was adorable, there was Bunny's unmade bed, a fire place and two chairs there.
"This is wow" I whispered and Bunny chuckled softly
"Here" Bunny put me on one of the chairs and I curled up but leaned away from the backing of the chair as he wrapped a blanket around me. "Night Ankle bitter"
"Nighty Night Bun Bun" I said then I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
I looked around everywhere was pitch black, I started getting a feeling of dread and I gulped nervously
"Looks like The Guardians abandoned you, didn't they? Little Sophie" Pitch's voice rang threw the darkness and I ran. I ran as fast as I could away from the sound and pictures started playing and I stopped and looked.
It was Jamie, Jamie's friends and The Guardians all of them standing on the lake saying good bye to the each other and I couldn't see me where my brother had told me that I was with Pippa. Tears leaked down my cheeks and I ran. The pictures kept coming and I fell to the ground and curled up in a ball, Pitch's nightmares walked over to me and-
I woke up and I threw the blanket off me and quickly looked around, my beating heart calming when I saw Bunny fast asleep. I went and quietly went and knelt at the foot of the bed watching him sleep, as I started to calm down more.
I smiled when Bunny wasn't being Bunny he was this, a person like me but I didn't want to wake him up so I went back to my seat and put the blanket around my shoulders.
I stared at the fire and stood up, put the blanket on the chair and walked out of his hut, I started to walk around the Warren. It was peaceful the huge eggs didn't think of me as a threat as they had seen me before the day before so I was able to wander around. I sat down on a hill and I stared out looking at everything and slowly the Warren began to get lighter and warmer. I stood up smiling and walked back to Bunny's house, only to have him grab me and pull me inside. He stood there glaring at me, I looked down at my hands I didn't think he would get this angry.
"I'm sorr-" I began but Bunny cut me off
"Don't Sophie how do you think I felt when I woke up and you were gone? I thought Pitch had got you to get back at us! Sophie you're like a little sister to me and I can't bear the thought if I lost you" Bunnymund said and for the first time when I looked up he had tears in his eyes, I hugged him as tightly as I could and he hugged back.
"Bunny you're like a big brother to me too and I promise I'll leave a note or something before I go out again and I had a nightmare" I said and Bunny hugged me tighter
"What happened in the dream ankle bitter?" he asked and so I told him even what Pitch had said "Let's go tell the rest of The Guardians ok?"
I nodded and we were in a tunnel to the North Pole in seconds, we arrived and I saw Jamie and Jack siting on a window seat and as if Jamie could feel me looking at him he looked up and waved. I waved back and I held Bunny's hand.
"North! Get here now!" Bunny said and everyone looked at him, he was very pissed off and they could tell that so then they looked at me. I shook my head 'I'll tell you later' I mouthed to them and they nodded.
"What is it old friend?" North said then he saw Bunny "What happened?"
"Pitch gave Sophie a nightmare and crickey it was a bad one" Bunny said and he told everyone my nightmare and the pure anger on the guardians' faces were unreal.
"We told him to leave you both alone, oh that is it! I'm going after Pitch so whose coming with me?" Jack said and all The Guardians nodded, that shocked me. Could they do that?
"Wait!" I said before they turned to leave as I realized something "It could be a trap, the anger your feeling is a weakness he is going to use against you! you'll attack blindly and won't think anything through"
Everyone looked at me and nodded they knew I was right but they just wanted it to end, I could see it on their faces
"It's a risk we are willing to make, Jamie make sure your sister stays here" North said then The Guardians left I sighed and sat down on a couch, I didn’t like this but they were The Guardians of childhood and hopefully they’d be okay.
"Let's go see if the yeti's need help hmm?" Jamie suggested and I nodded, if you're stuck in a house full of toys and well you'd kinda want to help make them. Half an hour later according to Jamie's watch-which I snuck a peek at-The Guardians came back and shh'ed them all before they could make up my sleeping brother.
"Quiet!" Jack hissed at North and he went quiet from where he was chatting to Tooth.
"How'd you get him to sleep?" Jack asked
"Jack I'm his sister, I can calm him down fast than u can say 'a' you should know that" I said smiling and Jack nodded thoughtfully.
"I'll take him and Sophie home ok?" Jack said and The older Guardians nodded, Jack picked up Jamie and I held jack's hand and the wind flew us home. Jack dropped me off in my room the he dropped Jamie off in his but Jack stayed with him. I crawled into bed and stared out of my window at the moon.
"Good night Bunny, my favorite guardian" I said with a yawn then I was fast asleep.
I awoke to a slamming of doors and I jumped out of bed, I walked over to my door and opened it a little. I could hear raised voices coming from down stairs, so I walked as quietly as I could to the top of the stairs and I saw Jamie was there so I knelt beside him and listened in to what our parents were saying.
"They need to grow up! No more of this silly guardian stuff" Our dad yelled and I cringed
"No they need it! Haven't you noticed that they are happier now?" Our mum reasoned and me and Jamie watched as our Dad's mouth opened and closed before he stormed out of the house, Jamie grabbed my hand and pulled me into his room and away from what we had just over-heard.
"Let's get some sleep, I have school in the morning" Jamie said and he closed the door, the room felt colder and I looked around.
"Jamie I'm scared" I said and Jamie's head snapped up and looked around, he walked over to me and hugged me.
"Everything's going to be fine I sw-" Jamie's sentence was cut off as we heard an evil laughter fill the room and I started clinging to him, shaking as we both realized who it was
"Isn't this adorable? The big brother looking after his sister, this reminds me of someone let me think oh yes! Jack Frost and his sister, it was very fun breaking the ice I must say" Pitch's voice echoed through the room and I blinked tears away. We knew what had happened to Jack and his sister, we'd always felt bad about it and Pitch's part in it made me want to cringe.
"Sophie bell now" Jamie whispered and I nodded, I brought my hand up to my neck and softly began to ring the bell. I pulled my hand away and it still rang then Pitch laughed
"Do you think a little bell is going to stop me?" He said snickering then suddenly nightmares all around us and I fought the urge to scream, i looked outside and it began snowing, I took comfort in the falling snow and I smiled.
"Little Sophie, what are you smiling about?" Pitch said no readable emotion lacing his voice.
"It's snowing" I answered and I felt my brother loosened his grip and that was the chance Pitch needed, He grabbed Jamie and pulled him into the shadows.
"Jamie NO!!" I screamed and tried to follow but the nightmares blocked my path, a boomerang flew in threw the window and destroyed some of the nightmares horses.
One by one The Guardians popped but and fought off the nightmares. I sat in a corner and watched it until there were no more nightmares left, then the attention of the guardians turned to me. All of their gazes different but Bunny’s worried one and Jack’s panicked one were the two that stood out to me the most
"Where's Jamie?" Jack asked not seeing my brother there and I snuffed as my vision got blurry “Sophie?”
"P-Pitch got him" I said and tears leaked down my face and began crying, Bunny walked over and hugged me until I stopped and even then I continued snuffling
"You've got to go get him back" Jack said and all The Guardians agreed "But the question should Sophie come"
They all pondered that question for a moment and most said ‘No’ Jack and Sandman said ‘Yes’
"She can find her brother quicker than we can!” Jack argued to prove his answer and Sand nodded his head agreeing with the younger Guardian
"She could get hurt, no we can not risk it” North said and Bunny nodded
"This shouldn't be an argument! We have to go save Jamie, now Sophie stay here okay?” Tooth said and I nodded, knowing as soon as I could I was going with them to save my brother "Good let's go then”
They all climbed out of the window, Jack glaring at all of them apart from Sandman and I locked it behind them holding back my instinct to hug Jack and try to make him feel better, I thought of his as my brother and I didn’t like seeing him angry or upset.
I ran to my room once they started getting settled and I put on my walking boots grabbed my warmest jacket and I hurried out of the house avoiding my mother, I followed The Guardians and when they got to the frozen lake. They all jumped into the hole in the ground where, Jamie and I had seen Pitch get sucked into when I was little.
I thought for a moment why was I remembering this now? I shook my head it didn’t matter, I just had to find my brother. I walked over to the hole and I jumped down, when I landed I instantly hid in the shadows not wanting to be found by anyone. I felt a tug and I followed it, keeping an eye out for The Guardians and Pitch.
I heard fighting and I hurried towards it while keeping quiet the whole time and I saw The Guardians fighting Pitch and Jamie was in the corner with his eyes wide, I ran over to my brother and I hugged him tightly
"Jamie are you alright?" I asked softly and I felt my older brother shake his head. I pulled away and gently wiped his tear off his cheeks It’s going to be fine big bro, I promise”
I looked at Jamie and I felt a fierce urge to protect him from the world but I sat next to him and we hugged, he needed comfort more than anything right now. Who knows what lies Pitch told him before The Guardians got there?
I heard the sound of hooves and I looked up and there, standing close to us were three Nightmares. I got up along with my brother and we touched all three of them and they turned back into dreams and hurried over to Sandy who smiled and nodded gratefully to us and we smiled and nodded back
"Let's go home" James said softly but as Jamie and I made a move towards the exit, we were caught by Pitch’s shadows. Even though we know it wouldn’t do any good we struggled and the shadows brought us next to Pitch, Jack and Bunny stopped fighting and stared at us both with ‘No!’ expressions on their faces
"Stop Guardians or these children will never be the same" Pitch threatened and The Guardians stopped fighting and looked over and One by One, they put their weapons away
"Good, now if you want these children back, well you know what I want" Pitch said and I could just picture an evil smile on his face.
"Pitch, do you really think that they are going to sacrifice us two for every child in the world? You're crazy they have jobs to do and they know we will never forgive them if they are stupid enough to trust you" Jamie said and I nodded then I saw a flicker of dream sand and I knew Jamie saw it too when he said “Pitch, you’re the stupid one”
The real Guardians came out of the shadows and attacked him, being careful not to hit me or Jamie. The Guardians in front of us became gold sand again and Jamie and I were released, we landed on the ground and raced off to the entrance. Since Jamie got their first, he pulled me up and we both darted off to hide. We heard our names being called as Tooth flew out of the hole in the ground followed by the rest of The Guardians and I followed my brother out of our hiding places and I looked down at my hands at Bunny’s glare.
"Don't every in danger yourself like that again Sophie!” Bunny said clearly upset “Do you know how worried we were when we saw you there?!”
"I wanted to get Jamie back and I didn't want to stay at home, I'm sorry Bunny" I said and I felt two furry arms pick me up and they hugged me, I hugged Bunny back.
“I know you are Ankle biter, just don’t scare me like that again” Bunny mumbled softly and I nodded then as if rehearsed me and my brother both yawned causing The Guardians to laugh. Bunny picked me up and I snuggled close to the Pooka who was nice and fluffy and warm.
"Jamie when did you get so light" Jack joked picking Jamie up and I laughed along with Bunny and Jamie who then poked his tongue out at Jack “And they call you the mature one”
"Let's get you all home shall we?" Tooth said and everyone walked over and sat down in North’s Sleigh. Jamie ended up curled up against Jack and he fell asleep causing Jack to smile fondly and start spreading frost over my brother hair while sending me a wink that caused me to giggle and Bunny sat down, keeping me in his lap.
“Bunny nice and warm" I sighed out happily and I yawned softly
"Sophie you have got to teach me how to make the Kangaroo smile" Jack joked and I giggled softly
“I will!” I said smiling happily causing Jack to laugh and Bunny to grin at me and I grinned back
The Sleigh sped off and soon we were in the air, the ride was quiet and Jamie's muttering was the only thing I could hear apart of Bunny's heartbeat as well as the constant Bunny-Jack argument that ended up going on. The Sleigh landed and I watched Jack fly through my open window while Bunny got out of the Sleigh and got me into my room via his tunnels. Bunny carried me over to my bed and got me tucked in before he sat on my bed
"Soph you did well by using the bell" he said and I nodded smiling as Dawn creeped over my window and I smiled, the dawn light softened Bunny's face.
"Thank you Bunny, next time I'll stay home" I said and Bunny chuckled
"Ya won't be able to keep that promise I bet, night ankle bitter" Bunny said and he kissed my forehead before he left causing me to smile, I fell asleep and dreamed of what I could play with Bunny when he came to visit or when I went to go and visit him.
