Protector of Lost Children

| CHAPTER XI |

Hello, Readers! I hope you're ready for this next chapter! I worked really hard on it, but it's not very long. I hope you guys don't mind.

~CSP2708~

| Chapter 11 || Retreat |

*TOOTH*

"I thought he'd be a good person, but he's not."

Lupa's words were confusing, especially to me. She'd just received memories of her past – memories she'd been missing for... however old she is – but she was sad. I could see her anguish clear on her face; she was upset about who her father was, deeply upset. It must've taken her a lot to even get this far in telling us about him. Who could he possibly be to make her too upset to even talk about?

"But who is he, dear?" I pressed, "If you don't want to say, that's okay, too. You can tell us whatever you're comfortable telling." I didn't want to push her too far, too fast. That would be disastrous. Over the years, I'd had to experience children with terrible relationships with their parents. Some were better than others, but if Lupa's father was anything like those children's parents, then I knew why she didn't want to talk about him.

Lupa took a few shaky steps forward and collapsed in my arms, sobbing into my chest feathers. My arms immediately wrapped around her body, holding her tightly. Her whole body trembled as I held her. I let my hands rub soothing circles on her back, tangling slightly in her messy hair and scrunching the fabric of her mossy dress. My fingers traced swirling patterns over her spine and shoulder blades as I tried to soothe her. Her sobs only grew louder, and soon, the only sound in the room was her stuttered breaths and her wet coughs. Every few seconds she'd sniffle loudly.

"Oh, darling," I whispered, "What could be so terrible that it makes you like this?"

She just shook her head, digging her face deeper into my shoulder. Her tears soaked my feathers but I didn't care. As long as she needed me, I would be there for her. After several more minutes, she pulled away, calmed.

"I'm... I'm sorry," she said, wiping away a few tears. Her eyes were red and puffy, and there were tear streaks running down her cheeks. Her shoulders quivered feebly, and I could tell that she was struggling to stay standing. "I wish I could tell you, but... I don't know if I'm ready to say it aloud. Saying it aloud will make it all true, even though I'd prefer it all just be in my head..."

I nodded. "I understand, sweetheart. It's never easy to find out your parent isn't who you thought they were. I've seen too many children experience that, and even though I've never had to face it myself, I just want you to know that I'm here for you. We all are." I gestured to the rest of the guardians, who were around us, but wisely keeping to themselves at the edges of the room, giving us some space.

Lupa nodded jerkily, causing her hair to fall into her face. I reached out to brush it aside, but suddenly, she flinched away. "I- I have to go," she stuttered. She pushed passed me and left the room, running down the hallway once more. I turned to the others.

"What was that about?" North asked. He raised a bushy eyebrow.

"I don't know," I replied. "Let's go get her. I know that she wants to be alone, but she shouldn't. besides, we don't want her doing anything that she'll regret later."

My wings began fluttering again and I hovered, leaving the room. I didn't have to look behind me to know that the rest of the guardians were following me. It was gratifying to know that my teammates would always have my back. I wanted Lupa to have the same feeling. She deserved it. We were her team now, as Manny says. I may not understand his decision now, but he always does things for a reason, just like with Jack. At first, we didn't know why he was chosen to be a guardian, but after a hard time, everything came together just like Manny said it would, and we defeated Pitch for the second time, restoring the balance of light and darkness to the world.

Unfortunately, Lupa wasn't where I thought she'd be. She wasn't in her room, nor was she in any of the other rooms, and the yetis confessed that they hadn't seen her since she'd come to confess her dream to us.

"Are you sure you haven't seen her?" I asked Phil. He was the only yeti I knew personally, and it was only because he was the only yeti that kept a close eye on Jack. If I would've had to guess, he had a history with Jack, but I didn't know anything about it. Maybe Jack had tried to break into the North Pole before becoming a guardian? Could be, he was holding the record on the naughty list.

"Ghlaarglaarg," he replied. I had no idea what that meant, but the shrug that came with it led me to believe that he meant he was sure that he hadn't seen her.

"Okay..." I said, a little sombre. "Thanks anyway, Phil." I tried for a smile, but it wasn't genuine. Phil smiled back, her pearly white teeth just barely visible under his thick mustache. I couldn't even bring myself to fawn over how well he flossed, despite his busy days and his vast amount of facial hair.

I returned to the meeting room. The others were already there, all wearing identical expressions of frustration.

"So, you didn't have any luck either?" Jack asked.

"I don't think anyone has, Jack," I said softly, hovering over to him. His face was downcast. I knew that he'd easily connected with Lupa, and even though she'd just attacked him out of nowhere, he still cared for her.

"But where could she have gone? It's not like she just up and left, right?" Bunny asked.

I knew he'd meant it as a joke, but Bunny's words caused something in my brain to click. What if Lupa had left? It made sense. She was having strange dreams about her past. She was suspecting that something was wrong with her and she was afraid that she'd hurt one of us if it didn't stop. I turned to the others. "Guys, what if she did run away? She's worried about hurting us, so what else do you think she would do?"

"We have to find her!" Jack exclaimed.

"We have to find a way to stop Pitch," North interjected.

"What?" Jack cried. "How could you say that? Lupa is the only one who can help us stop Pitch!"

"We did it last time, we do it again," North replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, but not for good! Besides, that what I said the last time, and we still needed Jack's help to beat him!" Bunny argued.

I fluttered over so that I was behind Bunny, facing North. "Bunny and Jack are right. We need to find Lupa to stop Pitch. She's our only hope at this point. Besides, we still have to find the two sisters who are supposed to stop Pitch. We can't do that without Lupa."

"You are right," North said with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I guess... I am just paranoid from Pitch's last attack. He nearly destroyed all wonder and hope in world, I fear he will come closer this time. Without Lupa to guide us to his daughters, we are blind."

At that moment, I saw North's true age take effect. All the years bringing joy to the children. All the years being able to put smiles on their faces one night a year. He feared that Pitch would win this time, and all of that would go away. All our hard work keeping the children of the world happy and safe, and one spirit would be able to change all that, all because we didn't care enough for our friend when she was in need.

"We'll find Lupa, North, and then we'll stop Pitch once and for all." I placed a hand on his shoulder, having to float higher to reach him at his height. He was always the strongest of all of us, and seeing him so hopeless was hard. I could see how North's attitude was affecting the team, and I couldn't let things get out of hand.

"Come on, guys!" I cried suddenly, not wanting the dull mood to dampen any further. "I'm sure that with hope, and a little bit of luck, we'll find Lupa and Pitch's daughters and we'll be able to stop the darkness from taking over the world. Maybe we'll even be able to meet Pitch as the man he was before the Fearlings took hold of him and turned him into the man we know today."

***

Word Count: 1475

Posted: Tuesday, May 16th, 2017

~CSP2708~