~~~ This is a preview for one of my "The Big Four" (also known as Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons) stories. It is a Jackunzel and Merricup story.~~~ 

"So, you're a guardian?" Rapunzel asked and sat down.

"Yeah, Guardian of Fun," Jack replied and put on a mini snow show with his staff.

He even made a little figurine that looked like the insignia on her necklace. Rapunzel's eyes sparkled as he handed it to her. She grinned and carefully took it.

"Will it melt?" Rapunzel asked.

"Not as long as I'm alive... dead... You know what? Don't worry about it. It won't," Jack replied and sat down beside her. 

Rapunzel smiled and extended her hand out with her palm facing down. A large flower grew through the pavement. She gently plucked it and carefully put the ice sculpture inside. She placed her hand over the flower causing it to close which made it into a purse.

"Wow, how long did it take you to learn how to do that?" Jack asked, impressed.

Rapunzel giggled and put the purse around her shoulder, "I have no idea. I lost count of the years, but compared to everything else not much."

"Well, that is a pretty cool trick. The only downside is that someone is going to have to fix that hole in the ground," Jack said and pointed to the crack the flower left behind.

Phil walked over and started waving his hands around while pointing to the hole. Rapunzel quickly stood up.

"Sorry! I'm just so used to growing things from the ground without it being a problem," Rapunzel apologized.

Phil sighed and walked off, probably to grab some tools to fix it. Jack laughed which caused Rapunzel to smile in embarrassment. She sat back down beside him.

"So, can people see you?" she asked.

"Not everyone, but the first person who could see me, his name is Jamie, is helping me get more kids to believe," Jack replied. "I don't know of any adults who can see us, but there are probably a few. The kids who never really grew up, you know?"

"I guess you're right," Rapunzel hummed. "And how did you feel when he first saw you?"

She inched closer, awaiting his reply with a curious gleam in her eyes.

"I was ecstatic. He was sort of like my first real friend," Jack replied. "Especially because of the whole 'no memories' thing."

"I hope one day someone will believe in me," Rapunzel whispered with a smile. "And I can't wait to get my memories back! How will you--?"

"We're back!" North's voice boomed through the workshop.

"Who is that?" Rapunzel gasped.

She grabbed her pan getting ready to hit someone.

"Woah, calm down. That's just North, this is his workshop after all," Jack told her.

North walked in with two women Rapunzel didn't know.

"Ahh, you must be the timid Spring Spirit. Welcome to my workshop, I trust it is to your liking, yes?" North asked.

"Yes, it's amazing. Umm, hello?" Rapunzel replied and greeted the others awkwardly.

"I'm Tooth, nice to meet you," Tooth warmly greeted Rapunzel.

She flew over and looked at Rapunzel's teeth.

"Woah! Your teeth really are as white as a pure rose in May!" She exclaimed and continued to pry while her mini copies surrounded her, trying to take a look as well.

"Wou, than yuh?" Rapunzel replied, but it was muffled due to Tooth's fingers.

"Why don't ye leave the wee lass alone? Not everyone likes yer fingers prying at their teeth," the other woman replied.

She had thick curls of fiery red hair and clear blue eyes. Her tattered dress was a dark green with red markings all over. She had a large bow over her shoulder.

Tooth quickly apologized and backed away allowing her to walk up to Rapunzel.

"Oh, hello! I'm Rapunzel!" Rapunzel greeted her happily.

"Nice to meet ya lassie, ye can call me Merida," Merida replied and extended her hand.

"Alright, looks like we're all here, let's get this over with so I can go back to work," Bunnymund said as he, Sandman, and another person arrived.

"Hey, Merida! Look, I made a new leg. What do you think?" the third guy  asked and showed off his leg made of wood and some sort of metal material.

"Looks much better than the last one, Hiccup . Doubt ye'd beat me in a race anyway though," Merida teased. "And what have I told ye about changing yer age?"

"Ahem. 'Don't try to look older than me, ye know we're the same age as far as we're concerned'," Hiccup replied mimicking her accent and mannerisms.

"I don't sound like that," Merida replied, trying to sound annoyed, but she couldn't help snorting. Hiccup chuckled and became a bit shorter. Before he looked around 25, but now he looked like he was around 18.

"How'd you do that?" Rapunzel asked.

"I can change my "age". Merida can too," Hiccup explained. "Can't you? We thought it was a spirit thing."

"I thought I was the only one. When did you become spirits?" Jack asked.

"900 and something, we honestly can't remember," Hiccup replied. "There were vikings though, so that's what we used to guess."

"We became spirits on the same day, or so we think. At the very least we both woke up at the same time," Merida replied .

Jack laughed, getting their attention.

"What?" Merida asked.

"I just realized how old you guys are," Jack replied playfully.

"Maybe, but we don't look a day over 100," Hiccup joked back. "I'd say my secret is plenty of air and exercise."

"What a coincidence, me too," Jack replied.

"What about ye two? When did ye become spirits?" Merida asked.

"I actually do know when I became a spirit. It was in 1708," Jack replied.

Merida and Hiccup turned to Rapunzel.

"I don't know really know. I never left the forest," Rapunzel replied.

"I actually saw Rapunzel when she was still alive, so she has to have become a spirit sometime after 1846," Jack replied.

Rapunzel perked up at the new information

"Ye've been alive for like 300 years, and ye're calling us old?" Merida asked.

"Fair enough," Jack replied. 

Merida turned back toward Rapunzel and noticed her necklace.

"Ye know, I've seen that insignia before ," Merida replied and leaned in to get a closer look at Rapunzel's necklace.

"Yeah, isn't that from a kingdom south of where we were "born"?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah, it's from the Kingdom of Corona," Jack told them.

"Really? Can you tell me more?" Rapunzel begged him.

"I don't think it's right for me to tell you too much. I only know things form the few times I saw you, so I don't want to give you wrong information. Seeing your memories first hand will probably be better," Jack told her.

"Memories?" Hiccup and Merida echoed him. 

"Ta-Da! We're done!" North exclaimed.

The four spirits turned around to see North holding a book. The rest of the guardians were standing beside him and the elves started playing their trumpets.

"What are they doing?" Merida asked.

"It's their little ceremony for new guardians," Jack replied with a sigh.

Hadn't North learned that you have to ask first? North cleared his throat, but was interrupted by a sudden darkness. Everyone looked up to the skylight to see a lunar eclipse. The ground started to shake and a strong gust of wind flew in.

"What's going on?" Rapunzel asked and grabbed onto Jack's sleeve.

"I don't know," Jack replied.

Then, there was silence. Everyone turned to the floor in front of the globe where the silhouettes of Rapunzel, Merida, Hiccup, and Jack appeared. They were there only for a few seconds before they disappeared and were replaced by the shadow of a crying woman. The group reappeared and the globe glowed with golden dots all around it. The silhouettes appeared to move to those spots. The woman reappeared snatching a dot and turning it black. This time the silhouettes of North, Tooth, Bunnymund, and Sandy appeared with children around them. The shadows disappeared, the wind stopped, the ground no longer shook, and the lunar eclipse went away.

"That didn't look good,' Bunnymund commented, breaking the silence.