Protector of Lost Children

| CHAPTER I |

Hello, Readers! Here is chapter 1 of the newly rewritten 'The New Guardian'! I hope you like it! There are a few personality changes, and other major changes as well, but I'm sticking to the same storyline.

~CSP2708~

| Chapter 1 || Meeting the Man in Black |

1906 years later || 6 years after the Battle of Burgess

A loud roar rose above the treetops. A large grizzly bear ran, the lopsided movement continuing in a steady pattern as the bear chased birds and squirrels. A large bear grin was on its lips.

That grizzly was me.

I was playing with my friends in my forest, loving the feeling of the earth beneath my paws. Almost two thousand years, but nothing changed. I loved being in the wild. I was meant to be in the wild. I was rarely in my human body, for I'd found out the hard way that I'd only ever be seen by humans as an animal. Literally. Only in my beast forms would they be able to see me. In my human form, they'd pass right through me, leaving me with a strange tingle in my head and a hurting in my heart.

Over the years, as protector of the lost children, I guided them back to their families. I'd gotten better, bringing them directly to their homes and disappearing without a trace. The adults didn't need to see me. They just needed to believe that I would bring their child home.

When the villages became towns and the towns became cities, I'd panicked, but found that there were animals in the city, too. I could become a raccoon, or a bird, or a dog, guiding the little child back home and away from the fear of the unknown. I'd defend my lost children from bandits and drunks and kidnappers. Never once had I failed my duty.

I left the safety of the trees, entering the wide-open space of the park I'd taken up residence in. My form shifted and I became a fluffy brown squirrel, chittering as I jumped up onto a park bench.

I stared sadly at the park. This park used to be my clearing. This city used to be that lonely little village where I brought my first lost child. They had expanded into my territory, destroying my home, taking down my trees. I knew that they couldn't be stopped. I was only glad that they'd left my clearing as beautiful as it was.

They hadn't touched it.

Maybe it was my influence, always making it the most beautiful with my strange power over plants. Every time I was near any plant, it would grow healthier. It would grow bigger. It would grow faster. And now, after so many years of being here, my home was a sight to behold.

The grass could not be greener, the trees could not be lusher, the bushes could not hold any more fruit lest they'd collapse. The air was fresh and clean, despite the fumes and pollution of the human city around it.

I sighed. It must have sounded very strange coming from a squirrel because a few of the humans in the park looked up and backed away from me slightly. Oh well.

I sat on that bench for a long time, my little squirrel paws hanging over the edge and my little squirrel eyes watching the sunset over the horizon. I sighed again as the sky lit up orange, pink, purple, and red.

One day I'd need to find the spirit that made the sky such beautiful colours. I didn't know if it was a spirit, but I was sure that someone must be responsible for such beauty. I was sure that I was alone because I saw no humans or animals in the park. Everyone had gone to sleep. I was so wrong.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a creepy voice asked. The voice echoed around me, and I had no idea where it was coming from.

I turned quickly, my head snapping from side to side. The voice always seemed to come from behind me.