Chapter One: Follow the Rabbit
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A/N: Why hello dere! School is back in and so am I! (for a temporary time) I'm gonna try to make the most of it, so I hope you enjoy this new, totally unoriginal idea! However, I might be cut off from my dear Fanfic at any moment! Let us make haste!
Enjoy.
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If there was one thing Reala hated, it was being made a fool of.
And NiGHTS always managed to do this- and usually, in front of a Visitor. So it was with many a red face that Reala returned to Nightmare, to shut himself up in his room until Wizeman dragged him out to nag on his failure to capture NiGHTS, once again.
Muttering darkly to himself, he looked around. For once, he wasn't wandering in Nightmare- Jackle had become unbearable in only ten minutes, and he was honestly done listening to almost every other Nightmaren laugh and ask if he would ever try to capture NiGHTS. So, in a moment of frustration, he'd snuck past the old Owl, into a random Nightopia, and went off until he was purely alone.
Surprisingly, Reala actualy liked this Nightopia.
Oak, maple, willow and pine trees were all around, along with soft, grassy meadows that stretched for miles. The sky was an extremly pale blue, almost white- the only contradiction to this was the light grey stripes streaking across at odd intervals. The air was crisp and clear, and there were little brooks and streams everywhere. Reala was sitting at one of these, and for once he wasn't uncomfortable or disgusted by all the 'purity'.
Instead, the world- though pretty- was empty. Completely devoid of anyone at all, even Nightopians. And there were no animals, butterflies, or anything. Just... empty. A painting with colors, but no real life. For some reason, the Visitor wasn't there- at least, not that Reala could tell, but their presence was constant, like a tug at the back of his collar. Yet, every time he turned around, there was noone there. No matter where he looked, there was no Visitor.
At the moment, his back was against a willow that was on a riverbank, so the tug directed itself at his arms instead. He ignored it, too done to even want to mess around with the Visitor.
It was the most peace he'd had in about a year, so he savored it. Closing his eyes, he listened to the sound of the rivr, the leaves in the tree...
It was broken by a sharp crack.
Eyes open, jerked to a stand, Reala looked towards the noise, to his left.
There was...
NiGHTS?
Reala had to blink. No, no, that's not... wait, what is-
He blinked again.
For, clearly on his head, NiGHTS had- instead of pointers,( there's a story behind that name, note)... fake rabbit ears?
Yes. Fake, they have to be. There's no way...
NiGHTS stopped, then looked around. For a moment only, then he turned and looked that way.
Reala noticed something else.
His hands, which had been behind his back, weren't hands- they were clearly rabbit paws, thick and much bigger than his normal hands. And, another thing- he had a white, pure, fluffy tail like a cotton ball on the seat of his pants.
Reala stared, not believing.
Suddenly, NiGHTS nodded to himself, then looked towards Reala's back. And Reala realised something.
If I catch him, right now... I can, he's alone, the Visitor's not with him, and he's obviously fooling around, he's got his guard down so low if I stepped out right now he'd just ask how he looked-
Then, NiGHTS nodded a final time. He looked thoughtful, then picked himself up off the ground and hovered shakily. He attempted to fly a bit, but failed and nearly crashed into the tree to his left. Reala quietly snickered, then thought a bit more-
He's usually not so clumsy... did he get a concussion or something?
At that moment, NiGHTS turned back to Reala's left and ran into the deeper woods.
"Wait-" Before he could stop it, it was out- but NiGHTS didn't notice. Breathing a sigh of relief, Reala started to follow- but he flew. So he was always right behind NiGHTS, who was running suprisingly fast considering his feet.
Reala was forced to go dangerously close at times, like when thorns appeared and NiGHTS just hopped over, Reala had to go around to avoid alerting NiGHTS to his prescence. It was a tedious path indeed, but his pointers told him that he was going in a nearly northwest line, with small exception for detours.
The forest changed, turning into a grove of different fruit trees, to a tropical forest that was still empty and finally to a pine tree forest. After passing through each and every one, staring at every tree, the millions of trees seemed to close in. It didn't worry him much- other than that it might be difficult to keep a steady pace behind NiGHTS, and if Reala lost him again- he didn't even want to think about the punishment Wizeman might give him.
Finally, they slowed to a halt. By this time the trees were mixing with oaks and maples again, and they'd stopped in a small clearing with many pines, some bushes, and one, thick, twisted and knotted oak tree. NiGHTS looked to his right for a moment before pulling one odd branch towards the front.
A hole opened in the trunk, and NiGHTS looked around again before crawling into it.
Reala blinked, waited a moment, then slid into it after him.
The next thing he knew, he was rolling. Rolling down the steep slope of this tunnel, so fast he couldn't hear. He tried to reach out and grip the ground but stopped when his wrist nearly broke from the fast rolling.
It didn't last long, however- not many things do.
And before he knew it, Reala was falling.
He gritted his teeth, and tried to at least slow down- but for some reason, he couldn't. It was a miraculous free-fall, and all he could do was absorb the oddity of his surroundings.
Pieces of furniture floated all about, and they were embedded in the walls as well. Rocking chairs, dollhouses, marmalade jars and bedskirts. Typewriters, coin collections, jewelry boxes and antique cases. All that and more were placed down the hall at some point or the other.
Still dazed from the roll down, Reala blinked. He eventually tried pulling at one of the curtains, but it ripped off, and when he let it go, it stopped falling with him and simply hovered and rippled in midair.
That's...odd.
Shaking his head, Reala looked down. There, getting closer. A bright light. The sun, maybe. Hopefully.
He shut his eyes, grimacing as the pinpoint swelled closer. It would hurt, but he wouldn't die.
He thought how ironic it was- one of the most common nightmares there were of falling down a crevice in the ground to your possible death. And now he, the nightmaren, was experiencing this for himself.
He huffed bitterly before wincing as something hit him on the arm at top speed, almost ripping his sleeve off. He pulled his arms closer to his chest, hoping they wouldn't break. They'd only broken in the times before when he and NiGHTS hand-fought - and even then, it'd only happened once. And NiGHTS didn't even break it.
He gritted his teeth as the things brushing him got closer and more numerous. They pulled as he passed, but he ripped right on through all of them.
That's when the light shined into his closed eyes for a split second.
Then, the world stopped and the light vanished.