Ice Curse 2: Pookan Bane
Chapter 1
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"Oh, I just loved Spain!"
"I'm shocked ya didn't melt. How 'bout July's home, eh?"
"It was awesome! Her technology is so far ahead of ours!"
"Those motor vehicles of hers sure are somethin'." E. Aster Bunnymund and Prince Jackson chatted about their adventurous honeymoon while walking through the city gates of Santoff Claussen. They were able to travel expediently due to an heirloom borrowed by the Pookas: an amulet that gives the user the ability to make tunnels to wherever he wants to go simply by tapping his foot twice. "I'm gonna have to give this back to my Mother eventually." Bunny looked down at the green gem around his neck.
The prince was hardly paying attention. All the townsfolk had come to greet them – well, him – as they walked down the street. Jack waved and said hello to everybody that he could. "Hey, Prince Jack!" A brown-haired kid came up to his highness.
"Hey, Jamie!" Jack ruffled the kid's hair. "I betcha can't wait for winter, huh?"
"I'm gonna win the snowball fight again, you'll see!" Jamie smiled big. "My sister wants to play too, but she's still too little." Bunny and Jack looked over at Jamie's little sister. She had ragged blonde hair and big wondering eyes that were staring right at the giant rabbit. He didn't know if she was scared or fascinated. Bunny decided to wave at her, and she smiled, about to walk up to him until her mother pulled her back and whispered 'don't go near it.' The rabbit pretended not to hear and continued walking with his husband as he said goodbye to Jamie.
The Pooka had to do a lot of ignoring as they walked down the main street. His sensitive ears could hear the praises of his prince and the disapproval for himself.
"Why would that precious boy marry a flea-ridden thing like that?"
"If he's gay, he could have at least married a man…"
"Those things are evil. They're nothing but animals!"
"The prince doesn't deserve a beast." It's been two years since the break of the curse on the prince. The evil wizard, Pitch Black, was still encased in ice, never to hurt Jack ever again. Bunny had broken the ice curse with his kiss, proving their true and eternal love.
However, the people of this city still did not accept this, not after two years or even after their marriage. There has been a long-standing prejudice towards Pookas, but the giant rabbits aren't sure why. Many battles were lost to the Pookas, suffering many casualties from rifles and forest fires and soon becoming endangered. Soon after meeting Bunnymund, King North passed a law stating that humans can no longer harm or kill Pookas, but the law doesn't say anything about not continuing to hate them. So much hate, but for what reason?
They finally arrived to the front of the palace, where King North and Queen Toothiana met them at the top of the stone stairs. "Mother, Father!" Jack flew up the stairs and hugged his parents. Bunny ran up behind.
"Your highnesses." Bunny bowed politely; even after two years he still felt like he needed to do that with his new in-laws.
"Klasno!" North exclaimed. "It is good to see my boys again!"
"How was your trip?" Toothiana fluttered excitedly. "Tell us all about it!"
"My dear, let's get to the dinner table first." The king laughed. "I'm sure they're hungry!"
"You bet!" Jack and Bunny followed the king and queen to the dining area. "So, has anything changed since we left?"
"Nothing much, except…" North's voice became serious. "There have been disappearances from a village in the east. Many people have gone missing."
"Disappearances?" Bunnymund questioned. "Have you sent soldiers? Should I…?"
"Yes, I've sent detectives and soldiers, and no, you don't need to do anything." North already knew what Bunny would say. "You must rest after a long trip. Stay with my son."
"Right, your highness." Bunny's nose twitched. He couldn't help his warrior spirit, but he knew his job was to be the prince's escort, not a general.
"Yeah Bunny, who's gonna help me relax if you leave my side?" Jack grinned while sticking out his tongue.
"Don't act like that in front of your parents!" The Pooka whisper-shouted, his big ears pinned to his head. Jack just laughed, sneaking a quick kiss on Bunny's cheek.
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After dinner and telling the king and queen about their adventure, the newlyweds headed to their bedroom, a nice hot bath awaiting them in the new adjacent bathroom. It was a wedding gift from Jack's parents. "Hey, the bathroom's done!" Jack said happily. "And look, your latest painting's hanging on the wall." Bunny painted a portrait of he and Jack at their wedding.
"The walls in here are littered with my paintings." Bunny looked around the bedroom at all the work he's done for Jack in the past two years. "Do they all need to be in here? Some could go in the study or something…"
"Hey, they're my paintings now, so I can do what I want with them." Jack smirked, beginning to undress. "Let's get in before the water gets cold."
"When you get in it will be cold." Bunny took a quick second to observe his husband's adult body. The young man was now twenty and slightly taller and more muscular than he was two years ago (he had the Pooka to thank for those muscles since they trained hard together). His gorgeous face was more angular and his white hair was soft and long, falling to his shoulders when he took the bow out. His blue eyes were still big, beautiful and full of childlike mischief. He was breathtaking… and Bunnymund grinned possessively. He shook his head, getting rid of dirty thoughts. "It's good to be home, huh?" He began to take his wrist guards off.
"Do you feel at home here?" The prince asked seriously. Bunny paused, not expecting the tone to change so suddenly. What's this about? "I'm not deaf, you know. I heard what some of those people said about you… I could have said something but I know you wouldn't like it…"
"It's alright." The Pooka continued removing his wrist guards, setting them on the vanity. "I'm used to it. You don't have to worry about it."
"Not worry about it?!" Jack put his hand on Bunny's fluffy shoulder. "How can I not? I'm the prince of Santoff Claussen, and my people don't respect my husband, who is also the savior of this kingdom… do you know how much that angers me?!" Bunny's eyes widened. He never saw Jack get this upset about the matter before. "They should be - at the very least - worshipping you!"
"First of all, mate, all I did was kiss you. You're the one who froze the evil wizard in ice, remember?" Bunny was humble about his fight with Pitch. "Second of all, we had this talk before. Ya can't force people to like ya. If you ordered them to treat me with respect, they'd hate me even more. I'd have to earn their respect myself."
"Weren't you going to do that with the walking eggs?" Jack went to the tub and stepped in slowly. "How're they coming along?"
"I still don't have enough, mate." Bunny explained. He had a small conservatory made for his walking egg flowers in the castle, and he nursed them everyday. He taught a yeti how to care for them when he was away. "They take a long time to pollinate. It might take another year."
"Urgh… I want them done now…" Jack dropped in the bath, creating a big splash and burning his sensitive skin.
"Dammit, Jack!" Bunnymund turned away from the loose water. "Even though you're twenty, ya still act like a brat!" Jack ignored him, blowing bubbles in the water with his mouth. The rabbit sighed, getting in the tub and sitting opposite his mate. "I'm grateful that you feel this way, ya whacker. And as for your first question…" He rubbed the young man's reddened arms gently. "Home is wherever you are, love." He picked up Jack's chin out of the water and kissed his lips heatedly. They pulled away, looking deep into each other's eyes.
"I just don't understand why people hate Pookas so much." Jack couldn't let it go. "What did Pookas ever do to humans?"
"That… that is something I'd like to know, too." Bunny grabbed a tube of soap and squeezed some in his paw. "What was your general knowledge of Pookas before you met me, mate?" He rubbed the soap all over Jack's body.
"Uh, well…" Jack always had a hard time thinking when Bunny touched him. "All I knew was that Pookas were giant talking rabbit creatures that lived in the woods and were endangered. I wasn't raised to hate them, since my parents aren't originally from this kingdom." Bunny was already told of the king and queen's origins: North was a bandit from Russia and Toothiana was a princess from the land of Punjab Hyloo. "But wait, you're telling me you don't know why humans hate you?"
"We don't have a clue." Bunny shook his head, rinsing his husband off. "We never recorded our history; it was only passed down orally. There's so much we don't know, like where we came from, what started the hate, or even where the other tribes are…"
"There are other tribes?" This was news to Jack. "Can't you find them with that amulet?"
"The way that thing works is knowing the exact address of where you're going." The Pooka explained, getting the shampoo next and rubbing it through Jack's thick hair. "Besides, we never had a drive to find them. We parted ways with them long ago because we argued with them."
"Well, maybe now's the time to meet up with them again." Jack closed his eyes so Bunny could rinse his hair.
"It's as good a time as any." Bunny replied. "I need to talk with my family about it." It was Bunny's turn to get scrubbed.
"This is kind of a dumb question, but have you ever asked a human why they hate you?" Jack took the shampoo and squirted it all over the fuzzy body.
"Not exactly, but I have heard the weird things they say about us." Bunny's ears lowered as he was bathed by his prince. "They say we're evil shape shifters that transform into six-armed beasts and rip humans apart. No Pooka can transform. We don't have any powers at all! If we did, don't you think we could defend ourselves better?"
"Why would people say those things about Pookas if it wasn't true?" Jack was confused.
"We have been questioning that for as long as we can remember, mate." Bunny sighed. "Since there's so much we don't know about ourselves, we can't help but think that… maybe they're right, in a way."
"So you think you used to be beasts, but you can't remember?" Jack rinsed him off.
"Exactly." The Pooka replied. "But then, how did we change?"
"The Man in the Moon." Jack said with certainty. "He might have had something to do with it." Bunnymund only shrugged. He wasn't sure if he believed in such a man, even though his husband believed so fervently. Jack believes the Man in the Moon gave him his powers and guided him in using them for the right purpose. "Hey, I have an idea." The prince broke the silence. "Let's go to my father's library tomorrow and see if there are any books about Pookas."
"That is a good idea, love." The rabbit stepped out of the tub and shook the water off his fur. "Maybe we can find out where the other Pookas live, too." He handed Jack a towel as he got out of the water.
"This is sounding like another epic adventure." Jack smirked, wiping himself dry.
"If it is, does that bother you?" Bunny asked. "I know we just got home, but…" He was silenced by a kiss.
"Don't be ridiculous." The prince said against furry lips. "I'm always up for an adventure, and like you said, home is wherever you are."
"Good onya, Frostbite." Bunnymund kissed his love again, wondering to himself how he ever lived without Jack.
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A/N: I'm back bitches! Still unemployed, still bored, and still in love with JackRabbit! There certainly was a lot of exposition in this first chapter; if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!
Taru-chan