The hazy sun barely peeked over the hills, but it was light enough that they didn't need to bring torches. It was cool and somewhat chilly, but it wasn't that bad. Evie and Lann were walking in the grassy fields along the road to Rocheste, but Lann had no idea why the girl decided to drag both of them out here.
"Oi, oi! Why'd we come out here so early in the morning?" Lann yawned and stretched his arms over his head. In front of him, Evie hummed a tune and swung her staff at the tall flowers.
"I found something cool yesterday! It's somewhere around here..." Evie swept aside some dead branches and stepped around a bush. Lann yawned again and scrubbed at his eyes; Goddess, he was so tired...
"You couldn't wait until after breakfast, at least?"
"No! I know it's right here!"
Evie shooed away a sheep that had been munching at some grass. The sheep seemed to give a dark glare at the magician before trotting away in the other direction. A glint of something shiny a few feet away caught the her sharp eyes.
"Ah– there! I found it!" Evie ran over to the half-buried item and dug it out with the end of her staff. Once the object had been entirely unearthed, she levitated it into her hands so she could take a better look at it.
The object turned out to be a small, translucent, and amber-colored gemstone with a black swirl in its center. It glowed faintly, and Evie could feel something akin to a heartbeat coming from the strange stone.
Lann's eyebrow twitched. That was what Evie wanted to show him? A rock?
Evie spun it around as it hovered above her palm. She frowned as she ran through the list of gemstones in her head. "I've never seen something like this. I can't identify its components."
"Tch. It's just a fancy rock." Lann scratched the back of his head and turned to walk back to Colhen. He waved a hand over his shoulder in dismissal. "I'll see you later."
Evie stuck her tongue out at the dual-wielder and looked at the stone.
She then looked back at Lann's retreating form.
Then back at the stone.
She smirked, and with her magic she threw it as hard as she could at Lann. The gemstone flew quickly through the air and hit the back of the man's head with a thunk! Score for Evie!
With a hand rubbing the back of his head, Lann turned to yell at the cackling magician, but the stone near his foot started to crackle ominously. He looked down at the rock, confused.
Then, the gemstone exploded.
Well. She certainly hadn't expected that.
Evie looked at the white clouds that obscured where her friend was standing with her mouth hanging open.
"Lann! Are you alright?" She jogged over and waved some of the smoke away. Coughing, she reached through the smoke–
–only to grasp nothing at all.
Alarmed, she waved most of the smoke away and saw that Lann was, indeed, nowhere to be seen. What?
A crunch of dry leaves near her foot caught her attention, and Evie looked down to see a tiny brown rabbit the size of a chipmunk with its beady black eyes wide open in terror as it twitched uncontrollably from where it was sitting. On the rabbit's sides there were twin stripes of black fur stretching from the backs of its fuzzy arms all the way down to the ends of its curled legs. The creature's button nose and long whiskers twitched as it pawed at its face for a moment.
It hissed at her when she bent down to look closely and thumped its feet a few times before taking off through the space between her legs.
"H-hey! Come back here! Hey!" Evie chased after the rabbit as it bolted for Colhen, but by the time she reached the entrance it was nowhere to be seen.
Lann didn't really know what to make of his new body, but his instincts screamed at him to run away as fast as possible, so he did. Once he had hopped into Colhen, the small outpost looking terrifyingly gigantic now that he had shrunk down about ten times in size, the first thing he did was hide in an overturned bucket near the General Store.
His long ears twitched as he laid them as flat as he could against his head; these new appendages were very sensitive to touch, but he could hear everything going on outside his hiding space. It was a strange feeling, but not any stranger than his newfound, very sharp, sense of smell.
The bucket around him rustled and then lifted, exposing him to the sunlight. A giant, sandaled foot was right in front of his face. Lann froze, willing himself to be very, very still.
"Oh, a bunny! How cute!" Hands picked him up gently and raised him up high enough so that Lann could see who had found him. A redhead beamed at him – Clodagh.
Clodagh carried him into the General Store in her cupped hands. Aislinn looked over from where she was bottling some Iced Strawberry Brandy.
Lann pressed his ears down tightly as the two women cooed over him and stroked at the fur on his head. If he were human, he would've been flushing hard enough to resemble a tomato.
This... this is so awkward...
"Hey, you two are scaring it. Look, it's shaking." Fenella had come over and took the rabbit from the two women. She placed him on an empty spot on a table covered in bags of spices and old books. Lann couldn't help but sneeze as the strong smells assaulted his sensitive nose.
"Aww, it sneezed! How cute!" Clodagh poked at his cheek.
The door to the General Store opened, the bell above the door ringing briefly, and Fenella turned to assist the customer. "Oh, hello Fiona. What do you need today?"
"Thirty empty bottles."
Lann's ears perked up slightly at the mention of Fiona. Aislinn and Clodagh moved aside in surprise as he hopped past them, down onto a chair, and then onto the floor. He flopped over to Fiona and sat down on her armored boot. Hopefully she would be able to help him get back to normal...
Fiona didn't seem to notice him, so Lann scratched at her steel-covered ankle with his front teeth. The scratchy noise was loud enough that the woman looked down.
"Here's your bottles, Fiona."
"Thank you. Is that your rabbit?"
Lann's right ear folded over and he slumped over. How was he going to get help if he couldn't communicate at all?
"Clodagh found it a few minutes ago outside. You can hold it if you want." Armored fingers caught in the scruff around his neck and Fiona lifted him up so he could sit in her hand. Lann's ears folded again and he rested his head down on his paws as she began to stroke the back of his head.
"Aww, it likes you! Why don't you bring it around to Tieve? I'm sure she'd like it!" Fiona made a noncommittal noise and walked out with Lann sitting in her hands.
Lann's nose twitched; Fiona smelled predominantly of metal solvent and cold steel.
When they entered the Inn, Lann spied Karok sitting down at a bench eating his breakfast. Lann's stomach growled inaudibly and he remembered that he hadn't eaten breakfast yet.
"Yo, Fiona... what is that?" Karok pointed with his fork at the rabbit in her hands. Fiona took the seat across from him and set the rabbit down on the table.
"It's a rabbit."
"Yeah, but... why?"
"..."
Lann hopped over to Karok's plate as the two were talking and snagged a slice of sausage. The meat, however, was abruptly ripped away from him. Lann hissed threateningly and thumped his feet. He was hungry, damn it!
"Woah, did it just... hiss? At me?" Karok poked at the rabbit's furry belly with a big finger. Lann hissed and swiped at it with a paw.
Fiona had a curious look on her face as she studied the rabbit. "... I wasn't aware that rabbits could hiss. Or consume meat."
"Mmhmm... I thought rabbits were vegetarians." Karok pulled his plate away as Lann hopped a little closer. "Here's a carrot."
Lann wrinkled his nose. Vegetables? Just because he was a rabbit didn't mean he was going to eat like one! He hopped closer and sunk his foreteeth into a strip of bacon. Lann managed to get a few bites in before Karok pulled him away.
"Are... are rabbits even supposed to eat pork?" Lann huffed and his nose twitched. From what he could tell, Karok smelled like a pine forest mixed with lingering whiffs of steel.
Fiona shrugged and handed the rest of the strip of bacon to the rabbit. "It seems to like it."
"Hmm..." Karok used a finger to raise one of the rabbit's legs while it was eating. "It's a male rabbit. A buck. I can't really place the type, but he's definitely a woodland critter."
Lann huffed indignantly and kicked at Karok's hand. The giant backed off and let him eat in peace.
Fiona's eyes traced the markings on the rabbit's sides. The markings looked awfully familiar to the shape of the swords that Lann was carrying around this morning...
Tieve came over with a plate of pancakes for Fiona, but when she saw the rabbit she nearly tripped over herself. With a happy laugh, she set down the pancakes on the table and picked up the rabbit, holding the tiny, snuffling creature up to her face.
Tieve's scent reminded Lann of a crisp breeze through an orchard of apple trees. It was homey and welcoming.
"How cute, a baby rabbit! Where did you come from, Mr. Bunny?"
Karok speared the rest of his bacon on his fork. "Fiona brought him in a while ago. Apparently he likes pork."
"Really? Well, aren't you an odd little bunny!" Tieve scratched at the spot between the rabbit's ears with her fingertips.
Lann's ears flicked back against his head, feeling faintly embarrassed as his foot started thumping at the enjoyable scratching. Then he remembered that Tieve, being an oracle, could apparently speak to animals. Maybe she could understand him?
Tieve? It's me, Lann!
"Oh, did you say something?" Tieve leaned in closer at the sound of the rabbit's poor attempt at communication.
Tieve, it's me Lann! Evie did something with a rock and now I'm a rabbit! Help me, please!
Tieve eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "I'm sorry, but I can't quite make out what you're saying. You're not making any sense, Mr. Bunny."
Fiona raised an eyebrow as the rabbit started to tremble. Apparently there was a creature that the oracle could not speak to?
The door to the Inn opened and Vella walked in. She hid a yawn behind her hand as she made her way over to Tieve, Fiona, and Karok.
"Good morning, everyone. Sorry Karok, but you're next for patrol." Karok finished up the last of his breakfast, stood up with the dirtied plates in his hands, and made his way over to the kitchen. Lann's nose twitched as Vella came closer and pinched one of his long ears between her fingers.
"Eh? What's this thing doing here?"
Lann didn't like the way she was touching his ears, so he lashed out with his paws. He almost fell out of Tieve's hold as the pinch pulled painfully against the delicate fur and skin. Lann made a pained noise and Tieve gasped.
"Vella, don't do that! You're hurting him!"
Vella let go of the rabbit's ear but leaned in close so that it could see every inch of her mischievous, shark-like leer. "I like your ears, bunny! Why don't I make a hat out of them?"
Snarling as best as he could in a rabbit's body, Lann wriggled out of Tieve's hold and leapt across onto Vella, savoring the way that the woman's eyes widened a fraction of an inch as he flopped onto her head like a ragdoll. He thumped his foot a few times and tugged at a lock of the carefully-maintained hair with his teeth (she smelt of sea salt and ripened star fruits) before hopping onto the floor and bolting through the open door.
The scream of vain terror that followed a few seconds sounded absolutely wonderful.
Lann hopped along the shade of the trees lining the Dock as he dodged the feet of a few mercenaries that weren't watching where they were stepping. It was mid-morning, so many were setting off into the first boats of the day.
Once safely hidden behind a barrel, Lann sat back on his haunches and sniffed the salty air. The stench of freshly-caught Ignacht carp, bleached leather, and assorted metals assaulted his nose.
A crunch of dead leaves and twigs caught his attention and Lann turned around to see two cats that were twice his size with their hungry eyes locked onto his poofy tail. The cats hissed and Lann's ears pressed against his head. This was not good...
Lann bolted as quickly as his legs could take him out into the throng of mercenaries, and the cats followed a split second after with yowls. He ducked behind a few people that stumbled backwards at the sudden appearance of a brown blur that was followed with two mangy cats; staying in place probably meant that he would be eaten up.
Skidding on his paws and leaving a trail of dust, Lann sprinted over to the campfire and hopped over a small opening between two people sitting on one of the logs. The two cats screeched angrily as they scratched and clawed up and over the poor mercenaries that had gotten in the way.
As Lann rushed past a few more people, he was startled beyond belief when a gloved hand shot out from nowhere and scooped him up head-first, raising him up high enough just in time for him to see (through a space in the graciously spread fingers) the two cats make a terrifying leap for his feet–
–only to miss by a scant inch, sail past the roped-off end of the dock, and splash into the water with surprised shrieks. The two cats hissed as they paddled clumsily back onto the dock, sopping wet and miserable.
Lann felt another pair of fingers push at his struggling feet, helping him push himself entirely onto the broad palm. Once his wildly beating heart calmed down, Lann felt himself trembling in exhaustion and he sat down with his arms and legs tucked protectively underneath his furry stomach. He could see whoever was holding him starting to walk, but the hand that was holding him up was completely and utterly still.
A tip of a finger idly rubbed at the spot between his ears and Lann's ears raised up from where they had been plastered to his head. He looked up to identify the person carrying him (the gloves smelled like old blood and gunpowder) and was surprised to see Kai.
For once, the man wasn't glaring at him or looking as if he was going to kill everything in sight. He looked... relaxed, somewhat.
Lann settled back down; it looked like they were heading towards the Outpost.
"I'm really not making this up! There was a rock and–"
"Enough, Evie." Captain Aodhan ran a hand over his face and sighed as the magician huffed and crossed her arms. Gwynn didn't know what to make of this... predicament, so she remained silent. "We don't have time for this. Where is–"
The door to the Outpost opened with a creak and Kai ambled in. He looked at Evie with a mildly disappointed frown. "I found him."
The tiny rabbit in his hand raised itself on his hind legs with its ears pointed straight up in the air. Captain Aodhan stared for a moment at the rabbit, pinched the bridge of his nose, and then slumped into a chair. Behind him, Ceara and Marrec were speechless.
From a dark corner, Gallagher snickered.
Evie raised a finger and smiled awkwardly. "... I told you I wasn't making this up."
"How will you fix him, then?" Gwynn was absolutely baffled; never in her life had she seen something like this happen. True, there were stories of humans turning into Fomors, but never into a rabbit of all things!
"Ehh..." Evie scratched the back of her head. "I'll go ask Brynn, maybe he'll know. Come on, Kai!"
"..."
Eager to escape the awkward atmosphere, Evie sprinted out the door with Kai right behind her and Lann-the-rabbit holding onto one of his fingers for dear life.
"Brynn! We need your help!" Evie barged into the Magic Laboratory as noisily as a giant gnoll.
Kai slipped into the room silently. Lann didn't make a so much as a peep from where he was sitting.
"I see you still haven't learned how to knock." Brynn didn't look up from where he was studying a drawing in one of his alchemical books. "What do you want?"
"Lann turned into a bunny!" This caught Brynn's attention and he turned around slowly with disbelief written all over his face.
"... Say again?"
Evie crossed her arms across her chest. "I threw a magic stone at Lann and now he's a bunny. Can you turn him back?"
Brynn paused, and then returned to his book. "No. I do hope this isn't another one of your jokes, Evie."
"I'm not joking!" Evie grabbed Lann from where he had been dozing in Kai's hand and shoved him in Brynn's face. Lann squirmed at the tight grip around his midsection and hissed at Evie. "See?"
Startled, Brynn moved aside and Evie deposited the wriggling creature on top of a pile of his notes. "Well, then..."
Lann hissed and his ears went flat against his head. Why couldn't people stop grabbing him like that?!
Brynn frowned and examined Lann-the-rabbit with the back end of a pen. The rabbit certainly did have the same color scheme when compared to the last time he had seen the dual-wielder, not to mention the stripes of fur on its sides that did look like a pair of swords... "Do you have the magic stone that did this?"
Evie grimaced at the memory of the explosion. "No, it exploded and I couldn't find any pieces when I went back to check."
"A pity." Brynn set down his pen and turned to Evie. "I can't do anything, I'm afraid. I've never seen a transformation of this type."
"Maybe Reilly knows something..."
Evie deflated and scooped Lann into her hand. His furry self fit snugly in her palm, but Lann was doing his own version of a bunny glare at her that seemed to say, This is all your fault!
Yeah, this really was all her fault. Evie and Kai exited the Magic Laboratory, and Evie waved at Kai's back as he walked away with his hands in his pockets.
"Well, it's just you and me, again."
Lann-the-rabbit glared even harder and kicked at her hand. Not prepared for the sudden hostility, Evie dropped him when he chomped on one of her fingers. Lann flopped to the floor with a thump and bounced back to his feet.
He stuck his tongue out at Evie as he hopped away.
Lann had wandered over to the Docks again and, consequently, was being chased by three cats. He skidded over a patch of grass and dived behind a large tree before rounding back, relishing the brief moment when two of the cats rammed head-first into the tree trunk while the other stayed on his trail. Lann hopped onto a wobbly crate of fish, his sudden and powerful kick sending a large tuna sliding down to smack the screeching cat right in the face.
Unfortunately, he didn't notice the fish-smelling slime covering a few barrels so when he jumped onto one of them, his paws and feet failed to get a grip on the slippery surface and he toppled over into the water with a horrifying splash.
Tiny air bubbles rose to the surface before stopping entirely. The three cats regrouped and skidded to a stop, waiting for the (supposed) dead body of the rabbit to float up to the surface.
A minute later, two armor-covered hands broke the surface of the water and latched onto the edge of the dock. The mangy cats scattered, hissing at the splash of water that had drenched them from head to toe.
Now human (and wearing a full set of very heavy plate armor), Lann painstakingly dragged himself onto the dock and spat out a mouthful of water. His swords, thankfully, were still attached to his belt.
Once back on mostly dry land, he forced himself onto his shaking feet and stretched the sore muscles of his arms. The transformation back to human akin to being crammed through a meat grinder several times, but add in his aching legs and the fact that he had pretty much skipped breakfast... he certainly couldn't be blamed for the incredibly foul mood that he was in at the moment.
Running his hands through his tangled hair, Lann grumbled and trudged back into Colhen with dark scowl on his face. He'd let Evie deal with the fallout. Right now, he wanted a warm meal, a hot bath, and his equipment-cleaning kit.