Hey guys! So this is the Bunnymund fanfic I was musing about in 'Fates Align' and I know it's never a good idea to juggle 3 fanfics all at once but I just couldn't resist posting this.
Inspired by Bunny's musing in WOC when he was thinking of Jack and Kayla during their visit to Father Time.
Tell me what you guys think! Listen to:
Memories - Within Temptation
From Winds of Change:
In his Warren, Bunnymund stood organizing eggs according to which country they were suppose to go. Leaving the task to one of his egg assistants, his mind then wondered to Jack and Kayla who were supposedly visiting Father Time.
His emerald eyes filled with sadness as he felt the familiar pang of guilt and longing, knowing he himself was once pushed into the almost same position as Jack. The willingness to give up everything for someone you loved.
Heaven knows he understood what Jack was going through.
It's funny how people say when you die; your life tends to flash in front of your eyes. But what they didn't know is that even in sleep, your mind tends to have flashbacks of its own.
That was the case for Bunnymund.
The huge Pooka woke up thrashing and sweating in his bed, his emerald eyes dilated with fear.
That was funny; he almost never had nightmares nowadays.
In a moment of vulnerability, he curled his body and started heaving, trying to block out the memories that his nightmare had produced.
He had dreamt about his family and what happened on the last day of the near extinction of the Pooka's, leaving Bunny the last one standing.
E. Aster screwed his eyes shut, trying but to no avail, to block out the onslaught of memories.
It was just any other day in the home of the Pooka's. The mythical Pooka's lair was hidden underground but almost every one of them loved going to the world above.
"Don't forget to be back in time for lunch, Aster," a strict female's voice could be heard.
A younger, less wary version of Bunnymund bounded down the earthen stairs of the burrow as his nose twitched cheekily.
"Yes, mum, I'll try," Bunny drawled in surprisingly non-Australian accent as he bounded to his gray furred mother and gave her a peck on her cheek.
Despite her warning to him, Bunny's mum smiled and scratched the back of her son's ears lovingly.
"Take care of Brianna too, okay?" his mum said as she waved at him before Bunny left the comfort of his burrow.
Bunny resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Not Brianna, he thought.
Brianna was the daughter of his mother's dear friend who was always trying to pair Bunny and her up. The two can barely stand to stop trading sarcastic remarks around each other and yet, her mum was so sure they'll end up together. Even Bunny's mum would say that they would be perfect for each other.
Hmm, fat chance, Bunny thought sourly.
Despite their harrowing differences, Brianna absolutely loved the wild just like him and therefore always asked to accompany him during berry hunting and the harvesting season.
Of course, her way of asking usually came accompanied with an insult, but Bunny digressed.
That female Pooka was going to be the death of him.
Just yesterday she had nearly fallen into the river while berry hunting and despite Bunnymund saving her, had put on an act that she had been pushed by the male rabbit because he found it funny.
Well, the pushing part was true but at least he did save her right? Right?
Bunny then started hopping faster, passing other almost empty burrows. He knew that today would be Harvest Day and that the rest of the Pooka's would be in the Above World, collecting their crops and preparing for winter.
Bunny hated winter. He despised snow, cold and anything remotely winter-ish.
He hated how winter always robbed the Above World of their life and made the trees look dead, the water frozen and even the wind sounded dead.
That's why he absolutely loved springtime.
It was customary for Bunnymund to spend the new spring day beside the Dew River, a beautiful abode where the rest of the Pooka's would go and splashed in the lukewarm water, reveling in the fact that another winter had passed.
Bunny's heart would always swell when he saw the signature thinning of pine trees and heard the merry rush of the river, beckoning his outback soul.
"Hey, turtle brain, slow down, would ya?" a remarkably sweet voice housing a biting remark said from behind him.
Bunny huffed. That would be Brianna he thought as he just sped up.
Suddenly, a mass of white fur went tumbling into him as Bunny lost his footing and crashed to the ground.
Bunny huffed as he untangled himself from the white Pooka's limbs, glaring at his laughing adversity.
Brianna hooted as she got up and shook the dirt from her white fur.
"I told you to slow down, but apparently, I think I was going faster," the striking female Pooka said as her bright violet eyes shone with amusement.
Bunny gave her a fake grin. "I was just slowing down because you know what they say, you gotta respect the elderly and not thump dirt on their face, Bri," Bunny said in a scathing tone.
Brianna stuck out her tongue playfully. "You're just jealous," she remarked as she bounded away from him with a laugh.
Bunny momentarily looked flabbergasted as his eyes narrowed and leaped after her, muttering under his breath.
As he said, the death of him.
He could hear Brianna's laughing in a distance and when he halted in the clearing near the Dew River, he was confused.
That's funny, no sign of Brianna here, the male Pooka thought as his ears went flat against his skull.
Normally, on days like this where they were suppose to collect berries near the water; Brianna would often hide in an attempt to scare him silly.
It never worked, but it was always great material for a ribbing.
Now, the clearing was silent and Bunny could feel something was off. It was too silent. Eerily so.
A sudden gasp could be heard. "Help me!" Brianna's voice came from somewhere down the river.
Bunny mentally rolled his eyes as he approached the river with the intention of telling Brianna of that her trick didn't work.
What he saw instead made his heart leapt in his throat.
Brianna was flailing in the water, her violet eyes frozen with shock as her white fur was matted against her body. She was struggling against the current as the river was beckoning her to the end, where Bunny knew there would be a waterfall.
And the worst part is, she couldn't swim.
He winced when he saw Brianna's body being thrashed to the rocks by the current as he leaped to the edge of the bank where he extended his paw to her.
"C'mon! Grab hold of this Bri!" Bunny yelled as his emerald eyes filled with terror. Brianna was spluttering but she fought the current with the tenacity of steel as she tried gripping his paw.
In a moment of sweet relief, she had managed to grab his paw and was holding onto it for life.
But it seems as if fate had different plans.
With a jolt, Bunny realized his foot had slipped from the surface of the rock and he too went crashing into the water.
He tried fighting the current while holding onto Brianna's paw but the current was too strong.
His heart froze in terror when he felt the pull of the water trying to drag him below and he knew what that meant. The waterfall was just feet away.
Bunny imagined the imposing waterfall with her sharp rocks and high fall; that thought made his blood run cold.
A stream of Pooka swear words crossed his mouth as Bunny tried in vain to hold onto Brianna while keeping his head above the water.
Brianna spluttered as she too was trying to keep afloat.
The last thing Bunny saw before his body was flung to a particularly huge rock was Brianna's scared face and his terrified expression reflected in her eyes.