Chapter 2

On his way home, Jack made a pit stop at a grocery store to pick up a bag of cabbages. He never kept a rabbit before, but they were suppose to eat cabbages, right? Then, to treat himself, he caught a food van before it was closing up for the day and bought himself a burger and fries to go.

Jack was tempted to chow down then, but the sun was setting and he rather not be out on the streets if Mike and Tony decided to carry out their threat. Making sure he wasn't swinging the bag, Jack dashed up the street to the old abandoned stage theater.

Jack imagine it looked rather nice in it's day, but that was a long time ago. No one had bother to step foot in the place for over a decade, which made it the perfect home for Jack. He doubled checked no police officers were watching him before slipping around the back and entering the back door.

Like Jack did everyday since he came her, Jack propped a loose wood board under the knob to keep it somewhat locked before heading to the stage.

"Home, sweet, home," he sang to no one as he walked passed the moth eaten and broken seats and climbed up onto the stage. Jack then set the bag duffel and released the rabbit.

"There you go," Jack said as he set the rabbit down. "Should be safe for you to run around here."

The rabbit glanced around confused. Jack half expected it to just run off, but instead he sat and stared at Jack. "The place isn't much," Jack explained as he pulled over a costume trunk to use as a table. "But better than sleeping on the streets and plenty of blankets in here when it's cold."

Jack then paused. "And I'm talking to you like you can talk back, I wonder if that's a healthy sign or not."

He rubbed the back of his neck as he took his meal and then dug out a couple of cabbages to place in front of the rabbit. "Here you go, sorry it's all I could afford," he took and swallowed a bite of his burger and savoured the taste. "Course," he chuckled as he set the burger down and then popped a fry into his mouth. "Not sure what else a rabbit would eat besides cabbage."

The rabbit tilted his head at Jack, but then took a cabbage and started to munch on it. What was odd though was the rabbit was holding the cabbage between his paws. Was that normal?

Jack shrugged, and ate the rest of his meal. He then took out two of the many water bottles Jack bought when he could and found an old bowl in the trunk.

"Here, you're probably as thirsty as I am," Jack said as he filled the bowl and placed it in front of the rabbit. He watched the rabbit take a long drink before opening his bottle and swallowing a few mouthfuls.

Jack wiped his mouth with his sleeve and glanced at his watch. He debated eating one of the donuts, but decided it was better to save them for breakfast. He then reached into his bag and practice the magic tricks he would do tomorrow.

Out of the corner of his eye, the rabbit was slowly exploring the place, but he didn't seem to be wandering very far. However, as Jack was practicing with is linking rings, the rabbit hopped back over to watch.

Jack grinned as he held out the tricks. "Hey, want to see a trick?"

The rabbit twitched his nose as Jack held out the two rings and tapped them. "See, they look solid right? Can't break through, but watch." Jack held up the top ring and smashed it down into it. When he was done, Jack held it out to show the rings were now linked.

"Neat, huh? First trick my dad ever taught me." The rabbit blinked and tilted his head curiously. "He was a traveling stage magician, so I've been learning this stuff since I could walk."

Jack fingered the rings as he become lost in his memories again, but shook his head. "Anyway, I need to some sleep. Saturday tomorrow, so I need to get up early to hit the park."

He rose and headed to the backstage, and much to his surprise, the rabbit followed. He rearranged the pile of old costumes he used for his bed and blankets, but took a couple of the smaller pieces to make a place for the rabbit.

"I have no clue what rabbits sleep on," Jack said as he patted the pile and look to the small animal. "But this is the best I can do for you."

He patted the rabbit's head before he crawled into his own bed and pulled a large pirate coat over him for a blanket. "Anyway, night, little guy." Jack stole one more peek at him before shutting his eyes. The rabbit seemed to be sniffing the bed, so maybe it was good enough for him.

Tomorrow, he would have to seriously decide what he should do with the rabbit, although Jack couldn't deny he was tempted to just keep him. It felt nice to have another person around to talk to, even if that person was an animal that could talk back. He sighed to himself and wrapped the coat around him a bit tighter to shield himself from the cold. He could feel it was going to be a cold night, but it wasn't long before he fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Bunny frowned as he hopped to the boy and tapped his foot in thought. He like to think he was a decent judge of character and the boy didn't seem like a bad person. The kid did save his neck from those two goons earlier.

Granted, he really disliked the idea of getting a kid involved. He couldn't be any older than 16, although with also raised the question of why he was living on his own in an abandoned theater?

Bunny debated, what to do and sighed. If he wanted to get back to the other Guardians, he had no choice but to talk to the kid and get him to tell him where exactly he was. Then, he would-

The kid's teeth chattering made his ears twitch and caused him to look back. The kid was shivering as he tried to burrow deeper into the large coat. Bunny's ears went back. The cold didn't bother him because of his fur, but it was clear the boy was shivering. Bunny never could stand seeing children being cold, no matter how old.

Bunny paused only for a minute, but once he saw the boy shiver again he took it upon himself to crawl under the coat and nestled into the boy. As he expected, the boy sensed the warmth and in his sleep wrapped an arm around him like Bunny was a teddy bear.

Bunny sighed. He had not planned being used as a stuffed animal tonight, but there were worse ways to sleep. Like that blasted cage of Pitch's Bunny thought with dread. He then shut his eyes and, for the first time in a while, Bunny was able to sleep peacefully without worry, at least for the night.

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This was not good. Onyx had been searching all day and night, and he still had not found the Pooka. He sweated nervously at the thought of returning to his master empty handed. Onyx did not want to be taken apart again. What was he to do?

He heard movement from the next alleyway and peeked in. He saw two teen boys digging through garbage bins, but it was the taller of the two that noticed him. "What? Mind your own business, bud."

Onyx's eyes narrowed, but stayed where he was. "Have you two seen a rabbit?"

The boys suddenly paused, glance to each other and smirked. "Maybe," said the smaller one. "A small grey one?"

Onyx's eyes lit up. Yes! He finally had a lead. "That's it! Where did it go?"

"You got any money?" asked the taller one.

"Well, no," Onyx replied. "The Master doesn't trust me with money."

The boys exchanged a confused expression, but the tall one kept his smirk. "Tough luck, no money, no info." He turned his back. "So, go back to where-"

Onyx cut him off as he grabbed the back of the boy's shirt and pinned him to the wall. He held his mallet sized fist to his face and snarled. "Tell me, where did the rabbit go?"

"Hey, pal! Layoff!" cried the shorter boy, but Onyx simply grabbed him and pinned him to the same wall.

"I'll say it again," Onyx repeated. "Where did the rabbit go?"

The tall boy swallowed and shook. "D-don't know, Overland took him."

"Overland?"

"Jack Overland," stammered the shorter boy. "S-some kid who thinks he's a magician."

"Yeah, he has it," the taller boy said, "he'll probably be in the park tomorrow."

"Thank you." Onyx grinned and dropped the boys. "Now I don't have to worry about getting blood on my shirt, Master would have been displeased."

"Y-Yeah, sure," said the taller boy as he and the other one back away from here. "Glad to be of service."

Onyx smiled as he swiftly left the alleyway to inform his master of his progress.

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so short, but I promise the next chapter will be a lot longer.