Author's Note
I don't own ROTG, only the storyline and oc's
I am back again, people. Sorry for the longish wait. I really hate school work sometimes.. Hope y'all are reviewing. Great, now I sound like a cowgirl. But I want to be a cowgirl so, no biggie. Anywho, here's the next chapter. I suggest you read the chapters 7 and 8 before this one over again. It'll help, trust me. There's references and whatnot in this chapter. Enough of my rambling. Enjoy!
Chapter 9: What Bunny Reveals; and Then Regrets
Narrator's (POV)
Bunny gave his head a quick shake, as if it would rid himself of the memory. H looked back to Rainsong's sleeping form. She was so fast, so bursting with fun. Willing to die for someone else. If her dream was any indication. The dream. It was so much like his memory. Is that a coincidence? Or something else? He turned sharply when he heard a grunt.
Rainsong had turned over in her sleep. He tried to fathom why he was beginning to feel connected to this girl.
'Maybe it's her name. Yeah, that has to be it. Her name is Rainsong, my kit's name is Rain Lily. No, it's something more than that. Man in the Moon, this is confusing!' he thought to himself. He began talking aloud to the sleeping spirit.
"You can't tell anyone this, well you won't be able to tell anyone, your asleep. Anyway, I just want to tell ya', you remind me of my kit, Rain Lily."Bunny paused when he saw the kid roll over again, so that her back was facing towards him. He continued,
"She was brave, caring, a bit of a prankster, plus she was willing and ready to put her life at risk to save someone else. And I can already see that you have those traits. Even though I'm just getting to know you. You even seem to share her eyes. No kidding. Rain Lily had the most brilliantly bright emerald eyes. I just quoted her. That's what she always said. You, Mate, seem to have the same eyes as her. I mean it." Bunny paused and sighed, before continuing.
"The day I lost my kit was...was the day my species died out. You heard me right, died out. I'm the last Pooka on this planet. We were celebrating her birthday, out in the meadow. We ran to our village when we heard screams. It was the last Pooka village you see, and that's why it was so important to protect it." Bunny paused again. He took deep breaths, for his heart was starting to race. He continued,
"When we arrived, it was utter chaos. Thier...thier were dead Pooka's everywhere. Mothers holding kits, warriors still gripping weapons. Almost every house was either on fire or burned to the ground." Bunny shuddered.
"I was backing up, when I saw Rain Lily creeping towards the only house that wasn't up in flames yet. It was our house. When I finally got inside, she was crying and hugging her dying mother. I tried to bring her back, but she died. She had been able to give us Rain Lily's present, though." Bunny stopped and wiped his eyes.
"We left the village. We had to run for an hour, though, when the humans spotted us. We hid out under an old bridge. We were both able to see the locket, and the pictures inside it, before the bridge collapsed. The humans had been crossing it, and Rain Lily had shoved me into the river. She had been trapped by the legs underneath a timber from the bridge." Bunny stopped, losing himself in the memory. He pulled himself together again.
"I saw her tuck the locket into it's wooden box, then she buried it. She told me to run, to return for the locket. She said that as long as I had it, that she would be able to find me again. She told me to never lose my hope." As I swam downstream, she sang a song. A song that I will never forget. Later that same night, after retrieving the locket and saying goodbye to her, the Man in the Moon made me the Spirit of Hope. I was always a little happier on Easter, because soon, almost every kid around the world was celebrating her birthday, even if they didn't know it. Later, I was made the Guardian of Hope. And I felt that with every kid I was able to save, I was somehow able to repay my kit for...for not being able to save her."
Bunny broke off, and began to sob quietly. He was too upset to fully realize that thier were arms around him. He leaned into the hug, and after a few minutes, he pulled back. He was jolted to the present when he saw Rainsong in front of him.
"H-how long have you been awake?" Bunny stammered.
"Since you started talking." Rainsong replied, tears in her eyes.
"What?! Why didn't you let me know?!" Bunny demanded, anger replacing his sadness.
"I felt a 'bearing your soul' moment coming. It's bad to interrupt that kind of thing. Whether it's to someone awake or asleep, or even to the air. You just don't interrupt." Rainsong replied.
"What?! No one has heard that, ever! No one else knows it! Know one but me, and my kit! I wanted it to stay that way! You've ruined everything!" Bunny yelled. He saw a look come into her eyes; it spoke of hardship, love, and understanding. But over all of that, it showed hurt.
"Mate, I'm sor-" Bunny began, but he was cut off by her.
"No. Just, no. You never wanted anyone else to know? Done. I'll be going then, to ensure that no one, and I repeat, no one else knows your secret besides you. 'Bye." her voice held that same soft yet dangerous tone. Her eyes were hard as flint, showing no emotion at all. She grabbed her cloak and flew up to the rafters. And then she...disappeared. Bunny was frozen. He shook himself and hurried to the others.
"Hows Rainsong doing?" asked Jack.
"Where's Stormchase?" asked Bunny.
"Vhe put him in one of the guest rooms. Vhy?" asked North.
"She's gone." said Bunny simply, but the sadness and hint of horror in his voice was enough to make the others freak out.
"What?! She's dead?!" screeched Tooth.
"Tooth! She's not dead. Now quiet down. I don't want Stormchase hearing this just yet." Bunny said.
"What happened?" asked Jack.
"I was telling her about my past, a-and what happened to my people." Bunny paused, and continued,
"I thought that she was asleep, but she'd been listenin' the whole time. I got mad at her, and she started ranting about making sure that I was the only one that knew about it before I could apologize." Bunny explained.
"Vhere did she go?" asked North.
"I don't know." Bunny answered.
"I know how we can find her." a new voice spoke up. Everyone turned. Stormchase was there in the doorway.
"How long have you been there?" asked North.
"Long enough. Now tell me everything that happened, Bunny. I might be able to figure out where she was going and what she was going to do." he said it with no anger, only determination and worry.
"I...I told her about what happened to my people, how they were...wiped out."Bunny explained. Stormchase's gray eyes widened, and he nodded to Bunny to continue.
"I thought that she was asleep, but then she told me that she'd heard everything. I got upset and told her that I hadn't wanted anyone else to know. And before I could apologize, she said that I could have it my way and that she would make sure that no one else knew the secret. Then she grabbed her cloak and...disappeared." Bunny finished. Stormchase nodded, and began to pace back and forth, back and forth, unable to hold still.
"It sounds like she was going to try something. But what?" Stormchase asked himself. Jack snapped his fingers.
"The lights!" he exclaimed. Stormchase looked at him and grinned.
"How vill lights help us?" asked North.
"The lights on the Globe." Stormchase replied.
"I'm not sure how that helps us, Mate." said Bunny.
"We have our own lights on the Globe." Jack explained.
"Jack, the lights represent the children that believe in us. Spirits don't count." explained Tooth. Stormchase face palmed and grabbed Tooth and Sandy by the arm. He proceeded to pull them up to the top of the Globe; to show them the 2 lights on the North Pole. Tooth gasped and Sandy's eyes widened. There were, indeed, 2 lights on the top of the Globe. But instead of the usual golden glow at the center, one was light blue and the other dark blue.
"Vhat is it, Tooth?" asked North.
"You have to see this." she answered. Sandy nodded vigorously.
"We can't exactly fly, Tooth." Bunny answered. Stormchase face palmed again. He made a cloud, huge and dark gray, and shaped it into a small boat, with huge light gray sail. He sent it down to the flightless Guardians. Bunny climbed in cautiously and North climbed in as well. The cloud boat glided upward until it was level with the other 4 Guardians. Bunny whistled.
"You really do have your own lights, mate."
"We can discuss how we have lights later. We need to find Rainsong's. It's light pink." Jack continued. Stormchase changed the boat into 2 slightly smaller boats, with steering wheels and whatnot. They all began searching the continents, until Sandy tugged at Stormchase's cloak. He guided him to North America. A small pink light was there; on Burgess, Pennsylvania.
"Guys, Sandy's found it!" Stormchase called out. The others crowded near.
"Vhy is she in Burgess?" asked North.
"We have to go get her. Come on!" Stormchase exclaimed.
Meanwhile, in Burgess...
Rainsong paced around by the edge of the lake, trying to think this through. She could easily guess that the other Guardians would try to find her right away. Especially so if she sounded like suicide. She knew that her injury had thrown her emotions off it's mark. She felt really bad about saying those things to Bunny, but experience told her that if she let her emotions spike unchecked, the humans would be in for some really crazy weather. She sighed and idly messed around with her powers, eventually making an ice staff that looked for similar to Jack's. She grinned and spun and waved it around. This new 'toy' could be fun. And dangerous.
"Hello." said a voice behind her. She spun around to see Jamie.
"Jamie? Don't scare me like that! I don't want to freeze you by mistake. How ya' doing?" Rainsong said.
"I've been doing great! Where's Stormchase at?" Jamie asked.
"He's hanging with Jack."
"Did you make that?" asked Jamie, motioning towards the ice staff.
"Yup. Pretty cool, huh?" She replied.
I don't like cool. How about we heat things up a notch, shall we?" a voice said. Rainsong gave Jamie her dagger and held the staff at ready. Dahlia Summer emerged from the trees, smiling cruelly.
"What do you want, Dahlia? I thought I made it pretty clear that to mess with me would end badly enough. Facing me right now, though, is a death sentence." Rainsong said it calmly, but the threat was clear in her voice. Dahlia laughed and motioned to Jamie, and said,
"If that's your army, then I shouldn't be to worried, then." Rainsong's eyes narrowed.
"Leave him out of this. He's just a kid, and he doesn't need to be caught up in our feud." Dahlia grinned evilly. She blasted fire at the pair, and Rainsong was only just able to make an ice wall to take the blow.
"Jamie, I need you to run. Run, as quick as you can, and get home. I'll distract her. And tell Stormchase and Jack about this when you next see them. Understand?" Jamie nodded. Dashing in a huge circle the Summer spirit, she surrounded her with a huge wall of ice, and soon she was completely penned. Rainsong froze the top and sealed her in. Rainsong yelled out,
"Jamie! Run! Hurry, get home! And tell the other Guardians! Go!" Jamie ran for his house, and didn't stop until he was safely inside. There was an explosion of heat and boiling water as Dahlia destroyed the icy prison. She turned her gaze on the weather spirit, eyes narrowed dangerously. She began to blast fire, dodging easily when Rainsong retaliated.
"Oh, are you hurt? When I'm done with you, you'll wish that you had never become a spirit." Dahlia said with mock concern.
"You do realize that I don't really want to fight you. We could call this off right now, and talk out the problem."
I've had enough 'talk'. Words mean nothing, and will do nothing. Action will!" Dahlia shouted. She blasted fire, and it surrounded the weather spirit on all sides but done.
"Let me out!" yelled Rainsong.
"I don't think I'll be doing that. I think that you'll make a nice pet. Don't you?" Dahlia cooed.
"You do realize that adopting wild animals is against the law? Besides, you'll never be able to tame me." Rainsong replied. Dahlia's eyes narrowed and she raised her hand. She slowly began to close it, and the fire cage got steadily smaller.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Rainsong demanded.
"Putting you in your place!" Dahlia snarled.
"Leave her alone!" a voice rang out. Dahlia turned to see the other Guardians. Her eyes widened.
"Stop right there! You come any closer, and your precious Rain-sap will be roasted." she grinned as the other Guardians looked horrified.
"You vouldn't dare!" boomed North, pointing one of his sabers at her. Dahlia, mistaking it for a potential attack, made the cage smaller. Rainsong yelped and backed up. She wasn't feeling to good. The heat was making her thinking foggy, and her limbs heavy. Dahlia grinned.
"Try me." Dahlia suddenly yelped in pain and saw that she had been cut by a dagger. An ice dagger. She glared at it before closing her fist tightly. The cage closed in on itself immediately, the flames inches away from...nothing. Suddenly, Rainsong appeared out of nowhere, and proceeded to uppercut the Summer spirit. She backed away in shock, holding her jaw. Rainsong froze her in place. She marched into her face and said,
"You listen to me, Dahlia Summer. I don't know what your problem is, but remember this. I'm a Guardian. You mess with one of us, you get all 7. We're a packaged deal, deadly fighters to our enemies, and a caring family to our friends. Don't you dare forget it." she marched towards the others and nodded. They were rigid with shock, and snapped out of it when she waved her hand in thier faces. They all climbed into the sleigh. By the time they got back, Rainsong was fast asleep.
Hey, everybody! I would like to say, that I didn't mean to have the Summer spirit be such a jerk. I know how to fix it, at least. Anyway, please review! And please leave suggestions for the story. They are greatly wanted and appreciated. Later! Rainsong and Stormchase, out!
