Heyo! Sorry this took longer than expected. I had family to deal with and I thought I'd update but it didn't end up happening so...ugh. I actually rewrote like half this chapter. Anyway, for those of you who thought the rating might go up cuz Bunny's not in his right mind, or at least explicit things happening, you get fluff instead because I didn't plan for that in this chapter :p. Also pay attention to the author's note at the bottom plz cuz there's stuff down there too regarding the story.

Pairings: Jackrabbit, Onesided!BlackIce, Emma/Jamie, and other hinted pairings such as North/Tooth.

Warnings for this chapter: Dead Bodies, Nausea, Pretty Creepy ass things, and Noncanon sort of OC names for characters' parents.


Jack held onto the fur of Bunny's back like a lifeline, his eyes scanning over the sights of the Warren as he tried to understand as much of it as he could. He didn't feel any wind and he didn't think he'd be able to fly in the Warren either. It was completely underground and could only be led to by tunnels.

He would have kept staring had Bunny not let out a ferocious growl and shook his shoulders rapidly. Jack's grip faltered and he flew off, landing harshly on the ground in a dull green patch of grass. With close inspection, the entire place was dusted over with black sand.

Jack didn't have the time to look closely though before Bunny turned on him, eyes now a dark, dark green with a haze of grey over them. They weren't the same spring-time fresh green that Jack was so used to.

The winter spirit let out a cry of surprise, holding his staff up to protect him just like he had before. Except, somehow, Jack didn't think that'd work. Punching Bunny in the nose years before might have worked because Pitch had first taken control of him then, but now he'd had practice. He had time to perfect it.

All the same, Jack prayed to whatever god he could think of and in that moment he remembered the Man in the Moon. He didn't know what the guy looked like or how powerful he was but the others spoke of him like he were to be revered and that was just what Jack would think of him as.

"Bunny, it's me. You don't have to hurt me. You're not a monster. You're not Pitch's pawn." Jack begged, his voice shaking as he tried to back away on his hands. Bunny only inched closer, menacing fang-like teeth bared and claws extended with bloodstains marring their color.

His fur was a dark, dark grey that reminded Jack of the sand he was surrounded by. It was infecting him, pulling at his mind and tearing at all of his morals. "Cottontail?" Jack asked, watching as his friend seemed to retreat into this beastly form and never come back.

Each step brought him closer, and closer until eventually Jack found himself completely engulfed by the rabbit's presence. Bunny was standing over him, growling lowly and menacingly in his face as he stared him in the eye. Then with a startle, Bunny roared a thunderous roar in Jack's face to frighten him.

Having no clue what to do, Jack fought instinct and let go of his staff, leaving it by his side. "...A-Aster?" Jack muttered, whispering it out barely after Bunny had stopped.

It seemed to echo through the air as the grey in Bunny's eyes receded slightly, but not completely and confusion crowded the beast's mind. The claws slowly retracted and his teeth closed shut in contemplation.

Jack's breath had hitched in his throat and he'd gone even paler than before. The snowflake mark on the back of his neck tingled as what he felt to be Mother Nature pried at him yet Jack couldn't get a clear message nor respond in his terror.

The pain in his wolf-bite was pounding all of a sudden, at nearly the same time Jack had felt that comforting, worried niggling in the back of his mind where he knew he was connected to Seraphina. The pain was so startling Jack woke from his frozen place below Bunny and reached his arm across his side, letting out a painful wince and pressed his hand over the wound.

It was outrageously painful now and it burned like a newly made brand. Jack didn't understand, nor did he care, as he curled onto his side, protecting the injured arm from harm and preventing Bunny from seeing it. Jack couldn't care less about the beast hovering above him now.

Jack would have forgotten his friend was there until suddenly he felt a furry rabbit nose brush against his neck, sniffing at him and nudging him back onto his back instead of his side. Jack yelped in surprise, being forcibly turned over for inspection by a less than sane version of his friend and companion.

Bunny continued sniffing him all over; first the left side of the neck, then the right, then behind his ear, under his chin, his high abdomen, his chest, his left shoulder, and then right shoulder. It was a very confusing process for Jack seeing as he was almost attacked and killed by his friend moments before and his arm felt like it was on fire.

The rabbit cared not for what Jack thought though. Instead its attention swiveled to the exposed bite mark marring Jack's skin. It was redder than everywhere else, unlike earlier, but it was still mostly healed over.

Bunny's instincts kicked in immediately, his nose nuzzling the arm for a moment before he began sniffing the wound, cleaning the wound. It was all a repeat of Jack's first night with the rabbit in the burrow but ten times more intimate than allowed.

Yet Jack didn't protest for two reasons. The first was that his wound was no longer stinging like hell but instead aching dully like before, and while Bunny's tongue felt rough and it was awkward being licked to health by a giant rabbit, Jack still liked that it didn't hurt. The other reason was that Jack somehow found it comforting. Even though his friend wasn't directly conscious, there was still some part of him protecting Jack from harm, even if that harm is himself.

Pitch couldn't try and destroy that if he tried. Or so Jack assumed. Plus, it was the first time Jack had said Bunny's name since he repeated it when the rabbit had first mentioned it. It was like some emotional break through.

Jack found himself praying back to the Man in the Moon with great respect. If the guy could answer his prayers like that and save him from immediate rabbit death, then hell Jack would do anything for him.

Eventually after a few minutes of being meticulously tended to by Bunny, Jack felt his mind trying to shut down involuntarily. It was like something was pushing him to sleep forcefully, or at least prodding him to. The boy fought it the best he could for a while, but his eyes closed once during a blink and didn't open up until long later.

-o-

The next time Jack's eyes opened he found himself in what looked like a burrow, though quite definitely not the one Bunny and he usually inhabited. It was older and the dirt was drier and there was less light. Jack could barely see anything. Carefully he felt around him, realizing his staff wasn't in the burrow with him.

A small feeling of panic settled over him. He was lost in the dark with no way of protecting himself and he had no idea where Bunny was or if he was still in the right mind, or the semi-right mind. Jack could feel the aching in his arm returning and tried not to use it too much as he slowly got onto his hands and knees, feeling around him blindly.

Below him was a soft, moss-like surface though dried in some places like it weren't able to grow. Jack figured he was in a nest. Bunny never had one in their old burrow but Jack figured that before he might.

Jack's hands also found the remnants or more sand as he fumbled in the dark, groping around until he reached the walls. Determined to get back to his staff, Jack leaned against the wall with one hand and followed it in one direction, finding himself in a hall soon. The tunnels were lower than the burrow back in the mountain's ceiling, and Jack wondered whether Pookas stood on their hind feet often or if it was really just an acquired trait.

Mulling over his thoughts and listening for any sign of life, Jack followed the tunnel as it led him upwards at a slow slope. Light flooded in from the top but Jack could tell it was the same, dull and grey light filling the Warren and that the tunnel wouldn't lead him directly out.

Jack was correct, finding himself at the top of the tunnel within minutes. There was a stench in the air as he traveled upwards that got worse and worse. Jack couldn't figure what it was. Instead his nose twitched in the air as he took in short bursts of it.

It reeked of the same scent Jack had sometimes smelled in the forest. It had this electric feeling jolting through it like it were alive, sentient, but also it smelled like something else and for some reason Jack felt like he wasn't alone in those tunnels even though he could see there was no one behind him or in front of him now.

He felt like spirits were tugging and pulling at his clothes and occasionally he thought he'd hear the muffled cry of someone echoing through the earth. It was a terrible and discomforting feeling to be surrounded by so much death.

Jack ignored the creepy feeling in his spine and pushed onward, stepping out of the tunnel into an atrium like place with the dull light fading in through holes broken into the thinner walls. He could stand without hunching and he could see the remnants of an intelligent species in the objects around him.

There were dusted over blankets and fabrics covered by the dirt and dust and what looked like a kitchen almost, built into a room leading off from the main atrium. A broken table and abandoned belongings littered the floor. The earth was flaky and the loose dirt on top mixed with black sand.

The stench was quite obviously blood and rotting and from what Jack could tell, the Warren was like a ghost town turned cemetery. The feeling of death was everywhere, leaking from the walls and plants like the life that normally wafted off the world above him.

If this is what Pitch had done in his prime, Jack wondered what he could do if he had been able to feed off Jack's power. Would he have turned the whole world into this? Would he have killed the people of Burgess and left it like the Warren?

Jack's mind whirled in despair and his growing need to hold his staff became unbearable. The aching in his arm was a painful reminder that Bunny was still out of his mind, somewhere in the Warren or maybe he had taken off and left Jack there to die.

Slowly he proceeded through the remnants of some Pooka's burrow, walking into another room that was branching off from the atrium. There was a window built into it but most of the walls were falling apart anyway, being held up by roots and rocks.

Jack found himself in what was like a living room. There was a place for a fire though it looked abandoned even before the centuries of being left to rot away like the rest of the Warren. Beautiful paintings displaying green pastures and gorgeous flowers hung limply from the walls. Jack stared around the mess in wonder at what it would have looked like in its prime.

It looked to be slightly messy aside from the already prevalent abandonment and maybe whoever lived there wasn't too careful when it came to caring for their things. It looked like they lived alone.

Jack stumbled around the room, his hands traveling towards a book case long covered in dust and black sand. The pages of the books looked dry and aged but they weren't decomposing horrendously. Jack reached for one of the leather bound books with utter care and pulled it away from its place. The book case creaked with disuse but didn't falter otherwise.

Curiosity leaking from his features, Jack held the book in his hands and read the faded name pressed into the aged leather. "Eldon." Jack read aloud, his mind wondering who might have been Eldon. Confused by the name he opened the book's cover with caution and looked down on the faded and cracking paint.

It was an artist's book. Each painting was delicate and cared for in its time and they were obviously treasured. Most of the paintings displayed scenery of the Warren's plants and a colorful river. Others showed more of Bunny's kind. There was a lot of children, or more accurately, kits painted into the scenes than anything.

Then Jack noticed as the paintings took on a common theme. Almost always there was one kit in the painting, one with greyish blue fur and green eyes who painted just like Eldon. Sometimes another Pooka, older, would be with the kit. It was evident she was a female by her more lithe form and the softer actions she seemed to take. Her coat was a chocolate brown with dark brown markings that reminded Jack of Bunny.

Then the paintings became less focused, messier and less detailed. It reminded Jack of a man going blind and he guessed that maybe that was the case. But in each painting the kit got older and older until there was no more of the female Pooka and just an adult-like Pooka whose appearance greatly resembled Bunny. There were a few more paintings after the used-to-be kit had grown up, most of them depressing and dark because of their lack of detail and blobs of color.

Then there was a note that read in a fancy but male handwriting, "In loving memory of Eldon and Holly Bunnymund", and below it a small pencil sketch of a pair of Pookas seated beside each other on their haunches and between them the same small kit that Jack thought was Bunny.

Jack only had one guess. Eldon had to be Bunny's father and Holly had to be his mother. Both were obviously loving and supportive and it seemed that they'd died before Pitch's attack on the Warren. It was lucky they didn't have to suffer but Jack still felt pain for his friend's loss.

Sighing in frustration, Jack set the book back on the shelf with a depressed feeling building in his stomach. He felt like he was once again standing in a graveyard. He turned slowly, backing away from the bookshelf only to see he wasn't alone.

Sitting in the room was a small lone rabbit. It wasn't a Pooka, not by any means. But it was definitely a rabbit.

Jack's eyes widened in surprise as his body went slightly stiff in the presence of the room's new occupant. The rabbit was grey with white tipped ears and feet. All of its markings were white, reminding Jack somewhat of Bunny but he knew it wasn't exactly similar.

The eyes were a blazing blue color and watching Jack with a sort of interest. It flicked its ears once before turning its head towards the entrance. Jack followed its gaze, looking towards the aged wood of the door hanging slightly off its hinges.

As he was watching the door, the rabbit hopped over towards it until it was sitting directly in front of it. It flicked its ears again, obviously beckoning Jack towards opening the door. Jack watched, his feet practically moving of their own accord as he stepped after the rabbit.

It waited until he was about a yard away before it jumped, disappearing through the door like a ghost. Jack flinched in shock, not quite understanding and instantly he ran forward the last few steps and pulled the door open to see the rabbit waiting at the edge of a long abandoned garden surrounding the burrow.

Jack didn't spare many glances towards his surroundings but followed after the rabbit as it disappeared down an overgrown path. Jack passed many dilapidated burrows with the dirt walls caving in and many areas almost completely dusted over with the black sand.

The winter spirit's heart pounded in anticipation as he chased after the rabbit. It was several paces ahead, moving quickly up a large hill. Jack had followed it through small tunnels and had observed many stone structures built above ground, including some odd oval shaped rocks with moss growing over them. Some had odd carvings, many that Jack couldn't see fully through the overgrown plants.

It was scary almost, seeing everything covered in the black sand and abandoned for what Jack knew to be centuries. The stench in the air he had smelled before kept getting worse and the lighting never got brighter. The atmosphere was thick with a feeling of despair that Jack couldn't shake off.

The only thing that seemed truly alive in the place was the rabbit he was chasing, but even then the thing seemed to go straight through objects. As Jack followed it, he noticed the fur had a slight glow to it, shaping its form as it ran through the shadows and plants.

Jack watched as it perched itself at what seemed to be the crest of the large hill they had been running up. The rabbit was perched under a stone archway and as Jack got closer, he could see the painted scenes on the stones. The walls on either side of the archway were covered in faded, beautiful paintings.

Heaving in a deep breath, Jack took the last few steps to the top of the hill and observed the structure. The rabbit waited for him, flicking its ears a few times as he observed the paintings.

They were elaborate depictions of the Pooka race. Each Pooka was painted with a certain kind of grace that even Eldon's paintings didn't seem to embody. From one side of the archway, the rock wall depicted happiness, prospering…and then it began to fade into darkness. It depicted black, undefinable forms flooding in from tunnels, grabbing at the Pookas and tearing at their bodies.

No one was spared. Kits, Does, and Bucks were all murdered and suffocated by the black forms. Some of the Pooka had converged in a large group of warriors, standing at the base of a large hill in front of what seemed to be a wall of tunnels leading away from the Warren. The black sand poured from it like hundreds of small waterfalls and pooled on the ground in front of the Pookas who seemed to be decked out in war gear.

Standing in one of the center tunnels where the sand was pouring through stood one lone figure that Jack recognized with a spine chilling shiver. Pitch was standing there, arms raised and sending his black sand in their ever changing forms at the Pooka warriors. What seemed to be hundreds of skilled men and women seemed to die until there was only one left.

The Pooka was grey and held boomerang like weapons. But he was struck down too, taking a blow to the neck where he must have bled out and died. Jack recognized with painful clarity that the Pooka who had been the last to defend the other innocent Pookas who were unable to fight to be Bunny.

So to know Bunny had woken up to death…failure. Jack wondered how the rabbit really took it.

Horrified by the painted pictures on the mural, Jack looked to the archway where words were carved into the stone. Delicately carved in an ominous sort of nature was the phrase "for the thousands".

Jack could practically feel the sadness and guilt dripping from the words. He knew Bunny had painted the mural and carved the words into the age old stone. Jack could only guess what was on the other side of the archway.

He looked down, facing the ghostly rabbit sitting at his feet. It looked forward through the small tunnel of the archway. The tunnel was around three yards deep and at the other end of it Jack could see the same boomerang-like weapon from the mural stabbed into the earth. Resting around it were several other things that had been seen in the mural, like a bandolier and arm guards.

The rabbit in front of him hopped forward, stopping at the other end of the small arched tunnel. Jack followed it slowly, each step he took sending him chills up his legs and through his body until he stood at the other end, his eyes recognizing the area.

In front of him was the valley leading towards the hundreds of tunnels leading away from the Warren. It was the same one in the mural and it was obvious this was where the smell had come from. Jack's nose twitched and his stomach lurched at the sight.

At the bottom of the hill where Jack stood in the archway, strewn across the valley were hundreds of skeletons. More of the oval shaped rocks were found across the battlefield, but cracked and often broken by time. The black sand seemed to be everywhere.

The entire place reeked of death and blood. Jack could barely hold himself back from vomiting. His hand slapped over his mouth and his other arm wrapped around his stomach. No plants were growing in the area but vines growing up the sides of the walls where the tunnels stemmed from.

It was a desolate graveyard and battlefield. Pooka skeletons sat abandoned in the dust of the sand, bones cracking from old age and the air. The weapons lay strewn about, most broken.

At his feet, the rabbit looked over the scene with resignation and Jack heard a soft voice speak through the stillness of the air. "Kozmotis Pitchiner will destroy your home just as he did ours. He preys on Aster Bunnymund because of his guilt ridden mind and plagues him with nightmares to take control of him and toy with him. If you can free him from the hold, you can save your people."

Jack stared around blankly as the voice continued, his eyes eventually landing on the rabbit sitting in front of him. It was staring at him with a serious expression on its face, its eyes now locking with Jack's.

"Use your ice magic to send Pitchiner back to his domain. His realm can be found underground in the forests near your village. If you can trap him there, the lives of your people will continue on." The voice echoed through Jack's mind and Jack watched as the rabbit slowly disappeared into the earth, replacing itself with a flower.

The flower was situated right in front of the boomerang weapon and other Pooka war materials. Jack crouched down, reaching his hands towards the aged boomerang until his fingers wrapped around it and he tugged it from the earth.

If he was going to help Bunny, he might as well bring him something to remind him of home. Without another thought, Jack gathered up the other things and wrapped them in his cloak until he began to stare down at the valley once more.

Still confused on how to do what he was told, Jack looked back towards the walls of tunnels and saw that over them were names of places. Jack ran down the hill as quickly as he could, running across the valley and dodging the skeletons of the Pooka warriors to get to the walls with the tunnels.

As he ran across the field, frost slowly formed over the ground he touched and in response, it quickly melted away to be replaced with green grass and flowers.

Jack reached the wall where he stared up, reading the carved names. He had to find a tunnel leading to where Burgess was. Luckily, before Jack could face the trouble of searching for the right tunnel, he remembered the place where Pitch had been standing in the mural.

The rabbit had said that Pitch's domain was near Burgess, so he had to come from that tunnel because it was where his domain was. Jack smirked at his victory and began climbing the walls until he found the tunnel where no sand was. It was in the exact middle of the rows of arched tunnels.

Smiling, Jack stood at the entrance and turned to the field below him. "I'll take care of him." Jack said to no one, but at the same time he heard a wind blow from inside the Warren. Jack knew there had been no wind before, but it was like a burst of life had gone through him as his hair blew in the breeze. The Warren seemed almost alive.

A laugh escaped his throat and he turned, running down the tunnel as quickly as possible with the boomerang and other items in hand.


Wow, ok that chapter. Wooey. Also, guys I dont have a beta so yknow spelling errors and stuff...yeah I can't find them all. Anyway, note on Aster's parents' names.

I didn't want to have to name them but I kind of had to. Eldon's name was developed because I needed an 'e' name for the E. Aster Bunnymund. It means several things but I like "elder" and "from the hill" the best. Because both are kind of an inside joke to me. Holly comes from plant names because I think all rabbits are named after plants xD. It's a Watership Down thing.

Reviews are much appreciated! :D