Chapter 7

A Dandelion-Colored Vest

"Charlie! Not so fast!" whispered Jack as they wound through the maze of tunnels a few minutes later. They were too busy trying to keep up with the egg to notice the many doorways that they rushed past. "I don´t want to get lost and lose my head down here."

Sandy gave him a questioning look.

Jack looked surprised before answering. "You know, ´off with their heads? ´ Rabbit hole?"

Sandy didn´t have time to respond because Charlie (again) halted suddenly and turned his head (body?) to look at them. He put a shushing finger up to his rusty silent mouth slit before entering one of the side tunnels, which ramped down and led directly to another archway. The air had become warmer and more humid during the last minute, and now it was foggy with steam.

Charlie disappeared into the room, and the others followed cautiously behind.

"I need you . . . send a . . . golems to . . . south . . . to see . . . got all . . . them . . . all of . . . too. . ." they heard Bunny´s muffled voice say. They still couldn´t see him, or who he was talking to through the steam, but he sounded like he was trying to catch his breath. They heard some more strange metallic, echoey vowels, followed by Bunny´s voice again.

"Add that to . . . list then, and have . . . one go . . . check the . . . that I´ve . . . The sugar too, . . . you´re at it."

"He sounds weird," whispered Jack.

Sandy nodded, and North looked nervous.

"Don´t tell him about how we party for hours after he left, da?" answered North quietly.

The three of them nodded in unison, and stalked closer to Bunny´s voice. North was so intent on being quiet that he nearly drove right into a steaming pool. Sandy noticed this and began walking just in front of his friend to avoid an accident. Jack fell into step behind the tank-chair.

"Jarr, keep the cows . . . comfort. . . as possible, and try to get them . . . to you. . . take care of them by myself now, so you´ll have to . . ."

"Tik ou ikee ek totrr iki?"

"No, I don´t care . . . milk production right . . . just . . . them settled. Jane, have the golems . . . back from checking the west fields?"

"Tika ek arrak ikika-a."

"Fine. Tell them to start . . . and I´ll be there soon to advise."

"Tik iee Tik ke eka eko!"

"Ah, Charlie! Thank you, that´s just what I needed."

"Tik Ikotatouk ek koa—"

"Yes, North, I know. Run a note to him saying I´ll be late, and take my human med kit and the guardian journal with you. Go now, and keep in mind how cold it will be."

During this, the others had crept up close enough to see him. Bunny was near the far wall with his back to them, and he was surrounded by red-eyed metal egg minions of various sizes and make-ups, appearing to talk to them individually while he unwrapped his ankle braces.

Jack moved next to the other two and pinched the chest of his sweatshirt and shook it while looking at the others with a questioning expression.

"Why is he wearing clothes?" is what Sandy interpreted from Jack´s action.

North furrowed his brows and took a second look at his furry friend through the mist. Sure enough, he was wearing a slightly frayed dandelion-colored vest with multiple patches that covered his shoulders and his long torso.

North shrugged to Jack and whispered.

"He usually does, just not while running around for Easter."

Jack nodded in understanding, then they all continued forward. Bunny was now stepping into what looked like the only pool that wasn´t steaming. He was unbuttoning his vest with one hand and holding Charlie´s rosemary collection in the other by the time the others were close enough to see the fur on the back of his head clearly. There was an assortment of colorful soap bars on a tray by the pool edge, as well as a long-handled scrub brush and his ankle and wrist braces in a neat pile.

"Socrates, fetch me some food quick, will you? I´ve got to get to North´s right after this and won´t have time to get it myself. Some peppermint tea would be nice t-"

"You could just ask for some food at pole, my friend," said North cheekily.

Bunnymund wrenched around, his vest flipping open, briefly exposing a flash of white underneath.

"Crikey mate!" Bunny cringed after turning so quickly. "W-what the hell are you doing here?" he snapped, dropping the rosemary sprigs onto the ground so he could button up the vest with hasty fingers.

His voice had a raw edge to it, and his fur and double-breasted vest showed wet spots under the arms and at the center of his chest. His eyes were wide at first, but were soon narrowed as his nose wrinkled at the sides. His left arm was pushed against his covered ribs, keeping his vest closed while he cinched it back up.

"You were late, and we were worried so we came to meet you here!" explained North.

He did a good job of keeping the hesitance out of his voice and ended up sounding genuinely concerned and friendly. The other two nodded in innocent agreement.

Bunny´s eyes darted from North to Jack and then to Sandy.

"Late?" he asked haltingly. "What time is it?"

North laughed and answered. "It was nearly 12:30 when we left pole to look for you, and that was a while ago, old friend!"

Bunny´s eyes showed disbelief, and then annoyed understanding and acceptance as they shot from looking at North, to his own vest, and then to the ground.

"I see. . . I´m sorry, I didn't anticipate taking so long. How did you find your way in here?" he asked looking up at them with his left eyebrow furrowed, his hands finishing up the last few buttons.

Sandy and Jack pointed to the archway Charlie had sped through only moments past.

"Charlie brought us here" said Jack lightly, a child-like look in his eyes.

Bunny rolled his own eyes and brought up his right hand to pinch the wide bridge of his nose.

"So that´s what he meant when he said you were waiting for me."

The other three exchanged silent glances, and then pasted smiles on their faces as Bunny raised his head to look at them again. His green eyes shifted between the guardians, to the pool he was standing in, and then to North's casted leg. He sighed and then stepped out of the pool.

"Alright. Give me a moment to rinse and dry off, and I´ll meet you in another room."

The three intruders looked at each other and shrugged.

He walked past the extensive collection of long-handled brushes that hung on the wall and over to a shelf carved into the stone that was full of pastel towels. He moved quickly, giving Sandy only a few seconds to notice that the wet fur of his ankles had a distinct, thick line of darker grey just where his braces usually covered. He didn't have much time to ponder this, however, as Bunnymund walked back to the edge of the pool with a lemon colored towel under his arm. He dropped it by the edge next to the soaps and leather straps, and looked toward the doorway.

Charlie waddle-ran in just then with an old suitcase in one hand, a leather bound notebook in another, and a piece of paper in the third.

"Thanks Charlie. Now I need you to take them to the-" Bunny´s eyes wandered to one side as he drummed his fingers twice "—mmm, to the machine room."

Charlie´s body tilted to the side slightly.

"Aii a takate Tik?"

"No, not the med room; that stays closed. Take them to the machine storage room, it's already empty and should have enough space. Understand?"

"Tika."

"Good. Take the kit and book with you, and don´t let them wander off," grumbled Bunny as he glanced at his guests.

"Tika."

"In fact, have Edgar help you," he added, motioning to another egg minion amidst the group of metal helpers who were standing at attention, seeming to watch the interaction of their boss and his coworkers with slow blinking red eyes.

"Tika," said Edgar joining Charlie. He was a slightly larger metal egg with purple-based paint and only three arms.

Charlie stopped in front of North and held out the piece of paper to the large man and waited for him to read it before motioning for the three of to follow him to the archway.

North,

I´ll be late.

-E.A.B.

Jack´s face broke out into a large smile as he read the note over North´s shoulder. North let out a small chuckle and turned to Charlie. "Thank you for the notice, Charlie."

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CHAPTER 6 (CHARLIE) HAS BEEN EDITED! Nothing major, but I have changed how Charlie looks and most importantly, how his eyes depict what he´s thinking and feeling. It´s nothing grand, but I personally think it´s an improvement, so you may enjoy re-reading it.

Alright ladies and gents, this is where the pace starts picking up. I'm sorry the chapters have been so slow up till now, but the fun really begins in the next chapter.

Congratulations on making it through the slowest chapters! I can't wait to hear your suspicions and theories coming up.

With that said, please leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter. They really make my day. Don´t feel pressured to answer the questions, I only put them up here to inspire more reviews, so feel free to ignore them if you have something else to say.

Guest: Your reviews are the reason why I post these. Thank you so much for taking the time to write them out, they really do make my week! I look forward to reading your thoughts about this chapter. :) You are right to be surprised that Charlie didn´t attack the guardians. . . but more on that later, as I hate to spoil the experience for you.

Here's a few questions to inspire those of you who are a little shy:

What do you think Bunny has been up to?

If you were North, Sandy or Jack, how would you be feeling about Bunny's hospitality?

Have you ever fallen into a pool on accident?