Chapter 2 – The Other Side
Bunnie pulled the scarf around her neck tighter as a cool wind blew past her. It was now seven months since she had left Little Planet and gone out on her own and she had never regretted it for a moment. Mobius was still here and the Earth Alliance hadn't over run the place so they must all be coping with the situation without her. Her heart was still shaky even after seven months, the death of Knuckles hitting her so hard it amazed even herself. This time there was no hope of him coming back like before but gradually she was coming to terms with it.
During her travels she had left Never Lake and travelled north. She had never been to the north of Mobius and had decided now was the time to explore this area of the planet. It hadn't taken her long to change into her winter clothes, the temperature dropping dramatically the further she went but even though the temperature was low the landscape was beautiful and, to a degree, distracted Bunnie from the cold. At present she was walking along what appeared to be a road but a layer of snow stopped her from confirming this. On either side of her was a small bank lined with leafless bushes and small trees, which were all equally covered in snow as the road. Aside from that the landscape was quite bleak and mostly consisted of large fields covered in snow. In the far distance Bunnie could make out the form of what appeared to be a woodland of fir trees and looking back she could still see the frozen lake that she had camped beside the night before.
Bunnie looked back at the path ahead of her and stopped. She gave a small stretch and then took a watch from her pocket to check the time. It was fast approaching mid day now and Bunnie was starting to get hungry. She had woken early that morning and must have walked a good seven miles since breakfast so she decided to settle down and take a break for a while. She made her way slowly over to a large rock by the side of the road and brushed the snow off its surface before sitting down. She unslung her pack and set it down in front of herself, taking out a small camp stove and a pan as she did. She scooped a bit of the snow into the pan and set it to boil as she took out a small notepad and a pen and started to write.
"17th 11, 3254
It seems like what I said yesterday about this place being a wasteland of snow is turning out to be true. I've not seen a living thing since I left Kistua over a week ago. Not that I'm complaining, I enjoy my time alone. If anything it allows me to concentrate on why I'm really out here. Even so I wouldn't mind seeing someone now and again, you know, just to break the routine."
Bunnie chuckled to herself as she closed the notepad looking up as she did. It was then that she pulled a slightly puzzled face and looked at the bank at the opposite side of the road. She was sure she's seen something move, a puff of white disappearing behind the snow covered bank. She continued to look for a moment before shrugging and looking away.
"Must have been my imagination." she said slowly.
Just then a light click ran through the air, a click Bunnie knew all too well.
"Or maybe not…"
"Alright, stand up and turn around slowly." commanded a voice.
Bunnie gulped lightly and then slowly stood up and then waited a moment before turning to face the owner of the voice. The first thing she saw was the muzzle end of a large rifle that had been the source of the earlier clicking sound. She tracked its length, noticing that the weapon, although small, was very high tech and appeared to be custom made. At the end of the gun was something she didn't expect, not a human from the Earth Alliance like she had been expecting, but a blue coloured fox.
He stood at about five foot, slightly shorter than Bunnie, and had blue fur with white covering his chest, muzzle and the tip of his tail. His bangs looked more like a mass of fur formed into three points that stuck down and nearly covered his eyes and were also of a blue colour but had a black underside to each point. A red headband was wrapped around his head, the ends of which were so long that they trailed nearly to the floor behind him. He wore a pair of brown armbands on his upper arms and a small silver necklace around his neck. Black shoes with a white stripe sat on his feet and black fingerless gloves covered his hands. What really caught Bunnie's attention though was his tail, red bands of cloth had been tied around two sections of it with trailing ends nearly as long as his headband. The end result split his tail into three sections and stopped his tail puffing out like most other foxes. The end of his tail was split into six small flicks which all had a black tip to them.
His gaze levelled on Bunnie as she turned around, the fox aiming the weapon directly at her face as she did. Bunnie couldn't really see his face well for his bangs but she could make out his blue eyes and they didn't look friendly at that moment.
"Hold your hand up." he instructed giving a quick glance at Bunnie's right hand.
Bunnie looked at him for a moment and then slowly raised her hand. As she did the fox took his left hand off his gun and reached forwards, making a quick jerk and yanking a couple of hairs from Bunnie's outstretched hand. Bunnie gave a quick yelp and pulled her hand back, looking at the fox with a mix of confusion and anger.
"Well you feel pain, that's one thing in your favour but I still have to check. Now stay put you hear."
The fox gave a quick glance to his right arm and it was then that Bunnie noticed a small device, which appeared to be a computer, strapped to his right wrist. The fox quickly placed the hairs in a small orifice in the side of the computer and tapped a couple of buttons, flicking his vision from Bunnie and back the computer over and over as he waited for the results of what he was doing. Finally the computer gave a bleep and the fox rose an eyebrow.
"Hmm, clear." he said almost to himself as he slowly lowered the tip of his weapon from Bunnie's face, "Forgive me but I had to be sure you really were what you looked like."
"And what would that be?" snapped Bunnie not feeling too happy about having a gun aimed at her.
"A furry like us, with all the past history on Mobius and these sneaky Earth guys you can never be too careful."
Bunnie stood and looked at the fox with a slight glare as she rubbed her right hand slowly.
"Who are you?" she asked quickly.
"You can call me M." replied the fox.
"M? That it?"
"Well MTP is the full version but most people call me M, it's quicker. And who are you?"
"A furry like you!"
"I can tell you don't like me much, granted I suppose, I did just have a gun aimed at your face. Maybe you'll like talking to a more neutral party."
M looked over at the opposite bank of the road and whistled sharply before giving a call.
"Yo Tif! You can come on out, it's safe!"
Bunnie turned slightly to see a new face appearing over the bank. She was a black coloured fox with a white chest and muzzle. Short crimson red hair fell down to her neck around her face and the tip of her tail was also of a crimson colour. Her ears didn't looks like foxes ears at all, they hung down behind her head reaching just past her shoulders and looked a little like floppy rabbit ears but not as long. The insides of her ears were also a red colour matching her tail and hair. An odd green top covered her chest which was fastened round her neck in a loop and then split into two, passing round her breasts, and meeting again near her stomach. She also wore a long pair of dark violet trousers with a lighter violet pattern on it, white shoes, dark blue elbow length gloves that clung to her fur and a large belt made up of several pouches which hung at an angle around her middle. A large golden amulet hung around her neck and a small delicate chain with a small hanging silver stone was visible wrapped around her head under her hair. Finally a small pair of glasses rested on her muzzle just below her chestnut brown eyes.
The fox lightly made her way down the small bank and walked happily over to the pair, stopping just a little way off and giving a smile.
"Hello there, you'll have to excuse M, he can get a little too intense at times." she spoke softly.
"Who are you?" asked Bunnie.
"This is Tif." replied M, "She's…"
"Ahem! M, I can introduce myself you know and stop calling my Tif, you know I don't like abbreviations."
"You call me be an abbreviation all the time." complained M rising an eyebrow at the other fox.
"That's beside the point, anyway I'm Tifa, Tifa Julie-Star Mysteria if you want my full name. As M was about to say, I'm his partner."
"Darn right sweetie." smiled M.
"Watch it M or you'll regret it later."
Bunnie watched as the two went about their playful argument as if she wasn't even there. Her earlier anger and irritism started to fade slightly and she got curious.
"Partner?" she asked doubtfully.
"Well we prefer to use partner, we are more boyfriend girlfriend though." replied Tifa turning to look at Bunnie again.
M just gave a nod and set about holstering his rifle onto his back. There was a moment of silence during which time the sound of boiling water could be heard and Bunnie quickly looked down to find the pan of ice she had set to boil was now steaming. She quickly bent over and picked it up, placing the pan next to her pack on the rock beside her, and took out an instant soup packet from her pack. Tifa and M both noticed this and watched her for a moment.
"You travelling alone?" asked M.
"Yes." replied Bunnie now in the process of making her soup, "I've been travelling for about seven months now."
"Woah! You got a lot of time on your hands." joked M with a chuckle.
"Oh M will you be quiet." responded Tifa giving a shake of her hand, "Forgive him, he doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut."
"I noticed." replied Bunnie.
"You got a place to stay tonight?"
"I just set up camp wherever it looks good, I've picked out a spot on the map that I'm heading for by dusk."
"I see."
Tifa gave a wave of her hand in M's direction and walked off a few paces with the blue fox. The pair quickly fell into whispers but Bunnie, being a rabbit, managed to catch every word of their conversation.
"You think we should take her back to Harmony?" asked Tifa.
"Think that's wise Tif? We don't really know who she is, you never know who people are in this day and age." replied M.
"You're the most suspicious character I know M, there's nothing suspicious about her at all. And besides I think it's the least we can do after you unnecessarily pointed that gun in her face."
"Hey that was precaution only."
"Tell that to her."
"Fine! But this was your idea ok."
"Ok ok, whatever you say."
The pair looked back towards Bunnie who was now looking at them with interest.
"We'd like to invite you to stay with us this evening." said Tifa with a smile, "It's the least we can do to make it up to you."
Bunnie folded her arms and leant back against the rock for a moment. Although they had threatened her they had apologised and seemed nice enough. Bunnie finally gave a nod.
"Well alright, I guess it beats sleeping outside in this cold for a change." replied Bunnie.
"Cold? You're making me feel warm just looking at all those layers! Where'd you live? The equator or someth…." started M before he quickly found one of Tifa's hands covering his mouth and the other on the back of his head.
"M, shut up." said Tifa flatly into his ear.
M mumbled an affirmative sound and Tifa released him. M turned and stuck his tongue out at Tifa for a moment.
"Spoil sport! Well shall we go?" said M.
"In a moment, there's still one person to join us." replied Tifa.
"You didn't Tifa!"
"You bet I did, Josh! Hey Josh you can come out now." called Tifa.
Bunnie watched as a pair of white ears popped out from behind the opposite bank followed by the head and body of a young feline. Bunnie couldn't help but smile as the cat, who appeared to be a snow leopard from his colour, approached. He was completely white with small black circles dotted all over his body, face and tail. At the tip of each of his ears a tuft of black fur and a large tuft of black fur stuck out over his chest partially covering the pure white fur on his chest. Four large palm leaf like strands of black hair stuck out of his head and fell across his face under which on his forehead sat a pair of red coloured goggles. His whiskers were fairly short, barely reaching past the sides of his muzzle, and his eyes were a brilliant magenta colour. He wore a set of simple clothes consisting of a pair of light grey gloves, grey socks and red and orange striped shoes.
The cat jogged down the opposite bank and then walked over to the group, Bunnie noticing something strange about him already, he never let go of his tail. The cat stopped beside Tifa and flashed a smile at her and M.
"Hi uncle M! Hi aunt Tifa!" he said quickly.
"Hello Josh, how you feeling?" asked Tifa.
"I'm ok, who's this?" asked the cat looking at Bunnie.
"This is…" started Tifa before she suddenly blushed heavily and turned away slightly.
Looking back at Bunnie she rose a finger to her mouth and lightly nibbled on it.
"I've introduced the others and myself but I've failed to ask who you are." she said with a hint of embarrassment in her voice.
Bunnie looked at her for a moment and then laughed slightly.
"My name is Bunnie." she replied finally deciding to trust them.
"Nice to meet you Bunnie." replied Tifa offering her hand, which Bunnie took and shook.
"Can we move this along people?" grumbled M, "Some people need to eat."
Tifa slowly glared at M and then smiled wickedly. She crossed over to Bunnie's pack and took a hold of it.
"Hold out your arms M." she said.
"What?" replied M.
"Just do it."
Reluctantly M held out his arms and Tifa quickly picked up Bunnie's pack and dumped it in his arms. M nearly collapsed from the weight but managed to catch himself.
"Hey what's the deal?" he said.
"Well I'm sure Bunnie is tired from carrying that pack for all this time and being the gentlemen M it's only right you carry it." replied Tifa, "Besides it'll help build up your appetite."
"Very funny!" complained M.
Bunnie picked up the pan of soup she had just made and looked at it.
"I take it whatever you're serving is more appetising than this." she asked.
"Much more appetising." replied Tifa.
"In that case…."
Bunnie quickly threw the soup out of the pan and into the snow beside the rock before washing the pan out with a bit of spare water. She quickly added the pan and the stove to the side of the pack making M groan at the additional weight.
"You want me to carry you as well?" he complained.
"You can carry Josh if you like." replied Tifa.
"Yeah!" cried Josh quickly looking at M.
"Uh huh huh huh!" groaned M banging his head lightly against the top of the pack in his arms, "Me and my big mouth."
"Yes indeed M, now close it before it gets you in even more trouble." suggested Tifa.
M gave a nod and finally hoisted the pack onto his shoulder. Tifa watched as M strained not to make a sarcastic remark and laughed.
"Come on Josh, I don't think M can carry you this time." said Tifa.
"As well." shrugged Josh with a smile, "Next time maybe."
"Yeah maybe."
"How far is it to your home?" asked Bunnie.
"Not far, a couple of miles to the east from here. We can probably make it just in time for lunch if we hurry."
Bunnie gave a small nod and started to walk along beside Tifa. She shrugged her shoulders several times, enjoying not having to carry her pack for a while. She looked over at M walking near to them and shook her head. The fox was nearly bent double under the weight and was already sweating slightly. Bunnie looked back ahead of her, turning her attention to the scenery around her as she walked. This could prove to be a most enjoyable day.
-----------------------------------------
The journey went swiftly for the most part with the conversation revolving around small things such as likes and dislikes and other small talk. M continuously complained about the pack on his back but Bunnie and Tifa simply ignored him. Josh walked along ahead of the group, the small cat nearly going invisible against the white backdrop on occasions.
Before long the snow on the road started to get less and less and what little there was left was covered in footprints. Tifa smiled slightly and quickened the pace, bringing the group to the brim of a small hill and then stopping. The road led down a small hill and into a shallow basin between several hills. Nestled in the middle of this basin was a small town covered in snow from doorstep to chimney. The central hub of the town led out in several spiral like arms to the edge of the town and made the entire place look like a spiral galaxy in it's shape.
"Welcome to Harmony." smiled Tifa with a chuckle.
"Tifa you pull that joke every time someone new shows up, give it a rest would you." complained M as he walked past.
Tifa simply put her arm out and slapped M across the back, or in this case the back of the pack he was carrying. The result sent M falling to the floor with a crunch and causing M to groan. Bunnie quickly looked at Tifa with a shocked expression on her face but before she could speak Tifa interrupted her.
"Oh he'll be fine." laughed Tifa.
"If you weren't so pretty I'd dump you." complained M as he started to pick himself up.
"Thanks for the compliment M, now lets get moving or we'll miss lunch."
Josh started nodding very quickly, obviously eager not to miss lunch, and then set off in front of the group again. Tifa placed an arm around Bunnie's shoulder and guided the older rabbit down the hill towards the town as M picked himself up and followed. Bunnie couldn't help but glance over her shoulder at the blue fox.
"Why do you treat him like that?" she asked quietly.
"What?" replied Tifa loudly, "Like that? Why does he always have to be sarcastic? If he stops that I'll stop pushing him over, it's a fair enough deal."
"Buh!" came M's reply from behind them.
"See, it's not going to happen." finished Tifa, "But don't you worry about that, we've been like it for years."
At this point the group were entering the outer edges of the town. Bunnie soon forgot her questions and just looked around, the town was like something out of a fairy tale. The houses were small and mostly of one storey only. Many had thatched roofs with small chimneys, out of which flowed a steady stream of white smoke. Some of the larger houses had gardens at the front but all seemed to have gardens to the rear. Elegantly designed street lamps lined both sides of the street, from which hung flower baskets that were overflowing with various coloured plants. The street was clean of snow but small patches still sat here and there towards the side of the road, the sun glinting off the water created by the melted snow.
"Oh ma stars…." coined Bunnie looking around in awe, "It's beautiful."
"Yes Harmony is the nicest place I've ever been." replied Tifa.
"Where do you live?"
"Myself and M live on the South Side near the river but for lunch we're heading to the East Side."
"Why's that? Don't think you have to trouble yourself with buying me a meal."
"Oh we're not going to a restaurant, if you want to know there are none in Harmony."
"No restaurants? My, a rabbit sure could make a good business here."
"Oh! Do you cook?"
"Well I used to own a restaurant a few years ago."
"Really now! My you certainly are a surprising character, you'll have to tell me about that later."
Bunnie gave a small nod and continued to look around as Tifa looked back at M.
"You ok back there M?" she asked.
"Yeah just fine!" replied M looking up.
The fox didn't look so annoyed now and had straightened up slightly. Tifa gave a smile and then turned back to Bunnie, guiding her down another street and on into the town. It didn't take long to cross the town, Harmony wasn't as large as Mobotropolis had been and the journey to the East Side took slightly less than ten minutes. Finally Josh, who was still walking ahead of the group, stopped next to a house and sharply turned into the garden outside it. He bounded up the path and flung himself at the door, which opened easily and appeared not to be locked or even shut. Tifa gave a small nod and guided Bunnie into the garden with M following still.
"Here we are." she said.
Just then Josh's head appeared around the door again just before the door opened fully. Bunnie stopped dead and just stared at the new furry who had just opened the door.
"Hi there Sabrina." chimed Tifa cheerfully, "Hope we're still on time for lunch, and we brought a guest, that ok?"
"Perfectly fine."
In the doorway next to Josh stood a pinkish red coloured echidna with deep green eyes. Her quills hung just below her shoulders and had a few white bands of cloth wrapped around them. Her brown coloured hair was short on the top of her head and formed into thick strands that just reached the top of her eyes and behind her hung a single thin ponytail. She wore a pale yellow dress that hugged her slim figure fairly tightly. The dress had arm length sleeves and on the front four white tassels with yellow ends hung, two just below her breasts and two just below her hips. The dress also had a white trim around the neck that was quite thick and heavy looking as well as a long yellow cape with white trim that touched the ground. On her feet was a simple pair of brown shoes.
Bunnie's face looked like she had just seen a ghost and for a moment she was unaware of anything going on around her. How could this be possible? Hadn't Knuckles been the last of his kind? Tifa noticed Bunnie startled look and gave her a small shake.
"Bunnie? Hey are you alright?" she asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah I'm fine." lied Bunnie as she snapped out of her trance.
Tifa gave her a puzzled look and would have enquired further if M hadn't interrupted.
"Yo girls can we move along now?" he said quickly.
"Oh, yes of course M." replied Tifa shifting her attention back to other things.
Bunnie stood for a moment looking at Sabrina and then let Tifa guide her into the house. Sabrina stood aside to let them past and Josh had already disappeared somewhere. Last in was M, who promptly collapsed to the ground with a crash as he made it over the threshold. Sabrina quickly knelt down next to M and looked up at Tifa.
"Tifa girl by a darling and go check on lunch, you'll see what needs checking when you get in there, I'm going to sort this fluff ball out."
"Hey!" wheezed M, "I'm not a fluff ball."
"Tell that to your tail!" replied Sabrina as she started to undo the pack from M's shoulders.
Tifa nodded at Bunnie and indicated for her to follow which Bunnie did. The hallway of the house was more of a closet it was that small but several doors led off to other rooms. It was through one of these doors that Tifa led Bunnie, the pair appearing in the kitchen. The kitchen was small but still big enough for a number of people to move around easily. An old stove sat in one corner of the room with a worktop covering the rest of that wall. Above the worktop was a large window that looked out over the garden at the rear of the house and to the right of it, on another wall, were lines and lines of shelves filled with various old jars and such like. The opposite wall held a sink and another worktop and the floor was stone tiled with a large worn rug covering it. Tifa headed over to the stove and took the lid off a large pot that sat on the heated top.
"Oh wow!" she said giving the air a good smell.
"Hmm?" enquired Bunnie making her way over.
"Sabrina's making stew and dumplings, couldn't have wished for a better meal right now."
"She's got a cake in the oven too!" chimed a cheery voice from behind them.
Tifa and Bunnie turned to see Josh standing in the doorway licking happily on a large wooden spoon that was covered in raw cake mixture. Tifa put her hands on her hips.
"Josh, you know eating that stuff will spoil your appetite." she said.
"Yeah but its nice." replied the cat, "Sabrina says once you've checked the stew you can go and sit down. She says it'll take a bit more time before its ready."
"Yes Josh, tell her we'll be there in a minute."
Josh nodded quickly and left the room leaving Tifa to check the stew again and then motion to Bunnie to follow her. Returning to the hallway they passed through a different door and into the living room. This room was much larger than the kitchen, covering about half of the ground floor of the house. Near the back wall was a large table surrounded by chairs with a cabinet holding plates and cutlery near to it. The other end of the room held a large bay window and several sofas clustered around a fireplace. Sabrina currently sat on one of these sofas holding a cup of tea, which she was sipping lightly. Josh was sitting on the floor in front of her hugging his tail, Bunnie again noticing that the cat had yet to let go of his tail with any more than one hand. M was nowhere to be seen.
"Sabrina? Where's M gone?" asked Tifa.
"I sent him to get some wood for the fire." replied Sabrina with a smile.
Tifa looked at her and then started to laugh quietly.
"Score one for Sabrina." she said.
Sabrina merely shut her eyes and bowed her head for a moment still smiling.
"Well come on in you two and sit down." invited Sabrina as she raised her head.
Both Tifa and Bunnie complied, sitting down on a sofa opposite Sabrina. Sabrina slowly put her empty cup down on a small table beside her and then looked Bunnie over from top to tail.
"And who is your guest Tifa?" she asked after a moment.
"My name's Bunnie." said Bunnie before Tifa could reply, "I've been travelling for the last seven months."
"Seven months! Goodness, you're braver than I am." replied Sabrina, "Can I ask why?"
"I…have my reasons." said Bunnie looking away out of the window.
"I see, well you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"Well I…"
"OK HERE'S YOUR WOOD SABBY!" came a screaming irritated call across the room.
Josh literally jumped a foot in the air and everyone else looked over at the door to see M walking into the room carrying an armful of logs. He crossed the room in silence and dumped the logs in a basket by the fire before turning to everyone and giving a small bow.
"Anything else you require or can I collapse in a pile now?" he asked.
"No that's ok M, you can collapse now." chuckled Sabrina.
M gave a small sigh and crossed to a free chair, flicked his tail to one side and quickly kicked one of his feet out from under him with the other foot. The end result of this was M landing very heavily in the chair and almost breaking it in the process. Everyone looked at him for a moment before Tifa got to her feet and crossed to the fire. She took a bit of paper from a nearby stack and started to make a small fire in the hearth. As she did she cast a glance at M, now slumped in the chair, and rose an eyebrow.
"M you're soaking." she exclaimed.
"You noticed eh?" replied M gruffly.
"What happened?"
"As I was coming out of the wood store the snow on the roof decided to migrate to the floor…past me! I must have looked like a damn snowman for a few minutes."
"Oh you poor thing."
Tifa stopped her fire building for a moment and made her way to M's side where she promptly hugged him. M didn't seem too impressed but he didn't try to stop her either. That is until Tifa started to undo the bands around his tail.
"Hey Tifa what are you doing?" he asked.
"Taking these wet pieces of cloth off, your fur needs to get some air if it's going to dry out you know." replied Tifa.
"Tifa no! Don't you even think about it, not when we have company, you know what happens when my fur gets wet! Tifa!"
It was however too late though as, with a tug, both of M's tail bands fell away in Tifa's hands. There was a moment of silence and then suddenly the fur on M's tail bristled and puffed out expanding his tails size to about four times that of what it was normally. A large sweatdrop started to roll down M's face as he looked around the room with a nervous smile on his face. Bunnie, who had watched the whole thing, couldn't help herself and burst out into fits of laughter closely followed by Sabrina. M looked at Tifa, giving her a 'you'll pay for that later' type of look to which Tifa replied with a 'you know where to find me' type of look. Promptly Josh started to poke M's now puffed out tail and giggle lightly to which M just collapsed back into his seat and gave a groan.
There was a brief pause then in which everyone picked themselves up and made ready to compose the conversation again. That is all except for M who started to whistle lightly as he fell asleep in his chair. Sabrina took the time to turn to Bunnie and give the rabbit a good look from head to toe.
"So how long are you staying?" she asked.
"Hmm?" replied Bunnie, "Oh, well I thought maybe just for lunch, I've got a long way yet to go and I don't want to impose on you too much."
"Nonsense, we hardly get visitors here and I really want to hear about your journey. Besides when a new face turns up on Celestial Day we can't just let her walk out without taking part."
"I'm sorry?"
"Oh my!" chimed Tifa turning round to face them, "I'd completely forgotten about that, guess I should check my calendar more often."
"What? You mean you never told her?" asked Sabrina.
"Told me what? What's Celestial Day?" stated Bunnie her voice full of confusion.
"It's a big yearly celebration we hold." replied Sabrina turning to face Bunnie, "It's a celebration of everything that's happened over the past year, a time of remembrance."
Sabrina sat back in her chair and looked up slightly.
"There's a tradition to make a stranger in the town the guest of honour but for the last few years we've not had anyone new in town. I guess the Alliance and the troubles before that stopped people from travelling. But it seems this year will be different."
Sabrina stopped and looked back at Bunnie, as did Tifa and Josh, and smiled at her. Bunnie rose an ear in surprise.
"Me? The guest of honour? Oh I couldn't!" she said quite taken aback.
"Don't be silly now!" replied Sabrina leaning forwards, "You'd be perfect and besides it'll make the whole town so much happier if you agree."
"Yeah it'll be fun!" smiled Josh looking directly at Bunnie.
Bunnie herself was in two minds, she was still unsure on whether she wanted to stay here long, she did have a long road still ahead of her, but the whole place and the people in it were making her feel more and more at home by the second. She glanced at the young cat for a moment and returned his smile before looking back at Sabrina.
"Well alright, I guess I could stay for tonight." she replied.
"I'm glad." nodded Sabrina blinking slowly, "You'll certainly raise a few spirits. Right now I'm going to go and get lunch going. Wake M up for me would you Tifa."
"Sure Sab, no problem." replied the fox.
Tifa got up from in front of the fireplace and flashed Bunnie a huge smile before walking over to wake M from his slumber. Bunnie leant to one side and rested on her elbow thinking about what exactly she could expect for that evening. Just then the smell of lunch drifted into the room from the kitchen and Bunnie forgot everything but her hunger, she'd ask later or maybe she'd wait and see for herself. Whatever she did right now lunch was more important.
-----------------------------------------
It was later in the evening and growing dark fast when Bunnie and the others left Sabrina's house. Lunch had gone well with hardly anyone talking, everyone had been too hungry to speak and the food had been too appealing. Afterwards Bunnie had decided to take a small nap to recover her strength for the evening. She hadn't really noticed until she had stopped travelling but she was exhausted from all the walking she had been doing. She had slept silently for over six hours until Tifa had woken her so she could get ready for the evening.
Bunnie hadn't brought any fancy clothes with her but while she had been sleeping Sabrina had washed her regular clothes and Bunnie had found them dried and pressed by her bed when she had woken up. Bunnie was wearing her usual blue trousers and purple top along with a pendant Sabrina had given her and a large black belt that belonged to Tifa. In comparison to the others she looked quite shabby.
M had discarded his headband, armbands and computer for now and instead wore a pair of thick white gloves and a small white jacket. His red tail bands had also been replaced with white bands but they still had the same length ends to them. And finally his bangs had been gelled to one side of his face making it possible to see his eyes now.
Tifa had completely redone her whole outfit. She now wore a sleeveless, long, fairly tight jet-black dress that matched her fur so well it almost looked like she wasn't wearing anything. The dress had a low cut front that showed quite a bit of her white chest fur, which she had spent hours cleaning. She still wore her head chain and necklace and had replaced her gloves with large gold bangles.
Whereas M and Tifa had changed their outfit, Sabrina had not. She still wore her yellow dress and cape but had cleaned herself up and now wore a deep purple eye shadow. Sabrina had also taken the time to dress Josh up slightly. The young feline was now wearing a pale yellow shirt and blue trousers and his goggles had been removed. Josh still had a firm grip on his tail with one of his hands and Bunnie was tempted to ask why he kept hold of it but decided not to right then.
The entire town was alive with activity, the central square of the town containing the main buzz. Banner's had been strung up between street lights which glowed with a bright yet not glaring light, rows of tables had been set out which were now filled with food courtesy of Sabrina a few others around the town and a small stage had been constructed on which a band was starting to set up. Various furries of all kinds were moving around, all as smartly dressed as Bunnie's group was and Bunnie herself started to feel a bit out of place. Presently M and Tifa slipped off to one side and disappeared into the crowd leaving Bunnie along with Sabrina and Josh.
"Where are they going?" asked Bunnie.
"They're preparing for the dance later. In the meantime come with me, I'm sure a certain someone will want to meet you." replied Sabrina taking hold of Bunnie's hand and pulling her into the crowd.
Bunnie followed as quickly as she could, somewhat surprised by the echidna's speed, with Josh following just behind the pair. Sabrina led Bunnie into the centre of the crowd, heading straight for the stage and the tables set up in the middle of the Town Square. Bunnie couldn't help but notice that everyone got out of their way as Sabrina headed forward. As Bunnie passed each furry he or she turned and gave a short bow in her direction before turning back to what they had been doing previously. Bunnie found this quite puzzling but didn't have all that much time to wonder what it was all about as Sabrina came to a stop forcing Bunnie to look forwards.
In front of her stood the central stage but in front of that stood a pale blue coloured female cat. She wore a pair of black skin-tight trousers and a dark blue jacket over a peach coloured blouse. Her hair hung to her shoulders and was white in colour, which matched the end of her tail that faded from blue to white at the tip. She wore a number of rings on her fingers and around her neck, fastened to a large red ribbon, hung a large metal key.
"Greetings Bunnie." she said softly giving a small bow, "How are you?"
"A little overwhelmed I must say." replied Bunnie.
"Only to be expected, I think everyone is so much more happy this year as we have a guest."
"Why is it so important? You're not going to sacrifice me or something are you?"
"Oh no, nothing like that. It…"
The cat stopped and thought for a moment obviously trying to think of someway to explain things to her.
"It's just an old tradition." she said at length, "The reason I think has been lost in the depths of time. In any case, would you accompany me?"
"Um, sure I guess." replied Bunnie stepping forwards.
"If you'll excuse me I have a few things to attend to." said Sabrina as she gave a small bow and slipped off with Josh following close behind her.
The cat gave a nod and then led Bunnie up onto the stage and sat her down in a chair. Now that Bunnie was up close the stage was a lot bigger than it had first appeared. A long table lined with chairs sat to one side of stage near to a clear section upon which stood a microphone stand and the other side of the stage held a fairly large band. The cat slowly sat down next to Bunnie and turned to her.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Major Valencia but you may call me Jessie, nearly everyone in the town does." she said.
"Mayor?" replied Bunnie a little shocked before looking at the large key around the cat's neck, "Well I guess that explains the key."
"Yes I guess it does."
"So what am I supposed to do?"
"I thought you'd ask that eventually, no-one else has told I gather."
"Not a word."
"Well I'll be opening the celebrations in a few minutes and soon after that there'll be a dance and a feast. You'll be the quest of honour."
"Guest of honour, well I'll be."
"What were you expecting?"
"I don't know, no-one told me anything about this until now."
"I see Sabrina wanted to keep it a surprise for you."
"You know her?"
Jessie leaned back in her chair and gave a small smile.
"Oh yes, long time friends, why do you ask?" she said.
"It's…I didn't think there were any more echidna's alive?" answered Bunnie.
"Any more? Well Sabrina is the only one I know, maybe you should talk to her yourself."
"Yes, yes I'll do that."
"Good, now you sit there and enjoy yourself, I have to get things rolling."
With that Jessie rose to her feet and crossed to the microphone set up a few feet away. She stood for a moment just watching the crowd bustling around her and then flicked the microphone on, giving a loud purr to attract everyone's attention. The crowd's chatter faded to nothing and everyone looked round at the stage.
"Friends and family of Harmony, you all know what today is so I need not speak of it. For many years our celebrations have been somewhat lacking but this year we have a reason to joyful. Now without further ado let us begin."
The cat's speech, although short was met with cheers and shouts as she finished. It was also met by a series of loud bangs as numerous fireworks went off behind the stage causing Bunnie to nearly jump out of her skin. Moments later the band began to play a joyous slow tune that could be mistaken for a jazzed up version of the waltz at times. A moment later Jessie, still at the microphone, began to sing is a slow soothing voice that lifted even above the noise of the music. Bunnie watched as various furries below her paired up and began to dance to the tune but a particular pairing caught her eye, that of MTP and Tifa. The pair were holding each other gently in their arms and swaying in time to the music. Tifa had unzipped a hidden zip along one side of her dress allowing her to move more freely and, even from her position on the stage, Bunnie could see that each of them were blushing brightly. Bunnie slowly began to scan the rest of the crowd, watching everyone as they danced to the music. She slowly relaxed into her chair and sighed, maybe she would stay a bit longer.
