10

A couple of hours have passed since Bunny had told you to stay put and at this point you were pretty sure he forgot about you. You ended up sitting down between the golems and crossing your arms like a child in timeout, but honestly isn't that what he saw you as? After a while you get fed up with it and say to yourself "stay here" doing a bad impression of Bunny ascent. "Yeah child." you do a bad prostegus snobby voice for Phoenix. "Ya well screw that." you say shaking your head at the direction they went off.

Swiftly you jump from stone to stone, climbing your way into the top of the hill that overlooks the path. Sneakily you run your way over to the river, luckily you hear their voices off in the opposite distance and jump down to the rock you sleep on. Quickly you grab your quiver and bow and head back into the forest on the hill. Putting your quiver and bow down, you flop onto the grass, pulling out an arrow and inspecting it. "Might as well make some more." You murmur to yourself, grabbing the gateway one that you used to get to North's. Clapping your hands together you with great force pull them apart and the arrow that you created has fallen into your lap.

Arrow crafting, it was something the moon taught you how to do, initially he gave you one of each of the arrows you hold now, you just duplicate them to make more, you've never actually made a magical arrow without a base. So far you hold the gateway arrow, thought arrow, net arrow, poison arrow, and your least favorite the emotion arrow. You had a slot for each type in your circular quiver so you knew what type you were pulling out.

One by one you create a couple more of each arrow, enough to replace the ones you've already lost. After that you feel sort of tired, but not enough that you couldn't defend yourself. You were relaxing watching the life in the warren until to you heard loud talking and got curious about what was so interesting. So you jumped across the hill and sneaked your way toward where they were talking. They were at a large egg shaped stone; carvings like the egg golems have cover it. Carefully you listen in, making sure you're not noticeable, hiding in the nearby brush.

"He's not going to stop; I think it's a lost cause that we're wasting time on." Phoenix's voice says sternly.

"Lost cause?" An exasperated Australian replies part irritated part furious "you're right he's NOT going to stop. So I suppose when it's you it'll be a bloody lost cause as well?"

"Listen maybe you should try to keep your emotions out of this."

"Emotions? What emotions? Sympathy? Empathy?" He yells back

"No, lust and love. They both start with the same letter, and I'm trying to figure out which one you feel."

"I've got another L word for you, listen. Listen to me when I say that I don't feel either of those bloody things for her."

"Look me in the eye, say her name and tell me you don't feel something for her." She challenges.

Bunny crosses his arms "I don't have feelings for Cupid." he says, his voice stern and eyes unwavering. The silence sets in afterward and your stomach sinks as well as your heart. Your heart chose an impossibility for you.

"That's not her name" Phoenix sighs as she said this.

"Yes it is." Bunny persists.

"No, her name is Valentine. You said what the humans call her, not her name. You are letting your stupid emotions get in the way of this and you're going to regret it." She says bitterly.

"Well not all of us are emotionless bitches." Bunny snaps back. Phoenix scoffs at him and there is a flash of light and a bird call as she changes into the feathered fire that she is and flies off. Bunny begins grumbling Australian nonsense and pacing back and forth. A smirk forums your face, maybe a challenge, not an impossibility.

Slyly you stride out the brush "so Bunny. Is it lust or love?" You say leisurely leaning against a boulder. His ears perk up at your voice and his eyes flick to you.

"Haven't I already told you, you have nothing I'm interested in seeing. And what the hell are you doing here Sheila? Didn't I tell you to stay with the golems?" A very pissed Bunny stomps over to you.

"Say my name, Aster" you smirk at him as he freezes, his breath hitches. "That was your name before, right?" you continue, watching as his whiskers twitched as his pace slows before he stops in front of you, shadowing you.

"Everyone agreed that we'd never speak about my past self, how is it you found out?" he says, the grumble of his accent thicker.

"Well obviously you've never had drinks with North-" you start but Bunny cuts you off.

"I thought you didn't drink"

"I don't." you almost snap back closing your eyes to regain your composure. "But he does, being a vodka lover, he gets very happy when he's drunk and he likes to share stories…of the old days." You say tilting your head to the side. "Personally" you say leaning up to him, "I find a man with a mustache quite…sexy" you say letting the syllables roll of your tongue in a flirty tone. When he doesn't make a move and seconds of silence pass you open your mouth to say something but Bunny surprises you buy leaning down to you, you lean back as he comes closer to you.

"And I find nosy people to be quite annoying" his thick accent on your neck. "Valentine" it seemed like he tried to make the words come off like metal in his mouth, but the syllables just seemed to roll of his tongue deliciously.

You find it in yourself to get angry at him, but his closeness and the way he said your name was making you pinken and the only way to cover it up was by acting mad. "I'm not nosy, North just likes to over share!" you protest loudly, putting your hands on your hips. He chuckles lowly as if it was a joke.

"It's funny how stupid you are." He grumbles

"It's funny how psychotic you are" you say back, getting into a child like quarrel.

"It's funny how impudent you are"

"it's funny how thick headed you are"

"It's funny, way you deny feelings. Ironic, no?" a jolly voice interrupts beside the both of you as you both whirl around to him

"What do you mean" the both of you say at the same time. North only raises an eyebrow to you and you look away. Bunny on the other hand starts accusing North about talking about things that are never to be mentioned. But North was too focused on what he said before.

"You yet to tell him?" North says disappointedly.

"Tell me? Tell me what?" Bunny says exasperated, eyes flashing to you. "What does he bloody mean?"

"Cu this is only delaying the inevitable." North says scolding like as you cross your arms nervously.

"What are you all on about?"

"Cu sooner or later he's going to find out."

"What does he mean?"

"You can't keep your feelings cooped up forever"

"Feelings about what"

"About how" no, North don't! "Cu's heart binded you two, about how she lov-" you couldn't hear the rest, you were already running through the wilderness of the warren. You're a coward. You told yourself.