Guys, guess what? I have another chapter for you! YAY! I'm sorry I didn't get a chapter out Saturday, I really hope this makes up for it! I don't want to give too much away before you read it, so... Start reading! And make sure to review if you like it, or review what you think could have gone better or what you want to see. I'd love to hear from you guys!
I actually did not check over this. I haven't had time... Christmas Eve, you know? I'll check it another day. Tell me if you notice mistakes! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own ROTG, sadly. But I do own my OCs, whom I love greatly and ask kindly that you don't steal! Yay, thank you! :)
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Elves and yetis run back and forth through the pole, making last minute preparations. It's Christmas Eve, and North has exactly 26 minutes and 34 seconds before he needs to set out to make his rounds. The big man himself is already in full uniform, commanding the yetis and making sure that everything is finished. A huge smile adorns his face, one filled with wonder and joy. This entire year, he's been waiting for this day, for the chance to make every child laugh with wonder at the toys he has brought them.
Tooth is there as well, doing her best to help make sure everything is ready. She's just gotten back from collecting teeth, though it didn't take too long. Not many children put teeth under their pillows on Christmas Eve. The holiday is so focused on the presents that will be under the tree the next morning that most children forget. There will be a huge rush the next night, but that's alright. It's alway so much fun finding teeth, and Tooth couldn't be more thrilled.
Sandy is getting himself ready to go with North on his rounds. He'd be needed to make sure not a creature is stirring in any house. As excited as children get with the arrival of St. Nick, they'll slow him down. Any other day, North would love to stop for every kid, but it's very important for him to not take breaks. There are far too many children to visit for that. That also means that it'll be Sandy's job to keep the big man in line. He's almost too soft on children.
Seeing as everybody is so busy, no one notices the hole open up in the floor of the workshop, right next to a big fire in the globe room. A pair of ears pop out, twisting back and forth like a pair of satellite antennas. The next second, a big gray form hops out of the hole and onto the solid floor, emerald green eyes darting around the workshop. The anthropomorphic bunny shakes his head at the rush that reminds him so much of his own holiday. His eyes dart back the the hole as a gasp sounds from it, and he just catches sight of a curly-haired head disappearing back into the earth.
The big bunny sighs and crouches next to the hole. "Come on out, ya ankle bita. Nothin' to be scared of. They're jus' gettin' ready for North ta leave, that's all." He says gently, a smile twitching to show on his face.
The head of brown hair reappears, two bright green eyes joining it. They look scared, but also extremely curious and trusting. Bunny nods his head slightly, as if telling her it's alright, and that seems to do the trick. Violet pushes herself out of the hole the rest of the way, and immediately her eyes light up with wonder.
as much as Bunny believes Easter to be better than Christmas, he does understand the source of her excitement. The workshop is grander than ever with its Christmas decorations. The few toys that weren't wrapped for children fly freely through the place, and Bunny knows that there are many more in the actual toy-making area. Lights and tinsel sparkle in every corner of the room, and a giant Christmas tree sits right next to the sitting area they currently stand in, dozens of gifts sitting underneath it. Bunny knows that they're the gifts the Guardians have gotten for each other and the other spirits. They'd been spending the holiday with fewer and fewer spirits each year, but it's still an exciting affair. They do the same for Easter at the Warren, so Bunny thinks its fine. Lots of fun for the younger spirits as well.
"BUNNY!" A booming voice calls across the workshop. Bunny doesn't even flinch, completely used to the loud voice, but Violet doesn't have the same luck. She shrieks in fear and dives behind the larger being, clutching his fur and trying desperately to hide.
He chuckles at her antics as the big man himself approaches, laughing merrily. "Hey mate, how's it goin'?" The anthropomorphic being asks with a smile.
"Bunny! Is great seeing you! And I see you have brought our new friend, yes?" He asks is a voice that is slightly quieter, but still rings loudly across the workshop.
Sandy and Tooth must hear the commotion because the next moment, they're there too. Bunny just nods and grins. "Yeh, little ankle bita's right here, but she's too shy ta come out." He affirms, laying a gentle hand on her head. She responds by burrowing deeper into the rabbit's fur, trying desperately to disappear.
A ringing is heard, and Violet finds herself peeking around her trusted friend to look at the little golden man. He waves at her and a series of pictures flicker over his head. She furrows her eyes, confused, and the images replay themselves, slower this time. She watches them, and realizes that he's trying to speak through them. The first shows a group of people waving and smiling, then there's a flower, and a mug of something, and an arrow pointing from the mug to the flower. Violet tilts her head, even more confused until she spots the man holding to mugs filled with liquid in his hands.
The girl purses her lips, not sure if it's safe. Green eyes flicker up to meet a second set of green eyes, and the furry head nods, followed by the words "Go on. They won't bite."
She takes a deep breath in an attempt to gather some courage and comes out of her hiding place. Slowly, she moves forward the two steps it takes to reach the little gold man, who gives her the mug. She takes it and looks at the brown liquid in confusion. "What is it?" She asks in a small voice.
The Guardians grin at the sound of her voice, North and Tooth making eye contact as their eyes fill with awe. So Bunny hadn't been lying. Her voice really does sound like a spring breeze brushing through a meadow of wildflowers. And every one of her features looks fresh and lively, blossoming like flowers. She is the very essence of spring.
Sandy doesn't share in their thoughts, too busy with his game of charades. Violet giggles as she tries to guess the golden pictures flickering over the little man's head. The most recent one shows a bar made up of individual squares, but Violet has no clue what it means. Sandy rubs his chin for a moment in thought before silently snapping his fingers. Above his head forms a picture of a cocoa bean. Violet's face lights up and she points at the picture.
"Cocoa! This is cocoa?" She asks, gesturing to the mug. Sandy nods and forms a picture of a steaming mug. Violet thinks for a moment, then asks "Hot cocoa?" Sandy nods excitedly and fireworks shoot put all around him. Violet giggles at the show, which soon turns into uncontrollable laughter as the sand starts turning into flowers and animals as it comes down and touches her.
The others join in the laughing as they watch the little spirit spin around with the golden creations, looking as much like a child as one can. Even many of the yetis stop their frantic running, watching the child with softened eyes and caring smiles. Finally, the golden sand all disappears, exploding and falling to the ground. Everyone looks to Sandy, who just shrugs in a way that says, Sorry, can't make it last forever.
Everyone looks back at Violet, who is still trying to control her laughter. They're relieved to see that she isn't trying to hide any longer, Sandy having gained her trust for all of them.
Then, of course, somebody new has to come into the scene.
"Hey, did I miss anything?" Comes a new voice, this one masculine and still childish, but slightly less so.
Violet's head snaps up and her eyes dart around, searching for the source of the voice. They land on a boy with crystal blue eyes and black hair that is far from tame. He looks to be a teenager, definitely older than Violet (though probably not by much), but still a child all the same. That fact doesn't make Violet any more trusting, though. The next second, the little girl is gone, this time hidden behind the giant decorated tree.
Bunny shakes his head and sighs, a small smile on his face. "Shiela's gone shy again. An' she was jus' startin' to get used ta all of ya." He sighs again and looks up at the newcomer. "Well, it's nice ta see you again, Aaron. Been a long time." He greets with a large smile.
Tooth lets out a little squeal and flies straight to the boy, prying his mouth open. "Ohmygosh, how are your teeth?! Have you been taking care of them? Oh, look at them, so beautiful!" She gushes, staring at his teeth in awe as the boy makes unintelligible sounds, unable to talk around her hands.
"Tooth, hands out of the mouth." North calls out, shaking his head at her antics. She immediately pulls away, her cheeks bright red from embarrassment. She smiles shyly as the boy before coughing and flying back to her original spot. Aaron stretches his jaw, massaging his stretched out cheeks, but his eyes are glued on the tree.
"Who's that girl?" He asks, tilting his head slightly as he steps forward, trying to see around the tree.
Bunny smirks and crosses his arms. "I wouldn't go searchin' for the sheila if I was you. She can be a fiesta lil' bugga when she's meatin' someone new and they come on too strong." The anthropomorphic rabbit warns.
Aaron frowns, lifting his head in childish pride. "I can catch her!" He says, as if Bunny's comment had been a challenge. Bunny's eyes widen and he reaches out a hand to stop him.
"Wait!" He calls out, but it's too late. Aaron is already running around the tree. He catches sight of a small girl not much younger than him, but suddenly there's a yelp and she disappears around the side of the tree. He grits his teeth and takes off after her. The chase is on.
They go around the tree twice, and then she turns down a different path, weaving through the Guardians in the hopes of losing her pursuer. He doesn't stop, though. He follows right behind her, taking the exact same route. The girl glances back to see that the boy hasn't been shaken, and she catapults herself onto the big globe using the wind. The boy, not able to use the wind for assistance, narrows his eyes. As he approaches the edge of the globe, he bends his knees and jumps, leaping as high as he can, which just happens to be high enough for him to land on the globe.
Violet stops when she lands on the globe. Thinking she'd gotten away from the boy, but as she looks back with a victorious grin, a large mass slams into her, knocking her off the other side of the globe. She screams as she finds herself falling, squeezing her eyes shut in brace of the hard landing. Instead, she feels herself land on something surprisingly soft. She opens her eyes to find herself lying on a bed of rosemary that has sprouted out of the ground.
A cry from behind her catches her attention. Violet glances back and lets out a yelp as she sees the boy from before wrapped up in the plant. Tendrils of rosemary cling to his arms and legs, and wrap around his torso. He tries desperately to get free, but to no avail. Violet quickly rolls off the plant and pushes backward across the floor getting as far away from him as possible.
The Guardians run over to see what all the commotion is about and check to see if anyone is harmed. They reach the two just as Aaron gives a mighty yank of his arm, trying to break it free. He is rewarded with the sound of the stem breaking, and grins as his arm comes free. His smile is gone in seconds, though, as a cry rings out across the workshop.
"Aaron, stop struggling! You're hurting her!" Bunny yells at the boy, who doesn't need to be asked twice. He completely freezes, eyes wide with fear for whoever made the noise, and the plant freezes with him, resting a moment to try to calm its pain.
Slowly, Aaron turns his head to face the direction that the cry came from. His face contorts into something akin to regret as he sees the girl curled into a ball on the floor, tears streaming down her face, curly brown hair matted from the chase. She doesn't look like she's injured, but she must be if she's crying so much.
Bunny is kneeling on the ground next to her, shushing her softly, trying to calm her down. Aaron doesn't know how long it takes, but he doesn't interrupt. He stays as still as possible, desperate not to bring the child any more harm than he has already brought her. It takes long enough for North and Sandy to leave to go on their rounds, and Tooth to take off in search of tissues. It takes long enough for Tooth to return with then tissues, then take off again in search of hot cocoa for the four of them.
Finally, while Tooth is still on her search, Bunny gets the girl to calm down. She slowly sits up, sniffling and wiping at her eyes. When her hands pull away, Aaron is surprised by the sight of her eyes. They're so bright and green, and he's never seen green eyes with flecks of gold in them before. It's a stunning look. And it saddens him greatly that he doesn't even know the name of the one the eyes belong to.
The girl in question gazes at him, face set into a look of fear, distrust, possibly even malice. And Aaron is afraid that he'll never be let free. But then Bunny says something to her. Her face pulls into a pout, but Bunny says something else and she sighs.
Slowly, she stands and walks forward to where Aaron is. He continues to stay perfectly still, eyes following the girl's movements as she nears him. She stops next to him, and green locks on blue. Her eyebrow raises at him, and he whispers in a small voice, "I didn't want to hurt you anymore."
Her eyes widen for a second before her lips turn up into a smile and a sound like bells erupts from her mouth. His eyes widen, and he can't think of any words to describe how completely bewildered he is by the thought that anyone could make such a beautiful sound. She crosses her arms and shakes her head at him.
"Bunny says you didn't mean to hurt me, and you only chased me because you didn't know who I am. Is that true?" She asks in a quiet voice.
Aaron nods slowly, trying desperately not to mess up the plant. The girl's eyes flash with amusement, and suddenly the plant is gone, letting him go and disappearing back into the floor. He looks up to find a hand being offered to him, and his eyes flicker up to meet the kind green ones. His eyes widen with surprise for a moment before a smile of his own makes its way onto his face. He takes the offered hand and lets himself be pulled to his feet.
"My name is Violet. Violet Blossom. Care to tell me yours?" She asks in that soft, bell-like voice that Aaron is quickly familiarizing himself with.
Aaron grins and shakes the hand still held in his own. "Aaron truelove. It's nice to meet you, Violet."
Her head tilts curiously as she slips her hand out of his. "Truelove? Does that mean you help people find their true love?" She asks, smile flickering across her lips.
Aaron rolls his eyes and laughs. "You know, I don't actually help people find their mates, but I am the spirit of love. I've actually never noticed that before." He says with a large grin.
The two continue with their conversation, and Bunny smiles as he watches them. He knew that once they met, they'd have no problem being friends. He'd told North exactly that when they'd discussed who should and would be able to come to the Christmas party this year. There are other spirits coming later, but they'd asked Aaron to come early and help with getting Christmas ready. It was a good plan, and now the Bunny is being proved right.
Now Violet has more people that she knows she can trust. Each of the Guardians he'd been telling her about for a while, slowly working her up to trusting them. But Aaron? He knows she needs someone closer to her own age, someone who understand what it feels like to have recently been born. Aaron himself is only about ten years old by now. Older than Violet, sure, but they're close enough in age for Aaron to become someone Violet can put her faith in.
He couldn't be more happy for his little flower. She'd finally have someone who she could trust, not as an older companion, but as a friend.
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Happy Christmas Eve, guys! I hope you guys liked it. I thought you deserved a bit of a Christmas special, since I was cruel enough to skip this past Saturday. And, you know. Christmas. So, here's my present to you guys! Two chapters, one week. I am really proud of myself. And not only that, but both are about Violet. I've gotten the most good comeback about her, so I guess you guys like her a lot? In all truthfulness, I do too. But I feel like the other characters are just as great, you just haven't gotten to know them yet. Well, you just wait! Things will get even better from here!
I'm not planning any slash between Violet and Aaron, just to make them really good friends (obviously). So if you have any requests, don't make it about them getting together. Requests about their friendship and maybe even protectiveness would be fantastic, though. Also, requests on other characters are accepted. I'm working on a new OC right now, but I need to decide on a story for him. So, yeah. Look forward to that!
I'm thinking about switching the chapter order so that they're in the correct order. You know, Violet Blossom first, then The Warren, then this, then Aaron Truelove, then Black Swan. Do you think I should? I feel like it'd be less confusing to always keep them in order. But I could also make one of those chapter things that say the order, make that the first chapter. What do you guys think I should do? I'm not really sure, so if I could have your input, that'd be great!
I hope you lovelies enjoyed. Please review, even if it's just to say hi! And, most of all, have a wonderful Christmas!
Ta for now!
~*Fantasy Forger*~