Hello, hello, hello, what's happenin' readers?
Happy Easter to everyone! This is 2011's Easter special chapter. If you happen to spot mistakes/typos, please point them out to me in a review/a PM so I can correct them. Thanks.
Disclaimer: I do not own Jagex, RuneScape, or any of the RuneScape characters. All I own is the plot of this fanfiction and some of the characters in the story. I am not making a financial profit from this story.
Easter Special 2011
I sat in my house, in my new workshop, looking aimlessly at the half-finished chair that I'd been building.
Months had flown by since New Year's Day, and Easter was now only days away. I'd been greatly looking forward to it. I always enjoyed the eggs, the chocolate, and the inevitable visit from the Easter Bunny. A market had been set up in Falador selling a large variety of Easter goodies, including baskets, bunny-related merchandise, hot cross buns, as well as Easter eggs!
I'd been keeping myself very, very busy over the last few months. I'd done a lot of work on my house. I had decided to extend my sitting room and add a farming garden next to my portal garden so I could grow some of my own plants and improve my farming level. I'd built a study where I could do work, write, read and generally muse over my oak globe. I'd built a workshop recently (which I was currently sitting in) where I could built furniture and either keep it, sell it or give it away as gifts. I'd built a storage room where I stored all of my building supplies, and I'd built a spare bedroom that guests could sleep in. I'd also built three empty rooms, one of which I planned to use to make stairs in. I was considering building a long dining hall branching off from my kitchen, so I could host formal dinners and parties, but at the moment these were still ideas. Needless to say, my construction level had improved greatly.
All of these rooms had been built in a rectangle shape, leaving room in the middle. In the middle there was my pet garden where Gobbles the turkey and Heimlich the Heim crab lived. There was room for an additional garden, so I'd used that space for outdoor decorations, including some benches, a fountain in the shape of an imp, some trees, and some flowers.
Over the last few months, I'd been doing work in Karamja for some additional money, skill-building and simply a constructive way to spend my time. I worked in a banana plantation, helping with the picking, packing and shipping processes. I also did a lot of fishing in Karamja; the people fishing on the dock were usually nice people and I had good conversations with them while fishing.
Karamja was an awe-inspiring place. The village that I worked in had a clear view of the jungle, the volcano and the sea. The beach spread out, yellow and glorious, and sometimes I enjoyed wandering down to the beach with Osrie1 and Amy11 to explore the caves.
I decided to continue working on my chair. While I did so, I reflected on Varrock in its current state. It was struggling with heavy poverty and crime issues, and the current source of crime was the Demon Clan, led by the Black Fly. After the events of the New Year party, they'd hidden somewhere and recovered after the blow to their pride. About a month later, they made a massive public appearance in the courtyard of the palace and caused a lot of destruction. The Varrock guards and the Glory Troopers were currently hard at work tracking down the hideout of the Demon Clan.
I finished my chair and I stared at my handiwork proudly. I decided to feed my pets, so I fetched the birdfeed and the crab flakes and I stepped into my pet garden. As I was feeding Gobbles and Heimlich, I stared into the sky sadly. Grey clouds floated pointlessly in the sky, depressing everybody who looked at them. It was springtime and I was expecting warmer weather.
The weather had been quite confusing recently. Since it was springtime, the weather should have been growing warmer, but it wasn't. As a matter of fact, in some areas it was still snowing! The weather was very unnatural, and people were growing suspicious. It was confusing the wildlife.
At that moment, a small circle of grass crumpled, creating a hole. A very familiar bunny crawled through the hole, sniffing the air cautiously. The Easter Bunny spotted me and hopped towards me.
"Mainiac97!" he huffed. "I have been looking for you!"
"Hello, Easter Bunny," I greeted warmly. "How are you? How is the egg production?"
"I'm very well, thank you," he replied. "Thankfully, the egg production is fine and it isn't the reason why I've come to see you. But before I explain why I'm here, I'd like to ask you something. Have you noticed the unnaturally cold weather?"
"Yes," I said. "It's been awful. It's springtime, yet it's still snowing! It's growing suspicious."
"Yes," the Easter Bunny sighed. "There is a good reason for that, too. Let me explain.
"The Land of Snow is in a separate plane of reality to RuneScape, and it moves around every year, in the blank space of existence. When winter approaches the Land of Snow gets closer to RuneScape, making RuneScape cold and making cold weather. It's really what gives us our winter, and it is part of the natural cycle of life. If that is taken away our environment will collapse.
"As you may know, winter is turning into spring, and the Land of Snow is moving away from RuneScape. But, this year, the Ice Queen doesn't want winter to end. She wants to see RuneScape in a permanent state of winter because, simply, she can't see why winter must move on. All she sees is winter, day after day, and she doesn't seem to comprehend the fact that winter must move into spring. So, as a result, she refuses to let go of the year; the Land of Snow isn't budging because she's making it stay. That's why winter is dragging on. That's why the weather remains cold."
I let the words of the Easter Bunny sink in. I was blinded by shock. I simply put the unnatural weather down to the spring and the warm weather being slow. I didn't realize that something much bigger was happening behind the scenes. I opened my mouth to ask questions, but the Easter Bunny made a motion that told me he wasn't finished, and I let him speak.
"Anyway," the Easter Bunny continued. "There is another being, a lady called the Queen of Sunrise. She is the queen over a place called the Land of Sunlight. She is a powerful lady who has the capability to bring spring and create plant life. Sunshine seems to glow from her skin. When she saw what the Ice Queen was doing she grew angry because she was upsetting the balance of nature. She proceeded to try and force spring upon RuneScape. The Ice Queen reacted violently and increased her efforts of trying to force winter. They've began a battle of the seasons, so to speak. This appears to be upsetting the environment further.
"They've now met up and they're currently warring for the year in a place called the Land of Holly and Hawthorn, which is a land which resides between the Land of Snow and the Land of Sunlight. Normally it defines the current season; in the winter it's cold and snowy and in the summer it's warm and full of nature. However, because of the battle of the seasons the land has mutated into something ugly. The battle has to be stopped, otherwise it could start to kill the wildlife on RuneScape and eventually kill life in general."
"I see," I said. "This is serious, but there are two things I don't quite understand. The first thing is why have you, of all people, been sent to tell me this? Secondly, what am I supposed to do?" The Easter Bunny chuckled.
"I'm the one who's delivering the message because, according to the Queen of Sunrise, I define the spring. If I was present at the battle she feels that it would help define the spring to the Ice Queen and it would show her why she must let the year go. I told her about you and what you did previously and she sent me to fetch you. I'm personally very busy, with Easter in a few days, but this war is too important for me to overlook as a waste of time.
"I'm telling you this because I think you should help. You've proven your capability, and you've saved Easter twice before, once from a mad, greed-crazed wizard, and once from a filthy, jealous leprechaun. I feel that your participation in the war could prove beneficial. So, will you help us?"
I realized how important this weird war between the seasons was, and I realized that the year needed to go by and the spring needed to come in order to restore balance to nature. I nodded, and the Easter Bunny gestured for me to jump into the hole. I obliged, and I found myself getting sucked through a curious system of underground tunnels.
I appeared on the top of a cliff. I dusted myself off, and I saw the Easter Bunny appear next to me.
"Darn," he cursed. "I've appeared too far up. I meant to appear closer down." I saw what he was looking at, and I realized I was overlooking the whole Land of Holly and Hawthorn. I gasped as the meaning of the Easter Bunny's words struck me.
The Land of Holly and Hawthorn was simply a very large clearing surrounded by mountains. On one side of the clearing, holly trees and pine trees stood tall. The ground on this side of the land was covered with snow and snow still fell. Yet, creepily, the snow didn't fall on the other side. On the other side of the land, the ground was ripe with green grass and flowers of all kinds. Hawthorn trees stood. The two sides summarized the two seasons; winter and spring. Where the two sides met, everything had mutated. Fresh green grass and snow-covered land swirled around each other to form a spiral of spring and winter. Here, snowmen and snow imps battled against plants that had come to life; vines, branches from trees, roots from the ground, etcetera. Adventurers stood on both sides, helping with the fighting.
In the very middle, the grass had mutated to become weirdly green and white. Two figures stood opposite each other here. I recognized one of them as the Ice Queen. Her cold face currently displayed pure fury as she blasted what looked like a blue ray at the figure opposite her. Snow seemed to pour from her hands, and the white furs she wore whipped up around her as her skin seemed to let loose a blizzard.
The figure she was blasting at seemed very different. This woman wore a small (and revealing) dress which seemed to be made from grass and flowers, which was mostly pink. She had blonde hair which fell to her neck, and her skin glowed with what looked like sunlight. She wore a beautiful golden crown with a red gem on the front, and this crown also glowed with what looked like sunlight. She was also firing some sort of beam, except this attack was yellow and glowed brightly. Flowers grew at her feet. I could only assume she was the Queen of Sunrise.
"So what am I meant to be doing?" I asked the Easter Bunny while we climbed down from the cliff gingerly.
"Well, you could chop down the Evil Trees," he replied. "That would be helpful."
"What are Evil Trees?" I questioned.
"Evil Trees are trees that have been overtaken by the spirits of nature and have malicious intent. The Land of Holly and Hawthorn is filled with the spirits of nature, so, naturally, Evil Trees are appearing everywhere. Some of our hawthorn trees have been overtaken by the spirits of nature and have become Evil Trees, and these Evil Trees are getting in our way. Could you possibly help chop these trees down?" He pointed towards a particularly large tree. My blood turned cold when I saw that the tree had almost tripled in size, and had grown a very menacing face. It had grown arms, and it was currently thrashing around angrily. Adventurers surrounded the tree and were in the process of trying to chop it down. Roots sprung up from the ground surrounding the tree and were attacking anybody who dared to go near them.
"I thought that the Queen of Sunrise could control nature," I wondered. "Why can't she use her powers against the Evil Trees?"
"I asked her that exact question," the Easter Bunny muttered. "Apparently, she can but it takes some effort and she needs to concentrate all of her efforts on the Ice Queen at the moment. That's all I could understand." I nodded. "Do you have an axe and a tinderbox?" I nodded again. "Okay. Approach it carefully." I walked slowly towards the furious tree.
As soon as I was a few feet away from it, a large root sprung from the ground and hit me aggressively across the back. I collapsed, hissing with pain. I grabbed my axe and proceeded to chop it up. I ended up with some thick, heavy root pieces. I got closer to the tree and had to step back a bit as it swerved violently in my direction. The other adventurers greeted me cordially. I greeted them back, and I smashed my axe into the tree. It left a mark, but apart from that it didn't do much difference. I repeated my actions and it left another mark to accompany the hundreds of other marks surrounding its thick trunk.
I saw a person nearby trying to set some root pieces on fire near the trunk of the Evil Tree and I decided to try the same thing. I put the root pieces on the ground and I scraped my tinderbox over them. Sparks flew everywhere. I repeated the motion a few times, and the root pieces finally caught fire. I threw them near the base of the tree, and the flames slowly crept up the trunk of the tree. It screeched loudly, forcing me to cover my ears. One side of the Evil Tree was now crackling with flames, causing it obvious damage.
I decided that logs would be more effective than root pieces, and I proceeded to chop down a nearby hawthorn tree. The tree fell down, and I collected the hawthorn logs. A massive blow came to my stomach, and I was knocked backwards. The Easter Bunny stood there, holding a clay hammer in the shape of a carrot, fuming.
"What's the meaning of this?" he yelled. "You're only supposed to kill the Evil Tree, not the surrounding hawthorn trees!" I whispered an apology, and I explained my actions. "I can see why you did it, but if you need kindling, use the root pieces or branches from the Evil Tree, or logs from a holly tree, at least. I wouldn't suggest chopping down a holly tree on the snowy side of the Land of Holly and Hawthorn just for kindling, because not only would it waste time, but you'll probably be attacked. Now that you have those logs you may as well use them, but please don't do it again or the Queen of Sunrise will have no mercy on you, despite your good intentions." I thanked the Easter Bunny, and I ran back to the Evil Tree. I set the logs on fire and put them at the base of the tree. Just like last time, the flames crept up the trunk of the tree, and it screeched with displeasure again.
This wrestling with the tree continued for at least twenty minutes before it started crackling and crumbling. It let off such a terrible, unearthly noise that I half-expected steam to come pouring from my ears. I roared, and I struck it so hard that the resulting mark caused the tree to crack further. After battling it some more, it finally let off a final scream and it collapsed. Logs, branches, dirt and root pieces flew everywhere as the tree crumbled and literally exploded. We all whooped and cheered as the dust settled. In the middle of the wreckage, there was a bird's nest filled with seeds, coins, and nuggets of gold. The adventurers surrounded the nest and the rewards were dispersed evenly. We all helped ourselves to the roots and the logs. I approached the Easter Bunny, grinning widely.
"Congratulations," he smiled. "I saw that. You did quite well, for somebody who is new to Evil Trees. As you can see, when you destroy an Evil Tree it always leaves rewards of some kind inside a bird's nest. The logs are usually logs of the wood that the Evil Tree was made of; in this case, hawthorn. Also, the roots of an Evil Tree can be quite valuable, especially to woodcutters and lumberjacks. We need to destroy any Evil Trees that appear here, because they sap the energy from the ground that our warriors (or plants) need, and they serve as a nuisance to any adventurers who help us. Oh, look, another Evil Tree is forming!" I looked at where he was pointing and I saw a normal hawthorn tree mutating, growing arms, growing a face, and growing larger. People were already surrounding it and trying to chop it down. I decided to join them.
While I was attacking it, I sadly watched the Ice Queen and the Queen of Sunrise as they battled each other viciously. I felt that the fighting was unnecessary, and I desperately wanted it to end. This war was the result of the Ice Queen's desperation and greed, and how badly she'd used her powers. She was stubborn, and she couldn't see that her actions would collapse RuneScape's environment and, as a long-term effect, would kill all life as the food chain would be ravaged by the foul weather. It needed to be stopped. I didn't know how, but I needed to stop it.
I jumped towards the Ice Queen and I pushed her. She stumbled slightly, and she turned to me, focusing on me with her cold, hard eyes.
"You're a selfish woman!" I screamed. "Why can't you see the truth behind your wicked actions? You'll annihilate RuneScape's environment!"
"Mainiac97," she whispered. "The Queen of Sunrise is the selfish one, trying to force spring upon RuneScape. I expected better off you. You've helped avert disasters many times, but if you're going to be an obstacle, then I am going to have to stop you." Several snowmen approached me. I unsheathed Silverlight and I smashed them all to pieces. However, they reformed out of nearby snow and continued to attack me with their small swords and daggers. I used some fire spells and I melted them to puddles. Several snow imps jumped on me while more cast spells at me. I warred, raging at the nerve of the Ice Queen. I saw the Ice Queen and the Queen of Sunlight shooting at each other, and I saw what I had to do. It was the only way.
I pushed the imps off me, and I jumped between the two queens as they fired their attacks. Both rays hit me simultaneously, and both queens shouted with shock and surprise. I felt myself crumple with pain as the full effect of the attacks struck me like boulders. I felt myself go limp. I suddenly found myself float in the air, and I felt my mouth move without me even wanting to say anything.
"The Land of Holly and Hawthorn is filled with our spirits," I croaked in a strange voice that didn't feel like mine. I was confused; I wasn't the one who was saying this. My intention was to try and stop, or at least disrupt the fight, but something different was happening. "We are displeased by the battle here. The egotistic actions of some of the people here disgust us. We are the spirits of nature, and we cannot allow you to murder us in your self-obsessed craze to upset the natural balance.
"You seem to be forgetting who suffers as a result of your actions; Mother Nature. If winter stays for a longer period than intended, it will kill the life we preserve. Winter turns into spring, and spring turns into summer, than the cold returns in autumn, then winter comes back. It completes the cycle and it's the way life intended.
"Why don't you consider us, the elements, nature in general? After all, we're suffering directly as a result of your selfish needs. The rocks and the ground feel too cold… the clouds and the sky is tired of dropping snowflakes and rain… the seas are still freezing, and crave the warmth of the sun… if you won't stop, we must stop you."
Suddenly, the wind picked up really heavily, blowing so hard the trees were bending over. I felt myself roar with rage that didn't feel like my rage. I picked up Silverlight and I raised it high. It glowed so brightly it hurt to look at it. I stared down at the upset look on the Ice Queen's face. I felt myself fly down towards her and strike her hard with Silverlight. She shrieked, and she fell back. All of the snowmen melted instantly.
"Let the truth crash around your ears, Ice Queen," I howled before striking her again. She cowered before me. Suddenly, the wind stopped. I felt a presence lift from me, and the pain returned. I moaned, and I collapsed.
The Queen of Sunrise and the Easter Bunny ran towards me, concern etched in their faces. The Queen of Sunrise stroked my wounds, and they healed slightly. A small tree grew next to her, bearing fruit. She offered me the fruit and I ate it gratefully. I sat up, staring around.
"What just happened?" I murmured, still exhausted after that encounter.
"I'm not too sure," she replied nervously. "I think that, when our attacks hit you, they reacted violently with your strong will to stop the fighting. This seemed to have opened you up spiritually to the spirits of nature, and they took the opportunity to use your body to express their displeasure about our battling. They used Silverlight to hit the Ice Queen with what they described as 'the truth'. It's mysterious, but perhaps this will show the Ice Queen the error of her ways."
The Ice Queen stood still, staring into space, somber. She finally turned to us.
"I owe you both an apology," she said quietly. "I also owe nature an apology for disrupting it so badly. The actions of the spirits of nature through the means of Mainiac97 have proven to me how wrong I was to try and force winter upon RuneScape. I'd only cause destruction with my everlasting love of anything cold and wintry. Queen of Sunrise, I'm sorry for attacking you. Mainiac97, I'm sorry that our attacks hurt you so. Here's a token of both my regret and gratitude." She waved her hand, and a crown made of ice formed. She gave it to me. "That is called the icicle crown. It is a replica of the crown I wear. If you ever feel that things are getting too… warm, touch the crown and it will cool everything down."
I thanked her. She turned and she raised one hand in the air. "Let winter turn to spring!" she bellowed. Everything glowed brightly, and when the glowing faded the Land of Holly and Hawthorn had been completely cleared of snow. The grass was green, and all holly trees had been transformed into hawthorn trees. There was no sign of mutated ground, snow imps or snowmen. With a flash, she was gone.
The Queen of Sunrise tapped me lightly on the shoulder. "You deserve a reward from me too, for proving beneficial in the attempt to bring spring," she said. "Here is a replica of my crown; the sunbeam crown." A crown that looked exactly like the crown she was wearing formed in her hand. This crown also glowed with what looked like sunlight. "If things are dark, touch the crown and it will create the light of the sun to guide your path," she explained. "Also, touching the crown will reveal to you if an Evil Tree has formed/ is forming somewhere in RuneScape, and, if it is, where it can be found. It's also been enchanted so, if you ever feel like returning here, touching it with the will to come back will teleport you here. Also, allow me to teach you a new emote called 'invoke spring'."
She touched my head, and suddenly flowers, green grass, and vines grew around my feet. "Use that emote and the plants of spring will grow by your feet, and the spring winds will blow through your hair for a few seconds. You can also control the vines temporarily."
I thanked her for the reward, and the Easter Bunny hopped towards me. He burrowed a hole, and he told me he was returning to his factory. He asked me if I wanted to join him. I accepted, and I jumped into the hole. It carted me to his factory.
The factory was exactly the way I remembered it; massive machines moving along, creating glorious Easter eggs. Imps and squirrels worked hard to make eggs and meet demand. The Easter Bunny offered me a seat, and we had a conversation. We discussed a variety of topics; the events that had just passed, Evil Trees, Easter, and the subject of Master Samuel also cropped up. I explained what had happened to him (purposely leaving out the part involving my death and the Calm Space), and I expressed my worry of what James' next move would be. He understood and he wished me luck.
After a while he gave me a large basket filled with Easter eggs, hot cross buns, coffee beans, small crème eggs, and even one or two experimental Easter eggs flavored with coffee beans. I thanked him for his generosity, and I left.
I went to Diango for my two previous Easter rewards from past Easter events that I didn't do. There was only one left, and that was a rubber chicken which was used for hitting other people with. There wasn't anything else left for me to collect, so Diango gave me an experience lamp instead. I went to store my icicle crown, my sunbeam crown, my lamp, my basket of treats, and my rubber chicken.
Easter soon came, and I enjoyed the day relaxing with Osrie1 and Amy11, eating. I explained to them what had happened and they didn't believe me until I took them to the Land of Holly and Hawthorn and showed them myself. I was going to attend a celebratory Easter feast later on in the day, and I looked forward to it. I looked in the sky; the sun was up and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I felt relief, shuddering as I realized what would have happened if winter stayed forever.
I hope you enjoyed that chapter. This chapter was loosely based off Jagex's 2011 Easter event 'Holly and Hawthorn', but I've made large changes to the plot of that event in this chapter.
I understand that this chapter was pointless to an extent, but I hope you enjoyed it regardless. I originally wasn't going to write this chapter but in the end I decided to. I enjoyed writing it.
Involving the possibility of a sequel, nothing is certain. The poll deciding it is still up, so if you want to see a sequel, or don't want to, or don't care, and you haven't already voted, I suggest you do so to get your opinion heard.
I've written a special Easter one-shot which is in my story 'The Adventure Through RuneScape - The One-Shots', if anybody is interested.
Until next time, toodles!