The tunnels lead them to the brisky night air of Burgess. While it had taken a couple of hours for Jack to make his way to the North Pole, Bunnymund's method took mere minutes.

Bunny poked his head out of the hole, checked out the view, and then hopped out. Jack followed. They were outside Jamie Bennett's house.

"That's her house," Jack pointed at the house on the right.

Bunnymund's ears twitched as he sniffed the air. His eyes took in the view of the house. It had always stood there, but he'd never taken note of it. He hadn't needed to until today.

"But she's not home," Jack stated. It wasn't that the light in her room was switched off. It wasn't the dead hookah that stood out on her balcony. It was the electric feeling he got in his hand. She was in the forest.

"I feel it, too, mate," Bunny said, looking in the direction of the forest. "I'm sure North had some suspicions, too, when he came to see Jamie. He wouldn't have sent us out like this otherwise."

"Hm…" Jack thought for a moment, not sure how to react to Bunnymund experiencing the same thing. It might have been an immature thought, but he'd almost wished he'd been the only one- the special one. "So, what is this Thesan thing all about?" He asked, turning to look at Bunnymund.

Bunnymund's ears twitched slightly and he began walking towards the forest, his eyes looking almost glazed over in a trance. Slowly, he motioned for Jack to follow.

"We need to be careful around her," Bunnymund began.

"So she is a 'Thesan' thingy?" Jack asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Since I feel it, too, I'm quite certain. I'v never met one before though," Bunnymund replied. "They are only born every so often and it's not common to run across one."

"So…what exactly are they?" Jack pressed again, frustration rising in him. They had left the lawn, which frosted over as Jack walked through it, and entered the reddening forest behind the O'Connor's house.

"We dunno why they began showing up. I heard stories that Man in the Moon granted a human special powers as a way for Guardians and other spirits to gain advantage in the war against darker forces," Bunnymund told Jack. The Winter Spirit had never seen the Easter Bunny this solemn before. "The thing with Thesans is that they are able to make us mortal- vulnerable to death."

"What?!" Jack exclaimed. There was no need to tell him to keep his voice down. Very few people believed in him, and those that did were probably in bed by now. "How is that an advantage?!"

"It isn't- not for us. But it means that these meaner spirits can also be killed- not just sealed like that drongo Pitch was. Once they're gone with the help of a Thesan, they're gone for good.

"Of course…" Bunny continued, holding Jack's gaze. "That also makes us vulnerable if this lady's in the wrong hands."

"But…The Bogeyman was sealed. We don't have anything to worry about, right?" Jack asked, uncertainty clear in his voice. He didn't like the idea of having to worry about him again.

"Sure, mate. But there are other spirits who want to harm children, just as there are many that want to help them," Bunny said ominously, and Jack felt the hair on his skin stand on end. There were others…?!

Just then, they heard the rustle of leaves and Bunnymund stuck his hand out, forcing Jack to stop. They had no clear sense of direction and Jack realized he didn't know where he was. They had both simply been following the pull that they felt.

In the moonlight, Jack saw a figure. He knew it was her from the red that glowed in the light on her head. He saw Maleya- as he now knew her name was- walking through a haphazard path in the forest, a lit cigarette in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

"So this is the girl," Bunnymund said out loud, giving Jack a teasing look. "Not a bad catch, kid."

"What?" Jack cried out, but his surprise was cut short as the girl knelt on the ground.

Maleya had no idea she was being followed. It wasn't that late, but her parents were asleep. She went out for a smoke and a quick walk through the forest. She'd come across the large canine footprints in the mud several times before, and her curiosity was almost bursting out of her.

The prints did not match anything she found in all her field guides. Sure, it might have been a coyote or a wolf, but it had just been too big to be either. It wasn't a bear- bears had a different kind of print, but she couldn't think of anything else. She'd been hoping to spot the animal, though in the back of her head she knew that wasn't the safest thing.

But safety didn't concern her right now. She was agitated and curious. Her agitation stemmed both from the knowledge that a psychiatric appointment awaited her tomorrow- she would meet her new doctor for the first time- and the unsolved mystery that she'd been trying to crack for days. She'd even consulted Jamie- the aspiring cryptozoologist was baffled and promised to look through all of his "magazines" and books.

With a flashlight in hand, she scanned the dirt for prints but couldn't find any fresh ones. Wincing, she almost hoped for snow. Snow would make tracking so much easier.

"What is she doing?" Bunny asked, voice low even though he knew she couldn't see or hear him.

"She's wacked up. She thinks looking at plants and naming them are fun," Jack replied, leaning on his staff.

"What's wrong with that?" Bunny challenged, his chest puffing up in defense. Jack noticed the tone and the body language, and really didn't want to start an argument.

"Nothing. It's just that she's…well, boring. She's been here for a while, but I've never seen her spend time with anyone apart from her brother and Jamie. She spends all her time cooped up in her room or in the forest. Oh, and smoking," he added as an afterthought as she took another drag from her cigarette, before killing it on the forest floor and placing the cigarette butt in a zipper bag she carried with her in her pocket. Jack noted it was full of smoked cigarettes.

"I think that's a beautiful thing, that," Bunny said, as they followed her for a few steps. "You don't realize how rare her kind is."

"Yes, she's a Thesan, I get it."

"Didn't mean that, mate. I meant people who genuinely love the outdoors," Bunny replied, and Jack thought he almost heard the admiration in her voice.

"I don't see how this is such a good thing," Jack sighed, rolling his eyes. He thought of the amount of time he'd have to spend with her in the future, and how boring it was going to be. He was already trying to figure out ways he could kill his boredom while keeping watch over her.

Bunnymund didn't say anything for a while, but then he knelt down and picked up a plant from the ground. It was a buttercup, but the flower was withering.

"See this here?" Bunny asked, and Jack gave Bunny a bemused look. "What do you think it is?"

"A flower," Jack deadpanned.

"Yes, but what kind?"

"A buttercup… Why is this important?" Jack asked, frustrated.

"If you gave this to her, she would look at the number of petals, whether the sepals are fused or separate, where the ovary is on the flower- above or below the petals, the shape of the leaves, the presence or lack of pubescence, and much more, kid. They are small details, but these are all details she has probably memorized. I think it's admirable because it shows passion and the ability to see the diversity in life, no matter how small they are."

"Well, you'll get along smashingly!" Jack announced with mock-enthusiasm.

"Oh, I'm sure we will…" Bunny said, trailing off as he watched her light another cigarette. She drew in a small puff, and then let it out, her breath coming out a mixture of smoke and fog.

A/N: Hope you guys didn't have to wait too long with this chapter. I wrote it several times. I feel like I'm going too fast or not developing the story enough. Feedback would be helpful. I have most of the next chapter written up as well, so it won't be too long till that one's published too!

Also, it's 5:38 am and I have a Landscape Ecology field excursion to go to in less than 2 hours... Insomnia is a bitch.