Thank You To Everyone Who Reviewed, I Love You Guys!
And I Love Everybody Who's Reading My Story And Loving It!
And I Am SO FREAKING SORRY For Not Updating! A Whole Lot Started Happening, And The Time Just Slipped Away From Me! But That's No Excuse! I Shall Try To Update More And More This Summer, Until The Story Is Finished!
Enjoy Ch. 4
Rosella stared at Bunny. "You're... You're joking right?"
"Nope," Bunny stepped away from the shocked girl.
Rosella looked at the ground, then back up at Bunny. "A guardian."
"Yes." Bunnymund gave Ro a soft smile.
"But... why would he wait so long!" Ro wrapped her arms around her stomach and stated walking towards the window. She sat on the floor and stared out into the starry sky.
"Well, I'm not too sure on that. But for whatever reason, you're needed now." Bunnymund followed, sitting down beside her.
"Wait... what did you say? Needed now? What do you mean? Why would I be needed? I mean, obviously I know why I'm needed, but I can do that all as a spirit. Not that I'm complaining! I want to be a guardian! But why would I be needed now?" She had gotten up and was now pacing across the great hall. She spun around to face Bunny. "Why was Jack chosen to be a guardian?!"
"What?" Bunny was in a bit of a shock to see her go from shocked to highly inquisitive. "Um... Jack was chosen to be a guardian because Pitch was rising to power."
"That's it!" She cried loudly, "That's it!"
"What's it?" Bunny's ears perked up at her yelling
"Oh, I've been such an IDIOT!" Rosella turned and ran off down a long corridor, with Bunny at her heels.
"Why have you been an idiot?" Bunny asked, completely confused by the young yet old spirit.
"All those times, all those arguments! I should have known this would happen!" She pulled open a marble white door and disappeared into the darkness inside.
"Known what would happen?!" Bunny hesitated at the door, then plunged in.
He heard Rosella strike a match and soon light filled the dark room. "Why was I so stupid!" Bunny watched as Ro ran her fingers along dusty spines of ancient looking books. A library, he realized as he looked around. An enormous library. "Here it is!" She cried triumphantly, pulling a medium sized leather~bound book out.
"Here what is? What have you been prattling on about these last few minuets?" Bunny asked, utterly and hopelessly confused.
Rosella elected to ignore him and opened the dusty book. The pages crinkled as she turned them, reading quickly. Bunnymund, realizing this wouldn't be over anytime soon, took a seat in one of the many non-dusty chairs around the library. Patiently he waited while she read the book, until she finally snapped it shut and said "Moody J."
"What?" Bunny wasn't even going to try to hide his confusion.
"Moody J. Hes another spirit, but not for kids. He's one for teenagers. You know how teenagers always have those mood swings?" Ro asked, looking at him now.
"Yeah."
"Well, that's the doing of Moody. He gives them mood swings to add interest to their lives and keep them young. If you think about it, when the mood swings stop, you tend to be able to think straight and know exactly what you need to do. Teenagers, however, don't need to be like that. They should be crazy and do some stupid things. Moody helps them do that by providing mood swings to them. Well, now that I say it aloud, I guess that he gives some kids mood swings." Rosella explained, taking a seat in a chair across from Bunny.
"Alright, so what does he have to do with your yelling of 'I'm an idiot!' and 'I should have known!'" Bunny asked.
"Well, that story requires some back~story." Ro said sheepishly.
Bunny leaned back in his chair and said, "Out with it, we have time."
She shifted positions and began her story of the first time she met Moody J. However, in her head she couldn't help but thing, I'm not sure we do, Bunny.
Rosella walked through the forest, curiously following a baby deer. It leaped over logs and bounded through streams, while she simply flew over them. (A/N I Forgot To Say It Before, But Rosella Has Wings. They're Like Tooth's, Very Transparent, But Hers Shimmer Pink And Gold When The Light Catches Them Right) Eventually she found herself in a meadow, where the baby deer met up with it's mother. She felt a sharp pang in her chest at the sight and turned away.
"I've never seen someone get so emotional over a deer. They're food, we eat them!" a voice called. Rosella froze. With wide eyes, she turned back and there stood a slightly older teenager with messy orange hair. Or at least she thought it was orange, there was a black fedora atop his head with a white ribbon tied around it. "I mean, come on! What's with you?"
"You... You can see me?" Ro asked, staring at him.
"Duh! Why wouldn't I be able to see you?" The orange haired boy walked closer to her. He had quite the cocky attitude.
"But... But, nobody can see me. I'm invisible to everybody." She whispered, feeling tears build up behind her eyes. She hadn't had a conversation with anyone in hundreds of years. With plants and animals, sure. But not actual people.
"Well clearly you're not." He now stood in front of her. "Why would you think that?"
"Because nobody ever talks to me." With the end of her sentence, a tear dripped down her cheek.
"Huh? Hey, don't cry." The boys hair faded from orange into a mossy green. He reached out and wiped the tear from her cheek. "Nothing's wrong, you don't need to cry." His voice had also changed; from cocky and sharp to comforting and soft. "It's all okay."
Rosella stared at his hair, but then understood. This boy was a spirit, that's the only way he would be able to see her. "Sorry." She whispered, wiping her eyes.
"You don't have to apologize, it's okay. I understand how it feels to be able to talk to another person after being alone for so long." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. "And I know how shocking it is to have physical contact with another person after having so many people just pass though you."
True enough, Rosella was frozen against him. She hadn't been hugged in... Well, she had never been hugged. Rosella practically melted into the embrace. But it was over all too soon. The other spirit pushed away from Rosella and said "Oh, by the way, who are you?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm Rosella Valentine." She said, wiping her cheeks again.
As soon as the words were out of her mouth he grabbed her shoulders and pressed their foreheads and noses together. He cried out excitedly, "You're Rosella Valentine?!" He pushed away and she tried to regain her balance while staring at his now bright pink hair. The extremely excited spirit jumped giddily, letting his hat fall off.
"Ahh!" Rosella cried out as he collided with her and knocked her to the ground. "Ow..." She muttered while rubbing her lower back. She glanced up at him to see his hair go from bubblegum pink to neon red.
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?! I'm so sorry?! Are you hurt?! Where, where?!" The words came out as a bit of a blur. He crouched down next to her and started pulling at her arms and legs, looking for injuries.
"Ah, no-" Tug, "No really-" Tap, "Really I'm-" Pull, "Will you listen-" Yank, "OW, If you'd listen I'm trying to say I'm fine!" Rosella yelled in his face. She immediately regretted it as his hair and attitude changed again. Now it fell into a deep navy blue and his eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry," He said slowly, sniffling. "I was just panicking and thought I'd hurt you. I'm really sorry, Rosella." He gave a huge sniff and wiped his eyes.
"Oh. No I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled, I just wished you would have listened to me when I was trying to tell you that I was okay, and you didn't hurt me." Rosella laid a hand on his shoulder.
"You're right, I should have listened. I'm so sorry. I'll just go, and leave you alone. I don't want to be a bother." He stood up and grabbed his fedora from the ground.
"Wait! Don't go! You're not a bother!" Ro jumped up and practically tackled him to the ground. He sat up slowly, with her holding onto the front of his black vest. It was a stark contrast from the crisp white shirt underneath. She let out a nervous laugh while letting go of his vest. "Sorry..." She said softly, "But you don't have to go, you're not a bother." She looked up at the surprised look plastered on his face. "I mean it."
His hair slowly faded from a navy blue into a chocolate brown. "Thanks Rosella. I'm Moody, by the way." He held out his hand. "Moody J."
Rosella shook it with a slight laugh, "Of course." She grinned at Moody.
"What?" He returned the smile, but it had a quizzical look about it.
"Moody. It explains so much." She stood up and dusted off her dress.
"Yeah, sorry." Moody said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"It's okay, it sure made my day more interesting." Rosella opened her mouth to say more, when a dove flew down and perched on her shoulder, cooing in her ear. "Huh!" Her eyes opened wide, "All right, I'll be there soon. Take more dust to her, and stay with her."
"Problem?" Moody asked.
"Just a little girl who is having some issues. I have to go, sorry!" Rosella watched the dove take off.
"That's fine, go take care of her." Rosella flashed him a smile before starting to take off, but her wrist was grabbed. She looked back down. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't... Will I see you again? Not many people can handle my mood changes, but you seemed to handle it pretty well. I'd love to be able to see you again."
Rosella smiled at him. "I live in a palace in the the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain. I should be there later tonight. We could meet up there?"
Moody smiled and said, "Great! I'll be there." He let go of her wrist.
"Kay, bye!" With that she zipped off.
"Bye!" He called after her. Moody smiled at the spot where she'd been only a few moments before, then bent over to pick up his hat. He sat it on his now iris~colored hair and strode off the meadow, finding his usual winding path that would take him to the nearest town.
When Rosella finished her story, she looked at Bunny. "That's now I met Moody."
"He sounds like an interesting bloke... Or a horrible Jack."
"What? What's wrong with Jack?" Rosella asked curiously.
"Oh, that's a story for another day. So, now that I know about the bloke, tell me why it made you yell those things earlier." Bunny leaned forward.
Rosella opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a yawn. "Oh, sorry. Um... Right!" She rubbed her eyes and looked back up at him. "The reason I kept yelling those things is because Moody is the next Pitch, but he'll be much, much worse."
"What?!" Bunnymund yelled.
"Let me explain!" She yelled back. Ro settled back down in her chair before continuing. "Now I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure I'm right. Moody and I were really good friends for a really long time. For a while, it almost seemed like we were gonna be more than friends..." She trailed off, tracing a shapes in the leather arm of the chair.
"But?" Bunny prompted gently.
She sighed. "But his mood swings got worse. They go with how teens and kids are all around the world. Most of the time it's not that bad, because the kids weren't mood swinging so violently and only swinging from bad to worse. That's all they do now. It really threw him off, and made it hard for him to... Oh, I don't know. Keep his thoughts stable. He started getting meaner, and got angry for no reason. We got in a huge fight about a year ago, and he stormed out yelling 'Maybe I'll do what you did and stop helping the kids and teenagers. I'll let them grow up when they're 8'. Now I'm worried that's what he's going to do."
Bunny stared at her for a few moments before standing up and saying, "Come on."
"Where are we going?" Rosella stood, but yawned again.
"You're going to bed. I'm going back to the Workshop to tell the other guardians about this bloke." Bunny grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards the doorway.
"Why can't I go?" She protested lightly, then yawned again.
"Because you can barely stand on your own two feet." Bunny pushed her out the door, and blew out the lantern.
Word Count~2,341 Words
Longest Chapter I've Ever Written. Hope This Makes Up For Not Updating For Over Half A Year!
Review Please!