OK! So this is the request chapter from Viridianaln9, so everyone please enjoy. Once again we are at the beginning of yet another 100 reviews so don't hold back, and let's see who will win next time!
I.F.T.S.- So close, and yet so far, glad you are enjoying the drabble, and keep trying, you may win this time!
Riz- Thank you for the compliment, I had so much fun writing that scene, and really wanted to convey their utter shock and just have both Jack and Bunny wig out LOL. And yes, North's reaction was priceless, as was Bunny patiently waiting for him to stop screaming.
Elysenjazz- I have never read the books, so unfortunately I know nothing of their original characters and their back stories. I build my plotlines off what I have seen in fanfictions, and what is put in the wiki on each character.
Lovepuppy- LOVED writing the scream attacks LOL! And don't worry, only the best people can count themselves among the ranks of the mentally unstable LOL.
Midnight Lupus- Remember at the end of chapter 28, and the beginning of this chapter, I wrote that Jack was quickly overheating due to it being summer. So add in the fact that one of his closest friends got turned into a human, and I would say that the shock and heat stroke would be enough to make anyone topple over LOL. Not to mention the gorgeousness that would be Bunny as a human, if it were me instead of Jack there, I would probably faint just from the fact that I found myself the perfect man LOL!
FeastofDeath- Wow…I feel like hiding now because I'm blushing so badly from all your praise! Thank you, I try to give my readers an enjoyable experience, despite the fact that I am still FAR from an accomplished writer.
To anyone wondering where chapter one to Human Bunny was, it is chapter 28, I changed the title so that it may be found more quickly. Thank you!
"Please?"
"NO!"
Jack huffed, crossing his arms as he cast a petulant pout across the space separating him from Bunny. "But why?" he whined "It's only for an afternoon, and for some reason North thinks I shouldn't go alone!"
"I'll tell ya why, ya drongo," Bunny said with an impatient sigh "Yer wantin' to go to a theme park that's all decked out for Halloween, ON Halloween, just so that ya can ride on the rollercoaster rides and go through the haunted houses."
"Yeah," Jack affirmed with a nod "I didn't know that amusement parks did that till Jaime told me, and I want to go, so what's the problem?"
"The problem," Bunny growled irritably "is that we only just defeated the Boogeyman, and those places are a practically a buffet for him to feed off of. What would ya do if ya went to a place overflowing in fear, and just happen to come face to face with Pitch when he is high off of the terrors of the masses, and ya don't have a single believer in the area to give ya the strength ta fight?"
Jack winced at the reminder of his still rather copious lack of nonbelievers "You don't know he'll be there." He muttered miserably.
Bunny finally looked up from the egg he had been painting in time to see Jack wilt, and immediately regretted his, though logical, completely misinterpreted words "Look Jackie," Bunny said gently placing one paw on the winter child's shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze "I would be in the same boat as you. Most of my believers are small children, and the time you want to go to this thing, not many kids will be there, it will be mostly teenagers and adults. Pitch doesn't depend on the fears of children, and he doesn't need believers to be strong, he just needs fear. In an amusement park full of scared people, we would be sitting ducks for his pleasure, mate. I just don't think it would be wise."
Jack remained silent, his face downcast and sullen until finally let out a groan of resignation "Fine," he said throwing his paws up into the air "I probably can't keep ya from goin' on yer own, so I might as well babysit ya to keep ya safe."
The winter child threw Bunny a venomous glare, though it was betrayed by the happiness shining in his eyes "You're not babysitting me!" he defended "I just thought you needed a break from the warren, you're starting to look less like a Kangaroo and more like an egg, which by the way is not a flattering look for you."
"Better an egg, than a dead Guardian," the rabbit grumped "but nevertheless I see yer point. Come on, let's get goin', if yer forcin' me ta go to this shindig with ya, then we might as well be on time."
Jack leapt to his feet, his face wreathed in a happy grin "Awesome," he yelled "come on Kangaroo, move your tail!"
Bunny shook his head fondly as he stood up and dusted his legs off from where he had been sitting on the grass. In truth, Jack was probably right, the chances of Pitch being there and capable of launching an attack quite yet were slim. But Aster still felt an odd sense of unease about the whole thing, and even though he knew he would never be able to talk Jack out of going, he also knew that the boy needed the protection of another should things go wrong. Hopefully they won't, but one can never be too cautious, at least that's what the anthropomorphic rabbit told himself.
…..
Pitch stretched his arms over his head, his face doleful as he gazed out on his dark cavernous kingdom. It had only been about a year since the Guardians had defeated him, and he had yet to truly gain his full power back, but the Boogeyman was hopeful. Perking up with a sinister smile full of glee, he remembered that tonight was Halloween, and a certain theme park in the state of Illinois decked itself out for the occasion, making all the paths an endless haunted house and converting all the rides into tools for terror. Tonight he would collect more than enough fear to gain a decent portion of his old abilities back. He at least would be able to live comfortably, but any thoughts of once again mounting an attack on the Guardians wouldn't be for another few years or so.
Slowly coming to a stand, the Boogeyman began his ascent out of his hole, and towards the theme park where he would find his buffet of a night filled with horrified screams.
…..
"COOL!" Jack gawped as they entered the theme park by merely walking through the lines of people.
Bunny rolled his eyes and gave a gentle shake of his head, to be perfectly honest, he didn't see much of what was cool about it. The front fountain of the theme park had been dyed red, while fake zombies and skeletal corpses lay on the edges. Within the fountain itself were small floating pieces of debris that looked like pieces of a shipwreck and were lit on fire, while the bodies of drowned sailors floated in its waters. The employees of the park itself were dressed as werewolves, vampires, zombies, and creepy looking clowns carrying chainsaws. A giant spider had been hung on the support beams of a rollercoaster, and the paths throughout the park were littered with people dressed like ghastly ghouls and specters scaring any who dared come near.
Giving a small shudder, Bunny crossed his arms and looked around, they should be relatively safe from discovery. There were no small children in sight, and even if they should come across an adult or teenage believer, they would fit in with the strange décor and odd costumes that were worn during this time of year. What Bunny was truly worried about was the amount of screaming he heard on the paths, and how many people were scaring each other, encouraging the sense of fear already filling the place. Looking over to the winter spirit at his side, the rabbit took a small but definite step closer to the teen, he needed to keep his eyes out for Pitch…Just in case.
A good portion of the night was actually spent in fun, with the duo riding the mysteriously empty seats on rollercoaster trains, and "photo bombing" people's family pictures by walking up behind them and making stupid faces just as the shutter clicked. It wasn't until near the end of the night when Jack got the bright idea to walk one of the haunted paths set aside exclusively for haunting and tricks.
"Bunny," Jack said jumping up and down excitedly a hunk of half eaten cotton candy well in hand "let's go down this path, it looks really creepy!"
Aster looked down the path in question and could definitely agree, it looked creepy, which only made the alarm bells in his head go off at an all time high "I don't know Snowflake," he murmured softly as his animal instincts that warned him against danger screeched in the back of his head "something seems off about that one."
"Bunny," Jack groaned "you've been avoiding the haunted trails all night, but we've already ridden all the rides like twelve times…EACH! It's time for a haunted path."
"We were having fun photo bombing all those people's pictures," Bunny smiled in an attempt to placate the boy into changing his mind.
"Yeah it was fun," Jack shrugged his face suddenly growing somber "until you remember that no one will actually see you, then what's the point?"
"Well when you say it with that attitude," Aster scolded playfully "then of course it sounds pointless, but the point is not so much being seen as it is you know you put something extra special in their picture that they probably won't notice until later…and maybe have a laugh over it."
Jack didn't look convinced, and once again Bunny found his hackles rising and fur bristling as he looked down the foreboding trail "Fine," he growled "but stay close."
"Why, you scared cotton tail?" Jack laughed.
"No," Bunny stated as they walked towards the haunted pathway "just cautious about-"
Suddenly the rabbit paused, gathering his thoughts as he walked beside the winter teen. He wasn't quite sure how to tell Jack this, but the one thing about being a Guardian, is that their fear is so much more…delicious to the Boogeyman. Plus the fact that Pitch gained most of his strength from the pure fear emanated by small children. Considering Jack was trapped for all eternity in the body of a child, and him being a Guardian, those two things made his fear extremely valuable and maybe even addicting to their dark foe. Bunny knew that Pitch would get strong by taking advantage of his own fears, but what about Jack's? The idea was too much, and Aster was tempted to turn this car around right here and now, but the look of excited joy on Jack's face made him pause, maybe he was just being paranoid. Pitch hadn't been seen in over a year, and it was unlikely that he had enough strength to do anything too terribly dangerous to them, so all in all they were probably safe. But even as that thought helped Bunny's shoulders lose their tense posture, a stray niggling in the back of his brain whispered a warning, and urged his instincts to kick into hyper drive.
Jack walked down the pathway, completely oblivious to the true reason behind Bunny's unease, his arms swinging while one hand clutched his staff in relaxed ease. It was almost Pitch-…It was almost completely black outside, lit only by the occasional lamp, and the Jack-o-lanterns on the side of the path. Suddenly a spooky laugh sounded from one of the trees, accompanied by the sound of a cat shrieking and hissing. A small rope of fear curled up in his stomach, but Jack quickly shook his head, banishing it from his thoughts. He was not scared, not on his own, and certainly not while Bunny was standing next to him. Remembering the past summer where he and Bunny had gone to listen to camp fire ghost stories, Jack winced, not liking the embarrassing fool he had made of himself when he had thought the yeti was the ghoul coming to take their lives. But then the winter teen pursed his lips, his face slowly lighting up as he remembered, Bunny acted pretty scared too so at least he wasn't alone in the embarrassing scream fest that was that night.
A group of giggling girls walked up behind them and Jack tugged on Aster's paw, bright blue eyes child like in his need to have some fun "Hey Bunny," he whispered with a conspiratorial grin that only grew wider when the rabbit leaned down and played along "let's keep close to those girls, we will get the full effect of the haunted path because the actors will scare them, and we can freak them out a little too."
Bunny found a fond chuckle coming up his throat and he made a show of pondering Jack's idea "Sounds like a fascinating idea," he guffawed in an over exaggerated British accent "my dear boy, how do you come up with these things?"
Jack gave a mock bow his face beaming with the game they were playing "Oh, they just come naturally," he shrugged in his own British accent "it's a gift really."
"Or a curse," Aster laughed giving the boy a playful push "dependin' on whose getting' yer royal treatment from yer bag of tricks."
The winter teen shrugged his mischievous smile never leaving "Come on cotton tail, we need to keep up if we want to see all this park has to offer on its 'scariest pathway'."
"A'right," Aster laughed as they loped into a short run to catch up with the group of girls.
Sneaking up behind them, Jack sent Bunny a wink and a giggle, and gently blew cold air on the back of a blonde girls neck causing her to shriek "Ohmygosh!"
"What?" the other girls asked, their faces streaked in worry.
"I, like, felt a cold spot!" the blonde shrieked.
"A what spot?" one of the other girls, a brunette, asked.
"A cold spot," a black girl said as if she were quoting a dictionary "a phenomenon that usually accompanies ghost activity, identified as a severely cold spot in the room despite the rest of the area being warm."
"Girl," another black girl said with a wave of her hand "that's just Chicago, you know this state can't decide when it comes to weather."
"Are you sure?" the blonde girl asked "because it was right on the back of my neck."
"It was a breeze," the brunette sighed with a laugh "now come on, we barely started and you're already freaking out!"
Jack was doubled over laughing "S-She said…" he guffawed while wildly waving his finger in the girls' direction "She said I was a cold spot!"
Aster smirked "If she only knew," he said casting his eyes skyward and shaking his head.
Jack straightened up with an indignant pout, giving the rabbit a punch on the arm the winter child stuck out his tongue and then ran ahead "You're turn kangaroo!" he yelled over his shoulder.
Bunny shook his head then felt a mischievous grin of his own stretch his features. Walking up behind the girls, he looked for the one who had the strongest amount of belief still fluttering in the deepest regions of her subconscious, and of course it was the same girl Jack picked on. Leaning in close, he barely rested his chin on her shoulder, and whispered softly in her ear.
"Oi Sheila, where ya goin'?"
The girl tensed, and cast her eyes around looking for the source of the voice "Uh, guys," she said in a quavering voice "any of you hear that?"
"Hear what?" came the reply which made the girl firmly clamp her mouth shut in order to avoid more teasing.
Bunny looked over to Jack, who urged the Pooka on, and once again turned to the girl "Ya betta not be goin' down there, girly," he said in his spookiest voice "I don't think ya can handle it."
"Ok, this isn't funny you guys!" the blonde pouted and Jack flew over allowing his cold to dance over the girl causing her to once again start screaming "This place is totally haunted, I'm out of here!"
The girls turned around in time to see their friend take off running for the entrance, their faces wreathed in grins at her inability to handle the haunted path. What the girls didn't see however was Bunny and Jack rolling on the ground helplessly as loud hoots of laughter shook their frames. The winter teen wiped his eyes free from the tears of mirth, looking over to Aster, the boy chuckled "That was awesome."
"Yeah," Bunny nodded with a grin "let's see how many of the other ones we can scare away!"
The boys then began trying to scare the other girls, but were disappointed to see that the other three were made of sterner stuff than their friend, and so they settled with walking beside them. At first the path wasn't that bad, with decorated landscape, and spooky sounds, it was pretty mild, and Jack found himself remarking often to his friend about 'how was this supposed to be the scariest path in the park?', but they hadn't made it into the Ghost Town yet, and that was where the fun truly began.
Pitch hung in the shadows, sitting cross legged on a nearby roof of a building, slowly clapping his hands in appreciation of how Jack and Bunny scared the girl. True he still hated them, but he was the Boogeyman, and if there was anything he could appreciate it was someone pulling off a decent scare. He didn't know that the rabbit and Frost had it in them to be so…evil, but somehow the act made them rank a little higher in his respect for the Guardians…well at least for those two. His elation was short lived however as he saw that the other girls were not falling for their tricks, and the dark specter shook his head in fond amusement.
"Amateurs," he sighed as he slid off the roof and glided down towards the group.
Melting into the shadows so not to be discovered by the Guardians, Pitch gave a wicked grin "Allow me to show you," he hissed happily "how the professionals handle things."
Suddenly the flame within the Jack-o-lanterns began to sputter and dance, and the lamps overhead flickered in and out, the electricity buzzing as they struggled to stay on. The girls got restless, their eyes dancing back and forth, and slowly they began to huddle close together seeking comfort. They were not the only ones being affected. Jack unconsciously began walking closer to the rabbit, his teeth catching his bottom lip as he watched the lights flicker in and out. Bunny looked down sensing the boy's sudden unease, placing a strong paw on his shoulder, the rabbit spoke softly.
"Ya ok Jackie?"
"Huh?" Jack turned to Aster ripping his gaze away from the dying lamps and looking into the calming green depths of his friend's "Yeah, I'm fine, nothing's wrong."
Bunny raised an incredulous eyebrow then shrugged. As they walked, a shadow skittered across the path accompanied by ghostly voices, causing the girls to scream. Jack yelped, his cold fingers immediately wrapping around Bunny's wrist, but he just as quickly let go casting a sheepish grin over to his friend. That was when they entered the ghost town.
Building lit up by colored lights of red, purple, green, and orange held the actors dressed in the bloody rags of the corpses they were impersonating. Pitch giggled gleefully as he used his powers of misdirection and deception to guide their steps into the most appropriate areas. A decomposing zombie butcher with bloody pieces of meat hanging around the edges of the building moaned as he waved his knife towards the girls, Bunny felt his chin tilt up just in time to see a row of dead rabbits(fake of course, but extremely well made) hanging alongside, their empty eyes gleaming in the firelight and their death screams echoing in the dark. Bunny gave a shudder, and patted Jack's shoulder in a pretense of comforting the boy, but actually to calm himself.
Jack felt himself being drawn to the pool of water on the edge of the town and felt his heart freeze at the pale figure floating under the water. Leaning over the railing, the winter teen cast horrified eyes on the drowned corpse, only to jump back shrieking when the actor jumped out of the water, dripping water and seaweed, howling at the top of its lungs. A small whimper escaped Jack's lips, and felt himself sidling close to Bunny, a shaking hand firmly grabbing his wrist. The rabbit watched Jack's face, seeing how pale it had suddenly become, and slid the boy's hand down so that it was clutched in his paw. Jack didn't complain, but rather held his staff closer as they shuffled alongside the girls.
Another building, the city hall apparently, with the ghouls of long dead soldiers haunting its steps. Their decomposed faces stared dolefully out, and one reached out a bloodstained hand towards the group, his face stretching as he let out a moan mixed with almost a snarl. Aster shuddered, remembering the faces of the many soldiers he had seen die on the battlefield, and Jack shared his sentiment, as half frozen tears threatened to spill over onto pale cheeks. They passed the town plaza, and in the middle was a crowd of actors, while the soundtrack of an angry mob shouted through the speakers. As they passed by, they noticed that in the middle of the crowd was a girl tied to a stake, and suddenly the stake lit up as they lit the girl on fire. Screams filled the night air, and Jack quickly hid his face from the sight and the heat of the flame, by burying it into Bunny's side. The rabbit unconsciously wrapped his arm around the trembling boys shoulders, his face set in firm dislike, even as his ears trembled in fear.
The girls moved as quickly as possible to the next attraction on the path, their eyes wide with fear, and Pitch grinned widely at the reaction he had gotten from them. But nothing could compare to the sensational amount of terror being put out by Frost, the boy was almost inconsolable as he struggled to keep walking, his cerulean gaze wide with terror. It was delicious, and Pitch wanted more. Suddenly music filled the air, and the group looked ahead to see the next building was actually a circus tent, with a group of actors spilling out of its door. They were dressed as clowns, and each held either a bloody knife, or a bloodstained chainsaw. Their maniacal laughter filled the night, and the girls shrieked as they sprinted past the clowns and towards the nearest exit. Jack fisted Bunny's fur, wanting so badly to fly away, but not wanting to look even more weak than he already was.
Aster heaved a sigh of relief "Well," he said in a hoarse voice "our group abandoned us, so it looks like we won't be seeing what the actors have planned for the rest of the trail."
"Oh, yeah," Jack stammered through chattering teeth "that's too bad…I was enjoying seeing the park's creativity."
Aster smiled and ruffled the white head still firmly buried in his side beneath his arm. Pitch however was not happy, he had not gotten nearly enough fear from the Frost boy, and he wanted just one more taste of unbridled terror. Suddenly an idea set his mouth in a wide grin, and the Boogeyman slithered forth in his last trick on the unsuspecting pair. Just as the duo was walking over a bridge, darkness enveloped Jack, transporting him to another place. When the boy finally got his sight back, he was shocked to see that he was standing in the middle of a pond on top of a piece of flaming ship wreckage, while Bunny was a couple yards away still on the wooden bridge.
Bunny's mind flashed back to just little over a month ago when he had accidentally thrown Jack into one of his dye streams, and how he had learned about the boy's untimely death from drowning. "JACK!" he shouted one paw reaching out from the bridge as if he could pluck the boy from his perch.
"B-B-B-" Jack stammered with trembling lips, glancing down the boy felt his heart seize in fearful panic when he noticed that his staff had somehow disappeared, and a small whimper whined from his lips. "Bunny," came a terrified whisper barely caught by the rabbit across the water "Bunny" this time louder as tears spilled over and Jack felt his legs begin to wobble.
Suddenly a dark wave hit the floating debris, causing it to dip under the water and tip from side to side. The winter child fell to his knees, a wrenched sob shrieking from his lips as his clutched the flaming wood and metal "BUNNY!"
"Hold on Snowflake, I'm comin'!"
Bunny jumped up onto the railing of the bridge, and leapt for all he was worth towards the boy into the dark water. Hitting the surface with a loud splash, the rabbit resurfaced with a gasp, and then swam in lithe strokes, cutting through the waves, in the direction of the bobbing piece of decoration. He grit his teeth at the sobs resounding across the water, his heart clenched at the way he could hear the shuddering gasps speed up until Jack was beginning to hyperventilate in fear. Finally reaching the teen, Bunny stretched out a wet paw, gasping the pale hand currently clenched tightly around a piece of wood.
"Jackie," he said in as calming a tone he could manage "mate, ya need ta calm down."
Shoulders jerked from erratic sobs as the winter sprite struggled to draw breath past already blue lips "I-I can't" he said in a hitched gasp "I c-c-can't…"
With a groan, the rabbit tried to heave himself up onto the debris, but quickly slid back into the water when it looked like it would tip over into the waves, causing Jack to give a panicked shriek. Curling up into a trembling ball, the pale spirit sobbed violently.
"Bu-Bunny," he wept "I don't wanna d-die…I d-don't want…to d-d-DROWN again!"
"Yer not," Aster said confirming his words by gripping the boy's hand in his paw "I won't let you, now kid, I need ya to look at me…come on…ya can do it."
Fearful blue eyes peeked up from where they had been previously buried between his arms, Aster smiled encouragingly, his paw switching from gripping the boy's hand to ruffling his hair "Tha's a good boy," he whispered "now I know this is gonna be hard, but I need ya to come in the water…"
"NOOOO!" the loud whine slipped from trembling lips.
"Jackie, listen ta me," Bunny said patiently as he tried to help the teen overcome his fear "like I said, ya need ta get in the water and hold on around my neck. I'll carry ya back ta the shore, and we'll look fer yer staff, ok mate?"
Porcelain teeth bit his bottom lip, and Jack looked down at the dark waters currently holding his buoy, a violent shudder rocking his frame "Um…" the boy gave a broken whisper "…P-promise not to let go…?"
"I promise," Aster assured with his warm emerald gaze.
"I'm scared,"
"I know"
With small hesitant movements, Jack slowly stretched out one arm, then another until he had wrapped them both around the Pooka's neck. Aster gave an encouraging smile, then gripped the boy by the top of his arms, and pulled him in for a hug. Holding him close the way one would for a small child, Bunny patted the boy's back, whispering words of comfort and assurance before slowly slipping his whole weight into the water. Jack tensed, gripping fur between his fingers, and clenching his teeth with every wave that hit his back. Bunny turned over so that he was floating partly on his back, and swam in reverse, all the while talking to Jack to keep him calm. What felt like an eternity later, they made it to the shore, and Bunny walked up onto the grass, Jack still curled around him in an unrelenting grip.
"Jackie," Bunny spoke softly "Jack, ya need ta let go."
Suddenly the boy began to convulse as sobs wracked his frame, and vibrated through the large rabbit holding him. Tightening the hug, Aster sat down on the soft grass, and gently rocked him back and forth, humming comfortingly. Jack wept harder and harder, his sobs becoming screams of fear, and wails of relief. Bunny held him through it, one paw caressing his head, while the other patted his back gently. It lasted for well over ten minutes, until Jacks sobs slowed to shuddering gasps and small sniffles. Keeping his face firmly buried in Aster's fur, the boy finally allowed his breathing to even out, and then quieted all together. Looking down, Bunny didn't stop his rocking, or patting, merely holding the child until he was ready.
"You ok?" Aster asked softly.
"Y-yeah," came the shuddered answer "I'm ok…but I don't think I can walk yet."
"Tha's ok," Bunny hummed "it's fine, I'll jest wait till yer ready."
"Thanks…"
"I swear, this never gets old" A mocking voice suddenly cackled.
Jack tensed ready to jump up, and Bunny tightened his hold, keeping the child firmly in his arms "Pitch," the rabbit snarled "I had a feeling this was because of you."
"Well, I admit I had something to do with it," The Boogeyman shrugged "but all I did was put him out on the water, the rest was completely hands off."
"Ya jest couldn't resist, could ya, ya overgrown rat bag." The rabbit glared across the water over to the tree branch where Pitch currently stood.
"It isn't in my nature to ignore fear," Pitch smiled wickedly "especially fear as deliciously enjoyable as the kind that Jack has."
"It isn't enough that ya can get the fear of thousands of people," the Pooka growled irritably "ya just have ta pick on Jack, and take advantage of the fact that he's still practically a kid."
"Am not…" came the mumbled retort from Bunny's fur, which was promptly hushed by a gentle flick to the head.
"You know that fear from children is more pure than fear from adults, which is clouded by the façade of trying to remain calm and in control due to their education and knowing why the thing is frightening in the first place." Pitch droned on "Children fear, because they can't understand their fear, thus it is pure undiluted fear. A Guardian's fear is even more so intoxicating due to the fact that you draw your power from children. Jack? He is a delicious sushi roll of childish Guardian's fear."
Bunny felt an eyebrow rise at the metaphor, and Jack looked up at the rabbit his face twisted in dislike "I don't like being referred to as a food group," the boy whispered "especially by him, it makes me almost want to never eat Japanese food ever again."
Bunny covered the snort of laughter with a cough, giving Jack a stern glare reprimanding him to stay silent and let him handle this. Jack shrugged, and then snuggled back into the Pooka's embrace, allowing his eyes to droop closed.
"So what are ya gonna do," Bunny gave a seemingly careless shrug "attack us now?"
"Nah," Pitch gave a lazy yawn "I'm not nearly so strong as for that yet, as much as I would like to. I merely wanted to have some fun."
Bunny opened his mouth to shoot back a sharp retort, and then closed it. If Pitch planned on leaving, and no one had gotten hurt, then he was willing to let things go as they stand. "Fine," the Pooka growled "get out of here before I show you what I do ta people who pick on my family."
Giving a smirk and a sarcastic wave, Pitch flew over them, dropping something long and wooden onto the grass. Leaning forward, Bunny was relieved to see Jack's staff, and then looked down at the sleeping child in his lap. No doubt their fun, plus the scare, had exhausted the boy completely. Flipping the boy across his back and settling him between his shoulders, the rabbit bent down and picked up the staff, then tapped the ground and took off for the North Pole. Once arriving, the rabbit reached to open the door, but was interrupted when it was opened by someone on the inside. A large man loomed over Bunny, a white hockey mask adorning his face, and a chainsaw in hand.
Bunny fell on his butt, screaming his head off, the only thought on his mind being that Pitch had somehow managed to send one of those psychotic clowns home with them. But as swiftly as the man opened the door, he flicked off his mask, and Bunny let out a relieved sigh to see that it was merely North. Clutching his heaving chest with one paw, the rabbit gasped for air.
"North," he growled "ya bloody drongo, what do ya think yer doin' answerin' the door like that?"
"What?" North shrugged as he turned the chainsaw off "I wanted to carve out some more ice for my workshop, and the mask keeps ice from flying into face."
Bunny let out a frustrated groan before once again standing, his concerned face peeking over his shoulder at the, thankfully, still sleeping child "Thank God," the rabbit sighed "at least when Frostbite sleeps, he sleeps hard."
North gave a fond chuckle as they wandered back inside the large castle "Long day?"
"Ya could say that," Bunny groaned following North to Jack's room and gently laying the boy down on his bed and tucking him in "we went to the park, and had fun, but then we saw Pitch."
"WHAT?!" North exploded but then winced when Jack let out a small whine and Bunny hushed him with a firm glare.
"Keep yer voice down," the rabbit growled in a low tone "don't worry, the guy pulled a trick on us, but it worked out ok. He didn't intend to hurt, only to make Jack scared."
"But that is bad enough," North sighed "Jack would give Pitch a lot of power, making him recover faster."
"I know that North," Bunny whispered "but I got it taken care of, and Jack is fine. We'll just remember to be more careful in the future."
Looking down at the sleeping boy, North ruffled his hair, and then dropped a kiss onto his temple causing the child to smile and sigh sweetly before dropping into an even deeper sleep. Walking out of the room, the duo headed to the sitting room, and collapsed into a couple easy chairs with a soft groan. Propping his feet up on a footstool, Bunny smiled as he relaxed into the comfortable cushions of the chair. North looked over and gave a loud laugh.
"Bunny, if I did not know better, I would think you are old man."
Aster gave a halfhearted flick with his hand towards the large man "Shad'dup"
North let loose a long guffaw of laughter then he too settled back "So," he said amiably "how was your day?"
"Long," Aster replied exhaustedly "and…" he continued raising one finger as if he had just had a sudden revelation "I hate clowns…"
OK! That took forever!
Viridianaln9, I hope you enjoyed it. I know it wasn't EXACTLY what you requested, but the story just got away from me and developed a mind of its own, and when I tried to convince it to do what I wanted it threatened to steal my chocolate, and I was all like "NO NOT THE CHOCOLATE!" and it was all "YES I WILL STEAL THE CHOCOLATE!" so I just had to do what it said it wanted.
Mystic- How did you like the Pitch scenes? LET ME KNOW!
OK everyone, REVIEW! And I mean NOW! We are at 628, so let's see those numbers start dancing!