A small gust of wind floated past the mansion, sending a light breeze through an open window. Inside the house, the lovely tomb raider and archeologist Lara Croft was looking at her reflection in the mirror, carefully adjusting the band with the floppy rabbit ears that rested upon her head. She tended to her makeup, making sure that her face looked very smooth and pretty.
This year was the year of the rabbit and she was ready for some rabbit-y fun. Lara thought of going down to London to play with the bunny-loving kids, perhaps join the other girls in their rabbit costumes as they did some rabbit hopping, but she had her sights on an adventure.
Recently, she'd caught wind that someone had located a golden rabbit egg, which was said to be ancient. According to rumor, it was located on Easter Island.
Of course, it was just a rumor. If it had been there, someone would have gotten it by now.
Lara finished her adjustments and touch-ups, then she stepped back, looking at herself in the mirror. She saw herself wearing long light-pink gloves, white stockings and a revealing pink leotard with a fake rabbit tail on the back. Her long brown leather belt sat around her curvaceous midsection, full of rabbit treats and a couple bullets just in case.
"You're looking quite nice today, Miss Croft." Winston commented as he passed by the room.
"Thank you, Winston." Lara replied to her tray-carrying butler.
Just then, she heard a thumping sound and walked into the hall to investigate, wondering if the pipes were having trouble. Then again, it didn't quite sound like the pipes, the noise seemed to be coming from outside.
Lara heard the sound once more.
'Thump, thump, thump.'
Was it a woodpecker, pecking away at the porch?
Oh dear, hopefully not. Lara made her way to the front door and grabbed her pistol laying on the table, just in case. She slowed her hurried movements to a light crawl, slowly walking towards the door, then she cautiously reached out and unlocked it. The tomb raider's hand turned the knob and she breathed slowly, then she pushed open the door and stepped onto the porch.
Her brown eyes moved around, scanning the front lawn and the rest of the area around the entrance of the mansion, while fresh air filled her nostrils. Lara heard a light thump, then she looked down, seeing a pair of rabbits looking up at her.
Disbelief filled her mind, she'd never had rabbits come to her mansion before, aside from the fact this was the fabled year of the rabbit. Lara knelt down and held out her hand. One rabbit, the yellow one, crawled towards the archeologist and sniffed her. She then felt something touch her arm and turned to see a white rabbit stand on her shoulder, its nose twitching constantly.
Thump-thump-thump!
Now that sounded like it was coming from beyond the porch. Lara stood up and closed the door, then she walked down the steps. Her feet touched the grass with a crunch and she walked slowly, feeling slight wetness. The sprinkler had turned on an hour ago, hence why the grass was still wet.
A couple bees flew past, hovering towards a patch of sunflowers, all looking for pollen. Lara treaded around them carefully, even the rabbits moved cautiously as a bee flew by.
Lara adjusted one of her rabbit ears when it flopped down her face, dangling in front of her eye. She could feel the rabbit ears dancing with each movement she made, her hair running down her upper back, and the wet grass crunching beneath the heels of her feet. She breathed slowly and steadily, taking in the warm and fresh air of Springtime.
Thump-thump.
It wasn't her heart pounding, Lara knew that her heartbeat didn't sound like that. The rabbits that were beside her began to hop away, not another noise. She heard the thumping again, then she looked upward and gasped. Standing in front of her, nose twitching, staring into her eyes, and at the height of a shipping container was a large rabbit with light-gold, half-brown fur.
'Blimey.' Lara thought.
She'd seen impossible things in her life, she'd even heard stories of the Easter Bunny. In fact, she'd heard a few tales of giant rabbits and rabbit monsters, including likes of the fabled Were-Rabbit. By this point, Lara couldn't begin to believe she was imagining things.
Not only was it the Year of The Rabbit, today was the Day Of The Giant Rabbit, and it was visiting her with a pair of rabbit buddies. In fact, perhaps this thing was connected to the Golden Egg. If the Giant Rabbit was real, then, was the Easter Bunny real too?
Could the Giant Rabbit actually be the Easter Bunny himself, was the Giant Rabbit some sort of spirit that took the form of a rabbit?
It stared into her eyes, moving in a little closer towards the shapely adventurer, showing very little worry for the gun she had with her. Lara stared back at the rabbit and reached out, letting the head and twitchy nose come closer. She stepped forward and placed her hand on the rabbit's face, feeling its wet nose as the rabbit rubbed it's face against Lara's palm.
And then, she heard a voice speak to her:
'Come with me to the land of rabbits, you who seek the egg.'
Lara saw the two rabbits from the porch gather at her feet, rubbing their heads against her ankles. Then she saw a few more rabbits beside the Giant Rabbit, looking at her curiously. She looked up into the big guy's eyes, her mind thinking of the legendary rabbit egg.
It would be one wild adventure, going with the rabbits, to the land where the egg was hidden. There may have been danger waiting, but it would be worth it, especially when she got the artifact.
Eager to begin the journey, Lara rubbed the rabbit's face and nodded. The Giant Rabbit stepped back, then turned to the right. The vigilant tomb raider approached the massive bunny and grabbed its side, slowly climbing the creature's body until she was on its back. Lara sat up, her legs around the Giant Rabbit's sides with her hands gently gripping the furry spot near its neck.
One second later, the Giant Rabbit arched back and leaped upward, then it came down with a bump. Lara felt a jolt and held on as the rabbit leaped again. And then, it was bounding across the countryside and the smaller rabbits followed. Lara looked to the sky, thinking of what other rabbit-y surprises were in store, aside from the Golden Egg itself.
'You have a nice costume.'
Lara fought the urge to blush, just hearing a rabbit speak in her mind, commenting on her outfit. She shook her head, watching as her companions frolicked across the countryside and over the hills. The city of London loomed beyond one hill with Lara catching the outline of Big Ben in the distance.
And yet, she knew they weren't going to London, it would be ridiculous. The rabbits bounced to the left and a bright light unlike the sun's light glowed around the archeologist and the bouncing bunnies. She held onto the Giant Rabbit's scruff and watched as the countryside vanished around them in a glowing haze, now it seemed like they were entering a whole new universe.
Perhaps the Giant Rabbit was from another dimension, or these were magic teleporting rabbits.
She felt a light thump and blinked right as the light got brighter for a moment, then it faded and Lara was filled with a sense of astonishment as she took in the sight that awaited all around her.
They were in a different land, far from the English countryside, full of green hills, totem poles with rabbit heads on top, trees and bushes that took the form of rabbits and a couple rocks that looked like resting rabbits lay outside a couple patches of grass. And then, she could see pillars on a hill, leading towards what looked like a temple.
'It's too real to be a dream.' Lara thought, 'I've entered the land of the rabbits.'
Her ride bounced for a time, then it came to a stop by one of the rabbit rocks. Lara slowly climbed off the Giant Rabbit and gently scratched the side of its face, the massive bunny rabbit rubbed its head against the palm of Lara's hand and a white rabbit rubbed its nose against her ankle.
'Doing boing, poing-poing, boing boing.'
Lara turned, watching as a pair of rabbits bounced across the grass, passing by the pillars, and they all seemed to be heading towards the temple structure. She didn't have to assume twice her rabbit friends were leading her through the landscape, Lara moved to follow, then she looked back at the Giant Rabbit and then shifted her attention to the smaller rabbits.
'Why walk when we can hop like rabbits?' She thought with a smile, 'This will be an interesting rabbit adventure.'
She crouched down behind a brown rabbit, focused hard, and took a leap. She leaped a few inches, then she laughed and crouch-leaped again. Of course, humans weren't as light or fast as rabbits, neither were they like frogs. Then again, humans could still hop and Lara was somewhat capable of many feats.
Feeling determined, the shapely action-archeologist took another leap forward, stood up a little, and then took another leap. She bounded across the path in front of her, following the rabbits past a pair of the bunny-shaped bushes that swayed in the breeze.
A confident Lara hopped around a pile of pebbles in her path just as the rabbits hopped over it, then she crawled over a rock and leaped around a small hole in the ground. The seasoned adventurer giggled and made 'poink' sounds with each leap she took; one rabbit turned to look at her and Lara stopped, reaching out to pet her little friend before it leaped away after the others.
Lara looked back, seeing that the Giant Rabbit was following her slowly. She couldn't hear the thump, which told her it was crawling instead of hopping, and she could only hear light footsteps.
She turned her attention back to her rabbit companions, following them up the small hill ahead, and Lara hopped past a rabbit statue, which had a few cracks at its base. The bunny outfit-clad tomb raider looked up and saw the temple wasn't that far away, the archeologist nodded to a yellow rabbit and hopped up the small slope, coming to a rest near a broken pillar.
Feeling the need to stretch her knees after crouching and hopping, Lara stood up and walked towards the temple. The rabbits circled her feet and nuzzled their heads against her ankles as if the tall human archeologist was some kind of deity to them, which made her giggle a little bit.
As the floppy-eared creatures continued to surround and often nuzzle her, Lara walked towards the temple's entrance, seeing pillars that resembled rabbit ears standing on the left and right side of the structure's ancient opening. She slowed down, observing the temple's architecture. Even though the rabbits were friendly, there was no way they would leave their treasure unguarded.
Various traps had to be waiting for her and, after dealing with so many trap-filled temples and dangerous tombs in her adventures, Lara was ready to avoid every single one of them and solve whatever mysterious puzzles she ended up encountering along the way.
Confident as ever, the intrepidly attractive tomb raider moved past the rabbit ear pillars and stepped over the threshold, entering the old, crumbling and vine-infested temple. She walked around a fallen rabbit statue's head and kicked aside a broken ear, removing it from her path. The sun shone through the holes in the rotting, weedy ceiling, gleaming off the broken patches of floor.
It was unbelievable, a land of rabbits and a rabbit temple that had existed this whole time. And, if Lara were to assume, this place would be open to people like her during the Year of The Rabbit.
Well, nobody ever predicted the universe would choose Lara to be the one to come here.
Plus, it seemed like the Giant Rabbit, or some other rabbit spirit, was in the mood to see someone take their treasure for themselves. Usually, ancient civilizations would not be too keen on letting people like Lara take their prized artifacts. Maybe it all depended on the circumstances.
Just then, something clicked and Lara spotted a shadow moving above her, she glanced down to see her foot pressing upon a loose piece of floor. She ducked and rolled out of the way, right as a rabbit paw came down. Lara ducked once more, watching as a carrot-like projectile whizzed over her head. It was some type of arrow, an arrow with an almost very-deceiving appearance.
'If I hadn't ducked, that wouldn't have ended well.' Lara thought.
'Excellent work, Lara.'
She turned around, seeing a large rabbit, almost like the one that brought her to this land. It stood near an alcove that led into a corridor akin to a cave, staring at her calmly with its nose twitching as if it was taking the time out of its day to sniff the adventurous Englishwoman.
'Not many have the skill and prowess like you do.' A voice spoke in her mind, 'The way to the Golden Egg is through that alcove near you. However, you have another test that awaits. May your skill guide you...'
It was the rabbit, talking to Lara through telepathic means. The archeologist nodded and walked through the archway close by, diving into the cavern-like hall. The ground felt rough and rocky with the walls covered in dust and hard stone. Lara stepped around the rocks laying on the ground and carefully avoided the white silky webs on the ground, knowing how dangerous spiders could be.
She took many more slow and steady breaths, easing her nerves and her heartbeat. Lara stepped through another alcove, entering another chamber, one with tall rabbit statues and very peculiar-looking platforms that rested above large gaping holes.
Lara stepped forward, looking down at a mural that was etched into the ground, depicting a rabbit jumping across platforms. Her eyes glanced towards the platforms above the holes and Lara could see they looked like trampolines... with bunny ears, the archeologist put a hand on her hip and looked at the mural once more.
And that was when it clicked; she had to jump like a rabbit!
Her heart beating with confidence, the leotard, bunny ear-wearing adventurer stepped towards the edge, felt the surface wobble a bit, and crouched down on all fours. All it took was focus and a leap of faith.
No way in the highland she was going to let some trap stump her. Lara arched back, stared at the platform over the abyss and then, she jumped as far as she could. She felt her body touch the surface and threw her arms over the edge, Lara pushed herself up and stood on the platform. She'd made it, now she had to make it to the other side.
She walked to the platform's edge, feeling the ground wobble, crouched down, and then she leaped like a rabbit. Lara heard a boing and it struck her that the platform propelled her when she jumped, she landed on the other side near the edge and stood straight.
Did it matter how close the treasure was; all Lara knew was that she had another platform to jump to.
The intrepid explorer slowly walked to the edge, then she crouched down, stared at the platform ahead, and took another rabbit jump. Lara reached out and felt herself touch the surface wobbly, trampoline-like platform.
Luckily, the platform didn't give out despite its near-unstable nature. She took a step forward, faced the other side of the pit, and took a rabbit's leap. Vigilant and steadfast Lara Croft touched the ground and looked back, seeing how far the alcove was. And then, she looked forward, seeing an archway that led into a cavern-like hall, which led towards sunlight.
In fact, she was only a few feet from it. Talk about a short trial, an easy one since she knew what to do.
The confident tomb raiding-archeologist walked towards the tunnel ahead, breathing the fresh air that poured in with the sunlight through the cracks in the ceiling. Lara gripped her gun just in case, carefully stepping over the small rocks and broken bunny statues, as she slowly entered the tunnel.
And, just up ahead, a golden glow caught her eye.
Initially, Lara thought it was the sun, which, in technicality, was true. However, the sunlight wasn't golden. She thought about it more clearly, then she realized the sunlight was reflecting off something made of gold that was just waiting for her at the end. Lara ducked under a tree root and kicked a rock out of the way, clearing the path at her feet.
She pushed through a wall of sticky webs, keeping an eye out for large spiders that were likely nesting close by, and moved to the side in an effort to avoid another large web. The rich adventurer ducked when a click perked her ear and a projectile spat out of a hole in the wall nearby.
'A trap near the end.' Lara looked down, seeing she'd stepped on a switch disguised as a rock, 'How cleaver of the rabbits...'
Giving herself a couple seconds to regain her wits, Lara continued forward and carefully walked over a rock as sunlight hit her face. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again when she realized the sun's glare wasn't that bright enough.
The brown-haired adventurer looked around, seeing the clear blue sky along with the rocky walls, green bushes and trees that surrounded her. A second later, her eyes lay upon the golden egg that rested upon the blue-gray dais with bunny ears surrounding the square space where the egg was sitting. And Lara's eyes glinted, knowing that her quest was at an end.
She reached out and picked up the egg, smiling as she regarded its beauty. The museum was going to pay thousands for this and the curator would be pleased. As she held the egg, Lara could hear the Giant Rabbit speak despite not being in her vicinity, telling her that she had done well...
The End