[1] 87 Days Until Easter

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[Bunnymund is quite used to having Weird Things happen to him. It's just what you deal with when you become a Guardian, and you need to roll with the punches. That's not to say he wasn't worried when he woke up in an actual bedroom in a place he'd never been before. Far from it. He was VERY worried.

It didn't help that his tunnels didn't get him anywhere familiar either. Still, he's held off on panicking completely until night has come, and Paradisa's big blue moon looms high in the sky. Anyone who believes in the existence of the Easter Bunny will see a 6'1 rabbit, standing on the roof, apparently having a conversation with the moon. A very one sided conversation]

Okay. I get that you have your cryptic ways and we just need to deal with them, but I really don't understand what I'm doing here. This isn't Earth, and I thought I was needed there more than anywhere. So if you could give me a few pointers, explain what you want me to do here? She'll be apples. [Silence] Anything at all. [Silence] No? Ripper. Thanks for nothing.

[Muttering a little darkly to himself, he finally opens the journal, watching the words form into it as he speaks. They might not be able to HEAR him, but he wonders if this stupid magical book will let them see the WORDS he speaks. Okay. Speaking to the mortals. He can do this]

I've been leafing through this magical book since I rocked up in this place, and I figure I've got most of this mess figured out. But I've got an important question. Why're you talking about New Years? Is it January here? [Because if it is, well, that's his prep time sliced MORE than in half]

Comments

[wizard_redfive]

[No, she is not alone. But that's an entirely different can of worms. Dairine's on a roll now.]

There must be someone you could send. Neets? Filif? Roshaun? Heck, Carmela should be free, and she'd probably like a change. Or Tom-- [A horrified look passes on her face.] No, no, the Seniors would have lost their magic by now. He won't... He wouldn't remember me.

[Unless the castle brought him in from an earlier time, but that was too much to hope for.]

But that's what happens here. People leave, and they forget you.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[So little hope. It's sad, really. Bunny reaches out a comforting paw, which of course passes right through her]

You've got to have hope that it won't always be that way. That someone'll show up. Hopes what keeps to going, even when everything is at it's worst.

[wizard_redfive]

[After so long away from her family and friends, losing the people she cares about here, is it that surprising?

Then Dairine does something unexpected: she turns and looks at Bunny. Or rather through Bunny, as though someone aught to be sitting besides her but isn't. Bucky, the man who treated her like a sister, who she could always find up here. Bucky, who was practically family.]

They leave, and then they... [Nope, she can't say it. Her throat tightens up, and her eyes sting with tears. Dairine lets out a little hiccuping sob before curling in on herself and crying for real.]

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[He'll watch her, highly unhappy he can't physically comfort her. What was the point of bringing him here if most of the kids couldn't even SEE him? How was he supposed to protect, to bring hope to them if they didn't even know he was there]

Poor little ankle biter.

[He considers, before placing a paw on the rooftop, wiping away some of the snow and concentrating. It took a few tries, after all his strength here is not the same as at home. But eventually, impossibly, a peony blooms on the roof next to Dairine]

[wizard_redfive]

[It's a rare sight, Dairine crying. Some people might think she never cries. Normally she's stronger, braver, puts up a tough front. It's only when no one's around that Dairine ever lets herself break down. She'd hate for people to see her like this.

When she hears the sound of snow scraping away, Dairine freezes. 'Is someone nearby?! Ohgodohgod.' After one last sniffle, Dairine pulls herself together, drying her eyes on her sleeve. She glances around nervously, hoping no one saw her. Her gaze instead lands on the lone peony.]

Huh? [That wasn't there when she sat down. Bemused, Dairine scoots around to get a closer look.]

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[Isn't it a beautiful flower? Full of the promise of spring and hope. And now she's closer to the roof itself, bunny will carefully draw an arrow in the snow to the words he wrote earlier.

See, yo have an invisible friend, isn't that fun

Or maybe you're insane, whichever]

[wizard_redfive]

[Yes, it's nice, though out of season. Very strange. The arrow catches her eye, and she follows it towards the painted words.

Paint? That definitely wasn't there before. She reaches out to tap at the words, testing how dry it might be.]

Hello?

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[They're pretty wet, and next to them another painted word appears:

G'day]

[wizard_redfive]

[They were new. Was the castle trying to communicate with her? But that seemed unlikely. Usually Paradisa talks through telepathy, not writing. Someone invisible then?

Still confused, Dairine goes with her standard wizard's response.]

I am on errantry, [is she on errantry anymore? it's hard to tell] and I greet you.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[Fancy words indeed, it reminds Bunny of someone he hasn't seen for a good long time, and it gets a chuckle out of him. Still, he'll brush some more snow out of the way to continue painting his words on the roof]

Thanks. Could be why I'm here, too.

[Then, after a pause:]

Name's Bunnymund.

[wizard_redfive]

[Watching the snow move on its own is... disconcerting. But it definitely rules out the castle being behind this.]

Are you new?

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[ Definitely not a magical castle at work here as more words appear:]

Just arrived.

[wizard_redfive]

[Well! That clears things up.]

Have you gotten the Paradisian introduction yet?

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

Sorta.

[Ugh this is so difficult. Now he knows how Sandy must feel. So, he carefully writes again]

I can talk through the journals.

[wizard_redfive]

Have any questions?

Oh! Alright. [Dairine grabs her journal and opens it.] Better?

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[There's a sigh of relief]

Much, my paws were getting cold. It's bloody freezing here.

And I figured most of it out when I arrived.

[wizard_redfive]

[Dairine blinks. O-kay... invisible Australian with paws.]

That's because it's winter. You should have seen it a week ago. The whole castle was covered in ice!

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

I know what winter is, Sheila. It doesn't mean I like it any. Spring is my area.

[...Uh oh] How did that happen? Was it sudden?

[wizard_redfive]

Would you rather talk inside then?

Not as sudden as other world changes. It was snowing a few days earlier. Then ice started creeping to the halls until one day we woke up and the place had iced over. Even the beds were covered in ice. And outside it looked like this [Her arms sweep out towards the snow covered grounds below.] but with an aurora!

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

Much rather, thanks. [In the nice WARM]

...An aurora. [North was calling them? Maybe..maybe the other Guardians WERE already here, but elsewhere in the world. That would explain the lights, and the ice] Was anyone different...er anyone new around at that time?

[wizard_redfive]

All right. Inside it is then. [Dairine stands up, brushes the snow off her jacket, and starts to walk towards the door. Hoping that the invisible Bunnymund will follow, she keeps up the conversation.]

I'm sure there were some newcomers, though I didn't notice anyone in particular. It's hard to keep track of people when they come and go so frequently.

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

[And follow he does, glad to escape the snow]

They probably would have been in the same state as me, which makes it even harder to tell.

[wizard_redfive]

[Dairine opens the entrance door, looking back briefly in confusion.]

What? Invisible? [She thinks hard, mentally running over the journals' contents.] I don't think I heard of someone like that arriving recently. Unless you know a Mr. Many? [Please say no.]

[thatrabbitsdynamite]

Rather, only visible to those who believe in them.

No, none of them use a name like that.

[wizard_redfive]

[Wait, what? She drops the Mr. Many thought upon this strange and rather confusing revelation.]

Then why can't I see you?