Bunny was furious. At first I thought his fury was directed at me, but then I realized he was cursing himself out.
"How could I 'ave been such a bloomin' idiot?" He paced back and forth in front of the Guardians and I, a look of complete and utter distress on his face. I actually felt kind of bad for the guy. Sure, all of this was sort of his fault, but he didn't know any better. He thought he was protecting a child from a malevolent spirit. Instead, he had attacked the spirit who was trying to stop the malevolent spirit. It was ironic, but true.
"I should'a known better. I shouldn't have attacked Vera. I'm supposed ta be a Guardian of all Children, even immortal ones." I started in surprise.
"Oh ho. Wait a minute there cotton tail," I said. "I am NOT a child. You don't need to be beating yourself over that too."
"Aiy, I know yah are few hundred years old, but you're like Jack, an immortal teenager."
Now Jack looked up indignantly. "Hey!"
"I'm older than both of you," I said pointedly.
"Really?" Bunny asked, crossing his arms and smirking. "How old are you then?"
"1,022 years old," I said nonchalantly. Instantly, Bunny's face went from one of amusement to one of sputtering disbelief.
"WHAT?" He exclaimed.
"And you don't look a day over 200," Jack snickered, enjoying the flabbergasted look on the Aussie's face.
"But that would make you one of the oldest ones here!" Bunny said.
I nodded. "After North and Sandy, yes. I am."
For the first time since I had met him, I saw him smile and shake his head in wonder. At least he wasn't hyperventilating anymore.
I glanced at a clock and noticed I had been away from Christopher Robin for a whole twenty minutes; twice as long as I said I would be. I jumped to my feet and everyone looked at me in surprise.
"Is something wrong?" Tooth asked.
"It's nothing, just," I gestured lamely at the door. "I didn't want to leave Christopher alone for so long. If he were to wake up in a complete new place all alone..."
North nodded. "Go ahead Vera. Ve vill talk amongst ourselves and tell you plan later."
In other words, they wanted to discuss whether or not they could trust me and my story while I wasn't there. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and nodded, taking my leave. It wasn't until I was out the door and in the hallway that I realized I didn't know how to get back to the Hospital Wing...
Just down the hall though, was a group of elves. They appeared to be playing tug-of-war over a plate of cookies; the same plate of cookies I'm sure that North asked for hours ago.
"Um, excuse me," I said, getting their attention. They all looked up at me, and their eyes widened a bit. I winced, thinking back to the way I had likely terrified a handful of them just the day before, and I could only imagine the word had spread to the rest of them. Still, I cleared my throat and spoke with the kindest smile I could muster. "Could one of you please tell me which way the Hospital Wing is?"
They all blinked stupidly at me, faces void of any expression before they all grinned and pointed in different directions. Each one of them insisted that their way was the right way, so I had no idea what to do... I'm pretty sure the Hospital Wing wasn't in the laundry hamper though.
"Yer not gonna get any answers out'a them, sheila," Bunny said from behind me. I turned to look at him in surprise. "They couldn't tell yah the difference between a dog and a tea cosy. They've got a few kangaroos loose in the upstairs paddock if yah know wha' I mean."
I smiled hesitantly, glad that he was now acting friendly towards me after all these years, but still weary all the same. Some might say I have trust issues. I say I have the stunning ability to see through any and all B.S.
"North realized that yah might not know yer way around the Pole yet, so I'm here ta be yer escort," he explained and relief wooshed through me like a tidal wave.
"Thank goodness," I breathed. "This place is huge. I'm pretty sure we went through the same hallway twice to get to the meeting room."
Bunny chuckled. "Come on, I'll show yah the way."
We walked in surprisingly comfortable silence for a while, but the dire circumstances of the situation soon started to weigh down on me. Sure, quite of bit of this was Bunny's fault (sorry Bunny, but theirs just no denying it), but I was at just as much fault as Bunny's. It was my job to stop wandering spirits from corrupting the mortal world and my job to lead all spirits on to their afterlives. I shouldn't have let myself get distracted.
"I shouldn't be here," I sighed, and Bunny gave me a questioning look. "I should be out there, looking for the monster who did this. He could be getting ready to hurt another child, or may have already done so. I shouldn't be here, twiddling my thumbs and preening my feathers; I should be hunting him down!" Bunny gave me a pitying look.
"I understand wha' yer getting at here, but if you just hold on a bit longer, we can help yah out a bit. We can't do much other than search with yah, but we'll do what we can to catch this creep, and then you can... do whateveh it is yah do."
It didn't make me feel better in the slightest, but I gave him a little smile anyway. He seemed to buy it. He opened his mouth to continue, and rather that listen to him try to sell the "Join Us" spiel again, I interrupted him.
"I'm a guide," I said. He tilted his head in confusion, and I was suddenly reminded of a little woodland creature.
"When someone dies, their spirits split off from this world, and move on to their afterlives," I explained. "I don't really know where they go, but sometimes they talk about a bright light before fading away, and sometimes it smells like sulfur and they kind of melt... Anyway, some spirits get lost and I need to help them. Some are grateful for the help and I simply help them to where they need to go. Other times, they cling to this world and suck energy away from the living, trying to make themselves feel whole again. When they're like that, I have to force them away with a spell, but they definitely don't go down without a fight."
He nodded and tried not to look impressed, but I could see it was there.
"All this time, you've been alone, just been trying to do your job..." He looked away guilty again, he ears flattening against his head.
"I'm not always alone," I said quickly. "I made some friends over the years. Like, some of the people from Halloween Town can be pretty pleasant, there were a lot of happy spirits when I accidentally created Dia de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead."
Bunny stopped in his track and looked at me, eyebrow raised. "You made Day of the Dead?"
I nodded. "Yep. And Halloween. It started off just being called 'All Hallows Eve' but people found it easier to say Halloween." Bunny shuddered uncharacteristically and I wondered if I had said something wrong.
"Yeah, well tell that Jack Skellington figure ta leave the other holidays be, and mind his own business," he said with a scowl.
I blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Skellington got bored with Halloween one year and decided he would rather play 'Sandy Claws'. So he kidnapped North, built a bunch of crazy, killer, toys, and tried to take over Christmas. Didn't turn out the way he wanted though. Don't know how I got tangled up in that mess, but somehow during a big mix up, I got nabbed from my bed by three demon children and taken to Halloween Town. When he told the demons to bring me back home, they instead gave me to some character named Oogie Boogie who tired to eat me." I couldn't decide if I should be angry, amused, or upset with Jack so I just decided to keep my mouth shut before I did something I would regret— like laugh and upset Bunny all over again.
Finally, we turned one last corner, and I saw the familiar doors of the Hospital Wing. When Bunny and I entered, we saw Christopher exactly how I left him, snuggled up warm in his bed. I took a seat on the bed next to his and watch his face for any signs of emotion. It was like a blank slate.
To my surprise, instead of leaving after dropping me off, Bunny stayed with me, and sat down on the bed next to me.
"Hey," he said softly. "I'm sorry about the way I attacked ya and threatened ya. I thought you were..."
"Hunting down unsuspecting children and stealing their souls?" I finished.
He laughed. "When ya say it like tha', it sounds ridiculous."
"It sounds ridiculous no matter how you say it!" I giggled. He nodded and chuckled.
"Yeah, it does," he agreed.
"Well Mr. Bunnymund," I said, "Consider yourself forgiven... just don't make it a habit of picking fights with me in the future. I won't go so easy on you then."
He laughed uproariously, and I decided it might be nice to have some new friends.
****I DO NOT OWN DREAMWORKS, RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, DISNEY, WINNIE THE POOH, SLENDERMAN, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA OR ANYTHING ELSE!!!!! JUST THE STORY PLOT! ****
Last Edited 2/28/19