A Friend for Bunnymund Prologue

SPOILERS FROM THE MOVIE AND THE BOOKS!

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Sophie once had a thought – her bunny didn’t have other bunny friends. He had eggs, he had a lot of eggs and after the last few of years of knowing him personally, she could safely claim she heard him talk a lot about eggs. In the Warren were rolling hills, thousands of egg warriors of multiple sizes, he even had a collection of eggs. Some real, others jewel encrusted. Yet where were the other bunnies?

She had been in Kindergarten almost an entire half-year and made it a personal goal to learn to read as fast as she could. Despite her attempts, Jamie still had to help her pronounce certain letters. Her teacher was impressed with her progress, but she still had a lot of learning to do.

When December rolled around, North made it a priority to see to it Jamie and Sophie both got to visit the North Pole and sit on his lap, not one of his “helpers” at the malls.

It came as some surprise, shortly after Jack left to return Jamie and Sophie home at the end of their exciting visit, that North went in search of his favorite storyteller for a very special request.

That following Christmas Day, Sophie found slender, squarish parcels wrapped in brightly colored paper beneath the tree containing numerous books on rabbits. Sophie wanted to know as much about rabbits as it was possible, for she loved Bunnymund and he took her out on so many fascinating trips as Jack did with Jamie, even at her tender age of five she knew she had to return the favor and what better way than to get to know more about bunnies (beyond their love of eggs, for he already had too much of those) than to read about them. So she asked Santa Clause for books on them.

Unfortunately, Bunnymund was away for the winter, he would be in Australia until Jack migrated back to the uppermost reaches of the globe. Whatever gift Sophie and Jamie had planned for Bunnymund (as they always had gifts for their guardians) would have to wait until February, but that wasn’t always a guarantee. The Groundhog and Easter Bunny never always got along. She very well may not see Bunnymund for an additional six weeks!

She took her studying very seriously and not only did her literacy progress, but so did her knowledge on the Leporidae. During one of her readings with Jamie, she had a thought.

So many rabbits and hares existed (and as Jamie teased, plenty of marsupials, of which he had to explain meant wallabies and kangaroos) Sophie thought it was odd her bunny was the ONLY bunny in the Warren. Surely he had some hare friends to race, or jackrabbits to hang out with, maybe a cottontail neighbor that like to eat prized vegetables like the one in their backyard?

When she failed to recall other rabbits in the Warren the thought distressed her and she shared this with Jamie. This upset him too, in fact, the very idea that Bunnymund may be lonely in his Warren brought together Jamie’s friends. Despite losing their belief for a short period of time due to Pitch’s nightmares, the guardians also had no qualms with sharing their time with them as well as they did with Sophie and Jamie.

Cupcake had grown very fond of Sandman with his way of transforming her dreams of unicorns into golden reality. Pippa sometimes went on ventures with Jack and Jamie. Tooth had been ecstatic to find Caleb and Claude losing a lot of their baby teeth, but grew less so when she found out it was from crashing their new dirt bikes. North’s easy laughter and hearty demeanor brought out the spirit in all of them, that was how it was and will always be.

So of course, when they put their minds together in a small clubhouse they begged Jamie’s dad to build in the backyard beyond the vegetable garden, they came up with some very troubling news indeed.

North, or as they knew him Santa Clause, had Ms. Santa Claus, although they had never personally met her because she was absent during their intervals at the North Pole. Nonetheless North often mentioned her fondly.

Sandy, they were exceptionally certain, slept when he was not busy putting others to sleep or spending time with Cupcake.

Tooth had her Baby Teeth, the children found it especially entertaining to see how the two crushed on Jack and knew Tooth was not short of company.

Jack Frost, well, he would hint at tidbits of his past and they all knew now that Jack spent a long time without any companionship outside the guardian circle. The free-spirited guardian was happy with having young friends and when he couldn’t see them due to warmer weather, he would either anger a summer spirit and freeze it up to visit or hang out at the North Pole with Santa Clause.

Alone in his Warren, Bunnymund had eggs with legs to talk to. He didn’t like the cold one bit, so it wasn’t often he moseyed up to the North Pole for a chat with North and Frost. Tooth ran a beehive, she could stop every now and then when they were ahead of business or the daring children in the world were wearing mouth guards, but she only left her palace if trouble was afoot. Sandy slept and quite frankly, was the most surreal of the guardians and seemed less in need of constant company than his comrades.

The children decided it would be best to ask for professional advice, perhaps Bunnymund didn’t have any other bunnies around because he didn’t want anyone around (other than eggs). Pippa was quick to point out he might be a martial arts master in need of a place of his own to meditate, or at least that’s what she assumed when thinking about a tribe of elemental air nomads from a cartoon, but Monty pointed out even the Avatar had a lot of friends.

Jamie brought their problem to Jack Frost’s attention. Which in turn Jack brought to North’s attention and thus, Jack learned of Bunnymund’s Pookan heritage and the sad tale behind it. Jack didn’t want to relay that message to the children he protected, he was the Guardian of Fun! He couldn’t bring himself to tell Sophie her bunny was the last of his kind, that Bunnymund lived in a place still bearing scars of Pitch’s purge of the Pooka.

Jack couldn’t lie either, so he improvised. Bunnymund couldn’t possibly be lonely, he might have been before, but now he HAD Sophie, he had the children believing in him. In the end he convinced them, but not himself nor Sophie.

Sophie still felt unsettled about the matter and her five-year-old mind couldn’t place the feelings she was feeling. Jack disliked the idea he might have something in common with the kangaroo-rabbit. Friends they were now, but still highly competitive. North told him Bunnymund had been alone for more centuries than Jack had been before he stumbled upon him looking for lost relics. The winter spirit searched the recesses of his brain for ways eggs made better company than nobody being able to see you. None came and his thoughts left him feeling guilty for thinking them in the first place. He made a mental note not to freeze another Easter Sunday again.

For the next couple of snow-laden months Jack and the children moved on past the idea of Bunnymund being alone, but it still bothered Sophie.

When the Groundhog extended winter Sophie’s disappointment dispersed with the arrival of a student teacher. A curious young man with a gift for pulling rabbits out of hats, real live ones that hopped and everything! Her brother and her friends decided Bunnymund was fine, he was a very old guardian with cool boomerangs and an accent, he must have friends outside the Warren.

Maybe this awesome student teacher could help her out, after all, if he believed in magic, he would have no problem believing in her Bunnymund.


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I said recently I would be writing a fanfic for Rise of the Guardians, mostly it'll be Bunny-centric. I put this story in the romance category because I do intend to bring a relationship for Bunnymund to fruition in this story (complete with illustrations) as this movie and this books have been doing me wonders.

All these holiday depictions of wonder, dreams, memories, fun, and hope by Dreamworks are amazing and I will do my best to write them.

I recently finished reading E. Aster Bunnymund and I will be reading Toothiana shortly, soon after I will have to somehow find Sandy's book then I'll have read the collection. The reading is engrossing and I recommend anyone who loved the movie to read the books. Go to the library or something, seriously, the books are amazing and imaginative. Of course, I'll try and add my own little twist.

Somehow I will write this and continue my first graphic novel/storybook at the same time. They kind of work together to inspire me really.

Here's the gist of the story:

Three years after Pitch's last appearance, Sophie is now in Kindergarten and has come to realize there are no other bunnies in the Warren and worries Bunnymund is lonely. With the help of a new student teacher (who claims to be the not-so-last of the Red Hot Swamis) she hopes to find a solution. Drick, the student teacher, fancies himself a master of transfiguration as well and one of his friends falls victim to one of his magical exertions.

Rating: PG (possibly higher because I will definitely be using some of Del Toro's horror influence and there will be some serious stuff going on). Technically, read at your own risk. I'll put a warning up in the document if there's something really messy going on (no M-rated stuff has been thought of at the moment, look elsewhere if that's what you're looking for).

Pairings: Bunnymund / Original Character (mainly)

Crossovers: Um, yeah, I would like to be known for this. There's already a crossover mentioned in the summary, feel free to watch Rankin's holiday movies and read the Guardians of Childhood books by William Joyce.

I will be posting this story on FF.net AND here! I'm so excited! I need this story out of my brain before school starts! Ugh!

Original Character © Aspendragon
RotG © Dreamworks/Joyce
Drick's ancestor © Peter S. Beagle

I hope you guys enjoy this story as much as I do!