From the outskirts of the city, where the city, villages, and fields merged, and hundreds of abandoned farmlands fought against bad weeds who parasite for their nutrients -near that graveyard-, a hungry solitary wolf chased a peculiar bunny with black and dark blue fur. The brown Iberian wolf kept chasing this little bunny with insatiable hunger, keeping up to speed in the ecstasy of the chase. Its paws were bloodied for its last prey, with black fur, blood, and a weird blue ooze between its lethal teeth, salivating for this last bite, as its eyes were fixated on the little prey.
The bunny tried to gain distance, screaming and crying out for his life, in a language foreign to our understanding. The fur ball didn’t know what he screamed exactly, but his instincts insisted on doing it. He rushed through the abandoned streets, looking for a way to distract its chaser away, but evading some much trash felt impossible at times to the point that he almost tripped a couple of times. Every time he looked back, he noticed that the distance shortened between the two of them. Feeling the terror, the trembling and pumping of its tiny heart, wishing for a way to live.
Just when the wolf jumped to catch its target, the bunny narrowly dodged and tricked the beast into hitting its head against one of the driving poles which still stood, but the claw of the corpulent dog hit its back, sending the bunny flying against a car. The wolf felt the contusion and the pain, slightly disorienting it. But those fierce eyes never looked away. The bunny tried to get up, but the impact was too great on its tiny body. So in desperation, it began to scream with all its might and lungs, somehow gathering the strength to even be able to have such a voice. The wolf approached slowly, menacingly, licking his mouth from the other bunnies he had eaten. One could say that a vicious smile appeared in the carnivorous creature, upon hearing the bunny cry.
Even in fear, those little eyes didn’t show any sign of giving up, feeling a strange energy coming from within. His fur glowed blue, as the bunny began to generate sparks between each hair strand, feeling its magnetic resonance in its paws. In a last act of defiance, it shot away a tiny spark against the wolf, hitting bullseye to its head and setting him back. One step back. It scared him, it hurt him, and it confused the wolf further as its muscles involuntary contracted a couple of times, those blue sparks showing in appearance in the skin of the wolf. Yet it didn’t stop it, as it moved more cautiously. Before the moment the beast would lash its final attack, that bite capable of breaking his tiny bones with ease, both stopped, hearing a war cry to the east of them, turning their heads at the sudden noise.
“WRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WRYYYYYYYYYY!”
Chump rushed in, running in short steps, screaming in pure wrath, agitating his arms with his bag and bottle in hand. And so the wolf changed its prey and began rushing towards the human.
A fleeting moment of truth and bravery, as the young man knew that any wolf was significantly faster than him, yet his eyes felt the determination of his actions. With quick success, he retrieved his left arm, to swing aggressively the pack against the head of the wolf, knocking the four-legged beast to its side, with enough time for him to rush in, slashing with the broken bottle and stabbing the throat of the monster puppy, significantly weakening him as it began to bleed out in worrisome quantities. The wolf struck back to his right arm, slashing the flesh near the radius bone, making Chump scream in pain, but the adrenaline already kicked in. There was no stopping him, as he swung again his backpack at the canine, making it fly against a standby car, barely holding up, stumbling against the floor. Using this opportunity, Chump slashed its face with that broken bottle, before regaining the momentum on that arm and stabbing the wolf’s face one time, penetrating its eye and part of its brain, killing it on the spot.
But the human didn’t stop there, in reaction and seeing the wolf just stopping one moment, he proceeded to stab it again, and again, and again. Continuous, repeated stabs along its body, legs, and one final time against the head, each stab showing the impotence and frustration he felt, as his arms showed his wrath and his hands trembled in desperation, his mind acting on pure instinct. His hands, his arms, his face, splashed with the blood of that creature, as it impregnated his whole body in that fitting rage.
It took several minutes for him to let his wrath out, as he somehow defeated a creature known to not be beaten in a close and direct confrontation. He didn’t know in that fleeting moment, that perhaps thanks to the assistance of that magical spark from the bunny, it made the canine movements just slow enough for him to react in time. But it didn’t matter anyway. Once finished, as the adrenaline began to fade away, and no signals of any more dangers nearby, he sat down beside the corpse of the beast, and he began to breathe heavily, recovering from the shock. He felt his muscles aching in pain, as his arm felt the feedback from the blow of the foul creature, the excruciating pain of the open flesh wound, tho luckily, it didn’t reach any bone, mostly being superficial.
Between breaths, still recovering a sense of himself, he commented “Shit…shit shit, the effects are kicking back, my heart is pounding out of my chest…I need to treat the cut to not infect me and…and…I have to look out for…Why I did attack that wolf head-on??? I had a gun…Why…Why I did such a stupid decision…Chump, c’mon man…” He slowly regained his foot, grabbing his shoulder in pain, and seeing the wound of its arm. He knew that without treatment, it would get worse. To his surprise, that bunny began to approach him slowly, carefully, still imbued in fear. He shook his hands and head, not wanting to harm the bunny. “Look bud, just go away…” But they didn’t understand each other, as the bunny stepped back, scared, trembling in his pain as well.
The human shook his head, restless, looking around where he stood. Luckily, nearby there was a pharmacy, with its glass doors broken and open. He smiled, and a glow of hope appeared in his eyes. He rushed towards the building to look inside, in search of the nearest first aid kit. Nonetheless to say that he broke anything on the way to be able to get in. Moved away a couple of corpses and the computers the place it had before reaching the cabinet. Opening and seeing the alcohol, he splashed half of that bottle on top of his wound, clenching his teeth in pain, but nothing compared to what he suffered. Then he tried to stitch a bit his wound, mostly its zones that were too open, before taking some bandages, groaning “I thank my father for teaching me first emergencies for this situation…Lord, this hurts tons more than I thought!!!”
Took him a couple of minutes to clean himself. In between moments, he checked the door, holding his gun, aware that no moment was safe. But then the cloud let the sun brighten on the streets, as it highlighted the entrance, where the little bunny stood looking at him, as he followed the human in admiration. He took a couple of minutes before gaining enough breath to march outside, where the bunny once again stepped back, sparkling a bit, as it showed happiness.
Chump snickered seeing the involuntary sparks “Electric powers…Great, Just. Great. You must be one of those animals they brought along with their conquer, and somehow ended up here…Look, little “Zippy”…I thought you were a human or…somebody okay?… I guess I saved your life, but…just forget about it. I needed to vent out and…just…acted irrationally and…Why I am justifying myself to a bunny…“ He half facepalm with a wide smile, shaking his head in disa-
“You saved my life, Master!” A telepathic voice echoed in his head, as the bunny somehow smiled at the human. A strange sound wave that it felt light even for a sound, yet gracious of its presence.
Chump's face turned pale, and his eyes widened, looking at the otherworldly being with a mix of confusion and fear “DID YOU JUST TALKED?!” His reaction time diminished significantly after that confrontation and almost let go of the things he had in hand.
Before he said or did anything more, an unknown fey line of light and mana connected him to that tiny bunny, as it resonated with both of them. “Why I feel…happy…” They somehow began to feel each other. The bunny felt the pain the human had going on, its emotions, as Chump began to feel the gratitude that the bunny had for him for saving his life. “Wowowowo! What is this?! What is going on?!” Chump tried to grab that line, only to feel that it was intangible.
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“You saved my life, Master. And you gave me a name! I like it! Zippy! Sounds exciting yet small, like I am!” That telepathic voice appeared again in his head, sounding like a teenager in his early ages, as he noticed that looking directly at the bunny it was when it was the loudest.
“I am hearing you…” Chump shook his head while regaining his breath. “No no, this must be some sort of post-adrenaline effect or something. Look I just…saved your life because I was looking for something to hunt, okay?? Please brain could you stop for a moment and don’t make me believe this?” He wasn’t a particularly good liar. He looked around to just take the wolf and pick it up, however, his trembling voice and exaggerated moves didn’t convince the bunny enough and made the little one giggle.
“Master, you are being funny~, I thank you for trying to calm me down.” As it giggled again, the bunny approached his leg and cuddled it.
“I am calming myself down!” The young man felt confused about what was happening, as he began to walk away, with the wolf in his back, from shoulder to shoulder. Fully loaded, he walked slowly away from the scene. The bunny followed him as it observed him around, jumping and zapping around between the rocks on the way.
“You were awesome back there! You went screaming like a warrior and slammed and BAM, SLASH! RASH! CHAS CHAS CHAAS!” The bunny expressed by jumping beside him, getting to the same fighting position he had kicking the air, and throwing sparks around.
“You are just…a magic bunny. A magic bunny from that other world. I can understand you.” He hit his head, frowning “Is my brain, tricking me after spending so much time alone…Visually and with audio” He kept looking at the front, trying to clean his eyes and his vision.
“But we are connected! I accepted you as my Master and caretaker and shall assist you until I die!”
He stopped walking as he found a partial bench and sat down trying to find provisions “Do you even understand… what are you saying? As in, just giving ur life away and…” Zippy tilted his head, not understanding why the human had such worrisome thoughts.
He sighed and cracked his back, throwing away the bloodied piece of bottle like another piece of trash “Alright cruel world, let’s play your games. So…you understand me? As in…fully understand?” He took out a canned drink can and opened it.
“Yes! Our connection makes us understand each other!~ You were so brave and awesome! Like you rushed in without thinking about it, like a …hero! And then “swoosh” away the horrible monster! You hit with your big round thing and then stab it with that sharp thing! That was awesome!!!” He expressed as he jumped around him like a ball of energy, “Thanks to you I feel somehow better, a bit smarter, I can learn so many things from you! And-“
“Ey, relax In there, you look like a kid.” He waited a moment that he took to take a sip from the drink as the bunny sat down on his lap. “Alright, and you took the little nickname I gave ya. Alright. Great. Just. Great. Let me ask, you will follow me anyway, no matter what I do or say, right? What if I hurt you? What if I intend to do anything horrible to you or-
“I know you won’t silly! We are connected, and while your aura and your power are almost null, your heart is good and pure, tho a bit strange sometimes…Is like there is a… never-ending light in there, it is really beautiful to observe.~” As the bunny slowed down, looking at the heart of the human, only this time the human tilted his head confused.
He looked around the bunny and shook his head in disbelief. He took one of its tools which included a portable tiny mirror and didn’t see anything on himself. He could see the magic in those tiny sparks, but that was mostly it for him. He scratched his head, then took a bit of time to inspect his head. “No blood…No symptoms of internal hemorrhage…Zippy…What aura? What are you talking about…”
The bunny looked at him, not knowing what was the confusion about “You know…The aura. What did the goddess give us to…see each other’s power and general sense of a living being? Everyone knows that since birth Master!”
Chump looked concerned and then snapped a bit out of reality. He looked around as he took the bunny by his free hurt arm “Look, maybe you can explain it to me on the way back, you know more than I can chew, or perhaps my brain just unlocked this info, or decide this false reality now, the fuck do I know. But honestly, even while crazy, would like some company…”
Due to his recent encounter, he had enough energy and strength to return home, taking him way less time to return home, as Zippy began to explain the basics of their magic, and how it worked. However, Chump seemed he didn’t give too much attention, to the point that Zippy pouted in his voice, not understanding why he seemed so stoic. Once they arrived back at the safe place of the human, he took some bandages and changed the ones he used in the pharmacy for new ones, as well as a clean towel to leave the bunny there. “Master, are you even listening?” Zippy expressed a bit of annoyance while his Master seemed like looking at nothing.
“Let me get this straight, tiny Zippy. Your goddess gives your power and instincts at birth. Y’all know what is capable of each other thanks to seeing their “Auras”, in your case sparks of different lights and magnitudes around my body. If someone gives a name to another one symbolizes their relationship as both get benefits of it, but only if both agree to it, which…I guess I did agree. I mean I didn’t disagree, but it was more like…I was treating you like a pet. And thanks to that, you are a bit better, generally. You don’t talk to each other by sound, but use that “mana”, aka “the essence of your goddess” or Remnant, as the official title goes, and…stuff. Right?” He placed the corpse of the wolf on top of a sink, drying out the blood. He shook his head, his face showing he couldn’t believe any of this.
“So you did listen! Then why you didn’t say anything???” He tapped away, scared of seeing the beast again, even if the wolf had been dead for an hour now.
“I am on the edge of collapsing, I want to sleep but I didn’t assure the zone is safe…And I have to dry this wolf to put it on the fridge at least.” As he began to cut down the skin and the head off, he noticed the black fur on those sharp teeth and then looked at Zippy. He noticed there was too much fur to be from Zippy. “Zippy, could you tell me what happened before…being chased away by the wolf?” As he continues working.
“Of course master!” As Zippy calmed down obeying Chump’s request, its tone began to ponder in memories. “I remember being with my family, we were all in a big square place, a box! We had food every day, and we were more and more…Then they began to split us into more tiny boxes, and remember tons and tons of trembling and squeezing around…Then I noticed the air suddenly felt tough and dry but not dry as in water, but lacking our goddess's presence!… I don’t know how to explain it better…But the day after that, one of the giants dropped my tiny box with my brothers and sisters and we were free! So we ran away in freedom together to see more of the world!… But then…the beast attacked my brothers and sisters…” As it finished the tale with a sad tone, Chump patted his head by instinct.
Chump’s thought train began to ponder, as he decided to just throw the wolf to the fridge and cook it tomorrow. “Raised to be a kettle in that world, and brought to this, someone had an accident and freed the bunnies, only to meet their demise to a solitary Iberian wolf hanging around…Just. Great.” As he placed the wolf on the fridge after drying it, without much thought on his head, he took the towel with Zippy and moved it to the living room, then checked the main door to be closed. Turning back he strumbled and tripped, falling sideways to the wall, breathing heavily with a bit of fever, showed by the redness of his face.
“Master! Are you okay? Please don’t move, you are looking a bit weird. You should rest…” The bunny hopped on and cuddled his legs, making him feel a bit better, smiling for him.
“I can’t…it’s just five in the afternoon and…anyone could come here in any second…if I lay resting, I will be dead or…worse…” He tried to stay awake, but his exhaustion began to catch up to him. Moving slowly to the windows and closing those with little force, heavy breathing between his words, he sat down on the sofa, trying to reach the laptop, and leaving on the table.
“Do not worry Master! You protected me and I will protect you, so sleep well! No harm shall come to you while I am here” It stood up, looking around, its fluffy ears changing directions all the time with energy, as his eyes sparkled and lit up like a tiny light source. “Sleep is important…Oh…”
Chump snored silently, half lying down, as the unwavering feeling of feeling safe resonated with him. Zippy took the time to move the human slowly and lay him down, before being on guard, to that big hole in front of him. And stood there, silent, keeping watch. Every rat or cockroach that tried to crawl up, was sparked away in a shocking bolt, every bird that tried to check, was met with a single angry eye. For being small and fluffy, it could put a real dent in any tiny foe who appeared.
——————
A rude feminine yet tough voice claimed. “So the kid dropped a box of the farmland land our the Moonshine village? Electro fur-balls? Just great, means we need to hunt some dry animals around… No, you know what? The kid will come with us. Mistress Ladice is not baby-shitting him right now, time to teach them some lessons!~ Some wild animals will not harm him.~”