Chapter 30
714 Words
30
If I were a bunny… Where would I go?
I tried to put myself in the mind of a small animal, trying to figure out how to find her. All animals needed water and food, so maybe she was looking for a little forest area or a warm hole in the ground?
I turned around, trying to figure out which way I came from. The left side looked familiar, but then… So did the right side.
“Hyde. Which way?”
“Awrrr…” He pushed his snout between his paws to keep it warm. The poor pup was completely disoriented and confused.
I’d have to figure this out on my own.
“Pickles!?” I shouted, hoping for a miracle. How could I lose a black bunny in a white landscape? It should’ve been easy to find her again, but every rock or plant cast a shadow that resembled the little rascal.
She could be anywhere.
Further and further, I pushed deeper into the mountains in search of Ryoko’s pet. The newly fallen snow made it harder to orientate myself and remember where I came from. I wasn’t even sure if I was still going in the same direction as I started, but it didn’t matter.
The bunny could be anywhere…
“Awroo!” Hyde howled, suddenly racing off towards a small ledge.
Relief crashed into my chest. Did he find Pickles?
Expectantly, the wolf jumped up and down, clearly marking that particular spot.
Oh, I hoped it was the bunny. I needed it to be her…
As quickly as I could, I pushed through the layer of snow. With every step, everything shrieked and shifted, making it painstakingly slow for me to walk.
“What is it, Hyde? Did you find our friend?” I called, hoping that Pickles would recognise my voice and not run away from all the ruckus I was making.
“Awroo!”
His confident bark filled me with hope, temporarily chasing the cold away. The warmth spurred me on, closer to the ledge Hyde was standing on. I could see a dark ball that looked like Pickles. Oh, happy days!
“Pickles!” I was ready to embrace the silly bunny and shower her with kisses, but as I approached, the shadows shifted and the dark patch turned out to be nothing more than a plant.
The immediate disappointment hurt my heart and overwhelmed with sadness, I broke down next to my wolf. “Pickles… Where are you?”
“Awroo?” Hyde gave me a little nudge, his red eyes flickering happily.
I pressed my face into his cold fur, seeking comfort in his touch. Tears spilt from my eyes into his embrace. “It’s not Pickles.”
“Awro.” He wobbled away and jumped around the dark plant.
“What?” I wiped the tears from my face. What could he possibly be excited about?
I pushed myself up from the icy ground, dusted the snow from my knees, and shuffled closer to figure out what he was so obsessed by.
My familiar curled protectively around the plant, his snout pushed proudly in the air. On closer inspection, I noticed the colour of the leaves. Red. And there were small, dark berries hanging from the stems.
Nightroot. Hyde found nightroot.
“Good boy,” I sniffed. Part of me was ecstatic that I found the berries, but it was overridden by my worries. I couldn’t celebrate this until I made sure Pickles was safe. At least, now that I had the berries, I could leave immediately after I found her.
Carefully, I crouched down next to the strange plant and inspected the bundles of berries. Some of them were green, just like Var said. Others had a deep, purple hue that was just how he described it from the book.
I pulled the glass vial from my pocket and dropped some of the ripe fruits down the neck. He didn’t specify how many to bring, so I was just going to fill up the little jar. Ten, twenty, maybe thirty round berries rolled into the bottle until I couldn’t fit any more without squishing them.
That would do.
“I guess that’s something…” I sighed. Even if this was the key to saving my friends, I couldn’t celebrate. I couldn’t face Ryoko without Pickles, that was a fact. As much as I wanted to save them from the bunker, I’d never find this place again. Leaving now was an automatic loss, one that I wasn’t ready to accept.
I would find the dust bunny, even if that was the last thing I did.
- Writer
