Chapter 1

The ground was covered in leaves. A layer of greens and mottled browns lay spread over the topsoil, illuminated by lances of moonlight that pierced through the thick canopy of trees.

The moon was especially bright tonight.

The boy looked up at it and smiled. How wondrous it was.

It was not something he could comprehend, but that in a way enhanced its beauty. For what reason did the sun rise in the east and fall in the west, for what purpose were the concepts of "night" and "day" created?

Who placed the stars in the sky

Such questions plagued the boy's mind, but there were no answers forthcoming. He smiled, once more, and sat his small body against the trunk of a tree.

He examined the wood with his hand, running his fingers over rough bark and gnarled protrusions, delighting in each and every sensation. He watched a fly zig-zag aimlessly through the air, and his eyes followed it all the way into the waiting embrace of the spider.

Every sight, every scent, every feeling had him enraptured.

For he loved the world and everything in it.

////

After a short while the boy tired, and his eyes became half-lidded with sleep. His stomach grumbled in hungry protest, but the boy did not heed its warning and patted it admonishingly. It quieted down with a final, aggrieved rumble, almost like a particularly grumpy cat.

A loud snap echoed from his right, breaking the ambience of the forest and making the boy turn his head in search of the noise.

A white rabbit stood off to his side, bathed in rays of moonlight. Its nose twitched once, twice, before it levelled its gaze on the boy. It took in bedraggled features, a skinny frame and a face streaked with mud and detritus. His long hair was earthy green and his eyes a foamy blue speckled with gold, almost like grains of sand. His mouth curled into a smile, and the rabbit widened its eyes imperceptibly.

How could a child have wandered into the sacred grove?

And he was a child, barely seeming to be above 5 winters in age. For humans, the rabbit knew, that was a terribly short amount of time.

Lost in her thoughts, the rabbit didn't notice the human move until he was somehow right in front of her. She tensed, afraid and ready to bolt, to run and tell the others of the impostor in their woods. Seeming to sense her skittishness, the boy's smile softened, the action somehow rooting her in place.

He picked her up with small, slender fingers, and held her gently to his breast. Free from his dastardly smile, the rabbit tried to wiggle herself free, but even against a small human child she was completely powerless. Her body was built for speed and agility, after all, not boorish strength like those uncouth barbarians from the monkey clan. She was a fine and distinguished lady, after all!

In the back of her mind though, she still cursed her weakness.

The rabbit did not struggle for long, giving more a token effort than anything else. The boy, for some unknown reason, had an incredibly soothing presence. His scent was calming, of sweet sap and pine, and he emanated a warmth that seemed to melt her thoughts into goo.

She supposed, being a benevolent young mistress, that she could spare him just five minutes of her time.

She fell asleep in two.

/////

The boy stirred to the sounds of songbirds, crying out to each other in the early morning. The light of dawn washed over him, making him blink dazedly at the offending light. The sun, it seemed, was a much more abrasive character than the moon.

He took in the sights and sounds of the early morning, and he felt content. The way everything seemed so vibrant and alive tickled his senses in a way nothing else ever had. The boy felt as though he could sit there, at the base of this tree, for days on end, simply watching the ebb and flow of life around him.

There was something off, however, and as he looked down he spotted a small lump of white fur breathing slowly in his lap. The boy pursed his lips in confusion, before he remembered the lonely rabbit he had taken into his arms last night. He was rather surprised it hadn't run off already, and he wondered if the rabbit had found some comfort in his presence.

A pleasant feeling wormed its way into his gut.

He stroked the fur of the rabbit with as much care as he could, and watched in fascination as the creature let out a few content snuffles.

Ignorant of the serenity of the moment, the child's stomach chose this as an opportune time to let its grievances be known. It rumbled with the strength and ferociousness of an angry squirrel, awaking the rabbit from her nap. She tried to snuggle back into the warmth and comfort of the hand petting her, desperate to eke out a few more minutes of blissful sleep.

Wait, hand?!

She looked upwards and groaned inwardly, as there, before her, sat the same green-haired boy from the night before. As her memories came rushing back, she winced in embarrassment at how easily she had been caught, by a human as well of all things!

If her mother found out, she would never be able to escape her mocking.

As the boy's hands pet her once more, surprisingly gentle her traitorous mind thought, she realised that she had been missing from her home an entire night. She pictured her mother's worried face in her head, and her chest tightened in anguish. She drew up on her hind legs, brushing off the boy's hands, and levelled her best glare at the offending child. She attempted to pour all of her anger and pent up aggression into her gaze, but it didn't seem to work, judging by the unfazed look on his face.

This was shaping up to be a tough foe indeed.

The boy smiled at her sunnily, the world around him seeming to brighten up at his presence, and he spoke to her for the first time.

"Hello Mr Rabbit, did you have a good rest?"

All she could do was grit her teeth in petulant anger as she tried to stare a hole into the boy's forehead.

'Mr Rabbit am I?' She felt her ladylike visage cracking under pressure.

A shadow began to loom over her head, and she looked up and saw the boy's hand coming forward, attempting to capture her magnanimous self once more. For a few moments she pondered upon letting the human have his way and submitting to his warm and comfortable embrace. Thankfully, her mind regained sense just in time for her to dodge the offending limb and launch a counterattack.

She let out a squeak of righteous fury and attempted to pummel the boy's head into the ground, but her foe proved too strong once more, as he brushed off her strongest attack with a happy chuckle.

'Damn it. Maybe those monkeys were onto something after all.'

"Stop underestimating me, y-you cretin!" her words were at odds with her squeaky voice.

The boy blinked in surprise, before replying to the rabbit as earnestly as he could.

"Ah, I'm sorry. " he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "Whatever I did, I didn't mean to offend you Mr rabbit"

Instead of appeasing the rabbit, her angry squeaking and fruitless attacks only gained in intensity.

Something inside her shattered

"I'm a fuckin lady damn it, not a man, and certainly not a fuckin mister!"

The boy frowned minutely, and raised one wagging finger.

"You shouldn't swear miss, its bad"

He spoke with surety, as if what he said was an immutable fact of the universe.

The rabbit sputtered, and she felt her cheeks heat in embarrassment. Then, after a few seconds of silence, the other shoe dropped.

"Wait.." she started, slow and unsure. "You can… understand me?"

The boy seemed as surprised as she was, if the way his features scrunched in confusion was any indication.

He thought on it for a second, before nodding to himself in satisfaction. It all made sense.

"You must be a magic rabbit."

Happy that he had solved that conundrum, he was easily distracted by the small bird that had landed next to him.

Meanwhile, the rabbit stood frozen in place like a statue. A single sentence bounced its way around her brain, her thoughts becoming increasingly frantic.

How does he know?!

Humans weren't supposed to be able to enter this part of the forest, at least that's what her mother had told her. And not only had he managed to enter their grove, but he also had somehow figured out that she could perform magic!

She didn't know how, but she somehow had to convince him that she was just a normal rabbit. She didn't want any nosy humans poking their noses where they didn't belong!

A bird twittered next to her, and she looked over to see a brightly coloured parrot fly down and perch itself on the boy's shoulder, preening its feathers in that arrogant manner in which all birds do.

The boy brought a single finger up, and the bird nuzzled its beak into it affectionately.

She felt a stab of jealousy in her heart, although she wasn't too sure why.

Gathering her courage, and sparing one more angry glance at the haughty bird, she turned to address the boy and attempted to salvage whatever she could from this situation.

What she did not account for, however, was for his face to already be right in front of hers

'Gah! Too close!'

She backed up a few inches, squeaking in surprise.

"W-what do you think you're doing!"

The boy tilted his head to the side like a dog, the parrot on his shoulder copying his movements exactly.

It would have been quite humorous had she not been so anxious.

"I'm inspecting you." The boy eventually replied, as if had not just said something outrageous to a lady of her standing.

Steam was starting to erupt from her ears

"What are you talking about, inspecting me? What kind of talk is that, huh?"

The boy just stared at her with a sort of faint puzzlement, as if he didn't understand what exactly the rabbit was talking about.

"Well," he started "I was just trying to see if there were any differences between normal rabbits and magic rabbits. So far, you seem pretty much the same…"

He trailed off for a few seconds, before suddenly regaining his train of thought, grinning all the while.

"Except for the fact that you can talk, which I will say is l pretty cool. I never thought I would find a magic bunny!"

"I'm not magic!" She blurted out in haste "You're just…hallucinating. Yeah that's right, you're just seeing things. I'm not actually real, and you're are probably still dreaming or something."

The boy paused, as if deliberating her words.

'Please buy it pleasebuyitpleasepleaseplease'

He pinched himself in the side. When he didn't wake up, and the white rabbit in front of him didn't fade away into dream-smoke, he beamed.

"Nah, I don't think I'm sleeping" the parrot on his shoulder gave out an agreeing titter, and the boy petted its smug head with his finger.

She was really starting to hate that bird.

"Well, just because I can talk doesn't mean I can do magic." she tried to explain " Humans can talk and they're not magic right? What's so different about this?"

She was countered easily, instantly and without mercy

"I read in my book that talking animals can do magic. You talk, you're an animal, so therefore you must be magic!"

He spoke with absolute confidence, arms crossed imperiously as he dispensed his wisdom. The little parrot nodded sagely, as if some great knowledge was being imparted upon them.

Now, let it not be said that the rabbit hadn't tried her best at deterring this human. Yet with all of these events piling on top of her, her perceived failings, and her relatively young age, her will started to crumble.

'I want my Mom'

She sniffled a few times, tried to stay composed, but before long the waterworks burst.

"P-PLEASE DON'T TELL ANYONE." she started to blubber. "I'LL DO ANYTHING, JUST PLE-oomf!"

She let out a startled gasp as she once again found the human hugging her, his strange aura soothing her woes. fat, unladylike tears soaked into his ratty shirt as the boy tried his best to comfort the crying rabbit.

"There there. It'll be okay" he tried stroking the rabbits back like he had done before, quieting down her wailing to a quiet sobbing.

"Hey…" The boy slowly angled the rabbit's head until she was looking straight into his eyes. "I can't comfort you properly without knowing your name." he smiled guilelessly, and the rabbit's breath seemed to catch in her throat.

Whilst before he was dirty and ragged looking, now his features seemed gained an ethereal majesty, regal in it's presentation. Golden light illuminated his form, and an otherworldly feeling suffused the air. She watched, almost in shock, as all around him the ground started sprouting with lush grass, pushing up from in-between the fallen leaves. The tree he was leaning against seemed to glow, as if enriched by just being in his presence, and flowers from all around turned and bowed, supplicating to their monarch.

Her mouth became dry, unable to utter a sound, her words stuck to the back of her throat.

Sensing her hesitance, the boy took initiative.

"My name is Enkidu, and you are?"

"S-Sariel.."

His aura was blinding her.

"Nice to meet you Sariel. Let's be friends!"

The parrot squawked, the boy -Enkidu- beamed, and Sariel the rabbit wondered what it was exactly that she had gotten herself into.

His stomach rudely interrupted their touching moment.