Ostara chapter 1

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During the age of Paganism, a festival for Ishtar was celebrated as the goddess of fertility and love in the Babylonian civilization while Ēostre is renowned for bringing forth spring in Germany.   Both goddesses are from different parts of the world but have two common symbols that represent them: the egg and the rabbit.

Centuries later, during the Christianizing by the Church, Constantine declared that particular day to represent the resurrection of Christ.  

Thus bringing forth the holiday known as Easter that we all know today…
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“Alright, people….watch your step! Keep in mind of the age old custom that is the buddy system! I know it’s childish, but that’s what kept you safe during pre-k.”

Jack couldn’t help but laugh softly as he shook his head, while adjusting his camera and keeping close to their professor.   It was their first college field trip for their mythology class, and they don't want to waste any minute of it. He couldn't blame them, other than visiting the great Outback, the entire continent pales in comparison to the archaeological discovery of a temple from a lost civilization. Their professor, Joyce, mentioned that they would be visiting it this semester, and being an intern for a historian, he is more than happy to take some pictures.

He heard a sound of someone retching causing him to look over and filled with an odd mixture of regret and sympathy.  Regret for picking the time to see vomit, while sympathy is for his classmate who is seasick.

"You think you're going to be alright, pal?" Jack asked the young man.
The brunet nodded, still bracing his knees.   "Yeah....just need to....get my land legs back on again." His classmate replied, holding back more vomit.  The pale-haired youth stared at him concern, while rubbed his back soothingly.   To think that he had almost forgot about his transportation sickness, he gotten so sick throughout the flight that he practically threw up his ginger ale once they finally reached land.

"Take all the time you need, Jim. Luckily where we're going will be on solid dry land." Their class professor called after them.

Jack helped his classmate up before rejoining their class as they gather around their favorite professor.  

Professor Joyce -or Will, in order to feel less old - is the relaxed type of college teachers.   He does take his job seriously, but he knew how to make the lessons fun and have the students look forward to every Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.   They covered all kind of mythologies and even have meaningful discussions on certain symbolisms behind them.   He didn’t even left out the urban legends and fairy tales, Bunnyman, in particular, is something that could send a chill down anyone’s spine.   He remembered his classmate, David, basically asked if it was possible to ward off of the said urban legend figure with Supernatural logic such as rock salt ammo.  

"Where's that, sir?"  Jack couldn’t contain his eagerness, after all it was not every day that you get to learn not only the lost culture, but the possibility of a deity that they have never heard of before.

"The very temple that was said to once house a pagan deity…while the legend about it is a little vague on the details, the known fact is that the deity laid waste to the land when the villagers wouldn't appease it with a virgin sacrifice.    So they called in a shaman from the main land – that is Australia today- to seal the beast in stone.   The only way to revive it was by placing the petrified statue in contact with a piece of armor that belonged to it." He explained.

That alone peak his interest as he walked up to his professor- with Jim in tow, though he was gingerly trying to keep his balance on the island- curious to know more.
"The village no longer gives out virgins as tribute? Is there a reason?" it was a question out of curiosity.   But it is a good one, it was rather strange for a pagan deity to reject numerous sacrifices and yet allow the village to live.

Granted that throughout his studies, sacrifices can also be in a form of food or animals. But ritual killing of a human being, may it be man, woman, or child, doesn't sit well for him. He doesn't know if the life of another person would really prevent a natural disaster, but it was just another cruel example of human nature combined with superstition and frantic belief.

"From what I gathered from a colleague of mine, it was because the creature never seemed to be satisfied with the sacrifice he was given, saying that the virgin wasn't the worthy one.   So he would banish the rejected sacrifice from the village, even if most of the parents don’t really agree with him.   Finally the villagers couldn't take it and had the deity petrified for the rest of its years."  Will explain to his students, some are getting more interesting while others are getting skeptical.

"Whatever happened to the statue, sir?" Jim asked.    Everyone was wondering about the same question as well, though at the same time skeptical.   There is no way that it actually happened…even if it did, why didn’t anyone left some form of recording?
"It actually still remains here. The country never allowed the statue to be tampered with in any way as they were worried that it create a curse or even cause the spirit to leak out. It took some arm pulling just to get us entrance into the temple."

There were scoffs here and there, though most of them are kind of weary.   It could be some kind of government conspiracy like Area 51 in Roswell.

"Wow. It sounds like this deity was a real evil thing.  But if he didn't kill the virgin sacrifices, why did he want them?"  One of the female members of their group asked.    
"It was said that the deity wanted a bride, someone to carry on his line of warriors.   He even took virgin males and would use fertility potions in hopes of impregnating them.   But he proclaims that each and every one of them is unworthy and banished the sacrifices from the village to never be seen again."  The older man answered, readjusting his glasses.   “Possibly the closest thing to a civilization is, well, Australia.   But even back then, it is rather a dangerous place to live.   Not to mention that the estimated age of the tributes would be around 14-16.”

He wasn’t joking, even when he looked up some information about the continent, Jack was surprised that even a smallest creature or plant have the potential to kill a human being, either local or outsider.  He still couldn’t believe that a seemingly harmless creature such as a koala can shred off a person’s face with its razor sharp claws.  
"This god has some really high standards for the ladies and gents..." Jim snarked, earning a few chuckles from his fellow classmate; he seemed to be looking a bit better.
Jack laughed at his comment but couldn't help but agree with him. In various mythologies, gods, both female and male, take on multiple lovers of different status. The ones who prefer monogamous relationships are a special case.

"This god..." Jack spoke up. "What is he associated with? War? Destruction?"
"Fertility and war, to be exact, my dear Jack…apparently this god was the last of his people and associated with the line of fertility gods and goddesses in hopes of gaining a bride to breed him a new family and also associated with the line of war gods and goddesses to train his future generation."

"Sheesh…sounds like this god was having his cake and really eating it too."  The dirty blond teen commented.   Leave to their resident wisecracking snarker of the class.  
"In a way, yes he did, Jim. But thankfully we don't have to worry about him anymore. There is a slim chance that the statue could come into contact with that armor piece of his anyway." The way he spoke sound like he was reassuring that the trip that they’re going on is safe, and they would get back to the US in one piece and sound of mind.   “Besides, to this day, the armor piece is still lost.”

"Well, I say we still keep our guard up. I don't want to be a virgin sacrifice for some twisted god!" David exclaimed.   He’s a tall brunet young man with an athletic build, from what Jack knew about him that while he is the quarterback of their college football team, he is majoring in sociology.  

"You have to be a virgin first, David."  Jim commented which made the other youth nudge him playfully as everyone laughed.

“Wait, he’s a virgin?” someone asked.

Before David could retort with a witty comment, Will clapped his hands to gain their attention.   "Come now boys, let's be friends. Now we should be getting close to the artifacts room where the government said we could do a little play excavation and then after that we'll go separately into groups of two so that we can explore more of the temple."  

Everyone then followed their professor who met up with a guide that have met them, Jack made one last check up on his camera before felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see that it was his seat mate.

"Rose..."

Rose Jameson is a nice girl-next-door type – athletic figure, decent fashion of polo shirts and jeans and sneakers combo, bright reddish hair and freckles, the works - even though she and Jack went to different high schools before meeting for the first time at the start of their freshman year in college.   Since they’re named after a two main characters of a certain film featuring a ship, most of their classmates made Titanic reference jokes.   Hell, there is a certain dynamic duo that managed to make a mini flash mob concert in the middle of campus with Celine Dion’s My Heart will Go On.  
"You don't think it's all true right?" She asked. "I mean it’s just a story to scare people."

"Well I'm not too sure, Rosie. I mean we've heard of stranger legends that turned out to have some basis." Jack said, checking to see if he had some film left.   While he does take digital pictures from time to time, he found that taking pictures the old fashion way is more appealing, artsy as his guardian mentioned.   “Like the literal gate to Hell, for example, that is found in Turkey, which is filled with poisonous gas which could instantly kill you if you took in a slightest breath of it.”

"I wish you wouldn't say that. Why can't you be a skeptic mythology student, Jack?" She asked with a whine which made Jack laugh.

"Don't worry, Rose. Like Will said, that god is petrified in stone and so long as it doesn't come into contact with that piece of its armor it'll stay that way." He assured her.   “Easy peasy.”

"You better be right, Frost. Unlike David, I'm an actual virgin and I sure as Hell don't want to be a sacrifice."

Even though admitting that one is a virgin is a complete no-no, a more or less an unwritten rule in this day and age, but Rose seemed to be an oddity.   Since she and Jack are close enough friends, they’re able to tell each other’s secrets.   They mostly found time to hang out and Jack served as a shock absorber whenever she ran into a stressful situation.   Of course, he would be more than happy to provide a shoulder to cry on and lend a sympathetic ear.  

"Don't worry, Rose…for all we know it could be just another fairy tale to scare little kids.   Now let's get going before we get lost." Jack said and the two students ran to catch up with the group.

Soon enough, the college group got to the artifacts room and using their tools did a little excavation. After that the professor paired up the students who would go in pairs. When Jack and Rose were paired up, the other students teased them about watching out for the god looking for virgin brides to which Jack had to hold back his friend to keep her from hitting anyone.  If there is one thing that he know his months with her, is that she is given basic training of mixed martial arts by her cousin.   Eventually everyone went their separate ways to do some exploring.

Jack couldn't help but laugh as Jim and David, the dynamic duo, have a duet of that damnable song.  

"Just be thankful that I didn't freeze today!" He remarked, before taking a picture of a landscape.

"Did you just made a Back to the Future reference?!" Rose remarked from another site, apparently she found a fossil.

"No, I did not!"

"It sure sounds like you did. Next thing I know you'll make older movie references." Rose commented.

"Nah, I filled my quota for that,” he took a look around of the surroundings, he couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer beauty, still managed to withstand the tests of Time.   “Isn't this place beautiful? I can understand why that beast lived here. It's very spacious and well built." Jack took several pictures; he had to make sure to make copies of them.   They could be nice additions to his scrapbook.

"Yes it is. I can also see several many fertility statues and what look to be wall carving depicting battle. The professor was right about what that deity specialized in." Rose spoke, observing some of the pristine statues.   She blushed a bit when she came across the ones that were a bit…risqué.
 
"Yeah, I really feel sorry for the banished virgins though.   Never being allowed to come home just because that person is not your type…harsh,” Snap went his camera as an emphasis.   These carvings are enough to make the Greco-Roman art look softer by comparison, they don’t hold back on the hardcore.  

"Yeah, I'm glad he can't do any more harm in this day and age." She spoke while making a quick look around.

"Me too, but still, I wonder if...GAH!" Jack exclaimed as he tripped.   He barely had time to break his fall with his hands; he winced when he felt pain shot up through his palm.    
"Jack...Jack! Are you okay?" Rose asked as she rushed over, feeling.

The white-haired teen winced as he gingerly propped himself up from the ground, checking his wound, only to find a slight scrape and dirt.  "I'm fine. So is my camera too, thank goodness. I tripped over that thing." He spoke before pointing at what he thought was a rock.   However, with a closer inspection, it looked metallic the way the sun lit shone.  
"That looks like metal.  Help me dig it out…" Rose then pulled out her shovel and begun to dig out the dirt.  Jack grabbed his, and plunge the blade into the ground. It took about a good fifteen minutes but they managed to dig it out to see that it was some sort of wrist guard.

"Now that's weird..." she commented.  "This is in a centuries old site but it still looks brand new!"

"I gotta agree with you there. But still a cool find,” then he stood up, feeling light headed despite kneeling down for at least few minutes or so.   “Let's take it with us and when we get back to to show Will this."  He suggested.

"Great idea, but can you carry it? My pack is already full." Rose opened up her back to show some impressive finds, like seashells and fossil alike, that she had come across.   She wasn’t kidding.

Jack nodded.   "Sure, now let's get going." After depositing the wrist guard in his satchel, the two walked on further into the temple.  

The hallway was starting to become darker; Rose used her flashlight to light the way.  Rats would scamper away and spiders would scatter into the darkness of their higher up webs, Jack felt her move closer to him as she gripped his arm.  Along the way the two passed old rooms where some looked like crypts and others looked like possible living quarters. But it was the room that they passed around, the bins that really caught Jack's attention. He stopped Rose before she could walk ahead and turned her to a large room, resembling a royal throne chamber.

The teens cautiously walked in and made sure to walk over the skeletons, possibly guards that slowly died from exhaustion or a break-in.  Though the latter is most likely possibility, after all, who in their right mind would try to break in a temple dedicated to a god?

"Look at this place. My entire house could fit in here." Rose commented softly in awe.
"More than your house…the whole neighborhood and half of the campus could fit in here." Jack spoke up.

"Yeah…wait until the professor sees what we found...Oh...my...God." Rose said slowly as her flashlight landed on a lone statue in the middle of the throne room and her blue-green eyes bulged out that that they might fall out of her skull.
There stood before them is a six or seven foot statue of a partial armored deity.
In form of some sort of rabbit…

Or what a rabbit would look like if it was a fierce humanoid beast.
Both college students could do nothing but stare up at the statue in silence.   After a moment, one of them finally spoke up.  

"...insert Monty Python joke here." Jack was trying to lighten up the mood with his usual quirk, but no words would describe their discovery.

"What in the world could this be? Some sort of idol the villagers worshiped?" Rose asked, her voice could barely contain her shock.   When Will described the deity, she was picturing like a tribal warrior or something.  Not some rabbit humanoid…thing.
"I'm not sure. There looks to be some sort of inscription on the stone at the bottom of its feet. Lower the light so I can have a look." He walked over to statue and knelt down to carefully remove the dust on the stone.

However neither teen noticed a light glow coming from Jack's satchel. Nor did they notice the wrist guard move its way out of the bag. As Jack tried to read the inscription, the wrist guard began tumbling as it made its way to the statue.
"What does it say, Jack?" The redhead asked.

The white haired teen narrowed his eyes, trying to make sense of the lettering.    “Give me a minute…” he was surprised that it was in English, he couldn’t tell how old it was but it does seem to be carved in deep by rock or something metallic.  

"To all ye who enter the throne of the rabbit god…thou must return from whence thou came, for this is the beast that shall bring forth ruin. If thou wish despair for pure youth and maiden alike, keep its armor incomplete and leave this cruel god as stone…and a piece of the armor missing.” After reading the inscription, Jack realized something.  

Piece of the armor…?

Oh dear Lord in Heaven…

"Then.....that wrist guard we got was...." Rose was cut off when they both heard the sound of metal scrapping stone and the teens looked up to see the wrist guard latched onto the rabbit statue's wrist.

"....FRACK!"

That was the first thing that Jack shouted out as he made the grab for the wrist guard; however it was clasped on tight on the statue’s wrist.   The guard itself was beginning to glow brighter and brighter.  A growl of frustration escaped his lips as he tried in vain to pry the wrist guard off of the statue.  

"Rose, get out of here!" God this sounds like a SciFi film...except there is a possibility that neither one of them will make it out alive.

"I'm not leaving you, Jack!" Rose shouted.   Yeah, this is definitely a SciFi…or is it Chiller? Forget it! Focus on the problem here!

"You don't have a choice! Go! I'll take care of this! Go!" he ordered, almost sounding desperate. The red-haired girl was saddened; looking reluctant to leave her friend like this but ran off.   Jack couldn’t help but feel relief.   At least he would die happy knowing that his friend will live another day.

As Jack tried to take off the wrist guard, the stone feet of the rabbit were beginning to break piece by piece to reveal bluish-grey fur. Slowly but surely, the stone body began to crack apart and form into the warm body, no longer petrified. A paw then grabbed Jack's wrists and raised him in the air and the rabbit deity gave a loud roar, causing the birds to fly about as a result. The teen winced at the sheer volume, having to hear it at close range.   He could feel his ears pounding in protest; Jack was surprised that his ear drums haven’t been blown in pieces yet.   He tried to keep himself calm as much as possible while the rabbit deity let out a huff of hot breath from his nose before blinking for a moment and looking around his throne room.
Or…what is left of it.

"My throne room....my temple.....What happened?! Who would dare destroy my home?!" Jack flinched at the outrage that was evident in the rabbit’s voice; he felt the cold prick of fear when the latter turned his glaring green eyes to Jack's fearful blue ones. "Did you do this, boy?!" it was more of a demand than a question.   He had to give out a straight answer if he wanted to get out of this with all limbs intact.
 
"N-No! I didn't do anything! I'm a student for a mythology class. Your temple has been this way since you were imprisoned." Jack explained.  Then he paused for a bit to think over what else to say.   “And-and…this is 2013, the 21st century!”

"Imprisoned?” then he paused to think, as if trying to recall the events from long ago, very long ago.   “Wait, yes. I remember now. Those foolish villagers dared to betray me and sent that bloody shaman to petrify me in stone. He stole my wrist guard to break the magic shield that would block his spell." He rubbed his chin as he remembers the past events, still holding Jack up.  He tried not to wince when all feeling his wrist was becoming null, probably at the fact that his blood circulation was being cut-off by that strong grip of his.  

"Huh...magic...of course..." Jack laughed nervously, but inside he was practically screaming out words that would most likely have his guardian shove a bar of soap in his mouth.

He had plenty of experience in horror films, and the Final Girl (almost) always get out alive because she's a virgin. Nothing said about Final Boy though...

But since this is reality, and the fact that he's a virgin...this God would most likely pick off his classmates and possibly banish them to the unforgiving wilderness of Australia where everything will kill you without a second thought or remorse.
Why didn't he get laid when he had the chance?!

The rabbit deity then seemed to stop thinking for a moment and instead turned his attention to the white-haired youth.   He grew uncomfortable when the rabbit had a lustful and wicked smile form on his furry face.   Jack gulped fearfully as the deity pulled him closer to his face.

"Well, I suppose I should thank you for releasing me, boy. Now I'm free to finally pay back the village for betraying me and kill any descendants of that wanker shaman. But of course....." The rabbit stopped for a moment to sniff Jack's scent by his neck deeply and gave a pleasured moan before smirking. "All work and no play make this rabbit a dull god."
"Please, you don't want me. I'm not even really a virgin. It's just a soap smell that makes it seem that way." Jack said with a nervous chuckle.

Of course, he was up against a god.    Throughout all his experience in class, gods have this uncanny ability to know whether or not that you’re lying.  

"Oh such an obvious liar…the very ear mark of a true virgin,” a dark chuckle escaped from his lips.   “But you....you're not like all the others. No, you little boy.....You may very well be the worthy one I've been waiting for. Perhaps I shouldn't kill the shaman's descendants and the villagers. They actually did me a favor by preserving my body so that I could get to you…” he smiled at Jack before gently setting him down to the ground.   “I'm Bunnymund, or as you'll soon be calling me your buck and father of our little warriors."

The rabbit deity, now named Bunnymund, held the teen close to his chest.

Jack's eyes widen with shock at this, he didn't know what could be worse...the fact that he unintentionally gave the descendants of both the shaman and the villagers a signed death warrant or that he would carry on the spawn of mythology made reality.

"L-look...appealing as it sounds, I think I would pass..." he reasoned as he tried to push him off.  “And besides, I don't know if I'm ready for marriage or a family yet."

Bunnymund's green eyes narrowed sharply at this and he held Jack tighter, making him wince at the tight grip on his shoulders.   Apparently he doesn’t take gentle rejection well.  
"Wrong answer, Snowflake…I've been waiting for an agonizingly long nine hundred years for you. Nine….hundred…YEARS…” then he bent down, their faces are mere inches of each other.   “And I'm not about to let you get away. Besides, if you try and get away from me it'll just mean the descendants and villagers are mine to kill. Now I know already that you're the bleeding heart type so you wouldn't want that to happen. In which case I suggest you get smart…"

Bunnymund gave a lustful snort before moving his sharp teeth to Jack's neck, as if poised to bite him.

The white haired teen shouted in shock and without a second thought he kneed the deity right where it hurts, thankful that said area wasn't armored.  Bunnymund groaned in pain and let the youth go in favor of nursing his pained groin.   A powerful deity of incredible power, brought down with a common element that can be exploited in defense.   Who would have thought?

Jack then took this chance to run like Hell, internally thanking to whatever omnipresent being above for him taking up interest of parkour.   “I hope I could make it on time,” he whispered to himself as he made his way through the corridor.  

When he recovered, Bunnymund looked up and saw the teen running away from him. This angered the deity and he in turn ran after Jack. As the teen bolted down every corner he remembered taking to the throne room with Rose, he wondered if his friend made it to the others or if she got stuck somewhere. Jack prayed that neither happened as he could never forgive himself if it did. The teen was so engrossed by his thoughts that he didn't see the figure coming at him and slammed right into it. Jack landed flat on his rear and groaned painfully.

"Jack! Are you okay?" A familiar voice asked him and Jack looked up to see the faces that he would never thought about be happy to see again.   Jim, David, and Rose…looking over, he could see his entire class preparing to get off of the island.  

"G-guys…oh thank God, you're all okay.  Look we have to get out of here now!" Jack exclaimed.  This brought the attention of his classmates and their professor.
 
"Jack, what's the matter?" Will asked, walking over to him.  

Luckily for him, Rose knew what he is talking about.  

"That war and fertility deity that demanded sacrifices are more than a legend, he's real! Jack and I picked up the piece of his armor that was stolen from the deity to keep him petrified and by the time we read the inscription by his feet when we found his statue we realized everything too late and the armor attached. He's back to life!" Rose exclaimed fearfully.

Of course, like in any independent horror film, everyone seemed skeptical.   Hell, some of them are already laughing, calling them crazy.  

"What? Rose, you can't be serious." David said with a chuckle.

"Yeah…a crazy god has been in stone for nine hundred years. How could he be alive now?" Jim spoke up.  

"How about you ask me that, mate?" a deep Australian voice spoke up.   Everyone turned and gasped at the sight of a six foot, angry looking and armored rabbit.

Jim looked up with eyes widen with horror. "Um...Run away like King Arthur and his Knights?" David looked over to him with disbelief.  "Seriously, Jim!? Seriously?!? A Monty Python joke when we're all about to die?!" he questioned.

"Not on my watch!" Jack then held up his camera. "Say CHEESE!"

It went by fast; Bunnymund wasn't prepared for a bright flash of light from that strange box in his intended mate's hand...or a hard knock to the head from it.

His head was reeling, but his sharp ears picked up someone shouting "head for the boat".
No…no, he can’t let him escape! He waited too long for his chosen mate only to lose him!
-

"Everyone! Head for the boat!"

No one even hesitated when they heard their professor, actually stampeding over to their only transportation.

"Calm down! You'll tip it over!" Jack told them.  This is bad...this is really bad
Not only he brought forth the most feared and forgotten deity to the world of the 21st century, but also in a way, he screwed the entire world!

At the sound of heavy feet gaining on them, Jack turned to see the rabbit god get closer. He was growling and snorting and when he set his eyes on him, Jack could have sworn that the rabbit looked insane.  He was so fear stricken that Jack didn't hear everyone calling out to him to get on the boat until Rose shook him.

"Jack, come on! We have to get out of here!" She exclaimed and pulled him towards the boat with all the strength that the 90-pound girl could muster. Jack quickly followed suit and soon everyone was safely on board.

"Mr. Gale, you better get this boat moving! That thing is getting closer!" One student exclaimed in worry, almost sounding like he was going to cry.

"A’right, anklebiters, hang on!" Mr. Gale said and started up the boat but as he moved the gear stick it jammed. "Oh no, it won't go into gear!" He exclaimed in horror.
"Well, that's just great!" David exclaimed.   "Next thing you know that there is no communications to the main land because we got low bars!"

"We got low bars!" one of them spoke up.

All David could do was facepalm himself.

Jack is not the type to give up, he really didn't want to be some rabbit's consort...nor did he want any possible descendant of the village be hurt.
"Is there some sort of weapon on board?" he asked.  "Anything?!"
The students started searching around for a weapon of some kind until a small silver whistle fell out that caught Jack's attention.

"Huh? What's this?" Jack asked as he picked up the whistle.

"I don't know…some silent whistle thing that Mr. Gale used to call out the animals during that nature shoot." David explained hurriedly as he kept searching.  The younger teen smiled widely at hearing this news.

"Dave, this is it! We have just what we need to make this beast back off." Jack spoke excitedly and everyone looked at him in surprise.

"A whistle? Jack, I think the sudden terror is going to your head." Rose tried to reason with him, even if her voice shook.

"No it isn't. Just watch." Jack grabbed onto the whistle tightly then looked straight at the rabbit God. "Hey, Bunny! You want me so bad!? Come and get me!"

"Uh... Jackie?" he heard Jim spoke up behind him, he could feel him tapping on his shoulder.  "That’s a god…whistles aren’t his kryptonite!"

Jack rolled his eyes at this.   "Yes, I'm well aware of that...but he's also a RABBIT!"
Then he turned and stared straight at the deity before him.

"Here goes nothing..." he took a deep breath and placed his lips over the whistle and blow.

Just when they all thought that the beast was going to get near of the boat, the rabbit deity suddenly stopped at the sound of the whistle that only he could hear.  They could see his ears twitched violently and he began shouting in pain, holding down his long ears close to his head as he curled in on himself into a fetal position.  Bunny curled into a tighter ball, but that does nothing to block out the high-pitched noise that he could hear.  

What is this infernal noise?! Make it stop…MAKE IT STOP!

"Oh, I get it! Rabbits can hear ultra-sonic frequencies that humans can't." Rose spoke in realization.  “Why haven’t I thought of that…?”

"Boy, I never thought I'd be grateful to the whistle." Jim sighed with relief. “We’re all gonna live…”

Just then Mr. Gale managed to turn the boat into gear.   "I got it! Hold on, everyone!" Without a second thought or hesitation, they all sped off in the boat.   As soon as Jack made sure that they have a good distance, he stopped blowing, all out of breath.   He breathed heavily, trying to calm down his breathing.   He could feel his heart beat rapidly against his ribcage.  

"A rabbit deity of centuries of experience...and all it took was a whistle!"

"YEAH!" David cheered.   "Fuckin' A!"

"Watch your language!" Will scolded him, but still relieved that none of his students were hurt.

Well everyone else was cheering about how lucky they were from their close call; Rose couldn't help but notice how Jack was looking really sad.  She frowned with concern for him, something happened when between him and that god.   And from the look of his face, he looked guilty.   The girl went over to Jack and patted him comfortingly on the shoulder.

"You okay, Jack?" Rose asked.  

He nodded as Jack looked over to her, with his trademark smile. "A bit shaken up, but yeah I'm fine." The smile seemed forced, but for his sake, she’ll let it slide for now.
"Well, if you need anything you know I'm here. And so are the others." She assured him.
Jack nodded as his friend was practically almost tackle hugged by one of her girl-friends as they are practically sobbing on how lucky they were that they're still alive (and ready for their boyfriends).

He laughed softly before his smile falling as he gazed back to the island.

Somehow...for some reason...he had a feeling it wouldn't be the last time he saw Bunnymund.
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