Lucky Rabbit

Once Lian left with the mysterious Augustus – much to Thaniel’s dismay – Pandy no longer had to worry about the older boy catching her moving around when she should have been asleep. She spent that night trying to figure out why her skills worked sometimes, but not others.

she thought as hard as she could. Then, in desperation and because she had at some point sprouted a new tail, she tried, None of it worked, even when she tried adding a polite, onto the end again.

This was absolutely the most frustrating situation she’d been in since coming to this world. Pandy had, of course, been in much more difficult situations back in her own world, with the incident of the missing goat and the blow-up doll coming immediately to mind. Still, since being reborn – or rather, rebodied – life had been pretty good, and she hadn’t worried too much about anything that went wrong, because, in general, rabbits didn’t need to worry about anything that didn’t try to eat them.

Now, however, Pandy had a goal, and it seemed that her old luck had indeed followed her here. Somehow, she always managed to scrape by, but it was usually by the skin of her teeth, and she wasn’t willing to risk Thaniel’s life on how much tooth-skin she could afford to lose. No, she needed to figure this out, before something worse than an enraged horse came after the boy.

she thought as she dragged her paw over the floor. Nothing at all happened, which was probably for the best, since the floor was made of a lovely walnut, and it would be a shame to see it ruined.

she tried, giving the command a little boost by gathering her hindquarters and pushing hard off the ground. This actually achieved something, but since that something was moving her approximately a foot and a half across the floor, it wasn’t particularly exciting.

With a sigh, she let her legs slide out from beneath her, flopping bonelessly onto the floor. Her chin rested on the cool wood, while her paws splayed out in what was probably a very awkward pose. As she did so, the small gap beneath the door came into her sight, and she watched wide-eyed as four shadowy paws paced back and forth. The paws were covered in gray fur, and she instantly knew who it had to be. Miss Cupcakes had come for a midnight Pandy-snack.

Carefully, Pandy gathered her own paws back underneath her. This was truly sad. She couldn’t even protect herself from a six-month-old kitten, much less keep a god’s magic from killing Thaniel. She felt a deep sense of helplessness as she watched a larger furry blob settle to the ground beside the paws. Miss Cupcakes was sitting, waiting patiently for Pandy to emerge.

Pandy stood, trying to move as quietly as she could. If she could see Miss Cupcakes beneath the door, the kitten could undoubtedly see her as well, if she thought to try. Pandy padded back to the bed and hopped up beside Thaniel, only relaxing when she knew she was out of the feline’s line of sight. Then she laid down, rested her chin on her paws, and thought.

When had her skills actually worked? The first time was when she Hopped up onto the gargoyle while trying to hide from the soldiers. Then, a few minutes later, Hop had failed her again when she needed to reach the second statue. She had managed to Bite Miss Cupcakes – which she still regretted a bit, even though the kitten seemed none the worse for wear now. Each time she succeeded, she was close to Thaniel, if not touching him. Was that it? Were they linked to the boy’s proximity?

But no, Thaniel hadn’t been anywhere close when she used Hop to get into the weapon shed. He had been there when she used it again to grab the horse’s reins, and when she used Minor Heal. What was different about the shed? Was the god already waiting for her there, or did the skills only work when he was watching her?

She had no way of testing that rather creepy supposition, however, so instead she checked Thaniel’s little face, seeing the dark crescents of his lashes lying against his cheek, and the steady rise and fall of his chest. He was definitely asleep, so if his nearness did affect her chances somehow, now was the time to test it.

she thought again, and this time her hindquarters bunched up, sending her flying across the bed, limbs flailing as she tried to control the bounce. She hadn’t even thought about which direction she was pointed, and now she found herself in freefall for a single terrifying moment before she thumped against the floor. Hard.

Hop successful. 12.5% experience gained towards next level.

-5 LF

Oof. Pandy moved, then winced, and winced again as the bed creaked. “Bunny?” Thaniel’s voice was equal parts worried and groggy, and Pandy quickly hopped over, allowing the boy to lean over and scoop her up. His little arm was surprisingly heavy where it lay across her body as he promptly sank back into sleep.

Pandy counted to a thousand before she even tried to move, then wriggled carefully out from beneath the pinning appendage. Thaniel muttered and rolled over, one hand fumbling for her before falling back into deep sleep. Only when his chest was rising and falling in a slow rhythm once again did she hop back to the edge of the bed.

So, that had worked. But was it just a coincidence? Fortunately, her fall had given her a perfect way to test it. Backing up until her tail just brushed the lump of Thaniel’s leg, Pandy thought,

Casting of Minor Heal successful. 50% experience gained towards next level.

You have no Mana. Using Life Force instead.

Healed Pandora for 5 LF.

-3 LF

Once again, that deep discomfort tore through her, but to her great relief, no body parts fell off. In fact, she felt slightly better, with the pain of what she suspected was a cracked rib fading into a dull ache. Then something inside her shifted, and this time it wasn’t a bone.

Minor Heal is now level 2. +1 to Mana.

A warm tingle ran through her, and as it faded, Pandy thought,

Name: Pandy

Race: Rabbit? (Deceased)

Age: 24

LF: -2/0

Mana: 1/1

Stats

Strength: 3 Intelligence: 12 Agility: 10Skills

Hop: Lv. 8 (53%) Bite: Lv. 5 (20%) Scratch: Lv. 7 Minor Heal: Lv. 2Corruption Points: 19

And there it was. Pandy now had a single point of mana. She’d also exchanged three points of LF to recover five, which was a very small gain. It also told her that rather than the skill costing a flat eight Mana or LF when it was used, it took half of whatever it healed, which meant that small injuries could be healed with little to no overall cost to her, other than the unpleasant feeling, at least when healing herself.

Pandy quickly used Minor Heal once more, resulting in a gain of three LF and costing her one mana, as well as one more point of LF. She quickly used it again and again, resulting in another level of Minor Heal and another Mana point. Now, she had enough Mana to pay for four points of healing, but before it could regenerate, she used Minor Heal four more times, gaining another level in the skill and her third point of mana.

Fortunately, it seemed that half points of damage rounded up, so she always ended up short by at least one point of damage, and should continue to do so, as long as she didn’t actually allow her Mana to refill. Eventually, she’d need to do that, but for now, she had work to do. If she couldn’t prevent Thaniel from being injured, she could at least heal him afterwards.

By the time the gray pall of morning lightened the curtains, Pandy’s Minor Heal had reached level eleven. From here on, it would take quite a bit more effort to gain each level, but with ten mana, she could now heal twenty points of damage. So far, that was the maximum amount she had been able to recover, and finding that out had required a Hop up to the top of the wardrobe, followed by a precipitous drop down onto a pillow she’d placed there to muffle the sound of her body impacting the floor. That was fairly unpleasant, but by now she was fully healed and tucked back under the covers next to Thaniel, who was just beginning to stir as the darkness of the room gave way to the pale light.

The boy’s bright blue eyes blinked open, his blonde curls and sleep-flushed cheeks giving him the appearance of the little drummer boy in Pandy’s fifth foster-mother’s manger scene. The woman hadn’t appreciated Pandy’s very reasonable comment that the boy – as well as everyone else with the possible exception of the angels – would probably have had black hair and a dark complexion, and Pandy had found herself at a different home by Christmas.

“Bunny?” Thaniel murmured sleepily, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. The neckline of his too-large nightgown sagged over his left shoulder as he did so, revealing the edge of the thick scar on his chest. Pandy’s heart clenched at the sight. This poor boy had already suffered so much, and somehow remained so sweet and open-hearted. He didn’t deserve to be killed off just because a god with more muscles than brains hadn’t bothered to put basic protections in place. Even Pandy could have done better than that!

She hopped forward, nuzzling against Thaniel’s hand until he smiled and stroked her ears gently. Outside, a rooster began to greet the sun – though the same rooster had greeted the same sun several times now, starting well before dawn lit the horizon – and Thaniel looked toward the window.

“D’you suppose they’ll really have a party, Bunny?” Thaniel asked. “Just for me?”

Pandy was certain they would, so she leaned against him reassuringly. She wished she could be herself for just a minute, so she could give him a proper hug. Of course, that would probably send him screaming and end up with her being sent to this world’s version of jail, so maybe that wasn’t such a great idea.

Eventually, a maid tapped gently at the door and let Thaniel know that breakfast was ready. He quickly climbed out of bed – no Hop required – and got dressed in the nicest clothes in his meager wardrobe. Somewhere, he’d found a white shirt with a round, lace-trimmed collar and a pair of long blue shorts with built-in suspenders that Pandy suspected were terribly out of fashion, since she didn’t remember anything like them from the game. Thaniel showed no sign that he noticed, just pulling them on before throwing open the door.

As he did, there was an angry yowl, and Miss Cupcakes scrambled away post-haste, hissing and spitting furiously. Thaniel blinked after her, then hurried to follow the sound of her feline curses. Pandy couldn’t tell if he was worried for the kitten or just interested in seeing where she went, but either way, he quickly left Pandy behind.

She stopped at the top of the staircase, staring down its rather intimidating length. Thaniel had carried her up and down every time before, but now here she was, and though she’d had every intention of finding some time to explore the manor alone, she hadn’t been planning to do it just yet. For one thing, there was breakfast waiting, and Thaniel could almost always be counted on to slip Pandy a bite of some kind of breakfast pastry along with the carrots and apples.

Peering up and down the hall, Pandy perked up her long ears, watching and listening for any sign that someone was nearby. All was still, except for the sound of quiet voices coming from below. In theory, even the servants should be either serving breakfast or working in the kitchen. She doubted the Reedsleys could afford servants who did nothing other than clean the house, which was already so immaculate that she’d think it was uninhabited if it weren’t for the feeling of warm hominess that pervaded it.

she thought, staring down the stairs. If this actually worked, it would probably hurt when she landed, but Pandy was beginning to formulate a theory, and she very much suspected that nothing would happen. Which it didn’t, with such a profound sense of firmness that Pandy felt almost embarrassed for trying.

So, no Thaniel, no skills. Except that Pandy had used Hop to get into the weapons storage shed. Which was part of the original game. The System seemed inextricably linked to people and places which were in or related to the game. While Thaniel hadn’t been in it himself, his existence had been central to the plot, and apparently that was good enough.

He seemed to have some kind of Main Character Energy that allowed Pandy to do things that would have worked in the game. Presumably, Clara and all of the other named characters would have a similar effect. Would Geraldine? She had been mentioned, but she was only important as a means of allowing Clara and Prince Kaden to bond over their shared love of their younger siblings.

Of course, this was all very much supposition, but Pandy had a few ways to test her hypothesis. She would have to go to the library, the drawing room, and, yes, back to the training ground without Thaniel, and try her skills again. She should also find a way to spend some time near Clara, but the girl had been conspicuously absent ever since her unexpected arrival led to Pandy and Miss Cupcakes’ impromptu battle and the resultant destruction of the tea party.

But there was one more thing she should try. She’d been putting it off because all the ways of gaining more Corruption Points were…well, icky. The best was rolling around in poor Thaniel’s tears, but she didn’t want to make him cry just so she could pretend to be a handkerchief. Plus, there was so much mucus involved in that option.

Still, the first time she used Minor Heal, she’d spent a few Corruption Points, rather than using Mana or Life Force. What if Corruption Points had something to do with the corruption of the game, rather than something far more disturbing? What if, in fact, she could use them to make the System do something outside of its usual functions? She’d been avoiding them because they sounded like something Very Unpleasant – an idea that was reinforced by all the bleeding and crying that seemed to be involved in earning more of them – but maybe they were all right after all?

Staring down the stairs, Pandy thought,

Use One (1) Corruption Point to Hop?

she answered, then immediately realized that she really should have used a hallway to test her hypothesis, rather than a steep set of stairs. As she went hurtling through the air over an increasingly distant floor, she sighed and tried to be happy that at least she would be able to grind out some more uses of Minor Heal. Sadly, this was really going to…

Hop successful. 12.5% experience gained towards next level.

-27 LF

…hurt.