"Are you ready to go Edith?" Gertrude straightened out the sleeves of the girl's dress while smiling. "You remember where the Ivory Asters are, correct?"

"Yes, Mother," Edith replied. Gertrude took her hand and straightened out the bit of messy hair that had gone astray from her brief nap. 

"Good. Now, go there and come right back. I don't want you wandering too far from our home for too long. You know how dangerous it can be if you venture too far from where my magic has influence."

"I know, I know." Edith hugged Mister Cuddles a bit tighter before turning to face Narrita. The Cutthroat leader couldn't pry her eyes away from the undead rabbit as it continued to give her the same long, single eyed blank stare as he always had. 

"Is uh... Mister Cuddles tagging along?"

"Mister Cuddles goes everywhere with me," Edith replied. 

"I see."

"That's her only friend," Gertrude said. "I can't remember the last time they were separate. Him tagging along won't be a problem, will it?"

"No, of course not. Any friend of Edith's is a friend of a mine!" Narrita forced a smile as she reached done and rubbed the back of the rabbit's ear with one finger. "He's such... a cute little thing..."

"Good. Now, I don't want Edith being out all night. I suggest you go out as soon as possible. The sooner I get the flower, the sooner I'll be able to work my magic." 

"Got it." Narrita held the door open, for the child, waving for her to follow. Edith eagerly trotted to the exit. After her first step outside, she turned around and gave her mother a soft smile accompanied by a brief wave.

"Be back soon you two!" Gertrude called out from the center of the room. The two Cutthroats looked through the doorway, giving her looks of anxiety as she slowly closed the door. Once the entrance to the hut was shut, Narrita faced her young companion.

"All right kid," she said with her hands resting on her hips. "You know where these Ivory Asters are?"

Edith nodded. "Yep." 

"Good. Is it a long walk from here?"

"Yep."

"Fantastic."

"What's your name again?" Edith asked with a side glare.

"Me? Narrita."

"Can I call you Rita?"

"What? Why?"

"It's shorter."

"Sure. Call me whatever you want. As long as we start heading towards those Ivory Asters."

"All right." Edith walked around to the other side of the shack. Behind the building was a dense thicket. Beyond the area where the trees affected by Gertrude's magic was a dense forest where the afternoon sun was obscured by thick leaves of the surrounding elms. 

"Are we going to go through there?" Narrita leaned forward, placing one hand over her eyes as she squinted towards the elms. "I can't see anything beyond the first row of trees!"

"Don't worry, Rita. Mister Cuddles knows his way round." Edith gently placed her rabbit on the ground. He began sniffing the ground, moving in a jagged pattern. 

"He's going to lead us to the flowers?"

"Uh-huh." Edith leaned closer to her pet. "Takes us to those white flowers, Mister Cuddles!"

The rabbit lifted his head and stared at Edith before wiggling his nose. In a few seconds he was sniffing the ground again. 

"Are you sure about all this kid? I'm sure Mister Cuddles is a smart rabbit, but he doesn't seem to be too interested in trying to find what we're looking for."

"Just give him a minute."

"Are you sure you're not getting rabbits mixed up with dogs? They're the animals that can usually sniff out—"

Mister Cuddles lifted his head up, still sniffing in the air but this time towards to the area ahead. He then bolted as fast as his rotting legs would take him into the forest. He vanished underneath a tall patch of grass, making it rustle in his wake. Edith grabbed one of Narrita's hands and tugged her along. "Come on!" 

The girl led Narrita into the trees. There was a sudden drop in temperature; underneath the dense leaves and being hidden in the shade made the air feel cool. Narrita took in a deep breath, relaxing as the scent of fresh trees coursed through her nostrils. 

"Mister Cuddles!" Edith called out, cupping her hands in front of her face to make her shouts louder. "Mister Cuddles! Where did you go?"

"Hey kid," Narrita put one hand on Edith's shoulder. "Do you think you should be so loud? You might draw the attention of something that you don't wanna deal with if you keep shouting in a dark place like this."

"This is what I always do when I want to go find flowers. Mister Cuddles sniffs them out and I go look for him." Edith then turned away and returned to her shouting. "Mister Cuddles! Come here Mister Cuddles!"

"You know, this might be why you lost your little friend the first time. You don't wanna lose him again, do you?"

"I'll just wake him up again. I know how to do it easy now."

"Oh. I see. I guess it's not a big deal anyway. Don't know what animal in their right mind would want to eat a half rotten rabbit in the first place." 

As the two continued to scour the area for the missing rabbit, there was movement among the grass towards their right. "Look!" Edith said as she pointed towards the grass. Mister Cuddles emerged, hopping towards Edith before jumping into her open arms. In his mouth was a cluster of white petals." 

"See? Told you it would work."

"But he ate the flower!" Narrita leaned forward and took the bit of Ivory Aster out Mister Cuddles mouth. She pinched the remains of the devoured plant and brought them close to her face. "I don't think your mom could do much with this." She lowered her hand, presenting the petals to the rabbit. He eagerly lapped them up and began chomping.

"Sorry. He must have been hungry."

"Yeah, I can tell. He's got a hole in his stomach. Probably literally."

"What does... lit really mean?"

An awkward yet genuine smile came across Narrita's face. "Oh yeah. I forgot that you're eternally seven." She rubbed the child's hair with her hand, undoing all the work that Gertrude had put into making it tidy. "I'll tell you when you're older. Maybe even after we go and get an Ivory Aster. In one piece this time."

"All right." Edith extended her hands and turned her rabbit, so he faced her. "Now don't go running of this time, Mister Cuddles. Rita really needs one of those flowers, understand?"

As usual, the rabbit remained motionless save for the occasional blink of his remaining eye. Despite the lack of a response, Edith lowered Mister Cuddles onto the ground again, this time facing the direction from where he returned. Once the child let go, he remained calm as he sniffed the air while standing on his hind legs. Instead of taking off, he moved at a slower place with short and deliberate hops. 

"See? Told you," Edith said before following her rabbit. 

"You've trained Mister Cuddles well!" Narrita said, watching her step as she moved through the fallen branches of the forest's floor. 

"We've been together for a long time. He listens to me and I listen to him."

"You... listen to him?" Narrita said with a twinge of uneasiness. "As in he talks to you?"

"Not with actual words. Like when he rubs his face on my stomach. That means he's hungry."

"Oh." Narrita and Edith both continued to trail the rabbit, each making careful steps over the uneven terrain. Mister Cuddles stopped moving by a large tree. He rested on one of the roots, scraping his face along the bark of the elm tree. "So you know what he wants just by watching him do normal animal things."

"Yeah." Edith watched as the rabbit curled up along the side of the tree. "This means that he's tired."

"Oh. The fact that he's... trying to sleep... means that he's tired?"

"Yeah."

"You're a smart kid, you know that?" Narrita said with a chuckle. "You going to let him take a nap? Or are we going to keep heading towards those Ivory Asters?"

"Mister Cuddles can get mean if he doesn't get his nap."

"What? How can a rabbit be mean?"

"He opens his mouth and growls. He'll start biting stuff too."

"Didn't know rabbits could do either one of those things. Then again, I've never seen one... like Mister Cuddles before." 

"Mister Cuddles is different. Other rabbits don't like him very much. They always run away whenever he gets near one. Sometimes I think he's lonely." 

"Oh. Poor guy. You know, my snake was like that too."

"Really?" Edith said. "Other snakes didn't want to be near him?"

Narrita shook her head. "Nope. They were all too scared. My pet Pierce was big." The Cutthroat leader stood on the tips of her toes and raised one hand high above her head. "If he stretched out all the way, he probably could have reached this tall."

"Wow!"

"And he was fierce too!" Narrita took her two pointer fingers and angled them down in front of her mouth. "Had long fangs that spat out acid and venom!"

The child stood upright, excited by the Narrita's description. "What did he look like?"

"Long and green. The side of his neck stuck out, giving the upper part of his body a curved shape. He had a beautiful black pattern that repeated throughout his scales. A very lovely animal."

"Do you miss him?"

"Of course I do." Narrita sat down by the side of the tree. She looked at the rabbit and saw that it was fast asleep, his little lung visible through the whole in his ribcage moved up and down in a slow yet rhythmic manner. "Ever since I lost him, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him."

"How did you meet him?" Edith asked. With Narrita sitting, the girl stood just a foot above her. Narrita looked up and saw the curiosity within the girl's eyes. 

"I guess it couldn't hurt to tell you."