Edith led Narrita past the Elm trees into a flowery expanse. Ivory asters obscured the grass the below as each petal moved in miniscule amounts from the calm air. The girl skipped through the flowers, jumping into the middle of patch with her arms spread to the side. 

"Here you go, Rita!" Editha shouted as she spun on the back of her heel with her arms spread out. After her twirl, her eyes darted to the ground as she tracked the rustling of the flowers. "Where did you go, Mister Cuddles?"

"You’re not worried about him running away from you?" Narrita asked as she reached down and plucked a bulky handful of flowers out from the ground. She stashed away as much as she could into the one of the pockets on the underside of her jacket.

"No. Mister Cuddles always come back." Edith jumped forward, disappearing beneath the heads of the asters and emerging with Mister Cuddles with cradled against her chest. "He always come back." The rabbit nibbled on another flower as Edith stroke the side of his ear. 

"Probably likes the free food," Narrita joked as she stretched her back while her arms overflowed with Ivory Asters.

"No. He loves me, that's why," Edith replied, almost annoyed.

"Oh yeah. That's true too." Narrita turned around, looking at the dense expanse of trees behind her. "So, uh, you know your way back to your home from here?"

"Of course, I do." As she spoke, the rabbit leapt from her arms and into the expanse of flowers, disappearing beneath the sea of white plants. "But can we stay a bit longer? Mister Cuddles wants to play!" 

"Uh, is your mom going to be fine with that? She was pretty serious about making sure that you came back safe and sound. Seems like she wanted me to bring you home in a timely manner too."

Edith giggled as she continued to frolic among the flowers. Mister Cuddles left a narrow trail of parted flowers in his wake as he fled from the undead child. Narrita released some of the flowers as she watched the pair continued to play. Another leap allowed Edith to seize Mister Cuddles' side. "All right!" Narrita shouted. "You two had your playtime. Maybe it's best if we went ahead and started going back to your home."

"But Rita," Edith groaned as she stood up among the bed of flowers. Mister Cuddles squirmed in her clutches; his upper half dangled out of her forearms while his little paws flailed towards the ground. "Mister Cuddles almost never gets to play over here!"

"You know kid, maybe there's a reason for that." Narrita waded her way through the flowers and lingered in front of Edith, casting a tall shadow over the young girl. The Cutthroat leader put her hands on her hips and gave Edith an annoyed scowl. "Come on. You can always come here with Mister Cuddles another day. But we've got to head back so I can bring my snake back. “

"But..." Edith pouted, turning her back towards Narrita. "I don't want to go yet! It's nice outside and Mother has kept me in my room all day!"

"Is that true kid?" Narrita asked as she cocked an eyebrow while giving the girl a look of genuine sympathy.

"Uh-huh."

"Why is that?"

"Because I got in trouble the other day," Edith replied with a disappointment. With her back to Cutthroat, Edith lowered her head, it being clear that she was staring at Mister Cuddles' head.

"What did you do?"

There was a pause. Only the faint sound of leaves rustling in the distance could be heard as Edith brushed the hairs on her rabbit's back. "I... went outside without telling Mother."

"Must have gotten her pretty upset."

"Yeah... I saw a couple of men. They talked to me."

Narrita hesitated. "They didn't do anything bad to you, did they?"

"No. They looked mean but they were nice. They were big—"

"Everyone's big to you."

"And they had paint on their skin. Tall and muscley. And long brown beards." Edith took her hand and stroked an imaginary beard on her chin.

"Interesting. The fact that they were tall and 'muscley' makes it sound like they were foreigners."

"Mother ran outside and pulled me away from them. She said that they were dangerous."

"Well, your Mother was probably right. Should have listened to her. Parents always know best."

Edith turned around and stopped her foot. Weary and red eyes greeted the Cutthroat leader. "But I never get to talk to people! Mother keeps me and Mister Cuddles home all day! I only ever get to talk to her!" 

"Oh, I see." Narrita lowered herself onto one knee. She placed a hand on the bottom of Edith's wavy black hair and pushed it away from her face. She still maintained her pout but her eyes opened wider as Narrita looked back at her with a soft grin. "We'll come by and visit you, Edith."

"Really?" 

Narrita nodded. "Really. I know it's a long walk, but we can fit it into our routine. Not like we got actual jobs. I'm sure I could fit a visit into the schedule every now and then."

"I would love that!" Despite her watery eyes, the small girl reversed her frown. "I haven't had any friends in forever! Ever since Mother woke me up, I had to stay at home all the time."

"You had a lot of friends... before you went to sleep?"

"Uh-huh. Lots of friends in school. And next door. But that was a long time ago."

"Well kid, I guess I'll be the first friend you've had in decades. And if your mother's magic pulls through, I'm sure Pierce would love to hang out with you too."

"I want to meet Pierce, Rita! He sounds friendly."

"Friendly? Wouldn't go that far. But he's got a thing for meeting new people. I'm sure he'd make good friends with you. But to do that, we need to head back to your home as soon as possible."

"If you say so, Rita." Edith looked down at her rabbit again. "Are you ready to go back home, Mister Cuddles?" The girl reached down and plucked a white flower from the ground. She held it in front of the rabbit's mouth. He chomped. In a single bite he ripped off a single petal and happily gnawed away. "He seems happy now."

"Good. You'll have to lead the way, kid. I don't know my way around this part of Farrowport."

Edith skipped past Narrita, towards the heart of the forest. "Follow me, Rita." 

The Cutthroat leader stayed close to the child. As Edith jaunted forward, mindlessly bobbing her head, Narrita kept her attention focused on the surrounding area. She became more at unease the further they ventured into the thicket. "You recognize this part of the forest, kid?" Narrita asked as she stared at a tree that was a darker and shorter variety that she hadn't seen in the swamp prior.

"I think so."

"You 'think' so? Maybe we should let Mister Cuddles lead us back. He did a good job of finding the asters, he might do just fine in leading us back home, too."

"I can do it!" Edith turned, staring back at Narrita with eagerness. "I know where to go!"

"I've got a feeling that we're going the wrong way, Edith." She knelt and reached for Mister Cuddles. "Let your pet lead us." Narrita's face scrunched as her bare hand touched the rabbit's exposed rib. She shivered and groaned as her fingers felt his inner organs thump. "He'll... get us... home..." She then quickly lowered the rabbit onto his hind legs. Once the rabbit was on the ground, Narrita rubbed her hands on the sleeves of her jacket.

"Lead us home, Mister Cuddles," a mildly disappointed Edith commanded. The rabbit looked up, twitched his nose and darted off in the opposite direction that Edith had taken them.

"Uh-huh. What did I say?" Narrita said with snark.

Edith took off, closing the gap the rabbit made. Narrita trailed behind at a jogger's pace. "You two don't go too fast!" Narrita called out to the child in front of her. "I'm not much of a runner!" 

"What is it, Mister Cuddles?" The girl stopped her movement suddenly, giving Narrita enough time to catch up. The rabbit jumped into a tall patch of grass. Edith got on her knees and parted the blades of grass and stared at the ground. 

"Another distraction, huh? What is it this time?" Narrita said, making no effort to conceal her frustration. 

"Look!" Edith pointed at the ground. Narrita towered over her, bending forward to look at where she was pointing. Laying in the middle of the grass was a once-white rabbit, its fur dyed red with its own blood. Flies buzzed around the gaping wounds that riddle the side of its body. Its eyes were opened wide and the mouth agape, giving the impression that it was terrified in its final moments. 

Mister Cuddles nudged the fallen rabbit's head with his nose, sniffing at the same time. "Maybe I can make a new friend for Mister Cuddles!" A giddy Edith said. "I just need to wake it up!"

"Wait a second, kid," Narrita said as she placed a hand on the child's shoulder. "That might not be the best idea."

"Why not?"

"One, you already got a pet. Two, sometimes it's best to let animals... rest."

"But I don't want Mister Cuddles to be lonely anymore! All the other rabbits always run away from him. Now he can have someone to play with besides me!"

"Just trust me on this one. It's for the best. You never know if—" Narrita cut her sentence short when she saw the undead rabbit hop away into another patch of grass. Both her and Edith followed without a word. After parting the grass, both stared on at the ground in horror.

"In the name of the Great Deity..." Narrita muttered. "What happened here?"