YAY! Just finished writing chapter 7 and here it is! I really do hope that you like it, readers!

 

 

I've Been Reincarnated As A Bunny Girl?! (Chapter 7)

 

 

by

 

 

Elite Shade

 

 

Kiana and Geth stood on a hill overlooking the city of Shuta, the capital of Vundor, the neighboring country to Sesstaria's east. The gray stone walls loomed imposingly around the city, towering over the small outcropping of small tents and temporary structures that had recently been built just outside the city, amidst an ever-growing group of travelers. A massive iron gate, easily thirty feet in height, stood. Whereas it was normally open like the gaping maw of a gigantic beast, presently it was shut tight.

 

"Alright," Geth said while walking over to Bolt and reaching into the saddlebag. Out he produced a rolled and sealed scroll that he proudly showed to the bunny girl. "Now, we know for a fact that Melvin Nunarin is holed up within Shuta." Kiana nodded.

 

"Looks like he's trying to Shut-a out justice," she said, slipping on a pair of the darkened glass spectacles she had recently purchased upon finding them when the two had been in the Snowlight marketplace, stocking up on supplies. She had stopped at the stall of a halfling crafter and inventor that had created these dark glasses, made from enchanted obsidian, to help reduce the glare from bright sunlight and sudden flashes. Geth had not understood why Kiana had insisted on getting herself a pair, nor why she regularly put them on when saying puns in a faux serious manner. Presently, she was leaning up against a tree when she said it, taking no notice of her orc companion literally face-palming.

 

"Will you stop that and take this seriously!" Geth said, letting out an irritable snort. In the two weeks since he and Kiana had met and decided to form a party of two, they had both started to grow accustomed to each other's presence.

 

Kiana, while oftentimes reckless and prone to doing things that amused herself, had proven to be a loyal friend. This was especially true when there had been some initial backlash to Geth when he had removed his helmet within the adventurer's guild. Orcs were generally not welcome in most places, and it had seemed like that would also have been the case at the guild hall... until Kiana planted five different large and imposing fighters headfirst through the stone floor into the ground underneath all the way up to their hips. With Geth gently defusing the situation, he was grudgingly evaluated, registered, and issued a gold-ranked badge.

 

Kiana herself often found herself being lectured by Geth about responsibility and respecting local authority. She had called him a buzzkill and a wet blanket at times, and got annoyed whenever he brought up the fight with the banshee. She reluctantly admitted he was right on more than one occasion, and him being so knowledgeable about the world had come in handy more and more. What's more, despite all the verbal abuse hurled his way and the wary looks he would receive, the wandering paladin samurai, which Kiana quickly learned was called a Ventin, simply shrugged it off and treated everyone he met with respect and kindness. He even used his limited healing spells to help out people in the city who appeared injured.

 

"Sorry," Kiana said, removing her shades and putting them away in their maroon case.

 

"Anyway, the Nunarin family has a lot of money and political power here in Vundor," Geth moved on, motioning to the shut city gate, "hence why the city's in a temporary lockdown."

 

"Hoping to wait out the statute of limitations back over in Sesstaria, right?" Kiana asked.

 

"Correct," Geth said, smiling back at Kiana, "and thanks to some 'generous donations' from his family back in Snowlight, they've been able to have the length of time for his crime's statute of limitations shortened considerably. Essentially, we have a week left to get him back to Sesstarian territory so that he can be properly charged. Since he knowingly fled the country shortly afterwards he will be found guilty and be looking at an increased sentence." As a paladin, Geth had intimate knowledge about the legal system for several countries on the continent of Batallam.

 

"And I'd be willing to bet us just showing up and flashing our badges to the guards patrolling the gate or walls will not be enough to get them to open up, huh?"

 

"Also correct. According to one of my contacts, Duke Norman Nunarin, Melvin's uncle, has forbidden any outsiders to be allowed within the city. But I have a plan. See the people gathering around outside the city?" Geth asked as he pointed with his free hand to the miniature tent-town that was set up outside the gates, with another three colorful tents being hastily erected in the afternoon sunlight. Kiana nodded, looking on in curiosity.

 

"Well, numerous prominent merchants within the local chapter of the merchants' guild haven't been able to get any of their ordered shipments in or make any exports of their goods. I just so happen to have an acquaintance that is one of these merchants, and using this," Geth held up the scroll, "I've been communicating with her magically. She and other merchants like herself are going to start pressuring the Duke to allow his nephew to be arrested."

 

"And how long do you think that will take?" Kiana asked. Geth frowned and looked down at his scroll.

 

"With the Duke dragging his heels and council proceedings being as slow as they are, I would realistically say maybe four days. Once we have Melvin in our custody, if we only stop sparingly and for short rests, we can make it back to Sesstaria just before the seventh day is up. Then all we need is for a local guard or sheriff to charge him. It will be a bit tight, but with a little luck and a little lost sleep, we can do it!" Geth looked up from the scroll only to find that the bunny girl was no longer standing by the tree.

 

"Kiana?" he called out, looking around in confusion. Then, he stopped and looked towards Shuta. "Oh no." He saw Kiana jogging up to the wall to the left of the gate itself. Just as a couple guards were approaching her, she spun her tetsubo in her hand before swinging it and slamming it into the wall. There was a loud BOOM as she smashed open a gaping hole, revealing the city on the other side. Kiana walked inside, leaving Geth standing on the hill, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. He looked to Mirabelle, who was once again coiled up on Bolt's back. The blue snake thumped the end of her tail happily when Geth looked at her.

 

"Okay then, damage control it is," he said, unfurling the sealed parchment and chanting the magic words at the top.

 

Inside the city itself, there was a stillness in the air as people looked in the direction of the loud sound. There, standing in the rubble that had recently been a chunk of the wall stood a teenaged bunny girl, holding a tetsubo.

 

"Can someone point me in the direction of a Mr. Melvin Nunarin? I'm here to arrest him for embezzling a bunch of money from a charitable organization back over in Sesstaria!" Kiana called out, holding up her poorly-drawn wanted poster. It showed a stick figure with a curled mustache in red being punched in the face by a blue stick figure with bunny ears. A red speech bubble was above the red figure that read 'OUCHIE!!!'

 

"HALT!" a nearby guard shouted, overcoming his shock at what he had just witnessed. He was wearing the Shuta City guard uniform, which consisted of a red and black colored leather tunic, leather greaves and boots with brown trousers. His helmet was also simple leather. Pinned to the chest of his tunic, was a shiny silver badge, showing a snail with a key in its shell, the symbol for the city, marking him as the captain. He drew a short sword as other guards did the same with spears and a few with clubs. The sound of rushing footsteps could be heard, signaling the coming of reinforcements.

 

"Yeah, I'm looking for Melvin, so if you guys could direct me to him, that'd be great," Kiana said with a smirk, showing her picture around to the assembled guards.

 

"ARREST HER!!!" the captain called. Three of the club-wielding guards and one of the spear-carriers rushed towards the bunny girl. She smirked and casually tossed her tetsubo into the air, the guards stopped short, the closest to Kiana looking up at the spinning weapon. Kiana slammed her fist into his gut, both knocking the wind out of him and sending him flying backwards into a group of three guards, bowling them over. Kiana then jabbed the other two club-wielders and sent them sprawling before catching the thrusted spear in her hand, breaking it, and kicking the spearman, sending him towards another group of guards who just barely got out of the way. She deftly caught her tetsubo and gave it a spin before gripping it firmly by the handle with one hand.

 

"I know that you're all just doing your jobs, so I'm gunna go easy on you. But we can avoid all of this if you just tell me where I can find Melvin Nunarin. Any takers?" Just after Kiana asked this, another thirty guards appeared with more swords drawn, and others finished loading up crossbows.

 

"Kill her!" the captain called out. With a series of twangs, twenty crossbow bolts were flying towards her. Kiana saw that the guards who had fired were all quickly reloading their crossbows. She smiled and relaxedly dodged each crossbow bolt. To her, they were moving slowly through the air. She then calmly waited as the guards, not on crossbows, all charged at once. Being more careful than when she was fighting the bandits and the troll, Kiana was pulling punches and kicks as well as strikes with her tetsubo. That being said, she was still sending guads sailing through the air left and right. The airborne guards crashed into more guards, abandoned stalls, storefronts, onto roofs, just every which way. More guards were coming and Kiana rolled her eyes.

 

She leapt and kicked off a nearby building, running along the walls. Bells were ringing and guards were calling out commands, pointing out where she was going. All the while, Kiana was leaping from rooftop to rooftop, front flipping over roads to buildings across the street. It didn't take long before the guards lost sight of her. A nearby captain pulled off his helmet and wiped his brow.

 

"This is all the Duke's fault!" he roared.

 

"But, sir, the rabbit beasta was the one who kicked in the wall," said a young-sounding guard to his left. The older man grunted.

 

"She wouldn't be doing any of this if he hadn't started to protect that damnable nephew of his. He shoulda just let the first batch of adventurers in to cart the bastard off! Now the city's runnin' out of food, shops are closing up, and they're still waiting it all out!" the captain said, frustrated. Another seasoned guard nodded.

 

"Aye, sir," he said in a deep voice, "can't help but notice that the Duke and his family, his wanted nephew included, are still sittin' real pretty up in their manor over to the north. They probably aren't runnin' low on supplies."

 

"Is it the big one? With that large water fountain right behind the front gates?" the younger guard asked, the other two nodding. "I saw it yesterday, they had just painted it white."

 

Kiana's ears twitched as she overheard this from atop the shop she was crouched on. She smiled, and leapt over the edge. She landed in a crouch on the paved street below, cracking it a bit. The guards spotted her, freezing in shock, and immediately started to draw their swords, with the captain pulling out a brass tube. He pointed it up to the sky and pressed a button. Out shot a red ball of flame that rose high into the air and burst into a shower of gold sparks. When he looked back to his two men, he saw them looking bewildered and the rabbit long gone.

 

Over in the wealthy section of the city, an area that itself was walled off within the walls of Shuta, there were a number of sprawling manors and mansions. If one looked close enough at the city walls, one could see where they had been broken and replaced, allowing for more room for all the displays of wealth from the different families present. It was in one such manor, the largest of them all, within the tallest tower, that Lord Archibald Nunarin stood, frowning. The young human man with his shoulder-length chestnut brown hair, fair complexion, and the toned muscles beneath his silk red shirt and black trousers was the wealthy elite's most eligible bachelor, much to his chagrin. Even though he was missing his right arm, with an elven prosthetic replacement made from mithril, that did little to turn back any of the high society ladies his father was constantly forcing upon him. The cutlass at his side might give some pause, though. Turning to look with his piercing orange eyes upon his scoundrel of a cousin, the now infamous Melvin, Archibald frowned.

 

"You've certainly done it this time," Archibald said in an annoyed voice as he addressed his layabout cousin. The dark-haired and pale young man met Archibald's orange eyes with his own listless gray ones.

 

"This whole ordeal has been blown completely out of proportion!" Melvin said, rubbing some wax into his handlebar mustache. He was quite pale, and very slight, no doubt the mustache was to distract from his unremarkable appearance. "I had every intention of paying the money back! I just hadn't counted on losing it all in one bet."

 

Archibald clenched his fists, his right one making a mechanical whirring sound from within the polished metallic exterior, a faint green light beginning to glow from the palm. He walked over to his cousin and took a seat on a nearby duvet across from him. They were currently in one of the manor's many studies, this one made of dark oak and the walls lined with the heads of various animals the Duke himself, Archibald's father, had hunted. "Why would you think stealing from Snowlight's displaced citizens' fund to gamble with would have ever been a good idea?" he asked, anger flashing within him.

 

A good friend of his over in Snowlight had been the one to start the fund and had raised a very impressive sum in such a short amount of time, with plans to use it to build new homes for people who had lost theirs. After learning about what his cousin had done, Archibald had quickly paid back double what had been stolen. He had been furious upon learning that Melvin had gotten access to the funds by swiping one of the two keys to access the safety deposit box in the bank, the one Archibald's friend had entrusted to him.

 

"Well, it was a better idea than wasting it on people that refuse to lift themselves from their current station in life," Melvin said defensively. Thanks to Archibald replacing the money, something that had ruffled Melvin's uncle's feathers, the family attorney was able to file to have the statute of limitations further limited, as no long-lasting harm had been done. Granted, until it ran out, he could still be arrested and charged for theft, impersonation in a federal building, fleeing arrest, and defrauding a charitable organization. "Besides, in another week this will all blow over and things can get back to normal."

 

"No, Melvin, no it won't," Archibald said, agitatedly pointing his mechanical arm towards the open window, where ringing bells could be heard, loudly chiming all across the city. "An emergency broadcast has already been sent out across the crystalarium network, informing everyone that an adventurer has breached the city walls and is seeking to drag you back to Sesstaria."

 

"Pfft," Melvin waved a flippant hand, several gold and ruby rings on his fingers glinting in the light, "between the city guards, the mercenaries dear Uncle Norman hired, and you, dear cousin, I doubt that I shall be going anywhere until after the week is up!"

 

"I am sorely tempted to let them take you," Archibald said, crossing his arms. His father had been furious with him for not only paying back the money Melvin stole, but paying back double. In addition to viewing it as a waste of money, the Duke also viewed it as an admission of guilt from the family. The only thing more humiliating to him would be to have Melvin actually be arrested and having to go to court over it. Doing so would make the entire embarrassing situation that much more of a spectacle. That was the only reason why he was protecting Melvin, and why he had specifically ordered his son to act as his bodyguard.

 

"But we both know that you won't," Melvin said with a sly grin. He stood up and went to a nearby liquor cabinet, grabbing a glass of halfling brandy and a single glass. He swirled the emerald-colored liquid before taking a sip. In the process of doing so, the entire drink, including the rest in the crystal decanter, began to glow. The light faded after a moment, and Melvin walked back over to his seat, still carrying the glass and the decanter, his breath smelling like peppermint. "Besides, Archie, it's a moot point. They would have to fight their way through the city guards, and those aforementioned mercenaries."

 

Archibald frowned and turned away from his cousin. It was then he paused, having seen something flit by outside. Getting up and striding back towards the window, he saw a curious sight. The mercenaries, a group named the Ravenous Reavers, known across the land for wearing dark leather with a yellow open fanged maw blazoned on their uniforms, were running into formations. Archibald could faintly hear them yelling. Furrowing his brow, he soon saw why. The twenty foot tall steel gates in the front yard were blasted forward, crumpling near the bottom center, and smashing into the marble fountain with a thunderous crash. Where they stood was a gray-furred rabbit beasta, a girl no less, standing there with her fist out.

 

"Wh-what was that?!" Melvin asked in a panic. Archibald watched, fascinated, as this girl who was dwarfed by the many male mercenaries rushing towards her smirked and pulled out a weapon that Archibald immediately recognized as a tetsubo.

 

"I believe that the matter we were discussing is now no longer a moot point," Archibald said as he watched, transfixed, as this girl began swatting trained and experienced mercenaries left and right, some flipping up into the air to come crashing back down into some bushes or a topiary. When she wasn't swinging her tetsubo, she was also throwing punches and kicks. Every sword strike, arrow, dart, crossbow bolt, and fireball hurled her way, she dodged and skipped aside. "She is... magnificent," he said in wonder.

 

"Magnificent?!" Melvin cried. He finished off his first glass of brandy and poured himself another one, which he quickly gulped down, making all the liquid shine bright green again. "You're supposed to be protecting me! Go down there and assist in killing whoever dared come here!" Archibald opened his mouth to speak, but with wide eyes, he lunged out of the way of the window. Three stories up, and one of the larger mercenaries smashed right through, slamming into a coffee table, reducing it to splinters, and lay there groaning. Archibald quickly got to his feet, drawing his cutlass, and saw the girl from below lightly jump up into the smashed-in window and frame, tetsubo in one hand, and a crudely drawn picture of her punching his cousin Melvin in the other.

 

"Well, hi there, Melvin!" Kiana said in delight, dropping her paper as she stepped into the room, seeing the terror in Melvin's eyes as he stumbled over a red leather duvet and backed up against a wall. "My name's Kiana, and I'm here to pick you up for your trip back to Sesstaria!"

 

"I-I'm going no such place with the likes of you!" he said, the nineteen year-old's voice cracking in panic.

 

"We'll see about that," she said, stepping forward. It was then that Archibald leapt in front of her, brandishing his sword.

 

"Miss Kiana, stop," he said, taking a fighting stance, "I am very sorry about this, but if you wish to take my cousin anywhere, reprobate that he is, you shall have to first defeat me, Archibald Nunarin."

 

Kiana looked him over and rolled her eyes. "Look, Archie," Kiana said, putting a fist on her hip, "you can try to stop me from taking Jughead over there back to face his crimes, but it's gunna happen. So how's about you stand down and walk away. The result will be the same, but you would be sporting a lot fewer bruises."

 

Archibald smiled at that. This young lady who spoke and acted so brashly had him quite intrigued. Seeing her figure standing there in a very short tank top and shorts and boots, something that most of the ladies he was constantly introduced to would find ghastly, held his attention. He slowly shook his head and spun his sword in his hand.

 

"I'm afraid that I cannot, miss," he said regretfully. "I have my orders."

 

"Pfft! Orders, schmorders," Kiana said, shaking her head. "Your cousin is a scumbag; if someone's ordered you to protect him, then they're not someone worth taking orders from."

 

"That's a rather simplistic view," Archibald countered, smirking.

 

"What can I say? I'm a simple gal with simple tastes," she said, taking a fighting stance, "now please get out of my way before I move you out of the way."

 

"Again, I'm sorry, but no, miss," Archibald said. Kiana smiled.

 

"Alright then," she said. A group of mercenaries were right outside the door to the study, preparing to rush inside, when Archibald smashed through the door and into them, knocking the group of them down. A dazed Archibald rose back to his feet, still clutching his cutlass, shaking his head. He looked up to see his cousin on his knees, clearly begging the frowning bunny standing before him.

 

"P-please! Whatever my bounty is, I'll pay double, no! Triple!" Melvin said, before letting out a cry as Kiana pulled out a rope. In a matter of seconds, despite his squirming and wriggling, Melvin was hogtied, with his hands and feet behind his back. Kiana stood back up and admired her handiwork, satisfied. Just as she was about to bend down and pick her new package up, she noticed a green dot on her chest. It reminded her of a laser pointer from her old world. Turning, she saw where it was originating from. Archibald stood in the broken doorway, his mechanical arm pointing at Kiana, a steady whirring sound building up as the palm started to shine with a bright green light.

 

"I'm afraid I'm not out of the fight just yet, miss," Archibald said, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He could feel the power building, and found himself genuinely hoping that it wouldn't be enough to cause the seemingly unstoppable bunny girl any real damage. There were a series of clicks and additional whirs as the components making up the metallic arm began separating and rearranging. A hole opened up in his palm, a metallic tube extending a few inches out, while the fingers on the hand moved and arranged themselves around the end of the small pipe, a green electricity dancing between them. Archibald then began to panic while the bunny girl looked on, an amused expression on her face. The power he was feeling flowing was just increasing. He tried to will it to stop, but he then recalled from the instructions that this might happen the first few times using the cannon function, the device needing to calibrate itself properly.

 

"Oh no, that's too much, RUN!" he called out. But it was too late. He was forced to squeeze his eyes shut from the glare of the harsh green light, his arm cannon kicking upwards. It was when it was over that he managed to open his eyes, fearing the worst. He was shocked, and delighted, to see Kiana standing there, holding his arm cannon, pointing it straight up, revealing a massive hole in the ceiling, allowing the cloudless blue sky to be seen as a few chunks of wood and red shingles tumbled into the room.

 

"Wow, and people call me reckless," Kiana said with a laugh. It then clicked for Archibald. The feeling of the canon kicking was her grabbing his arm and pointing it upwards. She had somehow managed to cross the room in less than two seconds in order to do it.

 

"You ran over to grab an energy cannon before it fired, I can certainly see why," Archibald said, looking at the bunny before her in wonder.

 

"Truly, you are magnificent."

 

Kiana looked away, feeling flustered, and Archibald smiled wider, seeing some red beneath the fur on her cheekbones. She was tough and brave, and in that moment, adorable in his eyes.

 

"Uh... th-thanks," Kiana mumbled. She let go of the arm canon and looked at Archibald. "So are you gunna try and stop me from hauling your no-good cousin back to Sesstaria again, or have you seen enough."

 

Archibald looked down at the unconscious mercenaries strewn about the hallway, to the destroyed study and the hogtied Melvin looking at him with pleading eyes. Archibald smiled and shook his head. "I am positive that there is nothing within my power that could possibly compel you to stop. Do with Melvin as you wish."

 

"I will tell uncle about this!" Melvin called out, only to be silenced by a look from Kiana, who then turned back to Archibald, smiling back.

 

"Alright then. I'll see you around, Archie," she said, walking over and picking a gibbering Melvin up by his tied arms and legs and then her tetsubo, before quickly leaping out of the hole where the window had once been. This ilicited a frightened yelp from Melvin.

 

"I look forward to it, Miss Kiana," Archibald said quietly as he watched her jog away, seeing her ears twitch, but missing the deepening blush on her face. Her jog back through the streets of Shuta was largely uneventful. The regrouping guards and other reinforcements attempted to stop her, but Kiana simply barrelled right on through. From there, she ran in a full-on sprint back to where Geth awaited on top of the hill. The samurai paladin stood there, next to Bolt and a relaxing Mirabelle, with his helmet off. He didn't look up as he stood there, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, letting out a deep sigh. He looked up and held up a proper wanted poster with a trapped image of Melvin's face to confirm she had gotten the right person.

 

"Well, we've gotten him at least," Geth said, ignoring Melvin's indignant shouts and whimpers as he reached down and picked up his helmet, sliding it back over his head.

 

"Yup! It was super easy!" Kiana said as the bells of alarm continued to ring out from the city behind her. It was at that moment that another large section of the wall she had smashed open collapsed.

 

"On the one hand," Geth said as he assisted in lashing their prisoner to the back of Bolt, "it won't nearly be as close of a call. On the other, however, now we're going to have to deal with the fallout from you breaking down Shuta's city wall and causing who knows how much damage inside."

 

"True, but hey, this guy," she pointed to the now groaning Melvin, "is actually going to be going to trial, which is a lot better than just risking letting him get off scott free."

 

Geth climbed into his saddle while Kiana grabbed her travel pack and gently wrapped the ever growing Mirabelle around her neck. "Agreed... and I managed to contact my friend within the Merchants' Guild. Despite the damage done to the walls, she's very pleased that the Duke now has no reason to keep the city on lockdown, especially now that they have a hole needing patching up to keep them busy."

 

"So," Kiana spoke while slipping on her sunglasses, "wall's well that ends well."

 

Geth and Melvin both groaned at that. Saying nothing, the party of two and their prisoner began their journey back to Sesstaria. As they were making a much more leisurely way back to the west, over to the south in Starlight Rose, a certain wolf wizard was rummaging through an old trunk.

 

"I can't believe some of the things people just sell off at yard sales!" Felixin said, his tail thumping happily on the hardwood floor of his office. He was pulling out scrolls and tomes, most relating to magical theory and the sciences, and a few cookbooks that he was also excited for.

 

"Hmm, what's this?" he asked no one as he pulled out a worn red-leather book. Written on the cover was the title 'History of the Outworlders'. Felixin read this aloud and cracked it open, starting at the first page.

 

"This book is written to compile the largely anecdotal stories and accounts of Outworlders. Outworlders are people born into any of the intelligent races, with claims to memories and knowledge of a past life in another world. Often, these worlds lack magic and the diversity in intelligent species, and the individuals in question are frequently born with immense magical power or have intimate knowledge of technology or sciences that, applied to our world, bring advances that benefit all. The great caveat of these wonderful peoples is that they tend to end up being targeted by those in positions of powers, including some noted deities, who become threatened by their very existence."

 

Felixin stood there in stunned silence, before he fell over laughing. "Oh my goodness! The silly concepts some people come up with!" He offhandedly tossed the book down next to the trunk and composed himself. "Well, as amusing as that was, let's see if that one Mer-people book of history and lore I'm missing is in here."

 

 

Sigh, oh Felixin... you silly wolf papa. Well, I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter! Please consider leaving a comment or review! And have a great day!