Sightless Dreaming

By Shahrezad1

Summary: Bunnymund spends most of the year gardening and taking care of the "egg plant" fields. But when the buds start dying, it's time to turn to an expert. Even if said expert is a mortal human. BunnymundXOC

Disclaimer: To assume that I own any of these characters is also to assume that I actually know what I'm doing with them. –laughs weakly- Right. Wish me luck.

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Chapter 1: Sunlight Calls

"Sandman sends children dreams that help their wishes come true, for a wish always begins with a dream." –ROTG Wiki: Sandman

E. Aster Bunnymund smiled in his sleep as golden radiance tickled his eyelids, long ears twitching in a mix of released dreams and hopeful visions. One foot twitched, then two, as the Guardian of Hope imagined arms wrapped around him, his mother's loving presence reanimated only in slumber. Sandy brought only the most pleasant dreams to the Guardians, heartening his fellow spirits against the onslaught of nightmares, and so it was that within those hours he let his defenses fall. Allowing himself to remember what it had been like before…

Before the massacre, before he abruptly became the last of his kind. His warren was dotted with Pooka of every shape and size within his mind's eye, although having no identifiable faces, only relationship connections from kin to kin. He knew that somewhere out there the rest of his family was waiting for him, however, Aster couldn't seem to stir from the grass and the welcome rest she offered.

But the soft nose rubbing tenderly against the markings on his forehead shifted somewhere, turning from damp and triangular, a rabbit's nose, to something smoother within his imaginings. And the comforting hold was not quite a motherly embrace anymore (he couldn't quite put his finger on the difference, but it had definitely changed), moving from brushing the fur on his shoulder back and forth to carefully tracing his face, as though memorizing features.

Aster responded instinctively, never thinking to ponder the change, only burrowing his head deeper into the refuge their shoulder proffered. And when the sun began tugging on him more insistently he let the vision dissolve into a feeling of blinking, stretching contentment.

It took him a while to get to that point, despite having always risen with the sun. The bunny supposed that it was a holdover from his time as a mortal being, that innate sense of daylight coming on. Its golden glow inched across the floor on tiptoe now, silent and welcoming, and much like hope itself it warmed first his burrow, the dry reeds and woven blankets which made up his nest illuminated as though on fire, before centering on him. His lungs filled with air, as though life itself was breathing into him, welcoming the 6'1" rabbit into a bright new day.

They'd all been called to their position by the Man in the Moon, an unvarying relationship, but it seemed sometimes as though Aster's true tie was to the sun, a motherly presence of joy and affection. North, Toothiana, and Sandy all worked the night shift (it was always nighttime somewhere, he rationalized), so he guessed that their increased affinity related to that, but he was summoned to his vocation in the early hours.

Those silent minutes after wakefulness when nothing could distract or disarm and there was only…peace. Serenity. Careful reflection. When the world spoke and you couldn't help but listen to its gentle whisperings.

It would be a good day, he decided with slow-waking optimism. Nothing could harm or change that.

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The earth never judged, its loamy scent rising up and filling her lungs. The wet soil crumbled between bare hands, finding a home between creases and shorn fingernails, while her knees were quickly becoming damp with the slight morning chill.

Even the prickling of her skin in reaction to the cold was a welcome distraction, familiar scents and textures to balance out the remnants of her dream. A golden silhouette in the place of her usual nighttime darkness. Softness and heat had soaked into her skin as the brushed fingertips over what seemed like a fur coat, a face breathed heavily into the crook of her shoulder, heavy with import and fitting her like a puzzle piece.

She'd had enough control over the dream to move her hands to a face, to try and memorize it. But in waking she couldn't retain her read, only remembering something about thick eyebrows and feathery chops.

The dream had been bittersweet, ending eventually, and in waking the aching loneliness she'd felt was held in contrast to the hope elicited. A false kind of hope, really, as she was sure that that kind of adoration wasn't in her future.

No, it had just been a subconscious wish, manifested in her dreams in an attempt to fill an emotional void of need. To torture her during her daylight hours and leave her hollowly bereft.

She hardly noted the drops of water as they fell, glittering, to moisten the plant she held in her hands. Never mind the fact that there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and her greenhouse didn't have a skylight.

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Sanderson Mansnoozie blinked as he watched the Dream take form on its own, then split in two before he could get a good look at it. The first landed almost immediately within the land below him. The second half, however, took some hours before reaching its second destination, being on the opposite side of the globe.

By the time it was done and he'd received information regarding to whom and where it had went, he'd forgotten what had made him curious in the first place. Instead taking a well-deserved nap.

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AN: Um, well, I can honestly say that I feel like I'm a little rusty. It's been a little while since I've worked on anything large-scale, due to life issues, so I guess you could say that this is going to be a bit of an experiment.

The incentive for writing, interestingly enough, is actually driven by an observation. I noted that while there are quite a few lovely BunnymundXOC stories out there, most of them involve a somewhat young OC love interest. (Which is okay. –shrugs and smiles- I enjoyed reading them and they provided lots of fun inspiration.)

Being 26 myself, however, I thought that I might try something a little more…age-appropriate, I guess? I'm estimating Aster to be physically in his 30's, so played with the idea of matching him up with someone his "own" age. Someone who could be a friend, first and foremost, and maybe something more later on down the line (eventually). Also, I imagined that it might be fun to break from the plot tradition of a Spirit/Guardian/Pooka OC insertion.

Short summary: I just want to try something different. :) We'll see where it takes me.

Let me know if I make any mistakes. At this point I only know as much about Bunnymund's past as I've found online, but I will be receiving a few of the books in the mail sooner rather than later. Still, throw me a line if I'm doing something wrong. –smiles-

*To TheManyVoices: Speaking of me making mistakes (-laughs cheerily-) thank you for pointing out the edit! :D I really appreciate it and fixed the problem as soon as I could. ^^