A diamond might be rare, but you're my first and last Sapphire.
A funnybunny fic!!! Again!
No warnings as always juts cute funbun having cute moments! Their adventure is kinda Minecraft if you squint but its because I couldn't take the idea out my head hehe
ALSO! I might write a full one for Abstragedy with the school adventure!
Life is a meadow, and not in the sense of the sweet image that everyone holds stereotypically of the landscape, much like its neighboring forests, there, it can rain, snow, have flowers lose their petals to grow new ones with every seasonal change that temporarily alters it, and despite it all, people still assume a meadow is the epitome of spring, they refuse to acknowledge what they see as flaws to other fields of nature, it can be blind love mirrored as assuming the best of the one thing you love, and in both cases, the flowers will still grow with the rain that will never stop, it would wear the various white snowflakes that dare everyone to read, to see the small details and love it as much as they love the big picture.
And big pictures are all that is there to live along with in the circus, Caine loves to add details that don't take long to be noticed, practically yelling their existence to the world, the ai ringmaster have not mastered the human art of lying, because that's the core of Easter eggs, to give something to the eye that does not match what the ear would hear of truth later on, he still likes to please all the senses at the same time in a way that doesn't leave anything to their imagination.
Caine sometimes even lies about not stealing from Gangle's art ideas, and even when the ribbon lady tried to defened herself, he throws in another adventure that blends the fight away, or atleast postponed it for another time when he yet again, takes her sketches and makes a new npc with it, over and over again..
"It's getting ridiculous, Caine!" Zooble shouted, their eyes narrowed at the ringmaster who was floating up in the pink sky over their heads.
"What is!" Caine gasped back, arms comically held up in the air, his jaws held open as a way of his eyes widening, the set of teeth playing the role of the eyebrows, but the cartoonish act didn't fish a single smile from none of his 'superstars', who he had dressed in school uniforms, "But i worked so hard on perfecting it! I even have accurate teachers and subjects!" He cried out dramatically.
"You didnt do s%^t, Caine" Zooble folded their arms over their chest, "this is all Gangle's idea, and she didn't even put it in the suggestion box"
Gangle was next to Zooble, her happy mask broke the second they got here and she saw the same school she had drawn in her sketches come to life, well, artifical life, and contrary to what she thought she would feel when she would have it, Gangel was not ready or happy, her mask broke to give the others the idea of how she was feeling, aside from Zooble who guessed it on spot.
"Unless you read her mind-"
"WOAHAOWHAA WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT READING MINDS!?" Caine laughed loudly, cutting off Ragatha's attempt at a hearty joke, it never worked, the way he always flipped like a switch at the subject, "i just happened to think and think haaard and it happened to be the best of COINCIDENCES that me and Gangle share the same AMAZING THOUGHTS!" Caine's praise fell on deaf ears and unavailable hearts, because there was no way Gangle would believe that, especially when the place had the pink leafs of te Sakura trees shaped like the hearts she doodled.
"You have to stop doing that, Caine, its getting old" Zooble seemed to be the one holding this one sided argument, and Caine was not enjoying the fact they haven't even started their adventure.
"Yeah, I mean if you do want to steal ideas, just take ones that are actually fun" Jax piped in, his comment, though aimed at teasing Gangle, still ruffled Caine's feathers and messed with him even more, "who wants to be back in school anyway" he grumbled to himself, opening one of the lockers, and being met with countless probably useless unsent letters and pens, falling at his feet, he blinked and kicked them away, turning to the group again and trying not to pay too much attention to the fact that the sender is him, he averted his gaze to Gangle who seemed to forget that she was fighting for the rights of her ideas and was more interested in watching Jax watching the letters.
And now he was watching her watching him, they locked their eyes for a second until Pomni snapped then both out of that weird trance.
"Just..try another idea, one that's more- eh..not as sweet" Pomni tried to search for a word that doesn't align with Gangle's style of artistic universes, "maybe something more- adventurous! Or eh..has weird things, and creatures and monsters and-"
Caine snapped his fingers and a drawer appeared floating next to him in thin air, "i have always known that pomni is the SMARTEST among you!" He said excitedly, opening drawer after another and running his fingers through files inside until he pulled out a green one, with pixelated flowers and stars, "i got the PERFECT match for that description!" He announced, running through the file too fast to be reading it, he threw it over his shoulder back into the drawer, snapping his fingers twice, one to make it vanish, and the second to open another portal.
"Try this ONE THEN!" he exclaimed, and had the swirling pink and blue portal swoop them in.
The immediate change from pink skies and faint music that played from basically nowhere and everywhere all at once to the wind that deafened their own thoughts, locking them in a state of bliss that would only come from the mere existing in nature, and considering the fact that the greenery they have outside the tent back in the circus can only be described as a poor attempt at drawing grass from memory, what Caine so generously gave them right now had them questioning if they were all dead and in heaven now.
"That's empty as hell" Jax huffed.
Well, it was too early for them to go to heaven anyway.
Pomni looked over at Gangle, "is this yours too?" She asked cautiously, watching her friend shake her head, resisting the urge to keep some of those ideas to use them for herself maybe, "no..I've never..that's new for Caine" Gangle mumbled, her shoulders sagging in relaxation.
"This is nice.." Ragatha hummed, the wind running through her red curls, it was almost too peaceful to be true, she met the gazes of everyone who had the same thought of closing their eyes, but interrupted by the nagging fear that Caine was counting their blinks.
"Too nice.." Jax whispered.
"Dont jinx it" Pomni locked eyes with him, and watched him fall uncharacteristically silent.
"What do we do now?" Zooble asked, they all seemed to opt for quiet speech, which made the comforting atmosphere creepier than it should.
"It's an open world adventure.." Jax hummed, looking around, the trees, the endless fields that seemed to stretch forever, and nearly empty of any anim-
"HORSES!" Ragatha gasped, pointing a hand out in a direction their gazes haven't sweeped over yet, bringing their attention to where she began to run towards the brown horse.
"Is that the most exciting thing he thought of?" Jax sighed, folding his arms, one foot tapping on the grass, and after the third time, Pomni suspected he did it for the softness of the green grass, but didn't comment on it to see if he would keep going.
"We didn't see everything yet" Gangle commented, taking a few steps towards where Ragatha was feeding the horse hay she found under a tree, followed by Zooble, whose arm was stretched for the long grass.
"What's there to see, it seems hopeless" Jax replied, not moving an inch except up and down with his foot.
"Won't you give it a try?" Pomni asked, and that was when his neck moving to the side was added to his countable body movements.
"Nah" he shrugged, dropping down on the grass on his back, arms folded under his head, under other circumstances, Pomni would've found the sight endearing, the purple rabbit enveloped by grass and wildflowers under the artifical sun that seemed too real with the warmth it left on the jester's cheeks, but he was also getting on her nerves.
But not on the last one.
"Could be interesting, though" she suggested, shifting her feet on the floor, one hand reaching for the long grass and tracing it, missing the way Jax's pupils were fixed on her reverent ministrations, even if it started as intentional, it turned into something hypnotizing.
"What's interesting about something you dont know what even has of danger" Jax said.
"You never know until you look for it" pomni answered, her words almost whispered, his voice waved with the wind, he looked up to meet her eyes and her own understood the trace of meeting each other's gazes, "it was your idea to have monsters and crazy stuff" he pointed out.
"And I thought you liked fun and dangerous stuff" Pomni smiled.
"Fun and dangerous when I know what it is" he argued back, standing up on his feet and walking over to her.
"That takes out the fun part then" pomni smiled, turning into a huffed Chuckle when Jax nudged her shoulder playfully, pushing his hands into his pockets with a breathless, nearly laughed scoff, and walking away before she could see how his grin softened into something he wouldn't want to name the reason of yet.
"WHO THE F&%K SAID THERE WOULD BE ZOMBIES!?"
"STOP RUNNING GET SOMEWHERE HIGH!"
"DOES IT F$?%&!K LOOK LIKE THERE'S A PLACE TO CLIMB!?"
"JUST GIVE ME YOUR HAND!"
in a blink, Jax grabbed onto Pomni's stretched hand from the small space she had climbed into and lifted himself up, jumping in and falling down onto the stone next to her, his breaths a ragged uneven panting style, bunny ears pinned back to his skull, and the hints of coal that latched onto his purple fur could be both from the cave and the leather he was wearing that dyed on him.
But it all was thrown over his back, where Pomni's hand was resting, her words a distant ringing in his ears as he tried to get back to earth slowly, his pupils turning to dark scribbles.
"Jax.." the whisper was still too far to reach him, even the shake to his shoulder had him reeling.
"JAX!" a slap landed to his shoulder and snapped him out of the static that his mind was locked inside, he turned on his back and let out an exhaled, shaky sigh, "had to do that?" He panted, eyes lidded as he looked up at the jester.
"You weren't answering!" Pomni argued back, her breathing had no reason to be uneven, but there she was trying to regulate it, "youre not hurt, are you?" She asked, she'd already checked his back for bruises or hits, and now to his chest, there won't be any way to tell if he is hurt unless he could feel something aching under the leather.
"Hm?" He hummed again, Pomni narrowed her eyes but not in anger anymore, as her hand patted over his chest, eyes focused on his face, waiting for a wince or his features to shift into something pained, but when she was touching all the way to the tips of his gloved fingers and got no reaction, she was able to let out that breath that has been stuck in her throat since she beat him up to the hiding place in the cave.
"You're fine, just..a little shaken" she comforted, her hand leaving the top of his.
"Shaken does not explain how-" he scoffed, his hand flying up to swat hers unintentionally, she missed the way his eyes widened for a split second at the action, because he sat up quickly, back to the stone, and by the itchy material of it and the smell, he could tell it was even more coal.
" why didn't- why is us huh?? Could've been Zooble or Kinger who were down here but noooo, one has more important stuff like decorating the stupid house and the other followed BEES all around and had to be dragged back inside, could've been Ragatha but she's busy with her pretty ponies-"
"JAX" Pomni threw a pebble at his forehead to shut him up, "no one told you to tag along with me you know!?" She shouted back, eyes narrowed.
"A-As if i had better things to do or anything" he huffed, rolling his eyes, fixing his gaze on a random edge in the cave.
"Then stop whining about it, you can go back to the house whenever you want" she stood up, held her bow and arrow, leaning over the edge to aim down at the patrolling zombie that was waiting for them to fall back down, letting go of the arrow and hitting it right in the neck, a proud smirk playing on her lips despite her anger.
"Youre coming?" She looked over her shoulder, and if se had known just how she looked at the moment, she would have followed herself to the end of the world.
The cave seemed to be a never ending maze, they learned early that they should keep a track, torches didn't work beause they kept going in circles, so they opted for white chalk they grabbed along from the floor, drawing a line, they attached it to a long stick and it was Jax's job to make sure it was always touching the floor, but much like anything that falls in his hands, it broke after the sudden zombie chase, the chalk turning to dust and the stick in halves.
"We already have more than we came here for" pomni pointed out, rummaging through the bag she held, it was filled to the brim with coal and iron, but the weight seemed to rival a feather, it was nice to see that on rare occasions, Caine can have understanding additions to his adventures.
"Not enough diamonds though" jax went through his own bag, it glittered in blues and whites, clinking like glass and water running, he almost wanted to sit down and trace them with his fingers, but there was too many to choose from, and he didn't want to find time for something as naive as..eyeing jewelry? What was he a medieval princess? He scoffed at the mere thought, tightening the rope of his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.
"More diamonds?" Pomni blinked at him, genuinely surprised, "we have a bag full of them, Jax" she said sternly, slinging her own bag with the confidence that only comes with knowing that it wont hurt her in any way possible.
"Not enough" jax mumbled, scanning the extra entries where they could search for more, swinging his pickaxe side to side in thought.
"Are you planning on building a palace of diamonds or something?" She smiled, raising an eyebrow.
"Shut up" he narrowed his eyes with the mumble, swallowing thickly and bringing his gaze back to the first narrow entry it landed on, "just this one, this will be the last, okay?" His sentence, if read , would sound like an order, but the way he said it sounded completely different, and lucky for Pomni, she had ears, and the rabbit himself giving her that look and those words.
"Just one" she agreed, nodding and ushering him to walk, "but you lead the way" she smiled, having him go inside first, Jax smirked and looked over his shoulder as he walked, holding the torch in one hand to light the way, "didn't take you for the submissive type, Poms"
"No, just in case something shows up" she corrected, shutting him off with a stuttered, unintelligible huff of words, "and I'd kill it of course"
"With an arrow to it's neck?"
"Oh you just-" he yelped, missing a step and falling face down onto the stone, not his first time tasting the cave, and it never turned any better after the one that started the chain of kisses with the stone.
"Jax!" Pomni grabbed the back of his leather cloak to stop him from falling, but landed on top of him in her failed saving attempt, feeling his groan into her own ribs as she rolled off his back and onto her knees on the stone, Jax pulling himself up to uselessly dust his clothes.
"Should've went back to the stupid house-"
"Jax"
"Wha- I didnt say- what?" He stuttered, blinking rapidly, turning his eyes back to Pomni, just to fall silent all over again.
The cave was dark for the most of their mining trip, the only light for their way was from their torches, and it soon felt like an annoying bright light rather than something that's keeping them safe and their road lit, and the change from that to the soft lavender light that was now shining on Pomni's pale face was a pleasent and surprising change, or atleast those are the only two words that Jax would describe them in right now, maybe later, he would find more to act like he didn't know of.
"Where are we.." he whispered, shifting his eyes, unwillingly, to scan the area, the circular shape of the cave was suiting for the opening on the top, where a waterfall was as clean as it can get, dripping down in a hypnotic cycle, most likely had come from the surface and all the way down here, to form a lake, bioluminescent with a variety of blues and reds, bathing the cave in a purple light that danced on the walls all the way to Pomni's face where it had Jax stilling, not knowing the next move to whatever song he didn't know that could be played.
"It's beautiful.." Pomni whispered, walking around.
"Yeah..very beautiful" Jax breathed, his eyes following her.
"Why would be buried all the way down here?" Jax asked, walking to the edge of the lake and forcing himself to look up, seeing the stars through the opening where the water was falling from, they've been in the cave for hours.
"Wouldn't have seen it if you didn't fight that Zombie by the way" Pomni said playfully, walking the edges of the lake and smiling over her shoulder to the rabbit, who, for once, had all the words stuck in his throat.
"Your point?" He teased, smiling, tilting his head to the side and following her slow footsteps, not beside her, but a few steps between them.
"Hm" she shrugged, smiling, "whatever way you understood it in" she chuckled.
It could've been her own echo, but what she heard was fainter than her laugh, hidden in a way that it wished it could be a mirror of her own, so to respect its privacy, she didnt turn around.
Pomni's eyes latched on something blue shining through the walls, she stopped to turn her tracks to the side, her eyebrows rising, "jax! There's more diamonds!" She called for him, swinging her bag to find her pickaxe, before she paused her rummaging and turned at the lack of footsteps.
"Come on..you take them" she offered, smiling, standing back up and taking a step to the side.
Jax's eyes went from the diamonds to Pomni, to her bag, the peeking iron of the pickaxe, to the barely there lump of purple that was turned wiggly to make his reflection on the pickaxe.
He turned his chin up and huffed, "we already have enough" was the only sentence he said, before continuing to walk, slowly, to make it seem as gentle as her offer.
And at the sound of her footsteps, falling in track with his own, his shoulders loosened from the tension they were holding for those few seconds.
"Do you still think it was useless?" She whispered.
"H-hm?"
She smiled, making sure the side of her lips that turned up was the one he couldn't see, "to discover new things, to see if it's good" she explained, and the longer the silence stretched on, the more she thought he wasn't thinking at all, but judging by the unfocused way his eyes were on, she learned that it was his way in keeping his thoughts to himself until he could find his answer, or atleast the one he wanted the other to hear.
"Was it worth it for you?" He countered back, eyeing her bandaged arm.
"Yeah.." she nodded, subconsciously touching where his eyes landed for a split second, she still felt the claws of the wolf on her arm, her heart probably didn't heal from the jumpscare, even after Zooble tamed it and gave it a name, even after Pomni saw how sweet it was, her heart might take a while but- "it'll heal..scars always do, but thats not the point"
"No thats exactly the point, Pom"
She blinked at his words.
"Same thing with your adventure, and ideas and stuff" he waved his free hand.
"What's stuff?" She hummed.
"You know, stuff- the..the things you always are so positive about for no reason, and say that it could turn out well in the end" he turned his head to look at her, "you could end up hurt." He whispered, seeing her mouth open, he spoke again, "and not in a way where it could heal with time"
Pomni hummed, her hand still resting over the bandages, tips of her fingers sensing the material, the pain had turned into numbness now, she could still feel it, but every time she moved her arm, her brain worked harder to make her remember how that sweet dog would now lick up at the same bandages and nudge his snout against it, in a manner where he didn't understand might hurt her, and even if it did, it ended up tickling her over time.
"If im too positive, then you see the world darkly, too dark actually"
"No I see it realistically" he corrected confidently, one that can only be worn with shyness behind walls.
"Realistically? Really?"
"Yes, really," he nodded fast, "anything can turn out badly, anything can go the wrong way no matter what you do, anything can just-"
"Anything can turn badly if youre on your own"
Jax froze, not his legs, but his tongue, ending up biting it at her words, hoping she would keep talking before he would say something he would regret behind those walls, and she got the idea.
"No one is truly ever- fully alone.." pomni said softly, cautiously, her hand coming up to rest over his, just a whisper of a hover over his own, not acting further than that, and it gave him time to think of his next move.
"How can you be sure.." it wasn't a question, Pomni could feel the absence of the question mark in his words, and she refused to fill it up in her own reply.
"Because im not.." Pomni whispered, nodding faintly, "i know I'm not alone.." looking up at him slowly, to see if her words had sunk in.
"Do you know if you are alone or not?" She couldn't help the question though.
The light never stopped dancing on the lake, the sound of the water a far echo of what he wanted to actually pay attention to, a far cry to where his mind was buried in, not in the clouds that can be seen through the opening, or under the bioluminescent waves, but in the gaps that were filled when Jax intertwined their fingers slowly.
"Yeah..im not alone, Pom.."