De'Coration Academy for Exceptional Rabbits

The barn was getting full. The time was getting near, and Marshmallow was still nowhere to be found. Marshmallow was somewhat difficult to miss, she was a long, albino lop, her bright white fur stood out clearly against anything and that same bright white fur was noticeable absent from the line-up of excited bunnies, causing a few looks and ear twitches of concern. It was an auspicious day for any bunny who attended The De’Coration Academy for Exceptional Rabbits, graduation day, making Marshmallow’s absence all the more worrisome. Today was a day that she had been waiting for impatiently, everyone knew how excited she was to finally graduate. From this day forward all graduating rabbits would be able to go out into the world and explore, investigate and seek treasure fulfilling the three founding principles of the Academy. There was not a single bunny in the room who didn’t long for adventure of some sort.

The final summoning bell rang just as Marshmallow dashed in through the open barn door kicking off the wall with a bang to maintain her speed as she skidded into her place in line. A huge stalk of parsley stuffed into her mouth as she chewed at a rate that was both impressive and intimidating. The ferocious gleam in her pale pink eyes made the bunnies on either side of her shift just a little bit further away from her. She was a fierce bun and a truly exceptional rabbit. She was graduating with proficiencies in both the production of loud noises, a skill few rabbits ever truly mastered, and in the discovery of small spaces which was a skill that was usually better suited to smaller rabbits, while marshmallow was no means large she was also far from small. With the last of the parsley eaten marshmallow shook herself partially raising one ear to listen to the academy Dean’s speech, it was simple and may well be the same as every year,

“On this day I present to you the next generation of exceptional rabbits! I am proud to say that I have had a part in their education and their growth. No rabbit graduating today is anything less than exceptional. They have completed tasks and gone on adventures and I'm more than ready to face the world as fully qualified exceptional rabbits. I look forward to seeing what they achieve in the coming months and years.”

The crowd watched quietly, some raising up under their hind legs and bobbing and chittering in appreciation there was even a smattering of binkies.

Marshmallow twitched in anticipation, she had been waiting for this day for a long time she had been putting a great deal of effort into her studies, there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't practise. She would be the most exceptional rabbit in the field of loud noise making, everywhere she ran she made sure that she would kick off the walls just to make louder noises as she ran. She revelled in the looks of perturbed surprise that always followed one of her famous, or infamous, loud bangs. On top of this Marshmallow had conducted intense studies into stomping, she had one of the loudest stomps of displeasure in the history of the academy. She was genuinely looking forward to beginning her own expedition into the world, she had even found an assistant for her first expedition, a younger student at the Academy, Sprinkles, a black and white inkblot lion head who had yet to find her specialty. Sprinkles would make an excellent assistant, she was meticulous, neat and fearless. Sprinkles was also rather good with humans, something that would come in very handy on their first expedition.

Marshmallow accepted her graduation certificate and waited impatiently for the end of the ceremony. She had places to be and things to see. She had already received funding from a mysterious benefactor for her first expedition, food and housing would be covered. The goal of this expedition was simple, find new places and explore them thoroughly. Then, if this was successful, they could move on to step two, insuring the continued loyalty of the resident humans. A much more difficult task, this was where Sprinkles would be at her most useful as an assistant.

The ceremony came to an end and the barn began to empty, a few rabbits at a time. Those newly graduated excitedly hopped off to begin their lives as exceptional rabbits, while those who had come to witness the ceremony took their time. The majority of the spectators were younger students, in awe of all that they could become, others were family members, filled with pride, and the rest, possibly the most important of the lot, were the Rabbits who came with opportunities for the new graduates. They would listen closely to all the qualifications and pick out the bunny best suited to their task. Marshmallow had been very fortunate, she had been approached before she had even graduated and had her first expedition ready to go. Despite this she lingered in the barn, Sprinkles hopped over to her offering enthusiastic congratulations. As the younger rabbit chatted excitedly about the upcoming expedition, Marshmallow locked eyes with a rabbit at the back of the barn and froze in place. The mystery rabbit was shrouded in shadow and appeared to be avoiding all the other bunnies. Could this be a wild rabbit? Sprinkles followed Marshmallow’s gaze to the shadowed rabbit.

“Who are they, Marshmallow? Marshmallow do you know them? Are they a friends? Are we friends now?” Sprinkles asked, her excitement bubbling over with each question. Marshmallow leant forward gesturing for Sprinkles to stop talking as the shrouded rabbit moved slowly over to them.

They were definitely part wild rabbit, light sandy brown fur covered their body, but their facial fur was mostly black.

“I have a proposition for you Marshmallow. A quest if you will.”

“I already have an expedition planned.”

“Of cause you do, an exceptional rabbit like yourself, this little quest can be done alongside any expedition. If you are interested, you can find me here.” The rabbit handed over a little business card. Marshmallow and Sprinkles examined the card for a moment, it appeared to be completely blank. When Marshmallow looked up to question the strange rabbit, they were gone.

“Marshmallow look!” Sprinkles squealed, she was bobbing slightly as she examined the card, “If you move when you look at the card you can see the writing! Marshmallow, I think that rabbit is from the Silent Paw!” Looking down in shock, Marshmallow bobbed, re-examining the card. Sure enough, the faint logo of the Silent Paw could be seen, just a little bit more shiny that the rest of the card. Marshmallow and Sprinkles shared a look, things had just become very interesting.

Together they would undoubtedly learn many things find many places and have many adventures.

Part 2

Marshmallow and Sprinkles are both real life rescue rabbits, I'm fostering them while they search for their forever home. I'm only able to do this because of the Support provided by Rabbit Retail who are a small business local to me, so please check them out. Any purchases or donations made on their website will be helping to keep these two bunnies happy and healthy.