Rae
Rae hung from two heavy chains in the basement in which he had spent so many years now. He barely even remembered what anything outside looked like, only the damp darkness that he stayed in perpetually. The rabbit just hung there in a spread eagle position, trying to ignore the burning pain in his side. He'd been beaten pretty badly today, possibly the worst he ever had been. Clients came and they went, it was a dark business, not that Rae ever got payed. He was cut all over, gashes covering his entire naked body as he shivered and bled in the darkness. Sometimes people wanted to make more of those gashes, other times they just wanted to watch him afterwards. He'd been at this for years, held here against his will, and everyone who saw him knew that he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer, including himself. That was when the sound came. Usually it was dead silent in here without anybody around. He didn't know it, but the walls had been soundproofed to suppress his screams. The little black rabbit didn't even know what soundproofing was, all he knew was this room and it's darkness. He had been told that he was supposed to be like this, so he was never very upset or disturbed. This was normal for creatures like him. But this sound, it was so strange. A long bang, then silence for a very long time. Occasionally he could hear a faint bump from up above, but other than that there was silence. Then someone entered the room, and Rae let out a pleasant whimper as he had been trained too. Someone grabbed him, which actually freaked him out a little. People never grabbed or touched him with their own two hands. They had tools and weapons for that. There was light, it stung his eyes with it's brightness and he gasped aloud as the chains were undone. A calming voice murmured in one of his long, damaged ears. "It's okay little buddy, I gotcha." He felt himself embraced by something warm and soft. A blanket, though he did not know it yet. His eyes closed, and he drifted off.
Will sat in the hospital, waiting a little bit anxiously. He'd been the one to volunteer to take care of the little rabbit that was found in the house of a black market dealer. The little guy needed somewhere to stay, and the bear certainly had room enough. They brought him out in a wheelchair, though he was fast asleep and wrapped in a blanket. The lagomorph was wrapped in bandages covering all of his arms and torso that Will could see, as well as about half of his fact and one ear. The bear cringed at the sight, having expected something bad, but not this bad. The nurse frowned, looking worried, but Will shook his head and, without comment, lifted the little guy into his arms. One of the nurses began to speak then "we'll want him in to check up on him once every month, and be sure to not give him too much to eat or drink. His body will need to get used to eating more on a regular basis." Will nodded at this, and held the little rabbit close against his shoulder.
"I'll make sure he's safe." the bear said in reply to them before beginning to walk off. It wasn't long before he reached his car. He put the poor little bunny in the back seat before laying a second blanket on top of him and petting his head gently for a bit. His fur was so soft, though he seemed to jump and shudder at the mere touch of someone else. Poor little guy must have been through hell, though, that only made Will all the more determined to take care of him. He climbed in the driver's side, started the car, and began to drive home. It wasn't too long before they had arrived at his house, and he opened the backseat door to find that the rabbit was curled up into a tight little ball and crying heavily. He didn't seem to react when the bear lifted him, and instead just kept sobbing strongly. Will cradled him close, and cooed softly to him as he carried the rabbit inside. The little bunny stopped crying eventually, and then went still again, much to the bear's relief. Will lay him down on the couch, which already had extra blankets and pillows on it, and lay a third blanket overtop him just to be safe. The little guy seemed to like it, for a curled up a bit and breathed a bit easier. Will sat down and put the little guy's head in his lap. Stroking the rabbit's ears as he watched TV idly.
It was a very long time before Rae awoke again. His entire body was warm, and soft, and he felt very very groggy. There was pressure over nearly his entire form though, as well as part of his head. He soon found that this pressure was caused by strange white wrappings that had been put on him. He didn't want to take them off though, he didn't want to move at all right now. Just then he felt something under his head shift, and found it was laying in the lap of a bear he had never seen before. He squeaked a bit, fear filling him almost instantly at the sight of another person, and burrowed deep under the blanket, shaking and whining pitifully. Will sighed, having expected this, and just gave the little bundle of blankets some reassuring pats and strokes, murmuring softly to it. Rae was downright terrified. Here he was in a place that he didn't know of, with a man he had never seen before. Where was the darkness that he was so used to? Where were the chains that had held him up before? Rae sighed again and pulled the little guy into his lap, continuing to stroke and pat his back as Rae tried to calm down. "Shhhhhhhhh~" the bear soothed gently. "It's okay little guy." The TV had been forgotten for now, and played quietly in the background as Will spoke, "I'm not gonna hurt ya." He said after a while, still stroking and patting gently. Rae poked his head out, tears in his eyes and his body visibly shaking from fear. "That a boy" he cooed before reaching down and petting that poor quivering fellow gently. Rae jumped up and latched on to Will suddenly, hugging him tight. And though the bear was surprised, he wrapped his arms around the rabbit gently in a warm embrace. "There there" he soothed. "You're okay. I got you." He began to run the rabbit's head more, whispering until Rae had finally fallen asleep again, at which point Will wrapped him up once more and lay him down to sleep. At least he knew this rabbit wasn't crazy or anything, just very scared. Time would heal that though.
Rae awoke once more in the middle of the night, finding himself alone on the couch. It was dark, and he was alone. That only made him feel safer though, as he was used to darkness, and the best days of his life had been spent alone. He sat up, or at least tried to, wincing as he felt a burning pain in his side that he hadn't noticed earlier through his fear. The black rabbit lay down again, breathing gently and not making a sound. He closed his eyes and tried to take in situation as best he could. He was alone and very hurt in the house of a stranger. At least, he thought it might be a house, he had never really seen anything other than the basement before, that he could remember anyways, and so he didn't really know what a house looked like. This felt like a pretty safe assumption though. He was alone in a stranger's house, and yet this stranger didn't seem too terrible. He had given Rae lots of pets and pats, things he usually only got when a customer felt bad for hurting him so much. These were very rare, and to receive so many at once made him a little overwhelmed. What had he done such a good job of doing? Or what had this stranger done to him that he felt guilty for? It was all a big mess, but it got even bigger when Rae realised that the bear must have been the one who wrapped him in blankets. It was all too much to process for now, and so the rabbit curled up once more and tried to sleep.
The rabbit awoke to a smell he had never experienced before. It smelled.... He didn't have a word for that sensation, but it made his mouth water. His stomach growled lightly, and a soft, deep laugh sounded from somewhere nearby, accompanied by heavy footsteps as the smell seemed to get stronger. "Someone hungry?" Will asked, holding a plate of food. Rae peeked his head out of the blanket and nodded quietly, only to be greeted by a warm smile from the bear as the other leaned down and set the plate before the bunny. Rae just stared at it, unsure of what to do, before he stared up at Will with that same confusion all over his cute little face. The bear chuckled again, and sat down once more before propping up Rae's head in his arms and guiding a spoonful of eggs to the bunny's mouth. The rabbit immediately took a bit, and sighed happily as a delicious taste filled his mouth. It was the best thing he had ever had, and Will smiled more at seeing the little bunny so happy. He continued to feed Ray, and the lagomorph got to taste many different delicious foods for the first time in his life. It seemed like a lot to Ray, but in reality it wasn't so much, only a few bites of what one might consider a normal breakfast. His favorite thing was this stuff that the bear called hash browns. They were the perfect texture and went down very easily. He fell back asleep again after he had eaten, feeling fuller than ever before and laying right in Will's lap. He had started to develope a very deep trust for the bear, and this was good. It was going to take a long time for Ray to recover from so many years of intense abuse, but he believed the bunny would be alright in time. He was rather thin, and so Will got even more blankets to cover him up, much to the rabbit's enjoyment. He slept peacefully for the rest of the day, not stirring at all.
Well, that's the end of chapter one. I hope you enjoyed. This is going to be hopefully one of my longest stories yet, so wish me luck with it and expect more as soon as possible!