Chapter Text
Your eyes gazed upon the raging snowstorm as you un-burrowed yourself from the snow you dug into. Uh oh. There was no way you would be coming back to the Jack Frost Village anytime soon, not in this weather. Looking around, you swore you could see a cloaked figure coming closer-- a huntsman. Panicking, you started running somewhere, anywhere farther away from that silhouette but felt the sharp sting of something carving into your leg. You pulled, stubbornly trying to free yourself from the clamp of sorts chomped down on you. It hurt, to say the least. Your breath rate grew as the figure's size did, and soon you heard the cocking of a gun.
It was over.
Until, a swan swatted him down. Well, not actually a swan, but that was what Odette was (and still is) to you; an overwhelmingly beautiful and powerful bird that had no need to mate for life like natural swans.
After knocking the hunter unconscious, she looked to you and noticed your injured leg's condition. The swan had saved your life and right after that you had fainted from shock and relief. She detachaed the trap from you, performed first-aid, and brought you to Korolevskiy Theatre.
"Vodyanitsa... I think I may have found something... or someone you might be interested in." Odette carried your unconscious body into the green room where the Water Imp was renewing her makeup.
"Oh my." Her hand came to her mouth, seeing your poor disheveled self resting in Odette's arms.
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You woke up in what felt like a mother's embrace; warm and comforting. A velvet blanket had been laid over your shoulders and below, insulating you. "She's awake." a nonchalant voice said, another following with more vibrancy, "Really?"
A long teal haired girl kneeled down to you, checking to see if you really were awake. "Hey, are you okay? The doctor checked on your leg injury while you were sleeping-- he said it wasn't that bad, luckily. What happened? Odette found you almost about to be killed by a drunk huntsman-- probably only saw your bunny ears and thought you were prey or something. Can you hear us? Helloooo-?"
The teal beauty was shoved away by the swan who simply stated, "You're safe now. Don't worry, we won't kill you. I know you're probably confused. Can you talk to us?"
You didn't understand anything the two humanoid figures were saying, but they at least had no smell of gunpowder on them and your body had already melted into the cushy couch so much all you could get out was a "huh?"
Odette became silent for a moment before pointing to her mouth and saying slowly, "Can you speak? Like us." You simply stared at her, frightened at the whole situation.
"Maybe she doesn't know what we're saying?" The teal one told the icy swan to which they nodded, mumbling something along the lines of "more difficult" and "haven't seen".
Needless to say, communication between the pair of beauties was quite hard. You eventually figured out in the next few hours that the teal haired was named Vodyanitsa and the icy swan was Odette. And to your comfort, had no intention of hurting you. They were already a lot more accepting than most Jack Frosts in Jack Frost Village.
Vodyanitsa took the brunt of taking care of you while Odette went elsewhere. Your sleeping space was either the green room or Vodyanitsa's. She seemed to take a special liking to you, treating you like a "little sister" and singing you lullabies or whatever she needed to rehearse. It always helped you calm down. Perhaps that was the magic of a Water Imp's voice.
A few days following your arrival at Korolevskiy Theatre, the two tried to figure out a name for you.
"Something meaningful, like Nadezhda?"
"I like the sound of Marina more!"
"Isn't that because it's related to the sea?"
"Well... hmph!"
Marat, a script editor interrupted, "Perhaps something more simple. The poor girl can barely talk, after all. Something like... Nika."
"Mn. Nika. I like." You mumbled quietly, still embarrassed about speaking.
Odette nodded. Vodyanitsa exclaimed, "Nika it is, then!"
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Once your injury healed enough Vodyanitsa took you and Odette to a bath house. The pair of girls helped wash your hair and body, teaching you the human ritual of washing up.
"Haah, you smell so much better now." Vodyanitsa looked at your bare body in pride-- as if you were a prime ice sculpture she carved herself. The two also bought some new clothes that was yours, and not a borrowed costume from the theatre.
It had been about two and a half weeks since you'd landed in the world of humans, but you were slowly getting used to it and learning more of their language. You even started helping out backstage and after shows (to Lev's consolation). You felt like you were finally getting comfortable in the troupe-- but then the huntsman appeared. Well, not the huntsman, but a hunter nonetheless. A human that smelled of gunpowder always smelled of trouble; or at least that was what you learned your whole life.
He came into the theatre without much of a warning, even greeting employees who gave him warm smiles in return. As soon as you deduced the smell of gunpowder was coming from him, you tried to sneak away to the green room. Unfortunately for you, he was also heading that way; as if he already knew where your hiding spot was. He caught glimpses of you and that was when you knew it was over. A tiny cry of terror escaped you as his blank face continued to the room and you hid behind the Prima Donna of the Korolevskiy Troupe, "V-vodyanitsa... a gun guy..." you point at the entrance to the room.
"What? Vodyanitsa asked, clearly befuddled from your freak-out and moved her head to see a confused Alyosha arriving in the doorway. "Oh, no, that's Alyosha. He works here part-time. You'll be seeing him around if you're staying here."
Oh.
"Uh, hello. Vodyanitsa, who is this?" The minty haired boy said blandly. You peeked from behind the Prima Donna only to hide all over again once he caught you looking. Your rabbit ears must have been a dead giveaway that you were staring from the start anyway, you thought, humiliated.
"This is Nika-- she's a bunny fae as you can see and I'm taking care of her for now, at least. She had a bad time with a huntsman so she's probably going to be wary around you, Alyosha." Vodyanitsa explained in that quick voice of hers, swerving your shoulders so you faced the boy in the door. He gave you his hand and you cautiously shook it with only your pointer finger and thumb; which pulled out a snort from Vodyanitsa. "Don't worry, she won't hurt you." She whispered warmly in your ear.
"Prima Donna?! May I have some help with my singing?" An opera actor peeked their head into the doorway.
"--Oh, sure. Sorry, Nika, Alyosha. I've gotta go. Rehearsal is coming up anyway. Get along, okay?" Vodyanitsa skipped up and out of the green room, leaving you and Alyosha together.
...Getting a good look at him, he didn't look that scary. Alyosha-- apparently that was his name-- seemed around the same age as Odette with a similar aloof expression on his freckled face.
"Hi-- again. I'm Alyosha. A hunter. But I have no intention of hunting you down, so there's no point having your guard up." Alyosha voiced a little awkwardly. Hopefully talking to you wouldn't be as confusing as it could be with Vodyanitsa; though it didn't seem like you talked much.
As he tidied up the green room, you sweeped the floor and made sure to keep an eye on him just in case. You felt yourself getting tired quicker than usual though, and as soon as you sat down on the couch you fell asleep. After giving the room one more once over, Alyosha sat down next to you and observed his (and you) hard work. Definitely looked a lot more prefessional than when Vodyanitsa left.
With your guard down, he moved his eyes onto you. You had long straight snowy white hair and soft skin that looked so pinch-able-- no, no. Alyosha slapped himself lightly. He'd spent too much time with Tugarin the past few days, he decided. The rabbit ears and tail were half-convincing him you were an animal. Like other rabbits, would you enjoy being pet right behind the ears? He badly wanted to act to see your reaction but he coughed the idea away and put a simple blanket over you instead.
"What are you doing?" A cold voice came from behind him right after he laid the blanket on you and he jumped. He turned to see that it was just Odette, and he let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. He got caught up in his own thoughts and forgot someone could enter the room anytime.
"We just finished cleaning the place up." Alyosha sat down next to you again, deciding a short respite won't hurt.
"So Nika's taken a liking to you?" Odette walked up to you gently adjusting your hair. Alyosha felt a slight pang of jealousy.
"No, she hasn't."
"She was about to be shot by a huntsman when I found her."
Alyosha felt his fire of frustration towards "beasts" gain a bit more fuel when he heard that.
"...Is that so."