Rabbit Loses More Than His Tail, Part 2

When we left Rabbit last, he had just sent the beautiful but poisonous Butterfly unwittingly into the lair of Alley Cat, satisfied with himself for defeating both his enemies at once.

Having dealt with his tormentors so quickly, Rabbit decided to focus on getting a new tail. He felt off-balance without one, but he couldn't find anything fluffy; all around him were just vast stretches of the tall grasses of the field.

"It's only temporary," he told himself, sticking a long, whiplike blade of the golden grass to his fur where his tail had been. He was too busy examining his handiwork to notice the winged, purple streak hurtling toward him.

"Asshole!" Butterfly screamed over her shoulder as she darted past Rabbit. Cat was hot on her heels, knocking Rabbit head over long-tailed behind in pursuit of his new prey. One of Cat's razor-sharp claws caught Rabbit's ear, slicing half of it right off and flinging it backward into the alley. Cat stumbled a little, giving Butterfly the chance to get ahead, taking refuge on a low cloud.

With Butterfly out of reach, Cat turned his attention once more to Rabbit, who had made a few hops toward the alley in hopes of retrieving his ear.

"Not again!" screamed Rabbit, and he skittered back into his hiding hole. Cat glared and growled down at him for a few moments, but was too hungry to stick around for long and soon went back to the alley to scrounge in the dumpsters.

While Rabbit shivered and Cat scrounged, Butterfly panted and whimpered on her cloud. One of her wings was shredded to ribbons. She'd lost an antenna, and a couple of her legs were hanging useless at unnatural angles. Still, she was alive, and all she wanted was sleep. Deep, peaceful sleep, floating along on a cloud was the perfect way to recuperate - quiet and alone.

To be concluded...

This sketch of Butterfly came first. Words and story followed.