He spluttered and coughed, the world a daze around him.
Many eyes were staring at him.
“Make way.” Commanded Ruby, pushing past them.
After a quick examination, she turned to the anxious crowd. “Everyone calm down, he’ll be fine.”
“He better be.” Said SilverSkull, who had been impatiently waiting for Ruby to arrive.
“Just give him room to breathe,” She said.
Comet was barely aware of his surroundings, his whole body aching and shivering, his fur completely drenched in freezing water.
“Can you get up?” Asked Ruby.
“I think so.” He said, staggering up. The movement made his head hurt.
He saw the learners snickering, Brook told them to stop it.
“If you feel up to it, you should move around, you need to warm up.”
That sounded like the last thing he wanted to do. He shook his head which made water trickle unpleasantly down his back,
Instinctively, he shook himself with a jump, splashing Ruby and the other nearby rabbits.
“I think you’re ready to meet the assembly now.” Said Janu, drying himself off.
“Wait, I think he should come to the warren, he probably has some healing herbs and rest.”
“So I’ve brought nearly the whole colony here for nothing then?” He demanded, looking furious.
“I’m alright, I can stay but I can fix my fur first?”
“You can fix it on the way to the fortress.” He said
Comet stared up at the ruined building, it seemed so much bigger up closer. He guessed the rabbits would have to sit right at the edge of the island to even see anything on the top of it.
He entered the side of it and was amazed to find himself inside the towered column of stone. It had a sort of ceiling with a large hole in the side, letting sunlight shine through into a pool of water below.
Ruined stairs wound around the inside of the fortress and disappeared at the top.
“Let’s go.” Said Janu, nodding to SilverSkull who went ahead first.
Despite SilverSkull’s large size, he got up the stairs with relative ease and more importantly didn’t fall to the ground below.
Comet wasn’t afraid of heights, but after nearly drowning, his nerves were a bit rattled.
“Go on.” Janu said impatiently.
Comet then made his way up the stairs, one slow step at a time, he refused to be rushed and just focused on the stair in front of him, fearing if he looked anywhere else he would slip.
Finally, he got to the top of the fortress. He felt so high above everything else around him. It was beautiful though not quite as expansive as the view from the top of the valley.
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He went to the edge of the fortress without hesitation to see more then, tensed back when he saw the many eyes of the rabbits, divided into groups based on age and colony type. The Magia sat in their own group up the front. He could see Blue, Bone and even Pine. The familiar faces made him more comfortable.
Janu and SilverSkull sat either side of him. He took a sharp breath inwards.
“Thank you all for coming here, we are here to introduce you formally to the hare and put an end to any rumours about him. Comet has been brought here to be the successor of Orion when he dies. He will allow the power of our precious resources to continue and be used by us to protect you in these unstable times.” He said. The crowd responded polite, yet somewhat anxious cheers.
”Now, Comet, are you ready to officially join us, and learn more about your role and power or do you want to abandon all that to go back to live with humans?” Asked Janu, loud enough for all the rabbits down below to hear. He was trying to pressure him into saying yes. Comet could see what Orion meant by him not having a choice anymore. It didn’t bother him. He’d already made the choice in his heart.
”I’m ready to stay in the valley.” He said. The rabbits cheered happily.
”Good, now place your paw here.” He said, removing his necklace and holding out a shiny diamond emblem for him.
He approached it and put his paw near it but then withdrew, “What does it do?” He asked. He didn’t think it would electrocute him like the copper stone but he didn’t want to risk it.
”It shows that you are going to stay in the valley and will remain loyal to the Diamond Magia, the most important Magia in the valley.”
”Is that really necessary, I won’t leave.” He said.
“Promises are important, it’s a visual and spiritual sign that you are going to keep it.” He said.
He nodded his head. He wanted the rabbits to trust and respect him so he stretched out his paw, and touched the emblem.
It glowed brilliantly with a thousand colours. His promise was now bound to the ancient item.
Janu then presented a small, gleaming pendant in the shape of a crow.
“This will offer you protection.” He said.
“I’m glad you’ve decided to stay, you’ll be able to see me defeat RiverCharm and unite Silver Colony.” Said SilverSkull.
The rabbits cheered excitedly.
“Wait, I thought we were trying to avoid a war.” Said Comet, his voice drowned out by the sound of the cheering.
”It will just be him and RiverCharm fighting here in this fortress. It’s an ancient trial for the title of leader but this will be the first trial since the Silver Colony civil war, I’ll explain more after the assembly.” He said then he and Janu addressed the crowd and ended the assembly.
Comet followed SilverSkull closely down the stairs of the fortress.
“So this civil war, what happened?”
“When the Magia moved in, some rabbits weren’t too happy about it, especially their use of magic, they decided to fight a war over it, it was brutal that the Magia had to let them occupy the south of Silver Colony. The original leader of the movement is dead but his son, RiverCharm is their leader now and it is nearly impossible to make any deals with him. Hopefully he has enough sense not to back out of the trial, if he does, the Magia will surely launch another campaign to unite Silver Colony.” He explained sombrely.
Comet sensed his anxiety and began worrying about the possibility of war himself. He was so wrapped up in thought it was a shock to find himself being surrounded by rabbits who all wanted to talk to him.
Blue was not helping by encouraging them, Pine went up to him. “Hey, remember me?” He asked.
”Yes.” He said more rudely than he expected. Pine recoiled. “Sorry, I just want to get off this island.”
”I’ll show you across the log.” Pine offered.
”Is there any other way?” He asked hopefully.
”You could swim.”
“Let’s just use the log.”
Pine lead him through the crowd, where Blue and Bone approached him.
“Hey where are you going?” Blue asked.
”Away from this crowd.”
”We should probably go too. The Watchers will be waiting for us.” Said Bone.
“Fine.” Grumbled Blue.
As they neared the log, Brook came up to them. “You really should consider swimming lessons.” She insisted, visibly concerned about him.
”That’s the last thing I want to do after nearly dying.” He said.
”Learning to swim will prevent that from happening in the future. There will be other times when you have to come to the island.”
I’ll think about it, but not right now.” He said and cautiously began the journey across the log behind Bone.
He was aware rabbits were watching him but fought the urge to bolt ahead. Despite how tense he felt, he made it across without incident. Blue and the others went on ahead of them.
As he watched Blue and Bone head up the valley to join the Watchers, he wondered what he should do. He couldn’t see Janu or SilverSkull anywhere but he knew they would say to keep training. Part of him just wanted to go to the Healers burrow and sleep but it didn’t feel right when he had so much to learn.