They gathered in the ruined shed, the growing group of Copper and Gold Colony rabbits were somewhat tense and confused.
Comet wasn’t sure what they had been told but he knew part of the challenge will be getting them comfortable with the idea of using the precious resources.
“I gathered as many rabbits as I could and got as many of the plants that are on the Master-Medallion.” Said FlintNose.
”These are the symbolic plants of Copper, Gold and Diamond.” Observed Comet.
”That is all my rabbits could bring back given the amount of time we had.” Said FlintNose defensively.
”What you have here is great.” He said. He didn’t have time to teach them every resource anyway.
”Um, hello everyone. Thank you so much for coming here on such short notice, I know you’re probably a bit confused that you’re being told you need to learn magic, but it’s the only way you have a chance to defend yourself against all the threats facing your colonies right now.” Said Comet, speaking quickly.
“They know all that, now, teach us how to use magic.” Said FlintNose.
”I can’t just teach you magic. Each resource has its own power and technique to use it.” He explained.
“Well, what’s the most powerful one then?” He asked.
”I suppose, given the plants I have, it would be copper.” Said Comet nervously. Of all the resources, why did it have to be the one he knew the least how to use?
”Great, show us how it’s done.” Said FlintNose. The crowd looked at him with anticipation. Comet pulled out the copper stone and pendant from his satchel.
He knew it was used in the same way as iron but Orion’s words of warning about it made him weary.
”I know, get the rabbits to make their own potions. Give each rabbit one of each type of plant, some water, and powdered versions of the resources, then mix it together in a pot, dish, bowl or anything you can find.” Said Comet.
”Wait, can you explain that again?” Said FlintNose.
”Just work it out, Arrow, Blue and Rusty can help.”
”What makes you think we know how to make potions?” Asked Blue.
”Please, I just need some time to work something out.” Said Comet.
”Fine, we’ll try.”
Comet was glad to finally have some space to practise using copper without dozens of eyes on him.
He placed down the copper stone, and wore the copper pendant. This was a potentially dangerous resource that required control and mental stability.
He directed his energy to the pendant, he could feel it glow red and heat up before a bolt of light shot across the air and hit the copper stone, which now glowed with the same red heat.
It seemed powerful but it didn’t really do anything. He decided he would move the copper stone and try again but as he put his paw to the stone, a violent shock coursed through his body and he jumped back with yell.
”What’s wrong?” Asked a rabbit nearby, looking around nervously.
”Nothing, I won’t do that again.” Said Comet.
Comet figured that the more energy he gave the pendant, the more powerful the copper stone would be. He could already imagine they would be great to place down for defence and perhaps, if something got between the pendant and the stone, whatever got caught between them would be hit with the same energy as well… that might be something to be careful of.
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“Now you have taken the potion, you should be able to use Copper. This is a very powerful resource, but also dangerous, listen to what I say or you could get seriously hurt.” He said.
He showed them an example and there was a mix of confusion and excitement as they saw the spark of light from the copper pendant hit the stone. He then got a leaf and dropped it on the stone, it shrivelled in the red hot heat.
“This is what a fully charged stone can do.” He said.
He explained how to channel their energy into the pendant and use it to charge the stone. He did this multiple times so they had a good idea of what he meant.
He then directed them to the same thing that he had done. It was a tense moment to see if anyone would be able to do it, but soon, many of the rabbits were able to charge their own copper stones. Some had put too much energy into it and accidentally zapped themselves or their neighbouring rabbits, sending some running away with fear. FlintNose and GoldWhisker had to calm them.
But Comet could also see that there was also a large amount of rabbits that couldn’t do it. He sighed. It could take awhile to teach them all.
“It didn’t work.” Complained Blue.
“It didn’t work for me either.” Said Arrow.
“Or me.” Said GoldWhsiker.
“You just weren’t doing it right obviously.” Said FlintNose proudly. With the copper emblem around his neck, he was particularly good at it and it used none of his own energy so there was no fear of him getting exhausted using it.
Comet was confused, they looked like they had done everything right then he looked at the crowd again and noticed a pattern, the failures were almost all non-copper colony rabbits.
“I think that maybe only rabbits from Copper Colony can use the power of copper resources.”
“Then why can you use all of them?” Asked Arrow.
“It’s because he’s a hare.” Said GoldWhisker.
Comet knew that wasn’t the case. “Arrow, what colony were you initiated into?” He asked.
“Porcelain Colony, I was only on trial here.” He said. He scowled at FlintNose.
“Did they use the Porcelain emblem for the initiation?” He asked.
“Yes.” He said. He started to see what Comet was getting at.
“I think that if you’re initiated into a colony or were born there, you will only be able to use that colony's power… let’s test this idea.”
He directed the Gold Colony rabbits to use their gold pendants. He explained quickly that gold gave them the power to create illusions if they had a strong will and passion.
“Try to create an illusion of a leaf.” He said. He decided against leaving as a free for all… they would probably end up creating an illusion of a fox or something and create a panic.
It took awhile but they all eventually were able to do it, they were very excited. Blue, Arrow and Rusty all tried but as Comet expected, they were unable to.
”I guess there’s no point trying to teach them how to use Diamond resources.” Said GoldWhisker.
“No, but you will still need to keep training them and help them master the resources that they can use. We need to go to Silver Colony now.” Said Comet.
”You can come back to Gold Colony, the sun is starting to set. You won’t be able to get there before dark.” Said GoldWhisker.
“I’m still eager to go, what do you all think?” Asked Comet, looking at Rusty, Arrow and Blue.
”I think we should go.” Said Rusty. “The longer we stay in one place, the easier it will be for the Magia to find us.”
”I was thinking the same thing, actually.” Said Comet. Blue and Arrow agreed so they set off, leaving the leaders to work how to go about training their colonies.
Rusty was very nervous, frequently looking up the valley. Comet couldn’t see anything but Rusty suddenly bolted.
“Hey!” Called Arrow. They chased after him and Comet was the first to catch up with him.
“What did you see, Rusty?” He asked.
“They could spot me at any moment, we’re moving too slowly.” Said Rusty.
“What is he talking about?” Demanded Arrow.
“The rebels are out there, they’re going to attack soon.” Said Rusty.
”You are a rebel then, there’s no way you could know that’s unless you were. Will you finally admit it?” Asked Arrow.
“Yes, I am, well I was. Once they find out that I haven’t taken the Master-Medallion, I’ll be in some trouble.” He said.
”Why did you change your mind?” Asked Comet.
”You showed me that there were other ways to save the valley without destroying the colony’s. I think it’s clear we have to embrace magic to survive rather than stopping it.” Said Rusty.
“Oh really, how can we trust that you aren’t leading us into a rebel trap right now?” Asked Arrow.
”If he was going to stop us, he would have done it already.” Said Blue.
”I think we’re just going to have to trust him, like we have had to do this whole mission.” Said Comet. “Lead us to Silver Colony.”
Rusty looked relieved and took them away from the outskirts of Copper Colony, he got them to stay as close to the bushes as possible.
It was tiring moving so quickly, but they were making good progress. They might even be able to make it there by nightfall. Then they heard rabbits crying out in the distance, “Rebels are invading, get underground.”