The voice seemed far away. “Rhizome, are you back?”
Rhizome slowly choked and stirred on the shore of the basin. He nodded lightly, but was fading in and out of consciousness. His friends got him back on the grass weave and dragged him to a burrow.
No. I must make my own story; I must be the one to tell it.
I barely noticed where I was being taken. The waters and the time outside my body had drained me. Something was different as my awareness returned. It felt strange, yet familiar, like returning to something long forgotten. My meetings with Fate and the Lord Sun seemed distant and dreamlike as my mind fit itself back into my physical body. Yet, the pain in that body was real. I was soaked from my newest dunk in the basin, cold and shivering. Thankfully, I don’t think I inhaled any water this time.
At some point, enough of me remembered how my body worked. “I’m— I’m awake. What happened?”
“After Ghostpaw tried to drown you, you were unconscious for half a day.” The voice was mostly familiar, Erebus sounded different as a rabbit. “The eclipse was a path between realms; it called you back to your body.”
My eyes didn’t want to focus. I wanted to rest, but there was too much to understand. “I had an argument with Fate, and I lost. And then there was Lord Sun… He helped me back.”
“We’re relieved you’re okay.” That was definitely Eitan. He sounded much more exhausted than before Rhizome fell into the water. “You missed a lot, but I think we can figure things out.”
We were in some kind of above-ground kettle, a burrow made entirely of brambles. It was warm, with a cool spring breeze that filtered through the openings. A black rabbit sat next to me, fur so dark it seemed to pull the shadows toward him. My nose didn’t know his smell, but the nearest blur was Eitan, and two blurs nearby were Mune and Gurin.
“Why is everyone else wet if I’ve been unconscious for most of the day?”
Eitan laughed weakly. “Erebus dragged you back into the water to get your spirit to return. Then the queen fell in, and… I was thinking about how you don’t have enemies, and I don’t know why, but I rescued her.”
“It convinced Ghostpaw we were on their side,” Gurin said. “We’re not being held captive anymore. I mean, this was where we were being held, but there aren’t guards anymore.”
I looked over at Erebus. “You still risked your… existence for me. Why would you do that?”
“You’re my friend. At least, I couldn’t let you die without a grand story to tell.” He tried to chuckle, but it came out flat. “So, you argued with my sister?”
“She wanted me to attack her to stop my fate. I refused.” I shook my head, which helped clear it a little. “I got lost after I left, and ended up talking to Lord Sun, there were…” The details faded. I knew he used words, writing in a solar flare, but even as I tried to say them, the words weren’t there. “We waited for Lady Moon together.”
“Seriously?” a large, light furred rabbit objected. Sand. Sand objected, “You expect us to believe you spoke to Lord Sun, and he answered you?” He hopped over, ears pointed at me. “Like that herb you say controls the weasel, I think you’re exaggerating.”
Mune interrupted, “What are you doing here, Sand? Ghostpaw said we were not to be guarded.”
“Forgive me.” Sand made an exaggerated show of grooming himself. “Queen Bia and Ghostpaw have decided what your first task will be. The first of the ears you promised.”
“What?” I asked.
“We pledged to help the warren,” Eitan said. “One task for each of our ears.”
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“It’s only ten,” Erebus said.
“What’s a ten?”
“It’s… the five of us, with two ears…” Erebus’ words meant nothing to me, and from the confused looks nothing to anyone else. “Mune, Gurin, Eitan, you and myself. Each of us have two ears. We promised to perform that many tasks for the warren.”
“And they have chosen your first task,” Sane said. “I think they wish it to be the first of Erebus’ ears, but however you want to keep track of them. I am here to politely ask, if you are up for hearing the task, and if you need more time to recover?”
I sat up. My head felt a little light. “We can hear it now.”
“Very well. Follow me.” Sand said, and headed down one of the runs.
Erebus nudged me as I got shaky to my feet. “I hope it’s okay we made the promise for you.”
“I am here to help the warren. Even if I don’t understand what that means right now.” I hesitated. “No. I think I do. There are threats here, inside and out. But ultimately, these tasks are likely from Fate herself. The unfair, but winnable, challenge for free will.”
“Then let’s hop to it,” Eitan said.
I gave him a light cuff for that, and felt a bit guilty. We followed Sand.
The warren was gathered outside, settled between the roots of a towering oak. Ghostpaw and Bia were settled on the highest roots, looking down at the gathered rabbits. As we exited a nearby run, many ears turned toward us. These were mostly Bia’s rabbits, with only a few of the herbalists, kept at the edges of the gathering.
There was gossip and gasps as we approached. Questions about how dangerous the weasel was, and if this time, he was a rabbit’s paw. Discussions of Death, and the black rabbit who could not possible be what the rumors said. Whispers about Gurin, trained by the old head of the warren, and bound to the new one. Mange had a small gathering of watch-rabbits who stretched their heads forward and rested them on the ground, a request for comfort from Mune. And then, the ones I recognized about myself, a rabbit drowned in the basin who had revived in a ritual of the sun and moon.
The crowd parted as we approached the rules. Bia sat up, refusing to look at us directly. Ghostpaw stretched and groomed himself to appear above the excitement. It took a quick stamp of his foot for the conversations to stop.
“Friends, those who have sworn to assist Starbasin in this troubled time, I greet you. You have my personal thanks for agreeing to this, as well as assisting my beloved queen in her troubles with the basin.” Ghostpaw gave a nod and continued. “While you are untested, we do not have time to be cautious: The shadow of a winged predator reaches this warren from the direction of the waking sun. It is known as the Phantom, a bird of prey large enough and with a fearsome enough reputation, that the chance it may migrate here is a threat to our existence.”
Bia nodded. “Your first task is to remove this threat, be it by killing the Phantom or driving it off. I ask you, will you accept this task?”
I gulped, still feeling sick from my experience outside my body. Although, I suspected the fear of facing a terrible bird might have added to it. Then I shook my head and let those thoughts go.
“We accept,” I called up to her. “My companions and I once convinced two owls to save rabbits from a wolf. We will convince this Phantom to leave the warren in peace.”
My friends seemed a little less confident. Gurin asked, “What can you tell us of the Phantom?”
“Perhaps it is merely an owl or hawk, a huge bird that can carry rabbits away. The only one who’s seen it and lived was Thistle.” Ghospaw grunted. “We assume it knows where we are, and there is much suspicion of what Thistle may have offered it.”
We hid our frustration. We knew Bia lied about Thistle, but that didn’t tell us if they had allies or merely neutral.
Mange hopped on one of the higher roots, and stood on his hind legs. “I ask permission to go with them.”
“We cannot risk any more of our warren.” Bia hesitated and bowed her head to Ghostpaw. “I mean, I do not wish to see any more of our rabbits harmed.”
Ghostpaw flicked an ear at his mate. “This is a test for the newcomers. As such, they must be the ones to complete it. If you wish, you may escort them to the edge of the warren, answer any additional questions about it.”
Reluctantly, Mange bowed his head in agreement.
Ghostpaw stood tall. “We came here as conquerors and were greeted as friends. We will not forced to leave. We will become part of this place, fellow protectors of Starbasin. Newcomers, go now. Save our warren.” He raised his stump foreleg above his head. “Show that we are wanted here!”
The warren cheered… All except Bia, who finally looked at me. There were no words exchanged. For a moment, there was only her and myself. She had been chosen by Fate. The only way to win Fate’s challenge would be to remove her from the warren.