[center][h1][u][b][color=black]The Undergrounders[/color][/b][/u][/h1][/center]

[hr]

    Cold, crisp air filled Zetian’s lungs as she padded silently up the gently sloping tunnel, the bare stone frigid on her hind paws. Shuffling sounds echoed behind her, no doubt her clergical entourage, but still her heart pounded. She had only heard stories of the ether before. Stories of good and evil, of Lapites driven mad by the secrets it held. Every Lord and Lady of the Warrens had their own experiences, of aunts and uncles and nephews and nieces that had caused great and terrible accidents. The lucky ones had been banished to the mines. The less fortunate had been reduced to nothing more than stains on the Flowing Ether’s walls. Zetian struggled to keep her fur flat, lest the fear-scent betray how nervous she was. A future queen did not get scared before the gods. A future queen embraced them, promising to serve them all her days. Even if it meant staying below the ground, away from their watchful gazes.

    The tunnel lightened, and the perfectly smooth walls faded into view. It was taller than it was wide, etched with symbols of the gods. Qa. Ev. Bo. Gi. They danced around the floor and ceiling, inlaid in polished black glass. Each image told a tale: Qa, blessing the first Lapites with horns to channel magic; Ev, granting them fire to banish the dark; Bo, cradling them all in his paws as hard as rock; Gi, her silver ears holding up the Moon. Though Gi especially was beloved by all, Zetian had always found herself a little skeptical. How could the Moon float if it was made of the same rock they tunneled in? Stone was incredibly heavy. It sounded like just another story, made up by the Clergy to keep them all in line. But if it wasn’t a story, she really hoped Gi would be understanding. Gi was supposed to be the nicest, after all. Surely she’d tolerate a little faithlessness.

    Finally, the tunnel leveled off, opening up into a chamber ten times as tall as Zetian. She gasped, and the thrumming of her heart faded away as her ears took in the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard. Mana-infused water poured in through a hole in the roof, behaving like no proper liquid she’d seen before. It bubbled and boiled, evaporated and liquefied, full of vapor and glowing a gentle blue. It felt like the air was singing to her, as it pooled in a shimmering reservoir, lined with silver pots and bowls and goblets. But while the water itself was beautiful, it was nothing compared to where it poured from.

    Moonlight. Real moonlight, painting every surface silver and kissing all it touched. The hole was small, but stars twinkled in the sky beyond. Icy wind swirled down from above, whisking away the natural heat of the underground. When it blew, she could hear a million, trillion somethings whispering on the surface, calling to her, welcoming her. The dark, damp world she’d always known was gone, banished by the light of the gods. She touched a dark paw to her cheek and it came away wet. She was crying.

    “I’m so sorry I doubted you, even for a second,” whispered the rabbit princess. I will never forget this moment.”

    A paw, draped in silk, tenderly prodded her shoulder. “It is time,” murmured the cardinal. “You must drink from the Ether, while the Moon is in approval. It will not remain overhead for long.”

    She nodded and approached the ring of bowls, wondering which one to take. The water looked like it tasted of diamonds and ice. Would it hurt her? Surely it wouldn’t, if this ritual had been performed many times before. Zetian clasped a small chalice in her paws and drank.

    Ice burned through her field of vision. The darkness closed back in, but this time, it pulsated with sound and smell, always dancing around her range of sight. No matter which way she whipped her head, all was dark, smelling of rumbling cave-ins and something sharp that caused her fur to tingle. 

    The darkness drew away again, and in her vision, she looked up, up at the formless abyss that hung like a dome. It must be the sky, the place where moonlight came from. But where were the stars? And the so-called sun? All she could see and feel and smell was grass, rippling beneath her paws, bathed in blue light. Yes, all was a calming blue, she could see that now. Rivers of mana swirled through the sky and ground, congregating on a single nexus in front of her. A nexus that bore a shape and name.

    “Qa,” breathed Zetian, prompting the diaphanous Lapite to turn, so tall and willowy that he looked like he might dissolve at any second. “Is it really you?”

    He did not answer, and instead pointed to the wide array of glowing, mesmerizing streams, which blended with the fabric of reality itself. She felt like she could see the whole universe from here, so far did her eyes reach. So why did it all feel so empty? Why weren’t there more moons, more suns, more stars, imbued with the power of mana? Was he saying that none of it was real, that the celestial bodies were lies as she had presumed? What did it all mean?!

    Qa turned his undulating, cosmic eyes to her, scanning with vaporous eyes that bore right through her, picking apart her every thought and emotion. He could tell there were many questions bubbling within her, desperate to escape the black fur confining them. But instead of illuminating any such queries, he simply twitched an ear, and the ice swept in again.

    Zetian’s eyes snapped open. She was back in the chamber of the Flowing Ether, back beneath an endless roof of stone, the chalice dull in her paws. The moon was gone, and with it, the vision. She took a deep breath. It was a miraculous experience, to be sure! ...But she couldn’t help feeling like Qa, despite all his visual majesty, had been hollow. An impression of something that should’ve felt far more substantial. And where had been the other gods? Was she not supposed to meet more, learn more? Anxiety began to gnaw at her calm temperance. But she forced it down, choking back the fear of the unknown. She was a princess! The clergy could answer such question, surely.

     Zetian rubbed the disappointment out of her eyes and stood tall. Now that she had been enlightened, she could properly appreciate her classes on Godly Affairs. Hesitantly, regretfully,, she began the trek back down into the deep, away from the surface that called to her. Away from the Moon.


[hider=Summary]
New bunny character, this one a princess named Zetian! She goes up to the Flowing Ether, one of two passages to the aboveground in the World Anchor Warren. Mana-infused water flows from a hole in the ceiling, bathed in moonlight, and the bunnies perform an important ritual in the process of preparing Zetian to become queen. She has a vision of Qael, but doesn’t really learn anything helpful, and the vision felt so hollow…. maybe because it wasn’t actually Qael, not that she knows that! Zetian snaps out of it and goes deeper underground, already missing the Ether.
[/hider]