Dawn- An age of Darkness

"Looks that way." Servesta walked towards us, carrying Dick on his back.

Biteria puffed her chest and declared something. All the other bunnies nodded and dropped the knives. 

"Just what the hell did she say?"

I didn't get my answer. 

And then some of the bunnies growled at me. 

Biteria squeaked again. 

This time every single one of them just dropped on the floor kneeling in front of Biteria.

"She doesn't happen to be from the Braskan islands, right?" Alisa stood next to me.

"I dunno. But I was stranded on an island full of bunnies, bugs, and undead. Why?" And not to mention a geezer.

She sighed. "I think she's royalty.  That island is sacred to rabbits all over the world."

"You can't make this shit up." Dick bestowed his wisdom upon us and started to laugh. When the hell did he get up? He was still being carried like a princess by Servesta though. 

Wait, but didn't it mean me and the geezer were eating bunny royalty for two whole months? And not to mention they even tasted good. 

"What's wrong Daarc?" Lianne asked, shaking me from the sides.

Sweats leaked. 

There was no answer(s). 

***

Apparently, we were their breakfast. These bunnies were a rare species always traveling across the mountains and forests. Given their strength, I didn't doubt that. How did I know? Well, actually…

"Please forgive me oh great one and comrades of the great one." the bunny that had attacked me, spoke in a very manly voice and bowed before us, more like, almost touching my feet. 

What the hell was this? I'd been asking that question for the last two hours now. 

These bunnies were sentient. They always hunted and ate anything that they could find. And unfortunately for us, this time it just happened to be us. We were supposed to be their breakfast. Though I was grateful for not being their food, the mere thought of those muscles over their bodies and standing on two legs ticked me off more than just necessary. I could almost cry. In fact, I might have even leaked a few drops.

They had huts on top of this small hill and this whole place was pretty high up in the mountains. But the mountain itself went a lot higher. 

This particular hut was big and basically, all the bunnies were on their knees in front of me like criminals while I was on a chair and all my comrades were sitting pretty on the floor. 

They treated me like I was some sort of deity.

  I felt like a moron. 

I sniffed and just looked sideways. I was met with a bunny girl winking my way. But her muscles and all that manliness made me want to puke. 

Are there no lovable bunnies left in this world?

As the thoughts ran wild in my brain, Biteria jumped to my lap and stayed. She looked back at me as if to reassure me. I guess I still had my pet bunny if nothing else. 

Though the bunnies were sentient, only I and Alisa could understand them. But then there was the question, why couldn't I understand Biteria? I was kind of glad that I couldn't though. I was content with just petting my finger-biting lovable, cute pet bunny. I didn't need anything more from her than just purrs, and occasionally bites. 

Otherwise, it would have been devastating for my heart. 

"So, what now? Where are our things?" I started, obviously to distract my mind. 

"You see," the bunny began. "We kind of sold them. His ears drooped and he gave me a meek smile. 

By things I meant everything. Most of my things were in my ring, so all was good. And I was still wearing my armor so that was cool too. But I had some money on my belt and I also had a sword in baldric. And if I remembered correctly, most of my companion's stuff was with Servesta. 

Meaning, we didn't have much of anything, not food nor money. And my companions didn't have weapons. But the valuable ones were inside my ring and Dick's cup, so I guess it was kind of fine unless Dick's cup just happened to be among the stolen things. 

"And who did you sell to?" I smiled. 

"Merchants from Drom."

"We can't get them back?" I raised a brow, smiling sweetly. 

"We already made the trade you see-"

My cheeks and eyes twitched. "Dick? Do you want rabbit stew tonight?"

Dick snorted though he didn't understand much of anything. 

The rabbit man bowed even fiercely to the ground. "Please forgive us, my lord! We promise to get them back even if it costs our life. We cannot trouble the lord of our queen!" 

I didn't know why but it felt awfully weird to hear that. And not to mention queen? Wasn't Biteria supposed to be a princess, rather than a queen? I turned to Alisa and she didn't even look at me. 

I sighed. "You don't have to lay down your lives. Where are those merchants headed for?"

"I believe Dracona, my lord. They said things like Dracona was in a troublesome situation."

I was technically headed for Dracona too, so this was at least better for us, well kind of. 

"Well, what did you buy from them in exchange?" But I couldn't just go and rob merchants either. 

"Two kilos of rice my lord."

"That's it?" Alisa scratched her head. 

"Yes, my lord. That is all." The rabbit man looked down. "They said rice was rare and they couldn't give us any more. Our young really like rice and we- we-" The guy sniffed. 

I didn't know whether to feel pity or anger. 

"They ripped you off I guess. Helsing had plenty of paddy fields. So technically though rice is rare near Moire, it isn't, around here. Though I have to say, I actually haven't had rice in a long while myself, so maybe that's true?"

"I thought you didn't like rice." Lianne looked at me with large eyes. "That's why I forbade the chefs to cook rice the entire time."

My eyes twitched again. Just what kind of crimes had I done to deserve such punishment?

"I'm pretty sure I like rice more than bread but oh well." I glared at the rabbit man. "Where are you headed next?"

"We will head to the forests and migrate to the mountains again next year."

"So, this is a yearly thing?"

"Yes, we continue our pilgrimage until we achieve sagehood and finally venture out in the wilderness alone in search for the legendary island of Braska!" The rabbit man's tears streamed down as his snot dripped. It was disgusting to see that happen to a bunny but I had to deal with this. "But never have we ever thought that it was possible to witness such wondrous sight! I thought I'd die before that." He cried and so did all of his fellow rabbits. 

  They were overreacting but I couldn't fault them. After all, everyone had their own ideologies. But even so, "What happens when you reach sagehood?"

"We can sense and neutralize mana. But if we reach an even greater level, we can suppress mana altogether!" He was proud of it, no doubt. 

This actually seemed like a new revelation to me. After all, I was searching for a way to end mana, and suppressing it seemed like a good first step. "So how does one do it or learn it?"

"One must first repeat the pilgrimage for at least a century before they can achieve sage hood, but sadly not all make it." The guy sighed. 

Drag.

So, I switched to the next best thing. "Does anyone here know how to do it?"

No one said a word. 

"Why do you want to learn it anyway?" Alisa whispered. 

"I want to erase all mana," I whispered back. 

She looked at me with confusion and a bit of surprise. She sighed and just stood next to me, without a word, until finally, "That's impossible."

Of course, I kind of knew it was impossible. After all, if it was possible, someone would have done it already. 

I turned to the bunnies again. "So, anyone know it?"

"One of our children is very blessed in that art. He can make special incense, but-"

"But?"

"He is very shy and he doesn't wish to speak with you."

"How long will this take again?" Dick's patience had run out. 

"I suppose that's too bad." I turned to Alisa. "What do you think we should do?"

"Why are you asking me?" she was awfully surprised again. 

"Well, they are kind of like you, so yeah, go ahead."

"That's not funny you know." She hissed and cleared her throat. "Give us some weapons, food, and also descriptions of the merchants. We'll leave you alone, but next time, don't go hunting for humans. Or you might end up with monsters like him."

I didn't know why but I got kind of offended.