One dew-lined dawn brought the Sun King’s sword like rays cutting through the leaves of the trees that lined a gently rolling plain. The Night lifted its royal blue robe as it denounced its reign, solemnly turning its back to the east and traveling west. The stars faded and gave way to clouds of orange and pink. Soon, darkness would have no place in this land and Persipsis would watch the water droplets roll down the blades of grass as he climbed up to his throne for the better part of the morning.

Even then, the ghostly hare sleeping near the surface of his hole did not stir until the wind swept gently through the tall beige grass and tickled his whiskers. Slowly, he opened his big black eyes and watched the plains dance in celebration of the morning. Sift perked his long ears and reached lazily behind his head to catch one of them with his wrist. He brushed forward and brought all the hairs on this ear upright and neat. It was important to this rabbit that he bathed before the day’s call to duty in this wide open and freshly thawed tundra. As of only eleven Coronations of Persipsis ago, the snow finally started to become patchy and penetrable enough to forage for iced greens. He would also have to think about moving his home to the forested highlands before the snow melted completely and saturated the earth enough to turn it into a cold, muddy mire. There was no better day like today. Aside from the daily search for emerging greens and small fruits, what better had Sift to do than quarry a new home before the hunters of the spring came to search for him here? He fancied another fit of grooming as nothing more than a feign to tease a rebuking laugh out of Persipsis, but thought better of it. As the winter faded more and more, the adventures of living became more and more dangerous. After all, the task of building a new home was a spiritual trial that increased in severity over time for a rabbit this time of year.

The Sun took notice of Sift as he made the final pass at cleaning his glimmering belly, though the rising King did not slow His ascension. “Sift.”

The hare erected his ears quickly, turning them towards Persipsis, but dared not look up at his majesty. “My Lord?”

“I have a task for you. The wolves and foxes will sleep for the day if you should tend to it for me…” The Sun paused for a moment to let His offer sink deeply into the curious rabbit’s fur covered head. “I’ve witnessed your intentions to build a new home. Your personal quest and my will for you are one and the same, but your new home does not lie in the highlands; that is, if you accept my challenge for you.”

“Even in your seeming absence during the night, you are close enough to provide life to all of the earth, my Lord. It will be with my gratitude for this that I will serve your wishes as you require them. Where will I build my home?” Of all creatures that moved along the earth on all fours, the rabbit felt extremely indebted to the Sun King for allowing him to experience as long of a life as He had.

“You will go to the farthest edges of Lower Paradise to the foothills at the base of Helios Rock. However, your travels must be made quickly, I’m afraid. Once the cloak of Night falls, my power over your predators will wane until next dawn. If you have made it to your destination alive, I will be prepared to make another provision to you.”

Sift was glad that he had not taunted Persipsis only moments ago, as He had the power to make the hare a juicy provision for some wandering cougar just as easily. He hopped in a brief arc to waken the strength in his powerful hind legs and started to move southward. By Shadowdown, the time of day when Persipsis was taking his place at the Highest Throne, he’ll have made it to Lower Paradise if all is well in his journey. The wind blew gently into his face, giving comfort to the rabbit as he frolicked purposefully to his destination.

Cold water came to lick at Sift’s paws as they depressed the soggy ground, bunching his soft fur into wet, brown mats. Although he was accustomed to this weather, it made traveling a little slower and even less comfortable. Lower Paradise was the bottom of the plateau that began the plains he’d left behind. Here, he was about to face his first trial, the exposure he would get on the steep inclines of Rockyside, especially because faster travel would only be allowed on the tops of the boulders that lined this downward hill to the lowlands. The rabbit would chance being seen by the hawks that flew above, along with many other predators besides those promised to sleep during this day’s travels. Resting still for just a moment, his wild hearing detecting nothing, nor was anything yielded as his deep eyes searched the visible skies above. Before coming out of the last available patch of yellowed grass at the top of this decline, Sift studied the rocks that lay ahead.

With all of his courage summoned and his leg muscles tensed for the distance ahead, the hare darted out of the grass and took a solid foothold for just a second as he measured his next jump. Before his toes left the jagged cold stone, a hawk’s cry sounded from above and behind him. The rabbit had only moments before the talons would tear through his delicate flesh and carry him away to be finished off. With as much speed as his feet and racing heart could afford, he bounded from one rock to the next; each landing strong and without error. Anticipating the sharp, curved claws that would have Sift screaming through the air, his decent quickened even more. Surely enough, the bird’s shadow was upon him and its feet made contact with the hairs on his back just before he sprung to the next rock. To Sift’s amazement, the claws did not catch flesh as they raked through the fur, allowing him to hit his target. With only three huge stones remaining before the brush, the bird cawed at him and gave chase, talons grasping weakly at the air behind its prey. Only after Sift made it to the dense grass did the hawk retreat, crying loudly as though it had intercepted its prize. The rabbit barely escaped with his life intact. As the shadows concealed his quivering body, he knew that Persipsis had seen the hawk leave empty handed and would be proud of the hare.

Once he regained his composure, Sift cleaned himself, inspecting the fur on his back and saw nothing to be alarmed about. Not only was he alive, he was unscathed. After a quick meal and some water, he’d be on his way through Lower Paradise to arrive at the foothills before Nightfall. From the rays that shone through the sparse canopy, Sift guessed he’d have just enough time to reach his destination at a slow and even pace, but he wouldn’t chance it. Frolicking among the soggy leaves that lined the woodland floor, dodging through trees and over fallen branches for some time, Sift noticed the rays begin to subside into a soft orange glow which barely illuminated his path.

“You’re almost there, Sift.” Persipsis sounded distant but hopeful that his charge would reach the end of the day’s journey before dark. His heart lighted by the encouragement from the Sun King, the rabbit quickened his pace a little and before long, saw the hills in the fading auburn light. Having reached the clearing of the darkening glade, Sift dashed towards the hills in glee. The upward climb made his progress sluggish, but speed was no longer necessary. Once finding a shallow cleft in the side of Helios rock, the rabbit would nestle and sleep better than he had over his whole lifetime. Night came and shrouded the land in a deep blue shadow, letting only the stars glinting from above shine any light in the serene calm and quiet of the cooling darkness.

Even while Night was still fully in his reign as Sift woke, an overwhelming sense of safety had come over the rabbit in his narrow crevasse. He was faced outward, so if his ears had picked up any noise near his vantage point, he’d be able to respond appropriately. The only disadvantage to this place was that it wasn’t deep enough to disappear into. Untucking his feet, he turned to the wall directly behind him and scratched at it inquisitively. Clumpy dirt fell to the floor with little to no real effort, so he decided to quarry it further. His quick paws ravaged the clay wall until there was a small mound beneath him, which was rapidly pushed out of the cleft with his hind legs. Soon, the refuse behind him had grown tall, so he turned and pushed it out of the cleft and patted it down. After pushing out four mounds of the clay, he turned and continued to dig, but the wall collapsed and revealed an airy, hollow cavern of nothingness. He cocked his head to try and see into the blackness, but to no great avail. The placing of one of his paws into the darkness revealed a floor, but the cave’s roof was indiscernible. One of the things that Sift knew was that there was a moist breeze coming from the blackened hole, so there had to be another side to it. The thought that there was water inside was confirmed by his keen sense of smell. It was a guess on the hare’s part, but whatever this was, it was quite old. Then a chilling breeze came from the outside of the fissure, followed by a groan. Startled, the rabbit peeked out to detect the source of the noise.

“Rabbit…” The sky rumbled like distant thunder. “I see you there, hollowing out a place for yourself inside Helios Rock. You needn’t hide.”

“You are Night, enemy of the Sun King and agitator against warmth and life. Why should I reveal myself to you?” With his newfound mission from Persipsis, he was careful not to be tempted by the Usurper, though not careful to be polite in his wariness.

“Think of it as a drama, Rabbit. I am what I am, but this does not make me evil or an adversary of Persipsis. I am as necessary as He and quite frankly, I am much larger and older. Nonetheless, you must be pretty important to the Sun King if he seeks an audience with you. I would like to discover why you are so special.”

“Answer my question and I will come out of my hole, Night… why do you run away when He comes from the east? I see it every morning.” Sift was sure that he would reveal the evil nature of the Night with this question, thus confirming his alliance with Persipsis.

“Neither He nor I go anywhere, Rabbit. It is you who turns to face Him and it is you who turns away. Neither of us is chasing the other, no matter what is seen with your eyes. I will prove to you my true nature. Look to the trees from which you came.” Night was matter-of-fact and unwavering in his response to the question, so Sift came out of the crevasse enough to see the trees. At first, nothing happened, which brought joy to the ally of the Sun, but then thousands of tiny green stars started to glisten amongst the woods. He turned his head to see the sparks better. “I would move further away from your hole, Rabbit.”

Just then, it became apparent that the lights were moving expeditiously towards him. He dodged to one side as he heard the humming of the lights as they hustled by him into the mouth of his excavation. Levin flies.

“You may go inside now… if you would like to see what you have discovered.” Night continued his assured tone, but at least he was allowing Sift to return to his quarry. Turning back to go inside of the sable, he saw that the green light had nearly decimated the darkness. He could very clearly see that the ceiling of his tunnel was higher than he could have ever imagined possible. Hundreds of withered fangs came from the top and bottom of the room, each dripping wet and glossy. His little hiding place became a colossal grotto and was certainly the finest home a rabbit could have ever asked for or hollowed out himself. The levin flies crawled along the walls, away from the small opening that Sift made in the side of Helios Rock, as though they were guiding him though the under-earth paradise. He would not miss this for anything. Slowly hopping after the lighted bugs that lead him into the next corridor, Sift found his water stream carving its way through the cave. All the while, the rabbit was amazed at his findings and quite thankful for Night’s willingness to show the small animal around his new home. A wet rock arc served as his crossing as the bugs continued to maneuver along the ramparts, going deeper into the earth. He noticed as he was following them that some would lose their hold and fly gracefully to a more suitable surface on which to travel. It reminded him of the orb spider before the snowy season, swinging from one branch to the next on a single strand of its silk, except there were so many more of these creatures doing it randomly. The whole experience was ‘unearthly’. Upon his return from the hole, the hare would have to remember to ask Night if he could keep his guides so that he might relive this experience every day.

There was a final section of the cave left to discover. As Sift hopped slowly into the yawning opening, his joints ached and his muscles all but stopped working. A ghostly apparition of life now gone quietly unveiled itself- an underground forest became more and more lit as the levin flies descended into the cold and lifeless wood. Every tree and root revealed themselves to be as stone as the cavern walls were. Every detail preserved in the bark of the stone glade, though the ground had an unusually smooth, rippled texture, which ramped up gradually covering the bases of the trees. Soon, the rabbit would be as high as the cold, leafless branches were. Then, when there was nothing left to explore, the levin flies retreated towards the entrance of his age-old home. The cave was more beautiful than Sift could ever imagine, but it saddened him. He felt no life inside except for the stream, which had not even fish in it; at least not that he could see. This was a place of forgetting- a secret world which died in seclusion. Even the wind there was now lifelessly stagnant and void of song or scent. This was no promised home at all. It was a grave.

Once the jackrabbit was outside, the levin flies returned to the cave. Night spoke up. “You may keep your guides so that you may see the world you have discovered.”

“That which rests inside is no home at all. You said that you would reveal your true nature. Are you the reason the forest inside died?” Sift asked with much grief in his heart.

“No. I meant that I, too, am capable of light, Rabbit. That which lay inside your hole is the cause of the furious Earth on which you walk and feed. Winter does not remove life as permanently as Helios rock was once capable of. I watched as the forest died beneath molten rock and fire, never for me to see again. But you- you saw it for what it is now. Once a home to thousands of living things- my wolves and Persipsis’ rabbits and birds, now a place claimed for only their spirits to enjoy.”

“How could there even be spirits in that desolate place…”

“Ah, but that is only for the Earth to know. Though not even the wind has a place in that world, the spirit of Earth thrives there still. As do her creations. You see only death in your cave, Rabbit, but know that you have returned life to it!” Night nearly praised the small creature for carving but a small window into a mountain. The Dark One smiled upon the hare invisibly for serving only a small portion of its purpose.

“I see now how life moves on, even in the smallest and effortless of tasks. Thank you for showing me a light in a dark place.” Sift stood on his hind legs to say this to Night, as though he tried to be slightly closer to the ominous being. There was more on the horizon of enlightenment for the curious hare, no matter how little he realized it at that moment.

“Rest now and wake when Persipsis rises to take his throne. You still have time to be ready for tomorrow’s venture.”

—

It was not the voice of the Sun King which woke him, but a smaller voice speaking softly as whiskers brushed against his face. “Look, Ran. One from the Highlands, here in this cleft…”

“Aye?” Another voice questioned with interest. “Let’s have a look at this Highlander, Yune… I haven’t seen one in quite some time! Did an eagle…”

“No. I live. Let me stretch for a moment.” Sift kicked back one of his long hind legs until it quivered- wrenching the sleep from it. The jackrabbit knew the voice of another rabbit, although this one, called Yune, was much smaller than he. As he stretched the other leg, the small one watched as the relatively giant rabbit did so. It was then that Sift knew that Yune had just noticed the quarry behind the great, pale hare.

“Ran! The Highlander lives inside of Helios Rock!” the bunny exclaimed with a shrill. Then to Sift, “Mind if we have a look inside?”

The other rabbit, not much bigger than Yune, appeared from behind the red mound of dirt and stared at the jackrabbit, seeming oblivious of the other’s discovery. Sift moved out of the way so that Yune could pass into the hole. “It’s not exactly my home. Only levin flies live there yet, but you can feel free to have a look.” Eying the uniformly brown rabbit in front of him, the hare saw the recognition flash over Ran as the little one disappeared into the darkness.

There wasn’t much light today. Persipsis’ throne was veiled behind rolling grey clouds which threatened rain. There would be no conversation with the Sun King on this day, Sift thought to himself. Not even a ray shone down through the dense clouds, but the wind carried on in brief sprints all around like a frenzied serpent.

As for the other rabbit, Ran, he was captivated by the prospect of exploring the cleft. “Why are you so far from the north, Highlander? Are you lost?”

“My name is Sift; and no, I’m on an expedition given to me by Persipsis.” Ran looked puzzled at the notion that this could even be possible, so Sift continued. “But it looks like I won’t be receiving any instructions today,” he noted and he gestured at the sky with the tip of his slowly flaring nose.

“I see.” Ran then glanced over his shoulder to look at the yellowish grey hue which tinted the plains before the wood’s border. “Aye. Rain’s coming. I should get the others.”

Yune peeked out of the hole. “Ran, I’ll get them. Have a look at this beautiful cave! It’s lit with levin flies! You can see everything….” Then she sped off towards the plains to the east. The tall grass there could hide as many rabbits as was in these lands, supposing that the Earth had continued to tend and prune the excesses of Rabbitkind that formed in these places as she did all others. Sift’s eyes glanced around once the little one was out of sight. Ran must be inside Helios Rock, having a look around at the green-lit grave within. A quick inspection proved so; the brown rabbit was moving slowly over the cave’s stream in small, curious hops.

“It’s a forgotten forest…ummm..” Ran turned to look at the jackrabbit with blatant ignorance. “What’s your name again, highlander?”

“Sift.” The large hare motioned with his nose at the whole of the cave. “I found it during Night’s most recent reign after crossing Rockyside and Lower Paradise. It was an accident, really.” It felt like only moments ago in comparison to the long journey made only the previous day.

“Ah, you haven’t been long here, Sift. It’ll be a little odd having a jackrabbit in the fold, but you’re more than welcome to stay if you like….” Ran heard the small echoed voices from just outside the fissure. “My clan is here. Hope they aren’t all wet!”

Feeling suddenly possessive of the space, Sift was about to express his feelings about the other’s intent to commit Homestealing, but the brown rabbit was already brushing past him to get to the entrance of the cave. Surely enough, the rain had started to wet the ground and the community of rabbits outside. After only moments of being just outside the cave, the clan was near soaked before Ran invited them inside to have a look. “Friends! This place is larger than any hole we’ve ever dug and it’s safe from any hawk which might hunt over the fields!”

Numbering almost eighty, the crowd poured into the cleft with straws and grains hanging out of their mouths. They walked atop each other as they tried to escape from the intensifying downpour. Most of them were brown and white, patchy and spotted, while others were all white; but the one thing they had in common was their disregard for the highlander or the role he played in his supplication of a home for them. By this time, Sift was soaked to the bone and shivers threatened their way to his nervous muscles. When the last of the clan was safely inside the hole, the jackrabbit went inside to join them and was suddenly face to face with Ran. The brown one smiled and then turned to his brethren. They cleaned each other and huddled together in the first portion of the cave, lit brightly by the levin flies. “Everyone!” Ran’s shout reverberated through the cave. The sounds of licking and varied conversation gave way to silence.  Having everyone’s attention, Ran lowered his voice a little. “Welcome to your new home! Remember that this is not just an ordinary hole in the ground, but Helios Rock- a prestigious landmark in the center of the land which will be coveted by all of Rabbitkind! It has not only enough room for us, but also our food stores. Here, our community is strong and safe from airborne attacks. Because our entrance is so small, the rest of our predators will never think to look here for food. So enjoy your new home! Bed with each other and eat yourselves fat! This is a day of celebration!”

Another rabbit spoke up, “How did you find this place? I mean, you weren’t gone long enough to dig the hole and even if you did… how did you know where to dig?”

“Aye! You’re right! I knew that I was forgetting a small detail…” Ran turned to look at a less-than-impressed Sift, and then hopped out of his way. “This highlander found it. Last night, actually. By accident.”

To Be Continued…