Starbasin

Late that night, the wolf had finally shaken off the fear of what happened and had resumed his search for prey. Regent was strong, he reminded himself. It was the seer’s fault. Whatever had happened, it was a matter for seers, not wolves.

He was tracking a doe, a female rabbit who ran from him, engaging in the primal challenge of wits. Regent loved this part. Rabbits ran fast but not far. Could she make it to cover before he overtook her? Could she find some trick to get him to lose her trail? It was a battle, her life pitted against his hunger. The rabbits wouldn’t understand that his life was also in danger. If enough survived, he would starve. Regent was determined not to lose. Not after the embarrassment of the previous night.

As the doe ran past a tree in the forest, a large male rabbit hit the side of Regent’s muzzle with both feet in a leap-tackle. The surprise broke Regent’s stride. Still, the rabbit was too small to do more; there was no injury and thus the hunt was still ongoing.

The buck stood protectively in front of the doe. He shouted something in that silly rabbit language. It was Regent’s favorite trick, the offering of one life for another. He got fed, and the rabbit’s sacrifice saved someone they favored. Everyone got what they wanted. That night, the grin on Regent’s muzzle was from his inability to understand what was said. The seer was only a trick. He didn’t know what had happened, but it was over. He laughed with relief.

“Very well, I accept your life for hers.”

He only got one step toward them before two owls swooped down, one for each rabbit. One was the female owl who had talked him out of his panic the night before. Belenus… She had heard his story and, despite his protests, thought to find the seer.

As she gently scooped up the buck, careful not to hurt him, she said, “Sorry about this, but that rabbit makes a powerful argument.”

Regent sat down in shock. He watched the owls carry the rabbits away. He sat there just looking into the forest until his emotions returned. Then, he ran. He ran for as long and far as he could. He ran until he collapsed and that terrible rabbit was as far from him as possible.

“If you’re the hero,” Eitan asked, “does that mean I have to be your nemesis?”

Mune chortled as Gurin and Rhizo sat with the weasel outside of his burrow. The day felt so long, but they couldn’t rest. Mune was trying to understand the dynamics of changing visions. There were stories of rabbits who tried, and were punished severely. Fate retaliating, or having the vision happen anyway, because of some detail missed or withheld. The owls were sure it was impossible, but wanted to see what would happen.

Gurin flicked his ears at Eitan. “Well, I think, perhaps, attendant?”

“You’re more than that Gurin.”

“I was talking about you.” The herbalist laughed a little, a hint of joy that Mune did not want to join in on.

“Maybe observant?” Eitan offered. “A hero needs to be remembered. And I could be a confidant.”

Rhizo pulled his ears over his eyes. “Come on. I don’t know why I said that to Belenus. It just kinda came out. I know I’ve grown a little, but hero? I’m nowhere near a hero.”

“Yet, you’re not the rabbit I took from your warren,” Eitan said. “You got me to leave with you, without any thought to the danger you were in.”

Rhizome whimpered into his ears. “Yeah, but what if the owls don’t follow through on the agreement? Asking them to save Mapleroot and Heather was so foolish. Saving them will change the vision, and show it doesn’t have to be my direct action, but so will the owls killing them.”

Gurin offered, “Taran trades herbs. If he couldn’t be trusted to keep to agreements, he wouldn’t be able to do that.”

Mune sighed, and hopped over to Rhizo. “Fate seems to like you. Enjoy that while it lasts. I don’t know when it might run out, luck always does. Maybe once She notices what you’re doing with Her favor… But for now, you are making choices in a way we are not.”

The two owls interrupted by landing nearby. They slowly released their rescues. Belenus nodded at Rhizome, who returned the acknowledgement. They flew to one of the nearby trees to let the rabbits talk. Eitan retreated a bit to give the shaken rabbits space to recover.

The two newcomers looked around nervously, slowly coming out of their shock. Mapleroot asked, “Mune, what just happened?”

Gurnin responded instead, ‘Mune had a vision of the wolf killing you. And, we managed to arrange a rescue. It’s a bit complicated, but you’re safe now. You’re both safe.”

Mune nodded. “The owls are a little hard to explain…”

Heather whimpered, “I thought changing visions was bad. Or that you can’t?”

“I—” Mune shook his head and hopped over to Mapleroot. “What I see can’t be changed, but if your death was only implied, I could have misunderstood. If it’s okay, can I check?”

“Of course.”

Mune closed his eyes and put his forepaws around Mapleroot’s. Mune pushed down his concern. No matter what happened, they would face it. There were a few moments of silence. He went pale; the answer wasn’t what he expected, but was consistent with Eitan’s vision change.

He forced himself not to gasp as he opened his eyes and willed himself not to shake. He caught himself staring and blinked to stop that. He swallowed awkwardly.

“It’s okay. I only saw up to where you stood facing the wolf. There was a large looming predator, and he snapped at you, but I didn’t see the actual bite. I am so sorry I worried you. The rescue was after that, so there’s no issue.” Mune nudged Mapleroot lightly. “You two had a rough night. Get some rest in the safety of the warren. Tell Hazelford that these inconclusive visions have been more frequent and I need to look into them for a while.”

The two warren rabbits looked at Mune, then each other. They realized a weasel was observing them and decided not to ask. “Of course, Mune. We’ll let the warren know.”

They headed back to the warren proper. Eitan returned to the group.

Rhizome asked, “Stargazer, the seer at Bramble Deep, always went into seizures or faints when he had visions. That doesn’t happen to you?”

“Not normally,” Mune said. “But most of my visions are simple intuition.”

The owls landed nearby. Taran observed, “Mune, you are a terrible liar. So, what was your second vision?”

Mune shook his head and finally let himself shudder with disbelief and horror. “There’s no second vision. Mapleroot died protecting his true love. Heather cried over his corpse. Fate doesn’t know he’s alive. I have no idea what that means.”

Gurin offered, “At least they love each other and they’re together. Right?”

Belenus snorted. “Love is meaningless. You think just because two animals faced a little danger together they’re going to be together for life?”

“Well, maybe it’ll turn into a bigger conversation?” Taran offered.

“Anything that happens, they can face it together.” Rhizo put a paw on Mune’s shoulder to comfort the seer.

Mune let out a haunting, airy whine and flopped onto his side, eyes open as they watched something distant and yet for once, all he could see was the stars and the sky. “In the story, the hero seeks the basin full of stars to find his voice and witness a great tragedy.”

Rhizo jumped back. “That’s what Stargazer said the last time we talked. Exactly the same as what he said. Do seers ever have the same vision?” He looked down and shook the seer. “Mune? You okay?”

Mune gasped as he struggled to stand. “That wasn’t my vision. That was someone else’s. That isn’t possible. Visions don’t work that way.”

“It must be important.” Rhizo shook his head.

Taran clicked his beak in thought, but Gurin spoke first.

“Alvis, my mentor, learned at a warren called Starbasin. It’s named for an underground lake where the stars reflect at night.”

“Yes.” Taran nodded. “I haven’t seen him since last fall. Let him know I am concerned.”

Gurin almost objected but sighed. “I’ll let him know. Rhizome, I guess I’ll be showing you the way there. It’s only a few days north of here.”

“But it’ll bring a great tragedy,” Mune objected.

“Yet,” Benenus said, “if you changed one fate, you can change another.”

“If you figure things out, we would wish to know,” Taran said.

Mune nodded. “Me too. But, I’m going with you.”

“You’re the hero, Rhizome,” Eitan said. “I’ll follow you.”