South of Aekea, an explosion rings through the air from an egg shaped base. A lone figure stands a ways away in the shade of a tree on a mountain and looks to it. He lets out a huff. "Seems like someone beat me to it." The figure said before turning away. Suddenly his ears twitched as he heard something. Turning back toward the base he barely had time to catch a glimpse of some sort of mech as it just missed him and the tree. The figure covered his face as dust and wind assaulted him, making his long ears flop behind him. Stepping out of the trees shadow, the figure was revealed to be a white bunny in an equally white outfit. He turned his blue eyes in the direction the mech flew. "Well, I'm guessing that was the cause of the explosion. I hope no one was hurt though." He said looking back at the base as distant alarms had started ringing. "Better get out of here. Don't want to risk running into the big bunny after all these years." He stated before taking off in a swift sprint, parkouring his way onto a path at the base of the mountain.

~ Ch.5: Mages and the Great Prophecy

After a long trek, the bunny had arrived in the south Barton Fields. Swiftly passing by the gnome village, he ran into the southern forest and kept going until he entered a small hidden village of treehouses and huts. It was a relaxing place mostly. He slowed his running down to a walk and strolled through the village. Most of the residents were wearing white cloaks or capes and held staffs, they were light mages, the locals of the village. While it was mostly them that inhabited the village, they welcomed anyone who had magic… well, almost anyone. The white bunny kept walking lost in thought until he heard someone call him. "Ethan!" He turned to the voice just as a small figure tackled him. "Oof! Dan, what's wrong?" He asked the youth who seemed to be panicking. "Wendy! She went to the western cliffs! I tried to stop her but she kept going!" Dan explained. The bunny went wide eyed. "The western cliffs! But that's dark mage territory!" Ethan said in panic as he took off sprinting again. He made a stop in one hut and grabbed a crooked cane then made his way out of the small village.

A small distance out of the forest, a young mouse girl was chanting spells. She had followed a bird there and found it to be injured, so she decided to practice her healing magic. There was honestly no need for the practice as she was already pretty adept in the art of healing spells, but she always insisted on practicing and saying she could always get better. After healing the bird she watched it flap its wings and take flight. She was about to turn and head back into the forest when a bolt of magic energy streaked by and obliterated a small boulder. With a shriek and a jump the little mage turned to see two dark cloaked figures. "Benny you dolt! We could've followed her to the mage village!" One said as he smacked the other hard on the head. "I'm sorry Bobby, you know I'm not good with stealth." The one known as Benny whimpered. The little mage fearfully backed away from the two but found another boulder blocking her path. Their attention turned back to her and they put their hands up. "Relax girly, we aren't gonna hurt ya. We just would like you to take us to your village." Bobby said softly but with a wicked toothy grin. "Yeah, then we'll, 'have a word' with the elder." Benny said as he twisted the staff he was holding. "Not gonna happen boys." Said a voice from the forest as a white blur bolted out and stopped in front of the little mage. "Uncle Ethan!" The young mage cheered, then frowned knowing she was in deep trouble from the stern look Ethan had. "Wendy, you know this area is forbidden territory, now go back to the forest." He said in a serious tone. "Yes uncle." Wendy said with a nod as she turned and ran into the treeline. "Now then… to deal with you two." Ethan said as he glared at the dark mages and gave the cane in his hand a twirl. "You want trouble, long ears." Bobby asked and Benny poked him. "Umm, Bobby, don't you think this guy could be…" Bobby smacked Benny's head again. "Don't start with that tall tale. That 'Bloodmoon Bunny' story is only a myth!" The dark mage stated. Ethan smirked and reached for the moonstone amulet he wore around his neck. "Fun fact boys…" he took hold of the amulet and the two turned to him. "I have found that most tall tales and myths…" He unclasped the amulet and dropped it. "Hold some truth." He finished as his eyes turn a piercing red.

Back in the village, perched by one of the many treehouses, Wendy sulked. She had really gotten in trouble this time. She didn't like when Uncle Ethan got mad. She looked around at the people in the village and remembered the time she truly saw him angry, when he first appeared in her life. She barely remembered it and it pained her to remember, because that was the day the dark mages found the old settlement and burned it. They destroyed so much, and killed so many… Wendy shook her head trying not to remember that moment. But then he came in, like a guardian sent to help… almost. He devastated the dark mages. He was an angered beast of raw power. Yet after the battle, after saving the village, he seemed to be calm and gentle. He had helped all he could with the injured and moving the village to the new location. It wasn't till she overheard a talk between Uncle Ethan and the elder that she learned a dark truth about him. He holds great power, too great, when unleashed, it eats away at his sanity and he becomes who he calls, 'Bloodmoon'. Only with a rare type of moonstone can he suppress that power. But even with the moonstone the presence of dark mages makes him angered enough for some of that power to seep through, she saw it in his eyes when he came to help. He wasn't just mad at her for going to the western cliffs, he was angered by the dark mages. He could never forgive them for that day. The day they destroyed the village, the day the killed so many, the day they left her an orphan.

Looking up from her perch, Wendy saw her Uncle Ethan re-enter the village, he was adjusting the moonstone on his necklace. He seemed to be in a hurry and made his way to the elders hut. Curious, she decided to follow. Approaching the hut, she heard her Uncle arguing with the elder. She pressed her ear against the wall to try hearing better. "Elder, please I beg you we must relocate. They said their planning a full sweep of the forest." She heard her uncle say. He sounded worried. "Relocating the whole village is an enormous task my friend. And even if they sweep the forest like you say, we could have our defender group strengthen the illusion barrier to hide us." The elder said calmly. "But sir! They are acting toward the great prophecy!" A silence followed Ethan's statement and Wendy moved to peek into a nearby window. The Elder looked worried and slowly turned toward her uncle. "Which prophecy do you speak of?" He spoke gravely serious. Ethan took a deep breath. "Before defeating the encountered dark mages, they let slip that their target… is the book of light." An uneasy silence fell upon the room and Wendy was greatly worried from it. This sounded really really bad. The elder moved to a shelf of ordinary looking magic books before waving his hand over it. The shelf emptied and more advanced arcane tomes appeared. The elder grabbed hold of a tome so white it seemed to glow. "The book of light… a powerful tome with the greatest of light magic infused within it. On its own, it could bring no harm. But the dark mages… they must have the book of darkness. If you speak the truth and are right about the prophecy, they must be out of their minds and trying to recreate the lost tome of chaos." The elder spoke as he gazed upon the books glow. The elder turned to Ethan. "Do you know the legend… the story of the lost tome?" Ethan nodded. "Yes, it was once the most powerful tome in all of Gaia, so powerful it corrupted any who held it. But a battle with one powerful mage changed that. The mage used every last ounce of energy within him to calm the chaos within the tome and tore the power within it into two new tomes." Ethan said somberly and the elder nodded. "The book of light… and the book of darkness." The elder placed the glowing book back and returned the shelf to normal. "But a prophecy arose stating that one day the darkest of mages will reignite the clash between light and dark, bringing chaos upon the land once more."

Far off from the forest, at the bottom of the western cliffs stood another forest. This forest, unlike the other which was lush with life and green, was dead and grey. The trees held no leaves but the branches were plentiful and blocked out most of the suns light. This, was the Grimshade Woods, at least, that's what the locals called it. In the heart of the dead woods, dark plots rised. "Tonight!" Spoke a cloaked dark mage to a large group of his followers. "Tonight we find the village of the light mages! Tonight we finish what we started five years ago and burn them to the ground! We shall find their precious 'book of light' and fulfill the great prophecy!" The group of dark mage followers cheered. "Now we march, to darkness!" He concluded his short speech. "Yes master Grimshade!" The group cheered as they began their march behind their leader, heading up to the forest.

Meanwhile, up in Barton Town, a familiar group was sitting by the fountain in the middle of town. "So, this contact of yours, anything we should know about him Remmy?" Asked Neko who was twirling his lucky black cane in boredom. Remmy shrugged with a smirk. "I only know what I know about him, some things I can't say but he's come through for me many times with what I need." The small zurg explained. He was about to say more but noticed something on Diesel's scanners. "He is here." Spoke Diesel as the mech turned toward an approaching figure. The figure lifted his hand in the air as he approached. "Yo, zurgy boy. How goes it?" He said. Yoshi could swear he's seen this guy around before, he knows he's seen that green plaid hat before. "Hey man, got the items I asked for?" Remmy asked. The man nodded with a smirk before pulling five glowing purple crystals out of his jacket pocket. "I should ask more from you for these, it is insanely difficult to find these, more so to find non soulbound ones." The man said with a smirk, which Remmy matched. "Do ya really want to haggle the one with a mech?" Remmy said as he had Diesel present the objects of trade, some 'souvenirs' he acquired during their corp runs. "All right, all right, a good business man knows to pick his own battles." The man said as they commenced the trade. "Pleasure doing business with ya as usual zurgy boy." The man said as he turned to leave. Before he rounded the corner Remmy called him. "Yo Nic! Believe ya got something of my friends here!" The man stopped and turned back with a wide smirk. "Ya caught me again." He said as he pulled out a wallet that Neko recognized very well. "What the-!" Neko patted his pockets and found his wallet gone. The man then tossed the wallet back to the fuming feline. "That Nic, always the swindler." Remmy said with a laugh. His laugh was cut off as Diesel jerked to the side, which made Remmy smack his face against the window. "Diesel, what the heck man?!" Remmy shouted as he rubbed his face. "Major heat source detected nearby." Diesel said making Remmy go on high alert and bring up the screens with the scanner readings. "What is it, what's going on?" Nina asked. Yoshi tapped her shoulder and pointed to the south. "I believe that's what the scanners are picking up." He stated. Everyone looked at the glowing southern night skies before breaking into a run out the town's south gate.

"No… this can't be happening." Ethan said from the tallest point in the village as he saw an inferno consuming the forest, and closing in fast.