AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you Anonymous Guest for the review; glad you liked the chapter. Meadow will return later on in the story.
Chapter 79: Camp 98.
"A great deal of new strength and energy that she had not felt for many seasons flowed through her body. Something she was not used to. She felt young again [...]"
-janelle1, When the black rabbit comes
Aspen had spent most of the day wandering throughout Darkhaven. Such a fascinating place, completely different from Efrafa. He eventually found Campion sitting close to a pile of tyres; two other rabbits were climbing up the tower, and slightly adjusting the position of each tyre.
-"Hello Aspen," Campion said. "How do you like Darkhaven?"
-"It's amazing!"
-"Heh. I'm glad at least one rabbit here appreciates it."
-"What's the matter, Campion? You sound rather depressed. You can confide in me."
-"It's nothing, Aspen. It's just that I'm going to die again."
-"You won't! This time, I will protect you. I know I failed many times already, but this time everything will be fine. How do you know it's going to happen, though?"
-"The Speaker of the Past said so."
-"Oh that crazy old doe...I wouldn't put too much faith in what she says. But all the same, I'll protect you. What else did she say?"
-"She said I was going to get crushed by those things."
Aspen glanced at the pile of tyres, before awkwardly looking at Campion.
-"If those things are going to crush you, why are you sitting right next to them? That defeats common sense."
-"You're absolutely right, but as captain of owsla, it is my duty to supervise these rabbits while they stabilize those things to make sure they don't crush me."
-"That seems like a contradiction."
-"Contradiction or not, Woundwort still ordered me to do it."
-"In that case, I'll help you."
Aspen sat down next to Campion, looking upwards at the pile of tyres. Two rabbits were sitting on top of it, one on each side, attempting to move the top tyre.
-"It's stuck!" one of them said with a grunt.
-"No Shale, just push harder!" the other shouted.
Shale tried pushing again, with all his strength, when suddenly the tyre flew off the top of the pile, carrying the other rabbit with it. Shale desperately tried to maintain his balance; upon realizing how futile this was, he jumped off the pile, which soon completely fell apart.
As he saw the dark shapes of the tyres falling towards him, Aspen jumped on Campion's back to shield him from the falling objects. However, this was of little use: the tyres crushed both of them.
Campion and Aspen remained motionless under the pile of tyres for a long time, until Aspen broke the silence.
-"Are you all right, Campion?"
-"No, Aspen. I'm dead again. This is getting annoying."
-"But how can you be dead? I protected you."
-"I'm afraid it wasn't enough. Come on, let's go see the Black Rabbit of Inlé. He must be around here somewhere."
-"That's impossible. You killed him, then that weird creature ate him. Are you sure you're even dead at all? This doesn't look like the shadowlands."
As Campion looked around him, he saw that Aspen made a valid point. Around them was near complete darkness. He could vaguely see the horizon, far in the distance, but other than that, both the sky and the ground were completely dark. This was completely different from what he had seen during all his previous visits to the shadowlands. He made a few cautious steps forward, struggling to see what lied beyond. Aspen quietly followed him.
Campion continued walking through the area, not knowing where he was going, until he finally saw two red spots light up in front of him. The rest of the Black Rabbit of Inlé's body appeared to be the exact same colour as the sky.
-"So, Black Rabbit, it seems you're not dead anymore," Campion said. "I want you to tell you something, about when I killed you. I don't regret it!"
The eyes did not move, and the Black Rabbit did not reply.
-"Why are you so silent?" Campion continued.
-"That's not the Black Rabbit," Aspen said, hopping towards the "eyes". He clawed at one of them, and it fell to the ground: it was actually an apple, and Aspen took a bite out of it.
Campion lowered his head in embarrassment. Then, he hopped to the other red spot. As he tried to knock it down, however, he realized it wasn't an apple at all, but a hole, and his paw went inside. He tried to remove his paw from inside the portal, but his claws got caught on the edge, further enlarging it. A dark shape appeared deep inside with the portal; with a few strikes of dark lightning, she hopped through the portal and soon stood in front of Campion. The portal dissolved, and the rabbit-shaped figure opened her eyes, just as black as the rest of her body, before quickly nuzzling Campion. A few moments later, he bowed; Aspen, meanwhile, made a few steps backwards in fear.
-"Black Rabbit, I'm sorry," Campion said.
-"Apology accepted, Campion," the Black Rabbit said softly, stroking Campion's fur. "And I too must apologize, for the torment during previous deaths, and the self-fulfilling prophecy, as well as the interdimensional interference in the shadow realm which has been causing a few magical glitches lately."
-"Oh, Black Rabbit, what have I done? No matter how hard I try to stay alive, I still die."
-"This time, there is nothing you could have done. General Woundwort is responsible."
-"Wasn't he trying to protect me from those tyres?"
-"He was trying, but instead, he ended up indirectly causing it. It is called a self-fulfilling prophecy: all attempts at preventing it from happening, end up causing it instead. If you encounter any other prophecies from reliable prophets in the future, you will have to prepare yourself mentally, because the prophecies will happen, even if you try to stop them."
-"I'm not sure I understood most of what you just said, Black Rabbit. But thank you for trying to explain the situation to me."
-"Always happy to clear up any misunderstandings."
-"I have another question, Black Rabbit. Where are we? Why is it so dark?"
-"That is a complicated question, Campion. Do you wish to hear the short explanation, or the long one?"
-"Let's start with the short one."
-"Not your fault."
-"In that case, whose fault is it?"
-"That would be the long explanation, Campion. Frith provides energy. At first, it may seem infinite, but it is not. It is limited by strings. He gives some of it to be used by his servants: me, Prince Rainbow, the King of Yesterday, and others. Most of the rest goes to living creatures. The recent invasions, mergers and mass deletions have taken up a lot of energy, which has been a strain. Therefore, certain non-essential features, such as lighting up the sky here, had to be cancelled to preserve the limited energy available. And also to protest against the birds and taxes."
-"Black Rabbit, I am just an ordinary rabbit. I am unable to understand such complexities."
-"Do not worry, Campion-rah. You must go now. You have a destiny to accomplish. After it is completed, if things go well, you may find yourself experiencing the ultimate final fantasy, at the Eye of Inlé."
A sudden strike of lightning illuminated the area. It lasted only a brief moment, but Campion was amazed by what he saw. Further away, there was a peaceful meadow, with a large and prosperous warren. Many rabbits were at silflay, or simply frolicking through the large open space. The Black Rabbit, appearing transparent, stood proudly in front of the warren. But the ultimate darkness soon returned, rendering everything invisible once again.
-"Hrair!" Campion suddenly said.
-"Fulfil your destiny, and it will all be yours," the Black Rabbit said, before quietly hopping away, fading in the darkness; Campion, meanwhile, hopped over to Aspen.
-"Why do you look so scared?" he asked. "Won't you finish your apple?"
-"Campion, who was that rabbit you talked with?"
-"BRofI, of course!"
-"No, Campion. That wasn't BRofI."
-"Of course it was! What makes you think it wasn't?"
-"The rabbit you talked with was a doe."
-"I noticed, but the old tales never specified the Black Rabbit's gender."
-"Regardless, that rabbit looked nothing like the one you met in previous deaths."
-"Really? I didn't notice any difference."
-"Oh, Campion. I'm sorry, but I'll have to agree with Orchis here: you're insane."
Campion fell silent. Every rabbit he had spoken with in Darkhaven had considered him insane, and now Aspen thought so too.
-"All of us are insane, Aspen," he eventually said. "But some of us are less sane than others."
Campion and Aspen were too absorbed in their discussion to notice the sky gradually lighting up blood red. The colour dripped onto the ground, and soon flooded the land. By the time they realized what was happening, their fur was completely soaked, and they sank into the liquid, until they were no longer visible from the surface.
Shale got back up and shook the dust out of his fur, before taking a look at the damage he had done. The tower had completely collapsed, and the tyres were spread over a wide area, some of them having rolled all the way to the other end of the pit. Then, his thoughts turned to the rabbit who had been helping him: Feldspar. He could not see him anywhere; what if he had been crushed to death? He would have a hard time explaining that to General Woundwort.
-"Feldspar?" he called out.
-"I'm right here," came an annoyed voice. "I'm stuck."
Shale made a few hops towards one of the tyres, before placing his front paws on the edge and peaking inside.
-"Feldspar! Are you all right?" Shale asked.
-"No! I told you, I'm stuck! Get me out, will you?"
-"Oh Feldspar you clumsy fool..."
-"Hey! You're the one who knocked me down!"
-"What's going on around here?" came the General's voice.
Shale and Feldspar abruptly stopped their argument as they heard him. They were too afraid to reply.
-"I ordered you two to stabilize the piles of tyres," the General continued, "and now I find that one of them has collapsed. Explain yourselves."
-"I- it was an accident," Feldspar stammered.
-"Accident or no accident, you failed. Where's Campion?"
-"Here I am." Campion soon emerged from underneath a nearby tyre, followed by Aspen.
-"Oh Campion, you're alive!" Woundwort said. "I'm glad you didn't die, despite those two idiots causing the whole stack to fall on top of you."
Campion was about to reply that he had really died, and the Black Rabbit had brought him back, but decided against it. Everyone, even Aspen, questioned his sanity; perhaps they were right, and he really WAS insane after all. With a sigh, he hopped away.