Chapter 2

       As the sun arose from the horizons and the birds sang their morning melodies, Pipkin woke from a rough night. The stone floor was not a comfortable mattress. Pasco and Prue was still slumbering deeply. So, Pipkin decided to go and forage for food. He thought he should take the ulti-sword that he found the previous night and, because it was more powerful, the fire core. Cautiously, he placed the amber gemstone into the heart of the handle and, like last night, the blade set alight. He ambled out of the gloomy cavern and stared around. A deep thick mist had settled on the ground making it incredibly hard to see. Because he was unconscious yesterday afternoon, he did not see his surroundings. It was plains. The worst place to be. Pilgrimers could easily see him. Hopefully, the scouts would still be asleep. He patrolled the grasslands looking for any signs of food. After what felt like hours of foraging, he saw them. Orange carrots protruding from the fertile soil. He lunged forwards and ripped them out the ground and sprinted off, back to the cave. 

        He walked into the cave to see a very scared Pasco. “Thank the gods you came back. I thought you’d been killed or taken away. You could of at least left a note in the soil,” she screamed.

“Sorry. I found some carrots and last night when you were snoozing I found the…” Pipkin started.

“ULTI-SWORD!” Pasco bellowed, “I thought that was mythical. At least we have some protection now.” That was a seriously good point. Now, they could defend themselves against the scouts. Pipkin chucked 4 rather dirty carrots to Pasco thus to share with Prue. She brushed the soil off the carrot and started to eat. They munched on the fresh carrots that, thankfully, filled their stomachs. “Where do we go next?” Pasco asked.

“North to Mount Cloudreacher but I think we should go west to the forest first to make sure the prowling eyes of the Pilgrimers don’t spot us,” replied Pipkin. So it was that the three bunnies hopped off into the heart of the forest.

         After minutes of walking, Pipkin saw something that shocked him so much he thought he felt his jaw fall off. Footprints. Not any footprints. Footprints of the army that destroyed his very own home. Now, he was the most alert he had ever been, his ears trying to pick up sounds of mumbled voices, steel weapons or rustling leaves and twigs. Also, without realising, he started creeping, keeping very low. Then he saw two red eyes prowling around a certain clearing. He signalled to Pasco to follow him and they crept around. Not concentrating, Pipkin stepped on a stick. It snapped and made a sound that caught the ears of the Pilgrimer. He started to speak his voice was deep and dark. “Come out little rabbit,” he sneered. His instincts taking over him, Pipkin forced the orange crystal into the sword and charged. Pipkin was not great at a lot of things however his fighting abilities were supreme. This scout was better at fighting than any of the weapon smiths he had every practised against. He tried his hardest. Soon after 3 minutes of intense battling, Pipkin had managed to strike the scout directly in the stomach. Scarlet blood started to ooze from  belly and his fur was painted red. “We better hide him so they don’t know we were here,” suggested Pasco. They agreed and dragged the hefty body and placed him in the brambles. 

        2 miles later, they ran into a predicament. A river 3 times the size of yesterday’s. This one would require a raft. But wait no it wouldn’t. Pipkin had discovered a water core that could manipulate water. He could literally be Moses. He forced the diamond covered water core into the handle. He imagined the water rising to make a path. As commanded, the water stopped flowing and a wall of H2O the height of a watch tower was made. They stumbled down the bank that had twisted roots creeping through the soil and stepped into slush-like swamp that was the river bed. After only a few steps later, Pipkins’s feet were as heavy as boulders. Every step sunk Pipkin paws deeper into the mud. Suddenly everything felt silent. Nothing moved. Not a single leaf shivered in the winter breeze. Abruptly, a single stray arrow flew through the air, piercing the wind. Pipkins reflex’s kicked in and he swung his sword behind him and the arrow was smashed to smithereens.                        

Wood splinters flew everywhere. Just then, a 1000 I.Q idea popped into his mind. What if he could use the manipulation power to make a sort of water boat? Could he? He tried it. He focused really hard on  a water boat and he was lifted into the air and he was pulled across the river at speed. In no time, he had reached the end of the river. He scrambled up the bank and peered around to see 3 Pilgrimer scouts strutting from the forest. One of them was smothered in bandages. They obviously hadn’t killed that scout. The other two were large and muscular grasping broad swords the size of the other Pilgrimer. He switched the power sources and conjured fire right where they were. The cries sounded like nails on a blackboard. The soldier on the right narrowly missed the flickering flames and dived into the river. He swam like the wind. Speedily switching the cores again Pipkin stole the water from underneath the private and he fell splat on his face into the mud. He replaced the water and the rabbit was submerged in a ripple of rushing currents. 

          As he turned around, he gaped. He stared at it. Mount Cloudreacher, the tallest mountain in the hole of Zonkro stood in their way. He was just about to start walking around the rock skyscraper when the amber and cyan stones started to flash slowly. Pipkin ignored it and carried on walking. When the flashing began to slow even more Pipkin realised what it was doing. He had obviously come into the radius of another gem and he was heading away from it. Quickly, with Pasco and Prue, he sprinted back where he first saw the mountain. Taking the first step, he started to ascend the mountain. 

        4 hours later, he was at the height of the clouds. He was gasping for air because the altitude was extremely high. He could see the summit. And perched on the snow was a transparent glass Pearl. He ran as fast as his tired legs could carry him. He clutched the jewel to his chest and placed it in the sword. Legend said that you have the power to teleport with it. Focusing really hard, he tried to teleport down the mountain a couple metres. He opened his eyes and he had magically teleported. He looked behind him to see Pasco smiling with pure delight. He walked down the corner to see dark shadows looming an the floor. Deep ochre lanterns created black silhouettes on the white blanket that is the snow. Somethings were crunching through the frost, something bigger than them, something ruthless. A coat of arms that pictured a rabbit being shot with an arrow rose higher and higher. Shouts echoed through the air and Pipkin and Pasco were quiet sure who was clambering up the mountain. Pipkin grabbed Pasco and Prue in a rugby tackle and swiftly teleported into a musty cave. “Did you see something?” questioned the large general. There was a mumble of unsure no’s. 

        In the dark cavern, Pipkin stared around. He could see cobwebs clinging for dear life on the roof, vines relentlessly grabbed the rocks and cockroaches crawling across the floor. He had no time to worry though. He collapsed in exhaustion and went to sleep.