Tel was watching everything happening across the cavern with a worried frown creasing his brow. Ever since the news had broken that a “Not Friend” ship had tried to land, everyone had been in a state of near constant panic. The cavern had been ripe with the scent of dread and anxiety, it wasn’t a nice time at all and it affected everyone. His mother Tri had been the worst hit, the news that the Not Friends, or Horkers as the Avali aliens called them had been here took the wind right out of her. The usually robust elder bunny had gone all wobbly and collapsed. Their elder fainting had caused even more panic and distress, everyone's anxiety and stress mixing together to make it even worse.
She was back in her room now resting but for a while they hadn’t been sure she would wake back up. She seemed so frail, her breath coming in rapid gasps and all Tel had been able to do is sit and hold his mother’s hand and hope. He’d wished his friend Ki was there, the solid, gruff, mechanic Avali would have been a comfort but he was off with his family back in their space-igloo and they’d all left in a state of anger. Tel was half expecting them to not come back and things had hardly improved after his mother woke up and she made her way to her room. He’d left her a pile of fruit outside which was now gone so she had at least eaten something but he was very scared the shock of the Not Friends was going to end her.
Now he was hovering around the cavern trying to be strong and reassure everyone like a few of the other older bunnies were doing. The way all the Avali had just left was worrying. The story that they’d gone to make sure the not friends had really gone was a big lie, everyone had smelt it when they left though blocking the exit to the surface had helped a bit, Tel had picked the rocks himself, rolling the heaviest rocks they could find into place to block off the surface and the tunnel out of the village cave.
The rock covering the entrance to the village exit moving gave everyone a fright. Tel froze, staring in shock as it rolled out of the way. He wasn’t sure what to do. His brain screamed to him that it had to be the not friends even if he couldn’t smell anything of the sorts. He tried to calm down and convince himself that they were still safe, but there was no other way out of the village, if it had been found they were all dead! Tel tried to focus with his nose and detect the scents on the other side of the rock, that would tell him who it was but at that instant Thiln and Nyt ran past him carrying spears, moving to take up a defensive position before the tunnel exit. They stank of fear and terror, in fact everyone nearby was filled with panic making it impossible to smell who might be in the tunnel. Tel hesitated, everyone else was bolting for cover but he stood his ground, a few paces behind the bunnies with the spears, they stood ready to defend the entrance, fangs bared even as they trembled and as scared as he was Tel refused to abandon them. Down by the pond he could see Cri and Cal pulling something big and heavy out of the box Firi had left behind, hurriedly putting it together.
There was a quiet, pregnant pause as the rock finished rolling out of the way; for a moment Teleport was frozen, then with a long sigh he relaxed as Seinu crawled out of the hole on all fours. He stood up, his grey fur and bright bunny fangs on show as he smiled around the cave, “Sorry everyone, I had to move the rock myself, I didn’t mean to startle you all, it’s just me and Firi.”
He stepped aside to let his yellow sister wriggle through then helped her pull a cargo box through the gap, “Thiln, Nyt can you help me with this?”
The pair of bunnies looked at one another, grounded their spear’s point down in the soft earth of the cave and moved to help. Firi praised them for being ready to protect themselves and everyone else, “This is exactly what you need to do to protect your village”.
Both of their visitors moved all the way into the cavern, and Tel moved closer and watched as both quickly built a device that Tel had seen before on the surface: A heavy, weighted white and black base with a long pole in the middle. It glowed with an orange light as Firi turned it on and one side split open, allowing a long rectangle of cloth to flutter free. It was white and decorated with orange lines and blew back and forth even though there was no wind in the cave.
“Ok everyone,” Firi said, “Step back,” She moved around the device in a circle to make sure everyone was back, chasing back some of the little ones, “Right the rest of us are going to appear, like at our camp but directly here in the cave, so it may get flashy and bright for a moment.”
Tel nodded. Not only he but most of the village had seen this device, but this time it was different. Before the Avali had always materialised up on the surface, this time the rest of the Avali Family arrived directly into the middle of the village and they were accompanied by boxes and technological devices, quite a lot of boxes, and they kept on appearing one after the other. Then they’d step into the teleporter and disappear, only to reappear a few minutes later with more boxes.
Eventually the orange light died down and Seinu stepped forward, “Tel,” he addressed the bunny, “Would you be so kind as to organise your people to help us? We have some special things to build and could do with some bunny strength to make the work easier.”
Everyone was looking at him, he knew what they thought, that he’d object or go running for his mother. He was always cautious, speaking out against the Aliens and taking risks, but he could smell how sincere they all were. He nodded and started chirping orders to everyone, organising everyone into their foraging parties, one group to one Avali whilst ordering some of the others to keep the children back and entertain them whilst the work was happening.
It was interesting work, they were shown how to plug cables into crystals and assemble a series of long metal poles into two big pillars on the shore of the pond. Another group was responsible for building a sort of platform of square black blocks that the pillars were attached to, Firi called it a “stage”. Tel could cope with the aliens being weird, especially here in the safety of the cavern. They were by the nature of being aliens, weird. Them appearing out of thin air and making stuff happen seemed pretty normal by now. But they seemed different, something had changed in the way they acted and as the stage took shape they started to gather everyone together in the central cavern because of it. The whole village being together, even inside the village; this was unheard of and possibly sinister.
Tel tried not to share his worries or get anxious but it was weird so he kept watch. Even the way the Avali smelt was different, there was something in their scents that blended together, even Seinu's scent was different and he was a bunny, more like the villagers then his Avali family now. He smelt of bunnies and the pond, snow and ice but under it all was this sharp, determined scent that matched the others. They also seemed to be constantly on the move, shifting around the cavern and one another, chirping and chattering in their language so rapidly and all talking over each other it was hard to follow what they were saying most of the time. Then Firi had come back inside after a trip to the surface and handed out their spears, turns out she had left them hidden on the surface, Thiln and Nyt having theirs down in the cave wasn’t supposed to be a thing. They confessed to sneaking off to get them after the Avali suddenly went back into space, refusing to be unarmed if the Not Friends had come back instead of the Avali, something Firi approved of, “Well done”, was all she said.
So once everything was set up and the village was working well at their assigned tasks Tel slipped away and sat on a rock, watching and smelling everything going on to try and work out what was different. He still couldn’t put his finger on it when Ki walked over and sat down next to him, the black and white Avali with red highlights had his eye covering off though his white and orange back-pack was in place as usual. He had explained it helped him think faster and Tel was still curious to have a go but apparently this wasn’t possible which was a shame, the Avali technology was interesting.
Ki smiled and rested one of his red feathered paws on Tel’s shoulder, “You seem distracted Tel,” the Avali said in perfect bunny song, “What is troubling you?”
Tel watched the village and the Avali for a moment longer before he turned back to his Avali friend, “They smell different, they seem… I don’t know, changed?”
Ki glanced over at where Selenu, Seinu and Chantelle were showing a group of bunnies how to clip the parts of a machine together, “I… guess I don’t see it? Talk me through it?”
Tel frowned and then nodded slowly, “Ok… take this,” he reached over to pick Nyt’s spear from where it was still resting blade down in the ground. He held it up, turning it so the translucent orange blade gleamed in the faint light of the crystals illuminating the cave roof, “One moment Firi had us swearing to keep them secret, now suddenly it is ok to have them?”
He pointed at the beacon, “I asked Seinu the other week, why he didn’t have one of these down here, he told me just tele… teleporting directly into the village would be bad… and now suddenly it is not bad and they are… building things, it is lots of big changes all at once.”
“Ah,” Ki nodded as if he understood, “You probably aren’t used to changes happening so quickly, your society, your lives are pretty stable." He turned dark Avali eyes on the bunny, clearly considering his words, "This is good I promise,” he leant down and smiled, genuinely the happiest smile Tel had ever seen on Ki’s face, that smile radiated with joy and there was a new scent in the air, a strong smell Tel associated with happiness, “What you are seeing right now is one of the best things in the universe.”
“What’s that?”
Ki took Tel’s hand and stood up, drawing the bunny after him. He led the way across the moss covered floor and stopped near a pile of crates where they could see the Avali family moving back and forth clearly, “Watch them… see how they move?”
Tel stared at them, he could feel the frown on his muzzle as he watched the group of space Aliens. They were shuttling back and forth, coming together, moving apart, grabbing items and chirping at each other, pausing every now and then for Seinu or Firi to translate something into the bunny language for the villagers helping them. He shook his head, “I am still not sure what I am seeing?”
“You are seeing an avali pack in action,” he nodded, “That isn’t four space turkeys and a bunny, that is one entity right now. For the first time since we got here there is no doubt, no conflicting ideas there is just the Trail Pack; there is only one entity right now the pack”
Tel watched for a bit longer and his frown faded, “They are acting like a family at last?”
“Indeed they are,” Ki nodded with a smile, “It is the most powerful thing you can ever see, an Avali pack in full sync with one another. Does that help?”
The bunny nodded softly. “It feels strange, though. We knew you were like a family, but with secrets and things done in silence, and now it’s like they know everything about everyone. Even their scents say so.
Ki looked at his friend and sat with him. “You know, not long ago, I wasn’t part of this family. I had another family who… unfortunately… didn’t survive the dangers of space. We could do things in sync like this back then.
Tel looked at Ki and hugged him softly. They both knew what each other were feeling. “I’m so sorry”, the bunny said. “Hopefully the Great Protector and the Balance helped their souls to return to the Land, like it does with our families.”
Ki shook his head softly. “Unfortunately that wouldn’t be the case. Even if you were right and your balance god exists, my pack perished not due to natural causes or predators… they were murdered… in the middle of nowhere”.
The bunny’s heart stopped. The main reason why bunnies could cope easily with the loss of their loved ones was their belief in a Great Protector and that due to the balance everyone who perished would return to “the Land” and be reborn. The fact his alien friend lost his family in such an unnatural and undeserved way meant that he had lost them in a way that must have been so painful that it was difficult for him to even comprehend it. Tel hugged him stronger, and the Avali returned the hug. After some seconds of silence, Ki continued.
“After what happened, I got adopted by this family, the ones you see now working together. At first I thought I could never join a family as united as the one I got, but it ended up happening and here they all are.
“What changed? Why did you all leave all of a sudden yesterday?”
“We weren’t lying when we said we were going to deal with the Horker… or as you call them, “not friends” issue. But we had to sit down together, as a family, and plan what to do and how. Because we aren’t going to allow those brutes to ever do to you again what they did before.”
The bunny nodded. His stress had given place to curiosity. He turned his spear upside down, driving the blade into the moss, he then adjusted his hat. “Shall we go help?”
“Yeah, let’s go help,” Ki said and led the way back over to the group.
The village felt different, just a few hours ago it had been thick with panic, anxiety and worry. Now the whole atmosphere was different, everyone was together sitting or standing in a big semi-circle around the stage, and the smell in the air oozed with curiosity, all traces of the panic and fear from earlier had gone. Cri and his brother Cal were up near the front doing their best to keep curious little ones from climbing up, they all wanted to be up on the raised platform not sitting with their parents. It was a full time job but so far the twins were staying on top of it whilst up on the stage Taran was plugging in the last few wires and fiddling with the glowing orange holograms the machines on the stage were projecting.
The air smelt of food, strange Avali food and bunny food. There were big buckets of what Seinu called pop-corn. Flavoured with salt, sugar, butter or toffee. It came out of a magical machine that whirred and went bang bang bang and poured these warm fluffy things into the big buckets. Firi was still operating the machine with a group of little bunnies crowded around her and the avali was singing something. It was a very silly song but she’d taught it to the children and they were all bouncing up and down alongside her singing along.
The ticking rises, it's worth ventilating,
Soon it's gonna pop again, and I'm gonna scream:
Pop, pop, pop, popcorn buns are baking.
Pop-pop-pop-pop, my cheeks will be full of pop-pop-pop.
It was such a nonsense song, but the tune was catchy and even though they clearly didn’t understand what they were singing the children were belting it out alongside a dancing Firi eagerly as the kernels started to pop-pop-pop. The corn used to make the “Popped Corn” wasn’t a native Avalian plant, but a plant imported from Earth decades ago by traders that had mild success in different corners of the Universe, Avalon included… and apparently soon enough the home planet of the Vampire Bunny species.
Cri shook his head then turned to grab one of his smaller cousins, Cri lifted them away from the stage and put them down again, he shook his head and ruffled her hat.
“No climbing, you are supposed to all be sitting down, remember?”
“But… I wanna see the blue wing!” she chirped, “Lemme see!”
Cri turned and smoothly caught another little bunny, tucking them under one arm, “Nope, back all of you little terrors,” he laughed as they giggled and scampered back as he used the bunny he was now holding as a wiggling, giggling shield to keep them back. Suddenly his attention was drawn to the stage along with everyone else as with a strange crackling sound the two big metal pillars on either side of the stage turned orange!
An “Oooooh” went up from the crowd of villagers as streams of light spread out from both pillars, filling the space between them. They blended together into a solid wall of orange light that illuminated the entire cavern.
“What is that?” the little bunny in his arms asked and Cri looked at his brother who shrugged, “I think… I think it is called a screen, we have seen them on the Avali space-igloo.”
The crowd were chattering quickly and excitedly together and fell silent as Seinu walked to the front of the stage, “Hello everyone!” he spoke in bunny song and… his voice echoed across the entire cavern! Somehow his voice was louder than the loudest bunny and yet not in a hurtful way, it was amazing!
“Now before we start I need you all to take something from one of my family,” he pointed to the Avali who had emerged from behind the stage, each one was carrying a box and starting to move through the crowd. Whilst they were moving Seinu drew everyone's attention back to him as he held up one paw showing a small square thing resting on the big pad of his paw, Cri recognized it. He’d been given one a few weeks back as had Cal whilst they had been looking after Seinu in the hospital on the Odyssey.
“This is called a translator,” he smiled, “It will help you to understand our language and the other languages we are about to show you.”
Seinu lifted his paw and then twisted one of his ears carefully near the base and pressed the square to the underside, “You need to just press it to the inside of your ear and it will stick,” he pulled his hand away showing everyone the small black square was now attached to his ear, “So please everyone take one, they don’t hurt and after a few minutes you won’t even feel it, Cri and Cal already have one.”
Cri tried not to squirm as everyone stared at him and his brother but he dutifully set down the little one he was holding and twisted his right ear around so everyone could see the small black square hidden inside it. This started a rush on the Avali as entire family groups of curious bunnies moved as one to investigate these new, interesting magic things. It was chaos, Cri would have been giggling at the sight of the aliens trying to cope with the rush of curious bunnies if he hadn't found himself in the middle of it. Several groups decided against the crowds around the others and moved toward Seinu at the front. Taran, it seems had prepared for this and handed a box of translators down to Cal so Cri joined his twin brother in handing them out as a group crowded around the front of the stage. It was chaos but in a good way, everyone was chirping and singing curiously at each other as they moved back and forth or helped little ones put them into place.
At least three children ate them and Chantelle had to reassure panicking mothers that it was ok. It took a good while to get everyone settled back down and then there was a lot of shuffling and curious questions until Seinu spoke and once again his voice carried across the whole cavern.
“Ok everyone, I’m going to say something, if you don’t understand me, lift your hands”, Seinu said. Then his words chirped out in the Avali alien language, “Can anyone not understand me?”
Everyone froze as his alien, incomprehensible hissing, clicking, chirping language was translated for everyone. A couple of hands went up and members of the Avali pack moved through the crowd to check their translators or replace them and then Seinu asked again. This time no one's hands went up and the silver bunny smiled and walked to the front of the stage.
“Ok, so you are probably all curious about this,” Seinu smiled, “I want to show you all something. But first, I wanted you to be able to understand the language and now this,” he pointed at the big orange screen, “This is a screen, we use them to show and play back recordings,” he held up his hands, “I know, I’m saying big words but let me show you.”
The orange screen flickered and suddenly there was Seinu, standing on the stage wearing his visor and then he came to life! He said the exact same things he had just said and then froze. The crowd murmured and chirped, chittering at this apparent witchcraft. Seinu smiled and walked back and forth across the stage, “Now as you saw this recording is of something I just did…” he gestured and the screen changed to show him walking across the snow outside!
“This can record things that happened days ago and play them back,”. He let the bunnies chatter for a bit then used the small control he was holding to put a bunny on the screen! He had orange and white fur with a little tuft of white in the centre of his fore-head and he was wearing a pale-pink coloured visor.
“This is Sher,” he said, “He is a bunny, just like all of you, he grew up in a village two hu…” he paused, counting on his fingers, “Nine days walk to the south but he went to space, he left the Land and journeyed through the stars to another world called Earth.”
Bunnies murmured but Seinu kept talking, “He discovered many great things on Earth, like burritos, pizza, swear words and shampoo but the most important thing he learnt about was music.”
Seinu clicked his clicker and the image moved on to show the orange bunny, a white avali with a magenta (almost red) feather stripe wearing a strangely shaped orange visor and a strange purple alien with pink hair and two sticks poking out of his head. “He also met friends! And working together with these aliens he learnt about music and started to play… to show the universe what a Bunny could do.”
Seinu moved to the front of the stage, “And this is what I want to show you all today. I want to introduce you all to what a Bunny can do if they are not constrained by the daily, deadly realities of your world!”
The bunnies kept murmuring. Seinu waved a hand, “Now, this will be loud, this will be musical but remember, this is a bunny and he is in charge. I’ve picked this song to show you all what he can do! So listen, watch and if you like… follow along.”
Seinu clicked the button on his control and suddenly the screen came alive. Cri watched in awe, he’d spoken to Sher on the “Video Call” with Seinu and his brother but this ability to record stuff and play it back that was new and fascinating! It looked like Sher was actually there, up on the screen and yet clearly he wasn’t, he was talking to the aliens also seen on the screen.
“Helloooo Rainvon! You beautiful audience, you!” he called and the point of view shifted to show a crowd of aliens, so many different types cheering and whooping, “Now then I’ve been told by my band-mates it’s time for a bit of fun!”
The bunny unslung the device he was wearing and put it onto a stand, it was some sort of stringed device but he left it behind as he walked to the front of the stage, “This is a party song from the planet where we learnt our style! And for this I’ll need your help! Are you going to help me!? I said, are you going to fucking help me!? Let’s fucking do it!”
He started to clap his paws together as the pink haired alien started to move his fingers across the strings and started a deep, scratchy beat. This was soon accompanied by the Avali as he started to bang their sticks against the devices in front of him creating a sort of thumping tune.
“Form a Circle! Come on everyone, circle up, circle, circle, circle, circle~”
Sher screamed at the crowd… and the aliens obeyed him! They flowed into several different circles, all standing shoulder to shoulder and bobbing up and down to the tune being played as Sher continued to clap his hands together and stomp his feet.
“That’s it! Woo here we go! Follow along, it’s very fucking simple and a lot of fun!”
Sher whooped and started to move his body in time to the words he was singing and the crowd of aliens copied him! It was unbelievable to Cri, seeing aliens actually just doing what a bunny told them to do! Sher went and grabbed his stringed instrument and started playing along.
“You put your left foot in! You put your left foot out! You put your left foot in and you move that motherfucker about!”
The bunny sang with a raspy loud voice while playing his instrument that made strangled distorted noises “You do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around! that’s what it’s all about!”
Laughing, Sher moved back and forth across the stage, “Not bad, not bad but come on Rainvon you can do better than that! Follow me! You put your right arm in! You put your right arm out, then you move that motherfucker about! You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around and that’s what it's all about!”
The song continued loud and thumping with Sher singing out instructions and the aliens followed along! Heads, tentacles, antenna, tails! All were put in, taken fucking out and turned all about! It was simple, but at the same time crazy and energetic. It was unbelievable! A bunny screaming orders at a bunch of aliens and they were doing what he said! Cri just kind of stood and stared, many of the others were taking part, laughing and chirping and doing what they were told, but the copper furred bunny found his brother’s hand and just kind of stood and watched in wonder with his mouth open from the surprise. At least until Sher started repeating the bit about putting your tail in and the pair of them were dragged into a circle with their Uncle and his family; they’d never seen Tel so happy. For once he didn’t seem terrified or worried about anything and was eagerly taking part and it was hard to resist. They formed a circle around the rock their grandmother Tri was sitting on and danced, in, out, in again and turned all around.
The song came to an end and Cri leant against his brother, panting down lungfuls of air this dancing business was very energetic. Seinu stopped the video and walked forward. “Okay, that was just one song, from one performance, but they are not all like that. This next one is more for listening too, another example in a very different type and style that Sher and his band play.”
Cri stood with his twin brother and watched the screen curiously, waiting for it to start. This recording stuff was fascinating but the most important thing was that it was a bunny, a bunny like them was living this life! It clearly wasn’t all foraging, hiding from predators and mourning those who didn’t come home, he was out there singing and ordering crowds of aliens around. He understood now the “vibe” Sher had given to him during the call. Cri understood now that Sher could move and speak so confidently because he did this! Performed for these aliens and… and this was so much better than foraging in the snow. It clicked right there, and he wanted to be more like that!
Tri sat in the middle of the crowd of bunnies, the elder was tired, she still didn’t feel right after hearing about the Not Friends and collapsing. When Seinu had heard that she was ill he'd asked her to come out of her room and a strange machine had been summoned. Tri didn't like it with all its metal vines but Rayen said it was the machine that had saved her life so she'd let it touch her. It had brushed her with its vines, flashed a weird light at her then produced a weird chalky thing that Seinu made her eat and now she felt a lot better.
Seinu called it medicine and suggested she go back to her room to rest. But Tri didn’t need his healing right now; she needed to be with her people. Seinu and his family had returned to the village and asked for permission to show them all something special. She had at the beginning harboured doubts that the Avali had really meant them well. Was this all just a scheme, some horrible plan to take advantage of their naivety ready to betray them all like Not Friends luring bunnies out of hiding with shiny trinkets? But she’d taken the risk when she first heard about them and now here they were, improving the lives of her people.
Vampire Bunnies actually had to spend less time foraging; these machines that could keep food fresh had created a space into which something nearly unheard of had blossomed, free time. It hadn’t removed the need for foraging entirely but now they could spend a bit less time doing it and save any extra without it going rotten.
She had been curious to see what this new thing was and had arrived whilst they were still setting up. She had claimed a rock near the front and centre so she had the best view really and the strange participation song had been fun. Her immediate family had formed a circle around her rock, dancing and bouncing up and down as they danced their way through the instructions Sher the singing bunny was shouting out. It had been very simple, yet fun to follow and it was a marvel that the device tucked inside her ear could turn their alien words into the sounds she understood.
Seinu was trying to get everyone to calm back down and listen to him but everyone was chattering too loudly. Chirping and chittering, singing loudly to be heard over the crowd, which in turn led to more bunnies to speak louder. Everyone was ignoring Seinu's words even projected loud so she stood up. She didn’t do anything, just turned to look at Tel who jumped and turned to his daughters and the silence rippled out from her rock as people noticed her.
“Thank you everyone,” she said and sat back down, “Carry on Seinu.”
He bowed to her and then started to speak, moving the screen to show an image of what he called “the band”. They were clustered in the middle of a stage much like the real one Seinu and the screen were on.
“Ok everyone, I picked this song to show you a different style of recording.”
He waved his little grey stick and the Band leapt to life as if they were really there on the other side of the projection. They started playing their instruments (after announcing that this was a ‘cover’ of another song) which were very loud and yet somehow compelling. The thumping machines the Avali was hitting were her favourite, they resonated in her mind and made her want to tap along.
But the pink haired alien wearing sticks on his head and the bunny Sher’s instruments sounded nice too; it was a kind of sound that filled her ears and made her vibrate on the inside. She couldn’t quite work out why they both sounded so different, she’d have to ask about that later it was very odd, they looked the same and yet made unique noises. Her train of thought was derailed, however, as Sher began to sing. His voice was rich and powerful and flowed out of the Avali machines as if he was really here.
Just open your eyes,
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful!
She sat, the elder bunny hugged her tail pom-pom and sat there, listening to the deep words, in a voice that expressed some feelings she hadn’t been able to identify before, and yet the promise, the promise and hope that she understood so well. After a hundred and thirteen years, there was a bunny, one of them singing about their journey and that indeed, despite everything that had happened, life was beautiful. Tri had seen it all, the Not Friends murdering her family, the long trudge through the snow, finding a cave that was hidden and secret, building a family out of those few who remained. She had lost friends to predators, children to evil plants, a sister crushed by a falling Cinati fruit, all of them returning to the Land, but despite all of this she had carried on.
She had tried to instil that idea into her children, her family over the years, that no matter what they had to keep living, to keep striving. There had never seemed to be a pause though, a chance to breathe and think and move away from basic survival, but despite this…
She closed her eyes and swayed along with the music, swinging her tail tip from side to side and sang along in bunny song, singing the words coming out of the alien machines.
Alive, just open your eyes, just open your eyes
And you see that life is beautiful
Will you swear on your life
That no one will cry at my funeral?
She could hear it in his voice, Sher was singing, he was showing them all, somehow taking this song and speaking about bunnies and the lives they lived and that despite all their hardships Life was Beautiful. Tri’s vision got blurry, covered in tears, the music washing through her as she stood up on her rock and without thinking about it started to stamp a foot in tune to the rhythm. It was… it was powerful, it sang through her, all those that had been lost, all those that might still be lost and yet here was a song, words and music that captured the feeling for them all!
She didn’t care about the weird looks she was getting as she swayed in time to the music, tears pouring down her muzzle. This was good music! Tri danced atop her rock, moving her aching limbs and soon enough the bunnies around her joined in, the dancing spreading out from their Elder as she revelled in the message in his words! Sher crooned out one final chorus of “Life is Beautiful” and she squeezed her eyes shut and just swayed in time to the song, it was… it was good.
“Ok everyone,” Seinu said as Life is Beautiful (song that was originally from an Earth band named Sixx AM) came to an end, “Those are two styles of recording,” he looked around the crowd, trying to get a good sense of how everyone was feeling. He paused as he saw Tri and she waved her hat at him, she was standing on her rock near the front of the stage surrounded by her extended family. Some of them were clearly trying to convince the very old bunny to get back down but she wasn’t having any of it, the previous song had clearly struck a chord with her.
Seinu smiled and took a deep breath, “You leave your grand-mother be Yi, Hal, Ser,” he named Tel’s three daughters who were fussing, “She has every right to dance! No one is too old for rock and roll!”
He laughed at their indignant looks but Tri bounced up and down, it was good to see the Elder so energetic, it gave him hope that he was doing the right thing. After weeks of worrying about doing too much he had made a decision and he was rolling with it. It felt so good to be in sync with his pack again. Clapping his hands together and calling for silence he moved back to the middle of the stage and moved the projection system onto the UMF recording.
“Ok now, everyone this is a big one. This is going to last for a while. This is Sher’s most important show to date! This shows it all, all their styles, all their songs and the work he is out there doing, both from themselves and songs they learned from others on Earth. What we showed you so far was just an appetiser.”
He pointed back at the screen, “This show, this is why we are here, why my people want to learn more about Bunnies. I want you all to see this.”
Everyone stood in silence as the recording started and Seinu moved to the side. The camera showed hundreds, thousands of aliens surrounding a stage. Finally, the three members of the band, Sher the Bunny, Rowi the Avali and D the deer walked onstage. They greeted the crowd together waving happily, and finally Sher’s voice reverberated across the dimly lit cavern, “We are Moumantai Mother Fuckers! Time to make some noise!”
The silver bunny sat on a cushion and let himself relax as Rowi started the introductory piece Anagram. The drums led, the bass followed and then Sher touched the strings of his guitar and MMF’s sound filled the cavern. The quality of this recording was clearly superior to the previous two. Shivering slightly at the feel of the bass reverberating through the stage he turned to Taran who was monitoring the tech and leant back against his teal brother.
“You ok?” he chirped and Seinu made sure his microphone was off before responding.
“Yeah… yeah this is… this was a big thing to show them, translators, MMFs concert…”
“It’s the right thing,” Taran said with conviction, “Just look at them,” he pointed at the front of the stage where Cri and Cal were standing, the twins eyes rapt on the screen, “Look at all of them.”
Seinu let his eyes travel across the cavern, watching the bunnies as the band launched into Zero Remorse and then paused for Sher to introduce the band and explain who they were. His talk about Earth, the music of Earth and their desire to share their style with the universe was good, it was why Seinu hadn’t explained too much about the band, it was better to let Sher do it himself.
The bunnies chattered amongst themselves, he could see them listening, their eyes opening as they realised that yes… yes there was a bunny, a bunny like them who was out there doing this stuff! It was eye opening for a civilization who had up to this point feared space and spent their days scrounging in the snow for enough food to eat whilst avoiding the fucking awful dangers this planet threw at them.
Seinu watched them, they were dancing, they were cheering, the hard rock, punk and metal style blend that MMF played was oddly perfect for bunny hearing. There was something about the music, the strings, the guitar, Sher’s voice that made Seinu want to move and groove, the tones were pitched at a level that he knew would hurt unprotected avali ears, but listening as a bunny they were perfect. Rowi’s deep voice for Unconditional was eye opening to the bunnies as they watched the Avali sing instead of Sher. Seinu could see them reacting as they realised this wasn’t just Sher on his own, but a collaboration between the bunny and his friends. Seinu loved it, watching them react, watching the cogs turning in their heads. None of them could read and yet they were smart, they were clever and the concert was a sweeping realisation of many different things for the bunnies.
“I wish it could be Christmas Everyday” struck another chord, especially when Sher moved behind the drums to lean in against Rowi for a moment. The two of them were belting out the words together, cuddling right there on stage. Three aliens from vastly different cultures, from different parts of the universe, singing a song about a holiday on another planet. Seinu could see Tri stand back up at that, she seemed enraptured and he waved at her, sidling off the stage and weaving his way through the crowd to stand next to her rock.
“You ok?” he called up to her as Rowi and Sher’s image continued to fill the screen, wishing it could be Christmas every day.
“Yes,” she shouted back, “I… he…” she pointed at the screen, “I have never seen one of us like this. Even on the day an egg hatches we never look like this, after all these years I’ve never, never seen one of us look this happy.”
Seinu smiled, “Sher is a very happy bunny, he made a life for himself and a family in space, but he has never forgotten you all, just wait… he has a message for the universe soon.”
Tri shot him a look, then nodded thoughtfully and Seinu stayed by her rock to just enjoy the sensation of belonging. Everyone around him was dancing, swaying, moving to the music and not one of them recoiled from him or looked at him as anything other than just another bunny.
Smiling happily, Seinu made his way back to the stage in time for Lost in Space, a song he knew would bring the mood down a bit. It was a song about an Avali who had lost their pack to a pirate invasion and didn’t know what to do, he just wanted to die. That song destroyed Ki, who was hearing in music exactly the same thing that had happened to him and his pack. Seinu made to move through the crowd to his new brother but the bunnies near him moved first. Somehow Tel was right there then Firi and a crowd of others, all offering Ki support, reminding him that he wasn't alone any more. Finally he received hugs not just from the bunnies but from everyone in the Trail pack. He didn’t like the noise of this so-called “rock” style, but he fell in love with that song alone.
The song that came later, a cover of "You took the words right out of my mouth" (Another cover from an Earth song, originally from an artist named Meatloaf) brought the mood back up and Seinu interrupted the flow by turning his microphone back on and singing along. Soon enough he had bunny couples across the cavern singing at each other. The line, “And then you took the words right outta my mouth- It must have been when you were licking me” saw a lot of happy bunny couples licking each other adorably.
Seinu let the performance continue to play, there was no need to interfere, the band knew how to put on a show and D had clearly done a good job editing the recordings of the show together. He stirred however as about two hours into the show where the band sung mostly their original songs.
Intricacies was a song about how complex life is. Chronicles of a Weird World detailed Sher's first experiences on Earth, and Deer Lights was a cheeky song about how when D was bored he'd go to the autobahn to scare drivers in the middle of the night.
Schnelle Zeit was a song in German about using the time we have before we die, Unconditional was a standard love song written and sung by Rowi and Under my fur was a list of things that made Sher angry.
After that there was Dirty Hell, that was a song against tossing trash to the floor, Definition of love (another romantic song, this time sung by Sher), and a powerful rock single, The Coldest Winter that was about seeing cold winters and blizzards as times for peace and rest.
Time Dilation was a song about how differently it seems like time runs for governors and 'leaders' who can do anything they want in their lives, and it was followed by Blue Rose that narrated the story of a gardener who grew a blue rose and, after showing it to others, someone came during night, stole it and trampled the other flowers he had.
There were some more songs plus a couple more covers from Earth's music. Finally, when the band started singing the classic Bohemian Rhapsody from Queen (every member of the band participated with their voices too), Seinu knew what was coming and had to make a decision…
Master of Puppets started and he still hadn’t decided what to do, he tracked Firi down on the far side of the stage and whispered into her ears. She looked thoughtful for a moment then whispered some back and Seinu hugged his sister. After the 16 minute long marathon that involved playing both songs one after the other without stopping between them, Seinu stood up and hit pause. He walked back to the middle of the stage and watched as the lights dimmed, the intensity of the projector was scaled back as Taran followed the instructions he’d given.
“Hello everyone,” he smiled, “Are we all enjoying the show?”
There was a chorus of cheers and chirping from the bunnies and Seinu took a deep breath, “I am glad, but this next song is the most important,” he looked around, “This is the song that caused my people to send me, to learn about you all. This song… this song is how Sher and his family,” he pointed at the screen, “Yes that’s right, his family, this band aren’t just some aliens; you heard him say it himself, they are his family! This is how they told everyone about the Horkers, the Not Friends and what shit-bags they are.”
His fur was fluffed up, he could feel the hair on the end of his ears frizzing out in anger, he didn’t care, “This song… this song… this song told the whole fucking universe what had happened here… it is… it can be a bit alarming but I want you all to remember, this is how Sher tells people his feelings, he screams them in song and this song… this song is the most important so please… everyone… enjoy”
He hit play and stepped back slowly as it began with Sher standing alone in the dark and speaking.
There was a time when life was hard
There was a time when we all died
Our flesh cut and our skin torn
Why?
Then he started to strum the guitar, a slow, quiet beginning that he sang over in that rich, lilting voice of his. But Seinu could see, the audience had gone still, there was something in that opening that touched all of them.
In the dark I can’t forget
Experiences, family,
Shits didn’t care for us all.
They wanted our flesh to sell.
Yeah!
Drawn from the long journey through you
And it feels like everyone wanted a taste
You weren’t even from home.
What do you mean?"
Then without warning the bass and drums erupted into the song but that wasn’t all. A wailing shriek, the odd dissonance that the first time Seinu had heard this song had been powerful but he hadn’t really understood what he was hearing. That was buried beneath the guitars but still audible as Sher screamed… the wailing shrieks of vampire bunnies begging for their lives in Bunny Song.
Drawn
From the journey through you
Everyone
Wanted a taste
You weren't even from home
What, what do you mean?
Seeing us as cattle?
The cavern was silent, the bunny villagers were frozen in place and then Seinu saw them, holding each other in their arms, parents holding children close, everyone was trembling, he could smell the distress in the air but no one ran away.
Seinu was trembling himself, it was hard to ignore, his instincts wanted him to join in and slowly, quietly he dropped his controller and removed his visor and just stood in the dark, fur fluffed up in rage as the song played out. He could see it on the others, people had drawn together, they were scared but slowly as Sher’s voice screamed Tri’s fur grew ruffled, thick, fuzzy and full of anger. Anger, a feeling that most bunnies were feeling for the very first time after a lifetime of just accepting everything nature threw at them. Tri had gone from cowering at the sounds of those screams to standing up tall and staring up at the screen enraged.
It was spreading too, as their Matriarch stood there visible to them all in the dim light growing angrier and angrier it spread; the fear was still there, but an under-tone, a current beneath the surface of pissed off anger. Not at Sher, not at the song but at the story it was telling, of the massacre of most of their people. It was… it was powerful in a way Seinu hadn’t really appreciated until today, he was one of them after all. To the silver bunnies’ utter amazement as Sher screamed his way through the chorus for the second time Tri took her hat off and whilst still fluffed up in anger bowed her head. It rippled out from her rock, bunny after bunny removing their hats. The family heirloom that no bunny would ever remove for any reason yet as Sher’s voice screamed and those bunny voices wailed in endless terror, begging, begging, begging for their lives to be spared they took them off. A silent respectful moment, a declaration that they would not be forgotten.
You've no idea what it is
Being born to die!
Born to die!
Born to die!
Born to fucking die!
The song came to an end and Seinu sat down on the stage, his head in his hands as he thought about all those who had been massacred. It was hard not to feel the pain, the anguish and sorrow of the horrific ways that so many had been slaughtered. But there was more… there was something else, under it all, a seething need to do something.
“Never again,” he whispered, head coming up to look across the cavern, “I won’t allow it, you hear me… I swear, I will do everything in my power… never again.”
He sat there quietly, seething internally at what had happened to these wonderful creatures, taking time to calm back down. There were several minutes of darkness on the screen in which to compose himself. At the concert Sher had gone to hug his parents so Seinu let it play out. He could hear the sniffling cries of the little ones, the outraged murmuring of the older bunnies and then the spot-light came back on, first illuminating Rowi while he played a rhythmical mid-tempo introduction, and then a second spot light illuminated Sher as he returned to the recording’s stage.
As Sher played the opening bars Seinu’s head came up, he remembered this song from the concert. All those months ago on Warfaisser it had just been a nice tune to follow the bombshell and emotional rollercoaster that was Cattle. But now… now that he had gone through the ‘Bunny Experience’ he realised that this, this next song was the perfect answer to Cattle. Shaking his head the silver bunny turned to look at the screen, watching Sher. His makeup was a mess, his fur as thick and puffy as Seinu’s, he wasn’t just scared or sad he was seething with fury and then he started to sing.
"This bloody road remains a mystery.
This sudden darkness fills the air
What are we waiting for?
Won’t anybody help us?
What are we waiting for?”
It was a cover of an Earth song by an artist called Pat Benatar and as it moved towards the first chorus Seinu jumped to his feet. An idea was burning in his mind and he had to act, now before he lost the chance. He ordered the lights to rise slowly then flicked on his microphone and started to sing, adding his voice to Sher’s.
We can’t afford to be innocent!
Stand up and face the enemy!
It’s a do-or-die situation!
We will be invincible!
He moved around the stage, clapping his paws together as the second verse echoed over the crowd. He saw bunnies looking up at him, hats abandoned on the ground as they shifted and moved, responding to his body language as he moved about. He came right to the front of the stage and stopped holding out his hands towards Tri. She scrambled off her rock and with the aid of the twins scrambled up to be with him, holding his hands. He looked into her green eyes, eyes that had seen and suffered so much and as the second chorus hit Seinu sang and her voice rose with his, hesitant over the unfamiliar words but growing in confidence.
We can’t afford to be innocent!
Stand up and face the fucking enemy!
It’s a do-or-die situation!
We will be invincible!
And with the power of conviction
There is no sacrifice
It’s a do-or-die situation
We will be invincible!
We will be invincible!
We will be invincible!
Seinu was glad that during their performance Sher had extended the song’s length; it was perfect and gave him time to get the whole village to participate. Stomping his feet and leading the village as the rest of his family and friends drifted across the stage to join him he sang with all his heart. With Tri and the twins next to him the crowd slowly but surely joined in; close to a hundred bunny voices, hands raised, voices singing, screaming out the chorus. They crowded onto the stage, gathering around Seinu, Tri and the Trail pack, their voices ringing out again and again as they danced and sang in defiance with MMF’s recording leading the way.
We can’t afford to be innocent!
Stand up and face the fucking enemy!
It’s a do-or-die situation!
We will be invincible!