Fate: Beyond the Gate

9

"Right, I know," Waver recalled his role. "Once we make contact with these Warrior Bunnies, I'll ask to see their leader and try to get command of their forces while you all head off to the battlefield."
"Be sure to sell yourself as someone reliable. We can likely defeat this Empire army on our own, but it defeats the purpose in trying to establish good relations if there's no mutual enemy to build bridges with," Reines reasoned. "Emiya,"
Shirou perked up.
"Save as many as you can. Trimmao and I can deal with the enemies."
Shirou could agree with this. It was up his alley.
He nodded.
It was go time.
Tyuule, Queen of the Warrior Bunnies was nearing her wits end. Her waist length silver hair was constantly dishevelled after numerous days of neglect in favour of keeping track of the war front, but her efforts were still proving uselessly vain. The valor and determination that had once gleamed within her eyes had long since dulled into a helpless disquiet.
Three years. It had been three years of constant war, and despite the Warrior Bunnies superiority in fornication, childbirth, and capabilities, compared to the sheer number of the Empire's population, it wasn't enough. No matter how many aggressors the Warrior Bunnies killed, they would keep on coming, and in turn, the causalities of her large tribe continued to mount.
Quality was suffocating under the effectiveness of quantity, and sure enough, Tyuule could already foresee the end of her people as she knew it.
Balling her hands into fists, she wanted nothing more than to hear some form of good news, or at least a new variable that she would work with that didn't lead to the destruction of her people. Alas, all she could see were numerous reports about her people being overrun in their stations, forcing them to kill themselves and for her to mark them down as martyrs for the cause.
Death was better than the slavery that awaited the Warrior Bunnies in this war.
Tyuule's ears drooped over her head as her mood fell at the thought- no, at what she was even considering.
Fleetingly, her narrowed eyes stared at the letter addressed from a prince of the Empire raising terms for her surrender at the price of ensuring her people's safety. She in turn would become a slave, a play thing to that insufferable brute used to warm the bed chambers in the thralls of debauchery.
She was a Queen first and foremost.
The thought of what she'd be subject to caused bile to rise up her throat, her complexion paling while she furrowed her brows and pursed her lips. The silk-like fur covering her forearms and shins rose on end; revulsion causing her stomach to twist and knot.
Yet your people would be safe…
Her body trembled, shivers travelling down her back from equal parts indecision and despair.
Tyuule sucked in a shuddering breath and used the back of her palm to wipe away the moisture accumulated over her eyes, a lump forming in her throat that she had to work to swallow.

She was royalty, pure bred, and raised since young in the noble ways of putting her people first before herself. This was her duty as ruler of the tribe. Even so, the parts of her crying out for salvation lingered ever still.
Her position was not one she asked for, but one that she was born into. She couldn't be like the others, nor could she allow her own selfishness to undermine the prosperity of her race.
Fingers trembling, she picked up the letter addressed from Prince Zorzal, her grip on it so tight that it crumpled in her palms, but she couldn't burn it nor tear it even if she wanted to. In this letter, held an ultimatum that may very well end the war, and the hardship befalling her people…at her sacrifice.
Someone. Please.
Quivering, she hugged herself in a moment of weakness.
Help. I-I can't do this anymore…
She needed aid, and she'd initially been optimistic that she'd receive it, but none was coming.
Despite an ill reputation propagated by the Empire and rival nations, the Warrior Bunnies enjoyed increasing favourability with its neighbors and allies. You see, male Warrior Bunnies were rare and reserved only to preserve the pure bloodline of the royal Warrior Bunnies, causing the species as a whole to commonly interbreed with others. This fostered amicable relationships in both social and economic level, as nothing could endear anyone more to change their opinions on someone or their people, than their own children.
There was also the growing ill reputation of the Empire and its warlording tendencies to covet lands and subjugate foreign peoples into slavery. The foreign nations should have grouped together and come to each other's aid, and yet, they were too fearful, too submissive.
Tyuule bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, the metallic taste of blood doing little to offset the helplessness she was feeling when regarding the 'promised' help from her neighboring allies.
The letters sent may as well have just been formalities on their side, always making excuses as they weren't the ones being targeted for war.
What was she supposed to do?
Tyuule was abruptly cut from her musings when the flap of the command tent she was in was hastily opened and a Warrior Bunny wearing a sleeveless tank-top and baggy trousers stepped inside. The attire was much like Tyuule's own, only that Tyuule wore an ornamental crown and had stockings and lace gloves on her person.
"Report," Tyuule asked quickly, hiding away her unease and growing despondence.
"My Queen, the Empire troops are sieging the southern barricades," the Warrior Bunny said, features contorted in grief. "T-They can't hold and need orders."
It was like another blow to the gut, Tyuule's teeth grinding. If they lost the south, then the other barricades would be routed. She was all for continuing the fight to the bitter end, but she couldn't risk the prosperity of the race as a whole.
"Abandon it," she decided with much regret. "Tell the others in the forts to abandon those as well and regroup near the capital to defend it at all costs."
"But, my Queen we-"
"Abandon it. There's no other choice. We don't have the personnel to send to reinforce the group, nor the time to create additional defences. There's nothing else that we can do."
"Please pardon my rudeness your majesty, but I-I can't tell our people that order! They've been fighting too hard, too much, and are too invested!"
"I'd assume that you're one of these people? It's not that I don't understand, but its because I do, that I'm asking you to put the lives of our people first. We'll lose more if we try to defend than if we consolidated our loses and make a final defence at the fortifications at the capital."
The Warrior Bunny wilted, shoulders sagging, before letting emotion drive her.
"If we give this barricade up like our last fort, morale's going to plummet! The lives of our people that were sacrificed, they would mean nothing if we gave everything up!"
Do you think I don't understand that?
Tyuule bitterly sneered, a pitiful sight honestly, but not something unpredicted. Her people were dying, and the decision of who dies was always left in her hands. Between saving the few over saving the majority, logic's answer could only ever be clear, feelings be damned.
She made up her mind.
"I won't repeat myself. You have your orders. Abandon the-"
"Your Majesty, the Alliance forces are here!"
Another Warrior Bunny barged into the tent unannounced. You'd think her own people would afford to give her the proper courtesy of a ruler as to knock or signal their arrival, but circumstance may play a part in that.
Alliance Forces? They actually came?
Her face must have shown her disbelief, but she quickly shut her mouth and allowed a semblance of life to bleed back into her eyes, her pupils gleaming with eagerness.
"Bring them here!" For her part, she couldn't hide her own excitement. "How many came, an army? No, it doesn't matter, we'll be fine with even a hundred!"
Thoughts and scenarios erupted forth in her mind. It wasn't that she feared battle or doubted the strength of her people, it was just that she didn't have enough warriors to use. One warrior could decimate over a dozen Empire legion soldiers with their superior speed and physical abilities. With a hundred extra Beastmen from the Demi-human Alliance, there was the real possibility of turning things around.
"What's the matter, didn't you bring them?" Tyuule asked, a laugh of relief escaping her mouth.
Unfortunately, Tyuule didn't even notice how awkward the newest Warrior Bunny became in her agitation.
"We did, and, ah, there were uhm…six," the Warrior Bunny trailed off.
"What?"
Suddenly, it was like someone poured ice water over Tyuule's person.
"The majority of them took to the sieged southern barricades, but one of them said that they may have a plan to help, so we brought him here."
"Help?" Tyuule's shoulders sagged, her anxiety now showing. "What can one person do to help with only six people for reinforcements? What did this person ask for to come here?"
"Well, he's asking for our cooperation, actually."
"And you just brought an unknown individual straight to the Queen. No mediatory? Do you not understand how reckless this is?"
"We felt we could trust him…"
"And how did you figure that? Did you just look at him and then decide he was- oh no you cannot be serious?"
"…"
Tyuule pinched the bridge of her nose, and took substantial effort to maintain her composure. "What does he want?"
"He wants to help oversee what's left of the army."
"What good would that do?" Tyuule clicked her tongue, resisting the urge to pull at her hair. She then laid down the facts for what they were. "We're outnumbered, starved of resources, and have been pushed to our wit's end. What makes anyone think that a single person could outperform our best minds who themselves couldn't devise a feasible strategy?"
"Perhaps, I may have an answer to that," a new voice interjected as the reporting Warrior Bunny grew tongue-tied.
The new voice was just a reminder that the newest Warrior Bunny had brought a stranger to their Queen, knowing the very real danger of a potential attempted assassination.
A fool. Especially in a time of war.
The most recent Warrior Bunny's features coloured at the look Tyuule shot her with due to the unexpected arrival, but this wasn't the time. Tyuule's expression pressed for an explanation.
"The man's name is Waver, and he said that he was a strategist, so we brought him here instead of to the field," the Warrior Bunny explained.
Strategist?
Tyuule pushed aside her doubts and decided to instead look in the direction the voice came from, and soon enough, a man with long flowing dark hair walked into the tent.
If anything, the man looked reasonably young and quite irritable if she was reading him right. He wore the strangest garment she'd ever scene, some sort of black cotton wrapped over his body with a white undershirt and red tie. He was smoking on some kind of white twig, but she could hardly care about the strangeness of his clothes.
What caught Tyuule in stunned surprise and sudden understanding as to why her Warrior Bunnies would trust a stranger with her location, was now readily apparent to her.
It wasn't about whether this man could be trusted or not. Something he had endeared himself to them with a sense of trust born from 'comradery.'
Bunny ears.
-He was one of her people, no doubt.
"Will you give me command if only for this moment?" Waver asked, not liking the looks he'd been getting ever since stepping foot into the Warrior Bunnies main camp, but putting up with it as he had to prove himself here.
Tyuule tried to stammer out a response, but failed as she tried to collect herself.
Low would a Queen be to not put faith in her own people. Besides, she hummed inwardly if only to herself. Waver was a bit on the feeble side, almost like a pushover, but he looked intelligent. Moreover…
Again, she looked to the bunny ears, and then back to Waver.
He doesn't seem half bad.
Again, did she mention male Warrior Bunnies were rare?
No. No stop. She had to focus.
"Very well," she eventually agreed after deliberate thought and plans to shadow him, letting Waver take command and begin issuing instructions; no doubt already becoming the center of attention.
Let's see what he could do.
Thanks for reading!
Next update: Fate Kill by the looks of it right now.
P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious
Book links:
Fatedlegacydark. ca
The Lonely Peak
New Book: Out on Amazon (Remove dash on link)
Survivor's Log Reflection: Amazon.c-om/dp/B08VDDGN7Z?