Fate: Beyond the Gate

10

The warrior bunnies were an odd race beyond the Gate, Waver surmised inwardly, but outwardly maintained his poker face. He was in the middle of a group of tribal Amazonian-like women wearing war paint with traditional light warrior garbs on their persons. In the place of battle kilts were fitted leotards made of some sort of durable leather monster hide beneath woven tassets. He'd seen the apparel stop an arrow dead in its tracks, but it likely wouldn't hold up against anything larger and heavier such as a javelin or spear let alone magecraft.
I

n any case, Waver was letting his analytical mind run wild for the sole reason of feigning calm. He'd never been the most composed as far as general magi go considering his insecurities the first time he had boldly stolen from his teacher and then participated in a war above his threshold. However, that didn't mean he hadn't matured.
He just learned to hide it.
There was just something about the way he was being stared at that was unnerving him. The bunny ears over his head drooped and flattened in contrast to the wave of other bunny ears around him excitedly waving or fastened straight up. Every word, every action, and every nuanced gesture felt stifling.
"H-His ears are down. Doesn't that mean that he's…" Gulp.
"Aweee, he's being submissive. I-I can't take it any longer…" Panted breaths.
"But he's a rabbit raised outside the tribe; he may not know anything."
"…Does it matter?"
"A-All of us? H-He'll die."
"Snu Snu!"
The muted whispers around Waver continued unabated, filtering directly into an enhanced sense of hearing by proxy of his new bunny ears. However, he couldn't quite understand what was being said simply because the dialect that the Warrior bunnies were using was different from what he had attuned his translation spell towards.
He'd need to make minor modifications, but for the time being he was making due by adjusting the spell in a small bounded field around him. Hence, the reason he was able to maintain a straight face within the ambient chattering of those farther away.
In comparison, Tyuule was having about enough. She knew her race's tendencies and sheer proliferation rates, but this wasn't the time.
"Enough! Let him speak!" Tyuule shouted, glaring at every single bunny possessing a lost-in-thought expression. "The bunnies in here are the crème-of-the-crop of the kingdom. Where's your dignity?! Our sisters are dying!"
The hushed whispers gradually abated as Waver nodded in approval.
Shame was a well-practiced method of silencing a crowd.
He may not have understood the whole context of the what was going on, but he had full translation of what Tyuule and those nearest to her were saying regardless.
"Mr. Waver, I apologize for the unseemly display," Tyuule inclined her head, pursing her lips.
"Hmph, if I was bothered or rattled about such things, then my reputation would be for nothing," Waver grimaced, opening his lighter and moving to light a smoke, only to realize he had run out of smokes. Dammit. He capped his lighter and maintained an aloof demeanor. He'd spent the better most part of his older years in the Clock Tower practicing to 'put on airs' against other Lords. He wouldn't break out of character to embarrass himself like his past self would.
"Y-You're serious, Mr. Waver?" One of the warrior bunnies next to Tyuule squeaked out. "You were fine with what they were saying?"
Waver put away his lighter into the pocket sleeve of his dress shirt and casually raised a brow. "Would I be standing here if I wasn't?"
[Is he serious? Snu Snu? All of us?]
[He said he could take it. How manly.]
"M-My apologies you're right," the woman beside Tyuule backed down immediately, utterly red-faced while the Queen's expression itself carried a flicker of admiration.
To be rather frank and crass, outside the literal implication of Waver's 'stamina,' male Warrior Bunnies were rather sheltered due to their rarity.
For a male warrior bunny like Waver to willingly step into a war zone, it showed that he valued the lives of his people rather than just his own. It was warming, worthy of commendation, appreciation even.
More than that though, Waver called himself a strategist.
As precious citizens of the warrior bunnies, Male bunnies led protected lives and didn't contribute physical labour due to their often 'incapacitated' states (Waver's unintended boast made him far more favourable to everyone. Moving on-). If there was one thing that was true however, the insightfulness of their post-clarity was rivaled by none, and it was their strategies that allowed the bunnies to last this long against the Empire. A pity that their post-clarity was rather limited.
Judging Waver by the bags under his eyes coupled with his serious, alert, and intelligent profile…he may have achieved the legendary state of the male warrior bunnies spoken of by the elders.
Thus, his confidence to step into a battle zone as a strategist was reasonable for perhaps, he'd achieved it.
The Super Post Clarity State.
"I-I never thought it was real…" Someone near Tyuule whispered. "I-Is this coincidence, no maybe it's deliverance!"
If male warrior bunnies in 'post-clarity' were geniuses in intellect for short bursts, then what did it mean to achieve the level beyond that?
-A bunny sage overflowing with wisdom and keen insight.
Tyuule herself however was still doubtful as she frowned. Actions would speak louder than any impression.
Unknowingly, the intensity of everyone stares heightened to an extreme.
Expectations were all but worn on open sleeves, a shudder traveling down Waver's back, his bunny ears trembling...in anticipation!
'Dammit, there's something seriously wrong here!'
Waver swallowed, a bead of sweat travelling down his brow. The eyes of the Warrior Bunnies were practically beaming at him.
'Focus,' he reminded himself. 'You know what you're here for, though it was honestly easier than expected.'
In fact, Waver had been prepared for an uphill battle where the limits of his diplomacy and persuasive prowess may have been put to the test. However, the degree of trust the bunnies were placing on a complete stranger seemed woefully naïve by his measure.
If the situation wasn't directly beneficial to him, then he may have taken the liberty to lecture these overly trusting fools about heinous nature of the world.
What Waver failed to realize was that if he didn't have bunny ears, there would have been no chance for things to play out as they were, but fate was rather fickle.
"What's the situation?" Waver got right to the point, working past the stifling pressure around him.
Tyuule nodded solemnly, walking Waver over to the War Council she'd been holding with her army generals.
Waver glanced around and noted several other Warrior Bunnies who appeared far more serious than the one's prior whom he'd somehow left dazed. A good change, really. He felt like he was being stared at by voracious predators in the other tent.
"This is Ryuli, that's Lia, and that's Areli." Tyuule pointed out to each new person, all nodding stiffly to Waver. Two appeared put off with him, the other carefully neutral. Their doubt of him was blatantly obvious, and frankly speaking, it was the same for Tyuule who was sceptical.
However, their ideas had run out, and Waver was practically a gamble they had no choice but to try.
"Ryuli, Lia, and Areli are the head commanders of the army under me, and each employ a company of ten battalion leaders consisting of a dozen elite warriors," Tyuule explained, slumping her shoulders. "The rest of the Warrior Bunnies here are volunteers or conscripted militia numbering around three- no. Two hundred and dropping at this point after we were forced to retreat to another defensive line."
"Which in summary means you only have less than 200 untrained warriors, 120 elites, 10 sub commanders, and 3 overseeing generals," Waver hummed in thought, glancing at the rough map on a table before him detailing the present fortifications and defences of the Warrior Bunnies. If this last defensive failed, the Empire would march and siege the capital of the Warrior Bunnies. "What of the Empire's numbers?"
Ryuil and Lia remained silent at the question while Areli went as far as to scoff.
Tyuule pinched the bridge of her nose, but she knew the temperament of her generals better than anyone.
"We're up against two Legions belonging to Empire Prince Zorzal," Tyuule was the one to answer. "Each Legion consists of 4000 to 6000 humans."
"An overwhelming disparity, then," Waver commented, earning Ryuli and Lia's glares. Areli was already sneering.
"One of our warriors is enough to kill ten of theirs, easy. The Queen, myself, Ryuli, and Lia could take on a hundred or more each." Areli crossed her arms and huffed.
Waver shifted his eyes flatly towards Areli, unperturbed by her attitude. "And that means your present force is roughly equivalent to a single Empire Legion. What a shame, they have two."
Areli ground her teeth, but had nothing to say in rebuttal, instead glaring at Waver and refusing to back down.
"The intellect of you male bunnies are over inflated. Our strategies and our own wits work just as well!" Areli looked to Tyuule imploringly. "My Queen, give us permission to charge. With our strength we can route them and prevent the Empire Legions from joining. We attack the first legion, isolate them, then take on the other after the first!"
Waver raised a brow. "This battle is fought on flat plains adjacent to a valley of steep cliffsides. How do you intend to prevent a pincer with this stratagem?"
"Oh, shut up! You male bunnies are too weak to even do anything useful other than bed-warming anyway," Areli turned back to Tyuule. "My Queen, what he says that we can't do, he knows nothing off! Look at him! Does he seem like a warrior? Would he even have the proper considerations?!"
"Enough." Tyuule voice was piercing in the ensuing silence. "Mr. Waver came here of his own volition for our people which makes him more deserving of a chance. If nothing else, do you not at least admire his bravery? You know what our male warrior bunnies are renowned for, and he came with the confidence to ask me to hand over military control."
"How audacious-"
"I gave it to him."
Ryuli, Lia, and Areli's features locked at Tyuule admission, doubt, anxiety, and disbelief clouding their expressions before everyone grudgingly turned to hear Waver out.
This was Waver's moment and he knew it. Stepping forward, he asserted the airs of Lord El-Melloi.
"How long until the battle breaks out at this defensive line? And who ordered this barricade to be built here?" Waver asked, pointing at specific markings on the map before him.
"At the current pace of the war, in a couple hours at most," Ryuli replied in monotone and knit brows. "As for who had it built, it was Areli."
"Break it down and recall the stationed warriors there," he said firmly.
"No! We can't do-"
"You're incompetent, and I don't have the time to explain why," Waver cut Areli off in a clipped no-nonsense tone. Her strategic positioning of the barricade had no considerations for a siege of any kind. It wasn't large enough to farm sustainable crops, nor was it located near any replenishable resources. Once surrounded and sieged, it was doomed.
"Why you fucking bas-"
"Do as he said and send the order down."
"My Queen!" Areli pursed her lips, aggrieved before turning her resentment on Waver who was too focused to even notice or care.
"Using the materials from the breakdown of the barricade, clear a circular path here and here," Waver pointed, and Tyuule nodded and had someone instruct messengers to relay commands.
Now came the important part.
Sucking in a breath, Waver marked several obscure points on the map before him with an ink quill provided on the table.
"Listen carefully, I need you all to set up this formation specifically as I describe it before the Empire legions arrival…"