Trial by Frost

Animal

Spirit

Character

Bravos

Fire Rabbit

Common

What's the moral of that story, again? Slow and steady wins the race? First of all, I never understood why the hare thought taking a nap during the race was a good idea. If I'd done that while competing, Carmela would have given me a brutal thrashing I'd never forget. Yeah, OK, I've had my fair share of thrashings, I admit. But never because I had a nap in the middle of a run. All that to say that I'd really like it if the flaming rabbit I'm following would decide to take a nap. But nope, it just keeps jumping and jumping, and I can't catch it. But that's kind of the point: to give me a reason to speed up a bit. What did Basira call it, again? Oh yeah, a carrot. But she'd politely declined when I asked her if she could train me, saying that I should just dangle a carrot in front of my face and keep charging forward.

Thinking back on it now, it was probably just a way to make fun of me. But I'm headstrong and used to being teased, so it went right over my head, like way over. So, I'm chasing a fire rabbit and happy to do so. It helps ensure I don't lose my touch. I mutter to myself. Gul is always saying that all my talent is in my legs; there's nothing in my head or arms. And the worst thing is that she's probably right. Here, I'll need more than my pins, I'm well aware of that. I need to exercise my biceps and definitely my gray matter. And that starts with finding a way to intercept this damned long-earned rodent. As I jump from thought to thought, I think back to the old tale of the monkey, the otter, the rabbit and the old man. Wait... or was it a monkey, fox and bear? Anyway. What I'd learned from the moral of that story was that you should give it all you've got, and that's what I'd tried my best to do all my life.

An old Buddhist tale tells of a rabbit and its friends – a monkey, an otter and a jackal – who wanted to do some charitable work. Deciding to help a hungry beggar, the monkey offered mangoes and water, the otter fresh fish from the river, and the jackal a grilled lizard skewer and some milk curd. The rabbit, having nothing to offer except some blades of grass, willingly jumped into the fire to offer the traveler its own flesh. But, to its surprise, the flames didn't burn it because the old man was in fact Sakra, who had come down to test their altruism. As a reward, the Lord of the Devas drew the rabbit's likeness on the moon so that everyone on earth could remember its virtue.
