Karate Rabbit: The Secret Dojo

Chapter 1

It all started 300 years ago, when the war between my village and the south was raging. Many gruesome things happened, and luckily the war was resolved within five years, but many rabbits died. Because of that, all our leaders agreed that martial arts, which was used to defend our village, was banned for the rest of time.

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This is the story of me and how, along with my village, we got over our fears. 

Because my family is one of the original leaders' lines, my siblings and I are challenged to make the village better in some way before we come of age (16 in rabbit years). We need  to prove that we are worthy of being leaders. 

My oldest sibling Kade, just turned 20 years old. He’s already a leader, but he went on a journey to learn more about the wisdom of nature. He made the village better by practicing art, and that gave him the idea that not everyone has the same perspective. This led him to stop the village from imprisoning people who were just passing through simply because they held different beliefs. After many debates, he eventually made the idea a law. 

My sister, Sara, she’s 15, and since her birthday is coming up, she’ll be a leader soon too. She made the village better by telling everyone about climate change and how to stop it. 

 I’m Lio, a 10 year old rabbit, and the youngest child in my litter. I haven’t found anything to make the village better, but luckily I have six years. Today is Saturday, so there’s no school. My favorite thing to do on weekends is to take a walk in the forest! We live at the edge of the village, so  it’s a very short walk to get to the border between the forest and the village. “I love walking in the woods, even if I can’t go that far.” I said to myself. My mom limits how far I can walk into the forest so I don’t get lost. 

When I was walking that day, I was really just admiring nature more than usual, so I didn’t notice how far I went, and how there was a stone path underneath my feet. Once I took my time to stop, I realized I was in a clearing that I didn’t know, and when I stopped looking at the stone path that I was walking on, I raised my head and saw an amazing temple. It almost looked like the leaders’ council building, except that it was more grand, it had that ancient but awestriking feeling to it, and I realized that it wasn’t one building, but different ones in the same spot! I walked in, asking if anyone was there, but nobody answered. I opened the double sliding doors and walked into the temple. I looked around and realized “This is a karate dojo.” I said with awe.