The Tale of Animalia (Part 5 & Epilogue)

Here is the final part and epilogue of Animalia, what will happen to the war torn kingdom, read on:

Filo had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. He had been spared the death between an alligator and a shark, but was about to be eaten by the main predator of the rabbits. He looked up at his assassin.

A sense of shock flooded Filo as the two eyes he was staring into were those of Orleé’s.

‘Ah, Young Filo, even the greatest of hero’s needs support.’ 

‘H-h-how did you know I’d be here?’ asked a flustered Filo.

Orleé explained to Filo how he had been watching everything that happened from a safe distance, he hadn’t flown in to help though as he admired how adamant he was and wanted to let him solve the problem independently, only jumping to help when it was needed. ‘You have truly impressed me, young rabbit, I wouldn’t find many other mammals that do not swim regularly would’ve taken that on, but help from others is needed sometimes, I shall take you to the island, it is not far now.’

Orleé did not seem remotely remorsed with his leader’s death, nor that of Leonardes. Whilst he stood loyal to his species and shared their disdain for Leonardes, he was never a fan of the aggressive, hateful ways of Eglé. He was a rather cold creature despite his great caring for those less advantaged than himself, he always put logic before strong feelings.

‘Well, young rabbit, I have passed Platypus Island in my many solo adventures before, it is just along here. Best of luck, you have the whole kingdom in your hands.’

Eventually, the water ended at a small island. He had reached Platypus Island.

The two of them landed softly and Orleé released Filo from his grasp. As he stepped forward, he instantly saw them – dozens of the duck billed, webbed footed creatures called ‘platypuses’ gathered round, they were not defensive, but were certainly intrigued at this small, long eared stranger. One stepped out of the crowd. There was nothing that distinguished him from the others, but he looked far bigger and intimidating and it was easy to see he was the dominant platypus. He addressed Filo:

‘What is your business here, long eared animal?’

Filo explained to the leader what had happened: ‘and the king would like to ask you to take the throne for Animalia.’

The leader was less than enthusiastic: ‘So he kills one of us merely because we expose him for what he is. Good riddance. He expects us to step in just so we can ‘forgive’ him for what he did? Pah! He can watch his kingdom fall from hell.’

‘But our land is falling, we need your help, you’ve managed to set up a community well here and we need your superior methods to repair this damage that our fallen king has caused.’

‘We have our own community; we care only for our own kind, not you foolish and weak minded animals. You have no more business here, please leave.’

Two of the platypus by his side moved forward to usher Filo back to the river, but he wasn’t about to give in:

‘But…but…but’ the platypuses started to shove at him with their beaks, until Filo blurted out: ‘YOU’RE ONE OF US’

Everyone turned round; Even Orleé looked surprised. The lead platypus was intrigued. ‘What are you saying, you wretched creature?’

‘How can you say you don’t care for us when you are one of us yourself? You have fur just like a mammal, you swim just like a beaver, you have a beak & webbed feet just like a duck, and you need water to survive just like fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals. How are you any different from our kingdom? You can run from it, hide from it, deny it as you will, but however unique, you regard yourself, you will always be an animal, just like us. Why would you watch all of your own kind fall, that is more selfish & arrogant than Leonardes ever was!’

At this the two ushering platypus flinched and looked set to attack him but the leader warned them off, possibly because he knew what Filo was saying was true. ‘You are right young rabbit, we are in fact, mammals just like yourself and Leonardes, We don’t hold any grudges against the rest of the kingdom, but your king drove us away. He was an arrogant fool that believed he was more equal. He clearly thought animals shouldn’t be mixed and should keep to their own kind, he drove us away, why should we help him?’

‘Because you can build on the mistakes he made, not just your own kind, but the whole kingdom will benefit and you can be a part of it again.’

'You are what Leonardes never saw -  proof that we are all related.’ These were Orleé’s words, it was the first time he’d spoken since they landed.

After a prolonged silence, the leader spoke: ‘I am going to discuss this situation with my colleagues, please wait here.’

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting of what were only a few minutes, the leader came back to them:

‘We agree to take up the throne’

And with that, they all went back to the war torn island of Animalia. Filo was carried back once more by Orleé, whilst the platypuses used their adept swimming to he saw the whole kingdom at his feet: He knew it would take a while to repair the damage, but for the first time in weeks, things were finally starting to look up.

Epilogue

Word and shock spread throughout the kingdom at the sudden death of the two fallen leaders and a shock change of throne. The animals were shocked that a mere rabbit had managed to do all this for the kingdom; he was given a hero’s welcome when he returned to his family, in which all including his sick brothers had survived.

The strange creatures weren’t welcomed warmly, and received some disdain from Leonardes’ wife & sons, it was eventually seen that the kings orders were those to be followed and when they learnt about the venom of the platypus, they gave way.

The platypuses elected Filo & Orleé to help them decide plans of how to make Animalia a better place for everyone. It was discovered that the world had many individual islands that were almost the size of the main land. It was eventually decided that each species would get an independent land on one of these islands to prevent arguments over who should get priority on one land. The species will primarily own that island and look out for their own species, however, other animals are always allowed to come and go on the islands as they please. There would be an elected leader that would look out for their own species only.

It was also agreed that no species would receive special treatment and all herbivores must agree to be ready to be killed by a carnivore as that is their only way of surviving, at the same time, the carnivores must not bother the herbivores unless they need to eat.

The five lands are Terra Mammalia (mammals), Terra Avium (birds), Terra Serpentium (reptiles), Terra Amphibian (amphibians), Terra Piscium (fish) & Terra Insecta (insects & invertebrates).

The platypuses decided to still stay together rather than go to Mammalia, but still are responsible for the whole kingdom and would never abandon them. They kept the main land and renamed Kyers Rock to Platys Rock, but the majority was also open to all species as a leisure space.

And that is more or less where our story ends, but what became of our heroes and villains?

Filo is now a worldwide hero, even in the land of Avium, and is granted an official place on the panel of Mammalia. The lions agreed to step down and instead gave way to the powerful bears, led by the huge, powerful grizzly, Baran. Whilst Filo is something of a celebrity on any Terra, he prefers to remain with his woodland friends and lives a quiet life, he chose not to have immunity from predators and whilst they remain reluctant, he remains fiercely adorned to his previous life. A memorial still remains on Mammalia for Leonardes.

Orleé was elected new leader of the land of Terra Avium, he remains widely respected and acclaimed to this day, and with his help, the birds have become a far less violent and more co-operable with the other species.

The same can unfortunately not be said for the reptiles, the newly elected Savril the snake took the lead from an injured Alguarve. Whilst they have accepted the new rules and enjoy to be running their own island, they are reluctant to interact with other animals and don’t often mention Filo, they remain silent and still quite opposed to the other species.

Matra, the sting ray took over from Xatlhu for Terra Piscium and dropped all allegiances with Serpentium - the two species are very unlikely to bond nowadays.

The Amphibians can finally live in peace, however the war did make them tougher and that is reflected in their newly elected leader, Tolbye, a fierce Cane toad. 

Bermuda the butterfly currently rules Insecta, they are now valued as part of the kingdom despite their size and have even formed relationships with a few of the smaller mammals.

And that is how it remains to this very evening, but one thing that will always stay the same which we haven't covered in our tale - the great, overbearing shadow of Platys Rock, over 1000 years old, it has seen the rise and fall of the dinosaurs and dominance of the animals, it will foresee their time here and whatever happens beyond that. The true ruler of Animalia.

I'd like to thank all of you who have read or followed the story, my views are on the increase so this is only positive, feel free to leave comments about if it worked/didn't work or how it can be improved, I shall post more work shortly.