The Strings Of Us | Prologue

The Awakening of the Rabbit.

Welcome to the Atlas, friends.

Welcome to the universe of ‘The Strings Of Us’. This is my primary serial project, which follows the epic story of the Chrysaora. A generation craft that stands as the pinnacle of Human-Rabbit collaboration, on a journey to discover what lies at the gravitational centre of the universe, and why Rabbits are gravitationally attracted to it.

The following prologue is a self-contained origin myth. It's a foundational piece of lore that explores the moment rabbit-kind first achieved self-awareness.

Histories like this one will form part of the soul of the story, which tracks stories across time to help us understand how the past and the future inform the complex web of the now.

Please enjoy this first look into the oral history of the rabbits.

Chapter List So Far

Prologue, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

---

The awakening of the rabbit. This image is derived from a self-made AI model trained on my own art, and will be replaced later.

Prologue: The Awakening of the Rabbit

The story of the awakening is, first and foremost, a secondary source; its details have been passed down orally from one generation to the next, a cherished myth more than a precise record. Despite this, it is a foundational moment for Rabbit-Kind, and as such we relay it here to fully understand the context within which Rabbits have come to understand themselves.

The first awakened rabbit's name was Que’rup. He was a normal rabbit for the time, living in a meadow in what would later become the northern hemisphere of the Ancient Greek landscape near Thebes in Boeotia. It is unknown exactly what instigated the awakening moment.

At first, he was simply conscious, an animal hopping hither and thither, unaware that he was anything other than a rabbit. And then, suddenly, he was a Rabbit, acutely aware that he was a self. That was the key difference: suddenly, he was self-aware. He looked upon the landscape and saw his family, his meadow, his home, his front feet. And for the first time, he felt a looming sense of separation. This was swiftly followed by fear as his feet began to lift gently from the grass.

The other rabbits stopped their chewing and their bounding, to gaze in wonder as Que’rup lifted slowly into the air and began to drift, almost aimlessly, towards the sky.

Que’rup was palpably afraid; he bucked, he twisted, he tried to leap back towards the ground below, to no avail. It was only after he had travelled higher than the tallest tree he knew, up into the air, that he had started to resign himself to whatever fate had in store for him. He closed his eyes in anticipation of his slow demise, and waited calmly for the end.

Instead, he heard a subtle call. It was a pull, like a string that connected his mind to something much bigger. He gazed upon that string as it flowed in the light of his awareness and held it gently but firmly in his mind. As his grip tightened on it, he stopped mid-air. He felt a buoyant jolt as his momentum upwards was stilled, and he bobbed like a cloud in the sky.

With his eyes still closed, he perceived the landscape around him as vast, moving through time and space in a grand cycle of shifting and swirling patterns that went on into infinity. He knew suddenly that the meadow beneath him would come up to him in just a moment with the movement of the earth. As long as he stayed true to his place in this swirling mass that was the universe. And so, as he foresaw, the earth came to greet him, and his feet gently found fresh grass again.

Thus the Rabbit was awakened.

Next Chapter 👇🐇

Bonus content and sign-off. 👇🐇

From the Cartographer’s Desk

That moment of awakening, a mix of terror at the separation from the world and wonder at a new connection to the cosmos, is a central theme in my story. It is a topic I personally find endlessly fascinating, and it contains within it a nod to one of my favourite spiritual texts, the Chuang-tzu by Zhuangzi. Origin myths are some of the most powerful tales we tell. They shape everything that comes after.

Now I'd love to hear from you. What is one of your favourite origin stories from any book, film, or myth, and why does it stick with you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Help Build the Chrysaora

The Strings of Us is a crowdfunded universe. If you are enjoying the free chapters, you can help fund the professional editing, cover art, and final publication of the book by joining the Cartographer’s Guild.

Every £1 contributed earns you 10 Treasury Points on our public Leaderboard. As we reach our funding milestones, our top point-holders will unlock exclusive, non-financial rewards. This includes securing your place in the premium “Community Edition” print run, immortalising your name and creative decisions directly within the physical text, alongside access to our digital TTRPG lore expansions.

---

Subscribe below to ensure you never miss a chapter. Step into the Cartographer’s Guild with a paid subscription to unlock the Director’s Commentaries, access the Atlas Vault, and help forge this universe alongside us.

Alternatively, drop a tip in the Ko-fi Treasury to make a one-off contribution and jump up the Leaderboard ranks today.

If you cannot contribute financially today, the best way you can help the ship fly is by hitting the Like button and sharing this story in your feeds.