Author's Note: I really took a liking to the evil weasel in the episode two and nine on the first season of the Watership Down tv series. It was also great to see him back from the second episode to cause more trouble on Watership Down on the ninth episode to seek revenge on the rabbits and became a recurring character. Since no one knows what really happened to the Weasel near the end of the ninth episode, I decided to write a fanfic about him on what really happened to him and I might write another.
The Revenge of a Weasel
It was another day in the high hills; the season was spring. A weasel was making his usual patrols around his hunting ground on Watership Down and had found a hedgehog to eat, but the little animal curled into a ball to protect itself. The carnivore rolled the animal and tried to find a way to get it to uncurl, but it didn't seem to work. Snarling, the Weasel lifted his head from the hedgehog and continued on his way to find some other prey.
It wasn't long before he found a moorhen sleeping on the banks of a river. The Weasel stalked around the bird as quietly as possible until he disappeared into the tall grass. He heard the moorhen perk up from its sleep and the carnivore appeared behind it, snarling, the moorhen whipped around in horror. With a snarl, the Weasel rose to his hind legs as he was prepared to pounce. The moorhen squawked desperately, and as the Weasel pounced for it, the fowl quickly took flight and flew into the air with a cry.
The Weasel looked up at his escaped prey, then closed his eyes, sniffing the air for any other nearby prey. He turned his head and sniffed the air once more as a familiar scent of rabbit reached his nose.
"Longears..." He muttered, before lowering his body to the grass and began stalking while following the scent through the hills. Finally, in this place, he can finally find a suitable meal that hasn't lived around the Down long ago.
After venturing around for a few minutes, the Weasel stopped near a patch of tall grass and sniffed the air again to focus on the scent he caught earlier. He looked toward a distant meadow when he noticed the scent was strong and a rabbit was close by. "Mmm..longear..." He growled, his mind and belly now hungry for a kill to satisfy himself and make it through the day.
By the thought of devouring a edible prey, the Weasel started following the scent to where the rabbit might be, walking through the hills and meadows. The scent had lead him into a field and he caught sight of a small, brown rabbit (Pipkin) looking at something on the ground. The Weasel stalked toward Pipkin with every step as silent as a mouse. He watched the brown kitten perk up by something and the carnivore froze in mid-step, but noticed he wasn't listening for him, but listening for something else. The Weasel resumed stalking toward Pipkin until he snuck up to him and stood on his back legs to tower over the rabbit with a toothy grin, posing his front paws to prepare for a pounce.
"Welcome back to hunting ground, Longear." The Weasel snarled evilly, as saliva was already dripping down from his jaws at the thought of savoring the taste of the little buck's meat. Pipkin turned his head around to the carnivore and widened his eyes.
Before the Weasel could seize Pipkin, he was suddenly tackled to the side as a rabbit buck (Bigwig) brutally rammed into the carnivore's gut. He and Bigwig were painfully sprawled against the grass, stunned for a moment from the blow. The Weasel slowly rose up to his paws and glared at Bigwig who was already standing his ground on his hind legs. The carnivore had narrowed his eyes and he started to advance toward the buck, thinking of finishing off Bigiwg first and resume killing Pipkin. Suddenly, another rabbit headbutted into the Weasel's rear and the carnivore was sent flinging painfully forward into the ground.
The Weasel lifted his body to his paws once again and saw a gray rabbit (Hawkbit) glaring at him. The carnivore began to walk toward Hawkbit, but Bigiwig rammed directly into his left flank with all of his strength, and to add the injury, the Weasel was sent flying painfully into the air in a low arc only to come tumbling down the hill he was on and crashing at the very bottom. Panting in pain, the Weasel stood up and glanced at the three rabbits that stood at the top of the hill and he immediately took off bounding into the other side of Watership Down, not wanting to take a chance taking them on again when they were two bucks with one kitten.
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A few hours had passed, the Weasel was still hungry and couldn't find any food anywhere. He then thought about the rabbits he encountered a while ago. If there were three rabbits around Watership Down, then there are sure to be more of them and the carnivore would find their warren and plan his next move.
The Weasel followed the scent of the rabbits and it led him up a tall hill. The carnivore hid behind the cover of the tall grass when he reached the top of the large hill and realized the scent had lead him to a large tree where the rabbits were currently living in. There was a burrow on the tree, leading to the rabbit's warren. The Weasel kept low and observed the rabbits as they were about to have a game.
As he watched, the carnivore thought of a plan when he would come back to the warren at night and kill one of the rabbits while they are asleep for his pleasure and probably repeat the process until the whole warren is wiped out. He stretched a wicked smile on his muzzle as his eyes gleamed, "Tonight's the night." The Weasel then backed his way into the hills of Watership Down.
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It was night; the owls hooted softly in the distance around the Down. The Weasel had walked out of the woods surrounding the hills around the rabbits' warren. His hunting instincts urged the carnivore that the time was exactly right for him to attack and he slowly approached the hill where the tree laid. When he reached the top, the Weasel noticed the rabbits were sleeping outside of their burrow, resting soundly.
The Weasel stretched out a wicked smile on his muzzle and knew it would be the perfect opportunity to kill at least one rabbit and have it for supper plus satisfy his pleasure. Suddenly, a weak voice lingered softly from the wind blowing in the air and the Weasel turned around to see where it came from, but didn't see anyone or anything.
"Bigwig..answer me..."
The Weasel ignored the voice and began making his way quietly toward the sleeping rabbits. He drew closer and closer to them, looking at each and every one of the rabbits only to see them still sleeping and unaware of his presence. As he stopped to choose which rabbit to kill, a voice called out loudly from in front of him, "VEASEL!!quot;
All at once, the rabbits woke up from their sleep and looked around in alarm until they spotted the Weasel altogether. The carnivore gasped out a snarl of shock. How can one of the rabbits hear him so easily from their slumber? However, his thoughts were stopped when Bigwig roared angrily as he lunged and tackled the Weasel away from the other rabbits, sending both of them rolling back to the hills in a tangle of paws, legs, and tails.
The Weasel snarled as he regained his footing and growled at Bigiwig when the buck rabbit stood in front of him, glaring. The carnivore can easily take this rabbit on and finish him off in a few moments. However, he noticed four other buck rabbits had approached and stood beside Bigwig, glaring at the carnivore altogether in fighting position, threatening to take him down.
The Weasel wasn't stupid enough to try and take them all at once, so he quickly fled back to the cover of the hills to avoid fighting them. As he ran through the fields, the carnivore heard Bigwig shout to his comrades, "Pull back to the burrow!"
The Weasel finally reached the safety of the hills, slightly panting. He looked back to the warren, noticing the bucks backing their way inside, but were still cautious that the carnivore would try and attack them again. The Weasel narrowed his eyes with scorn and knew he had lost the perfect opportunity to kill one of those rabbits to satisfy his hunger. Growling, the carnivore snarled to the rabbits from a distance of the woods, his voice echoing to them, "One by one, I get you, Longears. One by one.."
The Weasel turned back around and headed for the fields, vowing those exact words to be fulfilled. He will try again and this time..those rabbits will perish by his fangs.
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Another day has risen, but the Weasel had to wait until nightfall in order to attack the rabbits again. He tried hunting for food and managed to devour two field mice to make it through the day. The carnivore decided to use the same strategy he used the other night.
Then night came.
The Weasel walked through the hills and meadows of the Down to get to the tree where the rabbits are. Finally reaching the rabbit dwelling, the Weasel stopped and laid low in the tall grass as he stalked toward the warren's entrance. He slowly approached the burrow, sneaking as quietly as possible to it to try another attempt to kill his prey. As he walked up to the tree from a distance, he heard a voice shout from the burrow, "Smelly breath!"
After seeing an animal, possibly a rabbit, flee into the warren, the Weasel walked up to the burrow and forged an evil smirk before he went inside and looked around. The Weasel hurried quietly through the burrow while following his prey, but he lost sight of the rabbit and stopped in the Honeycomb chamber to look around.
The Weasel spoke out, a bit irritated, "Now Longear..." He was about to turn back to the entrance of the warren, but saw a mouse (Hannah) peeking out from behind a rock and it started running off deeper into the warren. The Weasel turned and quickly followed the little mouse to wherever she's going and saw her run towards into a tunnel.
"Mouse mouthful now. Longear later." The carnivore muttered with a smile, and without hesitating, the Weasel trailed after the mouse into the tunnel, crawling in. After he finished off the mouse, he can return killing one of the rabbits.
The Weasel saw Hannah run through the rocky tunnel in his sights as she crawled in further, trying to get away from him as possible. The space in the tunnel was growing wide enough for the carnivore to move quicker than before and the Weasel was gaining on the mouse. But as he ventured further into the tunnel, the Weasel noticed how dark it was for him to see, and no matter how hard he peered his eyes, all he saw was darkness. The Weasel turned his head around and began backing his way out of the tunnel, not wanting to take any chance getting lost in it to get some mouse. Maybe he can go and find the other rabbits that are around the warren instead; if one of them is alone.
However, Hannah taunted the Weasel again with the same words, echoing out to him from the depths of the tunnel, "Smelly breath!"
The Weasel immediately became enraged and faced the tunnel again, snarling with anger as he charged back through the rock tunnel and instantly spotted the mouse. With a leap, the carnivore pounced for Hannah with his front paws reared and his teeth bared for the kill, but the little animal went through a sizable crack and the Weasel only landed in front of it, nearly pinning her down. The carnivore growled and snarled at Hannah with murderous anger, seeing her panting and gasping in fear from the safety of the hole she was in.
The Weasel lifted his head from the crack and still glared at the mouse, growling through his sharp, closed teeth. However, a sound from behind him interrupted him as his ears pricked. The carnivore turned his head to the entrance of the tunnel and caught glimpses of three rabbits outside, only to see it being sealed in by large rocks until it was completely lodged in, covering the Weasel in darkness. The Weasel widened his eyes with disbelief and shock. Did those rabbits plan this?! To lock him inside this tunnel?! And that mouse lured him in there!
Growling, the Weasel narrowed his eyes and tried to find his way through the tunnel he was in, hoping to find a way out and get back to those rabbits. However, the darkness made it hard for him to see and the carnivore always stumbled and tripped over something in the tunnel he was locked into. It wasn't long before the Weasel saw faint light and found himself in another world. He looked around and noticed he was deep underground. The carnivore started walking around the tunnels to find his way out and see the light of day.
In his mind, he swore when he gets out of the underground, the Weasel will come back to those rabbits and kill every single one of them. As he traveled through the tunnels to find a way out, the Weasel finally saw light ahead in a tunnel and he raced out for it. When the carnivore went out, he wasn't where he expected to be. The Weasel found himself in another part of his hunting ground, far from Watership Down.
Wherever this place is, he's not staying around for long.
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After a few months on the far side of his old hunting ground, the Weasel managed to survive by killing small animals that lived in the area while making his way to Watership Down. He tried to overpower a swan and have a meal, but that didn't go as planned when another swan came back and defended its mate. The carnivore couldn't take on two swans at once, so he ran from them and growled at them from a distance.
"Lucky for you, I got other things to do." The Weasel snarled to the swans, as he turned around and stood on his hind legs to get a better look on the hillside landscape before him, "I have places to go, old friend longears to visit..."
The Weasel then continued on his way through the hillside in order to get back to the home where the rabbits are. His hate and revenge kept him going and he won't rest until he arrived at the Down, killed all of the rabbits, and take over the burrow for his own. The carnivore didn't know where he was, but he knew he was getting to Watership Down.
During his travels, the Weasel spotted a gray squirrel and he didn't get the chance to think as his hunger took over and he charged toward the little animal. The gray squirrel noticed the carnivore and gasped, as he hovered away from me and he slowly gained on him. The Weasel smirked evilly, knowing that he would catch the squirrel and have it for lunch. Unfortunately, the animal hurried up a tree and the Weasel stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the squirrel climb up the tree.
He tried climbing up after the squirrel, but he only slid back down. The Weasel stared up at his prey, but uttered a snarl of aggravation as he turned around and continued on his way through the hills, hungry and longing to have his revenge on the rabbits.
After a few hours wandering through the hills, the Weasel had a wicked grin on his muzzle when he thought of attacking the rabbits by surprise in their home. The thought of sinking his teeth into back of their very necks almost made him salivate with anticipation. A loud cry screamed out from above the Weasel as he looked up to the sky and saw the fleeting form of a bird circling over his head. It was a gull (Kehaar).
"Nobody wants you on Watership Down!" Kehaar angrily cawed out, as he dove at the Weasel and flew back into the air. The carnivore had ducked down just in time to avoid the gull's talons.
"Longears locked me underground." The Weasel growled to the gull, his eyes gleaming by the hated memory and was now glinting with hate and revenge, "They think I won't come back. Stupid rabbits..."
With the reminder on how he was in this unknown area now, the Weasel continued on his way through the hills, bounding across the landscape until he stopped at the edge of a hill. He was intent on returning to Watership Down to make the rabbits pay. Kehaar dove at him again and the Weasel looked up to see him soar back to the sky before he resumed bolting through the hills as he heard the gull crying out into the sky.
At last, the Weasel had finally arrived.
The rolling hills, the peaceful meadows...This is the place.
Watership Down.
It was nighttime; the perfect time to attack those rabbits and make them pay for what they did to him. After following the scent of rabbits through the hills, the Weasel saw the large tree from a distance and smiled evilly as he walked toward it at a fast pace. When he approached the warren, the carnivore snarled softly as he laid low in the grass and guessed that the rabbits were unaware of his presence here in their home again and are probably enjoying themselves. He then decided to go on a killing spree and probably take over the warren once he kills all of the rabbits for his revenge.
Sniffing the air, the Weasel picked up the rabbit's scent and it was still strong around the warren. His hunting instinct clicked on, as if it knows it was time to attack. The carnivore muttered softly with a wicked, toothy grin, "It's time to feed, little longears. It's time.."
The Weasel's eyes gleamed before he quietly went toward the burrow and walked inside, his slender body allowing him to enter through the tunnel. Once inside, the carnivore made his way through the burrow, thinking about killing all of the rabbits to satisfy his craving stomach and stash some of the carcasses for later in the warren. He couldn't help, but forge an evil grin across his muzzle as he continued walking through the warren. However, the Weasel didn't know that the rabbits were ready for him.
As he took another step into the Honeycomb chamber, the Weasel uttered a whine of shock when he failed to notice a pit in front of him before he slipped into it and fell to the bottom with a painful thud. Bigwig and Hawkbit appeared and pushed loose dirt down upon the carnivore with their back feet while standing in front of the pit. The Weasel snarled as the heavy dirt fell upon him, almost suffocating him, but with an angry snarl, the carnivore pulled himself up and began climbing up the pit.
"Back!" Bigwig said, as he and Hawkbit backed away from the pit to see the Weasel emerging out of it, snarling and growling with vengeful hatred in his eyes.
The two buck rabbits turned tail and ran through the burrow with the hungry carnivore closely trailing after them, intent of killing them first. As he saw Bigwig and Hawkbit jumped down from a ledge in a burrow, the Weasel noticed the ledge and skidded to a halt, but did it too late and he landed square on top of the quills of two hedgehogs. Yowling in pain, the carnivore jumped up to his hind legs and and yowled again after feeling several quills sticking on his chest and stomach.
Bigiwg, Hawkbit, and Dandelion growled at the Weasel, baring their teeth to show that they were threatening to kill him. The Weasel stood back on his four legs and started backing away from the rabbits, seeing the incoming threat. The next thing he knew, the Weasel was running away from his prey, hearing them growling and roaring with fury. He instantly raced out of the warren and into the open hills with anger and hate still lingering in his eyes.
Those rabbits must've somehow known he was coming back so they prepared for his arrival.
As the Weasel ran, he heard Bigiwig shout to him, "Go find easier prey, belly crawler, there's none here!"
Fortunately, the Weasel was still persistent to fulfill his revenge as he stopped and faced two rabbits that stood at the entrance of their burrow. "I'll wait out here till you come." The Weasel growled, as he turned to walk away, "Sooner or later, you'll come."
"Wait all you want." Bigwig growled, pushing a rock away from him and at the Weasel, "We're plenty of food and we won't be out for a long time."
Hawbit added, "And you won't find any prey around here. Everyone's cleared out till you're gone!"
As the Weasel walked down the hill, he heard Bigiwig's words shouting to him one last time, "Stay here and you starve, my old son!"
He was right. If the Weasel stayed there, the carnivore would've been killed by the rabbits. He has to find some other food fast somewhere to survive or he'll die of starvation.
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A few hours had passed, and the Weasel had no luck in finding food anywhere around Watership Down. He sniffed at a buried burrow that laid in the fields for a few moments, then stood on his hind legs to look around before kneeling back down.
"No food...nowhere. Must be some...somewhere." The Weasel muttering, the faint aching pain in his stomach desperately begged for food; meat from any type of creature he can find.
The Weasel started moving on to the other part of the Down, hopefully, there might be animals nearby. He climbed up a hill to get a better view of the landscape and uttered a growl when he spotted a rock shelter in the distance using his keen eyesight. To add to his joy, the Weasel caught a whiff of rabbit scent heading toward rock formation.
The Weasel muttered happily, "Mmm..smell longear..."
With an anticipating snarl, he began making his way to the rock shelter, knowing that a rabbit might be around there. The carnivore approached the rock shelter from behind and walked out from the side, looking around cautiously. He spotted Kehaar, the gull he saw earlier while he was traveling through the fields, and noticed he was sound asleep. The Weasel knew this would be the opportunity to feast so he crept toward the gull as quietly as possible.
Unfortunately, Kehaar perked up from his slumber and instantly saw the Weasel. The carnivore immediately pounced for the gull with a growl, but Kehaar had already took off to the air, flapping his wings and screeching angrily. The Weasel stood on his hind legs and looked up to see the gull fly off into the distance. He stood back on all fours and faced the rock formation, seeing a hole. And inside that hole...was a young, buck rabbit (Fiver).
The Weasel began walking toward the young buck in his shelter with a wicked grin. Finally, he found a prey that can't even defend itself. When he reached the shelter, the Weasel lifted his left paw and reached in for Fiver, hearing him gasp with dread. He would've clawed him if Fiver hadn't kicked at the Weasel's paw with his back foot. The Weasel pulled his paw out of the hole and smiled evilly at the rabbit's futile attempt.
"Come out, little longear, no more waiting." The Weasel growled to Fiver with an evil grin, looking into the opening, "I hungry tonight." He sniffed the air with pleasure and anticipation.
The Weasel then started to squeeze his way through the hole to get Fiver, snarling. The front half of his slender body easily fitted through the hole and he got closer and closer to his trapped prey. Outside of the shelter, the carnivore's tail slowly wagged at the thought of finally having a meal and killing one of the rabbits that lived on the Down. As the Weasel raised his claws, Fiver gasped with dread and backed further away into the shelter, missing the carnivore's swiping claws. And to the carnivore's joy, the young buck couldn't move any further back to escape.
"Won't feel a thing, Longear." The Weasel said with a twisted grin, as he stretched his paw almost reaching for Fiver. Of course, to Fiver, it will hurt a lot once the carnivore grabs hold of him and rip him to pieces like any other prey, which might take out some of the Weasel's anger and revenge on the rabbits of Watership Down. However, the carnivore was interrupted..
"And neither will you till we get done!"
The Weasel heard a voice from outside the rock shelter; he turned and glanced over his shoulder by its familiar tone. The carnivore then backed his way out from Fiver and out of the rock shelter before looking up to the source of the voice from the top of the rocks. He heard footsteps coming from the top of the rock shelter and listened closely as they grew louder.
Suddenly, Bigwig leapt down from the top of the rocks with a savage war cry followed by his Owsla as they jumped on the Weasel altogether. The carnivore felt terrible pain as he yowled loudly when the rabbits started biting and clawing on his body with their teeth and claws. He roared in agony when he felt Bigwig sink his teeth into the carnivore's neck. The pain was unbearable, and despite the valiant struggle, it was all in vain. Within minutes, the dying body of the Weasel slumped to the ground, panting slowly as his life was seeping out of him.
A shadow was casted on the Weasel as Bigwig stood in front of the carnivore, glaring with fury, his Owsla standing behind him. The carnivore's revenge was in vain and he was on the brink of death. The Weasel looked upon Bigwig, an despite the aching pain on his back, his eyes still burned with hate and revenge on the rabbits.
"It's over, you dirty excuse for an elil." Bigwig declared, "You won't harm another rabbit or any other creature on Watership Down ever again." The buck rabbit raised his paw high over the Weasel's head, ready to deliver the final blow. As the carnivore uttered a final snarl of anger, Bigwig brought his paw down on the Weasel's head and there was a sickening crack...
