The red disc of the sun was finally disappearing over the hills of Watership Down when Teyla lolloped out to join her feeding friends. The other rabbits were contentedly chatting quietly and nibbling on the grass. No one really noticed the young doe and she went on to eat alone.
A white rabbit with black markings down her back and on her face, it was obvious that Teyla's bloodline did not start in the wild. She was the eldest of the first litter of Boxwood and Haystack, two of the hutch rabbits that joined the warren not long after it was founded. The doe was well-liked enough, but she was always treated as a bit of an outsider. She suspected it had something to do with her hutch bloodline. She didn't have many friends and constantly wished to be more popular.
She stopped at the outer edge of the group of communing rabbits and settled down to eat. After a few moments she was joined by Fiver. Teyla smiled at the elder rabbit. She had always liked Fiver and, well, Fiver liked almost everybody. They made small talk while they ate, chatting about the state of the warren and the two does who had litters due, and how well things were going.
Teyla nosed about in the grass after some tender, younger shoots and squeaked in surprise at what she found. Fiver leaned over to see. "What is it?"
Teyla bit off the interesting item and brought it to the surface of the tall grass so that Fiver could see. "It's a four-leaf clover," she said, her curiousity evident. "I've never seen anything like it!"
"Not many have," said Fiver amusedly. "They're very rare. Legend has it that it will bring luck to whoever eats it." His bright eyes watched the younger rabbit with interest. She stared at the clover as if it were a living thing.
"Oh," she said quietly. Then, "Do you want it?"
Fiver shook his head. He was aware of Teyla's wish to be more a part of the 'in-crowd' as it were and if eating a weird looking plant spurred her to take initiative and be less antisocial, he wasn't going to stop her. "No, you go ahead, Teyla. I've had enough."
Carefully, Teyla picked up the clover in her teeth, chewed and swallowed quickly. She made a face; clover had never been her favorite. She and Fiver sat quietly for a couple of seconds after she'd eaten it. Then he said, "Feel anything?"
The younger rabbit twitched her ears thoughtfully. "No, not really."
"Hey, Fiver, come here for a minute, would you please? Dandelion wants to ask you something."
Fiver gave Teyla an apologetic look. "I'll see you later."
She nodded. "Goodnight, Fiver." As he loped away, she returned to her burrow to get some sleep. As she settled in for the night, Teyla crossed her ears and wished for good luck tomorrow. I wish for people to notice me and for people to like me and for Blackberry to remember my name and for-
She fell asleep wishing.
o.O
When Teyla woke up the next morning, she didn't feel any different. She wondered if it was possible to feel yourself getting luckier. She decided not to think about it and stretched lazily before going up to get something to eat.
When she emerged on the Down for morning silflay, she was immediately waved over by a group of rabbits talking and eating together. To her surprise, they were Hazel, Hyzenthlay, Dandelion, Clover, Bigwig, Fiver, and Vilthuril. The best of the best!
Not that these seven were ever cliqueish or rude to others, but everyone felt that they were respected as the Chief Rabbit's close circle. No one was ever invited to just eat and talk with them, especially not young female outskirters! Teyla felt inordinately thrilled as she began to share the grass with them.
At first she thought maybe Fiver had asked them to beckon her and they were just being nice to make her believe the clover was working. But as the meal drew on and they talked more, Teyla started to wonder. Everyone seemed to hang on her every word, no matter what, and they laughed at all her jokes. It felt strange, but very nice, Teyla decided.
"Teyla." That was Hazel-rah's voice! She turned to the Chief Rabbit and he said, "Come over here, I want to ask you something." That earned her a few curious looks, but she detatched herself from the others and approached the rah.
"Teyla," he said once they were a little ways away. "I've been meaning to ask you this for some time now. I'd like you to be a part of my Owsla." He had to be joking, Teyla just knew it, but Hazel's voice was deadly serious.
"Me?!" she said with a very undignified squeak.
"You," he confirmed. "I've watched you, Teyla. You're strong and smart and can take initiative. That's what I need to see in the Owsla. Bigwig agrees with me."
"But I'm-"
"A doe? And outskirter?" The Chief Rabbit snorted. "None of that matters if you do your work right." He rubbed his nose behind her ear, adding, "And I have every faith that you will."
Hazel left her alone to attend to other business, leaving Teyla feeling as if she were walking on the clouds. First accepted by the higher echelons of the warren, then asked to join the Owsla! The doe felt as if she might go tharn from amazement.
She went to find her best friend, Zenli, and tell her about these new developments. She got as far as the mouth of the hole when she heard someone call her. "Teyla!" She looked over her shoulder and her heart stuttered. It was Blackberry, one of Hazel-rah's most trusted advisors and Teyla's own longtime secret crush.
"Blackberry," she greeted in return. Her ears flushed hot and she looked down at her paws. Being as her eyes were on her feet, she didn't see that Blackberry's were in the exact same place. He shuffled around awkwardly for a bit, then blurted out what he'd come for.
"Teyla, I think you're really great and it's about time Hazel noticed and put you in the Owsla and you're pretty and clever and Teyla, I've always loved you and I want you to be my mate!"
Teyla had thought she couldn't be anymore stunned today. Blackberry's words proved her very wrong. Her jaw dropped open in astonishment. "Blackberry, I-"
"You don't have to answer right away," he hastened to reassure her. "I just wanted to have my say before you get any other offers. Being a doe in the Owsla, I'm sure you will."
His hopeful look sent Teyla's heart into her throat and she cried, "Of course I'll be your mate! I've been waiting ever so long!"
The two rabbits did a small dance of joy together, excited by young love. Teyla finished her dance with a little sigh of happiness and dropped down to graze on the grass a little more. When she looked up, Blackberry was still moving. She laughed at his enthusiasm, but stopped at his terrified squeal.
"I can't stop moving! I can't stop! Teyla, help!"
She looked up and all around the hillside rabbits were breaking into spontaneous dances. They seemed to be unable to stop. She ran over to Hazel and Fiver, two of the few who weren't jumping around crazily. "What's going on?" she shouted over the frightened yells of the others.
"It's the March Madness!" Fiver cried in horror. "The madness that strikes rabbits in March! Hazel, what are we going to do?" But Hazel couldn't answer. He too had started a hop-and-bob dance that he couldn't stop. Teyla shuddered; it was awful! If only there was a way to make them stop!
Suddenly Teyla had an idea. She began to stamp wildly, as if warning the rabbits of some nearby danger. In a snap every rabbit turned tail and darted into the nearest burrow. The down went silent. The dancing was stopped. The rabbits had been scared out of it.
Slowly the affected rabbits began to emerge and realize what had happened. "Teyla, that was brilliant!" Fiver congratulated her. "I knew you'd be a great Owsla member!" Hazel said in her ear. "You're a hero!" Blackberry said admiringly. The entire warren gathered around and cheered for her, chanting her name.
"Teyla, Teyla, Teyla, Teyla!"
o.O
"TEYLA!"
Teyla woke with a start when someone shoved a sharp claw into her side. "What?" she snapped, rolling over irritably. It was Zenli who'd woken her up and was now fidgeting near the entrance to the burrow. "Come on," her friend said. "We're digging new tunnels today. For Haystack's kittens, remember, and adding that new tunnel, and-"
Teyla tuned out her hyper friend's babbling with the ease of long practice as the two went up to find something to eat. So everything that had happened had been a dream! Teyla was a little shocked; she'd never had a dream that realistic before. But she supposed she should have known, especially when Hazel had asked her to be on the Owsla or when Blackberry confessed his undying love. Like that would ever happen in real life!
Still, it was a little disappointing and she sighed heavily. Fiver came up in time to hear and he asked, "What's wrong, Teyla? Is the clover working for you?"
"Not really," she admitted. "I'm still on burrow duty. I think all four-leaf clovers really do are leave a bad taste in your mouth and make you have weird dreams. Worth a try though," she told him.
"Teyla, come on!" Zenli said impatiently. "We gotta get started!"
Teyla shouted, "Coming!" over her shoulder and looked back to Fiver. "I need to go."
"Teyla," said Fiver, stopping her short. "You know there's really no such thing as luck."
The young doe gave him a quizzical look. "But you said-"
"The clover stories are myths, Teyla, that's what I said," Fiver told her. "What we see as luck is really only Frith's blessings on us. If you would open your eyes and see how blessed you really are, maybe you wouldn't look to plants for luck."
"Blessed?" Teyla asked. "But I'm not! I don't have any friends, no one notices me, I'm too young for anything-"
"You have a safe home, plenty to eat, at least one good friend in Zenli, and a loyal follower in Milkwort." Fiver listed promptly.
"Milkwort...?" Teyla was puzzled at the last bit. Fiver rolled his eyes and pointed out the young buck sitting nearby.
"He's been trailing after you like a duckling after its mother for a long time. Maybe you should give him a chance. All I'm saying is look around and see what you do have instead of what you don't have."
"I never thought about it that way..." Teyla said thoughtfully. She gazed at Milkwort until she was jarred from her reverie by another shout from Zenli. "I gotta go," she said again to Fiver. "And Fiver? Thanks."
Fiver watched the black-marked doe lollop away to finish up the new burrows. Not long after the does disappeared down a hole, Milkwort got up and followed them. Fiver shook his head. Yes, Teyla was more blessed than she knew. Maybe now she would realize that.