Fiver shivered, standing in front of the girl, staring up at her with wide eyes. Had she heard him? Was that possible? His ears twitched nervously.
Hazel and Blackberry were silent. Hyzenthlay, who was up ahead, breathed heavily. Fiver got up on his haunches and sniffed the air. "Can you hear me?" he asked. His tail fluttered from side to side, which was Fiver's habit to do so when he was perplexed.
The girl put her hands on her forehead. "Oi," she said. "I'm going crazy. There are rabbits talking to me."
"No, no," said Fiver, hopping by her feet to be in her line of vision. "No, really, you're not."
"Then explain to me why I'm having a debate with a rabbit over whether I'm talking to it or not. You're not real."
"I'm as real as the day is long," insisted Fiver, setting a single paw on the girl's shoe.
Hazel cleared his throat. "Fiver," he muttered. "Please, have some sense!"
Fiver looked at Hazel, trying to show him that he knew what he was doing. Then he looked back at the girl and spoke to her as if she were a frightened kitten. "What's your name?" His eyes shone brightly in the light of ni-Frith.
The girl looked down for just a few moments. "May Belle," she said, her lower lip quivering. "And, please," she added."Call me nothing other than that. I don't like to be called May. A three-letter name? Ha! Not in this lifetime."
Fiver's nose twitched. "It's an honor to make your acquaintance, May Belle. And I really do mean that." He paused for a moment, and then said, "You are the first human that I've talked to, really."
May Belle laughed with such a laugher that birds near and far would envy. It was a beautiful laughter to Fiver's ears.
"I could say the same to you, little rabbit," she said. "I've never talked to an animal of any sort, silly as that may sound." May Belle shook her head. She tucked her legs underneath her so that her foot slipped out from beneath Fiver's paw and she could get a better view of the small creature. "What's your name?" she asked, and then hesitated. "Or do rabbits not have names?"
"Oh, no. We have names! I'm Fiver." Fiver bowed the way he had seen other gentlemen do for ladies, but found he was not very good at it and did an involuntary somersault.
May Belle giggled again and caught just as his back was about to hit the ground.
Hazel stiffened. He didn't even like the fact that his brother was near this human, but for the human to be touching him? Holding him? That was out of the question. He bounded to where Fiver was being held and, standing up on his haunches, grabbed Fiver by his scruff and dragged him down.
Fiver struggled as Hazel dragged him back. "No, Hazel, let me go!"
Hazel tried to say something, but failed to do so at the same time as dragging Fiver.
"What?" asked Fiver, turning his head to try to give Hazel an odd look.
Hazel set Fiver down. "I said, 'Have you no sense?' Fiver, humans shoot rabbits without a second thought. They eat us and then lick their fingers. It's only sensible to avoid them at all costs."
"Just a few minutes ago you were helping me to save this one's life!" exclaimed Fiver, rubbing the back of his neck.
Hazel paused. Fiver did have a good point. "Just be careful," he finally said. "I don't trust her, and I don't think that I'm going to trust her anytime soon. "
Fiver didn't say anything. He blinked a few times, trying not to show signs of weakness.
May Belle sat there on the ground, watching Fiver have a conversation with a larger rabbit. She wished that she could hear them all so that she could understand what was going on.
The large rabbit, apparently named Hazel, made some rabbit noises that May Belle could not classify in his throat and made head movements like he was scolding someone. Then his eyes softened and he seemed to whisper the rest.
Unsatisfied, Fiver looked at the ground. "Fine," he muttered, and turned cheek. He took one, two, three hops towards May Belle. Stopping at 5 inches away, he looked up at her.
May Belle bit her lip and brought forward her knees to hug them. Suddenly, her vision grew dim, but from what was left of it she could see Fiver's expression turn as blank as she expected hers to be. Then she saw something that she did not want to see. There was a fox, scrawny and angry, racing forward. In front of it lay the very hill she sat on. It paused only slightly to lick it's lips hungrily, and ran forward again, the hill not 500 feet away. Then her vision cleared and she collapsed.
She was still for only a second before she opened her eyes. Fiver was hunched over on his paws, trembling, breathing heavily.
Hazel stared. It looked as if an electric shock had passed between the two, but he knew what had happened with Fiver. "What did you see?" he asked, closing in space on his brother. He supported Fiver so that he would not fall.
"A Homba," gasped Fiver. "It's coming for the hill."
May Belle shivered. "I saw a fox," she said.
They all looked at her, but decided that they had no time to translate man talk into Lapine.
"Come on," said Hazel. "Back to the burrow! And hurry!"
All of the rabbits turned and ran, leaving a confused May Belle behind. Fiver stopped at the top of the hill, dazed. "What about May Belle?" he asked quickly.
"She'll have to fair out as best she can," said Blackberry. "Unless she can shrink down to the size of a burrow."
"That's not good enough," protested Fiver, and again he turned and ran to May Belle just as Hazel dashed down his burrow.
"Come," he told her, lightly taking the hem of May Belle's dress into his mouth and tugging her towards the hill.
May Belle stood, hoping she could climb the tall tree that stood atop the hill, but quickly found herself a problem.
Putting weight on her ankle, May Belle collapsed with a squeal of pain.
Fiver turned to her with large, worried eyes. "May Belle, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"
May Belle looked at Fiver, trying to contain her pain. "No, no. I'm fine. I twisted my ankle on the way here. I was just shocked by the pain, that's all. I can make it."
Fiver hopped back and forth, worried sick. "Come on, we've got to get back before—"
But Fiver was interrupted by a hair-raising, vicious "GROWL!!!"
May Belle rose her eyes to the top of the hill, where sat the fox of her premonition. It frothed at the mouth, baring its cracked, yellow teeth.
Fiver stood on his haunches and spread his ears, trying to make himself look bigger and more threatening. No point in trying to hide or run, he reasoned. This thing had already seen him and could easily outrun him any day. "May Belle, don't worry. I'll get you out of this." Fiver intended to keep that promise, although he had no idea how he would.
May Belle slowly stood, wincing at the pain. "No, Fiver. At least I'm taller than it. You're barely a foot high!"
Fiver's eyes shone. His tail fluttered from side to side again.
The fox jumped in the air and charged for the meal. It was a pretty easy decision on whether to take out a ten-inch rabbit or a six-foot girl first. It landed at May Belle's feet and tried to stand up on its hind legs and tear at May Belle's throat, but she stepped back and down fell the fox.
Fiver jumped forward with his little claws out, trying to rip at the fox, but his small teeth and claws were barely enough to keep him clinging to the fur.
Growling, the fox swatted Fiver away and decided to go for the easy meal rather than the large one. It approached Fiver slowly, glistening saliva dripping from its lips like the blood of a fresh kill. "Meal time," it growled, which was only understandable to Fiver.
With out thinking, May Belle blocked out the pain of her ankle and threw herself at the fox, knocking the unprepared animal on its side. To Fiver's sensible ears, there was a crack of bone, which sent him shivering. Frith, please, he begged. Let May Belle be unbroken.
The fox gashed at May Belle's side as it struggled to free itself. May Belle kicked at the fox's ribs and heard the crack of bones for the second time. With a defeated yelp, it rose to its feet and limped away, knowing it would not last through the night.
"May Belle!" cried out Fiver, dashing to her side. Blood was leaking from May Belle's flesh, staining the yellow dress, but May Belle was breathing… slowly.
"Fiver!" called Hazel, looking everywhere. After searching through both the honeycomb and Fiver's burrow, Hazel had realized with a sickening feeling in his stomach that Fiver must still be out there. He trembled dashing over the hill, afraid of what he might see. He was shocked beyond words.
There was May Belle, bleeding and half-conscious, halfway down the hill. And than there was Fiver, completely fine, huddled by her side, licking at May Belle's wound.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXWow this was so much fine to write. It was dramatic and emotional… it's hard being an author. It makes you wanna cry for your characters. Anyway… thanks to everyone who reviewed! Sometimes even a review can inspire you to write. I hope that you liked it and that you'll keep reading! :D Oh, and I know that there are still some unanswered questions out there, and don't worry… There's still plenty to be answered in the next chapter.
P.S. I have decided that I will be updating this story every other day, unless I either die, get grounded, or have writers block.
