Mist bit down into salty grass that was given to the mark she was in. Things at Efrafa weren't so bad now, even though she had to report to Woundwort twice a day because of where she came from. At Efrafa, she couldn't see Watership Down, since it was blocked by the iron road, as the Efrafa rabbits called it. The Efrafa burrows overlooked a wide range of human fields that had crops of corn and wheat in them. The flowers down in the fields were beautiful; her mark was taken down there once a day to eat the flowers that grew at the fence of the fields. At Woundwort's burrow though, no one could see the fields. There was a bramble vine arch that shielded Woundwort from rain, snow, and bright blinding sunshine, which she thought was strange because Woundwort was already blind in one eye.
Mist looked over from where her mark was, which was next to the tree root that made an arch above the path to Woundwort's burrow, and saw Campion guarding it with a rabbit she didn't know; a brown buck with black ears and white spots. She looked closely at Campion's eyes and for a second his and her eyes caught each other. The gray doe looked away and sat up on her hind legs to sniff the air. She could smell the fresh spring air that she had always smelled at Watership Down with her sisters, Holly and Dandelion.
When she thought about Holly, she got back onto all her paws and lowered her head, remembering how her sister had died painfully when the Efrafa rabbits had come to get them. She remembered the squeal of the black doe as they were about to leave the clearing. But Mist pushed that thought away and hopped over to where Champion was.
"Greetings, sir." she said politely.
Campion nodded and sniffed her shoulder, which had a scar on it from when the rabbit that had held her down had pushed his claws in. "I see your still hurt. Let me clean it for you," he said in an effectionet way before licking her wound for a few minutes. It felt as if there was a bond growing between the two rabbits, a friendship.
Once he was finished, he sat up and gazed into Mist's eyes. "There, good as new. If it starts to hurt or feels sore, just tell me. I might get some time off guard so we can check on them together." then he changed the subject, thumping his foot for Mist to hop with him along with path that led down into the fields and into the territory of Elfrafa. "So, I never learned how old you were. Do mind if I sneek into asking how old you really are?"
Mist twitched her long whiskers in amusment. "No, not of course. Lets see, I think I might be about a year now. Yeah, thats what mother-" then she stopped as she relized she hadn't said her mother's name in front of the second in command. "Oops, sorry. I meant, thats what Clover told me before I left."
"Don't be scared to speak freely," Campion told her in his calm, relaxing voice. "Just because I'm in command doesn't mean you can't say anything."
The gray doe nodded and hopped over to a patch of clover flowers. "Lets take these back to Woundwort. I don't doubt he would like some, and they smell wonderful."
The brown buck got down next to her and started to bite off the stems of the clover to take back to the Chief rabbit. Once they had got enough, they hopped back with clover in their mouths.
When they got back, Campion took Mist over to where he had stood guard an hour earlier and hopped right in, with of course, Mist on his heels.
"Who's there?" Woundwort's voice filled the little tunnel of thorn vines.
Campion hopped over to stand in front of the burrow hole and dropped his clover, twitching his long ear for Mist to do the same. "These are for you, Woundwort, chief of Efrafa."
Mist heard Woundwort sniff the clovers; she couldn't see much, since it was dark there in the tunnel. "Hmm. Clover, I see. Thank you, Campion." but before he took the clover, he sniffed the air again and the young doe saw the piercing blue eye's of the old fighter chief. "I see you have brought Mist with you, the new doe."
"Yes, sir, I have."
"Well," Woundwart swallowed some of the clover. "I have been watching you two, and I think you," he pionted his left forepaw at Campion. "Want to take this young rabbit in as your mate, am I not right?"
Mist gulped. Her, be a mate? She only wanted to be friends with Campion, but her fears were proven right when Campion answered the old chief. "Yes, I have been thinking about taking her on as my mate. In fact, I have found out that she is old enough to be a doe for a buck. She is a year old."
Woundwort snorted in discust. "It doesn't matter to me how old she is, just that she is old enough. Well, since you are my best rabbit, I will let you take her on as your doe. You two will fit together nicely."
NO! This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't! Mist couldn't believe her ears, and before she knew it, she was laying on the dirt floor next to Campion, who whisped right above her and tried to help her up, but she was to weak to move and drifted into a dreamless sleep...
"Mist, Mist! Wake up, Mist!" Campion's voice woke Mist up and she opened her eyes to see the brown rabbit looking over her again, accept this time they were in her own burrow.
"Wha, what happened to me?" she asked wearlily.
Campion prodded the young gray doe to help her stand up. "You fainted, so we took you here, I mean, Ivy and I did."
Mist didn't want to know the details right now; she was so tired that she fell back down in weariness. "Please, leave so I can rest, please Campion..." she said just as she was drifting back into a dreamless sleep.