Chapter 10

I woke up from my sleep to see Rose lying next to me and she's asleep. I could even hear her breathing as she breathed in and out. I nuzzled her. She smiled and scooted towards me. She started to nuzzle my side. I started to feel like there is a reason I should remain here. However, I fear that when I go back, I probably would never see her again.

"I don't know how to tell you if I have to leave... I just wish I could tell you how." I sighed.

"Love always comes first my boy." I heard Captain Broom by the burrow's entrance.

"Captain Broom."

"Young lovers always go through the hardest trials." he added.

I started to feel there's a ultimatum of lives: one life is that I have dreams to pursue and another is to fall in love and start a family at the down. My head started to have too many plans in my head and I felt I should have to choose one. I always thought I should do both, but if I focus one over the other, I will lose one dream or lose them both.

"Are you alright lad?" Captain Broom asked.

"I don't Captain Broom. When I was human, I always have dreams to seek adventure and better yet, try to get my education situated before having a dream job." I answered. "However, I felt that I have another that I can't lose."

"You mean the doe?" he asked.

I nodded. "I know at one point, I would have to go back. But I can't be able to express it how I really feel about her and/or how to tell that I'm human."

"What if you stay here? Be a rabbit for the rest of your years and have family." he suggested.

"It'll be wonderful to have a family, but I don't know how my parents would take it. I can't simply run away, I done it before and I'll know that I'll run back to them again." I worried.

"You worry too much boy. I have seen many young bucks and does would fall in love. Some would succeed or some would fail and move on." he lightly put it.

"Did you ever find anyone that you loved so much?" I asked.

Captain Broom became startled. "Me?"

"I mean sometimes everyone has an affection for someone they don't know in their life or they're secretly in love, but couldn't be able to focus on that because something important." I tried to explain.

Captain Broom came inside to the burrow and sat down by my bed. "I have, but I was too focus like you're trying to do with your future."

"Meaning you have your own future?" I asked.

"Too right. However, it was more about staying in the warren and have a family there." he said.

"Who was she?" I asked.

"Iris." he answered.

"What did she look like?" I asked.

"When I was a young buck just joined the Owsla in Redstone. She was about my age at that time. She has a similar fur coating like yours. Her eyes shined like from Frith's other worlds."

"Like stars." I said.

"Exactly. After my patrol duties, I would spend time with her and we'll watch Frith set. Even some nights, we stay out and watch the stars until we sleep. Before we had to head back to our warren, we would watch Frith rise for a new day."

"Almost like everyone would do if they stay out late." I said and we chuckled.

"By the time I was promoted to Captain of Owsla, we're thinking about being mates and start ourselves a family of kittens." he continued.

"So did you?" I asked.

His mood changed. "Unfortunately, we didn't. A season later when Fall came, some rabbits were reported missing: one of them was the lovely Primrose."

I even recalled on my first visit that she was kept as a captive in Efrafa when I met her, hearing it from Mallow.

"And so, we started to doing search parties and we couldn't be able to find them. After we called off the search, Iris was in mate with another buck."

I felt devastated that Iris went off with another buck. "I assume you were upset that she fall in love with someone else."

"I was. But I was too focus on the warren's safety, I let her go. I'm sure she would wanted that and she could have a family of her own. I had to do what any Captain of Owsla would do, look after their warren for their Chief."

"Did she came back to you at any point later in your life?" I asked.

"She did after I found out. However, we took a friendly approach and we remain close friends til the end." he smiled.

"Til the end?" I asked.

"Well my boy, before I saw Primrose again with a mate-to-be Hazel, Redstone began to die out from The Great Sickness." he sadly continued.

"A plague?"

"Too right, again. Even Iris was one of them, with her own family." he said.

I was heartbroken that I started to dew some tears.

"I did managed to see her before she passed days after her mate and kittens passed. She was horribly sick that she couldn't move. I was heartbroken from seeing her in her state. She still remembered the times we had first met: like spending our nights gazing at Frith setting, the stars shine, and Frith rising. We had our last kiss before she was taken by The Black Rabbit. I than said the prayer and I know I'll see her again with Frith and El-ahrairah." he finished his story.

I wiped the tears from my eyes with my paws. Captain Broom noticed that I was in tears.

"My boy... why do you cry?" he asked.

"I'm sorry. I was in awe of your story. But I thought it was a wonderful love story you told me."

He chuckled. "Mostly other rabbits, except the kittens, grow a bit tiresome from my stories sometimes."

"I didn't. I thought it was beautiful." I said.

"I hope you don't mind if I bore with other stories I could tell you." Captain Broom smiled.

"I don't mind. I would like to hear more of your stories." I smiled back.

He started to tell me of his stories when he was a kitten at Redstone, than he went on his experiences in the Junior Owsla, before being promoted to join the Owsla. He also mentioned about some rabbits leave in the Spring, to start their own warren. Even though it was hard, but it was destiny. He than told me his later and recent stories when he resided in Watership Down.

"Speaking about Primrose and Efrafa. I didn't I tell you about me bluffing General Woundwart and his army?" he asked.

"You haven't." I grew interest with his stories.

"Hope you're alright for me to tell you this tell." he offered.

"Please do."

"When a band of rabbits left Cowslip's warren, they started their new warren in Redstone." he started.

"Your old warren?" I asked in shock.

"Right-right. They had started to settle in until Fiver's vision occurred. It was a sign that Cowslip spied upon us and gave the location of Hickory's and Marigold's warren. After a warning came from Campion that Woundwart and his men were about to raid the warren, Hazel and Bigwig evacuated the warren."

"Did you you?" I asked.

"I was angry, like I was about attack The Black Rabbit, himself if he was destroying my old warren the second time. I knew Redstone's destruction came by sickness, I didn't want it to fall under Woundwart's wrath." Captain Broom continued.

"Like Peter Finch from The Network?" I interrupted.

"What-what?" he asked.

"Peter Finch was a actor, he starred in the movie called The Network. I could have you and the character relate to each other. You were angry about Woundwart invading Redstone and the character was angry about something that politicians would rant about." I went on as Captain Broom started to chuckle.

"The famous quote came in when he spoke in his speech in one scene."

"What did he say?" Captain Broom asked.

I cleared my throat and surprisingly my throat was better than yesterday.

"'I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!'" I quoted with a Peter Finch impersonation.

Captain Broom began to laugh and I joined in.

"That was good my boy." he said as he continued with his laughter.

"Yes, so what did you do?" I ask in effort to get back to his story.

"Oh. The morning came and when his army came, I was the only rabbit there and bluffed that the warren was still in The Great Sickness. Woundwart and his army, including Vervain became frightened that they fall back." Captain Broom finished his story with a chuckle.

I started to chuckle that Captain Broom could be an actor than being remained as captain.

"That was bravey you had to bluff a whole army to withdraw." I complemented for his bravey and heroic deed.

"You just have to be clever to bluff and you had to be focus." he added.

I was being taught by someone who is alike of having a grandfather.

"Well, I better be off for my duties." Captain Broom said.

"Thank you for telling me your stories. I really enjoyed them." I thanked.

"Its what I do to teach the young, remember you have to be clever and remain focus when you are being tasked or doing a task yourself." Captain Broom said before he left the burrow.