Whilst everyone on Watership Down had to deal with the weasel situation, Hazel and his three companions had traveled a long way to finding Redstone warren and made sure to avoid any elil if they ever come across one. The sun began to set, and then they came to an obstacle; a river, kept beneath them by high stone walls running along both sides of the river. The water was too low for them to swim in, though it would have been very deep if they tried to swim. There was no way to jump across the river to reach the other side, as it was too far to make such a jump and one of them could risk the chance of falling into the river.
"Well, this is a nice surprise," Holly grunted.
"You know, Bigwig said the same thing when my friends and I were on the run from you and the Sandleford Owsla," Hazel teased, until he resumed his seriousness. "I don't think we can get across. Swimming is no good, we'll never be able to climb out."
"Are you sure this is the way to get to Redstone?" Clover asked, warily.
"Redstone is on the far side," Hyzenthlay responded, eagerly. "There's got to be a way over and we won't find it sitting here."
"Look, Hyzenthlay-" Holly tried to object.
"Oh, come on, everyone!" Hyzenthlay interrupted, lolloping ahead of them.
By now, Holly was close to his wits' end. Truthfully, he didn't want the cocoa brown doe to return to Redstone, fearing he may never see her again. "Hyzenthlay, wait!" he shouted.
Disturbed, Hyzenthlay paused to steal an irked glare at the pale grey buck. "What?" she growled.
"Are you sure you want to return to Redstone?" inquired Holly. "Frith meant us to live for today and tomorrow, not yesterday?"
"All those seasons in Efrafa, I had no future," replied Hyzenthlay, bluntly. "Now you want me to forget my past?!"
"Look, I didn't mean-"
"I'll find a way across, Holly! With or without you!" And just like that, Hyzenthlay began to hop down the trail staying close to the river, hoping to find a bridge to get across.
Holly sighed, rolling his eyes as he trailed after her at a short distance. Clover and Hazel exchanged concerned frowns, worried that Hyzenthlay's recklessness will put their lives in danger.
"They are beginning to sound like a bickering elderly married couple," Clover joked, trying to lighten the mood, but her mate found no humor in it.
As the four rabbits scoured the river to find a way across, Hyzenthlay was growing more impatient and determined than ever, pushing everybody to keep searching for something to cross the river. Holly failed at trying to convince her there was no way across and they should return to the high hills to figure this out. Hyzenthlay refused to listen to reason, often locked in bickering quarrels with the former Owsla captain, even when he accidently called her foolish. Hazel and Clover had to break up the arguments, which is starting to get on their nerves.
All of a sudden, the neigh of a horse and its galloping hooves caught the rabbits off guard. Quick as a wink, the rabbits concealed themselves in the bushes and peered out through the green leaves. As they watched, a horse wearing a harness was attached to a pair of thick ropes, and the ropes were tightly secured to an approaching boat, which the horse was pulling along the stream.
"What on earth is that horse doing with a boat?" Hazel questioned, baffled.
"I have no idea." Holly shrugged his shoulders.
"Stepping stones!" gasped Hyzenthlay, an idea that briefly confusing the others. "We can hop onto the boat, then onto the far side!"
"Hyzenthlay, I don't think-" Hazel protested, but the doe was already lolloping toward the boat, so he knew they had no choice but to follow her.
One by one, the rabbits leapt quickly onto the boat. They stood cautiously still on a huge green sheet that covered whatever could be hidden beneath it. Waiting a few seconds, they lunged for the opposite bank. However, Clover lost her grasp on the bank and screamed as she plummeted into the river below. The rabbits watched in horror as the current dragger the former hutch rabbit downstream.
"Clover!" yelled Hazel, and then he took off down the bank trying to catch up to her and rescue her somehow.
Holly and Hyzenthlay stared down at her, petrified. Regaining their wits, they joined the pursuit as Clover coughed and sputtered water out of her mouth, trying to stay afloat, but the current was too strong and it carried her downstream.
"Help me!" she gasped, doing the best she can to stay afloat on the surface.
"Keep going, Clover!" Hazel encouraged, as he ran like El-ahrairah, frantically determined to save his doe before she drowned. "You're doing fine! We'll find a way out!"
"I can't do it!"
In case he failed to rescue her in time, Hazel shouted at the top of his lungs, confessing his true feelings for her, "I WANT US TO BE TOGETHER FOR ALWAYS, CLOVER! I WANT US TO HAVE AS MANY CHILDREN AS EL-AHRAIRAH! SWIM!"
Suddenly, Hazel ceased in his tracks. He noticed a huge wooden canal gate up ahead. If Clover hit the gate, the impact would kill her. To make things worse, another boat came speeding towards the poor doe, the waves of the boat's movements made it all the more difficult for Clover to swim. Panic grew in his heart as Hazel desperately thought of a way to save Clover in time. Just as Holly and Hyzenthlay caught up with him, the Chief Rabbit leapt off the bank's edge and into the water.
"HAZEL!" Holly and Hyzenthlay yelled, shocked by his impulsive actions.
Helpless and exhausted, Clover gave up and allowed the water's weight to pull her under. Hazel sucked in a deep breath and dove in. Seconds later, he resurfaced with an unconscious Clover in his embrace. As the boat paused at the gate, a man got out of the boat and pulled a lever to open the wooden gate.
Too tired to swim or wait for the others to help them, Hazel let the current carry both him and Clover through the open gate, letting themselves drift down stream until the stone walls disappeared where the two rabbits floated down a river, where Hazel struggled to haul himself and Clover toward a dry dirt bank. Once they made it to shore, Hazel immediately collapsed, exhausted. Clover's eyes gradually opened, looked around and discovered her buck lying beside. She put two and two together, realizing what he did for her.
The screeches of an owl alarmed Clover. She knew that they had to get to cover or else the elil will find them. As she nudging him against his neck, her touches awakened him. Hazel sat upward, looking around worriedly to where they are and if they are still alive. When he saw Clover smiling at him, instant relief swept over him. Though no one was most relieved when Holly and Hyzenthlay found them, rushing to their aide to see if they needed help.
"Hazel, Clover, are you alright?" Holly asked, concerned.
"Yes, but we've got to keep moving," replied Hazel. "The owls will be out hunting soon, and it's getting dark." When his green eyes locked on Hyzenthlay, an angry snarl tore out of Hazel's throat. He almost lost Clover tonight if not for the brown doe's reckless nature. He felt fury boiling up inside of him. "I warned you that your recklessness would have cost someone's life! And mark my words, this is only the beginning of what could almost happen to any of us!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Hyzenthlay, offended by the rabbit's attitude.
"Clover might have died tonight because of you!"
"That wasn't my fault! If anyone's to blame, if your brother didn't tell me that awful vision, then maybe I wouldn't have become reckless!"
"Well, you can't always blame the messenger just because you don't like the message, especially if it's from someone who has only seen the truth! So far, everything that Fiver has said was right: Sandleford being destroyed, Bigwig getting caught in a snare, finding Watership Down! All of it was because of him! So, don't you blame Fiver for not wanting to accept what may in fact be true! BLAME YOUSELF!" Hazel bellowed out in a rage unbecoming of him, making Hyzenthlay back away in fear and hidden sorrow.
"That's enough, Hazel!" Holly instantly broke up what could be another argument and determined to find a hiding area to avoid the elil. "We'll discuss this later."
As Hyzenthlay glared at the Chief Rabbit, she knew that Hazel was right. Her hardened soul behind her eyes on the verge of breaking as she tried to remain strong. Without another word, she ran off.
"Hyzenthlay, wait!" Holly called out, pursuing her.
No sooner had the rabbits gone, Clover gratefully turned toward Hazel, smiling, "You came into the water after me, even though you weren't sure we'd make it."
"I love you," Hazel confessed, until his furry cheeks had a shade of red when it dawned on him, much to his embarrassment. "Did I say that out loud?"
"Yes, Hazel, you did." Clover giggled, prepared to make her own confession. "And, I never told you this before, but... I love you."
Hazel felt a warmth in his heart that he never felt before. "You didn't have to."
As he brought her in for a romantic head nuzzle, the two rabbits gasped when an owl's hoot frightened them, so there was no time to express their mutual feelings for each other. They left the dry bank, just as an owl paused to scan the area where it thought some prey had been nearby. Finding an enclosed space in the bushes, Hazel and Clover decided now was the time to express their love with fire and passion, and no prying eyes peeping in on them, using the same romantic techniques Bigwig told them whenever he mated with Lily.
Around that time, Holly had managed to catch up to Hyzenthlay when he found her beneath a beech tree, her head hung low and laying on all fours, feeling miserable. He approached her cautiously, then he laid beside her. He knew the doe was devastated by Hazel's harsh words for lashing out at her. He wanted to find some way to cheer her up, and he believed this was the right time to do it.
"When you arrived at Watership Down, I told myself I'd do whatever I could to make you smile," Holly said, "now I'm afraid I'm not going to get that chance to make it happen."
"So, how were you planning on doing it?" asked Hyzenthlay, glancing in his direction.
"Well, I'd thought about saying something to show how much I respect you... but in the end I'd just planned on telling you how... beautiful I think you are."
Touched by his words, Hyzenthlay lovingly nuzzled closer to former Owsla captain. Then she began to lick him, transforming it into a kiss. Holly had never been kissed before, but he liked it instantly and returned it with equal affection. What took place next made the embarrassed squirrels in the trees take cover in their homes so not to watch such intense love making.
Some call it faith, some call it love
Some call it guidance from above
You are the reason we found ours
So thank you stars
Some people think it's far away
Some know it's with them every day
You are the reason we found ours
So thank you stars
There are no winds that can blow it away on the air
When they try to blow it away, when you know it will always be there
To some it's the strength to be apart
To some it's a feeling in the heart
And when you're out there on your own, it's the way back home
There are no winds that can blow it away on the air
When they try to blow it away, when you know it will always be there
Some call it faith, some call it love
Some call it guidance from above
You are the reason we found ours
So thank you stars
Thank you stars
After a night of passion and mating, the two couples reunited at the edge of a hill where, by coincidence, the location of the warren they had been searching for lay just beyond the hill before them: Redstone warren.
"We're here!" Hyzenthlay, for the first time in her life, began to smile the most beautiful smile that Holly had longed to see.
Hazel, Clover and Holly stared in awe at the warren, surrounded by a circle of giant rust-red stones, thus explaining the warren's namesake. Some of them were sticking out at an angle from the ground. The entrance to the warren was located at main base of stones, as if displaying how majestic and important it is, probably the home of a Chief Rabbit.
"Come on, let's go!" Hyzenthlay exclaimed, the adrenaline racing through her veins as she raced downhill toward her old home.
"I've never seen her so happy before," Clover whispered in Hazel's ear.
Hazel nodded in silent response, smiling in support. They noticed how worried Holly looked when they made it to the warren. One of them was about to ask if he was alright, until they overheard Hyzenthlay calling out for the names of rabbits they never met at the main entrance. Nobody answered her calls. Something was obviously wrong.
"Poppy? Lavender?" Hyzenthlay shouted, her voice carried an echo in the tunnels of the warren. "Mother? Father? Anyone here?"
The rest of the group hurried in after her, sniffing the grounds of the burrows or searching for tracks. Cobwebs were everywhere in every burrow and tunnel.
"Old scent," reported Hazel. "There's been no one here for seasons."
"Then... Fiver was right..." Hyzenthlay admitted, realizing the terrible truth punched her in the stomach. The doe wished she could have taken back the awful things she said to Fiver before leaving the high hills. She hung her head, ashamed. "Everyone's gone... long ago..."
All of a sudden, two distant voices called out in the dark shadows of the tunnels.
"Who's there?" came a male voice.
"Who's trespassing in our warren?" came a female voice.
Hazel, Holly and Hyzenthlay prepared themselves into fighting positions, although Clover couldn't fight as she had to stay behind Hazel so he can protect her from whatever harm is approaching them. And then, two elderly rabbits came hopping out of one of the side tunnels. The first elderly rabbit was a buck with purplish gray fur with a goatee and blue eyes, and the second elderly rabbit was a doe with pinkish gray fur and golden amber eyes.
Hyzenthlay stared at the two rabbits for a moment, and her eyes lit up in recognizing the two elders. "Captain Broom! Lady Blossom!" she gasped.
The two rabbits stared blankly at the cocoa brown doe for a second, until their eyes widened in surprised recognition.
"Primrose, is it?" Broom asked, mistaking her for someone else.
"No, you blind bat!" Blossom corrected her mate, irritated. "It's Hyzenthlay!
"Oh, quite right. Still, you've been gone for…how long now?"
"Where have you been all these seasons, sweetheart? Broom and I were so worried about you."
"I'll explain later. What happened here?" Hyzenthlay wanted to get straight to the point. "Where is everyone? Where are my parents?"
Captain Broom sighed, dismally. "All gone... There was a Great Sickness. The Black Rabbit of Inlé took everyone but me and Blossom... that was a few seasons ago... oh yes, a few." He grew silent for a second, before he gestured toward a tunnel behind Clover, shouting, "Look, there's Lavender!"
Clover and the rest of the gang turned around, but saw nobody behind them.
"Hello, Sage. Look who's here," Captain Broom started to hop off down another tunnel, talking to no one in particular. "Hyzenthlay has come home! What's that? A carrot? Good work, Lavender."
The rest of the rabbits watched him leave, deducing the old rabbit must have gone insane over the seasons. Although Blossom was the only sane rabbit in this empty warren, she shook her head in disappointment.
"Poor old Captain Broom," sighed Hyzenthlay.
"You get used to it after living with him for long and lonely seasons," Blossom explained, dismayed. "Now, where is Primrose and who are these strangers you brought home with you?" She eyed the brown doe's three companions suspiciously. "Didn't your parents warn you never to bring hlessi into the warren unless you know if they are good or bad?"
"Oh, it's alright, Lady Blossom. These are my friends, and I would never have made it here without their help," assured Hyzenthlay. "This is Clover, a former hutch rabbit from Nuthanger farm..." Clover bowed her head politely, "Captain Holly of the Sandleford Owsla, my mate..." Holly bowed his head like a gentleman, "and this is Hazel-rah, Chief Rabbit of Watership Down warren."
Blossom examined the three rabbits, sniffing at their scent with a strange frown on her expression. For a second, Hazel and the others assumed she might lash out at them. But the old doe suddenly gave Hazel a hearty pat on the back, almost knocking the wind out of him as he never knew the strength the old doe possessed.
"Well, it's good to meet you, lads!" the elderly doe chuckled. "Thank you for returning Hyzenthlay to Redstone."
"It was nothing." Hazel smiled.
"Just doing my job." Holly waved off her thanks.
"Pardon me, but why do they call you 'Lady' Blossom?" Clover inquired, curiously.
"I was a member of the Council here at Redstone," responded Blossom. "My mate was Captain of Owsla, then both of us retired once we reached old age. Now, why aren't Primrose and the other does with you? I seemed to recall a large group of monstrous rabbits invaded our warren and stole a number of does, including you." No words were needed when Hyzenthlay turned away, a sorrow in her eyes told a shocked Blossom that Primrose had stopped running long ago. "Oh no..."
"But the rest of does are alright and living at our new home in Watership Down," Holly reassured her. "It's sort of a long story."
"Well, you can tell me about it once we go there."
"Uhh, come again?"
"Yes, 'we' as in me and Broom! We can't spend the rest of our lives here in this ghost warren. What, you can't hear what I'm saying?" Blossom corrected, wrongly assuming this pale grey rabbit is deaf. "Oy, Broom! Where are you?" She hopped off down the same tunnel her mate had gone to.
The four rabbits retreated to the outside warren, sitting beneath one of the huge red stones, gazing up at the magnificent starlit sky. Hyzenthlay was heartbroken. Her parents were gone. Her friends were gone. Her home warren, dead and empty. Everything was falling apart for her.
"I'm sorry," Holly comforted her, placing a paw of solace over her own. He remembered the pain of losing his friends and family when his home warren got massacred. "I know how hard it is to lose a home."
"Every night in my dreams, I'd leave Efrafa with Primrose and my friends and come home," Hyzenthlay replied, completely discouraged. "They were all here... my parents... all alive..." she shook her head in dismay, "but they weren't really... they've all gone with the Black Rabbit of Inlé."
"But their spirits stayed on because you needed them," Hazel spoke with strong wisdom. "Now it's time to set them free. You still have Watership Down, and everyone there who cares about you. Vilthuril… Nelthilta... Thethuthinnang… all of us…"
Clover and Holly nodded in agreement.
Hyzenthlay raised her head up to face them, tears in her eyes, but she gave a weak smile. "And all my tomorrows," she gazed up at the moon, as if seeing the faces of her parents, her sister and her friends, inspiriting her they will be alright and she must let go of the past.
At that moment, Captain Broom and Lady Blossom emerged from the warren's main entrance and approached the four rabbits.
"Can't find anyone around here all of a sudden; the whole place is empty," Captain Broom said, though it might have sounded strange for a rabbit his age talking to nobody, but his words sounded soothing. "Odd that. I was just talking to Lavender and to your parents... They said goodbye... and so did Poppy and all the others; it's strange."
Hyzenthlay felt her heart melting. "I'm sure they will miss us."
"We're going home now, Captain Broom," Hazel said, "To a place in the high hills. You and Blossom will like it there."
"You see, dear?" Blossom smirked, elbowing him in the shoulder.
Captain Broom thought this over for a second, and he instantly agreed to come with them. "Can't stay here with no one around but my mate, can I? High hills you say? Sounds lovely."
"It's the most beautiful place in the world," Clover began telling the elderly couple all about as she and the bucks led them out of the abandoned warren.
Whilst everyone left Redstone warren, Hyzenthlay paused to take one final glance back at her former home warren. "Goodbye, everyone," she whispered. "Thank you."
"...And so, we took a different path to find our way home, and to avoid another incident at the river," Clover concluded the end of her story, finishing her breakfast.
"That's quite a story, Clover," Lily awed, impressed. "I wish I could have been there to see this warren... if not for Hazel's stupid rule to keep me locked up."
"Oh yes..." Clover frowned in disappointment. "I did try to talk Hazel out of it during our journey home, but you know a Chief Rabbit can be immovable."
"Especially Bigwig!" Lily grumbled under her breath, scorning. "What are Hazel and Bigwig so afraid of? Why are they doing this to me?"
"Lily, listen to me..." Clover used her paw to tilt the doe's head up to look at her, not forcibly, and she spoke in a kind and motherly voice, "When you were taken, I was told by Blackberry that not once did Hazel nor Bigwig sleep through a night. Your abduction haunted them every second of every day."
"Are you saying that makes Hazel and Bigwig right for what they're doing?!"
"No, I'm asking you to consider that despite how rash and drastic their actions may seem, or how much you disagree with them... they come from the love and care they have for you."
Lily's angered expression faded, thinking over what the white and brown doe told her.
"But you are right, this isn't right," added Clover. "Now, come on. I want you to meet Captain Broom and Lady Blossom."
The two elderly rabbits were close by, engaged in friendly conversation with Blackberry and Strawberry when Hyzenthlay introduced them.
"Hello Captain," greeted Blackberry. "And hello Milady. We're very glad to have you here."
"Welcome to Watership Down," added Strawberry. "You are going to love it here."
"Very nice spot you have here, quite nice." Captain Broom complimented on the new warren. "Not Redstone, mind you, but what is, eh?" He chuckled, then he prodded at the two confused does in their chest areas to make sure they weren't a figment of his imagination. "Yes, quite solid. Most satisfactory. Right, let's take a look then, shall we?" He vanished through the main entrance to explore the warren.
"What was that about?" Strawberry questioned.
"He's been talking to ghosts all these seasons." Blossom rolled her eyes, then she noticed Lily and her pregnant belly. "Hello there, sweet lass. And I see you've got yourself a litter of little ones." The old doe slyly winked at her, wiggling her eyebrows. "You've been really busy with this Bigwig fellow, haven't you?"
Lily's entire face became a bright red shade as Clover and the other does giggled, and she wanted to change the subject quickly. "Uhh, I'm going to find Fiver and punish Hawkbit!"
The ginger doe bounded across the field to reach the pile of stones where a small group of bucks surrounded the spot, trying to coax Fiver to come out. Pushing her way through the crowd, she could hear what Hazel was saying to his little brother.
"I told you, I can't live at Watership Down anymore!" Fiver rejected, hurt. "Please, go away!"
"Not likely," said Bigwig.
"Look, Hawkbit and Bigwig told me what happened," Hazel reasoned. "Your visions don't cause things to happen, Fiver. You are seeing the future."
"You can't know that!" replied Fiver. "Hawkbit was right."
As he spoke, Hazel whirled around to scowl at the surprised Hawkbit, scorning, "Some of us blame the messenger when they don't like the message, that's all he meant. Not to mention Bigwig's attitude is the reason for his behavior."
Bigwig opened his mouth to protest, but he noticed everybody glaring in his direction, shaking their heads to remind him this was partly his fault. He shut his mouth again. Hawkbit cried out in slight pain when Lily cuffed at the bottom, he would have said something snippy to her, but the cold look in her eyes forced him to shut up.
"I'm sorry, Fiver," Hawkbit apologized, massaging his bottom to ease the pain.
"Same here," apologized Hyzenthlay, feeling guilty for shouting at him.
"Listen Fiver," Lily spoke out, "just the other morning, you had a vision about Redstone warren."
"Yes…I said Hazel and the others will find it abandoned, everybody gone."
"And you were right, but they left seasons ago. Your vision didn't cause anything," Hazel pointed out.
Hearing this, Fiver's eyes lit up in disbelief. "It happened seasons ago?"
"Yes, and we've brought back a few rabbits who can tell you about it," Hazel agreed.
At last, Fiver crawled out of the gap within the rocks. "So, my visions don't cause things! I am seeing the truth!" Not only did he feel better, but the truth of Hazel's journey and the news of two newcomers from Redstone had come to live here brought a sense of joy to the runt.
"That's what I've been saying half the night," Bigwig conveyed, a little frustrated but relieved that he finally got the message.
"But not the way Hazel said it," Fiver remarked.
Bigwig rolled his eyes a bit. "No, of course not."
"Now let's hear about the weasel, and I've got stories to tell about our journey to Redstone," Hazel announced, eager to tell everybody about his adventures and to hear about the weasel's return.
"Such as?" asked Bigwig.
"Well, for one thing..." Hazel tried to remain calm as he prepared to announce the biggest surprise to everybody present. "I'm going to be a father... and so is Holly."
"Oh, I could have told you that," Fiver laughed, excited at the prospect of becoming an uncle.
Everybody cheered and amazed that their Chief Rabbit and his mate are going to have a litter of their own. Some of them congratulating the two soon-to-be parents and asking so many questions on details of their mating, others asked if they'd like to come up with names for the kittens. Lily trailed after them, whilst thinking over what Clover told her about Hazel and Bigwig's rash decision to keep her imprisoned in the warren for her safety. She understood they cared about her, but something in the back of her mind told her this was not right. The doe was going to be a mother soon, but she somehow foresaw that she would share with her kittens when raising them, not just at the warren but in the outside world, the many adventures that awaited them, from joy to sorrow.