Author's note: Hi, everyone! I came back last week on a Tuesday, but we had to unpack and rest a lot from a long flight and a long drive home. I even had to attend my program these last few days, and begin work on a new chapter. At first, I wanted to make it a full time chapter. But it was too long, so I decided to go for a two part chapter.
Read and enjoy it!
The sun had set on a chilly autumn evening as a small group of the rabbits had ventured further away to the bottom hill of the down to either relax, silflay, or engaged in lessons from Holly and Blackavar to help two of Clover's friends learn the ways of surviving in the wild after a long life of living imprisoned inside a hutch. Bigwig and Lily lay beside each other, snuggling or cuddling each other in a playful affectionate manner. Hawkbit often jokingly scolded the two lovers to go someplace private to mate, earning him a reprimanding scowl from Bigwig, whilst he and Dandelion nibbled some of the grass. Taking Hawkbit's advice, Lily escorted Bigwig deep inside the long grass for a private moment of another passionate mating, although their moaning or grunting had to be quieted to a lower volume so not to embarrass themselves in front of their friends.
"It just doesn't get much better than this now, does it?" asked Dandelion.
"Well, we could be chomping up carrots," commented Hawkbit.
"Brilliant weather... not a fox or a hawk in sight... days like this don't come along every day," the blonde buck rambled on and on, but Hawkbit paid no attention to him.
Nearby, Haystack and Boxwood were seated around Blackavar, who stood on a rock, and Holly, who lay on the grass beside him, as the torn dark rabbit continued his lesson, this time it regarding the sense of smell.
"In a hutch, it doesn't have much use, but a keen sense of smell can keep you out of danger," Blackavar instructed, his attention focused on the two hutch-does. "Go on. Tell me what you can smell right now."
Haystack volunteered to go first, sniffing the air. "I can smell chestnuts."
"Alright, what else?" Blackavar nodded.
The doe's nose whiffed as she caught another scent. "Err... I smell rabbits..." It felt strange to Haystack that this scent was quite new and unfamiliar. "Lots of strange rabbits."
Intrigued, Holly stood back up as both he and Blackavar started to smell the atmosphere around them to find whatever strange rabbits are close by. Their ears cocked at the sound of pattering feet. Their eyes widened in horror upon recognizing the sound and the scent. It could only mean one thing: Efrafa.
"Oh no," gasped Blackavar.
"Hide, quickly!" Holly ordered, remaining calm.
The two does hid themselves within the long grass, mildly confusing Hawkbit and Dandelion at their actions.
"Ohh, I guess that's the trouble with you, Holly," scolded Dandelion, "you can't see the simple beauty in a-"
"Efrafan patrol!" the Owsla captain barked, cutting him off. "GET DOWN, NOW!"
Dandelion and Hawkbit gasped, then obeyed his commands to hide in the long grass. Bigwig and Lily scarcely had enough time to be alerted of the oncoming danger, when Vervain's sharp voice rung out, startling the couple. They crept close beside Holly and the others, assuring them of their being aware of the enemy's presence. The rabbits exchanged nervous glances, wondering how could the Efrafans expand their patrol this further, probably since Bigwig and Lily had escaped from their clutches whilst searching for Hazel, Fiver and Hawkbit when the trio had been trapped beneath the cavern, the Efrafans must have assumed their warren is nearby.
Peering through the thick blades of grass, the Watership rabbits saw the Efrafan wide patrol passing through the area. Boxwood became squeamish at their massive size and intimidating appearances, but Hawkbit calmed her down and told her to remain quiet. Everyone held their breath, anxiously hoping the Efrafan Owsla won't locate their hiding spots or their warren.
The Efrafan patrol consisted of Campion, Vervain, Moss and another buck all on alert as they scoured the area, searching for any signs of the outsiders to find and track them down to their warren.
"Something?" Campion inquired, noticing his corporal's nose twitching.
"I'm not sure, sir," Moss replied, shaking his head.
But their conversation was rudely interrupted by Vervain snarling and disciplining the rabbit by cuffing him over the forehead, as the unfortunate rabbit cowered and trembled, he had grown tired by the restless patrol. For a brief second, Lily felt sympathy for the rabbit and angered by Vervain's actions.
"You'll rest when I tell you to and not before!" Vervain growled.
"He's exhausted, Vervain!" Luckily, Campion came to poor rabbit's defense.
"He's Owsla, and he better act like it," Vervain huffed. "Right, move out!" He rushed out further ahead.
Turning back to the exhausted rabbit, Campion spoke encouragingly, "Come on, lad. You can make it."
Nodding, the rabbit stood back up on his feet as he and Moss joined after him and Vervain to continue the search. For another brief second, Lily smiled in admiration for Campion's resourcefulness. If she could, she would've had the chance to talk Campion into joining her warren, if only he wasn't living in Efrafa.
As soon as the Efrafan patrol had gone out of their sights, Bigwig silently ordered, "Let's go, quietly now!"
The Watership rabbits darted out of the long grass and quickly climbed back up to the top of the hill. They knew now the Efrafans were at this point getting too close at locating their warren and to the point of destroying every rabbit living here.
Arriving back inside the Honeycomb's chamber, Bigwig reported to Hazel about their near encounter with the Efrafan Owsla. This forced Hazel to drastic action and ensure that every buck, doe and kitten must be confined to the warren until something was done to draw the enemy away from the high hills. To Lily, it felt like all of the rabbits were being imprisoned rather than kept safe inside their burrows.
"We're lucky they hadn't found us," sighed Holly.
"Woundwort's patrols are getting closer all the time," Fiver worried.
"If the wind had shifted, they would have been onto us," added Hawkbit, before he stole a smirk at the lion buck and his mate. "Or they would have been onto these two love bunnies mating."
Bigwig growled as he cast a scorning frown at the gray buck, then he exclaimed, "It's getting to the point where it's not safe to go outside! We got to do something, Hazel. We can't just sit up here, hoping the Efrafans won't find us."
"And you can't just keep all of the rabbits confined to the warren whenever the Efrafans are nearby, it gets overcrowded and some of them are complaining," said Lily, gesturing toward Hyzenthlay ending an argument between a few does over who gets to sit in which open space.
"You're right." Hazel agreed, watching the conflict with a deep sight. "We need to take more direct action." This idea, of course, surprised some of the rabbits present, as Hazel has always suggested more indirect, clever strategies against Efrafa, while Bigwig was pleased at finally getting some action against those Efrafans.
"All right, then! Some raids maybe?" Bigwig suggested, hopefully. "The old surprise attack might make them back up a bit."
Blackavar shook his head disapprovingly at the lion buck's idea. "You don't know the Efrafans, they never give up. Even if we did surprise them with an attack, they'll suspect we live here and plan a raid on our warren."
"Exactly!" Hazel said, understanding Blackavar's warning. "Woundwort's Owsla are bigger and stronger than us."
"Though they're not looking their best," Holly pointed out, remembering how exhausted one of the was during their search. "I get the feeling that Woundwort is driving them too hard."
"Captain Holly is right," Dandelion said. "They're not, how would you say, running at top speed these days."
"But still, they outnumber us."
"What's the plan then?" Bigwig inquired. If they weren't going to fight, what could they do?
Hazel thought deeply for a moment. "We must learn from El-ahrairah."
"Oh, you mean use trickery and cunning." This caught Bigwig's interest as he smirked. "Well, all right, out with it."
"We lay false trails and set clues to lead the Efrafan scouts away from us. It'll mean a lot of work."
"Doesn't it always?" Dandelion asked rhetorically as he scratched his ears with his foot.
The next morning, ten rabbits in their group woke up bright and early to start their plan. Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver, Lily, Dandelion, Hawkbit, Bluebell, Silver, Holly and Blackavar left the warren and headed straight for the forest, setting up false tracks to draw the Efrafans away. They laid their foot prints on multiple different trails in the wood, one of them included a small riverbank where Fiver had a brief encounter with a turtle. When everyone had completed their mission, the rabbits met up at the sandy shore of the bank.
"It's hard work, that is," sighed Dandelion.
"But hopefully, it's worth it," added Silver.
"Well, I hope the Efrafans appreciate all the trouble it takes to lead them in circles," said Hawkbit.
"Get a move on!" Vervain's voice was not far from the river, and a bird flew away when the intruders' presence alarmed it.
"Take cover, quickly!" ordered Holly.
The gang took cover in the long grass, concealing their forms and remained frozen, so not to make a sound nor a movement... however, they were dangerously close to a large bee's nest hive hidden beneath a rock.
Efrafan Owsla arrived not long after, they were only a few feet away across the riverbank. The Owsla did not see Hazel or his band, most of them were more concerned about taking a drink from the river. One of the officers bent his head forward to take a drink from the cool fresh water.
"Officers first, thick-ears!" Vervain snarled, scorning at the buck.
"At ease!" Campion arrived on the scene, irked at Vervain's bullying and stood up for the thirsty officer. "Take your drinks."
The rest of the officers, Moss included, lolloped toward the riverbank to earn their refreshed drinks. Once again, Lily smiled warmly at Campion treating his Owsla more fairly than the abusive Vervain.
Vervain had quite enough of Campion deliberately taking over his authority as he approached the brown buck, scorning, "Do you enjoy undermining my authority?"
"Do you enjoy abusing it?" rebuked Campion, coldly.
"We'd better find some sign of Thlayli and his outsiders or Woundwort will have us out here forever!"
"Not questioning his judgement, are you?"
"Of course not. I wouldn't dare."
In that instant, the rock that Fiver sat upon gave way due to his weight and landed on the nest. Disturbed, the bees flew out of their hive, buzzing loudly and angrily. Some of the Watership rabbits came close to freaking out, but Hazel whispered "Nobody move a muscle," and no one dared disobey him in fear of giving away their hideout. One bee landed on Dandelion's nose, but he kept still until it flew off. Bluebell shut his eyes tightly, yet he flicked his left ear when a bee barely touched it.
Nearby, the Efrafan Owsla grew alarmed by the presence of bees and overreacted, starting to run off for cover, except for Campion and Vervain.
"Just a bunch of bees," Vervain groaned, before deciding their break is over. "Right, we've still got flayrah to find. Let's see if we can do something right, shall we?"
"Move out!" commanded Campion, leaving the riverbank to find and calm down the rest of the panicked-stricken Owsla.
"Afraid of bees," Vervain chucked at the Owsla's cowardice. "That's a good one." And he left.
Once the coast was clear, the Watership rabbits emerged out of their hiding places. Blackavar, Bluebell, Silver, Hawkbit and Dandelion burst out laughing, remembering the Efrafan rabbits will be known as the cowardly chickens when they retell this story to their friends back home.
"Did you see them run?" chuckled Blackavar.
"They squeal like little does!" added Silver
"AHEM!" Holly cleared his throat loud and clear to be heard, silencing their mockery as he fixed a hard stare in their direction.
"Was there anyone stung by the bees?" Lily checked up on her fellow rabbits, making sure nobody had been stung.
"Nope, we're good here," Bluebell assured her, as did everyone else.
"Let's follow them," suggested Hazel. "You never known what we might overhear."
"The cat becomes the mouse, eh?" Bigwig smirked, pleased at this idea.
"Exactly," Hazel nodded, "and by the looks of them, we probably could outrun them if they did find us out."
Sunset had come as the Watership rabbits kept their distance at trailing the Efrafan Owsla, eager to find out what they are up to and careful not to reveal their location. Thanks to the false tracks, the Efrafans had been lured much farther away from Watership Down. There was a gentle breeze blowing eastward in their faces.
Bigwig sniffed the wind's air, then turned to his Chief Rabbit, "The wind's in our favor. We can afford to get closer."
Hazel nodded, then he crept forward. The rest of the group advanced close behind him. The Efrafans caught the scent of a strange area they'd never been to before whilst trying to find some flayrah to eat. When they left, the Watership rabbits stayed low to the ground as Hazel ventured forward to see where the enemies were going. Then he stomped his foot lightly to signal the others to come out. Their discovery of what located on the other side left them staring in awe and wonder.
"Wow, what is it?" Hawkbit gasped, his eyes widening.
A glass greenhouse stood gleaming in the sunlight, surrounded by the forest by its lonesome. The beams of light shone out of the glass windows and doors, creating multiple mini rainbows. From within the greenhouse, so many plants or flowers of different species were growing on fresh cared for soil.
"It's beautiful!" Fiver was amazed.
"It's like the stories, Prince Rainbow's Gleaming Warren," recalled Dandelion.
"I've never seen anything like it," astonished Bluebell.
Lily stared at the glass building for a second until another memory came back to her. Henry's family once owned a greenhouse on the farm, but nothing quite so big compared to this one. "I know what it is! It's a greenhouse!" she said.
"A green what?" Bigwig looked at her, puzzled.
"A greenhouse," the doe explained. "Humans make them to keep plants inside, so they can grow their plants inside rather than outside. There was one back home on Ridgeway Farm, though it wasn't as big as this one here."
"Is it dangerous?" asked Holly, warily.
"No, no. It's quite safe inside." Lily assured him.
Then, Fiver's nose twitched as he whiffed. "Faint scent... Man..."
"Let's watch ourselves," warned Hazel.
"Maybe it's time to go back." Hawkbit began to shudder.
"We'll let you know when, Hawkbit." Bigwig shook his head at the buck's cowardice.
Suddenly, a sharp cry struck their hears with dread and horror. Everyone glanced up at the sky when a dark shadow loomed over them.
"HAWK!" cried Hazel.
The frightened Watership rabbits ducked for cover, falling back into the bushes. Lily had almost gone tharn when the memory of Violet's death grasped hold on her like a Man trap. The hawk circled and turned to make a dive for her. Just then, Bigwig managed to push his mate out of harm's way in time and dragged back inside the brambles. The hawk left, then noticed the Efrafan Owsla close by and decided to catch one of them for a meal.
"What's the matter with you, lass?!" Bigwig scolded her, looking very cross. "Do you want to get yourself killed? What will I tell the little ones if I come home without their mother?"
"I... I'm sorry... it's just that..." Lily stuttered over her words.
Another cry alerted the rabbits as they peered out of the brambles. Apparently, Moss got his foot entangled in a net left by Man whilst the terrorized Efrafans scattered for cover when they realized the hawk was on their tail. Vervain only criticized him for drawing attention, until he ran off when the hawk got closer. The brave and loyal Campion had turned back to rescue Moss, using his teeth to cut the net and free his fellow officer. Just as Moss made it for cover, the hawk caught hold of Campion, its talons buried in his back, as it lifted him up higher and higher away from the earth.
"Frith save us!" gaped Dandelion.
"Oh no!" panicked Lily, surprisingly fearing for the brown buck's life.
But Campion refused to let it end like this as he gave the hawk multiple kicks in the chest. The hawk screeched in agony and tried to fight back, stabbing him in the face with its beak. Campion wouldn't give up. He continued to kick at the hawk's chest, then aimed for the head with a harsh blow to the head. Fed up, the hawk released its hold on the Owsla Captain.
With a scream, Campion fell into a tree where its sharp branches tore at the rest of his body, although the tree broke his fall as his landing on the ground didn't severely made it worse. The brown buck lay there, badly wounded and scratched up, half conscious and barely aware of a gang of familiar strangers approaching him. Hazel checked for a pulse, then his eyes widened in amazement.
"He's still alive," the Chief Rabbit announced.
"Not many could survive a hawk attack," Dandelion said in awe.
"Campion's in a class of his own," Bigwig admitted, a bit impressed with Campion's courage.
"Well, thank Frith he survived." Lily placed a paw to her chest, relieved. "But he won't last long in the open."
"Fine! One less enemy to worry about," Hawkbit scoffed.
"He's a fellow rabbit, Hawkbit!" Fiver tried to reason with him.
"But he's one of them!" Blackavar stated coldly, trying to remind the runt of whom Campion belonged to.
Dandelion decided to cut in on the conversation. "Smell that?" His nose twitched and he pointed to a door left open to the greenhouse. "Flayrah, and lots of it!"
"But we can't just leave him out in the open, the blood on his injuries will attract elil." Lily defended, feeling an urge to help the Efrafan Captain. "We'll have to get him inside the greenhouse before the hawk comes back."
"Are you out of your mind, lass?!" Bigwig stared at her in bitter disbelief, wondering why his mate wanted to help an enemy rabbit. "Campion is a part of Efrafa, and wherever he goes, Woundwort is always there to stir up trouble!"
"He's Woundwort's Captain of Owsla!" Hawkbit yelled.
"He's Efrafa!" Silver shouted.
"He's out to destroy us!" Bluebell protested.
Lily frowned, disgusted by their refusal. She glanced at Campion as he moaned in pain and agony. His vision blurred when he stared at Lily for a second, briefly hallucinating her as someone he knew dearly.
"Primrose..." he muttered, before he fell unconscious.
Lily stared at him, bewildered. She wondered why he would mention Hyzenthlay's late sister until Hazel's voice interrupted her thoughts, "Not today he's not!" She saw her Chief Rabbit gazing down at the wounded Captain with pity. After thinking deeply over it, he made the decision to agree on Lily's plea to help him.
"Kehaar became our friend and ally because we helped him," Fiver pointed out.
"Oh, he's a big silly gull!" Hawkbit snorted, hatefully. "You won't turn around an Owsla Captain that easy. If I remember correctly, Campion was part of the Council when you, Lily, Holly and Bluebell were captured. He was going to kill you!"
"We're aware of it, Hawkbit, but right now, I don't give a damn about what you think!" Holly growled, scorning at the dark grey buck furiously as his response left everyone speechless. "If we leave him here to die, we're no better than Woundwort! So, either you help carry Campion inside that greenhouse to keep him safe or I'LL LEAVE YOU OUTSIDE FOR THE HAWK TO CATCH YOU!" he bellowed, raising his voice to a high volume as he scowled intimidatingly at the stupefied Hawkbit.
Of course, none of the rabbits protested against Holly's orders so they agreed, though Bigwig did with much reluctance. Lily was so grateful to Hazel and Holly for listening to her. Working together, Hawkbit and Dandelion carried Campion's unconscious body inside the greenhouse, yet he was quite stronger than Bigwig. Upon entering, the rabbits gazed in astonishment at all of the strange and unfamiliar plants.
"By Frith, this is really something!" Dandelion awed, fascinated.
Taking a bite of one of the big plant leaves, Hawkbit felt a tasty sensation overwhelm him. "Oh, you've got to try this! I've never tasted anything like it. Hmm."
Cautiously, Bluebell bit at the plant leaf and then hummed in content. "Mmmmm... this is delicious."
Silver and Blackavar exchanged worried glances, then decided to take their chances of trying something new. Their reactions were just the same as the others at their first bite of the plant leaves. Dandelion munched on a different plant leaf, by now starting a tug of war with Bluebell over the same leaf the blue buck was munching on.
"There's so much new in here," Fiver said, studying his surroundings warily. "It's all so strange, I don't know whether to be worried or not."
"Eat now, worry later." Hawkbit told him as he continued to chew on the leaf.
Bigwig and Holly shook their heads at their Owsla's ravenous hunger. Checking up on their Chief Rabbit, Hazel and Lily busied themselves with either licking at Campion's wounds, or using some herbs the doe discovered growing in the greenhouse, and put her healing skills to use as she gently massaged the herbs on more of the serious wounds on the Owsla Captain's body.
Bigwig eyed his doe suspiciously as Lily tenderly cared for Campion. She mostly cared for him whenever he got injured, but there was something different about Lily when it came to Campion. Why did she care for Campion so suddenly? What did he do in Efrafa to make her care about him? Could it be that Bigwig had another rival for his beloved doe? His green eyes narrowed dangerously at the unconscious rabbit's body, jealously fueled him to the brim. And then, the lion buck shook his head dismissing his suspicions as ridiculous. Orchis was his only rival for Lily out of selfishness. There is no way Lily would have feelings for Campion. He is the enemy, after all. "It's going to be dark soon," he informed his friends when he caught a glimpse of the setting sun.
"Then you better get home," Hazel told him.
"What about you?"
"I'll stay with Campion, but there's no point in all of us getting captured if the patrol returns."
"I'd like to stay with you until Campion is better," Lily added.
"He'll be fine until morning and Hazel will keep watch over him." Bigwig hoped to change her mind, but the doe's mind was made up.
"But I'd like to stay with Hazel, and I can look after myself."
"You wouldn't have a hope in hell if-" Bigwig came close to reprimanding her until Holly broke up the argument.
"Enough, Thlayli!" The pale grey buck stepped in-between them. "There is no point in fighting. It's getting late and we should go. Hazel-rah will look after her, won't you?"
"I will." Hazel nodded.
"I don't like it here, Hazel." Fiver admitted. "There's something alien about it all." His ears dropped and his body quivered as if a cold wind had touched him. "And there's something else... something cold and watchful..."
"It won't be long until Campion can fend for himself," Hazel said, ushering his brother and two Captains to leave. "Now, go."
"Right then, you heard Hazel," Bigwig began ordering his Owsla to move out. "Let's get a move on!"
Silver, Blackavar and Bluebell obeyed his commands, except for Dandelion and Hawkbit as they still ate the leaves. Bigwig cleared his throat loudly to get them to leave the greenhouse. Dandelion took a chunk off the leaf before leaving. Hawkbit was still eating, until Bigwig cleared his throat again. Taking one last bite of this delicious leaf, Hawkbit trotted away. Holly and Fiver lead everyone out of the greenhouse and headed for the forest.
"Fiver's right, there is something wrong about this place." Bigwig shared his suspicions with his Chief Rabbit as he looked around. "Watch yourself, chum." Turning to Lily, he gave her a quick nuzzle. "Be careful," he whispered.
"I will be." Lily returned the nuzzle with equal affection.
She watched as her friends bounded off for the journey home, leaving her and Hazel alone with the still unconscious Owsla Captain. The doe silently dreaded of leaving when she had the chance if there is something wrong in the greenhouse, but she knew a greenhouse is nothing to be afraid of and she was glad to have Hazel for company. To take her mind off worrying, she resumed back to her job of healing Campion's wounds.
By the time Bigwig and the Owsla returned home to Watership Down, the sun had vanished and the night had fallen. Clover and Hyzenthlay greeted them at the Honeycomb, until they noticed two members of their party were absent.
"Where's Hazel and Lily?" asked Clover.
"They're staying behind in a Man-made greenhouse to look after Campion," explained Fiver.
"CAMPION?!" Hyzenthlay's eye narrowed angrily. "What's he got to do with this?"
"What happened to him?" Clover gawked at them.
"Uhhh…oh yeah. A hawk got him," Dandelion told her.
"But he'll be alright," Fiver assured the doe.
"I do hope so." Clover glanced down at her feet worriedly.
"Why bother worrying about him? He's the enemy!" questioned Hyzenthlay, bitterly.
"But he's not all bad."
"You've still got a soft spot for him, haven't you?" Bigwig made it sound more like a statement rather than a question, his scowl said it all.
"He defended me back in Efrafa," explained Clover.
"And he saved Primrose's life at Efrafa, that was long before she died," Vilthuril added, overhearing the conversation when she came out of a tunnel. "Sometimes it seemed he was the only descent rabbit there." She noticed the hard look in Hyzenthlay's eyes, silently ordering to refrain from speaking.
"He couldn't save Primrose from being executed!" Hyzenthlay snapped. "He's better off dead!"
"How can you say such things?!" Clover stared at the coco brown doe in disbelief.
Instead of responding, Hyzenthlay turned and lolloped back to her burrow with a bitter scowl.
"Don't mind her, lass. Hazel and Lily are saving his life," Bigwig assured her. "I suppose that makes you even."
"I suppose it does." Clover sighed sadly, anxious for not just Hazel and Lily, but for Campion included.
Meanwhile, Vervain and the rest of his patrol had returned to Efrafa. While the next patrol set out and the returning patrol took up their guard shifts over the burrows, Vervain was unfortunately in the Chief's Burrow, giving his report to Woundwort with Orchis at his side… albeit a personally-biased one meant to exercise his own fault onto Campion. Woundwort, however, is not one easily fooled by Vervain's attempts, while Orchis smirks at his brother's "report".
"The patrol was exhausted, sir. Campion drove them beyond their limit."
"Did he?"
"Yes, sir. It's no wonder the hawk decided we were easy prey."
"No wonder."
"It was pure luck the rest of us got away."
"Was it?"
"I did my best, General."
The General was silent and stern for a moment while Orchis held a slight snigger. "No information on Thlayli or the outsiders… no flayrah… and my best captain of Owsla lost. Your best isn't very good… Is it, Captain Vervain?" he asked as he approached the cowardly Captain, who cringed slightly, until Woundwort struck him across the face with a sharp blow.
Vervain was completely shocked by this sudden act of punishment, he trembled slightly before replying, "No, sir."
"You will be back there by dawn, won't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"And you will do better this time… Won't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good… it seems we finally have an understanding. Dismissed."
With a fearful bow, Vervain left the burrow, shortly before Orchis was also dismissed for the day as the General's personal attendant. As Vervain prepared to retire to his quarters, a slow firm clap was heard in the tunnel. A growl escaped his mouth as he notices Orchis with a pleased smirk while slowly clapping his paws outside the Owsla branch of the tunnels.
"Bravo, Vervain," his brother taunted. "I must admit: quite the show you put on. Though I couldn't quite decide which I liked better: your little self-indulgent report, or when the General stripped you of your nerve when he beat you."
"You were there with me, brother," Vervain retorted, venomously. "You could have said something in my defense."
"Why would I?" Orchis sneered. "You had no trouble displeasing the General on your own. All the same… remember I once trusted you to help me get something I wanted, and yet you failed at that. Why should I bother helping you out of the burrow you dug yourself?"
"You not getting that hutch-doe was hardly my fault. Perhaps she merely preferred the strong, sturdy type. I mean…" Vervain let out a snickering smirk of his own, "she certainly sounded more like a doe in heat under that Thlayli chap." This, of course, let out a deeper growl from Orchis, which is what Vervain wanted. "Oh yes… if you only heard and saw what I heard and saw… You'd definitely question your own prowess as a buck. Just remember that. No matter what you do to me, there is always something worse to be done to you in turn."
Vervain lets out a heartless chuckle as he returns to his burrow, leaving his younger brother to stew in his own anger to Vervain which quickly turned to more selfish hatred at Thlayli for taking his doe…HIS DOE…