The Great Game Part 1
I woke up to see I was back at home in my own room, as my alarm going off my phone early. The time showed it was six o'clock in the morning and I looked from my window that the sun was dawning. I got out of my bed to grab my clothes for work. I than opened the door to see a dark tunnel path that was nearly resembling to Efrafa's. I started to leave my bedroom and started to walk through the tunnel, as my bedroom door was still opened and I could always come back into my room.
Andrew.
I heard a voice calling out to me. However, it was nearly pitch black, like it was still the evening, but with no moon or stars to brighten the night. I continued to follow the voice, as it continued to call my name. I wouldn't thought it could be The Black Rabbit, as the rabbits say if he calls you, you go.
Andrew. The voice continued to call out for me and the voice I thought it was someone recognizable.
"Hello. Tyler?"
Andrew, please help me. The voice started to plead for help and the voice was deeper.
"I'm coming!" I hurried, until I saw a brown rabbit and I knew who it was. "Campion!"
"Help me, Andrew." he pleaded.
I knelt down on my knees and felt Campion's strength is weak. "You're nearly thin to the bones. Whose done this to you?!"
We than heard laughter and a voice that I started to recognize from past dreams I have.
Look out. Look out.
"For your own sake, you need to leave now." Campion tried to be noble, he once was.
"I'm going to leave you." I refused to leave.
"Unforunately, Campion will be arrested until he starves to death." a second voice came and a black rabbit was none other than Vervain.
"Run! Run like El-ahrairah." Campion instructed me.
"He'll be soon joining you with 'the beast'." Vervain evilly smirked, before dragging him into the dark abyss.
"CAMPION!" I shouted, as I tried to reach for his paw, but it was too late for me to save.
What'll I do
What'll I do
What an unusual view
I can stand the sight of worms
And look at microscopic germs
But technicolor pachyderms is really too much for me
I am not the type to faint
When things are odd or things are quaint
But seeing things you know that ain't
I heard the voices and I knew what it was right away. Out of fear, I hurried over to my bedroom, but my room was slammed shut that I couldn't be able to open it.
Can certainly give you an awful fright
Shivering in fright, I turned around to see a monster with elephant heads from head to toe in different colors and their eyes in black. The path was all in black with two blue linings. The monster evilly smiled, as Vervain does, but it was more sinister and devilish. I tried to run to another spot, but I was blocked.
"Please, leave me alone!" I begged.
What a sight!
Chase 'em away! Chase 'em away
I'm afraid, need your aid
Pink elephants on parade
I tried to cover my ears so I didn't have to hear the last nightmare of the song, but it wouldn't help, as it was still louder, as it was getting closer. The blue elephant heads blocked the yellow elephant head. I tried to look away, as I wanting to wake up and the dream to end. I started to feel a trunk and it was slowly rubbing my arm. I opened my eyes and looked to see my bedroom door is gone.
"No. No."
Slowly my head started to turn to see the yellow elephant's head devilishly smiling, as the eyes were blacker than before. As the lyrics of the song finished with a dark vocal tone. It started to lean and press towards me, as I started to scream.
The screaming woke up, as I started feel someone was touching me. I woke up from the dream to see someone was there and it was Fiver.
"Fiver, did I frightened you?" I asked shakily.
"No..." he answered as he dusted himself off. "I was going to ask, if you're alright. You were dreaming."
I nodded my head, as I continued to shake. "Yeah... I'm scared a bit."
"Stay right there, I'll go get Hazel." Fiver insisted.
Still shaking from a constant dream that I experience since I dreamed about it. I always try to think something else for a better dream, but it would come out the same result. Even trying to have a wonderful or a good dream: such as Hazel, Fiver, and myself wondered around the hills of Watership Down or showing them the sandy beaches of California; like Bodega Bay.
Fiver returned back with Hazel, as they still see me coming back from a nightmare.
"A nightmare." Hazel knew what it was.
I nodded. "I was at home, getting ready for work, until it took me to Efrafa where I found Campion weak and starved. I than saw Vervain, who arrested Campion."
"We remember what he did." Hazel recalled that Campion was arrested.
"Vervain dragged away Campion away in the dark. My bedroom was shut and disappeared and I started to hear the song called Pink Elephants on Parade."
"'Pink elephants on parade'?" Hazel wanted to know more.
"It's a song from a Disney movie from Dumbo. In a sequence, Dumbo and Timothy the Mouse mistakenly drank a champagne, as they thought it was water. They became drunk that Dumbo started to blow bubbles and apparently they began to hallucinate of pink elephants. It even haunted me ever since, if I ever thought of it."
Hazel placed his paw on my shoulder, as he and Fiver listened more.
"In my dream, and every time I dream of hearing the song... there's a 'monster'. With elephant heads in bright colors, with evil smiles. Even the main head haunts me the most, as it always gets close to me. I know that it's not real, even though I still fear the worst of Campion in Efrafa."
"Tomorrow morning, I'll go see if Campion is at our meeting spot. If he's there, than we're good and we won't have to worry." Hazel assured me.
"If not?" I doubted.
"We'll find a way to help him anyway we could." Fiver added.
I sighed for the solution that we'll be able to figure out more about Campion's incarceration. "Still I fear the dream will come back of course. Can you guys stay with me please?"
"Of course we'll." Hazel warmly smiled.
"Maybe perhaps you could dream about the three of us traveling together." Fiver suggested.
I started to smile. "That'll be wonderful. Only if I could."
"Just believe you can. Have faith in it and think about it." Hazel advised.
I decided to take his advise, as I gave them some of my blankets. Fiver rested on Hazel's side, as I did on the other. "Thank you guys for being there. I couldn't have the grander friends I could ever have."
"That's why you mentioned what family and friends do. Look after each other." Fiver recalled.
I started to close my eyes, as I held onto Hazel's left paw, while my head was resting on him like a soft pillow that I could envy. Seconds later, I found myself at a beach which it is Bodega Bay. I looked around to see I was alone. I started to imagine Hazel and Fiver are there with me. It didn't take long, until five seconds in. The three of us greeted, before I showed them where I used to play on the sands and on the water. We than later started to race each other on the dunes, and did a game of Tail Tag, before the evening came that we had to go to sleep. The stars and the moon were bright, as we started to watch shooting stars soar. The ocean waves crashing ashore sounded the three of us fast asleep, before we have to wake back up at Watership Down.
After the wonderfully dream that I just experienced, I woke up to find myself back at Watership Down in my burrow with Hazel and Fiver. They were still asleep, as the morning came, as I hear some early rising rabbits were chattering and moving about. I picked up my phone and put on camera mode to see my face, as I was looking at the mirror. I came to notice that I was in full beard and have long hair. There would be no point of having a rabbit trying to cut my hair, since luckily I have some hair scissors that I bought from the market, before I came here. After grabbing my backpack and my water mug, I decided to have swim in the brook and go for shave. Since I haven't cut my own hair before, there's no point of holding it back.
When I got outside, hardly no one was outside. I took my stroll towards the brook down hill near the caverns entrance. Firstly, I went for a swim to clear my thoughts from my first dream, without removing about Campion, because Hazel promised he'll find out more about him. I filled my water mug and poured it on my hair and started to cut my hair to make it short to the least. After taking about ten minutes of a trying to make a good cut and washing my head removing some hair pieces that were cut, put on some shaving cream; after getting my face wet from splashing water on me. Fifteen minutes after a clean shave, I just hopped in the brook to have a morning swim and decided to rest my head on the grassy dirt near the water. I looked up to see some clouds rolling by and saw a commercial jet flying by. Suddenly I started to think about home and still figuring how I was going to get home.
Kaaaaaaaa! I saw Kehaar with Hannah on his back. "Kehaar says good morning to all!" Kehaar shouted, as he tries to greet everyone a "good morning" as Hannah waves down at me and I waved back. I than relaxed once again bathing on the brook.
After five minutes of relaxing, I saw a rabbit coming out of the caverns and it was Hawkbit. He spotted me, as he gasped like he didn't recognize me at first. "Oh, Andrew. Good morning."
"Good morning, spending time in the caverns?" I asked.
"I have and quite dandy as usual." he answered.
I shook my head.
"What's with your tail?" he asked.
"Nothing really... just recovered from a night terror." I answered.
"A bad dream running?"
"You ever get them?" I asked.
"Very rarely, except since after Tyler ran away. I couldn't fall asleep, so I decided to hop in the caverns." he answered.
"What happened there, slept better after?"
"Surprisingly, I did, thank you for asking. Now since I came to the caverns, I realized thinking about bad dreams is a waste of a beauty sleep." Hawkibt answered. "Is it about Tyler, on what you dreamed."
"Not even close, it was about Campion."
"So, what do you think about him since he serves for our enemy?" he questioned.
"Since I was captured, he treated like how an enemy should treat prisoners, at least humanely than the rest. After I heard that he was arrested, I feared the worst something could have happened to him." I answered.
"Well... let's hope none of us would have to be on his path, siding one side, while remaining loyal to an enemy." Hawkbit hoped.
"If it wasn't horrifying enough in my dream, I started to hear a song about 'pink elephants'." I added.
"What's a 'pink elephant'?" Hawkbit asked.
"Well an elephant are mammals that lived in Africa and Asia. Well, going to 'pink elephants', a song came from a Disney classic called Dumbo. Surprisingly, I read that a few people, who drank alcohol too much did saw pink elephants. Besides, I rather not talk about the scene of it much. It'll repeat the dream and I still the song in the back of my head."
"You drank this 'alcohol'?" he questioned.
"No, absolutely not!" I exclaimed.
"No, no, I was just asking." he assured.
"I know you were, and I never will." I stated. "And I couldn't imagine if a rabbit did drank alcohol mistakenly, like Dumbo the elephant did."
"Than we'll be seeing 'pink rabbits'!" Hawkbit lightened a joke that he started laugh that I lightly joined.
Kaaaaaa!
"Sounds like Kehaar and Hannah are coming back." I said.
"I heard that they were going to fly to Efrafa to see about Campion." Hawkbit told me.
"Than I need to get out and I wanted to hear more about, since I dreamed about him." I decided to get out of the water and grabbed a towel to dry myself off.
"What did you do with your fur?" Hawkbit asked.
"My what?" I questioned.
"With your fur around your face and your head. You could have the same mane as Bigwig." he complimented.
"Not me, I rather not." I chuckled.
After drying myself off and getting dressed, Hawkbit and I went up the hill towards the peach tree to see Kehaar and Hannah just landed at ease.
"Any sign of Campion in Efrafa?" Hazel asked Hannah.
"He's arrested! Vervain interrogated about the night before and the day of the raid in Redstone. He even demanded where our is."
The rabbits gasped, as I got a look at Primrose heartbroken from hearing about Campion's state.
"Campion didn't give them the answer Vervain wanted, as he continued to starve him. So if we don't do something, Campion won't last till next round moon." Hannah finished her report about Campion's arrest.
"Vervain already tried and convicted him without a shred of proof." Fiver added.
"Rotten ugly Vervain wants Campion dead for sure!" Kehaar exclaimed.
"Without doubt, if that includes starving him." I added.
"And that's how Woundwart repays Campion, who saved his life at the Warren of Shining Wires." Dandelion recalled.
"So that's why he's arrested?!" I questioned.
"Campion saved General Woundwart from being snared at Cowslip's. Vervain drew suspension that Campion working with the enemy, possibly us." Hazel told me what happened, since I passed out from my illness, I wasn't sure how Campion was arrested and I thought it was no reason.
"There must be something we can do." Primrose stated.
"Campion knew this might happen when he agreed to spy for us." Bigwig stated.
"So we just leave him there?!" Fiver stood up, having shocking gasps from Bigwig and Hazel. "Thanks very much Campion! Sorry about you getting killed!"
"I don't like it any better than you Fiver, but we have to face facts." Bigwig explained.
"Facing what they call reality!" I impersonated Doyle's voice and quote from Sling Blade when he disciplined harshly on Frank. "It doesn't matter about the fact, Campion served as Efrafa, he's a fellow rabbit like everyone of you. Even Fiver would agree on that!" Fiver nodded his head.
"So, what was it you said Fiver. Vervain has already tried and convicted him." Hazel admits.
"Still we could always plan something, before the real carries out, even stalling an execution." I added.
"And you're right, that doesn't mean we won't be able to help him." Hazel assured me and Fiver.
"Have you got an idea, Hazel?" Bigwig asked.
"Maybe..." Hazel started to think, until he started to remember a El-ahrairah folktale. "I was just thinking about the story of The Trial of El-ahrairah."
"The Trial of El-ahrairah?" I questioned.
Everyone looked at me, as if I haven't heard all of the El-ahrairah stories enough. In real sense though, it helped me learn about the rabbits' way of life.
"You meaning to say that he was arrested?" I asked.
"That's when Hufsa accused El-ahrairah of stealing carrots and then he went on trial before Prince Rainbow." Pipkin answered, as he remembered the story.
I didn't bother to ask about Hufsa, except he was probably the prosecutor of El-ahrairah.
"And El-ahrairah used his wits to make Hufsa look like a fool." Dandelion added.
"By the time El-ahrairah was done, Prince Rainbow wouldn't have believed Hufsa say he'd seen the sky was blue." Fiver concluded.
"So... what's your guys point?" I asked.
"Our point and plan is, why not do the same to Vervain." Hazel summarized the plan, as if we're reconstructing the El-ahrairah story about his trial.
"Make his charges against Campion look like the ravings of a moon, mad dog. I like it." Bigwig understood and agrees with the plan.
"Pipkin we'll need help from some of the animals on the down." Hazel instructed Pipkin.
"I'll go get all the help we need, Hazel!" Pipkin took the task.
"When we're ready to play our trick, we'll need to know where to find Vervain." Hazel added.
"I'll go find 'ugly Vervain' and stick to him like his ugly face sticks to him!" Kehaar volunteered, before he takes off to start searching for him.
"Hannah, how would you like to a 'hedge wizard'?" Hazel offered Hannah.
"I'll do it!" Hannah accepted the role, as she's about to be a star. "What's a 'hedge wizard'?"
"A 'hedge wizard' is someone who grants a wish." Hazel answered Hannah's question.
"A wizard lived around here?" I asked.
"We only heard stories that a 'hedge wizard' does roam around, but not certain." Hazel answered.
"Maybe perhaps, if it's not too much trouble, I could be the accident-prone apprentice." I came up with an idea to be as a apprentice.
"I don't think it'll be a good idea to show yourself in front of Vervain, he'll recognize you immediately." Bigwig refused.
"Not unless I already did my shave and haircut. He would hardly know me, a little perhaps, but I could always pull off a good impersonation without breaking character." I added.
"It won't hurt to bad." Hannah thought.
"Alright, try one." Hazel thought I should try out an impersonation.
I cleared my throat and I thought one I should right away that I could always voice like.
"Howdy hoo, Winslows." I greeted, as Steve Urkel from Family Matters. They were immediately spellbound that i was another person. "It sure looks like it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood." I finished with the Urkel laugh and snort.
They couldn't help, but laugh.
"That was very good." Hazel couldn't stop laughing.
"True, but the only probably is I need to dress right to fit as Steve Urkel and I don't have any suspenders." I was an outfit short.
"Maybe we could find something along the way, Pipkin are you ready?" Hazel thought, as he was prepared to leave with Pipkin.
"I almost forgot, what if we have a messenger from Frith?" Bigwig suggested.
"That's good idea, too." I agreed. "But, who'll be the messenger?"
Bigwig turned on Hawkbit.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked, as he was his own self.
"How about you and I took a trip down to a brook?" Bigwig asked.
"Alright, if you're wanting me to be the messenger fine." Hawkbit decided to take the role.
Everyone started to get the props and cast they need: Hazel and Pipkin visited some of the animals at the down to recruit them to give them a role, Bigwig and Fiver tagged Hawkbit along for some reason I'm not sure, but I'll figure out sooner or later. I was back at my burrow sorting through the clothes that I needed to dress like Urkel. However, the only thing was missing was suspenders. Despite of dressing more casual attire, I tucked in my button-up shirt, raised my socks high level, and luckily I found a pair of Walter's glasses and was hardly damaged.
"Andrew." I heard a voice, as I turned over to see Sandy.
"Sandy, how are you?" I asked.
"I'm doing okay, heard you had another nightmare?" she asked.
"Yeah, but I rather want to bring up the ending half of it, because it'll bring it back into my head I'll be dreaming about it." I answered.
"It's about Campion." she guessed.
"For the first half and how did you know?"
"Hazel told me, when he found out you were gone in the morning." she added, as she looked down to see what I was wearing. "What's the occasion?"
"We're pulling off a trick on Vervain." I answered.
"You are? What are you going to do?"
"We're going to have Hannah disguise as a 'hedge wizard', Hawkbit as a Frith's messenger, some of the animals are probably going to take a role on their parts. Me, I'm the 'hedge wizard's' apprentice." I told her and I made a poise, with a Urkel swing.
She started to laugh. "You're trying to be like Steve Urkel."
"Exactly, Family Matters is one of my favorite TV shows. I thought about dressing up as Urkel and impersonate him, but I don't have suspenders.
Sandy had something popped in her head. "Actually, I do something. Come on I'll show you." I followed her to see she has a travel bag as well.
"You have your own travel pack?"
"Campion brought my bag from Efrafa, from the first time I came there. Hazel delivered it to me." she brought up about her travel bag. She opened up to see a pair of glasses and suspenders from her grandfather. "I wanted to help you for this, since you rescued me."
I was shocked to see her offering me a glasses and a suspenders from her grandfather. "Sandy, I can't accept that. It belonged to your grandfather, I'm sure you wanted to take them back with you without being ruined."
"Sure you can and you will wear them." she exclaimed. "If he wanted you to dress like him, he would probably let you burrow them, if you had met him."
She won over her convection, as I decided to accept them. "Thank you, I'll damage too much." I replaced Walter's glasses with Sandy's grandfather's.
"I'm sure we both wanted to see Vervain's face when something like this happens." she added.
"Maybe you could." I said.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"How about you could be my undercover camera-person." I offered. "You'll get to see them and you'll be able to watch it all over, when you returned home."
"I'll be honored." she accepted.
"In the end if I got your number and email, I'll send it out to you." I promised.
We both shared a embracing hug. I than started to put on the suspenders and took a deep breath. "It's... Showtime!"
After getting all the props, me and Sandy headed over to meet with everyone else at a brook, where I saw Hawkbit was about to be covered in mud.
"Oh, here Sandy record on my phone." I handed over my phone to Sandy and she started to record it, as we're listening.
"Do I really have to do this?" Hawkbit questioned, as it was unnecessary.
"Get on with it." Bigwig ordered.
Hawkbit let out a sigh and started to get half of himself hardly any mud. Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver, and Pipkin gathered around Hawkbit and started to scrub him with the mud. Sandy and I couldn't help, but to giggle.
"Just like Grumpy, as he's getting washed for dinner." I recalled a scene from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
"However, it's a 'Grumpy' getting dirty, other than cleaned." Sandy joked, as she continues to record the scene from my phone. Hawkbit was than completely covered in mud, except his face. With the little help of Pipkin, he grabbed a handful and splashed onto his face covering up.
"You look like an overgrown berry, Hawkbit!" Pipkin chuckled.
"It's almost time. You could end it and start a new one, after." I prepared her.
"When should I record?" she asked.
"When you see Hazel, Hannah, and I above him and hiding, that's your cue." I instructed.
She nodded her head, as we came out of hiding. "Hey everybody."
Everyone turned to see me in a different outfit.
"You're all ready?" Hazel asked.
"With suspenders and a pair of glasses from her help." I gave Sandy credited from her offering me her grandfather's pair of glasses and suspenders.
"How are you going to pull off just like that, Andrew?" Sandy questioned.
"It's no big deal, I shaved and I got myself a haircut before than and I could do a good voice." I assured her.
"Are you going to need some of the mud?" Pipkin asked, but the real lesson when acting is never, never color themselves another race.
"No, no, it's okay Pipkin, I'll be fine." I assured him, because he doesn't know much about 'blackface' and it was better for him not trying to know and doing it, without hearing about. "It's better you don't do it and I can pull it off just fine."
Pipkin understood and washed his paws, as Sandy and I let out a relief.
"Ugly Vervain and patrol just downstream Hazel." Kehaar notified Hazel, as he and Hannah landed.
"Right than, let's make Vervain believe the impossible." Hazel announced.
"And also, we have a special camera operator to do our shooting." I faced Sandy.
"We don't have time to make a joke with a 'man-made' thing." Bigwig stated.
"Don't worry, she'll be in good hiding, but we could always look back by watching it and we could laugh." I assured him.
Bigwig sighed. "Alright, be very careful Sandy."
"I'll will." she assured him.
"Campion's life depends on it." Hazel didn't want us to forget the real reason we're doing our antic.
We followed Kehaar where last seen Vervain, as he was resting on a log, as he ordered his patrol to find him some flayrah. Everyone got into positions, Bigwig with a hedgehog named Yona giving her flower petals to dress her in costume, Pipkin with Ruffles, a bird I suppose that doesn't swim and Slight a turtle who'll help Ruffles float, and Hawkbit was at a disclosed location where he'll make his appearance in the grand finale. Sandy is well hidden with my ghillie suit to herself well hidden from Vervain's presence and prepared to roll the camera. Finally, Hazel is over-watching Vervain's move, as Hannah finished her costume's last touches as a 'hedge wizard', as I started to take my breaths and get into my character.
"You see the log, that's where you two will make our entrance." Hazel pointed out our first cue.
"Hannah will go first and I'll come in second." I suggested.
Hannah pulled out a flower bed to use it as a hat. "Makes me look magical."
"It does, indeed." I whispered.
"Anything else before we start?" Hazel asked us for any last suggestions.
"Not really, but what they say, 'break a leg'." I wished everyone the best of luck for our antic play, with my Steve Urkel impression to start our show.
To Be Continued...
