"You can make it, Faith," I told the shaking doe behind me, nothing like her mother waiting on the other side of the river. "Just take a few deep breaths, and jump to the next rock."
"For El-ahrairah's sake," Oak muttered beside me, before looking at me directly. "Sky, she'll jump eventually. As soon as a hawk comes flying in, boom, she'll be sprinting through the river like a spirit. If her instinct doesn't get her past the rock, well…"
Oak leaned closer with a glint in his eye.
"I suppose that's just natural selection, right?" Oak shrugged.
"Oak!" I shoved my weight against his side, and the big lug barely moved from his spot. His sides shook as he gave a deep laugh, hopping to the rock in front of me and leaving me to continue encouraging Faith to...well, have faith I suppose. Lily, who was on my right side, turned around and stepped closer to Faith.
"I can get your Mom to let you have first pick of the burrows if you cross the river?" Lily tilted her head. "Here, I'll jump onto the next rock so you have room to land beside Sky."
Yup, that's me. I'm one of the many daughters of Hazel and Hyzenthlay, Oak is the son of Bigwig, and Lily was owned by humans throughout most of her kithood before she joined Watership Down. While me and Lily shared a burrow on most nights, I rarely saw Oak in the net of burrows or even at silflay. At first I worried that he was doing the same troublesome schemes as Sandwort, but whenever I did see him interacting with others in the warren, his responses were very curt, much like whenever Flyairth acknowledged him from time to time. It was only in the few days that we'd traveled that he'd slightly opened up a side of himself to me that I never expected, one beyond just a few words. As he made it to the other side of the river, he stood next to Fang and the several does that had already made it to the other side.
Lily jumped to the rock in front of me, and turned around to stare back at Faith.
"See? If a tiny doe such as myself can do it, anything is possible!" Lily's ears perked up as she spoke.
"Thank you, Lily," I nodded towards Faith. "I'll take it from here."
"Okay!" Lily turned back around, jumping from rock to rock like a hummingbird from flower to flower. She was on the other side in even less time than Oak, and stood next to Flyairth and turned to her, speaking out of earshot. I saw Fang and the does leave Flyairth's side and running further into the forest on the other side of the river, and I realized that me and Faith were the only ones left on the rocks. Lily, Oak, and Flyairth were the only ones still waiting on us, and I felt my heart racing as I saw a big cat walking in the distance.
"Faith?" I attempted to keep my voice steady. "Just jump to this rock and we'll jump together, okay? But we can't be here all day, so just hop ove-"
The cat glanced in our direction and bounded over to us and reached the rock within seconds, sinking their claws into Faith. Faith screamed and escaped the cat's grip, blood flying into the water as she bolted faster than Lily, crashing into her mother. I whirled around, face to face with the cat and their piercing amber eyes as they lunged for me. I fell on my back and shot my hind legs into the cat's ribs, clawing the fur and flesh over it. The cat screeched and brought their fangs towards my neck…
...only for the cat to yowl as a force knocked them into the water, Oak was next to me pushing me, and I needed no more encouragement as I bolted across the river, following Flyairth, Faith, and Lily as they ran deeper into the forest. I stopped and glanced over my shoulder as Oak jumped into the river, the water around him and the cat turning red until he jumped back onto the rocks and ran towards me. The cat clumsily gripped one of the rocks, struggling for air before slowly hoisting themself onto the rock. Decorated with bloody scratches, the cat didn't move from the rock, only the rise and fall of their body indicating any life. Oak joined me, about two to three scratches present on him, as he stopped and took several deep breaths. As he glanced at me, I leaned closer and chuckled.
"Natural selection, my ass," I snickered. "You saved my life."
"Oh whatever," Oak breathed, leaning his head against my cheek for less than a second before pulling away. "Let's go find the others."
Oak and I ran through the forest till we came across a field clear of trees where the does were digging up burrows, Flyairth and Faith watching them.
"Oh thank El-ahrairah you made it," Flyairth said as she rushed over to me. "And not a single scratch on you!"
"But Oak…" I glanced over as Oak shrugged off the interaction, and I turned back to our Chief Rabbit. "Where's Lily?"
"She's out looking for 'healing' plants, I told her to keep away from those humans and other rabbits," Flyairth explained. "But if it helps my daughter, then I have to let her try."
"Th-Thank you for saving me," Faith stepped towards me, pressing her muzzle against mine. Feeling my face heat up, I pulled back slowly.
"Yeah, Oak saved me," I told her. "You wouldn't have me to thank if not for him."
"Oh!" Faith looked at Oak as if she just noticed his presence beside me. "Thank you for defending us against that cat."
"Twas nothing," Oak sprawled in the grass, resting his head on the ground. "I'm gonna...need to…"
"Nope," I kicked his shoulder as he gave a sharp snort in response. "Not until Lily patches you up, I'm not having you suddenly croak on me."
"You're no better than that cat, beating me up," Oak chuckled. "Fine, but you'll be keeping me from drifting off."
"Deal," I nodded, sprawling beside him as Flyairth and Faith left us to talk until Lily's return.