Chestnut was sleeping peacefully when the morning sun woke him up. For some reason he had a horrible dream that he had pictured the old rabbit Carnation caught in the Shining Wire. Though a little shaken, he was happy to find that it was all a dream. But then he heard screaming, wailing and sobbing. He ran outside and saw everyone crowding around each other and paying their respects to someone.

"My heart has joined a thousand," he heard Uncle Hazel say, "for our friend has stopped running today."

He pushed his way through to find Carnation lying dead in the Shining Wire around his neck.

Chestnut backed away in horror.

"I made it happen!" he cried. "I dreamed about him doing like this and I've killed him!"

Suddenly, the grass under his feet crumbled and he fell down a deep dark hole, his father too late to save him. The patch of light disappeared and it was replaced by a red light down below. He fell closer and closer and closer until the light revealed a furnace. He fell straight through it into a new world.

Everywhere he looked, fire lit here and there with burning, tortured rabbits groaning from the pain and he heard distant wails and howling of agony. The air was hotter than the heat of summer and Chestnut's fur began to react to it as he started to sweat from the heat, but mostly from terror.

A black shadow appeared out of nowhere with red hot eyes and it glowered down at him.

"W-where am I?" whimpered Chestnut.

"You have landed forever into the Valley of Fire," said the shadow. "You have spilled innocent blood in that of a dream which had come true. You are cursed with dreams that can make reality and you have proved an evil heart. You shall roast here forever and your father and mother will never see you again - for they are to go above while their evil child stays here to face the consequences of murder."

The shadow disappeared and from the surface, skeleton rabbits appeared and grabbed him by each arm and foot. Chestnut screamed loud enough for anyone above to hear him but no one could. Subsequent to the imprisonment of the skeletons, a huge, monstrous, ugly rabbit in one blind eye, scalded everywhere dragged himself near and opened his mouth getting ready to eat him as the skeletons brought the little buck near.

"HELP!" he screamed. "DADDY! HELP ME! HELP ME! DADDY!"

…..

"Chestnut! Chestnut! Wake up!"

Chestnut opened his eyes to see his father over him.

"Oh, Daddy!" he jumped onto his father crying his poor little heart out. "Don't let them get me! Don't let them get me!"

"Who?"

"The monsters in the Valley of Fire!"

"Oh dear," said Fiver, hurt terribly from the dream his son had. "You've had a very horrible nightmare."

Chestnut cried into his father's chest for some time, his father occasionally nuzzling him and licking him.

"I dreamed that I had a dream of Carnation being killed by the Shining Wire and I woke up to find him dead! I fell down a hole leading the Valley of Fire and you were too late to save me! A huge black rabbit with red eyes said I would be down here forever for being cursed with dreams that become reality and because of my evil thoughts! I don't want to go to the Valley of Fire, Daddy! Not there!"

Fiver's child was incredibly inconsolable at the moment. He took him to one side and cradled him until he calmed down.

"It's alright, precious one," said Fiver gently. "Shh, shh. It was only a nightmare. Daddy's here now. Daddy won't let you go. Shall we go for a little hop? You and me?"

"Can I ride on you please, Daddy?" sniffed Chestnut, his eyes horribly bloodshot from crying.

"Of course, Prince Winter," smiled Fiver. "I often rode on Uncle Hazel when I was your age."

They hopped down to the pond where Chestnut had a long, cool drink and they hopped back up to the down where Fiver rested his back on a tree root with Chestnut lying on-top of him as they looked at the starts above. Chestnut drew his father's paws over him to feel safe and protected.

"What are actually the stars?"

"All children. Frith has children above him and bit by bit he always sends one down to us like he did you for me and Mama."

Chestnut started in wonderment with his deep brown eyes.

"Are you okay now?" asked Fiver.

"A little bit," said Chestnut as he turned over to lay on his front, looking into Fiver's warm face. "I feel as if that dream is a sign that something bad will happen to someone else and then me being taken there."

"No it isn't," said Fiver. "It's just superstition. You don't cause anything to happen at all. And you are the last rabbit to ever hurt anyone."

"Has anything like this happened to you, Daddy?"

Fiver thought back on his visions, when he first had them and all the other events which were terribly frightening. He decided to lie to him, for the fear of bringing him into belief.

"No," said Fiver. "I had some horrible dreams myself such as Bigwig getting caught in the Shining Wire and Uncle Hazel getting shot by Man's thunderstick. But it has never happened."

With those words, Fiver felt extremely sick with guilt. He had never lied in his entire life. Not even to his own little boy.

"But if I ever had a dream about you and Mama getting hurt," said Chestnut. "Would you get rid of me?"

"Never," said Fiver. "You can't help dreams. No matter how horrible they are, even if it involves anyone here, we will still love you as we do now."

"I love you more than anyone here, Daddy," said Chestnut. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"And nothing ever will," said Fiver. "It's all in your head, little one. Now, shall I tell you a few funny things to take your mind of things? Something you want to dream about?"

"Yes please, Daddy," said Chestnut eagerly as he rested his head into his father's warm, soft chest.

"Me, Uncle Leo, Dandelion and Hawkbit went somewhere. Hawkbit and Dandelion drank a a weird water and they began to act all funny, sining and being all stupid and calling each other names you can't imagine."

Chestnut started to laugh.

"There was another time when Uncle Leo retuned after being gone for so long and when Dandelion saw him, he excitedly gulped down a mouthful of grass and he had the hiccups all day long. At the end of the day he still had them and he tied his ears around his mouth like this."

Fiver tied his ears around his mouth and faked some muffled hiccups, making Chestnut laugh at that.

Undoing the knot, he continued, "And there was a time when Hawkbit told us that he doesn't let does tell him what to do and do you know what happened?"

"What?"

"Clover appeared and told him he was supposed to be helping with the digging and he gave her pure respect. To which Uncle Leo said to him. 'We're so impressed with you, Hawkbit. You really showed her there not to boss you around'."

"But - you just said that he didn't take her orders."

"He didn't," said Fiver. "That was the joke. Uncle Leo was being sarcastic with what he said."

"Can you tell me one more?"

"Dandelion, Hawkbit and Strawberry were training with Bigwig and Strawberry got stuck under a log."

Chestnut laughed madly. "That was the best one."

"Want to try and get some sleep now?"

"Can I sleep with you tonight please, Daddy?"

"Of course, Prince Winter. We'll sleep out here tonight. You can sleep with me and I will keep you safe."

"Goodnight, Daddy," yawned Chestnut.

"Goodnight, son," smiled Fiver.

As he closed his eyes, Chestnut leant further and licked him on the nose.

Fiver in return, licked his three time on the head, which to Chestnut felt like a mark of protection from anymore evil dreams.