CHAPTER TWO
UNEASY ALLIANCE
Oh, thy yonder window breaks! It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. -Shakesphere, Romeo and Juliet
(lets face it. That's the only literature piece that I can recall- word for word, too!)
Bigwig's ears twitched as he watched Fiver. The rabbit told truth- well, partly. Rabbits were coming. Fiver showed nothing but fear and shock as he scuttled off into a burrow. Bigwig pawed the fur on his crest for awhile, then rapped out orders to the captain, "Krstallin! Get out all fight worthy rabbits out on the combe, hidden. They'll know where to come out. Thethuthinang, go get Dandelion, Buckthorn, Hyzenthlay- perhaps Blackavar as well, if you can find him. Quickly as possible. Tell them to meet me at the combe."
He ran towards the combe and sat up. They would not be able to see them from their vantage point, but they could. Bigwig took note of their appearances. A speedy one up front, some though looking rabbits- and one in the lead that somehow had a striking resemblance to Woundwort.if they wanted to fight, Watership Down would win due to numbers, but there would certainly be a lot of deaths.
He watched as Krystallin and about twenty other rabbits hopped into cover. The captain had more or less figured out what Bigwig had wanted t do. Some were hidden in the bushes to the right, some to the left in the trees, and others behind him in tall grass. The entrance to the warren was covered with vegetation. Soon, Dandelion, Buckthorn, Hyzenthlay and Blackavar were with him.
Dandelion spotted the rabbits and shuddered. "Thlayli-rah, dosen't that one look like Woundwort?"
Blackavar shook hard momentarilly and said, "Frithrah! They have got to have come from the same litter, Thlayli-rah. He's around Woundworts size as well!"
"Alright, when they come, this is what I want you to do.Let me do all the talking, you are intelligent rabbits, if you need to talk do so. Blackavar, if your injuries are questioned say that you fought of several elil alongside me. We need to form and impression on them if they are going to fight us.Dandelion, can run along just there and tell Krystallin that when I paw the fur on my forehead to get them all to approach silently? Get about four to circle around from the right and left to get behind them."
The orders were carried out and they sat, remaining silent at the combe, watching.
Sharathar was the first to arrive. He spotted Bigwig. If it came to fighting, he would take several to inle with him. Sharathar scanned the area with keen eyes- there was no warren in sight, just a few lone rabbits wandering the combe problably. He gave the runner, Rosemary, a heavy cuff. "Wheres the warren?" he muttered.
Rosemary struggled upright. She stared around and reported, "It should have been around that tree, Sharathar-rah. I don't see it anywhere."
Sharathar walked up towards Bigwig with a few at his back. His party outnumbered them, should it come to battle. "Greetings, Rabbits of Watership Down! We are a simple party of representatives from the warren of Riverfield not far off! We have heard that there was a warren here and we have come to make an alliance with it, but it appears we have made a mistake, there are only you few here."
Bigwig looked up and said one word curtly. "Name?"
"Sharathar, Chief Rabbit of Riverfield.and you?"
"Thlayli. Chief Rabbit of Watership Down."
Sharathar glanced around. Bigwig had annoyed him. Bigwig knew that he should have had a good measure of himself in tracking abilities.he was not able to see a warren here, yet there is. Sharathar kept his tone friendly as he replied, "Thlayli, may you take us to your warren?"
"Not on my life. You are likely to destroy it all." Sharathar struggled for an appropiate answer. "Frith up in the sky- do you think I would be such an Embleer rabbit as too betray thee? Do my numbers look great enough to destroy your warren?"
Bigwig replied flatly, "By knowing where we are you could fetch your whole warren to destroy us all, you embleer rabbit."
Thyme stepped forward and growled slightly. "No rabbit calls Sharathar- rah an embleer rabbit."
Sharathar cuffed him aside and turned his gaze on the other members of the small party. His eyes riveted on Blackavar, amber eyes looking from the tip of the shredded ears to the heavily scared tail. "Who are you- and my, where did you get those?"
"Blackavar. Fighting off elil and intruders-" he looked pointedly at them- "From Watership Down with Thlayli-rah."
Sharathar stared. He must have great stamina to last so many battle injuries and survive.and with Thlayli? How come he didn't have a single scar? Maybe he was underestimating that queer looking rabbit. He turned his eyes to Dandelion.
"You look swift. Name please?"
"Dandelion. You want to try me? I'm a good fighter as well," he said, crouching down as though ready to have a race.
"No, not at all." The others didn't look of much intrest. If this was the only group out having Silfay, their warren was surely small.then he spotted Hyzenthlay. 'Aren't you a pretty rabbit?"
Bigwig growled and stepped forward. Hyzenthlay pushed him aside and bared her teeth. "Hyzenthlay, embleer excuse for a gamekeepers gibbet. I can fight for myself, Thlayli."
Sharathar gave a questioning look at the word 'fight'. Then, glancing back at his own party, they had apparently crouched down, ready to spring and attack at his command. "If I were to battle with you, Thlayli, I would surely outnumber you."
"Oh, really?" Bigwig hissed, pawing the fur on his crest.
Just as he wished, rabbits prowled towards Sharathar in all directions, eyes seeming to gleam, fangs bared, hisses eerily echoing around. The bushes that they had hid in were thorn bushes, and most of them had gotten scratches, looking just like scars from long a ago battles.
Sharathar struggled to remain calm, wishing his party would follow. They were bunching up together, cowering with the occasional beg for help.
Bigwig looked at Sharathar. "You are now my captives, for me to do with what I please- drown you, maybe. I shall talk terms with you tonight."
He looked around and barked loudly, "To the low burrows!"
Lately, Watership down had an edition of several burrows near the bottom, a corridor with burrows to the right. They were perfect for the purpose. One rabbit to each burrow to prevent communication and a guard at each one should do fine. Krystallin got the message immidiately, and set about shouting orders.
Dandelion looked questioningly at Bigwig. "Thlayli-rah, you're surely not going to drown them?"
Bigwig grinned. "Maybe yes, maybe know. IT depends if they turn out to be a threat or not. He does look like Woundwort, and twould be fun to see a living resemblance of that end of a rats tail left in a trap sinking down to the depths of the Enbrone.."
Blackavar grinned. "Several days journey there. On the way we can make all sorts of preperations, isntalling rumors in the, couldn't we?"
Hyzenthlay frowned. "We're not going to drown them and that's final." she grinned and said, "Maybe set Kehaar on them, or maybe give them to the fox. Remember him?"
A fox visited the down every once and a while, a fierce looking creature but gentle at heart. He seemed to be on kind terms with the down- he had made the offer that, if any rabbit prooved too annoying, he would have loved a snack.
The low burrows were dark and glum. Sharathar grumbled as he rolled around the bird pooped burrow. Kehaar had visited and used the low burrows- all of them- as living quarters once. Sharathar Dug furiously into the earth- to find a solid layer of rock underneath. Grumbling he dug sideways, hoping to expand his cell- perhaps into a non-bird pooped cell, maybe of Thyme. Rosemary would be good, Sharathar somehow felt like cuffing her to the death. When they got back she'd be the one to drown.
At once Krystallin was on him. Scratching furious and stabbing with a few thorns from the bushes in his teeth. Thy made good weapons. Before the slower Sharathar had a chance to react, Krystallin gave him two sharp bites- on to the back, inflicting a wound that bled- but not heavily, and the other bite nicking apart off one of his ears.
"No digging, you hear? Or You go to the thear!"
Krystallin had no idea what he was talking about, but he had decided to frighten Sharathar with a place that he was threatened to be sent to if he atempted to dig once more.
It worked. Sharathar slumped back, dark thoughts whirling in his mind. Then, one towered over all of them. What should he tell the warren when he got back?
Bigwig came to Sharathar's burrow. "Pick one with you. We will talk with Owslafa (he had not forgotten Efrafra, therefore decided to use it) guarding, over a fu inle silfay."
Sharathar picked Thyme and they nibbled greedily at the grass, surrounded in a semi circle by four sentires.
Bigwig looked at Sharathar. "And you want to be our allies, don't you?"
Sharathar looked up and nodded. Thyme was about to burst out laughing when he received a sharp cuff from his chief rabbit, and he imidiately started nodding.
"Give me proof this is no trick."
Sharathar smiled innocently. "Would I lie to you?"
Bigwig pretended to agree. "Fine. We will go to your warren tommorow at Ni-frith. You have any questions?"
"Why is there bird hraka in our cells?" asked Thyme before he could be stopped. Sharathar cuffed him again.
"That?" Bigwig quickly took the situation to his advantage. "We have a whole flock of attacked white birds that kill rabbits. This was their obedience system. We kept them down there for three days with no food. Their leader, Kehaar, has killed a very powerful rabbit indeed. I had weakened him by that time, though."
Sharathar shuddered as he was led back into the low burrows. A smile hovered on his face. He had gotten the warrens trust!
Bigwig smiled at Sharathar as he went, a patronizing smile that turned quickly into a sneer as the large rabbit went out of sight. The moment Sharathar decides to betray them the warren and Kehaar- hopefully with his flock this time- will come and wipe them off the face of the land. They are not fit to be called rabbits, frithrah! Yet, he hasn't known much of them yet.it was just instict that told him this. Recalling Fiver's words he summoned up the picture of Holly stumbling towards them, crying, "Zorn! O zorn!" And tried to replace the rabbit with himself.
Bigwig shook of the immage and scuttled into his burrow to get some rest- and to dream up some schemes, hopefully. To talk with one almost as crafty as he and to try not to show it was an Uneasy Alliance would be hard.
Oh, thy yonder window breaks! It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. -Shakesphere, Romeo and Juliet
(lets face it. That's the only literature piece that I can recall- word for word, too!)
Bigwig's ears twitched as he watched Fiver. The rabbit told truth- well, partly. Rabbits were coming. Fiver showed nothing but fear and shock as he scuttled off into a burrow. Bigwig pawed the fur on his crest for awhile, then rapped out orders to the captain, "Krstallin! Get out all fight worthy rabbits out on the combe, hidden. They'll know where to come out. Thethuthinang, go get Dandelion, Buckthorn, Hyzenthlay- perhaps Blackavar as well, if you can find him. Quickly as possible. Tell them to meet me at the combe."
He ran towards the combe and sat up. They would not be able to see them from their vantage point, but they could. Bigwig took note of their appearances. A speedy one up front, some though looking rabbits- and one in the lead that somehow had a striking resemblance to Woundwort.if they wanted to fight, Watership Down would win due to numbers, but there would certainly be a lot of deaths.
He watched as Krystallin and about twenty other rabbits hopped into cover. The captain had more or less figured out what Bigwig had wanted t do. Some were hidden in the bushes to the right, some to the left in the trees, and others behind him in tall grass. The entrance to the warren was covered with vegetation. Soon, Dandelion, Buckthorn, Hyzenthlay and Blackavar were with him.
Dandelion spotted the rabbits and shuddered. "Thlayli-rah, dosen't that one look like Woundwort?"
Blackavar shook hard momentarilly and said, "Frithrah! They have got to have come from the same litter, Thlayli-rah. He's around Woundworts size as well!"
"Alright, when they come, this is what I want you to do.Let me do all the talking, you are intelligent rabbits, if you need to talk do so. Blackavar, if your injuries are questioned say that you fought of several elil alongside me. We need to form and impression on them if they are going to fight us.Dandelion, can run along just there and tell Krystallin that when I paw the fur on my forehead to get them all to approach silently? Get about four to circle around from the right and left to get behind them."
The orders were carried out and they sat, remaining silent at the combe, watching.
Sharathar was the first to arrive. He spotted Bigwig. If it came to fighting, he would take several to inle with him. Sharathar scanned the area with keen eyes- there was no warren in sight, just a few lone rabbits wandering the combe problably. He gave the runner, Rosemary, a heavy cuff. "Wheres the warren?" he muttered.
Rosemary struggled upright. She stared around and reported, "It should have been around that tree, Sharathar-rah. I don't see it anywhere."
Sharathar walked up towards Bigwig with a few at his back. His party outnumbered them, should it come to battle. "Greetings, Rabbits of Watership Down! We are a simple party of representatives from the warren of Riverfield not far off! We have heard that there was a warren here and we have come to make an alliance with it, but it appears we have made a mistake, there are only you few here."
Bigwig looked up and said one word curtly. "Name?"
"Sharathar, Chief Rabbit of Riverfield.and you?"
"Thlayli. Chief Rabbit of Watership Down."
Sharathar glanced around. Bigwig had annoyed him. Bigwig knew that he should have had a good measure of himself in tracking abilities.he was not able to see a warren here, yet there is. Sharathar kept his tone friendly as he replied, "Thlayli, may you take us to your warren?"
"Not on my life. You are likely to destroy it all." Sharathar struggled for an appropiate answer. "Frith up in the sky- do you think I would be such an Embleer rabbit as too betray thee? Do my numbers look great enough to destroy your warren?"
Bigwig replied flatly, "By knowing where we are you could fetch your whole warren to destroy us all, you embleer rabbit."
Thyme stepped forward and growled slightly. "No rabbit calls Sharathar- rah an embleer rabbit."
Sharathar cuffed him aside and turned his gaze on the other members of the small party. His eyes riveted on Blackavar, amber eyes looking from the tip of the shredded ears to the heavily scared tail. "Who are you- and my, where did you get those?"
"Blackavar. Fighting off elil and intruders-" he looked pointedly at them- "From Watership Down with Thlayli-rah."
Sharathar stared. He must have great stamina to last so many battle injuries and survive.and with Thlayli? How come he didn't have a single scar? Maybe he was underestimating that queer looking rabbit. He turned his eyes to Dandelion.
"You look swift. Name please?"
"Dandelion. You want to try me? I'm a good fighter as well," he said, crouching down as though ready to have a race.
"No, not at all." The others didn't look of much intrest. If this was the only group out having Silfay, their warren was surely small.then he spotted Hyzenthlay. 'Aren't you a pretty rabbit?"
Bigwig growled and stepped forward. Hyzenthlay pushed him aside and bared her teeth. "Hyzenthlay, embleer excuse for a gamekeepers gibbet. I can fight for myself, Thlayli."
Sharathar gave a questioning look at the word 'fight'. Then, glancing back at his own party, they had apparently crouched down, ready to spring and attack at his command. "If I were to battle with you, Thlayli, I would surely outnumber you."
"Oh, really?" Bigwig hissed, pawing the fur on his crest.
Just as he wished, rabbits prowled towards Sharathar in all directions, eyes seeming to gleam, fangs bared, hisses eerily echoing around. The bushes that they had hid in were thorn bushes, and most of them had gotten scratches, looking just like scars from long a ago battles.
Sharathar struggled to remain calm, wishing his party would follow. They were bunching up together, cowering with the occasional beg for help.
Bigwig looked at Sharathar. "You are now my captives, for me to do with what I please- drown you, maybe. I shall talk terms with you tonight."
He looked around and barked loudly, "To the low burrows!"
Lately, Watership down had an edition of several burrows near the bottom, a corridor with burrows to the right. They were perfect for the purpose. One rabbit to each burrow to prevent communication and a guard at each one should do fine. Krystallin got the message immidiately, and set about shouting orders.
Dandelion looked questioningly at Bigwig. "Thlayli-rah, you're surely not going to drown them?"
Bigwig grinned. "Maybe yes, maybe know. IT depends if they turn out to be a threat or not. He does look like Woundwort, and twould be fun to see a living resemblance of that end of a rats tail left in a trap sinking down to the depths of the Enbrone.."
Blackavar grinned. "Several days journey there. On the way we can make all sorts of preperations, isntalling rumors in the, couldn't we?"
Hyzenthlay frowned. "We're not going to drown them and that's final." she grinned and said, "Maybe set Kehaar on them, or maybe give them to the fox. Remember him?"
A fox visited the down every once and a while, a fierce looking creature but gentle at heart. He seemed to be on kind terms with the down- he had made the offer that, if any rabbit prooved too annoying, he would have loved a snack.
The low burrows were dark and glum. Sharathar grumbled as he rolled around the bird pooped burrow. Kehaar had visited and used the low burrows- all of them- as living quarters once. Sharathar Dug furiously into the earth- to find a solid layer of rock underneath. Grumbling he dug sideways, hoping to expand his cell- perhaps into a non-bird pooped cell, maybe of Thyme. Rosemary would be good, Sharathar somehow felt like cuffing her to the death. When they got back she'd be the one to drown.
At once Krystallin was on him. Scratching furious and stabbing with a few thorns from the bushes in his teeth. Thy made good weapons. Before the slower Sharathar had a chance to react, Krystallin gave him two sharp bites- on to the back, inflicting a wound that bled- but not heavily, and the other bite nicking apart off one of his ears.
"No digging, you hear? Or You go to the thear!"
Krystallin had no idea what he was talking about, but he had decided to frighten Sharathar with a place that he was threatened to be sent to if he atempted to dig once more.
It worked. Sharathar slumped back, dark thoughts whirling in his mind. Then, one towered over all of them. What should he tell the warren when he got back?
Bigwig came to Sharathar's burrow. "Pick one with you. We will talk with Owslafa (he had not forgotten Efrafra, therefore decided to use it) guarding, over a fu inle silfay."
Sharathar picked Thyme and they nibbled greedily at the grass, surrounded in a semi circle by four sentires.
Bigwig looked at Sharathar. "And you want to be our allies, don't you?"
Sharathar looked up and nodded. Thyme was about to burst out laughing when he received a sharp cuff from his chief rabbit, and he imidiately started nodding.
"Give me proof this is no trick."
Sharathar smiled innocently. "Would I lie to you?"
Bigwig pretended to agree. "Fine. We will go to your warren tommorow at Ni-frith. You have any questions?"
"Why is there bird hraka in our cells?" asked Thyme before he could be stopped. Sharathar cuffed him again.
"That?" Bigwig quickly took the situation to his advantage. "We have a whole flock of attacked white birds that kill rabbits. This was their obedience system. We kept them down there for three days with no food. Their leader, Kehaar, has killed a very powerful rabbit indeed. I had weakened him by that time, though."
Sharathar shuddered as he was led back into the low burrows. A smile hovered on his face. He had gotten the warrens trust!
Bigwig smiled at Sharathar as he went, a patronizing smile that turned quickly into a sneer as the large rabbit went out of sight. The moment Sharathar decides to betray them the warren and Kehaar- hopefully with his flock this time- will come and wipe them off the face of the land. They are not fit to be called rabbits, frithrah! Yet, he hasn't known much of them yet.it was just instict that told him this. Recalling Fiver's words he summoned up the picture of Holly stumbling towards them, crying, "Zorn! O zorn!" And tried to replace the rabbit with himself.
Bigwig shook of the immage and scuttled into his burrow to get some rest- and to dream up some schemes, hopefully. To talk with one almost as crafty as he and to try not to show it was an Uneasy Alliance would be hard.