Copyright Notice, Lapine Vocabulary, Prologue, and Part 1
******************************** Copyright Notice
This Watership Down fan fiction ("The Promised Friend") was written May- June 2000, (c) 2000 by Bill Welch.
This fan fiction is based on the concepts of the novel "Watership Down", (c) 1972 by Richard Adams, and its sequel "Tales From Watership Down", (c) 1996 by Richard Adams
The author of this fan fiction (Bill Welch) is affiliated with neither "Watership Down" nor Richard Adams, and neither expects nor wants financial compensation from this fan fiction. This fan fiction is in the public domain and can be reproduced without the author's consent, provided the following five conditions are met:
a) This Copyright Notice is to accompany any and all reproductions of this fan fiction. b) This Copyright Notice is not to be subtracted from, added to, or edited in any form. c) This fan fiction is not to be purchased or sold at any price. This fan fiction is also not to appear on any website where a fee is required to access this fan fiction on said website, or in any publication where a fee is required to obtain a private copy of said publication. d) The text of this fan fiction (the text outside of this Copyright Notice) is not to be subtracted from, added to, or edited in any form. e) Illustration(s) may accompany reproductions of this fan fiction provided that no person demands or receives a fee for said illustration(s), the said illustration(s) can legally be viewed by persons of any age, the said illustration(s) are within the context of said fan fiction, and any text appearing in/with said illustration(s) also appears in the text of said fan fiction. The artist's name/signature, the date of creation of said illustration(s), and an artist copyright notice may accompany said illustration(s).
If there is a situation where any of these five conditions are not met for any reason, then this fan fiction is not to be reproduced in said situation.
The author of this fan fiction (Bill Welch) reserves the sole right to edit the text of this copyright notice and the text of this fan fiction in exception to conditions b) and d).
The Postcode Plants Database found at the URL , the Met Office website found at the URL , Chris Rae's English to American Dictionary found at the URL and the map entitled, "A Traveler's Map of Britain and Ireland", published with the June 2000 issue of National Geographic, were used as references in the creation of this fan fiction.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used with permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
This Copyright Notice is effective as of 12:00 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time, Monday, June 26, 2000 and has no expiry date.
End of Copyright Notice Text
**************************************** Lapine Vocabulary
Black Rabbit (of Inlé) = the rabbit who comes to claim those who die Bobstones = rabbit guessing game (number and nature of pebbles covered by paws) Efrafa = a hostile rabbit warren that was a virtual police state and that was run by General Woundwort El-Ahrairah = rabbit folk hero Elil = enemy of a rabbit (predator) Embleer = stinking (smell of fox) - can be used as a curse Flay = normal food (grass) Flayrah = good food Frith = the sun, rabbit god Fu-Inlé = night time (after Inlé rises) Hawk = any bird of prey Hlessi = a rabbit without a warren to call home (plural is hlessil) Homba = fox (plural is hombil) Hrair = thousand; any number over four Hraka = droppings - can be used as a curse Hrududu = any motor vehicle (plural is hrududil) Inlé = moon Iron Road = railroad Marli = mother rabbit Ni-Frith = noon Owsla = a rabbit warren's defence unit Pfeffa = cat Pylon Line = power lines Rah = leader, Chief Rabbit Silf = outdoors, on surface of ground (out of burrows) Silflay = eat outside Stop Running = die Tharn = state of shock and paralysis Zorn = destroyed, murdered
******************************
The Promised Friend
Prologue
Arum was in serious trouble; there was no doubt about that. Plodding slowly through the mud and the driving rain, the buck carried his lone surviving doe kitten in his mouth, pausing occasionally to drop her and be racked by a fit of coughing. He had just lost his home, his mate, and all but one of his kittens, and now he was losing the last of his strength to sickness and the freezing rain. He was about as miserable as any rabbit could be.
He finally found shelter in the form of an apparently abandoned burrow in a muddy hillside. It was a large enough hole to have potentially belonged to elil at one time, but Arum wasn't in any condition to refuse the relative warmth and dryness to be found there. He curled up in a far corner and held his kitten, Meadow, close to him.
He could detect the residual smell of a homba, and decided that this must have been the former resident. Then he realized that the scent wasn't just residual, but seemed to be growing stronger. Before he had a chance to fully register the alarm, the opening to the burrow was darkened, and there stood a homba - a vixen. Arum froze and hoped against hope that the vixen would lose interest in the burrow and just move on. But, the homba had already caught the rabbits' scent, and was now looking directly at them.
Arum slowly got up, took a step forward, and then looked back at Meadow, who was sleeping fitfully. It was out of the question to attempt escape or even a meager defence. But, he wasn't able to try either option. Overcome by fear, sickness, exhaustion, and cold, Arum collapsed and fell into a near comatose state.
He couldn't have known that he and Meadow had just had an incredible stroke of good fortune.
************
Part One - Heir To The Command
"My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck." Proverbs 3:21-22, NIV
"Do you really think that I could make the Owsla that soon?"
It was the summer after the battle with Cypress, and the now year-old Flax, eldest son of the late Poplar, was looking incredulously at Oaktrunk, the Owsla Captain of Cloudtree Warren - General Hrairah's warren..
"Flax, I've never seen any rabbit finish a hobaring so quickly. Just four days - it's always been done in hrair days - Inle's quarter cycle wasn't even close to finished yet." Oaktrunk looked at Flax with much pride. Flax greatly resembled Poplar in both appearance and sheer determination. However, he was considerably larger than his father had been at his age, in fact, he was almost as large as Oaktrunk already. This greater size, coupled with his strength, enabled Flax to out-wrestle most any opponent in training. He was also gifted with speed, and usually finished in the top three in races, and won far more than his fair share of them. Oaktrunk didn't like to play favourites, but Flax was definitely his favourite Owsla hopeful. "Yes, I don't see why you couldn't be an Owsla Junior Officer by autumn."
The rank of Junior Officer had also been the target of Poplar's Owsla dreams. Usually, most Owsla hopefuls start as Cadets. But Flax, devastated by his father's death during Cypress' assault on Ivy's warren, wanted to honour his father by taking that same path into the Owsla. His numerous abilities were helping his aspiration along greatly.
Flax was greatly encouraged by this news. He put even more effort into his training, which consisted not only of wrestling and racing, but scouting expeditions as well. It was on one of these expeditions that Flax proved his character beyond any doubt.
***
It was a fine summer evening perhaps a mile from Cloudtree Warren, and Flax was part of a training scout consisting of four rabbits, including its leader, an Owsla veteran by the name of Dewberry. Dewberry was taking the three Owsla hopefuls - the year-old Flax, and a pair of two-year-old bucks - on a trek to visit a local farm and raid the garden there. They were busy nibbling on several lettuce heads when near tragedy struck.
A large tomcat had spotted the rabbits enter the garden; it cautiously and silently crept up behind them, using some rows of corn as a cover. When it was only two feet away from Dewberry, it attacked. It leapt onto Dewberry's back, sank its teeth into him, and proceeding to thrash him around by the neck. Dewberry was paralyzed by pain and terror, unable to even emit a squeal. Flax heard a commotion, and turned around to see the tomcat flailing Dewberry about.
Without thinking, he leapt at the surprised cat, which dropped Dewberry and turned on him instead. The cat slashed Flax several times and then pinned him onto his back, immediately gripping him by the throat in its teeth. Bleeding and unable to breathe, Flax made a desperate gouging kick with his left back foot, opening a gash in the cat's belly. The cat yowled in pain and let Flax go, and Flax immediately followed up with a vicious clawing cuff at the cat's face, leaving long, parallel gashes. With this, the cat reared back in pain and fled, leaving a trail of blood behind it.
Fortunately for Flax, his wounds were not very serious; neither the cat's claws nor teeth had penetrated far into his flesh or caused serious injury. However, Dewberry was in much worse shape. He lay on the ground, bleeding and in obvious pain. Though he was still conscious, he lay very still.
"Dewberry! Don't give up on us, you can make it," said Flax, automatically taking charge, "The pfeffa is gone; we can go home now." He pressed a paw against the wound in Dewberry's neck, in an effort to staunch the bleeding, and causing Dewberry to wince. Fortunately, after a minute, the bleeding had lessened considerably.
Buckler, one of the other rabbits said, "Flax, we've got to get him out of here. The pfeffa may come back, or else a human will see us." When Buckler began dragging Dewberry, the stricken rabbit squealed in pain, "Stop! Don't!"
"No, wait," replied Flax, addressing both of the other rabbits, "His neck is hurt; don't drag him. Buckler and Twayblade, keep him still for now. I'm going to see if I can find anything to help us."
"Flax, we've got to get him out of here now!" repeated Buckler more urgently.
"I agree, Buckler, but we can't drag him in this condition. Just wait here with him; I'll figure something out."
So Flax was forced to put to use another talent that he was gifted with - problem solving. He had studied all of the stories about Watership Down's Blackberry, the brilliant buck that could figure out most any problem. What would Blackberry do now? thought Flax. He remembered the stories of Blackberry using floating objects to enable rabbits to travel on water, but how could they carry an incapacitated Dewberry to safety? No water was to be found here.
An idea came to Flax' mind. If Blackberry found objects to carry rabbits on water, then he would have to find something to carry a rabbit on land. Of course, objects on water tended to be fairly easy to move, or indeed would even move of their own accord, but moving something on land that was carrying Dewberry would require considerable effort. But first, something suitable had to be found.
Flax searched through the garden, trying to imagine what sort of thing could be used to carry Dewberry. He watched from a safe distance as a human child pulled a wagon full of sand behind him. That's a clever concept, thought Flax, but unfortunately, even if it were possible to lift Dewberry into that thing, it would be impossible to move something that large. The urgency of the situation now increased. The rabbits had to find a safe hiding place before that child found them. Human children were notorious for their interest in animals, especially wild animals that they could catch (namely young or wounded ones), and their intentions were certainly not always kind - downright evil in fact, as all rabbits believed. Then, something caught his eye.
It was a man-thing, a gray fabric of some sort, caught up in a barb-wire fence at the edge of the garden. Flax went closer to investigate. It was an old, torn towel, probably thrown from a passing hrududu onto the road running parallel to the fence, then blown to its present position. Flax, overcoming a dread caused by the smell of man that saturated the towel, carefully pulled at the towel, giving several strong tugs until it finally tore free of the barbs. Flax lay it out full to check its size; it was more than large enough to accommodate the plan forming in his mind.
Carrying the dirty towel in his mouth back to where the wounded Dewberry lay, he addressed the two other rabbits, "All right, here's my plan. We need to get Dewberry onto this, then we can carry it and Dewberry, and keep his head still. I can't imagine we'll go too quickly, but perhaps we can find shelter that will keep us safe for a few days, until Dewberry can walk on his own again. Anywhere is better than here for the moment."
Both Buckler and Twayblade exchanged confused looks. Trying to fathom this new kind of transportation was like the average lay person bending their mind around the theory of relativity. Then they wrinkled their noses. "We have no idea what you're talking about, but where under Frith did you find that? It reeks of man; we can't have that here!" protested Twayblade.
"Indeed it comes from man, but it is no longer in man's possession, so it is safe. Just get over the smell, will you?" assured Flax. He then turned to his barely-conscious friend, "Dewberry, can you hear me? I need your help here. Can you perhaps walk yourself onto this?" Dewberry groggily shook his head and remained still. So, Flax addressed the other two again, "All right, help me roll him onto it. Slowly and carefully!" The three rabbits gently nudged the screaming Dewberry over once until he was lying on the towel.
"You're doing fine, Dewberry," said Flax, "we're getting you out of here now." But Dewberry had already passed out.
"Oh, great, " moaned Buckler, "now what do we do? We're not safe here."
"Relax!" admonished Flax, "Now we carry this thing, and Dewberry comes with us." Buckler and Twayblade again exchanged confused expressions. Flax sighed, "Just grab one corner each in your mouth like this," he demonstrated, "pull tight, and then walk. We carry it and Dewberry can be kept still enough so that his neck won't be hurt any worse than it already is.."
Both confused rabbits each hesitantly took a front corner of the towel in their mouths and waited further instruction. "Good," continued Flax, "now just wait for my signal and then walk ahead." Dewberry grabbed the back of the towel in its middle, taking care to keep Dewberry balanced, and pulled the towel taut. The towel and Dewberry were now barely clear of the ground. He then made a loud, yet muffled sound through the towel. The other two rabbits took the signal and started off.
Slowly, with the three rabbits straining, they made progress. They eventually were able to carry Dewberry out of the garden, under the bottom wire of the fence, and into an adjoining field. Some distance away stood a large steel shed. Flax made another sound through the towel in mouth and pulled back on the towel. The other rabbits stopped and looked back, the towel still in their mouths. Carefully putting the towel down, Flax said, clearly indicating the shed by gesturing with his head, "That's where we're going. If it keeps us safe for a few days, then that will be enough. Let's hope for the best."
Some minutes later, stopping once to allow Flax to check on the condition of their sleeping friend, the rabbits arrived at their destination. The shed was meant to hold farm equipment, but was apparently presently unused. That was fortunate, as was the fact that the door was open, and that there was no threshold at the bottom to lift Dewberry over. They carried Dewberry into a corner and themselves collapsed from exhaustion. "You did well," said Flax, "You did excellent work. Now, we wait for Dewberry to be well again. Until then, we stay with him."
As it turned out, that was three days. While Dewberry lay in recovery, the other rabbits kept guard against potential elil, and brought their stricken friend fresh grass. As well, they regularly cleaned his wound, licking it to prevent infection. Finally, one evening, Dewberry was able to stand and walk around the floor of the shed. "Whatever was hurting in my neck seems better now," said Dewberry, "I'll be ready tomorrow, then we can go back to the warren. General Hrairah and Oaktrunk must be worried sick about us."
"You can bet on it," replied Flax, "They probably think we were taken by elil by now. My poor Finch and little Burdock must be devastated." His thoughts had been with his mate and kitten since the whole ordeal began.
Buckler and Twayblade also echoed concern for their own families. Just then, the rabbits froze as they heard approaching footsteps - those of a human. The plodding slowed as the human neared the door and then stopped for a moment. Then, the same boy that Flax had seen pulling the sand wagon along poked his head around the corner of the shed's door and looked in.
After looking around the empty shop for a few moments, the boy spotted the rabbits in the corner. A look of delight lit up his face, and the rabbits, growling as fiercely as they knew how, backed even further into the corner. The boy began to enter the shed, but suddenly stopped and looked back outside. A human female, in all likelihood the boy's mother, was yelling something. The boy yelled back, "Aw, mum, already?" Another yell from his mother. The boy protested, "But there ain't even school tomorrow. It's the middle of summer!" Another louder yell could be heard. The boy's head slumped. "All right, I'm comin', mum!" he yelled back, then looking at the rabbits, added, "I'll see you guys tomorrow." With that, he closed the door to the shed. The rabbits heard the clicking sounds of the door latch fastening.
The rabbits were filled with dread. They had to get out of this place. Why the boy had left, they didn't know. Perhaps they had frightened him with their defensive display. However, the boy would almost certainly eventually return, perhaps with more humans. Flax examined the door, but saw no way out.
"We'll have to dig our way out - and fast." said Flax. However, the shed had steel walls and a concrete floor. After several fruitless minutes, the rabbits had to admit defeat.
"It's no use - we're as good as dead." whined Twayblade.
"Nonsense!" snapped Flax, "The boy has to come back eventually. We must stay right by the door, and when he opens it, we bolt. It's that simple." Then, looking at Dewberry, he added, "You get some sleep; you need it. We'll keep watch and wake you the instant the boy returns. We'll have to be ready to run like we've never run before."
"You're right," conceded Twayblade, "but I wouldn't say 'run like we've never run before.'" adding with a chuckle, "We all know how slowly humans run."
At this, Dewberry added, "Well, I plan to run like I've never run before. I'm a bit stiff, but I think I can make it - whenever that boy comes back."
Then, Buckler observed, "That's the problem. We don't know when he's coming back. What if he's left us here to starve?"
"No," said Flax firmly, "he's coming back - probably in the morning. Just be prepared."
***
While Dewberry had slept peacefully, the other three rabbits had kept a vigilant watch, or rather, a vigilant listen, as there was no chance of elil getting into the shed. They kept their ears peeled for any noises outside, as they had to get out of the door and be off and running at the instant that it opened again.
Soon after it was light again, Buckler's ears perked up. "Wait! I hear something!"
"Honest, mum, there's rabbits in there! I shut them in!"
"All right, Johnny, let's see them, then, if that'll make you happy. We're late enough as it is. We were supposed to leave for Grandmum's twenty minutes ago!" The boy's mother peered into one of the shop's windows, observing, "Well, I don't see anything! You're just making up stories, aren't you?"
"NO, mum, look!" The boy opened the door to the shed. No sooner had he done so than four streaks shot out from the gap and past the shocked humans.
"Run, hurry! They might have guns!" urged Flax, taking up the rear as the rabbits made their break. He had made sure that Dewberry had been the first to go, followed by Buckler and Twayblade, then himself. If anyone were to be caught, he wanted it to be himself, as he stood the best chance of escape. As he had put it, "I'll shred any hand that touches me!"
After a minute at top speed, the rabbits felt safe enough to stop. "Well, no doubt about your health, Dewberry," smiled Flax, "Lead the way back home, sir!"
"No," panted Dewberry, "you lead the way. Believe me, Oaktrunk is going to get a glowing report on your conduct. You saved my life, Flax. And I'll never forget it."
***
"This settles it, Flax." Oaktrunk was looking at him with great pride. In fact, he saw Flax as his own son. That was partly because Oaktrunk never took a mate, and thus had no sons of his own, but the bond was strengthened after Flax' father Poplar was killed. As much as Oaktrunk wanted someone to look up to him, Flax needed someone to look up to.
"What do you mean, sir?" Flax looked at Finch and Burdock, then gazed at the Captain expectantly.
"What I mean is, you're the one."
"The one what?"
"Frith has given you so many gifts - strength, speed, courage, wisdom - I could go on. As you know, I've been Owsla Captain for two years now. I was three years old when I became Captain. Honestly, Flax, I'm not as fast as I used to be. I can feel it. I don't want to be the Captain unless I'm as fit as I can be. I was planning on stepping aside next spring, and have been considering who to pick to succeed me. I know you're only one year old now, but next spring, you'll be two. I honestly feel that you are the best rabbit for the job. Of course, General Hrairah needs to approve, but I'm sure he'll agree."
Flax was speechless. He would have been ecstatic about an early admission to the rank of Junior Officer. But being the Owsla Captain was beyond his wildest dreams. He stood open-mouthed for several minutes before managing a reply, "Sir... Are you sure about this? Is this real? I can't be, not yet..."
"I'm sure, it's real, and you will be next spring, if you say yes."
"My father wouldn't have believed this... I wish he could be here... And my marli won't believe it either..."
"I'm sure your father is very proud of you, Flax. He raised a good son. And your marli will believe it, since I'm telling her myself."
Flax, Finch, and Burdock accompanied Oaktrunk as he went to tell Pearl of her eldest son's pending promotion. Pearl burst into tears and embraced Flax. "I'm so proud of you son, you deserve this, don't doubt that for a moment." Flax' brother and sister, Tobacco and Sapphire, were also there to give their congratulations.
"Just to think, I beat you in wrestling once." quipped Tobacco. Flax playfully pinned his brother in response.
"Once," laughed Flax, "and never again."
"Oof! I wouldn't think of it, Captain" replied Tobacco.
************
******************************** Copyright Notice
This Watership Down fan fiction ("The Promised Friend") was written May- June 2000, (c) 2000 by Bill Welch.
This fan fiction is based on the concepts of the novel "Watership Down", (c) 1972 by Richard Adams, and its sequel "Tales From Watership Down", (c) 1996 by Richard Adams
The author of this fan fiction (Bill Welch) is affiliated with neither "Watership Down" nor Richard Adams, and neither expects nor wants financial compensation from this fan fiction. This fan fiction is in the public domain and can be reproduced without the author's consent, provided the following five conditions are met:
a) This Copyright Notice is to accompany any and all reproductions of this fan fiction. b) This Copyright Notice is not to be subtracted from, added to, or edited in any form. c) This fan fiction is not to be purchased or sold at any price. This fan fiction is also not to appear on any website where a fee is required to access this fan fiction on said website, or in any publication where a fee is required to obtain a private copy of said publication. d) The text of this fan fiction (the text outside of this Copyright Notice) is not to be subtracted from, added to, or edited in any form. e) Illustration(s) may accompany reproductions of this fan fiction provided that no person demands or receives a fee for said illustration(s), the said illustration(s) can legally be viewed by persons of any age, the said illustration(s) are within the context of said fan fiction, and any text appearing in/with said illustration(s) also appears in the text of said fan fiction. The artist's name/signature, the date of creation of said illustration(s), and an artist copyright notice may accompany said illustration(s).
If there is a situation where any of these five conditions are not met for any reason, then this fan fiction is not to be reproduced in said situation.
The author of this fan fiction (Bill Welch) reserves the sole right to edit the text of this copyright notice and the text of this fan fiction in exception to conditions b) and d).
The Postcode Plants Database found at the URL , the Met Office website found at the URL , Chris Rae's English to American Dictionary found at the URL and the map entitled, "A Traveler's Map of Britain and Ireland", published with the June 2000 issue of National Geographic, were used as references in the creation of this fan fiction.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used with permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
This Copyright Notice is effective as of 12:00 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time, Monday, June 26, 2000 and has no expiry date.
End of Copyright Notice Text
**************************************** Lapine Vocabulary
Black Rabbit (of Inlé) = the rabbit who comes to claim those who die Bobstones = rabbit guessing game (number and nature of pebbles covered by paws) Efrafa = a hostile rabbit warren that was a virtual police state and that was run by General Woundwort El-Ahrairah = rabbit folk hero Elil = enemy of a rabbit (predator) Embleer = stinking (smell of fox) - can be used as a curse Flay = normal food (grass) Flayrah = good food Frith = the sun, rabbit god Fu-Inlé = night time (after Inlé rises) Hawk = any bird of prey Hlessi = a rabbit without a warren to call home (plural is hlessil) Homba = fox (plural is hombil) Hrair = thousand; any number over four Hraka = droppings - can be used as a curse Hrududu = any motor vehicle (plural is hrududil) Inlé = moon Iron Road = railroad Marli = mother rabbit Ni-Frith = noon Owsla = a rabbit warren's defence unit Pfeffa = cat Pylon Line = power lines Rah = leader, Chief Rabbit Silf = outdoors, on surface of ground (out of burrows) Silflay = eat outside Stop Running = die Tharn = state of shock and paralysis Zorn = destroyed, murdered
******************************
The Promised Friend
Prologue
Arum was in serious trouble; there was no doubt about that. Plodding slowly through the mud and the driving rain, the buck carried his lone surviving doe kitten in his mouth, pausing occasionally to drop her and be racked by a fit of coughing. He had just lost his home, his mate, and all but one of his kittens, and now he was losing the last of his strength to sickness and the freezing rain. He was about as miserable as any rabbit could be.
He finally found shelter in the form of an apparently abandoned burrow in a muddy hillside. It was a large enough hole to have potentially belonged to elil at one time, but Arum wasn't in any condition to refuse the relative warmth and dryness to be found there. He curled up in a far corner and held his kitten, Meadow, close to him.
He could detect the residual smell of a homba, and decided that this must have been the former resident. Then he realized that the scent wasn't just residual, but seemed to be growing stronger. Before he had a chance to fully register the alarm, the opening to the burrow was darkened, and there stood a homba - a vixen. Arum froze and hoped against hope that the vixen would lose interest in the burrow and just move on. But, the homba had already caught the rabbits' scent, and was now looking directly at them.
Arum slowly got up, took a step forward, and then looked back at Meadow, who was sleeping fitfully. It was out of the question to attempt escape or even a meager defence. But, he wasn't able to try either option. Overcome by fear, sickness, exhaustion, and cold, Arum collapsed and fell into a near comatose state.
He couldn't have known that he and Meadow had just had an incredible stroke of good fortune.
************
Part One - Heir To The Command
"My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck." Proverbs 3:21-22, NIV
"Do you really think that I could make the Owsla that soon?"
It was the summer after the battle with Cypress, and the now year-old Flax, eldest son of the late Poplar, was looking incredulously at Oaktrunk, the Owsla Captain of Cloudtree Warren - General Hrairah's warren..
"Flax, I've never seen any rabbit finish a hobaring so quickly. Just four days - it's always been done in hrair days - Inle's quarter cycle wasn't even close to finished yet." Oaktrunk looked at Flax with much pride. Flax greatly resembled Poplar in both appearance and sheer determination. However, he was considerably larger than his father had been at his age, in fact, he was almost as large as Oaktrunk already. This greater size, coupled with his strength, enabled Flax to out-wrestle most any opponent in training. He was also gifted with speed, and usually finished in the top three in races, and won far more than his fair share of them. Oaktrunk didn't like to play favourites, but Flax was definitely his favourite Owsla hopeful. "Yes, I don't see why you couldn't be an Owsla Junior Officer by autumn."
The rank of Junior Officer had also been the target of Poplar's Owsla dreams. Usually, most Owsla hopefuls start as Cadets. But Flax, devastated by his father's death during Cypress' assault on Ivy's warren, wanted to honour his father by taking that same path into the Owsla. His numerous abilities were helping his aspiration along greatly.
Flax was greatly encouraged by this news. He put even more effort into his training, which consisted not only of wrestling and racing, but scouting expeditions as well. It was on one of these expeditions that Flax proved his character beyond any doubt.
***
It was a fine summer evening perhaps a mile from Cloudtree Warren, and Flax was part of a training scout consisting of four rabbits, including its leader, an Owsla veteran by the name of Dewberry. Dewberry was taking the three Owsla hopefuls - the year-old Flax, and a pair of two-year-old bucks - on a trek to visit a local farm and raid the garden there. They were busy nibbling on several lettuce heads when near tragedy struck.
A large tomcat had spotted the rabbits enter the garden; it cautiously and silently crept up behind them, using some rows of corn as a cover. When it was only two feet away from Dewberry, it attacked. It leapt onto Dewberry's back, sank its teeth into him, and proceeding to thrash him around by the neck. Dewberry was paralyzed by pain and terror, unable to even emit a squeal. Flax heard a commotion, and turned around to see the tomcat flailing Dewberry about.
Without thinking, he leapt at the surprised cat, which dropped Dewberry and turned on him instead. The cat slashed Flax several times and then pinned him onto his back, immediately gripping him by the throat in its teeth. Bleeding and unable to breathe, Flax made a desperate gouging kick with his left back foot, opening a gash in the cat's belly. The cat yowled in pain and let Flax go, and Flax immediately followed up with a vicious clawing cuff at the cat's face, leaving long, parallel gashes. With this, the cat reared back in pain and fled, leaving a trail of blood behind it.
Fortunately for Flax, his wounds were not very serious; neither the cat's claws nor teeth had penetrated far into his flesh or caused serious injury. However, Dewberry was in much worse shape. He lay on the ground, bleeding and in obvious pain. Though he was still conscious, he lay very still.
"Dewberry! Don't give up on us, you can make it," said Flax, automatically taking charge, "The pfeffa is gone; we can go home now." He pressed a paw against the wound in Dewberry's neck, in an effort to staunch the bleeding, and causing Dewberry to wince. Fortunately, after a minute, the bleeding had lessened considerably.
Buckler, one of the other rabbits said, "Flax, we've got to get him out of here. The pfeffa may come back, or else a human will see us." When Buckler began dragging Dewberry, the stricken rabbit squealed in pain, "Stop! Don't!"
"No, wait," replied Flax, addressing both of the other rabbits, "His neck is hurt; don't drag him. Buckler and Twayblade, keep him still for now. I'm going to see if I can find anything to help us."
"Flax, we've got to get him out of here now!" repeated Buckler more urgently.
"I agree, Buckler, but we can't drag him in this condition. Just wait here with him; I'll figure something out."
So Flax was forced to put to use another talent that he was gifted with - problem solving. He had studied all of the stories about Watership Down's Blackberry, the brilliant buck that could figure out most any problem. What would Blackberry do now? thought Flax. He remembered the stories of Blackberry using floating objects to enable rabbits to travel on water, but how could they carry an incapacitated Dewberry to safety? No water was to be found here.
An idea came to Flax' mind. If Blackberry found objects to carry rabbits on water, then he would have to find something to carry a rabbit on land. Of course, objects on water tended to be fairly easy to move, or indeed would even move of their own accord, but moving something on land that was carrying Dewberry would require considerable effort. But first, something suitable had to be found.
Flax searched through the garden, trying to imagine what sort of thing could be used to carry Dewberry. He watched from a safe distance as a human child pulled a wagon full of sand behind him. That's a clever concept, thought Flax, but unfortunately, even if it were possible to lift Dewberry into that thing, it would be impossible to move something that large. The urgency of the situation now increased. The rabbits had to find a safe hiding place before that child found them. Human children were notorious for their interest in animals, especially wild animals that they could catch (namely young or wounded ones), and their intentions were certainly not always kind - downright evil in fact, as all rabbits believed. Then, something caught his eye.
It was a man-thing, a gray fabric of some sort, caught up in a barb-wire fence at the edge of the garden. Flax went closer to investigate. It was an old, torn towel, probably thrown from a passing hrududu onto the road running parallel to the fence, then blown to its present position. Flax, overcoming a dread caused by the smell of man that saturated the towel, carefully pulled at the towel, giving several strong tugs until it finally tore free of the barbs. Flax lay it out full to check its size; it was more than large enough to accommodate the plan forming in his mind.
Carrying the dirty towel in his mouth back to where the wounded Dewberry lay, he addressed the two other rabbits, "All right, here's my plan. We need to get Dewberry onto this, then we can carry it and Dewberry, and keep his head still. I can't imagine we'll go too quickly, but perhaps we can find shelter that will keep us safe for a few days, until Dewberry can walk on his own again. Anywhere is better than here for the moment."
Both Buckler and Twayblade exchanged confused looks. Trying to fathom this new kind of transportation was like the average lay person bending their mind around the theory of relativity. Then they wrinkled their noses. "We have no idea what you're talking about, but where under Frith did you find that? It reeks of man; we can't have that here!" protested Twayblade.
"Indeed it comes from man, but it is no longer in man's possession, so it is safe. Just get over the smell, will you?" assured Flax. He then turned to his barely-conscious friend, "Dewberry, can you hear me? I need your help here. Can you perhaps walk yourself onto this?" Dewberry groggily shook his head and remained still. So, Flax addressed the other two again, "All right, help me roll him onto it. Slowly and carefully!" The three rabbits gently nudged the screaming Dewberry over once until he was lying on the towel.
"You're doing fine, Dewberry," said Flax, "we're getting you out of here now." But Dewberry had already passed out.
"Oh, great, " moaned Buckler, "now what do we do? We're not safe here."
"Relax!" admonished Flax, "Now we carry this thing, and Dewberry comes with us." Buckler and Twayblade again exchanged confused expressions. Flax sighed, "Just grab one corner each in your mouth like this," he demonstrated, "pull tight, and then walk. We carry it and Dewberry can be kept still enough so that his neck won't be hurt any worse than it already is.."
Both confused rabbits each hesitantly took a front corner of the towel in their mouths and waited further instruction. "Good," continued Flax, "now just wait for my signal and then walk ahead." Dewberry grabbed the back of the towel in its middle, taking care to keep Dewberry balanced, and pulled the towel taut. The towel and Dewberry were now barely clear of the ground. He then made a loud, yet muffled sound through the towel. The other two rabbits took the signal and started off.
Slowly, with the three rabbits straining, they made progress. They eventually were able to carry Dewberry out of the garden, under the bottom wire of the fence, and into an adjoining field. Some distance away stood a large steel shed. Flax made another sound through the towel in mouth and pulled back on the towel. The other rabbits stopped and looked back, the towel still in their mouths. Carefully putting the towel down, Flax said, clearly indicating the shed by gesturing with his head, "That's where we're going. If it keeps us safe for a few days, then that will be enough. Let's hope for the best."
Some minutes later, stopping once to allow Flax to check on the condition of their sleeping friend, the rabbits arrived at their destination. The shed was meant to hold farm equipment, but was apparently presently unused. That was fortunate, as was the fact that the door was open, and that there was no threshold at the bottom to lift Dewberry over. They carried Dewberry into a corner and themselves collapsed from exhaustion. "You did well," said Flax, "You did excellent work. Now, we wait for Dewberry to be well again. Until then, we stay with him."
As it turned out, that was three days. While Dewberry lay in recovery, the other rabbits kept guard against potential elil, and brought their stricken friend fresh grass. As well, they regularly cleaned his wound, licking it to prevent infection. Finally, one evening, Dewberry was able to stand and walk around the floor of the shed. "Whatever was hurting in my neck seems better now," said Dewberry, "I'll be ready tomorrow, then we can go back to the warren. General Hrairah and Oaktrunk must be worried sick about us."
"You can bet on it," replied Flax, "They probably think we were taken by elil by now. My poor Finch and little Burdock must be devastated." His thoughts had been with his mate and kitten since the whole ordeal began.
Buckler and Twayblade also echoed concern for their own families. Just then, the rabbits froze as they heard approaching footsteps - those of a human. The plodding slowed as the human neared the door and then stopped for a moment. Then, the same boy that Flax had seen pulling the sand wagon along poked his head around the corner of the shed's door and looked in.
After looking around the empty shop for a few moments, the boy spotted the rabbits in the corner. A look of delight lit up his face, and the rabbits, growling as fiercely as they knew how, backed even further into the corner. The boy began to enter the shed, but suddenly stopped and looked back outside. A human female, in all likelihood the boy's mother, was yelling something. The boy yelled back, "Aw, mum, already?" Another yell from his mother. The boy protested, "But there ain't even school tomorrow. It's the middle of summer!" Another louder yell could be heard. The boy's head slumped. "All right, I'm comin', mum!" he yelled back, then looking at the rabbits, added, "I'll see you guys tomorrow." With that, he closed the door to the shed. The rabbits heard the clicking sounds of the door latch fastening.
The rabbits were filled with dread. They had to get out of this place. Why the boy had left, they didn't know. Perhaps they had frightened him with their defensive display. However, the boy would almost certainly eventually return, perhaps with more humans. Flax examined the door, but saw no way out.
"We'll have to dig our way out - and fast." said Flax. However, the shed had steel walls and a concrete floor. After several fruitless minutes, the rabbits had to admit defeat.
"It's no use - we're as good as dead." whined Twayblade.
"Nonsense!" snapped Flax, "The boy has to come back eventually. We must stay right by the door, and when he opens it, we bolt. It's that simple." Then, looking at Dewberry, he added, "You get some sleep; you need it. We'll keep watch and wake you the instant the boy returns. We'll have to be ready to run like we've never run before."
"You're right," conceded Twayblade, "but I wouldn't say 'run like we've never run before.'" adding with a chuckle, "We all know how slowly humans run."
At this, Dewberry added, "Well, I plan to run like I've never run before. I'm a bit stiff, but I think I can make it - whenever that boy comes back."
Then, Buckler observed, "That's the problem. We don't know when he's coming back. What if he's left us here to starve?"
"No," said Flax firmly, "he's coming back - probably in the morning. Just be prepared."
***
While Dewberry had slept peacefully, the other three rabbits had kept a vigilant watch, or rather, a vigilant listen, as there was no chance of elil getting into the shed. They kept their ears peeled for any noises outside, as they had to get out of the door and be off and running at the instant that it opened again.
Soon after it was light again, Buckler's ears perked up. "Wait! I hear something!"
"Honest, mum, there's rabbits in there! I shut them in!"
"All right, Johnny, let's see them, then, if that'll make you happy. We're late enough as it is. We were supposed to leave for Grandmum's twenty minutes ago!" The boy's mother peered into one of the shop's windows, observing, "Well, I don't see anything! You're just making up stories, aren't you?"
"NO, mum, look!" The boy opened the door to the shed. No sooner had he done so than four streaks shot out from the gap and past the shocked humans.
"Run, hurry! They might have guns!" urged Flax, taking up the rear as the rabbits made their break. He had made sure that Dewberry had been the first to go, followed by Buckler and Twayblade, then himself. If anyone were to be caught, he wanted it to be himself, as he stood the best chance of escape. As he had put it, "I'll shred any hand that touches me!"
After a minute at top speed, the rabbits felt safe enough to stop. "Well, no doubt about your health, Dewberry," smiled Flax, "Lead the way back home, sir!"
"No," panted Dewberry, "you lead the way. Believe me, Oaktrunk is going to get a glowing report on your conduct. You saved my life, Flax. And I'll never forget it."
***
"This settles it, Flax." Oaktrunk was looking at him with great pride. In fact, he saw Flax as his own son. That was partly because Oaktrunk never took a mate, and thus had no sons of his own, but the bond was strengthened after Flax' father Poplar was killed. As much as Oaktrunk wanted someone to look up to him, Flax needed someone to look up to.
"What do you mean, sir?" Flax looked at Finch and Burdock, then gazed at the Captain expectantly.
"What I mean is, you're the one."
"The one what?"
"Frith has given you so many gifts - strength, speed, courage, wisdom - I could go on. As you know, I've been Owsla Captain for two years now. I was three years old when I became Captain. Honestly, Flax, I'm not as fast as I used to be. I can feel it. I don't want to be the Captain unless I'm as fit as I can be. I was planning on stepping aside next spring, and have been considering who to pick to succeed me. I know you're only one year old now, but next spring, you'll be two. I honestly feel that you are the best rabbit for the job. Of course, General Hrairah needs to approve, but I'm sure he'll agree."
Flax was speechless. He would have been ecstatic about an early admission to the rank of Junior Officer. But being the Owsla Captain was beyond his wildest dreams. He stood open-mouthed for several minutes before managing a reply, "Sir... Are you sure about this? Is this real? I can't be, not yet..."
"I'm sure, it's real, and you will be next spring, if you say yes."
"My father wouldn't have believed this... I wish he could be here... And my marli won't believe it either..."
"I'm sure your father is very proud of you, Flax. He raised a good son. And your marli will believe it, since I'm telling her myself."
Flax, Finch, and Burdock accompanied Oaktrunk as he went to tell Pearl of her eldest son's pending promotion. Pearl burst into tears and embraced Flax. "I'm so proud of you son, you deserve this, don't doubt that for a moment." Flax' brother and sister, Tobacco and Sapphire, were also there to give their congratulations.
"Just to think, I beat you in wrestling once." quipped Tobacco. Flax playfully pinned his brother in response.
"Once," laughed Flax, "and never again."
"Oof! I wouldn't think of it, Captain" replied Tobacco.
************
