Chapter 204: Pipkin the Peacemaker.

"Do you think I wanted to be born this way? I went through hell as growing up because the family I once had is no longer the family I know."

-destinycopley13, I'll Fight For You

Pipkin made his way towards Blueberry's burrow. While several rabbits were kicked out of the Honeycomb, and he wanted to visit them all, the kitten's burrow was the closest, which is why he went to him first; the others would soon follow.

He found the kitten in the back of the chamber, staring at the wall, although he turned around upon noticing Pipkin's arrival.

-"I really don't want Clover to get hurt," he said.

-"I believe you," Pipkin replied. "And, from the looks of it, she was just as surprised as everyone else when you brought up that plan of yours."

-"I made a mistake. I should have talked to her privately before mentioning this in front of everyone."

-"That probably could have helped. I'm curious, though: why Clover? She's a nice doe, but I don't think anyone expected her to be your first choice."

-"For one thing, we need someone Woundwort doesn't know; otherwise, their cover would be blown instantly. I hear he's already met most of the owsla from a recent battle, which eliminates many possible candidates."

-"That all makes sense. But Clover isn't the only one he doesn't know."

Blueberry stammered. As much as he wanted to explain, this was not an easy subject to talk about, and it took him a few minutes to build up enough courage to say it. Pipkin waited patiently until the answer finally came:

-"Another memory from my past has resurfaced. This one is about my parents: more specifically, that I didn't have any."

-"You didn't have any parents?"

-"Well, technically I suppose I did. I couldn't have just appeared out of thin air, could I? But they were never involved in my life, after I was born."

-"I'm sorry." Pipkin hopped closer to Blueberry and lied down against him. "Growing up this way can't be easy. I know, I lost my own parents to a weasel when I was just a kitten..."

-"I don't know of mine died quickly like yours did, or if they abandoned me because they didn't want me. But regardless of the reason, I never knew them."

-"That's all pretty sad, but what does it have to do with Clover?"

-"Perhaps my parents' absence from my life led met to seek out substitutes elsewhere, and Clover seems like the best. Earlier, she tickled me, that was pleasant. But I may have ruined all my chances with that blunder back in the Honeycomb..."

Pipkin recalled that Fiver had said that Silverweed had seen something in Blueberry's future, that he would be adopted by someone else. However, they had not elaborated as to who it would be; perhaps Clover was the one.

-"Clover is a nice rabbit, I'm sure she won't hold that against you," he told the kitten. "I'll talk to my good friend Fiver for advice, he should be able to help you."

-"I would really appreciate that. And based on everyone's reactions, I assume me and Clover won't be going to Darkhaven?"

-"Probably not. Campion chose to go back there to work against Woundwort, and since he's in the owsla, he could leave whenever he wants; there's no need to go rescue him. Unless his cover gets blown..."

-"I really want to help. If I don't rescue Campion, then what can I do instead?"

-"Your desire to help is laudable, but at your age, you really should be having fun instead of trying to be a big hero all the time."

-"What if I consider fighting fun?"

This left Pipkin slightly disturbed.

-"Hurting other creatures isn't supposed to be fun," he said sternly. "Sometimes it's necessary, we have to protect ourselves. But finding pleasure in others' pain is wrong."

-"That's not what I meant," Blueberry was quick to clarify. "I want to do my part to protect this great society from the hostile invaders. The feeling of saving someone else from danger is unlike any other."

-"It certainly feels great. But it is no excuse for acting recklessly, which you have done on more than one occasion. Before you suffered your memory loss, you supposedly fought three weasels...at the same time."

-"Is that what caused my amnesia?"

-"No, that was something else, nothing to do with weasels." Pipkin still didn't want to tell Blueberry that the amnesia was the result of a murder attempt by Gilia's sister.

-"What's the issue then? Clearly I survived the battle unscathed; rather than constantly trying to protect me like I'm so fragile, you should let me in the owsla."

Pipkin shook his head: Blueberry had completely missed the point he was trying to make.

-"How about you join the junior owsla?" To Pipkin, this felt like a fair compromise.

-"I don't want to."

-"Why not? It would be a useful learning experience for when you join the regular owsla, as an adult, in a few seasons."

-"A few seasons? I don't want to wait so long to be taken seriously."

-"You would probably be taken more seriously if you acted your age. Seriously, just enjoy life and have fun. Time goes by so quickly when you're having fun, you'll be grown up before you know it. And do consider the junior owsla."

-"I'll think it over..." Blueberry was not entirely satisfied, but it was becoming increasingly clear to him that this was the best he could hope for, at least at the moment.

-"Let me know once you have made up your mind, you'll be welcome whenever you wish."

Now that Blueberry appeared to be feeling better, Pipkin moved on to the second rabbit; based on burrow proximity, it was Nelthilta. This visit was unexpectedly quick: he had not even stepped inside the burrow that he heard her voice.

-"If you're here to cheer me up, go away, I don't want it."

Pipkin respected her wishes; next up was Gilia. She was, however, not in her burrow: she was in a nearby tunnel instead, sulking away from her siblings.

-"Why does everyone hate him?" she said, upon Pipkin's arrival; he guessed that she was referring to Blueberry.

-"What makes you think that?"

-"My sister tried to kill him. The mice tried to kill him. Nelthilta and Cornflower insulted him for no reason."

-"That's not 'everyone', just three rabbits, and these were all just simple misunderstandings. As for the mice, it's probably nothing against him personally, they would have likely done the same to any one of us who had been above ground."

Gilia considered Pipkin's words for a few moments.

-"Maybe you're right. Still, it feels like nobody else likes him."

-"I do think you are closer to him than anyone else. But that doesn't mean the rest of us dislike him. I mean, I wouldn't call him a close friend, but he's still a nice rabbit."

-"You should all give him a chance. He's, like, one of the best rabbits in the warren. I would go to the edge of the world for him. I want to spend my life with him."

-"About that...don't you think that maybe, you two might be a bit too young, to start a romantic relationship?"

-"Consider it this way: the sooner we become a couple, the longer we can be together."

Pipkin shook his head: the feeling of love could sometimes result in weird logic.

-"I don't think your parents would see it this way."

-"...you're not going to tell them, are you?" Gilia asked nervously.

-"I can't promise that. Besides, maybe they know already. You two hang out at every opportunity, and you are always blushing aggressively."

This prompted a deep frown from Gilia.

-"You're perfectly right, and that's really annoying," she said. "Sneaking around would also be difficult, I just know that my siblings would inform on me. What should I do?"

-"Take your time, make sure he really is the right rabbit for you," Pipkin suggested. "You two first met just a few days ago, you need more time to get to know each other better."

-"Uh, what about my parents? Didn't they get together almost instantly after mother was broken out of Efrafa?"

Pipkin sighed: he expected her to point that out, and he was unsure how to respond.

-"I just don't want you to make any mistakes that you will regret afterwards."

-"I know what I'm doing, all right? Just trust me."

Pipkin still had a bad feeling, but it seemed there was nothing more he could do, so he hopped out of the burrow; his next destination was the one where Hannah lived. Unlike the others, she had not been forced out of the Honeycomb, but she was still in a foul mood when she chose to leave. He found her holding her supposedly magic pebble, gently stroking it.

-"I'm useless," she said.

-"What makes you think that?"

-"When Kehaar was still around, I could go out on missions with him. Without him, what can I do? I can't dig, even the whining bucks are faster than me. I can't fight either; the one time Bigwig let me take part in his training sessions recently, it was so the others could knock me down as practice, because of the evil mice incident a few days ago. Basically, the only way I can help is with my magic, and nobody else even believes in it."

Pipkin, like Hannah had just said, didn't believe that the pebble held any magical powers. There was no point in saying, so, however, as that would only make her feel worse.

-"Everyone here is important. And you have some important skills of your own, that don't rely on Kehaar. Your smaller size is an important asset, like when you sneaked into Efrafa like you mentioned earlier, and when you saved us from the weasel last spring. You know a lot about the other creatures living in the area, more so than anyone else in the warren. And we all still care about you, even if you don't dig or fight like the rest of us."

-"I appreciate that. Thanks Pipkin."

As the mouse scurried off, Pipkin made his way towards the final burrow he would visit, Cornflower's. When he got there, the doe appeared to be getting ready to fall asleep; she seemed to sleep more than most other rabbits in the warren. However, since she was still awake (for now), Pipkin decided not to delay the conversation.

-"Still mad at Blueberry?"

-"I've calmed down, but the anger still burns inside me," Cornflower said. "I hate it when others look down upon rabbits like me, as if we were somehow inferior. We are all rabbits, all our lives should be worth the same, regardless of where we were born."

-"I've spoken with him. He has no prejudice against tame rabbits. He just...wants to get to know Clover better." Pipkin decided not to mention the adoption plan just yet, in case someone else ended up adopting him instead. "While some rabbits might unfortunately dislike you two because of your origins, he is not one of them."

Cornflower appeared doubtful of Pipkin's explanation.

-"But if that is the case, why did he want to go to Darkhaven with her? Sending her there would basically be a death sentence."

-"It appears he didn't realize just how dangerous such a mission would be," Pipkin speculated. "This is unfortunately a recurring theme with him. He once fought three weasels at once."

-"Oof, that's definitely reckless." Cornflower sighed. "I should probably go apologize to him. If what you say is true, it was unfair, and inaccurate, to call him 'prejudiced'."

-"He would probably appreciate that."

Cornflower nodded, and hopped out of the burrow, towards Blueberry's. Pipkin lingered a bit longer, feeling satisfied with what he had accomplished, how most misunderstandings from the meeting had been sorted out. After a while, he decided to join the others on their late silflay.