"Wha…Where am I?" groaned Justin as he groggily sat up, one hand clutching his head as a painful headache throbbed excruciatingly. He needed a couple of minutes to rest and get his bearings. He winced as he moved around; apparently, nothing was broken, but…what on earth had just happened? He opened his eyes, and his breath nearly stopped.
It wasn't possible. It just wasn't possible. Where there were buildings, cars, a highway, and a grassy plot of land was now a gargantuan forest with grass growing up to the height of Justin's ankles. All around, he could smell the sweet fragrance of flowers and the sunlight was extremely bright, almost blindly dazzling as the birdsongs gently blended in the environment with the sounds of running water from a nearby stream. He was in a completely different world. Justin's breath came in short gasps as he tried to comprehend what was going on.
"I must be hallucinating! Yeah, that's it!" he muttered to himself, his heart racing. "I must have fainted and somehow must be dreaming all this! This can't be real! This can't be happening! Oh geez, I must have overdone it on the lack of sleep and the reading. Yeah, that's it! It must be the stress and -"
"HALT! WHO ARE YOU?!" Justin's heart nearly gushed out with relief at the sound of the voice, thinking it was a police officer or a highway patrolman. He turned around.
"I'm so glad you're here. I'm lost and I must have -" but the words died in his throat as he felt himself being pushed roughly to the ground on his back and felt something sharp poking into his neck, threatening to gorge him if he dared to get up. Justin's breath nearly stopped as he saw what was happening to him. It was an extraordinary sight, almost like from a fantasy book. Justin was being pinned down to the ground by two rabbits. But not ordinary rabbits. These rabbits were huge, slightly bigger than a grown man, and they were powerfully built with their leg muscles quivering underneath their black, dark fur. Both of the rabbits were wearing tunics of gray and brown, like the apparel of woodsmen in the olden days of England. And both were armed with black, iron lances, beautifully carved into a rabbit's head with pointed ears as spear-points at the top of their poles, and they had intricately woven leather handles. Both of the rabbits were also wearing a metal medallion with the letter "E" engraved on the surface. One of the rabbits, the one squatting roughly next to Justin, had his lance tip at Justin's throat, ready to slay him where he stood. The other rabbit approached him warily, his eyes bulging out as he gaped at Justin like he was some sort of monster.
"By Frith and thunder!" he squealed in furious fright, "It's a man! A man!"
"A man?!! That is impossible! Men cannot enter the land beyond life!!" cried the other rabbit, his paws shaking furiously as the lance quivered under Justin's chin. Justin wisely kept quiet.
"What do you call this, then, Mallow?! He isn't any rabbit or one of our own or else he'd be marked with the symbol of Efrafa and darkness!!"
"Wait, Vervain!" growled Mallow, "we must find out what this…this weak man is doing here! Who are you, and what in Frith's name are you?!" This last question he directed at Justin, and the lance tip burrowed slightly deeper into his skin. Justin, trembling slightly, spoke the truth.
"I…I don't know how I got here!! Honest, I don't know! My…my name is Justin and I'm a senior in high school! I just found myself here after I stepped into some abandoned place following a voice, telling me to save El-ahrairah and something about a cross-bearer!" Justin thought that would put the end to the hostility, but he was wrong. Both rabbits were now thoroughly frightened, and their anger and hatred were now escalating even more than before.
"Cross-bearer?! CROSS-BEARER??!!" snarled Vervain, "Then the legends are true!! He's come, like the legends said, to destroy all of us!! Kill him, Mallow! Kill him now!!" Mallow raised his lance, about to stab it into Justin's heart.
"NO!" yelled Justin as he raised his arms automatically in defense, but by doing so, he brought his cross into the sunlight. The cross flashed again, this time in the color of golden orange, blinding Mallow and Vervain, causing them to drop their lances and to rub their eyes with their paws painfully. Justin, sensing a chance to escape, sprinted into the forest, only to hear the growls of fury come from the two attackers as they picked up their weapons and sprinted after him. Justin ran, faster than any time he had ran before in gym class, his tennis shoes slapping hard against the sod and grass, as the two rabbits were gaining.
"Faster, Mallow!" cried Vervain, "We must catch him or else Woundwort and Prince Rainbow will have our fur for not stopping the cross-bearer!!"
"Not to worry, we can run faster than that weakling. See, he has nowhere else to go!!" Justin looked behind him and to his horror, Vervain and Mallow were nearly right behind him. Despite the imminent danger, his mind was leafing furiously to what he had just heard. Efrafa? Prince Rainbow? Mallow and Vervain?? Oh my god, he realized to himself, it's not possible, but it is! I'm somehow in a world where "Watership Down" is real! These are all characters from the book! But, I have to keep running or else these two will kill me, but I can't last very long.
It was true; Justin was starting to tire out from the sprint, and the two Efrafans were nearly upon him, ready to finish him off. Justin, in his panic, stumbled and fell down on the dirt, the wind knocking out of his lungs. He struggled to get up on his feet but before he could run again, two pairs of paws reached out of the bushes and grabbed Justin, pulling him into hiding under the cover of the leafy growth. Justin struggled and kicked, but paws gently held his thrashing arms and legs and covered his mouth, stifling his cries of terror. During the fight, he could hear hushed voices everywhere.
"Hold him down, or else they'll find us!"
"I'm trying, I'm trying, but the little fellow won't stop! He thinks we're going to hurt him!"
"Ow! Well, if the lad doesn't stop, I'll cuff him so hard, he'll won't wake up until next season!!"
"Really, Hawkbit! He isn't trying out for Owsla! He's just scared!"
"Shh!" commanded a voice to Justin, stern but non-threatening, "Don't' scream, for Frith's sake, unless you want to get your ears torn off! Bigwig, if Vervain and Mallow spot us under here, you, Holly, and Buckthorn fight them off until we can escape. If not, stand still and don't move!"
"Ouch!" yelled a voice as Justin landed a kick on a furry object, "For what it's worth Hazel-rah, this little buck's got a kick like a horse! Don't see why we need to protect him." At the word, "Hazel-rah", Justin stopped struggling and stared. It was dark, but he could see figures in the dim light, the shadows of the bushes shading their faces. The paws, feeling him relax, let go of him, and Justin was turned around only to stare face to face with another large rabbit standing upright. This one was tall, slim, but obviously knew how to take care of himself as he looked at Justin with his kind, yet strong brown eyes. His entire fur was creamy brown, the color of coffee, and he too, was dressed in a tunic with the color of red and silver. Justin's breath died in his throat as he recognized him as Hazel, the leader of the Watership Down rabbits.