"Young one, please listen, keep quiet and stay down. I know this may be strange for you, but listen, or you will be killed. We're going to hide in these bushes here, and I want you to keep still and quiet. Vervain and Mallow probably won't see us, and the minute we're free and clear, Dandelion will carry you on his back and all of us will escape to someplace where it's safe. Do you understand me?" Justin only nodded, white in the face. Hazel turned to three other rabbits while Justin felt a paw gently placed on his shoulder, and he turned around to see it was a lanky, golden rabbit wearing a blue and silver tunic; he was extremely tall and from the look of his physique, an extremely fast runner. He smiled as he whispered, "Don't worry, young one. Hazel-rah is a smashing leader. Don't be scared to trust us or him."
Immediately, all the rabbits in the bushes went silent, kneeling on all fours as they and Justin heard the sounds and growls of Vervain and Mallow. They were no more than several feet apart, and sweat trickled down Justin's neck as he heard the furious tirade between the two vicious rabbits.
"We lost him! He's gone!!"
"No, I can still smell his scent. He's here! Hiding somewhere in the growth, but he can't have gone far. We can run faster than that man, so he'll meet the Black Rabbit very soon!!"
"But, we're all already dead in the land beyond life! How can we kill this man if he's here in this world too?!"
Vervain smiled maliciously. "The Black Rabbit only brings rabbits and animals to the land beyond living, so if the man is here, it means he was brought by other means, and not by death and the Black Rabbit of Inle. He can and will be killed!" Vervain shouted in the forest, his voice echoing, "YOU HEAR ME, CROSS-BEARER?!! YOU WILL BE FOUND IN THESE WOODS AND YOU WILL DIE!! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE EFRAFA, CROSS-BEARER!!" At this statement, all the rabbits hiding in the undergrowth with Justin went tharn and gaped at Justin in the same way like Mallow and Vervain did earlier. Except this time, instead of showing anger, it was with wonderment and disbelief. Even Hazel was staring at Justin, but there was no time for puzzlement. The two scouts were getting closer and closer to their hiding place, and it would only be a matter of time before they would be discovered. Suddenly, to the right of them, a rustling sound was heard and Justin saw a rabbit disappear through the bushes and out into the open. Immediately, there was a commotion.
"Mallow!! Mallow!! It's Bigwig, embleer Watership rabbit!! He must know where the cross-bearer is!!"
"Where is he, Thalayi?!" growled Mallow, threatening Bigwig with his lance.
"Silflay hraka, u embleer rah!!" Bigwig growled back, burning both Vervain and Mallow with the blustering insult; Justin remembered in the book, it meant, "Go out and pass droppings, you stinking kings". Bigwig turned and dashed into the far side of the woods, away from Hazel, Justin, and the rest, calling over his shoulder, "If you want to get the cross-bearer, you've got to catch me first!!" In a second, he was gone.
"I'm not done with you yet, Bigwig!" screamed Mallow in fury as he and Vervain trailed after him, "I still owe you for sending me to my death with that homba back when we were alive in Efrafa!!" In another instant, they too were gone. Immediately, Hazel and several others peeked above the bushes to see if it was clear. Seeing that it was, Hazel hurriedly got up and ordered the rest of the group around.
"Hurry, we haven't much time!! Dandelion, take the cross-bearer on your back and run as fast as you can with Hawkbit, Speedwell, and Holly! The rest of us will trail behind; don't worry, Bigwig can find his way back and we'll all converge back at the meeting place we found earlier." Immediately, Justin felt himself be lifted onto the back of the lanky rabbit in the blue and silver tunic he met earlier. By deduction, this must be Dandelion, Watership Down's greatest storyteller. He was flanked by three other rabbits. One was entirely gray with aged white whiskers and a tunic of white and silver, the second was a thin white rabbit with spots of black and brown on his back, and he was wearing a brown tunic. The third was a blackish-gray rabbit, slightly smaller than the both of them, almost as tall as Justin, but from the look of it, he was a fierce fighter. His tunic was green and gold, like the colors of leaves in the fall.
"Hang on tight to me, cross-bearer," commanded Dandelion, and Justin held on obediently to the rabbit, clinging tightly to the fur of his shoulder blades. Immediately, Justin was nearly thrown back as the four rabbits rushed across the woods and into the grassy plains in amazing velocity. The world was passing by them in a blur, and dizzyingly, Justin held on as tight as he could, all the meanwhile, his brain was trying to piece together what was going on in his head. Apparently, Justin was with the rabbits of Watership Down, the good guys of the story, the heroes. However, unlike the book , this was entirely different. He couldn't explain it, but Hazel, Dandelion, and other rabbits could stand upright and talk in perfect English. Not only that, they were all wearing tunics, carried weapons and were almost like…men. It just didn't make sense. Why was he here? What was going on? And what was the whole big deal about "the cross-bearer"? Vervain and Mallow wanted to kill Justin, obviously thinking he was a threat, but if he was a threat, why were the Watership Down rabbits helping him escape? Justin also remembered the cross he bought at the swap meet, and he also recalled how he summoned that flash of light to blind Mallow and Vervain in order to escape. Could his cross have something to do with this whole thing?
"Are you all right, young one?" asked the old, gray rabbit with the white whiskers and the white and silver tunic. Justin nodded.
"But what about the others?!" he yelled over the roar of the wind as they rushed by quickly. "What about them?! They could be hurt or attacked!! And…I'm sorry but I never got your name!!"
"The name is Holly," the old rabbit replied proudly, "and not to worry about Hazel and the others! Hazel and Bigwig know what they're doing, and they could run circles around those tharn Efrafans! None of Woundwort's army has anyone like us rabbits from Sandleford warren!!"
"Woundwort??!!" exclaimed Justin in disbelief, "I thought he died!!"
"He did," put in the spotted rabbit with the brown tunic who was running behind Dandelion, "All of us have died. That's how it always is in the land beyond life; we were born in one world, and when we die, we come here by the Black Rabbit of Inle. Those that are good rabbits fight alongside El-ahrairah and his Owsla, but those who are not, they fight as part of the army fought by Woundwort, Prince Rainbow, and Elil-rah. Oh, sorry to break up like this cross-bearer, but it's a honor meeting you. I'm Speedwell."
"Elil-rah??" asked Justin, the wind ripping across his face, "Who is the heck is Elil-"
"Oh for Frith's sake!!", muttered the blackish-gray rabbit in extreme annoyance. "Danger in one end and questions out the other! Even when we're nearly tharn, we still have to endure your annoying questions!" Justin looked at the third rabbit with the green and gold tunic; even though he seemed to be nothing but a complainer and with a short temper, he seemed extremely likeable. And he seemed to resemble…
"Let me guess, you're Hawkbit?" Justin asked smugly, trying not to grin at the surprised expression on the rabbit's face. The rabbit (Hawkbit) coughed nervously, but kept his head down, not looking at Justin, and the teenager heard bits and pieces of "preposterous" and "Cross-bearer?! Not likely!". After several more minutes, Holly turned around and declared in a voice filled with relief, "Hazel and the others are right behind us!! We're safe! No one's following us!" Justin turned around to behold the amazing sight. There, behind them, were a group of ten rabbits, all in their multi-colored tunics, running on all fours and as fast as the wind. Despite their various sizes and personalities, they all looked determined, comfortable with each other, close, like family. And in the lead, keeping them together like a true leader, was Hazel. Justin's heart tugged a bit painfully; if only the consequences hadn't been so dire, he would have liked to spend time with them, get to know them better than from what he remembered in the book he read various times, and…feel like he belonged with them, like a part of their family. As the sun sank lower and lower, the group of sixteen travelers raced over the grassy hills and out of sight.
***
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE LOST THE CROSS-BEARER??!!" thundered Woundwort, his dead eye staring intently at the cowering Vervain and the still Mallow. They could almost feel his rage and power radiating from his fur.
"We almost had him, Woundwort sir," explained Mallow, "but Bigwig distracted us."
"Bigwig? Second-in-command of Hazel-rah of Watership Down??" questioned Prince Rainbow intently, his eyes boring down on the two rabbit warriors. Both rabbits nodded. Prince Rainbow sighed in disappointment and frustration as his two guard dogs that were flanked along either side of him growled menacingly at Vervain and Mallow, hoping that punishment would be imminent.
"Then the legends are true. If the cursed rabbits of Watership Down are involved," muttered Prince Rainbow, "then they were sent by El-ahrairah to find and protect the cross-bearer. Though he doesn't know it, the cross-bearer was sent here to heal El-ahrairah and protect this land from you, Elil-rah." A deep, booming, powerful voice echoed throughout the entire warren of darkness, sending its malicious echoes into the shadows.
"NOT TO WORRY, RAINBOW. MY PLANS TO ENSNARE THIS WORLD WITH DARKNESS AND DESPAIR FOR ALL OF EL-AHRAIRAH'S CHILDREN WILL COME TO PASS. NOTHING WILL PREVENT ME FROM DOING THAT, AND THE CROSS-BEARER WILL NOT LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO SEE EL-AHRAIRAH OR HIS FRIENDS, EXCEPT TO WATCH THEM SUFFER ALONG WITH HIM. NOW, SEND OUT YOUR PATROLS WOUNDWORT, AND FIND THE CROSS-BEARER. KILL HIM AND ENSLAVE ANY OR ALL THE RABBITS YOU FIND WITH HIM."
"As you wish, Elil-rah."