Author's note: I know, I know, I'm late, but this chapter was sooooo hard, not to mention I had two papers and a final due last week, so I didn't have any time for any writing. I apologize for being late, but here is my creation! Enjoy this chapter of Pipkin! Oh, hold on (gets a full suit of body armor and a shield in case any true Watership Down fan who feels this chapter did not do Pipkin justice decided to have a few "words" with the author). OKAY, I'm ready! BRING THE REVIEWS ON!
CHAPTER 15"Wow, look at the stars! They're so beautiful!" gushed Pipkin as he sat with Justin underneath one of the many fruitful and blossoming trees growing on the peaceful, yet steep slopes of the mountains. Justin gave an approving nod of agreement as he chewed on several cherries. Earlier, after gathering some generous amounts of fruit and walnuts for the famished Justin, the other rabbits decided to rest and silflay under the bright moonlight the following evening after the attack from Scry-rah and his hawk horde. They all deserved a lengthy, relaxing rest, and the rabbits eagerly feasted on clover, grass, or contented themselves to run and chase each other in friendly tag across the lush, green, cool fields on the hills. It was nice transition from the hot desert that the Watership Owsla had spent traveling through a hot and bothersome desert. Pipkin volunteered to keep Justin company along with Speedwell and Bluebell, and as the two other rabbits chewed at the patches of luscious grass not too far from Justin, Pipkin eagerly and curiously asked Justin more about his world, the mysterious world of men which was always seemingly full of dangers and magic to the comprehension of rabbits.
"Justin...is our story, the one about us and El-ahrairah and Watership Down and all our adventures? Is it really well-known and admired by all humans?" Justin spit out a cherry pit before answering truthfully.
"Well, I guess so, but some people like the tales about Watership Down better than others. I mean, in my world, there are millions, uh, hrair, stories about many different things, and yours is only one of the many. I guess it's kinda like how there are so many stories about El-ahrairah, and how some rabbits have favorite tales, treasuring them over the numerous ones that have been told."
"What do men think about us?"
"Well, to the people who actually enjoy the stories, they've actually fallen in love with the characters. I mean, Hazel is the compassionate, caring, and clever leader who is almost like El-ahrairah, Bigwig is the tough, stubborn fighter with a secretly strong heart and loyal will, Fiver's loved because he seems so small and helpless, but he's actually pacifistic, confident, and a visionary with mystical powers, and I know for a fact that a lot of people like Blackberry and Dandelion because Blackberry's the inventor, the rabbit with insight and shrewd wits, and Dandelion's the one you can always count on for a good story to keep everyone's spirit up, like a cheerleader or a motivational supporter." Pipkin looked a little disappointed from this, and Justin thought the little rabbit was troubled from the fact that he wasn't as famous and cherished like the rabbits he had just mentioned. He added hastily, unwilling to hurt Pipkin's feelings of adequacy like Acorn felt before, "Hey, you're well liked too, Pipkin! You're known as the smallest rabbit of the group, but nonetheless, you're incredibly loyal and trustworthy, not to mention you have great faith in Hazel and the rest of your companions. You're always eager to follow orders, without question, and when someone's hurt or left behind, you're always willing to do anything you can to stay close or comfort them. Like...like you did when Holly came to Watership Down after escaping the destruction of Sandleford, and you stayed by with him and Bluebell, trying your best to calm them down and talk them through their misery and pain. Or when the time Efrafa attacked the Honeycomb, and when Fiver was left behind because he was in a stupor, you begged Bigwig to let you stay with Fiver, even though it meant that you would probably be killed when Woundwort made his way into the run. I mean, Bigwig and Holly almost had to drag you away from him."
Pipkin, however, still looked troubled, but he looked at the starry night and said softly, "No, it's not that I was dismayed about Justin. It's just...I treasure all my friends here, from Hazel-rah to Holly to even Hawkbit and Acorn. They...I care about all of them, and I don't hold one above the other because I love them all like my brothers, equally and fairly. But...but what makes me so sad is the fact that in your world, you seem to like rabbits like Bigwig, Hazel, Blackberry, and Fiver more so than the other rabbits who are just as important and wonderful, like Bluebell or Speedwell or Strawberry." He paused. "I don't care if...if I was never important in any of the stories about Watership Down told to humans, but I'm little bothered when parts of my family are divided and...well...seemed to be made more heroic than others. I don't want any of them to feel inadequate or...or useless. I just can't stand that. I feel all of them are courageous and equally benevolent, special and noble. That's why I don't think that I'd like it if in your world, only some of us are praised while the others are ignored, because if given the chance, everyone would be just as clever, brave, and gentle like El-ahrairah, our Prince of all rabbits." Justin looked at him in surprise. For such an easy-going and seemingly simple-minded rabbit, Pipkin was amazingly perceptive and empathic and was also honorably, evenly, considerate for each one of his friends. Not only that, what was most admirable was that he was fiercely dedicated to his family, willing to abandon his own needs and concerns for the sake of his friends', if it ever came down to that. Heck, Justin remembered that when he first met the rabbits, Pipkin was friendly, open, and even when it seemed that Justin wasn't the cross-bearer, Pipkin said, " 'I don't care; I still think he's a good one. He's different from all other men we've seen before' ". Justin decided it would be best if he didn't tell Pipkin that his guess was right, that the stories in the human world simply described the less important rabbits such as Hawkbit, Speedwell, or Silver as "filler rabbits", rabbits that had no real importance in the plot and were just there for numbers.
"Well, if it makes any difference, I agree with you, Pipkin. I mean, Acorn, Silver and Hawkbit may not be leaders or visionaries, but they saved me from Volgnamass, the hawks and the Wolfen Gale, so I owe my lives and my heart to them as much as I do for Campion and Bigwig. I guess you could say that despite it all, every rabbit that El-ahrairah sent to protect me is one of my guardian angels, each one equally significant in my life and for my safety and companionship during the journey." Pipkin radiated a smile at Justin's sincere words, but he also had a quizzical look in his face.
"Justin, what in Frith's name is an 'angel'?" Justin grinned in amusement at Pipkin's eternal, innocent, and childish curiosity.
"Well, in my religion, angels are messengers of God, and they tell people what God wants or to give them a message. It's also a popular belief that angels are sent by God to protect innocents from danger and evil."
"Like us?"
Justin laughed softly in concurrence. "Yeah, exactly."
"What do angels look like, Justin?" Pipkin's eyes grew brighter and more excited at Justin's words. It was like the teenager was telling a story, and from the sound of it, a very gripping one at that. Justin, a bit flustered at the pestering of Pipkin, but completely in good spirits, tried to think of the best kind of description.
"Well, the truth is, no one knows what angels truly look like. They can look like any animal, any object, or to the belief of most people, they look like humans with wings bathed in light, completely pure, benevolent, and holy. Truth is, I can probably tell you I've never seen an angel in my life, but I guess I know God sends them to me without my knowing just to watch over me and keep me safe. For...that's what a guardian angel does; it is sent to a person and does everything in its power to protect and defend it from darkness and temptation." Pipkin looked even more astounded from Justin's narration, and he beamed happily as he already developed the picture in his overactive imagination.
"Great Frith, that sounds so enchanting! I never dreamed that men could have such things in their world!" He paused, but then a thought came to him, slightly depressing him. "But, I wish...I wish..." He stopped, slightly embarrassed, and Justin, seeing the sad look in Pipkin's eyes, asked him, "But what, Pipkin? C'mon, you can tell me."
Pipkin, a bit mortified but trusting Justin's unsaid promise he wouldn't laugh, continued, "Well, you'll think it's silly like Bluebell or Hawkbit, but...but I just thought that if I had wings and could fly, then I could be a real guardian angel, just like you've always wanted. If I had wings, I could finally be more useful, do a better job of defending you, and finally have my dreams come true and getting the chance to fly, just like Kehaar." Justin's brow crinkled a bit in amused disbelief, but he didn't say anything; he knew how much dreams meant to you if you truly desired to fulfill them. Pipkin, seeing the look, felt his ears heat up slightly in awkwardness as he stared back on the ground.
"I told you it was a bit barmy." Justin smiled brotherly, caringly, as he reached over a scratched the spot between Pipkin's ears, feeling through his soft, brown fur, soft as goose down.
"Not really. I think it's a good wish. Heck, a lot of men in my world wish to fly and such, and we have airplanes and other gadgets and stuff to help us fly and soar in the air like birds, so it's not at all unusual to have that sort of dream or ambition, even if it does seem stupid or nutty to others. But...why do you want wings so much?"
"Well, I always felt that when you're flying, having the wind and air rush by as you rise above and watch the land below, it's the best feeling ever. Kehaar was telling me about his travels and his 'Big Water' when he was injured and when we had to care for him back at Watership Down. I was really enchanted from all the tales, all the stories, all the chronicles he told about how it felt so free, so liberating, to glide and play in the air without a care in the world, to feel like all your worries disappear in the clouds, like fog under the sun, to see things above and beyond in a magical, new view. He told me everything seems so small when you're flying in the air, but it also appears more exquisite and thrilling when you get a bird's eye view of the land and terrain. Ever since then, I've always wanted to fly, and when the Black Rabbit brought my spirit up here in the land beyond life, it...it was so breathtaking, I could not even describe it, and I could only watch in awe as I saw myself leave my body and my home, only to head into the light of Frith and welcomed into the warren of El-ahrairah. I just...I just wish I could do it again, but El-ahrairah said that Frith only gave birds the benefit of wings, and that I should always be thankful that the rabbit's powers of digger, listener, runner, and swift warning that Frith gave me. And don't get me wrong, I do appreciate those gifts, but...I wish could just fly, even if it's just for one more time."
Justin said softly, encouraging but wanting to convince Pipkin that he loved him regardless of whether he had wings or not. "Pipkin, I don't care if you don't have wings, strength, or a burly, Owsla size like Holly or Bigwig. You're a great guardian angel the way you are, and to tell you the truth, I'm honored to even be protected by a famous, faithful, and affectionate rabbit such as yourself. Now, c'mon, cheer up, Pipkin! Hazel-rah and the other Watership rabbits wouldn't want you to be so gloomy and downcast. That's Hawkbit's job!"
"I heard that!" snapped an irate Hawkbit in the background, and Pipkin smiled at the humor while Justin snickered at the sight of Hawkbit giving them both of them a mock, murderous look. Justin sighed, his stomach full, as he looked up in the dark sky with the waning moon and twinkling stars of various sizes and intensities. Pipkin then broke the silence as he stared at his teenage friend.
"Justin?"
"Hm?"
"Do you ever miss your home? Your world, your friends, that you left behind when El-ahrairah and Frith summoned you here in the land beyond life?" Justin, though he tried not to show it, was taken aback that Pipkin was able to guess what had been on his mind for the past week. Justin had to hesitate, thinking a bit, before he answered.
"Yeah, I guess I do."
"Why?" The question was innocent enough, and Pipkin's face and eyes didn't register any other reason for asking except to satisfy his curiosity and to make Justin feel more at ease in the foreign land.
"Well, I guess it's because I lived there my entire life, and being here without any people, it's just so new and overwhelming to me. I mean, I'm not used to traveling through deserts, grassy plains, and mountains, not to mention back at home, if I was hungry, I could just go to the refrigerator or pantries and pig out instead of gathering fruits and nuts life a squirrel."
"Oh," Pipkin said softly, in understanding, but not before he asked, "Then, does that mean you wish you've never came to the land beyond life and be with us?" Justin stared stupidly at Pipkin in shock, but then realized that he made it sound that he still wished he never became the cross-bearer and never met the rabbits of Watership Down. He spoke with extreme persuasion and earnestness as he fiercely shook his head.
"No, never! I...yes, I miss my home, but here, I gained so much! Even though you, Hazel, and the others are rabbits and I'm a human, I couldn't have found better friends and companions in my entire life! I mean, all of you have done everything possible to help me, protect me, and nonetheless of what others, such as the hawks or...or the Ilips said, you were willing to open yourselves up to me, make me feel welcome and special and important, and show me the kindness and friendship that I could never get back at home." He paused a bit before continuing. "To tell you the truth, if I disappeared off the face of the Earth, no one, not even my dad, would be upset by this, except possibly my mom and yes, my best friend, Michelle. But, that would probably be it because to everyone else, I wasn't of much significance to begin with and no one would have been very saddened by it. It's sort of like Silver's predicament with the Threarah." Pipkin, in an act of touching compassion and devotion, edged closer to Justin and rested his head on the teenager's leg, his fur lying on the denim jeans.
"If you ever died, I'd be so sad. You're the only human friend we've ever made, but you're nicer than a lot of animals here, and I'm glad that you came. I wouldn't want anyone else to be the cross-bearer but you." Justin smiled, and Pipkin asked, "Justin, what do you dream about? What do you wish for with all your heart?"
Justin had to ponder this a bit. "I guess I wish I could have a loving family and friends, people who care about me, cherish me being with them, and who would always help me, guide me through trouble, and prepare me for challenges and trials in my life with encouragement, not anger and harshness. And I would feel the same way about them."
"Well, you will always have us, Justin."
"I know," Justin said quietly.
"I wish you could be with us forever," Pipkin piped up in simple adoration.
Justin stroked his friend's head again. "You know what? I wish so too."
000-
That night, as the rabbits were asleep along with Justin under a thick willow tree, except for Holly, Strawberry, and Blackberry who were on guard patrol, Pipkin woke up silently to find Justin, who was sleeping next to Silver and Bigwig, slightly shivering in the cold mountain air as he slept in an upright position with his back to the trunk of the tree. Pipkin quietly and carefully hopped over between the two bulking rabbits, and gracefully, without waking the teenager, curled up into Justin's lap, his warm, small, furry body lying against Justin's torso. Justin murmured a bit in his sleep, but he continued his slumber, and without realizing it, his left arm softly encircled Pipkin and held him close, like a teddy bear. Pipkin just nuzzled nearer to his friend's body in silent fondness, keeping him warm, as he slowly drifted back to sleep. Yet, unknown to him, Strawberry, Holly, and Blackberry, a pair of narrowed, black eyes watched the rabbits sleeping from a cliff above them.
"Sleep now, cross-bearer," the figure snickered sadistically, "You will meet your match this time, and you will lose your powers."
000-
"Quite a sight to behold, eh, young one?" Silver admired the view out loud as Justin, though gripping Silver's fur tightly due to the incredibly, slanted ground, mustered enough courage to peek at the scene. It certainly was breathtaking, and the dark, shadowed cover of the trees they were traveling through did not block the view of the lands, the desert, the grassy plains, the forests that they had spent over two weeks journeying through, all illuminated brightly under the morning sunlight. It seemed so far away. As they slowly hopped upwards, Justin could feel his head swim slightly from the thinning air, but he knew that he needed to hold on if he didn't want to fall, and possibly tumble a long drop back down. He wished that he wasn't so scared of heights, but the other rabbits of Watership Down didn't seem fazed by the great altitude, so why should he? Still, as Pipkin was hopping next to the huge Silver, he noticed that Justin was grasping Silver's fur so tightly, his knuckles were turning white.
"Are you scared of heights, Justin?"
"It's that obvious, huh?" Justin said dryly, keeping his eyes shut as he felt Silver hop painstakingly, making sure his hind feet got a good hold of the grassy soil before he made the next leap.
"Well, you can open your eyes now, Justin! We're here at the top, and the ground is level again!" Justin cautiously peeked to find the little rabbit was telling the truth. They were now at one of the summits of the steep, grassy highlands they were previously climbing on, and now, the ground was flat, dry, and devoid of any plant life, like a mesa. It was a wide, brown clearing. Though the terrain they were currently standing on was spacious, open and level, Justin saw that there were two paths they could take. A course on their left temptingly led to a dense thicket of woodland, offering dark, cool shade from the trees. The route in front of them led into the steady, but rocky canyons that were sandwiched between the mountain apices. If the Watership rabbits wished to reach the other side of the mountains, the needed to follow the bypath in front of them and cross the canyons. However, from the looks of it, the walkway that led headway through the eminences appeared unstable and perilous. As Justin pushed down on the panicked fears that were rushing through his nervous system like a tidal wave, Hazel interrupted his thoughts.
"Justin, hold on tightly to Silver. We're going to take the pathway ahead, but it is extremely tapered and constricted. It'll be a tight squeeze if we all try to travel through this at once. Holly, I want you to lead the group in front, and Bigwig, you are to trail behind last, making sure no one falls or looses their footing! Everyone, go in groups of two, and walk through the footpath in a straight line, and for Frith's sake, if the rabbit in front of you is going to lose his balance, for the sake of El-ahrairah, help him! It will be a long drop, and we don't want to leave any Owsla rabbit behind, and this will stall us long enough to have Elil-rah's next wave of soldiers to come to attack us! That is certainly something we don't want, so be especially alert! And Justin, if an enemy does show up, time-freeze it immediately, or else we'll be in a very dangerous compromise in this treacherous path across the mountain tops!" Justin could see why; on the left side of the path was a towering, vertical wall of red sandstone and lime, but on the other side was nothing but empty space, exposing the view of a tremendous height well above the trees and some of the low-altitude clouds. Heck, the battlefield that Justin encountered with the hawks with Silver was now only literally the size of a postage stamp from his point of view at the high elevation. Everyone followed along with the instructions easily enough, yet Justin had to force himself to not look down towards the dizzy chasm of empty air and terrifying heights. One slip, one slip was all it would take for him to be sent hurtling down the crown of the mountain peaks to an excruciating death. Pipkin noticed this and quietly, he spoke comfortingly to the teenager to distract his thoughts while hopping alongside Silver. The procession slowly made their way through the path, with Holly in the lead, followed by Hazel and Fiver, Acorn and Bluebell, Hawkbit and Campion, Silver and Justin and Pipkin, Speedwell and Strawberry, Dandelion and Buckthorn, and lastly, guarding the rear, Bigwig and Blackberry. It was extremely tedious, if not nerve-wracking.
"I'm beginning to see why none of Elil-rah's soldiers would dare attack us at this time," muttered Dandelion as he warily watched the abyss on his right, observing the eerie altitude above the woodlands and groves, seeing lands as far as the distant horizon due to their elevation. "Frith in a hole, even an Ilip would become seriously maimed from dropping at this height!"
"Don't think about it! Just don't think about it!" shushed Speedwell immediately, trying to block his mind from the daunting thought. Bluebell, sensing the tension, tried to lighten the mood with some humor.
"By Frith, I think now is the time I want to be a bird. If we all had wings like Kehaar, we could be bird rabbits! Then this entire journey would be so much easier! I think I want to be a bird!"
"Wouldn't be so hard since you're already a birdbrain," growled Hawkbit impatiently, but Bluebell pretended to not hear that insult.
"C'mon chaps! Think about! With us flying back to El-ahrairah's warren, we could go through this mission as easily as acorns falling off an oak! No more muddy fur, no more sore paws, no more cuts and thorns in our flesh and skin, and best of all, we could cross over these hills and mountains and pastures without breaking a drop of sweat! We'd be as fresh as daisies when we get back to the meadows of Fenlo!"
"Oh, that would be wonderful, Bluebell!" chimed in Pipkin excitedly, his eyes beginning to sparkle, setting off groans, shaking heads or rolling eyes to the rabbits around him.
"Bluebell, now is not the time we need to hear one of your jokes or chatter," nagged Silver impatiently as he forced himself to not groan with tormented annoyance.
"By the fur and paw of El-ahrairah, this journey could not possibly get any worse!" carped Hawkbit, grimacing.
"YOU RABBITS SHALL NOT PASS ME!" thundered a deep, bass, deafening roar, sending its powerful vibrations through the peaceful, thin air and bristling past the furry hairs on the bodies of the rabbit Owsla. Everyone looked up in front of them to see the hulking, immense size body of a black-and-white badger, blocking their approach into the canyons. The badger was certainly foreboding; he was as large as the Ilips, not to mention each one of its four legs were as thick as a redwood tree, sturdy, and powerfully built with blunt, yet thick, black claws. Even now, Justin and Pipkin could see that the badger's nails were effortlessly embedded deep into the stone and rock he was standing on, unconsciously straining and flexing his muscular paws. The creature's face was black but two wide strips of white fur marked vertically on his cheeks and face and across teal-colored eyes, and underneath his powerful snout was a jagged row of white teeth. Across his wide and strapping back, the badger wore a simple cape of brown, coarse material with a V-shaped collar looped elegantly around his neck. And on his neck was the telltale sign of Elil-rah's power: a bronze medallion with the symbol "E". Campion glared at Hawkbit with resentment.
"You just had to say that and tempt fate, didn't you?" Campion snapped. The badger stood on his haunches upright, like a bear, and raised his front paws, ready to strike. Hazel gave a knowing glance at Justin, but the teenager already acted quickly without any need for warning.
"Time, please stop! Time-freeze the badger!" Immediately, the cross around the human's neck illuminated the rocky trail and shone its majestic light on the evil messenger of Elil-rah. Yet, to the disheartening terror of Hazel and the other rabbits of Watership Down, the badger just smirked menacingly and knowingly as the warm, golden rays of light just bathed his face. As the magic of Justin's cross faded, the badger was still unaffected from the time-freeze spell. It didn't work! The badger gave a savage, deep laugh, causing Pipkin to shudder as the rabbits stared at him, bewildered and confused.
"Trying to freeze me, young one?" the badger leered, "How predictable! You actually thought that Elil-rah wouldn't have taken that possibility into account when he sent me to kill you and defeat your precious friends from Watership Down? Pitiful, simply pitiful! AND DON'T MOVE!" The badger roared that last command as he saw the rabbits were about to make a turnabout face and run the opposite way, afar from the fierce eli. The outburst was so deafening, so forceful, it temporarily made all the rabbits, even Bigwig and Hazel, go tharn for a brief second or two as they all stopped and stared back at their enemy. The badger beamed cold-bloodedly, pleased that he got their attention.
"I wouldn't try running away if I were you, you imprudent rabbits." He stared meaningfully at Hazel as he address towards the leader. "Look...Hazel-rah, I believe, isn't it? I know for a fact you wouldn't want to risk the life of your human friend and the safety of your comrades if you all tried to run. For you see, before any of you would even have a chance to make halfway back from the trail, I could simply do this..." And to demonstrate his point, with a swift movement, he slammed his front paws back onto the rocky ground, and as a result of his heavy weight, the entire rock lane, and indeed, the entire mountain, shook intermediately. The rabbits struggled to maintain their balance, trying not to fall off into the empty nothingness on their left side, as rocks started to fall from the sandstone walls and chillingly, the rock path was starting to crack and crumble. The badger was right; if they even made a dash for it, he could send them all hurtling down the mountain by causing the walkway to disintegrate with a second body slam before they could even safely get away. Hazel, pushing himself past Holly and doing his best to look at the badger bravely, spoke grudgingly, "What do you want, lendri?"
"Oh, please, Hazel-rah, let's be more formal, shall we?" the badger cruelly chuckled, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lord Brock, one of Elil-rah's most powerful and mighty servants."
"Lord Brock!" gasped out Justin and the Watership rabbits. Justin remembered now. After El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle left the warren of the Black Rabbit of Inle to save their home from King Darzin, in "Tales of Watership Down", Lord Brock was a badger who kept El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle prisoners in his den, bargaining with the rabbits that he would help them make their way through an impassable forest if they helped him gather food. However, untrue to his word, Lord Brock did nothing to keep his promise, and it was only by exposing his den to humans (not to mention the fact that Lord Brock buried the body of a dead human female close to his home) that El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle were able to escape his iron grip on their freedom. Though he wasn't sure if Lord Brock actually killed the woman in the stories he read, there was no doubt in Justin's mind that the badger would kill him if he wanted to, especially since he was sent by Elil-rah. Yet, something was irregular about this whole thing. It didn't seem rational of Lord Brock to actually do this, to show himself in front of the rabbits, actually talking with Hazel-rah as if the matter of bargaining for someone's life was a simple conversation between acquaintances. Not only did he lose the element of surprise, but he was also alone without any army. This whole thing seemed incredibly fishy, but Justin knew that the messengers Elil-rah sent to kill him were usually not very reasonable. Pipkin, however, noticed what Justin was thinking too.
"Silver, there's something odd about all this! He's not even trying to attack us! He's trying to talk it out with Hazel-rah, and this isn't like all the other elil that Elil-rah has sent to chase us! He could have sent all of us tumbling down the mountain by breaking the rock path before we could even scamper off, but he's not! Silver, I'm scared! Please, try to run and get Justin out of here! I don't want him to endanger himself if he stays here!" he pleaded.
"We can't!" hissed Silver as he was trying to listen to the conversation Hazel was having with Lord Brock. "If that embleer lendri is as good to his filthy, contemptible threat as he says, then he'll try to hurl all of us off this mountain! And I can't run now, not without having Bigwig and the other rabbits in front of me getting out of my way, and before that could happen, Lord Brock will see what was going on and send all of us plummeting down before we could even move! Pipkin, quiet, I'm trying to listen!"
Justin then had a sudden impulsive idea, and he leaned over to Pipkin, whispering, "Pipkin, I have an idea, but I need your help since you're the smallest and can easily squeeze past everyone without Lord Brock's attention. I need you to go to Bigwig and..." The small rabbit listened intensely while the other rabbits just focused on the sight of their leader bravely discussing matters with the huge badger lord.
Lord Brock continued talking. "Come now, Hazel-rah, try to be a reasonable rabbit and hear what I have to say. I'm not going to kill Justin, well, not if it can be helped." At this, he shot a leering glance at the teenager on Silver's back, and Justin shuddered, not liking the gruesome, teasing tone of Lord Brock's voice on that last part. Campion, Hawkbit, and Acorn, seeing this, stood upright and blocked Justin from the badger's eyesight, glaring at the eli with a mixture of helplessness and fury. "I'll make this plain and simple: I want the cross, the jewel around the boy's neck. Give to me, and I'll let all of you pass by and make it back to El-ahrairah's warren without so much as even a scratch. Out of the goodness of my heart, I'll even lie to Elil-rah and tell him that I succeeded in my mission of assassinating the young human boy."
"Without Justin's cross, El-ahrairah will never recover from Elil-rah's dark powers!" fumed Hazel as he fought the urge to yell at Lord Brock. "I am no fool; without his powers, Justin will be vulnerable, so the temptation for you to kill him will be too great to suppress. And even if you didn't kill our friend, that won't stop Elil-rah from sending other messengers to attack us."
"That may be true, but I am giving you the chance to spare Justin's life," Lord Brock sneered at the rabbit leader. He then noticed a movement from the group of rabbits, and alarmed, he looked up sharply, but to his relief, he saw it was a diminutive, brown rabbit, a runt, trying to make his way past the other rabbits and retreating away from the scene. And none of the other rabbits made a move to stop him.
Coward, the badger thought, chuckling at the sight of a puny, weakling rabbit even being in the infamous Owsla of El-ahrairah, the runt of the group has turned tail and run. Oh well, what's one less rabbit, especially a pygmy like him? He's of no importance, and as long as I have the rest of these damned rabbits under the power of my menace, I still have the advantage of this fight. Lord Brock then turned to Hazel and growled, "Now, enough talk, Hazel-rah. I've made my ultimatum: either the boy hands me his cross and I let you live, or I start a tremor powerful enough to collapse this footpath and to send all of you rabbits and the cross-bearer into a very long descent into oblivion."
"No, you can't have it!" This came from Justin as he guardedly clasped a hand over his cross around his neck, and Lord Brock just grinned slyly at the teenager. Justin continued to shout at the badger, "I won't let you take my cross! I need this to save El-ahrairah and I won't let you steal the only thing that can help my friends and their Prince in this land! Besides, this cross isn't even important to you, Lord Brock! It would be worthless to you! You wouldn't know what to do with it!"
Lord Brock grinned craftily, "Aha, but that is where you are wrong, you unenlightened fool! I want that cross for its power, and even in such a short time, all of the messengers and soldiers of Elil-rah's Owsla have already heard of the wondrous and miraculous things that you, a lone, sad, inadequate human teenager, were able to achieve and accomplish with such a small trinket! The power to freeze time, to create a vast army, to move objects at will, to call on and summon servants of mass destruction! With that cross, I could be a god, a creature as powerful as Frith himself! The glory I could accomplish with that power, and once I have it, I will be the new ruler in the land beyond life, and all will bow and humble themselves to serve me and my kingdom for all eternity!"
"I can obviously see Elil-rah wasn't very careful at choosing his members to be part of his dark Owsla," snarled Holly as he looked at Lord Brock in contempt. Lord Brock's eyes darkened.
"Elil-rah is an impetuous fool to not imagine the possibilities of supremacy that could be achieved with that token, and the dark duffer actually feels threatened by that light of the cross-bearer's cross! With such light, I will have nothing to fear from Elil-rah, and once I take over the land beyond life, I will live in the dream of prestige and command over all animals!"
"You're mad!" spat out Fiver in shock, his mouth starting to froth in distress, "You're absolutely mad!"
"Oh wonderful," Buckthorn growled sarcastically, "So even if we did let this crack-brained lendri have what he wants, instead of being slaves to Elil-rah, we'll be slaves to that badger! I can't tell which one is worse!"
"It's sort of like deciding whether to be snared or to be shot," protested Strawberry. Lord Brock ignored him and boomed his threat back towards Justin.
"Justin, give me that cross!"
"No, I won't, and I won't let you use this for evil! The cross was given to me so that I could help this world and other animals, not to hand it over by some psychotic megalomaniac fur-ball like you! I won't let you hurt us!" In an instant, Justin grasped the cross with both hands and started to pray, invoking the powers of holy, golden light. The badger, though slightly irked at Justin's stubbornness and loyalty to El-ahrairah, smiled at Justin's naive second attempts.
"Trying to time freeze me again, you stupid boy?" Lord Brock boasted gleefully, "Haven't you guessed it, you idiot! Your powers won't affect me! Elil-rah handed me a article of clothing so impervious, not even the light of your prayers can stop me!" He indicated the cape he was wearing with his head. "This cloak of resistance that was given to me will protect me against any spell you throw, and no matter what you can think of, you cannot use your cross-bearer powers to affect me!"
"Whoever said I was using the powers of my cross on you?" Now it was Justin's turn to smirk, and to the badger's surprised fury, the teenager opened his eyes from his prayer, giving Lord Brock the same, telltale, knowing gleam in his eye. Suddenly, Bigwig, the very rabbit in the back, started to grow at an incredible rate, bathed in golden sunlight as his body began to reshape and form. In a flash, to Lord Brock's horror, now Bigwig was transformed into a large dog, the very same form he used to protect Justin from King Darzin. And with a second glance, the badger saw that the rabbit runt (Pipkin) was standing next to the dog, smiling. As it turned out, Pipkin didn't run at all; he went to the rear of the line by Justin's request to inform Bigwig of Justin's plan to transform him into a dog so that he could fight and stall Lord Brock from attacking Hazel and the others while they used the chance to escape off the shaky, rocky path. Lord Brock's impassive arrogance had cost him fatally. Bigwig, in his dog form, sarcastically smiled as he growled, "Now we're evenly matched, embleer lendri!"
With a bound, Bigwig leapt past the rabbits, sailing overhead his comrades, only to tackle Lord Brock at the other end of the route, causing the rock path starting to crackle and fracture even dangerously further. Lord Brock fought back angrily, biting and clawing at the dog, but Hazel knew that this could be anyone's battle. Both Bigwig and Lord Brock were the same size, and due to their combined weights on the path, it would certainly be inevitable that one of them would fall if the rock trail didn't collapse first. Justin quickly yelled to Hazel, "Hazel, c'mon, we have to get out of here! Bigwig's stalling Lord Brock to give us time to escape!"
With a dash, all the rabbits flew as fast they could back towards the part of the mesa leading into the thick forest covering the other side of the mountain. They were now off the treacherous footpath and back at the solid, rocky clearing of the summit.
"Now what do we do?" squealed Speedwell, "We can't go back down the mountain, and Lord Brock is blocking the only safe path through the mountains!"
"We could try finding another way!" suggested Dandelion, his sides heaving and gasping.
"We don't have time! We have to figure out a way to get rid of Lord Brock from coming after us! But with that cloak of resistance, Justin can't time-freeze him and give us a chance to make headway for escape like we did with the Ilips and the Efrafans!" Blackberry pointed out.
"Justin, can't you just summon the cloak to come off him! Like you did with Blood Whitetail's medallion!" Hawkbit pestered the teenager urgently. Justin shook his head.
"I don't think so! Lord Brock said it was resistant to all the abilities my cross could summon, so if I tried to do it, it probably wouldn't work since my powers of teleportation would simply be reflected off the cape!"
"Well then that eliminates the other offensive possibilities of levitation, blinding him with the light, setting him on fire, and Frith knows what other direct attacks we had in plan in case of an emergency such as this!" Campion groaned with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Fiver then squealed in dread and sorrow as he watched the battle.
"Bigwig!" he screamed.
Everyone turned back to the battle to see a gut-wrenching sight. During their inhumane brawl, Lord Brock had just embedded his claws into the inside of Bigwig's right haunch as Bigwig kept a bloody, death-grip of the badger's shoulder with his teeth. At the stinging of the claws scratching against his bone, Bigwig let go of Lord Brock's shoulder and roared in pain. That was the moment Lord Brock was waiting for. With a hefty, cruel shove with his good shoulder, the badger pushed Bigwig off the path, and despite a few brief seconds of Bigwig teetering precariously, trying to regain his balance, he fell, hurtling down the mountain. Pipkin screamed and Strawberry started wailing, but Justin grabbed his cross.
"Stop him!" he whispered intently, "Please, for Bigwig's sake, let him land on a rock to stop him from falling! Block his path with a ledge or a cliff! Please!" With those words, Bigwig saw to his astonishment, as he fell, a sudden bulge of golden light emerged from the mountain right underneath him, and with a sudden thud, Bigwig's descent was miraculously halted as he felt his belly land painfully on something hard. With a flash, the light revealed that Bigwig fell on a jutting outcrop of rock, formed in the nick of time by Justin's powers, and now, Bigwig was safe, but bleeding and hazardously lying on a flat ridge. Lord Brock then charged down the path and towards the Watership rabbits guarding Justin, roaring with demonic anger, "I WANT THAT CROSS! BY THE NAME OF ALL LENDRI, I WILL TAKE IT FROM YOU, JUSTIN!"
"That's what you think!" yelled Holly as he, Hazel, Fiver, Hawkbit, Campion, Bluebell, Dandelion, and Buckthorn charged towards Lord Brock courageously. As they made their way halfway up the path, before they could strike with a team-coordinated head-butt, Lord Brock gave an amazing bound and gracefully leaped over the heads of the rabbits. But that wasn't the worst part. With a resounding crash, Lord Brock landed hard onto the rocky path, and due to the final blow, the path behind him started to break and collapse underneath the very paws of the rabbits. As Lord Brock watched over his shoulder with sickening enthusiasm, the path gave way and sent all the rabbits standing on it tumbling down the mountain into the empty air and void below!
"Hazel-rah! Everyone!" screamed Pipkin, unable to take his eyes off the horrific sight.
"Bigwig, above you!" Silver bellowed, and Bigwig looked up to see the screaming rabbits falling towards him, and without a thought of his own safety, Bigwig instinctively leaned over and grabbed Fiver skillfully by the scruff of his neck, preventing him from falling. Due to Bigwig's broad canine body sticking out, Hazel, Campion, Holly, and Hawkbit were luckily able to land on his wide back, safely breaking their falls with a soft landing. Bluebell comically stopped his plummet by scrabbling onto Bigwig's large head, and Dandelion and Buckthorn, thanks to Bigwig's leaning outwards, grabbed hold of his neck, and gasping with fright and adrenaline, they sunk their claws into Bigwig, trying to gain foothold and a better grip. Bigwig hissed in pain through his gritted teeth at the stinging of Dandelion and Buckthorn unintentionally scratching him, and Bluebell said, panicking, "Bigwig, whatever you do, don't move or else you'll lose your own balance and we'll all fall off this ledge! And I don't think Justin can levitate all of us!"
"Frank youth forth saything the obthious, Cluekell!" warbled Bigwig heatedly through his gritted teeth as he still held Fiver with his mouth. Now, all of them were awkwardly and precariously dangling on the cliff, and any sudden movement from Bigwig would endanger all of them. Hazel stared at Lord Brock helplessly, praying that the other would somehow find a way to defeat him before he could attack Justin. Meanwhile, Justin and the other rabbits back at the firm ground above looked on in dread and alarm as Brock started to stalk towards them, madness and grim determination in the badger's bloodlust eyes. Blackberry then hit on an idea.
"Justin!" he yelled at the teenager, "Try creating an army of rabbits, like you did with Acorn with Volgnamass and his weasels! It'll certainly give us an edge in stopping Lord Brock!"
"An army?" Justin glanced knowingly at Acorn, who nodded fiercely at Justin, indicating that he was ready. Justin grabbed his cross, and in less than a minute, Lord Brock was shocked at the sight of Acorn multiplying into a vast number of rabbits, covering the entire mountaintop. With a terrific squeal, the army of Acorns charged and leapt at the hulking form of the badger. Annoyed and enraged, the badger did his best to swat them off, but the tenacious multiples fought bravely as they clabbered over the beast, biting, scratching, and kicking repeatedly. And they were not alone; fearing that the army wouldn't be enough to handle the enemy, Pipkin and Justin were left behind for their own safety while Silver, Acorn, Strawberry, Blackberry, and Speedwell charged into the melee. Silver shouted to Pipkin and Justin watching helplessly in the sidelines while he proceeded to rip the badger's ears into pieces with his teeth.
"Pipkin, take Justin and both of you, run into the forest and hide yourselves! If we can't stop Lord Brock, at least he won't be able to find you among the trees!"
"No, we won't!" whined Pipkin with tears in his eyes, "We won't leave you! I want to help!"
"Frith in a tree, just run! Do you want Justin to die!" Pipkin shook his head, but when Justin and Pipkin ran as fast as they could towards the thick wood, the small rabbit couldn't help but cry, partly cursing himself for being a coward but also cursing himself because he knew deep in his heart, if it came just between him and Lord Brock, Justin wouldn't have a chance.
Brock had enough, and with a fury none of the rabbits had ever experienced before with any animal, the huge eli went into an insane rage as his cloak around his neck started to glow in a dark luster. With squeals of pain and excruciating agony, all the multiples of Acorn that Justin had summoned for his cross covered their heads with their paws, and with a final whimper, turned into smoke as they all vanished into thin air. Now, there were only the five original rabbits standing between Lord Brock and the path that led straight into the forest where Pipkin and Justin took. With a roar of determination, Speedwell, Strawberry, Blackberry, Silver, and Acorn charged towards the badger, but the wrath of Lord Brock's anger and battle lust was unconquerable. With a swipe of his paw, he sent Acorn and Blackberry flying into a wall of rock, stunning them into the brink of unconsciousness. With a ferocious lunge, Speedwell and Strawberry leapt into the badger's back, trying to find a way to tear the cloak of resistance off him, but Lord Brock simply bucked them off, and a few hard cuffs made sure that both annoyances stayed on the ground, lying weakly in pools of their own blood. Silver tried to leap up and claw at Lord Brock's face, but with a thrust, Lord Brock caught Silver in his mouth, and with just one chomp, Silver fell back down to the ground, writhing in agonizing, unbearable pain as the jagged teeth wounded his body horrifically, tearing the flesh on his waist and torso into loose, flapping chunks and ribbons and leaving his fur coated with a mixture of saliva and blood. Remorseless, Lord Brock growled into Silver's face savagely, "That was for my ear, you flea-ridden inconvenience. Now, we're even!"
Without hesitation, the badger ran into the thick coppice, his massive body crashing and uprooting the sturdy trees and brambles as he went, leaving a trail of broken wood, uprooted earth, and destruction. As Silver feebly watched Lord Brock break down through the trees, shaking from the cold and pain of his injuries, he gasped faintly, "Pipkin, please, for Frith's sake, protect yourself and Justin. I don't know what would happen if we lost both of you."
000-
Pipkin and Justin ran as fast as they both could, not caring about the aching splits they both had in their sides nor the branches that threatened to hit them as they sped past. Panting and exhausted from the reckless sprinting, both Justin and Pipkin came to the edge of the grove, and to their stupefied, distressing dismay, they came into a barren, rocky clearing about several yards long, but at the very edge was a steep cliff. And beyond that, nothing. They were trapped. Behind them was the thick forest where they could hear the faint, but distinct sounds of Lord Brock crashing through the growth and underbrush, and in front of them was a crag offering nothing but a very steep drop into the ground way, way, way below. Justin's face just blanched at the thought of the height, feeling his fears creep back to him and hugging his heart with a strong grip of ice. Pipkin just kept sobbing on all fours, and worried, Justin knelt down to calm him down, "Pipkin, please don't cry, we have to find a way to get out of here!"
Pipkin wept, "I'm sorry, Justin, but I'm crying because we left all our friends behind! They're all hurt, and yet I couldn't help them!" The tears were now rivulets running down his fur. "I ran, I just ran, and I could have done something to help them, but all I could do was run away with you, like a helpless, scared buck! I could have stayed there with them, and instead, I just did nothing!"
"Pipkin, that isn't true! If we stayed, we would have been killed by Lord Brock a lot quicker! And...and yeah, I don't want to leave them either! That's why I didn't want to leave Bluebell when the Efrafans attacked, but you aren't a coward! It's not your fault, Pipkin! You did what Silver told you to do, and being faithful isn't cowardly!"
"Yes, it is! If I was better fighter, I would have been able to protect you!"
"Pipkin..." murmured Justin in sympathy and understanding, and in his love for his friend, he gently picked up the rabbit like a toddler, and stood up, cradling the anguished Pipkin against him. Well, if he was going to die, he might as well do it after showing Pipkin some care. Pipkin kept sobbing before his heart spilled his angst and grief, "If only I was more courageous like Bigwig or...or a good fighter like Campion and Buckthorn, I could protect you, like a real guardian angel, the type of guardian angel that you deserve! I...I just wish I wasn't so small and weak!"
"Ah, I see that little, pathetic, feeble annoyance has seen the obvious," Lord Brock commented despicably as he emerged from the undergrowth. Forcing himself to not grow weak with dread, Justin just slowly edged backwards away from the advancing badger, but still awkwardly looking behind to see that he was nearing closer and closer to the very edge of the cliff. A few more steps backwards and he would fall. Lord Brock just continued ruthlessly tormenting Pipkin as he menacingly advanced on them. "Hmph. So this is what it all comes down to for the protection and well being of the cross-bearer? One pathetically, small, tearful, oversensitive, weak runt? I can truthfully say by now, your cross will be mine, cross-bearer."
"Leave him alone, ya big bully!" snarled Justin, his eyes flashing at the sight of Lord Brock picking on Pipkin, just like how the high school kids picked on him back in his world.
"I will, when I have that cross! Give it to me!"
"Over my dead body!" yelled Justin, but then he blanched, realizing what he just said. Not exactly the best thing to tempt the eli with.
"Duly noted," snickered Lord Brock before his face grew cold and serious. "Now give me that cross!"
"NO!" Justin was adamant, remembering how his friends he had left behind fought with everything they had to protect him from danger. He wasn't going to give the cross up, and though the thought made him shiver, the only way Lord Brock would get the cross was if he had to pry it off his dead body. Lord Brock now had a murderous gleam in his eyes as he whispered ominously, "That wasn't a request, you little brat! Now, if you do not give me that cross, I will grab that rabbit from your hands and toss him off this mountain, and you'll have the perfect view of seeing him hurtle downwards into a very painful landing to the ground below right before I kill you regardless and take the cross myself! Being familiar with how much you treasure you precious rabbit friends, I know this is one of your weaknesses."
It was clear that Justin didn't have much of a choice, but Pipkin cried out sorrowfully to Justin, "Please Justin, don't do it! I don't care if I get hurt, but I don't want you to be alone with Lord Brock!"
"QUIET, YOU ANNOYING, LITTLE RUNT!" Lord Brock roared the command so loud, Justin nearly went deaf as the wind from the badger's hot breath caused him to stumble further back, nearer towards the cliff. Pipkin, at the harsh, vicious words, buried his face into Justin's shirt, sobbing with a mixture of fear and self-loathing.
"Leave him alone, you jerk! Pipkin didn't deserve that!" Pipkin felt Justin hold him even tighter.
"I've had enough: cross-bearer, you either hand me that cross immediately or I will personally take that sniveling, whiny buck from your hands and crush him with my paws before flinging him off this mountain! CHOOSE!" Justin, at a loss, slowly, to Pipkin's shock and horror, raised his right arm towards the clasp to the necklace at the back of his neck. Pipkin was crushed, and he shut his eyes, and before his human friend had a chance to touch the metal latch, Pipkin thought as his tears started to drop onto the orange crystal cross, NO! Please, this is all my fault! If only Hazel-rah and all my friends were here, we could stop him from giving Lord Brock the only thing that can save the land beyond life and El-ahrairah! Please, Frith, I don't care what happens to me, but Justin is going to hand the lendri the cross to save me, and I want to help, but I can't! Please Frith! I don't care what happens to me, but...but I don't want Justin to die! I want to protect him with all my heart, like a real guardian angel!
As Pipkin shed tears, his tears of love, of devotion, of trust, caused the cross to react violently, and to the shock of all three of them, the cross radiated golden light so brightly, all of them had to squint and shield their eyes as the powers engulfed the entire mountain.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE DARK BEAST!" Lord Brock howled in rage as he stepped back reluctantly, but painfully from the bright light, his paws vainly trying to shield his pupils from being blinded by the bright intensity.
"Pipkin, what's going on? What did you do?" asked a bewildered Justin.
"I...don't know!" Pipkin gasped weakly as the cross continued to glow strongly.
000-
"Bigwig, please don't strain yourself!" Hazel begged him as he, Hawkbit, Campion, and Holly hung tenaciously on to his back. Bigwig was still in his dog form, and despite his uncoordinated position on the ledge, he was doing his best to keep the rabbits on his back and hold Fiver with his teeth. If he kept this up any longer, he would tire out and collapse from exhaustion, but none of the rabbits didn't want to even think what would happen if that occurred. Buckthorn then gasped as he saw they were suddenly engulfed with a golden light. Hazel and the others also noticed the paranormal scene.
"What in the name of Frith and In-?" blurted out Holly before Bigwig, Fiver, Bluebell, Buckthorn, Dandelion, Holly, Hazel, Hawkbit, and Campion disappeared off the small ledge in a blink of an eye. Only to find themselves back on solid ground, away from the recently collapsed rocky path that Lord Brock had destroyed, and now, they were magically teleported where the rest of the rabbits were weakly lying on the ground of the clearing, heavily injured and barely moving. Holly cursed under his breath at the sight of his companions and friends injured to the badger's ruthlessness and he and Hazel were about to rush towards their fallen comrades, but Campion stopped the both of them.
"Look!" he exclaimed, indicating the sky with a simple nod of his head. There, in the sky, rays of golden sunlight were illuminating the entire mountain that the rabbits of Watership Down were standing on. Bigwig looked on bewildered as a ray of sunlight surrounded him, and instantaneously, he was reverted back into his original rabbit form. Silver, Acorn, Blackberry, Strawberry, and Speedwell were also bathed with healing, warm, comforting streams of gold and orange, and with a final flash, their wounds were gone, erased, and all five of them, despite the horrific injuries Lord Brock dealt with them, they were all now fully recovered and they shakily got up from the ground.
"Wha...What in the name of El-ahrairah had just happened?" Strawberry queried incredulously.
"I think Justin had a hand in all of this," smiled Blackberry with relief as he helped Acorn rise from his sprawled position on the ground. But then a roar of rage from Lord Brock had echoed clearly throughout the mountain.
"That's Lord Brock!" gasped Dandelion in realization. Silver then realized something.
"Hazel-rah! We have to get over to where Lord Brock is and help Justin! Pipkin went with him, but he's the only rabbit protecting the cross-bearer! Lord Brock went into the forest to track and hunt down the both of them after he fought against us!"
Hazel declared loudly, "Then we best be moving! Follow Lord Brock's scent in the forest and start running!"
000-
As the light subsided, to Lord Brock's horror and to Justin and Pipkin's surprised joy, the light from Justin's cross had completely disintegrated Lord Brock's cloak of resistance. Now he was completely vulnerable to Justin's powers. Justin could scarcely believe his luck, but Pipkin snapped him out of his dazed condition. "Hurry, Justin, freeze Lord Brock! Hurry!"
Lord Brock then snapped to attention, and with a maddening, livid roar, he foolishly lunged at Justin and Pipkin, snarling, "Oh, no you won't! I'll rip you both to shreds before that will happen! I'll kill you myself cross-bearer!"
It's often said that foresight is 0/20 while hindsight would be 20/20. Unfortunately, that was the case for the three of them. Lord Brock, in his insane rage, didn't anticipate himself tackling Pipkin, Justin, and himself off the cliff, and as Hazel and the other rabbits emerged from the forest and into the clearing, they saw the terrifying scene of Lord Brock, vainly trying to claw at Justin holding Pipkin in his arms, stumbling off the precipice and into the empty air.
"JUSTIN! PIPKIN!" all the rabbits screamed as they raced to the edge to see the sight of the three plummeting to a very deep fall. Justin swore he felt his heart jump up from his chest and to his throat for he was too much in shock and dread at the sight of falling at such an incredible velocity to even scream. The fear, the dread, the phobia, was now multiplied many times over, and took a complete, paralyzing hold over his brain and body, and despite trying desperately to think of a solution he could think of to get out of this situation, all he could think was, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die. It would probably be several minutes before their bodies would hit the ground, and he remembered reading that when falling from an extremely, high altitude, a human will black out before hitting the ground. He hoped that would be the preferred alternative. Lord Brock was roaring and howling in a combination of terror, fright, and anger, and in his wrathful outrage, he focused the blame for his undoing on the being closest to him, which unluckily, happened to be Pipkin. Pipkin blanched as he saw Lord Brock reach out to claw at his body despite plunging rapidly.
"YOU!" he snarled, his teal eyes burning with animosity and insanity as his words raised overwhelming enmity mixed with his bile burning at the back of this throat. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! IF WE ARE TO FALL, I'LL TEAR YOU TO PIECES BEFORE WE EVEN REACH THE GROUND, YOU STUPID, TROUBLEMAKING WRETCH!" With a hostile lunge, he succeeded in grabbing the terrified buck with his paws, and now, Pipkin was writhing at Lord Brock's mercy as he saw the disturbed, fanatical look of the badger's face as he gave a sickening smile of delight and anticipation, his claws itching to rend the rabbit into bits.
"JUSTTIIIIINNNNNN!" shrieked Pipkin, and the cry of pain, of torment, of innocence, snapped Justin to attention as he saw Pipkin being cruelly grasped in Lord Brock's awkwardly large paws, like how a cat handles a mouse right before it kills it. For though he had no idea why or how, Justin then remembered Pipkin crying as he recalled Pipkin's words earlier, his safe, gentle voice echoing into his head: Well, you'll think it's silly like Bluebell or Hawkbit, but...but I just thought that if I had wings and could fly, then I could be a real guardian angel, just like you've always wanted. If I had wings, I could finally be more useful, do a better job of defending you, and finally have my dreams come true and getting the chance to fly, just like Kehaar... Please Justin, don't do it! I don't care if I get hurt, but I don't want you to be alone with Lord Brock! If you ever died, I'd be so sad. You're the only human friend we've ever made, but you're nicer than a lot of animals here, and I'm glad that you came. I wouldn't want anyone else to be the cross-bearer but you... If only I was more courageous like Bigwig or...or a good fighter like Campion and Buckthorn, I could protect you, like a real guardian angel, the type of guardian angel that you deserve! I...I just wish I wasn't so small and weak! Grabbing his cross, Justin whispered pleadingly, affectionately, "Please, I wish...that just this once, you grant Pipkin's wish! I wish he had wings so that he can save himself from Lord Brock! Please, just once, grant Pipkin's wish in his heart!"
Above them, back on the clearing at the edge of the precipice, Hazel and the other rabbits were tearfully and helplessly looking at the scene below with dread and trepidation.
"Oh no, the lendri's got Pipkin! He's going to hurt him!"
"Please, not Pipkin! Please, Frith, for our friend, save him!"
"Justin, please, come through!"
Silver then saw a miracle happening to Pipkin. He squealed, "LOOK!"
Everyone glanced down and gasped, staring at the wonderful sight with mouths agape. Lord Brock was about to break Pipkin's body into two, but then to his surprise, the little buck's body was illuminated with golden light, sparkling and pure like the sun. Unable to continue watching the sight, Lord Brock yelled in pain as the light seared into his eyes and brain excruciatingly, causing him to let go. Alone and unhindered, Pipkin closed his eyes, feeling the most soothing, calming feeling washing over his body, and with a bright flash of light, the Watership Owsla witnessed Pipkin now no longer falling and floating softly, serenely in the air. And on his back, were enormous, beautiful and delicate feathered wings, so intense no one could distinguish if they were the color of gold or white. The wings were narrow, but intricately designed with beautiful patterns of large and small feathers for powerful, maximal control of the air for flight and power. Pipkin slowly opened his glazed pupils, letting his wings stretch back from his relaxed body, their wingspan as long as the size of Lord Brock himself. With the halos of light shimmering across his light brown fur and the serene, calm complexion in his eyes and face, Justin could have happily sworn that Pipkin looked like the perfect description of an angel. But then he realized that he was still falling along with the terrified Lord Brock.
"PIIPPKKIIIINNNNNNN!" Justin hollered, the blood rushing to his head and heart, threatening to make Justin pass out. Pipkin came out of his trance and glanced down to see Justin plummeting to his death. With a powerful flap, the rabbit instinctively folded his wings and dropped like a stone. As the rest of the Owsla from El-ahrairah watched breathlessly, in a swift curve, Pipkin flew up to Justin, and frantically, Justin grabbed Pipkin, wrapping his arms firmly around the buck's waist while positioning himself securely on the rabbits back in between the two outsized bird wings. Lord Brock howled in fury.
"No!" he screamed, reaching out for the two, but faster than his eye could blink, Pipkin joyfully ascended and flew upwards to the heavens above, leaving Lord Brock alone in his descent, as the courageous rabbit carried the teenager to safety. Justin, now out of danger, could scarcely believe what he was seeing. He and Pipkin were now soaring into the clouds, above the cliffs and mountains, and compared to the view he saw while climbing the summits with the rabbits, Pipkin was right. The scene of the land beyond life in the bird's eye view was utterly, completely, absolutely breathtaking. Down below, the rabbits continued watching the scene of Pipkin flying with his newfound wings, elated and bursting with happiness with relieved astonishment.
"Well, what do you know! The young chap finally did it! He did it!" cheered Bluebell happily.
"You know, watching Pipkin having the time of his life up there make me a little envious!" Buckthorn watched in eye-boggling amazement.
"By the miracles of Frith, this is certainly a new one!" commented Dandelion with shining eyes, "Our children's children will hear a good story!"
"I guess Pipkin finally got his dreams achieved, eh Hazel-rah?" Campion smiled warmly.
"Should be get them down?" Bigwig asked worriedly, but Hazel shook his head as he was enjoying the sight.
"No...I think Pipkin deserves to enjoy this moment as long as he wants. It's not every day a rabbit is lucky enough to have something like this happen to him." All the rabbits merrily contented themselves to watch the sight of Pipkin gliding gracefully across the blue shy and white clouds. Meanwhile, up in the air, Pipkin was excitedly talking with Justin.
"See, Justin! This is absolutely wonderful! There's nothing like this in the world like flying!"
"I guess you're right, ol' buddy," admitted Justin sheepishly as his fears of heights were conquered by the tranquil and stunning views of the green and golden lands and forests of the heavenly paradise of the land beyond life. He turned to the small buck and cheerfully laughed, "Looks like you finally got your wings, Pipkin! You're now a qualified guardian angel!"
"Frith-rah!" cheered Pipkin ecstatically, but then Justin added compassionately, "But, with or without wings, you'll always be my friend...and my guardian angel." Pipkin smiled, his eyes twinkling with tears of joy and love, and said, "And you'll always be my friend...and the cross-bearer who I'll always protect and always be by his side with all my mind and heart."
000-
Meanwhile, Lord Brock, before he hit the ground, was surprised to find himself engulfed with black, choking smoke, and before he knew it, he found himself facing the red, damning eyes of Elil-rah, staring at him knowingly and accusingly.
"My...my Lord," Lord Brock whispered meekly as he bowed, but Elil-rah's voice boomed with animosity and disappointment as he yelled at the badger.
"YOU FAILED IN OBTAINING THE CROSS-BEARER, LORD BROCK, AND TO ADD THE INSULT TO YOUR INJURIES, YOU ACTUALLY DARED TO DEFY ME! OH, BELIEVE ME, I AM OMNIPOTENT, AND I CAN SENSE IN YOUR TRATORIOUS, WRETCHED MIND ON HOW YOU PLANNED TO DECEIVE AND OVERTHROW MY ATTEMPTS TO RULE IN THE LAND BEYOND LIFE WITH YOUR SELFISH, POWER-HUNGRY AMBITIONS! YOU DARE TRY TO STEAL THE CROSS OF ETERNAL LIGHT AND HARNESS IT AGAINST ME AND MY POWERS! YOU WILL BE PUNISHED!"
"My lord, please, have mercy!" pleaded the badger pathetically, but he disappeared in a puff of black smoke, only to awaken and find himself embedded into the ground, painfully entwined and trapped underneath the roots of a gnarled, large oak tree. Only his head and two front paws were above the surface of the grass and dirt, and the wretched badger could hear the deep, booming voice of Elil-rah all around him.
"NOW, YOU CURSED LENDRI, HERE IS WHERE YOU SHALL REMAIN FOREVER MORE! THIS TREE SHALL IMPRISON YOU INTO THE EARTH FOR THE REST OF YOU MISERABLE, INSOLENT EXISTENCE, AND NO AMOUNT OF STRENGTH ON YOUR PART WILL EVER FREE YOU! IN FACT, THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN FREE YOU IS THE HUMAN CROSS-BEARER HIMSELF, SO HERE, YOU SHALL ROT LIKE THE LYING, DESPICABLE HRAKA YOU ALWAYS WERE! NOW YOU WILL STAY, FOR ALL ETERNITY!"
"NOOOOOOO! Please, don't leave me!" screamed the badger lord, crying pitifully, but no one was there to hear his cries of the punished and of the damned.
NEXT: Blackberry in "Blackberry's Beautiful Mind"
BTW, like what you read! REVIEW! Constructive criticisms are welcome! Suggestions for improvement are welcome! Elil and any person flaming the Watership rabbits will be dragged out into the open and cuffed personally by Bigwig, Silver, and Holly, right guys! (all three growl in agreement) Next chapter coming in one or two weeks!