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Author's note: Hey, wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter, and since it's a day where the Easter bunny comes out (yes, I know that's sacrilegious, but this is NOT a Bible story so it doesn't count! I have more respect for the Big Guy than that! =) ), I decided to update this story on the day that honors the ever so famous rabbit (hee hee, it would be funny if it was supposed to be El-ahrairah bringing candies for all the little kids!). so, enjoy the chapter of our poet, Dandelion, Watership Down's greatest storyteller!
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CHAPTER 20"And every evening, when Frith has done his day's work, and lies calm and easy in the red sky, El-ahrairah and his children and his children's children come out of their holes and feed and play in his sight, for they are his friends and he has promised them that they can never be destroyed." Dandelion took in a deep breath, sighing contently at another story well told to his fellow comrades and to Justin. They were all sitting amongst the grass and green, moss-covered boulders underneath the cool night sky alongside a collection of small, grassy hills infested with dark, granite rocks. It had been four days after the events of the trial in the Land of Yesterday and Tomorrow, but Hazel, Holly, and Bigwig felt that the animals from those kingdoms wouldn't travel this far to chase them down. After days of travel, Dandelion and Bluebell had been helping out with the morale of the group by telling some stories each night before they rest and recuperate. So far, they were doing a marvelous job: to Justin's delight, he heard Dandelion and Bluebell tell so far "The Story of the Three Cows", "The Story of the Comical Field", "The Story of the King's Lettuce", "The Story of Rowsby Woof and the Fairy Wogdog", and just now, of course, "The Story of the Blessing of El-ahrairah". Justin had to admit, if any human listened to a rabbit tell a story, they would find it a lot more entertaining that watching TV, especially with Dandelion's extremely skillful narration and details and Bluebell's quirky voice and a use of a wide range of voices used to personify certain characters. He could spend all his life listening to Dandelion and Bluebell as could the rest of the rabbits.
"Well done, chap!" praised Strawberry, "You've really quite hit it upon the mark, bucko!"
"Yeah, that was excellent! Pretty cool, too!" gushed Justin.
Dandelion blushed in simply humility, but Bluebell, humorously, tried milking it for all it was worth as he laughed and pranced around like a comical, strutting comedian.
"Thank you, thank you, fellow admirers! Oh come now, keep the praises and compliments coming! Ah, what a wonderful night! Nothing but stories, chewing on pellets, and of course, jolly good entertainment from the wonderful jester, the King of all humor and jokes, the ever so brilliant genius of poetry...me!! C'mon, let's keep up with the good fun with several more stories and whatnot, shall we??"
"Some rabbit around here needs to deflate his ego," commented Campion aloud with a teasing, snide tone as he chewed contently on several pellets.
"Let him have the moment, Campion," Speedwell said in support as he rested his head on his front paws, exhausted.
Justin chatted with Dandelion as Buckthorn and Hawkbit playfully wrestled with Bluebell. "I never knew how much you and the rest of the guys around here depend so much on stories. I mean, it's like...like I'm there, with you, actually witnessing what was going on, in the midst of the adventures and travels with El-ahrairah himself! Heck, no wonder you're always known as the best storyteller at Watership Down!"
Dandelion smiled at Justin's newfound eagerness as he scratched his ear with his hind leg, chuckling, "Well, any jolly good storyteller should be able to do that, I daresay! Yet, it isn't much, young Justin! We're just telling the adventures of seasons past of El-ahrairah, and as long as we remember and treasure these stories, we'll always remember our history, our legacy, our duties and gifts as jolly, good rabbits! It is not just for entertainment, but it is also for ourselves, our legacy, our future! It is teaches us about how to live by wits, by trickery, by cunning, it's for inspiration! After all, every story and legend has a bit of truth in it!"
"Every story?" Justin asked softly, forlornly, as his face fell. Dandelion realized this and cursed softly to himself. He had forgotten about the little excerpt the stag, the King of Tomorrow, had told him and Fiver during the trial, and though all of the Watership Owsla did make it out of the unsafe kingdoms without much injury, the event did wound Justin's faith and invoked reasons for doubt and lack of confidence. Though Hazel and the other rabbits tried to discourage Justin and Fiver once they heard it from them, they couldn't shake the feeling that the King of Tomorrow could be telling the truth.
Dandelion brought his nose over to Justin's, forcing the boy to look at the golden rabbit in the face as the Watership protector spoke softly, "Justin, I won't lie to you. None of us knows why El-ahrairah sent for you, and by the fur and paw of El-ahrairah, I myself do not know if the additional prophesy told by the King of Tomorrow is true or not, but I do know this: El-ahrairah sent for you to come protect this land and his children, El-ahrairah trusts your powers, and El-ahrairah trusted us, and only us, to protect you with the very best of our abilities. So, don't think the absolute worse about yourself, all right young one?"
Justin was still slightly depressed. "But, does it even bother you that the cross-bearer has to be a human, a creature who has waged a battle against all animals since time began? That the King of Yesterday and Tomorrow could be right when they said I was a menace to all creatures in the land beyond life?"
Dandelion, being the dedicated, truthful, yet sincere bard he always was, replied compassionately, "It did at first, but the more time we spent with you, all of us realized that you are not the enemy. I am honored that I have received a chance to protect and know you, just like how I've always been honored to be the chronicler of this journey, the raconteur to memorize and foretell all our travels and adventures into a story, so that this legend will never pass and will always be a part of Lapine history."
Justin just cast his eyes downward, and Dandelion gently placed a paw underneath Justin's chin and forced the teenager to look directly into his eyes again. "Justin, if nothing else, trust El-ahrairah and his judgment. You are not what you think you are: the cause of all trouble you bring into the land beyond life, someone who isn't strong and cowardly, someone who is destined fail. I don't see that in you, and neither do Hazel-rah and the others. In fact, the stories will say how no other rabbit will ever find any other creature so devoted, so gentle and full of kindness and mercy, than the teenage cross-bearer by the name of Justin within all of the land beyond life."
Justin gave Dandelion an amused, skeptical look. "Since when has there already been stories about our adventures?"
"I'm working on it as we go along, or, as you humans say, 'I'm winging it'?" Dandelion smirked at this comment.
"Are your stories ever true or just based on your own opinion?" Justin's mouth grew into a small beam.
"Is there a difference?" Dandelion chuckled, "Now, see! You're smiling! That's the old chap, now! Come now, no more sad faces, no more wallowing in self-pity, no more sadness, no more doubt, you hear me, young one?"
Justin gave a small laugh as he joked, "I swear, I don't know who's more overbearingly optimistic: you or Bluebell."
"That may be open to some debate, young cross-bearer. Now, if you asked who's more of a storyteller, well now, there's no contest there!"
"Glad to hear you admit defeat, Dandelion!" chortled Bluebell as he jumped next to Dandelion and Justin, starting right into their conversation, "I'm ever so glad to see you confess that no Watership rabbit can tell a story better than me! I'm so humbled by your humility and gracious consent!"
"Not likely, you scamp!" growled Dandelion playfully as he gave Bluebell a cuff on the head, "I'm the better storyteller!"
"No, I am!"
"Sorry chap, but the only thing you'd be better at than me is when which rabbit is the more annoying, Bluebell!" This, of course, led to a good-natured, yet dramatic tussle between Dandelion and Bluebell, trying to pin the other one down, as they rolled on the dirt and grass and insulted each other in good fun.
"Hazel-rah, they're at it again," Strawberry announced in a tired voice. The chief rabbit rolled his eyes but began to hop over with Holly and Blackberry to break up the fight.
"This happens often?" Justin asked Strawberry with raised eyebrows.
"You would be very surprised," sighed the fat, orange rabbit.
***
"Let's see...'pure, loving light'...no, that won't jolly work! Ah, perhaps...no, then again, maybe not. Hmmmm...by Frith, maybe 'let man, animal and creature unite'...yes, I daresay I've hit the mark on that one!" Dandelion muttered to himself as he flew across the fields of grass with Justin on his back, traveling with the other rabbits as they continued their journey towards the meadows of Fenlo. Bluebell heard Dandelion's intent, mumblings of concentration with his sharp ears.
"Frith above, Dandelion! What's with all the rumblings and ramblings?! Are you trying to run or jolly well whisper a story to the fleas in your fur?!" Bluebell joked. The other rabbits and Justin, upon hearing this, chuckled as Dandelion gave a mock frown, pouting.
"Well, if you and your prying nose must know, I'm trying to think up of a poem while we're traveling! It helps to pass the time and keeps my mind contemplating on ways to tell this entire journey as a story once this whole mess is done and over with."
"Funny how you're doing that instead of keeping your mind on protecting Justin," Bigwig glowered at Dandelion accusingly, but Hazel shushed him.
"Well, if this does become a story, Dandelion, then you'll be the chap to tell it! And I, for one, will be there to listen to you once we're all in the nice, warm Grand Hall!" Hazel praised, trying to pleasantly erase Bigwig's gruffness.
"Must you torture us with that image?!" whined Hawkbit, "I'm having a hard enough time remembering that we're all living dangerously from one moment to the next, being chased by embleer elil without you trying to recap to us what we're all missing out on back at El-ahrairah's warren! since we've started this journey!"
"You mean a nice, warm burrow, sheltered and heated with the affection of several does?" teased Silver with a gleam in his eye.
"Or all the adventures and fun of frolicking in the endless fields of sweet clover and soft grass?" carried on Buckthorn.
"Or the nice, peaceful life of having nothing to do except eat and play and sleep?" put in Speedwell. Hawkbit, seeing how they were commenting these purposely in order to further remind Hawkbit what luxuries he wasn't able to enjoy due to his mission, growled at them, "I loathe the lot of you so much."
"Then our work here is done," chimed in Speedwell, laughing. Hawkbit growled, muttering on how he'd like to wring the neck of a certain white jester when Holly, a bit tired of the bickering, interrupted graciously, "Well, Dandelion, what have you thought up of the poem so far? Let's hear it."
"Oh yes, please do!" Pipkin exclaimed eagerly, his eyes sparkling.
"Yeah, tell us Dandelion! If your poetry is as good as your story-telling, we're in for a real treat!" egged on Justin, and the rest of the rabbits, curiosity based, agreed somewhat wholeheartedly. Dandelion gave in as he recited what he came up with so far.
"Digger, Listener, and Runner!
Gifts of Rabbits, set us free!
Give us strength to fight our Enemy!
Let man and animal reunite,
Bind our hearts and souls alike,
And pray for the cross to shine its light!
Hope and Kindness, Cunning and Courage,
Friendship and Love, Mercy and Grace!
Frith and El-ahrairah,
Stand strong beside us..."
"Well?!" demanded Bigwig impatiently, and Dandelion shrugged awkwardly.
"That's as far as I could get, old chap." Amongst the groans around them, Justin carefully pondered silently this until a brainstorm hit him.
"Dandelion," he asked softly, "How about 'Banish this evil from time and space'? Think that'll work?" The golden rabbit's eyes widened in surprise, ran the verse several times in his poem to test it, before nodding with thankful admiration, signifying his approval. "I say, young Justin, you're more clever than you think!"
"Yes, and if you're not careful, we'll have him replace you as our greatest storyteller, Dandelion," teased Strawberry pleasantly and Dandelion shot back with a mischievous impression.
"You wish to see how well I can cuff you from this distance, you great, big dandy?"
"Hazel-rah!!" shrieked out Pipkin piercingly in the air, stunning everyone, and almost immediately, Bigwig and Holly hollered back a warning as they glanced up.
"Everyone, turn back! Go the other way! Get on with it, you blokes!! Turnabout and run the other way now!! Hurry!"
"Wha-?? What in the name of Frith??" Bluebell gasped out in weak puzzlement, but Justin and Dandelion stared up ahead among the lush, green dunes and saw what was the matter. All along the ridge of the grassy knolls was a thick, foreboding line of rabbits, but they were not Efrafans. Each rabbit had thick, messy shags of black fur, blacker than ebony, and even their chest fur and ears were oddly colored in tones of dark gray, contrasting against the wicked, evil glow of crimson in their eyes. Each rabbit wore simple garments of black, cotton vests with the indicative copper medallions of Elil-rah, and all of them, though roughly the same size as Hazel or any of the Watership rabbits, appeared to be vindictive, ruthless warriors, unafraid of what lay in store for them. It was so similar to the look of Veil Guplea, the king of all rats who attacked Campion and Justin earlier, but all of these rabbits were standing upright, saying nothing as their penetrating, harsh stares scowled menacingly at the group of Watership rabbits. With a quick estimate, Justin realized with a sinking heart that there were over a hundred, perhaps even a thousand rabbits forming an impassible barricade in front, and not even Acorn and his army of multiples could be enough to fight the entire ridge of Elil-rah minions.
"Dandelion, get moving, or so Frith help me, I'll bite you right now!!" snapped Bigwig as he gave a hard shove to the tharn Dandelion's rear with his head, trying to force the golden rabbit to move. As they all galloped back, retreating, Buckthorn demanded incredulously, "Why in the name of the Black Rabbit are we running?! We could have simply had Justin time-freeze them in an instant!!"
"NO, Buckthorn!" yelled Strawberry as he gave a worried glance over his shoulder, seeing how the rabbits were not even making an attempt to chase them down, "I think that is what they want!! They wouldn't appear like this, knowing how powerful the cross-bearer is, unless if they have anticipated Justin using his powers of light! I mean, look at them! They aren't even chasing us down!! Retreat would be safer!!"
"Wait, they're not coming after us?!!" gasped a horrified Hazel, too busy to run without giving so much as a look to the enemy behind them. He realized immediately what was going on.
"EVERYONE STOP!" he hollered, and though all the rabbits were not exactly willing to do so, they all obeyed their Chief rabbit, but with mad, impatient, confused looks on their visages.
"What, are you crazy?!" Hawkbit snapped, "Oh wait, my bloody mistake! I forgot who I was talking too!!"
"Hazel-rah??" wheezed Silver, but Hazel shook his head as he explained in a frantic rush, "Don't you see??! Those rabbits!! They're not chasing us, as if they are not concerned that we could escape!! As if they aren't worried they have lost the element of surprise to ambush us!! As if...!!"
"...as if they have us completely surrounded so that no matter where we run, we'll be cut off!!" Bigwig finished for him, his face darkening as he cursed himself for letting Justin and his friends into a clever trick.
"Embleer Frith, this is exactly like the Efrafans and the Ilips when they attacked!" groaned Acorn.
"Justin, try to time-freeze them!" Blackberry shouted, "Time-freeze the entire hills!! That way, it will stun any hidden surprises that those messengers of Elil-rah have planned for us!!"
"Whatever it is, you best be doing it now, young one!!" Campion urged as he pointed to the hills in front of them with a forepaw, "Hazel-rah was right!! There's another army of rabbits coming at us from behind!! We're surrounded!" Sure enough, another group was marching towards them from the direction they were retreating towards, only this time, this army not only consisted of rabbits, but stoats, weasels, and rats, all of them colored with eerie tones of gray and black with dark garments and red, glowing eyes. This was certainly unexpected.
"By Frith, every elil in the land beyond life must be trying to capture us!" exclaimed Speedwell as he stood upright nervously, "It's an embleer siege! Elil-rah must have reconvened the armies of Volgnamass and Veil Guplea from the past to try to overwhelm all of us again!"
"No, it isn't them! It's a completely different army! I'd recognize any of those weasels if they were here! This isn't from before! This is a whole new Owsla of Elil-rah!!" Acorn put in.
"Either way, it still means trouble for us! Justin!" Holly turned keenly, evocatively, to Justin, and the teenage boy lost no time in summoning his powers.
"Time, stop the entire land! Freeze all the armies!" Immediately, with a blaze of glorious gold and orange sunlight, all the rats, stoats, weasels, and rabbits could only growl in annoyance and provocation as the light encased all of their bodies, surrounding them in a gentle cover of sunlight, freezing the moment and leaving them as stiff, glowing statues. Fiver and Pipkin sighed as the air was silenced, quiet, safe.
"What a relief!" Bluebell laughed happily, "Now, those blimey duffers can't bother us! Still, quite a shame really! I would have preferred a chance to send these embleer elil running with a few cuffs here and there!" No sooner than he said that, with dawning revelation, the shimmering golden capsules around the minions of Elil-rah's army started dissolving, fading away, disappearing! Before their horrified eyes, the light completely vanished, and all the dark rats, stoats, weasels, and rabbits were free. Free to advance towards them even closer, making a tightly packed cluster of no escape. The time-freeze had worn off.
"Bluebell, you just had to say that, didn't you?!!" fumed Hawkbit as he gave the jester a reproachful grimace. Bluebell laughed weakly and sheepishly.
"The time-freeze wore off! It didn't work on these elil long enough!" gasped Speedwell.
"How...how is this even possible?!!" Pipkin cried as several stoats rasped at him, ready to sink their claws into flesh and draw blood, "Justin's powers only failed on ghosts and phantoms, not real animals like us!! O Frith and Inle, what do we do?! What do we do?!!"
"Justin, quick make an army!" Acorn hissed furiously at the teenager still worriedly watching the entire scene on Dandelion's back, "Use you power to burgeon myself into a group large enough to take all of these dark fools!! It will give us some time to escape!!"
"All right," Justin agreed, but before he could do anything, Campion saw a quick, dark figure suddenly appear out of nowhere, running with such amazing speed and agility, he could barely see the shape and form of the creature. Yet, to his horror, it was making its way towards Justin and Dandelion. Silver and Buckthorn saw this too.
Silver shouted, "Dandelion! Justin! Behind you!!"
Yet it was too late, and before Dandelion and Acorn could even move, Justin felt himself be lifted off Dandelion's back as the blur tackled him with controlled, yet supernatural strength and force. Acorn and Dandelion could only gasp in dread as the blur jumped a few yards away from them, holding Justin captive. The teenage cross-bearer tried to struggle until he heard a deep, husky voice snarl as claws placed themselves gingerly and dangerously underneath the soft tissue of his chin, "Move, and you will die, cross-bearer!"
"Let him go!" Strawberry cried as all the rabbits could now see their opponent clearly. It was an extremely large rabbit, almost similar in appearance to a hare and twice as large as Bigwig or Silver. His entire pelt was black and riddled with gray hairs and apparent scars, but lustrous and shiny. His eyes were not red, but a sickly, diseased yellow, and the rabbit's left ear had a large piece missing, as if something had taken a bite out of it. The rabbit was large, brawny, and his powerful muscles on his forepaws and legs were quivering and bulging with threatening anticipation. Though he was not dressed much differently from his fellow soldiers, with a simple black vest and copper medallion, he was wearing a copper helmet, similar to the design of helmets from the Roman soldiers. Now, the rabbit stood before them, holding Justin forcefully with one forepaw wrapped constrictively around his upper torso, and his other paw with his black claws flaunted plainly close to Justin's neck. One quick slash was all it would take. Silver, Bigwig, Campion, Hawkbit, and Holly were about to charge.
"Try anything foolish, and the young human dies!!" the rabbit growled in a commanding voice to Hazel and the rest of the Watership rabbits. Bigwig, Holly, Campion, Hawkbit, and Silver appeared unwilling to yield, but a wave of lost loomed over the rest of the group. Fiver, however, was shivering, with eyes tightly shut, and to the normal observer, it appeared that he was crying. Yet Dandelion, who was the closest to the seer, heard Fiver whisper enigmatically, "Every story of deception has a seed of truth...every story of deception has a seed of truth."
Dandelion looked at him strangely, but then the evil rabbit commanded to his horde of loyal soldiers, "TAKE THEM ALL PRISONER, QUICKLY!!"
With a roar, an eighth of the tremendous mass charged towards them. Unprepared for the quickness and effectiveness of the army, Hazel and the rabbits fought off the best they could as they cuffed, swatted, and kicked at any enemy from all direction. Though surprisingly, the Watership rabbits sent many of the soldiers flying and bleeding with scratches and abrasions, there were too many, and apparently, the mass of dark animals were extremely well-trained in close combat. Within minutes, all of them were beaten and pinned down, but that wasn't all. As soon as the fight was finished, Bigwig and Holly noticed with amazement that the bleeding wounds and cuts on the weasels, stoats, and rabbits were fading away, healing themselves. In seconds, there were no traces that they were even in a bloody brawl to begin with. Hazel and Dandelion were struggling against several rabbits who were restraining them tightly with their paws behind their backs as the leader rabbit smiled sadistically, marching up to them while still holding Justin hostage.
"What do you want?" muttered Hazel, fuming, as he looked the large rabbit squarely in the eye. The rabbit chuckled as he explained, "If you are wondering whether or not I will kill Justin, you have no need to be concerned yet. If I wanted the boy dead, he would be, but that does not mean that I wouldn't keep that possibility in mind if he does not do what I want him too."
"Let me guess, you want him for his cross so that you could learn to harness the powers of the cross-bearer, therefore making yourself into a powerful ruler in the land beyond life?!" spat out Dandelion with a glare.
"Somewhat," the leader admitted with a knowing smirk, "but unlike Lord Brock, I am no fool. I know that Justin's powers originate from his cross of purity and light, but rather than risk having the boy use his powers on me, I'll just simply have him do my bidding! If he chooses to, he will be safe, but if he refuses, not only will I kill him, but I'll see to it that Elil-rah imagines the worst possible torture of the rabbits of Watership Down!"
"Justin, don't listen to him!" hollered Silver as several rats and two stoats restrained him painfully.
The rabbit brought the boy closer to his face, his paws tightening in a choking grip on Justin's neck. "Now, now, young Justin, if you want to make this harder, all I have to do is give a command, and you shall have the perfect view of my Rabid Rats, Savage Stoats, Wildcat Weasels, and loyal rabbit minions to tear all of the Watership Owsla into pieces! If you wish to spare them, all you must do is wish with your cross to grant me power to be the true Prince of all Rabbits, the new Prince of a Thousand, a rabbit far superior than El-ahrairah! Your cross is capable of doing such a feat for me, and if you do, as the new ruler and sovereign of all rabbits near and far, I shall spare your friends!"
"You monster!" snarled Hazel, "Don't you remember the legends of past forgotten?! If Justin does wish for such an act, it would be deemed as selfish and cruel, an act that will immediately forsake him of his powers as the cross-bearer! He cannot harm a living thing here unless if it was for defense and to battle evil, not as a way for you to gain power and status, you wretch! Once he loses his powers, he won't be of any use to you!"
"I know," sneered the rabbit, "all the more reason why Elil-rah would wish for this. With Justin powerless after he grant my wish, nothing can stop our dark Lord from taking over this world, and once the deed is done, you, Justin will die by my hands, the victorious King Fur-Rocious!!"
"King Fur-Rocious?!!" Bluebell gasped, realizing he was the infamous, cruel rabbit lord who had waged war on the warren of El-ahrairah in 'The Story of King Fur-Rocious', the one and only time El-ahrairah went to do battle. In "Tales from Watership Down", King Fur-Rocious commanded legions of not only rabbits, but stoats, weasels, and rats as well, making his army much, much larger than El-ahrairah's, making it easy for the warlord to kick out the Prince of a Thousand and steal his doe. Yet, El-ahrairah, by uniting himself with allies of a cat, ants, crows, and a stream, managed to defeat King Fur-Rocious and banish him far away from his home. Now, King Fur-Rocious was back to seek revenge on El-ahrairah and reclaim his attempt to be the new Lord and Prince of all Rabbits. King Fur-Rocious continued.
"Justin, do as I say! Make me the new ruler of all rabbits! Make me the new El-ahrairah, the one who shall be Lord Frith's most treasured servant and trickster! I, King Fur-Rocious, command you to make it so!!" Justin swore he could have heard the King of Tomorrow's voice echo in his mind, back at that fateful day he and Fiver were being tried by the kingdoms of Yesterday and Tomorrow: "Though meant for good, there are two sides of the one who bears the cross, just like night and day, air and land, spring and winter, and thus, peace and chaos. At the time of revelation, the one who was to heal shall also be the one to die, where there is life, there will be death, for the cross brings grave danger of unspeakable horrors to the Prince of a Thousand Enemies... Don't you see, young Justin? You may think you will be helping El-ahrairah once you reach his warren, but in reality, you will only be making things worse for him. If the prophecy is true, then you are destined to cause the death of El-ahrairah, whom I believe is also named the 'Prince of a Thousand', is he not?" Justin, though his vision was being blurred from the lack of air, managed to gasp out weakly, "No...no, I won't! I won't!"
King Fur-Rocious' eyes narrowed as his claws sunk into Justin's neck and he growled lividly, "I am warning you, Justin, do not defy me! I order you to wish me to be the new Prince of all Rabbits! Do it!!"
Justin now had tears of pain leak out of his eyes as he felt the blood run down his neck and his mind burn with the lack of oxygen. In his panicked mind, he prayed silently to himself, "Please, please, God, Jesus, help me! I can't use my powers on them! I can't do anything! Let my cross perform a miracle...please!"
King Fur-Rocious however, noting Justin's closed, wincing eyes, guessed the truth immediately; Justin was trying to use his powers on him and his army again with a silent prayer. He immediately became enraged with ruthless bloodlust.
"You treacherous scum!" he roared, giving Justin a cuff across the face that sent the teenager reeling to the ground, and immediately, King Fur-Rocious was upon him, his teeth reaching for Justin's windpipe.
"JUSTIN!!!" screamed all the rabbits of Watership Down, and though he had no idea why or how, Dandelion gritted his teeth, knelt down, and placed a sharp kick to the rabbit on his right. The soldier of Elil-rah released Dandelion's forearm immediately, and that allowed the rabbit to aim a sharp cuff on the face of the other rabbit that was detaining him, his claws gouging his left eye and part of his muzzle with bloody, diagonal slashes. Now free, Dandelion blindly ran with all the speed he could muster and jumped on King Fur-Rocious' back, trying to pull him off Justin.
"Let go of him!!" yelled Dandelion, his teeth ripping into the leader's broad back. Yet King Fur-Rocious was not to be deterred by a rabbit he outweighed by more than twice as he reached closer and closer to Justin's neck.
"Justin, prepare to die!" roared King Fur-Rocious.
"NO!!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" pleaded Justin, and inexplicably, miraculously, Justin's cross began to glow brighter, enveloping both the bodes of Justin and Dandelion with brilliant, beautiful, golden sparkles on light, illuminating them with colors of gold and orange completely.
"NO!" shouted King Fur-Rocious, but before he could even kill Justin, the physical presences of Dandelion and Justin disappeared and disintegrated into glittering dust, vanishing in thin air, leaving King Fur-Rocious to only take a bite out of the grass and soil underneath his paws. He looked wildly around, but his heart plummeted with vile irritation. The cross-bearer and the lone rabbit had escaped to Frith knew where.
"Scouts!! Find them at once!! Search the perimeter!!" Immediately, several rats, rabbits, stoats, and weasels streaked across the grassy hills, hoping to catch a glimpse of the human boy and the Watership rabbit. After fifteen tense minutes, one of the rats came back and reported in a monotone voice, "Sire, we cannot find them! They are nowhere near our vicinity! Your orders, my King?"
"Looks like the blighter is in a bit of trouble," spat Speedwell scathingly, being restrained by two weasels and a stoat.
"Silence, you impudent animal! I won't lose yet!! The cross-bearer will be mine once again, and in order to do that, you rabbits will be of some use to me! Take them to my warren!!" Hazel and the others, with some struggling, were escorted with King Fur-Rocious, but regardless of being held prisoner, Hazel hoped that Dandelion and Justin were all right and could remain undiscovered from King Fur-Rocious' steady scouts and troops.
***
"No!! Stop!!! Leave him...alone??!" Dandelion finished weakly, his voice filled with extreme mystification and uncertainty as he realized he was on top of Justin, alone, without King Fur-Rocious and without the armies of rats, rabbits, stoats, and weasels. Yet unfortunately, they were without Hazel and the others of the Owsla of El-ahrairah. Justin and Dandelion helped each other up as they stared around their surroundings. There was no question about it; they were past the peaceful green, grassy hills where the armies had ambushed them, being little more than a faint green blur in the horizon behind them. In front of them was the path that would eventually lead them into the meadows of Fenlo. Dandelion just quizzically looked at Justin with wide eyes, sweat from his fur starting to make his blue and silver tunic damp.
"How...how did we get here?? Justin, what in the name of El-ahrairah did you do??"
"I...I don't know!" Justin shook his head, stunned and at a loss, "I just wanted to get away from King Fur-Rocious, he was going to kill me, and when you jumped in to attack...! I don't know what I did!"
"Well, by the fur and paw, whatever you did, I am certainly glad you did it! Frith in a hole! We've certainly traveled quite a distance, young bucko! To get here alone by running would take us until at least ni-Frith if we started in the morning!"
"I think...we must have teleported!" Justin realized, "My cross must have teleported us here when it sensed that I was in real danger! Like how it gave Speedwell the ability to come into my dreams and astral project when he touched me! My cross...wow, it's starting to act like it has a mind of its own!! This is getting really strange and freaky!"
"And being in the land beyond the living, talking with animals isn't queer enough for you, young one??" Dandelion quipped, "So we 'teleported' over here, but the question is: why did your cross take me and not the others?! They're still back there with King Fur-Rocious and his army of creatures under his command!"
"I don't know, but I'm not going to leave them behind!" Justin nearly felt worry and grief clutch his stomach, but he forced the shaking in his body to cease temporarily, "And no, I don't care what you say, I'm not leaving them behind!"
"Justin -" began Dandelion.
"No, forget it! I don't care if I'll be endangering myself, or if I'm being stupid, or if I'm going to walk into a trap! I don't care about any of that!!"
"Justin..."
"Hazel and Bigwig and the others are going to get hurt if we leave them behind! And even if we did leave them behind, we'll still be in danger because it's just you and me!! And just the two of us can't fight any other remaining traps and surprises that Elil-rah put in our path to try to kill me!!"
"Justin..." Dandelion was starting to get a bit miffed, but Justin was so fervent in his argument, he wasn't paying attention.
"I know you don't like this, and hell, I don't either! You think I really want to go and get killed?! I don't, but I'm not gonna abandon my friends either, and we're not going unprepared! As long as we have my cross, we might still have a chance to beat King Fur-Rocious!! I'm sorry if I'm acting like a jerk and a spoiled brat, but I'm not going anywhere except back to where King Fur-Rocious is, and that's final!!"
There was a pause as Dandelion gave the teenager a strange look, standing upright, his arms crossed in front of his chest, tapping one foot impatiently.
"Can I talk now??" he asked flatly.
"What??" Justin asked impatiently, but then Dandelion broke into a small grin.
"If you took yourself off your high tail for just a moment, you would have heard me say that I agree with you completely. I want to go back and help Hazel-rah too!" Justin was floored, and then he blushed as he stared at his feet mulishly.
"Sorry, I got kinda carried away," he mumbled apologetically. Dandelion's grin grew even wider as he placed a paw on Justin's head and ruffled his hair affectionately.
"Apology accepted, you young duffer, you! Now, let us go back and give King Fur-Rocious and his army a beating it won't soon forget! So, any ideas, young one?"
Justin nodded. "If I can pray for my cross to teleport all the other away from King Fur-Rocious and bring them here, then they won't be prisoners anymore and we can escape and get going before they have a chance to chase down after us! It worked for us, so it'll probably work for them!"
"Sounds jolly good! Then do it!" Justin gently covered the cross hanging around his neck with one hand and prayed silently to himself, wishing with all of his heart that the familiar faces of Hazel, Bigwig, Campion, and all of his other friends would appear with them, reuniting them together again. Unfortunately, to Dandelion and Justin dismayed shock and disillusionment, the cross, through continuing to glow in a soft tone, did not invoke any magic and miraculous divinity to bring the Owsla of Watership Down back to them Nothing happened; the cross wasn't working!
"I don't understand!!" cried Justin, getting more frustrated and distraught by the second, "My cross won't bring them over here! We're still here by ourselves, without them! The cross won't teleport them!"
Dandelion, though he wished he wouldn't have to, said sorrowfully and with hesitation, his courage threatening to dissolve away by the thought of King Fur-Rocious' immense army, "Then we best fall on an alternate plan, young cross-bearer."
"Let me guess: do things the hard way, march over to where King Fur-Rocious is keeping Hazel and the others prisoner, and then fight our way inside to set them free??" Dandelion nodded with a grim face. Clearly, there was no other choice. Within a minute, Justin boarded on Dandelion's back, and the two, though extremely frightened of what might lay ahead, boldly dashed back towards the grassy hills, hoping and praying for little hope in a bleak and dreary situation.
***
"I certainly hope you are all comfortable," mocked King Fur-Rocious that night as he sneered at the sight of the fourteen Watership rabbits, the soldiers of El-ahrairah and praised as one of the most resourceful and cunning rabbits of all Lapine history, wearing iron collars and chained to his sleeping quarters like dogs or lowly servants, his massive den where the ceiling and walls were strongly networked with roots. Fiver and Pipkin, being the weaker two of the group, simply had their collars connected to the packed wall with a simple chain. Hazel, Bigwig, Speedwell, Holly, Strawberry, Buckthorn, Silver, Campion, Hawkbit, Acorn, Blackberry, and Bluebell were less fortunate; they actually had sets of chains pin their paws behind their backs before looping towards another set of steel rings embedded on the wall. Earlier, Bigwig, Buckthorn, Strawberry, and Holly have been giving some of the guard trouble, even if they were being tightly restrained by several guards. After several painful bruises on Bigwig and Speedwell and Bluebell's pats, King Fur-Rocious ordered the rest of them to be tightly restrained with additional chains. He strutted up to Hazel and knelt down to the silent, yet irate, Chief rabbit.
"Nothing to say, have you? Well, then, you can all just simply just sit back and watch me kill the cross-bearer once he and the foolish rabbit guardian of his, Dandelion I believe his name is, arrive here at the warren to try and rescue the lot of you."
"Not likely, you disgraceful wretch!" snarled Strawberry.
Bluebell also chimed in with eyes blazing, "They're not as stupid and delusional as you are, you sniveling ruin of a grimy King!! Dandelion and Justin are too smart to even consider coming...What am I saying?! He's right!! They would try to come back and rescue us!!" Bluebell groaned.
"Wonderful," griped Hawkbit, "Out of all the humans who could have been our all-powerful cross-bearer, we had to get one who acts like an idiot and has a bleeding heart!! And of course, with a useless duffer as Dandelion along with him, this is certainly going to lead into disaster!!"
"Hawkbit, if my paws weren't tied behind my back, I'd wrap one of these chains around your throat and strangle you with it!" threatened Bigwig.
Hawkbit huffed, "Don't blame me for this! You're the one who had to lead us here with your sense of direction! Which, I might add, is quite lousy and defective in itself along with your Owsla training!"
"WILL YOU TWO PLEASE QUIT QUARRELLING?!! YOU'RE BOTH GETTING ON MY TEMPER!!" roared King Fur-Rocious, immediately forgetting his serious discussion with Hazel.
"Good!" snapped back Hawkbit and Bigwig at the same time. Already irritated, King Fur-Rocious just scoffed at the stubbornly quiet Hazel.
"Anyway, the teenager cross-bearer and the lone Watership warrior will find out that all my loyal warriors will be guarding the entire paths towards this run of my warren. For them to come and rescue you is quite noble; I grant that and admit that to have such loyalty is quite desirable. Unfortunately, for Justin and Dandelion, it will be quite a gauntlet to even make it through unscathed."
"Then you do not know anything about Justin's powers! He'll take care of all those armies before you can even stomp out a warning on the ground! And when he does get here, he and Dandelion will come to face you, and then you'll be in more trouble than ever before, you coward!" growled Buckthorn.
At this, King Fur-Rocious' smile grew even more sadistic and sickening. "My dear Buckthorn, whoever said I did not want to confront them? In fact...I am counting them showing up to challenge me."
***
"Which way, Justin??" Dandelion gasped breathlessly as he scanned the landscape with a scrutinizing eye. Though the entire field was littered with the still-warm scents of his teammates, they were completely engulfed by the other overbearing scents of the thousands of soldiers all throughout the lands and hills. It would take a while before Dandelion could even discover which path all the soldiers went, especially since the soil was dry, there was no dew on the grass, and all the tracks were scattered and pointed in different directions. Justin was just as lost as Dandelion, maybe even more so.
"I don't know! Oh man, I wish we knew which way King Fur-Rocious took them!" Almost immediately, Justin heard a strange high-pitched noise, almost like a whistle, and to his amazement, the cross was now glowing slightly brighter as its compass-like abilities levitated the trinket and pointed itself to Dandelion and Justin's right, towards the northwest direction.
Justin glared at the levitating jewel. He grumbled sarcastically, "Oh great, now it decides to work."
"Well, no time to argue and debate about it now, young one! Let us go!" With that, Dandelion tore across the hills, the dusk air now swishing by freely among the bodies of the two companions as they traveled across the hills. Within minutes, Dandelion stopped before a large, grassy prominence, furiously sniffing the air.
"Dandelion, what -?" Justin began, but Dandelion shushed him quickly.
"Quiet, for Frith's sake!" he whispered urgently, "I can smell the members of King Fur-Rocious' army! They're here, just right past this hill!" Justin, his face turning white, nodded understandingly as he jumped down from the rabbit's back, and together, slowly and methodically, they crept up towards the summit of the hill and peeked over. Dandelion was right. Before them lay a barren area, devoid of any grass or bushes except for a huge, dead tree which was miraculously standing upright over a jumble of fern-encrusted granite boulders. There was a large, cavern-like mouth within the cluster of the boulders, and Dandelion assumed that it was the opening that led into the runs of King Fur-Rocious' warren. However, it was not going to be easy, especially since Justin and Dandelion could see that hundreds of thousands of black rats were snarling, chattering, and squeaking in front of the entrance as they guarded the only path to King Fur-Rocious. Dandelion felt the blood drain from his head as he realized there was no way he could fight against so many rats, and even Justin's powers from his cross was doubtful. If his time-freeze didn't work before, it wouldn't work now.
"Geez, that's a lot of rats!" Justin moaned softly.
"And I can't fight all of them, Justin! We need a plan!" Dandelion whispered.
"Well, what if...if I summoned my cross to turn us invisible, so that the rats can't see us? If I did that, we could sneak our way into the cave!" Dandelion shook his head.
"Not likely to work! Rats, like all other animals, have a keen Sense of Smell and Hearing. If they can't see us, they could certainly sense us, especially with my huge body and your odor of human! They would perceive our coming regardless, and I think King Fur-Rocious anticipated this! That's why all the rats are here in front of his warren, to guard it and make sure we can't sneak in without getting captured!"
Justin felt at a loss. "Oh man, if only Fiver was here! Then he could give us a clue or some sort of riddle to get through this with his second sight!"
Dandelion's ears perked up as he remembered what Fiver said when King Fur-Rocious took Justin hostage. It must have been a clue.
"Every story of deception has a seed of truth," Dandelion murmured to himself out loud. Justin heard him, his brow crinkling in confusion.
"Huh? Where...where did you hear that?"
"Fiver said it before we got overrun by King Fur-Rocious' army! It must have been a premonition! So, if we figure it out, we can -"
"THERE THEY ARE! SOUND THE ALARMS!! THE CROSS-BEARER AND THE RABBIT ARE HERE!!" rasped a high-pitched, squealing voice, and to their surprise, Dandelion and Justin turned around to see that a group of rats, a patrol no doubt, had spotted them from behind and were already making their way towards the crest of the hill. And from the mouth of the warren, all the other Rabid Rats started chattering and squeaking in an enormous, frantic, angry, and vicious outrage, and before Dandelion and Justin could even try making a run for it, they immediately found themselves to be surrounded by Rabid Rats. All of them licked their sharp teeth with anticipation as they screeched in unholy tones and smiled at the thought of Justin's carcass stripped of every bit of flesh after the rats have had their feast.
"You might as well give up now rabbit!" sneered a rat, "There's no where else to run!" Dandelion was at a loss, but then Justin remembered the story of King Fur-Rocious and how El-ahrairah handled the Rabid Rats when he was locked in with them. There was a riddle, an incantation he used to summon a cat into attacking the rats before they had a chance to kill him. Would it work now? Unfortunately, Justin did not know the story well enough to memorize it, but... His mind suddenly clicked in inspired realization as he shot a glance at Dandelion, the only rabbit who knew more stories than the hairs on his fur, who was always the best storyteller at Watership Down, and who was himself, the chronicler of El-ahrairah and history alike.
"Dandelion! Repeat the poem for me!"
"What??! Frith and Inle, what are you talking about?!"
"In the story, 'The Story of King Fur-Rocious', the story where for once, El-ahrairah had to go to war to save his warren from being conquered by King Fur-Rocious, and how El-ahrairah was locked with the Rabid Rats! He used a cat to defeat all of them! What was the poem he said?! Repeat it for me! Hurry!!" The rats were coming closer, and in desperation, Dandelion obliged, pausing after every line so that Justin could repeat obediently after him as he grasped the cross around his neck and shut his eyes:
"Come out, pussy, from my ear.
There are rats in plenty here.
Chase them round until they fly,
Chew their necks until they die."
As soon as the last word was uttered, to Dandelion's amazement, a gray and white cat suddenly emerged from Justin's cross, shining with halos of sunlight and growing bigger and bigger as she threw itself upon the rats in a untamed ferocity. The Rabid Rats screamed in utter fear and tried to run, but the cat was too quick for them, and exactly like the story, the cat was among them in an instant and hungrily snacked on their bodies by the thousand in her endless, gaping mouth, crunching on their bones and sucking their blood and flesh with ravenous appetite. Justin felt a bit sick as he looked on, but in less than a minute, the cat was contently licking her paws in the empty landscape. It was done; there was not a single rat left as far as the eye could see. The farm cat had eaten them all. Justin shakily smiled at the gray and white cat.
"Thank you," he whispered, and the cat smiled at him and gave a satisfied "meow" before vanishing in a stream of golden sparkles and glints. Dandelion just stared at Justin with wide, but joyous eyes as his heavy breathing came out with gasps of excitement and giddiness.
"By Frith, Justin! You did it! You did it! You defeated the Rabid Rats!"
Justin smiled and shook his head, "No, we did it, together! If you didn't remember that poem, I'd be finished!"
Dandelion then realized why it worked. "So that was what Fiver meant when he said 'every story of deception has a seed of truth'! Then this explains why your powers of time-freeze did not work before and why none of us were able to seriously injure them! This is exactly like the story of 'The Story of King Fur-Rocious'! We're in the midst of it, and unless we defeat them the very same way El-ahrairah defeated them, King Fur-Rocious and his armies cannot be beaten! I think they can only be vanquished if they were fought with the same tactics and tricks El-ahrairah used on them before! It must be their weakness!! They can only die if they followed the same fate they met up with in the story!!"
"But, Dandelion, we're in the land beyond life! Then how is it they can even die?!!"
"No, young one, don't you see??! They weren't real! None of this is! When the pussycat attacked all the Rabid Rats, I couldn't smell any blood, any warmth from the bodies! This is a story of deception, like Fiver had said before! I think, and I daresay this sounds incredibly barmy, but all of King Fur-Rocious' armies are illusions, beings come to life from the stories of El-ahrairah itself! Don't you see, Justin?! You can't hurt a story character unless if it finishes its role exactly like it was supposed to in the story!! Which means we can't hurt them unless if we do the exact same thing El-ahrairah did to them!"
Justin nodded, understanding. "Then we better get over to King Fur-Rocious' warren fats, or else Hazel and the others will be in big trouble! Do you remember all the other poems from the story?!" Dandelion gave him a pretend look of being offended.
"Need I remind you who you're talking to? By Frith and Inle, I'm one of the greatest storytellers that has ever lived! Just leave the blighters to me!" Without further hesitation, both Justin and Dandelion charged into the mouth of the cave, leading them downward into the descent of King Fur-Rocious' warren. Without much trouble, Justin's light acted as a glowing compass once again, lighting Dandelion's way and guiding him further and further in the tunnels. Soon, they came across a gargantuan grotto filled with the Wildcat Weasels, their high-pitched squeals echoing coldly in the cave, the light from their red eyes causing their black claws to gleam. Justin nearly felt his heart stop, but Dandelion bravely recited the poem, snapping Justin to attention:
"Come out crows, by one and two.
Teach those weasels what to do.
Peck those weasels on the head.
Peck them til they fall down dead!"
Immediately, Justin's cross gave off a sudden burst of furious, golden sparks which immediately turned into ravenous, violent crows and ravens with sharp black beaks and severe talons. Within seconds, the weasels vainly tried to run or fight as their screams of throbbing agony resounded across the warren as the birds clawed their faces, beat their wings, and pecked their eyes and bodies mercilessly, littering the ground with blood, hacked flesh, and pieces of hair and skin. Soon, all the weasels had perished, their corpses lifeless and turning cold amongst puddles of their own blood, and due to their completed roles, they vanished, gore and all. Not a trace was left behind, and the crows, sensing that their work was done, vanished in bright flashes of sunlight, just like the farm cat had before. After some more traveling, they ran into the Savage Stoats in another large room. This time, with confidence and bravery, Dandelion and Justin recited this poem strongly, their voices booming:
"Ants, ants, come out of my ear.
All the Savage Stoats are here.
Sting their tails and sting their heads.
Turn them into starks and deads!"
It was quick battle, with the endless streams of black and red ants emerging out of nowhere, completely crawling and covering the stoats, no matter how hard they tried to avoid them. With the infinite amounts of ants biting and raising poisoned, red welts in their skin and burrowing in their eyes, noses, mouths, ears, flesh and brains, the stoats could take no more of their torture as they fell lifeless on the ground, twitching as each bite from an ant drained their life bit by bit. They too, vanished without a trace, the illusions melting under the light of Justin's cross. The ants silently disappeared as well. Dandelion was rapturous.
"We did it, Justin! We did it! We've already taken care of King Fur-Rocious' army of elil! Now we can go rescue our friends and nothing can stop us!"
"Oh no??" sneered a voice from behind them, and Justin and Dandelion turned to see, with horror, the army of several hundred dark rabbits standing several meters away from them at the opposite end of the room, the remainder of King Fur-Rocious' army. Dandelion just glared, bracing his feet as Justin held on tightly to his tunic and fur on the rabbit's back.
"HA! You embleer puffballs don't scare us! All we have to do is...O Frith and Inle!" Dandelion groaned that last part as his face went white.
"Dandelion, what's wrong?!! Say the spell that'll get rid of these illusions!!" Justin said urgently.
Dandelion's whiskers twitched with nervousness, apprehension, and realization. He replied in an uneasy, quivering, edgy voice, "Ummm...young one?? That's the problem. There is no poem that El-ahrairah used to defeat them! In fact, they were never vanquished, and the story only went to say that they left with King Fur-Rocious when he surrendered and complied to El-ahrairah's wishes after the war. Which means, if they were never vanquished like in the story..."
"We can't make them disappear," Justin finished for the rabbit with awareness, grasping the immediate peril as he felt his blood run cold.
"It took you long enough to realize it, you troublesome duffers!" derided one of the soldiers, and then in a final voice, he screamed, "SEIZE THEM!!!"
"RUN AWAY!! RUN AWAY!!!" screamed Dandelion and Justin together as they did an about-face and dashed in the opposite direction, with the many rabbits tailing them in massive crowds, pushing and cramming themselves as they followed the two in hot pursuit. Dandelion's sides began to ache from the sprint, his wind dying down, but Justin noticed that his cross was now jerking hard against his neck as it gave off enough light to see that at the end of the tunnel was a black opening leading into another cavern. If the cross was reacting this strongly, then that meant...
"Dandelion, go through that opening! I think that's where Hazel and the others are!"
"As if I had a choice, you young duffer!" panted Dandelion as the fear of having the endless multitude of rabbits chase them down, "We don't have a choice! It's the only path that this run is leading us into! But we'll be trapped if it's a dead-end with no other way out, cross-bearer! It's a bad lookout!"
"No, it isn't!! I've got an idea!! Just run into the end of the tunnel!!"
"Justin?!!"
"Just trust me, Dandelion! I won't let you get hurt! Just trust me! I trust you!!" Dandelion, tossing caution to the winds, summoned as much strength as he could muster, fueling his muscles to strain harder and harder, his feet pounding into the packed soil of the run, speeding them closer and closer to the opening, widening the gap between them and the murderous rabbits trailing behind. At the last moment, as they barreled out of the mouth of the tunnel like a bullet from a gun, Justin clasped his cross and commanded, "Please, block the end of the tunnel! Block it with a wall of rock and dirt!! Stop the rabbits from chasing us!! Stop up the end of the tunnel!!"
Immediately, a thick, golden wall of light emerged at the end of the tunnel, covering the opening thoroughly before transforming itself into a thick, solid wall of packed dirt and granite. Justin could hear screaming and several thuds as the first rabbits leading the chase did not stop in time, colliding into the wall and cracking the barricade. Right away, Justin could hear squeals of fright, rage and frustration as the blocked tunnel trapped more and more rabbits at the end, the rabbit soldiers pushing each other, madly trying to get through. Some rabbits tried to retreat and go back, only to meet even more rabbits pushing against them from behind, like a panicked crowd. Some, in their desperation to get through, tore any rabbits pushing against them to pieces, the blocked run now reeking of blood and flesh, the rabbits trampling and pushing against each other in a frenetic turmoil. Justin sighed, commenting, "It's all right, Dandelion! The run's been blocked! We're safe!"
"Uh...Justin??" Dandelion gulped as he stared ahead of him, "We may have saved ourselves from the horde of King Fur-Rocious' rabbits, but by blocking the tunnel, you just sealed us along with King Fur-Rocious himself!!" Justin blanched before turning around to see King Fur-Rocious smiling evilly in front of him ,and slightly behind him, were the bound figures of Hazel, Holly, Bigwig and the other Watership rabbits, confined with iron collars and chains. King Fur-Rocious crowed, "Welcome to my sleeping quarters, young Justin. I was wondering when you and that pathetic protector of yours would arrive. Come now, you both must be tried from your battles, and I will personally see to it that both of you remain at rest EVERLASTINGLY!!"
"Brilliant move, Dandelion and Justin!" griped Hawkbit from behind.
"Hawkbit, shut up!" snapped Dandelion as he placed himself in front of Justin, who hurriedly got off Dandelion's back, and together, they both recited the poem to finish this once and for all:
"Come out, stream, come out of my ear.
Flow all around this stinker here.
Pour yourself upon his head.
Drown the blighter til he's dead!"
Surprisingly, there was nothing, except silence, and King Fur-Rocious had a bemused, arrogant smile on his face as he saw the look of hopeless confusion on Dandelion and Justin's faces. There was no rushing water, no aqueous force sweeping up King Fur-Rocious, not even a faintest increase of brightness in Justin's cross. It didn't work; nothing happened!
"What??! Why didn't it work??!!" gasped Justin, half-shrieking.
"Foolish cross-bearer! You honestly didn't stop to think that I would not have anticipated you trying out that exploit exactly like El-ahrairah did when I was summoned by Elil-rah to capture and kill you??" He chuckled as he let himself down on all four of his paws, gloating in a sinister way, "When Elil-rah gave me the ability to summon my army again, he made sure that those cursed enchantments that El-ahrairah used to defeat me would only take in effect on animals that had perished in that damn story!! And since neither I nor my faithful rabbits ever perished, that blasted charm will not affect us!! Add that with the increased defensive resistance to your time-freeze and extraordinary speed and agility, and that spells out your death, Justin!!"
Justin cursed under his breath, his heart pounding and his sweat become cold down his slick back as Dandelion's blood roared in his ears. King Fur-Rocious smiled before he disappeared in a dark blur, and Dandelion realized he was using his evil gift of swiftness and haste to encircle around them, confusing the Watership warrior. Indeed, all around Justin and Dandelion, a black streak swirled around them, whistling and zipping across the circular chamber, going so fast, Dandelion felt dizzy from just staring at it. Yet, he did know that one move, one chance, was all it would take for King Fur-Rocious to snuff out Justin completely. Doing what Bigwig and Holly had trained him numerous times, Dandelion calmed his rapid heart, closed his eyes, and depended on his other senses of smell, hearing, and intuition to contemplate his situation. Justin noticed this, but he didn't object, and he said softly, whispering audibly enough for Dandelion to hear, "I trust you, Dandelion."
Dandelion did not answer as he relied heavily on his other senses, his sight temporarily closed off. He could hear the rapid, padded feet of the evil rabbit lord, he could smell the traces of putrid, smelly fur as the enemy raced around and around, the pressure of the atmosphere still remaining even and calm. Crackle! Dandelion's ears perked to the sound of King Fur-Rocious' paws making an abrupt shift in direction; in slow motion, his brain sense the air current slightly changing as he could feel, sense, a disturbance in the rapid, moving circle all around them, the smell of King Fur-Rocious getting stronger and stronger from behind...
"DIE!!!" roared a voice from behind Justin, and Justin could only whirl around and gasp as the demonic face of King Fur-Rocious came zooming up to him closer and closer by the second, his teeth and claws ready to dismember and tear Justin to pieces. Justin yelped and raised his arms in front of his face in a futile attempt to protect himself. Yet in an instant, King Fur-Rocious made it within inches of Justin's body before Dandelion's eyes flew open and with a valiant charge, the golden, lanky rabbit rammed himself into the evil warlord's body, tackling him and sending them both flying and crashing against a wall. King Fur-Rocious was stunned. He never anticipated a rabbit lighter and smaller than himself to have such strength and ferocity as Dandelion solidly dug his claws into King Fur-Rocious' shoulders and bit, kicked and scratched, growling, "Not bad for a jolly, weak storyteller who's been trained by El-ahrairah and the Watership Owsla, isn't it you filthy wretch?!!"
"Justin!" hollered Dandelion as he tried to pin down King Fur-Rocious vainly under his weight, "Hurry, free the others, quickly!! I'll hold him off!! Hurry!!" Dandelion winced and squealed as King Fur-Rocious kicked him brutally in the stomach, drawing blood. Undaunted, Dandelion grasped King Fur-Rocious' throat with both paws, straddling him as he sank his teeth into the opponent's ears, ripping them to shreds. King Fur-Rocious roared in pain as Justin raced over to Hazel and the others. They were overjoyed to see him, but anxious all the same.
"Hurry, Justin! Get these chains off us!" Pipkin pleaded. Justin immediately thought up of the first solution that came to his mind: the golden sword Buckthorn used to defeat Hufsa. Within a flash, the cross necklace disappeared from Justin's neck and re-appeared into his hands. It was heavy, burdensome, and Justin probably only had enough vigor to cut the chains of one rabbit, so he immediately decided on Buckthorn. Raising the sword over his head, Justin brought the sword crashing down within a hairbreadth of Buckthorn's paws. KA-CHANG! Buckthorn, with his paws and neck free from the chains, saw the fatigue in the teenager's body as the boy was panting hard from exhaustion from fighting his way through the Rabid Rats, the Savage Stoats, and the Wildcats Weasels.
"Justin, give me the sword!" Buckthorn commanded, and snatching it out of the cross-bearer's hands, Buckthorn felt the life and vigor flowing from the sword and into his battered paws as he expertly twirled the sword in a series of sudden, circular slashes and swipes. Before they knew it, Hazel and the others felt the iron collars and chains fall off their bodies, dropping to the floor as chucks of charred, pieces of useless metal.
Dandelion squealed as he lost his hold, weakened from the loss of blood and it gave King Fur-Rocious the chance to cuff him hard across the face, stunning him before using his hind feet to send the golden rabbit crashing into the opposite wall. Dandelion, drained and enervated from his battle, just sunk to the ground, groaning. Justin and the others rushed up to him, abandoning their safety in concern for their friend. King Fur-Rocious saw his chance, and he charged again, but to his amazement, a group of sixteen rabbits, replicas of Acorn summoned by Justin's cross, tackled King Fur-Rocious and tried unsuccessfully to pin him down. Yet King Fur-Rocious fought like a mad rabbit, bucking, cuffing, and roaring like a creature from the bowels of hell. and that wasn't the worst part. The rock wall Justin created earlier to block the tunnel was starting to break and crack, caving in from the mighty efforts of the loyal rabbits of King Fur-Rocious on the other side, still intent on trying to work their way through to kill Justin and defeat the Owsla of Watership Down. Within minutes, the barricade would give in, and King Fur-Rocious' followers would surround the entire room. And there was no other way out. Dandelion panted as he felt his blood patter the floor of the sleeping quarters. Justin knelt down to heal him only to discover that his entire white-furred stomach was in ribbons, his wounds too severe for Dandelion to even move. Dandelion took too much abuse to make sure Justin would free the others, and it would take a while for them to effectively heal. And time was something they did not have at the moment.
"You've all haven't won yet!!" bragged King Fur-Rocious in dark, snide contempt as he managed to brutally injure another Acorn multiple, "Can't you see that all of you embleer rabbits will be imprisoned here along with Justin?! There's no escape!! You have all lost!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"O Frith and Inle!" cried out Fiver, shivering, "His laughter of the damned is even more horrendous and appalling than Cowslip's laughter and Silverweed's poetry!"
"Hazel, King Fur-Rocious is right! It's a bad lookout! We can't fight our way out through all of those rabbits!! Not without endangering Justin! And it's the only path out of this warren!" Holly exclaimed.
"And we can't go anywhere with Dandelion hurt like this!" Blackberry said roughly as he knelt down to his friend's side in compassionate worry.
"And those duplicates of Acorns won't hold King Fur-Rocious down forever! By Frith, he's as tough as Woundwort! He's almost finished with them!" screeched Speedwell as another Acorn multiple was rendered unconscious, bleeding from a ghastly ripped stomach. Dandelion, still weak, managed to think of one more idea as he grasped Justin's hand, shivering from the loss of blood, gasping, "Justin, listen to me! The poem I came up with before we were ambushed! The poem you helped me complete with the ending line! Do you remember it? Before we ran into King Fur-Rocious' armies?!"
Justin nodded, white in the face. Dandelion choked, "Repeat it together with me! Chant it with me! Give me the strength to do this!"
"We'll do it together! All of us!!" Justin agreed heatedly as he clenched Dandelion's paw with affirmation as the wall blocking the tunnel was nearly completely demolished, allowing Hazel and Bigwig to spot the sea of mad rabbits ready to attack them. Pipkin and Hawkbit gasped as the last Acorn clone was too heavily injured to fight, leaving all the pseudo Acorns to vanish into smoke. King Fur-Rocious, with a triumphant gleam in his eyes, shakily stood, bleeding and tired, but still keen on killing the cross-bearer. Justin and Dandelion gave each other a last glance, seeing the light of the cross shimmer slightly brighter with their loyalty and friendship, before they chanted as one in passionate, fervent, voices:
"Digger, Listener, and Runner!
Gifts of Rabbits, set us free!
Give us strength to fight our Enemy!
Let man and animal reunite,
Bind our hearts and souls alike,
And pray for the cross to shine its light!
Hope and Kindness, Cunning and Courage,
Friendship and Love, Mercy and Grace!
Frith and El-ahrairah,
Stand strong beside us,
Banish this evil from time and space!"
Despite the closing in on the enemy rabbits and King Fur-Rocious, Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver, Holly, Blackberry, Hawkbit, Speedwell, Acorn, Bluebell, Pipkin, Strawberry, Buckthorn, Silver, and Campion joined in, a huge, amalgamated force, their strong voices mixing together along with Dandelion and Justin in a tidal wave of power and intensity.
"Digger, Listener, and Runner!
Gifts of Rabbits, set us free!
Give us strength to fight our Enemy!"
At this, King Fur-Rocious started to feel cold, like ice, burning his bones and causing his breath to give out wisps of fog and icy air. The other rabbits too started to quiver in a mixture of fear, confusion, and cold nothingness.
Let man and animal reunite,
Bind our hearts and souls alike,
And pray for the cross to shine its light!The cross suddenly flashed with a fury of golden sunlight, burning the eyes and senses of King Fur-Rocious and all his rabbit soldiers painfully, their screams ringing in the stifling burrows.
Hope and Kindness, Cunning and Courage,
Friendship and Love, Mercy and Grace!
Frith and El-ahrairah,
Stand strong beside us..."
"NO!! NOOOO! NOOOOOOO!!! CURSE YOU, CROSS-BEARER!!! CURSE YOU ALLLLLLL!!!" bellowed King Fur-Rocious as his body started to smoke and bubble and boil madly, his mouth drooling a mixture of blood and saliva and his helmet now lopsidedly hanging over one eye.
"BANISH THIS EVIL FROM TIME AND SPACE!" Justin and all the Watership rabbits shouted in unison. With a final scream, King Fur-Rocious and his rabbits burst into fire, consumed with the might and energy of loyalty, kindness, and love, before vanishing into dust. Almost instantaneously, the ceiling above them started to shake, collapsing and caving in on itself as pebbles and dirt rained down on them. Yet, there was no time to run, and Dandelion could not travel fast enough for them to make it out alive. Dandelion cast a furtive glance at Justin, whispering, "Leave me! Go! All of you get out of here! No sense if all of us get trapped in the cave-in!"
"No one is being left behind!" Justin snapped heatedly, coming to a decision before shouting to everyone else, "Everyone, grab on to Dandelion and me!! I'm going to try and teleport us out of here!! all of us!! Hang on to us!!"
"Can you even do it?!" Silver asked in concern as he and Pipkin touched Dandelion's back.
"Well, if this doesn't work, we'll soon all know how ants jolly feel like!" Bluebell joked nervously. Everyone just apprehensively and uneasily watched as Justin clasped the cross in his hands and yelled with all his might, "PLEASE, HEAVENLY FATHER, GET US ALL OUT OF HERE SAFELY!! LET MY CROSS WORK THIS TIME!! TELEPORT ALL OF US OUT OF HERE!! I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE ANY OF MY FRIENDS BEHIND!! TELEPORT US OUT OF THE WARREN!!"
For a moment, nothing happened, but then to Justin's relieved joy, the cross blazed in a glorious mess of sparkling dust and light, enveloping all of the fellowship of sixteen, encasing them with the same power as Dandelion and Justin had experienced before. With a burst of sunlight, all of them disappeared, within second of the chamber collapsing upon itself, the warren of King Fur-Rocious destroyed and demolished forever under tons and tons of dirt, soil, and rubble. King Fur-Rocious had once again failed to take over El-ahrairah's legacy, and this time, he would not be coming back.
***
Amazed, the rabbits could only stare in wonderment as they now found themselves far away from the grassy hills and knolls, exactly where Dandelion and Justin first teleported to earlier when they escaped the ambush. They had done it; they had all, every single one of them, safely teleported out of danger. Justin, feeling drained from such excessive use of his powers, stumbled backwards and nearly fainted from weariness. Alarmed, Dandelion, despite being injured, managed to grab the boy before he hit the ground, and now, the golden storyteller, with his blood soaking Justin's clothes, held the cross-bearer gently, protectively.
"Justin??" Dandelion gasped out worriedly, but to his cheerful encouragement, Justin's eyes flickered open as he gave his rabbit guardian a soothing, weak smile.
"Our children's children will hear a good story, Dandelion," he murmured as he placed a feeble hand on Dandelion's bloodstained paw. Dandelion, panting, unsteadily but happily gurgled, "And you'll be the chap to tell it alongside with me when we get back to El-ahrairah's warren, young Justin. I would not want any other being by my side but you when we chronicle this adventure together for all rabbits back home."
Bluebell, feeling the need to make some repartee, said in a mock, offended tone, "Not likely, Dandelion! I'm the greatest storyteller of Watership Down, so I get to tell this story alongside Justin back in the Great Hall with El-ahrairah!!"
Dandelion smirked, playing along. "No, I'm the greatest storyteller!"
"Frith in a hole, I am!"
"Then why did El-ahrairah assign me as the rabbit to chronicle the travels of the cross-bearer before we started this journey, eh Bluebell?"
"Hazel-rah, they're at it again!" groaned Strawberry.
"We would have been better off had Justin left BOTH of them behind in that tharn run," muttered Hawkbit, causing Campion and Silver to give the loudmouth a cuff on the head, silencing his opinions and complaints, as everyone else laughed.
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Next: STRAWBERRY in "The Strawberry, The Cowslip, and The Snare"
(sarcastically) Gee, I wonder who's the evil, deranged lunatic who's going to get his tail whipped in the next chapter? (end sarcasm)
Three guesses who's the bad guy in THIS chapter (anyone who doesn't get this needs to read "Watership Down" again!)
Until then (3 weeks probably), read and review! I'm already more than halfway done with this story! Maybe even ¾ of the way through!
*/