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Author's note: The title should be the biggest hint of things to come! =) Enjoy Strawberry's chapter!  I'm so sorry this took more than a month!

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CHAPTER 21

                It was a cloudy day, the sky threatening to drizzle with the cold drops of rain and fog as the low, yet faint rumbles of thunder echoed across the dreary air and lands.  The temperature dropped noticeably, the grass now no longer giving off faint aromas in the sun, but cold moisture of dew and condensation as Justin, riding on Dandelion's back, and the rest of the Owsla of Watership Down ran across the wide, spacious grassy plains and towards a neighboring, lush copse that blanketed the lands touching the horizon in the east.

                "Hazel-rah, we best be finding a place to rest," Bigwig commented as he looked at the cloudy, dreary sky, a swirling, multi-layered mass of black, white, and depressing gray, "There is no sense in running through the incoming rain if it can be helped, and all of us could use the rest and silflay before the rain ruins everything."

                " 'One cloud feels lonely'," quoted Hazel, sighing, "Listen, let us all at least reach the copse and find some thick, protective cover under the trees, and then maybe we can rest.  I'd feel better if we weren't so open in these fields."  The band of sixteen made rapid headway into the tall gorse, birch and spindle trees, the dry soil covered almost entirely with a layer of dry, sweet-smelling peat.  Holly, Silver, Bluebell, Acorn and Buckthorn sniffed around before nodding their approval that everything was safe and clear.  However, setting up a sheltered, resting area was a bit more difficult.

                "Frith in a hole!" whined Hawkbit in a nasal, high-pitched drone, "Must we dig scrapes now?!  We're all already tired and hungry, our bellies are begging for some greenstuff, and our paws are still sore from journeying across those tharn hills and knolls!"  He indicated with his head to Silver, Holly, Campion, and Hazel and Bigwig, who all were part of the guard patrol as they scanned the woods cautiously for any sign of elil.  Fiver, Pipkin, and Strawberry were part of the foraging team to scout anything better than wet grass for them and Justin to feed on.  All the other rabbits were assigned the unpleasant duty of digging scrapes (small shallow tunnels) in the dirt to provide some temporary shelter and large enough to house all of them, including Justin.  Since rabbit bucks usually do not like to dig (usually, any typical warren has been built by rabbit does) and the only time the Watership rabbits have seriously excavated was to form the Honeycomb back at Watership Down, this left a little unpleasant aftertaste to some of the remaining group, especially (but not surprisingly) Hawkbit.

                Buckthorn shrugged it off as he tried to look on the bright side.  "C'mon, steady there, old chap!  Think of how nice it will be to stay warm and dry from the bally rain!  Think of how nice it will feel to huddle amongst other rabbits, snug and cozy and the like!  Think of the experience!"

                "Think of the mud in our tender paws and fur!  Think of the thorns and sharp pebbles stuck in our cold skin!  Think of how long it would take to dig a shelter large enough to be comfy for sixteen buckos, including Justin!" grumbled Hawkbit in a sarcastic, grating tone.

                "Hawkbit, you're not helping."  Buckthorn's voice had a tired edge to it.  However, like usual, Hawkbit didn't stop.

                "This isn't jolly fair!  Why do I have to be part of the bloody group that has to do the digging?!  Why couldn't have been one of the lucky chaps who got on guard duty or foraging for food?!  Give me one good reason why I have to be stuck with the digging??!"

                "Because you are terrible at fighting and defending when compared to Bigwig or Campion, so you're not really that jolly good of a guard?" Dandelion asked rhetorically.

                "Because if you were on sentry, you'd just spend the whole time quarreling and arguing with Bigwig?" chimed in Bluebell.

                "Because Bigwig is still mad at you, so he wants to make you suffer even more by punishing you with the remedial digging duties?" Acorn offered.

                "Because this is one of the few tasks you could actually be of some help with?" smiled Blackberry.

                "Because it is bloody entertaining to see you lose your temper and to aggravate you at no ends?" laughed Speedwell.

                "I said give me ONE good reason, you low-down, pack of lying -!!"

                "Hawkbit, get back to work!  Mind you, keep digging or else I'll give you a good cuffing on that senseless head of yours!!" roared Bigwig, hearing Hawkbit's loud griping.  Hawkbit's face flushed with irritation and embarrassment.  The others laughed as they continued to dig, making significant headway in the dirt.

                "I told you Bigwig has it out for you," chuckled Acorn.

                "Oh shut up," grumbled Hawkbit.

                "And I told you that it was funny to see him get in trouble!" Speedwell chortled, unable to contain himself as he fell on his back, giggling and holding his stomach.

                "That's it!  Let me at him!  I'll kill him!" shouted Hawkbit, teed off, as he threw himself at Speedwell, only to be restrained by Blackberry and Buckthorn.  Speedwell kept sniggering at the sight, which enraged Hawkbit even further as he tried to wrench himself out of Buckthorn and Blackberry's grips.  Suddenly, the entire ground around them started to shimmer with golden light before flashing, revealing now two large tunnels formed out of the peat and dirt, leading into a large, cozy, dry den underground.  A nice scrape was magically formed without any further, and guessing immediately, all the rabbits turned to stare at Justin behind them who was holding his glowing cross in one hand and smiling sheepishly.

                He scratched his head as he grinned awkwardly, "Well, thought I could be of some help."

                Acorn marveled as he made his way down the tunnel and into the den, his voice echoing in the chasms, "By Frith, I'll say you did!  Look at this place!  Not too large, and yet specious enough for all of us to rest comfortably and close together!  The walls are hard and packed, the soil dry yet firm!  By the fur and paw of El-ahrairah, this is a scrape fit for a Chief Rabbit!!"

                "Praise Frith, Justin you have done us a wonderful favor!" applauded Bluebell as he patted Justin intimately on the back, "Now we don't have to dig any further!"

                "No need for Bigwig and Hazel-rah to know, of course," smiled Dandelion impishly.

                "Of course," chimed in Justin and Bluebell, laughing.

                                                                                ***

                Strawberry went by himself, apart from Fiver and Pipkin, sniffing along the grasses and wild moss and bushels of mushrooms and toadstools growing throughout the thicket, searching for something edible to bring back to Justin.

                Dogs – you're like dogs carrying sticks, his inner voice in his head told him.  Strawberry, disturbed, actually stopped and shook his head in slight, sad aggravation.  The last time he did such an unnatural act to carry food was when he was back the Warren of the Shining Wires, Cowslip's warren, his old life.  How many rabbits had he seen, and actually helped, lead to their deaths all for the sake of comfort and good flayrah and safety from elil, the good life, a delusional view of a heavenly paradise?

                Stop it, he told himself, his ears drooping from the memories, that my old life, not now and not when I was back at Watership Down and at Vleflain.  I'm completely different now, I have a true life, a life El-ahrairah could be proud of, and a true family.

                Then why are you doing the biddings of the cross-bearer, a boy, a human?  Carrying and bringing food for him like a servant, talking with him, gaining abilities such as to talk English and to stand upright and wear clothing??  Is that unnatural and oddly enough for you?  This is the exact same thing with the Warren of the Shining Wires, the guilt nagged at him.

                "No," Strawberry muttered to himself heatedly, now speaking to himself out loud, "Justin is not like that; he's not like the farmer who raised and slaughtered us with the snares.  He's different.  I'm different.  I'm bringing food for Justin because he needs my help, and he completely appreciates it, always willing to come and explore with us so that the work of caring and looking after him would not be burdensome.  I trust him."

                But does he trust you?  Do any of them really and completely trust you?  After all, Justin knows the stories of your past, your involvement with the plot to send rabbits to their deaths in order to save your own lives from the snares.  Would he trust his life in your paws?  After all, look at Nildro-hain; she trusted her life with you and look what happened to her.

                Before Strawberry could shut out his thoughts, his sharp nose caught whiff of wild carrot, the pungent aroma wafting through the smells of grass and dirt.  Upon several more moments of exploration, his mouth literally watered at the sight of the partially buried, orange roots, their dark, green tops emerging out of the dark clumps of sod and dirt.  They would serve as an excellent repast for Justin's hunger.  He finally managed to dig two out and grip them awkwardly in his teeth.  He cursed, remembering that he should bring back some more for the others; after all, there was plenty to go around.  He'll just come back with several of the other Watership rabbits to bring some more flayrah back to their resting area.

                You haven't changed at all.  You're still the same rabbit that lived back at the Warren of Shining Wires.

                "Shut up, just shut up," muttered Strawberry out loud forcefully to himself as he made his way back to the resting area alone.

                                                                                ***

                Justin hesitantly ambled through the underbrush of nutbushes and gorse and juniper with Campion.  Seeing as how the diggers (much to Bigwig's disbelief) have finished their work so swiftly, it left more rabbits available to take guard sentry while the others could rest and catch a quick bite of grass.  Justin said he wanted to go find Strawberry, Fiver, and Pipkin, possibly help them with bringing back some food to share with everyone.  Campion decided to come along for the cross-bearer's safety and protection.  In front of them, Strawberry revealed himself as he came through the grass and weeds before stopping abruptly in surprise, seeing Justin and Campion.

                "Oh!" he exclaimed, which came out rather muffled due to the carrots he held in his mouth.  Justin snickered at the sight of the pudgy Strawberry, wide-eyed and carrying carrots in his mouth.  It would be a perfect picture for any "Watership Down" fan.  With some unease, Strawberry set down the carrots from his mouth.

                "Campion?  Justin?  What are you two doing here??"

                "Hazel wanted to let Fiver, Pipkin, and you know that the scrapes have been fully dug.  Now we have some shelter from the incoming storm.  Justin and I decided to come look for you three."

                "But I've found some wild carrots and flayrah for us to enjoy!" objected Strawberry, worried, "I was hoping I could bring more rabbits to get the jolly lot before the rain comes in and ruins everything!"

                "I could help you carry some," offered Justin, "Since I'm a human and more used to carrying things with my arms, I can help you bring back more than what you could do alone by bringing them in your mouth."  Then, on cue, his stomach growled, causing Justin to blush and Strawberry to laugh out loud.  Campion chuckled, but...though he could not place a definite answer on it, the way Strawberry just laughed seemed eerily spine-tingling.  Shaking off his unjustified fears, Campion joked with Justin, "It appears that there is another reason why you wish to help Strawberry carry flayrah, eh, young one?  By Frith, you think with your stomach, just like Pipkin and Strawberry!"

                Strawberry suggested agreeably, "Justin, here, since you're hungry, eat these two carrots I've found while I lead you back to the field where I found the wild crop.  Then you can help me bring back more flayrah back to the scrapes.  Campion, go see if you can find Pipkin and Fiver before the rain strikes.  I know my way back to the resting area, and we encounter any trouble, I'll defend Justin while he uses his powers to help fight and to warn all the rest of you to aid us."  Campion agreed, though a part of him felt uneasy at the agreement.  He turned around and ran off into the underbrush while Strawberry and Justin went the opposite direction towards the field of wild carrots.  The teenager devoured the vegetables ravenously, even though they had speckles of wet soil but the hungry human was too famished to even care.  It had been over half a day since he was able to find some food.  Yet, after eating the tasty roots, something went wrong.  Justin felt dizzy, almost drowsy, as if he hadn't slept for several days, his body feeling like it was made of lead, his nerves and senses slowly burning with tired exhaustion, and his mind felt hazy.  No matter how hard Justin tried to stay awake, he could barely keep his head up, and weakly, Justin sank to his knees.  He knew something was wrong, and as much as his remaining strength could allow him, he tried to rise up and turn around.

                "Justin, what in Frith's name is the matter?"  Strawberry sounded alarmed, concerned.

                "I...I don't know!  I'm...so dizzy and tired!  I...I feel like I'm going to -" Justin turned to face Strawberry as he was talking, and the last thing Justin saw was Strawberry's paw cuffing him hard on the temple.

                                                                                ***

                "Where are Fiver and Pipkin and Strawberry?  They should be back right about now," murmured Holly as he kept patrolling alongside Hazel.  But Campion crashing through the underbrush answered his question.

                "Hazel-rah!  I could not find Pipkin or Fiver!  They must have wandered off further than they had expected!" reported Campion breathlessly.

                "Or worse," Holly finished grimly, voicing one of the darker possibilities, his face dimmed with uneasiness and discomfort and worry.  It was a far cry from saying that Elil-rah was finished with them.  He asked Campion agitatedly, "Where is Justin?!"

                Campion was about to answer when he heard a figure move out and through the bushes from behind.  Smelling Justin's scent, Campion, relieved, turned around to greet the teenager, but then his entire face, along with Holly and Hazel, blanched in horror.

                "No," he whispered in absolute trepidation.  The other rabbits also saw Justin.

                "O Frith and Inle!" gasped Blackberry, his face turning white underneath his dark fur.

                "By the Black Rabbit of Inle!" muttered Speedwell in shock.

                Indeed, Justin was completely looking worse for wear, as if he barely made it out with his life as he half-walked, half-stumbled out of the underbrush.  Justin looked worn down, fatigued, and there were cuts and claw marks littering his face and smearing his skin with crimson fluid mixed with bits of grass and dirt sticking to the mess.  His flannel shirt was torn, nearly in rags, and any rabbit could see the fresh wounds made on his body through the holes that were forcibly ripped into, patches of his shirt was dark-red, soaked with his blood.  Justin, his eyes half open with exhaustion and shock of injury, was breathing heavily with a mixture of crying and rasping noises, his mouth filled with blood, a thin trickle dribbling out from one corner of his lips.

                "JUSTIN!" cried out Hazel as he and the rest of the rabbits gathered around the injured cross-bearer, his concern on the whereabouts of Pipkin and Fiver temporarily forgotten.  Justin, unable to walk another step, nearly collapsed from the effort, but luckily, Dandelion and Holly were able to catch their friend before he fell onto the ground.  Campion narrowed his eyes in thought as he sniffed and examined Justin's body.  The claw marks and scratches on the teenager's body were definitely from the work of a rabbit's claws, but...which rabbit?  The only scent he could smell on Justin's body was...

                "It's not possible," Campion muttered to himself in disbelief as Bigwig, fiercely with building rage, interrogated Justin none too gently.

                "Justin, what in Frith's name happened?!  Who did this?!  WHO?!!"

                "Bigwig, that's enough!" Holly said sharply, licking the blood off Justin's face, "The young one's in shock!  He's lucky to not have been killed!  Pestering him with questions is NOT the best way to help the chap from recovering!"

                "I swear, by the fur and paw of the Black Rabbit, I would love to get my paws on the elil who did this!" growled Acorn, his fur bristling.

                "I'LL help you hold it down while Bigwig kicks it," joined in Silver, his eyes flashing with hot adrenaline.  Hazel pushed his way through until he was face to face with Justin, still whimpering from the brutal injuries he received and crying from the pain.  Dandelion carefully propped him up as he, Holly, and Bluebell lovingly cleaned the wounds bit by bit on Justin's face with their tongues.

                "Justin, look at me.  Tell me who did this to you.  What did the eli look like?" Hazel asked softly, soothingly, yet with hard concentration.  Justin, a bit disoriented and still dizzy from his attack and attempt on his life, but his heart slightly calmed down as the warm breath from Bluebell, Dandelion, and Holly's mouths brushed his sticky skin and their tongues erased the cold numbness on his skin bit by bit.

                "It...it was..." gasped Justin, still struggling to stay conscious.

                "Yes??" Hazel asked breathlessly.  Campion, having a sinking feeling of what Justin was going to say, felt his heart plummet.

                "It...it was Strawberry!!"  This confession brought forth a new round of whimpering from the battered Justin, his tears of disbelief and hurt mingling with the blood on his face.  At the name, a shocked silence lulled amongst the group of thirteen, so quiet amongst the astonished rabbit, most of them were taken aback.  However, some of them were quick to jump to the conclusion, most noticeably Bluebell, Bigwig, Silver, and Hawkbit.

                "I...I can't believe it," whispered Buckthorn loudly, not sure what to believe.  He and Strawberry, along with Captain Avens of Efrafa served as the wise and gracious Owsla nucleus of the new warren Vleflain under Groundsel's rule of the new warren, and the dark, brawny rabbit had known Strawberry to be a compassionate, emotional, and yet loyal sage, well-respected, dignified, and loved throughout the Owsla and outskirters alike.  It was impossible that the rabbit he knew as his friend would do such an act.  "It can't be!  I won't believe it!!  Justin, please, for Strawberry's sake, tell me you're wrong!!  Tell me you imagined the whole thing!"

                "I knew it!!" fumed Bigwig, his teeth frothing with enraged spittle, "I knew that lousy, lazy, tharn dandy would betray us one of these days, and now, this embleer turncoat tried to kill Justin!!  Where is the bugger??!!  Where is he?!!  I'll rip him apart!!"

                "Bigwig, don't jump to conclusions!!  Think about this!!  This is Strawberry we are talking about!!  Our friend, our comrade!!  He could never do such an act!!" Blackberry tried to butt in, but the anger and animosity of the four made them quick to put the blame, unwilling to think it through, all the more eager to scratch and maim in vengeance.

                "We are!" growled Silver, his face covered with rage and his maddening upsurge threatening to break his self-control, "Don't you remember where we originally found him?!!  He came from the Warren of the Shining Wires!!  The same warren that was set with snares by the farmer nearby everyday!!  He deceived us before!!  He didn't care about sending us to our deaths and not telling us about the snares as long as it meant to prolong his life and the life of his doe!!  He didn't give a damn about our well-being!!  All he cared about was saving his own skin!!"

                Dandelion squealed with stubborn ferocity, "Are you mad, Silver?!  Strawberry regretted what he did to us!!  He joined us to travel to Watership Down because he didn't wish to live like that anymore!  He wanted to give it up because he wanted to live the life of a normal rabbit!!  He was never a coward!  To admit his mistake and to forsake it all proves how much you, all of you, are wrong!!"

                  Speedwell jumped in for Strawberry's defense, "How could you have forgotten how much he is a part of us, a part of our legacy at Watership Down, Silver?!  He tried to go to Efrafa to help Holly convince General Woundwort to let a party of does come live with us at Watership Down!!  He helped us to defend our home from Efrafa's siege!!  How could you have forgotten that?!"

                Bluebell's voice was gratingly bitter as he snarled, "Oh jolly yes, just like how I remember it was his so-called family that killed Pimpernel and that tried to kill me and Holly when we escaped Sandleford's destruction!!  Just like how I remember that the embleer dandy only joined you when his own doe, Nildro-hain, got caught in the Shining Wires!!  How do we know that he joined us for good intentions?!  Frith in a hole, we even know Campion a lot better than Strawberry!!"

                "Stop this at once!" Campion argued, "We all shouldn't accuse Strawberry like this!  He's been forgiven for his past, and none of you have the right to use it as justification for Justin's attack!  Embleer Frith, we do not even know it was even Strawberry in the first place!!"

                "Well naturally, of course, you'd defend him!!" sneered Hawkbit, "You were a past enemy and a former disgrace to all rabbits, just like Strawberry, so it's hardly a wonder why you're too blind to see the obvious!!"

                "Watch it, Hawkbit!"  Campion's voice became harsh and deadly.

                "That is enough!  All of you!" Hazel ordered sharply.

                "Everyone, stand down!!  Stop this!" Holly barked.

                "NO!" roared Bigwig back with equal strength and mad disobedience, already sick and tired to following the proper and merciful way of doing things.  His love for Justin had sent him over the killer's edge.  "I have had enough of this, of everything that has been happening to Justin, the attempts on his life, the constant fear and agony he has to go through every tharn day, all because of Elil-rah's sick, perverse dream to torture and kill him, to enslave all of us and El-ahrairah's heritage, to make this journey a living nightmare!!  If Justin says that he saw Strawberry attack him, I believe it, and I do not care what you, Hazel, or you, Holly, say otherwise!!"

                "Bigwig!" Speedwell gasped in outrage.

                "Damn it, Speedwell, he has a point!" Silver growled, "How can any of us tolerate this?!  How can you refuse to believe it?!  Strawberry betrayed us!  He did it to us back in the physical world before at Cowslip's warren, and he has done it to us again!!  There is no other possible explanation of why this has happened!!  The cross-bearer saw Strawberry's misdeed with his own eyes!!  Worse yet, he betrayed Justin's trust and El-ahrairah's grace!!  He turned his back on us, on our mission, on our oath!!  You cannot forgive him for that!!"

                "But we are not even sure that Justin is right!  He could have easily been mistaken!!" Acorn protested.

                "Are you calling Justin a liar??" Hawkbit snarled, his narrowed eyes flashing and his ears flushed and quivering.  Acorn did not say anything, but he could not meet Hawkbit's accusing stare; he did not know what to believe or think at this point.  After all, he cared for both Justin and Strawberry very much.

                "Maybe Justin could shed some more light on the incident," Buckthorn tried to comment, wearily and with stricken loss and incredulity.  He turned to the teenager who limp in Dandelion and Holly's paws as the two rabbits held him protectively and tenderly.  "Come on, young one!  Please, can you tell us anything?!  Are you quite sure that you saw Strawberry attack you??  Are you sure it was not a trick of some sort?!"

                "It's no use, Buckthorn," Dandelion shook his head sadly and sorrowfully, indicating with his head at Justin's unconscious state, "The poor chap's fainted from the extreme loss of blood.  He'll be all right, but the young cross-bearer needs some rest for a good long while."

                Just then, making matters much, much worse, Strawberry emerged holding two carrots in his mouth, looking pleased and contented.  He then stopped in puzzlement to see why all the rabbits were staring at him mostly in anger and confused shock.  At first, he thought he had done something wrong, but then his eyes fell on Justin, bleeding and heavily injured, being supported by Dandelion and Holly.  His jaw went slack, dropping the carrots from his mouth with a soft thud.

                "JUSTIN!" he gasped, concerned, but before he could make a step forward, Bigwig, Silver, Hawkbit, and Bluebell all advanced toward him menacingly, rage, complete and utter, uncontrollable fury, smoldering in their eyes and flushing their ears to a deep pinkish color.  Strawberry was completely confused; why were they acting like this?  He just stood still, completely perplexed and befuddled, which was exactly how Hawkbit was able to drive a brutal head-butt into Strawberry's soft chest, sending him flying back and leaving him stunned on the ground.  Bluebell then leapt and delivered three quick cuffs across Strawberry's shoulders, neck, and back, his claws ripping deep into his tissue and tearing his skin and fur into limp, painful ribbons.  Strawberry squealed and tried to buck off Bluebell, but then Bigwig and Silver charged.  With strategic teamwork, Silver pinned Strawberry down, allowing Bigwig to clamp his teeth into the area close to Strawberry's neck with a firm grip and pulled back with all of his might.  There was a soft, wet rip as Strawberry cried out in pain and confusion.  Now, he had a huge, paw-sized hole devoid of flesh and fur close to his windpipe, already starting to fill and pour out crimson blood onto his tunic.

                Strawberry screamed in shock, hurt, pleading, "Stop!!  Stop, please!!  Bigwig, stop this!!  Why are you attacking me?!!  Stop it!!!"

                "I'LL KILL YOU, YOU DOUBLE-CROSSING WRETCH!!  I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES!!!" roared Bigwig as he tried to go for Strawberry's neck again, but before he could, Bigwig and Silver were pulled back and barely restrained by Holly, Blackberry, Buckthorn, Campion and Hazel.  Acorn and Speedwell were trying to prevent Bluebell and Hawkbit from joining in on the fray, and Dandelion was still holding Justin protectively.  As Strawberry struggled to rise despite his injuries, he noted with betrayed distress that none of the other rabbits made the attempt to help him.  In fact, the others were nervously keeping their distance away from him.

                Strawberry managed to gasp, despite the stinging in his neck and back, "For Firth's sake, what had gotten into you, Bigwig?!  Justin is hurt!  I want to see if he is all right!  Why did all of you attack me?!!"

                "Don't give us that false display of innocence, you devious, sorry excuse for a rabbit!!" howled Hawkbit, nearly losing his restraint, "Justin is all right, but no thanks to you!!  He's hurt because YOU were the one who attacked him!!"

                Strawberry felt his entire world crumble from underneath his feet as he just stared, mouth agape and feeling the blood drain from his head at the accusation.  He affirmed pleadingly, "No!  I would never do such a thing!  I would never lay a paw on the cross-bearer!"

                "HA!  You are nothing but a filthy liar, just like before when we first met you, you cowardly, despicable traitor!!" snarled Silver, still fighting against the firm grip Buckthorn and Hazel had on his body, "Justin told us you attacked him!  Furthermore, we could smell your scent on his body and his clothes!!  Justin is telling the truth!!  You tried to attack him!  You were working with Elil-rah from the very beginning!!"

                "No!  Silver, please, everyone!  I'm telling the truth!  I did not attack Justin!  I never did!!"

                "Then how do you explain your scent on his body?  And why did Justin tell us that you were the one who assaulted him?" Blackberry asked sharply, dark suspicion already starting to take root in his mind.  At this, Strawberry felt his mind turn blank as he stuttered out honestly, "I...I don't know.  But please, you can't believe this!  I would never do such an act!!"

                "Dear me, who do we believe: Justin, our loving, gentle, and powerful cross-bearer who has no reason to lie to us, or a fat, gutless brute such as yourself who has betrayed us before back at the Warren of the Shining Wires and whose family helped kill Pimpernel and tried attacking Holly and me when we escaped Sandleford?!  That is such a hard decision!!" snarled Bluebell, his voice dangerous, acidic, and abnormally and caustically sarcastic and cruel, a stark contrast from his usual, chipper, joking self.

                "But...but..." stammered Strawberry, trying to object but Bigwig did not give him the chance as he cut him down ruthlessly.

                "I never trusted you fully, Strawberry, you pitiful, spoiled, deserter!  And this proves why!  You were always a fat, bumbling lout who only came with us because you did not wish to end up like Nildro-hain and strung up as food and trophies for the neighboring farmer!  You were willing to give up your natural birthright and heritage all for food, comfort, and protection before, and you have probably done so now!  Elil-rah must have promised you food, riches, power, if you were only so willing to kill the cross-bearer for him and forsake the life of El-ahrairah!!  You cheating, faithless wretch!!  May Frith blast you and your misdeeds, but until then, I'll blind you myself, you bloody rotter!!"  Bigwig tried to lunge for Strawberry again, but Holly and Campion held him back.

                "No, please!  That's not what happened!  The lot of you have got this all wrong!  I'm innocent!"  But it was apparent that none of them believed him.  Holly, Buckthorn and Hazel just stood there, emotionless and stone-faced, unsure of what to do or say.  Blackberry, Dandelion, and Campion gave Strawberry stern looks, their noses twitching madly.  Speedwell and Acorn looked scared and hurt.  Bigwig, Silver, Bluebell and Hawkbit all appeared to be consumed in fuming, murderous rage.  Though Fiver and Pipkin were still out foraging for food, Strawberry inconsolably realized that unless Fiver had his premonitions and visions, they too, would side with Bigwig and Hazel.  It was heartbreaking, and Strawberry could almost feel the tears of desperation and grievance and misery brim in his eyes.  He was crestfallen; his family, his friends, the ones who he thought he could trust and love so much was now turning on him, without a second thought, without hesitation, without a doubt.  Silver made his way in the front as he calmed down slightly, but was still incredibly offended and heated.

                "Strawberry, leave.  Now.  Go away, from all of us, from El-ahrairah and his warren in Fenlo, and never come back.  You're not welcome here anymore, and as of now, you're no longer part of the Owsla!!"

                "We're finished with you!" roared Bluebell.

                "Holly, Hazel-rah, please, say something!" Strawberry pleaded to them.  Holly was about to object, but Bluebell placed a restraining paw on the whiskered rabbit's shoulders and shook his head.  Even though he was inwardly fighting against it, the gray rabbit solemnly remained quiet, but the look of sadness and empathy and pity he gave to Strawberry was just as hurtful as if Holly had attacked the orange buck himself.  Hazel's eyes were troubled, worried, and disturbed; he knew he could say the word to stop this entire madness, this act of exile...but he couldn't say anything.  To tell the truth, he was conflicted between his better judgment of Strawberry's past friendship and trustworthiness and the recent events, but this was too important of a mission, to protect the cross-bearer from harm, to save El-ahrairah and the land beyond life, to allow room for error and mistakes.  He trusted Strawberry, but...he could honestly say that Justin's well-being meant more than Strawberry's well-being.  It was an extremely difficult decision, but Hazel couldn't make the choice his heart was telling him to do.  Hazel just bowed his head and kept silent, unable to say anything final to protect Strawberry and his defense.  Strawberry was crushed as his Chief Rabbit, his trusted leader and comrade, refused to generate eye contact with him.

                "Hazel-rah, please!" begged Strawberry.

                "He does not care for creatures who deceive us," Silver said, his tone icy and brutal, "And neither do we, for that matter.  Strawberry, leave now, or we will come over there and strike you until you are crippled and blind.  Get out of here!"  Strawberry wanted to stay, to undergo the accusations and physical assault, because no matter how vicious the thrashings would be, they would never be as painful as the hurt from seeing his own friends abandoning him.  But, Strawberry was too heartbroken to even endure any further pain and hurt.  With a soft whimper, he turned and ran, nearly stumbling on the weeds as his sight was blinded by the hot tears of misery running don his face, before he disappeared as the clouds started to release their torrential downpour of fat, large droplets of water.  Yet, no matter how depressing and dismal the shower was, the hearts of each and every Watership rabbit was much, much gloomier.  And Hazel-rah, out of all the rabbits, felt the most disgusted with himself.

                                                                                ***

                Strawberry kept running, his sobs making his sides ache with the exertion of running as he aimlessly stumbled and tripped on patches of moss and the surfacing, gnarled roots of surrounding spindle trees.  He ran and ran until he tumbled and fell with a heavy crash on the ground.  Strawberry, feeling his fur soak from the rain, just lay there, sobbing as the cruel voice in his head taunted him.

                You see?  Your friends never trusted you, Justin never trusted you.  You were always a sad, pathetic, mollycoddled specimen of a rabbit, a child not even El-ahrairah would wish to acknowledge.  Even when you did not to anything or commit any heinous acts, they were still quick to blame you because of your past.  Your past will never let you go, Strawberry.

                "El-ahrairah," cried Strawberry, pleading his prayer, "Please, what do I do?  I'm all alone!"  But there was nothing to answer back his pleas of mercy and assurance, only damning, forlorn silence and the sounds of the pattering, rumbling rainstorm.

                                                                                ***

                "Quick, we have to get out the rain before Justin gets soaked!" commanded Bigwig, "He's lost too much blood already and we have to keep him warm if we want the young one to survive his injuries!  Come on, move!"

                "I...I can't believe it!" Buckthorn murmured to himself, in shock and unable to move, "Holly, please, tell me that you cannot possibly think that Strawberry was the one who tried to murder Justin!"

                "I...I wish I could, old chap," Holly said, his voice hollow and tired, "I...I don't know what to think anymore!  I want to believe Strawberry when he protested his innocence, but...but then how can we ignore what Justin had told us?!  O Frith in a hole, I just wish we could have done this more gently and without hurting him!"

                "That cursed furball got what he deserved for trying to kill Justin," muttered Bluebell grimly, but a noise from behind caused all the rabbits to turn around to see Fiver and Pipkin, each carrying some sort of fruits and parsnips, making their way through.

                "Fiver!  Pipkin!  Thank Frith both you are safe!" Hazel exclaimed, relieved.  He had already lost one rabbit; he did not wish to lose any more.  Pipkin saw the injured, prone form of Justin and gasped, spilling his bounty.

                "Hazel-rah!  Justin's hurt?!  What...what happened?!" Pipkin squealed.

                "Strawberry betrayed us to Elil-rah, and he tried to murder Justin while they were alone together," Hawkbit spat, his face darkening at the memory, "But by the blessings of Frith, Justin managed to get away, and we were able to drive out the treacherous Strawberry out of our group.  He is no longer one of us, one of our family from Watership Down and El-ahrairah's Owsla.  He's gone.  We kicked the bugger out, and all for the better, good riddance to bad rubbish!"

                Pipkin, at a loss, started sobbing.  He too, like Holly and Buckthorn, was saddened from losing a dear friend and was disinclined to even believe such a gentle soul could perform such a deed of treachery.  Yet Fiver was staring at unconscious Justin, still being cradled by Bigwig and Dandelion with wide eyes.

                "Like trees in November..." Fiver gasped in realization.

                "Huh?  Fiver, what are you babbling about?" asked a bewildered Acorn.

                "That's not Justin!  That is NOT the cross-bearer!!" squealed Fiver, his voice irregular with alarm and dread.

                "What?!!"  All the rabbits were now staring at Fiver in disbelief.  Dandelion then realized a very important oversight as he stared at Justin's body.

                "He's right, chaps!  This isn't Justin!  He doesn't have his cross of light!"  Sure enough, there was no telltale golden light glowing from Justin's chest, no shining silver necklace draped around his shoulders, no apparent crystal trinket.

                Fiver's faces then darkened as he glared at the unknown figure.

                "What have you done with our friend, Justin...Silverweed?" Fiver demanded, nearly grimacing at the sound of the name, as if it was an unpleasant piece of filth not even the scavengers would bother feeding on.

                "SILVERWEED??!"  The rabbits turned at the form being held up by Bigwig and Dandelion's paws.  "Justin's" eyes then snapped open as he sneered at Fiver and the rabbits, "Oh dear, me.  You bunch of undignified rabbits have figured me out!  What a shame!"

                Before any of the Watership rabbits could react, metal wires sprung from the ground, and snared around each rabbit's neck, tightening in a flash so painfully, it drew blood and torn their fur.  Everyone squealed as they vainly tried to grasp at the cold metal seizing their fragile necks and throats, but it was to no avail.  Several wildly struggled and bucked and kicked, but their skirmishes had cost them dearly as it only made the wires even tighter, causing them to fall senseless on the floor as the blood and oxygen in their body screamed in fiery pain, begging for release.  Those who had the sense to remain still, noticeably Holly, Hazel, Blackberry and Bigwig, were less hindered from the snare as the others foolishly kept trying to struggle and kick until the nooses choked them to the point of unconscious obedience.  Blackberry looked around wildly for the telltale pegs that could be dug out in order to release them from their prison, but to his horror, there were none.  All the wires emerged from the ground, and no shanks of wood were made visible on the mossy surface.  Yet, to add even further injury to the insult, additional wires emerged up from the ground and snared the front paws of Blackberry, Hazel, Holly, and Bigwig.

                "What in the name of Frith?!" bellowed Holly, but with a harsh pull, their paws were dragged underneath the dirt until they were stuck, embedded into the terrain and moss, unmovable and no amount of strength from the rabbits' part could ever allow them to wrench them free.  Now, they were all unable to dig themselves out as well as their friends.  Holly then turned to "Justin" before the human teenager shimmered off his disguise to reveal a small rabbit youngster, skinny and sneering with arrogance and cruelty.

                "What have you done with the real Justin?!" snarled Holly.

                "He's safe, for now," laughed Silverweed, "Cowslip is especially drawn to the human boy, seeing as how Elil-rah will reward the both us greatly once we bring the all-powerful cross-bearer to our Dark Lord and Master!  Of course, seeing the ever-so-righteous rabbits and Lapine warriors of Watership Down turn on that traitor Strawberry was certainly more enjoyable than we could have ever imagined!"

                "So Strawberry...?" moaned Hazel, feeling his blood run cold at the thought of his fatal mistake.

                "...had nothing to do with this," derided Silverweed, "He was as innocent as a newborn kit, but knowing how his past would always serve as a dark reminder, it was hardly any effort to convince you rabbits otherwise!"  His tone darkened at the thought.  "The selfish duffer abandoned us to go start a new life back at the physical world!  He escaped death and destruction when our entire warren was wiped out!  It should have been us!  We were willing to abide by the farmer, we were willing to die with dignity, clarity, and full acceptance, and yet that wretch found happiness in the lives that were meant for us!  We should have deserved such celestial bliss!!"

                "Now look who's being selfish!" growled Holly, his compassion for his friend nearly eating away his self-control.  Silverweed then laughed, his mirth sounding like a mad rabbit of eternal delusion and lies.

                "Enjoy the fates that have claimed so many lives of our rabbits!" he mocked, turning back to disappear into the thicket, "Of course, knowing none of you can perish, you may as well be comfortable when Elil-rah takes over this land and places all of your as his slaves, under his glorious rule!  And no one, not even your precious cross-bearer, shall be alive to oppose him!"  With that, he disappeared, leaving the rabbits to writhe and resist painfully in the snares of betrayal and deception.

                                                                                ***

                Justin groaned, feeling the piercing headache shoot directly into his skull as he regained consciousness.  He placed a head on his forehead, and he struggled to sit up from his sprawled, lying position on his back.  Unsteadily, Justin opened his eyes...only to realize that he was staring directly into the face of a white skull.

                "Aauugghh!" screamed Justin shrilly as he backed away, still in his sprawled position, in alarm and fright, his heart pounding.  Panting nervously, Justin forced himself to see that it was a rabbit skull, almost as large as a human head, stuck on a long, narrow pole embedded into the ground, and upon closer inspection, Justin realized, with revulsion, that the pole was made of a long, pale, shank of bone.  In fact, there were several other skulls displayed the exact same way, similar to the pig head in the famous story, "Lord of the Flies".  Justin then grasped his surroundings.  He was in some sort of monstrous cavern, large enough to fit an Ilip, but what made it sinister was the fact the entire dirt walls and ceilings were decorated with numerous pieces of bones of differing shapes and sizes, the assortments intricately arranged in a web-like pattern, interwoven amongst the gnarled, thick tree roots that grew from the ceiling and crawled alongside the dirt and bony walls.  At the far side of the wall was an unusual waterfall, fed from an underground stream spilling out of the mouth of a rabbit skull nailed to the top of the wall, and into a pool underneath.  Yet what was odd about the water was that is was dazzling white, glowing and fluorescent, as if the pool was not made of water, but thousands and thousands of white sparks.  It was comforting to have a light source in the empty, drafty cavern, but for now, Justin needed to find a way out.

                "Enjoying the sights of your surroundings, Justin?" commented a mellifluous, almost to the point of annoying, voice from behind the adolescent, "I would certainly be honored if I were in your position.  You are the first human to ever set sight of the Hall of Bones."

                "Hall of...?" but the question died in his throat as Justin turned around, and he nearly yelped in dread again.  Stepping out of the shadows were two rabbits, one large, larger than Silver or Bigwig, and the other significantly smaller, about the same size as Fiver.  The large rabbit appeared well groomed, his fur a creamy shade of brown, his pelt lustrous with not one hair out of place and very well groomed.  He wasn't wearing any clothes, but Justin noted, with disgust, that the large rabbit was wearing a necklace of bones of small skulls woven with thread and around his neck was a bronze collar, sickeningly matted with dried blood.  Justin could not tell if the rabbit was large because of muscle or fat, but he did notice a faintly sweet smell, almost like the smell of blossoming autumn flowers before they wilted away from the coldness of winter, surrounding both rabbits.  The younger, smaller rabbit was skinny, almost emaciated, with dark fur and a gray belly, and yet, he too, was wearing a bronze, bloodstained collar.  Yet, what was the most chilling and terrifying feature was their eyes; their pupils were much, much smaller than normal, allowing Justin to see white all around, and each had a wild, sadistic, insane look of the damned, like a mindless zombie, one completely devoid of any emotion and feeling.  Justin then realized who his oppressors were, the realization striking his stomach into a cold pit of ice, threatening to petrify him with fear at the thought of being in the same room with one of the greatest enemies of "Watership Down".

                "You're...you're Cowslip and Silverweed," Justin whispered in a hushed tone, shivering.

                "How surprising, you know our names.  I am quite pleased," smirked the larger rabbit (Cowslip), his voice drawling to a very annoying pitch of smugness and conceit, "Apparently, the stories of myself and Silverweed in your world have been spread far and wide in eminence, humans reeling with amazement and admiration at the simple mention of our names."

                The smaller rabbit (Silverweed) also chimed in, "Humans must be saying things about us already."

                "Don't flatter yourself," Justin said darkly at the rabbit, feeling that some action was needed if he wanted to get out of this alive, "None of it was any good."  He then grabbed his cross, amazed that Cowslip and Silverweed did not have the foresight to take away his weapon.

                "Time, stop!  Time-freeze Cowslip and Silverweed!"  There was a flash of light, but to Justin's horror, nothing happened and immediately, a heavy clamp immediately pressed against his throat, painfully pressing against his skin and bone, growing tighter and tighter, making it difficult for Justin to even swallow, his breathing threatening to stop.  Too much in pain, Justin keeled over on his hands and knees, rasping and sputtering madly as his inhalation was forced into becoming more and more shallow.  Cowslip and Silverweed cackled, their sick amusement sending shivers into Justin's spine.

                "AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Cowslip chortled, "Justin, you pitiful fool!  You actually think that we would be so imprudent and thoughtless as to not anticipate the use of your powers!  Look what you are wearing around your neck, you naive duffer!"  Justin did, and to his horror, he saw that Cowslip and Silverweed had attached some sort of collar around his neckline.  The collar was yellow, transparent, and felt as light as air, but it was quite painfully real as Justin could feel the cold, smooth surface underneath his fingertips and see his skin bruise into nasty shades of pink and red from underneath.  At one area of the collar was a square of blue, fluorescent metal with an old-fashioned keyhole.  Silverweed then spoke.

                "The object that will help keep you at our mercy is a snare-collar, Justin!  It reacts to the smallest amount of light from your cross and grows tighter around your neck at each time you try to use your powers of the cross-bearer, not to mention that it neutralizes any effect your jewel invokes!  So as you can see, you fool, there is no escape!  Each time you try to use your powers, you risk killing yourself as the snare-collar grows tighter and tighter with each blaze of light from your powers!  Which makes you completely vulnerable!"  Justin, realizing that Silverweed was right, in desperation, sprinted as fast as he could for the nearest tunnel, yet Cowslip was quicker.

                "I think not, you foolish boy!  SKELETON PAWS!" he crowed, and with a simple flick of his paw, two long, bony, skeletal arms complete with brittle paws erupted in front of Justin.  Moving on their own, the skeleton paws grabbed the teenager by seizing their cold, hard appendages around Justin's torso, pining his arms to his sides excruciatingly, lifting him until he was a foot off the ground.  Cowslip ambled over to him, leering.

                "Oh, did I forget to mention that Elil-rah gave me the power to summon the skeletal remains of past creatures at my command?  Any remnants of bone that has been buried underground, I can control and use to obey my every whim and wishes!  and since Elil-rah has graciously submerged every part of the land beyond life with skeletons of the dead, no matter where you and your precious Watership clan are, I can simply use my power to subdue you all!  So as you can see, young Justin, you could try escaping, but there would be nowhere in these lands where you could avoid my influence and domination!"

                Justin tried not to tremble as Cowslip grabbed his chin and forced the adolescent into his mad eyes of hate and oblivion.  Cowslip sneered, his breath, sickeningly sweet and warm, wafting into Justin's face, "Not that it would have mattered anyway.  Your friends are, how we should say, indisposed and Strawberry will be of no help to you.  Do you remember?  He has betrayed you to us!  He attacked you after you were weakened!  All of his journeys with you, all of his attempts to be close to you and gain your trust and friendship, everything was just a clever ruse!  He is as despicable and traitorous as we are!  He will not come to help you or your dear protectors from Watership Down!  He has abandoned you!  He has betrayed you!"

                Cowslip grinned at the thought of killing Justin's hope completely, making him think that his own friend betrayed him, lying to the boy about Strawberry's character, just to break and hurt the cross-bearer.  Yet what Justin said next surprised him.

                Justin growled intently, "You're lying!  Strawberry didn't betray me!  He would never betray me!  He's my friend, and I trust my life with him if I have to!  I don't believe you or your lies!"

                Cowslip's eyes narrowed as he snarled, "Do not delude yourself any further, Justin!  you saw Strawberry attack you with your own eyes!"

                "No, I saw Silverweed attack me."  Cowslip's eyes narrowed even further as his nose twitched; the boy guessed the truth.  The young cross-bearer continued on.

                "It all makes sense now, seeing you and Silverweed here in the Hall of Bones, working together.  You could have used your power to grab me away from Hazel and the rest of the rabbits, but you knew that would be risky, especially since they would find a way to rescue me.  So, you had Elil-rah bless Silverweed with a power, and it's just like his poetry, using it to give people a sense of illusion, a ruse.  Silverweed's power is to shapeshift, to magically look like any being he wishes in appearance, whether it be a human, an enemy...or a rabbit like Strawberry.  That way, you could have an easier time to separate me from the rest of the group."  Silverweed, seeing as how the boy now knew the reality, smiled wickedly as he shimmered into the appearance of Strawberry, then an injured Justin, then to Hazel-rah, then to an Ilip, before returning back into his normal form.

                Silverweed guffawed, "Ha!  You figured out the truth too late, you desolate human!  Now you are completely under our power and mercy, with no possible chance of liberation!  You are truly juvenile and childish beyond any creature in this land!"

                "And you two are just pathetic," retorted Justin, which earned him a hard cuff by Cowslip across his face, leaving several, bloody gashes on his left cheek.  Suddenly, to Justin's joy, a familiar voice rang out as a figure steeped out of the shadows and into the Hall of Bones.

                "Let him go, Cowslip."

                Cowslip and Silverweed turned to see it was none other than Strawberry, his fur quivering with anger, his eyes red with fury, his claws ready to tear and cuff the two rabbits until they were nothing more than bloody pulps.  Silverweed glared at him.

                "How long have you been hiding in the shadows, you traitorous wretch?!"

                "Long enough," Strawberry scowled simply, "Release him now, Cowslip."

                "Come now, Strawberry," Cowslip sneered, "Despite your misgivings and convictions, there is no better life than the ones Elil-rah has offered us!  The simple life of wits and trickery of El-ahrairah is not the life for any smart rabbit!  Ease, comfort, riches, physical beauty!  Can you not see, you fool?  Elil-rah is the true Prince and Lord of the land beyond life, and you, my dear friend, can understand that!  You have lived that life before!  Join us!  You never left the Warren of the Shining Wires in the first place!  It will always be a part of you as well as you are a part of it!  Join us, Strawberry!"

                "I'd rather die again," roared Strawberry as he charged, but to his horror, he also felt a strangling sensation around his neck the instant he pounced, and when he looked down, to his anguished woe, he found that magically, a bronze, bloodstained collar turned up, encasing his neck, but Justin noted that it was more transparent and ghostly than the collars of Cowslip and Silverweed.

                Strawberry gasped as he was being choked, "What in the name of El-ahrairah did you do to me?!"

                Cowslip cackled with perverse glee.  "I did not need to perform anything, you fat duffer!  Can you not see?  this is your fate, the misdeeds and sins of your past coming back to haunt you!  The snare-collar that you wear around your neck is a lingering reminder of the dark deeds you have performed in leading your own flesh and blood to the shining wires, just to save your own hide!  And now, those past transgressions have hunted you down to this very Hall of Bones, to bind your life into darkness and madness with no way out!  How do you think Silverweed and I came to be trapped with these infernal collars and in the Hall of Bones?!  These collars have ensued use since our deaths!"

                "What happened?" asked Justin.

                "We were wiped out," Cowslip muttered bitterly, "We kept sending rabbits to the shining wires to appease the farmer, but as the seasons passed, he began to set out more and more snares, greedy in his pillage for rabbits, and he also became parsimonious in the flayrah bounty he set for our meals!  As a result, the does in our warren could produce less and less healthy kittens for the warren to continue on, but more and more of our rabbits died because of the abundance of snares!  Soon, there was only Silverweed and myself who lived beyond the rest of the warren, and we thought that the farmer would believe he had wiped out the entire warren with his snares and leave us alone!  But it was not to be!  He became so intent on getting the last remaining survivors of the warren, he and several farm hands had quarried out the warren, destroying it!  With no place to run or hide, we both died, each shot to death by the farmer's gun, but when we arrived here in the land beyond life, we found we were punished with these infernal collars of dishonesty and indulgence, to wear them forevermore until our redemption!"

                "You got what you deserved for leading all those rabbits to their deaths and for trying to kill off Bigwig!" shouted Justin.

                "Oh, really?" scoffed Cowslip, "Then how do you explain Strawberry's position?  He is no better than any of us from the Warren of the Shining Wires!"  He then turned to Strawberry who was weakened and lying, panting on the ground.  "It was not fair to see you escape from that life, from this tharn, blighted punishment!  It was not just to see that you found salvation ,while we had to suffer for the same crimes and wrongdoings you have made!"

                "I found salvation because of El-ahrairah, you buffoon!" snarled Strawberry, still drained, "El-ahrairah is the true Prince of all Rabbits who helped me see that there was more to life than good food, sloth, and false security!  If you just put your trust in El-ahrairah, you could find redemption as well, Cowslip!"  Silverweed and Cowslip snorted at the notion.

                "Never would we do such a irrational deed, you lost fool!" sneered Silverweed, "We love the life of gluttony and indolence, and to give it all up to follow El-ahrairah would make us weak!  For that is what your Lord and Prince is, a weak, pathetic, inadequate, powerless simpleton!  He is a fool!"

                "You're the fool, you wretch!" snarled Strawberry.

                "Enough of this!" commanded Cowslip, "As you can see, Strawberry, now that we have Justin in our complete handling, Elil-rah shall now reward us for being such faithful followers!  He will give us the key to free us from these infernal collars of sins!  Now, my master Elil-rah!  Come and see our fruits of labor!"  Immediately, there was a rumbling as the sparkling waterfall parted to reveal of swirling mass of darkness, a window of black aura connecting the Hall of Bones to the view of Elil-rah's warren.  What Justin and Strawberry saw next chilled them so greatly, they could not even scream.  A pair of large, red eyes, large than the eye span of any creature Justin could imagine, with black slits as pupils, hazy from the surrounding smoke, glared viciously at them.  They were evil, brimming with malevolence and gloom, and yet, though Justin could not explain it...there was something, something recognizable about those eyes.  A malicious, deep, harsh voice resounded throughout the cavern.

                "MY SERVANTS, COWSLIP AND SILVERWEED, I AM QUITE PLEASED TO SEE THAT YOU TWO HAVE NOT FAILED ME!!!  YOU HAVE SUCEEDED IN ACCOMPLISHING WHAT THOSE OTHER INCOMPETENT, BUMBLING FOOLS HAVE NOT!!!  YOU BOTH SHALL BE REWARDED!!!"

                From the portal of darkness, an object shot out, only to float in a crimson orb of light and to set lightly into Cowslip's paws.  It was a bronze key, old fashioned like the bygone days, with a handle made of a crystal-clear vial filled with a red, thick liquid of blood.  Elil-rah continued.

                "THIS KEY IS YOURS, COWSLIP AND SILVERWEED!!  IT SHALL FREE YOU FROM YOUR SINS AND TROUBLES, MADE ESPECIALLY TO FIT YOUR PURPOSE!!!  THE VIAL YOU SEE IN THE HANDLE OF THE KEY IS FILLED WITH A BIT OF THE BLOOD OF EL-AHRAIRAH!!!  MY MINIONS WERE SUCCESSFUL IN EXTRACTION HIS LIFE-FORCE IN ORDER TO CREATE SUCH A TOOL FOR YOUR FREEDOM, MY SERVANTS!!!"

                "Thank you, oh gracious master!" Silverweed cried, bowing, "And, the cross-bearer?"

                "THE CROSS-BEARER STILL POSES A THREAT TO ME, HIM AND HIS CROSS OF LIGHT, LOVE, AND HOPE!!!  AS SOON AS YOU FREE YOURSELVES FROM YOUR ACCURSED COLLARS, KILL HIM!!!  KILL HIM AND ENSLAVE THE OWSLA OF WATERSHIP DOWN AND EL-AHRAIRAH!!!   DO NOT FAIL ME IN THESE TASKS, YOU DUFFERS!!!  I HAVE SHOWN YOU MY BENEVOLENCE; DO NOT DARE BETRAY ME OR FALL SHORT OF MY EXPECTATIONS!!!"

                "We will not, oh Blessed Dark Lord!" praised Cowslip nauseatingly, and the portal of darkness vanished, only to be replaced by the waterfall of sparkling water.  Silverweed was exuberant.

                "Quickly, Cowslip!  Use to key to free the both of us!  Quickly, my comrade!"

                Cowslip's eyes glittered in cold treachery.  "'Comrade'??  I think not you fool!!"

                With a brutal shove, Cowslip pushed Silverweed to the floor, thrusting the diminutive rabbit away from his presence by several feet.  Silverweed was outraged with shock and confusion.

                "How...how could you?!!  I deserve salvation as well!!  I was the one who helped the embleer Watership rabbits turn on Strawberry!!" shrieked Silverweed piercingly within the dark, echoing, empty hall of bones.

                "And I appreciate your help, you old, poetic fool!" laughed Cowslip at the stunned form of Silverweed on the hard-packed ground, "Yet it is not enough to actually make me willing to be so compassionate and merciful and generous!!  You actually thought I would be so willing to share the fruits of Elil-rah's promises and glorious gifts with a shallow, pathetic miscreant such as yourself?!!  You are a truly sad and miserable creature!!  I, and I alone, deserve to sit at the right paw of my master, Elil-rah!"

                "I WILL RIP YOU APART BEFORE THAT HAPPENS!!" screamed Silverweed in an eerily, shrill voice, enough to rattle the bones lining the roof, as he rose and charged at Cowslip.  Unfortunately, Cowslip, being the heavier, sturdier one, was able to easily able to send Silverweed flying with a single cuff.  With a simply flick of his paw, Cowslip invoked skeleton paws to pin Silverweed to the ground.  Yet before he could use the key, he was roughly tackled by Strawberry from behind.   Strawberry, who regained his strength, fought with Cowslip as hard as he could, using the trainings of the countless Owsla sessions he had endured for such purposes.  Yet unfortunately, Cowslip outweighed Strawberry by a great deal.

                "You annoying, little pest!!!" roared Cowslip as he cuffed Strawberry hard across the face, stunning the brave warrior on his back, giving Cowslip the chance to call forth even more bony appendages to pin Strawberry's paws and hind legs to the ground, leaving the Watership rabbit on his back, defenseless and completely vulnerable.  Unfinished, Cowslip leapt on Strawberry's stomach ruthlessly and started to attack his face, scratching, ripping, and biting while Strawberry squealed in pain.

                Justin looked on as Cowslip kept torturing Strawberry mercilessly, and he knew deep down, in his heart, there was no other preferable choice.  He shut his eyes, unable to grasp his cross necklace around his neck due to the skeletal arms clutching his entire torso in a death grip, and whispered, "Please!  Please!  I...I don't care what happens to me!  Please!  Give Strawberry a power!  Give him a force to help him fight against Cowslip and Silverweed!  Please, just work just this once!"

                The cross, though unnoticed by the sadistic Cowslip and the whining Silverweed, started to increase its luminescence ever so slightly, and Justin could feel the shining collar around his neck squeeze even tighter, his breath now aflame with pain and agony as his lungs bawled for air and his vision started to blur.  Justin, due to the lack of oxygen, sank to his knees before toppling to his side.  Despite the pain, Justin kept praying wildly, Please, please, let this work!  Meanwhile, Cowslip was taking great pleasure at rending Strawberry's fur and flesh to ribbons as the Watership Owsla kept squealing, unable to defend himself, as chunks of his flesh and bloodied skin flicked wildly in the air.

                "Where is your mighty and omnipotent El-ahrairah now, Strawberry?!" he gleefully gloated, half yelling with triumph and sickening perversion, "Where are you friends, your sworn comrades who would always stand by you?!  Admit the truth, you traitorous wretch!!  When it comes down to it, you are no better than the rest of us, your past will never let you go, and you will never be anything more than a weak, cosseted, dandy from the Warren of Shining Wires!!  Your destiny lies with all those other useless dolts who died for no other great purpose other than to save my own fur and paw!!  Just like your precious Nildro-hain!!"

                That was Cowslip's fatal mistake.  At the mention of those words, Strawberry, despite his wounds, one ear hacked to ribbons, and his right eye swollen shut, glared at Cowslip with such a look of vengeance, of rage, of power, of strength that neither Cowslip nor Silverweed could ever comprehend, it actually made the antagonist gasp.  Fueled by the inner fire of passion and determination in his heart, Strawberry growled powerfully, "My destiny...is to protect the cross-bearer and El-ahrairah!!!"

                With a bellow of rage that would have rivaled Shardik the bear's roars of anger and might, Strawberry's entire body drew in the power of Justin's cross, illuminating the red, chubby rabbit with halos and pillars of gold, burning the bones that kept him and Silverweed pinned to the ground into ashes and glowing so brightly, a force of momentum from nowhere struck Cowslip in the chest and sent him and Silverweed flying, crashing hard into the wall on the far side.  Cowslip had a look of insane murder in his angry eyes as he struggled to rise.  Strawberry, his sides heaving, stood shakily on his hind legs, trying to quickly think of a solution as he absent-mindedly wiped away the thin stream of blood trickling from his gashed nose.  Yet, to his surprise, El-ahrairah gave him the answer as he spoke to his Watership Owsla warrior with his empathic spirit, exactly as he had done before with Blackberry.

                Strawberry, thank you.

                "El...El-ahrairah?" Strawberry gasped out loud, a bit fazed that he heard his Lord and Prince of all Rabbits speaking to him in his head, echoing in the crevices of his mind intensely yet soothingly; but rationally pushing down his shock and panic, Strawberry then conversed back using his own thoughts.

                For...for what?

                For being loyal, to me and your own friends, to your mission, to your legacy, your true legacy, and not to your past mistakes or your life of deceit and falsehood that you had so previously lived before.  Strawberry, listen to what I say carefully!  Cowslip and Silverweed are incredibly formidable and dangerous, but you can do this!  You can win!  You must believe in yourself, believe in the faith and love your friends have for you.

                Strawberry almost felt the bile burn at the back of his windpipe, hot wetness starting to surge in his eyes as he stared into space with a mixture of loathing and incredible loneliness.

                It can't be, my Lord.  I...I have no friends, and...and I'm all alone.  You cannot possibly have any faith in a rabbit like me, a rabbit no better than Cowslip, Strawberry thought with extreme hurt and choking sadness surging in his throat, recalling with bitterness at Hazel-rah and the other Watership rabbits' accusations and silent failures to come to his defense.

                El-ahrairah could feel the hurt, the brokenness, the urge to give in to the desperation and the helplessness, the self-blame and self-pity.  Yet, his next words echoed his love and hope for his "outcast".

                You're not alone, my child.

                Strangely enough, Strawberry was a bit startled.  That was the first time he had heard El-ahrairah, the Lord and Prince of all rabbits of the past, present, and future, call anyone his child.  The Prince of all Rabbits continued.

                I will always be with you, regardless of what others say or what you do, for you will never be too far from my benevolence and guidance, from my care, and from my devotion and spirit.  You, Strawberry-rah, may have been a misfit, one who was not born into the life of a normal rabbit...but you are my misfit.  You are a rabbit, and though Cowslip has lost that right of identity, you have not, and you never will lose that legacy.  And lest you forget, the boy, Justin, has not abandoned you nor is he willing to forsake your well being for his sake.

                Strawberry shot a horrified glance at Justin, seeing the teenager still being ruthlessly strangled from the magic collar around his neck, whimpering and half-conscious as he kept trying to invoke the magic powers of his cross.  He realized that Justin's attempt was causing the collar around his neck to strangle him even further, bring him closer and closer to the brink of death.

                "What in the name of Frith is he doing?!" gasped Strawberry, fearing Justin would kill himself from the effort, "My Lord, please, make him stop!"

                If you want him to stop, if you want to save him, then use the power he has given you, with my blessings.

                "P...power??"

                Strawberry, do not let the boy die in vain!  He has used the cross, at his own risk, to bathe your soul, your loyalty, your heart, with its protection and light.  Can you not feel it?

                Strawberry closed his eyes, still breathing heavily from his wounds.  Yet, to his surprise, he could sense what El-ahrairah was trying to tell him.  Every single fiber of his body felt warm, surging with might and energy, and though he could not explain it, Strawberry could actually be aware of the earth, the ground, the living force of the soil.  The life, the presence of the entities that had given birth to plants and mountains and sheltered thousands of animals with sanctuary and food, the eons and eons of past creatures that have traveled on the hallowed soil, the lands formed and divided by the vigor of the Gaia, the knowledge of it all came rushing to Strawberry's mind in an overwhelming, vigorous rush.  It was as if he was one with the terrain.  Cowslip, now finally able to recover from the inexplicable attack, started to run towards Strawberry in a frenzied, frothing rage, intent to ripping him to shreds.

                "You will not triumph this time, Strawberry!!" he screamed, his foolish madness and pompous views burning with anger and bloodthirsty wrath, "I will not lose!!  I will never lose!!!  I am the supreme rabbit servant of Elil-rah!!!"

                Cowslip pounced with teeth bared and claws outstretched, ready to destroy the Watership rabbit, but Strawberry and El-ahrairah were quicker.  El-ahrairah spoke his final words as his presence faded into obscurity from Strawberry's perception.

                Now, Strawberry, use the blessings of Digger and Swift-Warning given to you by Frith!  Combine it with the light and power of the cross-bearer!  The earth is yours to command!  Show Cowslip and Elil-rah the power of our legacy!

                Strawberry's head snapped up quickly as his brown eyes widened slightly underneath the glare he shot at his former acquaintance.  Before Cowslip could even touch Strawberry, in an instant, by magic, a wave of earth and ground emerged from the ground, hurtling and rumbling from the ground with a huge intensity.  In a moment, the swell of dirt surged forward, crashing into the wretched Cowslip and actually carrying him before crushing him painfully against the jutted surface of the hall of bones.  Cowslip sank to the floor as the tidal wave of earth subsided, blood pouring out of his fur as pointed pieces of bone from the wall actually embedded themselves into his flesh.  Still, he managed to growl with extreme contempt, "How dare you, you impertinent, fat..."

                Strawberry did not give Cowslip even a chance to complete his sentence as the orange rabbit gave a fierce flick with his wounded arm.  Immediately, the entire Hall of Bones started to rumble and jerk violently as an earthquake struck the entire warren, forceful enough to crack and fracture the skeleton arms that were pinning down Justin, splintering them into pieces of hollow marrow and milky-white shards.  A huge surge of soil erupted from the ground underneath Cowslip, and Cowslip could only squeal with a mixture of fright and outrage as a column of packed dirt erupted and pushed the deceitful rabbit upwards, only to crash into the ceiling, bringing down a shower of bones and skulls.  The pillar crumpled into harmless dirt, releasing the slothful, wicked enemy to come hurtling back down to the floor again with a heavy thud.  Cowslip was twitching madly as he struggled to rise and attack Strawberry, but to his horror, he realized that the brunt of the attack has snapped his spinal cord, and with helpless antagonism, Cowslip realized he could no longer stand on his own paws without feeling excruciating stabs of fire burning from the severed nerves and flesh as his back was broken and strewed in an odd angle.  As he struggled, Justin, though dizzy and on the verge of blacking out, noticed that the enemy rabbit dropped something during his agonizing movements.

                "For my friends!" snarled Strawberry as he flung a tidal wave of earth to collide with Cowslip and Silverweed, pressing them with great force against the bone-covered wall with a crash.

                "For El-ahrairah!"  With an angry flick of his paw, an avalanche of earth from the ceiling collapsed onto Cowslip and Silverweed, pinning them under the suffocating weight.

                "For myself," he declared in clear finality before stomping on the ground, repeatedly with the gift of swift-warning.  Cowslip and Silverweed managed to extract themselves from the rubble, only to find with surprise that Strawberry was only stamping hard on the ground.

                "The pitiful fool!" growled Cowslip as he wiped blood off his brow and jaw, "What does he hope to accomplish with such an...?"  Yet then Cowslip saw the answer.  Strawberry's power not only allowed him to manipulate the dirt and soil, but it also allowed him to send powerful vibrations of power deep into the ground due to his hind foot stamping, each blow magnified to more than a thousand times over, causing the entire Hall of Bones to rumble, tremble, and slowly fall apart as it began to collapse in deadly, falling debris of bone and rock.  Strawberry was creating another earthquake, this one so powerful, it was destroying the entire Hall of Bones...and disintegrating the very ground on which Cowslip and Silverweed were standing on.  The ground cracked open, collapsing inwardly towards a deep, dark, wide abyss of nothingness, taking in and engulfing Cowslip and Silverweed into the dark chasm.

                "There, take that you embleer -!" Strawberry shouted, but then he noticed to his horror that Justin was stumbling into the void as well.  He got too close to the earthquake, and like Cowslip and Silverweed, he too, was in danger of stumbling into the dark pit of nothingness.

                "Justin!!" yelled Strawberry as he leapt towards the human teenager who toppled over, losing his balance.

                "Strawberry!!" hollered Justin as Strawberry managed to grab one of the adolescent's hand, nearly painfully wringing Justin's arm out of his socket as Justin dangled precariously with Strawberry using all his strength to ensure that the cross-bearer would not disappear in the unknown depths, lying flat on his stomach at the very edge of the chasm.  One further nudge or if Strawberry lost his hold on Justin's hand would prove fatal, and Strawberry did not know if he could hang on to Justin much longer.  And the inability for Justin to use his powers of levitation and flight made the situation even more dangerous.

                "Justin, give me your other hand!" Strawberry yelled shrilly, urgently.  It appeared that Justin was holding something in the other appendage tightly, protectively to his chest.  Justin shook his head as he winced from the pain of his arm from so much strain and from the falling clods of dirt showering down.  If Strawberry did not help Justin escape the Hall of Bones soon, they would be buried alive when the entire warren collapses due to Strawberry's earthquake.

                "Justin, don't be stubborn!  Give me your other hand!!" Strawberry yelled at him, heated, "I'm not going to let you die!!"

                I can't lost this, thought Justin with fatigue as he brought up his other hand, but Strawberry was stunned when he saw what Justin was holding.  It was the key Elil-rah gave to Cowslip to free him from the collar, the dull metal glinting from the light of the cross.

                "Strawberry, here take it!  It's they key Elil-rah gave to Cowslip to free them from their collars!  You can use it to save yourself!  Cowslip dropped it!!"

                Strawberry was stunned, shaken.  The cross-bearer, risked his own life, his own safety, just to bring the key, the only thing that could possibly free Strawberry from his curse, his past, his mistakes, back to his Watership protector.

                "Justin??" Strawberry gasped as the ceiling stated to collapse even further.  time was running out for the both of them.

                "Hurry!  Take it!" pleaded Justin, but unfortunately, Cowslip appeared from underneath and grabbed at Justin's leg, holding on to him hazardously.  Cowslip managed to prevent himself from falling by clinging frantically to the walls of the gulch, and seeing a way out, he grabbed on to the teenager and started dragging the both of them in with his heavy weight.  Justin screamed in pain at being pulled in opposite directions as Strawberry gasped and tried to maintain his holding, his paws and arms burning painfully at the extra exertion.  Cowslip laughed maniacally as he kept pulling on Justin and Strawberry, dragging them closer and closer to falling off into the chasm as the ceiling was about to give away.

                "You fools haven't won yet!!" Cowslip roared, "I will not perish alone!!  Both of you shall suffer with me!!  I shall drag you both to your deaths!!! Ahahahahaha!!!"

                "Let him go!" Strawberry howled as the entire Hall of Bones gave way.  In a spilt second, as Strawberry, Justin, and Cowslip were all about to be buried by the tons of dirt, rock, and bone, Strawberry heard Justin holler, "TELEPORT!!!  TELEPORT US BACK TO HAZEL AND THE OTHERS!!!"

                "NO!!!" shrieked Cowslip as the bodies of Strawberry and Justin disappeared in golden sparks, teleporting back to their friends, leaving Cowslip to hold on to nothing as he fell into the abyss with the endless amounts of earth trailing behind.

                "NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" screamed the fading voice of Cowslip before the vast amounts of wreckage crushed the bodies of him and Silverweed at the rocky bottom, filling the entire cavern until it was nothing more than a rocky grave.

                                                                                ***

                "I can't get free!!" squealed Pipkin, crying in unbearable pain as the wires drew more blood, staining his fur, and Hazel was completely at a loss.  All of them were unable to assist each other from the dangerous traps, yet then, phenomenally and astonishingly, a inferno of golden light materialized in the midst of the fracas, revealing an injured, fatigued, yet conscious Strawberry, cradling an unconscious Justin in his paws and holding a bronze key.

                "Strawberry!" Fiver cried joyously.

                "Old chap, help us get loose!" called out Holly, and Strawberry nodded without hesitation.  With a loud stomp on the sodden ground, Strawberry let loose a precise, violent tremor that was powerful enough to shatter the metal wires, making them snap and releasing all of the Watership rabbits from their prison.

                "Strawberry!!" Buckthorn shouted in relief, "Are you all right, bucko?!"

                Strawberry was shivering, traumatized, but he was coherent enough to awkwardly to touch the head of the key to the collar choking his neck.  There was a faint, unlocking noise as the collar crumbled away, fading in the rain.

                "Justin!!" Campion cried out in grief as he rushed next to Strawberry's side.  Strawberry then touched the key to Justin's collar, inserting it directly into the keyhole.  Another faint click, and the evil snare-collar fell off Justin's neck as the rain started to drench the adolescent's still body.

                "Where is that wretch, Silverweed?!  And that cowardly Cowslip?!" Silver said uneasily, still ashamed and remorseful on his earlier behavior towards Strawberry.

                Strawberry slightly hesitated before stating, "They're gone!  Elil-rah took them away when I used my powers to fight them and protect Justin!!  I used it to destroy the Hall of Bones, the warren of Cowslip and Silverweed!  Elil-rah took them back to his warren of darkness, so they were able to get out safely!  They're not at the Hall of Bones anymore, so there's no need to go back and seek vengeance and retribution on them!"  Hazel and the others nodded, accepting this, but Strawberry noticed that Fiver was staring at him strangely.  Yet to his slight comfort, Fiver sadly smiled and shook his head; he knew the truth...but he was not going to say anything.  Strawberry then turned his attention to the unconscious teenager.  Justin's face was blue, the rain pounding and dousing his clothes and body with cold water, blood dripping out of his mouth as he remained flaccid.  Strawberry felt his blood run cold as the rain showered down on all of the Watership rabbits.

                 "Justin?" Strawberry asked softly, nuzzling Justin's head with his nose, "Wake up.  The collar is off.  You're free."

                Justin remained still and limp, and his head slowly moved back and forth under Strawberry's snout.  Trembling, with icy remorse clutching his heart, Strawberry tried to shake the motionless teenager awake as he laid cold and lifeless in Strawberry's paws.

                "Justin, please wake.  Please??"  Strawberry begged the last word, almost whispering, as the tears started to sparkle in his eyes.  It couldn't be, it just couldn't; Strawberry wouldn't let him go.  Half whimpering and breathing heavily, Blackberry put his nose close to Justin's bloody mouth, saliva and a trickle of blood already starting to crust in the cool air; the black-eared rabbit could not feel any warm air, any breathing.  Nearly tharn from shock and dread, Blackberry placed his ear against Justin's chest, but there was no pulse, no rhythmic beating in his body.  Justin's heart, from the prolonged strangulation and asphyxiation of the snare-collar, had stopped.  He has been strangled to death.  Hazel and the others watched with wide eyes and numb coldness as Blackberry stiffly stood upright, looked at all of them with immense misery sketching his visage, shook his head slowly, and then buried his head in his paws as he wept.  Campion, Pipkin, Silver, Buckthorn, Hawkbit and Dandelion were already starting to cry, and Bluebell and Speedwell were actually bawling.  Bigwig, Holly, Fiver, Acorn just looked at Justin blankly and with great loss and sadness, their sorrow so deep, they were incapable of showing any emotion.  They all just stood there, their fur forming into wet clumps and dripping with rain and sorrow.  Hazel-rah mournfully hopped beside Strawberry as gingerly placed a paw on the sobbing Strawberry's shoulder, still cradling Justin in his arms.

                "I'm...I'm so sorry, Strawberry.  I...I don't know what to say to make you feel better about this but -"

                "Just shut up, Hazel-rah!"  The bitter, distraught shout actually stunned the entire party, and the Watership Owsla stared at Strawberry with shock as he glared venomously at his Chief rabbit.  He continued.

                "You do not know anything about how I feel, about how lonely and hurt I felt when Bigwig and Silver accused me of attempted murder on Justin, how none of you came to my defense before, how you couldn't trust me, believe in me, and how none of us can say anything that could make this better again!  Damn it, Hazel-rah, can't you see?!  Justin died for me!  He died because of me, and I have to live with that guilt and not to mention that I have to face that fact that we lost the mission of saving El-ahrairah, and if you were any kind of competent Chief Rabbit, you would have realized that!!"

                "Strawberry, we all share that guilt.  All of us have let Justin and El-ahrairah down, and you aren't the one to blame," Hazel consoled softly, but Strawberry's voice was cold, bitter, as he spoke his next words to the Watership leader.

                "No, but you are."  Hazel just stood there, stunned, taking in the accusation as Pipkin gasped with scandal and hurt.

                Strawberry, wet streaks matting his furry face, growled through his angry crying as thunder rumbled in the sky, "You could have stopped all this!  You could have made the decision to dismiss the accusations about me when Silverweed was disguised as Justin!  You could have had more faith and trust in me, after all I have gone through with you back in our physical lifetimes!  Embleer Frith in a hole, you're the bally leader!  We look up to you to make the right choice!  You should have known better than to even think that I'd betray Justin, but you didn't!  You couldn't!!  You just stood there and kept silent, unsure about what to do, and you did not object to Bigwig and Silver banishing me away, even after I swore my innocence!!  Embleer Frith, if you were any type of a brilliant leader, you would have remembered all that, gotten down to the bottom of this whole mess, and Justin would not have had to die by saving me!!  Justin died because of your hesitance and indecision!"

                "Strawberry, that's enough!!" snarled Bigwig, ready to hurt him, but Holly stopped him.

                "Hazel-rah?" Acorn asked his leader carefully, softly, hoping that his Chief could reason with Strawberry's accusations, but sadly enough, Hazel couldn't.  Strawberry's words were sharp and spoken in the moment of anger and rage...and yet, Hazel could not defend himself, could not say anything to convince that the events were not of his error, and could not stop from letting the avalanche of blame and self-disgust fall and bury his heart and soul.  You could not object to someone who spoke the truth.  Strawberry, his frustrations spent, turned his attention back to Justin's body and, in his mindless aggravation, started pounding on Justin's chest in remorseful grief.

                "Embleer Frith, Justin, you...you idiot!  You fool!  Why did you always have to be so stubbornly noble and loyal?!!  Why couldn't you have left me behind?!!"

                Strawberry kept pounding on Justin's upper torso even harder, his blows thumping rigorously on the boy's ribcage and heart.  Understanding Strawberry's angst, none of the rabbits, not even Hazel and Bigwig, could find the strength to object to the act of senseless violence as the Watership Owsla warrior kept pounding on Justin's body, actually causing it to convulse and jerk slightly with each blow.

                "You idiot!"

                Thump!

                "You fool!"

                Thump!

                "I didn't want you to die!!"

                Thump!

                "Damn you!"

                Thump!

                "You abandoned El-ahrairah!"

                Thump!

                "You abandoned our future, our home, our world!"

                Thump!

                "You abandoned all of us!"

                Thump!

                "All...all...for my sake," whimpered Strawberry, sniveling, his voice now dropping to a whisper, his sadness overwhelming him, and letting his paw drop, the enervated Strawberry thumped Justin's body one final time as the reddish-orange rabbit softly, lovingly embraced the teenager, cradling his departed friend, realizing it was now all over.

                And yet...it was far from it.

                What Strawberry did not realize was that if the human heart has stopped, it is possible to regenerate its animate beating again if done quickly enough in a short window of opportune time.  In the human world, such a feat is possible if applied with a mild, electric shock, CPR, resuscitation...or blunt force on the chest cavity.  Unbeknownst to Strawberry or the rest of the Watership party, Strawberry's power was giving forth strong vibrations throughout his heart and body, similar to the ones that allowed Strawberry to manipulate the ground and summon earthquakes with his gift of swift-warning, coursing the teenage cross-bearer with enough force to nearly crack his ribcage...and strong enough to rekindle the last spark of life in Justin's perishing heart before it could die out.

                "HUUUUHHHHHH!!!"  Justin's eyes flew wide open as he sat up suddenly, inhaling air sharply with a long, lung-filling gasp, filling his tired body with precious, life-giving oxygen and cooling the burning sensation lining his lungs and head.  The other rabbits, with shock at the sight of Justin spring back to life, went tharn as their jaws dropped and their eyes went glassy from disbelief, and Strawberry was so surprised, he nearly dropped Justin.  Justin, still weak, fell back in Strawberry's arms as he coughed and sputtered, still trying to take in more and more air.  His eyes were fluttering to stay open, his brain felt like heated mush, his body too weak to even stand up for the moment, and blood was crusting over his mouth and clothes.  And yet, Justin, miraculously and with fantastic joyfulness, was now alive, more or less.

                "Ju...Justin???" Strawberry whispered incredulously, his eyes, though glassy and wide with amazement, was watering with relief and building elation.

                Justin managed to whisper, panting laboriously and nodding, "I...I think I'm...I'm OK...Strawberry."

                The teenager then managed to give a small grin as he noticed Strawberry's cut and bruised face, his facial fur dark with dried blood, and his blackened right eye.  He quipped as Strawberry's tears mixed with the rain and splashed on his forehead, "You're a sight for sore eyes."

                "Justin!" Strawberry accomplished in choking out his dry mouth, and unable to speak anymore, wordlessly yet with great happiness, Strawberry shut his eyes and held Justin tightly and longingly.  The other rabbits started cheering as they rushed about around Strawberry and Justin, sniffing, licking, and nuzzling the both of them with their noses and soaked bodies.

                "Justin!" wept Pipkin happily as he started to sob with delight.

                "Frith above, don't scare us like that again!" Campion sighed deeply as he wrapped his paws around Justin and Strawberry.

                "He's alive!!  He's alive!!  Thank the stars, the cross-bearer is alive!!!" applauded Speedwell, giddily running and jumping around them.

                "And it couldn't have been done without you, Strawberry, old chap," Holly said softly as he touched noses with Strawberry's.  The orange buck managed to give a weak smile of comforting respite.

                "I second that, Holly!" chuckled Buckthorn with relief as he placed a firm, assuring paw around Strawberry's shoulders.  Yet, as the Watership rabbits celebrated Justin's recovery with noisy celebration, no one, not even Justin, noticed that Hazel-rah stood outside and apart from the group, looking at them with a sad, distant look in his eyes.  It was almost as if he was now the outcast of the family.

                                                                                ***

                "Do we have to?" groaned Bigwig inwardly as he, Hawkbit, Silver, and Bluebell gathered around with Campion, Buckthorn, and Holly a bit far-off from where Justin was healing Strawberry with his cross's healing powers.  It was not too much later after Strawberry and Justin had been reunited with their band, and now, all the rabbits were contently chewing pellets and talking and joking with the cross-bearer and Strawberry.  The rain had stopped, and the grass was moist, but clean and dewy.  Hazel went off by himself, alone, to contemplate and get his head together (as he put it), and the rest of the Watership Owsla, understanding this, though they were all slightly worried, did not object to their Chief Rabbit's wishes.  Justin's flannel shirt was seriously ripped, with one sleeve in tatters, and dried blood littered his clothes and grotesquely stained the inside of his mouth red.  There was also a long, ugly, red welt circling entirely around his neck, the skin bruised and torn, as a result of the magical snare-collar Cowslip had inflicted on Justin.  Yet, Justin didn't seem to take notice of his wounds as he seemed happy, content, while using healing sunlight to mend the remaining neck wound on Strawberry's throat.  The same wound that Bigwig imposed on the buck when the Owsla captain tried to hurt Strawberry for attempting to murder Justin.  Or so they all thought, Holly thought sadly with a hint of self-blame.  However, one good thing came out of this horrible ordeal: Strawberry had strengthened the other rabbits' trust in him and his loyalties after seeing, despite being wronged, still courageous and firm in his dedication to protect Justin.  He was truly an Owsla rabbit El-ahrairah could be proud of, and the encouraging, loving praise from his friends and Justin made him happier than he could have ever felt before.  He may not have been able to change his past, but what touched him was that Justin did not think of Strawberry any less of a friend and loved one because of it, and that made Strawberry successful in establishing a deeper bond of fondness and reassurance with the boy along with abolishing his fear of mistrust and isolation and doubt.

                "Yes," snapped Holly heated, his voice having little room for pity, especially since all the other rabbits, with the exception of Bigwig, Silver, Hawkbit, and Bluebell, had sincerely and genuinely apologized for not believing in Strawberry's innocence, to which, Strawberry gave them complete and gracious forgiveness.  The buck was just grateful that they were all a family again.  Grumbling and muttering oaths under his breath, Bigwig along with Silver, Hawkbit, and Bluebell hopped over to where the rest of the party had gathered, chatting and laughing animatedly.

                "So, Strawberry, how on earth did you ever defeat Cowslip?  What on earth did you do?" Pipkin asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.  Justin answered for the buck.

                "Seismokinesis."

                "Huh?  'Sees-mo-can-ee-sis'??!  Frith above, the words you humans can come up with!" blurted a confused Dandelion, the golden rabbit stumbling on the syllables of the alien word.  Justin giggled as he explained to Dandelion, "No, it's pronounced, 'Sais-mo-kin-ee-sis'.  It basically means the ability to control the earth, to make it move at your will, to create earthquakes, like the ones that Elil-rah sent to wreck the forests at the Lands of Yesterday and Tomorrow, remember? I think...my cross gave Strawberry the power to do the exact same thing, so that he could fight against Cowslip and Silverweed."

                "Frith in a barn, I would have loved to see the look on that wretch's face when Strawberry attacked him with it!" chuckled Blackberry.

                "Frith-rah!  What a power!  You could have used that to help us fight against Lord Brock or the Ilips without even breaking a sweat!" praised Speedwell, his eyes twinkling at the fantasy of having such a powerful ability at his command.

                "Great golden Frith, he could take on General Woundwort and possibly Elil-rah with such a bloody terrific potential!!" commented Acorn in a hushed tone filled with awe and admiration.  As the rabbits chattered amongst themselves, Fiver, Strawberry and Justin had a private talk just between the three of them, whispering.

                "Justin, why so glum?" Fiver inquired softly, concerned.  Justin sighed, deep in thought and rubbing absent-mindedly the wounds on his neck before answering, "I...I guess I'm just thinking about Cowslip and Silverweed.  It's just that...no matter how much they wanted to kill me and how much I hated them...a part of me still felt sorry for them, because they're both forever bound to the curse of the Hall of Bones and Elil-rah probably isn't going to free them at all."  He paused, feeling Strawberry and Fiver's looks of sad yet thoughtful understanding.  "I guess a part of me still wished we could have helped them somehow."

                Strawberry cast his eyes downward a bit in consideration before speaking gently, "Justin, I'd be lying if I said that I did not feel conflicted what how you feel, but...I can comprehend why you think that way.  But...I want you to understand a very important realization: you may be the cross-bearer and may have incredible power, but there are some events that not even you can control.  Even with your light of the cross, you cannot save everyone, Justin.  You could not save Lord Brock, you could not save Shardik, and you certainly could not have been able to save Cowslip and Silverweed.  Granted, there will be a day when perhaps, just perhaps, they can find respite and salvation, but that is ultimately their choice to make, not yours.  And to tell you the truth...I would have preferred it if you did not help Cowslip or Silverweed out of the ruins of the Hall of Bones, not yet anyway.  They need some time to reflect and suffer before they can even make the right choice."

                "Was that why you lied when you told Hazel that Elil-rah took Cowslip and Silverweed back to his warren of darkness before the Hall of Bones collapsed?" Fiver asked tenderly, but there was no trace of accusation and disgust in his voice.  In fact, it was as if Fiver was sympathetically agreeing with Strawberry about his decision.  Strawberry nodded as he continued looking down at the ground, but looking a bit miserable that Fiver, and now Justin, knew his secret.  Justin, however, being non-judgmental, placed his hand soothingly on Strawberry's neck, rubbing the orange fur between his fingers.

                "Whatever you did, Strawberry, it doesn't change my opinion about you.  You still the rabbit I know and love.  I don't care about how you're different...and neither does anybody else."

                Strawberry gave him a small, bittersweet smirk.  A loud cough behind them revealed, as Fiver, Justin, and Strawberry turned around, to see Silver, Hawkbit, Bluebell, and Silver standing on their hind legs and nervously looking at Strawberry with shame and embarrassment on their faces.  Well, all except for Bigwig who still appeared just as harsh and stubborn as ever.

                "Um...Strawberry?" asked Silver hesitantly, "We...all of us, especially us four, feel that an apology is in order.  We...we were completely out of line and there was no excuse for what we did and said to you.  We're really sorry."  Strawberry just glared at them, remaining silent.

                "I...I'm also sorry I called you a traitor and a sorry excuse for a rabbit.  It was just me and my big mouth," mumbled Hawkbit genuinely.  Strawberry just crossed his arms over his tunic uniform and harrumphed irately.

                "And I'm sorry me and Bigwig attacked you, scratched you, and banished you from the group, even when you tried to tell us the truth.  I'm also sorry we refused to believe you, even after everything you have done to help us back in our physical lives.  We were just being thick-headed and obdurate."

                "You should be," muttered Strawberry, glowering, "That wound in my throat jolly well hurt."

                He then turned expectantly to Bigwig, who just narrowed his eyes back and stared at him coolly.

                "Well?" Strawberry asked.

                "'Well', what, you great, big dandy?!" growled Bigwig, annoyed, "You know I'm sorry!  I don't need to say it!"  Strawberry rolled his eyes, conceding; that was probably the best he would be able to get out of Bigwig.

                "Oh come on, Strawberry, it was a mistake!" protested Hawkbit, "You cannot possibly stay mad at us forever!"

                "Is that so?" the orange buck retorted, raising one eyebrow.

                "No, he's right, chaps," Silver sighed in defeated accord, "He has the entitlement to be mad at us, and we deserve it.  We threw everything he has ever done for us, every aspect of his friendship and loyalty, back in his face because we refused to trust him fully.  Strawberry has the right to say he doesn't forgive us."

                "You're correct, Silver, I do have the right," Strawberry muttered darkly.  The others, except Bigwig, looked depressed and ashamed at this statement, but what the orange, chubby buck said next surprised them.

                "But I still choose to forgive you bloody duffers, anyway!"  All four of them looked up to see the harsh, angry looks on Strawberry's face melt away into wit and sympathy and friendship.  He was just stringing Silver, Bigwig, Hawkbit and Bluebell all along the whole time.

                "So...we're...we're forgiven??" Bluebell asked incredulously, his eyes wide with surprise.

                "Yes."

                "Just like that?

                "Yes," Strawberry's eyes twinkled with wise sincerity, "After all, we're friends, comrades, and brothers!  I don't wish to do that to my family."  The other rabbits agreed amiably.

                "That's a relief, Strawberry," Fiver told him, "For a moment, I was afraid you would not be willing to forgive them."

                "What's there to be afraid of?" sneered Bigwig as he turned away and started hopping towards a patch of fresh burnet, "Even if he was not willing to forgive us, I could get by with the so-called 'terrible' wrath of  Strawberry! After all, what could a great dandy do to me, a captain of an Owsla, for Frith's sake?!"

                Strawberry's eyes sparkled with mischief and the sudden urge to teach Bigwig a little lesson.

                "Say, buckos, any rabbit wish to see how my power can work?"  The rabbits and Justin, catching on, nodded with mischievous glee.  With his hind leg, Strawberry stomped on the peat-covered ground once, and immediately, a small bugle in the terrain appeared, rippling as it strode with speed towards Bigwig.  The fur-headed, brawny rabbit felt the land slightly tremble underneath his paws, and too late, he turned around right before the wave of earth exploded behind him in a messy cloud of debris.

                "Strawberry!!!" screamed Bigwig in annoyed rage as he was now covered in dirt brought from the geyser of dust and loam Strawberry invoked with his power.  Strawberry put on a humorous, chaste, innocent look on his chubby face.

                "Don't be quick to blame me, old chap!" he chuckled, "After all, I'm just a 'great dandy'!"

                "But you're our great dandy," complimented Justin, smiling, and Strawberry affectionately placed a dirty paw on Justin's hair, ruffling it a bit, as Silver, Pipkin, Holly, Campion, Buckthorn, and Blackberry did their best to hold Bigwig back from thrashing Strawberry for his little prank.

/*

Well, glad you liked this chapter!

(Cowslip comes out)

Oh no, that jerk is back again!

Cowslip: I just came to see my adoring fans who came to read this story especially because of my glorious presence in it!  I thank you all for your ever-faithful admiration!

Oh, it's NOT admiration we feel for you!  Now where is my mallet?!

Cowslip: I am the greatest rabbits of "Watership Down"! I am the best character than the rest of these pathetic louts!

(Strawberry, Justin, and the rest of the Watership rabbits appear)

Strawberry: (to RogueFanKC) May I?

You may.

(Strawberry stomps on the ground, opening another chasm to swallow Cowslip completely and burying him alive)

Cowslip: NOOOOOOOO!!! Not agaaaiiiinnnnn!!!!"

(Chasm closes up)

Thank you, Strawberry.

Strawberry: It was a public service.

Next: HOLLY in "You Can Always Teach An Old Holly New Tricks"

'Til then read and review! Expect the next chapter in two weeks!

Strawberry: Translation, wait another month.

Oh shut up. _

*/