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Author's note: I'm so sorry this took so long to finish.  I know, this is the longest time period I have ever taken to write a chapter, and the problem was, I had so much school and work to do in the university, it was not even funny.  As of right now, I am typing this at 5:00 A.M.  However, I know it was extremely annoying for you to wait, all of the fans of this fanfic, so I apologize for the lateness of the update.

Hazel-rah: YOU apologize?!  What about us?!

Hawkbit: You left us hanging for two months!

Justin: I'm still a prisoner to Woundwort and Elil-rah!

Campion: Justin could have been killed by now!

HEY, I SAID I WAS SORRY ALL RIGHT!  LET'S SEE YOU WRITE WHEN HAVING 2-3 COMPUTER PROGRAMMING PROJECTS DUE EVERY WEEK OR SO!!

I also can tell it was a bit unbearable because Woundwort is a major factor and character to all stories about "Watership Down", so I hope this chapter makes up for the time it took to post it!  Enjoy! ^_^

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CHAPTER 26

                As the rabbit soldiers of Watership Down finally came to the realm of Elil-rah in simply a matter of hours, it took all the collective willpower of every iota of courage and determination for Justin's sake to not bolt and run back.

                The entire dominion of Elil-rah was, simply put, a wasteland.  It was completely opposite of the meadows of Fenlo that housed El-ahrairah's warren.  As far as the rabbits' eyes could see, there was not a single blade of grass and flora anywhere, and the ground, instead of soft, sweet-smelling, warm soil, was cold, bleak marble, stone, and granite, all blackened from the thick ash and smoke that permeated the air and made it very difficult to breathe in the stifling, warm heat.  Throughout the lands were active volcanoes, partly obscured by all the black ashes that were spewing from the mouths of the mountains, and the only audible thing the warriors could see were the demonic, red glows of the lava, making the sky an unholy deep, dark, red intertwined with the darkness of night.  Streams and rivers of molten rock flowed thickly throughout and made pools, precariously steaming and bubbling, waiting to accept some poor fool to stumble and fall in to be engulfed in a fiery demise.  All throughout, there were only the faint rumblings of the volcanoes and the dusty, dry, faint howling of the winds spreading the stifling cinders on the ground.  Add to the fact that the only animals that they could see were the daemons, screeching and crying as they scoured the skies made the rabbits incredibly edgy.  No animal to their knowledge had ever dared to enter the kingdom of Elil-rah; Blackavar and the hlessi even reported that no creature was ever desperate enough to even go near enough to witness the black smoke polluting the horizons.  The Watership Owsla were literally in the dead zone of the land beyond life.

                Luckily, the sky was cloudy enough for the daemons to not take notice of the group sneaking in, but little by little, the morale was starting to diminish.  The land, though barren and lifeless, was many, many times greater that the meadows they were so accustomed to and to search through to even find where the cross-bearer was being held prisoner would take ages.  By that time...

                Dandelion groaned, "Embleer Frith, how can we ever find Justin?!  There is too much land for us to even start searching for him!  We cannot even find his scent!  The daemons took him away by air!!  And here is where the trail of slugs ends!  They do not lead to anywhere now!!"

                "But...but then if we...we cannot find the chap," blurted out Speedwell, quivering, "then...then Justin will be..."

                Holly, though annoyed at the unspoken remark, could understand Speedwell's anxiety and fear, so he gently, if not caringly, cuffed Speedwell lightly on the head, whispering softly, "Speedwell, don't think that.  Please.  For Frith's sake.  It will not help Justin in any way by brooding such worries and possibilities."

                Speedwell weakly nodded, his face clammy.  Pipkin was softly whimpering, with his eyes shut and his body shivering with paralyzing fear, his mind chanting over and over again, I am not scared, I am not scared, I am not scared...

                Buckthorn noticed his brother and comrade succumbing to the apprehension, and slowly, without the others noticing, wordlessly drew his body close to Pipkin's, his heat of his strong, taut body radiating comfortingly to the smaller buck's.  Pipkin did find that it helped slightly, but he was still worried.  So much was at stake at this mission, and now, more than ever, Justin was in mortal peril.  Pipkin managed to sob, "Oh, oh, oh!  What if we can't protect him, Buckthorn?  What...what if we lose?  What if we cannot win?  We are going to fight against Woundwort and Elil-rah!  Then we haven't any hope!  Oh, oh, oh!"

                Buckthorn had no answer, and instead, his eyes just showed a steely glint of resolve as he embraced Pipkin tightly.  It would not happen.  He would not let it happen.

                Bigwig stood by side by side with, to his slight disbelief, Hawkbit, and both of them surveyed the dark and dreary landscape of hell depths.  After a minute or two of awkward silence, Bigwig couldn't help but sneer slightly at Hawkbit, hoping to lighten the mood, "Scared, are you?"

                Hawkbit, for once, remained serious and didn't even frown at Bigwig's snide tone, but he did reply softly, in deep thought, "Yes, I daresay I am, Bigwig.  But, I know that no matter what...I won't leave here until Justin is safe with us.  And no matter what you say Bigwig, I'm as much as an Owsla soldier as you are, so I will not back down in battle if it comes to it."

                Bigwig snorted.  Hawkbit turned his head fiercely at the fur-cropped rabbit with flashing eyes, but he did not give in to his annoyance.  The temper aside, Hawkbit then spoke what Bigwig would describe as a true yet rare display of their bond.

                "Bigwig...I need you to promise something...for my sake."

                "Give you a bath in the river to get rid of your flea problem?  Cuff you every day?  Force you to undergo more rigorous Owsla training?"

                "I want you to tell Blethlin that I'm sorry and that despite everything, I really did care for her."

                Bigwig looked at him, wide-eyed at the sentiment, but then he realized that Hawkbit used the word 'did', as in the past tense.  Hawkbit solemnly continued, wearily not looking at the fur-cropped Owsla veteran.

                "I...I just wanted to let Blethlin know how I feel, in case I don't make out of this with the rest of you buckos.  I...I just have the feeling, this fight will be different from all the rest, that facing Elil-rah isn't something we were meant to face, that there is the possibility that since I'm not as good of a fighter, I might not -"

                "Don't."  Hawkbit felt the ferocity of the whisper from Bigwig as Bigwig firmly, yet gently, placed a paw in front of Hawkbit's snout, preventing him from finishing the sentence.  The dark-furred rabbit's emerald eyes widened in surprise to see Bigwig fighting the tears that were threatening to leak out.

                Bigwig continued, "Don't...just don't, Hawkbit.  I promised El-ahrairah that I'd make sure I'd watch out for you chaps, and by Frith and the Black Rabbit, I will NOT give up on that oath.  We have fought all of Elil-rah's Owsla before, and this fight shall be no different!  As long as we fight together, not even Woundwort will have a likely chance against us!  And if you think I'm going to leave with Justin without you, you are the most simplistic, arrogant duffer I have ever known!  Regardless of what has been in the past, Hawkbit, I'm NOT letting you get hurt, just like how I will not allow any of our chaps to get hurt!  You're brave when you need to be, loyal, outright, and Frith in a hole, you have even risked your own safety to fight that homba and his Wolfen Gale, so I am not going to let a rabbit like you succumb to Elil-rah!  I don't know what I would do if I did lose you, chap.  You're worth more than a thousand rabbits like Woundwort."

                Bigwig added this last part softly, like a confessional whisper.  Hawkbit's eyes softened a bit.

                Hawkbit said uncomfortably, "I...I never knew; I always thought you jolly well hated me, that you didn't give a damn about me."

                "Just because I yell at you, give you orders and subject you to remedial duties, just because I insult you, cuff you to no end, and always quarrel and fight with you does not mean I do not think of you as my heart-brother."

                Hawkbit's whiskers twitched at the irony of the statement.

                Fiver and Hazel were conversing secretly from the group, trying to have a private conversation between the two of them.  Fiver then shivered as he had another force of his premonitions and visions.  Hazel's heart nearly leapt into his mouth; this certainly could not have had better timing.

                Fiver then whispered to himself, whimpering, "A warren in the sky...temptations of the deepest desires...friend or foe, only Frith knows, but for tonight, eyes are made blind and a lost comrade shall be found and there will be much anger and joy."

                Hazel was thoughtful, but slightly even more hopeful when Fiver broke out of his apt trance; from the sound of it, Justin would be found, and since there was no mention of death, it was then an excellent, optimistic sign that they may escape out with their safety and the life of the cross-bearer.  But...a warren in the sky?  Frith above, such a thing was unheard of, even in stories of El-ahrairah, and even if they could locate such a place, there would be no way to even gain access.  Silver no longer had his powers of levitation, and Pipkin no longer had the wings blessed to him by the cross-bearer.  Suddenly, a cry of alarm from Acorn got Hazel's attention.

                Acorn stamped, panicking, "Hazel-rah, something is coming!  From the skies above!  Something is approaching us!!  We have been seen!"

                "Should we run?!" asked Pipkin breathlessly as Bigwig, Holly, Buckthorn, and Campion braced themselves for a strike.  Yet, Silver's sharp nose and eyes caught something familiar about the scent of plumage from the approaching avian.  It was almost as if...  Then Silver realized that the imminent figures were not daemons, but hawks.

                "Wait, Bigwig, Holly!  WAIT!!  Do not attack!  It's Scry-rah and his hawk horde!  It is most likely that they are not enemies anymore!  Frith in a barn, do not attack!!" Silver commanded.  This unfortunately did not make things easier on the rabbits' mistrust and trepidation.

                Blackberry then shot the accusation, "Silver, do not be daft!  They may still be on the side of Elil-rah and his Owsla!!  Why else would they even be in Elil-rah's kingdom if they had fled as Scry-rah claimed?!  I would not be at all surprised if these dark soldiers wanted to take us back as prisoners to Elil-rah!!"  Several rabbit voiced their same sentiments with approving grunts and grumbles.

                Hazel then commanded, "No, I trust Silver and his judgment!  Let them come and have their say!!"  Begrudgingly, the Watership rabbits obeyed, twitching and uneasy.  With a sharp cry, Scry-rah and his multicolored family of hawks and falcons landed gracefully, yet heavily, onto the marble and stone ground no more than a yard or two away from Hazel and his group.  Most of the rabbits glared at the flock of cawing birds who simply glowered at them back with equal venom with their round, yellow eyes.  Silver then hopped forward and spoke to Scry-rah politely, who was directly in front of the fat, silver rabbit.

                "Scry-rah, why are you and your flock here?  Are you chaps all right?  We remembered you said earlier that you were no longer a part of Elil-rah's Owsla.  So, why in Frith's name did you come back?"

                Scry-rah cawed discordantly, "SKKKEEEAAAHHH!  Scry-rah hears Elil-rah has cross-bearer!  Is bad!  Is bad!  He kill Justin, he kill Justin for light bright.  Scry-rah and hawk no want to battle.  Scry-rah and hawks no want to anger Elil-rah.  We is fearfully of dark one's powers.  But..."  Scry-rah's eyes softened a bit during the pause.  "Scry-rah remember human Justin, Scry-rah remember human cross-bearer.  Hawks not forget cross-bearer use powers to stop falling rocks, hawks not forget human boy heal Scry-rah.  He is fool, but he is fool very honorable.  Scry-rah know where Elil-rah have Justin.  Scry-rah know where Elil-rah be."

                At this, the rabbits appeared joyful, so Scry-rah hastily continued before they could interrupt him with annoying, pointless questions.

                "Scry-rah remember where Elil-rah live, where Elil-rah live with Owsla.  Is in sky, is a nest on a rock flying on cloud!"

                "Embleer Frith," whispered Speedwell, his face now ashen.  Hazel looked at Fiver sharply, realizing that his glimpse of the future was coming to pass.  He shuddered to think what other surprises were meant to be interpreted through Fiver's second sight.

                "A warren??  In the skies above?!  Is there any way we can get to it?!" pestered Strawberry.  Scry-rah glared at the reddish rabbit for his frank outburst, but the hawk leader let it slide graciously.

                Kittakel, one of the loyal hawks that also started the rockslide that nearly crushed Silver and Justin, then shrieked, "Scry-rah and hawks know where nest is, we know rabbits no fly.  Scry-rah say...we take you to Elil-rah, to save Justin boy.  We help rabbits now."

                Blackberry still narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he accused, "How do we know you and the rest of the hawks and falcons are not plotting to surrender us to Elil-rah, that you are simply not deceiving us so that you could imprison us in Elil-rah's warren, so that you could make yourselves more favorable in Elil-rah's presence?"

                "Blackberry!" growled Silver.

                Campion then placated, "No, Blackberry has a point, chap. We have already known to take too many chances to risk this mission, and we are so close now, so you cannot blame the bucko for being cautious."

                Scry-rah then waddled on his claws towards Hazel.  Puzzled, the rabbits could only look on as the enormous brown hawk reached back and plucked out one of his own tail feathers with his sharp, yellow beak.  Ignoring the slight pain, Scry-rah then solemnly placed the tail feather, which was larger than Bigwig himself, in front of Hazel before looking into the Chief Rabbit's eyes and stating seriously, "Hazel rabbit, Scry-rah give word as hawk.  Scry-rah not lying.  Hawks not lying.  We fly to Elil-rah nest, we help you save Justin cross-bearer.  Scry-rah feather, shows hawk give oath, give promise.  Scry-rah not lying.  We is fearful too.  Elil-rah know we not kill Justin, Elil-rah know we leave.  Elil-rah punish Scry-rah and hawks if we come back...but we help rabbits still."

                Hazel nodded; he could see the fear, the reluctance, and the ray of devotion and honor in the hawk's demeanor.  Hazel said in a firm voice, "I believe you, Scry-rah, and we thank you.  El-ahrairah and Frith also thank you.  Let us go now."

                In a matter of minutes, all the rabbits were riding on the backs of the fierce avian, one rabbit per hawk, and relentlessly, but with quiet grace and speed, did the group sail off west, towards an ugly gathering of mountains with numerous active volcanoes, red hot with lava and magma, all spewing thick, black smoke into the air.  The rabbits, despite their courage, were slightly fearful of riding so precariously on the backs of large birds.  Bigwig was humorously trying to keep his balance by lying flat on his stomach and digging his claws into the falcon's feathered back for a good hold.

                "Frith in a hole!" whined Bluebell as he held on tightly, scared out of his wits, "This is a lot worse than being attacked by Elil-rah's Owsla or climbing up the mountains where we got attacked by Lord Brock!"

                Campion then tried to comfort the jester by calmly saying, "Yet it was the best way, Bluebell.  The hawks know the path to Elil-rah's warren and without them, we would never be able to find it nor cross the lands that surround and guard the warren safely.  Hazel and the others decided that this was the easiest way to cross the lands and reach Elil-rah undetected."

                Strawberry managed to gasp, "By the fur and tail of the Black Rabbit of Inle, I would rather have gone on paw and just ran the rest of the way!"

                "I don't!  This is absolutely wonderful!!" chimed in Pipkin as he sat effortlessly on the back of a white falcon, with as much ease as if Pipkin was squatting on a calm, level field of grass, the small buck gracefully keeping his balance on his haunches as the falcon flew.  He was apparently the only Watership rabbit who was enjoying the ride of flight.  Dandelion glared at Pipkin's boast.

                "You are a very annoying rabbit sometimes, you know that, chap?" Dandelion muttered.

                                                                                ***

                Justin groaned as the darkness surrounding him started to turn into a misty, gray haze.  He could begin to feel and perceive his current situation.  He was on his back, lying on something hard, littered with pebbles and dust.  He could smell dusty air, dry breezes caressing his face.  Weakly, the teen opened his eyes to the bright light.  His sight focused, and then...Justin gasped in bewilderment.

                He was back...home.  His home, his world of men, the physical world.  He was lying on the sidewalk, his backpack and fallen textbooks a short foot away from his body.  He could see the cars driving past lazily on the black roads next to him, hear the distant hum of the drivers traveling by the highway.  The church where Justin converted a little ways off and is the distance, he could see automobiles waiting at the traffic lights, customers stepping out of the nearby cafe, restaurant, and coffee shop and happily conversing with each other.  In the neighboring houses, children were happily playing with their toys in the front yards, and the local bus was dropping off and picking up several people at the bus stop close by across the street.  He was back, Justin was back in his world, his realm.  With trembling, cold hands, Justin held up his cross necklace within his eyesight.  The trinket was no longer crystal, made from the purest sunbeams of orange and gold, but just a simply, plain silver trinket, hardly extraordinary.  It was no longer the cross Justin had used to help the rabbits of Watership Down.  It was as if he never left the world of men.  Next to him was the field of dry grass and weeds, the very same field where Justin had first bought his cross and where the weird occurrences started happening before Justin even came to the land beyond life.  The land beyond life?  Justin then wondered, was it...a dream?  Did I imagine all of it?  Like, was any of it real?

                Justin then realized that his broken arm from Rowf's jaws, his wounds he received from the numerous attempts from Elil-rah's Owsla, all his aches, sores, and injuries, had vanished.  There was not a mark on his body.  His clothes appeared threadbare, but still as good as new with no frays, dirt, or ragged gashes.  All evidence of Justin's travels, his trials, his battles...were all gone.  There wasn't a single trace of any physical evidence.  Justin's heart sank.  Then it never happened.  He simply dreamed the entire thing when he fainted.  It wasn't hard to be convinced for Justin had always been a dreamer, and this time, it was probably just a simple case of his imagination getting the better of him.

                Though Justin was back where he belonged with other humans, the adolescent started to cradle in head in his arms as he sat in a fetal position and started to cry with bitterness and disappointment, there on the sidewalk.  He was so sure that it was real, that he was, for once, actually happy.  His fantasy of being loved by his most treasured characters from "Watership Down", of going on an endless adventure, on being valued and liked for once...it was all a lie, a dream.  Now, Justin had to face reality again, back to his abusive father, back to his jeering classmates, back to his melancholy life.  If only it really did happen, if only it was just real for once, damn it!

                Justin cursed at the unfairness, the injustice of it, for about half an hour, and the chubby teen only stopped when dusk settled, eliminating the traces of the setting sun bit by bit.  The boy then wiped his face and nose on his wet sleeve, dreading to go back home where his father was resting before his night shift as a guard.  He really did not want a confrontation where he'd probably be beaten if he dared so much as look at his father rebelliously.  But knowing it could not be avoided, the teenager picked up his backpack and textbooks and trudged back home, his feet as heavy as stone, but his heart much more laden with difficult sadness.

                A voice in Justin's head told him, Look, it was just a dream, a nice, little fantasy that appealed to you and made you joyful and at peace for once in your life, but let it go.  It was just a dream.  There's nothing to get so worked up about.  You should know better than anyone that dreams aren't real and that they never last forever.

                "Then why do I feel like a part of me just died?" whispered Justin to himself sorrowfully, his eyes starting to water again.

                                                                                ***

                Scry-rah and the other hawks along with Watership rabbits had just emerged out of the smoking plumes of ash, smoke, and choking dust, only, to their short-lived relief, to see that the fog of black mist had temporarily cleared away to reveal that they were all hovering precariously over a gigantic volcano, its circumference larger than an entire city, a circular black rim of rocks forming a basin full of smoldering heat, fire, lava, and brimstone.  Even from up above, the rabbits' furs and the hawks' feathers were starting to singe and wither.  Then the hawk Crimcraw, who was carrying Blackberry, announced loudly, "There, rabbits!  There is Elil-rah nest!"

                "By the Black Rabbit of Inle," murmured Blackberry upon seeing it.

                "Great golden Frith and all his blessings," gasped Bluebell.

                Pipkin, Buckthorn and Campion just stared at the fortress silently, though Pipkin was slightly trembling and whimpering at the view.

                As the neared their destination, every one of the Watership soldiers, for the very first time, witnessed the very epicenter and heart of Elil-rah's reign of evil in the land.  Scry-rah and the other hawks were right; Elil-rah's warren was truly a castle in the sky.  It was basically a huge black cliff of the darkest obsidian, dead, carbonized rock, hardened ash, and charcoal, about as large as El-ahrairah's warren itself, but the most noticeable oddity was that the portion of earth was floating.  There it hung, suspended over the lava as if being held by an invisible force.  Throughout the gigantic, mammoth mountain of rock were numerous holes and openings, though the rabbits could not detect any movement or presences inhabiting those cavities.  It was as if every soldier of Elil-rah's army had vanished from sight.  In a twisted parallel, Elil-rah's warren was also housed by a gargantuan tree exactly like the warren of the Watership warriors.  Except that this tree was thick, dead of any leaves and greenery, and stained completely with blood, red, slick, and glistening under the crimson light of the volcano.  Even more grotesque was that the roots of tree were actually squirming and writhing like tentacles of an octopus or a squid, burrowed into the earth and making odd, squishing noises of disgusting purrs and squelches as the animate tree sickeningly caressed the mountain of evil and purgatory.  Scry-rah whispered intently to Hazel, who was riding carefully on the hawk's back, firmly positioned on the bird's broad, thick neck, "That is Elil-rah nest, that be probably where Woundwort rabbit take cross-bearer.  If cross-bearer live, he be there.  Is bad, is bad.  Nest is called 'Skies of Hellfire'.  Is bad, is bad!"

                Skies of Hellfire?  Hazel had to admit that it did have a certain, foreboding ring to it.  Despite their uneasiness, to Hazel's slight relief, there were no defensive attacks or any sign that they had been spotted by Elil-rah's Owsla.  Within a short while, all the hawks had landed safely onto the grounds of the dark warren.  After all the rabbits had jumped off (and humorously, in Speedwell and Acorn's cases, they started whimpering with joy at being back on solid ground and just comically laid there on their bellies, hugging the rock), Hazel and Silver talked with Scry-rah one last time.

                "Scry-rah go now with hawk brethren," Scry-rah cawed solemnly, "Scry-rah no wait.  Is bad, is dangerous for hawks.  Elil-rah no spare Scry-rah if he see, no let Scry-rah be free if he catching us.  We go now.  We no longer stay, we no longer helping rabbits."

                Though they were all a bit disappointed, Silver nodded, understanding.  This was the mission for the Watership rabbits alone; to put other creatures in further danger would be selfish.  Yet then, Acorn asked hesitantly, "Wait!  Scry-rah, how can we even get back to El-ahrairah?!  We can't fly!!  So, how in Frith's name are we to get off this mountain if we manage to get out with Justin?!"

                Scry-rah then shot a meaningful glance at Dandelion as he said enigmatically, "No need is worry.  Frith and Rainbow tell us be all right."  With that, in a powerful, combined typhoon of wind, Scry-rah and his birds of prey took off and flew as fast as they could back to the east.  Dandelion was puzzled at the alpha hawk's ambiguous answer, and Speedwell asked the storyteller, "Dandelion, whatever did the feathered chap mean?  Since when can you fly?  If I recall correctly, the only one who ever had wings in this family were Kehaar and Pipkin."

                "We'll figure that part out later chaps, for Frith's sake!" barked Bigwig, "C'mon!  we must find Justin!  There is no time to lose!  Stay together, all of you!  We'll go as one!  We're not losing any rabbit behind, and we won't be losing Justin behind either!  It's now or never, chaps!"

                "Let us go," said Hazel with determination, and in the darkness of the tunnels did the rabbits disappear, almost as if they were swallowed into a grave of never-ending darkness.

                                                                                ***

                Justin wearily walked up the path back to his house when he suddenly realized that something was...odd.  There were two cars in the driveway to his house, both of them minivans in good condition, and parked peacefully and perfectly upon the cracked gravel.  This was certainly confusing.  His dad, being a security guard, only had one car, a used station wagon that broke down twice, maybe three times a year, and it was the most he was able to afford on his meager paycheck.  And the station wagon was nowhere to be found.  Then Justin took a closer look at his house did a double take, confused, bewildered, and wondering whether or not he made a mistake and accidentally arrived at someone else's house.  Instead of a dusty, blackened one-story house with peeling white paint, cobwebs brown with age, overgrown hedges and trees never tended by garden maintenance, and a dead lawn full of weeds and crabgrass, the teenager was in front of a new, shiny version of his home with blue coats of paint against fresh white trim, clean wood without the least sign of age and termites, beautifully trimmed trees of maple and evergreen, and the lawn was fresh, new, tender, bursting with dew and beds of roses.

                Justin felt his face flush; he obviously went to a stranger's house by accident, but...this was the path he always took, and it was clearly the same address where Justin had always lived with his father.  So why..?  Justin decided to turn back and see if he was on a different street.

                "Hey Justin!" called out a cheery, familiar, feminine voice, not quite childish, but actually like the sound of a girl reaching the beginning of maturity.  It was coming from the house, and someone clearly spotted him from one of the curtained windows and a second later, to the adolescent's puzzlement, the front door opened to reveal...

                Justin's breath nearly caught in his throat and his eyes widened considerably as he realized, there, running up to him on the walk, was his younger sister by seven years, Melanie, her raven hair, sleek and shiny, tossing over her tan shoulders as she skipped to her brother in her T-shirt and shorts.  Justin was completely floored, and that was what allowed his giggling, younger sister to grab his frozen hand and lead Justin, almost dragging the poor teen, up the walk and to the front door.  All throughout the time, she was laughing, "Justin, where have you been?!  Dad was a little worried when you didn't come back home straight away!  Dinner's almost ready, you know?  Now come on!  I'm starving for Mom's hamburger casserole and salad!"

                Justin felt his shock multiply ten-fold.  Did his sister say what he thought she said?  It just couldn't be.  Without a word, he broke free of his sister's hold and tore into the house, his sister scoffing, "HEY!  There's plenty, you know!  No need to eat like a horse!  Wait for me!"

                Justin didn't even hear his sister as he tore into the living, recklessly dropping his books and backpack next to an unfamiliar mahogany coffee table, reaching the kitchen where he could actually smell the tantalizing odors of home cooking.  It couldn't be, he thought to himself anxiously, nervously, in amazement, it couldn't be, it couldn't be!  His mother and father were divorced, he lived alone with his father under his custody...

                The pudgy teenager then reached the kitchen, sparkling white and smelling of garlic, flowers, and satisfactory cleanliness as he saw, humming daintily while tending to a dish in the oven...

                "M...M...Mom?" Justin nearly sobbed in shock, and his mother turned, her lanky, tall yet elegant features warming instantly at the sight of her son, clad in her apron and a trim sweater and slacks.

                "Oh, you're just in time, Justin!" she chirped pleasantly, "Dinner will be ready soon, so call your father from the den so that we can eat!  Hurry up now, Justin.  My goodness, what's wrong?  Justin, it looks like you're...you're crying.  Is something wrong?"

                Justin just numbly hugged his mother silently, finding it a bit alien, but at the same time, comforting and full of euphoria.  He hadn't seen his mother in over seven long years, and yet...and yet...she was here, with him, and he had a family again.  Justin's mother just clicked her tongue as she shooed her son out of the kitchen tenderly, saying how Justin was making such a big fuss over something so trivial and telling him to wash up.  As Justin just numbly looked around the unfamiliar house, his brain was racing furiously.  This...this didn't make sense.  This wasn't what he thought he remembered, this wasn't the old life he recalled before he dreamed (Justin had to wince at this word) that he came to the land beyond life.  Something in his heart was nagging at him to run away, that something was wrong, that Justin was in trouble.  Yet, Justin ignored the feeling.  This was something he longed for so much, his family to be reunited, for himself to not be alone...

                "Justin!" called out a familiar voice.  The adolescent stiffened his body, recognizing the familiar bass timbre of his father's voice, but something was not quite right.  Suddenly, Justin gave a little squeak of surprise as he was grabbed from behind and a large hand ruffled his hair jokingly, lovingly, like a ritual of compassion and play.  Justin just stood there in shock before the person came up from behind and chuckled warmly in his face.  It was Justin's father.  Except, only this time...he wasn't angry, annoyed, or even had the slightest note of dark emotion etched on his worn, aged face.  Justin trembled slightly.

                Justin's patriarch guffawed, "Geez, tiger, put some laughter in that sense of yours!  What, can't a father give his son a noogie?"  Justin's jaw could not have dropped further that it already was; it felt loose enough to reach the bowels of the center of the earth, and the teen could only gape like a fish at the strange behavior of his parent.  Justin's father crinkled his eyes a bit in confusion before giving his son a sly wink and tickled his son's midsection playfully, forcing Justin to laugh, though a little forced.

                "Aw, c'mon son!  Laugh it up!  Have some fun!  Don't be so melancholy!  Hey, how about we go to the theater after dinner, just the two of us?  One of those pictures showing is that new sci-fi alien movie that we've been both dying to see!  You wanna go?  Oh, come on!  Can't keep you cooped up here forever like a bird in a cage doing homework!  We can't spend enough time together!  So, whaddaya say, Justin?  C'mon!  Movie after dinner, some father-son bonding!  What could be better, right?!"  Justin, despite the laughs, managed to nod uneasily, wordlessly.  What was going on?  Father-son bonding?  Having fun?  Enjoying a movie?

                "Enough with your man-play, you two!" scolded Justin's mother with rolled, exasperated eyes, though there was amusement in her tone, "I swear, you two will never stop acting like two children with all your fascination with movies, TV, comedies, and roughhousing!  Enough to give a woman gray hairs, you know!  Now come one, boys!  Dinner is ready!"

                Justin's father gave Justin one last loving look before arriving at the dinner table, complete with china, silverware, delicious food, and a white, linen tablecloth.  Justin felt stunned, before he forced himself to walk towards his family.  His family, all together laughing, starting to serve food, his father throwing a joke or two, making Justin's estranged mother laugh and nudge her husband jokingly in the ribs with her elbow.  His sister was scooping servings of casserole into her plate along with some bread and she was busying herself with her dinner, but showing a look of contentment and peace.  This couldn't possibly be real...could it?  But then again, Justin was starting to realize that nothing made sense now.  Perhaps...perhaps this was real, that all the things he had dreamed about, the divorce, the painful childhood, the beatings, the loneliness, the brokenness, had simply...never happened.  Justin then, to his joy, found himself wishing, Please, please God, if this is a dream, I don't ever wanna wake up!

                Of course.  There's no pain, no sadness, no trouble.  Only peace, satisfaction, love, and harmony.  No cross to bear.  No need to subject yourself to the weight of a cross ever again.

                The voice in his head was foreign, but Justin did not even give it a second thought as he sat down happily, as if he was a weary traveler who journeyed through harsh conditions, treacherous wasteland, only to come back home, to his haven, to his realm of blissful sanctuary.

                                                                                ***

                "Get back, you wretch!!" growled Acorn as he gave one of King Fur-Rocious' Owsla rabbit a brutal kick in the gut before expertly dodging the two other swift cuffs from several Efrafans with a nimble backward flip.  Silver knocked the two antagonists down before barking, "Everyone, get back!!!  These blokes are trying to delay us!!  Fiver and Blackberry think they have found a way into the heart of the warren, and Fiver thinks that is where we will find Justin!!  Hurry, follow Fiver, Blackberry, and Hazel-rah!!  We're all going together but we'll cover while the rest of you chaps run for it!!!"

                Silver, Buckthorn, and Bigwig held back the remnants of Elil-rah's Owsla ferociously and valiantly while the others made their way into the tunnel that was indicated by Fiver and Blackberry.  Luckily, it was very fortunate that most of the members of Elil-rah's Owsla were still terribly injured from the battle in the meadows of Fenlo.  Most of the vermin, such as King Fur-Rocious, Cowslip, and King Darzin were still so beaten, injured, and in Cowslip's case, mutilated, that they simply did not even have the strength to show surprise as the rabbits entered the warren, storming past the startled enemies who were all busy tending to their wounds and their comrades.  Even though several such as the Efrafans, the cat minions of King Darzin, and Nekas were still strong enough to strike, the rabbits managed to scatter and beat the enemies back as best as they could while Fiver's intuition notified them about Justin's incarceration.  They were getting close and they can't stop now.  As Hawkbit and Bluebell urged Speedwell and Pipkin through the tunnels, Bluebell could honestly say he pitied the so-called rewarded Owsla of Elil-rah.  It was clear that the dark beast could not care less about his faithful servants, otherwise he would have simply healed them and cared for them as their very own children.  Instead, they were merely pawns in Elil-rah's thirst for power and destruction against all Frith had ever created.  Though some such as Scry-rah and Lousewort and Sneezewort were fortunate enough to catch on to the reality of their situation, the other fools were not so lucky.  And to remain loyal to such a dark creature would be their own downfall.

                Hawkbit yelled to Bigwig, silver, and Buckthorn, "Hurry chaps!  You'll all be overwhelmed if you do not escape while you have the chance!  We're not leaving you!"

                Bigwig then managed to throw Vervain painfully against the group of cats before they could try to sing their harsh symphony, and Buckthorn, Silver, and he fled as fast as they could into the tunnel, bowling past and shoving any other rabbit that dared to attempt to block their path into the runs.  Furious, Mallow and Nekas were about to go pursue and chase when Elil-rah's voice, cold, calculating, and disappointed, echoed emotionlessly in their heads.

                "MY OWN SERVANTS...YOU, ALL OF YOU, ONCE AGAIN, HAVE FAILED ME.  AND TO THINK THAT I HAD PREVIOUSLY CONSIDERED HEALING THE LOT OF YOU FOR YOUR USEFULNESS IN MY PLANS."

                "LET US THROUGH MY LORD," hissed Nekas in a disembodied tone, "WE WILL NOT LET THE RABBITS IN YOUR DOMAIN.  PLEASE, MY LORD.  WE CAN STILL STOP THOSE CURSED PROTECTORS OF THE CROSS-BEARER IF WE CAN.  WE CAN STILL WIN, MY LORD.  WE CAN STILL STOP THE RABBITS FROM REACHING YOUR SANCTUARY."

            "NO, NEKAS, YOU AND THE OTHERS WILL NOT ATTEMPT ANY SUCH THING.  TIME AND TIME AGAIN, I HAVE ENTURSTED YOU TO DEFEAT THE RABBITS OF WATERSHIP DOWN AND ASSASINATE THE CROSS-BEARER, BUT YOU HAVE ALL FAILED ME.  I NOW FULLY REALIZE THAT I HAVE PLACED MY FAITH IN THE WRONG PAWS OF MY OWSLA.  THE BOY IS STILL NOT DONE WITH HIS TREATMENT AND I HAVE YET TO RECEIVE HIS POWER, AND NOW WITH THE RABBITS OF EL-AHRAIRAH SO CLOSE TO FOILING MY PLANS, I WILL BE COMPLETELY FOOLISH AND BEYOND ANY MENTAL CAPACITY TO LEAVE THE JOB OF WAR TO YOU PATHETIC LOT.  I SHALL HAVE WOUNDWORT TAKE CARE OF THIS MATTER ONCE AND FOR ALL."

                Mallow, though having his stomach tighten in icy suspicion, managed to cower, "But...but my Lord, what...what shall we do for you then?"

            "YOU SHALL SIMPLY REFLECT ON YOUR FAILURES AS PUNISHMENT FOR I AM NOW DONE WITH YOU AND YOUR SERVICES.  REMEMBER YOUR SNIVELLING, PATHETIC ATTEMPTS AND YOUR LOSSES AS YOU, ALL OF YOU, SIT IN ETERNAL DARKNESS OR BURNING AGONY."  With sinking horrors and fears, the Owsla immediately guessed what this meant, with dread.

                "NO!  PLEASE, HAVE MERCY, MY LORD!!" shrieked one of the female cats as several others, too afraid to stay and see what punishments Elil-rah had planned for them, dashed immediately for the tunnels that would lead them into the exits out of the Skies of Hellfire.  Yet, Elil-rah's tone was stony, cold, and as barren and devoid of anything except satisfaction and boredom.

            "FAREWELL."

                In an instant, it was immediately chaos for the Owsla of Elil-rah, both injured and non-injured.  The ones who were too mutilated and wounded to even move cried out pitifully for any creature to help them escape, but their pleas fell on deaf ears as their own comrades, warriors who have fought side by side with them, abandoned their own allies just to save their own hides.  Unfortunately, it was not to be.  The very floor that the minions were standing on crumbled into dust, sending the screaming dark soldiers hurtling down in a deadly plummet, only to break their fall in the scalding molten rock and lava.  The very red fluid engulfing every part of their senses, coating their bodies, unable to see or even scream out in pain, and struggling despite the burns, merely just to sink into the flaming depths of the volcano where they would likely remain for a very long time.  Nekas was the last one to keep its head out of the magma the longest, writhing and hissing in excruciating distress.  Those that were fortunate enough to scurry into the tunnels such as Vervain and King Darzin were only able to escape the punishment of the lava, but Elil-rah simply just led them to a different type of oblivion.  The tunnels suddenly collapsed upon the doomed animals, hardening, crushing, and suffocating them until they were all completely encased in rock, forced to remain still, permanent, and entombed in the torturous darkness for as long as Elil-rah wished.  The dark beast of all evil had simply fossilized them into an eternity of rock and unbearable solitude.

                What Strawberry had said earlier to Cowslip at the battle of El-ahrairah's warren in Fenlo had come to pass; they truly were the ones who were damned.

                                                                                ***

                Justin could scarcely believe what his life was like from before.  It was as if the slate of life was wiped clean and rewritten to form everything from his most desired wishes and wants.  The time spent on dinner and the movies just simply flew by like mere seconds.  Justin could have nearly forgotten all about the adventures with Hazel and the Watership rabbits as he enjoyed the improved house, the laughter, the togetherness of having a now reunited, whole family, the time he spent bonding with his now loving father, who, after the move, decided that the two of them play a bit of basketball, just for fun, in the park even though it was past ten at night and Justin still needed to go to school.  It was now morning as his father dropped off Justin at school, but not before giving Justin $20 for spending money just because Justin's dad told his son "Just cause I love you."  Justin could not have been happier; he now had his mother and sister back in his life, his time with a loving, caring, understanding and gentle father figure nearly erased any conceptions of the harsh tyrant Justin knew from before.  It was as if he now had the perfect life.  But then...why did he feel incomplete?  Discontented?

                Enough, Justin.  There is no need to reflect on your dream, your imaginative fantasy about "Watership Down" and those rabbits.  Why do you still hang on to that dream?  Surely you're much happier here, with your family, with your own kind, with everything you have ever wanted and wished for.  You never needed that cross, that flight of the imagination about being with a band of rabbits that protected and spent time with you.  Throw away that cross; it shall bring nothing but bad memories and distractions.

                Justin actually pondered this, fingering the cross trinket, feeling the cold silver at his fingertips.  After some inner debating, Justin decided to still keep the cross necklace around his neck.  For some reason, Justin could have sworn that the air around him rumbled slightly, as if disapproving or irked, but the feeling faded quickly, so the adolescent decided that he had probably imagined it.  It was probably the anxiety of the realization that just popped into Justin's head that there was still the matter of bullies to contend with, not to mention the fact that he was probably still the scorn of the entire high school.  Yet the calm, soothing voice in his head seemed to repeat and placate in the boy's subconscious again, bolstering the teen's sinful pride.

                There is no need for worry.  You will be loved by the world.  The world will love you, just as if you were their king, their ruler, their best and brightest. All because you are special, you are worthy, and you are surely better than any other wretches out there.  Ignore the humility, the thoughts of kindness and consideration.  Those are for the weak, just like those who depend on blind faith...

                "Justin!"

                The cry was faint, very faint, almost as hollow and wispy as the wind, but it almost sounded like...Hazel-rah?  Justin, though he did not even realize why, felt his face break out into a big smile of surprise and excitement as he whirled around to see...nothing.  There was nothing in the hallway except a considerable crowd of students getting ready for class, chattering animatedly about life and homework.  There was no sign of an anthropomorphic rabbit in a red and silver tunic anywhere.  Justin sighed slightly in disappointment as the air around him seemed a bit heated.  Justin, a bit heavy-hearted, turned around and trudged up the hallway towards his first class.

                                                                                ***

                "Justin!  Young chap!!  Where are you?!!  Can you hear us, young one?!!  Answer us!  Justin!  Please, Justin, call out!  Justin!!  Cross-bearer!!"

                The rabbits voices, frantic and covered with apprehension, distress, and misery, echoes throughout the caverns as they scurried around in the darkness, vying every nook and hole and ditch they could find while Blackberry and Fiver tried to get their bearings.

                Meanwhile, in the Great Cavern, Woundwort hissed furiously, "My Lord, I cannot keep the boy in this state much longer if those cursed rabbits are calling out to him!  My powers are working, but I need more time, embleer fur and paw!  Can you stop Hazel-rah and his cursed, annoying Owsla?!!  Can you silence them?!!"

                Elil-rah's voice was slightly offended as the creature growled, "I WOULD HIGHLY ADVISE YOU TO WATCH THAT IMPUDENT TONE, WOUNDWORT.  AND I HAVE DECIDED TO LET HAZEL-RAH AND HIS RABBITS OF WATERSHIP DOWN COME TO THIS ABODE, THIS EPICENTER, WITHOUT TROUBLE.  WOUNDWORT, IF YOU CANNOT INFLUENCE THE CHILD, THEN WE CAN DO THE NEXT BEST THING: HIS GUARDIANS, HIS PROTECTORS, ARE ALL GATHERED IN ONE PLACE, AND THERE WILL BE NO POSSIBLE WAY TO ESCAPE.  ALONG WITH THE CROSS-BEARER BEING POWERLESS IN MY DOMINION, THIS WOULD MEAN THAT THE ONE AND ONLY CHANCE OF EL-AHRAIRAH'S SALVATION, HIS FUTURE, HIS ROLE AS A THREAT TO OUR GLORY, WILL ALL BE TOGETHER IN ONE PLACE.  YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO WOUNDWORT.  DO NOT FAIL ME."

                Woundwort then smiled as his red eye flashed with malicious hatred...and anticipation.

                                                                                ***

                As Justin walked in the school's hallways later that day, he was once again treated to a very welcome array of pleasant surprises.  Every student he had ever passed smiled and waved at him, gave him greeting and a group of girls he passed by giggled with admiration and interest as they watched him with sly, yet desiring looks.  It was certainly different from the usual greetings of scorn, disgust, and contempt he normally got.

                "Hey Justin!" grinned the quarterback of the school football team warmly, his eyes friendly and non-artic, from behind.  Justin felt his defensive mind spring up; he never fully trusted jocks, especially from his past dealings with Damien.

                "Uh...hi," Justin replied, lamely, not sure what to expect, but the jock just affectionately patted the teenager on the shoulder, all the meanwhile saying, "Hey, I can't thank you enough, man!  Your tutoring helped me get that 'A' in the big calculus test last week, and now, I won't have anything to jeopardize my participation in the Homecoming game next week!  Can't thank you enough!  Hey, me and the guys are going to the mall after school!  Need a ride?"

                Justin really could not say he had ever been more shocked.  Every time he had said such a thing, during this past day, a new surprised managed to break that assertion.  He said, stuttering, "Uh...yeah...sure, I guess."

                "Great!  I owe ya' one, Justin," and with that, the quarterback left, leaving Justin with even more confusion.  But, Justin felt...prideful, proud, and at ease because he was accepted, he was treated like he was special, like someone sincerely and truly appreciated him without question or requirement.  An athlete, a person of high status and popularity in his school, acknowledged him and treated him like a brother.  It actually felt really good.

                "Justin!  Justin!!  Justin!  Justin!!  Where are you?!!"

                Justin's eyes went wide in surprise.  Those voices...they were faint, almost ethereal, and Justin could have sworn he had simply imagined it in his head but...it surely...could it have been...real?

                The voice again echoed in his head, Your imagination, Justin.  It is your overactive imagination, Justin.  Such a feat never happened, such a life of hardship and disappointment was simply not real.  None of what you thought before was real.  Do not give in, Justin.  It was simply a dream.  Can't you see that this is what you have always lived as?  People are nice to you, welcome you into their society with loving greetings and warmth.  No need for hardship, no need for suffering, no need for sadness.  This is truly your life Justin.  you have no cross to bear.  You have no cross to bear.  You have no need for such a thing.

                Justin furrowed his brow in deep thought as he now held the metal cross in the palm of his hand, the dull metal now appeared to have lost its luster, its shine, making it old, tarnished, tatty, and worthless.  It certainly wasn't the same jewel Justin had before; now it seemed completely...distasteful to have such a thing.

                Throw it away, Justin.  It has no value now.  You have no cross to bear.

                Despite the persistence of the voice, Justin felt it would be better just to keep it, for sentimentality's sake, and he simply tucked the necklace in his shirt as he walked to class.

                The day kept getting better and better.  In Justin's classes, he got the highest scores in tests of every caliber and subject.  The rest of the students in the classes praised Justin, made him feel special and admired for his genius, and some students even were nothing short of pleading that Justin help them by giving tutoring lessons as well.  Justin, being very new at this, was actually loving the adulation.  Before, in what he considered his mistaken outlook, Justin was only about average in some of his studies, and though he did get good marks, he certainly was not the student who was the smartest or had the most potential.  This of course led to whenever he got a mistake or asked a stupid question, it would certainly cause some of the meaner kids to scoff at Justin's simplicity or find sadistic enjoyment at feeling superior of Justin's intellect, proving he wasn't as smart as the teen thought.  But now...now, Justin was actually on top of things, was perceived with admiration and looked up to as a spectacular role model.

                It didn't just end there, though.  At lunch, he was invited to sit with several of the rich students whose parents provided them with cars, money, and every type of luxury that could ever be gifted to a child.  As they were eating, they joked around with the adolescent, complemented him, discussed serious topics and cared about his matter of opinions.  One girl in particular said she was having a pool party complete with music, dancing, alcohol and even a barbeque, and she said it would mean so much to her if he could show up to her celebration.  Justin meekly said yes; after all, she was politely asking him and he certainly could not refuse in his face.

                Then, the school coach of football and baseball then stopped by the table where Justin was sitting and tapped Justin lightly on the shoulder, saying proudly, "How's my star player today?  Gotta' say, Justin, I need you to meet up with me and your other teammates so that we can get planning on some new gameplays before the soccer season starts.  Don't forget, OK Justin?  Can't leave out my best team captain out of the soccer preparations!"

                Justin would have been floored had he not been sitting on the bench.  "Wha...me??  I'm...on the soccer team?!  ME??"

                The gruff, bearded coach just chuckled, as if Justin was making a humorous joke, "Don't put on such a humble act, Justin!  Of course!  Don't you remember?  You're the star player and the team captain of the school's soccer team!  We've won two years in a row because of your involvement, so it's vital that you come to the meeting, all right, kid?  See you soon!"  With that, the coach left, leaving Justin befuddled and taken aback...but in a prideful, pleasant sort of way.

                "I'm...I'm really a star athlete??" Justin wondered out loud.

                "Duh, of course you are!" a nearby kid laughed as he clapped Justin on the back in merry jest, "After all, you're one of the most well-liked and popular kids in this school!  You've helped so many people with your tutoring and you really care about others with your generosity and everyone's simply in love with you and your personality!"

                A girl giggled, "Don't forget, you're also on the school committee and student body government, so of course you're popular!  All the kids want to hang out with you!  Oh yeah, speaking of which, you free this weekend?  We could really use some help in setting up preparations for the Homecoming Dance at the auditorium, and you've always been so fantastic at setting up the design and decorations!  It'll be perfect if you can give a hand!"

                "HEY!  Justin's going to hang out with us this weekend!" one boy protested, but in a non-threatening demeanor, "C'mon Justin, come with us instead!  We're planning to go dirt-biking in the mountains, and we've got an extra bike we can spare for you, and the weather this weekend's gonna be so awesome!  Sunny and cool all day!  C'mon, whaddya say?"

                "No, Justin needs to help us out!" the girl retorted, flicking her amber hair agitatedly.

                "No way!  We want to hang out with Justin at the mall this weekend!" piped up a cheerleader with her group of friends.

                "Hey, that can't be fair!" another boy jumped in, "We were planning to go to the next 'Lord of the Rings' marathon at the Cineplex this weekend!"  As a result, the kids at the table started to noisily, but thoughtfully, banter and fight over who would spend time with Justin.  Justin just watched all of this with a shocked, yet amused and pleased look on his face.  He was absolutely loving this!

                "Justin!  Please, don't!" called out a faint voice.  Justin stared off into space as he recalled the voice.  It almost sounded like...Silver.

                Justin, Justin, Justin, how foolish must you be?  Why must you torture yourself like this?  That dream about "Watership Down", the dream about the rabbits helping you, the adventure, the journey, the fun...it never happened.  Try to remember that.

                "Justin!  Cross-bearer!  Don't do anything!  For Frith's sake, don't!"  Justin's breath nearly caught in his throat and his skin turned.  Now he could almost hear Buckthorn's voice reverberate in his head amidst the noise in the cafeteria..

                That cross, Justin.  Can't you see it is troubling you, that it is forcing you to remember things that never happened, that it made you think up about such awful travesties about your life, your past, your family?  It is harming you, tearing your mind apart.

                "Justin!  Justin!!"  Now the young teen could hear Holly and Strawberry chorusing together in urgency.

                Justin, you have no need for the cross.  Just get rid of it.  It is too much trouble to keep it, to have it close by.  It is not worth the pain.

                "Justin!!!" screamed Hawkbit, Fiver, and Pipkin.

                Justin, take off the necklace.  Get rid of the trinket.  Abandon it.  Do you not like it here?  Do you not wish you could remain here forever?  Do you not think this life is your greatest wish come true?

                "Justin!  WAKE UP!!" roared Dandelion.

                Justin, just give up the cross.  Your life will be so much easier.

                Numbly, though Justin had no idea why and his mind was a complete blank, reached for the very claps on the back of his neck.  After all, he wanted to stay so much here!  He had it all: a family, friends, a life of company and...

                "JUSTIN!!!" Hazel then appeared out of thin air into the teen's face, right in the middle of the cafeteria, and before Justin could remove the trinket, Hazel, the brown Watership Chief Rabbit of El-ahrairah, grabbed Justin roughly by the shoulder, jerked him to his feet, and cuffed the cross-bearer hard across the face, momentarily bringing Justin to his senses.  Justin held his cheek numbly as Hazel whispered sorrowfully, tears watering the rabbit warrior's eyes, "You're far too noble and young to make such a decision, young one."

                Justin, despite what he had experienced for the past day, despite being back with his own race, despite the endless remunerations of life, luxury, and happiness...Justin cried openly with relief as he and Hazel embraced tightly, all the meanwhile the cafeteria stood to an absolute standstill, as if someone had paused the world at that very moment, teetering on the brink of existence and reality.  Justin buried his face into Hazel's strong torso whereas the brown rabbit was sobbing, "We nearly lost you, Justin.  We nearly lost you.  Thank Frith we have found you.  Thank Frith."

                The voice around them was now bellowing, Justin, you fool!  You are ruining everything!!  Is that what you want?!  I'll give you riches, status, power, vices beyond the wildest imaginations of any human, and yet you are willing to forsake it all...for that illusion!  You fool!  It is not real!  Turn back while you can, cross-bearer!!"  And it was at that instant, during the rage and disappointed gall, where Woundwort made his grave mistake.  He had just called Justin, 'the cross-bearer', and as such, it was the one word that validated everything Justin remembered about Watership Down and the land beyond life.  He had just averred, to the General's horror, that it was not a dream, that it was true.

                Justin then declared fiercely, "No, I don't want it!  I don't want anything!  Everything I ever wanted...is with me right now!  Hazel, please don't leave me!  Please!"

                "I won't, cross-bearer," Hazel promised as the world around them started to crumble and swirl away into nothingness.  Justin then realized it was all a lie, an illusion, a mirage.  Justin then found himself, dirty, with cuts, bruised and painfully aware of his broken arm, as the light of the trickery and deception faded to reveal all the rabbits, the Owsla of Watership Down and El-ahrairah squatting around them in a circle, their fearful anxiety melting away to short lived relief.  Justin then realized where he was.  They were all in some sort of large cavern, wide, spacious, and as large as a football field and tall enough to allow a horde of Ilips to room into, but the den was cold, uninviting and bare.  Bleak, black rocks, marble, obsidian, charcoal, and graphite lined the rough, uneven, bumpy walls as they curved upwards the sky to form a high, domed ceiling, lined with phosphorescent, glittering shards of crystal and quartz, giving the entire area an unholy, unearthly, forbidding eerie glow of demonic power.

                Justin was shaking inside, quivering with the fear and coldness of the dangers that was looming over them.  He managed to croak out, flinching at the bothersome pain of his injuries, "Where...where are we?"

                Blackberry managed to gasp breathlessly, "We are in the warren of Elil-rah, Justin!  But, we have no time to explain!  We have to find a way out of here!"

                Hazel-rah felt his heart sink as he did not realize what was happening.  He choked, "Why?  Can we not escape, Blackberry?!"

                Campion shook his head wildly, worriedly, "No, Hazel-rah!  The instant we entered this warren, the run that led us to this room had sealed off on its own!  The same has happened with every other opening that opened into this foul spot!  Embleer Frith, can't you see, Hazel-rah?!  We're trapped here!  Bigwig and I cannot even find the slightest trace of an opening!"

                "It is obviously Elil-rah and Woundwort's treachery, no doubt about it!" shuddered Fiver with a mixture of fear and anger, "I can feel it!  It is so cold, colder than the Black Rabbit, but full of evil, sin, and wicked intent!  Hazel, we are all in trouble!  Can't you see?!!  This is the lair of the dark beast, the center and heart of darkness, his power, his rule, his influence of lies, deceit, and horrible vice!!  We are all in the very location where the darkness of Elil-rah comes from!"

                "Embleer Frith in a barn, you couldn't foresee this sooner, Fiver?!" cursed Hawkbit in anger, his claws twitching with irritation, "Damn it all, you just had to lead us to another fine mess, didn't you?!"

                "HAWKBIT, SHUT UP!!!" yelled the rabbits with sharp retort.

                "This is not the time to start fighting, both of you!" snapped an uneasy Speedwell, "Hurry, Justin!  Use your cross, your power!  Get us out of here so that we can escape back to El-ahrairah!!"  Justin grabbed his cross and prayed, but several slow seconds passed.  Then, to Justin and the rabbits' horrors and dread, the cross was apparently refusing to work.  The adolescent looked closer at his jewel, and to his petrified panic, the crystal cross was dead, lifeless, and with a black tint shadowing the sparks of life and rejuvenating power that should have normally come forth from his jewel.  The cross was now gone, its power suppressed by something prevailing, dominant, and potent.

                "Oh no!" the boy moaned with disheartening, sickening dizziness, "The cross!  It won't work!  It's not answering my prayers!!"

                "WHAT?!" gasped the rabbits in unison, and Justin was trembling again in Hazel's strong paws.

                "O Frith and Inle!" quaked Bluebell.

                "How can that be possible?!" squealed Pipkin.

                But then a voice, a voice that they all have eventually learned to fear and dread, answered Pipkin's questioning fear and dread.

                "Did you pathetic fools really think that this rescue would be THAT easy?" snorted Woundwort and he emerged from the shadows into the pool of light covering the cavern, his red eye glinting a foreboding aura while his dead white eye stared on lazily and portentously.  There was now a sadistic gleam on his face as the large, formidably rabbit crossed in paws in front of his powerful chest arrogantly as he took in the sight of the rabbits rushing in front of Hazel and Justin, shielding them from the opponent.  How touching, Woundwort thought to himself in disgust.

                Justin was now truly scared.  Even though he had been powerless before, Woundwort was supposed to be the most fearful and terrifying enemy the rabbits of Watership Down had ever faced, and not even elil could withstand the harsh power of Woundwort and his rule and command of thoughtless, ruthless, merciless soldiers.  And General Woundwort was second-in-command and the right paw of Elil-rah himself, meaning that this battle would not be like all the other elil and soldiers of Elil-rah's dark Owsla.  THIS would be the battle of Justin's very life.

                Woundwort scoffed, "Did you pathetic fools really think that Elil-rah would actually not anticipate your relentless loyalty in salvaging the cross-bearer?  Did you really think we would not anticipate the fact that you would so stupidly try to do everything you can to spare that boy's life??  Elil-rah had allowed you and your band to come here...so that we can finish this!!"

                Suddenly, to the dread of the noble warriors, the sudden boom of Elil-rah's voice emerged from the shadows as the unholy, red eyes appeared above the figure of Woundwort, the slits of black pupils against the bloody sea of awesome evil now glaring at the fellowship with such radiating, searing, intense hate and displease.  Even though the rabbits of Watership Down had seen Elil-rah's eyes before in past battles, such a prospect would truly even strike fear into the heart of El-ahrairah himself.  Pipkin was trembling so hard, Silver had to block his view by shielding his large body in front of his friend, hoping it cold calm him down.  Holly had to firmly grasp the paw of a tharn Blackberry in order to bring the buck back to the present, and Strawberry was heard fiercely whispering to Acorn and Fiver, "Steady chaps, steady.  Do not give in to your fear."

                Justin felt Hazel grasp him even tighter as Woundwort crowed, "My Lord, your orders?"

                Elil-rah rumbled simply, "I WANT THE CHILD'S CROSS, WOUNDWORT.  KILL HIM...NOW."

                Justin let out a cold, shaky exhale of dismay.

                "NO!!!" screamed Speedwell, Buckthorn, Campion and Bigwig with all their might as they charged directly at Woundwort, hoping to tackle him before he could even move, intent on doing everything they can to protect the cross-bearer.  General Woundwort's good right eye then radiated even brighter, and before anyone could guess what was happening, it was over before they could comprehend the loss.  Buckthorn, Speedwell, Campion, and Bigwig were all sent flying back in the air, pushed back by an concentrated, invisible force, and together the four Owsla veterans soared into the opposite wall, their bodies cracking hard against the stone and rock.  They slid down to the marble ground, horribly injured and in much pain.

                Dandelion cursed, his face white, "O embleer Frith and all his blessings!"

                "FRITH DOES NOT RESIDE HERE, YOU FOOL!!" snarled Woundwort as his eye began to glow again and with a united cry, everyone, save for Justin, was sent flying and crashing away into a messy heap of furry bodies.  Woundwort, however, was not done with the Watership guardians, and to Justin's shock, Woundwort stood on his hind paws as he slowly, but surely rose in the air, levitating on the shadows as if they were physically solid.  He rose until he was looking down on the fallen bodies of Hazel and his Owsla of El-ahrairah.

                "Feel the true power of my rage and pain, you cursed, embleer beasts!!!" Woundwort howled from the rotting bowels of his heart and with his eye again, he used his power to come crashing down on the rabbits' bodies full force, the gravity all around the Owsla increasing by more than ten-fold, drawing blood in mere seconds, forming small pools, and scared stiff, Justin could distinctly hear some bones breaking against the soft tissue and fur during the impact.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Bluebell.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Campion.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Bigwig.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Acorn.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Hawkbit.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Silver.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Pipkin.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Blackberry.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Speedwell.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Buckthorn.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Fiver.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Dandelion.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Strawberry.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Holly.

                "AAAAAA!!!" screamed Hazel.

                Woundwort just laughed as he utilized his power even more on the group, and Justin desperate, tried praying with his cross again.

                "Please, help my friends!  Please!  Save them!  Give them power!  Protect them!  Please!  woundwort will kill them if they don't get help!!  Please, for the love of God, please!!!"

                "There is no God in this place, you damned human, only hell," stated Woundwort coldly as he floated back down on the ground again, only to be several feet away from a terrified Justin, "And no matter how much you beg and plead for your useless protectors, your cross will never work!  We are in Elil-rah's warren, the very heart and soul of his power, the root of all darkness and iniquity in the land beyond life.  It is so consuming, so deep, so utterly potent that it will continue to shield and block your light of your cross, you small, defenseless idiot!  Can you not see now, oh silly cross-bearer?!  Nothing will save you now!  The rabbits cannot help you, El-ahrairah cannot help you, and not even Frith and God can spare you from the blessed power of psychometry given to me by the Dark Lord himself!  It allows me to manipulate the very threads of reality and existence of any object I chose, and not only that, but I can use my emotions of rage, war, anger, and bitterness to form into a formidable force, a very force that will crush you where you stand, Justin!  A pity, though.  I had really expected you to take the simple, selfish way out, when I manipulated your thoughts and memories with my powers to put you within that dream state, giving you the useless vices that you had always yearned for, longed for!  If you had abandoned your cross there and then, you would have lost your powers as the cross-bearer and would have no longer been a threat to Elil-rah's rule.  You would have been left in that comatose state forever!  But now...now, I can see I am to achieve this the hard way!!"

                And at the sight and joy of killing the teenager, Woundwort's rage had reached new levels not even the General could comprehend as his power raged around him in a shimmering, foreboding warning before rushing out like lightning only to strike Justin directly.  The cross-bearer, now without anything to safeguard him, could only yell in pain as he flew back and rolled painfully on the cold ground, his old wounds now bleeding again from the force of the psychometric power of rage and hate.  Woundwort was not finished yet, and with another bay of animalistic, demonic frenzy, Justin was sent flying again, only to come crashing down on his side, bruising, if not breaking, his ribcage.  Justin let out a shuddering breath of moaning, excruciating pain as blood began to seep into his sense of taste.  Woundwort then shot at the adolescent a third time.

                As Woundwort was pummeling, beating and discharging his power directly at Justin, his anger and rage was pouring out, and all the memories of the injustices done against him, all the hurt, all the pain, the unfairness, the loneliness, the fact that it was a fate he had never deserved, was so heavily laden on his scarred soul, Woundwort felt each time he heard Justin's body crack, it only made him more incensed, irate and eager to crush Justin until he was nothing more than a rotting mess of flesh and blood.  He wanted Justin to suffer the same way he had.

                "I hate you!!  You represent everything that has ever caused me suffering, that has tormented me day and night, even after I found death!  I never found any respite, any chance of peace, all because of you, you damned human!  I wish you never existed!!  I wish you never came!!!  YOU are the cause of every tragedy that I ever faced!!"  Woundwort snarled this as he sent Justin flying across the black marble floor of the chamber, the body of the teenager leaving a faint, smeared trail of blood as he skidded across the floor.

                Fiver managed to open his eyes despite the blood trickling down between his ears as the very words of Woundwort brought back some painful memories:

                Fiver could only stand there and listen in shock as Hawkbit berated him in front of everyone, blaming him for the trials they had faced before entering the Lands of Yesterday and Tomorrow.  Hawkbit growled, malice in his eyes, "Yes, and it's all because of the tharn fact that you can't see things before they happen like before when we were able to escape the destruction at Sandleford, we are always putting Justin at risk!!  By the Black Rabbit, I wouldn't be surprised if the real reason you have those visions is because you're the one who causing all the bloody trouble we've been having!!  After all, if you were any kind of rabbit of El-ahrairah, you'd be more concerned and worried about your lack of visions rather than keeping such a tharn, nonchalant, blasé attitude."

                Fiver then remembered when he and his brother Hazel were just kittens, and they were still dependent of the milk on their mother, though it had already been several days when the two bucks were getting accustomed to the taste and texture of grass and roots.  In the dark, warm burrow, Fiver was about to suckle when another, miscellaneous older buck, another one of Fiver and Hazel's brothers from the litter, rudely shoved the smaller buck out of the way, bullying him out of the meal.  Fiver started whimpering, but then the brother growled, "Silence, you weakling!  You do not even deserve the milk!  Why don't you just crawl away and die so that you can leave us strong rabbits to grow healthy without you being a nuisance?!"  That was one of the few days Hazel saw Fiver cry nonstop.

                Fiver then remembered hearing his father, the buck who mated with Hazel and Fiver's mother, smoothly conversing with several of his friends.  Fiver was hidden in the brush not too far off, so his father never got a chance to see nor smell him, which allowed him to say, to Fiver's hurt, "Thank the stars and Frith, I shall live to a happy old age to see my bucks and does grow into fine healthy rabbits...except for that runt, Hrairoo."

                One of the rabbits asked, "Why?  Whatever is the matter with that rabbit?"

                Fiver's father answered coldly, "That buck will never amount to anything.  He is too small and underweight to join the Owsla, is weak and always bullied around by the stronger bucks.  He cannot even do anything useful such as tell a story or take care of the kits.  What makes it worse is that I would not be able to get rid of the pathetic nuisance.  A fox would not want him, a doe would not wish to mate with him, and by the fur and paw, not even the Black Rabbit would care for such an outskirter.  I wish he had never been born or that I killed Fiver when I had the chance when he was a tiny kit."

                Fiver got up.

                                                                                ***

                "You don't know how much I had to suffer, all because of men!!  You don't know what it's like to have your past haunt you, torment you, give you grief and terror, because all the blame heaps on your own soul until you give in to despair and guilt because you realize that there's nothing you can do but let it tear you apart and drive you mad!!!" Woundwort screamed with shrill rage as he blasted the cross-bearer against the wall, making a sickening thud resounding throughout the cavern as Justin cried out in pain, flames of sharpness gouging into his back.

                Campion, shakily, managed to prop his upper body with his front paws, valiantly trying to rise, as his mind flashed back to his sorrows:

                It was back in Campion's life in the physical realm, back when he was the new Chief Rabbit of Efrafa after Woundwort's disappearance and the Council's fall of power.  Despite the general dislike for anything that was related to Woundwort, Campion was dying to have the feeling of adventure and mischief again from Wide Patrols.  However, by now, most Efrafans had such abhorrence to Woundwort's ideals, that many met Campion's offer to do a scouting expedition with scorn and mistrust.  The Wide Patrols were no less a taboo than before.  Still, Campion was able to successfully convince two young does, Nyreem and Daisy, and two young bucks, Aspen and Moss, to accompany him where he could train them on a Wide Patrol.  It had been a huge success, with the yearlings so eager to scamper and explore about...until one of the Thousand took away Daisy while she was sniffing about the nut-bushes.  The trip home was a somber one and Aspen was crying because Daisy was his sister.  When Campion tried to explain the situation gently to Daisy's parents, he was met with much blame, anger, and curses.  Aspen then said the words that tore into Campion's heart the most, "It's your fault Daisy stopped running!  She died because of you, and for what?!  For her to provide bait to the elil while you get away unscathed?!  You led her to her death, all for a useless Wide Patrol!  You're just as evil as Woundwort, you wretch!  I hate you!  I'll always hate you to my last dying breath, you monster!!"

                Campion also remembered a time, once he had made his home at Watership Down as the trainer of the young kittens for Wide Patrols, when was quietly resting against the beech tree one warm, clear night in late spring when he overheard his name come up from between two quietly, conversing rabbits.

                "So, what do you think of Campion?" asked one.

                The other yearling replied, "He's good, jolly good of a teacher and leader!  Frith and Inle, every chap and bucko wishes he could go under his command.  But...I still have reservations about Campion, though."

                "Why?"

                "It is the principle of the matter, really.  I mean, Campion is a fine buck, but...he's from Efrafa and he used to be second-in-command to General Woundwort.  It's quite a shame, really, to see that Campion is trying to settle here and impressing us with his expertise of patrolling and scouting, yet when it comes down to it, not too many rabbits trust him because we are not so sure if the chap is sincere in his motives or if he is trying to take over our warren and become the next General Woundwort. The lad is nice and understanding, but to tell you the truth, by Frith, I would not be sure if I would be willing to fight for him, especially since he got kicked out of Efrafa in the first place."  Campion never felt more hurt from this comparison than he had ever felt before in his entire life, and not waiting to hear the rest of the discussion, he quietly hopped away, alone, to go silflay under the cold judgment of the moonlight.

                Campion got up.

                                                                                ***

                "Do you even know what it is like to lose your trust in others?!!  Do you even know what it was like to be alone, because you could never open your heart to anyone, because no one could ever trust you?!!  Do you even know what it's like to always put up a facade of strength when in reality you are just as scared and vulnerable as the newest newborn?!!  I never could be at peace because of men!!  I could never find respite, never find trust...all because of YOU!!!"  Woundwort now grabbed Justin by the throat and sank his claws deep into the boy's neck as his paws wrapped tighter and tighter around Justin's windpipe, slowly strangling him.  Woundwort increased the pressure, his paws twitching with suppressed strength, as Justin weakly struggled.

                Bigwig gritted his buck teeth as the memories, thoughts he had hidden so deeply, not even Hazel-rah and El-ahrairah were aware of them, managed to creep out into his consciousness:

                It was when Hazel and Fiver had first tried to warn their Chief Rabbit, the Threarah, back in the warren of Sandleford, about Fiver's visions of doom for their home.  After their dismissal, the aging Chief Rabbit then ordered Bigwig to come within his presence...forcefully, meaning that he was due for an incredible dressing down.  Bigwig then told the Threarah that he didn't care much about the Owsla life if it meant serving some senile, stubborn fool.  Angered beyond words, the Chief Rabbit than sneered, "Very well then, Thlayli, enjoy your exile with the other useless outskirters, you tiresome deserter!  I can honestly say I made a mistake in trusting you to be an Owsla rabbit!  Now, get out of my sight, you disgrace!"

                Bigwig left, but as he marched down the tunnel angrily, the fur-cropped rabbit was surprised to find that his wounded pride made him tear up a bit at what he lost, at what he gave up.  His vision blurred, Bigwig managed to make his way out of the tunnel, past the snickering fellow Owsla rabbits that overheard the "private" conversation and were thoroughly enjoying Bigwig's downfall.

                In another memory, it was when Bigwig had just released the Efrafan does along with Blackavar, and despite seeking shelter at the arch, it was almost too much for them as Campion and General Woundwort arrived with their army.  Upon seeing Woundwort, Thethuthinnang screamed, "Thlayli!  The General!  The General!  Oh, what shall we do?!"

                Bigwig felt his whole world fall apart upon seeing the demonic rabbit, the monstrosity and abomination of nature and the deepest cruelty and authoritarianism.  Bigwig felt his blood run cold, his heart pump ice, his breath quiver and tremble.  Bigwig knew then that to fail to put on an act of bravery would send every other rabbit in a spiral of defeat and bleakness.  Despite the plan, despite the urge to fight, despite the blessings of Frith and El-ahrairah, Bigwig could and would never forget that one moment of fear, of terror, of helplessness and loss.  He wanted to give up, to ask for mercy.  He wished, for that one instant, that he was never asked to do this mission, that it was unfair that he had to carry the burden of succeeding or lying from failure, that everyone had to depend on him when in fact... Bigwig had no one to depend on for himself.  He was a lone maverick soldier, an isolated hermit of a warrior, and because of that, though his heart would never be vulnerable...it would never be comforted and touched either.  It was then clear that Bigwig, if he were meant to die on this night, he would die bravely, but alone.

                Bigwig got up.

                                                                                ***

                "You are a plague, a danger, to every creature in this land!!  Everything you do is for your own self, to fulfill your own needs, to satisfy your own wants, without giving a damn about the other creatures around you, without even sparing those less fortunate than your fat, worthless hide!!!"  There was another crack as General Woundwort no longer had the patience to look in Justin's bloodied face and instead threw the teenager hard against the floor, flinging him around like a rag doll.

                Acorn felt tears blur his eyes as he realized that he knew exactly what Woundwort felt:

                It was back in the physical world where Acorn was still a young buck, just barely past half a year and he remembered he had such high expectations, such unyielding hopes, when he attempted to join the Owsla of Sandleford warren.  Acorn remembered that one training trial, the assessment that could finalize Captain Holly's decision to allow him into the Owsla, was when Captain Holly took Acorn, Nightshade, and a buck called Mistletoe for a raid on a neighboring farm.  Acorn, along with the two other bucks, were ordered to find some flayrah in the discreetness of the night and reconvene back to the warren while avoiding any elil they came across.  Acorn was able, to his delight, while edging against the wooden frame of the barn, to come across a lone bunch of fresh radishes, tied expertly together by their supple, green stems.  The farmer and his men must have inadvertently dropped it while gathering and storing their crops into the barn.  What luck!  It was enough to feed Acorn and three other bucks for a great night of simple feasting.  Though Acorn found it heavy, what kept him determined was the joy of feeling pride that he would feel from Holly's praise.  Surely this would allow him to be in the Owsla!  Surely now he would be happy, happiness he longed for all his life!  Yet it was not to be.  Acorn, while dragging the bounty, suddenly found himself face to face with Mistletoe, his beige and white fur depicting a gentle illusion from the brutal intentions running in his mind.  Acorn was puzzled as Mistletoe, who was a great deal taller and heavier than Acorn, advanced towards him.

                "My, my, my," Mistletoe snarled, "It appears the runt, the under-weighted outskirter has gotten a blessing from El-ahrairah.  A blessing that should really go to a real rabbit such as me!"

                Acorn realized what this meant, and he squealed, "No, please don't!  Please!  I found this flayrah!  It is my own right, my accomplishment!"

                Mistletoe said nothing as he tackled Acorn and brutally cuffed him, beating the weaker rabbit until Acorn was senseless and barely moving.  Acorn could feel the sharp jabs from Mistletoe's claws still embedded into his flesh and trembling with shock, sadness, and shame, Acorn saw the buck carry off the radishes Acorn worked so hard to find.  Mistletoe now was taking off with Acorn's flayrah, and now, surely, once the rabbits at Sandleford see his task completed, he would surely be in the Owsla and have a glorious life of adventure and liberties, liberties that outskirters would never enjoy or relish in.  Acorn had lost his sole chance...to a buck that was better than he was.  Acorn wanted to get up, to run, to chase after his only chance of being in the Owsla, but instead, the skinny, brown rabbit could not even find the strength to rise as he just lay there, on his belly, amongst the weeds and tall grass, with a blank look of disbelief on his face masking the turmoil and screams that were churning in his stomach.

                There was another time Acorn met up with Mistletoe, about several months later, when it was in the dead of winter, cold, dark, and a time of nothingness.  Acorn, who was shivering from the windy frost, managed to bring about some dead moss as a blanket of warmth in his burrow where he slept with several of the other outskirters of the warren  It wasn't the best burrow, with cracks, crumbling dirt, and being thin and narrow, but it was home to Acorn.  Yet, as he was about to retreat into sleep, he, to his shock and outrage, saw Mistletoe entering his run and fouling Acorn's moss for his own bed and he laid there, wordlessly stealing the buck's burrow.  Furious, but helpless, Acorn felt the injustice and pain of having what little he had be taken so heartlessly from some who never gave a damn about his well-being, but there was nothing he could do except whimper in chill in the Sandleford den, devoid of any other rabbits, where only the cold air would caress near him.

                Several years later, when Acorn entered the land beyond life, the endless green, peaceful knolls of the meadows of Fenlo, during the brutal frost on Watership Down, Acorn was slightly heated and bitter from leaving his home, his friends, his life, just when he had just started to enjoy the peaceful paradise of Watership Down.  It literally made the rabbit brooding and in an extremely foul mood.  Which made things much worse when Mistletoe, who had perished in the destruction of Sandleford, had just seen Acorn's spirit arrive to the haven, and had obviously thought that it was certainly a good time to make amends with the soldier.  After all, he and the rest of the rabbits had heard the wonderful tales El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle had told them about their fellow rabbits surviving and making a true haven in the physical world, becoming legendary heroes.  Mistletoe looked sheepish, and slightly nervous as he tried to make his voice sound jovial and welcoming, "Acorn, jolly, old chap!  It is certainly wonderful to see you again!"

                Acorn did not answer, his grief and fuming anger hidden and obscure in the shadows of his face.  Mistletoe then tried to say what had been on his conscience for quite while.

                "Look, bucko...I...I know I don't deserve to even say this to you, rabbit to rabbit...but I just wished to let you know chap, that everything I did to you, every unfair act, every deed of cruelty, every mean and horrible prank, act, and cuff I ever committed against you...I am truly sorry.  Believe me Acorn, if I could, I would go back and undo everything I ever did...but I cannot, and for that, I am sorry I have done such terrible acts against a noble Watership rabbit such as -" yet the rest of Mistletoe's sincere apology was abruptly and rudely cut off as the homesick Acorn, at the mention of Watership Down, cuffed Mistletoe furiously in the nose, drawing blood.  Cursing and in shock, Mistletoe just let the blood drip off his face as Acorn screamed at his former antagonist, "Don't you ever speak to me, you wretch!!  Do you think I want your apologies, your excuses, your meaningless thoughts and condolences?!  Embleer Frith, you made my life back at Sandleford a life of sadness, repression, and hurt!!  You honestly think I will forgive you for ruining my life, my chance of joy and happiness, for stealing what little I had?!!  Saying words of regret does not bring those chances back, you rotter!!  Get away from me!!  I can never forgive for what you have done!!!"

                With that, Acorn stomped off, leaving a hurt Mistletoe to tend to his wounds, but instead of the smug contentment and fulfillment Acorn dreamed of receiving from justly refusing to forgive and forget, instead, he felt disgusted with himself, and the anger refused to subside.  It just settled into a numb feeling in the rabbit's gut.

                Acorn got up.

                                                                                ***

                "You think you know sadness and suffering?!!  You think you can fully comprehend what all creatures of Frith have to endure because of you, because of men, because of the fact that they must face a bleak future due to the fact that no matter what we do, our efforts would be in vain because men gave himself the right and the authority to treat animals as food and slaves?!!  That no matter how hard we try to survive, men just simply wipe us out without even a thought of remorse?!!"

                Blackberry felt the sting of accusations strike his heart as he, despite his now crippled forepaws, managed to prop himself up to remember his life at Sandleford:

                Blackberry lived decently with his father, mother, and two sisters, and with him being the eldest, Blackberry made sure he would always fulfill the role of the protective, older sibling, not like others rabbits who had bullied and cuffed their smaller sisters and brothers for the sport of it.  Blackberry remembered how much his father took him under his paw, joked with his only son, told him multiple times how often he was proud of his offspring and how he always advised the black-eared rabbit to always remain curious, watchful, cautious, and observant.  Blackberry remembered his father chuckling as he gently lectured to his son, "Blackberry, I wish for you to always be on alert and rely on your wits, your cunning, and the inspiration Frith has blessed you with.  Be sure to use it to take care of your mother and sisters whenever I am not around, all right, you little scamp?"

                Small and still an innocent kitten, Blackberry giggled, "Father, I won't have to!  You will always be around with us forever!"

                Blackberry's father just smiled warmly, not saying a word, as he fatherly hugged and tickled his son, causing the both of them to roll around, wrestling and laughing like loons.  That was the last thing Blackberry had ever done with his father for two days later, the male parent was killed by a hrududu when Blackberry' father was coming back home from a raid with a fresh turnip to provide for his family.  Unfortunately, that loving act cost the rabbit his life, and Blackberry and his family just silently looked at the remains of their loved one the next morning when they discovered he had not returned as of late and went off to find him...only to discover the gruesome accident.  The mother and sisters left, but Blackberry, frozen and in unfathomable grief, just stayed there mournfully, looking at the bloody remains of his father's body, too sad to cry, too cold to move.  Damn the human using the hrududu!  Damn them all!  They took his father away!  They ruined Blackberry's family!  It was not fair!  As Blackberry continued to remain near the road of his father's death, from that day on, Blackberry's heart grew as cold, hard, and impenetrable as rock, no longer being a slave to his emotions.  It just was not worth getting hurt again.  His wits and inspiration, the two things his caring father praised the most, was what Blackberry would resolve to from now on for it would never betray him.

                That was what he decided on that day, and on the day his mother passed away from old age, and on the day one of his sisters was killed by a boy using a slingshot, and on the day when he heard that his Sandleford home had perished at the hands of men.  Each act of loss, instead of sending Blackberry to grief, had simply made the rabbit resolve that nothing good would ever come from the world of humans.

                Blackberry got up.

                                                                                ***

                "You do not know how many tears I've shed over the deaths I've seen, over the anguish I felt, all because of you and your blasted race!!  DAMN YOU!!!  You don't know what I've lost, how I've tried to keep all rabbits safe in Efrafa, to spare them from the heartaches of loss, only to have them turn their backs on my legacy and curse my name once your Watership friends came!!" Woundwort screamed as he cuffed Justin hard across the face.

                Old Holly, past Captain of Owsla in Sandleford, could hear the cries of pain and regret from misjudgment causing his weary bones to ache as he recalled back:

                In the days of Sandleford, when Holy, was a bit younger, drier, and certainly more demeaning, harsh, and arrogant, the Owsla captain remembered the fateful day before the Sandleford rabbits fled and abandoned the warren, two of the outskirters, Hazel and Fiver, requested to see the Chief rabbit in front of himself and Bigwig.  Holly just crossly glared at them while chewing on a patch of burnet.

                "Bigwig!" Holly barked, "What do they want?!"

                Bigwig replied simply, "They wish to see the Chief Rabbit."

                "What for?"  Now Holly's voice got darker and suspicious.  Fiver opened his mouth to speak of the warnings his visions gave him, but the Owsla captain then rudely cut the small buck before he could say anything, ordering to Bigwig, snidely, "Send them away."  Of all the nerve!  Those two outskirters, requesting to talk to the Chief Rabbit, the Threarah?!  Such insolence, such daring, such insult!  What did they know compared to the glorious Threarah and himself, a captain of the powerful Owsla?  They knew more about running, maintaining, and protecting a warren full of hrair rabbits than a whole field of outskirters would know! Those two lunatics were just troublemakers...and as such, he would be keeping an eye on them.

                Later that very night, Hazel was leading a group of rabbits away from Sandleford when Holly, Bluebell, and another Owsla rabbit cut them off.  Holly was fuming.  He should have killed those two rabbits the moment he had the chance, before they could have caused all this chaos of dissention and mutiny.  They were a threat to himself and the Threarah.  Hazel, firm and protective, warned Holly, "Go.  Now.  Or we'll kill you."

                That was the final blow to Holly's foolish pride, and he moved for the kill, but Bigwig leapt in and stopped Holly from committing the deed, adding more to the weights of shock, outrage and affront to his self-importance and honor.  Holly swore that if he ever got the chance, he would kill Bigwig and Hazel for challenging his authority and position in the Sandleford Owsla.  As the rabbits fled, Holly still held to his belief that he was right, that the Threarah was right, that Hazel and the other traitors were all fools and would perish.  Those wretches would be leading those bungling, useless, pathetic rabbits to their deaths, and Holly felt haughty at the thought of crowing over their demise.

                That thought quickly evaporated the next day when Holly, Toadflax, Pimpernel, and Bluebell witnessed, to their despair and horror, the sight of the tractors and the men desecrating their home, their warren, and all throughout the fields were strewn with torn soil, ruined plants, and the lifeless bodies of their friends and families, does, bucks and kittens all alike.  Holly then knew, he knew, that he was the fool, that he was wrong, and the thought of what he did, how he had a paw in leading so many rabbits to their deaths, left a bitter taste of shame and cold sickness in his stomach.  Nothing could ever right this moment ever again.  His pride, his intentions, his name led to the warren's downfall, and the thought of having El-ahrairah cursing Holly's soul for being such an obdurate fool and for being such a pompous puffball made Holly wish he had died with the others on that very day.  He did not know what was worse: observing the demolition of Sandleford or having to go up to Bigwig and Hazel like a true cowardly fool and having to admit he was wrong and humbling himself if he ever lived to find them.

                Holly got up.

                                                                                ***

                "All my work, all my worry, all my pain, all my efforts to rule over Efrafa and have it conform to my ideals of being a rabbit, of being happy and safe...all destroyed by the likes of your friends!!!  And to have them turn traitor to all animals to protect you, without giving a tharn care about the well-being and consideration of all animals who were destroyed and wiped out by men is an insult too cruel to bear!!!" Woundwort raged as he blasted Justin so hard, Justin felt his broken arm crack again, and the pain was so intense, Justin cried.

                Bluebell wanted to so give in to just simply curdle into a ball and shut out his senses, lost in his own little world of torment:

                Bluebell was inside the tunnels of the Sandleford warren, choking under the effects of the noxious gas that flooded the warren, smothering the rabbits and turning the air thick with the stench of death and suffering.  It was dark, Bluebell had no idea of where he was going.  He was so dizzy.  He obviously could not make heads or tails of the situation, and despite the light-headed feeling, Bluebell knew he was going to die...and it scared him.  He was away from his family, away from the Threarah, away from the Owsla, all the rabbits he had lived with and played with.  Bluebell would have been willing to do anything, just to be sure that he would not die alone, cold, and sick in every miserable sense.  It was the worst feeling in world, and even to this day, Bluebell was never able to shake off that fear.

                When Pimpernel, Holly, and Bluebell managed to escape the destruction of Sandleford and trace their way towards Watership Down, they inadvertently rested at Warren of Shining Wires, the warren where the others had nearly gotten Bigwig killed by the snares.  As soon as Cowslip and the other rabbits learned of Holly's identity, they attacked him, Bluebell and Pimpernel.  Bluebell and Holly were able to escape by the very fur on their skins, but Pimpernel, weakened and ill from the gas, was unable to escape.

                Bluebell cried to Holly, "Captain Holly, we have to go back!!  Pimpernel is still back there with those rabbits!!"

                Holly commanded reasonably, "Bluebell, old chap, we can't turn back now.  Those rabbits outnumber us hrair to just us.  If we go back, both of us shall surely die by their paws, and Pimpernel, Frith save his soul, will not make it even if we did return to rescue him."

                A scream from Pimpernel sounded in the air, which instantly choked and gurgled, as if the rabbit's throat was filled with blood and being ripped out from the poor being's body.  The scream was now reduced to whimpers and silence before being overwhelmed by the roars and yells of the gleeful, vicious alien rabbits out for blood.

                Bluebell could not help but sob, "We left Pimpernel to die, Holly!  O Frith and Inle, I cannot even make a joke to help us forget what had happened, what we had just seen!"

                And for once in his life, the jester was completely devoid of any humor, for not even a simple tease could erase and mull the tragic loss.  They had just witnessed the slaying of a dear friend, and one of the remaining few who had succeeded in escaping death by the hands of man...only to find himself delivered to death at the paws of rabbits.  The ultimate irony was also tragic.  And that was what Bluebell all the more sadder and colder.

                Bluebell got up.

                                                                                ***

                "Why couldn't you just die?!!  No animal in this land will ever love you of their own free will, no animal will ever trust you, and even if you do what you were meant to do, you honestly think that those fools will look upon you as some sort of savior?!  As their sovereign messiah?!!  No, they will turn on you the instant you help them, and then they will forget who you were or what you ever done for them!!  You...twisted...arrogant...bastard!!!" Woundwort screamed as he rammed his claws into Justin's upper torso, nearly crushing the boy's heart and lungs and leaving Justin windless.

                Buckthorn's eyes burned and the stolid buck shut his eyes and winced as he bowed his head down, maintaining all his willpower not to cry as his past surfaced in his mind:

                Buckthorn was just under a yearling, due to making the Owsla very soon back at Sandleford.  He was busy at silflay one evening in late autumn, when he noticed several of the Owsla bucks were busy dragging and carrying back some lettuces for the Threarah.  One stolid, beige buck was having a difficult time with two succulent, baby vegetables, and exhausted, the buck dropped his bounty and paused on all fours, panting and breathless.  Then the buck looked up at Buckthorn, who blushed, realizing his was staring.

                The buck called to Buckthorn, "Hey, you there chap!  Could you give me some well-needed assistance?"  Buckthorn silently nodded, and between the two bucks, they managed to safely and quickly store both lettuces into the burrows.  The Owsla veteran turned to the younger outskirter.

                "I very much appreciated the help, bucko.  My name's Lichen, chap."

                "Buckthorn.  Pleasure to make acquaintances."

                Lichen then warmly smiled, "Say, Buckthorn, when the next time us Owsla rabbits go for a garden raid, how would you like to jolly come along?  We could use a buck like you to train for our Owsla!"

                Buckthorn's eyes sparkled; this was the chance he was waiting for!

                "Yes, sir!"

                "Good, then I'll see fu Inle at this very spot, all right then chap?"  Lichen then ruffled the spot between Buckthorn's ears affectionately, brotherly, and that act of intimacy made Buckthorn feel so alive, so warm, so useful and needed.  The buck could not wait to meet up with Lichen on his promise, but come the next night, Buckthorn was severely and brutally disappointed.  As the youngster came to the assigned meeting place, he did not see Lichen, but several unfamiliar Owsla rabbits.  Apparently, they were waiting for others to reconvene before going for another raid of flayrah from a nearby barn.  And they also weren't very happy to see Buckthorn, an outsider, join in on their reserved activity.

                "What are you doing here, outskirter?" growled one buck.

                Buckthorn bravely held his ground as he said shortly, "I was invited, by Lichen."

                "Liar!" snarled another Owsla soldier, "What right-minded buck would ever consider associating himself with a runt such as yourself?!"

                "I'll send him back," promised a large, black buck as he reached out to grab Buckthorn, but undaunted, Buckthorn leapt out of the veteran's reach and delivered a swift cuff, forcing the paw to not touch him.  There was an involuntary gasp, the Owsla bucks shocked that an outskirter would be so arrogant and presumptuous enough to fight back and attack an Owsla soldier.  Such impudence!  He must pay!

                Before any blood could break forth, Lichen emerged, irritated and asking, "What in the name of the Black Rabbit is going on here?!"

                "This...this weakling tried to come along with us to our garden raid!" snarled a buck, pointing a paw and Buckthorn who was now being pinned down by two heavy bucks, writhing, "The impudent annoyance claims that you, Lichen, invited him to come along with us, and when we tried to send him away, he attacked Mulberry!  That audacious outskirter must be made an example!"

                Buckthorn looked at Lichen, almost pleading.  If Lichen told the truth, Buckthorn would be free and he could go along and be protected and enjoy a night of Owsla fun.  Unfortunately, it was not to be.  Lichen narrowed his eyes maliciously at Buckthorn and rumbled, "I do not recognize the chap.  He is obviously mocking all of you.  We have never met."

                Buckthorn could not hear anything else over the roaring of outrage and humiliation surging in his ears, nor could he feel anything else except the Owsla rabbits giving him a good beating.  Buckthorn was barely able to crawl back to his burrow where he laid for a day, wallowing in the betrayal and misery of Lichen, the one rabbit Buckthorn bothered to trust, to hope for such a bond of friendship.

                Buckthorn got up.

                                                                                ***

                "You stupid, little boy!!  You're just doing this to glorify yourself, and you are as mad as that troublemaking seer, Fiver!!  Your words of kindness and hope have no meaning to any right-minded animal, for everyone can see the truth: you are taking advantage of any fool who believes the hraka sprouting from you mouth, from the lies and deceit, all to make your own life easier and to selfishly ease your burdens, without giving a thought about how many innocents you had to destroy for it!!"

                The wise Strawberry then realized, for the first time in his life, that Woundwort and himself were actually not that different at all:

                It was back at the Warren of the Shining Wires, and Strawberry and his doe, Nildro-hain, were busy showing Hazel around, including the stone "shapes" embedded and made in the dirt walls of the run by the rabbit, Laburnum.  Of course, at that time, Hazel and the other Sandleford rabbits had no idea that Cowslip and Strawberry and the other rabbits were plotting to sacrifice them as bait to the snares as the farmer's prey, just so that they could live a bit longer and prolong their own deaths.  Strawberry remembered he felt pain and great shame at deceiving these innocent outsiders.  But then he remembered that he was doing this for his doe, Nildro-hain, and his family, and his future.  He could not stop now, and though it was certainly inequitable, Hazel and the others must die before they could.

                Hazel questioned some aspects of Strawberry's speech, staring at him with incredulity.  "But men won't shoot a homba."

                "Well, he killed this one, anyway.  He kills owls too.  We never need to dig.  N one's dug in my lifetime.  A lot of the burrows are lying empty, you know: rats live in one part, but the man kills them as well, when he can.  We don't need expeditions.  There's better food here than anywhere else.  Your friends will be happy living here."  Strawberry had to wince at this last sentence, feeling the bitter taste of bile rise up in his mouth.  Happy?  Here?  The one, lone, unmentioned danger hiding in the running knot of the hedge gap was enough to lay waste to every single desire ever offered by this grand warren.  Such kind, gentle words of offering and fruitful endowments meant nothing!  They were just lies, illusions, deceptions, mirages!  Strawberry may have been acting benevolent and open, but deep inside, he felt blacker than the Black Rabbit of Inle.

                Strawberry then saw, to his immeasurable sorrows, the Nildro-hain, his beautiful mate, loving, kind, and tender, had fallen victim to one of the snares.  In tears, Strawberry turned to Cowslip, sobbing, "Cowslip, one of our own has passed!  Nildro-hain is gone, dead!  My mate, my life!  I cannot go on like this!  Cowslip, please, this must stop!  We have been sending our own innocents to die when we all should have just left when we had the chance!"

                At this, Cowslip, scratched Strawberry, snarling, "Do not ever mention this to any rabbit if you value your place at this warren, you wretch!  You fool!  Can you not see the glory and beauty of Nildro-hain, of how she is now, after the snare?!  She is truly stunning, a sight that could inspire and stop the music of a thousand songs of grace and happiness and bliss!  You are a close-minded simpleton if you refuse to see this truth!  If you do not like her fate, then go in exile along with the rest of those miserable rabbits, you coward!"  It was then that Strawberry realized the lies, the madness, the evil, behind Cowslip and Silverweed's doings of benevolence and kindness...and it scared him.  He knew he was not safe at the runs where he called home anymore.  Still, even after he left, he could never shake off the guilt for what he had transpired along with the other rabbits of the cursed wires.

                Strawberry got up.

                                                                                ***

                "If you and your cursed protectors only knew how much I have gone through, you would be able to understand how much I hate you...ALL of you!!!  What gives you and those Watership rabbits the right to be held in such high esteem, to have a life of ease and love and carefree while I had to suffer in loneliness, hatred, bitterness, and scorn!!!  It was not fair!!  What did I do to deserve all that?!!  Damn it all, I was just a kitten!!  A bloody kitten!!!  And yet I had to see pain that no creature should have gone through!!!" Woundwort growled as he grabbed Justin by the throat with one formidable paw and lifted the boy clear off from the ground.

                The innocent Pipkin, wincing in pain, managed to whimper only slightly as he scuffled weakly on the cold floor, trying to rise as he remembered so much of his past life:

                "Leave me alone!" cried Pipkin as he struggled and writhed desperately.  It was back at Sandleford in the physical realm where Pipkin was practically a kitten, or at least was the size of one.  He was now being bullied by two taller, bigger, stronger, and meaner Owsla rabbits.  The Owsla soldiers, stuck with the boring, remedial duties of sentry, decided to have some fun.  And Pipkin happened to be nearby.  As a result, one Owsla buck was sitting on Pipkin while the other was poking and lightly cuffing the outskirter's head relentlessly.

                "Please, let me go!" Pipkin squealed.

                "Oh some now chap," chortled the Owsla buck cruelly, "You should be jolly well happy that you are receiving some attention!"

                "Besides, it is considered an honor to be given so much from an Owsla rabbit," claimed the other, "After all, no one really would give much thought to such a weak, pygmy such as yourself.  That is why you do not have too many friends here, isn't it, bucko?  No rabbit ever notices you, thinks about you, cares about you even."

                "No!  It's not true!"  Pipkin was now crying alligator tears.

                "Of course it is true!  I have heard your own mother and father mention to everyone in the warren that they cannot even remember raising and rearing such a wee rabbit kit!  Likely, they said you were not really their son!  More as if you were born to a couple of mayflies, and they simply gave you dock ears, a tail of clematis before pushing you into your mother's litter!" the Owsla rabbit chuckled as he rapped harder on Pipkin's skull.

                "Stop it!  Stop it!!  Please!!  STOP!" sobbed a squealing Pipkin, almost suffocating underneath the heavy weight of the rabbit's body.  That was unquestionably not the only time Pipkin had with the older, more ambitious rabbits.

                There was also another time when it was fu Inle, and there was no moon against the cloudy, drafty night sky.  Pipkin was trying to get what little grass there was left in the early winter (if he wasn't being rudely shoved away by the older, powerful rabbits), when without warning, the temperature began to drop and the drafts began to pick up, breezing through quicker and harsher.  a storm was coming.  A rabbit stamped, which sent every other Lapine creature on the field to bolt back to the burrows.  Pipkin, unluckily, managed to get his hind paw stuck in a narrow crack in the ground, half hidden from view, and Pipkin painfully realized that no matter how much he pulled, he could not free his wedged paw.  He was stuck.

                "Please, someone help me!" Pipkin squealed as the rain began to come in, icy-cold and a thousand times worse with the howling winds.  Black clouds loomed overhead like haunting specters, trees lost their foliage, stripped to their bare branches and looking surprisingly like skeletal hands.  All of which increased Pipkin's terror and screaming, but to his anguish and misery, no one, not even his mother and father, came to see if he was all right.  Pipkin was now cold, soaked to the bone, and scared senseless and giving in to the cold, Pipkin allowed himself to pass out in the middle of the field.  Yet, by Frith or El-ahrairah's guidance, who else should show up from a scouting expedition only to be entangled by vines of ivy and left for dead by his Owsla comrades than a very morose, miserable Silver.  Silver managed to see Pipkin alone in the rainstorm before his heart nearly broke.  Gently, he was able to dig Pipkin's foot free of the crevice and carried the shivering, wet, unconscious rabbit with his mouth back into Sandleford where he warmed Pipkin next to his own huge body in Silver's own burrow.  After all, misery loved company.  And that was what Silver and Pipkin needed.

                Pipkin got up.

                                                                                ***

                "You, the cross-bearer, the almighty, powerful one who was meant to defeat Elil-rah?!  Surely you jest, you meddlesome, disgusting worm!!  You're weak, you're foolish, you're dense, and you have never and will never amount to anything significant in your life!!!  You are nothing more than a pitiful specimen of a human who was a mistake, a wasted life, a worthless, disappointing vagabond upon whose death will only bring relief and joy to the world that so despised you!!!  You are nothing!!!"  The General now single-handedly threw Justin away from his presence.

                Speedwell felt the words tear into his heart like a hot knife through butter as he could very well relate to every single word of condemnation and scorn in Justin's life...simply because he was subjected by the very same thing:

                Speedwell was hopping by, hurriedly.  He wished it didn't have to be this way, but it did.  No matter what time of the day, no matter how varied Speedwell tried to adhere his feeding routines, and no matter how discreet he tried to make himself be, he always ran into a group of Owsla rabbits during any time rabbits were out to feed at Sandleford warren.  Speedwell simply could not avoid them.  They were everywhere.  And every time the white jester passed by, just to eat and feed, he could always feel their sneering glares, their fierce barbs from their tongues.  Speedwell always tried to ignore it silently; he knew what would happen if he so much as dared to protest against them.  Unfortunately, such ignorance could not prevent him from feeling rejection and loneliness.

                "Look at that white weakling," whispered one Owsla buck loudly, unabashed, "Trying to search for something edible to eat to fill up that scrawny stomach of his.  Too bad that bucko's not in the Owsla where he can enjoy raids and feasting on flayrah, enough to feed a whole battalion and fit enough for El-ahrairah!"

                "Him??  That runt??  In the Owsla?!  Hah!  Surely you jest!  He's so shy and underweight, he couldn't even scare off a kitten, much less one of the Thousand!"

                "Shy?  You mean pathetic and cowardly!  The least he could do is give us the decency to get into a brawl with us, defend his own honor!  We could use a good laugh or so!"

                "You are obviously mistaken, chap!  How can that outskirter defend his honor when he has none to defend?  After all, who could possibly take pride in being a pitiful specimen of a rabbit, one who would never last a day in the lands outside of Sandleford, one who would turn his back on his very allies if things got too difficult, and who would surely wriggle out of any opportunity to do hard labor?"

                "Such a miserable example of El-ahrairah's legacy."

                "Frith must have stopped his blessings when that rabbit was born!"

                The laughter came within seconds...and so did Speedwell's tears as he tried to force himself to eat the dry, brittle grass against the cold, night air.

                Speedwell got up.

                                                                                ***

                "You're evil and you're selfish, Justin!  I know everything about you, your life, your troubles, and to tell you the truth, you deserved it, every little bit, because your destiny to become the cross-bearer would be a greater travesty to animals who never deserved to be injured from your powers of the cross!!!  You deserved to be alone!!!"

                The storyteller, Dandelion, managed to stand on his own two feet, nearly sinking back to the ground in defeat, but his face displayed a rare morose, glum expression as he merely glanced at the trails in his life:

                Dandelion smiled with contentment as the kittens got up from their positions to go back home to their mothers, to be warmed by their furry bodies and their succulent milk in their cozy, homey borrows made just for their families in Watership Down.  He had just finished telling the younger rabbits "The Story of Rowsby Woof and the Fairy Wogdog" along with "The Story of the Three Cows", to their attentive, sparkling eyes of admiration and awe and gaping, open, hushed mouths.  As he made his way back to his own burrow, he could hear the kittens still chattering.

                "Mother, Dandelion just gave us a very special treat because he said he cared for us very much!  He told us two stories!"

                "Isn't Dandelion the best storyteller on Watership Down?"

                "Not for just Watership Down!  I daresay you shan't find a better chap to tell stories than Dandelion in all over this world!"

                "He's so nice, always polite to us, never too tired to play with us and chase us around or play bobstones!"

                "Frith and Inle, he's much more like an older brother than an adult!"

                "I wish I could have him tell us tales and stories as long as I wish!"

                "I wish he was my father," one kitten sighed softly.

                Dandelion sadly looked in his cold, dark burrow where he had always lived with and slept by himself, without any doe, without any mate, without any litter of kittens to greet him.  Unlike many of the others, he never was able to manage kindling a litter of healthy kittens with any doe that was able to arrive to Watership Down...because he was barren.  As a result, he never could have a family, never get to know the feeling what it would be like to have a son or a daughter, a kitten to spoil, to scold at, to mollycoddle, to talk to, to share with, to love.  It was far less painful whenever he could tell a story of El-ahrairah, like a true bard, but it paled in comparison to seeing the joy and peace on some of his friends' faces whenever they tended to their young and family.  It was something Dandelion would never be able to understand.

                "I wish I was someone's father as well, young one," Dandelion sighed sadly to himself as he laid to rest.

                Dandelion got up.

                                                                                ***

                "Do you honestly think that I turned my back on Frith and El-ahrairah, you presumptuous wretch?!  THEY turned their backs on ME!!  They abandoned me!!  They knew what I was going to endure, what I was going to feel, how I was to suffer, and yet they didn't give a damn!!!"  Woundwort was now sobbing, his voice cracking with unresolved torment and chaos as he raked his claws across Justin's chest.

                Hawkbit, his sides bleeding, his paws stinging, managed to bite back the moans of pain building up in his throat, making him wish he could vomit, as the gray loudmouth the remembered some laborious images:

                El-ahrairah was in his chambers of the warren in the meadows of Fenlo, and where all the faithful rabbits of his Owsla, along with the summoned Lapine subjects from Watership Down, just stood and paid heed to their Prince's message with anxiety, confusion, and excitement.  Already, he had told them about the legend of the cross-bearer and how he needed certain rabbits to achieve the task of protecting the human and accompanying him to the warren.  Bigwig, Hazel, Fiver, Holly, Fiver, of course, were the obvious choices.  Most of the other rabbits from Watership Down El-ahrairah had also chosen, and though it was questionable, none of the others had much of a negative bias against such a decision, except for Campion.  Yet, those little rebuttals were quelled when El-ahrairah calmed them down with his sound, kind, reasoning.  Yet, there was a furious uproar of disbelief and scandal when El-ahrairah made a final decision in choosing the remainder of the fellowship, "Hawkbit, I will also require your presence to be in this fellowship for the cross-bearer.  You are to be the final rabbit I choose to carry out this mission."

                The crowd reacted as one, and Hawkbit noted immediately, which melted his pride and joy, were the stern looks of disappointment coming from Holly and Bigwig.

                "Hawkbit?!  Frith in a hole, El-ahrairah!  Have you gone mad?!" shouted Groundsel.

                "That loudmouthed idiot cannot even be trusted to watch over kittens, much less his comrades and the cross-bearer!  Send a deserving rabbit in his place instead!" Flyairth growled, glaring at the blackish rabbit unceremoniously.

                Even Rabscuttle (and this did hurt) suggested, "My Lord, surely you can find a more competent rabbit?"

                Hawkbit tried to cover the mortification and indignity he was feeling by giving everyone a mock glower, but he noticed that Bigwig was still not very happy about El-ahrairah's final decision, simply because Hawkbit's strength's were being crude, obnoxious, opinionated, and raucous.  His sentiments, along with the sentiments of the other Watership warriors, echoed in:

                "Hawkbit, you idiot!" Bigwig yelled, cuffing him.

                "Hawkbit, will you shut up?!" Holly snapped, clamping the buck's mouth shut.

                "Must you always speak your mind at the worst possible time?!!" groaned Blackberry.

            "Maybe if you weren't such a mule-headed rabbit," growled Bigwig, silently telling every fiber in his body to resist the urge to beat the living daylights our of Hawkbit, "we'd think differently about you and your place in this mission, but even Frith knows that that will be as likely as you sprouting wings and flying away!  And need I remind you, you dung-smelling, foul-mouthed furball, that when El-ahrairah summoned all of us to go on the expedition to find Justin, he assigned Hazel-rah, Holly, and me as the leader and commanders of this Owsla because he trusted in our leadership abilities."

            "You and your big mouth always has to start something, doesn't it?!" snapped Dandelion.

            "Hawkbit!  He's trying to say 'thank you', you unfeeling, bellyaching, selfish cocklebur!!" yelled Speedwell as he cuffed Hawkbit lightly on the head, "So be nice!!"

            "Hawkbit, if you don't keep that trap of yours quiet, I'll certainly be more than willing to show you how hard the ground is with your head!!" snarled Buckthorn.

                The tirade of snaps, heated frustrations, and cuffings was endless.  And so was the hurt.

                Hawkbit got up.

                                                                                ***

                "All they cared about was focusing their attention on blessing pure potential such as yourself and your damned protectors, and yet all the meanwhile, they ignored me because I could not meet their expectations, their ideals!!  They abandoned me!!  They were the ones who wronged me!!  And yet you think because I lived differently and joined with Elil-rah I must truly be the despicable one?!   HOW DARE YOU!!!" Woundwort yelled as he kicked Justin brutally in the stomach, his claws tripping Justin's shirt to shreds.

                Silver, the blubber underneath his fur shaking with the sobs racking across the gray-furred rabbit's body, flowed and bulged as Silver, despite the tears, managed to endure the pain of the memories that came to him at Woundwort's testimony:

                "How could you abandon the carrots while we were running away from that dog, Silver?!" screamed Scabious at him, enraged that Silver lost the flayrah bounty for the Threarah."

                "I'm sorry, it was an accident!  I couldn't help it!" Silver apologized, but the other rabbits weren't very considerate and understanding.

                "By the light of Frith, I knew it was a mistake to let you come with us!!" complained Nightshade.

                "You're always getting in the way, having trouble getting through tight scrapes because of your huge size, being easily spotted by elil by more than a hrair distance because of your silver fur, always attracting attention!!" put in Pimpernel.

                "What's the matter, Silver?!  Nothing to say in your defense, you clumsy, huge oaf?!  By the Black Rabbit, how in the name of Frith did such a mild, inadequate, overweight rabbit such as yourself ever become an Owsla soldier?!!" sneered Nightshade, seeing Silver's eyes water in shame and offense.

                "By the Black Rabbit, wait until I tell the rest of the chaps back at Sandleford!!  You'll be lucky not to get laughed out of the warren, you fat, irresponsible idiot!!" shot Toadflax, "After all everyone knows that the reason you are even in the Owsla in the first place is because you're the Threarah's nephew, so you don't even deserve to be a true honorary Owsla soldier!!"

                "Please, help me!" shouted a younger, drier Silver as he tried to loosen himself from the bramble of vines that messily tangled and entwined his hind legs.  He, Toadflax and Pine Needles, after feasting in a farmer's garden, ran out and made their way through a narrow gap between two, lush undergrowths of thick ivy.  Unfortunately, because of Silver's size, he got caught again and was delaying the others.  Toadflax just sneered at him.

                "And endanger ourselves with elil prowling about?!  You can forget it!  You got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out!  Come now, Pine Needles, let's return to Sandleford."  Both of the bucks turned and started hopping off, slowly and deliberately, to spite the pained Silver.

                "Are you sure it's safe?  Shouldn't we help him?" Silver heard Pine Needles whisper.  Toadflax laughed.

                "He won't last long in the Owsla anyway, and even if he can't get out of this mess, it wouldn't make much of a difference.  Even the Threarah told Holly and I that he wished Silver would just die so that our warren and his reputation doesn't get tarnished from his bumbling, overweight nephew.  He's nobody, and he's not even important.  He's about as helpful as the outskirters!"  As Toadflax and Pine Needles chortled cruelly, Silver gnawed away at the vines wrapped around his legs, half-heartedly wishing that elil would come to put him out of his misery, his pain, his torment.  Yet, ironically for the weeping rabbit in the dark night, no elil came.

                Silver got up.

                                                                                ***

                "Maybe you'll truly understand why I hate you and the rest of El-ahrairah's legacy!!  Maybe you and the rest of those fools will understand why Elil-rah is the true savior of this world, why Frith's values are nothing, if you even had the faintest sliver of the knowledge how much it hurts to be cursed, to be ignored and scorned, to try to live to everyone's expectations, only to feel hurt and burning anger at the sight of others enjoying to witness your failures, your ideals mocked, and nothing you do could ever change the fact that you will always be nothing more than a deep disappointment!!" General Woundwort bellowed.

                Hazel, Chief Rabbit of Watership Down past, renowned and legendary rabbit of El-ahrairah's legacy, one of the most resourceful and cunning and inspirational rabbits Lapine history has ever known, was, for that one moment, in complete understanding of Woundwort:

                The Black Rabbit, while they were trying to escape from the comical fields, glared at Hazel with his cold, unforgiving eyes as he stated, El-ahrairah also trusted Hazel in leading the Owsla of Watership Down to fight against Elil-rah and protect the cross-bearer, but after hrair brushes with danger and near-failures of having the human killed, I can honestly say with conviction that I do not believe Hazel  is capable of continuing his duty as the commander.  The rest of you, the members of the infamous Owsla of El-ahrairah, all of you have proven yourselves worthy as rabbits of the highest nobility, for all of you have shown blessings of power and courage and cunning worthy of El-ahrairah's legacy, all used to protect Justin.  Yet what troubles me is that Hazel has not proven himself, and if the cross-bearer has not chosen to bless him with power, then I am justified in thinking that perhaps, it would be more beneficial if Holly or Bigwig took control of Hazel's duties for the time being.

                Hazel then remembered, with rising bile, what he did when he and the other Watership warriors had to go leave with Damien and abandoning Justin, how he disappointed everyone, how they were angry and outraged at his decisions:

                Pipkin was inconsolable as he turned to Hazel fiercely, whimpering, "Orders?!  Orders?!  Hazel-rah, how can you believe that?!  El-ahrairah would have never asked us to follow Damien!  And we left Holly behind!  He was just fighting for Justin's honor and defending him, and Damien was the one who injured him!  And yet we had to leave Holly behind because we needed to follow the new human!"

                "And what about Justin, Hazel-rah?!" Buckthorn snapped angrily, "What in the name of the Black Rabbit did he ever do to deserve this from Frith and El-ahrairah?!  He was our friend, our comrade, who did nothing but show us friendship and understanding, and yet we broke his heart and conveniently forgot all he had ever done for us!  He was the cross-bearer too!"

                "By Frith and Inle, not even El-ahrairah would do such an deed!!  I do not even know why I even look up to you as a Chief Rabbit, you...you rotter!!" yelled Hawkbit.

                "You're the one to blame, Hazel!" screamed Strawberry, his voice artic and accusatory, "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!"

                Yet what was the most humiliating and the most pivotal image of how much Hazel could sympathize with Woundwort...was the memory of bowing to Damien, submitting his service like a lower, common servant, cracking and shattering the faith and trust of all his friends in that one moment.

                Hazel got up.

                                                                                ***

                Woundwort then heavily pinned Justin to the ground, his claws pressing hard against Justin's shoulders and preventing the teen from even having the chance to use his arms to struggle and writhe out of his grip.  Yet, it wasn't even a possibility.  Justin was on the brink of consciousness, his breath now ragged, uneven, and the human had to breathe deep, gulping breaths to even quell the fire in his chest.  Justin's eyes were half-open, and the part glazed look made the adolescent's pupils seemed drained, surrendering, and at a loss.  And throughout the cross-bearer's body, blood and gore was apparent everywhere.  His broken arm was now showing bone and ragged, pulpy flesh, his blood now forming a crimson patch on Justin's clothes.  Justin was now done for; if he was not going to die now, at Woundwort's paws, he would certainly die from his injuries later without medical aid.  And none of the Watership rabbits were blessed with the power of healing.

                "It is over, you pathetic wretch," growled Woundwort as his teeth reached for Justin's windpipe, "Farewell, you troublesome curse!"  Yet, before the General's teeth could break the skin, a voice, shrill with urgency and loss, bellowed out so strongly, Woundwort had to stop.

                "Don't!"

                Woundwort turned ever so slowly behind him.

                "DON'T!!!"  It was Bigwig, and though obviously hurt and holding his bleeding side excruciatingly with one paw, the fur-cropped rabbit, with sorrowful eyes, managed to shakily stand on his hind feet as he mustered his remaining strength to address to Woundwort.

                "You're wrong, Woundwort.  You're wrong about Justin!  For the love of all Frith has created, do not kill the boy!  PLEASE!!  He...he has done more for me than any other rabbit I have ever known!!"  Woundwort's eyes slightly widened; this was certainly the first Bigwig has ever humbled himself to the enemy, actually pleading, like a small child.  The others of the Watership Owsla also managed to rise and testify.

                Fiver strongly proclaimed, despite the blood running into his mouth, "Woundwort, I know you certainly do not trust us nor do you trust El-ahrairah, but you are making a severe, grave mistake.  O embleer Frith, General Woundwort, can you not see that to shed Justin's blood makes you no better than the misfortunes and the men that have brought shame and harsh misery to your own past?  Woundwort, the boy is the most innocent soul I have ever seen...and he is no different from the innocent kitten that lost his family to the weasel and the man a long time ago.  The kitten you once were."

                Hawkbit managed to growl, "We are not lying and we are not deluded, Woundwort!  Can't you see we are telling the truth?!!  Justin is the cross-bearer because he was meant to save this world, not destroy it!!  You are the fool, Woundwort!!  Can't you see that what you think, what Elil-rah told you, isn't true?!  It's a lie, all of it!!!  Just because you were treated unfairly doesn't mean you can blame us or the boy, you wretch!!  Our lives were not a field of wildflowers and clover, you cheat!!"

                Bluebell, though injured, also managed to stand up and defend Justin's actions with his words of sincere friendship.  "You...you have been hurt, and...and we can see that, poor chap.  You're NOT alone!  All of us have felt some of your pain exactly!  We know what it feels like...to be alone, to be scared, to survive on your wits and never have a moment's peace.  For the sake of El-ahrairah, you are not the only one!  We all have been through pain beyond description!  We have all felt loss and hurt!"

                Strawberry then choked as he nearly sobbed while testifying, "All of us have felt the torture that comes from men!  I came from the Warren of Shining Wires, Campion was subjected to the rigors, shame and cruelty of Efrafa during your rule, and Hazel-rah and the other Sandleford rabbits lost their home because men destroyed it and all their lands, just to make runs for their own selves!  We're not lying and we know you see the truth, that there are men who are the cause of all our plagues!  But that is only a partial truth, Woundwort!"

                Blackberry then quietly supplicated, "Woundwort, I do agree with your that most men are evil and that they should never be trusted, and yes, I still have reservations about Justin," (at this admission, some of the Watership Owsla threw Blackberry dirty looks), "I too, I have known the pain that comes from men, but please realize that Justin had never once betrayed our trust, our mission, and though he is foolish and impulsive, the fact that he follows his heart shows that he is good inside!  Never once have his actions led to pain and misery!  His spirit is no different from El-ahrairah!"

                "There will always exist the pain of being a rabbit, of being subjected to the short-sighted cruelties of the Thousand, of man, of fear and having to live on cunning and tricks without any rest or respite.  But General Woundwort, can you not see what a mistake, what an error you are about to perform?  Justin never caused us any of that pain; instead, he took it away from us, erased it from our minds and hearts because he gave us, all of us, something special...his friendship, his compassion, his kindness," Buckthorn barely managed to speak above a whisper as he limped forward, his leg still sprained horrifically.

                "Woundwort, Justin was not given the powers of the cross-bearer on a whim," cried a shivering, traumatized Silver, "Justin was chosen because of his heart, and even with your knowledge of the boy, you have no idea of how much we have bonded with the boy, of how much we have not really cared that we are different, that we were meant to be enemies, and that despite it all, Justin trusted us because he cared about us, thought of us as his family, and never once gave in the desire to quit and abandon the need for El-ahrairah, though it would have been so much simpler.  Justin is not evil, Woundwort.  He is not the one responsible for your pain."

                Dandelion then sobbed, "You're wrong about Justin, Woundwort.  He is truly the one human who is different from the rest!  He is not like other men you have seen in your life!  Embleer Frith, Woundwort, we love him!!  Can't you see that?!  We love that human, just as we are sure he loves us!!  He is our friend, the truest friend you could ever wish for!!"

                Pipkin then begged with tears streaking down his face, "Please, do not kill Justin!  Do not listen to Elil-rah!!  Justin isn't evil!  He never was!  Yes, he has faults, he is not holy nor is he a god, and he is not above all others, but he knows that and never pretends to be.  Nor is he what you and Elil-rah perceive him to be!  He...he is our friend and we are honored to have even met him!  And he could be your friend as well, Woundwort!  He can stop the pain, take away the loneliness, give you hope!"

                Speedwell then cried out with painful distress, "You truly have no idea how far off you are when you said all those things about the cross-bearer, about Justin, Woundwort!  He is not the worthless, despicable cause of every single disaster and curse that befell you and your legacy!  The boy was chosen because of his heart, because of his loyalty, his grace, his gentleness, and his faith!!  You are just blaming him because he is an easy target, a scapegoat for your troubles!!  Just because you think you know how men are does not mean the same applies to Justin, you fool!!"

                Campion then stated weakly, his breath dying, "General Woundwort, please, think this through!  El-ahrairah and Frith have requested for Justin to come here, and the boy did not choose to enter the land beyond life!!  None of this was his doing!!  He came because he was brought here, forced really, but despite the unfairness of it, he still chose to come with us, to trust us, to help El-ahrairah!!  You cannot possibly argue with that!!"

                "How can you even ignore the fact that Justin took mercy on your comrades and minions when your dark master, Elil-rah, would not?" demanded Holly, hoping his sharp tone could break though Woundwort's stubbornness, "Scry-rah and the hawks, Lousewort and Sneezewort from Volgnamass and his army of weasels, Lord Brock and how he fed and watered him despite his betrayals, Shardik and the animals from the Lands of Yesterday and Tomorrow, King Darzin and his cats after the battle with Bigwig!  Can't you see, General?!  Are you still blind with your hatred and self-righteous doggedness?!  Elil-rah did not spare them and reward them!  Justin did!  He was the one who took mercy on them, even if they were on opposing sides, even if they were sent to kill him, because Justin did not wish to harm them ,because he wished to remain peaceful!  Can't you not see, Woundwort?!  It is Elil-rah who will betray you!"

                Acorn then bawled, "Oh Woundwort, please, do not kill Justin!  Do you honestly think you will gain peace by dooming this world, this land, and killing El-ahrairah?!  Do you wish to suffer along with others?!  Justin can save you, just as he has saved all of us!  Killing the cross-bearer will never bring you peace, only temporary satisfaction and the twisted thoughts of evening the score for justice and fairness!  But it will not help with anything!!  It will just leave you more bitter and vengeful!!  I know, I know!!"

                "Woundwort, please listen: it is not too late to stop this, to end all this madness!!" Hazel demanded fiercely, "It is not too late to find redemption!  Spare the cross-bearer, and we will all be able to survive this insanity and save Frith's gentle rule in the land beyond life!  Kill Justin, and every single creature, yourself included, will be damned for all eternity under Elil-rah's rule!  You think that you have gone too far to do anything else except obey Elil-rah and find power?!  You are wrong!  It is never too late!!"

                Unfortunately, Woundwort just narrowed his eye and hissed furiously, frothing white foam, bubbling at the corners of his mouth, "Shut up, all of you!!  You're lying!!!  All of you blasted fools are lying, cursed with illusions of childish, naive mendacities!!!  NONE of you have any idea of what I went through, of what I have lived with!!!  I hate you!!!  ALL OF YOU!!!  I hate you for what you did to me, for the misfortunes you blighted me with for all these years!!!"

                "That is not true!" Pipkin protested with wide, sad eyes, "Woundwort, please, do not say such things!"

                "Can't you fools see that this is the only way for me to find peace, to avenge my defeats, for finding restitution for a lifetime of torment, injustice, and bitterness?!"  Then, to Hazel-rah and the rest of Watership Down rabbits' collective horrors, Woundwort bared his teeth, lost in his mad desire for reconciliation and haven as he growled, his voice magnifying with each passing second, "I may not ever erase the past, I may not ever find a life of blessing and respite from the darkness that haunts me, BUT I KNOW THAT I WILL FINALLY HAVE SOME FULFILLMENT IN KILLING JUSTIN AND CAUSING GRIEF AND PAIN TO ALL WHO EVER MOCKED ME!!!"

                Woundwort then felt two clammy, sweaty, yet tender hands gently touch his right paw, and sensitive to the touch, the General turned down to see that Justin, despite his injuries and Woundwort pressing down on his chest, managed to whisper with a solemn face and troubled eyes, "You're...you're wrong, Woundwort.  I...I don't...hate you.  I'm...I'm sorry that you had to go through that."

                Woundwort's denial and anger immediately surfaced as he roared, "YOU'RE LYING, YOU EMBLEER WRETCH!!!"

                Then, to his surprise, due to the psychometry Elil-rah bestowed upon him, General Woundwort then saw everything about Justin's history.  With the simple touch of Justin's skin upon his hard, disordered fur, the cursed, past Efrafan leader then saw:

                Images of Justin enduring taunts and jeers from his classmates back at school, wincing inwardly from every insult, rude gesture, and scornful act of bullying and violent act.  But despite the blows and the hate-filled words, Justin never made a move to defend himself.  Instead, he seemed to sadly accept it, as if he would never escape such treatment, as if he would always be fated to live through such acts of misery.

                Scenes of Justin's own father beating Justin, subjecting him to pain and verbal abuse as an equality of discipline.

                Reflections of Justin crying, cold, alone, and in a fetal position in his dark room, as Woundwort could clearly observe that the human had no one for comfort, had no one to look up to, to be close with, had nothing really to live for.

                Pain.

                Sadness.

                Isolation.

                Coldness.

                Despair.

                Sorrow.

                At the same time, Justin saw:

                A weary, heavy laden doe with her litter running away and escaping their home that was being dug up from a nearby, angry farmer who was irate at the buck ruining his crops.

                Elil and predators picking off the kittens who were too slow or too weak to continue following their mother, meaning Woundwort had to see his brothers and sisters become easy prey.

                A weasel grabbing the doe by her throat, ripping her neck apart and spreading blood everywhere, while a terrified Woundwort, as a kitten, watched on, horrified and cold.

                Woundwort crying alone, in the bushes, with no one to protect him, the remainders of his family killed off.

                Woundwort now being held against his will by a kind schoolteacher who was willing to raise the rabbit as a pet, and was now confined to a prison of wire and wood, forced to live off the hands of the creature man he had most despised.

                Pain.

                Sadness.

                Isolation.

                Coldness.

                Despair.

                Sorrow.

                In a flash, it was all over.  Woundwort and Justin shakily looked into each other's eyes, realizing that they submerged into the other's past memories.  The Watership Owsla just looked on in silent fear.

                Justin managed to say out, trembling with a misty voice and glistening eyes, "I...I am sorry for what happened to you.  And you're right.  It wasn't fair...to you or your family.  But I meant what I said: I don't hate you, and I don't blame you for hating me.  But...but please listen, General Woundwort.  I do care about my friends, the Watership Down rabbits.  They've been family to me ever since I was put here, and I truly care for them because they care for me.  I don't despise them just because we're different...and neither should you.  Woundwort, can't you see?  You're letting your anger and bitterness cloud your judgment, but this is the real truth.  I want to help El-ahrairah, I want to save this world, not destroy it.  And...I know you want a friend, you want to just give up everything if you could have peace of mind.  Please...please Woundwort, I can help you.  I know you're not evil."

                General woundwort was now trembling, wide-eyed, and in such danger at losing control, he didn't notice the tears spilling out of both of his eyes.

                Justin whispered, "I can be your friend if you want.  We both need help...and we can both help each other."

                General Woundwort shook harder, his body nearly going into spasms.

                Justin then whispered, "I see you, I feel for you, and I care too."

                Woundwort's mouth twitched ever so slightly.

                "You're not alone."

                It was then Woundwort acted in the only way that made sense to him.

                With a frenzied lunge, Woundwort's teeth then sunk into the boy's throat, drawing blood.  Justin, for a fleeting moment, had no idea what was going on until he felt the rabbit's warm flesh on his neck, the sharp, razor-like teeth painfully and excruciatingly boring and gorging into his voice box and windpipe.  His lungs instantly filled with blood and Justin weakly gurgled, his screams dying in his throat, his hands weakly beating against Woundwort's strong body.  Even as Bigwig, Hazel, Campion, and Holly dashed immediately, in a valiant move to stop Woundwort, it would be too late.  They would never reach the cross-bearer in time.  The innocent teenager would be dead in less than several seconds for Woundwort was intent in ripping Justin's entire throat out.  It would be an instant, immediate kill.

                "NO!!!" screamed Pipkin.

                "STOP!" Acorn shrieked.

                "Justin!!!" yelled Speedwell, his voice now an octave higher from the fright and shock.

                "Don't, please!!" Strawberry squealed.

                "Woundwort, NO!" yelled Dandelion.

                "It's hopeless!!" Hawkbit gasped, crying.

                Then, as Woundwort continued his gruesome act, despite the blood, the ephemeral rate of Justin's life passing out of the human's body, despite the enormous amount of evil and darkness safeguarding the Skies of Hellfire, the cross, the beautiful golden jewel of Frith and God, performed a single miracle in the sea of chaotic screams and strife.

                Despite the insurmountable darkness, despite the very heart of Elil-rah's powerful influence of evil for all animals, despite the cold, bleak force of death and destruction entangling the very web of the warren, the cross managed to respond to the beauties and sorrows of both Justin and Woundwort, their past, their pain, their unknowing similar fates and trials, all pleading for just that one moment of light and truth.  That moment came.  With a beautiful noise, the cross had flashed, covering the entire room, and indeed, flooding the entire warren, with beautiful, glorious, blessed sunlight.  Woundwort, staring directly at the cross, was blinded, and in pain, he released Justin's throat from his mouth, completely preoccupied with the streams of sharpness embedding in his eye sockets and into his brain.  That one moment was all that the four Watership rabbits would need.

                Woundwort bellowed in rage as he was sent flying from a combined tackle from Hazel, Holly, Bigwig, and Campion, and the other Watership rabbits rushed to help overpower the Efrafan general or to drag Justin's nearly unconscious body away from harm.  Woundwort would not be put off, however.  With a short back-flip, Woundwort managed to land onto his two hind paws nimbly and deftly, the rabbit's eye being redder and brighter than the splotches on the human's blood on his nose and mouth.  Woundwort gritted his teeth in insane fury and wrath, feeling Elil-rah's condemning eyes bearing down on his second-in-command accusingly, condemningly.  Woundwort would not fail now!  He would not surrender!  He would win this battle for Elil-rah, no matter what the costs!

                Speedwell and Silver managed to gather around Justin, and Speedwell, holding the weak, wounded child in his paws, kept trying to rejuvenate the cross-bearer.  The rest of the rabbits bravely faced down Woundwort, ready to fight and defend for Justin's life.

                Meanwhile, as he watched above in the darkness, hidden in the dimness of obscurity, Elil-rah was beginning to become more and more disconcerted.  The child and the Watership rabbits were in his rule, his domain, the center of his power and presence.  How could the cross even have been able to exhibit such brilliance?  It was then, to Elil-rah's sadistic delight, and slight fear, that Justin's cross had abilities that far surpassed everyone's expectations.  Such power!  Such splendor!  It MUST be his, no matter if he had to sacrifice...

                Elil-rah then chuckled evilly with betrayal.

                "Why won't you rabbits give up?!!" Woundwort screamed as he let out a psychometric blast, full force and much, much greater than the ones he subjected to the Watership warriors previously.  Enervated and injured, there was no way they could dodge it.  Yet, Justin's only flicker of light from the cross did far more than to just save Justin.

                "NO!!!" roared Hazel, and to everyone's amazement, including Elil-rah's incredulous vehemence, a sudden orb engulfed El-ahrairah's Owsla and the cross-bearer, golden, protective sunbeams.  With a deafening rumble and crash of destruction, the powerful strike ruptured the surrounding rock and marble, cracking the structures and crumbling them to shards…but Hazel and the rabbits of Watership Down were completely unharmed!  The others were at first confused, until they noticed that Hazel-rah now had the tiny, spectral cross glowing in front of his chest again, exactly like before when they fought It in the warren of the Black Rabbit of Inle.

                "No, it can not be!" squealed Woundwort, spit and blood bubbling at the corners of his twitching mouth.

                "Hazel, how in the name of the Black Rabbit?!" gasped Campion.

                "It must have been Justin's cross, when it flashed that surge of power and blinded Woundwort!  It must have given Hazel-rah back the blessings of ability he first received from Justin!" Blackberry reasoned joyfully.

                "Wait!  If Hazel-rah received his gift…"  Acorn let the sentence hang, unfinished, but the same realization clicked in everyone else's minds…including to the unfortunate Woundwort and Elil-rah.

                "WOUNDWORT, STOP THEM!!!  KILL THE CROSS-BEARER NOW!!!" Elil-rah commanded frantically.

                General Woundwort growled a noise that not even the fiercest beats of hell could compete with in intensity as he released another swell of power, but this time, the rabbits were ready.  Frith had given them their powers back, and the battlefield was more than evenly matched.

                "Psychometric power!" shouted Hawkbit, stretching his forepaw towards the energy barreling towards them.  With a flicker of shimmering orange, the power was now summoned directly into a spherical ball of aura in Hawkbit's paws, ready to be utilized back as a weapon.  Precisely like Hawkbit had done before with Blood Whitetail's knife back in the battle of Fenlo.  The blackish Owsla soldier ingeniously summoned the actual, harsh energy of Woundwort's psychometry to throw directly back at him.  A wicked smile of mischief and delight spread behind Hawkbit's whiskers.  Woundwort was shocked at the sight…which allowed Bluebell to invoke his power.

                "Time stop!" he called, and with a flash and the click of judgment from the clocks of time and space, Woundwort was engulfed with sunlight, unable to move.  Bluebell had frozen time on the room, leaving the General immobile…and completely exposed.

                "I believe this rot belongs to you!" snarled Hawkbit as he flicked the energy in trade at Woundwort.  There was a sudden rumble as the power tore across the room before it struck Woundwort, breaking the spell of the time-freeze.  Woundwort flew back, squealing before colliding with the wall in a bloody mess.  Hawkbit's smirk grew even wider.  Woundwort struggled to get up, blood running down his legs and chest, revealing a broken rib and shoulder, the bones exposed and breaking out of Woundwort's flesh and fur.  He cursed, "You embleer -!!!"

                That was as far as he got before he was completely dog-piled, en masse, by over a hundred Acorn replicas, and with Acorn's powers of multiplicity, the army of rabbit clones flung themselves on General Woundwort.  The evil rabbit could barely breathe, being crushed under the weight of many, many furry bodies pressing against him, pinning him down, scratching, biting, and clawing under the suffocating darkness.

                "RRRRRAAAARRRRRRRGGHHH!!" roared Woundwort as his blasted the clones piled on top of him, causing them to go flying back or to dissolve in smoke.  Woundwort did not bother to feel the numerous, deep gouges and scratches left all over his body and face (though he did notice his leg was limping and twisted from the fact that several rough Acorns managed to sink their teeth into the cartilage while pulling it wildly in different directions).  The next wave of bold Acorns was already triumphantly snarling as a second wave of rabbits mobbed themselves at the General, claws ready and heads lowered.  There was no way Woundwort could fight so many in such close, constricting quarters so he did a tactical retreat.  The large, burly evil reincarnate levitated quickly off the ground, narrowly avoiding the clones as they vainly tried to tackle and drag him down back to the floor.  Woundwort responded in kind by blasting the clone army with his psychometry, completely obliterating them.  He was about to aim his power directly at Hazel and his comrades again, but Woundwort's previous preoccupation with Acorn's clones allowed Pipkin to deliver his attack.

                "SPIN!" the brown dwarf shouted to himself as a self-instruction of encouragement, and Woundwort managed to turn to see, to his surprise, Pipkin barreling towards him at full speed.  With his wings of flight, Pipkin managed to glide up the chamber, following Woundwort and sneaking behind the General.  Folding his wings around him, Pipkin, with many years of training under Bigwig and Holly's guidance, administered a twirling, spiral spike movement, head first, directly towards Woundwort at an accelerated weight.  Despite Pipkin's small size, the weight of his wings gathered around him and the speed he was hurtling made the rabbit as destructive as a launched torpedo.  Woundwort roared again as Pipkin head-butted Woundwort,  in the very center of his rib-cage, spearing the General back down to the ground hard.

                As Woundwort painfully moved out his sprawled position, Pipkin rubbed his head humorously, his skull still ringing from the delivered head-butt, wincing, "Ow, Frith and Inle, I am certainly going to feel that the next day."

                "I will not give up!" seethed Woundwort, blood now dribbling steadily out of his mouth and now broken forepaw, "I will not rest until I kill the cross-bearer!"

                "Not bloody likely!" snarled Bigwig out of nowhere, in his now dog shape, before he managed to grab Woundwort in his massive jawed chops and shook the poor wretch back and forth several times, chewing as hard as he could, before flinging Woundwort as hard as he could into another wall.  Woundwort was ready this time, however, despite his injuries of having several, jagged, messy puncture wounds staked into his body.  Before the rabbit general could hit the wall, the blackness of the shadows absorbed him, covering him, fading him from the rabbits' views.  Now, Woundwort was hidden in the shadows and none of Bigwig's tracking abilities could locate the enemy.

                Bigwig cursed.  "Embleer Frith, we've lost him!"

                "No he won't!!" Campion called out, determined, as his body began to glow again with blazing, fiery light of his heart, and to the warriors' shock, the light of flaming truth now overcome the shadows lurking around every corner, every crack and crevice, melting them.

                "The shadows!" gasped Speedwell, "They're disappearing!"

                "Bloody brilliant, Campion!" cheered Blackberry, "Now Woundwort has no place to hide!"

                And so it was, for when the very last remnants of the shadows melted, Woundwort suddenly appeared, once again revealed not too far off from the rabbits.  Campion growled, "It is over, General!  Stop this now!!"

                Woundwort simply then threw another blast of psychometric power, but this time, towards the ceiling above them.  Fractured from the sudden impact, the roof above collapsed, forming sharp, jagged boulders and causing an avalanche of rubble to rain down and crush them.  Silver, however, was faster as he quickly glanced up towards the plummeting rubble.

                "Levitate!" the silver rabbit commanded, and within an instant, the falling dangers halted, suspended gently by golden rings of levitation, the blessing Silver received with his bond with the cross-bearer.  With a simple shrug of his paws, Silver gently pushed away the debris into a secluded portion of the Grand Hall before letting them drop without endangering anyone.  Silver then turned fiercely to Woundwort, "Care to try that again, you wretch?!"

                Woundwort narrowed his eye and was about to, when all of a sudden, he felt very cold, unable to even move.  It was as if his body betrayed him, ignoring all his frantic commands to move and invoke his power!  What in the name of the dark beast was happening to him?!

                "Whatever is the matter, Woundwort?" a sarcastic voice drawled inside the General's head, "Having a little trouble?"  Woundwort, to his horror, managed to glance his eyes downward to see the head of the translucent astral specter of Speedwell, projected from Speedwell's body, protruding out of Woundwort's chest and giving a very smug glare.  Woundwort managed to hiss with anger, "What...did...you do...to me...you wretch?!"

                "Ever heard of astral projection, Woundwort?  It's quite an odd, funny power, if I do say so myself!" mocked the white rabbit jester, "Short story, my spirit can come out of my body and merge with another creature's body and take over their mind and function!  As of now, Woundwort, you can't move nor use your troublesome psychometry because I'm controlling your body and suppressing it from even happening!"

                Woundwort sneered gratingly, "And...you...think...this will...hurt me...you fool?!"

                Speedwell then grinned as he made effort to make his voice sound nonchalant, "Actually, I am simply here to stall you in place.  The lightning Blackberry is calling forth will hurt you!"

                At this sentence, Woundwort's heart faulted as his eyes traveled back upwards to see Blackberry standing on his hind legs, his chest sticking out courageously as black storm clouds and fog surfaced above his head, flashing every second with white energy of nature as the rumbles of the crashing thunder cracked and groaned.  Woundwort then remembered that the black-eared buck was given the power to manipulate the very elements of the weather.  This was certainly going to hurt.

                Blackberry growled as the shafts of lightning struck down.  Speedwell, being a spirit, was not harmed, but Woundwort certainly was.

                "AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

                Speedwell, returning back to his body, cringed at the sight of the burnt, smoking body of Woundwort, his fur now completely burnt off, his skin blackened, his flesh charred and smoking a disgusting odor.  He sniggered, "Ooh, that appeared to have jolly well hurt."

                "Enough!!!" yowled General Woundwort with a screech, and with that, he summoned every last ounce of strength and fired a powerful force once again, but this time, Strawberry acted and intervened.  With a grunt of exertion, the orange, hefty rabbit motioned his forepaws upwards towards the sky, forcing a wave of marble and stone to form a wall in front of the Owsla of El-ahrairah, blocking the attack.  With a din, the psychometric force smashed the wall to smithereens, but leaving the Watership Owsla intact and unharmed.  With General Woundwort temporarily blinded by the obscure cloud of dust and dirt that emerged from the combustion of the rock barrier, Holly took his one chance.  Holly flicked his glowing paws, immersed with the faint outline of golden sun, directly at Woundwort.  Woundwort felt the stinging cold of fury swipes running across his face and chest, and with a cursed cry of wailing pain, Woundwort clutched his searing face with both forepaws.  The Watership soldiers could now see the deep, painful lacerations that littered Woundwort's entire body.  Holly's power of rending was unquestionably effective and painful.

                Woundwort managed to glare murderously at Holly, the blood running freely and steadily from the four gashes raked across his face, as Holly snarled, "Consider that an appropriate retaliation for what you did to us when we were taken prisoner by you and your Owsla at Efrafa, you wretch!"

                "Damn you!" cursed Woundwort.

                Meanwhile, while the battle was raging, Fiver was scrutinizing Woundwort, until his powers of perception made him remember the premonition he told Hazel before they met up with Scry-rah and his flock: "A warren in the sky...temptations of the deepest desires...friend or foe, only Frith knows, but for tonight, eyes are made blind and a lost comrade shall be found and there will be much anger and joy."

                Fiver recalled the part, "eyes are made blind"; that was it!

                "Buckthorn!" Fiver gasped to the quiet soldier standing next to him, "His eye!  General Woundwort's eye!  It is his source of power, his sign of his gifts of power given to him by Elil-rah!  His good eye is why he even has such strength!  If you blind him -!!"

                Buckthorn understood before Fiver even finished, and in a blink, Buckthorn tore off towards General Woundwort fearlessly, without the slightest hesitation, as, with a twinkle of the stars, the golden, cold metal sword appeared in Buckthorn's right paw.  Woundwort saw the rabbit coming, and tried to invoke another surge of psychometry, but the Watership rabbit was too quick, and attacking in such close quarters was Buckthorn's expertise.

                SPUCK!

                Woundwort screamed, a shrill, defeated, spontaneous scream that could not be placed into words; there were far too many emotions ranging in Woundwort's voice to even list them all.  Hazel and the others, to their relieved repulsion, saw that it was over.  Buckthorn was standing only a foot or so away from Woundwort's front, the Watership rabbit's face displaying no emotion, no disgust, and no remorse, just blank, stony, indifference.  With a steady paw and nerves of the hardest stone, Buckthorn had completely and thoroughly drove in the golden sword into Woundwort's head, up to the very hilt, and the others could see that the sword had gorged through the General's head for behind Woundwort's ears was the long point of the sword, now covered with blood and disgusting matter.  Woundwort had now lost his power; without his eye, he could no longer invoke his psychometry.

                With a brutal move, Buckthorn removed his sword from Woundwort's body and kicked the Efrafan general heavily, causing the hefty rabbit to fly back several feet.  Woundwort was now on his side, blind, weak, hurt, and completely powerless.

                Buckthorn rumbled coldly, "It is over, Woundwort.  You lost."

                "IT IS NOT OVER, YOU FOOLS!!!"  The entire warren started to rumble, and to the horrors of the Watership Owsla, at the sound of Elil-rah's voice, the entire warren was completely obliterated with darkness, erasing any speck of light that had once pooled over the Great Cavern from before.  Now, the entire party was encased with blackness.  It was as if they were all in a swirling void of nothing and emptiness.  Above them, red started to bathe the room again, the color of fierce, passionate bloodlust, as red slits opened again to form the red, glowing eyes of Elil-rah.

                "Embleer Frith!" gasped Holly.

                "Strawberry, I'm scared!" whimpered Pipkin as he nuzzled next to his taller comrade.  Strawberry did not say anything, but the look of fear and trepidation in his eyes mirrored the same as everyone else's.  Woundwort managed to crow, feeling that victory was not out of his grasp yet, unaware of what Elil-rah planned for the Efrafan rabbit.

                "HA!  You see, you fools?!  Did you honestly believe you could win against my dark Lord?!  Now, you will all be punished by his hand, and Justin's fate is sealed!!  BWAHAHAHAHA!!!"  The insane laughter of the wounded Woundwort was enough to send shivers down everyone's spines, but Woundwort was completely oblivious, his back facing his master, as Elil-rah brought down a single shaft of black, swirling aura and malicious essence directly onto Woundwort, with the poor Efrafan blissfully unaware of Elil-rah's plan until it was too late.

                "YYEEEEAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!" shrieked Woundwort as the column of power struck the rabbit.  The force was so great, the other rabbits were knocked off their feet by the intensity of the surrounding energy.

                "By the fur and tail of El-ahrairah!" gasped Strawberry, "It's far too powerful for us to even fight back!!  It even outstrips the power of the Black Rabbit of Inle!!!"

                Silver turned pale as he prayed, "O Frith and thunder, have mercy on Woundwort as of now!"

                The energy subsided, and General Woundwort managed to choke out, sniveling and vomiting blood, saliva, and gore as his body was now too weak to even move, much less stand on his own accord, "My...my Lord??  Wh-...why??  I served you."

            "YOU HAVE FAILED ME WOUNDWORT, YOU MUST PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR YOUR INEPTITUDE AND INCOMPETENCE, YOU LOWLY, WEAK PATHETIC SPECIMEN.  FAREWELL."

                "No, please," Woundwort managed to plead weakly, but it was too late.  Another force of intense black energy came crashing down again, and this time, it was even doubtful to the rabbits of El-ahrairah that Woundwort would even come out of this alive, even if he was a spirit in the land beyond life.  Before it crashed, something dashed past Buckthorn and all the rabbits could hear Speedwell cry out, "Justin, NO!!"

                The wave of power struck, and then...all was silent.  Blood was now pooling all over Woundwort...and Justin.  Hazel's eyes widened in shock, and Campion choked back the sobs of grief and worry, while Acorn and Dandelion were literally blown away, so much in shock that they sank to all fours.  Everyone, wordlessly and tharn, watched as Justin, shielding Woundwort with his own body and positioning himself so that he and the Efrafan general were face to face.  Blood now formed roses of red on the back of Justin's tattered shirt, and Justin weakly sank to his knees, his vision clouding soon to merciful darkness.  woundwort, though spared by the main brunt of the attack, was still heavily injured.  Yet, he managed to gasp out, "Cross-bearer...you fool...why?"

                Justin whispered, blood pooling out of his mouth before he passed out, collapsing on the floor, "Because I wanted too.  Because...because you're not evil like everyone says."

                That was the last thing Woundwort heard before he too, fainted from the brutal onslaught of the attacks.

                "JUSTIN!!" the Owsla of Watership Down cried out before rushing to their friend's side.  Elil-rah's voice cheered as his eyes gleamed brighter with malicious achievement.

                "Is he...is he...?!" gasped Fiver, sobbing, unable to finish the sentence.  Elil-rah, however, finished it for him.

            "HE IS NOT AS OF YET, BUT HE SHALL PERISH SOON ENOUGH!!  SUCH A FARCE!!  THE FOOL HAD ACTED EXACTLY LIKE I HAD EXPECTED HIM TO!!"

                "WHAT?!" bellowed Bigwig in shocked anger.

            "I KNEW HE WOULD RISK HIS OWN LIFE TO SPARE THAT WORTHLESS RABBIT, WOUNDWORT!!  JUSTIN'S NOBILITY WAS HIS OWN DOWNFALL!!"

                "Embleer Frith!!" gasped Dandelion, putting a paw over his mouth in vile distress and scandal.

                "How could you?!" roared Campion loudly enough to be heard throughout the Skies of Hellfire, "How could you??!!  Woundwort was not a good rabbit, but you had no right!!!  Not even the General deserved such a fate!!!"

                "It can't be!!" Hazel cried, "Justin can't be dead!!  It can't be!"

            "IT IS NOW TRULY OVER, HAZEL!!!  PREPARE TO MEET THE OBLIVION OF THE FATE YOU SHARE WITH THE CROSS-BEARER AND WOUNDWORT!!  JUSTIN'S CROSS SHALL BE MINE!!!"

                Hazel was at a loss, his blood now frozen and the fear tightening the proverbial noose around his heart.  They could not escape out of the Great Cavern for Elil-rah had blacked out every single opening in the mountain of doom, sealing their fates within.  Scry-rah had left, so even if they did, by some miracle, find their way out of the warren and into the open, they were all trapped with no way out.  They could not travel over the lave, outrun the soldiers that would obviously track them down, and none of them could find a way to use their powers to quickly take them back to El-ahrairah's warren in the blink of an eye...

                It then hit Hazel and Fiver and Blackberry at the same time as all three rabbits turned to Dandelion, realizing what his power was when he was blessed by Justin's cross.  Now they realized why Scry-rah gave their storyteller the meaningful look.

                "Teleport, Dandelion!!  For Frith's sake, TELEPORT US BACK TO EL-AHRAIRAH!!!" screamed Hazel as he held onto Justin and Bigwig and Campion, to their extreme loathing, grabbed hold of Woundwort's unconscious body.  Dandelion then grasped what Hazel needed him to do.

                "NO!!!" screamed Elil-rah in rage as another black shaft of crackling, dark haze flew straight at the group, but without further hesitation, Dandelion shut his eyes and prayed with all of his valor and vigorous strength as the rabbits huddled together, their faces draining of blood as Elil-rah and his aura approached them closer and closer.  Yet, with a blaze of sun-filled glory, a veil of golden light swallowed up all the soldiers and with a flicker of the wind, they vanished, right before the dark energy struck the ground they were all standing on a moment before, causing a devastating crater to form on the floor.

                Elil-rah, knowing this was only a temporary set-back, did his best not to let the situation get to him, but his eyes were now so consumed with the hellfire of rage, even he could have felt the heat consuming every bit of his being with vengeance.

                "YOU CURSED RABBITS HAVE NOT WON YET, YOU FOOLS!!!  NOW, NOW, I WILL GO TO YOUR HOME, YOUR WARREN, AND I WILL NOT REST UNTIL EVERY BIT OF LAND IS TORN APART AND EVERY ONE OF YOUR DAMNED CREATURES WATCH HELPLESSLY AS I KILL YOUR PRECIOUS JUSTIN AND EL-AHRAIRAH BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES BEFORE I ERADICATE EVERY LIVING BIT OF YOUR LAPINE LEGACY!!!  I WILL HAVE MY DESTINY FULLFILLED!!!"  And at that point, there was no longer a turning back as the entire warren of Elil-rah, now no longer needed to the dark beast, started caving in and crumbling, disintegrating into the lava of the volcano below amidst the hazy, crimson sky of night, for Elil-rah will no longer need a place to call his kingdom when he was so adamant to conquer and destroy El-ahrairah's.

                                                                                ***

                Hyzenthlay, Groundsel, Rabscuttle, Lousewort, and Sneezewort were busy shouting orders and tending to the injured, for there were far too many to help and give aid at once.  Every able-bodied creature that could, even the kittens themselves, were doing their best to clean bleeding wounds, help comfort the remaining of the Owsla, and scavenging for food.  Luckily, there were certain sections of the warren underground that were not disturbed and still intact after the siege, and one of these compartments held the sick, dying body of El-ahrairah.  Already, in what remaining burrows were available, there were too many rabbits resting in them, far too drained of energy and strength to even move, and so the rest of the rabbits had to be moved out in the open where they laid on the torn fields, the grass now flat and hard from the attacks of Elil-rah's soldiers.  Throughout the fields, there were the sounds of moaning, crying, whimpering, and mutterings.  Apparently, bad thoughts were coming about very easily after seeing their peaceful home be demolished.  Sneezewort shook his head sadly as he looked at the carnage.  So many lives changed, so much hurt, so much destruction...and for what?  What did any creature of Frith ever do to deserve such torment and pain?

                Groundsel sighed, "Luckily, it is a warm night, so there would be no reason to not have the rest of the warren sleep outside.  However, it is certainly causing much blame and senseless gripes to emerge about, and the problem is, we cannot do anything about it."

                Lousewort nodded grimly, "Aye, mate, I can see it too, for many rabbits here are givin' me an' Sneezewort looks of death and anger, and even though we helped fight against Elil-rah, many of the rabbits of El-ahrairah don't trust us, nor do they trust Snitter and Rowf as well.  Not that I blame the poor lads an' lasses, though.  They are all simply afraid."

                "Hopefully, it will all calm down, though," murmured Hyzenthlay, "Violet and Blethlin are telling stories right now to the kittens to keep their mind occupied and Blackavar led the hlessi to search and bring back food for everyone.  Oh...but embleer Frith!  I just wish Hazel and the others were back!"

                Rabscuttle then said, "Hyzenthlay, they have all been gone for only a day, so there is no need to revive your fears and worries just yet.  Just have faith, just -"  Yet what the second-in-command to El-ahrairah was about to finish saying died as there was an unexpected flash of gold, orange, and white from a little bit of distance off behind them.  Upon the sudden blaze of fire, many of the startled rabbits squealed, kitten trembled from behind the bigger bodies of the adults, and many of the soldiers, including Sneezewort, Lousewort, Snitter and Rowf braced themselves for the worst.  Yet, as the light faded, the dusk now revealed the presence of sixteen, very familiar figures.  Hyzenthlay was the first to cry out with joy.

                "HAZEL!!!" and she, along with many others, ran over to them.  Yet, they all then stopped short upon closer inspection of the group.  The lump in Snitter's throat was able to lodge out as the terrier hoarsely croaked, "Hazel??"

                All the rabbits of Watership Down was looking down at the prone, limp figure of the teenager being gently cradled in Hazel's strong paws, now bloody, bruised, and unconscious with a still look of blankness on Justin's face.  And next to him, being held roughly by a grimacing Campion and Bigwig, was an unconscious Woundwort, also bleeding and broken, but to the shocked, white-faced audience, it was difficult to say which sight was more appalling.

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Next: EL-AHRAIRAH AT LAST!

Justin is finally taken to the entire point of the mission, and he meets, for the first time, the Prince of all Rabbits and the Prince of a Thousand.  But are Justin's troubles truly over?  It is the proverbial calm before the storm, you guys!  Expect this around three weeks! =)

Bigwig: If you wait for another two months, RogueFanKC...!

Speedwell: He wouldn't dare!

Holly: He would!

Acorn: GET HIM!  KILL HIM!  TEACH HIM A LESSON!!

Uh-oh! =/

(RogueFanKC runs while Justin and the WD rabbits chase him)

Let me clarify: I'll put this up in three weeks provided I'm not broken, bleeding, and begging for mercy or dead!  HELP!  What do I do when my own characters want to kill me?! ^_^

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