Horse Feathers
The story so far…
The talismans at Section 13 have entered the Watership Down universe; the Chans in hot pursuit have crossed dimensions and have allied to the Watership rabbits; seven talismans have already been found and two have been used. Fiver now alerts the others to the whereabouts of the Horse talisman…
"Where do you know that has a tree by a river?" Jade asks the Watership rabbits, Hazel-rah thinks hard about this before replying.
"Well, there's a river near Efrafa with trees on the other bank, and some woods next to a smaller river in the opposite direction." Jade thinks about this before replying.
"We might have to look at both. How will we get past Efrafa without being seen?" Hazel-rah is quick to respond to this.
"There are two things on our side; we have an ally working undercover in Efrafa, and there is a secret passage leading to the edge of Efrafa." Then Blackberry makes a comment.
"All the same I think one of the talismans will be required to give us a stronger advantage." Jade asks her in curiosity.
"What power do you have in mind?" Blackberry asks her a question in response.
"Is there a talisman with a power that stops you being seen?" She asks the young tomboy who smirks at this question and replies.
"There's one right under your nose!" She tells Blackberry indicating the Snake talisman; Blackberry notices it and nods in understanding.
Now they all hear a screech outside followed by a crash, then comes an unusual voice; the Chans can't comprehend it, a sort of bothersome attitude with a harsh German accent.
"Iz verwy 'ard grond dis day iz not it!" The voice says, and then Bigwig, Hazel-rah and Pipkin get cheery.
"He's back!" Bigwig comments, Jade can't take it anymore and asks.
"Who?" Hazel-rah turns to her and replies.
"Kehaar, a seagull ally of ours!" Jackie and Uncle gasp at this while Jade just goes.
"Whoa!" But another voice is heard from inside the Honeycomb, but the Chans cannot see the individual who's saying it.
"'Azel, there is a glint in the woods opposite Efrafa!" Hazel-rah nods to this voice, which Jade spots as a field mouse about knee-high to her.
"That is the news we needed, Hannah!" Hazel-rah tells her, she is surprised by this remark and asks Hazel-rah a question.
"Do yer know what it is?" Hazel-rah nods again and replies.
"We need to get it!" At this Hannah replies.
"Shall Kehaar an' I get it for yer?" Hazel-rah shakes his head now and tells her.
"Bigwig and I will get it ourselves; you two must distract any Efrafans close to the water!" Hannah nods at this and goes to leave, and then she spots the Chans who are trying to be inconspicuous and asks Hazel-rah quietly.
"Those men are a bit short aren't they?" Hazel-rah sighs and tells her.
"Those humans are not of this world; we've made a bargain so they'll help us!" Hannah is unsure of this, but knowing Hazel-rah's brilliant mind and superb methods of rulership she decided to accept it and went out to Kehaar.
"What next?" Jade groans at the knowledge these rabbits have an ally that is a gull and another that is a mouse. Hazel-rah looks at her bewildered; wondering what she meant.
"I'm not a seer like Fiver!" He tells her, Jade is quick to tell him what she meant.
"Shish," She moans, "I wasn't asking for a prediction of the future; it was a rhetorical question!" Hazel-rah thinks for a while before looking round for an explanation.
"I think," Blackberry comments, "She means that the question was more of a comment of how many unexpected things have occurred in her eyes." Hazel-rah nods to Blackberry in acknowledgement before turning to Bigwig.
"This is a tricky one," He tells the owsla officer, "There's only one talisman to make someone or something unseen and two of us. I think we'll take in turns when trying to get the talisman; you go invisible while I try to hide, then I'll go invisible while you try to hide!" Bigwig acknowledges this plan, now Jade asks a question.
"Surely you'll be doing that a lot if these Wide Patrols are to avoid spotting you!" Hazel-rah shakes his head and gives Jade some info she wasn't aware of before.
"There is a secret tunnel going from within this warren to a place close to Efrafa; the Efrafan side is hidden behind some vines." This isn't too surprising to Jade as she's encountered several secret entrances and passageways in her time.
Hazel-rah now makes his farewells and picks up the Snake talisman whilst Bigwig gives Hawkbit a threat about being sarcastic and gives the Watership owsla a bit of drilling that afternoon and the next morning before departure. About ten minutes after they go down the run to the passageway Fiver decides to talk to Jade about her bizarre experiences, he doesn't see her in the burrow so he looks in the Honeycomb, there he saw Blackberry and Uncle doing something that had only the continual repetition of the word 'Om'; he looks outside where many rabbits are at silflay and he just spots Kehaar and Hannah flying to Efrafa, but no Jade. Then it comes to him, there's only one other place she'd go since beyond the down is too dangerous for her to even risk it after the fox encounter, unless she took one of the talismans. He checks the talisman pile, all that were collected other than the Snake talisman are there; that only leaves one location, he hurries to the secret passage.
Bigwig and Hazel-rah stealthily slip through the underground passageways towards Efrafa; Hazel-rah keeps a hold of the Snake talisman in one of his forepaws, just then they hear a scampering sound. Hazel-rah turns to Bigwig, who is looking this way and that, but nothing can be seen; more carefully than before they continue through the passageways. Just then they hear a louder scampering behind them; the only conclusion is they're being followed; fearing it's an Efrafan agent Hazel-rah gives Bigwig the talisman and says.
"Use the power, seek out the stalker, if it's an Efrafan agent you know what to do." Bigwig nods to this. "If it is otherwise then bring them back here; I'll wait." Bigwig then keeps a tight hold on the talisman and Hazel-rah looks on as Bigwig fades into nothingness, Hazel-rah keeps his ears up and alert and detects Bigwig's movement as a patting sound. Not far away after that Bigwig becomes visible again; Hazel-rah sees him to be surprised and annoyed, he goes to see what Bigwig is looking at.
"Er, hi Hazel!" Jade says at the realisation of discovery, Hazel-rah looks at Bigwig with a 'good grief' attitude before asking.
"Do you always do this?" Jade thinks for a bit before replying.
"Most of the time, yeah!" Hazel-rah and Bigwig just can't understand her desire for danger; if Hawkbit could see her now he would consider them two to be careful tacticians.
"You realise the danger you'd be in if the Efrafans captured you, don't you?" Hazel-rah informs her; Jade produces a smug look on her face and replies.
"When it comes to escaping tight security, I bought the T-shirt!" Hazel-rah and Bigwig look at each other; stunned by the human slang.
"You're what what a what what?" Bigwig gasps; Jade tries to get it through to them.
"I know where I am with strict security!" At this Hazel-rah can't help but reply.
"Yes, in this case Efrafa!" Jade groans at they're language development lacking in colloquialisms.
"No," She tells the pair, "I mean I know how to get out of, and into, secure places!" Hazel-rah is relieved that she's cleared it up, but Bigwig just can't hold his words back.
"Well why didn't you say so?" He tells her, Jade sighs at this and just gives up.
"You're not one to live where I usually live?" Hazel-rah and Bigwig this time try to interpret it in a Fiverish manner and conclude that her society has many speech problems from their point of view. Just as they think of Fiver the young veheer comes rushing through the passages and knocking Hazel-rah over from being unable to break soon enough.
"Well this is useful," Jade comments, attempting to be witty, "Now we can make up a foursome!" Fiver looks to her, thinks a while before saying.
"You mean it's useful if four work together?" Fiver inquires just to be sure.
"That's about it, yeah." Jade replies, they are unsure of this but decide to go along with it.
"It's going to be hard to avoid being spotted this close to Efrafa," Hazel-rah informs them, "Now there are four of us and one unseen talisman." Jade soon sighs and tells Hazel-rah.
"The proper word for it is invisibility!" Fiver nods at this before they all commence with the journey; just as they approach the curtain of vines Jade asks the trio of rabbits.
"Could the Efrafans have found it already?" Hazel-rah shakes his head in response.
"They didn't see the event of the arrival of the talismans," He tells the now extra-short kung-fu girl, "And they have no idea of how powerful they are!" Fiver then commences with an omen of his.
"When man is prisoner of rabbit, one will assist a break for it!" Jade turns to him and replies more like herself than the previous times he spoke like this.
"You're beginning to sound like Uncle!" Now Hazel-rah gives her some wisdom.
"Never underestimate the powers of such messages!" He tells her, Jade now adds to her previous comment, directing at Hazel-rah.
"And so are you!" Just then Hannah slips through the vines and speaks to Hazel-rah.
"Kehaar an dii are reddy!" She tells him. "You want us to commit?" Hazel-rah looks around before replying.
"Wait, we'll set up a plan, and then you can go and distract the Efrafans!" Hannah nods and waits for them to work out a plan.
"Right," Hazel-rah tells the other three, "I'll slip past Efrafa invisible; Bigwig, you'll run from cover to cover, if you come across any Efrafans you know what to do; Fiver, Jade, you two will try to slip past Efrafa unnoticed." They all understand this, Jade is happy that she'll have an element of risk with the plan with Fiver and herself trying to keep out of site. "Okay," Hazel-rah tells Hannah, "You and Kehaar can distract now!" So Hannah goes out and Kehaar takes off; Bigwig is the first to go out rushing behind a tree, Hazel-rah now exits whose only visibility is movement in the vines and ripples in the water, coming up next to the tree Bigwig is behind. Fiver and Jade now follow keeping their heads down and crouching below the bank of the river, rising behind the tree and standing next to Bigwig. They continue in this manner until they come to the river, where they all hurry across the bridge.
"Ow!" Hazel-rah cries as Jade bumps into him, the Snake talisman is knocked from him and lands on the other side of the bridge; a quick thinking, and always ready to help, Jade hurries over and grabs the Snakes talisman and hurries across the bridge with Hazel-rah just behind her; they all rush into the woods on the other side.
"Where's that bird going?" Shouts a voice from across the river; this gets Hazel-rah a bit nervous.
"That's Vervain," He tells Jade, "He must not find us or he'll go telling Woundwort of our whereabouts!" Jade looks at the Snake talisman in her hand and at Bigwig; a plan begins to hatch out in her head.
"Hey," She tells the rabbits, "I've got an idea! Is Vervain a coward?" Hazel-rah, Fiver and Bigwig all nod positively at this, a smile spreads across Jade's face. "Right, Hazel-rah, Fiver, you two and I will hide behind the trees; Bigwig, take the Snake talisman, activate it's power and go to the bridge! If Vervain approaches give him a walloping whilst invisible, but don't speak; this should give him the willies and off he toddles like all the Shadowkhan are after him." She then tosses the talisman to Bigwig who catches it in his forepaw and goes to the bridge. Hazel-rah heads for the nearest tree to hide behind whilst Jade goes behind an oak tree nearby, Fiver follows her as there's plenty of room for both of them behind the tree.
"What are the willies," Fiver asks Jade, "and what is toddling?" Jade whispers in response.
"Getting the willies means getting very scared. Toddling is a fast movement towards somewhere." Fiver decides that any further conversation whilst the plan is under way.
"But what is the Shadowkhan?" He asks her in a whisper.
"Shadowkhan," She whispers back in a more serious tone, "Is a force of dark spirits that are dangerous fighters, they appear wherever there are shadows, and they are also servants of demons." Fiver thinks of this as a nastier version of the Black Rabbit's owsla. Kehaar lands some way back and keeps mum, Hannah must've told him to keep his beak shut after landing. Fiver peaks out from behind the tree and sees Vervain on the other side of the bank smiling, but unsure of exactly where they are. Fiver whips back behind the tree and nods to Jade, who understands that Vervain is going as they anticipated.
Vervain looks to the bridge, he can see no sentry and thinks he's caught the Watership rabbits off their guard. He moves to the bridge ready to slip into the trees and ambush the 'Outsiders'. Just as he approaches the centre of the bridge all of a sudden he gets cuffed; quickly he looks around for another rabbit, unaware that there's a rabbit right in front of him. Bigwig keeps a tight hold of the Snake talisman to ensure his invisibility and cuffs Vervain again, followed by a kick from the hind legs; a confused Vervain goes defensive and looks around, Bigwig now spots that his back is open, and stealthily moves round Vervain, giving him the cuff of his life from the rear, followed by a kick in the !£#. Vervain leaps to a conclusion and rushes off in panic; rushing all the way back to Efrafa. Bigwig, proud of his success deactivates the power of the Snake and heads back to the others who emerge from behind the trees with Kehaar approaching the group.
"Kwite amazing, yah;" Kehaar screeches, "Bigwig 'e goes out off site and den returnz to zite!" Hannah too, is quite surprised.
"How did you fight Vervain without being seen?" She asks him, bewildered as to the whole event.
"You see this?" Bigwig asks the pair, showing the Snake talisman, they both nod their heads. "This is called a talisman, it possesses a magical power; there are four and four and four such talismans including this one, each with it's own magical power, in this case it is being able to be unseen by all, to go invisible!" Hannah is amazed by this news; that a simple stone could hold such incredible power, she can't help but ask.
"Is it unusually heavy?" Bigwig shakes his head, now Jade sticks her oar in.
"Magic isn't concerned for size and weight!" Kehaar is now shocked to see such a short human who spoke to them as equals, but he was afraid to ask about the whole ordeal.
"You two can now return to the down!" Hazel-rah tells the gull and mouse; Hannah nods whilst Kehaar steps back for take off, Hannah goes onto Kehaar's back and Kehaar shoots off into the sky.
Vervain comes crashing into Efrafa so fast he knocks down two of his own sentries; Woundwort notices the rapidly approaching Vervain, and just as Vervain goes past him, he trips him up.
"Get off the ground yer coward!" He tells Vervain, who timidly gets up and acknowledges Woundwort before crying out.
"There's a GHOST on the river bridge!" He cries out, Woundwort just gives him a look of annoyance before Vervain carries on. "It pulled me to and fro, I just couldn't locate it; it was just too powerful!" Now Woundwort asks Vervain a rhetorical question.
"Vervain, have you been chewing white sticks again?" Vervain looks up at Woundwort before replying.
"No sir; well, yes, but that's got nothing to do with it, sir!" Woundwort now cuffs Vervain at Bigwig strength as a threat and tells him.
"You're supposed to deal with rebels! Not to go ghost hunting!" Vervain tries to regain some ground.
"But I was trying to locate Hazel and his outsiders!" He tells Woundwort, who looks at him and replies.
"You're useless at that job; Campion!" Now a sly and sleek looking buck comes out of the shadows in a calm and 'knows what he's doing' manner.
"Yes, sir!" Campion asks Woundwort straightforwardly.
"You see that," Woundwort tells Vervain, indicating Campion, "That is the type of rabbit I like in the owsla. One who is never afraid to even face the unexplained; one who can twist the ear off one of his own sentries; one who can be sly and strong at the same time!" Vervain now makes to his old fears.
"Campion is a traitor!" He announces to Woundwort. "He wants Hazel to win the war! And you put your trust in him!" Campion remains calm throughout this lecture before asking Woundwort calmly.
"Has he been chewing white sticks, sir?" Woundwort smiles to his favourite captain and replies.
"Yes, this loony just can't hold his ground!" He then turns to Vervain and yells out.
"Get out of my sight; and don't leave this warren without authorisation!" Vervain hurries out in panic; Woundwort now turns to Campion.
"Sometimes I think of demoting him!" He tells the captain, Campion accepts this comment with a rabbit equivalent of a smile and asks him.
"Is there anything for me to do?" Woundwort nods and replies.
"I'm going to try capturing one of their number and your sentries are going to make him/her talk! Your first job is to go out and capture one!" Campion thinks for a while before replying.
"Forgive my expectation of failure, but what if I do fail?" Woundwort already has an idea.
"I'll send you out again with an assistant!" Campion acknowledges this and sets off.
Hazel-rah begins to ponder over the rest of Fiver's message; a hole in the ground, that couldn't mean Efrafa as that's too far away. Bigwig is keeping his guard with the Snake talisman ready in case he needs to fight the on-comer whilst invisible. Fiver was giving a close look on the sight to find the hole in question; whilst Jade was in thought to work out the exact location of the talisman from previous experience.
"I've found a hole!" Fiver calls out from near the river; Hazel-rah and Bigwig hurry towards him whilst Jade just sits there perfectly sure the talisman won't be in the river bank. The hole in question is that of a water rat, who's come out to see what all the hubbub is about.
"What d'you rabbits want?" The rat asks them bitterly, Hazel-rah is quick to respond.
"Have you seen a stone around your hole?" The rat looks at him and replies.
"No, none so £#!" This is clear enough to all of them; as they go back to the trees Bigwig makes a comment.
"Wrong hole, Fiver!" Hazel-rah is about to give Bigwig a lecture on comradeship when Jade suddenly jumps up with a bright look on her face.
"I know here it is!" She cries and heads upstream parallel to the river, with the trio of rabbits in hot pursuit; at a wall in the river, which Jade recognises as a weir, she stops with the rabbits stopping behind her, she now looks for the talisman.
"The old man of Aaron?" Hazel-rah asks her, at which Jade indicates a tanned senior fishing nearby.
"What's he doing?" Bigwig asks the world in general.
"Don't worry," Jade replies, "He's fishing, he won't notice us he's too busy focusing on his line. I presume that's what Fiver meant by 'peeping in the veil of the night'." Fiver nods to this and wonders where the hole is; now Jade carefully slips past the fisherman towards a tree, then Hazel-rah notices a rather small hole at it's base and motions for Fiver and Bigwig to follow. Jade puts her arm down the hole, feels around for a bit, stops and pulls it out, clutching the Horse talisman. Hazel-rah praises her for such accuracy and comes up to get a good look at the talisman.
"Is it dangerous?" He asks her, Jade shakes her head.
"Far from it," She replies, "It heals injury and disease!" Hazel-rah realises the potential within this talisman, all Blackberry could do now to heal another would be to just put the talisman against the patient's body and activate it's power. Just then they all hear a scampering sound, Bigwig goes invisible and Jade thrusts the Horse talisman into her pocket. Then Hazel-rah spots an approaching rabbit and braces himself unsure of whom it is.
"It's alright," Campion tells Hazel-rah, "It's only me!" Hazel-rah breathes a sigh of relief and Bigwig, recognising Campion, becomes visible again, but Campion soon spots this. "Oh, it's you is it!" He asks the fur-capped fighter.
"Vervain been bragging has he?" Bigwig replies and Campion nods with the added note of.
"Not very accurately, he said there was a ghost guarding the bridge!" Jade, overhearing the conversation puts her hand over her mouth to avoid giggling.
"Woundwort didn't suspect anything, did he?" Hazel-rah asks the allied Efrafan spy, who replies with nostalgic amusement.
"No, he was convinced that Vervain had been chewing on white sticks!" At this Jade can't help but hold back her curiosity.
"White sticks?" She inquires, causing Campion to spot her and jump back with surprise.
"Bhrrr-bhrrr, whui-whui woo-woo?" He just can't get his words right from the shock.
"Calm down Campion," Hazel-rah tells him, "She's with us!" Campion now just gasps; the concept of humans working with rabbits was virtually beyond him. "Okay," Hazel-rah informs Campion, "She, with two other humans (general term for her species), came into this world from another via a bizarre looking tunnel; they are seeking out these talismans and have promised to aid us in the war against Woundwort!" He indicated the Snake talisman in Bigwig's forepaw.
"What are these talismans for?" Campion asks them bewildered.
"Well," Fiver answers, "Each of these talismans has markings on them that look like some kind of animal, one animal for each talisman; they possess powerful magic that can turn the world upside down!" Campion is clearly amazed by this info and commences to inquire.
"How many talismans?" Hazel-rah is quick to answer this.
"Four talismans in three groups!" Which Campion is quick to understand as 'three-fours' but not as twelve.
"And the animals are?" He asks again.
"There's only some you'll recognise," Bigwig tells him, "We already have the cow, the rabbit," Campion is amazed to hear of a Rabbit talisman, "The snake here, the horse there," Indicating Jade who takes the Horse talisman from her pocket, "The sheep, the rooster, and the dog; but we do not have the pig!" Campion thinks about this before replying.
"Have you any more talismans?" Hazel-rah is quick to answer this.
"Just one!" Campion nods at this before Hazel-rah asks him. "What are you doing here any way?" Campion is quick to respond.
"Woundwort wants me to take one of your number for imprisonment and questioning!" Hazel-rah sighs and Bigwig frowns.
"And if you fail?" Hazel-rah asks.
"Then I'll be sent out again with an accomplice!" Hazel-rah looks about wondering how to deal with it.
"If Fiver, Bigwig or I go in we'll be killed! Jade, how do you think you'll deal with the Efrafans?" Jade smiles at this and replies.
"As long as I keep possession of the Horse talisman and keep it out of sight of the other Efrafans; I should be out of there within two days at the worst!" Campion acknowledges this, but is concerned.
"How will you cope with the brutality?" He asks her, Jade tosses the Horse talisman Hazel-rah's way; he catches it and clutches it. The horse outline on the talisman lights up and a halo envelops Hazel-rah; once it's gone Hazel-rah skips and jumps to and fro, showing Campion that his limp has gone. "The Horse talisman can heal?" He asks in surprise, Hazel-rah and Jade nod their heads; Hazel-rah tosses the talisman back to Jade and asks.
"Will you need the Snake talisman?" Jade proudly shakes her head, but now Fiver takes matters in hand (or paw).
"We'll need to pre-plan everything!" He announces, after which he suggests. "Jade will appear to have been captured with an appearance that says 'slightly beaten up' and will have to tolerate the torture methods; when Campion finds her somewhat uncomfortable he'll call off the sentries and question her in private. He will really be giving her the run down on Efrafan security; the Horse talisman will heal her, then Campion will do what he'll do here to make the interrogation as convincing as the arrest. Tomorrow Jade'll have healed herself and with a bit of help from Campion escape; I will meet her by the bridge with the Rabbit talisman, and we'll rush away to safety." Campion thinks about this before replying.
"That is a superb tactic, Fiver!" Jade doesn't like the roughhousing, but knows how to deal with it afterwards, it's just mandatory for convincing the Efrafans.
"Just don't make the true intentions too obvious," Hazel-rah tells them, "That Vervain can be quite a sly character and will do anything to reveal where Campion's true loyalties lie!" So they prepare it all, Jade puts the Horse talisman in her pocket, splatters some mud on her face and just as she's about to get some cuffing she then notices something she has to do with the Horse talisman first and moves to do it.
"…Yes," The fisherman says over his phone whilst standing next to a car, "It's broken down, I'm not sure why!" He listens into his mobile before saying. "Yes, it's a Fiasco!" Jade covers her mouth to avoid laughing; the man listens a bit longer and becomes annoyed. "No," He tells them, "I am not interested in purchasing an Aston Villa! There's no such car!" He listens again and groans, putting his phone away because those on the other end won't believe in his car's make. Jade whips out the Horse talisman and puts it against the car; it's as good as new in a manner of seconds. The man stands bewildered over the mended condition of his fiasco, whilst Jade slips back to the rabbits.
"All wars need names," She tells them before they commence with the cuffs, "How's about naming this war 'The War of the Warrens'!" They all think this name is appropriate and begin to give her a few cuffs; not exactly comfortable for her, but she's sure this is a picnic compared to what she'll have to endure in Efrafa. Now Campion and Jade say farewell to the Watership trio and set off.
"Let's get back to Watership Down," Hazel-rah tells Fiver and Bigwig, "Before they wonder where we got to!"