Throughout Bigwig's tour of Efrafa by Campion, neither of them had the knowledge of Vervain tailing their every move inside and outside of the massive warren. The two bucks came to the gathering place outside beyond the crooked tree where plenty of does were silflaying outside at the great base of the tree, until Bigwig paused upon noticing the unfortunate Blackavar sitting by the corner of the tunnel. The condition he was in made Bigwig's heart cry out to the poor dark rabbit, never had he seen such a tortured rabbit with ripped ears and multiple scars engraved on his body for always.
"Aren't you going to silflay?" Bigwig asked.
Blackavar cringed, at first convinced this larger rabbit would strike him, but then relaxed a bit when no strike came. "I don't silflay at this time, sir."
Campion came back, just about to explain Blackavar's presence when Chervil arrived and demanded, "Tell him why you're here, Blackavar."
"I've come here for the Mark..." Blackavar mumbled softly, until Chervil swiped at his ear to make him speak up louder, which he does out of terror, "I-I've come here for the Mark to see me, how… how I've been punished for trying to leave the warren." He cowered as Chervil glared sinisterly with the threat of swiping him again. "The council were merciful! THE COUNCIL WERE MERCIFUL!"
Instantly, Bigwig felt an immediate loathing toward Chervil for his bullying the poor dark rabbit. He could have taught Chervil a lesson easily, but with Campion in his presence and multiple warriors nearby, he forced himself to relax his tenseness for a fight.
"He keeps trying to run away," Chervil explained, shoving Blackavar aside so as to allow a line of does to come out for silflay. "Captain Campion here caught him this time. The Council ripped his ears and says he has to show himself every morning and every night at silflay as an example to the others. If you ask me, he won't last much longer. He'll meet a blacker rabbit than himself one of these nights."
I hope to Frith that you meet a blacker rabbit than yourself sooner than you think, Bigwig's thoughts fueled that promise.
"So, who's the hlessi, Captain?" asked Chervil, still smirking.
"This is Thlayli. He'll be joining our Owsla in Efrafa," answered Campion. "Woundwort has tasked me of demonstrating the ways of Efrafa to him."
"Well then, welcome to Efrafa, Thlayli. I trust that your presence will keep Blackavar, as well as these troublesome does, in line. With any luck and with you here, any thoughts of escape should greatly diminish," Chervil chuckled sadistically, before he lolloped through the tunnel.
Aiming one last glare at that malicious rabbit, Bigwig followed after Campion as the Captain of Owsla brought him up one of the twisted exposed tree roots to give the newcomer a grand view of the warren. He watched the Efrafans standing guard at every spot or area of the warren as the does silflayed.
"Woundwort likes everyone kept in line, doesn't he?" observed Bigwig.
"Without order and control, there is no purpose," Campion responded.
"I'm all for strict military discipline, we can't have everyone going around thinking for themselves now, can we?" Bigwig played along with his charade quite well.
As Bigwig and Campion surveyed the current Mark at silflay, his eyes slightly glanced at a pair of familiar does silflaying with the others. Don't worry, Lily. You'll be free come Frithdown...
"Right. We'll tour the perimeter now," Campion remarked as he dismounted from his post, unaware that he had interrupted the lion buck's thoughts.
"Sounds lovely," Bigwig replied, regaining his composure as he followed behind Campion's lead, all the while Vervain kept his considerable distance behind the two rabbits. As he followed the Efrafan Captain, Bigwig kept a considerable close eye on Lily whilst she ate with Vilthuril.
Campion stopped near the Owsla rabbits supervising the Mark, looking up at the sun for a moment as if to assess the time of day, before addressing the guards, "Time's up for this Mark. Get them back underground."
The guards received the command quickly as they urged the does back underground, while Bigwig paused for a second to whisper, "Stay safe, Lily."
Stealing a soft smile in his direction, Lily lolloped close to her Mark as the guards escorted them back underground where their burrows were located. She could hear a strange noise combined with an eerie wind as they trotted deep underground. Arriving back inside their burrows, the does knew that Clover and Thethuthinnang were still outside silflaying with another Mark.
"That was Bigwig!" Lily explained to Vilthuril, who had seen this hlessi speaking to her roommate. "He's come here to get us out!"
"Get us out? But how?" Vilthuril questioned, unsure.
"He'll do it. I believe it."
"One rabbit against Woundwort and his Owsla? Bigwig won't stand a chance!"
"More than one rabbit," Lily sternly reminded her. "We can help, but we must be ready when our chance comes."
Meanwhile, Campion led Bigwig away from the silflay area to tour him further out towards the perimeter. Of course, Bigwig finally began to sense something or someone trailing behind the bucks as he briefly stopped to look behind him.
"We're being followed," he said.
"Best get used to it, Thlayli. In Efrafa, someone's always watching," Campion pointed out to the hlessi as he continued along the path.
Bigwig remarked in a quiet sotto voice, "That makes things difficult."
A few moments later, as Bigwig surveyed the Efrafan lay of the land, his eyes soon caught sight of something not found in any mention of rabbit lore, causing him to stop before calling out to the officer, "Oi, Campion!"
Hearing the hlessi calling him, the captain trailed back to find him staring at what was considerably familiar to every Efrafan soldier: a skull standing still on a tree stump, faced as if to stare down any outside threat.
"Is that what it looks like?"
"That fox came a few seasons ago, looking for an easy meal."
"Doesn't look like things worked out for the fox."
"No. It met with Woundwort and the Owsla. The General ordered the skull to be left here as a warning to other invaders."
As Bigwig looked on, it became very clear that these Efrafans were not to be trifled with, especially if they could take down a homba like that. Still, the only thing that would make it worse is… "How many did you lose in the battle?"
"None," Campion replied nonchalantly before resuming his way to the perimeter, leaving Bigwig subtly stunned.
A full-grown fox killed and no losses? "Very difficult, indeed," Bigwig remarked in a quiet sotto voce before following Campion from behind.
As Campion and Bigwig were returning to the borders of Efrafa, this time close to the courtyard within the twin towers, Campion looked up into the sky for a brief moment before abruptly stopping in his tracks. "Oh... Frith and Inlé above!"
"Something the matter, Captain?" asked Bigwig, as he too stopped.
"With the homba, your arrival, and this tour… I nearly forgot I've got a digging crew to supervise soon…"
This could be my chance to better look for any more holes in their security… Bigwig thought to himself. "Sir, if I may, why not let me have a look on my own for a bit while you deal with the diggers? I think I can find my way around."
"As much as I'd like to trust you on your own, you're still on probation. I can't leave you unsupervised until you've been properly trained."
Bigwig inwardly groaned before asking, "And when will that be, Captain?"
"When the General says you've been trained. Now…" Campion started to look around for any officer to take his stead in touring Thlayli around, "…I'll need to find someone to-" Soon, his eyes spotted a familiar dark greenish grey sergeant coming their way.
"Captain Campion, I was looking all over for you! You've got that digging crew to-" Sainfoin began to relay before the Captain interrupted him.
"I know, Sainfoin. I was about to head there myself… and it seems Frith sent you here just in time. Meet Thlayli, our newest captain-in-training," Campion replied as he introduced the hlessi to the sergeant who eyed the buck with an intrigue, masking suspicion.
"So… you're Thlayli. The hlessi who trounced Vervain in front of the General… right?" asked Sainfoin, as he looked over the hlessi. "Well… I certainly see why he'd let you join us, given your size and obvious strength," he remarked before giving a slight chuckle and continuing, a note of venom in the last word, "Still… don't expect the entire Owsla to accept you fully, hlessi. You may have earned the General's interest, but you haven't gained our trust, least of all mine."
"Sainfoin!" Campion lightly but firmly scolded the sergeant. "Since you wish him to earn your trust, while I'm overlooking the digging crew, perhaps you'd like to show him around the rest of the warren."
"Well, it would be my privilege, Captain." Sainfoin bowed his head. "After all… if this hlessi needs to be trained, it should be from me."
"Watch yourself, Sergeant!" warned Campion. "Know that if Thlayli makes a wrong move, it'll be you I come and find. The General needs as many able rabbits for the Owsla as we can gather. Now, am I clear?"
Sainfoin gave a slight growl before recomposing himself. "As clear as water, sir."
"As you were," Campion stated before heading off… until he stopped for a moment to turn back to the lion maned buck. "And Thlayli? Try not to leave the warren unsupervised. As I said, you're still under probation." He turned back and hopped off to his assigned post.
"Who'd wanna leave?" Bigwig remarked with a light smirk.
"Who, indeed? So, where was Campion about to take you, then?" Sainfoin asked
Bigwig thought quickly, before realizing there was one task he had to do to plan out the escape. "Actually, sir… he was about to show me where the does were in Efrafa. I've only seen a few on silflay, but other than that, it's like a ghost warren here."
"Was he now? Fine." Sainfoin relented and began to hop towards to where the majority of does were silflaying, followed by Thlayli soon after. "So… looks like you became the second rabbit to give that hufsa a proper thrashing, eh?"
"'Second', sir? Who was the first?"
"A doe, a hutch rabbit. Tore a part of Vervain's ear clean off..." Sainfoin explained. "Wouldn't be surprised if he started avoiding her after that, being a coward. And to think she'd have the guts to do it whilst her other friend, another hutch rabbit called Clover, was too afraid, and she even defended some our slaves…"
Lily did that to him? Bigwig thought to himself, trying not to smile, but another dreaded thought came to him. Don't know whether to be surprised that she could put out a proper fight, or worried that she made herself a powerful enemy… or turned on about the idea of my doe trouncing a buck in combat. "Well… at first, when you told me that, I would have believed it. But if a doe could stand up to an officer… I'd think twice before assuming she wouldn't do it again."
"I'd think so, too." Sainfoin brought Bigwig to the courtyard feeding grounds where several does were silflaying. "I suppose you've been told that, as an officer, you can request any doe to join you in your burrow for mating. Eh?...Uhhh, except that one..." he pointed out to Clover, whom ate grass by her lonesome, "she's out of bounds."
"Why is that?"
"She's a hutch rabbit, and the General's got his eye on her. He wants her to be his Queen, is what I heard."
Though he was careful not to show emotions, Bigwig's eyes widened in dreaded horror. "Well, the General sounds like the lucky one." He needed to talk to Clover and quick. "I'm going to silflay for a second."
"Ugh, make it quick. I don't want to be holding your paw all day," groaned Sainfoin, using his foot to scratch his ear.
Once Bigwig infiltrated the silflay area, he managed to get himself closer to Clover, whom was overjoyed to see him.
"Bigwig!" she cried, through a whisper.
"Don't look up!" Bigwig hushed her, keeping his head down as he urged her to keep her head focused on the ground. "They're watching and they're already suspicious. I've come to break you out. It has to be tonight."
"Tonight?!"
"Be ready, find a reason to get above ground. Tell the others."
Clover shook her head, slightly yet sadly. "The others won't have anything to do with me. Primrose, Vilthuril and Thethuthinnang are the only ones who like me and Lily, but Nettle's been criticizing Thethuthinnang for her loyalty and now she won't talk to me." She signaled toward the ringleader of the does ahead of them. "The one in the middle is Hyzenthlay. If we can convince her, the others will follow."
"Leave it to me," Bigwig assured her. "Oh, I almost forgot. Hazel says hello." And with that, he left a relieved Clover back to her silflay to rejoin an impatient Sainfoin.
"Thlayli, she's out of bounds," he reminded.
"I heard you the first time," Bigwig retorted.
"So... any others catch your eye?"
While Bigwig thought for moment, only one doe had captured his interest. He would have to wait and talk to Hyzenthlay later on. "As a matter of fact, yes..."
Deep within the darkened burrows underground, Bigwig waited patiently for his darling Lily to be brought to him. He recently made a request for the hutch doe brought to his burrow, with the intention of teaching her a lesson for causing trouble for Vervain and the General. Sainfoin agreed willingly, so he carried out the order at once.
Two guards named Loosestrife and Knapweed forcibly hauled Lily in, though one of them shoved her to the ground. Bigwig's claws buried in the earth, fuming silently. He could have torn off their ears for their actions, but he kept his temper under control.
Just as the two guards left the scene and were out of earshot, Bigwig beckoned, "Lily! Come in here, close beside me. Don't let anyone be suspicious."
Lily obeyed, and the second the two moved deeper into the shadows of the darkened burrow, she threw her arms around his maned neck, nuzzling him affectionately. "I've never been so glad to see you in my life!"
"And so am I, Lily my darling." Bigwig returned the embrace with equal affection, until he got serious with her. "I heard about what you did to Vervain and while I'm proud of you, promise me you won't try to make more enemies here."
"I wasn't trying to start a fight!" Lily explained herself, frowning. "Vervain was picking on Primrose. The does won't talk to me nor Clover, well, some of them do. I believe it's because Hyzenthlay is distrustful toward newcomers, especially when there are spies everywhere, so we must be careful."
"I understand." Bigwig nodded. "Look, we're going to make a break for it tonight. As soon as we're finished here, I'll try to speak to Hyzenthlay about our plan."
"Tonight?" Lily gaped in disbelief. "But there will be every guard on duty, and the Efrafans will be all over us like a pack of wolves the second we make a break for it!"
"Not to worry, lass. Kehaar will chase them off by air."
"All right, so what is it that you mean when you said you'll find Hyzenthlay after we're finished here? Does this mean our plans are set into motion?"
"Not exactly, Lily. There is another reason why I wanted you in my burrow." Bigwig caressed her cheek with his paw tenderly. He made sure that no Efrafan was close by to eavesdrop on what he had prepared to confess to his doe. "I love you, Lily. The first time I saw you, I felt love for the first time in my life. At first, I wanted to keep you for myself, because I knew I would always protect you. But I realize now that I behaved selfishly and it wasn't fair for me to isolate you from our friends because I wasn't trusting of them. I'm sorry for what I said to you that night when we escaped the farm. And the true reason I brought you here is because..."
Lily stared up at him, unable to hide her surprise. Bigwig was actually professing his love for her. After the kiss they shared a few days ago at Watership Down, she didn't think he'd actually confess to her, until now. Her heart racing in her chest that reached her ears, blocking out what else he intended to say to her.
"Uhh, Lily? Are you okay?" At first, Bigwig feared she had gone tharn by his confession. "If it was something I just said, I didn't mean to..." His words cut off by Lily pressing her lips against his own.
Bigwig got caught off guard by the sudden kiss, but he caved in as he returned the kiss with equal passion. His arms circled around her waist to pull her closer, while her paws clutched at the back of his head and mane. He slipped his tongue into her mouth to engage in combat with her tongue. While he kissed her for several minutes, he began to grind his little lower front against her own so to arouse himself. Lily moaned, through locked lips, feeling a wetness forming in her entrance at his grinding. If this is what it felt like to being the mating ritual, she had a feeling that she was going to enjoy this for the rest of her life.
Once their lips parted to catch their breath, Lily breathed, "Somehow, the moment I first saw you, I knew I loved you."
"Then let me show you how much I really love you," Bigwig whispered, in a husky voice filled with love and lust.
He carefully guided her to lay on her stomach as the lion buck mounted and positioned himself on top of her, slyly gliding his dick across her entrance.
"This is going to hurt," he warned.
"Never mind the pain," she assured, "please, do it."
The doe gasped sharply as he slipped inside, small drops of blood forming in the process. Extending her claws, Lily grasped at the earth as she groaned in pain. Before she could object, Bigwig began a rhythm he desired for so long. She didn't complain nor protest. The pain was just as much pleasure as she imagined.
With heavy breathing, Bigwig plunged ever deeper inside of her. He found the strength and speed he never felt before. His large paws pressing down on her own, almost as if reassuring her. The lion buck playfully nibbled at the base of her neck, causing the doe to release cries of pleasure. He knew how to make a doe want him, but he never had much experience with does back in Sandleford before due to his massive size and intimidating appearance. But Lily here is special and she was never afraid of him, and she accepted him for who he is. She had surprised him in ways he couldn't imagine, and he couldn't have asked for a better doe to be his mate.
Throughout their mating, or rather love making, a familiar black and bearded buck came snooping in the tunnels to search for Thlayli. Vervain's ears caught a strange moaning from one of the burrows, so he following the noises as he came to a stop at one particular burrow where the strange moaning came from. Peering inside the darkness, Vervain's eyes bulged out of his head in shock and disgust at what he witnessed: Thlayli was in the position of… of breeding with that troublesome outsider doe. Without alerting his presence, an embarrassed Vervain decided to come back later when Thlayli wasn't busy.
As Bigwig sheathed deeper than ever, Lily cried out as she felt herself go limp in her climax, and it wasn't long afterwards that he released his own climax inside. Feeling exhausted, he slowly pulled out of her and collapsed to the ground. Both rabbits panted heavily, tired but filled with bliss.
"Oh, Frith! That felt good," sighed Bigwig. "How are you feeling?"
"It was the most magical moment of my life," said Lily. "Now, what was it again that you planned to do after this?"
"I need to find Hyzenthlay."
"Long ago...
The orange beetles clung to the rye-grass stems
The windy grass was waving, a buck and doe
Ran through the meadow, they scratched a hole in the bank
They did what they pleased all under the hazel leaves
But the beetles died in the frost and my heart is dark
And I shall never choose a mate again
The frost is falling, the frost falls into my body
My nostrils, my ears are torpid under the frost,
The swift will come in the spring, crying "News! News!
Does, dig holes and flow with milk for your litters."
I shall not hear, the embryos return
Into my dulled body, across my sleep
There runs a wire to imprison the wind
I shall never feel the wind blowing again."
"That's a sad tale for a group of pretty does," interrupted Bigwig, who had been looking for Hyzenthlay when he found her underneath a smaller crooked tree close by, overhearing her saddened story that she told to other does that tugged at his heartstrings.
"Who are you?!" Hyzenthlay grunted, half startled yet half irked.
"He's the buck who's been getting busy between Lily's legs; that's what I heard," Nelthilta snickered, and some of the does giggled.
Bigwig's face turned a deep shade of red. "How do you know that?"
"Word gets around."
"And it's not a story, it's a poem and it's the truth!" retorted Hyzenthlay.
"You Hyzenthlay? I want to talk to you," Bigwig said, ushering the other does away to give them some privacy.
"I'm in the Mark and under your orders," Hyzenthlay replied. "But you have made a mistake."
"No, I haven't and you needn't be afraid." Bigwig sat close beside her. "My name is Bigwig. I was sent here to break you free. You, the does and anyone else who wants to come."
Two Efrafan soldiers passed by, but neither of them took notice of Bigwig and Hyzenthlay, as long as Bigwig made sure they weren't seen talking.
"Tonight, if you can, get outside," the lion buck instructed. "A great bird will come to help us escape."
"Why should I believe you?" Hyzenthlay dismissed it as nonsense.
"I'm a friend of Captain Holly!"
"You're lying!"
Luckily, Bigwig knew how to convince her that he is a friend of Holly. "He said that when he closes his eyes and thinks of something that makes him happy, he doesn't think of spring mornings and sow thistle. He thinks of you."
Hyzenthlay stared in surprise, realizing that Holly is in love with her, feelings that she clearly yet secretly reciprocates.
"He thinks of how you saved him," Bigwig added, softly. He waited for two more Efrafans to walk by until they were out of earshot. "Clover is one of us, and the reason Lily and I mated is because she is my mate. They'll help you spread the word to the does. I'll go and find Blackavar. The poor wretch has suffered here long enough." Finally managing to convince Hyzenthlay to trust him, he said, "All right, go."
Before she left to return to her Mark, Hyzenthlay paused and glanced back at him. "Bigwig, promise me this will work. If it doesn't-"
"It will!" Bigwig promised.
And with enough said, Hyzenthlay left to spread the word amongst the does. Bigwig sighed in relief, although in the back of his mind, he truly hoped this plan will work. Because if it doesn't, who knows what Woundwort will have in store for him.
