Things hadn't been running smoothly at Efrafa since the night of the escape of the enslaved prisoners and the Watership rabbits. General Woundwort had cracked down hard, ordering every buck in his Owsla and Council to scour every meadow, marshland, forest or hills to find the outsiders. Luck was not on their side when they returned with no prisoners, often met with a harsh cuffing by the General. Now with a great number of their does escaped, the Efrafans were forced to steal the farm's flayrah themselves and carry the vegetables back to a storage burrow for safekeeping. Guards had to pull double-duty to keep watch over each other during silflay, with little to no relief from their posts. Worst of all, should anyone question Woundwort's methods of wasting the warren's Owsla to find the outsiders, their response was met by death at the claws and teeth of the General.
Early one morning in the Council's chamber, the tired and weary group of Ragwort, Sainfoin, Campion, Vervain and Orchis were discussing the events of that night. They had just returned from a raid in the farm, bringing back what little flayrah they could find and escaping a farmer's ruthless dog, who was chained up at the time, thankfully.
"Why are we even chasing down a bunch of outsiders and does that never caused us any harm in the first place?" questioned Sainfoin.
"That's a good question," Campion agreed, admitting another interesting fact about two certain rabbits, "That one rabbit, Holly, and that hutch doe, Lily, actually seemed like a pair of decent sort of rabbits."
"That sounds suspiciously like treason coming from you," Vervain growled, his gaze fixed upon the brown buck.
"My loyalty is to Efrafa… and to General Woundwort," Campion retorted, defensively.
"Holly was responsible for the death of our brother, Charlock... so don't even think of praising him, Captain! " Orchis interrupted, scorning. "And Lily was supposed to be my doe, until Thlayli showed up! Remember that, before you run your furry mouth!"
"And I'm your rank equal in this warren, Captain Orchis!" Campion shut him down, scowling angrily. "So, remember that before you run yours!"
"Regardless, Campion, my brother has a point." Vervain jumped in, preventing what could have been a fight over contrasting opinions regarding the outsiders. "Thlayli tricked us and stole our slaves! Not to mention, his doe tore off a piece of my ear." He gestured to the slightly healed up wound on his ear.
"Regardless, that still doesn't change the fact the Thlayli deceived us, stole our does and had stolen Lily from me," Orchis retorted. "I'm still sore from the thrashing their bird gave me." He licked at a wound on his shoulder from where a certain gull attacked him.
"Listen, all of you," Ragwort irritatingly attempted to keep the peace in the group before they could argue, "we shouldn't be questioning anything the outsiders have done to humiliate us. We lost several officers and all of our does to these troublemakers. If my brother wants them destroyed, then we destroy them!"
"Look, it's not even about the outsiders," added Sainfoin. "We all know why we're here; It's Woundwort."
"Hold your tongue, Sainfoin!" hushed Vervain. "If Woundwort hears word of that kind of talk, you know he'll-"
At that moment, the General's voice sounded out at the top of the high platform, "Who called this meeting?" The bucks whirled around, startled, though none of them spoke. "I asked a question… Who called... this meeting?" he repeated, asking the question more slowly.
"I did, sir," Campion spoke at last. "You've been in your burrow all day, and I didn't want to disturb you."
"So… since you've returned from last night's Wide Patrol and the raid on the farm earlier, I assume any one of you brought me news about the outsiders and our does?" he asked with a light growl.
Campion looked to his fellow officers for a bit before addressing his Chief. "Well, sir, our Wide Patrols have only been able to catch their scent as far as halfway down the river. However, where they went from there, what you wanted to know… is uncertain."
"You're supposed to be the best that Efrafa has to offer, Campion. You and your fellow Captains… Have you all become soft in your current position?"
Vervain interjected, of course, mostly to defend himself. "Of course not, General. But we only have so many bucks under our Marks for the Patrol, since you put the rest of the Owsla on high guard duty."
"And I'm afraid to say, morale has started to weaken under these conditions," Orchis added. "We've done all we could to remind them what we fight for, but-"
"Enough!" Woundwort thought for a moment. "So… the will of my captains remain strong, but the will of the soldiers, including my brother…" he fixed a hard stare at Ragwort before continuing, "Campion, gather the other officers and the guards," he requested. "Ragwort, bring in the Council as well. Bring them all in here… immediately."
Nodding, the two rabbits left the chamber to locate the rest of the bucks and ordered them to convene in the Council's chamber for a meeting with the General. A whole crowd had come to the chamber, eager to hear what their Chief Rabbit had to say. As they waited for the chief to come out, there was a great muttering and gossiping in the burrow, regarding the outsiders and suspicious rumors of the outsiders gifted with a strange power like Fiver or the ability to command elil to attack them, just like that seagull who assaulted them.
Sergeant Moss behind Campion's position leaned in to ask his superior, "What's going on, sir? The General hasn't called a meeting with all of us before."
"Not sure, Moss," Campion replied warily, "but pass this along to the other bucks: No one says a word unless I give the go-ahead. Don't want you or the others getting into unnecessary trouble."
Moss nodded and preceded to silently pass the order along down the ranks, while Campion and the other Captains and the Council looked to see the General approach the edge to oversee the bucks below him.
Woundwort gave a light growl before addressing them all. "I suppose you are all wondering I called you all in here in these dark times. Well… I've called this gathering to invite all within Efrafa to voice any concerns they may have. Here in Efrafa, we must make one another strong, but we cannot do that when others hide their weakness out of fear. So… should any of you have anything to say regarding my recent decisions… I invite them to step forward… and make yourself known."
Neither of the bucks spoke. A moment of silence passed as the officers and council members exchanged wary expressions.
"I..." Sainfoin started as he approached from his position, "I have concerns… sir."
The General looked down at the grey Sergeant who spoke first. "Sainfoin, is it? You supervise the Neck Mark of Efrafa. So… what concerns do you wish to share with the rest of us?"
"I…" He nearly lost his voice, about to hesitate when Campion silently ushered him to speak his mind. "I… I feel like, by sending us out to look for the outsiders, we're risking lives. These rabbits have a bird under their control, who knows what other kinds of elil they might have power over. Not to mention, one of their number has powerful visions. Things that we don't know about yet."
"Is that all?"
"No, sir. The system is breaking down. Since the escape, you've had us pull double-duty on half-rations, whether it is with the continuous patrols or searching for more does for our warren. It feels like, you're driving the lives of us all down to the ground. And I feel… any effort that vainly wastes effort and lives of our fellow rabbits… is not worth pursuing, sir."
At first, the General stared down at Sainfoin with a neutral expression before his right paw extended his claws, deeply scraping against rock. Suddenly, Woundwort leapt off the platform to slowly approach Sainfoin in a threatening manner while retaining his neutral face. "Are you really concerned about the lives of your bucks? Or are you concerned about your own life?" His presence forced Sainfoin to step back, frightening him. "Are you afraid, Sergeant?"
"M-M-Maybe... maybe I am afraid," Sainfoin croaked out in a weak voice.
No sooner he gave his answer did the General grab the sergeant by the scruff with his teeth, flinging him towards the plank overlooking the Deep Burrows. His action startled the rest of the bucks in the chamber.
"YOU DISGUST ME!" Woundwort furiously berated, shoving him backward. "If you expire serving this warren, you should consider yourself FORTUNATE to have the GLORY of such a death!"
As he spoke, the General forced Sainfoin to step onto the plank, looking down into the pit below. It was quite a dangerous drop should the sergeant lose his balance and fall to what could be his death. Most of the bucks exchanged concerned or terrified faces as they watched the General slamming his massive paws on the plank, shaking it violently to intimidate the sergeant.
"Those of you not loyal to me invite outsiders to steal our does... Men to kill us... and elil to bring us the White Blindness..." Woundwort's massive paws shook the plank, forcibly demanding the sergeant for his loyalty, "those of you not loyal to me, hate Efrafa... Are you loyal, Sergeant?"
"...Yes, sir." Sainfoin hung his head, and luckily for him the General had no intention to send him plummeting over the edge.
"Vervain, Orchis, are either of you loyal to me?" Woundwort rushed over to the pair, his massive size and temper terrifying the two brothers.
"Of course, I am, sire. I know you always have Efrafa's best interests," insisted Vervain.
"The same for me! My loyalty is with you, always," agreed Orchis.
"And what about you, Campion?" asked Woundwort, turning to approach his best Captain.
"…I am, sir. My loyalty lies with Efrafa, and with you," Campion responded, confidently.
"As am I," Moss voiced his loyalty.
"Same here," agreed Bartsia.
"We are with you," Groundsel added.
"And myself, Marjoram and many others will stay loyal to you," said Avens.
"You know we are all loyal to you, Woundwort, and we never hate Efrafa, it's our home warren." Ragwort spoke softly, gazing sternly into the mismatched eyes of his brother.
"Good." Woundwort leaned him closer to his face, fuming, "I don't care if it takes one Frith or a thousand. You will find the outsiders who stole our does!" Turning to the rest of his bucks, he cruelly promised loudly, "And when you do, we will destroy their warren and leave no trace of them on this earth! But until then, you must ravage whatever warren you find on your search and bring back prisoners to replace our slaves!"
Climbing back up to the platform, he declared, "And to those of you who tremble in the wake of birds or foxes, or any of the thousand enemies of rabbits, I say this: in Efrafa, we run from no elil, we ARE the elil!" Satisfied to have gotten his message through to them, the General gave an order to Campion and several others to go back out and find outsiders' warren.
Over the past several weeks, the kittens' colors started to change as they grew a little bit, which told the adults of who belonged to whom.
For Bigwig and Lily: Basil had ginger fur like his mother, blue eyes and a tuft of dark brown fur on his head like his father. Aubretia's fur was a ginger color, her eyes a bright green shade, and dark brown fur hair that slightly resembled a short bob haircut. Violet was born with pale brown fur with a tint of purple that she took after from her father, inherited her mother's blue eyes, and dark brown fur hair that is designed to be like small pigtails by her mother.
For Hazel and Clover: Melsa is a hazel brown doe with a white underbelly and she had the most lovely blue eyes, a combination from both her parents. Sandwort's name said it all with light sand colored brown fur with dark brown tipped ears and green eyes. Gilia had light golden brown fur with patches of white in-between her nose and mouth, and green eyes. The last born Scabious has white fur with dark brown tipped ears and a large brown patch on his back and blue eyes.
For Fiver and Vilthuril: Threar very much resembled his father, although he had dark brown tipped ears and a purple grape colored fur like his mother and heterochromia eyes like his father (the left, reddish brown and the right, hazel green). Willow inherited her father's hazel colored fur and her mother's reddish-brown eyes.
For Holly and Hyzenthlay: Ash inherited his mother's bright blue eyes and the appearance of his fur seemed to be like an ash grey color, almost closely resembling his father, except no triangular patch on his nose.
For Blackavar and Primrose: Blackthorn is a dark furred young buck who very much resembled his father, except without the scars. He bore a pale yellowish underbelly and muzzle, and bright green eyes just like his mother.
Summer was usually hot and sticky, although these past few days were surprisingly warmer and cooler. Some of the rabbits were silflaying, others engaged in a game of tail tag, and Kehaar just doing what he normally would do; eat worms. But a small crowd had gathered around to watch Pipkin and Dandelion engaged in a game of Bob-Stones. Dandelion proved to be the ultimate champion, no matter how hard Pipkin tried his best.
"Bob-Stone guess is one," guessed Pipkin.
Smirking, Dandelion lifted his paws to he was hiding two stones. "Oh, hard luck, Pipkin."
"Well, Dandelion, you've got the makings of a Bob-Stone champion," Blackberry praised.
"He's only played us and we're not much good," said Pipkin.
"I'll take on all newcomers!" the blonde buck boasted. "Dandelion, the first Bob-Stone Champion of Watership Down! That's quite a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
Bigwig rolled his eyes, giving Dandelion a playful shove, careful not to hurt him as the lion maned buck is quite bigger and stronger than him.
"Don't you agree?" Dandelion asked, getting back up on his feet.
"Well, you haven't tried your luck against me yet," Bigwig warned, smiling. "I'm the Bob-Stone champion around here, and everyone knows it."
"Set them up, Bigwig! I'll tear you apart!"
"Tell you what, after Owsla exercises, we'll organize an official competition and settle this. What do you say?"
"Alright, knock it off, you lot!" Lily chuckled, breaking up the fight by placing herself between the two bucks. "You're going to give the kittens ideas, and the next thing you know, they'll be fighting each other."
"That's what young bucks are supposed to do, love," Bigwig boasted, proudly. "When they get older, they need to learn how to fight. And you'll see how good they'll be when I train them for their military exercises."
As the lion maned buck spoke, Hazel noticed a silent and shaken Hawkbit emerging from the warren. He was covered in dirt and dust, but his expression was blanched with terror, he couldn't hide it. "Hawkbit, are you alright?" the Chief Rabbit asked.
"Of course, why do you ask?" Hawkbit replied, slightly alarmed by her words.
"You look like you've just seen an elil," Bluebell guessed.
"Or the... the Black Rabbit of Inlé!" Dandelion added, absentmindedly.
Those words started a commotion as the rabbits began muttering or panicking, except the kittens were quite curious about this Black Rabbit of Inlé.
"Did he call your name Hawkbit?" Pipkin asked. "How did you escape?"
"Settle down, everyone!" Bigwig put an end to their commotion, finding the idea absurd. "Hawkbit hasn't seen the Black Rabbit. Have you, Hawkbit?"
"Oh, no, no, no, no! Of course not." Hawkbit denied.
"Hawkbit, you're covered in dust and dirt," Fiver pointed out at the dark grey buck's filthy appearance.
Hawkbit examined his paw, behaving like it was no big deal. "Well, a little dirt and dust never hurt anyone, did it?" Then he shook himself to get rid of the filth. Dust and dirt flew everywhere as the rabbits coughed or waved their paws to keep it from spreading.
"Alright, let's get hopping!" Bigwig was eager to put an end to this nonsense and move on for Owsla exercises. "Wide Patrol formation! Move out!" he ordered.
"We'll be along in a minute, Bigwig," Hazel told him, as he glanced back worriedly at the still timid Hawkbit.
Nodding his head in understanding, Bigwig hopped away to order the rest of the bucks to move about and get started on their military exercises. Hazel and Fiver decided to stay behind to make sure if Hawkbit was okay. Lily trailed after Bigwig, concerned for her young son in combat against other little bucks.
As far as she was concerned, Pipkin is still falling behind and Basil is less strong or more impulsive when it comes to combat against Sandwort or Ash, who participated very well and climbed his way to the top of his classes under the guise of his father, Holly. Sandwort was more reckless in his training, determined to prove himself superior. Blackthorn participated as good as the others, determined to catch up with his peers. Luckily, there was no combat training today. Only dodge and cover training. The mother kept a distance on a small boulder, watching her son running from one direction to the next whilst his father gave out strict orders.
"Cut and run!" hollered Bigwig, watching his Owsla in training as they ran around in circles obeying his commands. "To the left! Right, left, other way, Pipkin!"
"Right, sir! I mean, yes sir!" Pipkin changed the direction he had been running in, accidently bumping headfirst into Basil along the way.
"Watch where you're going!" Basil growled, abruptly.
"Oi, lads!" shouted Dandelion, as he tripped over the two young bucks whom didn't see him when they were engrossed in their argument.
"Duck and cover!" Bigwig raised his voice to a high bellow, "DUCK AND COVER!" To his disappointment, his Owsla scrambled into the long, tall grass, but to his dismay, their tails were sticking out, making Lily giggle since she found it adorable. "You call that cover?" he groaned. The lion headed buck decided to try a different tactic to get his Owsla in more focus. "Twice around the warren in top speed!" he instructed.
Some of the bucks raced around the warren two times, though their speed wasn't entirely good enough. Dandelion proved to be the fastest buck in the warren, but his legs hurt so much that he wanted to stop so badly. The others began to feel cramps in their legs as they slowed their running. Everyone collapsed face first to the grass, panting heavily, especially Basil and Pipkin. Lily felt sorry for her son, especially for the other rabbits, to have such a strict teacher like Bigwig and forced to go through all that difficult military training. To her, it was more like a boot camp for rabbits.
"This is top speed?" Bigwig scoffed, unimpressed by their lack of exercise.
"For a half-dead rabbit, yes," panted Dandelion. "I thought we were having a Bob-Stone challenge anyway."
"Come on, Bigwig, darling." Lily hopped over to check on Basil, making sure he was fine and then checked up on Pipkin to see if he was okay. "Give them a break for a while, you're pushing them too hard. And I think a Bob-Stone challenge is a good idea."
Reluctantly, though he could never refuse his mate's offer, Bigwig agreed. "Oh, all right. I'll get Hazel to set it up." Now that he mentioned it, he looked around and realized Hazel was nowhere in sight. "Where is he, anyway?" he wondered.
"I'm sure he's around here somewhere." Lily glanced at both sides of the grassy field, finding no sign or scent of her Chief Rabbit anywhere. "Try checking the warren."
The lion maned buck took her advice and lolloped back up the high hill to search for Hazel. Lily got the rest of the gang to join her back up a long climb to the warren. However, they met a concerned Bigwig, who said he couldn't find any trace of Hazel anywhere. The doe was very baffled upon hearing this, trying to figure out where had Hazel gone to.
Bigwig gave out orders to every rabbit of searching the down for Hazel. As it turns out, nobody has seen him all morning and the rabbits began to feel anxious for the absence of their Chief Rabbit. Bigwig was lost in deep thought as he wondered why in the world has Hazel gone to. Blackberry and a few others returned to give him their report of their search.
"We haven't been able to find Hazel," she explained.
"And that's not the worse part..." Speedwell reported, "Fiver and Hawkbit are missing too."
Lily's heart frantically leapt in his throat. "What do you mean... How could this happen?!" she almost panicked, but Bigwig calmly kept her worries at ease.
"All three of them missing?" Dandelion started to freak out when he came to the wrong conclusion about whatever Hawkbit encountered in the deep tunnels. "It's the Black Rabbit; he always takes them in threes!"
"Yes, and twos!" added Pipkin.
"Or sometimes individually!" squeaked Bluebell.
"No one's missing!" Bigwig snarled, refusing to make wrong conclusions until he found evidence. "They're merely absent."
"I think it might be a good idea to search the burrows," suggested Strawberry.
"I don't want to search the burrows... not with the Black Rabbit down there," Dandelion murmured to the others.
"I'd worry more about me here!" growled Bigwig.
Dandelion, Pipkin, Bluebell and the rest of the others bolted for the main entrance to the main beech tree.
Bigwig continued to command strict orders to all of the rabbits on Watership Down to search for their missing friends. Some of the does feared him for his temper, reminding them of the guards back in Efrafa, but he never cuffed them or scolded them whenever they came back with nothing. Lily had to constantly keep reminding them that her mate is nothing like an Efrafan, secretly irked at his attitude. The kittens wanted to help the adults, but had been told by their parents to stay inside their burrows with a few babysitting does, concerned that if one of the kittens wandered off, an elil will pick them off easily.
"Report!" demanded Bigwig, waiting on the top of a small hilltop.
"There's just no sign of them, Bigwig," reported Blackberry.
"We searched everywhere, Thlayli," Holly added, "but we can't seem to find them."
"Then they have to be underground, it's the only explanation," Bigwig decided, before he gave out different orders to the rabbits, "Primrose, Blackberry, Strawberry, Clover and the rest of the does, search the furthest burrows. Lily and I will take the middle. Pipkin, Dandelion and Bluebell will look on either side. Everyone else, stay above ground in case Hazel and the others return. Holly will take over above ground."
"I don't want to go down there," Dandelion whispered to a few of his companions.
"Neither do I," agreed Pipkin.
"But I suppose we have to," Bluebell quivered.
"I suppose so..." Pipkin sighed.
"But I don't want to!" protested Dandelion.
"Let's try to stay up here in case Hazel-" Bluebell didn't have the time to finish.
"MOVE IT!" Bigwig roared, fed up with their nonsense over superstitious fears, as he watched the three cowardly rabbits hop away.
All day long, Bigwig and Lily and the others frantically scoured the burrows inside and out, but came back empty handed, or rather empty pawed. The group met up in the Honeycomb to report what they know so far. Bigwig was close to unleashing his temper, angered and frightened, for the safety of his friends and family. He managed to keep his temper in check though. Lily suspected something must be wrong with her mate, but he didn't confine in her of his fears.
"Anything?" the lion maned buck asked.
"Not yet," Blackberry replied.
"We still can't find them and I'm getting worried," Clover sighed, dejectedly. "What about you, Bigwig? Aren't you worried?"
"I am," Bigwig explained, rather calmly. "But we can't let emotions get in the way." Then he noticed Bluebell, Dandelion and Pipkin standing timidly at the corner of the chamber, as if trying to remain unseen and unheard. "What are you lot doing?"
"Oh, nothing..." Dandelion acted naively innocent.
"Then get to work!" Bigwig was losing his patience with the three rabbits.
"There's no point on terrifying them!" Lily scowled as she defended the trio. "They're scared to death! Couldn't you at least lighten up a little bit?"
"Can we go together?" Pipkin asked, hopefully.
"Yeah, just in case we see the Black Rabbit or something... then maybe we won't disappear like Hazel and the others..." Bluebell figured, rather pathetically.
"Look, I know you're afraid... use that fear. It'll make you alert... vigilant. Fear can make you stronger!" Bigwig advised, after rolling his eyes at their timid nature, he realized himself that was what he had been doing all along: using his own fear of Hazel and the others' safety to make himself stronger.
"It can?" all three bucks gasped, amazed.
"Yes!"
"But can we still go together?" pleaded Pipkin.
"Yes, just go!" wailed Bigwig, almost ready to get angry.
The three rabbits sighed in relief and exchanged smiles as they hopped deep into the darkened burrows with a few others.
"At least you're calming down now," Lily commented.
Just then, the couple heard Kehaar's squawking voice call out from the exit, "Pigvig, I have much important military information!"
"I'll be right up!" the lion maned buck yelled toward the exit as Lily lolloped up to the outside warren, then turned to Clover, "Take over down here, will you?"
"Of course," Clover understood, but frowned sadly. "But I don't think Hazel and the others are down here."
Sighing deeply, Bigwig shut his eyes as he lowered his head glumly. He couldn't find his friends, neither underground or above ground. The thought of elil snatching them off without his knowledge and tearing their bodies to pieces stung his insides like a thousand bees. He tried to brush these thoughts out of his mind as he made it out of the warren to meet up with the excited gull.
"Pigvig, I see Efrafan rabbits, I see them!" Kehaar declared.
"Where?" the lion maned buck demanded, impatiently.
"Pretty close... and when they see me, they hide! I think those Efrafans be very much scared of Kehaar!"
"Well, you did scare the wits out of them, that's good for something," Lily smiled.
"Or maybe they didn't want you to see something-" And then, it hit Bigwig like a lightning bolt. "Of course, a sensible explanation!"
"What do you mean?" Kehaar and Lily gaped in union, bewildered.
"I mean there's a good chance they have captured Hazel and the others, come on!" Bigwig tore across the small field, racing like a mad jack rabbit when his life is in danger. That had to be the true explanation for the disappearance of his friends; Efrafan Owsla had captured them.
"Slow down, Bigwig!" Lily panted, trying to catch up to him. "I'm coming, too!"
Kehaar flew high above him, keeping close to the lion maned buck. "Good. Then what do we do?"
"They'll be heading back to Efrafa!" Bigwig replied, determined. "We're going after them!"
"Ohh, not so good..."
Almost voicing Kehaar's thoughts, Lily knew the idea of confronting a few Efrafan soldiers was truly a bad idea. Second, Bigwig's bossy and fearful attitude frightened her. Who knows what will happen if they confront the Efrafans? Is Bigwig going to commit coldblooded murder when he finds the Efrafans?
Thanks to Kehaar, the gull found a short cut to Efrafa. The two rabbits rushed over train tracks... a field where a scarecrow stood out amongst the grain... a small brook with a wooden plank for a bridge to cross over... and finally came to the half-broken stone bridge that marked the sign of Efrafan territory. Two malicious guards stood out on the bridge, keeping watch for intruders.
"So, what do we do now?" Kehaar whispered, eyeing the guards anxiously.
"Find out if they got Hazel and the others," replied Bigwig.
"How do we do that?"
"Ask them."
"ASK THEM?!" enticed Lily, stupefied by such an action. "Bigwig, no!" She tried to stop him, but the lion maned buck ignored her as he warned her to stay out of sight, then he purposely exposed his presence to the guards.
"I hear you lot are looking for me... the name's Thlayli... and I'm waiting!" Bigwig's green eyes glowered with malice, the soul inside of him boiling with rage and fury. He was ready to fight. Ready to kill if the matter should come.
His words caught the attention of the guards. When the intruder revealed his name, the two guards growled sinisterly and approached him in a threatening manner. Their claws extended and their teeth bared, though not as terrifying as elil, but still all the more menacing.
"Bigwig is going to get himself killed!" Lily grumbled, but grew petrified when she noticed the burning rage in her mate's eyes.
"Oh, Pigvig, you are one much crazy rabbit," agreed Kehaar.
One of the guards snarled in a raspy voice, "You betrayed Efrafa... insulted General Woundwort... and stole our people. We're taking you in." He spotted the lion maned buck's mate and the gull behind the bridge and a cruel sneer left his mouth, "And that doe who dared attacked Captain Vervain will be executed!"
Bigwig's breath got caught in his throat. He regretted bringing his mate along, yet Lily proved to be more independent than he realized. But there is no way in hell the lion buck was going to let these monsters harm her. First off, he stared at the guards with an eerily calm voice, "If you're going to fight, you should just do it."
In a flash, Bigwig released his famous battle cry when he lunged for the guards. His impeccable strength knocked the wind right out of the two larger rabbits. His paws tightly clutched at their necks, claws engraved at their throats and ready to slit them open and draw blood at any second now. Kehaar's eyes widened. Lily panicked, fearing her mate was going to commit the crime of murder.
"Unless you want to meet the Black Rabbit of Inlé, don't move! Now..." Bigwig breathed in and out heavily, "tell me if any outsiders have been taken prisoner?"
"No... no one..." the guard choked out through a hoarse voice.
"You wouldn't fib to old Thlayli now, would you?"
"No... Owsla's honor..."
Lily couldn't take it any longer. She watched her mate raise his arm, believing he was about to fulfill his secret promise of slaughtering the Efrafan rabbits. She had to stop him. "BIGWIG, NO!" she cried, making him glance back in her direction. "I don't know what's going through your mind, but if you kill them, you're no better than they are... please, don't do this! Look at yourself, you're behaving just like back when the corvil attacked us!"
Though reluctant, Bigwig felt her words pierce through his core as he slowly processed over what she told him. Gazing at the two guards in his grasp, he could see the fear in their eyes and it brought back a memory for him: Lily frightened by his murderous act of slaying the leader of the crows back in the chapel and avoiding his touch when he tried to comfort her. His heart sank when the truth kicked him in the gut. "I'm sorry, lass," he sincerely apologized. At last, he withdrew and allowed the agitated guards to gasp for air.
"Run along, chaps! Tell Woundwort his Owsla isn't worth an acorn," Bigwig warned, coldly.
And with that, the two rabbits left the bridge and the seagull took to the sky. However, they had not gone a few miles when the Efrafan Wide Patrol emerged out of the tall grass. Bigwig and Lily halted in their tracks, petrified. There stood Campion, Vervain and a few other soldiers accompanied them. At first, the soldiers grew shocked at finding them here unexpectedly, until black scowls presented themselves on their faces.
"Fancy meeting you here," teased Bigwig, maintaining a cool face before he bolted out of there, pushing Lily forward to make run for it.
"TAKE THEM!" ordered Vervain.
The two rabbits tore across the field faster than El-ahrairah or any rabbit in the world. The Owsla right on their tails, dogging their footsteps and their every move. Kehaar gasped, having seen his friends were in danger and turned back to rescue them. Bigwig and Lily made it to the river, finding an old log and hurriedly concealed themselves behind it. They waited for the Efrafans to pass them over their heads. Bigwig hovered his larger body over Lily's smaller form to shield her, just in case. Too bad for them cause Vervain paused to rest at the top of the log.
"Stay on the bank! They're trapped between us and the river!" the ugly bearded buck shouted.
"Please don't look down..." Bigwig quietly prayed, his pulse hammering against his chest so hard that even Lily could feel it on her head.
Unfortunately, Vervain looked down and found the two fugitives, forcing the couple to run for their lives. "This way!" he yelled, gesturing to the Owsla that he found their prey.
Before Vervain could go after them, a sharp squawk echoed out of nowhere as Kehaar swooped down and struck the dark rabbit from the back of the head. The impact knocked Vervain off the log.
"Leave them alone, ugly face!" Kehaar shouted.
This distraction provided enough for Bigwig and Lily to head for the river bank, finding no place to go and no place to hide. Their legs began to hurt and the cramps were starting to kick in. Bigwig never gave up, nor did he want to stop running permanently. On the other hand, Lily wanted to stop. She could hardly breathe and she could barely stand on all four legs. All that running and dodging had taken the energy out of her. She may have run before, but this time, her heart felt like it was about to burst.
"Don't wait for me," she panted, close to a collapse.
"Run or I'll slap your ears off!" he commanded, refusing to abandon her as he headbutting the doe on the behind to force her to keep going.
The couple lost their footing on the slippery, wet bank and the water created a tremendous splash on impact of their fall. Bigwig had to carry an exhausted Lily on his back as he paddled his arms and legs. Frantically, he looked around for a place to hide from the enemy. There seemed to be no escape from their pursuers until...
"Bigwig! Lily! In here!" a familiar distant voice came from behind a wall of foliage willow vines.
Confused, Bigwig parted the curtain of willow aside and, to his delight, discovered Hawkbit waving at him to come inside a tunnel he popped out from. With Lily on his back, the lion maned buck entered the tunnel and followed Hawkbit deeper into the tunnel. Relief swept over him when he and his mate escaped their pursuers at last.
Outside on the river bank, the Efrafan Owsla arrived and searched for the runaways. They sniffed the ground, finding the scent leading to the edge of the bank where the scent was lost. Vervain noticed the willow vines and peeked behind the green curtain, but he found nothing and what he assumed to be a tunnel that is too small for a rabbit to squeeze in.
"We lost them," said Campion.
"Find them!" demanded Vervain, leaving the only place he could have investigated to find the runaways.
Meanwhile, Bigwig ventured deeper inside the tunnel as he carried his mate, finding whom he had been searching for all day. "Hazel? Fiver!" he gasped, smiling with extreme relief.
"You found them?!" Lily's eyes shot open and, no longer exhausted, shot up and scrambled off Bigwig's back, rushing over to embrace the two brothers, startling them for a brief second. When she saw Hawkbit, she gave him a hug that made the flattered dark grey rabbit's face turn red. "I was so worried about all of you! Where have you guys been?"
"It's a long story," Hazel said, equally pleased to see his friends.
Bigwig kept his ears open as he listened carefully for the enemy patrol. So far, nobody came in after them. He knew they were safe. "They're moving on," he reported.
"We'll wait here until dark then make our way home," advised Hazel.
"I think that's a good idea," Lily agreed, laying down to get plenty of rest. "My legs are killing me, and I hope to never run that fast again."
Looking around at this strange cavern he was in, Bigwig wondered out loud, "What is this place and how did you manage to find it?"
Hawkbit glanced in Fiver's direction, giving him a smile of renewed faith as he said, "We just had to believe hard enough."
The rabbits told Bigwig and Lily of their adventures in the underground cavern and the tunnels they discovered after plummeting into a gaping hole that was created by a supposed earthquake, the same area where Hawkbit claimed to have seen the Black Rabbit and ran off when the earthquake started. Bigwig and Lily were escorted to the cavern where stalactites hung down from the ceiling and a small ledge overlooking a tiny waterfall that ran into a stream, impressing the couple deeply.
"Frith hides beauty in the strangest of places," Bigwig awed. "I guess we're the first to see this."
"Frith wouldn't make all of this just for us, would he?" Lily asked, amazed.
"He made the rest of the world for us, didn't he?" Fiver reminded her.
"If we were meant to see this, then he must want us to tell about it," Hawkbit said, in a voice filled with faith that Lily never heard of, but it made her happy.
Night had come when the five rabbits returned to the high hills. A joyful and relieved Kehaar greeted them, especially the kittens as they were so thrilled to see their parents come home. Nuzzles and snuggles were exchanged with a lot of love and affection. The seagull explained that all of the rabbits had spent the entire day digging their way to the forbidden cavern. Hazel and the others ventured into the abandoned burrow where they found their friends down below in the cavern, alerting the rabbits of their presence to ease their concerns and gave them quite a surprise of the Chief Rabbit's unexpected homecoming. Lily and the others couldn't stop laughing at learning the so-called Black Rabbit that Hawkbit spotted was actually a shadow, but at least Pipkin and Dandelion and Bluebell got over their fears of shadows.
Sometime later, some of the rabbits decided to stay in the cavern to play a game of Bob-Stones, just as Bigwig had promised Dandelion earlier this morning. The kittens had to retire to their burrows for bedtime, and the other rabbits went to sleep.
"Come on, Dandelion!" encouraged Hazel.
"Yeah, come on! Get this one and you win!" Hawkbit cheered him on.
"You know..." Fiver said to a relaxing Lily, who gave herself a grooming to keep herself busy, "not long ago, you and I felt alone and terrified... me, down here... and you, scared for Bigwig. And now, this cavern is full of life as much as our children are full of life... they are all part of our warren."
"Exactly! And we have a secret way to the heart of Efrafa," Lily added, understanding his words rang true.
"Funny how things turned out," Hazel chuckled.
A confident Dandelion thought hard and long, then he made his guess. "Bob-Stone guess is one!"
When Bigwig lifted his paw to reveal a stone, he announced, "It looks like we have a winner!"
"Congratulations, Dandelion!" Hazel exclaimed. "The first Bob-Stone Champion of Watership Down!"
Everyone cheered and congratulated Dandelion for winning the match as the blonde buck did a little victory dance that amused the rabbits. Lily relished in the moment, watching her friends and family celebrating together, reminding her of another time when Henry's father often cheered at the couch when his favorite sports team won a big game. She began to frown sadly, missing Henry and those old times lingered longer. She wondered if she would ever see him again. Then a paw brushed against her shoulder, bringing her attention back to reality. Pipkin ushered her to join in, convincing her to give her first try at Bob-Stones. Though Lily didn't have much luck against Dandelion, she was glad to have participated in such an exciting game.
