Today seemed like another ordinary day out in the magnificent countryside and farmlands close to Watership Down, the sky was clear with a few clouds passing, the sun shone brighter than ever, plenty more kits had been born by several happy couples, and two troublesome bucks sneaking inside their way to Nuthanger farm for a raid. Dandelion and Hawkbit had just pulled a turnip out of the garden with difficulty, until Duster woke up and discovered two intruders in his master's garden.

The two bucks exchanged "We're busted" frowns before they turned tail and ran for their lives. The commotion alerted Bob, who woke up and started barking violently as he tugged on his rope when he tried to break free. Unfortunately, Dandelion tripped over his long legs and fell to the ground. Duster prepared to lunge forward and attack, when Hawkbit bravely leapt in front of him, diverting his attention away from his partner.

This provided Dandelion the chance to grab the turnip and escape deep within the brambles and an open hole in the stone wall. Hawkbit made a sharp turn, causing Duster to collide in a bush. Hawkbit managed to make it through the escape hole in time, whilst Duster continued barking at the spot where the rabbits once stood. Tom Cane stormed out of the house to see what all the racket is about, but he couldn't find anything or anyone.

On their return to the high hills, Hawkbit and Dandelion made sure that no other elil is following them, taking a break to rest beneath the down.

"One measly turnip? Hardly what you call a 'successful' raid," commented Hawkbit, irked at today's failed raid.

Dandelion put down the turnip and then he glanced up at the sky when his ears caught sound of a familiar gull's screech.

"Hey, Kehaar!" Hawkbit called. "Down here!"

The seagull landed in front of the rabbits. "What'd you say? Kehaar is busy gull!"

"Oh, then you don't have time to help us get up the hill?" Hawkbit feigned exhaustion as he placed a paw over his forehead.

"…One time only, though," Kehaar agreed, just this once. He grabbed the turnip by the stem and took to the sky, carrying the vegetable in his beak.

Hawkbit winked at the smirking Dandelion. "See? Things are easy when you use your head."

The rabbits located at the top of the hill were silflaying, or the kittens played multiple games to pass the time, when a turnip had fallen and landed at their feet, much to their surprise.

Catching sight of the gull, Strawberry smiled at what she believed to be generosity. "Oh, brambles! Turnips by air. Kehaar is getting awfully thoughtful lately."

Elsewhere inside the burrow, two overjoyed couples exchanged congratulations over their newly born babies. Acorn and Buckthorn had mated with two does whom are Primrose's and Hyzenthlay's friends during their imprisonment in Efrafa, Rithla and Flesca. Buckthorn's mate, Rithla, had given birth to a young doe named Nyreem. Flesca's newborn baby bucks were given the names Crowfoot and Foxglove (which was Acorn's idea to name him after the Threarah's blind council member).


Far away in the deadly Warren of the Shining Wires, not everyone is living a happy life. A small group of rabbits had gathered together for an early breakfast of flayrah. However, nobody felt content whilst eating. Ever since that day when Hazel's band had visited their warren and Strawberry rebelled against Cowslip's dictatorship, this group began to feel themselves breaking apart from Cowslip's grasp. No longer did they yearn to surrender themselves to Man and his shining wires. No longer did they care to listen to poems of death. They determined to get out of this hell hole and live a free life in another place, without living in fear.

The small group consisted of Hickory, a buck with brown fur and a white underbelly, a white tuft of fur hair and light brown eyes. Marigold, a doe whose fur matched the color of the golden marigold flowers, she had white fur hair styled in curls and light green eyes. Their small band of friends who shared their secrets were Gentian (an oxford brown colored buck with pale brown eyes), Flax (a pale blush colored buck with bright blue eyes), and Betony (a buck with fur the color of a yellow wood betony and light orange eyes). They could not trust anyone else with their secrets, but the rabbits hoped to convince a few more of the inhabitants to escape with them. There was just one problem, not one of them knew how to survive in the wild, so asking for help from Hazel and his friends seemed like their only hope.

"Two more rabbits went missing yesterday," said Hickory, through a silent voice so no one else can hear them.

Gentian's head shot up, alarmed. "Hickory! You know Cowslip forbids us to mention the missing rabbits."

"The shining wires got them; we all know it."

"Any one of us might be next," worried Marigold.

"There's nothing we can do about it," Gentian sighed in disappointment.

"But we've got to do something!" Flax urged. "I don't want the snare to get me. I want to live."

"So do I, but if Cowslip finds out-" Betony came close to a panic, until Hickory shushed him.

"We can leave... like Strawberry did." Hickory decided, causing his friends to gasp in a fearful surprise. "She's free living with Hazel, Bigwig, Lily and the others."

"Remember?" Marigold recalled that day when the Watership rabbits left. "Hazel invited us to live in the high hills and relearn the ways of the rabbit."

"We should have gone when we had the chance," Gentian groaned regretfully.

"It's not too late," convinced Hickory. "We just have to be brave and-"

"Shh! Cowslip is coming!" Marigold warned, her ears cocked when she heard the rest of the warren's inhabitants coming, including their wretched leader.

Hickory's group resumed feeding on the flayrah, pretending like nothing is wrong and everyone is content. The rabbits began to eat their breakfast, whilst Cowslip approached the little group of rebellion.

"Sharing flayrah and secrets, are we friends?" Cowslip purred. "Shall I join you, then?"

"Uhh, of course," Marigold offered, rather quickly. "Please, join us."

The old tan rabbit started to eat, but his presence put Hickory, Marigold and their friends on edge. Silently, they hoped he never suspected a thing. However, the suspicion in Cowslip's eyes as he gazed at them meant he regarded their little secret meetings, which had not gone unnoticed, with distrust.


As soon as Dandelion reached the top of the hill, he panted heavily, "That hill... it gets higher every time."

"Works up the old appetite, though." Hawkbit caught up to him, this time truly exhausted. "Let's get at that turnip."

However, by the time Hawkbit and Dandelion reached the top of the hill, their eagerness to eat the turnip was met by disappointment upon discovering Pipkin and Aubretia munching on the turnip, savoring its delicious flavor. Their lunch was interrupted when the two glaring bucks approached them.

"Pardon me, young kits, but that's ours," Hawkbit scolded, behaving as if the kits had stolen a piece of his property.

"But we found it first!" Aubretia protested.

"And we worked hard to earn it. Now, hand it over!" Dandelion demanded.

"Oh! We're sorry." Pipkin lowered his ears in shame as he gently pushed the eaten turnip toward the adults' feet.

Before the two bucks could take the turnip, Bigwig came rushing over and blocked their path to the turnip with a threatening scowl. "Leave off! I said they could have it!" he explained.

"If they want a turnip, then they should hop off and get their own," Hawkbit suggested.

"They can't leave the warren!" Hazel objected, arriving on the scene with his brother. "The children are to stay around here until the war with Efrafa is over."

"If any more of them are caught and taken back to Efrafa, it'll be the end of them," Fiver added.

"So, my kits are having that turnip. Clear?" Bigwig reminded them, scowling.

Terrified of an angry father rabbit towering over them to protect his young, Hawkbit and Dandelion sulked as they hopped away, whilst the short grey buck mumbled angrily, "Remind me to get kidnapped by Woundwort."

"Yeah, then neither of us would have to leave to get flayrah whenever we want it," agreed Dandelion.

Pipkin and Aubretia became shocked by what they heard, upsetting them deeply.

"Don't mind them," Bigwig assured his children, then he turned to his Chief Rabbit. "We'd best get on patrol, then. Bluebell, hop to it!" He gave out orders for his Owsla to get up and begin their usual routine of patrolling the area for strangers or elil.

"I'll come, too!" Pipkin volunteered, eager to join them.

Bigwig paused, then he turned to his adoptive son with a stern frown. "Pipkin, you heard Hazel. You and the other kittens are sticking close to home," he reminded him.

"Forever?"

"Until I say otherwise, now be good for your mother." The lion maned buck left to join his patrol.

Pipkin sighed in disappointment. Following his and Aubretia's recent escape from Efrafa, Pipkin and his sister found themselves overprotected by their families, all scared and fearing that the youngsters will be kidnapped again, this time probably killed by Woundwort if he ever caught them for the second time. This caused a rift between some rabbits who disapproved of this curfew and to most of the inhabitants who obeyed Hazel and Bigwig's rule without question. Lily was one of those rabbits who rejected the curfew and understood how badly the little ones felt. She argued constantly with Bigwig and Hazel about it. Sadly, Bigwig had firmly put his foot down. So did Hazel, ending the conversation with severe words.

"Ah, there's our brave young'uns." Blackberry came over, accompanied by Boxwood.

"Just look at you two," Boxwood noticed their tiny faces were smeared in turnip crumbs and began stroking them tenderly. "You're a sight! We'll have you clean and tidy in a wink!"

Pipkin stole a silent scowl at the does, and Aubretia rolled her eyes at their ignorance of treating them like careless infants.


While on patrol, the Owsla met up with Nelthilta, Haystack and Strawberry collecting raspberries for the two disheartened kittens to eat, hoping it will cheer them up after given such a strict curfew, when suddenly Bigwig's nose whiffed oddly. The rabbits caught the scent and dove for cover, convinced it was an elil.

Two strange rabbits came hopping over the hillside. It was Hickory and Marigold, having bravely ventured out of Cowslip's warren in attempt to locate Hazel's warren. Betony, Gentian and Flax had agreed to cover for them until their return.

"We'll never find Hazel or his warren," Hickory sighed.

"We know they're in the high hills," Marigold replied, wiping off a patch of dirt on her leg. "Be patient, Hickory. We'll find them."

The two rabbits lolloped forward on, not realizing how closer they are to their destination. The Watership rabbits peered over the hill, keeping a close eye on these strangers.

"What do they want with us?" Fiver wondered.

Strawberry sniffed the air and her eyes lit widened in fear, recognizing the scent of where the strangers had come from. "I know that smell. They're from the Warren of the Shining Wires!"

"That means trouble."

"Let's find out how much then," Hazel decided, prepared to take action.

The Watership rabbits left their hiding spot and ambushed the two strangers as Bigwig shouted, "That's far enough!"

Hickory and Marigold halted in their tracks, startled. They found themselves surrounded by Hazel and the Owsla, looking quite scared and worried over what they are going to do to them. Strawberry got a closer look at the two rabbits and her eyes lit up in recognition.

"Hickory and Marigold!" she exclaimed.

"Strawberry, we found you!" Hickory gasped, relieved.

Marigold acknowledged the Chief Rabbit with delight. "And you're Hazel! We've been searching for your warren."

"We want to leave Cowslip's warren," Hickory explained their presence, almost pleading. "Help us, please."

The Watership rabbits exchanged unsure looks, not sure whether this might be a trick or if they are telling the truth. Upon their first encounter in that despicable warren, none of the other rabbits, other than Strawberry, wanted to leave and remained delusional in that cult to worship death and surrender themselves to the snares. Studying the eyes of Hickory and Marigold, Fiver could easily tell neither of them had those haunting blank expressions like the rest of the Cowslip's rabbits. They appeared so determined and desperate to leave their old warren.

"Let's bring them to our warren so we can discuss things," Fiver announced, gaining the shocked reaction from the rest of the group.

Trusting his brother, Hazel agreed and escorted the two newcomers to the high hills.


Deep within the tunnels of the warren, a saddened Pipkin and a weeping Aubretia passed several other kittens as they either played a game or aimed scathing glares in their direction, ignoring their presence. The two kittens met up with Kehaar and Hannah around the corner.

"Why the long faces, kids?" asked the mouse.

"We're not babies!" Pipkin replied, his head hung low.

"You sad cause you're not babies?" Kehaar cocked his head, confused.

"No, everyone is treating us like babies!" Aubretia whined, her ears dropped to the side. "We don't want to be treated like stupid babies!"

"Blackberry won't even let me go and help Yona look for grubs," Pipkin further explained. "I always do."

"I'll do it for you, Pipkin." Hannah volunteered kindly.

"But you don't even like Yona."

"Oh, yeah, but I'll do it anyway. You stay here where it's safe." Hannah's words only meant to sound helpful, but it made things worse for Pipkin and Aubretia.

"Even Hannah's doing it," sobbed Pipkin.

"Doing what?" asked Kehaar.

"Treating me like a baby. All our friends are out on the down and we're stuck here."

"And none of the kits will play with us," added Aubretia.

"Oh, that is big bummer," the gull attempted to sympathize with them, "like if rabbit tell me to stay out of the sky."

From her burrow, Lily could overhear what her children were lamenting about. It broke her heart to helplessly watch them confined to the warren, prisoners in their own home. Her brows scrunched low at the unfair bullying they received from the other kittens. And Bigwig's stubbornness was starting to get on her nerves. "I gotta do something," she whispered, determined to set things right for her children.

Bounding off through the tunnel, Lily overheard the other rabbits engaged in conversation. Just as she was about to state her case, she discovered her friends engaged in conversation with two visitors that she had never seen before.

"I told Hickory and Marigold they could join us, but uhh… they're set on starting their own warren," Hazel explained to everyone present in the Honeycomb the reason for their newcomers' visit.

"By yourselves?" questioned Blackberry.

"There are many of us at Cowslip's warren, but we couldn't all leave without Cowslip noticing," said Marigold.

"We'd hope you'd show us how to live in the wild, then we'd teach our friends," Hickory added.

"When we're ready, we'll all leave Cowslip's warren together."

"It's a hard job building a warren," Bigwig stated. "You have a lot to learn."

But Marigold would not be deterred, neither was Hickory. She looked so eager to get out of that terrible cult. "We don't care! We can't live in the shadow of the shining wire any longer."

Recalling Vilthuril's vision, and sharing a relieved glance with Vilthuril herself, Lily found her voice and made her presence be known. "I think we should help Hickory and Marigold build a new warren for them. Some of Cowslip's rabbits have seen the light. And if they want to leave, then we should help them."

Everyone's heads turned to stare at the doe in speechless bewilderment. Hazel began to think deeply about what she advised. "Hmmm... it'll be nice having neighbors."

"And allies," Bigwig nodded. "Two warrens against Efrafa is better than one."

"What about moving them into my old warren at Redstone?" Primrose suggested using her former warren as a home for Hickory and Marigold.

"Capital idea!" Captain Broom agreed. "Shame to think good old Redstone sitting empty."

"Oh, it'd be lovely to see life thriving at Redstone again!" Blossom smiled delightfully.

"It's settled then. We'll all help!" Hazel reached his decision.

Everyone began voicing their approval to pitch in and assist in fixing up Redstone for their visitors to live in, not to mention teaching them how to live in the wild if they are going to survive. Hickory and Marigold were delighted, exchanging relieved smiles at each other. They were thankful to Lily for sticking up for them and so grateful to Hazel for supporting them.

"Can I come with you to Redstone?" Pipkin hopped over and offered to help out. "I can show them how to talk to the other animals and-"

"Sorry, Pipkin. Maybe another time." Hazel politely refused, and once again insisted sternly, "Besides, you're not allowed to leave the warren."

Feeling rejected, a hurt Pipkin left the Honeycomb. Lily felt sorry for the poor little buck. She wanted to give Hazel a piece of her mind when her thoughts were interrupted by Captain Broom talking about his glory days in his youth.

"Ah, we had grand times at Redstone," he recalled, "fighting off stoats, raiding farms on the far side of the road, dodging owls on moonlit nights."

Those stories didn't sound exciting as Hickory and Marigold stared at the elderly buck, speechless in fear.

Irked, Blossom roughly elbowed her mate in the gut. "Don't scare them, you old goat!" Then she flashed a pleasant smile at the couple, "Living free and in the wild may be thrilling for you, dearies..."

"...but it's not all fun and games." Bigwig aimed a slight smirk of his own before he left.


"Aubretia and I were prisoners in Efrafa," Pipkin sulked as he and Kehaar wandered aimlessly around the area, "now we're prisoners in Watership Down."

"Hazel and Bigwig just worry about you and your sister." Kehaar tried to offer comfort to the young buck and reason for the adults' actions. "Everyone's scared to lose you both again."

"They just don't want us to grow up."

The gull thought it over for second, and then he got an idea of what he believed can help the young buck's problem. "So, don't grow up. Grow down..." his head lowered forward to show his point, "be a big baby. See if they like that?"

Pipkin looked up at him, unsure at first. "I don't think they'd like that at all." After thinking it over, he decided to give it a try and started acting like a whiny crybaby. "Ohhh, it's so hot! Ohhh, find me some shade!" He fell on his back and pawed the air. "I want some rhubarb!"

Kehaar squawked, approvingly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah! That's good! Be a big baby."

"Well, I don't want to be a big baby!" Aubretia scoffed at her adopted brother's childish behavior. "I want to grow up and become a fierce warrior, just like Daddy..." her words trailed off, remembering her father's stubborn refusal to grant her access to leave. "Then again, he'll probably never let me leave if I show him how brave I am."

Then she found a small patch of purple loosestrife growing nearby. Still hungry, Aubretia leaned in to take a bite when a paw stomped on the loosestrife, preventing her from eating it. Looking up, there stood her big brother, Basil, and his close pal, Sandwort.

"Oi, sis!" Basil's voice interrupted her thoughts as he and Sandwort glowered at the baffled young doe. "That's my lunch!"

"But I found it first!" Aubretia defended, angrily.

"And we'll eat it!" Sandwort bullied, aiming a scathing glare at the poor kitten. "Loosestrife is for future members of the Owsla only, not for babies like you and Pipkin! Now, hop it!"

A disappointed Aubretia almost turned to leave, hearing her older brother and his friend laughing cruelly at their superiority. Suddenly, she paused. Her memories in Efrafa concocted a plan to convince her father that she is not a baby. General Woundwort often used intimidation to terrify Vervain, so why not do the same to those other incompetent kittens. Woundwort is a fierce warrior, and he is the strongest rabbit in the world, so...

Aubretia whirled herself around to lung at Sandwort, biting a piece of fur off his neck and yanked it off. Sandwort released a cry of anguish, unable to register what recently occurred. Before he could do anything else, Aubretia wrestled and pounced on top of him, pinning him to the ground with fire in her eyes.

"GET OUT!" ordered Aubretia.

"Hey, you can't tell me what-" Sandwort had no time to finish.

"OUT! Or I'll kill you where you stand!" Her voice raised to a higher volume to sound threatening and cold.

A shocked Basil stared at the fallen Sandwort in silent disbelief at his little sister's physical strength and actions. Just as Aubretia allowed Sandwort to get up, both he and Basil gawked at Aubretia, who stood her ground and prepared for a rematch. They exchanged frightened faces as the two young bucks fled the scene with their tails between their legs.

"Who's the baby, now?" Aubretia laughed in triumph and began eating the loosestrife she deserved.


Having left the high hills, Hickory and Marigold cautiously returned to Cowslip's warren. The two rabbits looked around, remaining careful and cautious so not to alert Cowslip, Silverweed or any of the inhabitants who firmly stayed loyal to their delusional leader.

"I don't see Cowslip," Hickory said. "Maybe he didn't notice we were gone."

In their view, Betony and Gentian and Flax emerged from the bushes, all eager to learn what their friends had accomplished on their journey.

"Good news, we found Hazel and his warren," Hickory reported. "He promised to help us start our own warren."

The rabbits exchanged looks of amazement. At last, their dreams of escape and living in a free warren with no snares was coming true.

"A home of our own?" Gentian cheered. "Imagine that!"

"We'll live free as Frith meant us to."

"Freedom! Imagine that!"

"Quiet!" Flax silenced the buck's loud mouth. "Do you want the whole warren hearing you?"

"Now scatter, before Cowslip sees us," Marigold instructed.

No sooner had the rabbits scattered in different directions among the warren, a familiar wicked face peered through an opening in the hedge where a snare was left untouched but awaited its unsuspecting victim.

"Freedom is a lie, friends..." Cowslip warned, joined by a sadistic chuckle, "there's no escape from the shining wires." Somehow, he found out what Hickory and Marigold's plan is, and the cult leader was hell bent to put a stop to their foolishness.


The next day, Hawkbit, Dandelion, Silver and Bluebell were given the task of instructing or teaching Hickory and Marigold to learn the ways of the wild rabbit and to survive in the outside world. The four rabbits escorted their allies to the abandoned and empty Redstone Warren to prepare for their upcoming arrival when they've completed their lessons and ready to move in.

"Welcome to Redstone Warren," Hawkbit announced, though it sounded sarcastic due to the warren's poor condition.

"It's not much since the former occupants had been wiped out by the Great Sickness," Bluebell mentioned, though he received a slap on the head by Silver, who shook his head at him so not to frighten Hickory and Marigold.

"Something of a rat hole, wouldn't you say?" Dandelion suggested.

"Well, it's not as splendid as Cowslip's Warren and not half the view," said Silver.

To the four bucks' surprise, Hickory and Marigold fell in love with Redstone Warren instantly on first sight without question and accepting it as their new home.

"It's beautiful," awed Marigold.

"It's home," Hickory agreed in wonder.

Dandelion looked over at his friends, smiling, "Easy to please, aren't they?"

"I suppose it's better than living in a warren full of snares." Hawkbit shrugged his shoulders.

Trying to get inside the warren proved to be difficult when a large spiderweb hung attached to the main entrance as Marigold found out sooner, as she said, "How do we get in with this in the way?"

"Oh, you really don't know much about anything, do you?" Hawkbit grunted, then decided to make a demonstration. "Here, like this." The dark grey rabbit lunged at the spiderweb, using his head and ears to catch the web's center. The sticky web got caught on his ears and head, but the entrance was open now. "There! First lesson in burrow cleaning. Have a go, Marigold."

Noticing another web attached to the side wall of the entrance, Marigold got her ears tangled in the web. She did manage to remove the web, but it stuck to her ears. Marigold didn't mind at all, finding the idea of burrow cleaning amusing as she giggled, which made Hawkbit smile proudly.


Back on Watership Down, Bigwig found a spot in front of a pile of boulders to lie down and take a nap. He relaxed his body against the boulder pile and yawned. When he noticed Lily approaching him, Bigwig felt an excited arousal growing inside of him.

"Hello, my beautiful doe," he greeted.

However, Lily wasn't in the mood for his romantic alluring. "Err, yeah. Hello, darling." She wanted to get straight to the point. "Listen, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"Oh, that can wait." Whatever it was she wanted to discuss with him, Bigwig had no time for such nonsense. There was no other rabbit close by and they were completely alone. "How about a little quiet time with me?" With lightning swiftness, he shoved her to the ground and pinned her down with his strong arms.

"Whoa! Bigwig, stop!" Lily protested, taken off guard. She struggled to crawl out of his hold, but she could not free herself.

Smirking, Bigwig traveled his forepaw across her face down to her neck. He leaned in and kissed her really hard. Claws extended as his excitement grew stronger than ever, engraving in the dirt. Lily tried to resist, but the feel of his tongue massaging the inner cavern of her mouth and those massive paws kneading at her chest brought an aura of defeat on her. He always had this effect on her. The rabbits made out like this for a moment until their lips parted.

"Ah, lovely." Bigwig gazed at the form of his beloved doe with love and lust in his eyes.

Having forgotten the true reason of finding him, Lily had given in to his desires. "Oh, Bigwig. Take me now!"

Just as the lion buck shifted his aroused body closer to her own, Pipkin suddenly appeared on top of the boulder. With a sneaky growl, he positioned himself and jumped right on top of Bigwig's back.

"Aah!" the lion buck cried, alert and immediately leapt up in defense, until he realized the danger was only little Pipkin. Lily reared up, startled and frightened by this sudden intrusion. Discovering whom the culprit is, the doe sighed in relief.

"Hello, Father," he greeted with an innocent smile. "Hello, Mother. Were you both asleep?"

"What did it look like?" Bigwig replied, slightly irked his alone time had been ruined.

"We were just, uhhh..." Lily had no excuse to cover up what she and her mate came close to doing.

"Let's play tail tag!" Pipkin's tail wagged, excitedly.

"We already did, and Bob-Stones and Roll the Acorn." Bigwig refused, placing himself on the soft grass for some sleep. "Now I'm having a... a nap with Lily."

"Uh, yes! A nap!" Lily nodded, thinking it provided a good cover up.

"But I'm bored and there's nothing to do," Pipkin whined pathetically, and then he got an idea as he leaned in closer to whisper in his father's ear. "Let's go find some sweet, delicious, lovely clover."

"If you want clover, my boy, go and find it yourself!" Bigwig urged, trying to get rid of him and earn his alone time with Lily.

"But I'm not allowed to go anywhere by myself, you know that." Pipkin reminded his adopted father of the strict confinement to the warren.

Bigwig turned to Lily, hoping she could take him. Suddenly the doe's ears twitched when she heard the kits shouting or scuffling nearby. Locked in a tug-of-war over a measly dandelion flower to eat, Aubretia and Gilia growled at one another in a bitter competition.

"I'm sorry, Bigwig." Quickly, Lily rushed forward to the spot where the two kits ended their little contest by Aubretia splitting the flower in two pieces and watching Gilia collide backwards on impact. "Stop it right this instant!" the doe scolded them.

With a heavy sigh, Bigwig relented. "All right. Come along, then."

But Pipkin sat down on the grass, behaving like an exhausted child who's all tuckered out from playing. "I'm too tired now. You fetch me it."

Rolling his eyes, Bigwig had to find someone to babysit the lad until his return. Luckily for him, two does were close by. "Blackberry! Strawberry!"

"What is it?" Strawberry asked.

"Entertain this little..." Bigwig had no words to give him a nickname, aware it can hurt the lad's feelings or Lily will give him hell. "Pipkin for a while. I'm off to get him some darn clover."

The two does nodded obediently, just as Pipkin exclaimed, "Lots of it!"

And it caused Bigwig to give him a stern frown.


Training Hickory and Marigold to live in the wild wasn't easy, but the two rabbits were willing to give it their best shot. Their lessons took place near a shallow brook in the forest, not far from Watership Down and out of sight from elil in the open country. Hawkbit, Dandelion and Silver proved to be stern yet fair teachers, although Bluebell proved to be quite clumsy and a screw up.

For example, Bluebell covered himself in blackberry juice, making sure it was sticky enough so he could stick a bunch of old owl feathers all over his body and appear as a frightening owl. Silver had instructed Hickory and Marigold to run as fast as they can for the nearest cover in order to dodge from elil that attacked from the sky, as Bluebell imitated an owl's hoots to sound terrifying and waved his feathered arms. Hickory and Marigold ducked for cover underneath the brambles, however Bluebell lunged forward in attempt to swoop down and grab one of them. The only problem is rabbits can't fly as Bluebell found out sooner when he hung in the air for a second, then plummeted down toward a spikey thorn bush.

"YEOW!" Bluebell cried.

The five rabbits cringed when his cries were heard. Bluebell crawled out of the thorny bush; his body was practically covered from head to paw. With a heavy sigh, Silver set to work on removing the thorns from the poor blue buck. To pass the time, Hawkbit decided to test Hickory and Marigold of how to outwit a hungry fox. Dandelion took the role of imitating the growls of a famished fox while he stayed low to the ground and crawled through the long grass.

Then Kehaar came flying over to check up on them and landed behind the blonde buck. "Pretty good fox, Dandy-lion," he complimented.

No answer was responded when Dandelion reared around and tried to tackle the gull, but Kehaar hovered high enough out of his reach.

"Fox almost got me!" the gull shouted.

"Right!" Hawkbit coached his two students, explaining, "The fox has your scent. He'll get you in a minute. So, what do you do?"

Hickory's paws shuffled in the air as he worried, "I don't know. There's no place to hide."

"What about the grass?"

Dandelion's fox growl imitations sounded louder.

"But the fox is in there!" Marigold replied. "He'll track us!"

Hawkbit moved closer to the brook's edge and dipped his two back legs in the cool water. "Not if he loses your scent."

"We go through the water, then double back." Marigold figured it would be a good idea.

"Better do it quick, then."

Without another word, Hickory and Marigold lolloped toward the brook. The water splashed when the two rabbits leapt from one side then doubled back. Unfortunately, Hickory forgot to look where he was going and stumbled over a rock embedded in the brook. Marigold left the brook and rushed inside the long grass, passing the test.

Dandelion emerged from the long grass, licking his chops. "Hmm, dinner." He leapt out of the grass and pounced on a terrified Hickory, creating a huge splash.

Feeling like a failure, Hickory walked out of the brook and back to shore where Marigold and Kehaar came out and the doe took her place beside him. She noticed how disappointed he looked and tried to comfort him.

"Out here, you don't get second chances," Hawkbit reminded.

"I'll never be as fast as you Dandelion or as a clever as you, Hawkbit." Sighing, Hickory grew dejected as he glanced at the wise bucks.

Hawkbit cleared his throat, trying to brush off the compliment and not to let his ego increase his arrogance. "Well, of course we have more experience, but every rabbit's got it in them to be an El-ahrairah."

"Remember the Owsla saying?" Silver's voice brought their attention as he returned, alongside with a disheveled Bluebell. "'Who dares wins'?"

"Uh, no." Hickory stared at the silver-colored buck, totally confused. "We never had an Owsla. Cowslip refuses to have one because we are protected by the Man who feeds and... err, snares us."

"Oh?" Dandelion's eyes widened in surprise and his mouth made the shape of an O. "Then you don't know the story of how El-ahrairah dared and won?"

"We never told any El-ahrairah stories, except we remembered Bluebell telling the story of El-ahrairah and the King's Lettuce," Marigold added. "Cowslip says they're silly. He always said El-ahrairah is a myth to delude rabbits."

"Shows what that idiot knows," Hawkbit grunted in disgust

A light bulb lit up over Dandelion's head as got an idea. "Right then, make yourselves comfortable. It's time for a story."

The group gathered together in front of Dandelion as he began to tell the story.

Once, all rabbits lived above ground without burrows. The elil were preying on them, night and day. Dead rabbits and dug-up burrows trailed wherever the elil went. It was a terrible time, and El-ahrairah did not know what to do to help his people. So, he and Rabscuttle went to Prince Rainbow to seek his help. Prince Rainbow told them to go to the Valley of Wisdom and waited for Frith to appear. So, they did. At the Valley of Wisdom, Lord Frith did shine upon the two rabbits that waited for him.

"Great Frith, make me wise so I may know how to save my people," pleaded El-ahrairah.

"Wisdom is earned, El-ahrairah," advised Frith, as his rays of light shone upon a distant ledge over a deep chasm. "You must jump and prove your worth."

It seemed an impossible leap, even for El-ahrairah. A concerned Rabscuttle begged him not to try, for he feared the Prince Rabbit will not make it and fall to his death. But El-ahrairah loved his people, and he would do anything for them. Even if it meant his doom.

So, he jumped over the chasm. His faith and courage carried him like a bird on the wind. For a second, Rabscuttle panicked, looking away when the Prince Rabbit almost lost the ledge under his paws. But then came a miracle. El-ahrairah made it to the ledge with success.

"Your heart is true, El-ahrairah," praised Frith. "Wisdom is yours."

And as Frith's light touched him, El-ahrairah figured out a way to save his people. They would dig holes and live underground, safe from the elil. Warming themselves in winter. Happy forever…

"So, El-ahrairah dared to gain wisdom and he won," Marigold awed in wonder at such an intriguing tale. "What a wonderful story! Thank you, Dandelion."

"Have you ever dared?" asked Hickory.

At those words, Dandelion's posture froze. Everyone thought he had gone tharn at first, but suddenly he scoffed. "Well, more the most. Once I dared to enter the cavern of a hrududu!"

"Oh, not that one again," grumbled Hawkbit, as he heard this story before multiple times and wanted no part in listening to it.

Marigold gawked, puzzled by this strange word. "What's a hrududu?"

"It has a hard shell like a tortoise," Dandelion explained. "Man rides around in them, and it makes a loud honking sound. Bigwig once said they're harmless, so long as you leave them alone by night. He doesn't believe they're alive at all. Of course, Lily always called the hrududus 'cars', because that's what her humans called them, but to each their own. Anyway, at nighttime the hrududu have these big lights that shine on you. When it draws you closer to it, you go tharn, and then they crush you."

"So, what happened in the cavern?" Hickory asked, his curiosity increased.

"I saw two bright lights coming at me." Dandelion's voice got dramatically spooky. "The eyes of the hrududu! The roar... the smell... closer, it came."

Hickory shuddered in terror as he shielded his eyes with his paws.

"Oh, what did you go?" asked Marigold.

"I shouted 'Stop!' And it did." Dandelion stood up on his two back legs, his left arm stuck out as he indicated a stop sign.

Hearing this, Hickory removed his paws from his eyes as he gazed at Dandelion, awestruck. "You must be terrifically brave."

"I dared, and I won." Dandelion's cockiness increased his ego. "Simple as that."

Irked at the blonde buck's boasting, Silver decided to end their little break time and resume back to training. "Right, story time is over." He pushed his heavy form in front of Dandelion to knock him aside. "Next lesson; eagle dodging. It's similar to owl dodging, except eagles are much bigger and tougher to avoid."

"I suppose you're going to force me to disguise myself as an eagle." An irked Bluebell tried to lick the sticky blackberry juice off his fur.

"Yes, Bluebell, we are."

In the brook, Kehaar tried to catch his supper by daring his prey, which seemed to have no affect for him. "C'mon, fish! I dare you!"


When the night had come, all of the rabbits had turned themselves in for a good night's sleep. Bigwig snored peacefully beside Lily, who never made a sound in her sleep. The couple had built a smaller next for their children to sleep in close by, allowing the couple to sleep in their larger nest.

Then, Pipkin entered the adults' nest. First, he yawned, then scratched his hind leg behind his ear, and finally placed his smaller form beside his mother. His movements had awoken his parents, though Bigwig was not pleased at all.

"All right, Pipkin. Out you get," he murmured to the little intruder.

"I'm too afraid, Father. What if a fox came into the burrow and got me?" Pipkin moaned, feigning fear. "Or a weasel or a badger?"

"I doubt a fox could get in." Lily doubted, then she reassured his little nightly terrors, "I'm sure you'll be fine. After all, we're quite safe in here."

The doe turned herself over and went back to sleep. Bigwig moved further away from this little terror in his burrow. He couldn't even sleep due to Pipkin moving around in the nest in a childish manner. It got worse for poor Bigwig when the rest of his children came crawling inside the burrow, wishing to sleep closer their parents just like their adopted brother. Violet sucked her paw like a baby sucking her paw and Pipkin's quiet moaning created quite the nuisance for their father.

Fortunately, Lily slept more soundly as Aubretia crept beside her mother to sleep beside her. Feud up with Pipkin disturbing his slumber, Basil prepared to give him a good cuffing to shut him up, when he noticed Aubretia had one eye open and shot him a very stern scowl that warned, 'Don't even think about it.' Aggravated, Basil went to sleep.


During their first night in Redstone, Hawkbit, Dandelion, Bluebell and Silver slept soundly beneath a few giant red boulders. The burrows inside the warren had not been cleaned out yet, nor was there any room for six rabbits. It was scheduled to be built and fixed up tomorrow. Not to mention sleeping above ground was another part of the test. Kehaar dozed off outside the burrow, just in case to keep watch for elil. An owl's distant hoot put Hickory and Marigold on edge; neither of them couldn't sleep a wink, though it wasn't just the owl keeping them up. Dandelion's stories kept them awake while they thought deeply over what he told them.

"I hate sleeping above ground," Hickory sighed.

"It's part of our lessons," Marigold reminded. "If you're brave once, maybe it gets easier."

Then Hickory came up with an idea, one that could stupidly put his life or Marigold's in jeopardy. "We should face down a hrududu like Dandelion did," he decided. "Then we'd never be afraid of anything else ever."

"Do we dare?"

"I think we have to."

Making sure that neither of their teachers nor Kehaar heard them, the two rabbits ventured out of the warren and headed for a nearby roundabout where a small green hill stood in the middle of a circling road. The first rays of sunshine appeared over the horizon by the time Hickory and Marigold arrived at the roundabout, carelessly hopping further out on the road.

"So, where are the hrududus?" Hickory wondered.

His question was soon to be answered as a blue pick-up truck rounded the bend, heading straight towards a stupefied Hickory. The truck's horn honked loudly, ordering the wandering rabbit to get out of the way.

Marigold gasped, fearing her friend will be crushed. "Hickory, run!" she yelled.

Hickory's mind had almost gone tharn until the doe's voice brought him back to earth as he lunged for the nearest green patch of grass. Unfortunately, he stood at the bottom of the roundabout. He watched the truck disappear in the distance.

"Hickory, come back!" shouted Marigold. "Over here!"

But Hickory was too paralyzed to move an inch. He tried to step out onto the road, but the fear had taken over him. "I-I... I can't," he replied, panting.

Another vehicle, an orange car, passed them by, further terrifying the poor rabbit.

"All right, I'll get help!" Marigold told him, before rushing back to the forest to find the others.


Around that time, Hawkbit and the others had woken up to discover their two students had vanished in the middle of the night. Agitated and worried, the group began searching within the forest, either hoping they had no wandered off nor eaten by an elil. Kehaar searched by air so he can get a better view. So far, nobody could find them.

"For rabbits who haven't learned to hide, they're not bad at it," Hawkbit said.

"You don't think elil got them, do you?" Bluebell worried.

"I don't think so," Silver disagreed. "There was no scent of elil at Redstone."

"Hickory! Marigold!" Dandelion called out, looking back and forth. "Come out! Where are you?"

A squawk sounded as Kehaar signaled he was coming in for a landing. "I see no bunnies," he reported, his wings on his hips. "Want me to go further?"

"Oh, don't bother," Hawkbit snorted in refusal, convinced those two rabbits had deserted them and returned to the Warren of the Shining Wires. "They've probably gone back to join Cowslip and his warren of weirdos."

Suddenly, a familiar female voice broke the silence of the forest, "HAWBIT! DANDELION! HELP!"

"It's Marigold!" Bluebell smiled, relieved.

"Over here!" Hawkbit shouted, letting her know where they are. But he shook his head at how loud the doe's voice was. "Their next lesson is running quietly."

An agitated Marigold came around the corner and screeched to a halt, her eyes wide and her breathing heavy. "It's Hickory! He's trapped in the middle of a huge Man trail!"

"What's he doing there?" Dandelion gaped, shocked that Hickory could do something so reckless like this.

Instead of explaining herself, Marigold grasped Dandelion's paw, believing he is the savior who can save her friend from the danger. "You can stop the hrududus, you know how! They just keep coming and coming!"

"Okay, take it easy, lass." Silver immediately soothed her anxiety. "Let's go and see what's to be done."


Back on Watership Down, Lily and Bigwig exited the warren. Each rabbit got a different sleep last night. Lily felt refreshed and ready to start the day. Bigwig, on the other hand, longed to go back to his burrow and sleep without any noise to disturb him at all.

Hazel greeted them as he and his family were silflaying at a rather large cluster of clovers for breakfast. "Morning. Goodness, Bigwig, you look as though you've been dream running all night."

"You have to sleep to dream," Bigwig groaned tiredly.

"Pipkin and Violet kept him up almost all night," Lily explained.

The four kits hopped out of the warren's entrance. All of them stretched their paws out and arched their backs to stretch the sleep out of their systems. The other kits wandered at the far edge of the clover patch to eat. Aubretia stomped her foot on a rare four-leaf clover before Basil can eat it, standing her ground as he fumed at her silently. But the adults were more concerned about eating rather than notice what occurred.

"Father left me all alone in the burrow," Pipkin complained.

"The dew hasn't even dried, Pipkin." Hazel responded. "It couldn't have been all that long."

The adults tried to avoid the little rascal to get some space, but Pipkin refuses to fail as he continues with the plan. He placed himself between Hazel and Bigwig to get their attention while he ate.

"I'm not supposed to be left on my own at all," he reminded, smiling. "Something terrible might happen to me."

"It very well might, my lad," Bigwig warned him with a stern glare.


On the roundabout, a panic-stricken Hickory was running aimlessly around a duck-crossing signpost. Every time a car drove by, such as a green vehicle with no hood, the poor rabbit was sent into a crazed frenzy. Luckily, Kehaar arrived on the scene.

"Sit still, you crazy rabbit!" the seagull scolded. "It's okay!"

But Hickory didn't seem to hear him at all. Kehaar landed beside the five remaining rabbits on the other side of the road. Hawkbit's eyes almost bulged out of his head when another car shot past them, almost bringing back at memory for his and Dandelion's childhood, involving a hrududu in a cavern. Before the memory could take hold of him, the dark grey buck shook his head to snap himself out of it.

"We've got to do something before he runs under a hrududu and gets crushed!" Dandelion exclaimed.

A frowning Silver turned to the concerned Marigold, ready for some answers. "I think it's time you explain yourself," he growled.

Marigold lowered her head in defeat. "We thought if we dared to do this, we'd never be frightened again."

"There's daring, and then there's dumb," Hawkbit commented.

"So, in other words, what you and Hickory did was incredibly dumb," Bluebell agreed, shaking his head. "Did you ever stop to think that Dandelion told you some truth about facing a hrududu?"

"I-I don't understand." Marigold was confused, unable to believe Dandelion would lie to her and Hickory.

Dandelion's ears dropped at having been caught in a myth. "Uhh, well you see-"

Scorning, Hawkbit decided to tell the true story of Dandelion and the hrududu. "When Dandelion and I were kits, we used to play with our friends close to the road. We've been warned never to go near the road nor the cavern of the hrududu by our parents. It made us cautious, so cautious that it made us targets for bullies like Toadflax and Scabious. So, Toadflax dared one of us to go inside the cavern and face down a hrududu to prove we are not chickens. Dandelion volunteered, and when he did it, the lights of a hrududu shone on him and it was approaching fast. The rest of us shouted at him to get out of the way, but Dandelion had gone tharn. Bigwig came to the rescue and pulled him out of the way in time, he was so strong for a kit his age back then."

"Is this true, Dandelion?" Marigold asked, fixing her gaze at him with a slight frown.

With no other excuse, Dandelion admitted somberly, "Every word." He realized that this little incident was all his fault, if only had he not boasted. However, fessing up to his little white lie suddenly empowered Dandelion with a renewed sense of courage. "I'll make it up to you, Marigold. I'll get Hickory back for you."

To everyone's surprise, Dandelion bolted across the road with lightning speed and made it to the other side, just as a yellow car roared behind him. He pounced on the terrified Hickory and pinned him to the ground, forcing the buck to cease running.

"Get a hold of yourself, Hickory!" the blonde buck shouted. "I'm here. We need to go back now."

"I'm not going, I can't!" Hickory refused, shaking his head. "I'm too scared!" His body tensed up as he shivered.

Hawkbit got impatient with those two just standing on the roundabout as he yelled, "Well, come on, then!"

"We're a bit stuck!" Dandelion called out from the other side. "Any suggestions?"

"Well, apart from sprouting wings and flying back-"

"We got Kehaar, you idiot!" Silver chided.

Kehaar's wings started flapping rapidly when he knew what to do. "Hazel's always got answers. I get him!" The gull took to the skies as he circled around back to Watership Down.


As the rabbits silflayed, Aubretia continued maintaining her dominance over the kits, especially at Sandwort and Basil. It felt so good to pay them back for their bullying. The only kit who disapproved of her attitude is Melsa. She was the only kit who pitied Pipkin and Aubretia, and she hated the others' aggressive taunts toward them.

"You can't keep doing this any longer," Melsa advised her friend through a quiet whisper. "Because your behavior is no better than our brothers."

"I am not!" Aubretia stubbornly defended herself.

The peace and quiet at breakfast ended when a squeal startled them. Pipkin came rushing back to the ground, looking terrified.

"What's up your nose now, Pipkin?" questioned Bigwig.

"I got too near the edge," Pipkin replied. "What if I tumbled all the way down to the bottom?"

"So, what if it did?" Hannah grumbled, annoyed. "It might knock some sense into your silly head."

"Maybe you should go underground where it's safe," Bigwig suggested. "Off you go now. Scoot!"

There came a gull's cry from above. Kehaar came flying toward the rabbits, landing on the grass. Pipkin pretended to think the gull was a bird of prey, or an elil, as he ran all over the place. "Elil, elil!" he screamed.

"Oh look, the big baby is scared of a gull!" Sandwort sneered, smugly.

An embarrassed Pipkin found himself in the center of ridicule as the kittens chortled at his babyish attitude.

However, this was enough to send Aubretia in a rage. "Rrrraaahhh!" she roared, lunging forward and pouncing on Sandwort, scratching his face and bit his ear. Sandwort squealed in pain and anguish. Nobody was laughing now.

Bigwig had quite enough of Pipkin's childish antics and shocked by Aubretia's violent behavior as he rushed forward, pulling his daughter off Sandwort. "That's enough!" he scolded.

"What is it, Kehaar?" asked Hazel, as he got Sandwort back on his feet.

"We got trouble, Hazel," Kehaar explained, hurriedly. "Hickory is stuck on the other side of the road; You got to come now!"

"Right, let's get a move on!" Hazel agreed to rescue a fellow rabbit.

"Can I come?" Pipkin asked, hopefully.

Bigwig fixed a hard glare at him in disbelief. "You!? You're afraid of your own shadow lately!"

Lily folded her arms as she sternly demanded an explanation for his childish behavior. "Pipkin, what's going on?"

With a sigh, Pipkin confessed everything. "I was acting like a baby on purpose, and Aubretia has been fighting with the other kits because they were bullying us. You're supposed to grow tired of me and tell me to go off on my own. And Aubretia hoped that if you saw how brave and strong as she was, you'd also tell her to go off on her own."

Stunned, Lily turned to her daughter. "Is this true?"

Aubretia nodded her head in defeat. "I thought if I showed Daddy that I could handle myself, he'd stop treating me like a baby. Ever since he and Uncle Hazel confined us to the warren, the other kits have been making fun of us."

"We were only trying to protect you," Bigwig replied, rather quietly. His children's words stung him to the core, remembering his attempts at protecting his mate had put a strain on their relationship during their journey to the high hills.

"I know you're worried either me or Aubretia will get caught by Efrafa again, but you can't lock us up for something that might happen. It could happen to anyone," Pipkin continued. "I didn't feel like I was home in the warren... I felt like a prisoner."

"He's right." This time, Lily got straight to the point to make a statement of her case against Hazel and Bigwig's rash decision of confining all of the kits to the warren, speaking with calmness and reason, "Every rabbit on Watership Down looks out for each other and care about others, just like a real family. But the actions you take to protect the children, drastic or unreasonable, it has gone too far. I know you're worried about the little ones. But when you made that decision to confine them to the warren, they felt like they were truly back in Efrafa again... as prisoners."

Hazel and Bigwig stayed silent, taking in every word of the doe's explanation. Neither one of them said a word. They knew she proved a point on something, for they recalled how Holly, Fiver, Bluebell and Blackberry got unexpectedly captured by the Efrafans when they left to request for does to join them. Anything could happen to either one of them or their friends back at the warren in an expected moment, good or bad. Especially when she mentioned the children's confinement to Watership Down was just like comparing Efrafa's controlling nature of imprisonment to their own home.

Bigwig felt an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Had he really been acting like an Efrafan hufsa enforcing his children in a prison instead of keeping them safe at their warren? He gazed into her eyes, and he could see the disappointment and hurt lingered there. He opened his mouth to speak, but he had nothing to say in his defense.

Hazel sighed, his eyes shut for a brief second as he contemplated what Lily and Pipkin told him. "Alright, you made your point," he relented. "You can come with us."

A small group left the warren to locate the roundabout, this time Pipkin joined them. Lily decided to go with them, but she told Aubretia that both she and Bigwig will discuss her behavior when they get back. As for Basil and Sandwort, their fathers were furious at their attitudes and decided to discuss what to do with them upon their return.

"And all that kicking and snoring, you did that on purpose?" Bigwig asked.

"Don't know what you mean, Father," chucked Pipkin. "I slept like a baby."


The rescue party arrived at the roundabout, where they met up with Marigold and the others. They stared at Dandelion and Hickory across the street in horror of their dilemma. Poor Hickory remained scared out of his wits as a white van drove by, and Dandelion was trying his best to calm him down.

"We're here to save you!" Hannah called out to the rabbits in distress whilst on Kehaar's back.

"Nasty spot," said Hazel. "I'll see if I can convince Hickory to bolt for it."

"Be careful," warned Lily.

Bravely, Hazel leapt forward and crossed the road. A motorcyclist zoomed past behind him, barely striking him from the tail. The Chief Rabbit reached the roundabout safely.

"Hickory, listen to me," he instructed. "We'll all make a run for it together, alright?"

"He's too scared, Hazel. And we've got to move soon," warned Dandelion. "Those hrududu give off a bad smoke... hard to breathe..." No sooner had he spoken, another car shot past them, and the smog left its exhaust emissions, causing Dandelion to cough.

Everyone had to think hard and quick if they are going to save their friends, but it seemed like there is nothing anybody can do. Up in the air, Hannah noticed a small bunch of geese swimming casually in the pond, which she found unusual. The geese belonged to a farm a bit far off from the roundabout and on the other side of the road.

"Hmm, how did the geese get to the pond, then?" the mouse wondered.

"They fly, Hanya!" Kehaar responded, as if stating the obvious.

"Farm geese don't fly." Hannah shook her head, then called out to the rabbits below, "Ask geese how they cross the road."

Pipkin decided to take that chance, hence he was terrific at making friends with other creatures, bounding off to the pond and spoke politely to the geese, "Hello, I was wondering how you cross the road."

"Well, we walk," answered one of the geese in a posh manner.

"And hrududus don't bother you?"

"We all walk, they all stop. Simple as that."

"Would you stop them for us?" Pipkin asked, hopefully. "We're trying to help a friend."

But the geese refused quite rudely and waddled away back to the farm. Shrugging his shoulders, the ever-polite Pipkin thanked the geese for their advice and returned to the rescue party.

"They won't help, but I have an idea," reported the little buck.

"Let's hear it." Bigwig was growing impatient.

"Well, the geese say the hrududus stop for them when they all go. What if we all go at the same time?"

"And get squashed all at the same time?" Hawkbit replied, incredulous. "Oh, lovely idea, Pipkin. Lovely, humph!"

Remembering Dandelion's story of El-ahrairah's dare, Marigold boldly volunteered to take such a risk. "'Who dares wins.' That was El-ahrairah's lesson, wasn't it, Hawkbit?" Those words of encouragement forced Hawkbit to look away, embarrassed.

After some much-needed convincing for everyone else, they realized what Dandelion's story and El-ahrairah's lesson meant. "Who dares wins." That is what El-ahrairah had done to save his people and took a chance to win Frith's dare. With courage in their hearts, the rabbits began hopping across the road.

Hazel, Dandelion and Hickory noticed what their friends are doing, causing them to panic and call out to them, trying to stop them from risking their lives. The rescue party ignored their protests, continuing to move forward.

"What are they doing?" Dandelion worried.

Suddenly a yellow car rounded a corner, beeping.

"I can't watch!" Hazel shut his eyes tight, refusing to witness what could be his friends' demise.

The driver of the vehicle put on the brakes and the car slowed down as the tires screeched. The rabbits shut their eyes or shielded their loved ones from harm. The car stopped, much to everyone's relief.

Without a moment to lose, Bigwig bellowed, "Get him off there, now!"

The two rabbits shoved Hickory off the edge of the roundabout and joined the rescue party to make the crossing. Reaching the safety of the other side, the rabbits panted a sigh of relief whilst the car left in a rush.

"That was a good idea," Bigwig commended, praising his adopted son. "Lucky you came along, Pipkin."

"We faced down a hrududu!" Marigold cheered, victoriously.

"Good for us." A slightly shaken Fiver did not enjoy this little adventure at all.

"Let's never ever do that again," Lily reminded.


Returning to Redstone Warren, everyone had met up with a concerned Strawberry and Clover, both who had come to check up on their loved ones to make sure everyone is safe and sound. Aubretia, Basil and Sandwort had to be brought along because Hazel and Bigwig had some very strict words for them; loosestrife is to be shared amongst all rabbits, no rabbit is to bully to make themselves dominant, Basil and Sandwort were grounded for a week with no flayrah, and Aubretia was let off with a stern warning. Aubretia was glad and relieved to be off the hook, but Basil and Sandwort could only groan in disappointment.

"I suppose we're not ready to live on our own yet," Hickory said.

"One step at a time," Bigwig advised. "We'll get you there. Meet us here next round moon and we'll get on with the lessons."

The two rabbits agreed, before Marigold said, "We better get back to Cowslip's warren. We have to tell the others what we learned so far."

"Be careful, and don't let Cowslip catch on," Hazel warned. "We want you as our neighbors."

"And we want you as our friends," Strawberry agreed, finally glad to have some friends she had never known about.

Everyone watched as Hickory and Marigold return to that despicable warren, silently praying that Cowslip won't be aware of their plans and no harm will come to their new allies.

"They risk everything for freedom and then worry they're not brave enough," Hazel exclaimed, with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Time and patience are all we need," Lily advised. "Everybody needs it." Then she glared sternly down at Basil and Sandwort as the entire gang lolloped back to the warren. "Which reminds me, you two will need plenty of patience to find something to do to keep yourselves amused throughout your punishment."

"Yes, ma'am," groaned the two little bucks.

Upon reaching their home warren, Bigwig turned to glance down at Aubretia as he spoke, "You know, sweetie, if you wanted to learn how to defend yourself, you could've asked me. I could have trained you." He smiled, surprisingly impressed at his daughter standing up to her brother and his partner in crime. "You've got a fighting spirit inside you."

"Thanks, Daddy." Aubretia flashed a proud grin.