It had been two and a half hours ever since the bus had left the village and the ride felt quite longer than the rabbits have realized. The movements of the vehicle made them bump and jostle about, trapped within the small and enclosed luggage trunk.

"How much longer do we have to put up with this?" asked Bigwig, growing impatient.

"Not much longer now," assured Blackberry.

"I wonder if we'll ever reach the big water," Hawkbit scoffed in disbelief.

"One thing I'll bet is that El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle never had an adventure quite like this," Dandelion added.

The red bus made a sharp turn, causing some of the members of their group to collide into one another. Bluebell found himself in Blackberry's arms, much to her dismay as he gazed at her with a lovesick smile. The doe had to push him off her, very roughly, so he gets the message that she will never show romantic interest in him.

"Strange to think we only left Watership Down this morning..." Fiver said, "we found ourselves in a human warren, now it's anyone's guess I suppose."

"I'm sure Kehaar knows," Pipkin hoped. "He did say he'd meet us when we got there."

"I hope so, Pipkin," Hazel agreed, trying to sound positive. "I hope so."

Silver cupped his paws over his mouth, making strange groans. His furry white face turned slightly green as he felt the dizziness take over. "I'm gonna be sick," he mumbled.

Kehaar did his best to keep up with the bus, but he often stopped to rest on a wooden fence to catch his breath. The bus was too fast for him, but he refused to give up.

At last, the bus pulled over to a rest stop, allowing the engine to shut down. The door swung open and the passengers began to get off, while more of them started to board their ride. Many people exited the bus, dressed in swimwear, sunglasses and hats, and carrying umbrellas, picnic baskets, sunscreen, coolers and beach toys, all ready for some fun in the sun. The driver opened the trunk door, reaching in to take out and hand over several luggage to some passengers.

"Now's our chance," Hazel gasped.

"Right! This time, nobody gets lost." Bigwig made doubly sure that every rabbit leapt out of the trunk and hide themselves in some bushes nearby.

After the last of the passengers got off and more left, the driver closed the trunk and boarded the bus. He started up the engine and the bus drove away.

"Now what?" Hawkbit asked.

Hazel glanced at his surroundings, his ears cocked and his nose twitched, trying to study the area and the scent around him as he wondered if his little band did reach their destination. "It's certainly not like anything I've ever known."

"I agree with you on that." Silver's nose twitched, his eyes squinting at this strange salty smell. "Where in Frith are we?"

"I think... I think we're there." Pipkin was found standing over the edge of a cliff, staring at the view before him in astonishment.

Lily's eyes widened at the magnificent view of the great ocean, taking in every detail and sound before her. Returning to the ocean brought back memories for her: Henry building a sandcastle with his kiddie tools as a very curious Lily (whom at the time was a little kit) watched him do this, then she tried to dig a hole when she attempted to build one herself, except the oncoming waves ruined her hole. The first time she met a crab when it pinched her tail after the little rabbit got too close to his shell made her chuckle. Eating lunch with his parents, Henry made sure neither of them noticed their son sneaking a few pieces of bread from his sandwich for Lily to eat, despite drinking out of a bowl of water and munching on chopped slices of strawberries.

Back to the present, the rabbits, including Hannah, became instantly spellbound by their first sight of the ocean. It was like nothing they had ever seen before in their lives. The waves crashed against the shore and the tall white cliffs, then withdrew. Multiple seagulls flew everywhere, squawking or catching fish to eat. The open ocean seemed to expand further beyond the earth to who knows where in the world, and the coast itself expanded in both sides to an incredible long distance.

"By Frith!" Bigwig gasped in surprise, as the wind blew in his face and in his long mane. "We made it."

"So, this is the great water," Fiver awed.

"It's beautiful!" Blackberry admired.

"Wow! It's like looking at a postcard photo," Hannah recalled. "Only this is way better."

Lily's eyes closed as she inhaled the scent of the atmosphere deeply, a sigh of relaxed content escaped from her lips. "It's been so long since I've visited this place," she whispered.

"So, you've seen the big water before?" Bigwig asked.

"Yes… I used to come here with Henry and his family every summer… and it's just as I remember: the salty air… the sound of gulls and gannets… the shores lightly glistening like stars… So many memories made here." Her expression of fondness soon turned to a gentle sadness that Bigwig noticed. "But… that was a long time ago now…"

Bigwig responded with a light nuzzle of her cheek. "Sorry, love… but look at it this way: this is now the first time you've been here with us, eh? New memories to make here," he remarked, attempting to cheer her up, which worked in putting a smile on her muzzle.

"Well… now that we're here, we look for Kehaar," Hazel announced, decidedly. "Although, with Lily's keen knowledge of the big water, it can help us."

Dandelion stared at his leader with a questionable frown. "Down there?" he asked, looking down below the cliffs.

"He might find us better up here, out in the open," Hawkbit suggested.

However, Bigwig noticed a huge eagle swooping down and attacking a flock of seagulls, managing to capture one with its sharp talons and impaling his razor-like beak in the gull's neck, killing it instantly. He figured if they stayed on the cliffs, one of them might be the eagle's next meal and he silently prayed neither Lily nor Pipkin become prey for an eagle. "Easy prey for elil." He shook his head. "No, we got to get moving."

It was decided the rabbits needed to travel down a narrow rocky path to head for shore. Hazel took the lead, as always. Blackberry kept herself in the middle to keep an eye on the others. Bigwig remained in the back of the line to urge the cautious rabbits to move forward.

"This might be a way down," said Hazel.

"No sign of Kehaar and we've seen the big water." Hawkbit tried to chicken his way out. "I think it's time we head back to Watership Down now, don't you think?"

"Keep moving or I'll slap your ears off!" Bigwig threatened, forcing the dark grey buck to keep hopping.

"Well, that's an awfully long way down." Hawkbit shuddered nervously at how high they really are.

Moving a little further on down the path, a strong gust of wind blew in their faces. The rabbits had to stop as their eyes squinted. Nobody wanted to move with the wind blocking their senses. Bigwig took a hop forward. Suddenly, pebbles and small rocks fell from under his foot when he almost slipped on a loose edge. He looked down and saw the rocks fell to the bottom of the cliff.

"Are you alright, dear?" Lily asked, near to the point of a close freak out when she her mate almost fell off the ledge.

"I'm fine, darling." Though the slight tremble in his voice, Bigwig was shaken by the sudden slip.

As the rabbits continued down the rocky path, they halted upon entering a colony of puffins guarding their nests. They curiously stared at these strange black and white birds with orange beaks.

"What are those birds?" Hazel wondered.

"They don't look too much like a threat," Bigwig responded.

Fortunately, Lily recognized the odd appearances of these queer-looking birds. "Oh, I know what they are! They're puffins. Although I don't seem them often whenever I come here with the humans, I do see them whenever they go out searching for fish."

Hazel tried to approach the puffins without fear. "Perhaps I can try taking to one of them."

"Talk to them?!" Bigwig echoed, incredulously. "The last time you made a stupid mistake like that, it was with those embleer corvil!"

Ignoring him, Hazel hopped forward with trepidation. "Excuse me," he spoke to the first puffin he greeted. "We're just passing through."

The puffin made a fierce growling noise, unsure of what to make of these unwanted visitors. He sounded quite hostile and ready to fight to defend his nest.

"Not terrifically friendly," says Hawkbit.

"I warned you!" huffed Bigwig, his eyes burned with anger.

"Hazel, maybe these birds know Kehaar," suggested Fiver.

"Good idea. We'll ask them." Hazel gave it another shot at trying to communicate with the puffin. "Sorry, excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to know-" He got cut off when the puffin repeated that same hostile warning growl that gave him the wrong impression that the rabbits meant harm.

"Hey Pipkin, maybe you should try." Silver turned to the little buck, fully aware of the lad's experience of communicating perfectly with animals of different species. "You're better at talking to other creatures."

"Silver, no!" Bigwig warned, suddenly alarmed.

"It's alright, dear." Lily put a paw on her mate's chest to calm him. She understood what Silver was suggesting, and she knew how gifted Pipkin is at befriending other animals. "Go on, sweetie." But just in case of avoiding a repeat from that deadly incident with the crows, she added, "I'll be right here, just in case."

Confidently, Pipkin went up to the puffin and spoke politely, "Hello. Me, Pipkin. Ask you question?"

The puffin studied the young rabbit for a second, seeing the goodness in the little one's eyes and surprised by his friendly gesture. He made a different noise this time, it was a friendly noise for greeting as he introduced himself, "Culoci. I'm busy minding nest for mate while she hunt, you see."

This piece of information surprised Hawkbit. "Don't know any buck who'd be caught minding young'uns."

"Everybody's different, I suppose." Dandelion shrugged his shoulders, giggling. "Very, very different."

"We look for friend, Kehaar. You know him?" asked Pipkin.

Culoci thought for a moment, wondering if he knew of any bird called Kehaar, only for the puffin to shake his head in silent response. All of a sudden, a vicious flock of seagulls descended down on the puffin territory. Culoci screeched in alarm to alert the rest of the puffins, all bravely fighting back to defend themselves and their fledgling against those harassing gulls. Pipkin was almost attacked by a gull when Lily caught him by the scruff of his neck and carried him to safety close behind Bigwig.

"What's going on?" questioned Bigwig.

"Why are the gulls attacking those puffins?" Pipkin asked, confused.

"I don't know." Lily was just as baffled as her friends are. "I've never seen gulls fighting puffins before."

"There's a lot we don't know about this place," said Hazel.

"And about seagulls it seems," added Hannah. "I'm just glad Kehaar is nothing like those bullies."

No sooner had the gulls had been driven off, a part of the ground crumbled under Hawkbit, sending him tumbling over the edge. He screamed as he fell, alarming the terrorized rabbits.

"No! Hawkbit!" Dandelion shouted, running to the ledge and believing his closest friend had perished to his doom, except instant relief swept over him when he discovered Hawkbit on a ledge beneath them.

"Are you alright?!" Hazel called out to him.

"Nothing's broken if that's what you mean!" Hawkbit replied, though not seriously hurt, he felt irritated by everything that happened today. "I really don't like it here!"

Just then, some of the rabbits noticed a familiar black-headed gull flying high above the puffin nesting grounds. There was no other gull with a black head, so it had to be Kehaar.

"Kehaar! We're done here!" Pipkin shouted, trying to get his attention.

"Kehaar! Over here!" Hazel tried to call for him too, but the black headed gull either took no notice of him or probably didn't hear him.

"He's purposely ignoring us," stated Dandelion, irked.

"Maybe he can't hear us because of those waves being loud enough," reasoned Hannah.

"Kehaar!" Fiver tried his turn to get the gull's attention, but he had no luck either.

But the black headed gull had disappeared amongst a flock of gulls, causing an irritated Dandelion to rebut, "See? His seagull friends are more important than us!"

"Oh, shut up!" Hannah scolded, as she grew furious at the others doubting their friend's loyalty.

"Why are you calling that gull?" asked Culoci, baffled.

"Kehaar is a friend," Lily explained, then briefly shot a cold scowl at Dandelion. "Always has been."

But Culoci refused to believe that a seagull could be on friendly terms with other creatures. "Gulls are enemies. They raid puffin nests, steal food, cause trouble."

"Not all gulls are the same."

"Culoci know gulls, none of them are too good to puffins."

"But Kehaar is different!"

Hazel quickly put an end to what could be the start of an argument. "I believe we should respect their opinion, after all they've been through with the gulls."

"Oi! Can you please get me down from here?!" Hawkbit shouted, annoyed at how everyone forgot the situation he was in.

"You help us, please?" Pipkin asked, hopefully.

Despite the early disagreement about gulls, Culoci was still kind enough to assist the rabbits. "Of course. I show you best way down. This way."

"Thank you very much."


Meanwhile, Kehaar was soaring around his old flock's gathering place, desperately searching for his lady gull fair. Along the way, he recognized a few familiar faces, calling out to them.

"Conrad! Fernando!" The two gulls to whom he was calling only briefly looked at Kehaar, saying nothing before returning to their own business. This, of course, puzzled Kehaar, but it did not dampen his spirits as he saw another familiar face.

"Griffin! Hey, why is nobody saying 'Hello'?!" he called out to a gull sitting on his nest on a rock. The gull in question looked to Kehaar with slight confusion.

"Zeebo! Zeebo, old friend!" Kehaar called out to a gull nesting in a crevice along the cliffside. "Hey, you seen Katerina?"

The gull only gave a silent shake of the head, leaving Kehaar bewildered from the general response of the gulls since he came back. But his thoughts returned to finding Katerina. "She around here somewhere. Katerina, little feather! Where you are? Katerina..."


With Culoci's help, the rabbits took a faster path that delivered them to an impatient Hawkbit, who was glad to be rescued. The group headed down the path where at last they reached, what they thought to be solid ground, the sandy dunes of the coastline.

"Ah, good to be on level ground again." Bigwig was quite relieved to feel the earth in his paws, except he found out it wasn't earth but golden-brown sand and his paws sank deep into the ground. "Oi! What's this, then?"

"It's sand," Pipkin answered, jumping upon the sand. "Kehaar told me about it."

The second Bluebell had set food on the sand, his paws burned when they made contact with the hot dunes. "Yeow! Hot, hot, hot!" He lolloped from one side to the next until his paws felt the cooling sensation of the upcoming waves.

"By Frith, my paws are hot," said Dandelion, as he touches the sand and withdrew his paw.

"I believe it's because the sun heats up the sand, that's why it's hot," explained Lily, not the least bothered by the sand's heat warming her feet.

"Let's find Kehaar and get on our way," says Bigwig.

"But what if Kehaar wants to stay for a while?" asked Pipkin.

"I can't think of a single reason why anyone would want to hang about in this desolate place." Hawkbit tried his best to stand in the dunes, but he found it difficult.

"I'd like to just for a while." Lily scorned at him, then a playful smirk spread across her lips, and suddenly splashed some water in his face, causing Hawkbit to let out a girlish squeal at the touch of icy cold water on his body.

This sent everyone roaring with laughter, although Hazel was the only one who didn't find it amusing.

"Come on, everyone. Let's go for a walk and I'll show you everything." Lily immediately took off down the sandy lane, eager to show off more of the beach to her friends.

"Hey, wait up!" Hazel shouted, as he took off.


After flying around so much, Kehaar looked like he was just about to give up when he spotted a certain lady gull resting near the edge of a sea rock. "Katerina!" he called out as he swooped on down, grabbing her attention as he made a landing in front of her. "Katerina!"

She stood up, clear overjoyed from seeing him as she gasped. "Kehaar!"

The two flew off together as Kehaar cried down, "Katerina! I am home forever!..."


The rest of the group joined them in a small jog on the beach, trying to catch up with the happiest doe in the world as she lolloped merrily ahead of them. Turning a corner, Pipkin accidently slipped and fell into the water. He tried to swim, but the young buck realized he was standing in shallow water.

"Oh, it's lovely!" Pipkin smiled, actually enjoying his little pool. But the fun came to an end as a wave crashed down on him that soaked him wet. He crawled out of the small pool and shook the water's contents off his fur.

"Had a nice swim, did you?" teased Hawkbit.

Fiver's nose whiffed, smelling the ocean atmosphere. "So many new smells here."

Bigwig paused, finding a dead fish that was probably half eaten by the gulls or who knows what else. He sniffed it, then he drew back in disgust. "Oh, I can guarantee what some of them are or were."

"Look at this." Silver poked at a dead jellyfish that washed ashore, curious to what sort of creature it is.

Dandelion got a whiff of this strange sea creature, and he almost barfed because the pungent stench of the lifeless jellyfish was so terrible. "Peeeuuu!"

"It's called a jellyfish," Lily told them. "They're sort of like bees. They have stingers to paralyze their enemy, just don't touch their tentacles."

"You're right on one thing," said Hazel. "It's safer if no one touches anything else. We don't know what's dangerous and what isn't. We mustn't lose track of why we're here."

"Kehaar." Pipkin and Hannah thought of him, longingly.

"Let's move," ordered Bigwig.

The rabbits continued to wander the sandy shore, watching intently at the gulls flying over the great white cliffs in order to keep an eye out for Kehaar. No other gulls had black heads; it was the only trait to tell Kehaar apart from the rest of the seagulls.


Meanwhile, elsewhere along the rocky peaks, Kehaar was enthralling his lady gull with his tales from inland, mostly of his rabbit friends from Watership Down. However, much to his blissful ignorance, Katerina seemed either very bored or very annoyed with all the talk from this silly gull about bunnies and whatnot, and a little put off by his new "inland accent."

"…You'll love it, I know, when you see it. Watership Down is such a beautiful place. I bet Blackberry will make you feel very at home-"

It was at that moment Katerina made her voice known with a turn of her head. "What you think? I leave here? The sea?!"

"Oh, well…Well, all the rabbits would make you feel at home-"

"Don't talk crazy!"

"But… But Katerina, my feather-"

His thoughts were interrupted by the familiar call of the bells from the fishing boats. A sound that nearly startled Kehaar and that motivated Katerina.

"Food!" She flew off towards the ship, before being followed by Kehaar who cried out, "Katerina! Wait for me!"


"Which one is Kehaar?" wondered Pipkin.

"Do you see any other gull with a black face and with an unusual accent?" said Silver, rather sarcastically.

"Kehaar is not making this easy, is he?" Bigwig grumbled.

"Well, let's swim after him. We've come this far, why give up now?" Hawkbit grunted, with a touch of sarcasm.

"We can live without the sarcasm!" scolded Hazel.

Fiver discovered a small puddle of water and, feeling thirsty, decided to take a drink. The vile taste of the salty liquid made him sick as he started coughing and spitting it out. "This water's poisoned!" he gagged.

"This big water's salty. Kehaar told me," explained Pipkin.

"And another thing; fish pee and poop in this big water, so it won't taste good either," added Lily, and her response made the other rabbits squint, disturbed.

"More unusual things." No sooner had Hazel spoken those words, he cried out when some creature pinched him from his right hind leg. He looked back and found a red crab grabbed his leg with his claws. Hazel shook his leg wildly, trying to force the crab to release him.

"Stand still!" Bigwig laughed, as he tried to assist in removing that pesky crab.

"We'll get him, don't worry." Dandelion tried to help, but Hazel had already managed to throw the crab off him, and the crab glared at him before it went on its way.

"Frith and Inlé, what was that?" Bigwig wondered, surprised that such as small creature could attack anything bigger than it.

"It's a crab. I've seen them often on the beach and they pinch anyone or anything if it's threatened," Lily explained, slightly amused by Hazel's little dilemma.

All of a sudden, they heard a terrified scream. It belonged to Blackberry. Clearly, something is wrong. The alarmed rabbits came rushing to her aide. She was opening and shutting her mouth and licking her lips, much as a cat does when something disgusts it. They all looked to what she located, and their faces went as pale as Silver's fur.

"Don't look!" Fiver gasped, when he first caught a glimpse of what scared Blackberry, shielding little Pipkin's eyes so he cannot gaze at such a gory sight.

There lying upon the sand was a newly fresh corpse, staining the golden dunes with its blood and torn flesh. The stomach had been forcibly ripped open and eaten, exposing the organs and attracting flies. Drifting feathers lay on the ground, indicating the gulls must have been eating at it, except the large open wound on the body was so big and so wide, not even the gulls could have torn a hole this big on a dolphin.

"Oh, my Frith!" Hazel gawked, horrified.

"W-W-What is it?" Bigwig stuttered, probably for the first time in his life.

"It's a dolphin!" Lily looked at the dead mammal with pity and sorrow. "They're very popular among humans because they're known to be playful and friendly, and for saving the lives of humans lost at the big water." There was something else; a tiny object glistened in the sun. Lily used her teeth to pull it out, believing she had seen this before. When she had succeeded, the doe stared at the object in her paws and her eyes widened in terror.

At last, Dandelion broke the silence. "Uh, Lily... what did you find?"

"I believe I know what killed this poor creature." Lily displayed the white object in her paws for all to gaze upon. "This tooth belongs to a shark."

Unfamiliar with the word, the rabbits stared at her with confusion.

So, Blackberry broke the silence at last to ask what everybody wanted to say, "Err, what is a shark?"

"A monster of a fish with a razor fin on top of its back, almost similar to this dolphin here, except its teeth are much sharper than a wolf's," Lily explained, punctuating her point with a chomping motion of her muzzle. "Very lethal... eats other creatures or even unsuspecting humans. Their mouth is about..." Lily hesitated before looking right at the markings on the corpse, "…as large as the wound on this poor dolphin."

Nobody said a word against her describing the most fearsome predator in the ocean. The rabbits trembled, petrified by this deadly elil that nobody ever knew about. One that kills and devours humans and animals in the great water with a mouth so huge, neither one dared to imagine what it would've been like to be in the jaws of a monster.

"We'll have some tales to tell when we get home," Bluebell gulped.

"That is if we ever get home," reminded Hawkbit.

"Hmm... how about we head back to the cliffs?" suggested Blackberry, and everybody else agreed.

The sun began to set around that time. As the rabbits trailed up another rocky path that will take them to the cliffs, they were suddenly bombarded by raining clam shells. The clams had come from the seagulls, all swooping downward to drive off the rabbits, believing their intent was to steal their food. Startled, the rabbits dove for cover. Once safe, everyone watched as the gulls broke the shells (already cracked and damaged as a result of the fall) apart and ripped out the juicy insides to devour hungrily.

"Now it's official: I'm really gonna be sick." A sickened Silver did his best not to barf, but he already did as he leaned to the side and hurled all over the ground.

"Ewww!" everyone cringed, some of them trying not to get nauseous as well.

"Now there's a trick," said Hazel, correctly figuring out how the gulls had gotten their food out of the clams.

"I can't think what good it would do us," added Bigwig.

"You never know."

"Go on, ask them." Hawkbit said encouragingly, trying to get Pipkin to communicate with the gulls. "You know how to talk to these creatures."

Pipkin looked doubtful, a little frightened by the gulls' aggressiveness earlier and remembering Culoci's warning.

"What?!" Bigwig gasped, incredulously. "Don't you dare encourage him!"

"I'm going to try it." Pipkin decided, ignoring his father's warning and he slowly hopped toward the first gull he came upon. Two of the gulls were brawling over a piece of the clam's meat. Swallowing his fear, Pipkin spoke, "Excuse me? Do you know Kehaar?"

The gulls stopped fighting and turned to stare down at the little rabbit, then suddenly cawed viciously at him. Pipkin fell back, terrified. Bigwig's parental instincts kicked in as he jumped in and shielded his son, sending the gulls a threatening growl, warning the gulls to back off should they attempt physical harm on Pipkin. The two rabbis retreated back to their hiding spot, where a worried and relieved Lily embraced them both.

"They didn't hurt you?" Hazel asked, a little concerned.

Pipkin shook his head, though he was shaken.

Catching his breath, Bigwig gave both Hawkbit and Hazel a look of utter fury, exclaiming furiously, "I warned you talking to strange birds was a stupid mistake! Or have you forgotten what happened when you," he aimed a scowl at Hazel, "tried talking to the corvil?! It nearly got us all killed!"

Ashamed, Hazel knew the lion buck was right. How could he have forgotten and ignored what occurred months ago. He felt like an idiot, a true leader must learn from his past mistakes and never repeat them if anyone in his band got seriously injured. "You're right, Bigwig," he admitted. "I'm sorry."

Sensing he etched his message clear to his leader, Bigwig sighed as his anger melted like ice.

Hawkbit finally realized how correct the puffins were about the seagulls' aggressiveness. "Culoci's got a point about those gulls."

"This big water's got some major drawbacks," Dandelion pointed out, deciding to head back to the beach.

"Perhaps we can try finding a different way up," Hannah suggested.


Around the same time those gulls were dropping mussels down on the rocks to open them, Katerina was having troubles of her own, trying to grab a juicy meal from the larger gull, a bully of a bird name of Kako. She was busy trying to grab at the fish from him when they turned to see Kehaar with a whopper of a fish in his beak. Katerina immediately grabbed the fish from his beak and began to feast heartily, but something was off. Kehaar was just… standing there. Watching. He was not trying to fight for his meal like she was.

Looking up briefly from her meal, she asked with slight irritation by this silly gull's behavior, "You not want?"

"No. I only want to share," he merely replied, causing a nearby Kako to spit his food out with surprise at what Kehaar had just said.

Katerina merely replied with a cold tone, "You not fight for share, you not get share."

Kako let out laughing caws as he shoved Kehaar out of the way. "Go back to high hills. Live with fluffy rabbits, Ke-har-har-har-har-har…"

Kehaar was greatly surprised as Katerina joined in ridiculing Kehaar, forcing him to walk away from the two. As he looked over the edge, he looked down at his reflection. "Hmmmm…none of this make sense. I greet the other gulls, but they don't greet back. Gulls do not take interest in wonders outside the Big Water. And gulls fighting for food instead of sharing? Ohhh… the sea has changed so much for Kehaar… or maybe…"

His own reflection was being clouded by several crashing waves, making it difficult to see himself in the water.

"…Kehaar changed so much for the sea. Hmmmm…"


Their troubles were just beginning as the tide started to come crashing closer upon the shore. The rabbits gasped, stunned and alarmed by what could be danger. It expanded past their feet, almost drowning Hannah when she scrambled up on Bigwig's back. The group took a few steps back, finding themselves trapped between the rocks and the water.

"The water is getting closer," worried Bigwig.

"It wasn't here a while ago. But that's impossible!" Hazel exclaimed, watching his pawprints disappear as the water washed them away.

"But true, I think."

Silver cast an agitated look toward Lily. "Care to explain why this is happening, lass?"

Truthfully, the former hutch rabbit had no idea of why the water is rushing in on them. "I-I don't know," Lily admitted. "The humans who took me here only stayed for a short time. We don't stay at nighttime."


Kehaar had much to think about. All this time he thought that all he ever wanted after helping his rabbits friends with Efrafa, was to return to the shore and be with Katerina. But…now being back after so long, Kehaar was now feeling out of place among the flock. Opposite his direction, Katerina herself was greatly perplexed at this "new" Kehaar. It is as if his time inland made him soft, in her mind.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Kako came around her nest. "Want to raid puffins? Wreck some nests, scare them good, no?"

Needing some real gull fun, she agreed. "Finally, something to do. Kako know Katerina so well."

Of course, Kehaar overheard his offer and decided to voice his thoughts. "Why do you want to hurt puffins?" The two turned to face him. "They don't hurt us."

Katerina huffed lightly at that remark. More craziness from Kehaar since he got back. "You used to like puffin game."

"Maybe once, but I learned since then. It's better to get along with neighbors, not make enemies… especially when they don't do any harm. Living at Watership Down taught me-"

"Hah! Should have known: more fluffy bunny talk!" Kako laughed out.

Katerina merely shook her head before remarking, "I don't know what is with Kehaar anymore."

The two flew off together towards the puffin colony. Not wanting to see the poor birds get hurt, Kehaar flew after them, keeping a distance to make sure their little "puffin game" did not get out of talon. Unfortunately, to his horror, seeing the "puffin game" after being away for so long, he was starting to see more and more of his fondest memories turn into horrible truths. For a brief moment, he even saw one puffin fighting off Kako briefly as himself fighting off those damn ravens nearly a season ago.

"Ooh… this all Kehaar can stand and no more!" Kehaar remarked, dipping back into his gull-speak before swooping in behind Kako and Katerina. "Why? Why you do this?!"

The puffins defending their nests were in sheer surprise to see a gull trying to stop his own flock-members from attacking them further. "LEAVE PUFFINS ALONE!"

While Kako was momentarily stilled by Kehaar's outburst, Katerina merely tried to soar closer to the nests before being blocked by Kehaar. "Kehaar mean it! Go! GO!" he squawked at her, determined to stop the violence.

Like Kako, she too was stilled by his outburst before she had finally had enough with Kehaar's strange behavior and thoughts, seeing that this Kehaar… was no longer a real gull. "You not the Kehaar I once know! You nothing to Katerina now!" she coldly retorted before she and Kako flew off, having had enough of the "puffin game" for today.

Seeing the gulls off, Kehaar carefully landed in the middle of the puffin colony. "Forgive Kehaar's friends, puffins. They're just stupid and mean sometimes, but not like rabbits-"

Culoci, the puffin who fended off against Kako, realized who this gull was… and how he was mistaken earlier. "Ohhh! You're that gull friend of the rabbits!"

"Yeah…Yeah, their big friend."

"Hazel was right: you gulls are not all the same."

"Wait! You know Hazel?" he asked Culoci, realizing that in all his excitement he nearly forgot about looking for the Watership Down rabbits. "Where are they?"

"Gone down to the beach, looking for you."

Kehaar's eyes widened, realizing the danger those rabbits are in. "Oh no! They all the way down there?!" Seeing the waves rising higher and higher, he knew what would befall his friends if he did not get to them in time. "Thank you, my new friend," Kehaar thanked the puffin before swooping below the peaks. "I must go find my rabbit friends before it is too late! Thank you!"


Searching for any higher ground level to save them, Hazel managed to find higher ground from a giant boulder that can protect his band from the oncoming waves. "Bigwig! Up there, look!"

"I think we can make it." Bigwig quickly assisted his leader in helping everyone in climbing on top of the boulder.

The second they made it, the waves thunderously crashed against the boulder and out of their reach, but now the water is rising up. Since the water could not reach them just yet, the rabbits needed to find a solution to their problem, or else the tide will come in and everybody will sink to the bottom of the sea if neither of them can swim in such deep waters.

"Shouldn't we try finding a way out of here?" stressed Dandelion.

"We shall have to wait it out until the water goes away," suggested Hazel, though he wasn't entirely convinced.

When the sun had vanished and the moon had come out, its gravitational pull began causing the ocean to push the tide closer. The stranded rabbits on the rocks could see the tide was halfway filled to their feet. Nobody had any option of escape, not even the always clever Blackberry had a plan. Some of them wrongly accused Kehaar of abandoning them, while others refused to believe in that nonsense. Everyone started to believe this was the end. The rabbits dreaded the thought of never returning home to Watership Down and reunited with their loved ones again.

Just then, Hazel's and Pipkin's ears perked up. Could it be? That voice... is it... Yes, it really is him.

"Kehaar!" Pipkin shouted, waving his arms when he heard the gull calls their names.

"Kehaar? Is that you?" Hazel asked, hopefully.

Hearing this, the rabbits began to yell louder than ever. Their spirits once drained when all hope felt lost were miraculously restored by the rescue of a loyal friend. Kehaar maneuvered directions and landed in front of the group.

"Kehaar, thank Frith you're here!" Hazel relieved.

"Oh, I can't tell you how glad I am to see you!" Hannah was so overjoyed that she crawled off Bigwig's back and climbed up to be on the gull's back to embrace his neck.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Silver questioned, still irked by his absence.

"It's a long story," replied Kehaar, deciding to save the explanation for later. "Now, what is going on here?"

"We're being swallowed by this poisoned water!" panicked Hawkbit.

"This happen two times at big water, when the moon is out. The tide comes in, but it moves slowly."

"Not slow enough for my liking."

"Uh, how high does it get?" asked Bigwig.

Kehaar hesitated, fully aware of how high a tide can go. He didn't wish to scare the rabbits of what the deadly truth will be, but he could not keep them in suspense any longer. The gull looked at the cliffs and pointed, "That far."

Everyone gasped, realizing the tide will eventually be above their heads. They could very well drown if no one escaped. Old marks that were from previous high tides still remained on the walls to this day, or night.

"How about finding us a boat? Remember how we escaped the Efrafans on one?" Blackberry recalled, thinking up her own idea that might help them. "You once said there are many boats on the big water, so why not find one and we use it to get on and-" Her sentence ended upon noticing how eerily and silently stunned Lily had become. "What's the matter?"

The doe had gone tharn. Lily, her eyes never left the water's surface, spoke with her voice cracked a little bit, "Kehaar... if you find us a boat... we're gonna need a bigger boat."

Everybody stared at her, wondering why on earth she had gone tharn. Lily was too shaken and paralyzed to say more. Bigwig, Fiver and Hazel then realized the doe's emotions was telling them something dangerous is nearby. Following her eye contact to the ocean, they saw it and their expressions grew aghast.

A shiny dorsal fin gliding through the water's surface, connected to a great shadow which cruised slowly in circles in front of the trapped animals. It changed direction and paused, its enormous face emerging from the water. A great shark stared up at the rabbits with small, callous, black eyes.

"SHARK!" screeched Kehaar.

Panic and pandemonium broke out instantly among the group. In Lily's mind, she imagined the theme from Jaws playing in the background. Why did this have to happen to them?

"What do we do?" Hawkbit panicked, grasping Dandelion by the waist and freaking out. "WHAT DO WE DO?!"

"Quiet! There's a ledge above us. We can climb up there." Hazel had been studying the wall's height and discovered a ledge that his friends can use to climb up.

Fiver hopped towards the bottom of the ledge, trying to jump up to it but he lost his footing and he slid back down. "I can't make it."

"Oh, great!" Bluebell groaned, discouraged. "If that tide comes in, we're easy prey for elil."

"Nobody is going to die on my watch!" Bigwig refused to let anyone, particularly Lily and Pipkin, perish at the jaws of death. "We will get out of this alive!"

Kehaar was mumbling to himself, which the others couldn't understand due to his accent. The hard look in his eyes did tell them he was thinking of a plan.

"What are you thinking, Kehaar?" Hazel asked.

Then, a light bulb illuminated over Kehaar's head when he found the solution to this dilemma. "Please don't go away! I'll be right back!" He flew back towards the huge island in the middle of the sea, with Hannah still on his back.

"And just where would we go?" Hawkbit grunted, pointing out the obvious how nobody can get off the boulder.


Kehaar flew off to the giant rock where his flock was gathered, nesting for the night soundly only to be interrupted by the rantings of their newly-returned "crazy gull".

"Please! It's very important! I come to ask for help! Poor rabbits are in trouble!"

One gull squawked out, "Quiet, we sleeping!"

Seeing no help from the others, he looked to Katerina and Kako, nesting together. Normally, this would have stirred some jealousy, but right now he was more afraid for his friends than ever. "Stop sleeping! Please help me!"

Katerina merely answered with her eyes closed, "Why we should do this?"

"Because they are my friends."

"Friends?! Hah! They do nothing for us!" Kako interjected with his thoughts.

"They not friends. Is simple."

"What rabbits doing at Big Water anyway?"

"Their fault, they in trouble."

Disgusted and outraged, Hannah fumed in silent scorn at the Katerina, whom Kehaar claimed to be his fair beloved gull, was nothing more than a selfish bitch. She wanted to throw an insult, but no words came out of her mouth when Kehaar silenced her.

At long last, Kehaar's eyes were fully opened to how gull life compared to rabbit life…and soon made his decision on the matter there and then with a disappointed look at his former lady gull.

"…You have a hard heart, Katerina," he told her, dipping back into his gull-speak with a very bitter tone. "No room in it for Kehaar, for friends or any good things of world. Kehaar thought all be well if came home…but it seems Kehaar wrong." He flew off, leaving his flock for the very last time to seek help from real friends.

Katerina merely looked away in sheer disbelief, scoffing lightly. "He always crazy gull. Now he very crazy…"


While everyone waited, some of the tried to climb up the rocks, but their bearings didn't last long when their claws scraped against the wall, another set of waves came rocketing toward the rabbits, all whom scrambled to get out of the way.

"Oh no, not again!" Unfortunately for Hawkbit, he didn't move fast enough as the waves crashed amongst the rocks, the impact created a huge splash. Hawkbit was soaking wet, his ears were damp and hung low, and he was less than amused.

Lily, Pipkin and Bluebell couldn't help but laugh at the sight of a wet rabbit. But their chortle never lasted forever. Within the darkened sea, the shark opened his mouth and made a lung for the helpless rabbits. Silver quickly yanked Hawkbit away from the edge in time. The shark began attacking the cliffs furiously, attempting to smash their little island. The rabbits forced their backs to the wall, feeling the vibrations of the shark's slams traveling up the cliffs, although it made some loose stones fall as a huge boulder wedged within a small gap creaked slightly. Nobody knew of this.

"I just hope Kehaar hasn't got lost in the dark," worried Hazel.

"He knows this place so well, he'll be back," assured Pipkin, despite the terrible situation, his confidence was strong. "I'm sure of it."

As if in answer to his words, a cawing Kehaar appeared around the corner of the rocks and landed beside Hawkbit, who shook the water's contents off his fur. "Help is on the way!" he exclaimed, joyously.

"Got all your gull friends together, did you?" Hawkbit asked.

At this, Kehaar's smile faded as he stared at the ground in saddened disappointment. "Actually, no. Gulls are..." The only description he gave of his own species would have been a cuss word, except he blew raspberries to let them know his attempt to plead for help from the gulls backfired terribly.

Hannah's facial expression was a scorn of burning fury. "Katerina, and all of those gulls, are a load of bull-"

"DON'T... you dare!" Lily hissed, throwing her paws over Pipkin's ears so he cannot listen what the mouse came close to saying.

Another caw came from nowhere and Pipkin recognized it immediately, "It's the puffins!"

The entire puffin colony, led by Culoci, had come to their rescue. Hovering in the air, Culoci dropped a pebble that landed between Bigwig and Silver which baffled them. Another puffin repeated this command. One by one, the puffins sent a rain of rocks and pebbles down on the rabbits' little island. Then, Kehaar gathered the rocks and pebbles against the wall in a pile so it will be easier for the rabbits to climb.

"I'm beginning to understand!" Bigwig's face lit up in realization. "What are we waiting for?"

Working together, the rabbits started piling anything they can find against the wall. Hawkbit and Dandelion had to double check when picking up a floating thick branch from the water, just in case the shark might jump up and catch them. But the shark had other ideas. Sensing that it was in the risk of losing his prey, the shark came up with a plan. It withdrew and swam further out, preparing for one last bash against the island.

"Brilliant, Kehaar!" Pipkin praised.

A bloodcurdling roar froze their blood. Turning around, all of the horrified animals watched as the shark hurled itself forward, cutting swiftly through the surface like the dangerous speed of runaway train.

"Oh no! Everyone up, now!" Bigwig commanded.

There is no time to lose. The rabbits climbed up the completed pile of rocks and pebbles to reach the top of the ledge with success, keeping together so to avoid the final shark attack. This left only Lily and Hazel the last to go. Before either of them moved, the bellow of the beast had almost made them go tharn when they looked back and gasped. The shark was growing closer by the minute, using the growing tidal waves for his gain to reach higher level.

"RUN!" Lily cried, cuffing Hazel to snap him out of it.

The two rabbits started to climb, but Hazel slipped and slowly fell back. Lily whirled around and caught him by the paw in time. With Bigwig's and Silver's strong arms, they lifted Lily and Hazel up, just a few seconds before the shark, and the waves, smashed against the wall the rabbits had been climbing. But the impact of the shark's weight caused the great boulder from above to come loose out of the gap. It tumbled downward and the rabbits scooched ever so closely to the wall, allowing it to pass. The bellowing of the shark was silenced as the boulder smashed on top of his back, killing it instantly.

With the threat of elil eliminated, the rabbits all sighed in great relief. The water covered the little island beneath their ledge, where the dead body of the shark floated on the surface, drifting farther away out to sea.

"Right, everyone's up now," said Bigwig.

"And not a moment too soon," Hazel agreed, then he turned to Lily with a grateful smile. "Thank you for your help."

"It was nothing." Lily brushed off his thanks, glad to have made it out of a sticky situation.

"We wait, until the tide goes away soon," advised Kehaar.

"You say this water comes and goes twice a day?" Fiver asked, just to make sure.

"Yeah, always."

Still frantic with distress obviously a result of the shark's massive attacks, Hawkbit pleaded desperately, "Oi! Get me back to dry land! Please!"

Bluebell rolled his eyes at him, slightly annoyed. "We'll get there. Now, stop acting like a baby."

When Culoci landed in front of the rabbits, Hazel approached him, feeling entirely grateful for his rescue and his quick thinking that saved him and his friends. "I really don't know how to thank you, Culoci."

"Anything I can do for puffins, oh, I do, okay?" Kehaar said, happily.

"Too bad not more gulls are like you, Kehaar," Culoci replied, appreciating their gratitude and amazed at how friendly Kehaar truly is.

One of the puffins arrived, carrying some fish in his beak, as a sign of offering food for the rabbits. Lily and the group were uneasy about eating the fish, considering the fact rabbits only eat grass, plants, fruit or vegetables, but the puffins had no clue to this.

"Uh, that's every kind of you, but-" Before Hazel could finish, somebody else hops over to pick up the fish with his mouth.

"Thank you very much, Culoci." Pipkin accepted their gift, although on pretense to eat it so not to offend the puffins.

"Yes, very kind. Cheers!" added Bigwig.

"Well, gotta go back to me family." Spreading his wings, Culoci took to the skies and rejoined his flock, heading back to their home and to their nest.

"You know," Fiver smiled, "I've got a feeling that we will be seeing Culoci again someday. And not just him, but Hyacinth too."

"Did you have a vision of that?" Lily asked, hopefully.

Her question had gone unanswered as Pipkin spits the wiggling fish out of his mouth, the taste felt awful on his tongue.

"Good old Pipkin," chuckled Fiver.

"Wouldn't catch me doing that," Hawkbit giggled. "But he's not a bad soul, for a fellow who stays at home and minds the young'uns."

Hazel then heard Kehaar sigh longingly, whilst the gull stared at the fish hungrily and hopefully. The Chief Rabbit knew what he was thinking.

"You mind?" the gull asked.

"Please, they're all yours." Hazel was more than glad to surrender the fish to him.

Relieved, Kehaar happily picked up the fish, tossed it in the air and devoured it in one bite. It seemed to gross out Hazel as he cringed. With nothing else to do other than waiting for the tide to go away, the rabbits decided to go to sleep and wait until morning to leave.


No sooner had everyone dozed off in a peaceful slumber, all was not entirely peaceful that same night. Large black birds as dark as the night sky stood up high on the cliffside, keenly watching the snoozing rabbits, gull and mouse and all of the events that occurred before it. These were no ordinary black birds, ravens as they are, yet bigger than any raven nobody has ever seen. They concealed themselves carefully so not to attract elil, such as owls or coyotes.

"The enemies of the Dark One are much stronger and cleverer than I expected," muttered the biggest raven of all, most likely, their leader.

"Did you see how they crushed that giant fish monster, Corvus?" the second raven jabbed his wing down at the floating shark's corpse. "What if those bloody outsiders use that same technique to destroy the Dark One…and to Her Majesty?"

The raven, preferably referred to as Corvus and the very same raven whom ambushed or wounded Kehaar during the rabbits escape from Efrafa, haughtily dismissed his second-in-command's concerns. "Rubbish! No such tricks can ever destroy the Queen of Darkhaven or the Dark One. You know how lethal she can be in combat, and the legends all foretold the Dark One to be a great warrior giant."

"So, what do we do then?" asked the second-in-command. "Strike the scum while they're still recovering?"

"…No, Shadow. The Queen has given us her orders: to gain the allegiance of the gulls for our army. I believe Katerina and Kako will be useful to us."

"And if they refuse?"

"Then take them by force," the raven sneered cruelly. "Tear those resisting to shreds, if you must, but we need as many strong fliers and fighters as we can gather. After all, any creature who hates an enemy of the Dark One… is one loyal soldier more for the coming of the new age."


By the first sunrise, the rabbits quickly headed their way up a different rocky narrow path that directed them to the top of the white cliffs. The tide had gone, yet the shark's corpse laid bare and battered upon the shore.

The rabbits decided to watch the magnificent view of the ocean before leaving. Lily gazed at the spellbinding scenery for the last time, saddened she only came here to relish in those precious memories and then abandon them. As though reading her mind, Bigwig approached her and placed a paw on her shoulder, comfortingly.

"You're going to miss this place?" he asked.

"I am." She nodded. "I know I belong on Watership Down now, but I'll never forget this place or the memories I had here."

"Well, after seeing it and wondering you like it so much, I'm beginning to understand why." The lion buck tenderly nuzzled her forehead, and she returned the gesture with equal affection.

"It's time we went home," Hazel announced to his little band, then he turned to Kehaar. "Are you coming?"

Everyone waited for Kehaar to make his decision. Will he stay by the ocean or will he join them on their journey back home? The gull faced the island where all of the seagulls were out and about, thinking of Katerina and all of the old memories he once shared with her. "I miss some things..." he spoke softly, yet those days were history and Katerina has become a coldhearted gull, not the same he used to know. Someday, he will find that special gull who will accept his friends and as he is. But for now, he exclaimed proudly, "but I go home, too. To Watership Down!"

Ecstatic, the rabbits cheered. Kehaar was going back home with them after all. As they bounded off to catch the next bus ride home, none of them even noticed how the seagulls, or what's left of them after the ravens' genocidal intrusion last night, were terribly injured or bleeding from the scars and brutal beatings the ravens inflicted upon them. The whereabouts of Katerina and Kako, along with a few other gulls, were left a mystery to them. But if they had only looked, they would not need Fiver's visions to correctly deduce this tragedy for Kehaar's former flock as a sign of dark times ahead.