Little authors note here, I hope some people are enjoying the updating pages and adding new things, some small and some massive. I'm very excited to be continuing this story (have to update it all of course first) and wow have I missed writing it, that's all I really gotta say so please enjoy the "new" chapter. Just so it's know, I can only work on this fridays and saturdays due to my schedule so updating will take some time. But other than that I hope people are enjoying the read.
A general so big and strong who allows no hope at all. You must go to a place that lies during fall. A little mystic will search for some might but will come back with a little black and white.
A general so big and strong who allows no hope at all. You must go to a place that lies during fall. A little mystic will search for some might but will come back with a little black and white.
With a loud gasp, Fiver had now awoken, shaking and trembling from his nightmare. He immediately looked around him, nothing was out of the ordinary other than hay that was now scattered around due to his thrashing. He had begun to calm down knowing he was safe once more in his burrow at Watership Down instead of being trapped in his nightmares. Once now fully calmed, he took a deep breath in and let out a massive sigh.
Sometimes he wished he hadn't been given this burden to be able to see into the future. Though it did save them all at there old warren; Sandelford and many others at times. He couldn't help but blame himself when the outcome became less desirable and ended in someone else's suffering. He knew his powers made him strange and odd, though others would never say if he knew deep down inside he was not ordinary and would never be. Why couldn't he just fit? Why couldn't he had just had a normal life like the other rabbits. Why?
He decided to sit in his bed for a little, collecting his thoughts, trying to push this new vision far away from his mind yet a certain part struck a chord with him, something rather interesting. His visions were never too specific, mostly vague leaving him clueless except for this time.
"A little mystic..." Did he think, was that supposed to be him? I mean he is a mystic and little, no other rabbit he knew seems to have fit such a vague description but what if it meant something else. What if it had nothing to do with him and he was just wasting his time thinking on this only part. The general part was easiest, of course, that being the one and only general Woundwort who struck fear into all.
"What does the rest mean... A place that lies in fall, come back with black and white?" He felt himself getting frustrated at this point, what did it mean? Why was this is hard?
"Argh, Why can this never be easy! Why did you give me these visions if I don't understand them!" He slammed his paws down onto his bed and begun to throw what little hay was left in it around the room, clearly frustrated beyond belief. He was finally done when his bed was now barren of hay. Panting hard, he realized he had managed to work himself up again. With another deep sigh, he was beginning to calm once again when he heard a familiar friendly voice calling his name.
"Fiver? Is everything ok?" A doe's voice called. After a few seconds past, Blackberry immediately entered his den. She seemed to have ignored the scattered hay and went straight to the young rabbit with a concerned look. "Are you alright sweety? I heard you yelling."
"Oh, umm yes Blackberry sorry, I'm fine. Thank you." He replied hoping to settle her worrying but to no avail.
"Didn't sound like everything was fine." This came from a much deeper voice, definitely not Blackberry's but instead her mate captain Campion who had just entered Fiver's den.
"Campion? I didn't know you were here." The young buck replied, looking puzzled.
"I got in last night. Ever since the general put me on solo long-range scouting missions, I can come here more often than not with no worries of being missed." He said with a smile attempting to wipe away the confused look on Fiver's face. "Sure I do what I can to help you, Hazel and this warren with information but I would be lying if there weren't some other reason I come." With that, he said he nuzzled Blackberry, who accepted it greatly.
"Now Fiver. What were you yelling about?" Campion asked taking over for Blackberry who sat with him quietly waiting for a response.
Fiver was silent, he wanted to tell them about his vision to see if they could make any sense of it, he trusted them fully enough but decided against it. "Oh, it was really nothing just a... bad dream. I promise it was truly nothing." He wanted there help but his visions seemed to always have a more negative impact on those who tried to help him. He preferred to try and figure out this one out alone or at least get a better understanding before working everyone up about it.
Campion wasn't fully convinced with that answer but seeing as the young buck was probably not going to give him a better one, he left it alone. "Alright, Fiver. If that's what you say. A bad dream."
"I'm sorry to hear that Fiver." Blackberry chimed in moving closer to the buck and soon embraced him a warming hug. "You know if you get scared or frightened you can always come sleep in my den with me. Sure I'm not Hazel but it's still sometimes nice knowing you aren't alone."
"Thank you Blackberry, that truly means a lot." He replied and soon broke the hug. "Anytime Fiver, here why don't you go up and enjoy some fresh air while we clean up your den." This didn't sound like a bad idea, getting some fresh air might help clear his head and keep thinking about this vision. At the very least it was a good reason to get out of his den and away from Campion's or anyone else's questions.
"I think I will take you up on that offer, thank you," Fiver replied, with that said he hopped out his burrow and left the two to clean up his mess. He proceeds down the run which leads to the main chamber called the Honeycomb.
"She was always kind to me, ever since Sandleford." He thought. Other than Hazel, Blackberry was the only other one who truly liked or really cared for him, she kind of felt like a mother to him. Any problems he was dealing with or any issues he knew he could go to her for help if Hazel was busy, which was most of the time in recent days...
Once he had entered the Honeycomb he could see some of the other rabbit's were already awake. Primrose and Clover were talking amongst themselves in a corner, more than likely about their mates or kits. Holly was lying asleep underneath the high rock which laid in the center of the large room, probably dreaming of something not pleasant. Unannounced to the sleeping rabbit there three pranksters on top of the rock, creeping more and more to the edge. Hawkbit, Dandelion, and Strawberry were known for there little tricks they played on the others, mostly Bigwig though to get back at him for forcing them into the Owsla and the training that came with it. Unfortunately, Bigwig was nowhere to been seen and thus the trio had found there new prey waiting to strike.
Fiver would have warned the unaware Holly but had caught eyes with Hawkbit who held up a single claw to his own mouth, indicating him to be quiet about the situation. Knowing if he said something or warned Holly, the trio would be rather cross with him and not wanting to stir up trouble, he kept quiet. But to be fair captain Holly was big and strong enough to handle himself, it was trio who were going to regret there prank soon enough. With that in mind, he continued on to the main run which leads outside, as he proceeds through it he could already begin to smell the rain that had fallen this week. Soon he had reached the exit and went outside, for a moment he was blinded by the sun's rays but that passed.
He took a deep breath, it felt so much better than the stale air back down in the warren. After this he then gave a big whiff to help clear his head a bit more, the smell was so natural and free. The little buck definitely liked the smell of rain, though he didn't care much for the rain itself if that was the price to pay to get that natural smell, it was worth it!
"I guess I'm the only one" He figured, he had looked around only to see no one else was present, no rabbit's playing or eating the fresh grass. No one enjoying the rays from the sun. No Kehaar flying above the clouds with Hannah. No Bigwig doing his morning exercises, just him. But at this moment that was ok for he still had more thinking to do on this new vision and would be rather hard with others distracting him.
Fiver proceeds to move to the edge of the down which was closest to the Orchard where he then sat on the wet grass, closed his eyes and began to think, diving into his mysterious mind.
A general so big and strong who allows no hope at all. You must go to a place that lies during fall. A little mystic will search for some might but will come back with a little black and white.
"Alright, the general part is easy that is obviously Woundwort. And the little mystic has to be me but what do the other parts mean?" He thought. "You must go to a place that lies during fall. A place that lies during fall. But fall is everywhere, everything is changed and touched by fall in some way."
"Come on. It should be easy... And yet it isn't." He sighed, a place that lies during fall is so vague, it doesn't give any clue as to what it means by that. "Alright, I better to move on to the other parts than. Search for might but will come back with a little black and white?"
"What would I be searching for? Why do I need something mighty? And come back with a little black and white? What does it all mean?!" Frustrated again, he decided to stop thinking and opened his eyes.
"I wish this wasn't so difficult!" He yelled.
"What's so difficult?" Fiver immediately looked around to who had spoken only to see no one was around. Was he going crazy? Did his visions finally do permanent damage to him? "Hazel? Bigwig? Blackberry?... Frith?" He called seeing if the voice would answer again, it did not.
"I am going insane." Fiver sighed, laying down in the grass and decided to cover his eyes with his paws. "No little brother, you just didn't see us come up."
Fiver's paws were then suddenly removed and he then saw his older brother Hazel standing over him with a calm smile on his face. "Oh, Hazel!" He spoke with excitement, immediately jumping to his feet and gave his older brother a hug who in return held onto him.
"I didn't even know you had left," Fiver spoke again, looking at up his brother who then answered. "Well, I had some business to attend to down at Orchard, something that would help us along the way this winter but to also get you a little treat." Hazel then proceed to let go of his little brother to twist himself around and pick up the delicious apple he had gotten him. He proceeds to hand Fiver this treat who looked surprised more than anything.
"How did you get this? Most importantly how did you manage to get such a healthy looking one?" Fiver wasted no time and proceed to take a bite out of the apple, the taste was outstanding, all the flavor and juice danced on his tongue, with a few more chomps he swallowed. It was probably the best one he had tasted this season.
"Our friend Bark. She gathered them immediately when the season was beginning to change and stored them in her home. You should see them Fiver. They were are all beautiful and most important very tasty." He watched as brother continued to munch down the apple but then stopped halfway through which confused Hazel. "Is something wrong with it?"
"Oh not at all Hazel, it's amazing but I was just wondering, do you want the rest?" Hazel than sighed in relief, there was his little brother he loved so much, always trying to look out for others. "Oh no little brother, I had plenty when I was down there. Thank you though"
"In fact Fiver, Bark has allowed us to take all her stored apples for us during this winter. How wonderful is that?" Hazel told him, "She said it was no problem for it's easier for someone like her to scavenge for food than for us." He was clearly excited for that meant he could rest easy knowing his people wouldn't starve this winter.
Surprising with such good news, Fiver was silent. "What's the matter Fiver? You seem quite to such good news?" Hazel asked.
"Well, it's just... If we have all her food what will she eat?" He answered, Hazel, sighed he loved his brother more than anything and his traits but this was a good thing for them, why couldn't he just be happy with it. "Well Fiver, like I said she is much bigger and stronger than us and will have a much easier time find food than we would." Fiver still didn't look any better, clearly, he was convinced by this.
Hazel sighed once again and decided to change his plans to please his brother. "Alright Fiver you win, we will only take half the food instead." This seemed to have clearly worked as Fiver was now looking much happier. "Thank you Hazel." his brother replied.
The two smiled at each for a short time taking in this peaceful moment between them for few were to come too and far between and not the moment they started it had ended for Fiver was now looking puzzled again.
"Hazel, what did you mean by us?" Fiver asked as he noticed Hazel was actually alone. "Yes Fiver, us, me and Bigwig." He proceeds to look to his right expecting to find Bigwig sitting next to him but he was missing. Hazel than looked to his left and continued until he made a full loop and was looking at Fiver again.
"Bigwig? Where did you go?" Hazel shouted still looking for his friend who was nowhere in sight. "I swear Fiver, he was right behind me when we ascended the down." Not even before the two brothers could start to look for Bigwig, a loud groan could be heard from where Hazel had crossed over the edge of the hill. Without saying anything Fiver had immediately gone over to investigate the strange noise with Hazel in toll, trying to get ahead of him in case there was danger.
To the older brothers relief, it was no Eli, no threat but a tired and fatter looking Bigwig who had just collapsed from exhaustion right before crossing over the edge of the hill. He was panting rather hard and his eyes were shut, clearly trying to get his strength back up to continued his small adventure.
"Bigwig, are you alright?" Fiver asked as he approached his friend who had now opened his eyes in response but didn't attempt to stand. "I'm alright lad, just feeling... a little sick is all."
Fiver proceed to give Bigwig a couple of small sniffs, he smelled fruity. "Yes Bigwig, maybe that was because of the apples you ate at the Orchard!" Hazel chimed in, rolling his eyes and slowly shaking his head. "Here Fiver, help me get him up."
With that said Fiver took to Bigwig's left side and Hazel on the right, they proceed to help lift and prop there large friend up. They then began to assist him over the edge of the hill and slowly begun to make their way towards the entrance of the warren. Although just before entering, Hazel stopped them for he could hear rather strange noises from down below. This noise was, in fact, getting closer.
Before they could make any attempt to move, Hawkbit immediately emerged from the entrance and without looking where he was going he ran straight into Hazel, knocking himself and his chief down to the ground. Lucky for Fiver, Bigwig managed to help hold himself up without Hazel's assistance. "Hawkbit! What are you doing?! Get off of him! Why can you never watch where you are..." Before Bigwig could finish scolding the rabbit he was run down by Dandelion who was close behind Hawkbit. Sensing a pattern Fiver decided to move away from the entrance knowing Strawberry was probably close behind and in fact was. He didn't fare much better when he exited the warren than his friends for he had tripped over everyone that was lying in the grass in front of the entrance. There were mostly groans being heard from the pile.
Fiver, unsure whether to help or not, proceed to move towards the pile of groaning rabbit's to and try and find his older brother who was the first one knocked down, he couldn't be seen or heard but instead the little rabbit was starting to hear a different noise which was more yelling from the entrance. This was coming from clearly a very angry buck. As it got closer Fiver could finally make out the yelling was from a very furious captain Holly who immediately emerged from the entrance as well, still shouting. luckily for the little mystic, he wasn't going as fast as the trio and was able to stop just before running down Fiver who had now braced himself for the impact. With inches to spare captain Holly was able to slide to a stop and was successful in not hitting the much smaller rabbit.
"Oh, Fiver! I'm sorry I didn't mean to nearly run you down. Are you alright? To be honest, I didn't even know you were out here." Holly immediately apologize, staring down at Fiver who was now sitting up normal seeing as the danger had passed.
"Well, thank you for not trampling me. But what's going on, why are you so upset?" Fiver asked. "I'm after those... those... those three!" He shouted clearly pissed again, pointing at the pile of rabbits but mainly to Hawkbit, Dandelion, and Strawberry who were all on top. Noticing this the trio immediately got untangled and without even an apology they leap to there feet and took off like a bullet towards the back of the tree.
"Excuse me Fiver. I need to go kill some rabbits!" With that said the clearly pissed off captain took off after the three, chasing them and shouting things along the line of "That's how you wake a member of owsla! You are all dead!" though the trio weren't threatened by this at all, hell they were still laughing as they ran around the tree a couple of times and finally, one by one made there way back down into the warren. As Holly followed, shouting could be heard from below echoing back up outside.
"Well, that was... interesting," Fiver said and proceeded over to help Hazel get to his feet who was already halfway up. Hazel was now leaning up against Fiver who in return was helping him stand. They both looked towards the entrance as the shooting continued below with different voices clumped as one, it was faint but clearly something bad going on down there. They soon noticed that Bigwig was still lying on the ground, breathing but not moving or choosing not anyway. Hazel was about to go check up on his friend but before he could reach him, Bigwig immediately climbed to his feet and shouted: "I'll have their ears!". Without saying another word he ran as fast as his legs could carry him and shot down the entrance, leaving the brothers behind.
Hazel sighed, "I guess my work is never done, huh Fiver?" his little brother let out a light chuckle. "I guess not." He answered and soon let go of Hazel, now standing on his own feet he proceed to make his way towards the entrance, still hearing the commotion going on below. But before he entered he turned back around and faced his brother and spoke.
"I have to deal with this Fiver, I'm sorry." Hazel apologize, he had planned on speaking with him before doing anything else but now he had to attend more urgent matters... again.
"It's ok Hazel, I understand. I mean if I were you I would go too. Seeing as two of the strongest owsla member are about to do who knows what to those three." He replied smiling up at his brother. "Thank you, Fiver." Hazel was about to enter and deal with the worsening situation underground but decided to add in just one more piece of advice to settle his worrying. "Also, please don't stray too far from the warren. Ok?"
It was clear that Hazel was worried about his little brother's safety, luckily though Fiver answered with a firm nod, clearly acknowledging his older brothers wishes. Now knowing his brother would be safe without him, Hazel took another deep breath and entered down below. Not a minute later Fiver's facial expression turned from happy to disappointment and he too sighed.
"I guess I will tell him later about my vision. If he wasn't busy before, he sure is now." Fiver thought. Once again he found himself all alone, it seemed to be a regular occurrence ever since they had discovered Woundwort and Efrafa. Although he understood why this was taking up so much of Hazel's and to be honest really everyone's time but he still couldn't help shake the feeling of being forgotten. Although this was rare he sometimes thought, would life be better here on Watership Down without him? What role did he play in helping to preserve this new way of life, sure it was him who found the down and saved everyone from the destruction of Sandleford warren but was that all he was meant to do? Sadly, this was a question he could never find a true answer for.
He sighed again, his mind racing with so many unanswered questions. Would they survive? What is his true purpose on the down? Did his vision lead them to hope or destruction? Was he an assist or a burden? What happens if the down is discovered? Can Woundwort be stopped? If he can be stopped, how? Would his friends survive? Would his family survive? Will he take them all or kill them? So many questions for the little buck to which he couldn't answer any of them.
Suddenly he shook his head violently in an attempt to clear his mind. "There is no point to trying to figure out a puzzle without all of its pieces." He thought knowing, in the end, he would just drive himself insane. Taking a couple more long deep breaths, he was able to clear his mind once again. He didn't want to think about the problems they faced, his latest vision, weather they were destined to survive, none of it and instead wanted to continue living in the present and soon came up with a fun idea.
He decided it was time to go visit his friend Bark, it was the least he could do for her being so friendly and helpful to there food situation. He had missed talking to the larger badger, hanging out and just enjoying her presence. It was nice knowing there was another friend that wasn't so caught up in the down's dilemma and most importantly someone who he could unwind too and let his frustrations be known. On the plus side it was still relatively close to home so he was still upholding Hazel's wishes and if he did run into trouble well, who would want to tangle with a large badger? He didn't put more thought into and decided to leave for Bark's home.
It was a relatively short trip and uneventful trip before the little mystic found himself in the Orchard. The change in the scenario was very dramatic but this was mainly due to when Fiver would visit his friend, it would be during summer when all the leaves and apples were present giving such life to the surrounding area. Now, during the fall it looked barren and ugly, like as if all the life had been sucked out by the black rabbit. He could definitely say he enjoyed the summer version much better than the fall. Well, he wasn't here for the scenario but instead his friend and ventured forward into the "new" Orchard trying to remember exactly how to get to her home, much harder when so many changes occurring during different seasons.
He continued his search for Bark's home but the only problem is it's under one of the dozens of nearly empty trees. It was so much easier to find in the summer for her home lied underneath the biggest and oldest looking tree. Its branches were plenty like the rest and usually filled the brim with leaves but what made it stand out as it had a somewhat of a bare spot near the top of it, for whatever reason leaves just refused to either stay on or grow and this made it much easier to find. But during fall this advantage was clearly taken away since there practically no leaves on any of trees, they looked rather the exact same.
He pressed on doing his best to look for her home but since looking at the tops of the trees did little to no good, he decided to check the base of every tree he came across. It was a rather tedious task but with no other choice begun to search. He must have checked at least a dozen trees trying to search for Bark's home but ever tree he came across he had no better luck than the last, all covered up in roots and no signs of digging. At this point, he was starting to get fed up and after checking one more he decided it was time to take a break and stopped underneath one of the dozens of barren trees around him.
"I have been here so many times, finding her home with ease every one of those time! But now the season has come and completely changed it!" Fiver groaned in frustration. He slowly panned over his surroundings hoping to find some indication that he was close or had made some progress in finding the entrance but there was nothing that stood out, it all looked exactly the same. "I wish Hazel was here, he would know what to do..."
While he was still thinking over his new dilemma he suddenly couldn't help but feel like he was being watched by someone or something. The little rabbit was truly starting to feel alone now and just couldn't shake the new feeling of dread from his mind. He immediately glanced to his left and then to his right but saw nothing had changed there was no one else but him. But then why did this new feeling stick with him so much? Not wanting to find the answer he decided to keep moving on with his search in hopes of finding his friend's home. But what Fiver didn't realize was his feelings of not being alone were, in fact, correct, something was watching him and soon begun to follow from a safe distance.
As he pressed on with his search the feeling still stuck with him but decided it was best to ignore it. Lucky for the little rabbit, his searching seemed to have finally paid off as he noticed a rather massive tree, much bigger than the ones that surrounded it and figured this had to be the place. He began to search the base of the tree and found a rather big entrance, big enough to fit a badger.
"Finally," he thought and entered but ran into a rathered shocking surprised. Turns out the entrance had lead to nothing but dirt, it just an empty hole. "Hm, that's strange, why would bark dig this? She already has a home and rarely leaves it." He couldn't think of any real reason why she should make this but it also didn't make much sense that the size of it could house her and a maybe one or two others. It had to have have been her. He began to examine the empty hole seeing if there were any signs of life and it turns out someone was in here recently. The smell was the same scent of a badger but it didn't connect with Bark's, no this one was new, this was a different badger, a male to be precious. He starting to get really nervous and that feeling of dread was starting to creep back into his mind, was he alone or was there something else? Not wanting to run into the badger that made this, he exited, once back outside the feeling of being watched immediately came back, he was frightened now and soon noticed he was beginning to shake with fear.
He felt much smaller now and feeling of being alone hit him like a brick. Immediately he checked his surroundings once again, to some relief there was still no one but before he could even make a single move, a sudden sharp CRACK filled the forest and his ears. Worse of all the sound came directly behind him the little buck and soon his nostrils filled with the same scent from inside the hole. The badger was here. He wanted to turn around and look at whatever was behind but just couldn't force himself to do it and instead just stared directly in front of him, trying not to make a move but his shaking wasn't doing any justice to him. The only option was simple and easy... run.
Without a moment of hesitation, he did just that and took off knowing whatever laid behind him was not good for his health. He didn't so much as cared where he was going but just wanted to get some distances from the Eli that was clearly now chasing him for he could every crunch, every snap underneath the much heavier set of feet. Running as fast as his legs could carry him he made constant sharp turns, bouncing off roots, made any attempt to lose his new problem but even if he was gaining some distance the badger was able to constantly find him. He may have had one thing down, running but couldn't fully lose the predator for there was no place to hide. At this rate, he was going to run out of stamina before finding safety so as he ran he came up with a new, not so original plan.
"BARK!" He yelled every couple of feet, hoping she would hear his cries for help. Even though it long shot, he didn't see any better option.
"BARK! HELP!" It seemed his callings feel on deaf ears for no one rushed to his aid. He was all alone to deal with his situation, one he couldn't really see himself getting out of alive. With no other option, he just continued to call for help and run, every once and while turning his head to see if he had lost the badger. To his disappointment, the badger managed to keep staying in sight, though there was some distance he just couldn't get the badger off of him. But that was the least of his worries for once he decided checked again for the badger he didn't notice a piece of wood was protruding out where he was running and had caught him on one of his legs. This had caused him to lose his foot and he started to stumble.
At first, he thought he would just land straight on the ground and be at his foe's mercy but to the little rabbit's surprise, his whole body was tumbling right towards a tree, more specifically a root that had been halfway ripped out of the ground, probably due to a previous storm. What was worse is that instead of sliding right underneath it and leaving him vulnerable on the other side he stopped with a hard jerking force, lying directly underneath the root, firmly in place.
Fiver was first in shock from the sudden and brutal stop, once he gathers a little of his bearings he tried to escape but found himself unable to move. He tried again putting more strength into it and pushed against the ground with his front paws, nothing, he didn't move. Starting to panic he tried immediately again but this time with his front and back paws but was barely moving forward. He looked around frantically trying to grab anything that could help, scraping the branch, the ground anything that could give him leverage to getting unstuck. He felt like a rabbit with a shining wire around its neck knowing he didn't have much time before the badger would end him. But all his efforts were in vain, every time he tried to push against the root he felt his backend bunch up and hold him in place. He was in fact stuck.
"This is it! I'm done for!" He thought, shaking from the fear of his imminent death, he closed his eyes and shut them tightly trying to brace himself from the coming pain he was going to be in. He waited knowing what was to come... and waited. He was still waiting, waiting a rather long time, how far ahead did he get in front of his prey?
Still trembling he opened one eye and scanned his surrounding, nothing was there. Soon his other eye opened to help look for the predator but nothing was to be seen still. He did his best to try and look over his shoulder to see behind him but saw nothing, the badger seemed to be now gone. He must have lost him or it was toying with him, either way, it was giving him some precious time to try and find an escape. But before he could think of anything that could help free his sticky situation he felt a growing sharp pain in his right leg. He wasn't able to see it but he knew that branch must have done more damage than just knocking him down, it must have cut him, for now, he could feel the area growing a tad bit wet.
"Great. I may have lost the badger but now he is definitely going to smell my wound." He thought but what he was to do? He tried once more to free himself but only to get the same result as last time but now with a sharp pain in the leg.
"I don't have time for this!" He hissed!
"Don't have time for what?"
Startled by the new voice, Fiver immediately looked around him as best he could, trying to find this new stranger who had yet to introduce themselves. Not knowing what else to do he decided to respond.
"Umm, uh, who, who said that?" He tried his best to hid the fear in his voice not knowing if this was the badger or something else.
"I did." The mysterious voice answered. Then out of nowhere, a female rabbit jumped down from where she was perching herself on the root Fiver was trapped under. No wonder he couldn't see her before but he was much more relieved knowing it a fellow rabbit and not a scary badger.
Her appearance was rather striking to Fiver. She seemed to be just a tad bit smaller than his overall body size, she was mostly white, with the exception of her paws, ears and the tip of her tail which were all a solid black. Yet, to Fiver, he was staring at an incredibly gorgeous looking doe he had ever seen his life.
"Hello?" the mysterious doe asked, shaking a paw in front of the buck who was still dumbstruck by her beauty.
He began to stutter, trying to find his words to respond but just couldn't, it was if he had just forgotten how to speak all together and was just bumbling random noises. She didn't seem to mind however and in turn, she started to chuckle and continued with her introduction.
"You're funny! Hi, my name is Molly," she said with a giggle and stretched out her paw to shake his. "What's your name?".
"Oh uh, my name is, uh, Fiver," He answered, able to find his words now. He tried to shake Molly's extended paw to show his friendliness but couldn't quite reach it and was now remembering the predicament he was in. "Uhh, I'm sorry... I'm kinda... stuck here."
"Yep, you sure are stuck," She said and began to circle around the stuck rabbit, getting a better view of his situation. She could definitely see where the source of his problem was coming from, it was his butt, definitely way to big to fit underneath the root which was squishing into him pretty bad. So much she could hardly wiggle a finger in between his body and the root it was so tight. Once down she made herself back in front of Fiver in order to help, knowing it wouldn't be right to leave one of her own kind in such a vulnerable situation.
"Well Fiver, I can definitely see why you are stuck. The root you slide under is way to small for someone your size. How did you manage to get into it in the first place?"
"I can definitely say I didn't willingly choose to go under it, in fact, it was more of an accident. You see I was actually running from a badger. A badger. A BADGER!" He had completely forgotten all about the predator that was chasing him and knowing it was probably still out there. "Molly you have to leave! There is Eli out here! It's going to get you!" If he could he would push her away but the best he could was a shoo motion with his paws.
"Well, that's not good! But I can't just leave you here to be eaten!" She squeaked, knowing full well what would happen if it caught him.
"You have too! If you don't it's going to get both of us! Now go!" He was starting to panic, his breathing was becoming more and more rapid. Being caught underneath the root he wasn't able to fully extend his chest and take in a full breath. He was truly feeling like he was caught in a shining wire as it was slowly suffocating him.
"Well here at least let me try and save you! Give me one of your paws! I will try and pull you free!" Clearly, she wasn't going to go anywhere without trying, Fiver agreed by extending out of his paws. Molly in respond immediately bite down on his wrist and tugged backward as hard as she could. Using his one free paw, Fiver helped push against the root yet all that happened was he felt himself being stretched forward and his backend refusing to fit through.
She pulled harder! She could definitely feel the stress they were under knowing she could be pounced on at any moment and killed, her heart beat faster and faster knowing they were running out of time. Fiver did his best to assist, pushing through the pain in his leg and pushed with both feet. It felt like it was working at first for he could feel himself moving inch by inch as his front end continued to stretch forward. But sadly there luck just wasn't holding up for he stopped moving and instead just bunched up against the root. After one last ditch pull, Molly stopped knowing it was working anymore.
"I'm sorry! I'm not strong enough to pull you out!" She panted, frantically looking around for the predator and for now, they seem to still be ok. "Than run Molly! You can't help me, it will surely be here any second!"
"No! I can't leave you!" She answered, looking over to see what else she could do to save her new friend. But nothing came to mind immediately other than continue to pull which that didn't work or leaving him to which she refused.
"Do you have to be as stubborn as Bigwig!" Fiver yelled, clearly getting frustrated with her. He just didn't want anything bad to happen to her on his own accord. "I don't even know who that is! And yes if he is stubborn!" She responded and soon gasped "The root! I can try and chew through it!"
Without a moment of hesitation, she jumped halfway onto it and began chewing as fast as possible which was causing some bad discomfort in her teeth. The root was thick and wet making chewing practically impossible but she refused to give up and continued with the discomfort. Sadly she wasn't making any real progress it was just too thick for her small teeth to cut through fast enough.
Unaware to the two rabbits's a rather angry looking badger was slowly creeping up on the two. Molly's was way to occupy to see it coming and Fiver couldn't see it either due to Molly's lower body was blocking his view from anything but white fur. He was slowly getting closer and closer and was still undetected form the rabbits.
Finally, Molly decided it was time to give up, she just couldn't break through it but maybe another solution could be found elsewhere. Once she jumped off the root Fiver could now see the danger that was behind her. The badger was now standing on its hind legs staring down at Molly and yet all Fiver could do was let out a gasp and immediately covered his eyes with his ears, not wanted to see or hear his new friend be killed.
Curious, Molly immediately turned around only to met with a wall of fur and slowly looked up at the large predator looming over her. Her eyes went wide and found herself unable to move, she was now paralyzed with fear.
Soon a little time had passed, Fiver was waiting for his death but strangely enough, it never came. He didn't hear any muffled screams nor did he feel anything attacking him. No, in fact, he kinda felt like he was alone again but was startled when he felt another paw on his. But instead, it didn't feel like a badger attacking, no instead it felt much softer and friendly. It had removed his from his eye and ear only for him to see Molly, alive and well. But how?
Fiver let the other one go down and with two eyes he clearly was looking at his new friend who looked just fine, instead, she looked rather happy, but how could that be? What happens to the badger?
"Molly? What happened, are we... dead?" He asked curiously. "Pshh no silly, we aren't dead!" Fiver looked puzzled at her answer "Well... wait, what, what happened to the badger?" Due to how close Molly was standing near him he couldn't see anything but her.
"Oh, he's right here!" With that, she immediately hopped out of the way to reveal a much nicer and not so scary male badger who was now smiling at him instead of snarling, getting ready for a kill.
"This was the badger you referring too? My best friend Max?" She giggled. "He isn't someone that would hurt you silly!"
"Hello. As you now know, my name is Max." The badger introduced himself. He looked very similar to his own badger friend Bark, just a little bigger in size but nonetheless Fiver was still a bit dumbstruck. "Aren't you the same badger that chased me from that tree?" To which Max didn't respond but Molly was now looking confused and got in front of max.
"Wait, this the rabbit you chased?" She asked. "The one you were 'afraid' of that might bring us harm?" She was looking rather mad at her much larger friend who was doing his best to avoid eye contact.
"Well, you see Molly. I umm. I didn't know... I was... I was worried for your safety!" He answered which the much smaller rabbit wasn't convinced in the slightest.
"You scared him nearly to death! Max, you scared us nearly to death! Wait... You caused him to get stuck under that root! How would he had hurt me, Max?!" She demanded an answer but didn't even give Max a chance to answer before she continued on her little tantrum.
"The big scary rabbit! He might hurt us! I need to scare him away! He could be a threat to our survival!" She was yelling, mocking everything he told her before he snuck up on Fiver a while back. Meanwhile, Fiver was just super glad this danger wasn't going to kill him and instead clearly had a friendly relationship like him and Bark has.
"Ok, Ok, Molly. I made the wrong call. I jumped to conclusions I was only looking out for you!" He replied stopping her in the middle of her rant. "I'm sorry Molly. I was just worried, that's all and I did a stupid thing. I'm sorry." He ended clearly this worked somewhat on the doe who was starting to ease up on her anger. "I'm still mad you. But thank you for apologizing. I told you we shouldn't fear every rabbit we come across... Not every rabbit is the same as those others!"
"Those others?" Fiver thought, wondering what that could mean but decided to stay silent seeing as he didn't want to get a scolding from her for whatever.
"You caused this. You have to help fix it! Then I will fully forgive you." She finally ended and clearly the Badger agreed to the answer, it was his fault and was only the right thing to do. With that he looked down at Fiver and soon began to walk around, examining the situation as Molly had done.
"You tried pulling?" He asked to which Molly shook her head yes. "Alright if pulling didn't work than pushing wouldn't do much good either." He looked over the top of Fiver and saw the branch in its condition, being slightly gnawed. "I'm surprised you thought that would work. Even I would need quite a bit of time to chew through one that size!" He chuckled, clearly making Molly a little upset for she rolled her eyes at him. He continued his searching, not seeing much of a solution though and finally came back around in front of Fiver.
"Alright we can do the same thing before with the pulling but at least this time you have more muscle." He said. Not the best plan since Molly had already tried this but what else could be done.
Yet before they could even begin, Max was suddenly and violently thrown to the ground by another similar set of paws of his own. Another badger was now on top of him, swiping at his face and body with its claws and teeth attempting to do him harm!
"No, wait! Don't hurt her Max! Bark! Bark! Stop!" Fiver yelled, recognizing the smaller badger as his friend and permanent resident of the Orchard. Not able to do much, seeing as he was still stuck, he continued to plead to her to stop. Calling and shouting at the enraged badger seemed to be ineffective as she continued to with her attack able to rip some fur of the bigger badger. Lucky Max was, in fact, stronger and was able to fend off her deadlier swipes but was unable to move out from under Bark's mass.
To Fiver's surprise, Molly immediately jumped into action and had clung to the Badgers back that was attacking her friend. She wasn't necessarily attacking her seeing as she was clearly a friend of Fiver's but instead trying to pull or at least shift the weight off of Max and after a few seconds of struggling, it worked.
Max was able to throw the enraged badger off landing on the floor next to him, Molly had jumped off seconds before being flattened and ran over to her friend attempting to help him get to his feet. Fivers eyes were glued to Bark's body who was panting hard and fast, worried at what she would do next, again he pleaded her to stop. "Bark! It's me Fiver! I'm ok! Stop!"
Well, he could put his mind at ease as Bark begins to get up but in a more slower and less aggression fashion. She looked confused and tired of course but without thinking, she immediately ran up to Fiver, instead of Max to continue her fight.
"Fiver! Is little bunny ok?" She asked clearly worried, leaning down to check up on her little friend. "I heard yelling, came quickly as could!"
"Yes, Bark. Aside from being... well... a little trap. I'm fine." He answered feeling much safer now that his much larger and good friend was with him.
Bark was a tad bit confused until Fiver gestured to the root that was holding him captive. "Ohh, yes Fiver. I see now. Root to small for bunny like you."
Now with his bearings, Max made his way over to the two with Molly in tow. He was a bit more relaxed now while Molly seem to still have a little bit of energy, she seemed to be prepared for the new badger to make another move of aggression but it seemed like it was energy wasted for Bark was much more calm now being with Fiver and knowing he was safe, at least from any predators.
"Thank you for coming to my aid Bark, really. But I don't think these two," Gesturing to Max and Molly who were not standing behind Bark, "are going to do any harm, it was just a big misunderstanding. An accident." This reassured the female badger, turning around and look at the two.
"Bark, that is Max, the badger you almost tried to kill and his friend, Molly," Fiver said, introducing the two who at least Max seem interested in cooperating while Molly still seemed a bit on edge.
Max extended a paw in an attempt to greet the female badger but she didn't take it and instead spoke. "If Fiver thinks you ok. I do too." She then grasped his paw and begun to shake it slowly, not breaking eye contact, this put Max a little on edge and then suddenly he was pulled in very close to Bark to then she whispered. "But if hurt little rabbit. I hurt you." to his relief that was it and she released his paw. She only looked down at Molly who was frowning up at her and decided it was best not to say anything and with her half-hearted introduction, she turned back towards Fiver.
"Well, I don't think she really likes, huh Molly?" Max whispered as they watched Bark begin to examine her little bunnies predicament, clearly trying to find a way to free him.
"Can you fully blame her Max? We did nearly scare her friend to death and it is our fault... well more of yours, that he is now trapped under that root." She answered, feeling a tad bit guilty now. Bark was only doing all of that in response to her friend being in what she thought, danger.
Once done Bark had made her way in front of Fiver, Molly and Max thought this was the best of a time as ever to come over and try and help free the rabbit, at least it would get some good points towards Bark.
"Bark. I am sorry your friend is in this tough spot and I'm ashamed to say it was our fault. But let us help you free him, it's the least we can do." Max pleaded with the other badger. "Fine." She answered "You can help. Got any ideas?"
"I do," he answered. "If you cooperate then I think this will work." with that said he gestured her to the back of Fiver and Molly looming over top, she grasped the root with her claws most specifically the part that was damaged from her previous attempt. Finally, Max took his position in front and grasped Fiver's front paws with his own. "As I pull on Fiver's front, Bark you will push against him and Molly you will try and pull the root off of him, hopefully with our combined strength that will allow us to free him." Without another moment of hesitation, they began their battle to free the stuck rabbit, combining there pushing and pulling.
Fiver could feel himself straining against the might of the strong badger pulling his paws, stretching his front forward as much as possible. But he found his rear end was fighting as it bunched up against the other side, even with Bark's strength of squishing into he still could feel like he was hardly moving. Molly was doing her best, trying to pull the root upward to give some more space for Fiver's rear, it was slow going since the root was very thick but luckily due to the previous gnawing, it was in fact slowly breaking.
The little mystic could be heard groaning from his body being stretched to its maximum and luckily he was beginning to move forward, it was working. Luckily for him, Molly was giving everything she got into the root, pulling as hard as she could and soon begun to violently jerk it upwards. Although it still rested against Fiver, preventing him from popping free, it was cracking ever so slowly with Molly's jerks. Every once and while she would stop pulling and crunch a bit more on the root and then immediately continued with her pulling. After one last hard pull from Molly, the root finally gave way and snapped in half sending her flying backward. Fiver was also launched but forward and landed on top of Max.
Fiver was panting rather hard, it definitely did some damage to his body, leaving a small imprint of where the root had been pressing down all this time. His arms definitely felt sore along with his wrist and back. But before could even attempt to get off of Max he was immediately lifted off by Bark who embraced him a warming hug, "Oh Fiver! You are safe now!" sure he was still sore and the hug wasn't helping but he didn't fight, he was just glad to be free now. Eventually, though she did set him down back on the ground but to her surprise, he couldn't help himself and gave her a hug in return. "Thank you, Bark! Truly!" The two held each other for a short but loving moment. "Anything for little bunny." She whispered into his ears and eventually, they let go.
"And thank you M-" Fiver tried to speak but was cut off my Bark, "No Fiver! They did this! They get no thanks!" she seemed really aggressive now and was had moved in front Fiver acting as a shield, clearly still angry with the two.
"Bark. Please. They didn't mean to harm me!" He pleaded with his much larger friend but she didn't seem to hear or more than likely didn't care for she didn't change her stance.
Molly finally made her way back over to Max and assisted him up. After this, she immediately glared at Bark and bared her teeth. She was clearly ready to start a fight but what was strange was Max looked much calmer than his little friend and decided to speak. "Bark. We... I am sorry for what I did. But please I beg you look at from my point of view. I didn't know if he had come to bring harm to Molly."
"Harm?!" She shouted, "He is nice bunny. Never hurt anyone!" She was clearly upset and allowing her emotions to get the better of her. "Bark listen!" Fiver was now speaking but in a more serious tone. "What he did was wrong. But understandable. Let me ask you this question Bark. Did you not do the same when you attacked Max?! You saw him as a threat to my life and that's what he thought I was to his friend! He jumped to conclusions when he saw me as you did with him. Are you not the same?"
"But Fiver..." She pleaded. "No Bark! It's true if you want to apply that same concept that you are just as guilty..." He went silent for a small moment, waiting for a response from the now ashamed looking Bark. "Bark... Bark sorry Fiver. Bark just don't want you hurt. Bark want to protect best friend."
"I know Bark... and I love you for that. You are truly a great friend to me." The two soon embraced in another warm hug, it seemed to have worked since Bark was much calmer now. They soon released each other and faced the two in front of them again.
"Bark... Sorry." She sighed.
"It's alright Bark, I understand emotions can get the better of us. Isn't that right Molly?!" Max said, looking down at the smaller female rabbit who was still in her more defensive stance, she could feel his glaring eyes and sensing the frown on his face. She groaned "I guess." and soon went into a more peaceful stance.
"We really are sorry Bark. We honestly didn't mean any harm." Max continued and luckily this time she seems more eager to accept it.
"Bark understand. Bark forgive." She answered, smiling at the two.
"See. No one wants to hurt anyone." Fiver said with a smile on his face and glanced up at Bark who too was now looking much more happier. But as if on cue, their tender little moment was soon broken when a loud BOOMING noise that rang overhead. They looked up and saw massive grey clouds had now formed above them. "It was just sunny. Where did those come from?" Max said, looking around for any bare spots to see the blue sky but couldn't find any.
Soon a drop of rain had landed next to them followed by another and another and another. It was beginning to rain. "Bark no like rain," she said as she whipped a drop that had landed on her nose away.
"I think it would best to find some shelter than," Max added.
"No time to get bunny home. Instead Bark's home. We go there. Come Fiver." Bark said and immediately began walking. Without hesitation, Fiver hopped after her but he didn't make it more than a couple of hops before falling to the ground in pain. Upon hearing this Bark immediately spun around and raced to his aid "Fiver! Is Fiver ok?" Bark asked, clearly concern.
"I forgot about my leg." He replied, gesturing down at his right leg which had a relatively deep cut in it which was in fact slowly leaking out blood. "It must have happened when I ran into that protruding branch. I can't really walk." He was now clenching the surrounding area with a free paw, feeling the pain slowly come back to him.
"That no problem! I carry you!" Without even letting Fiver a moment to argue, she immediately lifted him onto her back and shifted him around to a more secure position.
"Come all. Let's go." With that said she immediately began walking towards what they assumed was the direction of her home. Although a bit hesitant at first Max began following her with Molly in tow.
"Are you sure about this Max? Remember she did try and kill you?!" Molly was whispered to her friend. "With good reasons Molly." He added, "Besides you really want to be caught in this any longer?" She shook her head in a no fashion and continued to follow. The rain was coming down much harder now and the sky was constantly being lite up by flashes. The group was starting to get soaked as the rain absorbed into their fur as the pressed on for Bark's home.
As Fiver was clinged onto Bark he couldn't help but notice something, every time he looked behind him a flash of light would occur but what was rather strange about this was how much it showed off Molly's fur, black and white. Black and white.
"Black and white," He thought. "Black and white."