It was dark in the woods. So dark the small group could barely kept their footing as they made their back to Watership Down. Fiver was in charge of carrying the injured rabbit, since he was the largest of the rabbits…and since, in fact, he wasn't one. Lucky for them that the spell hadn't worn off yet. Molly and Hazel were in charge of keeping the injured rabbit from falling off of Fiver as they moved across the very unfamiliar landscape.

Hazel was walking a little slower than Fiver and Molly, trying not to disrupt them, but also keep an eye on the new rabbit.

"Wow, he is a lot heavier than I thought!" Fiver whined, as he carried the large rabbit through some brambles that lay in the path.

"Here, let me carry him. I am strong them you." Molly teased him, nudging his shoulder as they walked.

"You wish, Molly." Fiver chuckled as he gave her a big smile. She smiled in return as well.

"What, you think you are stronger than me?" Molly joked as she walked beside him.

"I can prove it." Fiver mocked her, as he stuck his tongue at her. Soon the two started to mess with each other, just little friendly pushes, that way they wouldn't knock the unconscious rabbit off. Soon, the two lovers settled down with their foolish playing, and continued the task at hand.

"Hey, Fiver, can I ask you something?" The little doe asked her large companion.

"Yeah, sure. What's troubling you?" The large fox replied, very concerned that he might have done something wrong, since he was new this love stuff, just like her.

"What is Efrafa, and why do they hate you guys?" she asked.

In return, Fiver and Hazel both sighed, knowing what those monsters are and what they can be capable of. Fiver was the one who answered the question.

"Well, Molly, Efrafa is..." Fiver stopped. He really didn't want to talk about this, knowing she would be disgusted by it. Lucky for Fiver, Hazel stepped in to answer the curious doe's question.

"Efrafa is a living nightmare with a tyrant for a leader. His name is General Woundwort. He runs his whole warren with fear, and keeps all the rabbits as slaves, except the Owsla." He answered, which made Molly shudder in fear. But, luckily for her, Fiver was there, and she felt safe with him.

"That's awful! Now, why does he hate you guys?" Molly asked as she pressed up against Fiver's large body.

"He hates us because we live free in the hills. He wants to control us, make us part of his slaves and destroy the down, so the slaves won't get any hope of freedom. His three main targets are Bigwig, Fiver, and me." Hazel answered.

"All right, but why does he want you three anyway?" she asked, still curious on the subject.

"He wants me because I am the leader of Watership Down, he wants Bigwig because he is in charge of the Owsla, while my little brother…he wants him because of his visions and thinks he can just use them for himself. But Bigwig and I will do anything to keep Fiver safe." Hazel finished, with a little smile over his brother.

"Well good, now I can help keep him safe as well." She told Hazel.

"Thank you." Hazel stated with a large smile. But soon that smile was a frown, because they were facing a new problem. They were getting tired from the running and soon had to stop or walk, and the mysterious rabbit was bleeding badly.

"All right, Fiver, I need you to take the rabbit to Watership Down as fast as possible. At this rate he will die before we get back!" Hazel sighed, not wanted him to be alone, but he knew the other rabbit could die if they didn't act now. The two lovers glanced back at each other, worried that they might not see each other again.

"Don't worry, Fiver. I will watch her and keep her safe." He reassured his worried brother.

Fiver didn't want to leave her, but since he was a fox, he could run faster than all of them, and she was in good hands with his trustworthy brother.

"All right, as soon as I get to Watership Down and drop him off, I will come back!" Fiver replied, reassuring Hazel and giving Molly one last lick. Then he ran off as fast as possible, leaving the two to walk back with each other in silence.

"You really love your brother, don't you?" Molly said, breaking the silence as they walked.

"Yes. Yes I do!" Hazel answered her.

"Yet, sometimes, I just think..."

"What, what do you think?" Molly asked, as her curiosity got the best of her.

"Well, it's just hard to think about what might happen if anything ever bad happened to him." Hazel sadly stated.

"It's just; I know I won't be able to protect him forever." He stopped and started to think, forcing Molly to stop as well.

"No, you won't be able to protect him forever, but you can die trying!" Molly encouraged the upset leader, who in return gave her a nice smile.

"Thanks, Molly. I can see why Fiver fell for you." He said with a little chuckle. Soon they started to continue walking, but the fun really began now. Unknown to them, they were being followed by a very evil and wicked rabbit.

"Most of the warren would lay down their life for him!" The doe gladly pointed out.

"Most?" Hazel asked, with a confused look on his face.

"Except for that evil Hawkbit!" Molly said, trying her best not to get angry.

"He isn't evil, if anything, I think he is just jealous of Fiver." Hazel pointed out. Since he was the leader, he had to be fair about what he said.

"He thinks I give Fiver special treatment since he is my brother…but I do admit, I do from time to time."

"Yeah, but you are suppose to do that for family!" Molly shouted in anger.

Knowing she was upset, Hazel decided to leave her be so she could calm down, not wanting to accidentally get into a fight with her. What would Fiver say if he did? Lucky for them, the down was just beyond the tree line. They were almost home free, but now there was one more obstacle...

Vervain

Soon the two Watershippers were surrounded by the much stronger and larger Efrafan rabbits. Hazel had pushed Molly behind him, making sure they didn't come anywhere near her. Of course, being the scared rabbit he is, Vervain decided to stay behind his warriors.

"Ah, hello, Hazel." Vervain said with a large grin, knowing he had them in his trap.

"Hello, Vervain. Still as ugly as I remember." Hazel replied, mocking the wicked rabbit, and trying his best to keep an eye on the Efrafan warriors around him.

"Well, guess what, Fiver isn't with us, so you lucked out, you pathetic excuse for a rabbit!"

Molly stayed silent. She was trying to find an escape route, but all of them were covered by the slowly advancing warriors.

"Oh, what a shame. But I don't need him. What I need is that little doe back there." The black rabbit said, pointing at the small doe.

Both of them were very shocked to hear that. Molly wasn't important to the Efrafans.

"Well, then, you have to go through me first!" Hazel shouted, starting to clench Molly's fur with one of his free paws, making sure nothing could pull her away.

"I don't have to. They will." The wicked rabbit said, pointing his warriors forward.

"Don't worry, Molly. I won't let anything happen to you!" Hazel whispered to her as he readied for the battle. But she wasn't paying any attention, she was figuring out a way out. She did have a plan, but they had to wait for them to get closer.

Hazel tried his best to fight off the approaching Efrafans. He kicked one back with his hind legs and then he slammed into another with his head. Both fell to the ground, but sadly, he couldn't stop them all.

Soon they reached Molly and grabbed her, forcing her away from her Chief. But this was her plan, as soon as she was on the outside of the group. She rammed into the large rabbit that was holding her, knocking him onto the ground. Now they had an escape route.

"Ha, and who says does aren't strong?" Molly thought as she stood over the rabbit.

"Come on, Hazel!" She shouted to her friend as she ran for the Down. Lucky for Hazel, they were focusing on Molly, so he was free to run after her. Vervain was shocked to see that they had escaped them.

"Go after them, you fools!" Vervain yelled as his soldiers rushed past him to capture their escaping prisoners. Of course, Vervain was bringing up the rear, starting to think to himself:

"What if they get away? Then Woundwort will kill me!" He thought. He shuddered at the idea of his life being ended. He had this one chance to save himself. So, with that, he bolted forward, trying his best to recapture them.

"Wait, we can't go back to the Down!" Hazel shouted, which put a confused face on Molly. He started to turn their course towards the orchard.

"Why, can't we go back? It's safe there! Fiver is there, and they can't take on a fox!" Molly panted, as they both ran as fast as their feet could carry them. Hazel took up the rear, making sure the Efrafans couldn't get up to Molly.

"They don't know where the Down is, so if we lead them back, then they will discover the location and destroy it!" He shouted.

Molly understood, so the two kept running towards the Orchard, but since Molly was smaller she started to slow down, and Hazel was forced to slow down with her.

At this rate they would never make it the Orchard. The Efrafans would soon be upon them and take Molly. No! Hazel was in charge of her, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. The best option they had was when they ran right into a fallen tree, and they decided to hold their ground and fight.

"Well, it was nice knowing you, Hazel," Molly sadly said, knowing they couldn't take all of them. The two shared a nice hug, fearing that this is where the Efrafans will capture Molly and kill Hazel. The two faced the slowly advancing soldiers, and Hazel stood in front of her, waiting to lay down his life for hers.

"Just surrender, Hazel! No point in throwing your life away just for a little runt!" Vervain bargained for both of their lives, knowing twice the reward as he smiled evilly.

"No. She isn't just a runt, she is my friend." Hazel told him, giving Molly a light smile.

"Fine, then. Die, both of you!" Vervain shouted as his warriors advanced.

Hazel stayed right in front of Molly, showing he really did care for her and would fight till the end.

Hazel was finally pinned down under a large buck. He had killed at least three of the Efrafans before he was overpowered. Molly did her best, but being like Fiver, she didn't kill any of them.

Finally, Vervain had come up and pinned Molly, smiling very creepily at her, scaring the little doe.

Then something weird happened. They heard a large growling noise. The Efrafans look around trying to find what was making that noise, but Hazel and Molly knew what it really was.

When Vervain looked up from the small doe, his small nose was pressed up against a very large, mean, and angry snout. It was a fox. It was Fiver, who was standing on the large log.

Fiver was very, very angry. He bared his teeth, growling. Vervain was quivering in fear. He then slowly backed away with his guards, not letting one eye off the giant beast. Molly and Hazel were now free, so they ran behind the safety of the large Fox.

At first chance, of course, Vervain being the cowardly rabbit he is, he was gone like lightning, his soldiers running after him, not wanting to be killed either, not knowing it was Fiver.

Fiver soon relaxed, knowing the dangers were gone, and they were safe now. So he let his head fall down panting, but lucky for him Molly gave him a small kiss, which made him feel better.

"Well, good thing you showed up when you did, Fiver!" Hazel panted. Then, all of a sudden, he just collapsed to the ground, scaring Fiver and Molly. They ran over to check up on their chief, but lucky for them, he was just very tired. He had fallen unconscious from exhaustion.

"Don't worry, I will carry him." Fiver whispered as Molly helped put Hazel on his back. Soon Molly let out a large yawn.

"Here, hop on, Molly. I can carry you both." He said with a smile.

Seeing that she didn't really have any other choice, she agreed, climbed on his back, and fell asleep, as they finally made their way back to get a long deserved rest.

It was finally daytime in Efrafa. Most of the slaves were still asleep, along with most of the guards, other than the ones on sentry duty. But there was a captain who didn't get any sleep last night. He was Vervain, and he was pacing outside the General's main burrow, thinking about what the general might do when he tells him that the plan had failed.

"What if I just don't tell them?" Vervain thought, as he stopped pacing and just sat still, trying his best not to act nervous. It wasn't working very well.

"No, then I will be dead for sure! Yet, it's the best option I've got." With that, he left. All he would have to do is avoid the General, so he decided to hide in his burrow, hoping no would find him, especially the General.

Campion had heard of the failure of the mission, mostly because of Vervain's rambling in his sleep. At least his mind could be at peace, since the plan had failed, but he almost felt bad for the evil, black rabbit…that is, until he remembered what had happened to Larch. He soon left to go find Moss, who was sleeping in his burrow. Campion decided not to bother him, then he went to his own burrow to sleep as well. But, later in the day, they would go and put together Larch's memorial.

Back at Watership Down, Fiver was asleep with Molly on the soft grass. Sadly he couldn't go back inside since the spell still hadn't worn off and it would be way too crowded for both of them to sleep in a burrow together. He had already dropped off Hazel to Primrose, who had taken him to their shared burrow when they had gotten back.

Fiver let out a yawn, then opened one of his eyes to see that Molly was gone. He jumped to his feet, searching everywhere for her, thinking something bad had happened to her.

"Molly! Molly, where are you?" He called out, fearing the worse. Soon, to his relief, he actually got a reply.

"I am over here. My paw is stuck, that's all." She called out, waving her one free paw in the air. Fiver soon raced over to her and stopped by her stuck paw. Then, to his shock, he was splashed with dirt. Turns out her paw wasn't stuck, it was just another lovable prank.

"Ha ha, now you are dirty!" Molly giggled, as she stuck out her tongue at him. Then, to her surprise, she was lightly shoved to the ground with two large paws. Now her back was covered in dirt, just like Fiver.

"Ha, now you are dirty as well." Fiver laughed, giving her a small smile. Then, he had a perfect idea.

"Bet you can't catch me!" With that said Fiver was off like a rocket, running around the base of the tree, and of course, Molly accepted the challenge and had gotten up, shook off the dirt and went after him. She was actually pretty fast for such a small rabbit.

After five laps around the large tree, Fiver stopped in front of the entrance to catch a little break. But Molly hadn't, so, to her surprise, she smashed right into him, sending both down into the warren.

They soon tumbled into the Honeycomb. Molly had landed on top of Fiver, so the two enjoyed the view as they stared into each other's eyes, then stopped because they were being watched by Bigwig, which made them both blush a little out of embarrassment. Molly got off of Fiver so he could sit up.

"Sorry to interrupt you two lovers." Bigwig joked to them.

"Your guest from last night has been saved, thanks to you, and he said he would like to meet you." he told him as he moved over to one of open runs. Then, he realized why Fiver hadn't moved yet, he was too big to go through.

"Right forgot about that. Here, I will go and get him." With that said Bigwig was gone, leaving Molly and Fiver waiting anxiously to hear this rabbit's story.

"He probably just wants to thank you for saving him." Molly answered, giving him a small lick on his cheek to reassure him that everything was going to be all right.

Soon, Bigwig had come up with the new rabbit beside him. He looked a lot better than yesterday. He wasn't bleeding anymore, and he could walk. He was almost as tall as Bigwig, but he wasn't nearly as strong as him.

"Ah, you must be the fellow who saved my life yesterday." The mystery buck told Fiver, stretching his paw to shake the much larger one. Of course Molly giggled at this.

"Wait, you don't care if I am a fox? This doesn't scare you?" Fiver asked, instead of returning the shake.

"Oh, no. I have tangled with foxes before. Besides, your buddy here, Bigwig, told me what happened." He gestured over to the large Captain.

"Where are my manners? I am Sunflower."

"Well, I am Fiver. Nice to meet you, Sunflower." The large fox introduced himself. Then, he felt someone nudging him on his side. Realizing it was Molly doing it, he remembered what he had forgotten.

"Oh, yeah! This is Molly, my girlfriend." Fiver introduced her to Sunflower.

"Well, nice to meet you, Molly."

"I can see why you feel for her, she is very pretty!" He whispered to the large fox, but loud enough for Molly to hear. She started to blush from his sweet comment.

"Yes, she is very pretty, smart, helpful, and loving." Fiver told Molly, giving her a warm smile. They both gave each other another small kiss on the lips, forgetting all about Sunflower and Bigwig. After their kiss had ended, Molly had something on her mind.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your tail?" Molly asked Sunflower, trying her best not to act rude, but just curious.

At first Sunflower didn't answer her. He was a little bit distracted, remembering that he was now a deformed rabbit, instead of being a normal one.

"Well, let's just say I lost it because of Efrafa!" He growled, which made Molly shiver in fear.

"Hey, please don't scare her like that, Sunflower." Fiver told him as he pushed Molly behind him, obviously just being protective of her.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare her. It's just, I hate that place so much!" He yelled, slamming a paw to the ground, trying his best to control his anger.

"Especially Captain Vervain!" he added.

"All of us hate him as well, don't worry about that!" Bigwig laughed. But Sunflower didn't find it very amusing, so he immediately became quiet.

"Wait, you were in Efrafa? Why?" Molly asked, as she pushed her way back next to Fiver, trying to calm down the mad rabbit.

"I was a…um…slave, but not anymore! I escaped…well…with most of me, anyway." Sunflower sadly stated, seeing that his tail was now gone.

"Well, you are welcome to stay here as long as you want, Sunflower." Fiver happily said. Now they had another friend in the warren, and a good fighter.

"Well, thank you." He told them, smiling a little, since he was now part of such a wonderful and caring warren.

"Now, if you don't mind, I am going to go on a stroll."

"Are you sure? I mean, you're still injured." Molly protested, worrying he might get even more hurt.

"Yes. Don't worry, if I get into trouble, I can fight my way." He chuckled, as he moved slowly out of the Honeycomb to enjoy some air.

"Something is very odd about that rabbit." Bigwig thought, obviously not trusting him much. But right now he had other matters to look into, so he left it at that and went on his way, leaving those two love birds.

Then, all of sudden, Fiver heard a very faint rumbling. Staying close to Molly, he started to look around. Turns out it was her. She was hungry.

"That was me. Sorry. Can we go get something to eat?" She asked.

Of course Fiver could never say no to her.

"Yes, of course we can." Fiver chuckled, as he began to move towards the entrance.

"Carry me. I am dying of starvation." She joked, then laid down the ground acting as if she was really dying.

"All right, climb on." He told her, as he bent down to put her on his large back, both laughing as they left.

They soon reached outside. Hawkbit was working with Bigwig and Blackberry, digging out some new runs, and of course, grumbling nonstop, since he was now on digging duty ordered by Hazel.

Once Fiver had found a nice place to rest, he decided to turn the tables on his lover. He started to roll over on his back, his belly facing the air, on top of Molly. Molly soon got out from her captivity, and giggled at little, seeing how ridiculous Fiver looked. Then she just lay next to him, doing the same thing.

"Ow!" Molly exclaimed, making Fiver jump into his protective mode. Turns out she had gotten hit with dirt in the chest. The only one digging was the cruel prankster, Hawkbit.

It seems that Bigwig and Blackberry weren't there. They must have left for a few minutes, so he had thrown a paw full of dirt right over to the lovers. With a direct hit, he started to burst out laughing. That caught their attention, especially Fiver, who didn't look very happy.

"Stay here. I will be right back." He whispered to Molly, who was rubbing her chest.

Because of his laughing, Hawkbit hadn't even noticed the large fox come up and stare at him. Then he stopped, seeing how mad Fiver was.

"Oh, sorry, Fiver. I was…umm…digging…and I guess I threw it in the wrong place." Hawkbit tried to joke with him.

Before he could tell Hawkbit anything, he collapsed to the ground and started to shake and scream, which got most of the warren's attention, especially Molly and Hazel, who were already on the scene. Of course, the two immediately went after Hawkbit, thinking that he had done something stupid again.

After a few seconds had gone by, there was a large colorful cloud around Fiver. Once it had slowly disappeared, the large fox was gone. In its place was a small rabbit. It seemed that the spell had finally worn off.

"Fiver, you're back to normal!" Molly exclaimed, running over to her lover.

He was still very warm, with some burnt fur, but she didn't care, so once she was over by him, the two enjoyed a nice, romantic kiss.

What the Watership Down gang didn't know, was that Sunflower hadn't gone out just for a stroll around in the woods.

He was really going back to Efrafa to meet an old enemy of his, on a mission for revenge.

In Efrafa, Campion and Moss were outside working. They were trying to find a good place for Larch's memorial, and soon they found a perfect place right next to a small tree that was just starting to grow.

"There, a perfect place for Larch to rest. Just like this tree, he still had his whole life to look forward to." Campion said, trying to hold back the sadness in his voice.

"He would have had a nice life, but at least he got to enjoy the time he was alive." Moss told him, setting his paw on his shoulder as they stared at the tree. They had carved out Larch's name in the bark.

They stared at it for quite some time, just remembering all the good times they had with each other, both letting out sighs from time to time. It was getting late, so they started to turn in, but their fun had not ended just yet.

"What is this?" Vervain shouted, as he came up to the memorial, waiting for the two to answer him.

"This is Larch's memorial, not like you would care." Moss told him coldly, obviously still angry, since Larch's death was because of Vervain.

"No, I can't allow this." Vervain told them as he started for the small tree to break it.

"Well, you don't get a say in the matter!" Campion shouted, as he stood in front of the little tree, since it was unable to protect itself.

"Soldiers die. If they see this, then they might think we care for them. Now move!" He yelled trying to get by Captain Campion, who wasn't moving.

"Besides, he was just a worthless excuse for a rabbit, anyway!"

"He was more of a soldier then you will ever be!" Moss told him. He had joined Campion in front of the small tree.

"Yeah, and he is dead." He chuckled. That just made the two mad, since they had grown up with Larch ever since they were kittens.

"I should kill you right here!" Campion yelled. He had pinned down Vervain, readying to kill the weak and pathetic rabbit, but in return, Vervain was just smiling.

"No, don't, Campion. That's what he wants." Moss told his friend, trying to get him off of Vervain, who was still smiling at them.

"He was a loser. He should have been killed when he was a kit!" Vervain told them, which put Campion over the edge, and he was about to end the rabbit's life, not caring that the General would hear about this.

"Now, why can't I kill him, Captain Campion?" A mysterious voice asked them. All three of them looked, to see Sunflower standing in front of them.

"No! You died!" Vervain exclaimed.

"Is…is that really…really you?" Campion stuttered, as he shed a few tears of joy. Moss was too shocked to say anything but stare.

Turns out Sunflower wasn't his real name. It was...

Larch.