"Hazel, help us, please!" Hawkbit begged, since now his and Fiver's lives rested in the claws of a natural rabbit eater…a large and very hungry weasel.

"Ha, what are they supposed to do?!" the weasel laughed, since right now he held all the cards, leaving the rabbits helpless.

"Now, surrender to me, and maybe, just maybe, I will let one of you live...while I eat the rest of your friends!" he snarled, tightening his grip on both of the captives.

"You hurt my baby brother in any way, and you will be sorry!" Hazel shouted. It really wasn't wise to mess with his family, especially when it came to Fiver.

Sadly, they couldn't do much, since the weasel was threatening to kill the two rabbits if they moved any closer, not to mention he was a lot higher up than them, so they would need to think of something…before it was too late.

"You forget yourself, weasel! There are five of us ready to fight and only one of you, so I suggest you let my mate and friend go, or else!" Molly threatened him. But it only seemed to amuse the weasel, who had now had begun to laugh.

"Now, what's so funny, if I may ask?" Dandelion questioned him.

"You think he is alone!" a voice called. It was another weasel…but this one was female. It had emerged from the farthest run on the right side, and must have been the one following Larch and Molly.

"Ah, Heather! There you are, my love, and just in time for dinner!" the biggest weasel told her. Once she saw the large meal, Heather started to lick her lips. She couldn't wait to bite into some fresh meat.

"Can't wait to dine with you, Sly," she said, indicating that the male weasel was actually named Sly.

Hawkbit accidently caught himself some unwanted attention, as he burst out laughing a little. He tried to stop himself…but it was too late.

"What's so funny long ear?" Sly asked, as he started to squeeze the back of Hawkbit's neck.

"Nothing, nothing! Well…it was just that…um…that name of yours was a little bit funny," Hawkbit told him, hoping he hadn't upset him. Luckily, Sly just started to laugh a little with him, making Hawkbit feel very uncomfortable.

"Not the most intimidating name for a hunter, that I do agree!"

"Okay, now that we have introduced each other, can we go?" Hawkbit asked. The weasel slowly shook his head.

"No, sorry. I am afraid not. I am just way too hungry to do that!"

"All right...Sly, I have a question. How are there two of you? We only trapped one of you down here, not two!" Bigwig asked.

"Well, let me explain it to you! When you imprisoned me down here, I was forced to scavenge for food, because it turns out that there is no way out of this system. Believe me, I have tried! Sly explained, and as he CONTINUED, he seemed to only get madder and madder at the rabbits.

"When I had caught a small insect to eat, I suddenly heard a whimper, coming from deeper in the cave."

"That's when I met my new mate; Heather here," he looked toward her and smiled, indicating his love for her.

"I had accidentally fallen down a hole leading to this awful place. But I guess it wasn't all that bad, because that's when he found me," Heather gestured to her new mate and soon tried to continue the story for him. But Hawkbit being…well…himself, he had to open his big mouth.

"Well, I am so happy for you two!" Hawkbit shouted, interrupting Heather's story. "Now, can you please let me and Fiver go?!"

"Shut up, you! Interrupt her again, and you will be sorry!" Sly snapped, tightening his grip, forcing Fiver and Hawkbit to cry out in PAIN.

Hazel and the rest had tried to get closer to help their friends, but the weasels were making it pretty clear that this wasn't the best idea. Sly had pulled his claws back up to their throats, threatening to end their life right now.

"Hawkbit! Hazel! Everyone! Can you both please stop interrupting them so our nice new friends can finish up their story?" Fiver insisted. Luckily, it seemed to work, because Sly was now lowering his claws away from their vulnerable necks…but still not letting go of them.

"It's kind of sad really. You know, the whole having to eat you part? Because you are a very kind rabbit," Heather pointed out.

"Alright, well, I have another question for you two. How did you get Hawkbit here in the first place?" Dandelion continued on with his questions, even though right now wasn't the best time to ask.

"Dandelion, could you shut up for once and help us?!" Hawkbit shouted at his best friend, trying to get himself free from the weasel's strong grip.

"Fine, then!" Dandelion replied angrily, and stopped talking.

"Honestly, this wasn't really about getting our next meal," Heather explained to them, as she started to circle around them.

"Then, what is it now?" Hazel asked, although he knew he would probably hate the answer. As soon as Heather was next to Hazel, she answered him in a most disturbing tone.

"It's all about...revenge," she whispered in his ear.

"Revenge? Revenge for what?!" Hazel argued.

"You trapped me down here and left me to die!" Sly replied.

"You were going to kill us! What were we supposed to do? Let you?!" Bigwig shouted.

"Well, I suppose you're right about that…" Sly told him, licking his lips.

"Okay, honestly, I don't care how many there are of you, or how you even got Hawkbit down here. But there is no way we will let you hurt our friends!" Larch growled from on top of Bigwig's back. But the two weasels weren't scared of him, since, in his condition, he really couldn't fight at all.

"So, let's see…two very hungry and very strong weasels against…maybe three fighters?" Heather replied, insulting Molly by thinking that just because she was small and a doe, she wasn't a fighter of any kind.

"Well, you two are definitely good for each other, considering those nasty faces!" Molly insulted the weasels, who didn't take kindly to this insult.

"Shut up, you! Or we can just push your little friends off, which would cause them to go splat, all over the ground. It will just make it easier for us to eat them!" Sly told her, as he started to push the two rabbits closer and closer to the edge.

They both tried their best to keep away from the edge, trying to find something to grab onto…but the only thing they could do was to clutch onto the weasel, hoping he would stop pushing them.

"If you guys have a plan, I hope you would act on it soon!" Fiver begged, as he watched himself coming closer and closer to falling.

While the two weasels CONTINUED talking to each other about who will eat which rabbit, Bigwig had laid Larch back down on the ground so he could make his way over to Hazel. He had come up with a plan to save Fiver and Hawkbit, not to mention getting out of this situation and away from these two predators.

"Hazel, if we make the weasel mad enough, he will push Fiver and Hawkbit away from him, and they would fall!" Bigwig whispered to his leader, trying to explain his plan.

"Bigwig, how would that help us?! It will kill them!" Hazel replied. Bigwig shook his head.

"No. I meant that when he pushes them off, we can both make a dash and catch them before they hit the ground. I can go after Hawkbit, while you go after Fiver," Bigwig finally finished. Hazel wasn't very keen on this type of plan. One mistake and they could both die…but, honestly, he didn't have any better ideas.

With no other options available, Hazel nodded in agreement, and soon Bigwig had begun to whisper the rest of the plan to the others. Once done, Bigwig and Hazel started to get as close as possible to Fiver and Hawkbit without drawing too much attention.

"What stinks in here? Oh, wait, it must be her!" Dandelion shouted, point to the female weasel, who growled.

"I am warning you, say something like that again, and I will push them off!" Sly threatened, as he started pushing Fiver and Hawkbit, who were now halfway off the edge, just barely holding on to him to prevent themselves from falling to their death.

"Okay, I am sorry…but your fur is just...terrible. I mean, it's just so darn hideous. Don't even consider having children!" Larch continued, ignoring the threat, and trying to get them as angry as possible.

"Alright, fine! You made this happen!" Sly shouted, pushing his two captives off the edge, queuing Bigwig and Hazel to set their plan in motion.

Both weasels were now laughing, as they could hear the two rabbits screaming for help. They waited for that 'splat' noise, which would indicate the two rabbits were now one with the ground, and become a horrifying mess.

"HAZEL!" Fiver screamed, as he saw the ground coming up very fast.

Luckily, Hazel and Bigwig had made it to them just in time. Bigwig wasn't very gentle with Hawkbit, and had tackled him in midair, forcing them both to the ground…but, at least, he had saved his life. Hazel was a lot better in his catching, only because he had turned his whole body upside down, forcing his soft underbelly up. Fiver landed on it, and Hazel curled his body around him, so only he would get hurt when they landed back on the ground and not Fiver.

"All right, let's get out of here!" Dandelion shouted as he picked up Larch, and started to make his way back to the only usable entrance.

Sly had finally stopped laughing, only to notice that their captives were escaping. Most the rabbits were already gone by this time, but Hazel and Fiver had to take a little extra time. So Heather had already gone into action and was blocking the entrance before Hazel and Fiver could escape with everyone else.

"Fiver, stay behind me," Hazel whispered, not taking his eyes off of Heather. Now they were facing a new problem-Sly-who would soon come down and help his lover.

Hazel having had enough of this, he soon attacked Heather, catching her complete by surprise and soon pinned her down on to the ground. But instead of even trying to fight back, she actually began pleading with Hazel not to kill her. But he was only thinking of one thing-his hatred toward her and Sly for holding his little brother hostage.

"No, Hazel! Please don't hurt her!" Fiver shouted, trying to get in his way before he could have a chance to kill the weasel.

"What are you doing, Fiver? Move out of the way!" he replied angrily, trying to force him away. Fiver was now holding onto to Heather's body, actually shielding her from danger.

"Have you forgotten that she just tried to get you and Hawkbit killed?!" Hazel argued. But Fiver still refused to move, and by now, they had run out of time.

"You dare try to harm my family?!" Sly shouted in anger, and jumped from his ledge, not wasting time on trying to go around. But when he landed, the ground beneath their feet started to form large cracks, forcing steam to hiss out.

"What's going on?!" Sly shouted, watching the cracks lead up to the walls around them and finally end up on the ceiling, stopping for a brief minute.

Then, all of a sudden, a large booming noise came from the ceiling. Now, a large amount of water was about to fall upon them if they didn't move quickly enough.

Seeing this was their only chance, Hazel forgot all about Heather, and grabbed Fiver, pulling him away from her so they could both run full sprint down to the entrance, Hazel trying to make sure Fiver was in front of him at all times. As he looked behind him, he could see both weasels trying to get away…but Sly and Heather were sucked immediately into the water, which was in fact following Hazel and Fiver…but they had a small head start.

"Run, Fiver, run!" Hazel shouted, trying his best to get them both away from the water. But now rocks were starting to fall from the walls, and more water was beginning to spray from them.

They could now see that they were coming up to the entrance they had first began in…but it was slowly falling apart, as the ground in the middle had caved in on itself. Acting as a giant whirlpool, it was sucking down water and rocks.

Sadly, Hazel and Fiver were just about past the POOL, and starting to enter the newly enlarged hole that led back to Hawkbit's burrow, when a large and sudden amount of water smashed into Fiver, flinging him into the large pool. It had come from the middle run-the one that had collapsed. The water must have put on enough pressure to push past the rocks.

"Fiver!" Hazel shouted, trying to locate his brother in the pool. But, it seems that he had been submerged under it and couldn't be seen. With no hesitation, Hazel jumped into the pool, trying to locate his younger brother. He soon emerged back at the top, trying his best to locate him before it was too late, and saw finally saw him trying to swim away from the middle…but the pool's suction was very strong.

Hazel swam over to his brother as fast as possible. Grabbing him by the scruff of the neck, he tried his best to pull him back over to the side. But, now, he was caught in the pool, and both were about to be sucked down…that is, until Hazel felt something wrap itself around his torso, which caused them to stop being sucked toward the middle. They were now being pulled back to the safety of the edge. He couldn't see who it was that had saved them but right now the only thing on his mind was not to let go of Fiver for anything.

Hazel and Fiver were now doing their best to keep above the rising water, while pushing with their paws to help themselves move faster. They were almost back to the safety of the edge, when, suddenly, Hazel was struck with a large rock that had fallen from the ceiling. It smacked him squarely in the head, causing everything to immediately fade to black.

"Hazel?" a faint female voice called out.

"Hazel, can you hear me?"
This time it sounded more like a male's voice.

"Hazel!" Fiver shouted.

Finally, he opened his eyes to see that he was now lying on his side. His head was hurting a lot, but at least he was now inside Blackberry's burrow…but he was alone.

"Hello?" he called out, hoping this wasn't another dream…or whatever it was with his mother.

"Ah, Hazel! You're finally awake!" Blackberry exclaimed as she walked in.

"What happened?" he asked, trying to stand up. Other than feeling a little wobbly, he was now able to stand without difficulty.

"Well, luckily, all of you guys made it out of the cave, although you got a pretty bad shiner on your head in the process," she explained to him.

"How long have I been out?"

"Not too long, I wouldn't think...about an hour at most."

"Also, someone has been dying to see you."

"Come on in, he's awake!" she called over her shoulder.

"Hazel!" Fiver shouted, rushing from the entrance and into his brother's arms, accidentally tipping him over. Hazel honestly didn't care. Blackberry was giggling as she watched the two brothers unite again.

"I thought...I thought...that I had lost you forever," his little brother stated sadly.

"That will never happen. It would take more than a rock to separate me from you," Hazel reassured him, hugging Fiver tight and close to his chest, not letting him go.
Finally, Fiver was the one who let go. He watched as his brother slowly got back onto his feet again with the help of Blackberry. But the joy on Fiver's face was slowly fading back into sadness.

"What's the matter, Fiver?" Hazel asked.

"Can you just come follow me, please?" he replied sadly, starting to leave the burrow. Not having another option, Hazel had started to follow him, but needed help from Blackberry to keep going.

He now noticed that they were heading back toward Hawkbit's burrow. But instead of going inside, they went past it, and down into the caverns below. Luckily, it was the ones that led to Efrafa, not the destroyed and flooded caverns. But, to his surprise, everyone was now waiting down there. They had all gathered around something near the crystal pond.

He noticed that everyone was either crying, or were just not speaking. But, all had saddened faces. It looked liked maybe a member of the warren had died recently.

Finally, Hazel started to hear a small whimpering sound. As he got closer and closer, he could make out two medium sized figures. They were definitely not rabbits, but they were lying on the ground next to the calm water. Once they were fully in sight, Hazel was horrified to see who it was.

"Sly!" Hazel shouted in surprise…but the weasel took no notice of him.

"What is he doing here?! He is going to kill us all!"

To his surprise, no one was running away. They just stood there staring down at the male weasel. He had not even tried to get up and attack them. All he was doing now was cradling a lifeless figure in his paws.

"You know…the funny thing is…she didn't even like eating rabbits," he whispered to them.

Now he could see that he was cuddling Heather, his new mate. But, sadly, she wasn't moving. She was dead in his arms.

"Why are you here?" he asked, but didn't get an answer.

"You know, she actually saved your brother and friend from me," Sly told Hazel.

"It's true, Hazel. She did actually save us from being eaten," Fiver replied. Hazel still very confused.

"When I was being dragged back to them by Sly, Heather stopped him from eating me and Hawkbit."

After this was said, Fiver made his way over to Sly. At first, Hazel was about to stop him, but the weasel didn't even try to attack him. All Sly did was set Heather down onto the ground. Then, he looked at Fiver, and soon started to shed a few tears. To Hazel's surprise, Sly actually hugged his little brother and cried into his shoulder instead of attacking him.

"I am so sorry for what I did," he whispered into Fiver's ear.

"This is getting stranger and stranger," Hazel thought, watching very closely to make sure Sly didn't try anything.

"Heather was the one who saved you and Fiver from the whirlpool, back in those caves," Molly whispered to him.

"Why?"

"I am not sure. But, when she made it back with you two...she had swallowed a lot of water," Blackberry continued for Molly while the other doe went over to help comfort Fiver and Sly.

"We thought about leaving her, but Sly insisted that we help her, so we took her here to help…but also to make sure we kept them away from the others. I tried everything I could, but she just didn't get enough air, and..."

Finally, once Sly was done crying, he got away from Fiver, and was now heading towards Hazel. Immediately, Bigwig and other strong members of the warren stopped him, thinking he was going to try and kill Hazel.

"No, let him through," Hazel said. At first, they were a little hesitant about it. Yet, finally, they did as they were told, letting Sly come close to Hazel.

Sly was now standing in front of Hazel, but he was still being watched by Bigwig and their Owsla members, who were ready to jump and attack Sly if he tried anything. But there was only sorrow written on his face, not even a little bit of hatred towards them...just sadness.

"It's kind of funny, you know. I never really liked to eat rabbits either," he suddenly joked.

"You tried to eat us," Hazel told him, making him look very ashamed.

"I know, and I... I am sorry for what I did. I'll be going now," he finished, and started to walk past to leave.

He really was leaving. To the rabbits' shock, he hadn't even tried to attack while he was down here, or kill anyone for food. All he did was slowly walk away from them.

RIGHT before Sly was about to leave for good, Hazel spoke up.

"Sly, wait."

"Yes?" he asked.

"I can't believe I would ever say this, especially to your kind…but...would you like to stay at Watership Down, with us?" Hazel offered. The whole warren was shocked at this. How could Hazel let a natural elil stay with them?

Sly declined the offer by shaking his head, and soon started to walk further ahead. That is, until Fiver ran after him, and stopped him from taking another step.

"Please, Sly! I forgive you! What would Heather want you to do?" he asked.

Sly was now staring into his eyes.

"You really are a kind rabbit, just like Heather said before."

"Yeah, I did say that. Now, what would I want you to do?" a female voice called. Everyone turned around, to see Heather, who was now staring directly at Sly. She hadn't died after all.

"H…Heather…is that really you?" Sly asked…but before she could reply, he was already next to her, and had placed a kiss upon her cheek.

"Hazel, if you would let us... I think we would love to stay here," she answered. Everyone was very worried. How could they trust someone like this?

After some time of thinking, Hazel had finally came to a conclusion.

"All right. But there will be many rules to follow," Hazel told them.

"I think I can already guess what they are. And, don't worry, me and Sly can just stay on an insect DIET!" Heather replied with a smile.

"Also, you will always be watched carefully, until you can be trusted. I just can't take the chance of someone being hurt or killed."

Both of them didn't care what kind of circumstances they had to live under. Just as long as they were together, they would be happy.

"I guess you can never judge someone before you really meet them," Hazel thought, as he watched the two weasels hold each other in their arms.

"Thank you Hazel! Thank you…for giving me and Heather a chance. You won't regret it." Sly thanked him.

"I guess you rabbits aren't that bad after all," Heather joked.

"All right, come on, you two," Hazel replied, leading them back because a cave was the worst thing to be in right now. He was sick and TIRED of caves.

Fiver had wandered up next to Hazel, while the rest followed in tow, and Hazel had been meaning to ask a question to Fiver anyway.

"You think we can really trust them?" he finally asked.

Fiver started to think over it. This was a pair of natural killers that they were letting inside their warren, and they could be totally unpredictable. But that didn't stop the long eared seer from changing his mind on the matter of these two weasels.

"Yes, we can," he finally replied, as he turned around to see the two were still together, as they followed everyone back up and away from the caves.

"Well, you have never given me a reason to doubt you yet, Fiver. Even if this is totally crazy," Hazel chuckled as he rubbed his brother's head playfully.