I forgot to add the disclaimer for the other chapters – I do not own anything in the Watership down franchise and any plot lines, characters, dialog you recognise belongs to Richard Adams and Alltime Entertainment and Decode Entertainment.
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Chapter 3 – The high hills
"Bigwig I do believe you are scaring them" a small brown rabbit said as he hopped up beside the largest male. Skylar and Selene exchanged glances and Skylar suddenly tensed and whispered "you're going to take me back to Efrafa aren't you? You are one of their patrols!" the largest male, now named Bigwig looked interested and replied "what makes you think we are from Efrafa"
Skylar looked down and said "well you have a mark. You are the officer for the shoulder mark in Efrafa, although you are a new officer as the mark is still healing" Bigwig looked impressed and said "well I can tell you are observant, and I can guess you are the missing doe that has given Efrafa some trouble these last few days" Skylar sighed and replied "I had to escape, it was an awful warren to be in and I won't go back, you can't make me!" Skylar voice raised to a shout as what she had feared was coming true, she stepped up to Bigwig's face and stared at him till he backed away.
To Skylar's and Selene's surprise all of the rabbits surrounding them started to laughing, well except for Bigwig, the small grey rabbit chuckled "that's the first time I have ever seen you back away from an enraged doe, Bigwig, even Blackberry couldn't manage it" Bigwig looked angry and said "I did not back down I was merely made uncomfortable, and I'd watch it if I were you, Hawkbit or you may find yourself the first volunteer to help Blackberry expand the warren."
Selene then spoke up for the first time and said "well if you aren't Efrafa, who are you?" the small brown buck said "we are from Watership down, I'm Fiver, the grey buck is Hawkbit, the tan coloured buck is Dandelion and last but not least we have Bigwig, who has just come from Efrafa and has helped two other rabbits escape, but he had to gain their trust, hence the mark" each respective rabbit gave a wave and Skylar and Selene introduced themselves as well. Fiver then asked "are you looking to join our warren Skylar and Selene?"
Skylar looked at her feet and said "well until a few days ago I didn't know you all existed, Selene mentioned she knew of you when we met" Fiver hopped over to the doe and went to put his paw on her shoulder but Skylar shied away, Fiver looked confused but decided not to comment on the does odd behaviour and said "well you have met us now and we would love for you to join us at Watership down" Skylar and Selene looked at each other and slowly nodded and Skylar said "we accept your kind offer, as I don't think I realised how hard it was going to be without a home."
Hawkbit then asked "how did you get out of Efrafa? I don't get how you could have done it on your own without getting caught, we struggled to get out of there as it was" Skylar looked proud for a moment and opened her mouth to start the story but Bigwig spoke first "she can tell us when we get back to the warren, we have spent too much time in the open now, so let's move" Skylar shrugged her shoulders and said "what he said." They all started moving, Skylar and Selene staying near Fiver as they ran towards a very steep looking hill. Selene said "we aren't going up there are we?" Fiver laughed and said "yeah, all the way to the top" Skylar and Selene exchanged a look and carried on running.
When they finally reached the top Skylar flopped onto her side and Selene fell on top of her, Skylar panted "I am so unfit, that was the most exercise I have done for a while!" Selene giggled and said "yeah that was my exercise for the rest of the year done" the bucks were laughing at the two friends antics and Bigwig called "hazel, we have some new friends you need to meet" hazel and the rest of the warren then made their way from the depths of the burrows to join the group in the sunshine.
When Primrose and Blackavar emerged, Skylar gasped and said "you made it out then?" primrose replied "yes thanks to hazel and his friends." Bigwig then said "this is Skylar and Selene they are joining our warren and we were just about to hear how Skylar escaped Efrafa" Hazel and the others greeted the newcomers and sat down, Skylar settled herself down and said if you are all ready to listen I will begin" all rabbits present nodded so Skylar continued "well, the time I fully decided to escape was when my mother was killed by Woundwort for planning a rebellion"
There were a few gasps from the rabbits listening but Skylar did not acknowledge them, for she was lost to her story and memories, "all instigators including my mom were executed by Woundwort himself, I had already decided that I could not stay in a warren where every ounce of freedom was taken, but the final straw was when my mom was killed, I could not stay where I had no family, there was a rumour that I had a half-brother, but I never met him or he did not want to know me, we apparently had the same father but I never knew him ether, so I felt it did not matter, I knew I would not escape by trying to run madly as I would be captured before I got 10 hops away from Efrafa, I knew I had to plan it carefully if I was going to pull it off."
Skylar paused for a few seconds and continued "I decided the best chance I had was to observe the owsla and look for any gaps in the security, I also picked up some fighting moves and survival skills in case I had to fight, after a few weeks of behaving and playing their game, I was mostly ignored by the officers as I was not causing trouble in the warren and deemed obedient, and I had finally spotted a gap in their security, during first silflay, during the guard switch I noticed there was a few moments where there was no guard as they switched, I decided that would be my best chance to run as I would get a few moments head start on any pursuers."
Skylar paused for a moment to see if everyone was still listening when she saw they were she continued "I decided to make my move when the officers were distracted by a gull flying over the warren" Bigwig and Hazel and Fiver chucked at this. Skylar looked at them intrigued for a moment, knowing they knew something about it but decided to continue. "I slipped into the undergrowth and was not noticed by the officers, I started to move slowly, when, to my absolute bad luck, Vervain spotted me, but before he could sound the alarm, I did a flying kick I had learnt while observing Captain Campion when he was training the owsla, and knocked him into the undergrowth"
There were a few more chuckles through the group when she said this, Skylar grinned and continued "I'm pretty sure I knocked him out because he did not move, but I did not hang around to see, I bolted into the woods and travelled all day till I took refuge in a hedge and met Selene, we then decided to travel together as we were both alone, we raided a farm for food, but that is a story for another day, and then we ran into you"
Everyone looked impressed "well Skylar that was an impressive story and well done for knocking Vervain out cold" Hazel said. Bigwig started to laugh and said "that must be why Vervain was in such a bad mood when I got there, and you will have to show me that flying kick some time, it may come in handy" Skylar nodded and promised to show him during the next owsla training session. As the group dispersed Fiver hopped over to Skylar and Selene and said "you were very brave to do that, not may would be able to escape from Efrafa, especially alone" he smiled at Skylar and she smiled and thanked him, as he left she looked over the down with Selene and said "we are going to be ok, and we can see what tomorrow brings." Both Skylar and Selene both heard Blackberry calling them into the warren to see their burrows, as they disappeared Skylar knew tomorrow was going to be good.