Disclaimer– 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.
Thank you to Chipster-roo for reviewing – I'm glad you liked Storm, I was unsure on whether to add her into the story or leave it as just Skylar and Selene. Storm plays a bigger part in this chapter, I only wanted to introduce her in the last chapter as I was not sure whether to keep her or not, hope you enjoy this new chapter.
And thank you to Chipster-roo, TAY BARTLETT, GodShynin300, trebor1212 and White Hunter for adding me to their favourites/follows.
A/N I am so sorry for the delay with this chapter. I was caught up with college assignments and I was a bit stressed due to my dog falling ill. I have now been signed off from college for the year and Milly is now feeling a bit better, not 100%, but not so ill, I can now dedicate my time to writing and updating regularly again. Again I apologise for the delay, hope you all enjoy the new chapter – Lauz-Millz
Chapter 11 – One chance
Skylar sat on top of the down looking at the woodland. Not too long ago Selene and Storm had ran off into the woods and had yet to return. They had called their goodbyes and see you laters but had not invited Skylar to go with them.
As she sat she thought about their current problem, Pipkin had been kidnapped by Woundwort and he was demanding Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver and herself, give themselves up and Pipkin would be freed. Skylar knew Hazel would call a meeting later on to discuss the options, but right now, as selfish it may be, she was dwelling on the fact her friends had left her alone.
She was happy for Selene to have found her friend, but right now she needed her sister to work out another problem, her problem with Fiver. After Primroses comment of him liking her and then calling her clueless, she did wonder if she had missed something. The does kept teasing her about it and she did not know what to do.
Thinking back she could see how the others would believe that Fiver liked her, but she was still in denial. She could not understand why he liked her in the first place, she was always ignored in Efrafa, and she never had any friends until she met Selene and she could not understand why he found her beautiful. Blackberry, Primrose and Clover were beautiful, she was just a plain doe, nothing special.
Her mother had never taught her anything, only how to stay safe in Efrafa, nothing about emotions or mates or anything of the outside world, so she decided to ignore any emotions and decided that mates were useless anyway, well unless you wanted kits, which she didn't. She had only loved her mother and she had been taken from her and the pain was awful, was that what it was like to have your heart broken? She was not sure she wanted to experience it again, and the idea that Fiver liked her and could potentially leave or be taken from her scared her.
She had never properly grieved for her mother as she did not know how to cope silently with her loss, so she bottled it up, pushed her feeling aside and concentrated with her escape. Now she had to deal with new emotions and she did not know how. She found it even more difficult to ignore any potential feeling when everyone kept asking if she liked Fiver.
After a while she heard Hazel calling everyone into the burrow for the meeting. As she headed down, Clover hopped over and asked "so are you and Fiver mates? As I know he likes you a lot and you two are so adorable together" Skylar looks at Clover and replies "um no we are not mates, I think we are going to stay just friends" Clover looked at her and said "for how brilliant you are in the owsla, you really are clueless on matters of the heart" Skylar sighed and thought about how again she would have to deal with emotions and how it would be easier to live without them.
Bigwig then called "Skylar! Clover! Come on" they both descended into the burrow to attend the meeting. Hazel called everyone to attention "right Woundwort has Pipkin and to get him back we need to make a trade, our lives for Pipkins and we have till the round moon to make the trade or Pipkin will be killed" Hazel explained.
Bigwig then continued "we are supposed to make the exchange on the river bank by the stone bridge, our lives for Pipkins" Hazel starts to continue but Blackberry speaks first "you can't do this Hazel, even if it does mean losing Pipkin" Hannah then exclaims "Blackberry" how could you say such a thing? It's Pipkin!"
Blackberry looks at Hannah sympathetically "I know, but Watership down wouldn't last one season without Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver and Skylar, and I think Woundwort has bad plans for Skylar" Captain Broom then says " I'm afraid, she is right Woundwort would come down on us like winter rain, also why ask for Skylar and not Primrose and Blackavar? They all escaped but he asks for Skylar to surrender, something not quite right about that"
Hawkbit nods and says "they are right, Skylar could be hurt bad, and we won't survive without Hazel, Bigwig and Fiver, the good of the warren comes first" Hannah then exclaims "give up on Pipkin? You think that's good" Skylar then exclaims "hey he did not say that, don't put words in his mouth! That is very mean" Hannah looks annoyed and Hazel shouts "no one's giving up, we won't surrender and we won't abandon Pipkin. We have a secret ally inside Efrafa" Bigwig and Skylar nod and say at the same time "Captain Campion" Kehaar sighs and says "but for now Woundwort still has poor little Pipkin" they all decide to head up to discuss potential plans.
As they all meet on the top of the down Selene and Storm return to the down. They head over to Hannah and Kehaar and they both fill in Selene and Storm about what was happening, both Selene and storm wanted to help but Storm knew she couldn't sit close to the other rabbits as they were still wary of her, although this hurt she understood, but she did hope Selene's sister Skylar would warm up to her, but she had suddenly become frosty towards her. As they watched the rabbit's converse they gossip about Fivers recent confession to Skylar and how Skylar was being clueless.
Everyone was discussing potential plans to rescue Pipkin. Eventually after some time had passed Hawkbit suggested "how about we capture Vervain and trade him for Pipkin" Skylar chuckled at that imagining kidnapping Vervain but Bigwig said "no, Woundwort wouldn't go for it, we need something clever and tricky"
As they discussed and rejected more plans Skylar said "I'm going to look at the exchange place, it may give me some ideas and a plan may hop into my head, pun intended" the others all chuckled as she said this and Bigwig said "ok good idea it makes sense than keeping you here when you could potentially come up with a solution but take Selene and Storm with you maybe the three of you can come up with something and that way you won't be alone" Skylar nodded and headed over to where Selene, Storm, Hannah and Kehaar were. Bigwig liked it when Skylar joked it kept spirits up in dark times.
When Skylar made her way over Hannah said "they fight their little rabbit wars and they think it's only their business, I have ideas too!" Skylar looks at Hannah and she nodded and said "ok, well I don't think we can do this on our own, could you find some other animals that may be willing to help us?" Kehaar then said "I would like to get an idea too" Hannah nods, jumps on Kehaar's back and says "come on Kehaar, its time we fixed things for Pipkin" Kehaar then exclaims "good idea!" and they both take off into the sky.
Skylar looks at Selene and Storm and says "we need to go and look at the exchange site, it may give us some new ideas and a fresh eye" they both nod and agree. As they all head down the hill Skylar calls back "we will be back at dusk, see you all later" they hear cries of "ok" and "see you later" and Skylar hears Bigwig say "don't try anything foolish and daring" Skylar chuckles at this and Storm says "do you tend to do daring things?" Skylar looks at the fox and nods "well I did take on a weasel, and some owsla officers oh and I helped distract a cat which had Fiver trapped" Storm looked shocked and smiled "well I guess you know your stuff then, they sound like some interesting stories, I would like to hear them sometime" Skylar nods and says "well as we are traveling to the exchange site I will tell you about the weasel and the farm raid, we will have plenty of time to tell both stories"
As they reach the exchange site Storm says "wow you must be so well trained to do all of that! How have you survived?" Skylar replies "luck half the time, if I'm honest" Selene chuckles and says "oh stop being modest, she is a captain of owsla so she is very well trained and clever" Skylar blushes and looks away. Storm and Selene then exchange a look and Selene says "so I hear Fiver said you were, what was it? Beautiful, funny and amazing? Sounds like you have an admirer" Skylar looks away and she could feel tears building up, she did not need her sister and friend teasing her now.
Skylar could not hold back the sob that had been threatening to escape her "I can't deal with this now" she exclaimed tears now running freely down her face. Selene and Storm looked shocked at her outburst. Skylar then continued hysterically "everyone keeps asking me about it and I don't know! I keep trying to sort out my feelings but I don't want to fall in love to then be hurt when they leave or die, I lost my mother and I didn't grieve, I couldn't grieve, I don't know how to deal with emotions, I just ignore them, in Efrafa I never needed them and now I have all this going on and it is just too much! All of the does are teasing me too and calling me clueless and stupid but I can't help it" Skylar then whimpers "I don't know what to do, tell me what to do!" Skylar cries.
Selene and Storm looked at each other and moved to comfort Skylar. Skylar flinched from the contact but they both held fast, trying to calm the rabbit down. They both had no idea that she had been dealing with this, they had both been too caught up in the renewal of their old friendship to notice that their new friend needed help.
Selene then said "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, and we should have stopped the others from teasing you" Storm then looks at her and says "I did not know you were dealing with all of this, you always seem so calm and collected I assumed you were ok with the teasing. I am sorry too." Skylar sniffs and starts to calm down. Skylar then says "I'm sorry I acted cold towards you Storm, you were just happy to have your friend back and I was being selfish" Storm looks at Skylar and exclaims "you are not being selfish, it was my fault, I thought you wouldn't want to join us as I believed you were still afraid of me so I guessed you wouldn't want to come" Skylar looks at Storm then hugs her and whispers "it has all just been a misunderstanding, and I am not afraid of you anymore" Selene then says "we can all stick together from now on and we will help you with the Fiver problem. But right now we need to plan a most brilliant plan to save Pipkin and kick Woundworts butt!" Skylar and Storm then start to laugh and agree that they need to get to work.
As they look around the area and check all of the field over they see a wall with a hole in it where humans must go through, a path that leads from the hole past a large tree that is leaning towards the wall and lots of long grass on either side of the path. They decide what plan Woundwort may come up with and they believe he will go for outnumbering them, that he would bring as many owsla members as he can and would be expecting some sort of trick.
"We will need to thin the owsla members, we won't fight them all, and we need a way to get rid of some" Skylar says. Selene then thinks and replies "and what about Woundwort? He won't let you run, he will have to be dealt with too" suddenly Kehaar and Hannah drop down next to them startling the trio who had been in deep thought. "Hey guys, we met up with the moles, voles, water voles, muskrats, mice, squirrels, hedgehogs, birds and bats. They are all keen to help" Hannah says.
Suddenly Skylar sits up strait and looks at the hole in the wall, along the path, then to the tree and back along the path to the wall. Selene then whispers to Storm "here we go, Skylar has an idea" Skylar then takes a few more moments looking at the field and then declares "ok I have an idea. We get the diggers to dig concealed holes in the field off the path, then during the exchange they all start digging and chewing at the roots of the tree, then as soon as Pipkin goes past the tree we all escape the winged animals cause confusion to divert the owsla into the holes, the tree then falls onto Woundwort as he tries to chase us taking him out long enough for us to escape" Selene, Storm, Hannah and Kehaar look at each other and smile and nod. Selene then says "sounds good to me and we had better head back now, otherwise everyone will be wondering where we have got to" everyone nods and makes their way back to the warren. They start discussing how the idea could be improved all past coldness now gone.
As they are walking Kehaar swoops down and glides near the walking group. Skylar then sighs "oh here we go." As Hannah gets close to Skylar she asks "so I hear Fiver likes you, do you like him? You would make a sweet couple, what does Bigwig think? And does Hazel think you are taking his little brother away from him?" Selene then says "could you leave her alone? She does not need your questions" Hannah then says "well we are all thinking it, and she is stupid to think that he does not like her" Skylar then snaps "stop calling me stupid, I don't know so let's just leave it at that" Hannah and Kehaar then move away after Skylar snapped at them, not wanting to anger the doe anymore.
As they reach the warren they notice Bigwig, Hazel and Fiver still discussing plans, they then notice that Bigwig is describing a potential plan, as they near they hear Bigwig say "ok so you and Fiver are above Efrafa's main entrance and I come out with Pipkin, and you kick down some rocks" Hazel then sighs "it's the sort of thing Woundwort expects, we would lose half the warren if we tried it" Bigwig then sits up and snaps "so what do you suggest? Except giving ourselves up, all you have done is tell us what we can't do!" he swipes his paw angrily, knocking some stones and twigs away. Hazel replies "I know! I wish I could think of something"
Fiver then speaks up "we are tired, maybe if we rest till Skylar, Selene and Storm return we will have a fresh eye, she will most likely have a plan, she is amazing like that" Bigwig grumbles "we only have till the moon is round Fiver we need a plan now! And I am not happy with your liking my sister, we will be having a chat about that, especially as all of the does have been teasing her and it is making her upset!" Fiver looks sad and says "I never meant to admit that to her it slipped out, I never meant for her to get upset!" Hazel then says "ok we can deal with this later, looks like they have all returned" as the trio reaches the top Kehaar and Hannah land by the tree.
Then a bat flies past the bucks and lands in the tree. The bat then says "I am called Darkling, Hannah tells me of Pipkins danger, I have come to help" Hazel then replies "that's good of you Darkling" Bigwig then asks "eh not to be impolite chum, but how is one bat supposed to do us any good?" Darkling then chuckles and says "oh, not just one of me" Fiver then gasps "look" as suddenly, from the woods hundreds of bats swarm out circling the tree before returning to the woods.
The bucks' then move to the trio, Hannah and Kehaar, when they reach them Bigwig asks "so did you find anything interesting at the exchange place?" they all nod and Skylar says "I will explain what we came up with down in the honeycomb chamber" the bucks nod and they all head into the burrow.
Skylar then explains what they came up with and how the plan would work and Bigwig asks "are you sure we will have enough animals willing to help us?" Skylar replies "we will find out tomorrow as Hannah told them to come to the warren to discuss plans, the bats came tonight as they can only be out after the sun has set" Bigwig nods and they all decide that they will head into their chambers for a good night's rest.
As they waited by the warrens entrance for the help to arrive they discussed who was going to meet up with Campion as he may be able to help. It was soon decided that Hazel should go and meet with Campion.
Soon there were plenty of animals arriving at the warren to help, Skylar, Selene and Storm were directing them in to warren with Blackberry and Blackavar. "We are glad you all want to help Pipkin, just let us get organised and we will sort things out" The trio then descends into the warren to meet with Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver, Hannah and Kehaar to discuss any last details.
Down in the honeycomb, the trio couldn't help but chuckle as Dandelion tried to organise the water voles into one area. It was madness they all couldn't believe how many animals had come to help Pipkin as the trio sits next to the others Fiver asked "how did you find them all Hannah?" Hannah then replied "I told a few Pipkin was in trouble, word spread and they have all come to help" Bigwig chuckled "right popular young chap he is" Kehaar then says "little bunny likes everybody, friend to everybody" they all nod as that was very true.
Hazel then says "Right we know the plan, let's get on with it. I will go and contact Campion" Bigwig then replies "remember one stone inside the message tree means meet me right away, two means wait till after dark" Hazel then nods and says "got it, good luck" he then hops away and Skylar was sure she heard him chuckling as he left. Bigwig then grumbled "trust him to take the dangerous job, and leave me to organise this rabble" he then sits up and looks at the trio who is chuckling at him and he then shouts "quiet!" it all falls silent as Bigwig then continues "special digging teams over here, that's moles, voles, water voles and muskrats. Move!"
The animals are then soon sorted into groups assigned to different tasks. Skylar briefs each group on which section they will be doing. Selene then organises the birds and squirrels into groups for the watches so if any Efrafan patrols show up they will be informed in time.
After everyone knows what they are doing, they all head down into the caverns to meet up with Hazel. Hazel was waiting for them at the exit of the tunnel. As they exit the tunnel Bigwig asks "ah Hazel, did you get hold of Campion then?" Hazel nods and says "yes were all set. How did you make out?" Bigwig replies "when I shout loud enough I can organise rain drops" he then pauses and turns back to the tunnel and then shouts "diggers move out, on the double" Skylar, Selene and Storm chuckles as the animals move in perfect formation.
Fiver then says "we have enough diggers to burrow to the heart of the world" the trio chuckles at that and Hazel shouts "right lets go" they all move out of the willow leaves and cross the river to the bank and start to make their way to the exchange sight to start their plan. Hazel then says "tonight's the full moon, we only have one chance to get Pipkin away" Bigwig and Skylar then state together "that's all we need"
They all start to execute the plan, digging the holes, and starting to chew on the roots securing the tree into the ground. As they are digging the watch group by the river spots a patrol approaching so Fiver bolts up to the field to alert them to the enemy patrol approaching, they all instantly hide, Selene hops into the tree, Skylar, Bigwig and the diggers disappear into the grass and remain undetected, this happens a few times but their system works well and soon they are ready for the exchange. Storm keeps watch in the woods passing messages to the teams in the field about any Efranans, she also sends one fox packing when it gets too close, and she then decides to keep watch for elil as well as Efrafans although she was sure they fell into the same category.
As dusk starts to draw in, the bats arrive and take roost in the woodland surrounding the area. The birds follow Kehaar and Hannah to the exchange site and also take roost in the surrounding trees. Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver and Skylar wait by the tree for Woundwort and his army to arrive.
They soon spot the owsla as they enter through the hole in the wall. Skylar notes that most of the owsla was there as they expected. Skylar observed the Efrafan owsla entering the field, after most of the Efrafan owsla has entered the field, Woundwort then entered then followed by Vervain, a buck called Moss if she recalled correctly, Pipkin and Campion. The diggers start to dig the roots from the tree but they dig slowly so the tree does not start to fall or make any sounds. Selene and Storm hover near by to watch and provide assistance should any be needed.
Bigwig then states "not taking any chances is he?" Fiver then replies "that's usually what we do. I mean not take chances" Skylar nods and Hazel agrees as they watch Woundwort run up the path, but to their horror he strays off the path. Hazel then exclaims "he's off the path, if he falls in the trap it's all over!" luckily Campion notices and calls out "general, over here" and fortunately Woundwort moves back onto the path.
Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver and Skylar release the breath they had been holding, that had been too close. Woundwort then calls for his troops to halt in front of the tree. He then looks at Pipkin and they hear him telling him to go. As Pipkin runs past the tree Hazel says "cross the field, follow tracks exactly" Pipkin then cries "I don't want to leave you, especially you Skylar" Hazel then shouts "do as you are told, now! Now!" Pipkin then looks at them and then runs into the undergrowth.
They then hear Woundwort shout "surrender Hazel, Skylar you will be my mate as I planned so many seasons ago, and if your mother had not interfered I would have had you then, but if you come now you will not be harmed. You can't escape" Skylar flinches slightly but stands firm and Hazel calls out the signal "that's what the fox said to El-arah" suddenly the bats and birds dived towards the Efrafans. Woundwort then called out "hold your formations! Attack!" as the owsla ran forward, the bats and birds forced them into the holes dug in the field, hazel, Bigwig, Fiver and Skylar watch as the owsla falls into the traps and soon only Woundwort remains. As he charges forward the tree begins to fall.
As it comes down Woundwort notices and tries to run back but is caught as the leafy braches pin him to the ground. The four then moves to the tree and Woundwort growls knowing he has lost. Bigwig then says "the wars over general, and you lose, you will never hurt my sister again"
Woundwort growls as Bigwig prepares to take the killing swipe, but suddenly a voice calls out "don't Bigwig" Skylar sees that Pipkin has returned and moved between Bigwig and Woundwort. Woundwort growls again and Bigwig says "out of the way Pipkin" but Pipkin refuses.
Suddenly Selene call "run now! They are climbing out!" Hazel then calls "it's too late, run!" as they all bolt Skylar sees Pipkin pause and speak to Woundwort before running into the undergrowth. As they all bolt Skylar meets up with Storm and Selene before meeting up with Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver and Pipkin. As they catch their breath they hear Kehaar thanking his flying friends. She watches Pipkin wave goodbye to them as well.
Bigwig then hops over to Pipkin and says "I had Woundwort dead to rights! Why did you stop me?" Hazel then says "Woundwort would have killed us and taken Skylar if he was given half a chance" Pipkin then replies "I know, but we are not like him are we?" Fiver then hops over and agrees with Pipkin saying "no, we are not" Hazel and Bigwig then smile knowing that Pipkin did do the right thing in stopping him from killing Woundwort.
As they all head back the trio falls behind a bit so they can talk. "Well that went well" Skylar states as they run through the woods. Selene giggles and says "well it's not the result we planned but it worked and we all got away" Storm then says "so the general wants you as his mate? Is that why you escaped?" Skylar shakes her head "no, I escaped because he killed my mother, after he found out they were planning a rebellion. Maybe mother found out what Woundwort was planning and she tried to stop it or maybe they planned to get me out, which is why she was killed, Campion said he helped me escape because Woundwort planned to kill me, but maybe he knew what Woundwort planned and just told me that to keep it simple" Selene looked horrified "Woundwort won't get you, we won't allow it"
Skylar looked at her friends and said "well then this just got more complicated, I wonder how many more secrets there are surrounding my mother and the rebellion" Skylar then chuckled "I must have kept my eyes and ears shut to have missed all of this when I was in Efrafa, I hope I am more alert now!" they all laugh and make their way back to the warren totally exhausted from the day they had experienced.