Chapter 2-First Encounter

"Come on everyone, on your feet! We still have a long journey until we get to the hill, and it would be smart of us to get there during daylight, in case we run into any trouble." This outburst from Bigwig came just after Frith broke over the horizon, eliciting groans from the rest of the rabbits. All but a dark gray one who apparently had grown used to Bigwig's bellowing. "Hawkbit! I said everyone, now move you layabout!" The captain followed this with a light cuff the ear to be sure he woke up.

"Gah! By Frith, Bigwig, I'm awake," Hawkbit yelled, startled. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to let us sleep a bit longer. Frith himself isn't even fully awake yet!"

Bigwig replied, "Well that's just too bad isn't it, because you are. Now on your feet!" After a quick morning silflay, the rabbits continued their journey, their steps considerably lighter than the previous night due to their proximity to their goal. They had not been traveling long when they came over a hill and saw Nuthanger farm.

"Um, Hazel? Bigwig?" said a lanky, yellow furred rabbit. "Seeing as we're so close to all this flayrah, do you think we might head down and take a sample?"

The two spoke together quickly before Hazel answered. "Well Dandelion," Hazel responded, "ordinarily this would be too risky in the middle of the day, especially since we're not exactly in top form after all this traveling, but I think we could all use a reward after all our hard work. Just be careful, and keep your ears and noses up."

With that, the group made their way over the hill towards the farm. They came upon a stone fence that would have reached up about to mid-chest on a man, making it much too high for the rabbits to jump over. After some nosing around, they found a hole in the base of the wall, hidden in the brush. Bigwig, leading the way, slowly entered the hole and looked around on the other side. To his left, there was a typical shed that most likely held tools for farming, and beyond that was the farmer's house. Almost directly in front of the hole and off about 30 meters was the field with the flayrah, and behind and to the right of that was a large barn with one door open slightly. "Looks safe enough, alright you lot, start through, but be cautious. There could be elil lurking about."

A few minutes later, the rabbits were happily munching away on the flayrah in the field. Murmurs of "oh, you must try this," and "this is simply amazing" floated around the field. As Pipkin was eating a head of cabbage on the corner of the field nearest the barn, he suddenly noticed a mouse walking by. His curiosity peaked, he decided to try and communicate with it in hedgerow, a common language spoken by all animals, but spoken fluently by none.

"Hello little mouse," he began, "me Pipkin, what your name?"

The mouse rolled its eyes and replied in perfect lapine, "Nice to meet you, Pipkin, my name's Hannah."

Pipkin's eyes widened when she started talking. "You speak lapine? How did that happen? I mean, you're a mouse!"

"You see," she, for the voice was obviously feminine, replied patiently, "when I was growin' up, my family lived close to a warren of rabbits. I grew up around it, so it just came natural."

"Oh, I see," Pipkin said, his flayrah completely forgotten. "So Hannah, do you live here on this farm?"

"Oh definitely not! There's a cat around here, and everyone knows cats and mice don't really mix. Me and a gull friend of mine, his name's Kehaar, we're lookin' for somewhere nice to live, free of danger and whatnot."

"I have a wonderful idea," Pipkin said, almost jumping with excitement. "Why don't the two of you come and live with us? We're going to that hill there. Our friend, Fiver, says it's going to be very safe there, and just yesterday Prince Rainbow gave us his blessing to live there, so it just has to be true! Here, let me speak to my friends, Hazel! Bigwig! Everyone! Come over here and meet Hannah, she going to come and live with us!"

Dandelion, being the fastest, was the first to reach them. "What are you going on about Pipkin? Who's going to live with us?"

Pipkin waited for the rest to gather before he began his explanation, "This is Hannah, she and Kehaar, he's a gull, are going to come and live with us on the high hill! Oh please can they, Hazel?" he asked with hope in his eyes, "I'm sure they can help us, pleeeeeease?"

"Well, they can come for now," he said with an exasperated tone. "We can talk about the future when we get there. Now let's get moving, there's a cat about." The rest of the rabbits turned and saw a sat glaring at them from a distance. They were back on their way in a flash.

Meanwhile on the down, Sam was waking up as Frith's morning rays hit him in the face. Ugh, why did I sleep right by the entrance? Whatever, at least I'll have plenty of time to prepare for meeting Hazel and the rest today. Speaking of which, how exactly do I go about doing that? I can't imagine they're going to be very pleased to see a human on the down.

"OF COURSE THEY WON'T," Prince Rainbow said as he appeared behind Sam, startling him so much he jumped face first into the nearest wall, "YOUR PRESENT FORM IS ENTIRELY UNSUTABLE FOR INITIAL INTERACTION WITH THE RABBITS. BUT THAT IS WHERE THOSE MAGICAL ABILITIES I GRANTED YOU YESTERDAY COME IN, FOR I WILL NOW TEACH YOU OF TWO OF THEM, THE POWERS CORRESPONDING TO THE COLORS PURPLE AND BLUE."

"In the future, you could do a bit more to let me know you're here," Sam said as he got his wits back, "you almost gave me a heart attack." Then as what Prince Rainbow said registered with the shaken teen, he continued with excitement, "You're going to teach me some of those powers? Awesome! Alright I'm ready, what are they?"

"WE WILL BEGIN WITH THE POWER CORRESPONDING TO PURPLE. PURPLE IS A COLOR OF MYSTERY AND ENLIGHTENMENT, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT IS A COLOR OF TRANSFORMATION. THIS POWER, AT ITS BASEST LEVEL, WILL ALLOW YOU TO PHYSICALLY TRANSFORM INTO A RABBIT, THUS ALLOWING YOU TO FREELY ENGAGE WITH THE GROUP THAT WILL BE ARRIVING TODAY."

This took Sam completely by surprise, "I'm actually going to turn into a rabbit? That's…pretty cool. I mean, rabbits aren't exactly the toughest bunch around, but considering the circumstances, I suppose it works. Alright, so what do I have to do to make this happen? Wave my hands? Say some magic words maybe?"

Prince Rainbow scoffed, "NOTHING SO TRIVIAL, I ASSURE YOU. NO, TO ACCOMPLISH THIS FEAT, AS WILL BE THE SAME WITH ALL OTHER POWERS YOU SHALL COME TO FIND, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO ACTIVELY MANIPULATE THE SPIRITUAL ENERGY IN YOUR BODY. FEEL WITHIN YOURSELF SAM, TRY AND FEEL THE ENERGY'S FLOW, HOW IT TIES YOU TOGETHER AND MAINTAINS ORDER IN YOUR BODY. CAN YOU FEEL IT?"

Sam closed his eyes and concentrated on his body. After a few minutes, he began to notice a pattern in his body, almost as if he could feel the energy cycling with every beat of his heart. He opened his eyes and nodded to Prince Rainbow.

"GOOD. NOW, IMAGINE THAT ENERGY SLOWLY TURNING PURPLE, UNTIL IT FILLS YOUR ENTIRE BODY."

This was a bit harder. Sam more "felt" the energy in himself rather than saw it. It took some time, but eventually Sam was able to use his imagination to attach a mental picture to the energy flow he felt. The hard part complete, it was a simple task to imagine it turning purple. Sam again nodded to Prince Rainbow.

"NOW COMES THE HARDEST AND MOST DANGEROUS PART. WITH MY BLESSING, YOU ARE ABLE TO CONTROL THE ENERGY, NOW THAT YOU HAVE INFUSED IT WITH YOUR WILL BY TURNING IT PURPLE. NOW, YOU MUST SLOWLY WILL ALL THE ENERGY TO LEAVE THE OTHER AREAS OF YOUR BODY, AND CONVERGE ON YOUR HEART, FOR ONLY THE HEART HAS THE POWER TO HANDLE SUCH MASSIVE AMOUNT OF ENERGY AS IS STORED IN THE REST OF YOUR BODY. ONCE THE ENERGY IS THERE, YOU MUST ACT QUICKLY, OR ELSE YOUR BODY WILL DIE WITHOUT IT. YOU MUST THINK FIRMLY IN YOUR MIND OF A RABBIT, PICTURE YOUR RABBIT SELF IN YOUR HEAD, THEN AS SOON AS YOU THINK YOU ARE READY, RELEASE YOUR GRIP ON THE ENERGY, AND IT WILL CHANGE YOU."

With these thoughts in mind, Sam began to think about how he would look as a rabbit. I suppose it would be better to get this straight in my head now rather than when my life is on the line, he thought to himself. After some deliberation, he had a mental picture and was ready to get started. But one stray thought entered into his mind. "Prince Rainbow," he said, "what about my weapons and clothes?"

"DON'T WORRY ABOUT THEM," Prince Rainbow responded, "THE WEAPONS ARE DIRECTLY LINKED TO YOUR BODY'S ENERGY AND WILL COME AND GO WITH YOUR HUMAN FORM. IT IS THE SAME WITH YOUR CLOTHES. NOW BEGIN."

Sam nodded and regained his focus. Following Prince Rainbow's instructions, Sam began to pull all his energy into the area of his chest where his heart was. The first thing he noticed as he did this was an overwhelming weakness in the first areas of his body to lose their energy, these being his arms and legs. His arms grew tired and hung limp at his sides, and his legs became so weak that he fell to his knees, then onto his side as the energy further left his body. But he never lost his concentration, and soon he had all the energy bundled inside his heart. Remembering Prince Rainbow's warning, Sam fought through his weakness-muddled thoughts and focused on his mental picture as a rabbit. As soon as he was sure, he released the energy. As it reentered his body, he began to grow light headed and with a bright flash of purple in his eyes, he lost consciousness.

He awoke after a few minutes with a slight pain in his head. As he tried to massage his temples in an effort to relieve the pain, he noticed that he wasn't reaching with a hand, but rather with a paw! It worked, he thought to himself with wonder, I'm really a rabbit! He looked along the length of his body and saw that he was neither lean, nor overly plump, just an average rabbit that was a tad large, but nothing too special. He also noticed that his hind end was colored black, turning suddenly to white just past his back legs. He attempted to get up, but lost his balance and plopped back to the ground in a spread eagle.

This made Prince Rainbow chuckle, "YOU MAY FIND IT A BIT DIFFICULT TO STAND AND MOVE AROUND AT FIRST. AFTER ALL, A NEW BODY TAKES SOME GETTING USED TO. BUT I MUST SAY THAT WAS NICELY DONE SAM, SUCCESSFUL ON THE FIRST TRY. AS YOU GET USED TO THIS TRANSFORMATION, IT WILL NOT TAKE SO MUCH OUT OF YOU. YOUR POWERS ARE STILL NEW. I WILL GIVE YOU A LITTLE TIME TO GET USED TO YOUR NEW BODY, BUT THEN WE MUST MOVE ON TO THE POWER OF BLUE."

After a few more attempts, Sam managed to get to his feet. Within ten minutes, he was taking short, shaky hops around the burrow, quickly getting the hang of walking as a quadruped. Huh, he thought to himself, this isn't so bad. In fact, I could probably get used to this. But, I really thought that with my now massive ears, my hearing would have gotten better. He was about to voice this concern to Prince Rainbow when he was interrupted.

"YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT WHILE YOU HAVE THE BODY OF A RABBIT, YOUR SENSORY SKILLS ARE STILL THAT OF A HUMAN. THE BLUE POWER WILL CORRECT THAT. AS BLUE IS A COLOR OF HARMONY AND UNITY, SO SHALL IT HELP YOU TRULY BECOME ONE WITH YOUR NEW BODY. SIMPLY PUT, THE POWER OF BLUE ALLOWS YOU TO HAVE THE SENSES OF A RABBIT TO MATCH THE BODY. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SMELL SCENTS OF SPECIFIC ANIMALS, YOU HEARING WILL IMPROVE, EVEN YOUR SENCE OF TASTE WILL CHANGE. GRASS WILL TASTE GOOD AND EDIBLE TO YOU, AND THE FOOD KNOWN AS FLAYREH WILL BE LIKE A DELICACY ON YOUR TOUNGE. I BELIEVE THIS WILL TAKE CARE OF THE FOOD ISSUE YOU WERE ALSO WORRYING ABOUT?

Wow, Sam thought as he listened to the last part, is he able to read my mind or something?

"YOU COULD SAY THAT," Prince Rainbow responded to the wordless question. "BUT BACK TO THE POWER. THIS SHOULD BE CONSIDERABLY EASIER THAN THE TRANSFORMATION, SEEING AS YOUR LIFE WILL NOT BE THREATENED DURING THE CHANGE. YOU MUST SIMPLY FOCUS ON THE ENERGY IN CERTAIN AREAS OF YOUR BODY THAT YOU WANT TO ALTER, THEN YOU MUST TURN IT BLUE TO IMBUE IT WITH YOUR CONTROL LIKE BEFORE. AFTER THAT, YOU SIMPLY NEED TO CHANEL THE ENERGY THROUGH YOUR BRAIN, WHICH IS THE CONTROL CENTER OF YOUR SENSES. DO THIS WHILE IN THE BODY OF A RABBIT, AND YOUR SENSES WILL ALTER THEMSELVES TO FIT THE NEW BODY'S CAPABILITIES. DOING THIS WILL REAP OTHER BENEFITS AS WELL: YOUR INSTINCTS WILL SHARPEN, AND YOUR BODY WILL ALSO BEGIN TO EXUDE A SCENT JUST LIKE A NATURAL RABBIT. NOW, GIVE IT A GO.

This proved easier as Prince Rainbow said, and a few minutes later, Sam was ready to begin walking around the burrow exploring with his new senses.

"BEFORE YOU GO SCURRYING ABOUT, LET ME TAKE THE TIME TO INFORM YOU ABOUT REVERSING THESE EFFECTS. IT'S RATHER SIMPLE: TO CHANGE BACK TO HOW YOU WERE BEFORE, YOU NEED TO REDO THE RITUALS, ONLY WHILE FOCUSING ON YOUR HUMAN SELF. EASY ENOUGH, NOW HAVE A LOOK AROUND, YOU LITERALLY HAVE A BRAND NEW WORLD AROUND YOU NOW.

With that said, Sam got to work exploring and testing out his new self. That included his now functioning whiskers, which told him much more about the size and shape of the warren than his eyes could in the darkness, even thought his rabbit eyes had pretty good night vision. With his improved sense of hearing, he found he could hear sounds that were further out, or sounds that before were too quiet to hear. His own footsteps seemed to echo, even though it was just paw pads walking on dirt. He even worked up the courage to try a mouthful of grass and found it to be…rather bland. It no longer tasted as terrible as it did in his human form, but there was no redeeming quality about it. Almost like the lunch at school, he thought, made for nutrients and nothing else. After his exploration, Prince Rainbow beckoned him over.

"SAM, NOW THAT I HAVE TAUGHT YOU THE SKILLS YOU NEED TO INTERACT IN THIS WORLD, I WILL TAKE MY LEAVE. THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME THAT YOU SEE ME IN PERSON UNTIL YOUR TRIALS IN THIS WORLD ARE ENDED AND IT IS TIME TO MAKE YOUR WAY HOME. THE REST OF YOUR POWERS AND THEIR MYRIAD USES YOU WILL DISCOVER WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT. NOW I SUGGEST YOU SPEND THE REST OF THE DAY PREPARING YOURSELF, HAZEL'S BAND WILL BE HERE JUST AS THE SUN TOUCHES THE HORIZON. GOODBYE, SAM."

Then he was suddenly gone in a blink.

Well that was…weird. Oh well, I guess I'd better do as he says and get ready. Convincing real rabbits that I'm a rabbit may be tricky. Oh! I can chalk it up to being his messenger! That gives me a good excuse to act a little strange. At least until I tell them I'm human. With that thought firmly in his head, Sam went outside to familiarize himself with the immediate surroundings on the hilltop, ultimately ending with a nap in the shade.

"Keep it up everyone," Hazel said encouragingly, "we're almost to the top." The group behind him let out a collective groan. Many of them were very tired, and Fiver and Pipkin looked ready to drop where they stood.

"Once we get to the top, we can rest and eat, but not before," Bigwig added, fatigue in his voice as well. "The hillside is too exposed for my liking. At least at the top we can keep a watch. Now on your feet and move!" This did the trick better than Hazel's pep talk, and soon enough the rabbits were coming over the edge of the top. As they looked around, they became so stunned by the beauty of their new home.

Blackberry was the first recover. "This…this place is amazing. I never would have thought such a paradise existed. We shall be very happy here, I'm sure."

Hawkbit continued, "Yeah, it actually makes that walk and crossing that embleer river worth it." This was met by stares of amazement, since it was so rare for Hawkbit to actually not complain about something.

"Fiver," said Dandelion, "thank you for making us leave to find this place. Even if Sandleford wasn't destroyed, this was worth leaving for."

Hazel nuzzle Fiver in the side. "Indeed it was little brother. You did a marvelous job leading us here. We all owe you our thanks." This was followed by statements of agreement from everyone, especially Pipkin.

"Oh yes oh yes Fiver," he said excitedly, "between you and the blessing from Prince Rainbow, this is sure to be the greatest place in the world to live.

All this praise was beginning to embarrass Fiver, so he decided to change the subject. "What do we call should we call this new home of ours?"

Hazel considered for a moment before answering. "How about…Watership Down?" The other wordlessly nodded their agreement."

"Right then," Bigwig said, breaking the silence, "we should probably get started looking around for the best place to dig a new warren. Blackberry, you're the best digger here, keep your eyes open." And with that, they began to hop towards the tree.

Sam was sleeping on the other side of the tree that the rabbits came up from, so he wasn't immediately seen by the rabbits. Soon enough, however, his peaceful sleep was interrupted as he felt himself suddenly pinned to the ground with claws digging into his shoulders. He opened his eyes in shock, but was more surprised by who he saw above him. Pinning him to the ground was a large rabbit with a distinctive tuft of hair on his head. Holy crap, he thought to himself, completely forgetting the situation he was in due to his excitement, it's Bigwig! He looked to either side of him and saw the other rabbits as well. He was about to say something when a sharp demand from Bigwig snapped him back to reality.

"Who are you and where did you come from," Bigwig demanded, "tell me before I claw your throat out!"

"Um, hello," Sam struggled to say under Bigwig's large weight, "my name is S-" Wait, he thought suddenly, I can't tell them my real name, it's a human name! Crap, alright think Sam, what's a good name for Prince Rainbow's messenger? "My name is…Suh…um…Sun…flower. Sunflower! That's it, my name is Sunflower." …Fantastic.

"Bigwig, that's enough. One rabbit isn't enough to be a threat to all of us," said Hazel. With one last glare, Bigwig got off of Sam. After he was sure Bigwig wouldn't cause any more trouble, Hazel continued. "It's nice to meet you, Sunflower. My name is Hazel, and this is Hawkbit, Blackberry, Fiver, Pipkin, Dandelion, and the big one who sat on you is Bigwig. Those are our new friends, Hannah and Kehaar," he gestured over to the mouse and gull, who were watching the proceedings with curious looks on their faces. "Now, not to be rude to someone we've just met, but where did you come from? We've been looking around and haven't found any traces of any other rabbits for quite some way. Not even any scent coming or going off the hill."

Well, thought Sam anxiously, here goes nothing. "That makes sense actually. You see, I'm not a normal rabbit. I have been sent here by Prince Rainbow as a messenger to assist you in your endeavors in turning this place into a home. I only just got here yesterday myself, and Prince Rainbow had a rainbow carry me here. So I haven't really had too much time to run around." Sam finished and looked around to see how everyone was taking the news. Pipkin, Dandelion, and Hawkbit seemed to go right along with it. They were staring at "Sunflower" with wonder in their eyes. However, Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, and Blackberry had some doubts in their eyes. Blackberry was the first to voice her concerns.

"Well that's a lovely story, and you seem to be a nice enough sort, but how do we know if it's true? Did Prince Rainbow give you special powers? Or magical talents? What can you show us to prove you are who you say you are?"

This caught Sam by surprise. Of course he had powers and all, but the only one they could see would be counterproductive as it would leave a human boy standing in front of a group of already suspicious rabbits. Sam decided to speak the truth. "I…can't show you yet. I do have abilities, but I'm afraid if I showed you know, you'd only fear me. For now, I just need you to trust me. I swear, I will never do anything to harm any of you."

This got all the rabbits thinking. What could this stranger be hiding? Is he a threat to our home? The silence was broken by Pipkin, "I think we should trust him. Even if he isn't a messenger of Prince Rainbow, I don't think he could get through whatever the real blessing would be. And there's no way he could beat all of us in a fight, right?"

Kehaar interrupted from where he stood with Hannah. "Ya! Rabbit is not a threat. Kehaar can beat a rabbit any day!"

After thinking hard on what Pipkin and Kehaar said, Hazel finally responded. "Fine. He can stay for now. Sunflower, you will be kept under close watch until such a time as you can either prove your tale, or we find out the truth. For now, let's all find somewhere to sleep for the night. We can talk more in the morning."

Sam lead them back to the burrow he found the night before, and upon discovering that it was big enough for them all, they crawled in and went to sleep, with Bigwig between Sam and the exit. Well, Sam thought to himself as he lay there, this isn't quite what I had in mind, but at least I didn't get kicked out. That was his last thought as he fell asleep for the second time in his new body.