Chapter 6-Shining Wires
When Sam gained awareness, he found himself in the dream world. He didn't have to wait very long before Prince Rainbow showed up. "HELLO SAM," he said. "HOW'RE THINGS GOING? BETTER THAN LAST TIME?"
"Oh, you mean with the weasel?" Sam answered. "Yeah, you were right on the ball with that one. It worked out fine. I think Hawkbit is still a little leery of me, but it will be okay. Oh, we are going to a death trap warren trying to see if we can beat an unnatural death from coming to one of the rabbits from their old warren. So that should be fun, right? I don't suppose you can just tell me if we're going to make it in time, can you?"
Prince Rainbow laughed. "HOW SHOULD I KNOW? I'M NOT OMNISCIENT, SAM. HOPEFULLY YOU GET THERE QUICKLY."
"Yeah," he said back, "I hope so. Well, if there's nothing else you need from me, I think I'll be going. We have a long way to go today. I think. We don't really know where this place is, so we have to try and get directions from Holly."
"THEN, FAIRWELL. AND BY THE WAY, EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE JUST BEGINNING WITH YOUR POWERS, YOU ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN THE BLUE POWER THROUGH THE NIGHT. AND YOUR PURPLE, IF YOU WISH. SO, YOU DON'T HAVE TO TURN IT OFF. HAVE FUN." And before Sam could ask what he meant, his vision faded back into darkness.
Sam snapped awake by distant screams of panic. Quickly turning back into a rabbit, he ran out into the main burrow to find a very distressed Holly surrounded by the others. "What's going on?" he asked.
Hawkbit shot Sam an annoyed look. "Oh, Captain Holly is a tad nervous because our warren smells like man." As he finished speaking, some of the others shot him annoyed glances as well.
Sam sniffed around. Oops, they're right. So that's what Prince Rainbow meant. Hm, how to fix this… "The wind probably just blew the scent up from Nuthanger Farm," he said, trying to sound confident. "That place positively reeks of man, all it would take would be a wind gust in our direction." Some of the rabbits, Holly included, looked at Sam in disbelief. Thankfully, Blackberry was quick to play along.
"Oh yes, Captain Holly, this sort of this has happened before. In fact, it happened the first night we were on the down. We thought Frith had forsaken us, leading us all this way only to have us captured on our first night. But it turned out to just be the…wind." The rest of them started muttering in fake agreement, while shook his head.
"Fine," Holly conceded with an odd look in his eyes. "That's as good an explanation as any, I suppose. I'm going back to sleep." He turned and hopped back into his burrow. Oh yeah, thought Sam sarcastically, he totally bought that.
Sam was broken out of his thoughts when he heard Hazel say, "Right, well, we should get ready to go and find this warren. I'll get directions from Holly before he goes back to sleep, those that are going, wait outside. Get something to eat." And he followed Holly into his burrow.
The group going to Cowslip's warren consisted of Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, Dandelion, Hawkbit, and Sam. That group, minus Hazel, was sitting on the hilltop talking about the journey. Many of them were worried about the types of rabbits they would find there. After all, who would choose to live in constant fear?
They had been traveling for a while (the rabbits just said hrair time, but Sam would have guessed right around an hour and a half). After about a half hour of traveling, they had gone through so many bushes and made so many turns that Sam didn't think he would be able to find his way back even with his rabbit senses. It was this thought that made his ask, "So…we do know where we're going, right?"
"Of course we do," Hazel said with confidence, "Holly just gave some…odd directions. He did get attacked between here and Watership Down, we can't expect him to remember everything perfectly. We'll get there soon, I'm sure."
"Soon" turned out to be two more hours of travel. The group was wondering along when the smell of other rabbits caught their noses. Following that smell, they came out of the woods and spotted two rabbits eating outside of a hill with noticeable burrows in the sides. Bigwig stared in amazement. "Well, not scared of being seen, are they?"
"Not so much, no," Dandelion replied. "Although, they do have that farmer keeping the elil away. Not that it looks like they particularly need it. Look how big they are! They might even be bigger that you, Bigwig!"
Bigwig seemed ready to protest when he looked at them again. "Yeah" he said grudgingly, "they just might be at that. Let's do our best to avoid a fight, eh?"
"Well come on," said Hazel. "Let's all go make ourselves known."
The group walked up to the two rabbits, one white and the other the same color as the carrot he was eating. The two looked at the approaching strangers with no fear, instead getting up and jumping around them in a circle. They chanted as one. "Welcome, welcome, greetings all, it's so nice of you to call."
The rest of the rabbits stared in confusion, while Sam just sat there with his mouth open. Alright, he thought, that is creepy in real life!
Hazel took regained his senses and took charge. "Um, hello. We're friends of Holly's and we've come to get our other friend, Pimpernel. Where is-" He got that far before he was interrupted.
"My name is Cowslip," said the white one, "and this is Strawberry. It looks to rain soon, won't you come inside where it's warm?"
"Uh, yes, thank you," replied Hazel. "But you still didn't tell me where-"
"Splendid!" Cowslip interrupted again. "Come along then." He turned and hopped towards the burrow entrance.
The rabbits turned and looked at Sam with questioning looks on their faces. "I'm not sure yet, but there's one way to find out. Oh Strawberry?" he called to the orange rabbit, who was waiting outside to be sure everyone got in. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," he replied. "How may I help?"
"Well, I was just wondering if you've ever heard of a rabbit named Pimpernel. We were told he was in this area, but we seem to be having some trouble locating him. Can you tell me if you've ever met such a rabbit?"
Strawberry's eyes widened a little. Avoiding Sam's gaze, he managed to stutter, "I, um…no. I've…never met such a rabbit. Please excuse me." And he hurried into the burrow behind Cowslip.
"And that tells us…?" Hawkbit asked sarcastically.
Sam shook his head. "He's already gone. When a rabbit is taken by the snares, the others in the warren act like they never existed. It's a coping mechanism they use in order to keep from being driven mad from fear and loss." The group couldn't manage to say anything. They simply kept their head down in grief.
"Let's go."
"What?" Sam said, looking at Bigwig as he was the one that spoke.
"I said let's go," he said more forcefully. "There's no reason for us to stay here. If…if we didn't make it in time to save Pimpernel, then we should just get out of here and leave these tharn fools to their wretched lives." Just as he finished talking, the group began feeling raindrops hit their heads. They looked to the sky as it began raining harder.
"Well," Dandelion said tentatively, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't much fancy walking all that way back in the rain. We could stay here just until the rain stops."
Sam agreed. "He's right. It would be stupid to waste our time and energy trying to get back in this rain. And besides, there's no danger inside of the warren, just…all around." The group looked at the thick brush closest to the warren, imagining it full of snares.
Hazel nodded his head. "That sounds like the best course of action. Just be careful everyone. Watch each others' backs and no one goes off alone." The group headed into the tunnels. All except for Fiver, who hesitated at the entrance.
Sam and Hazel were the only ones that noticed, so they hung back as well. "Come on Fiver," Hazel said. "You can't stay out here all night."
"This place feels terrible Hazel," Fiver said with fear in his voice. "It feels cold and evil."
Sam was the one to answer this time. "I know what you mean buddy, I can feel it too. It just feels…foreboding. But right now it's our best option. Just give it a shot, we'll see if we can make it work, alright?" He nodded and the three of them headed inside.
As they entered the main chamber, they saw a number of rabbits that were about the same size as Cowslip and Strawberry. "By Frith," Bigwig exclaimed, "they sure are a healthy lot aren't they?"
Hazel was about to answer when Fiver cut in. "They aren't. They're like trees in November. They look beautiful, but there's no life here, only inevitable death." He was shuddering as he finished and Hazel moved closer to comfort his brother. It was then that Cowslip cleared his throat.
"Greetings all, gather around," he announced. "We are graced with guests this fine evening: Hazel and the members of his warren. Do try and make them feel welcome. And as an added treat, Silverweed will recite some of his famous poetry for us. Silverweed, if you please?" A skinny rabbit with white fur, almost bordering on silver, went to the middle of the chamber and began speaking.
Sam ignored Silverweed. He had never been much of a poetry lover, so instead he decided to sneak a better look at their hosts. As he looked at the faces nearest to him, he was drawn to their eyes. Everyone's pupils were contracted, despite being in these darkened burrows. They looked as if they were constantly terrified, yet still at peace listening to Silverweed ramble on. Sam suppressed a shudder as he heard a yell and turned in time to see a little brown blur make for the exit with Hazel close behind.
Sam ran outside and saw Hazel talking to a terrified Fiver under a nearby tree. "…can't stay out here all night," he heard Hazel say as he got closer. Hazel continued, "It's raining, Fiver, and there could be elil about, no matter what they say. And what about the snares?"
"I don't care Hazel," Fiver said, "I can't stay in that place. Didn't you see that big burrow? With its ceiling made of bones? I…I just can't."
Hazel looked like he was about to continue arguing when Sam interrupted, "I'll stay out here with him." Hazel jumped, having not heard Sam approach in his concern for his brother. "I'll be honest Hazel, that place creeps me out too. Have you seen their eyes? If you can ignore the rain, it's a pretty nice night."
Hazel looked between the two. "Are you sure?" he asked. They both nodded. Hazel shook his head, "alright then. But just…be careful, alright?" He then turned and hopped back the warm, dry warren.
Sam watched him leave, then turned to Fiver, who was trembling under a nearby tree. Sam went over and sat beside him. "Are you alright Fiver?" he asked with concern in his voice.
"You out of anyone should know that I'm not," he replied. "You know what goes on here, and you can see the underlying currents of fear and death that the others can't. I want to leave, Sam. I never thought I'd say this, but I'd rather walk in the dark and the rain then stay here another moment."
Sam sighed as he heard this. "In a way, I suppose this is kind of my fault." Seeing the buck's confused face, Sam continued, "I should have told you to stay back at the down. In the stories, if you hadn't been so distrustful of this place, the others may have decided to stay here. But since I already told them the truth, there was no need for you to come to this terrible place and go through this. I knew how much this place would affect you, but I didn't try and talk you out of coming." He sighed again. "I'm sorry, Fiver."
Surprisingly, Fiver gave a small chuckle. "Sam, I would have come no matter what. The reason I always choose to come on expeditions like this, despite the fact that I'm a pretty lousy fighter, is so I can keep watch over my friends and my family. I come to help in any way that I can. So please feel no guilt, Sam, because I certainly do not feel any need to blame you."
Sam just smiled and the two sat there for a while in companionable silence. But it wasn't long before Sam felt the need to move about. "Hey Fiver," he said as he got up, "I think I'm going to have a look around this place."
"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Fiver asked. "After all, you yourself said this place is crawling with snares."
"It won't be when I'm done!" Sam exclaimed. "I'm going to see how many of them I can find and take out. At the very least it will piss off the farmer. And who knows, maybe we can get them to be out allies if we do this." Instead of having Cowslip team up with Woundwort later, he continued to himself.
He turned towards the nearest bushes when he heard footsteps behind him. "I'm coming with you," Fiver said. "You heard what Hazel said: no one goes off on their own, and that includes you, Sam."
"But Fiver," Sam said, "it would probably be safer for you to stay here under the tree. It's raining, and it will be much easier for me to deal with the snares than you. Snares aren't much of a danger to humans."
"Absolutely not!" Fiver said with heat in his voice. "I told you Sam, I come to help my friends out any way that I can. Even if it's just keeping them company with a job only they can do, it's still better than sitting here doing nothing."
Sam took in what he said, and smiled. "Alright," he said, "I will be glad to have some company. But I take lead. Don't go into any bushes at all unless I say they're safe, alright?" Fiver nodded and the pair began scoping out the foliage around the warren. Sam changed into his human form. The teen smiled in pleasant surprise as he realized his clothes repelled water. Thank you, Prince Rainbow! He leave his rabbit senses intact, figuring the added sensory strength would help in the dark. Sam began shuffling his way through the brush, telling Fiver to stay in the open until he was sure it was safe. It did not take long before he felt the cool wire brush against his outstretched hand. He followed the wire to the peg in the ground and with Fiver's help, managed to dig it out. Sam set it out of the way and continued the search.
After a long time of searching, they managed to fine a total of eight snares around the warren. Sam brought them all to a path he figured the farmer used when he set them, and used one of his knives to cut the wires into unusable pieces. Damn, these are sharp! All that wire and not even a scratch on them. "Alright," Sam said out loud, "that's all I could find. I don't know if I got them all, but even just these will take the pressure off them for a while. Well, come on buddy, let's get some sleep." Fiver murmured tiredly as they made their way back to the tree.
Sam and Fiver awoke when the sun was just cresting the horizon. They got up and stretched the stiffness out of their muscles before finding something to eat, Sam back in his rabbit form. After a while, the other rabbits from Watership Down came out of the burrow as well.
"Survive the night did you?" Bigwig asked humorously.
"Oh yes," Fiver answered flatly, "thank you so much for you concern. As a matter of fact, because of what Sam did, I think more rabbits will be surviving the nights around here for a while." He saw the looks on the others' faces and told them of what they spent a good part of the night doing. Every rabbit, even Hawkbit and Bigwig, were looking at Sam with such thankfulness that he began to blush under his fur.
"It really wasn't that big of a deal," Sam said, "just…trying to help is all. Well, we should probably be going, right?"
"Yes," Hazel replied, "we should leave before they can give us any difficulties."
The group began to leave.
"Be careful though," Sam warned them as they hopped. "I'm not a woodsman by any means, I don't know what signs for look for with snares, so there could still be plenty aro-" he was cut off by a chilling scream that echoed through the air. He turned and saw everyone present except for one: Bigwig. No, Sam thought as he and the others began running toward the sound, no no no, I will not let this happen!
It did not take them long before them came to where Bigwig lay gasping for breath. The noose was tight around his neck and it was obvious that in his panic, he only pulled it tighter. As the others sat stunned, Sam did not hesitate. In a flash, he was back in human form and slicing through the wire with his knife. After it was cut through, he quickly loosened the remaining wire from Bigwig's neck, leaving the large owsla warrior gasping for breath. The others gathered around Bigwig and nuzzled him, making sure he was alright.
Bigwig ignored them and got to his feet. "I'll kill them!" he yelled angrily. With that, he took off in the direction of Cowslip's warren, with the others close behind.
Geez, Sam thought in awe, nothing keeps him down does it? He turned back into a rabbit and was about to start walking back to the warren when he suddenly felt the air turn unnaturally cold. He looked behind him and merely saw a shadow on the ground dart away from him. He looked in the air, but there wasn't a bird to be seen, nor any clouds. It was then that he felt it: anger. So much anger. They were not his own emotions, they just seemed to come from all around. But as quickly as it came, they were gone, and everything was back to normal. What in the world… Sam thought to himself, but the he heard the sounds of a scuffle and went back to the warren.
He got there just in time to see Bigwig take down Cowslip with little trouble, despite the white rabbit's size. He looked like he wanted to go further, but Hazel stopped him. "Come with us," Sam heard Hazel say to the gathered members of the warren. "There is no reason to stay here, under the grip of the shining wires. Come to Watership Down, where you can be free and live the kind of live El-ahrairah wanted for all of you." Some of the rabbits looked like they were considering his offer, but they went back to their masks of happiness upon hearing Cowslip's laughter.
"No you fools," he said, "the shining wires pose no threat to those who are careful. Only those like you, that feel the need to go nosing about for trouble instead of living quietly and with dignity need to fear them. They will never get me…" He backed up toward the warren with an insane look on his face.
"Riiiiiight," Sam said, getting the attention of his group, "we're just going to be leaving now. Come on everyone, and stay out of the heavy brush this time!" And the group left with Hazel leading the way through the lightest cover he could find.
They did not stop running until Bigwig began to slow down, apparently more worn out from the ordeal with the snare than he showed. As they took time to rest and gather their strength for the return journey to the down, they heard footsteps coming their way. Rabbit footsteps. Everyone waited on edge until they saw a large orange buck burst out from the bushes. It was Strawberry.
"You!" yelled Bigwig, still angry about the snare. "What do you want? Trying to follow us back to our warren? Well think again, you can just turn around and go back to your deceitful, tharn life!"
"Please," Strawberry pleaded, "please listen to me. I…I don't want to be a part of that any more. I hate it there, I hate living everyday in fear, pretending there aren't deaths all the time, not being able to mourn. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you anything, but I would have been attacked if I did. I don't care how hard it is living a real, natural life, I'm still willing to do it if it means I can be free from the hanging fear. Please let me come with you, please!"
Though still angry, Bigwig and the rest looked to Hazel for an answer. Hazel in turn looked at Sam. The teen returned his look with a small smile and shrugged. Hazel gave it some thought before approaching Strawberry and saying, "We cannot turn away someone like you. You are desperate for a new life, and we can help. We're still trying to get used to our new home as well, so the more help we have, the better. Welcome to the group Strawberry.
"Oh thank you, Hazel!" Strawberry said happily. "I promise I will be helpful to you. You won't regret this!" The other rabbits laughed at his enthusiasm as they continued on their way. Following in the back of the group, Sam let out a breath that he didn't realize he had been holding.
Good job Hazel, he thought.
The group got to know their newest addition on the walk back to the down. After talking for a while, Sam found he actually understood Strawberry better than the others. Without realizing it, Cowslip's warren had been trying to humanize themselves, instead of acting like proper rabbits, and it showed in Strawberry's behavior. He was as lost as Sam was on the way back, and neither of them were very observant, which almost got them noticed by a passing fox. The two of them talked as they approached the down.
"So Sunflower," Strawberry began, "how did you meet with the rest of them? They didn't mention anything about you on their escape from their old warren."
Sam thought about a good excuse before deciding that the truth would work just fine. "I was in my home one night, when I felt Prince Rainbow calling me. He said I was needed at a warren called Watership Down, so I left. I arrived about a day before they got there. Our first introductions were a bit…rough," this earned chuckles from Bigwig and Dandelion who were close enough to hear. "But it all worked out. Now they all tolerate me pretty well, isn't that right Bigwig?"
"Yeah, yeah," the large rabbit answered as he rolled his eyes. They walked in silence the rest of the way to the down. When they crested the hill, they saw Blackberry and Pipkin running to them with smiles on their faces.
"You're back!" Pipkin yelled excitedly. "We were worried about you. What happened there?"
"No Pimpernel?" Blackberry asked somberly. Everyone hung their heads at the question, with Strawberry having tears in his eyes at the guilt. "I see. Well, at least all of you made it back safely. Pipkin is right, when you didn't come back last night, were started to worry. But, oh, who's that behind you?" She gestured to Strawberry, who was hanging in the rear.
Sam decided to answer for him when he saw that Strawberry was still embarrassed about where he came from. "This is Strawberry. He decided to escape from the warren of the shining wires and live a better life here. He has already apologized for what he's done in the past, so there's no reason to hold it against him." Blackberry and Pipkin nodded while Strawberry shot Sam a very grateful look.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you," Hawkbit said, "but I'm bloody tired. I am going to get some sleep." This was met with a lot of agreeing murmurs and everyone began to head to the warren.
"Sunflower," Hazel said, "a word?" Sam hung back with Hazel. He waited until everyone else was gone, then he asked the question that had been bothering him all day. "Why didn't you tell me if Strawberry was safe? I took a risk bringing him along, and I still don't know if he's going to stay loyal. Why didn't you help me?"
Sam took a deep breath before he began. "Because you didn't need it. You made the right choice on your own, and that's what I was going for. Hazel, even though I know what's going to happen, you are still the leader of this warren, it was your decision to make. When Fiver and I were sitting out there last night, I had a lot of time to think. It's something I had been debating about since I told you about what I know. I've decided that I won't tell you everything that's going to happen. There are some things that need to happen naturally, and I don't know what my telling you would change. Have no worries, I will tell you if there's any danger coming, and I will do everything in my power to prevent it. But I highly doubt that me running this warren with my knowledge of the future is what Prince Rainbow had in mind when he said 'help them.' Please don't worry Hazel, I will be here to help you, but only when I think it will be beneficial."
"I understand," Hazel said. "Thank you then. But…I just hope you are able to judge when is the correct time to intervene." And he turned to the burrow to get some sleep himself.
Have some faith in yourself, Hazel, Sam thought. You don't need me as much as you think you do.
"Oh and Sam, when exactly are you planning on telling Holly and Strawberry about your…unique position?"
"Right!" he exclaimed, "um…tomorrow? Not tonight, I'll let them get some good sleep first."
"Alright then," Hazel replied. "Good night."
"You too," Sam replied as he followed Hazel into the warren.