Chapter 7-Owsla Training

When Sam became aware that he was not sleeping anymore, he managed to keep from opening his eyes. "Let me guess, when I open my eyes, I will be in darkness. I will look around a bit, and Prince Rainbow will purposely appear behind me." He opened his eyes to see Prince Rainbow's face inches from his own. He yelled and jumped back with surprise, causing the deity to laugh.

"NOT SO CLEVER AFTER ALL, ARE YOU?" he said.

Sam glared at his as long as he could before he too burst into laughter. "Alright," he said, "that was a good one. So, what's up?"

This caused Prince Rainbow to look at Sam with something like pride in his eyes. I WANTED TO COMMEND YOU ON YOUR CHOICES THE PAST TWO DAYS. HELPING THE RABBITS OF COWSLIP'S WARREN, EXPLAINING YOUR MOTIVES TO HAZEL-RAH, VERY NICELY DONE. IN FACT, IT IS SOMETHING OF A RELIEF. I WAS WORRIED WOULD HAVE TROUBLE ADJUSTING TO LIVING IN THIS WORLD, BUT IT APPEARS YOU FIT RIGHT IN."

Sam smiled at the praise. "It was easier than I imagined. And Hazel and the others have been very welcoming. For the most part."

"YOU KNOW HOW BIGWIG CAN BE," Prince Rainbow replied, guessing who Sam was referring to. "HATES CHANGE. BUT HE'LL GET USED TO YOU EVENTUALLY." Suddenly, his head jerked to the sky. "SORRY TO CUT THIS MEETING SHORT, SAM, BUT IT APPEARS I AM BEING CALLED. GOODBYE."

"Good b-" Sam managed to say before the scene disappeared.

Sam woke to peaceful silence, no yelling about his human smell. Ha! He thought to himself triumphantly, blue power, you are the best. As he left his personal burrow, he saw everyone else gathered in a group outside. As he approached, Hazel heard and greeted him. "Good morning, Sam. Good timing on waking up." Sam froze, had Hazel just called him Sam? In front of Holly and Strawberry? Hazel approached him and said in a whisper, "I tried to start telling them about you, but I didn't really know how to go about it. All they know right now is your real name."

"No problem," Sam whispered back, "I can take it from here." The two then went to join the group, Holly and Strawberry in the midst looking confused.

"So, um, hi guys," Sam started awkwardly. "I don't know what Hazel has told you, so I'll just start from the beginning."

"The beginning of what?" Holly asked in exasperation. "Embleer Frith, what is this about? As soon as we woke, this lot rushed us out here and tried to say something about you and something about your real name , but I couldn't make heads or tails of it!"

"I must say," Strawberry added, "this even strikes me as odd behavior."

"Calm down!" Sam said. "I'm getting there! Now, I…I'm not an ordinary rabbit. I was sent here as a messenger from Prince Rainbow to help the rabbits of Watership Down any way that I can."

"That is not unheard of," Holly jumped in. "So, why all this fuss?"

Sam sighed, "Getting there. As I was saying, Prince Rainbow gave me these special powers to make my job easier."

"Like what?" Strawberry interrupted.

Are all rabbits this impatient? Sam asked himself in annoyance. "Fine, you want the quick answer? My real name is Sam. I made up the name Sunflower to go along with this body, because this is what I really look like." He finished by turning to his human form.

Their reactions were completely opposite. Holly looked like he was about to tear Sam's throat out, while Strawberry looked about to faint with fear. Hawkbit, Dandelion, and Bigwig barely had enough time to restrain Holly as he lunged at Sam, intent on killing the human in front of him. "Get off of me, blast you all! There's a bloody ithè right there! Do something!" He continued to struggle as Fiver and Blackberry tried get through to Strawberry, who had gone tharn.

"Strawberry calm down, please!" Blackberry yelled, trying to get past the large buck's fear. Unfortunately, he was too stuck in his terror to hear.

"Not again," he was muttering to himself, "not here, not again. The plague of humans follows wherever I go. Should have stayed with Cowslip, at least it's easy there!"

Sam and Hazel looked at each other in exasperation. "Oh this is going just wonderfully, Sam," Hazel said sarcastically, "I'm so very glad you decided to rush this instead of easing them in."

"Says the one who tried to tell them without talking to me first," Sam shot back. "Look, let's deal with Holly first. Poor Strawberry doesn't look like he has the will to move." Hazel looked at the quivering buck and nodded his agreement. The two strode over to where Holly was still being held down by the other three.

"What do you want, ithè!?" Holly yelled as they approached. "What have you done to these noble rabbits? Brainwashed them using some kind of trickery? Or has Prince Rainbow truly sent you here and turned against us?"

Sam almost laughed at the accusations before realizing it would only make matters worse. "Neither, actually. Prince Rainbow sent me here to help them, help you, find peace, and that's what I intend to do. I don't want to hurt any of you, and I certainly don't want to brainwash my friends."

"It's true, Holly," Hazel said. "Sam has been very helpful around here so far. And may I remind you just who brought you back here?"

"Yeah," Dandelion added, "he's a real nice chap once you get to know him. Has all kind of interesting stories about his world."

Even Hawkbit chimed in, "As much as I hate to admit it, he…is kind of useful to have around."

Even still, Holly remained unconvinced. "You're bloody fools, all of you! How could you trust this ithè? It was his kind that destroyed Sandleford! Likely as not he'll slit your throats in the night!" Bigwig eased off of Holly and positioned himself directly between him and Sam.

"I will personally vouch for this human's intent," he said, shocking everyone. "Since coming here, Sam has had a direct hand in saving Pipkin, you…and even me. I don't see him as a threat, even if he is bloody annoying." Sam grinned at that.

Holly considered before saying, "Fine. Thayli you have always had a good head on your shoulders and a strong sense of what is good. For the time being, I will tolerate him. But trust him? Oh, by Frith, no."

With Holly more or less taken care of, they turned their attention to Strawberry. The orange buck did not move when Sam got closer, except for a shiver that shook his large frame. Sam thought for a minute before walking a little way in front of him and sitting on the ground. "Strawberry," he said with sadness in his voice, "what wrong with you? Why are you so scared of me?"

Strawberry answered in a trembling voice, "I have spent my entire life in fear of the shining wires, things purposely left by humans to kill us. Then, when I finally get away from that life, you show up. It…it's hopeless, I should never have left. I knew what to expect at Cowslip's warren, it was relatively safe there. But you? You are a mystery." Throughout his speech, he had been slowly lowering his head in fear, almost as if expecting Sam to strike.

Sam hesitated before making a decision. He put a hand gently under Strawberry's chin, and though the buck tensed up even more, Sam gently forced him to look into his eyes. "Strawberry," he began softly, "I'm not like that, I promise. I'm the same as the rabbit you were talking to on the journey here from Cowslip's warren; I just look different. It's not like my thinking has changed about any of you. I'm just trying to help."

"B-but I-"he said shakily

"It's true," Blackberry said, "he's very kind, and he really has been a big help around here."

"And besides," Fiver continued, "he took some of the snares away last night. Even though you and everyone else in that warren were trying to trick us, Sam still helped you."

This made Strawberry look at Sam in amazement. "You…you really did that?" Sam nodded. "But why? After what we tried to do to you, why would you help us, er, them?"

"I guess the best answer is that I hated to see them like that. Everyone in that place was so filled with fear, it's like they didn't know reality anymore. I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. Not all humans are the same, and certain don't agree with whatever asshole was doing that to them."

Strawberry considered that. "You…alright. I'll try and trust you, if only in repayment for your kindness to those that didn't deserve it."

Sam nodded with a smile. "I'll take it." He looked back to Hazel and said, "I suppose that turned out alright."

Hazel stared at the teen flatly. "In the future, maybe you could try and be a little more tactful, hm?"

"Also in the future, maybe you should let me take care of this kind of thing, don't you think?"

Hazel sighed. "I suppose so. Obviously my pushing the issue didn't help very much. Sorry."

Sam put a hand on Hazel's shoulder. "It's fine. It all turned out okay, after all."

"Right then," Blackberry interrupted, "if this is all settled, we have some more digging to do." This was met by groans from everyone. "What? We need more space. In case you lot didn't notice, we were short on burrows last night. With these new arrivals, I think we need to increase the size of our warren."

Hazel sighed, "Blackberry is right. Besides, I want to try something we saw in Cowslip's warren. Remember that large central chamber they had, held up by the tree roots? I'm willing to bet that our tree could do that too."

"That sounds brilliant!" Blackberry exclaimed. "Alright, come on everyone, we have a lot to do. Hazel and Strawberry come with me."

"Me? Dig?" Strawberry said. "But, I don't know how to dig. No one has had to dig my entire life in the warren of shining wires. I don't know how much help I'd be."

"Oh nonsense," Blackberry scoffed as the urged him along, "the rest of these bucks can barely dig either." This earned her a few covert glares. "And besides, you're the one who knows the most about how to make this large chamber. You absolutely must be with the diggers."

"Eh, sorry to burst your bubble, Blackberry," Bigwig said, "but my owsla still has a lot of training to do before they would be ready to handle any type of threat."

Blackberry snorted. "Hardly a surprise. Fine then, go do your training." She added in a whisper, "you're too large to be of help anyway." As the digging team went back to the warren to get started, Bigwig's voice rang through the air.

"And where do you think you're going?" Sam turned around and saw Bigwig looking right at him. "I said the owsla is training, so come along."

Sam was stunned, "The owsla? Bu- but what happened to not training hu-"

"I said move!"

"Okay, okay," Sam said as he ran over and ended up next to Dandelion. Bigwig led them over to an area he had designated the owsla training grounds. As Sam looked around, all he saw was one decent sized boulder, one hollow log, and a few bushes. And…we're going to get trained with…this? Bigwig approached him as he was looking around.

"Alright, being as you're a new recruit, I'll give you a demonstration of the obstacle course. You begin here. Jump over the boulder." He said this as he effortlessly leapt over the tall rock. "Run through the log." Sam didn't think Bigwig could make it through such a small hole, but he was in one end and out the other in a matter of seconds. "Followed by ducking in and out of the bushes." Sam watched as he zigzagged through the line of bushes, impressed at how little noise he made. "While running through the bushes," Bigwig said as he returned to the group, "you are to try and make it through quickly, but silently. I will be observing how you do while you all run the course, now go!"

They got in line with Sam being in the back, to "watch how the old pros do it" as Hawkbit said. Bigwig yelled for them to start. The first obstacle was the boulder. Dandelion cleared it easily with his long legs, while Hawkbit landed on the top and sprang from there. Pipkin tried to copy Hawkbit, but didn't quite make it to the top. As Sam watched the smaller rabbit about to tip backwards, he gave Pipkin a nudge to the top before jumping up himself.

"Thanks Sam," Pipkin said.

"No problem," he replied, "but we have to keep going." The two ran side by side to the entrance of the log where they saw Dandelion and Hawkbit talking, arguing about who would go first! "Oh, you have to be kidding me," Sam muttered, "alright Pipkin, grab Dandelion." As they reached the other two, Sam didn't waste any time when shoving Hawkbit into the log and following right after, followed by Dandelion and Pipkin. As Sam was crawling, he realized what purpose the log served.

This position would be really good for sneaking, I bet. Oh! It's actually kind of hard. They got through to the other end and made for the bushes. Everyone made it through, albeit a bit noisily, and they were all back to the start soon. Bigwig jumped off the log where he had been watching and came over to give his review.

"Nicely done, lads. With a few exceptions." He looked at Dandelion and Hawkbit. "This was your best run yet."

"Good thing Sam was here to help," Pipkin said happily.

"Yeah," Hawkbit said sarcastically, "I just love being shoved around." Sam was about to apologize when Bigwig broke in.

"Maybe if you would run the course instead of lazing about, it wouldn't have been necessary. Alright, I'm going to take Sam and show him some of the finer points of fighting like a rabbit."

Oh great, Sam thought.

"You lot run the course a few more times, and then report to Blackberry to help with the digging." Seeing that they were about to complain, Bigwig added, "Move! Now!" And off they went. He then turned to Sam. "Alright, come along."

They went to the bottom of the hill where they could have some peace. Bigwig began talking on the way down. "You did good out there. Good enough to prove me wrong at least. I am a little curious though as to why you helped the rest through. Had you just gone, you would have finished much sooner."

"They're my friends first of all," Sam said. "And, I don't know, it just seemed like the better choice. I know that in human armies, er, owslas, teamwork like that is encouraged. Friends have told me about having to run courses like that. Their captains say that either they all finish together, or it's just as good as if none of them had finished at all. The way I see it, an owsla is supposed to be a team effort, not just a bunch of individuals running in the same general direction."

"Bloody right!" Bigwig said suddenly, surprising Sam so much he almost tripped. "That is exactly what I like to hear. By Frith, you are going to be quite the asset to this place."

"Thanks Bigwig, it means a lot to hear you say that."

"Yeah, try not to get too sappy, eh? In case it slipped your mind, we're coming here so I can teach you to fight. It's not going to be very fun. Now," he said as he turned and looked at Sam, "let the lessons begin.

Thus began a rigorous training session where Bigwig taught Sam much about fighting. He explained how to deal with size differences.

"If faced with a larger opponent, you need to find a weak point," Bigwig instructed, "Watch for them to favor one side or the other, then decide if it's better to attack on their weaker side, or undermine them completely by taking out their dominant side. With smaller enemies, use size to your advantage. Close with them right away, so they can't run or dodge."

He learned how to grapple.

"If you can't push them down, break the hold and tackle their gut as hard as you can before they drop. This knocks the wind out of them. If you do manage to push them over, go for the kill, then and there."

They even went over how to handle multiple opponents at once.

"It's not easy. Use some of the take downs I've been showing you to try and take some of them out, if just for a while. Your goal is to fight a series of short one on one fights, which you either have to win quickly, or incapacitate your opponent while you deal with the next one. I don't know how you humans do things, but rabbits are a bit limited. It takes a true warrior to beat two opponents at once."

It was midday when they came back up the hill, Sam feeling considerably sorer than he had earlier. They came to find the rest of the rabbits outside resting. Pipkin ran over when he saw them return. "Hi Sam, hi Bigwig. So, how did the training go?"

Sam didn't know how to answer, so Bigwig spoke. "It…oh blast. It was smashing, alright?" He continued in a quieter voice, "he's probably the quickest rabbit I've ever taught. Picked everything up in one go. It's like he was born to be in an owsla. He'll be a great help around here, that's for sure." Ignoring Pipkin's laughter at his embarrassment, he turned to Sam. "Now then, eat and get some rest. I'm not done with you yet today."

Sam was astonished, "Wait, we're doing more?! Jeez Bigwig, maybe you can keep this up all day, but some of us get tired."

"And that's what rest is for," the captain said as if he were speaking to a particularly slow kitten. "It's not that big of a deal, I'm just going to show you the ropes of patrolling an area, since I assume you've never done anything like that?" Sam shook his head. "Right then. Rest up and we'll go."

Sam and Pipkin went to eat with Fiver, Blackberry, and Strawberry, all of whom were looking rather dirty. Sam chuckled as he approached, "Having fun down there guys? You're looking a wee bit dusty."

"We're having about as much fun as you," Blackberry replied. "So how was getting beaten down by Bigwig? For as long as you were down there, I'm a bit surprised you can still move."

"It wasn't that bad really," Sam said. "He's a good teacher, and I learned a lot."

"You know," Fiver said, "I'm kind of surprised he's teaching you at all. He was so against it the other day. I wonder what changed his mind."

"I'll ask him when we're on patrol," Sam responded, even though he was fairly certain why Bigwig chose to include him.

"Speaking of that," Strawberry said, "which direction did you say you were going for that patrol?"

"He said something about checking out a meadow that was close by," Sam said with his mouth half full of grass. "Why do you ask?"

Strawberry looked alarmed at their destination. "You shouldn't go that way! I've heard rumors of a fierce warren in that direction by the name of-" But Sam interrupted.

"Efrafa, I imagine." Strawberry had a stunned look on his face, before Sam remembered something. "Wait a minute, we never told you where I came from, did we?" Strawberry shook his head no, so Sam told him the story of how Prince Rainbow brought him from a different world. He also explained how why he knew the future.

"Goodness," Strawberry said, amazed. "That is quite the tale. Well, since you're aware of what's going to happen, I suppose I don't have much else to tell you. Just be careful, alright?"

Sam smiled, "I will Strawberry, thanks. Oh, I think Bigwig is about ready to go. I'll see you later everyone." And Sam went to where Bigwig was waiting.

"Right," he said Sam got closer, "let's go."

As they set off down the hill again, Sam told Bigwig the news. "Hey Bigwig, you should probably know that in the direction we're going, there's supposed to be this warren called Efrafa. From the stories, I know that they're pretty bad news. They hate outsiders from their warren, and will try to wipe us out if they get the chance."

Bigwig listened silently before answering, "Well, all the more reason for us to be patrolling then. If such a warren is around, it would be better for us to know about them before they know about us."

They continued on their way, coming out of the woods into a sprawling meadow. Sam was amazed at the beauty; he had never seen something like this in person. There were flowers of all colors dotting the tall grass, giving the field a pleasant smell. Whenever the wind blew, the grass rolled in waves.

Bigwig noticed Sam had stopped and yelled back, "Oi, you coming?"

Sam snapped out of his reverie. "Oh! Um yeah, sorry. I'm just not used to seeing stuff like this, is all."

They continued through the meadow while Bigwig gave tips on patrolling. It turned out to be pretty easy, just walk around an area and watch for any abnormalities. And stick to cover in unfamiliar territory. Sam listened attentively until Bigwig suddenly went quiet. Sam looked in the direction he was looking, and saw it: a group of rabbits sitting in a semi-circle a good distance away. The two ducked down and watched until they set off in the other direction.

"And I suppose that would be your Efrafa?" Bigwig asked.

"I believe so," Sam replied. "That would be one of their wide patrols, meant specifically to catch outsiders."

Bigwig grunted in acknowledgement. "Well then," he said, "let's go." And he went in the direction the Efrafans had.

This surprised Sam. "Wait, go? Why? We already know who they are, why put ourselves in unnecessary danger following them? Bigwig?" But the large buck made no indication that he was listening as he quietly followed their trail. It wasn't long before Sam and Bigwig found themselves crouching in some bushes and listening in on their conversation.

"Don't worry," said one tall and muscular rabbit, "we'll find the outsiders in this area, and track them back to their warren."

The other one, who appeared to be older and having a little tuft of fur on his chin like a beard added, "And then we'll destroy them." Even though they knew it was coming, it was still a shock to hear it come from the rabbit's mouth. They began to sneak back the way they came, when Sam disturbed a bird that was nesting in the bush they were hiding in. The bird flew into the air, drawing the eyes of the Efrafan patrol to where they were hiding.

Bigwig sighed in frustration, "Oh nicely done. Here they come! Split up, lose your pursuers, then meet back at the down." And Bigwig was off in one direction, with most of the patrol following him.

Sam was left standing there confused. "What do you mean 'lose your pursuers?' We didn't have that lesson!"

"Oh good, makes my job easier." Sam whipped around to see the large brown rabbit from before looking at him. "I suggest you don't run. Just make it easier on yourself and maybe I'll put in a good word with the general for you. You look like owsla material."

Sam was surprised to hear that. "Um, thank you, no."

"Hm," the other rabbit said, "what a shame." Just as he was about to attack, Sam made a discovery.

"Wait," he said, "I recognize you! You're Captain Campion, right?" This made the other rabbit, who was indeed the same Campion from the stories, hesitate in his attack.

"How…how do you know me?" Campion asked with confusion.

Sam chuckled lightly before answering. "As weird as this sounds, it was your eyes." Campion gave him a look of upmost confusion, so he continued. "Past all the hardness of your life, I know you are truly a kind rabbit, and it shows in your eyes. What also shows, is how much you dislike what you're doing."

Hearing that made Campion interrupt. "Absolutely not. I do whatever is necessary to keep Efrafa safe." He lowered his gaze to stare at the ground, "I…I would do anything for Efrafa."

"I know you would," Sam said with understanding. "And that's why I'm going to leave you with this last thought: when you do things like this, things that don't feel right, ask yourself if they are best serving Efrafa, or General Woundwort." Sam knew he said the right thing, because he saw Campion drop all hostility from his posture and just stand there looking shocked. He took the opportunity to turn and run as fast as he could the other way, leaving Campion still standing there.

As soon as he was positive Campion had not followed him, Sam ran back to the warren as fast as he could, hoping he would find Bigwig there already.

He crested the hill to find the others gathered in a circle. As he got closer, he saw it was Bigwig, who had indeed beaten him back. Bigwig saw him approach and barreled through Strawberry and Dandelion to get to him.

"Sam!" he said with relief. "You made it back! Ha, and to think you were worried. You lost those rabbits with no problem. I was just telling the other here about the dangers of this warren. I'm thinking about taking another party out to see if we can't find them first, get the element of surprise."

Sam shook his head. "There's a much easier way to do this. Hey Kehaar, Hannah, can you two come over here?"

"You want something from Kehaar?" the gull asked as he approached.

"Yeah," Hannah added, "what do you need?"

"Alright," Sam said, "we need to find this warren called Efrafa. The stories mention a broken bridge that marks the edge of patrolled Efrafan territory. I would like for the two of you to fly out that way," he gestured in the direction of the field they had just come back from, "and see if you can't find a bridge fitting that description. There's probably going to be a couple rabbits on one side keeping watch. When you see them, fly in the direction they're looking until you find a dead tree near a pit in the ground, and that's the warren."

Hannah nodded her head, "Doesn't sound like a thing we could miss very easily. We'll be back in a flash, let's go Kehaar!" She climbed on the gull's back and he took off with a cry into the air.

Sam followed their flight for a while before turning back to the assembled rabbits. "There. Now we just wait for them to be back and we'll have our warren found."

Bigwig looked skeptical. "We're trusting gulls and mice to do our owsla searching now? Are you even sure they're going in the right direction?"

This made Sam chuckle. "Well, they're in the air, so I'm betting they won't have much trouble finding a bridge. They're sure going to have an easier time of it than we would. And it will be safer for them too."

Bigwig persisted, "But gulls and mice?"

"Because they're so much worse than having a human in your owlsa," Sam said with a sly grin.

That caught Bigwig by surprise, "B-but they…you…arg! Must you be right all the time?"

Sam and the other rabbits started laughing. "I'm pretty sure that's in the job description, Bigwig. But don't worry, they're probably going to be back soon with all the knowledge you want. Until then, I'm looking awfully forward to a break. It's been a pretty long day." Indeed, it was already evening and sundown was not far behind.

Everyone was eating with Sam and Bigwig who were telling their stories about how they got away, though Sam's was much less interesting: "One rabbit came after me, but I talked with him until he let his guard down, and then ran." They were more interested in Bigwig's story, where he was diving through bushes and leaping over logs and rocks, eventually losing them by crossing a large river. Bigwig was just finishing his story when they heard wing beats and Kehaar's tell-tale yell.

He wasted no time as he landed. "We find bridge with two bunnies!"

Hannah continued, "And we found the warren too. Bunch of really sad looking rabbits there; what's up with that?"

"That's a good job you two," Hazel said. "I think we should pay this warren a visit, maybe see if we can't work out some kind of peace agreement." Many of the rabbits nodded their head, except for Sam. "Alright," Hazel continued, "get some rest. We're going to be taking a little trip tomorrow." Everyone went to the warren to sleep off their long day of digging and owsla training. Everyone except Hazel and Sam. Hazel sighed. "So, good idea?" He was referring to going to Efrafa.

Sam had to think about his answer. Coming to a decision, he said, "I…I think so. Needless to say, there will be some rough going, but something you find in there is worth the risk." Then Sam chuckled, "And who knows, maybe Woundwort will be having a particularly good day."

This caused Hazel to laugh too. "Ha, maybe. Well, nothing to lose by trying, right? Alright, we'll go tomorrow, Fiver, Bigwig, and the two of us. A smaller group stands a better chance of making it through unnoticed."

"Sounds like a plan," Sam replied. "But right now, I want to go to sleep really badly. I figured Bigwig would rub it in if I said anything earlier, but this has probably been one of the most physically tiring days of my life. I'm totally exhausted." Hazel noticed that he was right; Sam's legs were shaking slightly as if they were about to collapse.

Hazel nodded. "I agree. Let's get some rest. We need you Sam. Be sure you take care of yourself." Sam murmured in agreement as the two went into the warren.