Chapter 8-General Woundwort

Early the next morning, Sam was sleeping peacefully in his burrow when he felt a nudge at his side. "Sam, wake up," a familiar voice said, though Sam was still too tired to match a voice with a name. A little more nudging and Sam finally opened his eyes to see Fiver standing over him. "Come on Sam," he said impatiently, "we have to get going. We're going to see if we can't get to Efrafa before their guards are out in full force." Sam nodded and rose slowly, following Fiver outside where Hazel and Bigwig were waiting.

"There you are, Sam," Hazel said, "now all we need is for Kehaar to come back and we-" Kehaar's signature yell cut him off. The four looked and saw an irritated gull flying back to the down.

"That Efrafa place no good for anybody!" he exclaimed as he set down. "You listen well to Kehaar, there evil in that place."

Hazel hopped alongside Kehaar. "Calm down," he said, "what happened?"

Kehaar snorted in annoyance. "It all start with runaway bunny. I try and help him, but he too scared of Kehaar, and he get himself caught. I follow back to Efrafa warren and see they all gathered in a group with runaway in the middle. Then, this huge black rabbit come out and say to kill the runaway. Kehaar no liked that. I fly into group and scatter all the other bunnies, but not the big one. He even try and attack Kehaar back! After that, I fly back to Watership Down. It bad place, Hazel, very bad."

Hazel smiled when he heard the story. "Good, it sounds like there is some dissention there. We can use that."

"Use it for what?" Bigwig asked.

"Well, I was thinking that we really need more rabbits here on the down. With the number that we have now, we won't last in the future. And honestly, one doe isn't enough to support a warren."

"And you want to go scouting in Efrafa for new recruits?"

"Well Bigwig," Hazel said, " if you lived in a place like that, wouldn't you want to leave?"

The group shared a sly grin when he said that.

"Ha," Bigwig said, "I suppose I would at that. Nice thinking, Hazel."

Sam decided now was a good time to get the group's focus back on track. "Right, well, we do still need to go there, and I believe Fiver said something about beating patrols?"

"Sam's right," Bigwig said. "Let's get going."

The group followed Kehaar back towards the field that Sam and Bigwig had scouted the day before. This time however, Kehaar led them in such a way that they were able to stick to cover instead of running in the open. They followed Kehaar through miles of forest, stopping to rest and eat whenever they were tired.

Sam spoke up during one of their rests, "Sorry you guys, I had no idea that Efrafa was so far away."

"There's nothing to worry about Sam," Fiver said. "To be honest, this is a bit of a relief. The further away they are, the harder time they'll have finding us."

"Kehaar," Hazel called out, "how close are we to Efrafa?"

"Not so far now Hazel," the gull replied, "we little more den half way dere!"

The rest of the group groaned as they continued on their way. The sun was steadily lowering behind the horizon as the group ran along. They traveled in silence for a while longer until the sun went down and a full moon began to rise. Sam was so busy staring at the beauty of the woods in the moonlight that he didn't see the others stop and almost ran into Bigwig.

"Woah!" he said, narrowly avoiding the large buck. "What's the hold up?" He followed the rabbits' wordless gazes to a familiar sight. "Railroad tracks? Out here? Well that's kind of random. Oh well, what are you waiting for, let's go." He hopped into the middle of the tracks and stared back at the rabbits behind him. They looked on in astonishment.

"What did you say this thing was?" Bigwig asked. "Looks like a trail for some sort of giant beast."

Sam laughed, "They're called railroad tracks, and that isn't too bad of a description. Basically, this really big hrududu travels on this path. In fact…"he paused, listening in the distance, "there's one on its way now. Let's cross before it gets here, who knows how long it might be."

Sam turned and hopped to the other side, followed closely by Bigwig. He turned and saw Hazel and Fiver begin to cross together when the headlight of the train rounded the tree line. Time seemed to slow as the train got closer to them. Sam thought he saw Hazel make some kind of movement, but the train passed in front of him before he could be sure.

Sam and Bigwig waited on their side anxiously. "Do…do you think they're alright?" Bigwig asked in a worried tone. Sam was too scared to answer. He tried to look under the train to see if he might be able to see anything, but it was moving too fast and the blur of the wheels blocked out everything behind.

"They were alright in the show, they were alright in the show," kept running through Sam's head. After what seemed like hours, the train finally passed. Bigwig and Sam hurried to the other side of the tracks and found Hazel and Fiver unhurt, but trembling at the near miss.

"Hazel! Fiver!" Sam said in relief. "Are you two alright?"

It took a few moments for them to calm down, but eventually Fiver replied, "Yes, we're alright I think. Thank you, Hazel, that thing would have gotten me if not for you." He gave his brother a loving nuzzle before they were up and ready to continue.

Hazel, still rather shakily, said, "Well, let's continue on our way."

Bigwig , however, had other thoughts. "Actually, we should probably find a safe place to bed down for the night. I don't fancy running about in the dark where all the elil are."

The rest of the group agreed. They told Kehaar of their plans for stopping for the night, and it did not take long to find a burrow in the ground to spend the night in. They decided to take turns standing guard to make sure no elil crept upon them while they were sleeping. It proved to be meaningless however, as the night was completely uneventful. The group woke up the next morning and kept following Kehaar.

The gull led them out of the woods and into a farm field filled with healthy looking stalks of wheat. Ya know, Sam thought to himself, I never realized how good this stuff smells. Sam was so focused on the smell that he again did not notice the others stop, and this time he rammed into them.

"Sorry," Sam said. "Why did you stop now?"

"It's a man!" Hazel yelled. "Everyone scatter!"

The others bolted while Sam quickly looked where they had been moments before. As soon as he saw the straw-filled clothing hung on the post, he literally fell to the ground laughing.

Kehaar landed on one of the scarecrow's arms and looked at the scene in front of him: three of the rabbits were hiding from nothing, and the last one was laughing uncontrollably. "What is going on here?" he asked in confusion. "Why you laughing? And why you hiding Hazel, Bigwig, and Fiver?"

Sam was laughing too hard to notice Bigwig walk up to him. "Yes indeed Sam, just what is so funny?"

Sam didn't notice the annoyance in Bigwig's voice before he answered. "You guys got scared by that?! It's just a scarecrow! How is it you have never seen one of those before? It's just really funny seeing you get so scared by something so harmle-OW! What was that for?!" Bigwig cuffed him in the middle of his rant.

Bigwig replied in an innocent tone, "What was what for? I didn't do anything, did I Hazel? Fiver?"

Fiver laughed before answering, "I didn't see anything Bigwig. Sam must just be imagining things."

"Anyway," Hazel said, trying to get the group back on track, "what is this thing, Sam?"

Sam shot a dirty look at a smiling Bigwig before he told them. "It's a scarecrow. Humans put them in fields to try and keep crows from eating crops. But apparently it's good for scaring other animals away too."

Before the rabbits could start arguing again, Kehaar decided to get them going. "Stop the arguing! We getting close now. Let's go!" He took off and forced the rabbits to follow him.

They weren't traveling for long before Kehaar warned them that they were in Efrafan territory and that they would have to be careful for guards.

But as it turned out, that was not the case.

They did see guards in the woods, but they were focusing their attention towards the warren. They were so spread out that there were numerous holes in their security that the four rabbits could have taken to get to the warren.

Hazel thought about this as they snuck by. "It's kind of surprising," he said as they found a relatively safe place to rest, " that their security here is so…loose. From what Sam has said about this place, you would think there would be guards everywhere."

"It doesn't surprise me," Sam said glumly. "Think about it, the way this warren is run, they would have to be more worried about escape attempts from within the warren than anyone sneaking in. They don't need many sentries out here because anyone that tried to escape would probably make a lot of noise. I'm betting these are their fastest runners out here, to head off any rabbit that tries to escape."

The group advanced a little ways until they came to a clearing where they could see rabbits on silflay. Fiver shuddered upon seeing the gaunt frames of the rabbits. "I don't like this place, it's unnatural. This isn't how rabbits are supposed to live."

The group looked around and saw guards around the perimeter of trees, and more standing on the roots of a huge fallen tree that housed the warren proper.

Bigwig shook his head. "Hazel, are you still thinking about going in there? This…General Woundwort fellow definitely doesn't seem like he would be very interested in talking. And what happens if he decides to keep you there? Do you realize just how difficult it would be to escape from this place?"

"You're right Bigwig," Hazel said. "It would just be too hard, and I can't risk the safety of our warren like that. We should go." They were about to turn and leave when Kehaar, who had landed silently beside them, noticed something.

"Hay," he said, looking at two rabbits that were edging away from the others, "is bunny that try escape, Blackavar."

Sam nodded his head, "That's the one you tried to help?"

"Ya ya," Kehaar responded. "Oh, and other bunny try and help him in trial, Primrose."

At the mention of the name "Primrose," Hazel turned back to look, and his eyes shot right to her. Sam saw a vacant expression slide over his face as he stared at her. It was all Sam could do not to laugh at his friend, Hazel was totally smitten.

The pair crept closer and closer to where they were hiding, doing their best to avoid the notice of the guards. They were soon about five feet away, when Hazel stuck his head out before anyone noticed.

"Hello," he said, surprising Primrose and Blackavar, "my name is Hazel. We…we're here to get you out. Somehow." Primrose looked as if she was about to answer when two rabbits began making their way over. Fiver drug Hazel back into cover and the group sat quietly while the rabbits, one who Sam identified as Captain Campion, approached Blackavar and Primrose.

"You two! What are you doing there!?" This was yelled by the rabbit accompanying Campion. He was a very thin, weak looking rabbit that had sly and conniving look about him. "You know this is further than you're supposed to go, especially you, Primrose. Now get back to the warren before I make you!" He raised his paw as if he was about to strike (which made Hazel utter a low growl, surprising the rest of the group), when he was interrupted.

"That's enough, Vervain," Campion interrupted, "they get it." He turned to look at Primrose and Blackavar. "Alright you two, back to the warren, get going." They looked at each other and seemed to consider disobeying the command, but then Primrose began hopping back to the warren with Blackavar close behind.

Vervain waited until they were out of earshot before rounding on Campion. "Do you enjoy undermining my authority in front of the commoners, Campion? Why must you always do that?"

Campion gave Vervain a cold glare before answering. "Maybe if you didn't abuse your power so much, I wouldn't have to. Now quit your whining and come on. We still have a patrol to run." And the two of them hopped away as well.

The group breathed a collective sigh of relief. Sam looked over to Hazel and saw the chief's face stony in deep thought. Sam shook his head and asked, even though he already knew the answer, "We aren't leaving anymore, are we, Hazel?"

"No," Hazel said with little emotion in his voice, "we are not."

"And…you're going in there, aren't you?"

Hazel nodded, "That I am. I have to get her, them, out."

It was then that Fiver began shuddering and gave a low moan.

"The only way out is to go straight through.

If two go in, then out come two."

Sam, who had never seen one of Fiver's visions at work, was concerned. "Are you alright Fiver? Hazel, what's wrong with him?"

"I'm fine Sam," the small buck said. "It was just a vision. I get them every now and then, didn't you know that?"

"Well, yea," Sam replied, "but it's still a little creepy to watch. What does it feel like?"

"Well," Fiver began, "it kind of feels like…" He drifted off at seeing the annoyed look on Hazel's face. "Um, I'll tell you later Sam. For now, it seems like two of us are going to have to go down there if we want to get them out. How about…I go with Hazel, while the three of you keep a watch for trouble?"

Sam nodded his head. "That sounds like a good plan. We'll make our way over to where Kehaar was watching before. Hopefully, that's where they'll bring you when you show yourselves. That will put us in a good position to help if anything goes badly."

Hazel turned and looked Sam in the eyes. "Thank you. And Sam, if anything goes…badly-"

"It won't," Sam insisted. "Everything will be just fine. Just watch each other's backs and be careful, and everything will go just fine."

Hazel looked like he wanted to say more, but he just nodded and turned to Fiver. "Ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be," he responded. And the two walked out of cover into the open.

Bigwig, Sam and Kehaar watched them run into the open and immediately be confronted by two bulky guards. They talked for a bit, though Sam couldn't hear what they were saying, and then they were led off towards the warren.

"Right then," Bigwig said, getting Sam and Kehaar's attention, "they have their part to do, and we have ours. Kehaar, lead us to where you were watching Blackavar's trial from before."

"Ya, come this way." And he took off as silently as he could to avoid attention. They decided it would be best to make their way back out of Efrafan territory, travel a longer way around so that they were even with the lookout point, then sneak back in. It would take longer, but it would drastically decrease their chances of being found.

"You know," Bigwig said when they were away from Efrafa, "I really don't understand why Hazel changed his mind. Everything we said before still holds true, getting out of there would be a challenge even for El-ahrairah."

Sam looked at him in amazement. "You don't know why he did it? Did you not see him practically drooling when he looked at Primrose?" Sam chuckled then, "It was love at first sight."

"Really?" Bigwig asked in genuine surprise, "I didn't realize." He smiled, "I suppose I can't blame him though, she really was an attractive doe, eh Sam?"

Sam was a little taken aback by his question. "Um, what are you talking about Bigwig?"

"Oh come now," he said, "I've seen a lot of does in my day, and she definitely ranks among the prettiest."

"Yeah…" Sam said uncomfortably, "I am still a human you know. I…kind of have trouble finding rabbits…attractive."

"Oh," Bigwig said awkwardly, "right."

They did not talk anymore until they reached the lookout point.

Hazel and Fiver left the safety of the brush and made their way to the nearest guards, intent on making their way straight to Woundwort. The guards saw them and came over immediately. One started yelling at them, "What are you two doing? I don't think I've even seen you around here before."

Hazel took a step forward. "No, you haven't. We're here to speak to your leader, take us to him."

The guards looked at each other in amusement. "Come on then," the other one said, "the general will certainly want to see you." The guards led them from the grassy area that the other rabbits were silflaying in, and down a well used path. The path led to a rough area that was mostly dry dirt with a few weeds poking up here and there. There were rabbits all along the rim of the depression, ready to attack anyone they saw as getting out of line. They were led to the same tree they saw earlier, which looked even bigger up close. The pair didn't have much time to stare however, as they were pushed into one of many openings in the ground under the tree. They followed the guards to a large boulder, which one moved away with little effort. "You will wait in here with the others that need the General's attention." Hazel and Fiver entered the burrow to find Primrose and Blackavar staring at them in surprise.

Primrose waited until the boulder again covered the entrance before she began speaking. "Oh no, they captured you too?"

Hazel shook his head, "Actually, we chose to come here. We were going to try and talk with this General Woundwort in hopes of him allowing some rabbits from here to come live at our warren. But the more I see of this place, the more futile I think talking to him is going to be."

"Talking to that tyrant is useless," Blackavar said, pulling Hazel's attention away from Primrose. "We two, along with a few of our friends, tried to ask him not long ago if we could be allowed to leave. We wanted to start a new warren and said we were willing to go as far away from Efrafa as they wanted, if only we could leave. He said no, and split everyone into separate marks except for Primrose and me."

Primrose continued, "He doesn't care about us, all he wants is more power. Do you have a way to get us out of here Hazel?"

It was Fiver who answered. "We…don't actually have anything yet. But believe me, we will come up with something. Hazel is has a touch of El-ahrairah in situations like these."

"And just wait until we get you out of here!" Hazel said suddenly. "Watership Down is the most amazing place in the world! There's no elil there, no danger. The hill is so high you can see forever, and the air is so pure and clean."

Hazel was so focused on his home, that he didn't notice Primrose and Blackavar's faces falling with every word he said. "Please stop," said Primrose. "Please, don't say anymore about your warren."

Hazel stopped and looked at her in confusion. "Why?"

"Because," Blackavar said, "when you've spent most of your life in this place, with very little chance to escape, you tend to avoid images like that. It's needless pain, because you can't get out of this place."

Hazel responded, "But we will get you out of here. I promise."

Primrose looked like she was about to say something, when the boulder blocking the entrance moved aside. "Come on you lot," a different guard than before said, "the General is ready to hear you now." They were lead up a tunnel towards an entrance that had light streaming through it.

Sam, Bigwig, and Kehaar had been waiting for a while watching the rabbits of Efrafa go about their day, depressing as it was, when suddenly the guards began moving. They were going between all the groups of rabbits out on silflay and seemed to be gathering them for something. As the rabbits cleared out, the group was able to sneak closer until they were hiding on a ledge just above the gathering place.

"I wonder what has them all worked up," Bigwig said. "Do you think Hazel and Fiver are alright?"

Sam replied, "They should be. There would have been some outside indication if there was a fight in the warren. In fact, they should be coming out there pretty- Oh! There they are!"

They looked on as Hazel and Fiver were led to the gathering area by a group of burly guards. They were positioned in the middle of the crowd of rabbits. All of the Efrafans were giving them a wide berth, like they were scared of the two Watership Down rabbits. They were not kept waiting long, when a huge looking black rabbit seemed to crawl out of the shadows and settle on a pedestal above the rest of the rabbits. One of his eyes was milky white. Blind I think, Sam thought. The other eye was a deep, blood red. The assembled rabbits were deathly silent when he approached.

Then he spoke, in a gravelly voice full of anger. "I am General Woundwort. Why have you come to this warren? Are you here to surrender yourselves to my glorious rule?"

Hazel stepped in front of a quivering Fiver. "My name is Hazel, and no, we will not give in to you. We are here to take any rabbit that is unhappy here with us."

As he heard this, Woundwort began a deep, spine-tingling laugh. "You think I would allow you to take any of my subjects away from me? You are as presumptuous as you are foolish. I will not surrender any of my power to the likes of you"

Even though they could not see his face, Sam and Bigwig could imagine the shock on Hazel's face. Most likely it matched the looks on their own. Hazel managed to push past his amazement and tried again to convince him. "But…how can you say that? You have no right to keep them against their will!"

"Their will?! Hah! They have no will. My will is their will! They have no idea about what is best, and without me, they never will. Guards! I am done with these fools, kill them!"

Sam and Bigwig were about to jump in and do what they could to help as the guards closed in, but they stopped when they heard Fiver begin to moan. The moaning carried unearthly far, and he was on the ground thrashing about. Just the sight of Fiver caused many of the rabbits to run to the burrows in fright, and even some of the guards. The only ones left in the meeting grounds were Woundwort himself, Hazel and Fiver, Primrose and Blackavar, and a handful of exceptionally brave guards. Fiver finally fell silent as he began to speak.

"Listen well evil one

The sun knows your face

The messenger will see you done,

In Darkhaven, your resting place"

"What?!" Woundwort screamed as he jumped down from where he stood. "Darkhaven. You said Darkhaven!" He tackled Fiver to the ground. "What do you know of that place?! Tell me!"

Hazel broke free from the guards that were restraining him and shoved the General off of his brother, then helped him to his feet.

"Destroy them!" Woundwort yelled. "Quickly!"

Hazel thought fast before he came up with an idea that might get them out of Efrafa. "If you do that General," he said, "my owsla will come down upon you and destroy you all!" He then turned around and looked towards where Sam and Bigwig were hiding. "Everyone! Prove your presence!"

Beside Sam, Bigwig started chuckling. "You're a bloody genius, Hazel. Sam, run around the perimeter of this pit. Make as big of a disturbance as you can, we need to try and convince them there are more up here than just us."

Sam nodded and the two took off in opposite directions, bumping into as many trees as they could. When Sam reached the end of his side, he turned to see if Woundwort believed their trick. He should, Sam thought, he believed it in the show. But there's something…off…about him.

Back in the meeting ground, Woundwort ran his eyes along the tree line that had begun shaking. He thought for a moment before leveling a hard look at Hazel. "I don't believe you." Seeing the sudden fear appear in Hazel and Fiver's eyes, he knew he was right. Woundwort addressed his guards, "kill them, they are bluffing."

Sam was shocked where he stood. I knew it! I knew there was something wrong here. He knew, he probably knew all along. Damn it! Now what? He turned to his human form, hoping to at least buy Hazel and Fiver a few seconds while the Efrafans were surprised at seeing a small human charging at them.

He readied his staff and was about to break cover when he heard a voice in his head. Sam, use your power. He stopped, confused. "Wh-What?" the teen asked out loud. Use your power to free them. Sam felt his spiritual energy begin to flow into his left arm. Concentrate your power, and cast it at the dark one. Sam closed his eyes and tried to do as the voice said. He allowed more and more energy to flow down his arm, until he couldn't fit anymore. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see a glowing green orb floating over his open palm. He didn't have long to consider this new revelation as he remembered the situation. Cast it at the dark one, huh? Well, if you insist. He grabbed the orb in his hand and threw it towards the guards that were advancing on Hazel and Fiver. The orb streaked through the air and crashed into the guard closest to Sam, and instead of exploding or doing anything else Sam was expecting, it simply threw the guard back into the others.

All the rabbits in the meeting ground were shocked at what had just happened. Luckily, Fiver must have guessed that it was Sam and decided to use it to their advantage. "You were wrong, General. Not only is our owsla up there, we have a…battle mystic at our warren as well. He, unlike myself, has learned to use his mystical powers to fight. Now, I suggest you let us go, or the next one will be you."

Woundwort was stunned at the small buck's words. He looked over to his soldiers, most of which were lying in a pile, unconscious. He let out a bellow of rage as he turned to glare at Hazel and Fiver. "Go," he said angrily. "Get out of this place. But know, I will find you, and I will destroy you."

Hazel and Fiver didn't miss the chance. They turned and ran up the hill where Bigwig and Sam, now back in his rabbit form were waiting. Together, the four kept running until they were sure they were not being followed.

Some distance away from Efrafa, the group finally stopped to catch their breath. Kehaar landed next to the tired rabbits. "There no stinking Efrafans following. Bah, they scared of little green ball."

"Speaking of that little green ball," Hazel said, "what exactly was that Sam?" Everyone turned to look at Sam who was lying on the ground, completely exhausted.

The teen panted heavily where he lay, too tired to even hear Hazel's question. It felt like his spiritual energy was…cramping, for lack of a better word.

Oh crap, he thought, does this mean I'm about to go into backlash again? No way, I am not letting that happen! Calming himself down, Sam concentrated and managed to turn himself human again. Oh wow, that was a lot harder than normal. Now that his spiritual energy was healing, or refilling, or whatever it did, Sam was realized that his companions were bent over him with worried looks on their faces.

"I'm alright guys," he said, propping himself up, "I'm just, really tired."

Hazel moved a little closer. "You had us worried, Sam. Are you sure you're alright? And what was that thing you did? The green thing?"

"Um, I'm not really sure. I just heard a voice in my head telling me to concentrate and throw it at them, so I did. But you now, I think that thing drained most of my energy, because I'm totally wiped out."

"Can you walk?" Bigwig asked "We should try and get as much distance between us and Efrafa as we can."

Sam shakily stood up. "Yeah, I think I'm good to go for that, but I'm going to have to stick to my human form."

"Alright then, let's move on. Just lean on one of us if you need to, alright Sam?" Sam nodded his head and they started moving.

They were traveling slowly compared to what they were before, because even if Sam was capable of moving that fast, he was too tired to do so. The group kept going until they found a safe place to stay for the night: a little cave hidden beneath a small waterfall in a creek. Even though the stone was not very comfortable on his human form, Sam was asleep almost instantly.