Chapter 11-Infiltration

The imposing General Woundwort looked down from his pedestal at the rabbits standing before him. "Bigwig and Sunflower. My owsla is full, now be gone with you. Guard!" he yelled to the rabbit that brought them in, "take them away and put them with the rest. Separate marks." He was about to turn and walk away when the guard spoke.

"S-Sir, if I may?" This caused Woundwort to stop and look at the almost quivering soldier as if he were an insect. The guard swallowed audibly and continued. "Captain Avens was killed by a fox on patrol today. Maybe…if one of these two-"

"Silence!" The General's bellow filled the burrow. He considered what the guard had said. "Very well then. It seems there may be a place for you in the owsla after all. For one of you. Only the best are privileged enough to be in Woundwort's owsla. You two," he gestured to Bigwig and Sam, "will fight. Whoever lives, I will allow in my owsla. Begin!"

Sam and Bigwig looked shocked at Woundwort's plan. They turned to face each other uncertainly before lowering into fighting stances. As Sam faced off with Bigwig, thoughts were shooting through his head. This is bad, how do we get out of this? We can't actually fight each other! Let's see, how…I've got it! As Bigwig advanced on Sam, uncertainty still in his eyes, Sam launched his plan.

Sam sprung backwards and ran behind the guard. "I can't do it," he said, "I can't fight him, not Bigwig." He looked at General Woundwort with pleading eyes. "He was my teacher sir, please, I'll fight anyone else you ask me to, just not him."

Bigwig looked listened to Sam, confused, until he understood what he was doing. Smart lad. "Embleer Frith, Sunflower! You have to stand and fight! Your skills are too good to be wasted with the commoners of this warren!" He fake-glared at Sam, still hiding behind the guard. Sam shook his head and averted his eyes.

"Decision made," Woundwort said. "Bigwig, you will report to Captain Campion for instruction on your duties, whereas the weakling," Woundwort scoffed as he gestured to Sam, "will be put into a mark along with the rest. Take care of it!" With that, he turned and walked off deeper into the warren.

Sam continued to hang his head as Bigwig approached him. "I told you, Sunflower," he said, "I told you that you might have to do things you don't like when we left home. Why didn't you fight?"

Sam was about to respond when the guard interrupted. "I'm sorry to interrupt, sir," he said, addressing Bigwig, "but here comes Captain Campion now. And we need to get this one," he gestured to Sam, "assigned to a mark." He bowed his head to the approaching rabbit, "Captain Campion sir, these are two new rabbits to the warren, Bigwig and Sunflower. Bigwig is to report to you for training on his duties as a captain in the owsla, and Sunflower will be assigned to a mark. Where should we assign him sir? Sir?"

When Campion saw Sunflower he stopped and stared. Sam watched at a flash of recognition showed in Campion's eyes. Wait, no way, Sam thought to himself, there is no way he can remember me. We talked for maybe a minute. And that was more than a month ago!

Campion snapped out of his private thoughts and answered the guard. "Bigwig will wait here. Avens was in the Near Hind mark, so that's where he'll go. Give him the proper marking."

The guard nodded, "Yes sir. But if you don't mind me asking, what will you be doing?"

Campion replied, "Oh, I'll be showing Sunflower here to his new burrow. I won't be long. Now you," he said suddenly to Sam, "come with me." Sam nodded nervously and followed as Campion took him out the way they had come in. He followed Campion wordlessly as he led the way outside and around the tree to a different entrance. This caused Sam to remember the odd way Efrafa was laid out, with each of the marks in separate, non-connected tunnels. The official reason was to prevent an outbreak of illness, but Sam was certain it was to prevent the spreading of ideas from one mark to another. Campion led the way deeper until they came to an empty burrow in the back of the tunnel.

Sam stepped inside. "Thank you for showing me the way, Captain Ca-" he was interrupted when Campion tackled him from behind. Before Sam knew what had happened, Campion had him pinned.

"What are you doing here!?" he said in a harsh tone. "Why have you come to Efrafa? Oh don't look so shocked, you don't get to be a Captain of Owsla without being able to remember a face. Especially when that face was trying to convince you that your chief didn't have the best interests of his warren in mind. You're answer better be good: it's the only thing keeping me from killing you right now."

Sam's mind raced. Oh jeez, now what? I can't just tell him the truth, he'll tell Woundwort right away and Bigwig and I will be captured for sure. Um…maybe I can say we got tired of our old warren? Or maybe-

When Sam didn't answer right away, Campion added, "Want to know another trait every good Captain of Owsla has? Being able to tell when he's being lied to. So don't try it!"

Right, well, here it goes I guess. "Well, to be honest, we're here to take away any rabbits that want to leave, but aren't being allowed to."

"No," Campion responded, "I will not allow you to steal anyone away from this warren."

"Maybe I said that wrong, we want to take anyone that doesn't want to be here. We wouldn't think of taking anyone away that didn't absolutely want to leave."

Campion shook his head, "Be that as it may, I still can't allow it."

"Why?" Seeing Campion hesitate, Sam continued, "Why wouldn't you let anyone leave that wanted to? Don't rabbits have a right to live their lives how they choose, rather than have someone else's opinions forced on them?"

Campion didn't have a response for that. Backing up slowly, he removed himself from Sam and stood in front of the entrance. "Let's just say I agree with you. What would these rabbits be leaving to? Could you promise them safety?"

Sam nodded, "Our warren is beautiful. The air is amazingly clear, and there is no way for elil to sneak up on us. And even if they did, our owsla is more than capable of handling it. But the most important thing is they would be going to a life of freedom. A life without all the…unnatural constraints that are in this warren. They can silflay whenever they want, be outside whenever they want, anything."

Campion listened to Sam. "It sounds nice," he said to himself. When Sam looked at him questioningly, Campion replied, "I…I'll think on it. For now, just…do what you're here to do. But rest assured, I will be having my eye on you so if you try anything funny, the owsla will be all over you and your friend. Now come on, you don't get a burrow to yourself, you will be staying with others."

Sam was again thinking wildly to himself as they walked. Well, dodged a bullet there. For now anyway. I have to tell Bigwig somehow, this whole thing could come crashing down on top of us at any time, and it's all my fault. Why didn't I think of this?

Campion stopped at a burrow and gestured inside. "This is where you'll be staying. The others will tell you about what is expected of you in this warren. Now, I have to go deal with your friend."

Sam watched Campion hop away before he entered the burrow and saw two rabbits, a buck and a doe. The doe's back was brown, while her legs, chest, and face were covered in tan fur. The buck was faded black from head to toe. The doe hopped forward and introduced herself. "Hello, my name is Primrose, and this is my friend Blackavar."

Sam almost laughed. Whatever deity is responsible for this, thank you!

Meanwhile, Bigwig was half listening to the guard, who introduced himself as Pinenut, explain the mark system. He was more concerned about Sam. There was something about the way Campion spoke that made him worry. "…one mark out at a time. Are you listening, Bigwig?" That brought Bigwig's attention back to the guard. "Listen, just because you're going to be a captain in the future, doesn't mean you are one now. Being as you're in training, I still outrank you, and you have a lot to learn. Now as I was saying, when your mark is out on silflay, you and the other owsla rabbits assigned to that mark will be standing main guard in The Run." Bigwig remembered the Pinenut saying that The Run was what they called the large gouge in the land near the warren that the rabbits would silflay in. "When your mark is inside, you will spend some of your time watching over them to be sure they are following our laws. Sometimes, you will be called on to stand secondary guard for another mark, and you will also have to run wide patrol. Captain Campion will show you all of this in person when he gets back."

"I am back, Pinenut," Campion said from behind him, surprising the guard, "I'll show Bigwig here his duties now; you're relieved."

Pinenut bowed his head, "Thank you sir." He walked out the way Campion had come in as Campion himself tuned to Bigwig.

"Well, seeing as Pinenut already gave you a rough detail of your duties, we'll get straight to the paws-on learning. But first, I need to give you your mark. Hold still." Bigwig did not move as Campion moved to his right hind leg. Bigwig saw Campion raise his paw as if to strike and braced himself for the hit, but to his surprise, he felt no pain. He looked at his leg and saw three stripes in his fur where Campion's claws had scraped Bigwig's skin without piercing the flesh, effectively shaving the area.

Even brave Bigwig was a bit frightened at Campion's show of control. "Do that a lot then do you?"

"Enough to get good at it," Campion replied. "Now come along, I have to show you the ins and outs of a captain's duty." Campion led Bigwig outside, through The Run, and up along one of the edges where other owsla rabbits were standing guard on a group on silflay. "Like you were told before, when your mark is on silflay, you and the owsla rabbits under your command will stand watch here. Your main job is to make sure no rabbits try and escape, and that none of them get out of line." Bigwig looked at the mark of rabbits and saw that they were literally eating in a straight line.

"Why would rabbits try and escape?" Bigwig asked innocently, "If any wanted to go, couldn't they just leave?"

Campion looked toward the group as well. "Some rabbits just don't know what's really best for themselves. We maintain order here with the thinking that some unpleasantness must be endured for true safety."

"And if anyone disagrees with you?"

Campion gave Bigwig a hard look. "Then we deal with them."

Bigwig returned the stare for a bit, then surprised Campion by saying, "Fine by me. I was Captain of Owsla at my old warren, and I know that there is no such thing as too much discipline."

Campion nodded and led Bigwig to the large tree that housed the warren. He began climbing the web of roots that touched the ground until he reached a large root overlooking The Run and the surrounding area. "This is where you stand secondary guard. You will only do that for a mark that is not your own, because we don't have enough owsla rabbits per mark to cover all positions. When you are standing secondary guard, the captain of the mark currently on silflay outranks you. You take orders from him, and the opposite will be true when you have your mark out. But don't forget, above the captains are Vervain and myself, and on top is General Woundwort. Remember the line of command and you won't have many problems. Now then, when you are on duty as the main captain, you will also run a check of the perimeter and check with the sentries to be sure nothing has happened. We'll do that now."

The perimeter check was the same as Bigwig remembered from Sandleford: run and chat with the sentries for a bit and be on your way. What Bigwig was not expecting, was that they were going out to check the guards by the bridge too.

"Everything alright here?" Campion asked.

"Yes sir," one of the guards answered, "we haven't seen anything all day."

Bigwig was relieved to hear that. "Alright then," he replied, "keep up the good work." Campion and Bigwig returned to the warren, the bridge being the last place they had to inspect.

Campion led Bigwig to a different tunnel that he hadn't been in before. "This is where your mark is. The Captain's burrow is in the back. I'll be sending over one of the other captains at some point to see how you're doing. Welcome to the owsla, Bigwig."

"Thank you, sir," Bigwig replied as he made his way to the burrow in the back.

Campion watched him go. Oh yes, I'm going to have to watch that one.

Sam just smiled at the two rabbits in front of him. He was wrapped in his own thoughts until Primrose spoke again, "Um, hello? Are you alright?"

"Oh, maybe he went tharn," Blackavar said. "I know that a lot of rabbits do once the shock really sets in."

Sam snapped back to the present situation when he heard them speak. "No no, I'm fine. I was just thinking how amazingly lucky I am to be put in this burrow."

Primrose's ears sagged at his words. "You aren't lucky. You're in Efrafa. No one is lucky to be in Efrafa."

Sam's good mood was drained at the sadness and longing in her voice. "From what I've seen, I think I agree with you there. I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that everything is going to be so much easier now."

"What's going to be easier," Blackavar asked. "Are you here to spy on us? Because we've done nothing wrong!"

Sam chuckled at his outburst. "That couldn't be much further from the truth. I was sent here by a friend. Remember Hazel? Well he kept his promise. Me, and another from our warren who managed to make his way into the owsla, are here to get you out. Sorry it took so long, we had…a little setback."

They wore shocked expressions and their mouths were hanging open. "Can…can it really be," Primrose said quietly, "Hazel sent help?"

Blackavar's shock turned to excitement. "Oh thank Frith! Primrose, we're going to get out! In fact, we may not even need the tunnel now!"

Sam blinked in confusion. "Tunnel? What-"

"We were digging an escape tunnel out of here," Blackavar continued. "Er, well, Primrose was actually the one digging it. I tried to help, but I ended up collapsing part of it. It took three days to undo the damage."

Primrose sighed at her friend's rambling. "It's true, there's a tunnel behind those roots at the back of the burrow. It's not that we weren't thankful for Hazel's offer, but you were taking a rather long time. So, we figured we might as well try something ourselves." She looked away and said quietly, "Though to be honest, I don't know if we would have had the courage to try anything if we hadn't met him and Fiver. He just has this…inspiring air about him. Do you know what I mean?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, he's pretty good at what he does. Everyone loves him. And if it's any consolation, he wanted to come sooner, but one of the rabbits in our warren was injured, and Hazel didn't want to try this without him. He thought about you a lot."

"He did?"

Sam nodded.

"So anyway," Blackavar said excitedly, "what's the plan to get out?"

Sam smiled at the buck's enthusiasm. "It's pretty simple, actually. In two days, the other members of our owsla are going to run a fake attack on the far side of the warren. That's hopefully going to draw away some of the resistance from here, so we can escape with Bigwig's help."

"Who's Bigwig?" Primrose asked.

"Oh right, he's the other rabbit from our warren that I mentioned: the one that infiltrated their owsla. He's going to spend the next couple of days examining their defenses from the inside and planning an escape route. He'll contact me when he can."

Blackavar looked ecstatic, but Primrose still had a doubtful look on her face. "I don't know," she said, "a lot of this plan seems to depend on chance. What if you're found out?"

Remembering his conversation with Campion, Sam frowned. "Well, I hope we won't be. I'm sure Bigwig won't have any trouble fitting in, so as long as I can avoid screwing something up, I think we'll be fine." I hope we'll be fine, he added silently.

Primrose thought about that and nodded. "Alright, I guess that's as good as it's going to get. But what about-"

"It's time for silflay, get going!"

Sam looked out towards the main tunnel. "What was that?"

"It's the guard," Blackavar answered. "We have to go out to silflay now. Just follow us, keep in line, and above all else, do not look at or speak to the officers. Remember, we're out there to eat, and that's it."

Sam nodded and followed them out. As they went, Sam saw other rabbits in the same mark heading outside too. He tried to say something to a few of them, but they just ignored him and stared straight ahead, lifeless. They passed through the entrance to the tunnel and into The Run. Sam saw the rabbits that beat them outside getting into a straight line, so they went over and joined it. Once all the rabbits were outside of the tunnel, one of the guards began calling out orders.

"Begin silflay!"

Almost as one, the rabbits lowered their heads and began to eat. Sam hurriedly followed their example.

"Step!"

The rabbits hopped forward as a group, except for Sam, who was caught unaware and quickly got back in line. But not quickly enough for the guard.

"You," he shouted, hopping closer to Sam, "you're movements are sluggish. The mark is expected to move as a unit."

Sam didn't know how to respond until he got a nudge from Primrose. He glanced over and she gestured to the guard, indicating that he should respond. "Um, my apologies sir," he answered in a meek voice, "it's my first day here, you see. I'll get better, I promise."

The guard rolled his eyes and hopped away. "Always put the stupid ones in my mark," he muttered. He resumed his previous position.

"Step!"

The group moved again, and this time Sam managed to stay with the group. It went on like this for a while: the guard would yell a command and the mark would follow it as a group. Of course it wasn't long before more trouble came.

"Primrose! You're off your mark!"

Sam looked first to Primrose, who was maybe an inch behind himself, then to the source of the voice. It was the same rabbit he saw earlier getting yelled at by Woundwort. The rabbit was skinny, looking as if he lacked the muscle that the other owsla rabbits had. He looked old, though Sam could not tell if he actually was old, or if it was the tuft of hair under his chin that looked like a beard. He hopped down and stood in front of Primrose with a look of superiority on his face. Primrose inched herself forward without even raising her head.

"Look at me when I am speaking to you," he commanded. Primrose did not move and just continued eating as if he weren't there. "You impudent doe!" He raised his paw as if he was going to hit her, when Sam intervened.

"Woah, hold on," he said, "isn't that a little extreme? I mean, she didn't even do anything."

Vervain froze and slowly slid his gaze over to Sam. The look was filled with hatred, anger, and contempt. Sam actually felt a bit afraid from that look, even though he was much bigger and could easily win in a fight. "What did you say to me you filthy commoner?"

"I…I was just saying that…it wasn't her fault. It was mine. It's my first day here and, well, I'm kind of a slow learner. Primrose was trying to help me and she must have gotten so distracted that she wasn't paying attention to herself." Sam paused and tried to look contrite, "I'm really sorry."

Vervain didn't move or show any indication that he has heard until he suddenly cuffed Sam hard in the face. The blow sent him reeling and he shook his head to try and clear his vision, when something he couldn't identify crashed into him and he felt a weight on his chest. As his vision returned to normal, Vervain's face, pressed eerily close to Sam's, came into focus.

"I don't care if you've been here for one day or one season, if you want to keep your life…or your ears and tail, you will never question me again. Do I make myself clear?"

Sam, deciding that it would be best to stop fighting, meekly nodded his head. Vervain glared at him for a moment longer before jumping off, purposely digging his claws in as he did, and yelling at the guard to get the mark back inside.

Bigwig had a look around the tunnel where the mark he was to be in charge of lived. Any time he tried to introduce himself to any of the rabbits, he was met with fear and whimpering. By Frith, he thought to himself, this is terrible! These rabbits are absolutely miserable, how can they not see that? It's a wonder they don't have more rabbits simply giving up on life and dying in this place. He snorted, they're probably too afraid to consider it.

"Excuse me, are you Bigwig?"

Bigwig turned around at the voice. It came from a rabbit a bit smaller than himself. The rabbit's body was white, but the fur on his face was a light grey, almost like a mask. "Who's asking?" Bigwig replied.

"My name is Moss. Captain Campion has assigned me to help you get acquainted with your new duties. I used to be a captain myself, but now I'm Captain Campion's…I suppose you could call it his second in command."

"Ah, well, nice to meet you then."

Moss nodded, "And you as well. But as to the reason I'm here, Captain Lavender's mark is about to out on silflay, and I thought it might be a good idea to see how it's done before you have your first go at it."

Bigwig nodded. Anything to keep them happy. "That sounds like a good plan," he said, "lead on."

They made their way outside and up onto one of the edges of The Run. They did not have to wait long before rabbits began filing out of a different burrow and got into a straight line. "That's how it starts," Moss said. "The mark has to get into a line. Make sure everyone is right on." Bigwig watched as the captain of the mark called out orders, which the rabbits followed promptly, all except one.

Is that… Bigwig thought to himself. It is! It's Sam! This thought had just gone through his head when he saw the guard approach Sam and yell at him for moving too slow. Bigwig didn't hear Sam's response, but it must have satisfied the guard because he resumed his place and continued calling orders. "See that," Moss said, "that's how it has to be. The mark should be one solid unit and any disorganization is dealt with. There is no individual in Efrafa, there is only the warren. And the General."

Bigwig nodded and continued to watch. Everything was fine until he heard Vervain's voice behind him. "Primrose! You're off your mark!" He turned and faced the smaller rabbit, only to be pushed of out the way. "Out of my way you great oaf," Vervain said, barely looking at Bigwig. Bigwig just glared as Vervain made his way down towards the line. They were too far to hear the conversation that took place, so when Vervain suddenly had Sam pinned, Bigwig was shocked.

"What is he doing?" he asked Moss, "Those rabbits didn't do anything wrong!"

Moss shook his head regretfully. "Vervain…can be rather cruel. Unless General Woundwort or Captain Campion is around, he can be very hard to deal with."

Bigwig was only half listening as he watched the situation tensely, ready to leap down and rescue Sam if the rabbit got violent, mission or no mission. Bigwig calmed down when Vervain got off of Sam and the mark began to make their way back into the tunnel.

"Something wrong?" asked Moss, who had noticed Bigwig's tensing.

Bigwig tore his eyes away from the tunnel and looked at Moss, "No, it's nothing. I was just…surprised, is all. Thank you for the lesson." He quickly made his way down to the tunnel he saw Sam enter.

Sam and the others made their way to their burrow in silence. Until they got there that is.

As soon as they were inside, Primrose turned and said to Sam, "What were you thinking?!" Sam just sat there, confused at what she meant. "I had it under control. Vervain wasn't going to do anything, not to me. It's all a big show with him. You, however, are probably going to be targeted by him while you're here. He may even set a watch on you. Where will our plans be then?!"

"Hey, calm down," Sam said, "I was just doing what I thought was right. I don't care if he would have done anything or not, when someone is abusing their power like that, they have to be stood up to." Sam chuckled, "Beside, Hazel would have been so mad if I had let anything happen to you."

Primrose looked away in embarrassment, "Really?"

"Oh yes, he-OOF!" Sam didn't get to finish as Bigwig jumped him from behind. Sam sighed when he saw who it was. "Just how many times am I going to get pinned today? I'm starting to get sore, you know."

Bigwig ignored him. "What was that? What happened out there? We're supposed to be keeping a low profile, remember?"

"Yes, and being so loud is just the way to do that," Sam shot back. "Now be quiet. Someone's going to hear you. And get off of me!" Bigwig backed off of Sam who stood and shook the dirt out of his fir. "Oh, Primrose, Blackavar," he said, turning to the rabbits behind him, "this is Bigwig, the other one I told you about who snuck in here with me."

They stared at Bigwig in surprise, and relief. "So you're the one," Primrose said. "Thank you for helping us."

Bigwig turned and looked at her. "Oh, ah, it's…no problem. Nothing a captain of owsla can't handle."

"Bigwig," Sam said, turning Bigwig's attention back to him, "I'm afraid there's been something of a…problem." The captain's eyes widened as Sam told him about his encounter with Campion. "…and so, I think we should move our plan up."

Bigwig nodded, "I agree. How soon should we go?"

"Preferably as soon as we can. We planned for so much time to try and find these two, but that problem kind of took care of itself, so there's no reason to stay and every reason to go. Maybe…tomorrow morning?"

Bigwig considered that and nodded slowly. "Yes, yes I think that can work. I'll spend the rest of the day outside looking for Kehaar. I'll get his attention and tell him about the change in plan, then have him pass it on to the others. Let's plan for immediately after Frith rises."

"Alright. So…are you going to come get us? Because these two have been working on this escape tunnel in the back of this burrow. I was thinking maybe we could sneak out that way. Then we wouldn't have to go through The Run, where we're sure to be seen."

Bigwig shook his head in amazement. "An escape tunnel? How far does it go out?"

"I don't know for sure," Primrose answered. "I know it's not done, so there will still be a chance of us being seen. Let me go check." She hopped to the back wall of the burrow and pushed at some roots on the wall, dislodging the dirt between them to reveal a small tunnel. As she disappeared down it, Sam and Bigwig kept discussing their strategy.

"Alright," Bigwig began, "there will be guards at the entrance to the tunnel to watch for anyone coming or going. The only ones allowed through would be Woundwort, Campion, and Vervain. So we'll have to take them out if I want to get in here."

"That's a thought, but wouldn't it be easier for you to just meet us where ever the tunnel comes up? Why bother alerting the guards at all, we'll just disappear." As he finished speaking, Primrose returned from the tunnel covered in dust.

"Well," she said as she began cleaning the dust off, "the tunnel made it further than I had hoped. It comes up behind the tree, fairly close to the woods. I covered the opening back up so that it won't be easily found."

Bigwig nodded. "Alright, then it's settled. As soon as Frith appears over the horizon, start making your way through the tunnel. I'll make sure I'm there."

"Sounds good," Sam said. "Wait though, one more quick thing: do you think we'll need the others to make a distraction? If this goes well, they won't know we're gone until it's too late. It might almost be better to not risk raising any kind of alert."

"Agreed. I'll let Kehaar know. Tomorrow morning, we escape!"

Bigwig woke early the next morning. He exited his burrow in the back of the tunnel and made his way towards the exit. "Captain Bigwig, sir," the guard greeted him with a salute. "What are you doing awake so early?"

Bigwig thought about how to answer his question. He decided to answer as "Efrafan" as he could manage. "What I'm doing is captain's business and none of yours, understand?"

The rabbits stood straighter and saluted again. "Yes, sir. Very good, sir."

Bigwig nodded and continued out into The Run, keeping an eye out for sentries, but there were none outside yet. He made his way around the tree and followed the directions Primrose had given him the night before. He thought to himself, she said it was on a line between an outcropping on the tree and the biggest tree on the tree line. That would be about…here! Bigwig saw a patch of ground that looked a bit odd, probably from Primrose digging through it the day before. He sat and waited for the others.

Meanwhile, Sam, Primrose, and Blackavar were awake inside their burrow.

"Is it time yet?" Blackavar asked, barely containing his excitement, "Please say it's time; we're so close!"

"Hang on," Sam replied, "I'll go check." He made his way silently out of the burrow and into the main tunnel. He kept low to the ground and snuck around corners as slowly as he could, to avoid being seen. He was about to turn the corner to the entrance, when he stopped. He could see a dim light entering the tunnel, and the shadows of the guards just around the corner. Satisfied that the sun was rising, he quietly made his way back to the burrow. "It's time to go guys, he whispered. "Follow me."

The group made their way into the tunnel with Sam in the lead. Even though it was pitch black, with his rabbit senses, Sam was able to flawlessly navigate through the passage. He slowed as they came to the end of the tunnel. He could tell where Primrose had dug up the day before and was about to dig through himself when voices hit his ears.

Bigwig had not standing there long before he heard a voice come from behind him. "What are you doing over there?" Bigwig winced and turned to face Vervain as he made his way over and stood between Bigwig and the woods. "I asked you a question soldier," he said, using the word as an insult, "now answer!"

"I…was just…keeping watch, is all," Bigwig said. "I get restless in the mornings and I like to put my time to good use."

Vervain glared at him. "Keeping watch, were you? Do you expect me to believe that? What kind of fool do you take me for?" Bigwig was going to answer, but Vervain spoke over him. "I know what you were doing, you were going to try and run! You spend one day here and don't like the way we do things. You would rather be free instead of safe. You might have fooled Campion but not me, oh no, not Vervain."

As he continued his tirade, Bigwig saw something behind him that made his eyes widen momentarily: the ground just behind Vervain's feet was sinking! He watched, pretending to listen to Vervain, as Sam poked his head out of the hole. He considered for one moment before nodding and gesturing with his head towards the woods. Bigwig understood. Vervain was still talking, completely unaware of the hole behind him, until Bigwig suddenly tackled him and he fell backwards, right into the escape tunnel.

Sam had backed away from the exit to the tunnel, hoping that Bigwig understood what he was saying. He wasn't disappointed as Vervain suddenly crashed through the ground and was face to face with Sam. "They're esca-" was all he was able to say before Sam gave him an extra hard cuff to the head, knocking him out.

The three climbed on Vervain to get out of the tunnel and meet with Bigwig. "That was quick thinking," he said to Sam, "but we need to hurry."

"Runners!"

The cry pierced though the air, making the group look back towards the warren. They saw a large group of owsla rabbits running towards them. "Time to go," Bigwig yelled, as he led the way to the tree line towards the bridge. The four ran as fast as they could, but were slowed down by Primrose and Blackavar, whose time in Efrafa had left them weak and unfit. They ran, hearing the owsla closing behind them, until out of nowhere, a rabbit appeared and blindsided Blackavar.

"No!" Sam yelled and turned to help him, but it was too late. By the time Sam and Bigwig had tackled the soldier off their friend, he had made a hard bite on Blackavar's hind leg, breaking the bone. The group gathered around him as he moaned in pair, trying to decide what to do.

Primrose nudged him, trying to get him to move. "Come on, Blackavar," she said desperately, "get up! You have to get up, we're so close, you can't give up now!"

"It's no good Primrose," he said painfully, "you have to go. I'll try and stop them as long as I can, but you need to go."

Sam shook his head fiercely. "No way, Blackavar, I know we can get you out."

"It's no good, Sunflower. Just…save Primrose."

Sam was growing desperate. "No, no! I know we can help you, I can carry you to the boat, I know bone-setting techniques, I can fix your leg, I promise!" He was about to change into human form when Bigwig placed his paw on Sam's shoulder.

"Don't, it's no good."

"But-"

"Even if we could somehow get him to safety, he wouldn't survive. His leg is in too bad of shape. Even if you could fix it, he would be lame for the rest of his life."

Sam shook his head, tears appearing in his eyes, "We can't just…leave him here! We have to try and help, we-"

"Sunflower!" The other turned and looked at Blackavar, who had risen himself as much as his leg would allow. "Leave me, get Primrose out of here, please."

"But I-"

"You need to go now! They're coming!" And indeed the group could hear the owsla soldiers closing in.

Sam lowered his head in sadness, "I'm so sorry."

Primrose approached Blackavar and nuzzled his face. "Thank you, Blackavar, we will never forget you."

And the group turned and continued running with heavy hearts, leaving Blackavar to his fate. He turned towards the approaching soldiers. "I love you, Primrose," he said quietly to himself. Then they were upon him.

The others kept running trying to ignore the sounds of fighting behind them. But they could not ignore the scream of death that pierced the air. They kept running, channeling their sadness into energy. With no further problems, they came to the bridge. The guards that were usually there were nowhere to be seen. They ran under the bridge and found their friends, just as they were expecting.

Hazel ran forward. "Bigwig! Sa-Sunflower! Primrose! You made it!"

"Hazel, we need to get out of here," Bigwig said quickly. "We're being followed by owsla solders!" It was then that they heard rabbits coming out of the brush at the top of the bridge.

"They have to be under the bridge, sir. Your orders?"

"Surround and kill them all, but leave Bigwig for me."

Sam recognized the voices of Campion and Woundwort, and knew that Bigwig was right. "Alright everyone, on the boat, go!" The rabbits clambered onto the boat as Blackberry finished chewing through the thick rope that held it. They were drifting away when the first rabbits, Woundwort included, came around the corner. The Watership rabbits and the Efrafan rabbits stared at each other as they floated down the stream. Woundwort let out a yell of anger, but there was no way he could catch them. The current was too fast and the growth along the stream too thick.

The rabbits were celebrating the success of the mission, except for Bigwig, Sam, and Primrose. Hazel came over to them. "What's wrong?" But none of them answered, they just hung their heads.

Bigwig was able to form a reply. "We…we'll tell you later Hazel-rah."

Primrose walked over to Hazel slowly and looked at him. She closed her eyes and leaned against him. "Thank you."

It did not take long for the boat to get caught on the shore. The rabbits disembarked and made their way back to the down with no trouble. It was twilight when they finally crested the hill. Primrose was looking around in wonder as Pipkin, Strawberry, Clover, Glade, and Holly ran to greet them.

"Hazel, you're back," Pipkin said happily. "But you're early. Did something happen? Did everything go alright?"

Hazel smiled at the little buck. "Everything went…we got Primrose out." Bigwig had told the others what had happened to Blackavar during the escape, and Hazel could not call that "alright."

"Well," Holly said cheerfully, not picking up on Hazel's somber mood, "come on inside and tell us all about it!" The others who didn't go to Efrafa agreed with his statement and everyone made their way inside the warren. Everyone except for Sam.

Sam stood on the hilltop watching the sun set with one thought ringing in his mind: what did I do wrong?

He stood there until he heard a voice behind him. "Aren't you coming inside?" He turned and saw Glade with a concerned look on her face. "Bigwig just finished telling us what happened. And about Blackavar, the poor thing." Sam said something quietly to himself, which Glade didn't catch. "What did you say?"

Sam whipped around and looked at her with tears running down his face. "I said it was my fault! It was my fault he died!"

"How-"

"He's supposed to make it out of Efrafa, he was supposed to make it! In the book and the show, he made it out! It…it had to have been something I did, something I messed up. I'm the only difference here, because of something I did, Blackavar's gone now."

"Sam," she said, moving closer to him, "there's nothing you could have done."

"You don't understand," he said dejectedly, "if I had just insisted on not going in, everything would have worked out fine. Bigwig would have gotten them both out."

Glade decided to try a different approach. "Sam, did you do everything you could?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I…" he hesitated, "I think so. Bigwig…was probably right. There wasn't really any way to save him."

Glade nodded, glad she got through to him. "That's all we can ask, Sam. You were sent here by Prince Rainbow, but that doesn't mean you can work miracles. You have to forgive yourself."

Sam nodded and the two stood there, looking over the country side. "Why does it hurt so much?" Sam asked suddenly. Glade tilted her head in confusion. "I only knew him for two days. It shouldn't be this hard."

"It's always hard to lose someone Sam, even if you didn't know them for long. Come on," she said as she nuzzled under his chin, "let's get inside. You could use some rest."

He nodded, "You go. I'll be right there." She gave him one last look, then hopped towards the warren entrance.

Sam looked at the sun again, and the words came, unbidden, to his mind. It was the most natural thing in the world to say.

"My heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend stopped running today."