Chapter 12-Visions of a Better Life

It had been three days since the escape from Efrafa, and life at the warren seemed to be getting back to normal. The owsla kept up their training and had already made one raid on the farm. The only ones who did not seem entirely happy were Primrose, and by extension, Hazel.

"What do you think is wrong?" Fiver asked. He, Hazel, Bigwig, and Sam, still in his rabbit form having not told Primrose of his true identity yet, were standing near the entrance to the warren. They watched Primrose as she stood at the edge of the hill and just stared outward.

"I don't know, Fiver," said Hazel, sounding depressed. "I've tried everything I could think of to make her feel welcome, but she just seems so sad all the time. I don't know what to do."

"Have you tried asking her?" Blackberry inquired, coming out of the warren.

Hazel looked her way. "Oh Blackberry, I didn't see you there. Ask her? Well…no. If it was something personal, I didn't want to impose."

Blackberry sighed. "Bucks," she mumbled under her breath. "Just trust me, Hazel. Go and ask her what's wrong. She will tell you.

"Are…are you sure?"

"Positive, now go," Blackberry said, nudging him towards Primrose.

The remaining rabbits and Sam watched as Hazel slowly made his way over and stood next to Primrose, facing the same direction she was.

"What do you think she's going to say?" Bigwig asked. "Have any thoughts Sam?"

The group turned and looked at Sam as he tried to think. "She's homesick, if I remember right. She wants to go back to her old warren."

"But why," Blackberry said, "doesn't she like it here? I mean, we've all been very accommodating…"

Sam shook his head. "It's been a while, so I don't really remember the specifics, but I just remember that she needs to go back. She won't be happy until she does."

Fiver made another observation, "What will Hazel think when she says that?"

"Well I guess we're about to find out," said Bigwig, gesturing at Hazel who was returning to the group. "Well Hazel, out with it. What's wrong?"

Hazel answered haltingly. "She…she wants to go back to her home warren, Redstone. She says…she misses her old friends and needs to see them again."

"But, Hazel," Sam said, "I remember her telling me in Efrafa that they raided her warren. That's how she got captured in the first place."

The chief just shook his head. "I know, and I tried to tell her that, but she wouldn't listen. She insists on going back and says she'll go with or without my help."

Fiver nudged his brother, "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to help her, of course."

The following morning, Hazel and Primrose were getting ready to depart for Redstone. Fiver, Bigwig, Sam, Blackberry, and Glade were there to see them off.

"Are you sure you can't come along?" Hazel asked Sam again.

"No, it's better if the two of you do this trip on your own. You'll thank me for it later."

Hazel nodded. "Alright then, I trust you. Bigwig, you're in charge until I get back." The owsla captain nodded. "Primrose, are you ready to go?"

"Redstone, it seems like so long ago," she said. "Yes Hazel, I'm ready." They were about to leave when Fiver suddenly dropped to the ground. He began to moan, and twitched slightly before saying in a terrified voice:

"Despite your longing, despite your need,
To a shattered hope does this path lead.
Away they went, by one by two,
An empty warren waits for you."

Fiver regained his senses and blinked a few times before looking around. Upon hearing his vision, everyone had concerned looked on their faces. Primrose was shocked.

"I…Fiver, how could you say such things?" she said accusingly. "That's a terrible thing to say, Redstone is still there. It has to be."

Fiver answered, "I saw a warren with empty tunnels, and heard echoes of voices and laughter. I…I don't think anyone is there, Primrose. I'm sorry."

"No, you're wrong! Hazel, I'll be waiting at the foot of the hill when you're ready to go." The group watched as she ran down the hill, eager to get away from Fiver and his vision.

Hazel shook his head regretfully as he stared after her. "Your visions do have impeccable timing, don't they, Fiver?" Hazel, who was looking after Primrose, didn't see the hurt look on Fiver's face. Sam, however, did.

"Hey lay off Hazel," he said in annoyance, "you know better than anyone that Fiver can't control these visions."

Hazel turned to look at his brother and saw him hanging his head in guilt. Hazel sighed, feeling guilty himself. "I'm sorry Fiver," he said, nuzzling his brother, "I didn't mean it, I just…I have to go. We'll be back in a few days." He gave Fiver one last small nudge and ran off after Primrose.

The other watched him go, Sam shaking his head. He turned to Fiver, "Don't worry buddy, you know he didn't mean anything by it. He's just really…out of it right now. He's got a lot to worry about." Fiver's ears perked up a bit at the boy's words.

"Alright, enough of that moping around," Bigwig said. "Hazel had put me in charge, and my first order as temporary chief, is to take a day off and relax!"

Blackberry nodded. "That sounds lovely actually. We haven't really gotten much rest since our escape from Efrafa, what with making sure there was no way they could track us back here and watching out for Hazel and Primrose. I think that's a wonderful idea Bigwig."

"It's settled then," he replied, "let's go tell the others." They were of course thrilled at the news and immediately began to partake of the beautiful weather. "This is the life, eh Sam?" Bigwig said later as they were lounging against the tree. "No elil, no Efrafans, and Frith shining down. The only thing that would make it better would be a nice big pile of flayrah!"

"Uh huh," the boy responded absent-mindedly. Bigwig noticed the distant tone in his voice.

"Something wrong, lad? It's a perfect day out and you'd do well to enjoy it."

"I don't really know how to explain it, Bigwig. I know we've earned some downtime, especially with everything that happened recently with Efrafa, but I just can't…I don't know…I don't feel content just sitting here. I feel…bored, like I want to go do something."

"Then go raid the farm or something," Bigwig said, turning onto his side, "but as for me, I plan on catching up on my sleep." He yawned. "By Frith, I love this warren."

Sam chuckled and got up, hoping a walk around the hill would relieve his strange feeling. He walked around the hill a couple time, then down and back up, but nothing seemed to help. It was as if he was missing something. As he was walking, he greeted each rabbit he came across, talking with them for a bit before continuing on his way. He was about to give up and try to get some rest like Bigwig, when he saw Strawberry, Clover, and Glade lying together talking. He got a burst of inspiration.

Sam's mind raced. Hmm, Strawberry. I could…and then they could go…then hopefully…yes! With his plan in mind, Sam went looking for Holly. The older buck still did care much for Sam, but the teen was hoping his plan could change that. Sam found him quickly. Holly was eating a patch of clover away from the others. "Um, hi Holly," Sam said a bit awkwardly. "How's it going?"

Holly shot the teen a suspicions look before replying. "Fine. Not worrying about the enemy for a while gives everyone the chance to build morale. This was a good idea on Bigwig's part."

"Oh totally. Everyone loves having some free time, seeing as we've been focusing on Efrafa for quite some time."

Holly sighed. "Is there something you want? If you're trying to make friends through small talk, I'll have you know it isn't going to happen."

"I wasn't trying to-" Sam began. He took a deep breath before he continued speaking. "That's not it at all. I…was wondering if you would help me with something. I'd like some directions. To Cowslip's warren."

Holly's eyes widened when he heard that. "Are you mad? Why would you want to go there?"

"Okay, I know this sounds weird, but just hear me out. I was thinking of going there on a peace mission. Despite what Primrose wants to think, I know Redstone is empty, so I was thinking we could try and get them to move there."

Holly shook his head, trying to sort out which question to ask first. "I…just…why? That warren is filled with no good rabbits who would rather become a man's next meal than exert themselves to live. Secondly, how would you get them to go? And to a finer point, how would you get them to allow you there in the first place? We aren't exactly loved there you know."

"Why wouldn't we want to try and help them?" Sam replied. "I can't see any reason to not try and help them out of that place if they'd be willing to go. And you can't say that the warren is all bad, Strawberry came from there, remember? And how do you know that the majority aren't like him, wanting to leave, but not having the courage to stand up to Cowslip? I'm not sure yet how I would get them to leave. I still have to talk to Strawberry about that, he'd know best after all. There's no way I could help them if they aren't willing to help themselves. As for getting them to let me stay, how exactly could they make me leave? None of them know how to fight. They wouldn't be able to do anything. I'm not even that good of a fighter, and I could probably take on any of them."

"You're a damn fool," Holly said with a shake of his head. "Are those cowards really worth risking your life for? Who knows how much trouble this could start for our warren. I say we just leave them there."

Sam's mouth dropped in shock. "How can you say that?! I don't understand why you're so against them. Yes, they made mistakes, and yes, they're lifestyle goes against everything you know, but how do you know they chose it? If Cowslip is keeping them there, then we owe it to ourselves to at least try and help them. If you're in a position to help someone in need, and you just ignore it, it's as bad as if you were doing it to them yourself."

Holly listened to what the boy had to say, and then stood there in silence. Sam waited for him to respond and was about to say something, when Holly suddenly said, "Alright, fine, we'll go. Is anyone else coming?"

"Wait, what do you mean we'll go? I really only wanted directions, I wasn't trying to get you to come with."

"And if you think you're going there alone, you're crazy. That is a dangerous place, too dangerous to be alone. And it isn't like you're be able to get there on your own anyway. We should see if anyone else thinks this is a good idea and wants to come, especially Strawberry. His input would be very valuable."

"But-"

Holly interrupted, "Either I lead you there or you don't go, your choice!"

Sam tried to think of a way to get Holly to stay at the down, but nothing came to mind. "Alright," he said in a defeated voice, "let's go talk to the others. And…thank you, Holly."

Holly nodded and led the way over to where Strawberry was talking with Glade and Clover. "Hello, Holly and Sam," Strawberry said as they approached, "enjoying your day off?"

"That is the question of the day, isn't it," Sam said humorously. "But actually, we were planning on taking a little…trip. And we were wondering if we might convince you to come along."

"Of course! Where are we going?"

Sam hesitated, then said, "Um…we were going to go to Cowslip's warren."

At the mention of that place, Strawberry's ears lowered and he began to quiver in fright. "Not there," he said in a shaky voice, "why, oh why would you want to go there? After we just barely got away last time…"

Sam looked at Holly regretfully. "I didn't really think we'd be able to get him to come." Then to Strawberry, "We're going there hopefully to try and get them to leave. That place is evil and despite what they've done in the past, they don't deserve that. Not even Cowslip."

Strawberry shook his head. "He might actually. He…is not a good rabbit. I'm sorry, Sam, but I can't go back there, not yet."

"That's alright, I wouldn't think of forcing you. Could you give us any advice though? Any way to get them to listen to us?"

"It would be hard," Strawberry replied. "Most of them are so used to blindly obeying Cowslip that they'll do what he told them to even when he's not there. Maybe…just talk to them. Point out how bad life is there. Many times they will be listening, even if they don't acknowledge what you say. Oh, there are two rabbits you might want to talk to. Their names are Hickory and Marigold. They were always complaining about how the warren was run, and Cowslip always used to call them trouble makers, so they would probably be the first ones to listen to you."

Sam nodded, "Hickory and Marigold, got it. Anything else?"

"Just…be careful of Silverweed. Though it might not show, he has the majority of that warren under his paw. Cowslip might do the scheming, but he has the power."

"Alright, we'll be careful. Thanks for the help."

Sam and Holly moved on when they noticed Glade following them. "Oh hi, Glade," Sam said, "did you need something?"

"Were you looking for volunteers to go with you? Because I would certainly be willing."

Sam and Holly looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "Are you sure?" Sam asked. "It might be pretty dangerous there. There are sure to be snares all over the place, and even if they can't beat us in a fight, there's nothing saying they won't try."

"Even so, if what you said is true, there might be a lot of rabbits there who could really use our help. Back in my old warren, we always helped our neighbors, regardless of the cost to us. If there's something I could do to help them, then I wouldn't feel right not doing it."

Sam smiled. "I like your thinking. Sure, we'll take all the help we can get, thanks."

The three spoke to the other rabbits to see if any of them would like to come along as well, but only Fiver agreed. At first Sam argued that he should stay at the warren, seeing as the last visit made him go through so much suffering, but Fiver would not take no for an answer. Then came the part Sam had been dreading since the plan entered his head: telling Bigwig. Luckily, Holly volunteered to do that, so Sam, Glade, and Fiver sat a good distance away, watching Bigwig explode at the news, while Holly calmly asserted their point. After a while, Holly convinced Bigwig that it was the right thing to do, and they were on their way.

Sam sighed in annoyance. "I've been here for almost two months now, you would think I would have developed some sense of direction."

"What are you griping about?" Holly asked.

"I'm lost. Again. The last time we came here I got so turned around that I would have had no chance at all of getting home. I'm just saying, you'd think a straight A student would be able to manage basic navigation."

Holly stopped and faced Sam. "There's your problem, you think you can solve all your problems with your stupid human tricks. You told us that Prince Rainbow gifted you with the same senses as us rabbits, right? Well use them!"

"Uh…"

"He's right Sam," Glade said, approaching the pair, "a rabbits senses are the key to understanding their surroundings. I'm surprised you don't know that already."

"Hey now," Sam said in exasperation, "this body didn't exactly come with an instruction manual, and a lot of time it seems like Prince Rainbow is only concerned about teaching me the basics."

"Stupid embleer ithè," Holly muttered. "It's all in the nose. You orient yourself with your nose." Seeing Sam's blank look, the old buck scowled. "How do you bloody humans manage to find your way around? Kittens could do this!"

"Maps and GPS's mostly," Sam replied. "Neither of which I have. Not that they would be all that helpful if I did."

"Do you smell the river, Sam?" Fiver asked, taking over from Holly. "You should be able to smell it on your right."

Sam lifted his nose into the air while the group walked and began to sniff. "I think so, yeah. It doesn't smell all that close though."

Fiver smiled. "Exactly. If you had been paying attention the last time we went here, you would know that we keep following the river at this distance until we get to the warren."

The teen was impressed. "That's…huh. I hadn't really noticed anything like that before."

Glade shook her head from this other side. "Well you should probably start noticing it. You humans might be able to blindly stumble through life, but rabbits need to pay attention." Sam watched as her face turned somber. "You get killed if you aren't careful."

"I'll try and be more attentive when we're out," Sam said. "Thanks, everyone."

Holly let out a huff from where he walked at the front of the group. "Yes, well, I think Hazel would be pretty sore at me if I let you get lost or carried off by a hawk while he was gone. Now everyone quiet down, we're getting close."

Soon, the group found themselves crouched in the bushes overlooking the warren. From where they were hiding they could see a large number of rabbits outside eating, with no one keeping any kind of a watch. "How are we going to do this, Sam?" Fiver asked. "You know they aren't going to be happy to see us."

"Don't worry, Fiver," the boy answered confidently. "I've got this all under control."

He stood up where he was and made his way towards the rabbits. Cowslip approached with a glazed look his eyes. "Welcome welcome, greetings all it's so ni-" his traditional greeting was cut off when he realized who it was. Immediately the distant look in his eyes was gone, replaced by that of a conniving schemer. "You!" He stole a glance at the other rabbits to see if any of them noticed the newcomers. None of them so much as raised their heads. "What are you doing here? Come to steal more of my rabbits?"

"Wow, calm down," Sam said, raising his paws to show he meant no harm, "nothing so dramatic as that. And technically, Strawberry came with us, we didn't say anything to him."

"It's irrelevant. What do you want? Talk, or leave."

Sam shook his head. "So dramatic," he muttered. "Cowslip, I'm here to talk to you, and the other rabbits in this warren, about leaving."

"No."

"Aren't you even going to hear me out?"

"No I won't," Cowslip said, crouching into something resembling a fighting stance. "Now leave, before I make you."

Sam sighed. "I really hoped it would come to all this, but to be blunt: no. There's no way you would be able to beat me in a fight, and Holly here is a lot better than I am. Oh, and good luck getting anyone else to help you." His words made everyone glance towards the large group of rabbits. Only two were even looking in their direction, the others were still eating and ignoring them. "See?"

"I…but…" Cowslip stuttered.

"Now listen up," Sam said, moving closer so he was right in Cowslip's face, "we're going to talk to the rest of your warren and see what they have to say. And you're going to let us. In return, when we leave, we'll make sure to destroy as many of the snares around here as we can find, deal?"

Cowslip's eyes widened and he stood back up on his hind legs. "You can…but why?"

Sam chuckled. "Why not? There isn't any good reason not to do it if we can. Believe it or not, not everybody out there acts only for themselves. Now, go back over there and act…however it is you're supposed to."

Cowslip's face was alternating between confusion at Sam's kindness and anger at being ordered around. Finally, he sighed in annoyance. "Just do whatever it is you're here to do and leave." Then he turned and went back to the group.

Sam turned back to his friends. "That actually went better than expected."

Holly was grunted in agreement. "Out-talking him is pretty impressive. For a human."

"It was pretty easy," Sam replied. "Above all things, Cowslip is an opportunist. He would do whatever is necessary to protect his own life, which includes letting us do our thing in return for destroying more of the snares. Alright, Holly, can you and Glade stay out here? I would like you two to go around and just chat with the rabbits here, see who's totally lost it and who's pretending."

Glade nodded her head. "We can do that, Sam, but what about you and Fiver?"

"There's one certain rabbit that we're going to be looking for. Make sure you stick close together. Like I said, Cowslip is an opportunist. If he thinks of some better deal, you can be sure he'll act on it." They nodded and headed for the nearest clump of rabbits.

Fiver shuddered alongside Sam. "We're going into the warren, aren't we?"

Sam gave Fiver an apologetic look. "Do you think you can? It's fine if you don't want to, I'm pretty sure I can handle it myself."

Fiver shook his head fiercely. "No, Sam, I want to help. I can tolerate that place for a little while. Besides, if we're doing what I think we're doing, you may want me there."

"Thanks buddy," Sam said. "Alright, let's go."

The pair made their way over to the warren, making sure Cowslip was watching Glade and Holly before the entered. They came to the large central chamber held up by tree roots, the same one that gave Hazel and Blackberry the idea to build the one back on the down dubbed the Honeycomb. They looked around for one rabbit, the only one they did not see outside.

Sam felt an odd pressure in his head before hearing a voice come from behind him. "And what are you two doing here?" Sam and Fiver turned around and saw the same thin rabbit whose "poetry" made Fiver run out during their last visit: Silverweed. Sam saw Fiver shaking his head as if trying to clear his vision before Silverweed spoke again. "Well that is odd. For some reason, the two of you are immune to my mystic powers."

When Sam heard that, he moved between Fiver and Silverweed and angrily said, "What are you doing to him? Stop it right now!"

Sam felt the pressure in his head lessen as Fiver calmed down. "I might as well," Silverweed said, thinking nothing of trying to invade their minds, "it isn't working anyway. Now again, what are you doing here? You made it quite clear last time you were here what you thought of us."

Sam was about to answer when Fiver suddenly said, "You're so full of pain." Sam and Silverweed looked at him confusedly as he continued. "I felt it. I felt…sorrow, regret, and…anger."

"What are you talking about Fiver?" Sam asked. "I didn't feel anything."

Fiver ignored him and stared intently at Silverweed. "Why do you do it? I can tell you don't like it here, it bleeds through whenever you try and touch someone's mind."

"You know nothing!" Silverweed yelled. "This…this is the best way, the only way! Cowslip told me so. He said that this is the safest way to live. We don't have to worry about predators, there's plenty of food, and everyone is happy."

Sam looked at the now trembling rabbit with a pitying look. "Is that…is that really how you see it? Listen, Silverweed, I'm sorry to say, but that's not the way things are. I mean sure, there aren't any elil and there's plenty of food, but you're far from safe. The snares-"

"Aren't a danger!" Silverweed said desperately. "Cowslip said. He said the snares would never be a danger to us!"

Sam was about to respond when Fiver gently pushed by him. He slowly moved toward Silverweed, and though he protested, there was nowhere to run. When Fiver got close enough, he caught Silverweed's head in his front paws. Sam watched as the two of them went ridged with glassy looks in their eyes.

Silverweed was already confused by the things the two outsiders were saying. He was not going to deny that the system in this warren was flawed, and he did not particularly like manipulating the others every day, but surely it was better than the kind of harsh life elsewhere, right? Then the little one, Silverweed remembered he was called Fiver, began to approach him. This made Silverweed panic. He was a pathetic fighter and even this small rabbit would be more than a match for him. He turned to run, but realized that they were standing between him and the only exit. Then Fiver reached out and clenched Silverweed's head between his paws.

Silverweed felt Fiver trying to affect his mind like he had done to other so many times in the past. But unlike when he did it, trying to keep all emotions out of it and just get the job done, Silverweed felt a steady stream of emotions coming from Fiver. The prevailing ones confused him: concern, care, sympathy. The next thing he knew, he was floating over a high hill with a lone beech tree on the top. He looked and saw rabbits outside the warren, seemingly relaxing and just enjoying the day. Silverweed wondered to himself how they could be so happy. They weren't safe like his warren was, they could be killed at any moment.

"Maybe, but that's a risk that's often worth taking." Silverweed was surprised to see Fiver suddenly appear beside him, staring lovingly down at the scene before them.

"Where am I?" Silverweed demanded. "How did you do this?"

Fiver chucked. "You aren't the only mystic you know. To be honest, I didn't know I could do this. The idea just popped into my head. But as to where we are, this is Watership Down, our home."

"They look so happy," Silverweed said wistfully.

"They are. It's truly a beautiful place. Look around, you can see forever. Frith shines down on us. And yes, we are happy here."

Silverweed shook his head slowly, trying to make sense of what Fiver was saying. "But…but what about all the dangers out there? Cowslip always warns about the enemies of all rabbits that want nothing more than to eat you!"

"And that is true. But we certainly aren't defenseless." The scene switched to the night they fought the weasel, with Sam appearing in his rabbit form. "With teamwork, we can fight back against the elil." Their vision shifted again to an inside view of the cave they used to hide from the fox outside of Efrafa. "Of course, fighting isn't our preferred tactic. Frith has given us many gifts to protect ourselves, not the least of them being trickery."

"B-but-" Silverweed stammered, "what about…food?! How do you get the good man food?"

The scene changed again and they were floating over the crop field at Nuthanger Farm. "We steal it. More trickery."

Fiver let the scene dissolve into mist as he saw Silverweed struggling to justify how he lived. "I…I don't understand. Cowslip said this was the best way. He said that the only way to make others happy was to force them to feel it, that they didn't know what was best for them."

"It isn't true," Fiver said. "Rabbits are certainly capable of finding happiness on their own." Images appeared in quick succession: a pair of new parents standing over a newborn litter of kittens, two rabbits touching noses, kittens playing a game of tail tag under the watch of a cheerful mentor, a group of rabbits gathered around a story teller, listening to him spin tales of the bravery and cunning of El-ahrairah. "You see? This is true happiness. This is life. You have to go and find it on your own. You can't have someone force it on you."

Silverweed nodded slowly with tears in his eyes as the scene began to fade.

Sam was starting to get concerned. He figured Fiver was trying some kind of mystic approach to getting Silverweed on their side, but they had been standing like that for nearly fifteen minutes. He was considering pushing the two over to wake them up when they both suddenly inhaled a ragged breath. Fiver's paws fell from Silverweed's head and they began to topple, Sam easily catching the two small rabbits. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Fiver groaned and opened his eyes before smiling at Sam. "Yeah, Sunflower, I'm alright. We both are."

Sam looked at Silverweed, who was taking longer to come around than Fiver was. "What did you do to him?"

"I just showed him our side of the story. It seems Cowslip has been deceiving him ever since he was a kitten just showing mystic powers."

Silverweed groaned before standing up as well. He looked between the two before lowering his head. "I…I was wrong. I'm sorry."

"Hey now," Sam said, nudging Silverweed in the shoulder, "don't be so hard on yourself. Everyone makes mistakes. What's important is what you're going to do now."

Silverweed looked at him with a determined look in his eyes. "I know what I'm going to do. Fiver told me you're trying to get everyone to leave this place, right? Well since I'm one of the main factors keeping them here, I'm sure I'll have little trouble convincing them to accept your offer. But it will take time. I have to make sure Cowslip doesn't realize what I'm doing."

Sam was astonished at this change. "I- That's perfect! Thank you!"

"As soon as some of them are willing to try life on the outside, just send them our way," Fiver added. "You still have the directions I gave you?"

Silverweed nodded, "I do. And…thank you. For trusting me."

"Of course," Fiver said. "I can feel that you're a good rabbit."

Sam was about to agree when Glade came through the tunnel. "I think it's time to go. Cowslip and Holly are…really close to a fight."

"Great," Sam muttered sarcastically. He turned to Silverweed, "Alright, it's up to you from here. Be careful, and if you get in any trouble, don't be afraid to come to Watership Down. You'll be safe there, I promise."

Silverweed nodded, then the three Watership rabbits hurried back outside and saw Holly and Cowslip glaring at each other with open hostility. Sam quickly jumped in between the two. "Alright," he said loudly, "I think it's time for us to be going. Thank you for your time Cowslip, come on guys."

"But-" Holly tried to protest as he was being pushed towards the bushes by Glade and Fiver. The group retreated a bit to a clearing where they were hidden from view from the warren.

"Alright," Sam said to Glade and Fiver, "you two stay here and try and calm Holly down. I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Glade asked?"

"To fill my part of the bargain."

Sam snuck around in the brush all around the warren, cutting up any snare he found. The snares were much easier to find in the day where the sun would glint off of the nylon ropes. In no time, he was back and the group was on their way home.

They weren't walking for very long before Holly spoke to Sam. "I found them."

"Found who?"

"The ones Strawberry talked about, Hickory and Marigold. They were the only ones to actually talk to us. All of the others just seemed…dead. Those two seemed really excited when I told them your plan."

Sam smiled. "Well that was quite the productive trip then, wasn't it? Fiver got Silverweed on our side, so I'm sure he won't waste any time connecting with them."

Holly surprised Sam with a chuckle. When the teen shot him a questioning glance, Holly supplied, "I can't wait telling this story to Bigwig. He hates it when he's wrong."

"That's quite the tale," Bigwig said as the group finished their story of the infiltration of Cowslip's warren. "You actually got them to listen?"

"Only some of them," Sam replied, "but it's a pretty good start. Silverweed said he's going to start restoring the other rabbits back to the way they're supposed to be, and maybe he can open Cowslip's eyes while he's at it."

Strawberry, who also came to listen to their tale, was amazed. "I don't believe it! I would never have thought you would have had such luck there. And getting Silverweed on your side? Brilliant!"

"Hey," Hannah yelled, running into the burrow where they were sitting, "it's Hazel and Primrose, they're back!"

Sam changed back into his rabbit form and followed as the group ran outside and saw Hazel and Primrose walking up the hill. They stopped before they reached the others and exchanged a few words before touching noses, Primrose heading towards the warren and Hazel making his way towards the group of waiting rabbits. None of the bucks noticed Blackberry and the other does trade glances before following Primrose.

"So Hazel," Bigwig said, "have a nice trip?"

Hazel chuckled before answering. "It was…interesting." He turned to Fiver, "You were right Fiver, as always. There was no one there and there hadn't been for a long time. Can you forgive me for what I said?"

"Every time, Hazel," Fiver said, nuzzling his brother.

"Oh, and I do have…other news," Hazel said hesitantly. "I…I'm going to be a father!"

The group stared at him for a couple of seconds before they all began speaking at once.

"Bravo!"

"Congratulations Hazel!"

"I'm so happy for you!"

The group began walking back to the warren with Hazel telling the story of their journey.

"No visions for that one, eh Fiver?" asked Hannah, who was riding atop Sam's head as they followed the group.

The small buck let out a chuckle. "I didn't need any. It was obvious!"

The three shared a laugh as they entered the warren.