Chapter 17-Teaching the Sheltered

When Sam awoke the next morning, he wasn't in his burrow. Instead, he was in the dark area where he usually met Prince Rainbow. He turned around, looking for the deity. Well, still as creepy and dark as ever.

"WE'RE IN YOUR HEAD, REMEMBER? IF YOU FIND IT CREEPY, THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM."

Sam turned to find Prince Rainbow floating behind him. "Okay, where the heck have you been? It's been, I don't know, it has to be close to three months now since I last saw you. You know, it would have been really nice to have some advice when we were infiltrating Efrafa. Or when I got shot for that matter. Not to mention all the stuff that happened just last night. Aren't you supposed to be watching out for me or something?" Prince Rainbow looked as if he was about to answer when Sam noticed something. "Hey, you don't really look so good. Are you alright?" Prince Rainbow did not look the same as he had when Sam last remembered seeing him. His face seemed as if it had aged, and his eyes looked tired. Even his cloak showed signs of aging. It was frayed at the edges and the colors were not as vibrant as they had been.

Prince Rainbow heaved a heavy sigh that resonated in the darkness. "I'M SORRY SAM, I'VE BEEN A LITTLE…PREOCCUPIED." Sam grew more concerned as even his voice had tinges of fatigue. "DESPITE WHAT YOU MIGHT THINK, I HAVE BEEN KEEPING AN EYE ON YOU; I JUST WASN'T IN A POSITION TO DO ANYTHING. THINGS ARE GETTING A BIT HECTIC."

"Hectic? Hectic how? What could cause you trouble?"

"IT'S NOT THE TIME FOR THAT YET. AND UNFORTUNATELY, I DON'T HAVE LONG TO STAY. I CAME TO TELL YOU TO BE CAREFUL. THERE IS A REASON YOU WERE BROUGHT HERE, AND IT'S FAST APPROACHING. HAVE CAUTION, SAM."

Hearing this, Sam grew more alarmed, almost beginning to panic. "Wait, what?! What are you talking about, what's coming?"

"THERE'S NO TIME SAM, I CAN'T STAY. GOOD LUCK, AND BE CAREFUL."

"Wait!" But it was too late, and Sam's vision began to darken.

Sam's eyes snapped open, finding himself in his familiar burrow, with Prince Rainbow nowhere to be seen. He shook his head, trying to clear the fog he felt. What were you talking about, he wondered to himself as he directed his gaze towards the sky, even though he was still in the warren. What were you trying to warn me about? What's coming? Knowing he wasn't going to get any answers for the time being, Sam put the thoughts out of his head and went outside.

"Good morning Sam."

The boy looked to his right and saw Pipkin lying close to the tree. It had only been two days since his rescue from Efrafa, and even though he had been healing relatively quickly, he still could not move very fast, so he was ordered to stay close to the warren.

"Hey buddy," he said, approaching the small rabbit, "feeling any better today?"

With a laugh, Pipkin replied, "I told you Sam, you don't have to worry about me."

"And I told you that you can't stop me. I'm your friend, it's what I do."

(Flashback)

Sam sat in Pipkin's burrow, staring at him as he slept. It was late in the night and everyone else had already gone to sleep after the kittens' Naming Ceremony. But Sam had too much guilt running through his head for sleep to come. He blinked furiously to keep away the tears he felt building as he watched Pipkin's face occasionally grimace in pain, then go right back to peaceful sleep.

"I'm so sorry, Pipkin," he said quietly, "I'm sorry I let this happen. I should have known; I should have done more." He stared for a moment longer before he sighed and turned to leave.

"Sam?" He stopped and looked back, seeing Pipkin raise his head where he lay.

"Oh, Pipkin. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I was just…making sure you were doing alright."

Pipkin smiled. "Of course I am, Sam. I'm back on Watership Down with my friends. Why wouldn't I be alright?"

Sam laughed at the innocent question. "That's a great way of thinking about it. But you really should get some sleep. You won't get better by staying up all night."

"I didn't tell them anything," Pipkin said, ignoring Sam's words. "Every time they asked, no matter what they did, I didn't tell them anything. About us, about our home, nothing."

Sam was speechless as Pipkin's words ran through his head. He nuzzled Pipkin's face, being mindful of his injured ear. "I don't know if I could have done the same, Pipkin. You're a lot stronger than we thought."

Pipkin stood a bit taller with pride from the praise. "I know I'm not as strong as you or Bigwig, but I'm trying. And usually I can take care of myself, so you don't have to worry about me."

Sam chuckled. "Maybe not, but I'm still going to."

(End Flashback)

"Hey Sam," Pipkin said, snapping the boy out of his thoughts, "isn't that Strawberry? I think he's looking for you."

Sam turned and saw the large buck was, indeed, moving quickly to them. "Oh there you are, Sam," he called as he got closer. "I think I see them."

Sam quickly wracked his brain, trying to remember exactly who they were. "Sorry Strawberry, who are you talking about exactly?"

"Hickory and Marigold. You told Silverweed to send them to us today, remember?"

Sam mentally kicked himself. "Oh right! I totally forgot about that. Good thing I had you standing watch, Strawberry. Alright, let's grab Hazel and Bigwig and go meet them."

They found the two quickly and left down the hill in the direction of Cowslip's warren. They could see two rabbit shapes in the distance. As they closed, the shapes turned into two medium sized rabbits. Both were covered in almost yellow fur. The smaller one on the left called out in a feminine voice as they approached. "Strawberry! Is that really you?"

Strawberry ran a bit faster, pulling away from the others. "Oh Marigold and Hickory! It's so good to see the two of you. How have you been?"

"We've been worse, Strawberry," Hickory said. "With Silverweed's help, the others in the warren are finally starting to break out from their spell. They're starting to become responsive again, and Cowslip is having a harder time keeping control. Although I must admit, it is rather fun watching him struggle. But look at you Strawberry, you look so…strong! Life outside has been good to you."

Strawberry nodded his head at the compliment. "Thank you. But it wouldn't have been possible without my friends. Hickory and Marigold, I'd like you to meet my new chief, Hazel, and our Captain of Owsla, Bigwig."

"It's so good to meet you," Marigold said happily, "and thank you so much for helping us."

Hazel replied, "Of course. It would have been wrong of us not to."

Hickory noticed Sam sitting there as well. "Are you…you're Sunflower, right? Silverweed spoke very highly of you. He said it was because of you and…Fiver, I believe the name was, that he finally saw past all of Cowslip's lies."

Sam chuckled. "That was pretty much all Fiver; I didn't really do much. It's good to meet you though. I guess I'll be the first one to commend you on your bravery for choosing to stand up to Cowslip. The first step is always the hardest."

Marigold replied, "When Glade and Holly approached us, we knew we couldn't let this opportunity slip though our paws. This may be the only chance of getting out of that evil place. We couldn't not take it."

Bigwig, growing bored of the idle conversation, decided to jump in. "Right. Well then, let's get to the down and start this teaching, shall we?"

Over the course of the next two weeks, Hickory and Marigold snuck away any chance they could get for more teaching. Hazel and Bigwig chose a variety of rabbits to teach them everything they needed to know.

Basic survival skills came from Dandelion, Hawkbit, and Strawberry. The former two had, over the course of their time on Watership Down, become experts of the surrounding area. Strawberry was there to help them make a smooth transition from a life of safety and squalor to a harder, but better, natural life. Hawkbit taught them what types of plants were good to eat, and which ones to avoid. Dandelion was in charge of teaching them how the different types of elil hunted, and what the best avoidance techniques were for each. They were also taught basic tracking, for safety.

They split up for a few of their teaching sessions. Hickory went with Bigwig, Hazel, and Sam, while Marigold stayed with Blackberry and Primrose. Marigold was taught how to build and maintain a warren. Even though the Watership Down rabbits planned to settle them in Primrose's old home of Redstone, the new members still needed to know how to dig and repair tunnels. In addition Primrose taught them how to raise a family, since they were already established mates and would almost certainly be among the first to have kittens.

While the does taught Primrose, Bigwig and Sam taught Hickory how to fight. It was the same regimen Sam had done his first day in the owsla. After their fighting lesson, which left Hickory breathless, Hazel asked something he had been wondering about since they began.

"So Hickory," he began, "have you given any thought to who's going to be chief once you finally escape from Cowslip?"

"We have to get there first," Hickory replied, trying to catch his breath. "Do we really even need a chief?"

"I would say so," Sam said. "We certainly do. We'd fall apart if we didn't have Hazel."

"It's the chief's job to hold the rabbits of a warren together," Bigwig continued. "If something goes wrong, rabbits need someone to look to that can find solutions to their problems. We all respect Hazel-rah, and that respect inspires us follow his orders."

Hazel fidgeted with embarrassment. "Anyway," he said quickly, cutting them off, "you should give some thought about who's going to be chief. Personally, I think you'd be perfect for it."

"Me?!" Hickory exclaimed. "Oh no, I couldn't be a chief. I don't know how to lead others, I don't know how to solve their problems. I'm just not cut out for it."

Sam smiled at his response. "You sound like Hazel did when he realized he was suddenly our chief."

"It will probably happen to you the same way it happened to me," Hazel said. "You and Marigold will be the ones teaching and leading them, so naturally they'll come to you with questions. And when you get settled in, they'll still come to you. Eventually someone will address you as 'Hickory-rah' and before you realize what has happened, everyone will suddenly be calling you the chief. I'd say you can count on it."

"But, but," Hickory stuttered, clearly not thrilled at the prospect of being a leader, "how do I even be a chief? What does a chief do?"

Hazel put on one of his trademark kind faces as he answered. "You just be yourself. There are many who think being a chief is all about having power over others, but that isn't true. A truly good leader will sacrifice for his warren every time. A chief must put his subjects above himself and think of their wellbeing before his own. You're already doing that. It would be so easy for the two of you to just stay here, but you don't do that. You go back. You may not realize it, but by learning from us and taking your knowledge back to that evil place, so you can teach it to the others, you are giving of yourselves to them."

Hickory was silent as he took in Hazel's words. "I…think I understand. I still don't want to be the chief, but if it ends up happening, I'll do the best I can for them. The others are trusting us to lead them out of that place and get established out here, and I'll do whatever I can to help them.

Hazel smiled. "Good to hear it."

A few days later, Sam relaxed with Glade and Pipkin at the top of the hill. Pipkin's injuries were nearly healed; only his ears were still tender. Suddenly, Hawkbit came running over the crest of hill, and met them, breathless.

"H-Hazel-rah, Bigwig, come quick!"

Everyone looked in alarm at the panic in his voice. The two quickly ran over to him, followed by Sam and Glade. "Calm down Hawkbit," Hazel said, "what's the matter?"

"It's Hickory, he's trapped by hrududil! We have to go help him, come on!" And without waiting for any reply from those listening, Hawkbit turned and began running back the way he came. Hazel, Bigwig, Sam, and Glade looked at each other and shrugged, then followed him.

Sam went over the map in his head and figured they were heading towards Redstone, roughly east of the warren. With the farm and Cowslip's warren being in a westward direction, and Efrafa to the north, Sam had not traveled far in that direction, so it was not long before he no longer recognized his surroundings. He followed Hawkbit as he led the way, and soon they came to a bridge spanning a river. Unlike the bridge at Efrafa, this one was well kept: the white marble was clean and free of any cracks or wear. They crossed the bridge and ran until Sam began to hear a familiar sound: car engines. Hawkbit slowed down until he was slowly creeping through the bushes, prompting the others to do the same. They went along until they came to Dandelion and Marigold. Both had their eyes locked on whatever was on the other side of the bushes. Sam peeked out from his cover and saw what the problem was: Hickory stood on the center island of a small, two lane roundabout. He shook his head, hoping there was more to the problem before he turned to Hawkbit.

"So…I don't really see what the issue is. Just wait for a break in the cars and go."

"What are you talking about?" Hawkbit asked with anxiety in his voice. "Those things won't hesitate to crush us, I've seen them do it!"

Their conversation snapped Dandelion and Marigold out of their trance. Marigold especially was happy to see them. "Oh thank Frith you're here! The hrududil have Hickory trapped over there. What are we going to do?"

Sam shook his head, warring between laughing and annoyance at what he saw as needless caution. "Just go get him, it's really not that hard."

"But the hrududil…"

Sam sighed in annoyance before leaving the bushes and approaching the street. He waited for an opening between the cars, and when one came, he sprinted across the road to the island in the middle. When he climbed over the curb, he found Hickory wide eyed and shaking with fright.

"Hey, Hickory," Sam said, shaking the bucks shoulder, "snap out of it. Let's get you out of here; Marigold is really worried."

"S-Sunflower?" Hickory shook his head like he was breaking out of a spell. When he saw Sam sitting next to him, Hickory almost tackled him with joy and relief. "Thank Frith! I don't know what happened. Marigold and I were practicing hiding from Hawkbit and Dandelion, who were supposed to be elil. I broke through some bushes and suddenly there were hrududil everywhere! I ran and ran, and somehow ended up here. And now…I-I just don't know what to do."

"The first thing you're going to do is to calm down," Sam responded soothingly. "Now listen Hickory, let's just use this as another lesson. If you're going to be the new chief of Redstone, you're going to have to learn to keep a level head. What would you do if it was one of your friends from Cowslip's warren? Stand here scared and leave them?"

"I…no. No! I would do whatever it took to help them."

Sam nodded encouragingly. "That's good. Now if you could do it for others, can't you do it for yourself? Come over this way." Sam moved to the side of the road, with Hickory slowly following. "Alright, now you know this is a road...er…hrududu path, right?" Hickory nodded. "This is a special one, they're only going to be traveling in one direction." Sam gestured to how the cars only came from their left side. "So watch that direction. As soon as you see a hole between two of them, sprint for the other side."

Hickory nodded and watched. "Ready?"Hickory asked, seeing a large space between two cars. Sam nodded. "Go!" Hickory broke across the asphalt with Sam right beside him. The others ran to greet them as they closed on the bushes, Marigold sprinting to Hickory's side.

"Are you two alright?" Hazel asked with concern.

Hickory replied, "We are, Hazel, thanks to Sunflower. I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't been here."

Sam chuckled. "You'd still be standing on the island I would think. On the plus side though, it looks like I can contribute to your instruction."

"What do you mean?"

Sam gestured to a road sign. It read "Kingsclere, 3 miles."

"That sign means that there's a town in that direction. A town this close to your warren means that you'll have to be more careful of roads like this one."

Marigold considered his words before she asked, "How do you know so much about human warrens?"

Sam's eyes widened momentarily. "I…used to live near one myself. I wasn't always with the rest of these guys; I was from another warren before. I actually got to Watership Down just before the rest of them did, isn't that right?"

Hazel and the other Watership rabbits began nodding their heads and mumbling agreement. "It gave us quite a scare actually," Dandelion said. "We got to the place that Fiver kept describing as a safe paradise, and here's this big lug sleeping in the warren already."

Sam chuckled, "Yeah, and you guys jumped me, remember that?"

"I jumped you," Bigwig said with a smirk. "Twice actually. Not that you could blame me."

"Not at the time, no," Sam conceded.

Hickory shook his head. "Why would you attack Sunflower? He doesn't look scary at all."

"Seeing him can be a surprise if you're not ready," Hawkbit said, holding in laughter.

"Alright you guys, we gotta get back," Sam said. "It's getting pretty late and we don't want Cowslip to find out that you guys are missing. It would be a shame for this plan to go south now."

Everyone agreed and they began traveling back to Watership Down. "So," Hazel said to Dandelion and Hawkbit, "how did these two do with their lessons today?"

"Quite well," Dandelion replied, "they had completely lost us before Marigold started yelling about Hickory being trapped. I would say they're about ready."

Hazel nodded. "That's good to hear. So aside from whatever Sunflower has to tell you about humans, it sounds like you're ready to leave and get settled at Redstone."

"Actually," Sam said, "I can do that on the way back. It's all just ideas anyway; you can't really practice, you just have to know."

Sam spent the rest of the time explaining the hazards that could come about from living in such close proximity to a busy road. He explained to Marigold, like he had to Hickory, about how to safely cross a road, making sure to point out that there are roads where cars come from both sides. He also warned them about the possibility of garbage that might be thrown from the cars, and how it would be safest to just avoid it so they didn't get sick.

The group arrived back at Watership Down and bade farewell to Hickory and Marigold, who continued on to Cowslip's warren. Glade was sitting next to Sam as they watched the two go. "That was really brave of you Sam, jumping in to save Hickory like that."

Sam chuckled. "I wouldn't really say that. I crossed the street. It's not really a big deal."

"No, she's right Sam," Hazel said, coming up behind them. "It was brave of you. I don't know if any of the rest of us could have done it. I'll admit, the thought of crossing that path had me feeling nervous."

Sam sighed, but smiled at the same time. "Alright guys, if you insist, then you're welcome for me using my extraordinary bravery to whisk Hickory from the island of doom."

Glade chuckled along with him. "Alright big hero, let's head home."