Chapter 29

Sam closed his eyes. A light breeze caressed his face and rustled his fur. He heard the breath of the three opponents surrounding him. The teen took a deep breath, nodded, and opened his eyes.

Nothing happened immediately, but soon, Sam heard the sound of paws hitting grass behind him. Sam turned just in time to move out of the way. He tackled his opponent, sending him to the ground. A whistling in the air was all the warning Sam had to duck. A paw nicked the tips of his ears, and he sent a blind kick behind him, hearing a satisfying grunt as he hit one of his other opponents. The third rabbit leapt onto his back and tried to pin him down, but Sam rolled with him and threw him to the ground with the others. The three stood and faced him.

Sam slowly backed up, keeping a careful eye on all three. But instead of moving to pursue him, they rose out of their fighting stances. Sam was suspicious before he was suddenly tackled from behind. He ended up on his back, with weights on his torso and limbs. He opened his eyes and was face to face with Pipkin who was sitting on his chest with a wide smile on his face. Snowdrop and Gillia were holding down his arms, while Blackavar pinned his legs.

Sam heard chuckling behind him. "Your lesson for today, Sam," Bigwig said as he sat at the teen's head, "is to never trust your enemies to fight fair. You have no idea how many rabbits the Black Rabbit has on his side. Alice might not always be alone."

The teen shot a wry smile in return. "So you use the junior owsla on me? That's low Bigwig, that's really low. Oh Pipkin," Sam said, turning his attention to the no longer so little buck, "would you mind getting off of me?"

He flashed a triumphant smile. "So you give up, Sam? Haha! That means the junior owsla just defeated its first opponent!"

Well, I suppose they're all big enough to take a little roughhousing, Sam thought as he changed to human form. Snowdrop and Gillia, surprised by the transition of rabbit legs to thinner human arms, were thrown off balance enough for Sam to yank his arms out from under them. In a swift motion, he swept the two off their feet and they landed in a pile behind him.

Blackavar, now lying on flexible human knees instead of rabbit legs, quickly found himself flying over Sam's head and landing on his sisters.

Pipkin suddenly found himself alone. "Uh oh…" He barely managed to get the words out before he, too, was in the pile with his friends.

Sam chuckled as he stood and dusted himself off. "And your lesson for the day is to never count an opponent out. They might have one more trick up their sleeve." The young rabbits untangled themselves from the pile and stared petulantly at Sam. The teen gave a good-natured sigh. "Alright, alright, I'll give you that one. You got me; good job."

"Thank you for your help, Pipkin," Bigwig said. "You lot are getting better."

Pipkin smiled widely in return. "I think so too! Do you think we're almost ready to go on our first patrol?"

The four older rabbits exchanged a concerned glance. Bigwig replied, "I wouldn't go that far, Pipkin. Just because you work well together for your age, it doesn't mean that you can go on patrol. You have no experience, and you're the only one with any kind of training. And that is only obstacle course runs."

"But we've run the obstacle course hrair times!" Blackavar protested. "We're even faster than Hawkbit!"

Snowdrop continued, "Besides, you three help us all the time." Bigwig, Holly, and Campion traded confused looks. "You've all given us some training!"

"You've been training them?" Bigwig asked Holly and Campion semi-accursedly.

"Not me," Holly insisted immediately. "I've been your captain before, Bigwig, you know I don't train rabbits until they're old enough. I saw them doing their own training and merely suggested ways they could improve, that's all."

Bigwig shifted his gaze to Campion. "I didn't train them," Campion insisted. "They asked me if I would, but I told them they would have to go through you first. I taught them some exercises from Efrafa. We used to teach them to overzealous kittens to give them a leg up when they were old enough for owsla training, but that was all."

Bigwig raised an eyebrow. "Nothing else?"

"No, nothing else. This is your owsla, Bigwig. I wouldn't think of taking your authority."

Bigwig nodded, then sighed. "I…might have done the same thing." He turned his attention back to the junior owsla. "Still, that's no substitute for real training. There's no way Hazel would let me put you on patrol."

The junior owsla members stuck their heads together and began to converse in hurried whispers. They spoke for ten seconds before nodding simultaneously and turning to face Bigwig and the others again. "So if we can convince Hazel to let us go on patrol, then you'd let us go?"

Bigwig chuckled to himself. Well, I would like to try them out. And I'm sure I can make up a safe enough route. "Alright," he agreed. "If you can get Hazel to agree, then you can go on patrol."

Pipkin smiled widely while the other three let out yell of triumph. "Thanks Bigwig, you can count on us! Junior owsla!" At his shout, the other three stood at attention. "We go to meet with Hazel. Forward, march!" Pipkin walked toward the warren with the others behind him, forming a diamond formation.

Bigwig watched them go before turning to Sam. "We might as well go with them. We'll call an end to your training for the day. Thank you, Holly and Campion, for your help." The pair nodded. "Come on, Sam." Sam turned back to rabbit form and followed the junior owsla toward the warren. They went around the tree and found the group of young rabbits talking to Hazel.

"We can do it, Hazel," they heard Pipkin say as they approached. "The owsla used to let me go patrolling with them before we started fighting with Efrafa, I know I can lead a patrol on my own."

Hazel looked uncertain. "Pipkin, I know you've been on patrols before, but that doesn't mean you have any experience leading one. And Snowdrop, Gillia, and Blackavar haven't had any real training. I just don't know if you're ready. Bigwig, what do you think?"

Bigwig chuckled. "Honestly, Hazel, I'm not sure. I think they would be alright on a patrol, and I already have a route ready for them. I sent them to you because they are your kittens. You should have a say in this."

"I don't think this is a good time," Hazel replied. "I know we haven't seen Alice for a while."

"Two and half weeks," Sam supplied.

"Right. But I still think it's too dangerous for you to be out there alone."

"But Hazel," Pipkin protested, "we can't stay up here forever."

The other three junior owsla members nodded their agreement. Snowdrop continued, "If we let the threat of Alice appearing keep us trapped in our own warren, then they've already won."

"We want to help, Parli," Blackavar said. "We know we need training before we could stand a chance at fighting back against Alice and the Black Rabbit, but at least we can do something to keep the warren safe."

Pipkin smiled. "I promise Hazel, if we see anything strange, we'll come right back and tell Bigwig and Sam. Just…please give us a chance."

Hazel considered before he responded. "Alright, you can have your chance." Before the junior owsla could say anything, Hazel quickly continued. "But not yet. It's wonderful that you want to help the warren, but I won't allow any rabbits to go patrolling that don't know how to fight. How about this: once the four of you, working as a unit, can pin Sam, then you can go on patrol." Hazel did not notice Sam and Bigwig smile widely at his words. By the time they manage to get that good, we will have already-

"We're going on patrol!"

Hazel was surprised at the outburst. "Well, eventually you will be going on patrol, but that won't be for quite a while."

"But we pinned Sam already!" Pipkin protested.

"What?"

"It's true, Hazel," Sam said, struggling to hold in his laughter. "When I was practicing with Bigwig, Campion, and Holly, they joined in and jumped me from behind. If I wasn't able to turn into a human, I would have been pinned."

Hazel was shocked. "B-But that's not what I-" He saw the junior owsla staring at him with expectantly hopeful looks. Sam and Bigwig watched as he sighed in defeat. "Fine," he murmured. "You can go on patrol. But only after Bigwig gives you some training."

"Deal!" Pipkin yelled. "Alright junior owsla, we're finally going on patrol. Let's go get ready." The other members nodded and the four ran off.

Hazel shook his head as he watched them go. He turned back to Sam. "They pinned you? How in Frith's name did that happen?"

"Well," Sam began, embarrassed, "like I said, I was practicing with Bigwig and the others, and I was doing pretty well. All of a sudden, they tackled me from behind. Before I realized what had happened, I was pinned. I was able to throw them off once I was in my human form, but that shouldn't count. They pinned me, fair and square."

Bigwig tried to reassure his friend. "Don't worry Hazel, it won't be that bad. I've already thought of a few routes that will take them slightly outside the barrier. Not far enough for them to be in any danger, but still out far enough that we do need it patrolled. Sam, Holly, Campion and I don't have time to consistently cover everything. If they could take some of the lighter patrolling off our paws, it could end up being very helpful."

"Why can't the regular owsla do it?" Hazel countered. "Why are we putting rabbits, kittens, at risk who haven't been trained, when we have owsla members merely standing sentry? I find this strange, Bigwig. Usually you're one of the biggest proponents of proper training. Why are you so accepting of this?"

Bigwig, surprisingly, looked a bit embarrassed. "To be honest Hazel, it's a bit of an experiment I'm trying. Those four are so eager to be in the owsla, I figured we could get their training started early. It's true that none of them are big enough yet to begin combat training, but there's no reason why they can't learn tactics and strategy now. They're all bright young rabbits, and if they're willing to learn, I say we should teach them. When they get older, they could make a truly fearsome team."

"Can…Can you at least promise me they'll be safe?" Hazel asked.

"You know I can never promise that, Hazel," the captain replied. "But I can do my best. Sam and I plan to secretly tail them for a while to make sure everything goes alright."

Sam perked up. "Wait, we do? When did we plan this?

Bigwig snorted. "Just now. You got pinned by them, so it's partly your fault for them going out there. Therefore, you're going to be partly responsible for keeping them safe. Besides, your stealth skills could use some work. Try not to get caught."

"Fine," Hazel said, resigned. "They can go. Give them what training you think they'll need. Just…" he sighed.

Sam stepped forward and put a paw on his friends shoulder. "Don't worry, Hazel. We won't let anything happen to them."

Hazel gave them a small smile. "I have to let them grow up. If you think they'll be alright, then I'll trust you."

It was three days later when Bigwig, Hazel, and the junior owsla stood on the top of the hill. After two days of intense patrol training and one day of rest, the young rabbits were ready for their first official patrol.

"Alright Pipkin," Bigwig said, "you remember the route we went on?"

"Yes Bigwig, I remember," Pipkin responded impatiently. "First down the hill to the east, and then follow the barrier half way around the hill. After that, we just follow the route you showed us, check around the farm for any sign of human encroachment, and watch for anything suspicious."

The captain nodded. "And if you find anything suspicious?"

"If it's elil, we hide. If it's another rabbit, sneak up on them, and if we think they aren't possessed, ask them where they're from and what they want. If we smell a human, we sprint for the barrier, keeping to the heaviest brush we can find. Anything else?"

Bigwig shook his head. "Nothing I can think of. This is still earlier than I would like for you to be going on patrol, but I think you're ready. Anything to add, Hazel?"

Hazel gave a small smile and shook his head. "No, I can't think of anything. Just…be careful."

"Don't worry, Hazel," Pipkin said, "I'll keep them safe."

"Thank you Pipkin, but I want you to be careful too. All of you are important to us."

"Thank you, Hazel," Pipkin replied. He turned to the others. "Are you ready to go?" They nodded. "Alright. We'll be back soon. Junior owsla, move out!" When he finished speaking, the junior owsla left to the east in a diamond formation.

Bigwig and Hazel watched them leave. "Do you really think they're ready, Bigwig?"

He nodded. "I do, Hazel. If I wasn't sure three days ago, after watching them go through the training, I have no doubt they'll be alright."

"Alright," Hazel replied. "If you believe that, then I'll trust you."

Bigwig chuckled. "Do you trust me enough to not have Sam out there spying on them?"

"Well, you can't be too careful. I'd like the two of you to follow them for a while. Just to be sure."

"Believe me, Hazel," Bigwig replied, "They're going to be fine. Once they get older, they're going to make fine members of the owsla." The captain chuckled. "You know, being your kits, I almost wonder where they get it from."

Hazel shot Bigwig a sly glance. "You've never seen Primrose angry, have you?"

Sam and Bigwig crouched next to each other in some bushes, trying to stay silent. The junior owsla was on patrol again.

"You know," Sam whispered jokingly to Bigwig, "I think you might have trained them too well. They're getting harder to follow. Pretty soon, they're going to catch on that we've been following them." Sam sighed. "For a whole week." Not content to go on patrol only once, the junior owsla had gone patrolling every day for a week. Either Sam or Bigwig had followed them each time and had nothing but good to report back to Hazel.

"Sam, that's a good thing," Bigwig replied. "I've already told Hazel that as soon as they catch us, I'm going to consider them prepared for solo patrol."

"Well, I guess it will be nice not to have to follow them anymore. They haven't had any problems while I've been after then, and-" Sam froze as he heard rustling. "Shh, here they come." The two rabbits watched as the four youngsters made their way along the patrol route, with Pipkin in the lead. The patrol passed by the hidden pair and stopped along the route as Pipkin called for a halt. Sam and Bigwig watched as he gathered the others close and gave them orders too quiet to hear. Suddenly they sprinted away from the patrol route in two groups. Pipkin and Snowdrop went one way, and Gillia and Blackavar went the other.

"Looks like they might catch us sooner than I thought," Bigwig said as he prepared to more. "You follow Pipkin, I'll follow the others."

Sam nodded and ran after Pipkin and Snowdrop, keeping to cover and doing his best to stay silent. Following the two was not difficult. In their hurry, the two rabbits were doing little to hide their trail. Soon, Sam came up to a clearing in the woods, and saw Snowdrop alone with her back to a tree. The doe appeared to be on her guard and was casting her head around, smelling for something.

Sam's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Well I found Snowdrop, but where's…oh no! Before Sam could turn around, he felt a sudden weight on his back. He was pressed flat on his stomach and two paws were pressed against the base of his head, rendering him immobile.

"Ha! Got'cha!" Sam heard Pipkin cry out from on top of him. "Snowdrop! I've got him! Come here!"

Sam sighed and smiled proudly. "Good job, Pipkin. I can only assume Bigwig is getting the same treatment from Blackavar and Gillia?"

"Yup," the young buck said, jumping off his friend. "We know you've been following us for a while, we just had to wait for the right time to do something about it. I was kind of surprised that both you and Bigwig came along today, but I think it worked out alright. Come on Sam, let's go meet the others. I told Gillia and Blackavar to wait with Bigwig until we came to get them."

Sam nodded and followed Pipkin and Snowdrop. The junior captain led him back to where they had split off, and then in the opposite direction. It was not long before they came to another clearing. There was a fallen tree suspended above the area, held partially off the ground by the numerous branches. Sam saw a path through the branches, cleared out by animals that had come through the clearing in the past. Pipkin led them through the trail, and stopped on the other side. He looked around with confusion written on his face.

"That's strange," he said. "I told them to wait right here. I wonder where they-" Pipkin cut off as he heard voices on the wind.

Sam recognized the tone of Bigwig's voice, though he could not understand the words. "It's coming from this way," he said, walking in the direction of the voice. "Come on!" The three followed Bigwig's voice until they began to hear running water. Sam walked out from a group of trees and saw Bigwig, Blackavar, and Gillia crouching on a small cliff, looking downwards.

Bigwig heard them approach and gestured furiously for them to keep quiet and crouch down as well. "About time you got here, Sam. What do you make of that?" The captain pointed over the edge of the cliff.

Sam looked where Bigwig pointed. Over the cliff edge was a small beach alongside a stream. Sam looked closely and gawked in surprise. Laying on the ground was a small brown and white bird. "Is that…"

"A hawk, yes," Bigwig replied. "Only a young one, though. And it's injured; look under its wing." Sam looked back, and sure enough, there was a splash of red against the bird's white under feathers.

"So what are we going to do, Bigwig?" Sam asked.

"I think it would be best for us to-" Bigwig began before he stopped, a thoughtful look on his face. He turned to the junior owsla. "This is your patrol Pipkin, what do you think we should do?"

The buck's eyes widened. "You want me to decide?" Bigwig nodded. Pipkin closed his eyes and considered carefully. Eventually, he said, "I think…we should try to talk to it." Five sets of eyes widened at his words. "It's young and injured: that might put it in a more compromising position. Personally, I think having a hawk on our side against the Black Rabbit would be good, don't you?"

"Interesting thought," Bigwig said. "That is certainly not what I was going to do, but let's try it. How would you have us proceed?"

"Junior owsla" Pipkin said with conviction, "you will wait here while Bigwig, Sam, and I go and see if the hawk will talk to us." Seeing his friends about to protest, Pipkin quickly continued. "If the hawk has no interest in talking, it could be a very dangerous situation. None of us have any proper combat training, so we can't risk going down there. The only reason I'm going down is because I'm the best hedgerow speaker in the warren, and unless the hawk somehow knows lapine, I'm going to be needed." The rest of the junior owsla looked disappointed, but they nodded their agreement. Pipkin turned back to the two older rabbits. "Bigwig, thank you for letting me make the decision, but I'd rather you lead the way. This is important, and I'm not going to take the chance that I might mess something up. And if talking doesn't work, we may need to…"

"Alright, Pipkin," Bigwig responded, "I understand. You ready, Sam?"

Sam sighed. "I suppose." He followed Bigwig as the captain began to look around. The teen muttered, "It's just a kid, though."

Bigwig found a narrow path through the rocks that led down to the beach, and the three made their way down it. As they stepped onto the beach, the hawk noticed them. Sam and Bigwig froze as the hawk eyed them nervously, and they gestured to Pipkin to stay further back on the path where the hawk could not reach him. Sam exchanged a glance with Bigwig and nodded. He took a few cautious steps closer. The hawk reacted immediately. Sam, Pipkin, and Bigwig's eyes widened when it suddenly pressed itself against the cliff wall, trying to make itself look as small as possible. It screeched in fear.

"It…is it scared of us?" Bigwig asked incredulously.

"Well yeah, Bigwig," Sam shot back, "It's not old enough to fight back. Heck, I bet it can't even fly yet."

Bigwig snorted in annoyance. "Well now what do we do? We can't just let it go."

"And what are you thinking? That we kill it out of hand? It's just a baby, Bigwig!"

"So you want to give it a chance to grow up and hunt us later?"

As the pair bickered, neither noticed Pipkin walk onto the beach and towards the hawk. The bird was less alarmed with the smaller rabbit, but it still did not stray from the wall. Pipkin smiled nervously. "Um, hello. My name is Pipkin. Who are you?"

At first, it did not seem as though the hawk would answer. It glanced at Sam and Bigwig, who were still arguing, then back at Pipkin. In very broken lapine, the hawk responded, "Name…Scree. You…friend?"

Pipkin smiled wider. "I'd love to be friends with you, Scree. But I have to ask, are you alright? Your wing…"

Scree's face crinkled up in concentration as he struggled to understand Pipkin. "Wing hurt. I…" Scree shook his head, not knowing the words.

"Pipkin!"

Pipkin looked back and Sam, who finally noticed Pipkin's close presence to Scree. The hawk had plastered itself against the cliff wall once more.

"Pipkin, what are you doing?" Sam yelled in panic. "Get away from there!"

Pipkin replied, "Stop, Sam! He's friendly! Stop yelling, you're scaring him. His name is Scree, and I don't think he means to hurt us." Pipkin turned back to Scree. "You don't have to worry, Scree. They're friends too. They won't hurt you." Sam and Bigwig approached Pipkin slowly, and Scree moved away from the wall. Pipkin waited until they were all standing in a group, though Scree kept his distance. Pipkin spoke to the rabbits. "So, what are we going to do?"

Sam responded, "Well, let's start with what happened to his wing. Here, let me take a look." Sam approached the hawk, only for him to back away, fear written on his face. Sam stopped and backed up. "Alright then, can you tell me what happened?"

"I…wing, fly…" Scree tried to explain, but was unable to find the words.

"Pipkin," Bigwig said, "can you try hedgerow? Maybe he speaks that better." Pipkin nodded and spoke in a language Sam did not understand. Scree did not respond and only looked more confused.

"No good," Pipkin said. "I don't think he speaks any hedgerow at all."

"Sorry for going a bit off track," Sam said, "but what's hedgerow?"

Bigwig answered. "Think of it like a common language. Most animal species have their own language, like rabbits have lapine. Hedgerow is a language that most animals know some of, but none speak fluently. And apparently, Scree is so young that he doesn't even know any hedgerow."

"Huh, I've been here a long time, but I just keep learning things," Sam said. "So, do you think Kehaar would be able to talk to Scree in whatever the bird language is called?"

Bigwig's eyes widened. "Sam! That's brilliant! I'm sure Kehaar would be able to talk to Scree."

"I can send Blackavar, Snowdrop, and Gillia back to the down to get him," Pipkin suggested.

Sam shook his head. "No, I have a quicker way." Sam turned to his human form, grimacing as Scree pressed himself against the wall again, looking more frightened than ever. Sam spoke while he summoned his powers, one hand glowing green and the other red. "Kehaar and I came up with this a while ago. He was thinking that I should have some way of getting his attention quickly if we were to get separated like we did over the winter. So I tinkered around with my powers a bit, and got this!" Sam held up a green energy ball and looked no different from others he had used in the past, except that it had a red center.

"What's that?"

Sam looked behind him where the remaining members of the junior owsla sat on the beach. "Didn't we tell you to wait up on the cliff?" Sam asked, annoyed.

"We got bored."

The teen sighed. "I suppose that was inevitable. Just stand back." The rabbits cleared a space around Sam. He looked for a hole in the tree cover and threw the energy ball into the sky. As soon as the ball was high in the air, Sam snapped his fingers and the ball exploded with an echoing bang.

Bigwig covered his ears in pain. "Embleer Frith, Sam, what was that?"

Sam barely heard him through the ringing in his ears. "Sorry, I don't remember it being that loud. Basically, I just put one of those bombs I used in the cave into the middle of an energy ball. I can launch the ball a lot further than the bomb itself can go, so I can use it as a makeshift flare. I'm sure Kehaar heard that, so he should be on his way soon."

"I doubt he could have missed it," Pipkin said.

"Sam!"

Everyone looked to the sky to see Kehaar approaching quickly. The gull alighted between Scree and the rabbits.

"You call me here to deal with hawk?" Kehaar asked, keeping a firm eye on the petrified Scree. "Kehaar no afraid! I fight hawks three times your size!"

"No no, Kehaar," Sam said, placing a hand on the gull's wing, "quite the opposite actually. Scree over there appears to be peaceful, but he can barely speak lapine. We were wondering if you could talk to him. We want to know how he came to be here, and if he would be willing to be friends with us."

Kehaar looked at Scree, then back at Sam. "Friends with a hawk? You serious?" Sam nodded. Kehaar shook his head and muttered to himself as the walked over to the hawk. "Crazy human, making friends with everything. What next, firestick? Or fire? Why not? No danger anywhere, just friends." Scree tensed as Kehaar closed in on him, but calmed immediately as soon as the gull began to speak.

The rabbits listened to the two birds speak in a flurry of squeaks and squawks.

"What do you think they're saying?" Gillia asked.

"Hopefully something good," Bigwig responded. "I'm not ashamed to admit I would have never considered trying to ally with a hawk. This is really inspired, Pipkin."

Pipkin blushed in embarrassment. "Thanks, Bigwig."

It was then that they heard Kehaar and Scree stop talking. Kehaar walked over to his friends, with Scree close behind.

"So how did it go, Kehaar?" Sam asked, keeping an eye on Scree. The hawk was still nervous, but came closer to the rabbits than he had before. Strangely, he was eyeing Sam with particular nervousness. "What did Scree have to say?"

"Is sad story. Begins with poor mother. Youngling and mother sitting in nest, minding own business, when suddenly, mother calls for quiet. Both listen, and hear strange talking from ground. Mother fly down to see what problem is. Then, Scree hear yell of mother. Pained yell. He look down, and…" Kehaar grimaced, "sees mother on ground, dead. But strangest thing is, he also sees small human standing over mother. She looks up, smiles, and leaves."

"Alice," Sam said angrily. He thought for a moment before a look of fear crossed his face. "How did she die?"

"What?" Kehaar asked, mortified.

"Ask Scree how she died. Did Alice use her sword? It's important, Kehaar."

The gull shook his head, but turned to Scree and asked. The hawk responded with a few high pitched whistles. "No, she not have anything. There was nothing but her."

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. If Alice didn't use her sword, then his mother won't be turned to the Black Rabbit's side. It's still terrible, but at least she can rest in peace. He saw that everyone was looking at him curiously. "I'll explain later. Just…keep on with the story."

Kehaar nodded. "Once Alice gone, Scree try and fly down to mother, but not know how to fly yet. Bad landing, but no hurt. Nothing else to do, Scree run. Run for long time, until reach this place. It was nighttime, and Scree not see cliff. Now, Scree stuck here. Can't fly, wing hurt, and no path for walking out."

"Can't he use the path we walked down?" Blackavar asked.

Bigwig shook his head. "He wouldn't fit. I barely got through it, and he's bigger than I am. No, I think the only way for him to get out would be to fly."

"Well first thing's first," Sam decided, "he isn't going to be able to fly if his wing is hurt. Kehaar, can you ask if he would let me take a look at it?"

The gull nodded and turned back to Scree, asking his question. As they spoke, Kehaar gestured to Sam with his wing. Scree's eyes widened and he shook his head furiously. Kehaar spoke quicker and more urgently, concern tingeing his voice. He lifted his wing and pointed to the area that was injured on Scree, shaking his head. The two birds stared at each other for a moment, until Scree nodded his head weakly.

"He let you help," Kehaar said. "I make him realize it better than staying and dying."

"Alright," Sam said. He approached the hawk slowly. Scree still looked at him with suspicion, but did not move away like he had before. He lifted his wing to give Sam easier access to the injury. The teen looked over the red feathers, noticing that they were still glistening near where the wing met the rest of his body. Sam ran his fingers gently across the area, frowning as he heard Scree croon in pain. His fingers met something small and hard, embedded in the bird's flesh. "Tell him to get ready," Sam told Kehaar, "I'm going to pull this out." Kehaar muttered something to Scree and nodded to Sam. The teen grasped the object, and yanked. Scree jumped back with a cry of pain. Sam looked in his hand; there was a stone splinter about an inch long.

Scree poked under his wing for a moment before muttering quietly to Kehaar. The gull chuckled before turning to Sam. "He say thank you. Wing feeling better already."

"I'm glad to help," Sam responded. "Kehaar, can you ask Scree what he plans to do now? See if he would be willing to join the warren like you have." The gull nodded. "Bigwig, can I have a word with you?" Sam and Bigwig moved away from the group, leaving Kehaar and the junior owsla to help Scree into the water to clean out his wound. Sam checked to make sure none of the others were listening. "What do we do about this, Bigwig?"

He sighed. "I'm not sure. We should tell Hazel. This is too important to keep a secret."

"You can't tell him!"

The pair looked behind them to find Snowdrop sitting with a frown on her face, followed quickly by the rest of the youngsters. Pipkin had a concerned look on his face.

"You're going to tell Hazel?" Pipkin asked. "But what if he doesn't trust Scree? What if he decides that Scree would be better off…" Pipkin lowered his voice, "dead?"

Bigwig exchanged a look with Sam and shook his head. "Then it's his decision to make. I'm not going to make a decision that could get rabbits killed."

"But, but," Pipkin protested. "Sam, you can't let him do this."

Sam shifted into rabbit form. "Actually, I agree with him. You have to believe in Hazel, Pipkin. He's the chief, and if he thinks that Scree not being a part of the warren would be for the best, then we would listen to him. I trust Hazel to make the right choice. You three stay here, we'll go get Hazel."

"But I-" Pipkin's protest died. "Fine. We'll keep Scree company."

Hazel walked between Sam and Bigwig through the woods. They were on their way to meet with the junior owsla, Kehaar, and Scree.

"So let me see if I get this straight," Hazel said, barely containing his anger, "you found a young hawk?" Bigwig nodded. "And instead of taking care of it like logic would dictate, you decided to talk to it, even going so far as to heal its injuries?" Sam nodded. "And then, you leave Pipkin and my kits alone. With a hawk."

"It sounds bad when you put it that way, Hazel-rah," Bigwig admitted. "But I don't think you have anything to worry about. Scree…was much more peaceful than I would have thought. Pipkin had a good idea to try and talk-"

Hazel rounded on the captain and began to shout. "This was Pipkin's idea? And you listened? What is wrong with you?"

"Hazel, calm down," Sam said. "It's really not as bad as you think it is."

"And what have you done to stop this foolishness?" Hazel shot back. "I don't know what's wrong with you two; I sent you out with them to watch them, not shove them into danger."

Bigwig was about to respond when Sam held up a paw, silencing him. "Look, we'll talk about it when we get there. There's no point in arguing until you see him, anyway."

Hazel said nothing and followed the pair to the beach. They looked over the cliff side when they got there, and saw Scree sitting on the ground, surrounded by the junior owsla and Kehaar. They appeared to be talking calmly.

"See, Hazel?" Sam said a bit smugly. "He doesn't look all that threatening, does he?"

"I'll be the judge of that. How do we get down there?"

"This way." Sam led Hazel to the narrow path they found earlier, but stopped him before they started down it. "Hazel, hang on. This poor kid just had his mom killed by Alice, had to run for his life for who knows how long, and got trapped on that beach. The last thing he needs is for you to be a jerk to him, too. So go easy, alright?"

"We'll see," Hazel said, pushing passed the teen. They walked down the path catching everyone's attention at they did. Blackavar, Snowdrop, and Gillia ran up to Hazel excitedly, while Pipkin followed slowly.

"Hello, Hazel," Pipkin said cautiously. "I suppose you've come to see Scree?"

"I think you have some explaining to do, Pipkin," Hazel said evenly. "This is extremely foolish; why did you think trying to befriend a hawk was a good idea?"

Pipkin gulped nervously, but answered Hazel all the same. "I…I thought he could be a big help if he was friendly. We need all the help we can get against the Black Rabbit, and Scree isn't the first elil we've made friends with. I just…saw an opportunity."

"And what if it hadn't gone alright? What then? Someone could have gotten hurt!"

"But they didn't, Hazel," Pipkin said more forcefully. "I had Snowdrop, Gillia, and Blackavar stay on the top of the cliff, and I went down alone with Sam and Bigwig. If anything had happened, they could have handled it. I know it was dangerous, so I was careful."

"That's not the point, Pipkin. You-"

"Please stop yelling at him, Parli!" Hazel looked surprised as Snowdrop interrupted him. "Pipkin told us to wait on the cliff, but we didn't listen. And Scree is really nice!" She cast a forlorn look at the hawk, who still sat stood with Kehaar watching the rabbits talk. "He's already been attacked by Alice, doesn't that make him our ally?"

Hazel looked at the pleading looks of the four junior owsla members and sighed. "Just let me talk to him. I'll…see what he has to say." The chief approached the pair of birds. Scree, to his credit, made no move to retreat from the newcomer as he had before. "Hello, your name is Scree?"

The hawk nodded.

"I'm Hazel, the chief of the warren and leader of the rabbits that found you. I have yet to hear your full story; will you tell me how you came to be here?"

With Kehaar translating, Scree told Hazel what he had told the others. The chief listened attentively, shaking his head in sadness when Scree told of his mother being murdered by Alice. At the end of the story, Scree looked at Kehaar and nodded. Then on his own in struggling lapine, he said, "Scree want be friend. No want hurt rabbits. Rabbits help Scree, Scree help rabbits."

"See, Hazel?" Sam said, "Scree is nice. He's hardly the most dangerous thing we've come across. Why are you so suspicious?"

"Because he's elil," Hazel replied. "Hawks are incredibly dangerous. But…" He glanced at Scree, who was now talking quietly to Kehaar. Hazel sighed. "He seems friendly enough. I'm sorry, Sam, for all the yelling. And for not trusting you."

"It's alright, Hazel. You were just being a bit…paternal."

The chief shook his head sadly. "Maybe so, but that's no excuse. What am I going to do when they're grown and in the owsla proper? Am I still going to over react? We aren't in a position for me to be turning away potential allies."

"Don't worry, Hazel," Sam said with a smile. "No harm done. The important thing now is getting Scree out of here and back to the down."

"Right now?" Hazel asked. "Shouldn't we at least give the others some warning before we go walking onto the down?"

"I think it would be better to get him to safety as soon as we can. If Alice were to show up again, Scree wouldn't stand a chance. Especially now that he's officially on our side. If she wasn't actively hunting him before, she's sure to be now. And with that injury, I doubt he'd be able to fly for a few days at least."

"Actually, can't fly yet," Kehaar interrupted. "Mother going to teach soon, but…"

"Even better," Sam said with a sigh. "Well, we have to figure out something." He glanced around at the beach. It was surrounded by cliffs too steep to climb, the only way out being the narrow path the rabbits had used. The path itself was too narrow for Scree to use. The other side was the creek, too deep for a land bird to swim through. On the opposite bank… "What if we used that?"

Hazel looked where Sam was pointing. On the far side was a tall, dead tree. "You mean the tree? What are we supposed to do with that?"

"Knock it down? We can use it as a bridge for Scree to walk across."

Hazel's mouth dropped. "You want up to take down a tree? How in Frith's name to you expect us to do that?"

Sam smirked, his hands glowing red and green again. "I bet I can figure something out."

Scree, Kehaar, and the rabbits stood at the foot of the down.

"I still can't believe that worked," Hazel said with a shake of his head.

Sam walked beside him with a giant grin on his face. "There is no problem that explosives cannot solve, Hazel."

"You're just lucky it fell the right way," Bigwig said. When the tree had begun to fall, it was aimed too far down stream and would not have been able to be used as a bridge. But with a few quick energy blasts to the side of the trunk, the tree veered onto the beach.

"I admit it got a little rough for a second, but here we are, safe and sound on the down." Sam turned to Scree. "You ready to meet your new friends?"

The hawk nodded nervously and the group made their way up the hill. The reactions were varied. Clover, who was the first to see them, screamed and bolted for the warren. This alerted Strawberry, Campion, Holly, Dandelion, and Hawkbit, who ran to see what the commotion was. They froze upon seeing Scree following Hazel, Bigwig and the others.

"Hazel-rah!" Strawberry yelled, "Look out behind you!"

"Bigwig," Hazel said to the captain, "we'll let you handle them. Sam and I can take care of the others."

Bigwig nodded. He turned to the five warriors, who had all dropped into fighting positions. "Owsla! At ease! Meet our newest ally."

Hawkbit and Dandelion exchanged a startled look. "You're kidding," Dandelion said.

Hazel, Sam, and the junior owsla continued on with Scree and left Bigwig to talk to the owsla. The next group they met consisted of Blackberry, Glade, Fiver, Silverweed, and a very frightened looking Primrose.

Glade shook her head with a grin. "Sam, you know there's a hawk behind you, right?"

Sam chuckled. "Yes, I'm aware. This is Scree. He's joining the warren."

"What?"

Everyone turned to look at Primrose. She shook her head furiously. "Hazel, you can't be serious. Blackavar, Gillia, Snowdrop, come away from there. You too Pipkin. It's dangerous!" The three younger rabbits hung their heads and walked slowly over to her.

Pipkin did not move. Sam gave him a questioning glance. "She's not my marli," the younger buck muttered.

Primrose sighed in frustration. "What were you thinking, Hazel? Bringing elil back to the warren!"

"Hazel, why don't you go talk to Primrose in private," Sam suggested. "I can take care of the rest of the introductions."

Hazel nodded with a look of long suffering. He and a steaming Primrose walked off alone to the edge of the hill with Snowdrop, Blackavar, and Gillia. That left Sam, Scree, and Kehaar alone with the others.

"What do the rest of you think?" Sam asked.

Fiver and Silverweed confidently stepped forward. Fiver froze as he got closer, and his eyes widened.

"You keep vigilant watch,
never thinking to check within.
For you will find the greatest darkness
buried beneath the skin."

Sam's eyes widened and he glanced wearily at Scree. Even Kehaar seemed nervous. "What was that all about, Fiver?" Sam asked.

Fiver shook his head to clear his senses. "I don't know. Whatever it was, I don't think it's about Scree. I sense…no ill intentions. Only a desire to be accepted. And a deep sadness."

Silverweed closed his eyes and added, "No malicious thoughts." His face scrunched in concentration. "Well, not towards us. He has some very strong opinions on Alice, however." Silverweed opened his eyes and he smiled at the hawk. "I see no reason why we can't be friends."

"Welcome to the warren, Scree," Fiver added, his vision momentarily forgotten.

Kehaar had been translating for Scree while the rabbits spoke. The hawk gave as good of a smile as he could with a beak. "Thank you," he replied.

"Blackberry?" Sam asked.

She sighed. "That's good enough for me. I'm happy to meet you, Scree."

"You've done weirder things," Glade said with a roll of her eyes. "If you trust Scree, I trust him."

Sam smiled in gratitude. "Thanks, Glade. Hey, we should find Clover and let her know what's going on." A concerned look crossed his face. "And don't let me forget to talk to Hazel about Fiver's vision. Whatever it was, it doesn't sound good."

Sam and Glade lay on the grass together watching two shapes dart about in the air. One was large, white, and confident in his wing beats. The other was small, and shaky with inexperience.

"He's gotten quite good in such a short amount of time," Glade said, gesturing to Scree.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, he's a quick study. His wing healed well without that rock in it. And Kehaar is a surprisingly good teacher. His lapine is improving, too." The teen sighed. "I just wish Primrose would try and make peace with him."

The pair looked over to where Primrose sat with Hazel under the beech tree, one eye wearily on the sky. "At least she's letting the junior owsla go on patrol again," Glade responded. For the last week, Primrose had refused to allow the junior owsla off the down. She claimed 'that was just what the hawk wanted.' Hazel, Bigwig, and Pipkin were all able to convince her, however. "I'm sure they're glad to be back at it," Glade continued. "I know how frustrating it can be sitting on the down, not being able to do anything."

Sam, however, had stopped listening. Scree had stopped flying about and was just hovering in place, staring off in the direction where Pipkin and the junior owsla had gone for patrol. Sam rose to his feet slowly as Scree suddenly took off towards the woods, leaving Kehaar behind.

Glade rose next to him. "Sam, what's going on?"

"I don't know, but I think we better check it out. Come on, Glade!"

"Where is he going?"

They were stopped by Primrose's panic-ridden shouting. Sam sighed in annoyance. "Don't worry about it, Primrose," he yelled back. "We're handling it." He whispered to Glade, "Let's go, before she starts yelling at me next." Glade gave a small smile and the two ran after Scree.

They lost sight of him before they were half way down the hill, so they continued running in the same direction he had been flying. The two ran into the woods a ways before they stopped.

"Where'd he go?" Glade asked, darting her head around trying to catch his scent on the air.

"I don't know," Sam replied in frustration. "What was he even doing?" Primrose can't be right! He did fly off awfully quickly though… Sam shook his head to clear the errant thoughts. "We need to find them!"

"Sam! Glade!"

The pair looked up to find Kehaar circling overhead. "Follow me! Scree fly this way!" He turned and flew in the opposite direction from the down, Sam and Glade following on the ground. They ran until they came upon a clearing. As they closed in, they began to hear a voice.

"…one like you a few weeks ago. Any relation?"

Sam and Glade's eyes widened when they heard the voice. Sam signaled for Glade to slow down and they crept to the edge of the foliage. They looked out cautiously and saw Alice with her back to them. Standing across the clearing was Scree, standing in front of the junior owsla with his wings flared. Alice continued to speak, completely unaware of their presence.

"Do yourself a favor, birdie, just fly away. This doesn't concern you. I can't get through that barrier on my own, so I'm going to see if these kids can. It's going to just be a little cut, they won't even feel it."

Scree shook his head. "You kill mother! Scree no let you hurt friends!"

The girl lifted her sword menacingly. "Fine! If you won't move, I have no problem going through you. Master just finished my new sword yesterday, and I've just been dying to try it out!"

Sam stood up as she began to walk forward and launched an energy ball at her back. Just before it connected, Alice whipped around and batted it aside with her sword.

"I was wondering when you'd show up, Sammy-boy," Alice said. "The last time we saw each other, I'll admit I got a little…angry at your cheating with that barrier. But I've calmed down since then. Master can compensate for anything, don't you doubt it." She chuckled lightly. "But I supposed you're here for a fight? Very well, just let me take care of this riff-raff first."

"No!" Sam shouted. Alice gave a cold smile, and faced Scree and the junior owsla. Without a word, she swept her hand through the air in a low arc in their direction. A rolling wave of earth, darkened with her evil powers, flew at the group. Sam watched as it flung them into the air. Small jolts of black lighting arced from them to the ground. They landed in a puff of dust. Sam froze as he watched his friends get attacked.

"You bitch!" With a yell of rage, Sam fired a two handed Frith Beam directly at Alice. The girl barely moved out of the way in time, sending the beam screaming through the woods. Sam took advantage of the distraction. "Glade!" he yelled behind him, "go see if they're alright! I'll deal with Alice." She looked about to argue, but then nodded her head.

Satisfied, Sam turned back to Alice, only to find her hurtling at him. Sam grunted as she drove the hilt of her sword into his stomach and punched him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He collided with a tree and slid to the ground, ears ringing.

"You're improving," Alice said, "but not enough to keep up with me." Her smirk faded into confusion when Sam began to laugh. "What's the joke?" she asked. Sam raised an arm and pointed downward. Alice's eyes widened when she looked down and saw three glowing red balls on the ground at her feet.

*Snap*

Sam watched in grim satisfaction as the three spheres ignited, bathing Alice in fire. Sam struggled to his feet, and heard a rustling behind him.

"Sam," Glade said, emerging from the foliage, "are you alright?"

"Never better," he responded sarcastically. "How about the others?"

She frowned. "They aren't good, but they'll be alright. They should be on their way back to the down. Do you need any help?"

Sam shook his head. "No, just go and keep them safe. I can handle Alice." Glade nodded and disappeared back into the undergrowth. Alice, on one knee reclaimed his attention. Tendrils of smoke rose from her body, but she looked otherwise unharmed.

"That…was a pretty good move, Sammy-boy," she said breathlessly. "I honestly wasn't expecting that." She drove the tip of her sword into the ground and used the weapon to boost herself to her feet. "But that still doesn't mean you've won." She pulled her sword out of the ground and brought it back to her side. "I still have more power than you."

Sam's eyes shifted quickly to the sky, then back to Alice. "Maybe, maybe not. But I do have one advantage."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Enlighten me."

The teen smiled. "A vengeful hawk as my new friend." At that moment, Scree swooped down from the sky and grabbed Alice by the shoulders. With a beat of his wings, he flung the girl face first into a tree. Sam watched her hit the ground, trickles of blood running down her shoulders where Scree's talons had pierced the flesh.

Scree landed shakily next to Sam. He was breathing heavily. "Friend, Sam, alright?"

Sam smiled and shook his head. "You shouldn't have come back. It's dangerous, and you're hurt."

"Scree not let friends be hurt."

The teen faced Alice. "I'm going to make sure you don't hurt any of my friends ever again." His hands began to glow yellow. Alice looked at him with a flash of fear. She flung her hand in their direction and a wave of darkness raced to meet them. For a moment, Sam was blinded. A distressed cry from Scree told him that Alice had taken his vision as well. He blindly launched a Frith Beam, tearing through the darkness.

But Alice was gone.

Sam cast his eyes around furiously, trying to find where she was hiding, but there was no sign of her. He sighed and turned back to Scree. The hawk was breathing heavily and his wings sagged in exhaustion, but he seemed alright. "Come on, Scree," Sam said, "let's get back to the down." The pair began the slow walk back to the down. "Hey Scree," Sam said as they walked, "thanks for coming to help me back there."

"You my friend," Scree responded. "Scree help friends. And…want fight human. She deserve to die."

Sam slowed to a stop. He looked at his friend with a sad face. "Scree…I can understand why you think that. But you need to understand: she isn't doing this of her own free will. The Black Rabbit is controlling her; he's the one at fault. I want to save her, not kill her."

Scree was silent for a moment before responding. "Still done, Sam. Still hurt. Want revenge." Sam saw the hawk's eyes being to water. "Mother deserve it."

Sam was at a loss for words. "I…alright. I guess…I can't argue with you. The bottom line is that she's our enemy, and she's trying to kill us. If…if we have to kill her, then I guess it can't be avoided. But I want your word that if I'm able to free her from the Black Rabbit, you'll leave her alone. Promise me, Scree."

"Scree…promise," he said reluctantly. "Sam worth trusting."

"Thank you," Sam said in relief. "If it helps, try and think of how scared she must be. I don't even know how Alice got here. For all I know, she could have been yanked from her bed like I was. But if she woke up to the Black Rabbit immediately taking over her mind..." Sam paused, letting the implications of his words sink in. "And think about what he's made her do. If she's lucky, she won't remember any of it once she's free. But if she does, she'll have to live with it for the rest of her life."

"Scree…will think about it," Scree responded.

"Sam!"

Sam and Scree were surprised when Glade burst out of some nearby bushes, nearly crashing into them. "Scree flew back here! I got the junior owsla back to the down and came right back. Are you-"

"We're fine, Glade," Sam reassured her. "We're both fine. Scree came back and helped me fight Alice."

Glade sighed in relief before she really looked at the pair. "By Frith! You two look terrible! Come on, let's get you back to the down."

The three crested the hill. Sam saw Blackavar, Snowdrop, and Gillia lying next to Primrose and Hazel under the tree, while Pipkin was talking with Bigwig and Campion. Everyone ran to meet them as soon as the group caught their attention.

Pipkin was the first to speak, and he did so in a strangely subdued tone. "Are you alright, Sam? You aren't hurt too badly, are you?"

The teen shook his head and knelt down. "I should be asking you that." Sam grimaced as he saw a large black spot on Pipkin's side where he had been singed from Alice's attack. "Are you and the others okay? She didn't cut you with her sword, did she?"

"No, she didn't," Pipkin replied. "I made sure of it."

Sam sighed in relief. "Good. Well I'm sorry to say, Pipkin, but I think you guys are done patrolling for a while."

"I know." Everyone's eyes widened as Pipkin immediately agreed. "With Alice out there…it's just too dangerous. I won't put the others at risk. We'll stay on the down, or wherever you tell us to."

"But Pipkin…" Snowdrop immediately protested.

"No!" The young doe's eyes widened at his harsh response. "We're done playing around! Alice is too much for us to deal with, and we will not go on another scouting mission until this is all over. Understood?" Snowdrop nodded weakly. Pipkin sighed. "Good." Without another word, he hopped away from the assembled rabbits.

The others looked at each other worriedly, and dispersed as well. "Bigwig, Campion," Sam called to the two warriors before they could go too far, "is something wrong with Pipkin?"

Bigwig sighed and cast a sad look at the younger buck, who was sitting alone at the edge of the down. "He learned something today. The hardest lesson a patrol leader will ever learn: how it feels when rabbits are injured under your watch."

Campion continued. "There's always a feeling of…uselessness that accompanies it. You think to yourself, 'What if I had been faster, or stronger, or done something differently? Would it still have gone so badly?' Even in a situation like Pipkin's where there was no way he could have fought against Alice, he still feels guilty that his friends got hurt."

"Far too young to have to go through something like that," Bigwig said, shaking his head.

"I had no idea," Sam replied. "I was always lucky that any patrols I lead never had any complications." Although there isn't much I couldn't have dealt with anyway, Sam added silently. He looked to the side and saw Snowdrop staring after Pipkin sadly. Sam hopped over to her. "Why don't you go talk to him? I think he could really use a friend right now."

"I don't know what I would say," Snowdrop admitted. "He seemed so angry."

"He was just concerned for you. For all of you. He feels guilty for what happened."

"But it wasn't his fault! There was nothing any of us could have done!"

Sam smiled. "I know that already. Tell him."

Snowdrop nodded and she nuzzled him under his chin. "Thanks, Uncle Sam!"

Sam watched her go before he felt someone lay down next to him. He turned and saw Glade. She looked at him in worry. "Are you really alright? You seem distracted, Sam."

He sighed and shook his head. "I'm worried. Alice did some things out there I haven't seen her do before. Does that mean she's getting more powerful? Or does she have more power than she's letting on? Either way, it doesn't bode well for our next fight."

Glade considered for a moment before she answered. "Maybe she is getting more powerful, but so are you. I mean, for the first time, you made her run away. You beat her this time, Sam."

"I don't know what would have happened if Scree hadn't come back." Sam looked for his new friend and smiled as he saw the hawk speaking with Primrose. She was smiling and talking pleasantly. Sam chuckled. Quickest way to a doe's heart: save her kids. He sobered quickly. "If she's coming up with new tactics, I have to figure out how to counter them, and quick. Hopefully I can keep up."

"I know you can, Sam" Glade said as she nuzzled the side of his face. "We're all depending on you. We know you won't let us down."

Sam looked around the down at his friends smiling, laughing, and relaxing. I hope I don't. Dear Frith, I hope I don't.

A/N: Two and a half months without an update. That...that is just inexcusable. It will not happen again, I swear. Thanks for reading, whoever is still following this story after such a large gaps between chapters.