Chapter 32
"Bigwig, wake up."
"Guh, huh?" The captain's eyes snapped open and he looked to the entrance to his burrow. "Who…Hazel?"
"Yes Bigwig, it's me. Come outside. I need to speak to you about something, immediately."
"Embleer Frith, Hazel," Bigwig said, shaking the sleep out of his head, "it's the middle of the night. Can't it wait?"
"No, it needs to be now. Come on."
Bigwig heard the sounds of a rabbit leaving the warren. He sighed. If this isn't important, then chief or not, I'll give him a cuff he won't soon forget. He got up and followed Hazel out into the night. Stepping out of the warren, Bigwig did not see anyone else outside.
"Over here, Bigwig!"
The captain looked to his right and saw the vague shape of a rabbit in the murky darkness. "Hazel, what are you-"
"Follow me."
Hazel turned and began to run down the hill. Cursing under his breath, Bigwig broke into a run to keep pace with the chief. This better be good…
"Sam? Are you awake?"
The teen roused slowly. He looked over to his side to see the remnants of a glow retreating from Silverweed's sleeping form. Glade had decided to sleep with Fiver and Pipkin until Silverweed was better, so it was just the two of them. He looked over to the burrow entrance to find Primrose, looking worried.
"I am now," Sam replied groggily. "What's wrong, Primrose?"
"I'm worried about Hazel. Bigwig just asked Hazel to step outside to talk, but he seemed strange. I just went outside, and there was no one out there!"
Sam woke up completely upon hearing that. "They're not out there?" Primrose shook her head. Sam quickly got up and ran outside. No one. Sam put his nose to the ground. They definitely both came out this way; I can smell them. But it smells like Hazel went this way, he looked off to the left, and Bigwig went the other way. But why would they split up?
"Did you find anything?" Primrose asked, breaking Sam out of his thoughts.
"Stay here," Sam told her before he ran into the warren again. He made his way quickly to Campion and Blackberry's burrow. Nudging Campion in the shoulder, Sam whispered, "Campion! Wake up!" The large rabbit stirred immediately and looked up at Sam in confusion. "You wanted your chance to help me. Well, you've got it. Hazel and Bigwig are missing."
"What?" Campion whispered as well, making sure not to wake Blackberry. "What happened?"
"Primrose is waiting outside, talk to her for the full story. I'm going to get a couple others." Campion nodded and made his way out of the burrow quickly. Sam continued a bit further into the warren before ducking into another burrow. He quickly tousled the fir between the ears of the two rabbits inside. "Wake up boys! We've got some owsla work to do!"
"Ugh, what time is it?" Dandelion mumbled.
"It's still dark out!" Hawkbit said in annoyance. "Are you bloody daft?"
"Bigwig and Hazel are out there somewhere, and we're going to find them. Now come on!" Their complaints forgotten, Hawkbit and Dandelion followed Sam as he made his way quickly to the exit. Campion and Primrose were talking when they got outside.
"Sunflower! Primrose told me everything," Campion said. "How do you want to handle this?"
Sam made sure all four of the soldiers were listening before he began speaking. "Campion, you take Hawkbit and go after Bigwig. Dandelion and I will go after Hazel."
"What if we run into Alice?" Campion asked.
Sam sighed. "Would telling you to run do any good?"
"Not if there is still a chance we could save Bigwig."
"Fine. Just…be careful."
Campion nodded, and with Hawkbit in tow, took after Bigwig's scent. Sam and Dandelion were about to leave as well when Primrose stopped them.
"Sam, I…"
Sam placed his paws on her shoulders. "Primrose, you have to be strong right now. If we aren't back soon, wake Holly and Glade and send them after us." Sam took a moment to swallow the knot forming in his throat. "If none of us come back, take everyone to Applebark tomorrow. And once you're there, take everyone from both warrens and run as far as you can, because that will mean we lost." Sam saw tears beginning to form in Primrose's eyes. "Can you do that?" She nodded. "Good. Thank you. Don't worry," he said, trying to alleviate the seriousness of the situation, "I'm sure everything is fine. We're probably blowing this way out of proportion."
"Please, go," she said. "Please find Hazel, quickly."
Sam nodded, and he and Dandelion ran the other opposite direction of Campion and Hawkbit. Hazel's scent lead down the hill and into the woods near the bottom of the down.
"What do think happened?" Dandelion asked as the followed Hazel's trail.
Sam shook his head. "I'm not sure. I can't imagine what would be so important that Bigwig would wake Hazel in the middle of the night. And I don't know why they would suddenly split up and run off the down."
Dandelion slowed and perked his ears. "Wait a moment, do you hear that? I think I hear voices."
Sam quieted down and listened. He was just able to make out frantic yelling. It sounded like…
"Hazel! Dandelion, come on!" Sam said and ran forward. As the pair ran quickly through the brush, the yelling became clearer.
"Run, Bigwig! Just leave me!"
"N-Never, Hazel-rah. Not even if the Black Rabbit himself were here."
"If Master were here, you wouldn't still be alive."
Sam's eyes widened at the familiar voice, and he put on a burst of speed. He burst through the bushes into a clearing, and his eyes widened. On one end stood Alice. One of her arms was bleeding freely from a deep bite. The other held her sword, stained red. Bigwig and Hazel stood on the other end. Hazel was lying on the ground behind Bigwig. There was a deep stab wound through his leg, preventing him from moving it. Bigwig stood on heavily shaking legs. His body was riddled with numerous cuts, both deep and small. The captain's face was covered with blood stemming from one of his ears. Sam grimaced to see that Bigwig's left ear was missing the top half. It was a clean cut, and bled freely.
Alice noticed the pair immediately. "Oh darn, I was hoping it would have taken you longer to catch up. Oh, and you brought another rabbit! Good, these two are almost broken."
Sam ignored Alice, instead moving quickly to Bigwig and Hazel's side. "Are you two alright?" he asked in a concerned voice. Dandelion went to Hazel's side, while Sam attended to Bigwig.
"Sam, be careful," Hazel said. He winced in pain as he bothered his injured leg. "Bigwig is-"
Before he could finish, Bigwig turned and tackled Sam to the ground. Sam looked into the captain's face, and saw pitch black eyes. Bigwig just stood there, his paws pinning Sam's shoulders. "S-Sam," he stammered, "I can't-I can't stop. Help me!"
Sorry Bigwig, Sam apologized silently. This is going to hurt. With no warning, Sam switched to his human form. This unbalanced Bigwig enough for Sam to wrench an arm free from the captain's grasp. The teen immediately reached up and grasped Bigwig's injured ear. Before Bigwig could react, Sam channeled a Frith Beam into the appendage. Bigwig bellowed in pain, and backed off of Sam's chest. Sam immediately placed his other hand on Bigwig's chest and continued to push. When the darkness in his eyes began to clear, Sam stopped and let the rabbit fall to the ground. Bigwig lay still, breathing heavily.
"Ooo, so close," Alice said in disappointment. "He almost got you. He's a strong one, that Bigwig. Master would love him."
"Hazel, are you going to be alright?" Sam asked, still ignoring Alice.
Hazel nodded. "I'm fine for now. Bigwig took the brunt of Alice's attack."
"Sunflower!" Just then, Campion and Hawkbit burst from the foliage as well. "What-"
"Campion," Sam said, catching the warrior's attention, "you, Hawkbit, and Dandelion get Hazel and Bigwig out of here. I'll take care of Alice."
"But-"
"Go, Campion."
The rabbit nodded and he and the other two ran over to Hazel and Bigwig.
Satisfied that his friends were going to be alright, Sam turned his attention back to Alice. He generated a fireball in one hand so he could see clearly, and charged a Frith Beam in the other. "Leave, Alice. Now."
Alice put her hands on her cheeks and made a terrified face. "Oh no, big bad Sam is threatening me! I guess I better do what he says." She held her pose for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Don't you wish it was that easy?" Without another word, she backed into the shadows and disappeared.
Sam's eyes widened as he looked around furiously. A snapping twig to his right was all the warning the teen had. He hit the ground, barely avoiding a dark bolt of lightning as it blasted over his head. Sam quickly rolled to the side and launched a Frith Beam in the direction the lightning had come from. He caught a glimpse of Alice as the beam illuminated the clearing, but she quickly faded back into the darkness.
She's only invisible in the dark! Sam realized. Thinking quickly, he created explosive fireballs and rolled them to the edges of the clearing. Soon, the area was lit by what appeared to be candlelight. Dull as the light was, it was enough to reveal Alice leaning against a tree, looking rather annoyed.
She shook her head. "You always have to ruin all my fun, don't y-" She did not have time to finish speaking as Sam attacked with another Frith Beam. Alice moved as quickly as she could, but it was not quick enough. She let out a scream of agony as the beam hit her right leg dead on. She fell to the ground.
Sam approached the fallen girl as she clutched her leg, which had turned completely black, as if burned. He was about fifteen feet away when he stopped and charged a Frith Beam in each hand. "You know, Hazel is like a brother to me. He's been there for me since day one; he made me an uncle to his children. Hell, I even took a bullet for him. Bigwig and I haven't always gotten along, but I've never had a more loyal friend in my life. He taught me how to fight. We've patrolled together, fought together, and always had each other's back. And you hurt both of them tonight. Not a smart move." He leveled the two handed beam at Alice's face. "One way or another, you're done hurting my friends."
Just then, Sam heard a voice behind him.
"I came back as soon as I could," Campion said as he emerged from the bushes. "Dandelion and Hawkbit are-" He never got to finish, as a streak of lightning struck him directly in the chest.
"Campion!" Sam ran to his friend's side. The rabbit's breath was ragged, and his chest had a large, smoking, black mark on it. Angrily, he turned back to Alice and launched a beam where she had been lying. But she was gone. "Damn it." Sam shook his head in disappointment and focused on Campion.
The rabbit groaned and his eyes flicked open. "S-Sunflower? What happened?"
Sam sighed in relief as his friend spoke. The large buck struggled to get to his feet, but Sam set a firm hand on his shoulder. "Hold on, Campion," he said. "You shouldn't move just yet. In case you missed it, you just took a huge bolt of lightning to the chest."
Although Campion wanted to resist, he nodded and lay on his side on the ground. "It's fine," he said, waving the teen off. "I've taken worse injuries than this."
"Electricity isn't something to mess around with, now hush."
Rolling his eyes, Campion lay back on the ground and let Sam examine his wound. Sam looked over the injury as best he could with no formal medical training. Well, it's not bleeding, he thought to himself. Not surprising. I imagine the heat from the electricity would have cauterized any bleeding that might have happened. The only other thing I can think of would be… Sam bent down and rested his ear gently on Campion's chest.
*thumpthump…thumpthumpthump…thump*
"I don't think that sounds right," Sam said with a frown on his face.
"Something wrong?" Campion asked, beginning to get a bit worried.
Sam helped the rabbit to his feet. "I'm not sure. I'm not a doctor, but I think you have an irregular heartbeat. It's not uncommon after being struck by lightning."
Campion's eyes widened. "Is it serious?"
"I don't think so," Sam said hastily. "I think you'll be alright if you take it easy for the next few days. And I don't just mean doing sentry duty instead of going on patrol. Consider yourself confined to the top of the down for the next three days."
"Now hold on one moment," Campion interrupted, "you can't just-"
"If you won't listen to me, I'll just tell Hazel, Bigwig, and Blackberry. I'm sure one of them will be able to get you to…" Sam drifted off as a look of remembrance flashed across his face. "Hazel! I almost forgot!" Without another word, Sam turned back to his rabbit form and took off towards the hill. Campion followed at a slower pace, mindful of what Sam had said.
As he crested the hill, Sam saw Hazel lying on the ground, being nuzzled by Primrose as he twitched in pain. Bigwig lay further away with Dandelion and Hawkbit standing around him. The two bucks stared at their chief in sadness. Sam sat next to Hazel in his human form. "How is he?" Sam asked Primrose.
Though she was on the verge of tears, Primrose managed to respond. "He's fighting, Sam, but I don't know how much longer he can hold on. Help him, please!"
The teen nodded and placed his hands on Hazel's body. He focused, and watched in satisfaction as Hazel began to glow yellow. The rabbit stopped squirming and lay still, breathing calmly. The injury he had sustained in his leg had healed some, but was still bad. Sam was not sure Hazel would ever walk without a limp again.
In a few moments, the chief groaned and opened his eyes. He held a paw to his aching head. "Is…Is it over?" He looked as if he wished to say more, but Primrose was at his side in an instant.
Sam smiled in relief as the two nuzzled each other lovingly. "Yeah, Hazel, it's over for the night. Bigwig is alright, just unconscious. And Campion should be along shortly. Everyone is alright."
"That's wonderful news," Hazel replied. "And Sam, I want to apologize. I know I heard Bigwig's voice, but I should have known something was amiss when he wouldn't show himself. I shouldn't have been so careless."
"It happens, Hazel," Sam said. "Bigwig was fooled too. The important thing is that everyone is alright. Let's get Bigwig into the warren and get some sleep. We'll tell everyone what happened tomorrow morning."
Hawkbit and Dandelion hefted Bigwig onto their backs and carried him into the warren. Campion followed behind them. Primrose, who was helping Hazel into the warren, turned back to Sam.
"Thank you, Sam. I don't know what we would do without you."
Sam flashed her a smile as the pair walked into the warren as well. As soon as they were out of sight, the smile slid off the teen's face and he sighed. "You'd certainly be a lot healthier."
The morning after the attack, Hazel and Primrose held a meeting in the Honeycomb. They explained to everyone how they had been tricked, and set rules to avoid similar tragedies. Everyone was to have a partner with them at all times, and no one was allowed off the down without permission from Hazel, Bigwig, or Sam. And no one was to follow anyone out of the warren during the night, unless they had visual confirmation that the voice was from a real rabbit.
Some of the rabbits were a bit disgruntled at have such restrictions put on them, but with a bit of convincing from Holly, who was temporarily in charge of the owsla due to Bigwig and Campion's injuries, they all agreed. Sam sat in the back of the group with a frown on his face.
As soon as the meeting was over, Sam left the warren and quickly made his way down the hill before anyone could see him. He made his way back to the clearing where he had fought Alice the night before. Aside from some dried blood on the grass and a few black marks where Sam's Frith Beams had struck a tree, the area was completely calm. Sam turned to his human form and flopped down onto his back.
The memories of his friends bubbled into his mind. Scree and the junior owsla were first. The burn marks from Alice's lightning attack had healed, but they would each carry a hairless patch where it hit. Scree was luckier; none of his injuries were serious enough to cause scarring. Strawberry was next. It was a close call, but Sam managed to save his friend. The slash Alice had inflicted on him was almost healed, but it still pulled sometimes, and the buck still had to take things at a slower pace. And then Fiver and Silverweed were the targets of a new type of attack. Fiver was healthy by this point, but he still had nightmares about the things the Black Rabbit showed him during his captivity. Silverweed had finally been able to walk around on his own power a few days ago. The healing process was much slower for him, but he was making due with all his friends to help.
Of course Hazel, Bigwig, and Campion had been injured just the night before. Hazel could barely walk, and it took a lot of convincing to Sam and Primrose before they would allow him to even conduct the meeting that morning. Bigwig's injuries, though numerous, were not life threatening. As long as they made sure his ear did not get infected, Sam expected he would make a full recovery. Campion got off relatively easily. He had a large burn across his chest, but that was just a surface wound. As long as he followed Sam's instructions, his heart would most likely be fine in a few days.
Sam wiped tears off his face; he was not even aware he had started crying. Too many hurt, he thought guiltily to himself. Too many injuries I should have been able to stop. What good am I if I can't even stop my friends from being hurt?
Before he could continue his self-depreciating thoughts, he heard the sounds of someone approaching through the foliage. He did not even have to look. "Glade, you heard Hazel. You're supposed to stay on the down."
She lay down next to him on the grass before answering. "Hazel said I could go find you once I told him you had disappeared. Without a partner, might I add." She mimicked Sam's voice, "You heard Hazel, no going off alone."
"I went off alone because I wanted to be alone. And not drawing my friends into more danger."
Glade's ears perked up at his words. "Wait, is that what has you so down? Sam, there's nothing you could have done-"
"How can you say that?" Sam proclaimed, jumping to his feet. He paced furiously around the clearing as he spoke. "When I first came here, Prince Rainbow told me that my job was to help you guys find peace. Well where the hell is that peace, Glade? We're about as far from peace as it gets. My one job, the one thing I had to do here, and I'm failing at it miserably. I…I think it would be best if I just left. Somehow, I'll find Darkhaven. And the Black Rabbit."
Glade ran in front of the teen and put her front paws on his shoulders. "Sam just…stop for a moment. Don't you think you're being rash? It would be stupid to go wandering aimlessly; you're just asking for Alice to ambush you. Yes, some of us are hurt, but we're all alive! And I know that's better than we would be doing if you weren't here."
"You don't understand," Sam replied, moving out of Glade's grasp, "The only reason any of you get injured is because the Black Rabbit is trying to get to me. I can't let anyone else get hurt because of me." Privately, he continued, Because there's only one rabbit that would be worse to see get hurt. And I can't stay to watch that. "I have to go, Glade."
"Then I'll come with you," Glade said desperately. "You don't have to go alone, Sam. We can help you!"
"I'm going, Glade. Don't try and stop me. And for once, don't follow me."
As she watched Sam turn and start to walk away from the down, Glade tried to place herself in his path He gently pushed her out of the way and kept walking. Glade felt tears begin to fall from her eyes. "Please don't go, Sam. We don't want you to leave. I don't want you to leave." Sam slowed for a moment, but then sighed and continued to walk. "Don't leave me, Sam! I couldn't bear it if you left. I…I lov-"
"As dramatic as this all is, I'm afraid I'm going to have to interrupt."
Sam froze when he heard Alice's voice. He ran back to Glade and charged a Frith Beam in each hand. "Where are you, Alice? Show yourself!" He looked all around, but there was no sign of the girl.
"Show myself? Can't do that, silly, it would ruin my plan. No, I'll just keep hiding until…right…now!"
Before Sam could react, he felt a sharp pain on the side of his head. He immediately fell to the ground. The last thing he heard before unconsciousness took over was Glade yelling his name.
A/N: Shorter chapter this time around. We're finally getting close to the end!