As the moon shone over South Down, Butters and Strawberry were standing guard duty, keeping watch for any elil that might come prowling during the night, when they heard a voice calling weakly from the bottom of the hill.

"Stan?" it said. "Kyle? Kenny?"

"Who's there?" Butters called back.

"Butters? Is that you?" said the voice.

Strawberry turned to Butters. "Whoever that is, he knows your name. How could he know you?"

"Gee, I dunno. Pretty much every rabbit that knows me is here right now, except fer Stan, Kenny, an' Kyle, an' I know this guy ain't any of them, cause he already called fer those three. Maybe it's El-ahrairah!" Butters called down the hill: "Are you El-ahrairah?"

The reply was angry. "I'm not El-ahrairah, you filthy stupid moron!"

Butters trembled. "If you ain't El-ahrairah, there's only one other person yew kin be- the Black Rabbit of Inle, who comes to take rabbits away when they die!"

"I'm not the Black Rabbit either!" shouted the voice. "Do I look black to you, Butters? It's me, Eric Cartman! Help me. I'm hurt."

Butters sighed with relief. "Well, why didn't ya say so? Come on, Strawberry, let's go find 'im!"

"Eric Cartman is your friend who decided to stay with Cowslip, isn't he?" said Strawberry. "I wonder what made him come back."

"I dunno, but we'll find out!" said Butters as he raced down the hill. Strawberry hurried to catch up.

At the foot of the hill, they found Cartman, lying in a heap. He had pressed on all day and half the night, but his injuries had finally proven to be too much for him. Blood was dripping from his leg; a shotgun pellet was buried in the muscle of his haunch. Additionally, the wound on his head, when he'd lost his ear, had reopened.

"Oh, my Frith," said Butters. "Your ear's gone, Eric!"

"Did Cowslip and his friends do this?" Strawberry wanted to know.

Cartman shook his head, then winced from the pain it caused him. "No. Some humans came to the warren, shot me, and gassed all the other rabbits, just like they did back home."

"I told ya that was a dangerous place, Eric," said Butters.

"I know," said Cartman sadly. "I should have listened to you, Butters."

Butters was shocked to hear Cartman actually admit he'd been wrong about something. "Well, it's nice 'n' safe here," he said. "C'mon, we'll bring ya back to our new warren."

He and Strawberry tried to lift Cartman, but he was too heavy. Strawberry turned to Butters. "We'd better get the others. You run and fetch them, I'll stay here."

Butters hurried back up the hill and rushed back to the warren. "Cartman's back, and he's injured, fellas! We gotta help 'im!" he shouted.

All the other rabbits on South Down came crowding out of the tunnel.

"Is this another of your stupid dreams, you little turd?" Shelly demanded, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"No!" said Butters. "This time, I actually saw him with my own eyes! Strawberry's down there with 'im right now."

"Even if it is Eric, why should we lift a paw to help him?" Craig said. "What's he ever done for us besides insult everyone and cause trouble?"

"You shut your mouth, Craig Tucker!" Heidi exclaimed. "Cartman is our friend. I like him!"

"We can't leave a fellow rabbit to die," Wendy agreed.

"'Kay, kids," Mackey said. "Let's get down there an' carry 'im back up here."

So, they went and got Cartman and brought him back to the warren.

"Where's Stan and Kyle?" asked Cartman. "I want to apologize to them."

"M'kay, well, unfortunately, Stan, Kyle and Kyle's brother Ike are all gone right now," said Mackey. "Stan an' Kyle were captured by an evil rabbit named General Woundwort and Kenny is tryin' to rescue them with help from a bird named Kehaar."

Cartman tried to say something, but he could only moan with pain.

"He's got a bullet in him!" said Wendy. "Somebody's gotta take it out before his wound becomes infected!"

"I'll do it," said Heidi. "Where is the bullet?"

"In my leg," Cartman groaned.

Heidi bent down next to him. "Can you roll onto your stomach?"

He did, even though it hurt. Kneeling next to him, Heidi clamped her paws down on the injured leg and tenderly removed the bullet with her teeth. Cartman screamed as she pulled it out, but then relaxed somewhat. "Ooh, thanks, Heidi, I feel a lot better already!"

"You're gonna wanna stay off that leg for at least three days though," Wendy told him.

"Three days?" Cartman yelped. "I can't wait that long, damnit! I wanna go out and look for Stan and Kyle!"

"Don't worry," Butters told him, in a strangely calm voice. "I've got a feelin' that they'll be just fine…"