Chapter 234: The Reminders.
"I mean, he could have been more civil, but I pushed him first, whether I knew it or not."
-wtw, General Hrair
Outside the pit of Darkhaven, nearly all rabbits were standing in front of a large rock. Notably absent was Lady May: while the pain had subsided since her initial injury, she remained in no condition to travel long distances, especially through such precarious terrain. Also absent was the Speaker of the Past, who had mysteriously gone missing overnight. Under normal circumstances, this would have warranted a lengthy investigation until she either returned, or her corpse was found. But these were no normal circumstances.
The previous evening, General Woundwort had ordered everyone to line up near the rock, where he was to tell them of "his plans for the future of this warren". This ominous warning had left everyone anxious; nobody dared to leave to go search for the Speaker, and risk Woundwort's wrath.
The announcement was scheduled to happen at sunrise; the sun had risen long ago, and Woundwort was still absent.
-"I'm starting to wonder if he's going to show up at all," Shale mumbled.
-"Now look here!" Feldspar went charging towards Shale. "Did General Woundwort ever break any promises?"
-"...no..."
-"Then what makes you think he will do it this time?"
-"...nothing...I was just thinking..."
-"Didn't he already tell you to stop thinking?"
With that, Feldspar stormed away, leaving Shale baffled by this sudden outburst.
By the time Woundwort showed up, it was ni-Frith. He did not explain his absence, nor did anyone question it, out of fear of being angrily dismissed.
-"I have been here for many days now, and has anything been accomplished since then?" he said. "No! You just destroyed the structure and killed each other! You are supposed to be tracking down the outsiders, and that is one thing that has not progressed at all since my arrival. And it's your most important task! Things have to change around here. Who's willing to change?"
All rabbits, blindly following their leader, raised their front paws, with the exception of Campion and Orchis. Campion was unsure exactly what Woundwort meant, and Orchis did not see any need for change. However, seeing everyone else do it, they too raised their paws: Orchis was afraid that Woundwort would bully him for not wanting to change, and Campion did not want to have another argument with Vervain over his loyalty.
-"Good!" the General shouted. "The first change that will be made is that none of you will go down the pit ever again."
-"But..." Granite started to say.
-"Under no conditions will you go down there. You will spend your days in this small parcel of grass between the rock I'm standing on, and the pit. You will silflay there, sleep there, train there, pass hraka there. You may only leave for wide patrols."
-"May we have the permission to dig burrows, so that we may be safe from elil?" Shale asked.
-"No! If elil come, fight them. You could use the additional training. Also, to make sure nobody tries to run away, there will be three sentries on duty at all times. And on the subject of wide patrols, there will be one patrol away from Darkhaven at all times, until the location of the outsiders' warren is discovered. Whenever one patrol returns, a new one leaves immediately."
-"This is going to be exhausting," Shale said.
-"Then find the warren! As soon as its location is discovered, the constant patrols stop, and we attack. Any questions?"
-"When does this first patrol leave?" Feldspar asked.
-"NOW! Any other questions?"
Woundwort remained silent for a few moments, awaiting a response, but everyone else stayed just as silent as he was.
-"Very well. Orchis, Vervain, Shale, Feldspar, you're the first patrol. GO!"
Orchis, Shale and Feldspar barely had time to react after their names were called, that they were already ordered to leave. However, none of them was able to spot Vervain in the crowd; Orchis knew why, but he could not reveal this, forcing him to resort to the same excuse as on all previous occasions.
-"Vervain is already on patrol," Orchis said. "Solo patrol."
Woundwort shook his head. There was definitely something weird going on with Vervain. Back in Efrafa, he always hated going on patrol, preferring to stay at the warren and bully the outskirters. And yet, it seemed he was ALWAYS on patrol over the past few days. He would need to have an important conversation with both Vervain and Orchis, but not yet. He did not want to delay this patrol any further.
-"Spartina, you take Vervain's spot."
Spartina was feeling anxious, and had stopped paying to Woundwort's words long ago. His order that nobody was to go down the pit would severely restrict her. The weapon, if it still existed, was down there, in the forbidden zone. Not to mention Lady May, who was also in the pit; Spartina would not be able to care for her. While she could theoretically disobey the General's orders, if she got caught in the act, she would be in big trouble. She might even face execution.
For now, however, there was the more immediate concern of the patrol; she would have to do her best to steer it away from Watership Down. Hopefully Kurai wouldn't try anything with Lady May in her absence; she had a bad feeling about him. The fact that the former hutch doe was still in the pit would actually be keeping her safe, for now at least, since Kurai (much like Spartina) wasn't allowed to go there.
-"Well?" Woundwort was getting impatient. "What are you all waiting for? Go!"
Orchis, Shale, Feldspar and Spartina ran away as fast as they could, before the General could shout any more orders at them.
Campion was feeling very nervous. Woundwort was speeding up the search for Watership Down; he didn't have much time left to try and recruit others for his cause. So far, he hadn't even managed a single ally: even Aspen, his most likely candidate, had yet to respond. The fact that he hadn't been chosen for the patrol meant that he couldn't sabotage it either. All he could do, for now, was train the others (badly).
During a rare break from training that afternoon, Campion actually received a visit from Aspen.
-"I have thought about your proposal," the pale rabbit said ominously. "Is there a place where we can discuss this alone?"
Campion looked around him, with a mixture of annoyance and anxiety.
-"No, obviously there isn't. Woundwort has us all confined to this small patch of grass, remember?"
-"Oh, right...I had forgotten...Maybe we could do it when we're on guard duty?"
It took until late that evening before both Campion and Aspen were on guard duty at the same time, finally allowing them to talk.
-"So," Aspen said, "as I was saying, I have thought about your proposal."
-"What did you decide?" Campion was once again annoyed, mainly because he wished Aspen would just get to the point.
-"Woundwort is one bad rabbit. He's bad for us all. We have to stop him."
-"Does that mean you will work with me?"
-"Yes, I'll work with you."
-"I really appreciate that..."
Campion was profoundly relieved by Aspen's response. Finally, he was no longer alone in his quest, he had a (mostly) trustworthy partner. For the first time in days, he felt calm and hopeful.
-"So, we're both officially betraying Woundwort..." Aspen said, hesitating a little, "what do we do now?"
Campion opened his mouth, only to instantly close it again. He knew the question was coming, but now that it had been asked, he had no idea what to respond. Having an ally was nice, but they still remained only two rabbits, against Woundwort and his entire owsla. Open rebellion still remained far too dangerous. So what could they do? There were no slaves or outskirters to help, virtually all the warren rabbits were in the owsla. They could try to steer patrols away from Watership Down, but that would require being chosen to go on patrol (not to mention, Aspen still didn't know where the outsiders' warren was located). The Speaker/Black Rabbit had not provided any meaningful advice.
-"Do you want to try to murder him?" he suggested hesitatingly. "Vervain tried that once, it didn't work, we would have to make sure he really is dead this time."
-"Speaking of Vervain...where is he?" Aspen was deep in thought, and looked very confused. "Orchis keeps saying that he's on patrol, but it's been days. What if something happened to him?"
Campion too had noticed Vervain's absence over the past few days. Not that he minded it, it was a pleasant respite from the usual nagging and accusations. Nevertheless, this remained mysterious: where had Vervain gone to, and why was Orchis covering it up? The only explanation Campion could think of was that Orchis had killed Vervain. While Campion would not be mourning Vervain, this would mean that Orchis was far more dangerous than he had initially thought. He would have to be really careful with him in the future.
-"I don't know," was his simple response to Aspen's question. "Anyway, what do you think of the murder idea?"
-"It's..." Aspen was usually a gentle rabbit; the thought of murdering another rabbit, even one as evil as Woundwort, made him uncomfortable, but if Campion suggested it, maybe it was a good idea. "It would be a challenge to kill him with this crowd, there would be witnesses."
-"What's this about murder?"
Turning around, Campion and Aspen saw, much to their horror, that Woundwort was staring at them. They did not know how much he had overheard.
-"We were talking about how we'll murder the outsiders once we find them," Campion said. "And make the others watch." Would Woundwort believe this? After a few moments, the General smiled, prompting a sigh of relief on Campion's part.
-"Yes. It will be glorious. I look forward to killing Hazel myself."