A/N - Hello everyone, so it's been a while. A lot happened after I posted chapter 12, I finished collage, got a job, welcomed and lost more animals, including Oscar. I also had a few health scares and during all that this story lost priority in my mind, then the pandemic hit, and this story slipped further from my mind, I also lost the original document of this story, so I had to re-read it all on fanfiction and start chapter 13 from scratch. When I started to write this story, I had a vague idea on how it would go, including on touching more on the supernatural side like with the black rabbit of Inle and the legends of El-arah/ Prince Rainbow and how Skylar and her mother would fit into that. I've decided I'm going to continue my original idea with the more supernatural side as its not fully unrealistic as both Fiver and Silverweed have psychic powers and Hannah also gains magic later in the series. I'm sorry if this is not to your tastes but I think it will be more interesting and different to the main story.
When I wrote this, I was procrastinating my collage work and I was interested the fanfiction world and how people could tell their own stories. I wanted to try telling my own story within a current universe and see if I would be able to do that. I have no experience with creative writing and truthfully, I am not brilliant at all, but this was an experiment and this story helped me cope with the stress of collage assignments. I never imagined anyone would read this at all, and all I can do is apologise for leaving this story for so long, I am going to try to write more for this story and hopefully complete it.
This next chapter is going to have a bit of a time skip as the next episodes are, in my mind, completely unrealistic, it will touch on it slightly, but I won't be writing Skylar going to the market and seaside. It will be more of an explanation of the aftermath and how Skylar is feeling, with a little of how the set of characters go off on their adventure, and how Skylar and the others are left alone at the warren.
On another note, thank you to everyone who has followed, favourited and left reviews and comments on this story, you all mean a lot to me and without you, I probably wouldn't be trying to continue this story.
Thank you to - BlackHreat, Chipster-roo, Minerva-The-Magician, Murron Bartlett, QueenViperaAzarathofCamelot, Weekyle15, devils-lover76, emma pincher, hunterwolfconar, sheilahmclemore for adding this story to your favorites
Thank you to - BlackHreat, Chipster-roo, GodShynin300, Minerva-The-Magician, Murron Bartlett, QueenViperaAzarathofCamelot, Saucys revenge, Weekyle15, White Hunter, devils-lover76, trebor1212 for following
Thank you to White hunter for your reviews, they mean a lot to me, I hope you like this chapter
Also a special thank you to chipster-roo for reviewing and saying such lovely things as well as leaving constrictive criticism and suggestions, thank you again. Re reading the reviews kick started me into trying again, I hope this chapter is worth it
Disclaimer – I do not own anything in the Watership down franchise and any plot lines, characters and dialog you recognise belongs to Richard Adams, All time Entertainment and Decode Entertainment
Chapter 13 – aftermath of silly ideas
While, on reflection, a solo raid on the farm as a silly idea, in the weeks following, Skylar's handling of the aftermath could have gone better. She had been so embarrassed about the whole ordeal, her blatant stupidity and idiocy and the subsequent injuries she had gained from the fight, well not fight, more like a complete arse whooping.
She still hadn't accepted her position of captain of Owlsa back from Bigwig, she fully felt like she didn't deserve it at all, even though Hazel and Bigwig had apologised about trying to keep her in the warren and Blackberry and Clover had toned down their teasing on the whole mate, mother and kits suggestion, although they still insisted that she and Fiver would be good together, she still didn't resume her old position.
She couldn't even trust herself to make good decisions, and while everyone thought and voted that she should have her position of captain back. She disagreed, not a good idea at all. I mean what if she caused the injury or death of another with her poor decision making, no she couldn't handle it.
Her confidence had fully disappeared, she stuck close to the warren, rarely leaving, only to meet with Campion in secret, she still observed the Owsla drills and practicing them on her own, while she thought it was best for her to keep her distance, she didn't want to become complacent and lose her agility and skills.
Storm and Selene remained in the Owsla, they were thriving, Storm helped to mark her scent around the area to help keep other elil from the area, and keep them all up to date with other elil, she was a formidable fighter and no foxes in the area dared to challenge her on her territory, and with Selene communicating with and reporting on other animals' movements and patterns, Watership down was as safe as possible from elil and other possible surprises. They knew of Skylar's meetings with Campion, but they didn't push to join her on her visits, they simply offered their company, they knew eventually Skylar would invite them to join one day.
Fiver still talked to her every day, and while she enjoyed his company, because of the subsequent teasing they both had gone through, it made their friendship slightly awkward, she hoped they would resume their old banterous ways from before and that their friendship hadn't been soiled. They had both individually decided to ignore any possible feelings, although they both struggled with that decision, they both felt it was for the best at this current time.
The others knew of her trips into the woods, but not that she was meeting Campion, they secretly hoped she was practicing drills to eventually return to the Owsla. The others missed her and wished she would join back, but respected her decisions and would wait till she was ready to return. The other does were happy though as it meant they had another more regular helper in the burrows, and while it bored Skylar to tears, she did kinda welcome the simplicity of the maintenance of the burrow.
Her injuries had healed well, she now only has thin lines running across the left side of her face and down her neck and shoulder, almost like a forked lightning bolt from her left eye down her neck and across her shoulder. The fur had returned lighter than before, instead of her previous light gold brown colour, on the scars, however, it was a pale grey, almost silvery which she found weird. To her complete relief however, her eyesight had fully returned and healed with no damage or changes to her eyes at all. They remained the usual bright green they had been previously.
Time skip a few months -
Now when Keharr had said he was lonely and missed the big water and his previous friends, Skylar had thought the others fools for going with him. I mean what are the odds of them finding one gull in the whole of the big water. But Bigwig, Hazel, Fiver, Hawkbit, Dandelion and Pipkin had insisted and gone with him. It had all started when during a patrol, Keharr had been distracted and missed the arrival of a fox entering the field on the far side of the Watership down territory, Storm had gone pushed the new fox out since then. Even so, after the close call, the annoyance and frustration had been cleared up and realising Keharr won't be any use to the patrols until he had returned to see the big water, they left for their adventure. That was a few days ago now, and the running of the warren had fallen to Captain Broom and Primrose, with Skylar still not confident to take a leadership role.
Skylar sat at the burrow entrance, taking in the crisp morning and the sun rise. Storm and Selene sat nearby, none talking, all quite happy to revel in the quite before the others woke up. As the sun rose higher, Skylar broke the silence with "I'm going to see Campion today, you are welcome to join me".
Both Storm and Selene looked shocked at this statement,
"What, why?" Selene asked with confusion lacing her tone.
"Yeah why?" Storm echoes
"Well, he said to contact him in few days and I need to ask him some rather difficult questions regarding Woundwort and my mother, we have been trying to find out why he wants me so badly, you guys don't have to come, but it would be nice to have the company, I'm sorry I pushed you guys away recently, but I'm ready to stop doing that now, me and campion have found out some concerning things about my mother, I'm hoping Campion has more answers today".
Selene asked, "ok that's a lot to process, but ok I'm defiantly coming with you" Storm also nodded adding "so how do we contact him while he is at Efrafa? it's going be a difficult task without the others".
Skylar looked thoughtfully over the fields and said, "me and Campion have a secret way of contacting each other" she paused for a second "we just have to go to the old oak tree on the boarder of our territory".
Selene and Storm looked at each other before nodding "ok, let's go then" Storm states.
Skylar looks momentarily surprised before nodding "right let's inform the others that we are going, then we can head off".
Ever since her botched raid on the farm, Skylar always told the others when she was leaving the warren, which was not often.
The three friends made their way to the entrance to the burrow and saw captain broom and the others emerging from the tunnel.
"morning" Captain Broom greeted, the others mirroring his greeting. The others soon move away to start eating morning silflay.
"Myself, Storm and Selene are just heading off into the woods for a bit, is that ok?" Skylar asks.
Captain Broom nods "sure, just make sure you are back before Frith is high in the sky".
The trio nod, before starting to make their way down the hill into the woods, the old familiarity of their previous drills and patrols coming back to them like they hadn't been apart, they all moved in sync, quietly updating each other on sights and sounds, moving through the woods as a well-oiled team. They arrive at the old oak tree without incident and Skylar pushes a white stone into a gap at the base of the tree.
"Ok all I need to do is push this stone in this gap at the base of the old oak, Campion will pass this way when he patrols soon and see it, it means we meet at the moss mound by the river as soon as his patrol is finished" Skylar explains to her friends, she then adds "Campion and Hazel also have a similar set up with another tree and stone, but this one is just for me and Campion"
Storm and Selene nod, they also know of the message system between Hazel and Campion, but they hadn't realised Skylar had a similar system set up too.
"Let's head to the moss mound then" Storm says as they head off towards the river, the trip doesn't take too long, and they soon reach the moss mound by the river's edge. There is a large bramble patch a few hops from the mound with a small hole in the middle of the spiky tendrils.
"We hide in here if we hear someone coming" Skylar informs both Selene and Storm before moving towards the mound.
"Well now we wait" Selene says as she sits down to wait for Campion to arrive.
"It shouldn't take too long for Campion to arrive, he will finish his morning patrol before Frith is at its highest" Skylar says as she sits down "let's keep out ears and eyes open, we don't want any surprises while we are waiting".
Storm nods and says, "I'm going to take a quick perimeter lap, just to make sure we are alone, and that nothing is going to sneak up on us".
As Skylar and Selene wait, they can hear Storm moving throughout the bushes and weeds nearby, mixed with the waters sounds its very peaceful. "I wonder how the others are getting on with their trip to Keharr's big water" Selene ponders to no one in particular.
Skylar hums "I don't know if they will even make it, while I'm sure Keharr knows the way, it would be very different travelling by the land rather than the air" she pauses "I think they will return soon without even making it to the big water".
Storm then pops back to the group saying "all clear, and I think Skylar is right, it's a massive journey, I have travelled south before and I never got to the big water although I could smell it, and it's was no simple feat, even if they do make it to the big water, it will still take a while to find Keharr's friends, they won't arrive back till the half-moon at the earliest"
"How do we even feel with most of our Owsla leaving for this trip?" Selene mutters. Skylar rolls her eyes and says, "well it's a bit late now to be mentioning it, they have gone" Storm chuckles "well we can hold fort down while they are gone, it's been super quiet around here" as she says that a rustling is heard.
"Hide swiftly in the brambles" Skylar mutters, the trio quickly bolt into the readymade hidy hole by the moss mound. They all crouch down avoiding the sharp spikes from the brambles, all squished together as the hole is not quite big enough for the three to fit comfortably.
A chuckling is heard before "well that doesn't look comfortable sister" Campion then moves to the entrance to the brambles; the trio quickly exit and welcome Campion with varying greetings.
"Well, it seemed like a good idea, and I forgot the three of us wouldn't quite fit" Skylar explains with a grumble.
"You are looking well sister, back to patrolling finally? I do have more news too about your mother" Campion explains as they all sit in a circle.
Skylar looks to her friends and past teammates with a slight shake of her head "unfortunately not, I just thought it was time to let them hear what we have found out and what further news you have managed to gather, you mentioned some rumours about my mother and her being the most important part of the rebellion".
Campion nods with a serious look taking over his features "well from what I have found out from the old elders of the Efrafa, there was a rumour about Tulip, er Skylar's mother" Campion adds for Selene and Storm. They both nod and Campion continues.
"I have found out that there was once a prophecy that the 'golden one' would arrive and send Efrafa into a new era, and bring freedom to all, it was rumoured that your mother was descended from prince rainbow, and when she arrived to Efrafa, she was in poor condition her coat was dull, but she had a mark on her ear, a golden mark and the elders knew she was the prophesied 'golden one', her name was really Aurelia, but the elders changed it to Tulip to hide and protect her from Woundwort who had sworn to take her as his queen when the 'golden one' arrived to Efrafa".
Skylar, Storm and Selene looked shocked at this development, Campion swiftly continued "the elders praised prince rainbow as it was once prophesised that the golden one would free Efrafa, but Woundwort only heard the first part about the new era and he wanted her, but they had to be careful, this is when the first stirrings of the rebellion started, and my father fell in love with Tulip, not knowing her true identity, then you were born Skylar".
Skylar nods emotion thick in her voice as she asked, "so what went wrong if it was such a tightly hidden secret, what happened?" her ears twitch keeping aware of any unusual sounds in the area.
Campion frowns "I'm not sure really, because Aurelia was so well hidden, they must have been betrayed by someone by the end it was pretty widespread, but Woundwort never knew about who she really was to the rebellion, I think by that point he was so enraged he was executing anyone who was daring to go against him, she was in the middle of it though, so it was inevitable".
The trio sit in silence for a few moments to digest this information "so where was your father in all of this? Is there anyone else left to carry on the rebellion at all?" Selene asks.
Campion looks away sadly "he was also executed, he was a big part of the rebellion, I had always been set on being in the Owsla, I had no knowledge of the rebellion, I was already in the lower ranks and had distanced myself away, and I kept away from the lower part of Efrafa where the main rebellion started, not long before my father was arrested, he asked me to keep an eye on you and keep you out of the lime light, you had already been moved to a different mark higher up in Efrafa by the elders before they were executed, and because Woundwort didn't know your true identity it was possible for me to save you from being executed with the others, and no I don't believe there is anyone really left, Woundwort got rid of any older rabbit who was suspected in the rebellion"
Storm then exclaims "but how have you found all of this out then? There must be someone".
Campion nods "yeah, an elderly doe who passed yesterday sought me out a few days ago, she was from a different mark to you but the same mark as the rebellion rabbits, she knew my father and while she was believed to have had lost her mind seasons ago, she knew enough to hide that she was involved, although I now think she was biding her time to pass this information on, not to me, but to you Skylar".
Skylar nods "but I left before she could pass the information on to me, someone else must know about me and my mother, otherwise Woundwort wouldn't have made the connection and want me back".
Campion hums to himself "you were in different marks by that point so she would have struggled to find you, and it's possible another rabbit knew something, Vervains mother was involved, so maybe she told someone something, I know that the rebellion never fully trusted her, she may have been the one to betray the rebellion in the first place and she is long gone, but that's just speculation at this point, we will probably never fully know what happened in the end"
"Just that we keep you fully away from Efrafa" Selene muses.
Storm, Skylar and Campion nod in agreement
"We better head back, Frith is nearly at its highest point, the others will be wondering where we have got to" Skylar mumbles as she stands up scanning and scenting the area as she does so.
Campion nods his goodbyes to Storm and Selene before quickly turning and whispering to Skylar "be safe sister, and you know you are ready to be in the Owsla again, your instincts haven't gone anywhere, I was watching you monitor the area during out talk, you are still acting like a captain, you can do this, and you know it".
Campion then turns and disappears into the undergrowth before Skylar can even say anything.
It's clear though that Storm and Selene heard Campion as they both add their agreement to campions comments.
"You are still our captain you know" Selene says as they begin to make their way back through the woods towards home.
"yeah, it's still all there, we also saw you keeping tabs on the area, you still know how to be a captain, it's still there, you need to stop beating yourself up about what happened, yes it was silly and a mistake, but we all make mistakes, and you made it out alive, you are meant to be a captain in the Owsla, not a burrow doe" Storm states as they move through the woods back to the base of the hill.
Skylar thinks to herself and then agrees "yeah ok, maybe I should rejoin the Owsla, but not as a captain yet, I need to prove to myself that I can be trusted first".
Storm and Selene smile, that was the most progress they have heard since the incident.
They made it back to the burrow without incident and on time which Captain Broom applauded happily. Now all they had to do was wait for the return of their friends from their trip to the big water.
