AUTHOR'S NOTE: following this chapter, I will be taking a short break from this story. The next update will likely be on 22 October.
Chapter 243: Meanwhile At Camp.
"Daddy! You're not going to shoot him right?" Elizabeth asked gently.
"Elizabeth! Go back into the house!" The man was getting impatient.
-freakygirl, El-ahrairah and the Farmer
After Campion was hit in the face, he found that the world around him became white. He got up, realizing he was no longer pinned down: the Darkhaveners had vanished, along with everything else. The ground, the sky, and everything around him had been replaced with what seemed like an endless white void. He suspected that he had died once again and was in the Shadowlands; while it looked completely different from his previous visits, there was no other explanation. He was also completely alone: the Black Rabbit was nowhere to be seen, although he might be lurking somewhere. It wouldn't be the first time that Inlé would suddenly appear and startle him.
After wandering in the void for a while, he stumbled upon a black shape on the ground. It hardly looked like the Black Rabbit's face, but it couldn't really be anything else.
-"YOU FOOL!" A nut of some sort suddenly landed on Campion's head.
-"Is this about Primrose? First Spartina talks about her, and then Kurai. Do you have any idea what he was talking about? Is she in trouble again?"
-"YOU ARE VERY CLUELESS."
Campion lowered his head in disappointment.
-"I thought you were supposed to help me..."
-"TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, PRIMROSE IS LARGELY FINE RIGHT NOW, SHE IS NOT IN ANY MORE TROUBLE THAN USUAL."
-"Is that supposed to be reassuring? If so, it's really not."
-"AS FOR KURAI, DON'T YOU REMEMBER HIS BEHAVIOUR IN EFRAFA?"
Campion spent a few moments thinking back at his times in Efrafa, and any encounters with Kurai he may have had.
-"It was a long time ago...I honestly don't remember much about him at all."
-"THAT'S A PITY."
Campion sighed: clearly the Black Rabbit wasn't going to help him remember.
-"Anyway, since we're talking, I assume I am dead. Are you bringing me back to life or not?"
-"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? YOU'RE STRESSING ME OUT! AND I'M THE PERSONIFICATION OF DEATH, SO DON'T STRESS ME!"
The Black Rabbit suddenly appeared aggressive; this left Campion very confused, but also frustrated.
-"In case you don't realize, I'm not enjoying this," Campion said. "I just want to live without dying on a regular basis. And get to Watership Down on time."
-"ALL YOUR SPEECHES SOUND PRETTY MUCH THE SAME AND I..."
-"Look, Darky..."
At that moment, a loud ripping sound was heard, and the white background broke in two. A red liquid spilled across the area.
-"What..."
-"THAT'S BLOOD. CARRY ON."
-"You can't just say something like that and expect me to carry on as if nothing had happened!" Campion shouted, horrified. Seeing this, the Black Rabbit let the blood drain away.
-"CARRY ON."
Campion sighed.
-"Look, Darky..."
-"YOU CAN CALL ME INLÉ, I CAN ACCEPT THAT. BUT IF YOU CALL ME DARKY, I WILL HAVE TO HURT YOU AGAIN."
-"Sorry...Inlé. So am I going to live again?"
-"YES!"
The Black Rabbit's face split in three parts, all of which then moved away in different directions. Suddenly, Campion felt something sharp hit him on his back.
-"Ow!"
-"HERE'S HOPING WE WON'T MEET AGAIN SOON!"
General Woundwort had been following the patrol from a distance. He did not want to be too close: he wanted to see how how his owsla would perform without him guiding their every move. However, he regretted this when he saw how everyone had stopped near Campion.
-"I got him!" one of the patrollers bragged. "I got him!"
-"You killed him."
-"But...I didn't even scratch him! I wanted to stop him..."
-"Well you sure stopped him now! He's dead!"
-"I heard rumours that he was a traitor," Shale said. "It's better this way if he's dead."
-"Woundwort didn't seem to believe those rumours."
-"Regardless, he should have been kept alive for questioning. Instead, he has been killed for no reason."
This conversation was very worrisome, Woundwort thought; he quickly made his way to the middle of the crowd, where he saw that Campion really did appear dead. With a growl, he looked at the other officers.
-"Which one of you killed him?"
None of the officers knew the answer. In an attempt at looking innocent, they all tried to point at someone else, but since everyone was pointing at a different rabbit, this only made them look all even more guilty.
-"All of you!?" Woundwort shouted.
-"No, it was all him." Kurai pointed to Shale. "I was the closest, I saw him. Besides, you heard him say that it was better with Campion dead."
-"I swear, it wasn't me..." Shale started to say, but it was too late, Woundwort was already advancing ominously towards him.
-"You..."
Shale moved back in fear. With a loud growl, Woundwort pounced on him, and placed one of his paws near his head.
-"In one just hit, I shall rip your head off your body."
-"Don't," came a voice that sounded a lot like Campion's. "He didn't kill me."
Woundwort turned around, and saw Campion weakly getting up: it appeared that he wasn't dead after all!
-"I told you I hadn't killed him," Shale said. "I just knocked him unconscious, apparently."
The General did not like criticism, and Shale's comment could not be interpreted as anything else. As a punishment, he ripped one of his ears to shreds, but stopped there: he had no reason to kill a potentially useful soldier.
-"Campion, explain yourself."
Campion sniffed the air; he didn't know how long he had been dead, but Spartina and Lady May appeared to be long gone. He could not pick up her scent; it had been replaced by that of all the other Darkhaveners around him. She might have even reached Watership Down by now. But what if she had been captured too?
-"Where's Spartina?"
-"I don't know..." Feldspar replied.
This was good news: she was likely still running, and the Watershippers would be getting the message. Until then, Campion reasoned, he still had to stall the others.
-"Great," he said, trying to sound sarcastic. "She was going to the outsiders' warren to tell them about the upcoming attack, so I chased her. I had almost caught up with her when you lot showed up. While you were all busy fighting me, she got away."
-"Orchis said that you brought Lady May with you," Woundwort said. "Why?"
-"That wasn't me, it was Spartina. I don't know what those two were doing." Campion decided to come up with an over the top explanation, hoping to stall a bit longer. "Maybe they were eloping."
Woundwort appeared deeply disturbed by this theory.
-"All of you, go after the two does," he ordered his owsla.
-"There's no point," Campion said, stalling further. "At the speed they were going, they have probably reached their destination by now."
Woundwort growled in furor.
-"Let us go back to Darkhaven, for more training."
-"Didn't you say training was over for now?" Granite objected. "We had to sleep."
-"I changed my mind. We have lost the element of surprise, so we can expect the outsiders to put up more of a fight. We're going back to Darkhaven, and you are to smash every rock and twig we encounter along the way. That will be your training; once we're all back at the warren, THEN you all sleep."
It was Fu Inlé when the crowd got back to Darkhaven; everyone almost instantly collapsed in exhaustion. Woundwort was also very tired, but before going to sleep, he decided to check up on Orchis: he was the one who had warned about Spartina's escape, after all.
The captain was still in the flayrah chamber, but his demeanour had completely changed: he was now lethargic. He turned his eyes to look at the visitor; it appeared too difficult for him to turn his head.
-"Have you caught them, your honour?" he asked, his voice barely audible.
-"We got Campion, but Spartina was a traitor. Now, Orchis, go back to your burrow. We have a big day ahead of us."
-"Who's Orchis? I'm Vervain!"
Clearly, Woundwort thought, Orchis had not gotten over his temporary insanity...
-"All right, Vervain. Go to your burrow."
-"Not just yet, I have to get Campion. He's a liar! A traitor! He was working with her!"
Orchis had tried to shout, but this only made him cough. He also tried to get up, but his paws were too weak to support him.
-"That's enough Orch...Vervain," Woundwort said sternly. "I believe Campion was telling the truth. Don't let your jealousy taint your judgment."
-"In that case, why don't we go after Spartina? Hopefully, once captured, she will tell the truth about him."
-"Campion said that it's useless, she's too far ahead to catch up with her.
-"Lies! He just wanted to make sure she reaches them! He's a traitor..."
-"Shut up Vervain," Woundwort said firmly. "You have no proof that Campion is lying. Now, as I told you, go to your burrow, and sleep!"
Orchis did not get up, or even respond. He was completely motionless, his eyes were closed. Woundwort poked him; he did not stir.
-"Or sleep here, I don't care. We're still attacking at dawn."
