Chapter 255: New And Old Visitors.
He could fly like a bird, if he wished, or he could change into a fox and hunt.
-LifesPawn, The Children of Prince Rainbow
Hazel was one of the first rabbits at Watership Down to wake up that morning. He stopped by the Honeycomb before going above ground; it was filled with sleeping mice, shrews, voles, hedgehogs and other woodland creatures, with bats hanging from all tree roots. Bark the badger was lying in the middle of the burrow, with various other creatures on her back.
Not wanting to disturb the sleepers, he took an alternate path leading above ground. Looking around him, he saw that there were no rabbits outside, apart from the pair of guards. There were no signs of the Darkhaveners; they had clearly not arrived yet. An unusual thing, however, was a tree branch on the ground. He worryingly looked up, afraid that the beech tree had been damaged, but everything appeared normal. The branch must have therefore have been brought from elsewhere, probably to use in the battle (although what its use would be, he had no idea).
It was then that he heard some sound coming from behind him. Turning around, he saw the two Blackberry-s hopping outside. The buck approached him.
-"Up early today, aren't you, Hazel?"
-"Hard to sleep when our enemy could potentially arrive at any moment."
-"It seems he hasn't arrived, not yet at least."
-"No news is good news, I suppose..." Hazel was not entirely convinced, and remained anxious. "Do you have any idea what that branch is doing there?"
-"None whatsoever. Maybe it's a trap of some sort, but I don't know what exactly."
The two rabbits started nibbling the grass. More rabbits gradually made their way above ground; Bigwig was among them, and he joined the Chief, along with Flyairth and a few others.
-"Is there anyone you would rather exclude from the battle?" Hazel asked the captain of owsla.
-"These Darkhaveners are huge," Bigwig explained. "We will need every single rabbit we can get."
-"You're right, but I don't think Primrose or Clover would stand a chance."
-"Why it is always the does who miss out on everything is beyond me," Flyairth mumbled.
-"We just need to be organized," Bigwig added. "It's true that they wouldn't stand a chance in single combat, but they can still help. Clover can guard a run, Primrose can..."
-"Look after the kittens," Hazel decided.
-"I suppose the kittens are too young to fight, even if they handled their first (and last) patrol mostly well." Bigwig sighed. "Do you think they'll try something reckless again?"
-"I don't think Gilia will, she seems to have understood her mistakes. As for Blueberry...anything's possible. Last I heard, he was trying to build a teleportation device."
-"Teleportation?" came the voice of Lady May. "That's an idea straight out of science-fiction, does he not understand the difference between fact and fiction?"
Lady May had once again started talking about a human concept that the rabbits had never heard of before; nobody know what to respond, at least until Blackberry the healer spoke:
-"I thought I told you to stay in your burrow. Walking is dangerous with your injured paw."
-"I didn't walk, stop assuming so much. Captain Broom carried me."
-"And he'll have to carry you back soon. We can't have you out here during the battle. For now, let me check up on your wounds."
As Blackberry hopped away, Bigwig made an additional suggestion:
-"Anyway, apart from the kittens and Primrose, I don't see the need for anyone else to sit out the war. But that doesn't mean everyone will be above ground fighting. We'll need some guards too, and Blackberry would be more useful if she stayed underground to help heal our casualties."
-"There's also Hickory and Marigold," Fiver said. "I doubt they would have the mental or physical strength to fight."
-"Hickory is being Hickory," Silverweed said sadly. "He dug out the entrance to his burrow to weaken it; he told me that as soon as he gets the word that the battle has begun, he'll collapse it, trapping himself inside. Just like he did when the weasels attacked, but alone this time."
-"Another thing..." Hazel said. "Do any of you have any idea what is that branch doing outside?"
-"Oh, we forgot about that..." Nicole said, shaking her head in frustration.
-"It's a trap I had planned with Nicole and Violet," Acacia explained, "but we haven't finished setting it up yet."
-"Should we continue work on it?" Violet asked.
-"By all means," Hazel said. "We can use any trap we can build."
-"Speaking of traps, what others do we have?" Vilthuril asked.
-"A certain number of pits around the Down," Spartina said, "covered in such a way they won't be visible until someone actually steps into them."
There was silence as everyone waited to see if Spartina would mention any other traps, but she didn't.
-"That's it?" Fiver asked.
-"It took most of the evening to get them done," Bigwig recalled. "The rest aren't traps, but defences, like the boulders."
After silflay, Acacia and Nicole went back digging a small hole at the top of the Down, so they could put one end of the tree branch inside. It was rather difficult to make it large enough so the branch would fit, but not too large or it would break free. Strawberry had offered to help, but the two friends had told him that it would be more helpful if he dug up even more boulders, so he did.
After a while, it seemed to the rabbits that the branch was solidly anchored in the ground. Nicole jumped on it a few times to check that it was flexible enough, and was satisfied with this makeshift catapult.
-"How are the boulders going?" Acacia asked.
-"I have a few of them out of the ground," Strawberry replied.
-"That's good news. We just need to bring them closer to the branch for quick use."
Soon after his conversation with the others, Fiver was asked by Vesper to come over to his burrow, alone. The seer was left curious by this unusual request, but he nevertheless complied. On the burrow ground, there was Vesper's crystal, the same he had been carrying since his arrival at the warren. Sensing Fiver's uncertainty, Vesper was quick to explain:
-"After you mentioned your missing friend some days ago, I looked into it, and I think I found a way to bring him back."
-"That would be good news," Fiver replied. When Vesper had first volunteered to help, he had his doubts that anything would come out of it, but this latest development was highly promising.
-"I just need some more information first," Vesper continued. "I know you said his name was Leo, but could you be more specific? Is there any way to distinguish him from others who might also be named Leo, including the one who used to be in Efrafa?"
-"His full name is Leonardo Barning. But we all called him Leo for short."
-"All right. My crystal only has enough energy for one trip, so we'll have to be careful. Please remain absolutely still."
Vesper placed his paws on the crystal, completely covering it. He closed his eyes as he concentrated all his thoughts on Leo. At first, nothing was happening, until the gem started to glow. There was also a small blue spot that appeared in the air, gradually growing until, with a bright flash of light, something (or rather someone) flew out of it and landed on the burrow floor.
Fiver instantly recognized who it was. Leo's rabbit form looked almost exactly like Silverweed, apart from the eyes: while Silverweed's were green, Leo's were blue. But there was also a second rabbit who had gone through the portal with him; this one appeared to be a doe, and her fur was entirely black.
Blueberry was frantically running throughout the warren, desperate for any piece of equipment that he could possibly use for his teleportation device. So far, he was having little success, as all he had found were twigs and leaves; when suddenly, the bright light coming out of Vesper's burrow caught his attention. He stopped to look, and stared wide-eyed at the portal. It seemed like the answer to all his problems.
-"This is the way. This is how I will teleport."
He closed his eyes and jumped towards the blue light...only to hit the burrow wall. The portal had dissipated before he could use it, and the gem had stopped glowing. Vesper immediately went to tend to the kit.
-"Whoa there! Are you hurt?"
-"I'll be fine," Blueberry said, as he cleaned the dirt off his head. "Can you reopen that portal, please? It is a matter of great urgency."
-"Sorry, I can't. The crystal only had enough energy for one trip, and it was used by Leo and his friend."
-"Can I borrow that gem? Maybe I could find a way to make it work again. Thank you!"
Blueberry had not waited for Vesper to give his consent; he quickly grabbed the gem and ran out of the burrow.
Fiver, meanwhile, was largely ignoring Blueberry and his talk about teleportation, and focusing his attention on Leo instead.
-"Hi."
Leo appeared confused for a few moments. He looked downwards at his paws, and smiled.
-"I'm back!" he finally said, with a hint of excitement, before looking up. "Fiver?"
-"It's great to see you again," Fiver said with a smile. "I was starting to think we might never get you back."
The two rabbits exchanged a quick hug.
-"Who's your friend?" Fiver then asked.
-"My friend?"
It appeared that Leo was unaware that someone else had gone through the portal with him, but after hearing Fiver's words, he turned around and instantly saw the black-furred doe. She seemed much more confused than he was, and also disoriented, as she stared wide-eyed at her surroundings.
-"Rosie?" he questioned.
-"Leo?" The doe replied. "What happened to us? Is this the Watership Down place you were telling me about?"
-"It is! And it we're both rabbits now! And...wow. You look amazing."
Rosie blushed.
-"And you too. I must say, silver suits you well."
-"She is a friend of yours?" Fiver asked.
-"A really great friend," Leo replied. "Rosie, this is Fiver, I told you about him, he's the one with visions of the future. Fiver, meet my friend Rosie."
-"Hello..."
Rosie reached out one of her front paws as if she was giving a handshake; Fiver was a bit confused by this gesture, but nevertheless stretched out his own paw. Leo, meanwhile, turned to the other rabbit in the burrow.
-"And who would you be?" he asked.
-"I'm Vesper, and as much as I would like to show you two around the warren, introduce you to everyone, and get to know you better, now is not the best time. Woundwort may be attacking imminently, we could use your help to defeat him."
-"Woundwort..." Rosie thought for a few moments. "if I remember what you said, Leo, that's the evil rabbit dictator?"
-"Unfortunately, yes." Leo turned back to Fiver. "And he's attacking?"
-"He and his owsla are very close to our warren. It's time for our last stand."
-"Owsla?" Rosie was not familiar with this word.
-"Basically it's Woundwort's army," Leo explained. "Fiver, how can we help?"
-"Follow me above ground, I'll explain on the way."
