Chapter 264: The Fighting.
"It washed over him every once in a while, like a sudden thunderstorm barreling down upon you."
-SaintHeartwing aka Ngrey651, Finale
The battle was still raging above ground, with many fighting groups battling each other.
Flyairth was not among then; instead, she chose to fight the Darkhaveners on her own, without anyone to assist her. She had defeated several rabbits (usually by just kicking them away), until she found herself face-to-face with the Speaker of the Past and her creepy skull. She was not entirely comfortable with fighting another doe, even if she was an enemy; she would prefer to get this hostile female to peacefully surrender, without the need for force.
-"Do you agree with General Woundwort's views?"
-"I agree with the law," the Speaker replied emotionlessly.
-"You're not answering my question."
-"Your question does not make sense."
-"Look, I'm trying to make things simple: do you want to join us and live a long and happy life, or do you want to stay with that filthy Woundwort and die a painful death?"
-"The law does not have a clear explanation of what to do in such situations. I shall need to ponder the question."
-"What is there to ponder? We're fighting a war, surely you know what side you're on!"
-"It is not that simple."
With that, the Speaker pulled down the skull on her head, so that it covered her entire face. Flyairth, plainly realizing she was not getting anywhere, was forced to kick the Speaker like she had done with the others before.
Coltsfoot had been hiding in a tall patch of grass, observing the Speaker; he cried out out in horror as he saw what happened to his dear mentor. This alerted Flyairth to his presence; she did not hesitate before kicking him away too.
Spartina and Orchis were still fighting; both of them were quickly getting tired, but they kept going, as surrendering meant certain death. Suddenly, the Speaker, having just been kicked by Flyairth, crashed into Orchis, knocking him away. It took a few moments for Spartina to realize what had happened.
-"Thanks for the help, Speaker. I wouldn't have gotten out of this battle so easily if it weren't for you," she said.
-"Silence," the Speaker replied. "I am thinking."
-"What are you thinking about?"
-"The law."
Spartina had always found the law of Darkhaven very confusing, but now was not the time to debate it, so she simply hopped away to find someone else to fight. Moments later, a large boulder rolled by, before crashing into another Darkhavener, but the Speaker did not react. Even when a large crowd of woodlanders ran by, chasing Feldspar, she remained motionless. She was, however, interrupted by Bark, who picked her up and shoved threw her in the air.
Shale ran out of a tunnel, tumbling along the way. Inside, he had met Blackavar and Violet's teeth, and things had not gone well for him. However, even above ground was not safe for him: almost immediately after reaching the surface, Blackberry pushed him away. He soon crashed close to Bluebell, who placed his claws on Shale's stomach. This made the Darkhavener scream in pain; he ran away, only to to end up right back in front of Blackberry, who cuffed him across the face. He tried to fight back, but Blackberry kicked him away before he had a chance.
-"You dirty..." Shale started to say, only to be cut off by Blackberry:
-"You're the one who is dirty. You're bleeding. I'll leave you alone while you clean yourself."
Shale was somewhat confused: was Blackberry really giving him a break? He started to clean himself, while keeping an eye on Blackberry; once he thought the Watershipper was distracted, he pounced towards him. However, this proved to be a mistake: Blackberry hopped away just in time and kicked dirt into his eyes as he crashed into the ground.
-"Totally unfair..." Shale complained.
-"You're one to talk about fairness," Bluebell replied, throwing more dirt in the Darkhavener's face. "My new mate agreed to give you a break, but you used it to try to kill him. That's not nice at all."
-"You do realize that I wasn't really giving him a break?" Blackberry pointed out. "I was just trying to confuse him."
Pipkin was not having a good time. A peaceful rabbit by nature, he hated having to fight, although he fully realized that, this time, it was necessary. It was especially challenging for him given his small size, compared to the huge opponents he was forced to battle.
Despite this, Pipkin still did reasonably well. His opponents often underestimated him, incorrectly assuming that he would be a quick kill, only for him to easily dodge and strike back, and distracting the opponents long enough to allow Bigwig to get some more serious wounds in.
Unfortunately, after a few such battles, the Darkhaveners were starting to understand the trick, and one of them was able to give a nasty scratch to the young rabbit's back. Bigwig quickly knocked this fighter unconscious before checking up on his friend.
-"Are you all right?"
-"I'm fine," Pipkin said, although he was clearly not.
-"You should see Blackberry about this."
-"You definitely should," Dandelion said, as he made it above ground. "How are things going out here, Bigwig?"
-"There aren't enough of us, but we're surviving. Bring Pipkin back soon, he's a good lad."
-"I'll do my best."
As Pipkin and Dandelion made their way back to the warren, another rabbit caught Dandelion's attention.
-"What happened to your ear, Strawberry? There's a hole in it."
-"Uh...well Blackberry put a leaf on it to help it heal, but I couldn't hear very well with it, so I took it off."
Dandelion sighed.
-"Follow me, she'll want to put a new one back."
Meanwhile, in the Honeycomb, Marigold was running from one rabbit to another. There were so many fighters who had gotten hurt, each one with their own needs. Even Hazel-rah himself required assistance, after sustaining a nasty cut on one of his paws. Marigold did her best to treat the more urgent cases first, as well as the lighter injuries so she could then discharge them quickly, but this was all too much for her, given her limited experience. She would not be able to keep this up much longer; hopefully Blackberry would soon return.
As she saw Dandelion return with Pipkin and Strawberry, she sighed.
-"You brought more?"
-"It's not my fault they didn't seek help on their own," Dandelion said.
-"There are a lot of victims here," Pipkin said sadly, looking at the growing crowd. "I can't fight in my state, but maybe I could help, Blackberry has been teaching me a little. Speaking of Blackberry, where is she?"
-"She went to see Heather," Marigold said. "I'll go check up on them; until then, do your best Pip."
Once Marigold reached Heather's burrow, she was met with a dismal sight. Heather was lying on her side; the straw bedding was soaked with blood, as well as a large stain on the fur near her tail. Blackberry was sniffing around that part of the pregnant doe's body, when she noticed that they were not alone.
-"Marigold. What's going on?"
-"You're needed in the Honeycomb," Marigold said simply.
-"Is there anyone in immediate danger of dying if I don't come right away?"
-"No..."
-"Then I'm sorry, but you'll have to keep going alone a bit longer. But first, can you take this kit to Primrose? She'll know what to do."
Marigold barely had the time to process Blackberry's words that she was faced with the first of Heather's kits. It had been born premature, and was not fully developed; as such, it appeared as little more than a tiny, fur-less blob, creepier than cute. Marigold had no clue whether it was a buck or a doe.
-"Primrose?" she asked, confused.
-"Yes, she can take care of it for now while I deal with the rest."
-"Oh."
Marigold picked up the kit in her mouth. It was so tiny and frail, even the slightest wrong move could snap its neck. Primrose's burrow was just a few tunnels over, but considering how careful Marigold had to be, it would take a while to reach. Hopefully Pipkin would be able to handle things alone in the Honeycomb...