Chapter 2: Meet the Efrafans.
"When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice."
-Peter Anspach, Evil Overlord List
While the mysterious stranger was getting a guided tour of Watership Down, a group of slave rabbits were hard at work in a nearby field. They were busy gathering flayrah for the leader of Efrafa, the tyrannical General Woundwort, under the close supervision of corporal Moss.
Among the slaves was a rabbit called Vervain, who was previously a captain in Woundwort's owsla. However, the previous fall, a simple trick had been played on him by Hazel and his gang of outsiders, resulting in General Woundwort declaring him insane and demoting him to the lowest possible rank.
"All these seasons, I've served Woundwort loyally," he thought, "and look how I end up: a slave! While that traitor, Campion, is still a trusted captain. It's totally unfair! How I wish I could capture those outsiders and deliver them to the General! I would finally get the glory I rightfully deserve..."
Suddenly, he noticed that further away, Moss had stopped one of the slaves, who had apparently not brought enough flayrah. Vervain took advantage of Moss' distraction to try to run away. He dropped the small carrot in his mouth and ran as fast as he could, away from Efrafa. It did not take him long to hear the faint voice of Moss:
-"Oi! Where's Vervain? Owsla, follow his scent!"
Vervain gasped in terror as he heard this. He was not a particularly fast runner, so he would have to mask his scent and find a place to hide if he wanted to avoid capture.
Luckily for Vervain, there was a river nearby. He jumped into the water; it was shallow enough for his paws to touch the bottom. He ran upstream and eventually came to a wall covered with moss, although there seemed to be a small hole behind it. "This won't be very comfortable, but it's the only hiding spot nearby, so it will have to do," he thought.
As he jumped through the moss, however, he saw that the "small hole" he was in was actually a large cavern. "This looks like the lair of the Black Rabbit of Inlé", he thought. He walked a little further into the cavern, and stepped out of the river onto the shore.
Suddenly, as he was shaking the water out of his fur, he noticed a few tracks further away, and they were clearly rabbit tracks. He went to smell them, and the scent was vaguely familiar. And then, it hit him: it was the outsiders' scent, and it was still fresh. The outsiders had clearly been there very recently and, Vervain reasoned, this cave might lead directly to their warren. "The General will be amazed when I tell him this!" he thought.
Excited at the prospect of reclaiming his rightful position as the captain of Woundwort's owsla, and possibly exposing the traitorous Campion, Vervain ran back out of the cavern, straight toward Efrafa. The warren had been dug beneath the roots of a dead tree, at the bottom of a large pit. Vervain ran through the first entrance he could find, only to come face to face with Campion, Moss and another officer whose name he didn't know.
-"I demand to see General Woundwort!" he ordered. "I have discovered the location of Hazel's warren!"
He carefully examined the other rabbits' faces, and could see that Moss was considering granting his request of an audition with the Chief. However, Campion intervened:
-"He's raving. Keep him confined to the prison chamber."
As soon as Campion's order had been issued, Moss and the other rabbit grabbed Vervain by the shoulders and dragged him away.
-"You don't understand!" he cried desperately. "Campion is a traitor to Efrafa and is working with the outsiders! General Woundwort will have your ears for this!"
The officers did not react. They carried Vervain the rest of the way and roughly threw him inside the chamber.
-"Campion, you shall suffer for this! I promise you!"
-"Fortunately," Moss said sarcastically, "you never keep your promises, do you?"
Vervain couldn't stand it anymore. Campion had silenced him, and now Moss was making fun of him. He was going to talk to Woundwort, not matter how hard everyone was trying to stop him.
-"NO!" he shouted, as he ran straight out of the chamber, knocking all three officers down in the process. He made his way towards the main chamber, where he found General Woundwort, proudly sitting high on a rock, like a king on his throne. Vervain bowed in respect.
-"Vervain, explain yourself," the General ordered, visibly annoyed.
-"General, sir, I have brilliant news for you. I have new information that will lead to the capture of Hazel and his outsiders."
At that moment, Moss entered the chamber and pounced on Vervain.
-"I'm sorry for the disturbance, sir, this slave has escaped from the prison chamber, but everything will soon be back under control."
-"Hold," Woundwort ordered. "I wish to hear what he has to say."
-"Thank you, sire," Vervain said. "But I refuse to speak while that big oaf is on my back."
-"Let him go, Moss."
Moss sighed, and hopped off the prisoner's back. At that moment, Campion entered the burrow, while Vervain, unaware of the captain's presence, began to explain his discovery:
-"You know how, near Efrafa, there is this river..."
-"I know about the river, Vervain," Woundwort said. "Get to the point."
-"And how upstream there is a wall of moss..."
-"GET TO THE POINT!"
-"Behind this wall of moss, there is a cavern, and it leads to the outsiders' warren."
After Vervain had finished explaining his discovery, all four rabbits remained silent for a few moments. Campion was the first to speak:
-"But General, I already checked that cavern while on patrol, there's nothing there."
As he heard that, Woundwort growled in anger.
-"Take this troublemaker to the digging squad! Cut his rations in half!"
-"As you wish, sir," Moss said.
-"NO! I'm telling the truth, I swear! It's all a conspiracy!" Vervain said as he found himself getting dragged away once again. "Everyone is working for the outsiders!"
Campion, meanwhile, hopped into a nearby run. He had lied: he had never visited the cavern, and was unaware of its existence until Vervain had mentioned it. He really was sympathizing with the outsiders, and had silenced Vervain before Woundwort would get suspicious.
However, Campion knew that it was unlike Vervain to imagine things like this; he therefore decided to take a look at the cavern himself. He hopped over to the river and cleared away the moss; did this cavern really lead to the outsiders' warren?
-"Hazel! Bigwig!" he called out, receiving no response other than the echo of his own voice. He walked further into the cavern, and got out of the water. The outsiders' tracks were clearly visible in front of him.
Campion continued to walk further and further into the cavern; the outsiders' scent kept getting stronger. Suddenly, after a turn, he came face to face with Hazel, Fiver and Bigwig.
-"Campion!" Hazel said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
-"Oh Hazel, I've got terrible news," Campion said. "Vervain found an entrance to your warren, the one behind the moss near the river."
-"That really is terrible," Bigwig said. "I guess we'll have to prepare for an attack."
-"It's not all that bad. Currently everyone, including Woundwort, thinks Vervain is insane; nobody believes him."
-"Hmm. But if anyone else ever discovers this entrance, we can count on you to warn us before it is too late, right?" Bigwig said.
-"And while you're here," Fiver suggested, "why don't you take a look around, and see what you've been working so hard to protect?"
-"Yes, I would like that very much," Campion said.
The three Watershippers smiled, and all four rabbits soon went towards the Honeycomb, with Campion staring in amazement at his surroundings.