AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you TheRanger101 for the review. More Fiver and Silverweed in this chapter!

Chapter 51: From One Warren To Another.

"Will you search through the lonely earth for me

Climb through the brier and bramble

I'll be your treasure"

-Johnny Flynn, Detectorists

Silverweed was woken up by a soft cracking sound. As he opened his eyes, he saw two other rabbits sitting in front of him. He gasped in shock.

-"Hello," one of them said.

-"Fiver! Wh- wha- what are you doing here? Who's that with you?"

-"This is Meadow, she's a friend. Follow me."

Fiver made a few hops towards the exit; Meadow cautiously followed. He then turned to Silverweed again, who had remained motionless.

-"Come on! Follow me."

Silverweed made a few hops towards the other two rabbits, and cast a worried glance at the guard just outside the burrow.

-"Don't worry about him," Fiver said. "He'll never know."

Silverweed hesitated for a few more moments, before finally deciding to follow Fiver. The three rabbits made their way outside; it remained very dark due to the fog. Silverweed saw Fiver climb on top of a small pile of trash, although it was so foggy he could not see the pile itself.

-"There's nothing to be afraid of. Follow me."

Silverweed still hesitated, but nevertheless jumped onto the pile. After he had reached the top, however, he suddenly realized that there was no pile. They were both standing in the middle of the air. Silverweed hesitated to question this, but remained visibly nervous.

-"You two are floating," came the sudden voice of Meadow, still on the ground. "But how?"

-"It's complicated," Fiver said simply. "But there's nothing to worry about. Come and join us."

Meadow made a few cautious steps into the air, and soon was floating too. She remained closer to the ground than the two bucks, however, as she remained nervous that she might suddenly fall back to the ground.

-"Come on now," Fiver said. "Let's run!"

-"How am I supposed to run?" Silverweed asked.

-"Just do it."

With that, Fiver started to run, very fast, almost as if he were on solid ground. Silverweed could not understand how this was possible, and was starting to think all this was nothing but a dream. If this was the case, he couldn't get hurt by falling, and he would soon wake up again in Darkhaven unharmed. Having nothing to lose, he ran after Fiver, treating the sky as if it were the ground.

After a while, however, Silverweed reached a tree, and sat down on one of the branches. He looked worriedly at the ground, wondering how he would get down.

-"I'm sorry I forgot to warn you about this," Fiver, who was on the ground, said. "I guess it doesn't matter. Jump."

After all he had just been through, Silverweed reasoned that there was nothing that could go wrong, so he did as Fiver had said, and landed safely next to him.

-"Welcome to Watership Down, Silverweed."

-"This is your warren?"

-"Yes. Isn't it wonderful?"

-"Why do you show it to me? Don't you realize that I will have to tell General Woundwort about this, and that he intends to destroy you?"

-"We'll talk about that later. But first, imagine the view. Under normal weather conditions, you can see fields and forests all the way to the horizon. The only traces of human activity are the pylon line and Nuthanger Farm. Imagine the soft breeze caressing your fur. A feeling of peace unlike anything you've ever experienced before."

Meadow had decided not to run; instead, she calmly hopped through the air, taking her time to sniff her surroundings. She was hoping she might be able to find a trace of the two missing does from above, but the fog was too thick. When she finally reached Watership Down, Fiver and Silverweed were lying down in the grass next to each other, with their eyes closed.

-"What's going on?" she asked.

-"Just enjoying the view," Fiver replied. "Or at least pretending to."

-"It really is beautiful," Silverweed added.

-"Let's go underground," Fiver suggested.

-"But I like it here!"

-"This is only the beginning. Follow me."

Fiver hopped over to the warren's main entrance, with Meadow and Silverweed following him. As they neared the honeycomb, however, Fiver ducked into another run.

-"Get out of the way!"

Meadow instantly saw what Fiver was talking about: three kittens running towards them. She hopped out of their way, but Silverweed remained motionless. She had to jump onto him, pushing him to safety just in time. A few moments later, a fourth kitten ran by, doing her best to catch up with the other three.

-"Why didn't you run?" Meadow asked Silverweed.

-"The kittens. It's been so long since I last saw any, and I couldn't take my eyes away," Silverweed said. "Who are their parents?"

-"Follow me," Fiver replied.

Fiver hopped out of the run, and led Silverweed and Meadow towards another burrow. In a corner, there was a single rabbit, lying down with his front paws covering his eyes. They could hear him crying, and he did not react to their arrival.

-"The failure really hit him badly," Meadow said sadly.

-"What failure? What's going on?" Silverweed asked.

-"This is Hazel," Fiver explained. "He's the kittens' father, my brother and the Chief Rabbit. Also he thinks his mate is dead."

-"Thinks?"

Fiver and Meadow explained to Silverweed what had happened, how Blackberry and Primrose had left the warren, and how Hazel and Bigwig had failed to find them.

-"Perhaps I could find them," Silverweed suggested. "If they're still alive, I should be able to access their minds."

-"Please try," Meadow said.

Silverweed lied down, and started the process. He seemed to become slightly transparent until suddenly, a smile appeared on his face.

-"Is Blackberry blue and Primrose yellow?"

-"Yes! That's them." Fiver said.

-"What's up with the weird fur colours?"

-"In fairness, silvery and sandy might be more accurate than blue and yellow, but I get your point. I'm sure there is a logical explanation, although I don't understand it myself. Are they still alive?"

-"Yes. I found them close to a river."

-"Tell me everything you know that could help me find them," Meadow said.

-"They will face some massive challenges before hiding in a secret place that may not be obvious at first sight, near where they are now. You have until tomorrow evening to find them, or it will be too late."

-"Anything else?"

-"Beyond that, I can't see anything. There are limits to my abilities."

-"If neither of you have any objections, I'll go search for them now."

-"Go ahead," Fiver said. "But first, I must disconnect you."

Meadow appeared to gradually dissolve until she was no longer visible, as her mind was sent back to her body, which was still outside. She spent a while trying to clear her thoughts; this adventure had been very confusing and had left her with so many questions, but at least she had an idea where the two does were. After a few minutes, she departed, hopping towards the nearest known river to search for them.

Meanwhile, Fiver and Silverweed remained in the burrow with Hazel.

-"If only there was a way for Hazel to know this," Fiver said. "As you can see, he's very depressed over this."

-"Can't you just tell him?"

-"I already tried, but it didn't really help."

-"There might be another way. I would have to break into his mind and modify it."

-"Is it safe?"

-"It should be."

-"Please go ahead then."

Silverweed nodded, and placed his front paw on Hazel's head, keeping it there for a few seconds before removing it. Suddenly, Hazel stopped crying. He got back up and made a few steps forward, before looking upwards.

-"Looks like it worked," Fiver said. "Good job, Silverweed. Now, let's visit another burrow."

The two rabbits hopped out, and went towards the Honeycomb. Along the way, however, they heard a loud noise, and decided to investigate that instead. It did not take them long to pinpoint the source of the noise as being the burrows being dug. They arrived just in time to see Hawkbit emerge from a pile of dirt.

-"That's it. I've had enough."

Before anyone else could react, he had already hopped away, his ears still drooping.

-"Well, I've had enough too," Dandelion said, "so if you don't mind..."

-"You've been doing a good job," Hyzenthlay said. "Why do you want to stop?"

-"I'm just tired."

-"Well, I suppose we can stop now. We've accomplished a lot, and we'll probably have enough burrows for tonight. Thanks everyone for participating."

The rabbits spent a while thanking and congratulating each other on the work well-done, and slowly started to leave the burrow, until everyone was gone except Fiver and Silverweed.

-"They're all so friendly," Silverweed said. "It's been so long since I met anyone like them."

-"We all try to be friendly here at Watership Down. Let's go outside."

The two rabbits moved out of the burrow, and soon made it back above ground. There were a few more rabbits there than earlier, since most of the diggers had gone to silflay.

-"Come on," Fiver said. "Feel the freedom!"

With that, Fiver made a powerful leap, and landed in the grass further away; Silverweed imitated him. The two rabbits spent a while frolicking around the Down, enjoying this simple pleasure, that Silverweed had never experienced before.

After a while, however, Silverweed lied down in the grass.

-"That was amazing. I love the freedom."

-"Better than Darkhaven?" Fiver said.

-"There's no comparison. The only thing I don't understand is why nobody speaks to us. Except Meadow, before she left. But all the others act like they can't see us."

-"That's because they can't. I'll show you."

Fiver hopped a short distance, and nudged something in the grass. Silverweed approached, and saw that it was another rabbit.

-"Who's that?" he asked. "He looks a lot like you."

-"He's my body."

Silverweed remained silent for a few moments, attempting to figure out what Fiver meant.

-"But, if that's your body...then who are you?"

-"I'm my mind. You see, I had to separate the two, so my mind could sneak into Darkhaven unnoticed to bring you here, something I would never have been able to do with my body."

-"Does that mean...that I'm just my mind too?"

-"Exactly. Your body is still in Darkhaven."

-"Oh." Silverweed was visibly disappointed. "It's just like that old El-ahrairah story of the minimalistic processing power. But in that case, I'll have to go back soon. Another story clearly explains that if you remain in two separate parts for too long, you run the risk of the forceful bird infiltration of the purple branch into the shad..."

-"I'm not really familiar with the story you're describing. All I know is that yes, you will have to go back."

-"I don't want to! I like it here, I want to stay here with you!"

-"I'm sorry, Silverweed, but there is no other option. If you want to return here, you will have to bring your body with you."

-"But how can I escape from Darkhaven? From what I hear, the guards there are very good at their job."

-"You know more about that warren than I do; I'm afraid I can't help you. Just remember that, if your desire is strong enough, you can accomplish anything. Before I send you back, however, I have one last question. What can you tell me about Blueberry?"

-"Who?"

-"A small black-furred kitten who is also in Darkhaven right now."

-"Oh, him. He's just a random hlessi the General picked up a few days ago."

-"I see. When you escape, could you try to bring him with you?"

-"I'll do my best..."

-"I'm sure you will. Good luck, may Frith be with you. See you soon."

With that, Fiver put his front paws over his eyes; this broke the mind connection, and both their minds flew back to their bodies. Silverweed found himself flying through the air for what felt like a long time, squealing the entire time. Fiver stared in the distance, unable to see anything through the fog. He was confident that what he had done with Silverweed would help. Silverweed had plainly said that Watership Down was better than Darkhaven; he had no reason to betray them to Woundwort now.