AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you TheRanger101 for the review :) Nettle will be back later on.
Chapter 67: The Bulldozer.
"Waggle refused to stop even for a second, he continued going even though he almost tripped over himself."
-Pineapple Girl, Follow the Leader
The car abruptly stopped next to the hole, to avoid hitting a crooked tree hanging over the gravel road. Lionel-Hector got out of his vehicle, and looked at the annoying tree. Every time he saw it, he made a mental note to buy a chainsaw, but he always forgot about it when he went home.
He decided to try something drastic. Down there, in the junkyard, he could see an old bulldozer. Probably not as efficient as a chainsaw, but under the circumstances, it would do. Fredrick might object, but he had called Lionel-Hector earlier that morning to tell him that he wouldn't be at work for a few weeks. Therefore, Lionel-Hector could do whatever he wanted without having to worry about losing his job.
Lionel-Hector ran to the bulldozer, and saw a cute rabbit sitting next to it. He had a cute overgrowth of fur under his chin, it looked really cute. He decided to try to tickle the cute fur, as if he were dealing with a cute dog or a cat.
Vervain took a temporary break from chewing the hrududu when he saw the human approach. However, rather than attacking or chasing him away, the human scratched Vervain's chin. It was actually quite relaxing, although he would never admit this to anyone. He lied down and closed his eyes, enjoying the break from the difficult task.
Lionel-Hector spent almost half an hour with cute Vervain, but his fingers were starting to get sore from all the tickling. Besides, despite all the cuteness overload, he still needed to take care of that tree. He went inside the bulldozer's cabin and honked the horn; the rabbit immediately woke up and bolted in fear. He regretted having to do this, but it was the only way to prevent the cute rabbit from getting killed by the vehicle. He started the engine, and the bulldozer soon started to move towards the path leading out of the junkyard.
Campion was lying in the middle of the river, slowly removing the gasoline from his fur. Finding this spot had been really difficult: the first river Aspen had found had already been claimed by a heron, who quickly chased them away, and it took them a long time to find another. Aspen remained on the riverside, looking out for elil.
-"How are you feeling now, Campion?" he asked.
-"I'm about as clean as I'll ever be, unless it rains. Until then, we might as well keep going."
-"I hope I didn't lead you too far in the wrong direction when searching for this river..."
It was almost dawn. By the light of the stars, Campion looked at his surroundings. At first sight, the area was virtually unrecognizable, but he quickly noticed one familiar landmark: a drawbridge.
-"No, in fact we're even closer now than when I last died."
-"You still haven't explained what killed you that time. You weren't even on the hrududu trail, you were next to it."
-"You're starting to sound like the Black Rabbit. But honestly, it doesn't really matter. If I die one more time, I swear I'll..."
Campion fell silent before finishing his sentence.
-"What will you do?" Aspen asked.
-"You don't want to know. Anyway, let's get going."
The two rabbits continued to travel. After sunrise, they finally reached a large pit; in the middle, there was a large human structure.
-"Here we are," Campion said.
-"This is the place you're supposed to visit?"
-"My destiny has led me here. We need to go down to the bottom."
-"I won't let you. I'm supposed to protect you, and that place is dangerous."
-"I'm still going."
Campion hopped over to the edge of the ditch, and looked down.
-"Don't jump!" Aspen shouted, as he hopped over to Campion.
-"I won't. Assuming, of course, there's another way down."
He started to walk along the edge of the ditch, always looking down to see if there was a passage.
-"Let me search," Aspen eventually said. "I don't like you so close to the edge."
-"There is such a thing as overprotection, you know?" Campion rolled his eyes. "But go ahead. I don't want to die again any more than you want me to."
Aspen nodded, and hopped ahead of Campion. After a while, he stumbled upon a large white rabbit, sitting further away, also contemplating the pit. He approached the stranger, who soon turned his head and looked at him.
-"I don't know who you are, or where you're from," the stranger said, "but take my advice and get out of here. I'll forget I ever saw you."
-"Do you know any way to the bottom? Asking for a friend."
-"You don't want to go there."
-"You're right, I don't, but my friend does."
-"You can cut out that nonsense about your friend. This is such an overused..."
-"No, I really am asking for my friend!" Aspen said desperately. "I'll go get him."
Granite watched Aspen hop away. This entire incident had been really confusing. Moments later, however, Aspen returned, bringing Campion with him.
-"I hear you advised Aspen here to leave," Campion said. "Why?"
-"No rabbit in their right mind would go down there," Granite replied.
-"Is this Darkhaven?"
-"You've heard about us then. You fool, do you want to die? Look at yourself; completely scarred. You wouldn't stand a chance in the battle pit. Just go, and forget about this place."
-"I'm going in there and you can't stop me."
-"Campion," Aspen interjected, "why don't you listen to him? His warnings are very clear. If you go ahead with your plan, this can't end well."
-"I'm going. Assuming I can find a way down..."
-"Since you refuse to listen to common sense, I'll try to help you. I'll show you the way down. Is your friend coming with you?"
-"Yes I am!" Aspen shouted. "I am supposed to protect him."
-"Good luck with that. You'll need it."
Granite hopped along the edge, until he came across the lone path to the bottom, and started the descent, with Campion and Aspen following closely. Around halfway through their descent, however, Granite suddenly stopped.
-"There's a hrududu further away blocking the trail. We'll have to jump."
With that, he jumped off the path, and landed safely on the ground at the bottom of the pit.
-"Come on, you two, before the hrududu gets you."
Campion looked down; he was not very happy with having to jump, but it seemed he had no choice. He carefully scanned the area, looking for the safest landing spot.
Meanwhile, Vervain was still running away after hearing the horn, not looking where he was going, when he suddenly bumped into another rabbit. He then realized, much to his horror, that it was the General.
-"What are you doing here, Vervain? Are you not supposed to be chewing the hrududu?"
-"I'm sorry sir...the hrududu is moving..."
-"Hmm. Very well, Vervain. You shall resume as soon as it has stopped."
Woundwort looked at the hrududu from a distance. It slowly made its way up the trail, when suddenly one of its continuous tracks snapped. The bulldozer started to lean dangerously off the trail. At the last moment, Lionel-Hector opened the cabin's door and jumped out. The bulldozer fell off the trail, striking Campion and Aspen in the process. Campion flew in the air, and didn't come back down; Aspen landed on another rabbit's back.
-"It's generally considered good etiquette to tell someone before you challenge them to single combat," Granite said.
-"I'm not challenging you," Aspen replied. "Where's Campion?"
-"I don't know. Maybe the hrududu got him."
-"Oh no!" Aspen jumped off Granite's back and frantically looked around him. "He must be dead again! Oh, I have really messed up this time..."
-"...dead AGAIN?"
-"Yes, it's already happened hrair times. Wait, why am I not in the shadowlands with him? Please kill me, so I can go to him. Unless he's not really dead..."
Granite remained silent. He had no idea what Aspen was talking about; the poor rabbit must be insane.
Lionel-Hector spent a long time staring at the bulldozer, on its side at the bottom of the pit. It would only be good for scrap metal now. He took his smartphone out of his pocket and dialled a number.
Three people were sitting around the table, playing a board game when suddenly, the phone rang.
-"I'll get it," one of them, a teenage girl, said.
-"Don't bother, Daisy," an older man said, but it was too late, Daisy had already picked up the handset.
-"Hello?"
-"Um, hey, uh, can I speak to Sir Fredrick?"
-"It's for you, father," Daisy said.
-"Tell them I'm not in, I've gone to another country. Or Antarctica. How about Mars?"
-"It sounds like Mr Appleby from the junkyard."
-"...fine, I'll take it," Fredrick replied with a sigh, as Daisy handed him the handset. "What do you want?"
-"Well, Sir Fred, I made a mess."
-"Again?"
-"I'm afraid so. You see..."
-"Why do you bother me with such trifles?"
-"But Sir Fred...what shall I do? It's the bulldozer."
-"Never mind the bulldozer, get the crane fixed." With that, he hung up. "That's the most incompetent employee I've ever had."
-"Why don't you fire him?" the third person, Sir Fredrick's wife, asked.
-"I really should. Until then, whose turn is it?"
It took at least ten seconds for Lionel-Hector to realize that Fredrick had hung up on him. When he finally realized this, however, he felt relieved. Sir Fredrick clearly didn't seem to care what happened to his bulldozer. Until his boss returned to work, Lionel-Hector decided to try fixing the crane instead.