AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you TheRanger101; glad you're enjoying the story :)

Thank you anonymous guest; glad you enjoyed it too :) Don't worry though; there are still many chapters to come.

Chapter 71: Return and Revelations.

"Can't run... too much pain."

-Cherokee Dragonfly, Too Far to Come Back

The beech tree was now plainly visible at the top. It was evening, they were so close to the warren, they simply had to make it to the top and the journey would be over. Yet, it felt so far away, a seemingly unachievable goal.

-"Come on, Primrose, we're almost there now," Blackberry said.

The yellow-furred doe staggered forward, leaning against her friend for balance. With each step she made, she looked like she was going to collapse and tumble back to the bottom.

-"Please don't talk about your warren anymore..."

-"We're almost there now!" Meadow said. "Not much longer to go."

-"All these seasons in Efrafa...LOST!"

The desperate cry of "lost" rang out over a great distance.

-"Primrose, be careful, you'll attract elil," Meadow said.

-"Blackavar, be quiet," she mumbled, "do you want the guards to hear?"

At the warren, Hazel had spent most of the afternoon talking with the new arrivals, and getting to know them better. He had just finished with Silverweed, the only one to have caused any trouble. It took Fiver a long time to convince Hazel that Silverweed wouldn't be using any of the mind tricks he had used at Cowslip's warren.

At that moment, Bigwig entered the Honeycomb.

-"Just got back from silflay," he said. "Did I miss anything?"

-"I'm afraid you missed quite a lot," Hazel replied. "There is only one rabbit I haven't talked with yet."

-"Which one?"

-"This one." Hazel pointed to Spartina.

-"If you don't mind, I would like to question this rabbit," Bigwig said.

-"Fire away," Spartina said. Bigwig turned to her, and spent a while staring at her. For some reason, he found her strangely beautiful.

-"So...we might as well start with the basics. What's your name?"

-"Spartina."

-"And, uh...where do you come from?"

Spartina grew tense at this question. Her past was still as hazy in her mind as it was when she had first arrived at the warren. She didn't know what to answer: she could either tell the truth, which would make her look suspicious, or invent something, which would be really awkward if she ever regained her memories. But if she remained silent for too long, the others might assume she was hiding something.

-"I don't..."

-"Hey, can someone help me?" Everyone turned to the burrow's entrance, where the voice came from, and saw Meadow, Blackberry and Primrose. While Blackberry was not physically hurt, she remained visibly exhausted. Primrose was even worse: her breathing was slow, and the leaves around her tail had fallen off during the ascent, exposing the wound. Only Meadow appeared unharmed.

-"What happened?" Hazel shouted.

-"I'll explain later," Blackberry answered, "the top priority at the moment is getting her to her burrow."

Hazel's mind was filled with questions, but he managed to register the urgency of the situation, and hopped over to his mate to support her as she slowly made her way towards the burrow. Until suddenly...

-"Hey mother's back!"

-"YAAAAAAY!"

-"Let's tackle-hug her!"

-"No!" Blackberry cried out desperately. "That's the worst thing that can possibly happen!"

Realizing what was about to happen, Meadow and Fiver jumped in front of Primrose to shield her from the kittens.

-"Pipkin, get your junior owsla under control!" Bigwig ordered.

Pipkin quickly looked at the scene, and realized the danger Primrose was facing.

-"Junior Owsla: attention!" he shouted.

-"Who cares about Junior Owsla business, mother's back!"

-"Yeah! There's a time for training and that's not now."

-"But your mother's got a surprise for you outside," Pipkin said. He knew there was no surprise, and the kittens would most likely be furious when they found out, but it would hopefully keep them distracted long enough for Primrose to be carried to her burrow.

-"YAAAAAY!"

-"Let's go check out the surprise!"

The three kittens immediately rushed outside.

-"Where is it?"

-"I don't see anything!"

-"Did mother trick us?"

-"She didn't say anything, it was Pipkin."

-"Yeah, Pipkin must be punished!"

-"He must be thoroughly tickled!"

-"And after we're done with him, we'll tickle mother too, for good measure."

-"Wait, what's that over there?"

-"Where?"

-"There! It smells like lettuce."

-"It IS lettuce!"

-"Looks like we won't have to tickle them after all..."

-"We can tickle them anyway! Not as a punishment, but to thank them."

Pipkin was confused: there was not supposed to be any lettuce above ground. He was about to go investigate when he saw Strawberry arrive.

-"Did you bring the flayrah above ground?" he asked.

-"I did. You just wanted to help Primrose, and I couldn't let you be tickled for it."

-"Thanks Strawberry."

Meanwhile, Hazel, Fiver, Meadow, Primrose and Blackberry had reached the burrow Hazel and Primrose shared; the yellow-furred doe immediately collapsed. Blackberry rushed to her own burrow, and soon came back with a few leaves, which she carefully wrapped around Primrose's tail.

-"Open your mouth." As soon as Primrose had done so, Blackberry put a few roots inside. "Now chew. Don't swallow."

Primrose painfully looked at Blackberry, seemingly unaware that Hazel, Fiver and Meadow were also present, and started to chew.

-"Will she be all right?" Hazel asked.

-"Of course, but she needs absolute rest," Blackberry replied. That was only partially true: she had absolutely no idea if Primrose would survive, and wouldn't know for several more hours. "Nobody is to visit her until I say so. Wake me up fu Inlé so I can check up on her. All of you will have to leave now."

With that, she hopped out of the burrow. Before she could return to her own burrow, however, she collapsed in exhaustion in the Honeycomb, and fell asleep. Hawkbit hopped over to her.

-"Hey Blackberry, my ears are..."

-"She needs rest," Meadow said, "don't wake her.

-"Who are you?" Hawkbit asked. "What's going on?"

-"Blackberry and Primrose are back," Bigwig said, "and you are not to disturb them under any circumstances. This is Meadow, she's the one who found them. Now go back to your burrow."

-"I'm so confused," Hawkbit said.

-"We'll explain later. Now go."

With a groan, Hawkbit went back to his burrow. The other rabbits gradually hopped away, until only Hazel, Fiver, Meadow and sleeping Blackberry remained.

-"Why...why must this happen?" Hazel asked his brother.

-"Are you not relieved that Meadow found them after all?"

-"Yes, but...she's deeply hurt, and I can't help her."

-"I'm sure Blackberry knows what she's doing."

-"I know, but I still feel so powerless."

With that, Hazel leaned over Fiver, and started to cry.

Primrose slowly opened her eyes and looked around the burrow. Her vision was really blurry, but the burrow seemed vaguely familiar. What was weird, however, was what she heard. There was a faint ringing in her ears, which gradually turned to laughter: loud, sadistic laughter. It was all in her imagination, but it felt horrifyingly real. To her, there was only one possible explanation: nothing had ever happened, she was still imprisoned in Efrafa. Hazel and Watership Down were nothing but a dream.

She squealed as loudly as she could: it was the only valid course of action under the circumstances. This caused the pain in her tail to flare up again.

Everyone in the warren heard the squeal, and several rabbits rushed to see what had happened. Hazel feared the worst: this sounded like the agonizing cry of a dying rabbit. As he arrived at the burrow, he saw Blackberry come out.

-"She had a nightmare," she said.

-"She's alive?"

-"Yes. Try not to worry so much, Hazel."

Hazel was not the only rabbit who had gone to investigate the sound. A few peaked inside the burrow. The rabbit inside looked familiar to Hyzenthlay, and she made her way to the front of the crowd.

Primrose, by that point, had buried her face under her front paws and was crying, when she suddenly smelled another rabbit, and it definitely wasn't Vervain. She carefully removed her front paws and raised her head, to take a look at the dark-furred rabbit who was standing in front of her.

-"Hyz?"

-"Primrose?"

-"Is it really you, or are you just a dream?"

-"I'm really here."

Hyzenthlay hopped forward, and nuzzled the other doe, softly to avoid hurting her. Meanwhile outside the burrow, Hazel and Blackberry were still talking.

-"It's fine, Hazel. Her situation is slowly improving." This time, Blackberry was telling the truth; Primrose would most likely survive.

-"Is there really nothing I can do to help?"

-"Not yet. When dawn comes, however, she will need plenty of emotional support. Until then, she needs more rest."

With that, Blackberry hopped away; this time, she was able to reach her burrow to sleep. Most other rabbits also hopped away.

-"One of those new does, Hyzenthlay I think, is in there," Bigwig said. "Should I get her out?"

-"No." came the sudden voice of Silverweed. "They know each other."

-"How is that possible?" Hazel asked. "When Hyzenthlay first arrived here, Primrose was already gone."

-"That was before you met either of them, Hazel. It was at old Redstone. They're sisters."

Hazel remained silent for a few moments.

-"She never told me she had a sister. In fact, she never talked about any of her relatives."

-"So...let her stay inside, then?" Bigwig said.

-"Seems like the best option," Fiver replied.

-"Fine..."

Bigwig appeared annoyed by the situation, and hopped away; Silverweed soon followed. Soon, the only rabbits left outside the burrow were Hazel and Fiver.

-"Are you all right, dear brother?" Fiver asked.

-"Well, yes...and no...I mean...I'm shocked...oh I don't make sense..."

-"Don't worry, Hazel. I'm sure everything will be all right."

Hazel did not reply, and simply hugged Fiver tightly.

-"Do you mind if I breathe?" the smaller rabbit said.