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Chapter 98: Fiver Forever.

"[...] terrible machines that cut trees down faster and better than any beaver [...] I saw the terrible machines resting on tree bases, and that was no dream."

-Kisshu, Running from the world

Fiver had been asleep in his burrow when the shockwave hit, and only woke up much later. When he did, he saw that he was by the iron road. Nearby, there was a fallen cedar tree, with a warren built underneath. The warren appeared deserted; it seemed that nobody had been there in seasons. There was no scent of elil or disease, leaving it unclear what had caused the rabbits to leave. He decided not to go underground, and hopped back to the iron road. He sat there for a long time, motionless.

After a while, he noticed another rabbit approach from behind. She had pale brown fur, but with a darker chest and ears, and gave off a ghostly vibe. Fiver turned over to her.

-"It's all gone, isn't it?" he asked with a sigh.

-"It is. Sometimes, it is best to close up at the peak and remember the memories."

-"I suppose. Still, so much is now gone forever. Couldn't it have been preserved elsewhere?"

-"We have to choose our own ending, Fiver. I suppose we had a better one than some others. I knew a few that were invaded by freaks. The darkness consumed them, and in the end, nothing remained, apart from limited fragments at the bottom of the pit."

As the two rabbits spoke, a train came along on the tracks, gradually slowing down until it stopped. The doors to one of the wagons opened right in front of Fiver; he stared inside, fascinated. It was almost as if he was being invited inside.

-"Should I?" he asked.

-"There is a time, there is a place..."

-"I'm going."

Fiver ran inside the train; the doors closed immediately after he had entered, and the train departed moments later.

-"...to steal what you love most..." the jade-coloured rabbit said.

Blackberry and Blackberry remained adrift for a long time, in complete silence.

-"I remember an adventure I had, when I was still a kitten," the buck said after a while. "I took a small piece of tree bark and placed it on a river near Marli-rah. Me and Strawberry stepped on it, and we spent the entire day drifting downstream."

-"That sounds fun. You really like Strawberry, don't you?"

-"Oh sure. She's a nice doe. I've been good friends with her most of my life. But that's it, really. I wouldn't want her as a mate, unlike...unlike..."

-"Unlike?"

-"Nothing."

Blackberry's refusal to finish his sentence left his friend slightly worried, but she did not press the issue. After a while, she broke the silence again:

-"What happened afterwards? With you and Strawberry."

-"Oh, things went crazy. There was a thunderstorm, the river was agitated, our boat was sinking, but we somehow managed to make it to shore."

-"That must have been scary."

-"It was. The only reason we survived was because a hare let us sleep with him that night. The next morning, he carried us back to Marli-rah on his back."

-"I'm really glad you were all right. It would have been terrible, if...er...if you had died then. I assume everyone was happy to see you?"

-"They were, except for Flyairth. She was quite angry at us for suddenly vanishing without telling anyone about our plans, and she had taken out a wide patrol to look for us."

-"Oh...I'm sorry."

-"Don't worry about it. The adventure was totally worth it, even if we got sternly rebuked afterwards. It was probably the second best adventure of my life."

-"Second best? What was the best one?"

-"Right now."

The two rabbits smiled at each other.

-"You're really pretty, you know?"

-"Thank you. And you're pretty good-looking yourself."

-"Thank you."

The two rabbits stared at each other in an awkward silence, until Blackberry felt something touch his front paw. He looked down, and saw that Blackberry had placed her paw on top of his.

-"Blackberry, I..." both rabbits said at the same time.

-"Sorry," both of them said afterwards at the exact same time.

-"You can go first," the buck finally said.

-"Blackberry, I've been wanting to ask you something..."

-"What is it?"

The doe remained silent for a few minutes, building up enough courage to ask her question.

-"May I have the honour of becoming your mate?"

-"Yes! Absolutely! I've been wanting to ask you the exact same thing, Blackberry. I'm so grateful you want me."

-"Oh Blackberry...you've made me the happiest doe in the world today."

The two rabbits lovingly nuzzled each other. They remained that way for a long time, enjoying each other's presence, until suddenly, they heard a loud explosion, and they were torn from each other. The buck landed on a bed of moss some distance from Watership Down.

Meanwhile, the doe crashed in the Honeycomb, among the wounded Efrafans. She was extremely confused: what had just happened was completely unrealistic. The only reasonable explanation was that it was a dream, but she didn't remember falling asleep. It was an especially weird dream: she confessed her love towards the buck with whom she shares a name, and became mates with him. She hardly knew him, how could she become mates with him? And where did Campion fit in with all this?

She pushed these thoughts away. She had more important things to worry about at the moment: the Efrafan survivors. She still had several wounds to tend to.

The inside of the wagon Fiver was in was entirely grey, and seemed to go on forever. After looking around for a while, however, he spotted another rabbit, and hopped over to him.

-"How is it going, Silverweed?"

-"It's slow," Silverweed replied. "Reality wasn't built to withstand such a paradox. Prince Rainbow is working on it, but you know how he is. He's taking his time and spreading false rumours about El-ahrairah."

-"Typical Prince Rainbow." Fiver rolled his eyes. "Any way I could help?"

-"Not with the reality crash, I'm afraid. But there are other challenges for you in the next parts of the hrududu."

-"I should probably get to it then. See you back at the warren, Silverweed."

Silverweed waved at Fiver, as Fiver hopped away and, revealing a door in the grey, moved on to the next wagon.

Acacia, Vesper and Violet remained motionless and silent, as they saw the forest they were in turn into a desert. Hickory and Marigold, still very weak, collapsed in exhaustion, seemingly unaware of the sudden change in scenery.

-"What is this place?" Vesper asked.

-"Welcome to the Filigree Desert," Acacia said. "My home."

-"How can you live in a place like this?" Violet asked. "There is no grass anywhere!"

-"So THIS is the desert you talked about so much!" Vesper had become very excited. "I never thought I would see it!"

-"It's a hard life," Acacia explained. "But after spending nearly your entire life in here, survival isn't too hard anymore."

-"The fact remains, that just a few moments ago we were in a dense forest with a lot of trees and grass, and now there's nothing but endless sand," Violet continued. "How did this happen?"

-"The desert is very far away from where we were just now. I think we teleported."

Acacia glanced at Vesper's necklace; it was still shining.

-"You think my necklace caused this?" he asked.

-"I can't think of any other explanation," Acacia said. "You didn't know it was magic?"

-"Well...yes, I did know, but I didn't think teleportion was one of its powers. I don't know what I did to cause this, so I can't very well reverse it...I'm sorry everyone."

-"So, we're stuck in this desert place forever then?" Violet said. "Oh well, it can't be worse than what I've already gone through."

-"It can always get worse," Marigold weakly said.

-"So cheerful." Violet rolled her eyes.

-"Actually, I have an idea," Acacia said. "I must warn you, though: it's dangerous, but it's probably the only way we may ever be able to reach Watership Down."

-"I'm willing to risk it," Vesper said.

-"Sure, let's do this," Violet added.

-"Perfect. All of you, follow me."