AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you Anonymous Guest for the review :)
Chapter 110: The Recurring Trouble.
"As with past runs she wanted to plot her course ahead of time. The last thing she would want would be a surprise during her assignment."
-Talia2, Elil Bait
-"I really don't understand." Clover covered her face with her front paws. "Didn't you say that someone is supposed to get kicked out every night phase?"
-"I did say that," Flyairth explained, "but there is one exception. The healer chooses someone to protect each night, and if the owslafa tries to kick them out, the eviction attempt fails, since the intended victim is protected."
-"I like this healer," Bluebell said, having recently returned to the burrow alongside Hawkbit. "Protecting someone from getting kicked out of the warren, because being without a burrow is a terrible disease!"
Hawkbit chuckled at Bluebell's joke, but several of the other rabbits were annoyed. Flyairth did not want to let this delay the game too much.
-"The fact remains that it is now day again," she explained. "Even if nobody was kicked out last night, you still have to vote someone out now. Who shall it be?"
-"Bluebell." Nelthilta let out a loud sigh as she raised her front paw. "I've had enough of his inappropriate jokes."
-"Inappropriate? What are you talking about?" Hawkbit was furious at Nelthilta's accusation. "It was funny!"
-"We're supposed to vote out the rabbits we think are part of the owslafa, not the ones we don't like," Holly said. "I don't know what side Bluebell is on, but it'll take more than a few silly jokes to figure it out."
-"Whatever, I vote for him anyway." Nyreem raised her paw.
-"Get rid of him." Violet was the third one to vote against Bluebell, followed soon afterwards by one of the Efrafans.
-"Seriously?" Hawkbit was far angrier than earlier. "What has Bluebell ever done to you to deserve this?"
It seemed to Flyairth that the rabbits had aligned in two groups: those who thought Bluebell was funny, and those who didn't. She had to find a way out of the situation before it could escalate. Her thoughts were interrupted as Hyzenthlay ran inside the burrow.
-"I'm back! Did I miss anything?" She waved her front paws in excitement; this gave Flyairth an idea.
-"Hrair votes." Flyairth pointed at Hyzenthlay. "Bluebell is out. Also he's an outskirter."
-"I didn't vote..." Hyzenthlay said.
Hawkbit was about to protest, but Bluebell silenced him with a kiss.
-"It's not worth it," he said. "Come on, let's go to silflay."
As the two rabbits hopped above ground, Flyairth announced the next night phase.
After his visit to Vervain and Orchis' burrow, Woundwort moved on to the one shared by Campion and Aspen, only to find it empty. After a quick search, he found Campion on top of a tire, presumably passing hraka.
-"Campion! I need your help."
-"What is it?" the captain said absent-mindedly.
-"Back in Efrafa, you trained more new owsla recruits than anyone else except me. I want you to assist me in turning the rest of these fools into decent fighters."
-"I'll be ready after I silflay." Campion was not really hungry; he simply needed an excuse to be alone for a while, to reflect on his current situation.
-"Good. Meet me as soon as you're finished." Woundwort remained unaware of Campion's negative mental state, and hopped away.
A few moments later, however, Woundwort noticed Orchis and Vervain hopping towards one of the buildings. The path leading out of Darkhaven was at the other end of the pit; they were going the wrong way. He immediately ran over to them.
-"What are you two doing?"
-"We were just going to see the Sp..." Orchis started to say, but was cut off.
-"I told you to go on patrol. WIDE patrol, away from the warren. Not exploring this place."
-"Please sir," Vervain begged, "we just wanted to..."
-"Get going! Now!"
With a sigh, Vervain hopped towards the warren's exit, with Orchis following. Woundwort was profoundly annoyed: could Vervain and Orchis really be trusted on their own, away from the warren, or would they get distracted? He would need someone to keep an eye on them so they fulfilled their mission properly.
-"ASPEN!"
-"Sir?" Aspen hopped over to the General.
-"I want you to follow Vervain and Orchis on their wide patrol."
-"I'm sorry sir, but I can't. I have to stay here and protect Campion."
-"Don't worry about Campion, he can take care of himself."
-"It pains me to say this, sir, but he can't. He has died hrair times over the past few days."
Woundwort sighed. A rabbit dying and somehow coming back to life was obviously impossible; Aspen was clearly deluded. Under ordinary circumstances, Woundwort would have expelled Aspen from the owsla, but considering how poorly the others were performing, he needed every rabbit he could get. Convincing a crazy rabbit that they were wrong was a complicated task that would ultimately bring little benefit; he would have no choice but to play along.
-"I'll keep Campion safe today. You take care of the other two captains."
-"Are you sure, sir? The Black Rabbit himself tasked me with protecting Camp..."
-"I'M SURE, JUST GO!"
-"...yes sir."
After all the rabbits in the Honeycomb had calmed down, the game of owslafa continued normally; Captain Broom was evicted in the next night phase.
-"Eh what, I never get voted out during the day, I just get thrown out at night," he said. "The only time I was eliminated during the day was in perhaps my first game at Old Redstone..."
-"You can tell us your story later, Captain." Flyairth was not interested in hearing Captain Broom's ramblings, and neither was anyone else. "It is now time to find out who kicked him out."
The creatures rabbits silent, thinking about who it could be, until Moss spoke:
-"I think it's Nelthilta."
-"Why me?" the doe asked.
-"The way you quickly voted against Bluebell during the last day is suspicious, I think, especially since you didn't provide any rational explanation for this choice."
-"You are so obviously biased."
-"What do you mean?" Thethuthinnang asked.
-"I never got along very well with Moss."
-"Never?" Clover shook her head. "But I thought you two met for the first time yesterday?"
-"I'm really confused, but I think Moss makes a valid point." Rake raised his front paw; several other votes soon followed. Flyairth looked at the rest of the crowd.
-"I'm just as confused as you, Rake," she said, "but the fact remains that Nelthilta is out. She is another outskirter."
-"I was wrong then," Moss said. "Sorry Nelthilta."
-"I hate embleer officers." Nelthilta slowly got up and made a few hops forward. "You're all a bunch of filthy b..." She suddenly broke down into a fit of coughing. She was shaking violently, unable to catch her breath.
-"Take her above ground, hurry!" Thethuthinnang was alarmed. "It is too stuffy in here!"
Nearly all the rabbits in the Honeycomb quickly left to tend to Nelthilta, leaving only Moss and Leo.
-"What have I done to her?" Moss said.
-"The coughing isn't your fault," Leo said.
-"Thanks, but that's not what I meant. It seems that she doesn't like me, but I don't know what I did to displease her. I know some rabbits take this game very seriously, but I think there's more to it than that. Could it be because I used to be an Efrafan officer?"
-"Maybe. You weren't very popular in Efrafa, but the same could be said for everyone in the owsla. Either way, don't worry too much about it. I don't think anyone else here dislikes you."
Hazel, Bigwig, Heather and the four kittens were hopping towards the ruins of Efrafa, slowly and keeping an eye out for elil.
-"I think someone is following us," Hazel said suddenly. "Let's hide!"
The three rabbits ducked under some nearby bushes, while the kittens hopped in another direction.
-"Hazel! Bigwig! It's me, Strawberry!" The buck hopped out from behind a nearby tree.
-"Go back to the warren, Strawberry," Bigwig said gruffly, as he and Hazel emerged from their hiding places. "You're not an Efrafan."
-"I overheard you talking and you can't expect to raid Efrafa by yourselves," Strawberry replied. "You're going to need some help. I don't want to be an enemy, I want to help you."
-"He's right," Hazel said. "We wouldn't stand a chance against the kittens, just the three of us."
-"And we'll have an advantage, since they don't expect Strawberry with us," Bigwig added. "This is going to be fun!"
With that, the four rabbits set off further into the wilderness.
After a while, they broke clear of the woods and could plainly see the ruins of Efrafa. While the dead tree had collapsed into the hole, and all entrances were unrecognizable, the place maintained its dark, wicked and dangerous appearance.
-"The kittens are already here, I recognize their tracks," Strawberry said as he smelled the ground. "They're probably hiding somewhere nearby, just like Efrafan owsla officers would be doing."
The four rabbits hopped closer to the pit and looked at the bottom. It looked very unstable, but with careful digging, they could still break into the runs that had not collapsed yet.
-"If I remember correctly, the flayrah supply would be..." Heather carefully scanned the pit. "Over there!" She pointed to a spot on the left side of the hole. "Let's dig..."
Hannah slowly opened her eyes. It took her a few moments to remember where she was, and what had happened. Her magic pebble was still in her paw, but her headache had completely vanished. The magic appeared to have worked!
She crawled out of the haystack and looked around her. The cats were gone, and so were the rabbits.
-"Oof! Wat's da mattah with dem rabbits? Do ey serioushly expex meh to juss wal' all da way back to tha warn with mah moogic peeble? Tis heave! I won' be gettin' ery far like dis..."
Holding the pebble with her front paws, she slowly walked on her hind legs, periodically losing her balance. After what felt like forever, she finally managed to reach the open gate, and collapsed.
-"'ere has got te be an easier way to do zis..." She looked down at the pebble. "Oof, maybeh...
Ah cell te gloories leydee, liin in is toowee
E beeg far 'is pewar, pwez giv meh th oof
I knoo, I yer matey, or al eerniy
The woohoo sould grann me veesh in e piony
GIMME O VAY TO TRAEL FASS!"
She was not sure whether she expected a sudden gust of wind to lift her up into the air, or Kehaar to drop out of nowhere, but nothing happened at first. It was almost as if magic didn't exist. Frustrated, she dropped the pebble and kicked it with one of her hind legs, before running over to it and kicking it again. On the third kick, however, the pebble struck a nearby tree and bounced back, hitting her in the left ear and knocking her down. Cursing her bad luck, she tried to get up, but to no avail: the pebble was too heavy for her to move her head. She reached towards her ear with her front paws, attempting to dislodge the pebble.