AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you Anonymous Guest for the review :)

Also warning, this chapter is dark too...

Chapter 141: The Sneaky Tricks.

"Sleep is elusive for him no matter how hard he tried to relax his racing thoughts or his pounding heartbeat, for it thrums in his blood and his bones. The stillness of sleep, the rest and rejuvenation that comes with it would be welcome. But it is not to be."

-karrenia, Fiver, Beyond

Primrose was lying in her burrow, with her four kittens nearby. She was telling them a story in an attempt at keeping them entertained until the battle was finished, but she was dreadfully worried about Hazel, preventing her from staying focused.

Just outside the burrow, Pipkin and Nyreem grinned, ready to set their plan in motion. Pipkin hopped into the burrow, with the saddest expression he could manage. Primrose immediately noticed it.

-"What's wrong, Pipkin?" she asked.

Pipkin did not reply, but maintained his pitiful look.

-"Come closer."

Pipkin did so, carefully looking at Primrose's concerned face. The pale doe seemed really worried; this was the perfect time to act.

-"Nyreem," he said, giving the signal without Primrose realizing.

-"What about her?"

Suddenly, Nyreem ran into the burrow, tackled Primrose and started tickling her.

-"Junior owsla, prepare for an important mission!" Pipkin shouted.

The four kittens cheered, and dashed out of the burrow before Primrose could realize what was happening.

-"Sorry we had to do this," Nyreem said, as she ran away after Pipkin and the others.

It took a few moments for Primrose to catch her breath after the other rabbits had vanished.

-"You sneaky tricksters! How could you do this?"

The group ran towards the nearest tunnel leading above ground, when suddenly Gilia stopped.

-"What about Blueberry?"

-"What about him?" Pipkin asked.

-"Should we bring him with us?"

-"Why would we want to bring that dirty filthy spy?" Snowdrop said, before answering her own question. "Oh, to execute him! Brilliant!"

-"What? No!" Gilia was horrified by her sister's gruesome suggestion. "To get him to fight with us."

-"He'll probably do his best to get the weasels to kill us."

-"Weasels pose a threat to Woundwort too," Mallow said. "Regardless of which side Blueberry's on, he would have something to gain by helping us with the battle."

-"I really think he's innocent, anyway," Pipkin said. "If you think it's a good idea, Gilia, go get him."

Gilia smiled, and hopped towards Blueberry's burrow, as the others went above ground.

She soon spotted Blueberry lying down in a corner of the burrow.

-"Blueberry."

The black kitten turned his head to look at her, but remained silent.

-"The warren's being attacked by weasels," she said.

-"What!"

-"I was hoping you might be able to help us fighting."

A look of excitement appeared on Blueberry's face, only to be replaced by sadness moments later.

-"I would love to, but Bigwig won't allow me to leave the burrow."

-"That doesn't matter, we need every fighter we can get."

-"Did Bigwig approve this?"

-"Do you want to fight, or don't you?"

-"I do, but..."

-"Then follow me!"

Fiver was still lying in the Honeycomb, recovering from his vision, when suddenly another rabbit burst in.

-"Which way did they go?"

Fiver stared directly at Primrose.

-"Who are "they"?" he whispered.

-"The kittens, who else?"

-"I thought they were with you?"

-"Pipkin took them away for, in his words, an 'important mission'."

Fiver gasped: this 'important mission' could mean only one thing.

-"Oh no...they're probably above ground fighting the weasels. We must save them!"

The two rabbits ran out of the Honeycomb as fast as they could. Once outside, they tried to locate Hazel, so they could warn him of the current situation.

Cornflower, desperate for a way to save her friend Clover, bit the tail of the weasel threatening her. This did little damage: seasons of poor food back at Nuthanger Farm had left her teeth in bad condition, not sharp at all. The weasel, merely annoyed, kicked her away with its hind legs.

Seeing how easily her friend had been defeated, Clover came to the conclusion that she was doomed. The weasel would kill her in just a few moments. Had she stayed at Nuthanger Farm, she would still be alive, but she had no regrets. Freedom had been worth it.

But death didn't come, and she could no longer sea the weasel. Completely tharn, she remained motionless, listening. She could hear several kicks, the weasel's cries of pain, and ultimately a familiar rabbit's voice.

-"I swear, if I catch you anywhere near my Clover again, you're dead."

The weasel seemed utterly terrified. This moment of distraction allowed Flyairth to snap its neck before it had a chance to test Flora's threat. Flora, meanwhile, hopped back to Clover.

-"Are you all right?"

Still lying on her back, Clover looked at Flora. From this angle, light was shining all around the other doe's pretty face.

-"Yes, yes, I'm...uh..."

Clover was finding it hard to stay focused on her words. As Flora realized this, it seemed to both rabbits that there was only one logical, natural thing to do.

Around halfway towards to the bottom of the Down, Captain Broom finished ripping a weasel's neck open. He felt ecstatic. He was finally reliving the glory days of Redstone Warren. He had defeated many elil in his prime, and lately it seemed he was viewed by the others as a weakened old rabbit, but not anymore. For the first time in forever, he felt alive, strong, and respected, notably by his fighting partner, Myrkin.

Further away, another weasel was walking through the grass, when suddenly one of its front paws sank into a hole. It got back up, and inserted its head inside the hole. It was obviously a rabbit burrow, with a single doe lying inside.

Nelthilta looked up and saw the weasel staring at her through the hole in the ceiling of her burrow. She immediately raised her head and bit its nose as hard as she could. The weasel yelped in pain, before hurriedly getting out of the hole, as Nelthilta grinned in satisfaction. This joyful feeling was only temporary, however, as Nelthilta realized that her face, and the burrow floor, were now covered with the weasel's nasal discharge, and blood. Utterly disgusting.

The weasel also found itself in an unpleasant situation. As soon as it got its head out of the hole, Silver smacked it in the face. Then, Hazel and Silver both kicked it, each on one side of its head, smashing its skull open.

As Hazel ran towards another weasel, he saw two rabbits approaching him. He immediately turned to them.

-"Fiver! Primrose! Didn't I tell you to stay underground?"

-"The kittens ran away!" the doe shouted desperately. "They're around here somewhere, they might get killed!"

-"We have to find them." Hazel instantly realized just how dangerous the situation was, and knew something had been done. "Do you know which way they went?"

At that moment, a dreadful squeal pierced the air. Hazel turned, and saw Fiver in the jaws of another weasel.

-"No!"

At that moment, however, the weasel abruptly dropped Fiver; his fur was covered with blood.

-"You're injured!" Hazel cried.

-"But I don't feel any pain..." Fiver replied, confused.

-"It's the weasel who is hurt," Primrose pointed out.

As Hazel glanced at the predator, he saw what his mate meant: there were no teeth inside the weasel's mouth, and it was bleeding. Moments later, with a loud cry, the entire junior owsla (except Blueberry, who was elsewhere boldly fighting three weasels at once) pounced on the defenceless weasel, and scratched it all over.

-"Children! What are you doing here?" Hazel shouted.

The kittens stared at Hazel with a worried look on their faces.

-"We thought we would help you," Nyreem said.

-"In fact," Mallow bragged, "we saved your brother. We got that weasel to bite a really hard stick, and the teeth remained there."

-"I gave you strict orders to stay underground, and you disobeyed. I'm really disappointed in you," Hazel said, not paying attention to what they were saying. "I'll deal with you as soon as the battle is finished. Primrose, Fiver, carry them back underground."

The two rabbits nodded, and each took two kittens in their mouth before hopping back towards the warren. Pipkin and Nyreem followed, visibly disappointed by the way their mission had turned out.