AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you Anonymous Guest for the review! I'm curious, though, what were you expecting?
Chapter 169: V Bunnies.
"[...] it has to end sometime, and when it does end, I'm left feeling lost and alone."
-MackDreamer, Where is Home?
After Hazel had calmed down, he returned to the bridge, along with Fiver, Bluebell and Blackberry; the vessel had been left in Vilthuril's command in their absence. Bigwig and Spartina also returned from sick burrow, while awaiting Hannah to regain consciousness. Hazel took his spot on the captain's chair to address the others.
-"I think, by now, we've all realized that we don't belong here," Hazel said. "How do we get out of this place, and back to Watership Down? I know I'm supposed to be the leader here, but to tell the truth, I know almost nothing about this place."
-"On the subject of leaving, I have good news, bad news, and worse news," Blackberry said.
Hazel shook his head.
-"I don't know which I want to hear first..."
-"The bad news is that the radiation from the explosion fried our warp cores," Blackberry continued, without waiting for Hazel to decide. "The good news is that auxiliary systems are still functional. The worse news is that even if we could break out of orbit, we have nowhere to go."
Everyone stared at Blackberry, not understanding a single word he had just said. He sighed; once again, he would have to simplify his explanations.
-"The bad news is that we're stuck here at Meadow Grove. The good news is that, barring another Zorn attack, our lives are in no immediate danger. The worse news is that I don't know where Watership Down is, or how to get back there."
-"I might be able to help with that."
The rabbits all looked around them, trying to figure out who had said that. The voice felt familiar, but it did not match any of the rabbits present.
-"Who is this? Show yourself this instant!" Hazel ordered.
-"You don't remember me? My dear outsider, you disappoint me so."
The rabbits continued to look around until finally, Hazel spotted him, sitting on the armrest of the captain's chair. It was Vervain.
-"V! What are you doing here?"
-"I heard your cry of distress and, as the kind and benevolent creature that I am, selflessly put aside what I was doing to come to your rescue."
-"Good to know," Hazel said, rolling his eyes. "Now tell us the real reason why you're here."
Vervain sighed.
-"It's not much fun if you don't play along. Anyway, my good friend captain Orchis kindly led me to Nepenthes Warren so I could try to track down my beloved. Or, at least, he told me it was Nepenthes, but it wasn't. After digging up its Server and reactivating it, I learned that it was actually the warren of Silver-Inlé. Hmm." Vervain pressed a button on the side of the seat.
-"Careful, V, that's sensitive equipment!" Hazel warned.
-"Nobody cares." He cleared his throat. "V's log. Reminder to berate Orchis for his foolish mistake later." He pressed the button once again, saving the log entry. "Now where was I? Oh yes, I was having a grand old time with the server. These adventures were so exciting. I just had to join in, and what better role to portray than that of the one with ultimate power?"
-"Ultimate power, that's ridiculous," Fiver said. "You're the same old cowardly Vervain you've always been."
-"No, I am not!" Vervain knew that Fiver was telling the truth, but it had still been painful to hear. "I am now the all-powerful V! I have as many abilities as Frith himself!"
-"What do you want with us?" Hazel asked.
-"I want to know your warren's location, so I can report back to Woundwort and obtain his eternal admiration."
-"We're not going to tell you," Bigwig said sternly.
-"Ah, Plump Rabbit." Vervain hopped over to him. "It's been so long since Efrafa. Too long, in fact."
-"For the last time, I am not a plump rabbit!"
-"I can do something about that."
Vervain waved his paw in front of Bigwig. The owsla captain then started to shrink, until he was only the size of a rat.
-"Not so plump now, are you? Oh, how fun it is to have all the power!"
-"You're not going to get away with this, V!" tiny Bigwig shouted.
-"Oh, I already have. Now, about your warren's location..."
-"We're still not telling you," Hazel said.
-"Oh really? What about your mate?"
-"Primrose?" Hazel buried his claws in the fabric of the seat. "What has she got to do with this?"
-"I vowed many seasons ago in Efrafa that I would break her spirit. You stole her away before I could finish the job, but now that we're all together in the same place, I can resume."
-"I don't think she's on this vessel," Bluebell said. "She probably didn't go through the portal."
Vervain pressed a few buttons on the captain's chair to access the ship's sensors. He looked at the list of all life-signs onboard, confirming Primrose's absence.
-"Oh, so no Primrose, then," he said, lowering his head. "What a pity, I was looking forward to tormenting her again. No matter, I'll soon get my chance." He turned to Vilthuril. "Who's this pretty thing?"
Vilthuril was left disturbed. She had heard stories about Vervain and his sick twisted mind. Now that he was in front of her, she could sense how accurate these stories were.
-"Back off, V," Fiver said, standing between the two rabbits.
-"Oh, look at that. The tiny little mystic is telling me to back off. Now, what shall I do with you? Disable your second sight, perhaps?"
-"Go ahead! You would be doing me a favour. You have no idea how emotionally draining it can be."
-"Hmm, in that case it wouldn't be much of a punishment, I'll have to think of something else..."
V was still pondering his various options to inflict upon Fiver when Strawberry arrived through the only entrance leading to the bridge.
-"The patient just woke up," she said, just before noticing Vervain. "Oh brambles, who is this?"
-"I can be your worst nightmare...but for now I'm just mischievous."
-"Let's all go check on our patient, then," Hazel said, as all the rabbits went towards the exit.
-"Maybe if we ignore V long enough, he'll get bored and leave," Bluebell suggested along the way, whispering to prevent Vervain from hearing.
-"Just try." Vervain had heard, despite Bluebell's attempts at preventing this. "I'm in no hurry."
The rabbits were soon gathered in sick burrow. They tried to ignore Vervain, but he did his best to make his presence as annoying as possible. Not only was Bigwig still shrunken, but Blackberry had grown a third ear, and Spartina's gravity field was reversed, causing her to walk on the ceiling rather than the floor like everyone else. Additionally, Vervain continually put himself in front of other rabbits; when they tried to push him away or look in another direction, he simply teleported in front of someone else. Despite these constant distractions, the Watershippers did their best not to pay attention, focusing on Hannah instead. She was lying on one of the beds, wide awake, a screen full of blinking lights hanging over her. Those were the medical sensors, but they were not calibrated for use on mice, causing them to fluctuate wildly.
-"Eev been loooken ay oveh foo ye baycoz e he eemprotint msag foe yal."
-"I can't understand what she's saying," Fiver said.
-"I tried to adjust the universal translator, but it's no use, she naturally sounds like that," Blackberry said sadly.
-"Eem dooin me bist ere! No me foolt yer longyear woik no goood!"
-"V, why don't you make yourself useful for once, and make her intelligible," Hazel said, finally acknowledging the former Efrafan's presence.
-"If you ask nicely," Vervain replied with a grin.
-"Please change her voice," Hazel said, with a sigh.
-"Always happy to oblige."
Vervain stamped once and, mid-sentence, Hannah's voice changed dramatically: it had gone from high-pitched and heavily-accented to much deeper, but also incredibly slow.
-"Yve ben srcehng foey wwaayy bbaacckk hhoommee, hhaavveenn'tt yyoouu? Ii kknnooww hhooww ttoo aaccoommpplliisshh tthhaatt. Wwee hhaavvee ttoo ggoo tthhrroouugghh tthhee wwoorrmmhhoollee aatt Ddeeeepp Ssppaaccee Hhrraaiirr."
-"That's so much better," Hazel said. "You're saying that we have to go to this 'Deep Space Hrair' place to return home?"
-"Tthhaatt iiss ccoorrrreecctt, iinn ffaacctt, iitt mmaayy bbee tthhee oonnllyy wwaayy hhoommee."
-"Somewhat unrelated, but I have a question: how did you end up with the Zorn? They tried destroy us."
-"Ssiimmppllee...tthheeyy kkiiddnnaappppeedd mmee! Ii vveennttuurreedd iinnttoo tthhee aarreeaa tthheeyy ccoonnttrrooll, wwiitthhoouutt rreeaalliizziinngg iitt, aanndd tthheeyy ttooookk mmee pprriissoonneerr. Ffoorrttuunnaatteellyy, iinn tthhee ccoonnffuussiioonn ooff tthhee bbaattttllee, Ii wwaass aabbllee ttoo eessccaappee ttoo tthhee sshhuuttttlleeccrraafftt, uunnttiill iitt wwaass ddaammaaggeedd bbyy tthhee eexxpplloossiioonn. Iiff yyoouu hhaaddnn'tt ssaavveedd mmee, Ii wwoouulldd bbee ddeeadd rriigghhtt nnooww...tthhiiss vvooiiccee iiss eevveenn wwoorrssee tthhaann uussuuaall, cchhaannggee iitt bbaacckk VV..."
-"No, I like this voice better," V said with a chuckle.
Hazel hopped away from Hannah, pulling a few of the others aside.
-"Looks like we're going to Deep Space Hrair. Fiver, can you plot a course leading there?"
-"I'm afraid not, Hazel. I may know the place's name, but that doesn't tell me where it is. Also, even if I did know, Blackberry said the warp cores are destroyed, so we would be stuck here at Meadow Grove. anyway"
-"I can take you there right now, if you wish," Vervain said. "It's one of the advantages of my new abilities. I only ask for one thing in return."
-"And what would that be?"
Knowing Vervain, Hazel had a rough idea what the answer would be, but there was still no harm in asking. His suspicions were soon confirmed.
-"Your warren's location."
Hazel covered his face with his paw.
-"I think you already know the answer to that question. We're not telling you where our warren is."
-"Very well. I expected that. You don't have to tell me the exact location. Just tell me which direction it is in, and I'll still take you to Deep Space Hrair. Is it in the path of the setting sun? Rising sun?"
-"Is the all-powerful V begging?" Bigwig said "all-powerful" in a mocking tone, in order to insult Vervain.
-"No!" Vervain said unconvincingly. "I'm...negotiating! Big difference there."
-"Right, I'm hungry, so why don't we all go to silflay?" Hazel said, ignoring Vervain once again.
-"It's an interesting thing, the silflay," Blueberry said. "Silflay is more than just eating, it involves going above ground to do it. You can't silflay underground. And you can't silflay inside a spaceship either, and I wouldn't recommend going outside, we can't breathe out there."
-"All the same, let's eat, inside, and try to think of another way home. It's hard to come up with a good plan on an empty stomach."
All the rabbits, and Hannah, walked out of sick burrow. Only Vervain remained: he was at the back of the line, and the doors closed after everyone else had left.
-"Hey, what about me? You can't just leave me here, what about the trial? You are on trial for disobeying Woundwort, you know!" Vervain then remembered his powers and, embarrassed at not having thought of it earlier, simply teleported to the other side of the door.
After wandering through the hallways for a while, Vervain eventually located the other rabbits in another room on the spaceship; it was the vessel's main lounge. There was one new rabbit present, who seemed larger than the others. There was something about her that gave him a bad feeling, but he was unable to figure it out. He chose to ignore her, focusing instead on the rabbits he already knew. They were gathered throughout the room, nibbling flayrah. Spartina seemed to be having trouble: since she was still on the ceiling, the flayrah had been thrown at her, and she had to catch it with her front paws. She never managed to hold onto it long enough to take more than a few bites, upon which she dropped it, and it had to be thrown back up by the strange new rabbit.
-"There is this fascinating new technology called the quantum slipstream," Blueberry suggested. "We could try that. I always carry the necessary equipment to build such a drive with me. We could reach Deep Space Hrair in just a few moments and without dying, if we get lucky."
-"If we get lucky?" Hazel shook his head. "That's not very reassuring..."
-"I could probably work on improving reliability, but the calculations will take time, even for someone like me."
-"Or I could just carry you there," Vervain said. "All I ask for in return, is one piece of information."
-"I would rather try the quantum slipstream, unless someone comes up with a third option," Bluebell said.
-"I agree," Vilthuril said. "It's the lesser of two evils."
-"You want something to eat or drink?" The strange rabbit turned and looked at Vervain. "Oof, you."
Vervain stared at the new rabbit. One of her ears was bending forward, obscuring part of her face. But that wasn't the worst of it: one of her front paws, along with both her hind legs, were made of metal. He recognized a few mentions of her from the server: she came from a distant land, and had experienced a difficult life so far. What was she doing there? Apart from being a rabbit (and a wildly different rabbit at that) she had nothing in common with everyone else. From what he knew of her, he was left terrified, and lost all will to resist. Over the next few moments, Bigwig grew back to his normal size, Blackberry's third ear vanished, and Spartina fell from the ceiling; upon hitting the floor, she let out a loud grown of frustration.
-"Deep Space Hrair, was it?" Vervain asked. "That's where you wanted to go?"
-"Yes, but..." Hazel started to say.
-"I'll take you there right now. You don't have to tell me your warren's location."