Chapter 173: The Stranger from the Past.
"don't be afraid of them, they won't hurt you as long as you keep your mouth shut."
-gryffindorhobbit, A New Life
After the departure from Silver-Inlé, Vervain and Orchis remained largely silent. Vervain still felt emotionally drained following his recent escapade, and Orchis, realizing this, did not attempt to talk to him.
As time went on, Vervain gradually became more and more nervous, constantly looking around him and sniffing the air. After a while, he finally stopped and told his partner why he was acting like this.
-"I think we're being watched."
-"We probably are," Orchis replied calmly. "Like I said earlier, the elil..."
-"Yes, I know, the elil are out hunting, no need to repeat yourself. But I can't smell any elil."
-"In that case, we're probably not being watched. Shall we get going, or have you changed your mind and now wish to stop here to spend the night?"
-"We're staying here, but not to spend the night. Only until I get to the bottom of this."
Vervain sniffed the air once more, attempting to identify the creature watching them. The scent appeared vaguely similar to that of a rabbit, but there was something more to it, that left him disturbed. He took another sniff when suddenly, he spotted the shadow near the base of a tree. It was clearly that of a rabbit, but Vervain was still left startled, and squealed.
-"My apologies, I hope I did not scare you too much," the stranger said.
As Vervain came back to his senses, he took a closer look at the stranger. His fur was mostly black, but there was also a lot of brown, notably across his head. His eyes were deep red, giving off creepy vibes. He looked vaguely familiar to Vervain.
-"Vervain, it's been a while, hasn't it? And I see you brought an unnamed friend with you," the stranger said.
This confirmed Vervain's suspicions, the two rabbits had indeed met before. However, no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to recognize this face. Nevertheless, not wanting to look like an idiot, Vervain decided to pretend to recognize him, at least for now.
-"It really has been a while...his name's Orchis...do you want to come with us to our new warren?"
-"Thank you for the invitation. I will take you up on your offer, the hlessi life isn't very good."
-"Follow us, then..."
The two rabbits, now three, resumed their journey. While everyone remained silent, Vervain focused all his thoughts on the new visitor, attempting to remember his identity; it also had the nice side-effect of keeping him distracted from his sadness over the failure of the latest mission. But Vervain was still unable to place this face.
It was only when they finally reached the edge of the Darkhaven pit that he finally remembered: the stranger was called Kurai, he was a former Efrafan. Efrafa...Vervain had only left that warren less than a cycle of Inlé ago, but it still felt like forever...
Vervain and Kurai's last meeting was even more ancient, dating back to the previous fall: Vervain had spent the winter and early spring imprisoned due to a cheap trick by Hazel and his outsiders. Over these seasons, he had little to no contact with other rabbits apart from his fellow slaves and the guards; Kurai was neither. He had been in the owsla, extremely popular with his fellow officers, rapidly climbing the ranks. Too popular, in fact: Vervain, always seeing conspiracies everywhere, suspected that the red-eyed buck was hiding a dark secret. It was perhaps the only thing he and Campion ever agreed upon. But neither rabbit was ever able to find out what this secret was, if there even was one.
As Vervain reached the bottom of the pit, he spotted a familiar rabbit. Instantly forgetting his theories about Kurai, he thought back at his deep space adventure, and prepared himself for a confrontation.
-"Campion!" he shouted. "I know you're a traitor, and this time, I have proof! You won't be getting away this time."
Campion turned to look at Vervain, and raised his eyebrow.
-"Proof? Now I highly doubt that, as I am not a traitor. I would love to see this alleged proof."
-"I clearly saw you hiding as a pile of carrots!"
Campion thought back: he had indeed done that, on the space station. However, he would never admit that in front of Vervain.
-"You mean hiding 'behind' a pile of carrots?"
-"Of course not! There is no carrot pile around here big enough to conceal a rabbit your size. You were disguised as carrots, I clearly saw you change shape!"
-"So, you're saying that I took on the shape of a carrot?"
-"No, not a single carrot, a whole stack of them."
-"All right. Now that we've got that sorted out, where's your proof?"
-"I saw you with my very own eyes."
Campion remained silent for a few moments, to see if Vervain would add anything, but he didn't.
-"Is that it?"
-"What more do you expect?"
Campion started to laugh.
-"What's so funny?" Vervain asked defiantly.
-"You are."
-"You won't be laughing much longer! When Woundwort finds out..."
-"Oh right, Woundwort! What are you going to do? Tell him that I'm not only a traitor, but also a changeling and a star traveller? And that you have no proof except your claims that you saw me? Go ahead and try! He will definitely believe you, no questions asked. He won't mock you or accuse you of insanity again. I will soon be imprisoned or executed, while you will get all the glory."
As he heard Campion's sarcasm, Vervain's spirits fell, as he realized that there was no way he would ever be able to convince Woundwort of what he had seen. He dejectedly hopped away, until he realized that Campion might have made a mistake.
-"Wait...you just said you went to the stars! I knew it! Now, I have the proof I need to discredit you!"
-"I'm just using your words. You're the one who accused me of visiting the stars, not me. Don't you remember what you just said?"
Vervain, of course, hadn't made any such accusations, and Campion knew that; the goal was merely to get Vervain to doubt himself, an effective psychological weapon. Judging by the expression on the bearded rabbit's face, it seemed to be working.
-"I brought a new rabbit!" Vervain suddenly shouted, eager to distract from the embarrassing situation.
Kurai stepped forward; Campion gasped as he saw him. He remained frozen in shock as Kurai hopped even closer to him.
-"Campion, it is good to see you. It has been a while, I missed you. When I heard you disappeared from Efrafa, I was expecting the worst. It appears that you have suffered some hardships, but as the talented patroller that you are, you were able to rise above the troubles, and stay alive."
Campion was unsure how to react. Kurai nearly always spoke like that, with positive words and a sweet tone of voice, which had helped him become popular. While lower-ranked officers like Moss or Red had fallen for it, Campion had always remained suspicious. He had been keeping a close eye on Kurai for a while, until the General's "death" forced him to put a halt to this investigation before reaching a logical conclusion. Now that the mysterious rabbit had returned, perhaps he would be able to resume his spying.
-"Kurai. Uh...welcome back? Shall I take you to see the General?"
-"General Woundwort is here too? That is excellent news. I knew that those rumours of his death were just that, rumours, and that there was no truth to them. I would love to speak with him, catch up on recent events."
-"Er, good...I'll lead you to his burrow..."
As Campion and Kurai hopped away, Vervain left in the opposite direction. Following yet another failure, this time regarding Campion, his mood was at its lowest point in days. Orchis hopped over to him; Vervain had largely forgotten about him since he had returned to the warren.
-"Am I losing my mind?" he asked.
-"Yes," came Orchis' reply.
-"I was hoping you would support me."
-"Yes, and I am supporting you."
-"I fail to see how telling me that I'm losing my mind counts as support."
-"You asked me a question, so I answered truthfully. While lying to you might have brought temporary relief, 'temporary' is the key word here, and ultimately you would have ended up even worse off than you are now."
With a sigh, Vervain hopped away.
-"Where are you going?" Orchis asked.
-"Where do you think? To the burrow, I'm exhausted."
-"I'll join you."