Chapter 198: It's Not Easy to Dig.

"Anyway, if you want everyone else to see you differently, you got to act how you want to be seen."

-EchoEternal, Fu Inlé (After Moonrise)

Once morning came, Hazel had a discussion with the other two Chiefs, regarding possibly helping the Sunflower Forest ghosts. As expected, they supported the idea. At morning silflay, the subject was mentioned to everyone else present, in order to recruit volunteers for the digging duties.

-"So we're going digging to help a ghost?" Nelthilta was the first to react, and she maintained her usual negative attitude. "Ugh, how pointless. Count me out."

-"Even if you wanted to come, Nelthilta, you wouldn't be able to," Blackberry pointed out. "Not in your current physical state. Any physically-intensive task could potentially kill you."

-"I still say it's pointless."

-"Me too," Dandelion added. "I've already done enough digging helping build this warren, there's no way I'm doing any more."

-"Anyone else who thinks it's pointless is welcome to stay here," Hazel said. "We're asking for volunteers, nobody is forced to do anything."

-"I'll do it." Blackberry was the first to volunteer. This would be the perfect solution to her recent feelings of uselessness, she welcomed the opportunity to get digging again. "Filling in a burrow is no easy task, a whole warren will be even more challenging. If you don't want to get trapped underground, you'll need someone to teach you how to do this safely."

-"We would be glad to have you," Holly said. "Anyone else?"

There was silence for a few moments. It seemed that many rabbits were hesitant to volunteer, although they were still considering it.

-"I'll go," Hickory said. "Maybe this digging will help me get my mind off things."

-"I would go too," Marigold said, "but I can't leave my kitten unsupervised..."
-"I'll take care of her. Him?" Clover said, unsure as to the kitten's gender.

Marigold appeared relieved as she heard Clover's offer.

-"Just make sure my child stays away from the weirdos."

Marigold did not elaborate as to who these "weirdos" were (nor did she answer the question), although Clover had some theories. While she felt these concerns were unfounded, she would still stay away from these rabbits, so as not to betray Marigold's trust.

-"I'll do my best."

-"If anyone in the owsla wants to go, you can," Bigwig said. "Those of you who don't, are to report to the training grounds after silflay."

It was ni-Frith, and the heat was really difficult to stand. Fortunately, in the shade of the beech tree, the rabbits could avoid the worst of it.

Bigwig was pacing, as he prepared to give his owsla instructions for the day's training; none had gone digging.

-"Today, you are going to learn something new. These fighting techniques will be unlike anything I have taught you before. As I'm sure you all know, a few days ago, we were attacked by mice. Mice! And they managed to defeat a few of us too."

Hawkbit was among the rabbits listening to Bigwig, and he was feeling anxious. He recognized he could not have anticipated the attack Bigwig had just mentioned, by Pinky and the Brain. Additionally, nobody had blamed him for the way he had handled the situation. However, it was still highly embarrassing for this to be brought up, especially in front of everyone.

Hawkbit was also concerned about the captain's plans to teach something new. He had always struggled with new moves; since Bigwig had warned that he would be teaching something completely different, it was also likely that his existing skills would be largely useless. Training would be even more unpleasant than usual; if only there was a way for him to bail out for the day...

At that moment, he saw Hazel and a few others hopping towards the bottom of the Down. Realizing that the perfect opportunity had just presented itself, he hopped over to join them. He knew he would probably regret this once they reached Sunflower Forest and started digging, but it still seemed preferable to training.

-"Where are you going?" Bigwig called out.

-"I'm going to join the digging party at Sunflower Forest," Hawkbit replied calmly.

-"But I thought you hated digging?" Bluebell pointed out.

-"Who me? No! I love digging! I've never been so glad to go digging in all my life." This was an obvious lie, and Hawkbit struggled to make it sound convincing. He had to leave quickly, before the questions became too hard to answer. "Well, see you later!"

Dandelion looked at Hawkbit, before turning back towards Bigwig. He once again turned around, and finally realized what Hawkbit's plan was. Why not try it out himself too?

-"I'll go with him," he shouted, as he too ran off. "Good bye!"

Due to his slow speed, Dandelion struggled to catch up with the others, but since they were not going particularly fast, he reached them just beyond the bottom of the Down. Hawkbit was first to notice his arrival.

-"You said that there was no way you would be doing any more digging," he pointed out.

-"Once we're there, we'll come up with some excuse not to," Dandelion whispered in his friend's ear.

-"What would this excuse be?"

-"Uh...I didn't think that far ahead...fake an injury?"

-"Blackberry is not just the best digger, she's the best healer too. We would never be able to fool her."

-"Fair point. How about deliberately doing a poor job?"

-"If we act too incompetent, they'll just send us back to the warren, and we will have to face our hairy captain's wrath."

Dandelion fell silent, as he struggled to come up with another plan. Around halfway to the destination, he finally made a new suggestion:

-"Oh, I know! How about we just push rocks underground? This way, the warren would be filled, and we wouldn't have to touch the dirt."

Hawkbit's ears drooped to the sides of his head as he heard this ridiculous idea.

-"Seriously, Dandelion, is that the best you can come up with? Surely there must be some El-ahrairah stories we could learn from?"

-"Where do you think I've been getting these ideas?"

-"Do you mean to tell me that El-ahrairah once filled a warren with rocks?"

-"No, it was Prince Rainbow who did it, hoping it would stop El-ahrairah from stealing his carrots."

-"Did it work?"

-"...no, it didn't," Dandelion was ashamed to admit, as he realized that this was indeed a bad idea. Hoping to reduce the humiliation, he changed the subject. "By the way, Hawkbit, what was that dream all about?"

-"Dream? What dream?"

-"The night you got attacked by the mice, you mentioned that you had a weird dream."

-"Oh, that. I had a dream that I was a father. While that might sound nice at first, let me tell you, it quickly became more like a nightmare. There I was, faced with a litter of squealing kittens, no idea what to do, or how to take care of them. I went to see others for advice, but everyone said that since I'm their father, I should know best. But I really didn't know! I tried playing with them, but then they started whining that they're so tired and want to sleep. So I took them to their burrow, and suddenly they're wide awake and can't stop running everywhere."

-"That sounds horrible."

-"It was. I admire Hazel and Primrose's patience when dealing with their kittens. I would never be able to do it without losing my mind."

Meanwhile at the top of the Down, Bigwig merely shook his head as he saw the group of diggers fade in the distance.

-"Of course, the two rabbits who skip training are those who need it the most..." he mumbled. "I'll have to teach them tomorrow, and the rest of you today. I have also brought along a special guest for today's lesson."

Bigwig stepped aside, revealing the identity of the special guest: it was Hannah.

-"I never thought I would see the day, when you would agree to train me," the mouse said with a rare smile. "What exactly will you be doing with me, anyway?"

-"Your job will be to defend yourself," Bigwig said, in a manner that came across as ominous to the mouse.

-"Defend myself?"

-"Yes. I have previously taught my owsla how to battle elil, or other rabbits; now, the time has come for them to learn how to fight against other creatures."

It dawned on Hannah just what Bigwig was suggesting.

-"Wait. You brought me here so I could be a target for combat practice? Seriously?"

-"Of course," Bigwig confirmed. "They are supposed to practice fighting mice; who better to practice with than an actual mouse?"

-"You rabbits are so big compared to me, you could all kill me in just one kick."

-"This is just practice, they won't hurt you for real."

-"That's not a risk I'm willing to take. You'll have to do this without me."

Before Bigwig could reply, Hannah had already run off. She went to the spot where she concealed her magic pebble, and held it out in the ray of sunlight. It did not shine or glow, it was not pretty in any way; it looked just like any ordinary rock.

-"So much for a pebble," she said. "I wish there was a way for a mouse to accomplish something in life without having to mess with powers beyond her understanding..."

Bigwig, meanwhile, was left at a loss. Hannah's departure would complicate his plans; he would have to improvise.

-"I will ask you all to pretend that I am a mouse," he said. Seeing Bluebell open his mouth, however, he felt the need to add something. "And the first one who makes a joke will be assigned to night patrol until the next round moon."

Bluebell closed his mouth again, without saying a word. Hawkbit and Dandelion were gone, so it was unlikely anyone else would attempt inappropriate humour, so Bigwig felt ready to explain his idea in greater detail.

-"All of you, take turns attacking me as if I was a mouse. I will then tell you what you did wrong, so you can correct it."

-"Or you could use me instead," came a sudden voice.

Bigwig turned to look at the rabbit who had spoken; it was Blueberry. While the kitten was definitely larger than a mouse, he was still one of the smallest rabbits in the warren, and would be perfect for such a task. However...

-"I will not be letting a kitten fight against grown rabbits."

-"Pipkin said it was all right."

This was slightly misleading. Blueberry had spoken to Pipkin earlier in the morning, on Hawkbit's advice. However, he had only asked if he could "hang out with the owsla", to which Pipkin had replied that he didn't need permission, he was free to hang out with whoever he wanted. He had not mentioned his desire to train, out of fear of being rejected again.

He was nervous; if Bigwig went to Pipkin to verify, he would probably be turned down. Hopefully he would be accepted, and perhaps he might make a positive impression on the captain.

-"Well, if Pipkin said so..." Bigwig finally relented.

Blueberry grinned, extremely excited at the prospect of finally taking part in training.

-"Right, so, try to fight Blueberry as if he was a mouse, I will watch," Bigwig ordered to the others. "Still, take it easy on him. He is just a kitten, after all. Be gentle in training, but brutal in battle."

Strawberry was the first rabbit to face off against Blueberry. He slowly raised his front paw, and gave a small smack to the kitten's side. This did little besides ruffling the fur.

-"Is that the best you've got?" Blueberry said. "Come on, you can do better than that, I'm sure of it."

This was followed after a few moments by a hard tackle. The first of many he would sustain over the course of the day. And it left the kitten very pleased.