AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm back! I will likely post one chapter every week for the next few months. The end is close, this may be the last year of Possibilities (although I can't guarantee anything). Until then, enjoy this one-chapter cameo from an obscure TFWD character.

Chapter 209: Cave of Feelings.

"Suddenly a memory flashed in her mind, a memory which she had tried to block out. [...] "Don't... Don't go! Please!""

-ToonGuy, Alternate Pathway

When Fiver woke up, he saw that he was in an unfamiliar location. Everything around him was black. He was clearly above ground, but there was nothing in the sky: no sun, no moon, no stars. There was no light from distant human settlements either. It was even darker than on a cloudy night.

Fiver quickly became nervous: he did not know his surroundings, anything could be out there. There were many scents in the air, but it was windy, making it virtually impossible to identify their origins. His instincts told him to run, but he could not know where to run to.

After a while, he heard approaching steps. Suddenly, he realized that this other creature was actually right in front of him, the faint shape of its body barely visible with the perpetual darkness; he was spooked by the sudden arrival.

-"Gyah!"

-"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," the other creature said. "Let me sniff you."

For a few moments, Fiver felt this unfamiliar creature's nose and whiskers around his face. She had a weird scent, he was unable to identify what species she was.

-"Are you a rabbit?" she eventually asked, having had better luck with her nose than Fiver.

-"Er...yes, maybe, probably." Normally, this would have been an easy question to answer, but under the circumstances, Fiver was not sure of anything. "Are you?"

-"No. I am a glanbrin."

-"I see. Interesting." Fiver had never heard of this species, and due to the darkness, remained unsure what they looked like.

-"Do you? Do you really see? There is no sunlight here."

Fiver had mean "I see" metaphorically, but clearly this creature had taken it literally. Despite his very neutral response, he had still managed to offend her.

-"You're right, I don't see. I'm sorry."

-"Don't worry, it's fine. My name's Flairgold. What's yours?"

-"I'm Fiver."

-"Nice to meet you, Fiver. Do you want me to lead you to my den? I have some tasty roots that I could share."

-"Yes, I would appreciate that."

Flairgold's den turned out to be very close; it took less than a minute to get there, and this was despite Flairgold travelling slowly to allow Fiver to follow without getting lost. Once they were underground, Fiver took in his surroundings; the den seemed smaller than most burrows at Watership Down, but still large enough for one rabbit, or glanbrin, as it was.

-"Can I sniff you, like you sniffed me?" he asked.
-"I don't mind."

Fiver spent a few minutes sniffing Flairgold. The overall shape of her body seemed very similar to that of a rabbit, but as he examined her head, he made a startling discovery: in the spot where her eyes should be, there was nothing. The glanbrin felt his whiskers there, and sighed.

-"I know what you're thinking," she said, "you might as well ask."

-"What happened to your eyes?"

-"I don't have any. I am a glanbrin, my kind have no use for eyes, for we live in the land of perpetual darkness, where there is nothing to see."

-"Oh...that must be a hard life. I can't imagine what it would be like."

-"It's really not that hard, when you haven't known anything else."

Flairgold fell silent, as did Fiver. The only sound was that of a distant stream; it left Fiver anxious.

-"So, uh, Flairgold..." he finally said, hoping to fill the silence, "do you know what I am doing here?"

Flairgold was startled by this question.

-"Oh, that's bad news," she said, leaving Fiver worried.

-"Why? What's so horrible?"

-"I assumed that you chose to come here. Since you don't know why you're here, it is safe to assume that this is not voluntary."

-"I can confirm that I did not deliberately venture into this land."

-"This would mean that some unknown stranger, without your knowledge or consent, brought you here, and did so for unclear reasons."

-"Sounds about right," Fiver reluctantly admitted. "Do you know who could have done this?"

-"Maybe the illips? Although, that wouldn't make sense. They would have no reason to keep you alive, they would have killed you already."

-"The illips..." Fiver recalled Dandelion mentioning these creatures once in a story. While he didn't remember the details, it appeared they were elil, based on what Flairgold had just said. "Any other candidates?"

-"Let me tell you a story, Fiver. Long ago, three friends were lying in the grass, looking at the sky. Their initial plan had been to watch the sunset, but it was too cloudy. They still remained in the grass, just enjoying each others' company. Two of them started holding hands."

-"Do you think these three friends might have brought me here."

-"I'm not sure. Anything's possible. In other news..." Flairgold sighed. "It appears I'm out of roots. I thought I still had some left, but I was wrong. I will have to go gather some more."

-"Don't go on my account, I'm not hungry."

-"I am hungry, though. You can come with me if you wish, although given your inexperience navigating in the darkness, it would be best I were to lead and you follow me."

The two rabbits ventured out. They travelled slowly, with Flairgold accommodating the disoriented Fiver so he wouldn't get lost in the darkness.

-"If you want, I could administer a test," she suggested after a while, "that could maybe help you figure out why you are here."

-"I'm up for it. I don't think we have anything to lose."

-"I will tell you the names of certain locations and I will ask you to tell me what that makes you think of."

Fiver and Flairgold lied down on the grass-less ground, as the test began.

-"I've heard about a place called Cedarbark. Do you know anything about that, Fiver?"

-"I...I don't know. Maybe. It's all gone, now, and it's not coming back."

-"Tragic. What about a place called Acme?"

-"That's very vague. I suppose it could refer to many things."

-"Plausible. Let's try another one: Fenlo."

Fiver recalled something he had seen while on the train a few days before; this had left him disturbed.

-"Oh no, this is not what you think. Please don't go there. While it seems great at first, upon further analysis, there are many unresolved issues."

-"Troubling. Now let's go with the Boiling Isles. What about them?"

Fiver's mind went to one of Bluebell's failed portal experiments.

-"I wasn't able to collect all the information. If I had had a few more days, I probably would have had a better idea of what I'm working with."

-"Ah, there we go. Leeks." Flairgold had sniffed the vegetable nearby; she quickly dug it out and took a bite. "Want some?"

-"No thanks, but could we continue the test?"

-"Fair enough. I'm now going to ask you about another one: Knothole."

This one reminded Fiver of a minor incident during the space adventure, Holly was forced to leave his son with a mysterious stranger to save the universe. Overall, tragic and confusing. But that would be so complicated to explain to Flairgold, he didn't know where to start.

-"Your silence for this one is telling," she said, while Fiver was still thinking. "No worries, let's just move on to the next one: Mossflower."

This one made Fiver think of something that occurred during the reality crash.

-"Some would know better than to meddle. Sometimes, you have to let the bad things happen because it's beyond your control, and attempting to change things is just an emotionally-draining waste of time."

-"Meddling, unexpected. And a final one: London."

-"That's a human place, isn't it? An old friend called Leo may have mentioned it once." Fiver sighed. "I miss him, we haven't been able to bring him back to our warren just yet. I'll have to try again, and hopefully succeed this time."

-"You have provided good answers, Fiver. It all makes sense now."

-"And?"

Fiver was anxiously anticipating the answer, finally he would know why he was in this strange place.

-"You have to look towards the future, with all the light and the brightness and the flayrah and...well, you get the idea."

-"No, I don't," Fiver replied, shaking his head.

-"Your ally Campion met the Black Rabbit of Inlé, possibly, the Black Rabbit is a most mysterious entity. Your fellow mystic Hyzenthlay met El-ahrairah, he gave her a tour of other possibilities across the strange multiverse. Your mysterious acquaintance Blueberry met Prince Rainbow, although he doesn't remember. This leaves Frith."

-"Wait, what do you know of Campion, Hyzenthlay and Blueberry?"

-"I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales, many secrets hidden in the hearts of...of..." Flairgold paused for a few moments, as she tried to think of the most simple way to express her idea, "...of rabbits, who have stepped into the shadows. I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak. "

Fiver took a few steps back, intimidated by Flairgold's increasingly ominous remarks.

-"As I was saying," she continued, "none of your friends have met Frith. Unfortunately, it's not going to happen to you either. He's not going to show you what could have happened. Nobody will meet Frith until many seasons from now. Instead, you're stuck with me, a lesser creature who is lucky even to have a name."

-"You shouldn't consider yourself a lesser creature." While Fiver was still confused and anxious, Flairgold's last words made him sad. "Such self-deprecation can only result in sadness and a feeling of helplessness. Everyone is important, and..."

-"It's nice of you to try to cheer me up, but I really AM a lesser creature, compared to Frith, Prince Rainbow, and all the others. They all hold great powers, or rule over large kingdoms. Not me: I have no special abilities, nor do I hold a position of authority. When Shindyke decided that he wanted me as his mate, I was forced to go with it, because that's how things were at the time. Eventually, the illips disposed of him, and I went back to the previous mate, who was a better glanbrin. He is long gone now, nobody lives forever. And here we are."

-"Uh...if you're asking me to be your mate, I'm going to have to turn you down." Fiver took a few more steps back, although he still couldn't see where he was going. "I already have a mate, and I love her."

-"No, that's not what I was trying to say, sorry for the misunderstanding. You have to stop worrying so much, Fiver. There are more important things in life than that. So what if a certain event doesn't happen? Things could always be worse."

-"Yes, things can always be worse." Fiver grew tense. "For all I know, General Woundwort could be out there slaughtering my family and friends, while I'm stuck in this unfamiliar place, unable to do anything about it."

-"All the more reason for you to get back to it. Fiver, you have to do what's right. Stay strong and alive, don't let them get you down. Everyone deserves a chance, even if it is just passing through on your way to the shadowlands. One day soon, all this madness will be over."

-"Will what follows be any better?"

Flairgold pondered for a few moments.
-"Probably not. Things will never be perfect, and toxic relationships will persist. But what else can you do? Rearranging the world order into something more positive is too big a task for any single creature to accomplish alone. All you can do is help maintain the warren you live in, a small island of peace and stability, a distraction from the growing chaos everywhere else."

At that moment, for the first time since his arrival to the land of perpetual darkness, Fiver saw light. A bright circle appeared behind him; as he looked at it, he saw Watership Down on the other side. He turned back to Flairgold; being blind, she was likely unaware of the newly-formed portal, as it did not have any scent, nor did it make any noise.

-"I'll do my best."

-"That's all I can ask." Flairgold gave a rare smile. "By the way, before you go back, Fiver, can I hug you? You're the only one available to be hugged at the moment."

The two creatures hugged for a few moments, before Fiver went through the portal leading back home. It closed moments after he had gone through it; Flairgold smiled, then went back to work gathering roots, moving on with her life.