Chapter 210: The Rescuers In Action.
"Still head-strong, stubborn, smart and kind. And firm in your beliefs as always."
-destinycopley13, Fight For Each Other
Flyairth spent several minutes carefully smelling the ground around Nyreem, and occasionally poking it. She was trying to figure out what would be the safest way to extract her from the hole.
-"The first step will be to dig a small passage so we can get closer to her without weakening the ground," she finally said. "And then, we will be able to dig her out. But we will have to be really careful, any false movements could cause her to sink even more, or possibly hurt her. Therefore, we will need experienced diggers who are also lightweight. Blackberry would be perfect for this, she appears to be the most experienced digger in this warren, while also relatively small and light."
-"But she's not here right now," Holly pointed out, "she's at Sunflower Forest."
-"It's true...so someone else will have to do it instead."
-"I assume the two of us would be too heavy, wouldn't we?"
-"We would indeed, the ground wouldn't sustain our weight, and we would likely find ourselves stuck just like her."
-"How about Pipkin and the other kittens?" Nyreem suggested.
-"Unfortunately they won't do either, they don't have enough digging experience. Despite their good intentions, they could easily make things worse."
-"Primrose?"
-"Also inadvisable, in her current state," Holly said.
-"Ugh, that doe seems largely useless," Flyairth mumbled.
-"Whoa, what happened here?"
Flyairth and Holly turned around to see who had spoken; it was Hyzenthlay.
-"I thought you were gone at Sunflower Forest," Holly said.
-"I was. But the massive shaking seemed to come from this warren's direction, so I wanted to make sure everyone here was all right."
-"That's very nice of you." Holly smiled slightly. "As you probably guessed, it was the shaking that caused Nyreem to get stuck."
-"Too bad Blackberry didn't come back with you," Flyairth said. "We could sure use her help to dig Nyreem out of this pit."
-"If you want, I can go back and get her..."
-"That would take too long, Nyreem could sink even further in the meantime. We need lightweight diggers who are already here."
-"How about Strawberry?" Hyzenthlay suggested.
-"Which Strawberry?" Holly asked.
-"I was thinking the doe, but now that you mention it, perhaps the buck could also help."
-"I'll go get them both," Holly said, as he hopped back towards the warren, leaving only the three does.
Hyzenthlay hopped closer to Flyairth; she could get a better look at Nyreem's predicament from there.
-"Is there anyone else who needs to be rescued?" she asked.
-"No," was Flyairth's response. "Everyone else is fine, the warren hasn't caved in, it's just very dusty at the moment." Flyairth did not mention Nelthilta's situation: there was nothing Hyzenthlay (or anyone else, unfortunately) could do, and she didn't want to worry Nyreem.
-"That's great news. And since I can't help with Nyreem, I'll be going back to Sun..."
-"No Hyz don't go!" Nyreem suddenly squealed. "Come closer."
Hyzenthlay didn't know what Nyreem was thinking, but nevertheless complied. She carefully stepped forward, until she was as close to the edge of the crack as she could without weakening the ground.
-"Can you tell me a story?" the younger doe asked.
-"I'll go get Bluebell and..."
-"No, not Bluebell! I don't want jokes, not while I'm stuck like this. I want you."
-"I'll do my best."
-"Perhaps avoid the more exciting stories," Flyairth whispered in Hyzenthlay's ear. "That might make her agitated, which would make her sink deeper."
This additional restriction significantly narrowed things down for Hyzenthlay; her repertoire of stories was already much smaller than that of Bluebell or Dandelion.
She began the story. At that moment, Holly returned, accompanied by the two Strawberry-s, as well as Clover and Flora.
-"They all volunteered to help," Holly said.
-"Clover, I appreciate your intentions, but..." Flyairth started to say, only to be cut off by Flora, who had anticipated what this was all about.
-"Give her a chance. She recently dug a new burrow for Blueberry, it's pretty nice."
-"All right, get in position," Flyairth relented, perhaps Clover really could help. If she (or anyone else) made a mistake, however, she would send them away.
Clover and Strawberry had only started to scratch the ground, when two additional rabbits came running.
-"Hawkbit and I just heard what's happening," Dandelion said.
-"Is there anything we could do to help?" Hawkbit asked.
-"I'm afraid not," Holly answered. "You're not good enough diggers."
-"But...but..." Dandelion stammered.
-"The unfortunate truth is that you two spent more time complaining about digging, than actually digging."
-"I've spent the past four days at Sunflower Forest," Hawkbit insisted. "Surely that counts for something?"
-"I thought you hated digging?" Flyairth asked. "Why are you volunteering?"
-"This is to safe someone's life here! Desperate times call for desperate measures!"
-"All right, you can stick around, I'll let you know if there's anything you can do."
-"What about me?" Dandelion asked.
-"You haven't had as much practice as Hawkbit," Holly said. "You only went to Sunflower Forest once, a few days ago, and your claws still haven't fully recovered."
Dandelion raised his front paws, and saw that Holly was right: the tips of his claws were still ragged, and he would struggle to dig like this. Somewhat dejected, he climbed back to the top, and went underground; by this point, the dust inside the warren had largely settled, it was now possible to breathe again.
Once in the Honeycomb, he kicked a pebble in frustration, failing to realize that he was not alone. When the other rabbit spoke, it startled him.
-"Why are you so agitated?"
-"Aaaa! Oh Blackavar..."
-"I take it my presence agitates you," the brown rabbit said, deadpan. "But is there more to it?"
-"They told me I couldn't help rescue Nyreem!"
-"I can't help either, but that's fine. I'm sure the others will be able to save her."
-"They probably will, but I still wish I could have helped."
-"I'm confused here. Shouldn't you be glad to be able to skip what you like to call 'does work' for once?"
-"That's part of the problem. Previously, there weren't that many does at the warren, so me and Hawkbit had to help with the digging. Now, they're not asking us anymore."
Blackavar raised his eyebrow.
-"So?"
-"So we won't be useful for anything anymore! Actually HE might, they agreed to let him help just now. But not me!"
-"You still have your owsla duties."
-"Sure, but for how long? Bigwig keeps saying that I'm one of the laziest, and the slowest. I will become pointless!"
-"What about your stories?"
-"I haven't told many stories since Bluebell has arrived here. It seems like everyone would rather listen to him than me."
-"If it makes you feel better, there haven't been many rabbits eager to listen to ME either. Not since Primrose in Efrafa. Although, come to think of it, she didn't have much of a choice, the owsla assigned us to the same burrow..."
-"But you're not a storyteller, are you?"
-"I only know a few stories, it's true..."
-"It's not the same thing." Dandelion kicked the pebble again. "As a storyteller, I'm used to everyone listening to me; that's not the case for you. Unlike me, you're not in the owsla, and that doesn't seem to bother you either."
-"Considering how disastrously things turned out the last time I went on a mission..." Blackavar shuddered as he thought back at the few days he spent dead, until Campion brought him back. "I would rather be useless than dead."
-"I don't want to die either, but I still want to be useful! I have to do something."
-"If you're that worried, you could always volunteer the next time some digging needs to be done and nobody's life is at stake. You could also stop being lazy when it comes to training."
Dandelion did not reply, instead he kept pacing, trying to think of a more immediate solution. Suddenly, he grinned.
-"I have a plan."
As he was about to leave the Honeycomb, however, Blackavar shouted at him:
-"Just what is that plan of yours?"
-"You'll see!"
-"If you're going to disobey orders and try to rescue Nyreem, I really think you should reconsider."
-"I'm not asking you to help if you don't want to. I'll do it alone."
With that, he ran above ground, leaving Blackavar alone. The brown buck, worried that the storyteller was going to get in trouble, followed from a distance to observe and, if necessary, act.