Chapter 212: The Loves and Blunders.

"Oh, let someone else have a chance, for once."

-StoryMing, The Bargain Story (or, a Doe's Privilege)

Holly, Flyairth, Hyzenthlay and the others stared at Pipkin as he dug around Nyreem's face out of the hole. They were amazed by the speed at which his paws removed the dirt; additionally, his short claws allowed him to dig very close to her without hurting her. He only stopped once her mouth was above ground, allowing her to breathe again. She smiled, and nuzzled him.

-"That was close," Flora said.

-"I'll have to survey the damage now, to see where we go from here," Hyzenthlay said.

Pipkin hopped out of the ditch so as not to hinder Hyzenthlay's inspection. The next few minutes were tense, as the rabbits feared possible further collapses.

-"By now, the ground is just too unstable for any further digging to be safe," Hyzenthlay finally announced. "We'll have to pull her out."

-"She seems firmly stuck," Hawkbit pointed out. "Do you really think that would work?"

-"It may be the only option. We'll all have to work together, each one pulling someone else, starting with the lightest ones."

One by one, the rabbits lined up. Pipkin grabbed Nyreem's front paws (the only part of her body apart from her head that was accessible), and Clover took his hind legs. Flora held Clover, causing the doe to blush slightly. Next in line were the two Strawberry-s, Hawkbit, Hyzenthlay, Holly, Bigwig, and finally Flyairth. Only Dandelion didn't take part, as he was still stuck further away.

Then, they all pulled. The first few pulls raised Nyreem slightly, and after a few more attempts, she was suddenly dislodged from the dirt, sending everyone flying backwards, and landing further away. Dandelion looked on, filled with amazement at the sudden resolution of the situation, while also somewhat embarrassed at his own predicament, and his inability to help.

Nyreem was the first rabbit to get back up. Her fur was covered with dirt, but cleaning it would have to wait. First, she had something important to do.

-"You were all so amazing. Hyzenthlay, your exciting story kept my mind occupied, and distracted me from the danger I was in. Flyairth, your expertise allowed you to determine how and where to dig. Holly, your leadership, organizing the digging groups and coordinating my rescue, you did a great job. Not to mention all the diggers themselves, without whom none of this would have been possible. Dandelion, your plan didn't work as expected, but I appreciate that you at least tried to help. And Pipkin, so quick to act when needed the most. Without all of you, I would surely have stopped running, but you all worked together to save me. I shall be forever grateful."

As the hopped in front of Pipkin, she wrapped her front paws around him, hugging tightly. Surprised by this affectionate gesture, it took Pipkin a few seconds to react, by returning the hug and nuzzling her ears.

-"I'm still stuck," Dandelion said softly.

As he looked at the two young rabbits in love, Bigwig felt his heart sink. It somewhat reminded him of him and Spartina, and how he would hardly see her (except for occasional late night meetings) until the end of the war. This, coupled with Dandelion's remark, made him lose all his sanity.

-"Is it safe to shout now?" he whispered in Flyairth's ear.

-"No, Dandelion is still stuck," she whispered back.

At that moment, Bigwig heard a small yelp. Turning around, he saw that Hawkbit had just pulled Dandelion out of the pit; the two had crashed on top of each other.

-"And now?"

-"There's nobody else in the ditch, so even if it collapses further, it won't hurt anyone."

-"Best news I've had all day."

The captain hopped over to Dandelion, took a deep breath, and let loose the insults.

-"You clumsy idiot! You always have to be a big hero, even when you're not suited for the task, don't you? When will you learn proper discipline?"

-"What a control freak..." Dandelion mumbled.

-"He..." Hawkbit was quick to try to defend his friend, but Bigwig was not willing to hear it, especially considering what Dandelion had just said.

-"Oh, so I'm a control freak, am I? Dandelion, you are hereby expelled from the owsla! Now get out of my sight!"

Hawkbit and Dandelion both gasped; Bigwig ignored them, instead turning to Holly.

-"Come on, let's go back to the warren."

Holly was just as shocked at Bigwig's outburst as Hawkbit and Dandelion were. While he agreed that Dandelion had acted foolishly, he thought expelling him from the owsla was too harsh a punishment. However, there was nothing he could do: Bigwig had repeatedly made it clear that he was in charge of the owsla, and that the Chiefs were not to meddle under any circumstances. Hopefully Dandelion wouldn't take it too badly...

While Holly did not mention the incident to Bigwig, Nyreem did so, as soon as she had let go of Pipkin.

-"Hey Biggy, don't you think that was a bit harsh? Dandelion had good intentions, it's not his fault that..."

-"His good intentions almost killed you," Bigwig sternly replied. "He should consider himself lucky that all I did was expel him from the owsla."

After Nyreem had finished hugging him, and the other rescuers had split, Pipkin went back to the spot where Fiver was lying. As he arrived, Fiver suddenly started to move. Hazel hopped closer as his brother slowly got up and opened his eyes.

-"Hi there," he said softly.

-"Fiver."
Hazel hugged him tightly.

-"Are you all right?" the Chief asked.

-"I'm fine, Hazel. Did anything meaningful happen while I was out?"

-"Oh, many things happened, but everyone is safe now."

-"That's good to know."

-"Did you see anything important in your vision?"

-"Vision?" Fiver briefly wondered whether his encounter with Flairgold counted as a vision. He soon came to the conclusion that this was essentially nitpicking minor unimportant details. "Nothing dangerous...but I will have to talk to Clover." As Blueberry's adoptive mother, she was the most qualified to bring up the subject of his supposed encounter with Prince Rainbow. "Do you know where I might find her?"

-"I'm honestly not sure. She was over helping Nyreem earlier, but I don't know where she went to after that."

-"It's fine, Hazel. She'll probably be at silflay tonight, I'll talk to her then."

After the rescue, Dandelion went to his burrow. His paws had been left dirty by his misadventure, so he spent a while cleaning them; his claws were especially challenging. He was hard at work when he heard someone approach. As he looked up, he realized that it was Hawkbit.

-"I don't know what you were trying to do, but whatever it was, it was a horrible idea," the grey buck said.

-"What was so horrible about it?" Dandelion retorted. "It didn't work, but there was no way to know that without trying first."

-"Based on what Holly and Flyairth had said, it should have been clear from the start that it would never work out."

-"I had to do SOMETHING. You are still relevant in this warren, you probably made a positive impression on Bigwig today. I don't have much of a future unless I prove my worth, and my attempt at doing so failed miserably."

-"Of course you have a future! Do you seriously think Hazel-rah would kick you out of the warren? Strawberry had that same fear last spring, and in the end everything turned out fine."

-"It's not Hazel that worries me, it's Bigwig."

-"Oh, never mind that big plump oaf. He's already thrown you out of the owsla, he can't punish you any further."

-"Maybe I should have listened to Blackavar," Dandelion said. "Maybe I am a little too paranoid about my importance to the warren."

-"Oh, if Blackavar has to be the voice of reason, that's a sure sign that you messed up."

-"What should I do? I know you said not to worry, but surely I should do something?"

-"You should rest. This will give Bigwig time to calm down, and allow you to recover, surely this adventure left you exhausted."

-"Yes...I'll take a nap."

-"Napping is always a good idea!" Hawkbit briefly chuckled. "In fact, I think I'll join you."

-"Hawkbit? You in there?" came a third voice.

Hawkbit peaked out of the burrow to identify who had spoken, and saw Acacia in the next tunnel.

-"I'm here. What's going on?"

-"I need to talk to you."

Hawkbit nodded, then turned to Dandelion.

-"Just a moment, I'll be right back."

The two rabbits hopped down the run, to a small chamber where they would not be interrupted.

-"What do you need to talk to me about?" Hawkbit asked.

-"We never got to finish our conversation earlier. It was cut short by the collapse, you see."

-"Oh! Right." Hawkbit had completely forgotten about this, especially with Nyreem needing to be rescued immediately afterwards. "So, uh, where were we?"

-"I'm not sure, exactly. But I was thinking, about Bluebell."

-"What about him?"

-"He has a unique relationship with Blackberry. It's pretty much an open secret, isn't it?"

-"Oh yes. I don't think they are even trying to hide it anymore."

-"You have a lot in common with Bluebell. You two are cute and make jokes."

-"I make jokes?" Hawkbit didn't know what Acacia was talking about. While he could recall maybe one or two humorous occasions, this was not a regular occurrence.

-"You can be very grumpy and sarcastic," Acacia clarified.

-"Oh...it's a coping mechanism, and it's all justified. If you knew the kind of things I had to put up with..."

-"Yes, it's a hard life when evil bunnies are trying to kill us all. Hopefully with Spartina and Campion working to take down Woundwort, we won't have to worry much longer."

-"Heh. You can say that again."

The conversation was moving forward slowly, Acacia thought; he decided that he would be bold, and get straight to the point.

-"Bluebell has a lifelong companion. Don't you want one too?"

-"Uh..."

-"I could be the Blackberry to your Bluebell. How about it?"

Acacia awaited with great anticipation, but when Hawkbit responded, it was a disappointment.

-"No."

-"Oh, well then I'm sorry, I didn't wish to offend you."

-"Hey there, calm down." Hawkbit placed his front paws on Acacia's before the other buck could hop away. "Just because I'm saying 'no' right now, doesn't mean that it will stay this way. I don't think this is the sort of thing we should rush into. But I would love to get to know you better, and maybe eventually revisit this question."

-"So we can be friends?" Acacia asked with a smile.

-"Absolutely."

Dandelion was still awake while Acacia and Hawkbit were talking, and overheard the entire discussion. It left him a bit sad, and worried. Would he be losing his friendship with Hawkbit? Everything in his life seemed to be falling apart...

When the grey buck returned a few minutes later to nap alongside him, he pretended have already fallen asleep.