AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm back! If everything goes as planned, I will resume posting one chapter every Sunday for a few months.
Chapter 216: The Suggestions.
"the grassy fields waved back and forth like switchblades bidding their greetings to some unseen being, and the sun played tricks of gold and white across each tree and crevice."
-Shel's Secret Santa, The First Sight
Early in the morning, a small group of rabbits made their way to Sunflower Forest Warren. While Blackberry had initially predicted that everything would be finished the previous day, the earthquake, and subsequent destruction of Hickory and Marigold's relationship, had delayed these plans. As a result, the living rabbits had to return one more time to finish the work. Predictably, Hickory and Marigold did not take part this time. Instead, the digging group consisted of Blackberry, Hazel, Fiver, Vesper and Nicole.
Very little work remained to be done. Indeed, with everyone working together, the rabbits were down to the last tunnel after less than one hour. This final tunnel was too narrow for more than one rabbit side by side, so Blackberry asked everyone else to go above ground while she finished filling it up.
While Blackberry finished the task, the other rabbits kept busy. Vesper went to speak with the ghost; the two seemed to be having a good time, Willow discussed his past life, back when he was still alive. Hazel, meanwhile, wished to spend some time with his brother.
-"Nicole truly has some amazing powers, that I didn't know about," he said. "Could she perhaps help with Blueberry's amnesia?"
-"I'm not sure," was Fiver's response. "Blueberry, unlike Willow, is still alive. Then again, she might have additional abilities she hasn't revealed yet. You would have to ask her."
-"Maybe I will. Now for something completely unrelated...what do you make of Hickory and Marigold's break-up?"
-"I knew something bad was going to happen to them, but it's not quite what I expected."
-"Did you see anything else in their future? Will things be getting better, or worse?"
-"I haven't had any additional visions. Anything's possible."
-"And, that's that!" Blackberry suddenly called out, crawling out of the last hole. With a final swipe at the ground, the entrance collapsed, erasing the last trace of the warren's existence. Apart from loose soil in a few spots, the field looked entirely normal.
-"You have finished filling up the warren?" Willow said through Nicole.
-"I have. The grass will soon start growing again. From then on, it will be as if there was never a warren there."
Willow made Nicole hop across the field, surveying the work. After a few minutes, they smiled.
-"It...it's over. It's all finished. I can finally move on!"
The ghost of Willow withdrew from Nicole's body, and hovered in Fiver's direction.
-"Before I go, there's one last thing I need to say. Fiver."
He whispered something in the seer's ears; his eyes went wide.
-"I'll...I'll keep that in mind..." he said, almost in a trance.
Willow nodded, before moving to the middle of the field. Suddenly, a hole opened in the sky, with a beam of light shining through, directly on Willow. He started to hover above the ground, and suddenly vanished. The light also disappeared, and the hole closed itself once more. The living rabbits stared at the scene in amazement.
-"What did he say?" Hazel eventually asked his brother.
Fiver snapped out of his trance. What Willow had told him was beyond comprehension, there was no way to explain it. And yet, it had made a very strong impression on him.
-"Our work here is done, there's no point in staying here any longer," he finally said, deliberately dodging his brother's question. "Let's go home."
Meanwhile at Watership Down, it was largely an ordinary day. Bigwig was training his owsla; following the previous day's mistakes, Dandelion was not present. Instead, he was at silflay, alone. Nobody had asked him to tell a story, and he had not volunteered to do so either. Instead, all he did was look at the others who were also at silflay. He focused his attention on some of the does, and other rabbits, who had not yet taken mates, wondering if maybe he should ask one of them.
-"Still worried about Bigwig?
Dandelion was startled, and nearly pounced on the rabbit who had just spoken. Turning around, he saw that it was Hawkbit who had approached him.
-"I thought you were busy training with him?"
-"He allowed us to take a short break for silflay. So, are you still worried?"
-"I am. Do you think he likes me?"
-"I don't know if he's still mad at you. I could say that he has calmed down since yesterday, but he is never truly calm, is he?" Hawkbit chuckled briefly. "It's just how he is."
-"That's good to know, but it doesn't answer my question. Being mad at someone or not has nothing to do with whether you like them. Hazel and Fiver occasionally argue, but that doesn't change the fact that they truly love each other. Similarly, we all hate Woundwort, but I don't think any of us are angry at him."
-"Bigwig doesn't hate you, that I'm sure of."
-"What about everyone else?"
-"Of course nobody hates you! Where did you get such a ridiculous idea? Everyone here likes each other."
-"That's not true. Captain Broom doesn't seem to like Hickory."
-"Well, if you're in a nitpicking mood, there are a few rabbits who don't like each other," Hawkbit said with a scoff. "Nelthilta seems to enjoy being annoying, and as a result she may be the least popular rabbit in the warren. And like you said, there's also Captain Broom and Hickory. But that's about it. We all like you."
-"Maybe everyone likes me, but I don't have a mate."
Hawkbit gasped.
-"I didn't know that you wanted one."
-"It is becoming more and more apparent that I am useless on my own, but maybe by mating with an important rabbit, I will maintain a good place in this warren."
-"Oh no, not this nonsense again..." Hawkbit let out one of his famous groans. "Seriously, everyone here in this warren is important in their own way. I don't have a mate either, but I'm still very important, you know."
-"Don't you want a mate? You would share each other's secrets, keep each other warm in winter, comfort each other when you feel down. The amazing feeling of their fur brushing against yours..."
-"I already have a friend who does all that."
-"Who?"
-"You, Dandelion, obviously!"
Both rabbits looked at each other for a few moments, blushing.
-"But we can't have kittens together," Dandelion said after a while.
-"I don't want any kittens. Do you?"
-"Not really. Right now there is Hazel and Primrose's litter; with Bigwig and Spartina madly in love like they are now, not to mention Fiver and Vilthuril, there will probably be even more kittens soon."
-"Oh...hopefully they won't both have litters at the same time." Hawkbit shuddered. "That would be chaos."
-"Do you think that mating with someone important could help me become important again?"
Hawkbit sighed and groaned, frustrated at Dandelion's insistence.
-"Seriously, Dandelion, let it go. If you get a mate, do it because you love them, not because you have some twisted ideas of importance."
-"And what about the owsla?"
-"If you're serious about this, ask Bigwig in a few days. Until then, you have a lot of free time, make the most of it."
-"Doing what?"
-"Whatever you want! Play with Hazel's kittens, or with Blueberry, tell those stories of yours, nap. Really, whatever you want, just have fun! I have to go now, break is likely over by now..."
As Hawkbit hopped off back to the training grounds, Dandelion sighed. He didn't enjoy being the owsla that much, but it did have one advantage: he could spend some time with his best friend. But now that he was discharged and Hawkbit still had his duties...they would have less time together.
Looking around him, he spotted one tiny creature, alone among the many rabbits. Hannah was not eating; she was just staring in the distance. She was holding a pebble; likely the magic pebble she kept talking about. He had never gotten to know her very well, but he supposed he could try to change that.
-"What's on your mind?"
-"Oof! Dandy...nothing much, really. I was wondering about magic. I tried using it to rescue Nyreem yesterday, but it didn't work."
-"That...may have been my fault." Dandelion had attempted the rescue with good intentions, but he had made a crucial mistake, and from the looks of it, he would never live it down. "I'm sorry Hannah."
-"Oh you definitely bungled, but you weren't to blame for my magic mishap. It was entirely my fault it didn't work, I must have gotten the spell wrong. You know all those stories, what can you tell me about magic rocks?"
-"There are several El-ahrairah stories featuring magic rocks. Emeralds, rubies, amulets, dilithium, and much more. I'm afraid these would be of little use to you, though: as far as I can tell, your rock is just an ordinary pebble."
-"It is NOT ordinary! It is magic!"
-"Yes, so you keep saying." Dandelion was doubtful, but he did not wish to hurt his new friend's feelings. "But it looks ordinary; all these other rocks have a special appearance. You said you got this pebble from the hedgewizard; what did he have to say about it?"
-"She. But you know what? I think I'll go talk to her! Thanks for the tip, Dandy!"
Hannah quickly scurried off; it took several moments for Dandelion to figure out what had happened.
-"Hey, where are you going?" he called out.
-"To see the hedgewizard, of course! There's no time to waste!"
-"I can come with you, if you want."
-"No, this is something I have to do alone!