Chapter 226: Waiting Too Long.

"[...] leaving me to continue encouraging Faith to...well, have faith I suppose."

-Omegathyst, City of Roses

It was morning at Watership Down, and the rabbits were going about their lives, many of them at silflay. Among them were Fiver and Pipkin; while Fiver had been there for a while, Pipkin had only just arrived, and seemed deep in thought.

-"Fiver, I've been thinking about Leo lately."

-"What about him?" Fiver was distracted. He was tired, he had slept poorly the previous evening, after having spent much of the day tending to Nelthilta's burial with his brother and a few others.

-"He has been gone for a while. Last time we tried to bring him back, it didn't work, but it feels like we stopped trying after that."

-"I'm all for trying, assuming we have something plausible to try: merely repeating the same actions, expecting a different result, would be counter-productive. Do you have anything to suggest?"

-"Do you remember that gadget I picked up over at the farm? Spartina called it a 'phone'. Our tests determined that it can only be used to talk to Leo remotely, it won't bring him back."

-"We still have that?" Fiver shuddered. "I thought we already disposed of it once we found it it was useless to us. Bigwig will have to take it away the next time he goes on patrol."

-"If I remember correctly, we said we would wait until Leo came back."

-"Right. I don't think it will be of any further use now, though, so there's no point in keeping it."

-"Maybe not. Still, there must be SOMETHING we can do, isn't there?"

-"I can try probing for visions if you wish."

While many rabbits were at silflay, others were taking care of owsla duties, and yet others were doing largely nothing. Among those in this last group was Vesper, who was watching the owsla at work. He was not officially part of the owsla, and did not usually take part in training. But he enjoyed looking at them as they took care of their duties, Hyzenthlay in particular impressed him. He wanted to try to get to know them better, although he was unsure exactly how to accomplish that. Simply walking up to them and introducing himself would be a bad idea, he did not want to distract them.

He quickly found himself getting distracted, as he heard Fiver and Pipkin talking to each other nearby; he turned his ears to hear them better. However, having missed the beginning of their conversation, he was left with one critical question.

-"I couldn't help overhear...who are you trying to bring back? Is it Nelthilta?"

-"No," Fiver said. "I mean, it would be good to have her back, but one does not simply raise the dead."

-"Sad but true...who were you talking about, then?"

-"Leo Barning. You probably don't know him: he vanished from this warren a day or two before you arrived."

-"I see. Nevertheless, I might be able to help."

-"You know how to bring him back?"

-"Maybe..."

Vesper looked down at the necklace he was always wearing, using his front paw to bring it closer to Fiver and Pipkin.

-"It's pretty," Pipkin commented.

-"Thank you. I do not fully understand its powers myself, but they might be what you're looking for. I should look into it."

-"Don't waste your time." Hannah was sitting on top of a small rock nearby. "Magic is fake."

-"I do think it may still be worth trying."

-"If you do make some progress, please let us know," Fiver said.

Vesper smiled, and hopped away, going back underground.

-"Eh, it's his time to waste if that's what he wants," Hannah mumbled.

-"What brings all this negativity, Hannah?" Pipkin asked. "You used to be quite enthusiastic about magic."

-"That was when I still believed in it. I have since learned that the hedgewizard lied to me. My pebble is actually worthless."

This made Pipkin sad: Hannah had been betrayed by someone she trusted. This had never happened to him, but he reasoned that it might be one of the most painful feelings ever; he went and hugged her. This was not entirely comfortable for the mouse, due to the size difference, but she knew that Pipkin was not trying to hurt her, so she made no attempt at escaping.

Further away, Dandelion was looking at Clover; she too was at silflay, along with Flora. Dandelion, although he was some distance from them, was still able to hear what they were saying. He was still contemplating asking Clover to become his mate, but despite all his practise the previous evening, he felt woefully unprepared. He also remained unsure whether this was actually a good idea: Hawkbit's comments following the practise were making him doubt.

-"Cats are interesting creatures," Flora suddenly said.

Clover, not expecting this seemingly random comment, stopped chewing and looked her friend.

-"What do you find so interesting about cats?"

-"I know they try to attack us, but I don't think they are actually evil. They are probably just misunderstood."

-"Maybe so. Still, I feel that trying to better understand them would likely be dangerous." By this point, Clover started nibbling the grass again.

-"Yes, it would be. It is said that in the beginning, soon after Frith made the world, all the animals were friends, and that included rabbits and cats. But then Frith gave gifts to all the animals, and for cats it was their hunting skills."

-"Times change. These days, being friends with a cat is nearly impossible."

-"I like you."

Clover once again stopped eating to look at Flora.

-"This warren has been through a lot, and was still have more challenges ahead of us. You've been very brave through it all."

-"I really haven't been that brave. I'm not going on any exciting adventures like Fiver or Spartina."

-"Just because you haven't done anything that exciting doesn't make you any less brave." Flora smiled. "I don't know what my future holds, but it would be great if you were in it."

-"The future is unknown."

-"When the war is over, we should put flowers in our ears, you know, like Spartina and her feather. And travel together."

-"Is..is that a metaphor, or do you really mean living the hlessi life?"

-"Clover, I'd walk the whole world if it meant I'd be with you."

This provided an unexpected solution to Dandelion's dilemma. There was no point in listening to their conversation any further, so he went to join his best friend Hawkbit. The grey buck was at silflay further away, in the presence of Cornflower.

-"I guess I'm not becoming mates with Clover after all," Dandelion said.

-"Right," Hawkbit said absent-mindedly, the words only fully registered a few moments later. "Wait what?"

-"Yeah, she went with Flora."

-"Obviously, but you mean you were seriously considering going out with her? It wasn't just midnight anxieties?"

-"I was," Cornflower said.

-"You too?" Hawkbit had asked Dandelion, but it appeared that Clover was even more popular than he had thought.

-"We did spend a few seasons in the same hutch, with a few others," Cornflower explained. "I thought there was something between us. But then she escaped, and it took a full set of seasons before I reunited with her. I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

-"You're right, a full set of seasons is a long time." Hawkbit's eyes went wide. "Frith and Inlé, it's really been that long since we started this warren! It feels like yesterday."

-"Scary how quickly time goes by, isn't it?" Dandelion said.

-"Scarier even than Woundwort." Hawkbit shuddered. "Anyway, what's that you were saying about Clover?"

-"I did consider taking her as a mate, although I only considered it for one evening. Maybe, if things had turned out ever so slightly differently, it would have worked out."

-"Do either of you feel bad that she chose someone else?"

-"I'll be fine," Cornflower said. "We're still friends, and that's all right."

-"I'll be fine too," Dandelion added. "I'll just look for someone else."

-"I say romance is overrated anyway," Hawkbit said with a scoff. "What's wrong with just having friends?"