Chapter 231: Marigold's Madness.

"Do you need anything?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"Probably because they're concerned and want to make sure that you're ok."

-EchoEternal, Lifeline

Late in the morning, Marigold went above ground, nervously looking around her. Shortly after waking up, she had reached a troubling conclusion. There appeared to be only one possible solution, and she needed to discuss it with someone. Hopping towards the owsla's training grounds, she soon spotted the one she needed to talk to, hard at work.

-"Bluebell?" she called out.

Bluebell halted in the middle of the path. Having learned from the incident when Fiver interrupted training to propose to Vilthuril, only for the entire owsla to crash into each other, he quickly jumped away to a safer spot.

-"What is it, Marigold?"

-"I need to speak to you, privately."

Bluebell and Marigold hopped away from the obstacle course; Bigwig gave a disapproving look, not appreciating one of his best rabbits taking a break, but he did not voice his complaints.

-"Is there something I can help you with?" Bluebell asked, once they reached a secluded corner.

-"Will you be my mate?"

-"Oh!"

Just like the previous interruption, this was for a declaration of love, or something. While Bluebell was aware of Marigold's recent troubles with Hickory, he did not expect her to try to replace him so quickly.

-"I'm sorry, but no. My heart belongs to Blackberry." Fully aware of her fragile mental state, he made a counter-proposal, hoping this would lessen the blow. "That said, if you want your kitten to have a cool uncle in their life, to teach them all about the art of making inappropriate jokes, I would be honoured."

Marigold was saddened by this response, but did her best not to let it show.

-"Thanks...I'll keep this in mind...I'll let you get back to training now..."

As Bluebell hopped away, Marigold pondered her next step. Her main candidate had turned her down, and also eliminated Blackberry at the same time. She would have to ask someone else. She looked at the other rabbits at training; she briefly considered asking Hawkbit, but quickly dismissed him, recalling his previous comments about romance being overrated. Vesper was virtually the only other available buck present; maybe she could ask him.

As she hopped closer to him, she realized that he was not actually training like everyone else. Instead, he was placing various small logs back in position after they were accidentally moved by the owsla: this would hopefully reduce the risk of someone getting hurt. It was then that she saw his necklace; her recent struggles had caused her to forget about this weird object, and now that she was reminded, she cringed. There he was, ensuring others' safety, while not caring at all for for his own, there was nothing stopping that thing from choking him like a snare. But he really seemed to enjoy having it around his neck, so she chose not to mention anything, so as to avoid ruining her chances.

-"You," she said, staring directly at him.

-"Who, me?" Vesper was clearly not expecting her to approach him like this.

-"I need to talk to you."

The two rabbits hopped away to the other side of the beech tree. Vesper was a bit anxious; perhaps sensing that his necklace was making her uncomfortable, he pushed it away, hiding the charm. He also kept looking back at the training grounds, as if he was afraid someone might get hurt in his absence.

-"How can I help you?" he asked.

Marigold had trouble looking at Vesper. She recognized his good intentions by hiding the necklace's charm, but this had the unfortunate side effect of leaving only the wire visible, further reminding her of Cowslip's warren. Putting aside her internal panic, she quickly spat out the question.

-"Do you want to mate with me?"

Vesper, much like Bluebell before him, was shocked by the question.

-"You love me?"

-"No...I mean yes! I mean...uh...you're not so bad! Ah..." The necklace was just too much for Marigold to ignore, she was in a hurry to get away. "Never mind, sorry I bothered you..."

Leaving a very confused Vesper behind, Marigold ran underground. She spent a few minutes taking deep breaths to calm down. This had all been a mistake, there was no way she would have been able to spend her life with someone who deliberately wears a snare-like object. With another candidate eliminated, it was now time to move on someone else: Acacia. She had not seen him above ground, so he was likely in his burrow.

She did not actually make it as far as even asking him: when she looked inside the burrow he shared with Nicole, they were lying close against each other. Were they in love, or were they basically honorary siblings? Did they both feel the same way? Further complicating matters was Acacia's interactions with Hawkbit. Either way, Marigold decided that there was likely no point in even asking him; she would have to find someone else.

As she thought about the other bucks in the warren, she was left wondering if there were any suitable candidates left. Fiver was out of the question, he already had a mate and would likely not be interested in adding a third rabbit to the relationship. Hazel, Bigwig, Moss, and perhaps even Holly, were all also eliminated for similar reasons. Dandelion did not appear reliable enough (Marigold was unaware of his recent search for a mate, and how he had contemplated Clover). Broom probably didn't think highly of her (and she didn't think too highly of him either). Pipkin was young enough to be her son.

Who else remained? Pretty much only Strawberry. Marigold considered him a good friend, and was worried that asking him to become her new mate might destroy this friendship. Not to mention that, as the only other survivor of Cowslip's warren of horrors, he was also on good terms with Hickory; she didn't want to force him to choose between the two of them, that would no doubt be very painful for him. But with virtually everyone else already eliminated, she didn't have much of a choice but to ask him anyway...

As she slowly hopped back towards the training grounds, where Strawberry was, she noticed the other Strawberry, the former doe of Marli-rah, at silflay. Marigold considered: if she couldn't find a buck, maybe she would have to settle for a doe.

-"Hey Strawberry," she said, joining her at silflay.

-"Marigold. How are you feeling today?"

-"I have an important question for you."

-"What is this question?"

-"Will you be my mate?"

Strawberry had more or less the same initial reaction as Bluebell and Vesper before her: complete surprise.

-"Brambles. Can I have some time to think about it?"

This response was not exactly what Marigold had been hoping for, but at least it wasn't a complete refusal like with Bluebell.

-"If you wish, but if you don't hurry, someone else may snatch me up in the meantime."

-"I'll think about it..."

Strawberry and Marigold hopped away in opposite directions. Marigold instantly decided that she wouldn't wait after Strawberry, she would keep asking other rabbits until either one of them accepted to become her mate, or she ran out of rabbits to ask. As she made her way towards the other Strawberry, another buck caught her eye; this was one of the former Efrafans, who had survived the warren's destruction. There were a few of them living at Watership Down; apart from Moss (who was already taken), Marigold did not even recall their names. But a near-total stranger would still be better than nobody at all, right?

-"Hi there!" she called out.

-"Hello..." Groundsel did not remember Marigold's name either, but was too embarrassed to say so.

-"You're pretty good-looking." She really didn't think so, he had sustained several wounds during the battle against the gang of weasels, and they hadn't fully healed, but she thought it wise to lay on the charm, to increase her chances.

-"Marigold! What's going on?"

Marigold turned around; it was Blackberry who had spoken, and the blue-ish doe had a worried look on her face.

-"Excuse me, I'll be right back," Marigold told the Efrafan, before hopping to join Blackberry. "You tell me: what IS going on?"

-"Vesper told me you asked him to become your mate, and that you asked several other rabbits too. Why?"

Marigold, coming to the conclusion that she had nothing to lose, decided to repeat the question to Blackberry.

-"Will YOU?"

Even if she didn't have a crush on Campion, Blackberry would have refused. She wasn't in love with Marigold, and Marigold clearly wasn't in love with her either (or anyone else she had asked), it would be unfair to take advantage of her anguish this way.

-"Just tell me why you're doing this, and I'll do my best to help you."

Marigold closed her eyes, struggling to think of the best way to express her thoughts. After a few minutes, she finally managed to speak again.

-"Do you remember when I told Hickory that I was in the mood for some excitement? Actually, I said that several times, I'm talking about just a few days ago, after we returned from digging."

-"I remember this situation."

-"It seemed like a good idea at the time. So...we did. And now I'm suffering the consequences."

-"What are these consequences?"

-"Isn't it obvious?" Marigold said, with a hint of annoyance.

At first, Blackberry did not fully understand what Marigold was talking about, until it suddenly dawned on her: she was going to have another litter of kittens. Pregnancy could affect a rabbit's mood; maybe that, along with her recent trauma, was what had caused her erratic behaviour.

-"I only found out this morning," Marigold said, seeing through Blackberry's face that she now understood. "What if they die like last time?"

-"They won't," Blackberry said, trying to reassure her. "If we have to evacuate, we will help you carry them to safety."

-"Even if they survive to adulthood, is this really a world where they will be happy? This warren is likely getting destroyed soon, I don't want them growing up as slaves in Darkhaven, or worse."

-"We'll do everything we can to make sure this warren won't get destroyed by Woundwort. Nobody here will be enslaved."

-"I may not be able to take good care of them, anyway. I am alone now, which is why I have been searching for a mate, someone, anyone, to assist me. And even if you and everyone volunteer to help, I wouldn't trust myself. It may be best for them if I were to give them away for someone to adopt, and considering how hard it was to find even a single rabbit to adopt Blueberry...and what if Hickory tries to get involved?"

By this point, Marigold was on the verge of panic. When she had her first litter, everyone rejoiced; this time, she was having a complete breakdown. Blackberry was saddened by how quickly her friend's life had fallen apart.

-"Do you know the story of El-ahrairah and his bargain with Frith?"

-"No," Marigold said between sobs. "We never told El-ahrairah stories at Cowslip's warren, and while we started telling them at Redstone, this is one of many I never heard before."

-"Let me tell you about it. I'm not as good as Bluebell, or Dandelion, so I'll just skip to the end. Frith promised to El-ahrairah that, in situations where it appears unlikely that kittens will be be able to lead a decent life, a doe may reabsorb them back into her body, before they are born. This usually happens in overcrowded warrens, like Efrafa used to be, or during massive droughts, when food is scarce. But it can happen in over situations too."

By this point, Marigold had somewhat calmed down. This seemed like a good story, it would be interesting to hear the full version, but why was Blackberry telling her this? When she figured that out, she felt slightly uncomfortable.

-"Are you suggesting that I should reabsorb my own kittens?"

-"It's up to you to decide what the best solution is. I just wanted to let you know this was an option; I will support you no matter what you decide."

Marigold thought for a few moments. It was indeed good to know that this was possible, but she still remained unsure what the best option was.

-"Can I have some time to think it over?" she said, echoing Strawberry's words.

-"Take all the time you need."