AUTHOR'S NOTE: due to real life, I will be taking a short break following this chapter. The next chapter will likely be posted on 30 July.
Chapter 233: The Last Wait.
"One day someone is there, the next they are gone."
-Book girl fan, The Shining Trap
A few days after their conversations with Hazel and Bigwig, the junior owsla received some exciting news from the Chief: they would be allowed to go on patrol the following morning. Unable to contain their excitement, his four kittens tackle-hugged him and kept him pinned to the ground in the Honeycomb for a long time.
Later that evening, everyone retreated to their burrows to sleep. However, the last few hours of waiting turned out to be the most agonizing for the kittens.
In the burrow, Mallow was turning in his sleep, dreaming of all the exciting things that would come true in the morning. As he woke up at the end of the dream, he sighed. Morning was still a long way off.
Or was it? Rabbits can feel the time in their blood, and Mallow's instincts told him that it was the middle of the night, but what if he was wrong? Maybe his excitement had altered his perception of time. He hopped out of the burrow as quietly as possible, and made his way outside.
To his disappointment, he discovered that his initial feeling had been correct: it was the middle of the night. However, there was no point in going back to the burrow: if he stayed outside, he would be the first to witness the sunrise, and he would be immediately ready for the patrol, before his siblings!
Telling the guards that he was merely out to pass hraka, he soon found a patch of overgrown clover, that would hide him from elil. He lied down there; as he looked around him, however, he realized he wasn't the only one above ground. Further away, he could see a white shape, barely visible through the tall grass, and he immediately recognized the smell.
-"Snowdrop?"
Snowdrop's ears immediately perked up, and she jumped in fear.
-"Mallow! You scared me! Don't you dare sneak up on me like this again!"
-"Did I wake you?"
-"...no. I wasn't asleep. I just went here to pass hraka," Snowdrop replied unconvincingly.
-"You rarely pass hraka in the middle of the night."
-"I do it all the time, you're just a heavy sleeper. And what are YOU doing outside?"
Mallow remained silent for a few moments. That was one question he hoped he would not get asked: convincing the guards was one thing, convincing his sister was another.
-"As a matter of fact, I came out here to pass hraka too," he said, hoping she would believe him.
-"Uh...very well. Let's both pass hraka and go back underground."
The two rabbits awkwardly looked at each other, both questioning each other's motivations. Nevertheless, both remained where they were, pretending to pass hraka. They remained that way for a long time, much longer than passing hraka normally takes, until suddenly...
-"What are you two doing here?"
They immediately turned, and saw Gilia sitting on top of a nearby boulder, staring at them.
-"Uh...passing hraka..." Mallow said.
-"Me too," Snowdrop added.
Gilia, however, merely shook her head.
-"You're not passing hraka. You're just waiting for sunrise so you can go on wide patrol, aren't you?"
Snowdrop blushed, and Mallow bent down in shame; clear admissions of guilt.
-"Just as I thought," Gilia continued. "You better get back to the burrow and get some sleep, or you'll be so tired in the morning that father will change his mind and won't let you go on patrol after all."
Snowdrop and Mallow had to admit that their sister had a point, but they were not going to let her boss them around like that.
-"Lead the way," Mallow said.
-"I can't, I have to pass hraka."
Mallow and Snowdrop looked at each other. It was obvious that Gilia was trying to get them to leave so she alone could wait for sunrise. They were not going to let that happen.
-"Then we'll guard you," Snowdrop replied.
-"Oh, absolutely," Mallow added. "An evil fox could sneak up on you, alone in the dark."
Gilia sighed. Like her siblings suspected, she didn't really need to pass hraka, it was merely an excuse to dispose of them while she awaited dawn alone. Unfortunately, it appeared they had caught on, so she had no choice but to play along.
-"If you really want to stay..."
Gilia made a few hops forward and started sniffing the ground. A few moments later, she went further away, still sniffing, as if she was searching for the perfect spot. She made a last attempt at getting rid of them:
-"Are you sure you want to stick around? This might take a while."
-"We're staying," Mallow said sternly.
-"Fine..."
With that, Gilia stopped moving. Now came the hardest part: actually passing hraka. She didn't feel the need to, but if she went back underground without doing anything, the others would not hesitate to make fun of her while on patrol. She was not willing to take that risk.
Time passed, and the three rabbits battled their desire to sleep. After a while, Snowdrop became the first to succumb. Mallow and Gilia looked at each other, wondering what to do with her.
-"You really should all get back underground," came another voice.
The two rabbits turned and, much to their surprise, saw Periwinkle calmly hopping towards them.
-"Are you passing hraka too?" Gilia asked.
-"I was. If you don't believe me, you will find it in that ditch around halfway down."
-"How long have you been out here?"
-"Quite a while. However, I heard you all talking, so I decided to stay hidden and listen."
-"You were spying on us!" Mallow shouted accusingly.
-"Call it what you want. Let's go underground."
At that moment, Snowdrop abruptly woke up and squealed.
-"A FOX! RUN!"
Without waiting for her siblings, she dashed back underground. It did not take long for the guards on duty to intervene.
-"You three, go back underground," Strawberry ordered.
-"I don't think there's really a fox," Mallow said. "She was probably having a nightmare."
-"Regardless of whether or not there is a fox, you all still need sleep," Holly said firmly. "Go on, underground. Now."
Not wanting to risk angering the captain, the three remaining kittens ran back underground. As they approached their burrow, they saw someone sitting just outside; it was Blueberry.
-"Gilia, there you are," he said, upon seeing them all approach. "I was wondering why you weren't in your burrow. What's this your sister said about a fox? I am ready to go and fight it and save this warren."
-"No, she was overreacting," Gilia said, rolling her eyes. "As usual."
-"The guards have the situation under control," Periwinkle added. "If there is even a situation."
-"Why were you looking for me at this time of night, anyway?" Gilia asked.
-"I have something important I need to discuss with you."
Mallow sighed: he had a rough idea what Blueberry had in mind, and it annoyed him.
-"Let me guess. You need to pass hraka and you want her to go with you?"
-"No, not at all," Blueberry said, seemingly unaware of the other kittens' ruse. "I just really need to talk to her, before the morning patrol."
Gilia raised her ears with great anticipation; Blueberry, meanwhile, looked awkwardly at her siblings.
-"Uh, would you all mind going back to sleep? This is private."
-"If you can tell our sister, you can tell us all!" Snowdrop shouted.
-"Seriously, go to sleep," Gilia insisted: Blueberry no doubt had his reasons for wishing to keep this between the two of them.
-"Don't stay up too long," Snowdrop warned, as she, Periwinkle and Mallow went inside the burrow. Gilia looked inside, to make sure her siblings weren't staying up to listen, before turning back to Blueberry.
-"What's going on?"
-"I had a dream about a magnificent land on the other side of the Big Water," Blueberry said.
-"Father and uncle Fiver once went to the Big Water," Gilia recalled. "You mean there's something on the other side?"
-"According to my dream, yes. And it may be the answer to my memory loss. Maybe, if I went there, I would remember again."
-"The Big Water is a dangerous place, and travelling there would take a long time; a gull friend said that it would take a full moon to reach it, let alone cross it over to the other side. Are you sure this is wise?"
-"Your father left you all alone for an entire moon while he went on some mission to the Big Water?" Blueberry seemed deeply disappointed in Hazel.
-"No, he and the others got assistance from a hrududu, speeding up the journey," Gilia quickly corrected. "They were only gone for a few days."
-"Well then," Blueberry said with a smile, "there's nothing stopping us from doing the same thing."
-"Us?" It was with a mixture of confusion and amazement that Gilia paid attention to that one specific plural pronoun.
-"It would probably be reckless for me to go alone...I was hoping you would be willing to come with me. I love you, and you're the one I trust the most in this warren."
-"I...I love you too. And I am honoured that you trust me like this."
-"Does that mean you're willing to come with me?"
-"Yes, I would love to go with you too!" Gilia grinned. "When do we leave?"
-"I was thinking tomorrow. The patrol would provide a perfect opportunity to sneak away."
-"Sounds good."
The two rabbits nuzzled.
-"See you in the morning?"
-"I will be awaiting sunrise with great anticipation."