AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have returned! I will resume posting a new chapter (almost) every Sunday for the next few months. If everything goes as planned, the story will be finished this year, 2024. I know I initially predicted a 2023 ending, but it seems there was more story left to tell, and I really think this time, the end really is close. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 251: The Missing.
"And nothing can be done. That's the unfortunate thing about death. It's so terribly final. Even the young can't do anything about it."
-Marie Dressler, Dinner at Eight
Fredrick and Lionel-Hector arrived at Darkhaven early that morning. The previous evening, Fredrick had received some great news: someone was interested in purchasing his land. Due to bureaucracy and seemingly endless paperwork, it would probably take a few weeks before the sale was officially completed, but until then, he decided to pick up any personal effects he might have left there. He also invited LH to do the same; this would likely be the last time either of them stepped foot in this place.
Unaware of the humans' whereabouts, the rabbits in the owsla were woken up shortly before ni-Frith. Due to their late night escapade, pursuing Campion and Spartina, followed by the additional unexpected training, they were exhausted, so Woundwort felt it wise to let them sleep in.
-"And now," he announced, once everyone was awake, "let us march towards the enemy."
This was met with a collective groan.
-"Do you do anything other than complaining?" he asked angrily.
-"Please, General," Aspen pleaded, hoping to buy some time, "we're tired. There's no way we will be able to make it to the outsiders' warren, then defeat them, in our current state."
Woundwort was rapidly getting furious. He had specifically let his owsla sleep in so they could rest, and they were still tired! Was there no pleasing them? He looked at the crowd to make sure everyone was present before leaving. His conclusion proved to be disappointing: three rabbits were missing. Perhaps the others would be getting a longer break after all...
-"Hmm," he said. "I have a few stragglers that I need to find before we get going. If you want to take a quick power nap while I look for them, go ahead. But THEN, we leave."
The first rabbit missing was Vervain, and Woundwort quickly decided that he would NOT be searching for him. If Orchis had been telling the truth the previous evening, he had fled to some other warren called Nepenthes. Woundwort had never heard of it before, but he made a mental note to destroy it after he was finished with Hazel and his outsiders. Regardless, Vervain was not in Darkhaven, and would therefore not be participating in the current battle, leaving him with only two rabbits to search for.
The second missing rabbit was Orchis. It did not take Woundwort long to find him: he was still in the flayrah chamber, and he was still lying down in the same spot as the previous evening.
-"ORCHIS, WAKE UP!"
No response; clearly Orchis was a hard sleeper. With a sigh of annoyance, Woundwort hopped over to him and kicked him. This made him fall over on his side, but still he did not get up. Even more worrying to Woundwort was that Orchis felt ice cold to his touch. He took a closer look: Orchis' chest was not moving, he was not breathing. All this could only mean one thing: he was dead.
How was this possible? There were no visible injuries on the body, and there was no scent of disease, either. The only sign that something was wrong had been Orchis' delirium the previous evening, and Woundwort had not expected that this would lead to death.
The General quickly hopped out of the chamber. There was no point in staying there: Orchis was dead, there was nothing more he could do for him. All he could do now was hope that this madness was not contagious: he could not afford to lose any more officers, let alone fall ill himself.
Now that Orchis was accounted for, only one rabbit remained to be found, and and finding her would likely be much harder: the Speaker of the Past. She would be useless in the battle, but leaving her alone in the warren was even worse. Why couldn't she have died instead of Orchis?
At first, Woundwort was annoyed by this delay, but as he kept searching, he gradually accepted it. If the rabbits in his owsla were that exhausted, forcing them to travel and fight in such conditions would likely result in injuries and death. Also, now that Spartina had betrayed him and told the outsiders about his plans, he had lost the element of surprise, so he didn't lose anything by waiting a little longer. If anything, he might benefit from it: the outsiders had likely been expecting the attack at dawn, and if it didn't happen, they might let their guard down.
Unbeknownst to Woundwort, this delay actually ended up helping the outsiders, as this gave them even more time to get ready and prepare traps. If he had set out at as initially planned, he would have arrived only a few hours after Spartina, leaving them highly unprepared.
Aspen was one of the most tired rabbits in the warren. He had spent part of the night searching for Campion, falling asleep before finding him. After waking up in the morning, he heard from some of the others that Campion had been absent, but he had since returned, and Spartina had done something she shouldn't have; the details were vague and, at times, contradictory. While Woundwort went to search for the three missing rabbits, Aspen quickly sought out Campion: who better to provide a detailed and accurate explanation than the buck himself?
Campion was near the back of the crowd, pacing nervously, no doubt concerned about the upcoming battle and his failure to prevent it. Aspen's arrival brought him back to reality.
-"Oh. Hey Aspen. What's going on?"
-"What happened last night?" Aspen asked, getting straight to the point. "I was looking for you."
-"Sorry," Campion said, distracted. "I was gone on a mission."
-"What sort of mission?" Aspen pressed further. "If we're going to be fighting Woundwort together, I deserve to know."
Faced with Aspen's questioning, Campion came to the conclusion that he would have to provide a more detailed explanation. Nothing wrong with telling Aspen the whole story: they were allies, after all.
-"Spartina is also working against Woundwort," he said.
-"You recruited a third partner?" Aspen grinned. "That's good news, three is certainly better than two."
-"Yeah, that's not quite it..." Campion said. He had not "recruited" Spartina, she had started working with the outsiders without any intervention on his part. Campion did his best to explain this, as he told Aspen the entire story of what happened the previous evening. Once he was finished, Aspen stared at him in shock.
-"Hang on, you mean to tell me that you were going to run off with her and leave me here, all alone in this...this...fleahole?"
It was then that Campion realized his mistake. When he first pursued Spartina, time was of the essence and he could not waste any telling Aspen about his plans. By the time he had found out the truth and that Spartina had no ill intentions, he had completely forgotten about Aspen, and did not consider going back to Darkhaven and inviting him to join them.
-"I'm sorry," was all he could say.
-"And if Woundwort hadn't caught you in the act, I never would have known what happened to you. You would just have vanished without a trace."
-"I'm sorry," Campion repeated.
-"We've been travelling companions for almost a full moon now, you've been working with the outsiders the whole time, and yet you only told me a few days ago. It's almost as if I don't really matter. You only care about yourself. It's all you and your epic missions, and I don't even deserve a second thought."
-"I said I'm sorry."
-"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to work with you. I know that BRofI assigned me to protect you, but I can't figure out why. Clearly he has big plans for you, but why you, of all rabbits? Besides, you've mostly been able to protect yourself without my help. If anything, you were doing even better without me!"
It was becoming clear to Campion that nothing he could say would get Aspen to calm down. He waited as the pale-furred rabbit vented his frustrations, knowing that trying to defend himself would likely be useless.
-"Are you going to give me up to Woundwort?" he eventually asked, once Aspen had finished.
-"No, I won't," Aspen quickly replied. "Helping the outsiders is still the right thing to do, morally. They have one bad apple, but with Woundwort, the entire orchard is rotting. I still share the same goal you do: stopping Woundwort from killing them. If you need my help with something, I'll do it, but otherwise, perhaps we should work separately from now on. I doubt you'll notice the difference, you've been working alone for so long and you never complained."
This was somewhat reassuring, Campion thought, happy to hear that the outsiders wouldn't be suffering because of his mistake. But being referred to as as "bad apple" still hurt his feelings.
-"I'm sorry that you didn't find me last night," he said, apologizing once more.
-"You're sorry I didn't find you?" Aspen scoffed. "What a choice of words! As if it was my fault. Of course I couldn't find you, you weren't even there!"
Campion was digging himself deeper, his latest attempt at an apology was only making things worse.
-"What did you want to speak to me about last night?"
-"I had a plan for something that could be used against Woundwort."
-"Better late than never. What is your idea?"
Aspen looked at Campion in disapproval.
-"That was last night! Good ideas can be fleeting."
Campion lowered his ears in disappointment.
-"You mean you don't remember?"
-"No, I don't. It's the unfortunate consequence of waiting too long."
Aspen hopped away, leaving Campion alone, reflecting sadly on the error of his ways. One unfortunate mistake, Campion thought, had put an end to his short-lived partnership with Aspen. But he had lost more than just a partner: he had also lost a friend, his only friend in Darkhaven. Now, he was back to working alone, as he had done ever since the previous summer. A very lonely job, but hopefully it wouldn't be for much longer...