AUTHOR'S NOTE: warning, this chapter may be depressing...

Chapter 265: The Same Ones Always Face All The Problems.

"All she had ever loved was now gone."

-Goldmoonrider, Woundwart Lives On

Following the collision with the Speaker, Orchis was left highly disoriented. It had been a high-force impact from a large doe, and he was already tired from the intense battle with Spartina. After getting back up, he did not pay attention to where he was going; as a result, he soon fell through a hole. This was Nelthilta's burrow; this additional hole was supposed to help with ventilation, due to her breathing problems, but the rabbits had forgotten to fill it up following her death.

Orchis quickly realized that he had stumbled upon what may be the warren's only unguarded entrance. He wondered whether he should tell everyone else about his discovery, but decided against it. He had a better idea: he would take a hostage. Surely there were some rabbits who, unable to fight, had stayed underground, unguarded, while everyone else was busy fighting?

As he exited the burrow and hopped forward, he was startled to see an adult rabbit sitting in the middle of the tunnel. He let out a fearful yelp...until he noticed the multicoloured fur between the rabbit's ears.

-"Aah! Prince Rainbow? What are you doing here? Are you working for the outsiders?"

-"I am not working for anyone but Lord Frith," was Prince Rainbow's simple response.

-"All right, thanks for clarifying that, I would hate to be at war with you. Anyway, why are you here? Did Lord Frith send you?"

-"No. I came to check up on your life sentence."

-"My what?" Orchis shook his head. "Also I'm in the middle of something, you'll have to follow me."

As Orchis made his way past Prince Rainbow (almost shoving him out of the way), the supernatural figure had no choice but to follow.

-"I gave you two days to fix your life," he said. "This deadline expires tomorrow morning, and so far, you haven't accomplished much. In fact, it seems like you haven't even tried."

-"What was I supposed to do, already?" Orchis asked cluelessly.

-"Your brother."

-"Oh right, him. Well, you see, building a sibling bond takes time. I need to take things slowly."

-"Don't take things too slowly. You have less than two thirds of a day left. After that, if you failed to change your circumstances, you are back to being dead, forever."

-"That doesn't make sense, where is everyone? Surely there must be someone underground? The old and frail, the kittens, the pregnant does, they must be lurking SOMEWHERE!"

Prince Rainbow was left angry at Orchis' completely unrelated comment.

-"Are you even listening to me?"

-"Huh, what?" Orchis turned around. "Why are you still here? Don't you have some other otherworldly duties to take care of?"

-"What do you think I'm doing right now? Second chances are not given out on a whim, they are a rare gift. You were very fortunate to be given one, but you are not taking it seriously."

After checking several empty burrows, Orchis had, almost by luck, stumbled upon Primrose's. The doe had just gotten the kittens to sleep, but she remained wide awake, and instantly spotted the Darkhavener. With her hind legs, she pushed her kittens to the back of the burrow, shielding them with her own body; unfortunately, this had the side effect of waking them up.

-"What..." Snowdrop started to say, only to be immediately shushed by Gilia, who was the first to realize what was happening.

-"Well, what have we here?" Orchis said tauntingly. "Come with me, doe, and you won't get hurt."

-"No!"

-"What do you think you're doing?" Prince Rainbow asked.

-"I'm taking a hostage, obviously," Orchis said, turning around.

-"Who are you talking to?" Primrose asked in fear; Prince Rainbow was invisible to everyone except Orchis.

-"How will taking a hostage help you build a relationship with your brother?" Prince Rainbow asked at the same time.

-"None of your business!" was Orchis' instant response.

-"That is quite a rude way to speak to someone who could take you to the Shadowlands instantly."

-"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to my hostage," Orchis explained. "To answer YOUR question, this will make my brother proud, I hope. Now please be quiet, you're distracting me." He turned back to Primrose. "This is your last chance to surrender peacefully and come with me."

-"I will not come with you under any circumstances!"

-"Fine, I will resort to force." Orchis bit Primrose's ear, causing her to squeal, and he dragged her out of the burrow. No matter how hard she buried her claws in the dirt, he kept pulling.

-"Perhaps you should find a way to impress your brother that does not involve hurting an innocent third party. Too bad, have it your way. You will probably fail your mission."

Realizing Orchis' stubbornness, Prince Rainbow came to the conclusion that there was nothing more he could do, and therefore chose to depart, leaving Orchis alone with Primrose.

-"She's not innocent, she's an outsider!" As he spoke, Orchis opened his mouth and let go of Primrose's ear, allowing her to attempt to flee. However, Orchis was quick to react: she had only taken a few steps that he pounced on her again.

As he continued dragging Primrose towards the exit in Nelthilta's burrow, Orchis made it past Lady May's burrow. The doe, tired of waiting for Marigold to return, decided to try to go to the flayrah burrow herself; a daunting task, given her injured paw. She froze as she saw Orchis: she remembered him from Darkhaven, and he was one of the nastiest rabbits there, second only to Kurai. She could also see the look of terror on Primrose's face. Such beauty was rare for a wild rabbit; Lady May could not let Orchis do unspeakable things to her. She raised one of her front paws in an attempt at smacking the captain in the face, but standing on only three paws upset her stability, causing her to collapse in the middle of the tunnel.

-"Ugh, it's that thing again," Orchis mumbled with contempt, the "thing" being Lady May. As he continued dragging Primrose, he took a short break to stamp on the former hutch rabbit's exposed paw. She let out an agonizing cry: what used to be a simple sprain was now a complete fracture.

The kittens remained in the burrow, long after Orchis and Primrose had vanished, tharn over what they had just witnessed.

-"They kidnapped mother!" Periwinkle finally said.

-"They are not going to get away with it," Mallow added. "Let's get help."

They quickly ran out of the burrow, just in time to bump into Marigold.

-"What's going on?" the adult doe asked, peeking into the burrow. "Where's Primrose?"

-"She's been kidnapped! We have to go and save her!"

Marigold was deeply saddened by this news: Primrose was a good rabbit and did not deserve this. With Hazel and Primrose's four kittens having run off to seek help, she was left alone in the burrow with her own kitten and, of course, the newborn. She dropped it in the nest; her own kit instinctively snuggled up with it. Trusting that they would be able to protect each other, she decided to head back to the Honeycomb, where she was no doubt still needed.

As she hopped through the tunnels, she reflected on the currently unfolding disaster. She had not taken part in the battle, but she had still seen its horrible consequences: an endless stream of injuries among the fighters. Even Primrose, who was supposed to be safe underground, had been kidnapped. This was all emotionally devastating for Marigold. If the Darkhaveners were defeated, perhaps all this suffering would be worth it. But this was still highly uncertain: if Woundwort won the battle, then those who died quickly would be lucky. The male survivors would be drafted into the brutal owsla, forced to torture others, while the females would become mating slaves.

Distracted by her own feelings, Marigold ended up not in the Honeycomb, but in front of Hickory's burrow. As Silverweed had predicted, he had collapsed the entrance, leaving himself trapped inside. Depending on how long the battle lasted, he might suffocate in there, although that would be the preferable outcome in the event of a Darkhaven victory. In the background, she could hear the faint cries of Lady May:

-"Hello? Can anyone hear me? I'm hurt and hungry! Is anyone coming?"

Marigold snapped out of her thoughts as she felt a kick inside her; it was one of the kits she was pregnant with. This was all a world of fear, anxiety, pain, suffering, and trauma. She briefly considered taking the emergency escape tunnel and running away, starting a new life as a hlessi, but that would be even more dangerous, being alone, with the elil roaming everywhere. This was not a world for her kittens; she would spare them the burden of existence, and reabsorb them back inside her as Blackberry had suggested. This was the only option.

She lied down in the middle of the tunnel and focused all her thoughts on it.