Chapter 5: The Watch
As seconds turned into minutes then minutes into hours, time passed but there was no end in sight. She had to spend time with Stonecrop so the Watership rabbits could stay in Vleflain temporarily. With every passing moment, she wanted out of this arrangement more and more but she was afraid of formally requesting such. If she refused to stay with him, they could confine her but as it stands, it was her choice to obey.
Yarrow began a story to pass the time, but his tone was off, lacking in several ways because of the stench. She tuned the rabbit out and tried to imagine a better place. Not that she was successful as a burrow combined with many rabbits and the scent of man reminded her of that dark room with other rabbits in cages.
Now she had new names and faces for those rabbits – her current guards forming a dystopian nightmare. The storyteller clearing his throat jolted her back to the present. She needed to know how long this would last.
Hazel had turned to her for special guidance in the fields earlier today, and she gave none. Now, she was willing to lie just to free herself.
"I must see Hazel-rah," she said in the middle of their tale.
They all followed – Stonecrop too and his scent was strong enough to bring discomfort to every Watership rabbit.
She called for him as she blindly navigated the tunnels. With so many different scents, it was difficult to pick out any particular one. The ruckus spread across the warren enough for Hazel to hear.
"What's the matter?" Hazel asked.
"I've seen that we will leave within a week or less," she said. It was a lie but she needed a time limit to this.
Stonecrop said, "Do you see me leaving with you?"
"No, and I hope it stays that way."
"Oh, come on. I haven't done anything to you. Why do you dislike me?"
"At this point, I don't even need to mention your scent for a reason."
This argument was taking place in the middle of the warren so quite a few rabbits gathered around to listen.
"As if you have any," Stonecrop said.
"Let me see –"
A doe tackled her to the ground. "If you dislike him, you're the one who's the problem."
She struggled futilely against her furious attacker. "And I thought you would've had at least one reason of your own given how he treated you," she said, trying to talk some sense into the doe.
It was the same doe that was obsessed with Stonecrop. "No, no, everything is your fault for showing up here. And there is something wrong with you since you don't like him." She didn't need to expend much energy to hold her down.
Her guards stood by and watched. Part of her wondered if she should have.
A doe watching this said, "I guess there's something wrong with me too. I don't want to be with Stonecrop anymore."
"Keep telling yourself that because he chose me!"
"Not anymore it seems."
"I don't want you anymore," Stonecrop said coldly to the doe infatuated with him.
"See?"
"Fine," the doe sniffed. She let her up and slowly walked towards the exit.
"One reason: I dislike you because of how you treated her," she said.
Stonecrop said, "Why does that matter? You aren't her."
"Because I might be in her place when you find someone better. Discarded without a second thought. Whatever relationship you both had. I do not want to spend time with you even but the Chief Rabbits decided that I should so here I remain."
"I settled for her because I thought you would never return. It hasn't even been a day. We didn't have enough time to bond yet. Why don't we go outside?"
Food was a good way to quell anger. Grass close to the warren provided rabbits with stuff to eat although Stonecrop didn't settle for mere grass.
"Come," he said. He led her to some green leaves. "Here."
"It's clover. No thanks."
"What's wrong?"
"I know a doe named Clover."
"What's next? Not eating grass because you know a rabbit named Grass? What about Carrot?" Burnet said.
"But there isn't a rabbit nearby named Carrot or Grass. Not yet anyway."
"Suit yourself."
She ate grass while some of the rabbits ate clover.
"Would you fancy a game of bob-stones?" Stonecrop asked.
"Not right after silflay." She headed back to the burrow to rest. The others followed her – and so did Stonecrop.
If she didn't know Stonecrop and if he didn't smell as he did, she could see herself spending more time with him but every interaction was simply a way to pass the time. She despised him based on what she witnessed. While they remained in Vleflain she had to keep Stonecrop company as per their agreement. Everything she did was to humor Stonecrop while he tried to win her over.
Two days in, Loosestrife came to replace one of her guards. Their tiny burrow could only entertain them for so long so they listened to stories told by Dandelion whenever it was story time. His storytelling ability far surpassed the others. Unwanted Stonecrop remained close to her side.
Loosestrife said the quiet part out loud. "It's clear that she doesn't want you."
"And why not?" Stonecrop said.
"How about the way that you treat others?" she said.
"They aren't you so it shouldn't matter."
"But if you find a more attractive doe."
"There aren't any."
"But there could be," Loosestrife said.
"When you rejected me, it was like being rejected by El-ahrairah. You didn't even give me a fair chance."
"And since Groundsel forces me to spend time with you, I've found even more reasons to dislike you," she said. If it wasn't for their agreement, she wouldn't be here.
"But I didn't treat you poorly."
"But you likely will in the future. We already had this chat. Please go after another doe and leave me out of it."
"Let's go play bob-stones. You'll be impressed."
She had no idea how this was possibly supposed to sway her. They went outside to play bob-stones. If anything, she became even less impressed than before. It was a game of chance but Stonecrop had an unlucky streak.
"You're really going to hold luck against me?" Stonecrop said.
"You're the one that said I was going to be impressed."
A hrair was watching over them as always. Stonecrop faired no better against the others. It just wasn't his day.
As the days wore on even though it was only the fourth day in Vleflain, Hazel had to hold a meeting to address the issue of whispers he heard around the warren.
All Watership rabbits were in attendance. Stonecrop was as well even though he wasn't one because he opted to stay close to her even at this point.
"I've heard whispers. We will not be driving Stonecrop out of his warren."
"I suggested it," Woodruff said. "You know we would be better off."
"The next time you do, you will join another warren. We are only remaining here for five more days at most."
Captain Holly said, "Maybe I should take a group out of here until we decide our next move?"
Hazel paused for a moment. "You could – somewhere safe nearby as long as the group isn't too large. Would it make a difference? I'm not forcibly keeping anyone here."
"Me," she said the doe that had to keep Stonecrop company.
"Fine, others. It's just the easiest solution we have. We are here because we're making the best out of things."
"Don't suppose you could persuade convince her to like me?" Stonecrop said. "You're the leader."
"The most I can do is order her to spend time with you. The rest is up to you," Hazel said.
A brief yet quick meeting was all it took to quell dissent. The number that wanted to leave was too small to warrant it.
Groundsel hadn't formally lodged any complaints about the Watership rabbits yet it felt like a matter of time. The tensions were rising.
It was a miracle when Kehaar arrived. "Humans gone from Watership Down."
That was all Hazel needed to guide his rabbits back home. The special doe sure got credit for her lie, which turned out to be true.
"Finally." She wanted to be away from Stonecrop just like everyone else.
This time, it wasn't a burrow evacuation, so they could take greater safety precautions when going home. Everyone going all at once was far too dangerous to do so again, especially with young ones in tow. They divided into groups.
"What do you mean I can't leave yet?" she said.
"Because of Groundsel," Hazel said.
"But I'm going to leave regardless unless you're going to stop me." She would not be denied and she did not want to be part of the last group.
"Fine. Let me talk to Groundsel again."
This time Hazel brought her along for the discussion. The discussion involved Chief Rabbits and their captains.
"I've spent time with Stonecrop for six days, and I refuse to be with him a moment longer than I need to," she said.
Hazel remained behind while four rabbits set off for the down. Among them was Bigwig, who was the leader in Hazel's stead. Splitting up the rabbits in waves should provide them protection against elil.
Their home wasn't how they left it – debris was everywhere which was evidence that the humans were here just before.
"Bigwig?" Kentia said.
There were rabbits left behind from the initial evacuation. A hrair remained so nothing seemed amiss.
"What happened?" Bigwig asked.
"The humans did their thing and largely left us alone but just before they left – they took four of us with them. We sought to abandon the warren at times, but where would we go? Some of them are kittens still so we remained."
The doe with stars on her ears heard an incessant ticking sound. She looked for the source of the sound – some shiny object on the ground was responsible. Upon looking at the object she recalled her name or something similar. Her name was in front of her but it also wasn't, something was off yet she couldn't put her claw on it.
"My name is Eleven."