AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you Anonymous Guest for the review. I'll try to make the ending, when it comes, very intense!
Chapter 78: The Declaration.
"All I'm saying is look around and see what you do have instead of what you don't have."
-Come Lady Death, Good Luck
-"You should have seen how fearlessly he addressed the General. Nobody had ever dared to try anything like this ever before. He managed to convince him that there was a large owsla surrounding the warren. I heard the officers talking a few days later, and the tracks showed that there was only one rabbit over there. Isn't he amazing?"
Primrose was telling Hyzenthlay about her last days in Efrafa, and how Hazel had managed to trick Woundwort and escape from the warren. She had been telling her sister about her mate's exploits for a while, but did so in a very confusing manner, leaving out several important details, and retelling several events at once. Nevertheless, it was plain to Hyzenthlay that Primrose deeply admired the buck.
-"I'm afraid I'm going to have to interrupt you," a voice suddenly came from outside the burrow, "but I need to check up on your tail, Primrose."
Hyzenthlay turned and awkwardly looked at the new arrival, with blue-grey fur, as she entered the burrow and approached her sister.
-"Does it hurt?" Blackberry asked.
-"Yes, but it's not unbearable," Primrose replied. "I'm feeling better now, than when I woke up."
Blackberry slowly pealed off the leaves; Primrose winced.
-"The wound seems to be healing nicely, but I'm going to have to replace the leaves. I brought a few with me. This might sting a little, but it's nothing serious."
-"Don't worry, Hyzenthlay," Primrose said, seeing her sister's worried look. "This is Blackberry, and I was away from the warren with her for the past few days. She saved my life."
-"I didn't, really," Blackberry said. "If it hadn't been for me, she wouldn't have left the warren in the first place."
-"Without you, I wouldn't have been able to make it back here alive."
-"I'm really grateful for saving her, Blackberry," Hyzenthlay said.
-"Thank you, but it's Meadow who deserves the praise. She's the one who guided us back home. Anyway, Primrose, your tail may be healing nicely, but you mustn't strain yourself. You'll have to stay in your burrow for the immediate future."
With that, Blackberry hopped out of the burrow. Just before exiting, however, she stopped to listen to the conversation.
-"So...what was I talking about?" Primrose asked.
-"You were telling me about Hazel," Hyzenthlay replied.
-"Oh yes, Hazel. You should have seen him, the day I escaped," Primrose continued, jumping to yet another of Hazel's heroic deeds. "There he was, standing fearlessly in the field just outside the pit. The guards could have gotten him, but he chose to remain there to be the first to welcome me to freedom."
Blackberry chuckled as she heard this, and left the burrow. Another rabbit soon ran up to her.
-"How is she?"
-"Hazel, calm down, there's no reason to panic..."
-"How is she?"
-"She'll be all right, but she can't go anywhere in her current state. She has to stay in that burrow. In the morning, someone will have to bring her flayrah there, she can't leave to get it herself."
-"I'll do anything. But how is she? Mentally?"
-"She was telling Hyzenthlay just how brave you are."
-"Really?"
-"Everything will be fine, Hazel. I'll be in my burrow, if you have any other concerns."
With that, Blackberry hopped away. Hazel stood by the burrow for a long time. For the past several days, he had assumed the worst, but now it appeared that, against all odds, Primrose would actually survive and recover.
As he returned to the Honeycomb, it was largely deserted, but one rabbit in the corner caught his attention.
-"I didn't get the opportunity to thank you earlier, Meadow," Hazel said. "I shall be eternally grateful to you for bringing Primrose and Blackberry back home."
-"You should thank Silverweed," Meadow replied. "He's the one who told me where to find them."
-"I will, but don't underestimate yourself. Without you to guide them back to the warren, they wouldn't have made it."
-"They're good buns, they wouldn't have deserved to die so soon."
-"Is there anything I can do to repay you?"
-"Thanks, but no. Saving them is its own reward. I'll have to get going now though."
-"Leaving so soon?"
-"I'm afraid so. It's almost sunrise, and it's a long way to Buttercup-rah's warren. I've already been gone for a few days, and I'll have owsla business to attend to."
-"I understand. But remember that you, and everyone else at your warren, is always welcome here."
-"You all are welcome at my warren too."
Hazel and Meadow hopped above ground. From a far corner of the burrow, Bluebell observed the scene silently, trying to think of a joke that would cheer up the Chief, unlike last time.
Hannah stood in the middle of the road, with the magic pebble in front of her. She had successfully crossed the lake using the trick Hedge had suggested. Now came the moment of truth: would the magic work? She picked up the pebble with her front paws and raised it over her head.
-"Ah call upoon the hegeddiwaz in the toowa
To give me the... confuzzling mahgek wods to remembee
An' I give 'im evertin, and I mean EVERTIN
If he will juss grann meh my wish-flowoo thin
May Blackerry an Primrose reac Watership Down aliv an saf."
Hannah remained silent for a few moments, half-expecting the pebble to start glowing, or shaking; nothing happened.
-"Oof! I muss have got half of the woids wroong. I cetainleh hop mahgek is flexible."
With that, she put the pebble back down, and started to kick it along the road.
Primrose had finished telling Hyzenthlay about her life. The story had continued to get more confusing, but Hyzenthlay still managed to understand most of what her sister had told her.
-"You've had quite a life," she said. "There's just one more thing I want to know: are you happy?"
-"...yes...I think I am..." Primrose said softly.
-"You don't sound very convinced."
Primrose remained silent at Hyzenthlay's comment, but the look on her face plainly showed that it was true.
-"You can tell me about it," Hyzenthlay said. "I won't force you to if you would rather not, but if there's something on your mind, I'm available to listen."
-"Well..." Primrose sighed. "I told you about Campion, didn't I?
-"He's an Efrafan captain who saved your life a few times, if I remember correctly."
-"Yes, that's him. What bothers me is something he told me a few days ago...why did I run away from Efrafa, when I could have mated with him?"
-"From what you told me, Efrafa is a terrible place. No rabbit should live in such conditions."
-"Yes, but maybe it wouldn't have been that terrible if I had mated with him...mates of owsla officers get some additional privileges."
-"That's still not freedom."
-"No, but it would have made him happy."
-"Would it have made YOU happy?"
-"When I was in Efrafa, nobody cared whether I was happy or not, as long as I didn't try to escape."
-"You're not in Efrafa anymore. Here, others care about you."
Primrose fell silent; she knew Hyzenthlay was right, but was not yet prepared to admit it. Hyzenthlay would have to try another way.
-"From what I understand, Campion loves you?" she asked.
-"I think so."
-"Do you love him?"
-"He saved my life..."
-"That's not what I asked. Do you love him?"
-"...not really."
-"There you go. There's no point in mating with someone you don't love."
-"You're right...thank you Hyzenthlay."
Primrose stood up on her hind legs and hugged Hyzenthlay, until suddenly she broke away.
-"But what about Hazel?"
-"What about him? I thought you loved him?"
-"I do love him, but...I'm not worthy to be his mate. He did so much for me, he saved me from Efrafa, from the river, he's given me kittens, he's made me happy, and yet...I've done so little for him."
-"You've done more for him than you give yourself credit for."
-"What makes you think that?"
-"I've been living here at Watership Down for a few days, and I saw him. He spent most of his time waiting for you, so worried about you, hoping you would come back safely."
-"Are you sure?"
-"I'm absolutely sure. He clearly loves you, and you've had a great impact on him."
The two does hugged each other tightly. After a while, Primrose lied back down.
-"I haven't seen Hazel since I came back..." she said. "He must be very worried."
-"Do you want to see him now?"
-"Yes."
-"I'll go tell him."
