Chapter 271: The Painful Decision.
"We have to stay together...for the children!"
"You're right...that'll REALLY drive them crazy!"
-Nina Paley, Mimi and Eunice
Marigold did not see time go by. She was only snapped back to reality upon hearing the gunshot-like noise caused by Blueberry's collapsing portal. How long had she been away? Blackberry had asked her to return after dropping off the newborn kit with Primrose; but she had not done either. Hopefully her inaction had not caused any harm...
She ran back to Heather's burrow; the first thing she noticed upon her arrival was the foul odour. Looking around, she saw three or four other furless blobs in a makeshift nest in the corner; other kits born after her departure. Heather was at the other end of the burrow; Blackberry placed one of her front paws on the side of the other doe's head. Marigold's eyes widened, and she gasped, as she realized that Heather herself was the source of the foul smell, and that Blackberry had placed her paw there to close the eye. The noise alerted Blackberry to the presence of another rabbit.
-"Oh, you're back," she said. "What happened to you? You were gone for a long time."
-"Is she dead!?"
-"My heart has joined the thousand, for my friend stopped running today." Blackberry sighed sadly. "I tried. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for her. All those seasons she spent in Efrafa must have weakened her body to the point where even just a pregnancy proved to be fatal. Now I must focus my attention on those who still have a chance. Did you get the kit to Primrose safely?"
Marigold had never seen a dead rabbit before. While she had lost many friends in the past, in the warren of the shining wires, they always just disappeared, out of sight. Faced with this shock, she was unable to properly articulate that Primrose had been kidnapped.
-"She was unavailable. I left the kit somewhere."
Blackberry raised her eyebrow.
-"Is Primrose available now?"
-"Unknown."
Blackberry felt disappointed. When Marigold had first volunteered to help, Blackberry was left with high hopes. Unfortunately, it appeared that Marigold had since reverted back to her previous mental state of absolute despair, leaving her unable to function. Relying on her had been a mistake; now there was a defenceless kit somewhere in the warren, alone, in need of help.
-"You have done well. You can go back to your burrow to get some rest for now." Blackberry's first four words were a lie to spare Marigold's feelings; at this point, it would be best if she just got out of the way and let Blackberry work alone. If Marigold was doing that poorly, the odds were that there was nobody left in the Honeycomb to help the victims of battle, potentially threatening the warren's survival.
As she arrived in the Honeycomb, the crowd was the largest it had been all day, but Blackberry was pleased to see Nicole and Pipkin tending to the wounded. While they still struggled to keep up, the situation was not as dire as she had first feared: at least SOMEONE was still helping the casualties of war.
As soon as he spotted her, Pipkin ran over to her; despite all his attempts at helping take care of the other wounded creatures, his own injury still remained untreated.
-"Blackberry, it's good to see you're back. How's Heather?"
A painful question; Blackberry would have to share the sad news at some point, but at the moment, those who were still alive had to be the priority.
-"Is there anyone who needs my immediate attention?"
-"They will all need your help at one point or another."
After the unexpected ending to the battle, Bigwig ordered everyone to get some rest: it was clear that there would be additional combat soon, and he wanted his owsla to be able to function when the time would come. Most of them did not even return to their burrows, instead choosing to sleep in the Honeycomb, so that they could be woken up quickly should it be necessary. As soon as Blackberry confirmed that they were free of injuries, or provided them with the appropriate herbs, they lied down, and usually fell asleep quickly. The burrow was the most crowded it had ever been.
While all of the Darkhaveners that had made it past the hidden traps had survived the battle so far, a lot of them had been injured; Spartina had explained that there were no healers in Darkhaven, so this gave the Watershippers an important advantage. However, they also had a disadvantage: they were weaker and more tired than their opponents overall. It remained undetermined just how much the Bigwig-imposed naps would actually help.
It was also hard to feel optimistic following the deaths of Campion and Heather. The latter wasn't even fighting, and her kits were still at risk, having been born prematurely. Moss took all this extremely badly, losing his mate and his mentor on the same day. He had to be restrained so he didn't try killing all the Darkhaveners himself alone.
Hazel went to a side burrow with a few trusted advisors to discuss what the next step would be.
-"Are we sure Campion really is dead?" Fiver asked. "We didn't dig underneath that boulder. He might still be alive."
-"I really don't think so," Silverweed replied sadly. "I probed the area for his mind, and I have been unable to locate it. I'm sorry Fiver..."
-"There is no way to dig anyway," Primrose said. "Woundwort would attack the diggers before they could get anywhere."
-"They might have stopped fighting for now, but they will start again, I'm sure of that," Hazel said. "If not tonight, then tomorrow."
-"I don't think we will be able to keep going like this much longer," Hyzenthlay said. "We're all exhausted. Most of the woodland troops have deserted us. We're out of boulders. All the Darkhaveners are still alive; I didn't even manage to kill that filthy Orchis."
-"That's all true," Fiver said. "But what alternative do we have but to keep fighting?"
-"Leaving," Holly said sadly. "Sometimes, you have to acknowledge a hopeless situation and attempt to salvage it."
-"But where we would we go?" Hyzenthlay asked. "Marli-rah and Redstone are both destroyed."
-"That leaves only one place," Fiver said. "Buttercup's warren."
Hazel stood in the middle of the Honeycomb, with Fiver and Hyzenthlay by his sides; it was time to announce the decision about the warren's future. Sensing that something important was about to happen, the rabbits all woke up.
-"That was refreshing," Dandelion said with a yawn, referring to the nap.
-"It was." Hawkbit remained silent for a few moments. "Anyway, do you have any idea what Hazel is going to say?"
-"I don't. I was hoping you did."
However, this brief discussion caused Hawkbit and Dandelion to miss the beginning of Hazel's speech. They only managed to catch up mid-sentence:
-"...feel that the time has come for us to abandon Watership Down..."
-"What a fool I was, earlier," Dandelion said sadly. "I left a few days ago over a nonexistent problem, and now we all have to leave to survive."
-"Don't you dare insult yourself like this," Hawkbit. "This will just make everyone even more miserable than we already are."
The rabbits left Watership Down that evening, while most of the Darkhaveners were asleep. Most of the creatures other than the rabbits did not follow them, instead leaving towards their own homes; only Hannah chose to follow, having no other home of her own. Bark promised to trash the Darkhaven camp once the Watershippers were a safe distance from the battlefield; the Watershippers were grateful for this additional assistance.
The rabbits gathered at the emergency escape tunnel and exited, one after the other; this exit was far away from the main warren, and as a result, none of the Darkhaveners noticed their departure. Once everyone had left, Strawberry collapsed the tunnel entrance so that nobody else could follow.
Hickory, who had been dug out of his burrow shortly before departure, looked throughout the crowd, searching for Marigold. While the battle was raging above ground, he was left with a lot of time to think, and he reconsidered his priorities in life. Upon spotting her, he ran over to her, calling her name.
-"Marigold!"
The doe turned to look at him; her look was entirely blank and emotionless.
-"Marigold, I'm sorry. I know you probably still hate me, but I would like to make a request, if you don't mind."
Marigold still stared at Hickory emotionlessly; he had no idea whether this was a good thing or not.
-"I haven't been good to you lately, and if you want nothing more to do with me, I can accept that," he continued. "But you still have kits on the way, and I just want to know...would it be all right if I was still involved in their lives? That's all I'm asking."
-"You're too late." Marigold said simply.
-"I am?" Marigold's response had not been what he was hoping for, but it was mostly confusing.
-"The kittens are gone. I reabsorbed them."
As Marigold hopped away, Hickory did not move, and instead reflected on his current situation, and how bleak it all was. His only hope for the future was gone. And it was his own fault, for having mistreated his mate. While he had been depressed earlier, this feeling had since faded, leaving only indifference towards what would happen to him now.
He remained motionless as the rest of the rabbits walked past him. When some of them stopped to ask if he was was all right, he simply responded that he needed a few moments to rest. It was only once everyone else had walked past him that he started moving again...in the opposite direction as the others.