Chapter 90: Love and Duty.

"All his questions melted away as he marveled [sic] at how wonderful his surroundings truly were."

-Julee, The Heavens of Frith

Spartina accompanied Dandelion as far as the Honeycomb, where he found himself getting tackled by the kittens.

-"Tell us a story, uncle Dandelion!"

-"You seem to be spending a lot of time with them," she said.

-"I do," Dandelion struggled to say, as the kittens were tickling him. "I generally end up being the one taking care of them when their parents are unavailable."

-"Why are they unavailable now?"

-"I'm not sure. You'll have to go to their burrow to find out; I can't really get up right now."

Curious, Spartina decided to see what was going on. Just as she was outside Hazel and Primrose's burrow, she cautiously peaked inside, and saw the two sleeping rabbits. She stepped into the entrance and looked at the lovely couple.

-"Hello Spartina," came a sudden voice. She then realized Hazel had his eyes wide open.

-"Oh, sorry Hazel-rah, I didn't realize you were awake..."

-"Don't worry about it, I don't mind. So, how do you like Watership Down?"

-"It's a really great place. Everyone is so friendly, and from what I've seen, you are a good Chief Rabbit."

-"I'm glad you are enjoying it here."

-"You're really devoted to her, aren't you?"

-"You can't even begin to describe how much I love her."

Spartina smiled.

-"I'll be right back."

Hazel waited patiently for the doe to return. It did not take her long, and she soon arrived carrying a long, blue object in her mouth. She dropped it in front of Hazel; it was the ribbon she had stumbled upon a few days before, that had caused Flyairth to panic. Since then, she had spent a large amount cleaning it, to remove the scents.

-"What is this?" Hazel asked. "It looks nice, but what am I supposed to do with it? Where did you find it?"

-"The wind blew it to the Down. I assume it's a human object. I don't know what they use it for, but it appears harmless."

With that, she started to hop towards the exit.

-"But what do I do with it?"

-"Put it around her ears," Spartina said, before finally hopping out of the burrow.

Hazel remained silent for a while, thinking, until Primrose stirred.

-"I heard you talking. What happened?"

-"Don't worry, it's nothing."

-"Nothing?"

-"Well, there's something..." Hazel grabbed the ribbon with his teeth, before placing it on Primrose's head.

-"What is it?"

-"Don't move..."

Primrose obeyed, as Hazel carefully placed the ribbon around her ears. It was rather difficult, due to the position he was in, but he eventually managed to place it in a way that was comfortable for her, and made a small knot to hold it in place.

-"It's soft," she said.

-"I love you."

-"I love you too," Primrose said as she buried her head in Hazel's fur again, causing the tip of the ribbon to brush against his nose.

Despite the fact that the patrol had stumbled upon the Efrafans close to Watership Down, it took a long time for everyone to reach the warren. The Efrafans were tired, and several were injured. In the end, Bigwig resorted to bringing Rake, Leo and Heather to the warren first, as they appeared less tired than the others. Meanwhile, the others slowly climbed the Down, with the owsla urging them on.

Hazel was still lying in his burrow with Primrose tightly pressed against him, when Bigwig arrived.

-"Still at it, Hazel? You'll have to get up now."

-"Why? What's the matter...Plump Rabbit?" Hazel replied, winking.

Hazel was plainly joking, but Bigwig still did not appreciate the comment. Nevertheless, considering the current situation with the Efrafans, he had more important things to worry about.

-"There's a small group of rabbits from Efrafa outside, and they're in really bad shape. The leaders need to speak with you."

-"They will have to speak with me here."

-"That will make a fine first impression on them."

-"I can't disturb her. Can you think of any other alternative?"

-"Fine." Bigwig sighed. "You three, come in now!"

He motioned to Leo, Rake and Heather, who looked into the burrow, staring at the two rabbits lying inside.

-"Are you...Hazel-rah?" Leo asked.

-"That's me." As Hazel said that, the three Efrafans bowed in front of him.

-"I've heard so many stories about you in Efrafa," Heather continued, "but I never thought I would get the opportunity to meet you, sir."

-"You don't have to bow in front of me. Just treat me like you would any other rabbit."

-"Sorry sir," Rake said, as he and Leo got back up; Heather, meanwhile, did not move.

-"Also, you don't have to call me 'sir'. Just call me Hazel."

-"Yes si- er...Hazel."

-"I assume this is Primrose?" Leo asked. "The only rabbit to have escaped from Efrafa, without getting killed or captured..."

-"That's her. However, she is asleep at the moment, please don't talk too loudly, so she won't wake up. Anyway, you didn't tell me your names yet..."

-"I'm Leo."

-"And I'm Rake Nightfur, I er...used to be a captain of owsla. But you can call me Rake for short."

-"I'm Heather, slave."

-"You're not a slave anymore, Heather. Are there any others with you three?"

-"There are a few others. They are still outside at the moment," Rake explained.

-"I'm sure we will take good care of your friends. Anyway, what brings you three here?"

-"It's a long story," Leo said. "It all started hrair days ago..."

Bigwig was sitting outside the burrow, listening to the conversation. He had a bad feeling about these Efrafans, and he wanted to make sure that they didn't mislead Hazel. He was a good Chief, but he had one weakness: he was too trusting of others. Suddenly, someone collided with him and knocked him down; it was Nyreem.

-"Why don't you look where..."

-"Bigwig!" Nyreem cried. "There's something wrong with Nelthilta!"

-"Again? What is it this time?"

-"I don't know, but you should take a look!"

Bigwig followed Nyreem to the burrow where Nelthilta was lying. As they approached the burrow, they encountered several other rabbits gathered in the run; they had to squeeze their way through the crowd.

Once they were inside the burrow, they saw Nelthilta, lying on her side, completely motionless and silent.

-"So she's asleep," Bigwig said with a sigh. "What's the issue here?"

-"She's not asleep, she's unconscious."

-"We should get everyone out of here," Hyzenthlay said, as she hopped through the crowd. "This burrow is already stuffy, she needs room."

-"All right, you heard her, get out of here, all of you!" Bigwig ordered, but everyone else remained motionless. "What are you waiting for? Move!"

-"Shouting isn't always enough." Flyairth sighed. "Sometimes, you have to use more drastic measures," she added, as she kicked some of the others away with her hind legs; this scared several others away. Soon, the only rabbits left were Nelthilta, Bigwig, Nyreem, Hyzenthlay and Blackberry.

-"We need to get her outside," Blackberry said. "She needs fresh air, and she isn't going to get that in this burrow. It isn't properly ventilated."

-"I'll carry her," Hyzenthlay said. "She's small, it shouldn't be too hard."

-"Is she going to be all right?" Nyreem asked.

-"We'll do our best to make sure she will be all right," Hyzenthlay replied.

-"But what if...she isn't all right?"

-"We'll deal with it, if it happens." As Hyzenthlay and Nyreem left the burrow with Nelthilta, only Blackberry and Bigwig remained.

-"Blackberry, you say this burrow isn't properly ventilated," Bigwig said. "What could be done about this?"

-"We need to dig another opening, in the ceiling," the doe explained. "There would be more fresh air in here this way."

-"That sounds like a security hazard. Such a large hole could never be properly guarded against elil."

-"I'll do my best to keep it concealed. If it doesn't work, I'll just fill it back in and Nelthilta will have to find another burrow."

With that, she stood up on her hind legs and started to scratch the ceiling.

-"Anything I can do?" Bigwig asked.

-"When I'm done, you will have to come and see if you're satisfied, security-wise," Blackberry said. "But at the moment, there's nothing you can do."

-"Very well. In that case, I better get going, I have something important to do..."

Bigwig hopped out of the burrow halfway through his sentence, eager to get back to Hazel's burrow. He was annoyed at having been interrupted while he was trying to spy on the Efrafans. Hopefully he would still be able to understand the conversation, despite having missed the beginning.

-"...went just as expected, considering me and Moss were the only ones who had ever been out of Efrafa," Captain Rake was saying, "and even I had little experience, so Moss did most of the job, really. Most of us had never smelled elil in our entire lives, but Moss managed to keep us all alive. That was until one dreadful day..."