Chapter 7: Discovery

Campion stopped by again with his retinue of rabbits. He helped ensure safe travel between the warrens and for the daring, he granted an opportunity to explore the world at large.

"There's six of them," Hazel said when they were all here.

"No, there's seven," Fiver said.

Campion blinked. "I must be losing it. There are words I keep hearing that I don't understand."

"We have a new number system thanks to Elven here."

"How are you liking Watership Down?"

Elven said, "It's a fine warren." She realized that something was lacking. She had very few friends despite all the time she had been here. It was her fault but rabbits didn't approach her for friendship. She lived with Fiver and Vilthuril still. Fiver had grown kits of his own, and those reunions made her feel out of place.

Fiver interrupted her thoughts. "Come see." He led Campion to his new burrow. "We found this."

"What is it? Doesn't the ticking bother you?" Campion said. "Can I touch?"

"Go on."

He fiddled with it, and seemingly lost interest. "What makes it so special?"

"Look." Fiver pointed at the numbers. "There are numbers greater than four."

"I don't understand. We have hrair."

"It doesn't have to be this way. Each of these represents a number. A different one." He pointed to five. "That's one more than four. It goes up to twelve."

"Do these mean anything?" He pointed at the moving pieces on the object.

"I don't know. They just move and tick."

"Would you like to come to Efrafa and bring that with you? The captains of Efrafa must learn. How had no one ever thought of this before? So many lives could've been saved."

"Lives?"

"Do you know how hard it is to keep track of a large group? Everything is hrair. It's a wonder that no one in Efrafa even entertained this thought. I must introduce this to the captains."

Vilthuril said, "It stays here. I don't want to risk it getting lost."

"I need to convince Efrafans to come here then," Campion said. "Hazel-rah, I'll be departing shortly."

"You've just arrived!" Hazel said. "You don't even know if this will be useful."

"I envision that it will."

"We still get numbers wrong, all the time."

"I'll stay here briefly so you can find others who want to tag along."

"Gather the warren for a meeting."

Campion was the way most rabbits traveled between the warrens. It was safer than someone going off on their own. His current retinue didn't want to leave so soon so they remained here.

The warren gathered within the honeycomb.

"Anyone who wishes to go with Campion-rah to Vleflain then Efrafa can," Hazel said.

"So soon?" a rabbit said.

"I wish to bring Efrafans here so they can learn numbers greater than four," Campion said. "Without the object you possess, teaching others would be far too hard. I would love to take the object with me but …"

"Why is it so important?"

"It can save lives."

Hazel said, "Don't bring more than the usual group."

"It's all hrair, Hazel-rah. See how unhelpful that is?"

"You know what I mean."

"Of course." Campion departed with six rabbits that were fine with leaving Watership Down for quite some time.

Many days had passed since Campion's visit; one might wonder if something tragic happened to him since he hadn't been back yet. Without Kehaar around, there wasn't an easy way to check. On just a day like any other, Elven and Vilthuril returned to their burrow to sleep.

"Stop!" Fiver tackled Elven, making them collide with the wall.

"What did you do that for?" Vilthuril said.

"Careful! Back away slowly. You must back away."

"Look at this." Fiver pointed to a drawing that had multiple numbers in different squares.

"What is it?" Elven said.

"I have a question to ask you, does 13 mean anything?"

Elven shook her head.

"Okay, but can we agree it's one more than 12?"

Vilthuril said, "It's rather late, Fiver."

"It can't wait."

"Get on with it then."

"What are you trying to do?" Elven said.

"Look at this." Fiver held the sacred object in his paw. It was their reference to numbers greater than four. "You can see how it goes from one to nine."

"I'm not that bad with numbers, I can count up to twelve just fine. And why one to nine? It has twelve."

"But only one to nine are single. We have two numbers starting from after nine. Look at ten, does 0 mean anything?"

Elven shrugged.

Vilthuril said, "Can you get to the point?"

"Look at eleven. It has two ones together. It's almost like the numbers restart itself. I'm convinced that 13 exists, and it can be one more than twelve."

"Great. Let's say that it is."

"Even if it doesn't exist, which I think it should, we just need something to call it."

"Just call it Hawkbit and be done with it. We're going to sleep."

"Not here. I don't want my drawings ruined."

Fiver didn't let them sleep inside the burrow. They slept at the burrow's entrance so no matter how they twitched or turned in their sleep, the drawings would be safe.

A light chill woke Elven. Fiver was no longer sleeping with them.

"Fiver?" Elven said as she spotted him in his burrow.

"I had stuff on my mind. Look. Careful and look!"

"What the?"

The expansive drawing on the floor had far more numbers now. It only went to 13 the last time. Now, it spanned up to 99.

"What do you think?" Fiver said. "It makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Get some rest." Elven went back to sleep and Fiver joined her.

The obsession with numbers wouldn't fade away, Fiver's drawings became more and more complex and incomprehensible. Each incremental step made sense, but when looking at it as a whole, it was confusing.

"I don't want you to use my name, for that," Hawkbit said.

"What's the big deal?" Fiver said. "My name is close enough to five, and we have Eleven here."

"You made it up."

"Hawk is one of the elil."

"I didn't get to choose my own name."

"You never tried to change it."

"That's not the point! I don't want my name to be part of numbers higher than twelve. Especially, when you can call it anything."

"What would you call it then?" Elven said.

"Thethuthinnang. The less confusion the better. Twelve is enough."

Thethuthinnang heard her name and came over. "Did you want something?"

Fiver explained the current issue. They needed some way to say 13 which could only be depicted on the ground, as a drawing. It had no word to represent it.

"Put it off for later if you want rabbits to learn. Twelve is enough. That comes after eight, doesn't it?"

Fiver shook his head. "Come this way." He led her to the sacred object. "Here is one." They went over the numbers one by one.

"If you want to name something, give a name to that. The object is a bit generic."

"How have you been?"

Elven whipped her head around. "Stonecrop, what are you doing here?" She sniffed, and couldn't smell the offending scent.

"I came to learn."

"And only to learn," a doe added.

"Oh, come on, you're going to count that against me?"

"Frankly, yes. Don't talk to her more than you need to."

"Who's she?" Elven said.

"I am Anemone. Stonecrop is my mate. Stonecrop should not be here right now."

"Good for you." Elven was rather surprised that both Stonecrop was here, and he had a mate.

"We're going."

Campion apparently arrived with rabbits unannounced. "Sorry about this. We had a deal so to speak."

"Why are you here?" Elven said. Normally, the warren would know if Campion visited, but this time, no one did.

"We've never waited outside the warren when we arrived. Ask Hazel-rah and Hyzenthlay-rah."

"Fair enough. Why did you bring him here?"

"To learn. I think everyone deserves the chance. His scent was the primary issue. Groundsel had someone else take over."

Who was she to object to that since she didn't need to teach him? They didn't need to talk to each other during his stay here. The stars on her fur still illuminated the warren. Elven went to silflay further from the warren than normal.

Stonecrop would leave in time. Campion was staying around until everyone learned. Campion wanted to learn numbers himself.

Elven nibbled the grass.

"Supervise this game of bob-stones for us," a rabbit said.

"Sure," Elven said. The game itself changed with the introduction of new numbers. The game needed someone such as herself to adjudicate who won or lost since rabbits still disagreed on what number meant what.

Eight rabbits gathered nearby to play the game.

"Why don't you play first?" a rabbit asked.

"I thought I was just watching," Elven said.

"Do you not want to?"

She had been trying to socialize ever since she realized she lacked friends. "I guess." She covered stones under her four paws.

"Bob-stone guess is eleven," the rabbit said.

"Did you think it was going to be that easy?" Elven said.

"Am I right?"

Elven lifted her paws revealing only six.

The game took much longer than usual since more numbers drastically lowered someone's chance to win. By the time someone won, it was already night.

Upon returning to the warren, Elven found Stonecrop and Anemone gazing at the stars. She blinked. Was he there just because of her? His sniffing was audible as if inhaling her scent.

"The stars are beautiful tonight," Stonecrop said.

Elven quickened her pace into the warren. Did Anemone approve of this? She was right there, beside him.

Elven was no longer going to sleep in her burrow. Fiver was still using it for his drawings. Vilthuril dug a new one for the three of them.

"Wish you were around to help," Vilthuril said.

"How have things been going with the Efrafans?" Elven wanted to know how long they would be staying.

"It's going to take a while. Could use your help."

"I'd rather stay away from the warren as much as possible."

"That's up to you."