Chapter 18: Broken Leadership.

"We learned about honesty and integrity - that the truth matters... that you don't take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules... and success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square."

-Michelle Obama

Moss had just finished the inspecting his owsla's digging. The task had been well-done, preventing an immediate collapse of the warren. However, it was plain that even with these reinforced roots, it was only a matter of time before another, larger collapse would occur, possibly destroying Efrafa.

Moss walked into the pit, and stared at the sky; it was starting to get dark. He saw one rabbit climb out of the pit and run away from the warren, but made no attempt to stop him. If someone wanted to leave, let them. He had more important things to worry about.

-"You look like you have something on your mind, Moss sir," came the voice of another rabbit. Moss turned around, and saw Leo further away; he hopped over to him.

-"I suppose I do."

-"Would you like to talk about it? I know I'm not an officer, but I would still like to help, if I can."

-"It would be nice to talk to someone who isn't an officer, for once." Moss sighed. "It seems to me that they all just follow orders without thinking. The only two exceptions are Campion and Rake, but Rake has only been promoted recently and is still an outskirter at heart. And, as you probably know, Campion is currently absent."

-"I can't say you're wrong."

-"You won't tell anyone what I'm telling you, right?"

-"I'll keep it quiet."

-"Thanks. As you probably know, the tree was struck by lightning a few days ago. Now, the warren is pretty much falling apart, and I don't know what to do."

-"Are you contemplating an evacuation of the warren?"

-"I thought about it, but I would want to wait for Campion to return before attempting such a massive undertaking. But I don't know when Campion will be back. IF he comes back..."

-"I'm sure he will return. He's not the type of rabbit who would just run away from his duty."

-"You're right, but he can't very well come back if he's dead."

-"We must stay hopeful. Worrying won't keep him alive or make him come back faster."

At that moment, Moss heard another rabbit approach him from behind.

-"Yes, Rake, what is it?"

-"Moss, the owsla thinks they have found the General's murderer."

-"Finally some good news. Take me to him, so I can interrogate him."

-"Actually, it's a doe. But all right, I'll show you."

Captain Rake Nightfur led Moss through several tunnels, leading deep underground, where the prison burrows were. However, these burrows were also the most unstable of the warren. The walls were littered with cracks, and while they were not visibly expanding, they still looked worrying.

Finally, Moss arrived at the burrow where the prisoner was held. Two large guards were standing outside to prevent her from escaping. As Rake went back above ground, Moss went inside the burrow, and gasped.

The prisoner was lying in the middle of the burrow, her eyes closed. She was a small orange doe, visibly underweight. THIS was the rabbit who had killed Woundwort? No, this could not be possible. She would never have the strength to do something like this, especially not in her current state. Moss rushed back out of the burrow, and shouted at the guards:

-"WHERE did you find this rabbit?"

-"She had the perfect motive," one of them said. "She said quite plainly that she hated Woundwort, and she had no alibi."

-"Don't all slaves hate Woundwort?"

-"They sure do, the nasty beasts. But from what I've heard, she seemed to hate him more than the others."

-"Do you seriously think she killed him?"

-"My job isn't to investigate murders, all I'm supposed to do is make sure the prisoners don't escape."

Moss sighed. Like he had told Leo, in Efrafa, owsla officers simply carry out orders without thinking. This was good for discipline, but in situations like this, it was very frustrating.

-"Go get her some flayrah, Can't you see she's starving?" he ordered one of the guards.

-"Flayrah? For the prisoner?"

-"Yes. Campion wants to be the judge at her trial, and I want to make sure she's still alive when he gets back."

-"Trial? Those embleer technicalities...let's just execute her tomorrow morning at silflay."

-"If Campion says there is going to be a trial, there IS going to be a trial. Now get going."

After the guard had left, Moss returned inside the burrow. The prisoner had not moved. As he approached her, she briefly opened her eyes before closing them again.

-"What's your name?" he asked.

-"What do you care?"

-"I just want to know."

-"Heather."

-"I'm Captain Moss."

Heather did not reply. The guard had returned with a small amount of flayrah, which he dropped at the entrance. Moss picked it up and placed it in front of Heather.

-"Here, have some flayrah."

-"Why would I eat it? You're going to kill me anyway."

-"If you don't want to eat it, you don't have to. But if you ever want it, it's going to be there."

Moss waited for a reply, but did not receive any. He walked out of the burrow and went above ground, where Rake and Leo were at silflay.

-"So, what do you think?" Rake asked him.

-"I think whoever led this investigation should be expelled from the owsla."

-"You think she's innocent? So do I, honestly."

-"What do you intend to do about this, Moss?" Leo asked.

-"I'll take charge of the investigation myself. Can I count on you two to help me?"

-"I would be glad to help," Leo said.

-"Me too," Rake added.
-"Thank you both. Meet me in my burrow tomorrow morning at dawn; we'll start then."

The squirrel and the hedgehog were sitting next to each other in the field, looking at the rabbits.

-"Earlier today, they had no idea how to fight, Rosie, but they're getting better," the squirrel said worriedly. "That Woundwort fellow seemed like a nice rabbit at first, I saw him rip out some snares, but now...he might cause some of the others to get seriously hurt."

-"Why does he want them to fight anyway?" Rosie replied. "At first, I thought that he wanted them to be able to defend themselves against elil, but now I honestly doubt it. I really have a bad feeling about all this, Tumbler..."

Further away, General Woundwort was giving instructions on how to fight to a young buck.

-"Do you know what the biggest weak spot is?" Woundwort asked his student, only to answer his own question almost instantly. "The eye! The eye is the weakest spot in any rabbit's face. At the first opportunity, you aim a big blow there, preferably with your claws. Like this."

With that, he brought his paw close to Cowslip's face. He almost penetrated the eye with his claws, but stopped just in time. While Cowslip did not move during the demonstration, he was visibly nervous.

-"And while they are still getting over the pain," the General continued, "bite their throat as hard as they can. And they are dead, you win. Now try it out. And be careful not to hurt me."

The student remained silent, trying to figure out exactly what Woundwort was asking.

-"You just taught me how to kill someone, and now I'm supposed to be careful not to hurt you..."

-"Use common sense! Don't actually hit me in the eye, hit me NEXT TO the eye."

The rabbit nevertheless hesitated for a few moments. Finally, he leaped at Woundwort, who dodged him and pinned him, but he managed to scratch him with his hind legs. Woundwort moved off, allowing his student to strike him in the face and win the fight.

-"Very good. Next!"

-"Before you continue," Cowslip said, "may I ask that you find someone else to use for your demonstrations?"

-"Why would I? You're doing a great job."

-"You scare me. What if you DO hit me in the eye? I would be blind."

-"What? You've been living in a warren full of snares all your life without being afraid of them, and now you're afraid of ME?"

-"I know how to avoid the wires, but I don't like the way you're treating me. May I remind you that you are merely a guest here? So far you've rejected everything that made this warren great. If you push things too far, I may have to ask you to leave."

Woundwort remained staring at Cowslip for a long time. His first instinct had been to kill Cowslip, but he decided against it: revenge would come later.

-"I'll remember this," he finally said. "I'll use someone else, but I'll remember this."

Woundwort walked away and went underground, leaving Cowslip alone in the field.

-"Previously, it was Cowslip who oppressed them, but Woundwort looks like an even bigger tyrant," Tumbler said sadly.

-"You're right," Rosie replied. "I don't see these poor rabbits' situation getting better anytime soon."

Woundwort went underground and lied down in the great burrow, reflecting on the current situation. At least half of the rabbits in the warren might be able to hold their own in a fight against an inexperienced outsider, and several of them were already teaching others what they had learned. Patrolling, however, was another matter.

These rabbits were fat and lazy, but their weight could actually be used to their advantage in a fight, allowing them to pin their opponents to the ground, defenceless. However, their weight would also be a major problem: how could they be expected to travel long distances? They would get tired very easily and would have to rest, at least at first. Woundwort brushed away these thoughts. If this proved to be a problem, he would deal with it later. Until then, he had to stop wasting his time and continue training the other rabbits.