Chapter 24: Backports...the Opposite Way.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The character of Thethuthinnang comes from the original book, and Nyreem comes from the second book.

"At this period, too, Leningraders resorted to their most desperate food substitutes, scraping dried glue from the underside of wallpaper and boiling up shoes and belts."

-Anna Reid, Leningrad: The Epic Siege of World War II, 1941-1944

-"They want to destroy the warren!"

When Woundwort had run out of the warren of Marli-rah, he had not bothered to check whether he was being followed, or if anyone else was nearby. Therefore, he had noticed a single kitten doe, slightly older than Pipkin, hiding under a few leaves. She listened to his entire conversation with Cowslip and the others, unnoticed; as soon as Woundwort had lied down, she bolted down the first hole she could find, to notify Flyairth and Prake of this upcoming attack.

-"I see," Prake said. "While this General Woundwort fellow looked weird, I didn't expect he would try to do this. I thought he would just leave to fight those other rabbits he's been talking about. It's a good thing for us all that you heard this conversation, Nyreem."

Nyreem smiled at Flyairth's praise, satisfied to have done something that helped the warren. As the young doe hopped away, Prake turned to Flyairth.

-"Get the two captains of owsla and come with them to the owsla chamber. We need to discuss the best course of action."

Flyairth nodded, and did as Prake had asked her. While Hyzenthlay was a captain of owsla, she was not the only one: she focused mainly on the warren's defences while another doe, Thethuthinnang, handled daily business in the warren. It was another thing done differently at Marli-rah.

The owsla chamber was an average-sized burrow that the warren's main leaders used to discuss potential improvements to the warren, with other rabbits occasionally invited. The discussions were generally friendly and most suggestions made were carried out unanimously. However, as the four rabbits settled down inside the burrow, there was a feeling of nervousness filling everyone's minds. They had never had to deal with an attack before. The awkward silence persisted until finally, Flyairth spoke:

-"So...what would be the best course of action to survive this attack?"

-"I had a good look at these rabbits," Hyzenthlay said. "While they are all very large, most of them don't look like they were built to be good fighters."

-"In that case, it shouldn't be too hard to defend ourselves," Prake said.

-"You're right about that, as long as we keep them above ground. If they manage to break into the warren, then we're in big trouble."

-"We could position members of the owsla in all runs and try to prevent the enemy from entering the warren this way," Flyairth suggested.

-"And what if they try to dig a new way in?" Prake asked.

-"They don't look like they are good diggers," Thethuthinnang said. "They probably won't try, but if they do, we should be able to hear them before it's too late, and get ready to fight them when they break through."

-"That might not work, because they would already be underground, and we would lose our advantage," Hyzenthlay said. "Their weight is of little use to them in narrow runs, but in a large burrow, things are different. But I can't think of a better option."

-"I have an idea," Flyairth said. "Nyreem said they all fell asleep. Why don't we attack them now and drive them away? They won't be expecting that."

-"I don't think that would be a good idea," Hyzenthlay replied. "While they don't look like good fighters, there are so many of them we couldn't fight them without sustaining heavy losses ourselves."

-"I'm afraid you've got a point there..." Flyairth reluctantly agreed.

At that moment, a buck with pale fur entered the burrow.

-"I was told I could find the Chief Rabbit here," he said. "Which one of you is it? I have an important message for them."

-"That would be me, and Flyairth here," Prake said. "Who are you?"

-"My name is Silver, and I came with the group of rabbits who are currently above ground. They want to destroy this warren, but I don't think you deserve to die, so I would like to join you and help you fight them, if you wish to have me."

-"I think you're telling the truth, and we would be glad to have you," Hyzenthlay said, staring deep in Silver's eyes. "We've already heard the news, and we have a plan."

The members of the owsla were split out among the many runs leading outside. However, there were not enough rabbits in the owsla to guard all the runs, so other strong rabbits, bucks and does alike, were also chosen to help.

-"ATTAAAAACK!"

Cowslip and the others were unpleasantly woken up by Woundwort's shout. Judging by the sky, it was in the middle of the night.

-"Now is a fine time to attack," Cowslip complained. "We were all sleeping, and actually resting."

-"We have to attack now when it's not expected. ATTAAAAACK!"

The rabbits, still half-asleep, failed to understand Woundwort's order properly. They arranged themselves in pairs and started duelling.

-"FOOLS! Not yourselves! The enemy! Attack the warren!"

As they heard this, the rabbits realized their mistake. They slowly started to make their way towards the warren, two rabbits per run. As they dove into the runs at mostly the same time, the fight broke out.

Woundwort's owsla failed miserably. The holes were too narrow for both attackers to enter side-by-side, so one had to enter first with the other following. There they met the rabbits of Marli-rah, but in the narrow runs, their weight was not very useful to them. The rabbits they were supposed to kill were able to hold their own, and while the attackers were desperate to make it back outside, their partners behind them blocked the way.

Just a few minutes after the attack had started, all rabbits in Woundwort's owsla were back above ground, most of them wounded. While the wounds were not life-threatening, the rabbits were still in great pain. Nyreem had bitten one of them's nose, and he was running around the area in a state of hysterics.

Woundwort stared at the scene in shock. All by himself, he had turned this sloppy, lazy bunch of useless rabbits into a strong owsla that should be able to defeat anything that stood in its way. And now, after only a few moments of fighting, they all retreated like cowards.

-"Get back in there!" he ordered. "Don't let a few scratches stop you! Fight like your life depends on it!"

Most of the rabbits were in too much pain to want to fight any more at the moment, and therefore remained motionless. However, a few of them went back to the holes, afraid of being killed by Woundwort if they didn't.

The owsla's second attack was also a complete failure. Their intended victims were once again able to hold their own and push them back out of the warren. Woundwort became furious.

-"You worthless cowards! I'll go down there myself and show you there's nothing to be afraid of."

Woundwort fearlessly dove down the first hole he could find. Before he could get very far underground, however, he came face-to-face with Flyairth, who slashed him across the neck, where Vervain had wounded him. The pain resurfaced; he did his best to ignore it and keep fighting, but Flyairth kept slashing him across the face. As much as he hated to admit it, there was no way his owsla could win a battle against these rabbits; he would have to try something else. He turned and went back above ground where, upon seeing him, several rabbits burst into laughter.

-"Shut up!" he ordered. "This is war, and is not supposed to be funny."

The laughter immediately stopped. Woundwort glanced at the crowd and gave further instructions:

-"This is a siege. You are to make sure that the enemy stays underground. If anyone tries to make it outside, push them back underground. If they can't silflay, they will grow hungry and will have no choice but to surrender."

He stared intensely at his owsla.

-"I don't think that's too much to ask of you," he added menacingly before walking away to silflay.