AUTHOR'S NOTE: hey I'm back! I hope you all had a great Christmas. How did everyone like the miniseries? Personally, I think it wasn't perfect, but I still enjoyed it quite a lot. Captain Orchis will be appearing later on in this story. The female Strawberry already made a quick cameo but will have a more important role later on.
Anyway, I'm going to resume posting at least one new chapter every Sunday. I hope you will enjoy the updates :)
Chapter 33: The Final Crash.
"Some may be very intelligent, some may be very personable, and some may be experienced fighters. However, very few are likely to be all three as you are, my friend."
-Gabi-hime, Wanderer: Parsley's Story (available here on this site)
Heather was at silflay. It had been a few days since her arrest, and this was the first time she had been above ground since then. Moss had used his authority as temporary Chief Rabbit to drop all charges against her, therefore allowing her to go to silflay like all the others. The investigation was to resume after Campion's return. Until then, the owsla was busy inspecting the burrows to see if they were safe.
Heather had trouble understanding why Moss had freed her without arresting anyone else. Moss had not gained anything by his actions. In fact, some other officers had accused him of incompetence. He had acted for a reason, but Heather couldn't understand it.
Moss, meanwhile, was trying to make his way through the great hall, where all the displaced rabbits were staying. The damage to the warren was worse than he had previously thought, and so far over half of the deepest burrows had been evacuated. The others had been deemed safe for the moment, but Moss was unsure how long they would remain that way.
As Moss stood on Woundwort's rock, still stained with blood, he wondered just what to do with all the rabbits. He had not finished inspecting all the burrows, but it would soon become impossible to fit any more rabbits in the great hall. Some would have to sleep outside, or more burrows would have to be dug. The first option would be unpopular among the owsla, as it would make it much easier for rabbits to run away. The second option was not much better: digging new burrows in a collapsing warren is a recipe for disaster. Campion would have been able to handle such a situation perfectly, but now, when he was needed the most, he was not there. Until then, Moss decided to continue the burrow inspections.
Moss and another officer made their way inside one of the deepest burrows of the warren. The only rabbit inside was sleeping in a far corner. One of the officers cuffed her in the ears to wake her up.
-"Get outa here, we're to inspect yar burrow!"
The rabbit sighed, and quietly walked out of the burrow. Moss smelled the walls, and placed his paws on a few cracks.
-"It's not safe."
-"Not safe, not safe, not safe! That's all I've been hearing since you started inspecting burrows!" the other officer shouted in anger. "You don't even know what a safe burrow is! You're just afraid! It's possible that it will collapse, but so what? Any burrow may collapse even if there are no cracks in the walls. And besides, who's living in here anyway? One doe, a slave. If it collapses, so what? She dies, but it's not as if she was worth anything."
-"I still say it's not safe and she should move out..."
-"I tell you, it's perfectly safe. I'll show you!"
With that, he started to angrily kick the wall. Large chunks of dirt fell onto the burrow floor.
-"Stop!" Moss urged. "You will cause everything to collapse."
-"I'm trying to show you how there won't be any collapse even if I damage the walls. You'll see."
-"Please! You're only making things worse."
The officer was about to reply in anger when suddenly, loud rumbling could be heard. The cracks on the walls widened. The burrow started to cave in.
The two rabbits ran out of the burrow as fast as they could. The ground was falling apart, large cracks appeared everywhere, with many rabbits falling inside, never to be seen again. The tree roots broke apart, causing the trunk to fall down and smash a large section of the warren. Moss and the other officer were filled with fear and didn't pay attention to where they were going. Therefore, neither made it above ground. Instead, they eventually found themselves trapped in a small chamber with no exits. There were no other rabbits with them.
-"Take a look at what you did!" Moss shouted accusingly.
-"...oops."
-"Well, looks like we'll have to dig an escape tunnel."
-"Bucks don't dig."
-"Of course, if you would rather stay here and suffocate, go ahead. But I won't."
Meanwhile above ground, a small number of rabbits were staring in shock at what used to be Efrafa. There was nothing left but a great hole in the ground. A few pieces of the tree were sticking out of the dirt at seemingly random angles. The only survivors were those who were at silflay at the time; the only owsla officer among them was Leo.
-"Some of them might still be alive down there!" he suddenly said. "We need to dig!"
The digging went on all day, with the various rabbits taking turns removing dirt from the pit. However, any sudden movements could easily destabilize the structure even further, so progress was slow. By sunset, they had found several corpses, but only one survivor: Rake.
-"We might as well stop," one rabbit suggested. "We're too deep, it's too dangerous, and I can't see how anyone else could still be alive down here after so long."
-"Wait," Heather said. "I think I hear something."
Everyone raised their ears, trying to hear the sound. They could hear some faint scratching, clearly coming from underground.
-"Anybody in here?" Leo shouted as he inserted his head in a crack.
Then came a faint sound, clearly a voice. While he wasn't able to make out the exact words, he could clearly identify who had spoken.
Leo and Heather dug as fast as they could, making a small, nearly vertical tunnel at the bottom of the pit, before bursting burst into a small chamber, where two rabbits were sitting.
-"Stop stamping, you idiot!" Moss told his companion.
-"But the vibrations may guide the diggers to us..." the other officer replied.
-"Maybe, but they would also weaken the burrow structure. The last thing we need now is another collapse."
-"Moss!" Leo shouted. "Thank Frith you're alive, I was sure we'd lost you."
-"Leo! Heather! You found us!" Moss smiled.
-"It took all day to find you, but yeah, I guess we did," Heather said. "Come on, now, the soil isn't stable. Follow me."
The four rabbits made their way back out of the tunnel, and out of the pit.
-"Gyah, I didn't think just digging out one wall would cause this," the other officer, who had been trapped with Moss, said as he looked at the warren.
-"You dug out a wall?" Leo asked.
-"Not exactly, I just scratched it, and everything started falling apart..."
-"He's responsible for this!" a random buck shouted. "He killed most of us with his digging!"
-"Yeah! He must pay the penalty!"
-"KILL HIM!"
Before he could realize what was happening, the officer found himself attacked by a large number of rabbits. He was a good fighter (he was in the owsla, after all), but against so many rabbits, all driven by anger and revenge, it was no use. Moss, Rake and Leo tried to intervene, but by the time they made it to the center of the mob, the other officer was already dead. The ground was covered with fur and nearly all rabbits' paws and faces were stained with blood.
By the time the mob had calmed down, it was fu Inlé. The fact that it was impossible to spend the night safely underground was stressful to the rabbits. Moss jumped on top of a large rock close to the remains of the warren, to address the crowd.
-"Rabbits of Efrafa, today has seen the destruction of our warren. Some of us were killed, but several of us remain. We, the survivors, have to find a new place to live, a place where we can start a new life. Who is with me?"
He looked at the crowd, but they did not seem very enthusiastic. A few rabbits raised their paws, but most were chattering uneasily.
-"Come on," Heather said, as she approached the rock. "This is your chance to start a new life. To experience freedom. The Efrafa that oppressed you is gone. Down that pit. Now is your chance! We shall be free!"
While Moss was an owsla officer, symbolizing everything the Efrafans hated, Heather, being a former slave, was someone they could relate to. She managed to convince them while Moss had failed. Nearly everyone raised their paws in approval.
-"All right, everyone. Let us begin a new journey," Moss announced, as he stepped down the rock. However, before setting out, he took Heather aside.
-"I...I just...I'm not very good at speeches..."
-"Nonsense, Moss. You did great just now."
-"You still helped save my life, by digging me out of that burrow. But what I want to say is...I..."
-"Yes?"
-"...thank you. For saving my life."
-"You saved my life too. When you dropped the charges against me, you prevented my execution. Let's face it, trial or not, that's how things would have ended."
-"Uh, well, yeah, I guess, what I mean is..."
Moss struggled to speak coherently, his mind rushing from one thought to another as he tried to express his true feelings. Heather suddenly realized why Moss had acted the way he had: he was in love. No owsla officer would sentence the doe they love to death. She waited patiently until he had calmed down enough to utter a grammatically-correct sentence.
-"Uh...you try to round up the others, and let's get started shall we?"
Heather sighed. She had expected Moss to ask her to be his mate, an offer she would have gladly accepted. Disappointed, she nodded and did as he had asked her. A few minutes later, the small group of survivors were travelling through the woods, further from the warren than any of them except Moss had ever been before.