AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you TheRanger101 for the review :)

Campion's life really isn't easy, especially with this chapter's events...

Chapter 39: The Complexities of Life and Love.

"Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies."

-Dorothy Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina

The two rabbits walked out of the foliage. They could see nothing but trees, all of them looking more or less alike. There were no familiar landmarks.

-"There's no other way to put it, Primrose, we're lost," Blackberry said. "I said I was going to get you to Redstone and back to Watership Down safely, and I failed. I'm sorry."

Primrose looked around her blankly.

-"Yes. So where are we?"

-"Primrose? Didn't you hear what I just said? We're lost!"

-"I kinda figured. So what do we do now?"

-"I suppose we should dig a scrape. We'll be safer this way than above ground."

Blackberry started to dig; Primrose tried to help, but she was slow and unenthusiastic. As soon as the scrape was finished, the two does silently hopped inside. The hole was barely large enough for the two rabbits, and they were forced to lie down very close to each other.

-"Primrose," Blackberry said, "you haven't been feeling very well ever since we first left Watership Down. Exactly what is the matter?"

-"Telling you won't help."

-"Perhaps it won't, but it certainly won't do any harm. Just tell me. You can trust me."

Primrose remained silent for a few moments. A tear escaped from her left eye.

-"It's Campion."

-"What about him?"

-"I should mate with him."

-"Why? I thought you were happy with Hazel."

-"That doesn't matter. I was selfish in leaving Efrafa and..."

-"Primrose, I know you're stressed over us being lost. I am too. But you're taking things too far. Efrafa is a horrible place to live in, and..."

-"You don't understand, Blackberry. He saved my life once. I should return his kindness by mating with him."

-"Do you love him?"

-"That doesn't matter."

-"You shouldn't mate with someone unless you love them."

-"He's a nice rabbit and all, but Hazel is the only rabbit I truly love."

-"Why are you even considering mating with Campion then?"

-"I really don't know."

With tears in her eyes, Primrose ran out of the scrape and lied down in the grass further away.

Blackberry sighed; Primrose's conversation with Campion the day he had visited Watership Down had apparently had a negative impact on her. Blackberry followed her above ground and lied down next to her.

-"Primrose, I didn't mean to hurt you. I was trying to help you, and I'm sorry I made things worse."

-"It's not your fault. I don't think anyone can help now, except maybe Hazel."

-"Let's go back to our scrape and get some sleep. After we've rested, we'll keep searching for the way back."

A while after his encounter with Hazel, Campion finally opened his eyes. He had a massive headache, and nearly fell back down as he tried to get up, when he suddenly noticed the dark shape in front of him. He looked upwards, and recognized who stood before him.

-"This doesn't look like the Shadowlands. It this the Meadow I heard you mention?"

-"NO, THIS IS NEITHER," the Black Rabbit answered. "YOU ARE STILL ALIVE, BUT YOU WOULD HAVE DIED HAD I NOT STEPPED IN. LOOK BEHIND YOU."

Campion did so, and saw a jumping fox, frozen in mid-air with its mouth open. Aspen was standing further away with a look of horror on his face, completely motionless. Campion started to sniff the fox.

-"You stopped time? Why?"

-"THAT'S AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION, BUT ESSENTIALLY TRUE. IF IT HELPS YOU UNDERSTAND IT BETTER, CALL IT THAT WAY. AS FOR WHY I DID IT, IT'S SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU'RE STILL NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE YET, AND IT'S EASIER TO PREVENT YOUR DEATH THAN TO UNDO IT. CAMPION, WHY DO YOU KEEP GETTING YOURSELF IN TROUBLE LIKE THIS?"

-"Well, thank you for saving me. But it's not my fault if a friend attacks me for no reason."

-"PERHAPS YOU SHOULD TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHY HAZEL REACTED THE WAY HE DID?"

Campion suddenly turned around, but this proved to be a mistake. One of the fox's claws penetrated his skull, just over the eye.

-"Frith and Inlé, that hurts!"

The Black Rabbit sighed, and shot a bright beam of red light at Campion's face. The pain immediately stopped, but the entire area changed. The grass was replaced with sand.

-"Did...did you just kill me?" Campion asked in disbelief.

-"YES. IT WAS THE ONLY WAY I COULD STOP THE PAIN. YOU JUST HAD TO RUIN EVERYTHING, DIDN'T YOU?"

-"Stop making it sound like I'm enjoying this. You don't know how painful it can be to have your eye almost impaled. It wasn't YOUR eye."

-"JUST BE GLAD IT WAS A FOX'S CLAW, AND NOT A BLACK STONE FROM A HUMAN GUN."

Campion shuddered at the thought of being shot in the eye. Not wanting to think of this any longer, he changed the subject.

-"Anyway, we were talking about Hazel."

-"PUT YOURSELF IN HIS PLACE."

-"I suppose he hit me because of what I said about Primrose. But I was apologizing. I don't see why he would get angry. She's not dead, is she?"

-"THREE THINGS. ONE: AT THE TIME YOU APOLOGIZED, HAZEL DIDN'T KNOW WHAT YOU HAD DONE. TWO: HAZEL SOMETIMES GOES CRAZY WITH LOVE. THREE: PRIMROSE IS STILL ALIVE, BUT THAT'S RATHER SURPRISING. MOST RABBITS WOULD HAVE GONE IN GASTROINTESTINAL STASIS BY NOW."

-"Gas-what?"

-"GASTROINTESTINAL STASIS. IT'S A COMMON DISEASE IN RABBITS. IF THEY ARE STRESSED, THEY STOP EATING, THEIR ENTIRE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM SHUTS DOWN AND THEY DIE SOON AFTERWARDS."

-"I never heard of this before."

-"IT GENERALLY HAPPENS WITH THE RABBITS HUMANS KEEP AS COMPANIONS. BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT."

-"It affected her that much?"

-"YOU HAVE TO REALIZE SOMETHING, CAMPION. SOME RABBITS ARE MORE EMOTIONAL THAN OTHERS. PRIMROSE, AFTER ALL SHE'S BEEN THROUGH, IS ONE OF THE MORE EMOTIONAL ONES. SHE NEEDS STABILITY, AND THAT'S SOMETHING SHE HAD AT WATERSHIP DOWN WITH HAZEL. WHEN THE BALANCE IS DISTURBED, THE MIND IS WEAKENED, SO SHE DID SOMETHING CRAZY, WHICH WEAKENED HER BODY AS WELL."

-"I think I understand."

-"STABILITY MEANS NO SUDDEN CHANGES OF ANY KIND, NOTHING THAT COULD EMOTIONALLY UPSET HER, AND NO EXTREME ADVENTURES. THIS TIME, EVERYTHING WILL GET SORTED OUT, AND SHE WILL BE ABLE TO ENJOY WHAT REMAINS OF HER LIFE. UNLESS, OF COURSE, SOMEONE MAKES A MESS AGAIN."

-"I'll try to be careful, but I don't like the way you say "what remains of her life". How long does she have?"

-"I AM NOT ALLOWED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH EXACT NUMBERS, BUT SHE STILL HAS SEVERAL SEASONS. NOT AS LONG AS HAZEL OR FIVER, BUT LONGER THAN SEVERAL OTHERS, INCLUDING YOU.

-"...oh. How long do I have?"

-"THE FEWER TIMES YOU DIE, THE LONGER YOU HAVE TO LIVE."

-"Do you have any tips on staying alive?"

-"YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE IN PATROLLING. USE THAT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE. DON'T PROVOKE ANYONE. AND FIND WOUNDWORT AS SOON AS YOU CAN."

-"I haven't done a very good job at that. There hasn't even been a sniff of him since we first met."

-"HE'S AT A PLACE CALLED DARKHAVEN. ONCE YOU'RE CLEAR OF THESE WOODS, YOU SHOULD SEE ITS SHADOW IN THE DISTANCE."

-"I think I know the place you're talking about, I once saw it on wide patrol. But I thought it was a human place, so I stayed away."

-"IT MAY BE A HUMAN PLACE, BUT WOUNDWORT IS STILL GOING THERE. IF YOU WANT TO STOP HIM, YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW HIM THERE."

-"If you say so. But a place like that can't bring anything good."

-"DOES THAT CHANGE ANYTHING? YOU'LL BE FOLLOWING HIM THERE ANYWAY, SO GET GOING. I'LL UNFREEZE ASPEN, AND AS SOON AS YOU'RE AWAY FROM HERE, TIME WILL START FLOWING NORMALLY AGAIN. BUT BE CAREFUL, HE MAY BE CONFUSED."

-"What about my eye? Will it still hurt?"

-"NO, BUT YOU WON'T HAVE THAT EYE ANYMORE."

-"Will my right eye be fine?"

-"STOP ASKING STUPID QUESTIONS. ONLY YOUR LEFT EYE WAS DESTROYED."

With that, the Shadowlands faded, and Campion was back in the forest. Moments later, Aspen broke out of his apparent trance.

-"Campion! Wha- I thought you were unconscious! What's happening to that fox? Frith and Inlé, your eye!"

-"Look Aspen, I don't want to explain everything, let's just get out of here."

-"Well...as you say, Campion."

The two rabbits ran away from the scene, but suddenly Campion stopped and turned back, to see that the Black Rabbit had sprouted flames.

-"Hey before you finish incinerating yourself, can I ask you something?"

-"ONE LAST QUESTION," the Black Rabbit replied with a loud sigh.

-"I can't mate with Primrose, but can I mate with Blueberry?"

-"THE RABBIT YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT IS CALLED BLACKBERRY."

-"Blackberry? But Aspen said..."

-"KEEP IN MIND THAT KITTENS ARE GENERALLY NAMED BEFORE THEIR FUR GROWS. ALSO HER FUR IS..."

-"You still haven't answered my question."

-"HOW SHOULD I KNOW IF IT'S ALL RIGHT? I SPECIALIZE IN DEATH, NOT LOVE. EITHER WAY, YOU HAVE A MISSION TO FULFIL."

By the time he had finished talking, there was nothing left of the Black Rabbit but a pile of dust on the ground, that the wind soon dispersed. Campion walked away, slightly annoyed at not having received a definitive answer; Aspen followed him.

-"What is this mission he mentioned?" he asked.

-"We're going to a terrible place, so terrible it should not exist," Campion replied.

-"Then why are we going there?"

-"I wish I knew myself."

Aspen quickly realized he wasn't going to get any decent answers from Campion. He would find out what this place was, why it was terrible, and why they were going there, when they got there.