AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you Anonymous Guest for the review!
Also, this chapter features a very random crossover..
Chapter 134: The First Vote.
"A creature that is very similar and yet very different than any of us. Everything will be turned upside-down. Confusion! Blood! Squeals! Cries! Death! Darkness! Everything's dark!"
-Patricia Clarke, Woundwort's Reprisal
It was early in the afternoon by the time Hazel finally managed to mention his idea of promoting a second Chief. Most of the rabbits, including Hickory, Marigold and captain Broom, were gathered in the Honeycomb; Hazel cleared his throat and spoke.
-"If I wasn't Chief Rabbit, who do you think should be?"
-"Hazel," Fiver said, hopping over to his brother, "I thought we agreed you weren't stepping down."
-"And I won't. I just want to see how everyone reacts."
-"You want another Chief Rabbit?" Pipkin asked.
-"Yes. I'm afraid this is all a bit much for just one rabbit to handle. I would remain Chief myself, but there would be a second one assisting me."
-"That could be a possibility," Bigwig replied, "but who would it be? I don't want to be Chief Rabbit, I would rather stay a captain of owsla."
-"I was thinking of Fiver..."
-"Oh of course," Hawkbit mumbled. "I bet if Fiver wasn't his brother, he wouldn't even have been considered."
-"Not at all," Hazel said. "Fiver was Chief Rabbit while I was away a few days ago, and he did a great job."
-"Hazel, no," Fiver said. "I appreciate your confidence, but I don't want to be Chief. I could advise you on some matters if you want, but it would be too stressful as a full-time job."
-"As you wish, dear brother."
-"In that case," Blackberry asked, "who do you have in mind?"
-"Nobody in particular. Instead, I will ask you all if anyone is interested in taking it up."
The burrow was filled with silent, until suddenly Flyairth stepped forward.
-"I would!"
-"Not a chance!" Hawkbit also stepped forward. "I'm interested too."
-"And so would I!"
-"Me too!"
-"Could you please raise your paws if you're interested?" Hazel asked. "There are too many of you talking at once."
Hazel looked around the burrow. Flyairth was the first to raise her paw, followed by Hyzenthlay, Hickory and Hawkbit.
-"Four of you? That's more than I expected."
-"Actually, hrair," captain Holly said, as he and captain Broom raised their paws.
Hazel remained motionless for a few moments. Four candidates was a lot to begin with, and now two more had joined. He waited a bit longer to see if anyone else would raise their paws; fortunately, nobody did.
-"We can't have hrair Chiefs," Dandelion eventually said. "What if they all disagreed?"
-"Even two is a bit much," Silverweed added.
-"I think only one of us should have the position, in addition to Hazel," Holly said. "That would be the only way to avoid overcomplicating things. But how do we choose which one?"
-"I have an idea," Thethuthinnang said. "Each one of us selects one rabbit they would want to be Chief, and make a claw mark in front of them."
-"Just like in owslafa," Clover said.
-"Yes, except that the one with the most claw marks becomes Chief, rather than getting evicted from the game."
As the rabbits spoke with each other, they decided that this idea was worth trying.
-"First, we'll have to clean up yesterday's marks," Thethuthinnang said.
While some rabbits worked to smooth the burrow floor, erasing the leftover claw marks from the previous day's owslafa game, others sorted out the details of the vote. All rabbits (and also Hannah) could take part, although Hickory and Marigold's kitten, still too young to understand what was going on, would unfortunately have to be excluded. Blueberry, who may or may not be a spy, would also be forbidden from voting until Silverweed could inspect him. Each creature could vote only once, and for only one candidate, or alternatively leave a claw mark in another corner of the burrow if they didn't want a second Chief. Candidates were forbidden from voting, as they would most likely vote for themselves.
Once the ground was clean, the candidates separated themselves, staying as far from each other as possible to avoid ambiguous votes. Then, the voting began.
At first, things went smoothly. Marigold did not take long to cast her voted for her mate, and Primrose for her sister. Hawkbit received some quick votes from Dandelion and Nelthilta. Thethuthinnang and Vilthuril selected Hyzenthlay, while most of the other survivors of Marli-rah chose Flyairth instead. Blackavar quietly voted for Holly, as did Blackberry.
But after the rabbits with clear preferences had finished, things slowed down. The undecided voters spent a long time weighing the various options before deciding. At first, Bigwig considered Holly, but he struggled with the thought of the fellow captain outranking him. Nyreem hesitated for a long time between Flyairth and Hyzenthlay; she ultimately settled on the former, but not before profusely apologizing to Hyzenthlay. The Efrafans also took a while to cast their votes, until Heather made a claw mark in front of Moss.
-"Why are you doing this?" he asked. "I'm not a candidate."
-"You led us from the ruins of our former warren to a new life. You deserve it."
One by one, the four other Efrafans made claw marks, to Moss' great consternation.
-"I certainly hope I don't win this election," he said.
Woundwort was lying in a corner of his burrow. He had still not been dug out, and he was buried so deep he could not hear anything on the surface. Thoughts of revenge could only keep him occupied for so long; he soon resorted to playing bob-stones with himself. But after winning a few games, he fell back into a state of ultimate boredom. He needed someone to talk to. It didn't even have to be a rabbit; under the circumstances, even a dumb rat would satisfy him.
-"Greetings, mister Woundwort!" came a sudden voice.
-"Who is this?" Woundwort looked around him, trying and failing to pinpoint the source of the voice. "Also, it's General Woundwort!"
One of the walls collapsed besides Woundwort, revealing a small tunnel leading to the surface, too narrow for the rabbit to go through. A few moments later, two mice stepped out of the tunnel; one of them had an overly large head, and was holding a small shovel, although Woundwort did not know what it was.
-"My apologies, fine general," the mouse with the shovel said. "It is an honour to meet you."
-"Is it really him? Poit...he looks so harmless..." the second mouse said.
-"Harmless?" Woundwort was insulted by this comment. "I'll show you harmless." He smacked the mouse with one of his front paws, sending him flying across the chamber and rolling down the wall. Unexpectedly, the mouse did not react in pain, but instead started to laugh, as if he had enjoyed this.
-"Pay no attention to him," the second mouse said, shaking his head. "He's a nitwit."
-"You still haven't answered my question," the General said. "Who are you, and what do you want?"
-"I am The Brain." He looked at the second mouse, who was making a drawing in the dirt with his tail. "He's Pinky. We have come to you with a great offer."
-"What is this offer?" Under ordinary circumstances, Woundwort would have ignored the mouse, but now he had nothing else to do but listen.
-"Behold!"
Brain revealed a piece of paper, and carefully unrolled it. On it was a drawing of a bloody rabbit, lunging forward and foaming at the mouth. As he saw the picture, Pinky squeaked, and ran straight into the wall, knocking himself unconscious.
-"Who is that ugly rabbit?" Woundwort asked, grimacing.
-"It is how you were depicted in a film made in the year 1978."
Woundwort was horrified. This was supposed to be him? Brain's usage of unfamiliar terms like "film" and "1978" only added to his confusion.
-"For some reason," Brain continued, rolling the picture once more, "the British Board of Film Classification thought it would be wise to give this movie a 'U' rating, allowing an entire generation of emotionally-unprepared British children to watch it and experience deep psychological trauma. Most of them are now adults, and have largely forgotten about the film. But when they find out that you, General Woundwort, the terror of their childhoods, really exist, and you're going to strike again, these suppressed memories will return to the surface and leave them paralyzed with fear, unable to oppose me as I take over the world!"
Woundwort kept staring at Brain. The more he heard the mouse talk, the less he understood.
-"So...you need my help, to traumatize a bunch of humans, and that will somehow allow you to take over the world?"
-"Yes!" Brain grinned widely.
-"What's in it for me?"
-"You hate humans, don't you? You'll get to terrify millions of them."
-"Millions?"
Brain fell silent, as he tried to recall the Lapiné word for what he was trying to express.
-"A little help here, Pinky?"
-"Hrududu!" Pinky cried, slowly getting up.
-"No, that's the word for a car!"
-"I know, I just like to say it! Hrududu! Narf!"
Brain walked over to Pinky, and whacked him on the head with the rolled-up picture.
-"General Woundwort...what I mean to say is, you will get to terrify many humans, more than you could possibly imagine."
Woundwort thought it over. He recalled his own, less than pleasant, experiences, with humans.
-"Tempting," he finally said. "But I have more important things to worry about at the moment. Those outsiders haven't been destroyed yet."
-"Hmm..." Brain paced across the chamber, thinking out loud. "In the movie, he attacked the warren known as Watership Down, with the intent to destroy it, clearly he has the same goal here...that's it!" He turned towards the other mouse. "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
-"I think so, Brain, but it's been seventeen years since the last update. Don't you think Balm got himself a new girlfriend since then? And besides, his and Zenthlay's home was..."
-"The outsiders, Pinky! The outsiders!"
-"...poit. If you say so, Brain."
-"General Woundwort." Brain turned back towards the rabbit. "If you will help me with my plan, I will destroy the outsiders for you."
Woundwort scoffed. He had repeatedly failed to destroy the outsiders for over a full set of seasons, and now this mouse was going to do it, with only his dim-witted sidekick to help him? But, Woundwort reasoned, he had nothing to lose. If the mice failed (and they probably would), he could still destroy the outsiders himself. And if, against all odds, they succeeded, he would be able to move on to even greater heights.
-"Deal. But I must personally witness their warren's destruction."
-"That can be arranged. But for now, I must leave to prepare the destruction." Brain walked back towards the tunnel through which he had entered. "Come, Pinky."
Pinky walked past Woundwort towards the tunnel, and cast one last glance at Woundwort.
-"See you later, scary harmless bunny!"
Woundwort was going to hit Pinky once more, but Brain did so first, and pulled him into the tunnel. The General watched them climb up until they were no longer visible. If it had been wider, he would have been able to follow them, but he remained trapped in the burrow until the other rabbits would dig him out.