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Chapter 162: The Interviews.

"Surely his brother isn't that way inclined, though that would explain a lot."

-hyzenflayrabbit, the spoof what really happened

After Hyzenthlay and Holly had hopped away, Hazel returned to his silflay. He did not get to eat much before he was interrupted once again, this time by Fiver.

-"Do you ever think about the stars?"

Hazel was left startled. Fiver had a tendency to randomly ask vague questions, but this one was especially random, especially since the sun hadn't set yet.

-"They do cross my mind on occasion. What about them?"

-"There might be more to them than it would appear at first sight."

-"Kehaar said that they can be used to find your way if you're lost. He also said that they are still there when it's cloudy, it's just impossible for us to see them since, unlike him, we can't fly."

-"That's all very interesting, but I'm not asking Kehaar, I'm asking you. What do you think?"

-"Uh..." Hazel was still unsure what his brother was thinking. "I think Kehaar was probably telling the truth? He did find the way home last Frith's Eve."

Fiver shook his head.

-"Did you ever think about visiting the stars?"

-"Visiting them? Is that even possible?"

Hyzenthlay had remained at silflay, and when she heard the two brothers talking about visiting the stars, she instantly raised her ears. She did not interrupt the siblings, and instead choosing to silently listen to their conversation.

-"I don't know," Fiver said, answering Hazel's question. "Humans have their hrududil, that can transport them across great distances across land. Perhaps other hrududil could lead up to the stars instead. Anyway, the stars may be very different when taking a closer look. There may be strange new worlds up there, very different from our own."

-"I suppose it's possible, but I'm satisfied with the world we're in now." Hazel chuckled. "You should talk to Dandelion. He surely knows many stories about other different worlds."

-"Yes..." Fiver was clearly disappointed by Hazel's words. "He knows the stories, but when it comes to interpreting them, he's never able to come up with anything useful. I would rather talk to you."

-"I love talking to you too, Fiver. But I don't know what you want me to say."

-"It's fine." Fiver nuzzled his brother. "Perhaps, one day, we'll get to visit the stars..."

After Fiver had left Hazel, Hyzenthlay hopped over to him, hoping to speak to the seer about her own experience.

-"I visited the stars once," she said; this instantly caught his attention.

-"Tell me all about it."

And she did. She told him all about her adventure during the reality crash, how she met El-ahrairah, dug through unusual substances, and visited parallel universes. She only omitted the mention of Holly's death: this was one thing she did not feel ready to tell anyone yet.

-"That's interesting," Fiver said once she had finished. "Could it have been a dream?"

-"I honestly don't know. At the time, it felt so real..."

-"Then it probably was real. It does fit somewhat with what I was thinking of, different worlds existing along with our own. Although, digging...that's now how I imagined travelling to them."

-"Did you visit the stars too?"

-"I haven't. I just had a vision, that bad things might happen...be careful."

Although it was not Fiver's intention, Hyzenthlay was left worried by his final warning. She had thought that only Holly needed protection, but now it appeared that she too might be at risk.

Primrose was also at silflay, although in a different spot than Hazel. She too received a visit from another rabbit wishing to speak with her; in her case, it was Flora, who gradually got closer to her until she was right in front of the pale doe.

-"Do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

Primrose looked up. She had heard that Flora had helped bring the kittens under control during the messed-up Redstone mission, but beyond that didn't know her very well. Nevertheless, she seemed friendly.

-"I have no objections."

-"I would like to ask you about your relationship with your mate."

-"We're both very happy together."

-"I've noticed. I was wondering about the beginnings."

Flora had intended to ask every couple in the warren the same set of questions. First, she had spoken Fiver and Vilthuril; she had realized that Fiver had struggled to express his feelings towards Vilthuril at first, both due to his own insecurities and also circumstances beyond his control, but ultimately the doe was able to figure it out on her own. Then came Bluebell and Blackberry; their relationship had been going on for a while, although it was only recently that they had finally figured out the finer details. After she was done with Primrose, Flora intended to move on to Hickory and Marigold.

-"What exactly do you want to know about the beginnings?" Primrose asked.

-"I know how he saved you from Efrafa, and again on the trip to Redstone."

-"He has saved my life several times," Primrose confirmed. "I would do the same for him, if necessary, although he usually takes care of it on his own before I have the opportunity to help."

-"What about the emotional part of it all?"

-"I really do love him. Why are you asking all these questions?"

Flora had initially been reluctant to tell others about her motivations just yet, but with Primrose asking, she would have no choice but to confess.

-"I need ideas to tell the one I love. This desired partner has so far failed to notice the hints I dropped."

-"I'm not exactly the best rabbit to ask," Primrose said with a sigh. "Both me and Hazel fell in love quickly and realized it just as quickly."

-"How did you tell him?"

-"He told me first, soon after saving me the second time."

-"How did you feel?"

-"Under the circumstances, I was rather amused."

-"Did you not love him back?" This was not the reaction Flora had expected.

-"I did, but the circumstances..." Primrose chuckled. "He was so awkward. We were lying on the shore of the river, and immediately after saying it, he asked if he had said it out loud. The coming of the elil prevented us from taking it further until later."

-"How did you realize that he loved you?"

-"Soon after I first met him. He was so unlike anyone else in Efrafa, and he seemed so affectionate, there was no other explanation."

-"It's nice to see you two were able to figure it out easily." It was Flora's turn to sigh. "I tried telling the one I love about the way I feel. I didn't say it openly, I just tried to imply it, with carefully chosen words, and gifts. But like I said, it doesn't appear I managed to get the message across so far."

-"If subtlety fails, you'll have to just say it like Hazel did," Primrose suggested. "If he hadn't, we probably would have become mates anyway, but it would have taken longer."

-"That's good advice, but what if there's a third rabbit involved?"

This revelation made Primrose reconsider her past advice. She didn't want to be responsible for breaking up another couple.

-"That all depends. What is their relationship with the one you love?" she asked.

-"I'm getting mixed signals about that relationship; I'm not sure whether they are merely friends, or if they would take it to the next level if given the opportunity, or if it's just a one-sided feeling. The only thing I know for sure is that they are absolutely not mates right now."

-"I truly have no idea who these two rabbits you're talking about are. Ultimately, if a rabbit is facing two suitors, it should be up to him, or her, to choose which one to become mates with, or reject them both."

-"Yes, that's fair." Flora slowly nodded. "Just one more question...do you have any regrets?"

-"None whatsoever."

-"Perfect. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions."

-"No problem, it was nice to have someone come to me for advice. I wish you the best of luck with this endeavour."

Flora smiled, and hopped away. Just a few moments later, however, Primrose called her back:

-"One more thing: never let anything stand in the way of true love. Taking a mate may be the best decision you'll ever make in your life. It certainly was for me."

-"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

Pleased with the results of the conversation with Primrose, Flora did as she had planned, and sought out Hickory and Marigold. They too were at silflay; this time, their kitten was not with them, but most likely asleep underground.

-"Sorry to bother you, but there are some questions I would like to ask you."

No response.

-"I was wondering about the past, how you became mates. Notably how you told each other."

-"The past is a realm of pain and suffering that is best forgotten," Hickory said.

-"Oh, sorry...I don't want to bring back painful memories..."

Flora came to the conclusion that Hickory and Marigold were even more depressed than she had thought, and she felt bad for bothering them. She was about to hop away when Marigold spoke:

-"There was nobody else."

Flora stayed there to listen; perhaps they would speak after all.

-"The warren where we were born," Marigold explained, "was the most depressing place ever."

-"That was before Redstone," Hickory added.

-"It was the wires, you see."

-"No doe in her right mind would want to bring kittens into such a world of misery."

-"The few that did get pregnant usually reabsorbed the kittens before birth."

-"And on the rare occasion that kittens did make it out alive, they usually died young."

-"We weren't allowed to tell them about the wires, so they were easy victims."

-"As a result, for a while we were the only two kittens in the warren."

-"Others came later, but by then we had grown up."

-"We didn't have much in common, but with no one else our age to hang out with, we got close."

-"And eventually fell in love and became mates."

Flora waited a few moments to see if they would add anything more, but they didn't.

-"I see," she therefore said. "Thank you."

With that, she hopped away. She chose not to ask them about regrets, like she had done with Primrose. Having heard the tale of Redstone's destruction, she knew this would only make them even sadder. She would have to try to help them, somehow, if it was possible. As for her own troubles, with Primrose's advice, she felt ready to handle it.