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Chapter 163: The Final Vote.

"I didn't know you had it in you. Good job, my old son."

-Longstockingz, Lost Connections

After taking care of Violet, Blackberry received a visit from Silver, who wished to ask her about plants, and whether they could be used to drive elil away. At first, the doe was confused, but as Silver further explained the motivations, she could see the logic. Therefore, the two rabbits spent most of the day gathering the appropriate plants, which turned out to be many of the same plants that rabbits don't like either. An additional challenge was making the resulting floral arrangement look natural; otherwise, the elil would see through the ruse and check out the warren, the exact opposite of what the rabbits were trying to accomplish. By sunset, there were a few new plants scattered throughout the field; that was all that could be accomplished without looking too suspicious.

When going back underground afterwards, Blackberry remembered her initial plan for the day: digging the emergency escape tunnel. Due to various interruptions, she had not been able to accomplish much, leaving Strawberry to do all the work. She had also been unable to check up on him; she had no idea if he was still digging, or how far he had made it.

Standing at the tunnel's entrance and looking inside, she could not see anyone; most likely Strawberry had left a while back. However, she could not see the end of the tunnel either. Curious, she hopped inside. The tunnel was so deep, it was hard to believe it had been built so quickly. She kept going deeper; after a long time, she finally reached the end, where she found, much to her surprise, Strawberry still hard at work. Without breaking out of the ground, there was no way to accurately gauge just how far the tunnel led, but Blackberry was nevertheless highly impressed with the amount of work accomplished in just one day.

-"You're still digging?"

Blackberry's sudden arrival broke Strawberry's concentration; startled, he threw dirt at the doe's face.

-"Oh, sorry..." he said, after realizing his mistake.

-"It's fine," Blackberry replied, cleaning off the mess the buck had just made. "Haven't you taken any breaks?"

-"I went out for a quick silflay earlier, but other than that, I've been digging all day. What time is it now?"

-"It's past sunset."

-"That late, eh? I guess I lost track of time. Digging is a great way for me to clear my thoughts. It's like there's nothing else in the world, except me, and the ground."

-"It really is relaxing. But you can stop now, I think you've done enough for today. Truly magnificent work. You have greatly improved since you first arrived here."

Strawberry really appreciated Blackberry's praise, but also cringed as he thought back at his first day at the warren, and how incredibly lazy he was at the time. He was practically a different rabbit now. He soon followed Blackberry out of the tunnel, back to the main burrows.

The Honeycomb was once again filled with rabbits. After a busy day, it was time to vote one more time on whether or not the warren should have a second Chief, as Hazel had mentioned earlier. He stood in the middle of the burrow as he made the announcement.

-"We will proceed mostly like we did previously," he explained. "Everyone is to put a claw mark in front of the rabbit they vote for. There will, however, be a few slight differences. For one thing, Alder mysteriously vanished, so we will have no way of knowing the exact numbers. That said, I think it should be possible to determine the winner despite this unfortunate restriction. Additionally, this will be the last time we vote. If nobody gets a majority this time, then it means that we'll never agree and it would be pointless to continue further. Another change...I'll let Holly and Hyzenthlay explain this one."

Flyairth felt optimistic, especially after Hazel's last words. She hoped that this meant both Holly and Hyzenthlay would withdraw from the race, allowing her to continue unopposed. Her prediction, however, proved to be woefully inaccurate, as Holly started to speak:

-"Divided, we are weak. To remain strong, we must work together. This is why we have decided to partner up. Me and Hyzenthlay are running together now. If you vote for one of us, you vote for both of us. If we win, we both win."

-"If you two win, that'll be three Chiefs!" Bigwig pointed out. "That's a bit much."

-"If you don't like the idea, you can always vote to have Hazel remain sole Chief," Hyzenthlay said. "Or vote for Flyairth, in which case there would be a total of two."

-"This isn't fair!" Flyairth exclaimed. "Two rabbits against one, I don't have a chance. This is another attempt at undermining me."

-"If you want to even the odds, you are free to choose an election partner too," Hazel said.

Flyairth was visibly nervous. While she really wanted such a partner to help her chances, she had no clear candidate in mind. Hawkbit and the others had already withdrawn (and they had all performed poorly anyway), leaving no fourth candidate she could ally herself with.

-"Thethuthinnang," she finally said.

-"Why me? I didn't even vote for you, but for Hyzenthlay," Thethuthinnang pointed out.

-"I'm willing to overlook that. You seemed to trust and respect me back at the old warren."

-"I did, but I love and respect Hyz too. Please don't make me betray her."

Faced with Thethuthinnang's pleading, Flyairth had no choice but to choose someone else. Unable to think clearly, she ended up choosing the first doe she spotted in the crowd.

-"You."

It took several moments before the rabbit she had selected even realized what had happened.

-"Who, me?"

-"Yes, you."

-"But, but..." Cornflower stammered, "I have only lived here for a few days. Besides, didn't you say I should go back to my hutch?"

Flyairth was on the verge of panic. She had indeed said something to that effect (and she had meant it), but in her desperate search for someone else, she had forgotten Cornflower's identity.

-"I choose nobody, I'll try it alone," she was forced to announce.

-"In that case," Hazel said, "let's vote."

One by one, the rabbits scratched the burrow floor. Flyairth received only two marks; Bigwig and three others voted to have no additional Chiefs. Hyzenthlay and Holly received all the other hrair votes; while none of the rabbits could count the exact number, it was obvious that they had obtained a majority.

-"Holly and Hyzenthlay have won," Hazel said. "Congratulations."

The burrow fell silent. Holly and Hyzenthlay looked at each other, smiling, pleased with their success. The rest of the crowd seemed unsure exactly how to react.

-"Do we have a ceremony or anything?" Strawberry awkwardly asked.

-"Is it really necessary?" Hawkbit replied, with a hint of annoyance. "We didn't have any when Hazel became Chief, he just took on the job."

-"How about at least a speech on the part of the two winners?" Thethuthinnang suggested.

-"I suppose that's reasonable," Hazel said.

Holly and Hyzenthlay, slightly embarrassed, took a spot near the centre of the burrow.

-"Thank you all for your support, and for the trust you put into us," Hyzenthlay said; she remained silent fora few moments afterwards, trying to think of other things to say. "We'll do our best to keep this warren safe and happy, and not to disappoint anyone. And if I make mistakes, Hazel and Holly will be there to balance me out."

-"So it seems we're in for a totalitarian dictatorship now, aren't we?" Nelthilta said. It was clear she didn't even believe this herself, she just wanted to stir up trouble for her own amusement.

-"No, not at all," Holly said. "We have no plans to make major changes, we'll mostly help and advise Hazel."

All other rabbits simply ignored the young doe, not wanting to engage her pitiful trolling attempt. The crowd dispersed, as most rabbits either went back to their burrows, or above ground for a final silflay before the night. Most were pleased with Holly and Hyzenthlay's victory, or at least with Flyairth's defeat. Flyairth herself seemed dejected, and was among those who went to silflay.