Chapter 23: Ode to the Forgotten Warren.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: the characters of Hyzenthlay, Bluebell and Silver come from the original book (also, Silver and Silverweed are two different characters). Flyairth and Prake come from the second book, Tales from Watership Down.

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it-always."

-Mahatma Gandhi

Cowslip collapsed yet again. It was late afternoon and he was still travelling with Woundwort and the others. It had been a while since they had left the roundabout, and they had not come across any other rabbits all day.

-"I don't think I have the strength to go any further," he said.

-"Then stay here and follow us when you're rested enough," Woundwort said, thinking Cowslip would change his mind again like he had earlier. However, he soon realized that this was not going to happen. All the rabbits were visibly exhausted, and nearly everyone had lied down.

-"Fine. We rest here for a while. But Cowslip, I want to talk to you privately."

Cowslip sighed. He slowly got up and approached the General. The two rabbits hid in a small ditch to have privacy. However, Cowslip stepped in something he didn't expect to find there: a cluster of hraka.

-"How nasty," he complained, talking slowly as usual, as he started to clean himself. "It's all over my claws and between my toes."

-"But that is rabbit hraka, isn't it?"

-"Of course it is, but I don't see how that changes anything."

-"If that's rabbit hraka, that means there must be other rabbits nearby. Maybe even a warren."

-"Oh, good. I was really hoping I would be able to spend the night in a warm, comfortable burrow. I'll go and tell the others now."

-"Go ahead. But if there is a warren, don't allow anyone underground until I say so. I want to take a look at it first."

After Cowslip had gone out of the ditch, Woundwort decided to check out this warren. Hopefully the rabbits living there would agree to join him, allowing him to have an even larger owsla to face the outsiders. Unless, of course, this was the outsiders' warren, in which case they would attack.

It did not take him long to reach the warren. It was in the middle of a clearing in the woods further away, and several rabbits were at silflay. Judging by the number of holes, the warren seemed larger than Cowslip's, although nowhere near as large as Efrafa.

Woundwort slowly approached the warren, nibbling the grass as he went, trying to get an idea of what the rabbits there were like. It did not take long for his presence to get noticed.

-"Hi! You're new here, aren't you?"

Woundwort turned to look at the rabbit who had spoken. It was a young doe, average-sized and with entirely brown fur. The friendly greeting meant that this was not Hazel's warren, but he remained unsure how to react.

-"Yes, I arrived just now..."

-"Welcome to the warren! You're free to stay as long as you wish. We're somewhat different from most warrens, but you'll get used to it. What's your name?"

Woundwort hesitated before telling this strange rabbit his name: what if they already knew about him?

-"I'll tell you later," he eventually replied.

-"Very well. Anyway, I'm Prake-rah."

-"Rah? You're Chief Rabbit?"

-"Actually, we have two Chiefs here, and I'm one of them. Having two of us is one of the things we do differently here."

-"And the other one? I assume he's your mate?"

Prake did not answer. Instead, she hopped to another rabbit further away. This rabbit, another doe, was almost as large as Woundwort himself. Her fur was mostly black, although with several large orange stripes.

-"Flyairth," Prake said, "we've got a visitor. He won't tell his name, though."

-"Greetings, stranger," Flyairth said. "I'm sure you will enjoy it here at the warren of Marli-rah."

-"YOU are the second Chief?"

-"Yes, that's me. We founded this warren together many seasons ago and have been leading it ever since. Shall I show you around?"

-"Go ahead."

Flyairth nodded in satisfaction, and made her way towards the nearest hole, followed closely by Prake and Woundwort.

The warren was well-built. The runs were smooth from many seasons of usage, and seemed very solid. It was a fine warren, but Woundwort had problems with its social structure. There were two Chiefs, something unusual in itself, and they were both does. When Prake had first explained she was one of two Chiefs, he had expected the other to be a buck, probably her mate. This buck would have run the warren, with Prake acting as some sort of adviser. When he learned that the second Chief was another doe, he had trouble believing it: he had never heard of such a thing before. But that was not all: even if Flyairth had not been Chief, he still would have been afraid of her. She was the only rabbit he had ever met who was around the same size as him. If he ever had to fight her, she might end up defeating HIM.

After a while, the three rabbits entered a large burrow. It was not as large as the Honeycomb on Watership Down, but it was still large enough to fit a small crowd. At the moment, besides Flyairth, Prake and Woundwort, there were only two other rabbits there. One was a young, small buck, currently nibbling a piece of lettuce. The other was a doe, larger than Prake but not as large as Flyairth, who had sleek black fur with a few white strands, giving it a shiny appearance.

-"Flyairth-rah," she said, "there's a large group of rabbits outside. I don't know where they come from, but right now they are all lying in the grass."

-"And who's that?" Woundwort asked.

-"Oh, that's the detective," the other buck replied.

The "detective" sighed.

-"I've had that nickname for many seasons. It's somewhat popular, although it would be nice if they used my real name instead," she replied.

-"What is your real name?"

"Hyzenthlay. I'm the captain of owsla."

-"You're the captain of owsla?" Woundwort said. "Say, what kind of a warren is this anyway?"

-"I told you we did things differently here," Prake said. "But it's not really that different. I'm sure you will like it here."

-"But seriously, ever since I've been here, everyone of importance I've seen is a doe!"

-"It is true that both Chiefs are does, and so is our owsla captain, along with all rabbits in the owsla," Flyairth explained. "But it's not really different from an owsla made entirely of bucks, is it? Nevertheless, we try to make this warren an enjoyable place to live for everyone, bucks and does alike. Now, Hyzenthlay, what did you say about strangers?"

-"Many rabbits are outside, and they are all huge," Hyzenthlay replied. "I didn't talk to them, I wanted to report them to you as soon as possible."

-"Oh yes. They are with me, they are MY owsla," Woundwort said. "And since I couldn't afford to be picky when I assembled it, it's got both bucks and does."

-"You have an owsla?" Flyairth said. "Are you attacking our warren?"

-"No, I'm attacking another warren, and I was hoping I could get you to join us."

-"Why do you want to attack this other warren?" Hyzenthlay asked.

-"Because they tried to kill me. They would have succeeded if..."

-"They succeeded? Woo hoo," the other buck said. "I've never met a ghost before. While you're rather creepy, with your dead eye and all, you don't look like you would haunt anyone. It's nice to meet you, sir ghost."

-"Bluebell, shut up!" Flyairth ordered.

-"Were you even paying attention to what I was saying? They tried to kill me, and they obviously failed. Either way, I will have revenge."

-"Why did they try to kill you?" Hyzenthlay asked.

-"Because I was at war with them."

-"Why were you at war with them?"

-"Because they kidnapped some of my people."

-"Were they really kidnapped, or did they choose to leave?"

-"They were happy to leave, the ungrateful fools. They refused to appreciate what I had done for them."

-"What HAD you done for them?"

-"I made them great again."

-"You know what? You sound like a tyrant. Perhaps they would rather be free than great."

As much as Woundwort hated to admit it, he knew that Hyzenthlay was right. He was somewhat of a tyrant in Efrafa, but he had his reasons. The rabbits in Efrafa were safe from elil and any other outside enemies, and they were forbidden to leave for their own safety (and also so they couldn't team up with the outsiders). Many were ill, but that also meant they wouldn't have the strength to run away. Before he had arrived in Efrafa, the warren was weak, and elil were taking advantage of them. But then he came, and he made them great again.

-"I didn't come here to argue about the way I ran my warren. I have an enemy to defeat and I want you to help me fight them."

-"We have no plans for going to war at the time," Flyairth said. "You and the other rabbits you brought are free to stay here as long as you wish, but there is to be strictly no fighting. We try to live peacefully, but if we are attacked, we will not hesitate to defend ourselves."

-"I suppose this means there is no chance of getting you all to join me and my cause?"

-"No, but you remain free to stay..."

-"I have no wish to live in the same warren as cowards."

With that, Woundwort ran out of the warren through the first run he could find, while the others remained underground.

-"What do you think he's going to do?" Flyairth asked worriedly.

-"I'm not sure," Hyzenthlay replied. "He won't settle down here, that's for sure. Perhaps he will just leave and keep searching for that warren he's been talking about. I hope he won't destroy it, though. Rabbits have enough enemies as is without having to fight each other."

Outside, Woundwort's owsla was getting restless. Several were trying to reach the holes, with others trying to hold them back.

-"General Woundwort," Cowslip said, slowly as usual but visibly nervous, "can they go underground now?"

-"No."

-"When will they be able to go underground?"

-"Not now, not ever. Did you know that this warren is dominated by does? Both Chiefs are does, and their entire owsla is made of does. How revolting!"

-"I don't care if they worship the Black Rabbit of Inlé, as long as they have warm burrows to sleep in."

-"Perhaps they are Inlé-worshippers, but it doesn't change anything. We shall attack them and kill them."

-"Can't we sleep first and attack later? Why do you want to kill them, anyway? These are not my deserters, nor the outsiders you hate so much. And I don't see how the fact that the does are in charge justifies their death."

-"They refused to join me and must pay for it. If you want to sleep, you'll have to do it right here above ground, and as soon as you're ready, we'll attack."

-"But the elil..."

-"We'll fight them too."

-"I've had just about enough." One of the rabbits, a buck with grey-white fur, stepped forward.

-"What do you mean, you...whatever your name is?" Woundwort said menacingly.

-"I refuse to follow you any longer. These rabbits didn't do anything wrong and don't deserve to be killed. Also my name is Silver."

-"I'm the one giving the orders around here, Silver! If I say they should die, they WILL die!"

-"But I won't be the one killing them. I'm switching sides, and if you do proceed with this attack, I won't hesitate to fight you."

Woundwort was about to pounce on Silver, but the white rabbit dashed underground through the nearest hole. Seeing a few other rabbits also approaching the hole, he ran in front of them, blocking the way.

-"If anyone else tries to betray me like Silver did just now, I'll blind them. Do I make myself clear?"

The rabbits, knowing Woundwort would not hesitate to carry out his threat, nodded slowly.

-"Good." Woundwort turned to the rest of his owsla; everyone looked terrified. "Sleep if you want to, but we will attack as soon as possible."

-"Why don't YOU sleep, General, for a change?" Cowslip said. "You haven't slept a wink since you first arrived at my warren two days ago."

-"Hmm. I'll take a nap."

With that, Woundwort lied down in the grass and closed his eyes. Cowslip could not determine whether he was actually sleeping or just pretending to. Nevertheless, most rabbits also lied down in the grass: while they would have preferred to go underground, they were afraid of doing so.