Chapter 37: The Positive Ones.
"I'm stuck. I'm stuck in yesterday, and you're tomorrow."
-Rebecca Donovan, Out of Breath
The rabbits were still sleeping soundly in the Honeycomb, when Strawberry woke up. She spent a few moments trying to recall what this place was, before remembering the attack, and the arrival at this other warren. She glanced at the rest of the chamber, and soon spotted Blackberry lying slightly further away. She walked to him and nuzzled him, awakening him.
-"Hello Strawberry," he said. "How are you feeling?"
-"Sad. My warren was destroyed today, and most of my friends are dead."
Strawberry lowered her head.
-"What you need is something to take your mind off things," Blackberry explained. "How about another trip on the boat?"
-"Blackberry, we haven't come across any river since we left the old warren. Except Vilthuril's river, but I still can't understand it."
-"I don't see how that prevents us from going on a trip on a boat."
Strawberry was visibly confused. She and Blackberry had, on numerous occasions before, stepped onto a boat at a nearby river and let it float downstream. They had many adventures this way, but without a river, a boat was absolutely useless. Seeing his friend's reaction, Blackberry got up.
-"The best thing would be to show you. Follow me."
The two rabbits walked out of the Honeycomb, leaving the others where they were, and soon made it above ground. Blackberry sniffed the ground, and came across a large, flat rock. He put his paws on it, to verify its stability. Satisfied with the results, he climbed on, with Strawberry following soon afterwards.
-"What do we do now?" Strawberry asked.
-"Use your imagination, Strawberry. We don't have a boat, or a river, but let's imagine we do. We can still appreciate our calm, quiet surroundings together."
Strawberry stood up on her hind legs and looked around her. She had not really paid much attention to the view when she had first climbed the Down, but now that she did, she saw how beautiful it was.
Blackberry and Strawberry were not the only rabbits to wake up: Flyairth and Hyzenthlay followed soon afterwards. Flyairth cleaned her fur, and the two rabbits went above ground. Fiver was one of the few rabbits at silflay.
-"It's nice to see you're up," he told the two does. "How do you like the warren so far?"
-"It's well-built, but there's something I don't understand. Why did you let us stay here without the Chief Rabbit meeting us first?" Flyairth said.
-"Under normal circumstances, the Chief Rabbit would have met each one of you personally. However, Hazel-rah is not at the warren at the moment, and he left me in charge."
-"So YOU are the Chief Rabbit? I'm sorry, I didn't know..." Hyzenthlay said.
-"Oh, it's all right. The only reason why I have the job is because I'm his brother. I tried to tell him I wasn't suited for the job, but he wouldn't listen."
-"Couldn't he have left his mate in charge instead?" Flyairth asked.
-"No. The reason he's gone right now is to search for his mate, who isn't at the warren either right now."
-"She's gone too? Hey, is your brother the kind of rabbit who mates with does without their consent?"
-"Oh, Flyairth," Hyzenthlay said, "I appreciate your concern, but you should stop always assuming the worst. I'm sure Hazel-rah is a really kind rabbit."
-"He is best brother I could ever wish for," Fiver said. "He and his mate love each other deeply. It's just that Primrose..."
-"Did you say Primrose?" Hyzenthlay asked.
-"Yes. Is there anything wrong?"
-"No, it's all right, it's just that I knew a rabbit called Primrose a long time ago." The doe sighed. "Sorry for the interruption, what were you saying?"
-"Primrose, Hazel's mate, went to visit another nearby warren with her friend Blackberry. They left several days ago and they're not back yet, and we're afraid they might have had an accident of sorts."
-"Blackberry? One of the rabbits who came here with me is also called Blackberry," Flyairth said.
-"Interesting. I'll have to get to know you all better," Fiver said.
-"Anyway, since the Chief Rabbit and his mate are not here, shouldn't the captain of owsla be in charge?"
-"Technically yes, but Bigwig is gone with Hazel."
-"And Bigwig's mate?"
-"He doesn't have one."
-"I assume this Bigwig is the type of rabbit who devotes his life to the military and has no time for love?" Hyzenthlay said.
-"That describes him rather well."
-"But the fact remains that you're in charge at the moment?" Flyairth said.
-"Yes."
-"I'll be blunt: under what conditions will me and the others be allowed to live here?"
-"Just be friendly, kind and respectful towards the other rabbits living here. If you want to mate, both rabbits involved need approve, but no permission from the Chief is required. Anyone is free to come and go as they please. You can probably see Nuthanger Farm in the distance, and you are free to organize raids there, but beware of Tabitha, the cat, and Duster, the dog. They almost killed some of us in the past."
Flyairth remained silent for a few moments, expecting Fiver to continue speaking, but he too remained silent.
-"That's it?" she finally said.
-"We don't need many rules. Nobody broke them so far, and as long as it stays that way, we'll be all right."
-"Sounds reasonable," Hyzenthlay said.
-"May I see your owsla?" Flyairth asked.
-"Of course, if you want," Fiver said.
-"You coming, Hyzenthlay?"
-"No thanks, if you don't mind I'll just silflay for now," Hyzenthlay said.
Flyairth followed Fiver until they made it to the other side of the beech tree. Four rabbits were grouped around a large rock and a hollow log.
-"What's the small one doing?" Flyairth asked, pointing to the younger rabbit sitting some distance from the other three.
-"Oh, that's Pipkin," Fiver explained. "He's the captain."
-"HIM? Say, do you have a rule here that the smaller the rabbit, the higher their rank?"
-"Under ordinary circumstances, he's the captain of the Junior Owsla, but Bigwig left him in charge during his absence because, as you will see, he takes his job more seriously than anyone in the regular owsla."
The three other rabbits slowly approached the rock then, one at a time, attempted to jump over it. Strawberry did rather well, and moved on to the log. Dandelion also made the jump, but collapsed as soon as he had finished. Hawkbit made it halfway through to the top, then let himself roll back down.
-"Oh my back!" he said, groaning.
-"Pipkin, can't you give us a break for today?" Dandelion said. "We're exhausted."
-"Bigwig said that you are to train every day, and I have to make sure this happens. If you refuse, I'll have to tell him when he comes back," Pipkin explained.
-"Pipkin, I'll give you four carrots if you let us stop for today."
-"That's very nice of you. But I'll still have to tell Bigwig..."
-"Oh no you don't!" Hawkbit shouted. "You better not try to tell him anything...or else."
-"Hey Hawkbit, I know you don't like training," Strawberry said, "but aren't you taking things too far? I never thought you would resort to threats to get away from training."
-"Huh? Oh, well I have no intention of carrying them out. I'm just trying to scare him."
-"That Black Emissary story didn't scare him," Dandelion said. "Your fake threats probably won't scare him either."
-"Why are you all arguing?" Pipkin asked. "By the end of your life, you may regret having..."
-"Oh, there he goes with the deep talk again," Hawkbit mumbled.
-"This is the owsla?" Flyairth said in disbelief. "The entire owsla?"
-"There are two elderly captains too, but they don't really participate very often," Fiver explained. "They just teach a few tricks on occasion."
-"I see what you mean about Pipkin taking things more seriously than this sloppy lot. But why are they in the owsla if they are so incompetent?"
-"It's not as if there was anyone else who could replace them."
-"Does?"
-"Before you and the others arrived, there weren't many does at the warren. Two of them are currently not here, the third one arrived only days ago, and the other two...well, I'll show you."
The two rabbits left the owsla alone, and made it to the other end of the Down. Two does, with extremely pale fur, were at silflay. One of them seemed very nervous.
-"They look weird," Flyairth said.
-"They didn't spend their entire lives in the wilderness. We helped them escape from a hutch."
-"That explains everything. If the elil don't get them, they probably will never be worth much, either for the owsla or mating."
-"They may be physically weak, but Clover is strong-willed."
-"The fact remains that hutch rabbits don't belong outside their hutch."
-"HEY!" Clover shouted. "I may be a hutch rabbit, but my ears are still very powerful, you know! Come on, Cornflower, let's go where we're appreciated!"
With that, the two does hopped away.
-"I thought you had agreed to treat other rabbits living here with respect," Fiver said, rolling his eyes.
Flyairth mumbled a quick apology.
-"What about the other three does?" she then asked, eager to change the subject. "Why are they not part of the owsla?"
-"You'll have to ask Bigwig."
-"I'll have a lot of things to tell this...Bigwig, when he gets back. But until then, would it be all right if I taught a few tricks to Pipkin and the others?"
-"Go ahead. Just...don't be too rough on them, all right?"
Fiver and Flyairth returned to the training grounds. Hawkbit and Dandelion were sitting at one end of the log, with Pipkin further away, shaking his head. Strawberry was nowhere to be seen.
-"Pipkin," Fiver said, "what's going on around here?"
-"Strawberry's stuck in the log," Pipkin explained. "The other two are trying to push him out. If I were them, I would try to pull instead. Who is that with you?"
-"Pipkin, meet Flyairth. She's going to try to teach your owsla a few tricks."
-"It's nice to meet you. I hope you'll have better luck with them than I had."
Hawkbit and Dandelion stopped pushing to stare at the doe.
-"Are you a hare?" Dandelion said.
-"No, I'm a rabbit," Flyairth said. Anything wrong with that?"
-"Does shouldn't be so big," Hawkbit mumbled.
-"Uh, welcome to the warren, Flyairth," Strawberry said, "but could you help me?"
Flyairth looked at Hawkbit and Dandelion sternly, then walked over to the log. Suddenly, she gave a single powerful kick of her hind legs, completely shattering the log. It took several moments for Strawberry to get over the shock.
-"Th- thank you," he finally said.
-"Hey!" came a female voice from further away. "Are you Flyairth?"
Flyairth turned to the rabbit who had spoken.
-"Yes, I am. Who are you?"
-"I'm Flora. Clover tells me you hurt her feelings."
-"She's that other doe I told you about," Fiver told Flyairth.
-"You really weren't nice to her, telling her she still belonged in a hutch," Flora continued. "You should apologize."
-"I'm busy right now," Flyairth said, clearly not interested in apologizing.
-"Training can wait," Pipkin said. "Take care of what you need to do, and I'll be waiting."
Further away, Hyzenthlay was lying in the grass, feeling the wind blow through her fur. She had been thinking about the recent events ever since she had woken up, and how her old warren had been destroyed. She was one of only a few rabbits to survive. Why? What did she have that any of the victims didn't, that allowed her to continue her life?
She came to the conclusion that there was no logic. The Black Rabbit of Inlé had taken a large number of rabbits with him, but for some reason he had chosen to let her and several others live. That is the way it happened. She was still existing, so she should make the most of it.
She closed her eyes and channelled the excitement of existence into a powerful leap. It felt to her as if she stayed in mid-air for a long time, before she finally fell back to the ground, crashing into another rabbit in the process.
-"I'm sorry, Thethuthinnang, I hope I didn't hurt you."
-"No, I'm fine. What's the matter Hyzenthlay? Are you all right?"
-"I'm all right, I'm just excited."
-"What's so exciting?"
-"Existing!"
With that, Hyzenthlay quickly looked around her and, seeing no other nearby rabbits, jumped again. Thethuthinnang looked at her; she didn't see her friend excited like this very often. She figured that the best course of action would be to leave her alone, so she simply started nibbling a dandelion.