AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you TheRanger101 for the review. I'm glad you liked last week's chapter; Bark really was tragically underused in the official series...

Also warning, this chapter is rather dark...

Chapter 54: The Absolute Worst.

"So, whadda we do now? We're stuck in the back of a semi, I ain't seen a way out, and I don't even know where we are!"

-James Jago, The Beginning of a Great Career (here on this site)

Vervain was wandering around Darkhaven, dark thoughts filling his mind. He was one of only three rabbits whom Woundwort had asked to stay behind, and he found this humiliating. In Efrafa whenever someone needed to be executed, Vervain was always the one carrying out the sentence, but now, nearly everyone had gone EXCEPT him. The way Orchis seemed to have taken over the situation also made him nervous; what if Orchis were to replace him as Woundwort's favourite officer?

He would have to do something about that when Orchis came back. Hopefully by peacefully talking to him and, if that didn't work, kill him. Vervain had already tried to kill Woundwort; fighting Orchis shouldn't be too hard. But Woundwort had survived the attack; what if the same thing happened with Orchis? His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Granite come out of a nearby burrow.

-"Hey Vervain, do you think you could watch over the prisoner for a few moments? I have to pass hraka."

Vervain felt like replying "why should I do your job for you?" but he decided against it: there was no point in antagonizing anyone unless absolutely necessary. Besides, all he had to do was prevent one rabbit from escaping; that shouldn't be too hard.

-"All right, I'll do it," he finally said.

Granite nodded and made his way towards an old tyre, before jumping on top of it. Vervain, meanwhile, went inside the burrow. The prisoner was lying in a far corner with her eyes closed. Vervain instantly recognized her, and slowly walked towards her. His initial plan of watching her from a distance was forgotten. He now had something else in mind.

-"Hellooo," he said in the creepiest tone he could manage. The doe opened her eyes; as she saw him, she became completely terrified.

-"There's no point in screaming, Primrose," Vervain continued. "Nobody's going to hear you. No annoying Campion not minding his own business. No dashing Hazel to help you escape. This time, it's just you, and me."

Vervain half-expected Primrose to make a short and sarcastic comment, but instead she remained silent, clearly terrified.

-"Do you remember what I told you all these seasons ago in Efrafa?" he continued. "'I'll make you scream for the Black Rabbit of Inlé, Primrose, but he'll be a long time coming.' Did you think I had forgotten after your escape? Of course I didn't forget. You just delayed the inevitable. Now that we're together again, I intend to keep my promise. But this is only the beginning."

Vervain stopped for a moment. His plan was working. In Efrafa, he had always tried to crush Primrose's spirits, and failed. Now, for the first time ever, he appeared to be succeeding. He would soon scare her into complete submission, and she would lose all will to resist. However, while he had said that this would be "only the beginning", he had no idea what would come afterwards. He spent a few moments thinking about a plan that would be demoralizing enough for the doe, before finally shouting:

-"You shall be my eternal slave!"

Before he could gauge her reaction, however, he heard Granite's voice:

-"What are you doing?"

-"I thought you were passing hraka?"

-"I was, but I'm done now. You still haven't answered my question."

Vervain remained awkwardly silent.

-"I told you to keep an eye on the prisoner," Granite continued, "not to threaten her."

-"I used to be Woundwort's chief interrogator, so I decided..."

-"Woundwort didn't tell us to interrogate her. He probably intends to do this himself after he comes back."

-"Until then, there's no harm in asking a few questions, is there?"

-"From the looks of it, you weren't asking her any questions. In fact, you seemed about to attack her and maybe kill her. She's of no use to us dead, you know?"

-"Who said I was going to kill her? I clearly said that the Black Rabbit would be a long time coming."

Granite looked at Vervain in disbelief, clearly confused by what the bearded rabbit had said.

-"What DID you intend to do, then?"

-"That's none of your business!"

Primrose, meanwhile, was struggling to think clearly. This had been the worst day of her life. She had gotten separated from Blackberry in the fog, and then was attacked for no reason by two large rabbits, who brought her to this terrible human place they called Darkhaven. Then, she found herself in the same burrow as Vervain, her worst nightmare.

Submitting peacefully and letting Vervain carry out his plan was out of the question. She had only one option: running away. She wasn't very optimistic that she would succeed, but it was her only chance. Two bucks were completely absorbed in their argument; she quietly sneaked out of the burrow, and neither seemed to notice.

Once outside, she looked at her surroundings, but was completely lost. Darkhaven appeared to be at the bottom of a pit, but she did not know how to get out, and it was only a matter of moments before the others would notice that she had vanished and track her down. She had no choice but to run to the area that offered the best cover: a pile of human trash, containing everything from car parts to carpets, and even some rocks. Hopefully Vervain wouldn't search for her there...

Meanwhile in the burrow, the argument continued.

-"Look, Granite, why do you worry so much about what Woundwort DIDN'T say?" Vervain said. "He didn't tell us not to interrogate her."

-"But he didn't tell us to do it either."

-"Oh look! Just outside the burrow. It's General Woundwort! Let's go ask him!"

Granite rolled his eyes.

-"Do you seriously think I'm going to fall for that old trick?"

-"It's not a trick, he really is back!"

Granite hesitated for a few moments. It was very likely that Vervain was just lying to get him out of the way, but he couldn't risk it. He turned and hopped towards the exit. Vervain, meanwhile, turned towards the corner where Primrose was a few minutes before.

-"Now where was I? Oh right, you are my sla..." Only then did Vervain notice that Primrose was gone. He suddenly felt himself pinned to the ground; while he couldn't see his attacker, he assumed it was Granite, considering the weight.

-"The prisoner has escaped!" he said.

-"The General isn't here," Granite said with a growl. "You shall pay for this."

-"No! You don't understand! The prisonner is gone! When the General finds out, he'll kill us both."

-"...you're right." Granite let Vervain get up. "We better find her before he gets back. You search the area around the hrududu, and I search the tower, all right?"

-"Where's the hrududu?"

-"And after we find her, I shall challenge you to single combat."

-"Single combat? B- b- but why?"

-"You lied to me and humiliated me. You won't get away with it."

-"Is this really worth fighting over? There has to be another way..."

-"The law clearly says that single combat is the only solution."

-"Look, we're wasting time! Shouldn't we be looking for the escaped prisoner rather than arguing?"

-"Let's go then!"

With that, Granite ran out of the burrow. Vervain was profoundly annoyed: not only had he failed to destroy Primrose's fragile mind, but she had escaped, he didn't know where to search, and after she was found, he would have to fight Granite. Hopefully he would be able to find her, and talk Granite out of fighting him...