AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you TheRanger101 for the review. I have some big plans for Campion a few chapters from now.

Chapter 69: The Interview.

"Oh really, Loganberry, must we have those ridiculous nicknames still? He's getting on for three months old now, you know - surely he's long past the time of silly games. What's wrong with Worcesterberry, for heaven's sake?"

-Loganberry, When You're In A Hole, Start Digging

It took a while for all the newcomers to the Watership Down warren to gather in the Honeycomb. While most of them were at silflay, others were still asleep in their burrows, and Hazel did not want to wake them up. Several were confused, wondering why the Chief wanted to speak with them; Flyairth in particular seemed worried that they were getting kicked out of the warren.

Eventually, nearly everyone was present. The only newcomers missing were Strawberry, who was guarding the kittens, and Blackberry, who was mysteriously absent, although nobody seemed worried. Fiver, Bigwig and several others were also present, watching Hazel as he addressed the group:

-"It has come to my attention that during my absence, several rabbits have joined the warren here at Watership Down. I think it would be a good idea to formally welcome the new arrivals, and get to know them better. Firstly, I wish to clear up what appears to be a common misconception. I don't intend to force anyone to leave. You are all welcome at this warren, and under no circumstances will you be kicked out."

Hazel hopped closer to the rabbits, and started talking to the one in front; she was also the smallest.

-"Hello. What's your name?"

-"Nyreem, what's yours?"

-"I'm Hazel. How old are you?"

-"Around one set of seasons. You?"

-"Almost three. How..."

-"I hear you're the Chief Rabbit here. How long have you held that position?"

-"Just over a set of seasons, when the warren was first started."

-"How do you manage with so many responsibilities?"

-"It's not always easy, I can tell you that. But for the most part I enjoy it, and I try to do what I think is best for the warren."

-"Er, Hazel," Hawkbit said as he poked Hazel in the back, "you're the one who's supposed to be asking questions here."

-"There's nothing wrong if she..." Hazel turned to look at Hawkbit, and suddenly fell silent. "What happened to your ears?"

-"Well, you see, it's because of Fly..."

-"I'll have to tell Blackberry to do something about this when she gets back."

-"But..."

-"Sorry for the interruption, Nyreem." Hazel turned back to the young doe. "So, is there something you want everyone here to know about you?"

-"There is. I may be small, I may be young, but I'm determined to prove my worth and be important to the warren."

-"I'm sure you'll do some great things, when the time comes."

With that, Hazel moved on to the next rabbit. It was another doe, and she seemed about the same size he was.

-"What is your name?"

-"My name is Hyzenthlay."

-"Tell me about your past life."

-"There isn't much to say. I was born around three sets of seasons ago in another warren, some distance away. About two seasons later, two does, Flyairth and Prake, visited with a few others, hoping to recruit some other rabbits to join the warren they were going to start. I thought it was an interesting offer, so I accepted. Life there was great, and I eventually earned the position of captain of owsla."

-"Does in the owsla, eh?" Captain Broom said. "Quite unusual, although there was that one time at old Redstone when..."

-"How do you like it here?" Hazel asked, interrupting the elderly captain before he could continue his story.

-"From what I've seen so far, it's a great place," Hyzenthlay said. "It has everything a rabbit could ask for."

-"I'm glad to hear you like it here. Don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything."

-"There's just one thing I would like to know," Bigwig suddenly said. "You say you were a captain of owsla at that old warren. Do you want to be a captain of owsla here?"

-"I don't expect you would give me that position so quickly, considering I've only been here for a few days. But I plan to do my best to prove my skills and, if you think I'm worthy, earn the position again."

-"Bigwig, can we deal with owsla business later?" Hazel said. "First we should get to know these rabbits."

With that, he went to the third rabbit. She was the largest rabbit of the group, larger even than Bigwig.

-"I'm Flyairth," she said.

-"So you're the former Chief Rabbit?"

-"Yes, me and...Prake..."

-"Is Prake here at the warren?"

-"No. She died when it was destroyed..."

-"I'm really sorry."

-"Well what? She's dead. Being sorry won't bring her back. What else do you want to know?"

-"I'm sorry if I'm bringing back painful memories..."

-"Proceed with the questioning."

-"Tell me more about the old warren. Why did you create it?"

-"It all started four sets of seasons ago, when I was born. The first few seasons were quite frustrating. It felt like I didn't have any chance at leading a decent life. The warren was called Ivylush, and the owsla was made up entirely of bucks. If you were a doe, you just couldn't expect to earn any important position, or even go on a simple farm raid. So, one day, I just left. Prake had similar complains, and left with me; nobody else did. I never heard from that warren again afterwards."

-"Did anyone try to stop you?"

-"No, and I think some of them were actually glad to see us leave."

-"I see. And after you left the warren, what happened next?

-"We knew we wanted to start a new warren, one that would be free from the problems of the old one. And we knew we couldn't start a new warren just the two of us, so we wandered for a few moons, and stopped at various warrens, trying to convince other rabbits to join us. After a while, we had assembled a large enough group, and that's how the warren was created. That was around two and a half sets of seasons ago."

-"How do you like it here, at Watership Down?"

-"Do you want the truth?"

-"Of course. Why not?"

-"It seems like a nice place, but you have one critical weakness."

-"What is this weakness? If it's as bad as you say it is, something will have to be done about it."

-"The owsla is horrible. Excluding the captain, there are only three rabbits, and only one of them takes it seriously."

-"I'm the captain of owsla," Bigwig said menacingly as he approached Flyairth, "Are you saying I'm not doing a good job?"

-"No, that's not what I'm saying at all," Flyairth replied. You're big and strong, and you seem to take the job seriously. But I can't say the same about the others. I had permission from Fiver-rah to train your owsla in your absence, and..."

-"Oh, so you trained my owsla? What was it like?"

-"Terrible. They didn't listen to me."

Bigwig fell silent for a few moments.

-"Then you know what sort of nonsense I have to deal with," he finally said.

-"Bigwig," Hawkbit started to say, "while she was training us she..."

-"What happened to your ears?" Bigwig suddenly asked. Hawkbit sighed.

-"That's what I've been trying to say..."

-"Blackberry will have to do something about this if she comes back."

-"WHEN she and Primrose come back," Hazel corrected.

-"But until that happens," Bigwig continued, "does anyone else here know how to fix his ears?"

-"I tried to help him while you were gone," Thethuthinnang said, "but it didn't work."

-"I really wish Blackberry was here," Hawkbit said. "She used to get on my nerves with all the talk about digging, but she is useful sometimes..."

-"Here I am!" another rabbit suddenly said as he arrived in the Honeycomb. "Sorry I'm late, I was..."

-"Who are YOU?" Bigwig asked.

-"I'm Blackberry. Didn't you ask for me?"

-"You're Blackberry?"

-"Yes..."

-"There are two Blackberry-s now?" Clover giggled. "That's pretty fun."

Bigwig stared at Blackberry for a while, before finally shaking his head.

-"Do you know anything about healing?"

-"Not a lot."

-"Can you straighten Hawkbit's ears, over there?" Bigwig gestured to the grey buck.

-"I'm afraid I can't help you with that."

-"Never mind." Bigwig hopped back to the group in the centre of the burrow. "Now what were we talking about?"

-"We were talking about the owsla," Flyairth said.

-"Right. So, you trained them, but you didn't get anywhere. Considering my own experience, I'm honestly not surprised. If you had reported success, I would have made you captain on the spot."

-"Bigwig, no!" Dandelion said.

-"The biggest problem is they lack motivation," Flyairth continued. "If they took things seriously, they would be a lot better."

-"No!" Hawkbit suddenly said. "The biggest problem is you made us do dangerous things we shouldn't have done. Look what you did to my ears!"

-"What happened to your ears is your own fault. If you had paid attention to my instructions, this wouldn't have happened."

Bigwig was torn. From one point of view, it was likely that Hawkbit's accident was his fault, but he couldn't dismiss the possibility that Flyairth had made him do something reckless either.

-"A few days from now, you'll have to show me what you did," he told Flyairth. "And I'll see what can be done to improve the owsla."

-"Thank you for expressing your concern, Flyairth," Hazel said. "It appears that Bigwig will be taking action."

-"I sure hope so!"

-"You sure showed that plump rabbit, Chief!" Nelthilta suddenly shouted.

-"I don't think we've met already," Hazel said, hopping over to the young doe.

-"I'm Nelthilta. And I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Flyairth-rah."

-"I see. What about this...plump rabbit?"

-"That's your captain of owsla."

-"What did you call me?" Bigwig said angrily, as he hopped over to the doe and looked at her straight in the eyes.

-"Plump rabbit. I mean, I'm just stating facts. You ARE very plump."

A look of fury appeared in Bigwig's eyes. It took all his self-control not to cuff Nelthilta in the face.

-"We'll have to talk about her later," he whispered to Hazel, before hopping away.

Hazel nodded, and moved on to the next rabbit, who happened to be Myrkin. Before either rabbit could introduce himself, however, they heard loud shouting, and Hazel was tackled by his kittens.

-"Oh brambles!" Strawberry said, as she ran into the burrow. "I'm sorry, I tried to keep them under control, but they were too fast for me..."