AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you TheRanger101 for the review :)

Chapter 70: The Big Crystal.

"Now they all have fled.

I wonder what they're doing here

And where they will go

But I wonder hopelessly

For I shall never know"

-water-lily1, Spectator

It was late evening. At the warren of the shining wires, nearly everyone was at silflay. Buckthorn's rotting body remained in the grass near the warren, and the others stayed away from it. It was only a matter of time before the elil (or the farmer) showed up and took him away, and nobody wanted to be there when it happened.

Toadflax had mysteriously vanished earlier that afternoon, and while everyone had noticed his absence, nobody had made any attempt at finding him. If a wire got him, good riddance. However, in the middle of the silflay, he turned up again.

-"I've unravelled...the mystery," he said in an overdramatic tone.

He looked at the others, awaiting a reaction, but none came.

-"Wait wait wait, that's it?" he said in disbelief. "Isn't anyone going to praise my exceptional crime-solving skills? Or even ask me who did it?"

-"All right," came the annoyed voice of Flesca. "Who did it?"

-"The killer...is..."

-"Enough with the suspense already," Speedwell said, "just tell us who's guilty."

-"Fine! I can't believe how underappreciated I am here. Anyway, Acorn."

Acorn, along with everyone else, remained silent for a few moments, until it dawned on him what Toadflax had said.

-"You think I did it?" he said.

-"Of course you did," Toadflax replied. "The evidence clearly proves it."

-"What evidence?"

-"Of course you deny its existence. Seriously, confess now and I'll go easy on you when it's time for you to be punished."

-"Punished? Can't I even get a fair trial like Prince Rainbow gave El-ahrairah?"

-"I don't think he is guilty," came the voice of Speedwell. "This is just retaliation for his outburst earlier, isn't it?"

-"If you look at the evidence," Toadflax explained, "you will come to the exact same conclusion I did."

-"But you still haven't told us what the evidence even is," Tindra pointed out.

-"The trial is tomorrow morning," Toadflax said, ignoring the doe. "Until then, Acorn, you are confined to the prison burrow. Any attempt to escape will be considered an admission of guilt, and the sentence shall be carried out without any trial."

Toadflax bit Acorn's ear and slowly dragged him underground. After they were gone, Flesca suddenly burst into laughter.

-"What's so funny?" Tindra asked. "Our friend has been arrested."

-"I know he's not guilty. Because I am."

-"It's very admirable for you to be willing to sacrifice yourself to save Acorn," Speedwell said, "but I don't think Toadflax will fall for that."

-"But...oh, never mind."

-"The thing is," Speedwell continued, "is we have to find the true killer."

-"That's right," Tindra said. "Toadflax is a really poor investigator. I don't think Acorn is guilty, but if he, I'm sure Toadflax just made a lucky guess."

-"It could be any one of us," Flesca added.

-"I'm going to talk to Acorn right now," Speedwell said, "to see if he has any theories or other useful information."

Speedwell hopped underground, and searched for the burrow where Acorn was confined. It was one of the smallest and deepest burrows in the warren, near the ancient human well. Toadflax was sitting in front of the entrance.

-"What are you doing?"

-"I wish to speak to the prisoner," Speedwell explained.

-"No."

-"Why not?"

-"Nobody is to speak with the prisoner until the trial."

-"Why not?"

-"So you don't conspire against me. You'll speak with him in the morning, just before the trial."

With a sigh, Speedwell hopped away, and made it back above ground.

-"That was quick," Flesca pointed out.

-"Toadflax is guarding the burrow, and wouldn't let me in," Speedwell explained.

-"That's all right," Tindra said. "He can't stay there and guard all night. When he falls asleep, we'll just sneak inside."

Acorn remained wide awake the entire night. He knew he was innocent, but Toadflax was completely convinced of his guilt. He didn't know how to prove his innocence, apart from finding the true killer, but how could he do that while kept imprisoned in a dark old burrow?

Suddenly, he noticed a small red light further away. How was this possible? The burrow he was in was so deep underground that it was pitch-black at all times; where did this red come from?

He then remembered a story Silverweed had once told. Many seasons before, the warren had a large chamber filled with mysterious red crystals. Several rabbits kept a crystal between their ears for good luck. However, the burrow eventually collapsed, and the crystals were soon forgotten. Could the collapsed burrow be nearby, hence the crystal sticking out of the dirt?

Only then did he realize that the crystal was moving. Another rabbit appeared to be holding it, and Acorn could see the sharp pointed tip of the crystal approaching. He was soon cornered, but the other rabbit, who remained invisible in the darkness, kept approaching.

-"I sense a disturbance," the visitor said. "Do you know what the solution is?"

-"What is it?" Acorn said, terrified.

-"Simple. You try another version. Then you pretend nothing ever happened."

Then, the visitor lunged.

At Watership Down, it took a long time for the kittens to be brought back under control. Every time one was captured, their siblings helped them escape again. Eventually, Hazel had no choice but to bribe them with flayrah. He also asked Bigwig and Hyzenthlay to work with Strawberry to make sure they stayed in their burrow.

It was mid-afternoon by the time Hazel was able to get back to the interviews. And even then, there was a problem.

-"There's someone missing," he said. "I don't know who, but didn't there used to be more rabbits here?"

-"Hyzenthlay, Strawberry and Bigwig are with the kittens, " Blackberry said.

-"I know, but I don't think they're the only ones missing."

-"Bluebell," Nyreem said. "He ran off above ground when the kittens showed up and I haven't seen him since."

-"Hopefully he hasn't run away from the warren. We've already had too much of that recently."

While Hazel's comment was about Blackberry and Primrose, it also reminded Fiver of Blueberry. He had yet to mention the kitten's existence, or the perilous situation he was in, to Hazel. It had slipped his mind once again, and now that he had remembered, Hazel was busy with something else. It would have to wait until after the interviews were finished.

Hazel, Fiver and Blackberry went above ground. Fortunately, Bluebell had not run away; he simply stood at the edge of the Down, staring in the distance.

-"You all right?" Fiver asked.

-"Those kittens startled me. I've never seen any rabbit so excited before."

-"They can be at times. They're back in their burrow now, there's nothing to worry about."

-"Kiss me Blackberry."

-"What?" Blackberry made a few steps backwards. "Why?"

-"It will make me feel better, following the excitement."

-"No. Absolutely not."

Blackberry ran back underground before Bluebell could reply.

-"Do you often kiss him?" Hazel asked.

-"Sadly no. I often try, but he's never interested. Hopefully, one day, he will change his mind and learn to enjoy the wonders of pressing your nose and whiskers against another rabbit's, especially one as good-looking as me."

The three remaining rabbits went back to the Honeycomb. It appeared that most of the newcomers had started playing bob-stones in their absence, although one of them was simply sitting further away.

-"Why are you not playing?" Hazel asked the doe.

-"I've already been eliminated," she replied. "Anyway, I'm Thethuthinnang. You're Hazel-rah, right?"

-"That's me. Tell me more about yourself."

-"There isn't much to tell. I've lived a mostly uneventful life. I used to be captain of owsla at my old warren, along with Hyzenthlay. I don't know how I managed to get the position. I'm not big, strong or pretty like she is. I sometimes sing, and I know a bit about healing, but those talents are not really useful in an owsla."

-"These are still very interesting skills. I've never heard a rabbit singing before, could I hear?"

-"I would, but considering some rabbits' reactions to the singing cat a few days ago, I have a feeling..."

-"The singing cat?"

-"It's a long story," Fiver said. "We had a few visitors while you were gone, Hazel."

-"Good job Vilthuril," came the voice of Silver, as he raised his paw, revealing the three stones underneath. "You've won the game."

-"Congratulations Vilthuril," Fiver said, rather awkwardly. This doe never ceased to amaze him, but he always felt very nervous when talking to her. He hopped closer to his brother, until the two rabbits' fur touched.

-"Something wrong, Fiver?" Hazel asked.

-"No. I'm fine. Everything is fine."