AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you Anonymous Guest for the review :)

Chapter 115: The Big Tricks.

"Iris's eyes darkened as she fell to a memory of a dream. Again, she fought an enemy that had no face."

-katklaws, To Defy the Black Rabbit's Call

Acorn, Speedwell and Tindra had had trouble falling asleep. Flesca's suggestion that they kill Pimpernel, an innocent rabbit, had left them very nervous. It seemed to them that, no matter what they did, there would be negative side effects. It was extremely late when they finally managed to fall asleep, and they only woke in mid-afternoon when Flesca entered the burrow they shared.

-"So, do we kill him?" she asked.

-"After we get enough sleep," Speedwell mumbled.

-"This is no time for sleep. I think the New Sandleford gang is coming back."

As the rabbits raised their ears, they were indeed able to hear the sound of approaching footsteps.

-"We talk first. Then we fight if necessary," Acorn said.

Judging by her expression, Flesca was clearly disappointed by this decision, but she did her best not to show it.

As the four rabbits made it above ground, they realized that they were not being visited by Pimpernel, or even Scabious. There were two strange rabbits approaching slowly, looking at their surroundings. One of them had blue-ish fur, and a weird face shaped like that of a dog. The other one was brown, and clearly overweight.

-"Good morning, good morning!" the larger rabbit said. "How are you all today?"

-"We don't want to be annexed," Tindra said.

-"Nor do we want to annex you," the smaller rabbit replied. "We are merely here to discuss matters regarding your Chief Rabbit."

-"We already told your lot, Toadflax isn't our Chief!" Acorn shouted.

-"Our lot? Toadflax?" The two visitors looked at each other, before turning back to Acorn. "My friend, you are mistaking us for someone else. My name is Bluesky, and this here is Raincloud. We are messengers from Prince Rainbow."

At this, Flesca started laughing uncontrollably.

-"Of course you're not messengers! Prince Rainbow is a lie."

-"He would be very sad to hear you say that," Raincloud said. "May we come underground?"

-"I don't see why not," Speedwell said, rather confused but not sensing any danger.

All six rabbits soon reached the great burrow.

-"So, you claim to be Prince Rainbow's messengers," Acorn said. "And that you wish to talk about our Chief."

-"Yes, we have an important message for him!" Raincloud said. "He shall hear it soon, but first, we must rest. Our journey has been very tiring, and our weary paws need a break. Do you have any available burrows?"

-"The warren's largely empty," Speedwell explained, "you can take any burrow you want, except the one with the crystal gems, it's a crime scene."

-"A crime sc...ah, humour!" Bluesky clearly thought that Speedwell was merely joking. "A brilliant skill, the mark of a good rabbit. Nevertheless, we shall go nap. See you later!"

Bluesky and Raincloud hopped through a nearby tunnel, leaving behind four confused rabbits.

-"What's going to happen once they find out we have no Chief?" Tindra asked.

-"We'll find out," Acorn said, "when they wake up."

The farmer's daughter, Lucy, was just waking up. The school year had ended a few days before, so there was no need for her to get up early, and she treasured the extra hours of sleep. She had had a wonderful dream, about playing with her hutch rabbits.

However, she was woken up by loud voices. That was weird: today was Wednesday, so her mother was gone to the market. There should not be anyone else home, apart from her father; who could he be talking to?

Lucy slowly and silently walked out of her bedroom and down the stairs; the voices were coming from the living room. She peaked through the keyhole, and saw her father being held at gunpoint by an unknown woman, with an unknown man nearby.

Realizing the terrifying situation her father was in, she knew she had to do something. Out of her pocket, she pulled out an ultrasound whistle, and blew into it. Duster frequently attacked trespassers on the property, taking down the unknown assailants here should be very easy for him.

After the collapse of the tower of rabbits, Blackberry was the first to get back up.

-"Anyone hurt?" she asked.

One by one, the rabbits got back up. As Blackberry examined them, she saw that none of them had any injuries beyond minor scratches. Even Primrose, although shaken following her hawk encounter, was unharmed. As she approached Bigwig, however, she realized that he seemed very disoriented, more so than anyone else.

-"Are you all right, Bigwig?" she asked.

-"I just have an idea for our next adventure."

-"Not another one..." Hawkbit mumbled.

-"Let's kill a fox."

-"Do WHAT?" Dandelion was sure he had misheard.

-"Kill a fox," Bigwig repeated.

-"Why would you want to do that?" Fiver asked. "We haven't met any foxes since last Frith's Eve."

-"That doesn't mean there aren't any out there. Better be safe than sorry."

-"If you haven't had any trouble with foxes," Strawberry said, "then there probably aren't any nearby."

-"We'll just have to find one. Blackberry?"

-"You want me to participate?" The doe shuddered at the thought.

-"I want you to find the creature we're looking for, and report on its location so I can do something about it. But I don't think you should travel alone, so why don't you take Primrose with you?"

-"He's gone mad..." Hawkbit shook his head.

-"You may actually be right, Hawkbit," Hyzenthlay said sadly. "When several of us landed on him, it must have hurt his head."

-"Hurt my head? What are you talking about, I'm fine!"

-"Bigwig, be sensible," Hazel said. "Remember what happened last time Blackberry and Primrose went on a mission on their own?"

-"You're absolutely right. Someone else needs to go with them. Clover!"

-"Really? Clover?" Hawkbit was horrified.

-"It would be nice to go on patrol," Clover said. "I've heard many exciting stories, but I never got to experience it myself."

-"Bigwig, Primrose almost died the last time she went far from the warren!" Hyzenthlay interjected. "We can't let this happen again."

-"This mission will be a great learning experience for her," Bigwig replied.

-"No! Look, there are many other rabbits you could send on this mission instead."

-"Like who?"

-"Like..." Hyzenthlay looked around her, "Holly! He's a good rabbit. And I could go too." This would be a great opportunity for them to get to know each other better.

-"I still don't see what's wrong with Blackberry and Primrose."

-"Let me handle this," Silverweed said, hopping over to the others. "The fall has affected his mind, I may be able to reset it."

-"I don't know if these mind tricks will help," Blackberry said, "but I don't know of any possible treatment for what he has, so it's worth trying."

Silverweed nodded, and hopped over to Bigwig, placing one of his front paws between the captain's ears.

-"What are you do..." Bigwig started to say, when suddenly, his eyes started to glow. Moments later, there was a loud noise like a thunderclap, and both rabbits fell backwards.

-"Are you all right?" Fiver asked Silverweed, hopping over to him and helping him get back up.

-"I'm fine," Silverweed replied, nuzzling his friend. "Bigwig should be fine too, but for the next day or two, he may be more reckless than usual."

-"Come on!" Hawkbit said with a groan. "He's already so impetuous, and now he's going to be even worse?"

-"Impetuous?" Bigwig got back up instantly and looked at Hawkbit sternly.

-"I don't know what impetuous means..." Bluebell said, winking at Hawkbit.

-"He's calling me a hothead! Well, this hothead shall kill a fox. But first, we must find one. Holly, Hyzenthlay, Blackberry, Clover, you four are going on wide patrol to find one."

-"Bigwig, I don't really want to take part..." Blackberry started to say, but was interrupted by the captain.

-"That's good, because I was talking to the other Blackberry."

Blackberry the buck glanced at Bluebell, further away kissing Hawkbit; he averted his eyes.

-"I'll come."

-"I want to come too."

Bigwig turned towards the doe who had spoken.

-"You're Flora, right?"

-"Yes, that's me."

-"Very well, you can come too. Now, here's what I want you all to do. You are to search for a fox. After you find one, don't fight it, just find come back to the warren to report the location of its den. Then I will personally lead a patrol to kill it. You may go now."

-"Stay safe," Blackberry told her namesake.

-"I'll do my best."

-"I'm ready whenever you are!" Clover shouted. By that point, she had made it halfway to the bottom of the Down, clearly excited at the prospect of going on patrol. The other four patrollers soon rejoined her.

-"Will they be safe?" Hazel asked his brother, watching them hop away from the warren. "Foxes can be dangerous, and they are actively seeking one out."

-"Holly has a lot of experience dealing with such creatures, from his days at Sandleford, and the others are good rabbits too. I'm sure they'll be fine."

-"I hope you're right Fiver." Hazel hugged his brother and nuzzled his ears. "But I have the feeling that I'm forgetting something..."

-"Before Primrose fell in the tree, you seemed like you were about to ask Hawkbit something."

-"Oh right, now I remember. Apparently he told Dandelion to rip off the grass."

-"Hawkbit has done many weird things over the seasons," Fiver said with a chuckle, "but this has got to be the weirdest."