AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you Anonymous Guest for the review! I'm afraid, however, you'll have to wait one more week for the cliffhanger to be resolved...
Chapter 152: Temporary Hiding.
"No one cares. I'm just part of the wall when she's around. Nobody loves me. All I want is happiness."
-ToonGuy, Just the Doe next door
Bluesky woke up, and stretched out his front paws. This was the beginning of a great day, and he would eat so much flayrah. Or at least, those were his thoughts until he remembered what warren he was in. This place would bring nothing but trouble; the sooner he and Raincloud got away, the better. He turned his head, and saw his friend staring at him angrily.
-"I was waiting for you. You sleep so much."
-"Hey, you were the one who wanted to sleep first!" Bluesky said. "I was ready to leave when you decided to take a nap."
-"Yes, but my nap was finished long ago. If you hadn't fallen asleep too, we could have left then."
-"Let's just stop arguing, and go already. There's nothing more keeping us here except our own foolishness."
The two rabbits slowly hopped out of their burrow, doing their best to be as silent as possible to avoid attracting attention. When they made it above ground, they were left horrified by what they saw.
-"It's dawn! We slept all night!"
-"My friends!" came another voice from behind them. The two tricksters instantly recognized it: Toadflax. If they were to try to escape now, he could most likely outrun them easily, and they would be in even bigger trouble than they were now. They had no choice but to wait until he went away.
-"What is it you wish to see us about?" Raincloud asked.
-"I was wondering if you had perhaps received an answer from Prince Rainbow, regarding my request," Toadflax explained. "Assuming Prince Rainbow exists, of course. You couldn't very well have a conversation with a figment of imagination, now could you?"
-"He said this was unprecedented," Bluesky invented. "He will have to consult with Lord Frith and the King of Yesterday to decide on the proper course of action. He will update us when they have reached a decision. For now, we were trying to silflay."
-"A conversation with these...possibly real entities. I really hope they will grant my request..." Despite his attempts at hiding his feelings, Toadflax really seemed desperate. "Do you mind if I guide you during your silflay? I'm not supposed to talk about it, but there are snares all around the warren, and if either of you were to fall victim to them, I would never speak to Cowsl...I mean, it would be really sad to lose such fine rabbits!"
Everything Toadflax did was for a specific purpose. It was clear to Bluesky and Raincloud that he was only protecting them because they might be able to help him speak with Cowslip again. It was nevertheless greatly annoying for them, since this constant surveillance would make it difficult to flee. Toadflax might also react aggressively if they were to betray him.
Bluesky and Raincloud stayed close to each other, some distance from Toadflax; as far as he would let them go, but far enough for them to be able to whisper to each other without him hearing.
-"It seems we have only one option: letting him speak with Cowslip," Raincloud said.
-"How do you expect us to do that?" Bluesky shook his head in frustration. "Cowslip is dead."
-"Of course, we won't REALLY speak with him, we will simply pretend. I will conduct an overly-complicated magical ceremony to pretend to summon him, while you will be out of sight making otherworldly sounds, manipulating the light, adding fog...you know, typical ghostly business. If Toadflax wants to believe that badly, that should be enough to convince him."
-"That's nice, leaving all the hard work to me! Just how do you expect me to fog up the burrow?"
-"...you'll think of something. I believe in you."
-"You didn't seem to believe in me earlier."
-"Will you stop whining and at least pretend to silflay? I think Toadflax is getting suspicious."
Bluesky sighed, and started to aggressively nibble the grass, mumbling in frustration.
Toadflax was also at silflay, although he continued to stare at the two visitors, paying more attention to them than to what he was eating. As a result, he soon stumbled upon his namesake plant, not realizing this until he started chewing. It was not toxic, but it did not taste good at all. Toadflax had a burning desire to go to a nearby puddle for a drink to wash away the horrible taste. He could not do this while keeping an eye on the visitors, so he did his best to suppress the thoughts, until he just couldn't stand it any longer, and ran away, hoping to return momentarily. Bluesky had been keeping an eye on him, and nudged Raincloud when he noticed their guardian's disappearance.
-"He's gone, let's go."
The two rabbits cautiously hopped away from the warren, when another rabbit arrived in front of them, ruining their plans once more; this time, it was Acorn.
-"I was starting to think he would never leave," he said. "So, what's the situation?"
-"He wants our help to speak with Cowslip," Bluesky said, feeling obligated to tell he truth for once.
-"But Cowslip is dead."
-"We know, but we're supposed to be Prince Rainbow's messengers," Raincloud explained.
-"Right. I want you to do what he says, and pretend to contact Cowslip. Then, everyone will receive an important message from 'Cowslip': the killer has strayed from the way of the wire and, in order to be forgiven, must confess."
-"That's your plan to catch the killer?" Raincloud could hardly believe his ears. "Trick them into confessing?"
-"Why not? Several of these rabbits practically worshipped Cowslip, and an emotional plea from the afterlife may go a long way. And if nobody confesses, that also would be a valuable clue, indicating that the killer didn't like Cowslip very much. Oh, Toadflax seems to be coming back, just remember what I told you, and don't tell anyone about our plan."
-"HEY!" Toadflax shouted. "Get away from them!"
Acorn quickly ran away; Toadflax hopped over to the two remaining rabbits.
-"What did HE want?" he asked, burying his claws into the ground.
-"Nothing important," Raincloud quickly improvised. "He just wanted to ask about Prince Rainbow's colours."
-"That's a very random question..." Toadflax seemed to doubt this explanation, so Bluesky decided to change the subject before he became even more suspicious.
-"One we were more than happy to answer. We've had enough silflay for now, we would like to return to our burrow."
-"So soon? But you've hardly eaten anything."
-"Prince Rainbow works in mysterious ways. Will you be escorting us?"
-"Yes, I will."
Bluesky sighed. He was hoping Toadflax would not escort them, but now they would be forced to endure his presence for a few moments longer.
Hazel, Hawkbit and Thethuthinnang found Hickory in an unused burrow. He did not react to the other rabbits' arrival; he continued to stare at the wall in front of him.
-"How are you feeling?" Hazel asked.
Hickory remained silent for a few moments. Finally, he sighed.
-"I'm lost. I lost my warren, my followers. And now I'm losing my mate."
-"Do you still love her?" Thethuthinnang asked.
-"I do. But after the way I acted, I wouldn't blame her if she didn't love me anymore."
-"There's only one way to know, and that is to talk to her."
-"Will she even be willing to listen to me?"
-"He's right," Hawkbit said, pulling the Hazel and Thethuthinnang aside. "We probably should have gone to see her first, rather than get his hopes up over something that might not even happen."
Hazel, Thethuthinnang and Hawkbit left Hickory alone for a few moments as they went to see Marigold. She was at the entrance of the couple's burrow; the kitten was asleep inside in the corner. There were no wounds or scars visible on her face; the incident with Hickory did not appear to have had any lasting physical consequences.
-"What's going on?" she asked nervously.
-"We wanted to ask you about your mate," Hazel said.
-"He's not doing very well. His warren's destruction completely ruined him."
-"I understand he mistreated you."
-"He did?" Marigold did not appear to understand what Hazel were talking about, but soon figured it out. "Oh right, he hit me, because he thought weasels were manipulating the bodies of other rabbits."
-"He said that he regrets this."
-"Regrets...we all have those. But that doesn't change the past."
-"Do you still love him?"
Marigold found this a harder question to answer. She glanced at the kitten in the burrow, still asleep.
-"I suppose I do. It's hard to forget the past few seasons. Plus, she needs a father."
-"Hawkbit, go get him," Hazel ordered; Hawkbit hopped away towards the burrow where they had left Hickory. Hazel, meanwhile, turned back to Marigold. "Are you sure you want to go through this?"
-"Yes. We can't really ignore each other forever."
Marigold remained silent, until Hawkbit returned with Hickory. Hazel and Thethuthinnang hopped into a nearby tunnel, where they could keep an eye on the couple without bothering them.
There was a long staredown; neither Hickory nor Marigold seemed ready to make the first move.
-"I acted foolishly," Hickory eventually said. "I'm sorry."
Marigold kept staring, and placed her front paw on top of Hickory's.
-"I forgive you."
-"Shall we silflay?"
-"We may. I feel our daughter may be old enough to eat her first grass."
-"Nice to see it was all sorted out so easily," Hazel said.
-"Was it really sorted out, though?" Thethuthinnang shook her head. "It seems almost like it was TOO simple. And Marigold's thoughts aren't really that positive, either. They may seem fine for now, but I'm worried it might fall apart again."
-"Hopefully nothing like yesterday's incident will happen again. But we'll have to keep a close eye on them, just in case."
-"We'll see."
-"Romance always brings a lot of trouble," Hawkbit mumbled. "Makes me want to avoid it."
-"But romance can be great," Hazel said. "Look at me and Primrose."
-"Sure, but do you remember last summer, after your first trip to Efrafa? No offence, but you acted pretty crazy afterwards."
-"None taken. I did make some...questionable decisions back then."