Chapter 266: The Suffering, Verv/Prim-Style!

"I don't know but if he has left then evidently he doesn't care about me [...] So I don't care about him anymore."

-L. B White, Blackhaven To Shorewick

Hyzenthlay was tired; she had fought several rabbits, but the last one had been a particularly challenging opponent. He was on the verge of killing Bigwig, but she successfully pushed him off. Bigwig and Hyzenthlay faced this opponent for a long time, without exchanging a single blow. After a while, the Darkhavener made the foolish mistake of charging towards them, but they dodged just in time, sending him crashing head first into the beech tree, knocking him unconscious. After all this, Hyzenthlay felt the need to rest underground for a few minutes: otherwise, she would be too tired to stand a chance in the next battle.

The last time Hyzenthlay had been in the Honeycomb, it was full of sleeping woodland creatures. But now, it was full of injured creatures. It wasn't just rabbits; some of the mice and squirrels had also gotten hurt while fighting. Hyzenthlay was still studying the scene when Pipkin hopped over to her, looking even more exhausted than she was.

-"Where does it hurt?" he asked.

-"I'm not hurt, I'm just tired. Where's Blackberry?" The mostly blue doe remained invisible during Hyzenthlay's scan of the burrow.

-"Heather is kindling; Blackberry is with her. Considering how long she's been gone, things are probably not going well."

There was deep worry and sadness in Pipkin's voice; he was clearly not optimistic about Heather's chances.

-"So it's just you in here with the casualties of war?" was Hyzenthlay's next question.

-"Me and Nicole. We're doing our best, but with so many victims, we can't keep up. There was Marigold too, but she left a while ago and I haven't seen her since. Dandelion is also helping, or at least he's trying. He doesn't know the various healing herbs, and there's no time to teach him, so all he can do is provide moral support."

-"Is there any way I could help?" Hyzenthlay volunteered.

-"How much do you know about healing herbs?"

-"Almost nothing..."

-"In that case, I'm sorry, but you would be more useful above ground, fighting."

-"Very well. I will take a short nap and return."

As she lied down in the middle of the burrow, Hyzenthlay saw that there were still a few bats hanging from the tree roots. Unlike the other creatures on the ground, they did not appear injured, and they would probably be much more useful above ground than the mice, Hyzenthlay reasoned, since they would be able to attack from the air.

-"Darkling! Nocturnal! Are you awake?"

-"Ooooh..." Darkling mumbled, spreading out his wings. "I was dreaming about code and stars!"

-"A new world!" Nocturnal added.

-"Do you think you two could possibly help the fighting above ground?" the rabbit asked.

-"The plan is good."

-"Let's not lose our way."

-"In the snow."

-"The fog!"

-"Actually, it's raining out there," Hyzenthlay corrected. "Good luck!"

The two bats emitted high-pitched sounds, waking up the rest of their clan. Soon, all the bats had flown outside. Hyzenthlay once again lied down and closed her eyes, hoping to return to her interrupted nap, when the sound of running rabbits was heard. She opened her eyes just in time to see Hazel and Primrose's four kittens about to collide with her; she dodged at the last moment.

-"Hyzenthlay, you've got to help us!"

-"It's dreadful!"

-"She's gone!"

-"They took her!"

-"Hey hey hey, that's way too fast for me," Hyzenthlay said. "One at at a time."

-"Primrose has been kidnapped by a Darkhaven rabbit!"

-"Where did they go?"

-"I don't know, but they're probably above ground by now."

-"That's where we're going then!" The urgency of the situation forced Hyzenthlay to delay her nap a bit longer; she had to save her sister first.

Woundwort had, for most of the battle, remained out of the line of combat, instead barking orders at the idiots in his owsla who were good at fighting, but horrible at strategic planning (they often ended up fighting each other rather than the outsiders). He was developing a sore throat from all this shouting, but he wasn't going to let that stop him.

Suddenly, he noticed several dark shapes appear in the sky. With horror, he recognized them as the same bats who had attacked when he had captured Pipkin the previous summer. He ran away before they could attack him, and collided with Granite, who was still fighting Hannah. The mouse took advantage of this interruption, and cut off the last of Granite's claws.

-"What are you doing?" the General asked him, as he got back up.

-"I'm fighting," Granite replied.

-"That's a mouse!"

-"But she's working with the outsiders, she said so herself."

-"Stop this madness. Find an outsider rabbit to fight without wasting your time on such puny creatures that do not pose any threat to anyone."

The next rabbit that Woundwort encountered was Orchis, who was holding Primrose tightly. He had his front paws around her neck, ready to tear her throat open. Woundwort instantly recognized the doe as the one that Hazel had stolen from Efrafa, but he was baffled as to why Orchis wasn't killing her. This position was impossible for her to escape from, and yet, the captain did nothing with it.

-"And what are YOU doing?"

-"Guarding the hostage."

-"Hostage? Who captured her?"

-"I did." Orchis sounded very proud.

-"Who told you to do this?" Woundwort was not proud at all; in fact, he was angry.

-"Nobody, but I thought that..."

-"Well stop thinking so much! I have no use for hostages. Just kill her and start fighting again."

As the General hopped away, Orchis stared at his prisoner. He was looking forward to killing again, he couldn't wait to experience the feeling of blood covering his claws. While he could kill Primrose just by burying his claws in her neck, he didn't want to. He wanted to torture her before ending her life, starting with her ears.

Vervain, not unlike Woundwort, had not been fighting, although in his case, it was mostly due to fear and cowardliness. That didn't stop him, however, from experiencing a lot of brutality. He was attacked by mice, hedgehogs, squirrels, bats, boulders, a badger, and on one occasion, another Darkhavener who mistook him for an outsider. Fed up with all this nonsense, he soon dug himself a scrape and stayed there for a while, out of the rain, letting the others take care of the dirty work.

While the scrape was dry and safe, it was also quite boring. With a sigh, he went back above ground, hoping that the situation had calmed down. However, he was horrified by what he soon saw.

-"ORCHIS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

At first, Orchis was annoyed: why did someone have to yell at him just as he was about to scratch Primrose's first ear? This was the worst possible timing for him (and, for Primrose, the best, sparing her any physical pain). Once he turned his head and saw who had spoken, however, he smiled.

-"Oh hi Verv! What a wonderful day, isn't it?"

-"Don't you dare change the subject! You're torturing Primrose! Without me! We had a deal! You untrustworthy, backstabbing traitor! You're almost as bad as Campion!"

Orchis had completely forgotten about the deal he had made with Vervain; nevertheless, these harsh words left him very sad. He thought back at Prince Rainbow's warning, about the limited time he had left.

-"Vervain, do you remember your brother?"

-"All my brothers died seasons ago. So did my sisters, for that matter. Stop changing the subject!"

-"Not all of them. You see..."

Before Orchis could finish his sentence, however, he felt a sharp pain in his tail. He turned around, and someone cuffed him in the eye. He raised his front paws to protect both eyes from future hits, but this proved to be a mistake: the attacker slashed him several times across the chest. The pain eventually became so intense that he passed out.

-"Frith and Inlé..." Vervain whispered; he quickly ran away before he became this surprise attacker's next victim.

Primrose had closed her eyes and covered her face with her front paws, expecting the worst to happen, but it did not. There was no pain, just another rabbit's screams of pain. Soon afterwards, she felt the gentle touch of another rabbit on her forehead.

-"You all right, Primrose?"

She slowly opened her eyes, and saw the rabbit in front of her.

-"Hyzenthlay?"

-"It's me. How are you feeling."

-"Is this real life?"

-"It is. You're safe."

-"What happened to that brute who..."

-"He won't be causing any trouble for a long time. Now let's get you back to the warren."