AUTHOR'S NOTE: due to real life, I will be forced to take a short break following this chapter. The next update will be on 16 July.

Chapter 270: Return to Innocence.

"Make me like a rock

Which juts into the sky

That is what I what I ask of you

That is why I cry

Freedom from this life

And its twisted sense of rhyme

That is what I want from you

That is why I climb"

-Geneva, Closer To The Stars

Woundwort stared at Vervain as he gradually made his way closer. Amazingly, he did not appear to have sustained any injuries; he was still in great physical condition, merely tired.

-"I thought you were dead."

-"No such luck, sir," Vervain replied with a sigh. Woundwort's welcome was not exactly friendly, indicating that he was still angry about the attempted murder. "What's the status? Any outsiders still alive?"

-"We're taking a break from the battle. We are currently resting and we will surprise them with our next attack."

-"Resting, eh? Well, in that case..."

Vervain flopped on the ground, happy to finally be able to rest after such a long and painful day; not to mention the lengthy journey back from the sheep's field, that had left him completely exhausted. But this rest was short-lived, as he soon felt Woundwort's paw on top of him.

-"What do you think you're doing?"

-"You said to get some rest..."

-"Not you. You are to stay up and keep a look out for elil. I don't want my warriors to die before the battle. If I find you asleep, I will have your ears. Understood?"

Vervain weakly nodded; this was clearly another of the General's punishments for the failed murder attempt. If only he had succeeded...if he had, his life would be so much better.

Orchis looked at Vervain from a distance. He was pleased to see him again; this was exactly what he had been hoping for. Since the battle wasn't starting again just yet, he still had the time to try his luck with his other quest. He hopped over to the fellow captain, and grinned.

-"The outsider doe Primrose," he said.

-"You tried to kill her without me," Vervain replied, still bitter about this incident.

-"How important do you think she is?"

-"Huh?" Vervain was deeply confused by Orchis' seemingly random question.

-"Serious question. How important is she, overall?"

-"Uh...very important, I suppose?" Vervain wasn't quite sure whether he understood the question correctly, but he nevertheless did his best to answer it. "She's one of the main reasons why we are at war with those outsiders. If that pesky Hazel hadn't kidnapped her, perhaps none of this would be happening."

-"I know that. But the events you describe occurred seasons ago; how important is she NOW?"

Vervain hesitated for a few moments.

-"This is a trick question, isn't it? Hazel is the type of rabbit who would say that every rabbit is important, even the very useless ones like Lady May."

-"Let me rephrase. Did she accomplish anything meaningful?"

-"Once again, Hazel would say that existing is meaningful. If she vanished, he would be really depressed and everyone would be sad, which would no doubt make them all easier to defeat."

-"I'm not asking Hazel, I'm asking YOU. What has Primrose done today?"

The more Orchis spoke, the less Vervain understood. Just what was the goal of all this?

-"She hasn't been fighting like the other does," he recalled. "You kidnapped her, and she didn't even try to save herself, she just waited for someone else to bail her out."

-"Just my point. Primrose is not useful on her own, but remains important to the warren because of her relationships. She mated with the Chief, and while this doesn't give her any authority of her own, it still makes her important."

Vervain waited for a few moments to see if Orchis would say anything else, but he did not. What a pointless conversation this had been! Primrose still deserved to die regardless of how important she may be to the outsiders, and Vervain was still determined to torture her before her death. Annoyed at Orchis over what he perceived as a waste of time, he hopped away.

-"Where are you going?" Orchis quickly called out.

-"I'm patrolling the area for elil. General Woundwort did put me on guard duty."

-"I'm coming with you!"

Vervain sighed: getting rid of Orchis was quite a challenge...

-"Being mates is not the only way someone can become important," Orchis continued. "Other familial relations can lead to similar concepts, including being parents, children, siblings, and more."

More meaningless nonsense, Vervain thought. Maybe if he ignored Orchis, the fellow captain would eventually get bored and go annoy someone else instead. After making a full loop around the Darkhaveners' camp, he lied back down on the grass, as he had not discovered anything suspicious.

-"Do you remember our talk earlier about your brother?" was Orchis' next question.

Vervain sighed. That had been yet another pointless conversation; clearly ignoring Orchis wasn't working...

-"Yes, I told you that all my brothers are dead."

-"That is not entirely accurate. One of them is still alive."

-"How would you know?" Judging by this absurd comment, Vervain was starting to think Orchis was inventing things.

-"I am him."

Vervain looked at Orchis, wondering if this could possibly be true. He had assumed that all his siblings had died in his first warren's destruction, but he had not seen all their bodies, so survival was at least technically possible. But that was seasons ago; their appearance, including fur colours and patterns, could have greatly changed over the seasons that followed, making them impossible to identify this way. None of his siblings were named Orchis, but...

-"My brother was named Orchid, not Orchis. Big difference." It still remained unclear to Vervain how Orchis found out about Orchid's existence in the first place.

-"Orchid is a doe's name. Too soft, fragile, unsuited for someone like me, so I changed it. Orchis is so much darker, more intimidating, more appropriate."

-"I don't believe you."

-"It's true."

-"Then prove it! Tell me about that one embarrassing incident when you were a kit. If you really are my brother, you will know which one I am talking about."

Orchis sighed, then went over to Vervain to whisper something in his ear.

-"There was this plant growing in the field south of the warren, I forgot exactly what it was, but it was there. Everyone told me not to eat it, but that only made it more appealing. So I sneaked off in the middle of the night to take a bite. Instant regret, the taste was the worst ever. I thought I was the only one above ground at the time, but you had followed me and you had seen all the disgusting expressions I made. For a long time afterwards, you took great pleasure in imitating them in front of others to humiliate me. And If you're thinking of doing that again in front of Woundwort, I'm going to have to challenge you to single combat, bro."

Vervain listened to every word, and was shocked to hear Orchis provide the right answer, proving that he really was his brother. His mind was filled with questions. How had Orchis survived? Why had he taken so long to reveal himself? Before he could ask any of these questions, however...

-"Hey Vervain and Orchis!"

The two captains looked in the direction from which the voice had come, and saw Kurai hopping over to them, smiling.

-"We thought you were dead," he added.

-"Everyone keeps saying that," Vervain mumbled.

-"We're not dead yet!" Orchis said cheerfully. "What's up?"

-"Nothing much, passing the time until the battle resumes. I was thinking about our conversation earlier, with Dewdrop."

-"Yes, it's your fault that Crunch and Munch were not guilty," Vervain said in annoyance.

-"Oh come on, bro," Orchis teased, "you're making it sound as if Kurai is the one who killed her."

-"Bro?" Kurai's eyes widened. "I sense an interesting story here."

-"It doesn't concern you!" Vervain said angrily; Orchis calling him "bro" was cringe-worthy, he thought, even if they really were brothers.

-"Ah. Well, in that case, Dewdrop," Kurai continued. "You're both right, actually. Crunch and Munch didn't kill her, although they probably wanted to. Someone else beat them to it."

-"Yes, that's what was determined last time, you're just repeating yourself..."

-"I know, I just wanted to provide some more details." Kurai grinned. "You see, I know who really did kill her."

-"The suspense is killing me!" Orchis said. "Please share this crucial piece of information!"

Vervain rolled his eyes at how over the top Orchis was behaving. Not to mention that ridiculous pun, his jokes were almost as bad as outsider Bluebell's.

-"It was me, I killed her," Kurai quickly said; without providing any further context, he hopped away.

Vervain was horrified. The shock of two unexpected reveals in just a few minutes was a lot for him. He still had his doubts as to whether Kurai was telling the truth. There had always been something creepy about him, but murder? That was a bit much.

-"Fascinating," Orchis said. "Anyway, as I was saying, you..."

-"The time has come for the next battle!" came Woundwort's sudden shout. "Everyone gather at the bottom of the hill for your next instructions."

-"Sorry, looks like our reuniting was cut short," Orchis said. "See you on the battlefield, bro."

Vervain cringed once again as Orchis called him "bro". He was ashamed to be this fool's brother. Unfortunately, one cannot choose one's family...