Chapter 287: The Reveals.

"Gee, you definitely make it sound like I might succeed in the quest." I muttered sarcastically.

-kc256, Atalantarah

As soon as she had seen the rabbits, and the dog started chasing them, the human who had opened the door panicked. The terrified rabbits were clearly going back to their home warren in the maze, and if they made it, the dog might kill them all. It was not even her dog; she was keeping it for some friends for a few days while they went on vacation, and clearly it was untrained, judging by how it didn't respond to her calls. She ran into the maze, desperate to stop the dog before it was too late, but it was a much faster runner than she was.

When she finally caught up with it in one of the maze's pathways, she was met with a gruesome sight. The ground had turned red, and many corpses littered the ground. The dog was proudly holding one of the rabbits in his mouth, blood dripping from the body. The only good news was that it had not reached the warren; therefore, its only victims were the unfortunate rabbits who happened to be travelling in the maze at the time. But that was of little comfort to its guardian. She felt the urge to sternly rebuke the dog, but that would probably scare it and make things worse. She therefore simply grabbed it by its collar (in her rush to chase after it, she did not have a leash with her) and dragged it all the way back to her home.

She locked it in the lavatory; she would have to clean the blood on its fur, but that would have to wait. She went back to the maze: what if some of the rabbits that had been attacked were still alive? They would need immediate veterinary care if they were to survive.

-"I surrender!" Vervain kept shouting, as he was dragged back to the warren by Bigwig and Spartina, with Bluebell and Meadow following.

-"Surrender accepted," Bigwig said. "Now you stay here and don't go anywhere." He looked around the burrow. "Blackberry, Thethuthinnang, stay here and guard him."

-"How did it go?" Clover asked, followed by Nicole and Hyzenthlay.

-"The dog is hard at work right now. They don't stand a chance. When did you all get back?"

-"We just did," Hyzenthlay said. "We went through the hedges, so we didn't encounter the Darkhaveners."

-"Such a pointless waste of life..." Meadow said sadly.

-"If we hadn't done that," Spartina explained, "they would have killed us all."

It was at that moment that Hazel approached the group.

-"Did all our runners make it?"

Suddenly, Hawkbit arrived, panting, and collapsed on the burrow floor.

-"That was exhausting...I'm never running with elil again. I need to sleep."

-"Anyone else still missing?" Hazel asked.

-"Campion," Spartina noted. "He was the last runner."

-"Silverweed was also with him," Fiver added. "He hasn't returned yet either."

-"We'll have to go find them," Holly said. "Hopefully the dog didn't get them."

-"Hopefully it did," Vervain said. "Traitors, both of them! They deserve to die."

-"Oh that's enough Vervain," Blackberry said sternly, before turning to Meadow. "Do you have a prison burrow where we could keep him for now?"

-"We never needed one before," Meadow explained.

-"Then, with your permission, I will dig one," Blackberry decided.

-"Do what needs to be done," Bigwig said, giving his approval to Blackberry's plan. "As for me, I'm off to join Holly in his search for survivors."

-"Hazel?" came the voice of Buttercup; the Chief, assuming that she had news regarding Primrose, immediately ran over to her.

-"Is she all right?"

-"Absolutely. Mother and children are all alive and healthy. She had a very large litter, with hrair kittens."

-"Can I go see them?"

-"Of course. She's been asking for you."

Flyairth looked at Hazel as he hopped away towards the burrow where Primrose and the kittens were, and made a shocking realization. While everyone else was busy saving the world, Primrose was giving birth. For some reason, she never did any important missions, and in fact regularly needed to be rescued. Her one major contribution to the community was helping create the next generation. If she wasn't Hazel-rah's mate, she would be a nobody like Blackavar or Cornflower. And that did not seem to bother her. Disturbed, Flyairth decided to join Bigwig and the others above ground on their search for survivors.

Meanwhile, Buttercup went over to Fiver. Meadow ran over to her to tell her what had happened above ground, but as the Chief started to speak with Fiver, she was forced to wait.

-"You are Hazel's brother, right?"

-"Yes, I am."

-"The news regarding Primrose aren't entirely positive."

Fiver lowered his ears.

-"I had a feeling something like that would happen."

-"A...feeling?" Buttercup was confused, at least until she recalled something. "Oh, I remember how you felt that fox last Frith's Eve. Anyway, would it be all right if you relayed the message? They might take it better if it's a close friend."

-"I can do that." Being the bearer of bad news was something Fiver was no stranger to, as he often did with his visions. "What happened?"

-"First, I would need to know...has Primrose had a difficult life?"

-"Very much so. She was a prisoner in another warren for several seasons before we met her."

-"I see...is this her first litter?"

-"Her second. The first was last summer."

-"When she arrived, Hazel had been carrying her. How far was she carried this way?"

-"She walked on her own from our warren until the gate here. That's when she became too weak to keep going and Hazel had to take over."

-"I see, it all makes sense then. Her body has been through a lot and, let's face it, she's not as young as she used to be. None of us are. For her own safety, it would be best if she didn't have any additional litters, or the consequences could be unpredictable."

Fiver could not help but think of Vilthuril, who was not much younger than Primrose. If he wanted to be a father, it would have to be soon, or it would be too late. Still, he couldn't help but feel sad for Primrose: he didn't know whether she would want any additional litters in the future, but either way, it would be impossible.

-"I'll tell them later."

-"Buttercup, there's something I have to tell you." Meadow's announcement could not wait any longer. "While you were assisting Primrose...something happened.

-"What's wrong?" Buttercup asked, concerned.

-"It's so terrible."

-"You're frightening me. What happened?"

-"The visitors fought a war above ground."

Buttercup was taken aback by this sudden and massive announcement.

-"A war?" she repeated.

-"It's a long story," Fiver said.

-"And they unleashed the humans' dog in the maze," Meadow continued.

Buttercup fell silent, horrified. While the humans were quite friendly, the dog was the exact opposite, based on the few times she had seen it.

-"We'll explain everything," Pipkin said. "Bigwig and a few others are above ground now, to check for survivors."

-"We'll also have to bring out Lady May," Fiver said. "This is our only chance to do right by her."