Chapter Text
“All the sudden they just arrived! No one knew where they came from.”
--Eve6, Watership Downtown
Vesper’s boat kept sailing on the floodwater. Under such weather, he had been unable to deploy the sails, so the various creatures used twigs to paddle and steer the vessel. As the water receded, it ran aground near the bottom of Watership Down.
-”The warren I was telling you about is at the top of the hill,” Vesper said. “I realize that we’re far from some of your homes, and they might still be flooded, so anyone who wishes to spend the night at the warren is welcome.”
-”Ah, well I wouldn't want to impose on you dearie...” Yona the hedgehog said. “I suppose I'll just go...”
-”You wouldn’t be imposing on us at all.”
-”In that case, I’ll come, if it’s really not a problem...”
Campion accompanied Vesper and the other creatures all the way to the top. The moment of truth was upon him. He would find out, once and for all, what his future held.
The rabbits continued to frolic for a long time, until they gradually calmed down. Judging by the position of Inlé in the sky, it was very late, and the rabbits slowly went back underground to sleep.
-”Hazel-rah!” came Vesper’s voice, as he reached the top of the Down, and climbed over the wall. “I’ve invited some mice and hedgehogs and other animals to stay with us for the night, after the flood. I hope you won’t mind.”
-”I don’t mind,” Hazel replied. “Anyone who wishes to stay is free to do so.”
-”Thank you! I’ll go help them get settled down.”
As Vesper and his new friends made their way underground, Hazel saw someone else climb over the wall. As the creature got closer, he realized that it was Campion. He was somewhat surprised, but also pleased to see him alive, considering what had happened during their last encounter.
-”Hazel-rah.” Campion hopped over to the Chief. “It’s nice to see you again. I’m sorry about...”
-”You have some nerve showing up here!” Bigwig said, hopping between the two rabbits.
-”I told you, I’m sorry about Primrose...speaking of which how is she?”
-”Primrose is fine,” Hazel said. “Everything is fine.”
-”Except that you lied to us,” Bigwig interjected. “You told us Woundwort was dead, but yesterday he attacked us.”
-”I tried to warn you during our last meeting, but you mistook it for the insane ramblings of a mad rabbit.”
Bigwig fell silent, as he thought back to the encounter. Campion had indeed told the truth, although nobody had believed him at the time.
-”Do you really blame us, though? You said that VERVAIN was the one who had almost killed him. Vervain, the most cowardly rabbit I’ve ever met, trying to kill the Chief he’s terrified of?”
-”I know it sounds absurd, but he really did do it. He practically confessed in Darkhaven, and the Black Rabbit told me about it too.”
-”There he goes rambling about the Black Rabbit again...” Bigwig rolled his eyes.
-”He’s telling the truth,” Silverweed said, hopping over to the others. “I see it in his heart.”
-”It’s very late, and you look exhausted, Campion,” Hazel said. “Come rest underground, and we’ll discuss things in the morning.”
As Hazel and Campion went underground, Bigwig looked at Silverweed sternly.
-”How accurate is your second sight?” the captain asked.
-”It’s never been wrong before.”
-”But there’s always a first time, right?”
-”I suppose. But I saw it in Vervain’s heart too, so that would imply two incorrect readings. And, like Campion said, Vervain DID confess, repeatedly, although Woundwort didn’t believe him.”
-”But what about his claims to have been touched by the Black Rabbit?”
-”That statement is also true.”
-”Really?”
-”After living for so long at Cowslip’s warren, nothing surprises me anymore. Besides, it also happened to Blackavar.”
As the rabbits came back from the day's adventures and filled the Honeycomb, Flyairth did her best to finish the game of owslafa without interruptions. The outskirters voted out Avens, then the owslafa disposed of Flora, reducing the outskirters to just three. Fortunately, they were able to vote out Moss in the next day phase, leaving only one owslafa, who then disposed of Vilthuril.
-”Blackavar, Strawberry, Vesper, you are the last three players. One of you is an owslafa; the other two are innocent. The player you vote out now determines the final result of the game.”
-”I think it’s Vesper,” Strawberry said.
-”You have been really silent so far today, Strawberry,” Blackavar said, “but now you speak. That's suspicious. You may have been trying to avoid attracting attention so far in the game, but now you're accusing someone. You might be trying to stay alive and win.”
-”He makes a valid point, I'm voting for you,” Vesper said, as he raised his front paw; Blackavar soon followed.
-”You got me,” Strawberry said sadly.
-”Strawberry is out. He was the owslafa. So the outskirters win!” Flyairth said, before hopping away to silflay, glad that the game was finally over. She really would have to host a smaller game next time.
Further away, Hazel hopped out of a burrow; he had assigned it to Campion to spend the night. He soon located Fiver, further away in the honeycomb.
-”You know, Fiver,” Hazel told his brother, “this was probably the most exciting day we’ve had in a long time.”
-”I’m glad you had a good time, Hazel. We should try to do this more often.”
-”I would definitely be up for it.”
-”Not TOO often,” Bigwig said. “We still need to be careful, with Woundwort still on the loose.”
-”That’s true, but taking a break every once in a while is still a good idea.” Fiver yawned. “But for now, I will go to my burrow. Good night Hazel.”
The two brothers hugged each other, before Fiver hopped away, followed closely by Vilthuril. Hazel, meanwhile, felt Primrose press herself closely against him.
-”Hazel...thank you for this amazing day. I enjoyed it so much.” He nuzzled her.
-”I love you.”
Heather was in her burrow, half-asleep, when Moss came in.
-”We didn’t get to see each other very long today, with my early elimination,” she said. “How did it go?”
-”It was an exciting game,” Moss replied, nuzzling his mate. “A shame you didn’t get to fully experience it. How was your day?”
-”Both exciting and tiring. I went back to Efrafa...”
-”Why would you want to do that? I thought you hated that place.”
-”It was simply to dig out the old flayrah supply. Hazel and a few others went with me. This reminds me...do you remember Dewdrop?”
-”She died in a burrow collapse.” Moss sighed. “If only the burrow inspections could have been done faster, before accidental collapses like this resulted in the deaths of innocent rabbits.”
-”That’s the thing: it wasn’t an accident. I looked at her old burrow while I was in Efrafa, and it showed evidence of having been tampered with.”
-”Are you sure you were looking at the right burrow? The final collapse was triggered by another officer who stupidly weakened the structure attempting to prove how strong it was.”
-”I’m absolutely certain. She was murdered. And so was the buck in the burrow with her.”
Moss lied down. Dewdrop was a nobody, who would want to kill her? Unless the intended victim was the buck, Sainfoin, and Dewdrop was merely in the wrong place, at the wrong time. But if that was the case, that would only make things even more complicated: Sainfoin had already retired from the owsla by the time Moss had joined, he had no idea who his enemies could be. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Heather spoke again:
-”If the killer is still alive, and here at the warren, they may strike again.”
-”I can vouch for Rake and Leo. The others...maybe one of them really IS guilty. In their current physical state, they probably couldn’t do much damage, but once they recover...that’s another matter. We’ll have to warn Hazel-rah in the morning. Until then, how are the kittens?”
-”Still kicking.”
-”You’ll need to get some rest. Extended journeys in your state aren’t a good idea.”
-”You may be right. But after being trapped in Efrafa for so long, I would like to make the most of this new freedom.” Heather yawned. “But for now, I would settle for some sleep. Good night dear.”
-”Good night darling,” Moss replied, as he lied down next to his mate and nuzzled her.
Dandelion hopped to the burrow he shared with Hawkbit. His friend was already there, although he seemed rather sad.
-”What’s the matter, mate?” he asked.
Hawkbit did not reply, instead groaning softly.
-”I can’t help you if you stay silent.”
-”Bluebell,” Hawkbit said weakly.
-”What about him?”
-”As you know, we’ve been kissing today.”
-”But I thought you enjoyed getting kissed?”
-”That’s the problem. He wasn’t kissing me because he really wanted to. I’m just the second best.” But now that Blackberry accepts, I have nobody.”
-”Blackberry? I didn’t know she loved anyone, let alone Bluebell.”
-”No, no no! The other Blackberry, the buck! Now that he and Blackberry kiss, I’ve been left behind.”
-”Oh. That is awkward.”
Dandelion sat down in front of Hawkbit.
-”Perhaps I could kiss you instead?”
-”You?” Hawkbit stared at Dandelion. “Well, I suppose you could, if you want to.”
-”Let’s do it then.”
Dandelion leaned forward, but pulled back at the last moment.
-”Wouldn’t that make ME the substitute?”
-”...technically, yes,” Hawkbit was forced to admit. “But I don’t mind, if you don’t.”
This was enough to convince Dandelion to go ahead. The two rabbits pressed their mouths together and, as soon as it had begun, it was over, and they pulled apart.
-”Thank you,” Hawkbit said simply.
-”That’s not quite how I expected it would feel,” Dandelion said.
-”Did you like it?”
-”I don’t know, really. Kissing isn’t my type of thing.”
-”It’s fine. This already makes me feel much better.”