Previously on Watership Down

"Kehaaaar," screeched Kehaar, much to Bigwig's annoyance. He'd been in a deep sleep until the gull had made such a dreadful noise, and depriving Bigwig of his beauty sleep was never a good idea.

"What in Frith's name..." he started, as Campion stood up alongside him.

"Bigwig! Campion! Is all bad!" screeched Kehaar, the shrill noise making the still sleepy rabbits flinch.

"What is it? What's all the noise about?" groaned Bigwig.

"Hazel and Vervain. They've both gone!" shouted Hannah, clinging to Kehaar's neck.

"What do you mean gone?", replied Bigwig.

"What do you think I mean? I mean gone! As in not here! They've gone in the night!" she replied.

---

Early morning, near the Efrafan River

"Hazel?!" shouted Bigwig, patiently waiting for a reply. The 2 rabbits had searched the nearby area thoroughly, but Hazel and Vervain were nowhere to be seen.

"Perhaps Vervain has taken him prisoner. It would just be like that backclawing traitor to still be working for Woundwort," growled Campion angrily.

"Come on now, Campion. Hazel might not be the fighting type, but he could easily defend himself against Vervain. By Frith, even the kittens could defend themselves against him," replied Bigwig.

Campion sighed before continuing to talk, "I know Bigwig. I suppose I'm just looking for an easy answer."

"There aren't any tracks either. Wherever he's gone, he doesn't want us to know," replied Bigwig, sniffing at the ground.

"I know Hazel was impatient to save the others last night, but I would never have expected this," said Campion.

"It's so out of character. He's normally the most sensible of rabbits. I've never seen him act like this before," continued Hannah.

Bigwig raised his head from the ground and stared blankly for a few seconds, "Oh Frith and Inlé, I have," he started, before beginning to run, "Come on!"

"What, what is it?" asked Hannah.

"I think I may know where to find him, and we'd better get to him before he does something stupid again. I'll explain everything on the way," finished Bigwig

Soon, with Hazel

"Wh... what are we doing here again?" asked Vervain, looking round nervously as they stood near the edges of a different river to the one passing through Efrafa. Although it was morning, and light once more, travelling in the dark had not left him feeling particularly safe. Then again being out in the daytime had never left Vervain feeling safe either.

"Where did you say Woundwort came out of the river?" said Hazel, disregarding Vervain's question completely.

"There could be hawks and badgers and...and stoats... and..." continued Vervain.

"You'll be fine with me around," smiled Hazel, before continuing much more seriously, "Now where was it?"

"It was somewhere near here. There's the water. He never showed me the exact spot, but does it really matt..."

"Tell me where is was, now!" shouted Hazel angrily.

"There, there!" squeaked Vervain, pointing at a spot on the bank. He didn't know for certain that was where it was, but he decided it wiser to give Hazel an answer of some sort.

"Hazel?" shouted Bigwig, appearing from the bushes nearby with Campion next to him, and Kehaar and Hannah following a little behind.

"Get away from me Bigwig! I'm going to find her!" shouted Hazel.

"You're mad! You don't even know she's here!"

"Who? Know who's here?" whimpered Vervain, however no-one listened to him.

"If Woundwort survived the fall from the waterfall, Primrose must have too. I have to find her now!" shouted Hazel. Before waiting for a reply, he turned and jumped into the water, splashing Vervain in the process causing the cowardly black rabbit to squeal and jump in the air.

"Campion, help me get him," shouted Bigwig, before running towards the water. The two of them jumped in together, and quickly surrounded Hazel, who was frantically sniffing along the riverbank, splashing about in the water.

"There has to be some sign here somewhere," shouted Hazel, before Campion and Bigwig grabbed him.

"Let me go!" he growled angrily, thrashing about with his back legs in the water.

"You three make much more noise, the elil going to come," muttered Kehaar, looking around suspiciously.

"El... elil. M... maybe we should hide somewhere safe. N... no point us all getting hurt if we... er... want to save the outsiders," stuttered Vervain, at which Hannah rolled her eyes.

"Every moment is precious!" Hazel continued to protest, thrashing about in the water. At that Bigwig cuffed Hazel across the back of the head

"Stop this now!" he growled.

Hazel blinked in surprise for a second before replying.

"You know there's a good chance she's here, and yet you're still trying to stop me from finding her,"

"From what Vervain says...," started Bigwig.

"Too much if you ask me," muttered Campion under his breath.

"...it's been moons since Woundwort came out the river here. There's no reason she'd still be here," continued Bigwig.

Hazel sighed but didn't reply

"I'm sorry, but you have to face facts Hazel. If she'd survived the fall, she'd have come back to Watership Down long ago," sighed Bigwig. He didn't like to be so brutally honest with Hazel, but sometimes there was no other option.

"B... but Woundwort survived... so why wouldn't she. It isn't fair," stuttered Hazel, trailing off towards the end into a sob.

"Woundwort's a much bigger rabbit than her Hazel," said Campion.

"and we both know evil Hazel. Nothing about it is ever fair," continued Bigwig.

"You're all wrong. She's been alive all these moons, and we've done nothing to find her. I let her down!" sighed Hazel.

"You didn't let her down then, but you're letting her down now. You should be keeping her alive in your heart, not clinging to her in your mind. We need you in a fit state to help save her kittens; your kittens! To do otherwise would be to let her down", finished Bigwig.

Hazel paused and looked down at his reflection in the water, before a determined look came to his face.

"You're right, Bigwig. I'm just being silly. There isn't time now to worry about something which mightn't be," he spoke, as Bigwig nodded to Campion indicating to let him go. Hazel scrambled out onto the bank, before shaking his fur, "Come on, let's get moving. I'm fine now, and I've cost us enough time. Let's go back to where we stayed last night, and continue searching the area. We can always ask if any of the animals have seen anything"

"I don't think he's fine at all, you know," said Bigwig quietly to Campion, as the two of them crawled out of the water to see Hazel already moving off first. Hazel's sudden eagerness was making both of them suspicious. Bigwig sighed before continuing to talk, "We'd better keep a closer eye on him from now on."

*************

Noon, some distance away

The sky was blue and clear, in which Frith sat high in the sky beating down upon the group of Woundwort's rabbits. Several of them had tried to stop and rest, however the General was having none of it, and forced them to continue.

"I'm not sure they're going to go much further, General," said Cowslip quietly to Woundwort.

"They'll go as far as I tell them to," replied Woundwort.

"But do you even know how far you are going, dear Woundwort?" continued Cowslip.

Woundwort looked about, "We're close. I can feel the land waiting to be found somewhere nearby. Waiting to be shaped for me!"

"There must be a way out. He's so distracted by this embleer place he's looking for, he can't keep an eye on everything," whispered Hawkbit.

"Hawkbit! Don't do anything stupid. He doesn't like you already, and next time he'll kill you," replied Dandelion.

"Yeah, nobody like's a hero if they're going to get killed!" added Honeysuckle, looking back over her shoulder.

"Well we can't just give up. We have to get away, and this is the best chance we're going to get," continued Hawkbit.

"We've always got chances, my boy. It's how Frith made things. You can't serve in the Owsla for hrair seasons without learning that," said Captain Broom, who seemed to be fairing up better than most of the others in the heat.

"What do you think, Fiver?" asked Dandelion.

Fiver, still terribly shaken by the loss of Hazel, was slow to reply, "I... don't know anymore... but something tells me now is not the time!"

Hawkbit grumbled to himself before replying, "Well let me know when it is the time, will you?"

"You lot, get back in line!" shouted Woundwort. He knew they were plotting something, but wasn't worrying too much about it anymore. They were more than outnumbered, and lacked the strength of a leader.

*************

Late afternoon, in a field of long grass

Hazel led, followed by Bigwig and Campion alongside each other, with Vervain, Kehaar and Hannah bringing up the rear. Vervain kept glancing nervously at Kehaar, who responded with nasty glowering. Suddenly Bigwig stopped and sniffed the air for a second, before continuing to walk.

"What? What is it?" whispered Campion, continuing to walk with him, knowing from Efrafan training to act as normal in this sort of situation

"I think we're being followed," muttered Bigwig, deliberately avoiding looking at Campion.

"Followed!? Followed by who! W...who'd want to follow us!" squeaked Vervain, jumping about frantically.

"Ugh! You idiot! You'll have scared them off now," snapped Bigwig angrily.

"Do you think it could be the efrafans? We couldn't have overtaken them surely," said Hazel.

"I don't think so," replied Bigwig, sniffing the air, "I didn't get much of a scent, it's mainly a feeling."

"You're turning into Fiver these days," giggled Hannah.

"Still, lets all keep our senses about us. Just in case there is danger nearby," replied Hazel, continuing to move forward cautiously.

Soon, with Woundwort and Cowslip

"I think he's finally starting to crack. That's the third time he's stopped since leaving the cover over there," whispered Hawkbit, as Woundwort pulled to a stop and breathed deeply. Every time he stopped, all the rabbits behind him followed suit.

"This is it. This is the place," said Woundwort, looking across at a gentle slope, surrounded on all sides by bushes. At the bottom of the slope, a tree grew, which forked in two about halfway up the trunk.

"What makes you so sure, like the moon about the stars at night," asked Cowslip, following his gaze.

"I don't know. There's something about it though. It almost feels like I've been here before, in a different time," replied Woundwort.

"We've all been someplace in a different time General. Different times are all about different places," said Cowslip.

"The way those two are talking is making me sick," muttered Hawkbit.

"Silence!" shouted Woundwort, silencing Hawkbit, as well as several other rabbits who were talking, "This is where we will found my new warren. A strong warren, safe from all elil. A warren that can never be destroyed. This is where we will found New Hyfran Warren"

"New Hyfran. Oh, how sweet," smiled Cowslip.

"Hyfran? Sounds like something I'd say to my marli when she first walks in," muttered Hawkbit.

"I didn't think your marli was called Fran, Hawkbit," replied Pipkin innocently.

Hawkbit blinked at the young buck for a few seconds, "Never mind Pipkin!"

Meanwhile...

Although they didn't realise it, the Watership group were gradually moving further from the trail of Woundwort. By now they were in a small clearing with bushes on 3 sides. They were sniffing about looking for any trace of their friends, but the additional worry that they were being watched wouldn't go away. It was Bigwig who finally found the source, straying from the others to sniff at a certain area in the bushes, as his instincts were telling him to.

"That scent Hazel. I recognise it. It's Chickweed," started Bigwig. No sooner had he said so, than he heard a laugh, and stepped back as, with a rustle, the familiar scruffy hare crawled out of the bush.

"So you've finally noticed us," he started as the rest of his hares emerged from the bushes all around. There were six in total, although to the rabbits it could just as easily have been a thousand, "You're not quite the alert bunch of rabbits you once made yourselves out to be!"

"What are you after this time?" sighed Bigwig.

"I take it you know them?" whispered Campion to Hazel.

"Unfortunately, yes," replied Hazel, before speaking loudly to Chickweed, "Please Chickweed. What can we do for you?"

"Don't try the friendly approach with me. That was a very nice deal we had with that warren, until you and your rabbits interfered. It's just a shame you sentenced that warren to it's death," replied Chickweed.

"Wh... What do you mean?" stuttered Hazel.

"Oh, didn't you know. Shortly after we ran off, man came and dug out the warren. Eyebright was so preoccupied with planning strategies with her new Owsla at the time, they didn't even notice until his hrududu's were right on top of them. Not one of them got out alive. A fitting end for them," smiled Chickweed. Hazel tried to hide the sickness inside him, but it could still be seen on his face, a fact which pleased the top hare no end. Hazel hadn't forgotten Eyebright's resemblance to Primrose, which made things hrair times worse for him.

"What did you come after us for then? You got your own back," replied Bigwig angrily.

"Her warren paid, but you haven't yet," growled Chickweed.

"Mess with us and you'll pay. You know what all of us can do to you."

"All of you?", smiled Chickweed, "Oh yes, we saw your friends some time back. We thought we'd find you following them. It hasn't taken much watching to know you're in no fit state to fight"

"We can still fight the likes of you. Get back or we'll kill you," growled Bigwig.

Chickweed laughed mockingly, "Ha! Four rabbits, one of whom is so cowardly he couldn't even fight kittens, a mouse, and a bird with a funny wing. We're really scared of that!"

"Is that true Campion? I didn't think you were cowardly. I thought you could fight anyone," said Vervain.

Campion sighed before cuffing Vervain hard around the ears, "Idiot!"

"They're fighting amongst themselves now Chickweed. It's not a good sign for them," laughed one of the other hares.

"You know these guys better than me, Hazel. How big a threat are they?" Campion quietly asked Hazel.

"They weren't very strong the last time we saw them, but they're right in one regard; this time we're outnumbered," replied Hazel.

Chickweed smiled again, before nodding his head. At that, the other hares all charged forward, with the notable exception of Chickweed himself.

Bigwig growled, knocking the hare nearest him to one side, before leaping on an unsuspecting Chickweed. "Oh, what's wrong Chickweed? Now wanting to fight?" Chickweed squealed as Bigwig held his claws tightly to the large hare's throat, causing the others to freeze, "Okay, any of you move again, and I rip his throat out!"

"Now why didn't I think of that?" muttered Campion.

One of the bucks twitched to spring forward, but froze again seeing Bigwig tightening his grip further. Everyone, including the Watership group, stood silently waiting to see what Bigwig would do next.

"Well, what are you waiting for Hazel? Get everyone out of here, and you hares had better not move," replied Bigwig

"What about you?" asked Hazel.

"You know me Hazel. I'll catch up."

Hazel nodded before moving.

"Sir, what do we do?" asked one of the other hares.

"Ack... Let them run, like the cowards they are. Just don't think this is over yet. You can't run forever, and one of these days we will make you pay for what you did!" choked Chickweed, as everyone but Bigwig ran off into the distance.

Soon, many bushes, trees and ditches away...

After running blindly for some time, not sure if they were being followed, Hazel slowed first and looked back over his shoulder. Kehaar was the furthest behind, not being particularly good at running on land, especially with an injured wing, however there was no sign of any hares.

"You can stop running now, Vervain!" he shouted to the black rabbit, who was continuing at high speed in front. It was no surprise to Hazel to see he was incredibly good at running from danger.

"Did we lose them?" asked Campion, slowing down alongside the brown rabbit and gasping for breath.

"Yes," panted Hazel, "At least for now!"

"But what about Bigwig? Do you think he got away?"

"I'm sure he will have. Bigwig's too stubborn not to be okay," replied Hazel, wishing that Bigwig would spring out from nowhere at that moment.

"How's the wing Kehaar?" asked Campion, looking to the pained gull, as he caught up.

"Is hurt pretty badly now, ya. Still not much good for running. Styupid Wing. If I could fly, we be all okay by now, and Bigwig not be in danger," replied Kehaar, wincing.

"I'm sure your wing will be as good as new in no time," replied Hazel.

At that moment, Bigwig burst from the cover of the bushes, panting heavily and bleeding from above his left eye, but otherwise unharmed.

"Bigwig! You're alright!" shouted Hazel.

"Yes!" gasped Bigwig, "It'll take more than that bunch of hares to stop me," Bigwig looked over his shoulder. "I gave them the slip, but let's not stick around long enough for them to find us again."

Hazel sighed, "I wonder if what he said about Eyebright's warren is true."

"Even if it is, it wasn't your fault. We did everything we could for that warren, and remember how they repaid us," replied Bigwig. He suspected Hazel's anguish was actually caused by Eyebright's resemblance to Primrose rather than by any major grieving for the warren, but he dared not say anything.

"This isn't any good Hazel," sighed Campion, "If we couldn't even fight a small group of hares off, what chance do we stand of fighting Woundwort's whole army?"

Hazel sighed, "I know. We have a lot of work to do before we find him, and we're going to have to get a lot of help from others."

"Perhaps Frith sent this to shake us up," suggested Bigwig.

"Perhaps he did," started Hazel, pausing briefly to look up at the sky, "Whatever happens, we're going to win this war. We'll free our friends and family whatever it takes. Watership Down will live again," shouted Hazel, showing a glimmer of hope in his eyes that Bigwig hadn't seen since before Primrose's death. He just hoped the glimmer would stay there, as something in his mind kept telling him they hadn't heard the last of her yet.