---

Early morning, just inside New Hyfran warren

"You two, start the digging in the corner!" shouted Woundwort to two exhausted looking rabbits. Dandelion stopped his brief stare out of the small and unimpressive entrance to New Hyfran, and rejoined the small group of Watership rabbits. Woundwort and his more loyal inner circle of former Efrafan guards had kept the more argumentative rabbits awake all night to work. As a result, the warren was still fairly rough, but had at least taken on a basic shape. Most of the work now was concentrated in Woundwort's new great chamber; a room which, as Hawkbit put it, 'is practically the same as Efrafa's, so why didn't we just stay there'.

"It sounds like it's coming down hard out there," sighed Dandelion.

Hawkbit scuffled about, and made a few random kicks with the dirt, before speaking. "I hate digging for that stupid excuse for a rabbit," he muttered.

"You hate all digging," replied Fiver.

"Well, at least we're in the dry. Some of the others have been made to go outside in the rain," pointed out Dandelion, as a gust of wind blew throughout the room.

"Everybody keep working. You wouldn't want to make me angry now, would you?" shouted Woundwort, flexing his claws.

Upon hearing a faint cry, he snapped his head across to see Blackberry comforting Pinecone.

"That includes you!" he growled.

"She's hurt her foot on the stones in here again. It's very bad soil Woundwort. The youngsters need someone to look out for them." she replied, not looking at him.

"You will address me properly! You aren't talking to Campion now. Although if you want me to send you to the Black Rabbit so you can join him, I'd be happy to," smiled Woundwort. Normally he would have just attacked, but decided it was more fun just to mention her former mate who, despite knowing of his escape, the General presumed to have stopped running by now. Even if he weren't dead, for all the good one rabbit could do to stop him, he may just as well have been. Blackberry was about to reply, however anticipating she would say something that would get her killed, one of the Redstone does interrupted.

"Blackberry's right sir. Besides, if a few of us take care of them, they won't be in the way of the digging," she spoke.

Woundwort sighed and shook his head, "I want my warren finished. You know as well as I do that you does can dig better. Now you expect me to let you run off so you can look after those fools instead?"

"I'll do it then," chipped in Hawkbit, seeing a chance to escape digging. Everybody, Woundwort included, just glared threateningly at him in response. "er.. no!? Fine, fine!" he mumbled, before continuing to dig, although it was disputable whether Hawkbit's method of moving his legs could ever really pass as digging.

"The little ones need their mother, or they'll die!" finished Blackberry.

"And what about poor Hickory's family. They're distraught enough already to have lost both their marli and parli. They still expect them to come back," continued the Redstone doe.

"Be grateful I've let them all live already!" started Woundwort before staring blankly into the distance, "Kittens don't need their parents. They should fend for themselves. It builds the soul, and strengthens the heart, and this warren needs strong rabbits..." Woundwort's voice trailed off towards the end, as he seemed to be focussing his mind elsewhere.

"Enough, enough! Send them outside, then get back to work digging under the rock. I want my platform finished by the time Frith is high in the sky," he finished, snapping back into focus before turning and walking off. The rabbits grumbled as they unenthusiastically went back to digging.

"You have to wonder what his point is. If he really wants to sit somewhere high, why doesn't he just go out and climb a tree?"

Woundwort heard giggling as he left, but couldn't be bothered to investigate now. He needed a rest. Keeping this bunch of rabbits under control had proved far more tiring than expected. He sighed inwardly as this rest plan was cut short by him bumping into Cowslip.

"Sweet General Woundwort. Oh, how delightful this place is looking"

"It's how I like it. How are the guardposts outside?" said Woundwort.

"They're as delightful as the moonlight," replied Cowslip.

"A shame I can't put them down here to dig. They'd have argued much less than this lot," grumbled Woundwort.

"How much more is there to be done before the dawn of the new begi..."

Woundwort interrupted, stopping Cowslip from wandering into nonsense, "They aren't the fastest bunch of diggers, but I think it should be finished by next Frithrise. Then I can begin getting some discipline into this place."

"We General, We!" said Cowslip, smiling.

"If you'll excuse me!" finished Woundwort, hopping away from him.

"Oh and Cowslip..." he said, turning back briefly, "Keep them watched."

Cowslip smiled. Watching others stealthily was something he was good at.

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

In a small wooded area, downstream on the main Efrafan river

Hazel looked up into the trees. Half the morning had passed and by now the rain had stopped, however the lush green leaves remained coated with droplets of water. He shook his head as one dropped on his nose, before speaking.

"Hello?" he shouted up into a tree where two thrushes were sat. They glanced at him briefly, but didn't reply.

"er... sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if you could help us find our friends..." he started. Without listening to another word, the two birds flew off.

"It doesn't seem as though anyone wants to help around here," said Campion.

"That's the hrairth animal that has ignored us since Frith appeared in the sky," continued Bigwig.

"Pipkin's much better at this than me," sighed Hazel.

"Here, give me a go!" shouted Bigwig, before running over to a hedgehog.

"Oi, yona. I want a word. You see any rabbits come through here?" he asked the hedgehog. He didn't know her name, so stuck to calling her by species. Instead of replying, she simply curled up.

"Hey, I'm talking to you," he shouted, at which the hedgehog rolled quite purposefully into his front paw. Bigwig squeaked and jumped backwards.

"Okay, that didn't work!" he muttered, rubbing his paw as he rejoined the others.

"I thought you rabbits could talk to other animals," said Vervain.

"Do you want to feel that yona with your nose?" snarled Bigwig.

"There's no need to start fighting amongst ourselves," interrupted Hazel.

"Looking for someone?" squeaked a voice from above suddenly. Everyone looked up towards one of the trees.

"Are you?" came another.

"Yes, you are!" came the first again!

"er... yes. We're looking for anyone who's seen where a big group of rabbits came out of the riv..." started Hazel.

"See I told you they'd be looking for those rabbits," said the first voice.

"You did, yes!" replied the second.

"I did. There was a big black rabbit shouting at them,"

"He was ugly," interrupted the first voice.

"He was!" agreed the second.

"Yes, that's them. We're looking for our friends, but they've all been taken. Can you help us?" said Hazel. Several of the leaves began to rustle as the characters moved around, before two young grey squirrels finally scrambled down the trunk to ground level.

"They're squirrels! They aren't birds," squeaked Vervain, as though it were the most amazing sight he had ever seen.

"Squirrels? er... hi. Do you know Tassle?" asked Hazel.

"Can't say we do, do we Rutzy?" squeaked one of the squirrels.

"No we don't!" replied the other, as they both shook their heads.

"Tassle says the red squirrels don't get on too well with the grey ones," Hannah whispered to Hazel.

"I'm Hazel," he started, before quickly introducing the others, as the two squirrels scurried about madly.

"Why do I get the feeling these two are going to be a pain in my tail?" mumbled Bigwig to himself.

"I'm Rutzy," started the first squirrel, as Hazel finished.

"She's Rutzy, and I'm Quizzle," interrupted the other one.

"She's Quizzle. We're sisters!"

"Both of us are sisters," finished Quizzle.

"Very pleased to meet you," said Hazel, smiling warmly and pausing before continuing, "Now, you said you saw a load of rabbits led by a big black one?"

Both of the squirrels nodded frantically.

"We did, yes. That's what we said," started one of the squirrels.

"Yes, we did say and do that," added the other.

"er... no offence chums, but just how would you two have seen where they went? You can't fly," interrupted Bigwig.

"We followed them a little way, didn't we Quizzle?"

"We did, we did follow them Rutzy," replied the other squirrel. The two of them nodded at one another.

"And why would you be following a group of rabbits? I don't believe it," said Bigwig.

"Look, if you don't want our help, we won't help you," snorted Quizzle. 

"No we won't. We won't help," added Rutzy.

"No, we'd be grateful for any information you can give. Just ignore Bigwig. er... He's been up all night, so he's in a grumpy mood," interrupted Hazel, glaring back at Bigwig.

"Oh we see," started Rutzy.

"Yes we do," continued Quizzle.

Both of them started nodding frantically again, and scurrying round the front legs of an unamused Bigwig, whilst continuing to talk.

"We thought it seemed odd. All those rabbits in the water,"

"Odd, yes! So we followed them for a while."

"Do you know where they came out of the river?" asked Hazel.

"Yes. We'll show you if you like, but on one condition," started Rutzy

"One condition!" chimed Quizzle.

"The old Grey one has to apologise for being so mean to us,"

"Old? Just wh..." started Bigwig, before noticing the stare Hazel was giving him. He sighed, hoping Hazel would back down, but soon realised he wasn't going to. "Yes, yes, I'm sorry," he grumbled, lowering his head and shoulders submissively. He didn't like giving in, but knew it was for a good cause.

"And you can carry us too," said Quizzle scrambling onto Bigwig's lowered shoulder.

"Yes, carry us!" continued Rutzy scurrying onto the other and sitting down.

"Don't push your lu..." started Bigwig, before looking at Hazel who was pleading silently with his eyes.

"I'll get you for this later Hazel," he mumbled, before turning to Vervain who was trying desperately not to laugh. "One squeak out of you Vervain, and I'll happily tear off your ears. Understand?"

Bigwig looked to his left and right shoulders before speaking, "Ugh, Are we going then?"

The two nodded, and quickly swapped shoulders, much to the irritation of Bigwig, as he began to lead the group.

"Now you know why it's a good idea he never has any kittens," said Hannah to Kehaar, giggling slightly, just out of Bigwig's earshot.

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

Underground, late morning.

"Psst!" whispered Hawkbit to Honeysuckle, who was taking out her anger on the ground nearby.

"What!" she replied quietly, turning round and accidentally sending a clump of fresh soil sailing towards him.

"Get the word out to as many rabbits as you can. Now that Woundwort is too busy building his warren, and this place has opened out a bit, we can begin planning what we're going to do," whispered Hawkbit, as him and Dandelion tried desperately not to be seen plotting with her. Little did they know, another ear was still listening from the shadows.

"What about the guards?" replied Honeysuckle.

"There!" started Hawkbit pointing at a shadowy corner, shielded from view by a large rock, "It's shielded from view, so as long as we don't all move there at once, we should be able to get a few moments alone,"

Honeysuckle nodded, and was about to speak when Hawkbit interrupted, "Shh... someone's coming!"

"Cowslip!? Where are you?" came the voice of one of Cowslip's band of rabbits, as two of them came into view.

"Ah, dear friends appear from near, and to what do we owe such a wonderful visit?" answered Cowslip, seemingly appearing from nowhere on Woundwort's platform.

"We want a word with you!" spoke the other.

"Carry on dear comrades," replied Cowslip.

"When you promised to bring us to the Garden of Frith, you never said we'd have to build it ourselves,"

"Sweet rabbits, you aren't building the Garden. Frith is still to allow us into it yet," replied Cowslip.

"Then what are we doing here?"

Cowslip smiled, "It's a test. In order to find the great garden, you must first prove yourselves worthy devoted subjects. Frith is close to being convinced, however you must keep going a little longer,"

"Then how come you aren't helping?"

"I was sent by Frith to watch and lead you. If I was helping I couldn't be watching,"

"What's he going on about? Garden of Frith?" whispered Dandelion.

"I don't know. Maybe it's how he got those strangers to follow his orders. They didn't come from The Warren of The Shining Wires, that's for certain," replied Hawkbit.

"Surely they aren't going to believe him though..."

Dandelion appeared to be correct, as the two rabbits of Cowslip still looked on unconvinced. Undeterred, he continued.

"Well, feel free to leave and go back friends. Just think of what you'll be missing out on though. The endless fields of cabbages. The Orchards of Life. The Great Story gatherings..."

Cowslip paused to sigh, "I'd best go and tell Great Frith he needs to find some new rabbits," he turned to leave.

"Now wait. We didn't say we weren't still interested," came the interruption he'd been expecting. Cowslip was still going to play this out a little longer, but he knew he already had them believing him once more.

"We've got to tell them the truth about him!" said Dandelion, as Cowslip continued talking with the two rabbits.

"Not now!" replied Hawkbit.

"Why not? If we can get them on our side, we stand a better chance," said Dandelion.

"He has them believing every word he says. If we say anything whilst he's still there, he'd talk them round in no time. No, we wait until we can get them on their own," finished Hawkbit.

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

In the shadows, at the back of the Grand Chamber

"It doesn't look like anyone else is going to turn up, Hawkbit!" said Dandelion, as the grey rabbit kept looking around nervously. Only 5 rabbits had made there way to the small gathering, namely Hawkbit, Dandelion, Blackavar, Honeysuckle and Fiver.

"I thought I told you to get the word out to everyone," sighed Hawkbit, looking at Honeysuckle.

"Listen, I did my best, which is more than you did. Now, if you want to complain, I'll happily rip your ears off," she growled back.

Hawkbit squeaked, "er... no, no. This is fine. Any more and we'd only have been noticed anyway,"

"Now, can we get started?" interrupted Dandelion, at which everyone nodded.

"We all know that Woundwort wants to make this place tighter than Efrafa, and some of you know first-paw how tight that was," started Hawkbit, acknowledging Blackavar and Honeysuckle.

"If he does that, we'll be stuck in this place forever, as there's no-one on the outside to rescue us. That's why it's up to us to make a break for freedom before he reaches that stage. He has so many rabbits to watch, and so few guards, that I think we can do it,"

"Are you mad?! There are still guards everywhere. We'll never get away!" said Blackavar.

"Woundwort hasn't got the strict routine he likes completely figured out yet. There are guards covering the warren entrance, but with so many of us coming and going lately they don't pay much attention to us. Past that, there are guards at the bushes in 4 directions, but only 1 of them for each. We've been watching. They don't change very often, and spend most of their time looking out of the warren rather than in," replied Dandelion.

"That doesn't sound much like how Woundwort would run things, even if it is a new warren," replied Blackavar.

"I don't think it's meant to be like that. There are supposed to be more on duty, but some of them...well... aren't!" replied Dandelion.

"Which is why we must move before he realises and brings them into line. If we go for the shortest distance to cover, in the direction of the setting sun, we'll only have 1 guard to overpower on the perimeter bushes. We should be able to bolt that short a distance in the gaps when they aren't looking," continued Hawkbit, moving rocks on the ground to indicate the plan.

"Do you really think we can get away from them?" asked Honeysuckle.

"If we make it to the woods, we stand a good chance we can get away," replied Hawkbit.

"Fiver? What d'ya think our chances are?" asked Blackavar, turning to Fiver, who up until that point had remained silent.

Fiver paused before replying, "Good. I can't see anything clearly, but something tells me Woundwort's army won't stop us."

"Good enough for me. That's settled then. We'll make a break for it when Frith is high in the sky. Me and Dandelion will get away first and overpower the guard. You three make your way out as soon as you can. We'll meet up just inside the woods," said Hawkbit, kicking the stones away.

"What about everyone else?" asked Fiver

"We can't move many more, or Woundwort is bound to notice. Once we get away, we'll figure out some way to find help and come back for the others," finished Hawkbit, "Now, everyone get back to where you were... although I doubt anyone noticed!"

Everyone nodded, and quickly dispersed. Only one rabbit remained seated just out of sight.

"Nobody noticed, dear friends. Nobody at all," smiled Cowslip, before moving off slowly.

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

Early Afternoon, at the back of New Hyfran warren

Woundwort groaned as he tossed and turned in his sleep. After having finally found the time for a moment's rest, something about his dreams made him horribly uncomfortable.

"Get out and never come back!" growled an old looking buck.

"That's right! Get out!" agreed Bigwig appearing beside the rabbit.

"Wh..what are you doing here? You're dead!?" replied Woundwort.

"He works for me now. They all work for me," spoke the older rabbit. No matter how desperately Woundwort tried, he couldn't make out the other rabbit's face. All he could tell was that he was old, and somehow familiar to him.

"Who are you?!" shouted Woundwort angrily.

"You know who I am, you just don't know it yet!" replied the rabbit, leaping at his throat.

"Noooo!"

At that moment, much to his annoyance, Woundwort's eyes shot open and he found himself staring Cowslip standing over him.

"Ooh, General, what strange thoughts pervade your inner world," smiled Cowslip.

"I don't know what it is..." he started, before shaking his head, "Gah, but it's not important. How is the warren going?"

"An excellent question, and one which cannot be answered by mere answers alone," replied Cowslip.

"Have they nearly finished the new Grand Chamber yet?" asked Woundwort.

"Some of them have finished, but others have yet to begin,"

"What are you talking about Cowslip?" growled Woundwort, clearly starting to get annoyed with the lack of a straight answer from the old silver rabbit.

"What will we all talk about when there aren't as many to do the talking? When they move on, and become a distant memory?" said Cowslip.

"Captain Mudwort!" shouted Woundwort to one of the Efrafans, "Have the Owsla do a full check of the warren. Notify me of anything out of the ordinary!" he continued, before jumping at Cowslip and pinning him to the ground. "You'd better start giving me some answers, Cowslip!" he growled. Cowslip smiled.

"Answers to what, General?"

"What is going on in the warren?"

"We're all looking for answers, General. It's just where to look that..." started Cowslip. Woundwort raised his paw to strike the rabbit, but was interrupted by the return of Mudwort.

"Sir, a small batch of the digging squad is unaccounted for," he said.

"What?! How many of them?" replied Woundwort stepping off Cowslip.

"The others are still doing a more detailed check sir, but that grey rabbit you hate isn't anywhere to be seen at least!"

"One of the guards are in a bad way sir, off in the direction of the setting sun," panted another officer, running in.

"They'll be in an even worse way once I'm through with them," muttered Woundwort. "Gather a group of officers, track them. They can't have gone far," he said loudly heading out the warren, turning back briefly to say to the still smiling Cowslip, "And if I find out you knew about this Cowslip..."

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

Woodland, not far from the warren

All the rabbits ran as fast as they could, Hawkbit leading, however movement was still slower than they'd hoped. The undergrowth was much thicker than any of them had anticipated. As they came up to the edge of the wooded area, and into the clear again, Fiver suddenly stopped.

"Wait!" he whispered.

"Not now Fiver. We don't have the time to wait," interrupted Dandelion, pushing him forward.

"I hear someone coming!"

"Yes, that'll be Woundwort and his other guards. Come on!" grumbled Hawkbit, continuing forward. He couldn't hear anything.

"No it's..." started Fiver, as Hawkbit pushed forwards through the trees, into a clearing.

"Man!" squealed Hawkbit. There were 3 of them, two appeared to be hunters, one with a gun. The other, much younger, seemed to be following everything they did with great interest. They jumped back into cover, as the older one beat at a nearby bush with a large stick.

"There Chester!" shouted one of them as he disappeared, "I told you we'd find rabbits somewhere round here!"

"Come on! Pull back!" shouted Honeysuckle.

"Stop right where you are!" shouted Woundwort from behind them, surrounded by several of his officers.

"We're trapped!" shouted Hawkbit.

"I'd much rather take my chances at the warren than with man," replied Honeysuckle, already turning back towards Woundwort. She made no secret of the fact she was unhappy at giving up, but she was right at their lack of choice.

"We'll find another way!" whispered Fiver to Hawkbit, before being grabbed by one of the guards.

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

By The Riverbank, much further downstream from Efrafa

"This is where all those rabbits came out of the water," started Quizzle, as Bigwig passed a large and old tree. Everyone stopped.

"It is, because we were near that tree, weren't we near that tree Quizzle," continued Rutzy.

"We were Rutzy," said Quizzle, as they both nodded. Bigwig hopped from foot to foot, trying to hide his annoyance at the two squirrels on his shoulders, who never seemed to sit still for more than 4 seconds at a time.

"Yes we were! We were going to follow them further, but Quizzle thought we shouldn't."

"I did think that!"

"She did!"

"I'm sorry!", finished Quizzle.

"We should be able to pick up their scent from here though," said Campion, sniffing the ground.

"It's here, but faint. The rain hasn't helped much. It'll take us time, but at least we have something to work from now," added Hazel, sniffing about, before lifting his head up again.

"We can help you look for your friends if you want," started Rutzy.

"Can we?" replied Quizzle.

"I think we can!"

Both of them nodded once before bouncing on Bigwig's shoulders. Bigwig twitched as he tried to restrain his annoyance.

"Hazel, will you tell them?" he said.

Hazel paused for a moment, before smiling at them, "We'll be glad of all the help we can get."

"Then we'll do it," smiled Rutzy.

"We don't mind helping out rabbits!" chipped in Quizzle.

"Helping is what we do!"

"It is yes!"

"Fine, but you can carry them!" grumbled Bigwig, picking the two squirrels up in a huff and placing them on Hazel's back, before heading off first.

"He likes you really. That's just how he shows it," whispered Hazel, at which Kehaar and Hannah both smiled.

"Does that mean he really likes me too?" asked Vervain.

"Don't be stupid Vervain. Nobody likes you," replied Campion.

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

The Grand Chamber, New Hyfran

After making their way back to the warren, Woundwort had assembled everyone in the new grand chamber. After spending some time pacing backwards and forwards, he had surprisingly started talking to his officers first. All but one of the escapees, swallowed nervously, knowing they'd be next. Only Fiver seemed relaxed, almost as though he knew something.

"Step up all patrols on the main entrance, and around the perimeter bushes. Let me down again though, and you will suffer!" growled Woundwort to his captains, as he walked amongst them. The officer that had been attacked was nowhere to be seen, although nobody mentioned his name again. The General then continued to walk past the five recaptured rabbits. Hawkbit was the most nervous, as he already had the strangest feeling Woundwort didn't like him. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief as Woundwort drew his claw hard across Honeysuckle's shoulder, before turning away and climbing back onto the platform. He could hear Dandelion, Hawkbit and Blackavar struggle to hold her back, and smiled to himself. There was something about that doe's spirit he liked.

"Let this be a lesson to you all. A lesson that I am unstoppable,"

The Watership rabbits looked back sternly. They expected Woundwort was still going to kill them whether they were defiant, or begged for their lives, so it made little difference. They were ready to fight to the end too. Then, much to the amazement of all those present, Woundwort suddenly turned to face Cowslip angrily, who was smiling back at him from the back of his grand chamber.

"You! You knew of this escape, and you did nothing to stop it," he growled.

"Oh, but dear Woundwort, you seemed to be coping so marvellously. Far be it for me..."

"I've had enough of you!" growled Woundwort, "It's clear you're helping them."

Cowslip's smile grew bigger, "Sweet paranoia. Such a marvellous sight!"

"Guards, arrest him!" shouted Woundwort.

Cowslip laughed out loud as several rabbits moved towards him, only to find their path blocked by Cowslip's original band of rabbits.

"You don't really think they can stop my warriors do you?" asked Woundwort, as the guards leapt at them.

"You know, now would be a good time to get away. While they're distracted," said Dandelion quietly, as the two groups of rabbits kicked dust everywhere whilst fighting.

"Don't you lot try anything either. Just be thankful it's your leader Cowslip who is being punished and not you," growled Woundwort, not actually overhearing what they had said, but still acting generally suspicious of them.

He looked back at the entrance as the struggle fell silent and the dust began to settle.

"You see Cowslip, you cannot defe..." he started, but stopped suddenly. Although his officers now had Cowslip's rabbits pinned to the ground, Cowslip himself was nowhere to be seen.

"I'll kill him myself!" shouted Woundwort, barging past his rabbits and out into the open air.

One by one, all the other rabbits came out of the warren after him, to see Woundwort looking about in confusion. Cowslip was nowhere to be seen.

"There aren't any tracks," he started, sniffing about, "That's impossible. He can't just have disappeared."

Woundwort turned back to the emerging officers, "Track him down, and find him. Fail me again, and I swear by the Black Rabbit of Inlé I will make you suffer."

They'd barely taken a step, when a loud sound of something metal snapping shut was heard.

"What was that?" whispered Dandelion.

"This way!" shouted Woundwort. He quickly climbed the long slope from the warren, and pressed through a series of bushes and wooded area in in the direction from which the noise had come from. Eventually, he stopped and stared as the other's came up behind him cautiously cautiously.

"What? Aren't you coming to capture me?" smiled Cowslip, pressing his nose to the bars of a small cage. It barely seemed big enough for Cowslip to have entered in the first place.

"It's some sort of man-trap," said Mudwort.

"Everybody, stay back. Man!" shouted Woundwort.

"You're always welcome to join me. It's a new beginning," said Cowslip, with a large smile on his face, "Everything is so lovely."

"What's wrong with him? Doesn't he know man will kill him?" whispered Honeysuckle.

"He probably does. I mean, he lived at The Warren of The Shining Wires long enough, but I don't think he even cares any more. You almost have to feel sorry for the old sod," replied Hawkbit.

"Almost!" emphasised Dandelion!

"What are we going to do, sir?" asked Mudwort. Woundwort was about to reply, when he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps crunching through the long grass.

"Everybody, get back to the warren now!" he shouted angrily, before turning round. It was one of the few times you could see a look of genuine concern for the other rabbits of the warren on his face. Concern for others was a long forgotten sight, which had never been seen since his early days in Efrafa. Still, nobody saw it this time either as, for a change, not one of the rabbits had hesitated at that order. They'd already turned to head for cover.

Cowslip's voice echoed after Woundwort as he followed, "Remember General, the Black Rabbit dances in your dreams now, and will never be what you expect,"