The warrior and the human

[Femkeklomp]

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except the OCs!

Name: Femke Rekampmolk-Freakshow

Age: 24

Appearance: she always wears a green dress. She has dark brown hair with a black and grey headband in it. She has tan skin, green eyes, and always walks barefoot.

Likes: Campion, her family, the Watership Down rabbits and the rabbits from Redstone.

Dislikes: Woundwort and anyone else who wants to harm her friends, family and Campion.

Name: Daniel Freakshow

Age: 26

Appearance: long white hair that flows on his back, which he always wears in a ponytail. He has a golden earring in one ear. His clothing is mostly black with grey spots on the arms and legs. His skin is slightly tan. His eyes are light brown. He also walks barefoot most of the time.

Likes: his wife Femke, his daughter Christie, Campion, the Watership Down rabbits and the rabbits from Redstone.

Dislikes: Woundwort, getting up early, people that have to match sugar and anyone who wants to harm his family and their friend Campion.

Christie Rekampmolk-Freakshow

Age: 4
Appearance: slightly tan skin, with long flowing blonde hair (like her mothers had when she was younger) in a bun, and piercing hazel eyes. She wears a pink dress with butterflies, that reaches just above her toes. She walks barefoot just like her parents.

Likes: anything pink, her new friend Campion, her parents, her uncle and aunt and her teddy bear.

Dislikes: sprouts, sauerkraut, Woundwort, Vervain and the colour black (it gives her the shivers).

The rest of the characters are from the Watership Down TV series. They will act like in the series, except Campion. Somewhere in the story, he will get attached to his human friends, but more about that in the story itself.

If you want to help me by beta reading the story for me, I'm more then willing to get help. People who are interested can send me a private message. I hope to post the first chapter as soon as possible.

KEEP READING FOLKS!

[Femkeklomp]

Chapter 1: The Hawk Attack

Humans' POV

"Come on Christie! We don't want to get there late and have to face that snake the farmer warned us about!" a young woman with long brown hair called out to her daughter. The latter looked a lot like her mother, only with tan blonde hair that ruffled over her cute pink dress, as she happily waddled after her mother.

"Slow down, mommy, you're too fast for me!" the four-year-old called after her mother. She tried to waddle as fast as she could, but she couldn't keep up with her mother. The brunette sighted as she turned back and picked up her young daughter.

"And there I thought you were such a big…" she started, but stopped as she heard a hawk screech in the air. Both mother and daughter looked up and saw the hawk flying very close to the ground. It then flew upwards, carrying something brown in its claws.

"Mommy, mommy look, da big birdy got a rabby..." Christie squealed as she pointed to the hawk. The older woman could see that it indeed had a rabbit in its claws, and that it was still alive and struggling to escape. Soon afterwards, she saw the hawk let go of the rabbit, and both mother and daughter saw it fall in a tree, before it disappeared from sight.

"Come on Christie! Maybe the poor thing is still alive!" the woman said, as she looked at her daughter who was sitting on her arm. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, towards the place where the rabbit had fallen.

Watership Down rabbits' POV

"He's still alive," Hazel said, as he came close enough to the unconscious Campion to see that he was still breathing.

"Campion is in a class of his own," Bigwig said, as he looked at the brown wounded rabbit that was lying unconscious at his feet, gasping for air.

"He won't last long here out in the..." Hazel started, but stopped when he heard the sound of footsteps, human footsteps, closing in fast.

"Man! Scatter!" he called. He tried to pull Campion along himself, but it was no use, he was too heavy. Hazel went to hide with the others, praying to Frith the humans wouldn't see Campion lying there. But he was proven terribly wrong, as he saw two humans, both of them looking female, run straight to were Campion was lying.

"Oh...poor bunny..." the biggest of the two said, as it walked towards Campion and gently touched his side.

"Mommy, mommy, is it...dead?" the shorter one asked her mother with a high-pitched voice, looking at her with sad eyes. The mother smiled as she gently shook her head, making the fur around her face move up and down as she did so.

"Not yet, but he will be if that mean birdy comes back. It would be best if we took him to the vet for a checkup," she said.

With that, she picked him up, and Hazel saw her put something blue around Campion, and both humans left with him.

As soon as they were out of ears reach, Hazel called:

"They got Campion! We have to get after them!"

He jumped out of the bushes, but was stopped by Bigwig and Hawkbit who leaped in front of him.

"Why would we risk our lives for him, Hazel? He is the enemy. Let that human take him, and hopefully we will never see him again," the grey-furred rabbit huffed, as he looked at the two humans take away one of their sworn enemies.

"Hawkbit, he might be the enemy, but he also is a fellow rabbit who needs our help," Hazel said wisely as he tried to move past him. But both rabbits didn't let him pass, still not wanting their friend to help the enemy, knowing that would be far too risky.

"Hazel, those are HUMANS!" Bigwig said sternly. "They are not only the sworn enemies of rabbits, but also untrustworthy and cunning. We have to get back to Watership Down. Right. NOW!" The other rabbits all looked like they agreed with him.

"Very well then. You all go back, and I go after the human alone. Take care of Watership Down until I come back. IF I come back... " Hazel said, before he ran the other way as fast as he could to follow the humans' trail, leaving the others looking at him, shocked at what he had done. They ran after him, not intending to let him face danger alone.

"Be reasonable Hazel, you can't expect us to follow the trail of a HUMAN. Especially not to save someone who is bound to kill us afterwards," Bigwig said, as he looked at his best friend sternly.

Hazel looked back at him, raising one paw, ready to strike if needed, when suddenly, a drop fell on his nose. It was followed soon afterwards by more drops, soon turning in a heavy rainstorm.

"Great, that's all we needed now. Rain…" Hawkbit murmured as he looked up at the sky, where the rain came from. It was already raining harder and harder, and judging by the black clouds above them, it wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

"Hazel, it will be impossible to follow her trail now. Let's go home. Campion can fend for himself, hopefully," Fiver said. He worriedly looked back at where the humans had disappeared, knowing all too well the state Campion was in at the moment. But he had seen what Campion was capable of if he needed to defend himself, so he was sure the captain of owsla would be fine.

"You're probably right, Fiver. Lets go home before this storm grows worse," Hazel admitted.

With that, they all turned around and hopped off towards Watership Down, where they belonged. However, they did not know that what they had just witnessed was going to end in a friendship that absolutely no one had ever thought would be possible.

And with that, I end the first "real" chapter of my story. I really hope you all enjoyed it, I sure enjoyed writing it.

Dandelion: And I sure enjoyed reading it. It was very well written.

Hawkbit: A lot of spelling and grammar errors if you ask me.

Fiver: Impossible! Chipster-roo got most spelling and grammar errors out of the story.

Blackberry: Ooh, he did a great job if you ask me.

Hawkbit: Yeah sure...

Hazel: He sure did. Now all we need is some reviews.

Dandelion: She can get a nice review from me.

Bigwig: I say, well done you two.

Pipkin: Will there be a update soon?

Kehaar: Kehaar sure does hope so...

Hannah: Only one way to find that one out guys!

REVIEW!

[Femkeklomp]

Chapter 2: The Human Doctor

Campion's POV

When I woke up, everything around me was white. At first I thought I was in the lair of the Black Rabbit of Inlé. But suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my sides, and saw an odd picture of a smiling dog, holding up a sharp red stick.

"What the…Where…What happened?" I thought as I looked around. I saw that something blue was wrapped around my middle, and something or someone was holding me down. From the corner of my eye I saw a shabby cat sitting in a cage. It was looking around with wide pupils, surely scared.

"Hey, you, cat! Where am I? What is this place?" I asked, whispering, as I looked at the cat with wide eyes. I felt this might be a bad place.

"This is a doctor's practice. The doctor comes to look at you when you're ill or injured, and help you become better," the cat replied, as it looked at its owner through the holes in the top of the thing it was in.

"My owner says I needed a checkup because I have pain in my tummy all the time and keep throwing up hair balls. She says the doctor might know why that happens. I think it's just the way nature works," the cat purred, as it rubbed its back over the side of the small room it was in. At that moment, a man in a strange white cloak came out and called a name, before the human next to me stood up and took the shabby cat with her.

"We'll be next. I sure hope the poor bunny is still alive," a female voice from above me said. I felt a hand stroke my head, which caused me to put my ears flat backwards in my neck and shake a little. I had never been touched by a human before, and it gave me the shivers. Deep inside, I was wondering why these humans were helping me: the cat HAD said that the "doctor" was going to make me better.

"He is! He is! Looky, looky! His eyes have opened and he is trembling…I think the bunny is scawed…" a little voice replied, as I felt another soft hand pet the fur on my head. It was soon followed by the other hand, which most likely came from the other female above me.

"I think he might be afraid of the doctor, since this is his first time here," the other human replied as she stroked me carefully as well. I tried to look up at whoever was stroking me and was (obviously) calling me a coward. I'm not a coward, I was just shivering because I had the chills of these humans holding me, that's all. I'm not a scaredy-cat like Vervain. He would be COMPLETELY freaked out if he were in my place right now. Good old Vervain! What I would give to see him in this place right now! But of course he ran off as fast as he could when he saw that hawk coming, leaving me to do the dirty work.

"I hope everyone else is doing fine back at Efrafa. Vervain could choke in a patch of grass for all I care, that mean, nasty, filthy old…" I thought, growling a little. My thoughts were interrupted when the man in the cloak reappeared. The other human, a female with a bright smile on her face, exited the room with the shabby cat in the little room again. The cat waved at me as it passed by.

"Miss Rekampmolk…Your turn," the man said, and with that the human that carried me got up and put the blue thing around my body a little tighter so I would stay warm. She also used a small part of the thing to blind me, which caused me to start squirming, because now I couldn't see where we were going. Why wasn't I allowed to see, anyway? Where was she taking me?

"It's okay little one. Don't be afraid. We only want to help you. Just stay calm, I'm blinding you for your own good. Light can be rather blinding here," the female human said as I kept squirming. Even if this was for my own good, I didn't want her help, I didn't want her to get me to this "doctor" to be healed. I didn't want to be treated like someone's pet, I wanted to return to Efrafa, to my chief, to everyone I used to know…

"Rather struggly thing you got there. What seems to be his problem?" a new voice, probably an older male human, said. I felt slightly rougher hands take me over and gently place me on something hard and cold. That caused to me wince, since my warm body wasn't used to this cold, even with the blue thing still covering most of my body.

"He is a wild rabbit. We found him near the place we go to get some food. He was attacked by a hawk, so we wrapped him in a towel to keep him warm and immediately took him here," one of the two females said. I felt a soft hand rub my head, which was now covered in the blue thing, which the woman had called a "towel". This place had a strange smell hanging around it. It was most likely from another animal that had been in here. I wondered what happened to that one. Was it dead? Or was I going to meet it someday?

"Well, it has been lucky then I guess. The hawk would probably have gotten him if you two girls hadn't shown up," the elderly man replied, as a pair of hands removed the towel from my body, allowing me to look around. I saw that I was in a big room, completely white, and all kinds of strange tools were standing and hanging around everywhere in the room. I looked down and saw that I was at a high platform. The elderly human male in a strange white coat was standing on one side of the platform, with the two female humans standing on the other side. One of the females had long brown fur hanging around her face, with a weird grey and black thing in it, and piercing green eyes. The other female was small, with blond fur and a strange pink thing in her fur that looked similar to the one of her mother, and curious twinkling hazel coloured eyes.

"Curious little thing, it is. You like my place? Or too white for your liking?" the elderly male asked, smiling, as I had carefully managed to get on my feet and sniff around. The air was clear, no smell of danger. There was an odd scent of disease hanging in the room, but it was old.

"We almost forgot to ask: what's your name?" the oldest female asked, as she looked at me sternly. I looked back at her for a moment, stunned by the simple way she had asked me that. It sounded like it was the most normal thing in the world to ask a rabbit a question, and she could really understand me if I were to say my name. It is well-known by ALL rabbits that humans' can't understand animal languages.

"My name is Campion. Captain Campion," I said, as I looked at her sternly, before I started to look around again. Then, a female in white came in as well and sat down behind a weird screen. She started to smack the little things in front of it, making strange signs appear on the screen. I had no idea what the signs meant, nor why she was slamming that poor thing. What had it ever done to her to deserve this?

"Glad to meet you Campion. My name is Femke, and this here is my daughter Christie," the oldest female suddenly replied, and I jumped in shock at this. Not only had this strange human just replied, but she had also introduced herself, like we were equals; most humans consider themselves far superior to us. That was not what I found the most shocking, but the fact that she seemed to be able to understand what I said.

"Glad to meet you as well, I guess. What is this place? Why am I here? And how come you can understand me?" I asked, as I looked around at all the strange tools yet again. I then let my eyes rest on the two females, Femke and her daughter Christie. Two strange females if you ask; I didn't know how far I would be able to trust them yet.

"You're at a doctor's practice. You were badly injured by that hawk, so we took you here to get your wounds cleaned, and something around them to prevent infections. I can speak the language of almost any animal, since I grew up learning from them." The female called Femke smiled, as I felt something being carefully wrapped around my waist and also for a little bit around my paw and back legs. When it was done, I could barely move.

"That's all, a few weeks rest and he will be as good as new," the elderly male said with a smile, as he gently patted my head before placing a carrot in front of my nose.

"Here you go, for being such a good boy. Not many rabbits are so well-behaved during their first time at the doctor." The man smiled as he gave the two females a wink, which caused the little one to giggle happily.

"Bunny won't be so happy if he knew he's gonna gwet to the doctow again. Wight mommy?" giggled the smaller one, called Christie, as she looked up at her mother smiling brightly.

"Who knows, Christie? We'll see when it's needed, which is bound to happen before we set him out into the wild again," the Femke human said with a small smile, as she picked me up again, and started to head for the door.

"And how long is that going to take? I can't stay away from home for too long," I asked, as I looked at the Femke human sternly. She looked at me, shocked, before she gave a short cute laugh.

"Two or three weeks. Your wounds are quite severe, you should take it easy for a while. Try and relax for a bit," she said with a smile, before shaking hands with the human male doctor. She then headed towards a big thing made off glass, which rolled open automatically when we reached it.

"Bye bye eye!" the Christie human said, smiling, as she waved at the red flashy thing above the strange seeing through thing. It reminded me a little of my Chief's eye when he was angry.

"Well, at least I don't have to endure his beatings when we fail to find Hazel and his outsiders for a while," I thought, as I let the humans carry me to wherever their burrow was. The smallest human was talking about many things at once, like most younglings do.

"I wonder how the mother can live with all that noise around her all day. The mouth off that youngling doesn't seem to be able to stand still for a minute," I thought, as I closed my eyes and tried to relax a little. However, I instantly changed my mind about that: it would look like I was enjoying my time with them. I wasn't, and I couldn't have them think I was, not even a little. If they did, they might think I wanted to stay, and that wasn't the case at all. I wanted to return to Efrafa as soon as possible.

Femke's POV

"We'll be next. I sure hope the poor bunny is still alive," I told my young daughter Christie. I saw the last patient before us, a girl whose shabby cat was throwing up more hair balls that he should (I could probably understand why if I knew what kind of diet this fat cat was on), walked into the doctor's office to get checked up. Meanwhile I kept stroking the bunny's head and back, where he wasn't hurt, to keep him calm. I noted he was trembling as he was sitting in my lap with his ears flat in his neck, meaning he was most likely terrified. Poor thing…

"He is! He is! Looky, looky! His eyes have opened and he is trembling…I think the bunny is scawed…" my 4-year-old daughter Christie replied, as she petted the bunny on his head as well. I smiled as I saw that the bunny was indeed waking up, looking around with a dazed look.

"Thank the heavens above! I wouldn't have known what to do if he had died," I thought, as Christie kept petting him on his head, obviously liking our little guest already. This wasn't odd at all, considering how much time I used to spend with animals before I married Daniel; it was only natural she liked to be around animals as well.

"I think he might be afraid of the doctor, since this is his first time going here," I told my daughter with a small smile. I knew this was most likely the case: since he was a wild rabbit, he didn't have someone that looked after him, nor someone to take him to the vet if he was ill. When I told Christie this, I noted the rabbit tried to look back at me, his eyes flickering with hate.

"Maybe he isn't so scared after all. And he obviously doesn't like to be called a coward, that's for sure," I thought, as I gave him a sheepish smile to apologize for the comment I had just made. I wondered if he would understand that was what I meant, since it was a well-known fact that normally, humans and other animals can't communicate with each other very well.

"Miss Rekampmolk…Your turn," The doctor's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I carefully got up and wrapped the towel a little tighter around our wounded friend, also using a little piece of it to cover his eyes to prevent him from panicking if he saw the blinding white room. However, it had quite the opposite effect: he started to struggle fiercely because he was being blinded, making me struggle to keep him in my arms.

"It's okay little one. Don't be afraid. We only want to help you. Just stay calm, I'm blinding you for your own good. Light can be rather blinding here," I calmly said, as I walked into the doctor's room, which was blinding white, with strange tools the doctor uses to examine his patients and, if necessary, to operate them. But the rabbit didn't pay any attention to a word I said and kept struggling.

"Rather struggly thing you got there…What seems to be his problem?" the doctor, asked me as I carefully placed the rabbit down on the examination table. It was probably cold, as he seemed to be shaking a little.

"He is a wild rabbit. We found him near the place we go to get some food. He was attacked by a hawk, so we wrapped him in a towel to keep him warm and immediately took him here," I told the doctor, as I rubbed the rabbit's head, which was still covered in the towel to protect his eyes from the blinding white light.

"Well, it has been lucky then I guess. The hawk would probably have gotten him if you two girls hadn't shown up," the doctor said with a smile, as he took the towel from the rabbit's eyes. He immediately opened his eyes, and started to look around with wide eyes at the strange (for him) room.

"Curious little thing, it is. You like my place? Or too white for your liking?" the man asked the rabbit with a kind smile, although he didn't understand the language of the rabbits like I did. I practically LIVED within the animal world when I was a kid; not in a Tarzan kind of way, raised by animals and taught how to be human later on. I lived within a special village in the woods that gave people that were once criminals a second chance in life. They lived within the woods, from what Mother Nature gave them, as it once was. They also learned to talk with the animals, so that's how I learned.

"We almost forgot to ask: what's your name?" I therefore asked my new friend with a small smile. The rabbit looked at me with a strange look in his eyes, since it must be well-known among animals that we normally can't communicate with one another. However, he carefully but sternly spoke up:

"My name is Campion, Captain Campion." was his reply. The nurse came in and sat down to type some things on the computer, while the rabbit stared at her with an odd look: he had most likely never seen a computer before, and was wondering why she was slamming that thing.

"It must be fascinating for him to see the human world like this," I thought as I looked at him, while he was still looking at his surroundings.

"Glad to meet you Campion. My name is Femke, and this here is my daughter Christie," I suddenly replied, and this made Campion jump in shock. It was most likely because I had BOTH introduced myself and confirmed that I was able to understand him, something he surely wasn't used to.

"Glad to meet you as well, I guess. What is this place? Why am I here? And how come you can understand me?" Campion asked, as he looked around the room yet again. He then let his eyes rest on us, obviously taking in what we looked like.

"Yep, he sure will learn a lot while he's with us," I thought, as I looked at the doctor, then at Christie and then back at Campion with a small smile.

"You're at a doctor's practice. You were badly injured by that hawk, so we took you here to get your wounds cleaned and something around them to prevent infections. I can speak the language of almost any animal, since I grew up learning from them," I said, smiling, as I watched the doctor carefully wrap some bandages around Campion's waist and paws to keep the wounds clean. They would probably make it hard for him to walk as well.

"That's all, a few weeks rest and he will be as good as new," the doctor said with a smile, as he gently patted Campion's head before placing a carrot in front of his nose.

"Here you go, for being such a good boy. Not many rabbits are so well-behaved during their first time at the doctor," the man said as he gave my daughter and me a wink, causing little Christie to giggle happily.

"Bunny won't be so happy if he knew he's gonna gwet to the doctow again. Wight mommy?" Christie giggled in reply to the wink, as she looked up at me with a big grin. I looked down at her, smiling.

"Who knows, Christie? We'll see when it's needed, which is bound to happen before we set him out into the wild again," I replied with a small smile, as I gently picked up Campion again, and started to head for the door.

"And how long is that going to take? I can't stay away from home for too long," Campion asked as he looked at me sternly. It seemed he wanted to leave us as soon as possible.

"Two or three weeks. Your wounds are quite severe, you should take it easy for a while. Try and relax for a bit," I replied with a smile. I then shook hands with the doctor, before heading towards the big double door with Christie. There was an electric eye above the door to allow it to open automatically, but my daughter didn't understand this yet, she just thought it was a funny thingy that flashed if she waved at it.

"Bye bye eye!" she therefore said, waving happily at the eye before the double door slid open and we passed through it. I saw Campion look at it curiously, but he didn't ask me about it, nor about anything else he had seen until now.

"He might still be a little shy around us. We better give him some time to get used to everything," I thought. As usual, Christie was talking about 101 things at once, and I just replied with a small smile. I saw Campion roll his eyes in a annoyed way as we walked down the street to our house.

The look in his eyes clearly meant that he found her very annoying. I smiled at him apologetically, then repeated what he had done with his eyes. Hopefully he would understand that this is just the way Christie is, and there is nothing I can do about it.

As we approached our house, neither me nor Christie knew then that taking in this wounded rabbit was to be the very first step into a big adventure…

AUTHOR'S NOTE: And with that I end the second chapter of my story. I'm sorry it took me a while, but I had to give this chapter a lot of thought, since I really had to think about what rabbits know and don't know about the human world.

I thought the shabby cat would be the easiest way to explain to Campion where he was and what he was doing there, since I don't think he would trust Femke and her daughter on their word on that.

Femke and her husband can BOTH speak animals' languages since they have lived in a hidden village in the woods (more information about these villages will follow in the next chapter). Christie is still too young to have learned, so she is most likely gonna learn these languages from her parents as Campion stays with them.

Of course Campion was concerned about his home warren, and dislikes Vervain (like he said: Vervain could choke on a patch of grass for all he cared). I'm not sure whether I'm going to let Femke set him free immediately after he has recovered, since they are going to develop a strong bond over time. Let me know what you think about all that.

Well that's all for now. Thanks for reading, and thanks to Chipster-roo for beta-reading this story. Don't forget to:

REVIEW

[Femkeklomp]

Chapter 3: Life with the Human Family

Campion's POV

I was chewing a carrot in a small but livable burrow I had all to myself in the big warren mother Femke and her family lived in. It was a calm life with the human family. No patrols, no running after escapees, and no General Woundwort yelling at me for not finding Hazel and his outsiders.

"And no nagging, annoying Vervain thinking he is better than me," I thought, as I watched mother Femke bring little Christie to a place they called a "school", where youngsters learned what they needed to know to make it through life. It struck me as odd that human parents didn't teach their youngsters what they needed to know themselves.

"That's because we don't have enough time for that. We need to work to earn money to buy food and other stuff we need," Femke had once explained to me, when I had asked her why she didn't teach her youngsters herself, like us rabbits did. She showed me a flat, round piece of metal with some weird inscriptions on it, which she explained was "money". They needed it to buy flayrah and other things they needed from...some place. It's one of several things I still don't understand about the human world, it's all so complicated...

Three moons had passed since the hawk attack and I had joined the human family. In that time I started to think of Efrafa less and less. Now you're probably thinking "but Campion, how can you forget your home?" Well, that's quite simple: Femke had made it clear to me from day one that this small burrow, filled with fresh hey, clean water and plenty of flayrah, was my home as well. I had to admit (even though I would NEVER admit it out loud) that she was right. It was great to go to sleep each night with a filled stomach and without having to worry about the fox and the weasel whenever you needed to go outside.

"I still want to go back to Efrafa though, once I have recovered. It's just that humans aren't as bad as Woundwort made them sound," I thought, as Femke came to me to change the white stuff around my waist, which she had once called "bandages". She rubbed some "ointment" on the wounds to help them heal, before putting new bandages around my body.

"How much longer do you think it will take to heal?" I asked as I watched her do her work, while I kept nibbling my carrot.

"I think a week or three, then you will be as good as new," Femke replied as she got her head out of my little burrow, leaving the door open like she always did, so I could get out if I wanted to explore the big warren she lived in.

"How is your eye doing?" Femke asked me, as she picked up a weird thing (to me it looked like a multicoloured pluck of wool on a stick). She started to rub it over high parts of her warren, which looked very odd if you asked me. Humans really kept amazing and confusing me…

"Better, it doesn't hurt as much as it did before, if that's what you want to hear," I said calmly, as I hopped to the entrance of my little burrow and looked at the piece of wood that was placed against it to connect it with the big warren of the humans.

"I am glad to hear you're not in pain anymore. I hate to see animals get hurt," Femke said as she moved to a spot closer to me. I could now clearly see what she was doing: she was indeed rubbing the piece of wool over the highest spots of the warren, causing it to turn grey. I took a cautious step on the plank so I could get a closer look, sniffing the air as I did so; no smell of disease or danger.

"Nor a sign of that little hyper-active youngling of hers. She must still be in that "school" thingy," I thought, as I hopped off the plank, cautiously looking around as I did so. The warren the humans lived in was very big, and it all looked alien to me.

"You like it?" Femke asked as she sat on the ground near me without trying to touch me, knowing I didn't liked to be touched by human hands. "We call our warrens a home or a house." Femke smiled as she placed the piece of wool in front of me so I could sniff it, which immediately made me sneeze since it was full of dust. "And this is what we call a "duster". We use it to clean our homes, especially high places," Femke explained as she went to the door and opened it, after which she shook the duster so all the dust would go outside.

"And for the lower places?" I asked, as I hopped after her to the door and looked outside. There was a lot of greenery outside, a lot of trees as well. And somewhere beyond this human place, was Efrafa. My home...

"This place is my home as well now, I can safely admit that, though I would never admit it in her face," I thought, flinching away when Femke's hand suddenly stroked me over my backside.

"Ack, will you ever stop flinching when I try to touch you?" Femke asked as she looked at me, annoyed. "I won't bite, you know, I don't like rabbit flesh. Too hairy if you ask me," she said, although it wasn't clear to me whether she was joking to lighten the mood or if she was serious.

"How can I trust you? You didn't even tell me how you can speak my language." I snapped at Femke, who looked at me, dumbstruck, before she sat down again near me.

"Fair enough. Well, when I was younger, I was kinda reckless. I was living on the streets, fighting to live," Femke started to tell, and as she started to speak, I closed in a little, not wanting to miss a word she said.

"That was until one reckless night with a quite handsome young man. I became pregnant of Christie." At this she looked at the door, as her mate (whom she called her "husband") Daniel came in with little Christie.

"For help with the birth I went to this place in the woods. It's called the "woodvillage" where they give humans who have done bad things a second chance," Femke explained with a small smile on her face, "re-learning to live in harmony with Mother Nature." Femke's eyes beamed as she said this last thing.

"This is where they traced Christie's birth father." Femke smiled as she looked lovingly at Daniel who looked back at her the same way. "It was love at first sight. Anyway, in the woodvillage I learned to speak the languages of animals, which we use to communicate and ask them for help if needed." Femke finished her story, which sounded a little unbelievable if you ask me, since if that was true...

"If that's true, there should be more people like you, right?" I asked firmly, at which Femke nodded. "Then how come I have never seen them on my patrols? I have lived in these woods my entire life," I said firmly. thinking she was lying now. Woodvillages...biggest joke I have ever heard. If they existed, why didn't we ever see them? Why didn't they ever help runners to escape?

"Are you sure you have never seen them before?" Femke asked mysteriously, as she got something from her pocket. It was a piece of cloth with a strange symbol carved on it; it looked vaguely familiar and had her scent on it.

"They are what we humans call "letters", Campion. The B and the D crossing each other, which is the logo of the woodvillages," Femke explained as she folded the thing up again. "If you ever came across this, you were on the territory of the woodvillages," Femke said as she put the thing in a safe place.

"I have seen it twice, carved in a tree near Efrafa. Does that mean Efrafa is build on the woodvillages' territory?" I asked.

"Yes. We can share our lands with you guys. I heard Efrafa isn't very GOOD in sharing, though," Femke said with a sheepish smile on her face, at which I smiled back a little sheepishly as well, since it was the truth: we didn't like sharing. At all.

Femke's POV

"Yes. We can share our lands with you guys. I heard Efrafa isn't very GOOD in sharing, though." I smiled a little at Campion, who gave a sheepish smile in return, which confirmed that the rumors about Efrafa were true: they only liked war as a way to solve their problems.

"Yeah, it is true, we like war the most, even right now we are looking for an alien warren and its rabbits to destroy it," Campion said as matter as factly as possible.

"And then? I mean...if you guys find it, then what?" I asked, getting the shivers from the normal way he said this, like it was an everyday thing for him.

"Then we destroy it, capture most of the rabbits and enslave them, and most likely kill Hazel and his friends who tricked us on several occasions," Campion said casually as he stretched once again, then hopped a little closer to me, smiling as he allowed me to pet him over his head a little.

"War should never be the answer. That is one thing I have learned in all these years living in the woodvillage. We always negotiate first before going to war. We only use war as a last resort, if there is nothing else we can do. Otherwise a war can rage until it destroys the world. LITERALLY," I said, remembering the one time the woodvillages had gotten involved in a war. That had been in a part of the world that otherwise would have destroyed all the woodvillages and their inhabitants; we had no other choice but to get involved to save our people.

"We...wow...we never thought about talking first, fighting later. We always jumped right into war with our General," Campion said as he looked down with a pondering look on his face, certainly thinking about this.

"Well, I don't know anything about Efrafa, but war always takes innocent lives. If that Woundwort is as wise as you always claim he is, he should always put the needs of his people first, above himself," I told Campion wisely, which made him look up at me with wide eyes.

"He is, but Efrafa is starving, there are food shortages from which the lowest-ranked rabbits suffer! He made us great again!" Champion stated, clearly offended by my remark for some odd reason.

"Calm down, no need to get your tail in a knot," I joked, chuckling at my own remark. "I was just wondering: how can he think of war, and war alone, if his people are starving? He should think of getting food for them first," I said calmly, stretching a little as well, thinking about all those little rabbits who were most likely starving in Efrafa right now. Poor creatures...

"You know…in summer time the woodvillages have plenty of food," I suddenly said as an idea formed in my mind. If that Woundwort was willing to accept food from human hands, those poor rabbits would be all right for the summer. "We could share out supplies with you guys." I smiled as I looked at Campion. "That is...IF Woundwort is willing to accept food from human hands." I didn't know, since Campion had been afraid of me until just now. I assumed the other rabbits in Efrafa would be afraid too...

"Well, I could discuss this with Woundwort after I get back. Until then I guess you could try it, and see what happens," Campion said with a small smile on his face. I could clearly see from the look on his face that he was surprised humans would want to share their food supplies with rabbits.

"I will ask the woodvillagers to drop enough carrots and other flayrah for everyone there." I smiled as I petted Campion over his head, chuckling as he almost flew back into his small "burrow" as he always called it, when Christie ran in and jumped on my lap.

"Mommy, mommy! Rabby was out! Rabby was out!" she called happily as she kissed my cheek, then looked around, quickly realizing Campion wasn't in our part of the house anymore. "Where did he go?" she questioned, pouting sadly as she looked around for a sign of the rabbit, which made me giggle a little at her innocence. She had no idea how much she must have scared Campion by bolting in like that...

Campion's POV

As soon as little Christie came running in and saw me I bolted into my little burrow as fast as El-ahrah.

"I think you scared the fur off of him. He fled into his own home as soon as you stormed in," Femke joked, something I was quite used to now, so it didn't offend me as much as it did before. "Aaaawn, I just wanted to pway..." Christie pouted "Well nice going! Scaring me to death first!" I called from around the corner, which made Femke look up at me, smiling "And here I thought you were a brave captain of owsla," she teased, smiling. "Two words lady: natural instinct," I called back in a teasing way as I came down my wooden plank again, feeling a lot more comfortable around these humans, now that I knew why Femke and Daniel were able to understand me.

"Natural instinct my butt, you sure were scared, I never saw a rabbit fly away THAT fast,' Femke joked as Christie now sat down by my side and patted me over my head carefully. "I can run even faster when I am in danger." I smirked as I gave Christie a little kick to signify she had to stop patting me so hard; it hurt. "By the way, I never knew rabbits could fly!" Daniel smiled as he walked into the room as well, carrying something he had previously called a "glass" in his hand; it contained some fluid.

"Oh shut up Dan!" Femke called with a smile on her face, and before I knew what was going on Daniel had one of the green things Femke had once called a "pillow" in his face. "PILLOW FIGHT!" Christie called as she patted me softly with a green thing as well; I reacted by kicking it towards the table, which made the glass topple over, causing the fluid to fall on the ground.

"Strike!" I smirked as I looked at Femke who literally slapped her hand against her face in a frustrated way. "Good reflex, but next time, aim for the man BEHIND the glass okay?" Femke smiled as she went to fetch something to clean up the mess I had made. While she did so I went up to the fluid and licked it a little; it was very sweet and tasted strangely like grapes and apples. "You like it? We call it "juice"." Daniel smiled as she stroke me over my head gently before he picked me up and put me on his lap.

"Don't step in it, Christie, or mommy is going to be very angry with us." Daniel smiled. Christie nodded and went to sit with her father, stroking me very softly over my head on his advice, as we watched Femke clean up the mess. After that we played in the big human warren a little more, before I went back into my own burrow to get some sleep.

"Thanks for today." I smiled on the plank. "Know that, whatever might happen, I have a family in Efrafa, but also a human family, from now on." I smiled as I told Femke this, before I hopped into my burrow and went to sleep, feeling I really had a second home now, here in the human world.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: And with that I end the chapter for now! I worked pretty hard on it, I hope you all liked it! Sorry it took me a while, but I lacked inspiration. Now I am back, and I sure hope to write more chapters soon.

I thought it would be nice if Femke talked some sense into Campion, since in the series Hazel managed to get through to him. I don't know how he will eventually join sides with the Watership Down rabbits yet, send me your thoughts about that please!

[Chipster-roo]

I'm glad you decided to post this fanfic here Femke

Would it be all right if it was shared on the forum's Twitter account?  If yes, how would you like to be credited?

[Vesper]

Indeed ;D It's always good to see another Fanfic Writer among us here in the Honeycomb. I wish you well with your stories and if assistance is needed, we're here to help.  
*Tackle-hugs*

[Femkeklomp]

Campion's POV
Time went by fast, and I started to trust Femke and her family. With each passing day, I grew stronger. At first, this was exactly what I wanted: to get better, and go back to Efrafa.
But one day, when Femke said I would be able to go home the next day, I felt sad. Femke had been so good to me, and over time I had really started to grow attached to little Christie (even if I still thought she was too hyperactive at times). It was too bad I had to leave already, I was really starting to like my life here with the humans...
"I can always choose to stay longer," I thought, as I lied down in my nest and looked sadly at my burrow's wooden wall. "Vervain has most likely told the General I'm dead anyway, so I don't have to rush back. It's not like I will be missed," I mused, as I finished eating my carrot, feeling it would be the last good meal I would have for a long time.
"Unless the General accepts Femke's kind offer, of course," I thought. I remembered how Femke had told me that she and her people had placed some flayrah near Efrafa, but none of the rabbits had picked it up. There were still food shortages at Efrafa, which meant I wouldn't be as well fed as I had been with Femke. "Might I be able to visit my human family from time to time?" I wondered, as I let my mind drift off to sleep.

Regular POV
Early the next morning, Femke and her family stood at the edge of the woods. She held Campion in her arms; Christie had put a pink ribbon around his neck.
"Well... this is it, it seems," Femke said sadly, as she put Campion down and took the ribbon off.
"Yeah... " he said, looking at her sadly as well, tears blurring his vision.
"You're always welcome to come and visit if you like." Femke smiled as she patted his head.
"I will visit whenever I can, but life in Efrafa is very busy, so don't think I'll visit every day," Campion said, looking at the woman sternly. She nodded and rubbed the tears from her eyes. Little Christie sniffled and bent down, hugging him tightly.
"I will miss you Campie... youw my best fwiend in the whoole wide world..." the youngster sniffled as she held on to him with a sad look on her face.
"You're my best friend too, Christie. I will never forget you, no matter where I go," Campion replied, even though he knew Christie couldn't understand him: she was still learning the basics of animal languages.
"Go on, Campion. You're free to go." Femke smiled as she picked up a sobbing Christie in her arms. Campion nodded and turned around.
"I will never forget you guys. Thanks for everything."
With that, Campion turned and ran into the open fields and the high grass, towards Efrafa. When he was a little further away, he turned around one last time to look at the humans. Femke was still standing in the field like she was frozen in place, with little Christie in her arms, probably still crying. Daniel had turned around and was walking away, seemingly sad as well. He turned around and Campion could see his mouth moving, although he didn't hear the words. Then, Femke turned around as well and followed him. Campion could now clearly see Christie sobbing. He could feel a sting in his heart as he looked at her one last time, not knowing if he would ever see her again.
"You're my very best friends. May Frith bless you all with a long and happy life," Campion thought about the now leaving family. He then ran towards Efrafa, his old home, to resume his old life.

Campion's POV
Well, my homecoming couldn't have been more cold. General Woundwort was pleased to see I was alive and that was all he said. No "welcome home", no "I'm glad you're back, Campion", nothing! "Good to see you're back" and I was immediately sent back on patrol.
"Not that I should have expected anything else, I'm just so used to Femke and her family that I forgot this is how life used to be at home," I thought, as I went on my morning patrol. I looked sadly at a few of my fellow rabbits, who were nothing but slaves. As they bowed, like they always do in the presence of an owsla officer, my thoughts flashed back to Christie. Where was she now? What was she doing? Was she still crying about me? Or had she already forgotten all about me?
"No, she wouldn't forget me that easily. She knew this moment would come, that this had to be done. This is where I belong. Yet now that I am back, I wish things were different here, like they were with the human family," I thought as I observed the poor creatures. "Their lives would be a lot easier, and they would never have to worry about hunger again."
My patrol completed, I entered the main chamber, where captains Moss and Vervain were waiting for me, as well as General Woundwort.
"Captain Campion, good to see you again," Moss said as he hopped to me with a smile on his face. "Bless my tail, I thought that hawk had gotten you."
"I'm glad to be back as well Moss." I smiled as I got on my hind legs and touched my old friend's paw with mine. "And that hawk almost got me. I managed to kick it until it let me go."
"Then you're a lucky one sir, not many can survive that," Moss replied, smiling. "Yet why didn't you come back immediately after that?"
"Because I was discovered by a few humans afterwards," I said calmly; all rabbits in the burrow backed away in shock. "I was too heavily wounded to escape immediately. The young female of the two took care of me until I had fully recovered. Earlier this morning, they released me back into nature, and I returned here," I concluded.
"Wow! Those humans actually let you go? That's quite something," Moss commented, with a look of disbelief in his eyes.
"I know. They're a rare kind of humans that somehow actually understood me when I spoke."
"No way..." he said with a gasp.
"It's true. The two adult humans understood me when I spoke, and they were teaching their youngster as well," I explained, calm as ever. Everyone gasped when I said this, while the eyes of my Chief narrowed at me.
"Campion, do you mean to report that you found these humans capable of feeling actual emotions towards rabbits?" the General asked me.
"Yes sir, she was different from most humans. She even offered to share her food supplies with us, when I told her of the food shortages." I glanced outside, looking at the place where I knew Femke and Christie had left some food for us.
"Lies! They have to be lies!" Vervain said as he hopped next to the General and looked at me firmly. "He has most likely just been with the outsiders! Making plans to overthrow you, sire, and..."
"And what proof do you have for this accusation, captain Vervain?" the General asked, deathly calm.
"N...no proof, sire... but his story is obviously a cover up! I mean, a human actually feeling some sort off compassion towards rabbits?" Vervain smirked. "That has to be a lie."
"Not likely." I too smirked. "And if the General wishes, I could arrange a meeting with the girl to prove I am speaking the truth."
Woundwort, Moss and Vervain made a few hops backwards; they were plainly shocked to hear I was willing to bring a human to Efrafa to prove I was speaking the truth.
"Very well. Arrange a meeting with the girl outside, on the clearing nearby," the General said, after he thought for a moment.
"You won't regret it, General," I replied with a bow. I smiled in delight when I saw how Vervain looked at me, with a look of pure disgust on his face, clearly not happy that I could prove that I was speaking the truth. Then, I turned around and hopped out of the warren to arrange a meeting with my human family, hopefully for the better off my warren...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: and with that said, I end the chapter! I hope you all liked it!
Thanks for reading and thanks Chipster-roo for doing such a great job as a beta reader.
Please leave a review!