Untaken Way - Open RP

[Indi-Rah]

Bigwig turned, looking over his shoulder at the Efrafans who followed behind. The war was over - they were rescued. Nothing left to do except take them home and teach them to live outside Efrafa. "Well, let's see what can be done with this lot, eh?" he said, looking at Hazel.

(Shortpostfail :I)

[Myrkin]

Dandelion stopped, letting Efrafans and other Watership Down rabbits hop past him. He was looking for Hawkbit. Sometime during the battle for Efrafa, he had lost the sight of his grey-furred friend. He didn’t think that anything bad had happened to Hawkbit, but he wanted to be sure all the same.

As he watched around, for the first time he realized how many Efrafans were going to live with them now. How was their warren supposed to accommodate them all? It seemed they would have to do some (Dandelion shivered at this thought)… digging. Well… At least they had got ridden of Woundwort. The war was over and they would be able to enjoy their lives in peace.

Not all of us, he thought sadly, remembering Campion. He hoped that the late Captain of Efrafan Owsla would have been glad with how things had turned out, if he were alive now…

[Embemxrabbit]

Campion stood where he had stopped, hunched over with anguish and exasperation at the Black Rabbit's wish. He was not a fit rabbit to do it, with sound mind or body. His front left paw ached in agony, he was sure he had broken it, and his left eye refused to open. Perhaps it was only in shock and would come with time.

As he stood stock still out in the rain he contemplated the real reason he still had not moved. He didn't want to leave and go out into the unknown to face his demons alone....again. To stay would mean facing up to the shame of what had happened, and what he had done. But it also meant comfort that he had never even dreamed of before, and he wasn't thinking of a warm burrow. It was too tempting.
"Black Rabbit? What do I do?" He didn't feel foolish shouting to the sky, not since he had talked to The Black Rabbit himself, face to face.

The rain hammered down, so he let his ears droop under the pressure. "No, I'll stay," he whispered. "Efrafa and Watership Down need me now."

[Indi-Rah]

"Well, by the looks of them now, before anything, Bigwig, they need to learn how to live." Hazel said, looking at the large buck. He didn't seem particularly pleased about sharing quarters with some of the Efrafans, but what else could be expected? Not much.

Hawkbit, meanwhile, lagged at the very back, one ear cut significantly. It hurt very badly, and he didn't really feel like jumping up to Bigwig and Hazel with all the zeal in the world. He really only wanted to rest.

[Myrkin]

Finally Dandelion saw Hawkbit lagging at the back of column of rabbits. It was a relief to see him alive and unharmed. He hopped towards his friend. As Dandelion got close, he realized he had been wrong about “unharmed” part. The grey buck’s ear was cut and it was bleeding.

“Hawkbit, you’re hurt,” he said to other rabbit, clearly worried. It might not have been a very serious injury on itself, but if some sickness got into the wound... “You should clean this up and also let Blackberry take a look at it.”

[Indi-Rah]

"Oh!" Hawkbit made an effort to pretend to be surprised. "I AM hurt - I didn't notice. But honestly, old chum, I didn't plan on seeing Blackberry for it. I suppose it's a good idea, though."

[Myrkin]

Dandelion almost chuckled at other buck's feigned surprise. Same old Hawkbit: never pass on opportunity to make sarcastic comment. "Of course it is. She surely knows some herbs, that will heal this cut in no time."

He felt a drop of water fall on his head, then another and soon it was fully raining. He welcomed this new development with a groan. One would think that a day of their victory should be more sunny, but apparently it wasn't going to be so.

"Lets go, old chum. The quicker we get to Watership Down, the quicker we can get care of your ear," he said, moving to catch up with others, who by this time had managed to get a fair distance ahead of him and Hawkbit. And the quicker we can rest in warm, dry burrow, he thought.

[Indi-Rah]

Hawkbit groaned. He was in no mood to move very quickly, but followed none the less.

Bigwig looked up. "Well then." he looked back at the Efrafans. "We ought to hurry up, shouldn't we?"

[Embemxrabbit]

Campion toured the warren by himself, of course slowly due to his paw. It was beyond beautiful. Just like the day before, he was overwhelmed but the feeling that this time he could stay hadn't sunk in yet. He took residence in the corner of the honeycomb and made a plan of what to do when the others returned, if the others returned.

He didn't attempt to clean the blood of his back because he was far too tired. With some resentment, he shuttered his eyes.

[Keeralie Starflight]

Moss hopped along toward the back of the Efrafans, making sure no one was left behind.
"Well, we're out of Efrafa at least," he thought, "I wonder if the Outsiders will want us to leave."
He looked toward the apparent leaders of Hazel's warren.
"That big one, what's his name? Bigwig. He doesn't look too pleased at having the whole lot of us suddenly thrust on him and his pals. Suppose I wouldn't be either if I was him."

[Indi-Rah]

Hazel nodded. He lowered his voice. "Just do me a favor, Bigwig, and try not to alienate them. We need to give them all a chance to learn how to live." Bigwig looked ruffled, but nodded mutely. "Anyway, we're almost there." He turned, pausing, and called back, "Just over this rise, everyone! We're almost there!"

[Embemxrabbit]

Campion woke as he heard voices. He played with his ears in thought. He didn't wish to scare the other rabbits but he couldn't explain what had really happened either and the true reason he was alive. Getting up, he waited in the shadows beside the burrow entrance and held his breath. Did he hear Bigwig and Hazel? That grey rabbit Hawkbit and the dun storyteller?

[Myrkin]

Dandelion looked up at Hazel’s call. Indeed, they had reached the bottom of the Down. Just a few minutes of climbing up the hill and they would be at home. Then again, it would probably take some time to get everybody inside and since Dandelion and Hawkbit were at the back of column, it would mean they would enter the warren last. As if they weren’t soaking wet already…

He glanced to his right, expecting to find Hawkbit at his side, but he didn’t. He turned around and saw that his friend was a few hops away of him, trying to keep up. The grey rabbit was exhausted, that one was certain. Dandelion himself was in better shape, but only barely. The hardships of battle and journey to and from Efrafa had taken their toll on them all. Thank Frith there was no hungry predator nearby, as they would be too tired to properly protect themselves from it.

“It’s not much longer, Hawkbit,” Dandelion said, trying to comfort him. “We can stop to rest, if you want though.”  

[Indi-Rah]

"Won't take my chances on that one," Hawkbit assured him. "I don't see any predators now, but if I were one of the elil, I wouldn't pass on two exhausted rabbits."

As Hazel reached the burrow, he sat up, looking back. "Do we have everyone?" he asked Bigwig.

"Everyone we left with." Hazel nodded and dove down the burrow into the run. When he reached the honeycomb, he froze, frowning, and looked around.

[Myrkin]

“Right then. Let’s climb,” Dandelion said, moving up the hill. In his rested state, reaching the top of the Down wouldn’t have been a strenuous task, but after all he had gone through recently it was quite tiresome. Once or twice he had to stop to catch his breath. Dandelion wondered what Bigwig would say, if the latter could see him now? Probably something like: if you had worked harder during your Owsla training, you would have been able to run all the way from Efrafa without so much as a light panting. Yeah, right…

Eventually, he reached the top and could see that almost half of rabbits had already gone underground. He hoped that others would quickly follow, as the rain wasn’t losing its strength even one bit.

---

Fiver was following closely behind Hazel, when his brother stopped upon entering Honeycomb. It was so sudden, that Fiver had almost bumped into him.

“What’s wrong, Hazel?” he asked. He sniffed the air of the great burrow. He could smell a fresh scent of some other rabbit. It was familiar to him. It felt like…

“Campion?” he said, shocked.