FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Another story from the world of Watership Down (Or at least my warped interperetation)

All characters originally created by Richard Adams

Contains violence, but is under Clean for having no sex in it.

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Strawberry was sharing some flayrah with his chieftain the first time he saw them: a group of rabbits who were slender and strong. In Cowslip's warren all but one were quite plump, due to the abundance. The strangers were tired and weak from their journey. Strawberry had smiled brightly to them and stood, reciting a poem of welcoming with the Cheiftain. After brief introductions, Cowslip invited the group in.

"I shall fetch Kingcup, he knows more about welcoming guests than I." Strawberry declared in a sing-song voice, bowing to the visitors, before he headed into the warren itself. He looked in Kingcup's chambers, but he was not there. He searched all over the manor... but he could not find Kingcup. Something came over him for a moment, his body shivering and hunching over. And like that, Kingcup had never existed in his mind, and he found himself wondering what he was doing. He walked back to the communal chamber, to where the newly arrived rabbits were. He bowed again. "Would you like a tour? I know this place like the back of my paw." Strawberry spoke cheerfully.

The second smallest of the group, colored like one of the others, so Strawberry assumed they were brothers, spoke up, "Where's Kingcup?"

Strawberry's gaze went blank for a moment, before his smile returned, "Come along. This way." He started to guide the rabbits along

The little buck was hesitant to follow, "You said you were going to fetch Kingcup."

"Come along Fiver. I'm sure he forgot." The other rabbit who shared the little one's coloration said softly.

"I don't know, Hazel. It seems wrong to me here." Fiver said, looking around at the rabbits throughout the warren as they were guided on the tour.

"Come on, Fiver, look at the rabbits here." The largest of the group said rather boisterously. "They're the biggest I've seen since the Chief back home." He patted the smaller rabbit condescendingly on the head, "This is the easy life I tell you."

"But their eyes... they're so empty... There is a shadow over this place..." Fiver shivered, staying close to Hazel.

A slender dark furred rabbit amongst the group was looking up and around, "Its amazing... I've never seen architecture like that."

Strawberry whirled around, "Oh you like that sort of thing? The vaulted construction is part of makes it possible. Also good strong Yew. All of the beams intersect to distribute the weight evenly, giving us the maximum amount of space without needing much in the way of support structures."

"Really? That's fascinating. Do you build?" The strange rabbit asked.

Strawberry shook his head, "No, this place was built before I was born, but I studied its construction. I know how every part goes together. If I could, I'd build my own warrens of my own design, or for others if they wanted. I love to design buildings."

A shorter, grumpy looking buck raised an eyebrow, "What's to stop you from going out and doing it?"

The tall slender buck next to him elbowed his side, "What is this image of, Strawberry?"

Strawberry looked to the abstract sculpture that was indicated, before giving a high, effete laugh of recognition, "Oh, I believe this is the form of an old lapine folk hero. Er..." he struggled to remember the name, "El-ahrairah, I think he was called. Laburnum crafted it. He always was a bit old fashioned, making things from those stories..."

The yellow buck stammered slightly, "Y-You don't follow the tales of El-ahrairah?"He clutched a small round metal pendant around his neck.

"We don't really relate to his tales. We live here in peace. No Elil attack here. No worries about food. We have time to think, and make nice things." Strawberry said with a grin, continuing the tour.

Fiver looked worried... and kept glancing at the ceiling of the high room.

A doe passed them, nodding simply to Strawberry, who returned the gesture, before they continued on.

Hazel looked at the doe a moment as she passed, and then back to Strawberry, "Who was that?"

"Birdsong, my mate" Strawberry said a bit carelessly. He came to a halt, looking to the center of the chamber. They were once again near the entrance, having come all the way around. There was the only slender buck who lived in this warren. His fur color reflecting his name, Silverweed stood at the center of the chamber, rabbits starting to gather around the young buck.

Cowslip came up behind Silverweed, towering over him in his corpulence. "And now we have an entertainment, in honor of our treasured guests. The sweet rhymes of Silverweed." The tall rabbit announced.

The biggest stranger raised a brow. "Cowslip's got an odd way with words, hasn't he?"

Strawberry smiled to the strangers, "Oh, you're all in for a treat!"

The light grey buck's pale green eyes scanned the crowd, and affixed on the strange rabbits. He nodded to them slowly, politely, but his eyes didn't leave those of Fiver as he started to recite.

Fiver muttered, "Silverweed smells like autumn... like dead leaves..."

Strawberry listened to the silky voice of the young buck Cowslip raised because he had no parents. Strawberry could think of no reason why the silver buck wouldn't have parents. It all seemed perfectly reasonable. The words seemed to caress his mind as they came from Silverweed's mouth. He was suddenly distracted. Something wasn't quite right. There was a commotion. Strawberry looked to the strange rabbits.

The young one they called Fiver looked terrified, staring at the ceiling with an unfocused look in his eyes. He was stammering something to his brother, and the big stranger. "T-the ceiling... the walls.... The warren is made of bones...." Strawberry managed to hear of the quiet words.

The two bucks tried to calm Fiver, but he broke away from them crying out, "Let me out! Now!" He ran desperately past Strawberry, bumping into him, and out the front entrance. At the center of the room, Silverweed continued to recite, uninterrupted, but his eyes were now facing to the entrance that Fiver had just fled from. Strawberry's concentration on the poem was broken and he rubbed his shoulder, looking out the way Fiver had run.

Hazel ran over, "I'm sorry... sometimes my brother takes things a little... funny." He ran after Fiver. The big stranger ran out after him. They returned a few minutes later, looking slightly defeated.

Strawberry tried to focus on the poem again. The poem ended and Strawberry yawned. It was getting late. He stretched and headed towards his chamber, even as Cowslip guided the strangers to spare rooms. Strawberry idly thought it odd that there even be spare rooms, with a warren as full as this. He shook off the thought and entered his chamber, stripping away layers of his extravagant clothing until he was just in his long undershirt. Pulling aside the covers he slipped in, not even checking to see if Birdsong was in her bed, that across from him in the chamber.

She wasn't.

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The morning came with a shot. Literally. Strawberry sat up, looking around after the loud report. He moved to his window and saw a Homba, dead in the garden. Even from his window he could see the shot was what had killed it. He pulled on the base layer of his normal clothing over his undershirt, then one of his coats, heading out with the intent of investigating outside. He nodded to several other rabbits as he headed out. He didn't seem to notice their looks at his lack of complete dress, and headed out, moving around the building towards where he had seen the Homba. Before he got that far, he paused at the sound of a rustling in the nearby hedge. He slowly walked to the nearest opening in the hedge and looked around. He gasped as a dark... thing worked at a shining wire to pull the limp, broken body of a rabbit out of its grip... It was Birdsong. Strawberry ran in terror, back into the warren, and to his room. He tentatively looked out. The Homba was gone... He idly wondered if he was going mad.

Betony came into his open door, "Strawberry, are you alright? I have never seen you look so flustered." The doe walked over, "You're half dressed, running about, terrified..." She put a paw on his shoulder, "What's wrong?"

"I think... I think Birdsong is dead." Strawberry murmured weakly.

"Well it might be old fashioned but bird song will never be dead." Betony said cheerfully. "I love it. Listen." She started to whistle, imitating the song of the blackbird in the dead of night.

Strawberry looked appalled at this. "No, Birdsong... My mate."

Betony looked at Strawberry as if he were mad, "You don't have a mate, Strawberry. You never have."

Strawberry held his head. He searched his memory. He remembered the day Cowslip told him he was to be mated to Birdsong. He remembered Birdsong sleeping in the bed across from him. He remembered people referring to them as mates. Did they even act like mates? How were mates supposed to act... it seemed like just a word now. "She... she slept on that bed. Every night... " He muttered. "I barely acknowledged her, and now she's dead."

"I've never even heard of a doe named Birdsong, Strawberry. Maybe you should talk to Cowslip, or Silverweed."Betony looked concerned for the ruddy furred buck. "It always helps me." She smiled faintly.

Strawberry looked at her, and for the first time noticed how blank her eyes were, as if blocked off. "You... you don't see anything, do you...?"

"Go to see Cowslip and Silverweed." She responded, though not entirely with her own voice.

Strawberry stared, a little frightened, "Maybe I should..." He stood, starting to get more properly dressed as Betony left to afford him privacy. Strawberry stared at the window as he dressed, thinking to himself, about the way Betony looked, how he might be able to forget if he tried hard...

The rabbit soon left his chamber, heading towards where Cowslip and Silverweed often sat in the mornings. He saw them, and he walked a bit faster, but then one of the strangers burst in through the front door.

The lithe rabbit skidded to a halt in the middle of the main, wide chamber, "Bigwig is caught in a snare! Come quickly!" He turned towards the door, expecting to be leading someone, but no one came. He turned back towards them, "Didn't you hear me? You've got to Help! Bigwig's caught!"

Cowslip turned to Silverweed calmly, "There never was a Bigwig. No one's ever heard of him..."

Silverweed looked to Cowslip mournfully, "But... but..."

"Silverweed, this is the only way that our warren can remain the bastion of peace it is..." Cowslip's velvet voice grated against the message he conveyed. "There never was a Bigwig. And now he's gone."

Strawberry stared in horror as Silverweed closed his eyes, and all around him, all of the members of his warren halted whatever they were doing, their eyes closing and their whole bodies convulsing into a hunched over position, before they stood upright again, resuming what they were doing. He felt as though something was trying to happen to him, but it didn't since he was aware of it...

The strange rabbit pulled at someone's sleeve, "Please, help him!"

The rabbit stared at the stranger, "I don't know who you're talking about."

"Bigwig!" The stranger cried out in desperation.

"I've never heard of a Bigwig..." The rabbit murmured, before returning to his painting.

The stranger looked terrified, staring about, "You're mad! All of you!" He ran back out.

Strawberry watched all this, feeling too scared to move. His eyes met Silverweed's own, and he felt something in the back of his mind, trying to get in. He tore his eyes away and ran after the stranger, out into the gardens. Soon he beheld a grizzly sight. There was Bigwig, the largest of the strangers, hanging by his neck by a shining wire, his hind paws twitching above the ground. The rabbit who asked him about architecture was consulting with the littler of the two brown rabbits around the stake that held the other end of the wire in the ground.

"It's too strong to bite through, and the stake's lodged in there pretty tight." The grey rabbit said, defeated.

The brown rabbit blinked, looking closer at the stake. "Don't pull on it... dig around it." He started to work at the ground with his paws. The other rabbit started to dig as well.

Strawberry watched, frozen.

The rabbit who had run for help stared at Strawberry, "Well at least somebody came! Come on! Help!"

Two of the rabbits were trying to keep Bigwig's weight off his neck by lifting from either side of him while the others worked at removing the stake.

Strawberry shuddered, "I- I don't know what to do..."

"Only help we get is pathetic, that figures." One of the rabbits holding up Bigwig muttered.

"Almost there, boys!" The elder digger cried, before the stake went flying out of the hole and over the branch it was hanging from, sending Bigwig crashing down upon those trying to support him.

The taller of the two stared, "He... he isn't breathing..."

"I... I can't stay here..." Strawberry muttered, and ran, feeling as though he would be sick.

He heard drifting on the wind from behind him as he ran, the beginnings of last rites, "My heart has joined the thousand. My friend stopped running today."

Strawberry ran into the warren and to his chamber. He started to pack all of the things he could think of that he might miss and he could carry, all of his architecture tools and paper, all his favorite clothing, and a little sewing kit. He turned with the large bag and halted. Silverweed was sitting on Birdsong's bed.

"You're going with them, aren't you?" The skinny little buck said, his voice sweet silk.

Strawberry looked wary, after witnessing what the little rabbit did before, "I can't stay here. I won't let you close my eyes again..."

"Out there you have many things to fear. Here there is only one. And I can make you forget about it..." Silverweed said softly, almost pained. "I just want to help my warren."

"Do you? Or do you just want to keep Cowslip happy?" Strawberry said bitterly, the emotion feeling quite unfamiliar to him. He stalked out of the room just as the front doors opened.

In stormed the strange rabbits, with Bigwig at the lead, breathing heavily, his throat fur mussed and slightly bloody from the wire.

Strawberry stared, "Bigwig..."

Cowslip stood in his corpulence and extravagance, as tall and broad as Bigwig. "Go away. Leave, unless you want a fight. Hmm? Hmmm? HMM?" He tried to puff himself up, to be intimidating, getting louder. "HMMM?"

Bigwig growled, his voice raspy from his close brush with the Black Rabbit, "You don't know how..." He approached Cowslip, his breadth in muscle, his clothing torn, tattered, and simple. "You've forgotten all the tricks and cunning that El-airairah ever taught us."

Cowslip lunged and Bigwig twisted, throwing the elaborate chieftain to the ground. All the rabbits of the warren ran, into their own chambers, as Strawberry edged along the perimeter of the chamber, not wanting to be labeled a fighter.

The elder of the brown furred brothers stepped over to where Cowslip lay, "Leave this place. You need the freedom of the hills." He said softly, "You can relearn the stories of El-airairah."

"El-airairah is a lie." Cowslip said defiantly. "The Man takes care of us." He slowly stood up, backing away. "We don't want to leave... We don't want your 'freedom'."

"But the Snares will get you if you don't!" The lithe leader of the strangers declared. "You don't have to surrender to the Shining Wire!"

Cowslip's eyes flared, "They won't get me... Maybe the others, but never me!" He started to laugh, backing into the shadows, and Strawberry's blood ran cold. The laugh echoed, reverberating through the chamber, even after no one could see Cowslip.

"Run." The leader said, tearing his eyes away from the disturbing sight, "We have to get away from here!"

The rabbits turned, running out of the warren. Bigwig called to the group, "Stay in the open! Stay away from cover! That's where the snares are!"

Strawberry stared after them, looking around his home, where he had lived and never left since he was born. Silverweed had stepped out of his room, and was looking at him. He shook his head and ran out the door as well, running hard through the gardens, avoiding anything that might be big enough to hide a trap. After minutes of running, he was breathing hard, unsure he could move much further, when he saw the group up ahead, catching their own breath. It seems Bigwig's throat still needed time to recover, and running hadn't really helped.

He ran up to them, collapsing prostrate in front of them, his bag falling beside him. He panted hard, "Please... t-take me with you."

"You lied to us. Why should we help you?" Bigwig spat bitterly.

"We have to work hard to survive." The leader stood upright, "It's not an easy life out in the world."

Strawberry looked back. He had never been this far from home. The pristine gardens had deteriorated to wild bushes and trees. He was fully out of the realm of his warren. "There is no life in the Warren of the Shining Wires." He panted, still quite out of breath, looking back to the rabbits, "Please...?"

The Leader looked to the other rabbits, and slowly, one by one they all nodded their agreement. "You can come with us."

"Come on then..." Bigwig stood, rubbing his neck, "Which way is it, Fiver?"

"Yes... which way to the high hill?" said the only buck younger than Fiver.

Fiver closed his eyes, and Strawberry watched as the young buck's ears swiveled a bit as he concentrated, before he stood upright and pointed, at an angle away from the warren they had just escaped. "This way... it's this way to where we will make our home."

Strawberry stood slowly, hefting his bag as the group started to move, staring off amongst them, before he managed to start walking with them. He whispered to himself, "Home..."