Chapter Fifty – Two

Mind Games

Blackberry nestled the last piece of white fur from her pelt into the soft grass bedding and shifted until she was comfortable. Staring down at her kitten she tried to think of names. Dawn? Flora? Fern? A sigh escaped her muzzle in despair. Then she remembered a couple of nights ago, the night when Campion had fallen into the river. With all the thoughts in her head one of the most prominent had been how she hoped that there were no cascades that he could run into. Cascade. It gave the impression of something gentle and beautiful and was just right. A light sprinkle of creamy brown fur had begun to appear on her back and silver on her underbelly. She felt a warm glow spread through her at the sight of her little one and she gave a lingering nuzzle to her tiny forehead.

Blackberry gently buried Cascade into the nest and went off to see everyone else was up to.

………

Campion bowed his head after he finished his explanation and peeked a glance at their expressions. His cheeks began to cool again, and his heart slow. If it had been anyone else but these three bucks, he wouldn’t have had the courage to tell.

“Dear Frith, Campion! Why didn’t you tell us what’s been going on?” Bigwig asked. The captain wasn’t accusing, merely anxious.

“I was ashamed that dreams were affecting me so much,” Campion whispered.

“Playing with your mind and head like that……abusing your feelings…..is the most sadistic thing I’ve ever heard of anyone doing,” Hazel said. His words of comfort and the gentleness in which his voice took was comforting. “Head up, Campion. We’ll get this connection broken.”

Campion nodded and held out his paw. “I’m ready, Fiver.” The plan was to be put into action after Campion had reluctantly agreed. It has to get worse before it gets better after all.

“I’m sorry in advance if I read any of your thoughts. I have no idea what’s going to happen once I try and use your mind to connect to his,” Fiver said warningly, touching his paw.

Fiver dived into his work. He would never get over the wonders of how easily he could now disconnect from the present. Earlier, when Shadow had been brought in with Dogwood, Bigwig and Hazel hadn’t wasted a second requesting his help. They now firmly believed he was the Black Rabbit himself and when they had addressed him as so, he hadn’t resisted. Over the short space of time they had, Shadow had practiced disconnecting minds with the smaller buck, and Fiver was confident he had gotten the hang of it. It was as if he was once again floating in a black nothingness and he pushed down the claustrophobia that was rising. Just ahead of him, also in the black, sat a brown buck. His expression was bemused and a little weary, but confident.

“Campion, help me out here,” Fiver heard himself say.

The rabbit nodded at him and started off in the opposite direction, stopping now and then to make sure he was following. Their footsteps were dulled by something unseen and the place was eerily quiet, though Fiver couldn’t prevent himself from thinking that he could hear voices, young, old, familiar and unheard. It was downright creepy. Eventually the darkness cleared, eaten up by the bright meadow that had manifested around them.

Fiver recalled that each mind had its own setting, a place where the owner of the mind felt comfortable and happy.

His own had been a flayrah patch with the familiar presence of the many plants and flowers of the down surrounding him. The meadow that he was in looked like the down in spring. He faintly heard the sounds of laughter and playing in the background and was comforted that he hadn’t been hearing things before. It looked to be coming from the edges of the patch they were in, which was concealed in fog, and sounded like Iris, Rosa and Swift. He nearly jumped out of his fur when a couple of rabbits that he hadn’t noticed looked up from their grazing. It was a very young buck and an adult doe. Coming from around a bush behind them was another young buck, and shortly after, another. The two chestnuts with brown stripes down their foreheads laughed and fell in a heap.

“Okay, Campion. We give up. You found us!”

Fiver gasped loudly and skidded into the brown in front of him. Campion looked back at him steadily, the turned to watch the young kittens playing himself. He was expressionless, though there was a shine of recognition in his eyes.

“Don’t give up so easily! Come and try and catch me!”

The young Campion ran behind their mother and teased them as they attempted to catch him. All the time, their forms shuttered and at times momentarily disappeared. It was like a ripple in the water.

Kittens, Fiver and Hazel, exchanged nods before blocking Campion in and jumping in top of him, laughing loudly and innocently in only the way the young could.

 The present Campion indicated discreetly with his head to continue. Fiver, still shocked, left the memory.

Soon after, he passed more rabbits. The day of Pipkin’s kidnapping was there. A slightly faded Hazel, Bigwig, himself and Primrose were speaking to the adult Campion. Their matted, dripping coats were out of place in this pleasant setting. He almost expected a crack of thunder. Recognising the depressing scene, Fiver hurried after his silent guide.

An affectionate Blackberry nuzzled a scarred, happy and content Campion on a beautiful day on the down, a terrible fight between Campion and Dogwood took place, Hazel and Campion running in fear away from a blood thirsty serpent. Fiver froze at the sight of the elil, but knocked himself to his senses. Soon enough, they entered a slightly drearier place. It was like the cold stone walls of Shadowsky. He saw Woundwort and Hemlock and Cloud. Cloud! This is what he was here for!

Determinedly, he marched up to the rabbit and tried to touch his paw to make a connection. It fell through as if Cloud was water and Fiver stumbled forward. As he made full contact with the clone of the wanted rabbit, that particular memory disappeared. Fiver pulled himself up disdainfully. How foolish! It was a memory and not real.

Now it was time to try and access a mind from a mind.

Fiver only had to close his eyes to hear Cloud’s voice. “Get out of my head! Leave me be!” The cries were desperate and pleading. Campion didn’t hear anything. Fiver tried to stay calm and pleasant. “Cloud, help me out. I can try and remove the bond between you and the mind of the rabbit you invaded. But only if you help me first-“

“Just make it stop! Please!”

“Is my head becoming a place to have a chat?” Campion asked, pained. Apparently, he could hear it as well.

Fiver opened his eyes and smiled at the nervous grey rabbit that was suddenly there. Campion didn’t look happy and he could understand why. His whole life was mapped out around them. Fiver drew Cloud’s attention back to himself. The small buck had been shying away from the glares of the larger rabbit.

“Campion, can you give us a minute?” Fiver said.

Campion looked at him incredulously until Fiver realised. Campion couldn’t exactly give them privacy when they were in his head. “Oh right……whole privacy thing is kind of void now….Could you just stop staring death at Cloud a minute?”

Campion sighed and turned his back on them, seeming to have an interesting enough time watching his past, but Fiver knew he would be listening to every word.

“I am sorry for what I did,” Cloud whispered to the hostile back. The brown rabbit didn’t move. This is becoming such a big confusion, Fiver thought. How do I know what is real and what isn’t? Is Campion really here with me, or is it his mind in his physical appearance, acting out the way he would react?

Fiver was just about to question Cloud when he faded and disappeared right in front of him. He jumped forward and found himself clutching at wisps of some sort of smoke like substance.

……

Back in the warren perimeter, Hazel and Bigwig looked on with rising concern. The two rabbits on the journey were slumped on the earth, unconscious and absolutely still. If it was not for the slow rising and falling of each of their chests, they would have certainly been thought of as dead.

“What’s taking them so long?” Bigwig fidgeted.

Hazel said nothing, and stared at his brothers’ faces in concern. Maybe this had not been a good idea. What if Fiver got lost in Campion’s mind forever? What if he never woke up? What if Campion lost his mind because of so much invading?

Hazel rubbed a paw across his face and tried to think positive as he wondered where Shadow had gotten to. He could do with the moral support right now. Bigwig wasn’t much help at the moment. In-between pacing, he was zoned out in a little world of his own, probably thinking of Spartina or Dandelion and Hawkbit, because though he would never admit it, they were among his best friends and closest companions.

“Come on, Fiver, Campion. Pull through,” Hazel coaxed.

Bigwig blinked slowly out of another retrieve and went to check their pulses again. He placed his paw on each of their necks, and remaining expressionless, nodded. “Still strong, just a little slow.”

“It’s been nearly half a day, Bigwig,” Hazel pointed out the obvious.

“I know, but there is nothing exactly that we can do to help,” Bigwig snapped a little.

Hazel was taken aback and lay down, subdued. “I’m sorry, Hazel,” Bigwig said quietly.

“You don’t have to explain,” Hazel confirmed. Bigwig relaxed and slumped down beside him.

“We’ll just have to wait it out then.”

“Yep,” Hazel agreed. He began to clean the faint wound mark on his flank with disinterest.

“Blackberry was wondering where you all-“ A brown doe stopped in her tracks with her muzzle rounded in surprise.

Azalea stopped mid sentence. “By Frith, what happened? Do we need help here?”

“Not quite,” Bigwig said awkwardly, and exchanged looks with Hazel.

“Sit down and wait with us, Azalea. Tell us the adventures of Rising Hope,” Hazel said.

…..

Spartina choked back a tear and inched her head back up. A cold stone exterior took over. Beside her, Hawkbit and Dandelion stood together with ears flattened and with sombre faces.

“Tell us a story, Dandelion,” Primrose said hopefully. The rain had damped her fur and made her sad eyes stand out even more. Dandelion knew he had to try.

“Back in the time of El-ahrairah….” Dandelion started, and then trailed off hopelessly. “I can’t, Primrose. I’m sorry.”
Primrose nodded slowly and took to shivering in a huddle with Clover and Brunnea. Even Hawkbit couldn’t take advantage of the many sarcastic opportunities in this situation. Instead, he just sat on one side of Clover, taking comfort in his mate being there, and on the other, Dandelion and Strawberry.

“Bucks this side, does the other!”

“He’s kidding right?” Hawkbit said, loud and clear.

He was greeted with a heavy paw across his face. Hawkbit, having been deprived of the sufficient amount of food for the past moon, fell limply backwards and couldn’t rise back onto his legs.

“Go on then. Kill me,” Hawkbit said weakly.

The dark brown rabbit stared into his eyes for a moment, then moved away without a word.

“Sir,” he addressed Hemlock, “the patrol still cannot find Cloud. Do you want to precede?”

Hemlock frowned. “We’ll give him until Frith breaks the horizon then we go on without him.

“Do we bring them back underground?” he suggested nervously.

“No. Why should my warren be full of unworthy blood? My plan backfired and someone has to pay.”

The rabbit nodded and cleared all emotion from his mind. He had a job to do.

“Order them to clean their necks. A good clean cut will make it easier for us,” he said to a youngster guard. “And quicker for them too,” he whispered, the little bit of compassion showing.

Spartina and Primrose overheard this and felt sick.

………..

“Where are we, Campion?” Fiver asked weakly.

His rabbit guider spoke for the first time. “In Efrafa, I think.”

Fiver felt cold as he looked at the intimidating walls. Efrafa was not good. Being in Efrafa was not good. The cold ghosts were reaching out to their souls and attempting to intertwine in each cell.

“Do we have to stay here long?” Fiver asked.

“Until we find a way through,” Campion said reluctantly. He looked plain unhappy and his eyes contained self doubt at his ability to get them out of this. A rising panic was in his chest and only with difficulty could he push it down again and again.

“Strange….” Fiver muttered, pretending not to be able to read Campion’s expression .

“Hmm?” Campion spared a glance.

“It’s just very strange seeing things that no longer exist alive and real around us.” Fiver put either of his paws on the sides of the walls and concentrated on not feeling trapped.

“Not in a good way,” Campion answered, agreeing.

“But it’s not as if anything here can do us any harm. Right, Campion?” Fiver suddenly sounded vulnerable.

“Fiver, you’re the expert in this situation. You tell me.”

Fiver sighed dramatically. “I don’t know if what we are doing is wise. I didn’t even realise I could enter others minds safety. I just assumed the only mind I could access is another mystic’s. I suppose this just proves that Cloud’s is attached to yours in some way. I still don’t know exactly what I can do here, and it’s not pleasant being in the pitch dark.”

“And lost,” Campion added despairingly.

“No way!” Fiver jumped in front of him and scanned his surroundings.

“Fiver, I’ve been in Efrafa the majority of my life and I don’t recognise any of this,” Campion confirmed. “Maybe its Darkhaven…..or Shadowsky,” he said as an afterthought.

“How about we see if we can find any other rabbits?”

“That wouldn’t work. I don’t think we could talk to them. I got the impression the only rabbit that are here are ones I remember seeing, in the exact places I seen them, and the moment I look away they won’t be there anymore.”

“My head hurts,” Fiver moaned.

Campion laughed at the irony.  “Me too.”

Fiver looked at him worriedly.  “Come on. We should look for a way out again.”

…………..

Bigwig, Hazel and Azalea sat, spread apart, around the stream acting as sentry.

They dreaded the moment Blackberry would come to the water for a drink, or searching.

Soon enough, it happened. “Hazel, you want to take this one?” Bigwig asked uneasily.

Azalea looked over with interest. “We’ll both do it,” Hazel said determinedly.

“Hazel, what’s going on here?” her voice rose at the sight of the still bodies.

“Fiver and Campion are fine, Blackberry. They’re unconscious because Fiver had to access Campion‘s mind to try and get to Cloud’s.”

Blackberry narrowed her eyes. “But why Campion’s?”

“Because his mind is attached to Cloud’s by some invisible bond…..” Hazel trailed off at her expression.

“This is my entire fault,” Blackberry whispered.

“Blackberry, you had no choice!” Hazel insisted.

Blackberry turned her head to the side. “Pipkin’s here,” she said finally. Her heart had broken at the realisation of the pain she had caused.

It was true, the nine rabbits barrelled into them. “You have no idea how long it took us to find this warren!” Pipkin sighed. He rubbed the mud off his face resentfully.

“He’s right,” Iris said ruefully. “Are you all right, Marli?”

Blackberry blinked back her tears. “No, Iris. I’m not.” A sob built up in her throat and she ran back to the warren.

“What-“ Iris began.

“You five go after her,” Hazel said, “and be gentle with her.”

The siblings exchanged confused glances but followed her quickly.

“Hazel….” Bigwig said slowly. “It’s been raining a day and night since we left. Time is running out. If we can’t get out of Cloud what Hemlock’s plans are, we’ll have to do a forward attack. If we don’t, everyone could die.”

….

Blackavar rubbed his paw along his neck. The plan was to clean off the soil and mud under orders, but his senses had gone numb and he had been moving his paw methodically for the past hour.

Holly put a paw on his shoulder and shook his head sadly. “Come on lad, we’ll die with dignity.”

They old grey rabbit’s fur was clean of all impurities. Holly must have made an effort to keep cleaner than the rest of them, being a very proud rabbit learnt from his time as Captain of Owsla.

So Blackavar nodded back and pulled his ear down to comb it, comforted significantly.

“How long do you think it will be now?” Hawkbit asked, his voice slightly hoarse from disuse for their waiting time.

“Who knows?” Yew said, rubbing his paw across Brunnea’s and sighing. He had finally suggested his feeling by spending the last day of his life with her, whereas her feelings had always been obvious.

Spartina was still cold stone, and nothing anyone said could break her out of her retrieve. Occasionally, tears would appear in her eyes, but she would blink them away determinedly. Primrose hoped her side against hers would bring a little comfort and tried not to think of her kittens at home and Hazel, then gave up. This was her last moments after all, may as well spend them in a happy place, even if it was in her head.

“I still wonder what Vervain is up to,” Yew said, brow furrowed.

“Oh, who knows?” Hawkbit mumbled, tearing soil from the side of a burrow entrance and slathering it over his neck. “Probably drowned in a sea of mud, or broke a nail and went home because he was in disgrace.”

Hawkbit being himself again seemed to brighten others and encouraged them to reinforce their own rebel spirits. It had been in fact Dandelion that had pleaded with Hawkbit to make some sarcastic comments. They all needed some familiarity about them, and since Dandelion couldn’t bring himself to tell a story, Hawkbit’s ability to turn anything sour and funny sufficed.

 …………..

Campion and Fiver rested briefly. Having discovered that sleep was still needed, as their minds needed a break, did nothing to improve their moods. They were bitterly disappointed that Cloud had managed to leave and were sceptical of their chances of encountering him again.

Campion stirred and sat bolt upright. Fiver watched him warily from where he was slumped. The brown rabbit scanned his surroundings and sniffed the air hesitantly, as if not sure he could identify new scents. “I think Cloud’s near again,” he whispered. Fiver had tried to call him back again. Repeatedly. He had ended up having a conversation with silence.

“How can you be sure? You didn’t even know he was in your mind before.” Fiver pulled himself up and went to stand beside him. They had taken refuge in one of the deserted, many burrows of Efrafa.

“It sort of feels like when I’m having one of those nightmares.” Campion shivered, which was rare for him.

“In what way?” Fiver asked.

“Like…”Campion paused. “The feeling of a being in a nightmare but unable to wake up. The scary thing is I’m awake…..well, my mind is anyway.”

“I’ve a feeling we haven’t got much time left. If we don’t find Silverweed now, we have to go back and help the others.”

Campion looked as if he could ask a million questions, but he closed his mouth and nodded.

Fiver felt new energy and determination and peered around the mouth of the burrow. “Let’s go-“

Campion made a strange sound and clutched his head. His eyes glowed faintly. “What in Frith…..Cloud, get out! Get out!!”

A grey rabbit writhed similarly beside Campion, appearing out of air. Not just similarly. It was a mirror. Cloud’s edges were faint and not quite there, like one’s reflection in water. Cloud gave a final yell and became solid.

Before he could properly breathe, Cloud felt himself slam into the wall. He couldn’t bring himself to look into the eyes of the rabbit he had pried on.

“Get out, now,” Campion growled. He didn’t loosen his paws that were clamping Cloud to the earth.

Fiver hoped that Campion meant his head, not this burrow. But before that, he need to talk to Cloud.

“Go on then, kill me. I don’t deserve to live,” Cloud sobbed.

Campion blinked and looked back at Fiver. He released his paws quickly. “This better be good,” he growled.

Cloud rubbed his shoulders and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to be stuck in your mind. It’s been horrible…”

“It hasn’t exactly been a hop in the daisies for me either,” Campion replied bitterly.

“I had no choice, like Blackberr-“

“Don’t you dare compare your situation to hers!” Campion raised his voice. “She was physically forced! No one ever forced your paw!”

“Hemlock would have killed me!” Cloud squeaked. “And until a while ago, I was about to kill myself, until you called me here again, Fiver.” The grey looked at him desperately. He seemed more eager to make the rabbits understand than save his own life.

Fiver gave a tiny smile to calm the frantic rabbit and said gently, “Cloud, we’ll forgive you if you co-operate with us.”

Campion snorted and left the burrow angrily. Cloud flattened his ears onto his back and said, “He’ll never forgive me.”

“He will if you do this for us. I promise.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“What are Hemlock’s plans?”

Cloud’s eyes widened in terror but he didn’t hesitate. “He plans to kill them all. He’s going to slit their throats, does included. It was just a prolonged event for the bucks.”

Fiver stuttered, then shook his head. “Campion!” he yelled.

Campion rushed back in. “What? What is it?”

Fiver quickly explained the situation then his own plan. “Campion, I need you to co- operate with Cloud if you want this connection broken, and quickly.”

Campion grimaced then said suspiciously, “How do we know we can trust him?”

“We have no choice. Now, quick.”

Campion sighed and placed his paw against Cloud’s outstretched one. Fiver set his on top and closed his eyes. If he concentrated really hard, he could feel something warmer than rabbit fur between his paws, and behind his eyelids he seen a faint glow. Now for the difficult part. He used his entire mind to part the united cylinder of warmth, and slowly it split into two, the larger of the two floating to the left, where Campion was, as it was his thoughts and feelings that were being transmitted to Cloud.

Fiver lost it, but he thought that he had reached the targets. He was surprised to find himself on the ground. When he cried out in anticipation, he received silence. Campion was unconscious on the ground, but not for long. He blinked rapidly and put a paw to his head.

“I doubt that’s going to help,” Fiver laughed nervously.

“Fiver! Did it work?” Campion asked excitedly.

“I think so,” he replied uncertainly. “We’ll ask Clou-“

“I guess it worked.” Campion shrugged as Fiver stared at the empty space that had been a rabbit a couple of seconds ago. He had done it! Cloud had disappeared like magic!

“Thank you, Fiver,” Campion said sincerely.

Fiver smiled. “Let’s go back home, now and save Watership Down!”