As soon as Fleck and Stretch had freed Kyle, Bastille was out of the forest. Her trousers and tunic were heavy with smoke and ashes, the once clean and tidy uniform now dirty and destroyed. Her white fur was now grey with smoke, and her red preymark was covering her nose and mouth.

“Seriously?” Bastille asked, leaning on her large, intricately designed, faintly glowing sword.

“What now?” Fleck asked, wiping the smoke from his own eyes.

“Send that tattered youngling away and you two crazy twins get after me.” Bastille ordered, sheathing her blade and turning away.

“Sorry Kyle.” Fleck sighed, looking to the tattered young buck who was getting up in a trance.

“It’s fine.” He sighed, walking away. Fleck yearned to run after him, but the cost was too high to bring a little kit, maybe 4 or 5 years old, to enemy territory.

“Hurry up.” Bastille called over her shoulder. The bucks sprinted to catch up with the valiant young doe, and she turned to him, hard grey eyes flashing a look of steel. Fleck and Stretch scrunched back.

“Sooo… Bastille… where are we going?” Fleck asked, nonchalantly.

“Akolan?” Stretch asked.

“Nope. I was told by Garten to bring new prisoners to a mine camp along the foothills of the high bleaks.”

Stretch laughed, recalling Garten ferociously yanking at the box Wilfred had tied him in.

“What’s so funny?” Fleck asked, elbowing Stretch.

“G-a-r-t-e-n—i-n—a—b-o-x.” Stretch whispered. Fleck laughed, remembering the story.

……………………………………………….

Several days later, the three rabbits arrived in a mine camp. It was dusk as Bastille led them to the mess hall, then left to report to her commander.

Fleck paused at the door to the crowded and loud mess hall. He was shy, didn’t really like large cramped spaces like this. He took a deep breath, then opened the door.

The noise was unbearable. But at the same time, it was pleasant.

Rabbits carried on happy conversations at their tables, laughing occasionally. The food smelled so good. Fleck found himself enjoying this noise and crowd, it was almost like the Savory Den back home.

And then he bumped into a guard. The guard was way taller then Fleck, with dark grey fur and cold grey eyes.

“What are you doing?” The guard bellowed.

Fleck turned red with embarrassment the whole room had turned to him.

“Ummm… getting food?”

“Then get it, before I decide to lock you up.” The guard roughly shoved Fleck into a line.

Fleck glared and stood tall, not broken by the cruel guard.

“Hey! I’m a guard back where I live, but I don’t treat others like that.”

“Huh?”

“Well, I don’t!”

The soldier glared.

“It’s time, sir, to decide which is better: to be a good rabbit, or a good soldier.”

The guard looked surprised, the angry, then confused, then smiled.

“I suppose your right.” He said, almost to himself. “You just might have a point.”

……………………..

Fleck slipped out of the mess hall, filling out the sheet and grabbing the pass.

He slipped outside into the cool night air. The stars were out, lighting the sky like torches, and the moon glowed big and bright in the dark sky. A cool summer night breeze ruffled his fur as he walked along.

The thin dirt path was lined with towering ancient pines, reaching to the sky with the poky fronds that stayed green all year. The aspens waved their bright green round leaves, their chalky white bark covered in black marks.

The grass, where it grew, was long, with delicate green leaves. In some places, the old grass still stood, yellowish and faded.

Fleck soon came to the mine shaft, and he considered going inside to check it out when he saw a large white bird.

The bird shouted, much unlike the shrieks of the raptors Fleck knew, and snapped at him with it’s beak.

Fleck grabbed a pickaxe from the ground, attempting to deflect the birds snaps. It didn’t work.

The smallish bird caught his left arm in it’s beak, twisting it at such an angle Fleck was sure it was broken. He shouted.

There was only one option. Into the mine.

Fleck charged into the shaft, trying to escape the dangerous bird. He completely ignored what Lord Rake, Helmer, King Jupiter, and Lord Blackstar [along with countless others] had told him; never run with sharp objects in the dark unless it’s a full out battle, especially if one was injured. And Fleck was injured, his left shoulder was bleeding from a large gash as well as being broken.

He tripped over a rock, slamming into the wall, jabbing his foot with the pickaxe. Fleck fell to the floor, knocked out cold by the strong blow.

………………………….

Bastille fumed. She was now in raptor disguise, prepared to face the commander.

“In.” The commander called. He was a tall, cold buck with black fur and grey eyes as cold as stone. He wore a constant frown, always angry.

“Sir, there was a fire—”

“I don’t CARE!”

“But—”

“IS THIS WHY YOU DISTURBED ME!” he shouted, but kept going before Bastille could answer, “LEAVE! NOW!”

Bastille lowered her head so not to show the angry glare in her eyes.

She took flight from the balcony, anger stoked all the more.

“How does Fleck do it?” Bastille wondered, launching from the rooftop. Her fake wings beat the air as she circled around to the mines. In the dull light, she saw a rabbit.

She bent to attack him, attempting to bite off his arm. But the quick stranger slipped into the mines.

…………………………………………….

Stretch sighed, then stood on the table.

“FLECK COVE! CALLING FLECK COVE!” no reply.

“FLECK?” Stretch bounded off the table too look at the sheet. He panicked, then turned and ran. He soon came to an angry Bastille.

“Bastille!” he called to the young doe. “Fleck’s gone and he hasn’t come back!”

sorry this took me almost a month. i had no clue for this part then my friend [Bastille, as we sometimes call her because Bastille is her character] was like: "Bastille tried to bite off Fleck's arm once." and i was like: "Is that when Fleck get's stabbed in the foot by a pickaxe?" and so heres this chapter.

also your probably like: "why are you trying to kill Fleck?"

the answer: "It builds suspense." :)

-Fleck...