A/N: Apologese for the wait, but I do have an education to gain...

This is only the first night and thus it is quite short. Nothing fluffy just yet and certain subjects will be broached later on...

Chapter 4 - Night Number One.

Campion paced in his burrow, dried bedding crunching beneath his paws, leaves and twigs cracking under his weight. It wouldn't be long before he had to go and collect Blackberry and the tension level was rising. After his little spat with her earlier he'd flounced off on a wide patrol and hadn't seen her since. He had no doubt that she was still hard at work digging new space into the warren but he wasn't in the mood to go and find her before it was strictly necessary. One thought in particular was bothering him; she disliked him. It was obvious that his approach to her thinking for herself was less than impressive and probably threw a bad militaristic light around him.

He wasn't normally like that though – he was determined to make clear – it was just that he wasn't normally flailing about like a rabbit in the dark either. Normally he had the situation well under control and all four paws firmly on solid ground. Lately however, 'under-control' seemed a little thin on the ground for his liking; ever since Hazel and Bigwig had provided an alternative to Woundwort's authoritarianism. Blackberry's arrival was like the straw that broke the bunny's back, metaphorically speaking.

It wasn't just how she saw him that was going to be a problem either, from what he'd seen a scorned doe could be quite vicious when she wanted to be. What was that saying? 'Hell hath no fury like a doe's wrath'? Sounded about right… He shivered at the thought and sat down in his bed. The burrow was just about big enough for him with some room to wriggle about, barely big enough to turn around in and he highly doubted it was big enough for two rabbits… Spending whole nights trapped in close quarters with a vicious female… Frithadinley, what was he thinking when he decided this was a good idea?

In fact, the longer he stayed where he was and thought about it, the more articles he came up with that would probably look unsatisfactory to the critical eye. Like for example the quality of his bedding. It hadn't been changed in ages and had dried up to be little more than a pile of crispy husks. He was willing to bet his tail it wasn't anywhere near the same quality as the stuff they had at Hazel's warren. Lucky buggers might as well have been kipping on gold dust as far as he was concerned… His personality was also probably lacking in a number of places, he had little interest in making new acquaintances for example, talking was a method of transferring information, nothing that was unnecessary was discussed. He didn't offer much personal background, he didn't trust very easily and he had the propensity to drift into his own little world if the current subject matter was boring him. Blackberry would probably find herself talking to the equivalent of a sack of potatoes more often than not and if he knew does – which he adequately thought he did – then this would be an infinite source of irritation.

There were obviously some redeeming features that he hoped would balance him out a bit – like being strong and trustworthy – but they rather paled in his opinion in comparison to his infinite number of short-comings.

When the Owsla began to return to their burrows and it was time for the watch to change paws, Campion estimated it was about time to go and find Blackberry; bring her to her new home – as it were. He wasn't looking forward to it, it was going to be awkward and uncomfortable and being a typical male he was going to treat the situation as a strictly military exercise and an obstacle to be over-come. Cue Mr Insensitive.

Nevertheless, he lolloped over to the digging site and looked about for Blackberry. She was sat in the corner waiting for him, looking dusty and worn out. Hopefully this would mean that the first night would be a quiet one, with any luck.

He cleared his throat on his approach and she looked up. "Hello."

"Hello," She replied, getting to her feet. To his relative surprise, she appeared to make the movement quite easily, but he supposed that after a few more days of gruelling work that would change.

"We have a while to eat flayrah if you want," He said quietly, "But then we have to retire to the burrow."

She nodded, but said nothing in reply. He didn't know if that meant she wanted to go and find some flayrah, if she wanted to go straight to the burrow and sleep, or if she had no opinion on the matter at all. He led the way to the flayrah anyway and picked up a turnip while Blackberry picked up a carrot. The Owsla guard looked as though he wanted to tell her off, crack her around the ears for just being there, but upon meeting Campion's eye he thought better of it.

They managed to make it back to the burrow without anyone casting anything more dangerous than disapproving glances. Being an Owsla Captain certainly had its perks and – if Blackberry was going to be staying for very long – so did being and Owsla Captain's doe. Campion was well aware that the reason they were getting away with so much stuff was because Woundwort currently considered Blackberry to be an asset to be utilized and not someone to be scared away. The General was often under the impression that if he treated others too meanly they would refuse to say anything – the more outspoken they were, the more gutsy they tended to be in the face of tyranny – and most of the time he was correct. As soon as it became obvious that Blackberry wouldn't give him what he wanted however, the torture would begin and they wouldn't be getting away with anything. So it was best to get it in while the flayrah was good.

They ate in silence, Blackberry starting on the carrot and Campion on the turnip, but by the time Blackberry had finished her carrot Campion had decided he'd had enough turnip and left the rest for Blackberry. She scarfed it down with barely a pause for breath and then glanced about as though looking for more. Campion was suddenly very aware of how lacking Efrafa was in comparison to Hazel's warren. They probably had flayrah coming out of their ears over there…

"Is there only one bed?" Blackberry asked, bringing Campion out of his dreams – Flayrah 'on tap'.

"Unfortunately yes," Campion said, getting up and wandering over to the bedding. "Although that's normal here in Efrafa."

"Really?" She looked apprehensive.

"Yeah, they're normally bigger for two rabbits though."

"I can make it bigger in my free time." Blackberry said, getting up and joining him. She wrinkled her nose at the sight. "And fresher too."

"It doesn't smell." He insisted, finding the idea of her accusing his bedding of being 'unfresh' rather insulting. "It's just dry that's all."

"Oh I didn't mean-!" Blackberry said quickly, looking at him with a wide-eyed expression, as though shocked that she could have been understood as such. "I'm sorry, I just meant it looked like it had been there a while… It's gone crispy was all I meant."

"Well," Campion said as he trampled around in it before finally settling down with what he thought was a fairly sizable patch for Blackberry left over. "You'll find out why it's been here such a long time when you discover why the burrow isn't any bigger."

"You're a single male?"

"No," He grit his teeth, "Nobody has the time to dig a bigger burrow or gather new bedding, or even take the old stuff out. There is no free time."

She giggled a little, paw pressed to her mouth as he raised a brow at her. "Oh, I am sorry, Captain Campion, but you sound like an old fishwife with that sort of tone."

He raised the other brow in silent, ambiguous comment, then settled himself down to sleep. A few moments later, Blackberry's warm, soft body settled beside his. The pressure was a little uncomfortable but he would make a note to request his burrow be made a little bigger and the problem should go away.

He glanced at his doe from the corner of one slitted eye. She had her eyes closed and her chin on her paws. He long ears were lying flat against her back and her whiskers twitched lightly and she breathed. Very pretty, quite adorable. He shut his eye again and tried to close his mind to the world, willing sleep to take over him.

But before he dozed off, Blackberry said quietly beside him; "We've heard a lot of stories about you on the warren, Captain Campion. I'm glad to see that at least some of them are correct."

He wondered dimly what those stories were.

A/N: Next time on Watership Down: "Sire, I wouldn't recommend-"

"I'm not interested in what you 'recommend', runt." Woundwort cut him off, single eye roving over the twin white scars that adorned the young buck's lips. "Your 'recommendations' seem nothing if not self-serving. You're lucky you've got the brains you have or I'd have thrown you out on your scutt by now. What I need you for is military tacticion. Nothing else. So button your lip unless you want another pretty little line to match your others."

Understandibly, Sorrel buttoned his lip.

We say hello to a new character and a dedication to a dedicated follower and reviewer with much advice and the eyes for poking holes in my plot :P

There will be the opportunity to place other characters in various spots (minor roles) so if you wish to make a cameo appearance, PM me with a basic bunny-background and I will add you in somewhere. All additional rabbits will have minor roles and will not appear at any time or place touched on by the TV series.

-Lapin.