Hey, peoples! OK, yes, I know I've been absent from my WSD alternate third series...and about eight other seasons...for a long time, but I am back, with the sequel story to Woundwort's Return. The Maze of Deception. So...enjoy!

Chapter One: Seasons Gone and Young Ones Grown

The morning dawned deceptively bright and sunny. On Watership Down, most of the rabbits had slept quite late, a side effect of the well-earned peace, after the long and terrible war with General Woundwort. However, one buck had wakened early, hoping to catch the sunrise. Campion, Captain of Owsla, sat alone at the edge of the Down, enjoying every quiet moment he could snatch. The seasons had blessed them all. New kits for him and Blackberry, and for many of the rabbits on the Down. Few rabbits had been lost, and almost all of the kits were nearly grown up.

He sighed. Even his younger kits were growing up, physically, at least, if not mentally. With the notable exception of Mossy, who was convinced that he could be a kit for as long as he pleased, and no one would care. As far as Campion was concerned, that was great. Mossy was just like Campion's little brother, Moss. He was even named for him.

As the sun rose higher, Campion's good mood faded along with the cool air of morning.

"Another day of trying to make a gang of ragtag ruffians into Owsla," he muttered, "Lovely."

"Cynical today?"

Campion turned to look at the speaker, already knowing who it would be. Sure enough, it was Blackavar, a playful smile lighting up his dark-furred face. Phlox was right behind him, equally cheerful. Campion allowed himself a small smile. It really was hard to stay in a dark mood with these two around.

"Oh, you know, Blackavar. Those kits apparently do not understand the concept of respecting their elders."

Phlox snorted indignantly.

"Mine do!"

Blackavar sighed.

"Your kits can do no wrong in your eyes, Phlox. Especially the younger bucks."

"They don't do anything," Phlox protested, defending three of his children, Scorch, Blaze, and Dusk.

"Wait til they get older," Campion advised, "Then you'll find three more sarcastic, scheming idiots."

"Who's a sarcastic scheming idiot?" a young, very sarcastic, and possibly scheming voice asked.

"Not you, Birch, although eavesdropping is considered scheming," Campion said.

"So you say, so you say," Birch muttered, turning and stalking off.

"Who is that kit, and where is the Birch we know and love?" Blackavar asked.

"He decided he hated both his old accent, and his nickname," Phlox said.

"Better not let Azalea hear that," Campion advised, "Birch really can do no wrong, as far as she's concerned. And don't even mention the Hawkbit thing. Both Birch and Azalea will kill you."

He sighed.

"Well, better go round up the troops. No holiday for me."

A very stressful half hour later, Campion finally had the group of kits lined up in front of him in a more or less orderly fashion. Make that a disorderly fashion.

"Attention!" Campion roared, "Now! This means you, Birch! Stop growling at Vervainia, and look at me!"

"What for?" Birch asked, "Are you so interesting?"

"Quiet! Mossy, stop biting your brother! Scorch, Blaze, this is not combat, get off each other!"

None of the trainees in question paid any attention. Campion sighed in frustration.

"Twinleaf, help me with this!"

The older buck sighed, but he stood up and came over to stand next to Campion.

"Now listen up here," the veteran said, "Captain Campion is trying to make you all into good sensible rabbits, and I'll tell you this, you're being dashed ungrateful. So shape up, or you'll have me and Captain Holly over here telling you how to behave."

There was no response from the evidently bored kits. Twinleaf groaned.

"Why am I expected to do something with them? Make Azalea do it, she's big enough. Even Phlox and Vine were better behaved in Owsla training. And we both know what they were like."

"They won't listen to Azalea either," Campion said, "And as for Phlox and Vine...you're right."

"I've got an idea," Blackavar whispered, "Come here."

The three rabbits whispered together for a moment with much smiling and nodding. Then Twinleaf turned back to the kits.

"Well, young vagabonds, you are going to get a chance to see what life is like without grownups around to protect you."

Several of the young rabbits exchanged confused glances.

"Say that in Lapine?" Juniper asked.

"He's kicking us out," Thorn put in.

"What did we do?" Juniper protested.

"It's nothing we did personally, it's all of us."

"Well, I think it's unfair!"

Thorn laughed.

"You think everything is unfair."

"Sorry, you two," Campion said, "You're not really at fault, but I can't afford to pick and choose. Now, everybody listen to the rules. You all can break into groups of...seven. No more, no less. That makes it even."

"But..." Birch started.

"No buts, Birch. If you die, your mom will kill me."

"And that would be so bad?" Birch mumbled.

"Pick your groups and get going," Campion ordered, "And I don't want to see any of you near this warren until tomorrow morning, unless you've been mortally injured."

However angry he might be, the sienna buck couldn't help lingering to see who would choose to team up. It would be interesting to see which groups survived. Hopefully, all of them would.

Not surprisingly, a group of the smaller bucks quickly formed. Dandy, Miracle, Whisper, Grapefruit, Windy, Pipkin, and Frost. The runts of the warren, with the exceptions of only a few. He smiled to himself, half wishing he hadn't been so harsh on them. Dandy was jumping around excitedly, along with Frost, one of Clover's three sons. Pipkin looked a bit worried, being by far the oldest in the group, and Windy and Miracle were wide-eyed, not sure whether to be excited or terrified. Whisper, Fiver and Poppy's son, was off in his own little world, as always, staring off into space with a detached look. Grapefruit stared at his older sister Mint, whom he constantly shadowed, as if he wanted to come with her wherever she went. Which he usually did, but then Miracle whispered something to him, and he burst out laughing.

His gaze moved to the next group. He nearly burst out laughing. Even after being kidnapped, and being revealed to a good group of the older rabbits, as well as Thorn, Aqua, and Juniper as a bit of a helpless damsel in distress type(more like a lot!), Snowdrop still had a seriously large 'fan club'. Her two best friends, his own daughter, Jade, and one of Fiver and Poppy's young girls, Sweetfern, were right next to her, giggling like always. Cherry and Willow, always eager to be included, eagerly joined the circle, Willow tugging a severely unenthusiastic looking Mint along with her. Mint and Snowdrop never did get along. Sandy was the last to join the group, probably because she knew she was a loner by nature, and though that no other group would really want her. In Snowdrop's fan club, she wouldn't have to talk, or be noticed. She could blend into the background, and never say a thing. At least Campion guessed that was her plan. He knew Blackavar was worried about his lonely daughter, but his friend didn't seem to understand that Sandy probably liked to be alone, but was too shy to say she would rather be by herself.

Phlox's younger kits, Blaze, Scorch, and Dusk, who always stuck together, had teamed up with Frost's older brother, Flint, Campion's own son, Dogwood, and Bolt, a red fawn buck who resembled his uncle, Hazel, even more then he did his father, Fiver. Acorn hesitated, torn between his friends and his brother, Carrots. However, an encouraging call from Dogwood, who insisted that 'Campion wouldn't let them go without a responsible rabbit', sent him scurrying over, where he received a warm welcome from his pals.

He was distracted by the sounds of a furious argument going on not far away. Thorn and Terra looked as if they might be planning to start a fight, and although Campion could bet on who would win if it came to blows, Terra looked as if he was giving Thorn a pretty tough time of it.

"What about stay away from my sister do you not understand? Was it the stay, or the away, or..."

"I don't decide whether I stay away from her, as I cannot see when she is coming," Thorn pointed out.

"Shut up!" Terra snarled, "Just shut up!"

"Terra!" Aqua snapped, jumping between the two angry bucks, "What is it with you lately? Why don't you want me to be around Thorn?"

"I don't think he's a good influence on you is all!" Terra muttered.

"He's a better influence than you!"

"Hey, Thorn!" Juniper called, hoping to break up the argument, "Do you and Aqua want to come with me and TJ and Larch?"

"Sure," Thorn started, but Terra broke in.

"If Aqua's going with you bunch of lunatics, I'm coming too!"

Juniper shrugged.

"Sure, come on."

By this time, the other groups had formed: Mallow, Lilac, Truffle, Stormy, Carrots, Oak, and Gilia had all gathered together, while Birch, Vervainia, Mossy, Poplar, Splash, Ripple, Silverweed and Magnolia's younger son, and Clover's third son, Fog, were staring at each other uneasily, obviously stuck together. Only Alfalfa was left alone. The tubby orange buck looked around as if hoping someone would invite him to come join them, but of course, no one did. Thorn nudged Juniper meaningfully.

"Hey, Juniper, your brother looks a little lost over there."

Juniper groaned. Even though he and Alfalfa weren't really brothers, he considered him as the closest thing he had. Even though the little guy could be a major pain in the rear sometimes. If he had known that Thorn would use the things he had learned on their little 'escapade'-the one that ended with Juniper unconscious and Thorn stuck in a Shining Wire-he never would have told him anything. Then again...he had been pretty worked up at that point, after Thorn had unknowingly triggered a string of unwanted memories about the fate of his family.

"I noticed. Hey, Alfalfa, you can come with us."

The orange buck's face brightened.

"Really? Thanks, Juniper!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, come on!"

Even though it was still quite early in the morning, all the young rabbits set about finding a place to sleep for the night, as they knew it could take most of the day to find a safe camp.

"Pipkin," Miracle said nervously, "What if we can't find a safe place, or the bigger rabbits want to take it?"

"We'll be okay," Pipkin said, "We're Owsla now, remember?"

"I wish being in the Owsla made me braver," Whisper said quietly.

"It will," Pipkin assured him, "By the time you're grown up, you'll be the bravest rabbit in the warren, Whisper."

"I'm not sure I can be brave."

"Me brave!" Dandy-roo squeaked, "See, I got muscles."

Pipkin stifled a laugh.

"Muscles aren't everything. You have to be smart, too."

"So even though we're not big, we can be smart?" Miracle wondered.

"That's right."

"Well, even though I'm not brave, I'm going to try to be as smart as I can be," Whisper decided.

"That's the spirit," Pipkin said, "Now let's find our camp and defend it against all comers, with both brains and muscles!"

Juniper and TJ had declared themselves joint leaders of their group, to the annoyance of both Thorn and Terra, although neither was about to admit that he agreed in any way with the other.

Thorn and Aqua fell to the back of the group, and as the others hurried on, they contented themselves with walking slowly behind.

"You want to be the leader, don't you?" Aqua said knowingly, recognizing Thorn's brooding look.

"I don't mind who leads. There's no point in practicing for a position I can never have."

Aqua shook her head.

"There's something wrong with you, and if it isn't that, what?"

Thorn sighed.

"You know me too well. To be honest, it's Terra. I don't understand what he thinks I would possibly do to hurt you. I'm sure I would never try to harm you."

Aqua felt a pang of sadness at her friend's words. She knew Terra thought that Thorn wasn't a good friend for her because he couldn't see what was right in front of him, both literally and figuratively. Thorn had never seemed to realize how she cared for him. True, he was as good a best friend as any rabbit ever had, but Aqua wished he could be more than her best friend one day.

"Terra's just jealous," she lied, even though she knew her brother had only been looking out for her, "He'll get over it."

"I hope so," Thorn said, "He's not the sort of buck I'd like on my bad side."

Meanwhile, Phlox hopped along the runs toward his own burrow. The white rabbit's sharp eyes caught a flash of pure white fur as he rounded a corner.

Quietly, he hopped over to investigate. A small white doe blinked up at him with sad amber eyes.

"Snow," he sighed, "What are you doing in here? Why aren't you out on patrol with the others?"

"I didn't know there was a patrol," Snow said, "They called me a gypsy again, parli."

Phlox growled. Gypsies were different than hlessil, the rabbit term for homeless rabbits, for gypsies, unlike hlessil, traveled in groups. They were distrusted and welcomed nowhere, and were distinguished by their pure white fur and amber eyes. Snow, oddly, had the distinguishing traits of a gypsy, although neither Phlox nor Violet had amber eyes, and, as far as they knew, neither had their parents. Phlox was not sure of this, having no memory of his parents, but he strongly believed that his daughter was a completely normal kit, who just happened to look a little different.

"Don't listen to them, sweets," he said, "You're no gypsy, just a sweet little doe."

"But this isn't the first time," Snow said, "I don't want to go to Owsla practice, and I don't want to stay inside. I wish I could disappear, no one would notice!"

"I'd notice, and so would your marli, and your brothers and sister."

"They have friends," Snow whispered, "And they have each other. I'm just the runt. Just the extra sibling."

"Never!" Phlox declared, "Come on, let's go find Uncle Campion! I bet he has a carrot for you!"

"He's going to be mad at me," Snow murmured.

"He understands," Phlox said. "And so do I."

He rubbed at one of his basically non-existent ears. He knew all about being different. Even before his little...accident...concerning his former friend Vine, he had been a bit of an outcast. Again, Vine's fault. Even though he had settled his differences with the Efrafan Owsla Captain turned Chief Rabbit, and agreed to keep Vine's home warren-Outcast Down-a secret, he couldn't help but feel at bit angry whenever his thoughts strayed to the chocolate-furred buck.

Meanwhile, Birch was not having a very good time. Having gotten stuck in a group with the extremely optimistic and hyperactive Mossy, and the extremely annoying Vervainia, he was very much ready to punch someone. The little grey buck had made his attitude towards the entire thing very clear to everyone, and had as a result been kicked out of their temporary residence.

"I really don't care what you're doing in there, but I'm sleeping!" he announced as a torrent of loud laughter sounded inside the shelter.

"Oh, shut up, you wet blanket!" Vervainia called.

"Wet blanket yourself! What is that anyways?"

"You!"

"Put a carrot in it, Vervainia, you're worse than Twinleaf!"

"Twinleaf's nicer than both of you," Poplar said gravely, "Now sleep!"

"Okay, I'll sleep," Mossy said, "On you!"

"Mossy...get off!"

Mallow and Stormy had often gone on exploring trips separate from Owsla practice, and they knew all the best spots to camp. Mallow headed for one that, while comparatively close, could be easier reached by a roundabout route. Thus, it was quite dark when they finally arrived. Gilia yawned.

"I'm tired, Mallow. I'm gonna get to sleep."

Mallow smiled at his little sister.

"You do that."

Truffle sighed.

"I'm going to sleep too."

The other rabbits waited in silence until the two rabbits were asleep. Then, Stormy spoke.

"So, which one?"

Mallow's cold blue eyes surveyed the sleeping rabbits.

"Lilac, why don't you choose?" he said, turning to the pretty silver doe.

"I don't care which," Lilac said, "Kill them both if you want."

"We have to frame Fiver, remember?" Stormy interrupted, "He could hardly kill Gilia, let alone two of them."

"He has to be out of the way," Mallow said, "The plan depends on it. So we'll kill Gilia. Make it someone close to that old fool Hazel."

"You're going to kill your own sister?" Oak asked.

"You have a problem with that, Oak?" Mallow asked softly.

"Uh, no, no problems," Oak said hurriedly. "Just curious."

Lilac turned to the fifth conspirator.

"You're awfully quiet, Carrots. Feeling all right?"

Carrots shrugged.

"Fine. Just tired."

"Get some sleep," Mallow said, "We have some long days ahead. Stormy, you can stand sentry."

The orange buck nodded, and as the others went to sleep, he stared off into the night, green eyes gleaming with the excitement that would inevitably be caused the next day.

Yes, I do know I started the action too quickly...but I don't care. Anyways, hope you like it, peoples! :) Please review! :)