“He died on a Patrol, as he would have wished. One showery afternoon in April, out beyond Kingsclere, a Patrol he was leading encountered two wandering cats at close quarters. All five rabbits stood their ground, and there was a sharp tussle before the cats were glad to make their escape. Campion, however, was mortally wounded and died where he had fallen.”

During my first read throughs of Watership Down and Tales from Watership Down, Campion never really stood out to me, but on my most recent reading of Tales from Watership Down for whatever reason his story stood out the most. So here depicted, is the ending of his story as well as the end of the book, where I have imagined Campion being greeted by the Black Rabbit much the same as Hazel. Indeed much the same with Hazel, the legend of Campion lives on as the final lines of the book state, “On dark, rainy evenings, if a benighted Patrol became lost and uncertain, a spirit of confidence would enter the leader’s heart and guide them home. This they knew to be Captain Campion, onetime hero of Efrafa, but no less a hero to the rabbits of Watership Down.”

Art by the amazingly talented Kisara Fury