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 Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 5:46 pm
 It was a beautiful day on the crest of watership down. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the flowers in bloom. The signs of spring were all around! The grass was finally green again, and allowed for better silflay than over the winter. Many of the rabbits were out on the down, enjoying the lovely warm afternoon. One of them happened to be the chief, lying in the shade near the beech hanger and thoughtfully chewing on some clover. Blue eyes lazily watched the rabbits around him, seeming to not have a care in the world.
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Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 6:21 pm
 Emerging from the warren between two rather large roots of the beech tree that stood sentinel to Watership Down, he shook himself as he stood in the sunlight; brushing his ears with a paw to discard whatever dried grass or dirt might be clinging to his fur. Ambling further into the sunlight, Nuthatch stretched his back legs before nosing into the loam and sniffing for silflay. Raising up and looking around curiously, making a periodic check that all was well, he spotted the chief rabbit within the shade, and twitched an ear curiously. He had never met the chief before that he could recall, and perhaps now would be the opportunity. However, there was nothing for him to bring to the rabbit’s attention other than himself, and was unsure of bothering him for something as simple as that. Cobalt eyes searching the rest of the grounds for other rabbits instead, he sat there, unsure of what to do.
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Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 7:55 pm
 Nosing through the grasses on the side of the hill, a slim brown doe savored the scent of the new growth of spring. Finally, a time when one could really stretch their limbs and move about! But not before examining the surroundings. She watched as the chief nibbled a piece of clover, overseeing the other content members of the warren. A slight shiver tore down her spine as she stared at his fierce scars and torn ear, but the warm sun chased it away. This was spring! A time to focus on the positives! That was exactly what she set out to do.
The doe excitedly poked through the grasses like an unruly young outskirter, searching for the best flay. She didn't even notice the oddly-colored buck until she bumped into his side. "Oh, sorry about that!" she said, blinking her dark eyes. She had seen this male before... that's right, she sat next to him while listening to a storyteller a season ago. Sure, they had never been formally introduced, but she wondered if he recognized her all the same.
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Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 8:33 pm
He watched her approach, wondering if she noticed him sitting there, and was rewarded with her colliding into his flank while she foraged in the sunlight. Bouncing back a bit to give her room to straighten herself, Nuthatch watched her blink and look at him, her expression somewhat curious.
“No harm done.”
He sniffed a bit, something about her ringing a bell but he couldn’t quite grasp what. Her scent was vaguely familiar, but they lived in the same warren after all, that in and of itself wasn’t such a shock.
“Do I know you, by chance? Perhaps from a game of bobstones?"
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Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 9:53 pm
Bracken was certainly use to the stares that he got from members of the warren, concerning his scars. They hardly ever bothered him, for in some ways they were marks of honor. Although that ear could certainly be a bother as it flopped in his face from time to time, just as it did when he looked up to see a buck and a doe nearby.
Does, he had yet to even take a doe for himself. Many of the Owsla had wondered and asked, but Bracken had always blown such questions off. Perhaps one of these days, when he found the right one.
The chief yawned, revealing large incisors. His chipped ear turning as he listened to the twitter of birds nearby. He really did enjoy peaceful moments such as these.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:47 pm
 Beechwood shook his fur out as he emerged from the depths of the warren. The thin yellow light of the early day reflected off of his neat sandy colored fur. He twitched his noes at the familiar scent of all the rabbits of his warren that swirled in the warm breeze.Filled with sudden energy he bounded across the grass and towards the chief of the warren who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. "Don't you just love days like these?" He exclaimed lightly.
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 4:00 pm
Columbine smiled at the buck, dazzled by his bright blue eyes.
"Oh, maybe." she shrugged casually, sitting back on her haunches.
"I think we both listened to a story last winter. Wasn't it the one about Elil-Hrair-Rah outsmarting the Pfeffa?" she asked, a bit too eagerly. Does he remember? Columbine could remember that story so clearly in her mind... just like all of the other tales the storyteller spun. She was always there to listen, ever since she was a kitten. Giggling slightly at the mere memory of the funny tale, she turned to nibble at a few of the grasses near her paws. A patch of clover, her favorite!
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Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 6:52 pm
He turned to watch the eager buck tear across the grass, making him wonder if perhaps he was a runner. Watching as the sandy male approached the Chief with such ease, it made Nuthatch even more sure that he must be a runner to be so bold. A hind leg coming up to scratch his ear, he pondered on how he would get into the Owsla himself. He thought he could prove himself, if someone gave him the chance. Shaking his head lightly before gazing at the doe again, he pondered for a moment before giving her an answer.
“Pfeffa… those great green eyes. I remember being just a small kitten when I heard that tale, the way he described it almost brought on tharn.”
He could remember being so frightened as a youngster that he had trouble sleeping for some time. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember how the Prince Rabbit escaped, or even what the moral of the tale was. It would probably do him well to ask Donovan when he got the chance, there was always the possibility of running into a cat while serving in the Owsla…
He watched her gently, she seemed like a happy creature, and the story didn’t seem to bother her in recalling it. Perhaps he shouldn’t have mentioned being scared, especially in front of her. Well, a bit too late for that, and a smart rabbit would be afraid of the hypnotic glare of a pfeffa in any case.
Smiling slightly at her obvious happy surprise at the clover, he bent down to join her in the silflay, leaving the clover for her and contending himself with the new, rich grass instead.
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Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 1:39 am
"Hmmmm?" Bracken hummed as he tilted his ears back and looked up at the young yellow buck. Blue eyes blinked at Beechwood once, before a light smirk settled across his face.
"Why yes... it is rather pleasant, isn't it?" The large buck stretched his forelimbs lazily, and continued his lounging. Really though, as scary as Bracken might look, he didn't bite. Usually anyway.
"And what is your name, young fellow?" he asked, certainly not having memorized the names of everyone in his warren. Although Bracken tried to know as many he could.
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Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 8:14 pm
"Beechwood." He replied quite proud of his rather strong sounding name, or so he'd like to think, "Its nice to make your acquaintance sir."
He bowed his head slightly in respect for the chief.
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 12:42 pm
"Ah, yes... well, likewise Beechwood" the chief said with a nod, his torn ear flopping again with the motion. The youngster was likely trying to make a good impression on him somehow, but he didn't so much mind. As long as Beechwood didn't do something to get on his nerves.
The new upstarts fresh from outskirting were always trying to get ahead. But then, Bracken remembered those days also. He wasn't old, no, not by far... the buck is in his prime but he was quite mature and well experienced. Something of a hero in the warren, for those who would remember his days in Owsla.
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Rosewood ambled up the tiny slope to where the rest of the rabbits of her warren were actively seeking the best spring had to offer. She'd already had her morning fill, and was ready to mingle a bit. She noticed a young doe and buck seemingly coming together in the joys of being able to get out of the tunnels, but shook her head. She'd not interrupt anything they might be forming, it could be important. That left her with another more interesting choice. The Chief.
Hopping casually up, she could hear the conversation he was having with a buck she didn't know. Many had been approaching him lately it seemed, at a chance to join the Owsla and do something useful other than be outskirters. She wanted something a little more substantial however. Hopping up and nibbling on some fresh green in front of her, she made her presence known with a little sneeze. After all, what was spring without a little pollen in one's nose?
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 4:38 pm
Keeping her eyes down as she nibbled at the clover, Columbine listened to the male, and watched him as he eyed the other bucks and the Chief. Shaking her head slowly, she looked up at him slowly. "You look like you could take on the Pfeffa-rah, if anyone asked me. Not that anyone is asking me, or anything. I don't know why anyone would want to ask me, after all, I am not a senior doe, I just do the digging, eventually will get kit- Ahem." after furiously backpedaling, Columbine finally realized that it would just be better to shut up. Her face showed no other sign of emotion except her perked ears suggested embarrassment. Her last thought before locking up was "Well, it is spring, after all..."
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 6:22 pm
 Sparrow hesitantly sniffed above the warren. He had been wary of the grasses above for a a day or two now, but his grumbling stomach was louder than his "friend's" constant twittering. He was too hungry to pay attention to the warnings. Besides, he couldn't be sure of anything happening today or tomorrow, it wasn't as if Zorn-rah was giving him any details.
Scratching at his ear lightly, he pulled himself out of the safe burrow, and looked around with his bright purple eyes. Other adults were here, some he had seen around, but never were never introduced. He did tend to keep away from everyone, they often saw him weird for his habit of talking to the unseen.
He also saw the chief, and made a quick note not to go too close to him, to save annoying him.
Instead he decided to stay near the hole and eat fairly nervously.
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 1:04 pm
Hearing a sneeze, Bracken's attention shifted away from Beechwood to look at a nearby doe. A little smirk played on his face as he noticed her somewhat close proximity, for it seemed she was trying to be noticed yet making it look like she wasn't.
"Is there something I can do for you?" he asked of the doe.
It was a well known fact that the chief hadn't taken any mates for himself. Which was somewhat unusual since most chiefs helped themselves to the does of the warren. Whether he was merely uninterested in any of them, thought himself too good, or waiting for the right one(s), was a subject of gossip that Bracken was indeed aware of.
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