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The snows of winter were finally beginning to recede, spring's first blooms shooting forth. The first of the spring kittens would arrive soon, and flay was once again beginning to taste green and fresh. Why, just a few days ago, Crocus had seen her namesake poking through the thinning white powder. It should have been a happy time for the warren... but the Owsla's patrols had been doubled. There were... odd things happening. Rabbits disappearing, strange hlessi about. No good could come of this, that much was certain. Today, she and Ginkgo were paired together on a longer patrol, sweeping the outskirts of Watership's territory. It wasn't, to be honest, her ideal assignment, for she'd much rather be getting to spend this much time alone with Badassi- but it wasn't a bad second choice. She had nothing but respect for Ginkgo, especially after the last farm raid, and was very good friends with the runner who idolized him so. Getting to spend more time with her fellow officer would certainly be good for Owsla morale. And teasing him a little would be good for her morale. "I wonder which of the runners it'll be who brings us news from the warren; it's almost time for an update, I think. Lamb's Ear, maybe? She's a fast one. Or maybe Sparrow. Or Charcoal. Or- no, no, I forgot. They get to pick their own assignments, so it'll be Dogsbane," she mused aloud, making sure Ginkgo could hear her.

"Indeed not; knowing him as I do, he'll be fretting over you like your own marli and will be off like a shot just to make sure you're feeling all right. It's good to have a friend as loyal as he," Crocus said gently. "And it's good that you've recovered well enough to go out on patrol again. I... it was a miracle that you survived, let alone became strong again. A lot of us were worried. The warren would have suffered had we lost you." Crocus spoke guilelessly– she knew well what would have happened to the Owsla had they lost such an experienced senior officer. But she wasn't speaking as a sycophant; she was just stating the truth.
"And if my eyes don't deceive me, that's a rabbit off in the distance there. Our long-awaited runner? Take a look, see if you know that silhouette."

It was amazing how true those words were. He had volunteered even before the owsla of the down could ask who wanted to go. He'd been briefed on the news and then set out.

The snow was great fun for the runner, who bounded with great speed through the deeper parts and stampeded in great zigzags through the slush, sliding where he could. He was always alert and always careful though, ears and eyes set on the sky. But there were no hungry birds or foxes out and life was pretty good, the sun shining overhead.


He spied the pair pretty easily. They were darker to the snow and on a lower part of a small rise. He galloped towards them, sliding to a stop with a little wave of snow. He pranced in place on all four paws like a little show-pony as he shook the white dust off of him, a silly smile on his face. "GOOOOD MORNING!" He delivered a noserub to Crocus's whiskers and then pushed his whole head against Ginkgo in a nuzzle, foot thundering against the ground hyperly.

"Good morning, Dogsbane. Are you well?"

Ginkgo winced, but only just slightly, at Dogsbane's exuberant greeting, but returned the nuzzle with a quick one of his own. He'd grown used to the runner's loud personality over the past season or so - a far cry from their first few encounters. Where his patience seemed to run thin with others, it seemed to know no bounds around the younger buck. He waggled his ears slightly and pulled away from the gray furred buck and glanced towards Crocus, but only briefly.

"Excellent, that means I'll actually get a decent's night sleep tonight! Though putting Dragon and Bubo in the same space... I swear, if Dragon wasn't ex-hutch, I'd wager flay on Bubo being his father." Crocus stretched, shaking her limbs out. "But three missing... This isn't good. This isn't good at all. And if there's a hlessi in the area... y'know, a bunch of those disappearances have been cropping up around the appearance of strange hlessi. I wonder if this brown fella knows anything. We should check the area for him. What do you think, Ginkgo? We could take Dogsbane with us. A runner might be helpful if we have to run him down to ask him questions." And come on, I can't separate the two of you now. Dogsbane just looks so happy.

Dogsbane playfully leaped over Ginkgo's back but didn't quite clear it, laying on him, his tummy flush to his spine. "Aww, is that alllll i'm good for, ginkgy-goo?" He jokingly pouted and slipped off him, giving an exasperated sigh and turning his back to them, rubbing one of his ears.

But of course I'll be glad to come with you and help!" He bounced around to face them. It was so rare he got to hang out with Gingko on patrol, thoughts of dragon and bubo's relationship slipping his brain. The missing rabbits, however, was not. At least it wasn't kittens being stolen from their nests, but still... it boded ill on the mind and heart. One of his other friends, a runner, had vanished with the last group. While Dogsbane wasn't overly impressed with some choices of the warren, he would stay loyal as long as Ginkgo did.

"You two promise you won't disappear, okay?" He fell in between them. "The owsla have searched a few more entrances and there's no signs of elil digging in and taking them. But there were tracks. They went into the river but didn't come up the other side. Its strange."

"I asked you not to call me that." Ginkgo sighed as Dogsbane slid off of him and he flicked an ear, but did not chastise the runner. He was a bit embarrassed, what with the way Dogsbane was acting around Crocus. Flustered, he turned his attention back to Crocus.

"It might be worth a larger investigation in that direction. We definitely can't have missing kittens and if this carries on much longer..." He didn't really want to think about it, but he did anyways. Defection was one thing - there were no elil, so he had to assume it was defection, but if it became more widespread, the warren as a whole would obviously suffer. Morale was low, even with the arrival of spring.

"Lets see what we can find, then, shall we? If that hlessi is still around, surely we could drag something out of him."

Crocus, too, had thought about parenthood- and with more and more females finding themselves with child in this early spring, the thoughts pressed heavily on her mind. She'd thought plenty about having kittens before, but it was all a question of finding the right buck. She certainly had one in mind, a male she felt... well, to be honest, very strongly about... but the two of them were both so busy with the patrolling and dealing with the intrawarren politics that happened above their heads that she'd not been able to actually tell him- or even figure out if he was interested.

"It's a shame..." she began to say, then paused. Ginkgo and Dogsbane's... arrangement... wasn't exactly a secret, but it wasn't something that anybody really openly acknowledged. Especially with the importance of kittens to the warren. But the two of them had the exact opposite of her problem; they'd found a mate to care for, but they couldn't have kittens. She was silent for a moment, choosing her next words very carefully. "It's a shame that this is happening now. With all the spring kittens on the way. The stress of it all... it can't be good for the new mothers. Especially the young and weaker ones. I could make the argument that we need more of the ranks to have kittens- while it would take some of the does out of commission for a while, I think that the strength of experience would end up being a great boon. Strong kittens means for a strong future, and with the rate of disappearances, we'll need a strong future. And it's not just physical strength- kittens raised by, say, you, Dogsbane and you, Ginkgo, would grow up with the mental toughness the warren needs. " She'd chosen the conjunction carefully; despite their differences, the bucks would be excellent fathers. Perhaps they could find some orphaned kittens somewhere? Or... perhaps a third variable could be added to the equation. A thought struck her, the glimmerings of an arrangement. She wanted kittens with a strong father, but didn't necessarily feel like part of a couple. What if they wanted kittens, too, but just didn't have a marli to bear them? Certainly their personal preferences could be... overlooked... for the short time it would take, and then they'd be there to help raise them. It had never been done before, but who would dare say anything? Especially if her theory about the strength of bloodline was correct. Hopping alongside the two of them, she watched their faces carefully to gauge their reaction. Perhaps if they were both interested, she would propose it. But if they weren't, she wasn't going to insult them or make things more awkward for the pair of them.