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 Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:41 pm
"Hn, right..." Brambleberry muttered quietly after a moment or two, his ears flicking behind him as he continued to eye the other with a somewhat-incredulous sort of gaze. He wasn't quite sure wither he believed him or not, but he didn't say anything more about the matter.
"Well, if anyone has stopped running it's quite an effort to fill in the burrow. The job might take all day." Brambleberry said flatly. As he turned to leave however, he paused. Though he preferred to keep to himself most of the time, Bram did occasionally enjoy company. The other buck had gotten him into a rather chatty mood.
"You may accompany me, if you wish. It would be lovely if you're any good at digging."
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:42 pm
Digging? Digging, Tangleweed was an expert at! And, the idea of having a companion for a little while was more than welcome! He’d always had his mother, brothers and sisters around him, and the other rabbits in the hutches when they went to eat corn and hay from the barn. For the most part the other rabbits in the warren had avoided him. He didn’t blame them, he was a stranger—but he got bored very quickly and missed the company of others.
“Sure, I’d like to come. I could see more of the warren, and it’s nice to have someone to talk to. I can dig pretty well, if I do say so myself. My mother taught us, so that we could break into gardens. My sisters can dig deeper holes, but none of them are as fast as I am.”
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:43 pm
"Well we don't have to worry about digging deep. The burrows for Hlessi are typically very shallow for this reason." Brambleberry assured as he lopped over to another hole to roust the rabbit inside. "Oh, and you may want to silflay as we go. It's usually what I tend to do. There are a lot of burrows to cover."
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:44 pm
“Alright! Thank you for letting me come with you.” Tangleweed said, pleased. He followed Brambleberry quietly, enjoying the larger buck’s presence. The air outside the tunnel was fresh and cool, and the scent of past rain lingered over the ground. Swallows flew lightning-quick overhead and twittered softly. Were clouds not hanging in the sky, the morning sun would be rising over the hills.
Today promised to be a mild day.
Tangleweed nosed through the grass, happy to find a clump of young tender clover. “If you are interested,” He said to Brambleberry, “there is some nice clover here.” It was only polite to share.
“So, Bram—can I call you Bram?—Were you born in this warren?”
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:53 pm
When the doe down in the warm dark tunnel shook off the vestiges of sleep and came up out of her burrow Brambleberry came over to Tangleweed's side, thanked him, and took him up on the offer. He took a few nibbles, eating the small leaves up happily, but he was sure to leave most of it for the other rabbit. "You may call me Bram, though there is another rabbit here in the warren by the name of 'Bramble' who usually assumes that nickname. Most everyone simply calls me Brambleberry because it is easier. And yes, I was born in the warren, to a strong Marli a des of rabbits strong."
Really, even though Brambleberry's seemed rather proud that there were three rabbits in his litter, he didn't see a reason to tell Tangleweed that the other two were his "little sisters".
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:02 pm
“A marli? What’s that?” Tangleweed asked as he chewed. He nodded his head in greeting to the doe before she began cleaning her face. “Do you like it here? What I’ve seen it is comfortable, seems safe too, I haven’t spotted a dog, cat or hawk since I’ve been here.”
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:05 pm
"She's a marli." Brambleberry said, nodding in the direction of the doe behind them who was grooming herself, "A marli is a doe who is with kittens."
It was strange to Brambleberry how Tangleweed didn't seem to know much of anything about his own peoples. It really must have been because he was raised on a farm, near men.
"I enjoy it here very much. I may have never lived anywhere else, but I am not so naive as to think that everywhere is nearly as safe or pleasant as it is here on the down. There are no cats and no dogs for miles around, and birds such as hawks don't usually bother with us. It is a safe and good place to live, but it's the Owsla who keep it that way."
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:06 pm
Tangleweed nodded, his black ears flicking slightly with the movement, to show his understanding of the new word. Marli, mother.
He listened carefully to the other buck as he spoke about the warren. It seemed like a good place, from what Tangleweed had seen of it so far, and he was greatly relieved to have come across it when he had. Finding the warren by chance had been a lucky break for lost Tangleweed, and tentative allowance to stay had been even luckier.
Owsla--he knew that word.
“They’re the ones I ran into. Yes, it is very clever of your chief to have an owsla for protection. Your owsla is very strong, I remember. That is good for you.” Tangleweed said, feeling more comfortable with a word he knew.
Tangleweed paid attention to all of Brambleberry’s reactions. He was watching for clues and hints about how he should behave himself. Asking about the meaning of words still earned him odd looks, but Brambleberry answered his questions without much fuss. Asking about names of living things—like the Black Rabbit—got Tangleweed much more dramatic results. Tangleweed concluded he would have to find out the names’ owners on his own—other rabbits in the warren were likely to react similar to Brambleberry
As he nibbled at the clovers, the dew on the leaves wet his nose and caused him to sniff and rub it with his fore-foot. “You’re part of the owsla, yes? Did you get those scars while with them?”
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:08 pm
"I am." Brambleberry said admittedly. Not so long ago he would have been rather proud to have said that he was Owsla. It had ben all he'd ever thought about since he was a kitten, but the events surrounding his initiation had left him bitter and wondering if it had all ever really been worth it... of course, the scars tied into THAT.
Brambleberry rolled his shoulder and turned his head slightly so that he could catch glimpse of the deep gouges in his flank, where fur no longer grew.
"No, I got the scars before I made Owsla. I got in a fight with a Homba---a fox---to try and protect a friend, and barely escaped with my life. My friend wasn't so lucky. Because of my bravery the Captain of the Owlsa, Cocklebur, decided that I had merit enough to be made an officer. Ironic really, because that was my friend's dream; we were supposed to be made Owsla together."
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:10 pm
“Oh,” Tangleweed said softly, glancing up from the clovers to the other’s eyes, “I’m sorry. That sounds very hard. I am sure that your friend is proud of you, if a friend of mine was to do something like that, and still carry on, I would be honored to know them.”
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:12 pm
something like a smile tugged at one of Brambleberry's split lapine lips but he quickly shrugged it off. Knowing that someone was proud of you wouldn't ever bring that person back.
"Well, he would have done the same for me. What else could I have done? Anyway, there are a lot more Hlessi to roust. Do you want me to leave you to that clover?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:14 pm
Tangleweed laughed at himself, took one last bite and shook his head, “No, no—I’m sorry, I’m coming.” He stretched, playfully took a few bounds through the grass (to show he was quite full of energy) and waited for Brambleberry to come.
“By the way,” He asked, as the other drew near, “you wouldn’t happen to know if there is a large farm nearby, do you?”
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