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They certainly hadn't escaped the notice of the rabbits who lived here, who were obviously on the alert. Lark felt he might go tharn for a very brief moment as a large, slate gray buck ascended down the slope. He was joined by a gray and white doe, a small brown buck, and another buck who looked just as much in charge as the gray one did. They would clearly be outnumbered if a fight broke out and to turn tail would only draw more suspicion if they hung around past the outskirts, wouldn't it? He took a deep breath and pressed on, though not before issuing his followers a command under his breath.

"Stick close and follow my lead. Let me do the talking and remember what we discussed prior to leaving. Frith watch over you all." He wasn't too worried about looking the part of a hlessi, he certainly felt like one at this rate. What he did worry about was the scent of other rabbits upon him - it hadn't had time to properly fade, but he hoped his cover story would fly past the chief and captain. He made his approach, looking as worn as possible. He paused at a decent distance from the rabbits - close enough to share words, yet far enough to be considered respectful of the rabbits who lived here.

"Good afternoon, friends."

Bloodtoes huddled down between a couple of kittens, shivering, but smiling despite the cold bite in the air as she watched the two chow down on a few tiny pieces of flay. Her smile faltered when she realized how weak and ragged the two looked, just as weak as the flay they had tucked up between their paws. The winter months hit harder this year, Frith’s blessings few and far between as snow piled up on the down, showing no signs of stopping. Her thin coat didn’t do much to keep out the cold, but it did enough. Tucking the two closer together, she slid out from between them with the promise to return in a moment. She needed a second to gather herself, and she would tan her own hide if she ever slipped in front of the little ones. The last thing they needed in these rough times was negativity from the one who had always told them to stay positive.

She did not move closer to any doe or buck, instead she slipped around the corner of one of the runs, and simply stared at the frozen ground where a small stream of light filtered in. Most would not survive this winter, and their numbers were pitiful enough as it stood. They needed something, anything. Frith, they needed nothing short of a miracle.

The distant thud of a rabbit’s foot shook the ground above Bloodtoes, and her ears swiveled at the slight thunder it caused, but nothing more. She chose to stay wrapped up in her own mind, if only for a few more moments. It was probably nothing more than kittens playing up top anyway. Her mind flickered to thoughts of the black rabbit, stealing another away and leaving the lifeless body to thump to the ground above her head, but she quickly shook those thoughts from her mind. Those thoughts dwelled in a deeper, more dangerous part of her head, and she was not mentally stable enough to be able to go down those roads and return any longer.

Ginger Paw was frozen to the core, his bones had turned to ice and his blood was freezing over, he was sure of this. Snow had crystallized and insisted on sticking to the soft fur and tender skin of his lopped ears, both of which dragged the snow banks as the moved. The sheer weight of them was enough to keep him slunk to the ground alone, and he did his best to keep them tucked up against his sides, though it impaired his hearing more than he would have liked, which meant relying on his comrades to listen to the sounds of the land for him.

Even through this though, he had stilled his tongue of all those complaints, knowing he had it better off than most. The ones who had not made it through their last venture, his mate, his unborn litter, no longer had a body to feel, be it the freezing cold or the safe warmth of a burrow.

He had kept close to Feather Ear and not far behind Lark, knowing that if things went sour and the other two turned tail, they would have his back and he theirs. He moved through the snow, looking for all the world like discolored patches of ground as the white of his coat blended with the rest of the land. He did not speak, but his eyes were alight with a small fire that had returned to him with the past few days. He silently willed that flame to melt the ice from his bones, which had become sore and stiff, but even with all cold and pain that effected him, as well as his comrades he was sure, the warren was not all that far. It took much less time than he had been anticipating, which was a blessing from Frith. They moved on Lark’s mark, and keeping a respectful distance from Lark himself, but never enough to draw any muddled conclusions, Ginger Paw focused all his efforts that morning on looking for all the world like a hlessi, which feeling as rough as he did, did not come as a challenge.

It couldn't ever be easy, could it? Potato made an effort to keep up with the group, nervously watching Lark and keeping his mouth shut. When Lark called out his friendly greeting he made an effort to let his body language echo that greeting. He stayed submissive and silent, but made sure that the way he held his ears couldn't be mistaken for hostility.

The loud grey rabbit send a shiver down his spine. He'd met that kind before, and when Cocklebur snapped at a doe that tried to greet them he couldn't hold back a flinch.

The scarred Rah wasn't as hostile, but that didn't mean anything to Potato. The ones near the top didn't have to dominate everyone around them at all times, but they could turn nasty if they had to. How else did they climb to the top?

He had to force his ears up a notch again. Friendly. Submissive. We're not hostile. Not at all. He kept repeating that mantra in his head, waiting to see what Lark would do next. He watched the curious warren members that were gathering, trying to pick out the telltale signs of unhappiness and low rank. It took one to know one, right? And perhaps he could find someone that was fed up and ready to stop being picked on. Ready to start a new, better life.

Oh, lovely. Barely meeting other rabbits and Cockleburr was already verbally attacking them. Liadon's ears went right back, especially at the way he treated poor Silver Flame. And for what? Daring to be friendly, oh Frith no, couldn't have things like manners mucking up the place! And what, precisely, was 'her place' anyway? Once others started talking about 'places' like they were immoveable objects, something designated since birth, society collapsed, quite frankly.

Hm.

Liadon's eyes flickered back towards the hlessi again. Every gesture they made—--especially the little brown spotted one----screamed submission. Just more hlessi, seeking shelter from the harsh winter.

That was interesting. Liadon hopped closer to Silver Flame, although she didn't know the doe's name. “What do you think?” she whispered to the other doe, keeping her eyes on the strangers. “It's not often we get strangers. Especially not in these harsh times. Do you think they've traveled from another warren?”

Perhaps another warren had collapsed under the weight of winter and these were the survivors.

Pepper's eyes narrowed slightly at the scene before him. Cocklebur sure wasn't making life any easier for the traveling rabbits. Bounding forward, to join the group Pepper glanced at the newcomers. "Good day my friends" Let no one ever accuse Pepper of being a bad host.

"Cocklebur, please mind your tone. Just because they are strangers doesn't mean they are to immediately be questioned. Let them rest before they tell us their tale"

Ginkgo almost couldn't believe his ears. The tawny buck tilted his head to glance at the new, gray officer that had approached - almost forgetting the doe that had greeted the strangers and the strangers themselves. He was surprised an officer would speak to their captain in such a tone, especially one with as sour a temper as Cocklebur, but said nothing. This would sort itself out and he would watch. He'd not been on Cocklebur's bad side often and it was certainly not a place he would ever want to be.





They were many, though most of them looked as though the hadn't eaten a good meal in half way near forever. Skin hung off some of them and tempers were short, which would be a double edged sword. Many rabbits might be desperate to leave! But tempers flaring would be dangerous and while he had half a mind to stand up to Cocklebur himself, it would have been a stupid, stupid thing to do. Still, he felt a burning in his heart at being spoken to in such a way.

He had a job to do though.

He balked like a wary, travel worn rabbit, though his paws stayed firmly in place. One of the does had called out, a pretty pale creature who seemed friendly... Maybe he would try and speak with her later? Regardless, he smiled faintly and nodded towards her, even as Cocklebur sent her off.

"No offense taken - times are hard for every rabbit. I am Lark and these fellows are what remains of my warren... It..." He paused for a moment, doing his best to seem unhappy, his lips downturning to match his drooping ears. "Man deemed fit to make it their hunting ground, if you will. We were all that managed to escape." He shuddered.

And then was interrupted from speaking further by a silver furred owsla officer, or who he assumed was an officer. He chastised the captain after the rah had already done so and tensions were running high. He backed away a few steps and braced for an attack that didn't come. The silver one was lucky it didn't and the brown buck's heart thudded as he waited for the two to square off.

Raven was late to the party and felt more than a little upset at herself for that. She made her way to stand behind Cocklebur and the others, seeing easily over their shoulders and staring down the hlessi rabbits with a loud threatening grunt, "Why do you think we should show these things one ounce of kindness? They look about as trustworthy as a homba in a rabbit skin"


Hare wasn't sure what to make of these visitors. He knew he served no role of importance so voicing his opinion on the matter would be more than dangerous, it would be downright foolish. "This is terrible... terrible, terrible!" he bit his tongue with his large front teeth to stop himself from speaking further, but slowly inched his way closer to the group gathered in front of the hlessi to get a better look.

"Hlessi are the most horrible creatures... I've heard the most awful tales about them", almost as if he didn't recognize his own nasal voice, Hare put the back of his front paw to his mouth to stop it from happening again.