[ORP] Sickness at the Arbor?

[MoonRazor]

From within the bush, there might have drifted the sound of voices bickering in whispered, hushed tones about what to do or what not to do.

They had been discovered. It was, for some, the end of the world.

If whoever was inside had considered answering the rabbits' questions, they showed no sign of it. Instead, there was a pause, and then from within the darkness, another rabbit burst forth, charging out into the midst of the gathered rabbits, screaming, "DON'T EAT HER. TAKE ME INSTEAD!!!"

He threw himself dramatically, valiantly (he hoped) in front of the rock behind which the lilac doe quivered. He was ready for a heroic death. He had prepared for it all his life. It was time.  

[polliwoggi]

"No, don't--"

But it was too late, and after that valiant cry another face popped out of the bush, only to pop back into it; a moment later, it popped out again, a splotched nose wriggling furiously as its owner struggled to make sense of what was going on. There was noise, chaos, dramatic yelling - he always hated the dramatic yelling - but no scent of death or sounds of pain.

With no rush of action sending him scrabbling, the rabbit lifted his ears, listening as he watched - still from the safety of the bush, of course - with a fearful curiosity. Something may have found them, but they weren't dead yet - and he intended to stay as alive as possible, thank you, monsters or no, thank you.

That didn't mean he had to go throwing himself out into the fray like some silly guard or something, either, though. Leave that to rabbits who enjoyed that kind of thing.  

[Ellanoire]

The spotty lilac doe peaked her head over the sheltering rock again, taking in the sight of these would be murderers. Or monsters. Maybe even murder monsters. She eyed the group that faced her, then checked about for her companions. No smell of blood assaulted her. Yet. Things could still go badly. After all this was a Forbidden Place.

"W-we request not to be eaten, O Giant Ones." She watched for any sudden movements, and when none seemed forth coming, she continued. "We apologize for wandering into your hunting grounds. But uh ... we're just looking for safe passage ..." She was quaking, but she'd managed to get everything out she needed to say. Probably.

moonrazor

einna firekeeper

sullivan

 

[MoonRazor]

"Uhm, EXCUSE ME," Little Brother piped up after all the action had stopped. He had apparently found his courage again after being scared half to death by the spotty lilac, and was glaring and her and her dramatic companion with as stern a face as he could muster. How dare they go about scaring folks like it was their job!

Why were they so dramatic? What was going on?

He started again when a third face popped out of the bush. Were they going to keep emerging like this?

"Are you asking US not to eat you?? Are we the Giant Ones? We are literally no bigger than you???" He had... so many questions. So. Many.

Ellanoire

Sullivan

einna firekeeper

ars naberius

variable nonsense

 

[Sullivan]

Junie had taken a moment now to realize she was not being attacked, and the moment was long enough to bring a flush of embarrassment under her fur at how silly she must have looked running like a baby. This was NO way to show her father she was ready to be a full-fledged guard. Patting her ruffled fur back into place, she sat up on her haunches and glared at these not-that-scary-after-all strangers.

"You know, running around scaring patrols is a good way to get yourselves in trouble!" She called huffily to the weird rabbits.
"And YEAH, what he said," she waved a paw at Little Brother, "we are the same size as you pretty much??"

Drift looked back and forth from the rabbit apparently sacrificing himself and the other cowering doe begging not to be eaten and shook his head. He was trying to make sense of ... any of this. And he could see many shapes in there, there were more than he had expected! Safe passage? Being eaten? Hunting grounds? Do they think we are cannibals? Maybe they were just so used to how terrible things are in the Tanglewood?

"I don't think anyone is planning on eating anyone else today... we are on a patrol from the Arbor, a warren nearby! There has got to be a misunderstanding, are you from Tanglewood...? Are you ill?" He looked at their patchy fur and fearful trembling and wondered if they were maybe all suffering some sort of terrible disease, and resisted the urge to back away.

MoonRazor

Ars Naberius

variable nonsense

 

[Einna Firekeeper]

Rosemary gave this new rabbit an annoyed look. "Obviously we aren't going to EAT you...." She scoffed and shook her head. "We're all rabbits...." What was with this weird doe? She and the other ones did look slightly odd, a little on the small side, some weird eye things going on, and their fur was... different. A rustling alerted her to some bushes near the tree line and she sighed as yet another weird rabbit came quivering out of the woods.


"You... aren't going to eat us?" He asked quietly, keeping himself weirdly crouched low and his wide eyes hopefully staring at them all.

Rosemary let out a loud huff. "Of course not!"

wc:113
total:599

MoonRazor

Sullivan

DarkHeartedSorrow

Ellanoire

ars naberius

 

[DarkHeartedSorrow]

Redeemed
Forest's confusion was palpable. Suddenly there were way too many rabbits and talks of eating them and... oh jeez.

He held up his paws, not sure whether he was trying to each their fears or ask for a minute. "Size and species aside, we don't even eat meat. At least I don't." He looked to Rosemary warily. "She might, but I'll hold her back."

wc: 68
twc: 506

making seasonal roll  

[Ellanoire]

The doe gawked at Rosemary. She knew it! A meat eater! This was where the monsters lived after all. "Look, we're very sorry giants that we wandered into your territory. We're just looking for a new home ..."

The spotty doe considered what one of the others said. "A ... warren? The Tanglewood? What are those? We're from where all the rabbits live." Of this she sounded quite confident. And then her ears fell, as she pondered illness. "Sometimes there are sicknesses ..." She shifted from paw to paw, looking guilty.

 

[Absolutiones]

(( hi i don't have an Arbor bun, but I was told I could join in anyway. ouo ))

Another day, another quest. Sage regularly made offerings to the spirits that assisted him through the year as thanks, the winter time was no exception. In fact, he tending to make additional offerings in hopes of being able to avoid the struggle the cold usually brought along with it. He had come down with some sort of sickness recently and he wasn't sure whether it was suppose to be a trial or a punishment. Either way, he was on the hunt for an extra special something to offer the spirits to make it go away. Frankly, having to stop every other hop to wipe at his dripping nose was inconvenient.

He had been so into his search that he hadn't realized how close he had gotten to the edge of the safe place until he heard a group of rabbits screaming. Maybe he was trying to be a hero or maybe he was just plain nosey, but something send him speeding off to investigate.

"Hey, what's going on over here? I heard screaming," he called out to the gathered group of rabbits.

182 words  

[Sullivan]

As yet the buck had not been eaten, and neither had his companions, so not all was as terrible as he had feared. But more strange ones were approaching all the time, and it was making him very nervous. Crouched in the bushes, he tried to stay out of sight. Instincts were telling him to make a dash for it though. These giants seemed pretty stupid... but what if they were very fast? and very hungry? "Ask them about the Pool..." He whispered to his fellows that had taken lead of the situation, scared to communicate with the giants directly. If we can just find the Pool of legends... maybe we will survive?  

[Sullivan]

Junie's ears twitched as more rabbits joined the group, both 'normal' ones from hearing all the commotion, and weird ones peeking out of the bushes. How many were there?? She eyed her clearly annoyed sister, then her dad and the others wondering what they should do next.


Drift decided he did not like these sketchy characters. Normally he would offer the hospitality of the warren, the Arbor loved company especially from far away... but these rabbits were just too weird, and that was saying a lot with how weird the Arbor is. I could try to demand they come back with us and find Caper for interrogation or... something. But they already had enough issues with sickness and they seem to be avoiding something. He was pretty sure that meant they were sickly. Or at least addled in the heads.

"Pool?" His ears perked at the whispered request and he stopped his inner debating. They must mean Nymph's pool, they were sort of headed that direction so it tracked. That was a good plan, they could be someone else's problem. He wanted to get back and discuss with the Guard what to make of all this news of rabbits living in the don't-go-place.
"Uh yes... I think it's called Nymph's Pond? Something like that... you just keep going along the edge of the Tanglewood forest, and the Acres here... you won't miss it." He pointed his paw in the direction of the meadow and pool. Not wanting to just abandon everyone, he waited to see if this was what they wanted and if they would leave.
.

MoonRazor

Einna Firekeeper

Ellanoire

 

[MoonRazor]

There was a long, tense silence from the heroic buck who had thought to sacrifice himself for his friend. Eyes squeezed shut, he braced for impact or pain or even death, but it didn't come. At long last, he peered out at his surroundings again and seemed relieved to find that all of his companions were still alive.

"These must be... the... friendly Giants..." He said, sounding thoroughly confused. The small Giants, perhaps? He had to admit, they certainly didn't look terribly big.

He started to relax, but tensed up noticeably again when the new, green-dyed giant approached, looking like it was taking every ounce of willpower in him not to flee back into the brush.

"Friendly Giants," he said finally, voice quivering. "The Pool. We seek the Pool, where all the sick rabbits will be transformed and given new life as regular rabbits! Not sick rabbits..."

He stared in the direction that Drift had pointed, body leaning almost imperceptibly in that direction. Dare they follow? Or was it all just a trap?

Sullivan

Absolutiones

Einna Firekeeper

 

[MoonRazor]

"Are you guys sick?!" Little Brother side suddenly, recoiling from the strange-looking rabbits as he put two and two together. "Are you the ones who've been spreading these diseases around the land?"

Not to be accusatory or anything...

The young buck glanced over at the newcomer and shook his head. "You don't even want to know," he said darkly to Sage with a sigh. "Even we don't know what's going on."

He nodded quietly at Drift's suggestion. Surely, sending them off on this bizarre quest was the best choice. Little Brother himself was a loud creature and even he didn't think he could put up with all the screaming.  

[Ellanoire]

The lilac doe leaned forward. "Could you lead us to the Pool?" Her eyes were huge. This was a place of legend! It was said that all rabbits could live in peace there! In harmony! Perhaps she and her new friends could live in this land of Giants there!

"We would very much appreciate it! As much as we appreciate you not eating us! Very kind of you all." Her nose twitched madly. Could her mad plan be working? Had she led her band of miscasts to ~safety~ somehow??? She did her best to ignore the questions about the sickness. Had she and her kind really brought that upon the land? Certainly some of them had had the odd sniffle when they were younger, but they were all fine now ...