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She had paused for the Outskirter, but now paused for the shout Ginkgo had exclaimed across the field. Did he say hawk? No...no, he couldn't have. There was already one fatality and now possibly another? Her eyes followed along the sky, hardly seeing the creature with the light of the sun behind it. But the obvious shadow had become apparent. She immediately looked to the dark youth, turning to Crow with her eyes wide, her good eye reflecting a spark of fear while the other was glossy and unseeing. "Hide! Go for the leaves, now!" She nudged him once more, before bounding ahead, intending for him to follow or find his own shelter.

He felt her nudge again, but his mind was fogged with fear. Death was all around them, if he ran, surely the bird would see. If he stayed, the bird might see him anyway. Cowering against the fence post, he hid as best he could in the shadow of the wood beam and prayed the grass and shadows would save his life. He laid his ears against his back and sat perfectly still, unable to hear anything above his own racing heart.

Crow thought of the warren, the burrows. He was there. Not here, not on this farm. Oh why had he ever come?

Bramblebur dipped his head to Foxtail, having to resist the urge to shush him softly. "There is strength in numbers. More eyes to see. If we move together we can make it through and all go back home to the warren, yes?"

The striped buck agreed that they should probably continue on.

The beating of Ginkgo's foot caused him to quickly turn his gaze over. "Hawk!" Oh Frith, what a trying raid this was turning out to be!

His fur bristled and a fast glance skyward confirmed it. A hawk was coming closer, circling over where the three of them stood. "Now we hide."

The tan and brown striped buck followed after Foxtail and dove under a low thorny bush near him. He dug down a little and pressed his scarred belly against the earth, turning beneath the shrub to look out and around for the others. "Zelkova, quickly!"

The doe finally found herself darting until a rather small bush, not caring for what plant it was, but quickly burried herself down among the leaves, pressing her body as close to the ground as was possible. Her breathing slowed, ceasing even as she tried to get a better grip on what was happening around her, listening intently.

Zelkova had Tharned at the horrible screaming across the garden and he felt his stomach sink until a thumping on the grund rattled him back to his wits and he heard brams call. he shot a glance to the sky and bolted for the bush, zig zaging along through the tallest grass he could run through until he dove into the bush and panted heavily, out of breath and shaken he had not even realized just how horrible things where turning until now. "frith! this is madness!!" he huffed in a wheezy and hushed tone, he had been more then sheltered until now. and unknown to him his teacher and father figure was now gone.

Faili cringed, seeing the winged horror swoop towards the other end of the gardens. Her heart raced as she waited, agonizingly in wait for the bird to pick it's next target. She stayed still as a stone, her ears very slightly pricked as she listened for sounds. Frith be with her that she wouldn't have to flee from another of the thousand today.

Bramblebur looked up, peeking up through the thorny branches. His muscles tensed as the hawk dove after Foxtail. His breath caught in his throat and he could practically hear his pulse hammering in his ears. The hawk tumbled and floundered. It missed! It took off for the skies. The buck slowed his breathing to calm him pounding heart. Slowly creeping forward to poke his head out from underneath the shrub, ready to shrink back if he needed to, he looked skyward and looked around the ground. "How are you guys?"

Taxus had done this before. He waited until the hawk was busy with another poor soul. He had learned through Blueflax's example that his hide was the only thing that mattered in the end. Once the hawk had swooped, he bolted for much more leafy cover. Several huge cabbages grew nearby, their leaves practically draping the ground.
He spied the hawk coming up and darted for one. He had left his radish on the ground where he had dug it up. He would get it later. He remained where he was, watching the hawk. He slowly, hair by hair, inched out, stopping dead every time. Eyes from the sky would pick a bright target, but he was a good sized meal for any elil.


Something caught his eye and he almost went tharn. It was...an animal of some sort. A huge, proud looking beast. It could have crushed him in a second if it wasn't behind a fence. It had huge horns and smoke seemed to steam from its nostrils. Its feet looked like it could squish a rabbit flat. But as he watched, he relaxed a tiny bit more. Its eyes held no elil attributes and it chewed long stems of grass in its mouth. He was almost certain it was not one of the thousand. He'd be sure to avoid it though. He had no idea what a cow was.

Relaxing a bit, but eyes still searching for that hawk, he realized he was at the other end of the field, quite far from Faili and the down. To his right was a huge field of gold, fenced off from this field and the field with the beast in it/ That would be perfect cover if he needed to hide in a hurry and it smelt delicious. He decided he would scavange a lot there, sheltered by the stalks and hidden from scent by the golden buds.