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 Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 8:29 am
Ginkgo shifted through the warren's runs hastily, his mind a whirr of thoughts. So many changes would be taking place soon and much work was to be done, but before those things could happen, average Owsla work was to be done.
It seems a kitten was missing and it's marli was in hysterics. He must of been the first Owsla the doe had found, the way she threw herself at him, and it caused two feelings to manifest within him. The first was pride, for the marli was begging him to help find her little imp. The second was pure annoyance. Did she not know he had more important work to do? He was the captain's right paw, after all. She must not of known that, or else she might of found another.
An idea passed through his mind as he neared the entrance of the warren. There was a large burrow here, and a large rabbit to match. His amber eyes glinted misheviously as he came to a halt before the burrow's entrance, and struck a paw against the earth to catch her attention.
There was no way he would barge into the burrow of such a massive marli.
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:12 am
Trying to settle them down with little success, it was then that she heard a thump outside her tunnel. Instantaneously there were four little pairs of ears trained on the entrance, and then chaos. It seemed each one had a different opinion on the matter, but she couldn't make out a single thought herself. For a moment she wrestled with trying to get them all behind her and accounted for, but there was always one amiss, running hither or scampering that way. Gnashing her teeth angrily, she'd had it with this lot.
"ENOUGH! Quiet, do you hear me?! All of you sit still and don't utter another sound or I'll take you to meet the Black Rabbit myself! Do you hear me? Woundwort would love a few bite sized kittens for flayrah!"
Huffing, rather aggravated, she waited until all was still for a moment before nodding her head in grim approval. Shoving them with her nose to gather together towards the back of the burrow, she finally came to the tunnel's entrance.
"What? for the love of Frith what?"
Her sharp tone and demeanor quickly deflated once she saw who it was. Lovely. If Ginkgo made a report on this to Cocklebur the Owsla Captain would surely have a good smirk to know his kittens were getting the better of her. The bitter image made her ears droop a bit. Sighing, she turned to the runt of the Owsla and nodded her head slowly.
"Apologies Ginkgo. Enter."
She took a few steps back to allow him room if he wished to speak with her in her burrow.
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:27 am
He wore a smirk as his ears caught the sounds of chaos within the burrow. It changed to a subtle grin the moment he caught sight of exhausted and rather frustrated Althea. For such a large doe, the little ones were certainly getting the best of her and this pleased him to almost no end.
"I have something for you to do, something urgent."
He spoke as he shifted himself into her burrow, his eyes wandered for a moment, checking to see if he could catch sight of the little ones, to inform Cocklebur how they appeared once he left this place. It might cheer him to know the little things were growing well, not to mention the grief they were causing their mother. It was all too savory to pass up, and he would relish in the opportunity to bring the female Owsla as much distress as possible.
"You are the perfect Owsla for the job, I think. It seems an adventurous little rogue left it's marli and wandered off outside the warren. You need to go and fetch it, and bring it back safely."
He dropped the news on her bluntly, his amber eyes watching her every movement, trying to guess just how she would react.
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:49 am
What.
Did Cocklebur put him up to this? She could tell he was eating this up like a clover patch. He was watching her, judging her, and perhaps trying to get a peek at the kittens behind her. Althea pretended not to notice as she weighed the situation before responding.
No, there was really no help for it. If she turned the errand down, it would look poorly on her, and would speak volumes at her incapability to not only be an Owsla officer, but as a marli as well. Besides, she really didn't want to give Cocklebur that satisfaction. She was more than just an doe, she was Owsla dammit! Eying Ginkgo steadily, she did her best to stand in the cramped space, then fell to all fours again; what would've been a friendly Owsla salute was almost a mocking gesture to his size. She knew it too, and was rubbing it in since he seemed to take such pleasure in rubbing the hraka into her own wounds.
"Of course, any other information you can offer? A lead perhaps, on where the kitten might be located?"
She spoke automatically, already eliminating possible places in her mind. Where they sure the kitten simply ran down some strange tunnel and gotten itself lost in the warren? And how would she get her own kittens to behave? She quickly said a silent prayer to Frith for strength. She was going to need it for this day.
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:07 am
"All I was able to gather was that the kitten wandered off around Ni-Frith. The marli in question was in quite a panic and it was difficult to get too much out of her. It seems the kitten was dared to venture out towards the scrapes in the outskirts. That is all I have." He replied, though it would of been impossible to miss the glare that filled his eyes at the sight of the normally friendly salute...
But he could hardly press the issue further. Especially not against such a large marli.
"Good luck."
And with that, he was taking his leave of her burrow. Now she would have her paws full defending her status as an Owsla and a Marli. That thought brought back the smirk he wore earlier.
"Well, y'gotta get out there sometime, you little runty thing. You gotta taste the fresh flay, duh."
Rainfall shifted through the runs in an eased fashion, leading a small kitten behind her. Duskshadow permitting or not, Rainfall was going to have some fun with little Azolla. The small, lop eared kitten seemed eager to follow her, regardless of the situation.
"An' y'know, there's lots 'o fun stuff t'do up there, too." She stumbled sideways in the passage, just narrowly missing knocking into the Owsla officer. Thankfully.
"Like what, huh?" Azolla tilted his head slightly, his long ears flopping as he did so. His hops were small and he struggled to keep up with the larger outskirter, but he was doing his best and putting a good amount of effort into it.
His mother probably wouldn't be too thrilled with his wandering away from the burrow, but Rainfall had promised good eats and an interesting adventure, also he was just happy to have some time away from his many siblings.
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Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 3:21 pm
Nodding sharply at the report, she tried hard not to let her exasperation show. The scrapes? It would be half a day to get there, search thoroughly, and get back! Couldn't this kitten have strayed closer to home? And what kind of doe would let this happen?
Though, here she was about to leave her four alone for half a day. That would be plenty of time for them to wander off and get themselves killed. But what could she do?
"Thanks."
Althea replied in a flat tone, watching him leave. But only a moment later she was compelled to watch after him. Maybe call him back? Admit defeat? What was more important, her kittens or her rank? She didn't think she could choose. She poked her head out into the main tunnel just in time to see Ginkgo skirting around an outskirter; whom seemed to be leading a kitten to flay. Wait a minute.
And even in the darkness of the tunnel Althea thought she could see a bit of Frith's light on the subject.
"You! You there!"
Althea rushed out of her burrow, blocking the young female's path. She barely acknowledged the gray kitten, knowing instantly who fathered him.
"I'm Althea of Owsla, and I'm charging you with an important task."
She would leave no room for argument, so she didn't even stop to make sure Rain was nodding in agreement, instead she glared at the outskirter with all her marli might, and demanded no exceptions.
"In this burrow are four kits. MY kits. You are to watch them until I return, am I clear? I have to go recover a lost kitten, who wandered too far from their marli."
She drew the end out, enunciating clearly while eying the gray kitten sharply; hoping to make her point clear.
"I'll be sure that when I find him I'll give him quite a few more reasons to never want to leave his burrow, let alone is mother's side."
Her teeth were gritting at this, still rather annoyed at the whole situation. It came as a realization that she never heard Ginkgo's exit from the tunnel. For all she knew he could be further up the run, watching all of this with great amusement. Her eyes closed for a moment in frustration and she decided not to look up from the two young rabbits she was 'heavily instructing'. If he was watching, so be it. But she didn't want to know.
"Now, they are not to leave this burrow, do you hear me? If I come back to find a single patch of thlay misplaced off one of them so help me."
Her ears standing straight up in an aggressive manner, she made it clear that she wouldn't actually be asking for help in restraining her temper if anything were to happen to her litter. Finally satisfied, she gave them both a long last look before turning her cumbersome weight around and heading out of the warren.
If they had it in their minds to argue, they'd have to hurry and catch up, she already had her mind geared towards getting to the scrapes and then returning as soon as possible.
 Crow was getting very sick of sitting still. When the other rabbit left, or, at least Crow thought he'd left since that's what it sounded like, he cheered a little on the inside. But his marli still sat right in front of him, blocking any view he'd had of whoever that was. He was getting restless, and kept yawning or stretching out his legs, and it was during such a yawn that the mountain of dark fur in front of him moved. Shutting his mouth hard in mid-yawn, he hunkered down, fearing his marli's wrath. But she did not turn, rather, she left the burrow altogether. Curious, he eyed his siblings and found none of them yet stirring. Stretching out his neck as if he could perhaps touch his nose to the mouth of the burrow if he only tried, Crow wriggled his nose several times. After a few wriggles he realized it might help if he breathed in while doing it to see if he could smell anything. But by then there was no point, since he could hear his mother yelling again. At least it wasn't at him. Scampering to the edge of the scraped out tunnel, he peeked around to see his Althea giving two earfuls to rabbits closer to his age. Well wasn't this interesting. What did they do? He ducked behind the earth wall quickly as his marli turned around, and then left. Waiting just long enough to know he wouldn't be seen, Crow stuck his head out into the main run of the warren, his mouth slightly agape in shock. "So you make her mad too huh?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:10 am
The moment Althea's voice rang out in the runs, the outskirter stiffened and her fur bristled in surprise and alarm. Fortunately, she hadn't gotten to the juicy parts of her plan, otherwise the Owsla Marli might of had more than one youngster to chew up on this particular day.
Later, I'll make that game with him later.
She promised herself this hastily in her mind, but the thoughts were gone as the Owsla continued speaking. Her pale eyes widened as the task was placed on her shoulders, a task that she did not want at all. But there was no ability to protest, she couldn't even get a word in edge wise, because almost as soon as Althea poked her head out, she was leaving the warren. The outskirter grumbled quietly as she slipped into the burrow.
"Shouln'a e'er let an Owsla 'ave kittens, too. Not a good mix 'tall." She grumbled as she slid into the nest with Crow and the other kittens.
Azolla shrank under the glare of the massive rabbit, his small frame shaking like a leaf as he tried to find some shelter behind the brown pelted outskirter that had led him this far out.
"I 'gree." He chimed quietly, once Althea was far out of earshot, but his voice was still soft and hesitant.
"She's scary, way-way-way scary, like my da." He tumbled after Rainfall and bounced into the nest with the all the energy of a crowing kitten.
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Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:11 pm
 Raven sat obediently behind her marli while she spoke to the unknown buck. Least, she thought it was a buck by his voice, but not being able to see much from where she was it was merely a guess. Her and her siblings had given their marli enough trouble for one day, and while it was ever so much fun to watch her lose her temper like that, she knew when it was time to give it a rest. As Althea left the burrow, she lifted one ear and listened to the conversation going on outside, “What? An outskirter for a sitter? Not likely”, she muttered to herself, teeth chattering unhappily as the outskirter and grey kitten joined them in their burrow. What was her marli thinking? Raven didn’t understand much about the Owsla yet, and though she did agree with her marli putting her job before them, she absolutely did not approve of her choice of replacement marli in the slightest. “Who are you then? Our marli must be mad to leave the likes of you in charge” she sat up on her haunches, trying to make herself look bigger then she already was for her age.
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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:12 pm
 Faili, the biggest clue out've all of the litter of the buck that sired them, lacked even the smallest trace of a hint of her mother. It won her no specialist treatment, neither better nor worse from her mother as her appearance was often hidden amongst the constant fight for her attention. Just like the others, she also desired the knowledge of the visitor to their warren, only to have it denied by the huge bulk her mother possessed. As tempting as it was to n** the large tail to get her mother to shift, she knew, as always, that doing so would get her nothing but a chunk of her ear missing. It was infuriating to her that she was so powerless to do anything, and such drove deep an ambition for power and authority. Something she would sit still and obey just for a glimmer of it. With obedience comes trust, and with trust, responsibility, and with responsibility; power. Such was her daily mantra. An so, routinely, she sat still like her sister as an order was barked at her, sitting still, ears pricked with alert, absorbing each word like freshly wet silflay. A mission for her mother. And such a lowly one! An idiot got himself lost somewhere outside. He should be left to the elil! It'd either make a meal or an owlsa out've him. The giant marli soon moved, however, showing nothing, or no-one as proof the thumping was in fact real. Though the silence was short lived as she barked at a passerby to watch them. Watch them! The kittens of the two greatest owlsa, watched by sitters. But not just any other sitters. an out skirter and one who appeared to be thier half-brother; the markings similar to her own yet lighter. She instantly growled at the very idea of this. . . weak, mixed blood having sch authority of them. And with Althea out've earshot, she was quick to bring such an issue up with her new "sitters". It wasn't long before her dark nose was pressed up against Rain's, as if in greeting, though seemed rather forceful, even for a kitten. She had some strength in her yet. "YOU. I don't care who you are. But you are not fit to sit us." She snorted, before dodging around her and looking around outside, looking for some confirmation that this was a joke, that there was some one more. . . worthy of them. They may be kittens, but they were most liekly the strongest kittens in the whole of the warren. If Althea could barely handle them, then what made her think that these two brats could handle them? She'd give these two hell if it was the least she could do, let alone what the others decided upon. For now, she just eyed the outside, cautiousl, having never actually stepped foot outside the warren without her mother. Appearances aside, she was nervous of the idea, though refused to let this show.
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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 12:17 pm
Crow backed up to allow the two into the burrow, not at all bothered by the circumstances; rather he was happy to be out from his marli's glare for awhile. He really couldn't wait to be free of her and all the 'blah blah blah' about responsibilities to the warren. All he wanted was some excellent flayrah and to just have fun. Hearing the complaints of the others, he turned to Faili; wWhat was wrong with her anyway? Couldn't she be happy that they were free for a little bit? They could even escape the burrow if they wanted!
"Awww, Burbutt, what's wrong? Missing mommy?"
He harassed her, nudging into her side before nipping at her ears, purposefully pushing her into a fight. He wasn't going to let his sister ruin all of his fun.
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Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:00 pm
"H'oh geeze, you guys!" Azolla backed away and ran his paws over his long, floppy ears anxiously. He figured kitten sitting was a bad idea, though he wasn't much older than they were. In fact, he hardly was at all. They must of shared the same father, what with their similar markings.
He didn't like this at all and cowered behind the outskirter that had been appointed to watch all of these unruly kittens.
"Hey, now! Course I got plenny 'o 'sperience to watch you lil' nutjobs, huh!" Rainfall sat back on her haunches, rearing up in response to Faili's rather rush. Her ears flicked back in annoyance and fought the urge to swipe at the kitten with her paw. She'd be in for it if Althea knew she had been too rough with the little ones, right?
Still...
It wasn't like she was that young! She was so almost a full grown doe, right? She sure felt like it.
"You lil' runts gotta behave or else I'll tell yer marli! B'sides, I got a super awesome story t'tell ya'll, but you gotta behave t' 'ear it."
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