Welcome to Gaia! ::

Blackthorn loped along near the rear easily, making sure they all kept together and no one lagged behind so early. As they gathered in a group by a fence, he cast a critical eye over what was before them. The farm, with its shambling buildings, bits and pieces of those Hrududu that the man-things liked.. and other assorted objects. Plenty of places to hide.. and plenty of places for elil to lay in wait...

Looking up at Cocklebur as the Captain rattled off their new groups, he frowned faintly, risking the buck's wrath as he spoke in a low, careful voice. Not wanting to draw elil so soon. "Wouldn't it be wisest for us owsla to split between the groups..." Looks at Cowslip, Fledgestone, Foxfleet, and Harebell with a pointed gaze.

comming to a hault near the fence Seqioua caught her breath a bit. she looked around her ears erect and swiveling tensely she had never been to the farm before and all the sounds and smells here where new to her

she nodded sharply at her captains orders but stoped at blackthorns question, he did have a point, she thought, it would indeed be safer to have some one of expirence go with each group. but she'd wait until she was told to do something before she did so, she wouldn't risk ruining her chance at Owsla.

Saxifrage had started to head off in the direction Cocklebur indicated, when the other Owsla officer intervened. The buck sat back on his hind legs, ears cocked to listen for elil, while he tried to consider the situation as quickly as possible. Speaking up against an officer could be seen as insubordination, but if he did so in defense of the Captain... He was a little curious about why the Captain had split them into such uneven groups, but then again, Saxifrage had never been to the farm before. The scent of elil, stronger than he'd ever been accustomed to up on the Down, was making him nervous already.

The buck took a breath, resolved not to say anything, but to instead simply ignore Blackthorn's question and continue straight on ahead, as the Captain had ordered.

Amber eyes narrowed slightly as the captain shot back his reply. They both knew it had nothing to do with the newcomers proving themselves to Cocklebur, yet there was nothing Blackthorn could do about it. He did have to admit that questioning his superior was.. unpleasant, but his job was to look for the safety of those on the raid, not pander to Cocklebur's ego. But he had said his piece, and now he had to obey his Captain's order.

"Yes Sir." The reply was terse and gruff as the dark owsla turned and headed off in the direction indicated previously, ears that had been pressed backwards flicked up, swivelling this way and that. Amber gaze turning forwards to survey the area before him, judging for threats and all the while seeking anything that might be of use to them. Darting from one patch of cover to another he kept his attention on the ground around him, and the skies above, yet always kept half an ear on the rabbits with him. Yet with Badassi and Althea at his side, he knew they had a very strong team, and that the other two experienced owsla were more than capable of looking after themselves. With the three of them there, Raven was the safest of the entire raiding party.

Once they had joined him he turned to Badassi and Althea, speaking in a careful whisper. "I'm going to check out that log pile, wait here until its safe then join me. We need to head.. that way.." Nodding in the direction he ment, he waited till they both nodded before darting out from under their shelter, making a zig-zag pattern to an over turned bucket half-way towards the logs where he had thought he had seen something. Crouching in the shadow of the man-thing, he strained eyes, ears and nose to try and work out what was there, and what else might be lurking near by.

Raven nodded at Cocklebur’s orders, “Yes sir”. Though she was not too happy that she wasn’t put into a group with him, and would most likely have protested if her group wasn’t entirely made up of Owsla. This was her chance to impress them at the very least; and if they were impressed surely Cocklebur would be equally impressed, right?

Puffing up her chest with satisfaction, Raven moved closer to her marli and waited for her group to spilt off, smirking as Cocklebur told off Blackthorn for questioning his orders.

Listening intently, Raven tried to hear what Blackthorn whispered to Badassi and her marli; but she couldn't quite catch everything, "Excuse me, but am I not worth the bother?" she snapped in a stage whisper, feeling more then a little irritated that he hadn't addressed her as well; afterall, was she not part of his group? She just stared with wide orange eyes as he darted off, wondering what it is that she was supposed to be doing.

Harebell's ears pricked at the sound of a friendly voice, glad it wasn't the vile creature mentioned in his speech. Feeling more than a little foolish, she quickly dodged around the can and made a beeline for Cowslip.

"I've never seen such a thing before." She whispered as she caught up with him, still keeping alert. "I've never known a thing to make a noise like that, not even birds."

The mere mention of a bird was enough to make the doe look up to the heavens, just to make sure. She had heard that some birds like things that catches Frith's blessing. and that metal certainly did that.

As the rabbits moved out, each group headed in a different direction.

With Blackthorn's group going through the eastern side of the farm, they would come across a large red man structure. Its front gaped wide like a huge mouth waiting to devour whatever came inside. However, the sweet smells of flayrah wafted out from the structure. As well as the smell of other, much larger animals, their grunts and groans being heard inside. By Frith, what was in there? There was a wood pile just outside of it as well, and something moved among the pieces of wood, but it was not clearly seen and its smell was obscured by the scents coming from the barn.

Cowslip's group moved in the westerly direction, towards another large structure that was as white as the fallen snow. The scent of man was strong here, but other curious smells were around as well. Gleaming tall things of metal stood next to the man structure, much like the thing that Harebell had stumbled across but much larger. Odd smells came from them, as well as a huge pile of dirt and fresh waste which made up a compost pile.

Rowanberry's group went straight through the farm, seeing and smelling many different things to the point that it was almost confusing. There was a small shed with sweet smells much like the barn coming from it... but most curiously there was the faint scent of rabbit. However, caution needed to be used here as the smell of dog was strong also. Nearby was a dog house with a sleeping hound chained to it.