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Crocus stared at the two delinquents that she and Badassi had managed to corral. "Pitchweed and Wildwood," she said softly, shaking her head. If it wasn't one thing with them, it was another.

She wasn't sure how it started; nobody had actually seen how it started, but there was a female outskirter with a severely injured back- the victim of a hawk attack- and plenty of witnesses saying that the pair was somehow involved. But they were slippery, and she wasn't willing to let them go so easily. But how best to break them?

The two were unnaturally close, and the doe knew that if they were interrogated together, they'd be picking up on each others' silent cues and body language to construct the version of the truth that was most likely to get them off the hook. She didn't particularly enjoy putting up with their antics, and knew the only way to get a straight answer out of either would be to split them up.

As the two stared defiantly at the Owsla officers, the doe turned to Badassi and smiled- almost wickedly. "What do you think, Badassi? What's say I take Miss Wildwood here into one of the isolation burrows and you can handle the brother?"

Pitchweed had been happily grazing on that little doe's patch of wild watercress with his sister. Sure they had chased her off of it and that had attracted the hawk...and perhaps they had taken cover in her burrow and shoved her back into the open when the bird came circling down...but Pitchweed hadn't really meant for her to get scuffed up so bad. What was the big deal, anyway? He could make more kittens.

He groomed his sore ear, which had recieved a few bites to. He had reared up and thrown his front paws in wild punches the whole way, but settled when the pair had encircled his twin. And now he sat right beside her, breathing heavily and placing one of his paws on her's.


"You have no proof at all! You're just a pair of cowards in a warren full of them. You're too afraid to face us together because you know you'll lose. And nothing can change a coward!" When his sister snuggled close he groomed at her ear. "May lendri devour your marli, mate and kittens." He spoke to Crocus, for once not ogling her from afar. "If you put another paw on either of us, you can prepare to have it for a snack about three seconds after!" He threatened. The glare that soured his face was like steel.

The pair were taking this questioning about as well as Badassi thought they would, which wasn't well at all. Part of him wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, that they wouldn't intentionally bring harm to an outskirter, but they were certainly acting as though they were the guilty party. Then again, when were they not guilty of something or another? The hefty buck frowned slightly, though he did not take any of their insults to heart. In fact, he didn't show any outward indication that he heard their caterwauling and instead echoed his colleague.

"Just a few questions, like she says. We want to be able to rule you out of any wrong doing. If anything, you should be relieved, as once we can clear you, no one else will bother you about it." He nodded his scarred head and put his girth to work. He doubted Pitchweed would take a swing at him, but he prepared himself in the event that he did need to fight back. The large buck positioned himself between Pitchweed and Wildwood, nudging the male towards the other burrow. It would have been very difficult, indeed, for the male to get around the flemish giant.

Wildwood was not happy. In fact, if looks could kill, Crocus would be dead and partially decomposed. The doe was glaring at the female owsla officer, her mismatched eyes narrowed and burning with hatred as she was moved away from her dearest brother.

"We didn't do anything wrong." She practically spat as she begrudgingly went in the direction the owsla nudged her. If she thought she'd win the fight, she would have lashed out... But she knew she wouldn't last long. Crocus was known for ending fights, after all.

Crocus shook her head a bit at Pitchweed's ranting. She'd heard of brotherly love, but this was ridiculous. "I'm sure this is all just a big misunderstanding and you'll be free to go before the sun hits its high point. There's no need to be so belligerent." She really hoped that this would be over quickly; however, she'd much rather have the full truth of the matter than gloss over it. They reached the burrow she had in mind quickly enough, and she blocked the narrow entrance, facing down the other female. Her bicolored eyes were truly striking, especially with the weight of her fury and hatred behind them. It was a pity; if these two had been the kind of rabbit to respect the warren and its members, their drive and strength might have made them potential Owsla, provided their personalities didn't get in the way. The Owsla set her jaw, trying to keep her face neutral. She didn't want to seem too friendly, but at the same time, she didn't want to seem too intimidating. "Now, Miss Wildwood, why don't you tell me in your own words exactly what happened out here? I need to know exactly what you saw happen, ok?"

Pitchweed clawed at the walls. He would NOT be calm! He bared his teeth and ran a rapid circle around the burrow, scratching at the walls as if he'd dig right through. There was no such luck and he ended up throwing dirt all over himself.

He had never been away from her before. They had been born in the same litter and were almost inseperable, since the rest of the litter were birthed still. He had learned to run alongside her and cuddled with her when the storms drove fierce winds and shook their home. They had traveled together when their small home had collapsed and killed their father. Their mother had been picked off by a hawk on the journey. And he remembered staying before the chief as an outskirter and asking permission to stay. Another bad move by Bracken-rah.


Pitchweed snarled as Badassi chided him. He glared and spoke softly. "It was a bird of some type. A raven, I think. My sister and I were minding our own business. I guess it wanted the food the kitten had and scratched it up pretty bad. Everyone in this warren is just out to make us look bad!" He shouted, losing his temper.

"Did I say a pfeffa? I definitely meant a hawk." She gave the owsla officer a challenging glare as she "corrected" herself. How could she make such a silly mistake? She felt like a mess without her brother and dearly wished he stood at her side, providing the support she always felt when he was near. They had been through so much, the pair of them. She fidgeted, her claws digging ever so slightly into the earth as she tried to glance around the owsla doe. Part of her wondered if she should at least try to make a break for it. She had her brother had been hlessi as outskirters. Surely they could survive for a little while longer on their own, right? This was an absolute disgrace.

"I'm telling the truth. It came out of nowhere and went after that outskirter. I nearly choked on the tuber I was munching on. It could easily have been me it snagged."

"A raven?" Badassi seemed nonplussed as he listened to Pitchweed snarl and rave. He didn't much like the pair, nor did he believe the buck' rantings. He sat, seemingly bored, yet making sure he blocked any possible escape the smaller buck might attempt. He flicked a tattered ear and tilted his head somewhat.

"Never, in all my days, have I ever seen a raven cause that much damage to a rabbit, nor have I seen one try and carry one off. Must have been a pretty hungry raven to try that little number, don't you think? Had pretty sharp talons, too, that raven."

Crocus's face was almost kindly, a mask to hide her true expression of contempt and vague dislike for the criminal in front of her. She wasn't fond at all of liars.

"Well, I can see how you, in the heat of the moment, might confuse a cat for a hawk. After all, I can only imagine that you were terrified, and sometimes our eyes do play tricks on us when we're afraid. However, I'm having a hard time figuring out your exact location on the down in comparison to where we found the outskirter. Tubers in the clover patch? Can you give me a better idea of where that might be? I must confess that sometimes our patrols don't take as good a look at local phenomena as they should; such an unusual growth would serve as an excellent landmark for giving directions."

She'd get to the bottom of this! She wondered what sort of progress Badassi was making with Pitchweed; if his story was straighter than his sister's. They'd have to compare notes after the interrogation.

Pitchweed glowered. "You mediocre dunce!" He challenged. "Not the raven! We would never feed elil! We wanted to feed the OUTSKIRTER! He was starving for our delicious bean sprouts and we were going to invite him inside for some mulberrys." He stood up on his back legs again. "Judging by whom they let into owsla these days, i am certainly surprised any of you can walk without falling down, let alone take on a fully grown raven."