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 Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:53 pm
Winter had fallen like a hrududu over the warren, ruthlessly pulling out the life-giving grasses and squeezing out the rabbits one by one. Food wasn't simply 'hard to come by'. That implied that there was still some out above ground somewhere, so long as you looked hard enough for it. It was simply gone. Snows covered the land with only the hardiest and most inedible of plants poking their way through the thick cold blanket.
It was quite a choice: either starve to death in the Downs or venture into the forest to be eaten by elil. In her practical and cynical fashion, Telyn decided that she'd rather be eaten by elil; at least that would be a quick death instead of the slow agony of starvation. Plus, at least an homba wouldn't try and pull her into a conversation about the chief and all those... rumors. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy gossip as much as the next doe, but she really wanted to chew on some food instead of words for once. Which was why she'd taken a chance and gone beyond the warren into the wilds.
Telyn sniffed one such plant delicately, which appeared to subsist on pure hatred and exude poison. She gave it a tentative nibble anyway and immediately regretted it. “Embleer Frith!” she cursed a lot louder than she meant to, voice echoing over the empty areas. Well, at least there was plenty of snow so she could try and clear her mouth.
She froze, suddenly realizing how loud everything was. The crunching snow, the way the wind sounded. Her ears twitched. Just because she'd decided she'd prefer to be eaten by elil didn't mean she was actively trying to meet the Black Rabbit... as absolutely nothing jumped out to eat her, she relaxed, but only minutely. Hurriedly, she dug into the snow, hoping to find at least a few young shoots to eat. And maybe she'd even be able to carry some back for the marli. Telyn shook her head in amazement at the sheer tenacity of some of her fellow does. Pregnant in the winter! Sure, maybe they were hoping that the cold winds would toughen their kittens, but Telyn was pretty sure it would just kill them.
That was the thing about winter. It didn't care about little rabbits. It didn't care about anything at all.
Speaking of black rabbits... Telyn peeked out of the snowy divot, hoping to see Ebony at any second. She'd asked the other doe to come out with her, because there was a sort of safety in numbers.
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:35 pm
The silver-eyed black doe was indeed not far behind, and hadn't missed the cursing. Her dark fur was half covered in snow; she hadn't really been able to avoid being covered in it, traveling through the blanket of snow that covered everything. And it was at least a bit less noticeable than her very nearly solid-black self was on its own, so she would deal with it. She just hoped she didn't get enough of it stuck to her for it to really melt through the insulation layer of her fur. She wasn't really in the mood to be wet and cold.
"Might want to keep it down a little more, Telyn," she muttered dryly when she was finally close enough to speak without it carrying very far. Both does knew well enough that the outburst hadn't been intentional, but Ebony couldn't help driving the point home, albeit gently. She scanned the surroundings and the sky briefly until she was satisfied they hadn't been noticed yet, then hunkered down in the snow to consider their options.
"I suppose our best bet is to search around low trees and shrubs and the like. Anything that might have given smaller plants some shelter from the snows. We ought to be able to find some roots, at least." She peered around the open space they were in and then toward a copse of trees in the near distance. "And better cover." Just because it was better than starving didn't make this endeavor any less foolhardy, but Ebony knew Telyn had come to her because she was not a fool. She was also still a black rabbit in the middle of a white field, and it would be best to get somewhere less conspicuous.
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 2:40 pm
Aha! Finally, a black rabbit that Telyn didn't mind seeing. She snorted, exhaling a sharp puff of breath that fogged up in the cold air. “Fair point. There might be some elil within a mile radius that didn't hear me,” she commented sarcastically, accepting Ebony's point without a squabble. What. Surely snark didn't count as a squabble, did it? She bounded from the shallow hole she'd made and squinted at the dark bushes. Yeah, maybe. It certainly sounded better than just waiting around to be et by something terrible.
“And roots will keep better,” she added. “Seeing as winter has decided that it wants to stay here for the summer. Not that I blame it; we get some nice summers out here, but it kind of eliminates the prospect of ever getting a summer if the cold keeps hanging around.” Yeah, the copse of trees sounded really good right about then. Telyn hopped closer to it, fearless as ever. Then again, she figured that, if there was an elil around, it probably would have made an attempt already. Predators weren't exactly known for their patience, especially not with two rabbits to choose from.
Then again, that was probably a high number, for predators. Could probably barely count to one, that was Telyn's opinion. Picking a spot at the base of a bush, the grey doe started to dig. “Oh, and stay away from the spiky plants. I'm not sure what they are, but apparently they are made out of hatred.”
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 7:44 am
"Haven't seen hide nor hair of anything but us out here, so unless they're daft I'd hope all the elil in a mile radius had moved themselves elsewhere. Of course we are talking about elil here, they're probably all daft." Snark only counted as a squabble based on how it was used. Ebony was quite happy to have a snide conversation with someone else who had two wits about her to keep up.
At the comment about the spiky plant Ebony decided to sniff delicately at the one Telyn had nibbled, and immediately wrinkled her nose. "Hatred smells horrible!" She couldn't get away from the thing fast enough at that point and took up position at the next bush over to begin digging herself. She paused occasionally to check for elil; no good for them to get caught with their heads in the dirt and bums in the air.
"I hope we find enough worth shoving in everyones' faces when we head home. If half the warren weren't so busy bickering about who's at fault and actually did something to help the situation we'd not be in this mess half so bad." It was a long-standing frustration for Ebony, and she knew others who felt the same, but there simply didn't seem to be enough of them to make a dent without having to do something foolhardy like this. She had half a mind to box the Captain and the Chief both about the ears. And then the majority of the Owsla and the rest of the warren to boot.
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