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 Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 5:21 pm
 Her sons were gone.
It was, in some ways, worse than when Falcon died. Thistledown had been devastated by the loss of her closest friend, but at least she had known. At least she had Falcon's kits, growing in her belly.
Falcon's kits. Two of them were gone now, but how? Where? Were they dead, alive? She didn't know. She'd searched high and low, near and far, but there was no trace. Tracks that went past the edge of the down, but she lost them. No sign of struggle, no sign of elil. Where were her sons? "Thistledown..."She rested her head on Vervain's shoulder and closed her eyes. "They're not dead," she said dully, trying to convince herself.Vervain nuzzled his cousin. "We need to go back. You're tired, I'm tired. We'll look again tomorrow.""It's been two days...""And you need rest. Come on." He nudged her shoulder and turned to run back to the warren. It wasn't far, but it worried him that Thistledown was letting herself get so tired. It was dangerous outside of the warren.
"Here's the border," he said, hiding his relief.Thistledown dropped to a walk, resentful of her body's need to rest.
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 5:55 pm
 Parsnip was gone.
While Fig had some idea of why the young outskirter was gone, he had no idea where. That worried him most of all. What if he was injured? Ill? Who knew what could be happening to him at this very moment?
It worried him more than Sweetspire's rage when she had learned. "You are such a sorry, rotten excuse for a buck, you know that?" Sweetspire snapped. The first part of their little trip had started out with her using violence to keep him moving, but now that he'd started doing as she asked she found herself complaining more.
Mudslide was gone thanks to him. Two ignorant outskirters were with elil for all she knew thanks to Fig's rotten mouth. She didn't let him stop until she'd found the pair she'd been searching for, even though he'd stalled and she'd had to give him another nudge. "Go on, tell them.""Sweetspire, please..." "Spit it out! Tell Thistledown deserves to know why her kits are gone."
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 6:10 pm
Exhaustion clouded Thistledown's mind more than she cared to admit, so it took a little while for Sweetspire's words to sink in. Her eyes swung to Fig and stayed there. "Tell me," she said. She knew Parsnip was fond of the buck, but had he told him anything? Was there any clue to where he might have gone or why?Vervain also turned to stare at Fig. They had been close friends once, but they'd grown apart as they aged. Parsnip had stayed close to Fig though... did the other buck have anything to do with this mess? He was always filling Parsnip's head with nonsense. He narrowed his eyes and waited for Fig's response.
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 6:21 pm
Fig took a quick, shaky breath, more than aware of Vervain's stare. "I did what my position asks of my; I told stories. I knew he liked to hear them, so I just kept talking..." He shifted nervously, his long, narrow body twitching even while sitting. "I told him about rabbits outside of the warren, of other warrens in general, how some had does and flay as far as the eye could see."Sweetspire sat back with a knowing look. It was the same as what he'd told her, and it still didn't sit right with the doe. If he hadn't filled the kits head with nonsense then he would still be at home, in his marli's den, same as his brother.
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Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 7:44 pm
Another time, had she been less stressed, she might have smiled. She knew well how Parsnip cared for stories. "I did not raise my kittens to be fools, Fig," she said "What other warrens? Where would they go?"Vervain shook his head. "They're outskirters. Flay, does... what could possibly provide more temptation? Even otherwise levelheaded bucks -""They aren't fools," Thistledown repeated. "Stories are no good if there's nowhere to go.""But they might have been tempted! It doesn't take much, just staying too near the edge of the warren... It's a bad winter, the elil are hungry. And there are those hlessi nearby..."
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Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 4:02 pm
"...I know they're not fools, Thistledown," Fig took a deep breath to steady himself. "Parsnip is one of the brightest of his age, and Mudslide has potential. I just...I just can't see them leaving unless it was what they felt was best. Maybe something in the stories gave an idea to-""To what?" Sweetspire could stay quiet, or tempered, for any longer. "If you're not going to get on with it, I will." She looked over her shoulder, and after she was sure it was safe enough to say it, "I think Vervain's right. I think they talked to the hlessi, and went with them. Who wouldn't? We've barely got enough to feed ourselves, and it's only getting worse."The usually spry buck visibly deflated. "As soon as I told Sweetspire of the stories, she came to the conclusion that a hlessi must have lured them. Made it seem like the talk was true." After a moment, some life came to him, "Maybe they're not too far? We could find them-""And die trying?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 4:53 pm
The hlessi. Thistledown hadn't thought of them. Her body froze even as her mind raced. She'd been too caught up in her own worries to notice, but hadn't other rabbits gone missing? The owsla were doing extra patrols, weren't they? It was too much of a coincidence; the hlessi had shown up and the very next day two of her sons had gone missing.
"I'll kill them," she said, gritting her teeth. "I'll shred their ears to ribbons!"Vervain glared at Fig. They'd been close growing up, but many things had changed since then. "This is your fault," he hissed. "You and the damn hlessi. We've been searching for days - not a sign! Where have you been? Safe in your burrow."
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Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 6:10 pm
"So that's it, huh? Don't you think I've been looking?!" Fig snapped at Vervain. "All I had was a hunch to go on, and no proof. Who could I have told that wouldn't have thought me mad?" It was something that bothered him deeply; even in times of crisis his fellow rabbits wouldn't believe him. Too dramatic, they said. Too much like a kit, they said. "Stuff it, the both of you!" Sweetspire shoved Fig back, even as he tried to make a pass at Vervain. "Thistledown's got the right idea. Take your anger out on the hlessi, not each other. Squabbling over who didn't do what isn't going to bring them back any faster."
The scarred doe look to the marli, her blood pounding through her ears. If they had been her's, she would have demanded heads, and she wouldn't prevent Thistledown from having hers. moineau bavarde Well, at this point, Fig kinda deserves it, haha.
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Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 8:16 am
"But we still wouldn't be this situation if you hadn't -""That's quite enough Vervain," Thistledown said, cutting him off. She rewarded Sweetspire with a grim smile, glad that the other doe had sense. Speed and ambition too. Thistledown respected that.
"Parsnip and Mudslide have been missing for two days." She took a deep breath, steeling herself for the next part. "The tracks aren't fresh anymore, if we haven't found them yet then we won't find them. But if the hlessi are responsible... and they are, I'm sure of it." The alternative was too grim to admit. The elil were hungry, after all... "We change our focus. I don't know why the hlessi came, but if rabbits are going missing... then they're still here.
"And I'm going to find them."
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Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:29 am
If. Sweetspire expected the worst for the two, and hlessi running off with them may have been the better option, lest the elil find them first. "Have you told anyone else? Maybe it would be best to take it to the Owsla, get their help on this."
She highly doubted they would aid in the search of two outskirters, especially in times this these, but maybe they could at least give directions. Some kind of clue!
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 11:37 am
Slowly Thistledown shook her head. She'd been much to caught up in her grief and the need to find her sons to think of rational things like talking to the owsla. And what could she have said? That her sons were missing? The owsla were strong, but they lacked her speed and couldn't cover the same ground as her and Vervain. But now...
"I'll talk to them," she said. "It the hlessi are responsible, then there may be other youngsters missing."
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