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Redeemed
Jackdaw had stumbled upon the carved stone several weeks ago, back in the late days of Spring. He’d planned to bring it to Rook’s attention then, only his friend had been gone, off exploring or something. It was no matter. He diligently kept up Rook’s burrow while he was gone, the carved stone given a dedicated spot in his burrow while he was there. When Jackdaw moved back to his burrow in Meadowsweet, he brought the stone with him, and it became a welcome traveling companion as he moved back and forth between the two burrows.
In the warmth of summer, Rook soon returned home to his burrow and to his vibrant mate (though if you were to ask him, he would snarl and kick at you, so maybe they weren’t really mates, but Jackdaw thought they were). With him, he brought two sweet kits, and despite frustration at Rook insisting Jackdaw was now a mama, Jackdaw loved his babies.
The pattern continued, with Jackdaw now shuffling the kits to and fro between his burrow and Rook’s, the carved stone forgotten in his burrow. Shuffling kits hither and yon was difficult, especially as they grew bigger and more curious. Soon, though, it would be time to move to Rook’s burrow for the winter, and Jackdaw was grateful for it.
Rook might not admit it, but he was, too. He disliked most rabbits, including his own kits on most days, but he tolerated Jackdaw’s company. He did care for the dumb buck, even if Jackdaw didn’t think so. In any case, it was time to move into his burrow for the Fall and Winter. Rook had accompanied Jackdaw to the burrow to help shepherd the kits and some of Jackdaw’s supplies to his burrow. They’d been nearly done when he spotted the carved stone, nestled up in a spot by where Jackdaw usually slept with the kits.
“… What’s that, Jackdaw?” Rook asked, nodding to the stone.
The orange buck turned to look, frowning a little. “What, did I forget something?” His eyes landed on the stone, and his ears sank down sheepishly. “O-oh. Well, it’s, I think it’s a rather nice, um, it’s a pretty, I mean—”
“It’s a stone, Jack.” Rook shook his head at the buck, snorting softly, and knocked his head against Jackdaw’s as he passed to inspect it. “Why’re you keepin’ some odd old stone?”
“I thought I’d show it to you.” Jackdaw rubbed a paw over his head, sheepish, and trailed behind Rook. One ear perked towards the entrance to the burrow, ever mindful of Osprey and Hawk outside. “I think, well, they’re, I’ve seen them down by the pool, y’know.”
“Which pool?” Rook looked back, picking up the rock to inspect it closer.
“The, um… The nymph’s pool.” Jackdaw mumbled, looking everywhere but at Rook anxiously. “I-it was before, you know, before you brought home Osprey and Hawk. I thought, maybe… Well, I do like kits, even though I know you don’t, and—”
“… You want more?” Rook looked over at Jackdaw, exasperated. “We’re barely keeping up with the two we’ve got, ‘daw.” They were good kits, his two, when there were eyes on them, but there was too much of Rook in the little brats, and they’d get into trouble sooner than behave unless Rook was there to warn them into place. “And winter’s coming, it’s only going to get more difficult to keep the four of us fed.”
“I know.” Jackdaw dropped his gaze to the floor of the burrow, picking at a mound of dirt. “I found it before, I told you. But then you were gone, so I just… kept it. To show you when you came home.” He glanced up at him, sheepish and quiet. “… We can get rid of it, i-if you want.”
Rook considered Jackdaw from his spot in the burrow, the stone still nestled in his paws. Jackdaw was a soft, timid thing of a buck. Rook was often amazed he’d survived this long, and some small sentimental part of him was sure that if anything happened to Jackdaw, he’d kill anything that stood in his way from getting vengeance for his mate. He didn’t say it nearly enough, and the thought made him want to throw up, but he did love the dumb buck.
Jackdaw was good with the kits, too. It’d been his first thought, when he whisked away the two kits who looked so much like him. And like Jackdaw. The doe hadn’t been picked accidentally, though Rook would never admit to it. He liked the look of the kits, he liked that they could pass off as Jackdaw’s just as well as his. He liked having that much more ownership over the buck.
He liked that Jackdaw didn’t mind giving that much ownership of himself to Rook.
Rook sighed, finally, and moved past him out of the burrow, carrying the stone. “Let’s go, then.”
“… We could just leave it—”
“Let’s go to the pool, idiot.” Rook said over his shoulder.
Jackdaw stared after him, and grinned a little, ears perking excitedly. He didn’t ask twice. He only followed.
With two kits, it took a great deal of time to actually get from Jackdaw’s burrow in Meadowsweet to the Nymph’s Pool. Rook had been singlemindedly determined to get there, though, and pushed the three of them all the faster. If he hesitated, if he stopped to let them rest, he’d change his mind. For once, Rook wasn’t thinking of himself, and he wanted to keep that going before he lost his nerve.
More kits. Sky above, he didn’t know how they would take care of more of the little bastards, come winter.
Jackdaw kept the kits moving dutifully, stopping to rest with a promise to Rook that they would soon catch up. It meant Rook arrived at the pool long before Jackdaw did, and while he watched rabbits come and go, avoiding the ire of the guardians, he waited. He was tempted, of course he was tempted, to leave the damned stone without Jackdaw and go back to herd his mate and the kits home.
But he waited. He needed Jackdaw to see this. If he did nothing else right in their lives, if he only ever treated Jackdaw meanly for the rest of their lives, he needed him to see this. No one else ever need know how much the damned buck mate him soft, though.
Finally, Jackdaw crested over a small hill, the kits close behind. He smiled when he saw Rook, trailing over to him, and took the stone. “I can do it.” He offered, glancing to Rook sheepishly. "If you don’t mind watching—”
“I’ll watch the kits.” Rook nodded, handing over the stone and another, smaller item for offering. “This, too. Can’t hurt.”
Jackdaw eyed the pepper, smiling a little shyly, and leaned in to press his head against Rook’s. Just for a brief second. Then he was gone, darting to the lake. Rook watched mindfully, one eye on Jackdaw and one on the kits.
The orange buck stopped at a spot near the pool, setting the stone down along with the Peppy Pepper. He leaned back, ears drooping, and thumped his foot a little anxiously. “… I don’t really know if we need to say anything or not.” He said to himself, or maybe to the Pool, or the Nymph who left babies for rabbits who asked. “But I suppose it can’t hurt.” He glanced back to his family, smiling a little. “He’s not a good buck, my Rook. At least he’ll tell you that. But he’s good to me, he’s good to our kits. He’ll be good to others, too, in his own way.” Jackdaw’s heart thumped in his chest. “I don’t think this’ll change him for the better. I don’t think I want it to. But he’s giving me this, this chance. I would’ve left the stone for someone else, if he asked.”
Jackdaw looked into the pool, smiling a little. “I do love him, all his faults and meanness. And I think he might like me, too. He’s done his best to give me kits who look like me, but… But I want kits who’re ours, wholly ours, too. I want our kits to have siblings they can love and grow up with, and learn to be kinder to.”
Jackdaw sighed a little, rubbing his paw over one of his ears sheepishly. “I guess that’s all.” He glanced back to his family again, smiling to himself. “That’s enough.” The orange buck hopped away from the lake, hesitantly at first, and then more confidently. He joined Rook and the kits, settling in against his side to wait with his family.
(WC: 1460)
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