WAR || Deerbarrow Warren writing || DNP

[Ladyskittels]

Soon, the two rabbits felt a whole lot better and were able to get moving once more. They gathered up their herbs they were carrying back to the burrow and hurried home, their bellies rumbling. Upon finally making it home they were greeted enthusiastically by the rest of their warren, smiles on their faces.

"Where were you guys? I thought you weren't gonna come back..." the grey doe named Myrtia said, her eyes welling with tears. The fawn colored doe beside her patted her back comfortingly and whispered something into the doe's ear that made her smile and the two retreated to the burrow with some of the plants, putting them away.

"We found a new warren," Lupin explained to the remaining rabbits, whose eyes all widened. There were many questions that Lupin and Mamaro answered one at a time. By the time Myrtia and Bittersweet had returned to the group, the plan had been decided- the two rabbits would be taking three rabbits with them to the new warren in order to work on expanding their tunnel system.

A short while later, the five rabbits set out for their journey. Mamaro and Dynami walked together as they caught up with the happenings of their lives over the next few days, both happy to be together. Lupin led the way through the forest, his knowledge proving useful to the rest of the warren while Myrtia and Bittersweet brought up the back of the pack. Everyone concentrated on the task at hand; getting to the warren while gathering herbs along the way.

There had been many other types of herbs in the forest and the rabbits were eager to gather more of them to make a secondary store of herbs and food in case they needed another store in this side of the territory. They could never be too careful, as the winter months are unpredictable and unyielding- it was smart to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

"Oh, Mamaro, should we pick some of these?" Dynami asked their younger sibling, holding up a flower. "They look really tasty, we might need some food as well as medicine for when we get there."

The black appaloosa shook their head. "We don't have room this time for anything but herbs, sister. Take more of this kind, and these are important..... oh," the rabbit piled up their sister with countless herbs, amazing everyone in the process. It seemed like a magic trick as the warren's seer stacked yet more herbs onto their sister.

"I think that's enough for now," Lupin said to Mamaro through a mouthful of herbs. "She won't be able to walk if you keep piling up the herbs."

"Yes, I can barely see as it is, Mamaro.... You'll have to help me walk as it is. I don't want to drop anything." Dynami said under the thick pile of herbs, her brown and white speckled coat barely visible as it was so covered with herbs that had fallen or were purposefully placed on her back.

"I guess you're right," Mamaro agreed before evening out the amount of herbs to the other rabbits and they went off once more.

[Ladyskittels]

When the five rabbits reached the stretch of territory they had been looking for, they set down the herbs they had been carrying and took a little bit of a rest. Myrtia and Bittersweet sat together nearest to the forest, the ghostly grey doe wanting to explore the new territory more but was convinced to stay around the bush that they were next to at the time. Dynami and her sibling, Mamaro were both sprawled out in a patch of sun fast asleep. They had both fallen asleep soon after resting their heads on the ground below, seemingly equally exhausted. Lupin, on the other hand, decided to keep watch while he munched on a few blades of grass.

A few hours later, the afternoon sun high in the sky, the rabbits decided to get started on the expansion of the tunnels to the main warren. Lupin took over the lead role, while the rest of the rabbits went with it. "In order to get this tunnel started, I'm going to need two groups; the first will be those doing the heavy lifting inside the tunnels making pathways to various areas in this part of the territory while the second will follow behind the first group and work on stabilizing the tunnels while we go."

The rabbits sat and listened, their ears pricked toward the tricolored buck as he talked. None of them made any moves until instructed to do so, glad to have someone else to step up and tell them what to do and where to go when their leader wasn't around. The groups having been decided - Myrtia, Mamaro and Lupin making up the first group where Dynami and Bittersweet making up the second - the rabbits of Deerbarrow warren set off to the designated spot to start their digging.

Paws thrown into the dirt and moving small piles of earth, progress was slow at first. Lupin and Mamaro ran out of steam faster than the ghostly grey Myrtia and took a breather while she continued on, seemingly unphased by the task at hand. A while later, the rabbits had actually made a decent amount of progress and had the beginnings of a proper tunnel started. There was little time to rest while the three rabbits that made up the first group made slow but steady progress in making their pathways throughout the territory.

Myrtia led the way, as she was the best digger in the group, while Lupin passed on the dirt Myrtia dug up and passed it down the line to Mamaro, who helped to bring the excess dirt out of the tunnel to where the second team of busily working rabbits were stabilizing the walls. They took frequent breaks as they grew tired and cheered each other up by making small talk among themselves.

"This is fun," Myrtia said to Lupin and Bittersweet, who were nearest to her. "I'm glad you guys let me come and help."

"Yes, Myrtia," Bittersweet replied and received a large smile from the ghostly grey rabbit in return. "We know how much you love to help out and it makes it a lot easier in the long run."

Lupin got up and stretched, motioning the rest of the rabbits back to work. They should be close to where he wanted to make a temporary burrow if he predicted correctly. "Just a little more, gang. Then we can rest for the night."

The teams took their spots once more as they started their work again, Myrtia leading the way. Lupin, who was falling a little behind due to the young rabbits enthusiastic digging, lost track of the grey bun as she disappeared from view. The rest of the rabbits worked as fast as they could, obviously tired and it showed in their work performances.

"GUYS! COME CHECK THIS OUT!" Myrtia called suddenly, from far ahead of them.

Concerned, Lupin and Mamaro called back in unison, "Myrtia? Are you okay???"

"I- YEAH! I'M GREAT! I FOUND FRIENDS!!!" The response called back, much to the confusion of the rest of the rabbits. "THEY SEEM SURPRISED..... PROBABLY CUZ I CRASHED THROUGH THE WALL INTO THEIR BURROW. COME SEE GUYS! THEY'RE SO CUTE!!!"

"Stay where you are, Myrtia! We're coming!"

[Ladyskittels]

Mamaro woke early one morning, a few days after the rabbits had discovered the other burrow. The rabbits had spent those few days working on developing a network of tunnels and had even made a temporary burrow for them to use while they stayed in this part of the territory. Mamaro wiped the sleep from their eyes and yawned widely.

The rest of the rabbits were sprawled out in their temporary warren as they slept peacefully. Mamaro's stomach rumbled loudly, waking up Lupin and Dynami. The two rabbits stretched and stood up, wiping sleep from their eyes. The brown and white speckled doe blinked and smiled at her sibling before stifling a yawn.

"Someone sounds hungry," She said after the yawn had passed, stretching out her legs. "Why don't we go get something to eat?"

"Sounds like a great idea," Mamaro replied, rubbing her empty stomach with her paw. "I'm starving."

Lupin, the tricolored buck with turquoise eyes, shook the tiredness from his pelt before he spoke. "Why don't we go and get some carrots and bring them back for everyone to enjoy? There's a patch of wild carrots nearby that would be great this time of year." He shifted his weight onto his hind legs as he raised up his front legs to scratch his face.

"Ooh, carrots sound really good," Dynami agreed, stepping over the sleeping Bittersweet and Myrtia as she got closer to the entrance of the burrow. "Sound good to you, Mamaro?"

The black appaloosa rabbit nodded. "Yes, but maybe we can get some sweet grass too?"

The others agreed and they headed out of the burrow and into the woodland territory they were currently residing in. They started off for the patch of wild carrots that grew in the forest a short journey away. Lupin led the way as usual, with Mamaro and Dynami following behind him while they talked to each other.

"What are we doing for the rest of the day?" Mamaro asked Lupin suddenly, coming up beside him as they hopped over a log. "Are we just gonna gather food for everyone? Or when we get back are we going to do something else?"

"That depends," Lupin replied, concentrating on the path ahead of them. "The rest of the day can be spent on just gathering up food, or maybe fixing up the tunnels, maybe resting up. Who knows?"

"I see," the black appaloosa rabbit breathed before hanging back to join their sister. "We'll just see where it goes, I guess."

They made it to the clearing where the carrots were growing intertwined with herbs, flowers and other plants which made it very difficult to tell one plant from the next. The three rabbits took their time untangling the different stems of the plants, concentrating on the task at hand. It was slow work, pulling apart the different plants to get at the wild carrots buried somewhere beneath.

Dynami took a bite out of a large carrot that sat in front of her while taking a break of harvesting carrots for Myrtia and Bittersweet.

[Ladyskittels]

It had been some time since the discovery of the warren to the north of the Deerbarrow's territory and the leader grew curious whether there were more warrens out there. The brown and white bicolored male decided to send out a search party to explore new territories on their other borders. His exploration had brought with it the discovery of another warren to the south of their land, just past where the twoleg's hunting village was. Igetis-rah had decided that this would be an excellent time of the year to scope out what sorts of supplies they had to offer for bulking up their winter supplies. It wasn't the greatest thing to do, but the leader had decided that it would be best to at least get a feel for what they had, even if the rabbits didn't manage to take anything back to the burrow with them.

The black and white bicolored buck gathered his strongest rabbits - Bittersweet and Siopi - and the three of them headed out to start their mission of persistence. Once the three had reached the outskirts of the warren to the south, they each claimed a small hiding place in order to stake out the land. Igetis-rah took up hiding in the hollowed-out bottom of a tree, Siopi- the black and tan buck- took a hiding place in a large shrub alongside the fawn colored doe, Bittersweet. Together, the three of them watched the goings on of the other warren for what seemed like ages.

The rah of this warren, it seemed, was a large but lean tan colored buck with heavy scarring on his face and ears- obviously earned from a battle or two in his past- who was organizing herbs and food items in front of an opening in the side of a man-made structure. "That's probably the entrance of their burrow or their storage," Igetis-rah thought aloud, shifting his weight on his paws as he watched.

Two young rabbits came up to the rah and placed mouthfuls of herbs at his feet before scurrying off most likely to find more items. The black and white buck fixed his emerald eyes on the tan buck opposite him, waiting to see what he did with the loot so he would know where to lead his group of rabbits.

The tan buck bent to take the herbs and other goods from the ground and made his way into the entrance to the burrow or to the storage, Igetis-rah could not tell which one it was from where he hid in the brush. It took roughly 30 seconds for the rabbit to reemerge from the structure, leading the bicolored male to believe wherever the storage place was, it couldn't be far from the entryway.

Making sure the tan buck's back was turned, Igetis-rah crept from his hiding place to where Bittersweet and Siopi stood waiting for his word. "Do you guys see the entryway underneath the twoleg structure? I think that's where they're holding their items. Once the rah leaves the pile again, I say we grab what we can from the pile and run off. We have about 30 seconds from the time he disappears."

The two rabbits nodded, and the next time the tan buck disappeared into the structure, they rushed up to the pile left unattended, grabbed what they could and ran off. They sprinted across the terrain, loot in mouth, unsure if they were being followed or not.

[Ladyskittels]

Having successfully gotten some items in their mouths, the three rabbits made a hasty escape. The path ahead seemed to be blocked by a large mountain of a rabbit who was lazily munching on mouthfuls of flay. Igetis-rah thought quickly, trying to decide the best coarse of action for the rest of the rabbits. While they were in relatively good health, Bittersweet still seemed to not be all the way back to normal yet and he didn't want to risk a fight against this massive opponent if they could avoid it.

"This way!" He whispered to his fellow rabbits and led them to a thick tangle of bushes nearby.

The grass thick beneath their paws and guilt heavy on their hearts, the three rabbits slipped into the thick brush and paused to rest. They laid their treasured items down and hid in the bush, Bittersweet easing herself onto the ground in order to rest.

"What are we going to do now, Igetis-rah?" She asked, her breathing seeming to be slightly labored. "How are we going to get past that beast of a rabbit?"

If he was being honest, the black and white bicolored buck had no idea what they were going to do now. He poked his head outside of the bush as he surveyed the scene; the mountain of rabbit hadn't moved except for the jaw which was still chewing a bite of food, the path around him thin and unlikely to fit the three rabbits especially when all it would take to stop them would be a slight movement of a gigantic paw. To the right of the path was a steep hillside that Bittersweet would be unlikely to make it across in her condition, while to the left was a path that led through the heart of the twoleg's camp. Neither of the two options were the best, although one must be chosen as they couldn't stay hidden in the bush forever.

The Rah withdrew his head into the safety of their hiding place and turned toward Siopi, who was nuzzling Bittersweet in an attempt to comfort her. "What do you think, Siopi? Do you think she's going to be able to run for it?" he asked the silent black and tan buck.

After pausing to think for a few moments the silent buck glanced at the doe before returning his gaze to his leader. Siopi gave a light nod, as if to say he thought so, but was unsure. Igetis-rah concluded that the other buck felt the same about Bittersweet's ability as he did.

"Alright," Igetis-rah said in a soft tone. "Gather your strength, we're going to have to run as fast as we can for as long as we can. Do you understand?"

They nodded and took a few minutes to get up and gather themselves. Once the two were ready, the rah checked to see if the coast was clear before leading his warren mates out of the bush and down the path into the heart of the twoleg village. His heart pounding in his chest, he pressed himself faster as he heard the parking of the dogs and the surprised shouts of the young twolegs who tried to chase after them.

What have I done? Igetis-rah thought to himself in a panic.