WAR || Deerbarrow Warren writing || DNP

[Ladyskittels]

The late summer sun was out and shining brightly, illuminating the terrain with it's cheery yellow tint. Four rabbits were above ground busily looking around the open field around them, watching for any sign of movement. Their leader, Igetis-rah took lookout over the north, the brown fawn-like doe Bittersweet overlooking the east, silent Siopi took the southern, which left the western horizon for the ghostly grey and white doe, Myrtia to keep an eye on.

The young doe's eyes swept across the horizon, searching for anything out of the ordinary peeking out from behind the thick forest of pine trees. Concentrate, Myrtia, she willed herself to keep focused. This is too important to get distracted. We need to be good so we can go out. Remember what happened last time you got distracted and we couldn't leave the burrow for a week other than to eat or drink? The sudden remembrance sent a slight chill down Myrtia's spine. That was one of the worst weeks ever; she had been bored out of her mind and not allowed to go out even on her leash. She did not want to go through that again.

Igetis-rah gave them a nod as he broke their formation, indicating all was safe to go out for a hunt. Myrtia's heart soared in excitement, but she willed herself to stay firmly planted and to behave this time. "Everything looks good," Igetis-rah stated, pausing to scratch an itch. "The most grass is in the field, but if it's fruit or roots you're after go to the oak forest."

The brown buck, Siopi, who acted as Igets-rah's second in command when their leader was not around, gave an encouraging nod to the leader, as if giving his word that he would see to it that everyone behaved accordingly. Bittersweet nudged Myrtia's shoulder lightly with her nose. "Are you okay?" She asked in her soft, caring tone. "You seem awfully quiet."

Myrtia smiled at her. "Yes," she replied shortly. "It's just.... I'm nervous about getting sent inside again and..." Bittersweet nodded as Myrtia allowed herself to trail off, eyes welling with tears.

"It's alright," Bittersweet said. "As long as you follow the rules you'll do just fine. I'm not worried about it in the least."

Bittersweet smiled brightly at Myrtia before she eased the familiar vine leash around Myrtia's pelt and tied the other end to herself. Myrtia took a calming breath, made sure Siopi was still in sight and the three of them took off for the field, opting for the vegetation for now. They might change their minds once they had their fill of the succulent plants, but for now it was good to just fill their stomachs with food.

As they walked, Bittersweet asked questions for Myrtia to answer, a game that the two loved to do. It was fun to explain in her own words why the sky was blue or why the rabbits ate grass instead of something else. This game continued through their meal as well as through their hunt as they gathered as much as they could carry to store deep in the burrow for food once the snows came. They would be coming sooner than Myrtia liked, as she had never been fond of the cold.

[Ladyskittels]

Igetis-rah hid in a thick shrub, seeking refuge from the sudden summer's storm that had rolled in out of nowhere. Heavy, grey storm clouds littered the sky, casting the landscape below into darkness as angry raindrops pelted everything in it's way to the ground, making loud thumping sounds as they finally collided with the earth. The buck yelped in surprise as a leaf above him gave way and dumped the stash of water over his back, sending a chill down his spine as the cold water made contact with his skin. Summer was nearly over, going by the changing temperatures lately. Soon it would be the most dangerous season of the year when it came to elils- autumn.

The rain slowed to a soft drizzle, and the buck took full advantage of it. He crept from his hiding place in the shrub and made his way to the best place to collect herbs. It was the best time of the season to collect herbs. Not particularly the best weather, however, as the ground was sopping wet and the grass squished beneath the buck's paws uncomfortably. Keeping his mind on the current task of seeking out and collecting herbs, Igetis-rah trudged onward, trying his best to ignore the squelching sound of the mud beneath him. At least I'm better at walking on this than sand, he thought to himself with a bit of a laugh.

Upon reaching his destination, the black and white rabbit sniffed out the best herbs. He had a list in mind when he came out, but it was slightly lost when the storm blew in. It would take him a little while to remember the full length of the shopping list. For now, he was content with seeking out the best clover plants that he could find. Maybe he would get lucky enough to find a four leafed one, the kind that mother mole used to tell him about. Apparently they brought good fortune for the winter months, although Igetis-rah had never known the reason this was. Maybe it was an old wives tale that the moles told themselves, he mused, his nose close enough to the patch of clover that he nearly breathed one up his nose.

Allowing thoughts to flow through his mind as he worked, Igetis-rah noticed the drizzling had ceased. "Finally," he mouthed with a slight trace of attitude before he shook out his soaked coat. He hadn't been in the rain for long, yet his pelt was drenched and he felt chilled to the very core of his being. He wondered how long it would take to warm back up while he picked up a large clump of clover in his teeth. I will go visit the mole family and deliver some of this clover, the buck decided, shivering as a light breeze made contact with his soaked coat. Then I will be able to warm up and go back out to collect the rest of my herbs.

Gathering what he could in his mouth, the male rabbit then hopped toward the safety of a burrow. It would be a tight squeeze, as it had been when he lived with the moles, but he knew the burrow below was more than big enough to house him and the family. He had expanded it himself to make sure he would be able to fit. He tucked his ears close to his body before wriggling slowly into the familiar burrow of the moles.

It was the same as he remembered it; lined with herbs and nice-smelling flowers along the walls of the main burrow. Mother mole loved to make it appear less dreary looking, plus it added more insulation and stability to the burrow. He set the clover down on the floor of the burrow and started to search for the family that lived there.

"Hello?" He called out to the exit path of the burrow. It led down to the deeper parts of tunnels that the moles loved to work on but they were far too small for Igetis-rah, a fully grown male rabbit now, to even think of entering. Hearing no response, he decided to try again, this time a little louder. "Miss? It's me, Igetis-rah. I brought some clover with me, I thought you could use some."

His ears pricked forward as he heard a noise coming from the tunnel. "My boy came by for a surprise visit?" Mother mole's familiar voice said warmly as she poked her head through the tunnel entrance and pulled herself out into the main burrow next to him. "Oh, you're wet... Did it storm outside?" She asked with a tilt of her head. She, being a mole, did not venture above ground very often. Especially not during storms either.

Igetis-rah nodded. "Yes, storm blew in out of nowhere while I was collecting herbs. I thought it would be a good time to come by for a visit. I've been meaning to for a while," He added the last part a bit sheepishly, feeling guilty for not visiting her sooner. After all, she was the closest thing he had left to a family.

"Don't worry about it dear," Miss said with a loving smile before bending over the herbs to inspect them. "You know what I say about worrying, don't you?"

"Of course," Igetis-rah said with a chuckle. "Worry is like a rocking chair; it won't get you anywhere, but it'll give you something to do." He always thought this was a funny saying, as he never understood what it meant. "Where did you hear that saying anyways?"

"I heard it when I was a child, dear." She explained, not bothering to look up from the herbs. She paused only to compare one clover to another, trying to decide which was better before she continued. "My family lived in a burrow near the two-legged camp. I heard an older female say it once and I liked it, although I never found out what the chair was."

The rabbit nodded. "I see," he said, stifling a yawn. "Would you mind if I took a nap for a little while?" He asked, feeling suddenly drained.

"Of course dear. Take all the time you need. I'll just put these up and if I'm not here when you wake, I'll be in the tunnels," Miss said before nuzzling her nose into his wet fur. "You need your rest or you'll fall ill."

[Ladyskittels]

It was a cool morning in the Warren. The leaves were beginning to change color and some were even starting to fall to the ground below. This marked the beginning of a very dangerous time of year; the time of year when the two legs came put of their den and started to hunt the deer. This put Igetis-rah on edge, as the deer were his biggest warning signs of danger and now they were on high alert. He and Siopi now had to be extra cautious while they went on their gathering.

"We need to be very careful," Igetis-rah said, trying not to let his voice give away how stressed he felt. "Are you ready?"

The silent buck beside him nodded, letting him know he was indeed ready and the two were off toward the patch of herbs tucked into a secluded part of the hillside. The journey was longer than normal, as they kept pausing to make sure they were alone. They would've taken the underground route, although it was caved in and needed repairs. The two bucks decided they needed to find herbs to heal their companions instead of fixing the tunnel.

Siopi scanned the ground, spotting a colony of ants. He smiled and followed them a little ways to their ant home and watched them curiously for a few minutes. It was interesting how there were so many, yet each seemed to have their own job and purpose.

"Siopi!" Igetis-rahs voice hissed through the tall grass and Siopi tore himself away from his ant hill.

He hopped toward the voice of his leader and smiled apologetically at him before they headed off once again. The black and white buck seemed a bit on edge today, so Siopi promised to stick close. Something about this time of year made him nervous.

A few minutes later they had reached the herb patch and bowed their heads to gather them up. Siopi could see there were lots of different herbs; some of which he knew of and some he had no clue what they were. He shrugged and grabbed a hit of every herb and plant he could carry. He would research them once they were safely tucked into their burrow.

He grabbed clover, a few daisies, a couple of basil leaves, and a lot of strangely inviting plants that made him feel good to be around them.

Looking over at Igetis-rah, the buck noticed he was avoiding this particular plant and gathered more leaves and things that were familiar to Siopi. The buck tilted his head out of curiosity as he continued to watch his leader scurry about the patch, the plants falling in front of his nose as he did so.

After a few minutes, Siopi felt a bit dizzy and loopy, as if something had crawled into his brain and swirled it around a few times. The buck rested on the grass below him to avoid falling over while he waited for his leader to come back.

[Ladyskittels]

Upon returning to his burrow, Igetis-rah noticed a strange soreness in his lower back where the fawn Clara had accidentally bumped into him. He sat down gingerly, as to not upset the already tender spot, and twisted his spine in order to get a better look at it and to assess the damage that was done. The spot appeared to be an average bump, like those from a blunt-force trauma, and did not look to be cut or bleeding. This was a good sign as it meant the healing process would be far less complicated.

He turned his head to get a better look; inspecting it as much as the awkward position allowed him to without feeling additional pain. When he was satisfied with the inspection of the wound, he resumed his normal body posture and stretched out his limbs, feeling a light strain as they stretched in protest at his movements. "At least this isn't serious. I won't need to worry about getting an infection or something like that," he mumbled aloud, idly toying with the dirt below his front paws as he thought. "But how to go about treating this..."

Igetis-rah stood up, careful as to not brush his injury against the dirt of the narrow tunnel he currently occupied. "I'm going to need some herbs for this," he thought out loud, not noticing that he kept speaking his thoughts. Not that it mattered much- being alone, no one can really judge a buck for accidentally thinking out loud. He sighed discontentedly, not wanting to venture back out in the miserable summer's heat but it was looking like he had no choice. He needed herbs to eat in order to promote healing from the inside of his body, and he also needed to place a leaf to help dry out the bump and reduce the swelling from the outside. There was only one way to accomplish this; going outside the comfort of the burrow.

The black and white buck huffed in an annoyed protest, almost sounding like a young child protesting some awful chore they didn't want to do. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply before biting the bullet, so to speak, and hauled his fluffy self out of his home. Above ground was as miserable as Igetis-rah thought it would be; the heat beat down on him from above, the humidity clinging to the air around him which made it hard to breathe.

After taking a few moments to allow his eyes to adjust to the change in light, the buck trudged begrudgingly out to a large shrub that held the leaves he needed for his wound. He carefully plucked a leaf from the shrub as soon as he was close enough, not wanting to waste a moment. He then took it to the shallow puddle and wet the leaf before placing it onto the bump.

Wincing in pain as the contact with the tender spot stung, the rabbit grit his teeth and forced himself to take a few deep breaths. "Just breathe," he reminded himself. "It'll be gone in a few minutes, you won't even know it's there soon..."

He waited a few minutes, and, sure enough the pain completely dissipated and left him feeling a lot better. The tender skin around the injury even felt a bit soothed from the leaf's cool temperature. The rabbit then hobbled to a patch of herbs and shoved a few into his mouth along with some sweet tasting grass to mask the horrid, bitter taste of the herbs. He swallowed and made a face of disgust, shaking his head as if it would rid the taste sooner. He took a few more bites of grass before finally retreating to the burrow to sleep off the worst of the effects. A good nap would allow the herbs to do their work and he would feel good as new again.

[Ladyskittels]

At the burrow, everything was quiet and peaceful. Bittersweet and Siopi had decided to stay put for the day to tend to their injuries. Bittersweet, who had sustained more vine burns, would be going out in a while to search for more mud to place on her irritated skin while Siopi, who had simply pulled a muscle, resided himself to stay in the burrow and sleep it off. He'd definitely had a lot worse injuries in the past, but he knew better than to be hopping around on an injury and make it worse in the long run.

The buck stifled a huge yawn as he stretched out his uninjured limbs to make his position more comfortable while the fawn-like doe Bittersweet stirred beside him. He opened his eyes and looked at her wounds, which were red and raw. They looked quite painful, and the doe seemed to be quite uncomfortable lying on them. He blinked his golden eyes, longing to be able to comfort her by simply asking if she was okay. He huffed silently in frustration before hoisting himself up onto his feet and hobbled to the chamber where they kept their herb stash, careful not to put any weight on his injured leg.

Once he made it to the chamber, which normally would only take a few seconds but in his present condition had taken several minutes, he sat and took a breather. He was not only tired a little, but he also needed time to think. There are so many herbs here, but which would help make her more comfortable...? Siopi found himself thinking. He rifled through the thick pile of herbs, carefully contemplating each of them to determine which would be the best for Bittersweet. He finally decided upon a promising-looking herb and made his way back to the main sleeping chamber where he found Bittersweet had awoken and was nuzzling the fur around her injuries, assessing how severe they were this time. As he hobbled towards her, she turned her head and gave him a light smile.

"I thought you had gone out to get something to eat," She said, relieved to see he hadn't strayed too far. "An injury like a pulled muscle might not seem like much, but it can get a lot worse if you walk on it." The doe added in her usual motherly voice.

Siopi nodded in response before he bent his head and dropped the herb at her feet, pushing it toward her with his nose. Of course, the buck already knew not to walk on his leg, but it felt a little odd that she cared about him not walking on it. He knew she did this with anyone who was injured, but this time it felt a bit special.

The buck backed up a few paces before flopping back down on his bed, his other limbs aching slightly from carrying the weight the injured one normally did. "Is this for me?" Bittersweet asked, gazing incredulously at the buck.

Siopi nodded again and brought a paw to his mouth, motioning for her to eat it. Bittersweet thanked him kindly before eating the herb. Afterwards, they both settled back down and took a well deserved rest as they waited for their injuries to heal.

[Ladyskittels]

Myrtia sighed in annoyance, holding her injured paw tenderly. She turned to Bittersweet, who was to her right, also out of commission due to an injury. The fawn colored doe was licking her paw, as if trying to get the last of the dirt from under her claws but to no avail.

"How come the boys get to go out without us?" Myrtia whined, hating to be in the burrow while Igetis-rah and Siopi got to go out for a gathering together.

Bittersweet stopped licking at her paw and looked up at the ghostly grey and white doe, flecks of dirt clinging to the fur on her face. "We've been over this, dear," she said in her mothering voice. "We need to stay here and rest so our injuries dont get worse."

Her tone sounded matter of fact, although in her defense she had stated this a thousand times before. Myrtia huffed again and rolled onto her back, stretching out her legs to inspect her swollen foot.

"What if I just...." the childish doe trailed off as she turned to find a warning glance from Bittersweet. "Or not.." Myrtia mumbled glumly.

Bittersweet sighed and rolled onto her back as well. "Maybe we could play a little game," she offered. "Perhaps it would make the time go by a bit faster?"

Myrtia shrugged. "Depends on the game, I guess." She stuck out her tongue to Bittersweet playfully before giggling. "I like most games."

"I know you do. Except for the ones that Igetis-rah comes up with," Bittersweet said, raising her paw up to graze the top of their burrow.

"His games are no fun. He always wins!" Myrtia frowned and twitched her nose as a fleck of dirt fell into it. The grey doe shook her head as she sneezed, an odd twitch she seemed to have.

"You're right. But, hes been alone for so long, you cant really blame him. It's been a very long time since hes had the company of other rabbits and he is trying." Bittersweet shook her head slightly as she remembered some of their first interactions with their leader. Although a bit awkward socially, the buck obviously had a big heart and made a good leader.

Myrtia nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Remember when he showed us his rock friend for the first time? He was so proud," the young doe laughed and rolled onto her stomach. Although it wasn't a game as originally promised, she was happy to have something to do that occupied her for the time being other than waiting impatiently for the boys to get back.

Bittersweet giggled at the memory of first meeting the rock. "I do remember that. I thought he was out of his mind," she said casually, more thinking aloud than anything.

"Hey, Bittersweet?" Myrtia asked after a few minutes of silence. "Do you think I'm out of my mind too...?"

Bittersweet shook her head. "Of course I dont! Where would you get that idea?"

Myrtia shrugged. "Maybe we should get some sleep. I'm tired all of a sudden."

Bittersweets face fell. "Oh, okay hun." She said softly. "We can talk more later ok?"

Myrtia promised she would before the two fell asleep.

[Ladyskittels]

After resting in their burrow for what seemed like ages, Bittersweet awoke with Siopi's paw draped across her back. She shook her head, feeling a light blush form on her cheeks as she remembered what he had done to save her and Myrtia earlier. That was so brave... the fawn doe thought to herself, tilting her head slightly with curiosity. Why would he risk his own neck to save the two of us?

The doe didn't have time to answer that question however, as Myrtia had risen and was stretching out noisily, jarring Bittersweet from her thoughts. "Mornin'!" Chirped Myrtia cheerfully, apparently feeling better.

Bittersweet smiled kindly at the ghostly grey doe, taking a step toward her. "Good morning," she replied in a friendly tone. "How are you feeling this morning?"

Myrtia thought for a few moments before replying. "Hungry!" She said loudly, causing Siopi to wake up. Bittersweet glanced at him as he opened his mouth widely into a yawn.

She too, was quite hungry, but the motherly part of her wanted to make sure Siopi was alright. He seemed to have taken the brunt of the injuries, and she was quite surprised that he had made it back at all. "Are you alright, Siopi?" she asked, avoiding eye contact with the buck. "You scared us back there. It was quite brave - what you did, I mean. You could've died." The last part of the statement was slightly tainted by the motherly part of her that wanted to lecture him.

The buck nodded simply and got to his feet, giving her a look as if to say either he'd do it again if it meant they'd be okay or that she would've done the same for him. Bittersweet couldn't tell which it was, since she wasn't an expert in mind reading or advanced facial reading, especially with Myrtia munching on some of the grass that made up their bedding for her breakfast.

"Don't eat that!" Bittersweet snapped at the young doe which earned her a look of hurt and confusion. She always ate the bedding when they didn't move fast enough to get out of the burrow. Bittersweet sighed deeply and rubbed her paws against her cheeks, still feeling quite sore after her encounter with the thorn bush. "I guess you aren't hungry anymore, so we can get to work replacing the bedding again?"

Myrtia nodded slowly. "I'm sorry," she murmured, not meeting her warrenmate's gaze as she spoke. "I'll try harder to wait till everyone is up, please don't be upset...."

Bittersweet shook her head. "I'm not upset," she pleaded as Siopi patted the grey doe lightly on the back with his paw. "Let's get going."

The three rabbits headed out of their burrow in silence, Bittersweet feeling confused as to why she had snapped suddenly. Nothing made sense to her this morning, and it was starting to show. She'd better pull herself together before she seriously hurt Myrtia who was already shaken up from their encounter with the big wolf-like elil earlier. The next few hours passed by uneventfully; they simply went out to grab more bedding and came back inside to position the material they had brought back.

[Ladyskittels]

Myrtia sighed loudly in the burrow and looked up at the ceiling. She was bored already, and it was hardly past dawn. She had been injured yet again from her dig and was not happy with being forced to sit in the burrow. At least she wasn't by herself any longer; Igetis-rah stayed behind from going out to gather breakfast for the rest of the warren. In the meantime she was supposed to be resting and healing.

"Can I get you anything?" Igetis-rah asked, looking at her with an eager look on his face, as if he wanted nothing more than to help her through her injury.

"No," Myrtia said glumly, looking down at her heavily wrapped leg. The one condition Bittersweet had stipulated when she had left was that her leg needed to be thoroughly wrapped so there was no way Myrtia could further injure herself by using it normally. "Not unless you can take this off."

Igetis-rah's face fell slightly and he shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you know I can't do that."

"I know...." she trailed off and rolled her eyes. She was annoyed that he could never do anything useful for her, even though he always offered when Bittersweet and Siopi were out. They had taken the new rabbit, Dynami with them and with it any chance Myrtia had at freedom.

"I'll be right back. You need to take more herbs," Igetis-rah said, turning his back to her. "And that leg better still be wrapped when I get back or I'll tie you in here for another week." He added as he hopped out of sight down the tunnels.

The thought of being secluded and trapped left her with a chill down her spine. She hated it when her leader threatened to do this to her yet again, and hated it even more that she knew he wasn't joking. Myrtia closed her eyes and drifted off into a light sleep.

She woke to Igetis-rah drumming his paws against the ground the way he did when he was deep in thought. Annoyed, the ghostly grey doe rolled over and was about to tell him off when she noticed the others had returned and brought with them breakfast. Pangs of hunger gnawed at her stomach painfully and she started to much on the plants, barely hearing what the others were talking about over the noise of her chewing.

"The hunters have cleared the area for now, but I'm not sure how long they'll stay away," Bittersweet said, glancing at the rest of the warren. "I saw them making off with a big kill, probably to last them through the winter. But it could easily be just for storage. It will be safe for the rest of today at the very least, tomorrow is when they'll come out again for another hunt."

Myrtia took a big bite of a nearby carrot and crunched it loudly, unable to hear what the responses were from Igetis-rah and the newcomer, whose name the ghostly grey doe did not know. She swallowed her carrot and smiled up at the warren. "Does that mean we get to go out fro another adventure?"

[Ladyskittels]

Having come back from their most recent hunting excursion, Siopi noticed a sharp pain in his leg. He had pulled another muscle. Great, he thought as he stretched it out gingerly. The buck took in a breath as he realized where it started hurting. He brought the leg close to his body and hobbled the rest of the way to the burrow.

"Are you okay?" An unfamiliar voice asked, causing the buck to turn his head to pinpoint the location of the voice. It came from a smaller built brown and white spotted doe that Siopi recognized as the newest addition to the warren.

He nodded in response to her question, as he didn't want to appear rude by not replying. Then he gestured to his leg to show her it was injured and gave a shrug as if to say, "what can you do?"

"Oh, I see." The doe said in the same small voice as before. "You've hurt your leg, haven't you? Do you need help back to the burrow?"

Before he could reply, Bittersweet came up to the two of them. "He'll be alright, Dynami. Thank you," she said kindly. "He can't talk, but he's pretty capable of taking care of himself." She added with a laugh.

Dynami, thought Siopi. What an interesting name. He wondered where she had gotten it, but they were being ushered into the burrow by Igetis-rah who insisted that a storm was on it's way and the warren needed to rest, especially Siopi who needed to recover from his injury.

"Would you mind showing me where the herbs are?" Dynami asked Bittersweet, the two of them having had a conversation about who should be the one to tend to him. Bittersweet, the natural caregiver would never fully give up the position, but Dynami was a bit stubborn in a way and somehow convinced Bittersweet to teach her about the herbs. Siopi decided he would never fully understand does and how they worked and he would leave it at that.

The black and tan buck stretched out on his bed made of grass and got more comfortable as Myrtia and Igetis-rah talked about the hunters and the coming winter. With her being only a year old, the doe likely had no memory of the harsh conditions that were to come. Siopi winced as his leg cramped; he had stretched it out too far. He gingerly pulled it closer to himself and prayed that the does came back soon with his herbs.

As if on cue, Dynami and Bittersweet returned both looking concerned as soon as they saw the look on his face. While Bittersweet gave him the herbs and a few bites of lettuce to take away the awful taste, Dynami began to place a wrapping on his leg, that was still throbbing with pain.

Siopi took in slow, steady breaths as he focused on Bittersweet's warm paws that were resting on him gently, helping to prop up his head as he chewed the herbs slowly. He wanted this moment to last forever; even though he was in a lot of pain and uncomfortable, he felt at ease. And, oddly, he felt happy and comforted.

[Ladyskittels]

Igetis-rah woke to a sudden gust of cold air that laced between the hairs on his pelt, causing them to stand on end. A shiver ran down his spine and the oreo-colored buck lifted his head to check on his burrow. The rest of the rabbits were sound asleep, some of which were snoring, oblivious to the cold that lurked just beyond their burrow.

The three year old rose to his feet and walked to the threshold of the burrow and peered out at the landscape that lied just beyond their home. It was a beautiful scene; the rolling hills dotted with trees whose leaves had already turned their brilliant colors of the autumn season and were falling at a steady pace. Clouds lined the sky far off in the distance, but the sky above their slice of warren was perfectly clear other than the occasional songbird that flew by on it's way south. Winter would definitely be upon them sooner than Igetis-rah had hoped; bringing with it the challenges of keeping the warren's spirits up and entertaining them all while limiting their time spent outside or above ground.

"I didn't know you were up so early, Igetis-rah," Dynami's soft voice said behind him, nearly making the buck jump out of his skin. She laughed as he turned around to look back at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright," he replied with a nervous chuckle, shifting his weight on his paws. "For the record, I wasn't scared. Just.... wasn't expecting you to come up behind me. That's all."

"You were scared," the doe retorted with a light mocking tone coloring her words. She smiled and gave him a playful nudge with her paw. "But if it makes you feel better, we can tell the rest of the warren you were just surprised."

Igetis-rah returned her smile. While he appreciated the joking manner she possessed most of the time, now wasn't a good time for them to be joking around. There was still so much to do to prepare for the first snowfall.

"We need to gather everyone," he said in a serious voice, causing the brown and white speckled doe to lose her joking tone. "There's a lot of work that needs to be done in order to prepare the burrow for winter and we're running out of time."

Dynami nodded. "Right away, sir," she chirped before waking the rest of the rabbits who begrudgingly rose from their slumber and ambled toward their meeting place, still yawning and wiping sleep from their eyes.

Igetis-rah hopped atop the dirt mound in the middle of their sleeping chamber that posed as the Rah's place for meetings. He took a breath as he gathered his thoughts before he addressed his sleepy warren. "Winter is just around the corner, as some of you know. We need to stock up on our herbs and food reserves while it is still plentiful, and we also need a team to check the tunnels underground to make sure they are all up to date and as sturdy and clear as we can get them before the storms come and make it nearly impossible to travel above ground."

The buck paused and rested his emerald eyes upon Myrtia, who had just slept off an injury to her toe. He needed to divide them into groups; one to focus on gathering items, and one to dig out the tunnels. He blinked and lifted himself onto his rear legs before he continued, the tips of his ears tickling the top of their sleeping chamber, "Myrtia and I will be focusing on the tunnels as we are the best diggers in the warren. And I want Siopi to lead Bittersweet and Dynami through the gatherings for now. We need to do at least two of them to replenish our stores. Possibly more. Are there any questions before we get started?"

None of the rabbits raised their paws, seemingly happy to be able to help out their leader in the preparations for winter. With this, the rabbits broke into their assigned teams and got to work on doing their part. At least there would be less work to do now with so many able paws to help out.