"A New Journey" (based on Watership Down)

Malte279 · **Reply #160 on:** October 06, 2010, 04:27:40 AM

Chinankhen nodded slowly he had his ears laid flat to his back. His eyes once again seemed to loose some clarity as he seemed to look absent-minded at nothing specific. When suddenly he spoke up his voice sounded deeper than it had so far:

Many times has Frith passed by
since first time he did see
how rabbits are rabbits' elil
and scream in agony

The black rabbit of Inleh
would not trust his blazing eyes
his ears believed not what they heard
the screams and battle cries

The digger did not dig the ground
the runner did not run from dread
Unlistened too was the swift warning
and the landscape was turned red

Of all U hrair
these were by Frith not blessed
and in sorrow he hid away his face
beyond the hills far in the west

Malte279 · **Reply #161 on:** October 08, 2010, 04:07:24 PM

Cinankhen remained motionless for some moments. He then shook his head fiercely and wiped over his face with a paw. He was looking slightly embarrassed, but his eyes were clear again and his voice was back to its slightly squeaky sound when he said: "Anyway..." and chuckled slightly as if to override the embarrassment though the chuckle seemed oddly out of place.

Petrie. · **Reply #162 on:** October 09, 2010, 07:09:46 AM

Arvens awoke from his snooze. Everyone was plainly where they had been when he had laid down so nothing immense or crazy had gone on while he was resting. Not much would have escaped his notice, being a light sleeper.

Stretching hind and forepaws, he came out of the drain and looked at those on guard. "Well, who am I relieving? Cinankhen you look tired, go rest," he said rather quickly. "I'll take your watch."

Myrkin · **Reply #163 on:** October 09, 2010, 07:40:49 AM

After hearing what Cinankhen said, Neltita was going to ask him, if he was a poet, but then Arwens woke up and relieved Cinanhken from guard duty. It was time to wake Thyme and get herself some needed sleep. She entered the drain and nudged gray buck gently, who slowly opened his eyes and yawned.

"Is it already my shift?" he asked "This was a really short rest for me."

"Well... If you are too tired to do guard duty, then I can..." Neltita begun, but she was swiftly interrupted by Thyme:

"No, Nel. I won't let anybody do my duty for me. Especially not after I said I will do it." He stretched his body and limbs and jumped out of the drain. He joined the rabbits that were on guard, while Neltita lay down and fell asleep.

Malte279 · **Reply #164 on:** October 09, 2010, 07:52:50 AM

Cinankhen nodded looking indeed somewhat more worn out than he had before.
He again he seemed slightly embarrassed and it seemed to take him a little effort to get himself to say: "Uhm... in case I am not awake by myself when I should. Please don't shake me up or nudge me or anything. I will wake up at a call."
And before anyone could say anything in response he went down to the tube settling down at one of its end as far from any of the other sleepers as he could as if he tried to maintain the distance which he kept from everyone while awake during his sleeping time as well.

Myrkin · **Reply #165 on:** October 09, 2010, 04:17:26 PM

Thyme looked at Cinankhen and after the latter had left, he turned to Arwens:

"I guess that he has been a hlessi for so long, that if anyone would touch him, while he was asleep, he would think he is attacked by an elil." he said quietly, before shaking his head slightly. He could not imagine himself living alone in the open. Not for life anyway. After all, he was a rabbit, not a hare. Then again, Cinankhen didn't have to put up with some of bad sides of living in warren, like... being pushed around by self-important members of Owsla.

"Well, Arvens.... Should I stand on guard at some particular position or is here good enough?" he asked former captain of Owsla. Thyme looked around, watching for owls or any predators that could be sneaking on them right now.

Petrie. · **Reply #166 on:** October 09, 2010, 05:22:07 PM

Arvens couldn't help but laugh at the comment. "There is no said position to stand at, provided you can see what is going on around you. Right now, I'm most interested in finding some suitable place to make a permanent residence. I have no clue on how it'll run in the end."

He looked back at Thyme. "I haven't really spoken with you much, so what do you think of our group here? Think we could make it as a warren?"

Myrkin · **Reply #167 on:** October 09, 2010, 05:36:22 PM

"What do I think? To be honest, I don't know what to think." Thyme answered "I haven't spoken much with anybody here, you see. Maybe I will be able to make an opinion after we survive coming day. Hardships and dangers of travel will show who is who here." he stopped talking and looked around again. Still nothing. He turned to Arvens and asked with simple curiosity:

"May I ask you why and how you had become an Owsla captain in your warren?"

Campion1 · **Reply #168 on:** October 10, 2010, 05:23:54 AM

Rankin just sat by and listened to the conversation.

ooc: Given the situation with arvens, I'll have have my character stay up. I'm sorry I was not around to post today.

Petrie. · **Reply #169 on:** October 10, 2010, 12:37:19 PM

Arvens twitched a bit at the thought of explaining how he had gotten his position within the Owsla of Thornbrush two years back. It wasn't the most popular move in the warren, but he had seen it through and made a decent Owsla member in the end.

"I would say that I got my position in the Owsla for being snippy. You either were with me or against me as a young buck. I was not one to hear of complaints, whining, or anything like that. It was what it was. If you couldn't perform, then try something else. Needless to say I wasn't popular among others my age, but it gained notice through the Owsla ranks that I was very no-nonsense and very curt with everyone, including the Owsla. They had their own curtness for me too--isolation chambers as consequence for being too snippy at them, but they didn't forget when it came time to promote rabbits within the warren to replace retiring individuals. My name apparently came up somewhere and I was asked to meet with our Captain of Owsla, Thistle. He was a big rabbit, easily towering over me. You think I'm tough to get along with, you should've seen this rabbit...say yes sir, no sir, and that was all he wanted to hear. Anything else was too much of an answer. Apparently they didn't care much for the answers, but I heard later on they wanted me because of the way I responded, not how. They liked my brashness as much as Thistle's and apparently, that's what Thistle wanted...someone who was much like him. That's how I got in and I served for the years until the warren was run through by man. Now I know what you're thinking, will I still act the way I did as an Owsla member now that I'm no longer around Thistle and all the rest of Thornbrush? I've been no other way, so I'm unlikely to change, even out of my element. I may not be the most enjoyable rabbit to be around, but you certainly know I'm honest and truthful, and will stand behind whatever I say."

Myrkin · **Reply #170 on:** October 10, 2010, 04:11:49 PM

"So it seems." Thyme said with a slight smile on his face "Anyway... If I ever have something against your behaviour, you can be sure I won't hesitate to tell you about it. Perhaps, that was the reason why some of Owsla members back in my home warren didn't like me much, to say the least. They couldn't stand being told, that their hraka hadn't become carrots after they had joined the Owsla." he added with evident hints of disdain and sarcasm in his voice.

Petrie. · **Reply #171 on:** October 15, 2010, 07:42:05 PM

Arvens shrugged at the comment. "Most Owsla members get in based on who supports you rather than what you know. Anyone who got in basically has the same skills anyway, so its about who has support from those in and can put in a good word." He smirked at the thought. "I never did find out who wanted me in the Owsla. I didn't really know anyone, but everyone knew me. Odd how some things work. I only hope, wherever we go, or whatever warren we find, the Owsla has more sense, but I wouldn't hold out hope."

Campion1 · **Reply #172 on:** October 16, 2010, 02:39:19 PM

"I'm wondering if we find a warren at all," Rankin questioned looking at the ground. "I think for the meantime it'll just be us. Who would be part of the owsla?"

Petrie. · **Reply #173 on:** October 16, 2010, 03:00:55 PM

Arvens twitched his ears, ruffling the colored feather still worn there. "If we are all that there is, the warren ought to have an Owsla based on their skills, and how useful these skills are in keeping a warren safe. Things like tracking for elil, guardsman-ship, and practicality and rationality for thinking things through would make a fine Owsla. As for the Chief Rabbit, well, only one of us has been in that position before. We'll have to see if she's still up for that sort of job. It takes a lot out of you to be the boss."

Arvens looked at the night sky, seemingly less dark than it was not too long ago. The sun would rise in due time, and the group would have to move on again. "No point in arguing about who should be in what job until we find something. If we find a warren with rabbits, they probably will have their own hierarchy anyway so there's no point in wasting breath on how we should set up a warren when its unlikely we would find an abandoned one. They're usually abandoned for a reason." He scratched at his fur with his hind legs and claws. "You wouldn't get me to stay at an abandoned warren," he added with haste. "Give them another hour, and get yourself some sleep. You'll need it."

Campion1 · **Reply #174 on:** October 16, 2010, 03:19:01 PM

"Alright then..." Rankin said in a small voice. He stumbled over to the hole where everyone else sleeping, and went to join them.

Myrkin · **Reply #175 on:** October 19, 2010, 04:15:15 PM

"Well... Let's just hope that wherever we are going, we will all get there alive and we won't regret staying there..." Thyme said with a weary sigh "Talking of which... Do you have any plan where are we going?"

***

Meanwhile, Whitetail finished eating his prey, feeding most of his hunger. Now he needed to find some safe place to rest. He sniffed the air and then he caught an interesting scent.

Longears! weasel thought, smelling lapine scent. It was coming from a great clearing nearby. That was somethin Whitetail had to investigate, so he crawled slowly to the edge of clearing and looked out from the bush. He saw two rabbits sitting by something, that looked like a ditch. Whitetail wondered what those rabbits were doing here, in the open. He knew that Digging Longears usually stayed close to their burrows, so perhaps there was an entrance to a warren in that ditch? Whitetail had been too shortly in this area and therefore he couldn't know that those rabbits were hlessils without any real hideout to run to. He decided to just observe them for the time being.

Malte279 · **Reply #176 on:** October 25, 2010, 09:34:35 AM

Quite contrary to his fidgety wake-time attitude Cinankhen seemed to sleep sound and profound at the entrance of the tube. Only occasionally his ears twitched slightly as the night drew on and the very first rays of the still invisible sun began to redden the eastern horizon.

Myrkin · **Reply #177 on:** October 31, 2010, 02:04:03 PM

Arvens shook his head in response to other buck question "No. Last night was too eventfull to plan anything. Maybe others will have some preference in direction they would like to take, but from my point of view any is as good as other." he sniffed the air and listened warily. He had an impression that something was watching them, but he couldn't spot anything. As member of Thornbush Owsla, he had come to learn a long time ago to trust his senses and feelings, so he didn't ignore them now. He decided it was a time to wake everyone up, before whatever was watching them would attack. Besides... The morning was near, so they had to move out anyway.

"Get into the ditch and wake up everyone, Thyme, while I stay and watch" he said to gray buck "There is something in those bushes over there."

"Elil?" Thyme asked, following Arven's gaze.

"Maybe." Arvens answered shortly "Go now" he added with a hint of authority.

Thyme jumped softly into the ditch and the first rabbit he had come across was Cinankhen, who was sleeping in the entrance of the tube. Thyme was going to nudge him to wake him, but then he remembered Cinankhen's request and called out to him instead (but without raising his voice too much):

"Hey! Cinankhen! Wake up."

Malte279 · **Reply #178 on:** October 31, 2010, 02:16:15 PM

Fast asleep as he had appeared Cinankhen sprung to life immediately, not fidgety, but almost as if he had been waiting for the signal. He cast a quick look around and walking backwards he maneuvered himself away from the tube and increased the distance to Thyme at the same time. He did not say anything but looked at Thyme questioning as if expecting him to say something.

Myrkin · **Reply #179 on:** October 31, 2010, 02:26:52 PM

Unfortunately, by walking backwards Cinankhen accidentally bumped into sleeping Neltita...

"Ouch! Watch where are you going." she snarled at whoever was stepping on her. This surely wasn't the nicest way she was woken up.

"Shh!" Thyme hushed them "Arvens thinks there is a predator about. Could you help me with getting everybody else on their feets?"