Premonitions

[Harmony]

Midsummer storms, though often welcomed by human gardners and dehydrated crops, are never enjoyable to sit through. While the life sustaining moisture brought by the storm currently breaking over the grassy hills inhabited by the warrens of Naratha and Thyalan was certainly needed - the grass, choked by long days of sun and short nights with little or no dew, had provided little for the rabbits to garner moisture from - Oakfoot could not bring himself to think cheerfully on the subject. The junior officer of the Narathan Owsla flattened his ears along his back and huddled among the rocky outcrop known to be well within his warren's territory, trying and unable to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of fur so saturated the water ran off it in tiny streams and rivulets. In the mist and gloom the storm created, it would be an easy mistake to take the stone-colored buck for one of the rocks he was crouching by.

The reason for Oakfoot's prolonged torture, as he had privately deemed it, was one of both warren-sized urgency and personal honour. Most rabbits - and indeed, animals in general - do not like to be running about right before a storm breaks, preferring to huddle in dens or burrows or nests until the whole affair is over and done with. But early that morning a young doe, out to silflay farther out from the burrows than usual, had caught a whiff of stranger rabbits on the territory and, being young and eager to make a name for herself, promptly set out along the border to inspect it herself. What she had found was alarming: three bucks, all loner rabbits presumably new to the area, had been grazing along Narathan land and when the doe confronted them, attacked her. She had been lucky to get away with her life. If a late morning border patrol hadn't heard the squealing she very well would have been killed... something for El-Ahrairah to cry for, Oakfoot thought, and scored the ground angrily with his claws to imagine it.

Once the doe and patrol had returned to the warren to report, the chief rabbit had been swift and absolute in his decision for backlash. Multiple patrols were sent out, the border marks renewed, and all rabbits called in to the safety of their burrows. It was no hard thing to keep them there - nobody wanted to be out when the storm broke. It did so shortly after ni-frith, and while there was no lightning and only the occasional distant rumble of thunder, the rain came down in torrents. All the patrols ended up returning underground, with multiple rabbits relieving each other to keep watch in the event of a storm-attack. This is the reason why Oakfoot was attempting to drown himself in that same torrent.

Twitching his nose, he flicked his whiskers needlessly and narrowed his eyes into the downpour, unable to focus on the task at hand. No rabbit would attack at a time like this, and even if they did, what could they do against a large officer like Oakfoot? Sitting out here was pointless. If they had gone after those embleer rogues in the first place instead of checking the bloody borders, the fools would have been caught and punished, and no rabbit would need to sit in the rain and be miserable. It was almost as if... as if the chief rabbit had been afraid of something more - no, expected something bigger to come... why else would he have been so concerned about Naratha in general instead of simple retribution? Oakfoot rarely thought of such things, and the topic worried him, rather. Was there something bigger coming? Something... worse?

This is ridiculous, he thought grumpily, rising briefly to shake himself before settling down into that sodden, uncomfortable crouch. You're trying to scare yourself - knock it off, old boy, there's nothing you can't handle. Nothing, apart from going mad in this storm. Where was his relief, anyway? Oakfoot, being in the unfortunate possession of a large amount of self hubris, refused to go find one, thereby forced to wait for a replacement to seek him out first. The thought put him back into a fine temper, but in all honesty, most everything did.

[Robin]

Pepper was not like most rabbits.
That was why Pepper liked the rain, and the feel of it on her furry coat.
It was also why she often caught colds.
It was also why she was often treated as an outsider.
It was also why she was treated with reverence.
but as Pepper slid out of her burrow, up the run and into the rain, part of her felt disgust at herself. The other part (which was most of her) liked the rain.
She was soon lolloping along the path she so often took. It would lead her to the edge of the cliff, where thinking, peace, and freedom awaited her. She did not need to tell herself to go faster. Pepper was almost never in any hurry. She passed by some rocks, feeling a a sixth sense something was there, so she paused, looked around, told the sixth sense it was being silly, then went back on her way.
But something was beside that boulder.
But pepper was longing for freedom of mind and peace.
She did not notice it.

[Harmony]

Oakfoot had just about had enough. He would likely claw himself if he didn't get out of this rain or kill something, whichever came first. He was just trying to think of a way to go back underground without sacrificing his pride or reputation as an officer of the owsla when a movement caught his eye. At last! Something happening after all! He went very, very still, staring hard into the drizzle. The figure moved again, and though it was too far or too misty to see properly what it was, the young officer guessed it was a rabbit by the way it moved. Was this the dreaded attack by storm? Would there be some action at last?

No, he decided as the unknown rabbit hopped closer. It was too small for an attacker - at least, no rabbit that size in his right mind would try any kind of attack, least of all when Oakfoot was near. He had a rather high opinion of himself. Still, all the Narathan rabbits were to be kept underground, so if this wasn't a loner, it was still somebody to be reigned in. The other rabbit continued on its merry little way, and just as Oakfoot was sure it'd pass him, it paused, looking directly at the rocks he was crouched at. The burly officer remembered his natural camouflage and remained still, studying this other rabbit closely. It was hard to get a proper whiff, but he was fairly sure it was a doe, small but plump with splotches of black and white. He couldn't recall if she was in his warren or not.

The unknown doe began to hop away again; Oakfoot made his move. Standing, he shot out from between the rocks almost as fast as a hare, cleaving through the rain and skidding slightly to a halt in front of the stranger. "You there!" he called officiously, "What's your business here, doe?"

[Robin]

Pepper froze.
Uh-Oh.
Owsla.

She turned to face the owsla. She shifted nervously from foot to foot. Was there a law that prevented rabbits from leaving sight of the warren? She trembled, and shuddered lightly. If only it had been her friend that had found her!
"Good day, sir." She said, in a quiet, and slightly shaking, voice. "I am Pepper, of Naranthan warren." She continued in a voice that was just audible over the rain. "I am going to the cliff." She sneezed and trembled.
Would this owsla rabbit hurt her? Was he allowed to. She sneezed again.
He wont believe you. said a small voice in her brain. What normal rabbits go out, when its POURING RAIN, just to get peace and quiet? I think you're the only abnormal rabbit here. She shivered. She could make him out now, a grey slightly lighter than the boulder behind him, darkening with rain. A small part of her brain noted tht if she werre to try and climb up there, she wouldn't be able to. Maybe if she dug her claws into the rock as she was climbing...
This was usually the way peppers brain worked. Especially when she was nervous. She would focus on something out, a pointless problem, then solve it. It was soothing, and she liked thinking this way.
But my claws might not be strong enough.... If maybe I could get other rocks and somehow shove them into tat rock... but would it hold my weight? She pondered.
Well. I could always move another boulder over next to that, one and jump from boulder to boulder, but how would I get onto the other one? Maybe if it was set off rolling, and i was behind it, I could jump on it at the best moment, then keep running to stay on...
She had almost forgotten the owsla rabbit crouching in front of the boulder she was working out.

[Harmony]

Oakfoot perked his ears and sat up importantly when the doe froze, forever pleased at the way his owsla position affected others. It was nice to have power, really - not that scaring this doe would be much to boast about. She looked the easily frightened type. She was sneezing a lot, too - a sickness, perhaps...? He hoped not.

"Good day, sir. I am Pepper, of Narathan warren.

"Nothing good about it," he interrupted, once again reminded of his uncomfortable position at present. Pepper.... Pepper.... Pepper... the name didn't ring a bell. But looking at her up close now, Oakfoot could be fairly certain he'd glimpsed her once or twice to silflay. They'd never exchanged words, of course; that was one thing he tended to avoid if he could help it. At least she wasn't an enemy.

"I am going to the cliff."

In this weather? Here the large officer actually had to search for something to say, actually leaning forward slightly to give her a better sniff more out of astonishment than anything else. He found himself voicing his thoughts quite without meaning to.

"In this weather?" A pause. He shook himself again. "Then you haven't heard, I suppose. All rabbits are to remain underground until the threat of a rogue attack has ended." Never mind that threat had probably gone with the breaking of the storm. There were orders to follow... unless that order had been rescinded while Oakfoot was on duty and the other owsla officers had conveniently forgotten to tell him. A low growl rumbled at the back of his throat. He started to ask something along the lines of what exactly she planned to do at the cliffs in this weather but broke off, noticing her strange brown eyes staring past him into the boulders. He turned swiftly but, seeing nothing there, tipped his head back and settled for being rude.

"What in Frith's name do you think you're looking at?" he snapped.

[Robin]

"In this weather? Then you haven't heard, I suppose. All rabbits are to remain underground until the threat of a rogue attack has ended."

"Rouges?" She said nervously, shifting from foot to foot. It was very convincing.
She was a top actress. She just liked her freedom.
"There are rouges?" She looked appropriately scared. She had known about the rouges, but had decided she didn't care. But, fortunately, she was a good actress, and she didn't think the owsla officer suspected anything.

"What in Frith's name do you think you're looking at?"

Pepper almost jumped out of her skin. She stared at him with wide eyes.
"I was looking at the boulders, sir. I was wondering how I would climb onto one." She half-cringed, thinking that the owsla officer would most likely give her a beating for talking hraka.
And she was talking hraka.
She always was.
"I had, uhhh.... better get back to my burrow...." She turned to leave, shuffling, when her paw caught on rock, and she and her clumsy paws were sent flying forwards.
She tried to huff, embarrassed, but all the breath had been knocked out of her. She struggled to try and get to her feet, desperate to get to her burrow before the officer started to suspect something.

[Harmony]

Oakfoot gazed impassively at Pepper while she indicated her lack of knowledge in the area of present warren security. He rather thought she wasn't one of the brightest stars in the sky, but there was nothing he could do. The rain, though lessened by now to what some creatures might consider a pleasant drizzle, was still compounding the young officer's dark mood. He responded in a short, chilly bark.

"Well, now you know. Three rogues almost killed a doe this morning and they're likely still out there."

"I was looking at the boulders, sir. I was wondering how I would climb onto one."

...what? Oakfoot, who had started slightly when Pepper nearly jumped out of her fur, went back to staring incredulously. This doe was mad. Fancy climbing rocks! Whatever for? Did she think she was a squirrel? He couldn't find it in himself to formulate a response to that. What did one say to such nonsense? He snapped out of it slightly when the young doe presumably made the decision to go back underground. Good. Shame she hadn't fought for some brief, rainy freedom - then again, she didn't look to be worth fighting.

He watched her turn her back and started to hop back to his place among the rocks, also. But the sound of a small body hitting the wet ground caused him to stop suddenly and look over his shoulder. He put his ears up, amused and intrigued as Pepper scrambled to her paws, apparently out of breath.

She seemed a silly sort of thing, not likely to be much use in a fight but helpful in perhaps other ways. A thinker. Granted, thinking about climbing rocks went under the "stupidhead" category to Oakfoot's mind, but he knew well enough a rabbit who thought in such ways was a great asset to any warren. They were always in those stories - and what about the tales of the warren of Watership Down? What was his name... Fiver? He had been a thinker, and useful, too. There was always the possibility Pepper would likewise show some talent.

Stemming from these thoughts more than his sense of duty to his warren, Oakfoot, stirred into some sense of interest or pity, sat up and called out.

"Are you hurt?"

[Robin]

Pepper huffed for breath, and slowly got to her feet. Pain shot up her leg, but Pepper didn't mind it. It dulled quickly, and she was able to stand.
"Are you hurt?" She heard the Owsla rabbit call out. Was she all right? The pain had dulled, but it was still there.
She cleared her throat, she was finally able to breath.
"Ummm... Yeah. I think so." There was slight emphasis to the think. She would've said more, but she knew that the officer probably didn't want the full report on every little injury she got. It was rare for Pepper to talk much, but she was nervous when there was silence around her and an owsla officer she didn't really know.
Pepper had once again got her head in the clouds, thinking about injuries and how it was funny that you could heal them by eating some special leaves, when a bush rustled behind her. Pepper noticed nothing.

'I mean, why PLANTS? Why not special bits of fur? There could be rabbits that had that special fur, and all you'd have to do is pluck one little measly hair, and then: Voila! Good as new! But, then again, if that WAS the case, the poor rabbits with the fur would be utterly bald and would shiver in the winter so much...'
a dark thought crossed her mind.
'Or maybe they would be killed, and then used for medicine...'
She shivered at the same time that a paw flipped her onto her back. Pepper gasped and went limp. Her deep brown eyes rolled int heir sockets, searching for this attacker, but not seeing anything. Adrenaline coursed through her body, and suddenly, she was struggling with every thing she had.
Her back legs scrabbled wildly, searching for the stomach of her attacker.
Suddenly, she could suddenly see light. It was sudden, like the flash of a camera. She saw a huge brown rabbit looming over her, not even worried about her frantic struggling. But, there was one thing the aggressor didn't see.
Below her frantic scribbling, she was as cool as ice. Like I said, she was an awesome actress. She was searching her mind for one of the many scenarios she had imagined so vividly. She realized she had not imagined this scenario, and so instantly began to come up with another. Except, half of her was there. concentrating on acting helpless and frantic. Her eyes rolled and bulged.

'If I go still suddenly, then he might be startled and loosen his grip. I'd have to come back up fats as lightning, knock him over so I'm on top of him, then I'll have to... I'll have to...'
She almost gulped. Almost.
'Kill him.'
She skimmed over imagining her self actually doing it.
When I've done that, I'll stand, blood dripping from my paws and jaws...
She savored the picture for a moment. Her fierce. not just fat and clumsy.
Then they'll be so scared they'll run... No. Focus, Pepper. What if they don't feel scared?'
She thought for a split second.
'Ill have to charge at them, while they still feel stunned. I they dont feel stunned, then me charging at them suddenly will stun them a BIT at least.
Deep, deep in her eyes, there was determination so fierce, so fierce, to be the hero and not the victim. Poor Pepper. Poor, poor Pepper. She should have learned by now that determination and a plan isn't everything. Nevertheless, she checked her position. All of this hadn't actually taken that long.
She was dimly aware of three other rouge rabbits around them. A female, and two males. One of them had her pinned down by the shoulder.
She focused on her plan, readying all her strength and determination. As if she needed to.

[Harmony]

"Ummm... Yeah. I think so."

Oakfoot grunted, disbelieving but not really caring enough to pry. He watched Pepper pick herself up, breathing hard but, apparently, fine. He gazed only long enough to ensure she was headed toward where an entrance to the warren would be, then stood, stretched up, and shook himself vigorously, flinging shining bits of rainwater in every direction. He threw one last comment over his shoulder while he began a slow lope back to his perch among the rocks.

"Don't leave the warren again until you're granted permission!"

When he stopped hearing her pawsteps he paused, sighed, and glanced backwards again. She looked to be in the same state of thought as when she'd been regarding the rocks and how to climb them. Growling softly, Oakfoot gave up on her. If she wanted to sit out in the rain under potential threat of attack and attempt to drown herself thinking stupid thoughts, that was fine by him. He had better things to do than babysit her - like sulk among the rocks.

Thusly distracted with his thoughts, the sound of the rain, and by the fact that he was facing the rocks and not Pepper, Oakfoot did not hear or smell the approach of three loner rabbits. He was not aware of them at all, in fact, until he heard an audible gasp that set his fur on end and heard the sound of a small body hitting the wet ground once more. Had that blasted doe tripped herself up again and hurt herself this time? He threw an irritated glance over his shoulder once more, and froze at what he saw. Three rogues, a burly buck and doe as well as a smaller but no less fierce-looking buck were standing over Pepper, teeth bared, eyes bright with impending battlelight. The large buck was pinning her to the ground and growling lowly. Oakfoot did not pause to think; he rarely did. Thumping hard on the ground to alert the rest of the warren, he roared out, "Attack! Attack! Rogues on our land!" and launched himself across the grass.

The large doe, snarling, broke into a run and met him halfway between the rocky outcrop of his station and the spot Pepper was pinned, scrabbling desperately. Oakfoot jumped up shortly right before he and the rogue doe would have collided, kicking out savagely with his powerful back legs. If the doe had not been an experienced fighter, the move would have easily killed her; as it was, she saw the young officer's plan of attack and twisted sideways so that only one of his paws hit her. It was a glancing blow, but his long, needle-sharp claws raked along her flesh, effectively drawing blood while Oakfoot, thrown off balance by his adversary's unexpected cunning, fell heavily on his front paws and staggered sideways. Both he and the doe were on all fours again, however, snarling, lips flecked with foam. They flung themselves together again without giving the other time to think or recover, and ended up on just their back paws this time, raking and beating at each other with their foreclaws like a pair of boxing hares.

"Get out of our territory!" Oakfoot roared, managing to dig his claws into the doe's forehead and drag them down across her eyes. She squealed and feigned falling backwards, then bulled forward with a snarl and snapped at his throat, writhing so they fell to the ground. This time it was Oakfoot who squealed as blood welled up under his chin. He would have tried to get away, but his own weight saved his hide; when they fell, he ended up landing hard on the doe, who had twisted beneath him in order to keep her grip on his neck. Breathless and stunned, she released him, unable even to scream. Oakfoot scrambled to his paws, slipping in the mud slightly, and dug his claws into her exposed belly. He didn't get a firm grip, however, as another weight slammed into him from behind, sending the large rabbit sprawling across the doe. He twisted around with lightning speed and saw out of the corner of his eye that the smaller male rogue had joined the fray. Oakfoot tried to slide out of the way long enough to get his bearings, but the doe had recovered sufficiently enough by now to kick out hard with her back legs while her smaller ally clawed and snapped at him so that he was effectively trapped between them; her kick connected and actually launched him into the air; he landed hard, sliding in the wet grass and mud.

Stunned, Oakfoot could only try to gasp for breath while he struggled to his paws and looked up through the rain and blood to find he was almost face-to-face with Pepper's adversary. He heard the smaller buck running toward them, snarling something along the lines of, "We'll kill you all!" but couldn't hear properly over the rain or the pounding of his heart in his ears, however. The doe seemed to be more-or-less beaten; though she was kicking slightly and making small noises on the ground, she hadn't managed to get up again. Oakfoot did his best to steady himself, unsure as to whether he should go forward and try to free Pepper, or turn around and finish off the smaller male.

If only his silly little warrenmate would do something!

[Robin]

Pepper suddenly then went limp. The larger rabbit snarled in triumph, then loosened his grip momentarily. She sprang upwards, he feel backwards with a surprised expression on his face. She snarled, and set herself upon him. She dug her teeth into his throat, and pulled, some fur came loose into her throat. She did not expect this, and staggered backwards. The buck lurched forwards, aiming to pin her back down. Pepper did not tolerate this. She snarled, then stepped aside. He landed on nothing, and pepper pounced onto his back. She managed to rip up his ear before he landed her back into the dust. He had to get back up, though. So that gave the chance for Pepper to get back up too. All traces of the small plump, sweet, and very clumsy pepper was gone. She was now, PEPPER. the hardened fighter, the one with a great plan. the one to be feared. She had waited so long to reveal this part of herself. They circled each other. The bigger Buck was a lot more wary of her. He glanced towards the beaten Doe, then turned his attention back to Pepper. He got a very satisfying view of her nose right in his face as she launched herself at him. She looked at his paws, pretending that she was going to attack that point. When he reared, so that she couldn't get them, and he would pin her, she kept running forward, and sunk her teeth into his stomach. She tore at it. He squealed in pain and fury. she then pushed him over as if he had been a rather annoying blade of grass. Her face loomed over his for a second, before she raked her claws over his stomach. He squealed, his wounds fatal.
"Leave my territory." She said quietly, then gave him the chance to escape.
She felt powerful. She then staggered a bit.
A lot of blood was falling from her wounds. Her thoughts became slightly garbled. She joked with herself.
'Wish that rabbit with healing hair was here now, eh?'

[Harmony]

Oakfoot jerked backwards slightly when Pepper suddenly went limp, immediately thinking the worst. Oh, Frithrah, if a rabbit of his warren was killed on his watch... but no, she surprised him. The young officer could only stare when she managed to throw off her much larger adversary; then, remembering himself, he jumped forward, intending to help her. A sudden noise from behind distracted him, however, and he got a last glimpse of Pepper tearing up one of her enemy's ears before the smaller buck slammed into him from behind. Oakfoot, hearing him just before he leapt, tried to dodge sideways with the result of both bucks sprawling a short ways away.

The smaller buck was on his feet first, roaring. "You killed her!" he shrieked, and Oakfoot only just had time to get to his paws and glimpse the wild look on his enemy's face before he was attacked again. This time there wasn't enough force to knock the owsla officer over, and they clawed and beat at each other madly for a moment, snarling and squealing alternately until Oakfoot managed to shove the other buck to the ground. Half-blinded by the blood running through his fur, he took a moment to catch his breath. The rain began to clear his vision.

"She had it coming, you fool," he growled, watching his smaller opponent try to pick himself up. "We didn't ask you to attack us. You're getting what you deserve!" And he butted into the rogue before he could rise fully, flipping him onto his back. Here, he made a short dash forward, as if intending to hop over the fallen attacker. Oakfoot did not believe in letting enemies go unpunished, nor did he take prisoners. His back legs came down on the smaller rabbit with the equivalent force of a freight train plowing down a sedan. He felt his claws meet flesh, ripping out two long chunks of fur as he jumped off. The loner's blood seemed to make a thin, sticky string between his heart and Oakfoot's back feet, quickly broken with distance and watered down with rain. The attacker kicked slightly, then he was still.

Panting, Oakfoot spun in the rain, only just catching a glimpse of the doe as she limped out of sight. He hadn't killed her after all - not like this small idiot next to him. He was just about to chase her down and finish the job when two things happened almost at once. He heard a loud squeal from behind and remembered Pepper and her much larger, quite probably more experienced opponent. Oakfoot turned, expecting to see the plump doe dead or about to be dead, but instead was surprised again.

"Leave my territory."

She's letting him go? Oakfoot thought, incredulous. If he hadn't been sure before, he certainly was now: this doe was mad. Completely and utterly off the deep end. Who let their enemies live? No, he told himself suddenly, watching the buck begin to slink away. That's not right. What would El-ahrairah have done? Then again, what was the best way to ensure the safety of his warren? By letting his enemies go for a second try? Fat chance!

"Look here, hraka face!" He snarled, jumping forward to block the buck's path. "What do you mean by coming here and attacking us like this? Did you really think I'd let you get away so easily?" Oakfoot would, without a doubt, be furious with himself for letting the female go, but the buck was the bigger prize. It was also at this time that the rest of the warren chose to respond. There was first the sound of a distant thumping of back paws on the wet ground, then the sound of rabbits racing through the rocky outcrop. The buck took one look over Oakfoot's shoulder at the approaching full force of the owsla of Naratha before attacking again with a desparate snarl. Distracted by the arrival of his allies, ironically enough, Oakfoot was taken slightly off-guard and the rogue was able to sink his teeth in one of Oakfoot's forepaws. Squealing, the young officer fell to the ground and snapped at one of the buck's ears, the same one Pepper had taken care to shred earlier. All three of his remaining paws beat at the other rabbit, but the buck didn't want to fight at this point; distraction successfully completed, he released Oakfoot and backed off a pace.

"We'll be back," he growled lowly, then shot off through the rain in the same direction his female friend had taken. Oakfoot roared, angry at having lost the fight - to his mind, at least - and tried to go after the loner, but he'd underestimated the damage to his paw; pain shot through his paw, shoulder, and straight through his body, and he hit the ground with a small cry. He caught sight of Pepper just ahead of him, staggering. There was blood dripping from her fur; she'd been hurt, too, probably too much to give chase. It would be no good ordering her after him. Three other owsla officers skidded up to Oakfoot and Pepper then, one calling out officiously while another sniffed at the bloody mess the two rabbits were in.

"What happened? Oakfoot? We came as soon as we could."

Oakfoot slewed around in the mud, snarling as he struggled to three paws. "As soon as you could? I could tear your ears out!" Not the best way to garner a promotion from a superior, but Oakfoot didn't react well to pain. "Three rogues - that buck you just saw, and a doe, they escaped. I killed the other." He indicated with his nose the direction of the smaller buck's body, where a Narathan rabbit was already crouched over it.

"Right. I'll let the Captain know it wasn't a false alarm. You three, go after those rogues! As for you, Oakfoot - and, er... you, doe, get underground, the both of you. Blood will attract elil even in rain." The first rabbit snapped, all business and no sympathy. Growling, Oakfoot shouted after the rabbit as he hared off toward the warren, "Useless! Idiot! Silflay hraka, u embleer pfeffa! Your mother smells of elderberries!"

It was things like these that kept Oakfoot from being promoted. Snarling, he tried to move forward, wanting to have another go at the two attackers, but his injured paw gave out beneath him and he fell, breathing heavily.

[Robin]

Pepper was now her normal self again. The feirceness had gone, with the adrenaline and power.

"As soon as you could? I could tear your ears out! Three rogues - that buck you just saw, and a doe, they escaped. I killed the other."

"Right. I'll let the Captain know it wasn't a false alarm. You three, go after those rogues! As for you, Oakfoot - and, er... you, doe, get underground, the both of you. Blood will attract elil even in rain."

Pepper didn't mind the fact that the owsla officer didn't no her name. Quite literally no one in the warren did. She watched them race away, and was about to follow them meekly, when she heard the Owsla's shouted remarks tag along after them, too.

"Useless! Idiot! Silflay hraka, u embleer pfeffa! Your mother smells of elderberries!"

Pepper couldn't help herself. A laugh bubbled up inside her, and she snorted, struggling to hold it back. Next, she let out a sudden, quiet chuckle. For her, that was extremely hard to do, harder than getting blood to squeezed out of a stone. Bu here she was, laughing away, very quietly. She liked the Owsla officer. He had courage. Even though she was smaller, in every aspect, than this officer, she had a sort of wisdom that no one in the warren could match. The chief rabbit, Herantha-rah, had once called on her for advice. She didn't know her name, and probably still didn't, but she had been singled out, once. That made Pepper feel better about being almost useless in every other aspect.

But here she was, surprised at her self for laughing. She had finished by now, and she felt slightly stunned. She then also noticed the warren Owsla rabbit had fallen over. She walked up to him shyly, with an ambling gait of those that had just taken on a Buck twice the size of them when they couldn't even say 'boo' to a goose. Or it might've just been the fact that she was quite plump.

"Do you need some help, sir?" She asked quietly, wondering if the officer would give her a clout to the head for assuming he needed help. She doubted she would be able too, but she had to try. He had practically just saved her life. She would've said something else, but what else was there to say? Pepper wasn't very chatty, and couldn't really see the point of small talk. She said what had to be said, and left it at that.

[Harmony]

Oakfoot twisted onto his side to get a proper eyefull of his injured leg, then began licking it firmly. It hurt, but he gathered that nothing was broken and it was only a matter of getting it to stop bleeding long enough to get underground. He found himself mentally mapping the inner burrows out, trying to remember where the medicine rabbit stayed. He couldn't remember... oh, well. If it hadn't stopped bleeding by fu inle, he'd go and find it. Otherwise there shouldn't be anything to worry over. After all, he was Oakfoot of the Narathan owsla, wasn't he? Nothing could bring him down.

Thus bolstered by these congratulatory thoughts, however weak they were, Oakfoot was quite taken aback when he heard what sounded like laughter from beside him. He paused midlick, ears rising slowly, and turned his head just as slowly to see who dared. It was that queer little doe, Pepper. She appeared to be both recovered and pleased at something. Something that would likely earn her a torn ear if it had anything to do with Oakfoot. He narrowed his eyes and rolled onto his stomach, favoring his injured paw. He was about to demand what she found so funny when she stopped laughing and approached him of her own accord.

"Do you need some help, sir?"

She asked it in a manner that suggested she was shy about it. As if she hadn't just been giggling her fluffy little head off a moment before! Oakfoot shot her a haughty, irritated look, forcing himself to sit up despite the pain that shot through his leg and shoulder. He bent quickly and began licking it again, slightly alarmed at the amount of blood still running off his paw, pooling in the muddy grass.

"No, I don't," he snapped, his pride injured more than anything. Asking or receiving help was not one of Oakfoot's strong points, especially from useless, fluff-headed does. Then again... he glanced at Pepper once more, thoughtfully this time. She had bested a battle-hardened buck twice her size and barely had any injury to show it. Such a thing was impressive - almost owsla-worthy. Well, no, maybe not quite on par with the warriors of the owsla, but still notable. He hadn't thought her any kind of fighter to begin with, really. It was hard to believe.

Yet she'd won that battle... and that was the best way to earn Oakfoot's respect.

He lifted his chin and looked out across their territory. The rain was clearing up and a couple of the other owsla officers were visible, casting about in the rain or talking in hushed, urgent tones. They hadn't bothered to show up until everything was over and done with - Pepper would've made a better officer than some of those jokes. Well, here was an idea: the captain could go silflay hraka for all Oakfoot cared. This officer was going straight to the chief rabbit, pomp and circumstance be damned. He allowed himself a few more quick licks before addressing Pepper without looking at her.

"Alright... Pepper. Come with me. We need to report to Hera-rah about this attack." He began a slow, limping hop toward the nearest warren entrance, twitching a stern ear at Pepper as he did so. "And be quick about it; it won't do for our chief rabbit to learn of an attack on her warren Frith-knows-how-long after it's happened!"

Continued in: And You Are...?