Post by Cael on May 23, 2006 6:37:17 GMT -5
The activity around the warren has settled into its daily routine, with a few rabbits above ground enjoying the afternoon sun and feeding, while others relax in the comfort of the runs and burrows below. Blackbriar slowly emerges from this underground labyrinth and tests the air, rubbing his forepaws over his nose and rising to his full hieght to get a clear view of the area. A quick survey shows who is nearby, and a nod is shot to a fellow officer. The dark buck quietly lopes his way through the meadow, pausing occasionally to test the air before he settles down to feed on fresh flower shoots.
Brought to the meadow by motives that dont go beyond the needs of her stomach, Tansy wanders from the countryside to ... another part of the countryside without exactly noticing where she is, the rabbits burrows, or that shes roamed so far out into the open. The old deer's head is down as she saunters along, one knobby knee bent as she yanks at a cluster of weeds nestled in the long grass. She sneezes as the emerald tips of the grass tickle her nose and shakes her head from side to side, a movement that seems to bewilder her equilibrium, because she lifts her head and stands there for a moment looking dumfounded.
Copper eyes narrow with concentration as Tamaharus carefully slinks towards the meadow from downwind. As far as he's aware, every account for the hunt has been considered. While eyes burn from behind a shrub, his form is concealed, whiskers give a twitch as the wind offers him information on those present, allowing him to patiently observe and weigh his options from his clandestine vantage point.
As per his station, Blackbriar constantly raises up on his hindlegs and glances both towards the sky and the surrounding woods far beyond. Curiously, his ears rise and cup forward as he notices the approach of the never before seen doe, but this one is a deer and not a rabbit. Perking his brow, Blackbriar casually lopes closer to Hawthorn's new visitor and though the unexpected sneeze startles him and a few of the surrounding rabbits, it doesn't cause anyone to rush underground. "Good evenin', ma'am," the buck offers, sitting back to hopefully appear tall enough for her to notice him.
The sheen of Tansy's dark, cataract-swathed eyes glimmers as she shifts from her dizzying recompense. Once she's gotten her senses back (relatively speaking), she takes a gentle step across the meadow and tests the air with her nose - more because she forgot where she was than to check her safety - but her intention to do so is lost when she hears herself being addressed. ... Although she doesnt quite /see/ who's addressing her. "Who's there?!" she croaks as she stares directly at the black rabbit. "My, I thought it was half-past-breakfast. Where's my brunch?" Blink.
Tufted ears perk and find a focal point on the deer, but the lynx soon dismisses her as too much work for now. As good and fun as she may be, Tamaharus' visage alights as he places his attention towards the sound of an elder doe, the last to react to Tansy's abrupt sneeze.
Hmm. Blackbriar's ears fall back for a moment, his head tilting in puzzlement at the aging deer, but eventually a smile works itself across his muzzle. "My name's Blackbriar, ma'am, Captain of the Owsla in this warren. Feel free to graze at your leisure." He offers her a nod, and then turns his attention to his duty. He scans the horizon for a moment, ears twitching one way and then another. Whiskers quivering, he moves off a few paces to scent the area. He noses some of the stragglers back in the direction of the burrows, making sure that no one wanders too far away and he looses sight of them. A brief, flickering scent on the changing breeze alerts him upright, but it's gone as soon as it hit him and he'll be damned if he can't find it again.
The deer blinks her lightly-colored lashes, attempting to slide away the slime that clouds her vision. (So attractive. Really.) "There you are, stop moving around," Tansy tells the rabbit admonishingly, then swivels her own ears to and fro', considering Blackbriar's introduction. "A *Captain*! My, my. What a delight, a delight indeed. Tansy's my name," she says the last sentence as if it's an odd sort of reflection and goes back to grazing. On her head's way down to the meadow's treats, she actually happens to /see/, and spots the rabbits being ushered in closer. Routine, but she's never exactly been one to pay close attention to lapine ways. "What's that now?," she queries, addressing the spot Blackbriar used to be. "Catch a danger?"
Objective consideration flutters from the source of the earlier rabbit towards the deer. Old, withered, /weak;/ the presence of the wary buck mixes his plotting, though, and his eyes narrow to hateful slits as he studies the occasional movement. Far too attentive to seriously consider prey. No, today's target will be the ungulate crone. That ravenous mouth parts to reveal fangs and breathing slows. So close, so very close.
There, there it is again.. a faint whiff of something that's definately not lapine, but exactly what he cannot place. A frown is issued to no one in particular, and while one ear is kept trained on the doe, Blackbriar is busy sheparding in a number of his younger does and kittens, issuing a whispered warning to a few of his officers to keep a lookout for.. something. With all his charges kept under wraps at present, the buck returns a moment's attention to Tansy, "Well, it's quite a pleasure to meet you. We don't get too many visitors." He watches, curious, and eventually realizes that age seems to have caught up with this female and her sight it far from extraordinary. Well, the least he can do is alert her to his sense. "Tansy, I think there might be something in the meadow that we can't see.. but I keep catching scent of it. Just.. don't alert anyone, I don't want panic ensuing."
Tansy lifts her nose to the air, resuming the testing of it she abandoned several minutes prior - such simple things don't come as easily anymore, after all, so it takes a little achievement. "You smell," she mutters to the rabbits in general, blamingly, at that. The scent of the burrows and all the rabbit activity in the meadow overtakes her already half-rate sense of smell. Twisting an ear in the direction of the Owsla Captain's voice, she cranes her neck toward him with a pop of a stubborn vertebrae and exclaims, "What's that now? Come again?" She takes a wobbling step closer, her neck still craned as she tries to clarify what she was told - and not very discreetly, at that. "PANIC, you said? Who's panicking?"
Mild purring, the prelude for the beast of a feline, issues from Tamaharus as he silently skulks out from behind the shrub and towards the clearing. Careful, deliberate, absolute control displayed by one who lives by tooth and claw; all mingle with the understanding that a cat the size of a small wolf doesn't have a lot of time in this open field before being detected. Then, bursting into a bounding sprint, Tamaharus tears across the distance and shatters the peace; a fatal trajectory mentally drawn that ends at Tansy.
"Oh, Frith an' Inle," Blackbriar mumbles a curse, rolling his eyes and letting his ears fall back in mild frustration. He has nothing against the visiting deer, but her strange activity and her rather loud manner of speech isn't aiding him or his rabbits whatsoever. Turning to face her once more, he is about to put on his best game face to speak with Tansy when the unmistakable movement through the grass alerts him to what had created that worrisome scent upon the wind. Instantly, Blackbriar's hindfoot is thudding the ground in a fervoured passion that only occurs when a rabbit knows death could be near. His fellow officers do likewise, and all those above ground race for the concealed holes within the meadow and take no time in getting there, kittens and does followed by the bucks. "MOVE IT!" Blackbriar growls, scattering in the opposite direction from the deer in fear for his life from the sudden predator. Hopefully, he was quick enough to save all of Hawthorn's residents. The deer, well, he can't save her.
"What's this ruckus? Hey--hey! Stay here when I'm talking to you--!" Too late; Blackbriar is gone with the rest of the warren, leaving Tansy alone, out in the open, vulnerable. The little elderly deer seems unfazed by the fact that there's a toothy cat launching at her with intent to kill, if only because she's senile, but if it saves her from emotional trauma ... hey, small blessings. However, rattled by the fact that all of the surrounding fauna has just skedaddled in a hurry, but not knowing why, her eyes go wide and shock with confused fear. Catching the scent - and sight, although he's just a blur - of the predatory cat, she takes a few hurried steps and does a quick hop on her hooves in an attempt to get away in any direction possible, but only succeeding in going in inane circles.
The world is full of dangers. True, as Tamaharus is clearly demonstrating at the moment. But there are those who remain blissfully unaware; naive of the tribulations and hazards. One such creature is painted black and gold. "Reeeeeeeeeow!" is her battle cry, one of such playful vigor. Expression maniacally intent, laughter that of a cackling lunatic, Clover bounds from the skirting foliage. The swift movements of the many lapines were far too inviting to pass up, and like a kitten to a fleeing insect she gives chase, pouncing upon the holes as the rabbits vanish into them. "That's right! Ya run, ya run like bouncin' blooms!" She darts from one hole to sprint towards another as does and bucks leap inside, then repeats towards yet another. A final launch towards the trailing few puts the maine coon directly into the lynx's path. Undoubtedly, a collision could ensue.
The only thing in regards to the calico that passes through Tamaharus' head is an inappropriate curse before his weight shifts to the side and he's forced to make a detour towards his prey, affording Tansy valuable seconds more to accelerate as he makes a lunge towards one of her rear legs, dead set on swatting it into the other and tripping her to the ground.
Adrenaline races through the entire warren as the heavy thumps from above ground reached every rabbit in the place. Blackbriar has retreated with the rest, but instead of remaining in the saftey of the deep underground runs, the buck stays just a few feet beyond one of the main entrances runs that he darted down, his body hunkered to the cool loam, eyes wide, breath heaving in an attempt to calm that instinctive urge to bolt. His nose reaches towards the outside air, his ears trained to the sounds above ground wondering what has occured. The sudden trailoff in pawsteps and the lack of a heavy thud on the ground leads him to believe that perhaps the doe has avoided a rather messy fate.
Tansy must be blessed by the gods, or Tamaharus cursed by them. The divine comes in the form of a maine coon cat, apparently. The deer launches with a harsh push-off from her hind legs, giving her enough momentum to hasten her stride. Her muscles and joints are going to pay later, but right this second, it saves her - not entirely, though, as the lynx's claws don't completely miss. She manages to bound ahead with a gash in her hind leg to show for it, attempting to inelegantly kick her attacker away as if he were nothing more than a caught thistle. "Bugger!" she burbles, jaunting with all of her might (which isn't much, granted, but she's still a deer, and still quick when there's adrenaline involved) through the meadow with no clear destination in mind, the rabbits' thumping causing chaos in her head, stumbling here and there over the burrows.
Well, Clover is left baffled as a streak of gray narrowly misses her. The calico heaves a panting sigh as she looks around, thick tail twitching. Ears perk towards Tamaharus and the doe, which is now gracelessly bounding away. "Aw, tulip beans," she grumbles to herself. "They've all gone... Hey!" She turns to call after Tamaharus. "Oh, wait... /hey/.." Brows pull up. Clover suddenly realizes that's one large feline.
Tamaharus stumbles forward with the change in momentum and kicks up a cloud of turf and grass as he skids to a halt, coming out of the exchange with a now sore paw and itching annoyance. Irritated eyes fall back towards the calico, ears perking to accompany them as he slowly pads towards her. "What the /blazes/ did you do that for?" He calmly demands with heavy breaths.
Hmm, sounds like someone is angry. From underground, Blackbriar signals two officers to head to other runs to keep a watch from another vantage point, while he slowly moves up the run to poke his nose above ground. The lack of blood in the air assuages his fear that any rabbits, or even the doe, were mangled beyond recognition, i.e. eaten, and ever so carefully he pokes his head out from the run and eyes the felines. "Frith-rah," he snarls quietly, hoping that these kitties don't remember where the warren is.. though, that's unlikely.
Tansy keeps on running, not daring to look back, for fear there's a frothing predator on her tail ready to rip her to shreds and make a gruesome dinner out of--oh hey, a flower. Once she's cleared the general area of the burrows and made it just out of sight, she halts her bumpy getaway flight, her lanky limbs still shaking from the effort and hurriedly pumping chemicals that fear and capering about rushed to through her weak veins. The shaking ceases, gradually, a few twitches raising to tremble her hide only now and again; she stands unmoving, casual, as if nothing at all just happened. A tiny flower has caught the attention of her appetite; after she makes prey of *it*, she wanders off toward the nearest stand of trees for a nice, hidden nap. "My, I'm tired," she natters to herself as she strolls, "Can't imagine why..."
"Huh? Uh, um..." The cheesiest of grins sweep across the cat's maw, splitting her bicolored face with gleaming teeth. "Um..Di'.. /what/, exactly?" Now, Clover is no tiny cat as far as domestics come, but she stands nervously dwarfed by the lynx. She steps back with a graceful bow, that grin never fading.
"I see." Tamaharus says as his ornate brow arches. Agitation aside, this whole day has been a bust and his heavy pads begin to drag him back towards the woods.
Shaking his head, Blackbriar pulls himself back down into the warren below and makes his way down the western entrance run. He noses a couple of curious young bucks away from the surface and deeper into the Honeycomb, posting two heavy guards in hopes of discouraging any adventurers. The buck snorts, grumbling to himself about a perfect afternoon ruined but such is life for a rabbit warren.
Brought to the meadow by motives that dont go beyond the needs of her stomach, Tansy wanders from the countryside to ... another part of the countryside without exactly noticing where she is, the rabbits burrows, or that shes roamed so far out into the open. The old deer's head is down as she saunters along, one knobby knee bent as she yanks at a cluster of weeds nestled in the long grass. She sneezes as the emerald tips of the grass tickle her nose and shakes her head from side to side, a movement that seems to bewilder her equilibrium, because she lifts her head and stands there for a moment looking dumfounded.
Copper eyes narrow with concentration as Tamaharus carefully slinks towards the meadow from downwind. As far as he's aware, every account for the hunt has been considered. While eyes burn from behind a shrub, his form is concealed, whiskers give a twitch as the wind offers him information on those present, allowing him to patiently observe and weigh his options from his clandestine vantage point.
As per his station, Blackbriar constantly raises up on his hindlegs and glances both towards the sky and the surrounding woods far beyond. Curiously, his ears rise and cup forward as he notices the approach of the never before seen doe, but this one is a deer and not a rabbit. Perking his brow, Blackbriar casually lopes closer to Hawthorn's new visitor and though the unexpected sneeze startles him and a few of the surrounding rabbits, it doesn't cause anyone to rush underground. "Good evenin', ma'am," the buck offers, sitting back to hopefully appear tall enough for her to notice him.
The sheen of Tansy's dark, cataract-swathed eyes glimmers as she shifts from her dizzying recompense. Once she's gotten her senses back (relatively speaking), she takes a gentle step across the meadow and tests the air with her nose - more because she forgot where she was than to check her safety - but her intention to do so is lost when she hears herself being addressed. ... Although she doesnt quite /see/ who's addressing her. "Who's there?!" she croaks as she stares directly at the black rabbit. "My, I thought it was half-past-breakfast. Where's my brunch?" Blink.
Tufted ears perk and find a focal point on the deer, but the lynx soon dismisses her as too much work for now. As good and fun as she may be, Tamaharus' visage alights as he places his attention towards the sound of an elder doe, the last to react to Tansy's abrupt sneeze.
Hmm. Blackbriar's ears fall back for a moment, his head tilting in puzzlement at the aging deer, but eventually a smile works itself across his muzzle. "My name's Blackbriar, ma'am, Captain of the Owsla in this warren. Feel free to graze at your leisure." He offers her a nod, and then turns his attention to his duty. He scans the horizon for a moment, ears twitching one way and then another. Whiskers quivering, he moves off a few paces to scent the area. He noses some of the stragglers back in the direction of the burrows, making sure that no one wanders too far away and he looses sight of them. A brief, flickering scent on the changing breeze alerts him upright, but it's gone as soon as it hit him and he'll be damned if he can't find it again.
The deer blinks her lightly-colored lashes, attempting to slide away the slime that clouds her vision. (So attractive. Really.) "There you are, stop moving around," Tansy tells the rabbit admonishingly, then swivels her own ears to and fro', considering Blackbriar's introduction. "A *Captain*! My, my. What a delight, a delight indeed. Tansy's my name," she says the last sentence as if it's an odd sort of reflection and goes back to grazing. On her head's way down to the meadow's treats, she actually happens to /see/, and spots the rabbits being ushered in closer. Routine, but she's never exactly been one to pay close attention to lapine ways. "What's that now?," she queries, addressing the spot Blackbriar used to be. "Catch a danger?"
Objective consideration flutters from the source of the earlier rabbit towards the deer. Old, withered, /weak;/ the presence of the wary buck mixes his plotting, though, and his eyes narrow to hateful slits as he studies the occasional movement. Far too attentive to seriously consider prey. No, today's target will be the ungulate crone. That ravenous mouth parts to reveal fangs and breathing slows. So close, so very close.
There, there it is again.. a faint whiff of something that's definately not lapine, but exactly what he cannot place. A frown is issued to no one in particular, and while one ear is kept trained on the doe, Blackbriar is busy sheparding in a number of his younger does and kittens, issuing a whispered warning to a few of his officers to keep a lookout for.. something. With all his charges kept under wraps at present, the buck returns a moment's attention to Tansy, "Well, it's quite a pleasure to meet you. We don't get too many visitors." He watches, curious, and eventually realizes that age seems to have caught up with this female and her sight it far from extraordinary. Well, the least he can do is alert her to his sense. "Tansy, I think there might be something in the meadow that we can't see.. but I keep catching scent of it. Just.. don't alert anyone, I don't want panic ensuing."
Tansy lifts her nose to the air, resuming the testing of it she abandoned several minutes prior - such simple things don't come as easily anymore, after all, so it takes a little achievement. "You smell," she mutters to the rabbits in general, blamingly, at that. The scent of the burrows and all the rabbit activity in the meadow overtakes her already half-rate sense of smell. Twisting an ear in the direction of the Owsla Captain's voice, she cranes her neck toward him with a pop of a stubborn vertebrae and exclaims, "What's that now? Come again?" She takes a wobbling step closer, her neck still craned as she tries to clarify what she was told - and not very discreetly, at that. "PANIC, you said? Who's panicking?"
Mild purring, the prelude for the beast of a feline, issues from Tamaharus as he silently skulks out from behind the shrub and towards the clearing. Careful, deliberate, absolute control displayed by one who lives by tooth and claw; all mingle with the understanding that a cat the size of a small wolf doesn't have a lot of time in this open field before being detected. Then, bursting into a bounding sprint, Tamaharus tears across the distance and shatters the peace; a fatal trajectory mentally drawn that ends at Tansy.
"Oh, Frith an' Inle," Blackbriar mumbles a curse, rolling his eyes and letting his ears fall back in mild frustration. He has nothing against the visiting deer, but her strange activity and her rather loud manner of speech isn't aiding him or his rabbits whatsoever. Turning to face her once more, he is about to put on his best game face to speak with Tansy when the unmistakable movement through the grass alerts him to what had created that worrisome scent upon the wind. Instantly, Blackbriar's hindfoot is thudding the ground in a fervoured passion that only occurs when a rabbit knows death could be near. His fellow officers do likewise, and all those above ground race for the concealed holes within the meadow and take no time in getting there, kittens and does followed by the bucks. "MOVE IT!" Blackbriar growls, scattering in the opposite direction from the deer in fear for his life from the sudden predator. Hopefully, he was quick enough to save all of Hawthorn's residents. The deer, well, he can't save her.
"What's this ruckus? Hey--hey! Stay here when I'm talking to you--!" Too late; Blackbriar is gone with the rest of the warren, leaving Tansy alone, out in the open, vulnerable. The little elderly deer seems unfazed by the fact that there's a toothy cat launching at her with intent to kill, if only because she's senile, but if it saves her from emotional trauma ... hey, small blessings. However, rattled by the fact that all of the surrounding fauna has just skedaddled in a hurry, but not knowing why, her eyes go wide and shock with confused fear. Catching the scent - and sight, although he's just a blur - of the predatory cat, she takes a few hurried steps and does a quick hop on her hooves in an attempt to get away in any direction possible, but only succeeding in going in inane circles.
The world is full of dangers. True, as Tamaharus is clearly demonstrating at the moment. But there are those who remain blissfully unaware; naive of the tribulations and hazards. One such creature is painted black and gold. "Reeeeeeeeeow!" is her battle cry, one of such playful vigor. Expression maniacally intent, laughter that of a cackling lunatic, Clover bounds from the skirting foliage. The swift movements of the many lapines were far too inviting to pass up, and like a kitten to a fleeing insect she gives chase, pouncing upon the holes as the rabbits vanish into them. "That's right! Ya run, ya run like bouncin' blooms!" She darts from one hole to sprint towards another as does and bucks leap inside, then repeats towards yet another. A final launch towards the trailing few puts the maine coon directly into the lynx's path. Undoubtedly, a collision could ensue.
The only thing in regards to the calico that passes through Tamaharus' head is an inappropriate curse before his weight shifts to the side and he's forced to make a detour towards his prey, affording Tansy valuable seconds more to accelerate as he makes a lunge towards one of her rear legs, dead set on swatting it into the other and tripping her to the ground.
Adrenaline races through the entire warren as the heavy thumps from above ground reached every rabbit in the place. Blackbriar has retreated with the rest, but instead of remaining in the saftey of the deep underground runs, the buck stays just a few feet beyond one of the main entrances runs that he darted down, his body hunkered to the cool loam, eyes wide, breath heaving in an attempt to calm that instinctive urge to bolt. His nose reaches towards the outside air, his ears trained to the sounds above ground wondering what has occured. The sudden trailoff in pawsteps and the lack of a heavy thud on the ground leads him to believe that perhaps the doe has avoided a rather messy fate.
Tansy must be blessed by the gods, or Tamaharus cursed by them. The divine comes in the form of a maine coon cat, apparently. The deer launches with a harsh push-off from her hind legs, giving her enough momentum to hasten her stride. Her muscles and joints are going to pay later, but right this second, it saves her - not entirely, though, as the lynx's claws don't completely miss. She manages to bound ahead with a gash in her hind leg to show for it, attempting to inelegantly kick her attacker away as if he were nothing more than a caught thistle. "Bugger!" she burbles, jaunting with all of her might (which isn't much, granted, but she's still a deer, and still quick when there's adrenaline involved) through the meadow with no clear destination in mind, the rabbits' thumping causing chaos in her head, stumbling here and there over the burrows.
Well, Clover is left baffled as a streak of gray narrowly misses her. The calico heaves a panting sigh as she looks around, thick tail twitching. Ears perk towards Tamaharus and the doe, which is now gracelessly bounding away. "Aw, tulip beans," she grumbles to herself. "They've all gone... Hey!" She turns to call after Tamaharus. "Oh, wait... /hey/.." Brows pull up. Clover suddenly realizes that's one large feline.
Tamaharus stumbles forward with the change in momentum and kicks up a cloud of turf and grass as he skids to a halt, coming out of the exchange with a now sore paw and itching annoyance. Irritated eyes fall back towards the calico, ears perking to accompany them as he slowly pads towards her. "What the /blazes/ did you do that for?" He calmly demands with heavy breaths.
Hmm, sounds like someone is angry. From underground, Blackbriar signals two officers to head to other runs to keep a watch from another vantage point, while he slowly moves up the run to poke his nose above ground. The lack of blood in the air assuages his fear that any rabbits, or even the doe, were mangled beyond recognition, i.e. eaten, and ever so carefully he pokes his head out from the run and eyes the felines. "Frith-rah," he snarls quietly, hoping that these kitties don't remember where the warren is.. though, that's unlikely.
Tansy keeps on running, not daring to look back, for fear there's a frothing predator on her tail ready to rip her to shreds and make a gruesome dinner out of--oh hey, a flower. Once she's cleared the general area of the burrows and made it just out of sight, she halts her bumpy getaway flight, her lanky limbs still shaking from the effort and hurriedly pumping chemicals that fear and capering about rushed to through her weak veins. The shaking ceases, gradually, a few twitches raising to tremble her hide only now and again; she stands unmoving, casual, as if nothing at all just happened. A tiny flower has caught the attention of her appetite; after she makes prey of *it*, she wanders off toward the nearest stand of trees for a nice, hidden nap. "My, I'm tired," she natters to herself as she strolls, "Can't imagine why..."
"Huh? Uh, um..." The cheesiest of grins sweep across the cat's maw, splitting her bicolored face with gleaming teeth. "Um..Di'.. /what/, exactly?" Now, Clover is no tiny cat as far as domestics come, but she stands nervously dwarfed by the lynx. She steps back with a graceful bow, that grin never fading.
"I see." Tamaharus says as his ornate brow arches. Agitation aside, this whole day has been a bust and his heavy pads begin to drag him back towards the woods.
Shaking his head, Blackbriar pulls himself back down into the warren below and makes his way down the western entrance run. He noses a couple of curious young bucks away from the surface and deeper into the Honeycomb, posting two heavy guards in hopes of discouraging any adventurers. The buck snorts, grumbling to himself about a perfect afternoon ruined but such is life for a rabbit warren.