Chapter 3: The Clerk Of Westberrow

Three days after Hawl led his pack out of Arfsdale, a little rabbit woke in his humble home and began his own little routine. Lupp sat at a table with a cup of tea held dexterously in his paws, as he studied the morning newspaper. His mate was in the other room furiously writing a complaint to her manager about the changes they had made to her schedule.

Four kits bounced around the table. Squeaking energetically at some childish game they were playing. Lupp spared a glance up from the paper to check on his small family, just in case his kids were getting too rambunctious. One of them had spilled currant berry jam on their sister's head. But aside from that they weren't being too destructive. So Lupp was willing to let them continue their game undisturbed.

“Hu.” He muttered in mild surprise as he read a particularly interesting article. Then he raised his voice so his mate could hear him. “Honey dearest. Did you know that the king of the stags has tamed a megabeast which he is keeping as a pet?”

“That's nice sweetie.” She answered back. Though it was fairly obvious that she either wasn't paying attention, or just didn't care about the needless opulence of the deer king’s court.

Lupp took another slow drink from his mug of tea before snatching a stalk of wild barley from the decorative vase on the table. He placed the tip of the barley shaft between his teeth and began lazily chewing it as it dangled from his mouth. He tried to ignore the newfangled pendulum clock that was ticking away, as he was determined to enjoy his morning before he had to leave for work.

His mate padded into the dining room with a jacket tucked under her arm, a bonnet on her head, and a wax sealed envelope in her paw. “I need to go deliver this.” She gave him a kiss on the back of the head before heading for the door. ”I'll be back soon, love. Watch the kits while I'm gone.”

“Mhm.” Lupp agreed automatically before his brain caught up with him. He blinked and then turned around in his chair. “Oh no wait. I've got work today. We're expecting a pack of wolves any day now and I have to be around to meet with them when they arrive.”

She was already out the door but popped back in to answer him. “That's fine. Take the kits to Wil before you leave and have him babysit.”

Lupp’s nose twitched and his ears shifted as he waited for her to clarify. Then he just asked. “Which?”

“Wil’bur.” She replied.

Lupp nodded “Sure.” Then she departed. He gulped down the last of his tea and grabbed a few more snacks. He was sorely tempted to sneak a carrot from the pantry, since his partner wasn't around to scold him for eating junk food. But thankfully he didn't have time for that.

Lupp brushed the crumbs off his chest after jumping down from his chair. Then he cleared his throat and grabbed the attention of the little ones. “Alright you lot, wrap it up. We're going on a trip to Wil’s burrow. Dad needs to go do adult things.”

The young bunnies laughed or complained, but followed their dad obediently.

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“You're late.” The deputy stated dispassionately as Lupp entered the watch house.

Lupp hopped over and flashed his superior a timid smile. “Sorry. Something came up.”

The deputy didn't look up from her papers as she skimmed through old agricultural records. “Kits?” she guessed.

“Yeah.” he chuckled, “Kits.”

She nodded understandingly. There was no need for him to explain more than that. She knew what it was like to juggle work and family.

“Anyway…” Lupp tapped his foot against the ground absentmindedly before asking. “Anything you need my help with today?”

The deputy bunny nodded slowly. “The constable wanted you going over some more dig request violation reports. I'll be honest, it's mostly just busy work to keep you occupied while you wait on the hunters for the Lensway bandit case.”

Lupp wanted to pull on his ears in frustration. “Ugh, slugworms. I hope those wolves get here soon. I don't think I can stand much more boring pointless paperwork.”

“It's not pointless.” She quipped. “Those forms do need to be processed. And it's better for the taxpayers if you do something for your coppers, rather than getting paid to sit on your tail all day.”

“Yeah yeah.” Lupp grumbled as he padded his way to the door to the receiving room which had practically become his unofficial office.

The air was noticeably cooler in this room as the carefully excavated dirt walls of the precinct nearly doubled in size. An overly large door to the outside had a similarly large built-in window that almost let in too much light. The ceiling of this room was so high that there was practically no dirt. Just the wooden roots of the tree which sat atop the precinct. But it had to be that tall for it to serve its purpose. This room was made to accommodate all animals. Not just rabbits. Well… All animals except for bears, but they never left their caves anyway so it didn't matter.

Lupp hopped up onto a chair behind his desk. It was a raised chair, more like a stool honestly. So it added some height and made the room look less intimidating. It was probably an intentional design choice to try to help rabbits project some authority when dealing with larger animals. Rabbits were not very intimidating creatures. They didn't have any natural weapons like sharp teeth, claws, or horns. Perhaps they once had these things if you believed the myths of ancient jackalopes. Yet even if they were real it didn't change the fact that modern day Rabbits were pretty helpless in a fight.

Lupp hummed to himself as he grabbed the first forum with his teeth and pulled it off of the depressingly high stack of paper on his desk. The work was easy but boring. He wanted the wolves to show up already so that he could have a bit of excitement. Wolves were so cool! They were wild agents of death and destruction, born to kill and consume the flesh of any animal unlucky enough to be their prey.

Lupp had seen wolves before. Passing through town on business of their own. Even from a distance they were truly awe inspiring creatures. He didn't have the nerve to approach them then, for fear of being a nuisance. But now his job was giving him the chance to have a full blown conversation with some of them! And the thought of that made his heart start racing with both excitement and anxiety. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he promised himself that he was going to stay as professional as possible. Not just because it was the right thing to do, but also because he didn't want to accidentally upset someone and get himself killed.

Hours passed. Half of the stack of papers that Lupp was working on had slowly migrated from one end of the desks to the next, and now his head was sore. He was starting to think this job wasn't nearly as cool as he thought it would be. And then something blocked the light from pouring in through the door window. Lupp’s ears twitched as he heard the large entrance door creek open. He lifted his head automatically to see what-

There was a frantic blur of motion as Lupp leapt out of his chair and in one bound landed in front of the door which led into the rest of the precinct. He was screaming as his heart threatened to pound out of his fuzzy brown chest.

Death was coming for him.

He could feel it's cold sting on the back of his neck. He had to run. He had to escape! Before he was caught. Before it was too late! His life was flashing before his eyes, blinding him as he pressed up against the door. It wasn't opening! It was stuck! He was trapped! He… He had to open it! The handle! He had to turn the handle! Lupp’s brain tripped over itself as he grabbed for the door handle with both paws. But by the time the door clicked open his frantic mind was starting to slow down and actually process what was happening.

The little brown rabbit clutched at his heart and tried to steady himself. The fact that he was still alive despite him hesitating in the doorway was a very good sign that the slower logical side of his brain was right.

A monstrously deep and resonant voice made a polite sound. As if they were clearing their throat to get someone's attention.

Lupp winced as the fear of mortality was replaced by an entirely different type of horror. He wanted to cover his face out of embarrassment as he slowly closed the door and turned around. “I am… so terribly sorry. I don't know what came over me.”. He said as he climbed back onto his chair and addressed the small pack of wolves that had entered his office.

“Think nothing of it.” One of them said in a calm matter of fact voice. “It happens all the time.” The one who spoke was a creamy white color. Female? It was hard to tell. She had a deep voice by his standards, but that was to be expected. She was around twenty times his size after all.

Another wolf, a red one, was hanging back and staying out of the way. They hadn't said anything, but they had an amused look on their face. Like they were trying not to laugh.

Lupp withered with embarrassment. He wasn't a coward, but prey instincts were incredibly strong. Thankfully they also faded quickly once the mind was able to catch up. So he wasn't itching to run away anymore. Still, it was a bit unprofessional. Especially for someone who was supposed to work with wolves as a job. It was understandable though, since it took time to train that kind of thing out of someone. And Lupp was still pretty new to this.

A gray wolf with dead lifeless eyes and blue tribal paint approached the desk. He moved stiffly, like his muscles were tense. No doubt he was having to fight back against his own predatory instincts and couldn't relax because of that.

Lupp wondered what the paint was for. Clearly it was some sort of tribal practice which dated back to the dark ages. It probably was a status symbol that recorded how many animals he had killed or something like that.

The large powerful creature looked down at the small rabbit with what had to be a look of disdain, and asked “Are you Lupp’il’tom’cotty’naper?”

That shook Lupp from his awestruck trance. “Yes I-”. He blinked, then explained. “Please. Full names are for crowds and signatures. Just call me Lupp. Unless you already know someone named Lupp. Then you call me Lupp’il. If you know a Lupp’il then you call me Lupp’il’tom. And you just keep adding syllables like that until-”

The red wolf spoke up. She? Yes. She was still wearing that smug look on her face. “Oh, we know how rabbit names work. He’s just being overly formal.”

Lupp wanted to kick himself. Of course they knew the cascading nature of rabbit names. Wolves and rabbits had some of the strongest cultural ties of any species! When his species invented democracy, their species was the first to copy them. And that societal innovation was a large part of how they went from scattered tribes of hated murderers to one of the most powerful and well respected nations in the world.

“It's fine Reea.”. The gray wolf said. His voice was soft, yet also chilling. Like the ice blue war paint he wore. You'd think that creatures of their size wouldn't be phased by anything. But his words effortlessly wiped the smug expression off her face.

Clearly, he was the alpha of their pack. So Lupp made a mental note not to do or say anything that might threaten his authority. Still, he did have a job to do. So he had to ask. “Excuse me. But um… weren't there supposed to be four of you?”

The alpha turned his eyes down to look at Lupp. There was a pause as he was surely wondering if he had to waste his breath explaining this. “Our fourth decided to stay outside of town for now. He has been fasting to ruminate on his Telling. And we did not want his growling stomach to alarm anyone.”

Lupp blanched at the thought of a hungry wolf wandering Westberrow. He imagined him struggling to keep his predatory instincts in check while surrounded by prey. “No, I… I think that was probably the right choice.”

The gray Wolf nodded his agreement. “Speaking of which, we should probably move this along. So that he isn't stuck out there waiting for us.”

Lupp's ears perked. “Oh yes! Of course.”. He immediately started digging around for the necessary papers. This was the part that he had actually practiced, so finally he was able to start settling into his role as hunt liaison. He took a deep breath, and began. “Your target is a gang of rabbits that have come to be known as the Lensway bandits. We don't know their exact number, but we know that there are anywhere between five and fifty of them.”

“That's a pretty wide range.” The cream wolf noted.

Lupp nodded. “Accounts have been inconclusive, but it has probably been changing anyway. Gang's like these tend to rotate members in and out. Most will want to quit while they're ahead after one good job or two. And that makes things complicated for us.”

“Do they have any reported Tellings?” the male wolf asked.

Lupp nodded again with a frown. “At least one. Reports described them having partial to complete invisibility and a sound displacement type effect.”

For some reason the red one frowned at that last part. But the alpha was the one to speak next. “Any effect on scent based perception?”

Lupp checked the report again. “Unknown.”

The alpha nodded, then asked. “Can this Telling cover multiple animals? Or is it limited to the user?”

Lupp shrugged. “They're rabbits, so it's hard to say.”

The predator just stared at him with an intense gaze. “How do you mean?”

Lupp, who had been feeling more confident for just a bit there, shrunk in on himself a little. “You know. Because we… Are you familiar with our idiom?”

That seemed to connect the dots for him as that intense gaze relented. But the cream wolf was still thinking it over. “Oh umm… it's, ‘Quit while you're ahead.’ Right?”

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Lupp brightened. “That's exactly right, miss. Our idiom favors wisdom and motion. Tellings of our idiom are not bound like yours are. Instead we can pass them around from rabbit to rabbit.”

The alpha raised an eyebrow. Not at what Lupp said, he surely was well acquainted with this information already. Instead he seemed to be confused as to why the cream colored wolf didn't know this already.

Either way, Lupp was happy to explain it to her. “Our Tellings are powerful, but their strength fades over time. Passing the Telling to a new rabbit will revitalize its power. So long as that rabbit has never held that telling before.”

The cream wolf smiled without showing her teeth, and her tail wagged happily. “Wow, that's pretty cool.”

Lupp stood up on his hind legs a bit as he puffed out his chest a little. “Yeah. Yeah I suppose it is.”

The wolf with blue markings made a sneezing sound. The meaning of the gesture was lost on the rabbit, but he couldn't mistake the inpatient look on the wolf's face.

That look quickly got Lupp back on track. “Anyway. We have some jarred fur and blood samples for you to track with. And when you do find them, you are to give them one final chance to surrender before taking your price from any who resist.”

The alpha nodded graciously. “Understood.”

“I know that you're just here for the flesh. But try not to kill all of them please.” Lupp nervously requested. Instantly he felt six eyes all staring at him, as all three wolves frowned at once. A pit in his stomach wanted to open up. But this was important so he held his ground and explained. “This is an odd case. These types of gangs usually disband after they get too much attention. Criminal rabbits are still rabbits after all, and it's not like the idiom is only respected by the lawful. But the Lensway bandits aren't quitting while they're ahead. For some reason they are doubling down and escalating their crimes when they should be going into hiding. The constable wants to know why.”

The painted wolf narrowed his eyes as he listened. “They've already killed though. You wouldn't have gotten us involved otherwise. So what could they have done to escalate beyond that?”

Lupp sighed. He was dreading telling them about this part. “Hostages. They've started kidnaping animals.”

The wolf slowly tilted his head as if expecting something. “Why?”

“We don't know yet.” Lupp admitted. “They haven't asked for a ransom or anything like that. They just snatched them off the road for seemingly no reason. So far they've taken a turtle, and two birds. All of them children, none of them citizens of the burrows.”

The wolves scrunched up their faces with an uneven mix of confusion and disgust. “Why would a gang of rabbits go out of their way to kidnap non-rabbit children?”

Lupp shrugged. “That is just one of the many questions we want to investigate. Which is why we want you to hold back on the slaughter, and try to capture a few of them alive for interrogation.” He thought about it for a second and then added. “Speaking of which. Don't let the hostages die. You will not be allowed to take their bodies even if they end up being dead, and we will provide you with a corpse for each hostage that makes it back alive.”

The gray wolf's whiskers twitched. He looked offended by the offer. The red she-wolf looked amused again. And the cream colored wolf just continued to smile politely.

Lupp fidgeted in place trying to keep his composure. But that was hard to do while a murderous animal that was several times larger than him was glaring at him and practically breathing down his neck. He spoke a bit too rapidly as he apologized. “Sorry, I know that is probably a bad trade. Rescuing someone is a lot harder for you than just killing, I'd imagine. But just keep in mind, the hostages are children. So if you think about it, most of our dead are full grown adults. They will have more meat on them than-”

“We will rescue the hostages.” The wolf declared with a sharp icy stare.

Lupp opened his mouth to speak, but he remembered his idiom and found the wisdom to shut up and change the subject. “Anyway. I think that is about it. Any more questions before you head out?”

The wolf grabbed one of the ceramic evidence jars. With his teeth he twisted the lid off and then stuck his nose in the jar. He sniffed… loudly. Lupp could see the wild analytical look in his eyes before he put the lid back on. “We can track with this.”, he stated in a low deadpan. Then he looked back to Lupp with an expression of righteous indignation, tempered with oddly dedicated professionalism. “Where should our hunt begin?”

“About five to ten miles to the north. On the road to Lensway. I can mark it on your map if you like.” Lupp offered.

The gray Wolf looked to the red one and then flicked his head towards Lupp. She nodded back and then pulled out a scroll of leather from her pack. With a flick of her head she unrolled the huge map across the desk.

Lupp’s stomach twisted in knots as he looked at it. He wrung his paws, imagining that the fine leather was once rabbit skin. But he quickly shrugged that off. It was far too large a piece of leather for it to have come from his species. Wolves did sometimes make use of animal leather. But it was more common in the past. These days, most of their leather came from beasts. So that was probably what this was.

Lupp took an ink quill in his paw and marked a tiny X on the huge map. He decided that he wouldn't ask about the leather. He didn't need to know- “What type of leather is this?”

Why did he ask that!?

There was an awkward silence as the wolves exchanged glances. The painted one shrugged in response to some subtle cue that Lupp didn't pick up on. Did he not know?

The red wolf took the map and used the floor to help her roll it back up. Then she packed it away, and finally freed up her mouth for talking. “It's mega beast skin. A docile river dwelling variant called a gullywug. Why do you ask?”

Lupp exhaled with relief, then he felt weirdly embarrassed again. “Oh, just curious. Do you need anything else before you head out?”

The red wolf smiled, flashing a set of horrifyingly sharp teeth. “Nope. We’ll take it from here.”

Lupp turned to the painted wolf. Surely the alpha should be the one to have the final say on that. Maybe he did, and Lupp just didn't pick up on it? He didn't get any more time to observe. The great creatures of death and loss took the ceramic jars and stowed them away somewhere before saying their goodbyes and leaving in a hurry.

After they were all gone, Lupp curled up into a ball with a sigh of relief. Then he started to grin like an idiot. He got to talk with wolves up close! Sure, he screwed up and made a fool of himself on the introduction, but he managed to salvage it in the end. Maybe he was still cut out for this job after all!

“Well. That went rather well all things considered.” He mused aloud.

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“Well. That was a complete disaster.” Reea chuckled once they were a few paces away from the constable's office.

Hawl tried not to look down at any of the locals as they made their way to the edge of the city. Westberrow was a rabbit settlement, and it was very apparent from their architecture and city planning that most of it was not at all designed to accommodate creatures of their size.

“It wasn't that bad.” Hawl said in his usual lifeless deadpan.

The streets they were on were large enough to accommodate any species short of a bear. But there were also a seemingly endless number of side streets and tiny alleyways that could only fit rabbits and other small creatures. He couldn't help but feel like those streets led to the real authentic city. A hidden place that he would never be able to see.

Reea laughed. “You saw how he jumped when he first saw us. We should have announced our presence before sneaking up on him like that.” She was smiling, but there wasn't any joy in the expression.

As they walked, the rabbits of Westberrow ducked out of their way. Some disappeared into the side streets, others stubbornly kept to the path. But as they passed each other, laughter and the vibrant sounds of conversation faded into hushed whispers. As if their presence was a chilling aura that sucked the life out of the world. Wolves were both feared and respected, more so than any other animal. It always felt strange to Hawl, but he understood why.

They were dealers in death after all.

“I’ll admit. A knock on the door wouldn't have been unwarranted. But we were told that he was expecting us.” Hawl reminded her.

Reea winced. “Yeah. But did you have to mention Wouf’s fast? Not talking about hunger, food, or eating is basically the first rule of dealing with prey animals.”

Hawl exhaled an annoyed puff of air from his nose. “He asked me where our fourth was. What was I supposed to do? Lie?”

Reea rolled her eyes. “You could have just said that he was waiting outside of the settlement and left it at that. Failing that, yeah, why not lie? If all it would do is make someone more comfortable, then what's the harm? Weren't you the one who was going on and on about how important it was to maintain a positive relationship with the prey species?”

Hawl hated this, and he really hoped that his distaste and disappointment was apparent. But honestly, he didn't trust his body language, expressions, or voice to convey anything. “Lying is an awful way to build trust.”

Reea scoffed. “Sometimes. But sometimes a little white lie is exactly what you need to avoid pointless unproductive drama. Like telling an anxious rabbit clerk that a map is made from gullywug skin.”

Hawl narrowed his eyes slightly. “What?”

The red wolf shrugged. “I have no clue what it's made of. It belongs to the lodge. But ninety percent of all leather is beast leather anyway. So why shouldn't I say I know for sure and put the little guy's mind at ease?”

“Because it's dishonest.” Hawl insisted. “I don't care how reassuring it was. It's wrong to misrepresent the truth. Regardless of the context.”

Mauor spoke up at that. “Well, surely that is a bit harsh. I mean, sometimes being misrepresentative is the polite thing to do.”

“Such as?” Hawl challenged her.

Her voice was placating as she explained. “You know. Like implying you don't know how someone's idiom works so that they have an excuse to explain it to you.”

Hawl couldn't even be disappointed by that. Just confused. “Why though? Why would you want him to explain his idiom if you already knew?”

Mauor shrugged as she casually stepped over a particularly brave and stubborn old rabbit who wouldn't move. “He seemed to be having a hard time, and I thought it might cheer him up. Everyone likes explaining the quirks of their idiom to other species. It's an easy point of pride.”

Hawl grumbled unhappily. “I don't like it. But that's probably harmless I guess.”

“Snakes take me. Does your tail ever wag?” Reea complained before remembering that she was still trying to get on his good side. Instantly her voice went from irritated to suggestive. “You should loosen up a little. If you like I could-”

“Not now.” he interrupted with annoyance. “We've got a job to do.”

As they walked, the admittedly rather short buildings seemed to disappear under rolling lumpy hills and elaborate well tended gardens. The quaint underground constructions that rabbits were known for were practically invisible aside from the occasional door or window embedded into the landscape. Only in the most urban portions of the burrow did the buildings rise above the ground level, and they left those behind a while ago.

There was something beautiful about the way the rabbits blended their lives in with nature. If he was a smaller creature, Hawl would have liked to explore the idyllic landscape. But as he stood, he didn't dare step off the winding road for fear of accidentally collapsing someone’s home.

They traveled a while until they got to the spot they left Wouf. He wasn't there, but it was easy enough to follow his scent. When they finally did track him down, they found him rolling around on the floor. He was covering his eyes with his paws as he whined like a puppy throwing a tantrum. A family of rabbits was watching him from a distance. As one rather determined looking rabbit held a jar of peanut butter and chased him around. Trying to tempt him to eat a spoonful.

“Noooooooo! I have to be hungry!” The big blackish wolf protested. As he got up, ran a short distance, and then flopped back down.

The baffled looking rabbit chased him down and stuck the spoon in his face again. “Nonsense. Just eat the darn peanut butter you big lump! You'll feel better.”

“Noooooo I caaaaaaaan't!” Wouf complained. Though his tail was wagging happily. It was pretty clear that he was being playful. The rabbit was matching the playfulness, but he also looked genuinely concerned for him.

“Til!” one of the rabbits watching from a distance called out. “There's more of them.”

Wouf sprang to all fours, and then just went running to greet his pack. He excitedly ran circles around them and melodramatically said. “Save me from this creature! He's trying to tempt me to break my fast!”

Hawl almost winced at how comfortable Wouf was with running around off the path. He was a big animal, yet he didn't seem to have a second thought for the fact that there were houses underneath these hills. “Wouf. Relax. And stay on the path.” Hawl said before approaching the baffled rabbit with the peanut butter. “Hello. Til was it? Can you explain why you were chasing my companion around like that?”

Til seemed to hesitate, but to his credit, it was more out of confusion and frustration than out of fear of wolves. “This one's trying to starve himself!” He reported as if he was telling a parent that their child was doing something naughty.

Hawl stared... then he blinked exactly once. “And?”

That flustered Til. Clearly he wasn't expecting to have to justify this. “Well, because.”, he sputtered, “Because that's stupid! There ain't no good reason for anyone to go hungry. It's just cruel, and it's dangerous.”

Hawl looked at Wouf who was laughing and trotting around happily. Then he looked back at Til. “With all due respect sir. That is not your judgment to make. Wouf is a grown wolf, and he knows his body better than you or I.”. He sighed and spoke softly, even as he towered over the small creature. ”I appreciate that you were only trying to help. But I would ask that you stop harassing my pack mates and respect his refusal of your attempted generosity.”

Wouf sheepishly crept up beside Hawl. “Hehe, hey. I was only playing around. I wasn't really upset by it. I thought it was kinda sweet actually.”

“I know.” Hawl stated flatly without breaking eye contact with the rabbit.

There was this strange sort of social tension forming between the two of them. “What do you want from me? An apology for trying to feed a stubborn idiot?”

Hawl's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “That wouldn't hurt.”

Til defiantly stood up on his hind legs, and puffed out his chest. He gave Hawl a suspicious side eye. “And what if I don't wanna say sorry?”

“Just say sorry to the wolf Til!” one of the rabbits shouted. Even from a distance they could feel that something was off.

Til ignored them and narrowed his eyes at the wolf. “Well? What are you going to do then? Eat me?”

Everyone instantly fell into an uncomfortable silence. Hawl felt his chest tighten, though as per usual his emotions were unreadable. Why was he doing this? He seemed to get along with Wouf just fine. So what was it about him which brought this out to the surface?

The answer was simple.

Wouf was a lovable charismatic goofball. And Hawl… Hawl was a cold hearted killer. As a wolf, he had directly benefited from the suffering and pain of who knew how many deaths over his lifetime. And yet he wanted the rabbit to be the one to apologize?

Hawl looked down at Til. The angry little rabbit was scowling something fierce. He couldn't think of anything to say. So he just stuck to the truth. “No. Not only would that be a gross escalation. But also, killing an animal without a predation notice is a capital offense that would result in me losing my job as a hunter. My request for an apology is not a demand that will result in consequences if ignored. Rather, I would simply consider a courtesy for my friend here and the right thing to do for its own sake.”

Hawl got the impression that his long winded appeal didn't really do much to defuse the tension. Rather, the rabbit had calmed down on his own as he waited for him to finish speaking. Til slowly sank back down to all fours with a look of confused apprehension. Then he shrugged. “Sure. Whatever.” The little rabbit nodded towards Wouf. “Sorry for sticking my whiskers into your business.”

Wouf was quick to step in and reassure him. “Oh not at all. I actually enjoyed the company! If anything, I should be the one apologizing for my friend here.”. He whispered his next words. Though everyone in the conversation had excellent hearing, so he really didn't need to. “He is a bit of an overly involved stiff.”

Til nodded in agreement. “Aye. I noticed.” Then he shook off the last of the tension and smiled. “Anyway. Since your pack is back, I suppose I'll have to trust that they won't let you starve. Goodbye.”

Wouf smiled genuinely as he dropped into a play bow. “Bye! Take care.”. Then the rabbit rejoined his family, and Wouf slid up beside Reea. “So… What was that about Hawl being better at talking to prey animals than me?”

Reea rolled her eyes at Woufs smug face. Then she noticed something and smirked. “You're drooling by the way.”

Instantly Wouf worriedly checked his face. Then he got defensive and embarrassed. “Cut me some slack! I'm hungry and he was waving homemade peanut butter in my face!”

With the pack regrouped the wolves continued their hunt. They'd wait until they were well out of town, when they could be sure that the ground didn't have animals living in it, before bedding down for the day. They laughed and joked at each other's expense. They bickered with each other over trivial things. Important things. And theorized about what would be waiting for them. They were all professionals. They had all done this many times before. But even still, it was normal to feel anxious. After all…

Someone was going to die tonight.