Sandpaw supposed it had only been a matter of time before they got caught. Or, rather, a matter of time before they got consequences for their actions. Apparently they had been caught a while ago, no matter how stealthy he and Swiftfoot thought they were. He sighed as he dug into the dirt, unsure what he should do.

The warren was special, a hidden world built in the clearing they took care for. The thorn bushes hid them, and provided them a constant source of food, surrounding the mound of dirt that was filled with dozens of tunnels. This was home, both to him and to hundreds of other rabbits.

Many of the burrows were personal residences, small tunnels that one or two rabbits would share and take care of. They were often abandoned when the older members died, leaving them to collapse and return space for the rest of the tribe. Sandpaw and Swiftfoot had never been given that privilege, since they were still too young. All the kits of each generation, each month or so, were given a large burrow where they usually cuddled in a pile every night.

Sandpaw was thankful that he was finally growing up, but the den father’s words echoed in his head. He really didn’t know anything about the world or about what he could do. He really only knew that he loved to dig in the dirt and that he loved to explore. It was that later that the den father had been hinting at, so maybe he could take some role in that? But where would he find one of these independent operators?

Sure, with his burrowing skills there was always work shoring up the walls and tunnels down below. When abandoned tunnels collapsed it often made the whole network unstable, and there was a team of construction bunnies who helped to keep everything stable. Thirteen hells, Dirtthumper was a nice older man, and Sandpaw had met him a couple times. As he was thinking, Sandpaw decided to approach the older bunny.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” He asked as he stared up at Dirtthumper. The older rabbit was brown and was a longer haired breed. He wasn’t as large as the den father, but he looked somewhat similar.

“Yeah, little kit, what’s up?” The big rabbit asked. He hopped down the tunnel aways. Sand paw had gone deep into the labyrinthine areas of the warren to find him.

“It’s time, I’m four months old and I’m going to have to apprentice to someone soon.”

“Well, sure bud, I can see what I can do. I’ll have to ask the den father though, he is in charge of that sort of thing.” He sighed. “My brother Ben and his types are able to do far more.”

“You mean you aren't independent?” Sandpaw asked, kicking the dirt.

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“Nope, construction is considered a part of the public works sector, all under the den father.” The larger bunny grinned, leaning forward. Underneath his thick fur Sandpaw could see a nub of a horn, one that made him think for a second but he ignored that as he listened further. “In fact, just about all work that is in the warren exclusively is under the den father, that includes the breeding pits.”

Sandpaw blushed. “I, uh, was not considering that path in life.” He said, a little embarrassed.

“Well, that’s too bad. A lot of older bucks would like a little doe like you.”

“But… I’m a boy.” Sandpaw said, blushing and starting to hop away. Well, he told himself, at least I won’t have to dig latrines.

“You are?” The older buck shrugged and got back to his work. His paws were thick, and each one made the tunnel rumble when he slammed it down.

Sandpaw climbed back through the tunnels to the surface and considered what he’d been told. So he had to find some job that required a lot of outside activity. He wasn’t sure, there were a couple of those, but the only one he could think of off the top of his head was Herb Cheek. But something Dirtthumper had said caught in his mind. Who was Ben?

Wandering around the meadow, Sandpaw looked around until he found one of the guard bunnies. He supposed, maybe they were independent too, so he might as well ask. “Hello?”

The guard was a gray rabbit, larger and covered in scars. “Oi, kit, whatcha want.” He sounded gruff, though he wasn’t super rude.

“Uh, first of all, I wanted to know who was in charge of the guards.”

“Oh? Lookin to seek yur fortune are ya?” The older rabbit grinned. His teeth were odd, sharper than normal rabbits. They looked almost designed to rip flesh instead of plants. “The Legion is just the place for troublemakers like you, trust me.”

“You know who I am?”

“Yup, I’ve been watching you for months. Whatcha expect when you try to sneak past my guards all the time.” He grinned. “Anyway, I’m the head guard captain, but we are just a part of the Legion so you would need to talk to Brutepaw. He’s out on a mission right now though.”

“Ah, well, that’s unfortunate.” Sandpaw said, frowning.

“Yeah, sure, I can tell him you want him when he get snack if ya want.”

“Yeah, that’d be great. But there was one other thing I was hoping for.”

“What’s that?”

“Do you know who Ben is? I’ve never heard of him, and his name sounds… weird.” Sandpaw knew that it sounded like a human name. It was weird, all the rabbits he knew had names like his, given by the den father in his wisdom.

“Ben… Oh, elder Benjamin!” The guard said, grinning again. “Yeah, I know where he is. He has one of the independent burrows in the south section of the hill. You’ll be able to tell because it has a large door.”

“Oh, that’s great, thank you.” Sandpaw said, grinning. “Do you mind telling me your name?”

“Ah, yeah, that’s cool. I’m Scarcheek. Nice to meet you official-like little kit.”

Sandpaw smiled as he hopped away.