Following the directions that Scarcheek gave him, Sandpaw hopped along to the other side of the meadow. There were several burrows here, but one of them stood out. First, it was much larger than the others, nearly two feet tall. Second, well, it had a door. This was something Sandpaw wasn’t sure of, but there was a full wooden door set into the dirt.

“Uh, hello?” Sandpaw asked, receiving no answer. Of course, he wouldn’t have gotten an answer that quickly, that would have been silly, but he realized he needed to make more noise. Moving forward he knocked on the door. Or, rather, he thumped on it with his hind foot. The strength in his hind leg was more than enough to make a large amount of noise in the hollow wood. Slamming forward and making a lot of noise.

After a couple minutes, during which Sandpaw heard clattering and the noises of the rabbit inside, the door was opened by the resident of the burrow. He wasn't much bigger than Sandpaw, in fact he looked about the size of a normal rabbit, but he looked… weird. He had all the normal proportions, as well as soft velvety ears, and little bunny paws. He looked normal, but he walked on his hind legs like a human. And, even stranger, he wore a jacket. It was a red velvet jacket, sewn to perfection.

“Ah, hello there young one, who are you?” Sandpaw felt intimidated. He wasn’t that much smaller, but the way the other bunny stood made him loom over Sandpaw.

“Uh, I’m Sandpaw.” He said, unable to get his words straight. “Uh, I’m hear to talk to you about my internship… apprenticeship… whatever we call this thingy?”

“Ah, how interesting. Not many young folks from the warren really try to join me.” Benjamin said, moving back into the room. “My name is Ben, Benjamin Bunny. I’m considered an Elder here, as I’m sure you have learned.” Inside of the burrow was fascinating. It was still dirt, but it was packed thickly and it was entirely covered in human artifacts. They were all too big, human sized, but it was still a very different setting than any Sandpaw had seen.

“Ah, well, I… I need your help. I was told I need to be under someone’s supervision, and not directly in the command of the den father for… reasons.” He frowned and dug a paw at the dirt.

“Stop that, sit on that cushion.” Benjamin said, pushing Sandpaw to sit on a pillow. “Now, what are these reasons?”

“I’m disobedient. Too interested in exploration and humans. Not enough in taking care of the Warren as a whole.” Sandpaw said, lounging on the cushion. His back pressed into it’s velvet fabric, and it was rather soft.

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“I see, I can understand why you might have been pointed towards me. I mean, we are one of the three groups that do the most exploring. And we do deal with the humans.”

“I see… I actually don’t know what you do.”

“Oh, I don’t do much at all. I’m just an elder rabbit, past his prime.” Benjamin said, sitting in a chair that seemed like it must have been made for dolls. “All the real work is done by my cousins, and they don’t really count as part of the Warren any more.”

“Cousins?” Sandpaw asked. “I didn’t know you had any family, in fact I was barely aware of who you were but… that’s beside the point.” He blushed as he admitted his lack of knowledge.

“Oh, that’s fine, young one. You wouldn’t really know them. We do all of our work outside the warren. In fact, my cousins are some of the only ones we’ve got who live outside the warren.” He smiled, showing his teeth. They were flat and aligned straighter than the average bunny.

“They live outside? I didn’t realize that was possible.” Sandpaw thought for a second. “I mean, I suppose I knew there were other warrens, other burrows, but our own people?”

“You would be surprised. There are a few outposts around. My group, the legion, even Herbcheek, we all have our secrets.”

“Ah… well, okay, that’s fascinating. But, I uh… I came here to ask a favor.”

“To join my crew, yes. I could guess as much, no one really comes to visit any more.” He sighed. “Look, you don’t understand how stressful this job can be. There are several resources we make use of. Herb-cheek focuses on healing, and the caretakers make sure that the plants survive to feed us, but my group focuses on high grade spiritual food. The ingredients to evolution.”

“Evolution?” A part of him wondered if there was a specific line or if it was direct, but he supposed he shouldn’t really care about that.

“Yup. You ever wonder why the older buns are all bigger, stronger, and look strange? That’s all us.” He grinned, waving a paw at himself. “All sorts of changes can happen.”

“So you gather these spiritual herbs, and that’s dangerous because…”

“Because they are on the farms, and farmers are protective of their hard work. One or two of us are forgotten, but enough to take care of the warren is not. It’s a dangerous job, and not all of us get out alive.”

“I… I think I can do it!”

“Sure kid, but I don’t trust you yet. Besides, you’ll just die at the first sign of trouble.” He scratched his chin. “How about this, I’ll give you a deal. You bring back a carrot, from the outside, and I’ll reward you.”

“Why should I do something you say is so dangerous?” Sandpaw asked quizzically.

“Because I want you to, and because you need the job.” Ben leaned forward. “Now, hop along. If you bring back a carrot, I’ll get you a job.”

Sandpaw nodded and confidently hopped out of the small burrow. Once he was outside however he realized that he had no idea where he was going. So, instead, he went to the person who he knew would probably have a record of where to go.