The Feast of Frith (A WaterShip Down fanfic)

Chapter 2: One quick bolt

The sounds of murmurs echoed through the Hall as Walnut entered the large burrow. There were many rabbits there in the Hall, many had different roles in the warren. Some were Owsla that were off duty and had come to socialize with the rest of the warren, some were yearlings that had no particular job, and others were Does, some with kits, others not. Walnut weaved through the group, and headed towards the Feast burrow (The burrow where the rabbits were keeping the food for the Feast of Frith). He looked at the meager pile of left-over flayrah and a few cowslips that had been picked. Walnut suddenly heard a scraping noise, and went round the corner of the burrow. It was Dolly, the other hutch rabbit they had helped escape (Dolly is a Black and white dutch rabbit, and is also Barnaby's mate), and she was digging. "What's with all the digging?" Walnut asked, intrigued. "The Warren is getting bigger, so we need more burrows." She said simply, not stopping to see him. "Does Primrose-rah know about this Warren extension?" Walnut asked. "She doesn't have to," answered Dolly "all does are permitted to dig without questioning. "Can I help?" he asked the doe. "Of course." Dolly said, tunneling easily through the soft earth. Walnut started on the other side of the Feast burrow, and scraped away swiftly at the earth. 

"There," Walnut said looking at his roughly dug burrow "that looks nice enough." Dolly inspected his tunnel, patted down a small pile of soil, then nodded. "I'm going to silflay." Dolly said, rubbing her paws over her nose, then hopping down the burrow that led to the Hall. Walnut followed, sliding through through the earth and tree roots. The two rabbits slid out of the mouth of one of the warren entrances, and looked for some grass roots, or maybe even some shoots. "Ooh is that berries I smell?" Dolly said, bounding down the hill a little, and disappearing into some hawthorn bushes. Suddenly, a stamp sounded somewhere from the warren "Elil! Elil!" Instinctively, Walnut bolted for the warren, but remembered, Dolly! Walnut skidded to a halt, turned, and shot down towards the hawthorn bushes. Dolly seemed oblivious to any elil, and she was nibbling off some hawthorn berries. Walnut nudged her and said what was happening. The doe lowered herself to the ground and looked around wildly. She was going tharn! Walnut nuzzled her reassuringly, and pressed against her. He caught the stench of homba, and started shaking too. "One quick bolt to the warren." He kept saying aloud. Dolly's ears were pricked, and her nose was twitching. Walnut saw the homba sniffing around the hazel tree, it's red bushy tail trailing behind it's rump. He nudged Dolly and said "If I distract the homba, you run to the warren as fast as you can!" Walnut said urgently. Dolly didn't object, and she got to her feet. Walnut took a deep breath, waggled his tail, then burst out of the hawthorn. "Come and catch me you stone-hearted, cat-whiskered excuse for a predator!" Walnut shouted, zooming back and forth across the snow. The homba gave chase, snapping and snarling. Walnut looked back and saw Dolly bolt to the warren. He smiled on the inside, and then remembered his situation. Walnut suddenly started panicking, and he headed for some nearby undergrowth. He bounded into some brambles, and squealed with fright as he heard the homba grunt and growl after him. Suddenly, he was caught up in some thorns! He shook and squirmed, trying to find a way out desperately. The homba's sinister face appeared in the brambles, and it stretched out to bite him. Suddenly, without thinking, Walnut struck out with his front paw, and landed a nasty scratch on it's soft nose. The beast reeled back, whining and shaking it's nose, sent drops of blood flying. Walnut struggled furiously, then forced his way out of the brambles. The young buck ran further into the copse, circling trees and racing in a zigzag to put the homba off his scent, a trick his father had taught him. Walnut then turned back and ran in the direction of the warren.