When the black rabbit comes
Chapter one
Bluebottle
The black rabbit of inle waited patiently in the shadows beneath the rustling branches of a willow tree. The gleeful sounds of a litter of playful rabbit kittens skipping and prancing along reached his ears from somewhere nearby. A few bucks and does nervously grazed on the hillside each one occasionally sitting back on their haunches to search the area for any signs of elil before settling back down on the ground. His eyes came to focus on an agouti doe, an aging marli laying on her side just opposite of him. Her body broke out into spasms as she struggled to stay alive, each painful breath she drew seeming to be her last.
Inle looked upon this doe vast fully. The expression on her haggard face bore a lifetime of misery and grief. The warren she had belonged to had not been so kind to females. Most were kept under confinement, or more or less controlled by the bucks that ruled this place their entire lives. And this doe was no exception to this particular warren. A lifetime of being used for nothing but breeding, and digging had taken its toll on her. No longer able to bear kits, the old doe had been helped along, coldly murdered, or so to speak.
The black rabbits gaze intently shifted from the rabbit laying before him, to another hopping away off in the distance. The buck, which had killed the old marli, was heartlessly making his way back to the warren without giving what he had just done another thought. Inle made a mental note about calling this bucks name in the near future if he didn't change his ways.
He had made several trips to this warren for such an occasion. A place run mostly by bucks who made it a point to control the females, and each other. A hierarchy worse than that of what efrafa had once been. Many times he had visited here to claim the life of a rabbit that had tried to escape, had severely disobeyed an order, or as in this case, had been ruthlessly murdered for being old. And each time he brought them out of a life of suffering and misery, to spend an eternity in lord friths heaven.
The buck stepped foreword as the doe closed her eyes to the life around her for the last time. The moment he had been waiting for to call her name finally approaching. A brief second where the doe had drawn her last breath, and made her last spasm. , "Bluebottle," He softly called her name, his voice taking on the sound of the rustling willow branches gently flowing in the breezes just above them.
Bluebottle slowly opened her eyes, and focused on the black buck standing before her. Ever so slowly, the doe sat up. A great deal of new strength and energy that she had not felt for many seasons flowed through her body. Something she was not used to. She felt young again, and looked questioningly to the black rabbit of inle
"Yes m'lord," she answered him.
"Your time has come," He said to her, his voice changing to that of the sound the wind makes when it flows through the trees on a summer day, "come with me," he coaxed her along as he started to melt into the shadows of the shade of the tree, "you will be free from pain, where we are going."
The doe, now full of youth and energy, took a final look at what had been her home for nearly all her life. Then she glanced down at her body, laying lifeless on the ground before her. Sighing, and turning around on her heals, she followed after Inle. Her spirit melted into the shadows as she was whisked away to eternal life by the black rabbit, never to set paw on his earth again.
Chapter one
Bluebottle
The black rabbit of inle waited patiently in the shadows beneath the rustling branches of a willow tree. The gleeful sounds of a litter of playful rabbit kittens skipping and prancing along reached his ears from somewhere nearby. A few bucks and does nervously grazed on the hillside each one occasionally sitting back on their haunches to search the area for any signs of elil before settling back down on the ground. His eyes came to focus on an agouti doe, an aging marli laying on her side just opposite of him. Her body broke out into spasms as she struggled to stay alive, each painful breath she drew seeming to be her last.
Inle looked upon this doe vast fully. The expression on her haggard face bore a lifetime of misery and grief. The warren she had belonged to had not been so kind to females. Most were kept under confinement, or more or less controlled by the bucks that ruled this place their entire lives. And this doe was no exception to this particular warren. A lifetime of being used for nothing but breeding, and digging had taken its toll on her. No longer able to bear kits, the old doe had been helped along, coldly murdered, or so to speak.
The black rabbits gaze intently shifted from the rabbit laying before him, to another hopping away off in the distance. The buck, which had killed the old marli, was heartlessly making his way back to the warren without giving what he had just done another thought. Inle made a mental note about calling this bucks name in the near future if he didn't change his ways.
He had made several trips to this warren for such an occasion. A place run mostly by bucks who made it a point to control the females, and each other. A hierarchy worse than that of what efrafa had once been. Many times he had visited here to claim the life of a rabbit that had tried to escape, had severely disobeyed an order, or as in this case, had been ruthlessly murdered for being old. And each time he brought them out of a life of suffering and misery, to spend an eternity in lord friths heaven.
The buck stepped foreword as the doe closed her eyes to the life around her for the last time. The moment he had been waiting for to call her name finally approaching. A brief second where the doe had drawn her last breath, and made her last spasm. , "Bluebottle," He softly called her name, his voice taking on the sound of the rustling willow branches gently flowing in the breezes just above them.
Bluebottle slowly opened her eyes, and focused on the black buck standing before her. Ever so slowly, the doe sat up. A great deal of new strength and energy that she had not felt for many seasons flowed through her body. Something she was not used to. She felt young again, and looked questioningly to the black rabbit of inle
"Yes m'lord," she answered him.
"Your time has come," He said to her, his voice changing to that of the sound the wind makes when it flows through the trees on a summer day, "come with me," he coaxed her along as he started to melt into the shadows of the shade of the tree, "you will be free from pain, where we are going."
The doe, now full of youth and energy, took a final look at what had been her home for nearly all her life. Then she glanced down at her body, laying lifeless on the ground before her. Sighing, and turning around on her heals, she followed after Inle. Her spirit melted into the shadows as she was whisked away to eternal life by the black rabbit, never to set paw on his earth again.