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Lagomorphs
Copyright © August, 2015, FurryWurry
All rights reserved

Chapter 33 -- Departure

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Despite sleeping poorly, or maybe because of it, Jeff woke early. No young Rab was yelling in his ear this time. Not yet, anyhow. The room's lights brightened with the color of moonlight instead of sunlight, but there was no point in staying in bed: he had things to do, a trip to get ready for.

The shower's white foam was as scent-free as when Swimmer had bathed him. It left him just as odorless, too, at least so far as his own nose was concerned. Doubtless the Rabs would pester him anyhow. The final blast of warm air was comforting before he pulled on his loincloth and outer clothes.

Somewhat glumly, he dug through his backpack. There wasn't a lot there. His phone and Eco's camera were still dead, as was the cracked arm-guard he'd dug from the midden. At least he assumed it was dead: there was no bright blue pilot light like that of the baton/flashlight. It was much too flimsy to provide any real protection, but he decided to keep it anyhow. The emergency space-blanket and first aid kit were still sealed in their bags, as was the water filter. Two and a half energy bars were all the food he had left. Maybe he could persuade Grows'm to give him enough vegetables for the trip. He was reluctant to get more mushroom balls from the dining room. It was only going to be about two or three days, after all, so there should be plenty of room for veggies in his backpack. His pants pockets didn't yield much, either. Keys, coins and wallet he dumped in the bottom of the backpack. He didn't want to lose them accidentally even though they were useless here. Maybe he'd want them again someday. The small pocket knife he finally decided to keep out. It only had a couple of blades, but it might come in handy for paring vegetables, maybe. Everything else went into the backpack, including toothbrush and paste, maybe not very tidily.

He filled both of his water bottles from the wash basin without bothering to use the filter. He'd already drunk enough of it that he'd surely be showing a reaction by now if it were contaminated. Strapping them to the outside of the backpack took only seconds.

As he started to tie his boots, Jeff was interrupted.

"Hi! Hi! Hi! Dinner time! You hungry? I'm starved. Comon! Time to go, go, go!"

He grinned at the enthusiastic kit. "Wait just a sec." Tying his shoes as she danced with impatience, he grabbed his backpack with one hand. Gemma grabbed the other and dragged him out. Jeff followed along, just slowly enough that she had to work at it a little. He was pretty sure her straining grunts were fake.

The eastern sky was just starting to get light as she pulled him outside, but it obviously wasn't too early for some of the warren's residents. All of the Rabs from Flower's snugrow were waiting for him, along with ten or fifteen Rabs he hadn't met yet. Even Flower and Garland were there, smiling. Gran'Sir was standing behind them with a scowl on his face. They all just looked at him quietly as Gemma dropped his hand and scampered away.

Taken aback, Jeff just stared back at them for a moment, then smiled and waved. "Hi!"

Garland came and gave him a tight hug. "Thank you."

He dropped his backpack and hugged her, too. "You're very welcome. Of course. But maybe you shouldn't get your hopes up. We might not be able to find Runner."

"Doesn't matter. You're looking. That's more than most would do." She licked his cheek and smiled again.

That seemed to be a signal to the others. Chattering quietly to one another, most turned and headed toward the gardens for dinner, Gran'Sir stomping along ahead of them, flicking his feet as if something unpleasant had stuck to them. Most of Sky's family stayed, although Gemma seemed to have disappeared. Rainy was holding back a bit. His scowl was almost as fierce as Gran'Sir's had been.

"Are you guys all ready?" Jeff asked the three who'd be coming with him. They all had small knapsacks woven from grass, maybe for food.

"Just about," Sky assured him. "Why don't we leave after the sunrise songs?"

Sunny smiled. "I've picked out some special ones, just for the occasion. Everybody knows them although we don't sing them often."

"Sounds reasonable to me," Diver yawned. Jeff was sure he hadn't tried to get any sleep at all, although his brother looked rested.

Flower and Garland relaxed on the grass as most of the other Rabs started to go get something to eat. Cloudy and Sunny likely were going to bring food back for the elder dams. Rainy came up to Jeff, though. Poking him in the chest with a sharp claw, he said loudly, "You'd better bring Sky back. You hear? I'll bite you if you don't. Doesn't matter where you are, I'll find you and bite you. Understand?" Then, more quietly, "And we still have some questions for you. Don't forget that." Finally, he pulled Jeff down so he could whisper into his ear, an anguished "Why'd you wait so [i]long[/i]?" before he turned and ran into the warren.

Bewildered, Jeff stared after him. Wait? For what? "Wait!" but the young Rab was already gone.

When he turned back, he found Grows'm standing there holding out a large basket full of produce. "I'd like you to take this. It's not much, but I hope it'll keep you from getting too hungry while you're gone."

Jeff smiled at the older Rab as he accepted the gift, far more than could possibly fit in his backpack. "Thank you! They looks delicious. It's a lot more than I'll need, though. We're only going to be gone a couple of days. Is it OK if I share these with the others?" He knew Diver would love the carrots, and maybe their sugars would help keep the Rabs awake.

"Of course, of course!" The Rab nodded and started to turn to go.

Jeff quickly put down the basket. "Just a minute." When Grows'm turned back with a curious look, Jeff reached out and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you. Thanks a lot. You don't know how much this means to me. I really appreciate it. I know we almost got off on the wrong foot, but you've helped me way more than you have to. Thanks." It was the least he could do to try to pay the Rab back, to try to make him a little happier. He'd always looked a bit grumpy whenever Jeff had seen him, maybe because of the kits raiding his gardens, but maybe he had other problems, too.

At first Grows'm just stood there stiffly, almost resisting, but then he relaxed into Jeff's embrace. "You're welcome. Very welcome." He nuzzled Jeff's throat. "Welcome." When Jeff released him, the Rab looked a little dazed. "Welcome," he mumbled again, and, with a small smile, headed back to his gardens.

A few minutes later, the seven adult Rabs of the southern snugrow sat around Jeff, enjoying their dinner of hay and grasses. He shared vegetables with them from the basket Grows'm had brought. Diver made a mess of one of the carrots. Rainy and Gemma were missing, though.

"Where's Gemma?" Jeff wondered aloud, swallowing juices from the most delicious tomato he'd ever had.

"She's eating with her friends." Cloudy waved toward the northeast. "I'm sure they're trying to decide what trouble they can get into. They tend to annoy people more than [i]we[/i] ever did at that age."

"Speak for yourself," Diver smirked. Cloudy just glared at him.

Finally, brushing some seeds off her lap, Sunny got up. "Time for the songs. The Sun's about to come up. It looks like everybody who isn't singing is going to be listening!" She waved to the Rabs who were gathering by the gardens. Maybe a dozen singers were already waiting for Sunny on the eastern side.

As before, Jeff had a hard time making out the words, but the Rabs around him were humming along. Something about a joyous sunrise, a new beginning, the Makers returning someday?

As they started down the hill, Diver turned and waved to the crowd of Rabs, most of whom waved back. Not Gran'Sir, of course. "Wow. [i]Everybody's[/i] here to see us off. I don't think I've ever seen them all in one place like that before."

"Everybody?" Jeff asked, surprised.

"Yup," Swimmer agreed with his brother. "He's right. That's everybody."

Everybody? Jeff did a quick count: he could see only forty Rabs. Forty in a warren designed for hundreds, and most of them were does. Nine or ten of them were youngsters, including Rainy's friends and a couple of kits close to Gemma's age. He was shocked and saddened. Finding and bringing back missing bucks was even more important than he'd realized. Even so, if nothing changed, he feared there'd be no Rabs left in just a couple of generations. The Warren would be empty.