mykidisthebest

Hmm, even this deep? Well, we can track them down. --thank you.

[shakes his head to fluff his crest out again]

Did you want to take the hay ovr there--?

Yeah, they like the hay. It's a treat for them, I think.

[scoops the hay back up into the bag; if there's a lil dirt and moss that comes with it, well, the rabbits won't mind.]

Lead the way.

[folds his wings as tight against his back as he can so he snags on less of the greenery, huffs the breeze, and then decidedly stalks off in a more bnnuy direction, as requested]

[throws up an illusion around them as they go, just to keep interference down, and falls into step a little bit behind him]

[he has no skills that enhance stealth or anything. but even in this shape, barring not always being able to judge when a wing or tail will brush against something, he moves very quietly.

pauses when he spots the occupied burrow, putting a red dot of illusion to mark it for Lethe while keeping his distance]

[gives him a thumbs up and quietly makes his way closer to the burrow; at some point he simply vanishes when he activates his stealth skill, but a bunch of the hay appears and makes a line from the burrow over to a spot a few feet away.

Lethe reappears next to Charon and takes a seat on the ground; he keeps his voice low, but not to the point of whispering]

They'll come out on their own in a bit. As long as you don't move you won't startle them. It just takes time.

Mm.

[after consideration he just settles flat to the ground to wait, both his primary and rudimentary eyes closing to narrow slits]

[that seems to be the plan. Lethe gives his dragon shoulder a little pat and settles in to wait; he curls his tail around himself in such a way so that it is barely touching Charon's tail, and doesn't speak. though he keeps still and silent, Lethe lets his eyes wander, taking in the forest, the quiet burrow, and Charon himself. there's nothing else to do, after all.

and it does take time. it's close to an hour before there's any movement from within the burrow, the scuffling of a curious rodent that might be interested in poking its head out.]

[Charon is very versed in the art of the long wait -- not just from home, but when he kills game in the forest it's as an ambush, never a direct engagement. he might as well be a statue but for his meditative breathing.

one set of his eyes opens wide at the scuffling, however]

[Lethe sits up a little straighter, eyes bright as a lil nose pokes out. it takes a few more minutes, but a rabbit does fully emerge from the burrow to sniff at the hay; it seems aware of Charon and Lethe, but is not running away. only points in their favor.

when it has comfortably munched on some of the hay, Lethe holds out a hand--it gets a small, wary startle out of the bunny, but it hops over to sniff at both of them curiously]

If she lets me, can I put her on your back?

[a bright little YES illusion appears on the ground in front of him]

[ehehehehehe

it takes a minute for the bunny to warm up to Lethe, but, well, sixty seconds is actually really fast for a wild animal to warm up to someone? he is scratching her under the chin in no time, and she allows herself to be scooped up and deposited onto Charon's back. her lil bunny nose sniffs at his scales as she INSPECTS HIM to make sure he is an Approved giant lizard.]

Edited 2023-10-19 00:17 (UTC)

[he waits until she seems more settled to speak up, wanting to disturb her as little as possible]

This is why you tame and train monsters at home, I presume.

[she is doing a bunny flop right on his back and rolling herself around; Lethe is hovering to make sure she doesn't accidentally roll off of Charon's back]

Mm, yeah. It's not like this with every animal or monster--if it's aggressive, like the gatordawgs, then it's way harder. And a lot of monsters are naturally aggressive like that. But most animals are neutral, so I just have to bribe them a little. Wild bunnies are wayyyyy easier to deal with than a griffon, for example.

[oh my god. he does not really have an idea what is going on, because he cannot see the bunny, but he does very slowly lift his wings a bit to make, like, something she can roll into instead of off]

The rabbits where I am from are extremely aggressive, but at least these are a milder sort. How do you intend to retrieve the kits?

Edited 2023-10-19 00:33 (UTC)

I've met some mean rabbit monsters before...they're not big enough to be mounts, though, so I've never tried to train one.

Hmm...

[looks at the mom bunny rolling around on Charon's back. she needed a vacation from her babies from the looks of it, so...he puts her back on the ground and addresses her very politely]

...Ma'am, do you want to get your kids for us? There's enough hay for all of them.

[either this rabbit is very smart or animals just Get Lethe because she hoppin' back to her den]

Cut Rabbits and Blade Bunnies will try to kill one on sight, yes. They are tool users, and primarily create or scavenge weapons.

[shifts himself into a slightly better position to have babies on his back in case that is what Lethe is planning]

...Cut Rabbits and Blade Bunnies...Those are ominous names. Are they a serious problem in rural areas?

[that's exactly what he's gonna do. he takes his bag that still has some hay on it and settles it on Charon's back in a space where it won't easily roll off. that's where the babies go. portable nest.

there's four lil guys rolling out of the den with mom and!!! bouncing over to chew on the rest of the hay, absolutely heedless of any potential danger from these two strangers]

[he is not, like, an incredible animals guy, but this is kind of miraculous to watch. he will not disturb these babies in the slightest]

They are rather ubiquitous, unfortunately. The forest, plains, even the desert -- a common threat for travelers, if also a useful food source.

...I guess it's about the same as hunting low-level monsters in dungeons. They must be really smart if they can make tools. Wait, do they have thumbs?

[he waits for the babies to get closer and just scruffs them as they get within arms reach and plops them into the bag-turned-carrier one at a time, where they promptly get distracted nibbling on hay. the mom impatiently demands pets while he gets the babies all settled.]

Their thumbs are rudimentary, but sufficient to the task, yes. They cannot do fine work.

[gently cranes his head backwards over his own shoulders at last, so he can observe: babies]

Five, hm. Where will we keep them?

[the babies are ROUND and SNUGGLED!!! mom is in Lethe's arms where she is doing the bunny equivalent of a purr. free babysitters ftw]

I can keep them in my room for now. I actually asked Fantasia if he'd help design a hutch earlier this morning, so they can stay outside once we have that.

I wonder if we can create some kind of protective field around it...threats have shown up in the pasture before, after all.

Hmm...I don't know if it would be a security problem or not, but we could turn one of the windows in the kitchen into a bunny door. They could hide in the kitchen in an emergency. That would require a bunny-sized tunnel leading from the hutch to the kitchen, though, and that might be too much.

It would be, I think.

[shaks his head a little]

Let's let it stand as an ordinary hutch. Aides's security will neutralize most things that would harm them, and if something gets past it I suspect their being in the barn will not be enough.

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Re: day 39, noonish (during lilybell intermission)