A Moth's Flame

I have been flying as fast as I could to the rabbit warren nearby, the only place that could help us. I started in the garden and passed over the house, the warren was a 10 minute fly from here, it was becoming dark, which means the warren should be active. My mate shifted in my arms, groaning softly. I landed. The warren was in a large plain. you could see everything from every direction. I spoke up. Hello, please we need help. Heads popped up from their holes, one then 2, then 4 and soon an entire warren of about 15 rabbits was staring us down. I could hear them whisper. A spongy moth asking for our help? How strange. A larger than average brown rabbit with some scarring came forward, shushing them. The leader I’m assuming. She oozed confidence and authority and she was who I was looking for. Please, you have to help, the humans call us vermin, they’ve poisoned him! He doesn’t have much time.. I pleaded. The leader nodded. Humans think we’re vermin too, we’ve lost a lot of rabbits to snares this moon. Come, we’ll make a shallow burrow for you, put him on my back. She laid down and I put him on her back. He opened his eyes. Who….? He said weakly Hey, it’s okay, they’ll help us. I reassured him. He nodded and his eyes closed again. The leader looked deep in thought, she turned around and thumped her foot, the ground rumbled in response. 

The rabbits that were staring came out and joined us. I need the youngest does to start digging a shallow burrow please. Somebunny get the elders, we need them. The other rabbits followed her orders. Bucks, don’t just stand around, start planning a patrol, I’ll be coming with you. She barked. Don’t you usually hang around the garden? She caught me off guard. Y-yes, he ate from the garden two sunsets ago, he’s been getting worse. I said. That’s what I thought. She paused then continued. A sunset before your mate got sick the humans sprayed a cloud over the garden. We’ve been avoiding it because it smelled foul. How did you not get sick? She quizzed me, I was feeling a bit nervous. I prefer the food in the forest over there. I motioned towards the forest on the right. The garden doesn’t have enough variety for me. I said. You’re a cultured moth I see. She laughed, filling my ears. I did too, I haven’t laughed in a long time. I’m sorry I haven’t introduced myself yet, my name is Iris, who are you? More questions, this one was easy to answer. My name is Juniper, and my mates name is Oak, You came to the right place, Juniper. I'm the dominant doe around here and my mate, Cosmos is the dominant buck. Two leaders? How strange. Nice meeting you. I said. You too. Iris said back. 

The does should be done now so we’ll leave him there and you two will be here a while so I introduce you to some of the rabbits, sound good? I didn’t really feel like I had a choice. Yes, that sounds great. I smiled. She hopped to the new burrow and asked how they were coming along, they said they were done. Iris motion d us inside it was very big, big enough for us and three rabbits. I felt dwarfed compared to it. Put him there. She commanded me and motioned towards a bed of leaves. I took him off of Iris and put him on the bed, he shifted. Getting comfortable. The elders are making something that should get rid of the poison, they’ll be done by the time we get back. Before I flew out, I walked towards him, kissed him and put the large leaf on top of him. I Hesitated. Will he be okay, can I just leave him here? I heard Iris and left. Iris started talking to me as soon as I left. I have an important question for you, She started. Are you carrying any eggs? I said no. How peculiar. I asked why. You are like no Spongy Moth I’ve met, you eat in your adult stage, you and your mate haven’t mated yet, and you actually care about your him, all spongy moths I’ve seen, do the deed and leave. She said, I thought about my answer, I didn’t want to disappoint her. I decided on this answer: We wanted to go slow and be able to get to know each other, since as soon as I lay eggs, my life cycle is over, and he’s the kind of bug worth waiting for. I gushed. Iris smiled. You really love him don’t you? Of course, he’s so kind and sweet, he gave me flowers every sunset, until he got sick. I said. She nodded. Sounds like a good mate, speaking of which…COSMOS! She yelled, I covered my ears. 

A large grey rabbit turned and slowly hobbled towards us. We met him where he was. He was large but Iris was larger. He caught his breath. I was concerned, he seemed injured. Iris wasn’t and just looked like this was normal. Are you okay? I flew around him, he was covered in just healed scars. He had a gruff voice. I’m okay, still recovering from fighting that weasel. I gasped as my mouth fell open. He fought a weasel and survived.?! How did you survive? I've never heard of somebunny- He interrupted me. Because of my size, and my mate over here, she’s a good one, so are our kits. I took a moment to process and then realized something. Wait, how many of these rabbits are your kits? Most of them but only half of those are from us, the rest are from our other mates. Iris answered. You can have other mates? I asked. My head was spinning, I was learning so much about rabbit culture, it was almost impossible to process. Iris seemed to sense my confusion and explained. Yes, we’re just the dominant pair, we have mated with every rabbit of age, it’s the only reason the warren have collapsed due to human population control. Oh. I said quietly. It confuses a lot of other animals but it’s a system that works. Cosmos confirmed. I’m sorry if it was an invasive question. I apologize. It’s fine, you’re curious, we need more animals like you. I felt embarrassed by this praise,

 I started to wonder about who else I was going to meet but I was interrupted by Iris commanding her some of her kits to come over. These are my oldest kits, they are very hard workers. She bragged to me even though saying that to me wouldn’t prove anything as I’m not part of this culture. Three rabbits came up to us. Cosmos introduced them. This is Jasmine, she took after her mother, and was a very rambunctious kit.  He pointed to a rabbit who was in between Iris and his size, she was the same grey as Cosmos. Jasmine rolled her eyes and laughed. Iris continued introducing her kits. This here is my best digger, Primrose, she has the strongest legs out of any rabbit here! The brown rabbit, who looked like a complete copy of her mom. She seemed embarrassed, avoiding eye contact. And finally, Fern, our little runt. Another small brown rabbit, who I’m assuming was Fern, suddenly perked up. Please don’t tell her that. He pleaded, but it was too late. I apologized but he brushed it off. It’s fine, just not what I want new people to immediately know. He was small compared to his siblings and parents, who almost completely dwarfed him in size. I started wondering if the mystery cure the elders are making was done yet. It has been so great to meet you but I need to check on Oak. The elders should be done now, Goodbye kits and Cosmos, I’ll see you later. She kissed her kits on the forehead. Jasmine kissed back, Primrose hide her face and fern tried to dodge it but got kissed anyway. She nuzzled Cosmos and we were off. 

We weren’t that far from the burrow so we got there quickly. I went in first, and Iris went in behind me. There was Oak, sitting up on the leaf bed and holding some…flowers? I went over to him. I..got..these.for…you. He handed me the mini flower bouquet and smiled, the first time in the last 3 sunsets. Thank you! How did you get these? I asked, very confused. He’s too weak to fly and get them. The..elders got them for me….from the forest. Oak smiled again, and I hugged him with all six arms. I felt his embrace me back. After a long embrace, I pulled away.  How did they cure- I started but was interrupted by one of the elder, surprising me, have they been there the whole time? We gave him spring water with dandelions in this bowl. Showing me a white bowl, I’ve seen it on-top of human drinks. He’s recovering very quickly, which surprised us. The other elders nodded in agreement. The first thing he said was he wanted flowers for you. Oak leaned on me, I kissed him. He’s still recovering and needs a lot of rest, Iris told us you two still eat so we have some food for you. One of the other elders brought in a bunch of leaves. From the forest of course, as we can’t have this happening again, you can stay here as long as you need. The first elder continued. Thank you so much for all you’ve don but me and Oak would like some privacy. I said, and Oak winked at me. I winked back. You’re welcome, and of course. Iris said. Everybunny left and it was just us. I laid down and Oak snuggled up to me. I summarized everything I learned while Oak listened. I’m so glad you’re okay. I said. Thanks..to..you. He responded. No-no, I just brought you here, I-I didn’t do any of the actual-actual work. The elders did! I stuttered, I don’t deserve the credit for this. But..you…cared enough…to..to. I interrupted him, You need to rest, don’t use all of your strength now. Fine..but..I’m..Right…He affirmed, Shhhh. I shushed him. Let’s just cuddle for a while. I suggested and he agreed and as the sun came up and my Oak snuggled in my arms, I was finally at peace.