In a field, not anymore visibility different from any other you would see passing by while you were on your travels, stood a beautiful weeping willow. Its branches spread like a fountain of green leaves, spilling and filling the ground with the green grass below and it stood proud and tall. While these trees might more commonly be seen near water, as any other story would tell you, there was something uncommon about this particular tree. This particular tree was the entrance to a whole underground city of tunnels called the Warren. This tree protected the occupants of this city not only from being discovered, but the occupants could hear the voice of the ancient tree and it always warned them of danger. However, there is never such a thing as a foolproof plan of safety, especially for creatures with such crafty and numerous enemies.

As you could also guess, the occupants of this city were not of the norm either. They were an ancient race of people, with the figure of a human, but the features of a rabbit. Because of the prejudice and hatred the humans consistently expressed, they went into hiding centuries ago, hoping to escape these savage creatures and live their peaceful life the way it was, and of course, as these stories also tend to go, humans eventually forgot about these people and didn’t even care to take notice of their existence anymore, and so, along with the people, the lessons they had to teach and they stories they had to tell were forgotten as well and carefully hidden underground.

Their city, however primitive in appearance were highly complicated, due to a mired of tunnels and different burrows in this system leading up to the actual city itself. This was done purposely as to ward off any invading enemies that might come along to harm the creatures, for even though the humans have forgotten these people, others haven’t. Since these people share so much in common with the rabbits, it could be natural to assume enemies are abundant, many being humanoids as well, for as long as there is prey to be caught, there will always be predators. The most common of which was the Lycanthropes, or, more commonly referred to as the werewolf. Their favorite meal being the blood and meat of woodland creatures or even the occasional human, the Lapine people met the qualifications perfectly for a fine meal, or at least a snack.

One evening, the lycanthropes learned of the secret entrance to the Warren. A wandering Lapine girl was picking flowers in the early evening and a stealthy lycanthrope, named Puck stalked her and followed her, resisting the temptation to kill her and feast on her on the spot. He knew if he was patient, a veritable buffet was at the fingertips of him and his pack. Quietly, he stalked back, without arousing any suspicion and arrived back to his brothers and sisters to tell of the good news.

Later that night a plot to infiltrate the once safe warren was underway. Two sisters and Puck volunteered to make the kill, while the rest of the pack readied for the return of the kill by preparing a place for skinning and cooking in their caves. Food had begun to become scarce in their land, because many animals had become aware of the danger and moved on, so the opportunity to get such a sweet meal kept the mouths watering and their tongues eagerly awaiting their meal after not having eaten for three days.

It is also by chance this extreme hunger is what made the Lycanthropes so successful in their hunt that night. The need for food made them more determined, the thought of their stomachs twisting in knots for another night, keeping them up with their hollow growls helped them keep focused and ready to hunt. The lead of this hunt was the young wolf that had spotted the entrance first, Puck, seeing as he knew where to go. The moon was bright and the stars glowed like night-lights guiding them, blessing them, wishing them a successful kill, Selene was truly on their side.

The first step in this particular hunt was to find the exact location of this underground buffet. The hungry wolves sniffed around the tree, hoping to get a strong scent of rabbit that would normally be undetected by the average sense of smell due to how far underground the Lapines dwelled. With only the scent of the grass and flowers filling their noses, they decided to take a risk going through the front entrance, two of the wolves decided to go in, Puck, and one of the sisters, Delilah, the third decided to wait outside incase some escaped and then she could catch them. The two wolves nodded to each other and then stalked into the tunnels, the entrance was right under a raised, twisted root next to the old willow tree. Even though the two predators had so many tunnels to go through, they traveled through them with ease, gracefully following their sense of smell to show them the way, thinking the Lapine were defenseless and clueless, little did they know, this wasn’t the case entirely, due to two guards by chance being in the right place at the wrong time. The old willow they entered through began sending out a warning, using the wind and its spirit to make a whisper, so simple and so soft, almost no one would be able to comprehend it, unless one was in tune with nature and the environment that surrounded them.

As the wolves climbed into the entrance and began making their way to the city, the tree continued whispering a warning to its protected people, but the effort was in vain. Unfortunately for the Lapines, a village of humans nearby were setting off fireworks not too far away from the tree, muffling the cries of the tree, leaving the Lapines almost unprotected and un-alerted to the emergency at hand, and this left them in a dangerous disadvantage. All signs were in favor of the Lycanthropes, and they were more than entirely grateful.

Like a farmer harvesting crops from the season, the lycans got to work harvesting a meal for themselves and their hungry pack feeling entirely grateful for their sense of smell that guided them so well through the maze of tunnels. Once they reached their destination, the entrance of the city, a quick point and glance at where the other brother should go started the massacre of the Lapines. The first ones who noticed the Lycans were two male guards by the names of Shadow and Moon, they quickly sent out an alarm to let the rest of the Warren know to get out through the many secret exits so the rest of their family could escape the inevitable death they were about to face. As promised by the hunger in their eyes, Shadow was slashed at the throat with one swift thrust of a curled blade like claw coming in contact with Shadow’s neck courtesy of Delilah. Puck, however decided to go to the throat of Moon, but instead of using the blades on the tip of his paws, he used his mighty jaw. He pounced upon the creature, his claws digging into Moon’s furry shoulders, piercing the minimal armor he bore. Right before Puck sunk his teeth into Moon’s neck, Moon drew his dagger and thrust it into Puck’s heart, Puck’s last act was finishing off the blasted rabbit, so that at least the rest of his pack would be eating well and would not have to go through the troublesome task of seeking revenge. His teeth sank into his neck, his mouth filling with Moon’s blood as his died. The last thing he sensed before everything went black and silent, was the taste of that sweet blood, he was satisfied and died with a slight red smile painted on his face as he collapsed on the rabbits corpse, the blood of the two creatures mixing together in a pool of red.

Seeing this site, once Delilah noticed what happened to her brother made her more bloodthirsty then she had been before. Now, it wasn’t just need for food, it was vengeance. Her rage took out citizen after citizen, taking many blows to the body, but ignoring the pain due to her blood rushing and adrenaline pumping through her body. All she could see was red, and all she could feel was the soft fur colliding with her claws and teeth, with her alone, she massacred a majority of the Warren, however, some did escape.

A young, pregnant Lapine woman had managed to hide out, wrapping her arms around her stomach, her legs drawn up in a ball in the corner of the food cupboard. Her husband, in order to make sure his wife and future child were safe from harm, he told her to hide while he fended off the enemy if they draw near. He knew if they had tried to escape, another wolf would just be there to kill both of them once they got out. No sooner had she hid, Delilah made her way from the northern part of the city, to the southern part, where the family dwelled. She didn’t give any indication to where or when she would be striking; she simply bashed down the door and sniffed for rabbit. A quick walkthrough of this house and she discovered the husband, Remmy, standing in the kitchen not showing any sign of fear or surprise seeing the Lycan woman. By this time, Delilah’s fur was red with the blood of the Lapine people from her mouth to her feet and she was still hungry for more. She took just a moment to stare at her final victim and decided to tease him.

“I see no fear in your eyes little morsal, don’t you fear me?” Delilah asked calmly standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a non-chalant attitude.

“I have nothing to fear” The rabbit replied, “what is meant to be, will be, and I am at peace with that”

Delilah scoffed and walked up to the rabbit. She looked into his eyes, into his soul. With her once white paw, she held the rabbit’s chin and kissed him. A tear formed in the corner of his eye as she kissed him, he had tasted the blood of his people, the ones that were slaughtered, he just hoped death wouldn’t hurt and his last thoughts were a prayer that his wife would be safe.

After she kissed him, she smiled softly at him and put her arms around him, in a hug. She looked into his eyes once, he looked into hers, and then, he felt a sting. He felt a strange pain going up and down his back he realized had been stabbed. Then the darkness came, and he fell, blood running down his back. Delilah smiled as she saw the final prey in her hunt, there was no more damage she could do, she killed the majority of the Lapines, the ones she didn’t either suffered her sister’s rage or possibly escaped, she was ready to tell her sister to help collect the spoils from the hunt and bring them home.

The Lycan’s ate wonderfully that night, and drank until their heart’s content. There was revelry and celebration and singing that could be heard in the form of howling all throughout the land, a haunting melody filled the night, a melody a young, pregnant Lapine woman named Maya would never forget. She was safe now, and now all she had was this little formation of life that dwelled inside her. This little creature was all she had to remember Remmy, her family and her friends by and all she thought that night was that she had to make the most of this child, and raise her to be the strongest and the best she could be, if not for the child alone, for the memory of the child’s father and the family that died in the massacre.