INTRODUCTION: We all know about the five known species in Furcadia: Canines, felines, equines, rodents, and mustelines. But, I often wonder, why aren’t there other species in Furcadia? Like rabbits? Reptiles? Birds that are not raptors or ostrixes? There are many others I wonder about. So, without further adieu, The Forgotten Species!
This story dedicated to Jalin Tor’ith.
SPLASH! Water flew everywhere as Ripra chased her bath-escapee around her home. “Come back here, Doodle! If you don’t come back here right now, I’m not giving you mashed potatoes for dinner! We’ll have Peas for dinner again!” Finally, after a minute, a small voice trying to sound like a growl came from a cupboard. “GGGRRR! Alright, fine, I’ll come out, but only because mashed potatoes are my favorite food!” Ripra smiled and tried not to laugh. A little pink head stuck out of the cupboard, then a body, and then two floppy ears. Yes, big, floppy ears. Because Doodle was a rabbit. Ripra had found him years ago, orphaned, and took him in. She had raised him ever since. Not many furres had seen rabbits. Most thought they were just myths and didn’t exist. But Ripra knew they were real, because she lived with one.
That night, as they sat in front of the fire eating dinner, Doodle asked a question. “Why did you name me Doodle? It sounds funny. Why not something like Thor, or Arrowtail?” Ripra stared for a moment, and then answered,” Because I thought it fit you, dear. Now eat dinner.” Unfortunately, it didn’t work. “How come I never see anyone like me?” At this, Ripra put her meal down. “There’s a story you haven’t heard! Here, I’ll tell you.
“Once, a long long time ago, rabbits like you were everywhere! They were spread out, and weren’t quite overpopulating. They were very talented, too. They did many things well, especially fighting. But even then there were bad furres. They became jealous, and launched a plot to destroy the rabbit race. It almost worked. But about 50 rabbits survived, and moved somewhere that has not yet been discovered. Some day, I hope you find that place.” Doodle was silent for a long time after this. Soon he was in the tiny bed Ripra had made for him. She gazed at the little head, smiling. Then she heard a knock on the door.
“Open up, Ripra!!”
“We mean it! NOW!”
Ripra hurried to the door and swung it open. There were about twenty furres standing there, all armed. Some had torches, some had spears and swords, and some just had their claws, but they were all prepared to fight. One of them, a black panther, was in the front. He spoke to her with a quaint southern accent. “Ripra, we heard tales that you is raisin’ a rabbit. Is they true?” It took the wolf a minute to figure out what he was saying. When she realized what was going on, she turned pale, and said, “N-no , sir, m-must be rumors.” The panther wasn’t very smart, so he answered, “OK, ma’am, that’s all we wanted ta know. We’ll be a-leavin’ naow.” At any other time, she would have laughed at the strange dialect, but she was scared now. If they found Doodle, they’d destroy him. She was always afraid this would happen, but it was coming true. She knew there was only one thing to do now. That night, she cried herself to sleep.
In the morning, Doodle was up early, as usual. Ripra was silent for most of the morning, until Doodle said, “What’s wrong, Rip? You OK?” She just stared at him, and then answered, “Doodle, today I will take you to live with others like you, other rabbits. Take this.” She handed him a large medallion. It had nothing on it. Then Ripra waved her hand, and the words, “I will always be with you -Ripra” appeared on it. “Come, get yourself groomed, it’s time to go.”
No one was really sure where the surviving rabbits lived, but Ripra had a pretty good idea. They traveled and traveled until finally they came to the bottom of a rocky canyon, and then Ripra stopped and held the tiny rabbit in her hands. “I love you, Doodle, and I will always be with you. So this is not goodbye, it’s so long for now.” With that, she put him down, and walked away. Doodle was confused, but he decided to explore. he went all along the canyon wall until he came to a dark opening. He started in, but something much bigger then him jumped out of the shadows. He looked up, and saw that it was another rabbit, just like him! The large rabbit was brown, and looked friendly. It spoke and said, “Who are you? I know every rabbit that lives here, and you aren’t one of them!” A somewhat frightened Doodle answered, “Please sir, my name is Doodle, don’t hurt me!” The large rabbit looked down and smiled; this rabbit will fit in just fine, if Taar allowed it, he thought. He spoke again, saying, “My name’s Riley, Head of secrecy. Come with me, little fellow.”
They traveled through what seemed to be a huge warren carved out of the canyon. Riley stopped, pointing at one rabbit, saying, “You there. Yes, you! Take over the watch.” And with that they went on. Riley left Doodle in a playground type place, and went on the meeting room. Taar Badsword was there, and looked up. Taar was commander of all rabbits in the warren, and everyone obeyed him. “Yes, Riley? What is it?” Riley, being old friends with Taar, answered, “Sir, I need to call an emergency meeting of the high council.” Taar looked slightly annoyed, and then said, “Very well, I’ll bring them in.”
In a while, all the high council members were there. They were second in command, and each was in charge of something that was important to the warren. There was, of course, Riley, head of secrecy, Lilifer, head of transportation, Antonio, head of food and edibles, and Jazz JackRabbit, head of defense. Taar stood up, and said slowly, “I have no idea what this is about, but Riley does, so I’ll leave it to him. Riley stood up, and began talking. He didn’t quite know what was going on, either. “Well, um, er, I was at my watch post this morning, and a little pink rabbit showed up. He wasn’t from this warren. I took him to the recreation area, and he’s still there. The problem is, on the way there, he told me about a wolf named Ripra, who supposedly raised Doodle, who is an orphan. If a wolf knows about our existence, we could be in grave danger!” With that, he sat down. “So, my council members, what’s to be done?” Said Taar quietly. “Jazz, you’re head of defense. Tell me what you propose to do.” Jazz stood up, thinking, and then said loudly, “I’ve got it! We can get the kid to tell us where this Ripra person lives. Then, we go to her house, and either take her prisoner, make her absolutely promise not to tell, or kill her.” “WE WILL NOT BE KILLING ANYONE!” said a very angry Taar Badsword. “But, I like the idea of taking her prisoner until she promises not to tell. What do you say, my trusted friends?” All four of them unanimously said, “I’m all for it, sir.”
The next day, Lilifer somehow found out where Ripra lived, got the council members on a river, and traveled downstream. In two days, they were out side Ripra’s house in Allegria. Jazz whispered quietly, “OK, on the count of three, we go in! One, two, THREE! GO!” They all jumped in through the open window. Jazz pushed Ripra into a chair, and in three quick movements, had the astonished wolf tied up, but not gagged. Taar spoke in a commanding voice. “I am Taar Badswrd, commander of the warren Doodle is in at this very moment. What do you know of rabbits?” Ripra, almost yelled, “I know that I care about Doodle very much! Don’t hurt him!”
“We won’t, ma’am, but tell us, what do you know of rabbits?”
“Well, I know there are five standing in front of me. I know that they exist, contrary to popular belief.”
“Ripra: You must promise not to tell of our existence. If you do not promise this, we will take you prisoner.”
“Alright, I promise not to tell anyfurre you exist. I know if I did, you’d all be destroyed.”
Taar looked at her sympathetically, and said, “Untie her.” His commands were quickly done, and soon Ripra was serving them dinner. Taar looked up at her and said, “Thank you for your hospitality, Ripra. Doodle has had a good upbringing, and he will do just fine. Now I have a proposition to make you. We need a link to your world, so we know what’s going on, if were in any danger, things like that. Would you be our link to the outside world?” Ripra was amazed, and just stared.
“Come on, Ripra. Can we trust you?”
“Yes, my dear friend. I’d be honored to be the link between my world and yours.” They shook on it immediately, and three days later, Ripra had a birdbath with two rabbits on it sitting in her yard, to signify that she was friend, not foe. This was the beginning if a wonderful friendship.