Here it is!!! I apologize if it seems to jump around in the dialogue... I'm a little busy and slightly distracted, so I may re edit it tonight when I can sit and think! 😂 Blessings! A. R. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Smalls set down the pile of papers abruptly, sighing. He’d finished what he wanted to in the amount of time he planned. He glanced up at the window and guessed it was close to noon. He stood up and adjusted his tunic before heading out the door.      The hall was full of rabbits flocking this way and that, and Smalls did his best to avoid collisions with anyone. He was nearly successful, until he reached the stairs. He had been trying hard to not bump into a rabbit with trays of food in their arms that he instead bumped into a buck about to descend the stairs.      “WOAH!” He yelped, teetering over the edge. Smalls turned and grasped him by his collar very un-regally. “Sorry!” Smalls apologized, ensuring he stayed on his feet and brushing his shoulder quickly. When he saw who it was, he almost laughed. “Jacks?” The buck smiled, a little bashful. “I wasn’t trying to get in your way or anything,” he assured, bowing a little awkwardly. Smalls chuckled. He looked around at the boisterous hall and thought of something.      “Jacks, I was going to go for a quick walk around the city. Would you join me?” Jacks looked startled but nodded. “Sure.” They managed to get down the stairs without running into anyone and made their escape through a side door. They then exited the courtyard and began to walk through First Warren, sticking to the quiet, more scenic roads on the outskirts of the city.      “How have you been, Jacks? I’m told that you enjoy playing hoopvolley with the other rabbits,” he began, glancing at the buck beside him. Jacks was nearly as tall as him, and seemed scholarly, like his father. He smiled and nodded, turning to face the prince. “Yes, it’s fun with them. But it’s hard to find things to do; in Akolan, you had school, and that kept you busy. There wasn’t any time to dawdle.” Smalls gave a small smile. “You want more to do?” He asked. Jacks nodded, his whiskers twitching slightly.      Smalls thought for a minute. “Well, if you wanted, you could check out the library; or you could even help me.” Jacks’ head snapped up. “What?” He asked. Smalls chuckled. “I have lots of papers that aren’t very… organized, let’s say. I get reports for building supplies, how many rabbits there are in certain areas, and schedules for events like finding a place for a new city. It’s all become a mess and its confusing. Would you want to help me with that?”      Jacks smiled. “Sure.” They walked on in silence, a little awkward. Smalls looked at the buck again, and inhaled. “Jacks, what did your sister tell you in Akolan?” The buck wrinkled his nose, thinking. “Not much. Then again, I was… well, a bit of a tattletale for the Administration.” He admitted, hanging his head. Smalls felt bad. Not the best way to broach this subject, he thought.      “What did you think, when she arrived?” Again the buck thought about it. “I was confused. I didn’t think there could be anything else in the world. I didn’t know what freedom was. But now I do, because she helped unfurl many plans in regard to our escape.” Smalls smiled. Very scholarly indeed.      “I also hear that Heather wrote her own book, and has lots of tales to tell. But she is really busy in the hospitals, so I doubt I’ll hear any of them until things settle down.” Smalls put a hand on his shoulder. “I know it won’t be anything like your sisters tales, but I have a story.” Jacks nodded, looking curious and impressed. They found a downed tree just inside the forest and sat down.      Smalls rubbed his chin a moment before starting. “It seems like long ago; I had been on the run for my whole life just to stay away from Morbin’s spies in order to survive. Your uncle Wilfred was chosen to protect and raise me, and he taught me many things. I hadn’t known he himself was affected by the Afterterrors until I was a little older. I had lost my father and my family, but he lost family and his reputation. He wasn’t thought of highly.”      “One day, we were up north of a place called Nick Hollow when Wilfred told me he had family, and that we could visit them and find respite for a bit. My mother was there at the time, so we thought it would be good to catch up and think of something.” Jacks raised an eyebrow. “Something?” Smalls smiled. “Something. Anyways, we were headed that way when we noticed something wasn’t right. There were few rabbits up there, and the ones that were there seemed to disappear. We also smelled lots of smoke, and even spotted some wolves.” Smalls frowned as he continued his tale.      “When we reached Nick Hollow, we found an Elm tree home burning to ashes, many wolves, and few prisoners. Wilfred was furious and heartbroken that we hadn’t arrived in time, but then something gave him hope.”      Smalls stared off into some unknown place as he continued, imagining the scenes all over again.      “We heard a strange noise and so did the wolves. They went to investigate and soon, a golden furred buck raced through the woods. We had been in a different position than he was, so it took some time to reach where he had been. What was odd was that the wolves continued to run towards the place where he had been, even after he left. So we also investigated. We didn’t get far before we noticed a white rabbit take off into the deeper part of the trees. The wolves guarding the prisoners set more fires and the forest began to crack and spark. Smoke was so thick you couldn’t even see the sky.      “We held a quick conference and Wilfred figured that it might’ve been your siblings. Knowing that they weren’t caught, we decided to try and intercept their paths and get out of there fast. By the time we reached Heather, she was sailing through trees. The wolves kept pursuing her, but didn’t know about Picket, or us for that matter. We were going to run ahead under the trees to the end of the road, but she took a different trail. We followed her a ways until a wolf sentinel found us. We scrambled to get away from him but eventually ended him. The distraction with him had cost us a few seconds, but we worried that it was a few seconds too long. We raced after Heather and the path she had taken, since the wolves were following her. When we found her, she was stuck in a cave entrance. Wilfred leapt at the leader and protected Heather, having kicked her into the cave, while I took out his sidekick.”      Smalls paused, smiling slightly as he remembered that day. “I didn’t even know her name until that day, and she was amazing. I’d never seen a rabbit, no less a doe, lead such an incredible plan like that. She was so strong, brave, and…” He trailed off, subtly wiping a tear that slipped down his face.      Jacks looked at him, his expression more understanding and awestruck than before. “And you love her,” He said quietly. Smalls smiled and nodded, turning to face the buck. “Yes, I do. Which is why I’d like to ask you something.” Jacks  smiled and nodded, obviously understanding the sincerity of the coming question.      “Since that day, I’ve grown to love your sister dearly, and would like to marry her. Jacks, may I have your permission and consent?” Jacks smiled. “Yeah. Just listening to your story tells a lot. I didn’t think stories would have such truth, but Heather told me a story the first day we were together, and that caused some stirring. And your story, it does that too.” Smalls chuckled, eyeing him curiously. “You’re a smart buck, Jacks. I can easily see you as a scholar.”      Jacks turned bright red. “Thanks.” Smalls clapped him on his shoulder, trying hard to not lose his cool. “Thank you, Jacks.” Jacks smiled. “You’re welcome. You’ll take good care of her. She’s lucky to have you.”      “I’m lucky to have her,” Smalls answered softly, looking back towards the palace.