Sunshine, Welky

[Ari Branth]

The words were muffled from a certain distance. "Help! ... Someone? Anyone! Please!" If someone followed the words to their source, they would see the back half of a girl sticking out of the ground, struggling against the confines of the hole she'd stuck herself in.

Ari tried to push herself back out, but the entrance of the hole seemed to squeeze too tight around her chest. It had taken some pushing to get herself in.

Now she wasn't able to get out.

"Help!" she tried, again, desperately scrabbling at the dirt. It occurred to her that her cries could attract any number of unsavory types, but it was a damn sight better than starving to death stuck in a rabbit hole.

[Welkin Njordson]

Welkin sat on his horse and wondered what sort of dream he'd wandered into.

A girl, stuck in a rabbit hole, wiggling her backside back and forth as she struggled to get out. He'd been drawn to her cries for help and initially thought it was a small child. He still wasn't sure how old she was, but she wasn't the age he would assume a person got stuck in rabbit holes.

He dismounted with a sigh and approached the struggling girl.

"Uh, miss? Are you all right?" He glanced at her rear again. "Besides the obvious."

[Ari Branth]

Yes. Her relief was palpable, in as much as her emotions could show from her legs. "Oh, thank the Gods," she murmured. Then, louder, "Yes, I'm okay! Could you, um, pull me out? Preferably not into a bed of spikes or something?" It seemed like a good thing to include in her request.

[Welkin Njordson]

He glanced at her butt again, briefly. "All right. I'll try. Just don't slap me afterwards."

He wrapped his arms around her middle, facing away from the hole, since the other position was too embarrassing, and braced his legs against the earth. "All right, hold your breath. Ready....go!"

He began pulling, or almost pushing, her out of the hole.

[Ari Branth]

"I won't! Promise!" But she sounded nervous, because that seemed like a weird warning to make. It made her anxious, wondering what he was going to do.

When his arms closed around her, she squeaked softly in surprise, and she knew her face was burning up, but at least he couldn't see it. She struggled against the dirt while he pulled or pushed her, and after a few seconds, she popped free and tumbled to the ground, her hair a dirt-covered, frizzy mess and the rest of her not faring much better.

[Welkin Njordson]

Welkin let out a cry of surprise when she popped free of the hole. He tumbled forward and landed upside down, balancing awkwardly on his neck, before dropping flat on his back.

"Ugh."

[Ari Branth]

She turned around to get a good look at him, the blush lingering beneath the smudges of dirt. "Thanks," she said, a little breathy from the effort she'd put in. She realized her skirt had ridden up and grimaced, hastily covering her legs with it again.

[Welkin Njordson]

He rubbed his neck. "You're welcome." He glanced at the hole. "I hope that was worth it."

[Ari Branth]

"Oh!" She moved towards the hole again, forgetting about the momentary fussing she'd had over her appearance. Her mother was going to kill her for getting the dress so dirty. "I guess I need to dig the hole bigger. Can you help?"

He was a watchman, and they were supposed to help people, right?

[Welkin Njordson]

Welkin frowned, but crawled over to crouch beside her. "Why do you need to make it bigger?"

[Ari Branth]

She was already clawing at the dirt around the hole. "There's a rabbit nest in there, and... okay, lemme start over. There's baby rabbits, and their mom's dead, and I'm trying to save 'em." Obviously, she'd discovered that she couldn't reach in to where they were as the hole was.

She put a dirt-covered strand of hair behind her ear, and pulled a large rock from the hole, crumbling a good portion of the dirt around the entrance.

[Welkin Njordson]

Welkin blinked at her explanation, then gasped in horror at the crumbling dirt. It stabilized itself soon but he grabbed her wrist and frowned at her.

"Unless you want to bury those rabbits alive, you shouldn't dig so hastily." He pointed at the walls of the hole. "The dirt will fall in on them if you're not careful."

[Ari Branth]

Her eyes widened, and she looked to him, obviously for his guidance. "What should we do?"

[Welkin Njordson]

He sat in silence, frowning at the hole. "How deep in are they?"

[Ari Branth]

"Um..." She raised her hands over her head. "Deeper than from my fingers to my waist. That's where I wasn't able to get in any more," she added. "I could feel them a little, so it must just be another foot or so."