The White Hare

Beetle?

For the next week things look rather peaceful in the warren. Jack sticks to fruit and veggies so no one has to hunt for him but there is only so much training one can do in order to fend off boredom. Ova tried to keep him company but she also wanted to play with her other siblings too. Jack didn't stop her. He figured he would just continue his strength training in the meantime.

After the first day of expanding the burrow Jack needed some help from his father. Apparently he got a bit too caught up in his own head and accidentally dug too far. The dirt and rock collapsed and almost crushed him. After reinforcing the walls the adult hare begins digging Jack out of where he was stuck.

"Something on your mind?" The older buck chuckles as he slowly digs his son out of his current predicament. 

"Boredom mostly." Jack's muffled voice carries through the dirt and rock. "Got caught up thinking and ended up going outside of the area you said for me to stay in."

"Have anything to do with that beetle or the goblins from before?" Clay raises an eyebrow.

"Some I suppose. Part of me wants to go back and turn that beetle into paste. Though I don't have a weapon and I'm not strong enough to crack its exoskeleton."

"Considering it tried to melt your skin off of your bones I can't blame you there. Acid Beetles roam from place to place but leave scars in the dirt and land that they hold up in. It would be fine if we were in the badlands but sometimes they end up in places they don't belong." He shrugs. "It'll pass eventually. They don't make roots."

"Yeah but how much damage is it going to do in the meantime? Its around a bunch of berry bushes and some trees that look like they bare nuts. I might be able to live off of meat but if it stays there for too long it will limit food for you guys. Food that is easy to get or at least somewhat safe to get anyway."

His father is silent at that. One ear flops down a bit as he looks off to the side, thinking with a few thumps against the ground kicking up a little bit of dust.

"You know what? You're right. Come, lets go and check it out."

Jack blinks a bit at that. "I can't leave. Mom would kill me." He also raises an eyebrow at him. "But not before she kills you for letting me out before my injuries fully heal up.

"I'm sure it will be fine." He shrugs but the younger buck notices that his senior's nose was twitching. More specifically twitching in fear, and it wasn't from the incoming fight with the bug.

Walking through the forest Jack leads his father to the location of the acidic insect. Instead of the barren patch from before they were in for a hell of a surprise. The dead grass, exposed rock and broken up ground was covered in insect gunk. Half of what was covered was burned by the acid but the biggest concern was the trees in the area were also covered in it. One of the apple trees that got it the worst was on its side after having its trunk melted halfway through. Gravity did the rest.

Like Jack had said the trees in the immediate area around the barren patch were looking worse for wear. Many of the smaller plants and even the weeds were looking wilty if they weren't already dead.

As for what was left of the bug it was practically ripped in half. The wounds covering the exoskeleton were charred in areas that had large claw marks. Pieces of exoskeleton were scattered all over the place. 

It was like something really big and on fire killed the creature and then left without taking so much as a bite of it's kill. To be fair though even the scavenger insects didn't want the corpse. There wasn't so much as a fly on any of the meat.

"Looks like something beat us to the kill." Clay keeps his arms crossed as his foot thumps a bit. "From the smell it was a day or two ago. Know what could have done it?"