Welcome, to the Barkhills

[Jasper]

Trillo was not at all prepared for a punch, and nearly doubled over as his air was forced out of his mouth. He gasped and staggered to keep up with the rest of the group. Once he had regained his composure he commented on what he saw as an unprovoked attack:
"Well alright then, looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."
Trillo could not be kept upset for long though, and he soon brightened back up:
"Ah, never mind, what about you Ginny, see anyone... nice?"

[Cornflower MM]

"No, actually, I'm just happy with my single status." Arya muttered darkly under her breath.

[The Skarzs]

OOC: Okay, since Corny is taking a break from the forum for a while, please try not to interact with her character too much until she comes back. Until then, I will be PPing Arya when need arises.

BIC: Karn had slowed the march to allow the Homeguard to get into the ranks, and they were now back in the normal quick march. They were heading east toward the mountain on an old dirt path. The cougar remembered taking this road several times to the outposts and holds along the extensive foothills, but he never thought there would ever be need to attack the antique hold of Cold Keep.

[Gwen A. Mouse]

When Trillo began to lose steam and fall behind until he was next to her and Arya, Ginny had to hide a smile. He was quite a headstrong creature, and for all he was a bit misguided, he had a good heart. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to set him straight on a few counts.

Arya's sudden ferocity at Trillo's mention of an eligible male squirrel surprised Ginny almost as much as Trillo, though she was glad to not be on the receiving end. But the irrepressible mouse had soon recovered his breath and his spirits. "Ah, never mind, what about you Ginny, see anyone... nice?"

She was about to make a heated reply, but managed to bite her lip in time. After a moment of pensive silence, she shook her head and managed a mild reply. "Not in that way. Please don't try to pair me up with anybeast, Trillo. It's a bit late for that."

Ginny stifled a sigh, then continued quietly. "Actually, I was hoping to discuss something with you- the subject of species. Of course if you'd rather not, that is completely understandable."

[Jasper]

Trillo, recognizing a story not meant for his ears, allowed Ginny's statement stand unquestioned. While he was often oblivious to the feelings of other creatures, it was hard to miss the point of what Ginny was saying.

Nevertheless, Trillo remained in a happy carefree mood, and kept pace with the solid soldiers and homeguard around him. He spotted a young rebellious looking mouse, striding carelessly behind the others, and was about to go join him, when Ginny addressed him:
"Actually, I was hoping to discuss something with you - the subject of species. Of course if you'd rather not, that is completely understandable."

Trillo was not one to put much thought into the implications of such well versed speech, so he was almost completely unaware of exactly what this talk would be about. Had he payed just a little more attention he might have known that it concerned species, likely his strong beliefs on said species in particular. He didn't pay a little more attention, however, so he carelessly replied:
"Sure, I'll talk about anything! What's up Ginny, er, can I just call you Gin?"

[Gwen A. Mouse]

((OOC: Terribly sorry it's been so long! (Heh, by now you guys are probably a bit sick of my apologies...) Life is life, but I'm putting up sticky notes and reminders all over the place. Will try to make this conversation short so the time-skip may be effected.))

Gin.

It had been a while since she'd been called that. But not long enough for the pain to fade, apparently. The only thing that saved Trillo from quite a painful experience was the fact that while Ginny was debating whether to strangle the mouse or roast him alive, the voice of reason had time to step in and remind her that it wasn't his fault. The jill took a couple of deep breaths, forcing herself to focus on something else, and rubbed tiredly at her eyes.

"Just Ginny. Please."

Take another breath. Just breathe. Don't make the wrong point by being violent. He simply doesn't know. Killing him won't change that.

"Trillo, I couldn't help but notice your attitude towards those of our party that you deem 'vermin'- me included. You seem to view them all as enemies. Unfortunately, there are plenty of examples to reinforce that view... but not all 'vermin' are bad beasts."

[Jasper]

OOC: Hahahaha, what a great post Gwen. That was worth the wait several times over  . I particularly enjoyed the roasting alive/strangling conflict 

BIC:
Trillo watched in puzzled silence as Ginny seemed to go into some sort of nervous breakdown in response to his statements. No doubt this was some unknown side effect of being a vermin. This particular creature hadn't proved to be entirely evil yet, so perhaps she was having a conflict between her savage mind and the need to not do something villainous when so many good creatures were around to reprimand her.
"Just Ginny, Please"
Trillo sighed inwardly. He despised the idea of calling other creatures by their actual names. He always made up nicknames to entertain himself. He quickly began racking his mind for names, not realizing that Ginny seemed to be having some sort of trouble breathing. Finally her words brought him back to the real world. He listened in silence to what she had to say. Shaking his head, he responded far too carelessly.
"That's because most of them are enemies. Put it this way: I didn't have to work alongside any vermin until this voyage. We took several vermin aboard and the captain, who has never had any trouble at sea before, somehow wrecks his own ship. I suppose there's always a first time, but either way, we ended up on an island packed to the brim with vermin. Apparently we didn't learn our lesson, because we decided to team up with a whole army of vermin. Now we're marching into a deathtrap to save the captain after the whole thing went to..."
Trillo faltered, realizing he wasn't talking to one of his like-minded friends, but instead to an actual vermin.
"Er... look, it really doesn't matter, alright? We declared our truce and... and... well, I'll keep an eye out, but... Oh, never mind..."
In the brief silence that followed, Trillo tried to change the subject hastily.
"So, I've thought of another name. What do you think of Ginevere? Smashing good name if you asked me!"

[The Skarzs]

OOC: Great posts you guys; I wish I posted like that all the time.

BIC: Vrungin's fertile mind suddenly sprouted an destructive idea; he could make it certain Karn's force would not get to Cold Keep until long after the wolf did. Of course, by then, his own army would be too well dug-in to be rooted out again. A smile crept upon the wolf's face, making the corners of his mouth spread into a self-pleased grin.
"Guthar, Enktan!" The two cougars he called stood and bowed. "Get your brothers and come back to me immediately." They obeyed wordlessly, and four cougars stood in front of Vrungin as swiftly as one could breath. "Go to the West Watch, and retrieve Titan." Fear shone in the eyes of the wolf's soldiers, as well as in any who heard the name nearby.
"But. . . m-my lord. . ." stammered Guthar.
". . . You will bring him to the homestead of the mustelid clan," Vrungin continued, ignoring the cougar's words as if they never happened. "And you will make sure he can have some fun with them."

[Gwen A. Mouse]

((OOC: Thanks! ^^))

Ginny listened to Trillo sadly, her anger fading into a dull weariness. The mouse had missed her point completely, even insinuating that the vermin onboard had somehow been responsible for the ship wrecking. How could woodlanders be so blind? If only he understood... since coming to Mossflower, she couldn't do so much as wish a woodlander good morning without inviting an attack.

"Er... look, it really doesn't matter, alright? We declared our truce and... and... well, I'll keep an eye out, but... Oh, never mind..."

Well. At least Trillo was willing to work with her under a truce. If Ginny couldn't talk him around to her point of view, maybe she would just have to show the mouse what she meant.

"So, I've thought of another name. What do you think of Ginevere? Smashing good name if you asked me!"

Ginny snapped out of her gloomy reverie, eyes clearing. She regarded Trillo curiously for a moment before a small, cautious smile came to her face. "Close, but not quite, my frie-" she halted, unsure of how Trillo would react to being called "friend" by a vermin. Then she cleared her throat and tried again. "If you don't like calling me Ginny, you could always use my full name- Genevieve."

[Jasper]

OOC: You do post like that all the time; you're posts are great  

BIC: Trillo's sharp eyes searched Ginny in silence as they continued the long march. She seemed to be deep in thought once again. He had seen her do this a lot, and he considered her a very calculating and cautious individual; no doubt she would retain everything he said for later use. He would have to be more careful around this one. Normally he spoke his mind and forgot about the conversations, but anything said around Ginny may come back to haunt him.

Close, but not quite my frie- ...

As Ginny's voice petered out, Trillo regarded her curiously. He had never met anyone so cautious as to take such a miniscule detail into consideration. Personally, he didn't believe they were on the level of friendship, but he scarcely would have noticed the word's use had she just said the full phrase. Choosing to let that issue rest for another time, he responded instead to her final statement:
"Genivieve it is then! Well my good Genivieve, tell you what. If we get through this mess alive, and you don't give me any reason not to, I'll make an exception for you. I'll even apologize for mistreating you! How's that sound? Anyway, I'll bet I can march faster than you up to that rock up there!"
Trillo waved his hand vaguely at the rock covered land in front of the company, and took off at a double march.

[Gwen A. Mouse]

"Genivieve it is then! Well my good Genivieve, tell you what. If we get through this mess alive, and you don't give me any reason not to, I'll make an exception for you. I'll even apologize for mistreating you! How's that sound? Anyway, I'll bet I can march faster than you up to that rock up there!"

As Trillo marched off, Ginny smiled, a genuinely happy smile that made her eyes light up. Perhaps the mouse's mind was more open than she had thought. It might even be possible to become friends with him- eventually, of course. Any change worth occurring took time. The jill suddenly began marching as fast as she could, churning up dust.

"Bet accepted, eagerwhiskers!"

[The Skarzs]

Karn smiled, his scarred face showing his amusement as he watched Genevieve and Trillo race; it was good for young beasts to have some competition like that, and would undoubtedly make them respect each other. His thoughts turned back to the serious matter that had caused this march in the first place: the capture of Lord Durgren, and the Hammer warriors.
The entire Barkhills' safety depended upon the unity of the military force; with both the most feared force and the wolf lord himself gone, fear would set in, problems would ensue, and chaos would begin again like it had countless winters ago in the great war. The laws of the creatures were decided by them, not the military, but without protection the possibility of a tyrant seizing control was all too real. Vrungin had already succeeded in turning many creatures to his side; what was to stop the clever wolf from doing so all over the known land?


OOC: I may do the time skip within the next few posts, just so you all know.

[Conrad the Painless]

Norton was very tired.

This was the result of searching so far west of his domain. Three months of exploration. "Three months of torture!" He thought. His ship, The KingCrab, was running drastically low on supplies, and his comrades were restless. Each day he stepped out of his cabin, the more the endless, frozen water stretched beyond the horizon. Not even a speck of land had been found. There were no maps he could use, for this territory is uncharted. For all he knows, his ship could be floating in circles. They had packed food for three months, but of course, Norton had pushed it to be four and a half. Norton could not remember why he was so confident.

"Now, my crew will turn against me, and leave me to rot in a dingy in the middle of-" "LAND HOOOOOOOO!" shouted an enthusiastic voice from the top of the rigging. Norton winced as he heard the patter of paws on the wet floorboards. The door to his cabin burst open, and two of his most trusted captains shoved themselves in. "Sir, did you-" Norton had picked his head off his oak desk and was glaring at them. "Of course I heard you dimwits!" He responded loudly, "Do you mistake me as hard to hearing?!" Norton shoved his hard oak chair back, which matched his desk of course. The two captains glanced at each other nervously. "No sir!" They said in unison. "But will you at least come-" The self-proclaimed King of the Northern Pirates shoved them roughly out of the way and strode out onto the deck of his weather-worn ship.

Norton's eyes scanned the horizon, where sure enough, a long stretch of land sat silent, seeming to rise out of the ocean as they sailed steadily closer. Crew members on-deck fell as silent as the landmass as they watched their "King" take in the sight. "Is there any way we can get there faster?" he said simply. The crew members let out a sigh, happy that their superior approved. Norton turn on one paw to face them. "Men, once we get to shore, WE SHALL FEAST!" His loyal crew cheered, as more came up from below-decks, and soon the whole of his horde was celebrating. An officer tugged on the end of Norton's well-kept cape. Without letting the low-ranking beast say a word, Norton replied; "And yes, you may fetch the wine from my cabin."   

[The Skarzs]

OOC: Everyone, welcome Conrad to the RP . And Conrad, if you want to, you can have these events be further back in time so you can catch up with the rest of us more easily.

[Conrad the Painless]

OCC: Yes, yes, hello everyone. Thank you, Skarzs, once again. I'll deeply consider the time-thing. Why do you think this is essential?