Wake up, said a voice in the murky darkness of unconscious. You are needed.
"Who's there?" Skarzs struggled to regain his senses. "What do you mean? I can't see you."
"I am Martin." The voice was clearer now, but it seemed to be fading away slowly. "You know of me, but you have never seen me." A vision of a mouse clad in armor showed before Skarzs.
"Martin?"
"You must find the ones who need help. You and your friends' knowledge will be needed if they are to be saved."
Skarzs felt as if he was being dragged out of a pit, his senses dulled but sharp, everything rushing past him and pushing against him as the mouse grew distant. "Wait! I don't know-!"
"If there is any hope for them, you must adapt. Your friends will need you. Now wake up."
Skarzs' eyes popped open, waking up breathing heavily. He found himself tensed up all over, so he relaxed. He still remembered his dream vividly. But as his vision cleared and his body readjusted to wakefulness, he realized he was not where he though he was. Where was the ceiling? He was looking at leaves and tree boughs! Where were his blankets? His bed? When had he fallen asleep? Why did his skin feel so. . . Alien?
He sat up, looking at his. . . Hands? Paws? They were his, no doubt; they felt like his. But they were covered in fur, as was his entire arm! He pulled away the sleeve of the strange shirt he was wearing to check, then looked down. He gasped as he saw his legs. They were broken! Or. . . They were jointed twice. His feet were uncovered, and they looked like the feet of some huge cat.
The pieces fell into place in Skarzs' mind as he felt his own tail beneath his rear, and touched his face. He was not the same. Somehow, he had changed.
Martin.
"No way, " Skarzs muttered.
There was something digging painfully into Jukka's back. She opened her eyes in annoyance at being disturbed from her dream... and found herself staring up at leafy foliage.
"What on earth?" she muttered in shock, sitting bolt upright, and immediately she saw something horrifying. Her body was no longer hers - it was covered in dark brown fur, and her legs ended in clawed paws. She raised her hands to her face, and screamed as soon as she saw them.
Furry paws for hands. Proportionally short legs compared to her longer torso. Her breathing was heavy and panicked. Fur all over her. She scrambled to her feet and quickly discovered she had a tail. And she was wearing a strange blue tunic, belted, with shorts underneath, none of which she had seen before. She touched her face, her head, and found ears in the wrong place and a strange nose and mouth.
Was she still dreaming?! But it all felt so absolutely real! What had she been dreaming, anyway? She struggled for a moment to remember, and then it all came back in a rush.
A mouse - Martin the Warrior, from the Redwall series. He'd been in her dream, telling her she and her friends were needed and that they must find the ones who need help. Jukka looked around, trying to take in her surroundings for the first time. She was in a forest, goodness only knew where. Mossflower, maybe, impossibly? Could this really be happening to her? Would she ever see her family again? The world spun.
"Calm down, calm down," she told herself, forcing her breathing to slow. If this was real, she needed to keep her wits about her and prioritize finding these friends Martin had mentioned.
Corn shifted, she was on her back and she hated sleeping on her back. She'd been dreaming about a mouse - Martin the Warrior, in fact, from her old favorite book series. That's odd. She thought sleepily. Try as she might, she couldn't quite remember the rest of the dream.
Barely opening her eyes, she started to stretch out her arms and roll over onto her stomach. Oh that's weird. No pain, and. . . No pillow? Did I throw it off the bed again? Feeling around for her pillow, she couldn't find it, and grumpily sat up and finally opened her eyes fully, to be greeted with not the familiar art on her bedroom walls, but what appeared to be a very blurry forest. Panicking she started patting around herself attempting to find her glasses. Or any glasses.
Please please please come on come on come on let me have my glasses! If I don't have my glasses bad things will happen, very very very bad things. At best I'll walk into a tree or something.
Finding a pair of glasses, Corn hastily stuck them on her face, realizing in the process what an odd face it was. Looking down, she realized that this was really really not her body. It was covered in fur, for one thing, and it was wearing clothes she'd never seen before, and- A tail. A big, bushy, squirrely tail.
The rest of the dream hit her. Martin had been talking about how she and others (Her friends? Yeah, yeah, definitely her friends. What friends, though?) were needed and had to help . . . . People. He'd been very vague about that.
"You've got to be joking."
At least Mossflower was a pretty forest.
Dann smacked the branch next to him as soon as he gained consciousness. Weird, he couldn't recall changing his phone alarm to bird songs, and mattresses didn't generally feel this hard in his experience. He leaned over to check for his phone, but was disappointed by a view of the forest floor roughly fifteen feet below. Squinting for a second, he jumped suddenly as the realization of his position set in. Heavy breathing drowned out the other sounds, his paws gripping the limb with a force that wasn't familiar... "Paws?" He couldn't look down, but he could feel the difference in his body, the ears, the back, and that thing extending behind himself that contained muscles he was entirely unfamiliar with.
Leaves showered the forest floor as Dann jumped from his branch to one a bit lower, grabbing the side of the tree and sliding down the rest of the way. He had taken stock of what his body had, and forced himself to be at peace with it for the moment, though the tail was getting on his nerves. He looked around the forest floor, it was quite scenic to be sure, but he was more concerned with identifying the unfamiliar voices he had heard just before leaving the tree. Someone, or a few someones, were close, and that was his best chance of figuring out what in the world was happening.
So, he was In Redwall!
Skarzs stood up, testing his new body. His legs felt a little strange to stand with, and his long heavy tail acted almost as a balancing weight. But after squatting down and jumping a few times, he found himself to be no worse off for the change. It seemed he was a cougar. He smiled at that.
His mind was still reeling a little bit, so Skarzs decided to walk a little ways to gain some more sense of himself and his surroundings.
He was in a forest, its old-growth trees standing tall and strong above him with all their bountiful leaves. He had always wondered what the forest in Mossflower would be like; he was so used to hills and pine and fir trees. He wasn't sure what time of day it was, but he guessed the season was summertime.
The cougar felt the trunk of an oak tree. It was solid, and rough. There was no doubt it was real. But he still could hardly believe it.
Skarzs looked up to see a female ferret sitting on the ground. He immediately froze, wondering what he should do. She was small, but if this was the Redwall world, would a ferret be hostile? She didn't look armed, and seemed confused. He raised his voice. "Hello?"
"Hello?" someone called. Jukka quickly scrambled to her feet again and looked around until her eyes settled on a figure peering at her. He looked like... a cougar? Was he dangerous? Or... what if he was one of the friends Martin had mentioned?
"Um, hello?" she said nervously, staying where she was. Man, it was strange to see an actual anthropomorphic animal in real life. She didn't think she'd ever be able to get used to it.
"What are you doing here?" Skarzs asked in what he hoped was a pleasant voice. "You look confused."
He took a small step forward so he could watch her a little more easily.
"Um, yeah... I kinda am." She paused a second, then blurted out, "Okay, are you one of the 'friends' Martin mentioned? Martin the Warrior."
After experimentally shaking out her limbs and rolling her head around, Corn figured she had the hang of being a squirrel. She stood up too fast and staggered, crashing into a tree. "Ow!" She yelped, glaring at the offending ash as she rubbed her shoulder. "That was rude." She scolded it.
After her vision settled, she looked around, attempting to see if there were any clues as to which way she should go. "Of course not, couldn't make it easy and plop me in front of Redwall, could you?" She grumbled, before tilting her head. It didn't help her hearing in the slightest, but it was an old habit. "I hear voices... That way." I really need to stop talking to myself before someone hears me and thinks I'm crazy. Well. I'm already crazy, but crazier than I am. Or appear to be. Corn mused, setting off in the direction of the voices.
Skarzs drew his head back in surprise. This ferret wasn't the stereotypical vermin from the books.
"I-I. . . Maybe?" he said unsuredly. "How do you know about Martin the Warrior? I. . . had a dream with him in it."
Jukka's eyes widened in surprise. A good part of her hadn't really expected this guy to be one of the people she was supposed to find - she'd just asked to cover all her bases, and relief flooded through her now as she realized that this guy was a) not dangerous, and b) endorsed by Martin. "Really? I... I had a dream with him too. Just now. I woke up here a few minutes ago. I'm... not from around here."
"That's strange. . ." Skarzs said. Was this just coincidence? Maybe she was one of the people he needed to find. On an impulse, he asked, "What's your name? I'm. . . Skarzs." It wasn't his real name. But it felt like it was right.
Jukka's jaw dropped. A cougar named Skarzs?! "What. WHAT. Skarzs? From the forum? I'm Jukka! Oh my word, I can't believe this is happening!"
Now it was Skarzs's turn for his own jaw to drop. "Jukka!" he cried. "Jukka the Sling?" He stepped closer to her. "Are you serious? We're both here? In Redwall? Mossflower?"
Corn had wandered through the trees for a few minutes, listening to the voices. When she got close enough to figure out what they were saying, she stopped.
-"both here? In Redwall? Mossflower?"
It was a male voice speaking, and it appeared he didn't know much about the area either. She tried sneaking forward to see who was there, but stepped on a twig that broke with a CRACK! Corn jumped, scaring herself, and almost fell over with a loud "Ack!". (She still wasn't used to the tail, okay? It threw her center way off.) Oh yeah real stealthy, totally didn't blow your cover, She thought, slightly panicking and looking around for a place to hide.
"Yeah! It looks like we're here, anyway! How is this even possible?"
A stick snapped sharply somewhere nearby, followed by scuffling sounds, and Jukka whirled around (nearly tripping over her tail), trying to see through the trees.
Skarzs jumped as he heard the breaking twig, and looked off to where Jukka had turned.
"Hello? he called out. "Is anyone there?"
Corn's mind was racing as she looked around. Unless she dived into a bush (ouch) she didn't really have a hiding option, and she was sure they'd come looking if she didn't answer. Whoever "they" were. She took a deep breath and started playing with her hands (Paws? Hands? Okay not the time to be going there) in an attempt to hide the shaking as she stepped forward towards the voices.
"Um. Maybe? That depends on who you are?"
Corn winced, that certainly sounded big and scary and confident. Not.
After a few more steps she stepped into the sight line of a ferret and a cougar. Her mouth went dry, and Corn schooled her features into not showing her inner screaming.
"Um . . ." Skarzs was looking at a small squirrel. "My name is Skarzs, and this is Jukka the Sl- This is Jukka."
She looks a little scared, he thought. Am I scary?
Corn paused, looking between the cougar and the ferret. "I ... beg your pardon? Skarzs and Jukka? Really?"
This can't be real. If it is, of all the people? Jukk and Skar? Ohhhh boy this is gonna be interesting.
The squirrel crossed her arms, still keeping up as straight a face as possible. If these were the people she knew (from the Internet, no less) then she was pretty sure she was safe. Her anxiety wasn't really calming down, though. Acting, you're just acting, no biggie. Show 'em you're not scared. Corn lifted her chin a smidge, as though she was trying to stare down the other two, although they were both taller than her by more than a few inches. Did my height really have to translate over here, too?
"You're from the forum too?" Jukka asked excitedly, looking the newcomer up and down. She was clearly a squirrel, and interestingly, she was wearing modern-day glasses. Could be any of a number of forumers. "Who are you?"
Corn raised her eyebrow. "Black clothing, squirrel, glasses? Really not ringing any bells? I'm Corn. Or Corny. Or- y'know what? Corn actually works just fine." She nervously laughed, hoping she didn't sound rude. "I'm guessing you guys had the dream with Martin too?"
"Corn? Corn!" A smile appeared on Skarzs's face, and he walked to her. "Yeah, we both had dreams! I can't believe you're here too!"
He realized how much larger he was than her. He stopped a few steps from her.
"Corny?!" Jukka gasped. "This is awesome!" She stepped closer, being careful not to trip on her own tail. "Yeah, I had a dream too. And so did Skarzs."
Dann had managed to find the voices, but they and their owners didn't make anything easier to understand. Forum members being transported to the Redwall world? Ridiculous!.. Granted, having a squirrel's body didn't fit the realms of realism either... And, "Corn," was definitely talking the same way she did through media outlets. With a sigh, he decided to take a chance, "If you three are who you say you are, than what are your favorite past times?" He found a tree that was cut off from the view of the others, and slipped from his tree to the next, carefully plotting the few quick steps it took so as not to create much noise.
Skarzs turned to the new voice. "What?" he asked after Dan spoke. "Where are you? Come out." He completely passed over the question about his passtime.
Jukka surveyed the area around them as Skarzs called out, but she saw no one else. She glanced between her two friends, then called out, "Um, are you from the forum too? I like reading."
Corn had shifted uneasily with a small smile when the other two approached her, her senses screaming NEW PEOPLE! BAD! DON'T LIKE NEW PEOPLE! (Even if they weren't technically new people) and was about to reply when a new voice asked their favorite pastimes. She noticeably jumped, and whirled to where the voice had come from. Wait a hot second....
"If you are who I think you are, then I really think you would know I'm a dancer. And yeah I realize this is probably a test. Good idea, actually, should have thought of that myself." Corn called, folding her arms.
The answers that Dann had been expecting all came, and he wasn't really sure if that made him more or less comfortable with the situation. He climbed up into the lower branches of the tree he was hiding behind before making his presence known again, "Okay stinker, but dancer's a pretty broad description, mayhap we can narrow that down to ballet hmm?" Still standing on the branches, he walked out of cover with a wry smile, "Skarzs, would it kill you to be mildly sociable for once?" He leaned against a bough a little higher than his own, still wary of hostility, as unlikely as it was at this point.
"Probably," said Skarzs, looking at the squirrel. He was completely white, something Skarzs had never seen before. "So, if you know us, at least a little, then who are you?"
Corn grinned at the other squirrel, then frowned. "Hey, no fair. I can barely walk withoutt falling on my face and you get to climb trees? Rude." She looked over to the cougar. "Goodness y'all are observant. How many members do we have that like squirrels? And then how many of those are guys?" The squirrel shook her head.
Skarzs thought for a moment, rubbing his lower lip. "Dan? Danflorreguba?"
"Dann's fine, and as for my mobility, I'm good at adjusting... Though I can't seem to figure out this," as if on cue, Dann was struck in the face by the object of which he spoke, "...tail..." The wall of fluff slowly lowered to reveal a face that was clearly not amused, "I've been a squirrel for roughly five minutes and I'm already over having muscles proceeding out of my posterior." He squatted to grab the branch he was standing on and swung down from it, landing with a light thud on the forest floor, "I heard a decent bit of the conversation, did y'all say you were having dreams? Because I don't dream, and I have no idea what's going on."
"Yeah, the tail does take some getting used to," said Skarzs, watching the tip of his own tail twitch of it's own accord. "Yeah, I think the three of us all had dreams. In mine, at least, Martin the Warrior told me to find my friends (I'm assuming the three of you), and we would need to find the people who need help."
"Yeah, I had the same dream," Jukka put in.
"Same thing more or less for me as well, I think. It's a bit fuzzy," Corn said with a shrug. "Do you think there's any more of us? And who do you think we're supposed to help? Since this is Mossflower, I'd assume the Redwallers, but who knows." She looked around the group questioningly and pushed her glasses up her nose.
Skarzs merely shrugged. "Well, we could look around to see if there's anyone else. But your guess is as good as mine with that, and who or what we're supposed to help. Martin was pretty vague on that."
Jukka gnawed her lip and glanced around the forest. "I wonder how far Redwall is from here."
Dann sighed, "Well, if this is actually the Redwall world, then this is probably Mossflower wood for rather obvious reasons. That having been said, we don't know a thing about the layout of this forest outside of the River Moss, the Quarry, the Farm House, St. Ninians, Brockhall, and obviously Redwall itself... I don't suppose anyone has seen or heard anything remotely resembling these things?"
"I've only been here for, like, fifteen minutes." Skarzs shook his head. "I haven't seen anything but trees. I think if we head West we'll hit either the river or the road. Then we can. . ." He paused, envisioning the maps from the books. "Shoot. Well, the problem is knowing how far north or south we are."
"Yeah, I've only been here a little while too," Jukka said, squinting up at the sky to try and determine where the sun was.
After a long moment of silence, Skarzs spread his paws. "So, what do you guys want to do? I say we head west."
"Okay. I hope it's not too far," Jukka said, turning west and peering into the trees.
"Oh, a little walk never hurt anyone!" Corn said cheerfully with a smile. She attempted to walk a few steps in the indicated direction when her tail flicked and she staggered into a tree once more. She blushed, "Okay, I take that back. A little walk normally wouldn't hurt anyone. On the plus side there will be fewer trees once we get to the path... Which isn't something I ever thought I'd be happy about." She muttered, rubbing her shoulder before starting off again, more cautiously. "Coming?"
"Yeah," Jukka said in response, then added, "Tails are dangerous. I nearly tripped over mine earlier."
The snicker escaped before Dann could suppress his surprise at the sudden collision, "sure, you bet, just make sure you stop before we actually find the abbey. T'would be a shame if you broke your face on the gate."
Skarzs shrugged. "West it is then? And I'm not sure what you guys are complaining about with the tails. Mine is. . ." He watched his tail twitch. "Docile. For now."
Corn stuck her tongue out at Dann, "More like I'd break the gate with my face, thanks. And west is fine with me, it's just as good a direction to go as any." She rolled her eyes, "C'mon, are we gonna stand around yapping all day or what?"
"I was waiting for you guys." Skarzs strode off in the direction he figured was the most directly west.
Jukka followed Skarzs, taking in the verdant forest as she did. This was all so wild and unbelievable, and, as often happened when she was in a crazy situation, she felt a bit disconnected and withdrawn from reality. She was in Mossflower, for crying out loud! Not to mention that being in the body of a ferret, or whatever she was, was actually quite uncomfortable and strange and wrong. She doubted she'd get used to it.
I can't believe it, Skarzs thought. I can see it, but I can't believe it.
As he walked, he couldn't help but laugh softly to himself. He had had dreams of being in Mossflower. He had envisioned what it could be like, but never before had he thought (or really even wished) he would actually be there. He felt almost light-headed with the whole situation.
"This. . . Is pretty cool," Skarzs said aloud.
Narrowly avoiding tripping over a root and inwardly cursing her new center of gravity, Corn looked at the cougar who was walking slightly ahead of her. "Yeah, it is pretty cool. It's also kinda weird, too. Because.... It's crazy. Either this is a really realistic dream, or I'm actually meeting you guys. Which is mind-blowing. Especially under these circumstances." She paused walking for a moment, looking at her companions. "It's really crazy, and really amazing," she kind of flung her arms up to emphasize her point, "and I'm really not that upset about it because y'all are really cool people and I haven't thought about it too hard yet. Um. Yeah. Anyway. Sorry for getting sappy."
Skarzs looked back. "Sappy? I don't know. . . It's fine. Heh. Ironic that we can't seem to meet in real life." He paused. "Err, back in. . . America? If this is real, then we are. But. . . Yeah."
He decided to shut up.
"I wouldn't say ironic, really, considering we all live on different corners of the US and traveling is expensive. Among other things." Corn remarked, starting to walk again.
"I cannot believe this is happening," Jukka said redundantly, feeling like she ought to say something. She was feeling rather lightheaded and giddy and scared and still kinda zoomed-out, as though she was viewing everything from a great distance from inside herself. "And everyone's gonna be so worried. Our families are gonna be worried. I mean, I guess we vanished? What did it look like? I mean, did they like see us vanish?"
"First there's the obvious, we don't know whether or not this is actually happening, though to be honest I have a hard time thinking that this could be a dream as we've probably all felt something akin to pain or discomfort. Secondly, we don't know what effect this.... situation is having elsewhere, so for all we know our bodies are off doing whatever we would do, or perhaps time has stopped. The point I'm making here is we have absolutely no idea what's happening top side, and worrying about it could prove detrimental.... especially if what we're experiencing down here is anything like one of the stories from the books." Dann shivered internally at the thought of what could come.
OOC: It's really weird looking at the concept of me actually being able to finish a thought before someone cuts me off.
"Hadn't thought of that. . ." said Skarzs, shifting his jaw back and forth. He furrowed his brows and continued walking, silently thinking. "Maybe thinking about it isn't the best thing, though. How are we supposed to change anything if this is or isn't real?"
"Yeah... hopefully it's like Narnia and time stopped in real life," Jukka said. She considered what Dan had said and felt suddenly way more scared. Vermin could be lurking anywhere, for goodness' sake!
"Aren't you all cheerful little rays of sunshine," Corn muttered with a frown. "Oh well! It is what it is, I guess, so let's just try to enjoy it while we can. Fresh air, exercise, sunshine, awesome scenery that hasn't tried to kill me in the past five minutes.... Nice, right?" She fiddled with her wristbands in an attempt to distract herself from the growing anxiety and smiled brightly.
OOC: Same, Dan, same.
Skarzs raised an eyebrow in response. Then he laughed. "Heh. Well, I'm enjoying this, actually. I don't care if it isn't real. Let's just see what happens.
Jukka laughed slightly in response to Corn, not sure how else to respond. She focused for a moment on navigating the somewhat-tangled underbrush, her head down. When she raised it again, something caught her eye, and she slowed down and peered into the trees ahead. Was it her imagination, or was there a clearing coming up? She hoped it was the path.
After brushing away some troublesome branches, Skarzs looked back, and saw Jukka slow and look through the trees. He turned and searched for what she was seeing. "What's up?"
"Oh, I thought there was a clearing up ahead. Not sure." She continued peering ahead. "It looks like the trees might be clearing out. Hopefully it's the road." She began walking again.
"That'd be convenient," mumbled Skarzs, moving forward. Jukka was right, though: the trees were thinning out. The cougar looked up as the sky opened up above them through the sparse branches. He picked his way over some thick undergrowth, then leaped the last few feet and landed on the path. "Ha-hah!" he cried. "Check it out."
Jukka stumbled through some more undergrowth, finally stepped onto the path, and then looked north and south.
OOC: Not sure how close we're supposed to be to Redwall, so I don't want to get too specific.
"Given that scenery is composed of inanimate objects, it's ability to attempt harm you at all impresses me, just sayin'," Dann and his smirk were quite intentionally placed just out of Corn's reach, though he already had one hand on his tail just in case, and he had made careful note of where the path was located.
Corn looked over in time to see the smirk, "Hey!" She reached out to swat playfully at his shoulder, miraculously not overbalancing. When she missed, she narrowed her eyes at Dann. Should I, or should I not? Corn wondered briefly before internally shrugging and making as if to chase the other squirrel. "Just 'cause the trees aren't jumpin' out at your face doesn't mean they aren't getting in my way!"
Dann snickered, "I've mentally prepared myself to avoid getting panned for years, one of the first things I did when I figured out who you were was to determine your effective range." As soon as Corn changed position he was off, sprinting the few yards to the path. Just before he arrived, he released his tail to scramble up a tree right beside the path, albeit somewhat lacking in grace.
"Heeeyyyyyyyy! No fair!" Corn cried with a grin, reaching the tree a few moments after Dann. "If I wasn't scared of heights or falling and breaking my skull open I'd so be climbing up there. You get a break this time." She threatened, playfully pointing her finger up the tree as she attempted a fierce glare.
"Are you two done playing around?" called Skarzs from the path. "Come on, I want to see if we can get to Redwall today.
Corn scowled at the tree in front of her face before turning, "Alright, alright, spoilsport, we're coming. Which direction are we going?" She directed the question more at the group as a whole, hoping that it wouldn't take too long to come to a decision.
OOC: I'm taking the "I don't want to see" as a typo, lol
Jukka glanced up and down the road again. "North?" she suggested.
Skarzs rubbed his lower lip thoughtfully. He didn't want to go the wrong way. "I'm trying to remember the maps," he said, staring up at the sky as if it would help him form the picture of the map in his mind. None of the maps were the same.
Finally, he shrugged. "It's a fifty-fifty chance that we go the right way. North sounds good."
"I mean, a lot of the books implied the Abbey could be seen from far off. We can always turn around, if we need to." Corn said. The squirrel was glancing up and down the path again when she had a bit of a light bulb moment, "I don't suppose we'd be close enough to Redwall for it to be supposed from, say, up a tree?" Corn looked up the tree she was leaning against to Dann, seeing as he hadn't come down yet, with a questioning expression.
"Do you see anything, Dan?" called Skarzs from the road. "Maybe you could climb higher."
Dann stood in silence for a moment, his ears had perked up in response to a noise far behind them on the path. After a moment of deliberation, he had a pretty solid grasp of their location... he hoped, "Unfortunately no, but I hear water behind us. If my intuition is correct, it's probably the River Moss. If that's the case, we want to go South, and it shouldn't be more than a couple of hours before we arrive at a walking pace." Dann gently swung down from the branch and dropped the last couple of feet onto the packed dirt with a slight puff, "Best I can figure anyway, River Moss was the only river that gets mentioned over and over again that I recall. If we got brought into the Redwall world, it would make the most sense."
"If you can hear the river, that means we probably aren't far from the fjord." Skarzs nodded. "So south would make the most sense, you're right."
OOC: Shall we speed things up a bit to where they're closer to Redwall?
OOC: Definitely.
Skarzs rubbed his stomach as it growled. He wasn't sure if his new body had had any of the food he had eaten from before he woke up there, but he was hungry. He looked up from the path before him, scanning the treetops for any sign of the bell tower. Like the past while, there was still nothing to see.
"How are you guys holding up?" he asked his friends, but he suddenly stopped. Was that a scream? "Did you hear that?" Skarzs didn't wait for a reply, hurrying ahead to see around the bend in the road.
There, on the path, four creatures, that looked to be two ferrets, a weasel, and a rat, had a mouse pinned down in the dirt. The weasel and one of the ferrets held him down under their feet with a spear held to his neck, while the other ferret dug through the pack they had stolen from the mouse.
"Help! Someone!" cried the helpless mouse.
"Shattap!" growled the weasel, digging his foot into his back. "You make another noise and we'll get yet!" He looked up to see Skarzs approaching, and pointed. "Oi! Look! It's a cat!"
"A cat?" asked the ferret with the pack, apparently the leader. He too spotted the cougar, and Drew his rusty dagger. "Ah, he's alone. We can take h-" He trailed off as he realized how big Skarzs seemed to be getting.
"Get away!" Skarzs stopped and pried up a sizable rock from the path, hurling it at the vermin. It flew into the dirt at their feet, sending dirt and gravel everywhere. He didn't want to pick a fight with any weapons, even if he was so much bigger. "The next one hits one of you!" He bent down to get another rock.
The ferret saw Cornflower, Dan, and Jukka coming along as well, and he started backing off, then turned tail and ran. The rest, seeing their leader flee, stepped away from the mouse, and tore off after him into the forest.
They'd been walking for quite a while, and Jukka had a stitch in her side and was getting hungry. On the plus side, she was getting more used to her body and new sense of balance.
"How are you guys holding up?" Skarzs asked suddenly. Jukka was just about to respond when a noise off in the distance interrupted her. Skarzs took off running.
Jukka made it around the bend just in time to see four creatures running off into the woods. Away from Skarzs, she guessed. She stopped and stared for a second, processing the situation, and then saw another creature lying on the ground. A... mouse, probably. She hurried over to the creature. "Are... you okay?"
He was the first Mossflower inhabitant she'd ever spoken to, and she crazily wondered for a second as to whether this mouse and the other vermin were even truly alive or some sort of NPCs. What if this was actually a hyper-realistic simulation?
"Get away from me!" the mouse screamed, seeing one very large cat and a ferret approach him. He saw the two squirrels coming. "Stop! Run away!"
"What's the matter, you're safe now!" Skarzs could hardly believe how the mouse was reacting to being saved. "Look, they're gone. I scared them off!"
The mouse wasn't listening, however, and was trying to get up and run. His leg, however, had a nasty gash in it, and he was bleeding. Skarzs hadn't seen the injury until the mouse collapsed on the ground and held it. "Corn! Dan! Give us a hand!" he called.
Corn had fallen a bit behind, enjoying the air and scenery. It had been way too long since she'd been able to have a nice long through the woods, and she was determined to make the most of it. Then she heard the commotion from up the road and started running, still tripping over her feet as she went. She reached her traveling companions and the mouse, quickly coming to a few realizations. "You're scaring him! Move over, give him some space," She said as she crouched down by the mouse.
"Hi, I'm Corn. It's okay, these two are with me, they won't hurt you. Do you mind if I take a look at your leg, sir?"
Skarzs stepped back. He hadn't thought that he might be intimidating. Of course, in Redwall, he and Jukka might be considered "badbeasts."
The mouse held his bleeding leg, gaping at Skarzs. "P-please don't eat me," he whimpered.
"I'm not gonna eat you!" the cougar said. "Now let her help you!"
This seemed to bring his concentration back, and he looked at Corn. "They got me with the spear. I think I have some bandage in my pack. . ." He looked around at the contents spilled everywhere. "Somewhere."
Skarzs picked up a roll of linen and handed it to Corn. "Here."
Jukka took a few steps back once the mouse yelled at her and Skarzs. What was wrong with him? He should be happy at being rescued -- oh, right. Of course. She'd thought of it before during their walk, but honestly, her mind was all over the place and it was easy to forget that her and Skarzs's appearances wouldn't exactly endear them to woodlanders they encountered.
She wondered what their reception would be like once they finally reached Redwall.
The fun and games were over rather abruptly with the cacophony just down the path. Dann saw the majority of what happened, but couldn't confidently decide what to do about it. After a moment however, the obvious question hit him between the eyes, one he promptly repeated out loud, "Pardon the interruption, but would you mind telling us where we are exactly?"
". . . In Mossflower, not far from Redwall, I hope." The mouse looked at Dan curiously. "Why? Are you travellers as well?"
Skarzs figured the others would be able to take care of the mouse by themselves. "I'm gonna look ahead." He walked up the path quickly, hoping to see Redwall.
Corn paused for a moment in her assessment of the injury, "Uh, yeah, travelers. We're travelers. I'm afraid we got a little lost, so it's nice to know we're on the right track." The cut didn't appear to be too deep or long, as nasty as it looked, but it wasn't a mere scratch either. "I'm no expert healer by any means, but I do know a little bit. I think you'll be fine once we get you to Redwall." She commented, taking the bandage and starting to wrap the injury. After a moment she tied it off, "Not too tight, is it?" She inquired, looking over her handiwork.
The mouse gritted his teeth but smiled. "It can't hurt much worse, can it? A bit of tea and some food and I'll be right as rain!"
Up ahead, Skarzs let out a cheerful cry. "Hey! I can see the bell tower!" He hurried back to the others. "Come on, it won't take long. Do you need me to carry you?" he asked the mouse.
The other tried to stand up, but fell when he tried to put weight on the leg. He looked at Skarzs, still a bit fearful, then to Corn and Dan. "Maybe just a shoulder to lean on?"
On instinct, Corn lunged to grab the mouse to steady him when he fell, but was too slow, and she was left hovering over him awkwardly. "Absolutely, anything you need. I warn you, though, I'm extremely clumsy," She said, extending a paw to help him up.
"Thank you, friend." He took Corn's paw gratefully and got to his feet.
"What's your name?" asked Skarzs.
". . . I'm Andrew. Who are you all?"
"I'm Skarzs," the cougar said. Then he pointed out the others. "That's Cornflower, Danflorreguba, and that's Jukka the S- That's Jukka."
Jukka stood awkwardly off to the side while Corn was helping the mouse with his injury, unsure of what she could do that Corn wasn't already doing for him.
She looked up the path in the direction Skarzs had gone, wondering just how close they were to Redwall. The mouse had said it wasn't far.... Excitement and curiosity took over, and she had just started walking in the direction Skarzs had gone when he came running back, saying that he could see the bell tower.
They were that close already?! Finally!
The mouse said his name was Andrew, and Jukka gave him an awkward little smile as her name was said. After a few seconds, she moved hesitantly to his other side and offered her hand - no, scratch that, paw - for support, unsure of how this was supposed to go.
Dann stepped forward when Andrew expressed interest in a shoulder, but Corn beat him to it. A quick scan of the surroundings found no trace of the vermin save for a few imprints scattered in the dirt of the path. As the party moved off towards Redwall, Dann posed a couple more questions to the mouse, "I apologize for the odd questions, but would this region happen to be under any sort of duress at the moment? Any sort of trouble popping up? Aside from those scumbags earlier.... Oh! And who's the Abbot slash Abbess at the moment?"
"I. . . I-I'm not from here," stammered the mouse. "I don't know."
"Where are you from, then?" Skarzs asked.
Andrew talked quickly. "I'm sorry, I can't say right now. Help me to the Abbey please, that's all I want. I must talk to them."
Skarzs frowned at his unwillingness to share, but nodded. "Okay, just hold on. We'll get there as soon as we can."
Jukka, awkwardly helping to support Andrew as they walked, raised an eyebrow in puzzlement at Corn over the mouse's head. Why wouldn't he say where he was from?
Andrew said nothing more, hobbling along between Jukka and Cornflower.
Eventually, they came up to the high walls of Redwall. Skarzs let his jaw drop in amazement at the roae-hued stones, reaching high even above his head. The merlons along the parapets were spaced perfectly evenly across the entire length of the huge walls. It was better than he could ever have imagined it.
"There's the gate!" he said, stating the obvious. He pointed to the big oak gate set in the center of the western wall.
"Thank seasons!" said Andrew.
Jukka was grinning stupidly, feeling lightheaded all over again. She couldn't help it - this was Redwall, the place she'd dreamed of visiting many a time over the past few years. And it was way bigger than she'd pictured it. All she could do was stare.
"I can't believe this!" she breathed redundantly as they stood before the western gate.
Corn adjusted her glasses with her free paw, "Nooooo, really? I thought it was a wall decoration," She muttered to herself, too quiet for anyone except perhaps Andrew, to hear at Skarzs's declaration. She couldn't keep the grin off her face, though, as she took it all in. "Anyone want to knock?"
Skarzs, still grinning, looked at
@danflorreguba . "You want to do the honors, Dan?"
OOC:If any of you want to have an NPC, feel free. I can control the Abbot/abbess if no one else will.
Dann's eyes rose with the walls he'd only imagined, and they did not disappoint, "Well dang." He nodded his acknowledgement to Skarz, "Guess I'll knock then, let's see what's up." He proceeded to step forward, giving the gate a couple good pounds, "Anybody home!?"
Please answer, thought Skarzs.
The gate opened up, and a snub-nosed hedgehog stood in the crack. "G'day, t' ye!" he said cheerfully, his voice deep and thick with an accent. "An' 'o 're you, then?" He smiled at Dann, Andrew, and Cornflower, but his eyes grew wide when he saw Jukka supporting the wounded mouse, and even wider when he saw Skarzs. The cougar thought the hedgehog's eyes would pop out of his head.
"Hello!" Skarzs raised his open paw in greeting. "Don't worry, we're friends! I'm Skarzs, this is Jukka, Corn, and Dann, and the mouse is Andrew. He needs some medical attention. Can we come in?"
"Please, sir, I got attacked by some vermin on the road. . ." started Andrew. "And I must talk to the Abbot or Abbess-"
"Attacked!" cried the hedgehog. "Not by that there ferret an' that giant be'ind you, I 'ope!"
"No," Skarzs said quickly. "We, ah, actually scared them off."
The hedgehog glanced at Andrew's wounded leg, then opened the gate. "Get 'im in 'ere, I'll 'ave him brought up to th' infirm'ry right quick." They all entered, and the hedgehog relieved Corn and Jukka of Andrew. "D'ye mind waitin' 'ere a minute?" he asked. "I'll be back in a tick."
"Not at all," said Skarzs. The hedgehog hurried off supporting Andrew, recruiting some help along the way. Meanwhile, the cougar looked around and feasted his eyes on the inside of the Abbey.
"We're in Redwall!" he said. "This is just too cool!"
"You know, I knew it inside all along, but I just can't get over how much grass is in here... The good kind too." Dann leaned down to pluck a few strands from the ground, "I can't remember the last time we had grass this green at home... And is it weird that I'm only now being bothered by slash noticing the whole, "talking animal," thing?"
Skarzs looked at his paw again. "I mean, it is strange, but I've imagined it through reading the books so I guess it isn't as weird as it could be. It's just. . . More real. Like, I think I imagined them more like the animated version mixed with more reality." After a moment, he also considered how strange it was that names from his world would pop up occasionally in the Redwall world, like Andrew.
Jukka spared a quick glance at the grass, which was indeed green and lush and beauteous to behold. Then she resumed staring at everything else, just drinking the Abbey in. "Yeah, I kinda thought of them being mostly like the animated version too," she put in after Skarzs's comment.
There were quite a few Redwallers walking about the grounds, and curious faces were turning in their direction. A small squirrelbabe prancing along nearby stopped to stare at them, then started crying and ran away as fast as his stubby little squirrel legs would carry him. Jukka felt slightly offended, but also kind of amused at the absurdity of the Dibbun's reaction.
Skarzs was busy staring agape at his surroundings. He heard the tiny squirrel before seeing it as it wailed and ran away. He caught a few furtive glances from other Redwallers, and looked down at himself. "Am I scaring them? Or is it both you and I, Jukka?"
"I don't know," Jukka said, half-laughing and shaking her head. "Hopefully they won't be scared of us forever. Maybe we can change how they think about vermin? That'd be awesome."
Corn hadn't looked around too much, being too focused on not tripping over her own feet , but she'd jumped and almost fell flat on her face when she heard the Dibbun. "Aww, poor sweetheart. I hope he's alright. It's probably both of you, Skarzs is like something out of a bedtime story and Jukka's a ferret. You make a rather daunting duo. I doubt we could change their mind completely about vermin, but perhaps we could start something." She suggested as she wobbled and tried to find her balance, much to the amusement of another group of Redwallers.
Skarzs scratched his head. "You think I'm something from a story, like Cluny was?" He considered this, and a grin spread across his face. "Cool!"
At the same time, he would need to be extra sure not to act intimidating or scary, if that was possible. He gave Jukka a look. "It'd be awesome if we could change their minds, yeah, but if we aren't like the typical vermin, then we'll probably just be considered strange exceptions to th' rules."
Raising an eyebrow, Corn shrugged. "I mean, think of the founding story of Redwall, and all the other cat... Stories." She'd been about say 'appearances in the books' but figured that would be just too weird for any of the eavesdropping Redwallers. At that moment she stubbed her toe on a rock and yelped, almost crashing into Dann as she automatically went to grab the appendage. "This is ridiculous and I hate all three of you for being able to walk," She muttered.
"True." He watched Cornflower stumble. He happened to hear her, but said nothing.
He turned in time to see a female mouse in a long green habit, accompanied by several other Redwallers, approach the four of them. A small crowd was gathering as news of a ferret and a large cat being in Redwall spread within the walls. "Looks like they have an abbess!" Skarzs said.
The abbess, the lead mouse, stopped several feet away, looking at the newcomers for a few moments before speaking. "Good day to you, my friends," she began. "I wanted to thank you for helping the mouse Andrew here; he said you saved him from some vermin who had attacked him on the road."
"Yes, we did." Skarzs felt that his accent would be very clumsy and out of place when talking to this well-spoken mouse. It sounded like she had some high-class British accent of some kind that he couldn't place. "How is he?"
"He's in the infirmary, where his wounds are being tended." She took a cautious glance at Skarzs and Jukka. "Now, it appears that you all have come to our home in peace; Redwall's doors are always open to such creatures. But I must ask, what brings you four here? We've never seen nor heard the like of two squirrels travelling with a ferret and a. . . Large creature such as yourself."
"Not to be the wet blanket or anything, but would it really be a good idea to try and change their minds about vermin?" Dann was whispering to try and conceal their current conversation, "Given how things went throughout the series, and how little we know now, I think it'd be best if we interfered as little as possible... At least for now... I'd also be careful about comparisons, Cluny was a terrible villain, and to them, he's not a case study." He turned back around, "Amazing as it is, a slip of the tongue could spell trouble for the lot of us. Don't forget, while this may be Redwall, we're still strangers." It was at this point that Corn began to fall, and after putting an arm out to catch her, he couldn't hold back a snorty chuckle in amusement of her statement, "Then again, a slip of the foot-eye coordination could just as easily be someone's downfall."
OOC: I'll wait for Corn before responding to that.
Corn's head whipped around and she mock-glared at the older squirrel. "I heard that, and I won't forget it," she threatened with a poke. The effect was rather lost as she clung to Dann's arm as a precautionary measure, and the grin of sheer delight that spread across her face after poking him. "I can actually do that now. That's fun."
It was about then Skarzs drew Corn's attention to the Abbess and she bit her lip, trying to internally scramble for an answer. She hadn't even thought of the questions they'd be asked, and wasn't sure any of the others had either.
OOC: Mild PP there, Dann, I just assumed it was alright?
"Hmm, yeah," Jukka said in response to Skarzs's comment on changing the Redwallers' minds, and fell silent.
A few minutes passed while a small crowd gathered. A mouse, probably the Abbess, approached with a group of creatures behind her. Jukka drew in a breath of anticipation as the mouse stopped in front of them and asked questions. She wasn't sure how best to start answering the Abbess's last question, so she waited for someone else to take the lead.
Skarzs looked at the others in silence for a few moments, wondering if he should answer for them, and what to say at the same time. It wasn't like they had planned any of that.
". . . We've heard a lot about Redwall, your home," he said slowly. Might actually know more about it than you do, he thought. "Your reputation goes furrther than you might think."
At the continued stare from the abbess, he continued. "We aren't from Mossflower, if you can't tell. Things are different where we are; people like me and Jukka can be friends with squirrels and mice. We've all been friends for a while, now."
"But what are you?' You're larger than our own Badger Mother, Maurel."
Skarzs silently rejoiced that that was true. "I'm a cougar, a cat. Not like the wildcats like Tsarmina and Verduga Greeneyes! I'm good."
The abbess looked at him with eyes as wide as saucers. "How do you know of the ancient enemies Martin the Warrior fought?"
"Um. . . I. . . Read it." The mouse was unconvinced. "Mother Abbess, I hope we aren't imposing on your hospitality," Skarzs said. "But we'd all love to stay here."
After a moment, the Abbess answered. "Yes, you may stay. Your kindness towards Andrew proves you're not badbeasts. I am Abbess Lessia. Come, I imagine you're hungry; you seem to be travelling very light. You can join us for lunch." She turned and walked away.
Skarzs looked at his friends. Lunch! At Redwall!
Skarzs answered everything better than Jukka probably would have. She had to smother a smile at some of his answers, though. If the Redwallers only knew just where they were from, and how they'd read about them!
Her eyes widened when the Abbess said they could stay, and an enormous grin spread across her face. "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed excitedly, and shared a look with Skarzs. Oh man... the thought of exploring the Abbey and partaking of their delicious food was glorious. And with her friends, too, friends she'd never imagined meeting, much less in this way. It was absolutely nuts. Suddenly Jukka found she couldn't stop smiling.
Still grinning crazily, Jukka started walking towards the Abbey. "Guys, we're gonna be eating at
Redwall!" she exclaimed. "Can't wait to see what they'll have!"
OOC:
@danflorreguba @Cornflower MM
Corn had fought the urge to hide behind Dann as Skarzs and the Abbess talked, then she smiled. "Ooooooh, food! Food sounds great! Especially Redwall food. C'mon!" She said, taking off after Jukka at a faster pace.
Skarzs tried not to run over Redwallers as he made his way into the big building. They went through the Great Hall, with its tall pillars, and high windows of thin crystal. The sandstone floor was smooth from the hundreds of feet (footpaws?) that had walked that way. He missed seeing the tapestry, and he wondered where it was. Hopefully he would get a chance to find it later, after he ate.
He looked down near his feet, where half a dozen Dibbuns were trotting next to him, staring up at him with mouths open in wonder.
"Hi," Skarzs said with a grin.
"Eek!" Most of them ran off, or hid behind the adults.
Skarzs frowned, then smiled. Kids were the same here.
Finally, they reached Cavern Hole, and Abbess Lessia directed them to a table not far from the head table. Skarzs stood by the end, and waited for the food to come out. He looked at the others. "My mouth is watering already."
"Same!" Jukka echoed, looking around the room. She sniffed the air dramatically. "I hope they have some of the, like, named foods from the books. It'd be so awesome to try 'em!"
She suddenly became aware of a squirrelmaiden and mousemaid standing nearby, whispering and looking in their direction, and she wondered if she'd spoken too loudly when she'd mentioned "the books." (Jukka had a tendency to accidentally speak way too loud around other people without realizing - or so her family told her, anyway.) She gave a weird, close-mouthed smile to the pair, then turned away, feeling awkward, and wondered if it would be unforgivably rude to take a seat before most of the other Redwallers since her feet - footpaws - were aching so much. Eh, whatever. She sat down.
Dann could only roll his eyes in response to Corns' antics. After their group had been posed the question, he took a few moments to come up with an appropriate answer that might alleviate some of the strangeness about their speech, but Skarz spoke first. He closed his about-to-speak mouth and followed the others inside. The architecture was simple, but had a special note of elegance and grace to it that gave it a more homely feeling than that of any abbey or castle he'd been in before. He sat next to the others, and not a moment too soon as Jukka blurted out a statement about the books that caused a panic attack that almost certainly would've knocked him off of his feet. After recovering from the surprise, Dann spoke up to try and ignore the statement, "I'm simultaneously excited and scared. I'm smelling some absolutely amazing things, but I'm insanely picky.... Heck, I only recently discovered that I could enjoy coffee with Hazelnut."
Skarzs watched Jukka and the Redwallers curiously, wondering what was going to happen. The mouse and squirrel didn't seem to care enough to talk to them, so that might be good. He wondered how they would react if they did find out where they had come from, or if they would be able to understand at all.
He rolled his own eyes at Dan mentioning his pickiness. "I'm sure you'll find something you can eat. Here comes the food now."
Tray after tray and bowl after bowl were brought out to the tables, and Skarzs's mouth watered. Ten different types of bread, at least half that many salads, several soups and cheese varieties, and more desserts than he could count were all laid out. He helped put some of the items on the table, almost shaking with anticipation. His stomach growled loudly, making one of the mice nearby squeak in surprise (and maybe a little fear).
Skarzs tried to sit down on one of the benches, but he couldn't fit his legs under. He decided to go to the end and settle down on his knees as he waited for the inevitable grace that he knew would be said before rthe meal.
Jukka's eyes widened as the food arrived. It smelled absolutely amazing, and her stomach growled loudly in response. There was so much, and most of it she didn't recognize from the series. She stood up and helped arrange some of the food on their table, then sat down and waited impatiently for grace to be said. There was a little more room for other Redwallers to sit at their table, but she kinda doubted anyone would join them. She hoped she was wrong, since it would be cool to have a proper conversation with an actual woodlander.
OOC: Yeah, double post, sorry.
BIC:
Jukka absently watched more Redwallers file into the room. There were all the typical species, and she found it fascinating. A large badger entered, and Jukka realized it must be Maurel. Skarzs was bigger than her.
Just then, an ottermaid who had been helping pass out food came over and sat down at their table.
"Hello!" Jukka said.
"Hi," the otter said, looking between the four of them curiously. She didn't strike Jukka as being scared of them, which was nice.
After a pause, Jukka volunteered, "I'm Jukka, and this is Dan, Cornflower, and Skarzs."
"Nice to meet you. My name's Cress." She paused, then continued, friendly, "So you're travelers? How long'll you be staying here?"
Skarzs raised his paw in greeting to Cress. This otter seemed nice. "We probably won't stay too long. Maybe a week." Or a year.
"A week?" Cress looked confused.
Shoot, Skarzs thought. They didn't use weeks in Redwall, did they? "Ehm. . . Seven days?"
"Oh. I see."
Skarzs felt like he needed to suddenly lose the ability to speak so he wouldn't say stuff that would not make sense. He was saved for the moment by the Abbess ringing a bell and saying the grace, mentioning something about the guests (the four of them), then everyone went into the food with a gusto. As he stacked his plate high with food, Skarzs posed a question to Cress. "What's it like here at Redwall? Have you lived here your whole life?"
OOC: Sorry, didn't want to commandeer the scene or your character. Hope this works.
We don't have to stay with the lunch for too long.
OOC: You're fine! Anyone can use her, I don't mind.
BIC:
"Most of it," Cress responded, filling her own plate with food. "Me parents moved here with me when I was just a Dibbun - Dibbuns are what we Redwallers call the little 'uns - and I consider it home. It's wonderful." She paused and took a large bite of a cheesy-looking bread.
Jukka seized the opportunity to ask a question that had been lingering in the back of her mind. "Oh, that's awesome. Um, I was... wondering... how would you describe the, uh, general attitude towards 'vermin' here?"
OOC: Skarzs (or whoever) can make Cress answer that. I'd like to have Cress stay a pretty open-minded, genuine person, though.
Corn sat on the other side of Jukka, and had kept quiet, preferring to watch the dynamics of the Redwallers. She'd smiled and waved at Cress before piling her plate high with food. The squirrel didn't particularly want to butt into the conversation between Jukka and Cress either, although she followed it closely as she ate.
OOC: Why you gotta make me do dis, Jukka?
BIC: Cress stopped chewing and looked at Jukka, but quickly looked away, and swallowed. She took a slow drink from a beaker before answering. "W-well, we've always been told t' be careful around verm- them. I've heard stories about the battles with badbeasts, but I've never seen any vermin my whole life."
"A bit shut in, eh?" asked Skarzs.
"Y'might say that." Cress smiled awkwardly. "But you seem nice, and at Redwall we always help creatures who come in peace." She paused, and looked over to the head table. "If y' want to ask someone who's fought before, talk to Skipper there. He's got all kinds o'stories."
Skarzs looked over. A big male otter sitting with the Abbess was looking directly at them, but he turned away as soon as soon as he noticed the cougar. Fun, thought Skarzs. He wondered if he would approach Skipper before the otter confronted them.
He turned back to Cress. "I might just do that. Hey, Cress, is there an Abbey warrior?"
Jukka kept a neutral expression on her face as Cress awkwardly answered her. She didn't blame the Redwallers for their beliefs, since vermin had historically always been the bad guys, but of course it was going to be troublesome for her and Skarzs. At least Cress didn't seem to be too prejudiced herself.
"Oh, oka-- I see," was all Jukka said in response, stopping herself from saying the incongruous slang word in the nick of time. She quickly reached for a plate and crammed random interesting-looking foods onto it and began eating as Skarzs talked to Cress.
"Hey, Cress, is there an Abbey warrior?" he finally asked.
Cress nodded, seeming a tiny bit less tense. "Aye. He's the Skipper's brother, Drakken." She peered around the room. "There he is, with his wife and kits at that corner table. He's been Warrior for, what, 'bout three seasons now? He's nice. Hasn't had all that much warrior-in' to do so far, though." She gave a laugh and took another huge bite of food, obviously not worried about manners.
Dann heard his name mentioned at one point, but only had an absentminded hand raise and an oblivious, " 'Sup?" to offer. His mind mulled over the possible futures that existed and, more importantly, what their wisest course of action was. His ears twitched in response to what certainly didn't make that list. He quickly stepped on Skarz's foot under the table to get his attention, whispering so as not to alert the other members of the conversation, but still trying to catch the attention of his friends, "I wouldn't advise using derogatory phrases or descriptions, I can tell you from first hand experience that being called a shut-in does not endear one to another. As it stands, we know literally nothing outside of a handful of names, all those that we speak with at this point will be first impressions, so we need to prioritize courtesy if we're to make the most of what little we've got.... Also, Skarz.... How much of my foot did you even feel?" He returned to nibbling on his.... whatever it was, listening for feedback.
OOC: Assuming you felt it at all ::)
Corn brought her attention back to the table she was sitting at with a bit of effort when Cress pointed out Drakken. She thoughtfully took a bite of bread, subtly watching the otter Dibbuns. They're cute. Seem like a handful, too. She thought, taking another bite as Dann spoke up. "Very good point. We've gotta be careful with what we say and do, and try to be on our best behavior. Be friendly, and kind."
The squirrel felt a little absurd adding on to Dann's words, since she was the youngest and smallest of their group by far, and turned her attention back to her food.
"Well, I felt the little claws you've got on your toes," muttered Skarzs. He couldn't change what he said to Cress. Maybe it wasn't the most gentle thing to say, but he wasn't exactly velvet-tongued.
He enjoyed the rest of his meal; Redwall fare was as good as he imagined it would be. Though, he wondered how long it would be until he would have meat again. It was probably not good practice to do that there
He looked around and tried not to stare at the unfamiliar forms that were the inhabitants of Redwall. They were animals, mice, hedgehogs, squirrels, otters, moles. . . But not like the ones he new from his world. They were different, but very much recognizable as what they were. He knew it was rude to stare, but he couldn't help but be fascinated by them, like how someone would be fascinated by a deformed limb in the most innocent curiosity, but does not want to appear insensitive.
Well, he thought. With everyone being like this, it'll be easier to look at and get used to.
Drakken's kids looked adorable. Jukka hoped the family was nice, because she kinda wanted to go meet them later.
She finished her heaped plate and relaxed in her seat as she studied the Redwallers around her. They all were more... human-ish than normal animals, she finally realized consciously, which made her happy, as she'd never wanted to picture them as looking like regular animals - it would've been too weird. And they all seemed to have British accents, just like in the books. She wondered what Cress thought of their own American ones.
It was all so unreal and amazing. She grinned at Corny across the table through pure, spontaneous excitement. "Is it like you thought it would be?"
OOC: Not sure where everyone's sitting in relationship to each other, but hopefully that's okay. :P
Skarzs ate his fill, then sat quietly looking around for a little while. Eventually, he got up, and headed over to the head table. Inside, he was nervous; he wanted to represent his friends properly, and make sure he didn't stress the hospitality they were being shown, and part of that, he thought, would be to talk to the leaders of Redwall face to face. He had done stuff like this before, right? So why were his palms sweaty every time he did it?
It was hard for anyone to miss the cougar going toward the Abbess's table, and so heads turned, and the mouse, the badger, and the otter all watched him approach. He stopped a fee feet away and looked at them, swallowing before smiling. "Thank you very much for letting us eat here," he said. "It was very good."
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it," replied Abbess Lessia. "We pride ourselves here at Redwall for always being able to provide enough food."
Skarzs smiled in response, then looked at the Skipper. He extended his paw. "My name's Skarzs; Cress over there said you were the Skipper of otters."
The otter didn't shake his hand, leaving it hanging there in front of his face. He looked at Skarzs dead in the eyes, and didn't look away. Uh oh, Skarzs thought.
Badgermum Maurel reached across the table and took Skarzs's paw with a laugh. "Don't mind Skipper; he's not one for strangers. I'm Maurel, the resident badger. Lessia tells me you and your friends saved the mouse Andrew from some vermin. I'm glad somebeast like you is willing to help like that."
The cougar smiled awkwardly. "Yeah. . . Just. . . Doing what we should." He cleared his throat. "I know you probably 've never seen a group like my friends. . ." Who was he kidding, of course not. "So I'm glad you let us in. Vermin aren't usually very friendly here, huh?"
Skipper snorted. "Like you'd know."
"I'm sorry, sir, I do, but I'm not like that, and neither is Jukka." Skarzs felt a little dizzy after talking like that to the Skipper, but went on. "I know we haven't really earned it, but I'd like to ask if you'd let us stay here. I don't know how long we'll be here, but we'll be happy to help in any way we can to repay you." Was he being too awkward? He hoped not.
Lessia looked at Maurel and Skipper, then back to Skarzs. "Yes, you may stay. We'll have some beds prepared for you."
OOC: Sorry, didn't mean to leave ya hangin' for so long, Jukka. BIC:
Corn had just taken a bite of cheese when Jukka asked her if it was like she imagined, and the squirrel hastily chewed and swallowed with a sheepish smile. "It's... Both different than what I would have expected and also very not. The food is much better than I could have dreamed of, but I never expected the Abbey to be laid out quite the way that it is. Everyone seems really nice, though, and I'm really excited to just explore, y'know?" Jukka's excitement was contagious and she grinned at her.
It was around then Skarzs stood up and Corn paused as she went to take a sip of ... Whatever it was that was in her cup. "Where's he going?"
OOC: It's fine.
BIC:
"Same!" Jukka replied. She took a drink of what was apparently strawberry cordial.
Skarzs got up then and headed to a corner of the room. "Where's he going?" Corn asked, and Jukka frowned, leaning around the end of the table to see past Cress's head. (Cress hadn't said anything in a while - she was focusing on downing a large bowl of soup.) "I dunno. Oh... he's talking to the Abbess? And Maurel, the badger? And Skipper?" She couldn't hear what they were saying through the chatter of the other Redwallers, but Skipper's expression didn't appear very friendly. Maurel seemed to be polite, though.
Cress looked over and shook her head. "Skipper can be a gruff sort when it comes to strangers," she said apologetically. She gathered her and Jukka's empty dishes into a stack and got to her footpaws. "I'm on kitchen duty today. Got to go. Guess I'll see you all later."
"Yeah! Nice talking to you," Jukka said with a smile. She turned back towards Corn as the ottermaid left. "Think we should go over there for moral support?" she asked, indicating Skarzs.
"I think he should've said something before he went over there, I'm perfectly comfortable with speaking almost all of the time.... He looks like he's ready to pass out." Dann chuckled lightly at the thought, but there was something that was bugging him, "On the other hand, I'm hoping he comes back soon. Really not likin' how Skipper's lookin' at 'im." He entirely understood that their group would see some adversity, but this level of passive aggression, if it could even be called that at this stage, was beyond concerning. Hopefully Skarz had found out something that would clue them in on their purpose here, unlikely as it was.
OOC: I just wanted to mention something quick in regards to dibbuns reactions to vermin, in that they're traditionally not intimidated by them unless they have an immediate sense of mortal danger. I feel some of the interactions are being over-done, but that's just my two cents.
OOC: Okay, I'll try to keep them closer to reality. Thanks!
BIC: Skarzs walked back to the table after thanking the Abbess. "Good news, guys: We can stay. I mean, not that I think we wouldn't be allowed to, but. . . Hey, where'd Cress go?"
Corn finished nibbling on her last piece of bread when Skarzs walked over, and she blinked. "I didn't think us not staying was a possible thing. Um, she took her and Jukka's dishes and headed that way." The squirrel nodded her head as an indication. "She said something about kitchen duty? Anyway, what now?" Now that Corn's bottomless pit of a stomach had been appeased, she was quite curious about the Abbey and the grounds. She'd always wondered how big everything was and where everything was. Besides, there was a little niggling thought in the back of her head that maybe shouldn't be discussed around the Redwallers.
Jukka gave an awkward chuckle at Dan's words as she peered over at Skarzs. Luckily, before she had to decide whether to go over there or not, Skarzs returned and announced that they could stay.
"Anyway, what now?" Corn inquired.
"I just wanna explore," Jukka said excitedly, getting to her feet - no, her footpaws. (Was she ever going to get used to this?)
"Same here," Skarzs said in agreement. "I want to see the. . . Well, everything. Though, I think this could almost ruin my imagination of the place."
Corn stood up as well, smiling. "Well, knowing what it actually looks like is better than imagining it! To me, anyway." She reached over to gently poke Dann, "You comin'?"
Dann nodded his head at Skarz's return, but couldn't find a space to squeeze in a question about the interactions the cougar had just had. Exploration seemed to be the name of the game now, not that he had any objection to that, as he was curious himself. At the same time, he also wished to find an opportunity to pose some questions himself. His head was just coming out of the clouds when Corn poked him at which point he fell over without a word.
"My gosh, are you alright?" cried Skarzs, grasping Dan under his arms and pulling him up. Did he pass out? Corn couldn't have hit him hard enough to knock him over. "What happened?"
Corn gave an alarmed squeak, her eyes wide as Dann toppled over. It took a moment for her brain to compute and she started giggling, having to sit back down. "Oh goodness, I didn't think you'd actually..." She trailed off into another fit of laughter. "I'm sorry, you didn't hit anything did you?" She grinned at Dann before catching sight of Skarzs's completely confused and concerned expression and almost started giggling like a maniac again.
Jukka gasped and took a step back, looking between her friends in confusion. Corn was giggling crazily.
"Uh, what just happened?" she asked.
Dann could feel Skarz lifting him, and couldn't hold a quiet snort, but once Corn figured out what had happened, he lost it as well. After a brief period of wheezy laughter, he attempted to calm himself to explain the goings on to their companions.... through assorted chortles that is, "Well you see, Corn has this nasty habit of poking me on Discord all the time. As it were, I developed three primary reactions, falling over, dying, and ceasing to exist altogether. Given that two of these reactions are less than ideal for the moment, I instinctively just fell over the instant she made contact with me." He had seen several of the other Lunch goers' attention drawn by the odd behavior, but he was reasonably sure that nobeast had heard his explanation, and wasn't particularly bothered by such a reputation if such were the case.
Corn's head snapped around to stare at the older squirrel, "Oi! Nasty habit, indeed!" She reached over to swat at him, only to lose her balance and slide off the bench. She leaned her head back against the seat and started shaking with muffled laughter - They were already causing a bit of a scene, didn't need to make it bigger. She wordlessly held her paws out for help to stand up, continuing to laugh.
Skarzs had looked at Corn when she laughed with his face scrunched up in an expression somewhere between confusion and exasperation. Obviously he was out of the loop on something. He pulled Dan all the way up as he explained himself, only to step over to help Corn back on her feet. "Pickin' up the drunks," he muttered, then spoke aloud. "Dan, that's probably the silliest thing I've ever heard you doing. Still, seriously? It's not like we need to make ourselves look more. . . Out of place." He felt hot under his collar.
Dann ultimately found Skarz's exasperation to be more humorous than anything else, "How many times have I told all of you that I'm as...... ridiculous, as everyone else? I just never felt welcome in the Cellars, so you never saw it come out." He let his first statement sink in before continuing, checking for eavesdroppers despite the fact that interest in their group seemed to have dwindled, "Aside from that, why should we stop being ourselves?" He paused again to look everybeast from the group in the eyes, "We may not be able to speak too openly of the outside at the moment, but what's to stop us from maintaining our personalities? Our in-jokes? The characteristics that make us... us. I dunno 'bout the rest of you, but I've no intention to allow my insertion into another world to force me to act uptight all the time, especially since that would look way weirder in the long run than if I acted a little strangely from time to time.... Take that mouse over there, sneaking various items onto who I can only guess is the Cellarhog's spikes... Is that rational or serious? What about the otter that spiked somebeast else's drink with hotroot of all things! Judging by the victim's reaction anyway... All this to say that I really think we'll be far more out of place if our actions are too robotic.... Besides, we'll likely never get an opportunity to explore, visit, and live inside this world ever again... Why not live it up when there's an opportunity?" Dann took a break to breathe and take a long sip from his cup, now filled with water. After releasing a relieving sigh, he simply smiled.
Skarzs stared at Dan and scratched his ear. He didn't know him at all, apparently. "Well, whatever the case, I'm gonna at least try to keep my dignity. I suppose I act a bit differently in real life. . . No squishing." He smiled wryly. "Anyhow, let's go explore."
OOC: Did you still want to ask some questions, Dan? You could ask as we all walk.
Jukka just stood there, listening with a confused half-smile on her face while Dann and Skarzs were talking. She raised an eyebrow when Dann said he'd never felt welcome in the Cellars. Didn't know that one. Wonder why?
Even though Dann had just behaved pretty inexplicably, she realized he had an excitingly good point. This was an amazing opportunity to reinvent herself in a new world and have crazy fun adventures for as long as this lasted! Maybe she could even train and become an actual warrior! How crazy flipping awesome would that be?
"Yes!" she exclaimed in response to Dann, and decided to fist pump even though that wasn't really a thing she normally did. Then she followed Skarzs out of Cavern Hole.
(OOC: This RP just got unexpectedly... I wanna say meta? I am pleased. ;D
Also, kinda PP'd there at the end. That okay?)
Corn blinked at Jukka's fist pump - She wouldn't have pegged her as someone who fist pumped the air. Not that she really knew Jukka or how she acted in real life, but that just went to show why you shouldn't assume things about people. She shrugged and grabbed a final roll off the table to nibble on as they explored, and started to wander after Skarzs and Jukka.
OOC: Skipping to the morning. This is after breakfast, so we don't have a regurgitation of the previous part with dinner.
BIC: Skarzs stood in front of the tapestry with Martin the Warrior, who stared back at him with his intense dark eyes, inanimate though they were. He had never even seen a tapestry in real life, so it fascinated him even more. The night before they had not gotten a look at it except for with candlelight, which did not do it justice. Now, with the morning sun shining down from the high windows, they could see it in its entirety, with all its details standing out at them, begging to be noticed.
He lifted up his eyes to look at the sword: The sword that he had read about, fantasized using, imagined in the hands of a great warrior, the weapon older than the abbey walls themselves, the one he even tried to replicate.
He hadn't done it justice.
Still, he wished it could have been bigger (or that he had been smaller) so that he could handle it and feel it. . . As well as know what it would really have to be like the next time he tried to make one.
"Awesome," he said.
Dann had sat himself near the doorway between Great Hall and Cavern Hole, allowing him to look into both, easily keeping an eye on his compatriots whilst performing his most practiced skill, lurking. Skarz managed to catch his eye, looking over the gorgeous tapestry and, almost certainly of more importance to him, the sword. The squirrel had taken his time looking them over the previous night after the others had gone to sleep, so he'd had his fill of the art at the current moment.
Corn wandered into Cavern Hole with a pawful of assorted berries, having come inside from the Orchard. She'd really loved seeing the Orchard and the Pond yesterday, and had slipped away after breakfast to explore more in depth on her own. She was on her way to look around the Abbey and see more of it when she noticed Dann near the doorway to the Great Hall and ambled over. She sat down near him and held out the paw holding the berries to see if he wanted any.
Jukka wandered the length of the tapestry, taking it all in. She hadn't seen a tapestry in real life before, and it was fascinating, especially with the knowledge that every single stitch had been painstakingly done by somebeast in Redwall's history. Maybe even one of the characters from the books! Everything was slowly becoming more real for her.
The sword was awesome, too. She wandered back over by Skarzs and gazed at it again. "Right?!" she said in response to him.
"Think we'd get in trouble for touching it?" he asked, without looking at Jukka. Skarzs smiled slightly. "I really want to."
He looked around. There were a few Redwallers passing through the Great Hall. Even if there weren't, he wasn't sure if he would actually take it down without permission. Then he espied Dan and Corn, and pointed to them. "I'ma head over to them. We can figure out what we can do today."
"Same," Jukka replied, grinning. Skarzs had created a great replica, but the real sword was much more impressive.
She studied it a moment longer, then followed Skarzs over to the others.
Skarzs approached Dan and Corn, smiling. "So! What do we want to do today? There's more to see in the abbey, I'm sure, like the attic (not sure what they're using it for right now), uh. . . The cellars, the gatehouse. . ."
Dann raised his hand to pass on the berries, though a smile flitted across his face. He was trying to think of some weird question to throw at Corn, but Skarz and Jukka arrived too quickly. He responded after the awkward pause, "Well, I'm not really one to make decisions, so I don't particularly care... That having been said, I wouldn't mind running around outside at some point, still getting used to some of the finer details of this form. I realized last night that I can run faster than I'm used to, and there's a weird springiness behind my steps.... Needless to say, the trees are looking more and more enticing by the hour."
Corn nibbled on the rest of her berries, wrinkling her nose. "It's too nice of a day to stay inside. We can look around more outside first then come back in?" She reached over to poke Dann, "Lucky. I'm still trying to not to fall on my face or walk into things every five minutes."
Jukka gave a little snort at Corn's comment, then said, "Hey, I'm game for whatever you guys wanna do. I just wanna see more of this place!" She was thinking it would be awesome to explore the Gatehouse's historical book collection at some point, but she wanted to see everything else first.
"Might be because you're smaller and lighter, but still proportionally strong," Skarzs suggested in response to Dan mentioning his abilities.
"Anyway, I honestly want to see everything. I want to taste all the beers and wines and cheeses, I wanna mess around in the kitchens, catch a fish from the pond. . . Oh man, there's so much to do. Oh! Maybe we could find out where we're at chronologically, like if we're before or after the Rogue Crew."
Some Redwallers paused to watch and listen to the four newcomers with some curiosity, and smiled when they heard the excited reactions of their home, or went away somewhat confused at the things they said that did not make sense.
OOC: I was going to have them see Andrew about now.
"Exactly what I've been wondering! About where we are in the timeline," Jukka said.
Another thought popped into her head. "Oh, wonder how that mouse Andrew is doing..." she added, looking around the vast room as if he might just be wandering around.
Skarzs blinked, and thought quietly for a few moments. He had almost forgotten about Andrew.
I'm such a nice guy, aren't I? he thought to himself, then spoke aloud. "Maybe we could go see him, see how he's patching up. Then maybe Jukka and I can go to the gatehouse and find out the time. Where we are in time. . . The timeline." Ugh.
Corn's ears perked up, "Oooh, yeah. That sounds like a good plan. I didn't see Andrew at breakfast." She climbed to her feet and frowned. "Where's the Infirmary?"
Dann sat quietly, allowing everyone else to voice their thoughts. Figuring out their chronological position was something that had skipped his mind, but would be crucial in their decision making should things go as crazily as could be expected from a surprise Redwall adventure. He smiled at Corn's comment before pointing toward the staircase, "Silly goose, it's up the stairs, just before the dorms."
Skarzs headed to the stairs, trusting the others to come with. He composed in his head on how the conversation would go as he walked, but then, he realized that he would want to ask where Andrew came from, and that was something he couldn't predict. Maybe he wasn't even from a place he knew about from the books.
Jukka followed the cougar up the stairs, eager to find out more about Andrew. He'd obviously had a rough time of it the other day. Wonder where he's from...
With a bounce in her step Corn followed her companions, wrinkling her nose at the stairs. Much to her happiness she reached the top without any clumsiness and spotted a door that was open. She peered in to find the inside of the Infirmary and she grinned, turning around to wave the others over.
Skarzs looked over the heads of his friends, seeing Andrew laying on a bed with a crutch near at paw. Most of the other beds were empty. A hedgehog in a habit was busy nearby, but headed back to Andrew with a damp cloth, bathing his head.
Skarzs smiled at the sight, and took a step in, but stopped. The gears in his mind turned, and he wondered why Andrew would need to have his his head cooled, like he had a fever. If his wound was infected, maybe that could happen, but Skarzs didn't think that was likely.
". . . How are you feeling, Andrew?" Skarzs said.
Andrew turned to the sound of his voice, and Skarzs grew alarmed. The mouse's face was drawn, thin, and his eyes were dull. Even his fur looked like it had taken on a poorly hue.
"Please don't come closer!" said the infirmary sister, turning to them. "He's got a sickness of some kind, and we aren't sure what."
Jukka took a step back, alarmed. The last thing she wanted after falling into another world was to get some strange disease. Andrew looked terrible, and she felt bad for him. She gave him a look she hoped conveyed her sympathy.
"Alright," she said in reply to the infirmary sister. "How long has he been like this?"
"Since last night." The hedgehog sighed. "I think I know what it is, but I'm just hoping I'm wrong."
Skarzs thought of any of the diseases that happened in the books, and only came up with one. "Dryditch Fever?"
The sister looked at him, her face drawn with worry.
"Ab-Abbess. . ." stammered Andrew. "Got to tell her!"
"She's coming, dearie! You just lie still."
Skarzs looked at his friends. Was this what they were supposed to help with?
"Dryditch fever..." Jukka murmured, mind racing to try and recall all the details she could about the disease. It had been ages since she'd read Salamandastron, but she knew the disease was deadly and could only be cured by the flowers of Icetor or something. And now Andrew had brought it to Redwall!
"It's pretty contagious, isn't it?" she said, both to her friends and the hedgehog sister. She gave her friends an alarmed look and backed away from the sick mouse to stand just inside the infirmary doorway. This was not how she had pictured things going. And no way was she about to let herself fall victim to some dreadful malady.
Dann followed up in the back of the group, scooting through the doorway to sit down on a bed just inside the door as the conversation started. The speaking had hardly begun before everything about their current situation took a vicious nosedive. The very premise of Dryditch wasn't particularly enjoyable as a thought, but there was too much haste being made in the assumptions. He turned to his friends and spoke in toned-down voice to avoid the attention of the hedgehog, "Yo guys, cool your jets, we don't know for sure yet, and beside that, she knows what Dryditch is, which means we're at least post-Salamandastron. Now assuming it is, Andrew's already dead to rights, and honestly the infirmary keeper over there is as well. Question is, what do we do?..... Oh, and what's the.. Hold on." Dann turned to throw a question at the hedgehog, "Do you perchance know how long Dryditch fever takes to infect and become symptomatic?" He turned back to the group, "Some of us have made contact with him, we don't know the transmission method of Dryditch, and they don't know how viruses and bacteria work yet, much less what they are.... Long and short of it being that there is a possibility that some of us already have it."
Corn had gone to stand close to Andrew's bedside and scurried back quickly when Skarzs mentioned Dryditch Fever. She bit her lip, I bandaged his leg and helped him up the path with Jukka, Dryditch is extremely contagious, did I get infected? As her thoughts whirred she'd inched further from Andrew. She bumped into the bed Dann was sitting on right after his mini lecture and almost jumped a foot into the air, moving away to sit a bed or two away. "I think Skarzs is the least likely to have contracted it, followed by Dann, then Jukka, then me, but that's only going off of who's had the most contact with Andrew, and we could have spread it among ourselves and..." Corn trailed off before she finished saying "the rest of the Abbey," with a glance at the Infirmary sister. She didn't want to cause a panic, and when the frightened Sister made eye contact she smiled reassuringly at her, trying to provide comfort.
The sister shook her head at Dan's question, and interrupting any other thoughts Skarzs was having. "I don't know for sure. . . Thank seasons it hasn't come here in my lifetime. An' while I hope it isn't going to come to that, dearie, I believe that weapon the poor mouse was hurt with had some sort o' poison on the blade. If I showed you his leg, you'd see what I mean. But it's affecting the rest of him, and it will take time to heal."
Abbess Lessia pushed her way in, followed closely by an infirmary assistant, and she went straight to Andrew's side. "I'm here, Andrew. What can I do?"
The mouse's eyes wandered around the room, not seeing the Abbess, but knowing she was there. "Noonvale!" he croaked. "We need help at Noonvale! Our healers are gone. . . Sickness. . . No knowledge. . . Must go to Redwall, must get help! Please, I hope I can make it. . . Please don't be too late. They need me, them, help!"
He started shivering, and the two infirmary sisters tended to him. The Abbess backed away, leaving them to their work, while she considered what Andrew had said.
Skarzs himself felt a little foolish having thought of the worst possible thing that could happen to Andrew, but he was more interested in the mention of Noonvale. So that's where Andrew was from. And they needed help.
OOC: Let me know if I need to add more to this.
Jukka blinked. "Oh, so he doesn't have dryditch fever, he's just poisoned?" Wow, that sounded insensitive... "Um, I mean, so he's wounded, not, like, ill with a sickness?"
"Given the current information that we have, that seems more than likely. He strikes me as more actively ill than those..... that caught dryditch... Though I imagine that Noonvale is now the bigger deal, nice to know it survived this long... Wait, do the Redwallers know about Noonvale? I thought Martin brought that information to his grave right?" Dann looked between his friends for confirmation, "Or am I just crazy?"
The Hedghog and her helper ushered them all out and shut the door, the Abbess rushing off to consult the elders about the best course of action.
"Remember the preface to Martin the Warrior?" Skarzs said. "The descendant of Brome came and told that story. She's the one who brought that rose to grow on the wall. They told the whole story. . . I think. Unless Jacques didn't intend that everything that was written was said, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah, during Martin the Warrior they found out but other than that there's no other mention of Noonvale. Ever. And there's plenty of stories set after that one, if I recall correctly," Corn mentioned, shifting her weight with a shrug. "Guess it got lost to history until now?"
"Or kept secret out of respect for their safety," Skarzs suggested. He looked back at the closed door, where inside Andrew was fighting for his survival. He said a quick prayer silently that he would recover quickly. "Well then. . . I guess we can't do much more right now."
Jukka just nodded in reply to Dan.
To be honest, she had forgotten a lot of details about the Redwallers' knowledge of Noonvale - she'd kinda thought the story had never reached the Abbey. Anyway, it didn't matter, given that no one really seemed to know about Noonvale now.
Andrew's feverish mumblings played again in her brain. Noonvale needed help, and the Abbess and a few others had heard him. Would the Redwallers maybe send a group of healers? Would Andrew be able to tell them where to go to find the village? It was hidden pretty well, after all.
"You think they'll try and help Noonvale?" she said aloud.
"If they have a means to, you can be almost certain they will. The question is, at this point in time, what do they know about it, and how does this all relate to us?" Dann leaned against the wall while contemplating some of the other questions he had whilst waiting for the others to chime in. He was curious to know if there were any remnants of Marshank, or if the cliffs had been re-inhabited after Martin's tribe had left them. There were so many possibilities, and a sore lack of answers at the moment.
Skarzs thought silently for a little while. If they were meant to help, then they couldn't just stand by idle. He needed to find out if they could help.
"Maybe we could go to the gatehouse. We could find out what point in time this is (it's at least after Mattimeo, because the sword is out in the open), and maybe get ahead of the game."
Corn shrugged, "That certainly couldn't hurt, as long as they don't mind us poking around in there and I don't see why they would. Let's go!" She pushed off the wall she'd been leaning against and headed for the stairs, not waiting to see if the others were following. It's just like we're in one of the books, all puzzles and researching and adventures. Wonder how that's gonna go? Hopefully no armies show up. She thought to herself with a quiet laugh.
Dann, lost in his own thoughts, heard Skarz like a far off voice, only fully realizing what was meant as Corn began to leave. She almost escaped before he blurted out an alternative plan, "Whoa, hold up!.. Why don't we just ask somebeast around if they've heard about the otters of the Rogue Crew? It's the last book in the series, and if they haven't then we can just keep asking about different characters until they recognize one? I feel like it'd be a lot faster than trying to rustle through transcripts that are likely organized in a way that we're unfamiliar yet.... Honestly, we could also just ask about recent important events, say within the last fifty years or so."
"Years, or seasons?" asked Skarzs, half-jokingly. "That's probably a better idea, even if it's a glorified 'What year is it?'"
"Yeah, exactly..." Jukka said in response to Dan, trailing off as she thought about this. What if the Redwallers really knew nothing at all about Noonvale's location and Andrew was too sick to be of any help?
Maybe this was the whole reason they'd been brought here.
She perked up when Skarzs said they should check the Gatehouse. "Alright! I've been wanting to poke around in there!" She began to follow Corn down the stairs, but then stopped ane turned around when Dan said something. "Hm, yeah, that could work too. Let's find somebody to ask."
Skarzs nodded, following after Corn and Jukka.
He picked his way down the stairs, taking them two at a time, but also trying not to run over the squirrel and ferret in front of him. The steps were not quite ideal for someone his size.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, he stopped to consider where to go. "The Abbey recorder might be the best bet. Other people might not know, or have gotten, the whole story, if you know what I mean."
"Maybe the recorder is in the Gatehouse?" Jukka suggested.
"Sounds like a good place to start." Skarzs walked through Cavern Hole, taking long strides and going the distance quickly. The tables were all cleared from breakfast, and were ready for the midday meal. He imagined how full it would be again, with all the various sizes and shapes of people. Most of the creatures would not even know about Andrew and the news he brought for some time, though word tended to travel quickly in Redwall. Local gossip and all.
OOC: We can pretty much just skip over to the gatehouse.
Upon reaching the Gatehouse, Jukka paused, wondering if they should just barge in. She knocked to be polite, but when nobody answered, she pushed the door open.
Rows and rows of bookshelves met her gaze. She waltzed over and grabbed a heavy book laden with dust off a shelf and cracked it open. The text was written in spidery, complicated cursive and she squinted, trying to make it out. "Looks like this is a record of some season called 'Summer of the Weeping Willows'? This is so cool!"
"That season doesn't sound familiar. Wonder when it was."
Skarzs looked over an open tome, the pages only half-filled with words. An inkwell and quill were off to one side, the quill still wet with ink. The cougar skimmed over the words, talking about recent events. Upcoming feasts, the new season (spring), various little things that caught the recorder's attention. . . "Hey, looks like we made it into the records!" exclaimed Skarzs. He read aloud from the book. "'Yesterday, we had some visitors. It's nothing unusual, here at Redwall, to have travellers come to our door- After all, we welcome all who come in peace to our Abbey! But these particular travellers were nothing like any of us had seen in our lifetimes; and I wouldn't consider myself young anymore! Their accent is strange, rough, as if they learned our tongue by someone who didn't know how to pronounce the letter R, among other things. There were four: Two were squirrels- one having white fur, quite unusual. The other two were a ferret, who seems polite enough, very nice as vermin go, I suppose, and the second is a giant cat of all things!' Hah! ' Drakken is a bit wary of the two, and is keeping an eye on them.' I think we knew that. . . 'They also had with them a mouse named Andrew, who they had apparently saved from a small band of vermin on the road. He was brought to the infirmary for his wounds. . .' It just goes on about some other boring stuff, like how his biscuit was stale or something. Huh. Kind of smudged."
He straightened, and looked around at the gatehouse, which was cluttered with ages upon ages of recordings and maps and all manner of things. "I actually thought the Abbess would have come in here, to look for some information on Noonvale. Guess not."
"This recorder's fast, but considering the mention of the biscuit, sounds like they're probably old as well. This morning too, so they're likely close at hand right now, did he go to the bathroom or something?... Unusual, heh heh." Dann gently brushed his hand over the surfaces of a few of the newer looking books before sliding his fingers around a much more aged scroll, feeling the texture and gauging the integrity before picking it up, "I hope this goes without saying, but be careful what you touch. None of us knows how they make their paper, and subsequently, how well it survives stress... And it seems a little soon for the Abbess to have time to come down here doesn't it? I'm sure the leader of the Abbey has a lot of stuff to do in a day."
"Well, she did leave in a hurry. Not sure if other things would take priority." Skarzs gently brushed dust off some paper. "She probably went to consult with the abbey elders, which probably included the recorder. After that. . . I dunno. Maybe we'll see them in a bit. Do you guys see any seasons we might recognize?"
Jukka grinned widely as Skarzs read the page mentioning them, her eyes lighting up. "We're in their records," she breathed, giggling a bit, before sobering and listening to Skarzs' and Dan's exchange. Glancing at all the ancient books around the room, she resolved to be very careful about how she handled them, and then cautiously pulled another one off a high shelf. Despite its apparent age, the book wasn't that dusty and seemed generally well-preserved. She opened it to the first page, and then let out a gasp.
"Guys! 'Summer of the Late Rose'! What are the odds."
"Wow! That's the one from Redwall, right?" Skarzs peered over Jukka's shoulder. "Cool! Hey, we could see if the books are actually recordings, or if the recordings are different than what we've read, like with all the vermin dialogue."
Before he could read past the first three lines, however, there was the sound of several voices coming from outside. "Speak of the devil," Skarzs muttered.
Corn had wandered away from Skarzs and Jukka, her attention caught by the dusty bookshelves lining the walls all the way to the back of the room, her paw drifting along the spines of the records as she looked at them in wonder. She grew oblivious to the conversation and finds behind her as she explored and examined the books. They were all unique and a piece of history, and while Corn was extremely vocal about her dislike of the subject she couldn't deny the thrill of looking at such a big chunk of Redwall's history right at her fingertips.
She heard the voices at about the same time Skarzs did and jerked back to reality, turning around quickly enough to stumble over her paws and fall into the bookshelves. Thankfully she didn't knock anything over or damage anything, just letting out an alarmed squeak before she caught herself. The position Corn's stumble put her in gave her the perfect view out of a window. "It looks like the Abbess and the Abbey Warrior coming, with an older mouse I don't recognize, and that Infirmary Sister that was upstairs," Corn said as she hastily made her way back towards Skarzs and Jukka, trying to play off the trip.
"Oh!" Jukka said, turning away from the open book and moving towards the closed door. "Um... they don't know we're here and they might not be too happy with us being here." She looked between her friends, unsure of what to do.
Skarzs watched Corn's stumble, ready to help her up if needed. Like he thought, it was the Abbess. "Graceful!" he said to Corn as she came away from the window.
"Well. . . I guess we could just let them in. Want to open the door?"
Before Jukka could do so, however, the handle turned and the Abbey Warrior stepped in, holding it open for the rest. He looked in surprise at the newcomers standing in the the gatehouse, but said nothing. The Abbess, sister, and mouse (the recorder, Skarzs assumed), filed in, all with similar looks of surprise on their faces.
"Excuse me!" cried the mouse. "What are you doing here in my gatehouse?"
"Sorry, we were just reading some of the recordings." Skarzs shrugged. "We were fascinated."
"I'm sure, but I'm more fascinated how you four knew where to look. Did someone tell you?"
The Abbess interrupted. "As am I, but we don't have time for that." She looked at the four friends curiously. "We need to find Noonvale as soon as possible."
"I will, but it's too crowded in here," said the recorder.
The warrior, Drakken, spoke up. His voice was kind, coming from deep in his chest with a strength that spoke of confidence and urged following. "I'm not very good at looking through books and papers. Would you like to come out with me, friends? We can enjoy the sun while they dig in the dust."
Skarzs nodded as he ducked through the door. "We'll get out of your way."
Dann chortled into the inkwell he was examining when Corn squeaked, not needing to look to figure out what had happened. He continued poking around the desk whilst the others talked, listening to the conversation loosely. He turned around as Skarz was about to pass the doorway, "So you don't know where Noonvale is then. In that case, it's by a river northeast of the western shore cliffs where your warrior Martin was born. The river splits around an island, and that's roughly where Noonvale is. He looked directly at the Abbess with complete sincerity, knowing he'd have to instill great confidence in her if he was to convince her of the truth.
Skarzs was halfway through the door when Dan spoke. That works, he thought. The four Redwallers stared at Dan in disbelief.
"How-h-how do you know that?" asked the recorder, shaking his head as if to clear it. "Who are you creatures?"
After a pause, where looks were wordlessly passed around, Skarzs spoke. "We're travellers from another land. Before we got here, we each had dreams with Martin the Warrior. He told us we need to help a creature in need, using the knowledge we have. We believe Andrew, and Noonvale, is who we need to help."
"Martin did?" Lessia turned to the cougar. "Why didn't you say this before?"
"Wasn't. . . sure how you would react." Skarzs glanced at his companions. "My point is, we can help."
The Abbess thought for a moment. "According to our recorder, he has not found the location of Noonvale in here, nor does he remember its location being mentioned at all. If you truly know where Noonvale is, we will gladly use your help. But I need to know for certain: Do you know where it is?"
Jukka gnawed her lip. She knew that Noonvale lay to the northeast, but beyond that, she feared she wouldn't be any help.
Still, it couldn't hurt to say what she could remember.
"I know it's northeast from here," she volunteered finally, and glanced between her friends, hoping they could fill in the rest.
Lessia's face fell while Skarzs looked at Corn and Dann, who were both silent.
"We can find it," he said. "Martin the Warrior was a prisoner at a fortess called Marshank, far north of here. He escaped and was washed further north by the sea, and had to make his way back around to Noonvale; there was a large swamp he had to cross, then a big mountain that had a cave bored through it. On the other side of that mountain, there was a stream that he followed, but only to an inlet that was fairly hidden. That inlet led to Noonvale."
Skarzs felt rather out if breath. He looked at his friends. "Did I miss anything?"
OOC: Sorry for not posting sooner.
@danflorreguba @Jukka the Sling @Cornflower MM You guys still up for this?
Corn's mind went blank as everyone started talking about directions - It had been a very long time since she'd read a Redwall book, much less Martin the Warrior, and she barely knew east from west back home where she'd been able to figure out where the sun was rising and setting. "Uh. Nope, that all sounds about right. Northeast by a river or inlet, definitely. If we had a map of the general western cliffs area and could make our way there I feel pretty confident we could find it." Corn felt like she maybe shouldn't volunteer her companions for a journey like that - After all, it probably wasn't the safest journey, or the shortest - but they'd been plopped into the Redwall world for a reason, right?
Skarzs looked at Dan, who simply returned the gaze silently. "We can help," he said again to Abbess Lessia. "If nothing else, I would be willing to draw a map out for you."
Once again, the Abbess took a few moments to think in silence. Drakken, from beside Skarzs, cleared his throat. "Lessia, if they can help, we could use them. I myself will go to Noonvale with whoever will come with me, and if it's all the same, I prefer a guide more than a map."
"We cannot force these creatures to go on this journey," said the mouse.
"We understand," said Skarzs. "Maybe. . . You could give us a bit of time to talk it over?"
". . . Yes," said the Abbess slowly. "We will wait outside."
The Redwallers exited the gatehouse, leaving the four friends alone inside. Skarzs breathed out in a low whistle. "Well. . . What do you think? We might be the best bet of helping Noonvale."
Jukka felt a little apprehensive, simply because she didn't remember more than Noonvale's general direction and she didn't want to be leading Drakken on a wild goose chase. She turned to Skarzs. "So... you know the way? Properly? 'Cause I, uh, don't really remember much beyond the fact that it's northeast."
Skarzs frowned, looking for a solution. He started looking around the gatehouse for some blank parchment, then went over to the desk and took up the quill. It was not the same as a modern pen, and the ink smudged as he used it, but he did his best.
"This 's what the map of that northern part looks like, as far as I know. On the west coast are the caves Martin came from, and he went around somehow getting to the northeast sea, and Marshank. Near Marshank was some marshlands (that's where they shot some of their own soldiers). Martin and the others drifted north on the water, where the pygmy shrews were. From there they went inland, meeting the mole lady, then through the marshes with the lizards. After that, they went through the mountain with the owls (I can't remember their names. . . Gwe-something), and went down the river to the inlet, and followed that to Noonvale. After that Martin went back down the river to the sea to fight at Marshank again." He finished his map with a dotted line that illustrated the rough path Martin took.
(https://i.postimg.cc/3RWrXQRX/IMG-20190629-074853.jpg)
He looked at it for a moment before talking again. "I'm not entirely sure of everything, but if we find the cliffs Martin came from, we should be able to go east and use the other landmarks to find where we need to go."
His heart was pounding in his chest. "I'm gonna go, at least. There 're lives on the line, and I can't just sit back if I know something they don't that can help."
Corn peered at the map closely, "It looks kinda like the map? Now that I've seen this it's coming back to me. This is why we were summoned here, right? Of course I'm gonna go, I don't see any of us not going to be honest." She backed away from the map and table and started shifting her weight and glancing around. The gatehouse needed a good dusting and airing out - It smelled a little bit musty and she was starting to get antsy.
Dann looked between his friends inside the antiquated room, "If we're all being honest, who among us would even be willing to not go?" A smile picked at the corner of his mouth as he finished his sentence, shifting to address the Abbey dwellers, "Long story short, we're your best bet for getting there quickly enough to make a difference. Honestly, it should be easy once we hit the western beaches because we can follow those north to the caves and just move inland until we reach the river... That's all assuming, of course, that you'd be willing to keep our company for as long."
OOC: They went outside the gatehouse. :P Us four were the only ones inside.
BIC: Skarzs nodded. "
@Jukka? Are you willing to come as well?"
He knew the path ahead of them would not be easy. They did not know the true scale of the world, and they would be travelling for some time. It. . . Scared him. He swallowed nervously. "Success is on the other side of fear," he muttered to himself.
"Yeah, definitely," Jukka said, nodding. This was going to be incredible, journeying across Mossflower.
...And also... very dangerous. She sobered, considering.
Dangerous tribes and groups of vermin were everywhere in the books. The characters could hardly step foot outside the Abbey to go on a quest without running into trouble within the first couple of days.
What would happen if she and her friends ran into some ragtag vermin group? Jukka knew nothing about fighting -- she'd always been a homebody who preferred books and computers to physical activity.
...What would happen if she died here? Would she be gone for good, or just end up back in the real world?
She looked up at Skarzs's next words. "Hopefully," she said, and then added: "I hope we don't run into trouble. I don't know... anything about fighting."
"Neither do I," said Skarzs in response to Jukka. He could imagine all the things that might go wrong. . . "We'll need help."
Drakken, the Abbess, and the recorder had come back in, and had heard the latest concern. "As Abbey Warrior, it's my duty to help with something like this; you'll all be protected. We wouldn't have you go off alone without our help."
Abbess Lessia reassured them. "Drakken is a most skilled and trusted warrior; I would put my life in his paws. We shall also have healers with you, and others to help on the journey and for caring with the sick in Noonvale. Let us worry about those things. In the meantime, what you can do is help pack for your journey."
~~~~~~~
Two days later, during the morning of their departure, Skarzs found himself with his head spinning around with Redwallers bustling everywhere. It was like his entire extended family had come for a reunion, but it was only the children. . . and if they were animals. He had backed himself into a corner to stay out of the way (and to prevent himself from stepping on anybeast) as he fought to get out the door of the Abbey. Finally, he popped out and hurried over to the others near the main gate, who were waiting for him. (He had needed to eat more food.)
The infirmary sister with her healing supplies, Drakken with the sword of Martin,, and others, were getting themselves ready, shouldering packs, checking supplies, and saying farewells. Among them was the ottermaid Cress, and a young male squirrel who was looking quite eager to start.
Skarzs found Corn, Jukka, and Dan. "You guys ready for this?"
Jukka adjusted the straps of her pack so it rode more comfortably on her shoulders. She felt giddy and lightheaded with both excitement and nerves. They were actually going to travel across Mossflower!
"As I'll ever be," she said, grinning, looking across the group assembled around her. "Everyone else ready?"
Dann was admiring the string of a recurve that had been loaned to him by an older squirrel that he'd spoken with on several occasions before the trip. The bow was a simple but sturdy product of experienced hands, well worn, but comfortable as a result. He slipped it over his shoulder, next to the rest of his burdens for the trip. Turning and standing to face the others, he offered his response, "So long as ready isn't supposed to imply relaxed." Indeed, as exciting as such an occasion was, there were also a plethora of unknowns to be confronted... and that was unnerving.
Corn finished adjusting the straps on her pack and slung it on before snorting at Dann's words. "I wouldn't imagine that ready and relaxed are supposed to go together here. Either way, yeah, I think I'm good to go." She pushed her glasses up her nose and grinned at everyone else. The unknown was scary, but she'd at least figured out how to stop falling over her feet every two steps the night before and that made her extremely happy. She bounced in place, starting to get impatient at how long the Abbeydwellers were taking.
"If you wanted to relax, that's what the past couple days were for," the cougar said. He looked at the main group, where a bit too many niceties, well-wishings, and kind words were being passed around between the Redwallers who were staying and those who were leaving. Skarzs just wanted to start moving to get the jitters to wear off. He caught the eye of the other male squirrel with a chuckle. "Let's just bring everyone with us. That way they won't have to say goodbye."
The squirrel, surprised at Skarzs' unexpected comment, gave a light laugh, turning away awkwardly.
Skarzs wondered why he even opened his mouth sometimes.
Finally, however, the main gates were opened, and the group made their way out onto the path. The Abbess had some final words to say, something about good weather, commitment, hope, and that the spirit of Martin would guide them. With that, they started marching north.
The squirrel Skarzs had joked with earlier found his way into their midst, eventually walking along with Cornflower. "Hello! I'm Fentlo, but my friends call me Fenty. You're Cornflower, right?"
Corn had been quietly enjoying the scenery, more invested in looking around the forest than joining in any of the quiet chatter from the rest of the group. She hadn't been expecting any conversation from any of the Redwallers and it took her a beat to reel herself back into the present. "Uh, yeah, hi, Fenty. I'm Cornflower. Or Corn. Whichever." She blinked, hoping that didn't sound too awkward.
Walking beside Corn, Jukka looked over at Fenty. He looked youngish -- at least as far as she could tell, with him being a squirrel and all -- and he seemed really friendly. It was nice to know that so many Redwallers were willing to look past their species and treat them normally.
"Well, it's good to meet you, Corn," said Fenty. "Hey, when we stop, did you want to race up a tree? Winner gets the loser's candied chestnuts."
Skarzs said nothing. This would be interesting to watch.
He hurried to the front of the group, where Drakken was walking. "Are we sure the Guosim will be there at the fjord when we get there?"
"They should be. Skipper went off to get them days ago. At his time of the year they're further upstream, so it shouldn't have taken them long to get there as long as Skipper found them quickly."
"And he'll be coming with us after that, right?"
Drakken nodded. "Of course. Why do you ask?"
The cougar shrugged. "Oh, no reason, I guess. . . I mean, other than the fact that he doesn't seem to like me very much. . . Jukka and me." The warrior looked at him. "It's not hard to see, though I'm not surprised. We're not only foreigners, we're a giant cat and a ferret."
Drakken thought for a moment, then caught Jukka's attention with a glance in her direction and a wave of his paw. "My brother can be very untrusting. It may be good for you two to know why."
OOC: Jukka, if you want to you can make up something for the Skipper's past. Anyone can play him or any of the other NPCs.
"Uhhhh. To be fully honest, if I tried climbing a tree, I'd probably fall on my face and break something. I'm. . . Not very good with trees. Or heights." Corn admitted, giving an awkward laugh. She spotted Drakken motioning for Jukka and her face lit up at the potential topic change, "Hey, Jukka, I think Drakken and Skarzs want you,"
Jukka had overheard the last part of Drakken and Skarzs's conversation, but she didn't quite realize Drakken had turned towards her until Corn mentioned it.
"Oh! Okay," she said in response to Corn -- and immediately cringed at the slang she'd let slip. Oh well. Hopefully it wouldn't be a big deal. Speeding up, she fell in step with Skarzs on his right; Drakken was to the cougar's left. She gave Drakken a questioning look. "So..."
"...My brother," Drakken said, and he turned away to look at the path ahead. Maybe he was feeling a little uncomfortable? "As I was saying to Skarzs here, he can be rather... untrusting. I can't really blame him, to be honest." His voice dropped, taking on a serious edge. "It's... not a pretty story. Rush is quite a bit older than me, y'see, and back when he was a kit, before I was born, our family lived in Mossflower, by the stretch of river that winds around to the east of the Abbey. There was this mouse couple who lived nearby -- had a kid about his age, and he would run over to play with him every now and then."
Jukka's eyes widened, afraid of where this was going.
"One day he went over by himself to play and... they were all dead. Husband, wife, kid."
"Oh my goodness," Jukka gasped, covering her mouth with a paw.
Drakken nodded. "Traveling band of marauders had passed through and tried to rob them, but things had turned ugly. By the time my dad came and found Rush, he'd been sitting for hours, just... staring... at the family. Dad got him and my mum to Redwall and then got together a party to hunt down the murderers. They got 'em." He turned to look at Skarzs and Jukka. "Dad always said he'd expected to find a group of nothing but vermin. But they weren't just "vermin". There were a few woodlanders among them." He released a sigh. "I don't think Rush was ever the same after what he saw."
Jukka swallowed. That certainly would explain Skipper's trust issues. "I'm... so sorry."
Drakken nodded and looked ahead again. "I don't usually tell this story, but I thought you deserve an explanation for my brother's behavior."
OOC: I probably went way too dark with Skipper's backstory, plus I gave him a lame name (I don't think he had a name before??), and I don't know if it's realistic to tell such a dark story so soon to foreigners you just met two days ago. But it is late and I hope this is acceptable.
OOC: That's awesome, Jukka. Thanks for taking the time to post it!
BIC: Skarzs winced as Drakken relayed the story of his brother. He was beginning to understand the Skipper a little better. With a sad past like that, it was no surprise he was untrusting. Of course, he didn't seem to want to try to change that. . . Did they have psychologists of any kind in the Redwall universe?
"One more thing," said Drakken. "What I just told you isn't what y'might call common knowledge- Please don't spread it around."
"We won't, don't worry," said Skarzs with a nod. "Thanks for telling us."
Fenty's tail drooped for a moment, but he shrugged with a smile. "Maybe I could teach you, then! My father is the best treehopper in all of Mossflower, and he taught me. After that, then we can race! I'm sure you'll be great." He grinned despite Corn's assurance to the opposite.
"Oh, leave her alone, Fentlo!" scolded Cress from beside Corn. "If she doesn't wanna race, then she doesn't want to." The ottermaid turned to Corn and Dan. "Sorry about Fenty, he doesn't know when to stop.
"You know, I've been meaning to ask. . . What is it like where you're from? Where are you from?"
Still a bit shocked by the conversation with Drakken, Jukka zoned out for a second. Gradually, she started listening to the conversation behind her without even meaning to, and then she perked her ears up to hear better, curious about what Corn and Dan were going to say.
There it was, the million dollar question that was bound to show it's face sooner or later. Dann had been mulling the answer over, and figured the best way to answer the question was with the truth... but with a little help. He chimed in from Corn's other side, "We're adventurers that, quite honestly, just happened upon this place. Where we come from is difficult to describe, and most of the ways I could describe it to you are beyond the imagination. Our land is filled with gleaming cities full of buildings made with metals. We have tools that can send entire books miles through the air in an instant without damaging them, or capture an entire painting in a... in mere seconds. We even have some records on Redwall, Salamandastron, and, as is probably obvious by now, Noonvale!.. We don't really know how to get back from here though, if that's what you mean, sorry." Hopefully the resulting confoundedness would give them some breathing room on the ridiculous nature of this entire situation.
Cress's eyes grew wider and wider as she tried to digest Dan's words. ". . . Entire cities made from. . . Metals? How. . ." she trailed off, trying to put the questions she had into words. She gave a confused smile. "You're joking with me, aren't you? I can't even imagine any of those things."
Fenty tugged on Dan's tail. "I can! Gimme a book and I'll send it up in the air. Capture a painting? Sure, I'll do that too! You're funny, Dan."
Jukka bit down on her lip, trying to stifle the sudden urge to giggle. Dan's description was hilariously accurate, and she couldn't help but be amused by Cress's confusion.
"A realist and a fool, feels like a Jaques book alright." Dann chuckled at Cress's response, ignoring Fenty's antics, "I am not, everything I said is the truth. Our history differs greatly from yours, and we've discovered many things with our bare hands that others would consider magic or the like. I apologize, as I cannot produce or show any such things for you now, so I can't really offer you any evidence. I know it sounds crazy, but it's all we can offer really."
Corn had to turn her face away and disguise her giggles as a cough, taking a moment to compose her face before coming back to the conversation. "I can promise, he's not lyin', it's the truth." She couldn't help another giggle-turned-cough and she cleared her throat, "Sorry, got a bit of a tickle,"
The otter nodded. "Well, there's one thing for sure. . . It does sound crazy." Cress gave a little laugh, then fell back to silence, still lost in the enormity of the hardly believable things Dan had described.
Fenty, however, spent much less time pondering the improbable, and shrugged as he picked up a rock and threw it into the ditch. "I don't know if you're really telling the truth, but I'm not sure I care. Maybe we could go there someday, and then you'd be able to prove it."
~~~~~~~~~~
Skarzs and Drakken were having another conversation while the others spoke behind them.
"How long have you been the Abbey Warrior?" Skarzs asked.
"Many seasons," said the other. "I can't remember exactly when I began. It wasn't a sudden decision; it was more of a gradual realization that I had taken the part of warrior. But life has been good to me; I have never seen all-out war against Redwall within my lifetime. Sometimes I wonder if my brother would be a better 'Warrior'," Drakken added this last part with a chuckle. "He's seen more battles than I have."
". . . Maybe," Skarzs said. He paused, then ventured to say further. "Maybe he's seen more battles, but it also takes a certain character to be an Abbey Warrior, if I'm not mistaken."
"Perhaps you're right."
OOC: Time skip?
OOC: Sure.
The fjord was broad and shallow, as fjords should be. The River Moss widened out almost twice its usual breadth, rippling over rocks and pebbles not far beneath. It was the perfect place for the path to cross the river without a bridge, and whatever creature made the north-south path which cut across Mossflower took full advantage of it.
Skarzs looked at the river, thinking about all the stories it had been part of, a constant unstoppable force of nature. It was larger than he felt it had been described, though, considering ships had been sailed up it, that made sense.
Skipper Rush and the Guosim had been there to meet them when they arrived the previous day, and spent the night there by the water. The shrews were just as noisy as Jacques had said, arguing and fighting and "debating." Then, they snored. Not only the men, but the women and children too. It was a wonder Skarzs got any sleep at all. Their food and shrewbeer, however, were good.
But now it was time for them to start on the next leg of the journey to the ocean, via the river with the help of the shrews' boats. Apparently, it was supposed to be the easiest part of their journey. Skarzs looked dubiously at the logboats beached not far from the camp. They were every bit as odd as he thought they would be. The others would be fine in them, provided these shrews were competent riverbeasts, but he was not sure whether he would sink a boat or tip it over. He pondered the idea of tying two boats together, but when he asked about it, Skipper only said that he did not need to worry, and that he should step aside and wait until the shrews were ready.
The others were doing their own things, so Skarzs sat on a rock watching the river churn by, every once in a while looking back at the Guosim milling around or his companions caught in the fray. It was just as well; from his distance, he couldn't hear any half-whispered remarks about himself or Jukka. Apparently, the Guosim still had quite the steadfast view on "vermin". He hoped he would not lose his temper before too long.
Jukka had not had a very restful night. She was a light sleeper anyway, and sleeping on a thin bedroll on the hard ground, surrounded by cacophonous snores, was not her idea of a good time. Now, the beginnings of a headache were pulsing in the back of her neck -- there had been a tree root or something underneath her all night.
Ugh.
She twisted her neck to ease the strain, then hefted the pack of food she had volunteered to load into a logboat. Shrews scurried past, seemingly trying to stay out of her way. They were all pretty prejudiced, though she couldn't exactly blame them. The stares and whispers had even been slightly amusing to her at first, but now it was just getting annoying.
She plunked the pack of food into a logboat and then stepped back, looking around. Spying Corny, she meandered on over to her. "Well, this is gonna be interesting," she commented, gesturing grandly towards the river. "I don't think I've even been in a real boat in years."
OOC: It's been a month and a half. . . Oof.
BIC: The Guosim were almost all ready when a shout rose up, and Skarzs raised his head to see why. Another boat came into view from downstream, rowed by several sets of oars. It was much wider and longer than any of the logboats, and it was even painted green. For a moment Skarzs wondered if it was the same ship that a Log-a-log from one of the books had renamed in honor of his wife, but he guessed that was not the case.
The shrews swiftly caught the ropes thrown to them, and the longboat was pulled to shore and lashed to a tree. Several more shrews hopped out of the boat, and Skipper greeted one in particular. Skarzs knew that one must have been the Log-a-log; he had not been there the night before. He decided to leave his seat of solitude and join the others.
"Hey Dan, looks like I won't be taking up two boats after all," Skarzs said as he passed by Danflor.
OOC: Whoops, sorry - Don't know why I didn't respond earlier when I saw this, must have forgotten. BIC:
Corn laughed nervously, "I've only been on a boat once, years ago. Interesting is gonna be an understatement. Did you sleep well? I know I didn't. Too much snoring." The bigger green boat appeared then and caught her attention, "Oooooh, I wonder what that's for, it looks fancy."
Dann had just finished washing his face when the excitement stirred up. His eyes were finally clearing up as Skarz showed up behind him, "Heh heh, congrats dog.... er, cat? Whatever, you get the idea... Ever been in a canoe before? Oh dang! I should've asked the girls earlier too to make sure they know how to row and paddle, shoot..." His head spun around a couple of times, checking around for their friends. Success came soon, but they were a fairly significant distance away, "Guess we should just trust that they can manage themselves, they're probably fine anyway."
"Yeah, I didn't really sleep either," Jukka said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Who knew shrews could snore that loudly?"
She watched the green boat pull in with interest. "You think one of those guys is the Log-a-Log?"
Skarzs gave a "Pff" at the dog remark. "It's been a while since I've been in a canoe. Hopefully the shrews can show us the right way."
He made his way over to Corn and Jukka, guessing Dan would join them as well. Fenty passed by, saying "Good morning, Corn!"
Skarzs shook his head at the young squirrel, then spoke to the two girls. "You guys ever been on a river before?"
Corn watched the shrew interact with Skipper with interest, "Must be, that one seems important. If not Log-a-log then someone higher up." Her mind wandered to the shrews as she spaced out of a moment, blinking back to reality as Skarzs came over. "Mornin', Fenty. Uh, no. I was on a boat once but that was a lake. Bit different than this. I've never been on a canoe or kayak or anything before either, unless you count a paddleboard thingamabobber."
"Yeaaah, same here, pretty much," Jukka said. "Unless you, like, count this one time when I was four. But that was a lake too. And we had a motor." She studied the boats. "It can't be too hard, though, right?"
Skipper was soon joined by Drakken, and the two spoke a little longer with the shrew. Eventually, Drakken left the discussion and approached Skarzs, Jukka, and Corn. "Let's get in the boats. It's time to go. Let the shrews take care of getting us in the water. Skarzs, you'll be in the longboat."
Skarzs did a little fist pump. "Cool! I-I mean, That's good! I didn't want to sink one of the logboats."
The already busy camp suddenly went into a near-frenzy as the shrew from the longboat (most definitely the Log-a-Log in Skarzs' mind) gave a gruff cry, and everybeast began piling into the boats.
"Shall we all go in the longboat?" Skarzs asked Corn and Jukka as they all, too, made their way toward the boats.
OOC: Whoops! I would've posted sooner if I had seen there was a new post.
BIC:
"Sure!" Jukka said, because it sounded way more fun to be with her friends than a bunch of shrews she didn't know. She climbed into the longboat and sat down near the middle, looking around with interest.
"As long as we're allowed," Corn agreed as she followed Jukka onto the boat cautiously. The last thing she wanted to do was fall overboard into the river, and with her luck and balance at present Corn really wouldn't have been surprised if she did. Settling down next Jukka, the squirrel looked around at the shrews prepping to sail with open interest.
Jukka became aware that something was tickling her leg. Looking down, she espied a large and grotesque spider meandering across her thigh. It was mottled brown-and-black, with long antennae waving above its furry legs.
"Spider!" she gasped.
She lifted her leg and tried to flick the thing off over the side of the boat, but something went wrong along the way. The boat rocked, her balance tipped, and then she fell overboard.
Cold river water rushed into her nostrils. The spot where she'd fallen in was much deeper than she'd expected, and her awkward ferret body wasn't making things much easier. She kicked, trying to get her face above the surface, but her waterlogged fur felt like it was dragging her down.
OOC: Felt like it was time to make things a little more exciting. ;D
"Oh for heaven's sake!" Dann had meandered behind Skarz at his own pace, enjoying what little semblance of solitude one could get with shrews around. He'd just made it to the others when they were boarding, though he was more tentative about making assumptions as to seating, thus being front row to Jukka's mishap, "Somebody please tell me she can swim...... scratch that, she's not comin' up on her own is she, anybeast got a rope or fancy them self a hero?" He scanned around quickly to see how the shrews reacted.
OOC: Missed opportunity really, could'a had Corn fall in to get rescued (or "rescued") by Fenty XD
It had taken a moment for Skarzs to realize what had happened to Jukka, and tried to reach over and grab her flailing paws. Many of the shrews were laughing as she floundered, and Skarzs grew angry. She was moving downstream, and he couldn't reach her.
"Get a rope!" he yelled to anyone who would listen, standing up and hopping after the ferret. Unfortunately, the boat rocked even worse when he shifted his weight, and he too, fell: face forward in the boat, and cracked his jaw on one of the seats. There he lay, completely knocked out.
Jukka knew how to swim, and under normal circumstances she wouldn't have been this uncoordinated and useless. These were not normal circumstances. Some kind of wayward river current was dragging her away from the boat and pulling her under even as she fought it. She managed to snatch one quick, panicked breath before the water closed over her head again, and in that brief second she could hear shouts and laughter.
What the hey? Were the shrews laughing at her?
OOC: I love the way things are going. ;D Also, I have no idea how river currents work, but let's just pretend this all makes sense.
Dann's eyes sharpened with a growled, "Tsch!" under his breathe, a precaution he did not take as he let out a somewhat huffy, "Fine then, I'll do it." He took a quick moment more to size up his options, suddenly realizing that he had some nifty tools lying around. Running onto the bigger boat with Skarz now serving as an impromptu ballast, he was quickly able to scoop up a couple of paddles, take a few running steps on the seats, and hop back to the shore with a grassy tumble. The squirrel rolled back over and rushed to his feet, jogging down the river to get shortly ahead of Jukka, "Hey Corn! Check on Skarz and see if he's alright, then make your way down the bank just in case... And where's Drakken?!" Thankfully they were at a ford, so the current wouldn't be too strong for awhile. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for, a strong root system exposed near the bank. Thrusting one of the paddle grips into the network, he wrapped his feet around the top of the blade to anchor himself as he sat down with his back to the water. Dann leaned out just over the surface of the water with his posterior resting right at the edge of the bank. The second paddle whipped into the water, grip side out towards Jukka. He quickly splashed each of his hands and the paddle blade into the water so he could adjust to a wet grasp before his friend passed by, "Aaah, geez, this bloody water's freezing!"
Corn had let out a shrill shriek as Jukka tumbled head over paws into the river, lunging to catch her as she fell. Unfortunately she was too slow and only avoided slipping into the river herself, scrabbling backwards away from the edge so as not to get batted in by Skarzs' attempt to reach Jukka. She could only watch and flinch as he tripped and was knocked unconscious mere moments later.
"Hey Corn! Check on Skarz and see if he's alright, then make your way down the bank just in case... And where's Drakken?!"
"Shall do!" She called back to Dann as he made his way down the bank. Corn pointedly ignored the shrews as she held a hand in front of the cougar's nose and mouth to check for even breathing. "Good, good," she muttered to herself. She didn't see any blood, although Skarzs would have be sporting a rather large bruise for the next few days. His eyelids started to flutter and she patted his cheek gently before standing up from her crouch and looking around for Drakken, who was nowhere to be seen.
The boat wasn't moving too quickly downstream, which would make the jump from boat to bank a little easier, but Corn still wrinkled her nose at the distance. "Ah well, just gotta go for it." She ran a few steps and flung herself over to the bank, landing with a thud on all fours. All in one piece, too, didn't even roll or sprain anything. She grinned to herself and took off down the bank towards Dann and, hopefully, Jukka.
OOC: Sorry for the mild PP there Skarzs, hope that's alright.
In the midst of her frantic spluttering and thrashing, Jukka suddenly caught sight of Dan, reaching a boat paddle out towards her. This was her only hope; she hadn't been able to get a proper breath in quite a while, and she was losing strength. With a last gasp of desperation, she lunged and managed to dig her right-paw claws into the paddle. Her other paw followed, wrapping around the shaft. She could barely do anything else, so she just clung to it, coughing up water and trying to fill her lungs with air again.
It didn't take long for Corn to reach the root system where Dann had positioned himself while jogging; she got there right as Jukka grabbed the paddle with her other paw. "What do you need me to do?" She asked, crouching down by the bank next to Dann. As important as it was to not lose her head during the moment, Corn's stomach was trying very hard to tie itself into knots at the sight of Jukka's struggles.
Jukka continued coughing up water. The back of her nose was burning painfully, and it felt like she had swallowed half the river.
Dann released a sharp grunt as Jukka made contact, all of the preparations nearly going to waste as he felt a jolt stronger than expected. After regaining his grip properly, he slowly drew his friend closer, "Corn, please reach out to grab her as soon as she's in reach and help me get her up the bank." The squirrel turned his head back to the victim, speaking strongly, "Jukka, it's me, An.... er, Dann! You're perfectly safe now, so hold on, keep coughing, and do your best to stay relaxed. As long as you don't panic, you'll be up on shore in just a moment, alright?" As she drew near, he pulled the paddle in towards Corn so she would have a better angle, "Try to get under her shoulders, straighten your back, and drag her up. Watch where you do it though, don't want her to get speared by a stick or anything." He finally got a chance to glance back towards everybeast else, Drakken appeared to have finally caught on to what was happening, and was rushing over at the moment.
Corn nodded and adjusted her footing to become more anchored as Dann moved the paddle closer. There thankfully wasn't anything too close that Jukka could get caught on, although there was a few rocks that probably weren't going to feel too great. She reached out and carefully grabbed Jukka as directed, "It's just Corn, we gotcha, you're all good." Backing up the bank away from the water without tripping was slightly trickier than anticipated with her friend's coughing and spluttering, and Corn only hoped she wasn't dragging her too roughly.
Everything was too cold and too loud. Dann and Corn were pulling her to shore and talking to her, although she was having trouble focusing on what they were saying. Corn reached out and grabbed her under the arms, and Jukka tried to calm down her coughing, but it wasn't exactly working. Her knee hit a rock underwater, and she winced. Then she was on dry ground again, hunched over on her paws and knees, still coughing.
This... was embarrassing.
After a moment, though, she finally got it under control. She moved into a sitting position, looking at her friends and dredging up a grin. "Thanks. I swear I know how to swim... I don't know what happened."
Dann pulled himself up, feet not particularly happy with his recent decisions. Kneeling down next to Jukka, he reached for her neck to check her pulse as he started to talk to her, "Look me straight in the eye, but don't stare hard, try and keep your vision relaxed. As for the swimming, you freaked out and fell in freezing cold water, your body almost certainly went into at least mild shock from the surprise of the impact and temperature. Compound that with your lack of familiarity with your current physiology and this being your first time in the water with fur and full clothing, I'd say your experience with swimming was all but moot there for awhile... How's your breathing feel? Is there any difficulty or catch that makes it painful or difficult? Any sense of nausea?"
Jukka's breathing was still rapid, and a raw, burning sensation still lingered in her nose and throat, but she couldn't detect any difficulty or nausea. She shook her head. "No... I don't think so."
Skarzs regained consciousness as water was dumped onto his head, and he sat up quickly. "Aaah, where's Jukka!" he cried. Immediately, his paws went to his mouth, where he felt the pain from his stumble. His jaw was swollen, and he could taste blood. His tongue felt like he had been chewing on it.
"She's over there." Skipper stood over him, pointing his paw downstream where Dan and Corn could be seen tending to the ferret, and Drakken was approaching them. Skarzs hopped out of the boat, dashing off toward them, hoping Jukka was alright.
"Thank God!" he said. Jukka was able to sit up and communicate. "Are you okay?"
Drakken looked at Skarzs curiously from his foreign words, but turned his attention back to Jukka. "Yes, are you alright? I'm sorry I wasn't able to help sooner. I had no idea what happened."
OOC: Sorry for not posting sooner! A ton of real-life stuff has come up.
BIC:
Skarzs looked terrible -- his jaw was swollen, and was that blood she was seeing?
He was asking if she was okay.
"Yeah, I think so," she answered, despite how tired she felt. "I could ask you the same thing! What happened?"
Drakken was crouching next to her too, asking the same thing and apologizing. "Yeah, I think I am," she said. "You're fine. I don't know what happened either... I guess I'm just clumsy today."
"I guess we'll both have to be more careful," Skarzs said, touching his jaw. Ow, he thought. He hoped he hadn't loosened a tooth.
Skipper Rush came up behind them and looked down at Jukka. "If yer all done playin' around, the shrews 're ready to depart. Let's hope no one else falls off durin' the voyage, 'cause we might not turn around for 'em." With that, he went back to the boats, shouting for them to start setting sail.
If it had not been for his temperament, Skarzs would have had educated the otter on some choice new words from back home. As it was, though, the cougar still stared at Rush, hoping he could sense his anger. "Come on, guys," he said to his friends. "We really ought to go, I guess. You want some help, Jukka?"
Dann's next exhalation sounded more like pressurized steam. A few moments passed as he sat there, weighing options, "Yeah, help 'er up slow, and take your time. Drakken, please stay here with them, I don't want you to get caught up in the blast," This last word had been spat out like a curse, "And don't a single one of you even think about getting involved, this problem dies here, I just hope the cost of their pride doesn't exceed the value of Noonvale." Before anybeast could properly register what he said, he was off at a quick clip. He arrived at the campsite shortly, and took even less time to find his target, a particular logboat. There was little to separate this boat from the others, a little wider and longer, but the contents were as good as he could hope. It was laden with medical supplies, weapons, even a portion of the Redwall fare they had bothered to bring along, a boat meant for someone Log-a-log trusted, a boat who's handlers had just turned their backs. The squirrel's stomach lurched at the thought of what he was about to do as his right foot came to rest on the partially beached vessel, "For those I Love, I will do great..." watery commotion ground the bustle of the camp to a halt, "AND TERRIBLE THINGS!" The logboat was jolted out of it's position, floating off into the stream whilst spilling plenty of it's contents into the waters greedy grasp. Dann whirled on the crowd he had suddenly, violently amassed with a maniacal smile plastered on as hard as could be , wretched, raucous laughter dredged from the darkest perversion of villainous joy scratched it's way through the morning air preceding a heinously sarcastic voice, "Isn't. That. FU-NNY?" He stood there, as if some demonic jester, come to grace them with the humor of vengeful irony, "Why. Aren't. You. Laughing?" He scanned the crowd slowly, allowing just a drop of his malice into the otherwise amused eyes, "It's only the second time, not a chuckle? Maybe some more?"
OOC: Italics aren't showing super well, but those are supposed to be thoughts. Totally should've gone to bed, work's gonna suck tomorrow, but boy was that fun to write... Been awhile since I got to sink into it like that.
Corn's jaw had dropped at the Skipper's rude behavior, and she glared at his receding back as she reached, helping Jukka to stand. "Wait, what are you-" She called after Dann as he left speedily, cutting herself off with a frown. It had been obvious he hadn't heard and Corn knew that they wouldn't be able to change his mind even if he had. "Shall we?" She asked, gesturing along the path with a sigh. What was important was that they all stayed together and in one piece, and at the rate they were going, Corn wasn't sure either of those things were going to be a given.
OOC: Sorry for the mild PP, Jukka, hope you don't mind
Jukka's eyes widened at Skipper's remark, but she didn't bother saying anything in response to him.
"Maybe," she answered Skarzs, and then Corn helped her to her feet.
And then Dann said something so out of the blue that Jukka was left blinking in surprise as he took off for the shrew camp. "What on earth?" she muttered; then to Corn, "Yeah, let's go."
"Hey, actually, do y'all mind if I run ahead?" Corn's eyes narrowed at the woods ahead of the trio. She really didn't have a good feeling about what was going on at the camp, and it would take a few minutes longer than she'd like with the waterlogged Jukka. Corn didn't bother waiting for an answer, just throwing a "Cool, thanks!" back over her shoulder as she dashed ahead.
It didn't take the squirrel very long to draw close to her destination, even with the added trips and stumbles. Dann's laughter could be heard through the trees and Corn started to slow down, not wanting to charge right in the middle of. . . Whatever it was. She arrived at the outskirts of camp with the stream (And Dann) on her left, and her eyes widened almost comically as she heard the last of what he'd been saying. There was scrape marks on the embankment by his footpaws and she'd passed the boat floating downstream - It wasn't too hard to piece together what had happened. Corn was unnoticed so far and she stepped a few steps back, hoping to stay that way for a little longer at least.
A dozen shrew rapiers were drawn and pointed at Dan's throat. The Log-a-log went right up to the squirrel's face, his grizzled countenance a mask of anger. "Are you out o' yer ever-lovin' mind, boy?" he bellowed. "What th' devil has gotten into you?"
Skarzs heard the yelling, and shook his head in disbelief; there was no way Dan had done what he did. There was a splash as Drakken dove into the water to retrieve the logboat before it drifted too far downstream. "Sorry about this, Jukka," Skarzs said, picking her up in his arms and hurrying toward the commotion. He did not want to leave her there, and someone was going to need to put out the fire Dan had just started.
"Dan, you idiot, what're you doing?" Skarzs cried when he saw the swords directed at him.
"Gotten into me?" A look of shock was quickly replaced as Dann dropped the act, shouting in rage, "GOTTEN INTO ME!? How dare you try to pull that after how unforgivably vile you've all been acting! A boat of supplies is turned over and you're ready for blood, but when somebeast else's life is endangered suddenly it's FUNNY!?" His ears perked up as he heard Skarz on his way, "Idiot nothing Skarz, I'm putting an end to this garbage here and now before these worthless, misbegotten excuses for ditch filth put you and Jukka in danger or worse!" The squirrel had turned to address his compatriot, and now whirled back around with his arm out, batting down the rapiers, "And get those over-grown needles out of my face! You're a shame on Redwall, and a shame on Mossflower country! Every record the lot of us have pored over told of unmatched hospitality, a shared commitment to the benefit of all rather than personal grudges or gains!" His eyes narrowed as he attempted to look every shrew and Rush in the eyes, "But all I see from the lot of you is a conglomeration of disgusting traits held together by some misbegotten logic and a pack of poor excuses." Gaze traveling back to Log-a-log, Dann gave his ultimatum, "So what's going to happen is that you and the Skipper will apologize to my friends and promise that you'll treat them with some respect and dignity as you would anybeast else. Do so, and we can start over from scratch, I'd rather we got along and worked efficiently than have to deal with this kind of bad stuff, but I will, under no circumstances, allow you to be so inexcusably awful towards my friends... As the leader of the Guosim, would you stand idly by if somebeast else started to mistreat one of your own? I'm not their leader, none of us are, but I won't stand for such things regardless."
By now, Skarzs had put Jukka down, and she stood there on her own two shaky footpaws, shocked by the ferocity of the exchange playing out before her. Dan was right, though -- the Skipper and the Guosim had been none too friendly towards them, and it had to stop. Given the rapiers pointed at him, though, that might be easier said than done.
"What should we do?" she whispered to Skarzs, eyeing the shrews' weapons nervously.
"I don't know," mumbled Skarzs in response to Jukka. He stepped forward, his heart beating quickly. As much as he did not want to raise tensions even further, he needed the shrews to know he was there, and to help Dan if need be, even if it was to calm the squirrel down.
The Log-a-log blinked, looking at Dan sharply. "Alright, boys, put yer blades up. We ain't enemies here." He waited until the other shrews removed the rapiers from Dan's neck. "Sorry to upset you so badly, master squirrel. I don't think the lads meant any harm. Ye need to understand, creatures fall overboard all the time. I 'd no idea the missy couldn't swim." He looked behind where Jukka was standing. "Looks like she's alright, though. An' Drakken's got the logboat, I see."
The shrew went up to Jukka and bowed. "My apologies, miss. My Guosim shouldn't have made light o' what 'appened."
Skarzs nodded as he heard Log-a-log's apology, then gave Dan a serious look. This wouldn't end it all permanently.
She looked down at the Log-a-log and nodded. "Thank you. It's alright."
It wasn't. But she was in the habit of being polite, and she didn't know what else to say.
The only reply she got was a nod from Log-a-log before he turned away. Well, fine. He obviously didn't care.
Wondering what would happen next, she gazed across the sea of shrew heads and found herself making eye contact with Cress on the other side. The ottermaid gave her a sympathetic grimace, then mouthed, "Sorry." Jukka smiled back, but the escalating noise of the arguing shrews prevented her from saying anything properly.
Where was Corn? Jukka craned her head, trying to spot her.
Corn had stayed hidden through the rest of the confrontation - She didn't want to hop in at the wrong moment and screw everything up or, worse, endanger Dann. Still, she watched with baited breath, ready to do something, even if she wasn't sure what. She flinched when the rapiers were drawn and pointed at her friend, and she almost called out but then Skarzs and Jukka came rushing up, passing her. Skarzs jumped in headfirst without taking any time to look at what was going on and Corn cringed more. She wasn't sure how the situation could go more wrong, short of blood being spilled, but at that point it seemed like they were heading that direction.
The squirrel let out a shaky breath as apologies were exchanged and rapiers put away. Dann was entirely right, and while she wished there could have been fewer blades involved, she was glad that the prejudice had been addressed and would (hopefully) stop. Corn melted out of the treeline, ignoring the glances from the shrews and making a beeline for Dann, who was still by the riverbank surrounded by shrews. "Are you okay?" She asked, somewhat frantically, once closer. Logically she knew he was unharmed, she had seen most of what had gone down and he looked fine, but she still needed to make sure.
Dann watched the Log-a-log out of the corner of his eye, all things considered, this was a halfway-decent outcome. He let out a quiet, heavy breath. He was still mad, but they were better off taking what they'd gotten than gambling for anything more. Weariness almost immediately fell upon the squirrel as the fiasco hit its' resolution. He knew he shouldn't, but he peaked at his stinging paw. Sure enough, there was a decent cut right across it, and a few bonus scratches to boot. Vision blurry, and head dizzy, Corn showed up at almost the worst possible time, making him extra glad that his fur was white so as to hide the paleness that would've certainly showed otherwise. He turned to her, letting the cut paw dangle innocently, though pointedly turned inward so she wouldn't notice anything, "I'll be fine, heart's pumpin' a bit faster though." "Thank God for tenses and ambiguity." He'd turned toward the furry blob based on her voice, but that was about the sum total of movement he could handle without further complications. He locked his legs and waist in place, letting the world spin around him, forcing himself to accept that he knew exactly where he stood, and that no correction was necessary. It was all he could do to keep his voice and words straight, "Guess we'll have to take what we can get, Noonvale can't afford us much in terms of time."
Observation and attention to detail had always been one of Corn's strengths as a human, and as a squirrel it was no different. Reading everyone else - Particularly her three companions, as she knew them so well - hadn't been difficult in the slightest, and that moment was no exception. It was with a frown that Corn noted Dann's posture changes and stiffness, his slightly unfocused eyesight, and the reassurances she normally would've believed only made her pause.
"It was a good start, at the very least. Do you want to sit down for a minute? You don't look.... great, and we have a few extra minutes before we need to go."
Dann held back a frown, "Just a bit dizzy, nothing I haven't walked off before." He debated saying something to Drakken, but he didn't really have any words for him. It would be awkward to just talk to him at a time like this, and he couldn't justify an apology as he felt no regret. Rather, the squirrel worried whether he'd been harsh enough... even so, he'd reached his limit, even a wink of conflict could blow him over at this point... It felt awful, but such was the price of progress, something they desperately needed right now. He let out a sigh, "Sorry if I worried you, they pushed me over the edge, and I wasn't about to go along with their games... Here's hoping things actually change a little around here." The water was nearby so he made his way to it, disguising what was essentially a fall as something at least akin to a slide. The frigid water felt amazing now, though he was lucky that the bark of pain from accidentally putting his right paw in was cut off by a throat clearing. Kneeling next to the water and washing up had definitely helped screw his head back on, but he knew his heart was going to be shaky for... a long time yet.
Corn followed Dann to the river's edge, flinching as he fell and slithered down the embankment. She had reached out to steady him, but hesitation had made her too slow and thankfully he hadn't seen. "Dann...." She paused as she crouched down. Something was clearly wrong and the fact that her fellow squirrel was trying to hide it was extremely frustrating and worrying to Corn, and she wasn't quite sure how to proceed. Catching a glimpse of the gash on Dann's palm, she frowned, "What's that? Lemme take a look." Stretching out her own paw to take Dann's, she looked at him, "I know you're not telling me something, and I know you're not as alright as you're trying to appear to be. Let me help. Please. All four of us are pretty much lost if we don't work together, and it's crazy enough right now without that happening."
Something over his shoulder caught Corn's eye - The shrews were starting to get ready to set off again, albeit a bit more quietly this time. She couldn't locate Skarzs and Jukka at first glance, even with how they towered over the shrews, and she flicked her gaze back to Dann. "So, friend. Will you let me help you?"
Skarzs stayed near Jukka, not quite comfortable to let her be by herself yet, but not wanting to hover. He suggested they get back in the boat. "Hopefully neither of us will fall this time," he added with a half-hearted laugh.
His jaw hurt substantially, but he could not do anything about it. Touching it stung, and it was still bleeding a bit. Ignoring the cut, Skarzs looked around, eventually finding his eyes resting on Dan and Corn. They were crouched near the river, talking. He caught a few words, and saw Corn looking at Dan's paw. . . There was red. The cougar made a thoughtful grunt; it wasn't entirely unexpected for someone else to get injured. At least it wasn't more serious.
Jukka gave a wry snort. "Yeah, let's hope so." She glanced at Skarzs's swollen face again, wincing sympathetically. He was gonna need to put something cold on that.
She moved off towards the boat, a bit slowly, eyeing Dann and Corn who were by... in? ...the water. From what she could see, Dann didn't look in the best of shape. Red glinted on his paw, stark against his pale fur.
"Looks like he... cut himself?" she muttered, half to herself. A thought dawned. "Oh... did he cut himself rescuing me?"
She reached the bank above the two squirrels a moment later, and squelched down through the mud to them. "Is... everything okay?" she asked, peering at Dann worriedly.
Dann closed his right fist, pulling it closer to his chest, defensively. He took a moment to formulate his words, "Think about it Corn, I just stood up to their Log-a-log, they're not going to be happy with me... well, ever. It's really not that bad, but if we make a fuss over it, the shrews may take it as a sign of weakness and try to exploit it somehow." A weak excuse to be sure, but he was searching for anything to keep Corn from worrying more, and he was sure the cut looked worse than it was. To complicate things further, Jukka showed up behind him. He turned to his other friend, a pleasant expression much in evidence, "Couple'a dings maybe, nothing too serious though." He took the opportunity to scan the undergrowth behind Jukka for some preferably clean, soft grass, a fistful of which could potentially alleviate the stinging in the face of just how much rowing was ahead of them.
"Here, this will help."
Skarzs turned his head to Cress, who was holding a dockleaf in her paw. She reached up and pressed it to his jaw, and the soothing properties of the leaf felt good on it. Skarzs took it and held it there, surprised. "Thank you," he said with a smile, and Cress smiled back. After a moment, the cougar had a thought. "Did you have any more of those? I think Dan could use one."
"Oh! Yes I do." The otter showed another leaf she held by the stem and went off toward the squirrel.
Corn sighed heavily, irritated. "Yeah, I suppose you're not wrong. Still." As Jukka came up behind them she cut herself off, deciding to just drop the subject.... For now. She knew far too well how stubborn Dann could be and if it was going to come to a battle of wills she'd more than likely lose, and he was right - A scene would not go over very well.
That didn't stop her from glaring at his back as he turned to talk to Jukka, however, before smiling at her. "How about you, though? Are you doing alright?" Everything else aside, Jukka had fallen into the river, and she still looked pretty soggy. Other than that, she seemed pretty cheery and sounded much better, at least.
"Oh... that's good then," Jukka answered, a bit doubtfully, glancing between the two of them. She had seen the glare Corn had shot Dann's way. What had they been talking about, exactly...?
Corn turned toward her then and smiled, and Jukka shoved her train of thought away. She could wonder about it later.
"How about you, though?" Corn asked. "Are you doing alright?"
"I think I'm okay? Definitely better than a few minutes ago, at least." It was true, although she still felt a bit tired. She glanced out over the river, wondering when they would get underway again.
"That's good to hear, but please let me know if you end up feeling nausea at some point. Pretty sure you went into shock for awhile, need to be careful with what you're doing for a bit longer yet." Shortly after, Cress showed up with the leaf to which Dann raised an eyebrow.
"Your friend said you needed one too, plenty to go around!"
The squirrel sighed quietly, "Many thanks Cress." He reached out with his left hand to grab the gift, rising as he did so, nodding once to be extra sure his gratefulness was conveyed. His head still felt a tad light, but he could tell where he was going, and his legs were a bit more obedient now, "Ladies? After you." He performed an extravagant bow, right paw still closed, indicating the general direction of the quickly disappearing campsite.
"Okay." Jukka nodded in acknowledgment of Dann's admonition. Had she really gone into shock back there...? Wow, yeah, maybe she had. Wack. Nothing like that had happened before.
Mossflower was already proving to be much harsher and realer than she had expected.
She stepped out of the way when Cress arrived with a dockleaf, then, at Dann's bidding, made her way back up the bank.
The shrews looked to be nearly ready to go, though Jukka caught many surly glances thrown their way. It was uncomfortable, to say the least, and she wasn't sure where to look, so she plastered on an awkward smile and kept her eyes down as she walked over to the logboats.
OOC: Sorry, never saw Jukka's post.
BIC: With a sigh, Corn followed Jukka back up the bank, slowing her pace once she reached a short distance from the river. Just because she was rather irritated by Dann's stubbornness didn't mean she wasn't going to keep an eye on him - after all, letting him fall over unconscious would rather defeat the purpose as well as causing undue fuss.
Cress had started up the bank after Corn, but because of the squirrel's dawdling she soon caught up. "Hey, Cress, thanks for helping Skarzs and Dann out. I'm not that familiar with the plantlife around here, maybe next time we stop you can show me what's what for some of it and how to use it? If you're not busy, or anything." Corn smiled at the ottermaid, hoping to come off as friendly as possible. It looked like their group was going to be pretty accident prone and the knowledge couldn't hurt, and besides, it was the sort of thing Corn enjoyed learning.
Cress smiled at Cornflower. "Sure, I'd be happy to! Next time we stop to camp, then?" The squirrelmaid seemed eager to learn, and Cress loved to teach.
Once again, though, in spite of herself, Cress realized anew what an unusual lot these newcomers were. They didn't seem to have a lot of survival skills (especially Jukka), yet they had traveled from far away. Where on earth were they from?
She suddenly realized she was frowning in thought, still looking at Cornflower. Oops. Hopefully Corn didn't think the frown was directed at her. She gave her a wide smile. "Well, later, then? Gotta hand out these to some otherbeasts."
-----------------------
Jukka stepped into a logboat, empty of beasts except for a large old shrewwife sitting in the back. She took great care not to rock the boat as she sat down, not at all anxious to repeat her earlier dip in the river. The shrew-ballast in the back helped a great deal.
Corn smiled back, "Awesome! That sounds like a plan!" She firmly ignored the knots that were trying to form in her stomach at Cress's frown and hurried towards the nearest boat with Jukka - Most of the shrews had departed already, and someone being left behind was all they needed at the moment. A quick glance confirmed that Dann wasn't too terribly far behind her, although she couldn't immediately locate Skarzs - A bit odd, considering his size. "Hey, Jukka - Have you seen Skarzs lately?"
"Yeah, just a few minutes ago," Jukka said, raising an eyebrow. "He'd better hurry before he gets left behind."
Skarzs was waiting in the longboat as it was piled up with shrews, and soon they were on their way, floating down the river.
"Away!" Log-a-log cried. "Guosim away! To the sea!"
A drum started thrumming from another logboat, setting the rhythm to which they would row. It was a slow pace, for the most part using the river's current to hurry them along, but the additional momentum practically made them fly downstream. A baritone voice started singing.
"I'm a shrew through and through,
There ain't nothing more true.
Born with water inside my shoe.
Ridin' the rapids 's what you do
If you're a true shrew too.
I'm a shrew, through and through,
There ain't nothing more true
Drank enough beer to drown a crew
Eat hardtack and a pot of burgoo
If you're a true shrew too."
Skarzs laughed as the verses went on. The song was ridiculous, but he could have expected nothing less from the Guosim.
Jukka breathed deep of the free air, letting the rhythmic singing fill her ears as she tried to relax. They were fairly flying down the river, and this wouldn't have fazed her normally, but with recent events... she was on edge.
The song was definitely hilarious, though. And very Redwall-ish.
Dann was last to reach a logboat, in making for a paddle to help, it was quickly yoinked out from under him by a fairly terse looking shrew, to put it lightly. He sighed, "Understandable, just let me know if you could use a break. Paddle's one'a the few things I know enough about to be of use aroun' here." Sitting there being useless was most certainly far from preferable for him, but he was none too keen on the idea of starting another argument, he was shaking again already from the last one as it was. They began to move, and he could only wish more for a distraction from the pain, something he'd never had any tolerance for. Looking at the water he knew he'd need to dip the offending paw in to keep it clean did not help his outlook. At least the singing was something to think about, and also reminded the squirrel to take a look around and identify each of his friends... They all seemed well enough, and at least this much was a relief.
As they made their way down the river Corn looked around, taking in the scenery with awe as the shrew's singing filled the air around them. Mossflower Wood was quite pretty, although she hadn't imagined that it would be so.... Normal. Not that she was complaining, it would have been more odd if the forest matched the expectations set by her 8-year-old self.
Corn bit her lip as she glanced over to Jukka. It was clear her friend was holding a bit of tension but that was reasonable, Corn would've been nervous too if she were in Jukka's shoes. She smiled, hopefully reassuringly, at her. The shrew in their logboat was singing rather too loudly to really hold a proper conversation so that would have to do for now.
The day whizzed by in the logboats, as the shrews hadn't stopped for an afternoon meal, merely passing out food from supplies. As it turned to early evening, however, the decision to stop was made and soon they were setting up camp.
Corn had been about to join the group going to collect firewood when one of the shrew cooks had spotted her and ordered her to help unload cooking supplies, as apparently they were being "slower than snails." With a nod she hurried away, narrowly avoiding slipping and faceplanting as she did so.
Fenty was also helping with that particular task and his face lit up with a grin as he drew near Corn. "Hi Corn! What are you thinking of the river?"
"Oh, well enough. I've never been on a boat so long before, but the scenery is certainly something to look at it." Corn smiled back, reaching forward to take a larger sack of what appeared to be flour before turning to walk back. She'd only taken a few steps when she stumbled onto what looked like another solid patch of ground but was in reality a small hole, just large enough to get her footpaw stuck in. Unable to stagger and catch herself, Corn felt the ground rush up and meet her with a Thud!
Corn blinked at the leaves that were now two inches from her face, mentally attempting to catalogue what was hurting. She'd dropped the sack of flour (and didn't dare look to see if the sack burst yet) and her ankle felt like it'd been twisted, as well as a few other spots that were definitely going to bruise, and she'd had the breath knocked out of her. Her footpaw was also definitely stuck, Corn discovered as she tried to wiggle it, and the squirrel dropped her face back into the leaves with a groan, not trying to get up yet even though Fenty was fluttering around her losing his head. "Are you okay? Corn? Oh my goodness, are you alright? CORN?!"
Tired and rather hungry, Jukka was helping to unload the logboats (feeling the judging weight of shrew-eyes upon her the whole time), when she heard hollering. She swung around. There on the other side of the clearing lay... Corn? With Fenty yelling next to her? What on earth?
She put down the sack of things in her arms and ran, arriving slightly out of breath.
"What happened?!"
Skarzs had gone to retrieve firewood, and was bringing back a fallen tree limb to be cut up when he saw Corn fall, though he did not think much of it until she failed to get up. With Fenty losing his mind and Jukka coming up to help, the cougar thought he might do well to see what the trouble was. He dropped the limb and hurried over to the three creatures, trying to decipher what happened.
"Fenty, shut up and calm down," he snapped at the excitable squirrel.
"Her footpaw's stuck!" the other cried as Jukka asked her question. "She was just walkin' and then-"
"Well then help her out!" Skarzs went down on one knee beside Corn. "It's in there pretty good. . . How the heck did you manage that? I think if you'll let me lift you up, we can pull your foot out of the hole. Is that okay?"
Corn raised her face from the leaves, going crosseyed attempting to look at a leaf that stuck to her nose momentarily, before turning to look at Jukka and Skarzs. "Yeah, my clumsiness struck again. That's chill, Skar, do what you gotta do. I can't believe I actually fell on my face, that's incredibly embarrassing." She sighed, looking at the flour that had escaped the miraculously still intact sack.
"Fenty, would you mind taking this to the cooks for me?" He hadn't been carrying much, and it was clear Fenty's feelings were a bit hurt by Skarzs's blunt demeanor. Corn hoped giving him something useful and helpful would help make him feel better, and it was clear that it had worked by his bounce and chirp of "Of course!" as he picked it up before darting off.
Dann had done just about everything in his power to avoid being around anybeast upon landing, continuing to wash his reddened paw for lack of much else to do at this point. With all the noise Fenty made, it wasn't hard to deduce what had just happened, "Ah yes, Fenty, Corn's clumsiness, Clumsiness, meet Fenty." He tried to let the situation be, but the situation seemed to be escalating. However, upon arrival, he saw that Skarz had already arrived and had things handled, "Tsk tsk, Corn, can't go a day without an accident? Or perhaps giving your suitor a chance to get close hmmm?" His words were accompanied by a wry grin, "Do I have some competition to worry about ya goose?"
Jukka's eyes widened upon hearing Dann's remark. "Ooooh," she said, amused, and raised an eyebrow at Corn.
With an indignant splutter, Corn swiped at Dann's ankles. "Why, you! As if! C'mere where I can reach, you butt!" She scowled up at the other squirrel before sticking her tongue out at him. A blush had already made it's way up her cheeks but it darkened at Jukka's comment, and in an effort to change the subject she wiggled somewhat impatiently, "Ready whenever you are,
@The Skarzs ."
Skarzs chuckled at the others. "I can hit him for you if you want, Corn. Alright, up you come."
He wrapped his paws under her arms and lifted her up and back as gingerly as he could, watching the footpaw to make sure he did not cause any more damage. It was possible that she had overextended one of her ligaments, but hopefully nothing was sprained. That would suck, he thought.
"Okay," he said, shifting around to support Corn in one arm and reaching out to her foot with the other. "Hopefully. . . yes!" Corn's footpaw popped out of the hole as easily as it had slipped in, looking no worse for wear at the moment.
Skarzs was going to say it looked like a mouse or rat hole she had gotten stuck in, but that would not have made much sense given their circumstances.
Corn laughed as Skarzs picked her up, she could easily see the cougar hitting Dann for her going multiple different ways. She cheered as the hole gave up her footpaw without any trouble. She wiggled it around and wrinkled her nose as the motion aggravated it. "I can confidently say I gave it a good twist! Just what we needed, right? Should be fine with a bit of support, though, and I don't think it's too horribly bad." Corn announced cheerily, although she made no move to wiggle out of Skarzs' grip. Even though it wasn't the worst twisted ankle she'd ever had, walking on it didn't sound very appealing at the moment.
Jukka made a face, staring at Corn's footpaw. It didn't look too bad outwardly, but... "Yikes. You sure you're alright?"
There was a sudden flash of light. Jukka looked up just in time to see lightning fork across the sky, and she slammed her paws over her ears, but not in time to block out the thunder entirely.
The rain followed -- just a few drops at first, but within moments it was a downpour.
The Guosim scurried around, cursing and shouting and hurrying to finish setting up camp.
"Crud," Jukka muttered, resigning herself to an even less restful night than the previous one.