Not all who wander are lost

[W0NWILL]

Verdict padded forward best she could, though her paws were heavy as stone. The sun was dropping lower and lower into the western sky, lengthening the shadows of the little group.

Currently, they were in the most northern reaches of Mossflower Wood, heading south, where the trees were still sparse and the wind still biting through their fur. Verdict breathed in sharply as she stepped on a stick and stumbled. The trees weren't sparse enough.

Honestly, from all the places she'd been, Verdict hadn't ever found a place she really liked. At least as much as she'd liked home. "Could we stop for the night?" She whinned, "I'm tired."

[Ashleg]

"Why not?" Topper chimed, popping up beside the badgermaid.
Well, he seemed cheery enough. As usual.
As a vole, he was dawrfed by Verdict's height, but he seemed to take no mind of that.
He pointed ahead.
"I ran in front of you lot to scout before, there's a nice little clearin' somewhere up here. Or there should be."

[Jasper]

Malcolm, a roughish squirrel sporting dark brown fur and a green cap, along with a leather vest, was perched a few feet above the group on an overhanging tree branch. At the time the large badger made her pronouncement, he had been absentmindedly staring at Ciro, an attractive red squirrel in his group. Shaking his head slightly, as if to clear his mind, he whipped off his hat and wiped a line of sweat from his brow.

He called down to them in reply: "It's a little early in the day to stop just yet. We could still get a ways if we kept on. If you're really tired, you could make camp, and I could take a look at the path ahead, if that's alright."

On the inside, Malcolm was slightly perturbed that the badgermaid wanted to stop. She seemed jumpy and frightened - which seemed ridiculous to him, considering Verdict had two or three times his own height and perhaps double his strength. Besides, there was plenty to see and do in the forest. Malcolm likely wouldn't have turned down an offer to keep traveling throughout the night, if it was given.

As he awaited the badger's answer, he glanced at Ciro, hoping she would be game to spend the last moments of the evening scouting ahead. She had joined their group quite recently, not long after Malcolm had joined himself. She seemed talented in the use of many weapons, but the small bow she carried had caught his eye. Malcolm considered himself something of an expert with a bow, and the similarity in their weapon choice intrigued him. Well, not quite as much as Ciro intrigued him. Malcolm had done his fair share of mingling with squirrels of the female variety, and the main problem he had with them was their desire to settle down and start a family. Naturally, he had done his share of weaving lovely stories of growing old together, but he found it impossible to follow through. Staying home was simply a boring path to take. Ciro was different than the others, however. She had the same excitement in her eyes that he felt coursing through his veins, that same sense of energy. He hoped to take any chance he could to get to know her.

[Lady Amber]

Azalea walked along with the little group, admiring the scenery around them. She liked the forest and its peaceful atmosphere. Hearing Verdict ask if they could stop, Azalea stood still.

"I don't mind stopping for the night," she said. "We could go up to the clearing and make camp there." She shrugged. "Scouting ahead wouldn't hurt, I guess, Malcolm."

[BrookSkimmer]

Ciro had been bounding through the tree tops, keeping the group in view or at least in range. She preferred some time to herself through out the days though having the group around helped. It made for much safer travelling conditions to be sure! That and it was nice to have other beasts to get to know...when she felt like it.

The red squirrel maid had been close enough to hear all of the conversation about making camp for the night. She nodded to herself, her eyes glimmering with the dying rays of the sun. Though she would have been fine with continuing on, it wasn't a problem to stop.

Ciro bounded ahead a couple trees and ended up right next to Malcom. She winked roguishly at the male and nodded to the further off trees.

"Aye, scountin' a bit before dark sounds like a plan to me!"

[Jasper]

Malcolm grinned. He wasn't particularly concerned with what the badger leader thought of the idea, and he wasn't about to stop and ask.

"Let's get to it then. We've probably got half an hour before dark. If we're lucky we'll run into some trouble, huh?"

He awaited her until she drew even to his branch, and then bounded away, hopping from tree to tree.

"Try to keep up!" He called back, chuckling to himself. He kept an eye on the path as he moved. It was well worn and marked by footprints of the past. Malcolm had keen eyes, and he could make out the markings of boots and paws in the muddy bits of the path. Other creatures had likely passed by recently. He made a mental note to mention this to the group. Perhaps it would be wise to post an extra creature on watch tonight. He had heard tell of nasty creatures that could be found in dense woods such as this.

He didn't bother looking back at Ciro - he had a feeling she was keeping up just fine. In fact, he had a sneaking suspicion that if he wasted time to look back she may pass by him.

"So who are you Ciro? What makes you, you?" He called back as he continued.

[BrookSkimmer]

Ciro flung herself from branch to branch. There was nothing better than the ground whipping by far below and the wind blowing through her headfur. There was so much freedom in skipping from tree to tree. She had no concerns, nothing to bring her down! What a feeling!

The male asked her a question as she came abreast to him. She launched herself to a nearby spruce and then to a pine further along. As she went past him she flashed a smile.

"Well now, that's quite a question! Better suited for talking around the campfire than to tree skippin' doncha' think?" She winked and continued on her way. "Maybe tonight we can talk!"

She was moving at a fast pace and it took all her muscle to grip onto a trunk and slow down. Her eyes gleamed as she peered ahead.

"Smoke!" She nodded, knowing Malcom would end up nearby her. "Whatcha make o' that mate?" She sniffed. "Smells like a campfire to me."

[Jasper]

Malcolm nodded. "I knew those footprints on the path looked new. That's a campfire alright. We need to be careful - we don't know if they're friendly."

The two squirrel stealthily crept through the branches above the fire, causing slight creaks and moans to sound from the tree. The sun was nearing its resting place, as darkness crept over the woods. The slight echo of voices could be heard more clearly now.

Malcolm dropped his voice to a whisper as they reached a dead sycamore tree, just meters away from the firelight. "We'll be fine, it'd be a missed opportunity not to check it out. If we get any closer we'll be able to see them, but they may be able to see us too, you ready? Anything goes wrong, go warn the others." With that, he drew his bow, and notched an arrow, a slight smile of excitement on his face.

OOC: Not sure what we're running into here. Does our RP leader have a plan to follow, or can we make it up as we go?

[Ashleg]

OOC-
Why don't we...wait for them?

[BrookSkimmer]

OOC:
The quote from the original OOC post: "If someone comes up with a plot point, we just do it. "

... also I didn't notice anything in the OOC as to posting order so I figured I'd just continue my posting.

BIC:

Ciro nodded in response, doing her best to peer through the slanting shadows towards the fire up ahead. She would have drawn her bow as well but her skills were shoddy at beast. In a pinch her dirks would do just fine.

She crept closer, inch by inch, trying to stay in the cover of the foliage until she could view the scene below.

Her eyes widened as the group came into view. These were certainly not the kinds of beasts she wanted to be crossing paths with in the dark of the night! It appeared to be a rough band of vermin. She could clearly make out at least three of them.

"Is that a hedgehog?" She whispered to Malcom, noting a small beast roped to a stump not far off from the campfire. "We should head back to the group."

They needed to tell the others what was going on.

[Jasper]

OOC: That was my understanding as well, which is nice, honestly, because otherwise we wouldn't be able to move along unless WonWill was around. He hasn't been on in a day or so, we would not have gotten anywhere.

I'm going to create sort of a minor character here, just for plot movement. For the record, anyone in this RP is free to take control of him, and is even free to kill him off.

BIC:

Malcolm's face fell. This was a sickening sight indeed. The young hedgehog had a rope tied around his neck and the other end was tied to a tree. He was tied in the cold, far from the fire, and appeared to be wearing little more than a tattered garment. Close by, two large river rats and a weasel sat around the fire. They had set up camp in a small sheltered clearing. Several logs had been moved to places around the fire to act as benches, and a worn cloth, propped up by a few dozen sticks seemed to provide a temporary lean - to shelter.

He had to admit, the creatures looked rough even for his taste. The river rat farthest from them, opposite of the fire, wore a black bandana on his head and proudly displayed a rusty iron stair rail thrust into his belt, as if it was a sword. He wore a sleeveless garment, revealing steely arm muscles and black tattoos. He had a long ugly snout, and his facial expression seemed to portray disgust. The other two beasts were on the closest side of the fire, with their backs turned to the two squirrels. Their shapes were large and bulky, so it could only be imagined that they were similar to the first vermin.

Malcolm turned away from the scene, and back towards Ciro, who was awaiting his response, her eyes conveying worry. He was worried too; if this group ran into his, he wasn't sure he trusted the rest of them would handle themselves well. The badger in particular, Verdict, seemed ill suited to do battle with such creatures. He ran a finger up and down the shaft of his arrow, pondering the situation.

"Yeah, they need to know, but think about what we're dealing with here. These creatures could have lit that fire to cook the little hedgehog. It may be better for us to act sooner rather than later. I know it's dangerous, but if that little one is in trouble, we have to act. Besides, what will the others do? You've seen how Verdict is. He's practically afraid of his own shadow. If you're willing, I can create a distraction, and you can nip the little one. I'll lead them on a merry chase to the North, and you can take him back South to the others where it's safe. What do you think?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next to the fire, the river rat Malcolm had observed slurped at a muddy looking bowl of porridge. A farmer they had encountered a few days ago had been kindly enough to provide them with it, free of charge. The farmer's pitchfork was leaning against the lean - to, also provided with little complaint. Creatures have difficulty complaining when they are dead, after all. This rat's name was Ruplug, or "Rup" as his acquaintances called him. (Not friends, of course. Ruplug didn't see much of a need for friends.)

He spat out a spoonful of the porridge in disgust.

"This is the 'healthiest thing I ever 'et in me mi'serble life, mates. I wants to know why we curse ourselves to 'et this mess, when we gots a per'fetly good 'Edgepig right o'er dere. Nice an tender 'e looks, if'n I do say so meself. Lots of meat on 'is bones, mark me words mates. More use 'n his cookin' has ever been."

[W0NWILL]

OOC: Yup, it's all fine. Whole point of this was so that it could continue while I'm gone, since I'm not the most active person, per say.

BIC: At first, Verdict had been perfectly content to let the two squirrels run ahead and scout or whatever squirrels did, but she'd grown a little restless, "they've been gone a while," she hummed to the rest still left with the group, "maybe we should go see what's up?" For all she knew, they were both bleeding out now, because they fell onto some sharp rocks, or gotten into a fight and tried to kill each other, or what have you.

...maybe she should have more faith in her group, but still.

[Lady Amber]

"Mm, maybe you're right," Azalea mused, adjusting the strap of the satchel that hung from her shoulder. "Let's go." The ottermaid started off in the direction the two squirrels had gone.

[Ashleg]

"I bet they're fine," said Topper, getting up.
"But I'll come with if it makes you feel better."

[Aimless Gallivanter]

ooc: JK ill join now

Mars sat on a boulder and glared at the group as they got to their feet. "Forget that, I'm tired. They're the fools who ran off on their own, we should just wait for them to get back."