Ratty Driftwood

[Verdauga]

Wrackfur groaned as he rose to his footpaws."Ah shoulda known bettah th'n t'sleep against a tree." he thought, cursing his backache. Fortunately, he was still prepared to be on the move, and was ready before most of theothers were.
"Mernin' constitution'l, huh? Yew an' yer lot showed wot they were made of yestidday."

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

  Belladonna opened one eye as Captain PhantomPaint began waking the others and sat up. She donned the cloak she had been sleeping on and shouldered her herb bag, ready to move as soon as Mharbrow gave the order.

[shisteer of nothing much]

Mharbrow nodded grudging approval as he noticed Wrackfur was ready to move. He didn't seem to be too much of a liability at the moment. Approaching the weasel, the fox captain leaned down and spoke quietly to him.
"Any small villages or settlements you know of that we can get supplies from? It'd be good to stock up a bit before our journey really starts. Shame I don't have a hell cursed ship to carry provisions in." The PhantomPaint cast a hate filled glance at the prisoners. "Stupid rats!"

[Verdauga]

"Ah dunno." Wrackfur said before he could stop himself. Mentally cursing, he scanned the area, shifting his lazy gaze out to the sea and over to Salamandastron. He turned back to the captain and winked. "Oho! Ah thenk there's a coupla huts a liddle t'the sou'east o'here.  Dunno how far away they are though. Prob'ly reach 'em afore midday."

[shisteer of nothing much]

(Verdauga, I don't think Salamandastron is visible at the moment. We're in the trees and heading away from the mountain. We were two days' away where we landed ashore, so now it'd be at least two and a half)

Mharbrow nodded curtly, giving the weasel and grim smile.
"In that case, we'll pay them a visit. I'd be interested to see how well you fight."
Excusing himself, Mharbrow returned to supervising the preparations to set off, assigning a couple of beasts to cover their tracks and any signs of the camp and checking the captives were all securely tied, loosening each of the bonds to allow the circulation to flow back into the paws before tying them up again. It was partly a gesture of what one might consider mercy, but mostly so Mharbrow could check that none of the prisoners had managed to loosen their bonds during the rest period and were waiting for a good opportunity for escape.
Rising to his paws, the fox looked around, making his way to the head of the party as the last of his beasts got ready.

[Kade Rivok]

Firestripe had woken up partway through his rest, unable to sleep.  Pushing himself up to his paws, he stretched his leg out experimentally and was pleased when he felt no pain.  It was a bit stiff, but that was something he could easily handle.  Looking over the sleeping camp, and aware that he himself wouldn't be able to return to his slumber, he quietly relieved Rangfur, who was on sentry duty, and took over for him. 

It was quiet out, with only the soft sound of wind passing through the foliage above and the occasional snore to break the silence.  In all honesty, the fox enjoyed times like this the most.  They reminded him that somewhere, hidden in his heart, he yearned for a peaceful life where he could savor this feeling more often than not.  Once again, though, he began pushing those emotions back into the deep recesses they had seeped from, as he had done so many times before.  He was a fox, a vermin.  The world had long ago told him that peace wasn't fit for one such as he.  For at least an hour he torturously wrested with the thought, turning it over in his mind as he tried to force it back from whence it came.  Eventually, he noticed the Captain beginning to stir, and all unnecessary thoughts faded from his mind.  It was time to work once more.

Firestripe assisted in breaking camp and ended up overhearing Wrackfur telling Mharbrow about the huts he 'thought' were nearby.  The weasel didn't sound all that convincing.  As the captain headed to the front of the group, ready to move, Firestripe joined him and spoke in a hushed tone.  "I don't think that weasel knows what he's talking about, sir.  Should we really by following his directions?"

[shisteer of nothing much]

Dyemhar began the march, shrugging in reply to his first mate.
"We need provisions and this won't take us off course too much. If it does turn out to be a wild ant chase, we can simply readjust our course and go on our way, plus it'll give me an excuse to gut that weasel. He annoys me."

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

"You aren't the only one feeling irked by him, Captain," Belladonna murmured venomously as she retied her bandanna. "But, who knows, he may know his business after all and lead us to plentiful supplies."

[Faclan]

Having been having a wonderful dream of not being a captive Tul hurfed as he woke up and blinked. Oh right. Terrible terrible reality. Doing his best to look at the ground as he was briefly unbound then rebound he just tried to not appear like he was trying anything. He was scared. Just the scared tiny rat navigator. That hadn't stashed a sharp stone in the looted belt pouches at all. He was just here to be at the mercy of his captors. Not cause a fuss. Let the more aggressive members of the crew or the captain draw attention. He was just the one no-one ever noticed.

More than ever Tul hoped that this time it would be like that.

(Slightly setting up his possible escape)

[shisteer of nothing much]

The hint of a smile curled the edges of Dyemhar's lips upward, his teeth showing in a savage grin as he imagined the satisfaction he'd feel as his dagger point went into the bluffing weasel's flesh, his face a contortion of pain and surprise. The captain nodded agreement, then dismissed the matter.
"How's Grunt doing? He seems to be keeping up well enough. Have you had time or inclination to check his wound?"

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

  Belladonna frowned slightly. Grunt was keeping up, but only just. "No and yes," she said. "I'll have a look at it now, if you don't mind waiting for a few minutes. I'll probably need to redo his bandages and apply more salve." She paused and glanced quickly at Firestripe's leg. "How is...how are you doing this morning?" she asked, a little tentatively. She hoped the other fox would not be angered by her question.

[shisteer of nothing much]

Mharbrow nodded and called a halt, stopping where he stood and remaining there, the crewbeasts and captives following suit.
"Go ahead. Grant's a good beast to have around. We're better to lose a few minutes' traveling time than lose him."

[Kade Rivok]

A small smile played across Firestripes lips at Belladonna's inquiry; despite his stoic attitude, she always seemed to be a bit worried about him.  As to why that was, though, he could only guess.  Shrugging nonchalantly, he replied, "Oh, I'm doing well enough, Miss Bella.  Had a wonderful sleep.  When I woke up, though, I noticed the strangest thing.  I was missing an eye!  I wonder, how did that happen?"  The fox let out a short laugh at his own joke before continuing more seriously.  "Really though, I'm fine.  No need to fret yourself."

[Ebantu the Kararehe]

  The vixen nodded as if satisfied and unconcerned, but she doubted Firestripe was telling the complete truth. "Still, if it...if you have trouble with anything, please just say so." She didn't really expect the other fox to act on her words, but there was no harm in trying. She excused herself quickly and moved back down the column to find the injured crew member, Grunt. 

[Verdauga]

Wrackfur listened as intently as he could to the conversation going on behind him, but they were whispering too quietly for him to understand, and he soon lost interest. Leaving the group and pushing ahead through a thicket, Wrackfur saw what he was looking for and stopped. Retracing the few paces back to the camp and giving his typical lazy grin, he winked at the captain and his companions. "So Mharby, yer lookin' fer this village, aintcha? Weel, wot if Ah were to tell ye it were less than a hundred paces away?"