The Recruiting Sergeants

[Calaron]

Bruntil looked on at Brigg.  He was waiting for the rat to follow through.  Brig was nothing if not reliable.  He would need to find someone to watch his farm until he could make his way back home.  But ow the mole was committed.  He would go to this mountain and see what he could do to help them.  He had heard the stories of vermin attacks.  He had even seen some of their aftermath.  The more the mole thought about it, the more he wanted to go.  He was surprised by his desire.  It was against his character, but he felt somehow compelled.  "Yurr, coom on naow maister Brigg!"

[BrookSkimmer]

Character: Resher
Location: Barrow

The hare's goodbyes were finished. He had only looked back over his shoulder once as he left the farm house. His mother stood teary eyed in the doorway as her son marched off to battle in the Long Patrol. The harewife blew her nose into her flowery kerchief and waved with paw held high as Resher made his way through the small wicker gate at the front of the house. Would she ever see her son again? She had heard tales from the Patrollers, fierce battles, pirates, brigands, blood thirsty foxes and stoats and rats and ferrets and... her breath caught in her throat and she buried her face into her husbands strong chest.

Resher's father was in a much better state than his mother. Rangold put a protective arm about his sobbing wife and nodded once as Resher left. The old hare was proud of his son. Years of work on the farm will have put enough muscle on Resh to make hi a fine recruit. There was only so much Rangold could do to contain his son. So full of energy and life. The Patrol was just the thing to straighten him out! Only just that morning Rangold had revealed to Rsher that others in their family had been a part of the Long Patrol. Even Rangold, Resher's own father had served a few terms at Salamandastron. Resher had quivered with pride and his eyes had shone brightly as his father gave him his special combat dirk.

The young hare felt bad for his mother, but a surge of pride propelled him down the streets to where he would be meeting Thorn and Dougie. Resher pawed the dirk resting in a sheath attached to a belt at his side. He would make his family proud!
______

Upon returning to the square he found things much as he had left them. A few more beasts seemed to have signed on. Some were standing about signing and reading over documents. Resher marched up, his paw resting on the hilt of his new weapon. He was about to salute the Sergeants when he stumbled and bumped into a mole and rat standing near by. Nearly falling over he began profuse apology.

"Oh sorry wot wot! Seemed to 'ave tripped on... on.... on a bally bit of bog fluff or some sort of daisy doodle... oh corks! Bally have to keep me old peepers peeled a bit better I jolly well dare say! Again sorry laddie bucks wot!"

After this he brushed himself off and saluted the sergeants.

"Family biddin' farewell. Packed in an' ready to trot on sahs!"

[Galedeep]

Nate Haven, a young brown furred mouse, marched into the small town. If marched is the word for it, in truth he was starving, his clothes were torn up, and his throat felt like a desert. It had been three months since he had be cast... run away from his home in the country. His father had been so harsh and cruel, and Nate had had enough of it, so now he was homeless and on the run.

Nate began to in the center of the town, he saw a large group gathered.

Perhaps a town feast of some sort, He thought hopefully, as he picked up his pace towards the crowd.

[Something Horrifying]

Character: Dmitri
Location: In a huff.



Dmitri caught the look the other rat was giving him, and actually turned his head away, finding himself slightly--and inexplicably--flustered. His tone turned icier again, obviously unhappy about Brigg's reply. "I've got no intention of letting anybeast 'recruit' me for anything, ever again. If you wanna throw your life away like a damn fool, so be it. I'm not sticking around either way."

After giving Thorn a brief, spiteful look (he'd obviously heard the hare's comments, and was quite pointedly ignoring them), Dmitri turned and started heading back out of the square, apparently having lost either his patience or interest in the situation. Frankly, he was beginning to wonder why he'd bothered in the first place. The other rat clearly wasn't worth the effort.

[Flandor]

TIMESKIP TO THE NEXT MORNING

Character: Dougie
Location: Village Square

The morning was dredged in fog and grey skies.  The ground was dampened with the remains of last night's drizzle.  Chill air, uncharacteristic of late spring, numbed the tips of Dougie's tall ears.  

His spirits, however, remained sunny and optimistic.  The hare was always ready to move, and they'd picked up a great many young recruits the previous day.  The decision to recruit in the village had ended up being a great success.  

Dougie tapped his footpaw, impatient for the country beasts to show up so that they could get moving back to the mountain.  Training would have to start immediately upon their return, and that would be a task in itself.  A task Dougie was certainly ready for, however.  He did love a challenge.

Character: Brigg
Location: Villlage Square

Brigg left his small home with a heart as dreary as the weather.  He'd stolen out early, not wanting to say another tearful goodbye.  Last night, after he had told his family his intention to join the Long Patrol, had been painful enough.  His father had cried, silent tears that were perhaps worse than the sobs of his mother.  He knew he must go however, and he had promised himself he would see this through.  

He tugged his flat cap tighter onto his head against the chilly air.  His fur held a constant damp, but he was used to being outside in all sorts of weather.  Over his shoulder was slung a homespun haversack, with a small ration of bread and a few rough looking vegetables his mother had packed for him.  He had his blanket rolled and tied at the ends, and he wore it over his other shoulder like a sling.  Those were the lot of his meager possesions.  Less to carry, he reasoned.

The dirt road from his farm to the town seemed longer than it should have, the damp seeming to sink into his very being.  But it was not in Brigg's nature to complain, or to falter.  He walked onward, towards his uncertain fate, towards the unknown.  And he knew that whatever might come, he had made the right decision.

[Tiria Wildlough]

Trina sat in the square, hugging a bag full of her things. She had left her family a note, because she didn't think she could explain what she had done in person. She felt guilty about it, but she hoped they would understand. Part of her couldn't believe she had been so stupid, but the other part knew she couldn't back out now. Trina had always accepted challenges and she wasn't about to decline this one, however stupid it might seem.
She had had dreams like this before, where she woke up just when things were getting unbelieveable. But this wasn't a dream. It was real.

[Myrkin]

Character: Walnut Strider
Location: Barrow


Walnut woke up with startled cry, rising on his bed. He looked around frantically, as if expecting an attack by some foe. However, he was alone. Rabbit's room was empty, except for a small table by the bed and his belongings. It took a few moments for Walnut's heart to return to normal, steady beating. He lay down with a breath of relief. He couldn't remember what had happened in his dream that had scared him so much, but he sure was happy not to be sleeping anymore.

Then, Walnut realized that a new day was starting. That's what you usually discover when you wake up in the morning and look through the window. In this case that window was as small as everything else in Walnut's room, but it was large enough for him to notice the weather outside. It wasn't the best day for travelling. Too bad Walnut had to set out today. Wait. Why did he need to leave Barrow exactly? Then he remembered.

"I am a deadbeast," Walnut said quietly to himself. What had he been thinking? Joining the Long Patrol like that, with no combat experience to speak of? There was no way he would do well as a soldier. But what he could do? Well... Maybe he could run as far away from here as possible. He had already signed that contract, so if he deserted he would have to stay away from Salamandastron for the rest of his life. Or maybe he would even have to leave the Mossflower? No, Salamandastron hares would certainly not bother themselves with pursuing one recruit, who had decided to back out. Not with a war on the horizon anyway.

As Walnut was thinking about whether to escape or not, an image materialized in his mind. He saw a group of creatures gathered in the village square. Amongst them was Sergeant Thornbury, who was getting more and more impatient as the time went. Finally, he said to Sergeant Douglass, who was standing by his side: "We can't wait any longer. There is a long road ahead of us an' we've already lost a lot of time. Let's be honest, that rabbit chap wasn't cut out for a military life anyway." And Douglass would just sigh, with a sad disappointment apparent on his face, and said: "I guess he wasn't, wot."    

Rabbit shook his head, silently cursing his sense of guilt. "I'm a deadbeast," he said as got up and prepared for the journey. It didn't take him long, as all he possessed was already in his travelling bag. After that, he entered the main room of the tavern. Tom was already awake and working. He said his goodbyes to the mouse, who gave him a bag of supplies for the road. As Tom said, Walnut had earned it through his work in the tavern yesterday. Walnut thanked him for this gift and – after saying his goodbyes one more time – he exited the building.

Once outside, he noticed two things. First: this morning was not only cloudy but cold. Cold and wet. He tugged the hood of his tunic around his head, trying to keep himself relatively warm and dry. Second: there weren't many creatures in the village square, except for Douglass and some ottermaid. He walked to the hare.

"Good morning, Sir. Not late, am I?" Walnut said in an almost casual way. At least this time I didn't stutter. I'm already making a progress, he thought sarcastically.

[Something Horrifying]

Character: Dmitri
Location: Near Barrow's village square



The night had been difficult for Dmitri, lying awake shivering from the cold and fearing he'd be discovered by the family whose shed he was using as shelter from the rain. He'd barely gotten any real rest, and knew the day wasn't likely to be much easier, with the village now aware of his presence (and thievery). He was hungry, and food would be a challenge to obtain, of course--but his mind was still mostly preoccupied by the chill of the early morning air, and the run-down wooden shed wasn't providing any real relief. He'd need to find a way to warm up before he could plan his next move.

Quietly rising to his feet, the rat listened carefully for any sound of movement outside. After a minute or two of silence, he nudged the door open a crack and peeked out. Nothing. Continuously peering around to be sure he was alone, Dmitri slipped out of the little shed, and back behind it, where he couldn't be seen from the house. He hesitated. From here there was really no way to proceed without taking some bigger risks.

After almost half an hour of careful sneaking about, Dmitri finally spotted the opportunity he was looking for. The weather had changed so abruptly in the night that a family of mice Dmitri had stolen food from a few nights ago hadn't brought in their laundry off the line where it was drying. Hanging right out there in the open was a thick, comfortable looking quilt. The young rat reckoned it would be slightly damp on the outside, but that a few minutes of body heat would probably make it perfectly warm again. With a quick glance around, Dmitri dashed out to it, and began pulling it off the line.

Just as soon as Dmitri's paws touched the quilt, however, he heard the door of the house open, and immediately a voice shrieking, "THIEF! THIEF! You filthy vermin, get your paws off my grandmother's quilt!"

Panicking at the idea that other villagers might hear the noise and appear any moment to assist the hysterical mouse, the rat dropped the old quilt and just ran as fast as he could, completely unaware he was heading straight towards the village square.