The Quest for Romance: The Hunt for the Lashkeel

[Rainshadow]

  (The continued story from the Land and Sea threads)

  Cooper heard the snap of a twig and looked around.  "Is that you, Phillim?"
  Tempest was shivering.  It was cold during the night hours!  She heard the snap of a twig and jumped.  "Everyone, I think I 'eard somethin'!"

[BrookSkimmer]

Everyone, I think I 'eard somethin'!

Rikkendo nodded, he had heard the snap as well. Perhaps somebeast was following them? It was hard to figure out where anybeast was in the darkness of night.

"Well, if somebeast is following us they already know where we are." The mouse dug around in his bag and pulled out a pience of flint. After this he cast about in the nearby plant life to find some good dry wood. He quickly wrapped some smaller tinder around a larger stick and tied it in place with a piece of cord. Then he struck the flint against the metal of his long dagger. A flame grew on the torch and Rikkendo held it up.

The fire bathed the group in warm light. Rikkendo moved the torch back and forth, trying to sight whoever was out there.

"What if they trying to sneak up on us and attack us?" Acorn asked, a little shaken by the situation. She had begun to feel unsafe.

"EEEEeee!" Acorn screamed as two pairs of glowing eyes came into view.
_______

EEEEeee!

Brielle sucked in a breath. There was a squirrel screaming. She could clearly see the beast's bushy tail. them more creatures came into view. The shecat prepared herself to fight. These were woodlanders and they notoriously hated wildcats.

[Rainshadow]

  Cooper laid a paw on Brielle's, quickly pulling it back with an awkward look on his face.  "Uh, er, don't get ready to fight.  That might not look good.  We wanna be as liddle threatenin' as possible."
 He stepped out of their hiding place and strode to the woodlanders, his paws held high to show he wouldn't hurt them.  "Good evenin', ladies an' gentlebeasts.  Me name's Cooper, an' I ain't gonna attack."

 Tempest gave a short shriek as the male wildcat stepped into the scene.  She ducked behind Rikkendo, not wanting to fight.

 ____________

 Meanwhile, Avalanche was standing with Lusiphi, looking for the rats.  "Where do ye think they are?" he asked.

[BrookSkimmer]

Brielle felt herself blush as Cooper laid his paw on hers. She was disappointed that he pulled it away so quickly. It would have been comforting if he had just held on for a while.

Good evenin', ladies an' gentlebeasts.  Me name's Cooper, an' I ain't gonna attack.

Brielle stepped forward as Cooper explained things to the woodlanders. She kept her paws down but not too close to her weapon. You couldn't trust woodlanders. They might try to attack even if the wildcats were unarmed. They were "vermin" to woodlanders and thus Brielle half expected to be treated as such.

Rikkendo held his long knife in front of himself like a sword, ready to defend his group if need be.

"How do we know you can be trusted cat? My experience with your kind has not been good. Tell me, are you from the ship that took a rabbit prisoner?"

The torch light guttered and flickered as a breeze swept by. Much longer and the light source would fade and they would be left in the dark again. This time...with wildcats...
_____

Raven waited for Birata to show up. Where was that otter? She had plans to go over with him. The waves rolled over the hull of the Lashkeel, carrying her further out to sea. Lanterns had been lit in the forecastle so the captain could study her maps and charts.

[W0NWILL]

Phillim stepped forward, "Aye, they would. I saw them get off. They threatened me, I just escaped." Since she was unarmed, the story might be believable.

Birata huffed as he jogged up to Raven, "Sorry it took so long, cap'n. The prisoner is feisty." He saluted, "What was it?"

[Rainshadow]

  Cooper's head snapped towards Phillim.  "Wot?  We didn't threaten ye, ye threatened us!  An' then ye tried to take yer own life!"  He looked to the other creatures.  "I swear to ye, we, meanin' me an' Brielle o'er 'ere, we don't want to start a fight.  We did come from the Lashkeel, but we left.  We was just goin' to... uh..."
  He realized that it could sound bad if he said they wanted to steal a ship and live on the high seas.  "We was... goin' to commandeer a ship to save the other rabbit."
  Cooper looked to Brielle, hoping she would go along with this idea.  "Right, Brielle?"

[BrookSkimmer]

Right, Brielle?

Brielle sighed inwardly. It was a good idea to try to prove the point with the woodlanders but, it seemed woodlanders hardly ever listened. However, she went along with what Cooper was saying. It was all true. She walked up to Cooper and stood right by his side. It made her feel better to be close to him.

"Aye, what Cooper says is true. We are mutineers from the Lashkeel, hoping to start our lives afresh. We figured for starters meeting up with captain Brinewater on the seas and stealing back their newest prisoner would be a good way to pay back years of service to a wicked otter."

Churrup bobbed his head as the shecat finished speaking. "What both of them say is true as far as I know. I've seen them on the ship, watched the pirates take the rabbit, and observed their conversation with the hare."

Rikkendo moved forward, holding his long knife in front of him.

Brielle spoke, drawing her daggers. "I can see you won't believe us mouse. I don't blame you really. Our kind have been responsible for much hardship to your own. However, I must warn you, we will go down fighting." Brielle's tail began to get bushy. If it was a fight the mouse wanted, a fight he would receive.

"I can see you would not go down easy cat. I have never heard a story as mixed up and as unlikely as yours." He sheathed his blade. "Perhaps that is why I believe you."

Rikkendo turned to the Redwall group.  "I feel we should side with these cats and help them get to the Lashkeel. What do you think?"

Acorn flicked her bushy tail as she watched the hare and then the cats. She had never sided with vermin over a woodlander before. "I don't know what to do." She took a few steps towards Phillim. "but I think a good place to start would be caring for injuries. Would you mind if I looked at your footpaw for you?"

[Rainshadow]

  Tempest stepped out from behind Rikkendo and cleared her throat.  She looked at Cooper, then at Brielle.  "I-I guess we could trust 'em."
  Cooper bowed slightly, his neck fur lying flat again.  "Thankee, marm.  An' thankee, too, mouse sir.  Wot be yer name?"

[W0NWILL]

"No! You idiot! You trust these cats?" Phillim stepped backward, and the piece of wood from the stick dug a little deeper into her paw. She gasped slightly, but remained where she was out of pure stubbornness.

[Flandor]

The other rat's sudden appearance startled Miro, and he jumped a bit.  Hurrying to regain composure, he looked the other beast up and down.  The sun glinted off of the knife blade.  Miro was no stranger to knife fights, but wasn't keen to start one.  The other rat had the look of an ex-seabeast as well, with the tell-tale earring and faded tattoos.  He was clean and well-kept however, and Miro felt he must look like a right savage in comparison.  He raised his paws placatingly.

"Ere now, mate.  I weren't lookin' for trouble.  Jus' walkin' through these woods here, ramblin', so to speak.  No cause fer pullin' knives."

[Skyblade]

OOC: Er..let's just say Silverstorm is with Avalanche and Lusiphi.

BIC: Silverstorm held her bow and arrow in a ready grip, peering around as Avalanche asked Lusiphi where the rats were. The thing was, she didn't know. She gritted her teeth.

[Rainshadow]

  OOC:  Uh, Flandor, it's nighttime.  The sun can't glint off of the blade lol.  You could say that the moon did.

  BIC:  Cooper's head snapped in Phillim's direction.  "Wot?  'O are ye talkin' about?  Ye were the 'un tryin' ta kill us, Phillim!"
  How could this rabbit be so stupid?  Cooper didn't want to harm her!  He simply wanted to be free of all these creatures and get back to sea.

[BrookSkimmer]

"No! You idiot! You trust these cats?"

Acorn's mouth fell open in shock. She had never had a creature respond to her this way. Especially since she had offered the help the injured hare. the forceful language of Phillim caused Acorn to be quite fearful of the hare. She stepped back towards the main group and stood quietly by.

"That's enough out of you hare!" Rikkendo could hardly believe he was taking such a tone. However, the behavior of this beast seemed far more likely to be dangerous than two wildcats pledging their honesty and the word of their informant the robin to back them up.

"Listen hare. If you won't accept our help then fine, do as you wish. But do not take that tone with Acorn or any other of this company again. Do you hear me?"

It was then that Tempest agreed to trust the cats. Rikkendo nodded at the otter. "Aye, I think we can. But, let's keep our guard up eh?"

Thankee, marm.  An' thankee, too, mouse sir.  Wot be yer name?"

Rikkendo squared his shoulders and walked up to the cat, offering his paw. He remembered legends of another good cat, far bygone seasons ago. Itwas said that Matthias the Warrior had befriended this cat. Rikkendo felt like he was stepping back in time. Standing in Matthias' place.

"The name's Rikkendo, warrior in training of Redwall Abbey."
______

Introductions went on for a while when Brielle spoke up.

"Now that we all know each other, perhaps it's time to start thinking about our ship. Sometimes seabeasts head into town for gambling and such during the night. If we could find a vessel with nobeast aboard, it would be an easy thing for us to get under way." She looked around at the assembly.  "We won't steal it forever, just a borrow really. It's the only way to get us out to sea and after the Lashkeel."

Rikkendo nodded and made ready to head to the docks. "Let's go borrow ourselves a ship."

[Rainshadow]

  Cooper gave a short bark of a laugh and turned to Rikkendo.  "If'n yer gonna get a ship, Rikkendo, ye gotta learn wot to call stealin'.  It's commandeerin', not borrowin' or stealin'.  So, we're gonna commandeer a ship."
  He looked to the others, his gaze sweeping over the group.  "Ye all ready?"

  OOC:  I'm thinking that if we get this ship soon, we might want to wait for the rats and those that stayed behind to catch up.

[BrookSkimmer]

OOC: a note to all we will be setting up a second thread for those not getting on the ship that will be borrowed in this thread. Players in the second thread can come out to sea later if they wish. Hopefully this will fix the time mismatch and make for better character development.
-----

BIC:
Raven smiled to herself as Birata appeared. She liked that he obeyed her commands so readily.

"Well, if the prisoner is secured then you have done your job well First Mate." She tapped the charts in front of her. "If all goes well we should be at our destination in about two weeks." The dark otter allowed him to study the charts. She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "There's more than just an island there Birata. If I tell you why we are headed on this course it must remain our secret."