Wildcat Attack!

[Cornflower MM]

Arya dashed out of the Abbey, heading for the wallgate mentioned. She saw the little gate, open, and ran through it. From there, she took to the trees, scanning the ground. When she saw him, he was digging. She went silently to the tree above him, and asked, "Just what on earth are you doing? Do you realize that I just freaked out, seeing as you were missing, only Bryant had seen you, and I know that your mental state isn't the best?" She asked, sounding weary.

[The Skarzs]

"I'm staying away from anybeast I might harm, and I'm cleaning up the mess I made." He dragged himself up to dig some more. "My mental state is unstable, I know. It has been a constant fight to not give in to it for seasons. Sometimes it snaps, as you have heard, by something." He gasped slightly as his shoulder gave him a sharp pain. "Tell Kaylan and the abbess I am sorry I almost killed them."

[Jetthebinturong]

Dave, sufficiently full, pulled his sketchbook off his belt, grabbed one of the graphite sticks that hung next to it and began to draw. At first he considered sketching the abbey but decided against it, it was far too large to keep on one page and he'd never been good at landscapes anyway. A stroke of inspiration hit him like a lightning bolt, friends. He'd never had them before, of course he'd had his brother and the fox lord's son but never any others. He'd draw his friends, or at least those HE considered to be HIS friends. Bryony, Bryant, Abbess Rosemary, Argunath, yes, he would draw them. Having decided on this, Dave began sketching the head and shoulders of a squirrel

[Cornflower MM]

Bryant sighed, and picked at his food. He really wasn't hungry any more. So, he brought his tray to the Abbey Hare ((Anyoen may PP him/her)) and then went off on on his way, passing Dave. "Oh, hello Dave. Did you sleep well?" He asked, watching the stick.
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"Why don't you tell them yourself?" Arya asked, springing down from the tree, and checking his shoulder. "Argunath. Your shoulder's bleeding again....Stop digging. I'll dig for a while." She said firmly.

[Jukka the Sling]

"I'm Kaylan," she said quickly. "Um, that big cat, Argunath, left Cavern Hole without us noticing, and he's kinda unstable mentally, so yeah... gotta go!" she finished, dashing off after Arya.

She soon saw the open wallgate she'd heard Bryant mention, ran toward it (making sure to shut it firmly behind her), and ran into the woodlands. After only a moment, however, she lost her friend's tracks. "She must've tree-jumped," she muttered to herself. Despite the lack of tracks, the ottermaid headed further into the woods. "Arya!"

A few minutes later, Kaylan spotted Arya and Argunath through the trees. She ran forward, surprise written on her face. "What's going on? Are you okay? And, um, why is he... digging?" she said in a rush, glancing at Arya.

[Cornflower MM]

Arya heard a voice calling her name, and looked towards it. A moment later, Kaylan appeared. "I'm fine, Kaylan. What's going on? I have no idea. As for why he's digging, it's because he wants to clean up his mess." She said, then put her paw on the shovel. "Arguanth. Go. Sit. Down." She said.

[The Skarzs]

Argunath realized it would be better that he should tell them himself, but said nothing. Throwing the shovel-full of dirt, he said stubbornly, "I should be doing this myself; I started it, I should finish it."

[Jukka the Sling]

"What mess? He started what?" Kaylan asked, not comprehending. Then she saw several corpses piled to one side of the clearing. "Oh..." The ottermaid took a step back from Argunath. "Uh, Arya, what happened there? Who are - uh - were they?"

[Cornflower MM]

Arya shrugged, then talked to Argunath again. "Argunath, you can finish it.....Just lemme do a little bit of the work in the middle."

[The Skarzs]

Argunath let Arya take the shovel, answering Kaylan's question for the squirrel in a firm voice. "These are the bodies of the scouting party that tried to take two of your 'Dibbuns'. I killed them, but lost one of the little ones." He closed his eyes, trying not to remember what happened. "This might explain my wounds: I killed them all."

[Jukka the Sling]

Kaylan had noticed the cougar's wounds, but hadn't figured them out until that moment. She was now extremely confused. "Waitwaitwait... what? You... killed creatures from the horde you're a part of...?" she asked incredulously, still believing that the cougar was a spy, albeit an unstable one.

OOC: Corny, what's the horde doing right now?

[The Skarzs]

"Part of them?" Argunath growled loudly. "Look at that leopard; he is from the southern lands; many of them are. But I, I hail from a land of cold hills and mountains far across the western ocean; the Barkhills! I didn't know of this horde's existence until I came here."

[Jetthebinturong]

Dave nodded distractedly, engrossed in his work. He added eyes and a mouth with a kindly smile, abandoning the face and moving up to draw ears (with half of one missing) before moving back down and drawing whiskers. With Bryony done he flipped onto the next page and one again started drawing a squirrel's head and shoulders, male this time. He finished drawing the outline and started work on the features

[Jukka the Sling]

Kaylan stepped back a little further, her thoughts racing along in a confused tangle. Everything she'd believed about Argunath had been shattered in an instant. She stood silently for a moment, processing what he'd told her. Now that she thought about it, everything made sense. In spite of herself she accepted his story as the only possible solution to yesterday's happenings. But if he isn't from the horde, why is he here?

"Why did you come here?" she said aloud, referring to what he'd said a moment before.

[The Skarzs]

"I have a restless spirit; I killed a rat when I was little more than a child who was trying to hurt my sister. Since then, I have not been able to stay in one place for more than half a season. My wanderings brought me here." He was silent, letting Kaylan take it as she will, either a foolish story or the simple truth.