For the Throne - An Alternate Universe RP

[Eulaliaaa!]

Reed turned round and faced Fauken as he started walking backwards, "A child? I am not a child, I'm just as grown up and capable of anything you are!" He crossed his arms, then turned around again and walked forwards, "But that doesn't matter," he continued, "If you're with the king, you're with the king and knowing about the resistance isn't important. They're not strong enough to be a problem yet."

[LT Sandpaw]

"Captain you've only had soldiers shouting for a short time. Wouldn't it be wise to continue before barging into homes?" A mouse and weasel surrounded by Sarahadoron town guards waded though the crowd of nervous citizens. The town guard was mostly made up of weasels, rats, and stoats. Lizards tended to see themselves above being under the direct command of a weasel making it hard for Captain Hardstep to control his forces. To compromise he recruited only mammals into his platoon, the town's lizard forces were directed under a more reptilian commander.

"Are ye a military leader steward?" Hardstep grunted pushing a hedgehog out of his way.

"No... But I ha-"

"Then don' question 'ow I get everybeast to the town center. It's either my tail, or their homes an' if they don't want to come out, we'll go in an' drag em out." He stopped waving a paw at a squadron of rats ready to pull every last creature from their houses, stalls, and shops. "Go get em lads." Hardstep shouted, the rats saluted and moved off.

"Commader Seht has arrived sir." A second weasel ran up waving his paws to get Hardstep's attention. "He wishes to see Steward Ordis."

"Alright lead the way, c'mon Steward. I need to speak to Commander Seht anyway. I'll come with." Ordis feeling slightly nervous followed the messenger weasel to where Seht was being led by a monitor soldier. Bowing low the mouse nervously kept his eyes on the ground.

"Sir many of the citizens are outside awaiting you. Captain Hardstep has his creatures gathering up the last few stragglers. What would you have me do now sir?"

[Jukka the Sling]

I'm not going, Ennalee told herself firmly after her initial agitation had subsided.  I'm never getting involved with that Resistance again.  She balled the letter up as tightly as she could and slipped it into her pocket.  "Now, how about finishing breakfast?" she muttered underneath her breath, leaving the kitchen things on the floor and walking back into the dining room.  She seated herself and picked up her fork.

"If we're given the chance to help other creatures, then we take it."

The memory slammed into her like an actual blow.  That was what her father had said, seasons ago, the one time Ennalee had somewhat nervously questioned her father's illegal activities.  Remembering, she dropped her fork and bowed her head shakily.  But I am, Papa.  I'm helping everyone on my farm by protecting them.  And me.  Isn't that what you'd have wanted?

[Lady Ashenwyte]

"Ring the bellsss, Sssteward. Captain Hardssstep, your ssservice to Lord Kraoleck hasss been noted. Pleassse have the sssoldiersss be lesss forceful with the citizens. They are under Lord Kraoleck's protection, after all." As the bells rang, Seht stepped forward, to a plinth overlooking the town square.
                         
                                                                                   "Greetingsss, good citizens. I am Ssseht, humble ssservant of Lord Kraoleck who protectsss you all. The army needsss recruitsss, and all thossse who join will have a sssteady sssupply of food and water, assss well asss glory, honour, and brotherhoods forged in battle. You are to report to Sssaharadoron in three daysss, where you will be given your equipment and your dutiesss. " Seht stepped off the plinth, and walked away with his bodyguard to the palanquin.

[The Skarzs]

OOC: Not "all" citizens, Ash. Kraoleck wants an army, but he doesn't want to cripple his working force either. If all citizens above the age of twelve are recruited, there will be a massive gap in laborers, and suddenly the army won't be able to be kept up.
  I more of wanted Seht to mention that the army is recruiting, and for him to give some incentive to join, like food benefits and whatnot.

BIC: "They don't have to be strong to cause problems," Fauken said wryly. The wildcat was curious now, whether it was her feline nature or just her personality, she wasn't sure of, but now she wanted to know more about what could be going on with the resistance, though she decided she might not get much more out of the young fox, no matter how talkative he may have been.

[Lady Ashenwyte]

OOC: Right. Edited.

[Eulaliaaa!]

Reed hesitated, "Are you implying that you want the resistance to be a problem?" He shifted his supplies to the other shoulder. This cat could become a part of the resistance if she wasn't a spy from the king. They needed all the creatures they could get.


Anna patrolled the streets slowly, listening to Seht speak to the citizens. She watched for anything suspicious, her claws wrapped loosely around her spear. She had no doubt that the resistance was watching and listening to this, and she stayed alert. If Reed would join Kraoleck's army, he would be more protected from the troubles the resistance made.

[The Skarzs]

OOC: Pushing ahead to the next day.



  In the morning of the next spring day, Kraoleck observed with some satisfaction the amount of creatures that had entered into his service. Well over two hundred miscellaneous beasts of many ages now began training. Others trickled in slowly, tempted by the promise of better food and opportunities to provide for themselves and their families. The monitor king knew that all it took was a little incentive and creatures weary of toil would look for an easier option.
  Now that he had soldiers in reserve, the king turned his attention to the petty resistance that had been pecking fruitlessly at him for many seasons. Surely more would be willing to serve him if there were no alternatives, like a faction that opposed him. If he showed he would wipe out every enemy, the weak would support the strong more readily.
  Already his troops were marching on the known resistance area, in the dunes, and he expected them to return with victorious results.

  Hazel the squirrel stood outside the hidden dune, awaiting the arrival of a scout in the evening sun. A different scout had come to her urgently insisting he had seen Kraoleck's army heading towards them, and the resistance leader had immediately alerted her own forces to wait in ambush as she herself waited for the next scout to return and confirm or deny the sighting.
  Very soon the runner came sprinting over the dunes, a fast hare. He ran directly towards Hazel, shouting something. He collapsed gasping for breath in the squirrel's arms.
  Hazel shook him urgently. "What is it? What's going on?"
  "They're coming! Soldiers! They're going to wipe us-" The hare was cut short as an arrow pierced his back, and his body sagged in Hazel's paws as several more flew in.
  Archers from Kraoleck's army appeared over the rise of a dune, releasing their deadly shafts at the resistance creatures who were outside. More continued to appear, and soon hundreds of foot soldiers were also becoming visible.
  Hazel dropped the dead scout and yelled. "Retreat! Retreat! They're here to destroy us! There are too many! Retreat!" She ran into the hidden dune ordering every beast out the rear entrance and to run and regroup. The squirrel went back out the way she had come, finding the dunes mostly empty of her creatures; those who were still there were but lifeless bodies transfixed by arrows.
  Soon Hazel was very narrowly missing being hit by the flying projectiles as the archers turned their attention on the new target. She was about to start running after the rest of her forces when one arrow found its mark in her thigh, and she dropped to one knee with a cry of pain. Another shaft hit her shoulder, and she fell to the ground in agony.
  No more arrows came, but for every moment she waited Hazel almost wished more had. She did not know how long she had waited, bleeding out on the sand, before footsteps came close to her. Opening her eyes to the darkening sky, Hazel looked for the source of the footsteps. The scaled body of a monitor drew over her, and he raised his spear above her heaving chest. . .

[Hickory]

OOC: I hope it's okay the Rusk takes command temporarily.

BIC: The last resistance member entered the basement and Rusk slammed the big oak door closed. He had kept the below ground level of his armory as his personal space. One of the members cried it. "What if they search this place? We'd be dead within the hour!"

The otter pushed the thought out of his head. "That's a bridge we'll have to cross when we get there. This is only a temporary hideout, we will find a better place eventually. Has anybody seen any of the other leaders? We know Hazel's dead."

[Eulaliaaa!]

There was a small yell, and the monitor fell on the sand next to Hazel. Reed stood over the dead body, then looked down at Hazel in fear, "Are... are you ok?" The smile on his face was replaced with shock as he looked back at the dead monitor, "I've - I've never.... killed any... I've never killed anyone before," there was a sob in his voice as he knelt down and picked Hazel up, "We have to... we need to get to the others. I don't know how to fix this."

OOC: I hope it's ok that Reed killed the monitor, I can change it if you want.

[The Skarzs]

OOC: If Rusk managed to get the resistance members the many miles to his armory, then quite a bit of time has passed between Hazel's death and their arrival. We need to go with one or the other: Is it at night when the resistance has managed to escape, or are they still just starting to run from Kraoleck's army?

[Hickory]

OOC: Well, I didn't have an accurate distance from the original base to the armory (I really know nothing about the map) and what do you mean by the last question?

I suppose that Reed could've found Hazel right after the rest of the resistance left, and that he catches up to them. If you want me to edit the post...

[Lady Ashenwyte]

Tredian knew that Kraoleck would act sooner or later, but didn't know that it would be this bad. He had gotten wind of this through a spy in the army, and had arrived at the armoury just as Rusk and the others returned.
`                                                                                                                                           "Greetings. You may not know of me, but I am Tredian D'Otres, one who has been supplying this rebellion. What has happened, and where is Hazel?"

OOC: Should Seht be at the attack?

[Dannflower Reguba]

       "Hazel's dead, I saw her go down myself." Syphyir was leaning against a support beam, cross-armed, and clearly unhappy, "I was just about to go ask her a question when the attack started, they got here quick, and it seems nobeast saw them coming." The grey fox was hard put to keep a tremble out of his voice, a loss of this kind was always difficult to cope with, and the fact that it was Hazel, their leader, only made it worse. He couldn't help but be surprised by the swiftness of the operation, as the whereabouts of the rebel's base hadn't seemed to matter to the King's forces before. As a matter of fact, it was just a week and half ago that the information had been requested of him! Clearly plans had already been laid, even without knowledge of the exact position. This forced him to wonder about future plans, were more preparations already underway? What was the purpose behind such a sudden assault? He shook his head, clearing thought from mind. Now was not the time for contemplation of the big picture, the immediate situation demanded full, undivided attention from the entire resistance. The chatter and speculation seemed quiet enough for the fox to sneak a word in edgewise, an opportunity he promptly took, "I realize that there is grieving to be done, but that'll have to wait. What do we do right now? We're sitting doves here, if they've started actively hunting us, who's to say they won't start checking homes? businesses? storage houses? We're in trouble, and we need to get something done now."

[Lady Amber]

Hazel. Dead. The fact almost made tears come to Aydin's eyes, and he clenched his fists in anger. Hazel, their leader, but most importantly their friend, had been cut down by the cowardly scum Kraoleck called soldiers. And the invasion of their base had forced them to flee to some old basement. What were they to do? If they stayed in the town, they might as well have walked up to Kraoleck and surrendered themselves. The otter sighed in frustration. Then he thought of something.

They could hide out in the forest. It was possible that the woods would be searched, but Kraoleck's soldiers would be occupied with thoroughly searching the towns for the Resistance. The woods offered a temporary hideout.

"What about the woods?" Aydin voiced his thoughts a loud. "The soldiers will be searching the towns and probably won't think of the woods, at least for now."