Redwall Abbey

  Darrin woke up from his slumber to a cold morning, and he rolled over and sat up, quickly noticing that one of his group had let the fire die during the night. He tried not to get angry that they would have to have a cold breakfast that day, but it was hard to do when he just woke up.
  Standing up, the ferret went about, kicking his motley band awake.
  "Alright, you lot, get up! We didn't get as far as we could have yesterday, and since there won't be time to get a decent fire going, we're gonna start marchin' early today."
  A weasel by the name of Grimin moaned in agony as he opened his eyes. "I didn't get no sleep, mate! Give us a little more time t'rest!"
  Darrin looked hard at Grimin. "Alright, we can rest longer." He spoke up again before the group's collective sigh of gratitude had subsided. "But that just means we'll be hanging by our feet skinless when Hacklaw catches up with us! No, we aren't resting longer, we're putting as much distance between that sadist and ourselves!"
  Grimin shot a nasty look at his leader. "Well if you had just given the stuff back to 'im like I said you should, we could still be in the Southlands."
  "Sure, like Hacklaw's the type o' beast who'll just let us return stolen items." Darrin clasped his paws together and fluttered his eyelashes. "'Oh, I'm so sorry for stealing these, I didn't know how important they were to you! Here you go!' 'Thank you, Darrin, and I'm going to completely forgive you for stealing and for letting two of your creatures insult me. Here, have some wine.'" The ferret spat. "Frog feathers!"
  He turned to Marshall, the only fox in his small band. "Alright, Blue, hand out the rations so we c'n get goin'."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  "Excellent, excellent!" Abbot Gerard walked out of the kitchens, wiping steam from his spectacles and setting them back onto the bridge of his nose. He stepped out of the way as a barrel of October ale came thundering through Cavern Hole from the cellars. Food preparations were going well, considering that the Springday feast wasn't for several hours, but it was of no concern to the mouse. He didn't want a repeat of the previous spring feast, which had several setbacks with burnt dishes and broken tables, so he wanted to be extra careful that this feast would be one to remember in the abbey records.
  After all, it was a unique time there at Redwall, with the otters being away on something or another, so the abbey seemed somewhat drained of creatures. However, worry was far from Gerard's mind, as the otters tended to do that every once in a while, and they had always managed without them.
  The mouse wandered about the abbey, smiling at friends he recognized as he searched for the Abbey Warrior, Elijah, to talk to him about catching a fish from the abbey pond.

Twisty groaned as he was kicked awake, rolling over to watch as, past the dead fire, Darrin was berating Grimin again.
The brown rat sat up and began buttoning his coat.
He remarked with a shudder and a yawn, "Whoever let th' fire die is a big fool. T'wasn't you, Grimin, was it?"

Elijah Firetail stood on the vast green lawn, by the north wall. He looked sombrely at a hotroot plant that was growing there, winding itself around a tombstone.
"You know how it is, Aylan. Once onebeast leaves, another comes to take their place. Good thing you liked hotroot, huh?"
He sighed.
"I know I say this every day, but since I've come here... I don't know. I kind of miss being out there. With family."
He looked over his shoulder, at a few dibbuns playing by the steps.
"I consider everybeast here family, sure, but there's always a part of me that wishes that chief had killed me. I stabbed him in the back while he killed you. Is that honourable? Of course not. Back when mother was alive, she told me to watch over my things. She said 'there is no honour among thieves.' Maybe there's just no honour at all. Hellgates, I miss her. We should have gone together, you know. Being the last one here..."
The otter wiped away a single tear.
"I think if it wasn't for this place, I would have ended it all many seasons ago. But they need me. That's why we haven't seen each other in so long. I can't just leave. Can't leave them alone."
Elijah unsheathed his sword and turned it over in his paws.
"That's why. As long as they let me have this, I'm bound to them. Bound to protect them. Maybe I didn't throw away my honour that day you died. While I carry this sword, I guess I still have it. I never broke my promise to you. I did exactly what you asked. Maybe this is just another promise."
The Abbey Warrior re-sheathed the Sword of Martin, nodded respectfully at the grave, and walked back towards the main building.

Quote from: Ashleg on January 25, 2017, 10:33:16 PM
Twisty groaned as he was kicked awake, rolling over to watch as, past the dead fire, Darrin was berating Grimin again.
The brown rat sat up and began buttoning his coat.
He remarked with a shudder and a yawn, "Whoever let th' fire die is a big fool. T'wasn't you, Grimin, was it?"

"Doesn't matter who it was," said Darrin. "Jus' get movin'."
  The ferret pulled a piece of a stale biscuit from his pocket and chewed on it as he watched the others all find their way onto their feet. They weren't a bad bunch, but Darrin wondered why he took on some of these creatures sometimes. Twisty had a dead paw, Marshall was flipping blue, and he counted at least three that didn't like listening to him. Overall, though, he guessed it wasn't too much trouble leading the group of twenty. . . Darrin groaned inside his head. That's right; it was seventeen now after the three were killed by Hacklaw. It was too bad, really. . . they were some of the better fighters.
  "Oi, Blue," he called to Marshall. "How's the amount of rations?"

OOC: You guys can control NPCs like Grimin and the Abbot if you want.

Marshall was alwasy a heavy sleeper. Had it not been for Grimin pouting about, the fox may have never woken. But as it was, he was forced up by his duty. Upon the first call he simply cocked an ear to his leader, but at the second request he managed to find the bag which contained the group's supply of rations. With a quick count on his blue ways, he tuned to Darrin,
"Bigger breakfast or lunch? Seems we got 'nough biscuits and berries we picked up for now, but not a whole lot of anything else for lunch. Your call mate."

Twisty pointed his good paw at Marshall and remarked dryly, "Damien's not yer mate, idjit, 'e's th' leader and that's it. Now gimme those vittles!"

"Oh, so a simple touch o' being polite is too much for ye, is it now? Well, sorry soul ye be, 'mate'. And don't be demaning any vittles 'till Darrin tells ye."
He turned once again to his leader and repeated the question.
"Light or heavy?"

  Darrin waved his paw. "Go ahead and go heavy. Lunch'll be light today."

OOC: Let's not drag this on too long.

 "Halt, all of ye, by the bloody whiskers, someone bring me those sorry excuses for scouts!"
Pawsore and weary some three hundred vermin practically fell to their tails, pulling off packs and laying down weapons. Many of them had heavily blistered paws, and moaned their sorrows quietly to their neighbors. Hacklaw had been pushing them harder then he had ever pushed them before. In circles. All night. For miles.

The 'scouts', a pair of squinty eyed weasels were dragged into Hacklaw's presence. The two prostrated themselves, trembling before the massive stoat wisely holding their silence.

Hacklaw was dressed in his barbaric finery, furs of defeated enemies, feathers from birds, and gleaming armor covered his muscular form, weighing as much if not more then the heaviest packs carried by his underlings. In his left paw he carried a massive halberd that he leaned on like a walking stick. Hacklaw took his time, leaving the two weasels in suspense as he drank from a canteen, allowing the water to spill down his chin and neck.

"Ye see this tree me good and loyal scouts? A plain, and sturdy oak, nothing really outstanding or significant about it, but oh, what's this hm?" He ran his paw along the length of the tree's trunk, tracing a damaged part in the bark where a large blade had been sunk nearly ten inches into the wood. "Is that a mark from me halberd? Well what do ye know, that's astonishing."

The scouts squirmed in dismay, still holding their tongues as they waited for Hacklaw's wrath to descend upon them.

"Why," Hacklaw asked, his voice rising in volume with every word. "Did we march all night, following our own tacks!? How ditheringly stupid do ye have to be to mistake an entire horde's path for that of a single bloody ferret and his gang! I've tracked dragonflies, across still water on a moonless night ye know, I saw immediately what was happening! Lucky I did or you might have done it again. I'd reckon ye two couldn't find yer own tails if they were chopped off and handed to ye!" The stoat halted his outburst, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Say, that's an idea. What do ye think Darktooth?" The stoat referred to his second in command, glancing lazily towards the ferret officer.

Darktooth scratched his ear with an arrow.
"Mmm... They's not too useful, boss. Hardly a threat to anybeast, be that us or them no good, double-timin' mercs. Can't 'ave weaklin's, can we? Gotta weed 'em out. Let th' strong survive, ey boss? I reckons we do jus' dat. An' if dey still can't find da mercs... I fink we cin 'ave some fun wiff 'em. Well, fun fer us. Not too fun fa dem..."
The ferret chuckled, prodding one of the scouts with the arrow.
"What d'ya think o' dat, fat face? Would ya like yer tails chopped off? Or yer 'eads?"

OOC-

Spoiler

Quote from: Groddil on January 27, 2017, 12:50:49 AM
Gotta weed 'em out.

-**

[close]

IC-
Twisty glared at Marshall but didn't say anything, knowing better.
"We gon' go soon?" The rat asked as he shot a glance at Damien. "That Hacklaw addlebrain is probably creepin' up on us'n's right now."

The blue fox nodded to his leader, then dove into the bag. He quickly pulled out the biscuits and an even amount of berries and roots for the group. Within the minute, most of it was distributed. Marshall however, sneaked himself a couple of extra berries in the process. He was pretty lanky as it was, so a little more woulnd't hurt.

Upon hearing Twisty, the fox nodded in agreement.
"Aye, does feel a bit eerie 'round these parts."

"Our tails, don' take our 'eads great one" the two weasels moaned in unison, groveling before the stoat and ferret. Hacklaw seemed in deep consideration, ignoring the simpering that was happening at his footpaws and speaking first to his officer.

"Aye, a fair point Darktooth, a fair point indeed. I cannot have lackers or fools leading my army in circles. An example must be made, perhaps it will discourage further failure, on their part and on the part of others. Ready your sword Darktooth, and up ye come weasels." Grabbing the two culprits by their tails Hacklaw lifted them bodily, one in each paw. Such was his height that he only had to raise his arms somewhat above his head to keep the weasels entirely off the ground; their noses brushing the lush grass that grew there. Hacklaw prided himself for his immense strength, often putting on such displays of raw power to intimidate potential rivals in his horde. Stories often grew, and soon ratwifes could be whispering to vixens about how he lifted ten fat weasels with a single paw. Hacklaw didn't stop the stories, often encouraging the tales to the point of absurdity.

The two condemned creatures pleaded for their life and tail as one might expect, but Hacklaw continued to ignore them, nodding for Darktooth to proceed.

  "Yeh, as soon as we're done eatin'." Darrin looked around at Marshall's comment. "I don't know, I think it's actually pretty nice here. What's so eerie about it?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Abbot Gerard opened the big doors of the abbey and stepped out onto the path, still looking for Elijah Firetail. He spotted the otter coming from the north side of the abbey towards the main building across the lightly frosted grass, and he waved his paw in greeting and called out to the Abbbey Warrior.
  "Good morning, Elijah!"

Twisty snorted.
He was itching to go, so he butted in on their conversation again. "We're being 'unted down, Darrin, what isn't eerie? If we're not outta here soon, I'm leavin'."

Darktooth grinned, drawing his sword.
"Th' chief didn't get ta where 'ee did by bein' weak. Neither did I. But these two..."
The ferret swung his blade in a wide arc, severing the scouts' tails and causing them to thud to the ground.

---

Elijah turned to look at the old mouse.
"Father Abbot? What do you need?"

In response to both Twist and Darrin, the fox scanned the area once more before explaining himself.
"Everything in these forests down 'ere are just, busy. In the Northlands, ain't nothing but wind. Down 'ere, y'got loud rivers, birds tweetin', an' that Hacklaw chasin' after us. The small things, y'ken."

"Yer scared of birds, Marshall?" Twisty sneered, leaning in.
"Oh, oh--an' rivers? Well, y'd best hurry up an' leave, too, so those birds don't getcha." He scratched behind his ear with his good paw, glancing lazily at Darrin.

"Well, when the only bird y'meet want to slay ye, and the only quick dip in a river will freeze ye to death, I think I do have a rightful reason. Y'just lucky ye live down here; I dunno how ye would fair where I'm from." He replied with a smirk. He would be dead before even making it to the Pines.

Marshall was throwing shade for sure...stupid fox.
Having stopped caring about what Darrin would think of him, Twisty's paw traveled to his dagger.
"Aye, an' was that a challenge, mate?"

 Left holding the two tails Hacklaw released a booming laugh, the humor of the situation allowing him to ignore the slight pain in his footpaws. Giving the closest weasel a kick in his bleeding tail stump the stoat sent them scurrying away. "Get out of here ye lucky dogs, be glad the only thing ye lost is these here soppy excuses for tails. Now somebeast fetch two new scouts, and Naplaw to me."

Pressing the two disembodied appendages against Darktooth's shoulders Hacklaw mused aloud. "A fair swing, hm, but they don't look good on you my friend, the wrong color. Unless ye want truly want them to compliment your armor, I'll be giving these to my youngest son." Hacklaw raised his eyebrows knowingly, watching Darktooth for his response.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Carrying a bundle of scrolls in her arms Nicki Blupaw treaded slowly across the Abbey lawns, her paws crunching the light frost underfoot. She hummed a rowing hymn under her breath as she went, occasionally kicking a pebble high into the air with a skillful skip.

The sound of Abbot Gerard's voice caught her ears, and the young hedgehog looked in his direction, changing course and heading towards them.

Marshall noticed his sudden move for his weapon and began to twirl his axe from his position.
"I dunno; If I was ye, I would be quite hesitant to lose another paw."

The rat bared his teeth and tugged at the glove that covered his twisted paw.
"T'was born like this, it didn't happen in a fight. C'mere, I say, mebbe I could show ye 'ow it feels..."
Swishing his tail, he began advancing towards Marshall with the dagger poised.

  Darrin drew his own sword and stepped between the two creatures. "Shut your feed-holes and straighten up, you louts!" he said commandingly. "Pull the mud out of your ears and listen to how petty you both are; arguing over rivers and birds. It's disgusting."
  He looked meaningfully at them both before sheathing his sword. "You two are leading the way, today, so figure out how to cooperate long enough to find our next rest stop."

OOC: @Skarzs: *Ahem.* The Abbot?

The blue fox just snorted as he slid his axe back into his belt.
"Ye know, ye vermin down here have very different meanin' for words such as 'disgusting' and 'petty'. Odd, don't ye say Twisty mate?" He gave a slow nod to his adversary hoping to stir the pot even more. Marshall hoped so much to see him snap it had become a game. Mossflower vermin were of a completely different breed it seemed.

"What d'you mean, huh?" sneered Twisty, gray eyes flicking back and forth angrily as he stuffed his weapon away.
He pointed south.
"Might as well get on with our escape, eh, Marshall...y'know?"
The rat paused, smirking. "If I drownded yer inna river, nobeast could tell. Right, ole Blue?

"Ye folk think provin' is petty and fighting is disgusting. Odd lads aren't ye?"
The fox simply nodded at his orders and grabbed his pack, ready from the night before. He caught onto what Twisty was speaking of and grew his own smile.
"I dunno; depends on if I would tell once I got to ye first Twisty. Say, got any other names? What about, Lame Paw? Or just Twist?" He commented while looking into the deep grove of southern trees. Going anywhere with this lad was going to be a challenge.

OOC: Skarzs.

OOC: I've been occupied. Hopefully I can do a decent post tomorrow after work.

"No, jus' Darrin thinks dat." Twisty squabbled, turning sharply and starting to march.
He flattened his ears. "Lame Paw yerself. Idjit."

  "We're going north," Darrin said with a roll of his eyes as he pointed in the direction Twisty was going. "Hacklaw's that way."
  These two are going to drive me to an early grave, he thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Abbot Gerard smiled good-naturedly at the otter. "It's Springday feast, and we can't have a feast without a fish! I was wondering if you'd like to do the honors and catch one for us from the pond."

The rat stumbled to a halt, remarking snidely, "Oh, is 'e? I knew that. Just testin' ya, see."
He kicked a few weasels as he strode past Darrin. "C'mon, addlebrains, ye 'eard th' beast. We're goin' north!"

Elijah nodded.
"A fish? Of course, of course. Was there anything else? Otherwise I'll get right on it."

  "No, that was all." The abbot looked in the direction Elijah had come from. "Trying to put old ghosts to rest, my friend?"
  The mouse turned as he heard footsteps approaching, and saw Nicki Blupaw heading towards him. "Hallo, Nicki! Good morning."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  OOC: I think we'll time skip Darrin's group in a little bit.

OOC: @danflorreguba I know you hop on every once in a while. Are you waiting for anything to post?

OOC: I don't feel like my presence is necessary as of yet so I've kept to the sidelines to let things progress faster. However, if you'd like me to get active I'm sure I could start posting  ;)

"Mornin' Father Abbot," Nicki answered stoically joining the otter and mouse, touching the tip of her hat in greeting. She peeked around her stack of scrolls, bobbing her head towards the Abbey warrior as well. "Mornin' to ye as well Elijah." She noticed Elijah's glum look, but she didn't comment on it, knowing full well it wouldn't be worth sticking her nose into something like that.
"Kitchens are cooking up a storm, if my nose inn't lying." She commented, raising her snout a little to sniff the air. "Any way I could 'elp? I just finished my studies for th' day, I could do with something to keep me busy."

  Abbot Gerard tapped his lip thoughtfully for a moment before speaking. "Ah, I know! You're always wanting to learn, right?" He grinned mischievously. "Well, I'm sure Elijah would be more than happy to teach you how to clean a fish for cooking! Goodbye now!" With that, he scurried away off towards the abbey, saying something about how he could hear one of the sisters calling his name.


OOC: You know, we could probably time skip the whole RP forwards to the beginning of the feast. Does that sound good?

  Some time in the mid-aftertoon, the Redwallers had all gathered into Cavern Hole and were eagerly awaiting Abbot Gerard's prayer to begin the Springday feast. The last platters and dishes of food were being brought out as the abbot walked up to his place at the head table.
  The chatter and bustle quieted down as he rang a little bell, and he led the prayer.
  "As spring begins and winter ends,
  Friends, good creatures all,
  We celebrate good fortune in
  Another season at Redwall."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Darrin looked up in disbelief at the towering, red, sandstone walls and great oak doors he stood in front of. They had been travelling for hours, and having come across a path, decided to go along it. The ferret knew the road would lead somewhere, but he didn't expect this.
  "'S like somethin' out of a fairy tale," he mumbled before turning back to his group. "Oi, do any of you know what this place is called?"

"That's th' H'Abbey," Twisty remarked, picking his teeth with a sharp claw.
"Redbrick Stoneplace or whatnot. Th' creatures there are rich, an' from what I've 'eard purtty foolish. They be a bunch o' peaceful Woodlanders..."

  "Peaceful? Excellent!" said Darrin. "Just what we need to get away from Hacklaw for a little while. Besides, we're low on supplies."
  The ferret took out his dagger and hit the gate with the pommel several times. "Hallo! Anyone there?" he shouted.

*boom boom boom* "Hallo! Anyone there?"

       Raleigh nearly jumped when she heard the voices outside, all the expected guests had arrived already. She had been out waking the old codger that called himself the gatekeeper, whom she promptly shooed off to Cavern Hole. She quickly strode over to the gate, unlatched it, and swung the right side open just enough to step through. The young squirrel took a step and started the next before she realized what she'd done, letting out a surprised, "Oh!" as her right foot planted itself backwards instead of stepping forward. A small band of armed, travel-worn vermin was not quite what she expected, though she chastised herself inwardly for not checking before opening anyway. She recovered nearly instantly, a warm smile taking hold and narrowly avoiding a case of staring face, "Excuse me a moment... Hey Ruff! Let Elijah and the Abbot know we have company at the gate!... Sorry about that, welcome to Redwall! Might I ask why you've come today?" Leaning against the gate as she spoke, she rested her left hand on her hip, while her right slid just behind the grainy surface, stopping on the latch. Raleigh hadn't seen or met many vermin before, and being up close with armed ones was disconcerting, but she refused to look nervous or be any less friendly because of it..... Still, she really hoped Elijah and the Abbot would hurry! 

"Ain't she a darlin', mates?" Twisty snickered and pushed his way in front of Darrin.
"It's a long story. Jus' let us in."

Marshall was impressed by the size of the Abbey upon first finding it. Most of the castles and such from the Highlands were only about half its size.
"Don't mind that one Miss, he's got a messed up mind an' paw," the fox replied before grabbing Twisty by his useless arm. "Ye best get back here Numbpaw and let Darrin speak; the sight o' ye would scare these beasts!"

The rat gave a high pitched yelp and stumbled back.
He tore away from Marshall and spat bitterly. "Yeah, like th' sight o' you scared yer mother when you were born. Scatterbrain, I had got that all under control."

  Darrin smacked Twisty upside the head before getting in front of him again. "Don't mind my friend here," he said with a smile. "We're just travelling through and want to rest. We saw your humble abode and wanted to see if you could let us stay!"
  He looked over Raleigh's shoulders. "Ehh, how long till we can come in, then?"

"Not soon enough," Twisty muttered, covering his head.
The frowning rat's gray gaze still lingered on Raleigh.
Stupid ferret's makin' me look bad in front of her! he thought. "Ay, 'urry up."

       As soon as Twisty made his way to the front whilst speaking, Raleigh blinked. Everything went dark and silent, this moment always dragged, even though it was a mere fraction of a second. Her eyes opened wide, though the rest of her demeanor kept it's cheeriness. She mentally saw the rat's underlying muscles and bones, assessing both his body, and the bodies of the next 3 closest vermin. Thankfully, a fox stepped in before the miscreant had any chance to try anything. The squirrel's head twitched as her piercing gaze reverted, "Hm? Oh," chuckling lightly, she replied with a quick roll of the eyes, "I've seen worse than that, don't you worry... Though I'd advise hiding your hat while you're here." Her eyes mellowed for the briefest moment as she locked them with Marshall's, not as a threat, or command, but simply to denote that she was giving serious advice. Raleigh's attention was immediately Darrin's when he started to speak, who's smile she warmly returned while speaking, "It's not up to me, but I'm pretty willing to bet the Abbot'll let you join us, you couldn't have picked a better time to show up either!" She took a moment to ponder before answering, searching a couple nearby clouds for a clue, "Weeeeell, hopefully the Abbot and Elijah are already making their way here now, though I couldn't tell you if they'll be held up... Not too long I hope, I'd like to head inside myself!... Oh, and you back there, if you keep acting so impatiently I might forget to consider fixing your paw."

"C-consider fixin' me..." Twisty snickered and nudged Marshall.
"Eh, y'ear that? Then who're ye gonna call Numbpaw, Numbskull?"

  Father Gerard had only just finished serving his plate with food when Ruff hurriedly whispered something in his ear.
  "Eh? What's that? Oh, bother. Come along, @Elijah, looks like Raleigh needs us two, for whatever reason. Don't worry, the food will be here when we come back . . . At least I hope so." The mouse quickly stuffed two scones into his wide sleeves to eat on the way to the gate as he and the abbey warrior walked around the many tables in Cavern Hole and to the big abbey doors.
  "Ruff said Raleigh told him there was company at the gate. . . Don't know why she would need us to greet them. Any ideas, my friend?"

OOC: I would like to mention that some PPing is allowed as long as it doesn't permanently change things and if the player it is done against is fine with it. So to get things moving, I might assume Groddil won't mind if I move Elijah into an action I assume he would take anyways, like above. I think it just helps others know when they are wanted, and leaves openings for further posts.

Elijah pushed open the Abbey door.
"I can think of two reasons. Maybe they need to speak with you, although I don't see why they couldn't meet you in the Abbey itself. Don't know why I would need to be there. Besides, why would they need to see you, unless they had something for us... Or we were in danger."
The otter waited until Gerard was through the door before he let it swing shut.
"Or... The more realistic option? The reason I need to be there? Whoever they are, they're not friendly. Vermin warband, one o' the more vicious otterclans, like the ones from out east back when I was younger, or just a couple o' madbeasts who can't take life out'n the woods."

  "Well, in that case, it would have made more sense to have more than just you and me come along. . . no offense to your skill, of course." Maybe we should have brought someone else too, the abbot thought. Oh dear. "Let's hope for the best!"
  They walked the rest of the expanse across the lawns in silence, every step bringing them a little closer to the gates, and Abbot Gerard kept trying to make out the figures through the squirrel-sized opening in the gate. Finally they were close enough to speak, and he called out. "Raleigh? Who is it?"

OOC: /me has the sword.

OOC: Edited.

Marshall nodded at the request to remove his raccoon skin hat. He felt a bit enraged at such a rule, but knew it would be better to obey and be served then to refuse and go on hungry. His two torn blue tipped ears sagged down upon moving his hat and tucking it away. The many years foraging still left its marks.

As he heard what Raleigh had to say about Twisty, Marshall cracked up.
"I doubt ye could fix both his mind and his paw Miss. Guess ye would have to take up the Numbskull name Numbpaw."

Twisty reeled, teeth bared.
"Well don't'cha say, Marshall, ya barrel-bottomed, loud-mouthed excuse fer a fox! Oh...oh my."
The rat brought his good paw up to his mouth, hiding a smirk.
"A blue fox with floppy ears. Ne'er 'ave I seen a sight funny as this..."

"Raleigh? Who is it?"

       "Oh! Sounds like they're getting here now." Raleigh turned around half way; she was concerned about the vermin, but didn't want to sound harsh about it, "We have guests I thought you'd like to meet." She was more than happy to relinquish her position at the gate, opening it slightly so the Abbot and Elijah could speak with the band unhindered. Her neck had started to sweat, and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief when she was safely out of their line of sight. Most of them seemed decent enough, but if history was anything to go by... "No," she berated herself with a firm shake of the head, refusing to count them out before they'd even had a chance to prove they were different.

  It turned out that Hacklaw wasn't all talk and could find and follow a trail rather well. The stoat, along with Darktooth and twenty other paw-picked warriors had gone ahead of the main army, circling in ever widening loops until Hacklaw rediscovered the suspected trail of Darrin. Allowing the score and one creatures to rest, Hacklaw sent a single loyal beast back the way they'd come to lead the horde on and follow behind. Hacklaw and his guards would press on, the stoat reasoning that Darrin's continued success in evading him was because his full army was too slow.

Dipping his footpaws in a shallow stream, idly casting pebbles at passing insects and occasionally calling out boasts and jokes as they passed the time Hacklaw allowed himself to relax. He could get used to this country, and not being constantly surrounded by dullards who couldn't tell a good joke. Maybe he'd find some place to settle his army, and rule both the Southeast and Northwest and all the land between in a fine castle. Who would challenge him? But first, business.

"Once ye ladies feel up for the walk we'll move out on the double." Hacklaw informed his followers, snatching up his boots and halberd. "And what I mean when I say 'when ye feel like it' is right now. Up on the old footpaws the lot of ye, we're wasting daylight."

"Well Numbpaw seems ye should pack up some day an' move out to my country. Great deal of oddities up there ye know; ye could fit right on in!" Marshall replied with a smirk. His blue head felt so naked without his hat. But rules are rules. He looked on behind their greeter and saw the two approaching. His posture straightened up, and his toothy grin abroad.

"Oh, sure, right after yew teach me t' squawk like a bird. Gotta speak yer language, y'know...hey, outta my way!" Twist snarled, trying to get a glimpse of the Abbot and his friend from around Marshall. Upon spotting them, he let out a snort of boredom. They didn't catch his eyes like Raleigh did.

  "I swear, if you two don't shut up. . ." gritted Darrin from clenched teeth, but he didn't go any further as Raleigh pushed the abbey door open wider.
  "Oh. Oh dear." Abbot Gerard stopped and looked at the crowd outside the gates, and he pulled Elijah closer. "It is vermin!"
  "Hallo, your lordship!" said Darrin to the mouse in a tone he hoped wasn't too cheerful. "I'm assuming you're king or something around here, and I was wondering if you'd let us come in. We've been travelling for days without rest and little food, and we need a place that's safe from. . . eh. . . the weather for a short time! A few days at most."
  The abbot looked up at the clear sky, and raised an eyebrow at the ferret, who shrugged.
  "You never know what nature decides to do next?"
  "You're not doing a good job of convincing me. Elijah, if you think they're going to be too much trouble, you have my permission to. . ."
  Darrin raised his paws quickly. "Wait! Stop! We don't want to cause trouble, we just want a place that's not out in the open. Look, go ahead and take my weapons, if you want."

Elijah drew his sword.
"How come? You got that look about you, ferret. Same look I 'ad when I got 'ere. What're ye runnin' from? I can see it. In yer eyes."

  "Well it won't be from you, if you're tryin' to scare me," said Darrin, though he did not one bit fancy clashing blades with this otter. "So what if I got some things behind me I ain't proud of? Give me, us, a chance. Like I said, we'll be gone in a few days."

Twisty smirked and blurted unwisely, "Yeah! A few days an' he'll 'ave passed us up!"

"When I did the same thing you seem to be doing, there were a lot of deaths involved. So I'd like to remain cautious."
Elijah turned to Twisty, raising an eyebrow.
"And who, pray tell, is 'he?'"

Twisty's eyes gleamed as if he were some kind of evil storyteller.
"Hacklaw, th' murderous tyrant stoat with 'is great army o' hundreds!"

Elijah's eyebrow rose, but his face creased in concern.
"So... You're running from a warlord? He coming this way? How long are we talking about here, before he shows up on our doorstep."

"Right y'are! Give it maybe a few d..." Twisty caught Darrin's glance and withered, grinning sheepishly. The ferret's mention of weather as a cover-up was merely beginning to dawn on him.
He rubbed the fur behind his ears as he cast a tender glance at Elijah.
"No, aha, I'm jus' teasin'. There's no warlord. I ain't never seen a warlord in me life, on me oath I ain't."

The otter held his sword point to Twisty's neck.
"Don't lie to me, rat. If I needed any more proof, you just gave it to me. So the next thing out of your mouth 'ad better be information, an' it better be useful, or I'd say ye can face this warlord on that side o' th' wall."

"Information," jeered Twisty, giving Elijah's blade a meek little tap with his claw.
He gave a smirk that was bordering on fake innocence. "Heh, eh...I abode by yer request."

Elijah glared at the rat.
"The word is abide. Now talk."

The rat spluttered angrily. "I know what the stinkin' word is!"
He glanced over himself at Darrin and then bent to get his own weapon with his good paw.
Stupid otter couldn't make a fool of him like this...
The rat narrowed his eyes. Especially not in front of Marshall. Old Blue would never let him live this down.
"Back off, Frogwalloper!" Twisty yowled, glaring daggers. "We come seekin' shelter an' you hop to it with a blade at my neck! Can ye believe this?" He peered around incredulously. "Yah hoppin' flea scratcher--Riverdog."

"The way you're withholding information about a damned horde coming our way makes me just a little suspicious, and insulting me isn't exactly helping your case. So either you shut your useless hole and let somebeast with at least half a brain between their ears explain the situation, or you'll be staying out there to play a little game of hide an' seek with the warlord, regardless of whether or not we decide to let your friends in!"
The otter lowered his sword and turned to Marshall.
"You've been pretty quiet so far. Know anything useful?"

  "I'm the one you talk to, not them," interrupted Darrin. "An' you know what? Yeah, Hacklaw's on our heels. So the best thing we can do for ourselves is just keep movin'." He turned tail and started walking away. "But I don't think he'd pass up a grand place like this, though! Shame to see such a beautiful home become the sitting hole for a beast like Hacklaw. Best of luck!"
  "Wait!" Gerard called to Darrin, who stopped with a hidden smile. "Here at Redwall we're supposed to help those in need, and here we have creatures who need some time to rest. And Elijah, if there is a horde coming this way, then we're in danger, and if they know anything that might help us, then we can afford to keep them for a little while."

OOC: @Groddil, if you can reply with Elijah, please? :)

Elijah lowered his sword.
"I'll be keeping an eye on them. The last thing we need is a dagger in our backs."

OOC: I am so sorry for not getting back to this. :-\ I've been pretty drained recently.

BIC:
  "I'd expect nothing less," said Gerard in return. He turned to the band standing outside. "Please set your weapons down here, and we'll let you in."
  Darrin took his dagger and sword from his belt and laid them down in the dirt in front of the gate, and he looked at the others, who stood awkwardly staring at the weapons. "Well?" the ferret snapped.
  "We ain't never gone wivvout our blades," whined Grimin, the rat. "I've 'ad this axe since I took it off a lizard who-"
  "Anyone who doesn't remove their weapons gets no food tonight!" said Darrin. "And I for one want some warm food tonight, so stop your idiotic snivelin' and put those carvers in the pile!"

"They really think we'd stab 'em?" Twisty countered, unmoving.
"I think 'tis a bit of a stretch t' tell somebeasts who just said they're bein' hunted t' go unarmed..."

"We all know ye would Numb Paw," Marshall commented as he unhooked his axe from his belt to set it down. He also had to unslung his bow and quivers, as well as his couple of hidden knifes from his belt. This place was making him feel awfully naked. First his hat, now his weapons. Should go ahead and take away his blue fur as well.

"As a matter o' fact, yeh blue idjit, I would not." Twisty grumbled, making a big show of relinquishing his weapons into the pile.

OOC-
Wow, since when was that a swear? Good grief. ::)

  After all the weapons were piled up, Darrin having to make sure certain persons in his group pulled out their more hidden weapons, the ferret stood in front smiled at the three Redwallers.
  "So?"
  Abbot Gerard sighed. "Alright, you may come in. Elijah, please give the weapons to the moles to bury somewhere until they leave."
  "Hey, they'll rust if you do that," interjected Darrin. "Blades ain't cheap, y'know. . ."
  "They'll be wrapped in cloth, if that makes you feel any better," the mouse said, turning around. "Raleigh, do bring some medical supplies to treat them if they need it. Also, if you feel like bathing, the abbey pond is. . ."
  "Bathe!" wailed Grimin. "Water! Darrin, this place ain't right!"

Elijah growled softly as he began picking up the weapons.
"Nobeast's forcing ye t'bathe, but judgin' by the pong comin' off yer fur, it's either bathe an' go inside, or sleep out on the lawn."

"Bathin' in a pond is very counterintuitive anywho." Twisty said cheerfully, brushing past Elijah to step inside.
Raleigh's bringin' medical supplies...maybe I should break my leg on the way in...

  "Yer all a bunch of ninnies," said Darrin. As he stepped in the gates, he looked in wonderment at the inside of the abbey, from its red-stoned belltower so high up it was like a needle point, to the lush orchard and the brown, rich gardens which would soon begin sprouting vegetables.
  "Whoa," was all he could manage to say quietly.

       Raleigh had been very uptight through the entire ordeal, listening intently in the hopes of finding some reassurance of safety. She was rather suddenly jerked out of her own misty thoughts when Gerard addressed her, to which she responded, "T'would be my pleasure Father Abbot!" Sight of the young squirrel was soon lost as she practically flew across the lawn toward and into the Abbey building. She couldn't decide if she was fortunate or unfortunate to run into one of the other Infirmary Sisters shuttling supplies upstairs. After absconding with a portion of the materials, she made her way back just in time to see Darrin's face as the splendor of the Abbey grounds hit him. A smile encroached upon her cheeks, soon followed by a light laugh as she approached the ferret, "I've seen that one before, so what do you think?" Raleigh felt a bit more comfortable around Darrin, he seemed to have at least some air of dignity around him.

Twisty watched Darrin's endeavor from the side, lip curled in envy.
He wasn't one to be taken aback by the beauty of scenery like his boss was.
"So are th' rest of us just supposed t' stand 'ere while ye gawk?" he jeered, rat tail curling.
And why was Raleigh smiling like that?
Twisty snorted.

  "Ain't never seen anything like it," replied the ferret. "You must be rich to live in a place like this!"
  ". . . Perhaps we are rich in some ways," said Gerard, folding his paws in his habit sleeves. "We value friendship and peace over anything like gold or precious stones."
  The mouse drew back in surprise as Darrin burst out laughing. "Ha ha ha ha hah! Friendship and peace! That's a good one. I bet you would rather give your food to somebeast even if you were starvin'! Hah hah!" His smile faded as he looked at the three Redwallers. "Oh . . . You weren't joking. . . ? What kind o' creatures are yew?"
  Abbot Gerard looked at him reprimandingly. "Selfishness leads to loneliness."
  "Yeah, maybe, but I say if you can't even help yourself you can't help others."

Nicki was a willing volunteer, and when the friar asked where the Abbot had gotten to, and if somebeast would find him please, she'd been the first to offer her services. Taking her leave from the table she exited the Abbey door crossing the gravel path, each pawstep bringing ever more questions.

Nicki hadn't been at Redwall long, but she knew enough about the Abbey to know vermin were a rare sight within the walls. Her writing paw inched towards her hip, only to find empty air where her sword hilt usually was. She hadn't needed a sword while at Redwall and at Gerard's request she'd kept it wrapped in cloth upstairs.

"There you are Father Abbot." She called coming to a stop beside the mouse, trying her best not to stare at the newcomers, that'd be rude. "Are these um, guests? Oh hi Raleigh."

       Rather taken aback, Raleigh couldn't figure out if she was more surprised, confused, or sad over Darrin's rather raucous statements. She knew that others would hold different opinions of the world, but this was the first time she ever heard one so vastly different out loud, much less the effects these views had on those that held them. Clearly, their work was cut out for them, but courtesy was the woodlander way, and hospitality was the legacy of Redwall since it's inception. She had no more time to think however, as she heard her name from behind and turned half way to see who was approaching, "Hmm? Oh, hi there Nicki, and yes, they're guests. I'm assuming you came looking for the Abbot, is something the matter?"

Shaking her head, Nicki quickly explained her original purpose. "No, no, of course not. I came out because the Abbot was missed, you've been out here for a little while now. And I have to say, you're missing a fantastic feast. And there'll be nothing left soon, the way they're going at it in there."

  "A feast? Well, looks like we came at the right time!" Darrin rubbed his paws together. "What're we waitin' for?"
  Abbot Gerard knew he would have had to make a decision on whether or not he would allow the vermin inside the abbey to eat with the rest of the Redwallers, but he hadn't wanted to think about it. Now he weighed it out in his mind. They were willing enough to surrender their weapons, so with the promise of food they might behave. Other than them being rude, they didn't seem like a bad group. Still, as much as he didn't want to do it to other Redwallers, the mouse knew everyone would be more comfortable if they were supervised.
  "Alright, you may join," he said finally, and the band let out a small cheer. "But I'm going to have to make sure there's a table for you!" he added.
  The abbot led the way to the abbey, and left them outside the doors as he went to Cavern Hole. Due to the otters being away, there were still a couple tables being unused, and Gerard instructed some Redwallers to move them a little further away from the others, explaining they had some unexpected guests.
  Gerard nearly fell back in surprise when he opened the abbey doors again to find Darrin with his snout nearly touching them, and the ferret stepped around the mouse with a grin. "C'mon, where's the food?"
  "Patience, please," the other replied, regaining his composure. He walked them through the Great Hall and the great arched passages until they reached Cavern Hole, and indicated which tables they were to sit at. The room went nearly silent as the vermin entered the room, and a low murmur swept around the tables. Why were they here? It was all rather unorthodox. What if they were dangerous? Was the abbot crazy?
  Gerard addressed the crowd. "My friends, these creatures are travellers, and arrived here not long ago. They're going to be staying for a couple days, so please be polite and welcome them."
  All eyes turned to the vermin group, and both sides stared at each other for a short time in silence, until Darrin said aloud: "Let's eat, eh?"

OOC: @Skarzs  Where do you want this RP to move next? Do you want Hacklaw to show up at the gates, or do you want the Redwallers and Darrin interact for a few hours/days before that?

OOC: I suppose we can time skip to the morning, but @Gonff the Mousethief and @Ashleg haven't posted in a bit, so I was waiting to see if they would before then.

OOC-
There's nothing for me to do so I suggest we move on.

OOC-
Bump?

OOC: Ouch. My bad. @LT Sandpaw, I'd still like to make a bad character to help with Hacklaw, so you know, so hopefully that will help you.

BIC: Darrin woke up and stretched, once again the first of his band to wake up. They were all allowed to sleep outside under a somewhat hastily-crafted lean-to against the wall of the abbey. After the food and drink from the night before, they had all been quite ready for sleep and were eagerly shown to their resting place.
  The ferret stood up and left the rest of his group towards the abbey doors, reasoning that there was no reason for them to get up early that day, and besides, some of them still had eating habits he preferred not to watch at the same time he ate.

Twisty his hit head against the ground mid-snore. Swallowing his spit, the rat popped one gray eye open and then narrowed it. That seemed to be Darrin walking off...upside-down due to Twisty's current angle.
He silently rolled over.
"Where's he think 'e's goin'..."

OOC: Alright, cool.

IC:

They had followed the tracks until it became to difficult too see through the darkness. Hacklaw and his personal bodyguard made camp, resting uneasily in the thick woodlands, not daring to light a fire in strange territory with so few in numbers.

Rising first at dawn from his position propped against a tree trunk, Hacklew took a long draft from his wineskin, inspecting his surroundings. In all directions were trees and more trees, but to the northwest...

"All of ye, on your paws and take a gander at that." Hacklaw urged his followers, pointing towards the high spires of a red building, dominating the landscape of nearer Mossflower. The stoat grinned, leaning on his halberd as he took the sight in. They must not have been able to see it last night in the darkness, but now in daylight it stood out like a drunk fox.
"Ha, if I was a runaway ferret looking for a place to hide and steal. I know exactly where I would go upon seeing that."

OOC-
Bored and feel like giving life back to this heh.
IC-
Twisty got to his footpaws and stalked after Darrin, making good progress until, absently, he cracked a twig.
The rat froze and flashed a wide smile, waving the air with his gloved paw. He had lost the element of surprise. "Er, er, what're y' doin', Chief?"

  Darrin went stiff as he heard a twig snap behind him, and he looked back over his shoulder, dismayed to see Twisty. "Oh, eh, just getting food. Didn't think I'd have to wake you all jus' to get a bite to eat."
  The ferret knew it would be unlikely for the rat to let him go alone, so he waved a paw. "Come on, no sense wasting words here."

"Grand," said Twisty, beginning to march after him.
It was true, Redwall Abbey did have good food. It was even better knowing that, going with only Darrin, he would have a larger pick.
The rat chuckled to himself.
Perhaps Raleigh would be there...but no, not with Darrin. His gaze hardened.

  Darrin walked past Redwallers who steered out of the two vermin's way as they began their mornings. The ferret picked his way through the abbey, trying to recall the direction Abbot Gerard had taken them. Finally they found themselves in Cavern Hole, where most of the Redwallers were still eating breakfast.
  "Ah! Here we are."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Rallowan had been up before Hacklaw, and had seen the abbey, but he had been sitting silently near the edge of the horde until the stoat awoke. Once he was up and aware of it as well, the fox approached him.
  "That is Redwall. You have heard the stories of it."

"An' here we go," exclaimed Twisty, racing forward in a burst of excitement.
He swooped over the table like a maniac as he collected what he wanted, startling families in the process and not caring about personal space.
Where was Raleigh? The food smelled so good. He could look for her later.

Snickering, the rat retreated to the far end of the table with his findings and tucked in.

  "Of course I've heard of it," grunted Hacklaw to Rallowan. "But since we ain't goin' after Redwall, we ain't doomed yet."
  Rallowan looked away from the stoat and shrugged. "Very well."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Darrin filled his plate and sat himself down between two Redwallers, not caring to notice how they drew back, and some of them left to find other seats. He looked up at Abbot Gerard and Elijah and waved at them roguishly.
  "Wonderful food again!"

The one otter that was left near Darrin grunted in disgust and coughed into his sleeve.
He seemed to be strenuously trying not to stare.
"Wonderful food, it is...although perhaps too wonderful. You really need to put that friend of yours on a leash."
With a warning glare, he pointed to a freshly-made stain on his tunic and resumed spooning soup past his snout.

--

A rat, positioned a few yards off from Rallowan and Hacklaw, gritted his teeth and spat a fish bone into his paw.
"Who says Darrin hasn't wound up there himself?"

  Hacklaw looked at the rat with a look that could kill. "I never said we ain't goin' there, numb face, but we ain't prepared t' take a place like that right now." He filled his big chest with air and bellowed out. "Everybody up! Start walkin'!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
  "What's that soup, eh?" Darrin reached for the bowl but his paw was smacked away.
  "This 'ere's 'otroot soup, ferret. You wouldn't like it."
  Darrin shook his own spoon at the otter. "Try me!"
  The otter looked at his friend beside him, who grinned mischievously. "Sure, matey, you can 'ave some," the otter said, passing a hidden wink to his friend. He poured some of the soup into another bowl and dropped a little bit more pepper into it. "Harr, give it some flavor."
  "Thankee."
  The two Redwallers, as well as several others around him, watched excitedly as Darrin stirred the soup and lifted a spoonful his lips.
  Abbot Gerard stood up suddenly as a loud cry erupted from the table. Redwallers roared in laughter at Darrin's  plight, the ferret falling backwards off the bench, spitting out hotroot soup and grabbing anything cool nearby to quench his burning mouth. Finally, when he could breath, Darrin turned upon the otter. "Yew filthy cheatin' no-good-!"
  "Elijah, please stop this!" said the abbot.

"Give 'im more!" Twisty howled, laughing so hard he could barely control himself as he stood and sauntered around the table.
"Please...hah...somebeast should've given 'im..." the rat's gray eyes landed on the Chief while the ferret cooled his tongue.
The rat feigned innocence.
"Are ya okay, Chief?"

--

All of the vermin in Hacklaw's army began to assemble and move out, mostly without audible complaint as they knew how fickle their Chief could be when it came to it.
"Me paws 'urt," muttered the rat who had countered Hacklaw before. "Walkin' in circles..."

       Raleigh had been eating with the cooks in the kitchen after striking up a conversation on her way to breakfast that morning. She was having trouble choking down her water through a fit of giggles when she heard an all too familiar and desperate ruckus coming from the dining area, "If Truggs spiked another beasts fizz I swear I'll have 'is paws!" The squirrel was out the door with a lightly honeyed cup of green sap milk in a mere moment. Leaving the kitchen, Raleigh found herself quite dismayed with the scene before her. Rushing over, she instructed the ferret in the same moment that she forced the drink into his grip, "Darrin right? Drink slowly, and make sure that you rinse out the entire inside of your mouth thoroughly before swallowing. There should be enough in that cup to wash out twice, with an extra sip to spare." She eye-balled the bowl in question, while still making sure she was between Darrin and the suspected culprit. The bowl itself was relatively easy to identify, with no apparent owner and a rather obvious spill. She inched her way to the spicy dish, picking it up and sipping a quick mouthful off the clean side. She proceeded to give the otter in question the dirtiest look she could muster, disappointment radiated from the uncharacteristic frown she had donned.

OOC: Activity!? Yay!

Twisty yelped and stumbled off to the side when Raleigh burst in and began assisting Darrin.
Darrin...it was always Darrin with her, wasn't it?
"Alright, Chief, looks like you've got help now," he sneered under his breath, turning and whisking away from the dining hall.

"No-good good fer nothin'..."

OOC-
Yay!

  Darrin took the cup Raleigh gave him eagerly, rinsing and swallowing the liquid until his mouth was cool. He glared at the laughing Resellers and Limpy.
  "Bloody rudderbum, yet tryin' t' kill me!"
  "No I ain't," said the otter, looking around Raleigh. "I told you you wouldn't like it."
  Darrin grimaced and picked up his platter. "Aah, forget it." With that he went to find a table with less creatures.

Rowan had woken up late and from there it had downhill since she couldn't find her habit cord. Rushing to Cavern Hole, she muttered to herself under her breath. "They never wake me up if I sleep late but who keeps their ungrateful tails on time? Couldn't be me now could it?" She wasn't paying attention as she went around a corner close to the Hall and almost knocked into someone else. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" Rowan cried, looking up and stifling a gasp as she saw she'd almost run into a rat. Rowan had heard that the Abbey had taken in some vermin for a few days but she'd been so busy yesterday that she hadn't had a chance to see for herself.

Twisty screamed and hopped backwards, only to realize the offender was an apologetic little squirrel.
The rat began to scowl while he adjusted his coat with his good paw.
"Don't go in there. They're all no-goods..."

He frowned.
"'Specially Darrin. Raleigh ain't never gonna fix my paw what with him around. Stop gawping!"

Rowan tilted her head, "What's wrong with your paw? May I take a look? I'm no Raleigh but I work in the Infirmary as well." Huh, he doesn't seem too bad, she thought to herself. A little jealous, perhaps, but this rat certainly didn't fit what she'd heard about vermin. Then again, Elijah had let them into the Abbey for some reason. Maybe they were different.

Twisty grumbled and held out his left paw but did not remove the glove.
"'Tis crippled, that's what's wrong with it. All twisted an' useless. Bah!" he turned and spat on the ground.
"Don't you go an' get my hopes up just to squash 'em again. It's not..." the rat's eyes locked with Rowan's. "...fair."
She's right about one thing; she certainly is no Raleigh, he thought bitterly.

OOC: You know, I was starting to feel all warm and fuzzy until that last line. Hah.

BIC: A little piece of Rowan shriveled when Twisty spat on the floor, but she looked away. "Nothing's useless. Just because something can't do what people think it should doesn't mean it's useless - It might have some other use that maybe you haven't found yet. Now, as for your hopes, I will do everything I can to help with your paw." She smiled at Twisty, "Would you like to go up to the Infirmary now?"

OOC-
Ah my. How?
IC-
"It can't do anything. That means it's useless." Twisty squinted behind him, back at the hall where everybeast was eating, and cursed quietly.
"...I'll come up'n there right now an' you'll fix me up good," said the rat distractedly, racing ahead of Rowan.
Inside him, anger brewed.

"Hey! Can I go get a tray to bring up to the Infirmary first?! Unlike you, I haven't eaten yet!" Rowan protested, looking towards Cavern Hole with longing eyes. Patients were important, yes, but so was food. . .

Twisty waved her off bad-temperedly.
"Fine, whate'er, go on," he sneered, "You can't fix it anyways."

Rowan looked at Twisty, shocked. "Now wait a moment. Just because I'm not Raleigh with her pretty face and knowledge of everything doesn't mean I can't fix it. I'm just hungry. But fine, if you're going to be like that let's go! I can't fix your paw without looking at it now can I?" She turned and started marching towards the Infirmary, tail swishing angrily. After a few paces, she looked back at Twisty, "Are you coming?"

"Yes!" Twisty snapped, stomping after the squirrel with his paws akimbo. "Get a grip! I'm comin'."
Something about Rowan actually having to see his paw sent a twinge through the rat's stomach.
But what if she could fix it? There would be no more "Dead-Paw" for Marshall to make fun of, that was for sure.
Twisty snorted confidently and started up the stairs.

Rowan marched up the stairs, thinking over what she could do with the rat's paw. She did need a starting place before she concocted any theories, though, and started thinking about food. It's porridge day. Lovely, lovely porridge with nuts and honey- No, don't think about it. You're gone without breakfast before, you can do it again. She scolded herself.

"Where is it?" Twisty asked once they got to the top of the steps.
He sniffed around, frowning.
"An' what kind o' idjit decided t' put the infirmary upstairs, anyway? Wasn't you, was it?"

OOC: It is a bit of a dumb idea, isn't it? :P
@Groddil, maybe Elijah can follow him.

BIC: Darrin finished eating just as the rest of his group walked into Cavern Hole, and he left before the inevitable chaos ensued, going out into the lawns. Twisty had disappeared, though he had been looking at Raleigh funny again. Odd fellow.
  The ferret walked about the abbey, finding himself watching the industrious abbeybeasts busy at their work. He supposed that is what he would have to do if he were to make a permanent home for himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Hacklaw watched as the abbey walls grew bigger and clearer, and he searched for a way he would deal with the situation. They had not prepared fully for a siege of any kind, so he would need to hope the inhabitants would give up Darrin willingly.

Rowan looked shocked, "Of course it wasn't my idea! The Abbey has been standing for untold seasons. The Infirmary is over this way," She instructed Twisty. she was walking away when she realized she didn't even know this rat's name. "Oh, by the way, my name is Rowan."

"Twisty," said the rat aggressively. "Y' can only guess how I got it."
Contrary to his tone, it would be a misconception to say that he hated his name. He really had no feelings toward it, whereas nicknames like "Deadpaw" highly crawled on his nerves.

Twisty slunk towards the infirmary but suddenly halted, a look of sheer nervousness falling over his face.
"You first..."
He edged around and propped the door open with his footpaw, grinning stupidly.
"This won't hurt, will it, Missie?"

       With a sigh, Raleigh swept her tail over the small spill as she took the dish back to the kitchen to dispose of its' contents. She wasn't particularly happy about the incursion, especially as it reminded her that there was likely a much larger group of significantly less friendly vermin marching on the Abbey... Why? This question had shown up in her mind yesterday as well, but she'd tried to ignore it as best she could until the initial shock had settled. Who should she ask? Darrin was the most reasonable and was the apparent leader of the group, but that might be the exact reason why he wouldn't give a straight answer. Twisty, on the other hand, while most likely not being capable of giving a solid answer, was far more likely to say something; add the the fact that his paw was in shambles, and she'd have more cards in her hand to coax out the information. What about the blue fox? No, he seemed to have different priorities.... What if she spoke with Twisty, then Darrin... But would Darrin be upset if he realized his crew was being probed for information. If so, what was it they were hiding? Or maybe, "Ugh!" The squirrel maid flopped over, letting her torso come to rest on a counter top at the end of her mindless wandering. After letting her mind rest for a couple moments, she righted herself again, sitting around wasn't getting anything done, and she'd lost track of Twisty anyway. Striding back into Cavern Hole yielded a quick turnaround as the room was certainly at the tipping point of chaos. Raleigh was just starting to wonder how she should go about finding the ferret when she almost stepped right into him as he was observing the goings on, "Oh, hi again, umm..." The question pressed against her chest, and traveled up her throat against her barred lips. Why was it so hard to ask all of a sudden!? Clearing her throat quietly, she forced the words to come out, "Uh-I had a question, I'm kind of curious as to why you're being followed, why is this.... warlord? After you?" Thankfully, nobeast else had been close enough to hear.

  Darrin turned abruptly as Raleigh bumped into him, and he stepped back a pace. "Er, sorry. . ." he muttered, and waited as it looked like the squirrel was trying to say something. When she finally did ask the question, the ferret looked about as if trying to find a way out, but realized it wouldn't do much good.
  "Oh." He rubbed his face and turned away, wondering how he should word his answer. "He's the type of creature who holds a grudge, and since some of my followers did something to him he didn't like, he's after me."

       Not too surprisingly, the answer Raleigh received was vague and dodgy, she sighed inwardly, but attempted to dig once again, "Well I assumed that something had happened, but what could you possibly have done to make him so angry as to chase you all this way? What exactly would he chase this far out?"

  "That's what I want to know!" exclaimed Darrin angrily. "He already killed three of my creatures, but I guess it ain't enough! What would you do, huh? Let him catch you and kill you slowly? I ain't about that."

       There it was, now Raleigh was sure Darrin was hiding something, however, accusing the ferret of lying to his face probably wasn't the best idea. He had stated so confidently that one of his followers, though judging from his current actions he was probably in on it, had done something, yet now he "didn't" have a clue? So how to go about getting him to fess up?... Maybe she didn't have to, she had something to work with now, and if she could get Twisty to answer a targeted question, an actual answer might be possible... That still left the issue with Darrin, more so, how not to get him angry with her... The squirrel forced a smile back down her throat, she had an idea, "Gracious me, I wouldn't be either... Clearly this warlord of yours hasn't caught the responsible individual yet, whoever it is must be terrified... Hmm, I'd wager you already asked everybeast in your crew right? Well I might be able to find out who it is, but who to start with?.... Oh! I already talked to your crippled friend, what was his name?... er.. Twisty! I can start by seeing if he did, and I know a couple of ways to loosen a tongue without doing any harm. I should probably be on my way then, have a wonderful day now alright?" The big question now? Where in the world was that rat!?

  "Oh, he already found them. They're the ones who he killed." Darrin folded his arms. "My point is it doesn't make sense why he would chase us so far over. . . Bah!" The ferret waved the squirrel off, and walked towards the stairs up to the walls.

OOC: Sorry for taking so long. Not losing interest, just busy. BIC:

"Hurt?" Rowan paused to think about it. "I'll do my best not to hurt anything. Oh, thank you," She said, walking through the Infirmary door. She looked around at the familiar room, breathing in the scent of the herbs. Walking over to a corner of the room where a small washstand sat, she called, "Sit anywhere you like, I'll be there in a moment."

Twisty gagged at the pungent smell.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm goin'!" he snapped, moving about the room. It was odd to him and certainly like nothing he had ever seen before.
The rat noticed a small wooden chair in front of the window and plopped himself down.
"Heh, wonder if'n this is Raleigh's..."

Rowan turned around from washing her paws and walked over to Twisty, pausing to grab the jar of candied nuts they kept in the Infirmary for the Dibbuns. (Sometimes she suspected some of them came just to get nuts and talk to Raleigh) She set the jar down on the windowsill and popped one in her mouth. "May I take a look at your paw now?"

Twisty held out his good paw.
"If I c'n have one. Can I? Give it 'ere!"
The chestnuts looked good. He had never seen anything like them. The rat licked his jaws passionately and aimed to swipe the jar from behind Rowan.

OOC-
@The Skarzs Since Grodds let the forum, anything I can do with his characters?

OOC: Well. . . if you want to take them over that's fine. Otherwise, I have plans. . .

OOC-
Your plans are fine.

OOC: If you wanted to do something with them it is fine for now.

BIC: Darrin stood on the walls and looked out over Mossflower country, admiring the incredible view. He walked along the wall until he came to the west side where the big gate was, and looked at the road running north and south.
  Suddenly, his heart froze as a cloud of dust coming from the south appeared, scores of dark shapes within.
  "Hacklaw!" Darrin said fearfully, and he ran down from  the wall.

Rowan smacked Twisty's paw away with a disapproving tut. "No need to swipe anything, I'll share." She reprimanded, moving the jar in between the two of them. "Now, let's take a look at that paw," She said cheerfully, moving as if to take Twisty's glove off.

Twisty jerked back on the chair and sent his good paw out in a stinging smack across the squirrel's cheek. "Don't!" he snarled, rat tail lashing back and forth.
"...I'll do it. You jus'...sit there, an' look pretty."

Not spending another moment's thought on his violent action, Twisty went at removing the white glove from his left paw. He stalled for time, fooling with the hem before he finally and reluctantly removed it.
"There. Argh, 'tis hideous!"

OOC: DAAAAAANG.

Rowan gasped and leaned back, her face terrified, then shocked, then angry. She was speechless for a good few moments, and barely glanced at Twisty's paw when he finally took the glove off.
"...I'll do it. You jus'...sit there, an' look pretty."
"I bed your pardon? You hit me! You hit me, and you expect me to help you? What is wrong with you?" She jumped away from the rat, tail fluffed up. "You may as well forget my helping you. " Rowan snapped over her shoulder, stalking towards the infirmary door.

"Wait, no!" Twisty gasped, jumping up and chasing after her.
He made a quick dive for the infirmary door, slapping into it like a madbeast.
"Yer said ye'd help me! You've gotta. Please, I can't be Deadpaw no more."

Rowan stopped and looked at Twisty. On one hand, the rat had hit her. On the other, he looked so desperate. And he had said please. The squirrel folded her paws. "Give me one good reason. And then I'll think about it." A part of Rowan told her that she was being too soft, and another part told her she was being too harsh. She'd never heard of a vermin saying "please" before.

The rat looked agonized. Weren't Woodlanders easier to fool than this? He had said 'please', and now he had to think of a reason, too? Twisty gnawed at his lip.
The idea that Raleigh would think he looked better if his paw was fixed was not something that would likely win Rowan over.
"I won't...um, hit ye, again." he said, gray eyes flicking around as he fidgeted with the doorknob.

Rowan paused again. "Okay. Fine. I'll work on your paw. . . But only if you apologize (and mean it, too) and I get to go grab a breakfast tray. Deal?" She held out a paw to shake. Stupid, softhearted squirrel. He's a vermin, how much does his word mean? Rowan chidd herself. But she couldn't help it, Twisty looked so upset.

Apologize? And mean it? Twisty almost gagged on his tongue.
He'd never apologized to anybeast and meant it before.
The rat narrowed his eyes. "You really are cruel," he started, raising a brow. "...From th' blackest most dark part o' me 'eart, I'm sorrier than before."

Twisty inwardly smiled to himself. It sounded convincing enough.

"Hmm," Rowan hummed, putting a paw under her chin, "Nah, try again. Now, I still have to get that breakfast tray, if you'll let me pass?" Rowan inquired, folding her paws again and raising one of her own eyebrows. Did I push too far? She fretted in her mind. She did want to help Twisty, but she wanted to be sure he'd been taught a lesson too.

Panic lanced through Twisty's eyes, but that shocked feeling was quickly taken over by a deeper, more verminish one: anger.
"...Oh, no y'don't, Marm," he started, growling softly through his teeth. "I've waited too long fer this. Yer gonna help me, y'hear? An' you'll stay here 'till you do."

  Hacklaw pointed with his spear at the sandstone building getting larger in the distance. "Keep yer bows at ready, but don't fire unless I say to."
  Rallowan fingered his own bow impatiently. "And if they fire on us first?" he asked.
  "Then we'll make 'em all look like hedgepigs."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Darrin sprinted across the lawns and into the abbey building, knocking creatures out of the way as he tried to find the abbot, or maybe that otter. He found both of them still at table.
  "I, ah, don't want to alarm you, but Hacklaw's here!"

Rowan was starting to feel slightly panicked, but stood her ground. "Threatening me now, are you?" She questioned. "I won't be able to help you anywhere near as well without food." She tried to subtly glance around the Infirmary for anything that she could use for a weapon, if she had to.

"Promise yer gonna 'elp me!" Twisty demanded, baring his teeth.
That, together with his red coat, left him actually looking quite dangerous.
"I will not move a step from 'ere. If I let ye go, yer gonna run an' never come back. I know how it works."

Rowan stomped her foot. "You stubborn rat! Fine! Sit down, and if you move an inch I will hit you over the head with that chair." She pointed to one of the chairs sitting by the beds as she marched back to the window. Shoving the candied nut jar, she moved it back to her side of the windowsill. On her way to grab the chair, she glared at Twisty. "What are you waiting for, an invitation? Sit!"

Twisty yelped and dropped to the floor where he stood, wide-eyed. He certainly wasn't expecting the squirrel to explode like she had.
"Wait, no, not th' chestnuts..." the rat cried.

"YOU DON'T LET ME EAT, YOU DON'T GET THE NUTS!" Rowan yelled, dropping the chair and glaring at the rat. Picking it back up, she made her way to the floor by the door. "Now button it, and let me do my work!" Putting the chair down, she started rummaging through the cabinets, muttering angrily to herself. A few moments later she emerged with a needle and herbs.

Twisty paled as he watched Rowan in her angered state. Who knew? Would she actually hit him with the chair, or was that a mere threat?
The rat started fiddling with his tail, shocked silent.
It was only when he heard the infirmary aid shut the drawer that he finally looked up...and lurched back, recoiling into the door.
"Wait, what's that, y'didn't mention needles!"

"I've got to test the nerves, don't I? Don't worry you big baby, it won't hurt. Much." She snapped, walking over to Twisty and plopping on the floor. She held her hand, "Now, let me see the paw. Were you born with it like this, or did it happen over time, or did something happen?"

"Born," the brown rat snapped, shakily holding out his paw. He stared her in the eye.
"An' don't insult me. Yew wouldn't like that either."

Rowan stared back with the best menacing glare and raised her needle. "Then don't hit me." She dropped her eyes and took Twisty's wrist and gently stabbed the tip of one of his claws with it. "Can you feel that?"

"I'm not hittin' anything!" Twisty protested.
Huffing, he allowed his eyes to follow Rowan's all the way down to his paw.
"Feel...feel...no, not really."

Rowan paused and dug the needle in a little deeper. "You're sure? Don't look, either," She reprimanded. If Twisty couldn't feel it, there was a strong possibility of the nerves in his paw being dead. . . . Which wasn't a good thing.

Twisty flicked his gaze away.
The rat's blood began to bead around the needle. "Now it feels like you're maybe tappin' it," he noted, gritting his teeth.
"Why, 'that bad?"

Rowan pressed harder, "And now?" She was starting to make herself feel queasy, between the lack of food and the needle. She'd always hated this part. Just don't think about it. Think of the lovely scones and clotted cream you can feast on after this.

"I said," Twisty growled, "Is that ba--owwwow!"
He gasped and yanked his paw from Rowan, sneering bitterly as he recovered. "What, are you tryin' ta kill me? Give me that needle an' let me stick you!"

A slightly green Rowan growled at him. "Kill you? If I wanted to kill you I wouldn't do it with a needle. As for is it bad, it is a little but there's hope for you yet. Can you spread your paw?" Rowan demonstrated what she wanted Twisty to do, holding her paw up like she was about to smack something.

Twisty shook his head.
"I can't do that without usin' my other paw t' force it. And that hurts."

He half-suppressed a snort when he noticed the sickness hanging over Rowan's face.
"Some medic," the rat whispered to himself, hiding a grin.

Think about the scones, lovely, lovely scones with strawberry jam- no, not strawberry jam. Clotted cream. Nice, tasty clotted cream on the lovely scones. Rowan thought, squeezing her eyes shut for just a moment. "I heard that, you know," She grumped, opening one eye. "I think the best thing for you to do to help your paw would be to work it. I know it hurts, but if you do some exercises that I'll show you in a minute every day for a few moments it should start helping. What about your wrist, can you move that?"

"My wrist is fine," said Twisty stubbornly, testing it a few times.
"See? But I don't know how I can work th' paw if'n I can't even move it."

"You can't unbend or bend your claws without your other paws help even a little?" Rowan asked, readying her needle again.

"You goin' to get food isn't soundin' so terrible anymore." Twisty remarked, scooting away. He was glad that Darrin and Marshall weren't here to see him. They would surely, between them, never allow him to live down the shame of cowering from the needle.
The rat wiped his brow, chuckling airily.
"Nope, can't, why've y' gotta prick me?"

"You're not teasing, are you? I can go get my breakfast?" Rowan looked from Twisty to the door, then back to Twisty. "I use the needle to est your nerves. You know, make sure they're not dead. Now, seriously. Can I go get breakfast?" Rowan realized how food-driven she sounded, but she really didn't care. And if she had to threaten Twisty with her needle, well, the rat had better move.

"Yes! Whatever! Go get yer stinkin' breakfast!" Twisty snapped, hopping out of the way of the door to allow Rowan to pass.
He quietly fitted his glove back on.
"I'll be here."

Rowan whooped with joy, "Food! Glorious food! I'll be right back!" She was on her paws and halfway out the door in a flash, when a thought struck her. She poked her head back in the door, "Er, anything in particular you want?"

"Jus' get me somethin', doesn't matter what." Twisty waved Rowan off and watched through hooded eyes as the door closed behind her.
He grinned shortly, waited until the sound of her receding pawsteps had faded completely, and tore across the room to the windowsill, where the jar of candied chestnuts lay in wait.
"Twisty, how smart ye are!" he commented to himself as he pried the lid off. "Evadin' the needles and getting the candy. Oho!"

Rowan skipped down the stairs, humming a happy tune to herself. Reaching Cavern Hole, she made a beeline to the kitchens, and begged a veritable mountain of a tray from the cooks. She was making her way back through Cavern Hole when she heard a call,
"I, ah, don't want to alarm you, but Hacklaw's here!"

She went pale, and rushed up the stairs to the Infirmary. Unable to open the door, she kicked it. "Twisty! Open the door!"

Twisty was in the middle of shoving chestnuts down his throat when he heard her call.
Bad-temperedly, the rat halted in his act and began trying to clean up his mess.
"Addlebrain!" he cursed. "Wha-what is it?!"

"I have a big tray in my paws, now open the door! I have news that I really don't think you'd like to hear through a door. Let me in!" Rowan snapped, her arms starting to ache. Oh, this rat really isn't worth this, she thought. He's an infuriating annoying furball! And if he isn't stuffing his face with my chestnuts right now I'll eat my tray.

Twisty haphazardly placed the jar on the edge of the windowsill and then ran over to open the door, only to be greeted by Rowan's angry face and a heaping pile of food.
"Hello, there," laughed the rat. He snatched a pawful off the tray, stuffing it, as he waited for Rowan to walk inside.
"Wot's th' news? Lost yer needle?"

Placing the tray down on the chair, Rowan noted that the jar of chestnuts was moved (and quite a few less in the jar). "You wish. My needle is right here," She pulled it out of her sleeve and held it, "The news is that Hacklaw's here, at the Abbey."

Twisty paled, catching a sob in his breath.
"Rowan, 'Acklaw's gonna kill us! Don't let 'im up 'ere, y'can't...w-wait..."

Panic-stricken, the rat slammed the door shut and attempted to lock it.
"Make me look like one o' yous."

"Twisty! Calm down, it's okay. He'll never make it past the front gates, I promise you." Rowan soothed in between bites of scone. "Make you look like one of us? I could try, I suppose, but you're a rat, not a woodlander. . . And your paw is recognizable. Here, come sit and have some breakfast."

Shaking, Twisty made his way over to the chair and took his place beside Rowan. He didn't mention how he had eaten earlier, or that he had indulged on the chestnuts whilst she was gone.
"Hacklaw's not one to just see closed gates an' leave," he murmured, picking nervously at a scone. "He wants us dead an' that's 'ow he'll have us's; dead. After he has his fun first, o'course." The rat rubbed his eyes. "Aargh, why did I ever 'ave t' be friends with cursed Darrin?!"

OOC: Wow, you guys are going to town on this. :P I will post soon; I haven't had much chance to post while I'm working, and there's a few things that need to be done at home before I have some decent time.

OOC-
I like this town. This is a good town.

"We've repelled greater threats than Hacklaw before. It'll be alright, you'll see." Rowan felt almost like she was comforting one of the Dibbuns, although they rarely came to her for comforting.

"Yer not gonna fight a full out war jus' to protect stupid vermin like us," Twisty snapped. "Once they start killin' yer friends yore precious Abbot'll be more than happy t' send us out."

"Twisty!" Rowan cried, shocked. "No, that would never happen. We've given you refuge and that's the way it will stay."  She said firmly, heaping cream onto a scone and taking a bite.

Twisty laughed coldly and tossed his scone behind him, reaching for the glass of cordial that was on the tray.
"Sure. It's a matter of time."

"No, it isn't. And hey, that's mine!" Rowan cried, slapping his paw away and taking her cordial. "You get the strawberry fizz. I've never really liekd the stuff." She pushed the beaker of fizz towards Twisty. "Seriously, the Abbot would never kick you out and give you to Hacklaw."

Twisty made mocking faces off to the side as Rowan spoke.
"Blah blah, he'd ne'er in a million years--fine!"
The rat grabbed the beaker in his claws and slugged its contents messily.

Rowan wrinkled her nose at Twisty's table manners, "You'll give yourself hiccups like that. And no, he wouldn't. Elijah might, but not the Abbot."

The rat let his eyes roll.
He tossed the empty beaker over his shoulder and tilted back in his chair, leaning up against the sandstone wall.
"Somebeast, then. Hic..."

Rowan smiled smugly. "But Elijah can't do a thing like that without the Abbot's approval. Now, shall we go back to your paw?" She stood up and started rummaging through the cabinets again.

"If ye want," Twisty grunted, scratching behind his ears before pulling the glove off.
"How 'bout Raleigh? Would she?"

  Abbot Gerard sat up stiff in his chair, and Elijah's folded paws gripped tight visibly.
  "You're certain?" asked Gerard.
  "You wanna look for yerself?" asked Darrin, looking at some Redwallers who were staring at him, wondering what was going on. "It's not something I'd make up."
  Gerad looked to Elijah. "What should we do?"
  "Word will get around quickly, but we don't want a panic," said the otter, standing up. "Let me make sure all the gates are locked, and get some able-bodied beasts up on the walls. Father Abbot, give me a moment before you tell everyone." With that, Elijah strode out of Cavern Hole and outside the building.
  Darrin watched the otter, then turned to the abbot. "I'm . . . sorry."
  "Don't just stand there and be miserable, then!" said Gerard sharply. "Go help!"

Rowan pulled something in a jar out of the cabinet and sniffed it. She sneezed and put it back. "Where did she put it?!" She grumbled to herself, still digging in the cabinet. "What? Raleigh? Nah, she wouldn't. She's very honourable. Why do you keep asking about her, anyway?" Rowan asked distractedly. "Aha! Here's the valerian."

"Hic--well, she's Raleigh...Y'know. Erm..." Twisty coughed into his coat sleeve.
"Honorable and pretty, then."

Rowan headed back over to Twisty, "Ah, I see." A knowing glint twinkled in her eye. "You like a pretty face, do you? Now, this is valerian. It's usually used as a sleep aid, but I want you to spread this salve over your paw. It should serve to relax the muscles." She set the jar down, and went back to the cabinet. "Let's see, what else could we do?"

"It smells funny," Twisty remarked, dabbing a claw in.
He eyed Rowan suspiciously as he rubbed the mixture over his paw.
"Y'know, I don't see how this'll help...especially with Hacklaw out there. But you don't seem scared! Ha, that's what they say about Woodlanders, stupidly brave..."

"Yeah valerian smells terrible, but it washes off. Mostly." Rowan commented, giving up her search in the cabinet. "I don't think we'll need to heat your paw, though, unless you want to." She shrugged at Twisty's last statement, "Well, your paw is something you want to fix, right? Worrying and stressing over Hacklaw won't help that. And besides, he won't get through the Abbey walls."

       "Better to be a fool with a heart than a genius with no friends." Raleigh had just barely heard Twisty's last couple of statements. It had taken her quite some time to figure out Twisty's location, and only because somebeast had told her that Rowan had come in with a rush, and left in like manner with food for two. The infirmary sister had sought out another assistant before making her way up. She was surprised to find out that Rowan was, indeed, working on the rat's paw, but that was certainly convenient. "Good morning Rowan, bit of a late start  again today? And trying to work me out of a job I see," she said with a cheeky half smile, "I heard you haven't had breakfast yet, if you would be so kind as to tell what you've found out then you can go ahead and take a break." Raleigh gave the other squirrel a sympathetic look, knowing all too well how frustrating some of these vermin could be. It was only now that she realized that Twisty's glove was off, giving her a first actual glimpse at the problem, "Oh dear, that's quite the injury you've got there!"

OOC: I apologize as I realize I'll be slowing you guys down (and you're doing so well too), but I feel that a rather significant portion of time has passed.

Twisty's heart thumped into his head.
"Move--hic--outta the way, Rowan, she'll take it from 'ere!" the rat squealed, pupils contracting as he locked eyes on Raleigh.
Hacklaw (and, unfortunately, Rowan) were both long gone from his mind. Right now...this was all that mattered.
Twisty fell to babbling and trying to hide his crooked paw under his coat.
"It's not that bad, really, not an injury, I've 'ad it since I was jus' a tiny thing. That squirrel there, she's jus' startin' off! I'm sure you could take it from here...right? Right? Can--will you?"

  Darrin ran out of the abbey building and mounted the walls, where Elijah and some other younger creatures stood, with some real, and makeshift, weapons. The ferret could see some of them visibly shaking as they watched the horde get closer.
  It was definitely Hacklaw; his bulk stood out in front of the rest of the group. Darrin cursed the stoat's stubbornness.
  "What're you planning," he muttered. "This place could stand a siege for seasons."

Rowan's tail puffed up in indignation. Of course Twisty didn't want her, lowly old Rowan, to work on his paw when Perfect Raleigh could. "Why, Raleigh, I've got all the food I need right here. I did stay up rather late washing all those bandages and sheets, though, thank you so much for waking me up or helping with the work." She smiled sweetly at the squirrel, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"The nerves in his paw are about half dead - From disuse, I'd say. I'm confident he could gain near full use of his paw with exercise therapy. I got out the valerian salve and had him smear it on his paw. I don't think heat treatment necessary to start loosening the muscles. Now, since Twisty oh-so-obviously prefers you treat him, I'll be on my way." Rowan turned, swishing her tail angrily and picking up the still-heaping tray. She had never really had a chance to help someone on her own - She'd always been the assistant. There were occasions she'd helped with treatment, of course, but there'd always been some other beast to get all the credit. (Rowan firmly insisted that splinters and the like did not count.) My one chance to prove myself as capable as Raleigh. But no, she's got to barge in. Rowan thought resentfully, marching towards the door.

       "Oh dear, of all the possible times she could start acting up, it had to be now." Raleigh sighed inwardly, but was careful not to let it show. She'd already been caught off guard when Twisty started responding before she'd even finished her statement, and now Rowan was acting passive aggressive. Raleigh turned back to Rowan, with an earnestly caring expression, "Thank you for the information Rowan, if you need to go be sure to send somebeast else up. But if even half of what I suspect is going on under this rat's skin is correct, I would really appreciate your help when you're rested." She liked the other squirrel, Rowan was both handy and diligent in the Infirmary, though she was prone to something akin to a temperamental mood swing. She left the decision to her colleague with one last pleading glance before addressing the patient, "Not that bad? I'll have to check your head next, that paw looks like it has grown in wrong!.. But I'll need to see it to be sure, and I'm afraid that it's going to hurt. Think you can stick it out?"

Twisty smirked as he eagerly stuck his paw out.
Well, what was the worst Raleigh could do? Get him with the needle? He barely thought about it, for he couldn't--this rat was drunk on feeling.
"I can't believe Rowan's mad at ye," he mused aloud. "That's-hic-absurd!"

Stupid he and his earlier chugging of the strawberry fizz.

Rowan turned again, extremely tempted to throw a scone at Raleigh's head. "Need to go? You're kicking me out! Again!" Rowan almost stamped her foot, but caught herself. No one takes anybeast who stamps their paws seriously. Especially when they're being so patronizing! Rowan glared at Twisty, "If you don't know anything about the situation, it's better to your mouth shut. Now take a deep breath and hold it to get rid of those hiccups." She snapped at him.
She turned back to Raleigh, "You'd appreciate my help? If only you really meant that. You just want me to run around and fetch things and don't touch the patient, Rowan, you might mess something up! I know almost as much as you do about herbs, but no one takes me seriously because of you, Miss Perfect Raleigh who can do no wrong! Don't deny it, either, it's true. Well, find someone else to run and fetch and carry for you. I'm sick of it!" Rowan turned back around, still balancing her tray, and left, slamming the door behind her.

       Strange, from the little bit she knew of Twisty, being so quick to listen about something unpleasant didn't seem to fit. Then he did it, the rat opened his mouth and Raleigh closed her eyes in defeat as Rowan exploded. She was surprised with how personal her fellow sister's tirade was, and right in front of a patient and another infirmary helper! She let her eyes open again, sadly, just as the angry squirrel behind her made the accusation. Rowan's words were obviously being driven by a significant amount of pent up emotions, but they cut deep all the same, "If I was perfect, I wouldn't need help in the first place." She whirled around, grasping at anything she could think of to calm down who she thought of as a friend, "Row-BANG!..... an." Her ears drooped noticeably as her gaze locked on the still vibrating infirmary door.

       Raleigh's sigh was audible this time, shaking her head with the sound as she made her way to the patient. She washed her hands and nodded her thanks to the brother that had brought the washstand closer to the work space. Forcing herself to set aside her personal quandary for the moment, she addressed the problem at hand with the small bit of a smile that she could muster, "Alright Twisty, let's have a look and see if we can't figure out exactly what's going on in here." She ever so gently raised his wrist, getting a real good look at every aspect of the paw and arm in question, "I'm going to press in a touch now alright, let me know if it hurts or how it feels okay?" Raleigh pressed in softly from above on the hand, but didn't get close enough to the wrist to cause any pain. This pressure was to test the subject to see if he was honest, or was going to pull the standard dibbun crocodile tears tactic. She looked into Twisty's eyes to see how he would react facially. All former desires to question the rat about Hacklaw were long forgotten.

OOC: Gosh darn it you guys! It's sooo good! I can't keep up with y'all on frequency of post OR quality?! OH HOW I'VE MISSED THIS!

OOC-
Heh. ;D
IC-
Twisty's fur was still prickling even after Rowan had made her leave.
He would never have imagined the squirrelmaid to be so tense, especially with Raleigh. Weren't the two squirrels supposed to be friends?
Was Rowan mad at him as well?
Whatever the case, the rat decided that he could care less about it. He squinted his eyes when Raleigh took her seat in front of him again and began inspecting his paw.

"Feels great," Twisty giggled, that crooked little grin of his curling on his snout.

Truth be told, he could feel nothing in his paw, although he was more than happy to hold eyes with the Sister.

       Interesting, the rat was totally calm now, and had no reaction to the contact what so ever, "Nerve damage might be a bigger issue then I thought, Rowan sure hit that one on the head without a doubt.... But the length of his arms.... isn't the same?" Raleigh's fears were confirmed, Twisty's paw was a result of a birth defect in the bone that caused it to grow slightly longer than the other. As a matter of fact, closer inspection suggested that it might simply be the end of the radius that stuck out towards the wrist... Add the fact that there was little to no muscle in the area, and there was definitely hope. Now came the fun part, finding the abnormality. With her current theory, the scaphoid was most likely stuck under the radius due to overgrowth. The effect of the defect would've shown up about two to three years after birth, so he naturally curled the rest of his paw and fingers to protect his wrist from pain. Growing up like this would have forced his hand into habitual protection, only strengthening the muscles that held it in place until the bone itself held the wrist still.

       The squirrelmaid considered searching through the mushrooms, but decided that she would rely upon the lack of feeling in Twisty's paw. She slowly released the pressure on top, lifted the rat's forearm slightly, and got both of her thumbs under his wrist with the hands firmly grasping his.... kinda stinky, arm. Raleigh never once sacrificed eye contact, starting to push against the scaphoid from below. As she began the search process, she tried to engage her patient to take his mind away from the ensuing discomfort, "So, your paw's been like this ever since you could remember correct?" She half snorted as she came to a rather abrupt realization that Twisty didn't appear to have full control over his expression, "Goodness, are some signal's getting lost between your brain and your nose?" She rolled her eyes as a giggle bubbled under almost closed lips. It was a mere second later that she found exactly what her hands were searching for. The still air was ripped apart by a scraping snap like sound as the twisted paw became.... significantly less twisted. It did not stop there however, as the scaphoid traveled the entire front of the radius until it came to rest on the top. The pain of the bone scraping bone was likely excruciating, but the entire event took place in the blink of an eye. A singular branch of the nerves on the left side of his paw had been pulled taught all these years, which is why he would still feel pain in the event that it was twisted. With relief to the taught nerve, coupled with his unfeeling branches, his entire hand should feel a bit more comfortable in a couple of minutes. She did pull her right hand back in case Twisty's finger muscles weren't developed enough to reverse contraction, watching to see if they uncurled and pointed up.

OOC: Feel free to PP Raleigh a slight bit, I don't know what kind reaction you'll have in mind, but but it'll probably be easier if you control her hands as well if need be.... Also, this anatomy research is going to be the death of me.... And while I'm at it, Valerian is supposed to smell sweet.

"Nothin's gettin' lost," Twisty commented, and that was his last flighting moment of stability in the current situation.

The rat jerked in his chair, screaming murder, while Raleigh corrected his bones.
He writhed and kicked and felt pale, shutting his eyes--and with a painful 'pop', his paw did uncurl.
But Twisty was too caught up in the feeling to know when it was over.
The vermin wailed, tears staining his fur.
"Aaaaarrrrggh! Did you cut it off?! You cut it off!"

OOC-
I didn't really know what to do with Raleigh because I (cough) haven't done any research myself. This is why I'm a funny rat and not a healer. ;0

       Raleigh hardly even blinked as Twisty finally responded to her probing. Thankfully, his fingers all straightened out and tightened up, albeit, rather weakly. She finally had full confirmation, and was already formulating a remedy in her mind. However, her patient was currently being hysterical, "Twisty! Your paw is intact!" She reached forward and grabbed his shoulders, bracing his neck with her thumb and a spare finger. Pushing down and out to try and straighten the rat's body she spoke again, "Gracious me, you're acting worse than the dibbuns! Calm yourself, we're making progress." The squirrel didn't wait this time as she'd finished planning and wanted to try and get this matter out of the way before the problems at the gate caught up to the rest of Abbey life, "Brother Quincy, would you be so kind as to find and send sister Cestra up here? And prepare a small furnace, stitches are messy, and I'm going to put Twisty out for the operation anyway, so we'll cauterize this time around." When it came time to operate, Raleigh always got serious. She could finish the rest of the preparations herself, now it was just a matter of waiting for the infirmary hands.

  Dozens of Redwallers watched as Hacklaw came even closer. After for what seemed like forever, he and his force stood boldly in front of the abbey, looking up at them.
  Darrin shrank away from the wall slightly so he would not be recognized.
  "So this is Redwall, eh?" said Hacklaw, looking from side to side at the broad walls. "Pretty nice place."
  "What do you want?" called down Elijah.
  Hacklaw grinned. "Depends on what you got!"
  "Get to the point, vermin!" said one of the creatures on the wall.
  The stoat look to where the voice had come from. "Yer a cocky one, aren'tcha? Alright, I'll tell ya what we want, but you ought to think twice before talkin' like that t' a beast like me." He raised his voice further. "I know ye got that loose-pawed Darrin in there. Give 'im 'ere!"
  "And if we don't?" asked Elijah.
  "Well then, yer softer than I thought." Snickers ran through the horde behind Hacklaw.
  Abbot Gerard's head popped over the wall. "What would you do to them?"
  "Nothin' you need to worry yer liddle heads about."
  "We aren't going to give you creatures to slaughter," said Gerard.
  "Then I hope you like sieges, cuz we're not leavin' till you do!" With that, he turned around and shouted to his army. "Move!"

OOC-

Quote from: The Skarzs on July 27, 2017, 08:33:23 PM
Sim a racist! ran through the horde behind Hacklaw.

Wat.
IC-
Rangi the otter was vaulting the steps to the battlements when he caught drift of the warlord's last threat.
He rolled his brown-furred shoulders as he tip-pawed across the sandstone and up to the Abbot and Elijah, a worried look on his face.
"Sounds like I missed a lot."

OOC: Woah. Didn't think of that triggering the sensor. :P "Snickering" can also be as "snig-ger-ing." :P :P :P :P :P

BIC: Elijah looked at Rangi and set his jaw. "Need a summary?"
  Darrin sat down on the wall, letting his feet hang down as he thought. He wasn't sure what to do. If he snuck out of the abbey, he might get caught. If he stayed in, they wold either turn him over to the stoat or Hacklaw would get in and kill him.

OOC-
Jaaaaaaaames! That word (snicker:synonym) is a staple of Redwall feeling, let it through the censor!
IC-
"Please do," said Rangi as he squinted down the wall.
"On Martin's grave, isn't that a lot of vermin to reckon with. Would you say we're still safe here?"

  "This place has withstood the test of time against countless enemies," said Gerard, folding his paws within his sleeves and looking at the horde. "We will hold out for a time."
   Darrin rose and went to Elijah and the Abbot. "Hacklaw ain't dumb," Darrin said. "If he really wants t' get in, I think he'll find a way." He was silent for a moment. "Whaddya wanna do with us?"
  Gerard pursed his lips as he thought. Then, he spread his paws. "The danger is here, and we cannot turn you in just to die. The decision is yours."
  The mouse walked away, nodding to Elijah. "The safety of the abbey is in your paws, Warrior. I know you will be more competent than I in the days ahead."
  Elijah turned to Rangi. "Hacklaw wants Darrin and his vermin, probably to kill them. And he's going to hold siege here until we give them to him."

Rangi had always been one to speak his more...unpopular...opinions.
"Well, then, why don't you give them to him?" he countered, thumping his paws against the stone. "They are just more vermin that will eventually cause a problem to goodbeasts that just want to travel through Mossflower Woods. No matter how much we've dealt with in the past."
He knew the Abbot would shoot him down, but it was worth a shot.

  The Abbot had not heard Rangi as he walked away, so Elijah addressed the younger otter himself.
  "Vermin or not, do you want their deaths on your paws?" He looked at Darrin, who he knew was listening. "Regardless of our opinions, Abbot Gerard is leaving the decision to them, not us."

Rowan stomped away from the Infirmary, grumbling to herself the whole time about know-it-all squirrels and how no one took her seriously. She went up the stairs to the attics, and sat in the corner of the hallway with her tray. She heaped a scone with cream and took a big bite with a sigh. "Comfort eating. Not ever a good sign." She told herself, taking another bite then putting it back on the tray. Rowan pulled her knees up to her chest and started thinking. It hadn't really been a good idea to speak her mind at that point in time, but Raleigh was just so infuriating. Everyone loved her, but there was just something irritating about the way she spoke to Rowan, like she was the older one. Rowan had spent every night that she wasn't attending to her duties in bed with old Infirmary Sisters journals and such, to learn all she could. But it all seemed to come so easily to Raleigh. Rowan sighed, and picked up her scone again.

Rangi snorted and waved Elijah away.
"Right, right. I don't want to question Abbot Gerard." He leaned forward on the battlements, propping himself up with his elbows, and sighed.
"Just don't think I'm going to stay here and die for them."

--

"P-put me out?!" Twisty had calmed down for a short second, but then Raleigh had went and said that. The brown rat had definitely underestimated how much would actually go into this procedure.
"That's, ah, are y'sure you actually 'ave'ta do that?"

       Raleigh spoke through a chuckle as she rummaged around for a particular mushroom, "But of course silly, you don't want to be awake when we open up that wrist." Her gaze quickly swept over Twisty to see if his consciousness would change at all upon hearing this detail. She bustled about the room, getting a couple of clean scalpels, washing a handful of pins and needles, and covering the tray with a few small rolls of clean bandaging so that her patient wouldn't black out at the sight of the tools. Organization was the final step to her preparation, and was promptly completed within the span of a single hummed tuned. Raleigh returned to sit in front of Twisty again, still stirring in the mushroom extract from before, "You needn't worry so much about all this, really. You'll be asleep during the entire operation, and the problem itself is actually very simple. You'll likely have more issues trying to catch those paw muscles up to your other paw."

  Darrin overheard the other's remark and walked away in a huff. "Ain't nobody dyin' fer us," he mumbled quietly. "Let's hope Hacklaw don't know what to do either."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Hacklaw sat on a log apart from the rest of the horde, holding a stick he had been drawing in the dirt with.
  "How d'ye crack an egg that hard, eh?" the stoat muttered. He tested the stick's strength. "Ye boil it. . . make the shell brittle. Or. . ." His eyes lit up, and he grinned wickedly. "Ya let it break outta it's own shell."

"Right. I trust yer." That did not stop Twisty from grinding his teeth and rocking in the chair, however.
It was Raleigh, he reminded himself. Raleigh would not let anything bad happen to him.
"So, that's fer me?" he asked, curling his lip in slight disgust as he eyed the mushroom drink. "Better not taste foul."

       "Oh it's absolutely putrid by itself, but assuming you haven't scarfed down all of the candied chestnuts, the sweeter flavor should be more prominent than that of mushroom water with drowsy drops." She finished working with the liquid just as Quincy and Cestra appeared at the doorway, "Just in time you two! Quince, would you be so kind as to start the furnace? You can leave the flat edge and a couple of needles near it, but don't let them melt. Cestra, you're going to be monitoring the patient, the opening, and pinning down the.... yeah." Raleigh handed Twisty the foul concoction, leaving the candied chestnut up to the rat, "Go ahead and lie down on this bed right here once you've finished the drink, but make it fast, you won't be awake very long once you gulp it down." All of the infirmary hands washed up one last time, "If there are no objections, let us begin."

Twisty wallowed in his paranoia for a few minutes before getting up and padding over to the bed, shooting Raleigh a sheepish glance as he got on.
"Makes more sense t' sit down and then drink this, doesn't it?" The rat tapped the brim of the cup with his claws. Okay. Calm down. It's Raleigh. He held his breath as he downed the drink, but even that did not spare him the foul taste of the thing. His eyes shot open.
"Yer tryin' t' poison me!" he spluttered, gasping for breath before he shoved the candied chestnut in his mouth.
"That's foul! I still taste it. Never again, Raleigh, ne-ne'er 'g'in......."
The cup clattered to the floor. Twisty was out.

       Raleigh watched as Quincy laid Twisty the rest of the way down, and positioned him with his arm out for the operation. She slowly raised her arms and paws straight in front of her body, watching them intently, fingers splayed. A single twitch from her left ring finger instantly snapped her eyes to the source of the motion, seemingly forcing it into still submission with her stare. She finished with her fingers and scooted over to her operating spot. With a deep breath, and a brief closing of the eyes, the surgery was officially underway.

       A paw lay on the table, but that's not what Raleigh saw as her eyes opened. What she saw before herself was a mesh of bone and sinew. Muscles, fats, veins, she saw them all in her head. Mental images created, and re-created until she could hardly tell the fur was there. Without shifting her gaze, or blinking for that matter, she held out a paw, "You both know the drill." Said paw was immediately met with the handle of a scalpel, and the incisions were made just as the brother finished washing and clipping hairs away from the area just below the wrist. The arm now lay open before the workers, skin quickly hooked and pinned by the assisting sister. Raleigh could now physically see everything she'd already know, radius overgrown like a bony toad wart. With the various tools assembled previously, the squirrel isolated the deformity until she had space for what was essentially a glorified carving knife. For well over an hour, the sound of metal scraping bone could be heard reverberating throughout the room and the hall outside. The work was tedious and extraordinarily risky, even the simplest mistake at this point would irreparably damage the arm. Finally, the radius was properly shaped, and the withdrawal of foreign objects began. After the contents of Twisty's arm were readjusted, the pinned down flesh was slowly folded back over and placed carefully. The objects that had lied in wait by the fire were brought forward to cauterize the incision lines, skin squeaking quietly in protest to the burning sensation. Raleigh had one final thing to do, and with a decisive shove, the now formerly deformed paw was clicked into it's proper location for the first time in roughly thirty years.

       Raleigh inhaled deeply, and let out a breath of finality. The lucky rat had just undergone a highly successful surgery, and would soon have his hopes of usage confirmed. The squirrel rinsed her hands out with what little water was left as Cestra collected the smaller tools in a similarly sized tin while Quincy re-positioned the patients body for some much needed bed rest. Raleigh started moving towards a small section at the back that was curtained off with wood and paper panels, "Cool the cauterized section for three minutes, then treat it for the burn. I want that entire forearm splinted, and each finger must be separately restricted to minimal movement. He's lucky, but that paw will still feel unbearably sore when he wakes up, and will continue to be so for the next two days. I'm sure you both understand how badly those muscles and nerves need to be developed and encouraged. I'm off to log our work, I leave him in your care now." The moment she was around the corner, she sat down, squished her eyes closed tight, and gripped each forearm in the opposing hand with a vice like grip. Her heart started to thump in her chest as her arms shook despite the grip. Her breathing was strained sporadically through her nose as her heartbeat skipped and then raced. Hundreds, nay, thousands of potential mistakes and their consequences rushed through the sister's mind, causing a cold sweat to dampen her brows.

       Raleigh waited patiently for the clattering and pattering of the cleanup and post treatment process to die down. Her bent over form began straightening out nearly half an hour later, tension considerably eased at this point. She took this opportunity to fill out the information she had told the others she had gone to put down, signing the parchment with her signature and a lone mistake. She always did this when writing, like some sort sort of rule, hoping that by letting her errors out on paper, she could avoid them on the operating table. With a final, deep exhalation, she stood up and began a trek to and down the stairs. One of the other sisters had come in silently mere moments before to take over observation of Twisty. Raleigh gave her a tired half smile on her way out the door, with a quiet thanks and blessing which was reciprocated back to her. The door clinked gently as it closed behind the exhausted surgeon.

OOC: Aaaaand now I'm deadbeat tired as well, this thing took almost as much IRL time to write as RP time passed. Blargh.

OOC: Dang, Dan.

BIC: Rallowan sat on a low limb in a tall maple, watching the top of the abbey walls. He rubbed his yew bow with a claw impatiently, almost dreaming about the fights he could have. How far away a shot could he make? What warriors were within the legendary building?
  The fox knew Hacklaw would be figuring out a way to get Darrin, and he would, eventually. But it didn't matter to him how long it took if he had the chance to fight.

OOC: Okay, time skip.


BIC: Darrin flicked a pebble into the abbey pond and looked up at the walls, which were sparsely guarded by several Redwallers. Hacklaw was well settled in, though he had made no move except to surround the abbey with his vermin, who could be seen through the trees as they walked around the building.
  The ferret was getting more and more uneasy. His band knew they weren't in a good position, and many were angry at him.
  They weren't the only ones, either. If the Redwallers didn't wish he had ever come then he would eat his tail.
  With a heavy sigh he tossed one more rock out into the water before getting up and heading towards the abbey.

OOC: Hopefully that works for you, Corn.

Life slowly seeped into Twisty's groggy eyes, replenishing him as he became alert and awake once again.
At first, the rat felt nothing, continuing to stare up at the ceiling with a slitted gray gaze.
And then it hit him--a jarring pain, wild and like a ravenous fire, cascading through his arm!
His left arm.
...The one that had had the surgery.

Twisty shot up, howling and gritting his teeth.

Rowan had sulked up in the attics with her tray for a while, then had gone back to the Infirmary. She'd heard the sounds of surgery, and walked to the kitchens, feeling more sulky and useless than ever. So she'd washed dishes and done other kitchen tasks for a while, then, when she started getting under paws, gave in to herself and took another tray up the dormitory and went to bed way too early, claiming an upset stomach when asked.
The next day, after helping the kitchens some more, she decided to wander around the grounds. Is that one of the other vermin? She thought, peering closer at a figure walking away from the pond. She decided to wander over, thinking that maybe they weren't that bad. "Hey. What are you doing?"

OOC: Sorry, looks like I didn't say how long of a time skip it was. :P It is the next morning.

BIC: Darrin looked up suddenly as Rowan approached him. "Um. . . Nothing."
  He regarded the squirrel skeptically, wondering what she wanted from him. "I'm not tryin' to steal anything, if that's what you're thinking."

OOC: Whoooooops. Sorry. I'll fix that in a sec.

BIC: Rowan shrugged, "Not really. Just wanted a conversation." She paused, having second thoughts. Okay, maybe they're not all as mostly harmless as Twisty is. She kept her features straight even as her stomach started to twist. Darrin gave her a decidedly different vibe than Twisty, and Rowan wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

  Darrin sighed. "I'm surprised. I'm the one what brought Hacklaw t'yore home." He looked at Rowan a little closer. ". . . Weren't you the squirrel who walked off with Twisty yesterday? Where is that rat? I ain't seen him since."

@Cornflower MM

  An infirmary sister hopped to Twisty's side, dropping her book she was reading. "Stay still, I'll get something to help with the pain."

"Stay still?!" gasped Twisty in disbelief.
"You go through that an' when I tell ye t' stay still, you do it! Gahh..."

  "Please, calm down!" the sister said urgently, desperately trying to pull Twisty back into laying position. "If you hit your paw, it might. . . Oh! Raleigh!" she cried frantically as Twisty lashed out. She ran to the door. "Somebeast get Raleigh, I need help!"
  With that she closed the door and stood in front of it. "Raleigh's coming, just. . . just, lay down."

OOC: @danflorreguba

"It might what, fall off?" Twisty sneered, tenderly holding his wrist.
"Shut yer mouth...I don't eat mice."
He feared that the Sister's cries would garner the attention of the Abbot or Elijah, as well as Raleigh.
"Raleigh's gonna think I'm doin' somethin' awful, what with th' way of your voice," the rat muttered to himself, clenching his teeth in a crooked grin as he tried to hide from the pain.

       Raleigh awoke with a start, her currently frizzy head mere inches away from the small dish of apple slices on her left, and the somehow un-spilled cup of spiced cider in her right paw. She shook her head, trying to clear the fog... It took a couple of moments, but she managed to recall the events of the previous night, and let out a sore moan as her physical state hit like a falling branch... For the second time that morning. The squirrel forced herself to take a long swig from her drink, still trying to return full clarity. Sleep eluded her last night, potential mistakes in the surgery plaguing her conscious self, intermixed with the newly introduced threat upon their relative peace. She'd indulged in her bad habit of climbing to the roof, but it didn't help nearly as much this time around, looking upon the many fires dotting the landscape below. A shallow doze enveloped her eventually, but was rudely interrupted by a light drizzle not more than 3 hours later at dawn. After all that, and a creaky trip back down, she'd made her groggy way to breakfast. It was here that she was found soon after.

"Raleigh? Hey Raleigh! You're need in the infirmary straight away! The patient's causing quite the stir."

       Paws covered Raleigh's face as she dropped the empty beaker onto the table with a thump, sighing with a solid note of exasperation, "Not fully awake for more than thirty seconds and already we're having a miniature crisis, mercy me, what's it all coming to?" Her lazy eyes caught hold of the assistant, "Thank you, I'll be on my way momentarily." Her speech was slow, though not as slow as her standing up, sore muscles whining for relief. Duty demanded haste however, she ducked through the kitchen while rolling up her sleeves to get a splash of water to make one quick rinse of her forearms and wipe away some of the morning yuck from her face. Her aching footsteps pattered up the stairwell, pausing in front of the infirmary door to cinch back some of her excess head fur and attempt to straighten her crooked point of an ear. The dying sounds of commotion were the last muffled sounds Raleigh heard before she opened the door, "What seems to be the problem?" She almost pancaked the caretaker on the other side, but caught her before she fell, "Goodness sister, I'm so sorry!" After checking over the surprised yet relieved sister, the squirrel asked again, "So, problems?" Cheer was ever so slowly oozing back into her, but she couldn't muster more than upturned cheeks at the moment.

  The mouse sister answered hurriedly. "He's in a lot of pain. I was going to get a poultice and have him take some wild lettuce to help numb the pain. But he needs to stay in bed."

"He needs t' stay in bed," sneered Twisty, attempting to rise.
"What if'n I don't wanna stay in bed? I'm goin' t' get some food!"

       Raleigh turned on Twisty, speaking gently as she approached him "Why, that sounds like a great idea, why don't we bring you down to the kitchen to get it fresh?" As she neared the rat, one of her arms slowly extended towards Twisty as if to help him up, before quickly going for the cast with a harsh flick right to the underside of his injured wrist. She figured the resulting pain would be a far better argument than her words alone, "That arm of yours is still severely damaged. Moving around at all runs you the risk of making it go back to the way it was, and going downstairs to eat?" Her arms were already crossed, and her tone was already stern, but her eyes turned cold as ice as she finished, "I'd probably have to amputate your entire forearm with the kind of pressure that would be put on your wound, understand?!" She let out her pent up breath, softening in both expression and tone, "I know it hurts Twisty, and that sitting still can be quite the chore some times, but you need to understand that what we do and say is for your best interest.... Tell you what, I'll go down and have one of the cooks put together something a little extra for you, you liked those chestnuts yesterday?" Raleigh was sitting on the bed to his side now, a grin finally sprouting as she waited for his response.

First, Twisty yowled, and tears sprang unbidden to his eyes. The pain was like wildfire surging through his wrist.
Second, he let the anger set in, and he welcomed it.

"So I can-can't eat do-down wi'h yer, but I 'kin eat up 'ere where nobeast is...makes a load o' sense t'me!"
Ears flat, he curled his lips to show his sharp yellow teeth.
"Just because yer Raleigh don't mean you can do whatever ye like with me."

       "No, I'm your surgeon, which means I do whatever's in your body's best interest, regardless of whether or not you like it at the time. Now put those unkempt teeth away unless you want them pulled out." Raleigh sent the sister away to fetch a small tray before rising to take a trip around the corner of the room. Soon returning with a fat, three wick candle, and a small pan. She ignited the candle and propped the pan above the flames, continuing to speak as she did so, "Why are you making this process so difficult? I've done nothing but try to help and see the best in you since you arrived, and you respond by trying to intimidate me so you can do something outrageously stupid and harmful." The smell of lemon sifted through the air like a fresh wind through an old ditch. Raleigh turned, a mixed look of pity and frustration plainly evident, "The only thing I'm trying to do by having you be still and rest is heal your hand, this has nothing to do with anybeast else... But if it's conversation you're after, I could send up one of your caring friends, or maybe Elijah, he'd probably be interested in having a long, one on one conversation with any of you..... Or you could simply behave and deal with me instead, and something tells me that'd be preferred... It's funny really, most your age would jump at the chance to sit around and do nothing and not be yelled at for it."

"It's not bein' able t' do what I wants wot gets me," Twisty growled under his breath, sniffing in the aroma of lemon.
The rat plopped down with a puff of resignation.
A small grin flicked past his face. "'Ow'd you know that's preferred?"

       Raleigh chuckled, "Let's just say it's a ladie's intuition." She flopped dramatically onto the moan, the soreness returning to the forefront of her mind, "Ughhh, I should've taken some of the stuff I gave you last night, couldn't possibly be worse than what I'm feeling now." She simply rested for awhile, but her curious mind started bringing up some old questions. She sat up and leaned on her right arm to ask Twisty who was now across the aisle from her, "What really happened... I mean, why's this warlord after you. It's plain to see there's more to it than Darrin or anybeast else has let on, and I can't help but wonder what it is."

The rat's grin grew crooked and gnarled.
He laughed. "Darrin robbed 'im blind, Hacklaw. Then ole addlebrain Lumppaw an' 'is friends got drunk an' said some interestin' things to that stoat--well, they won't be doin' it no more. They're dead now!"

Twisty began snickering, though it was nervous snickering, and plopped down on his back.
He hung his sore paw over the edge of the bed.

"Sometimes I thinks I should'a gone an' joined up with 'acklaw. Not everybeast's lucky as you t' get born inter some pretty liddle h'abbey."

       Twisty's revelation came as no surprise, and brought some much-needed clarity to the problem at hand..... But some invisible force tugged at Raleigh's heart, as if to say she should keep quiet. Indeed, their story was a sad one, and the thought of the conditions these vermin grew up in only made it more tragic... Everything in her world was either clearly right, or clearly wrong, but did they even learn what the two were? She spoke again, "Well, I can't deny your last statement, though I must ask about the first... Would you have been happy working for a tyrant?"

"I'd not be on somebeast's hitlist an' that would be that," Twisty sneered, wishing she was beside him again and not across the aisle. He propped himself up.
"What, are you happy all the time?"

       "Nobeast is always happy, though they may try to appear so... Tell me then, is living a miserable life under this Hacklaw better than trying to find something that you could take joy in?" Her eyes grew downcast, "I can't really say that I understand, and I certainly can't live your life for you.... I guess I just think it's silly to.... Never mind." Raleigh sighed, still attempting to wrap her head around vermin lifestyles.

I found something, Twisty wanted to say. It's you, you're special!
Instead, he squinted and examined his paw again, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.
"Can't take joy if'n I'm dead," he remarked, tail swishing to and fro. Agitation.
"I don't want to die."

  Hacklaw sat in front of a fire, slowly turning a bird on a spit. He looked up at the big building they were keeping under siege. He would need to put some plan into action.
  "Rallowan, c'mere."
  The fox approached Hacklaw.
  "Bring a few creatures an' head down th' path, see what's there. Keep yer eyes open for anybeast we can capture."

OOC: @Cornflower MM Do you want your character Deknal to go with Rallowan?

OOC: Sure.

BIC: Rowan nodded slowly. "Yes, I started to help Twisty. He's in the Infirmary, getting his paw fixed. Raleigh did surgery, I think. He'll be out of commission for a few days." She said, hoping she hadn't said the wrong thing.

  ". . . Days?" asked Darrin, surprised. "I. . . see." This ain't good, he thought.
  "But, 'e can still walk, right?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Rallowan only nodded, and stalked off through the horde, picking out several vermin to accompany him, one being the stoat Deknal. He led them through the forest until they were clear of the abbey, then stepped out onto the path.

Rowan shrugged. "I haven't been up to see him since Raleigh came in all high and mighty." She felt a little bad about bad-mouthing Raleigh, especially to this vermin who knew nothing about her, but she didn't really care. Miss Perfect could deal with it.

~~~~~~

Deknal snickered, "Wot you want us to do, Rallowan?" The stoat grinned, he was glad to finally be doing something.

  'Was that that bright-eyed squirrel 'e was gawking at when we got here?" Darrin groaned and rubbed his face tiredly. "I guess I'd better check on the little rat. . ."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Rallowan looked at Deknal for a moment before turning away. "Look for anybeast around. We need captives."
  The fox was still itching to fight. Perhaps they wouldn't have to catch every creature they found.

OOC: Sorry for Rallowan. He doesn't talk much. ;D :P

       The other sister returned with a modest tray of breakfast items which Raleigh popped up to receive, depositing a pair of candied chestnuts on the wooden platter. She stopped by and gently blew out the candle, removing the dish of oil with the edge of her habit. The squirrel's tail swirled up from it's flat position, creating a current that pulled the minuscule wafts of smoke behind her as she padded back to the patient. After depositing the meal and turning back to clean up, she asked another question that had been ragging her, "What if those...." she paused, catching herself before picking the wrong word, ".. What if the bandits outside weren't a problem anymore, what would you do then? Or what if Redwall was to be overrun, then what?... Do you have a plan for tomorrow?"

OOC: Sorry, this conversation is hard to respond to... And school's not making things easier  >:(

OOC-
Rip skeewl.
IC-
Twisty suddenly cracked a grin and stuck a paw out to grab a chestnut.
"Hah, yer funny!"
Crunch.
The rat swallowed.
"...This's a joke, isn't it," he mused, ears flicking carelessly. "Y'tell me the answer, Purtty. What do I do t'morrow? I usually decide then!"

Varonus Leathenchop came into infermary, holding his leg, "Sister do you have something for my leg? The blooming cook gave it a whooping wallop, wot!" Turning to the vermin, spoke to him, "And how do you feel bally chap? Going to lie there for a week. Not very good, wot!"

Twisty immidiately scowled at the comment and pulled himself up again, swinging his legs over the side of the bed while careful not to move his healing paw.
"It ain't my leg that's broken, numbnut!" he sneered, standing up. "Want another whoopin' wallop?"

Varionus was taken slightly aback, "No offence, laddy buck. Just my concern for you, y'know. Nothing personal."

The rat scowled. "Concerned, yeah right. I've never met you."
He glanced sideways at Raleigh and positioned his bad paw near his chest, muttering, "Can I go now?"

The hare exclaimed, "So that's it! We haven't been formally introduced!  Well, allow me to introduce myself. Varionus Leathenchop, military tactician, expert fencer, slinger, and boxer at your service." extending his paw to the rat.

Twisty yelped and stumbled backwards, slack-jawed, so that his legs were pressed against the side of his bed. This hare struck him as a lunatic, and that was to note that the rat had never actually interacted with one before. He would not know just how crazy they could really be.

The vermin wrinkled his nose and begrudgingly flopped his good paw onto that of Varonius.
"Er, er, my name is Twisty."
Silence.
"It's my first time at Redwall."

       Twisty certainly wasn't making things easy for her, and it only got worse when the door opened. Raleigh didn't even have to look, she could feel the troublesome hare's presence at this point, as he was a regular, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop messing in the kitchen!? And I explicitly told you that from now on, you were responsible to find a dock leaf and ice cube for that leg anytime your injury involved a cook! Now skooch before I give it a whoopin whallop! The dibbuns are like as not stampeding up here this very second... And as for you!" She whirled on Twisty commandingly, "You're going to get back in that bed, and you're going to stay there until you are told otherwise... Also, I would recommend pretending to be asleep, things are going to be wild for a short bit here." The menacing sound of many small feet that had rung in her ears could now be heard by the rest of the infirmary occupants, "I'd hurry and start sleeping if I were you."

Twisty released Varonius' paw almost immediately upon falling victim to Raleigh's outburst.
"'Ear me out, Raleigh dear--"

The rat suddenly screwed his face up. The sounds of many tiny paws rang loudly in his ears. "'T'sounds like a stampede out there!" he screamed, hopping like a madbeast into the bed and flailing to get under the blankets.

Varionus scoffed, "Now, now; a chap's gotta eat, wot!" he paused. The sound of dibbuns shouting and running came closer, "Deary me, the little rascals are afoot, they sound like a military brigade! Where do I hide, can't jump out the window, wot!"

"Pretend yer asleep, too!" Twisty growled, tossing a pillow at him.
Anything to make him shut his gob.

The hare caught the pillow and bounded into an empty bed. From there, they waited for the fate that would befall them.

  Darrin turned and headed towards the abbey building, walking swiftly. He entered the doors, brushing past Redwallers without a second glance as he went to the stairs. He was a few steps up when he heard a commotion further up, and he climbed the stairs hastily.
  The Dibbuns burst into the infirmary like a tidal wave, climbed over each other, pushing, laughing, shouting, and arguing.
  "Miz Rally!" they chimed

Varionus turned toward Twisty, "You doing okay chap?" He let out a yelp as a dibbun jumped onto him. "My aching leg, wot!"

Twisty, who had his back to the commotion, heard Varonius' remark and pulled the pillow over his head. "Shut yer gob, they're supposed t' think I'm sleepin'!" he snapped.

       Raleigh hurriedly washed her face and tidied up in the short window of freedom she had with the two current troublemakers otherwise occupied. The dibbuns burst in the moment after she finished, greeting them with a laugh and a wide smile as they cascaded over each other. She double checked to make sure all of the dangerous items were off the tables and locked away before addressing the small crowd, "Alright, line up young'ins, let's get those faces and paws taken care of." She caught a glimpse of a molebabe diving onto the hare, "Grover, leave Varionus alone, he needs a good old-fashioned physick." Grover immediately dismounted with a somber, apologetic look on his face. Raleigh's eyes glistened with mischief, seeing as physicks were easily the most foul tasting medicine used in the infirmary. She started cleaning up the rowdy dibbuns, and was soon joined by a couple of the dormitory keepers and another medical hand.

OOC: How long do you want this to go, Dan?

BIC: Darrin peeked around the corner of the infirmary door, looking at the mass of Dibbuns within, and two lumps trying to hide beneath the covers in their beds.
  Twisty's tail stuck out from beneath a sheet and a tiny mousebabe was tugging on it, and whoever was in the other bed was being jumped on by a pair of moles.
  Darrin backed away from the door.

Varionus helplessly struggled yelling in agony, "None of that physick, it will come out the way it came in, wot.

OOC: I think the dibbuns were just corralled.

OOC: True, the dibbuns have been confined. This won't take long at all. I'm just letting everyone get their input in before I finish the moment up.

OOC-
Oh, yer waitin' fer me?!
IC-

Twisty's agitation grew boundlessly second by passing second.
He had tried to stay cool, shrug it off, and pretend to be asleep--but this was doing him no favors. The paws he felt clamped around his tail were driving him berserk, and he freed his footpaw from the sheets, as well as shifted so he could peer out of a small hole in the covers and judge the location of the mouse's head.
The rat laughed to himself.
One, two, three...
He kicked out, cracking the little pest under the chin. The paws unclamped almost imminently, followed by a loud, wailing howl.

"Waaaah, Sista Wallney!"

Twisty shot up and snarled, "Sister Raleigh yerself, Whiner!"

OOC: Sorry again, I have no excuse this time, it's just me being a butt. BIC:

       The assistants were preoccupied and hadn't noticed the additional wailing... Raleigh, however, didn't miss a single one of Twisty's actions. Her blood skipped simmer and went straight to boil, and her uncharacteristically furious glare burned straight towards her supposed patient. The squirrel had little time to deal with Twisty at the moment, and pushed it to the back of her mind as she tended to the victim. A mere couple of moments passed before everybeast was gone, a single dibbun sitting on the desk was all that remained, "If you don't want more of those cuts, and I sure hope you don't, I wouldn't rip up the grass, alright?" She lowered the babe in question to the ground, gave him a quick hug, and released him with a chuckle as he spouted something incomprehensible as he darted out the doorway. Raleigh's chuckle and warm smile faded in an instant, her right paw crossed in front of her and slung a small, clay dish whizzing just by Twisty's ear to shatter violently against the back wall. She turned on him, eyes again burning with unmistakable fury, "What right do you think you have to strike a child?" Her words sounded like gravel being forced through a grinder, "You've been given shelter from your foes, had your life-long injury healed, and food provided without any request for returns... Yet you would raise your hand, or in this case foot, against a dibbun?.... If I see you do something like that again, the next operation you'll have is one were I remove that paw of yours. Furthermore, if I get so much as an inkling that you left this room I swear I'll strap you to that bed!.... Do I make myself clear, Twisty?" She spat the last word out like a curse word.

Ears flat, Twisty glanced behind him at where the plate had shattered. "Y-nngg--yes, Raleigh."
His heart skipped a beat. What a stuck up little frogwalloper she's being. Blinking rapidly, the rodent forced his old dumb crooked smile again.
"You can't ampu...patate me paw! I still think yer purtty." He folded his arms and stared crossly away, letting slip an audible "hmph" in the process.

  Darrin took this moment to walk into the infirmary. "I need to talk with Twisty. Can you leave?"

       Raleigh was slowly managing to cool off, but Darrin's intrusion certainly wasn't helping. Even more aggravatingly, he wanted to be left alone with the miscreant in front of her. She released a long sigh before turning to respond at least somewhat apologetically, "I'm afraid that's not an option at the moment, I need infirmary eyes on this trouble maker at all times for now... And I don't mean anything by this, but I thought I should point out that it'll look suspicious if you start whispering to each other. If you have need of something, just ask." She went to retrieve her papers from the room so she could do some logging in the main room while waiting for a good replacement. It was only when she returned that she remembered the hare-brained, "patient," from before, "Good heavens, you're still here?! I've told you countless times to go find a dockleaf, and ask our cellarhog for some ice! Off with you!"

"Alright, sister I'll go don't need to be fussy, wot!" Varionus said stepping out the door. A little time later, he could be heard tumbling down the stairs.

"Go check that, Raleigh!" Twisty suddenly exclaimed, shooting a knowing glance at Darrin.

  "Might be a broken bone or two," said Darrin, looking down the stairs where the hare had disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Rallowan held up a paw, stopping his entire group in their tracks. He stood stock still, listening. There it was again, voices.
  The fox motioned for them to separate and hide on either side of the road, and he dove behind a bush with his bow ready.

       Raleigh rolled her eyes knowingly, "You're not going to get rid of me that easily. That hare is a klutz with a hard head, he's done that many a time before with nary a single injury. Not that it makes any sense, but my duties lie here." Twisty knew something, and Darrin was definitely not here for the average friendly visit. The situation was very sticky, but this might just be a chance to learn something about them. She grabbed an inkwell from the desk before taking a seat on a bed nearer to the door. She measured her distance carefully, most beasts wouldn't be able to catch a whispered conversation from here, but her ears were sharp. She started writing with sharp, loud strokes, acting as if oblivious.

  Darrin grimaced at the squirrel's stubborn attitude, and he walked right in the room and grabbed Twisty by the arm. "C'mon, I gotta talk to you, charmer."

"Heh, Charmer," Twisty laughed, wincing at his arm.
The rat lowered his voice drastically when he thought that Raleigh couldn't hear. "What d'ye want, Chief? I'm not allowed to go anywhere. She's watching..."

  "You can't even get out of bed?" Darrin groaned. "Alright, listen close." He lowered his voice as much as he could. "We ain't staying here long. Going to try tonight to slip out one of the small gates. Tell me you'll be able to get out, otherwise you'll be left behind."

A look of shock, almost of protest, flashed across the rat's gnarled features.
"Leave? Tonight?" he hissed. "But--but Raleigh...she's purtty, Derrin. I can't just leave 'er, never to return!"
The ferret's words echoed in his mind: "otherwise you'll be left behind." He could not--would not--be left behind.
Twisty narrowed his eyes in resolution.
"I'm coming. I'll think o' something. You jus' leggo of my arm now."

OOC: Slow down! I'm trying to post!  ::) BIC:

       Raleigh nearly whirled on Darrin, slightly re-infuriated by his lackadaisical grabbing of the obvious injury, but she caught herself when she faintly heard Twisty's voice, "He's actually capable of being that quiet?!" They exchanged words fast, and she could only key in on a few handfuls. They were better at this than she anticipated, which made sense now that she stopped to think about it. She chided herself, but didn't have time to finish the thought. She had to say something, otherwise she'd look suspicious, "Kindly unhand my patient, he's not going anywhere until I say so... If he behaves, I might be able to have him up and about in the next three days, but he shouldn't spend all day on his feet for at least a couple of weeks." She turned back to her writing, trying to piece together what she had heard. The best she could come up with was that they planned to leave soon, tonight possibly? Maybe that was why Twisty seemed concerned.... No, she heard her name in there somewhere, and the rat had made it perfectly clear how discontent he was with the current scenario... The only guarantee's were that the vermin were already plotting their escape, and that she, Raleigh, had something to do with it... Not really anything she could bring to the Abbot, especially if she wanted the others to stay calm... Her best course of action would appear to be to let the next night play out without pressing the issue, that would bring far more clarity. Raleigh kept a wary eye on Darrin to make sure he didn't touch Twisty's arm again.

  Darrin released the rat, wondering if Raleigh had overheard. "Make sure he's healing well. I don't want any of my group left. . . Helpless." He shot Twisty a meaningful look, then left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~

  Rallowan watched as a small group of mice walked along the road, accompanied by a cart hauled by a burly otter. They chatted cheerily, unaware of the vermin surrounding them.
  The fox realized they must have had no idea of the horde's existence.
  He whistled sharply and they sprang out into the open, baring their weapons at the group. The females screamed in fright at the jeering faces, but the otter hurriedly picked up his javelin from the cart and held it poised.
  "What d'ye want, you savages? All we have is food, roots and berries."
  "Want?" asked Rallowan, observing the otter. "You. At least, some of you. Alive."
  The otter jabbed his javelin threateningly at him. "Yeah, well you ain't leaving with your life if I have anything to say about it!"
  Rallowan chuckled softly, pulling a dagger out of his belt. "Brave fool. Come."
  After a moment's hesitation, the otter hurled himself at the fox, trying to catch him in the throat. Rallowan dodged, grabbing the shaft of the javelin and pulling hard to bring his opponent near. With a swift strike, he stabbed him in the shoulder, then released him.
  The otter stumbled back, holding a paw to his shoulder as the arm fell useless to his side. He stared at Rallowan with hatred in his eyes, then rushed forward again. Once again, the fox evaded his attacks, and got in two more wounds on the otter.
  He was breathing heavily, as blood poured from his body. He looked at his opponent, fear beginning to show through his bravado. "Coward! You won't fight!"
  "You're not worth a fight," grumbled Rallowan, and he threw the dagger, deftly catching the otter in the eye.
  He crumpled to the ground, motionless.
  The other woodlanders cried at their companion's death, and Rallowan motioned for them to be captured.

Twisty let out an audible sigh of relief and tenderly grabbed his arm, rubbing away the remainder of the discomfort from when the ferret had initially seized it. "Ow," he whispered to himself, "What a liddle frogwalloper..."

OOC:
May I?
BIC:
Deep within the forest of Mossflower, a lone traveler was foraging. He had been an outcast, for the most part, his own clan had banished him, to live as an outlaw running from their claws. This nomad was Vorken the fox, the sly and stealthy. He moved hither and thither in search for somewhere to stay, hidden from the rest of the world...and from his former clan. Then he saw them, he spied Hacklaw, his bitter enemy, he hoped he had hidden well, as he shrieked back into the shadows.

OOC: I suppose i'll timeskip now. @Cornflower MM Now we can put the plan into effect!

BIC: Darrin woke. It was dark, and the night was cool. He rose and roused his group as quietly as he could from their slumber as they lay on the lawns. Elijah the abbey warrior wasn't aware of it, but Darrin had found out where he hid their weapons. . . Stuck them in the abbey pond. Despite their rage at the loss of their items, he had managed to keep them calm enough, reassuring them they would get more eventually, and luckily the rat Grimin (useless though he was) was a decent swimmer, and had recovered a precious few of the weapons, including Darrin's own sword.
  Now he ordered them to stay still and silent until he returned, and the ferret ran off to the abbey building.
  He entered the building and padded his way through up to the infirmary. In the darkness he stubbed his toes on the first step and all but shouted, covering his mouth and hopping around on one paw. After the moment of pain passed, he continued on, and reached the infirmary. The door opened with a dry creak, and Darrin tried his best to see in the gloom through the small crack he had opened. There was Twisty in bed. Darrin took out a candied acorn from his pack he had "borrowed" from the kitchens, and threw it at the rat.

Ping!
"Owwow!"
Paw slapped on his head, Twisty shot up just in time to see the acorn bump against the wall and drop onto his bed. The rat turned towards the door and Derrin, an unsightly frown on his face.
"Idjit!" he hissed, scrambling free from the sheets. "Annoyin' good-fer-nothin'! What a way to say good morning that was, eh, huh, Derrin?!"
He snatched the candy up in his paw at the last minute and chomped it before slinking up to the ferret.
"'T least y'ad some sense in bringin' me food."

  "Shut up and follow me," hissed Darrin. He grabbed at Twisty to drag him out the door. "Keep your eyes out for anything t' bring along for a weapon. That warrior otter threw ours in the pond."

"T'pond?" Twisty echoed, following Darrin but pulling himself out of his boss' grasp.
They walked down the long corridors of bedchambers towards the stairs, ferret in front of rat, until Twistsy prodded his chief in the shoulder.
"I see somethin'...You keep goin'. I'll catch ye outside."

  "Well, hurry up then. Meet us at the gate by the orchard," said Darrin. He crept out the main door and to the rest of his group, and they all moved to the orchard in the cover of fruit trees as they waited for Twisty.

Twisty waited for Darrin to turn the corner before racing, with a smart grin, back down the hall to where he had noticed a glimmering object. The door to the room hung slightly ajar, and on the floor, the item; a magnificent sword with polished metal blade and implanted in its handle a glistening red pommel stone, reflecting the moonlight off its smooth surface.

The rat's heart leaped how it had when his eyes had first met Raleigh. High.

Squinting, Twisty stepped quietly into the room, stopping one step from the doorway to take a look at things.
The sword was positioned against the frame of the bed, and sprawled across the bed...was a slumbering otter. Elijah the Abbey Warrior snored gently, still asleep, tail hanging off the edge.

Nervous sweat started to bead around Twisty's forehead, but then he remembered that the Redwallers stole his weapon from him, so this was only fair.

He inhaled and crept forward, ducking on the floor near the sword. Ever so carefully, the rat took the weapon by the handle, lifted it, and crept slowly and soundlessly back towards the door.
Elijah slumbered peacefully on.

Twisty hurried from the room with his new prize.
"Whew!"

The army's fires burned low, a few stuttering sparks crackled in the shallow burn pits sending tiny flares into the sky. Otherwise all was still. A few sentries shuffled around the outer edge of the army's encampment, but their heads drooped low, their breathing softening. Only one beast remained wide awake.

Hacklaw sat, his back to a tree picking roast bird from his teeth. His sharp intelligent eyes always watching for some sign of Rallowan's return. He'd removed his heavy boots, letting his sore footpaws air in the warm summer night. His plan should work, no reason it shouldn't, as long as Rallowan came back successful. Worry tugged at the back of his mind, surely they weren't like him. They would be soft, like most woodlanders, too loyal to stranger goodbeasts. Perhaps they wouldn't open their gates, but they would trade, a life for a life. Hacklaw's thoughts began to drift and his head droop.

"Oi, oo goes there?"

Hacklaw snapped upright reaching for his halberd and berating himself for drowsing off. A sentry stood at the ready a short distance away, pointing his spear into the darkness, a low growl in his throat. "That'll be Rallowan." Hacklaw grunted, kicking a few hordebeasts awake. "Rallowan, that's yew isn't it? Brought back a few worthwhile prisoners I hope."

  "Yes," came Rallowan's simple reply. He came out into the light with the captives in tow. "These should suffice."

OOC: Will edit later maybe.

Twisty entered the hallway, full of exhilaration.
His rat tail swished. In his good paw he held the sword, feeling strong and mighty.
He glanced at the window. The moon shined full, and he guessed that underneath the trees somewhere stood Darrin and his mates. He frowned, chewing his lip. He could go to them, but to do so would mean to leave the one creature he had ever felt anything for; his pretty diamond.
Why am I worried? With my new blade, Raleigh won't be able to resist!

Snickering, he slunk down the corridor, back to the infirmary. The small room inside it, with the mostly closed door, was Raleigh's quarters--the rat grinned, undaunted.
He crept up to the door and stepped in, making barely a sound.
What if she doesn't want to come?
Twisty approached the bed of the slumbering squirrel and raised Martin's sword, letting its tip rest in the air above Raleigh's nose.
He tapped her with it.
She will.

       Raleigh was drifting between consciousness and a tired doze. With her head in the clouds, she hardly even felt the tap, but a subconscious sense of danger slowly drew her from the abyss. She moaned, feeling almost feverish, and nearly stuck her nose into the blade as she sat up slowly. It was only now that she managed to pry them open.... A decision that was soon regretted. There before her, stood her patient, holding the Abbey's only prized weapon mere inches away from her. Even in her bedraggled state, she immediately knew what was happening, though her words were a bit behind, "Wh... What are you doing?" All was fuzzy, was she still dreaming? She couldn't gather her bearings either, only able to recognize the sword and the Rat, whom she cowered from in a fearful daze.

"C'mon Purtty, I'm leaving. And you are, too." Twisty moved the sword a bit, tapping the squirrel under the chin. "No time t' talk. Jus' get up an' do what I say."

       "This is outrageous! But..... what am I to do? What can I do!?" Raleigh's mind searched furiously for something, anything that could help her out, or get her out of this mess.... Nothing..... She couldn't comprise even a single clear thought, much less a plan. She couldn't even keep all of the shaking out of her body. She furtively slid out of her bed, wobbling slightly upon contact with the floor. Words defied her tongue, and screaming was out of the question. The nearly petrified squirrel couldn't drag her eyes away from Twisty, or the blade before her. 

Twisty expertly maneuvered the sword along with Raleigh's movements so as to not harm her but to be a blank reminder of her situation all the same. "We're gunna go inter the courtyard, see?" he hissed, voice absent of the friendly stupidity that it had been so abundant with during the day. "Step quickly, Purtty."

He moved, forcing Raleigh forward and out the door.
His good paw twitched tensely.

       Raleigh could do little more than comply at this point. She was still aloof to her surroundings, seeing little more than a few feet in front of her. She was trying to wake herself up, but the drain of the last few days, along with the blade at her back wouldn't let her raise her head, or even rub her eyes. Stepping forward took enough energy as it was.

It took them a few minutes to reach the courtyard, but Twisty imminently spotted Darrin and the rest of the vermin and led Raleigh up to them. He stopped to shoot the leader a competitive side grin, a "look at me", as he put one paw on Raleigh's shoulder.
"Well, whatcha gawpin' at, eh? Let's go!"

  Darrin was almost lost for words. Was this idiot really doing what he thought he was doing.
  "Are you insane?" he hissed. "It's bad enough Hacklaw's here, now they're going to-" The ferret stopped and listened as the guard on the wall walked past above them.
  "Fine, just keep her quiet!"
  He motioned to a weasel, who opened the small gate. One by one, Darrin's group made their way out of the abbey and into Mossflower.

       Was that the kitchen on the left? Raleigh could hardly tell, her stupor persisting all the way outside. Being met by a rush of cool air changed her situation considerably. Her eyes finally perceived, and she grew conscious enough to chide herself for not thinking more clearly before. Taking Twisty in the dorm would've been relatively easy, he was in a disadvantageous position in the confined space, and he was notoriously easy to fluster. Outside, however, was an entirely different story, he had plenty of room to move around, and would have a window of time through which he could recover from an initial shock. The story only got worse as they neared the vermin squad, running away over open ground on her tired legs would almost surely result in something bad happening.... But would the others care? Perhaps, but it wasn't a risk worth taking.... Once they got outside, she would have the trees. Raleigh's eyes sharpened for the first time after waking up, she still couldn't grasp all that was going about, but she knew what her only chance of escape was. The only thing left for her was to wait, and comply.

"I'm not insane," said Twisty in his usual high-pitched tone as he followed, bopping Raleigh's chin again with the swordtip. "Come along, me purtty! We're gonna have quite a time t'gether. We need a healer anyway."

Taking a smoldering branch from the fire Hacklaw inspected Rallowan's hostages, noting the number of young ones taken. Most shrank away from his barbaric appearance while a few held his gaze, anger at their captors and situation shining in their dark eyes.

"These should do nicely." Hacklaw mused, stepping away from the bound prisoners. "You've done well Rallowan. Now all that's left is to see if those Abbey dwellers would rather innocents tortured and slain or give sanctuary to a thieving ferret. They'll serve him up on a silver platter after the first branding if you ask me. How many do you have here?"

  "Seven," said Rallowan. He motioned for the other vermin to get the prisoners secured, then turned back to Hacklaw. "I am going."

~~~~~~~~~

  Darrin urged his group onward, not looking back at the abbey even once, all of them quiet and nervous. Now he had to worry about the Redwallers coming after him.

Rowan had been sleeping uneasily, still fretting about her argument with Raleigh the day before. Sitting up, the squirrel sighed. Perhaps a cup of tea will help, she thought, slipping out of bed and heading for the kitchens.

As she passed a window, something caught Rowan's eye and she paused. It took a moment to process what she was seeing - Darrin and his group were leaving the Abbey through one of the wall gates! Rowan's stomach dropped as she realized that wasn't all. Twisty was carrying Martin's sword and ... is that Raleigh? It is!

Rowan chewed on her bottom lip. On one paw, it kinda deserved Raleigh right. On the other, Raleigh could be in serious danger. The tea forgotten, the squirrel headed back towards her room, then sighed. As much as she didn't like Raleigh, it wouldn't be right not to tell someone. So she made her way to Elijah's room. "Elijah! Elijah wake up, Raleigh's in trouble and they took Martin's sword!"

       The band started to move. Raleigh looked back at the Abbey imploringly, but it stood there, unmoved by her plight. She shuffled forward a few steps, unwilling to let her life at Redwall be stolen from her, but the presence of the vermin around her made her feel small, pressing her to run with them. They soon left the comfort of the gate and walls, promptly being enveloped by the darkness. The squirrel felt her eyes well up, she tried to stop them, but the best she could manage was to quell the urge to sob. She thought of her friends, of the celebrations, the dibbuns, the Infirmary.... And Rowan, "Is this the last memory we'll share?... I guess it's up to you now, but that's what you wanted. Isn't it?" Tears slowly trickled down her cheek as she ran on in silence, farther away from everything and everyone she knew, farther away from home.

  Elijah woke with a start, sitting up quickly as Rowan  shook him. "Wha- Who? Raleigh? Who took the sword? What are you talking about?" Elijah said this all at once, rubbing his eyes.

Twisty, holding his healing paw near and dear to his chest as he ran, could not help but take notice of Raleigh's plight.
"Are you...crying?" the rat asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.
"Watch out, downed tree root there, don't need ya trippin' o'er it."

       Raleigh almost turned to look at Twisty, but caught herself. If she addressed him, she was sure to lose control, and that wouldn't do. She clenched her eyes shut for a few moments, redoubling her efforts to control her emotions. She opened her eyes, no luck... Would she find an opportunity to escape? She snuck a glance at the paw she'd been working on for the past couple of days, "Would I even feel right.... leaving it like that?" Raleigh knew full well what would happen to Twisty's entire arm if she left them.... But they brought this on themselves, could she really be held responsible at this point?

Rousing his small army in the early hours of the morning Hacklaw moved amongst his creatures issuing orders as the horde beasts stuffed down a cold breakfast. Hushed commands, clanking gear, and muffled curses reigned as the vermin prepared. Hacklaw split his force in thirds, sending his best fighters to hunker down on Redwall's eastern border and wait for anybeast trying to sneak out, while the lesser half of his army were directed into the western ditch facing the Abbey's main gate. The final five score assembled around Hacklaw as he issued his instructions.

"War paint and gleaming weapons lads, make a good show of yerselves. We gotta convince those daft abbeybeasts we're the entire army so we gotta look the part. If we're slouching and looking like a load of dormice on holiday they'll get suspicious, and then I'll get suspicious and ye'll not like me suspicious." The big stoat looked the part of a vicious warlord himself, his fur covered in red tattoos and blue dye with his massive halberd clutched in his paw. "Now harken lads, ye score will secure the prisoners while me and Rallowan do our work. The rest of ye gather in two squads on the flanks in rank and file. Be ready in case the Redwallers sally out. A load of our mates are keeping low in the ditch ready to reinforce us just in case those country bumpkins try anything underpawed. Just remember to stand quiet and look menacing, and be listening out for any orders."

Clapping his paws Hacklaw gathered his cohort about him moving as quietly as possible onto the dirt road leading to Redwall. Dragging the seven captives with them they marched in three long lines, splitting off to their respective positions as Redwall came into view. One third descending into the muddy ditch, one third sneaking off back into the woodlands, and Hacklaw and the final third assembling directly below the main gates of Redwall, forming up and waiting until somebeast warned of their presence.

"You'd better not be ignorin' me!" Twisty snapped, an ugly frown crossing his face as he tightened his grip on Martin's Sword. He glanced away and muttered to himself. "Stupid Darrin best know where 'e's goin' to or I'm...gonna whack them both."

Rowan wrung her paws and frowned down at the otter. "I was up going to the kitchens and I saw the vermin gang leaving Redwall through a side gate, Twisty had Martin's sword and Raleigh was with them. Come on Elijah we need to go right now!"
The squirrel chewed on her bottom lip anxiously, they needed to hurry. If the vermin gang got too far away in the dark it would be too hard to go after them. And they couldn't wait until morning, who knows where the vermin would go?

       Raleigh winced slightly, trying her best to hide her face from Twisty whilst still looking forward attentively. Her ears twitched as the rat mumbled under his breath, "Them? Who else is there?" Still, where were they going? She could understand the running part, leaving before the situation at the Abbey got too heated made a certain amount of sense... But where could they possibly be going? Raleigh was unaware of any place that could serve as a functional safe-haven for miles in all directions, so what chance did they have outside of the walls?

  Elijah hopped out of his bed and pulled on a tunic, strapping on a belt and running out the door all at once. "You're right, let's move!"
  The otter tore down the stairs, Rowan not far behind him (OOC: Hope that's okay), and ran out of the abbey.

OOC: Yeah thats perfectly fine. How many are with Darrin?

BIC: "Wait!" Rowan cried. "We should wake up everyone else, tell them what's going on!" While haste was important, they needed to make sure the Abbot at least knew where they were going. And there was only two of them, how could they rescue Raleigh? Plus, if Rowan was being honest, she didn't like the idea of Mossflower at night with only one other beast, in her nightgown, searching for vermin while another larger group of vermin were also in the area. What if someone got hurt? She'd need bandages at the very least.

  Elijah skidded to a halt, looking out toward the gate, then back at Rowan. "I suppose you're right," he said. He slammed his fist into the door. "Blasted vermin! I knew we shouldn't have let them in!"
  The otter went back into the abbey, giving commands to Rowan as he walked. "Rowan, get what you need. I'm letting the Abbess know."

OOC: I don't think there is any other characters that could go with them. . .

OOC: Course not but it's highly unrealistic to go as just the two of them and accomplish anything of note within the story without prematurely dying. NPCs are a thing.

BIC: "Of course. Good idea." Rowan turned and hurried to her room, already planning out what she'd grab from the Infirmary in her head. I'll need bandages, and some painkillers, and a needle? Yeah probably.

She changed quickly to a tunic, grabbing a satchel as she ran to the Infirmary. We're going to need some help, but who? I need to talk to Elijah, i do wish he'd said where to meet him.

  Elijah made his way to Abbot Gerard's room, and knocked urgently on the door. The mouse inside grunted, and sounds were heard as he got out of his bed and went to the door. He opened it and blinked as he looked at Elijah.
  "Yes, Elijah? What is it?"
  "Darrin and his band left the abbey, and took Raleigh and Martin's sword with them," the otter said quickly. "I'm going after them."
  "Elijah, stop and think!" said Gerard, opening the door wider and stepping out into the hall. "It's night out, and the vermin horde is still out there. Martin's sword may be important. . ."
  "But Raleigh is more important, Father." Elijah set his jaw. "You can't stop me."
  The Abbot closed his eyes and lowered his head. "Very well, Warrior. Go. We will wait for you."
  Elijah nodded, and went off to Cavern Hole.

  By the time Elijah and Rowan had gotten out of the abbey, along with three other willing Redwallers, the sun was just about to rise. The otter looked into Mossflower woods for any sign of anybeast watching, and he motioned for his group to follow along. They had made it about fifty feet into the trees when Elijah looked back, and saw the guard who was supposed to be watching the gate. His back as to them, and he was apparently completely unaware of them. They must have just slipped out as he was distracted by something else.
  The warrior turned back and searched for the tracks left from Darrin. They would get Raleigh and the sword back.

~~~~~~~~~~~

  Darrin woke with a start, covered in a cold sweat. He sat up, breathing heavily, and looked around. Mossflower woods surrounded him on all sides. He had stopped his band some hours ago to rest, setting two guards while most of them slept.
  The ferret rubbed his eyes. They weren't far enough away from Hacklaw yet, and who knew what would be after them now that Twisty had. . . Darrin gritted his teeth, looking over at the rat.
  There he was, curled up uncomfortably close to his captive Raleigh, and the fancy sword he had stolen stuck in the tree above them.
  Darrin stood up and walked over to Twisty, giving him a sharp prod with his foot. "Wake up. Let's get goin'."

"Whahuh?"
One of Twisty's gray eyes cracked open and squinted up at Darrin before snapping shut again.
"'T'ain't right, wakin' a creature up like this...come back fer me in a few minutes."

  Darrin kicked Twisty harder. "Geddup! We want to get further from the abbey before we can relax. So get movin'!"
  The rest of the group woke up and busied themselves at the thought of what was behind them.

OOC: @LT Sandpaw I will interact with Hacklaw in a sec.

"Fine!" Twisty snapped, snatching his sword from the tree. He prodded Raleigh with it, looming over her.

"'Tis morning, me purtty."

       Raleigh's breath was raspy and shallow. By the time the group had come to a stop the night before, she was so tired that escape was out of the question, eventually passing out from a complete lack of energy. The short nap wasn't nearly enough, and she strained to open her eyes, feeling the presence of the rat before seeing him. She managed to push her torso up, but couldn't bare to look at Twisty, Darrin, or any of the other vermin for that matter. Instead, she allowed her head to loll to the side, inspecting the forest floor, searching for anything to slow down the process through a blurry haze of consciousness... "Do they know yet?..... Can anyone even afford to come after me?" Raleigh silently reprimanded herself, she couldn't risk emotions at the moment, hard as it was to avoid them.

"Still givin' me th' silent treatment, eh?" Twisty growled, tipping her chin towards him with the point of the sword. He frowned and clicked his teeth at her. "That's not right, really, 't'ain't. Hoy, Darrin, what'chu make of this? Why's me purtty flower bein' so quiet?"

  "Maybe if you'd stop and think you'd figure that out yourself!" said Darrin, jabbing the side of his head with a claw. "You think that maybe you just kidnapped her? She's angry!
  "Just get her up."

       Raleigh crammed her eyes shut when she felt the blade tip, she dared not even breathe. When Darrin spoke, she reached up with her right paw to grab hold of the tree she had curled up next to the night before and clawed her way to a standing position, quivering from the wear and tear of the past few days. She thought about Darrin's remarks, was she angry? Scared and sad maybe, but anger was a strange concept to her, and she couldn't really decide if she was or not...

Twisty cringed, lowering the sword. He turned away from Darrin and scowled.
Is he right? The rat eyed Raleigh. She's angry?

"Come on then," he muttered. "No use hangin' around 'ere like a bunch a' dodderin' old frogs."

       When the blade fell, Raleigh exhaled the pent up breath raggedly. Twisty appeared to undergo a sudden mood change, after which the squirrel pulled her eyes open. Everything was just as it had been left, and the light of the morning had yet to show itself. She looked down at the rest of herself, only to find a bedraggled tunic and scuffed up squirrel fur. She sobbed quietly once, but refused to lose control. Yearning for the trees, she shuffled reluctantly towards the rest of the vermin, wishing that she could just get some rest so that escape would be possible. She could feel the slithering eyes crawling up and down her body, shivering at the thought of who all of those eyes belonged to... If she were to run, would Twisty be the only one that came to drag her back? She shuddered again.

  Elijah walked quickly at the head of his search party, followed by Rowan and the rest. The otter kept his eyes locked on the signs of Darrin passing through the forest, paw prints, broken twigs, and disturbed earth. They seemed to be heading directly east.
  He finally turned to Rowan. "So. . . Why'd you come with us? I guess I rushed into this, and didn't even think whether you'd want to come or not."

Rowan had kept her gaze cast down as they'd walked, her gut churning as she saw all the disturbances left by Darrin and his gang. It looked like they'd been going fast, and concerned thoughts flitted through Rowan's head. She didn't want her quarrel with Raleigh to be their last interaction, the other squirrel really wasn't so bad. Well, most of the time. She can be so bossy!

Rowan jumped when Elijah started speaking to her, breaking her out of her thoughts. And a good thing too. The squirrel smiled wryly to herself. "Um, I don't really know. I want to make sure Raleigh is alright, and you might need a healer."

Twisty walked for a while, then dropped back and snaked his way back over to Raleigh, his magnificent new sword hanging loosely in his good paw.
Before speaking, he glanced about like there were ghosts in the air. It would be a crying shame for Darrin to see him talking to the squirrel and decide to come over.
"Why th' silent treatment?" he whispered sullenly to the prisoner. The sound of twigs cracking could be heard under his paws. "Yer me purtty. Ain't nobeast here gonna 'urt you..."

  "I hope we don't," said Elijah, grimacing. "But we might. Rowan, I don't want you involved in any fighting."

~~~~~~~~~

  Abbot Gerard was awakened by urgent knocks on his door, and he knew almost instinctively what it was about. He got up and dressed silently and quickly, and open the door to walk past the small crowd.
  "It's the vermin, isn't it?" he asked.
  "Yes Father Abbot."
  "Well, let's not keep them waiting."

   A cheery grin grew across Hacklaw's muzzle as the sentries sprinted off to presumably warn of his arrival. Moments later the great bells rang and a small force of bleary eyed defenders assembled on the walls wielding an array of makeshift weaponry. The big stoat ignored these rabble however, waiting patiently for either the warrior otter, or abbot mouse to arrive. No other creature would have the authority to trade Darrin for the woodlander captives, and Hacklaw didn't come to bandy terms with a few inconsequential abbey bumpkins.

   At last the Abbot himself arrived and Hacklaw stepped forward so that he stood alone on the path before Redwall's great gates. Raising a claw he hailed Abbot Gerard in a booming voice. "Hello up there. There is no need to brandish weapons and fear, I have not come to trade arrows and spears but words and prisoners." Here Hacklaw indicated the line of captive woodlanders, some of whom were very young. Returning to his lines Hacklaw took a toddler otter from his tearful mother's paws returning to his spot on the path. Hacklaw stroked the little otter's whiskers gently, knowing the Redwallers would not attempt to cast a stone or throw a javelin for fear of hitting his hostage. At least that was his hope, one could never really tell with woodlanders. "Now that you have had a night to sleep on the thoughts of bloodshed and war perhaps you've dwelt on how inconsequential Darrin is, and how petty it would be to fight a battle just to protect his masked, thieving face! I can see doubt in the eyes of your compatriots father, so please reconsider your stance. Consider this poor mother, she has already lost her husband, would you be so cruel as to see her loose her child as well? I swear on my honor as a warlord I shall return the way I came, and forget this abbey and these creatures ever existed. I prefer the southeastern lands anyway. Just turn over the thief and his followers, and nobeast shall be hurt."

  Gerard's claws dug into the sandstone walls as he gripped into them, his heart beating faster at the gravity of the situation. His throat felt so tight he could hardly respond to the stoat.
  "Darrin isn't here. Please, don't harm them!"

      Sighing the big stoat turned his back on the walls giving the abbot a show of looking frustrated. Shaking his head Hacklaw drew a long dagger, placing the razor blade against the base of the otter's ear. "I have no desire to hear your lies mouse. I have tried being reasonable, and I continue to show immense patience, but do not seek to frustrate me or waste my time. Unless ye want the blood of innocents on your paws I suggest you cooperate. I can make this long and painful, and I have seven hostages here. This could take hours, or minutes. It's your own damn choice. Give me Darrin now!"

  "He isn't in here!" cried Abbot Gerard, slamming his fists on the wall. "You must believe me! I'll give myself up to you if you promise not to hurt the child!"

   "I have no need of you mouse!" Hacklaw snarled, his large booted feet kicking up dust as he practically danced with rage. Sheathing the dagger he paced back and forth, only pausing in his frustrated pacing to return the otter babe unharmed to its mother. It made no sense to Hacklaw. Why would someone willingly give themselves up to save a child, but refuse to surrender a gang of vermin to another horde of vermin. For all his assumed knowledge of woodlanders this was the greatest puzzle the big stoat had ever faced. There was no precedent for it, either the mouse was so honorable and stupid he would give his own life to save everybeast else's or...

   Hacklaw turned his gaze up towards Abbot Gerard, his yellow eyes cold and calculating. "I know they were in there. Prove to me they are gone."

  Gerard almost collapsed in relief as Hacklaw let the baby otter go. When he asked for proof of Darrin's departure, however, the mouse was once again worried. What could he possibly do to prove he wasn't there?

~~~~~~~~~~~

  Rallowan leaned against a tree as he looked at the lifeless wood door on the eastern side of the abbey. This was boring. Hacklaw could be starting a battle, but there the fox was, guarding a gate.
  Annoyed, Rallowan began walking around, looking at his surroundings. Bushes, broken branches, leaves. . . Suddenly, he noticed something further. There were green leaves on the ground. Rallowan stooped to pick them up, then looked a little bit beyond in the same direction. The earth was disturbed, as if some creatures, many creatures, had hurried through that way.
  Rallowan had only to think a moment before figuring out what happened, and he called for some of the other vermin.
  THe didn't need to listen to Hacklaw. He lived for the fight. The hunt.
  The fox smiled.

   Leaning on his halberd Hacklaw stroked his chin in deep thought, trying to work out a solution to this problem. He didn't have the forces to storm Redwall, nor the time or patience to wait out a prolonged battle. If it was true that Darrin had fled the abbey then pursuit needed to be taken post haste before the trail went cold. Looking up at the anxious faces of the waiting Redwallers Hacklaw gestured towards his army.

   "Open your gates and allow my warriors search your abbey from top to bottom." He suggested, a sly smile on his muzzle. "If you truly have nothing to hide then there is nothing to fear."

       Raleigh averted her gaze, avoiding Twisty's eyes while simultaneously trying not to catch any more of the various vermin's attention with her wandering eyes. She really wasn't sure how to answer, or even how she felt besides being tired.... But that kind of answer probably wouldn't fly with the rat. Finally, she responded with a dry, raspy voice, "What do you want to hear?" She swallowed in an attempt to improve her ability to speak before finishing, "Because there's not much for me to say." Her wandering eyes caught sight of a ferret that she could tell had been giving her that funny look for a longer time than was comfortable. She reeled her head in and stared straight down, better to see Twisty's feet than the other vermin present.

"Hey!"
Twisty spun, raising a fist and snarling at the sneaky ferret. "You stop starin' at her!"
He grabbed Raleigh by the shoulders and moved her behind him.

"What is it with ferrets an' you?" he hissed. "First Darrin, now this wide-eyed frogwalloper? You gotta stop whatever yer doin' that makes them like you..."

       "What did you expect? It's not just ferrets..... It's all of them Twisty, I...." Her words trailed off as her thoughts picked up the last remark, "I don't belong." Raleigh rubbed her shoulders to ease the discomfort after having been moved so roughly, "And what about your paw? How much attention have you been paying to it when you're running amok with your comrades? You shouldn't be grabbing or moving anything with it yet, much less a whole squirrel."

Twisty glanced cross-eyed at his paw, as if he just remembered it, and clutched it defensively to his chest.
"T'ain't right," he whined. "A rat spends 'is whole life without it, an' now that it's fixed 'e can't even use it."

       Raleigh rolled her eyes with a sigh at her impatient subject. Other vermin forgotten, she put a paw on her hip and held out her left hand, palm upward. She gave Twisty a stern look, with her right eyebrow raised for good measure, "Paw please."

Twisty eyed her suspiciously and thrust out his paw, then pulled it away again.
"Nothin' weird now," he said. "Th' moment I see you try an' break my paw so you kin get away--well--y'won't be very pleased."

       Raleigh maintained her stare, viewing Twisty as a patient once again, instead of her kidnapper. She responded almost immediately, albeit, with a touch of sarcasm, "If your paw is fine, then what could you possibly have to fear?" She motioned for his paw with her fingers, "Paw please."

Rowan bristled, turning to look at Ellijah. "And why not? There's precious few of us here, I could be valuable help in a fight." Maybe Rowan did know more about fixing injuries than inflicting them, but hitting someone with a stick wasn't very hard, and she could be quick and light on her paws.

Twisty suspiciously put his paw in hers.
She better not do anything.

       Raleigh turned her attention to the paw in her hand, and started checking over the splint. She traced out Twisty's veins on the wood and bindings with her fingers, mentally checking for nerve constrictions or rough spots. After verifying that the splint was properly in place, she turned his paw over and felt along the exposed underside of his forearm. The motion stopped just short of his wrist, at which point Raleigh looked Twisty in the eyes with sincerity, "I'm a Doctor Twisty, not a magician. What do you think would happen if you got in a fight and somebeast hit this paw?" She flicked the fur just under the wrist to agitate the nerve for emphasis while simultaneously releasing the paw. She turned away from him as she finished, "I'll need to change that splint within the next day, you can say good bye to that entire arm if anything gets infected."

"Ow!" Twisty exclaimed, glaring at her. "My whole arm? What?! Why?" He tenderly rubbed his paw. "At least yer talkin' ag'in..."

       Raleigh had sharp ears, and she could hear the snickering in the camp, an all too harsh reminder that she wasn't in the infirmary anymore. She resumed avoiding eye-contact with anybeast else in the area before responding, "Infections inhibit limbs, cause great pain, and in some cases, result in death. If your paw gets infected, it could easily spread to the rest of your arm before it's found. At that point it'd be impossible to treat..... I wasn't planning on you running around like this, your paw is at great risk out here." She got quieter and quieter as she spoke, almost whispering by the time she was done.

Twisty nodded dumbly.
Oh yes...I see what you're trying to do. he thought. Scaring me into thinking I shouldn't be here, are you?
"Right, 'tis dangerous. Well, I don't see no danger 'ere...not with me new sword, any'ow."

       Twisty's addelbrained statement, combined with his adamant claim to ownership of Redwall's only prized weapon was irritating. Raleigh expected such silly behavior from dibbuns, but this..... this was different. She knew there was nothing else she could do or say at the moment, so she kept her silence, hoping for something to break her away from Twisty at least, if not the rest of the vermin.... But..... the paw. She scrunched her eyes shut again, "No, musn't think too much of it!"

OOC: When are we headed out? Also @The Skarzs don't leave ya boy Sandpaw hangin' man  ;)

"What're ya lookin' at?" Twisty asked.
He glanced at his paw. "Still this? I'm not gonna fight with it. Don't worry."

  "Nothing to fear except your vermin opening the other gates and letting the rest in," said Gerard, frowning. "I will allow three in, and they will be closely watched by us."

~~~~~~~~~

OOC: Oops, thought they were moving already.

BIC: Darrin spotted Twisty with Raleigh again. "Hey, you two, stop talking and start walking!

~~~~~~~~~

  Elijah put a paw on her shoulder. "Only if it's necessary. You're more valuable as a healer. "

Twisty glared poisonously at Darrin's back and started walking, grabbing Raleigh with his good paw by the wrist.
"Good fer nothing, irritating, wants to separate us...." he hissed to himself.

   "Three!" Hacklaw shouted incredulously. "Three creatures only? It'll take half a season to search th' whole damn Abbey!" The big stoat spread his paws wide, trying to show himself as a reasonable and nonthreatening negotiator. A ploy that was significantly undermined by his scars, tattoos and war paint.

   "Let us compromise. Seven of my warriors, unarmed of course, will be allowed entrance. Once they have searched your Abbey from top to bottom and find no trace of Darrin or his gang they shall be traded for these, woodlanders. If they do not return, or are hindered in their search. Well..." Hacklaw touched the hilt of his knife, his eyes shining with meaningful malice. "Th' babe will be the first to die, before I tear this place down stone by stone until I find that bloody ferret!" Closing his eyes Hacklaw released a calming breath before continuing, his tone low, and smoother than honey. "Do we have an accord?"

Rowan shrugged Elijah's paw off her shoulder as she stopped walking and turned to face the otter. "There's only four of you against all the vermin with Darrin! You really think you can do it with four?" She demanded, folding her paws. "Do you even have any idea how we're going to do this?"

  Elijah stopped a few paces further. Then turned around. "We'll improvise. I've done crazier things before. Come on, we can't stop."

~~~~~~~~~~

  Gerard stepped back from the wall to think. He knew Hacklaw would be waiting.
  The more vermin he let in, the harder they would be to watch. But if it would save the innocents. . .
  "Very well," he called, going back to look down at the stoat. "We will open the gate when they are ready. Have them stand right in front."

~~~~~~~~~~

  Darrin looked back at Twisty. "What'd you say?"

"I said good fer somethin', all-knowing, knows what's best fer us, Chief!" Twisty drawled, grinning stupidly and rocking on his heels.

  "Don't get smart with me," said Darrin, looking at Twisty severely. "Yer already walking on thin ice."
  Grimin took this moment to speak up. "How far 're we gonna go, chief?"
  "Far as we can. I'm thinkin' somewhere northeast of here."
  The weasel whined, hitting at some nearby shrubbery. "But we already very up from the south! I wanna stay somewhere for a while!"
  "Yer welcome to stay here and wait t'see if Hacklaw comes after us." And spare the sound of me your voice, Darrin thought. "Otherwise, keep moving. Also, if anybeast sees anything we can gather for food, get it."

"Oh, don't worry--I would never get smart with you, Chief." Twisty whispered, this time indeed too low for anybeast, except for perhaps the nearby Raleigh, to hear.
When the others started talking, he bobbed his head eagerly in what was supposed to look like agreement, then hustled his prisoner away from them.

OOC-
Hacklaw was transferred to me. So, here we go. Also, @Cornflower MM , I added Denkal in case you wanted in. If not, we can just act like he's another one of the NPCs.
IC-
Hacklaw carefully selected the seven vermin, among which were Denkal the stoat and two weasels by the names of Joccan and Willet. He hoped Rallowan would return soon. He didn't trust this place.
The selected moved to stand up front, near the gates, which Hacklaw scrutinized in silence. How easy would they be to break down?
"There they are. Now let them in."


OOC-
Fixed!

OOC: Rallowan is tracking the other guys.

BIC: Gerard looked down at the selected vermin, still unhappy about the situation. He now had some reservations about letting Elijah go after Darrin. "Open the gate!" he cried down to the Redwallers below. They pulled in one side of the double doors, opening up Redwall to the vermin.
  Joccan and the rest stepped in, and the gate was closed behind them.

Willet stood beside Joccan, thirsting for battle. He knew that the Redwallers were more than likely lying to them to protect Darrin and his precious group, and he and his party would be the ones to bring Darrin to justice. It took only a few right moves for them to become the center of Hacklaw's attention.
"Lead th' way, Joccan."

  Joccan wished it had been anyone else but him who Hacklaw had chosen to head the search party. But the ferret didn't want the other vermin to know he was uncomfortable, so he puffed out his chest and pointed to his left. "Alright, you three go 'round thataway, an' th' rest of us'll go in the big building." The three chosen started off, heading toward the gatehouse to search it. Several wary Redwallers followed close behind.
  As Joccan walked with Willet and Deknal to the abbey building, however, and he looked up at the towering heights, he suddenly realized how impossible his task was. "What's chief thinkin'? We ain't never gonna find 'em in this place! If we attacked an' took this castle, we could find 'em then."

"Too much effort," huffed Willet. "Plus, ye shudden't question Chief. Not unless ya wanna 'ave yer tail cut off." He remembered what had happened to the two scouts with a shudder.

  Joccan grumbled nonetheless, looking around at the Redwallers. "We ain't attackin' because of these softies? This is crazy."
  Of course, he didn't feel safe having left his axe outside. He felt so naked without a weapon. He opened the door of the Abbey and looked around, mouth agape. It seemed even bigger on the inside!

OOC: Should we just skip through their searching?

OOC-
Yeeahssss pleeasssy.

OOC: Sorry for the wait. We are now focusing back on Darrin's and Elijah's groups. Hopefully this isn't too far ahead.

BIC: Darrin called a halt to his band, who all collapsed to the ground gratefully. It was nearing sundown, and they had barely stopped the entire day. Darrin had pushed them hard, always looking over his shoulder expecting to see Hacklaw running straight at him ready to flay him alive.
  After taking a moment to catch his breath, he stood up straight. "Someone get a fire going. We'll rest until dawn."

       Raleigh was fading in and out of consciousness, ushered forward by the jostling of shoulders and the preference to avoid being trampled. She ran into the stoat in front of her, oblivious to the orders that had just been given as she fell right along with the rest of them. Two nights without sleep, and a day without food or a break had completely drained her. She tried desperately to figure out where they had ended up, but couldn't remember anything from the past three hours. Raspy breathing filled her ears as she passed out, unable to run, even from her own nightmare.

Twisty barely lifted his snout from the ground.
"'Tain't gonna be me, Darrin," he lamented crossly. "Can't use me paw yet, remember?" The rat set his head down on his arms and tried to keep himself awake.

OOC-
...I swear I checked the "Roleplaying" board multiple times since August third, when it says Dan posted. The 'new' button did not appear until today, when I decided to log into the forum again and check on it. Strange.

  After listening to more moaning from the rest of the band, Darrin threw up his paws. "Lazy page! I'll do it myself."
  He found some dry moss and grass, as well as several twigs and fallen leaves, and struck the Flint with his knife, until it sent a small spark onto the moss. After picking up the moss bundle like it was some precious treasure, he blew on it until it went up in flames, then set it down and piled the grass and leaves and twigs on it. He breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to the others. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

They muttered to themselves and Darrin under their breath, but Twisty was not among them.
The skinny brown rat with the red overcoat was sneaking away, off to find some food for himself... and Raleigh.

OOC: I've been away for awhile, and this is something of an apology, so please bear with.

IC:


   A different type of war was waged that day, a ferocious battle between patience and reason, a bout of tolerance and foreboding, and Hacklaw was determined to win. The hours ticked by, second by second sliding away into eternity. The sun marked its passage, peeking slowly up from behind the scarlet walls like a great shy entity, before becoming encouraged and presenting itself in full, forcing all the vermin to squint and shield their eyes. Hacklaw ordered a big fox to come stand in front of him so he could see. But even that momentary annoyance faded as the great orb rose higher into the sky, before sinking back towards the distant western mountains. Hacklaw's army, finding itself with nothing to do settled into shifts, a score of their number standing ready, watching the defenders and protecting their hostages while their comrades reclined in the ditch. All the while Hacklaw did not move more than twenty places from his spot, only moving to give the occasional order, or hiss at a droopy eyed sentry. He commanded his hostages be kept in clear view of the Redwallers, and be given water to drink. They were offered food, but not even the otters would taste the roasted woodpigeon provided.

   Hacklaw began to suspect foul play as the late afternoon shifted into early evening and the light began to fade. He pounded his halberd's haft into the dirt, a low growl in his throat. Somebeast tugged at his tunic.

   "M'lord," Darktooth had sidled up beside Hacklaw an expression of concern on his face, his voice low and calculated. The stoat warlord grimaced, Darktooth wasn't the one to sidle or whisper. Leaning closer to the ferret Hacklaw wrapped his arm around his shoulders, muttering into his ear.

   "Speak your piece Darktooth. What's happened?"

   "Tis Rallowan lord. I went about to check those small wicker gates. Th' north and south guards still be there, watching. But that black fox an' th' fifty 'e 'ad wit' him are gone. With clear signs leading eastward into the forest. They've all abandoned their post, an' not a word to anybeast."

   The growl in Hacklaw's throat deepened into a steady rumble, and his claws dug deep into the halberd's haft, leaving marks on the smooth wood. "Are ye telling me, that one of my most trusted lieutenants and an sixth of my army have deserted me, of all times and places here and now?" The disturbing words meant more to Hacklaw then they did to Darktooth. Deserters, thieves, Abbey bumpkins all were disrespecting him left and right, trampling his feared reputation into the mud. How long would it be before the tactic changed from desertion and flight to open rebellion and assassination? There were two things keeping Hacklaw and his many children alive. And that was his skill in battle, and the fear of his reputation to punish those who wronged him harshly. But if he continued to allow his subordinates to insult him with impudence, that shield would wither and die. Meaning he would be back to the beginning, fighting battles that were already won.

   "Aye, lord." Darktooth gave a slow nod, knowing all too well the consequences for such a slight, and whose head would roll once Hacklaw caught up to him. The ferret kept his face serious, but inside he was laughing, mocking the only real opposition to his position as Hacklaw's second in command. And who knew, Rallowan was a dangerous creature, perhaps one of the few who could stand toe to toe with Hacklaw and hope to tell the tale. Maybe they would kill each other and leave the Southeastern Empire for grabs. One could only hope.

   "By my blade and honor I'll have that traitorous fox's head." Hacklaw vowed, every word spoken with utter sincerity. He glanced one final time up at the Abbey walls before turning to address his army. "Gonrith, ye, Foxworthy, Gabbers, Zasmas, Needith..." He continued to list names until twenty fighters stepped forward, assembling on the path, clutching an array of varied weaponry. These were no ordinary soldiers. Tough, wizened, and battle scared, together they were some of Hacklaw's most fierce, and veteran warriors. Known killers all. Nodding approvingly Hacklaw led them a few paces away from the rest of the army, instructing them to kneel on the path while he issued a few final orders to Darktooth.

        "Rallowan is the greater threat, and I'll have his head on a spike, but I want Darrin too. You'll remain here with the rest of the army, if Joccon and the others haven't returned, or if Darrin is discovered attack the Abbey and execute the hostages, do it slowly." Here Darktooth grinned, licking his dagger blade in anticipation. "If he isn't found release the hostages as agreed upon, and scope around, pick up Darrin's trail. I'll move faster than Rallowan and catch him soon enough. When I return I want to either see this place burning and Darrin's head mounted above the walls, or Darrin's head in a sack and the army encamped on the Western plains."

   Darktooth nodded, burning the simple orders into his memory. They were vague enough to leave him quite a bit of leeway, for actions at his own digression. "It shall be done as ye say lord. But what of Rallowan, and his soldiers. He'll outnumber you, and expect your pursuit. He's no slouch with a blade, and has a fair mind for battle."

   Hacklaw waved off the concerns. "Indeed, but I did not become the warlord of the Southeast by fighting every battle with the numerically superior army. Rallowan will face his fate like all my other foes, whether he has fifty or a thousand at his back. Besides, I can't spare any more forces. You'll need every blade you've got to take this Abbey if it comes to that, and I'm leaving you with less than two hundred and thirty fighters. Don't fail me in this regard Darktooth, and when I return there have better not be any more desertions."

   "I will make sure of it lord." Darktooth vowed. Stoat and ferret shook paws and then Hacklaw was away with his chosen few, making a wide sweep around the Abbey's northern wall towards the eastern gate, and Rallowan's trail.

  Elijah looked back at his small group of Redwallers as they stumbled through the darkening forest. The otter waved his paw. "Come on, we can't stop now. We've got to keep going or we'll never catch up to them."
  "We need to rest!" said a young male mouse.
  "Our friend is out there, a fellow Redwaller." The warrior pointed out into the trees. "We aren't going to put less effort into saving her than the vermin who took her away in the first place. Let's go. A little further."
  They pressed on, weary, but resolute. Elijah was fighting off sleep himself, but bit his tongue to stay awake. He turned to Rowan. "You good?"

Rowan was still a bit grumpy from the conversation with Elijah earlier, and nodded, "Yeah I'm fine. They do have a point, though. The vermin will be just as tired as we are, we should catch up to them and then rest while fine tuning our plan."

OOC: How far away are we from Darrin's group?

OOC: Half a day away.

BIC: Elijah sighed. "We'll just have to go harder tomorrow." He let the group stop, and they set up camp. A fire was started and food was warmed, and they settled down to rest. Elijah sat in front of the fire, his otter javelin laying across his lap.
  The vermin's path was easy to follow, but it was also obvious they were going as fast as they could. The otter ground his teeth together. He knew it was a mistake to let them in the Abbey, and they were paying for that mistake. They had lost Raleigh and the sword of Martin to the scum.
  But now he had to think about how he was going to get both back. He could probably take down a dozen vermin by himself, but they were outnumbered, and he knew the others weren't as skilled as he. So they would have to talk to them and try to bargain for Raleigh's life. But as much as he didn't like it, the warrior felt that whoever took the sword wouldn't be willing to just give it up.
  He looked over at Rowan, who was still awake. "What do you think we should do?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

  Darrin was also lost in thought. After almost two full days of going through the forest, he was feeling a little safer about the threat that was Hacklaw. He hadn't seen anything following them, and they had made good distance. Tomorrow would be an easier day, and his band would be much happier with that.

OOC-
Gimme somethin' to do.

OOC: Little bit of PP here, Dan. Hope it's okay. Ash, I know Twisty is a little protective of his little package, so I'mma poke him.

  Darrin chewed on an apple core, wishing he had something else to eat. He looked around at his band, seeing Raleigh crumpled on the ground, but he didn't see Twisty.
  The ferret got up and went over to the squirrel, looking down at her. She was sleeping fitfully, face-down on the ground. She unconciously coughed from dirt she had breathed in, then went back to silence. Darrin frowned, bending down and rolling her over so she wasn't breathing in dirt. Her dress was ripped, her face looked thin, and her tail brush was full of debris.
  "Blasted rat," Darrin said.

Twisty leaned up against a tree, picking his teeth with a sharp twig he'd found.
Where was Darrin? Were they going to move soon?
He squinted, seeking out the ferret with his eyes. No, that's not him... Aha! He got up and approached- and halfway there he realized what the ferret was doing and his heart may as well have jumped out of his mouth.
"Darrin!" Twisty yowled, waving his paws. He wanted to smack the ferret. "Don't touch 'er! She don't like you! See, she's coughin' somethin' nasty; might be sick, an' if she is it ain't fer yew to deal with, no- she's my business, Darrin!"

  Darrin jumped and spun around as Twisty yelled. He came at him, and Darrin prepared himself for an attack, though he didn't seem to be trying to kill him. The ferret tried to grab the rat to gag him. "Will you shut up! We can't be yelling! And can't you see she's eatin' dirt in her sleep? You want her to choke an' die?"

Twisty made a choking noise and stumbled back. He dug his claws in to pry Darrin's paws off his neck, and once he was free he turned and gasped, rubbing his throat.
"...N... Not my fault," the rat said hoarsely. His fur was still spiked and bristling, and the concoction of hurt and confusion that was stamped on his face said more words than he spoke.
Not her, Darrin. I don't want her to choke and die.

  "Not your fault? You left her there and went sneaking off." Darrin pointed at Raleigh. "You brought her! If you want her to live long out here, take care of her! Get somethin' for her to eat, she looks starved."
  He ignored the look Twisty gave him, looking at Martin's sword. "You'd better hope that thing wasn't special to them Redwallers either, because I'm not about to risk my hide over some fancy sword and a squirrel."

"That's what I was doin'- lookin' fer food," Twisty complained, regaining his voice. He rubbed his throat once more and then folded his arms, staring crossly at Darrin. "Then ye moved an' I 'ad t' run t' catch up."
He stomped over to the apple tree, grabbed an apple off it, hurried back, and crouched down by Raleigh. "Wake up," he whispered, "I's got's food for ya."
Not once did he forget Darrin, though. While he waited for the squirrel to wake up, he shot the ferret another look.
"You jus' say that... 'Cause yer jealous."

  "Jealous?" snorted Darrin, folding his arms. "Of what? I have a sword, (well, it's a bit rusty, but it's a sword). And I don't have a use for any squirrelmaid, no matter how pretty she might be. She's just extra weight."

Twisty growled. "Not fer me, she's not. So if'n yew don't care about her like ye say, then stop 'angin' around 'er, why don'tcha? She's not gonna die. I won't let 'er die." He nudged Raleigh, praying that she'd wake up. I didn't mean for this to happen.

       The dust and dirt finally balled up with Twisty's nudge, causing Raleigh to choke on the mass in her throat. She awoke to a jerking cough, desperately attempting to expel the clot in her throat. She found some relief after rolling over and coughing into the ground, clearing her airway, although still a little panicked. Her breathing was still ragged, but she got it under control enough to ward off the rasp for the time being. The squirrel propped herself up on one arm, leaning heavily as she turned her head after finally comprehending that Twisty had spoken to her. She hadn't heard what he said, but his posture and the, "apple," in his hand were more than enough. Her head lolled to the side, it was almost funny, "Oh you silly rat..... Look at it, it hasn't even grow... Eating that would just cause more hunger, and that's after the gagging from the taste..... If you're looking for something to eat, you should look for.... Nettles... Dandelion.. and possibly Leeks... Harvested foods like apples won't be ready for several months yet..." Taking advantage of the quiet moment, she turned to scan the untarnished forest floor behind her from her sideways position. She breathed a sigh of relief, spotting a small clump of Day lilies which she gently removed from the earth, removing the shoots which she promptly slid into her mouth. 

As Raleigh ate the flower-shoots, Twisty watched in mild disgust.
"Don't look good," he muttered. "Mustn't taste good. Darrin was eatin' an apple jus' fine..." Maybe Darrin got a good one. Of course he would, why wouldn't he? He was Darrin, and fate seemed to be in love with him.
Twisty snorted.
"Yew like fish, Purtty? I'll kill yer a fish."

  "Where the devil are you gonna get a fish, huh?" Darrin muttered. Twisty was becoming difficult. . . More than just being Twisty. He shouldn't have let him bring the squirrel along.
  He didn't move from his spot, watching the rat cater to Raleigh. He was certain the Redwallers were almost treading on their tails, and she was why. It wouldn't have made sense for them to follow them just for leaving Hacklaw there with them.
  A sudden chill went up Darrin's spine, and he could almost feel the huge stoat's paws around his neck.

"I'll find a river an' get one. What do you think? From a tree?" Twisty folded his arms, his bad paw out at an awkward angle. He hoped it'd heal soon.
"Raleigh needs good food, not some stinkin' weeds."

Rowan sat staring at the flames grumpily. She hadn't particularly wanted to stop, but had seen the logic in taking a break after some wheedling from her fellow Redwallers. That didn't mean she was particularly happy about it, however. She wasn't sure about the fire, either, concerned about the smoke giving away their location, but hadn't bothered to voice that concern.
She looked up after Elijah spoke, "I'm not sure. I don't think we'll get Raleigh and Martin's Sword back without violence, but we're outnumbered and they have more experience. The only thing we'll have going for us is surprise."

  "Sometimes that's all a beast needs," Elijah said grimly. "If we use guerilla tactics, we would have a chance. Hopefully Raleigh can do something to help us. They were owards to run away from their own fight, so they'll be cowards when they see our mettle."
  He looked hard at Rowan. "You'll find battles aren't always even, but you've gotta use what you got. And I think you've got more in you than you show."

~~~~~~~~~~~

  Darrin pointed to his pack. "I've got a bit of bread. She can have some of that, but not all of it. I don't need you to get yerself lost in the woods at night."

"She don't need your bread!" Twisty snarled.
Then, looking at Raleigh, he shook his head and held out his paw to Darrin. "Fine. Give it here."

       Raleigh was toying with a few fallen linden leaves, trying to let the vermin argue for as long as possible. She didn't know, for sure, but the one great hope she held on to was the one she placed in her friends. At the same time, the horde was likely tracking Darrin's band at this point now as well. She released a despairing sigh coupled with a grunt as she forced herself up on her knees. Appearing weak at this stage would only prove a further hindrance.

  Darrin sighed, picking his way across snoring forms on the ground to his pack, where he reached inside and found his precious bread. He broke off a portion of it, considered the two sizes for a moment, then tore off a slightly larger piece and brought it over to Raleigh and Twistly. "Here."
  He looked at the squirrel. "Get some food in yourself. Otherwise, I can't afford to let you come with us."

"Don't talk to 'er like that," Twisty growled, swiping the bread from Darrin only to place it right in Raleigh's paws (with a meaningful look in her direction so she'd know it was just from him) and turn back, scowling at the ferret.
"It's not 'er fault yew can't afford t' catch a break an' get some good food."
He fiddled with his claws.
Don't talk to her, Darrin; don't talk to her at all.

Otherwise, I can't afford to let you come with us."

       The obvious disparity in the opinions between the two on the squirrel's presence had only grown wider, it almost seemed like Darrin was trying to convince her to run at this point. Raleigh tried to avoid acknowledging the bread... But she knew that it would be foolish to pass it up. She reluctantly received it from Twisty, her fur standing on end for a moment in response to the brief contact. She back herself into a tree not far behind her, leaning on it as she nibbled the small reminder of home.

Twisty turned from Darrin at last and scooted closer to Raleigh. "Say something," he begged, grinding his teeth together. The squirrelmaid's silence was a bigger punishment than if she got away and left. She was ignoring him.
"We could be happy..."

  "You're creepin' me out, Twist," said Darrin. He turned on his heel. "I'm gonna get some sleep. You should do the same."

       Raleigh turned away from Twisty and shuffled over to the fire, avoiding his stare. Once there, she sat down slowly, hugging her legs to her chest in a search for some sort of security. All the while, she could feel the eyes following, watching, mostly Twisty's, but there were others, hidden in the shadows, but there none the less. It became quite apparent that her attempt at comfort was not having any effect. She shifted to a small log that another vermin had rolled to the fire before passing out, sitting whilst she pulled her tail before her and attempted to extract some of the larger, non-tail elements within. As her mind escaped the moment to the backdrop of the flames flickering through the strands of her brush, she allowed herself a small bit of solace in humming "A Mhaighdean Bhan Uasal." She got lost in the peacefulness of the sound, "Do thir, dileas fhein..." She snapped back into reality just before properly transitioning into song by accident. The tail attempted to curl as her legs crossed in mild embarrassment. After the moment passed, Raleigh could feel some semblance of confidence returning in response to her chance to come to feel an air of freedom. She stole a glance at Twisty, reminding herself once again of what her circumstances were... Before breaking her silence, "The only we between us, is that of a physician and a patient." Her voice was gentle and sweet again, containing not even the slightest bit of malice despite the blunt nature of the comment.

Twisty watched Darrin walk away for only a split moment, because his eyes were on Raleigh.
She was singing. It was nothing like he had ever heard- nothing like the vermin shanties of his band - but his confusion was deeper than that. He couldn't understand the words, yet he thought it sounded nice and he smiled crookedly.
When she finally looked at him, the rat thought maybe the squirrel would invite him over, or keep going.
He couldn't have been more wrong.
The look of contentment fled from his face like the light of a candle being snuffed out. His mouth twitched and spasmed.

"Sometimes that's all a beast needs," Elijah said grimly. "If we use guerilla tactics, we would have a chance. Hopefully Raleigh can do something to help us. They were cowards to run away from their own fight, so they'll be cowards when they see our mettle."
  He looked hard at Rowan. "You'll find battles aren't always even, but you've gotta use what you got. And I think you've got more in you than you show."

Rowan looked back at the fire. "Will they? How outnumbered are we? Two to one? Three? Like you said, they're cowards, but they're also bullies. Once they realize that, what will they do?" She paused to gather her thoughts, blinking slowly as she looked up. "Who knows what they've done to Raleigh? Will she be capable of fighting or helping us? We have a small handful of fighters that have probably never seen a skirmish in their lives, one warrior, and a healer." She stood up and started to walk away, to gather a little more wood for the fire before sleeping. "Say what you like about me, didn't you just this afternoon tell me to stay out of the fighting? Do make up your mind."

  Elijah was left speechless after Rowan's response, and decided to simply sit quietly by the fire. His thoughts were all jumbled up from all the things that had happened the past few days. Maybe he wasn't thinking clearly, but he at least knew that he wouldn't allow the vermin who took Raleigh get away with it.

       Raleigh had looked back towards the fire before speaking, but she still caught Twisty's rather predictable reaction. She had known it was going to happen.... but she knew she couldn't stay silent. The weight of realism started to fall upon her shoulders once more, "I think I'll be trying to sleep now..... assuming that is all of course." Her voice grew steadily quieter, until it was all but a squeak. She timidly laid down with her back to the fire, half the debris still stuck in her brush as she forced herself into a quiet stupor.

Twisty's frown lines deepened.
"That's all," he said tersely, turning and sidling away before the squirrelmaid could get another word in. The rat stood on the brink of the encampment for a while, sulking as the vermin slept, the hurt disgust on his face unrelenting.
Then he turned and, fingering Martin's sword, disappeared into the forest.

  The following morning, Darrin woke up with a shiver. The nights could be cold, no matter the season. The sun was lighting the orange-gray of the morning, illuminating the forms of trees and sleeping vermin. Birds could be heard ringing in the new day. Still, the beauty was lost on the ferret as he sat up and looked around. As usual, he was the first up.
  Darrin stood up and stretched, then poked the first bundle of fur and snores he could reach. "Wake up. Oughtta get going again." He went around and roused a good portion of his band in similar fashion until he came across Raleigh. The squirrel was sleeping fitfully. "Alright, squirrel. Wake up. Dunno where your creepy friend Twisty went to, but you might be able to get a moment's peace without 'im if you wake up now."

~~~~~~~~~~

  Rallowan opened both his eyes, allowing himself to wake up fully before moving a fraction of an inch. He had fallen asleep between the roots of a maple tree with his back to its trunk, his sword across his lap. Now that he was awake, he sheathed his sword and woke his own group. Soon they were walking briskly through Mossflower woods, with the fox at their lead, intent on finding his prey.

~~~~~~~~~~~

  Elijah broke open his pack to eat a cold meal with the rest of the Redwallers. "We'll catch up with them today," he said.

       "He's not my friend." Raleigh's eyes cracked open, unwilling though they were. Darrin's advice wasn't half bad, but what was she to do with it? She sighed, letting her lids clamp shut once again. It was at that moment that reality dawned on her, Twisty was gone! There couldn't possibly be a better opportunity to escape, with everybeast else still half asleep. Her eyes flew wide for a second, before closing most of the way again. This opportunity would be short lived if she gave the game away to anybeast else that might fancy himself her caretaker, she shuddered. Crawling, ever so slowly, she pulled herself towards the largest trunk nearby, fingering through the grass as if to forage. After standing most of the way up, it didn't take long to lose sight of the vermin. The tree was tall, with just enough vegetation to hide her from prying eyes. She sniffed her scuffed up habit and sure enough, she smelled like forest. Despite the wear of yesterday, it didn't take long for her to find a decent couple of branches upon which to rest. Her heart was pounding as her thoughts finally caught up, allowing her to imagine what awful things could happen as a result of her choice.... But he couldn't find her, right? She should be safe, right? Her eyes fell down to the encampment below as the morning cold increased her discomfort... All she could do was wait.

Twisty headed back into camp with a fish.
It was big--not too big, nor big enough to be questioned-- but a decent size, and good enough for any one or two creatures, let alone Raleigh. In his pocket he'd stuffed some berries.
"Raleigh, Purdy, got yew brekkist..." Twisty stopped. "Hey, where is she?"

       Raleigh's heart stopped, Twisty was right below her! Forcibly calming herself, she peered down at the rat, barely visible through leaves, thin as they were. He didn't appear to have noticed yet, was it better to run? No, she was too tired to make a quiet getaway. The squirrel plastered herself to the branch, Darrin would certainly insist on moving out soon, right?

The rat marched up to Darrin and swung the fish at him.
"What'd yew do wit' Raleigh?!"

  "Gettoffit!" cried Darrin, narrowly dodging the fish as it swiped near his face. He regained his composure, and glared at Twisty. "Do with her? I woke her up, you idiot! If she isn't where she was then look around! She ain't my problem. With any luck she ran off."
  Darrin got back to his hasty meal.

"Oh, yeah, ain't yer problem. Suuuure thing, Darrin."
Twisty walked back to the tree and leaned against it, picking his teeth. "Hmm." He folded his arms, glaring at the ferret. "She's gotta be around 'ere somewhere, an' if she's not, there'll be 'eck to pay fer Darrin."

       Twisty appeared surprisingly calm given how he had acted previously under similar stresses. Raleigh breathed out slowly, feeling some semblance of relief due to his apparent distraction... But how long would his moderate temper last? She looked behind the trunk to find a good spot that was more hidden from the camp, shuffling upward a little bit more to wait.

Rowan nibbled on a scone, "I should hope we do catch up with them today. We really ought to hurry and get going," She commented, voice icy. She hadn't forgotten the conversation with Elijah the night before, and she hadn't changed her mind either. Her nose twitched as she thought about it, and the squirrel gave a small sigh.

       Raleigh's breath started to stutter, the branches being colder than the ground she had slept upon. She closed her eyes as if to shut out the fear and discomfort, but was startled back into awareness by a light breeze that passed right through her clothing. Her gaze shifted downward once more, only to catch a glance of the paw that was really to blame, that accursed, defective paw... The same one that, even now, was in jeopardy. She desperately tried to drown out the voice of the surgeon, to blind her knowing eyes, to ignore the likely fate of the rat, her captor, should she manage to evade his grasp... All in vain. Her eyes were too full of sorrow to willingly allow such a pain to persist. The squirrel slowly slipped down the back of the tree, paws practically numb, waiting for a sound from camp to cover her jump... Sure enough, a short scuffle proved loud enough for her to comfortably leap to the low hangers on another tree, bounding a couple of steps and half dropped, half fell out to land with a huff in a pile of soggy vegetation and mud. There was little time, the nearby plants would have to suffice as an explanation. Raleigh darted from young clump to young clump, counting her blessing as nearly ripe blueberries showed themselves, followed soon by the even better chamomile bulbs which very quickly found themselves in her sash.

       Raleigh stepped back into camp, making extra sure to avoid being near, or directly opposite Twisty upon arrival. After taking a quick look around she sat down, paws stuffed in armpits to try and regain their feeling. Little attention was paid to her quiet appearance, something that caused her to question whether she really regretted not taking the opportunity to wash up in some way. There was no need to move, as Twisty was sure to show up on his own... unfortunately. She sighed.

  "I'm ready to go as soon as you are," said Elijah, giving Rowan a look. He didn't quite understand what her problem was. "We can finish eating on the march."

~~~~~~~~~~

  Darrin glared back at Twisty as he readied himself for the day, turning away just as Raleigh showed herself. With some dismay he looked up and saw her, wishing she had just cut and run. She was doing something weird to the rat, and it was affecting the whole crew.

"What?" Twisty grimaced. A flicker of red fur caught his eye, and he rushed past Darrin.
"Raleigh! Why, bless me 'eart! Yew came back!"

       "Eat these," Raleigh's outstretched paw held most of the blueberries she had just picked. The berries he was likely to take, but she was trying to figure out how she could possibly convince Twisty to eat the chamomile later. She tried to avoid it, but couldn't help taking a peak at the disfigurement again, "You do realize we'll need to... take care of that soon, right?" This problem had been bugging her since the previous night, what with her lack of tools coupled with the fact that anything done out like this would not be sterile... But it was his only chance.

"Aww, apology berries! 'Ow sweet!"
Twisty took the offering from Raleigh and turned to sniff them-- just to make certain they were blueberries and not something more dangerous. Then he popped them twixt his jaws and swallowed.
"Not bad. Anyway, what? This old thing? Why, isn't it better now?"

       Raleigh stopped herself from explaining the calming effects of blueberries for the moment, better that Twisty's obliviousness be maintained. Though his very next action gave her pause, her eyes sharpened suddenly in response, it wasn't like him to take wise precautions... Or in her case, any caution at all. She stored this small revelation away for the time being as he turned back around, her answer neither courteous nor terse, more tired than anything, "The healing process is a long and arduous one... One I highly suggest you take more seriously." She turned on her side and rested against the side of the tree for what little time was left, trying to get back some of the energy she'd just spent.

"What's an aredoofus?" Twisty's ears twitched and he grinned dumbly. "Can't take it seriously if'n I don't know what it is, y'know."

Deleted

  "Alright, that's enough, you two!" cried Darrin. Seeing the stupid look on Twisty's face when he was talking with Raleigh made Darrin gag. He was going to put a stop to the idiocy then and there. "Twisty, get her goin', or I'm leaving the both of you behind! Every minute we stand here is another step Hacklaw has on us. But you don't seem to care that we've got a bloodthirsty giant after us, no! You've got your previous sword, your little excuse for a paw is healing up oh so nicely, and you've got a pretty little squirrelmaid to keep you company." He spat. "I'm sick of your fooling around, rat!"

~~~~~~~~~

  Rallowan had his paws full.
  He knew he was gaining on Darrin; the tracks we're fresher, and he could almost smell the food they had eaten. But the other vermin he had with him had neither the same predatory sense nor vision the fox had.
  "We ain't goin' no further!" said one, a big ferret. "We boys 've talked. It ain't worth tryin' to catch Darrin. There's easier pickin's back at the castle!"
  "Hacklaw wants Darrin," said Rallowan, still walking. He stopped when he heard no one else moving behind him, and turned around. The whole group of vermin had stopped, and were looking at him with rebellion on their eyes. "You're traitors."
  "No, we just ain't stupid!" said the ferret.
  Without another word, Rallowan took a knife in his paw and threw it at the ferret, felling him where he stood as it pierced his throat. The vermin around him backed away from the fox. "You follow, or you die," he said.
  After a moment, the others began to creep away, eventually turning and running. "You can't kill us all!" came a receding cry.
  Rallowan stared after them with pale eyes, then turned back to his trail. They only we're holding him back. Now the real hunt began.

Like the effect a bucket of icy water would have on a fire, Darrin's words brought a shadow to Twisty's face so dark that it extinguished even the smallest trace of his grin.

"Sick of me," said the rat, turning round. He extended a claw towards his sword hilt and picked at it.
The long-stagnant bloodlust inside of him had reached a boiling point, but other vermin were watching... they were always watching.
With their eyes on him, Twisty straightened up and dropped his paw from his sword, stepping back. He was not going to attack.
"It's funny," he murmured, "Since I've been sick of you, Darrin." Without waiting for the ferret's response, he lashed out and grabbed Raleigh's arm, pulling her towards him. "And I know what you want, and you're not getting it!"

The rat's brown eyes shot to and fro and he hastily made up his mind to run towards the bushes and try bringing her with him, and try he did.

       Raleigh had slowly started to right herself as Darrin confronted Twisty. Her left paw strayed slowly outward, preparing for anticipated aggression from the rat. Strangely, at the crux of the tension, Twisty backed off, not really that surprising; However, this thought was immediately followed by a violent jolt as Twisty's arm nabbed hers as he made his getaway. All things considered, there didn't really seem like much to run from since Darrin wouldn't waste time chasing them. This line of thought was quickly severed by a knob of wood slicing into her right shoulder and sliding down her arm in passing a tree, evoking a sudden, panicked gasp. Her attention was thus caught up in a frenzied attempt to maintain balance whilst being pulled backwards almost to the point of dragging, a feat that was already difficult enough without being biffed upside the head by the occasional low-hanging branch, small as they were.

Twisty skidded to a halt and spun wildly round to face Raleigh, sucking in a restless breath. "No, no, no, Purtty, you've gotta be careful!"
His voice was normal again. So was his diction-- yet there was something there, in his eyes, which betrayed his anger.
"There's blood on yer arm..." The rat dug his claws into his fur. "Is that 'cause of me?"

       The sudden halt forced out a pained bark as Raleigh fell to a knee. She took a quick peak, but her assessment was already complete. dazed as she was. All but ignoring Twisty's words, she spat out her words through firmly clenched teeth, "Water.... 'nd fire..... Need't run to water!" Her grimace tightened, making speaking nigh impossible. She hoped desperately that Twisty could locate water soon, the cut in her arm wasn't dangerous, not yet at least, but the bleeding was only going to worsen. The severe lack of materials and supplies gave her a single, grim option.

  Although not completely unexpected, Twisty's action left Darrin staring after him dumbly. Finally, when he realized what happened, the ferret shook his fist in the cat's direction. "Good riddance, you dead-pawed, bald-tailed creep! You an' the stupid squirrel! Didn't need you anyways!"
  He turned back to his crew, who were watching him silently. "Well?" He snapped. "What're you lot looking at? Get going!"
  Soon they were on their way, going in the same direction through the forest, Darrin hoping he had left all his troubles behind him.

~~~~~~~~~

  Hacklaw pressed on through the forest, following the clear trail of not one but three groups of creatures. The morning was growing old when he spied shadows moving in the trees ahead, and coming toward him. He raised his paw, and his own vermin stopped. The big stoat brandished his weapon, and the others did the same as the unknown figures came closer.
  Soon, there was a cry as they were recognized, and Hacklaw relaxed. "Oi, you 'alf-baked spineless deserters! Where the 'ell have you been, an' why are you comin' back?"
  "Rallowan's gone crazy!" came the reply. They were the vermin that had left Rallowan to hunt Darrin by himself. "He don't follow you. We ain't gonna follow him no more. We knew you'd want us back at the castle."
  Hacklaw grunted. "Huh. Always knew that fox weren't to be trusted." He raised his voice for all to hear. "Alright, boys! What ones o' ye wanna go, go back! We've only got one fox an' a bunch o' scared ninnies runnin' with their tails between their legs! I'ma have fun, now!"
  When the ones who decided to stay with their leader we're decided, Hacklaw was left with around twoscore vermin, and they set off with fresh vigour.

And fire?
Twisty perked his ears and listened for some sign of a stream or river, but heard nothing. He knew they'd passed one a while ago, but that would require him to go back... and he didn't want to lose sight of Darrin's team.

The rat turned to the squirrel. "How 'bout a puddle?"

       There was a clump of dock not far beyond Twisty which Raleigh stepped over to slowly. She responded to her companion after she had managed to snatch two of the leaves, "I'll settle for a," she was interrupted by her own rasp as she clamped the leaves over her upper arm, just to the side of her shoulder. She continued after catching her breath, "A small pond... Not much, but enough." Wincing again, her priority shifted to gauging the surroundings herself, looking for anything that would indicate water.

"Fine," Twisty grumbled, and started walking. "Let's backtrack a little, then."

       It wasn't very long before the pair happened upon what could hardly even be called a pond. Still, there was enough to be submerged in, albeit narrowly, but enough was better than Raleigh could hope for at this point. Then again, there was a part of her that dreaded their find simply because it brought the looming treatment ever closer. Painfully but quickly, she gathered enough sticks and moss to kindle a flame before realizing a potential problem, "Twisty, do you have a knife, and do you know how to start a fire with friction?"