define('WP_CACHE', true); Sola – Crossed Paths – Logs https://crossed-paths.com/logs The Story Thus Far... Mon, 03 Feb 2014 01:11:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.6 Chapter 90: More Mouths to Feed https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/401 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/401#respond Wed, 09 Jul 2014 11:00:35 +0000 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/?p=401

Continue reading]]> Chapter 90: More Mouths to Feed

In Which We Keep Ending Up Back Here.

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Catamount: The next few days were filled with constant walking, following the trail to the north. Though there were no signs of hares following behind them, the refugees moved as fast as possible, stopping only when necessary to sleep for a few hours and often eating on foot.

The grasslands swiftly give way to woodlands and at a fork in the trails, Soquan and Jozra advise taking the westerly most one, hoping the bridge to Kodan has already been completed. Despite their exhaustion, the refugees press forward. Even though the hares don’t seem to be a problem any longer, supplies are running low. In the ghettos of Afrin, ‘all you can carry’ is not enough.

Arrin: The refugees race along the riverside trail in the late evening, the sound of rushing water filling their ears. Ahead of them, is the light at the end of the tunnel, those with seeing eyes can spot the lights of the city of Kodan shining faintly though the trees in the distance across the river. Soquan grins ruefully and turns to address Jozra beside him. “You know, it seems that no matter how hard we try, we keep ending up back here.”

Chris: Holst cocks an eyebrow at them, realizing there still wasn’t all that much he knew about the pair’s past. “Really now?”

Catamount: The ferret chuckles, “Yeah.” Turning to Holst, she explains a little. “We passed through here on our way south and had some… adventures with this safe-house we’re heading for. And then when leaving we had some troubles and I…” She grins sheepishly, “…kinda fell in the river and we had to come back.” She shrugs it off. “It probably makes for a better campfire story.”

Arrin: Soquan reaches out to clap the fox heartily on the shoulder. “Don’t you worry, you’ll hear the whole story soon enough.”

Chris: Holst chuckles a little bit and shakes his head. “I’m sure I will.”

Catamount: Jozra peers ahead as a small tan shape races back towards the three. The image quickly resolves itself as Azrun. “Found the bridge you were talking about up ahead, Joz. Looks passable. Zander wants you guys up in front since you’ve been here before.”

Arrin: Soquan nods at Azrun and turns to the ferret. “Shall we head upfront then, Jozra m’dear?”

Catamount: “Might as well. I’d pay to see the look on Kirrian’s face, actually.” She gestures to Holst. “You’d better come too if you want a chance at seeing steam boil out a vixen’s ears.”

Chris: Holst cocks an eyebrow and gives a crooked grin. “All you had to say was vixen.”

Arrin:  Soquan chuckles and shakes his head “C’mon lover boy, maybe your smooth moves will settle Kirrian’s temper a bit.”

Catamount: Jozra chuckles as Azrun smirks and rolls his eyes. “Looks like the front of the pack may have reached the bridge already. Let’s go.”

The four start trotting towards the front of the group of refugees, quickly catching up as the new bridge, while complete, is only wide enough for a single cart, slowing the tide of weary beasts. Azrun takes off again, working as ‘trail sweep’ while Zander, Jozra, Soquan and Holstadt approach the city of Kodan.

Most of the buildings are dark, as the owners have gone to bed, but a few lights glow here and there. And as the group begins walking up Kodan’s streets, more lights flicker on.

Chris: Holst’s eyes flick left and right to each light and movement that he happens to catch. His grip tightens around his chain.

Arrin: While the group treks tiredly through Kodan’s streets, Soquan looks at Jozra with a sleepy smile. “Remember where the place is Jozra?”

Catamount: The ferret glances at the otter with a wry grin. “I’d rather forget, actually, but yes.”

She leads the group deeper into the town, ending up at the front of a large house. Jozra eyes the house with a mixture of satisfaction and dread and then looks backwards, noting the tired and hopeful faces of the refugees. She hesitates just a moment and then walks up the front steps and raps on the door with several heavy blows.

“…that should wake them up.”

Chris: Holst appeals to Soq with a shrug. “What am I missing?”

Arrin:  Soquan grimaces. “We aren’t exactly on friendly terms with the owner of this place. Forcefully ejected from the building last time actually. Joz and I will tell you the story later.”

Catamount: Jozra’s statement may have been a bit of an understatement, for no sooner had Soquan finished speaking than several lights throughout the house flickered on, and a just a few moments later the door was pulled open by a concerned, then astounded, then near furious Kirrian with Sola and Dawn right behind her.

Chris: Holst blinks at the scene. He takes half a step forward, sensing the tension in the air.

Catamount: Sola gave a startled “Yeep!” at the sight of Soquan and Dawn glared icy daggers at Jozra but Kirrian, perhaps surprisingly, actually saw past the otter and ferret and noticed the dog-fox and rat beside them as well as group of weary beasts behind them.

Arrin: Soquan tries to diffuse the situation quickly before the whole town awakens due to Kirrian’s yelling. “Look, we don’t want any problems Kirrian, but as you can see, we have a lot of tired beasts here that need a soft bed and warm food. You were the first beasts that came to mind and I hope whatever grudge you hold against Joz and myself won’t cloud your judgment with these others.”

Chris: Holst clears his throat as his brain registers the vixen. “Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated, we’ve come a long way from Afrin.”

Catamount: The vixen gave first Soquan then Holst long, appraising stares before finally shifting her gaze to Jozra. “I should have known you would be back.”

Kirrian’s charitable side is too large to let her rivalry get in the way however, and she sighs, relenting. “I don’t have nearly enough room for all of these people. Did you honestly think we could take even a quarter of them? I think we can make enough room for the very young and the very old and the sick, though. Sola? Go get the kitchen running again. It looks like we have more mouths to feed.”

]]> https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/401/feed 0 Chapter 57: Preistess https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/329 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/329#respond Wed, 23 Apr 2014 11:00:09 +0000 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/?p=329

Continue reading]]> Chapter 57: Priestess

In Which The Dispute Is Settled.

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Arrin Woodgreen: During the short trek to the Temple, or rather to Alvasia’s office, Soquan lags behind with Jozra. He supports her as she plods along slowly and catches her as she stumbles or trips.

Although Fiarah and her party stop and wait at these intervals, Kirrian’s group continues to get farther and farther ahead with no interest to them whatsoever.

Yazeth: Normally, Jozra would at least glare at Kirrian. Normally. As it is, Jozra is quite relieved once they finally reach the door. Fiarah glances at the ferret worryingly. This is far and away from anything she would have recommended for her patient to do.

Arrin Woodgreen: To one who has seeing eyes, Alvasia’s waiting room is full of grandeur. Tapestries adorn the walls, depicting scenes and stories of two rival siblings on their path to godhood. Statuettes and relics are placed around the room and the furniture itself is lightly polished and the light reflects off it brightly.

There seems to be enough comfortable seating for their troupe but Kirrian it seems, has sprawled herself out on the only couch within the room. A satisfied smirk appears on her face as she watches Fiarah’s half of their party enter.

Yazeth: It is perhaps a testament that Jozra is getting better that somewhere in the back of the ferret’s mind without her conscious knowledge, the Scorpion stirs and records everything important about the room. Soquan tries to lead her to a seat but she shakes her head slightly. “I’m up now, let’s stay standing.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He frowns at her. “Are you sure? I don’t want you using up your energy.”

Yazeth: Jozra shakes her head again and leans heavily on Soquan. “More energy to stand again.” Fiarah scowls at her sister and then knocks gently on the door leading to Alvisa’s sanctuary, hoping the owl can settle this dispute quickly.

Arrin Woodgreen: Kirrian shoots a dirty look at the back of Fiarah’s head as she knocks, confident that she’ll win this debate and these two troublemakers would be thrown out of the city. It would show Fiarah to think first before going behind her back and disrespecting her authority.

Yazeth: It’s only a moment before the door opens smoothly on well oiled hinges. A snow-white hare dressed in a deep purple robe stands in the threshold, bows slightly, and then stands aside, beckoning all creatures in the waiting room to enter. “Please come in. Alvisa has been expecting you.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan quirks an eyebrow at this but follows anyway, lagging behind the group while supporting Jozra. He matches her slow, plodding pace, ignoring the tisks from Kirrian’s group and ignoring their dirty looks as well, but it’s not like he can see them anyway right?

Yazeth:  The hare gently shuts the door behind the last to enter — this being Sola as she tries to avoid the blind otter — bows into the dimmed recesses of the main chamber and retires to a side room. Those that can see stand about vaguely bewildered as their eyes adjust to the dim lighting.

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan’s ears perk up as he tries to listen to what’s going on in the room. Sadly, all he can hear at the moment is everyone breathing and the rustle of clothes as they all settle in place. He leans close to Jozra and whispers softly in her ear. “What’s going on? What do you see?”

Yazeth: Gradually Jozra is able to make out several large shapes in the center of the room. Statues? Another image soon resolves as the snowy owl steps closer. Jozra is about to describe it for the otter when Alvisa speaks. “Welcome, my darlings. I apologize for the dimness but more than moonlight damages my eyes. Come in, come in.”

A broad wing gestures them further into the room where a number of soft cushions and pillows are scattered about the floor for visitors and worshipers to sit.

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan nods briefly towards the owl and allows himself to be lead by Jozra towards one of the cushions while still supporting the ferret. He eases her down to a cushion first before plunking down on one beside her.

Again he tries to scan the room, only able to hear the same as before except now there’s the added sounds of the town coming awake for the day.

Yazeth: The owl allows everyone to settle themselves on the cushions before addressing the assembled beasts. “Now, I would have you tell me what has brought us all here this morning.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Chaos erupts in the owl’s inner sanctum as nearly everyone in the room tries to speak at once. Soquan’s startled at the sudden blast of audio stimulation and almost makes a grab for Jozra and his staff before realizing what’s happening. With a grimace he lays his ears back, he has had a headache all day so far and this was NOT helping.

Yazeth: The owl is also rather adverse to the noise. She spreads her wings wide and with a low ‘shhhh’ somehow manages to bring everyone’s yammering to a halt. “One at a time, please.”

Her voice never raises beyond a calm, conversational tone, but everyone present can tell she means business. The owl focuses her all-encompassing gaze on Jinx. “Young ferret, if you would please describe the problem to me?”

Arrin Woodgreen:  Jinx shrinks a bit under Alvisa’s gaze. Her explanation splutters to a start and she has trouble keeping her explanation from speeding up. “Y-y’see… From what I heard, Dawn and her friends brought Jozra here…” she motions briefly to the ferret, “…to the safe house all beat up like, with bruises and welts on her back and shoulders. They were convinced that Soquan…” she gestures at the otter, “…that he was doing that harm. They… err… captured them pretty quick like, cause he was still around the bathhouse and they shut him up in some storage closet. During the night sometime Jozra woke up screaming I think, and Dawn went in to comfort her, but then somehow Soquan was up there too… and then Jozra attacked Dawn and they were sent out of the safe house.”

She pauses and gasps in a breath. Soquan stares at her, amazes that she was actually talking that fast at the tail end of that last bit. “I answered the door when Soq and Joz reappeared not the next night, but the night after and called Dawn. Jozra was obviously unwell, since she was being carried by the otter, and Soquan didn’t look to be in much better shape either. Dawn wanted to leave them out there but I took them to Fiarah instead and she helped the both of them the best she could before Kirrian kicked them out just before dawn.”

“After they were kicked out, I took them to Joseph so Jozra could continue to get treatment for her hypothermia. Kirrian found out we were helping them and tried to order them out of Joseph’s house but we won the consensus that we’d come here and have you deal with the issue once and for all.”

Yazeth: It may have been fast but it was also incredibly concise for such a convoluted story and wonderfully unbiased, which might have been surprising as Jinx is obviously on Soquan and Jozra’s side, but in the presence of the Preistess, well, Jinx wouldn’t have dared to try and spin the story. Alvisa nods her head at Jinx as the young ferret sits down again with wobbly knees. “Thank you, dear.”

She fluffs her feathers briefly and then swivels her head in Kirrian’s direction. “Did you not tell me when you began your commendable project that the House would exist in order to care for those that needed it?”

Arrin Woodgreen: The corners of the otter’s mouth twitch in amusement as they vixen is put on the spot. Kirrian swallows and tries to puff herself up a bit. “But they both attacked members of my staff, what was I supposed to say? ‘Oh well’ and let it go and possibly happen again?”

Yazeth: Alvisa looks at Soquan and, though he may be blind, it’s like he can feel her looking at him. “And why did you attack Sola, dear one?” A warning light goes off in Jozra’s head. Jinx never mentioned that Soquan had attacked Sola… What was going on here?

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan closes his eyes for a moment and takes a breath before re-opening them, he ties to make eye contact with the owl as he begins. “I did not attack Sola, nor did I have any intention of going so.”

He pauses. “After Dawn and her friends took Jozra to the safe house, I was left at the bathhouses without any clue as to what in the gods name was going on. I waited for a bit before scoping out the females section. It was empty but I found Jozra’s clothes. That’s when Sola came in. I told her I was looking for a ferret and described Jozra to the best of my abilities. I guess she didn’t realize my lack of vision because she said something about me not being a very good friend if that’s all I can describe.”

He sighs, “I was a bit on edge and I admit, after that I grabbed her. Grabbed her mind you, not attacked. I thought I could maybe make her see why I’m “Obviously not a very good friend then.” After that she bit my paw for me to let go and she ran away before I could say much else… I know it was probably very stupid of me to grab her, I didn’t mean to hurt her if I did, and I’m sorry.”

Yazeth: From where she’s sitting — as far away from Soquan as she can get — Sola sniffs and starts to make a snide comment before she is brought to a grinding halt by Alvisa’s gaze. “Is what Soquan said true? Is it possible you misconstrued his intentions, dear?”

The rattess withers under the owl’s gaze and stutters out a pathetic, “…yes…”

Alvisa returns her attention to Kirrian. “Then they did not both attack members of your staff, correct?”

Arrin Woodgreen: Kirrian stands pointing to Jozra while looking at Alvsia. “Okay, so the otter may not’ve attacked Sola but she still attacked Dawn! She is a danger to everyone in the city and we will not be safe until she and the otter are out of our city limits!”

Soquan gives the lowest of growls and springs to his paws. “Now you wait just a second! Jozra is NOT a threat! She…she…” His blind world actually manages to tilt and the otter sways. “She’s not…” It happens again, except this time the otter crumples to the ground.

Yazeth: Jozra’s brain fires impulses to her limbs but they only respond marginally and she ends up sort of slouching towards Soquan instead of lunging to catch him like her brain obviously intended.

Fiarah, however, is quicker and though she’s not close enough to catch him, per se, she does manage to slip on a pillow and accidentally-on-purpose kick it under Soquan’s head before it hits the hard stone floor.

Alvisa takes a moment to sum up the situation and then gives a low hoot, a summons to the hare.

Arrin Woodgreen: Fiarah scrambles to her paws and to the otter’s side. She checks his vitals quickly before looking up at Alvisa. “With everything that’s been going on for the two, Soquan hasn’t slept much, and I’m guessing he hasn’t eaten much either. There’s nothing really wrong with him, it’s just all caught up with him is all.”

Yazeth: The owl smiles gently at the vixen before turning and addressing the hare that quickly returned from wherever he had been keeping himself. “Trendorn, the blue tea, if you please.” The hare bows and goes to fetch whatever it was his mistress requested.  Alvisa turns her head back to Fiarah, “Make him comfortable as you see fit, dear healer. He may rest for now as I do not believe we need his testimony currently.”

Arrin Woodgreen: With a nod, Fiarah gathers a few of the extra pillows from around the room. She makes them out into a bed-ish type thing and looks towards Deke and Nolan. “Hey! Muscle One and Two, get over here and help me move him will you?”

Yazeth: Deke and Nolan glance at each other, shrug, and move to help Fiarah. Gently they lift the sleeping otter and place him on the makeshift bed and then they return to where they had been sitting. Jozra feels woefully incompetent as she can do very little to help out other than twitch a couple of pillows into position.

Alvisa looks towards Kirrian once again. “As you were saying?”

Arrin Woodgreen: Her gaze drifts from Alvisa and she glares at the otter and the ferret for a moment before replying, an undoubtedly spiteful tone in her voice. “They’re both dangerous and should be run out of town.”

Yazeth: If Alvisa is irritated by Kirrian’s purely judgmental statement, she doesn’t let it show. Instead she looks to Jozra. “Would you be so kind as to explain your actions, my dear?”

Jozra, looking more like some sort of ruffian than ever with sunken eyes and matted fur, gives a very slight, mirthless grin and begins to speak but is interrupted before she can go anywhere by yet another fit of coughing.

After a moment, she is able to speak.  “Quite simply, I was being held against my will. I had tried reasoning with Kirrian and Dawn, explaining that they had gotten my situation all wrong. When they continued to hassle me about it, I lost my temper. I assure you, my intent was only to scare Dawn a little, not harm her, and knock enough sense into these… biddies so that Soquan and I could leave.”

The ferret casts a dark look in Kirrian’s direction. “And it’s not like she is completely innocent either… Any particular reason why you had us followed?” The last is directed at Kirrian, who suddenly can’t seem to keep her ears from turning pink.

Arrin Woodgreen: Kirrian regains her composure quickly and continues to glare at Jozra. “I sent those beasts to follow you to make sure what I thought about the otter was wrong.” She pauses. “Now that we’re being open with each other, I have a few questions.”

“It’s common for a traveler to carry a few knives is it not? Well while your things were being washed, our laundry assistant found at least ten knives hidden in each of your shirts. Care to explain? Or would you rather explain why a black-footed ferret is doing this far from the desert? Or possibly this?” She pulls something out of her belt pouch and slides it across the floor to Jozra, a smug look on her face.

Yazeth: If Kirrian was hoping to get some sort of visible reaction from Jozra, she failed. Actually, the ferret did pale slightly but it was unnoticeable to all but the most well trained observers as not only is the room still quite dim but the ferret is already pale as it is.

Not a flinch, though. They train those Scorpions well. Jozra gazes at Kirrian levelly and responds to each question in reverse order. “This…” She picks up the pendant and slips it around her neck “…was a gift from Soquan this past SpringFest. I’m not sure why he chose a scorpion but I’m afraid asking him would hurt his feelings.”

“My family emigrated from the desert before I was born, they tell me about sand storms and dunes but I’ve never seen them. The only reason I conceal my black feet is because other beasts tend to jump to conclusions, like you just did. And I find it best to travel prepared. There’s a lot of bandits here up North and before I met Soquan, I traveled alone.”

Jozra continues to hold Kirrian’s gaze as the vixen grows more flustered, the ferret’s eyes betraying none of her thoughts, which went along the lines of, “She knows, or thinks she knows too much. We may just have to have a Talk before I leave town…”  The stare down is interrupted as Trendorn returns with the ‘blue tea’ that Alvisa had requested.

“Set it near the otter so he may breathe the steam. Thank you, Trendorn, that will be all.”  Having regained every beast’s attention, Alvisa quietly gazes at Jozra for a while, long enough for the ferret to grow uncomfortable for many reasons, but it’s a perfectly acceptable response. Alvisa shifts her gaze to Kirrian. “The ferret’s actions may have been a little extreme but have you any reason to doubt what she said then and what she says now?”

Arrin Woodgreen: Kirrian lowers her gaze to the floor. “I’m sorry Priestess, I had no reason to treat either of them that way.” From beside Jozra, the tea seems to have worked, Soquan now groans and tries to sit himself up.

Yazeth: Jozra turns towards Soquan at the same moment their concerned doctor moves to help the otter. Alvisa waves the vixen away, however. “Give him a moment, dear. Take all of the time that you need, Soquan. There is no hurry. In a moment you might try drinking the tea, it should clear your thoughts and get you where you need to be safely.”

Alvisa returns her attention to the group at large. “Now, it appears that the issue has been settled. I have one remaining query: where shall these two travelers stay while they recuperate?”

Arrin Woodgreen: Joseph pipes up from an obscure corner of the room as Soquan manages to heave himself into a sitting position. “I-I don’t mind having the two at, at my place. I r-rather enjoy the, the company.” Soquan grins at Joseph from overtop his cup as he takes a sip.

Yazeth: Alvisa smiles benevolently at the mouse. “Then this dispute has been resolved successfully. Now, if you please, my dears, I would have a word alone with the two travelers. The rest of you may wait in the antechamber is you wish. Deke, Nolan, perhaps you should wait so that you may help Jozra and Soquan back to Joseph’s in a moment.”

Arrin Woodgreen: The muscle nods and steps out of the room with almost everyone else. Soquan listens to the shuffling and movement of everyone as he drains the rest of his tea. He looks towards Alvaisa. “Sorry I blacked out, I hope I didn’t disturb things too much.”

Yazeth: The snowy owl smiles at the otter. “Do not worry, my dear. It seems you have had a trying few days. Once you return to Joseph’s, however, I strongly suggest that you take the time to get the rest that you need.”

“Now, once you feel strong enough, I would like you to join me across the room. I would like to speak to each of you individually.” At that, the owl turns and moves away from the two, making just enough noise that the blind otter would be able to follow her path.

Arrin Woodgreen: After a few moments the otter finds his strength and he stands. He stays still for a few minutes, finding his balance before walking across the room to the priestess. “That tea works wonders.”

Yazeth: The owl nods pleasantly at the otter. “Too much of it too often can be harmful, but it will help where it is needed. Now, I have some words for you before you leave.”

Alvisa pauses a moment to make sure she has the otter’s full attention. What light there is in the room reflects strangely off of the owl’s large eyes and she begins to speak firmly but quietly, so as not to be overheard. “You have more family than you realize, my dear.  You are doing so much for your friend but soon you will have to choose.

If you choose her you must be patient and forgiving, she has need of you now and she will have need of you in the future. But take heart, my dear, you are not as alone as you may believe that you are.”

The priestess exhales softly but continues before Soquan can string any words together to question the owl. “I would like for you to remain here for a moment to think upon what I have said while I speak to your fellow traveler.”

Arrin Woodgreen: The otter nods somewhat dumbly at the owl’s words and his brow furrows slightly as he rattles all that through his brain again.

Yazeth: Jozra’s attempts to listen in on the conversation at first, but quickly finds it to be futile, as well as exhausting. She considers the possible problem with Kirrian until the owl leaves Soquan and comes to speak with the ferret. Jozra soon finds herself under Alvisa’s piercing gaze again. She squirms uncomfortably for a moment and then the priestess begins to speak.

“Your companion is more loyal than anyone you have met. Do not underestimate the lengths he is willing to go for you, not believing in something does not mean that it is not so. There will come a time where you can no longer walk alone but first, there is a chance at northern redemption.”

The ferret’s mind clamors, particularly at the last. She attempts to get information from the owl that is less vague but the best she can manage is a hoarse “Wha…” before the owl speaks again.

“Think hard upon what I have said here today. Now, if you are feeling well enough to journey back to the house of Joseph, you may do so, and remember, in times of great need, this temple is open to you.” The last is spoken loud enough for both the ferret and otter to hear, and then the owl retires into the darkened room before either of them can interject a word.

Arrin Woodgreen: He remains in thought for just a few moments more, murmuring bits and pieces of what the owl said quietly to himself. After a bit longer, he rises and looks towards the ferret. “Ready to go Joz?”

Yazeth: Jozra’s brow is furrowed ferociously as she tries to decipher Alvisa’s message, particularly the last part. She starts at Soquan’s voice and then nods. She gestures him over and then catches herself in the process. “Over this way, Soq.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He makes his way towards the ferret’s voice, shuffling around pillows and whatnot. He picks up his staff and braces himself before helping her onto her feet.

Yazeth: The ferret carefully gets to her feet and holds on to the otter for support as she  waits for her head to adjust to the altitude again. She takes a couple of short steps towards the exit. “Straight ahead, Soq.”

]]> https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/329/feed 0 Chapter 56: Kirrian The Persistant https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/327 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/327#respond Mon, 21 Apr 2014 11:00:15 +0000 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/?p=327

Continue reading]]> Chapter 56: Kirrian The Persistant

In Which Sola Doesn’t Always Rise With The Dawn .

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Arrin Woodgreen: The two sleep through what’s left of the night and well into the morning when Kirrian arrives. They do not even wake up, in fact, when she knocks loudly on Joseph’s door.

Yazeth: The mouse of the house, on the other hand, does hear the knocking, as does Fiarah. Jinx, being young and not a normally early riser in the first place, sleeps blissfully on. Joseph hastily throws on a robe and shuffles towards the door. “C, coming!”

Arrin Woodgreen: The knocking on the other side of the door continues, louder this time, as Kirrian grows impatient on the doorstep.

Yazeth: Joseph mutters almost unintelligibly under his breath as he ties the cord around his waist. “Keep your pants on, I said I was coming…” At that moment he reaches the door and opens it. “Er, er, hello?”

Arrin Woodgreen: Kirrian stands in the doorway angrily, flanked on one side by Sola and Dawn with Deke and Nolan on the other side. She says, “It’s morning. Let’s go.”

Yazeth: The mouse sighs and glances about the room, noticing the otter and ferret still sound asleep. “No, nobody else is, er, is awake yet.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Kirrian harrumphs and pushes her way into the healer’s house. “Lazy slackers!”

Yazeth: Joseph looks frantically as the five push past him. He scurries after them protesting. “It was a long night! We-we still had to, had to deal with dinner after you left!” He catches a glimpse of the outdoors, noting the darkness still out there. “The, the sun hasn’t even risen yet!”

Arrin Woodgreen: Kirrian frowns. “I’m a busy vixen! I don’t have much time for dealing with delinquents! I want to get this over with now and I want them out of this town now!”

Yazeth: Fiarah appears at the doorway to the other bedroom and growls ever so softly at her sister. “I never knew you to be such an early riser when we were pups, Kirrian. This is two days in a row now that you’re up before the dawn.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Kirrian growls back a reply, “I wake as I please. What does it matter to you anyway what time I get up in the morning?”

Yazeth: Fiarah fails in an attempt to stifle a yawn. “Just that by most beasts standards this still counts as night.” Her gaze falls on Sola, who has a slight reputation about the safe house of consistently sleeping through breakfast.

Arrin Woodgreen: Sola shrinks back at Fiarah’s gaze and Kirrian shrugs. “To Alvisa it’s her daytime.”

Yazeth: Unfortunately, neither Joseph nor Fiarah can really argue with that, though Fiarah tries. “Yes but she does keep certain hours to advise her diurnal followers.” In the other room, Jinx snores on blissfully.

Arrin Woodgreen: Dawn pipes up from Kirrian’s side. “I’d hate to agree with THEM but maybe we should let them rest some more.”

Yazeth: Fiarah quirks an eyebrow at the rattess, surprised by her support. Sure she would have expected something like that from Dysa, but Dawn? The vixen glances at Deke and Nolan before looking to her sister again.

Arrin Woodgreen: Kirrian sputters. “But, but… Just look at them! The lazy beasts have probably been sleeping every chance they get! “

Yazeth: Fiarah glares. “WHICH, I might mention, have been few and far between, at least for the otter. Jozra needs all of the sleep she can get.” Joseph, long since forgotten by the others in the room, has been busying himself with readying some tea. From experience he knows that he won’t get any more sleep this morning.

Arrin Woodgreen: Deke speaks, “Maybe we should let ‘dem sleep? Ya?”

Yazeth: Across the room, Jozra coughs in her sleep and twitches a little before settling back into sleep. Fiarah is not quite as surprised by Deke’s support. Despite being Kirrian’s lackey, the stoat tends to have a pretty level head on his shoulders. “At least another couple of hours, Kirrian. Farmers don’t get up this early.” Well, some farmers do, but Fiarah won’t mention that.

Arrin Woodgreen: At this time, Jinx shuffles into the room, rubbing her eyes tiredly, with a sleepy yawn. “What’s goin’ on, why is it so loud in here?” Soquan mutters something sleepily at Jozra’s side and moves closer to the sleeping ferret.

Yazeth: Fiarah simply gestures in Kirrian’s direction for Jinx’s benefit. “Just another couple of hours, Kirrian. It’s still dark out and Alvisa often doesn’t come back until dawn.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Jinx’s attention is shifted over to the sleeping pair a little ways off. “Maybe we should go into the other room. Y’know, and let these two sleep?”

Yazeth: Kirrian scowls. “You’re just stalling, sister dear.” The vixen narrows her eyes at the pair in bed. “I’ve half a mind to just haul them next door.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Fiarah scowls in return. “If you try to, I’ll be forced to stop you. Now, dear sister, if you would just step into the next room please.” She steps towards the door, along with Jinx.

Yazeth: While Deke and Nolan look ready to follow Fiarah and Jinx, Kirrian plants her feet and crosses her arms. “This… issue needs to be resolved NOW.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Deke gives Nolan a look, and Nolan nods. Both beasts move towards Kirrian and lift her, carrying her into the next room.

Yazeth: Dawn follows the strange procession, rather unsure if she should go to her protesting mistress’ aid. Sola remains hunkered in the doorway for a minute, and then scuttles quickly to bring up the rear. Fiarah just looks on in amazement as Kirrian rages against her own bodyguards.

Arrin Woodgreen: Fiarah and the rest of the currently conscious beasts follow the muscle into the room.

Yazeth: Deke and Nolan set the very flustered Kirrian down and for a moment she just stands in the center of the room glaring at everybody. At this precise moment, Joseph decides to stick his head in. “Do-does anybeast want some, some tea?”

Arrin Woodgreen: Fiarah turns to Joseph. “Yes please.” This is followed by a chorus of more affirmative answers.

Yazeth: Joseph nods and ducks back out to heat up enough water. It takes another moment for Kirrian to untie her tongue and start lashing everyone within sight with it. “HOW DARE YOU?!”

Arrin Woodgreen: Jinx yelps softly as Kirrian starts yelling and ducks behind the nearest beast, Deke.

Yazeth: The vixen snarls at Deke and Nolan. “YOU’RE BOTH FIRED! And YOU!” She rounds on the other vixen in the room.

Arrin Woodgreen: Fiarah blinks and takes a step back from Kirrian, wiping spittle from her face. In the next room Soquan shifts a bit and groans, the sound of yelling reaching his ears and bringing him closer to consciousness.

Yazeth: Kirrian takes a step forward for Fiarah’s step back and shoves her snarling muzzle in her sister’s face, her voice alternating between a growling whisper and a shout. “You! You’ve always been out to ruin me… Ruin my dreams and undermine MY AUTHORITY!!”

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan growls softly as he realizes the yelling is coming from within the house, from the next room even. He squeezes his eyes shut. Why couldn’t they just let him and Jozra rest?

He moves from out of the bed, careful not to wake up the ferret beside him. He strides over to the door with as much grace as a blind beast can have and flings it open. He had recognized Kirrian’s voice the moment he had woken and he snarls on her direction, sending Dawn and the other rattess scrambling.

“YOU AGAIN! Who do you think you are? Just waltzing in here and SHOUTING like you just were. There is a SICK BEAST in the next room, and she’s trying to rest.” He snarls again, “I just got her to sleep TWO hours ago, and if you just expect me to STAND BY and do nothing, you better think again, ’cause if you don’t BE QUIET, I’ll show you just how VIOLENT I CAN be!”

Yazeth: Everybody in the room jerks back a step or two, the first to recover being Fiarah, who smacks her palm to her brow and shakes her head. The otter is not helping the situation, indeed, he’s just verified the claim that he is a violent beast.

Kirrian is right behind her sister in terms of regaining her wits and she can’t seem to keep a smug expression off her face as she says, “You see? He admits to being violent!”

In the other room, huddled under a number of blankets, seasons of training awaken and drag with them a certain ferret’s consciousness. A familiar voice in what could be trouble…  Jozra cracks her eyelids open in an automatic response to acclimate her eyes to the light before fully awakening.

Arrin Woodgreen: The otter growls again. “I didn’t admit to being anything, I’m just saying that if you don’t be quiet I might have to forcefully silence you.” He falls silent, grumbling slightly as he paws sleep from his eyes.

Yazeth: This part of the conversation reaches the Scorpion’s ears and she groans, vaguely recalling something about seeing some priestess. Kirrian must be here. Sure enough, Kirrian’s voice is the next thing she hears. “Frankly, I don’t see what the point of waiting is anymore.”

The vixen sounds mighty smug which irks the ferret who quietly flings a few coarse desert words at Kirrian. “Sand-storming thorn…” It takes a couple of attempts for Jozra to rasp Soquan’s name loud enough for him to hear it.

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan’s mouth opens for him to berate Kirrian further, but he stops, mid-word as he catches Jozra calling for him. He sends a baleful glare towards Kirrian, along with a low, warning growl and slips into the other room, limping back towards the bed. “You should be resting, why don’t you go back to sleep, hun?”

Yazeth: The ferret quirks an eyebrow at the otter and rasps perhaps the most logical argument yet. “Sleep? With that shouting? I’m awake now, so lets do this… thing.” She waves a paw vaguely. “Whatever it is.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He frowns, bowing his head. “I’m sorry if I woke you. It’s just… they were yelling, and I didn’t want them to wake you. I guess I just got angry.” He pauses a moment.  “Are you sure you want to go to the Priestess now? Do you need help?”

Yazeth: The murmuring in the main room piques the interest of those in the other room. Fiarah is the first to poke her head out to see what’s going on, though Jinx isn’t too far behind. Joseph, practical as always, leans out of the kitchen and addresses Jozra. “W-would you like some tea, dear?”

The ferret nods her assent to the mouse before grabbing Soquan’s arm to pull herself into a sitting position. “I’m not sure I want to go to a Priestess ever, but if it’ll stop everybody from shouting…” She’s interrupted briefly by a fit of coughing, “…then let’s go.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He helps the ferret rise to her feet and holds her steady as she readies herself. He stays silent though, ashamed of his previous outburst.

Yazeth: Joseph distributes mugs of tea to the oddly silent beasts in the house. Even Kirrian feels somewhat… Well, not ashamed, but kind of put-out by the ferret’s complacency. Tea distributed, Joseph retrieves a fresh robe from the closet, one of a cut less likely to look out of place outside the house.

Arrin Woodgreen: Still offhandedly supporting Jozra, he sips his tea silently. His thoughts wander as he mentally berates himself for loosing his temper.

Yazeth: Several minutes later, Jozra is dressed in the new robe and she sits on the bed slowly sipping her tea. She quirks an eyebrow as Fiarah, Kirrian and the others slowly filter into the room. After a moment she asks in a gravelly voice, “So where is it we’re going?”

Arrin Woodgreen: Fiarah sips her tea and replies. “We’re going to go see Priestess Alvasia. She’s going to settle this once and for all.” Jinx nods a confirmation.

Yazeth: The ferret nods, drains her tea, chokes a little on the dregs and after a severe coughing fit wheezes, “Then lets go.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan, who had been seated beside her, rises and offers Jozra his arm to help her up. Kirrian harrumphs, “About time.”

Yazeth: The ferret, too exhausted to take any serious offense, merely quirks an eyebrow at Kirrian. “Imp- *cough!* -atient thing aren’t you?”

The comment, like everything else the ferret’s been saying, is spoken in a rasp, probably too low for the vixen to hear, but it’s the thought that counts, yes?

Arrin Woodgreen: The otter, who has heard the ferret’s comment, despite her rasp, chuckles softly and replies to the ferret’s comment, leaning over to whisper in her ear. “I guess we better get going then before this one gives herself a heart attack eh?” He motions subtly to Kirrian.

Yazeth: Jozra’s lips twitch upwards briefly. She grabs a hold of Soquan’s upper arm in order to pull herself up and finds herself having a much harder time of it than she expected.

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan turns to assist his companion, helping to the point of lifting the ferret from her seated position and placing her on her feet. He holds most her weight, allowing her to ease herself to the ground as gingerly and slowly as she thinks suitable. His expression has turned back to one of concern. “You alright?”

Yazeth: Jozra nods shortly, more than a little unhappy with the fact that she can’t even seem to stand upright by herself. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Arrin Woodgreen: The otter nods at her and speaks in a soft undertone. “Just let me know if you need me to carry you or anything.”

Kirrian gives a shout from the door, “Come ON! Let’s GO!” She then proceeds to sneer at the two, striding out the door and quickly followed by her four companions.

Yazeth: Fiarah put her head in her paw and mutters darkly about her sister under her breath. Jinx catches a bit of it and promptly stops her giggling when the vixen shoots a withering glare at the young ferret. The older ferret, on the other hand, is merely concentrating on putting one paw in front of the other.

]]> https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/327/feed 0 Chapter 35: Turning The Tables https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/285 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/285#respond Mon, 03 Mar 2014 11:00:34 +0000 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/?p=285

Continue reading]]> Chapter 35: Turning The Tables

In Which A Little Action Is Better Than Words.

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Yazeth: Kirrian, true to her word, is rather tired and returns directly to her room while Sola, Dawn and the cooks begin distributing meals throughout the house. Neither of them see fit to update Jozra on the situation, however, when they deliver her meal and the two of them take their meal with Dysa in the hallway leading to Jozra’s room.

Arrin Woodgreen:  He sighs rises, beginning to pace the room restlessly. After a while he climbs on top of one of the crates and settles down to rest a bit, ignoring his meal.

Yazeth: Deke and Nolan, who had scarfed down their meal quite quickly, allow the otter to roam. What’s he gonna do to a store room anyway, right? Jozra eats, albeit quite mechanically, returning Dysa’s previous skull-boring stare. Unfortunately, the rattesses set their table a ways a way and any conversation they have is held in hushed tones.

Arrin Woodgreen: He closes his eyes and allows his mind to wander as he begins to drop off.

Yazeth: Jozra has finished her meal long before the plates are cleared. This time, Sola and Dawn remain behind, but Dawn is quickly called away to speak with Kirrian. She returns a few moments later with a determined look on her face and something in her paw. Poking her head into the ferret’s room she says the first thing Jozra has had directed at her in hours. “Goodnight, Jozra. Sleep well.”

Jozra glances at the rattess curiously, realizing too late what Dawn intends to do as she closes the door firmly and clasps a lock on it. The ferret is on her feet in an instant. “HEY!”

Arrin Woodgreen: He’s soon fast asleep, dreaming of being somewhere far off away from here.

Yazeth: The ferret slams her fists down on the door, not that she expects to get through the solid piece of timber. Dawn calls from the other side. “Get some sleep! This is for your own protection. The lock will come off in the morning.”

Jozra merely growls softly in return as she hears Dawn pad off down the hallway. She stalks across the room, resuming her pacing route but is quickly irritated by it. She flings herself down on the bed, thoroughly disgusted with herself for getting caught, for Dawn and all of her stupid well intentioned friends, for, for, ergh!

Arrin Woodgreen: He mumbles something in his sleep and rolls over, an arm flopped over his face and the other over the side of the crate.

Yazeth: Exhausted by her frustration and the sparring the night before, Jozra falls asleep before realizing what she’s done, and where her proverbial ‘safety blanket’ is.

Arrin Woodgreen: He mumbles again, his whiskers twitching and his tail giving a slight wag.

Yazeth: It begins surprisingly innocently enough. She’s talking to Azrun, wrapped in a cloak and sitting perched on a rocky overlook.

“I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all,” the archer-fox says. Jozra shakes her head darkly, “None of us do, Azer.”

She frowns in discomfort as she spies a mole staggering in the streets of the town, obviously infected and very delirious. This momentary distraction is enough for a young mouse the pair hadn’t noticed earlier, and he darts from the edge of town. Azrun spins and draws in the same instant, loosing his arrow but narrowly missing his target. Jozra hits him, though, and the mouse falls with a thud. The two cringe in shame and the ferret mutters through gritted teeth, “I HATE this.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He shifts again, adjusting the shirt pillowed beneath his head.

Yazeth: The scene shifts, in that way that dreams do, taking a roundabout psychedelic route through conversations and slain villagers to a council of the Scorpions assigned to this distasteful duty. The council where the Nine hesitantly reach the conclusion that the town must be put to the torch. Azrun looses a flaming arrow, Lysiz flings a torch from a precipice to the roofs below, Jozra and the others cut down the escapees. A child shrieks in terror and the noise manifests its self in the real world.

Dawn jerks into wakefulness at the scream. Jozra is startled awake. She blinks and wonders, “Who?”

Arrin Woodgreen:  The otter jerks into reality as his ears pick up the sound of the Jozra’s scream. He practically flies towards the door, trying the door to find it locked. He pleads with the other two males. “Please let me go, she needs me!” There’s no short-temperedness or anger in the in the male’s actions any more, only severe worry.

Yazeth: The ferret groans as she realizes, due to Dawn’s frantic scratching at the lock on her door, that it was indeed herself that had screamed. Tired, irritated and frustrated, Jozra resolves to get herself, and Soquan, out of this situation post haste.

Nolan, who was jerked out of a doze at Jozra’s scream, looks wildly at Deke who is staring at Soquan, obviously confused.

Arrin Woodgreen: He sighs and rams his bodyweight into the door, surprised as it breaks easily.  He pauses only a moment to get his bearings as he darts towards the origin of the noise.

Yazeth: Jozra stands as the door finally bangs open and Dawn and Sola rush through, halfway through comforting words and phrases before they actually see the ferret standing there looking, well, irritated. Their confusion is nothing compared to Nolan and Deke’s, who stare dumbly at the shattered remains of the store room door, still trying to process what just happened. It is this delay that gives Soquan the head start he needs to find his way to the stairs and up them.

Arrin Woodgreen: He stumbles around for a few moments before he finds the stairs.  Once this is achieved he darts up them as fast as he can without endangering himself.

Yazeth: Dawn, who is only slightly put off by the fact that the ferret is not, in fact, whimpering and crying as she would have expected, enters the room and puts a kind paw on Jozra’s shoulder, attempting to lead her back to the bed. “There, there… I had a feeling something like this might happen. Don’t you see why we had to separate you from the cause of your pain? “

Jozra, much to the rattess’ surprise, shakes the paw off and glares at Dawn coldly. “You don’t know anything.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan suddenly bursts into the room, panting slightly from his run. Going into ‘protector’ mode, he snarls at the two rattess’. “Get yer paws off’o’er!”

Yazeth: Much to her own surprise, Jozra crosses the room quickly and clings tightly to the otter. She mumbles a rather inadequate explanation by way of, “I hate those rotting things…”

Arrin Woodgreen: He wraps his arms tenderly around the female, he rubs her back gently, being careful of her bruises. “I know.” He nuzzles her gently, his muzzle bumping gently at her collarbone, neck and jaw. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here, I don’t like you having these nightmares any more then you do.”

Yazeth: The jaws on the rattesses drop, but Dawn’s eyes glitter in frustration. Such a naive girl… she thinks, though the thought process is interrupted by the arrival of a very indignant Kirrian with Deke and Nolan almost immediately at her back, looking rather sheepish at letting the otter go.

Spurred on by the arrival of her superior, the rattess takes a step towards the couple glaring fiercely at Soquan. “You take your hands off of her!”

Before the words are barely out of the rattess’ mouth, Jozra moves and a little black dagger soars through the air, shearing the whiskers on one side of Dawn’s face and thudding ominously into the headboard of the bed.

Arrin Woodgreen: He stands there, a bit confused at what happened, but cannot mistake the sound of metal into wood. “Jozra, be nice, they were only trying to keep you safe from the big, bad, female beating otter.” He gives her another slight nuzzle.

Yazeth: The ferret, however, has had enough of her would be ‘rescuers’ company. As Dawn stands stark still, utterly frozen by the turn of events, Jozra reaches past her to retrieve her blade. Muttering softly to Soquan, she pulls him by the arm towards the door, glaring at those blocking their path. “Lets get out of here.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He allows himself to be pulled behind the ferret, it’s the fastest way to move without his staff. “I’m right behind you.”

Yazeth: Deke and Nolan stand firm behind Kirrian, but Jozra draws herself up to her full height, which is just a hair taller than the slight vixen, and stares the head of the house in the eye. Each word she says is its own sentence. “I. Am. Perfectly. Capable. Of. Taking. Care. Of. My. Self.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He stands behind the ferret, his arms crossed as he listens.

Yazeth: To her credit, Kirrian does not flinch nor look away. She frowns and glances at Dawn, checking to make sure that the rattess is alright. “You have attacked one of my members and thus are no longer welcome in my house.”

The vixen gestures and Deke and Nolan stand aside, finally comfortable in their current role of ‘bodyguard.’

Arrin Woodgreen: He speaks from behind the ferret. “What about the stuff you took from me? Her extra set of clothes and my staff.”

Yazeth: Sola finally speaks up. “I put them in a crate just inside the kitchen, the door right next to the store room.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods and strides past the small group to retrieve the things.

Yazeth: The pair quickly find their way downstairs and in the kitchen with a small group of followers who mind their distance. Jozra grabs her spare set of clothing and places Soquan’s staff into his paws.

Arrin Woodgreen: He smiles faintly. “Thank you.” He shifts the staff to his unbitten paw. “Back to the inn then?”

]]> https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/285/feed 0 Chapter 34: Lessons In Futility https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/281 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/archives/281#respond Fri, 28 Feb 2014 11:00:31 +0000 https://crossed-paths.com/logs/?p=281

Continue reading]]> Chapter 34: Lessons In Futility

In Which Bad First Impressions Are Made.

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Arrin Woodgreen:  Soquan, having been waiting in front of the bathhouses for a while, knocks softly on the female’s door. “Jozra? Are you in there?”

Yazeth: Jozra sits on the bed, reassessing the situation. After a moment, she glances out the door and into the hallway. Dawn has gone and the crowd of her would be ‘rescuers’ has broken up, but the hallway is still crowded. Fortunately the door has remained open and unlocked. She may just simply postpone her escape until later, but that still leaves Soquan without a clue as to what happened to her. Dammit.

Arrin Woodgreen:  He shoulders the bathhouse door open a little bit and calls inside. “Anybeast in there?”

Yazeth: With a shock, Jozra thinks to check for her concealed blades. Breathing a sigh of relief she finds them there, distinctly remembering now that she had distributed them between her two sets of clothing when she and Soquan had returned to their hotel room.  The question is now, what to do when they find the other blades in her discarded and nearly forgotten other set of clothes? The ferret hopes that it at least helps her statement that she can take care of herself.

Arrin Woodgreen: He pushes the door completely open and steps inside. “Hello?”

Yazeth: Jozra remains seated on the bed, surreptitiously checking the hallway, keeping tabs on the traffic out there. She can’t, however, keep track of where everybody else goes.  One of the rattesses in the group, a rather small thing called Dysa, has decided to head back to the bathhouses to retrieve whatever was left behind.

Arrin Woodgreen: He walks around and becomes alert as he catches a slight whiff of her sent. After a moment, he finds her spare clothes. He stoops to pick them up. “Jozra?”

Yazeth:  Fortunately for Soquan, at this time of evening most beasts are busy at home, perhaps even preparing dinner. Dysa is pulled aside by Dawn as she is about to exit the building.

“Make sure you question anybody you see. I want to know who did this to the ferret.” Dysa nods, and steps out into the street, heading for the bath house.

Arrin Woodgreen: He proceeds to check the pool he found the clothes beside. Did she fall asleep in the pool?

Yazeth:  Presently, Dysa walks up to the bath house and enters the female side. She’s shocked for a moment at seeing a male in there. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Arrin Woodgreen: He jumps slightly, gathering up the ferret’s things. “I’m looking for a friend of mine, she was supposed to meet me outside five minutes ago.”

Yazeth: The rattess narrows her eyes, noticing the ferret’s things in the otter’s paws. “Can you describe your friend?”

Arrin Woodgreen: He brings his hand up to his shoulder height. “About this tall, she’s a ferret. Uh, that’s all I can really describe.”

Yazeth:  The rattess sneers. This is all she needs to know but she takes a verbal jab at the otter anyway. “Honestly, you can’t have been a very good friend if that’s all the description you can give.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He snarls and grabs the rattess by the tunic, bringing her up to eye level so she can see his sightless gaze. “Maybe that’s all I can notice about her!”

Yazeth: Absolutely certain now that this is the beast that inflicted those welts on the ferret’s back, Dysa scrabbles in fear. She bites the otter hard on the paw and scampers towards the door before he can do anything about that. Forget the clothes, she needs reinforcements!

Arrin Woodgreen: He snarls again and drops the maid, clutching at his paw. “Wait!  Stop!”

Yazeth: Dysa, of course, pays no heed and darts out into the street, running top speed back to the safe house.

Arrin Woodgreen: He sighs and rubs his paw for a moment before picking up the missing ferret’s things as well as his staff.

Yazeth: The rattess stumbles a few times, her imagination making the situation larger than it is. She is, in fact, convinced that the otter is perusing her and she is rather surprised when she finally reaches the safe house to find that he is nowhere to be seen.  “Dawn!”

Arrin Woodgreen: He curses as he drops a few of the blades and stoops to pick them up.

Yazeth: Dysa charges up the stairs, nearly colliding with Dawn and a few of the other women in the safe house. Jozra perks her ears as she hears the commotion in the corridor.

Arrin Woodgreen: He rises and slowly goes to leave the bathhouse.

Yazeth: The ferret pretends to sleep as she listens to the conversation taking place not too far from her door. Dysa describes Soquan as huge. ‘And violent! He threatened me when I only asked him if he knew any ferret-maids! He grabbed me and I had to bite him five times before he would let me go!” Jozra smirks at the phrase “ferret-maid” but frowns at the rest of the story. This doesn’t sound like Soquan at all.

Arrin Woodgreen: He sighs and pauses a moment to gather his thoughts. Should he wait here for the ferret? What about the inn? Did she go back there?

Yazeth: Dawn and the others are finally able to calm Dysa down enough to gather that the beast they’re looking for is, or at least was, in the bath houses and is definitely a dangerous one. The rattess frowns and rattles of instructions. “Sola, go find Deke and Nolan. I think we’re going to need them. Dysa, stay here and make sure the ferret doesn’t go anywhere. I’m going to rouse Kirrian. This is a bit more urgent than I thought and we’ll need her guidance.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He sighs and decides to search around the immediate area. He shifts the bundle in his arms and continues along the street a bit, his staff tapping along the sidewalk as he moves slowly, occasionally calling the ferret’s name.

Yazeth: Not quite five minutes later – what seemed like an eternity to Jozra as she felt Dysa’s eyes boring holes into the back of her skull as if the rattess was trying to read her mind – Sola returns with a simple looking but quite burly stoat and a weasel that looked as though he could have carried the stoat with ease.

Jozra had found one use for the window, now that the sun had sunk, and was able to watch everything happening in the hall without looking through the door. Mere moments later, Dawn returns with a surprisingly slight vixen; definitely Kirrian with the way all the others acted around her.

Arrin Woodgreen: Reaching the end of the street, he turns around and goes back the way he came. He walks past the bathhouses again and goes down the street on the other side of it.

Yazeth: Quickly, Dysa relates her story, though this time she had to bite the otter on the nose before he would let go and he chased her halfway down the street. The original group backs up the rattess, describing the welts on Jozra’s back. Surprisingly, Kirrian doesn’t seem to buy the whole story but nevertheless she authorizes the ‘capture’ of this otter.

With Dysa and Sola at their backs, Deke, who proved to be the weasel, and Nolan lead the way out of the ‘safehouse.’ Jozra scowls, an expression hidden in a pillow, as Kirrian and Dawn remain behind. Curiously, they make no move to confront her.

Arrin Woodgreen: He reaches the end of the road again and turns to the bathhouse again.  He sighs again and once he reaches the bathhouses again, he leans back against the wall, waiting with his ears perked and his nose searching for her scent.

Yazeth: This, of course, makes the otter far easier to find than any of the searchers expected. As they finally get in view of Soquan, Dysa squeaks in fear, pointing him out and identifying the otter for the others. “That’s him!  That’s the one!” She falls back, nearly cowering. Sola comforts her as Deke and Nolan march forward. “Oy!  Yewh!”

Arrin Woodgreen: He turns his attention to the approaching beasts, unleaning from the wall. “Yes? Can I help you?”

Yazeth: Deke jerks his thumb over his shoulder. “Yewh de one dat ‘ttacked dis poor gurl? An beat de f’rret?”

Arrin Woodgreen: He crosses his arms. “I didn’t attack anyone, and I’ve never beaten any beast in my life.” He absently rubs his sore, bitten paw.

Yazeth: Nolan mirror’s Soquan’s crossed arms as Deke continues. “Dat’s not wut we herd.  We herd yewh grabbed dis one and was lookink fur de f’rret dat dey found dat was all beat up.”

Arrin Woodgreen: His ears swivel and he finally catches the rattess’ sent. “Sure, I grabbed her, but I did not attack her. And yes, I’m looking for a ferret. Do you know where she is?”

Yazeth:  The distinction is lost on the stoat and Nolan begins to growl softly. Dysa jumps in surprise and cowers further, inching her way back up the street; that one’s definitely got an imagination on her. Deke is obviously the big talker of the two and continues. “We knowh, but yewh not find ‘er!” At this, the weasel and stoat advance on the otter.

Arrin Woodgreen: The sudden burst of noise and action startles the otter and he doesn’t get at his staff in time. He fights the beasts the best he can but is eventually overpowered. “Why are you doing this?”

Yazeth: Dysa scurries her way back towards the ‘safe house’ as Deke and Nolan carry the otter bodily up the street. Sola, a bit braver and more sensible than her friend, tags behind to gather what was dropped: Jozra’s spare set of clothing, Soquan’s staff, etcetera.  Deke grunts, “Yewh ‘buser. Can’t let dat ‘appen. Yewh don ‘urt dat f’rret no more.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He snarls suddenly, his fur going on end. “So you all think I beat my best friend? Is that it? You think I’m some egotistical male that finds pleasure in beating females to feel good about myself?”

Yazeth: Nolan tightens his hold as Deke grunts. “Yah. Dat’s about it.” Though an otter and thus rather heavy, the other two burly mustelids make good time and soon leave the bath house behind. Sola keeps pace, though she remains quite out of the reach of any of the males.

Arrin Woodgreen:  His harrumphs angrily and falls silent, allowing himself to be carried in frosty silence. His ears swivel as he listens to beasts as they pass. He takes in as much of the scents as he can, trying to put together a map of where they’re going.

Yazeth: Soon Dysa has lead the rest to the rear of the building. Back here it looks quite unsavory indeed. As Deke and Nolan get Soquan into the badly lit stockroom, now that it is quite obviously night outside, Dysa scuttles up into the main part of the building to alert Dawn and Kirrian.

Arrin Woodgreen: By now the otter’s stomach begins to rumble and he sighs, wandering around the stockroom, getting familiar with his surroundings.

Yazeth: Deke and Nolan are content to merely stand in the corners and keep an eye on the otter until the vixen arrives. Sola, on the other hand, moves directly into the kitchen, after firmly shutting the door and leaving the various items in the stoat’s care, and begins to help a few others in the preparation of an evening meal for everybody.

Upstairs, Jozra perks her ears as she sees the reflection of the rattess enter the corridor. She speaks in hushed tones with the others – the ferret can only pick up the gist of the conversation – and they quickly leave. Before she has a chance to do anything, though, Dysa is back guarding the ferret’s door. Jozra grits her teeth in frustration and thinks dark thoughts.

Arrin Woodgreen: He grumbles darkly to himself and continues to stumble around the room awkwardly, he is nothing without his staff. The odd curse slips out as he bangs various parts of his anatomy on boxes and other whatnot in the room. Getting crankier and short tempered by the minute, his fur remains raised and his teeth gritted.

Yazeth: Nolan notices the otter’s fumbling and cocks an eyebrow at Deke. The expression, or at least whatever it was pointing out, is lost on the weasel. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Dawn and Kirrian arrive.

Arrin Woodgreen: His ears perk up as the door opens and he turns towards the origin of the noise. Realizing it’s just more beasts coming in he crosses his arms, growling a soft, warning growl. This is not a happy otter.

Yazeth: Deke and Nolan stiffen at the otter’s response and stand ready but make no move to intercept him. Yet. Dawn enters the room somewhat cautiously, but still with the manner of a quite unhappy mother. Kirrian possesses the grace and mystery of the seer vixens and she does not hesitate to enter the room, or even stand within two steps of Soquan.*

“You are the companion of the ferret,” she glances at Dawn, “Jozra.” She poses it as a statement. Not a question.

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods, his stance not changing. “Yes, I know Jozra, she’s a very good friend of mine.”

Yazeth: The vixen quirks an eyebrow and says wryly. “So it seems.” She gestures and the muscle power drag a pair of chairs to the center of the room. Kirrian sits primly in the padded one, carefully watching the otter. Upstairs, tense with suspense, Jozra quits her pretence and begins pacing the room, despite Dysa’s weak objections. If something goes down, she wants to be ready for it, and the nearly imperceptible bulges dispersed across her frame that contain her many small knives are a comfort.

Arrin Woodgreen: He hears the chairs being put down and he feels his way towards the one he didn’t hear her sit in.

Yazeth: While Soquan’s blindness may have been lost on Nolan and Deke, and even Dysa, Kirrian notices it almost as soon as Soquan begins to move. Seems he made a lucky guess at looking her directly in the eye when she entered the room. This information doesn’t jibe with what the vixen knows, but she doesn’t presume to know more than she does and it is because of that ‘wisdom’ that Kirrian doesn’t pass the incident off as a simple misunderstanding. “I have reports that you roughed up one of my girls. A rattess.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He sighs, rubbing his temples tiredly. “She insulted me and I admit, I grabbed her, and I apologize if I hurt her, I was a little tense. She ran off before I could say anything more to her than what I already had.”

Yazeth: Kirrian once again quirks an eyebrow, rather surprised, honestly, at the otter’s candor. Unless he’s lying, of course, but generally liars deny everything. Anyway, Dysa’s been known to exaggerate. On to more pressing questions. “Then would you care to explain the welts on Jozra’s back?”

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods. “I’d be more than happy to. It’s quite simple really. We sparred last night before we got here. We weren’t exactly gentle with our blows.” He rolls up a sleeve to expose his arm which is bruised with a few welts.

Yazeth: The vixen expected as much. She sighs heavily. “So it seems that you were at least able to get her to agree to a story. From where I’m sitting, that bruise could just as easily have come from Jozra attempting to defend herself against your attack.” Which is almost exactly what actually happened, only not in the way Kirrian or any of the others are seeing it.

Arrin Woodgreen: He sighs and stands, pulling his shirt off over his head. He spreads his arms and rotates slowly, allowing the vixen to see the many, many bruises from the spar, of course as well as other old scars. “What do you say now?”

Yazeth: Kirrian leans back in her chair, scrutinizing the otter’s body. Not all vixens are healers and Kirrian tends to leave the tending of wounds to those with more knowledge of the subject and thus does not have the experience to determine how old these bruises and welts may be. “I say that this only proves your tendency for violence. For all I know you could be a notorious brawler – picking fights when you can.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He can’t help but bark a laugh. “I tend to avoid those as much as I can, once it gets to more than two beasts against me it gets kinda confusing when all you have to go by is sound and smell.”

Yazeth: The vixen narrows her eyes, not at all enamored with the otter. “If I may level with you, I have seen this Jozra and she hardly seems the type to hurt a fly, much less give you this drubbing that you credit her with.” She stands, a paw to her temple. Addressing the room now, rather than the otter directly she states, “I am far too tired to deal with this now and we must all be hungry.”

Kirrian glances at the otter before moving towards the door. “You shall stay here for tonight, at least until we can figure out what to do with you and this situation. I believe Sola and the cooks have a meal prepared for you, Nolan, and Deke, who shall keep you company.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He harrumphs and slumps back into his chair, his tone turning sarcastic. “Oh yay.”

Yazeth: Kirrian frowns rather severely at Soquan’s sarcasm and exits the room without another word. Meanwhile, upstairs Dysa is very quickly forming an opinion of Jozra that is quite the opposite of Kirrian’s. The rattess can almost taste the anger and frustration radiating from the ferret, though so far the Scorpion has had the sense to remain in her room, though as the minutes slide by without any word on the situation Jozra grows more agitated, seriously questioning the ‘sense’ in her present course of non-existent action.

Arrin Woodgreen: He grumbles darkly and crosses his arms, slinking further into the chair.

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