Trouble in the North - Redwall RP

[Myrkin]

Mell looked up from her food at Louis and William, who in turn were gazing at her expectantly.  

“Did anything come out of it? Not much,” she told them, “He didn’t tell me anything new about our mission, if that’s what you’re asking about. He claimed he knew my father though.”

Now that their question had been answered, she got down to eating. Like every normal hare she had a great appetite and all this food looked too tempting not to invite some of it into her stomach. Once they get moving, there will not always be an opportunity to eat this well, so she could enjoy it while she was able…

When Mell satisfied her hunger, or at least most of it, she addressed William, Louis and Cori:

“So… I take it that you and your patrols will be participating in this mission at the North as well?”  

[Capt. Rake Nightfur]

Louis grabbed his uniform by the lapels and brought his chin up in a pose of mock formality, "Quite right," he stated, imitating the voice of the Brigadier, "Can't have you lot going off to fight all the bally vermin, wot! Be disrespectful it would, making other beasts do all the fighting don't-cha know."

William, having gotten over the scare with Roth, knew what his friend was doing, he smiled and chimed in using a slightly different but just as "formal" tone, "Oh yes, quite right, quite right. Absolutely, old bean; no shirking of duty here in these ranks I'll have you know."

"Speaking of a military outing, what's your weapon of choice?" Louis asked, keeping the accent.
"I'm a bowbeast mostly but can hold my own with a blade as well."
"Ah I'v never been a fan of archery; too many drawbacks."
"Oh I see, you disrespect me and my companions, eh? Well I challenge you to a duel!"
"Very well, I accept, where shall this be, right here?"
"Nay, we must meet on the field of battle, far to the north, where nobeast in our present company could find us! Unless of course they all come along too then, which would be quite the coincidence."
"Agreed! To the north, we shall leave in two days."
"I will see you there!"

The two hares continued the mock fight for a short time before standing and bowing to the two onlooking haremaids as if finishing a great performance.

Louis and William straightened up and sat back down simultaneously. Louis looked back to Mell and Cori and said, "Well, simply put, yes we are going, but where's the fun in just saying that? Much more interesting the way we did it, wot!"

[Myrkin]

Mell laughed heartily at their silly act, “Ha! Indeed. You should absolutely have your duel in the middle of battle. I’d bet cask of October ale to a rock, it would confuse those pirates so much they would start fighting each other instead of us.”  

She felt a light tap on her shoulder. She looked back and saw none other than Tommaso Bradberry (or Tom for short), another hare from 13th. He was the youngest member of her unit, so she hadn’t known him as long as the others. In fact, thus far he had only been with them on only one patrol, so he was still quite inexperienced as a soldier. Despite this he had proven to be pretty reliable when he needed to be.

“Hello. Captain Keystone told me to inform every soldier of 13th that they should gather on the training grounds,” Tom said, trying to keep his voice formal and stiff, as if we he was swearing an oath of the Patroler. Mell smiled at this. Poor lad hadn’t quite got rid of the habits he had been taught in the boot camp, so from time to time he acted more formal than was necessary.

“Thanks for telling me,” Mell said, getting a small bite out of scone, “Did he use the word ‘immediately’ or ‘as soon as possible’?” she asked. That question made Tom break his pose. He hesitated for a second and answered with a hint of uncertainty:

“Uhm… The latter, I think.”

“Good. That means we can all eat our breakfast without haste. Have you eaten?”

“No, but…”

“Then sit down and dig in, Young Tom,” she said, pointing to the chair beside her. Tom rolled his eyes when she had used his nickname, but he took the seat.

“Just Tom would be enough, thank you,” he murmured grumpily. Obviously he didn’t like to be reminded of his young age in any way. Unfortunately for him, so far he hadn’t done anything that would get him some other nickname amongst his fellow soldiers from 13th, so he had to endure the “Young Tom”. At least for the time being…
 
“Oh… Don’t get so gloomy, lad,” Mell said, trying to cheer him up, “When I was in my first season at the Long Patrol, I was called ‘Stinker’. Don’t ask how I got that one though.”

“How did…?” Tom started with equally curious and amused look on his face.

“I said: don’t ask.”

[Indi-Rah]

Cori smiled at the act performed by the pair of hares, and turned up one angled ear in amusement as she watched. When the younger one approached, she scarcely turned, but did listen, only to pick up another morsel.
"So," she began to Louis and William, "The training grounds. I'm a bit anxious to just get going, rather than do training, but I suppose that I haven't got too much choice in the matter," she snorted slightly.

[Capt. Rake Nightfur]

"Of course you do," William exclaimed and began an impromptu song.

You could…

Twist your ankle,
Pull a muscle,
Or pop a kneecap too.

Get a cold,
And stay at home,
Or catch the blinkin’ flu.

But what's the point of staying back,
Hiding in your room?
I'll tell ya, all that trainin's,
Gonna be good for you!

[Myrkin]

“I have to agree with our cacophonic friend here,” Mell said with a chuckle and gentle pat to William’s back to let him know she had meant “cacophonic” only as a joke, just a light-hearted humor. “There is no harm in training, although I doubt we will get much of it in the next two days. Such a long expedition will require some preparations, you know. Bringing enough food for the journey, making sure our equipment and weapons are in top notch condition, and so on…”

[Capt. Rake Nightfur]

"Cacophonic?" William asked, "Lou, what's that mean?"
"Oh, she's talking about your crummy singing, Will."
"Ah, that's alright then," Will said nodding his head approvingly. "I say, why don't we head to those training grounds I feel the need for some target shooting."
"Don't you remember, Will? It's our leave day." Louis interjected.
"Pish posh, friend Louis. I will take my leave on the training grounds." William replied, putting his paw on Louis' shoulder.
"Right then, I'll be coming along then." Louis conceded.
"Hoi, you lot of the thirteenth, mind if some of the Fightin' Fifth tags along?" William yelled, straining to look over Louis' head and around his ears.

[Myrkin]

At William’s cry many heads turned towards their table. Most of onlookers were wearing a very disapproving look. They were probably not happy about anybody yelling during a meal time in the mess hall without a good reason. Mell avoided their gaze and grinned to William.

“Why not? The more, the merrier,” she said, standing up from the table. Young Tom followed suit.

“Ay ill nid tho geth hers. I op wee won tbe liate frar aining,” he said, with his mouth full of pieces of food.  
 
“I beg your pardon?” Mellana asked with amused expression. Tom took a pause to swallow and repeated:

“I said: I still need to get others. I hope we won’t be late for training.”

“So that what it was. Go then. And don’t worry. We will all be on time,” she assured the young buck, who just nodded and walked away hastily to notify other members of the 13th. Mell turned to William, Louis and Cori, and gave them a “So… Are you coming?” look.

[Capt. Rake Nightfur]

Seeing as Salamandastron has no actual "grounds" all training was held on a flat part of the beach at the base of the mountain; it was here that William and Louis arrived just after they ran to their bunks to get their weapons. Mell, who had taken her time getting there, had only gotten there a moment before.

Since they weren't actually under orders to be there, William got ready to start shooting; he strung his bow and stuck some of his arrows in the ground at the shooting line.
"Alright Lou, name a range." he said, as he put his remaining arrows back into his quiver.
"Fifty. Wait, no make that seventy paces," Louis said nodding to himself.
"Right then," William said as he measured off the distance, carrying a target with him. Once he reached the stated range, he set up the little tripod on the back of the target, digging the legs into the sand.

Running back and grabbing his bow he said to Louis, "Three arrows on your call, Lou."
Louis straightened and said

"Ready!"
William nocked an arrow and pulled the string back slightly .
"Loose!"
William pulled the bow all the way back and released the arrow in one fluid motion.
THUNK!
The arrow hit left of center and a little high.
"Ready!"
"Loose!"
THUNK!
A few claws width from center.
"Ready"
"Loose!"
THUNK!
Dead center.

A small crowd had gathered to watch William as he shot and as he finished a few patted him on the back, one called, "Best shot in the patrol!" Another said, "Vermin be warned!"
Nobeast saw where the next three arrows came from, all they heard was THUNK! THUNK!CRACK! in quick succession.

William ran to the target, where two dark stained arrows quivered in the center and a third sat between the two broken halves of his own center shot.

Returning to the shooting line, William was speechless for the second time that day; and little did he know that it was the same beast this time that had done it the first.

[Myrkin]

(I’d like to apologize for not writing a post here sooner. I’ve been busy with work lately, so that’s my excuse/justification for that. In the future, I’ll try to avoid keeping you waiting for so long for my answer. )



Mell was the first from her unit who had gotten to training area, but she knew that others would soon be coming. She decided to use that time for her own exercise. Before she arrived at the beach, she had taken from her bunk her short sword and a training one. The latter would be used during practice fights with others members of 13th. Even though it was made out of wood, it would hurt a lot the beast, who would get hit by it. Nevertheless, some pain and a few bruises were small price to pay for getting skills that could save one’s life someday.

For her solitary training sessions Mell preferred to use her short sword rather than wooden one, mainly because the real blade had different weight and balance to it. Some beasts wouldn’t think it was an important difference, but Mell and every soldier knew that not being perfectly accustomed to your own weapon can end with injury or death. In a real battle wielder and sword had to be one.

Mell unsheathed her sword, called rather unoriginally “Slasher”, and begun her exercise. She started slowly, but with every change of position, every slash or thrust of the sword, her moves were gaining speed. Her mind focused completely on small area around her body and blocked everything else that was happening nearby. It was almost like she was dreaming, but her movement was too fluid, too synchronized. No dreamer could move as gracefully. Trance. That was the right word for the state of her mind…  

[Capt. Rake Nightfur]

Roth watched Mell as she fought off her unseen adversaries. His mind strayed to the time that his father, a similarly colored otter named Seth, had taught him to use a sword; it had been a bright day with a clear, powder blue sky and they had walked to the river for the afternoon…

"Now, Roth, keep the swordpoint up; it's called a high guard. If you keep it down, it requires more work to parry."
"Like this, Pa?" Roth asked, adjusting his stance.
"There you go, now watch what I do. Move your footpaw around as your opponent swings down to give you more stability and leverage.
“Very good, you’re getting better.”

“Haw, ain’t that nice.” A voice from behind Seth said. He turned to see a fox leaning against a tree, “Come now, throw over those vittles, and don’t try anything stupid, I’ve got friends in the trees with shafts aimed at your chests.”
Seth was furious, he subtly reached for is sword, but he realized that Roth had it. Thinking quickly he said,
“I don’t believe you.” He took a step toward the fox, who stayed still and replied,
“Your funeral.” This struck a nerve with Seth and he ran at the fox, who sidestepped and tripped him as he flew by. He stood over the fallen otter with a knife, ready to kill him when there was the sound of steel piercing flesh and sliding past bone. The fox looked down at his midsection to see the glint of steel protruding from his stomach. He twitched and fell over.

Roth stood with a horrified expression on his face. He looked from the fallen fox to his father and back again before running and diving into the river. He swam downstream until he finally made it to his home. Jumping from the water, he ran to the cabin and hid under his bed. He stayed there for hours, until his father returned.
“Come on out, bud; I need to tell ya something.” He said, getting on all fours to look at Roth.

Roth complied, and soon was seated on the bed with his father.
“You saved my life today, and for that I am proud of you.”
“I killed a creature, how could you be proud of me?” Roth said, tears welling up in his eyes.
“What you did today shows that one day you will be my better, not only in swordplay, but in bravery. Were I your , and I was watching my father about to get killed by a thief, I would have stood by helplessly. You are brave, and you are good. Don’t ever think that you made the wrong choice today.”

Roth cracked a smile at the memory and continued watching Mell. Soon after Mell was finished, Roth strode up next to her, and said,
“I would like to apologize for seeming so awkward last night; I never meant to seem that hard to approach; I just needed to know a bit more about you first.”

[Myrkin]

Mellana straightened up when Roth approached her and she saluted the senior officer properly. This was still a new thing to her, to have a non-hare in charge of the Long Patrol (well… part of it anyway). Still, if he was as good as the stories about him would have it then she wasn’t going to mind it.

“It’s alright, Sir. I just assumed you had some important matters to attend to, you being General and all…” she said, sheathing her sword. It was clear her private training time was over, as she noticed that almost all of her unit was assembled on the beach. Captain Keystone would surely be there any moment now. She should join them soon, but maybe there was a bit of time to make small talk:

“You needed to know more about me, Sir? May I ask what did you learn?”

[Capt. Rake Nightfur]

"Oh, just some little things; your sense of humor, the friends you have, how you handle yourself, and a few other things like how you react to, uh, surprises" Roth said, nodding over to where William and Louis were.
"You may not know it, but I have been testing every creature here in the way that I see fit. With William over there, I'm getting into his head to see if he acts like he speaks, and his friend, Louis, I noticed is able to make light of most situations, a dangerous trait to have on the battlefield, for friend and foe alike.” Roth said seriously. Then cracking the smallest smile, “Though I think that joke they made earlier about dueling in the middle of the battle would be interesting to watch.”  Then taking up a more businesslike tone Roth said,
“I spoke with your CO, Keystone, and told him that I wanted him to keep the training short; we need to be ready for travel in two days, but I still want to see what you all can do. Any particular hares I should be watching?”

[Myrkin]

Mell raised an eyebrow when Roth explained how thorough he had been in getting to know his troops. Mind games. Tests. Background checks. Very thorough indeed. It made her wonder what kind of test he was going to try on her, but she pushed those thoughts away. What was going to happen was going to happen. There was no sense in worrying about whether Roth planned something for her or not. Besides, she had been a soldier for eight seasons now, during which she had been in real danger on more occasions than she had whiskers and yet here she was, alive and in fighting condition. This fact filled her with confidence.

“Well… Knowing them I wouldn’t be so sure they were just joking, Sir,” she said with a grin. William and Louis could act like a silly pair of comedians from time to time, but they were dependable when it counted. They wouldn’t have been kept in the Long Patrol, if they weren’t.

She tilted her head to the side, thinking on answer to otter’s question. “Every hare in 13th is good and dedicated Patroller, Sir,” she said shortly. That wasn’t a very specific answer, but she didn’t want to single out anybody in her unit as deserving more attention than others. Merely thinking about it was making her feel uncomfortable. To choose one or even a few over the rest of her fellow soldiers would be to play favourites and no good would come of that.

[Capt. Rake Nightfur]

“I know that, but you may find that I don’t exactly pay attention to rank.”  Rake said, “I go by the actions and attitudes of my command and pick from the pot of creatures with a mind for strategy and an ear to the ground.” Roth noticed Louis’ ear turned his direction and spoke up so the rest of the hares could hear,
“I’ll tell you what is going to happen here today, I am going to lay out a challenge to anybeast that wants to take it. Beat me in a fight or get close and I’ll put you in the officer’s mess. No rules, just like the field, use any weapons you want; I get the short end of the stick as it were, challenger picks everything save for what I actually do.”
“Ah suppose tha’ ah shauld try tha’,” a thick brogued voice came from the crowd.
“Master William, so glad you volunteered.” Roth said, recognizing the voice to be the joker’s.
“Come on, lad, weapon, distance, what have you.”
William was shoved in front by the other hares, holding his bow and a mostly full quiver; he scowled back at his friends then straightened saying,
“I’ll use my bow and short sword if you please, Sah.” Roth nodded,
“As you wish, lad.”
“Shall I put the soft tips on my arrows?”
“Nay, no need for that, ye won’t be hitting me.” Chatter started up from the crowd when he said this. William made his way across the open beach so that he was about a hundred paced from Roth. The rest of the hares backed up and gave the two combatants plenty of room.
“On you!” Roth called to William, who deftly nocked an arrow. He pulled it back and loosed in a blurred motion, and had a second and third shaft in the air before the first had gotten halfway to its target.
Now, to be an archer one has to be a good judge of distance, and William was one such creature with this talent, but Roth was as well. He sidestepped the first arrow as it buried itself in the sand, then he stepped back half a pace to avoid the second, then back to his original position as the third whizzed by his left ear. William emptied his quiver in this manner, shooting as fast as he could to hit where he thought the otter would go next, but each time Roth moved the slightest bit to avoid being struck.
William, now frustrated, drew his sword and advanced slowly towards Roth, who pulled his own bow from underneath his cloak and nocked an arrow. The bow was the same color as the cloak and to William; it looked like a fold in the fabric. Roth allowed William to get closer before revealing the bow and shooting a single arrow in the hare’s direction.
William was unprepared for this and didn’t react in time; the arrow struck the sword where the blade met the hilt with a resounding TING! and William dropped the sword from the vibrations.
He tried to lean down and pick up the sword, but another arrow came between his paw and the grip, so he straightened and walked slowly and calmly towards Roth again. With a quick movement with his paw, he kicked up the sword and grabbed it in the air as he walked on.
By now, the two creatures were close, and Roth drew his own sword as he said,
“Nice trick, that, it could come in useful later.” William only smiled in reply as he aimed a blow at the otter’s midsection. It was blocked easily but William kept at the offensive while Roth blocked and parried every move the young hare made until finally he made a quick twist with his blade and a half chop.
William watched as his blade reflected the sun as it flew through the air, and gulped when he turned back to see Roth’s swordpoint at his throat.
“You win, sah.” Was all he could think of saying.
“Welcome to the officer’s mess, Master William.” Roth said, lowering the sword. William turned to Louis and smiled, before saluting to Roth and saying. “Thank you SAH!”
One by one the hares challenged Roth; a few didn’t want to challenge him so they milled about and worked with each other while the challenges were taken up. Several were admitted to the officer’s mess along with William, Louis being one of them, and all went until three were left, Young Tom, Cori, and Mell. Roth had high hopes for mell.
“You are smart m’lassies and laddie, waiting ‘till I’m all tired out from besting your comrades. Come on you some of you don’t look like you want to do this, in my professional opinion, but you, Miss Mell, you look like you could take on a badger, what do ye say?”