Rough Ridin' .... literaly! [open]

[greek101]

Oh it was soo warm! Why did it always have to be so hot in the summer! Couldn’t it be just fall already! Keith Splinterclaw thought to himself as he pushed at the wooden wheels of his chair. Sweat dripping from his heavy fur as he strained at the wheels.

The sun beat down upon the young ferret as dust from the path was kicked up by the spinning wheels of Keith’s chair. Not a single cloud condensed in the sky to give Keith any reprieve. The air was heavy and dry, unmoving with no breeze. Even the birds sang very little because it was too hot. It was defiantly not a day to be traveling, but Keith didn’t have much of a choice. It was now or never, he had to get there.

The young ferret’s destination: The Abbey of Redwall.

“Elwood, if what you say is true, and Redwall is truly back to the way it once was, then it should have the healing power it once had!”

The gruff brown furred squirrel paced the plank floor of the wooden drey built in the bows of a well seasoned pine, his tail twitching as he spoke.

“Keith, are you sure about this? Are you sure you really want to go? They may not be very accepting of your type, if you catch my drift.”

“I catch your drift old friend, but...” Keith looked down at the braces on his legs, “my wanting to walk again is greater than my fear of how they will treat me. I want to go.”

Elwood nodded, “And so you shall…and I’ll be your guide.”

“But you hate being with large amounts of creatures!”

The squirrel chuckled at the young ferret. “I never said anything about staying did I?”

……

An elderly brown squirrel assisted a young ferret over a large ditch from the woodlands to the large dusty path on the other side.

“There!” Elwood grunted as he set Keith’s chair on the path and Keith sat in it and put his crutches back. “Traveling along the path will be easier, no roots to get in yer way.”

“Aye, thank you Elwood, you’ve always been a great friend.” Keith said, his emerald eyes shinning through the black mask of fur. “I think I can make it on alone now.”

“Alone?” Elwood looked at Keith in confusion. “I told ye I was taking you to Redwall Keith!”

“I know.” Keith calmly replied. “But I’ve been watching you these past few days, and the closer we get to Redwall, the more aggravated you become. You’re not ready to join a community. You’re a solitary squirrel, you were never meant to have large amounts of company.” Keith smiled. “You said this road runs right up to Redwall. I can make it. I’m 17 now. I can take care of myself.”

Elwood nodded, tears slowly filling his eyes. “All you have said is true Keith, but none of that means I won’t miss you.” The rough old squirrel hugged Keith in a bone crushing hug. “You know you’ll always be welcome at the drey if you ever decide to come back.”

Keith’s black paws hugged the squirrel back in a similar bone crushing grip, tears collecting in his eyes as well. “Take care you ol’ treewiffler.”

“You to you young whippersnapper.” With a hefty pat on the back, the squirrel let go, coughing a bit, to try and hide the fact he was crying. “They’ll help ye find a way to walk I’m sure of it.” He said with a grin as he scrambled down the ditch and back up the other side.

Keith grinned back, wiping the tears from his eyes with a black paw. “Well, when I come back marching through the forest, you’d better be ready with one of those apple crumbles o’ yours!”

“You can count on it Keith my boy!” Elwood called as he sprung up a tree in the wink of an eye. “Remember, you’re only as weak as you think you are. A strong heart and mind can conquer any problem. Never doubt your abilities Keith Splinterclaw!” His voice echoed into the dawn as he whisked off through the trees…


And that was the last Keith had seen of his old friend.

Now he had to make it to Redwall. Not only for his own wishes, but for Elwood. He promised Elwood.

A single tear mingled with Keith’s sweat as he pushed hard upon his wheels. He was going faster then he had ever gone before in his chair, and his prize was right before his eyes.

Redwall Abbey.

It was so big, bigger than any building Keith had ever seen. It’s tall, red stone walls loomed closer and closer, the shade it created, so ever welcoming.

Keith pushed harder, he was almost there! He was going to make it!

CRUNCH!!!!!

“AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Upon his haste, Keith had not seen the little rivet in the path. And as Keith pushed upon the wheel of his chair, the wheel caught in the rivet and stopped dead cold.

But Keith did not. He was thrown, flying from his chair, and landing a good few feet away with a dusty THUD.

Oh the PAIN! Keith groaned as he struggled to roll over. Sure his legs wouldn’t allow him to move, but they could hurt, oh yes they could pain him all they wanted!!

Coughing up dust and dirt from the road, Keith gingerly sat up and looked over at his now fallen chair. The wheels were still spinning! That was good. And it didn’t look like the wheel was chipped or the axel was broken, all very very good. But it was now a good two body’s length away from him. He couldn’t reach it! And there was no possible way he could walk over to it.

Looking over at the large wooden gates of Redwall, while pawing at a cut on his arm, Keith wondered in anyone inside had hear his yell. “Oh, well,” Keith mumbled to himself. “No use sitting around here waiting for help.”

So Keith stretched out his arms and dug his claws into the dusty path. With a grunt, Keith pulled himself forward, inching toward his fallen chair, thinking of how foolish he must be looking right now, and how vulnerable he was right now. He just needed to get back in his chair, and into Redwall. That too much to ask for?......

[Shor]

The counterproductive umbrella had finally cleared, and from the aftermath trudged the ottertwins. The latter was, at the moment, quite upset with the former, and allowed her frustration show. " 'e wasn't there. . ." she muttered as she stepped over the trunk of a fallen tree.

Lachie sighed and followed suit. "Luke, it was a theory, an' ye know as well as Ah dae that things 'avenae been normal aroon' us." His northern brogue had slipped into his speech, which warned that his emotions were high. On one paw, what he had done was ridiculous, redundant, risky, and overall a bad move. On the other, he had a right to fear as he did, and it was evident that he was beginning to succumb to the stress.

"Still," argued Lachina, "There was no reason tae go an' accuse him o'--"

"But he--"

"At a feast! An' even if'n yore right, how would ye prove it?"

"Ah. . ." he averted his gaze to search the ground for answers. ". . . Ah don't know! It usually jus' comes tae me. . ."

Lachina furrowed her brow. "You, of all beasts should 'ave known. . . Y'know, I'm startin' tae question if'n yore really a seer."

Lachlan shook his head, and resumed walking. He shrugged to position the bag of supplies better, not allowing his eyes to make contact with Lachina's. He could see peripherally that she was watching him, but he couldn't bring himself to look at her levelly. Her cold, calculating gaze was one inherited from their father, one that Lachlan had not been fortunate enough to inherit. His own expression had always remained a searching one, and eye contact had never been his strong suit, especially during times like this, when he'd made a mistake yet felt a strong sense that he was right. But it wasn't the previous altercation that tugged at his emotions -- it was the fact that he still hadn't told Lachina the truth about his identity as a seer. Before, she had been the only beast alive who knew who he really was, as she was the only beast close enough (of course, there was also the fact that she could read emotions like words on a page and could have figured it out regardless, but that was beside the point). But now that she had difficulty even recalling Lachie's name, he didn't feel comfortable around her -- she may as well have been a complete stranger. Telling her the truth about his psychic nature would likely prove a terrible mistake, but she was still his sister, his twin, and keeping such a significant secret from her unnecessarily but inevitably weighed his heart down with guilt.

"Oh my-- Are you all right?" she exclaimed. Lachie looked up at her suddenly, confused, but her exclamation wasn't directed at him. He followed her gaze to a ferret sprawled on the dirt, several feet from a "wheely-chair" (as Lachie preferred to identify it).

Lachlan, thoughts and emotions aside, ambled toward the scene remarking nonchalantly, "No, 'e's fine, o' course. Yore suppos'd t'ignore any paraplegic ferret onna side o' the road." Lachina glared at him before rushing to the ferret's aid. Meanwhile, Lachlan shifted his entire weight to his cane and his entire attention to the fallen ferret. Paraplegic or no, ferrets were vermin and vermin necessitated suspicious glances.

[greek101]

"Oh my-- Are you all right?"

Keith looked up from his pulling and dragging. Two otters were walking down the path a few feet from him. The one who had spoke was a gentle looking female with brown fur and pale green eyes. The other was a taller and much broader male, with the same color fur but with vibrant deep blue eyes. The male also leaned upon a cane, favoring his left leg.

Doing his best to smile through the pain in his legs, Keith replied his breath heavy from the strenuous workout. "Well, I can say I've been better, however I can't say that I haven't been worse."

"No, 'e's fine, o' course. Yore suppos'd t'ignore any paraplegic ferret onna side o' the road."

Keith watched as the female gave the male's comment a rather harsh look and rushed to his side. The male however, watched Keith with a suspicious look. Great, Keith thought to himself. Haven't even got inside Redwall yet and creatures are already judging me.

Doing his best to avoid the male's glare, Keith looked up into the eyes of the female who had rushed to his side. "Got launched from my chair....Hit a rivet in the path going too fast....Do you think you could grab it for me?"

[lorki]

"Got launched from my chair....Hit a rivet in the path going too fast....Do you think you could grab it for me?"

"Taken care of," a husky voice answered. Kutenai stood on the side of the path, setting the chair back upright. The ferret didn't like to travel along the roads, he'd been traveling quietly through the underbrush of the woods in constant cover. Though he was traveling parallel to the road... up towards that hulking ugly Abbey. He'd been watching Keith for a few minutes, considering the idea of popping out from the woods to introduce himself- perhaps make a walking.. er... rolling buddy. Of course, before he'd decided anything, the other young ferret and suddenly shot out into the air.

"Bu', if I do say so mahself, yew gotta good flight off'a tha'. Might 'ave t'let me try sometime," his classic half smile-half smirk gave no hint to his careful appraisal of the fallen ferret and, more cautiously, of the two otters. Kutenai was never one to start off on a bad note, if it was at all doable he enjoyed making a half-decent first impression. He saw no need to be anything less than friendly until another beast sparked confrontation... Or he noticed something on them he wished to steal... Or if they happen to be the beast he was sent to kill/maim/capture etc... But for the most part (sort of) he tried his best to be good natured.

[Shor]

Lachina turned her head and Lachlan his eyes to find another ferret retrieving the wheely-chair. Funny, Lachie hadn’t noticed his arrival – on the other paw, why would he have? He wasn’t really looking for ferrets at the time.

The new arrival was not whom Lachie had feared it was, but it was obvious that he wasn’t any peaceful sort of vermin. Upon studying the beast briefly, the sea otter decided that this ferret quite reminded him of his friend, Hugg, a thief and magician – save the scar and his height and the fact that he was a ferret. Still, it didn’t seem that the vermin-creature would be any less than helpful for the time being, though Lachie would continue to keep him within his line of sight.

"Bu', if I do say so mahself, yew gotta good flight off'a tha'. Might 'ave t'let me try sometime,"

Lachina rolled her eyes. Great. Just what she needed – another smart mouth. Meanwhile, Lachie wondered if there was any sort of connection between the ferrets – did they know each other? They were both ferrets, after all. But according to the paralyzed ferret’s expression, neither had made the other’s acquaintance hitherto.

As Lachina accepted the wheely-chair from the other ferret to hurry it back to the paraplegic, Lachie tilted his head and furrowed his brow to study the latter. There was nothing much to glean from the creature, other than his green eyes, brown fur with black patches, bag that seemed to hold a myriad of miscellaneous objects whose identity was unclear, and calloused paws – the ultimate of which implied both that the ferret was accustomed to working with his paws and that he played a stringed instrument like a cello or violin.

“Lachie!” Lachina said for the third time. “Come on an’ ‘elp me!”

Lachie seemed to return from a daydream, and responded. “Oh, er, right.” He grunted as he helped the ferret into the chair while Lachina kept it steady. “There ye go, big guy,” he concluded, rising to his feet with the help of his cane. It was difficult enough lifting the slightly disproportionate ferret, but the task was made more difficult still by Lachie’s need to keep one paw on his cane to keep from toppling over. And the ferret certainly was a “big guy,” thanks to what must have been eight, maybe ten seasons of traveling without legs. Lachlan could personally attest to the strenuousness thereof, though he had only lacked the use of one leg for a season and a half.

Lachina hovered obsequiously over the paralyzed ferret, making worried little noises as she observed the slight cuts and bruises he’d obtained from the fall. Of course, to an ottermaid like Lachina, they may as well have been fatal wounds. “Oh dear, are ye all right?” she asked urgently, but before her “question” could be answered, she declared, “We need tae get ye to th’Abbey straightaway!” And with that, she launched the wheely-chair toward the Abbey, driving carefully only enough to avoid another dangerous rivet.

After a pause, Lachlan turned to the remaining ferret, and shrugged his broad shoulders.

[greek101]

"Taken care of,"

Keith looked up when he heard the new voice. "Uhh.. Thank you.."Another ferret? What was he doing here? He wasn't doing anything dangerous at the moment, but the way he just popped up made Keith a bit uneasy. Either that or Keith was unaccustomed to meeting so many creatures, having lived with a solitary squirrel for 11 years.


"Bu', if I do say so mahself, yew gotta good flight off'a tha'. Might 'ave t'let me try sometime,"

"Trust me," Keith replied to the other ferret, "it wasn't as fun as it looked..." Keith rubbed a bruise on his arm, boy this adventure was going to hurt in the morning!

Looking back up at the older otter as the female ran to grab his chair, Keith noticed that the otter was analyzing him. Shrugging it off, he returned his attention to the female otter who had just arrived with his chair. He had nothing to hide from the male otter. Why should he worry if the other creature was analyzing him? However, knowing that the strong male was watching him was rather intimidating.

“Lachie! [...] Come on an’ ‘elp me!”

“Oh, er, right.” He grunted as he helped the ferret into the chair while Lachina kept it steady. “There ye go, big guy,”

Keith grunted a bit as he was helped back into his chair. Boy that otter was strong! Even if he was leaning on the cane. Gripping the arms of his chair to steady himself, Keith eased into the seat with a small groan. Oh yeah, this was going to ache in the morning, if not later this afternoon.

Keith reached down and gently moved his braces onto the chair properly and comfortably. Having no movement in his legs what so ever, Keith had to lift his legs with his paws if he needed to move them. It was a rather degrading thing to have to do, but hopefully soon that would change. If the healers at Redwall could help him that is....

As the female otter began hovering over him, Keith spoke up. "Thank you...all of you for your help...That would have been much harder to do with out you that's for sure.."

“Oh dear, are ye all right?”

Keith was about to reply that he was fine, he had taken worse tumbles, but the female otter cut him off.

“We need tae get ye to th’Abbey straightaway!”

"Whoa!.." Keith exclaimed as the chair took off with a burst of speed. Keith gripped the arms of his chair tight, his small claws almost digging into the wood as the female otter sped his chair toward the large gate of Redwall Abbey...

[lorki]

"it wasn't as fun as it looked..."

A thoughtful half grin crossed Kutenai's face, "different ideas o' fun, my friend." He went without mentioning his sort of 'fun' nearly never ended without a few good bruises, black eyes, bloodied face, and any sort of wound from scrape to gash. It didn't take an expert to see that this other ferret was a good, well behaved, well received critter. A position that Kute could respect, even admire from afar, but never attain. No, he enjoyed the recklessness too much.

He took a few steps back as the otters heaved Keith back into his wheelchair, he watched the female fuss a bit about the scratches, wondering how the ferret felt about all the attention. He felt as if a mild answer was written in the expression on his face as the otter began trudging towards the abbey with him at a surprising speed.

Responding to the tinging feeling of being watched, Kutenai turned to look at Lachlan. He managed a light smirk at the otters gesture and stepped towards him, extending a paw, "Kutenai," he introduced himself shortly, "no need tah be strangers. I figure we're goin' the same way, eh?"

[Shor]

Lachlan accepted the pawshake heartily, and offered what felt like a polite smile. "Lachlan Stromness," he replied, returning his weight to his good footpaw. As the sea otter spoke, he and his non-existent attention span couldn't help but let his gaze wander. He first noticed a bird flying overhead, to his right. Uninteresting. He turned his attention to Kutenai's left eye, and though Lachie wasn't sure as to what, there was something just a bit off about it. The scar was obvious, but certainly that couldn't have been it. He shrugged it off. Whatever it was probably wasn't too terribly important and could wait for now.

He motioned for Kutenai to follow and began hobbling in the direction his sister had sprinted. As he shifted his weight from his cane to his good footpaw and vice versa, he wondered about the ferret. For the moment, Kutenai seemed perfectly harmless and his presence didn't terribly bother the seer. That said, Lachlan would under no circumstances let down his guard around either of the ferrets -- even the paralyzed one would he hold under scrutiny.

"So, yore 'eadin' tae Redwall, then? Wot for?" he asked somewhat bluntly as he inadvertently snapped a twig. Honestly, it was a bit odd that Redwall would be any sort of hospitable toward vermin after forty seasons of imprisonment -- it wouldn't be the wisest choice of holiday venue for a ferret. Either Lachie was ignorant of the abbeybeasts' customs, or Kutenai had an ulterior motive.

But Lachlan's mind was elsewhere in a split second. It had just struck him that he was approaching Redwall Abbey, which meant that he was in Mossflower country. And unless he was mistaken, Tampa Tiderunner should be somewhere in the area. Unconsciously, he quickened his pace, and whatever Kutenai's previous response had been had fallen on deaf ears.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Meanwhile, Lachina flew toward the abbey at gratuitous speeds. She stopped just short of the gate, scarcely remembering to slow gently moments before the chair came to an only slightly abrupt halt. After a brief "Sorry," she turned to gate and tilted her head.

She wasn't entirely certain as to what should be done at this time, as she had never actually visited anyplace like Redwall Abbey; even if she had, any recollection of it would have been omitted from her memory months ago. Lachina therefore treated the situation like any ottermaid might. She approached the wooden gate, and rapped her knuckles upon it daintily.

[greek101]

"different ideas o' fun, my friend."

Keith slight raised his eyebrow at the ferret. Flying out of a chair and almost killing yourself was fun to him? Did he have any common sense at all??

[...]

Keith held on to his chair tightly, expecting to fly out of his chair again when the ottermaid stopped. Thankfully, however the ottermaid did slow down a bit before coming to a complete stop in front of the large wooden gate.

"Sorry,"

"Oh, no... It's OK." Keith replied, slowly relaxing his grip on the arms of his chair and flattening his windblown fur. Looking up at the gate, Keith now realized how big the walls of Redwall Abbey really were.

Craning his neck to try and see the battlements, Keith gapped at the hight. He never had been in or near a building this big before. Sure there were large dwellings in his old village, but nothing this big!

A small sound stopped Keith's staring at the walls. The ottermaid had knocked upon the gate. Keith's tail twitched in anticipation. He was finally going inside Redwall!....

[lorki]

Kutenai nodded to the otter, he stressed a small half-smile that could have held a multitude of hidden meanings. Still, there was no ill will in the ferret for the time being. He had his reason for approaching the gates, just as these beasts did. He wouldn't go spoiling it recklessly, no matter how much effort he had to put into his polite, more-or-less clean cut appearance.

He paced after Lachlan, not failing to notice the otters slight examination of his face. Kutenai was know to be a bit hypersensitive about his sightless eye, preferring that no one know about it at all. Still nothing could repair scars, but he rarely went without noticing a lingered glance or slight focus on himself.

"So, yore 'eadin' tae Redwall, then? Wot for?"

'Cause I'm a damn idiot who likes t' walk into trouble, an' hell knows why... Kutenai thought bitterly, but rather, he answered, "Gotta... friend spendin' some time there." He had known for some time it was best not to refer to Sleet as his sibling when meeting strangers. It was simply throwing out weakness, leverage and the whatnot.

He glanced up, towards the large stone building as the otter maid knocked on the gate. A swirl of dread turned his stomach. His thoughts came back around, an' hell knows why... A light smirk lit his face.