The Likeness of Spring (open)

[Ivyrose]

Soft sunlight filtered through the budding tree branches. Spring was here, and it had transformed the woodland into a lush, green landscape. Trees blossomed, and the frozen waterways thawed, forming small chuckling streams. Gone were the freezing nights and the unbearable bitter winds. There would be no more blizzards, and hunger would be banished from the woodlands.
The crisp, clean spring air gave Ivyrose a feeling of lightness. She practically floated over the forest floor. Skipping in a carefree manner, Ivy stumbled over a rock.
"Oof," the wind was driven out of her as she fell, face first, into a small patch of ferns. Giggling like a dibbun, Ivy sat with her tail resting on top of her head. Oh if only she could sit there forever, what she would give to be back in the days of a carefree dibbun. But she had duties to attend to at Redwall.
Standing up, and brushing fronds of fern off of her weathered old tunic, she headed toward the Abbey. She adjusted her red-feathered hat to stick out in a jaunty manner, and rearranged her bow and quiver more comfortably on her back. Ivy's lips curved into a smile as she thought of the happenings of Redwall at the moment. Creatures would be gathering for lunch soon. Lunch, that sounded quite tempting to Ivy. She thought about the steaming bread, giving off it's delicious odor, complemented by the many different types of Redwall cheese. With cool tankards of strawberry fizz to wash it all down. Ivy's pace quickened at the prospect of food, friends, and laughs at her beloved Abbey.
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Rays of late afternoon sunlight penetrated the foliage overhead as the Abbey of Redwall came into view. A wonderful sight it made, the sandstone bricks that made the Abbey appeared pinkish in the afternoon sunlight. The Abbey was a picture of safety, and a haven for the good.
Crack!
Ivy spun around, pulled out her bow, and notched an arrow in it in one fluid movement.
"Who goes there," she called to the apparently empty woodlands. "Show yourself!" The hairs on the back of Ivy's neck rose, and her ears pricked as she watched for signs of life in the woods. Lowering her bow, Ivy started to walk again, more slowly this time. She seemed to relax, though she was alert as ever.
She heard another crack of a twig. Ivy kept on walking, ever alert.
Swiftly, Ivy spun around, and pulled back her bowstring. A green fletched feather rested in her bow, ready to fly.
"Show yourself," she called again. "I'm not playing games, now show yourself!"

[Ivyrose]

Feel free to add. :3 (I know the title doesn't make sense.)

[Nagini]

((The title makes sense. ^^ As a literature major, I can promise that you can force it to make some kind of sense regardless of what happens in the thread.))

Kolfinna was a raven. As a raven, she was intelligent, and as she was intelligent, she needed to be mentally stimulated, lest she become destructive. Well, more destructive than usual, that is.

So when the glossy bird noticed some creature trip in the middle of the forest, curiosity got the better of her and she ended up watching the beast from high in the air. That got boring though, so she landed as quietly as she could high in a nearby tree.

"My, what a paranoid little thing you are," Kolfinna cooed and flew to a lower branch so the squirrel could see her.

The twig crackings were not of Kolfinna's doing and she didn't know what had caused them, but she didn't care. The reaction the cracks got amused her, even though the squirrel was armed with a bow and arrows.

"Do you aim that thing towards any odd noise you hear?" Kolfinna asked of the weapons, although the question was rhetorical and the bird was undeterred. "If that is the case, I would fear for the day that you point in the wrong direction and something gets you in the back."

[Ivyrose]

Peering into the foliage, Ivy caught a flash of glossy, black feathers. Noting that this was one of the first ravens she had seen in Mossflower, Ivy sized up the situation.
A raven was a big bird, bigger than a crow. Ravens could easily pick up a full grown mouse, obviously a threat to the Abbey. The raven had a large, lethal looking beak, along with sharp, curved talons. It's huge, ragged wings looked like dark rags as it swooped down to a lower branch.
Pulling back her
bowstring further, Ivy called calmly out, "I've never seen a raven in these parts of Mossflower. Who are you, and what do you want?"

[Nagini]

((Her wings aren't ragged, actually. lol Her body's all very well-kept.))

"You've never seen a raven in these parts; I've never seen such a clumsy squirrel," Kolfinna replied mater-of-factly. "There's a first time for everything." She paused to preen a bit of her wing.

"Who am I and what do I want?" she echoed in fake wonder. "I'm a raven and quite a good one at that, and I really just want to be entertained. And fed," she added, "but I'm not here to eat you. If I was going to do that, we wouldn't be talking right now. I would've killed you earlier after you tripped.

"So now that the question of my identity is mostly out of the way," Kolfinna said, "who are you and what do you want? Or shall I just call you the 'clumsy squirrel with the silly hat who likes to point arrows at sounds?'"

[Ivyrose]

((Lol, sorry about the wings, I just wanted to put something else in. I should read her bio again.))


"So now that the question of my identity is mostly out of the way," Kolfinna said, "who are you and what do you want? Or shall I just call you the 'clumsy squirrel with the silly hat who likes to point arrows at sounds?'"

Ivy still didn't like being in the presence of the giant bird, much less having it this close to the Abbey. Noting to be more careful in the woodland for now, Ivy mulled over what the raven had said. Swiftly realizing that the Abbey was in no immediate danger, Ivy decided to talk.

Adjusting her hat, she spoke boldly, "My name is Ivy, you still haven't told me who you are, O Big Beaked Raven."

[fuzzydragon]

Amber moved carefully along the branch of a nearby oak. She heard a squirrel and another creature, presumably a raven, talking and decided to go and investigate. Amber hadn't seen many animals come down this way before and was curious why these two strangers had.

She quietly crossed over to another branch and hesitated. What would these creatures be like? Are they friendly? The raven and the squirrel didn't look like vermin to her. Finally, Amber decided it was better to watch and wait, but it was too late. In her brief distractedness, she had moved the branch and the leaves rustled.

[Nagini]

((It's ok. )

"My name is Ivy, you still haven't told me who you are, O Big Beaked Raven."

"Kolfinna," the raven told her brusquely, then laughed. "Big Beaked Raven? That's all you can come up with? And put that thing away," she cawed, referring to Ivy's bow and arrow.

"I'm not going to attack you. That would be entirely stupid at this point!" What did this squirrel think Kolfinna was? Some dumb hordebeast that would attack anything?

Kolfinna stepped down the branch a bit and said, "And you still have not told me what you want, unless it was shooting whatever was making those cracking noises, in which case, you're doing an awful job because you don't even have the correct target."

[Ivyrose]

"And you still have not told me what you want, unless it was shooting whatever was making those cracking noises, in which case, you're doing an awful job because you don't even have the correct target."

"Ha," Ivy lowered her bow slightly, "I know I am not targeting the creature that made the noise because it came from over there." She jabbed a finger backward in the direction of the unseen squirrel. "All I want is to protect my home from unwanted creatures."

Ivy made a slight mock bow, a grin creeping upon her lips. she was dealing with a raven, a very self-centered one, she could use this to her advantage.

[Nagini]

"I know I am not targeting the creature that made the noise because it came from over there. All I want is to protect my home from unwanted creatures."

"And again, you're doing a terrible job," Kolfinna told her and with that, she left her perch.

She flew upwards, went over to the place the sounds had come from, and landed on an upper branch of a semi-random tree. Semi-random because it wasn't exactly the spot the noise was from, but not random because that was intentional on Kolfinna's part.

She spent a moment looking with great interest and then when she actually laid eyes on the second squirrel, her curiosity waned and she made her dissatisfaction known in her posture.

"Oh," Kolfinna said dully, partly to Ivy and partly to herself. "That's boring..."

[fuzzydragon]

"Oh. That's boring..."

Amber quickly sprung into action. She hid the metal point of her spear under her tunic, so that it would appear to be a regular walking stick. One hand shot to the handle of a dagger that was tucked into her belt. Since she was at the disadvantage, it was better not to appear hostile.

Looking up, she called,"Greetings, Raven."

It was hard for Amber to keep her voice from trembling. She had a bad encounter with an old raven some time ago, which did not end well at all. Amber had escaped covered in scratches and bruises. She had not been able to travel for a season. Best to avoid conflict with this one.

Then she remembered the squirrel and stole and glance in her direction. Oh, she was only armed with a bow . Amber was sure one of her daggers would do the trick. But this squirrel, it seemed, came from RedWall, the place she'd been traveling to for days. Perhaps it would be better to follow the squirrel back to the Abbey or ask for directions. She would only attack this squirrel if she presented immediate danger.

[Ivyrose]

A silver flash showed Ivy that the squirrel was armed, and dangerous. Pawing her still hidden dagger, choosing to talk.
"Ha, what were you expecting? A mouse clad in gleaming armor, offering you afternoon tea?" Ivy sneered slightly at the raven, then turned her attention to the squirrel.
"A good afternoon to you Miss," she paused,
"I do not think we have been acquainted yet Missy."

[fuzzydragon]

"I do not think we have been acquainted yet Missy."

Amber turned slightly, keeping one eye on the raven just in case. The squirrel seemed friendly, but Amber guessed that she had noticed her dagger and groaned inwardly. Well, she would have noticed sooner or later

Still on alert, Amber nodded her head a bit. This had two purposes: it was meant as a greeting(to appear less dangerous) and to give Amber a different vantage point to check the squirrel for other weapons.

"Hello. I am a traveler. Amber Oakbreeze is my name. I presume you come from Redwall Abbey?"

[Ivyrose]

((Okay Amber, Nagini and I thought that this should be posted in an order like; me-> Nagini-> you->, k? It's fine the way it is now though ))

"Hello. I am a traveler. Amber Oakbreeze is my name. I presume you come from Redwall Abbey?"

Ivy stowed her dagger further in her cloak, away from prying eyes. Noticing that Amber could be no more than 15, she commented."Yes, I come from Redwall. May I ask what you are doing here, alone in Mossflower young'n?"

[Nagini]

"Greetings, Raven."

"Greetings, other squirrel," Kolfinna responded dryly.

"Ha, what were you expecting? A mouse clad in gleaming armor, offering you afternoon tea?"

"Well that would be much more interesting," Kolfinna told Ivy sharply. "I haven't seen a interesting-looking mouse in a while. There're enough squirrels around and otters and such, but mice are in short supply..."

After that, she let the squirrels go on chattering to each other. Part of her wanted to chase them or knock them over just so that she'd have something to do, but Kolfinna just waited on her branch. There was no sense in attacking two armed beasts who knew of your presence and location.

"May I ask what you are doing here, alone in Mossflower young'n?"

Probably some other boring thing, Kolfinna thought as she waited for the response.