What the...?

[Tirael]

“I’m not sure, missy, but when I find out who did it…”

The squirrel nodded, unable to take her eyes away from Carwyn's face. She could tell this badger meant every word.
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"Tirael!"

The healer in question gave a start, accidentally knocking over a jar of dock leaves. Stooping to pick it up, he sighed and said, "Yes, what is it?"
"Seri told me to tell you that a sentry says that you're needed in the forest, and to bring your healer stuff." Shaking his head as he figured out what the messenger meant, Tirael grabbed his bag and sling and headed out the door and toward the main exit. Once outside, he was pointed in the right direction, and he set off, wondering what was going on.

When he got there, he was more than a little surprised. "Sleet? What is i-" He cut off as he saw Caion. "Oh..." Pulling open his bag, he moved over to the Dibbun straightaway. "How did this happen to you..." he murmured as he looked the little one over.

"Its never been of much importance anyhow. Sleet."

Arturo murmured the name, testing the sound and feel of it. "Sleet...unusual...it's nice." Jerking his head at Tirael, he said, "Seems important enough to him. Give yourself a little credit." Their little fight aside, he was interested to get to know Sleet; she seemed far more interesting than most creatures he'd run into up and down the river.

[lorki]

Sleet's head shot up to look at Tirael as he appeared, "Tirael?" she said, imitating his surprised voice.

"Seems important enough to him. Give yourself a little credit."

Sleet smiled faintly, "It better be, he still owes me."

Caion's eyes widened as their company suddenly grew in numbers. He stared at the otter in front of him, the one that seemed to know Sleet. His eyes wandered from Tirael to Sleet and then back again. He thought for a moment about the question and then answered with the same words Sleet had used to describe the Corsairs after he'd told her, "Dirty rotten da-" Sleet nearly tackled the small badger to the ground, one arm quickly covering his mouth, though it did little to muffle the string of unsavory words that continued.

"Corsairs!" She said gruffly to Tirael, uncovering the badgers mouth and scowling at him, "Don't repeat things I say...ever!"

Caion tilted his head, he knew real anger and that wasn't it. "O'righ."

Sleet's brow furrowed, "Alright."

The dibbun scowled back at her, "a'righ."

Sleets ears tilted back, "AL-RHHH-igh-T."

"... Alrigh'."

"Tah! Alrigh-TAH."

A long silence followed, finally Caion opened his mouth, a hopeful expression flicked across Sleets face. "Yes," was the response from Caion.

Sleet gave up, she pulled herself to stand and smirked at Tirael, "good to see you again."

[Treble Tiderunner]

“That’s the group?” Skipper asked his guide as they approached. “Float me rudder, but she’s a bigg’un.” He had just caught sight of the badger, who still lurked about the edge of the clearing with the female scout. “Looks like Tir beat us here.” He continued as they entered the now crowded clearing.
“Whats the ruckus about, Treesage?” He inquired of the scout.

The badgeress crossed her arms, leaning the long pike against a tree as she watched the new flurry of activity. She ignored the healer, instead turning to the older otter who had just recently arrived. “You are the Skipper?” She asked in her northern accent.

[Arturo]

"It better be, he still owes me."

Arturo raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. What was there to say, anyways? Silently, he watched the proceedings.

“Whats the ruckus about, Treesage?”

Indicating things as she spoke, Treesage said, "Well, we saw these four walking through the woods. Apparently, that ferret found the little 'un by 'imself, and somehow the other two came along, and, well, here we are. So, this is Carwyn the Pike, and...they're two ferrets and another a badger."

Taking that as a cue, Arturo stepped forward and held out a paw. "Arturo Archer."

Tirael looked up briefly from his healering and pointed at Sleet. "And that's Sleet. You know, that Sleet." He'd told Skipp just in case the two ever ran into each other; he didn't want anything happening because the Skipper didn't know who'd saved his 'son's' life.

[lorki]

"And that's Sleet. You know, that Sleet."

"That Sleet." She repeated quietly, a small smile lingering on her face at the funny term Tirael had used for her. As if she were not one of a kind, hah. There was clearly no need for her to introduce herself, so she simply glanced at Skipper and nodded briefly as Arturo stepped forward to introduce himself as he had before.

"Tirael..." She muttered, a bit quieter this time, "I sort of need to do something... about this." She gestured with her head towards the small badger.

Caion was bombarded by too many introductions, finally he righted himself and thumped a paw against his chest, "An' Caion!" He laughed, as if he'd made a good joke, but then seemed to come to realize he gained too much attention from the gesture and slunk back down again.

[Treble Tiderunner]

"Well, we saw these four walking through the woods. Apparently, that ferret found the little 'un by 'imself, and somehow the other two came along, and, well, here we are. So, this is Carwyn the Pike, and...they're two ferrets and another a badger."

“Ah. Thank you Treesage.” Skipper turned his attention to the male ferret, who had taken the initiative and introduced himself.

"Arturo Archer."

“Skipper o’ Otters, mate.” The burly otter shook the ferret’s paw, looking him over and assessing him the way he assessed all beasts he met.

"And that's Sleet. You know, that Sleet."

Skipp released Arturo’s paw, turning to his son and then to Sleet, eyebrow raised skeptically. He nodded back to her, but his attention was claimed by another source, the female badger.

“You are the Skipper?”

“I am the Skipper.” He confirmed, looking up at the massive white badger. “You are Carwyn the Pike?”

Carwyn shook the offered paw hard, “Carwyn Pike, Lady of the North.”

"An' Caion!"

“And Caion.” She amended, scooping the babe up in her arms when he tried to blend into the forest floor. She tickled him briefly, then looked to Skipper. “I believe the plan is to leave this little guy with you?”

[Arturo]

“Skipper o’ Otters, mate.”

Arturo unconsciously stood straighter as the burly otter looked him up and down. The gesture didn't seem so much hostile as habitual, so he managed not to take it badly. Stepping back, he watched as the healer finished up his work. Maybe he should pick up a few things from him; it wouldn't hurt to be able to patch himself up in an emergency.
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"I sort of need to do something... about this."

Glancing up from his work again, Tirael said, "Well, you brought 'im to the right place. I guess we've got a reputation as an orphanage for wayward Dibbuns, huh?" Patting Caion, he said more softly, "Well, it's all for the best. You an' I are lucky for it." Standing up, he turned to Sleet and sighed. "I guess you don't really have the time to be a mo-" He cut off as Carwyn picked up Caion and tickled him. "Uhh, be careful with him, ma'am, he's still a bit fragile..." He was probably being over-concerned, but he felt a sort of kinship with the young badger.

He hoped this one might have the same luck he'd had in finding family.

[lorki]

"I guess you don't really have the time to be a mo-"

"A mother?" Sleet chuckled airily. "Not a time concern so much as a living concern." She was faithful that eventually all her luck would run out and some beast would get a good swipe at her, she would die young, no doubt. Even if dibbuns pulled at her heartstrings, someone would kill her sooner rather than later, "Besides, he can't talk right... would drive me crazy."

"But you will take him, right? You don't have some policy against the roughed up ones?" She clarified, her paranoia getting the best of her.

Caion meanwhile, who had never been picked up in his available memory (except to be thrown or something of that nature) froze as Carwyn plucked him off the ground. The initial horror lead to a very disappointing tickling as he didn't move a inch. After a second or two he realized there was no danger in being dangled above the ground and relaxed just slightly.

[Skipper of Sea Otters]

In the distance shouts and laughs would be heard, drawing closer and closer to the group. Whoever was coming sure sounded rough and rowdy. The sounds grew louder and louder until they finally stopped. It was silent. Not a sound could be heard for several minutes. Whatever was there had more than likely left.

Suddenly and without warning, several otters lept from the bushes with their weapons drawn, ready and willing to swing at anything that dared swing back. A rather brawny otter hung from low tree branch. He dangled there a moment before dropping to the ground and catching himself with a paw. He stood up and drew his other cutlass. This otter was very well built and looked to be ready to hack at anything that gave him good reason to. And he saw plenty of opportunities...This Otter had tattoos on both his shoulders to just at the neck, and a scar going vertically down his right eye. He held his two cutlass' at his side. There were several beast here he would like to cut down, but he always wanted for them to give him reason before he did. "I want a good reason why I shouldn't send these beast to the Dark Forrest..." cruel sounding...but it made a point...

[Grath]

"Uhh, be careful with him, ma'am, he's still a bit fragile..."

Carwyn sighed as Caion failed to react besides being tense to her tickling. “No problem, young otter. I well know how injuries effect one.” She touched a finger to Caion’s nose. “Didn’t like that, young’un? Well, that’s alright. How about another of these?” She appeared to pull a candied nut from the young badger’s ear.

Her ears flicked back as the noises behind her became clearer to her ears. Sudden silence reigned, and she tensed, straining for any sense of what was happening.

"I want a good reason why I shouldn't send these beast to the Dark Forrest..."

Clutching Caion close with one paw, and grabbing up her mace as she spun, the white badger glared down at the lead otter. Her eyes, always red because of her albinism, narrowed and darkened as she focused on the otter group. “Send what beasts to Dark Forest?” She growled, gripping her mace handle tight. “No beast here has harmed you, waterdog, and you would do well to remember that as long as Carwyn the Pike, Lady of the North, is here, you will not commit to killin’ ever’beast you think is ugly.”

[Treble Tiderunner]

"But you will take him, right? You don't have some policy against the roughed up ones?"

“Yes’um, we’ll take good care o’ the lad.” Skipper chimed in, also noting Caion’s stiffness, but focusing more on Sleet and her request for care for the dibbun.

"I want a good reason why I shouldn't send these beast to the Dark Forrest..."

Skipper, who had been facing Sleet and the same way as Carwyn, also whirled, javelin suddenly in a defensive position instead of idly serving as a walking stick. “Aye, wot beasties do you mean, matey?” He growled low, his eyes taking in the small group. The leader was on a height with him, and a river otter, while the rest were sea otters.

“No beast here will be killed here, riverdog, especially not on Skipper’s watch!”

[Arturo]

"Not a time concern so much as a living concern."

Tirael could easily believe that; Sleet seemed to get into more trouble than would be good for a young one to deal with. He couldn't be around all the time to fix them up.

"Besides, he can't talk right... would drive me crazy."

Tirael just smiled and shook his head at that. He'd never imagined his Sleet as being nitpicky. Apparently, kids just brought out something odd in her. Frankly it was quite refreshing. He was wondering how she might have acted if he'd been with a Dibbun when they'd first met, but then a group of otters appeared.
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In a flash, the squirrels turned and rose their weapons, forming a defensive ring around the group. Arturo, still determined to take no sides, crossed his arm and looked the new arrivals over. The squirrels' reaction made it obvious they weren't from Camp Moss. Hmm...sea otters...as a river otter appeared, he wondered how he'd become the leader of the group. Not size, certainly.

"I want a good reason why I shouldn't send these beast to the Dark Forrest..."

To the ferret, it definitely sounded cruel, though he was pretty sure there was no point. Glaring at the offending otter, he barely listened to the protests of his companions. They didn't mean much to him, considering they weren't profuse apologies and excuses from Irvine. He couldn't stand him already.

“No beast here will be killed here, riverdog, especially not on Skipper’s watch!”

"Huh, too bad," he muttered under his breath.

[Skipper of Sea Otters]

“Send what beasts to Dark Forest?” She growled.

The Otter raised his head sniffing the air. "...you will not commit to killin’ ever’beast you think is ugly.”He could have sworn he smelled filth...He looked to the side at the group. "My mistake, mate...must 'ave just been you..." he said a little bit irritated.

“No beast here will be killed here, riverdog, especially not on Skipper’s watch!”

The Otter turned his head sharply to the other. "Ya' got one thing wrong with that statement matey...aye....I'm tha' Skipper...but as fer killin'...that 'as yet to be seen...It will be your choice...not mine..."

[lorki]

Sleets ears tilted back, her tail twitched moments later she'd turned sharply, drawing in that split second two knives. She held them up near he face, paws curled in and ready to throw them if the situation seemed to degrade any further.

"I want a good reason why I shouldn't send these beast to the Dark Forrest..."

Her fur bristled, "What good are excuses made to live against a Beast that probably doesn't have the skilll anyhow?" She snapped. Of course on the day she was making an honest attempt at doing some good this would come along... The small statued ferret glared darkly at this newcomer, her reaction to hold up her weapons was instant and while it appeared the rest had taken the rout of reason... Well Sleet was just not that sort of beast.

Caion gladly took the chestnut from Carwyn, she was quickly becoming his favored creature in the group. However, just as he was about to pen his mouth to utter a small thank you the Badger lady turned swiftly with her weaponry to confront the sudden appearance of the otters. Caion went back to being rigid and uneasy, the candied chestnut still clutched in his paws like some part of him depended on its survival

[Treble Tiderunner]

"Ya' got one thing wrong with that statement matey...aye....I'm tha' Skipper...but as fer killin'...that 'as yet to be seen...It will be your choice...not mine..."

Skipper glanced at the group, taking in the new hostilities caused by the appearance of the sea otters. He sighed mentally, and it had all been going so well. He pushed through the encircling squirrels, and squared off with the other otter leader. His voice was low and dangerous, incongruous with the pleasant afternoon.

“That’s what ye think, matey. But ‘ere in Mossflower there be only one Skipper, and ye ain’t it.” The older otter glared, his scarred face inches from Irvine. “Ye came bargin’ in ‘ere uninvited, and so far’s I’m concerned, I can kick ye outta my territory. ’Tis war and we do not take kindly to intruders.” He gave a few of the low whistles the resistance used as signals and the squirrels reformed in a double line behind Carwyn and in front of the others of the group.

“Now.” Skipper said in a more reasonable tone. “Miss Pike there has a dibbun in paw and a mace in the other. D’ye really want to mess with a blood’rathed badger?”