Forgotten in Mossflower {Open}

[Treble Tiderunner]

{Open, particularly to neutral woodlander characters}

Far out in Mossflower, the day was darkening rapidly. The sun sank towards its rest swiftly, the air cooled as the spring day prepared to turn to night.

And, in a large thicket of thorn bushes, something moved. It was a large white badger, bloodied and wounded, and not just by the overgrown rosebushes she had collapsed in. She groaned, dragging herself out weakly, slow bit by bit.

Escaped from the bushes, she lay flat on her back in a small clear area. Her ruby-red eyes stared straight up at the deepening night as she panted. Her tunic was torn and ripped, her claws bloody and her muzzle scarred from old wounds and bloody from new. she had lost her pike and mace in her headlong chase through the forest.

[Silas]

The trees rustled in the cool breeze taking over from the day's warmth, as if making the very leaves shiver at the appearance of night. What few clouds there were drifted lazily overhead, alight with the final glow of a sunset far off in the horizon. As the breeze faded, the leaves still rustled in the trees without its aid, a sound that steadily increased in volume and decreased in distance from the badger. Soon the breeze picked back up again, and the noise was obscured by many more leaves.

For one full week Silas had been on the move, feeling quite restless after getting word that resistance fighters in Mossflower were gathering to take back the very emblem of peaceful security. Its name is now only uttered in folklore and bedtime stories where the squirrel had came from, yet he was determined enough to venture out and lend a paw. Presently he is perched upon a branch overlooking a clearing ahead, with an odd beast lying near the center of it. Before stopping, the squirrel observed a white figure moving through the woods below, and now he saw the beast far more clearly.

What kind of beast is that, aye? A... A badger? Silas wondered, never having seen an actual badger in his lifetime until now. He decided to investigate, hopping down nimbly from one branch to the next, holding onto his bow. He walked towards the beast, who was on their back.

"'Ey... Ye alright?" He inquired cautiously, seeing the beast's wounds, both new and old.

[Grath]

There was a rustling above her, but she was too tired to try and find out whether or not this was natural. The albino badger was not particularly interested, either, the aftermath of the bloodwrath brought a depressing apathy. It was nearly a full day after the battle, but she didn’t know this, having no conscious memory of the last part of the battle, nor of crashing through the woodlands after the fox, neither of fighting her and chasing her crew again, finally to just drop in the thorned bushes of sheer exhaustion, out before she hit the ground.

"'Ey... Ye alright?"

“Nay. Where am I?” She tried to dredge up some modicum of caring.

[Silas]

Silas moved forward enough to be in view of the badger's eyes, which he saw as an unusual shade of red. He stood over her, thinking twice about offering her a paw up as he saw that she was too worn out to stand upright, leastways to his judgement. After a brief moment of ponderance over this new creature, he kneeled and unslung his backpack from his shoulders, also dropping his bow and quiver of arrows in the process.

"You're deep in Mossflower Wood, miss." He declared, rummaging through his pack to see if he could help the badger. He hoped that whatever her disposition towards squirrels was, she would prove to be a goodbeast like him, maybe even a resistance fighter like the ones he heard about. Her wounds didn't look like they all originated from coarse vegitation, anyhow. He searched a second time, talking to her again with his eyes focused in his pack. "Far away from anyplace that I know of... Uh, do you need some water?" He asked, holding out a canteen, and hoping to find out the origins of this albino creature.

[Treble Tiderunner]

A young squirrel moved into her vision, with red fur that she could just make out in the gathering darkness. She turned her head, watching as he knelt by her and rummaged in his pack.

"You're deep in Mossflower Wood, miss."

“Hrmph.” She snorted. “Yore a little young t’be callin’ me miss, kiddo.”

Carwyn got her paws under her and sat up, swaying slightly, like a forest giant in a breeze. She dropped her head into her paws to stop the disorientation. Ugh. The bloodwrath, how she hated its aftermath, it always left her so drained and… blank feeling.

"Far away from anyplace that I know of... Uh, do you need some water?"

“Aye.” She croaked, reaching for the bottle and downing it in one long gulp. Handing it back, she scrubbed her mouth with the back of her paw. Only then did she notice her injuries. She made a grimace of disgust. “What’s your name, kiddo?”

[Silas]

As the badger responded to him, Silas frowned but said nothing in return until he recieved his canteen back, which was suddenly completely empty instead of nearly full. He put the canteen back in his pack as she sat up. Well, she obviously had her preconcieved ideas about his age, if not his species. He pretended not to mind, sitting up straight as a breeze passed over the clearing.

"What's your name, kiddo?"

"My name? Silas Hawkeye, miss." He responded curtly, setting his bow and arrows down next to his pack before returning his gaze to the badger. "And if I may ask, who are you? ANd why are you all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?"

[Grath]

"My name? Silas Hawkeye, miss."

“As I said, you're a little young to be calling me miss, youn'un.” Carwyn replied to the curtness in his tone. Huh! She was in no mood to deal with snitty young squirrels, not with the headache she was developing!

"And if I may ask, who are you? And why are you all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?"

“Lady Carwyn the Pike. And as to what I'm doing out here... I really have no idea.” She sighed, tugging one of her ears in thought, then wincing as the movement pulled at the dried blood in the long shallow cut across the paw. “Though by how I feel an' what I look like, I'm guessing it was the bloodwrath.” The light was nearly all gone now, as the sun sunk below the western mountains and a breeze picked up and died.

“Have the makin's o' a fire, young Hawkeye me lad?”

[Silas]

"Of course I do." Silas replied, not so much in a 'stating-the-obvious' fashion as in an informative reply to the badger's inquiry. He stood up and stretched out, not one to sit on the ground for very long. digging through his pack once more, the squirrel found his flint stones and tinderbox and set this a short distance away from Carwyn and himself. He could feel a chill settling in the air as he worked at clearing a suitable spot for a fire pit. He then proceeded to scout about for twigs, but not after having a second thought for the badger. "Uh, do ye need anything else? Y'know, for all the cuts and scrapes? I don't have much in the way of healing supplies, but you're welcome to use 'em."

Gesturing to his pack, he moved along, picking up a bundle of twigs in the growing darkness around the edges of the small clearing. He silently wondered what Carwyn meant when she said 'bloodwrath'. He had heard the word before, he had just forgotten what it meant... Oh well. Making a fire would be far better than thinking about words, as the nights were still very cold in Mossflower wood.

[Grath]

"Uh, do ye need anything else? Y'know, for all the cuts and scrapes? I don't have much in the way of healing supplies, but you're welcome to use 'em."

Carwyn came back to the present, her mind having wandered into thoughts of the past. Creatures and times, some of which had been bad, but the majority of which had been enjoyable. She sat, finding her great strength sapped and a weariness that made her wish to curl up and sleep until next season. She considered his words, while she was rather bloody and dirty, nothing was currently bleeding and she felt no overwhelming need to bathe and bandage herself.

“Nay, thank you, lad.” She said at last, moving closer as he made the fire. “Where do you live, Silas?”

[Silas]

Silas placed the twigs in the spot he cleared, striking the flint rather industriously to produce a tiny ember. He nursed the ember to a tiny flame, a beacon of light in the growing darkness.

"Where do you live, Silas?"

The squirrel glances up over the fire at Carwyn, thinking of his home. It didn't feel much like home to him, save for a few random instances. He shrugged and replied, "Well, I come from a village northwest of here. It's a nice little place. Won't find it on any paths, though." Leaving it at that, he threw more twigs onto the fire until the flames licked hungrily at the pile, producing a respectable fire to ward off the cold. Much of his focus was now on keeping the fire going, averting his gaze from Carwyn to the task at paw for the moment.

[Grath]

((Timeskipped, yay!))

The evening dew had turned to frost, gilding the great white badger as she slept, the deep and long sleep of recovery. Not from wounds, though she had those in plenty, and plenty that she ought to get looked at. No, it was the bloodwrath that effected her so deeply, sapping the reservoirs of strength a warrior was wise to build up.

Carwyn didn’t budge from her sprawling sleep until the sun broke through the cloud cover, starting the process of melting the light frost back into dew. A drop tickled her nose and she sat up abruptly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Today she would head for the Fort, see how the battle had gone. The badger frowned pensively when her gaze fell on the curled-up form of the squirrellad. Perhaps she’d take him along.

With a grunt, she heaved to her feet and buried the ashes of the dead fire. Nudging the sleeping form of the squirrel with one footpaw, Carwyn attempted to wake him. “Hey! Cyan or Kylas or Si or whoever you said you were, its time to wake up!”

[Silas]

“Hey! Cyan or Kylas or Si or whoever you said you were, its time to wake up!”

"Ah!" The squirrel, who was sleeping peacefully a moment ago, unraveled himself in an instant with fists at the ready, forgetting in his dream-filled sleep where he was or who might be prodding him. But in another second he saw the badger standing before him, and felt foolish for waking up in such a manner.

"Sorry about that," He smiled sheepishly, "I'm jumpy sometimes..." He explained, stretching himself out and shaking his tail to rid it of the dew. Glancing about the general area, he recovered his pack, which was actually near his paw. Shouldering it, he turned back to Carwyn. "Anyways..."

[Treble Tiderunner]

"Sorry about that," He smiled sheepishly, "I'm jumpy sometimes..." He explained, stretching himself out and shaking his tail to rid it of the dew. Glancing about the general area, he recovered his pack, which was actually near his paw. Shouldering it, he turned back to Carwyn. "Anyways..."

“I’m going to the Fort, young’un. See who won the battle. Are you coming along?” Carwyn spoke, finishing his sentence. “Well if ye are…” She headed off, following her trail of destruction from the night before. Certainly she’d not now how else to get back-- these lands were foreign to her.

Eventually they came on the site of a small but ferocious battle, a big ferret lay with his head canted oddly, some searats were piled, their heads bashed in. Carwyn retrieved her mace without a word, continuing silently.

At noon she stopped at a small brook, young and wild. She washed the mace with gravel and sand from the bottom, then waded in to wash her own self.

[Silas]

“I’m going to the Fort, young’un. See who won the battle. Are you coming along?”

"Wha... the battle?" Silas asked as Carwyn moved around, back the way she came. After picking up the rest of his belongings and packing them, he hurried off too. As he followed the badger, he instantly saw what had transpired a short while ago. Trees and branches snapped away, foliage torn and pushed aside outlined a path before him as he trotted along. As they came across the ferret and the searats, the squirrel twitched. Up to this point he had no real idea of what battles were like, both during and after the event. Mentally toughening up a little, he walked onward through the scene.

As they reached the brook at midday, Silas washed his face and paws with the cool water and drank a little, before sitting down a little ways away from the badger, looking at the water in thought. "So... they're already fighting?" He asked Carwyn, out of the blue.

[Treble Tiderunner]

"So... they're already fighting?" He asked Carwyn, out of the blue.

Carwyn, feeling much refreshed as the cold water doused her fur and washed the sweat, grime, blood and dirt away, took a moment before answering. The fast-running little brook barely came to her knees, but she’d waded downstream, finding a place where it backed up behind a natural dam, pooling into a small dip in the landscape.

The big badger waded back towards her companion, shaking her head. Water flew as she reached Silas and climbed out. “Nay, they are probably done fighting now.” She stood on all-fours, shaking her huge body and sending even more water flying.

“Why, what have you heard?” Carwyn asked the young squirrel, placing herself in a shaft of strong sunlight to warm and dry. They’d been walking half the day—her young companion was probably tired.