Accidents Happen [Open]

[Tirael]

Mossflower was hazy, quiet; the perfect picture of a too-hot summer day. A raft drifted along the cool water of the River Moss, as aimless as the ferret lounging in the sparse shade of a small lean-to canopy. A fishing line trailed from the little craft, in the odd chance that a fish might risk leaving its cool home to suffer in the sun as Arturo was doing. He would have taken to the water himself, but was far too sleepy to get up, and so simply muttered the occasional mild curse at the heat.

A much louder, harsher cry came out when he suddenly found himself thrown off his raft and into the river. Too surprised and irritated to enjoy how refreshing it actually was, he surfaced and turned to see what had happened to his raft. His heart sank at the sight: it had apparently run headlong into an outcropping, and had nearly splintered itself in two. Some of his supplies had also been unceremoniously dumped into the water, and he retrieved as many as he could from the river and the remains of his raft before making for the bank.

"Well, that's just great," he muttered as he watched the wreckage bobbing around the outcropping. Sitting on a rock, he stared at it and wondered what in the world he was going to do now--and whether or not he was going to lose yet another home.

[Grimm-kun]

>We are allowed to play NPCs, right?

From the banks, there was a short shuffling sound. A wildcat lurked there watching the ferret, green eyes narrowed slightly. His sword paw was on the hilt of his katana as he waited silently, and patiently, silently cursing himself out for making noise to alert the said beast.

[Arturo]

[[To answer your question, yes, as long as they're with one of your approved characters. And Arturo is a ferret. ]]

Deciding to distract himself, Arturo began glancing around at the trees, considering how he was going to make himself a new raft or salvage what was left of his old one. A sound from nearby distracted him; ears twitching, he turned in its direction and frowned. He had more important things to deal with than some creature lurking in the bushes, especially if it wanted a fight.

Getting up slowly, he muttered, "I am not in the mood for this." He pulled out his sword and called out, "Whoever you are, quit hiding, I know you're there." Realizing how hostile that sounded, he sighed and spoke in a more reasonable tone. "I'm not looking for a fight. Just come out." His sword remained pointed at the unknown intruder, but with any luck he wouldn't need it.

[Grimm-kun]

Archan Wyslan Aerias bared his yellow teeth at the ferret, green eyes still narrowed. He was not the weighty and burly specimen his brother was, but resembled him like a twin. They had the same pale hazel eyes and gray brown fur.

Seeing that the ferret had a weapon, he drew his own, a short stabbing wakizashi blade. "Then why do you carry a blade?" Wyslan hissed.

[Arturo]

Though slightly surprised to see a wildcat emerging from the foliage, Arturo held his position. To be fair, he had yet to give the creature a chance to explain, but sneaking around was rather suspicious; the ferret presented little threat, anyways. Whatever damage he could do with his sword would probably be no help to him. Seeing that the wildcat had a weapon was reassuring, though; he wasn't a total barbarian like the other one, the cannibal, that Arturo had heard of.

"Then why do you carry a blade?"

Still trying to seem fairly neutral until it was obvious what the cat was up to, Arturo spoke in a level voice. "I said I wasn't looking for one, not that I wasn't prepared." Lowering his sword slightly, he narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?"

[Grimm-kun]

"I am emissary of Grisan Khan, ruler of the Grisan Clan," Wyslan replied evenly. He sheathed his wakizashi to show that he was of no harm. "He looks for someone to hire his blade."

[Arturo]

[[Quick Note: The minimum for a post is four sentences, but do try to write more than that if you can.]]

"I am emissary of Grisan Khan, ruler of the Grisan Clan."

Arturo hesitated for a moment, then put up his sword as Wyslan had. He had no idea who this "Grisan Khan, ruler of the Grisan Clan" could be, but at least it seemed like the wildcat wasn't going to pull anything. The ferret, however, made a mental note to see if he could find out anything about this Grisan Clan after all this was over.

"He looks for someone to hire his blade."

"We have that in common," Arturo said wryly. It had been quite a while since anybeast had paid for his services, and he was certainly in no position to hire some wildcat warlord for anything. Clipping his sword back to his belt, he scrutinized Wyslan and waited for the cat's response.

[Grimm-kun]

>It says try. Sometimes, I just don't feel like posting more than that. I rarely do anything over a paragraph on other sites.

"You are a mercenary?" Wyslan said. He thought of what to say next, and then continued. "Perhaps, my brother may have a place for you. He currently has established his own camp by the quarry. Grisan Khan may have a place for you in his army."

[Arturo]

"You are a mercenary?...Perhaps, my brother may have a place for you. He currently has established his own camp by the quarry. Grisan Khan may have a place for you in his army."

Arturo kept himself from making a face. He was always on the lookout for work, but he had no intention of becoming anybeast's soldier, no matter how desperate he was. Allying with a faction wasn't something he did readily, and he certainly wasn't doing it on the spur of the moment like this. "Uh...thanks, but no thanks. Armies aren't my thing." The ferret found it odd that a wildcat looking for a job was at the head of his own army, but felt that now wasn't the time to ask.

[Grimm-kun]

"Fine," Wyslan continued. "If you wish to join, you know where to look." The wild cat was secretly disappointed that his mission had not worked as well as he thought. Pawing the hilt of his sword, he turned and walked away, cloak swirling behind him. The forest swallowed him up.