Driftwood [Open]

[Treble Tiderunner]

Seasand jogged swiftly down the tide line, chivying the two young hares behind her.

"Step oot faster there, mah wee bairns. We 'ave far t'go t'day." She turned around, running backwards.

"I say, sarge ol'gel, wot are we doin'?" Southpaw said, picking up his pace.

"Didna ye hear, Southpaw m'chap, we're goin' t'find driftwuid." His brother, Eastpaw, imitated the sergeant's northern drawl.

[Shor]

The weather was unusually sunny. The cloudless, blue sky hung high over the Western Sea, showing no signs of coming stormy weather. Upon the vast expanse of the sea, sailed a finely crafted ship. Upon the vessel, laying with his back against the deck, was a solitary squirrel.

Rivertinn stared blankly at the blue sky, the occasional seagull soaring from one horizon to the other. There was no telling how long he had been laying there. A day and a half at the least.

"Why d'you think the sky is so blue?"

"I don't know. It always has been."

"And where do clouds come from?"

"The sky, of course."

"...plausible, but why do they rain?"

"I don't know..."

"...Maybe they're made of water..."

"...right..."

"Hey! Don't be sarcastic with me!"

"I can be sarcastic if I want to! I argue by my rules!"

"What about my rules?"

"Your rules are my rules."

"Those beasts were right, y'know: You're insane."

"No, they said that we are half-insane. I'm the sane half."

"Oh, give it a rest!"

After a long moment of silence, Rivertinn stood, and walked a few meters before stooping to pick up a charcoal stick, and a piece of paper. He wrote:

"A solitary traveler can become bored ofttimes, so I occasionally talk to myself to pass the time. Today, I decided to talk back. This resulted in an argument between myself, and I won. I was angry, so I walked off. Next time, I shouldn't drive myself away like that again."

He chuckled.

It was then that something came into view from behind a particularly column-like, nearby stone that protruded from the waters -- something he hadn't noticed at first. It was somebeast walking or running along the shoreline -- Rivertinn had learned to always keep land in sight when sailing along a coastline for any potential circumstances that presented themselves, circumstances that seemed to follow him almost as closely as his reputation. It was difficult to discern from this distance who it was, how quickly it was moving, or even what it looked like. Rivertinn had decided that he must be getting close to Salamandastron; mayhap this creature lived near the great fire mountain. With this thought in mind, the squirrel began turning the boat toward the shore.

((Sorry, my post was a bit unclear. Basically, he's just sailing toward your characters.))

[Treble Tiderunner]

"Didna ye hear, Southpaw m'chap, we're goin' t'find driftwuid."

"Driftwuid?" Southpaw mouthed the word. "Why would we need flippin' driftwood, wot?"

"Be quiet, move." Seasand cuffed both of the two young ones over the ears. She had run back unnoticed to run behind the two. "Give yon sled t'me." She tugged the rope from Eastpaw's paws.

"Sarg'nt Seasand, marm!" Southpaw called from where he was running ahead. Seasand turned, following his paw as he pointed west, at a ship coming in toward land.

"Eastpaw!" She called. "Report!"

Eastpaw placed a paw over his eyes, squinting. "One crew member visible, a squirrel by t'look of the tail."

Seasand nodded, considering a short while, then cupped her paws around her mouth.

"Halloo there!" She bellowed.

[Shor]

"Hallooo there," echoed Rivertinn. Well, now that he had engaged in dialogue with whoeveritwas, he decided it was time to cease conversing with himself. Can't have these beasts thinking him mad.

As he drew closer, he identified them as hares -- three of them, were he not mistaken. Good, hares. No doubt, they were from, or at least knew of Salamandastron. The squirrel waited 'til he thought himself close enough to ask, or rather, shout, "D'you know of Salamandastron?" It was a silly question, really, but given that he knew nothing of the hares other than that was what they were, one couldn't be certain that they were Salamandastronians. . . Was that really a word?. . .

[Brooke]

"One crew member visible, a squirrel by t'look of the tail."

"Halloo there!" bellowed Seasand.

"Sarge, you trying to blow me blinkin' bonce off." Southpaw said as she yelled right by his ear.

"D'you know of Salamandastron?" yelled the squirrel.

"Do we blinkin' know of blinkin' Salamandastron, the jolly mountain's just up the beach a ways, wot wot." yelled Southpaw. "Asking three hares if they know 'bout the blinkin' mountain."