~A Salty, New, Face~

[Skipper of Sea Otters]

"Two days my rudder...." said the irritated sea otter. The route that was supposed to take him two days, had taken him eight. "Tis' tha' last time I take directions from a owl..." He added trudging along the dusty path that was supposed to lead to Redwall Abbey. His sea coat that was usually clean from from a good dip in the sea water, was now coated with dust from his long journey. Still making a point not to wash it, the blood stains on it were still visible. Nothing a good shaking wont get rid of, the dust that is.
He stopped on the road curling his lips in a defiant sneer. He turned to the tree next to him, digging his claws into the bark he made his way up. At quite a good pace for an otter to be climbing. Now at the top he looked around. Nothing to the south...nor the west...But wait! Turing to the North in clear view stood the Bell tower of what seemed to a building with red, stone! Finally there was hope! loosing his balance(which shocked even him), he fell leaned backward falling from the tree hitting every limb in his path. After hitting the ground, he picked himself up and sprinted forward in the direction he saw the building.
Finally, after about 5 minuets of running he made his way to the clearing. He was right! There it stood! the Gates of Redwall Abbey...

"Hullo there! Anybeast there?" He said tossing a rock over the wall.


((Any comments How well it was?...Im trying to improve my RPing a bit))

[Lavender]

OOC: Not bad, Irvine. =) I'm flexing my RPing muscles with Lavender again, so this could be a little rusty.

It was a fine fall day in Mossflower Woods, the sun shining steadily overhead, not hidden behind grey clouds, as it had been the previous week. The wind had a bite of cold in it as it stirred through the treetops and whistled its way down to Redwall Abbey. The cold was enough to make a beast shiver when the wind passed by, but then, somebeasts enjoyed that shiver. It meant winter was coming.

Lavender was just one of those beasts. The ottermaid had ventured out of the Abbey building early that morning, taking her breakfast of a single blueberry scone with her. Not many beasts were out in the grounds, preferring the crackling fires indoors. But it wasn't that cold yet. At least, not to Lavender.

She sat now in her favorite spot on the wall, just a foot or so away from where the main gate was. Her back was partly propped against one of the redstone battlements. Even when the wind sang its cold way by her, the ottermaid barely felt its chill. The sun warmed the sandstone behind her back, keeping her relatively warm herself. A book lay open on her bent knees, and she was reading quietly, ignoring everything else around her.

At least, until something small, grey and hard soared past her side vision, causing Lavender to jump slightly as she came out of her book and back to the real world. Whatever it was thumped to the grass below, and was followed by what sounded like a male voice, calling,

"Hullo there! Anybeast there?"

Lavender closed her book, marking her place with a finger as she scrambled up carefully, and peered over the wall. The voice belonged to a male otter, who had a rather annoyed expression on his face. What the annoyance was for, Lavender didn't know. He had traveled far, it seemed, for his coat was covered with dust and he looked a little tired. There were other, darker markings on his coat which Lavender couldn't quite make out. Perhaps they were mud stains.

"Hello!" she called down to the otter, waving a paw in greeting, before realizing it was the one holding the book. She lowered it, a little abashedly. "I'll be right down."

She quickly headed across the wall and down the steps, landing lightly in the grass, which felt cold to her bare paws. She headed back towards where she had been sitting, and the main gate.

OOC: Sorry I ended my post like this, but I forget since I haven't RPed in Redwall Abbey in awhile, or read any Redwall books in awhile: do I have to open the main gate, or is there a smaller gate by the main gate I can open? xP

[Skipper of Sea Otters]

((Good enough id say.))

The otter sigh in relief walking over to the main gate. "This is Redwall isn't it?!?" shouted the otter over the wall. "Iv been walking for days and I dun' wanna waste any time at tha' wrong place ya' see..." he said kicking a rock near his paws in an attempt to burn time.

[Koenig]

As the otter Chieftain awaited his entrance into the Abbey, he was soon to be joined, for another otter had just rounded the northwest corner of the great wall, aged from the look of his light coat and grizzled whiskers. The elderbeast seemed preoccupied with a small pamphlet in his paws, and it wasn't until several paces away he acknowledged the presence of the other before him with a friendly beam.

"'Ullo, there, mate!" he greeted, snatching a pair of spectacles from his nose and tucking them into his vest pocket, "'Ow does the day find ye?"

[Skipper of Sea Otters]

The Otter twitched in surprise before turning around, gritting his teeth. "I guess it found me well Mate." he said taking his paw of his dagger after seeing it was another otter. His spine stiffened as he offered a paw. "Skipper of Sea otters, m' mate, Ye can either can call me Skip fer' short if ya like. Up ta you...I have many names....Some I wish I had more then others...."

[Koenig]

Arlis nodded understandably at the Skipper and shook the other's paw. His eyes focused on the warrior's bloody coat briefly before meeting his gaze again.

"I believe such a noble title as Skipper should be recognized, mate, so Skip it is!" He glanced up at the sandstone wall towering above them. "Well, would ye 'appen t'know what this place is called, or 'ow we get in fer that matter?"

[Skipper of Sea Otters]

"Well...I like history an' such and iv read here and there...and...it resemble a place they call Redwall. Im hopin' thats what it is anyway." he said scratching the back of his neck. He took his overcoat off shaking the dust off of it revealing more of the blood and deepening the color, also revealing his mass amount of scars he was covered in. He put his coat back on re-situating it to a point he would feel comfortable again. "I 'aint felt the Sea-spray in days...." he said almost subconsciously to himself forgetting he was with company.

[Koenig]

Arlis's head cocked to the side, partly in awe of the sea otter's scars, and also at the Skipper's remark. "A sea-farin' beast, eh?" he asked, in an effort to keep the conversation flowing. "Can't say the last time I've felt the kiss o' the ocean, since that'd be lyin'. What brings ye all the way t'Redwall? Is it th'food that calls ye, or the 'ospitality?"

[Skipper of Sea Otters]

" Haha! Oh aye! Tha' seas m' 'ome! Taint no better place..." he said with a laugh before answering the other question. "Well mate from what I've read....both! I kinda' just wanna know more 'bout tha' place ya' see? I can travel the sea in days knowin' where im goin' ya sea...but If i dont know t wots on tha' land...I might get a bit lost.... heh'. Wot about you mate? Where comin' from 'eh?"

[Koenig]

"Oh, around," the elder answered nonchalantly, "Consider me a vagrant entertainer, if ye will. 'Aven't really settled on a 'ome, an' I'm not really seekin' t'be anywhere, jus' stoppin' at whatever 'appens t'be in front o' me."

He wrapped his knuckles on the oak gate, admiring the endurance of the ancient wood that must've withstood countless assaults in its days.

"I never 'ave been to a place such as this, though. I'd sure like t'see what's inside..."

((Lavender needs to come soon, I'm running out of things to say XD; ))

[Lavender]

OOC: Sorry, 'm finally here. =)

"This is Redwall isn't it?!? Iv been walking for days and I dun' wanna waste any time at tha' wrong place ya' see..."

Lavender heard the shout as she approached the main gate, and it pulled her mind back to the present, and away from concentrating on how good the cool grass felt as she walked over it with her bare footpaws. This otter seemed a tad bit impatient, Lavender thought to herself, as she called back a reply, hoping her voice was pitched loud enough to be heard by the otter.

"Yes, this is Redwall Abbey."

She said no more, as she had reached the main gate, and began to fumble with the huge bar that locked the main gate. It wasn't really meant to be handled by one beast, but there wasn't anybeast else around, so Lavender had to handle it, or otherwise, the new otter would be stuck out on the path for quite some time.

"'Ullo, there, mate! 'Ow does the day find ye?"

Lavender had managed to halfway lift the bar when she heard this greeting from the other side of the gate, in a different voice than the otter she had spoken to. Yet another traveler had appeared outside Redwall, it seemed. What an odd coincidence, Lavender mused to herself as she wrestled with the bar, managing to get it up. She started to drag it off to the left side, so she could open the gate.

She thought she heard something about "Skipper of sea otters" as she dropped the bar with a thud on the grass, and straightened, brushing her lavender colored shirt off. She had just finished settling her clothes back, where they had been rumpled by the heavy gate bar, when there came a rap on the gate. That must be the new arrival, since the other otter had known she was coming.

Lavender pulled open the gate, her eyes quickly taking in the sight of the two otters, waiting to be admitted to Redwall.

"Welcome to Redwall Abbey," Lavender said, smiling as she stood back, to allow them room to enter.

[Skipper of Sea Otters]

The Skipper turned his attention towards the badger. "Ah! G'day to ya' mate! Skipper of Sea Otters 'atcha service. So this is Redwall....You know how long I've been traveling ta' get here?...Listen ta' mah' words miss...Dont take directions from feather flappin' owls...." he said with a sneer. He then offered a paw out with a wide grin showing his razor teeth, The same teeth that had sometimes gained him the pleasure of wining a battles without fighting. "And how might you be doin m'lady " he said taking her paw with a polite tone, one they had not yet heard from him.

[Lavender]

OOC: Lavender's an otter, not a badger, Irvine. =) Sorry it's taken me awhile to get to this. And sorry for the shortness and quality, I didn't have much to work with.

"Ah! G'day to ya' mate! Skipper of Sea Otters 'atcha service. So this is Redwall....You know how long I've been traveling ta' get here?...Listen ta' mah' words miss...Dont take directions from feather flappin' owls...."

"I shall try not to," Lavender said, smiling with some amusement at the otter's words.

She knew with experience how long it could take a beast to reach Redwall, and she knew that he must be quite tired, and possibly hungry as well, especially if he had traveled all the way from the sea coast, which was likely, his being Skipper of Sea Otters and all. Well, he had certainly come to the right place, and at the right time. Lunch time was just around the corner, and she knew it would be quite a spread today, as the cooks were using up the last of the summer stores. Lavender directed her smile at the other otter waiting admittance to Redwall as well, intending to speak to him, but her attention was drawn away from the other creature, as the Skipper of Sea Otters put out his paw.

"And how might you be doin m'lady. "

Lavender's smile widened slighlty she took his paw and shook it in return, feeling amused yet again by the otter's words. At least he had manners, though.

"I'm quite fine, thank you," she said, and as she drew her paw away from his, she stepped further back from the gate and motioned with an arm that they should come inside the grounds. "My name's Lavender."

[Skipper of Sea Otters]

((....Well...I like badger better..... lol the picture had the face of a badger but the body of an otter...kinda threw me off...lol srry...anywho this changes things a bit!))


"Ah! A beautiful name miss. Wonderful...just wonderful..." he said staring off into no-where. He had never seen an otter such as her. He seemed almost in a trance looking at her and smiling and sighing from time to time. Suddenly without warning his stomach growled waking him from the trance. Realizing what he had been doing, his fur had a slight red hue underneath it. "Oh uh...Aye...I must be hungry. Im the Skipper of the Sea. Only my closest friends can call me Irvine....but...eh...you can call me Irvine anyway...If ya want." he said rubbing the fur on the back of his neck still quite embarrassed.




*Edited*

[Koenig]

Arlis, who had been staring in awe at the vast expanse and beauty of the Abbey grounds, was also brought back to attention by the Skipper's rumbling stomach. His eyes settled on the young ottermaid before them, and he bowed graciously toward her, one paw resting behind him as the other offered to take hers.

"It is both a pleasure and an honor to meet you, Miss Lavender," the greyback spoke distinctly, losing his riverdog drawl, "And even greater to be welcomed into such a splendid sanctuary as this! My name is Arlis Openshaw, but please, do call me Arlis. It makes me sound younger."

[Lavender]

OOC: A friend drew that picture awhile ago... I suppose it does slightly look like the head of a badger... never noticed that before... >.> Anyway.

"Ah! A beautiful name miss. Wonderful...just wonderful..."

"Thank you," Lavender said, a little nonplussed by the Skipper's actions, and not knowing exactly what to say in response.

She felt a little uncomfortable, as the otter seemed to stare off into mid-air, smiling at nothing. Then, the loud grating sound of his stomach growling broke his trance and he straightened, seeming a little embarassed.

"Oh uh...Aye...I must be hungry. Im the Skipper of the Sea. Only my closest friends can call me Irvine....but...eh...you can call me Irvine anyway...If ya want."

He was embarassed, by the way he was rubbing at the back of his neck with his paw. Lavender had always been hopeless on picking up on the advances made by males of her species -- her younger sisters had long given up on her on that subject. Perhaps he ate something strange on his journey here, Lavender mused to herself. That must be the excuse for his rather odd behavior.

"Well, you've come to the right place," said Lavender as she started toward the bar, intending to replace it on the gates. "Redwall's known far and wide for its delectable food. The Friar'll soon set your stomach to rights."

She hadn't reached the bar before the other traveler had stepped forward and bowed, holding out a paw in a rather gracious manner. Lavender raised her eyebrows slightly, a little put off by this turn of events. It was only polite to accept the otter's paw and kind words, though, so she did.

"It is both a pleasure and an honor to meet you, Miss Lavender. And even greater to be welcomed into such a splendid sanctuary as this! My name is Arlis Openshaw, but please, do call me Arlis. It makes me sound younger."

"Arlis it is then," Lavender said, smiling. "Now, once I get the gates closed, we can go and find you all something to eat and a place to rest."

[Skipper of Sea Otters]

The Otter's stomach growled louder. It began to ache from pain, not just hunger. "Aye...right place...gah!...Will you pardon me miss?" he said as he began to run off. After a few second he placed his paws over his mouth as if holding somthing in. He weaved behind a tree and after a minute of two stepped back out holding his stomach and wiping his mouth. He walked over to the others and stood with his back facing the wall. "Ya' have ta' excuse mah' manners miss...I-I dont feel...well..." he said. He seemed to collapse backward, hitting his head on the wall and passing out.

[Skipper of Sea Otters]

((Actually I think id rather hit the ground. Kinda his style lol))