A Rare Afternoon (OPEN)

[mirima]

The day was breathless, frozen as if in a dream. With no wind to stir the treetops and no clouds to break the smooth expanse of blue stretching across the sky, it was a rare specimen of a day. After the harsh winter snows and winds, the spring had been a tentative thing, almost shy about warming the world. The Salamandastron hares had not seen enough beautiful days recently, so Elyon Armoros Berith Verdelet - to give the Lieutenant her full appellation - was enjoying this one immensely. In fact, as she stood just a ways away from the mountain, feeling the pleasant coolness of the afternoon, a silly grin worked its way across her face.

It was one of her rare moments of free time, one of the few instances when there was absolutely no one around to distract her from her work. Verdy placed one paw on her belt and one on her sabre hilt, shifting her grip slightly as she turned to face the fortress. Then, with one fluid motion she unsheathed the blade, pointing the tip directly at the top of her mountain home. Each footpaw aligned itself automatically with the other and she sank into a fighting stance. Paws acting out the movements she had learned by rote years ago, her sword hilt was brought up by her ear and the tip balanced on her left paw as her weight shifted backwards. Smoothly, Verdy slid into another pose, lunging deep and thrusting her sabre forwards as if to run it through a foebeast's chest.

As she moved, she could feel her mind clear. Lost in herself, in each minor twist of her paws and in the shift of her tunic as she drew the hilt up towards her chest again, there was nothing else to think about. These moves she was performing - she had perfected them all by rote. No thinking was required to spin the blade in the air, catch it, lunge, parry, slice --

She sped up her movements slowly, drawing her sabre towards the ground just a hair faster, then reverting back to her old tempo before cutting the air just that much more quickly. The time between a feigned parry and a down-slice decreased swiftly, allowing her blade to jump into a vertical strike paired with a lunge. She knew her limits and pushed at them desperately, flying from one pose to the next as fast as she could without losing her form.

By the time Verdy let her sabre blade still its movements she was breathing hard, chest rising and falling. With a small smile she sheathed the blade, bounced forwards onto her toes, and spun around to face the mountain entrance again, ready for lunch and unaware that anyone might have been watching her work or that anyone besides herself might have been outside at all.

[Tracy]

There was another hare enjoying the favorable weather outside of the stronghold that particular afternoon. Lieutenant Jameson Sersea, known as just Jamie to most everyone on the mountain, was not really supposed to be out and about today, at least certainly not jogging down the shoreline as he was. The young officer hadn't truly seen the light of day in weeks, having spent the hefty majority of that time in the infirmary, and the rest of it locked in his room under supervision. For the past week, he'd been able to wander about the mountain and take his meals with the others, but always to be shooed back for his rest.

In mid-winter, Jamie had been on a reconnaissance mission in Mossflower. Everything had been fairly routine, quiet and uneventful, until after his brief visit to Redwall. Halfway back to Salamandastron, he'd quite literally stumbled into a colony of cannibalistic lizards. He hadn't been the only captive either - the ruthless lizards had gotten about ten other innocent victims in the woodlands, locked up awaiting their demise. But at least they were still alive - Jamie couldn't bring himself to venture a guess as to how many lives had already been lost - the scattered bones and signs of struggle amounted to a tragic number.

At this point, the hare's memory was still fuzzy, but some of the other survivors were able to relay a story of their escape with the aid of some other woodlanders. The hare soldier, being the most highly trained and strongest fighter of the lot, led the battle against the murderous reptiles, and they were able to claim a slim, but definitive victory for the good creatures of Mossflower, but Jamie hadn't been conscious to see the outcome.

Next thing Jamie knew, he was waking up in the Salamandastron infirmary, and he'd been made Lieutenant. It was all fine and good for the young soldier - the Long Patrol was truly his love and life and he'd spent every day since childhood working to make something of himself in it; so it was right in his plans to be such a young lieutenant. Not in his plans: being trapped indoors for so long. At first, he hadn't so minded the careful attention of the pretty healer in the infirmary, but even her company wasn't enough after awhile, without sunshine and fresh air.

But now here he was, seated gingerly on the dunes just a brief ways down the beach, regretting the jog he'd just taken down the shoreline. He wouldn't admit to the pain in his leg and abdomen if held at knifepoint. However, Jamie didn't seem so injured to the untrained eye - the bandages were mostly gone, just a few light scars, and his biggest injury to his side was hidden beneath his tunic. The one difference in the handsome officer's appearance was he was certainly thinner than normal. But he still had those irresistible sea-green eyes and winning smile.

He'd dropped his head into his paws for a few moments, feeling more tired than he'd expected to. This was more exercise than he'd had in several weeks and it was shocking to him how much his inactivity had effected his stamina. When he raised his gaze, he saw a short ways down, another officer doing some swordplay. He sat there in silence, watching, feeling a whole new ache as his attention drifted to his own saber, sitting unused up in his room.

When the haremaid finished her little display and turned back in his direction, he sat back on his paws, trying to seem nonchalant as opposed to exhausted and pained. "Afternoon, lieutenant," he said genially. "One might think you're doin' that just to torture me," he added, referring to her routine with the saber.

[mirima]

Verdy started a little bit to hear her fellow officer's voice, but turned and gave him a pleasant smile. "I promise I'm not, old chap," she said pleasantly, winking. "If I bally well had, I would've cut down the blinkin' mountain in the process, wot!" She turned her head to the side slightly and shifted her weight from her left footpaw to her right. Though Verdy might have been trying to make a few hares envious - she sometimes imagined that her brother Koko was watching her whenever she fought, steaming with rage that he couldn't do as well as she - she certainly hadn't meant to make Jamie feel bad. The poor boy had been through enough lately; it was surprising, though pleasant, to see him out and about again.

They were both new Lieutenants, Verdy thought sadly, but perhaps he deserved it more than she did. When weighing honor, valor, bravery - Jamie would come out on top. He had overcome obstacles and proven himself to be truly perilous. And herself? She had played with a sabre blade.

She wasn't going to be self-pitying, however. It annoyed her when hares were - it was as if they had nothing better to think about than their own shortcomings. So Verdy shoved all thoughts of valor to the back of her mind as best she could, focusing on her fellow officer before her. Placing a wide, sandy paw on her sabre blade out of habit, she widened her smile a little. "Lovely day, eh? Glad ye could escape th'infirmary to see it." She crossed her arms, feigning disgust. "The way they bloody well keep perilous beasts locked up like flamin' sacks o'potatoes..."

It occurred to the lieutenant that Koko and the rest of her family would be inside, missing the afternoon's rare beauty. A split second later, it occurred to her - for perhaps the thousandth time since her promotion to Lieutenant - that Koko popped into her head more often despite her effort to push him out. Things had been tense between them lately, too tense for Verdy's liking. Unconsciously she looked around to see if she could spot his disapproving face in a window somewhere, frowning down at her, preparing a reprimand for his daydreamer of a sister.

Verdy's attention snapped back to Jamie. She hadn't noticed her attention drifting, but then again, she never really did. It was a weakness of hers, one that Koko had not failed to point out to her over the years.

[Eckolet]

Taking a stroll on the beach sounded like a wonderful idea to Crissrea Monterien Fonsworthy, who just wanted an escape from the mountain keep. She could hardly stand being cooped up in such a place, but without the proper rank to dismiss herself, the Lance Corporal often found herself answering to the officers without so much as a choice as to yes or no. Plus she was often placed on silly errands with the younger hares, mostly male, and had to put up with the flirting. If she had her choice, she would box their ears until they bled.

But she did not have a choice. And, consequently, Crissy often found herself left with no choice as to what assignment or partner she was stuck with. Today she was excused from any real work having just returned from a jog to the stream to the north. Recon was an important aspect to her life. Though she would rather be doing stints in Mossflower than along the sand dunes around Salamandastron, she could not really have a say so.

Sending sand flying in her haste to escape the mountain, Crissy did not notice the lieutenants until she was nearly on top of them. "Bad form, nearly running down a superior officah," she silently chided herself. Skidding to a halt, she started backing away slowly, ready to run in the opposite direction. These hares, though most of them kind, were the same age as her and both officers, so they might think she was too much of a dullard to be out on her own.

[Tracy]

Jamie smiled a little, readjusting his seated position to accommodate the ache in his side. He managed a straight face though, outwardly appearing fine, only oddly reluctant to move from his seat on the dunes. "Aye," he hedged, glancing out over the sea; calm, sparkling beneath the mid-day sun. "But ah, it needn't be common knowledge I went gallivanting about out of doors, eh?" Someone was sure to give him a verbal lashing, he was just taking bets in his mind on who it would be.

Jamie wasn't that close to Verdy, given the bit of an age gap. Also, in his mind the haremaid was his superior, so someone to whom he had to show respect and deference. It hadn't even occurred to him until he'd greeted her that they were technically equal in terms of the Long Patrol now. Although pleased with the promotion, he still had trouble wrapping his head around it, especially given he'd spent most of his career as a lieutenant laid up in bed. Also, Jamie had a tendency to be a bit of a sycophant with his superiors. He wasn't above taking on a few extra tasks or throwing out a few flattering remarks to help gain favor among the higher officers in the regiment.

He looked to Verdy again, noticing the other lieutenant seemed wrapped up in her thoughts. That didn't bother Jamie as he didn't really have anything to talk about. This was a bit of a novelty for the normally social hare. He was an active, busy, fun-loving sort of creature, and consequently always had something to chatter about. However, this oppressively dull turn his life had taken had left him with nothing to talk about. Unless Verdy wanted to know the exact number of red and brown decorative tiles that lined his bedroom wall or an average number of patients the infirmary saw during the lunch hour, Verdy was left with pretty sorry company.

In the silence, Jamie caught movement from the corner of his eye. Glancing over, he saw another haremaid running in their direction. She seemed in an awful hurry, but came to an abrupt halt as she approached them. He lifted his eyebrows. "Hi Crissy," he greeted, without even the slightest pretense that the haremaid was his inferior. He knew this haremaid a bit better, the two of them close in age, although she'd not grown up at the mountain as he had. He shifted a glance behind Crissy, then back to her. "You runnin' from something?"

[mirima]

Verdy sincerely hoped she wasn't boring her fellow lieutenant, but her mind wandered of its own accord. She had little control over where it went when her attention drifted even though she wished she did. It was just that there were so many things to think about - swordplay, the young recruits (who were still recruits in Verdy's mind until the next wave of them came in), Koko, food - and she did not have enough time to think about them all one after the other. So instead she simply paid a small amount attention to each, flipping back and forth as easily as she could flip her sabre from her right paw to her left. Still, despite all this, she realized she was pretty poor company, and Jamie probably hadn't had many other hares to talk to for weeks. Verdy sighed: it was too bad that, on a fine day like this, he hadn't found someone just a bit more talkative.

"But ah, it needn't be common knowledge I went gallivanting about out of doors, eh?"

Coming to attention smartly, Verdy tossed a quick salute at the other hare. "Yes sah! No one will know a bloody thing. Sah!" Relaxing into her usual lopsided stance, she gave Jamie a wink, hoping it wouldn't be take as flirting. Hellgates, she barely even knew him, not to mention the considerable age difference between them. Suddenly Verdy relaxed: the only person who ever accused her of flirting was her brother Ruatha, and he was not anywhere nearby to see. So her attempt at friendly banter with Jamie was quite all right.

It surprised her, though, that she didn't know as much about the hare in front of her as she thought she did. The difference in their ages had kept them separated considerably, and had Jamie not been a Lieutenant like herself, it was likely Verdy would have unconsciously dismissed him, as she did most of the young Patrollers. But since his rank had brought him into her circle of fellow officers, she made a mental note to find out more about him. Sure, everybeast knew about Jamie, about what he had done, but Verdy, for one, knew nothing else besides that.

Instinctually, the lieutenant turned her head the instant Jamie did, looking to see what it was that had caught his attention. A haremaid, not too much younger than Verdy herself, raced towards them, stopped, and then began to back away immediately, as if she had done something wrong in accidently approaching two officers. As Jamie greeted the new arrival, she nearly laughed. Apparently the girl's name was Crissy. Though she did not know her personally - again, the age gap being too distinctive for Verdy to have encountered her much - she figured that Jamie seemed a decent sort, so anyone he would conversationally say hello to on a beautiful spring afternoon was bound to be the same.

Shifting her weight to the right and turned her head slightly to the side, Verdy smiled and said, "Not so fast, wot. Stop a bit and have a gab, eh? I promise 'tis only Jamie 'ere who bites." There wasn't anything in her voice that wasn't welcoming. "It's too bloody beautiful a day t'be spendin' it gallivantin' about!"

[Eckolet]

Stopping her swift retreat, Crissy re-approached the two other hares, standing firm in the sand as she awaited permission to speak. Realizing they were not going to give her permission, she also realized that this was an informal meeting.

"Unbelievable amount of blinking chores and not a bally private in range to do them, wot!" Crissy replied to Jamie's question. "I ran as swift as I could in the opposite direction." She gave Jamie a rogue sort of smile and looked him up and down. "I though you were still posted to infirmary duty. What are you doing running along the beach?"

She smiled at Verdy as well. Giving her a broad wink, she sidled up to Jamie and wrapped a paw around his neck, putting on her most pathetic haremaid routine.

"Oh, my dear Jameson, will you not nibble on my delicate paw a bit? It has been violated in the worse way by some ruffian privates, who are currently now scrubbing pots in the kitchen. But, alas, my poor heart is still stung from the treatment."

[Tracy]

"Not so fast, wot. Stop a bit and have a gab, eh? I promise 'tis only Jamie 'ere who bites."

The sole harelad of the group looked from Verdy, then turned back to Crissy and playfully clicked his teeth together, ever the flirtatious young soldier. He'd been a little more subdued of late, but the warm, sunny day seemed to be reinvigorating his sportive personality.

"I though you were still posted to infirmary duty. What are you doing running along the beach?"

Jamie threw on a bewildered expression, shaking his head. "Running? Who was running? I certainly wasn't running," he lied, but in an extremely unconvincing manner which was to suggest to Crissy that she needn't go telling others that he had, in fact, tried running. Which was why he was now sitting there, waiting for his leg to stop throbbing before he attempted to walk back up to the mountain.

He was surprised but clearly amused when the haremaid draped herself about his neck. He moved his paw up as if holding her as well, but actually was using his arm as a bit of a barrier to keep Crissy from leaning into his injured side. "Oh, is that so?" Jamie feigned concern in the haremaid's dramatic display. He knew how she loathed the constant flirtations of her male peers in the patrol, which made this whole situation even funnier.

"Did I hear tell you'd had a run to the north stream, m'gel? Tell me about that, wot. In exorbitant detail if y'wouldn't mind. I haven't seen nought past this shoreline for weeks." He made a gesture as an invitation to sit, but only because he was hardly about to stand.

[mirima]

"Unbelievable amount of blinking chores and not a bally private in range to do them, wot!" ... "I ran as swift as I could in the opposite direction."

Verdy covered her mouth with a paw as Crissy commented on the large number of chores recently. The haremaid was right: there always did seem to be fewer privates around when things wanted doing. But, truthfully, she felt she had little room to complain, or even to pretend to complain: dealing with privates was not her strong suit. She probably was just as annoying to them as they were to her. Mentally shrugging the idea aside, however, the lieutenant grinned widely as Jamie played along with her joke, pretending to bite the air.

"Oh, my dear Jameson, will you not nibble on my delicate paw a bit?..."

Verdy could not help but shake her head. "Ach, well, you two lovebirds do what ye wish, but don't bite too hard. We don't want the Lieutenant here back in the h'Infirmary f'any longer than he has to be."

"Did I hear tell you'd had a run to the north stream, m'gel? Tell me about that, wot. In exorbitant detail if y'wouldn't mind. I haven't seen nought past this shoreline for weeks." He made a gesture as an invitation to sit..."

She leaned back on her heels as Jamie invited Crissy to sit down, unconsciously shifting her weight between paws before deciding that she, too, should sit. Verdy settled herself on the ground comfortably and her eyes settled on the two copper bands around her wrist. She frowned, slipped them off, and proceeded to reach down and replace them on her left ankle. After some adjustments, the lieutenant had satisfied both her need to let her mind wander and her need to look good, and she turned back to James and Crissy, attentive.

[Eckolet]

"Did I hear tell you'd had a run to the north stream, m'gel? Tell me about that, wot. In exorbitant detail if y'wouldn't mind. I haven't seen nought past this shoreline for weeks." He made a gesture as an invitation to sit..."

Crissy didn't need the invitation twice. She sat in the sand with a soft plop, disentangling herself from Jamie so that he could sit as well. Her story of her patrol was kind of short, so in true hair fashion, she had to make it as dramatic as possible.

"It was my lovely self and one of the new runners, his name escapes me, and we were on a jolly old walk to the northern stream. But our trip was trouble due to the ever shifting sands around the mountain. That, plus because I'm a fatal beauty and all, this rogue runner would not keep his eyes in the forward correct position. So I says to him 'If you continue running this way, you are going to trip down a sand dune'. He ignored me, and kept right on going, left, right, left, right, trip, fall. The next thing I know, I'm left alone on top of a sand dune staring down at a private's posterior. Oh, he cried that he was greatly injured, and I made that sorry excuse for a runner keep up with me on the rest of the excursion, wot! It's a sorry sort of life for one as unfortunate as me."

With a nod and a smile, she sat back, but Crissy's tale was not over yet.

"We made it to the north stream, sure enough. The thing is swollen twice its normal bally size. You wouldn't believe it if you saw it. Plus I spotted a few vermin on the way back. Did not engage, because I knew that the runner would be hopeless to help me. Instead I scurried back here as fast as my legs could go, left the runner in the dust, and got back yesterday. Made my report, now I am off duty and bound to appreciate this lovely weather out here."

[Tracy]

"Ach, well, you two lovebirds do what ye wish, but don't bite too hard. We don't want the Lieutenant here back in the h'Infirmary f'any longer than he has to be."

Jamie flicked his gaze only momentarily at the other lieutenant, just long enough to express his amusement at her statement. The hare lad was unabashedly flirtatious and hardly one to be embarrassed or teased. The young lieutenant was known to have been involved - if only superficially - with many haremaids at Salamandastron. Since he'd been made an officer in the Long Patrol, he calmed down significantly. Although still flirtatious and playful, he was more careful and had become more noticeable of boundaries. It was still a large part of his character, but his desire to do well in the Patrol and protect his position in it outweighed all else.

He listened to Crissy's tale, an attentive audience. It was hard to explain how wonderful it was to hear someone else talk to him at length. Jamie was used to being extremely social, but he'd been confined to the company of only a few creatures for the last several weeks. Mostly just his mother and little sister, and his stepfather at times. He loved them dearly, truly he did, especially his little sister, who faithfully arrived in the infirmary every day with a new story for him. There was the infirmary keeper, of course. She was a source of entertainment for him a lot of the time; she did not suffer him quietly and that was amusing to Jamie. But there was only so much one beast could take of another, no matter the relationship.

"Aye, 's from all the snow they had in the north earlier," he remarked at her comment on the swollen river. A cadet he'd been training had actually gone with a small patrol to the north and he recalled the story of how the lot of them had to be rescued from the valley of a snowdrift.

"...It's a sorry sort of life for one as unfortunate as me."

Jamie lifted a brow momentarily, glancing to Verdy momentarily, then back to Crissy. "Trade you in a heartbeat, m'gel," he said, a rare indulgent comment he allowed himself.

When she mentioned running into vermin, he felt a brief pang again, the same feeling he got when he watched Verdy with her saber. Quiet for a moment, he surreptitiously stretched his leg out, testing how it felt. Gingerly, he stood, brushing the sand from himself. He'd been good about hiding his pain until now, but his grimace at putting weight back on his leg was impossible to disguise. Deciding to go jogging had been one of his poorer decisions, and not only was he going paying for it now, but would later when he got an earful from the infirmary keeper.

Putting the brunt of his weight on his good leg, he held his paws down, an offering to help the other two up. "Well, as lovely as the day and company are, I need some water and a bite to eat," and some medical attention. "Don't let me rush either o' you in, but I'll we walking back now... ah, slowly."

[Tulian Solum]

A certain ferret had come to a decision about the dunes; he didn't like them.

He didn't like how they just stretched on, or the fact that the mountain he had been trying to reach all day seemed the same distance away as it always has been, or the slow tiring climb up to the top of one, or the heat.

Breathing deeply he sat down on the top of a dune, setting his Halberd aside as he slung his backpack beside it, laying on his back. Taking his helm he sighed and rested it over his head backwards to shield him from the scorching sun. Kicking off his boots he let his footpaws sink into the sand a bit, smiling a little at the cool sand underneath the top layer.

Although he thought originally he would lay down until he got his breath back he soon found that he didn't really want to get up, the sand up here seemed much softer then the ones before it. Yawning he stretched a bit, tilting his helmet lower to offer some shade while still keeping his mouth free for breathing as he folded his paws behind his head.

May aswell get some rest, its bound to be cooler at night when he could make it the rest of the way. Yawning again he let his eyes close, soon snoozing on the dune top.

But the sun was shining brightly off his helmet, looking almost like a beacon in the sea of sand to those at the mountain.

(Hope thats alright guys )

[mirima]

"We made it to the north stream, sure enough. ... Plus I spotted a few vermin on the way back..."

Verdy frowned at this, shifted her legs slightly beneath her, and let one paw play over the hilt of her saber. Vermin - they made her legs ache as if she had just stopped to rest after a three-day march. They made her breath catch in her throat and - she could have sworn this was true - the pommel of her blade jump into paw. Then, after that reaction was over, as it was now, she let go of the saber and relaxed her expression. Evil made her heart jump; the thought of killing stilled it.

She felt her attention drift a little, though, and tried to contain it as she contemplated whether or not she could jump up onto her feet without using her paws. Probably. Actually, almost certainly. It was easy. But -- better not to embarrass herself in front of the other Lieutenant. That would be a bad idea.

He'd been good about hiding his pain until now, but his grimace at putting weight back on his leg was impossible to disguise.... "Don't let me rush either o' you in, but I'll we walking back now... ah, slowly."

After all her years in the Long Patrol, Verdy knew when somebeast was hurting. Immediately she stood - not jumping up with no paws as she had considered, but a slow, thoughtful rise up from the ground. Trying not to let on the fact that she had seen his pained grimace, the lieutenant said quickly, "And I'm getting too bloody hungry t'stand out here much longer. What about you, Crissy, eh? Want t'get some grub?" She looked meaningfully at the younger hare, then took a few steps towards the mountain.

"Last one there's a rotten--" A flash of sunlight from the top of a dune caught her eye.

Her legs ached; her breath caught; her paw jumped to her saber - and then Verdy settled back into her typical lopsided stance, staring straight ahead at the mountain as if thinking about whether Chef would serve tart or pasties today - and, if so, which one she would have. If she had truly been thinking about that, she would have grinned, decided she would just each as much of both as she could, and went right on into the mountain.

But that wasn't what she was thinking about at all. There were vermin on the dunes; perhaps one, perhaps many. However, they were far too close for it to be a good idea to just leave them there. At the very least someone should investigate; the vermin were so close it wouldn't take too long to get there and back. She reckoned she could do it and no one would miss her. The only trick was getting away from her company.

Suddenly, she whipped around and looked Jamie up and down. He needs t'go inside, m'gel, she told herself.

Verdy made herself smile. "Y'know what, you two? Go on ahead. I...left somethin' over where I was practicin'. A bracelet. Must get it, and all that, wot wot!"

Hellgates, I'm a bloody terrible liar.

[Eckolet]

Crissy smiled as Jamie offered to trade her spots. "Wish it could be so, but alas, it is not to be." She stood as he did and offered her paw, but something caught her attention, just as it did Verdy's. That blinking light in the sand dunes. It looked to be metal. Maybe those vermin she had spotted followed them back towards the mountain. Her paw started to stray towards her sword, but she thought better of it.

Now was not the time to go chasing after vermin. But her attention was taken once more when Verdy mentioned food. She shook her head lightly, wanting to go up and investigate. It was...unusual that someone would camp out there and not come closer unless they were foebeast. Then, maybe she should go back and warn someone.

This was a horrible predicament to be in. Then, to top it all off, there was Verdy saying that they should go on. That she had forgotten something. The lie lay thick in the air. Surely Jamie would catch on. He hadn't seen the glint in the dunes, but she had. And this was too much for her. She shook her head at Verdy.

"You've spent enough time out here. Take this one back. I'll find your lost jewelry, wot." With that, she started off in the direction of the dunes, not at all going in the direction that Verdy had been practicing in.

[Eckolet]

(Sorry for the second post, I figured this would be a good place to bring in my ermine as well.)

Unbeknownst to the ferret, a rough looking creature followed him. She was lean, and blended into the whitish-brown sand with ease. Her pelt was a ragged white and brown color, effectively camouflaging her into the dunes. Her tunic was a sandy color as well, and her belt held many pouches and vials in it.

The female ermine was having a much better time at traveling than the poor ferret who stopped below her. She had been planning on killing and eating this pathetic specimen, but, as time passed, she had spotted a pair of hares dashing off south, and decided to follow. Hare meat was often full of muscle, which was less disgusting than the fatty meat she had been living off of in the northern woods. Some creatures were just too lazy to do basic exercise.

When the ferret stopped, the ermine had stopped as well. She could see the mountain fortress off in the distance, since she was on a higher dune, and she also noticed the ferrets helm glinting in the sunlight. If she was lucky, whoever lived at that mountain would come and investigate. Maybe they would take her for a good person and let her in. It wasn't unheard of. So long as she played her part correctly.

So, Sinflora Dreadblade sat at the top of the dune, watching and waiting for someone to come. Little did she know, someone had already spotted the glint of the helm, and maybe wouldn't be too long in joining her.

[Tracy]

With his back turned from the lounging ferret, Jamie had indeed missed the telling glint of sunlight. What he didn't miss was the flashes of recognition across the haremaids' faces. He turned his head curiously but saw nothing. Mystified, he was about to ask, when Verdy sputtered out an atrocious excuse.

"Y'know what, you two? Go on ahead. I...left somethin' over where I was practicin'. A bracelet. Must get it, and all that, wot wot!"

The young lieutenant stared at her in disbelief. It was one thing to not want Jamie involved; given his circumstances, it was even understandable. Flat-out lying to him was another thing entirely. His countenance darkened, wondering how best to relay to the other lieutenant that he didn't much appreciate the treatment when, to his surprise, Crissy jumped right into the little charade.

He watched the younger haremaid go flitting off across the dunes before he returned his attention to Verdy, quiet for a moment, as if offering her the chance to explain the situation. Finally, he spoke carefully, calmly. "I'm unarmed, I can barely walk without pain shooting up an' down my side. I'm hardly about t'go off on some adventure down the dunes. The least the two o' you could go is give me the courtesy o' sayin' you saw somethin'." His tone wasn't really angry, more exasperated and disappointed.

Jamie's sea-colored eyes looked over to the departing haremaid again, trying again to see what they saw, but still saw nothing. He made kind of a shooing motion to Verdy, sighing. "Go on if y'must. Not like I could follow even if I wanted." Although more than frustrated with his predicament, he didn't seem self-pitying in his tone; just practical.

[mirima]

"You've spent enough time out here. Take this one back. I'll find your lost jewelry, wot."

Verdy bit her lip and tried desperately not to say anything. It took all of her force of will not to shout after the younger haremaid about insubordination and disobeying an order from an older officer. She let her jaw set, however, and ground her foot a little into the ground in annoyance. When she did that she knew she looked rather fierce -- her fairly masculine features made it seem as if she was always angry even when she really wasn't -- but didn't care. It was probably a good thing in this situation, anyways. Maybe if Crissy got scared she would come running back.

The way she looked aside, though, Verdy really was rather annoyed. The way she saw it, even an unstated order was to be obeyed without question -- if anything, they were the ones never to be disregarded. What if you were trapped in enemy territory and your superior officer couldn't say anything for fear of being detected or overheard? An order written slyly in subtext would no doubt be crucial to your survival.

Pausing in her little mental tirade against headstrong young hares, Verdy realized she was left with Jamie. He had almost certainly seen through her awful lie -- looking at his face, now, she could tell he had -- and now she had to deal with the repercussions. Making a mental note to herself to use this incident as evidence if she ever had to argue for why truth was better than lies -- even white lies -- the lieutenant turned and braced herself from a reprimand.

"I'm unarmed, I can barely walk without pain shooting up an' down my side. I'm hardly about t'go off on some adventure down the dunes. The least the two o' you could go is give me the courtesy o' sayin' you saw somethin'."

She had winced slightly as Jamie started talking but now relaxed. He wasn't going to yell at her for the lie. He was disappointed, though, and that was almost worse. Verdy glared at the ground as if it had caused all of this, then squared her shoulders and frowned. "There's a difference b'tween -- no, wait, Jamie." It was hard to resist a glance over her shoulder at the receding haremaid, so she didn't. Crissy was certainly a fast runner.

Being completely honest this time, Verdy tried again. "Yer a perilous beast, Jameson. And perilous beasts like perilous situations. Ye have t'understand, I don't know you all that well. But if I were you, sirrah, I'd be off to that dune in less time than it takes t'eat one of Chef's blueberry scones or t'twitch a whisker, even if it killed me. Th'only reason I'm still here is b'cause..." She tried to think of a suitable reason, covering the awkward pause with a glance over her shoulder.

There wasn't really any reason that she was still there, not that she could tell Jamie. If he hadn't been there she would have been off after Crissy like an arrow. The only reason she had paused was because she had hoped she could maintain the semblance of not having seen anything. Now that that idea had failed, guilt was the sole thing that rooted her feet to the ground.

She finished with a sigh, deciding to keep to her usually strict rule of being completely candid. "...b'cause I don't like lying, I don't know why I thought I could get away wit it, an' I feel guilty 'bout the whole thing. Fine? Fine."

"Go on if y'must. Not like I could follow even if I wanted."

Verdy looked Jamie in the eyes. "Can ye just... not do that? I won't go, not now." Suddenly, she perked up and struck an dramatic pose where she was standing, annoyance at Crissy already left far behind her and her flighty attention. "Anyways, ye've earned yourself a royal escort, sirrah! Now that I'm not off t'kill a bunch of bloody vermin, what is on the menu for t'day? Lunch? Tea, afterwards? Sounds delicious. But if I'm not very much mistaken, I really did leave a bracelet back where I was practicin'." One last time, she cast a glance over her shoulder at the dunes. She really wished she could go too -- or that she could think of some way to take Jamie with her -- but there was no way she was about to leave him here alone to chase some vermin.

[Tulian Solum]

Completely unaware of all the trouble he was inadvertently causing the ferret was happily snoring away on the dune top. The shape of his Sallet helm magnifying the sound and sending it out across the dune. A beast may wonder how he could sleep with that much noise, but a lifetime spent in a barracks with fighters soon made you all but immune to the sound of snoring.

A dream soon filtered into his mind as he lay on the dune. But it was one he despised having. It was the duel between his old captain, playing over and over in his mind in slow motion. He often thought this was his minds way of taunting him, slowing it down to point out all the times he had made a mistake, been to slow, not struck when their was a opening. Although he had used everything he had been taught, he didn’t think he could have done any better. And he had a long time to think over why he failed. He often thought it was because of the stakes. He would loose his love and his adopted daughter if he couldn’t achieve victory in this bout. Because he was so worried about what would happen if he failed he believed he wasn’t fully focused on the fight and that caused his defeat.

But whatever the reason every time he would loose, the sharp pain in his jaw from the metal reinforced fist as it slid under his helmet to slam into his chin. The bright light as his helm was thrown from his head, and the warm feeling of his own blood from the strike. Again and again his mind played its cruel games on him, seeming with no end. But for some reason each successive time his helm was throw off the light seemed to be getting brighter…

Shifting a little on the dune the ferrets head tilted back a bit to allow just a small ray of sunshine to go over his face. Wrinkling his nose at the sun he rolled over to get a mouth full of sand. Rising up on all fours he ughed loudly and spit out as much as the sand as he could. Pulling a face he moved over to his armor filled backpack to get his canteen. But his paw froze just before he touched it as he could see some beasts footpaws under the edge of his helm.

Not daring to move his eyes darted under the helm to his halberd but it was even further then his backpack and if this creature meant him harm they would be able to strike long before he could reach it. The only chance he had of defending himself if he needed to would be his paws, or his short sword attached to his backpack if he was quick enough. He inwardly cursed himself for sleeping with his helm on backwards, if he had been wearing it properly he could see the creature that stood before him now. But for now he stayed as still as he could, keeping an eye on the footpaws and waiting for the owner of them to make a move or speak.

Although he was originally reaching for his canteen it may look to others like he was reaching for his short sword...

(Can be whoever wants to meet him first I don’t mind )

[Grath]

[[Hope you don't mind?]]

Eastpaw looked down at the ferret sprawled across the dunes, the bright May sun glinting off his armor. The hare was in great doubt as to whether the vermin creature posed any threat whatsoever, and so made no move to attack, even when it became obvious the creature was awake. He’d come to investigate, always the curious galloper, when he’d seen the glinting light on his way down the beach from the north. Unlike his superiors, he hadn’t automatically assumed the source was vermin, though in this case that assumption would be true.

What he did worry about was the creature lurking about on a dune top somewhat to his right and slightly behind him, about fifty paces away. He didn’t have a clear idea on what the creature was, as even his sharp eyes had had a hard time picking it out, but his every instinct cried “Danger”. Perhaps it was the camouflage?

He scratched an ear, standing easily, relaxed, a few feet from the ferret, and waited for the other hares to arrive.


-----


“JAMESON SERSEA.” What appeared over the closest dune was something no sane hare wanted to see-- an angry healer. Healers were up there on the list of creatures you tried your best not to anger-- right next to cooks. Wearing her usual sensible green tunic, she carried something unexpected: her bow and quiver.

She reached the pair, giving Lieutenant Verdy a ‘Thank you very much I’ll take it from here’ look. She turned her brown eyes on Jameson Sersea, her expression severe. “I suppose you thought this was a good idea?” She asked with some asperity.

[Tracy]

Jamie offered Verdy a small smile; at least she looked repentant for having lied to him, and that's all he'd really wanted. He hadn't in the least meant to guilt the other lieutenant into staying. "It's quite all right lieutenant, mayhap it's better if'n you DO follow after Crissy. There might be-"

"JAMESON SERSEA."

The hare cringed and slowly turned, knowing he would see the infirmary keeper rounding on him. What he didn't expect to see was the non-regiment hare armed. Jamie's eyes swept from the bow then up to Roseleaf, bewildered. He held his paws up as if in surrender - he'd been witness to what a crack shot the haremaid really was. "What, did y'come out here to shoot me?" he started in the baffled tone, although he'd meant it as a joke, hopefully to soften the blow of her coming verbal tirade.

"I suppose you thought this was a good idea?"

At that remark, Jamie let his arms fall back to his side. He shot the haremaid a doleful look. "Definitely not, m'gel. But you try bein' bedridden for weeks on end an' see how many good ideas you come up with, wot." He wondered if it would win her sympathy if he told her he was paying for it most painfully now, but he figured she would just use it against him, so he kept quiet.

But he needn't say anything for Roseleaf to see it. Although the initial pain of pulling himself to his footpaws had subsided, he was still favoring his injured leg as he stood there, resting his weight on his good side. "Was jus' headed in for a bite t'eat though, so no need to go draggin' me in."