Docking the Ship

[Stray]

Kester stood on the bow of the ship, pleased to see that his destination towered right before him. It was too dark to fully appreciate the sight of land, but Kester did not mind, he'd soon be off the wretched ship which he rode. He was a land beast at heart, imagining himself walking back North after his mission was complete. A good long walk was much better than being at the mercy of the sea.

A rather sulky sea rat sat tied to one of the ship's masts. He had been captured by Kester's clan, and was now forced to lead Kester to the place called Redwall. Little did he know that the fox did not intend on taking him the whole way.

Kester looked back to the rat with his one eye, a momentary glance at his companion steering the ship. "Sae this iz the plac Rat? Ah suppos Redwahl iz somewher insid?" He steped from bow, walking up to the sea rat. Taking a small cutting blade he freed the rat in a matter of seconds.

Standing up next to his captor the rat seemed very small compared to the fox. He was at the point where he'd do anything for Kester, that way there was no more pain involved. He'd become very obedient, but Kester was not satisfied. "Yes, that's the mountain I told you about, the badger mountain Salamandstron. Travel east till you come upon a dirt road, then take the road south to Redwall. That's where your sword awaits."

"Thank ye ma friend" Kester said, putting his arm over the rat's shoulder as he lead him to the rail of the ship. "Sadlie ah can't be Keepin ye alive. Can't hav ye runnin fer it, or blowin mon cover." Pulling out his blade, he glaired at the sea rat. "Any Lat Words?"

"Bu..but sir I did everything you said, you know where the sword is. I won't betray you I promise, don't kill me!" he pleaded to the fox in a hopeless effort to save his hide.

"Wheesht!" he quieted the rat by shoving the cutting knife into the rat's chest. Pushing the rat from the vessel, he turned to face his companion. "Steer the ship intae the land, we wull find Redwahl on oor own"

The fox at the wheel suddenly became pale faced as though he just realized something. He stood in a bit of a nervous shake. "Capn ye jus Killd the only beast wha knew how to stop the ship! Ah don know how to land er!"

Kester smiled, it gave him a good enough excuse to walk home when everything was finished in these lands. They were moments before the shore, a bit closer to Salamandstron than the fox wanted. However it did not matter, who would care if 2 beasts wrecked their ship and moved on. "Tak tae Bracin yerself then!" The moment he finished speaking, a loud crash sent both foxes off their feet. The ship had stopped moving, docked in the most inexperienced fashion. Kester gained his feet and walked over to the mass, followed closely by his companion. Jumping off the railing he looked up to the smaller fox. "Whit are ye waitin fer? Jump!"

[Ashstripe]

An uneasy and tentative peace had settled over Salamandastron within these past few weeks, none too different to that of the calm before a storm; everyone could sense the danger looming, lurking, poised and ready to strike at any moment and it was only a matter of time when it would and they'd be ready. This did little to upset the daily routines and the cheery atmosphere the hares of the Long Patrol strove to maintain, despite their Lord's lack of effort and assistance with such a matter. But within each and every hare's mind, was the spring that was their reflexes tensed, ready to be released at a moments notice, an entire banquet could have the hares replacing the forks in their paws with weapons of war.

Kenzie was no different, if anything she was more tense then the others. The young Colonel was always on edge even in times of peace her guard was never dropped, her perfection was never eased and her discipline was never relaxed. In times of war it was much worse, it was a common mandatory practice for the hares to have a weapon at paw at all times during times of conflict, but Kenzie was doing that well before the banners of war were raised. She took it to the next level. She doubled her patrols, official and unofficial duties and especially her training.

As of such was her reason for venturing upon the ramparts, such a task was deemed too menial for one of her rank, but she brought it upon herself. Not because she enjoyed napping on the job, rather to give her years of training and self discipline a purpose, at the sign of an attack; she would be the first one out on the front lines.
Her feet made a slight thud with her every stride, night watch was always the most dangerous. She had seen many a good hares lose their lives before an alarm could be raised. Not on her watch; she would see to that.

Her eyes scanned the horizon for the umpteenth time, the same landmarks were still there, the same fading sunlight in the distance and the same generation of stars were beginning to be reborn. The same lapping of the waves...Hold on. What was that? That huge shadow wasn't there before, an engine of war? Corsairs? Lost sailors? Who knew? They could be a possible threat and that was good enough for Kenzie.
"Corporeal, take my post.." She cried out quickly and without waiting for a reaction or objection she dashed down the stairs quickly, her young legs pushing her ever forward,
"Open the gates!" She barked out once more, as if she aimed to command the gates themselves to swing of their own accord; they complied soon enough.
"Send a squad out!" She yelled once more as she continued her pace, she wasn't foolhardy enough to go in alone, that was a fairly big shadow.

She gripped her sheath, she didn't have a spear or javelin or any sort of pole-arm. Such a weapon was a nuisance even for her,
"Idiot..Wot if their the enemy eh?" She chided sternly, making a mental note to find a way of carrying a pole-arm in future.

[Stray]

((OOC: Ghaa the language thing is hard but it's pretty fun, I'm getting it off of a Scottish speech page))

Kester had been keeping an eye on Salamandstron while his comrade gathered up a few rations for their journey. The younger fox had the smart idea of suggesting food incase their trip was a long one, but he had to scrounge for any remaining supplies. Kester did not like the wait, some beast was obviously going to notice the massive vessel sitting their in it's well presented manner. He only hoped that they would have enough time to get their hides out of sight before they had company. "Hurre up, wull ye! Were no waitin fur some freinle greatin tae this patch o land!" he called up hoping that it was only his comrade that could hear him.

Inside the ship, the young fox bounced too and fro cramming anything he could find into a large sack. Half eaten vittles, a few bottles of rum, canteens of water, and anything else that was partially edible. The result was a great heavy sack which the fox had to drag to the ship's rail. Once the task was complete he leaned over the rail, supported by it in his exhaust. "This is a' o it, Kester, Ah'm gonna toss it daun."

The heavy sack came hurtling down into Kester's grip, where he then threw it over his shoulder. "A' right, good show, noo jump off the wreck." It was a high jump which the young fox was not too willing to make but eventually he got up the courage and jumped down. Splashing in the shallow water as his rump hit the ground below. "There ye are, no bad eh?" Taking a quick glance at the mountain, his attitude was immediately stomped down. "Wus that gat open when we got here?" he looked over to his comrade who shrugged his shoulders. "Damn it, pay attention tae these thins. Come on let's get oot o hear noo!" The younger fox took to following close behind Kester, they were on their way. Hopefully not to be stopped by some mountain dwellers.

[Ashstripe]

((It took me a whole year to get the hang of hare-speak with Breeze and Scottish accents for an old Character of mine ><. This is good though, I haven't used Kenzie in a long time XD))

Kenzie squinted into the fading light, her feet still padding against the still warm sand lightly. She smirked to herself, still not panting, despite relaxing her training in order to spend time with the less experienced hares to get them prepared for battle. There were a few shapes moving up ahead, from the looks of it they were leaving the object, most likely a ship; and they weren't coming back to it, from the burden that one bore, rather effortlessly at first glance.

Her mind clicked, sorting through all the possible scenarios and possibilities, flicking through the pages of her internal records, of all the sights she had seen throughout her rather early life. The beast with the sack was quite large, possibly a small badger, more likely a large otter. Though Otters were well renowned for being legendary sailors, yet this pair had just blatantly crashed their vessel. She 'hmmmed' internally, never one to think aloud, the requested aid was now leaving and a fair distance behind her though she may be able to sort this out before they arrive.

She felt her sword's hilt, reassuringly it was still there swinging at her belt, though not her preferred weapon it would be enough to deal with what looked like some common pirates, though the large one may be a problem for one of her small size. Putting on a burst of speed, Kenzie closed in ever closer, with the squad drifting ever further. Friend or foe? Kenzie was about to find out.

"Friend or foe!?" She cried out loudly (Never one to be as jovial as her fellow hares) announcing her presence as she scaled another dune. If they hadn't seen her by now, they sure would be able to notice her.

[Stray]

Kester kept a steady pace considering the squad that was quick closing in on them. His companion kept looking back, he was desperatly longing to break into a headlong sprint. However it was the way of their clan to stick together, desertion was highly frowned upon. The young fox only hoped that his comrade knew what he was doing.

When the hare had gained further ground, she called out triggering a response in Kester. Even though he was fully awair of his followers, it was as though he never knew they were following. Turning around he swept the sack from his shoulder letting it land with a great thump. Then he hefted his great sword over his shoulder to replace the sack. "Frien or foe? Wull that aw depends on yur lot lassie." he called back to the hare. Personally he did not care if he had to fight or not. On one had it would be well needed exercise after the ship ride, and on the other he wanted to prolong any tension untill he knew exactly where his target sat. "The wee laddie and Ah are jus passin thru, but if ye want a fight then Ah suppose ye'll find yin."

[Ashstripe]

Kenzie breathed a sigh of relief internally, doing so on the outside would only weaken her image to the foxes and the beasts in her command. She gave a cold smirk, something not too out of place in her range of expressions,
"Depends on you now doesn't it? You could be a foe of a friend of ours, lookin' t'stir trouble up." She didn't feel this goading or assuming to be unnecessary, if they weren't worth her time or looking for a fight she'd find out based on their reactions at least she hoped to find out. As she had demonstrated herself and found so many times in the past, looks can be deceiving.

"Their obviously not lookin' fer trouble ma'arm.." Came a quick interruption as the squad had finally caught up to Kenzie, the self appointed Leader had managed to hear their shouts and make out some of the details. Kenzie shot him a glare but she secretly agreed with him somewhat, after all what could two foxes accomplish? Nothing severe as far as she was concerned.

[Stray]

Kester smiled as he flung his blade into the dirt, the curved weapon standing almost as tall as himself. He was glad to have the cavalry catch up, seemed to be a lot more reasonable than the lady hare. "Ye best ca listen to yer comrades, there is no point in ya gettin yerself killed fer no reason. Were no hear fer some hunk of rock, mah clan could care less aboot Suthen territory." Kester laughed dragging the younger fox into view, the rogue had weaseled his way into hiding behind the brute fox. Patting his shoulder as he spoke. "No reason fer hidin comrade, were no fightin if ah have anythin tae say aboot it. Don need enemies before we even know whaur were goin."

[Ashstripe]

Inwardly, Kenzie smirked. Silently composing a remark to squeeze a little more out of the fox, but her logical side won dominance outwardly, she smiled sweetly yet it was somewhat hollow to the squad.
"Say, where might y'be 'eaded? We can lend y'directions or keep y'company wot?" She piped eventually in a tone that seemed more suitable to her innocent appearance and more in character to that of a hare. Though truth be told, Kenzie felt nothing was amiss with these two travelers it was just her over-reactive instincts, but she could at least make amends to the two for delaying them on their journey.

((Late night post..Very sloppy..Bleh.))

[Stray]

The younger fox quickly stepped forward at the mention of company. Figuring a few guides would not hurt at all. "Wull were Heided tae some place caed Mous Flaur and then..." He was cut short when Kester nudged him in the back. The hare seemed friendly enough but Kester did not trust any beast outside of his clan.

"Wheesht...! Then were gain tae see whit Suthern land is all aboot! Mony o us Northeners hae never been around these pairts. Curiosity." he patted his companions back seconds after the nudge as a means of cover. "Right?" The fox shook his head vigorously, taking his place back behind Kester.

[Ashstripe]

Even Kenzie couldn't help but smile at the duo, their thick accents were something she hadn't heard for a while. Although a little suspicious at the sheer amount of co-operation from the smaller beast, she dismissed it, he seemed young and naive. But other then that, she was satisfied with what she had found; nothing.
"Travellers then? These be dangerous times wot? But y'gents look lik' y'can 'andle y'selves." She still had yet to crush her true nature, she was a hare and her accent would follow her to the Dark forest.

She turned to leave the two, as with the rest of the squad,
"It's rather late though, care t'step in for th' night?" She smiled sweetly once more, it was the least she could do for waylaying these two.