Speak ((Broden, OPEN))

[Rook]

Lyric Dare drummed his fingers upon the silver metal of his flute, a short breath escaping his nose. The black hare sat on a stool in front of the great tapestry of Martin the Warrior, hoping in vain for some musical inspiration. Normally, recalling the legend of the great hero was inspiring enough, and a decent tune would thus flow from his instrument. Today, however, the hare felt as if each melody he played was forced and choppy.

Perhaps it was because he hadn't played his flute in awhile? No, that couldn't be it. Maybe today was just one of "those" days. He didn't experience "those" days often, but maybe he should just take a break for the sake of his own sanity. The mute creature swiveled his ears back in mild irritation and slid the flute into his bag. He then propped one leg upon the opposite knee and rested his chin on his fist, still staring at Martin.

Vaguely, he fantasized what it must be like to speak with the warrior mouse. Rook had heard he often spoke in cryptic riddles. If the hare ever got a message from the mouse, he hoped it wouldn't be too cryptic. Paw gestures and charades only got a beast so far. But then again, there was always the option of writing it down.

Speaking of speaking, Rook wondered if he would have the ability to talk to Martin should the warrior appear in a dream of his. Even in dreams, Rook was mute. There had been a few times when he'd found a voice, but it was gone the instant he woke up, of course. It would be nice to have some kind of verbal reply to Martin if they ever met, though.

Lost in thought, the hare continued to study the old tapestry, searching for even a hint of inspiration.

((Okay, that was long winded. Sorry.))

[T-Bone]

"Roooook!"

Broden came barging through the large doors rather clamorously. Snow blew about in the manner of seaspray until the big hedgehog closed the doors behind him. Having turned his back to Rook, it became obvious that Broden must have recently fallen on his back in the snow, for the white stuff covered his spines almost completely. And now the floor was wet, causing him to slip erratically across the hall until his paws found Rook's shoulders.

He lowered his head and spoke urgently. "The otters are gangin' oop on me an' Lavender an' Quincy an' Korin an' Jaroah, an' Ah think Coor's done for! Hope ye dinnae mind, but we're draftin' ye!" Before Rook had time to react, Broden picked up the hare and immediately made for the doors.


At that very moment, Shad felled Barke with a well-aimed snowball. The squirrel named Korin cried out as loudly as he could, "Nooo! They got Quincy!"

The mouse in question swooned melodramatically, placing a paw over his heart and a forearm across his head. "And, I die!" he said in his best actor-voice, finally crumpling to the white ground in proper dramatic fashion.

"No time to worry about him, Korin!" shouted Lavender, ducking behind the snow-fort just in time to avoid the next volley of snowballs. "We have a war to win."

Korin saluted her smartly and returned to his post, where he promptly took out an otter with a particularly large snowball. The squirrel narrowly avoided the return-fire. He stood up indignantly and looked at Jaroah incredulously. "Are they using slings?"

The mouse shrugged as he launched another snowball. "All's fair in love an-- Gah!"

"Nooo! They got Jaroah!"

"Shut up, Korin!"

[Rook]

"Roooook!"

Oh, look, it's Broden. Rook perked up a bit, but then something about otters and being drafted and he was deposited out in the snow. Without a jacket. Thanks, Broden. Rook flattened his ears and ducked as a snowball was hurled in his direction. At first, he was hesitant to enter the melee since he didn't have a good throwing arm the otters were taking aim.

Rook dove behind a pile of white powder, landing beside the downed Quincy. Hi, Quincy. The hare balled his fist around a substantial pawful of snow and looked around for his other teammates. Okay, Lavender, Broden, Korin, Jaroah . . . oh wait, Jaroah was down. And it's cold. Rook let fly his snowball and dodged the return fire, trying to get feeling back into his numb paws.

He almost didn't duck in time as another volley of snowballs rained down on him and his team from the opposing side. Those slings were quite an unfair advantage. They needed to level the playing field a bit. But how--?

"Rooky!" The hare jumped at the sound of a familiar voice coming from his right. He looked over and saw his friend Tessa, halfway buried in the ground. The dark mole waved her six-fingered digging claw and asked, "Ee bee's playin' in ee snow, Rookers?" Rook nodded with a smile and tilted his head in question.

Want to play, Tess? was the obvious inquiry. The mole brightened, her velvety snout wrinkling into a delighted grin. She nodded emphatically with a cheery, "Boi okey, Oi'd love tur play! Wot ee do?" Rook turned to check the battlefield, noting the position of the otters, immediately came up with a plan. He grinned mischievously at Tessa and indicated the enemy. He made a motion as if digging and then drew a line in the snow, pointing at the otters.

Tessa furrowed her brow, and then seemed to understand. "Oh, ee'd loik me tur dig ee tunnul unner ee otters?" Rook nodded, and Tessa chuckled. "Burr, ee are narsty hare, Rookers. Oi'll be roight back." She disappeared in a shower of snow and dirt, and Rook resumed throwing snowballs.

Though Tessa had excellent aim, the tunnel idea was worth a shot. It might not even work, considering how much the otters were moving about. But Rook liked to think he'd contributed something to his team besides his poor throwing arm.

[T-Bone]

Broden caught onto Rook's plan. But for this to work, they might need a distraction, lest the otter feel the vibrations coming from beneath them. Perhaps the snow would act as a cushion, and the otters wouldn't even notice, but still, it couldn't hurt to reinforce the move. If only they had a squirrel. . . Oh wait. Korin.

"Korin!" Broden shouted from his post as a snowball whirred by his face. The only thing protecting the hedgehog was a tree. The squirrel in question glanced over at him, prepared to loudly announce Broden's "death," but apparently the warrior wasn't down yet. Korin tilted his head inquiringly; Broden pointed up at the branch above his spiked head. Korin thought about this for a moment. . .

. . . A moment later, Korin continued thinking about this. . .

"Oh for the love of strawberry fizz!" shouted Lavender. "Climb up that tree!"

Korin blinked. Oh. Right. In an instant, the squirrel's bushy tail disappeared into the leafless tree. That got the otters' attention. Korin launched snowballs at them from his perch high in the tree while the otters tried to get at him with their slings. Fortunately for Korin, the tree's branches were doing a terrific job of defending him from the volleys. Broden continued tossing fresh ammunition upward as Korin raced up and down the tree trunk.

Meanwhile, "Hey, you. Frozen rabbit-thing," Jaroah tossed his cloak to Rook. "Yore gonna need that." The mouse rose to his footpaws and held up his paws to show that he was down. On his way to the abbey building, he picked up Barke, who was apparently undergoing to the beginning stages of rigor mortis.

[Romulus]

Ah, a distraction! Brilliant, Broden! Rook grinned as he let fly another pawful of snow. Korin would do an excellent job of keeping the otters' attention away from the ground beneath their feet. And Tessa could do her work. Retaliation from his previously-flung snowball knocked Rook's hat to the ground. Indignance written upon his dark features, the hare shot a glare at the otters' team. Hey! Not cool!

Suddenly, "Hey, you. Frozen rabbit-thing," Jaroah tossed his cloak to Rook. "Yore gonna need that."

Rook felt instant warmth as the cloak landed on his head and shoulders. Pulling the fabric off his face, the black hare smiled and waved his thanks to the departing mouse. The wave nearly earned him a snowball on the arm. Luckily, he ducked down in time.


Tessa was doing what she did best. Tunneling. Humming a mole song to herself as she went, the expert tunneler made her way through the otter ranks. Fast a digger as she was for a mole her age, Tess had no trouble forming nice, deep trenches beneath the excitable otters. All it took was a step or jump from one of them and then--

Two unlucky riverdogs found her first tunnels. They plummeted into the snow with loud whoops of surprise. Other otters took notice and began to back away from the places they'd been standing, but Tess had accounted for that. More otters sank into the snow, nearly disappearing completely from ground level. Of course, a few managed to scramble out, but not before being hit with snowballs from Rooky's team.

"Hurr, hurr, hurr," Tessa chortled to herself, having tunneled a good distance away from the fight to watch. "Oi din' kno' Oi curd do eet, boi okey! Hurr, hurr!"

((Hope that worked. I tried not to power play anyone.))