Torin in Green Isle

[Elizabeth]

Fran sighed as Mona finnished her sentence. "yes there is hope for recovery..."

Frannie wandered out of the holt and started walking along the shore. She felt the sand beneath her paws and the wind brushed by her fur with a cool breeze. The sun was setting now... it had been a full day. As Fran looked out across the sea the red/orange sun streaked water greeted her eyes.

Fran walked further down the shore and saw Torin's brother and another otter sitting on the beach. "Hello?" she said, "I don't believe I've met either of you yet. My name is Francesca Rose RiverHawk, but you can call me Frannie or Fran for that matter... who are you?"

[Shadow Flame]

The Otter sighed, wiping a tear from his eye from the story. He rubbed a rough paw on Ruso's shoulder. "Aye lad, tis heartbreakin', yet you 'ave to stay strong at th' same time." He said in his deep rough voice. A couple minutes passed until he heard soft foot-paw steps in the sand.

The scruffy, muscular river otter looked over as he saw Fran walk and stop to them. He stood up slowly and bowed to her accordingly. "Well howdy there miss, Fran you said? It's a pleasure to meet ya! Th' names Rex Irontail, travelin' carpenter, architect, and swordsman from Redwall." He smiled brightly before sitting back down next to Ruso.

[Prankster101]

“Can’t get rid o’ me that easily, Mo.” Kenyon said easily, giving her a brief one-armed squeeze. “We’ve a few casualties but no fatalities.”

"Thank goodness for that!" Mona replied. She knew full well that she had led a charge into battle with few experienced soldiers ans many new recruits. It was pure luck that none of them were dead, for now......

_________________________________________________

"yes there is hope for recovery..."

"Aye, I could do that."

"Thank you. To the both of ye." Mona said in a gentle voice as Banyon and Francesca slowly left the room. It was then that Mona turned back to Kenyon who was standing stiff and looking quite annoyed.

“Ye might wanna talk t’ my crew, Mona. Someotter apparently saw ye carried off bleedin’ an’ missin’ several important appendages.”

Mona sighed as Kenyon continued. The youngest recruits are always "expanding" upon their tales of battle. She even over heard once a young otter lad say he pounced on a wildcat and bit it's head off when Mona had saw him barely win a sword fight with a searat.

“They don’t believe me,” He continued, “Think I’m delusional or oblivious or both.”

"Your not and we both know it." She sighed again."I'll talk to them Kenyon and send them back to the Castle."

Picking up her lance that she had set beside Torin's bed, Mona look another look over him. Torin was week, very week, and in a very deep sleep. Mona hoped that by the time she would return, that he would be awake...

“I ‘ope ‘e ‘eals.” Kenyon as he nodded briskly and strode out of the room.

"Aye, I do too.." Mona said in a whisper. Leaning over Torin and running her paw gently down his arm, Mona muttered an ancient otter rhyme that her mother had taught her, know that it was all she could do for now and that Torin had to fight this battle on his own.

She walked out of the room slowly, looking behind her at Torin's sleeping form, as she quietly closed the door and told the healer of her departure.

____________________________________________________


After giving the troops a long lecture on believing rumors with out facts, Mona strode back toward the beach, in hopes of finding Kenyon with a clean-up crew.

Although there was no clean-up crew or Kenyon, Mona did see more than one otter seated upon the beach. Three of them she knew. Francesca and Banyon was there, along with young Ruso, but there was a fourth otter. One Mona had never seen before, along with a small two beast rowboat.

The otter was tall, and very well built. He came armed and of warrior stature, but the blade was sheathed so it appeared he meant no harm. He also wore a straw hat upon his head.

Curious as to who this otter was, Mona continued to walk purposefully over to the group, her lance being used as a walking staff, sling still tied around her waist, and in full regalia.

"Good Day Ruso Galedeep, Banyon Galedeep, and Miss Francesca RiverHawk. Who may I ask, do I have the pleasure of meeting here today?"

[Rorgus]

Ruso looked up from telling his tale as a sea otter walked up behind them.

"Hello?" she said, "I don't believe I've met either of you yet. My name is Francesca Rose RiverHawk, but you can call me Frannie or Fran for that matter... who are you?"

"Hello, I'm Ruso Galedeep Torin's my brother. Do you know him? He's the one who led the attack on the vermin." He stood up and took her paw helping her to sit down.
"So what brings you out here Fannie?" Said Ruso feeling slightly better.
" Do you have news of my brother Torin? Will he be alright?" He sat down and began to tell her and Rex about his family. As he was talking another otter walked up. Ruso jumped up as he saw who it was.
" Hello your majesty." He said as the other otter walked closer.

"Good Day Ruso Galedeep, Banyon Galedeep, and Miss Francesca RiverHawk. Who may I ask, do I have the pleasure of meeting here today?"

" Do you have news of my brother High Rhulain? Will he be alright?" Ruso was desperate to get news of his brother.

[Shadow Flame]

Rex smiled as he heard Mona's question, he stood up and bowed to her. "Good evenin' miss, th' names Rex Irontail. Travelin' carpenter, architect, and experienced swordsbeast from Redwall." He said, thick in his southwestern accent. He stood up as he let his hat hang from the string behind his neck "May I ask what yer name is, miss?" The river otter said in a polite tone of voice. Rex patted sand off of his green tunic, and fixed his belt and the many miscellaneous items that were attached to it.

[Kenyon]

"Your not and we both know it." She sighed again."I'll talk to them Kenyon and send them back to the Castle."

“Aye, that would be best. Send Bamboo with them, she’ll see they get there wi’out any…mishaps.”

He smiled at his wife and left to speak to the head of clan Galedeep about the raid. It had been a bigger battle than most raids would have been, but still fortunately bloodless. For all practical purposes anyway, injuries but no deaths.

---

" Do you have news of my brother High Rhulain? Will he be alright?"

“The healers are more optimistic than they were an hour ago, young Ruso. They believe he will live.” Kenyon came up beside Mona and gave a short nod of acknowledgement to the newcomer. “He is a strong leader, we would hate to lose him.”

"Good evenin' miss, th' names Rex Irontail. Travelin' carpenter, architect, and experienced swordsbeast from Redwall." He said, thick in his southwestern accent. He stood up as he let his hat hang from the string behind his neck "May I ask what yer name is, miss?"

“Redwall?” The burly armsmaster picked up on the name. Mona would probably prefer to introduce herself, he knew. “How is the abbey?”

[Elizabeth]

"So what brings you out here Frannie?"

"Hmm... well I'm a Green Isle otter. A Swordsmaster. I see I fight, I have to join." Fran smiled. "Anyway, your brother, he's a great fighter... When I saw him a minute ago, I swore the wounds were awful, but I don't think he's going to go easy. I'm sure he's going to live now."

Frannie stood as the High Queen and her husband came into view. She bowed politely. "Thanks for your help back there during the fight queen. I don't know what we'd do without you."

[Prankster101]

" Do you have news of my brother High Rhulain? Will he be alright?"

“The healers are more optimistic than they were an hour ago, young Ruso. They believe he will live.” Kenyon came up beside Mona and gave a short nod of acknowledgement to the newcomer. “He is a strong leader, we would hate to lose him.”

Mona smiled and nodded to show her agreement with her mate. She would dearly hate to lose a leader like Torin. She needed strong leaders as often as she could get them. With out them, it made being High Rhulain extremely hard!

Rex smiled as he heard Mona's question, he stood up and bowed to her. "Good evenin' miss, th' names Rex Irontail. Travelin' carpenter, architect, and experienced swordsbeast from Redwall. [...] May I ask what yer name is, miss?"

Mona nodded regally as Rex bowed and replied politely. "A pleasure having you here at Green Isle Rex Irontail. I am Mona Wildlough, the High Queen Rhulain." Although he hated using her title, Mona decided to include it anyways. Just so that she didn't have to explain why every one was call her "majesty" all the time. "If you came all the way from the Mossflower regions, you must have traveled a long ways Mr. Irontail. What brought you to Green Isle?"

“Redwall? How is the abbey?”

Mona waited for Rex's answer. She was also curious about the Abbey. For it had been a while sense they last heard from Redwall. Occasionally, Mona would get a message or two from the Sea Lilly when it came back to port, but it had been a long time sense they had a visitor. What was his reason for coming? Especially in a small rowboat. Maybe just maybe he had seen..? No. Probably not...If he did, now wasn't the time to ask anyways...

"Thanks for your help back there during the fight queen. I don't know what we'd do without you."

Smiling modestly, Mona replied. "I'm sure you would have fought hard and strong like the true warriors you all are, whether or not I was there."

[Shadow Flame]

Rex looked onto Mona and Kenyon since basically they both asked the River Otter the same question. He put his hat back on his head and spit out the straw he was chewing on. "Well, I 'aven't been to Redwall, let alone Mossflower in over a year, but th' last time I was there, it was the same as always." he continued. "It's still beautiful as ever an' it 'asn't been touched by evil, not yet anyway.. I 'ave some bad feelin' that somethin' could 'appen at any moment." He sighed, being somewhat homesick.

"My good friend, a squirrel warrior lives there as we speak, an' I know a bunch of other warriors reside there too. I'm sure if anythin' 'appens, Redwall would be fine." Rex thought a little bit more, something quickly came to mind. "Oh yeah! I know the Abbot is as healthy as ever, I received a parchment from a carrier bird that my squirrel friend Oliver sent before I went out to sea with some of my mates." He turned away for a second from the both of them, not wanting to be rude while wiping some grains of sand in his eyes.
_____________________________________________________________________

"If you came all the way from the Mossflower regions, you must have traveled a long ways Mr. Irontail. What brought you to Green Isle?"

"Well miss, I mean yer majesty, I was summoned on a mission to 'elp some of my messmates, ship full of Sea Otters, to deliver cargo full o' vittles to a neighboring island." Rex scratched his head for a moment then continued. "But~ We 'ad some trouble in the middle of our little journey.. a bunch of Sea Rats an' plenty o' corsairs crashed into our ship and boarded. We all fought fer our lives, lost the vittles an' the ship was destroyed; they out numbered us. I was one of the fifteen survivors." The burly warrior let out a sigh. "Aye, we fought 'ard and toughed it out, but we 'ad to abandon ship, I ended up floatin' 'ere on that paddle boat over there."

[Rorgus]

Torin's body was shivering as he lay on the bed, he was breaking out in sweat all over. His eyes opened for a second and he said one word. The only thing he remembered at that time.
" Francesca."

____________________________________________________________________________
One week later


Torin lay peacefully sleeping on his bed, he was the only one in his tent and it was about noon. His eyes fluttered open for the first time since the week before. He tried to sit up, as soon as he moved pain shot through his body like lightning. He quickly lay back down groaning. He looked around as best he could from lying down.
The last thing he remembered was a fight, there was a vermin ship. And there was a pretty young otter, he couldn't remember her name just them. All he remembered after that was pain, he had been stabbed in the side with a spear and blacked out. He wondered how long he had been out for. He remembered his brother, Ruso.
"Ruso!" He called out, hopping to find his brother.

As it happened Ruso was nearby the tent. He was sitting outside the hut with Francesca, they were chatting away about their history. When he heard his brother's voice Ruso jumped to his feet and hurried into the hut. He dashed to his brothers side.
" Your awake! We weren't sure if you'de make it!" He said overcome with joy, he was afraid he might not see his brother again, but now he was awake!
"Get me some water Ruso." Torin said harshly, his throat was parched. He drank deep of the water and bathed his face in it.
Then carefully he lowered his legs off the side of the bed and slowly sat up ignoring the pain.
" How long has it been since the battle?" He asked,
" It's been two weeks since you were injured." Ruso said. " Your lucky to still be alive, with the wound you took."
" Where's Francesca?" He asked.
" She's right outside the hut." Said his brother, " We've been waiting for you to wake up."
Torin took a deep breath of fresh air. He would have stood up if he wasn't in so much pain. He winced as his chest expanded and stretched the wound.

[Elizabeth2]

Francesca was impressed. It seemed Ruso kept constant vigil outside his brother's tent. Always anxious, always hopeful for his brother's recovery. It appeared that these siblings were very close, and neither one was just about to let the other go.

So, Francesca decided to stick with Ruso. One of her goals was to stop him from becoming crazy with boredom as he sat outside the hut that Torin was, hopefully, recovering in. Every once-in-a-while Francesca and Ruso would stop in to check on Torin, or fetch something for the healers.

Fran spent a lot of her time conversing with Ruso now. About him, Torin, and the rest of his family. She shared a little about herself and what she did.

It was one fine, brisk, sunny day. The wind was playfully dancing around the thatching on the hut's roof. Fran was mentioning her identical twin brother Christopher to Ruso when she heard a horse but distinct call.

"Ruso!"

That's Torin.. she thought immediately.

--

After a couple of minutes after Ruso left to call on his brother, Francesca was growing very curious to say the least. She got up and brushed off her tunic, adjusting the sword on her back. The wind whipped at her fur as she entered the doorway of the hut.

The healers were out at the moment, leaving Torin to his customary rest. Francesca entered the room to find Ruso attending to his injured brother.

"...outside the hut. We've been waiting for you to wake up."

Fran heard the end of Ruso's last sentence and caught the drift of what he was saying. She nodded to Torin and smiled. "Praise the fates you are up at last, Torin Galedeep. We've all been very anxious."

Francesca invited herself in and took a seat by his bedside. "You appear to be strengthening amazingly well." She said with a hint of amazement in her voice. "How fare your wounds?"

[Rorgus]

"You appear to be strengthening amazingly well." She said with a hint of amazement in her voice. "How fare your wounds?"

Torin smiled at her.
" I am recovering, finally awake. I hear I was out for a week. And thanks to you, I'm still alive. My wounds are as to be expected, but they will heal over time!" He gazed into her eyes. It felt good to be awake, and to be able to see his surroundings.
" I look forward to the days ahead." He said to her.

Then he turned his attention to his brother.
" How are Mum and Dad? And how's the rest of the tribe?"
" They're perfectly fine." Said Ruso
" We had only minor casualties, the High Rhulain got here just in time to make sure of that! Me and Franny here have been waiting along time for you to wake up!" Ruso said, then he looked up at Franny.
" I'd better go tell our parents your awake Torin." He said, then he left the hut leaving the two otters alone.

Torin looked at Franny.
" How did your tribe fare? No losses I hope."
He took her paw it his scarred own paw and felt it for one moment. "It almost seems like I'm in a dream," he said.
" If it weren't for the pain I would think that none of this was real, but alas there is too much pain for that to be."

He smiled at her and lay back down on the pillow sighing deeply.