Dusty Exploration ((open))

[Rorgus]

"Not'in' ye need ta be concerned wit' mate."

Rorgus raised one eyebrow and grinned. He couldn't help himself.
But he did know what happened last time Travi got in a fight, he killed them all, yes. But it wasn't pretty. He decided that he wasn't about to let the bloodwrath over take him again. Especially not with a badger like this one. He suspected, like most other badgers that this one also had the bloodwrath. And that would not be a pretty sight.

He stepped forward in front of Travi, looking at him. He started talking in a low voice.
"Look mate, you really can't be gettin' into another fight like this, your not fully healed yet. We can always find out what he's doin' here wi' out fightin' him. Why don't we settle this peacefully? I don't want you gettin' 'urt again. Your my friend."
Then he turned around and faced the badger.
"Now who did you say you were again?"

[Onyxwing]

The newly arrived otter stepped in and talked to Travi for a time

Then he turned around and faced the badger.
"Now who did you say you were again?"

"Field Marshal Rewhane Rommel Pier, Commander of Mossguard forces and charged with the defense of Redwall Abbey." He said before presenting the new otter with the same sheet of paper.

Sticking out his paw, Travi accepted the shake. "Fine...Buts Ah still want ta know w'at yer doin' up 'ere."

As Rewhane shook paws with travi he replied "I am investigating the defensibility of Redwall Abbey, currently I am searching for good areas to place ballitae, catupults, and several other forms of artillery. I could definitely use a guide as my previous one..." He said before he yanked he door to the second room of its rusted hinges "... Seems to have tactically retreated." he finished before handing the mouse the arming sword and a sword belt.

"I think you should keep that, if nothing else, it will be a really big knife for you." He said before he went back to Travi

"Do you know anywhere where we could put one of..." The badger stopped while he took the large book out of his pouch and paged through it, stopping on a page with a picture of a ballista. "...These?" he said pointing to the war machine.

"This should keep any horde off our backs for awhile, eh?"

[Django]

"I am investigating the defensibility of Redwall Abbey, currently I am searching for good areas to place ballitae, catupults, and several other forms of artillery. I could definitely use a guide as my previous one..." He said before he yanked he door to the second room of its rusted hinges "... Seems to have tactically retreated." he finished before handing the mouse the arming sword and a sword belt.

Django jumped out of hiding as the door was yanked away. His dander stood on end, and his bright red blush had returned. Eyes wide, he didn't even bother to take the sword and belt from the badger at first. "Well if ye jus' know everythin' . . ." he muttered darkly, turned his face away. Obviously, the powers that be hadn't listened to the mouse's fervent prayers to not be discovered. He had made up his mind, now. He didn't like Rewhane, not even if the badger was giving him a free sword.

"I think you should keep that, if nothing else, it will be a really big knife for you." He said before he went back to Travi

"Whaddiff I don't wan' it?" Django wanted to shout. "Whaddiff I don't need no big knife, eh? Yew an' yore big battling stuff'll keep th' stinkin' vermin outta Redwall. 'Sides, since ye obviously know where every beast is, why don't ye jus' go arter 'em an' slay 'em all afore they get 'ere?!"

But the mouse held his tongue, offering a venomous glare instead. All that trouble he went to to bust down the door, sneak up into the attics, and he hadn't even found one good trinket for himself! And in the mouse's mind, it was Rewhane's fault. Clenching his paws into fists, he snatched the sword and belt from the badger roughly, making a huge effort to cool his rising temper.

[Prankster101]

He stepped forward in front of Travi, looking at him. He started talking in a low voice."Look mate, you really can't be gettin' into another fight like this, your not fully healed yet. We can always find out what he's doin' here wi' out fightin' him. Why don't we settle this peacefully? I don't want you gettin' 'urt again. Your my friend."

Travioso Trueflight could not look Rorgus in the face. He just couldn't. Muttering quietly, Travi stared at the ground. "Ah know mate, Ah know. Ah' wasn't lookin' fur a fig't w'en Ah came up 'ere. An' 'e wasn't 'elpin' slove t'ings peacefully eit'er. Ah'm 'ealin' fine, ye dan't need ta get involved...Ah'm fine..."

Then he turned around and faced the badger."Now who did you say you were again?"

"Field Marshal Rewhane Rommel Pier, Commander of Mossguard forces and charged with the defense of Redwall Abbey." He said before presenting the new otter with the same sheet of paper.

Rolling his eyes, Travi scoffed quietly to himself. His badger seemed really bossy. Always introducing himself with full title, all important-like. The Badger Lord at Salamandastron was at least a bit humble with his position. Travi was probably over reacting, but the badger had pushed his buttons and Travi wasn't very happy.

As Rewhane shook paws with travi he replied "I am investigating the defensibility of Redwall Abbey, currently I am searching for good areas to place ballitae, catupults, and several other forms of artillery. I could definitely use a guide as my previous one..." He said before he yanked he door to the second room of its rusted hinges "... Seems to have tactically retreated." he finished before handing the mouse the arming sword and a sword belt.

Travi frowned as Rewhane ripped the door off the wall to reveal the mouse who was hiding behind it. Finding good defense spots was one thing, but ripping the door of the hinges was quite another. For one thing, it ruined the door. Not that the door was in the best shape anyways, but still. And plus, Travi knew who was going to be blamed for the door. Not the visiting badger, he was a guest. And not the mouse, nor peaceful Rorgus. It would be Travi.

"I think you should keep that, if nothing else, it will be a really big knife for you." He said before he went back to Travi

The mouse behind the door also didn't look very happy about his position being revealed. Infact, he looked like he was muttering darkly to himself. So Travi wasn't the only one who wasn't too happy with Rewhane right now. Especially after Rewhane spoke to him about the sword. The mouse looked absolutely livid, but looked like he was holding his tongue.

"Do you know anywhere where we could put one of..." The badger stopped while he took the large book out of his pouch and paged through it, stopping on a page with a picture of a ballista. "...These?" he said pointing to the war machine.

Looking at the picture in the book, Travi also quickly studied the calculations listed beside it as to it's firing range and bulk. It would need a fair amount of space and a good wide window. Thinking to himself, Travi knew of just the place. It wasn't far from the room they were standing. Nodding slowly, he spoke. "Aye, ah know ah place. Nay far from 'ere too." Turning, Travi headed to a door on the opposite side of the room, not even looking to see if the others were fallowing him.

"This should keep any horde off our backs for awhile, eh?"

Travioso spun around, looking Rewhane right in the eye. "Ye know as well as Ah know, if dis 'orde really wants ta 'urt dis Abbey, dey will stop at not'in' ta do it. Naw, if ye'd fallow mea Ah'll s'ow ye da way, but yer nay ta be rippin' off no more doors. Da doors did noti'in da ye..."

Turning back around, Travi opened a dusty door on the far side of the room which led to another dusty staircase. Travi began top tramp up the stairs, slightly favoring his footpaw as it began to twinge with pain the more frustrated he was becoming with this badger...

((Ooc: No offense to you Onyx. Travi's simply stubborn is all. ))


_{(Posted while still a member of this site)}

[Rorgus]

Rorgus peered over Travi's shoulder at the drawing.

"Aye, ah know ah place. Nay far from 'ere too."

Rorgus thought for a moment, then he remembered where Travi was thinking. He had been up here before, explored the whole thing actually, a while back. He turned and followed Travi out of the room and up the stairs.

Rorgus noticed Travi's limp, he knew he wasn't completely healed yet, but a slight limp wasn't about to keep Travi in bed, Rorgus couldn't blame him. After being in bed for so long.

Travioso spun around, looking Rewhane right in the eye. "Ye know as well as Ah know, if dis 'orde really wants ta 'urt dis Abbey, dey will stop at not'in' ta do it. Naw, if ye'd fallow mea Ah'll s'ow ye da way, but yer nay ta be rippin' off no more doors. Da doors did noti'in da ye..."

"Ye still don' trust him do you?" He whispered to Travi as they left the room.
" Have ye ever heard o' an evil badger before?" Of course he knew that Travi didn't trust every beast he ran into, Rorgus didn't either for that matter. It was curious that the badger had snuck in though.

He turned to Rewhane then.
"Why did you sneak in wi'out anybeast knowing you were here?"

[Onyxwing]

After showing the otter the diagram and recieving a lecture on the ripping of doors Rewhane turned to the other otter as he spoke.

"Why did you sneak in wi'out anybeast knowing you were here?"

"There may be spies among us, and also, I could do without having everyone know where I am. I would have had to fight a battle to simply get up here through the crowd. Everyone is on a need to know basis, and I assure you, those who need to know, already do."

Rewhane continued to follow Travi to the stair case which the badger navigated with minor difficulty. As he reached the top he spotted the perfect room for the ballistae. By this point they were up in the attic, which ran the length of the abbey and provided ample room for several balistae and their crew.

"Wonderful! Travi you have out done yourself!"

Rewhane bellowed before walking over to a window and opening it. Out the window Rewhane saw the expanse of Mossflower, and as he opened all the windows he was greeted with a complete view of the abbey grounds and outside the wall. Rewhane took out a piece of chalk and began to mark out dimensions for the Mossguard's principle war machine, the ballista.

"Thank you for helping me get up here Travioso and friend, these war machines may very well save Redwall!"

[Django]

Django watched the party disappear up the stairs. The very same stairs he wanted to explore, had it not been for these untimely interruptions. Glancing down at the sword in his paws, the mouse vaguely wondered if would ever be good at swordplay. He knew the coming battle would require every able-bodied beast, but would they really let him join in the fighting? It wasn't that he didn't want to, but every beast kept telling him he was much too young to fight in a war. That was for grown-ups.

Except, Rewhane seemed to think Django had a chance. With the proper training, the badger believed the mouse could take care of himself in a battle. Or, that was what Django had gathered from Rewhane's actions. However, Django was still mad that his explorations had been interrupted. But, since the other beasts were out of the way, should he just go along as if nothing had happened? Glancing down the long hallways, he decided to do just that. He left the sword leaning against the wall and sprinted down the hallway. If Rewhane wanted to speak with him again, the badger would have no trouble following Django's paw prints in the dust on the floor.

He came to the end of the hall, his former excitement returning. Ducking into a room, he went directly to a nightstand, opening the various drawers to find anything interesting. First he found an old diary, dated long before he was born. Next he discovered a woven choker necklace with a red bead threaded through it. A book of butterflies was lying under a tattered pillow. A piece of canvas the size of his forepaw was buried beneath musty clothes in a dilapidated closet. A beautiful ocean sunset scene was painted on the canvas, and this he stuck in the diary. It amazed him what could be left behind in old bedrooms.

He had spent ten minutes in the same room and had already found enough trinkets to amuse him for awhile. He decided to hang around the upper rooms a little longer, though, so he found a nice place to sit and began paging through the diary. His reading skills were less than average, however, and the diary seemed to be written by some beast with an extensive vocabulary, so the mouse was unable to decipher most of what he read. But the challenge of figuring out the cryptic language proved too great a temptation, so he settled down cross-legged on an old bed and buried his nose in the book.

[Prankster101]

"Ye still don' trust him do you?" He whispered to Travi as they left the room. " Have ye ever heard o' an evil badger before?"

"Nay," Travi replied in a quiet murmur. "Ah nay trust 'im yet, nor 'ave ah 'eard o' an evil badger, buts ah 'ave 'eard o' ones w'o can't be controlin' demselves..." Travi would not yet trust this badger until he found a fair reason to. So far he had seen death threats, quick apologies, and papers; none of which Travioso found as solid reason to trust Rewhane. Rewhane would have to prove himself worthy of trust, not wave a few papers around.

Plus, if this badger had bloodwrath, then Travi would have to keep on his toes at all times. Two quick tempers in one room where bound to be trouble...

"Why did you sneak in wi'out anybeast knowing you were here?"

As they walked up the stairs, Travioso in the lead, Rorgus questioned Rewhane. Travi kept his ears open as he led the way up the dust stone staircase, for he also wished to hear what Rewhane had to say.

"There may be spies among us, and also, I could do without having everyone know where I am. I would have had to fight a battle to simply get up here through the crowd. Everyone is on a need to know basis, and I assure you, those who need to know, already do."

Travioso flicked his ears in slight annoyance. 'Need to know basis?' O' yea'. 'Spies among us?' Definatly.Travi thought to himself. 'Ow do ah know fur sure ah ain't lookin' at un now?

But Travi kept his thoughts to himself. Like Rorgus said, he really didn't need to be picking fights right now. His head was starting to ache and his footpaw was twinging slightly, but not more then enough to cause him an almost unnoticeable limp.

Reaching his destination, Travi open a door at the top of the staircase and went inside. The room that the door opened into was in part of the upper attics. It was a large, dusty room with a wide area and fairly tall roof. There was a level above them, but the only access point was through a stair case on the far side of the room.

In the room was a few window panes, and some other dusty things covered in cloth in the corner, leaving a wide open space for walking. Travi had been up to this room before for some long distance archery practice.

Rewhane and Rorgus entered the room behind Travi. Apparently, the mouse had stayed behind. Truthfully, Travi didn't care either way. If that mouse didn't want to come, that was fine by him.

"Wonderful! Travi you have out done yourself!"

Travi watched as Rewhane opened one of the large windows that gave the room excellent lighting, save for the coating of dust. Through the window, one could see the complete western grounds and a far ways out into Mossflower. Monitoring every detail, Travi watched calmly as Rewhane took out a piece of chalk and began drawing lines on the floor.

"Thank you for helping me get up here Travioso and friend, these war machines may very well save Redwall!"

Shrugging, Travi leaned against the far wall, hat slouching a bit, arms crossed upon his chest. He was going to stand here and wait all day if he needed to, but he wasn't going to let this badger out of his sight. It didn't matter what he claimed to be. Travi wasn't going to trust this badger...

Not yet anyways....


_{(Posted while still a member of this site)}

[Rorgus]

"There may be spies among us, and also, I could do without having everyone know where I am. I would have had to fight a battle to simply get up here through the crowd. Everyone is on a need to know basis, and I assure you, those who need to know, already do."

Rorgus knew what Travi was thinking once the badger explained. He didn't blame him.
"Huh that's a fine excuse, most beasts trying to get in could use that, unless they were vermin, maybe Travi's right about this badger." He thought to himself. "Well, I'm sure going to keep an eye on him, no matter who he thinks he is."

They all went through the door, and into the room Travi was leading them to. Rewhane seemed pleased with it.

While Rewhane was examining the windows, Rorgus tugged on Travi's arm and motioned to the other end of the room. When they were both out of earshot of the badger Rorgus said.
" I'm beginning to agree with you, his excuse seemed rather pitiful to me. I think we should keep an eye on him at all times. At least until we have real proof."

[Onyxwing]

As Rewhane was marking off lines, he heard somebeast coming up the stairs. Looking up he saw a Friar, but then came to the relisation that it was in fact one of the guards from the stairs. The guard panted and turned to Rewhane with a salute before saying.

"Sir! We believe an otter has made his way up these stairs while we were distracted by a rock thrown across the Great Hall!"

Rewhane turned to Travi and spoke.

"Are you the otter who made their way up here? We need to know before we call in the weapons assembly teams."

Hopefully there wasn't a rogue otter up here, they had enough trouble as is.

[Django]

The flowery words of the diary proved too complex for Django, so the young mouse shut the book with a light thump and tucked it into his tunic for safekeeping. Maybe he could get some beast to help him with some of those words. The book of butterflies would be even more challenging to read than the diary, owing to the fact that Django didn't care much for butterflies, anyway. So, the young mouse decided to explore another room.

As he stepped out into the hallway, he noticed a friar heading up the same stairs as the two otters and the badger had taken. What did that mean? And why was the friar so unfamiliar to Django? He'd spent enough time around the kitchens to know generally who every beast was. And the way this creature walked was not the normal, amiable shuffle of a typical Redwall friar. Maybe he was new, or maybe he wasn't really a friar. Django wanted to find out.

As soon as the "friar" had disappeared up the steps, the mouse counted slowly to fifty, and counted his lucky stars he hadn't been seen, and followed. He stopped at the bottom of the stairwell, listening for paw steps or voices. He heard only faint voices, which meant the creatures was already at the top of the stairs. Though he hadn't seen a weapon, this beast could be dangerous, so Django went to grab the sword Rewhane had given him. Returning to the steps, he counted to fifty again, forcing himself to take things slowly and with a level head.

Then, he made his way up the stairs. It was a winding stairwell, with a bit of a sharp turn just before the last ten or so steps. His ears pricked forward as he tried to catch the faint voices, which became clearer the closer he got to the top. He stopped about halfway up, dropping to a crouch when he saw the "friar" right in the doorway at the top. He kept to the shadows around the sharp turn of the stairs, listening closely.

"Sir! We believe an otter has made his way up these stairs while we were distracted by a rock thrown across the Great Hall!" That had to be the friar. Even though Django couldn't see him (or, more accurately, the back of him) anymore, the mouse couldn't place the voice.

"Are you the otter who made their way up here? We need to know before we call in the weapons assembly teams." That was Rewhane. What was going on up there? Was the badger still looking for a place to put his war-whatever-they-were-called? And what was all that about an otter? There were already two otters up there, and Django hadn't heard any beast else come upstairs while he'd been exploring. Rewhane was an odd badger, wanting to know about otters before he brought in creatures to "assembly" his war machine things.

[Prankster101]

While Rewhane was examining the windows, Rorgus tugged on Travi's arm and motioned to the other end of the room.

Travioso, although not letting his eyes leave Rewhane, Travi followed Rorgus to the other end of the room. He never stopped facing Rewhane always keeping his back to the wall. Travi was sure that Rewhane would be able to hear whatever they said, so he wasn't going to let his guard down.

When they were both out of earshot of the badger Rorgus said." I'm beginning to agree with you, his excuse seemed rather pitiful to me. I think we should keep an eye on him at all times. At least until we have real proof."

"Plannin' on it." Travi replied in a quiet mutter as he head back to Rewhane who was still sketching on the floor. Travi watched intently at the marks Rewhane was making. They were detailed and very accurate. This machine was fairly big when pieced together, but it would fit well in this room. It was the perfect place to put one.

Travi's ears flickered as he heard a beast racing up the stairs. Taking his eyes off Rewhane, Travi saw one of the "Friars" who was downstairs. He was panting heavily and saluted Rewehane before speaking. Travi's guard was up, even if he did not move, but his muscles tensed, just in case.

"Sir! We believe an otter has made his way up these stairs while we were distracted by a rock thrown across the Great Hall!"

Rewhane turned to Travi and spoke.

"Are you the otter who made their way up here? We need to know before we call in the weapons assembly teams."

Smirking, Travi relaxed a bit, keeping his arms crossed over his chest, he replied. "Possibly."



_{(Posted while still a member of this site)}

[Rorgus]

"Are you the otter who made their way up here? We need to know before we call in the weapons assembly teams."

Smirking, Travi relaxed a bit, keeping his arms crossed over his chest, he replied. "Possibly."


Rorgus just caught himself from groaning. Now Travi was just being stubborn, he wondered how patient this Rewhane was, badgers were supposed to be a patient lot, but this was going a little far.
He went over to the window and looked out over Redwall Abbey, it was a beautiful view, he could see clear across the walls, over the plains and to the forests on the other side. Suddenly he felt like going on an adventure, he had been here at Redwall for some seasons now, while Travi recovered, he thought maybe now that Travi is healed he might be up to another adventure, to the sea maybe. His attention was pulled back from the sea, and the wonderful view over the plains, to the small room, he turned to look at Travi, and the badger his rudder swished back and forth in the dust stirring up a small cloud.

He looked over at the "Friar", then he asked Rewhane.
"If nobeast knows your here, then why do you need guards? Aren't you big enough to defend yourself? And when is this horde invasion supposed to happen anyway, wouldn't it be best to at least warn the Aboot if there was to be an invasion of Redwall?"
He crossed his paws across his chest and looked at Rewhane waiting for his answer.
Just then a flicker caught his eye, behind the "friar" he noticed the mouse that had been hiding outside the room where Travi and Rewhane had first been. Django was his name, he remembered seeing him around the Abbey before.
"I wonder what he's up to? He's got a sword to." He thought.