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John, a squirrel,
Nardo, a ferret,
and Xander, the badger.
The Great Hall is quiet at this time, with most abbey beasts down in Cavern Hole for lunch. The muffled sound of beasts enjoying the meal can be heard coming up the stairs, as well as a slight creak of a door. A squirrel steps out of the kitchens, a wooden bowl in paw. Making his way over towards the fireplace, John sits in one of the more comfortable looking chairs, set on enjoying the peace and quiet.
Nardo comes down the stairs, some are use to him and a couple are not as he finds a plce to sit down and folds his paws into his lap , leaning back quietly.
John, in the midst of eating, spares a glance at the ferret. His eyes narrow briefly with posture ever so slightly straightening. He relaxes, at least outwardly, giving a wave and calling in a cheery voice, "Hullo there, mate! What brings y'round 'ere?"
Nardo looks over and nods a simple hello "I helped..get a beast back 'ere....and a friend is 'ere too, I..right now have no where to go, de pub..see part of it burnt up so..sort of dtuvk fer now..I am also a healer and helped a beast with really bad hornet stings, nasty things hornets..small but...well hornets could be a horde, sort of, it they wanted to be"
"Oh? Really?" The squirrel says, standing. "An' who was th'beast, if y'don't mind me askin'?" John walks over, bowl still in paw. "Suppose it had to do w'th'commotion at th'gates, it did, didn't it?" Leaning on the wall nearby the ferret, the squirrel continues eating. "Name's John, by the by." He adds between mouthfuls.
Nardo frowns "Thar....was that too...yesterday afternoon...that lizard almost made chow of me...but I only went out to help Mack and the hedgemaid droped that sword but I got it back to her...a couple days ago me and some Mossflower Villagers got a badger back to the abbey, he accidently distrube a next of hornets and...well helped him back 'ere as I said....the monitor was some other issue, see he had me friend Mack..Mack is fine now and..somewhere in de abbey"
Nardo says, "Name is Nardo, by de way"
Nodding, John replies, "Good t'meet y'." The squirrel slides down the wall to sit against it, letting out a sigh. "Suppose th'badger were Xander, he were, an' heard o' the rest, I did, more or less." Finishing the soup, he sets the bowl down next to him. "As fo'that lizard, tha' must be th'monitor I've heard tell of."
Nardo nods "Xander...yeah that was his name...the monitor, ummm he had a name"He thinks and then remembers "Anwir, thats wot de other one called him...yeah a 2nd monitor but this one seems..a lot, LOT less like..evil and also said he was some brother and that this Anwir was after hs daughter and..I have no clue"He then smirks a little "I DO know that Anwir has no tail now, hee hee..tail sliced clean off!"
"Good for you." John says, dryly. "Though y'know some lizards can grew tails back, they can." Tilting his head to one side, he looks up at Nardo, making eye contact. "This Anwir," The squirrel starts, his tone more serious than before, "D'y'appen t'know anythin' else 'bout, do you?"
Nardo shakes his head, "Just..monitor..sharp teeth and claws..he had Mack and some other monitor captive, the other monitor like captive a while...OH!!!! And he has some flaming spider tatoo on him."
The squirrel an eyebrow. "A tattoo, y'say?" John closes his eyes, trying to remember. "Agh, never did like beasts with th' mo'showy tats, y'know." Standing, after a moment, tail swishing from side to side, he looks intently at the ferret. "Do y'know were he be hiddin' away now, or were th'lizard kept his captives, d'you?"
Nardo says, "Mack might know...I just know he was in the pub once but he didnt start the fire...the stove sort of messed up"
"Which pub were it?" John asks, his tail darting back and forth behind him, "If it be th' one up in th'town it has bit o'history of burnin', it does, though if it be th'Gull, well, tha'place attracts all sort of unsavory folk, it does." After brief pause, the squirrel adds another question: "An' this Mack-beast, who is he?"
Nardo says, "In Mossflower Village south of here, it was..is..a little pub, Mack owns it..there is another one there thats bigger but beasts liked Mack and Mack is a hedgehog...though that Blacksmith lizard might know more since he was..well captive a lot longer"
"Oh," John lets out, a look of realization on his face, "That'd be th' Ferravale smith, the second lizard, can' remember his name for th'life o'me, though..." He says that more to himself than Nardo, though he soon turns back to the ferret. "I've 'eard of tha' village before, I have."
Nardo frowns he can't think of the name either "I..know he was..worried abut a Krisha....though"
John nods. "That'd be th'badgermum 'ere, it be." The squirrel starts to pace, his tail bobbing left and right behind his head. "I've met th'lizard smith a few times m'self, though that'd be seasons ago now..." He stops, turning sharply on one paw to face Nardo directly. "Say," he starts, a bit incredulous, "Between yoreself, th'champion, an'th'other guards 'rounder, y'didn' manage t'slay this Anwir beast? How?"
Nardo says, "He..sort of appeared outta nowhere and me and Mack got that other lizard inside cause he was like...well clearly not fighting matrieral at de time, the champion was fighting it alone..fighting Anwir that is and he knocked her out a few secounds..Mack grabed her and just took her inside when she was coming too...and I sort of..kind of used a sword to slcie off Anwir's tail...and bolted inside, barely avoiding being lizard food, I am more a healer, than a fighter..so Anwir is still out there, tailnless and has some other injuries and think some quills in his arm"
John nods, slowly, his lips pursed. "I see..." Looking down at his paws, he lets out a puff of air. "An' this were yesterday, it were?"
Nardo says, "Yes...I know some beasts were watching on the wall, maybe they were too afraid to go out or if like fired an arrow could of hit someone else"
"Maybe..." The squirrel sounds unconvinced. Shaking his head, he says, "No matter. Tha' all fits in w'th' abbey-beasts..." John sighs. "Well, what's done is done, eh? No point in regret in' what were done an' what weren't..."
Nardo nods "Though...have a bad feeling it will be back..and that thing is scary as....yeah and maybe the hedge maid could of handled it but..well..ya cant be sure and Mack was like cant leae her out there, then again if he handnt got her insdie maybe that lizard would of like..ate her or something"
"It's just one beast." John says, with a slight smile. "There be no need t'be scared o' it, there is." He walks back to the wall, causing a small clattering as he accidentally knocks the bowl and spoon over. "Whoops, sorry 'bout tha'..."
Nardo frowns and shrugs "Maybe some beast will like...lsay it soon..I need ta find Mack umm, talk later I suppose"And he is off.
"Aye," John mutters as the ferret leaves, "I've got t' find him m'self..." Bending down to pick up the dish, he goes to deposit it back in the kitchens.
***
Xander is on one of the cots, right now faceing the wall like he has been mostly the past 2-3 days.His right paw has a small bandage, and his upper arm does as well, his arm was fairly swollen but its gone down and his fever is gone as well. But he hasnt ate or drank much since he got back to the abbey, and he didnt come back on his own, he had some help.
Without knocking, the door is opened. John appears in the doorway, tray in paw. Due to the lunch hour, very few beasts besides the squirrel and the badger are around, allowing the former to more or less talk freely. "So," He begins, his voice flat, "How are y'holden' up today, hmm?" Walking over to the badger's cot, he sets the try down next to Xander. "Here, y'need this." It isn't a kind tone, nor is it harsh. It's more of a state of fact.
Xander knows who it is so just sighs "Hello" He gets out and finally looks at the tray but doesnt go to get anything,"Not hungry right now.
"Alright then." John simply replies. "Y'might be, though." A silence falls between them, and the squirrel goes over to gaze out the window. "Leafs are turning' already..." He mutters to himself. After a moment, he starts tapping the windowsill. "So I 'eard th' abbot's fall were because of you, I did." His voice isn't judgmental, instead it's as if he were simply commenting on the weather.
Xander frowns, he is quiet.."It was an accident, I didnt me to , I ment to just scoot him out of the way...and the railing broke..I didnt do it on purpose..I feel horrible now cause of it..I planed to leave Mossflower and...and well that plan got messed up."
Nodding, John turns back to the badger. "I can see that." He says, gesturing to Xander's bandages. "An' I never said y'did it on purpose." The squirrel shrugs. "Only meant to clear tha' up, I did. I'd guessed last we talked y'hadn' told me th'whole story, you did."
Xander frowns at the bandages "I..there was hornets in a tree...sort of touched teh nest and then fell from the tree hitting some branches..."He looks at the tray of food and drink and frowns ""The..Abbot likely hates me..thin Krisha hates me too....everything is just so messed up and some of my..memory is still messed up and..sort of remembering some things but not the best things"
John nods again. "Mayhaps they do hate you. Perhaps they don'." The squirrel offers another shrug of his shoulders. "Who am I t'say? Though I will say these abbey-beasts are bad at hating, they are." Leaning back against the windowsill, his eyebrows raise questionably. "Know tha' from experience, I do. 'Specially from what I've seen from your Krisha, I have. She's dead-set it were an accident, what y'did."
Xander listens quietly as John speaks "Some...think it was on purpose.."His stomach growls a little and he frowns, ok so he hasnt ate anything today and yesterday he drank some water and ate a little bit anyways.. "Krisha...was in here when I first got in here ...she was asleep beside me, woke up later and she was gone, likely busy.."He manages to slowly sit up now.
"Aye, bet she did." John says as he rolls his head round his shoulders, stretching with a slight groan. "As for those who think otherwise, like tha'young beast Spruce, well," The squirrel shrugs. "Y'can't really do anythin' 'bout tha', now can y'?"
Xander shrugs, ok that hurt a little as his shoulder is sore, "I..I suppose...not, just gain some trust"He sighs, again not really reaching for food and drink but he is thinking on it,"I will...have to regain abbot's trust too...likely"
Smiling for the first time during this conversation, John nods, saying, "Aye, I expect y'do." Pushing himself off the windowsill he stands up straight, reaching upwards with his paws, still stretching. "An' I suppose y'should start by tryin' t'apologize to th'good father abbot, now, shouldn' y'? Unless you've already done tha', I suppose..."
Xander says, "I have not..gotten a chance.."He finally reaches for a pasty and eats it slowly and then what ever drink there is sipping it, well least he is eating a little bit now. "He has been in his room, likely will be for a while."
"Right then," John says, finishing up his stretches. "Y'could wait. Or y'could write somethin', or mayhaps get a good abbey-beast to tell him for y'."
Xander frowns "Should...come from me , from myself..face to face just not aure..when, he..likely doesnt want to see me too soon, or" He frowns "I would hope he isnt afriad of me"
John makes his way over to a cot next to Xander's, sitting down on it. "Well, aye, that'd be good. Though y'could still get some beast t'tell th'ol'Abbot y'want to apologize. After all," he says looking at his left paw, "He very well might be afraid of y', considering - accident or no'- y'did nearly kill him." He looks back at badger, hoping to make eye contact. "An' y'can' change tha' fact, no matter how much y'want t', y'can't."
Xander frowns, he keeps the eye contact and sighs, looking away"I could tell..someone..maybe he will talk to me, or not..I dont want friends scared of me, no one should be..unless they are an enemy..thats different"
"O'course y'don't want friends scared of y'," John replies with a slight chuckle. "No beast does." He sighs, adding, "Remember tha' it really can' hurt anythin' if y'try. If y'don', well," shrugging, the squirrel continues, "Y'won' find out th'Abbot's thoughts on y' for some time, methinks."
Xander nods, he eats a little more of the food, sips the drink, "I..know..I do have to work on...guess anger issues and getting annoyed not remembering things I think I SHOULD remember...was told not to worry if memories come back, maybe something will help me remember..."
"Maybe somethin' will," the squirrel says, "An' maybe somthin' won't. Personally," John leans back, crossing his legs, "I wouldn' spend m'days livin' in th'past, I would. Trust me - I've done tha' plenty m'self, an' it takes far more than its worth." Looking down with a shake of his head, he says with a rueful smile, "It took me seasons t'figure th'out, it did. Live in th'now, Xander."
Xander is quiet, likely thinking and nods, "I..suppose, and some things are not..good to remember like a friend dying....or"He frowns"Trying to remember why I wasnt there when Uncle Oz died...not like I knew when he would...die.Rembering a fight with 15 vermin I had was..not the best, its how I think got the memory issues in de first place. Maybe a head injury on top of..bloodwrath"He shakes his head and takes a deep breath, quietly eatting some more food and drink"But your right, and..living in the now is best, thinking on the past causes headachesand not like I can change anything..I just need to..fix a couple things..the abbots trust and letting him know I am sorry...and I should make sure Krisha is ok, she is likely stressed being the Badgermother and doing duties for teh abbot as well"
The squirrel simply nods as the badger speaks, listening intently. He lets out a light laugh at that last bit. "Aye," He says, offering a small smile, "I really bet she's stressed. 'Specially considerin' if th'dibbuns nowadays are anythin' like when I were one, eh? Anyway..." He grows more serious after a moment, giving Xander a long look. "As for Oz or a friend dyin'...well..." He sighs, "Suppose that's life, isn' it? Don' worry abou' th' why, now. I did tha' with a, well," The squirrel pauses, searching for the right word, "...Friend of my own. Last thin' I remember ever sayin' t'her were a bit of an argument, it were, an' tha' were seasons an' seasons ago, back when y'were but a dibbun, m'thinks. But it happened, an' regretin' tha' now won't do no good, it won'."
Xander nods "I..do remember..some of dibbunhood, not the best seasons...except with the one who adopted me..Sister Zinnia, but I was taken captive by Jedrick for 4 seasons..happen to be north of Ferrvale and, with some help, got away..had a lot of anger issues then, but I got threw it ok...so can get through this as well and learn from it."
John nods. "Aye, I heard 'bout all tha', I did." The squirrel falls back against the cot, laying on his back and staring up at the ceiling. "Believe it or no', had anger-issues as y'call it m'self for a long while when I were younger, I did."
Xander says, "I am...just glad things are fairly calm...well almost calm, there has been small small problems in Mossflower but guess thats better than large ones and...the Champion can handle it or others"
"Aye," John says, nodding, "Th'lizard. He were at th'gates yesterday, he were, an' th' champion an'a few others had some trouble. They're all fine, as I've heard it, though so too is th'lizard. Lost his tail courtesy of a visitin' ferret." The squirrel props himself up on his forearms, adding, "Methinks I migh' well go huntin' for th' beast m'self at some point..."
Xander asks, "Lizard?" He frowns "I remembner....chased one but he threw me in a ditch....then again didnt have a weapon and..was sort of ill, and dizzy from the delayed hornet sting reaction.Matilda found me and got me out"He sighs "Need to talk to her, sort of..made her sad think, told her she should of left me to die in the ditch, let me drown...cause I didnt know Benar was alive till after I was brought here and had the hornet stings tended to""
"Oh?" With a raised eyebrow, John sits up fully. "Suppose y'should, then. I haven' really seen her, as she were out lookin' for y'for sometime, she were." He shrugs. "An' methinks th' lizard's th'very same one."
Xander says, "Maybe...he keep muttering things as he choaked me....me"He frowns remembering what was said and sort of spaceing out a little.."No...""
John leans forward, gazing at Xander. "Do y'happen to remember were y'met th'beast?" The squirrel asks, in a quiet voice. "I don' need much, jus' a direction, an' mayhaps a landmark or something, I do..."
Xander frowns "He was by the church....but..."He stands, bad idea and takes a couple steps,..worse idea as he is still a bit uneasy on the footpaws and falls onto his face almost, sort of catches himself with his good arm and gasps a little, ok hurt just a little "He..he said he was....gonna finsih what he started..how he..could easyly kill me cause he killed a couple badgers before..but his brother stole a cub and he was....gonna.."He tries to stand, ok shaky on the footpawsand no way he could help "That lizard..it wants Krisha...its gonna try and get to her..."
"Woah there, mate!" John exclaims, jumping up as the badger falls, intending to help him up if he needs it. "Woah there..." The squirrel stands next to Xander, tilting his head. "Y'should probably take it easy - could hurt yourself more, y'know." He offers his paw to help the badger stand, saying, "Th' church, eh? Well, if he wants Krisha, he'll 'ave one heck o'a time tryin' to get through th'walls 'ere."
Xander allows the help and sits on the cot, las down.He nods.."Yeah...true...Ferro knows a lot more than me, your have to talk to him."
"Ferro!" John practically yells out, snapping his fingers. "That's his name! Th'lizard smith, aye?" He adds, quieter and nodding. "Aye, aye, I were plannin' t'have a word with this Ferro - couldn' remember his name, though, I could. Though you've given me a lot already, y'have."
Xander says, "He..adopted Krisha when she was a dibbun...raised her as his own, I know sounds odd....he is your rare friendly monitor...well sometimes he is grumpy but he means well" He sighs as he is laying down again"Guess I will....let others handle this, and Krisha is safe...long as she has no need to leave teh abbey""
John nods once again. "Aye, I've met him before. An' tha' makes more things make sense, y'know. Tha' ferret I mentioned said Ferro were worried for her, he were." The squirrel now leans against the bedside table. "I can' imagine she has any reason to leave, I can'. An' even if she does, she still's a badger - a good knock from her on th'head o' th' lizard could deal with it, methinks."
Xander nods as he yawns, a healer mentions he likely should get some rest and its seems that is best.
The squirrel stays by the table and cot for a little while, keeping an eye the badger. When abbey-beasts start coming back from their lunch and start going about their duties, John leaves, taking the empty dishes with him. One last sigh escapes his lips as he exits the infirmary.
I play Atticus, John, Lossow, Terrence, and Spruce
The Long Patrol Landing Page!
Usually on the MUCK Saturdays + Monday & Wednesday evenings if I have the time
Fastest way to reach me is via my Discord: Luke_SkyOtter#1438
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