To Kill a Coward (IC RWA RP 1.16.2020)

BlisaMarshmellow · 2020-01-16 08:15:21 PM

CHARACTERS: Isa, female kitten. DoraRose and LilyMoore, female mice. Various spoofs, both good and evil.

LOG:
A typical winters day in the abbey and all was quiet. The dark clouds and a cold wind promised more snow in the future but the weather held off for now. A few travellers had arrived in the morning but that was hours ago and currently beasts were busy gearing up for lunch. Yes, everything was peaceful until suddenly it wasn't "Dora! Dora!" a very panicked squirrel yells, going to bang on the gatehouse door. Novice Nutacre, aka Nutty, aka Hunter of Kittens because he had turned out to be the best at finding Isa and bringing her back when she disappeared. He quickly hops back towards the gates after knocking, double checking the pawprints in the snow and worrying "Dora! Open the gate! The kitten's gone"

DoraRose usually gets a little grumpy when beasts she doesn't know very well call her by any nickname. Nutacre is one of those beasts. However, at the urgency in his voice, the Warrior decides it's not really a big deal, and instead looks down from where she is on duty up on the walltop above the gates. "What are you goin' on about, Novice? Which kitten?" LilyMoore had been in the Gatehouse, practicing her mandolin playing, and now she comes out the door, hurriedly putting on her cloak and knitted hat, mittens, and scarf over her sweater (which is over her tunic -- she's also, miraculously, wearing boots). "Wait, which kitten? We have, like, 3," she askes the Novice, trying to grab his sleeve.

Nutty knows nothing of DoraRose's grumpiness but then he's a squirrel who lets everyone call him Nutty, if he put any thought in to refusing nicknames it'd be a bit late now. He's hard to grab as he keeps moving his paws on to his head and he keeps pacing "The kitten!" he repeats "/The/ kitten" he got so used to calling her that before she started talking when they didn't know her name that it takes him a moment to realize that's not the right answer and he stops, presses his head in to his paws for a second and then recovers from his own stupidity and answers "Isa...The long-haired one" just in case they don't know which one Isa is.

DoraRose has been coming down the stairs, and now she's face to face with the Novice, her lips pressed into a line. "I'm not surprised....why do you think she left through the Gates? We've only opened it once." When the Gatekeeper wasn't on duty, of course. LilyMoore wrings her mittened paws. "Oh...oh, no. Do you thhink she tried to go home, Momma?" Dora nods, but waits silently for the squirrel's answer.

The novice startles and suddenly goes very still as he turns and finds himself face to face with Dora. For a moment he stares nervously and then he quickly points at the ground "Um, there's, um, she was...There's footprints...in the snow...um" a nervous glance to LilyMoore and he backs up and tries to point them out "Um, here. It looks like she was hiding here, by the snow drift...and um, you can see where the gate opens in and pushes the snow aside and, well, um" he points at the little set of dibbun sized footprints leading right out where the open door would have stood.

DoraRose looks at the footprints, her face hardening. "Lily, go get Nightsong. You're coming with me." LilyMoore nods and rushes off. The Gatekeeper rests a paw on the hilt of her sword and goes to gently lay a paw on the Novice's shoulder. "I'll hunt her down. You're right, those look like they'd be her pawprints. Tell Benar and Krisha where LilyMoore and I have gone. Hopefully I'll be back before sundown." The Bellringer returns, lugging her mother's double-headed, double-handed axe. The Warrior takes it, then gestures for the guards to open the gates. "C'mon, Lily. Let's go." The younger mouse nods and follows her mother outside the Abbey. The Gatekeeper easily follows the kitten's tracks, using her well-honed tracking skills to find the path she took.

Nutty looked confused for a second. He doesn't remember any Nightsong but he doesn't ask and doesn't realise it's the axe, he just nods quickly and hurries to do as he's told "Oh, I do hope she'll be alright."
Isa is fine. She's got her gloves, hat, coat and half her weight in warm fluff to keep her warm. She also has a good headstart and it's amazing how far a small cat can get when she has to. The pawprints are fairly obvious and lead north. She did once mention living near the market and she seems to know where she's going as the pawprints finally leave the road and cut in to the woods not far before the market turn off.

The trail isn't even a challenge for someone as skilled as DoraRose, and she's honestly glad about that. Makes her job that much faster. Silently she leads her daughter up the road, LilyMoore following close behind. "Momma, should I have your sword? What Nana said about Isa's father..." "That's actually a really good idea, Lily." The mice pause as the Gatekeeper switches her sword in its scabbard from her belt to her daughter. The Bellringer settles it at her side and takes a step, trying to get used to the unfamiliar presence of a sword from her belt. "I hope Isa's okay." "Me, too," Dora answers as they continue back on their way, following the trail into the woods. They walk as silently as possible, the Warrior doing a much better job of being sneaky than her daughter (practice does wonders!).

With the short days and the light starting to dim the woods are gloomy and quiet, muffled under the snow. Isa doesn't follow any particular path through them but she knows her way well enough to recognise the trees and rocks. As she knows she's getting close she speeds up, starting to run and skip a bit because she was sure her mother was going to be so proud she escaped and got back all by herself. Pretty soon she finds her way to a building for which the word shack would be a generous description. It had walls, doors, a mostly intact roof that might only leak 50% of the time and at least one of those windows wasn't broken. Isa stopped. She didn't run to the door and declare she was home. She waited. Listening and watching as she stood very still.

As the light dims, DoraRose has to work a bit harder to follow the trail, but this still is probably one of the easiest tracking exercises she has ever encountered. She followed the trail of sorts of the murderer of her baby sister for multiple seasons, as well as tracking many creatures through woods and grasslands during dry, dusty weather. She's got this. LilyMoore stays silent, doing her best to match her mother's near-silent steps. When the paw prints start looking like dancing and skipping, the mice speed up, concerned about what they may find at the end. As they get close to the shack, the Gatekeeper motions something to her daughter, who whispers, "Isa? Are you here, sweetie?" They dare not be any louder than that.

Isa doesn't really understand hiding her tracks which is probably best for all of them. Her ears twitch when she hears the faint sound of movement but it's not from the shack. She turns, her eyes glowing slightly in the gloom as they reflect brightly what little light there is. She has no problem with the approaching dark. She suddenly frowns as she sees the mice and takes off, running towards the shack "No! M'not goin' back!" she came all this way, she's not leaving without a fight! "Mum!" she yells, running to the shack and fiddling quickly with the door because it doesn't open properly. She knows the trick though, gets the door open "Mum!" runs inside and then freezes...realizing that she hadn't been careful.
Inside is a tiny kitchen. The ground covered with dirt, feathers, sawdust and bits of broken pottery. There's a little door leading to a shabby little sitting room with a fire, chair, bed and something. Something that moves, getting out of the chair "WHO DARES-..." the voice stops when they see Isa as a big cat comes in to view. Not a cuddly, fluffy cat like Isa but a big angry Wildcat with scars across his face. For a second he looks surprised, he even sounds concerned when he speaks "Kid?...I thought y'were gone fer good...where" it only lasts a second as his face turns to a frown and he roughly grabs Isa's arm "Where 'ave y'been? Wha' 'ave I told yer about leavin' this 'ouse?"

Sighing, DoraRose practically silently follows, much more cautious than the kitten. LilyMoore follows, almost as silently as her mother, but she stops and chokes back a gasp as she hears the shout. The Warrior's blue eyes flash, and she gestures at her daughter, murmuring so quietly the other mouse almost can't hear her: "Go around the back and try to thneak in a window, hurry!" The Bellringer nods, trying to still her trembling limbs as she hurries off around the back of the shack. Taking a deep breath, the Gatekeeper sneaks cautiously to one side of the door, hoping it's not closed and stuck (yeah, she had noticed the kitten fiddling with it). She stands to one side, flat against the wall so she can't be seen, counting heartbeats to give her daughter a chance to make it to a window.

The door closes about as well as it opens so thankfully it doesn't shut properly again and rests slight ajar. The wildcat has not idea either of the mice are there and only pays attention to Isa right now. His tone started off sounding like that of a concerned parent who's mad their kid ran off and scared them but his grip on Isa's arm is hard as he pulls her out of the kitchen and in to the living room "Y'think just cause yer idiot f'a mother's gone y'can go where y'like?!" he shouts as Isa struggles slightly with a scared little whine as she's stuck between wanting him to let go and not wanting to make him angrier.

The tweet of a sparrow sounds out from outside one of the broken windows in the living room. DoraRose takes a deep breath, knowing that was her daughter's signal, and kicks in the door. "OI, SCUMFACE!" She strides into the room, blue eyes blazing as she grips her axe and gets into a battle stance. "Why don't you pick on somebeast your own size?" LilyMoore peers over the windowframe and urgently gestures for the kitten to remain quiet. Watching the male cat, the Bellringer readies herself to hop through the window.

Isa yelps as her father suddenly turns but never lets go of her arm when the door is kicked in. "WHAT THE HELL!?" he yowls angrily but the hiss that follows it turns in to a hissing laugh before he roars with laughter at Dora "Me own size? HHAHAHA! Are they waitin' outside?" he still doesn't let Isa go as he draws an old battered sword from his belt and points it at Dora "Yer in me 'ome, yer gonna die fer comin' in 'ere" he sharply pulls Isa closer so she's by his legs. Protecting her from the mouse or using her as a shield? Who knows his motives.

It's DoraRose's turn to laugh, coldly, darkly. "Oh, please. You're just a washed up, mangy, flea-bitten excuse for a drunkard. Stop hiding behind kittens and face me like a Warrior. Unless you're so /scared/ you can't even stand up without Isa holding you up." The Gatekeeper has faced bigger, badder, healthier, and better-armed opponents most of her life. She's not too scared. LilyMoore lifts herself up onto the windowsill behind the felines with silent ease, crouching there, waiting for the big male cat to step away from the kitten.

"She's my-!" the wildcat starts to yell in response to being accused of hiding behind kittens. After all Isa was his daughter so he could do what he wanted with her! He stops short though when Dora mentions Isa's name. He had had a few already, he was drunk and it took him a second longer before he figured out what that meant. "Y'brought them 'ere" he mutters looking both betrayed and surprised as he looks down at Isa before it all happens so fast as his face turns in to a snarl "Y'brought them 'ere t'kill me yer ungrateful little brat! After all I've done fer y', all I've put up with from y'an' yer stupid crass f'a mother!" a split second after his realization and Isa screams as he finally does let go but only so he can hit her with a clawed paw and send her flying before he charges at Dora, sword raised "I'll kill the lot f'yer!" he still has not yet spotted Lily.

Oh, no, he didn't! DoraRose matches his shouts with one of her own: "REDWAAAALLL!!" She stands her ground in the front room and swings her axe, ducking his sword and dancing to the side. "You're nothing but a coward!" LilyMoore can't help but gasp, but then she's on the floor and darts over to where the kitten is, checking her for injuries as she tries to scoop her up in her arms. Drawing her mother's sword, the Bellringer half watches the fight, just in case Mister Big-and-Evil spots her.

Isa hits the wall and bounces off to land on the floor hard. Fortunately cats are made out of some indestructible jello when it comes to falls, she might bruise but nothing broken. There's some pretty deep scratches on the back of her head, to one side of it and a little nick taken out of her ear that's all bleeding now. She doesn't scream again though, she just cries but very quietly as she's learned to keep attention off her. She doesn't put up any fight when Lily scoops her up and she starts to curl up under her tail "Mum?" she whimpers very quietly. The wildcat narrowly avoids the axe, losing a couple of whiskers as he stumbles back and then turns to follow Dora's movements only to spot Lily at last. He growls "Yer from d'abbey! Yer tryin' t'steal me daughter! SHE'S MINE!" he swings his sword towards Dora, not aiming much but putting a lot of strength in it to try and force her back before he charges at Lily, raising a clawed paw above his head.

LilyMoore is halfway to the window by now, and she gives a tiny shriek as she raises the sword, trying to slice off the wildcat's paw. DoraRose roars and stands firm, but only barely, under his swing, then charges after him. "SHE IS A FREE CREATURE!!" The Gatekeeper's eyes are turning slightly red, the Bloodwrath trying to take hold as she sees her daughter threatened. With another war cry, the Warrior swings her axe at the cat's back. Lily hugs the kitten close. "Hold on to me, Isa!" She younger mouse keeps the sword up, trying to protect them both.

The wildcat's ability to keep track of both mice is not good, he's used to robbing travellers in gangs not being attacked in his home. He hisses as he draws his paw back but still gets a deep cut on his arm but Dora's axe hits its mark and he screams in pain, dropping his sword but still trying to grab Dora with his claws as he falls down. Isa holds on to Lily's coat tightly for comfort but can't help but peek out of her tail when the wildcat sounds in pain "...Dad?" she asks quietly. She doesn't sound happy or upset, she sounds more confused than anything.

While she is able to get her axe out of his back, DoraRose isn't able to avoid the claws, and she shouts in pain. "Go, Lily!" The Warrior pulls a knife from her boot and tries to stab the cat in the chest as they fall to the ground. LilyMoore turns and hops up on the windowsill, trying to escape the bloodshed with the kitten. The sword is still in her paw, but she's skilled enough to keep it away from her and her charge. Back in the shack, the Gatekeeper of Redwall growls, "What did you do to the kitten's mother?" She needs to know. Hopefully he has enough life left in him to be able to tell her, if he deigns to.

Isa's concern only starts as she's taken out of the window and can't see what's going on anymore. She strains against Lily's grip "Wha's she doin'? Dad?" she never raises her voice though, staying quiet. The wildcat gasps as the knife goes in to his chest and struggles to breathe. He scrambles for the knife, going to swipe claws at her if she gets in the way but his strength is fading fast and he can't get a good grip. It's only a few seconds before he stops trying and lies on the floor, just trying to breathe. Maybe after a break he can try again...sure, he'll just rest a while...The question barely cuts through his clouding mind and after a delay he laughs, wheezing a little as he puts two and two together "Hehehaa...stupid brat don't even know wha' she saw. She knows wha' 'appened, she was there, she saw...hehheh...Y'know 'ow...'ow may times I told 'er?...All she 'ad t'do was keep the brat busy n'get the drink, make the food n'keep the place tidy...y'maids, y'don't know" his breathing gets little more ragged "When y'got a good thing...Never did as she were told" a grin spreads over his face and he wheezes out another laugh as his eyes focuses on the mouse, taunting her one last time "I 'ad t'kill 'er, she weren't ever goin' t'learn"

Ignoring the claws on her arms, DoraRose pulls the knife out as she listens to the wildcat, her blue eyes still tinged red. She leans down, her face close to his, and growls, "I had a good thing. His name was Leon. And I'm pretty sure he'd approve of this." Standing up, she picks up her axe. "Say hello to Stormfeather for me, since you'll be seeinghim in Hellgates." She lifts the axe and brings it down with finality. The wildcat should now find himself without a head. LilyMoore can't really do anything to keep the kitten from peering over her shoulder. "My...Momma...she's making sure he /never/ hurts you again," the Bellringer manages to answer as she drops to the snow-covered ground and runs back the way they came for a dozen steps. Kneeling, Lily tries to keep hold of the kitten, her own multi-coloured eyes wide, focused on the shack, waiting for her mother to come.

The wildcat is losing his grip on reality along with everything else "We'll 'ave a party" he says to meeting Stormfeather before he bursts out laughing loudly with a lot of wheezing until the axe goes thunk and suddenly the house falls silent. Isa stops trying to get away after the axe falls. She didn't quite see the end of the final blow but she knows what happened and she falls silent for a while afterwards. She doesn't know what to think or feel. It's complicated, she's very conflicted. Finally there's just a tiny, quiet "Ok..." to Lily's words and Isa slowly hugs on to her, still unsure of everything even as she very quietly asks "...Can I see mum now?"

"I'm sure you will." DoraRose's snarl is the last thing he hears. Cleaning her axe and knife, the Warrior searches through the shack, looking for anything that could be the kitten's or that could have been her mother's that the female cat would've wanted her daughter to have. Bundling anything up in a blanket, the Gatekeeper stalks out of the house, kicking the dead cat's body for good measure. As she steps outside, she takes a deep breath and stares at the sky for a few breaths to calm herself. Once she's sure all the Bloodwrath and anger are gone, she follows her daughter's footprints to where they are. LilyMoore has been holding Isa close. "I....I don't think she's here anymore, sweetie," the Bellringer whispers. "I think your Dad did to her what my Momma did to him. I don't think your Mom's alive anymore. I'm sorry."

There's not much in the house for Isa, some handmade toys hidden in the kitchen and a small stash of valuables but by the random selection they're more likely stolen goods than family heirlooms. The wildcat has a few bits on him like rings but most of what he 'earned' was spent on drink and there are a lot of empty bottles everywhere. Isa looks worried, she's fairly limp in Lily's arms, not holding on back anymore. She keeps flicking her ear because it stings where it was scratched. She sniffs and shakes her head, staring at the snow on the ground "She always gets back up...she just 'ad t'rest a bit"

All the stuff ot taken, anyway. DoraRose even lifted the rings off the wildcat, determined that the kitten should have some connection to her mother. Now the Gatekeeper comes up to the pair huddled in the snow. "Lily, clean the sword." As the Bellringer complies, DoraRose sets her axe and the blanket bundle down and goes to slowly reach for the kitten. "Hey, sweetheart. I just wanna look at those scratches. I may be able to stop the bleeding until we get back to Redwall." She'd heard what Isa had said, and she shakes her head. "No, little one. I'm sorry, but your father told me he killed your mother, just like I slew him. I don't doubt his word." LilyMoore sheaths the sword and goes to hold the kitten close. "Momma, your arms--" "I'll deal with them in a minute."

Isa slowly brings her tail around in front of her as Dora approaches. She can't decide if the mouse is scary now, she's very unsure about everything. He faith that her mother was still alive had also waned when she wasn't at the house. Her ears go back when Dora confirms it then flick repeatedly because it hurts. The tears start properly now but though she sniffles a lot she doesn't make any more noise while she's crying except for the tiniest "Ok" She presses lightly against Lily when she's held on to again, not fighting to get away this time but instead a subtle push to be closer. She doesn't stop them from looking at the scratches too, they're quite deep and hurt but right now Isa is too upset and broken to care.

"I'm sorry," DoraRose tells her as she looks at the cuts with gentle firmness. She pulls bandages out of her pocket and goes to wrap the kitten's head. She pulls more out and hands them to LilyMoore, who bandages up her mother's arms. After a few minutes, the Gatekeeper stands, picking up her axe and the bundle. "C'mon. Let's go home." The Bellringer nods and stands, snuggling the kitten close the who silent trek back to Redwall. They arrive at the Abbey after sunset and head straight for the Infirmary, where Angela sets to work cleaning up the scratches. How Isa and Lily deal with this remains to be seen....

~*END*~

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#1 2020-01-16 08:15:21 PM

To Kill a Coward (IC RWA RP 1.16.2020)

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