An Unexpected Arrival - Redwall 1/29/22

Ol'random · 2022-02-01 11:50:58 PM

Sorry it took me so long to post! Was busy on Sunday & had an internet outage yesterday!

Takes place the day before 'A Newly Arrived Old Friend'.
Dochas, Eirwen, & Spruce, Squirrels
Gorvenalus, a beaver

Winter had finally settled in with snow increasing every day - it was lighter than the previous seasons, far lighter, but compared to the heavy snows of four and eight seasons ago, even a fall of several paws deep seems mild. Of course, that was little comfort to Spruce atop the wall. When he'd first requested to help out with watch duty there'd been a light dusting and the sun had constantly peeked in and out of clouds. Now after a few weeks the world was blanketed in white and shadowed by the heavy grey clouds, and Spruce wrapped his cloak together about him and nestled closer to his bowl of thankfully still warm porridge.

Ultimately it wasn't that cold, but the squirrel was beginning to regret seeking out the relative quiet the wallops offered.

Eirwen moved quietly along a path, a couple places prove to be slightly harder than some, but there is some clear path by the abbey gates. She studies the gates and steps back as if unsure of knocking or not. She glaces around and up at the high walls.

Spruce isn't quite paying attention - after, since the snow really started falling not a soul could be seen passing by on the road. No, he's more focused on his bowl of food. With snow still coming down every sound is muted, and the pure white beast below seemingly blends into her surroundings (at least from the wall tops).

Eirwen sees the faint movement and cups her paws to be heard better "Hello up thar.... any chance ta get inside, likely warmer inside"

Gorvenalus is coming out of the main doors leading to the great hall, seeing the snow he chuckles some, but he also at the same time made sure his scarf was on good. He has yet to hear Eirwen as he is closer to the main building right now.

Just as he's finishing his porridge, Spruce's ears perk at the sound. Leaping up he looks frantically up and down the road, unsure of where exactly the voice came from. Then he turns, thinking that perhaps someone in the abbey was pulling a prank. But it's just the old beaver recorder, and if THAT was his voice Spruce was a badger.

"Oi, who said that? Where are you?" The squirrel calls over the wall after a moment. "Show yourself! .....Please."

Eirwen rolls her eyes and moves a little before speaking "Tis me sir, a traveler just looking for a place to stay for the winter, well least winter anyways."

Gorvenalus arches an eyebrow at the shouting and steps closer"Is someone on the path by the gates?"

"Er, I think so." Spruce says loud enough so the beaver can hear him, still peering over the wall. Finally he spots the other squirrel.

"Oh." He blinks. "There you are! Sorry 'bout that, I, well-" In truth he'd never seen any beast with white fur before and had believed them something only in stories. "Brother Gorvenalus, sir, could you open up the gates? There's a squirrelmaid out there." As he's speaking he's already hurrying for the nearest stairs off the walls.

Eirwen waves and gets closer to where the gates are now so she can enter the abbey once the gates are opened.

Gorvenalus goes to open the gates to let in Eirwen, a quick look to make sure no one else is with her before the gates are once more closed. "Greetings and welcome to Redwall Abbey"The guard that comes over will take any weapons she may have to keep somewhere safe.

Spruce catches up to them then, breathing heavily. Intending to help out with the gate when he ran down a slight of stairs and through the snow, he now looks a bit sheepish arriving a bit late. "Hello." He says before the teenaged squirrel goes to stand by the recorder.

Eirwen nods, a smile "So this is the famous Redwall Abbey. Mother always talked of it, but none of us have ever been here before, well before now anyways."

Gorvenalus smiles "There is a lot of stories of our abbey that's been told for many, many seasons"

Glancing between the two, Spruce tile his head, thinking. "Do you hail from the northlands, ma'am? If you don't mind me asking, that is." He's deeply curious and that reflected in his eyes.

Eirwen says, "My name is Eirwen and I use to live in the far north woods, just before you get to the northern mountains."

Gorvenalus says, "We don't have too many from the northlands, there was a badger here that lived in a valley called Send, fairly far into the mountains I think he said, I will have to see if anything was written about Send and Send Valley"

"Oh." The younger squirrel tries to fit both places into his interior sense of geography, but he can't quite manage it. "Is that by the East Sea, near Collinsel, then?" He ventures. "Oh! And I'm Spruce, Spruce Pineson - and this here's Brother Gorvenalus, the recorder here." He holds out a paw.

Eirwen speaks "Past it a little, I think there is a large city by a sea may be this... whatever it was, I tend to avoid large unknown cities."

Gorvenalus nods "The Northern woods are on the other side of the River Moss, well a little further along a path, you have to walk some weeks for the mountains and Send Village. I do believe, let me think... a small stream goes from those mountains and meets up with a sort of inlay place that then goes into the River Moss or rather the River Moss goes into it and onwards to the Eastern Sea. We do have a couple maps of the area, not of Collinsel though, just that it is off a path heading east away from the Northern Path"

"I see." In reality Spruce is a but confused by Gorvenalus, but no matter! He looks back at Eirwen "It's probably for the best you avoid old Collinsel - as far as I know, the last news we had from that place was in rather poor state, and that was at least twenty seasons before I was born... No one's come from that city since, neither." He shrugs. "I don't rightly know. But regardless, welcome to Redwall Abbey, Eirwen!" He offers a small smile.

Eirwen smiles "Well maybe it be a ghost town now, who knows or they just on't travel by land too much perhaps, I rather like land a lot better than water travel"

Gorvenalus says, "I like water travel, got to explore the River Moss not too long ago, very interesting"

"Well, I've never seen either of the great seas myself, and can count on one paw the times I've seen the River Moss." He laughs. "A land beast, through and through." Glancing up at the sky and then the great hall behind them, he adds, "Perhaps we could go inside? It's getting colder out here it feels like."

Eirwen nods "Well lead the way then Spruce, some Redwall food and drink sounds good right now, and there is likely a large fireplace inside as well. Traveling can be fun at times but only hen you know when to take a break"

Gorvenalus says, "I have to agree, it is colder and my old bones dislike too much cold.Inside sounds good to me as well."

Spruce nods once, turning on his heel. "Aye, I can imagine. I came from the east myself, but during an autumn." He bounds up the stairs to the Great Hall, kicking snow off his boots before pushing one of the oak doors ajar. "Come on, then!" He calls over his shoulder even as he slips inside.

Eirwen, once inside she heads right to a chair by the fireplace and smiles "Oh yes, for sure a lot warmer in here than outside."

Gorvenalus steps inside and shakes off his cloak, he hangs the cloak out to dry and finds a place to sit down "This is the Great Hall."

Spruce does the same, shaking off his cloak and pulling off his boots - afterwards he beelines for the fireplace. "Much warmer, yes," he manages. "Not sure where to find food, as I'm non-too-eager to risk the frier's ire," He grins.

There are no classes for the Dibbuns today, much to their delight. Dochas the squirrelbabe has been keeping herself busy, hiding books, drawing, breaking up fights, whacking her fellow Dibbuns with pillows, and overall just being her normal self. She now comes bounding down the stairs into Great Hall, on her way to visit her favourite mouse, Martin the Warrior. She stops when she sees that there's already people here, and she joins them by the fire.... only to stop and stare at the white squirrel in unmasked awe. She just stands there, staring at Eirwen with her mouth open and her paws hanging at her sides in wonder.

Eirwen blinks as she looks at the dibbun, "Ummm... hi thar... can I umm, help you with anything there little one?"

When the dibbun suddenly appears among them Spruce can't quite hide the way his face falls - though he's thankful neither the gatekeeper nor the badger mother are here. It seems whenever they and the little devil kit are in the same room as him he ends up with someone yelling at him (though in recent seasons that's become less and less a danger...). He clears his throat. "Oh, hey, Dochas - this here's Eirwen, she just arrived here from the north, she did."

Gorvenalus starts to relax when a nervous novice comes down stairs and whispers to the Recorder who frowns and then stands up "Excuse me... I need to check on something in my office" And he quickly heads off, kind of fast for an old beaver.

Dochas scoots closer to the newcomer. "Your fur is so pretty. The only other white creature I've seen is Nissaya -- he's an otter. He's a Brother of the Order and helps Ms. Angela in the Infirmary. You're so pretty....I've never seen a white squirrel before..." Currently she is ignoring Spruce, but that could change at any moment.

Eirwen smiles "Thank you." She then replies to the question "My mother had white fur, father didn't though. I once saw a tribe of pure white mice once on my travels but could not understand a word they said." She smiles "They made great cheese rolls though and seemed to dislike outsiders but me they seemed to get along with the short time I stayed in that area."

Spruce had so far in his life at Redwall avoided the Infirmary at all costs and the ancient mouse that dwells within. He'd long heard of her temper and the teenaged squirrel made it a point of pride hat he's never set the old healer off (almost entirely down to the fact he's never had a conversation with Angela, and frankly he's not eager to change THAT). So hearing about another creature at Redwall with white fur that he's never met isn't that uprising, he supposes, especially considering his distance from a lot of the order...

"It seems to be a trait of the northlands. Some hares were here last summer who told of a big hare from up there who's fur changed every winter, though I didn't really believe them at the time to tell the truth as I didn't think it was a real thing. But I was wrong, it seems." Sitting down on the hearth with his back to the fire, he looks up at the white squirrel. "...Is your fur like that? Changing, I mean?"

Dochas has had the unfortunate fate of ticking Angela off multiple times, as well as having to be in the Infirmary from various illnesses (and that one time she ate so many stolen sweets that she made herself sick). A dreamy look enters her eyes. "Mmm, cheese rolls." She finally acknowledges Spruce with a scowl, then hops up onto the chair Gorvenalus vacated and perches on its back. "I've heard of hares that change colour. One of 'em came on the rescue to get me an' th' other Dibbuns from those stupid slavers." She remembers Dom, although someone must have told her that his fur changes colours since it wasn't that time of year when they were rescued.

Eirwen says, "It stays white in color. Which can be a bit... well hazardous when its not winter. Winter is my favorite season in fact." She chuckles a little now, a frown when she hears of slavers "I hope the slavers are long gone now"

"They are, don't worry." Spruce murmurs. "That was two summers back, I think." He glances at Dochas to check if he was correct. "I'd recently come to the abbey myself at the time. But regardless, I can see why that'd be hazardous," He laughs. "It's a good thing it's winter then, though I'd say there's not much danger 'round here anymore, so maybe come springtime it won't be an issue. Long gone are days of roving vermin."

Dochas nods vigorously. "Yeah, DoraRose an' Matilda an' all the hares of the Long Patrol killed all the slavers! They're long dead." She listens to them talk, kicking her heels against the back of the chair. "An' the vermin in Ferravale are really nice. We have a peace treaty with them an' everything."

Eirwen looks a little concerned "With..vermin? Is that wise?" She looks so unsure, it's clear she has been taught to stay away from any vermin species she sees. "I think, yeah I will just avoid Ferravale and maybe stay here longer, I am unsure I don't have a home of my own, been traveling a couple seasons now"

Spruce nods. "Haven't had the most happy experiences at Ferravale myself, though I've only seen a woodlander really cause trouble there..." He shrugs. "Yet it's a few hours from here and no one'll blame you for not going out of your way to visit that place in this weather, I'd bet!" Giving another grin, his tail swishes back and forth.

Dochas scowls slightly. "They're nice..." she mutters, then perks up slightly and stands on the back of the chair with perfect balance. Spreading her arms wide, she exclaims, "You can stay here! I bet everybeast would be happy to have you.... except Ms. Angela, but I don't think she likes anybeast, so that's just normal." The Dibbun rests her paws on her hips as if she just solved everything.

Eirwen smiles a little," Maybe but I would have to ask whom ever is in charge first if I plan to live here or not."

"That'll be the father abbot, Benar, a squirrel like us." Spruce says, "And I'd also warn against getting on the friar's bad side - he's yet another squirrel, but as long as you're only in the kitchens to help," he can't help the side glance he gives Dochas, "He's nice enough, I'd say. Pleasant even."

Redwall MUCK Forum

Redwall MUCK is an interactive, multiplayer text game set in Brian Jacques' Redwall universe.

Visit RWMUCK.ORG for more info!

#1 2022-02-01 11:50:58 PM

An Unexpected Arrival - Redwall 1/29/22

Board footer