Bandit drives Blisa crazy....literally. (Missing Abbot TP)

BlisaMarshmellow · 2017-03-08 05:11:48 PM

SCENE: Ferravale Chieftain's Office

CHARACTERS: Blisa, female cat and Chieftain of Ferravale; Ferdinand, a male ferret and Head of the Bodyguards; Valerie, a vixen and Healer. Bandit, a male fox and Head Guard of Ferravale.

LOG:

Blisa is sitting at her desk, reading a message for the 4th time. She's hoping the messenger she sent off to find the Head Guard hurries up and bring him back. Ferdinand and Valerie are here, not doing anything, their crafts put away because of the terrible news the message holds...

There seems to be no end to terrible news these days. Which is why Bandit takes his sweet, sweet time getting here. That and he managed to create a sort of decoy in his office, a fox shaped training dummy set carefully behind a large stack of paperwork on his desk. It has been working great! At least until people actually come into the office to talk with him. Then it doesn't exactly take a detective to figure out where the fox is...
Still licking his chops from his lunch Bandit pauses at the office door, coughing into his paw to make sure it doesn't smell too much of tavern ale. Taking a deep breath Bandit puts on his best smile before walking into the office. "Blisa! How is the cheiftess this fine morning..."

"You took too long. Where were you? I've been waiting for flipping /ages/! The Abbot has been kidnapped -- again. How many guards do we have? Can we spare any to help with the search? We don't have ballistas, right?" Blisa interrupts the Head Gard with a flurry of information as she stands and begins to pace in front of the window, looking reminiscent of a lion pacing a cage.....if lions were small and white with green eyes. "Also, it's afternoon. And DoraRose is coming tomorrow to escort her daughter and grandmother back to Redwall. There have been attacks and kidnapping happening on the road, right on our doorstep!!" She waves the note around to emphasize her words.

The fox raises an eyebrow instead of replying. Instead he takes a moment to take this all in. This was not the news he would have liked after his breakfast / lunch. Taking the news about attacks near Ferravale as a bit more of an accusation than just...news, Bandit narrows his eyes. "Yes, well, they don't have much to discourage beasts from attacking travelers do we? I keep telling you, we could easily discourage thieves from the village by building a gallows...or a pit to toss them in with your snake, how ever you prefer." The fox rolls his eyes as he comments quietly, "The jail might as well have a revolving door on it for as often as people break out of it. So, why not..."
Taking another breath Bandit says, "And...while I am sad to hear that the abbot has been taken...perhaps it's best we let the Redwallers deal with this one on their own this time. I have nothing against stepping up patrols but if we make it a habit to bail out the woodlanders every time something comes their way it will be a hard habit to break down the road. It's...starting to effect moral." Bandit pauses, narrowing his eyes as he finally addresses the more important problem of all, "And...no, I am not having my men build you a ballista. They are costly, hard to make, and more overkill than..." This causes the fox to pause, yet again, rubbing his chin Bandit comments, "Then again it might dissuade bandits from attacking us again..."

"So build a ballista." Blisa crosses her arms. "Everybeast knows that we have a treaty with the Abbey, and if they get attacked, we are duty bound to help them. And as far as I can tell, making that one thief work for Markalaway seems to be a good determent." The young Chieftain closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "Look, Bandit. I believe that we shouldn't rule by fear." She opens her eyes again. "Basil will NOT be used as punishment, so don't ever bring it up again." She pulls a paper off of her desk and hands it to him. "In light of the fact that there may be a bigger threat out in the woodlands than we know about, I'm instituting a new law saying that all of the villagers must join the village guards once they reach the age of 7 seasons. They will only be called upon if we are under attack; a sort of militia, I guess they'd be." She hands him the paper saying that and sits back down as Ferdinand adds, "I couldn't talk her out of it." ignoring the ferret, the cat says, "Breaking our word and refusing to help our allies is a bad habit to break, too." (She doesn't do eloquent arguments or debating very well...)

The fox narrows his eyes as he listens. Then a look of shock crosses his face as the conversation goes on. There are many fine points to persuasion. Reacting with a calm, collected manner to-
"You want to /WHAT/?"
Skills which Bandit lacks in the least. He puts his paw down on this idea, literally, slamming the desk with his fist, it's probably not the greatest idea but the fox has been riled. "Blisa, I'm not just your security, but your advisor as well. So please actually take my advice for once!" He growls, "We are still recovering from the last large scale battle, the battle that avenged your father. For us to keep sending our beasts to spill their blood against the enemies of Redwall every blue moon is going to wear us down to the point that we can't defend ourselves. Then you took away woodpidgeons from the city, confining us to eating like...like hares! And now you want to conscript the children of your own citizens into the guard? Do you WANT a revolt? Because that's what you are driving yourself to and I won't have enough beasts to keep /them/ from feeding /YOU/ to Basil!" Bandit only realizes afterward that he probably should have not raised his voice to the beast that feeds him...and has the authority to have him tied to an archery post...

Blisa poufs up and gets a slightly crazy look in her eyes. Valerie covers her mouth with both paws. Ferdinand says quietly, "Blitha, perhapth we thould reconthider thtepping in to help the Abbey thith time. Bandit doeth have a point about how few guardth we have." The young cat barely manages to listen, but it's very good for the Head Guard that she manages. The vixen leans towards him and whispers, "Dude, you should be thankful that Ferdinand's here...." The Chieftain's tail twitches, but she nods, the crazy light going out of her eyes....although she has to dig her claws into the top of her desk to have that happen. "Okay, fine! We sha'n't send guards out to Redwall or out as search parties.....and I'm not conscripting the children, you dolt! It's everybeast else. And they will only have to fight if we get attacked." She leans forward and growls, "And don't you /ever/ sass me like that again. Do you understand?" Ferdinand, behind the cat's back, gestures for the fox to agree, for the love of life itself.

The fox gulps slightly. His own features soften slightly too. "I...overstepped my bounds ma'am." Now that his own fire and spit have subsided Bandit rubs the back of his neck, "And I'm not opposed to sending aid to the abbey persay. Just that perhaps a smaller group of-" He thinks for a moment. Oh where was Wilks when he needed him? The story teller had a way with words that he never could hope to match. ...come to think of it what ever DID happen to that fox?
"Specialists. A group of trackers to aid in finding the lost abbot. And perhaps, forming a volunteer militia is possible. If done in a way that doesn't divide the village against us." Bandit breaks a smile. With that he coughs slightly into his paw, "I can...come up with something. Is there, is there anything else the chieftess needs of me?"

Blisa listens, her tail still poufed up and twitching in agitation. After a few minutes, she nods very slowly. "....those sound like......agreeable compromises." She sits and crosses her arms, striving to not let the crazy take over. She no wanna go crazy, yo! "You see if any volunteers will sign up. They can use pitchforks if they want; there was a Badger Lord who did that once, long ago, so that should work for us, too." She glares up at him. "And any trackers who don't have conniptions with helping woodlanders or Redwall would be welcome." "Cerah would be a good choice, too," Valerie quickly adds. The cat nods. "Please talk to her, Val." The vixen nods and heads off. Ferdinand visibly relaxes now that the Chieftain seems to be calming down. "How is the barter system I set up working out? It should have reduced crime and homelessness..."

And the barter system is actually working. Hooray! Less crime, no more homeless beasts....things are looking up on that front!

~*END*~

Thanks for reading! This as fun

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#1 2017-03-08 05:11:48 PM

Bandit drives Blisa crazy....literally. (Missing Abbot TP)

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