"When I stop bein' able tah feel the ends of my ears..." - LP 11/2/19

Ol'random · 2019-11-02 05:58:35 PM

Pvt. Cera,
Cpl. Felicity,
Sgt. Gregorian
Cpl. Terrence,
and PFC Zolomon.

A week or so after the 'incident' in the marshes was concluded...

The gardens were practically bare the time of year and there was a cold breeze in the air. A few hares were working here and there to finish harvesting everything and tidying the place up for winter though. Greg was off duty and sat on a bench carved in to the mountainside. He was just sitting and thinking in one of the few quiet spots the mountain offered.

Cera is out here helping, grumbling a little the past hour she been out here. She finally gets a chance to sit off to the side, though may be cause they are getting annoyed by her, still a few morment rest is good.

Gregorian has been listening for a while. He's not helping with the task but it's hard to ignore trouble brewing. He sighs quietly to himself before raising his voice now she's sat closer. "Problems with ordahs again private?"

Cera looks over at Gregorian and starts to complain but thinks better of it. She takes a deep breath. "No..sur..its just tireing and its almost done anywhere, also why check around and make sure the ground is ok for somethong a season or two down the road?"

Gregorian sighs louder and rests back on his seat, slouching a bit at the question but his answer sounds a little sad. "Because two seasons from now we could be undah siege, laid gown by plague, marchin' tah war or just too darn busy for weedin'. We have peace right now. Peace is for healin' and farmin'."

Cera frowns at the word siege. "Who could even freaking do much ta here." She then thinks "Sorry sur..just," She understands, she does..she wasn't in the patrol long when they went off to the abbey but she was chosen as she is good with battle wounds and knew a lot on healing arts, she also was good at tracking and hiding, so she was sort of a scout also. Maybe thats how she survived the ambush on the base camp, or the most part, she knew how to hide well and lay vey still in the ditch, she did pass out after couple couple hours yes but she could of easily been found by an enemy and finished off, she wasn't. "I..understand..gotta be ready for what ever comes or doesn't..come."

Gregorian snorts and looks amused. "Ha! We got taken ovah back when I was a recruit. They had us out on a trainin' exercise and some vermin took the place while we were gone. We had tah sneak back in and retake it." there's a little smile for the old glory days, "Vermin will nevah know all the secrets in this place but that doesn't mean they wouldn't love tah have it."

Cera frowns. "Who was badger Lord then?" She is curious, she is quiet before speaking, "I am..sorry for my short temper at times..sur...guess being alone for a while does that. I even yelled at someone for not trying to find me...when they had tried to find me..and..I..." She lets a tear fall. "Didn't know..figured no one cared when..no one showed up and that they all left me behind, they dint do it on purpose but at the time I thought..they did."

Gregorian shakes his head. "We didn't have one then. It was years before we had anothah badgah lord. Colonel Zoe-Lang was in charge in those days." he looks thoughtful through her apology before nodding slowly. "We always look out for each othah. Every membah of the patrol who goes out we try tah bring home...but sometimes they don't and we can't always prevent that." He's currently sat out on one of the benches.

Felicity is so happy to be back home! She's been spending as much time as possible with her baby sister, but now one last bit of duty calls, and so she had come out to the gardens to fill out one last peice of paperwork. All the correct people have her reports, it's just one more thing. But, alas, winter is here, and so are other beasts. The Corporal sighs and sits on a ledge, hoping she'll be able to concentrate while not losing feeling in her fingers.

Away up the path another corporal wonders down, holding in his paw a paper or two. Terrence's injuries have healed, for the most part - his jaw is still bruised though its faded from the vivid blacks and blues to a dull yellow. The stitches are gone too, which is a plus, but a scar is left on his face. As he slowly makes his way, he can be heard muttering to himself, "Fishbone... Maybe?" Gingerly rubbing his lower face were two teeth are absent, he scrunches his face. "Bird's a bit too weak, wot..." He stops, realizing the garden has far more hares around than the seasons should allow, though he gives a wave to Felicity and the others, not yet seeing the sarge and healer clearly.

Zolomon walks into the area slowly and stops by thetop of the path and sits on a bench there quietly.Some fresh air was always good he had decided. He was still sore in a couple places but healing.

Cera nods. She notices the others but doesn't say anything as she is not much of the talking to a lot type, she is talking to Greg right now as she nods. "I..I know and it was explained by his Lordship.." She frowns, yeah that talk could of gone a lot worse than it did. "I was put down as missung in action..well till I wandered back here and guess gonna get use to things here again, and hopefully no more surprises weather its toads or wot ever."

This is the problem with the mountain having only a few select quiet places to sit alone in. Sometimes everyone has the same idea. Gregg has a bench claimed around the middle of the gardens. It's the one with the best view and a little sheltered from the cold wind, he had to claim it early. He notices the others fairly quickly, his ears twitching as he picks up on them. "Hrm. Hares returnin' aftah bein' missin' for so long is often the dream. There will always be surprises but we'll prepare for wotevah it may be as best we can." he leans out of his seat a bit to nod to those he can see. "Corporals. Hidin' out for a spot of quiet papah work?" he hasn't spotted Zolomon yet.

Felicity looks up, rubbing at the healing cut about her left eye. "Aye, sah. M'last little bit for th'moment. Are y'enjoyin' the balmy weathah?" she jokes. Spying her fellow Corporal and fellow Runner, she waves to them both. "Looks like we all decided t'come out 'ere and not be bothahed by anybeast."

"Yes, it seems we have." Terrence pulls his overcoat closer to him, looking up at the sky. "We might not be bothered by any beast, wot, but that bloody wind..." Setting himself down on a nearby ledge with a small grin, the corporal raises his paw in greeting to Greg. "No, sarge, leastways not me! Just something personal, wot." He calls, leaning back to rest against a stone.

Zolomon starts to speak quietly but decides to just slip back inside, seems he is still feeling a bit blah and sore.

Cera nods, "I..suppose sur. I am glad to be home..even if seem to be making most unhappy and grumpy lately." Then she is a little unhappy. "I can stay outside a little while longer, right sur?" Her room is boring after all and she is on like house arrest for backtalking a couple higher ups.

Gregorian hehs at Felicity's and Terrence's words about the weather. "I work in the forge, the breeze is a welcome break. When I stop bein' able tah feel the ends of my ears I'll get back tah work." he nods to Cera's question, "If yah don't have ordahs tah be somewhere else yah can stay for now."

Felicity shrugs, then spots Cera. Smiling, she waves at her fellow haremaid, then glances at Terrence as she returns to her paperwork. "Well, I 'ope th'garden can 'elp y'with whotevah y'came out 'ere for, wot!"

With a nod, Terrence pushes himself off the rock. "Thanks." A pause, then, "Actually, sarge!" The corporal leans forward to look down at his superior (and spare a glance at Cera), "With you being a smith and all that, do you think fishbone could work for a fake tooth or two, wot?" He gives a sheepish smile to Felicity. "Honestly I came out here to think, wot, but seems I need a few opinions on these," he raises a paw to his face, "First."

Cera says, "Its nice in the garden..usually anyways...guess not many will come here till spring now...well maybe to get things ready for spring."

Gregorian ears perk at Terrence's question and he looks thoughtful. "Hmm...I can't say that I've done it before. Gold, silvah, that sort of thing I've seen, mostly around the sailahs...It might be doable with a big enough bit of bone tah shape." he's started the smith thinking now and that usually leads to research.

Felicity smiles, then goes back to her paperwork. It's not much, but it does require the Runner to not be constantly bombarded by the 100 zillion questions her baby sister is always asking. She seems to be getting through it quickly.

"Oh?" With eyebrows raised, Terrence says, "I did think 'bout the gold and silver, sah, but I daresay that's a bit too much for my pocketbook at the moment, wot." Absentmindedly rubbing the area, he adds, "Maybe a big ol'salmon or wot not... To be blunt, I don't want to look like a seared if at all possible, sah."

Gregorian chuckles at Terrence's concerns. "I can undahstand yah concerns. Plus think of wot the recruits will call yah if yah end up an officah above them. I'll raid the kitchen for some bone and do a couple of practice runs but if searats can do it we can do it bettah."

Felicity is almost done with her paperwork! Yay! She glances up, chuckling. "Oh, come on! Y'don't want t'look like a rough, seafarin' beast?" she jokes. Then, after adding, "I've 'eard o'woodlander-type sailahs 'avin' gold teeth. Nice an' 'onourable beasts they were, too, as far as the 'istories say," she returns to her work to finish it.

Dipping his head to the sergeant, Terrence replies, "Thanks, sarge. Really, thank you. Chewing's become somewhat of a chore now, wot!" With a rueful chuckle, the corporal shifts from were he's sitting against the rock to more open space, lying back onto flat ground to look up at the cold sky. "Well, if I have to find another profession, maybe I would, wot." he mutters to Felicity, legs dangling off the ledge, "Be that as it may, it's still a bit too flashy and all that for me."

Cera is now curious. "Who would want a tooth of gold? Sounds like a fight waiting ta happen, ya know get punched in de face, cause of gold."

Gregorian strokes his beard thoughtfully. "Yah know I'd been makin' jewelry on the side all these years, maybe I should have been doin' teeth. The amount of seabeast yah see with them or just missin' them there's clearly a demand, nevah mind all the patrol gettin' in tah fights...maybe I should have bought that forge in Halyard." his mind's off on a trail.

Felicity finishes her paperwork just in time to hear Cera's remark, at which she bursts out laughing. After a few minutes, she quiets down enough to hear Greg's musings, and then she gives Terrence a look. "Oh, now y'got 'im thinkin' 'bout who knows whot!" she tells him half-jokingly. "We might lose our smith! Good thing 'is Lordship c'n forge things, wot!"

"Astute observation there, Cera." Terrence says with a dry laugh. Then, raising his head to look down at the healer and sarge, he adds, "And well, sah, daresay I've got a demand for two right now here in the patrol, wot!" Glancing at Felicity, he gives her a cheeky grin. "Maybe I have or maybe I haven't, wot - though I doubt our good sarge would run off so easily at the first chance of gold, wot. Besides, I'd bet at least half the sailers he'd work for would cheat him, eh, wot wot?"

"Yah'll pry me out of that forge when I'm dead and dust and not a minute before." Greg says very firmly to the idea of him leaving though he still looks like he's thinking "...It would just be a second forge...for the holidays. Heh. Debt collectin' on sailahs sounds like fun."

Cera smiles, she can get along with her fellow hares after all it seems. "Halyard is...sometimes fairly rough."

Felicity grins. "Oh, I c'n just see it now, wot! Ovah th' 'olidays, Greg goes out, makes a bunch o' teeth, then knocks 'em outta their ownah's mouths because they nevah paid 'im. That would be int'restin' t'watch, I dare say, Sah." She laughs, then sobers up some. "Aye, 'Alyard can be pretty rough. But if y'stay alert, go with a group, an' try t'make some friends from th'vermin who aren't tryin' t'kill y'just because ye're a 'are, you'll be fine. An' the Sargeant 'ere would be doubly fine. Saw 'im fightin' in battle durin' the rescue, an' I for 1 don't want to make 'im mad." Her paperwork is all done, she has lots of words now!

Terrence sits up, adjusting his coat again. "I might not put it past the dear sarge to knock some real teeth out so you have more customers." The wide smile he has on his face shows the two lower teeth he's missing. "Never did say we had to worry 'bout him, wot." He spares a glance at Felicity now that she's finished, and he turns towards her. "Say, Felicity...eh." He bites his recently healed lip with a wince, before taking a deep breath and saying with a slight grin, "Do you happen to have free time anytime soon, wot?"

Gregorian chuckles at Felicity. "Flattery will get yah nowhere corporal and that is a terrible suggestion tah drum up business Terrence...Though I could team up with the tavern. They provide the bar fights, I deal with the aftahmath."

Felicity laughs at the smith's words, then turns to Terrence. However, before she can answer, screams and angry shouts can be heard. A blur darts past them, distantly followed by a heaving, red-faced leveret caretaker. "Felicity! Your sister--" "Nyah, nyah, can'ts catch me!" Julia sticks her tongue out at the caretaker, then bolts off deeper into the garden. The Runner leaps up as the caretaker charges off after the Dibbun. "Ohmigoodniss, I 'ave t'go. I'll talk t'y'latah, Terrence!" Grabbing her paperwork and stuffing in and her pencil into her pocket, she takes off after her baby sister. Because family work is never done.

With a wry laugh at either himself or luck, Terrence lets himself fall onto his back, gazing up at the clouds. "Well, sarge, well...that happened." Chuckling still, he remains were he is.

Gregorian waves a paw to bid goodbye to Felicity and then looks back at Terrence as he seems to have collapsed himself. It doesn't take much for the Sargent to jump to conclusions and tilt his head meaningfully in the direction Felicity went. "Yah and her?"

"Eh, I'd hope that might be something I can say yes to, at the very least, sarge." Terrence says, staying on his back. Letting out a sigh, he adds, "But it certainly isn't anything at the moment, wot!" Finally, the corporal sits up, his paw on his jaw again. "Well, sah," He's trying to change the subject now, "I say if you can manage a tooth for me I'd be quite grateful, wot."

Gregorian hrms and rests back in his seat. "I forget if there was a thing with her and Zolomon. Seems tah be the favourite belle of the ball...but that doe's life is her family, or more precisely her sistah. Sweet dibbun, though Grace doesn't seem tah like her...package deal though as they say." he mostly sounds like he's rambling but there might something to it. He's thinking again before the talk of teeth finally catches his brain and he snaps out of it. "Hm? Yes. Should be workable. Which ones did yah lose?"

"Well, I've been around the mountain long enough to know what Julia's done. And that her sister'll do anything for her." Terrence says with a shrug. "Anyways, well, its these two." He goes to cautiously pull his lip down as he opens his mouth. His left canine and the tooth beneath it are gone. "Suppose I got lucky with the rock not hitting me higher up, eh, wot?"

Gregorian doesn't venture more on the topic of does and instead bends forwards to inspect the toothless gap before feeling out the spot in his own mouth with his tongue as he thinks. "Well it's not somethin' I've done before. Not sure if the healahs have evah dabbled with it. We'll get yah back tah yah dazzlin' smile again though. Certainly bettah it hit yah there than take out an eye or somethin'."

With a slight grin Terrence leans back once the inspection is done. "Maybe, but I did find an old report of a lieutenant having a wooden tooth -that was around the seasons my ol'hare was born, though, wot. Besides, if searats can manage it, I'm certain you can at the very least attempt it, sah!"

Gregorian digs out a little bit of parchment and charcoal and scribbles down a few notes on it for later. "Leave it with me, I'll look intah it. If I made myself a foot a few teeth should be a simple task. I don't think they'll have me runnin' any more trainin' exercises for a long time tah come so I should have the time."

"Ah. Yes." Terrence awkwardly shifts his feet. "Perhaps thats true, sah. But thank you for this. I doubt the gap between now and your next exercise will be too long, wot."

Gregorian shakes his head. "Best tah leave it tah the highah ups that know wot they're doin'...With a bit of luck the recruits will progress soon anyway. We'll have some more privates, trained and ready for the next lot or wotevah comes next."

Terrence, nodding, stands, brushing himself off. "Well, I don't know what to say 'bout the state of our privates and recruits, sah, but anyway," the corporal tightens his coat, shivering, "It's getting bloody cold out, wot! I'll need to head inside before my ears fall right off, so if you'll excuse me..." He makes his way through terraces to the entrance inside, offering a wave of farewell as he does so.

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#1 2019-11-02 05:58:35 PM

"When I stop bein' able tah feel the ends of my ears..." - LP 11/2/19

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