"Why...do you hate us?" (Slightly Bolts of Chaos TP)
This happened after than the battle for Ferravale this last time.
Mossflower Woods
You look around and discover once again that you are completely surrounded by trees, almost. The claustrophobic feeling is not as bad, seeing the giant Wall of Redwall to your West. At least you have a Landmark of sorts in case you get lost...
Surrounding you on the other three sides are...trees. Ash, Oak, Roan, Beech, Maple, Trees of all sorts and sizes, rising up towards the sky and blocking out the sunlight. Leaves still litter the ground from the Winter, but the green foilage of the trees has grown back, and furthers the blocking of your vision.
Exits: old [Gr]aveyard, [G]raveyard, [B]ack to [R]edwall, [E]ast, [S]outh
DoraRose the mouse. Nightbreath the ermine. Emyuil the mouse.
DoraRose is wandering through the forest, looking for a specific herb. She's gathered plenty of ones that are used in the Infirmary and kitchens, but she hasn't found the one she needs. Th etrees are turning all thier autumn colours, and the birds are chirruping less...but only because there are fewer of them. They are migrating south. The warriormouse has a satchel at her isde and her traveling clothes on: her more worn green dress, brown tunic and blue apron, and her mottled cloak. She has her sling and stone pouch at her waist, her sword straped ot her back and her black battleaxe, Nightsong, in her paw, doubling as a walkign staff. Her left arm is out of its sling.
Rustling in the bushes a few yards ahead of her, and harsh, raspy breathing. But it ain't Zarok...
DoraRose snaps into an at-ready position with Nightsong. Hang it...and she had promised Leon that she'd be fine. Phooey. "Show yourself!" she demands, her voice strong and brave.
"It's..." *gasp* "me..." Rustle, rustle, scrape. A single black paw emerges from the bushes.
DoraRose freezes. "No...it can't be you." she draws the bush back with Nightsong's blade, to reveal the beast hidden therein...
...Nightbreath of Ferravale. The Seer is wounded with many wounds and his weapons are askew, and blood mats his fur. His eyes are cloudy, but this is the fog of death, not intuition. "Help..." he whispers imploringly.
DoraRose stands stock still, her emotions, conscience and heart raging war within her. Her eyes are wide as she takes in the blood, the wounds, the weapons. /Why should we help him?/ her hatred, prejudice and anger ask. /He is a Seer. You remember the pain the Oracle and the Seer both brought upon you./ Her conscience yells back, /He's dieing! If we walk away now, it will be murder!/ Murder....her heart clenches. She is a warrior, a killer in battle, but a murderer...? She turns away, then glances back, almost in physical pain from the battle raging in her soul.
"Why?" Nightbreath murmurs, almost too softly to hear, and coughs a few times, trying to get up but failing. "Why...do you hate us?" he whispers.
DoraRose stiffens, then something snaps in her heart, and she whirls around. Kneeling beside the ermine, she lays her axe down on the ground and opens the satchel, digging out her emergency first aid kit and attending his wounds, starting with the most horrible. She ignores his question.
Nightbreath closes his eyes and whispers to himself, "And the mystery remains." After a moment, he repeats himself. "Why?"
DoraRose purses her lips. "'Cause I don't want to be a murderer. I thought that would be obvious." She stuffs herbs in the wounds and wraps them clumsily. She grits her teeth. "I wish Leon were here..."
Nightbreath sighs raspily. "I meant why you hate me so. It will be hard for me to act differently so as to not offend you unless you explain," he says reasonably.
DoraRose glances at the ermine as she continues to work on his wounds. "You will not be able to do anything if I can't do a good enough job as a battlefield medic and you die." She works for a very long while, then whispers, "It's not just you. I...it's all Seers."
"Ah. Let it be known, at least, that not all Seers speak for all our kind," Nightbreath whispers. "Some charlatans and tricksters are...unscrupulous Seers and are cheats using their powers. Whereas you have me or Ragg, who fight purely for good. Or somewhere in between. How have you been wronged?"
DoraRoses' paws begin to shake, but she continues to do her work as a tear falls down her cheek. After another long while, she whispers, "Papa had buisness in Delphi, so he took me to visit the Oracle there. She...she saw that Lily....that LilyMoore would die. When we entered the room, she pointed at me and said that I would avenge the ever-same flower who would be slain by the feathered fox. Then....then, a Seer stopped by our house and said nearly the same thing. But they didn't...didn't say how we could keep Stormfeather from killing LilyMoore." She sobs, then swallows and moves to the least worrisome wound, having bandaged the rest. "They could've helped us, but....but they didn't! I hate them!"
"The Oracle, I know of, the Seer...perhaps could have been..." Nightbreath shakes his head. "Perhaps that was not part of what they saw," he reasons. "Perhaps they couldn't tell how to stop him. Maybe they only saw the death, and not how to prevent it."
DoraRose finishes bandaging up the wounds and goes to clean the weapons. "How could they not? I don't understand....and it doesn't change anything. My sister still died, and they had a paw in it." she hiccups and wipes her tears on the shoulder of her dress.
"The fates are selective in what they show," Nightbreath says softly. "Did they slay thine sister theirself? They did not. Did they aid Stormfeather? They did not. They told you all they knew and that's the best they could've done. And the Seer...was he garbed in Stormfeather's cloak, and did he have a sword like mine?..."
DoraRose is shaking, but at least the weapons are clean now. "Why....why does it matter what his cloak looked like? And the he didn't have a sword...he had come to Papa so he could make it. And, yeah, the sword that Papa made looked like yours. Why?"
"That beast was like a father to me. He was known as Aronuur," Nightbreath sighs wistfully. "Was there any others with him, perhaps?"
DoraRose frowns, thinking, then nods slowly as she sheaths the Seer's sword. "Yes...there was a young black ermine with him...I think he was a couple seasons older than me." Realization dawns upon her. "Was that you?"
"Aye," Nightbreath says, nodding. "I later wondered if you were the same mousemaid I saw that day--after I met you, that is. Aronuur was everything to me..." He sighs.
DoraRose swallows and decides to let her curiosity, rather than her hatred, win the day. "What happened? If you don't mind my asking." she glances around....hey! There's the herb she was searching for! She wipes her paws on a rag and picks ome, listenign to whatever the ermine is goign to say...
"To Aronuur?" Nightbreath asks. "Vladmir killed him with his own blade. I was already a full-fledged, newly named Seer by then, traveling leagues away from the East. I felt a cry of pain in the realm of spirits...Needless to say I arrived too late, Aronuur's cloak, robes, and blade stolen from him and his body left in our old home for dead."
DoraRose purses her lips and says something she never, ever thought she'd say to any Seer anywhere; "I'm sorry." She frowns, and, after stuffing the herb in her satchel, puts her arm under the ermine's shoulders. "I need you to try and sit up. C'mon." She goes to gently ease him into a sittign position...if he can make it.
"It...is alright. There are other worlds than these." Nightbreath coughs and does his best to aid DoraRose, and after a brief struggle he's sitting upright against the tree. "I thank thee for thy aid and I cry thy pardon for our clashes in the past."
It was a struggle for DoraRose, too. She's not quite strong enough to carry the muscular ermine very far. She purses her lips, feigning indifference, but her heart is slowly softening. "Here. Let's strap your weapons back on." She goes to help him do so, her ears starting to twitch nervously. They've been in one place too long for her likeing.
"Aye." Nightbreath nods, indicating the way he usually wears his blade-rope. Then he stiffens. "Someone comes..."
DoraRose puts the blade rope on correctly, then stiffens at his words. Shoving his sword into his paws, she picks up Nightsong and hides behind a tree, letting the Seer be bait. How nice of her. Without even asking, too.
"'rose, relax, it's me," comes a familiar voice. "The wastrel, remember?" Emyuil steps into the area, his paws out and empty.
DoraRose sticks her head out and frowns. "Why are you out here? Not that I'm not ecstatic to see you," she quickly adds, stepping out from behind the tree, kneeling down to help the Seer strap on his sword. "I'm just concerned. "Is everything alright? Is anybeast hurt?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Emyuil says, gesturing at the Seer and narrowing his eyes. "Everything's all right, I just needed to go for a quick walk. Nobody's dead or anything."
"I came for an herb that the healers need for my allergy powder...and to escape the insanity of the Abbey for a few hours." DoraRose finishes strapping the katana onto the ermine and gestures to her brother. "Please help me get him to the Abbey. I don't think he can walk."
"Insanity is the word all right." Emyuil looks loathe to help the beast that, unbeknownst to him, his sister has just forgiven. But for DoraRose, he'll do it. He puts an arm around Nightbreath's shoulders, looping under the Seer's arms.
DoraRose flashes the Half-Rat a quick smile. "Okay, good. Now let's stand." Her left arm under the Seer's arms, she mentally reminds herself that she'll have to pass him off to her brother if they get attacked. She braces herself, ready to lean on Nightsong if necessary.
Nightbreath pants a bit as the children of Ferrer hoist him to his footpaws. He tries to aid them any way he can, which isn't much, but he tries to take some of the weight off them. Emyuil grunts and breathes out slowly as Nightbreath fully stands.
DoraRose clenches her teeth and leans on the battleaxe. "Okay," she gasps out. "We need to get back to Redwall. Let's focus on one step at a time." she takes a step and manages to not fall over. If all goes well, they should get back to Redwall at dinnertime.
They got to Redwall and helped get Nightbreath to the infirmary. Thanks for reading!
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