05-08-06

Characters involved: Darklett & Taye.

Halyard Tavern: Main Room

Darklett looks troubled. Like, more troubled than he already had been. Almost like every reason he had to /not/ be bothered by something is now gone, and now he has nothing to be except worried. He's sitting at the bar, but he's not drinking, just staring off, looking in deep thought, eyes going back and forth on occasion as he flies through a million thoughts a second.

Flinch. That is what Taye wants to do but doesn't do when he looks up from his course across the tavern and toward the bar and sees his former major already sitting there. But as we've already covered, he doesn't. Instead, he takes a deep breath and continues forward, swinging a leg over a stool near Darklett.

Darklett fumbles with his paws, pulling on bits of fur randomly, staring down at the hyperactive objects like they're moving on their own... He turns his head to spot Taye, and... Well, at least the paws stop. "Evenin', Taye. How are ya?" He takes a breath, looking off distantly, as if trying to remember something that just isn't there.

Taye doesn't want to be concerned, and he doesn't want to /look/ concerned. But he is and he does. He frowns, turning his eyes away. "... I'm a'right, sah. How're you?"

"...I'm good, Taye." Darklett sighs, and shakes his head, unable to convince himself of his own words. "Actually... Have you seen Audri recently? Did she go to the mountain, do you know?" Brows crease in a mixture of hope and worry.

Taye's brow furrows. Audri. With a halting sigh, he lowers his head into a waiting paw. "... Audri. Hell, no, I haven't seen her. I meant to come ovah to visit, but..." He forgot. "Don't tell me we managed to cross paths somehow 'n' she's on yer way to the mountain now?"

"I hope so," Darklett murmurs out. "She should've told me where she was going. I always tell her not to just run off..." The dark-furred buck ponders some more, tapping his finger over the knuckles on his other paw. "I haven't seen her in four days, Taye. I don't know where she's gone."

Taye's ears, engaged in their usual twitchings and movement, suddenly grow still. He slowly lifts his head and turns it to the side. "... Four days?" He worries at his lower lip. "Four days 'n'... 'n' yer... Yer-" His ears flick back. "... Why aren't ya out lookin' for her?!?"

Darklett's own ears pin back, as he recoils defensively at Taye. "I have been out lookin' for her! Up and down the beach, spent the last two days lookin', alright?" Darklett hmphs, going back to picking at his own paws. "Can't find her. Looked around Halyard today, barely been getting any sleep."

"Then why the /hell/ dincha come find me?" Taye asks, suddenly terrified, as he twists around and stands in one fluid movement. He takes two steps away from the bar, a paw held to the back of his head. "Ah hell... why dincha come get me, Dark? We gotta go out lookin' again!" Squint. He sends a quick look over his shoulder at the buck. "Didja check the tree she's always hangin' out in?"

Darklett's left ear perks from its slowly folding state at the explosion from the private. He's about to defend himself, before he gives a very dumbed down, quiet, "No, I didn't think of there yet..." He stands from his stool, stepping away from the bar. "She's probably there... I've been worrying about nothin', she can stay out of my sight for days at a time..."

"... I swear, if that's all this is, her runnin' off without sayin' anything fer four days... I'll brain her myself!" Taye starts for the door, though he checks his pace so that Darklett can fall into step with him. "But if it's... aw, hell. D'you think it could be those vermin again?"

"The vermin...?" Dark looks towards Taye in slight confusion. "You mean the ones who had her captive before I came across her?" The buck walks next to Taye, nerves pretty much on fire as he walks alongside him out of the tavern.

"The vermin who captured her the las' time. Y'know? Sev helped 'er..." Taye dismisses this with a shake of his head and sighs, worriedly. "I shoulda come soonah..."

"Ah, right..." Darklett brings a paw absently to his forehead... A little embarrassed, of course. "Let's go to the tree... I hope it's not what either of us thought. Please, don't let her be taken away..." He picks up the pace, eager to see if she can be found.

Halyard Village: North Road(#95525RCJ)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Halyard Village ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This is a small section of road, lined on both sides by small homes as well

as cottages. They certainly aren't very glamorous, but they seem sound enough.

There are a few gardens out front of the homes, as well as the occasional

dibbun playing on a porch. At the far end of the road, a stone well sits,

usually covered, from which the roads inhabitants can gather fresh water.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Visible Exits:

[T]o [S]quare [S]ieve's [H]ome

[T]ess' [C]ottage

[B]rom's [H]ome

[E]veryss' [H]ome

Contents: Well and Sycamore Tree.

Neither of the two broke out into a run, but their walking pace more closely resembles a jog than a leisurely stroll. Taye comes to a stuttering halt beneath the tree, putting his paws out before him so that he doesn't stumble into the trunk. Nerves tend to make him clumsy. "... Here!" Before he's even looked up, he calls upward, "Audri! Audri, are ya up there?" And then, then, he looks, squinting through the thick leaves.

Darklett looks up through the tree, and immediately starts calling out his daughter's name. "Audri! Audri, come down, I've been lookin' for you!" He pauses for a moment, listening with ears perked. "...Audri! ...You think she's up there?"

"... I dunno." Taye worries uncertainly at his lower lip, looking up. "D'ya want me to go up 'n' check? She could maybe be sleepin' up there..."

"...Yeah, if you want. Be careful, alright?" Darklett steps back, looking up in the tree. "Audri! Audri... I will have a long talk with her when I get the chance..." He shakes his head, trying not to look as distraught as he feels.

Taye waves Darklett's words of concern away with a shake of his head as he steps up to the tree, grabbing hold of the lowest branch. With a final glance back at the other buck, he pulls himself up with a grunt and starts shimmying up the tree. Shimmying as much as one can with leaves smacking you in the face, that is. "Audri! Audri! You up here?"

Darklett watches the private climb up the tree, biting his lip in hopefulness. "Audri!" he calls out again. "C'mon down here!" Dark sighs, losing a bit of hope now. "...Audri!"

Dark's not the only one. Taye continues up the tree, a good fifteen to twenty feet up, now, but still no Audri. When the branches get thin, he's forced to stop his ascent, but rather than descend in defeat, he takes a moment to sight the surrounding area from this new vantage point, holding onto the trunk of the tree with one paw and leaning out, his other paw shielding his eyes as he scans the village, the part which he can see. "Audri!" he shouts, then calls down. "She's not up here, Da-" His foot slips, and he makes a desperate grab for the trunk of the tree with his other paw. He steadies himself and tries again. "Not here!"

Darklett's ears pin, and he makes a small start forward as Taye slips... But, he catches himself. Whew. "...Audri!" He turns and calls out, cupping his paws around his mouth. "...Taye, I think you were right... Audri!" He starts walking again, towards the exit of town, calling out the name of the squirrel.

"... Hey!" Taye starts scrambling down the tree, slipping more than once more before he's made it down. He's nursing a nicely scraped up forearm by the time he lands on the sandy ground with a thump and he's off after Darklett. "Do you want me to gathah up a patrol, sah? Be damned with you not bein' a Majah, they'll still answah to you."

"...A patrol?" Darklett turns to Taye, eyes widened. "Taye... I can't take a patrol! I'm trying to stay out of trouble..." He bites his lip, sighing after a moment of thought and shaking his head, walking towards the exit of the town. "Audri!!" He calls out, fists coming down to his side. "I /know/ vermin took her. I /know/ it..."

Well, no sense arguing with a distressed father, so rather than thinking any further about a patrol, Taye jogs to catch up with the older buck. "Ya don't know that... Mayhaps she's just taken her boat out on the rivah or somethin'... Could be she'll be back t'morrah mornin'."

Continuing to think rapidly, Darklett finally slumps, resigned. "I hope you're right... I'll see her tomorrow, and she'll be fine. You're probably right, she goes out on little 'adventures' all the time and doesn't tell me... Maybe she just got carried away, that's all." Darklett stops walking towards the exit, pocketing his paws and going quiet.

Taye comes to a halt when Darklett does. He glances to the side at the buck, silent for a moment, then nods. "... I'll go patrol the shores t'night, then I'll get togethah patrol - without involvin' you so you don't get in trouble - 'n' we'll all go out lookin' for her."

Darklett purses his lips inward, paws folding behind his back as he stares off towards the exit, as if expecting Audri to just come strolling in. "...Thanks. I'll be looking, too. If you could get a patrol together, then I'd be very grateful. Can't sit here and think of what might have happened to her." He sighs, and heads for the gate. "Time for another night of searching, I guess."

Taye watches Darklett go, sensing somehow that they'll both benefit from a night of searching on their own. Once Darklett's had a head start, Taye starts toward the gate as well, his head lowered and worry stamped on his features.