07-17-06

Characters involved: Marsuvees, Zoe_Lang, & Ender.

Western Shore

The heat is dancing. Quivering and squirming along the brilliantly white sand. Like a large, fluid hand, the water strokes the shore softly, murmuring into the otherwise still shoreline. Like a wraith, a lone figure, jerking and waving in the heat waves comes into view of the mountain. Slowly, his features are definable. Long black coat, wide-rimmed hat, colorful tattoos, the faint glint of gold, and pierced ears. A small, leather bag is slung over his shoulder.

Sometimes a little walk on the shore can be a refreshing change of pace... especially when you're avoiding all and everyone. The Colonel is looking better and better with each passing day, not that Marsuvees would know that. Her shaved fur has begun to grow back and, rather than heavy bandaging covering her right eye, she wears an eye patch. She's managed to gain back some of the weight she lost during her captivity, but she still looks rather thin. Rather thin and... not paying attention to her surroundings, at that. She is walking along the water's edge, her footpaws bare, as she looks out over the water.

Ender isn't very near Zoe or Marsuvees, instead off a few hundred feet, his back to them, one arm cradling the other, sharp and short intakes of breath indicating his movement. There's a small rock next to him, barely large enough to lean on, and his body looks uncomfortably sprawled against it while he tries to bite at something, almost crying out. The rabbit twists around, seeming ready to dash his own arm against the rock before noticing the other beasts about. Ender immediately quiets down and watches, stumbling to his feet.

Marsuvees has been staring at the ground, eyes squinted in the sun. Padding softly along, he doesn't notice anyone for a few minutes, completely absorbed in his thoughts. He looks gaunt. His cheekbones are showing and his eyes have dark rings. The two fangs poking from his upper lip look a bit yellow and his fur coloring looks dull. Only after he's a hundred feet from Zoe does he finally look up. Since she's more in his view than Ender, he grunts, noticing her beraggled condition, even from the distance. He grunts in slight suprise, before letting loose a long "Oy," in hopes of garnering her attention.

As already mentioned, Zoe's oblivious. Of everything, really, except for the fact that someone's hailing her. She looks up with surprise evident, her paw going rather naturally to her dirk at her side. Hum. She squints with her one eye, shielding it from the sun with a paw. The paw is then raised in greeting, and a return, "Hullo!" offered. It has been... wow. Quite some time, hasn't it? She continues forward at a slow pace, limping along as ever. Ender continues to go unnoticed.

Ignored is better than confrontation at the moment. His blood pressure is dropping slowly, but Ender's still on the verge of exploding at himself or whomever gets near him. Maybe. He tries the breathing, slow, deep breaths, coming evenly. It seems to be working. While doing this, Ender takes a few steps towards the duo, doing his best to stay out of their peripheral vision.

Marsuvees lopes the last several steps forward, stopping in front of the Colonel, and throwing a sloppy, tired salute, he frowns. "What in the name o the Darkforest Gates 'appened to ya?" His eyebrow furrow almost together as he looks her up and down. "I've missed somethin' spectacular, it seems." He hisses slightly through his teeth as he glances at her patched eye. "Dear agents of the Meadow."

Ahhh, explanation time! Or not. She only smiles faintly, shaking her head. "Nothin' too spectacular. We had a bit of a run-in 'round 'bout the mountain. Ask anyone, 'm sure they'll be willin' t' tell ya all about it." She then returns the salute, looking Marsuvees over curiously. "Sooo... where've /you/ been, then/" Brow-quirk.

Ender's done moving, and stands quietly, taking a couple inches towards them from diagonally behind Marsuvees, hopefully on Zoe's blind side, attempting to get /just/ close enough to hear. His paw still cradles one wrist, but that seems to be ignored for now.

Marsuvees lets the worried look melt into one of particular to someone caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Perfect innocence. "Uhhhhhhh.......I've been up North. Um....fastin' an' the like for repentance." He glances aside, at the beach...and catches movement in the corner of his eye. "Huh?" The March hare's neck cracks as he whips it around, blades suddenly drawn. Old bunny. Looks vaguely familiar. Glancing at Zoe, he nods at Ender. "He with you?"

Um? Zoe's eyebrows raise rather a bit further at the whole 'fasting' thing. But then again, this /is/ Marsuvees, so she only shrugs. And looks about to say something when he whips around all of a sudden with blades drawn. And it is then that her head shifts, the blacked out half of her vision sliding over until Ender comes into her vision. "Um." She blinks, her ears dipping back. "Endah? What're you doin' here?"

Oh, the sarcastic and biting retort is /right/ there, ready to come out. Anything to bring Zoe down yet another notch. "Bugger." Ender looks surprised at himself. Why didn't he? Ah, well. Probably the pain making him soft. The rabbit recognizes Marsuvees almost instantly and blanches before gamely continuing towards them, trying to smile. "Zoe. And...friend."

Marsuvees assesses the newcomer swiftly. "You, uh, all right?" Noticing his sickly look, he raises an eyebrow at Zoe. "Good. Ya know each other. Meaning we won't have any problems." He crosses his hands. "Wellp, it seems everyone in th' immediate vicinity be injured or tired, or really peeved." My, that was blunt. Staring at Ender, he squints. Then, it clicks. "I know ye, don't I? From the village." He blinks, then frowns. "Had a run in with a robber, mate?"

Zoe_Lang looks somewhat uncharitably toward Ender for a moment, as if anticipating that tip-of-the-tongue retort. When it does not come, however, her expression changes. She takes the moment's reprieve to study Ender, seeking out answers to his odd behavior. None are immediately forthcoming, of course. She takes a step back and to the side, moving but a few steps away to the water's edge once more while she leaves them to 'catch up'. Squint.

Oh-ho, no. She's not going to /escape/, even if she did get a reprieve. Ender gives her a little sniff, trying to show displeasure at no introduction before looking back at Marsuvees. "I was in the battle in the mountain. No single robber could-" The rabbit breaks off, perhaps from a jolt of pain, perhaps...something's different. Hm. Instead, Ender just gives the hare a slightly mocking smile. "Were you at the battle? Off...fasting?"

Marsuvees instantly takes insult to the comment, but doesn't let it show. He smirks, however harshly. "So that's wot she meant by 'run-in 'round 'bout the mountain', hm? I weren't at that fight. Didn't hear 'bout it either. Bad timin', I suppose." Tipping his hat back, he hmms slowly, drawing a soft spiral on his palm with a claw. "But it didn't mean I weren't fighting. There're a lot of different sorts of battles." He cocks an eyebrow at Zoe in a sort of 'Get a load of this guy' look, before tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Some more selfish than others. Now, let's talk about yer apparent problem wi' the Colonel." He hms softly, nodding. "I ain't blind an' I hate dissent, so I'm gonna force me way inta this li'l conflict."

Oh, ha. Zoe was content, honestly, with just keeping off to herself. It's worked so far. But at Marsuvees words, her eye widens and her head snaps around, gaze settling instantly on the spiritual buck. It is only after a few seconds that her eyes shift reluctantly to Ender. After all, how's /he/ going to respond to that? One can only assume not well. With a soft grunt, she speaks up. "There's no problem I'd speak to."

Ender decides to go for the ridiculous, since Zoe seems to not be willing to speak of it either. He widens his eyes and places his paw on his chest, staggering backwards and saying; "Problem? Goodness, how could you tell?" This is followed by a grimace of pain as he grabs his flailing wrist back against his chest. "There's no problem I'd /admit/ to, either." The rabbit glares. Leave it alone...

Marsuvees watches the rabbit, then frowns as he wobbles back and hurts himself. Slowly, he drops the leather bag down to the sand and unties the leather straps. Plunging his paw into the dark depths, he rummages around, staring at Ender's arm. "Hm, as ya wish." He continues to root about, his face slowly lightening. "Wanna know a little piece of fact? I learned it from a travelin' doctor in th' Northlands several seasons back. He said..." he grunts as he lugs out a small glass vial filled with a milky whit substance. Staring at it, he continues, turning it this way and that. "He said that he tried an 'xperiment several times. A happy patient an' an angry one were kept in different rooms at th' same time an' their health constantly monitored." As if lost in thought, he uncorks the top and sniffs lightly, before touching it to the tip of his tongue. "The happy one lived. The hateful one slowly died." He sighs almost wistfully, staring at the top of the mountain. "All th' experiments were consistent."

Marsuvees motions for Ender to take the vial. "It's a powerful plant extract. It'll ease pain. If ya wan' it, don't take more than half a small spoon a day."

There is a brief flash in the Colonel's gaze as Ender speaks, and she looks /almost/ like she could've been angry there, for a moment. But it flickers and dies and she just turns her back, listening to Marsuvees as he speaks. Her shoulders lift and lower in the course of a deep breath, a sigh fizzling out between her lips. "Marsuvees. You'll find our supplies somewhat less desirable than the typical, but we've enough food t' satisfy ya, as I imagine you'll need it. Just let one of the officahs know you've returned."

Very good. Off it goes. But one snide comment is definitely in order. "So...happy beasts never die? /Ever/? Well, la-dee-da." Ender pretends to jump and click his heels, face contorting into a rather painful-looking grin. After this short display, the rabbit barely stops himself from kicking sand at the hare on the ground, not even bothering to look at the vial. "What you doing, then, Zoe? Or...Mrs. Oxeye? I'm sorry, I seem to have forgotten his name, eh?"

Marsuvees lets out a breath and nods a thanks to Zoe. "Thanks, but I'll break fast my way. Too fast'll make me sick." Almost tiredly, he stares at Ender at an odd angle. The vial disappears. "Have it yer way, mate. Jus' try not ta get sick, eh?" He almost smirks, but only the corner of his mouth goes up. "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath..." he hums to himself, glancing at the sky for a moment.

Zoe_Lang's jaw sets, but she doesn't turn. When she speaks, she sounds on edge. "Ya've forgotten a great /many/ things, End, least of all the fact that I held great love for ya, once. Mayhaps not the sort ya'd ken, but love nonetheless." And here she turns, catching Ender in her one-eyed gaze. "But here's the thing o' it, m'friend. I haven't got the time t' wait around for ya t' remembah the great many things ya've forgotten. Eithah leave off with yer pesterin', or leave off. Those're yer choices. I am done with bearin' yer attitude."

If there's a time to want to press the "undo" button, it may be around now. But in real life, there is no undo-ing. Only repairing. Ender isn't exactly prepared for that. "I...don't..." The rabbit stops, letting his injured wrist drop and wiping his nose with his good one, looking almost entirely like a dibbun finally being punished for weeks of misdeed. There's a sob. Ender goes to put his head in his paws, with a bit too much force. There's a *CRACK* and for one very brief second, Ender's right paw can be seen hanging completely off it's wrist, down against his forearm. This is just for a second, because Ender lets out a howl of pain and grabs it, trying not to pull, levering it back upwards. ...gross. Painfully he begins to turn, to walk away.

Marsuvees hisses through his teeth at the sound, cursing violently under his breath. He glances at Zoe_lang, and then lowers his eyes. "Oof." Gritting his teeth, he turns away completely, his ears wiggling. Grunting, he lifts the bag over his shoulder again. "I'd stop 'im in such a state. Get 'im looked after," he mutters to Zoe, who's closer.

Arf. Zoe's eye blinks shut and stays that way, her head shaking slowly as she tries to get the after-image of that paw out of her mind. She speaks without opening it, her words low and pained. "... 'Tis only his wrist." In other words, 'no'. "If he's not back t' the mountain by late evenin', I'll... send out a patrol." Her words are inching, like any word just the wrong way might leave things to unravel.

Ender does his best to grit his teeth, ready to scream, holding his paw, well, on. Trying to keep the last few tendons together. In this pitiful state he waddles towards the rock he had been sitting next to, a few bandages evident in the slightly waning light. They're not quite enough for the job...but...eh.

Marsuvees mutters something under his breath, watching him go. "Zoe..." He shrugs then, deciding not to pursue it, then sighs. "Let's walk then? I need to know wot happened." His jaw clenches. "I also wanna know th' scum that did this were properly killed. Or not so properly."

Zoe_Lang turns away from Ender and only then does she open her eye, starting to limp in this new direction at a pace she's sure Marsuvees will soon match. "The mountain was overtaken by vermin while a good few of our privates 'n' recruits were out on a trainin' patrol. They took us by surprise in the dead o' night, Mars. I was taken in m'office, without a clue what was goin' on in the rest o' the mountain." She shakes her head, sighing softly. "There once was a day when I would've felt sure I could win against almost any opponent, 'n' a fair fight. That day is no longah, m'friend."

Marsuvees tips his hat slightly to glance at her better. "They mangled ye." He almost growls the phrase. "Remember what I said 'bout retirin'? Kindly consider it." He punches his fist. "Ngh, I wish I were there." The March hare sighs, glancing at the sun again. It's getting lower. "I'm assumin' they were vermin searchin' for treasure, right? Too many stories 'bout Sala and th' vermin who want to get it's wealth." He's a little tired, but he keeps up easily enough.

"They mangled me. They killed many othahs. I count m'self lucky." Zoe sighs, reaching her up to touch a fingertip gently to her brow just above the eye patch, ignoring the ever-so-slight tremble in her fingers which is almost always there, anymore. "'n' I considah it every day, m'friend. Every second." She looks off toward the waters, giving a minute shake of her head. "Treasure. Slaves. Amusement. I don't know what they wanted. They took what little coin the mountain kept, which has nevah been much. More costly, they took our young, all of the dibbuns 'n' lev'rets they could lay their paws on. I thank the spirits every day that I had the good sense t' finally send Miette t' stay with her aunt. The mountain is evah the last place t' raise a child."

Marsuvees snarls, and for the first time in a long time, his ears flatten against his skull, or rather, hat. "They're dead, right? All of 'em. I hope not. Tell me ya didn't kill them all." The monk lets his face go blank, and rubs his forehead slightly. "Then agin, those are not monkish ideas an' words, 're they." He chuckles slightly. "Saturnalia," he hums softly. "A complete reversal of order. A reversal of the order of the mind, in this instance." He spirals his forehead. "The children'll be found." He sighs. "Now what?"

"They're not dead, not all of 'em. From all reports, the numbah we fought when the privates 'n' recruits came t' retake the mountain was a good bit less'n the numbah which occupied the mountain in the first place. Some escaped, s'well. They're out there, 'n' they've got the little'uns. We'll make them pay..." After a few seconds, she turns her head, all the way around to the side given her rather sizeable blind spot, in order to gaze upon Marsuvees. It's an ironic glance. "Mayhaps you've set yerself up for a somewhat non-monkish life by joinin' the patrol, then again. The spirits'll undahstand; they've seen 'n' understand more'n you or I could imagine."

Marsuvees grins, then slowly whips out a blade, the one named 'Hope', and marks a spiral in the sand. Then, bringing the blade to his lips, he kisses it, and lifts it towards the sun. "You're right. And my promise ta them..." He whips the blade down and nicks the four fingers on his other paw. Four drops fall on the spiral. "Is one I made once before. One of vengeance." He flicks his hand of blood and withdraws his blade. "They 're wise. This be truer than most other things." Tipping his hat up, he chuckles. "But they are silent." Clearing his throat he stares at Zoe for a moment. "To another subject. Ender."

Zoe_Lang observes the monk's ritual in silence, her gazed fixed on the droplets of blood. Even as he stares at her, she doesn't look up, and only offers a faint nod of acknowledgement at his choice of subject. "Endah indeed. What would you have me tell ya that ya haven't figured out for yerself?" She speaks strangely with him, in a way that she doesn't to... almost any other. Rather than teaching, she is allowing herself to be taught. Directed. Without complaint.

Marsuvees sighs, then shakes his head. "He's bitter, he's enstranged. Hurt a long time 'go, perhaps. Those matters either heal slowly 'r not at all." Staring over his shoulder in Ender's direction, he sighs. "In bitterness, perhaps hate, he pushes away people. He uses his tongue ta bite." He looks back towards Zoe. "Because a this, he's in the wrong. But because he's in th' wrong, he needs forgiveness. And love." The March hare chuckles, waving a finger. "B'fore ya jump down m' throat, I don't mean that sorta love. And accepting, all encompassing love." The finger forms a circle in the air. "He might not turn 'round. He might. The fact is, returnin' whatever feelin's of wrath or anger puts ya in th' same spot he is." He stares at her again, looking for her eyes. "But I'm not tryin' ta tell ya wot ta do. Jus' givin' my opinion, is all."

Zoe_Lang listens in silence up until the comment of love. At that point, her lips twitch in the faintest of smirks, and she inclines her head. 'Fair enough', in other words. She doesn't speak for what seems like a very long time, though, after he's finished speaking. She's ventured the teensiest bit into the surf, her bare footpaws wet to the ankles. It's a comforting feeling, as she walks along with her head lowered. "... What you say s'true, o'course. I almost feel that angah would be kindah than the indifference I've shown him, though..." She bites back a sigh, shaking her head. "I confess t' havin' felt very little of anythin', these past weeks. I s'pose that's natural enough."

Marsuvees, however, stays away from the water, only his foot paws cake slightly with damp sand. "Indifference then? Well, that be a bit different, but I've filled yer ear too much wi' what I think." He smiles, glancing at the sun again. "However, I will say one thing..." Clearing his throat, the smile splitting into a grin. "My stomach's angry wi' my indifference towards it an' now demands food." Then, he grows serious, reaching to put a paw on Zoe's shoulder. "Listen ta me, Colonel. Life be cruel. Life c'n cut you down in so many ways. The agents of th' Darkforest have a never-endin' bag a tricks. An' sometimes, when they cut to deep, they sever nerves, and paralyze your thoughts, yer actions, and yer feelin's. But another thing I've learned, it's only permanent by choice." He smiles lightly. "Ya ken?"

Zoe_Lang listens as attentively as before, with a small, amused snort at mention of his stomach and its demands. But it is his use of that word so rarely used by others that finally garners a smile, and then a gentle inclination of her head. "Aye. I ken." She looks to the side at him once more, her smile growing in warmth. "I ken, 'n' thankee kindly. Yer words have helped me, as they always do. 'Tis good t' have ya back." She reaches across, to pat him fondly on the shoulder. "... Now, if you'll let me, we c'n go see what we c'n do about that angerfied stomach o' yers."

Marsuvees whoops like a leveret, then calms down, waving a hand gallantly towards the mountain. "Ladies first, Colonel." The March hare chuckles, whistling an old, churchy sounding song.

Aha, the positions reassert themselves. With a chuckle and a shake of her head which turns into a nod as they go, the Colonel 'leads the way'. "Off we go, then, back t' the good ole Fire Mountain..." And she seems content to travel the rest of the distance in silence, with quite a lot of things to chew on.