08-09-05

Characters involved: Keita, Vorth, Zeraph, Lily, & Seven.

Halyard Village: Main Street

Someone really should just hit Keita over the head with something large and blunt, because apparently she hasn't got the memo that roaming the whole of Halyard isn't advisable. Presently, she is exiting from Tide Knots with a full sack thrown over her shoulder. We can at least say this for her - she looks both ways before exiting, and notices no immediate threat. With a grin a whistle, she turns on her heel and makes for the barricade at an ambling walk.

Vorth perks his ears slightly at the sound of movement, moving to look over the barricade and see a hare, must be one very dopey hare, he places an arrow on his bow and decides a little fun is in order "Well well if it isn't the hare from the tavern" he calls out across to Keita.

Keita's ears perk straight up at the call, and sloooowly the doe turns, hitching her pack up higher on her shoulder as she does so. Vorth is spotted, as his bow and arrow. Her ears immediately dip, but she doesn't turn tail and run. "An' if it isn't ole ratty type..."

Vorth grins "So nice to be remembered, you know I wanted to remind one of you long eared types what one of your lot has made off with one of my daggers in his stomach, don't suppose he'd have the curtcity to hand it back at some point would he?"

Keita wrinkles her nose at Vorth and crosses her arms over her chest, looking unamused. "Somehow... 'n' I could be wrong, but I don't think you'll be gettin' that daggah back. Just a hunch."

Vorth grins and gives a shrug "Ah well, just had tah get a new one, been nice talkin' to yah" and he draws back the arrow on his bow to shoot it at Keita, looks like he got bored.

Agh, okay. That's not very nice! As soon as the arrow is drawn back, Keita immediately ducks and rolls to the side, dropping her sack in the process. Fortunately it was a long shot, so she has time to get out of the way. The arrow buries itself in the dirt. She turns, scowling across at Vorth. "What, yer tail gone 'n' broke itself, ya can't use /that/ anymore?" The tail would be preferable to sharp pointy things, after all. She ducks behind an overturned cart, peeking out.

What's that? Yelling? Zeraph has sat up from where he was dozing off in the shade of a building, the buck's ear turning in the direction of the barricade and raising a brow. Slowly his groggy mind figures out that the voice is Keita's..though it is coming from main street. A curse escapes the fighter as he jumps up from where he was resting, hurrying towards the barrier and pulling himself up to peer over, while still trying to remain hidden. The scene unfolds before his eyes. Well, /that's/ not good..He growls a little, then looks around for someone with a bow and arrow.

Vorth chuckles and takes out another arrow to place on the bow "Now why would I want to be as dumb as you and go waltzing out in the square when I can just use a bow much more easily and not have to move from me nice safe side of the barrier"

Being her usual sneaky self, Lily has taken the liberty to see why Keita has been gone so long. She ducks along the hedges and bushes of the town, her ears laid flat and her eyes darting quickly. She peeks just over a short fence in a shop yard, her eyes narrowing as she see's the arrow fired at Keita. "Vermin!" She growls, scrambling over the fence and bursting through the bushes. The hare wheels about, ignoring everyone save the rat behind the barrier. "Ah'll kill yah, y'lugnose!" She barks out, rushing towards the barrier.

Keita rolls her eyes and hunkers down into a sitting position behind the cart, eyes staring out to the abandoned sack. Well, that's annoying. "Seems rathah unusually cowardly fer you, s'all... Though, I s'pose ya were only brave before when we were too busy bein' cha- ained..." Blink. Lily is seen darting past and towards the vermin barrier, and just as quickly, Keita is back up and on her feet and out of hiding, eyes wide as she begins sprinting after her. "Lil', no! Get down!"

Vorth draws his latest arrow back and aims it at Lily since she seems to be a nice target, letting the arrow fly at her.

Seven just happens to be leaned against one of the vacant buildings, when he hears the commotion as well. The runner stands quicker than the fighter had and sprints to the barrier, going to see what is happening. "What the hell are they doing?!" He questions of Zeraph.

Zeraph bares his teeth as Lily bursts out of nowhere and almost leaps the barricade himself, but he pauses as he sees the runner move towards him. "Oh! You! Shoot that rat! Or try to!" The fighter has gone panicky, pointing in the direction of the barricade.

Lily narrows her eyes, the arrow coming right at her. Of course, after weeks of a seaweed-only diet, one tends to not be in the best of shape. Her footpaw gets caught in a road rivet, sending the doe tumbling and rolling. She feels the bit of an arrow in her left side and she lets out an annoyed howl. The doe slides to a stop, the dirt rising around her as she groans. "Mrg. Vermin." Is all that's heard.

Seven is startled as the fighter yells at him, glancing over his shoulder, then up at what is happening in the main street. He takes a deep breath and has the long bow off of his back in no time, setting an arrow into it, then jumping back away from the barrier. The young buck pulls back the string, aiming for the arrow to arch over the vermin barricade, and in the rat's direction.

Keita curses loudly as the arrow takes Lily in the side, but there's one fortunate thing about the other doe going down - Keita can catch up to her. Sliding to a halt next to Lily, Keita throws herself down beside the other doe and throws her torso over Lily, putting herself between her body and any more arrows. "Lil', Lil'... c'mon, we gotta run! Can ya get up?"

Vorth thinks it's time to go and hops down behind the barrier, which is lucky since it leaves the arrow to whistle nicely over head, muttering something about hares as he stays behind the barrier to listen to the hares now.

Lily pushes herself up and looks slightly dizzy. "Wha'? 'Course m'okay. Hardly got meh, wot?" She lifts an arm to reveal a arrow that isn't too far in. "Jus' ah lil' scrap, aye. H'aint runnin' no where. Gotta get th' rat."

Zeraph takes his chance to jump over the barrier, while telling Seven to shoot if he sees Vorth again. The fighter lands hard on his footpaws and takes off at a run towards Lily and Keita, not looking very happy, and giving a quick glance to the vermin's side. He comes to a halt beside the two does, hearing the last part. "No!" The buck commands, then just goes to pick Lily up if he has to. "We're going back over the barrier, now!"

Keita grabs Lily firmly by the arm, shaking her head. "No! No, ya don't have t' get the rat, Lil'!" But then Zeraph's there, and the doe kind of stumbles back from Lily on her knees, giving Zeraph room to grab her should he so chooses.

Vorth can be heard whistling quite happily from his side of the barrier, might be a bit of an irritating noise, might also disguise the sound of a sword being drawn and leaned against the barrier next to him, just in case.

Lily grunts and wraps a free paw around the arrow shaft. "S'fine. Ah jus' gotta get this arrow out." She mumbles, tugging on it gently. The hare lets out a tiny squeak. "Back off, fightah. Ah aint no patrol 'are for y'to ordah ah'round!"

Zeraph scowls at her, and just goes to pick her up forcefully now. "Yeah, but when we're in a war zone, you play by /our/ rules." He growls out at her, not seeming to care.

Vorth continues to whistle for a while before calling out once more "Ah and how the hares run, back to their little rocky hill to hide away from the rest world and it's beasts" well nothing to stop him doing a little taunting.

Keita stands up and away as Zeraph and Lily have their little verbal battle, but at Vorth's verbal baiting, she turns with a scowl. "Shut it, rat!"

Lily growls as she's roughly picked up. "Lemme down, y'great daft buck!" The doe wiggles and snarls her teeth. "M'gonna kill him, y'hear?"

Zeraph pins his ears against his skull, then shakes his head, hurrying back towards the west square. "Oh, shut up." It's unsure whether he's talking to Vorth or Lily, but either way, he is /not/ happy about this whole thing.

Vorth chuckles "Me, shut it, why whatever have I done? Oh and your friend wishes to kill me how sweet"

Keita's eyes narrow and she grabs at her waist, where a dagger is sheathed. This is throw rather recklessly over the barricade. She doesn't care particularly much whether it hits him or not. "Arse!" She turns and heads after Zeraph and Lily at a jog, grabbing up the discarded sack when she passes it.

Lily finally falls limp against the buck, though the growl still erupts in her throat. "Ah'll come back an' get 'im, then! Ruddy Pah'tollers."

Zeraph stops at the barrier, Lily still in his arms, as he watches after Keita. The buck is waiting for her to get over before he does, just scowling in her direction, ears raised up on his head again. He gives a glance down to the doe against him, seeming glad she's stopped her struggling.

Vorth simply laughs, a sort of mocking laugh as the dagger misses by quite a way "See yah long ears!" he gives as a final call to them.

When she reaches Zeraph and sees the look, she simply shakes her head, as if to say, "Don't start." And then over the barricade she scrambles, landing with a thump on the other side.

Seven stands behind the barricade, still holding his bow and looking curiously to the others as they move up over the make-shift wall, his brows furrow.

Zeraph begins to climb up the barricade as well. It's hard to jump it when holding another beast in your arms, and thus also harder to climb. He notes Seven as he nears the top and goes to deposit Lily into his arms. "Here, take her." The buck remains on the top of the barricade like this.

Seven has to ditch his bow off to the side to take the doe, though this may be a bad idea, considering he's not very big. He may be able to handle the weight though.

Lily yelps and sends a spitting glare to both of them. "Ah am /not/ some damned hot potato for yah t'toss ah'round! Keita! Make 'em lemme go!"

Keita looks up at the barricade where Lily is struggling. "Please, Lil'! Just let 'em take care o' ya!"

Seven nearly stumbles as he takes the fighting doe, flushing. "Oh..Ma'am, 'm sorry..I don' think yer a potato.." He backs down the barrier, to the ground below, ears nearly twisted together.

Zeraph just glares back at Lily, still standing on the barricade, back to the main street. "Stop being a menace." He growls out. She seems to have taken his attention from Keita at least.

Lily balls up her fists, but is forced to throw her arms around Seven's neck for support. "Fine. But y'owe me!" She calls after Keita. Zeraph is given a dirty look. "Stop bein' ah ordah followin' dolt."

Vorth risks a quiet peek over the barricade, new dagger nicely donated by Keita in his belt but that wouldn't be seen as only the top of his head pokes over the barricade.

Zeraph yells down after Lily, at this new statement. "Me following orders is keeping you /alive/!" He is very much unaware of Vorth peering over the other barricade..actually I think everyone is oblivious at this moment.

Seven is, indeed, a bit busy carrying Lily along, finally setting her down on the bed in that vacant house and backing away from her, with a nod, apologizing again to her.

Keita's ears are rather permanently dipped in displeasure, at this point, and so she just follows after Seven in silence.

Vorth places an arrow on his bow and goes for a last little bit of fun in the form of a pot shot, moving up the barrier a little and aiming high he lets loose the arrow, with some luck it might get Zeraph, with a little less luck though it might just over shoot and possible get some random hare behind the barrier, with no luck at all it'd just end up hitting the ground somewhere and they'll all just have to put up with listening to him laughing after he ducks back behind the barrier again.

Zeraph glares down along the path that they just took and is about to drop down onto the other side, when Vorth actually gets lucky. The arrow strikes him in the back..and it's actually a pretty good shot, too. The buck stumbles slightly, then just falls and his rump, sliding heavily down the barrier onto the other side, giving him a rough ride down of course. The fighter just sits here at the bottom, not saying much.

Having followed Seven and Lily into the vacant home, Keita stands waiting at the door for Zeraph to catch up. But then, he takes the arrow in the back, and down he tumbles. Aw, crap. Without a word to Lily, she runs back out to the barricade and crouches down at Zeraph's side. "Raph... Raph." She leans forward to take a look at his back and the arrow.

Vorth had stayed above the barrier just long enough to see the arrow hit and now sits down out of sight, chuckling lightly to himself as he listens, trying to catch anything of what's going on over the barrier.

Zeraph gazes off somewhere else, almost as if he's unsure what happened..or how it happened, then he slumps forward a little more, murmuring to himself. "This is stupid.." The buck doesn't move again, for now.

Keita winces at the location of the arrow, and winces even more so after she gives a gentle tug on the arrow. "It's in deep. Goin' t' have t' dig it out..." She sighs and wipes a paw across her brow. "Can ya stand?"

Lily scrambles away from Seven, pushing her full weight against the buck. The doe hits the ground at a run, scrambling towards the fallen hare and Keita. "Hey! Kei... what... he okay?" She says in a frightened voice.

Zeraph is gazing dully at the ground as she leans over him. He tenses as she tugs at the arrow, then goes to stand up, with a grunt, nearly toppling and falls against the barrier again. "I'm gonna...kill him.."

Keita takes a tumble back from Zeraph when he moves to stand, but when he falls back down, she puts a steadying paw on his shoulder. "Yer not goin' t' do any such thing, 'cause yer goin' back t' the mountain." The doe glances over at Lily but doesn't say anything.

Zeraph looks like he feels sick as she says this, and looks dully up at the doe. "No..No, K.." The buck swallows hard, though some blood still trickles out of the corner of his mouth. The fighter just reaches around to try to yank the arrow out, though even when he moves this arm, he flinches badly, gasping for air and lets his paw drop again. "..who's going to look after you and Roth..?" He just slumps there again.

Lily kneels down her eyes strained. "Ech. S'what Ah'm here for. Was trained by th' Pah'tol, y'know. Ah jus'... gotta start runnin' in th' morning. Gotta get back in shape." She glances at his arrow and winces. "Lookit, we match!" The doe motions to the arrow still lodged in her side skin. "C'mon ol' buck. Back t'the mountain."

Keita eyes Zeraph long and hard, and in the end just shakes her head. She ducks over him again and with one paw, holds onto the arrow shaft closest to his body, and with the other, snaps off the arrow. Just the shaft still covered by her paw remains. She then loops an arm around his waist and tries to help him up to his feet. Lily is given a relieved smile. "Ya doin' okay, Lil'...?"

Zeraph grins a little at Lily's comment about matching, though it is weak and a little lopsided. The buck nods slightly, seeming to just give up the argument for now, and uses Keita as support, going to stand again. "That rat..he's gonna get it.." He murmurs again.

Lily scoots to his other side, offering more support if he wants it. "M'doin' righ' as rain, Kei dear. Jus' like a piercin', aint it?" The doe smiles carefully. "Oh, he sure is, matey. Ah'd hate t'be him righ' now, aye."

Keita can't help but smile across at Lily, but she quickly returns her attention to Zeraph. "He c'n get it latah... Fer now, we're goin' t' patch ya up 'n' yer goin' back t' the mountain s'soon as yer well 'nough. 'Til then..." Hm. She looks across at Lily, and shrugs. "Keep 'im in one o' the guest rooms?"

Zeraph excepts the offered support from her, though he more leans on Keita, not sure if Lily can take it as much as the other doe. He just listens to what all that the taverny hare says to him, though he seems to have a mental argument going on right now. The buck just remains quiet still.

Lily takes her share of the weight all right, though the pain in her side twinges painfully. "Righto! Get yah patched up, washed up, wi' ah pillow at yer head an' ah bowl o' fish stew in yah tummy, wot?" Slowly the doe starts across the square.

Keita moves in step with Lily and Zeraph, linking her paw with Lily's behind Zeraph's back. "Righ'. We'll just put 'em on the countah fer me t' work on 'im, then we'll see t' you, Lil'..." She trails off and just crosses the square in silence.

Zeraph hangs onto the two does, ears drooped unhappily and shaking his head as he moves along the square with them. So many problems from that one rat. He'll definitely have to be taken care of. At least Raph isn't huge.. :)

Created by Oklina