08-21-05

Characters involved: Darklett & Zoe_Lang.

Halyard Village: Main Street(#123920RJ)

Darklett is lying awake in the bed inside the house he'd been calling home since he arrived in Halyard, not having been on his footpaws since he fell face-first off of them. Next to his bed is a tray-- evidence that there was food there is included. Also, there's two mugs that look like the ones from the Halyard Tavern, both emptied. It also appears that his bandages have been replaced by new ones.

Zoe_Lang's purpose today is apparently to visit the sick, and there sure are a lot of them. However, some she's more concerned about than others. Darklett is one of these. The door to the house he is kept in is pushed slowly open and the Colonel peaks her head inside, looking around. "Darklett? Are ya awake?"

A small sound of Darklett's throat being cleared comes briefly before a quiet response, "Yeah, I'm awake, Colonel." If it's possible for her to pick up on emotion at such a low volume, he's sounding fairly optimistic.

Her hearing's not good enough to pick up most quiet sounds, let alone emotion. All the same, she does hear him. She moves into the room, and lo and behold, she has a small bottle in paw. This also appears to be from Halyard Tavern. She crosses to his bed, sitting beside it and setting the bottle down. She nods her head to it. "In case ya need it." She grins at the notice of the two mugs.

Darklett smiles at the sight of the bottle, half laughing, half wincing from the laughter. "Ah, this is service," he voices, barely above a whisper. "I should get hurt more often, I guess." He winks at the officer, before straightening his face and slowly lifting his paw up to salute her. "Heard the good news, too."

Zoe_Lang's grin remains as she is saluted, and she returns it with a fond inclination of her head. "Sorry ya couldn't be there t' see it, lad."

"Do you know if the badger was there?" Darklett questions, rather quickly, as if the thought had been nagging his mind. "Did you see him, at all?"

Zoe_Lang blinks, surprised. She hadn't actually heard about the cause of Darklett's injuries until now. "The badgah...?" She glances sharply over her shoulders, suddenly thinking of a certain badger she recently had the acquaintance of meeting.

Darklett nods. "Yeah, uh... Did you happen to see a badger at the battle?" His brows are raised as he waits for an answer, quite eagerly.

Zoe_Lang blinks, then suddenly it hits her. Her face constricts into a grimace and she looks away. "Bloody 'ell... No, I didn't see yer badgah. I saw 'im t'day. I ordahed him found 'n' escorted outta the village, fer refusin' t' relinquish his weapons. Like a bloody, doddgerin' ole fool." Suddenly, explosively. "Spirits be damned!" She stands, turning to face the door. Apparently she doesn't enjoy it when her age shows.

Darklett seems to sink back into his bed a little at the sudden explosion. "...Uh." He goes quiet, looking at the Colonel through wide eyes, biting his lip. After a few seconds of silence, he shifts a little where he is, and rasps out, "Well... if you didn't see him, then I guess I didn't do too badly..." He doesn't sound too confident in this, the hare still eyeing the Colonel.

Zoe_Lang's shoulders hunch slightly, and she doesn't turn around. Grr, argh. This has not been a very good day for the Colonel. "Sorry." She finally does look back around, with a small shake of her head. "I'll have the badgah brought in."

Darklett shakes his head. "No, no, I don't want to see him." And, he got worked up. So, he pauses, and relaxes, before continuing. "I just want my knives back... I'm just glad I kept him out of battle, even for just one day."

Zoe_Lang stares at Darklett uncertainly. "He was in the village. He attacked Zeraph, or just s'much, with that bloody chain thing o' his. We have t' have him taken care of one way or anothah."

Darklett sighs, looking a little disheartened. "...Maybe badgers are a little tougher than I thought..."

Zoe_Lang could've told him as much. Actually, she did. Hee. Now that she remembers it. The Colonel moves back to the seat and drops into it. "I'll inform the sentries that they're t' keep a constant watch fer him. If we c'n capture him, fine. If we can't..." Well, they'll just have to employ other methods.

Darklett just about scowls... If he had the energy to do so, he probably would have pulled it off. "Or if that other moron badger wouldn't have moved him, he wouldn't be a problem now..." And there he is, getting worked up again. So he cools off momentarily, taking a deep breath. "...He's already been given two second chances, Colonel."

Zoe_Lang nods in understanding. "He won't be released, if'n we do capture him. But at the least, 'e might have some information fer us..." She rests her elbows in her knees and bends her head forward, resting it in her paws. Sigh. "I hope, aftah this, that we c'n expect... a long peace." Somehow she doubts it.

Darklett lifts his head in half a nod, then judging this to be justice enough, he finishes, lowering his head. "...I apologize for being so foolish, Colonel. You probably could have used me in the attack."

Zoe_Lang shakes her head whilst it remains resting in her paws. "Don't apologize, lad. I'm not lookin' fer apologies. We won, the battle's ovah." That seems to be enough for her, at least for the moment. "If ya want t' wait, you c'n remain here until her well enough t' walk. But if ya'd like, we c'n move ya back t' the mountain... Many of the injured have already been taken back."

Darklett smiles, though he's still taking it a little hard that he got massacred... pretty much in vain. "Yes, Colonel, I'd like to be taken back to the mountain, if it's possible. I've had enough of Halyard, haha..." And another laugh/wince. >.<

"Seems like most o' us have..." At the strained laugh, she looks up. "C'n I give ya somethin' fer the pain?"

Darklett nods at the offer, resting his head back against the bed. "Please, that'd be great, Colonel. Who would have thought being filled with holes could hurt so much...?" He smirks feebly, taking a deep breath and sighing it out slowly through his nose.

Zoe_Lang digs in one of her many pockets and comes out with a small bottle. She removes the lid and pulls out two small leaves, which she then holds across to him. "Chew these. It should help sommat. I'll have somethin' propah made up for ya latah."

Darklett reaches over and takes the leaves, bringing them to his nose and sniffing before opening his mouth and popping them in, beginning to chew on them. "Thankya, Colonel. Uh, I've actually got a favor to ask... If you'd like, I can ask at a better time."

Zoe_Lang smiles slightly and shakes her head. "No bettah time than when I'm present, eh?" She scoots her chair forward just enough to show that she's attentive. "What c'n I do for ya?"

"Well, uh. I..." Darklett shifts his glance to the side, hesitating. "Lost all my knives. Threw them all at the badger. I was wondering, if... I don't know, maybe when I could get on my footpaws again, if you could teach me how you made them."

Zoe_Lang's ears fall slightly, but she manages to smile all the same - an amused, resigned one. "'Course, lad... It'll take some amount o' learnin', though." In the meantime, she might see her way to lending him the three she held back. He can wait to find out about those, however.

Darklett grins. "Thanks again, Colonel. If you look in one of the alleyways to the west square, you might be able to find a couple of them that didn't hit... four, I think. I don't know if they were taken already or not."

"I'll look, 'n' ask those charged with clean-up duty... They may've found 'em, s'well." Zoe inclines her head in a thoughtful nod, adding that to the list of things left to do before sleep. "I'll have hares sent fer ya in the mornin'... t' return ya t' the mountain."

Darklett sighs happily, a smile crossing his face at the sound of the words. "Back to the good old rock... Can't wait... So cold, damp, and dark..." He chuckles, chewing down on those leaves again as he's reminded that he's not supposed to laugh. :P "Oh, and one more thing... You asked me to give a report on the Major?"

Oh. That. Zoe gives a short nod and rests her chin atop her paws, waiting attentively. "Yer ready t' give yer report?"

Darklett smirks. "Might as well. All I can do while I'm here is eat, sleep, and talk." He clears his throat gently, then begins. "At first... there was nothing wrong that I could see. But the vermin weren't budging, and... I guess he was... I have no idea. Frustrated." He relaxes here for a moment, then continues. "The badger came out and tried to act like an escaped captive... That turned into a hostage situation, was managed as best as could be. But once that was over, the Major ordered a forward march right into the city. We were under heavy arrow fire, and he had to have known that we would have lost -several- lives without need, and I had to insist that we pull back and rethink our strategy... I was drawn away from the main crowd later to deal with the badger for the first time, and before I could get back, Jarril had started the march again without me, leaving the entire patrol to his own command." Again, he pauses, thinking over his words. "They were under heavy arrow fire again, but the Major refused to issue orders to take cover. I was too far out, and would have been an easy target for archers, or else I would have went in and made the order myself."

Zoe_Lang considers Darklett's words for a long moment, and it's possible she's thinking of saying something in response to this, but instead she merely makes a small, twirling motion with her paw. "Continue."

Darklett takes a deep breath, and continues. "During the hostage thing, he insisted on pushing the nerves of the captors, which... may have led to all but two of them to be killed. I'm not too sure about that, though. All I know is, I spotted a trap and told the Major about it... And he ignored it, sending troops in nonetheless to be taken down like target practice by archers hidden in the houses."

Her finger continues to make the twirling motion as he speaks, though it's more just absent motion than an actual message. She's /not/ trying to hurry him along, even though it may appear that way. Ah well. "... Well, in the Majah's defense, street-to-street combat's not our usual beach 'n' forest-fightin'..." Still, though, she nods. "Keep goin'."

Darklett nods. "Understood." He clears his throat weakly, his voice getting a little quieter and wavering more often, now that he'd been talking a while. Still not quite healthy, and all that. "And..." He hesitates... "...well, I know it's not my place to question a Major. But our troops were ready to make another attack long before you came to Halyard." He clears his throat, again, here. "I think if we didn't give them as much time to regroup, then... We may have had an even higher ground on them, and lost less hares."

Zoe_Lang agrees completely with this last bit, and so all she can do is sigh. "Thank ya, lieutenant. I'll take yer thoughts int' consideration." She bends her head a little, rubbing at her temples quietly for a moment. Then. "Would you mind writin' up the report fer m' records, lad? I'd appreciate it."

Darklett turns one side of his snout upwards in a weary smile, nodding to the officer. "Yes, Colonel. Just as soon as I can, I'll have it written up for you." The lieutenant hare rests back against his pillow after this, and relaxes.