11-02-05

Characters involved: Quinten & Darklett.

Salamandastron: Crater

Quinten is stood on the crater rim, leaning on a javelin and peering down at the coutnry side far below, doing a slow circuit of the mountain top watching the country side and sea in each direction for any signs of well anything, its a lonely boring posting but after yet another late turn up to a lesson he's wound up on the crater top posting.

Darklett emerges from the mountain, up into the Salamandastron crater. He squints against the evening sun for a few seconds, before his paw raises up to shield his eyes from the light. Spotting Quinten, he smirks, and steps out further, watching his step for rocks and other jagged points on the surface underpaw.

Unlike Quinten, Zoe hasn't been banished up to the mountain's crater - rather, she's there for the sight-seeing possibilities. Not that she hasn't seen this particular sight many times before. The Colonel comes out into the open air with a satisfied up-tilting of her head, breathing in the crispness of the fall air. So far she hasn't acknowledged the other two.

Quinten hears the approach of two other beasts and turns around to see who they are, he's sees Darklett first and swallows then he spots the Colonel and yelps, snapping his heels together he fumbles with his javelin, tangling it with his knees.. "Colonel....Lieutenant..." he staggers and lands on his scut with a thump, javelin bouncing down into the crater, dust encircling him

Darklett stops walking once the recruit notices him, and winces as the young hare fumbles around, and eventually drops the weapon he was wielding into the crater. His eyes moving to his side, he watches the javelin fall, the lieutenant raising onto his toes, then rocking back towards his heels. "Recruit Quinten. Glad to see you showed up... On time, even."

Zoe_Lang's moment of peace is interrupted by the fumbling and then the clattering, and finally the unsure greeting. Her gaze rolls around until it falls upon Quinten, looking vaguely exasperated. "Recruits..." Mutter-mutter. She turns on her heels, wandering over Darklett and Quinten's way with a casual salute.

Quinten scrambles back up to his feet, trying to brush dust off his tunic, he snaps to attention and salutes Darklett "Yes lt. on time lt. sorry for the other day sah, aye cleaned that room from top to bottom sah.." he tails off as he watches the colonel get closer.

Darklett nods. "Yes, I saw that. Good work cleaning the place up, it needed a good dusting." He looks over the recently dirty uniform, and chuckles. "Now it seems -you- need a good dusting." The lieutenant turns around to Zoe, and straightens up, offering her a stiff, and quite proper, salute in return to the casual one. "Colonel."

Zoe_Lang eyes Darklett's sharp salute and merely grins. "Lieutenant." Her attention shifts to Quinten. "What's this about cleanin'?"

Quinten winces at the tone in that voice stayin at attention he answers her question "I was late for sentry duty ma'am, the Lieutenant sentanced me to clean the sentry room and pull double shifts on sentry duty."

Darklett just stands by, letting Quinten explain himself. Regardless of whether that -was- the actual punishment he handed out or not, he nods in affirmation, before adding in. "And if you're wondering why he's up here, an officer put him on duty for being late for class." Pause. "...Again."

Zoe_Lang glances at Dark out of the corner of her eye. "Oh he did now, did 'e?" She listens curiously to both accounts, an eyebrow raising at this last bit of information from Darklett. "And what, young recruit, is keepin' you from arrivin' on time?"

Quinten bites back and whimper and closes his eyes gripping his tunic "I...keep...getting lost Colonel, and and i am trying ma'am, really i am"

Darklett actually starts to feel sorry for Quinten. He looks -so nervous.- Still, though, he leaves it between the Colonel and the recruit, his paws resting behind his back, one clasping over the other's wrist.

"There're only four levels 'n' all main areas c'n be reached off o' those four levels. It's not that difficult, m'lad." The doe's words aren't spoken unkindly, but the content might not be exactly encouraging for Quinten. She quirks a brow at the youth. "Still, instead o' pilin' on more duties. Recruit, aftah yer dismissed here, I want you t' jog back 'n' forth to the main places that you go in this mountain, includin' all yer classes, the dinin' hall, the dormitories, 'n' the trainin' room, until you feel that ya won't forget it. Undahstood?"

Quinten lowers his ears, trailing them down the back of his head and sighs "yes Colonel i will do so....but...i did it before twice so far...and still i get lost...i'm sorry Colonel i'm just no good at memorisng things" he twists his paws together before her

Darklett still stands by as the Colonel works out business with Quinten. His eyes go up, and he sees a dark blotch on the darkened sky, a bird. He follows it with his gaze, until he realizes he'd just been zoning out. So, bringing himself back to attention, he turns to the recruit, and suggests, "Maybe twice wasn't enough. Just jog your route until you could do it with your eyes closed, then there's no way you'll miss anything."

"Practice makes perfect, m'lad." No pain no gain might also apply, but she'll stick with the first. Darklett is looked around at. "Anythin' to report on the day, lieutenant?"

Quinten salutes and sidles left "yes Ma'am, scuse me..." he scrambles and slides down the slope getting dustier to get his javelin back

Darklett's brow furrows as he watches Quinten inch down into the crater to retrieve the javelin. He almost says something about not having to worry about it, but keeps his mouth shut. The Colonel's asking him a question, anyway. "Report? Well... The only report I have is that today was suspiciously a lot like yesterday." He grins at this, shrugging to Zoe.

Zoe_Lang rolls her eyes as the dust rises upward as he descends. "This," she concludes, "is why I don't teach weapons trainin' to the new recruits. I'll stick t' healin'." At the report - for what it's worth - she nods. "As I expected. Bettah that you have nothin' t' report than somethin' disastrous, I s'pose."

Quinten has his Javelin and quickly heads back up tot he top of the crater to resume his patrol around the crate lip, looking out at the countryside, now that he's not being adressed by the officers he's trying to clean his tunic off but failing

Darklett nods in agreement. "I can't say I disagree with you there, Colonel. Though I have to admit, I think somethin's better than nothin', sometimes, but I'd never want disaster for anybeast. Eh, I haven't even seen that -badger- around... At least he mixed things up for me on occasion."

Zoe_Lang looks around at darklett, eyeing him incredulously. "Ya'd think you /liked/ bein' stabbed through in various places or somethin'..." The doe shakes her head, smirking just slightly.

Quinten slows down as he passes them both, cocking an ear to listen at that comment but then he hurries off again, he's in enough trouble as it is at this rate they'll be throwing him out of the training programme

Darklett chuckles at this, shrugging again. "...Hey, I don't get hurt -every- time something happens, Colonel. The badger just got lucky a few times, is all..." He doesn't even sound like he believes his own words, but he smirks confidently, anyway. "I'm a fighter officer, Colonel. Training can only hold me over for so long."

Zoe_Lang smirks Darklett's way. "I used t' be a fightah officah s'well, lad. You'll get bored o' it, too." She, too, doesn't sound quite like she believes her own words. Fighter to the end and all that.

Quinten shifts his javelin to the other shoulder and swings past the officers again, eyes fixed on the countryside, he stops and peers down at the beech below

Darklett shrugs a third time, looking doubtful at the Colonel's words. "We'll see, I guess." He watches Quinten as he continues to speak, ears perked at the recruit as he follows him with his neck. "I've been practicing boxing a lot. I think I'm gettin' pretty good at it."

Zoe_Lang 'coughs' into her paw to cover up a smile, turning away somewhat. Ahem. She clears her throat, glancing back. "Oh, yeah? Well, that's good. Goin' t' stop by the meetin' this week?" Her ears perk as Quinten passes on by.

Quinten is still stood still peering down at beech still he takes a few step back and moves down the crater to pick up a telescope then back up again to place it against his eye and peers down

Darklett nods a few times. "I planned on it, anyway. I never really thought about how much boxing would help me with my weapons combat until it actually started working, you know. I'm a lot faster than I was before."

A gust of wind comes up and Zoe tucks her paws into her pockets, hunching her shoulders somewhat against the sudden chill. "We really ought t'have boxin' bea required class fer new recruits. The weaponless combat's good, but..." But? She's biased towards boxing.

Quinten looks back at the colonel and smiles "I've been having Boxing lessons already Colonel" he lowers the telescope it was just some hares "Howard gives them to me"

Darklett keeps his paws folded against each other behind his back, though he does shiver at the sudden strong breeze. The lieutenant thinks about Zoe's statement for a few moments. "...So, what's keeping you from making it a required class? It's a good idea, in my opinion..."

Zoe_Lang's shoulders shake, but not with cold. She's chuckling, quietly. "Who d'ya think'd have t' teach it?" The Colonel herself, of course. "'Course... mayhaps I could make Oxeye teach it. He's just about s'good s'me." Eh hehehe.

Darklett grins at this, chuckling along with the Colonel. "The teacher doesn't -have- to be the best... After all, these are recruits, you can't expect them to be good enough to really learn from masters such as yourself before they ever become officers, can you?"

Quinten stops his patrol, listening with interest now, hoping they'll decide to make it a required class, he likes boxing and is eager to learn more

Zoe_Lang considers this for a moment. "Well, mayhaps we'll do it, then. Might do t' offah a basic class s'well as a more advanced 'un." The colonel scritches absently at a flopped-over ear. "Might bolster more interest in the club, at that."

Quinten leans down and salutes "Permission to speak ma'am?"

Darklett nods. "Sounds good, I know it'd probably be best for the recruits to learn a thing or two about boxing before they're full patrollers..." He stops talking here, at Quinten's request to speak.

Zoe_Lang blinks, looking around at Quinten. "Of course, lad. Speak as ya wish."

Quinten fiddles with his paws "I just wanted to say ma'am, i'd love to learn more about boxing" he smiles then salutes "But my shift is done and i've got alot of rooms to run through" he looks over at his replacement as they appaer "So if you'll excuse me ma'am, sir"

Zoe_Lang waits until Quinten has gone back down inside the mountain before she breaks out into a laugh. "... I almost feel bad fer the lad, y'know?"

Darklett smirks as he watches Quinten retreat down the stairs. "Yeah, I do know." He can't help but chuckle himself, shaking and scratching at the side of his head. "He's been here a while, now, though, he should know the place by now... Do you know what he's training to be, by any chance?"

Zoe_Lang squints in thought, looking in the direction that Quinten has gone. "I want t' say fightah, but I wouldn't swear on it." She shakes her head somewhat, then smiles up towards the now-dark sky. "Mayhaps he really is just forgetful. Eithah way, we'll cure him o' that."

Darklett snorts. "I should hope not. Isn't exactly the most... coordinated of hares. Maybe that's something we need to work on, too." He laughs, but grimaces. "Maybe it's just a growth thing," he says, rather hopefully.

Zoe_Lang smirks at the hopeful note in the buck's voice, then looks around at the entrance back into the mountain. "Well, I should go find out what trouble m' daughtah's managed t' get into while I've been gone." She is not optimistic.

Darklett nods at Zoe's words, smirking at the mood thereof, and turning to the side to face the Colonel properly, and salutes her. "Good evening, Colonel!"