11.26.08 - Mayeul's Tracking Party and the Death of Drakon

Location: Redwall and Mossflower

Characters Involved: Drakon, Mayeul, Lark, Eridor, Quickbeak, Urthclaw

Redwall Abbey: Entry

The Sun is just Setting, and shadows are getting longer. Drakon is blindly flying the Well mapped out skies that he knows...almost...quite well. The owl's long shadow Quickly zips along on the ground as he lets off a loud, loud Screech.

Mayeul hears a faint sound from inside the abbey and gathers his things and runs out! He finds several beasts there who have heard the sounds, and looks for those he has called upon to help him in tracking the beast. He looks up, shaking his head, "How that thing is so bold to fly over the abbey blind... beyond me. If I were him, though, I'd certainly be confident of myself." He looks around the small crowd, and dons a semi-camoflaged cloak painted white to blend with the snow.

Lark walks out of the Great Hall, heading for the gatehouse, shaking her head and mumbling quietly to herself, frown creasing her brow. When she hears the screech, however, her head flies up, and she bolts for her weapons in the gatehouse as fast as her legs will carry her.

Eridor comes from the abbey entry, drawing his sword and dagger. With a nod to Mayeul, he says "Let's get this party started."

It's a bit late in the day for sparrows to be up and about but the screech gains some attention and after a minute the small shape of Quickbeak drops from out of the abbey loft. He's almost tempted to follow the owl right then and there but he spots the group down below and spirals down towards them.

Urthclaw takes his battle blade and points it foward. Urthclaw says, "Let us begin the search!"

Mayeul finds Lark and Quickbeak and motions them to his side. He sees Eridor and waves to him as well. In a huddle, the mouse whispers, "We must move quickly...." He turns to Quickbeak, "Quickbeak, can you fly ahead behind the owl, and keep out of sight? Don't let him know you're following... we'll keep you in sight. That'll have to do until he gets below tree cover. We'll exit from the east wallgate in case he hears the main gate opening. It'll be quicker that way anyway. Let's go!"

Eridor nods. Alright. Now we've got a plan!

Urthclaw asks, "and what am i to do?"

Mayeul says, "You and Lark can be rear guards, in case the owl doubles back."

Urthclaw says, "ok"

Eridor asks, "Anything else?"

Lark reappears from the gatehouse, armed with bow, quiver, and a short, slightly-curved sword belted to her waist. Hurrying to Mayeul's side, the squirrel glares at him. "This is not wise, haven't you been listening?" But the plan will have to work for her, since she's not going to let them out without her. She gives Urthclaw a nod. Rear guard. Right.

Urthclaw remembers his assigned position: rear guard. left

Quickbeak doesn't stop to land but circles low over the group until he has his orders "Issa blind owlbird. Notta hard stay out sight" he regains height swiftly though and glides off after the shape of the owl.

Eridor chuckles. Well, that's true enough.

Mossflower Woods

Urthclaw asks, "where is the owl?"

Eridor arrives, breathing slightly heavily. "So, are we there yet?"

Mayeul tries to keep Quickbeak in sight overhead, but the growing tree cover makes it difficult at best. He hadn't planned on getting this far into Mossflower, but he strains an eye and finally spots the bird, whispering "There are some signs that owls have been here... but we'd better not stop to look while the owl still has Quickbeak in tow." He looks back at Eridor, "Not yet. Shhhh..." They slowly walk forward in the dense forest.

Quickbeak tries to fly at a height where he'll be a reasonably sized blob in the sky for them to follow but most of his attention is on the owl. Every so often he glances down, trying to keep the group within sight, make sure he hasn't lost them.

Lark, as any good squirrel ranger, is in the trees at this point, weapons stowed at her back and waist as she leaps around, keeping an eye on Quickbeak. "You'd best hurry," she calls down to the party below. "Heading east..." She knows her way around these woods, and can't for the life of her think where there might be an owl nest. "It's not nearby, we've got a hunt ahead of us."

Eridor sighs. He can fight, but was never built to be a runner. At any rate, onwards!

Further into Mossflower

Eridor straightens suddenly, glances about, but then relaxes. Eridor mutters to himself "Could've sworn I heard something..."

Urthclaw is tense, ready to strike at any moment...

Mayeul stalks further in, still eyeing the sparrow above. He gives a quick sparrow call and hopes this will call the sparrow in - Mayeul spots a place where the owl has broken for cover... newly shed feathers stick in the branches ahead and above them, and a sizeable opening in the thickly-grown tree cover. "Yes... I think the owl may have descended here. I don't know if Quickbeak is still trained on him, but I called him down just in case..."

Urthclaw says, "I hope there aren't any vermin around here. They'd ruin our owl tracking scheme." Urthclaw grips his massive sword firmly.

Eridor shakes his head. "Probably not. We're pretty deep into Mossflower by now. They'd have to live in the area in order to find us. At any rate, be quiet. We're getting close."

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Lark calls quietly down to the badger, though it's hard to tell who the 'we' is a reference to, since this party is obviously after the owl. "No vermin, just an owl..." she leaps off, slowing down a bit as she approaches the owl feathers.

Quickbeak privately wonders how beasts ever took over the land having to run everywhere like that...oh yes, and the owl, he's still keeping his eyes fixed on the bird. He glances away at the call and quickly spots the beasts below. Another quick glance to the owl, make sure he knows where it is before he dives down and past a few branches to land in a tree above them with a questioning chirp.

Urthclaw approaches cautionly, ready for anything

Eridor draws his blades, silently creeping through the snow.

Mayeul motions forward and puts a finger to his lips, indicating that they proceed with caution. He points to them and back at his eyes, 'watch me'. He goes slightly ahead of the rest of the group, virtually disappearing from them until he turns around and his dark face and eyes look back at them briefly. The white cloak blends with the snow, and would just be part of the ground to a bird perched above.

Bank of the River Moss

Drakon has landed in a tree next to the river. due to the fact he's blind he wont see beasts arriving. he's blind as a bat....who is an owl..who's...blind...yeah..The owl is just glaring out towards the water, wishing he could see again. too bad he cant.

Mayeul has been keeping low, tip-toeing around dead leaves and moving slowly but steadily, to make no suddenly noises that may seem unnatural. He spots the owl perching from a distance of about 20 yards. He moves closer, and motions for the rest of the group to stay back and wait for a moment. He gets frightening close before long, and scratches something into a tree, wincing as the sound bounces around between the trees.

Lark approaches the owl from the branches, mimicing Mayeul's path as she pulls her bow from its sling and reaches for an arrow. *skkrittch*. With a wince, Lark looks down at Mayeul, immediately crouching on her branch and training the arrow on the owl. Blind he may be, but deaf he is not.

Urthclaw knows that he is too big to fit in between those branches. He motions for eridor to go next.

Eridor creeps slowly towards Drakon, and is thankful that the snow muffles the sound of his approach. *skkrittch* Wincing, he crouches down, and holds both blades at the ready.

Quickbeak figures the most part of his job is done for now as folks know where Drakon is and he watches the group and mostly the owl, quietly perching himself on a branch at a safe distance.

Urthclaw mimics the others movements. He is suprisingly able to make as little sound as the others.

Skkrittch...Drakon's Sensitive owl ears burn at that...he knows something is there now...but is not sure...He wont take any chances however. with the noise, up go his wings and off he pushes from the branch.

Eridor claps his hand to his brow. Now the owl certaintly knows they're here. Deciding the cover is blown, he says urgently "Quickbeak, stall him!"

Mayeul moves into action! He whips out a lasso-like rope from inside his cloak and throws it upward, towards the now-exposed legs of the owl. The rope goes up and up, almost looking as if it won't reach.... He's practiced his aim intensively, but the owl is a moving target - moving fast.

Eridor springs into action as well, tossing his dagger at the owl. However, his aim is not as good as Mayeul's, and though it comes close, it falls into the river.

Urthclaw doesn't have a weapon that can be thrown!

Lark releases her arrow purposely to hiss above the owl, hoping to make him stall enough to get caught by the rope. She then bounces into the treebranches above, aiming to make a few more noises that might frighten the owl back down.

Quickbeak is off like a shot, gliding down from the branch and as quietly as possible gaining height and dodging branches. He does his best 'Small bird in distress' screech (Lets like shouting 'Eat me') not far from where Mayeul was scratching though obviously, he's above the trees. He wants to make the bird hesitate long enough to get caught.

Well the rope missed, due to Drakon's speed. Now the problem is, he cant see anything, so the Sparrow, who might taste good in a salad, but nope. The Owl has no choice. He wont follow the sound, since he's not THAT Stupid. He flies away from it, but keeps close by to the area where he started off in, because..hey..a meal is a meal

Mayeul reacts quickly to the miss, but curses himself at the bad throw. The mouse circles the tree and ties the end of the very long rope off, and cries out to all in the clearing "Aim high! Bring him /low/ to the ground!" He meanwhile floats around on the ground directly below the owl, waiting for the perfect moment to throw... and finally.... he makes another attempt, and launches the rope upwards again.

Lark finds a stable enough branch that she can rustle with bouncing motions while notching another arrow and aiming it for Drakon's head... plus a little. She's not sure it'll work, now that the owl has heard the plan, but she'll try it anyway. She's got a backup plan if all else fails.

Eridor quickly dives into the shallows of the river moss, retrieving his dagger. Surfacing, he raises his dagger, getting ready to throw, and taunts "Come on you cowardly feather-bag, let's see what you're made of!".

Quickbeak is not good enough bait, you'd think he'd be pleased but the owl isn't taking to it so after a quick flutter of the wings to gain hight again he goes to more silent flying again. Taking slow wing beats and long glides, using thermals to get him higher than the owl. Also gets him too high for the beasts down below to accidentally hit him.

Drakon zips past the Arrow like it was never fired. No one ever aims where he is going, not where he's been of course. However the rope that was thrown at him, latches on his foot before he screeches a loud screech. "Get this thing off of me" he growls before tugging on it hard, bringing his wings closer to his body to increase his speed to try to get free

Lark is not liking how things are going. Pausing before releasing another arrow aimed at Drakon's wing, she takes a deep breath and voices a piercing whistle: two high notes, each repeated twice. Then, for good measure, "Quickbeak! Fly east, find squirrels, bring them!" she cries before carefully aiming for one of Drakon's wings. Less flying would help the situation.

Mayeul half doesn't expect the rope to find its target, and hesitates a brief moment. Then, springing into action, the mouse climbs up the tree adjacent as quickly as he can and balances out to the end of a branch, drawing the sword of Nidlorf. The owl is flapping just a few inches from where he is at the end of the branch, the rope keeping the owl down for now. With a bright flash, the sword arcs in the moonlight and tries to score against the flapping mess. The mouse is so close, he is in very real danger of being knocked off!

Eridor mutters "Drat!". The owl is moving too randomly for him to succesfully hit him with his dagger, so he swims to shore and grabs the rope. Hopefully he can keep the owl still long enough for Lark and Mayeul to take him down.

Urthclaw runs up and pulls the rope with such force that, Drakon will have to flap his hardest to escape Eridor and Urthclaw's pull! (and then even some)

Quickbeak looks back from owl to beasts again at the whistling and after a quick glance around, find the sun, see which way is east, he glides off quickly. Find squirrels in a wood. Here's hoping they won't be hiding too well.

"Drat this Infernal rope! Break already Darn it!" Drakon shouts as his side is sliced with the Sword Of Nidlorf. The owl Screeches and Pulls full force before..Snap...the Rope Broke! and some of it is dangling from his foot now..but now, he's just more worried about the cut on his side more than the rope he doesn't know is there.

Almost as if the tension of the rope was on the branch itself, the mouse shouts and loses his balance... Mayeul grabs the edge of the branch with his paws, but in doing so the Sword drops to the ground with a 'clang'. Trying to keep his grip, the mouse hangs there, at the mercy of the freed owl, and does his best to try and pull himself up.

Lark sees the rope snap, and Mayeul falling, and there's a light in her eyes that's not all that common. Sliding her bow away on her back, the squirrel launches herself for the trailing end of the rope, knowing exactly where it will be - hey, she jumps around windy branches for a living - letting out almost a feral growl.

Eridor drops the now-useless rope, and starts climbing the tree, using his blades as climbing impliments. Hopefully he can get there before Mayeul is injured.

Urthclaw takes the sword of Nidlorf and throws it as if it weighed the same as a dagger. (He's a badger. gimme a break!) he threw it at one of Drakon's wings

Quickbeak returns leading squirrels just in time to see the owl breaking free. He does have a very good vantage point. He speeds up, keeping above the owl's height again and, fortunately, he's way out of range for flying swords!

The Rope Lark did manage to grab just slid off the Owl's foot..and well...The flying Sword, which really should be called The flying sword of Nidlorf, misses by...THAT Much....Drakon gets away, but the original cut on his side is starting to get distracting

From the trees Quickbeak just appeared out of comes an arrow aimed at the owl's wing, followed by an adult red squirrel in an ivory vest, seemingly leading the charge. At her side comes another squirrel, larger than any squirrel has any business being, who sends an arrow at the owl before diving out across the area, aiming to catch Lark before she falls to the ground from rather high up.

Mayeul is grateful for the help that Eridor manages to give him, but wonders if the otter's weight will cause the limb to break. He climbs up and looks directly at the otter, motioning for him to stay back near the tr-- Suddenly, a cracking sound is heard, and the branch between them starts to splinter. Mayeul /runs/ as fast as he can before the branch falls to the ground, just leaping off of the branch as it separates and falls to the ground. He sees the reinforcements and yells out, "Keep firing, aim high... /don't/ kill him!" Don't kill him? Reeeally.

Elspeth is hot on the trail of 'Song and Oak, already preparing a slingstone. Finding a likely perch, she sends her little projectile zipping down through the trees towards Drakon's head before she's off to another location to do the same again.

Lark cries out as her friend comes crashing into her, saving her from falling, but slamming her against the tree less than gently. "Thanks, Oak," comes out as a squeak, so she just pushes on his shoulder and points out at the owl, a clear directive to get back to what he should be doing.

Eridor leaps forward and tosses his dagger at the owl. However, he overbalances on the landing, and falls into the river moss. (Splash.)

Quickbeak tries to make himself useful as there's fighting to be done and the owl looks to be escaping from his point of view. He dives towards the owl. Of course this little missile as the added advantage that he can aim midflight and he aim's for the owl's left wing, or rather, for where it will be a second later. Going to hit into it at a good speed and try to knock the owl out of control with little care for his own safety. Good thing Drakon can't see it's only a small speeding sparrow but random unknown missiles from above should be worrying enough.

while all this is going on, Urthclaw is taking arrows that have missed and are binding them together.

Drakon was flying rather quickly but his sight hampers his foresight and ability to predict, since he has no idea what they have at their disposal. the Owl is suddenly hit with something...is it a bird? is it a plane? no it hurts is what it is. The owl spirals out of control and Ends up hitting the ground hard, a bit dazed from it as he slowly tries to make it to his feet.

Nidlorf arrives in the small clearing by the bank and his eyes widen at the activity. Behind him is a scout group, but he motions for them to hold as he paces forward and picks up his sword. Who was it that just left it there, lying? Somebody will answer for it, that's for sure. He wipes the blade with his tail carefully... blood. Hmm. He stands by, at the edge of the clearing, just watching. "Sire, should we--" "No. Hold this position." He looks back at the action.

Treesong aims her next arrows for the wings of the grounded owl, much easier targets than beating wings. She lets one arrow loose, then bounces down the branches to be closer to the ground and releases another, hurtling through the branches to try and position herself above the owl's head.

Oak leaves Lark on a tree branch to catch her breath and jumps out into space again... this time aiming for the bird on the ground. He takes his bow from his back and aims another arrow at close range, aiming straight for Drakon's skull.

Eridor swims to shore and charges, blade held high, regardless of the bows trained on Drakon. Its time to end this.

Mayeul climbs down the tree and runs over to his master, bowing, "My lord! You... you are... /here/! We.. er, we are trying to capture the beast that has slain my bro... the honorable mouse who has earned your favor. Any help would be appreciated!" He looks as the owl falls to the ground.

"Idiot!" Elspeth snaps at Eridor from the trees as she looses another slingstone. Drakon's head is the favored target, it seems. "Want t'be skewered?"

Eridor stops, frustrated. He really wants to be helping during the battle. Reaching a decision, he goes to retrieve his dagger, which has fallen on the bank of the river moss.

Lark is having trouble catching her breath, one paw finding what might be a cracked rib from being slammed against the tree so hard. But as long as she can still draw a bow, she's not done yet. So, with excess wincing, she grabs her bow and an arrow, releasing an arrow at Drakon's head.

Colliding with the owl had the desired effect but obviously it has some side effects for Quickbeak as he virtually bounces off of the wing. Drakon goes down, Quickbeak rebounds up and goes spinning off, also out of control. Fortunately when he hits the ground a small snow covered bush breaks the worst of his fall. Twigs and snow break in a cloud and the small sparrow is a little scratched up, bruised and more than a little dazed. He's not getting up until the world stops spinning.

Urthclaw charges at Drakon, getting ready to swipe at his head.

"Goes f'r you as well, sripedog!" Elspeth barks from the trees.

Urthclaw gives Elspeth a nasty look.

The owl was hit with one arrow and a stone as he tried to take off again. The Bird took the arrow a few inches under his left wing, but its not enough to hamper his flying. the owl has taken off once more, and is back to the skies, but is only going about a quarter of the speed he was able to go before he was slammed into the ground. His brain starts to entertain thoughts of trying to just leave the area

Nidlorf walks over to the downed owl quietly, holding a paw out for all to cease fire. "You will remain still, owl, or you will find yourself grounded by my blade. I have many more beasts in tow, and they will find you and destroy you." As the owl starts to take flight again, the sword flashes, and he calls for his scout archers to fire. "Aim to kill!"

Eridor retrieves his dagger but remains still, watching Lord Nidlorf take command of the situation.

Mayeul ducks in front of the archers as they let loose their arrows behind him. He is humiliated, this feeble attempt will probably be seen by his master as an insult, and the sword! He dropped the sword and it was just lying there! How awful, and deeply embarrassing...

Please note, the ending has been written by Lark's player, as the RP ended abruptly. All characters agreed to end the RP, and all have been consulted as to what should happen - they have all seen and corrected this entry before it was posted.

The owl pulls away from the beasts on the ground, albeit slowly, with a few arrows directed at him from below, all missing him save one that clips his wing lightly. The sword wound in his side is clearly paining him from the way his wing droops and his course falters, but the blind owl does have enough power left to get himself away from the riverbank full of weapons.

The squirrel relief force collects itself into a group, one of them helping Lark climb down from the tree while bruised, then all of them disappear back into the forest. Lark looks back at Mayeul once before heading off with the others into the trees, nothing spoken between the squirrels and the party from Redwall that remains on the river bank.

---

Two days after the attack on the owl, one of the squirrel clan's scouts returns to camp at a mad dash, heading for his leader. "Song! Song, I..." he halts at her side, paws going to his knees as he tries to catch his breath. "I found... the owl," he finally pants out, extending one paw to Treesong with a long pinion feather, dirty and crumpled from a crash landing. "He's... dead."

Treesong accepts the feather from him, nodding, then looks off eastward, seeing something in her mind's eye. "I think we're going to go present the news to the Abbey," she informs the scout and the girl she'd been speaking with. "They should know it's over. Go get Lark, will you? She'll be coming with us. Let everyone know that those who want to come can join us, if they're ready fast."

THE END... for now