11.29.08 - The Great Escape

Location: Redwall Kitchen and Cellar

Characters Involved: Tameus, Kori, crickets

It's early afternoon, and the kitchen is a-bustle as ever with green-garbed creatures of all sizes, most in aprons, carting in the last of the lunch dishes while preparations begin for dinner. It's easy to miss a dibbun, or two, or three, especially when they're spread around the kitchen and are careful not to get underfoot. So here is Kori, strolling along with paws in pockets, with the air of a tourist who's been here before but is keeping an eye out for subtle changes to the local color. The tiny mouse pauses near one of the great bubbling cauldrons, studying it intently.

Ever the little helper, Tameus shuffles into the kitchen under the weight of a rather large teapot, which he holds with his arms around it, carrying the empty thing back 'home' from the infirmary. He pauses a few steps in and before long the sight of him gets the attention of a chubby squirrel, who takes the teapot to be cleaned, and directs the leveret toward a plate of muffins set out on a counter. He ducks around some other bustling cook helpers and pulls himself onto a stool, reaching to take one.

"Pssst," hisses the table. "Hey. Psst."

Muffin in hand, Tameus hunches over, knees on the stool, to peer under the hissing table.

Two grinning mice - boys, carbon copies - are hunched there, paws around their knees. They wave in tandem. "Hey. Want to get us some?" the one on the left whispers hoarsely, glancing briefly as a cook's helper goes back.

Tameus blinks curiously at the pair, then raises up a little. The muffin is set back down, and he reaches to catch the plate by the edges, pulling it toward him, then taking it with him under the table, where the kit sets it down between him and the other boys. "Help y'self."

The twins grin like pumpkins and lean forward, each taking a muffin.. and then another, and a third, after the first two mysteriously disappear. "Thanks," one says 'round a mouthful of muffin, and "Yeah, thanks," the other echoes, patting a bulgy pocket. "Are you new?" Meanwhile, Kori returns to her circuit of the kitchen, looking around for something.

"Well, 'm not old," is Tameus's snickered response. He picks at his own muffin, nibbling a piece and glancing to the side, out at the different legs and tails that are visible from their position. His eyes slide back to the twins. "'m Tam. I live in'a 'firm'ry."

A glance is exchanged, and the two continue eating. One takes great bites, the other careful nibbles. "Why d'y'live there?" one asks, and "Y'go t'Abbey school?" asks the other. "Hi." This is Kori, hanging from the table by her fingertips in an odd sway-back posture. "Aw, geesh." "Hi Kori." "Y'got muffins," the newcomer observes, and swings herself under the table to join the gathering.

".. 'cause that's where Harper is," Tameus responds, while shaking his head at the question. His brows are a little raised, enough to suggest he doesn't even know what the abbey school is. His mouth purses, then opens a notch, and a little more, and he's about to continue on this topic when another mouse arrives. He feels outnumbered. "Hi."

Kori peers at Tam with a rather searching look for a thing her age. "Hi." She scoots toward the muffin plate on her bottom. "We know Harper." "Yeah, we do," Thing Two nods, and then swats at his sister's paw. "Y'can't take that many!" "Why not? Bet y'took more. Bet y'took seven." "He your dad?" asks the other twin, over the sounds of scuffling. He reaches out with a lazy paw to tweak his sister's tail.

"I did not!" "How many'd y'take then? Leggo." "Three." "Ha!" "Anyway you're smaller, you need to eat less." "No, I need t'grow _more._"

Tameus has only ever had one sibling - and his brother was considerably older than him. So he just blink-blinks and furrows his eyebrows, ears stuck up and twitching in response to the chittering going on with Kori and her brothers. "... uhm. No. He's not. He's jus' .. 'Arper." And he resumes nibbling on the one - yes, just one - muffin he has. The plate is now just crumbs.

The one twin nods. Lots of creatures here aren't anyone's dad. "Our dad's 'n trading," he offers, and tries to haul Kori off his twin by her collar. This isn't easy - she's clinging like a limpet, but eventually tumbles backwards into her brother's lap. "Y've _squashed_ 'em," the boy says reproachfully, patting his pockets. "So serves y'right, Justice!" "Gimme yours." "No." She glares. "Mine're squashed too. Let's give 'em t'th'crickets."

"Th' .. crickets?" Tameus chirps.

The scuffling's stopped; the three, now laying in a sort of puppy pile, have a brief and silent conference. Then Kori wriggles out from beneath one brother and nods, tugging at her scraggly ponytail. "Yeah. Y'wanna see?"

By now Tameus has broken off the top half of the muffin and nibbled it into oblivion. It's the best part, anyway. He gives the brothers a cursory look, sizing them up, then stands up with a nod to Kori. "Show me th' crickets," the leveret says, a little more imperious now. He may be the youngest of the lot, but he's also the hare.

Maybe it's the having two older brothers, but Kori makes a stab at standing her ground. "Gotta say please," she remarks petulantly, shoving her paws in her smock pockets.

Ohoho, a challenge. Tameus's eyes narrow at the girl and after a moment he nods, muttering, "P'ease," which is more 'fine have it your way' than at all genuine.

"M'kay," Kori shrugs, nibbling a bit of muffin off her thumb. "M'Kori," she adds, motioning to follow as she clambers out from under thet table. Her brothers have gotten to their paws and are snickering to each other in inscrutable twin-talk. "'N that's Justice 'n By. What's y'r name."

Tameus follows, glancing back at the brothers, though his attention is on Kori for now. Twins are always strange to interact with, as a rule. "Tam," he says, muzzle lifting for a glance around, before he moves along the line of a kitchen counter. "Where w' goin'?"

Kori, too, pays little attention to her brothers other than to check that they're following (and haven't been caught) every now and then. "Down," she answers, and does a little hop-skip to dodge a frazzled dormouse with a baking tray. "Only y'gotta be caref'l, 'cause Mister Barks 'n his spiders 'r there too."

Clearly Tam has spent too much time with the sick people, because he's unfamiliar with Mister Barks also. "Spiders? They's big spiders?" Hands out in front of him, making a size estimate with his fingers, the leveret scurries after her.

Kori spins round to hold her arms out wide, indicating a spider the size of a bushel basket. "_Big,_" she clarifies. "They're 'is pets, 'n 'e feeds 'em, but th'/biggest../" She stops, looks around shiftily, and ducks into the entrance to the wine cellar. "C'mon," she whispers, a trace of whiskers and bright eyes in the dark.

"They's /very/ big," Tameus agrees. He slips from the kitchen to the stairwell leading down, ears back, nose giving slight twitches as he takes in the damp, musky scent of the cellar they're descending into.

Kori has done this before, it seems - she sneaks down the stairs, staying to the corners, and pauses once she's far enough inside and the light is weak. One round little ear wiggles, swivels, and listens. Off in the far corner, a lantern illuminates a great spiked snoring shape. "'Kay," Kori whispers back to Tam, and tiptoes down the last few steps.

Tameus pauses on the bottom step, one hand against the stone wall of the stairway. He glances backward and up, toward the kitchen above, then creeps forward after the mousemaid, snuffling at the air for a moment as he does so. The spiky, passed-out cellarkeeper is eyed cautiously and Tam whispers toward Kori, "We gonn' get in trouble if 'e wakes up?"

"Maybe," Kori whispers back. "But 've got.. persimm'ns 'n fat davits. S'okay." She motions with a paw, impatiently, for her brothers to stop making silhouettes of themselves in the doorway. "We need th'lantern," the little mouse observes. "Y'get it this time, Justice," Byron nudges his twin. "No way. Y'get it. S'yer turn."

Brows lifted, Tameus looks back at them. Then his eyes slide around to Kori, and there's a brief look of pity for the girl before he starts past her, muttering, "I c'n see well 'nough."

Kori rolls her eyes. "No y'wont." She huffs, aims an idle kick at one of her brothers (still arguing in whispers,) and marches over to the snoring hedgehog with purpose, though she slows to a snail's pace as she gets close, and peers up at him carefully, watching for any sign of waking.

Tameus meanwhile has stepped up to the cellarkeeper with less caution, and reaches to oh-so-gently ease the bottle of ale from Mister Bark's hand. The hedgehog grunts but doesn't wake, and Tam sniffs the mouth of the bottle.

"Hey. Stoppat," Kori hisses, and snatches the lantern. For a moment, she stays perfectly still (sans swinging light,) nose aquiver.. then nods, and saunters back to the stairs at a normal pace. "C'mon." The little mouse and her circle of light disappear under the stairs.

For another moment the buck looks at Barkus, head tilted to the side. He sniffs the bottle again and sets it down, because his gaze has moved to a smaller one nearby - just one of many populating the cellar. He edges over as Kori goes to the steps, snatches up the flask, and stashes this in his pocket before going after the mouse. He reaches to hold onto the edge of the stairs while peering under. "Crickets 're 'ere?"

Kori's head bobs, sending weird shadows skittering off the walls. Barrel staves, corkscrews and broken planks litter the flagstones here. The little mouse holds the lantern high, nudging it on top of an ancient cider press, and makes for a large barrel. The debris has been cleared away from it, and a large paper label proclaims in an elegant hand, 'Nic's Cricket Conservatory: Established for the education of crickets of quality.' Corinthian columns, trailing vines, and, yes, crickets, decorate the border. Kori hunkers down and presses an ear to the side.

"Tam, c'mere. Y'can hear 'em."

Tameus is unable to read what the words say. He squints at them, whiskers bristled out, and pokes at one of the drawn-on crickets with a curious noise. He crouches and edges in next to Kori, and angles his head to rest one long ear against the barrel as well.

The barrel chirps faintly, like a string quartet at the bottom of a sock drawer. Kori nods in satisfaction and motions to her brother. "By! Gimme a ride." The twins move forward, and Byron - we assume - obliges, hoisting her up with some difficulty. "Y'r fat," he grunts. "Shuttup. Don' drop me." The little mousemaid wrestles with the lid, tongue stuck out in concentration.

Tameus draws his head back a little, blinking at the barrel as the chirp-chirp becomes more apparent when the lid is slid off, finally. He stands up, stretching on his tip-toes to try to get a look inside. "... I gotta 'dea," the buck says firmly, starting to grin a little.

The barrel smells absolutely horrible. It's like the scent you would get from fermenting kitchen scraps for weeks, because that's exactly what's been going on in there. The chirping is louder now, and little dark shapes are huddled in corners, or skittering across the broken crockery, bottomed-out baskets and just plain junk filling the barrel. Occasionally, one 'sproings' in an alarming way. Kori looks over her shoulder; glad of the excuse, Byron lowers her to the ground. "Y'r _really_ fat, Arkadiy." "Shuttup, /Byron,/" Kori grumbles, and nods at Tam. "'Kay. Whatsit then?"

"We haft' set 'm free," Tam says decisively. He glances around, finds an empty clay pot of some sort - rather large, the kind used for storing grain - and upturns this, then steps on it to raise himself high enough to look inside. "We haft' set 'm free... /ev'rywhere/."

Radio Kori does not approve of this announcement. She crosses her skinny arms, brow furrowing. "Y'can't do /that./ They'r f'r th'bats, so th'owl doesn' eat 'em when they hunt." Serious nod. Behind her, though, the twins flash grins and elbow each other, making garish faces and thumbs-up signs at the leveret.

Tameus quirks one eyebrow up a little higher at the older boys, and smirks - he has their approval at least. "Some'n get us some bags," he directs at the twins, and angles his muzzle back toward Kori. "Th' bats don' need'm now, cause th' owl's not gonna hunt 'm. Owl's blind an' he can't hunt blind. We haft' free th' crickets."

This news changes things. "Oh. _Well._" She knew _that._ "Y'r right then," Kori nods, and gestures imperiously at ther brothers. "G' find s'm bags," she commands. This is met with disbelieving stares. "'Kay," Kori grumps, and grabs Byron's sleeve to drag him off. "C'mon."

"'Nough bags f' all'a us," Tameus orders. Well on his way to being a little tiny Patrol officer, he is. He'll take Darklett's job.

"Y'stay 'n guard th'barrel, Justice," Kori orders, as she and Byron 'round the corner of the stairs, glance briefly at Barkus, then scurry up. Evidently they know just where sacks are found. Justice, meanwhile, pats his pockets and carefully extracts a flattened muffin, which he eyes before nibbling. "What'y'do in th'firmary?" he asks, doing a casual shoulder roll.

"I take care'a Siv," Tameus says with a nod, peering into the open barrel. His nose screws up at the unpleasant smell. "An' I .. do stuff wit' 'Arper. Help 'im."

One particularly adventurous cricket decides to risk it, and makes a leap for Tam's face. Must get out! "Siv who tells stories?" Justice asks, and eyes the leveret's activities. "Yer gonna get'em in yer eye," he observes, wandering over while muffin-munching.

The cricket latches onto Tam's face, and the leveret casually reaches up to pluck it from the side of his muzzle. Gently, not wanting to squish the thing, he drops it back in and straightens, looking at Justice. "Siv who stabbed th' owl in th' eye."

This is news to Justice, whose brows raise and eyes widen. "Y'r lyin'," he decides. A soft pattering sound indicates Kori and Byron have returned, making more noise than intended in anticipation of the Plan. They've brought sacks - Kori is wearing one like a cloak, and strides forward. "'Kay. Lets get 'em out."

"No'm not," Tameus says, eyes narrowing a little. "Sh' /did/. Sh' blinded 'm." A glance goes toward the two other mice when they return, and his muzzle tugs into a grin. "Good. Now w' fill th' bags wit' crickets an' we go free 'm. /Everywhere/." Is that a wicked little glint in the adorable one's eye?

"Well.." Justice turns to his siblings. "Tam says Siv blinded th'owl," he informs them, puffed up with important News. Never mind he only found out a few seconds ago. "Said she stabbed 'im in th'eye." "Oh." This is Byron. He and Kori digest this information carefully, then grin. "_Neat._" But crickets distract. "They gotta have food," Kori points out. "'N dark places." "Like under th'Abbot's bed?"

"Yes," Tam says with an eager bob of his head. "In beds. In th' kitchen. In people's stuff. There's a /lot/," he reaches to take a sack while gesturing to the barrel. "We gonn' put 'm ev'rywhere. An'where y' can think 'f."

Kori doesn't offer a sack. Yet. The Hewitts exchange glances. "..th'dorms-" "Th'porridge-" "The linen cupboards," they chorus in bad harmony. Wicked grins flash across their faces, and they nod. "Right." Now the little mousemaid holds a sack out to Tam. "Y'c'n take first," she graciously offers, "but don' squish 'em. We caught 'em." Therefore, they have an interest.

"'d ruin 't if I squished 'm," Tameus points out, taking the sack and leaning over the barrel. His stomach is shoved to the edge as he ducks down partway into it, bringing the bag with him, and starts shoveling crickets in with his hand. The barrel tips a little toward him and wobbles.

"Could put the squished'uns in fur or summat," Justice observes. "Y'r gonna tip 't over," Kori points out. The three watch, much like spectators at a football game, until Justice and Byron trundle over and put their paws against the barrel to steady it.

Tameus grunts and shakes his head. "Let 't tip, 'll be easier that'a way." He straightens up, a half-full sack of crickets in his grasp, and sets the other hand against the lip of the barrel, tugging it back to try to knock it over and make the contents more accessible.

Justice and Byron push back. There's two of them, and they're older, but, well, mice and hares. "You're gonna wake up Mister Barks!" Byron hisses. Fat davits or not, the grumpy cellarkeeper inspires a decent amount of terror in the trio. "Wait! Tam. Tam." Kori darts in to tug at a suspender. "Don't do tha' yet. We'll get'r crickets 'n /then/ tip th'rest over, so we c'n run."

There's a pause, and Tameus then nods. "We won' tip 't /all'a/ way. Y' two," he directs the twins, "tip 't over a lil'. 'nough t' get at th' crickets easier. We'll fill your bags while y' hold 't like that."

More exchanged glances between the mice, and most of them seem to say 'What a bossy leveret.' But. He /does/ have good ideas. "Not 'y'two,'" the twins chorus, stepping back and crossing their arms. "Justice-" "-and Byron." "Right." They nod, perfectly choreographed.

Tameus eyes them, bossily. "Justice. An' Byron," he states, a little coolly, his ears laid back along his skull. The hand not holding the cricket-sack points at the barrel. "Tip th' barrel o'er partway so's we can fill th' sacks."

"No, y'got 't wrong. /I'm/ Justice." "Right. I'm Byron." The twins eye Tameus back, tails lashing behind them. "They're /'r/ crickets. You're being too bossy." "Yeah," agrees Justice - or is it Byron? "Nobody put you in charge. So."

"Well 'm th' one ac'ually doin' somethin'," Tameus points out, as calm and logical as ever. "If 't was up t' you we'd jus' be standin' 'round like idjits til all th' crickets are t' old t' crick."

"_No-oo,_ it's-" starts one of them, but the other - Justice, probably - has stomped forward and gives the barrel a hefty kick. Kori is lost somewhere in the middle of this, and squeaks surprise at the violent act.

The barrel lurches backward, wobbles for a moment, then tips - spinning slightly on the rounded edge of the base as it does so. Crickets are dumped out across the floor and Tameus makes a lunge, bringing his sack to the bottom rim and holding it there while he scoops more into it. Others end up all strewn on the floor and there's a sudden hopping, chirping frenzy.

Kori blinks, and then springs into action - the sack comes down from around her neck and she shoulders her way in next to Tam, shoveling in crickets with her tiny paws. "Hurry 'n help!" she hisses at her brothers. Byron starts forward to scoop up the little hopping black shapes with a dirty look at Tam, and Justice.. Justice aims a tackle at the leveret.

The older, larger boy collides with Tameus, and the younger loses his grip on the sack. The crickets in it are kept from escape because the top of the sack flops closed over the opening. The leveret is thrown into the wall underneath the stairs, head smacking into the stone with a short yelp. He blinks dazedly, then curls back his upper lip in a snarl and lunges for Justice, hands snatching out to get ahold of the mouse's shirt, to pull him in and kick out at his stomach with both feet.

Justice grunts. Hare kicks /hurt!/ He doubles over to headbutt the leveret (which he was planning to do anyway) with a little gasp as the wind is partially knocked out of him; one paw bunches up into a fist and swings, but with less force and aim than intended. Kori gets to her feet and.. well, she doesn't stamp her foot, but her ears slick back and her whiskers bristle. "/Justice!/" she hisses. "Y'r ruinin' it. Y'r gonna squish 'em!" She shuffles over to grab the back of her brother's tunic.

Tameus thrashes out against the bigger boy, one leg flailing out again. He keeps ahold of Justice by the shirt, though, hissing like an undersized kitten with his pointedly not-sharp teeth bared. The headbutt shoves his against the wall again, and he grunts, snapping at Justice's face and then getting clipped on the cheekbone by the somewhat wild punch-thing from his opponent. At least it wasn't a direct blow.

Justice lets out a little yelp as Tam's incisors rake down his nose, then growls. Being an immature mouse, it doesn't sound very ferocious at all. "You-" he starts, drawing his arm back for a proper punch this time. Kori's ears lay flat back. "Y'r /stupid,/" she mutters, and gloms onto her brother. Her skinny - wiry, really - little arms go around his neck and squeeze; a free foot scrabbles on his back, then stamps on his tail. Byron, meanwhile, is paralyzed with indecision. Help his twin, or help Kori?

This punch his Tam right in the face. It's enough to make the little leveret let go of the bigger mouse, giving just the softest little grunt in response. It's a rather pathetic noise, really, his dusky eyes large and staring, before he blinks a few times. His hand comes up to his muzzle, upper lip tender and cut on the inside by his own teeth. The kid's nose is bleeding.

"Ow. Kori, get /'ff-/" Justice growls, forgetting Tam to flail irritatedly at his sibling while she increases her choke hold. A pair of dark, determined little eyes are visible over his shoulder. "/No./ Say 'ncle." "Byron-!" "Say 't!" "By-gk." Her teeth burrow into his shoulder. "Mf mt!" "Kah! Uncle. Y're not /'sposed/ t'bite," the older boy complains, reaching up to rub his throat as Kori dislodges herself.

Tameus pushes up, one hand to his muzzle. The edge of his sleeve is red, ears flattened down as he makes a snatch for his bag-o'-bugs and then ducks past the siblings to go up the stairs, quickly.

"Y'r 'sposed t'help me," Justice mutters at his twin, rubbing a paw along his muzzle. "Stupid." Byron just.. stands there quietly, not quite sure what to say. Kori, meanwhile, dusts off her paws and looks worriedly after Tam. "'E's gonna tell," she points out to her brothers, and darts after him.

That he's headed for the infirmary is just.. convenient. He's not seeking out medical treatment, just searching out Harper or an alternative. The kit with the bloody nose gets a few startled looks as he scurries through the kitchen, head ducked, sleeve pressed to the source of the fluid.

"Tam?" calls Kori, skittering through the kitchen. "Tam!" She spots a pair of long ears bobbing at about her height and goes off that way, ducking around cooks and taking a shortcut under a table. "Hey!"

Tameus tucks himself up against the doorway between the kitchen and great hall, glancing back when he hears his name. His sleeve lowers from his face, stained crimson at the edge, and his gray fur shows the blood without much difficulty. He'd twitch his nose but that would probably hurt. :|

Kori actually skids _past_ the doorway, and doubles back in a hurry. She peers owlishly at the leveret, concern - and fear - mixed in her face.

"Y'okay?" she asks, tailtip twitching. "Hey. Y'okay?"

"'m otay," the leveret responds, voice gruff and nasally due to the state of his poor, bloodied proboscis. He looks at Kori for a moment and then heads out into the great hall without saying anything else.

"Um," says Kori, and then starts after him again, hop-skipping to keep in step and just ahead. "I bit 'im," she informs, blood debt paid. "'N I'm sorry - he's stupid. Y'okay?"

"C'n get you a wet cloth," the dibbun offers. "S'what Mum does."

"'m otay," Tam grumbles. He really just wants to get to Harper and be coddled - and this directly conflicts with the mousemaid trying to be helpful. He trudges determinedly toward the steps.

"Hey. Um." Kori flits about, with increasing desperation. They're gonna get in /trouble../ "Tam. Was a good idea. It was good."

Of course his idea was good. Tam's the smart one, remember? "Nnh," is his reply, not dissuaded from just. Wanting da-- Harper. Wanting Harper. He reaches the bottom step of the stairs and goes up.

Kori worries at her lower lip, but doesn't follow. Short of tackling the kid - and she can imagine how that would go over - there's not much she can do. "..Feel bett'r!" she calls after Tam's retreating form, then hunches her shoulders and stuffs her paws in her pockets. Right into the muffins. Squish.