12.17.08 - The Road is Not Our Friend - Part II

Location: Redwall Infirmary

Characters Involved: Darklett, Jove, Harper, Sidney, Tameus

"Please let there be a healer on duty. Hello?" The first part is muttered before entry, the second after. Darklett is the one doing the muttering, and he steps into the infirmary slightly ahead of Jove, who he addresses next. "Still with us?"

"..buggah." It's a horrible way to enter a room but at this point, Jove doesn't really care. She stumps up the infirmary steps, cradling her right wrist rather than the handrail, going over her injuries in the same way one would a shopping list. "Cracked a rif, def', mebbe th'wrist- ngh." The doe twitches her nose, which not only hurts but is starting to itch as the blood dries.

Harper is! He's seated on a stool, his feet up on a counter and his back against a wall. His feet fall to the floor at the sudden voices and entrances, and the Brother stands. He immediately assesses the situation and points to the examining table. "What happened?" He starts gathering up some supplies he'll need.

There's a Tameus asleep on a cot - and a Sidney at the door almost as soon as they enter. Does news really travel that fast? ".. I saw you come in," the recruit grunts, eyes flicking between Jove and Darklett. "Nnh. Jove." Concern meets irritation where they both show on his face, and Sid heads closer to them.

"She was attacked," Darklett starts, eyes flicking over to Sidney as he enters. "Help, if you can." And back to Harper. "I came across her by sheer luck on my way back from our headquarters in Mossflower."

Oh, it's /him./ Jove goes poker-faced, which is to say she /doesn't/ grin at Harper. "Went ou' f'r a midnigh' stroll aftah curfew," she answers semi-breathlessly, making her way over to the exam table. The doe eyeballs it, then gingerly swings a leg up and pulls her paw away from her wrist to hoist herself. Wince. "'Ey Sid." Him she does grin at, the runnel of blood down her face parting in a wobbly white grin.

"If I can," Sid says, moving over. He nods at Harper but stays out of his way. "If there's anything you need.." His gaze slides to Jove, nose twitching. "Jove .. haven't you learned by now... the road is /not/ our friend."

"So! Where does it hurt?" Harper starts his assessment, feeling at the bones in her wrist and forearm, running his fingers along her ribcage, checking her snout... He's got a gentle touch for all his grump the other day!

Well, he's done his part. The major just stands back, watching the healer do his job with his paws folded behind his back.

Sidney glances over at Darklett now, eyebrows raised. "Attacked by what, a mad badger? She looks like she got thrown into a wall."

"Pfuh," goes Jove, because at that point Harper's checking her nose - broken, and starting to swell, muting her syllables. "Yeh've got no sense 'f adventah, Siddy-boy." She pokes experimentally at her ear, nodding to herself. That's broken cartilage all right. The rest she lets Harper deal with - by the way she twitches, that's a sprained wrist, a very sore forearm already starting to discolor. Her back looks like it's been plowed; her jacket there is in ribbons and darkly stained.

"Tree, Sid," Jove mutters.

"I've got no sense of getting my face beat in, if that's what you mean," Sidney retorts. "Hell, your ear. ... /tree/?" The buck's expression goes blank. "Don't tell me it /was/ a mad badger."

"Neh." Jove's ears twitch, giving the dried blood a crackle effect. "Cat. Big grey buggah."

"Huge," Darklett adds a modifier in there. "Huge grey cat."

"Weahs a steel codpiece," adds Jove.

".. well that's .. almost .. badgerly," Sidney mutters. And. Laughs. His hand goes to cover it. ".. sorry." Mutter.

"And you /walked/ in." Harper is the epitome of deadpan. He just shakes his head. "Okay. Lie on yer stomach." And he helps her to do so, neatly cutting away what remains of the back of her tunic and jacket. There's a drape to keep her back mostly covered while he works on each bit. The first is the cleaning, of course.

Smirk, smirk. "Ah left mah wings 'n mah othah jacket," Jove informs Harper as he works. Her grin is back in place, although it twitches and falters as sensitive spots are hit and and crusted blood is wiped away. Her ear has.. taken a good mangling, near the base. Those are definitely toothmarks.

Sidney watches closely as Jove is treated. "... a huge, /rabid/ cat, apparently. What kind of civilized bugger /chews/ someone.."

"Love nibble?" Jove suggests.

"Ran away before I could fight him properly." The major shrugs, uncommitted to any thoughts going either way on this.

"That is not a love nibble," Sidney mutters.

"I wonder, is there anything I could do t'convince you hares not t'like the infirmary so much? Mayhaps serve less tea... Cold food? Mayhaps meltin' snow on the cots in the mornin', hm..." His face is set in concentration as he works, his tongue darting out the corner of his mouth in his quieter moments.

Sidney mutters as an afterthought, "Why do they always go after the /ears/.." He reaches to rub at the end of his which was severed off, now healed.

"We-ell.. mebbe he figahed ah'd wan' somethin' t'remembah him by." Jove is a good patient, tolerant of pokes and prods and not putting up much of a fuss - a twitch here, a grunt there, but she doesn't, y'know. Bite the hand that heals her. "An' tha's easy, Sid, realleh. Stubby-eared buggahs, they're jealous."

"Wouldn't want you gettin' bored now, Harper..." Darklett smirks, now backed up against the wall for support.

Harper's ears twitch. The young Sid gets a glance. "Learn t' tie 'em back before battle 'n' they won't be such temptin' targets, lad." He's working triage here, so he just slaps a coupla poultices on Jove's back and moves on. The gouges aren't /that/ deep. The ear gets his attention, next. "Oy, lemme know if you start have trouble breathin', eh?"

"Dun' think y'have t'worry 'bout tha'," Jove murmurs. You can just /hear/ the wink-wink-nudge-nudge. "Eh? Oh, aye."

Sidney finds a chair and plops himself down into it. "I think the one who cut mine .. was aiming for my face." He smirks, leans back a little. Exhales. Clears throat, ahem. ".. ah, heh. Well s' not like were were expecting a battle that once. We were out looking for that kid's .. brother, was it, Dark?"

Sidney adds, "But thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

"Yeah, Tameus's brother." Dark actually nods to the sleeping hare in an infirmary cot. "Not like we're out picking fights, or anything. Quite the opposite."

Harper assesses the damage to the area, again with his fingers. He feels for a pulse towards the tip, eyes looking ceilingward briefly.

"Right. That." Glance at Tam. Oh, look. Kid. "Heh. Well that bit with the corsairs.. that was kind of picking," Sid says to Darklett.

"...Right, that was picking." Darklett chuckles, pocketing his paws. "But the rest of the stuff was them picking fights with /us./"

Harper snorts. "Can't say m'sorry to have changed uniforms... Most'll leave a habit alone. You all, well... s'like bees t'honey." He shakes his head, sorting out the ear quickly. He then steps to the side briefly, sorting out a cup of water which he stirs some herbs into. "Drink this. I'm going t'make you hurt 'n' you'd rather not be awake."

"Exactly," Sid responds. A glance goes at Harper, and he chuckles. "Not sure /why/. Something about ego? Bragging rights? Hundred points if you can kill a Long Patrol hare?"

Harper glances up at Sid, "It may have somethin' t'do with the fact that you're in the business of eradicatin' their way o' life." Small grin.

"I'd be surprised if they even knew what the Long Patrol was." Darklett shrugs. "But they might get the idea eventually. Maybe that's why it seems safer out on the shores than in here."

Harper's eyebrow quirk at Darklett. "You think so? But I tell you, the vermin may not have books nor the learnin' t'read if they did, but they have stories 'n' tales just s'we do." Once Jove has drunk the liquid, he waits for her to fall off into lala land.

"Heh.. at least on the shore they know to keep their distance," Sid chuckles, and nods. Looks upward. "Can't wait to get back there. I .. hate being landlocked."

"Stories and tales, yes. But even if they know what the Long Patrol is, would they be able to tell one from another hare?" Darklett bumps off the wall to stand nearer to Jove. "Vermin out on the shore have some sort of idea. It's how Patrollers can go to Halyard and not get ambushed by vermin." He glances up to Sid and Harper. "...I guess the other way around, too."

Harper's muzzle twitches in amusement. "With those uniforms on? Aye. I'd say they'd have a fair guess at it." And now, Jove is out! He sets to sorting out the misplaced bones and joints and joints, setting what needs it and wrapping what can't be splinted. He thinks a moment, glances up. "It is mostly the threat o' you, Darklett, comin' across the swamps 'n' all o' Mossflower and down on their heads that keeps the Abbey safe. 'Tis certainly not what meager defenses we can raise in the protection of ourselves."

"Well." Darklett manages to chuckle, then. "In that case, there's no other explanation except your vermin are either braver or dumber. Or both, I guess." The major thinks about this. "...It's a good thing they don't appear to be very good at organizing."

Sidney listens with his ears half-up, leaning over to prod at Jove's arm. Definitely out. "I don't think vermin in general are good at organizing. Not that I've ever seen, anyway."

Harper does things to Jove while unconscious that would have her writhing were she awake, but he is quick about it and she's starting to look less like a wreck and more like a healing patient. Always good! "Imagine it's got a lot t'do with organization... S'just not very lucrative t'raise a vermin horde 'round here. Better on the shores. So many little villages like Halyard t'sack."

"Heh, Halyard," the youngest of the three mutters. His eyes shut. "There's a few good-lookin'.. ahh." He coughs. "... trees. There. Pretty trees."

"Yeah, trees." Darklett smirks. "Still think it's more likely to get attacked by vermin that are strangers to the Patrol... Why would we be targeted here and not so much on the shores?" This actually gets Darklett thinking.

"Well it is winter," Sidney offers, shrugging. "Vagabonds and the like.. they're pretty bad off, figure they're more desperate during winter, right?"

"I guess you could be right." Darklett nods in agreement. "In any case, it's definitely not as safe for us to wander around the road as it is the shores around the mountain."

Harper has fallen silent, letting the two trouble it out for the mo'. He's concentrating on stitching up Sid's wounds, now, those that need it.

"Maybe it's for fun," Sid muses now. "Maybe they know we'll put up a good fight."

Sidney says, "Vermin around here are spoiled by peaceful mice and such who just .. roll over. Can't be exciting, anyway."

"Well, their search for excitement unfortunately involves ambushing patrollers." Darklett scowls. "And what's worse, is that they're just /barely/ good enough at doing it."

"Good enough at killing us? .. yes. They've been doing rather well," the recruit responds dryly.

Harper's ears twitch. He glances at Sidney, slightly piqued. "Well, Major, I'm as ever glad t'have yer company up here." He finishes up his stitch-work on the back - moves to the mangled ear.

"The only time we've had deaths was when we confronted that group. The rest have just been injuries that kept patrollers down for a few days." The major glances at Sidney. "If they were good at killing us, we'd have a bigger problem altogether." Darklett glances towards Harper, wondering for a moment if he's being sarcastic.

"Don't you think it's just a matter of time, though?" Sidney asks Darklett. he glances at Jove, eyes moving over the doe's injuries. "We got lucky, that time. Thirteen to three? .. and Jove was lucky you were there."

Perhaps more joking than sarcastic. The buck listens to the two with careful ears. "Well... winter has come on rather strong. It's likely the vermin are engaged in their own version o' gatherin' nuts for the winter." Except they try to kill the trees. Silly things.

"You could say /we/ got lucky..." Darklett starts, going back to his leaning wall. Lean. "Or they got lucky that we put ourselves in that situation. I wouldn't say the results of these were lucky-- Maybe Jove's case a little, but she had to survive long enough for that luck to matter-- I'd say they were because we're prepared to face those odds. Maybe /just/ prepared enough, but... Prepared."

"Either way," Sid responds. "It's going to be a long winter .. and these skirmishes are happening every few days, looks like. I just ... I want to be back at the mountain. I prefer having a fortress."

Ah, well. Harper seems to have finished with Jove, to his satisfaction. "She ought t'be fine," he reassures.

"Being a Long Patrol fighter doesn't mean sitting behind walls and waiting for problems to go away." Darklett raises his chin up just a little to make sure he's clear in addressing Sidney.

Poor Harper gets ignored for the moment while Darklett is in mentor/teacher mode. :P

Sidney lifts his eyebrows. "That's not what I meant, Dark. I meant.. given a choice I'd rather be in a place I'm familiar with, where we /have/ Salamandastron. When vermin know to keep away that's half the reason why. It's a symbol. The further we are from it, the smaller our numbers, the more vulnerable we are."

Harper seems to be pretty much okay with being ignored. He sorts out some things, cleaning up the examining table here and there. As for Jove, he scoops an arm under her knees and one under her arms, lifting her and carrying her to one of the beds. He settles her there, drawing a blanket over her form.

"...Sometimes it's also the Long Patrol's duty to defend more than just the shores. With all the 'skirmishes' we've been having, who's to say there wouldn't be a greater problem without our presence here?" The major dips his head back down, though he still looks over in the recruit's way. "Sometimes we have to be concerned with matters outside of Salamandastron, too."

A second after he finishes that sentence, he nods towards the healer in the room. "Thanks for the help, Harper. D'you think I should call you Brother Harper, or...?" The major grins.

"That's why I said, given a choice," Sidney says quietly, rubbing at the side of his face. "I know we have duties elsewhere and I haven't shirked them yet. It'll just... be good to go back."

Harper starts back over, wiping his paws with a damp cloth. His muzzle turns up in a grin. "Spirits forbid I should ever ask you t'call me anything other than 'Harper, that scrawny kid'." He grins, shakes his head.

Sidney glances over at Harper with a wry kind of smirk. "Oh, I'm not the only one he calls that?" Amused.

"Hey, Sidney. You're switchin' to a fighter recruit, so you're coming around." Darklett looks mock-disapprovingly at Harper. "You, though. Still pretty scrawny."

Harper's ears twitch with mischief - he tosses a small, two-fingered salute Darklett's way. "What c'n I say - I got m'winter fur 'n' my runner's build from Da'."

"True enough," the recruit mutters. He's up and wandering around now, hands in his pockets. Is .. the kid wearing a Patrol uniform? He does a bit of a double-take and looks to Darklett again. "You know my dad was pretty tall. Well. I /think/ he was. Was my dad, anyway, heh. Maybe I'll end up buff or something."

"Ah, I keep forgetting you're the blood of Jarril." Darklett taps his forehead as if forgetful. "You're scrawny, but tough as nails, then. You've a leg up on a lot of others." Chuckle, chuckle. "See? Still promise in your future, Sidney. You'll get to make like all the rest of the Patrol and get bigger than me eventually."

"Well even when I'm looking down on you, Dark," Sid deadpans, "I'll still be looking up to you."

He pauses. Blinks. ".. that's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever said."

Okay, okay, okay. He'll forgive Sid - /that/ was pretty good. Harper smirks. Even snorts! High praise.

Sidney is stuck for a moment on the pun. Does that count as a pun? He just looks a little triumphant.

Darklett ppsh's out a chuckle, smacking his forehead. "Harper, did you hear that?" He just grins, rolling his eyes. "Wordplay. Maybe you could learn a thing or two from him to help with your Recorder job."

Harper chuckles, eyeing Sid. "I'll have t'start takin' notes around you."

"Oh hell," Sidney about cackles. "You're the Recorder? Now I really have to hate your guts.. Least favorite part of recruit training, I swear. Guhh. /Words/ and .. /writing/." The buck shakes his head.

Harper's lips set in an amused line. He cocks an eyebrow at 'hate your guts'. "Oh, aye. Nasty words, they are."

Sidney cuts Harper an amused glance. Very amused. He looks away and chuckles. "I just never took to it easy, is all."

This is probably the second most fun time Darklett's ever had in an infirmary. "This is how you know you're on the fast track to being a fighter..."

Weeeeell. "You're going t'be here a while. If you ever want another stab at it," Harper grins. Shrugs. And then starts choking laughter. Dark!

Sidney lifts his eyebrows at Darklett. His muzzle tugs slowly into more of a grin.. and when Harper laughs, it sets him off. The recruit cackles and shakes his head, putting out one hand against a chair, which he leans into and finally grunts out a response. "Heh, heheheh, well." Snort. ".. guess you'd be the guy to teach me, right? Sure. Why not." This is mumbled while he continues grinning. Glances at Harper and then decides to keep his eyes on Darklett for now.

"Hey, it might be a good idea." Dark nods between Harper and Sidney. "Though I can't even remember the last time I saw the last fighter that decided to keep a journal..."

Harper grins. "I can. But I wouldn't exactly've called him a model fighter." Aheh. "Remember, Dark? Oh... what was it called. That weekly thing he put out, copies'd go 'round the rec room?"

"Yeah, uhm. That'd be pushing it a bit. I mean. Journaling?" Sidney squeezes one eye shut in a look of displeasure. "That's like. Writing just for the hell of it. I .. I don't. /Understand/..."

"Life at Sala," Darklett fondly recalls. "I wonder why he stopped..." The major chuckles, shaking his head. "Sidney, you should continue it. It's a nice little journal of your experiences at the mountain and with the Patrol. It'd be a nice little, uh. Project for you." Yeah.

Harper just can't figure out whether to be amused or offended! He just laughs, shaking his head. "A good friend gave me a journal as my promotion gift. I rather liked it."

Sidney gives Darklett.. a look. He glances at Harper. "If you have any kind of success in getting me to /enjoy/ writing. Well. Heh. Power to you, then."

Harper shrugs. "I guess it doesn't matter, if yer just a fight-" Er. He glances at Darklett. Then back to Sid. "I mean. Runners have t'write the most reports, so."

"/Just/ a fighter, eh? Hey, I'm entitled to make fighter jokes 'cause I /am/ a fighter." Darklett looks really offended for maybe a split second until he bursts into laughter.

Sidney stares. And then, dissolves into laughter also. He leans more into the chair. It actually wobbles slightly.

And sure enough. They're so loud and inconsiderate that it's woken up Tam! The leveret now pushes himself upright a little and eyes the trio. ".. what's s' funny?"

Ahhhh, well. Harper's adult time is over! His ears perk and he looks around at Tammy. With a paw-twitch of a salute - for old time's sake, ha - he heads over to Tammy, scooping him up from the cot. He heads for the healer dormitory. "Nothin' very much, m'little Colonel. Off t'bed with us."

Tameus yawns widely but isn't especially close to wakefulness. He hugs onto Harper's shoulders and rests his cheek against one of them, giving no protest at all when he's hefted and carried.

Sidney glances at the leveret, putting a hand over his mouth to stifle any further laughter. Whoops, woke the kid. "Night Harper," he aims at the Brother.

Darklett's ears perk towards Tameus. He /is/ wearing a Long Patrol uniform. A Colonel's uniform. What. "...Oh, nothin'." The major blinks at Harper's name for Tameus, and... He just chuckles. "Okay then. Time for some shuteye." The major nods to Harper and Tameus, then to Sidney. "Good night, everyone." And off he goes... Outside. Well, it's definitely not the /warmest/ nor the /shortest/ way to bed. Oh well.

Harper waves a paw over his shoulder at the pair, "Night!" he calls. He'll be back out once Tam's asleep, to keep an eye on the patient. But for now, he and Tam disappear into the dormitory.

"Night, Dark," Sidney chuckles. And. Colonel's uniform? That just about sets him off again, and the recruit bites onto his sleeve to suppress the giggles as he heads out of the infirmary.