4-22-10 - The Matter of a Net - Tyree, Rahier, Zoe Lang.

Halyard Village: Main Street

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Halyard Village ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The main street of Halyard is not so much a street as a rubble field. It is

as if the narrow street has crumbled in on itself, with but a few buildings

unscathed. Even Halyard's symbol of law and order, the Town Hall, has not

escaped the brunt of the storm. THe front face of the building is entirely

gone and the roof has been shorn away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

                               Visible Exits:

[T]own [H]all [W]est [Sq]uare

[A]pothecary [E]ast [S]quare

"I *said* he's the one who took my nets! And I need them ta' /provide/ for the ones in the tents!" "You stinking wavedog! I'll have your lyin' guts for garters so I will!" "Listen! Both of you! This is not makin' Halyard's recovery any easier!" The ruckus is coming from the center of town, which still has bits of debris here and there. In the midst of the cleaning process, tempers flare as belongings are recovered, and apparently lost again. Tyree is standing between a group of otters confronting a couple rats, apparently one of few things keeping a fight from breaking out. "We /need/ peace here, chaps!" "You aren't the boss of us, long-ears!" one of the rats unhelpfully snorts. "You're on /their/ side anyway! Believin' what you haven't even seen yerself!"

Rahier has come to see Town Hall... or the remains of it, anyway. He's standing in front of it, looking at it, head tilted. Gonna have to demolish that sometime soon, it isn't really safe standing like that. So when the shouting reaches his ears, naturally he is pulled from his reverie and tilts his head over to the gathering of rats and otters, turning around. Hm. Ty seems to be mediating.

The shouting and bickering can be heard all the way down at the square, where the tents in question /are/. And Zoe is one of the healers on duty drawn by it. She limps along, leaning on her staff as she approaches the unfortunate Tyree in the middle of all this! She arches her brow, peering in her one-eyed, peering sort of way. She catches sight of Rahier on her way over and detours a bit that in way in her path. She nods to the buck. "'Llo, Rah," she greets.

"That is not for you ta' say!" Tyree snaps back at the rat. "I believe what is most believable. An' all I can see... is that there is no evidence for either side." "Typical!" the rat sneers. "Patrollers not givin' a whit about what 'appens 'ere." "What about my nets?!" the otter all but roars. "Be /quiet/!" Tyree snaps back, not so much mediating as arguing himself now. "You dragged this rat here by the ears an' accused him right in front of me! If you expect that ta' be enough for conviction, you're off your tail! Things are stretched all 'round. We /have/ nets we can supply a' you at the mountain." "He's a thief!" the otter thunders stubbornly. "You're a liar!" the rat shoots back. "Ugh," says Tyree, putting a paw to his forehead.

Rahier offers Zoe a grin by way of salute when she approaches... ah, old Zoey. "Always nice t'see ya, Colonel," he greets, tucking his paws together behind his back. "Looks like the lieutenant is havin' a spot o' trouble with th'locals. Think we should intervene?"

Zoe_Lang considers the goings-on with a slightly amused smirk. She shrugs and nods. "Aye, sure. Why evah not? Why let the lieutenant have all the fun, eh?" She drops a wink to Rahier and continues forward, leaning on her staff as she comes a little short of the group. "Now, now, now, what' all this yellin' about? You're disturbin' the sick." She offers a nod to Tyree.

Without skipping a beat, the argument swings towards Zoe. "This vermin filth here stole my netting!" "An' this otter's just too proud ta' say he lost it in the storm!" The accusations fly thick and fast. "They've been at this for a good near fifteen minutes, ma'am," Tyree says, greeting the Colonel with a snappy salute. "Frankly, I think it'd be better if they just shut their /traps/ an' parted ways at this point. No way ta' lend credence ta' either side, 'cept for the fact the rat's been caught thievin' once afore."

Rahier steps up with Zoe, a bit back and to her left, but moves up by her side when they reach the group of arguing locals. The major clears his throat, raising a paw. "No one will get anythin' long as y'keep up th'yellin'," he says. "Slow it down a couple notches.. we're all on edge after th'storm, but we can still keep our heads."

Zoe_Lang's paws fold calmly behind her back as she listens to the complaints. There's a glint of amusement in her eye as she considers the complainants. She waits, to see if the plan on listening to Rahier, and /shutting up/... and then proceeds. "Now, now. Let's see what we c'n do here. You're missin' nets, aye? I believe my lieutenant here's informed you that nets c'n be retrieved for you. As for you, sah," and she nods to the rat. 'Sir'? Really, Zoe? "Is there anything we c'n do t'help you at this time? We have food 'n' basic supplies if there's anything we c'n do t'assist you 'n' yours."

"He's just-!" the otter blurts out, but is interrupted when Zoe turns to the rat, who looks ready to explode again, but then seems a bit more... satisfied once Zoe speaks to him about provisions. "Well, of course you can do that," he sniffs, looking back at the otter, who growls audibly. "Food's not gettin' divided eagerly in the camp. Woodlanders always get more an' we aren't all skilled ta' forage. Be nice if we received a couple of our own shipments now an' again." "Food will be givin where 'tis needed," Tyree mutters under his breath. "Not where 'tis just asked for."

The management of aid is often very difficult in disaster scenarios.. even if a great quantity of it is available, actually giving it out is quite hard. So it's not surprising to hear some are getting more than others. "There'll be plenty o' food f'everyone," Rah says. "If y'community needs help they should speak t'us."

Zoe_Lang has for the moment dismissed the otter. Instead she focuses on the rat, her eyes narrow slightly. "The food 'n' supplies are there, waitin' for those who need it. Each creature is entitled t'the same amount, as you'll find if you avail yerself of the... facilities." Tents, really, but whatever. "We don't make 'shipments' to anyone. This isn't a free for all. 'Tis a rescue 'n' relief effort. A relief effort that you could both assist with. There's much repair-work t'be done around the village 'n' if you both want t'get back on yer feet, that's the best way t'go about it. Wastin' your time bickerin'..." She just shakes her head. Tsk.

The otter crosses his arms and harumphs loudly to make himself be known. Staying relevant! The rat stares at Zoe and seems, for the moment, cowed. "Hard to not bicker when accusations are bein' thrown your way..." "Your options 'ave been outlined to ya by the good colonel," Tyree answers the vermin. "No more, no less can be done." The otter bahs and throws up his paws, and then extends one to the rat. "Fine! If I get a replacement net outta this, fine." The rat stares at the otter's paw, and then just sort of taps it with his own. "We /will/ speak to ya about food," he adds, to both Rahier and Zoe, then sniffs at Tyree like it's all his fault. "Snooty rabbits..." he mutters as he and his companion turn to go, the otter as well. Tyree heaves a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Colonel," he says with another salute. "I can take a lot, but I can't stand pointless shoutin'."

Zoe_Lang watches the pair head off with an amused shake of her head. She turns her attention to the much-saluting Tyree and offers him a brief smirk. "I know. Just ask Rah 'ere, I was /much/ less tolerant when I was youngah." She flashes the major a grin. "I've mellowed with age, haven't I, Rah?" Mm-hm, mm-hm. "Anyway, you did jus' fine. Sometimes there's just no talkin' reason int' someone."

Rahier's grin is there, too, now that the parties have departed. It wouldn't do to grin in front of them, no. "Still, I think y'handled it well," Rah compliments. It seems his choice of lieutenant was not a mistake. The major turns his eyes to Zoe's (well the one) and he returns the smile. "Wouldn't mistake it with losin' y'fire, Colonel." Whistle..

"Thanks, sah. Ma'am." One more salute. For good measure. It's like a tic with the poor guy! "Weren't for incidents like that, we'd 'ave half as much work left ta' do. But... desperate times call for dumb-headed measures, wot?" he says, rolling his eyes.

Zoe_Lang smirks at Rahier. "Don't you test me, bucko," is her warning. She even waggles a finger at him. Waggle. But at Tyree's words, she breathes out a sigh and looks all 'round. "It's a lot o' work t'do. The rebuildin' alone'll take seasons, but this place s'seen it's fair share o' disastahs."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Colonel," is his reply, his cheeks all rosy with a sweet smile. Ah, cheek. His eyes turn up and he shares her surveillance of the town square and its destroyed buildings. "At least, I s'pose, that this means we'll have a strong class o' recruits. Lots o' heavy liftin'!"

"Oh, seasons... I just hope the arguments don't last as long." Tyree shudders. "Or the heavy liftin'." He shrugs his strong shoulders and kind of... sniffs. "Not too much room for improvement there." What? Whaaat? Even Ty can have his moments of hubris, right? "Any word on outsiders lookin' ta' take advantage of the situation?"

"Nothin' serious, so far. Just little incidents of thievin', really. Things like that... Nothin' we can't manage, s'far. With our presence here, I figure things'll go all righ'... 'Course, eventually we'll have t'let them walk on their own two footpaws, eh?" Zoe runs a paw through her headfur, shaking her head a bit. "What a mess."

Rahier mhmmms. "Can't help but feel many o' them resent our help." The buck unfolds his paws, bringing them around to pull on his collar a little, adjusting it around his neck. Gets warm around here sometimes. "S'not like they're our little fiefdom or anythin'."

"Well, what other reason is there ta' settle so close save for the guarantee of protection?" Tyree asks, crossing his arms. Almost looking indignant on behalf of the whole Patrol! "The mountain was 'ere long before they were, anywhow. S'pose they'd like it if we just holed up inside an' never came out!"

"Tyree, you have t'realize that for the vermin who live here, we're a /threat/. They believe that we see vermin 'n' kill first, ask questions latah. An' the Halyard population's half vermin. Most of 'em are perfectly well-behaved vermin that have no reason t'fear us, but there's a lot o' hate runnin' both ways." Zoe shrugs absently, rubbing at the back of her neck. "'Tis a tense situation all 'round. But 'tis our duty t'do what we can."

"Wouldn't be a bad policy f'half this lot," Rah murmurs, his eyes slightly hooded by his brows. The thieving rat entirely notwithstanding, eh? He clears his throat, and then looks over toward Ty. "What were y'doin' b'fore this lil' confrontation?"

"I was fixin' /other/ little confrontations," Tyree huffs. "Been out all mornin', workin' my scut off, an' this is the thanks I get!" He waves at the ungrateful village. "Huh!" he huffs again. "Also been keepin' recruits on their toes. Think just because schedule's a little off from the storm they can slack off. Ingrates."

Zoe_Lang glances between Rah and Tyree and rolls her eyes. What a grump pair. XD She just flashes them a brief grin and then raises a paw in salute. "I'm back to the tents. If there's anything else, let me know." And with that, she turns and disappears off back down the street.