A Chance Encounter
A Chance Encounter
~*~A Tale of the [[Long_Patrol%25E2%2580%259D|Long Patrol]]~*~
Starring:
- Sidney, a Long Patrol Lieutenant
- Ava, a Long Patrol healer
- Torsten, a Long Patrol recruit
- Trent, a lively otter
- Piper, a second lively otter
Logger's Note: This story is a part of a continuing plotline. For the previous installment, click here. For the first, click here.
Ancient Forest
While most of the others have sought the tavern to dry off and get some warm food, Sidney has just finished up a close check over of the just-docked 'Charlotte', and finally makes his way a little further inland. He bypasses the pub after briefly checking in with the hares there, then skirts around the west side of the town and enters the woods. A little past the sparse edge of the trees, the cover of overhead branches becomes thick enough mostly provide cover from the rain. One of the heavier bags, with most of the tent supplies, is over his shoulder; the bedrolls and food provisions will be retrieved from the sloop later.
Settled at camp and taking inventory of supplies is Ava. She has a clipboard and a piece of lead, marking off checks here and there. At the sight of the buck, she gives a nod of her head in his direction. "Hey there." She drawls out to him with a smile. "Looks like everything is going according to plan, huh?"
For all that he's visibly fatigued, at the end of a long day, Sid's muzzle twists into an appreciative smile as he comes upon Ava, already with most of the packed provisions brought over from the ship. "Look at you, over-achiever," he mutters by way of greeting, hefting the oversized duffel down from where it rests on his shoulder and back, to drop it with a thump in the middle of the somewhat open section of the underbrush that most suits their needs. "I think you said something about needing tent-construction practice, so..."
"I don't remember saying that." Ava says with a grin on her face to him. Putting the clipboard to the side, she gives a stretch of her body, then heads over to him. "But, let's get to it. Time to set up a few tents! I will admit I haven't done it before."
Torsten's paws brush back his headfur -- one too many ruffles from Alpine has got it all out of sorts -- as he heads from town into the forest where they are setting up camp. Following the voices through some of the denser trees into the clearing where they're staying, he steps into that clearing and sees that Sidney and Ava appear to be about to raise tents. "Evening, sah, ma'am," the recruit greets, coming to a halt. "Need any help?"
Sidney reaches his hand up and across to the opposite shoulder, elbow near his muzzle as he rubs at the spot where the strap of the huge bag was just resting. Uff. "Same gist, if not quite verbatim." His arm drops away, and he gives his head a quick jerk to the side, feeling a satisfying pop in his neck. "Haven't done it.. ever? Huh. Used to be something covered during recruit training." He glances over to Torsten, greeting the younger buck with an amiable smile. "Speaking of - there's still part of recruit training focused on camping, isn't there? Wilderness survival, scouting, patrol travel basics?"
"Okay, I haven't done it /since/ training. I haven't done many overnight trips in the patrol so far." Ava travels over to Sidney, giving him a shoulder bump before she nods her head to the young recruit. "Should be easy peasy, right? Nothing to it." Sliding her own bag off her shoulder with a thump, she detaches her bow and quill, leaving just a dagger on her hip.
"Oh, yeah, for sure," Torsten nods, not catching the first half of that conversation and just assuming Sid's asking if he knows how to do the job. "They put three of us out in the middle of nowhere to practice it, too. See if we could sahvive with what we'd learned and all that, wot."
With a shift of the shoulders to work out the remaining tension, Sid folds his arms and indicates the duffel bag with a nod. "Get on it then, seamen. If you manage to tie yourselves to a tree or something, 'm right here, no worries."
"If we tie ourselves to a tree, we should probably get kicked out of the patrol." Ava says as she works through the gear, laying out the supplies in sections so they can work through it without a mess. "We gotta brush the ground first, that way we aren't sleeping on rocks." She calls over to Torsten.
"Yeah," Torsten confirms, combing the area for any rocks that might cause some discomfort if slept on all night. "The food at the pub in town is positively spiffin', by the way. Pot pies. Top notch." He glances occasionally over to Ava as he works, combing the grass. "Nice hedgehog chap running the place."
"Yeah? Pub food?" Sid backs up to be out of the way, resting his back against one of the thicker trees. "You mean to tell me you're tired of veggie jerky and stale biscuits after, what, three days?" His tone leans a little toward a chuckle as he watches their progress.
"Spiffin' you say?" Ava says with an amused grin as she kicks a few rocks out of the way, as well as lobbing some branches. Once cleared, she unrolls the tarp and begins to spread it out along the ground. "I do love a pot pie. I'll have to check it out."
"Not tired, more sick of 'em, sah!" Torsten laughs, leaning over to grab a couple last second twigs before Ava lowers the tarp, heading over to the pack to unpack one of the tents, setting the poles off to the side sorted by height and unrolling the canvas of the temporary structures.
"Nothing like good eats to pick up morale," is Sid's comment from the sidelines. They have it well in hand, and he's exhausted, so the buck makes no move to step in for now. He tilts his head back, squinting up toward the dark sky which is barely visible through the tree cover. "Maybe the others'll have the good sense to bring some extras back to camp."
"If they were smart, they'd gobble it up for themselves." Ava giggles as she continues to work with the younger buck to set up the first tent. Up goes the poles, followed by the canvas. Her being rusty definitely shows as she takes her time to ensure that the poles snap into place and slip in through the seams proper.
"Collin ordahed enough food for all of us three times over," Torsten reports. "It was delicious." The recruit jams the stakes into the ground and tugs on the ropes a few times to test the way they're fastened. "Hold on, Ava, you have tah run the ropes through the loops like this..." The recruit hare goes over to assist Ava as she hesitates on a step. "I wouldn't mind eatin' the leftovahs, I know that."
"Good for them if they do. Honestly, takes a few weeks before I develop any particularly hateful feelings toward ship-fare, bland as it is." Sid shrugs again, then lets his arms unfold and drop, hands resting to either side of him against the rough bark of his chosen tree. For another moment he watches them work, before addressing the younger of the two. "How're you holding up, Torst?"
Pausing, Ava holds up for a moment, then repeats the steps that Torsten instructs. "Heh. Been awhile like I said." Her paws fumble through the work, though she is at least quick with her movements and she error corrects on the fly.
Torsten's making quick work of this whole tent thing -- it's pretty fresh in his memory after all -- and soon enough between he and Ava the thing is upright. "Oh, the first day was rough, sah, I won't lie, but Collin's been a great help." He speaks glowingly of the private, he does, going to the next tent to get that one set up too. "I'm startin' tah think it wasn't so bad my mates tried tah convince me that boat was haunted."
Sidney nods his agreement, with a bit of a pleased smirk. "Collin's a good guy." He scuffs the toe of one boot against a gnarled root sticking out of the ground, then pushes off from the tree and takes a few strolling steps around to the side, giving the first tent a close look over as it comes together. "You're doing good. Second one will be faster." His ears twitch, eyes coming over to Torsten. "Haunted, huh."
"Yessah," Tory nods as he separates the poles again and unfolds the canvas of tent number two. "My mates were all convinced that that boat we sailed here on was haunted. I bet 'em it wasn't, and in order to win the bet I just had tah spend the night on the boat. No problem, but when I woke up I found out I was out tah sea, heh." He pauses for a moment in his tent construction. "Guess mah mates are freakin' out about now."
It's very subtle, the way Sid's smile goes from half-present to nonexistent. His whiskers shift a little, the only sign of some slight tension along his jaw. "And... where exactly did they get that idea?"
"Exactly, right? Haunted, peh." The recruit gets to work on the tent again, but stops on his way to lacing the tent poles through the tent's hoops, turning to Sidney again when he misjudges the intent behind the question. "I... Don't rightly know, sah." Torsten is able to detect the tension, if only because the obviously ridiculous situation doesn't seem too ridiculous to Sidney.
"Story as old as time. The old haunted house slash boat deal." Ava chuckles as she continues to work on the second tent with the younger buck.
"Uh-huh." Sid's mouth quirks a little at the corners, but the smile doesn't fully develop. "Houses. Boats. Castles. Broken-down shacks. Empty classrooms..."
"Yeah, yah know?" The tension has mostly passed, and so Torsten resumes putting up the tent. "On the bright side, when I get back my mates each owe me a round of latrine duty." The recruit grins, pulling up a pole and shoving a stake into the ground, hammering it in. "As long as you can prove to 'em that you sailed it away and you ahn't a ghost."
"I think that if you survive this whole ordeal they should owe you more than latrine duty." Ava says with laugh as she tightens the poles, then hikes the canvas up. "You should milk them for every chore you can get. Soak up the sympathy factor if you get injured also."
Another dry chuckle from Sid. "There are... so many ways of proving that. Though some might be a bit... rough." He gives the nearly-finished tent a once-over, then glances back toward the town. "I'm gonna go grab a bite while the tavern is still open. See if you can get that other tent done before the others show up."
"You kiddin'? One of my mates got hurt in an ambush on a training mission and the rest ah them fell ovah themselves tah tell him how neat-o he was." Torsten laughs in return to Ava, tugging the pole on the other side of the tent to raise the tent the rest of the way. "They'll probably tell me /I/ owe /them/ 'cause it was their idea." He chuckles, shaking his head and regarding the finished tent before heading over to start on number three. "Yessah, make sure tah try a pot pie," he recommends, before unpacking the next tent and laying out the ropes.
"Bring a pot pie back for me, please." Ava calls over to Sidney with a sunny smile, then looks to Torsten. "If you want, I can always yell at your friends like I do the recruits in archery and make them feel bad, even for a few minutes." Hauling up her side of the wall, she gives the poles a bit of a tap with her foot to ensure they're sturdy.
"Oh, I'll take that. Though, I don't know. I may think they have a point." Torsten smiles with a shrug, lifting up one of the tent poles and staking it to the ground, following the same pattern as he had with the first two. "First couple days were kinda scary, but something like this'd nevah happen back at the mountain."
Ava gives a nod of her head as she continues to work alongside the other hare. "Well, if you change your mind, let me know. I got a sharp bite to my voice when I put my mind to it." Yawning into the back of her hand, she rubs it along her face afterwards. "So, what are you? Fighter? Runner?"
Torsten has been under rather insistent orders to not get into any trouble, and so he's taken that to mean sit very still and try not to be too loud while the rest of the patrollers are out fact finding. Problem is, the recruit didn't exactly plan on being out here so he's short on entertainment. Good thing they're in the woods. He's taken to climbing trees, something he hasn't done a lot of in the past due to living either in a mountain or on a beach his entire life.
Having traded out shifts, Ava is back at the campsite, watching the supplies and tents. She eyes the young recruit in the trees now and then to make sure he isn't about to fall out of one and break an arm. "You bored?" She calls up to him as she marches past the tree he is in.
Torsten hasn't gotten very far up, really. His feet are dangling from a fairly low branch, and he raises up a paw to greet Ava. "Very," is his response, feet idly swinging. "Any luck in town figuring out where these slavers are, or no?" He shifts where he sits to get more comfortable, reaching up to hang on to a slightly higher branch while he does so.
"Nope. Not that I have heard. Gotta wait for everyone to come back and hopefully deliver some good news." Ava tilts her head up to regard him. "You know how to shoot a bow?" Leaning over, she plucks up a rock from the ground, giving it a skip with a flick of her wrist.
"Course I do, everybeast in the patrol knows that." Torsten reaches down with a foot, placing it on a branch and holding on as he slowly descends. "Now, I'm not very good at it yet," the recruit laughs. "Won't get much bettah if I keep skipping training to go on seafaring adventchahs, wot."
"I am now teaching the current archery courses for the recruits. Maybe I will see you in it then." Ava leans against the tree and stares out into the distance. "What is your favorite weapon of choice?"
Dangling down from the last branch, Torsten falls into a crouch, then straightens up, brushing his paws off on his uniform legs. "I like mah cutlass," the recruit responds with a gesture to his side where the sword is in its scabbard. "Haven't tried everything, but I'm told this kinda blade fits me." He shrugs, as if he probably wouldn't have known the difference.
"Cutlass is a fine blade." Ava says with a grin. "I just use a one handed short sword. Light and easy to wield. I'm not very good at sword fighting personally. I'd rather take a beast out from afar." She gives his sword a glance. "My husband uses hammers."
"I can't ahgue with that," Torsten replies, taking out his cutlass and swinging it around a little bit, giving it a look over. The blade itself is not the finest, but it's utilitarian and would do its job if required. Definitely a Long Patrol-issue sword. "If you shoot a rat with an arrow you don't have tah smell its breath," he states with a grin, sounding a bit like he's reciting a line from an officer rather than coming up with that one himself.
"That is definitely a bonus about being an archer." Ava says as she slides her bow off her back and notches an arrow into it. She pulls the string back and takes aim, then lets it thunk into the bark of the tree near her. "I have practiced with Major Taye for months and months and months. Best stress relief I've had at the time." Smiling at the fond memories, she heads over to pluck the arrow out after wedging it left to right. "You ever been in a real fight before?"
Torsten watches Ava, keeping a careful eye on her form as she fires that arrow, head swinging to the side as the too-fast-to-see shot lodges itself in a tree. "I /bet/ it takes a lot of practice," the recruit agrees, returning his cutlass to his scabbard. At the question, though, he slowly shakes his head. "'Fraid not," he admits. "Unless you count a boxing match, wot."
"It's never a fun experience. Everyone talks about the glory that comes from it but the reality is, it's pretty scary." Ava says as she examines the arrow she removed from the tree. "I've been stabbed, had my nose broken, shot with an arrow in the shoulder recently. It doesn't stop hurting." Giving him a brief smile, she nods her head. "My best advice is to keep your head and fall back on your training. Don't let your heart get involved."
"...Yes, ma'am." Torsten wasn't counting on a lesson, here -- he'd actually been expecting some of those battle tales of glory, and the like. So, he straightens and nods in understanding like a good recruit. "I'll try and remembah that. Seems like I'm gonna have tah use that advice soonah than I'd planned, wot."
"Maybe." Ava says as she claps her hand on his shoulder, giving it a brief squeeze. "Either way, if you don't think you're ready, feel free to stand behind me and my bow. I can shoot the wings off a butterfly blindfolded with the right wind. I'll make sure you don't lose something you may want later in life."
"Got it," Torsten nods enthusiastically. "Collin told me tah get behind private Alpine, but I think that's just 'cause he's so big. I could /actually/ hide behind him." The recruit grins despite himself.
"True, you can hide a mountain behind Alpine. But, he's a fighter, he'll want to get right up in the middle of things." Ava says with a firm nod. "As a combat medic, my role is to support. Lay down cover fire with my arrows, tend to the wounded during combat. I may need a set of paws to help me." She hints.
Torsten continues to nod in agreement with Ava. All makes sense! "Right, I don't want tah accidentally put anyone in danger. I'll be sure tah help you out the best I can." The recruit falls short of beaming, but regardless, he sounds fairly confident in his ability to do as he promises.
Smiling, Ava gives him another pat on the shoulder before stepping back. "You will be fine. We all will be. Those stupid slavers won't know what hit 'em." Sliding her arrow back into her quill, she attaches the bow on the straps that hang over her shoulder. "So, besides marching and saluting, what do you like to do for fun?"
"Not a doubt in mah mind," Torsten agrees, with a proud smile. "I'll do mah best." He takes a moment to glance to the mark in the tree where Ava's arrow landed before responding. "Oh, I spend so much time marching and saluting there isn't time for much else," he jokes, before continuing. "I like making up stories. All kinds of neat adventures and things." He places his paws in his pockets, a bit more at ease. "I s'pose that's partially how I got in this mess, wot."
"You like making up stories? So you're the creative type, wot? You find yourself one day an author?" Ava questions curiously as she slides her hands into her pockets. "I used to write poetry a few years back before I got serious with the patrol. Silly songs as well."
"I don't know about all that. The stories're all silly junk, just fah the sake of gettin' weirder and weirder," Torsten explains. "Like, one of us will start a story and it'll be normal, then we take turns adding to it and adding to it until it just gets ridiculous."
Giggling, Ava gives a twitch of her ears. "It sounds like a fun game. It's a good thing you have such good friends to play those with. I can't see myself doing such things with Taye. Maybe Jinora. She seems the sort that would love a game like that. You should ask her. I bet she'd get you to laugh a few times."
Torsten rolls his shoulders high and then drops them. "Alright, if I ever meet Jinora I'll ask." The recruit grins and looks up at a nearby tree, hopping up and grabbing at a branch, pulling himself up, using his foot against the trunk to help propel himself upward.
"I'm sure you will. She's everywhere. Scrappy and mouthy. I think she is just a bit older than you are right now." Ava watches him climb the tree with a grin. "So what about your parents? Were they patrollers also?"
"My uncle was," Torsten replies, scrabbling up to the branch and resting there. "My dad, no, he was always a dockyard hare back at Halyard. My uncle would tell me stories about his glory days in the patrol before he had tah retire from getting injured in battle. Apparently he wasn't too bad with a cutlass, himself, so that's why I took to it."
"Ah. I see. That makes sense. What about your mother?" Ava perks her ears. "What was she like? Did she have a career in anything interesting?"
"Oh. No, well, I don't rightly know. She died when I was real young, so I nevah got tah know her." Torsten shrugs, feet dangling from that branch, swinging in alternation.
"Oh." Ava says as she gives a slow nod of understanding. "How old are you if I can ask?"
"Abouuut seven seasons." Torsten chances a climb up to the next branch, then decides he'll just stand on the one he's gotten to, holding on to the branch above it. No need to risk anything. "Joined up not too long ago."
"You are still pretty young." Ava says as she rubs the back of her neck. "You want to practice with the sword some, you know.. show you a few things if we end up in battle?"
Torsten's eyebrows lift. "Oh, you think..." The recruit slowly starts slipping down from the tree. "Well. It couldn't hurt. Just gotta be careful, wot." He doesn't have to tell her that, he's more rationalizing with himself. He hits the forest ground and takes out his cutlass, swinging it a few times to get the weight down.
Drawing her short sword off her hip, Ava gives it a few twirls end over end, then advances on him. "Let's take it slow, okay? Just show me what you got first so I can see what we're working with." Holding herself in a defensive posture, she motions him to begin.
Torsten looks awfully unsure of himself, here. "I've never sparred with, yah know. Actual weapons," the recruit begins, though he gets into position and holds his cutlass up. It's a defensive stance, probably what they teach recruits early in the interest of getting them to stay alive long enough for their opponent to make some sort of obvious untrained mistake.
"Well, how do you expect to kill someone if you don't know how to spar proper?" Ava gives him a smile, twirling the blade again. "Okay, attack me, but slowly. We aren't going to try and hit each other. I just want to watch your stance and how you swing."
Torsten's head dips and raises in a nod, and, wielding the cutlass with a sort of practiced carefulness that betrays his inexperience, he steps forward and swings downward at Ava's shoulder, slowly, so as to not accidentally cleave her in two.
Raising her own blade up to block, Ava lets the weapons clang together, then steps back. "Alright, again." She says with a nod of her head. "Again, this time a bit faster. Keep your legs a bit parted, hold yourself at an angle."
Adjusting his stance with a nod of understanding, Torsten takes a deep breath and, leaning forward into his stroke, steps in and swings down, a tough more aggressively this time, though not by any means full-tilt.
Once more the blades cling together as Ava parries his attack. "Try not to swing like that. You know, like a rainbow. You leave your body open that way. I'll show you. Attack again the same way, but slow, I'll show you why."
Torsten swallows, and nods. "Alright," the recruit steps back, squaring himself up and getting into that stance before raising up his cutlass and swinging down at the doe in a close approximation of the same attack.
Stepping forward quickly, Ava catches the blade at the arc, moving right into his personal space. With her free paw, she grabs him by the tunic and rams her knee between his legs, pausing /right/ before she hits. "If your opponent is quicker than you, it will make this attack not so effective." She gives him a quick grin.
Torsten lets out a little choked noise of surprise when Ava steps in and just about nails him in the groin. His eyes are wide and his sword is still up in the air, ears pinned back to his head. "...Uh, right," the recruit mumbles awkwardly, giving a subtle tug backwards to try and create space between he and the doe.
Starting off as just the /hint/ of a sound, soon enough branches cracking and leafs crackling can be heard, the sound of two or more beasts movingly quickly. It is coming from some distance, though it's hard to pinpoint the direction. Sound travels oddly in the old woods. Punctuating the relative quiet of the forest is a sudden burst of laughter.
"Ain't gonna catch me, you ol' landlubber!" From some of the brush to the south side of the hares, an otter bursts out and scampers forward, his attention thrown back at whatever is chasing him. In fact, he doesn't even bother to look forward before he's barreling straight for the sparring pair. "Weeyaaah!" Trent hollers suddenly, trying to stop himself as he careens towards them, all his stubby little otter limbs flailing about.
"The trick is, if you are going to attack like that, make sure they are wounded first and unable to defend themselves." Ava lets him go and drops her leg back down. "Circle your opponent, and my suggestion is try and put yourself at an angle near their sword hand. That way when you strike, they have to shift their balance to defend. It will leave them open." When the pair of otters burst into view, she quickly whirls around towards them, then lets out a breath as she notices they are just young ones, and not rampaging enemies.
Torsten is taking advice from the doe, nodding and letting his sword hang at his side -- when suddenly there's an otter bearing down on him. Training going just flying right out of his brain and into the trees somewhere, Torsten swings away and backpedals, stumbling backwards in an attempt to avoid a collision. Yelp!
Piper bursts into appearance shortly after Trent, and as he starts to stop just in front of where she's madly chasing him, she does too, but there's just /no way/ to stop that much momentum, and she glances off the side and back of him and drops into a tumble, end over end, landing on her butt in the dirt at Ava's feet. She blinks somewhat stupidly up at the doe, and then breaks out into a big, but sheepish grin. "Ahh hello, hare with the sharp... pointy... thing." Don'tstabme.
Trent is already on the ground, having all but thrown himself at it to stop his progress forward. The otter covers his head with his webbed paws, chancing a peek up with large, blue eyes. He gulps and tries to wiggle backwards towards Piper. "Um!" the otter starts. "Um! Um. Sorry! We were just... um!" He eyes the hares through his fingers as he continues to simply sprawl in the dirt.
Ava reaches out to steady the recruit with her paw, then tilts her chin down at the pair of otters that tumbled their way over to them. "Ah, hello." She calls over with a grin towards them, though it appears rather awkward and uncomfortable. "Looks like you two are having a spot of fun, wot? Where are you from?"
As the friendly(ish?) skirmish is interrupted by playful otters(tm), Sid is just headed back toward the small encampment from the direction of the town. As he walks, he reads over a sheet of paper in his hand, glancing up once or twice to be sure of the direction he's going once he enters the woods - then draws to a pause at the edge of the small clearing. His long ears tilt forward and he slowly folds the paper, tucking it away into his jacket while glancing first to Ava and Torsten, then to the pair of mustelids. "H'lo, kids," is the casual greeting he addresses to all of them, and loosely folds his arms.
Piper glances around for Trent, quickly scrambling up to her feet. She folds her paws behind her back, rocking back and then forth on the balls of her bare feet. "Ah, well. You know. Here, there... everywhere. Wherever our toes touch the earth," Pipes explains with the grin of the Young and Adventurous. She baaacks slowly towards Trent, away from the sharp-and-pointies. "Sorry t'interrupt you folks. I'm Piper, /this/ is Trent," and she reaches back to him to snag him by the shirt, pulling him forward, arm hooking 'round his neck.
Torsten gets to his feet, brushing himself off before picking up his sword and stowing it away to show no harm. With a bout of nervous laughter and a friendly smile, Torsten reaches down to help the river otter up before the sea otter takes care of that herself. He straightens up upon Sidney's greeting, and he tosses a salute the buck's way. "Sah," he greets, but can't really suppress the chuckle. Well this was a surprise.
Trent yelps gently as he's snagged, wiggling as he's drug up by the larger sea otter and taken by the neck. "Hi," he wheexes out and send an elbow into Piper's side. "This doesn't mean y'caught me," he says stubbornly to her. "The game is paused on account of hare interference!" He tries to pry away from her. "And what in blazes are you talking about?" Trent continues with a look towards Piper. "We're from Mossflower, you ninny. Can't even remember the name, can you?"
Smiling at the pair's back and forth, Ava sheathes her sword, then gives a nod of her head to Sidney. "Maybe you should play with them too." She hints to Torsten. "Bet they would like your story game." Giving the youths some space, she heads over to the tends to fetch a spot of water.
Oh, bah. Piper rubs at her side as she's elbowed, arm uncurling from the river otter. "That's where we /were/ from. /You're/ the ninny. Now I'm from wherever I want." That made no sense. Piper doesn't care. She extends a paw to the hare closest to their age and closest in proximity, as well. "Hi, laddy buck! You've got awful big ears." Her eyes scan. They all do, actually. Hares, man. "How d'you swim with those big floppy things?"
Torsten's ears, the very ones in question, perk up as they're referenced. "Uhh," he looks over to his trainer-in-session to see that she's gone and abandoned him. No matter! He extends his paw and goes to shake Piper's. "Can't say I swim very much at all," he answers with an odd little laugh. "Don't suppose you can hear much of what I'm sayin' with how small yours are, though," he attempts a joke back. Heh?
"Yeah!" Trent counters, grabbing Piper and poking at her diamond shaped nose. "But she can sure /smell/ ya, mate!" The river otter falls about laugh, drumming his paw on his stomach. He ducks away quickly incase there is any backlash from the comment. "C'mon, Pipes. How many times did you see hares on the 'Moss? 'Course they don't swim. They /hop/." He waves a paw in her direction with dismissal. "Don't mind her. Some of that fur on her face has grown right into her fuzzy brain, it has."
"I /swear/, Trent, I will drown your sorry little butt," Piper yips at the otter dog while she politely shakes with Torsten. She shakes her head, tipping it towards the river otter in indication. "Dropped on 'is head as a pup, see. Where d'you lot hail from, then?"
The unexpected addition of the otters leaves Sid standing there, not yet stepping fully into the clearing, just playing audience to their interaction. He occupies his hands by buttoning up the front of his jacket, casting a thoughtful glance to Ava, then the two tents. Then, back to Trent and Piper. After another moment, he clears his throat. "Salamandastron," he answers, then counters with his own inquiry. "Something we can do for you two?"
Torsten's breath comes out through closed lips in a loud 'pbbt' as he laughs at the otter's comeback, leaning backwards and slapping at his hip. "Ahh. We're from-" Sid cuts his answer off, and he nods in confirmation, deferring the conversation over to the officer, but his muzzle's still stuck up at the corners in a grin.
Trent leans back a little, eyes shooting up at Sidney. "Salawowmandastron," he repeats in a flub of letters. "Sheesh! Feel like a chap could get old saying that whopper of a word, eh?" Trest chuckles and steps closer to Sidney to eye the hare with curiosity writ on his face. "Y'even think about how many hours of your lives you've spent saying that?" Trent tucks his paws into a pair of rather shabby looking patched pants. They almost look like they've been plucked right out of the rubbish bin. Likely they have. "Do something?" the thought strikes him and he glances back at Piper. "What do y'say, Pipes? Do we need anything from these nice blokes?" Without waiting for an answer he turns his whiskery face back to Sidney. "Don't suppose you hares have a spot o'tea and crumpets for a pair o' down and out otters?" He grins, cheekily.
Sidney can't entirely help the mild, amused smile that settles across the line of his mouth. His whiskers twitch slightly as he gives Trent a closer look up and down, fingertips lightly drumming against the bend of the opposite arm. "We've got water, veg' jerky, and lots of crackers. Not sure if that's quite on par with 'tea and crumpets', though."
Piper's enthusiasm is slowly ramping up at the thought of tea and crumpets, but comes crashing down as reality /ruins everything/. "Crackers... 'n' jerky. How're you not... how're you not /dead/?" She looks horrified, eyeballing Torsten. She reaches out tentatively, poking at his chest to make sure he's not a ghost. "Weeee... weren't really. We didn't have a /plan/? We were just playin'. Um. Are we in the way?" she asks with suddenly raised eyebrows, glancing back at Trent and between the hares. "/Trent/, we're in the way," she hisses.
Torsten tries to remain stoic, he really does. He's gotta be a good recruit, stay in line, and... Snort. Ahem. He sways backwards at the poke, grinning at Piper and clearing his throat again. "It just makes the real scoff taste that much bettah when ya get it," he comments, excusing the, let's be honest, abysmal patrol food.
Trent unpockets his paws and wraggles his fingers, backing up at Piper's words. "Ooh," he says quietly and bobs his head. The river otter saddles up next to the sea otter and he plucks an imaginary hat off his head and bows to the small gathering of patrollers. "Beggin' your pardon! Lissen, matey," he leans towards Torsten, putting his paw up to faux whisper at the similarly aged hare. "This lot isn't holding you hostage, are they? Forcing you to eat vittles that aren't fit for a poor, young hare-type? Say the word, my lovely long ears. We'll bust y'out!"
Sidney directs a reassuring, and at least somewhat genuine smile toward Piper. He's putting up a good fight against that harried look that's trying to creep in. "No, you're not.. in the way. We keep things simple for traveling, but we've got plenty, if you'd like to.. share..." His voice trails off as he looks to Trent with a bewildered expression, brows raised, ears angling back. And, with a quiet outward breath, he drops his head forward, into his palm.
Piper hadn't even /considered/ that possibility, but when Trent suggests her mouth parts in surprise and realization, because /yeah/. That makes sense man. She watches Sidney watching them, and sees that face-palm, and takes it into her head to comfort him. She eases over to him, slipping an arm 'round is shoulders with a little 'there there' pat to his shoulder. "Ya know, that's /just/ the look 'is Dad always gives us? /Spittin' image/, mate. 'Cept for the ears. Usually 'cause he's hungry. It's proooobably that you don't have any real food, you know? Have you thought about that? It's something to think about. /Real food/."
Torsten can't hold it in. He breaks his pose and doubles over. "No, I'm not bein' held hostage. It's just how patrols are. Lots of light, not-very-tasty food." He straightens himself up and grins at Trent. "Promise. I'm here on purpose." Oh. Uh, well actually--
Trent chitters and bobs his head along with Piper. "Oh, aye. We were sent here today for a /reason/, Pipes. These poor, hungry hares..." Trent clucks his tongue and glances up and down at the doubled over hare. "We have to take care of 'em, you know. We can't just let these poor, ear endowed critters go hungry." Another cluck of his tongue and an exaggerated wag of his head. "Lissen to him, Pipes. He's in denial." The otter motions at the grinning Torsten. "Gone mad with bad-food poisoning. Think we outta get them fish, the poor things? 'Fore it's too late!"
Oy. Sid drops that hand, and his downward ducked muzzle tilts in the other direction. He rubs at the back of his neck as his eyes cast upward, to the tree cover overhead, and little snippets of sky peeking through. "Will the.. fish-getting.. take a while?" Please.
Hnnn. Fish sounds great. Torsten sends a sideways glance to Sidney to see his reaction. Oof, not good. "The food really isn't... All that bad, once you get used to it!" He insists, really, while not sounding convinced.
Piper's paw rest on either side of Sid's head, on his shoulders, giving a bit of a massaging squeeze. He obviously carries all his tension in the shoulders, tsk tsk. "Aw, no! We're right quick at this point. Back in a jiff! Hey, um... I don't know your name! You look like a Reggie. /Reggie/! C'n you snag us a bag t'fill?" Broad grin.
Torsten nods! "Sure thing, be right back." He'll probably dump out a bag of veggie jerky. Torsten heads off to one of the tents to go fetch one of those requested bags.
Trent slaps his tail on the ground and frowns at Torsten. "Aw, Reggie. That's just the hunger madness speakin' to you! Now off with you! Big bag, for lots an' lots o'fish!" Trent balls up his webbed paws and sets them jauntily on his hips. "Reggie is a good lad, don't t'think, Pipes?" He looks to the otter and the remaining hare. "How is that one doing? He still with us or has he succumbed to the jerky sickness?"
... why. Why is he being. Massaged? Sid's shoulders hunch and he takes a deliberate, /long/ step forward, kind of sidling around to the side as he does so, both evading Piper's hands and turning so he faces the two of them. "Nnh. You," to Piper, "no .. touching. /You/," to Trent, "there's no such thing as /jerky/ sickness." He probably means for his tone to be strict, but somehow it swings the other way, over toward mirth. "If you're just so inclined to treat me and my.. uh, crew.. to a meal of fresh fish? By all means. But right now 'm seriously considering whether you should be allowed anywhere near cooking implements. ... or fire."
"I /only singed off one eyebrow/," Piper blurts out with sudden vehemence. And then she /scowls/ at Trent, because he /obviously/ told on her. She shoves at his shoulder, baring her sharp little otter teeth at him in a little yip. /The betrayal/.
"What! I'll have you know I once had a knife on /fire/ and still managed to cook a perfect trou-ooah!" Trent flails backwards at the shove, completely taken off-guard. He falls into the dirt right onto his tail and glares upwards. "You'll pay for /that/!" His own, smaller, teeth bare and he lunges up, a whirlwind of chattering, angry otter noises as he flies right at her. Poor Sidney, he's probably within range of the weird otter war dance.
She most certainly will /not/ pay for that, because that will be /all Trent/. As the otterdog flies at her, Piper falls back and rolls with him, so that they are a mass of fluffed-up otter fighting. There's a sudden yelp from the mess, and Piper complaining. "/No biting/!" And then her version of a fierce growl, which sounds way more pup-ish than it should, and then she's on top, sitting on his chest and scooping up a pawful of leaves, dirt, and twigs to deposit on his face.
Sidney's ears drop back, not in one smooth motion, but a series of little jerky ones. Lower, then lower. He glances around; thankfully the few other hares are occupied elsewhere, and there are none nearby to see the Lieutenant so thoroughly out of his element. "... no one told me I'd be minding toddlers," he mutters, very low and barely audible, while he watches the two otters wrangle each other on the ground. Then, louder, "Just don't knock over the.. tent..."
Trent starts to wail and hammer his fists on the side of Piper. Take THAT, sea otter kidneys! He splutters at the loam of the forest showering his head and gets quite a bit in his mouth. "Deceitful! Traitor of otterkin!" Trent roars and struggles. "Get off me!" His tail whips around, slashing dirt and twigs around. "Help! Help! M'dyin' by a fat loaf of fuzzy, moldy bread!"
When it is successfully demonstrated that Trent can do /nothing/ about the situation, Piper sits prettily atop him for a moment before she helpfully brushes the dirt and twigs away from his face, and licks his cheek affectionately. "You're not /dyin'/," she complains at him. "Dun' be such a baby." And then she rolls off him, sprawling on her back and grinning up at Sidney as her tail goes whump. Whump. WHUMP. on the ground. "Reggie's nice. C'n we stay with you guys for a few days? We'll fish for ya!"
"His name's not.." Uhg. Sid rubs at the side of his face. "Nnnyyeeeah fine. Don't think any of us would mind a bit more.. variety in the diet." His arms fold, jaw shifting a little as he considers the two of them. They, they're not /that/ bad when they sit still for a few seconds. Piper earns a bit of a smile, as if to make up for the 'grumpy officer' vibe he knows he's putting off. "Just, understand that this isn't a leisure trip. We're looking for a slaver ship. If your.. you know. Company? If that gets in the way of our objective, I'm gonna have to ask you to go on your way. 'm sure you understand."
It would seem the otters were less than thrilled about accompanying the Patrollers on a quest of this magnitude. They parted ways.
To read the next part of the story, click here.
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