A Silent Avenging Angel of Darkness (Hunting Zurrgg log)
Dirt Road
Mossflower - Dirt Road -------------------------
Sandy pawprints are tracked upon the road's surface, as stray greenery
emerges in scraggly clumps. The road stretches north and south to the
horizon, offering faint glimpses of buildings in both directions. On
either side of the road, the trees appear more thinly distributed than
they do farther north, and southward the trees dwindle entirely. A
well-traveled dusty path leads west to an impressive structure; walls
very much like a castle's in design. A trail of flowers lines the path
to the building, straight as though planted, yet no sign of present
civilization is offered. With the sun's glow reflecting off the
leaves, the summer landscape is pleasurable enough.
Exits: [W]oodland [P]ath, [C]learing, [S]outh, [N]orth
Mice: DoraRose, female. Emyuil, male.
Squirrels: Krystal, female.
Bandits provided by Bandit (how ironic XD).
A bunch of bees.
DoraRose is sitting in a tree, her axe balanced delicately on the branch in front of her. She's waiting for her brother, and she thought this would be a good opportunity to eat something. Munching on some bread and cheese, she slowly sips some cider while taking a good look around. The day is clear and sunny, with some puff-ball clouds lazily floating by.
With the coming of spring, gone were the snow and storms that locked beasts into their respective villages. The roads opened and travelers could embark upon trading with other settlements. And where there were unguarded travelers, there were bandits.
The trio of martens were experiencing a glut of good and impressive hauls from their bandit raids. Each one was well fed, sleek, and in good health. A female marten wore a chainmail shirt over her hooded green cloak, carrying a spear in paw with a bag full of valuables tied to it. Over one shoulder she carried a parcel full of ill gotten baubles. The marten next to her was a particularly fat beast, belly left exposed to the elements under an unbuttoned vest and sloshing with wine. A bag of ill gotten gains is also slung over his shoulder, his free paw sampling a bottle of wine in the other.
The lead marten was a one eyed beast, black tunic tied loosely about his body under a leather vest. "Oh, don't stab me please!" he mimics a voice as he walks, prompting laughter from the group. "Never seen a guard beg so much..."
DoraRose hears the bandits long before she can see them. Narrowing her eyes, she finishes her snack, closes her haversack, and hangs it from a branch stump just above her head. Laying down on her branch, she holds her axe tightly in her paw. Her sword is strapped onto her back, ready for action should Nightsong get stuck in something (like armour or a tree trunk). Narrowing her eyes, she silently notes who the leader seems to be (the one not carrying anything) and decides to make HIM beg before this is all over....
The trio of bandits hardly notice, "So where too next Rottooth? Back to camp?" Asks the portly marten.
"Nah, we head to the Mossflower market first, Swiftpaw, cash in this haul and then live it up in nearest tavern." The lead marten laughs, "I figure we got enough loot to tide us over until next month."
"Ah yes, the wonderful cycle of loot." Says the female marten, "Woodlanders work hard for their belongings, and then we steal them. Life really is good."
DoraRose waits until they have passed under her tree, then drops quietly behind them. Silent, she swings her axe at the one in the back of the trio, then brings it back around and hacks at the next one. She is silent, like an avenging angel of darkness, dressed all in her black traveling clothes. Minus the cloak; it's too warm for the cloak.
Krystal is on her way back from the market, or close to it. She is checking on something that was close by. She stops when she hears the voices and goes to get a closer look frowning at the sight of vermin.
Martens were always more fickle and cautious than most beasts as it were, and the spear wielding beast was the most cautious of martens. Catching a glimpse of the beast in the corner of her eye. With out warning she gives Swiftpaw a kick hard enough to the side to send him flying out of the first swing and face first onto the ground. "Look o-" is as far as she gets when the axe comes back to slash her across her mail protected chest, sending her flailing and onto her back.
"Holy..." The lead marten twists and draws his saber, "What in the blazes!" He moves to slash at Dora, giving Swiftpaw a chance to recover and get to his feet.
DoraRose laughs mirthlessly. BRING IT. Oblivious to the proximity of the squirrel, the mouse Warrior ducks the sabre swing and attacks, trying to use her huge axe to hammer the leader back a few paces. She then sidesteps and goes to swing at his side, trying to hurt him in the very least.
Krystal quickly climbs a tree and is fairly high up as she edges along a branch and hums softly. It's a hive that's half gone, but some bees are still in it, bees who like her humming but most likely won't like their home falling onto some beast's head. She will wait till one of those martins are against the tree before she shakes loose the nest, she does get stung once but she is use to a sting every now and then so it won't swell much.
Sparks fly as metal meets metal. There are no time for words, quick comments, witty remarks, only DEATH as the marten struggles to keep the axe from finding his flesh. The fat bellied pine marten doesn't attack, not at first, he steps around behind the mouse, drawing his dagger...
When the female marten let's out a loud cry, leaping to her feet to skewer the mouse with her spear...or the tree on the other side where the squirrel is setting her trap.
That is not what Dora had intended. She has this...almost evil smile on her face. She must not have been having a good day. Ducking the spear, she goes to grab the female marten and shove her towards the tree that, unbeknownst to her, the squirrel has set a trap in. Spinning, she goes to slice at the marten with the dagger while ducking the sabre...but she still gets a little gash on her shoulder. Which she notices. Whoo, boy, does she notice. Roaring, she turns again and goes to chop at the sabre marten with a frightening ferocity.
Krystal watches as the nest goes to fall on the marten's head and chuckles, but she almost falls as well and gasps as she holds onto the branch with one paw and looks down below.
The marten makes a sort a terrified squeak as he leans backward sucking in his gut as the ax head sales by, slicing a hair from his belly. He staggers backward, patting himself down and breathing a sigh of relief.
And then the screaming starts. The bee hive lands on the poor spear wielding marten's head, entrapping her in a hive of angry insects. "BEEEEEEEEES!" She shrieks trying to get the hive off of her.
"Bloody..." The distraction is enough to possibly cost the leader of the bandits his life. Raising his sword to block the ax the blade snaps as the mouse's weapon comes down. He shouts, falling onto his rump with a gash across his chest. "Swiftpaw! Help me!"
Coming to his boss's rescue the portly pine marten leaps at the mouse, trying to dig his dagger into her back!
DoraRose jogs back a few steps, managing to have all the martens in between her and the bees. "Ah!" Is all she can get out about the angry falling insects before Swiftpaw is after her with the knife. Baring her teeth in a savage snarl, the Warrior swings her axe, drops to the ground, draws her sword, and goes to chop a leg out from under the portly pine marten, all in one fluid set of movements.
Krystal manages to slowly work her way to the trunk and then climbs down to the base of the tree and the bees! She frowns at the nest on the one martens head and jumps back, she starts to hum softly to try and calm the bees down.
The bees hardly calm down as the marten continues to scream. Turning to run madly into the forest as her portly partner pine marten in crime finds his leg cut out from under him causing him to fall flat on his face. He rolls to one side, trying to sit up, a look of terror on his face. "No!" he shouts when his bleeding leg refuses to support his weight.
DoraRose goes to slice at the portly marten's abdomen, then delivers the death blow, all with her sword. She then turns to see if the leader is dead....and gets stung on her nose by a bee. Hollering, she drops her sword and claps a paw to her face as the dying bee manages to buzz away.
Krystal frowns, this is a little much as she looks at the broken hive and the bees on the ground "The poor...bees...it's sad"
The portly marten lets out a gasp as the sword splits him open like a melon. He is spared a grizzly death by a slightly less grizzly demise, falling onto his back and rolling onto his side with a gurgle.
The remaining marten twitches his tail in agitation and fear, and then for the first time sees the squirrel, or should he say, hostage?
Leaping to his feet he makes a mad dash for Krystal, drawing his knife as he goes.
Oh, no he doesn't. Roaring, Dora grabs her axe and charges. Swinging, she goes to kill the remaining marten, her eyes starting to get a vaguely pink tint. Because the Bloodwrath is illogical. She then goes to trip him and hits at him with her axe a second time, because overkill is so underrated.
Krystal gasps and steps sideways to avoid the vermin and the ax wielding mouse. She looks at the bees "The poor bees, they gave their lives to help us." Yes tend to the bees. She will quietly scoop up dead bees and bury them by he tree and say a little prayer for the bees. She smiles as a couple go on her shoulder "Hello friends, want a new home in the abbey, of course you do..." She looks to Dorarose "We need to get home"
The marten's one good eye tenses as he takes the axe to the back, whole body going ridged, the slash to the leg undercuts him and he falls, rolling onto his back. "W-why? Why are you...why are you..." He gasps, struggling to sit up.
DoraRose stands over the marten and goes to press her foot into his chest. "You were joking about robbing somebeast, and I've been having a bad week. Why did you steal all that loot?" Glancing back at the squirrel, she adds, "I'm not going back to Redwall until I find my son." Turning back to the marten, she raises her axe in preparation to strike and then just holds it there. "Any last words?"
Krystal nods "OK...well...I need to get the bees still alive to the safety of the abbey" Even bees should feel safe right?
The marten can hardly care about bees while his own life is at stake. His one good eyes focus in on the ax blade above him. Instead of cowering for his life the marten leans back and closes his eyes, "Please don't tell my son I'm a bandit." He says as his last words.
DoraRose hesitates. Is he just trying to mess with her, or..... She's never killed anyone like this before. What would her father say? Resting her axe on her shoulder, she sighs. "Stay here. If you move, I will kill you." She growls threateningly. Then she walks over to the tree she was in and thumps the axe into the ground at its roots. Climbing the tree, she gets her haversack, then comes back down. "I will spare you, unless you try to kill me, and if I ever see you stealing or murdering again, I will NOT be this merciful. DO you understand me?"
The marten's one eye opens wide, surprised that he isn't opening them to the dark forest. He sits up painfully, nodding his head slowly in reply. Is he really going to survive this?
DoraRose is no Healer, but she is good at patch jobs on the field. Pulling open her haversack, she digs out a first aid kit. She goes to start working on the wounds she inflicted. "....what made you become a bandit?" She asks.
The marten raises an eyebrow over his missing eye. "What made you decide to hunt bandits?" The marten chuckles, "Food, money, and more of it than I would ever get living an honest life." He narrows his eye to the mouse. "You want to let me live? Fine. But let me have some honor and just...leave. If you think I am going to let you help me after you killed my friends then-" he cringes in pain across the slash to his back, rolling onto his side.
DoraRose shrugs. "Fine. You can bandage up yourself. I don't /want/ to help you. I /want/ to kill you. But I also /want/ to make my late parents proud. Here," she leaves some bandages beside the marten. "And I only killed one; the bees did the rest." She gathers up all of her things, then starts to walk away.
The marten oofs as the bandages land on the marten's belly. He watches the mouse walk away, letting him live. It appears his family has saved his life.
If he knew having a son would save his life he might actually have had one... chuckling to himself the marten struggles to pick himself up, rolling onto his stomach and breathing heavily. He glances at the slain marten beside him and scowls, "Idiot. You had ONE job. ONE job. ONE! Couldn't even do that right..."
DoraRose is not stupid. She just has a Zurrgg to catch. "Until next time..." she whispers before she disappears into the forest, looking for her brother.....
In the woods, Emyuil's rigged a campsite for himself and his sister. He waits quietly for her to return, tapping on the hilt of his dark sword occasionally. He's worried about her, but he knows that she can take care of herself.
DoraRose crashes into his campsite on accident. "Oh! I was waiting for you!" They seem to have had a minor lack of communication, here. "So, I killed a marten and left his boss to possibly get eaten by something. How's your day been?" She flops down beside him, shrugs off her haversack and puts her axe to the side, then lays down on her stomach and buried her face in her arms. "....any news of Zurrgg?"
"Heh. I cooked up some of the food we brought, if you're hungry. No cats around, but there's some tracks off northeast a bit if you want to go check them out. Didn't want to run off without you," Emyuil says. He goes to rub her back gently, if she'll allow it, and chats idly with her for a bit while he eats some of the food they've packed.
DoraRose gets a backrub. because sibbies are AMAZING.
Thanks for reading!!
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