A Sinister Meeting
« continued from A Horse of a Reunion.
- Location: North Mossflower Woods
- Participants: Moruwil, Malcolm
Moruwil chuckles, clapping a paw to the young lizard's back, "Well... by rights you should be, maybe even just a little more than 'just a little'. But we /are/ happy to see you, lad. We ran all over the place, up and down Mossflower, to find you. We had no idea where you were; I sent our shrews out everywhere. Finally Gracken, you remember him, he reported back from Collinsel with the good news." The squirrel smiles, pausing, "We've needed you, a great deal. No other beast has the strength like you do, to lift those stones that have blocked our vital paths in the quarry, ones that are just a bit too much for myself." He sighs, his smile fading, his expression saddening.
Moruwil sighs, "Lad, we're doing the best we can, no doubt... maybe I'm just saying... it's not the same without you, and well... remember the big snake puppet the shrews used to scare all our visitors away? That's been ripped to shreds, since your pa and the others fought with it. We have no protection, the newborns, and the others. Would you consider... goodness knows how hard it would be to leave your papa on short notice... coming back for a bit? I--I mean, just until we can get a new scary puppet made?" He grins, winking.
Malcolm watches the squirrel and thinks for a little bit, shrugging his shoulders AGAIN. "Eh. Not my problem now." he replies, turning and taking a few steps away. He stops and turns again, watching Moruwil for a moment. "Find someone else. Maybe ask a badger or something. I'm not leaving. No matter how much I don't want to be here."
Moruwil loses his patience. The prince loses the charm, and gives the lizard cold, hard reality. "Look, Mally. We didn't need you, before now. We honestly didn't - you can appreciate that, right? I don't think you need your pa all that much, seeing as how he let somebody just steal you away... look - there's a dangerous fox out for all of us, he left you with us, and we're answerable for you. He's..." There's a look of gut-wrenching, feral terror on the squirrel's face, and the tail is trembling all over, "He's a madfox, he'll butcher us /all/. You /have/ to do us this small favor. I beg you."
Malcolm blinks a little in surprise. "I told you. Find somebody else." he says, swearing under his breath. He doesn't need to be told what to do by his father, and he's not about to let some squirrel just order him around even if he knows him. "You don't have the right to just...just show up out of the blue and try to get me to go back with you. Its not fair!" he turns, but stops halfway. "Maybe one day...just not right now. I'm leaving now." he turns the rest of the way and starts to move back towards the group.
Moruwil calls out, "Wait!" He stumbles forward in the brush, falling to his knees, "Please, just... just keep this with you!" The squirrel holds out a small orb, palm-sized. He shows him how it works, "There are bugs inside, glowing ones... also nectar that they crave - if you open this every night, they'll fly up into the night air and I'll be able to at least know where you are. There are no others that produce this color light around here, so I will know. I must know, at all times, or else I will have no answer for the fox."
After a sigh and a moment's pause, Malcolm turns back toward Moruwil. He looks down at the orb and then reaches out to take it, nodding his head. "Alright. I'll at least do that." he sticks it in his pocket, thinking. "And by the way, if you want to pull me off to the side sometime, whistle like a bird. The frog call terrified the others. They'll know somethings up if they hear it over and over again." he suggests. But he doesn't care either way.
Moruwil nods. "I will give a lark call, then. I know you must carve your own path - you are growing, faster than I had at your age, being a spoiled prince... but you must be wary of the danger of being a traveler. Still, I will do whatever is necessary to keep my own safe. Be well on your journeys, Mal." The squirrel and shrew disappear into the overgrowth.
Malcolm turns as he walks, keeping himself moving. He watches them vanish and shakes his head. "Danger, heh. Like I really need to worry about that? Who in their right mind would attack a monitor lizard?" he shrugs and then returns to the path, running to catch up with everyone.
