A fox in the hand is worth more than two in the bush... Part 1

From Redwall MUCK Wiki


Yes, this peaceful day truly does make one forget the strife and hardship most beasts have to face in this wood. If the tree's could talk they could recount the many battles fought in these woods, daring adventures of heroic beasts, shadowy tales of villainous vermin...

And how Vannon got stuck in a tree.

The Mossflower woods. The peaceful morning air belittles the often turbulent nature of the forrest. The skies today are mostly cloudy allowing the sun to shine through and warm the woods. Birds sign in the distance, bugs are starting to shake off their winter hibernation. The trees thin out here in this section of the woods due to the placement of an old and well worn road. The exact name of the road is forgotten. It is possible that the roads doesn't even lead anywhere anymore.

Yes, this peaceful day truly does make one forget the strife and hardship most beasts have to face in this wood. If the tree's could talk they could recount the many battles fought in these woods, daring adventures of heroic beasts, shadowy tales of villainous vermin...

And how Vannon got stuck in a tree.

There, in the center of the road a fox hangs from a snare, caught by his foot and apparently hand paw. The fox's pelt is grey and rather unkempt. His ribs seem to show from under his fur and his clothing, what little there is appears almost to be tribal. A leather sash hangs at his waist, long enough to reach his knees in both front and back. His tail has a cloth bandage wrapped tightly about the tip.

The fox has the most un-joyful expression as he spins slowly in a circle, suspended by the rope that leads up to the tree branch above him, and wrapping about both his foot and hand in the most uncomfortable looking position imaginable.

Vannon sighs, "...Mondays..."

It's a beautiful day, all things considered. But Gant hasn't enjoyed a beautiful day in quite some time. When you're stuck in an unfamiliar land, far from home, with no idea if somebeast is pursuing you with intent to take your head back to their leader, it's hard to really take in all the warmth and lovely scenery.

But there's plenty of time to take in the sight of a fox hanging from a tree.

Gant found this road a few hours ago, and with nowhere else to go, he followed it. It's a lot easier than traipsing through the woods and getting covered in ants and dirt and who knows /what/ else, and frankly, his bare footpaws could use a break from all that rough terrain. As he comes upon Vannon, though, his expression changes to one of mild amusement.

"Caught yerself in a tree, did ye? How'd ye go an' do that, eh? Thought ye was a squirrel?" he asks with a toothy grin. By the look of him, it's obvious the stoat hasn't seen civilization in some time, as worn out as his clothing is. It seems to be military garb, but of what military isn't entirely certain. It's not Salamandastron, that's for sure.

The fox jumped a bit at Gant's voice. He seemed to tilt his head up as he spun back and forth like a pendulum. Peering at the new comer upside down the fox saw Gant. A stoat! "Oh thank the light, you gave me a heart attack!" the fox replied, "I thought you were...well that doesn't matter." the skinny little vulpine twisted as best he could to see Gant in a better light

"Actually...I was setting this trap for a squirrel ironically. I kind of...set it off by accident. I won't bore you for the details as I'm sure you can clearly see how the story ends." the fox wagged his tail happily, "I don't suppose you could be a friend and cut me down? My knife fell to the forrest floor right," He tried pointing with his free hand to words a simple curved blade sticking out of the forest road., causing him to spin around in circles again, "There! There! Oh blast I think I'm going to hurl..."

The fox let out a most pitiful whine as he spun.

Gant can sympathize with the poor fox to some extent, though he's a little too busy laughing right now as he watches Vannon spin in place. But eventually, his better nature convinces him to nod in agreement. "Alright, I'll help ye. I have somethin' better 'an a knife anyway."

As it turns out, that something is the shamshir he draws from the scabbard at his side. Compared to the rest of him, covered in mud and leaves and debris, it's in remarkably pristine condition, barely a speck of rust on it or a chip in its blade. But most importantly, it looks quite sharp.

"Now hold on, gonna have to climb up ye to cut it." the stoat says, approaching Vannon and grabbing hold where he can to haul himself up. It's likely making things even more uncomfortable for the poor thief, but it won't last long as Gant begins to saw at the rope.

The fox seemed to gulp as he saw the light glint off of the sharp blade. The stoat was just as capable off killing Vannon as rescuing him. But he guesses that if the stoat were to have nefarious purposes then he would have an easier time doing them while the fox is tied up. "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou." Says the fox, "You won't believe how long I have been here. I was afraid I was going to starve to death or worse, meat up with some fox eating snake or...something. The woods these days, am I right?" Vannon laughed. He seemed to be the chatty type.

"I got to say, thanks mate. With out you here to help me I..." The fox jerked about as the rope began to snap, giving him a very good look at just how high up he really was, "W-wait! Don-"

SNAP!

Vannon's yelp is cut off as he lands head first onto the forest floor below. His body hangs suspended for a brief moment, curled backwards over his head, until he falls flat onto his stomach.

"WhyyyYYYYyyyYYYYyyyYYYyyyy..." the fox moaned.

"Yeah, yeah, just hold on an' try not to spin too much, ye hear? Last thing I need is to cut me own paw off." Gant responds curtly, splitting thread after thread until it finally hits him that, y'know, this might not have been the best way to go about it. Unfortunately, it's too late to do anything, as the two of them are now crashing to the ground.

A few seconds later, the stoat wakes up from his daze next to Vannon, blinking as the sunlight suddenly seems so much brighter. "Ugh, me head hurts more'n that time me uncle brought that foreign wine for dinner..." he grumbles, pushing himself up into a sitting position and cradling his aching noggin in his paws. After the pounding has subsided a little, he looks over to the fox and gives him a nudge. "Hey, ye okay there?"

Then it strikes him that he can't see his sword anywhere. "Ye seen me blade? I lost sight of it when we fell-"

SHIIINGTHUD

The sight of the sword sticking point first in the dirt, right between his legs, having fallen just a hair's breadth from landing on his head, causes Gant to just fall silent. Really, what do you say to that?

You don't, you whimper silently in abstract fear. At least Vannon would. If he were not laying face first on the ground with his snout buried into the dirt from the impact of his fall. "OwwwwWWWwwwwWWwww..." The fox whines. Slowly Vannon picks himself up. Slowly. He stands to his full height which, for a fox, isn't too impressive. Rubbing his sore head the vulpine offers a belated and sarcastic "Thanks." to the stoat.

Vannon begins to pace around in a wide circle while whimpering about something called a 'Charley horse' "You really should offer people more warning before you just drop them willy nilly, you know that?" He says angrily. After a moment he says to the stoat in a much more pleasant tone, "Thanks."

Taking a bow the fox introduces himself, "Vannon, Kydo Vannon at your service, and I am in your eternal debt! Baring some restrictions...mostly on the eternal part." He says, wavering his hand back and forth as he does. "I'm mostly surprised anyone was actually out here." With a raised eyebrow the fox continues, "Why ARE you out here?" Through all this the vulpine never once offers to help Gant to his feet.

Gant shakes his head, finally pulled out of his stunned stupor by Vannon's chatter. Picking himself up from the ground and pulling his sword free, he wipes the dirt off of the blade on his filthy trousers and sheathes it before saying anything back.

"Me name's Gant. An' yer welcome." the stoat replies, dusting himself off (which doesn't help much) before finally looking Vannon in the eyes. "I'm a long way from home. Call it an extended vacation, I guess. What are /you/ doin' out here?"

Vannon steeples his paws together, "Me? Well, i suppose that IS a valid question." Continuing to drum his claws together Vannon slouches a bit, making him look more weasely, both physically and metaphorically speaking. "I suppose you could say that I am on a rescue mission. You see, there is this very nasty...squirrel out here. He catches birds and sells them to vermin to eat. Wood pigeon, sparrows, even robins and song birds." The fox's eyes grow round. The beast is still young enough to still have that 'puppy dog eye' look it seems.

"Just imagine, all those poor poor birdies, trapped in cages near his hut, left out in the rain and fattened up for dinner. I know the bird catcher frequents this area so I was going to try and trap him with a snare and then go free the poor beasties to...set them free...yeah. Set them free." The scrawny fox's eyes dart back and forth as he mentions the last part and he gives the stoat a wide toothed grin.

Well, that sounds perfectly legitimate and not like the fox has any ulterior motives. Gant leans in as Vannon speaks, listening closely while scratching his chin. With a smile and a nod, he says, "Aye, ye seem a kind enough fox. So yer sayin' ye want me to help ye, is that right?"

Vannon's grin stretches from ear to ear. Patting the stoat on the shoulder and attempting to lead him down the road path Vannon replies, "I could use someone to help me carry off all those tasty...er...poor defenseless birds yes." His tail twitches behind him as he walks, "I could also use someone to...distract the squirrel for a while, to give me time to free his captive sparrows. Nothing too hard for a big fierce looking warrior no doubt. After all he is just a squirrel..."

Gant is a bit gullible in his princely naivete, so he doesn't even catch the slight slip of the fox's tongue. Returning a grin of his own, he gives Vannon a tight hug and a pat on the back. "Good, we will free the birds! I am not much of a warrior, but I can handle a squirrel." he chuckles, just glad to see someone who isn't trying to kill him.

The fox stoops to retrieve his own knife, placing it firmly in the waist band of his sash. For reason's only known to him Vannon begins to chuckle most evily. "Oh...I'm sure you can..." Taking the lead Vannon then bounds into the woods, leading his new companion to their destination...or the fox's dinner...

________

Gant

Gant is a dusty brown stoat of slightly above average height and a notably underfed build. He generally has a twitchy, paranoid air about him, always checking over his shoulder for signs of danger. His fur is typically messy in appearance, but for the most part kept clean of dirt, twigs, food particles, and blood. Covering his chest is a simple, single-piece, smoke-darkened steel chestplate, and he wears a tattered dark blue bandana on his head and a pair of worn green trousers. His footpaws are unclad, any footwear he may have owned long since abandoned. The only visible possession of his in relatively good repair is the curved sword at his side, as it rarely leaves its simple wooden sheathe. As a long-time habit possibly picked up in whatever horde he was in before, he checks the sword hilt's location at regular intervals, as if to reassure himself that it is still there.

Vannon (played by me)

Dated description, will be edited soon.

Kydo Vannon is a small fox in the prime years of his life. His pelt is a mishmash of greys, blacks and browns. A long black stripe runs down his back from the top of his head to the base of his tale. His sides are govered in grey fur that becomes lighter as it draws closer to his belly which is tan. His chin and throat are decorated in pure white fur.

The fox is dressed in a thick otter hide vest. The vest is short sleeved and buttons down to his waist with gold, yes real gold, buttons. A sliver of his waist is exposed between the vest and the squirrel leather sash he has adorning his hips. Held up by a cloth belt the sash comes down to his knees both front and back. There is a small hole in the back to allow his tail to stick through.

The fox's paws and the tip of his tail are both covered in light brown fur.

The beast carries a small double bladed dirk at the small of his back, and an pine re-curve bow across his shoulders along with its quiver. He usually carries around 24 arrows at one time.