And This Is What I Get For Helping That Fox...

Halyard Village: Main Street

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

This is the main street of Halyard Village. However, for being the main

street, its not terribly impressive. Like most of the rest of the village,

the homes and buildings that line this street are sound, at best. The purpose

of the architecture is obviously efficiency, not elegance. The buildings are

short and squat, none any higher than two levels, and a good few windows are

covered in a fine grit; a combination of salt, sand, and dirt. The foremost

profession of the village becomes apparent with a simple glance around,

fishing nets and other such paraphernalia littering the area out front of

many of the buildings. So far as the living component of the street, a few

vendors are usually out and about, attempting to sell their products, among

them fish and other such foodstuffs, but without much success. It is, after

all, a small village.

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                               Visible Exits:

[I]ndoor [M]arket [W]est [Sq]uare

[T]own [H]all [E]ast [S]wuare

[A]pothecary

[C]linic

Flint is walking along the streets and watching beasts add the final finishing touches to get that Spring Festival started here in less than an hour maybe, or sooner, but he could care less.

It looks like some beasts have started the feast a little early. Even before the feast begins Vannon's paws are full with sticks of fried food, snacking and feasting even as his belly swells painfully before him.

The gluttonous fox does not look well. His clothing is torn, his fur is a mess, and he has several bandages about his person from his various injuries in the last few months. He even still walks with a limp where he was shot by an arrow...

The fox also seems to be in a hurry to eat and drink himself to death, stopping by each vender before they are fully set up for food and mead.

Flint doesn't see the fox as he walks along, he frowns as a hedgehog tries to show him some sort of cakes and he shakes his head “No thanks" and he heads on, unknowingly close to the fox

The two very nearly run into each other. A stick of fish in his mouth the fox's eyes open wide. "FLINT!" he says after spitting out the fish. He drops his food and goes to leap at the hare and...hug him!

"I'm saved! I'm SAAAAAAVED!" He tries to hug the hare tightly, tears filling his eyes.

Flint has no real time to react as he is suddenly leaped out and is quickly backing up and into a cart of cabbages, that breaks and goes everywhere to the horror of the hare maid who so neatly stacked them,"Noooooooooo!!!" Flint frowns and mutters a quick sorry as he glares at the fox as he goes to stand "Wot do ya....." His words are cut short as he trips over a cabbage and sighs, he finally stands and has a paw where his saber is, "Wot do ya want fox?"

The fox stands quickly, offering his best apologetic smile to the hare maiden as he dusts himself off. He opens his muzzle to speak, then pauses to rub the back of his neck. "I...I need help. But not here. Somewhere private, away from prying eyes..."

Flint narrows his eyes, " You knocked me out in the alley a couple days ago. You also balley well threw a jar of healing slave at my face. I had glass bits removed from my arm cause of ya and why would I help a vermin anyways, a trouble? My week has not been fun really...so, No" He turns to walk away from the fox muttering under his breath.

The fox clutches at his muzzle, nervously glancing over his shoulder, "Because you owe me your life! I saved you out of pure generosity! Remember? I could have let that weasel kill you, but I stepped into save you!" The fox tries to trot ahead of the hare. He falls to his knees, pleading with him, "Please! You are my only hope! I'm going to die and you are the only beast that can save me!"

Flint stops and its lucky he does as he could of tripped over the fox" Don’t you have like...friends to help you and if the Long Patrol is after you, sorry that’s your tough luck or did you do something even worse and anger the badger lord, if that’s the case your most likely doomed."

The fox chuckles nervously, glancing off to the side, "No, my boss is NOT going to learn of this...he would likely just stab me with a hook or something." He begins rubbing his wrists, "See, I was...gambling the other day and I had this sweet, sweet hand but not enough money to stay in the game so I...uh...kind of bet something important, very important. And ...then I lost, see? And now there are beasts coming to take it from me..."

Flint shakes his head "Then just give it to them, you could probably find a replacement whatever it is at the Spring Festival. Things can be replaced a lot faster than say a life can be."

"YEAAAAAH, that's the problem. See the thing I bet was..." The fox stands up, picking up his tail and waving it in the air.

Flint rolls his eyes "So your be a tailless fox, so what? I said I was not interested in helping and you can't make me help you." He goes to walk around the fox, maybe he can lose in a crowd of beasts.

The fox goes to grab the hare by the shirt, "No, I'll be a SKINNLESS fox! They are coming to take my hide, man!" His eyes are frantic and panicked, and his voice drawing a crowd in itself. "You have to help me! If you don't, you...you will never have any honor again!" The fox is grasping at straws now and he knows it. "How can you face your friends, your family, your children, your future children if you can't be trusted to pay a life debt!" The fox whimpers, "And if you help me I promise to never bother you again...ever. You would like that, right? I mean it. Never ever ever ev-" The fox looks over his shoulder at a trio of lizards moving through the crowd. He gives the hare one last pleading look before darting for the nearest alley way.

Flint glares at the fox and watches him as he dives into an alley. He looks over at the trio of lizards and frowns. Why does it have to start getting warmer now, he already dislikes toads and lizards in his view are about the same. He left his longbow at home and only has his saber that he lays a paw on now.

The lizards pay the hare no mind. One even tipping his head in greeting as they pass by. They are dressed somewhat civilized, wearing tunics and sporting sabers of their own. They move quickly towards the alley the fox disappeared down.

Vannon appears a short moment later, another pair of lizards prodding him along and taking his sword. The pudgy fox gives the hare one last pleading look.

Flint looks at first to just leave the fox to his fate and then sighs as he clears his throat "So..why the interest in the fox?"

The lizards pause and turn towards the hare and suddenly this section of the street clears out. Halyard is a hearty town and knows when a fight is about to break out.

"Oi! We are just collecting a debt Mr. Flabby Foxy here owes us. Nothing to concern de Long arm of the Long Patrol about..."

The lizards all chuckle

Flint draws his saber but has yet to do anything with it."Well, maybe give him time to..get together some coins or some other...something or other, or maybe he could just work off what he owes"

The lizards all laugh. "Yeah...his debt has come. Suffice to say, it's none of your business so why don't you...hop off somewhere eh?" The fox whimpers as they start to lead him away.

Flint narrows his eyes "Hop along? That’s very rude to say to a hare; maybe you can just get your fox hide some other time or find a new better fox hide"

"Or maybe we can add hare to the menu as well!" One lizard hisses back.

"Menu?" One lizard raises an eyebrow, "We are going to skin him, not eat him."

"What? Why? Look how much meat he has on his bones!"

"Jesssss we talked about thissss..." The lizard closes his eyes and sighs. As he does Vannon takes advantage of the situation by stomping on his toe. The reptile shrieks hopping up and down while the fox pushes him into the all but one of the lizards, causing them to stumble. He takes off like a bullet down the street with one green scaled lizard hot on his tail.

"After him!" The leader of the lizards adjusts his hat as he points after Vannon.

Flint one ear droops as he dislikes the idea of being a meal, as Vannon zooms off he starts to back off and keeps the saber in front of himself as he does, he is not sure Vannon needs the help now or not and he is not going to turn his back on any lizards.

"And YOU!" The lead lizard turns back to the hare, pointing a claw accusingly at him. "I'm going to teach you a lesson in staying out of other beast’s business..."

"Wait...don't! That's an LP member! D-" The lead lizard shrugs off the warnings of his companion and strides forward drawing his saber. Two of the lizards head off after the fox but one remains to make sure his boss doesn't get gutted by a hare...

Flint now has a reason to fight and its again close up fighting which he hates. He into a fighter's stance and stays vey alert as he makes a mental note where the two lizards are.

The lead lizard is a portly fellow, scrawny limbs and a fleshy yellow scaled belly. The other lizard is just scrawny and nervously stands by while his boss slashes at the hare, using both paws to swing his saber.

Flint angles the saber and then slices at the main lizard, he has some skill with the saber and he has been practicing with it so he is better than he was before and he only needs to use one paw to swing his weapon knows the weight of it. He also knows then to duck a swing

The lizard let's out a gasps as the saber cuts through him, from the top of his belly to his shoulder blade. He staggers backward, clutching the wound to his chest before collapsing onto the street.

He lets out a sigh as the dark forest claims him. The lizard stands in shock. "You...you..." He hisses defiantly as he leaps at the hare, yelling a war cry while swinging the blade with both hands over his head.

Flint frowns, even he knows that’s a bad way to fight, bad form and all that as he goes to slice at his unprotected neck, at the same time going to avoid any injuries himself, but that’s easy the way this 2nd lizard is swinging the blade.

The lizard ducks and rolls under the hare’s swings, coming back swinging furiously back and forth at the hare and foaming slightly at the mouth in agitation. "GRAH!"

Flint blocks the blade and pants as he is starting to tire out now and goes for a sideways swing at the lizard's side.

The blade slices easily into the reptile’s soft underbelly spilling his stomach. He collapses, "This...this can't..." He gurgles, stretching out across the road and expires.

The hare is left alone with two reptile corpses.

Flint steps back and looks around for the fox Vannon, he goes to catch his breath and walks a little ways from the dead lizards "Where the bally fox go..now"

"Psst." Comes a voice from an empty market stall. Beasts are still filing out into the street after the fight concluded.

The fox's furry head appears over the stall, "Hey! I gave them the slip. How'd it go on your end?" He glances over to the street where the lizards lay dead. "You killed them? Wow...ok then. That works too. Now /we/ just need some place to hide..."

Flint glares slightly, he is too tried to say much, but he does get out "I..hate...you..." Yes it's the fox's fault lizards want him dead now most likely. He looks around as he speaks "No..idea where to..go now

The fox chuckles darkly. "That's simple really. We just find some place to hold up, some place with some food preferably, I'm starving... then we wait a while and enjoy the festival. No sweat right?" He pats the hare on the shoulder, "Maybe we can find some blankets...wear them as disguises and if anyone asks we are a traveling troupe of fire eaters..."

Flint arches an eyebrow, "Fire eaters? Really and it looks like ya be fine without a meal for a while thar "

The fox only laughs, "You kidding me? I thought I was going to be having my last meal today, but now I'm going to live! This is cause for celebration!"

The fox raises his arms in victory.

CLONK!

Goes the black jack against both his head and the hare's as the lizards return to catch them.

Flint nods his head, and he misses the lizards behind them. Oh he feels the connection of the jack and groans as he falls forwards; he tries to stay awake as he sees the blurry image of the last 3 lizards...."Oh......" And everything goes dark.

• • • • • • • A few hours pass and they awaken elsewhere**********

It wasn't the worst room one could awaken too, Vannon reflects. The fox has no idea where he is beyond the fact that he is underground. There are no windows, just brick walls and a stair case leading upstairs. There are few crates here, mostly empty.

The Fox is tied with his arms behind his back and thrown into the corner like a sack of potatoes. IT wasn't the best situation but...he wasn't dead yet so...that was a plus!

Flint is in the room as well. His arms tied behind his back and his saber is gone. He slowly wakes up and groans "Where am I?" He asks trying to get use to very little, if any light in here.

"About to die." The fox answers bluntly. There is only a single lantern to keep the area lit. "Turns out I didn't lose the lizards as much as I thought I did..." Vannon chuckles weakly, "They knocked us out and dragged us, here...did you know that you snore when you are knocked out?"

Flint becomes more awake when he hears the fox’s voice and struggles with his ropes trying to get loose. He gives up after a little while and speaks to the fox" And why am I here for chap? Ya think they would leave me alone and they took my saber." adds "I don't snore"

"Riiiiiight." The fox chuckles, finding humor in the darkest of situations. "Snoring aside, you killed their leader. He was the one I owed my hide too. Buuuut you didn't kill the rest of the serpents." He gestures to the occasional creak above them to show where the lizards were walking. "Remember the lizard that was all for killing and eating me? Yeaaaaaaaaaaah, guess who's in charge of this merry little gang now..."

Flint frowns slightly “I can't stay here; I have to get loose before beasts worry about me. My nieces are most likely worried sick by now. Then maybe not much time has passed and eating fox sounds like a rather bad thing to jolly well do "

"Oh don't worry, you will be served right alongside him. With a side of mashed potatoes." Comes a voice from the stair well. A pair of lizards steps down into the room. The green scaled beast that follows appears...nervous if nothing else. The yellow scaled beast seems just as confident as his leader before he was cut down.

"Oh! Hey there! Funny thing! I was just about to say the same thing! Ain't that a-"

"Shut it fox." The yellow lizard crosses his arms as he strides across the room, pausing over the two of them to gloat, "Don't worry you're fuzzy little tails. We arn't gonna actually eat you. Yet. Not unless your fellow hares back at the mountain don't send your ransom..."

Flint asks, "Ransom? He asks, "What makes ya think they will send you anything but a free ticket to the dark forest you furless chap."

"That's what I said..." The green lizard rubs at his tail nervously.

"Quite you." Continuing to gloat over his kidnap-ee the Reptile replies, "The Long Patrol doesn't leave their own behind. IF they don't reply to our first letter then perhaps they will reply to having your ear sent in the mail...you're...good ear."

"Ew." Says the fox.

"You're one to talk boy-o. Part of Jaskor's crew. I wonder how much he will pay to get you back as well..."

Flint is curious now, “Who is Jaskor?" He frowns at the idea of losing his other ear, but takes a deep breath "I am not afraid of a bunch of lizards"

The fox quips, "I am! Most of my family were eaten by lizards! And a few cousins I didn't like...and a couple of uncles...no, Leroy was eaten by eagles, that's right." Vannon laughs, "Sorry, it's hard to keep track anymore."

"Enough. Both of you." The yellow lizard turns for the stairs, "We will see how far your bravado gets if your buddies don't pay your ransom."

The green lizard watches him walk by, he turns to the others and gives them a worried look before following.

Flint watches them head off “You know the one lizard seems fairly worried bout something. I think these chaps could be taken down fairly easily, we just need to get free"

The fox nods, "No joke. Here, if I reposition myself with my back to you, I can have you untie my hands. Then I untie you...and then we jump them like bandits the next time they come down here, sound like a plan?" The fox tries to scoot towards the hare...

Flint has decided to trust the fox, it doesn’t mean he hates him any less. He tries to scoot closer to the fox so they are back to back. It will be hard at first to move his fingers to find a knot and then try to loosen the knot some best he can. "Sounds like a plan"

The fox lets the hare loosen his bonds. "Oh thank the light!" He rubs his writs, then unties his feet. The fox stands up and then...walks away towards the stairs without untieing Flint.

Flint frowns "Hey..... HEY!" He yells "You blooming forgot bout me! You get back here right now!!" He struggles to get his paws free again, this time cussing when he fails to move his wrists enough. He manages to slowly start being able to move his wrists better.

The fox turns and gives the hare a salute, "Thanks for the assist mate, but if Jaksor ever heard that I had to be rescued by a hare he would cut me into tiny ribbons and feed me to the fishes. I'll pass word along that the lizards may have you here to the next Long Patrol member I find." he rubs his chin and laughs, "May even charge them for the information. Take care friend. I'm off to show off my foxy wiles by escaping without alerting the lizards..."

Five minutes pass.

There is a brief pathetic struggle and the fox finds himself back in the cellar. This time his paws are tied to a rope from the ceiling and his feet to the floor. His mouth is gagged and he glares out at the world through a newly acquired black eye.

"That should hold him..." Say the lizards as they dust off their paws and walk away, this time leaving a burly green scaled brute to stay down here and watch over them.

Foxy wiles indeed...

Flint cusses loudly and then looks surprised when the fox is back and even manages a laugh, "See you didn't get to far chap"