Breakfast at CW

Characters: Aibne, Rorri, Zephyr

Aibne walks, half limps around the Camp Willow grounds. There is not too many places he can go right now, least till his leg heals up. Though he had thought of going to the feast the Redwaller's mentioned but maybe he is unsure of that as well. He finds a tree stump to sit on and looks around as he sits.

Early morning is not Zephyr's favorite time of day. She didn't sleep well last night and now she looks haggard. Tea will fix some of this problem so she saunters towards the chow hall, stretching as she goes. "Mornin'..." Greetings are exchanged with several otters as they go about their morning tasks.

Aibne looks over as he sees Zephyr come into view and waits till she comes closer to him to speak "Ello thar" He stays sat on the tree trunk for now as he has yet to stand up.

Zephyr smiles sleepily and gives Aibne a nod. "Mornin', friend. How's it going?"

Rorri has arrived.

Aibne smiles in return, "Its going good so far, this place is very intresting. I like it"

Zephyr nods and stifles a yawn. "Good, good. Yeah, it's a nice place to call home."

She glances at the chow hall. "You had breakfast yet?"

Aibne shakes his head, "No I just been walking around. Me and my sister use ta live out on the sea, but not anymore we...well sort of wander around from place to place"

"Well, I'm hungry and I would like to hear more about it. Care to join me for breakfast?" Zephyr points at the chow hall. "They've usually got a decent spread."

Aibne chuckles as he stands, "I suppose we could go thar. I am use to catching fish and crayfish, and find wild berries or greens and stuff."

<---Activities Move to the Dining Hall--->

The camp dining hall is humble be adequate for the otters. The current breakfast spread has been placed on one of the four tables and consists of several types of pastries, fruit, a pot of oatmeal and a kettle of hot water for tea. Zephyr grabs one of the ever present mugs, places some fresh mint leaves inside and pours hot water over the mess. A *cough*little*cough* sugar later and she's good to go. "Help yourself, friend!" She waves at the buffet and takes a seat at another table. The room isn't empty, a few other otters are partaking but Zephyr has managed to find an empty table.

Aibne smiles as he gets some oatmeal and fruit, and a glass of just some water and finds a place to sit down. "Well this is surely different"

Zephyr nods and cradles the mug in her paws. "It is. But it works for us. Comfy, really." Sip..nope, too hot. "We have to work together here. So the kitchen staff for breakfast will clean up and then they're free for the day. There's a different group for lunch. Other otters collect food and still others are guards. Otters volunteer for whatever tasks they want, but everyone has to do something."

Aibne says, "Well working together is a good thing, helps get things done that need done and will most likely be important for winter or if any trouble ever comes."

"Aye. Exactly." Zephyr leans back in her chair. "So tell me more about yerself, mate. You say you used to live on the sea?"

Aibne nods "It was fairly intresting at times. Just ne, my ma and pa, and me sister and a couple others. I was a small ship but there was this big storm and it made the small ship crash into the rocks." He frowns "Me and my little sister survived, but no one else so we started walking along the river and into the woodlands a little. Been on our own a season now"

"I'm sorry to hear that, friend." Zephyr frowns sadly. "An' I'm glad you made it here to camp. You're welcome to stay as long as y' like." The tea is finally tepid enough to enjoy without scalding the top of her mouth so Zephyr takes a sip. "Do you have a cabin where you've been staying?"

Aibne shakes his head again ""I was staying in the infirm past couple days cause of my leg, but it's feeling better now"

Zephyr nods. "Well, sometime today, go ahead and investigate some of the cabins in the residential area. If it's empty and you like it, feel free to move in. There are a few good ones still available."

Aibne looks surprised "I..me and Mint could live in Camp Willow?"

"Of course!" Zephyr takes a bigger mouthful of tea. "Of course! Any otter is welcome here! You've just got to help out in some way. We can't afford to have otters lazing around, doing nothing." She grins. "But you don't look like th' lazy sort."

It's breakfast time, and what do you cook for breakfast? "Porridge!" Rorri comes barging through the door from the kitchens, an enormous kettle of porridge held in front of him with which he shoves selfsame door. "Lots an' lots of /porridge!/" The young otter grips the kettle with a pair of towels, both folded many times, and a veritable cloud of steam rises off the hot food. He sets it down with a resounding thump on the serving table, wiping his paws with no small measure of satisfaction as he turns to face the room. "Get it while it's hot!"

Aibne smiles "I may have ta take you up on that offer and live ere' I can fish and even fight if need be. I can also help gather food if thats needed. I will even help clean sometimes. Mint is only a couple seasons old though"

As soon as the porridge appears from the kitchen, several otters push through the door, clambering for breakfast. They noisily grab bowls and spoons and mugs and fruit and serve themselves a great amount of food - including porridge. They then all take a seat at the table diagonal from the one where Zephyr and Aibne are seated. "Thanks, cook!" They sort of chorus. There isn't much talking going on - they're eating. Zephyr watches the scene bemusedly. "Well, what would you prefer to do? We are trying to build up our stores for winter and we'd like to start a garden. Could you help us with either of those things?"

Aibne hmms "A garden, a garden may do well till winter, unless you have crops that grow well in winter time. Course thar be other things too, herbs and such maybe.Do you get supplies from anywhere else like that abbey place or elsewhere?"

"An' it is /hot,/" Rorri continues to no one in particular. "Temperature an' spice. There's a good 'elpin' of hotroot in there, an' it's all mixed through, plus a touch of cinnamon t' give it a light fizzle after the hotroot dies down." He ladles himself a big bowl, heaping the porridge up until it towers above the clay rim, then pours from a pitcher of greensap milk. "An' not t' mention the sprigs of parsley and the fennel roots," he mentions off the cuff, not seeming to care that no one is listening. The table where everyone else sat is full, so he looks around and sees the lone pair. "G'day, mates!" The bowl gets deposited unceremoniously on the table, and he scoots up a chair.

"Not particularly. Sometimes a merchant will come through and we'll buy some supplies but we prefer to be as self-sufficient as possible. You never know what's going to happen." Zeph watches as the group of otters at the other table begins to experience to full effect of Rorri's porridge. Their faces are...interesting. "Herbs grow abundantly in the area - mint, basil, rosemary... It's just a matter of collecting it and storing it." She finishes off her tea and sets the mug down on the table. "If you'd like to help with collecting things, there's a party going out later today. Mornin', Rorri," she addresses the newcomer, "Volunteering for breakfast again, eh?"

Aibne nods "I can walk some, I saw some watercress by the river and there was a willow tree by the river that fell. I know its bark is good for something..some healer mentioned it ta me, but not like he would need all of it"

"It just does me 'eart good t' see th' joy I bring," Rorri replies, nodding with a large, mischievous grin written plainly across his face. "Lookit 'em, all aglow." He laughs a bit, digging into his own bowl with a large wooden spoon. "Spice is th' spice of life." Something like that.

There are a few confused looks from the other table as they attempt to down all of the porridge. It's only polite, right? One brave soul manages to get his bowl cleared and then immediately downs a mug of something. Strangely, another of the otters seems to think everything is just fine and doesn't seem perturbed by the contents of his bowl whatsoever. Zephyr watches and tries to hide the expression that is on her face. "Aye." She responds to Aibne. "That would be wonderful. But don't do any more damage to your leg. If you can't get it all today, it can wait until tomorrow. In fact," She toys with the mug, "It would be extremely helpful if you would take someone else along, such as your sister or another young otter, and teach them what to look for."

Aibne smiles "I could do that, I don't know a lot of herbs but I do know what plants and berries are good to eat and what are not and also what mushrooms are good and which are poisonous."

Rorri himself seems to be quite enjoying the zesty concoction in his bowl. "Delicious," he even remarks, allowing the other two to have their conversation for the moment. Wouldn't want to interrupt. Until he does. "Skip, y'think there's any way we could get some new axes inta camp? Th' last bunch we got off tha' vole are cheap steel. I keep /tellin'/ 'em not t' buy any axes tha' dinnint 'ave a badger involved in th' forgin', but it keeps 'appenin' anyways."

This is such a change of subject that Zephyr has to think for a moment. To Aibne she says, "Excellent. We've been looking for someone like you to come along. Perhaps we could have another meeting soon where we talk about how much we need, who can go with you and where to store all of these items?" Then she turns to Rorri and says, "What?"

Aibne nods as he finishes his meal and gets something for his sister "I will be around the camp, chat later!"

Aibne has disconnected.

"Axes. Th' last ones we bought are cheap steel." You know, the /axes/. Isn't that all anyone thinks about around here? Rorri just stares straight at Zephyr as if what he's talking about is common knowledge.

<---Abrupt End--->