Cooking with Sass

Amos, Sandy, Frigg, Stubb, Malcolm

Location: Eastern Shore

(Sometimes Club)

Amos rubs his chin, and stares at Sandy, "So ya gonna make somethin' or ain't'cha?" Hungry and tired, he stares at the mouse.

Sandy looks up from the fire, pulling her now toasty-warm paws back in. "I plan on it... I just need a good stick and some fish on it. Something simple..."

Frigg is stared at, "I think we're being offered food - Angus has brought some fish back - here, you can take mine, and I'll spit another and roast it. How did you fare out of the boat? We thought you'd end up closer to us..."

"Uh huh, well I could eat anything, " Amos grumbles, and to Frigg's question he mutters, "Me and Dangeon got washed farther south of where you guys where, I met up with Mal and then the others after that. Nice ta see ya made it alright miss mouse!"

Stubb watches Sandy quietly, his head inclined forward, his eyes abstracted. Though his paw scrapes quietly at the log that he's made his perch, the weasel has not voiced a syllable for several minutes. He rocks gently where he sits.

Sandy looks around the immediate area for a decently-sized stick that could potentially withstand fire... But she doesn't see one. "A stick... flat slab... something I could cook this on..."

"Do dis look loike bloody Redwall Abbey, li'tle miss?" Stubb says with startling bile. "Sorry we don' 'ave tha luxuries a home for you." He cools himself and says to Amos. "Cat, get tha princess a piece a driftwood or somefin'. We'll all eat tha sooner. 'Soides," he adds, "Oi'd loike ta see wha' she can do."

Frigg smiles a bit, although she's too worn out to spend the energy in a much more enthusiastic one, "And nice to see you, likewise." She looks at Sandy, "There's a fire over by Hactor and the visitor... but they don't look like they'd appreciate company at the moment..."

Sandy looks quite offended from Stubb's comment, and sneers. "Excuse me, but I've not spent a single second of my life in that abbey. I was either a slaver, or a slave, and if you wanna eat, then you'd best deal with the fact that I can't just make fish cook like THAT!" she said, trying to make a snapping noise with her finger... Of course, that was a bit of a fail attempt.

Amos snickers at Sandy's attempt to try to make snapping noises, "Aye, one stick comin' up princess. Any ol' stick will do right?" He moves from where he's sitting, wandering away from the group. Not exactly sure what he's after.

Stubb watches briefly as Amos departs from the circle, then turns his eyes upon the flickering flames of the campfire. He drifts once again into his reverie.

Sandy huffs in irritation at being called a princess. "It has to be a stick that'll withstand flames, prissy boots." she retorted, staring at the fire. "It'll be no good if the stick turns to ash and the fish hit the flames."

Amos hmphs, "Well how am I suppose to know what that looks like eh? Why don't'cha go find this stick ya self, or at least tell me what ta look for." Amos has wandered a bit further from the group, looking along the shore.

Frigg is hoping the fish doesn't hit the flames, as she looks behind her shoulder at the two foxes. "So Sandy, you were a slaver, you said? What was it like - did that come before or after your bondage?"

Sandy rubs her forehead a little bit. "Thick and sturdy, something that could hold up under pressure..." she replied, before looking over at Frigg. "Well, nowadays, I'm not too sure if I really liked it much. But back then? I guess I was just in it for the cruelty, ruining lives and making other beasts cry from anguish... I really was a terrible beast back then. I guess slavery humbled me, made me see the error of my ways and such."

"A squor'l slayva," Stubb chuckles at the notion, though his voice is weak. "Can' fink 'ow you'd get inta dat sort a fing, bein' a squor'l. Can' even imagine you keepin' a singuw dibbun in loine, forge'tin' about a dozen a tha stinkers. An who'd boiy from a squor'l!" He chuckles again, on the verge of a wheeze.

"Will this one do?" Calls out Malcolm's voice as a fairly heavy, thick stick plops onto the ground. Its got a pointed end and its obviously been carved into the 'weapon' like thing it is now. The lizard slips a knife back into his belt and settles near the fire.

The mousemaid studies Sandy with an experienced eye for seeing pasts.. she tries to imagine the slaver and gives up with a huff, figuring slaver and slave cancel each other out... "Stubb, shush... it'd be a good thing if she wasn't a very good slaver at all, unless that's a trade you're looking to break into?"

Amos has gone quiet, even his movement is quiet as he wanders further up the shore and finally away from the shore. He's gone for close to half an hour before he returns, carrying a bunch of pieces of wood of all sorts of sizes in one hand and a big sturdy long straight piece of wood. Thick and hard looking, he lets the pile of wood fall near the fire as he eyes the squirrel, "That better do miss, " He grumbles.

Sandy was about to make a very irritated reply to Stubb, only to notice the spear-ish stick that Malcolm dropped. She gave the lizard a weak grin, memories of what he said and did to her still fresh in mind... But she was going to try to be the bigger... lady here, and forget it. "Yes, that should do just fine. Thanks, Malcolm." she replied, looking at the pile of sticks Amos brought over. Rubbing the back of her head sheepishly... "Um... Sorry Amos, but Malcolm brought a good one..." she replied, before holding the spear steady. "Right, someone hand me some fish, please..."

Stubb glances at Frigg and snorts. "Too much bloody trouble. Oi woudn' touch i' wif a..."--the thrown stick lands in the midst of the camp--"Well, wif dat stick." He watches curiously as Amos arrives half an hour in the future with more wood.

"Keepin' slaves jes ain' somefin oi see much use in," he says, closing his eyes.

Frigg nods, "It offends me, to be completely honest... Malcolm, I should think it was bad enough with the squirrels; I bet you were almost their slave, weren't you? It must be nice being here, instead of there?" She tries to reach out to the lizard, but gets lost in thought trying to figure out where she'd heard about his upbringings...

Amos glares at Stubb, "Save us all some trouble ya said, ain't nobody ask me to another damn thing until ya feed me, " The cat replies hungrily.

Sandy rubs her head a little bit, looking over to Frigg with a hopeful smile. "Frigg, please help me with the fish." she asked, before glancing back to Stubb. "You're doing the right thing, staying out of slavery. Look where it landed me! It's a life no one should live, slaver or slave."

Malcolm looks towards Frigg and then shrugs his shoulders a little. "Dunno." he replies simply, the kid leaning back on his hands, staring at the fire. "Where are we going to go when we're done with this?" he asks after a thoughtful moment.

Snapping out of her daze, simultaneously by Sandy's request and Malcolm's answer, she looks around confusedly, "Oh, oh, what? Oh..." She frowns at Malcolm, "Oh dear, well you must have been too young to remember..? Oh, right.." She goes over to Sandy and neatly jabs the fish with sticks, "Pass a few more fish over..."

Stubb continues to sit with his eyes closed. His paws rest on opposite biceps. "Oi transported a slava and 'is captives once. Out a Halyard, sailin'... Can' remember wha' tha locals called it..." He shifts. "You cou'd tell which a dem slaves was new and which was old. Seemed ta lose deir souls after a bit." He shivers. "An tha slavers, they was worse. 'S no' jest abou' money for dem. Oi dunno." His eyes crack open. "Dey din' seem ta have a code. Even us vermin has code, must a us do. Oi can' trust a beast wifout a code."

Sandy rubs her head a little bit with her free paw, keeping the stick steady and up as Frigg speared the fish. "I didn't go by a code back then... Anymore, I guess I still don't. I'm... free. But I don't know what to do..." she muttered, shaking her head. "Maybe staying with you lot, I'll get one..."

Frigg nods at Stubb, while she's working with the fish, and looks up at Sandy, "You probably do have one, though - everybeast who has moral limits has a code... I think our Hactor even has one, but perhaps we've already encountered those that don't." She goes back to working on the fish, not wanting to think too much about it.

Malcolm chuckles quietly and shakes his head. "Codes are useless...I don't see any point in them. Living by one could probably get you killed...or into a lot of trouble. Kind of like what you all have gotten me into." he says before laying back in the sand, staring at the sky above.

Amos wanders off down the shore out of sight.

"Spoken loike a kid," the weasel says with a sneer. "Oi fink even tha black fox Anba has a code," Stubb adds after a pause. "Oi don' understand i'. Somefin' abou' balancin' good an evil. No' much of a code, though, oi admi'. Jes' seems loike words ta me. Words, words."

Sandy decides not to comment on anything. She didn't want to start anything between herself and Malcolm again... Especially since she was cooking for the group. Thus, she just sat in front of the fire, holding a stick of fish over it to cook. Turning it every so often.

Amos wanders back over to the group.

Soclose swoops down from out of the skies, the osprey having brought his own fish to the cooking party. He's decided to snack though, and has already removed all its fins. "A nice river, and nice fish," Soclose croons watching the party sit about the fire a bit uncertainly. "...ah, nice fire too? Maybe?"

"Noice if you don' get too close to i'," Stubb says with a languid smile. "Welcome back, ma'e."

"Welcome, welcome to you too!" Soclose shakes his wings as he hunches and trims his fish down bit by bit. "Don't worry about me getting to close," the osprey says flicking drops of water on the sand, "I will ke-e-ep my distance." He looks up from the fish for a moment to remark, "I like storms more than I like fires."

Amos eyes the squirrel impatiently, "Is it done yet?"

Sandy looks over to Amos at his question, and sighs, turning them. "They're getting there. Keep your botts on, prissy boots."

"You are welcome to some of mine!" Soclose pipes, the osprey holds his fish out with one foot. "It is no doubt fresher." And sushi style as well.

Helping Sandy accomplished, the older mousemaid takes a quick breather, sitting by the side of the little setup they've managed. She stays quiet, enjoying the new company but keeping an eye now on the bird, in case it might get any ideas about small, easy game.

"Storms more than foire, eh?" Stubb turns to watch Sandy cook the fish. He swallows heavily. "Dat makes one a you. Oi'm toired a bein soaked to tha bone. Toired a sleepin' on tha bare dir'. Oi guess i' suits a seabird well enough, but oi'm a seaweasel, an' oi'll take a good, warm foire any day over a face full a ocean spray."

Sandy pulls the fish from the fire, smiling. "Finally done... This should stave off the hunger for awhile..." she said cheerfully, before looking over to the others. "Sleeping near a fire is nice, indeed!"

Amos looks on hungrily, "Finally, " He salivates, his tail wragging imaptiently as he has eyes on for the fish.

Soclose shakes his head most definitely, "A nice warm nest is better!" With a shrug the osprey admits, "But that is neither here or here.." He moves a bit closer to the fire with his fish and says, "On the island we cover the fish first in leaves, and then place hot rocks under them and over them." He inspects the slightly singed fish sticks, "The ends don't change color nearly as much."

Sandy smiles, and holds the stick to Amos. "One fish for all of us. It'll be fair." she replied, slipping one off of the end facing her for herself.

Frigg takes her fish gratefully, but knows she probably won't finish the whole thing... the fish is the size of her whole arm! She lays it on a rock, and takes a bit of a sharp stone and cuts manageable pieces off...

Stubb's slender limbs crane forward to slip his fish off the spit. He wastes little time in tucking in. His mouth works with a desperate fury at the frothy white flesh, and it spills in tatters across his lap and onto the sand.

Soclose looks up from picking at his fish and croons encouragingly, "Now, that is the way to eat a fish!" The osprey notices several of the group wandering off after their meals and asks, "What has happened while I was away? /Hee?/ Are you no longer lost? Have you been found by that fox and his drummers?"

Amos tears at the fish, replying to Sandy with a full mouth as he eats.

Frigg looks up at the bird and nods, "Aye, we seem to have... do you know much about him? He says he hails from Izmir, but alas I have no idea where that is... he doesn't seem to mean us ill, as far as I can tell.." She finishes a bite of fish and gulps, "I'm Frigg, by the way. Have you met the others just recently, then?"

Stubb continues his unsightly repast, though his eyes crest over the scaly flesh of his meal, peering up at Soclose.

Amos finishes off his meal quickly, seeming content and full as he sits around the fire mmming, "That was good, the squirrel is of some use after all!"

Soclose stares back at Stubb with a bright yellow eye as he wipes his beak with one taloned foot. The osprey turns to to look at Frigg and pipes, "I am Echelon-Second Soclose! /Hee!/ I met these people when they washed up on the beach. Before that, I have never seen them before." The bird croons, "I deliver messages between the islands and places like Halyard, and other things as well--you know? I am not the one you should ask about Izmir, as I do not fly there--yet."

Frigg is intrigued and nods, wide-eyed while the bird speaks. "Oh, I see... that's incredibly noble... I believe you may have the most noble purpose among us all. I would love to send a message right now, to many folk, but where to send the most urgent of them I know not. I suppose, though... well, but I shouldn't." She sighs, and looks up at him, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Amos licks his paws, "Aye, a pleasure bird!"

Stubb nods at Amos' remark as he finally sets the fish aside. "That she is," he says with a wink for the wildcat. "An' you, Soclose. You din' take long ta prove your worf. Wou'd i' be too much ta hope for your aid... an' comp'ny... for a bi' longer? You won' have ta worry abou' savin our hoides any more, now that our paws is back on land, but i's always good ta have a pair a sharp oiyes along."

Soclose straightens up proudly and preens his chest feathers with a pleased whistle; noticing a patch where a fish scale had become entangled, it is quicly flicked away. "That is very flattering!" The osprey turns and looks about and croons, "Still! I am sure everyone else does the best that they can do!" The osprey tilts his head and says to Stubb, "Good company flies together, so the First says. I will travel with you for a bit, I think!"

Amos burps quiet suddenly, reaching for his pack and pulls from it a bottle of booze that he takes a long draft out of, "Mmm, good to hear. Ya most welcome bird!"

Frigg is delighted, and quickly overcoming her fear; he seems like a gentlebeast, afterall. Frigg smiles and nods, "We are growing, in number and kind! What a crew we are making, eh, Sandy? Our abilities must surely add up to make us a worthy advisary. Still..." She finishes the last of her fish, "I can't let the feeling of this comradery deter me.." She leans over to Sandy, "I still feel... as if there's a looming decision for me to make. I don't know how to explain it..."

Stubb's eyes slide from Frigg's whispered conference to the osprey and back to Amos. "Quoite a crew indeed," he says, a chuckle on his lips. "Bloody lot a good i's done us, though." He slumps, sliding his rump off the log and onto the ground. "Oi go' less now than when oi star'ed. What'll Deloilah fink a me when she foins out? Oi lost tha bloody devoice. Lost tha map." He leans back. "An oi'm poorer for all moi troubles. Poorer in coin, poorer in fur..." He reaches a paw back to feel the spot where the Keepers shaved him.

Soclose's eyes widen slightly, "/Ah h-e-e?/ Adversary? Who is it that we are adversarying?" The osprey croons, "I am no coward to go hiding under a rock when the word adversary it brought up, no-no, but still I should know who." Soclose sets down the remainder of his fish (mostly bones at this point anyways) and says, "That way I can tell them most directly that we cannot be friends."

Amos yowls, "We're alive at least, ain't that somethin' though! Can't beat that!" The wildcat quips. "

Frigg ohs? And looks up at the bird, almost forgetting what she'd said, "Oh, right... well, it just seems like we're awfully good at attracting attention, is all. We don't go picking fights, at least to my knowledge!" She grins, and picks at the rest of the fish, "Would you like part of the rest of mine? I'm so small, and these are wonderful fish, but a bit big for me..."

Stubb eyes the fish.

Amos eyes the fish too.

Soclose hustles and steps over the fishbones at his feet and grabs the offered fish with one talon, "/Hee!/ Don't mind if I do!" Complaints about discolored fish aside, the osprey attacks the cooked fish with gusto. "There are larger fish in the river, you know? Did someone else fish these?"

Frigg adds, "Actually, I shouldn't say 'we' too soon - I actually left these friendly beasts a while back, and rejoined them only recently. I'm surmising much from stories and things about the journeys in between. Quite a trip we've all made, though, and a lot of luck, being in the same spot at the same time." She hmms, "Angus, over there, did."

Soclose narrows his eyes and hunches his wings about the fish, too many people watching it for his liking!

"Someone ought a catch me up too," Stubb says, still peering at Soclose's fish. "When oi came to, oi were in a boat. Gus says oi were out for a for'noigh', but i' don' seem so long ta me..."

Well so more for seconds, Amos moves to stand and eyes the group, "I think I'm gonna walk off a belly full of fish, ain't ya'll disappear on me or nutin'." Without waiting for reply he soon heads off.

Frigg looks at Amos, "I'm afraid the details are quite hazy for me, still, as I've suffered upon being thrown to and fro in the waves some ill effects from being in that fire in the temple, and the delirium of exhaustion before that. I know we were ages in looking for you, around the temple complex, and the sewers... led by a weaselmaid who betrayed us... oh, and the ordeal that caused was almost our last!" She starts breathing fast, putting a paw to her forehead.

Soclose eats all the much more quickly then, stuffing his beak with food before anyone can say otherwise, the osprey shows he is no stranger to competition when it comes to dismantling a fish.

"Weaselmaid?" Stubb asks in a subdued voice. "Betrayed?" He's been dropped hints repeatedly, but he is notably dense when it comes to this subject.

Soclose comes up for air again, the osprey gulping as he says with a rasp unlike his usual piping voice, "I have heard part of this this story before, have I not? It sounds like an adventure." The osprey shakes the message bag on his left leg and remarks, "Much more interesting than delivering papers, no? And flying back with answers." He asks after a pause, "And there are rewards and treasures too at the end of your story, tell me?"

Frigg nods, "Yes, it was a weaselmaid... I must not have remembered her name, though... I don't believe I was ever around for introductions." She looks at the others, but they are conveniently at other things. "Hmm, odd. Well, anyway, we were rescued, I'm told by a black squirrel, but I wasn't to when it happened."

Soclose sets the remains of the second fish aside and folds his legs underneath himself as the bird settles down on the beach. "/Ah hee.../ Perhaps the story is too much to be told at once. You will have to write it down one day!" Soclose bobs his head and says, "Dinner was nice, and now I am full!"

Frigg nods, "I may add my small touches to it, for the part I can contribute; I have a feeling that mine may go back quite a long time... I'm glad my ration has satisfied you, though. And, nevertheless for our story, I still say you have a most noble profession, sir." She yawns, "Now, I'll get some rest." She leans back against a rock, piling up her cloak as a pillow. "Wake me if..." She looks back at Hactor, now alone. "..if there's anything the matter, won't you?"

"Sure, sure." Soclose says, opening and closing his beak as he stares at the dying fire. "I won't keep it a secret!"

Stubb yawns, similarly affected by the sudden onslaught of nutrients and the decline of the sun. "Somebeast ought a keep watch, but oi fancy a nap as well." He looks at Soclose's piercing golden eye. "Tha fish filled you up, eh?"

Soclose looks away from the fire, "Oh, yes!" The osprey looks to the left and to the right, "If everyone is going to sleep then--I am the only one left?" Soclose says worriedly, "Hopefully someone will wake up and let me sleep. If it gets dark, you should sleep, you know?"