Dear Darkwatcher: Plz don't go Eagle Hunting
FV:Tavern
Outside a sign swings on a rusty creaking frame above the doorway of the tavern depicting a faded painting of what appears to be three rather rich looking skeletons slumped over a table around a black chalice, perhaps such a thing could be taken as a warning but it doesn't appear to work on the locals. The noise within on a normal day is usually heard before the door is even opened and only rises in volume when one actually steps inside.
There are the typical qualities of a tavern within, from the bar to the chairs and booths and the odd drunk who never seems to move it's the little details which encourage a patron to pay his tab if he likes his fingers. One look at some of the staff or customers might give the impression but the room is decorated to the fiercer tastes with bones, mostly skulls cropping up here and there to fill a gap on a shelf or decorating the walls above the doorways, fireplace and bar, a pair of axes joining the one over the fire with some signs that they've been yanked off to join in a fight a couple of times. Some of the comfier chairs are lined with fur and very rarely one might be found with a few pointed bits of bone to decorate the back. Despite the looks there is entertainment and fun to be had, some form of music usually played on a small stage in the corner and at least one bouncer usually tries to keep the peace while beasts gamble, drink and be merry.
A small door behind the bar leads out the back to the kitchen and cellars while one wall has been opened up in a wide arch to increase the space off into the next room where what seems to be a wooden fence with gates on either end has been set up as a fighting pit as further entertainment and something to bet over.
Exits: [UP] Stairs, [K]itchen, [F]ighting [P]it, [Out]
Darkwatcher the male fox mercenary. Blisa the female cat, Ferdinand the male ferret, and Basilisk 'Basil' the male whiptail snake.
Darkwatcher is at the bar. The news from Redwall hasn't reached him yet and so he has no idea anything is wrong to the south. He hunches over his ale, occasionally quaffing a bit of it, then casts his eye idly over the room.
The door to the tavern opens! And who but Blisa should enter? She has changed out of her usual dark clothes and is wearing a pink tunic with red leggings, although she has kept her black boots and belt with her dirk and dagger. She clutches the strap of her brown art bag like it's some form of security blanket as she looks around. Ferdinand enters behind her, ignoring the usual scream that accompanies the arrival of the whiptail snake, Basilisk. The elm-sized reptile slithers in and looks around, hissing moodily. "But I don't /want/ winter to come! I hate winter, it'sssssssssssssso cold, I have to ssssstay in the basssssssement mossssst of the time!!!" The ferret glares at him. "Thtop whining! I'll feed you to the eagle!" "You have to find her firssssssst, ssssssssssssstupid ferret!" Ignoring the arguing beasts behind her, the cat smiles as she spots the mercenary fox and makes her way over to him. "Oh, hello there! Pleasant day, isn't it?"
"Aye, that it is," Darkwatcher says. "Getting colder these days, innit, tho'?" He cocks an eyebrow at the arguing beasts behind the she-cat, before returning his attention to her. "So...any news?"
Blisa nods. "Aye, that it is. Basil will have to stay in my home for longer periods of time here soon. Oh! Have you met him yet? Basil, c'mere!" The snake sticks his tongue out at the ferret, who glares murderously at him, then slithers over to the cat's side. Blisa smiles proudly. "This is Basilisk, my pet snake. Basil, say hello to my /friend/ Dark.....Darkwatcher. He's /not/ food." The huge snake sighs, then mumbles, "Hi. Do you know of any beassssstsssss that I can hunt? I haven't had meat in monthssOW!" He glares at Ferdinand, who waves his sabre under the reptile's nose. "That wath jutht the flat, thnake! Don't make me uthe the edge next time!!" The feline sighs and covers her eyes with a paw. "They've been arguing all morning; it's getting a bit ridiculous."
Darkwatcher nods to Basilisk. He almost offers a paw to shake, but quickly changes it into a feigned scratch on the back of his own ear when he realizes that it's a bad idea. He says, simply, "How y'doin', sar Snake?"
Thunderwing slowly makes his way into the tavern, he gets a few odd looks and his talons click on the floor as he walks. He is not use to being inside, but he is insides sometimes, this being one of the sometimes .
Basil hisses. "I am hungry for meat......but will settle for cheesssssssssssssse......" Ferdinand sheathes his sabre and sits opposite the fox, resting his head in his paw as he glares at the reptile. Blisa looks over to the door and smiles again, waving to the eagle. "Thunderwing! Hello! I hope your day is going well."
Darkwatcher comments to Blisa, "You seem cheerful today. Usually you're upset about things." He glances at Thunderwing. Birds indoors, whatever next?
Thunderwing walks over and bops his head, "Tis good day yesum, Thunderwing find white fox...well sort of find whitefox beast"
Blisa claps her paws happily. "Oh, you found Bora! How wonderful....wait, what do you mean, sort of found him? Did he escape again?" Ferdinand goes to nudger the fox under the table as Basilisk slithers across the tavern to the fighting pit. "Mith Blitha hath finally made a friend her age.....but he'th altho a cat." The ferret raises his eyebrows, hoping that the fox will understand that he means the 2 cats might be falling in love. He seems very displeased with that idea. He's taken a big brother point of view towards his petite charge.
Thunderwing answers, "Thunderwing find head of Borafox, but not rest of Borafox"
Darkwatcher nods. "Message received," he whispers to Ferdy. "Name?" He guffaws a tad loudly when he hears what Thunderwing has to say.
Blisa wrinkles her nose. "Oh. Eew. Well........at least we know that he's dead now....." Ferdinand resists the urge to roll his eyes. "Jathe, the new Mathter Healer here. He'th thith fluffy orange beatht....." Basil, meanwhile, has curled up in the fighting pit, taking up most of the floorspace.
Thunderwing nods "Yes be dead...very, very much dead as never seen head fight before"
"Heh." Darkwatcher snorts. "Think I've seen him around. Blue eyes yeah?"
Blisa shudders slightly, almost imperceptibly, but she shudders notheless. Ferdinand pulls her into the seat next to him and says, "Darkwatcher here wath jutht athking about Jathe."
Thunderwing tilts his head, he then yawns large and goes to sit in a corner and take a nap. A couple rats in the same area move elsewhere and leave the now sleeping bird alone.
Darkwatcher glances to Blisa. "Nice to see you hanging out with beasts your own age."
"Usually I see you with full-grown beasts, not other young 'uns...."
Blisa smiles and fiddles with a silver locket that's hanging from a long chain around her neck. "Well......he's the first beast to stay here for a very, very long time. And I'm 9 seasons old now, too, so that kind of puts me in the adult league."
"Oh, right..." Darkwatcher shrugs. "You're always young to me. Nice locket," he adds. "Yeah, seems like beasts are always coming and going, nobeast seems to stay put other than the Seer and the Chief."
Blisa smiles. "Thanks. It was my........my mother's," she finishes with a sad look on her face. She holds the locket in her open palm, then closes her paw and looks up with a slightly mischievous look on her face. "Aye, but it's not our former Master Healer's fault.....nor our Head Guard's....and /I/ am staying put right here. This is my home, and I have no intention to leave it. It's not /my/ fault that I sometimes get kidnapped." Ferdinand cringes. "Ungh, don't remind me of that, pleathe....." he looks contrite and ashamed.
Darkwatcher facepalms. "Yeah, it seems like you get catnapped a lot," he comments. He chuckles a bit when he sees Ferdy's expression.
Blisa giggles, then lays a paw on her head bodyguard's arm. "Hey, it's okay. It's not your fault. You're not perfect, and I don't want you to be. I like you best the way you are." Ferdinand sighs. "I know.....I jutht with....I could protect you fully....." the young cat hugs him tightly. They seem to have a 2-way sibling-like bond.
"Well isn't this touching," Darkwatcher remarks, half-cynically. He orders another ale after seeing that his current one is drained.
Blisa narrows her jade green eyes, then goes to kick the fox as hard as she can under the table. Ferdinand feels the movement and stares down at her furry white head. "Why are we kicking our friendth now? Pleathe don't thend him off to find the eagle like you did Xia...."
Darkwatcher snorts as the kick glances off his boot. "I could take down an eagle any day," he boasts. "Just big ravens, yeah?"
Blisa and Ferdinand stare at him in abstract horror. After a few minutes of this, the cat releases the ferret and presses the palms of her paws on the tabletop. "You know /nothing/ about this golden eagle, do you?? She has carried off innocent travelers like they were sticks. She is huge! The size of a building! She would eat you for a snack!!"
Darkwatcher grins. "I'm not easy on the stomach. Meat's too tough, too many scars." He shrugs. "I've fought birds before, if you've fought one, haven't you fought 'em all? Same strategies."
Darkwatcher stands up, draining the last of his ale. "Gonna go for a walk." He goes to pat Blisa on the head, and walks out.
Blisa starts making agitated gestures with her paws while Ferdinand covers his eyes with a paw. "I can't believe I'm hearing thith...." "Darkwatcher! This /bird/ is death on the wing! She is unpredictable! Here," she digs a silver coin out of her pocket and slides it across to him. "Just to show you how serious I am--wait, come back!" Grr. She stares down at the coin. She was going to pay him to stay away from Riana. She sighs. Great.
Glaring at his receding back, she debates about feeding him to Basilisk as punishment for patting her on the head.....
Thanks for reading!
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