Debrief the Badger
Debrief the Badger
~~//~~ A Tale of the Long Patrol ~~//~~
Starring:
Ciocan, Badger Lord
Rahier, Colonel
Sadie, A Curious Haremaid
The infirmary is a bit busier than usual, this evening, owing to a small skirmish - a group of privates headed back from Halyard seems to have strayed a bit too close to the edges of the swamp, a little inland from the beach, and had a run in with an assortment of amphibians. No grave injuries, but it's keeping the few healers on duty busy. This is what Sadie comes upon when she peeks inside from the hallway, and for a covert look around, she couldn't have planned it better. Most of the privates - eight or nine of them - are in civilian attire, so the doe's own lack of uniform doesn't immediately draw attention to her. She lingers in the doorway, watching with a sort of morbid fascination as one of the healers stitches a deep gash on a buck's thigh, and a few others of the not-entirely-sober privates alternate between bickering and enthusiastically recounting the experience while getting patched up.
Ha. Typical day. Rah is more about managing the chaos these days than participating in it, so he's letting his two on-duty healers tend to the cut-up privates. He has insisted on stitching up the gash, though. Stitching is something enjoys. Flesh only, most of the time. The buck's gone white, now, and is easy to pick out of the crowd.
A low, rumbling voice sounds just behind the loitering doe. "Beggin' ye'r pardon, miss," the voice begins, although there is little apology in the tone, "but ye're either in 'r out, no in between." The source is an enormous badger whose size does not fail to match that imposing voice. Ciocan gives a little nod of his great head, the 'small' gesture covering twice the distance a similar movement from a hare might. "I've got business t' attend to inside, so make ye'r choice."
The drunkest of the privates is also the least scathed, and after a once-over from a healer is allowed to leave. He goes shuffling out, muttering something about 'newt nuggets', with Sadie sidling just a little out of the way to let him past. The small shift closer to one side of the doorway doesn't provide nearly enough room for a badger, however, and the petite doe lifts her muzzle to look back and up at Ciocan. Her ears press backward and she blinks once, twice, before scooting all the way aside, just within the infirmary. "Oh! Pardon," she replies, with a sweetly apologetic smile, then quickly adds, "If it isn't too much trouble... do you know which of those," she gestures to the healers, "is, um, Colonel Rahier?"
Rahier makes his tight stitches, his trademark, sewing up the terrible gash good as new. "Won't even scar, m'fraid," he says, with a grin, perhaps to the chagrin of the young private. His eyes turn up to see the hulking shadow in the doorway- he needs to get used to that again.
"The one I'll be talkin' at," Ciocan rumbles, making his way inside. For such a large creature, his footfalls are surprisingly silent despite the almost industrial efficiency with which he moves. Curious green eyes narrow as they sweep over the assembly of injured Patrollers, nostrils flaring visibly at the scent of blood. "What happened, here, Colonel? I've 'ad no reports yet, but I'm guessin' this was nae a trainin' accident." The badger's curious accent becomes more prominent the louder his voice becomes.
Sadie eyes cut away from the badger and toward the three healers taking care of the remaining privates. Her mouth opens slightly, on the verge of either offering thanks or maybe asking for specification, but Ciocan is already past her, so she falls quiet again. Still hovering near the door, her gaze follows the badger, and she sidesteps slightly to bring the buck he addresses more into view.
No disrespect when he doesn't stand, of course, but Rah does give the badger lord a smile on his appearance. "'Lo, m'lord," he greets, and continues his complicated handwork on the private's thigh. It's mostly done, and he wipes away a small bead of blood as it appears with a swipe of a cloth. It's deft work. "Some frogs an' lizard an' whatnot from what I understand." Frog's on the menu tonight in the dining chamber.
A few slow, calculating nods come from the badger lord as he thinks the news over. "Frogs," he mutters, scratching at his chin. "They passed too near the swamp, then. I cannae countenance such blatant aggression towards Mountain hares," Ciocan fumes, paws clenching angrily. "Is a purge of the wetlands customary in these situations, Colonel?"
Sadie remains where she is, with enough distance between herself and the two conversing Long Patrol leaders that she can't particularly pick up on what's being said. Her hands come together in front of her, laced with the fingertips of one fussing against the palm of the other. She's too caught up watching Rahier from her discreet location near the door to notice as most of the rest of the injured privates filter out after having their hurts tended to, thinning the crowd in the infirmary.
Rahier ties off the stitchwork, finishing his little project. The materials, he sets aside. "Y'gotta stay here a coupla days," he says, to the private, who looks crestfallen, as all his mates are filtering out the door. Rah gives him a conciliatory pat. "Mm, probably jus' pressure from th'comin' winter," Rah says. "They'll all soon be hibernatin'. Don't think I'd bother on that count, but it's up t'you, m'lord." His eyes turn over to the doe in the doorway, since everyone else has left. And his brows raise fractionally in apparent recognition. "Darce?" He calls to her. She hiding in the doorway?
An older Colonel is a fortuitous counterpart for a young leader, even one wise beyond his age. "I didnae think of that," Ciocan admits, nodding, a bit of the anger ebbing away and easing the tension his aura had seeped into the room like a bag of tea in hot water. "Please give my instructions to keep the lads clear of there until winter is full to the majors. The spring will tell whether we scrub the swampscum away from our region or no." Satisfied, the badger gives a final nod, mighty paws resting on his hips. "Thank ye." With that, he turns and strides towards the door, each step managing to smack of destiny while only really being a dignified retreat.
Another of the remaining privates trudges past, out into the hall, and stumbles a little on a just-wrapped sprained ankle. It brings Sadie's attention, just briefly, over in that direction and away from the badger and Colonel, as their conversation concludes - so when Rahier looks her way, the doe's head is turned aside. She doesn't respond to the name, doesn't even realize he's addressed her, but in profile, with short red hair and a petite figure, the similarity is more than a little uncanny. When she glances back, it's to see Ciocan striding toward the door, his immense form momentarily blocking any view of the rest of the infirmary. She flashes the passing badger a polite smile and, mindful that the previous clutter of hares has now dissipated, she makes to slip out in his wake.
It's been a long time since Rah had to interact with a badger on a regular basis, so it's coming back to him a piece at a time. It's turning out to be a good relationship, though. He does smile when Ciocan heeds his advice, and dips his head in a nod. "Y'will be done, m'lord." Since his tasking is done, he rises for the badger's departure. "Catch me later. I've got some ale y'would like t'try."
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