Krull

The sound of water can be heard flowing down the river some distance away. It was the only sound aside from the fox's own footsteps through the snow covered forest.

It was a remarkably peacefull scene for the horrible violence Bandit may have to inflict upon a beast later on. Or beasts. It wasn't realy clear how many bandits raided the cart as it crossed the bridge over Mossflower River a few miles back.

The fox, alone for the moment was dressed in a heavy wool coat with a chain mail tunic fitted to his rather portly frame. A portly frame that causes the fox to pause every so often to catch his breath as he moves through the forrest.

Bandit was not so alone, however...but any Scout worth their salt knows not to reveal themselves if it can be helped until they're sure of the situation--if they should reveal themself at all. Chud drifts stealthily over the snow, equipped with improvised wood and cloth snowshoes.

The fox pauses by a tree, peering downward until he drops to one knee. There appears to be a...rope hidden under the snow, runing up the side of the tree. "Hello...and just what are you here for?" The fox tugs on the rope just once and it begins to retract, quickly. "Wait-" he manages to reply before he sees the snow kick up and a noose wraps around his ankle and hoists him high into the air.

The fox's shrill screams mix with his curses as he is suspended above the forrest below. After a moment of panic and struggling Bandit calms his nerves, chuckling darkly. "Oh...I am so glad no one is there to see that..." He reaches for his sword to cut himself down, but only finds it missing, fallen out of the scabbard and laying out of reach on the forrest floor below. "Then again..."

Chud can barely stifle a chuckle when he spots the large fox's mishap. The young otter drifts silently out of the treeline and calls up to the fox--after ascertaining that nobeast is around--"'ey, there. Need 'elp?"

The fox twists in panic to the voice which only causes him to spin in midair. "So help me if you don't cut me down I will..." he pauses and squints at the otter, then on the next pass squints some more. "I know you." Bandit says flattly, "So is this one of your little...little traps otter? Feel high and mighty cause you caught a fox?" He begins to growl.

Chud snorts. "Nah, this ain't mine. It was lying around, decided that anybeast wot went to enough trouble to rig this had a good reason for it." He laughs. "You realize that I could just walk away right? So you best keep that in mind b'fore y'make threats." He smiles cheerily as he clambers up the tree and in one swipe of his dirk severs the rope. "Down y'come!"

The fox's ears stick strait up (or in this case down) as the otter begins to cut the rope, "What? No! Wa-" The fox falls like a sack of potatos. He lands flat on his back with a loud THUD.

Moaning the fox rolls on the ground for a bit before rolling onto his feet, "~Chud~" He growls. "I should have known. You havn't changed one bit you big goof ball of an otter." Bandit takes a deep breath then stands. Dusting himself off Bandit says again offhandedly, "Thanks..."

Chud jumps straight out of the tree. "No problem!" he calls as he descends, landing in a snowbank, lying inert for several moments before scrambling upright. He shakes off like a dog, spraying snow everywhere. "Nope, not one bit," he says happily.

Giving the otter a wary look Bandit shakes his head. "What are you even doing out here? It's winter and, and dangerous...and winter!" The fox tates again. To be fair what was he himself doing out here, by himself. "And more importantly have you seen anything...unusual. Say...badgers?"

"Nah, no badgers, they'd blend in pretty bloody well in this stuff tho'," Chud says, the last half of the sentence muttered more to himself. "Nah, was just patrolling for camp. What's all this about badgers?"

The fox considers his words carefully. The otter could be working for /him/...the furtrading monster that he is after...

Bandit pauses for a short moment then rubs his eyes. He is getting parinoid these days...

"I'm after a badger Named Slade. He's a fur trader here in the mossflower area, wanted for kidnapping, murder, and trying to do both to the head guard of Ferrivale. Which would be me." The fox says with bared teeth. Bandit did not take well with any beast that tried to steal his hide. "A grain merchant was robbed on the bridge by a bandit badger just yesterday so I'm scouring the woods trying to pick up his trail." With no success, Bandit doesn't add.

Chud growls, his good humor gone in a flash. "I'll help you." It's a statement of fact, rather than a request. He grips the hilt of his sheathed dirk tightly. "Hmph. Heard about the grain merchant. Thought I saw some tracks, but the snowfall covered 'em. There's other ways of finding trails though."

"I tried to hunt by smell, heaven's know I got enough of his scent when he captured me, but..." The fox glances away from the otter, unwilling to tell him that he can't tell if he just can't find the badgers trail or if his easy living in the city has dulled his senses. Or worse, both.

Instead Bandit replies, "If you want to help I won't argue." he steps forward thrusting a thumb into his own chest, "But know that /I/ will be the one taking him in." The fox then stoops to retreave his sword.

Chud laughs bitterly. "Badgers take a whole lotta restrainin', mate. Be lucky if he don't rip y'head off." He takes a swig of what is actually tea from his canteen, steam rising up from his breath.

This only causes the fox to chuckle, "Who said I was bringing him in /whole/? All I need is his /head/." He says darkly before turning to chud, "Now you going to stand there yappin or are you going to get to tracking? We are burning daylight friend."

Chud sighs. "I was waiting for you." He heads into the woods, saying, "The cart was this way, but we better stay off the road."

"R-right. Sounds like a plan. He was last seen at the bridge. He left the cart and left on foot. I followed what I thought were tracks down to here. And if he left this trap maybe he has a camp near by..."

The fox's senses might be dulled but to the trained eye there is a faint depression of paw prints in the snow, as if a beast walked across the snow filled grass and a new fresh snow fall covered it up. Occasionally a broken twig reveals itself on the low hanging tree branches they pass through.

Chud spots those signs easily, deftly adjusting his course accordingly. "Gotcha," he mutters to himself. "Yeesh, he's a big 'un, ain't 'e?" He's very careful not to step in the tracks, or near them even.

"Arn't they all?" The fox quips. As he walks the fox gribs his sword hilt even more tightly. His tail twitches in a sporadic fashion behind him and his ears twitch at the slightest sound. This has to end, he tells himself. It's time to rid the forrest of this blight.

The fox pauses with out warning, ears fidgeting like sonar dishes. "Chud...we ain't alone." And in a flash his sword comes free and he dashes off into the wood to his right.

"Arn't they all?" The fox quips. As he walks the fox gribs his sword hilt even more tightly. His tail twitches in a sporadic fashion behind him and his ears twitch at the slightest sound. This has to end, he tells himself. It's time to rid the forrest of this blight.

The fox pauses with out warning, ears fidgeting like sonar dishes. "Chud...we ain't alone." And in a flash his sword comes free and he dashes off into the wood to his right.

Chud facepaws even as he draws his dirk with his free paw. "For cryin' out loud... ever heard of makin' a battle plan first?" he whispers to himself, sprinting after Bandit and most likely outpacing him.

Ferdinand sighs to himself. Blisa is still at Redwall, worried sick about Jase. The ferret shakes his head and trudges along through the undergrowth, pulling his cloak hood up over his ears. He has his recurve bow, arrows, and sabre with him, of course. He's not dumb.

The ferret continues on. He's getting Blisa her black dress to wear at the feast next week, and the dress uniforms for himself and the other guards.

He rustles trough some brush, unwittingly causing the noise that Bandit hears.....

Under normal circumstances the fox would agree actually. Right now however Bandit isn't quite...here. His usual common sense has been replaced by his own sense of self preservation, and perhaps a touch of vengeance. Slade was going to die, and if Bandit had a say in the matter Slade was going to certainly regret ever trying to kill Bandit...

With only the savage yell of a beast determined to slay a badger the fox bursts forth from the undergrowth, swinging his blade with both paws towards teh ferret's head, "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAawait." The blade stops in mid swing as Bandit blinks once or twice in recognition. "Ferinand. Why are you here?" He asks calmly, sword still poised to slice his head open like a melon.

Chud snorts at the situation as he walks into the area. "Well, you found a ferret. Badgers are a tad bigger than that mate." He nods to said ferret calmly.

Ferdinand is quick. Very quick. She hears the yell, whips around while simultaneously drawing his sabre, and goes to parry the fox's swing. Before he can think, he goes to expertly flick the sabre blade into the fox's face....but then the Head Guard says his name. The ferret blinks. "Bandit. I could ahtk you the thame thing." He, too, stays in this position, ready to slice the fox's face to ribbons if necessary.

Blade still raised the fox glances to the otter behind him, "Ferdinand isn't supposed to be /here/." But to be fair neither is Bandit. Lowering the sword The fox pushes the ferret's saber away with his free paw. "Ferd, if you are here to stop me from killing Slade you can march your fuzzy tail back to Ferrivale. That badger has blighted mossflower for too long. I'm going to cut him to ribbons and no one, not you, not the guard, is going to stop me!"

The fox is so wrapped up in the worrying about whether or not Ferd is there to stop him from enacting sweet vengence upon the badger that he fails to realize that the smell of camp fire smoke is drifting through the air...

Chud, meanwhile, niotices immediately. "Both of you, shaddup!" he hisses vehemently. "There's more beasts about." He moves to protect the east side of the group, making sure nobeast can come from that way. As he does this, he expects the others to cover the other directions.

"You're hunting who? I'm on my way to the village from the Abbey to get thomething for Mith Blitha..." Ferdinand shuts up as the otter hisses at them and steps back. Covering the Southwast side, he looks around, small ferret ears perked, strange golden eyes narrowed as he listens carefully. Carefully sheathing his sabre, he pulls his bow off his back and nocks an arrow to it, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

The fox however has different ideas. "The only one who needs to be on guard is Slade, from //ME//"

Fire in his eyes the fox again storms off into the bushes to the west. "SLADE!" He shouts as he comes into a clearing not too far away. "SLADE! I'm going to feed you your own paws after I-" Bandit comes to a stop.

The snow covered clearing is placed next to the open river which flows quickly behind the figure seated here. Sitting cross legged near a small camp fire is a large, burly monster of a beast. The badger is wearing only a kilt and several tattoo's about his arms neck, face even across his rounded stomach. He is far from out of shape though, not when one's arms are bulging with muscles under scar and tattoo covered fur. A large metal club rests on his lap. A large metal club with spikes running down the sides.

The badger seems to be, meditating, at least until Bandit comes to interrupt him. "You're not Slade..." Bandit says, tail curling between his legs.

Chud facepaws yet again and heads over to the clearing. "We're all gonna die," he mutters halfheartedly. "Bandit!" The otter's voice is a low hiss. "Get back before he sees you."

Ferdinand refrains from a sarcastic comment and silently follows, making sure to stay as close to the otter as possible. "I think the badger hath already theen him...crap on a cracker, we're dead. Blitha'th never gona get over thith....." He makes sure to stay out of sight of the badger, pulls his bow, and aims for the badger's chest. Better kill him from a distance than risk getting killed, right? Besides, the Ferravale Head Guard is being an AWESOME distraction/bait...

However, Ferdinanad holds his fire. Just in case the badger decides to be friendly....

"I do not need my eyes to find you." The Badger says candidly. Opening his red rimmed eyes towards the beasts, "I could smell your miserable hides from miles away..."

Still in a meditative stance the badger continues, "I am Krull, son of the Durgan, son of Warden."

"Well, it's ah, nice to meet you Krull. Now if you don't mind we are just going to walk way, very quietly, and peacefully-"

"Do not insult me with cowardice fox." The badger hisses. "I am on a quest-"

"That's...that's nice," Bandit gulps, "Maybe we can help you wi-"

"I'm here to kill your village champion. It will be an excellent warm up to the glorious fight I will have when I reach the abbey down south. I heare it is home to an un-defeatable warrior. I will take his head back for glory and honor. Now run along and fetch me your village champion. If you don't have one then the head guard will do."

The fox let's out a muffled gasp, causing the badger to raise an eyebrow, "Will this be a PROBLEM?"

Chud spins his dirk casusally. "Oy! Y'might want to consider that beasts 'round here don't take too kindly to loppin' off each other's 'eads. An' it ain't very honorable to kill the cornerstone of a safe haven's defenses."

Ferdinand sighs. Great. He even took a bath this morning. Keeping his arrow trained on the badger, he just stands there silently, hoping that the badger was bluffing about knowing that he was there......

"Who said I was going to 'lop' off his head?" The badger raises another eyebrow, "I plan to tear it off with my bare claws...after I peel his hide from his body and wear it like a coat infront of him."

Bandit seems to waver on his feet. "Ew. Uh...well, heh heh." He chuckles nervously. "Y-you know, it's going to take some time to collect the village champion. He is off on, important champion duties."

"Three days." The badger says flatly. "You know where to find me. If he doesn't show up at the end of the third day I will hunt him down and //end// him." The badger then goes back to his meditation shooing them away with a single paw.

"Yeesh," Chud mutters. "You might wanna just shoot him, could spare us the trouble," he hisses to Ferdinand. Anti-climactic? Yes. Dishonorable? Possibly. Logical? Also yes.

Okay. That's just...messed up. Ferdinand thinks, biting his lip. He was taught by his tutor to always fight with honor, but......his tutor also never had to deal with crazy badgers like this. The ferret looks at the otter, his eyes wide, indecision VERY clear on his face.

The fox is very ok with fighting with out honor. He was a pirate after all, not to mention that it's his hide on the line and being threatened to be peeled! Bandit nods to Ferdinand to take the shot and then turns to adress the badger, only to find him missing.

The badger is just...gone. Him and his horribly dangerous club. A pair of tracks leads off to the river where the trail ends and the beast disspears like morning mist.

Chud growls. "No way we'll find him now. Recommend we get some mercs to take this nutcase down, or maybe I can get some lads from the Camp to go put a beatin' on 'im." He stares forlornly at the river. "Well, we found a badger. Wrong one, but still a badger," he says, whiskers twitching despite the seriousness of the situation.

"What in the..." Ferdinand had only blinked, man! Just a blink! And the enemy is gone. Scwoling, he puts up his bow and arrow and stalks forward. "Great. Pleathe explain to me why you jutht marched to a capmfire without waiting to thee what wath here?" He is definitely ticked off.

The fox only leans against a tree. "Three days...lot can happen in three days." He shakes his head. "I think...I think I'm going to be sick..." THe fox turns from the camp site staggering as he walks away. Three days. THREE DAYS! Why didn't he take the guards with him? No he had to run out here at the first sign of Slade and fight him one on one. Stupid stupid fox.

"I...wantned to kill Slade. With out anyone interfering..." The fox whimpers at Ferdinand.

Ferdinand glares at the sky. "Well, that wath a good idea....lemme geuth, you didn't even tell Thir Thcioto, did you? Theriouthly, I am THO telling Blitha...."

The fox slumps until his tail is on the ground, "No I didn't tell Scioto! THe head guard doesn't go off half cocked on some quest for revenge!" The fox rubs at his eyes, "I can see him...Slade...in my nightmares. From when he kidnapped me. I just...wanted him gone...and dead. And now..." He whines, "I don't wanna be peeled like a grape fruit!"

Ferdinand is suddenly filled with compassion for the fox. He goes to rest a paw on the Head Guard's shoulder. "I'm thure we can think of thomething.....pity Mith DoraRothe ithn't here.....I'm pothitive the would help."

"Yeah, real pitty." The fox stands up, "We should...we should get back to the village. It's obviously not safe out here and I don't want to know what will happen when Krull finds out that the head guard is already there." The fox begins to walk away, chuckling darkly. "Maybe you would be interested in the job of village champ?"

"Hahahaha, no." Ferdinand gets out his bow and an arrow again. Just in case. "Maybe we should make Bathilithk the champion..." he quips as he walks with the fox towards the village....