Quinten Log 102 - 27 04 2006

The River Moss

The waters of the great River Moss soak you through as you move out

into its lazy flow. The waters are far from clean and clear here, though,

the river has picked up much dirt and dust on its way to the sea. This

has turned the water's color to a pale and dirty brown. Everyso often

the movement of a fish can be detected in the water or on the surface,

but they seem to be keeping away from the beasts in the water for the

most part. The trees that over hang the river weave a tight mesh and

block out much of the sun light from either side, even in the winter

months. This lends a sort of calm and relaxed aura to this part of the

river as it nears the Old Stone Bridge that allows beasts to cross the

river without swimming in it.

%~%~%~%~%~%~~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~%~

Flicktail moves in the still darkness.. the glowing red embers of the

camp fire giving the foxes eyes a red glowing demonic look as he quietly

moves around the camp out of the gloom

Quinten is stood at the edge of the camp, leaning on a tree, one paw on

his sabre the other holding a mug of warmed milk, watching and

listening to the woodlands beyond, long ears swivelling from side to side as he

stands sentry.

Flicktail spies the Hare and begins to approach, quietly though not

noislessly a bundle in his paws

Quinten ears flick back and the recruit turns his head, one ear cocked

towards the fox, the other still listening to the nighttime forest

"Mister Flicktail old bean, you should be in bed."

Flicktail's ears perk "You know me? Never been accused a bein a mister

afore

Quinten smiles "It would be hard to miss you Mister Flicktail, you

being the only vermin in te camp"

Flicktail says, "Oi Anin't a vermin no more sir....and I been up all

noit, out alone e perimiter...wotchin for em vermin"

Quinten nods his head "Aye Mister Flicktail, well i've got th last duty

here, four am to breakfast, great fun" he looks at the sky "No need to

call me sir either, i'm Quintenand it is going to rain typical"

Flicktail opens his cloak and produces a nice warm stackof oatcakes

"peraps this might warm yer cockles?

Quinten smiles and reaches out a paw to grab one "I won't be saying no

Mister Flicktail" he flicks his ears back and listens as a nightbird

calls out over the forest /tewit-tewooo/ "Hmmmm definatly going to rain."

he grumbles shifting his own cloak, there is a chuckle from an otter

stood a short way away, he leans closer and snags an oatcake off

Flicktail "Nou't wrong wid a spot of rain me boyos"

Flicktail says, "I borught ya a whoel stack with some warm honey"

Flicktail says, "um..mis...er Quinten..wot ya know about shields?"

Quinten looks at Flicktail and shrugs "Not much Mister Flicktail" he

says licking honey from his claws "I've never used one, wot about you

Broggel?" The otter shakes his head, pushing back his hood to let the

first raindrops land on his headfur "Not much, ye don't usually see otters

wid em, wot yer wanna knoo fer Flikcy?"

Flicktail says, "please just call me Flicktail....Well I won't ta be a

guard, but Alundro think I mak slay beasts if I ave a weapon..but if I

were a shield beast...."

Quinten nods his head "Aye i heard the arguement the other day," he

thinks and looks up, letting the rain fall on his muzzle, it is coming

down as a fine drizzle now, soaking his face fur. "Hmmm well back at the

mountain there are tails of Badger lords with shield you know" Broggel

joins in as well "Aye es right thar an of course there be all those

tales about martin, he ad a shield me bucko"

Flicktail listens and stands, getting wet he doesn't mind as he starts

to pull his hood up but at the mention of Martin, the fox nearly backs

over a tree Root "if...if ye could please don invoke is name around me,

e may not loike me yet....

Quinten blinks and looks at Flicktail "Martin? as in marting the

warrior? Come on now Mister Flicktail, he's hardly gonna dislike ye" The

otters frowns and nudges the recruoit "Aye dinnae knoo Martin never was one

fer vermin, but if yer reformin then all is well an gudW"

Flicktail says, "M...maybe" he says trembling now, looking about at

all the mention of Martin"but how would ye feel if Cluny e scourge ad won

and you ad been brought up yer whole dibbun lives being told e were

coming to do orrible orrible things to ye...."

Quinten reaches out to lay a paw on Flicktail's arm "HEy now, Cluny the

Scourge never won, Matthias of Redwall killed him using the Great

Joseph bell" the otter nods "Aye yer miserable ole fox, cher up ye hear"

Flicktail smiles but is still a tremble "Oi promise, just stop talking

about Ghosts...ere..ave another oatcake.. and tell me about Shields

They both chuckle and take another oatcake munching down on them "Ok

deal but there really is very little aye kin tell ye matey" The otter

states, Quinten however is starring thoughtfully back westwards.

Flicktail moves beside Quienten and gazes over his shoulder to the west

Quinten hmms and turns to look at Flicktail, nudging the foxes muzzle

off his shoulder "I am not a head rest, just because io am short does

not make me a headrest"

Flicktail asks, "ead rest? Oi were justtryin ta see wot ye belooking

at"

Quinten shakes his head "Never mind, iw as just thinking aboot tha

badger back in Halyard, she seemed to know about making weapons, or ye

should speak to Colonel Zoe"

Flicktail says, "Oh apple.. I eard of er..she as a dbbun..oh yes I

woudl SO love a shield from er..."

The Otter shakes his head "Aye but i doubt you could afford one could

you Flicktail?" he turns to look sternly at the fox "You should ask the

Skipper we might have old shields back home"

Flicktail says, "too bad Oi rn't there any more.....maybe some time I

could do sometin ta earn enough to do it...ya know?"

Quinten smiles and nods "Oh i am sure you can Mister Flicktail, se does

lovely work, i saw some of te stuff the officers bought off her"

Flicktail says, "I wonder if she's loik me...."

Quinten shrugs "I would not know Mister Flicktail" Braggel smirks

"Aye'm sure she does, likes tae snack on ye ifyer upset her"

Flicktail says, "oh I don upset noone any more....not on purpose"

Quinten smiles "Well that is good to hear" the recruit then tugs his

hodo up as the rain is coming down harder, and heavier now, a right

spring downpour"

Flicktail moves to make sure Ben and Maxine are under shelter....with

the other sleeping dibbuns

All the dibbuns are sleeping on the dibbun raft under a large

tarapaulin that has been set up on four poles, it covers the entire raft,

everyone else is making do with tents, shelters and heavy cloaks. beasts

slowly waking up over the camp as the rain comes down

Flicktail looks batto the hare "Are you in e patrol?

Quinten nods and smiles "Aye sir, i'm a recruit first class, on me way

to Redwall fer the exchange"

Flicktail says, "Ye shoudl do fine ere...come visit me at camp Willow"

Quinten smiles "I will Mister Flicktail if i have the time but i'll be

doing alot of training both in the abbey and at the 67th Patrol HQ.."

he is cut off as some shouts break out over near one of the camp fires,

the GUOSIM are up and arguing over who should make breakfast, several

of them are tussling and wrestling to decide the matter whilst debating

loudly. Then the dibbuns wake up!

Flicktail asks, "I wonder if ay ave somein warm ta drink?" he asks,

knowing Ben and Maxine are both used to such things"

The GUOSIM argument has died down with the loosers being relegated by

vote to cooking, Quinten smiles softly "Maybe Mister Flicktail, but i'm

still on duty so i'm not going anyplace until i get some relief"

- About half an hour passes -

Oswald is over at the GUOSIM fire looking pleased with himself, he's

managed to sway the crowd and win the fight over who was going to cook

Breakfast, it sure as heck wasn't gonna be him,

Hallow is making her way along the bank for whatever reason and past

the shrew crowd, glancing to them on her way "Mornin'"

Somewhere on the muck, Gabriel has connected.

Oswald looks up and tips his head to the skipper "Mornin thar skipper

ma'am, oooh yis tis a gud en indeed, yer ready tae it tha river agin

toda?"

Quinten is still stood under a tree being rained upon, the pouring

downpour might not be bothering the shrews or the otters or the dibbuns but

it sure is making the tail end of his sentry duty miserable and cold

Hallow smiles slightly and nods to Oswald "More we hit the river and

travel the faster we'll get there and the less hares that'll fall in on

the way" rain not really bothering her at all.

Oswald laughs and nods shaking his head the bells on the end of his

braids chiming "Arrr yer righ thar skipper ma'm twill be a gud trip, maybe

teach these soppy flop eared land lubber a ting or two yis?"

Hallow smirks and chuckles lightly "They try at least, still a few boat

and water skills wouldn't go amiss, they'll learn to stay on the raft

by the time we get there I'm sure"

Oswald laughs loudly and takes a mug of tea off a shrew and winks at

his friend "Oooh well its yer oitters we need a talkin tae those rafts

are big sure, but ye need a good few boats ooooh yis ye do indeed"

Hallow raises a brow "Do we indeed? Aside from small fishing trips and

these odd ventures out we don't really seem to need boats for much,

don't wander the rivers as much as the guosim"

Oswald waves a paw "Arrr ye nedder knoo when ye might be needin a boat

yis, tis important tae be prepared, still ye knoo yer bussiness better

then any ole shrew, even if ye dinnae knoo ow tae organise a rabble

loike this, committees tha is wud ya lacking"

Quinten sighs and smiles happily as he is finally relieved of sentry

duty, he thanks the otter who is his replacement and pads towards the

main fire intent on getting something to eat.

Hallow looks almost insulted, arms folding as she looks down at the

shrew "We get on quite fine with our current organisation without a

committee or anything and we're not a rabble"

Oswald laughs and pats the otters leg "Arrr miss Skipper dinnae take

offence, tis just our way ye knoo voicing our thoughts"

Quinten is watching the shrews with mild amusement as he helps himself

to a cup of tea and another oak cake.

Hallow frowns slightly and hmms, shrews will be shrews, letting it go

finally she shakes her head "Anyway, you would be?" half turning as she

speaks so that she's facing the fire, wants her breakfast too.

Oswald smirks and moves to grab a bowl of porridge of another shrew and

bickers with them over it for a moment, tugging it this way and that

before he gives it back and grabs another bowl of a pile "I'd be Oswald

thats who, GUOSIM an proud of it" he flicks his braids over his

shoulder, sending the bells to chicming

Quinten smirks at the shrews and takes a bowl of porridge when it is

given to him, its amazing how they'll argue with each other iseems at the

drop of a hat, yet are always so friendly to everyone else

Hallow gives the shrew a low nod "Well tis nice to meet ye Oswald, not

enough guosim about" ear flicking to the bells once, finds them very

odd.

Oswald sighs and nods his head "Aye thar ave nae been enogh of us in

recent seasons,"

Quinten sits down on a log and leans forwards "Wot appened to ye all?"

Hallow glances to Quinten at last and then back to Oswald, faintly

curious herself.

Oswald looks up at Hallow and Quint and shrugs "Figting, vermin, tha

ususally, tis the way of te GUOSIM soome times thars many of us,

soometimes less, we'll pick oop tha numbers given time" he holds out his beaker

for it to be refilled

Quinten nods his head "Oh...sorry to intrude Mister Oswald, obviously

its a private toppic"

Hallow shrugs in return and moves to find herself a place to sit down

"Often the way but these things happen, shame, sure numbers will pick up

though and you'll have to be building more boats to all fit in"

Oswald smirks "Aye that'd be somethin skipper aving tae build new boats

instead oh storin em at camp, wot de ys say GUOSIM?" there is a cheer

of ayes from the rest of the shrews at this idea

Quinten shakes his head nad smiles at Hallow leaning in to murmur

"Excitable bunch aren't they ma'am"

Hallow smirks at the cheer and nods to Quinten "Very it seems and able

to argue at the drop of a hat, there's nothing quite like a shrew"

Oswald is laughing happily at the shouting when one of his fellows

knocks him, his bowl of porridge lands in the fire and Oswald glares at his

fellow Shrew "YOU your adle brained twit look wot ye did yis" the other

shrew grins back "Saved ye from puttin on more weight Os" he calls out, with

a whoop Oswald dives at the other shrew, baring them to the ground and tussling

with them

Quinten blinks as the shrew launches into the wrestling match over a

bowl of porridge, not sure if its for fun or not, he looks at the older

otter "Should we step in?"

Hallow laughs a little as the shrews start up again, shaking her head

to the hare "Probably not needed, give them a couple of minutes and

they'll probably be best friends" an eye is kept on them of course though.

The tussel last for about a minute until Oswald ends up sitting atop

his companion, seizing Quintens bowl of porridge he upends it over the

other shrew head with a /squidge/ "That'll save ye matey from gettin fat

also" laughing he helps the other shrew to sit up and scoops some

porridge off him with a paw and sucks his paw clean.

Quinten blinks "Heeey that was mine" he says indignantly, he's learnt

during his time with the patrol to cherish his food

Hallow chuckles at the lot of them "Told ye they'd get over their

fighting" she says to Quinten before looking back to the shrews "And now

they're wearin' ye breakfast"

Flaxpaw has been drawn to all the noise, and comes over to see what's

going on. She blinks at the shrews....that's a waste of good food.

Oswald laughs softly and stands up still sucking on his paw "Ye want

soom more de ye recruit yis?" his tail waves back and forth and his free

paw is signalling to the shrews behind him whose eyes light up as they

grin.

You say, "Well i'd not mind Sah, we got a long day ahead an aye've

famished""

Hallow glances between the shrews quickly, keeping close eye on those

grins and falling quickly silent, yet to notice Flax though.

Oswald smirks and steps up close to Quinten beaming a smile at the

recruit, meanwhile three shrews have slipped around behind him, grasping

the pot of cooling porridge they move close to Quinten as Oswald claps

his paws down on the hares shoulders. "Aye'll be appy tae give ye some

more Recruit yis yis indeed aye will"

Quinten blinks and looks over towards Flaxpaw, not having seen the

shrews behind him, he raises a brow and looks up at the shrew holding his

shoulders "Well I can get it out of te pot myself sir, it is not hard

really..." he nods to flax "Flax you want some brekafast too?"

Hallow conveniently shuffles away from Quinten and off to a safe

distance to watch.

Flaxpaw grins and nods. "yes, breakfast would be lovely. hardly had

enough to get through wotever these chaps make us do today." she casts a

puzzled look at the shrews. "An, chaps...wot're you doin with that

porriage?"

The shrws laugh and heft the pot up "Why givin it to tha recruit little

miss" one of the quips out, Oswald ops back as tey upend the pot over

Quinten's head, dumping the contents on him.

You say, "What..." is all Quinten has time to say before a cascade of

porridge, warm sticky and squidgy pours over him, soaking nad sticking

to his fur, dripping off his arms and legs "Heeeey""

Hallow stands well out the way, but smirk on her face and trying to

hold back laughter as she watches, we'll she's used to seeing this sort of

thing happen.

Oswald laughs as the shrews dump the pot of porridge of the startled

recruit "Ahhhh we're given you more porridge young un" he laughs and dips

a paw into QUinten's head fur and sucks it clean of porridge "Now thats

good breakfast"

Flaxpaw watches the lovel lovely porridge get dumped all over Quinten,

ears drooping a little. "bad show, chaps, waste of good food." then she

looks a tad happier. "now, you lot had best wash him off." she points

to the river, grinning.

Quinten scrambles to his feet "Heeey now Flax don't be giving them

ideas" he eyes a few of the shrews as they laugh and move towards him and

lunges at Flaxpaw, grabbing her arms and butting his ears against her

neck, getting porridge on her "We both need a bath now."

Hallow can't help but laugh now, still a good distance away and will

run if either hare comes near her "Couple of things that need washin' up

after breakfast it seems!"

Oswald laughs and joins in the scrum of shrew bearing down on the

hapless porridge covered hares "Never fear skipper ma'm me an tha GUOSIM

will clean these two hares up gud an proper" he goes to grab Flaxpaws arm.

Flaxpaw tries to dodge out of Quint's paws before the shrews get to

them, and manages to get more covered in porridge. Flax eeeeps as her arm

is caught by Oswald. "now, sah, let's be reasonable....just a bit of

porridge...."

Quinten laughs and lets the shrews drag him towards the river, he

doesn't mind so much now that he's gotten his revenge on Flaxpaw "Come on

Flax just a bit of..hee..heeeey put me down" he's been swept off his feet

by some of the shrews and they are running at the bank with him.

Hallow laughs and claps her webbed paws as she follows them down

towards the bank, doesn't want to miss all the fun.

Oswald smirks and starts to try and lift up flaxpaw, going to hold her

over his hhead wit the help of three more shrews

Flaxpaw feels her feet leave the ground, and goes still, last thing she

wants is to be dropped, but that doesn't stop her talking..... "hey hey

hey! put me down you spiky fured lot. help! I'm goin to be drowned."

She is, however, laughing a bit through her tirade.

Quinten has given up struggling just letting the rowdy bunch of shrews

charge him into the water with an almighty splash, glbbing a bit as he

goes under, feeling small paws start to scrub at his fur

Hallow stops on the edge of the bank to watch with amusement "That's

it, get them nice and clean again"

Oswald chuckles and helps to drive Flaxpaw into the water, its freezing

after a night of rain, the heavy downpour still soaking the camp not

helping matters either in regards to temperature, the shrews are aving a

great time, whooping and cheering as they set about cleaning up the

recruits.

Flaxpaw sputters as she gets a mouthful of fishy river water, and

shivers. "it's cold in here!" she chides as she is scrubbed by unsympathetic

shrews. "Haven't enough recruits already caught cold? savag----"

burble, Flax' head is ducked under again. Sure it's just to get all the goo

off. nothing to do with the way she's insulting them...

Quinten has joined in the insult throwing as he's ducked, scrubbed,

rinsed and ducked again "You bunch of furry little hooligans, no disciplin

thats wot, let us go at once, all i..." he cuts off spluttering and

surfacing again "spikey furred little miscreants, you'd not last a day in

tha..." more spluttering as he goes under

Hallow chuckles at the sound "Wash out their mouths while your at it

then best put them by the fire to dry"

Oswald laughs and waves to the skipper, and takes a lump of soap and

waits for hher to open her muzzle to breath and shoves it in "That young

miss will teach ye tae not be so rude yis ye hear me"

EW YUCK! soap is way worse than river water. Flax shoots Oswald a

grumpy dibbun look, but... "yes, sah, sorry sah." she mutters sullenly to

the shrew....before sending a splash of water at him and trying to duck

out of the pther shrews' paws.

Quinten erfs and paws at his muzzle to get rid of the taste of soap and

shrew tail, he managed to grab a shrew by the tail in his muzzzle only

to discover shrew tail tastes horrible, he's dragged ashore and wrapped

up in blankets and stuck by the fire dripping "Thanks" he mutters to

the shrews whoa re all laughing and having a great time of it

Hallow laughs and covers her face with a paw, she hadn't meant

literally, was funny though anyway, she watches Quinten takes to the fire, her

head shaking and she still chuckles lightly.

Oswald smirks at Flaxpaw and dumps her by Quinten and wraps her up in a

blanket "We'll turn ye intae a proper water beastie yet missi yer

insults were rather boring"

Flaxpaw peers at him with a mutinous expression for a moment, then

bursts out laughing. "I'll take that as a promise to teach me how t'insult

properly, sah." she huddles in the blanket, and sighs. "I will drown

before we get to Redwall. I know it."

Quinten smirks and rolls his eyes "Wot does it make it now Flax, four

times in the water already? You really need to get the hang of letting

go if your pole gets stuck, an otter or shrew will always grab it for

us"

Hallow flops back down to sit by the fire again "Well now, would look

very bad for us if we let you drown, should learn to swim if can't

already, such a useful skill"

Oswald nods andd grins "Oh yes, Log-a-log an that bard chap have a bet

on to see which of you will ask em for swimmin instructions first"

Flaxpaw tsks at the mention of the bard, flicking an ear. "d'you know

that rotter actually talked to th'officahs 'bout me goin into the

river." She turns a light pink, as she thinks about the bard's exact

words...hopefully was another 'major chappie' he talked to. "An I would not ask

them for swimmin lessons, sah. cads." Flaxy really dislikes being

laughed at when she's made herself look bad.

Quinten frowns at Flaxpaw "Hey Flaxpaw don't be like tha, they have a

responsibilty to look after us, of course the otters are telling the

officers everything, they have a right to know wot we are up to, and

besides if Mister Alrendo didn't lt. Merrybell probably told them anyway"

Tobias appears to have dozed off; he can be heard smacking his lips as

he raises his head from its makeshift pillow. "I say, what's all the

bally noise about? Summat wrong?" His eyes are only half-open.

Hallow chuckles at Flaxpaw and gives her a smile "I wouldn't worry

about it too much, nothing wrong with the odd fall overboard, not as if

officers and the rest of that lot are perfect, were all young at some

point" ear twitching in Tobias's direction.

Oswald smirks and pads over to Tobias and holds out a paw "Nothin young

un good morning, coom over ta tha fire me we GUOSIM ave cooked up some

fresh porridge," The shrew is wet, much wetter then he should be from

juust the constant downpour of rain. Several other shrews are busy

handing out steaming bowls of porridge to Flaxpaw and Quinten who are

wrapped up in blankets.

Flaxpaw looks over at Tobias as she quickly eats her porridge before

some shrew starts dumping the tucker again. She flicks her ears at

Quinten, then shrugs. "well, suppose so, Quint. just, I'm /trying/ not to

look so bad all the time.." her attention returns to Tobias. "Quick, sah,

better get some porridge, it's in danger this mornin, sah." she points

to a puddle of it on the ground.

Quinten laughs and flicks his ears "Aye Tobias you best hurry before

the GUOSIM decide you look best with it in your ears." he looks back at

Flax "Learning and making a few mistakes is not lookin gbad, that just

shows em your trying, sheesh flax lighten up a bit"

Tobias blinks once at the offered shrew paw, before his eyes shoot wide

open as Flaxpaw's words draw his attention to the ground. He scrambles

upward into a standing position with astounding agility, shooting

glances about the camp. "Wot's the disturbance, you lot? Are we being

attacked? Who's responsible for this!?" He appears nothing less than

distraught.

Hallow smirks at Tobias, shaking her head at him "Calm down now, such

high strung beasts you hares sometimes, not being attacked, just a

little fun being had"

Oswald laughs "Aye dinnae no, yer hares are worse en us shrews, twas

jist a bit of fun now sit down an ged yerself some porridge afore we

shove orf, it'll be a long miserable day in this ere rain"

Flaxpaw will /not/ 'lighten up a bit', not about that, anyway. Looking

bad in front of...ahem...the officers is no light matter, and she is

obviously not a waterbeast. She considers telling Quinten so when Tobias'

tirade hits her, and she grins. Yup, this buck takes his food

seriously. She slurps the last bit of porridge down, and goes to stand next to

him, holding out the empty bowl. "They call it fun drownin poor hares an

lettin 'em go hungry sah. sad to say, but true." She gives him

exaggerated sad eyes. May yet get third or even fouth helpings out of this....

Quinten shakes his head nad puts his bowl down, Flaxpaws constant

bootlicking to the officers over every single little detail is really

getting on his nerves, he stands up and excuses himself going to get a clean

uniform

Hallow rolls her eyes and looks skywards with a small sigh...before a

drop of rain gets in her eyes and she has to blink a few times and looks

down again, starting to look like one of those days.

Oswald shakes his head and hands a bowl of porridge to Tobias there now

ye eat tha oop then report tae a log boat, all three of ye" he looks at

quinten and Flaxpaw "Aye'm teachin yer to row today so no idling aboot

under a cover on tha rafts, yer work in tha rain wid us today"

One of those days is right...but, at least rowing a log boat it won't

be so hard to stay put. Flax hopes. Still a little hopeful that she'll

get more porridge, she lingers, wandering closer to the shrews with the

food, and smiling a little. "so..shipmates? got a bit more for a

hard-workin hare?" The shrews, however, don't seem to buy it. Flax sighs and

heads off to the log boat. )

Quinten smiles after Flaxpaw as he walks back over, wrapping a thick

cloak about himself to ward off the rain

Hallow remains sat by the fire for a moment, watching the recruits go,

shaking herself quickly to get a little of the rain off.

Oswald pads over to the skipper and holds out a paw to er "Would ye

care tae join us in tha boat ma'am?"

Quinten hurries across to his designated logboat and peers at it with

interest, rain pouring off his cloak

Hallow takes the offered paws and hauls herself back onto her feet to

head for the boat "Beats sitting about in the rain I suppose"

Oswald laughs softly and grins "Well aye'm surprised Skipper aye'd

expected ye tae go on one of tha rafts under those nice covers yer bards

been erected." he nods to the rafts which all have large brown sheets

hanging over the top of them now, suspended by poles in each corner "Still

we'll be glad tae ave yer strength aboard

Quinten looks up and smiles waving his ears to Oswald and Hallow "Shall

i get in?"

Hallow smirks faintly "Little rain never hurt anyone and it's rude to

decline and invitation" she nods to Quinten "Unless ye want to be left

behind would suggest it"

Oswald smirks and waves to Quinten adn the other two recruits "Aye in

ye get, seven to a boat ye hear yis yis thats it" he moves over to sit

the recruits down, each one sat next to a shrew and then an empty seat

for Hallow. "Here we go, everyone grab an oar"

Quinten smiles as he's sat down in the boat, gripping the wooden oar in

his paws and locking it into the oarlock as the shrew shows him how

Hallow step into the boat and sits down in her place before taking up

her own oar now, fit it into place, seeing as she usually doesn't have

to row it's been a while since she's done it.

Oswald smiles and claps Tobias on the shoulder and nods to the last

seat in the log boat, next to the skipper "Take a seat there if ye dinnae

mind we could do wid an extra paw to elp us row"

Quinten smiles up at Tobias then back to Oswald "Why we leaving so

early sir? I mean everyone else is still breaking the camp"

Tobias surveys the log boat, and nods. "Well sorted, sah. Always

willing to fulfill my military duty, wot. By land or by sea, as they say, and

river's are like seas, just smaller. Besides, I always wanted to try a

bit of watercrafting." He takes his seat, appearing interested in the

process.

Hallow gives Tobias a nod as he sits down "Mornin'" her already sat in

the boat with oar, ready and waiting.

Oswald smirks at the odd hare and clambers into the boat sitting at the

rear, grasping the large oar that sticks out the back in experienced

paws ready to steer for us "Ok Skipper show Tobias there ow to lock is

oar, an Recruit we are gonna scout ahead, the GUOSIM ave taken it upon

emselves tae check the river ahead oih tha main group"

Quinten nods to OSwald and smiles "Ok then sah but i've never rowed a

boat before, i'll do me best though," he looks up at the sky and snorts,

blowing rain water off his whiskers the rain is still pouring down over

us

The sky has become a very moody grey, dark clouds meshing with the

lighter, and Tobias takes a moment to peer upward, squinting againt the

drops. "I say, nothing wrong with a bit of rain, but at this rate being in

or out of this here boat thingummy isn't going to make that much of a

difference." He focuses once more on the task at hand, and awaits

instruction by the Skipper. "Teach on, me gel."

Hallow chuckles "It's when the rain's strong enough to fill up the boat

that you've got to worry" as she talks she takes her oar out again

before demonstrating putting it back into the oarlock once more before

looking to Tobias to see if he got the idea.

Quinten nods approvingly "Aye but aye do enjoy sailing in tha rain in

spring, everytin look so green an fresh, coom on then if yer all got yer

oars in we'll shoove off an aye those of ye who know wot yer doing show

tha newuns how tae stroke" So said he begins to shove away from the

shore.

Oswald nods approvingly "Aye but aye do enjoy sailing in tha rain in

spring, everytin look so green an fresh, coom on then if yer all got yer

oars in we'll shoove off an aye those of ye who know wot yer doing show

tha newuns how tae stroke" So said he begins to shove away from the

shore.

Quinten listens to oswalds words and smiles looking to the shrew nextr

to him, waiting for them to show him how to use this oar

Tobias attempts to mimick the Skipper, locking his oar into place.

"Alright, let us go forth to adventure and potentially soggy lunch, wot? I

say we've earned a feast at the Abbey wot with all this to muck

through. Still, it is a bit pleasing to the eyes in a way."

Oswald looks eastwards as a flicker of light illuminates thue sky, "Ok"

he calls out as we drift out into the centre of the river "Stroke and

pull, stroke and pull, bend your backs you scurvy bunch of landlubbers

don't let the shrews outdo ye now" The shrews start slowly, no doubt

withu the skipper, showing the recruits how to dig in their oars and push,

lift, dig, push.

Hallow laughs a little, most of her attention going to the raft as it

pushes off from the bank and she starts rowing, rather slowly at first

so it's easy to copy "Remind me to hang around if there's going to be a

feast, last one I went to there was excellent"

Quinten smirks and ducks his head, getting on with the juob of getting

his strokes in sync with the others, blowing rain off his muzzle and

flicking his ears "Gah this is getting worse,"

Tobias hmmphs, though this serves the alternate purpose of blowing

droplets of rainwater from his whiskers. "Scurvy? Not in my life, you

barbarian, you. Plenty of veggies and fruits in my diet, wot?" He attempts

to keep pace with the others with no great difficulty. As Hallow

responds, he nods, though instantly regretting it as water cascades onto his

lap. "Eughh. Chilly, this. Aye, they're certainly useful when it comes

to culinary endeavors, though I daresay they never do get used to the

complex nutritional needs we hares share. Three helpings? Bah. Ask for

more and you get the dirtiest of looks from that lot. Best just to take

them yourself."

Hallow just continues chuckling all the way through Tobias's rant on

food, changing her speed of rowing to match the others "I'll never know

where you hares put it all"

Oswald laughs "If we catch ye stealing vittles from the stores we dump

ye in the pot an cook ye wid tha breakfast, adds a bit of flavuor to it

so it does indeed, NOW Stroke, pull dig, stroke, stroke, stroke" he

turns the tiller turning us right into the main current "Don't worry

aboutthe cold you'll be sweating too much to care"

Quinten groans and flicks rain water off his ears "Oh Tobias shut it

don't goad the shrews about food, they just get ipcky"

Tobias shakes his head slightly again, droplets scattering and

reingratiating themselves with the raindrops still falling from the sky. As the

pace quickens, he braces his footpaws and increases his rotations.

"Young buck, if I weren't excruciatingly busy with my paws at the moment,

I'd cuff some sense into that addled head of yours. Bad form you know,

disrespecting the chain of command, especially whilst other beasts are

about. Makes a bad impression. If I'd have spoken like that as a

Recruit, I'd have been Whheaughh!!" The beast in front of him appears to have

lifted a bit forcefully, and a deluge of riverwater meets with the face

of the Fighter. He splutters for a few moments, and continues rowing,

appearing offended but remaining silent.

Hallow looks to Quinten with a frown and shakes her head "No way to

talk to beasts, superior officers or not, you've been a crabby sort today,

I've seen, just enjoy yourself a little, won't kill you I doubt"

glances going to Tobias at the whheaughh and she sniggers.

Oswald laughs loudly slapping his paw on the gunwale as Tobias gets

drenched the shrew ahead of him smirking softly "Sorry bout tha" Oswald

then pipes up "Ooohhooo tha'll teach ye me fair fighter hare, on this

boat when we're on tha river aye'm tha chain of command me, ye do wot aye

say when aye say."

Quinten flicks his ears "Sorry TObias SAH" Quinten souts back "But i

was on sentry duty from 3am to Breakfast an instead of being allowed a

kip i'm being made to row this infernal boat." we hit a bumpy patch of

water, rain sleeting down around us and a wave washes over the prow

soakin Quint and the Shrew next to him

A few logboats up, Belliger's at the helm of his own, and thankfully,

his onboard hares are being more cooperative, keeping the pace instead

of following it. "Aye, yer all much better'n tha last group I 'ad. Keep

it coordinated like tha', nice an' steady, mates..." )

Tobias peers upward again momentarily, the previous discussion either

forgotten or disregarded. "I think it's actually getting worse up there!

Certainly bad enough down here as well." He speaks toward Quinten while

shying away from another errant blast from the swells. "Worry not lad,

we've all got to make a few sacrifices in the name of safety and

vigilance. Part of being on Patrol, I'm afraid, but you'll get used to it."

The rain has become audible now as it strikes the wood of the log boats

with great force, massive droplets of cold water. "We'll strike up a

nice fire and see about getting you some consolatory extra rations, wot?

Some ancillary nosebags will do you good."

Flicktail moves along the boats looking for any interesting beast

Oswald wrestles with the tiller oar at the back of his logboat and

glances at the sky, another flash of lightning illuminate the woodlands,

the river is raging undder the downpour and the crack of thunder that

follows leaves a ringing in the ears. "It's above us...." he peers ahead,

his boat still on point and shakes his head "Left side, ship oars,

right side hard stroke back" he slams his tiller to the left swinging the

boat around and aiming her towards the shore "We're gonna ave tae land,

the rafts won't sand up tawe this"

Quinten snorts and ships his oar, hanging on as the logboat yore

around, ducking down as another flash of light illuminates the sky, thunder

crashing directly above us as the wind and rain howl around us.

Flicktail can't swim but shows no fear, completely confident in the

abilities of his friends.

Belliger chances a look up to the sky as he continues rowing along with

the hares, turning to see Oswald's logboat heading towards the shore.

Spurting rainwater away from his lips, he calls out, "'ey! Ozzie! Wot're

ye doin'?"

Hallow shakes water off her head again and continues rowing away and

blowing water off her noes, ok the rain is getting her a little down now.

Somewhere on the muck, Flaxpaw has disconnected.

Flicktail starts singing, it is a grating sound not pretty but he

raises his voice in the storm "oh.. A Sea rats life fer me.. yes a Sea rats

life fer me... I'll never get wet below e knee...a sea rats life fer

me....

Tobias blinks more water from his eyes. "Pull hard what? Wot's that

mean?" As the other creatures begin turning the craft, his oar sits

lifeless in his confusion, impeding their progress only slightly. "We're

heading for shore? Wonderful! We've become rather soggy if you haven't

noticed. The chap in front of me looks better than he smells when wet, I

daresay."

Oswald grunts and peers ahead at the bank, wiping rainwater from his

eyes, he hears Log-a-logs call and looks back "The Rafts" he points back

where the otters rafts are floundering the hares and otters poling them

having difficulty moving them in the rough rain driven river. Leaning

down he shouts out "Pull with all yer might, we'll get ashore an find

someplace dry to hole ourselves oop in."

Quinten is only half listening to the conversation and orders,

shivering with the cold as yet more water pours over the side of the boat, he

does however catch Tobias words "Well sah you know wot they say about

wet fur," he grits his teeth and digs his oar back into the water

"Ah. Bloody weather, they should fin' a way ta make them rafts more

sturdy!" Log-a-Log more shouts to himself than anybeast else. "Arright,

'ares. We're gonna try somethin' new. Everybeast's left-paw oars, raise

outta tha water, everybeast's right-paw oars, give a nice, big tug.

We're runnin' up on tha shore 'til tha river gets a li'l more friendly."

Flicktail gets the dibbuns to start singing with him as he starts again

"ohh A sea Rat's life fer MEeeeeee!

Tobias follows the instructions with some amount of success. "Great

heavens, someone has done ill to give Mossflower so regretable a

temperment. It'll be a real challenge finding some dry brush and wood."

Oswald holds his logboat as steady as he can as the thunder and

lightning crack over head almost simultaneously, he waits until they are as

close to shore as they can get before shouting out the order. "Hold yer

oars we're gonna beach er yis yis yis" he throws back his head and

laughs happily, water running down his head, bells on his braids chiming.

Quinten ships his oar and braces himself for the impact, the logboat

runs up the muddy bank and at the urgings of the shrew next to him jumps

out into the mud and pulls the boat up higher, watching the rafts

lumbering towards the shore

Tobias is hardly visible through the endless rain. "Well lads, I think

shrewgummy has gone mad! Thankfully he can still pilot the boats like

some sort of salty Commodore. To the fires!" He hops out of the boat,

foresaking the rest of its crew, who are busy tugging it on shore. He

dashes into the woodcover.

Flicktail is busy playing in puddles in a fine humor

"Brace yerselves... All oars outta tha water, 'ang on..." A wave on the

river crests and rushes into the Log-a-Log's boat, giving it an extra

push onto the land, and sending everybeast onboard swaying with

unbalance. But, they're shored! "Arright, good work. I want tha exact crew when

we get back ta tha river!"

Oswald catches the Log-a-logs words as he jumps ashore into the bank

mud, slogging his way to the prow of his boat to help tug it higher "Aye

think aye need tae change mine yis!" he shouts, eyes following the

desserting figure of Tobias. "Wot next log-a-log?"

Quinten clambers up off the bank once the boat is secure and darts

along to help secure the rafts as they wedge themselves into the bank

grabbing ropes and running them around trees, the thunderstorm showing no

signs of slacking off as the rain drives down, mixed with tiny hail

stones now, lighting giving the dark forest sharp illumination every other

second

Flicktail is busy sliding down amuddy bank on his belly, liek an otter,

keeping the dibbuns ammused as he can and giggling with them in the

pouring rain

You page, "pretend make a couple of poses were your searcing the woods

for dry firewood, then maybe third post spot it, then fourth post come

back and tell us" to Tobias.

Belliger looks up irritably at the sky as hail starts to fall. "Hmph.

Get under tha thick treetops. Ain't gonna find nothin' dry at this

point... Check ta see who's 'ungry, we've got a lot o'extra food bein'

carried in tha back boat, should still be dry."

Tobias can't be seen at this point, so thick is the deluge, and he has

passed silently into the forest. What he's up to is up to anyone's

guess.

Oswald coughs and sprays water off his whiskers and nods waving to the

otters and hares leaving the rafts "Ok everyone under the trees ye

heard tha log-a-log" he stands there knee deep in the bankmud checking

everyone gets off and up the bank, wincing as the hail starts to come down

thicker.

Flicktail begis to get pelted "Oi..OW! " covering hs ears and any

dibbuns out as he tries to get under shelter

Quinten eyes Flicktail and the dibbuns who are still playing in the

rain and once hes finished with the rope he was tying off leans down and

waves a paw "Oy you crazy fox get those little ones up here now, before

it gets anyworse"

Belliger heads into the woods along with all the other beasts, watching

as the shrews from the rear boat slide onto the bank and, covering the

foodstores sacks, head to the relative dampness of beneath the trees,

as opposed to the soggy drenching going on outside them.

Oswald looks about once the rear boats crew has moved into the trees

and slogs his way up to join the log-a-log under the trees, shaking his

footpaws, trying to dislodge the mud, he turns to watch the hail and

sighs "Well tha ended todays travel.." he glances at the other shrew

"Sorry fer takin things on meself logalog, Wasn't sure where ye were"

Tobias 's voice emerges from the dark depths of the forest. "Oi, you

soggy lot, have more sense than sittin' about in the rain! I found

someplace I think you'll like a trifle better...a cave!"

Ben is staying close to Flicktail as he looks about wide eyed.

Flicktail holds his arms out trying to protect the dibbins for the hale

herding em toward Quin... as he approaches a large halestone smacking

his nose and causing his eyes to water

Maxine yips sofly as she sticks close to flicktail and Ben.

Quinten winces as he gets a hail stone down the ear and shakes his head

to dislodge it, he grabs a few dibbuns and herds them under the trees

grumbling as he gets out from under the hail "Be more careful mister

Flicktail really"

Flicktail huddles over Ben and Maxine keeping them safe from teh stones

Jasper has arrived.

Belliger raises a brow, looking Tobias's way. "...A cave? Shrews,

'ares, uh... Everybeast, lissen up! We got a cave nearby, we can stay dry in

there, mebbe fin' a bit o'dry firewood. Let's move!" And at that,

Oswald hangs back at he rear again, making sure everyone is going in

the same direction, the hail is mixed up with rain again, the lightning

and thunder are still cracking though further off to the west, thw wind

however is still driving through the trees

Quinten waits for Flicktail to catch him up and then helps to herd the

rest of thhe dibbuns after the main crowd

Flicktail is not slow when he's being pe;ted...his eye looking swolen

now

Out of the wood, the drizzly figure of Tobias' head seems to

materialize. "Follow me, you lot. The water's a great place for Shrew and the

like to navigate, but you should leave it to a Hare on the ground." The

face disappears and you hear crunching in that general direction.

Ben meows getting hit a few times as he walks after Flicktail and

Maxine, whimpering a little.

Flicktail picks Ben up and huddles over him with his body to make sure

he stays out of teh hale and is somewhat dry, maxine in his other arm

similarly

Belliger follows the sound of Tobias's footfalls, leading the group

towards Tobias's destination. "'ey! Slow down, mate, can't see ye in all

this rain!" he calls out to the hare, squinting through the steady fall

of rain and hail.

Oswald trails along at the rear with a couple of shrews and an otter

waiting on the other dibbuns to catch up with the main party.

Quinten ducks uunder some low hanging branches and passes Oswald and

the shrews, keeping the dibbuns all together at the back of the main

group

Tobias awaits the group, making sure they're within following distance.

During this particular interval, he pauses and taps his chin. "It was

right around these parts, I was sure. No need to worry, it'll be warm

fires and tucker before long." He moves forward again.

Swiftgale marches along with the rest of the group following Tobias

Belliger squints, finally able to see Tobias again, the Log-a-Log

shaking his head clear of rainwater. "Ye sure ye found a cave?" He looks

over his shoulder to make sure everybeast is following fine.

Flicktail cfloows closely, constantly counting anr recunting the

dibbbuns tomake sure the count is correct, his one eye now swollen shut

Oswald pauses and peers off through the trees to the right, he shouts

something but a crack of thunder shrouds his words, he waits for a quiet

lull in the storm and shouts out "OY Tobias, Log-a-log is tha it yis

yis?" through the trees a rocky pinacle can be seen, a dark opening low

down to the ground.

Quinten turns his head and reaches out to help Flicktail along,

pressing the fox and the dibbuns close to a tree trunk and bringing them to a

halt at the base of a large elm, to try and stay out of the rain

Flicktail hollers out "don't lose any o em... keep em all wi us...

Ben whimpers frightened and hurrys up where he is right behind Tobias.

Maxine whimpers having gotten hit eventually she stops suddenly and

curls in a ball scared.

Tobias is, at the moment, going in the complete opposite direction, but

whirls around at the shout. "No, it's...err..yes, that's it, of course.

Told you I'd fix us up right. Onward, chaps!"

Ben curls up into a ball whimpering softly.

Maxine whimpers curled up shielding herself.

Flicktail holds the 2 dibns "Ere now, it be o.k. I be ere

"...Yer /sure?/" Log-a-Log starts to look a bit skeptical, frowning and

turning to look at all the other beasts. "Yer leadin' us farther an'

farther away from our boats, 'are, so it better be close..."

Oswald stops walking and points "Aye'm sure tha must be it log-a-log

tis tha only piece of rock aye kin see"

Quinten grumbles and spreads his cloak wide, covering some otter

dibbuuns "Aye ope they find this cave soon"

Tobias jogs up to the front of the group, and stands at the mouth of

the grotto. Nothing altogether spacy, but large enough to fit all the

creatures, and provide warmth. "Figured I'd call this 'Patrol Promentory.'

Nice ring to it an' all that.

Flicktail rushes all the dibbuns in and counts them all one more time

to make sure they all got there

Oswald stands just in the entrance waiting on the his logalog and the

other shrews to come inside

Quinten has moved into the dry and the warm with the dibbuns and has

removed his cloak, the recruit is busily wringing it out and looking

about "Now we need dry wood"

}

Maxine yips shaking a little scared but calming down.

Ben meows loudly rubbing his head where he got pelted.

"I don' think ye'll be able ta find useable wood 'ereabouts." Log-a-Log

mumbles, stepping just inside the make-do shelter. "We should jes' wait

it out, an' get movin' again."

Oswald nods and leans aginast the wall shaking his head and showering

water about somewhat "Aye tha we should" he then gets a nudge from

another shrew "Oy stop tha yer getting us wet" he shoves back "Ach we're all

as wet as each other yer ninny"

Quinten blinks watching the shrews arguing again and closes his eyes

"They really will argue anywhere, over anything won't they?" he asks an

otter next to him who just nods

Flicktail gets out his cloack and after wrining it out uses itto begin

to dry off Ben and Maxine, able to see out of only his left eye

Somewhere on the muck, Audri has connected.

Maxine yips softly and whimpers where she got pelted.

Ben whimpers he got hit in the head quite a few times.

The small arguement over shaking ones fur out started off as something

nice and simple but sadly with GUOSIM shrews things rarely stay simple,

Oswald is waving a paw under the shrews nose and the other shrew has

gotten himself some back up. "Why you mangy tailed little bufoon how dare

you call me that" Oswald shouts suddenly and shoves the shrew "I

beached me boat before tha otters rafts foundered, not cause i was scared oh

the storm"

Swiftgale sits down and sighs unshouldering a pack onto the floor then

strts rubbing at the sore areas on his head from where the hail hit

him.

Belliger's ears perk as he hears shrews starting to go at it. "Ah,

bloody..." Log-a-Log starts to muddle his way through the crowd to get to

Oswald and the other arguing shrews. "'ey! 'EY! Settle down, afore I

pound yer all inta tha' rock wall o'er yonder!"

Quinten yawns softly and sits down, he's been up sincce three and is

exhausted, he lowers his head and dozes off, in the good old LP way of

falling asleep anywhere

Oswald eyes the Log-a-log and shakes his head "Nae logalog eh called me

a coward an a fearin beast, he deserves a gud thrashin so he doo yis so

he do" the shrew is right riled up, paws twitching and curling

"Aye? Called ye a name? Aww." Belliger puts on a mock pouty face. "Deal

wit it, i's only a name." He looks fiercely at Oswald and the other

shrews, squinting at them meaningfully.

Swiftgale has disconnected.

Maxine whimpers looking over at the shrew and others hiding her face

into Flicktails side whimpering.

Flicktail says, "now now.. wot's all this... ye need not be afeared wi

FLicktail" he pats her side dryingher off"

Oswald blinks and swallows lowering his paws and taking a step back

"Aye log-a-log...." he begins then the other shrew rams into him, bowling

him backwards. Obviously a shrew with a less then perfect sense of,

don't upset the log-a-log.

Ben curls up watching quietly keeping close to Flicktail as he watches

he knows anyone hurts him there will be trouble.

Maxine yips softly and crawls closer trying to get into Flicktail's lap

and curl up.

Belliger sighs as he watches one shrew tackle the other, rolling his

eyes as if not at all surprised that that happened. Tackling the tackler,

he rolls on top and pins the other down, sitting on his back and

kneeling on his shoulders, making the offending shrew yowl in pain, only a

little muffled after the Log-a-Log grabs the underside of the other

shrew's muzzle and yanks upward, arching his neck. "Ye ignorant shrew. Wot

were ye thinkin'?" Pull, yelp. "Don' /ever/ think o'pullin' anythin'

like tha' agin, ye hear?"

Oswald watches the other shrew being chastised by the log-a-log and

smirks softly "I motion fer im tae was up after supper" there is a chuckle

and a shrew cook pipes up "I second that" Oswald smirks and leans down

"Aye'm nae coward" he grumbles to the shrew being pinned.

Ben blinks watching he meows softly looking up at Flicktail seeing the

milk he sits up reaching for it.

Maxine yips and reaches for the milk as well curled up some.

Flicktail hands the bottle to Ben then another to Maxine

Maxine leans back as she drinks from the bottle her eyes on the fight,

amazingly the milk is semi warm just the way she likes it.

Swiftgale is now on his feet paws clenched not fighting knowing that

The shrews Should fight there own arguments but if it gets out of hand he

will do whatever necessarry to keep someone from getting injured bad.

Quinten is still asleep, napping away happily with an otter dibbun in

his lap now sharing warmth

Belliger lets go of the shrew's muzzle, and lets it thwack against the

ground. Lesson taught, the Log-a-Log stands up and looks towards the

shrew's backup. "Anythin' else ta say?"

The defeated shrews friends shake their heads ad back off into the

crowd, Oswald just stands there smirking happily and fiddling with one

ofhis bells, making it chime softly

Swiftgale untenses and sits down. He is glad that none were hurt and

after awhile he starts to dose softly.

Belliger reaches behind Oswald's head, and gives him a swift cuff to

the back of it. "An' ye, don't start no trouble either, arright?" He

gives the other shrew a fierce glare, then goes out to watch the rain,

casting an occasional glance backward.

Oswald winces and staggers forwards a bit "Oy aye didnae start no

trouble log-a-log" he grumbles rubbing at his head, causing the bells on his

braids to jangle

Quinten snorts and opens his eyes peering around the cave at the

gathering, he then peers out at the rain. The thunderstorm has past off west,

leaving us far behind. The rain is falling less and less, water

dripping off of trees but it is still coming down.

Flicktail says, "no one said they likned me sea song..."

Hallow has settled herself down against one wall of the cave in all the

goings on, looking out the entrance to all the rain, quite a pretty

thing if you're not in it "Very nice Flicktail" she says absentmindedly.

Flicktail chuckles, seeinghow tired she is

Noting the slowing of the rain, Log-a-Log nods to himself, and turns

around. "Arright, everybeast back to the boats! We lost a li'l time

there, so now we gotta make it up!"

Oswald is eyeing the log-a-log warily as he moves to te cave entrance,

lucky to avoid getting a proper thumping there "Aye'll move ahead and

check tha storms na't done no damage to em"

Quinten yawns and stands up stretching "never long enough tae sleep"

"...Of /course/ tha storm ain't done no damage to 'em. They're

logboats, nothin' short o'settin' 'em on fire er choppin' 'em up is gonna 'urt

'em, dimwit!" Log-a-Log rolls his eyes, catching Oswald by the collar

and yanking him back from going ahead.

Hallow gets up again with a small groan, stretching before she makes

her way to the mouth of the cave "Could be worse I suppose"

Somewhere on the muck, Audri has disconnected.

Oswald yells and staggers backwards as he's pulled back, bells clanking

as he stumbles into the log-a-log "Aye meant tha rafts they're only

logs and rope, they could easily been damaged" he rubs at his throat.

Quinten laughs softly as he passes the shrews, shaking his head to

dislodge water from his heavy soaked ears, moving towards the river again

"An' still, no point in goin' ahead, i's not like they're gonna git

fixed any faster 'nless we /all/ speed up, an' that ain't 'appenin'."

Log-a-Log cuffs Oswald again, and marches onward back towards the river.

Somewhere on the muck, Terrance has disconnected.

Oswald rubs his ears and grumbles to himself, chattering away,

following his chief and glancing at his fellow shrews, daring them to say

something.

Hallow follows at a slower pace near the back of the group, eyes on the

sky to study the clouds before she looks back down at the group again,

the soggy wet group.

Quinten hops aboard the log-boat he was paddling in earlier, he stares

at the water pooled in the bottom of it and starts to bail it out,

Oswald darts past the irate log-a-log once he can see his boat and

clambers in, thanking Quint for bailing out the water in it

Hallow switches to one of the rafts to settle down on so she doesn't

have to row this time, can lounge about under shelter too, the perks of

skipperhood, some of the other otters get to work on getting everything

ready to go again.

Quinten picks up his oar and waits for the boat to fill up again, it is

full of shrews this time, he's the only hare, but that is ok by him, he

wants to get a good practice in.

Oswald shakes his head and leans over to take the oar off the recruit

"Yer orf me boat fer now recruit, i head you say ye'd been up since 3 go

get some sleep, then ye can come back ok"

Hallow glances back towards the other boats as they're all nearly ready

to get going again "See how far we can get before lost all light shall

we?"

Quinten smiles gratefully and thanks the shrew before hopping onto the

same raft as the skipper "Aye good idea Skipper," he murmurs moving

past her under the shelter and finding a blanket to curl up under

Oswald pushes off from the muddy river bank and grins "Aye Skipper good

idea wot say we head upriver, another day to the abbey at least"

Hallow gives a nod to Quinten and leaves him to settle down, looking

back to the shrew "Should hope they'll have the food rolled out when we

get there!...And they have better weather"

Quinten snorts and blows the last of the rain water off his whiskers "I

doubt it skipper, looks like it is shaping up to be a rainy old week"

Oswald steers his boat out into the centre of the river, calling out to

his shrews to encourage them to row

Hallow looks down at Quinten and shrugs "Well so long as I'm warm

inside I doubt I'll mind" the otters poling the rafts along just as fast to

keep up with the shrews.

Quinten yawns and closes his eyes, sucumbing at last "Hmmm ok

ma'am....rmemeber ot...does not always mean...otroot" and then he's asleep

Oswald is laughing and telling tall tales with his friends as the boat

races up the river, heading agaisnt te current, all around the fresh

greenery of the trees is dripping with water

Hallow smirks faintly as the hare falls asleep, settling herself back

on the raft to watch the scenery go by, an ear turned towards the tale

telling shrew.

Oswald says, "Arrr tha is no true Yaen twas mw great granshrew who was

tha best shrew bread baker, why once she baked it so fine the eagles oh

tha northern range emselves came on doown tae try it" "

Hallow chuckles at the sound and looks round towards the shrew "I

should hope she made a lot of it then"

Oswald glances at the skipper on her raft and winks "Ahhh she did she

did" one of the other shrews in the log boat pulls a face "Yeah yeah but

my grandma was the best cake baker ever, better then the abbeY"

Hallow smirks and can see where this is going "Baaaah, probably not

even scrap on my aunt"

Oswald bristles and flicks his ears, spikey fur standing out "Oh really

miss Skipper, i bet you couldn't make a soufle"

Hallow grins and shrugs "Got more chance of making one than you lot

with all your arguing"

Oswald smirks "Oh realy, well at least we get things done with all our

arguing," he grins at the shrew next to him and winks "Aye what he

means" another shrew in anoter boat calls out "Is that log-a-log tells us

waht to do and we do it or get thumped"

Hallow laughs back at them "Well what do you think I'd do if me otters

weren't doing as they were told?"

Oswald smirks "Call em a bunch of dibbuns and walk off in disgust"

Hallow barks a laugh "They already know they're a bunch of dibbuns,

they know to do as they're told though"

Oswald smirks "Do they, how about that bard of yours? He seems tro do

as he pleases half the time, or the dibbuns"

Hallow chuckles "I'd like to see you control a pack of dibbun and I

have my ways with the bard"

Oswald smirks "We duna do too bad wid our dibbuns an ooohooo do ye now,

tha is good tae knoo"

Hallow chuckles and nods "He wants responsibility give it to him until

it proves too much and he's begging me to come back"

Oswald laughs and shakes his head "Oooh that is cruel Miss SKipper,

very very cruel"

Hallow grins, her whiskers twitching "Only way some beasts will learn"

Oswald laughs "Aye guess so miss Skipper, still.." he pauses and shouts

at the shrews in his boat "OY stop slacking off, stroke, an stroke, an

stroke ye worthless shrews" he nods as they start to speed up

Hallow looks the shrews over before glancing to the otters on her raft,

they too pick up the pace to keep up.

Oswald smirks at the skipper and leans down shifting out of the main

current so it is easier to paddle up stream "Faster now" he urges them on

Somewhere on the muck, Audri has disconnected.

Hallow raises a brow to the shrews and grins slightly, looking back to

the otters on her raft "Can't be beaten by a bunch of spiky things can

we?" raft speeding up again as the otters try harder.

Oswald laughs and takes the log boat further out of the current,

skillfully navigating it around the water, "Faster mateys the damn riverdogs

are trying to catch us"

Hallow sits up from her slouched position at last "Come on chaps, we're

bigger than them" otters moving so there's enough room for them to go

around the log boat if they can just get enough speed too, driving the

raft hard and fast through the water and gaining.

Oswald looks back and laughs, the raft may be bigger and have more

beasts poling it but the logboat is lighter and easier to move. it skims

across the water now, the shrews kicking up a heck of spray. Cheers and

shouts for both vessels comeing from logboats and rafts alike.

Oswald yells out a warning and the oars on the right side are lifted

up, the tiller is swing hard over and the logboat skims across the

channel, forced to slow down as it dodges a large log int he river

Yells are also called out from the otters as quick maneuvers are done

to avoid a collision with either the other boat or the log, shouts going

back to warn the rest of the boats.

Oswald orders his boat to slow and swings back to look at the log, then

the stoat stands up carefully, peering ahead "Hmmm there be quite a few

logs ahead we best go slow"

Ben is sleeping quietly with Maxine laying near Flicktail on the dibbun

raft.

Hallow has the otters slow the raft down until the rest have caught up,

looking back to Oswald again "Bit of a close one, slowly is probably a

good idea"

Oswald nods and sits back down shifting the tiller to go around another

floating log "Damn thunderstorm must have unleased a winter blockagae

in a side stream"

Hallow relaxes again once more and watches the logs going by "Hmm,

possible, still, no one hurt so far"

Oswald chuckles "Aye...we'll be fine the river is running slow enough

for em to not offer any harm"

Hallow nods as they continue on their steady way "Better to get there

in once piece than quickly"

Oswald smirks "Of course, an we all know you would not have caught me

logboat"

Hallow chuckles and shakes her head "It the boat not the beast that's

the reason though"

Oswald chuckles "Aye guess yer right thar skipper"

Hallow grins "Now see if we had your boat we'd beat the fur off ye"

Ben is awake and watching Hallow quietly or somewhat quietly as he

purrs loudly.

Oswald smirks "ooooh maybe, maybe not but i'd bet i coul still overtake

you skipper"

Hallow arranges a pack into a nice pillow for herself and puts it

behind her back to settle down, not really noticed the small kitten

unfortunately, she shakes her head at the shrew "In your dreams spiky"

Oswald grimaces "Spiky, oooh yer one to talk riverdog, yer more spiky

then any shrew"

Hallow barks a laugh "You're blind as well by the sounds of things, I'm

sleek, streamlined, nothing spiky about me"

Oswald smirks and looks over at you "Are ye know Miss Skipper, dinnae

look tha way to me after all this rain as been at yer fur"

Hallow smooths down her headfur and gets comfy for the ride "Blind

shrew!"

Oswald smirks and leans down to whisper to the shrew ahead of him, he

nods and slips over the edge of the boat and swims back towards your

raft

Hallow is keeping a close eye on the boat anyway and watches the shrew

coming her way with a raised brow.

Rhowena sits down comfortably on the edge of her raft, looking down at

the water.

The shrew clambers up onto the raft and pads towards the skipper, he

bows before her and grins

Hallow looks curiously at him "Something you wanted?"

The shrew grins and winks at her "OSsie just wanted me tae say" he

leans in to whisper to her "That ye are a spikey furred bonce an couldane

outrace our boat if ye tried" he laughs and runs for the edge andd ives

back in

Ben is laying on the dibbun raft his head up as he watches quietly

purring loudly.

Flicktail moves, still muddy to make sure Maxine and Ben are o.k.

worring overthem liek a Badger mum

Hallow wrinkles her snout and sticks her tongue out back at Oswald

"Least I'm not afraid to deliver my own messages, we'll out run you, you'll

see" she calls back.

Ben is fine but Maxine is sleeping the warm milk put her out it seams.

Oswald calls back "Aye'd appily deliver me message spiky bonce but

aye'm steering this ere boat"

Flicktail smiles and tickles Ben alittle

Hallow says, "Spiky yourself you miniature jingly mouse thing"

Oswald shakes his head causing th ebells to chime "MOUSE, mouse did you

hear that shrews, se called us all mice"

Hallow chuckles and grins a little "No I didn't, I called ya miniature

mice"

Oswald growls and leans down to whisper to the shrews, plots hatching

on how to get back at the otter skipper now

Somewhere on the muck, Flaxpaw has connected.

Hallow exchanges a look with one of the other otters "Well that's done

it"

Oswald are silent for now, talking quietly, arguing amongst temselves

as they plot things

End Log -