Quinten Log 119 - 23 05 2006
RW Abbey: Entry
The flat, open area between Great Hall and the main gates of the Abbey has been kept neatly cleared of the snow which otherwise piles up in drifts about the walls of the ancient building, and the steps leading up both to Great Hall and the ramparts have been painstakingly freed of ice, to avoid sprained spaws that might otherwise slip. Pathways through the snow have also been made for the more well traveled routes of Redwall, most especially to the open grounds and the pond. The gatehouse roof is bristling with icicles. It's quite cold, and your breath is visible in front of your face.
There is a bustle of activity here, and you can hear the occasional murmur of a passing conversation. The sun is high overhead, and shadows are small.
Quinten comes walking out of the abbey building, dressed in his patrol Uniform, wearing a pack filled with enough supplies for several days out in the woods, as well as a bed rool and tent perched on top.
Following after Quinten is Brother Keiran. Hobbling after him with his nose in the air, he grins, looking relatively pleased with himself. On the top of his staff is a knapsack with some extra supplies, and in his paw is a scroll, a map to Brockhall from Redwall Abbey.
Quinten bounces up to the main gates and waves a paw at a passing hare before he slips the bar out and begins to push it steadily, "Come on Brother lend us a paw" he grins cheekily at his elder and winks "I'll show ye what a true patrollers like when he's got an open road to spring down"
Keiran grins as he watches the younger hare bound about, helping force open the gates. "I won' be s'prised 'f I 'ave t'call f'ya t'wait up more'n once, Quinten. Heh!" He looks back at the main abbey building, and grins. "'aven't been too far outside th'abbey 'n a real lon' time."
Quinten smiles and darts around thew gates as soon as their is space, got to get going quick before an officer decides to come along and spoils the trip "Thats ok brother your with a Long patrol recruit, i'll look after your old ragged scut" he winks againa nd ducks out of sight and reach of that staff.
Keiran raises a brow at these words from Quinten, and slips out the gate, closing it behind him. "M'old ragged scut, huh?" He grins, shaking his head, and walking out to the dirt road, heading on the first steps toward Brockhall. "Guess 'at's a good thin', then." He grins, looking down the road.
Quinten smirks and bounces up next to you, snugging his boxing gloves on firmly, thin supple leather coverings for all four paws, hopping about on one leg to pull them onto his footpaws "Its good to be out Brother, your abbey lift is all well and good but it gets a tad repetitous"
Keiran watches Quinten in amusement as he puts on his gloves and footpaw coverings, chuckling to himself. "Yeh, well, I'm givin' ousside a try now. Y'know, s'not like 've been 'n th'abbey /all/ m'life." He grins at the other hare.
Quinten looks over at you shrewdly settling his pack on his shoulders "Oh? what did you do before you joined the jolly old orderof cheesemakers?"
"Eh, jus' wandered 'roun'. Nothin' special, b't I was a free spirit." Keiran chuckles further at Quinten, hobbling along with a shake of his head.
Inwa pages, "Up for an rp?????" to you.
Quinten smirks and bounces around you in a slow circle, ears up and eyes darting in all directions, watching carefully, never know what may be about. Alert as only someone trained by the patrol could be "Oh? did you see any interesting places?"
"Yeh, lots o'towns, lots o'really cool places 'n Mossflower." Keiran shrugs, watching the hyperactive Quinten. "F'got where most of 'em are, though. Ne'er been t'this Brockhall, can' wait t'see it!"
Quinten nods and slows down still watching around him "I have read about Brockhall of course, it is in our histories from Lord Boar's end days, about Martin the Warrior from Brockhall."
Keiran nods slowly. "Ahh, I see... I think I'd like t'see th'Salamand'stron lib'ry someday, 'f I get th'chance t'be away from th'abbey f'a lon' time." He thinks to himself with a smile, walking comfortably along the road. For a while, everything's quiet. "Think s'bes' we took this trip now, b'fore 't gets too too hot from th'sun."
Quinten looks up at the sky and nods his head, ears flopping back and forth "true Brother, it looks like it will be a long hot summer" he frowns and shades his eyes "Of course...i should have packed us some sun hats"
Keiran waves his paw in dismissal. "Sun 'ats? Hah." He snorts out a laugh, hobbling down the road at a rather quick pace, for a cripple. "S'jus' a li'l sun. Isn' gonna kill ya, Quinten."
Quinten smiles and moves after the Brother at a steady walk, keeping pace with him "Not me sah no, but your older en me, you could easily fall prey to the sunshine"
Keiran stops walking, putting one paw on his hip and glaring at Quinten in mock ferocity. "'ey! 'ow old d'ya think I /am?/" He grins behind his lips, ears pinning back as he feigns aggression.
Quinten laughs and stops a goodly distance out of staff reach "Oooh i'd say at least eighty seasons sah, i mean droopy ears, fizzly scut, big droopy whiskers, you must be nearly as old as old man moon."
Keiran rolls his eyes again, and gets back to walking, leaning on his staff as he walks on his bad footpaw. "Ha. Y'off by... A lot." He grins, shaking his head. "From th'looks o'it, I migh' jus' /barely/ be twice y'age."
You ask, "Wot fourteen seasons sah? never aye don't bally believe it ole bean, got to let tha old duffers ave their dreams though aven't i?" he grins at you and flick shis ears"
Keiran doesn't comment on this, just smirks and heads on down the road, watching the trees grow in the distance as they close in on them. "S'why're you a fighter recruit 'f y'wan' t'be a recorder, anyway? Seems like 'n odd choice, t'me."
Quinten frowns as he tries to think up an answer to this "Well it all started....a few months back, i'd been a fighter recruit for some time and iwas bored. I started to write some things down, my old Life at Sala paper and i just got talking to our recorder and decided i wanted to try for it."
Keiran shrugs. "S'a good reason f'me. Jus' seems a li'l..." He pauses. "Uncharact'ristic o'a fighter t'be wantin' t'sit an' write. I know m'brother was ne'er one f'writin'; migh' 'xplain why 't always took 'im f'rever t'write back t'my letters."
Quinten chuckles "Aye.....your right there the Major always did hate the paper work wot....though well i don't know really brother, tis just something i enjoy and want to do more of"
Keiran nods slowly as Quinten confirms his suspicion of Darklett, smiling. "Well, s'good tha' y'have a 'obby tha' doesn' 'nclude fightin'. M'sure aft'r a while, e'en th'mos' enthusiastic o'fighters get burnt out on it."
Quinten nods "Aye Brother i think so too, that is why i want to train a sa recorder as well, have two useful skills" he peers at the trees "So how far is it to this badger place brother?"
"Ah... Well." Keiran looks at the sky. "We'll prob'ly 'rrive there roun' midnigh', 'ssumin' we only take a couple small breaks on th'way." He grins excitedly, looking at the map in his paw. "Yeh. Prob'ly get there a li'l pas' midnight."
Quinten peers at the map and then at the trees "Cool...midnight is not a bad time to arrive i guess....i should have dyed my fur if we where going to be travelling by night however"
"...Dyed y'fur?" Keiran repeats, looking at Quinten incredulously. "I don' know 'f tha'd be necessary, but 'ave y'done tha' b'fore?"
Quinten grins and winks at you, pulling a pouch off his uniform pouch and opening it so you can see the dark black powder inside it "Aye...me own invention lifted from an old formula in one of the books in our library, get your fur wet, rub this powder into it, let it dry out and poof black fur for at least four weeks."
Keiran's lips curl, impressed. "Huh, tha's neat. Though now m'seein' a fight'r who likes t'read, likes t'write, an' tinkers with 'nventions." He laughs, his shoulders bouncing as he does so. "Are y'sure y'don' wanna stay at th'abbey? Y'd be a great 'elp!"
Quinten chuckles and winks back re-tying the bag and hanging it off his belt "Don't think that thought has not crossed my mind brother, but all my recruit training would go to waste....and i wanted to run with the patrol for at least a few seasons." he patted the pouch.
- About an hour passes as they enter the Forest -
Keiran looks up through the tree tops, ears folding back. "Hm," he looks thoughtful. "Think s'aroun' dinner time. Wha' d'you think?" He looks towards the younger buck, inquisitively, but still walking alongside him.
There is a rumbling from the bucks stomach, he grins and nods "I think the old stomach agrees with you sah, shall we stop for a bite?"
Keiran nods a few times, grinning to the younger hare of the two. Taking a few more steps, he plops down on the forest floor unceremoniously, and undoes the knapsack around his staff, taking out a couple of canteens, and tossing one to Quinten. "Make sure y'save 'alf o'it f'th'trip back. S'damson cordial." He smiles, rubbing his paws together and setting his staff off to the side of himself.
Quinten unshoulders his own pack and catches the canteen before plopping down next to you "Ok sah..." he opens his pack and draws out a wrapped bundle "Of course...i may have liberated some stocks from your bakery too before we left."
Keiran chuckles at the terminology used by Quinten. "Y'stole from th'bakery? Y'know, y'coulda jus' asked an' said we were goin' on a trip. It'da been fine, heh... Though sayin' m'name might've 'urt y'chances a li'l, if y'did ask."
Quinten chuckles and winks "Ye think any of your cooks would ave believed me? not likely after us hares ave been raiding the old stores" he unwraps the package to reveal some fresh baked cheese scones, "Here you go brother elp yourself"
Keiran chuckles. "'ndeed, 'ndeed." He reaches over to take a scone from the package, and puts an end in his mouth, licking a crumb off his lips with an 'mm.' Behind him, in the underbrush of the forest, there are small, barely noticeable signs of stealthy movement.
Quinten ears flick from side to side, the buck is still mostly alert though even he doesn't notice the movement. Eating a scone himself and washing it down with his cordial "Of course neither of us has any idea what happened to these scones"
Keiran nods in agreement. "Yeh, 'xactly! Those naughty dibbuns're stealin' pastries 'gain..." He chuckles, and has another bite. The movements, although still stealthy, are closer.
Quinten chortles and nods his head "Oh aye damn pesky dibbuns"he pauses in mid bite and looks about, ears twitching, he shrugs and resumes eating
Somewhere on the muck, Inwa has disconnected.
Keiran chuckles, resuming his dinner, unaware of anything going on. "Y'know," Munch, munch, munch. "This's e'en more fun'n I 'xpected 't t'be. M'footpaw's 'oldin' up, a' leas'." Somebeast in the undergrowth stands up, then darts back down immediately.
Quinten leaps up suddenly with no word or warning to the older hare, instincts kicking in he goes to push the brother to the ground whilst leaping forwards. Powerful hindlegs propelling him at the bush, paws launching forwards ready to attack.
Keiran coughs a few times in surprise, having been just swallowing a bite of scone when the shove happened. Clearing his chest of anything, he rolls over and grabs his staff, ears pinned and eyes widened as he looks back to the recruit/novice. "Quinten?" He calls out.
Once Quinten gets to the undergrowth... Well, there's nothing there.
Quinten stands up in the bushes, eyeing things warily, paws held at the ready "I saw something...somebeast stood up and ducked down again....they're gone though" he edges back out towards you.
As soon as Quinten finishes that sentence, a tree rat jumps from up in a branch down towards the young buck's head!
Quinten yells in surprise and thrusts a paw up, trying to connect with the rat, nothing he can do really, its going to land on him whether he thumps it one or not. It'll bear him down to the ground when it strikes.
Letting out a loud squeak and a hiss as it's punched in the jaw, the tree rat lands on
Quinten... The force from his fall as well as the upward motion of the fist knocks him out cold, and his still form lays on top of the hare. Keiran's paw is gripped around his staff. "Quinten! Y'alrigh'?" He hoists himself to his footpaws and starts hobbling towards the hare.
Quinten wriggles and manages to get the rat off him, pushing him aside in distates and wiping his paws on the grass "Aye thinnk so sah, just the wind knocked out oh me like....didn't see im coming till too late"
"...Quinten..." Keiran takes a step backward, looking behind the hare. There are three more of the tree rats creeping up behind the recruit. "Quinten!" He points.
Quinten spins around, dropping into a fighting stance "Oh buggrit...." he mutters raising his paws "I don't know if aye can take down three Brother...run back tae the abbey...aye'll old em off wot"
Keiran doesn't answer the recruit. Only if he were to turn around would he see Keiran advancing behind him, eyes narrowed as he faces off with the tree rats, who have begun to spread out to try and circle the two.
Quinten bobs on his paws slowly, paying attention to his surroundings, he frowns at the other hare then leaps forwards, aiming for the rat ahead of him, he goes to swing a punch at his head, expectng him to dodge left...
As Quinten dives forward, the tree rats all hiss and extend their claws, advancing on him. The one punched at gets smacked firmly in the snout, stunning him, while the other two pounce, looking to bring the hare down and claw at him. Only one even gets the chance though, as behind Quinten, Keiran is standing on one footpaw, his staff extended completely from his paw, bringing its bottom tip to collide with one of the tree rats' skulls with a loud 'thunk,' incapacitating him. Planting his staff on the ground, he takes a step, then another, getting off his bad footpaw again and raising his staff, pinwheeling it around to bring the corner of the bottom tip of the staff down to the top of the tree rat's head.
Quinten yells as the rat who does lunge into him bears him to the ground, the recruit wriggles and lashes out with his footpaw, trying to kick him off. His paws meanwhile have grabbed the stunned rats head and he is busy slamming it into the ground to knock him out of it
Thunk, again. Keiran's staff collides with the temple of the rat that's clinging to Quinten, just as it rose its head and bared its fangs to sink into the recruit. Instead of biting, the vermin just collapses limply, as does the rat whose head is being pummeled into the ground, quite literally.
Quinten lets go as soon as he feels the rat go limp, the recruit rolls over onto his back and stares up at te sky "ugh...wot was tha sir? two each like?" he levers himself up onto one paw, panting and brushing sweat off his brow
Somewhere on the muck, Ender has connected.
Keiran still balances on one paw, his staff held out across his body, the hare balancing and looking up around the trees and the undergrowth for more. "Don'... let y'guard down. Put y'back t'me. There're more." His usual cheery voice seems to have gone down an octave in the face of danger. There's a rustling in the undergrowth all around.
Quinten grimaces and bounds up, he should have heard that.." he draws his sabre and moves to stand back to back with the older hare "Damn it...wot are they doin so close to tha abbey?" his eyes flick over the undergrowth, sword blade catching the light as he tilts it.
"Th'doin' /this/, Quinten." Keiran narrows his eyes again, balancing on one footpaw with his staff off of the ground if the need arose for quick swings. "Stayin' on th'fringes o'th'woods t'get unwary trav'lers. Three on my side, 'ow many o'er there?" he murmurs, as three more rats stand from their hiding spot and start walking towards the two.
Quinten frowns at the undergrowth before him and mutters "Two...ah think sah, can't tell too good with all this foliage wot, not too good with forest stuff...." he flicks his sabre menacingly and bares his buck teeth
"Y'/think?/ I need t'/know,/" Keiran says, sternly. "Three're gettin' close o'er 'ere. Think tha's 't. 'ow many on your side, Quinten?" His voice gets more urgent.
You exclaim, "Three!" he pipes up uregently "Definatly three...but they're not armed like the others.." he swishes his savbre and feints at one "We can take em if they are unarmed surely?""
"Six, then. Don' worry 'bout me, I /know/ I c'n 'andle three o'these. I w's more worried 'bout you." Keiran smirks, and hunkers down slightly as the vermin get closer... Aaaaand he flicks his staff so it's horizontal with the ground, and shoves it forward with one of his paws, letting it slide through the other paw until it gets to the end, then stop sliding as it collides right into one of the rat's solar plexus, making him double over and lose air. He grips the staff and pulls it back, just in time to fend off the claws of the other two, holding out his staff like a bar and shoving them off, sending them to their rumps just as the third starts to recover.
The vermin on Quinten side seem to have been approaching less evenly, and one reaches Quinten right away, quickly dashing in with his claws raised to rake across Quinten's face and chest.
Quinten darts left as best he can, the rats claws catching in his tunic, he reverses his sabre grip going to plunge it into the rats chest, kicking out with a sweeping motion at the other two as they try to get close to him
Keiran moves so he's standing sideways when he feels Quinten's back off of his, still holding his weight on his good footpaw as he wields his staff like a lance, shoving the tip of it into the top of the first vermin's head and knocking him senseless, and fending off the other two, who have risen and are menacing. Quinten's other two rats are both charging simultaneously, giving him the same approach the single rat did.
Quinten bares his teeth and only has time to jerk his sabre free and dance backwards, between the one rat and the other he doesn't have much choice. Using the flat of the blade he makes wide sweeping motions trying to keep the rats back whilst he backs off slightly, crouching low and drawing the dagger that hangs from his other side.
The rats menacing Quinten are held at bay for the moment, but Keiran's seem to not be giving up. Planting his good footpaw firmly on the ground, he lifts his staff up and cuffs the vermin on the right in the head, rolling his eyes backward and sending him stumbling into the other. One of Quinten's vermin gets brave and dashes forward, trying to pounce him to the ground while the other hisses and glares at the recruit.
Quinten hisses back as he's born to the ground, his paw jerks up with the dagger, aimed at the rats chest as he bears him to the ground, with his sabre at a disadvantage due to now being on his back and his other paw trapped under the rat atop him thhe recruit is in dire straights if he is to defend himself
The dagger to the rat's chest fells him, but the other is quick to follow, trying to tackle on top of the already fallen recruit and claw at his face. Keiran deals with the last of his rats by smashing the staff into his forehead, putting his lights out. Immediately he turns to go assist Quinten, taking huge strides towards him as the rat raises its claw to rend the side of Quinten's face.
Quinten tries desperatly to get his paw free as the rat atop him raises his paw to strike, his elbow cracks as the joints pop as his sabre arm swings up, the rats descending claw smashing into the metal, giving him a light respite
The lone remaining rat hisses and bares its teeth at Quinten as its paw bleeds heavily from being sliced into by the saber... He rears his head back and lowers his head to bite at Quinten's neck, but, following a loud crack, makes a sudden choking sound, and goes quiet and still. Keiran's staff is buried into the back of the rat's neck, the force of the blow snapping the upper vertebrae and killing the rat instantly. "...Y'arigh', Quinten?"
Quinten groans and raises his paws, pushing the rats off him, he sits up and grimaces blood from the rat whose chest his dagger now sticks out of has soaked his tunic "Fine sah...thank you" he waves a paw and then flops back on the grass shivering, the shock of his first battle and first kill washing over the young buck
Keiran's ears pin back. "Quinten?!" He kneels down next to the hare, looking over the younger for wounds. "Did they get ya?" He eyes the young buck's face carefully.
Quinten shivers and shakes his head, sitting up slowly and groping for his flask of cordial "no Brother...just...tha...was me...first....fight.....never been in a real one...afore" he yanks the stopper out, teeth chattering with every word and gulps down the drink
Keiran settles back at the response, biting the inside of his lip. "Y'serious?" He looks around himself at the slain and incapacitated. "Y'did good. Real good, f'y'firs' time." He puts a paw on Quinten's shoulder. "Th'knocked out ones aren' gonna stay tha' way f'ever, so 'f y'wanna get goin' afore y'have y'secon' figh' e'er, we'd better do 't now." Woah, it's like he's a completely different hare.
Quinten looks up and salutes, hearing echoes of the Major in his brothers voice and words there. "yes sah" he cleans off his dagger and his sabre without thinking, using the ragged tunic of his victims. he sheathes them both and grabs his pack "Shall we run for home sah? or our desitnation?" he downs the rest of his coridal and shivers "That,....no no...time to talk about this l ater, lead on sah."
"Y'thinkin' 'bout turnin' 'round an' goin' /back/ aft'r we went through /tha'/?" Keiran grins, his voice going back up to its usual range, almost cheery in nature now that the adrenalin of the fight has worn down. "C'mon, le's go. We got some time b'fore they start wakin'." He hoists himself up with his staff and heads back to where they had set up dinner.
Quinten follows after the older hare, gripping his sword hilt and his flask, eyeing the woods warily, prepared for anything else and keeping the shock and need to talk about it at bay. for now at least."
End Log -
