Quinten Log 141 - 02 07 2006

Western Shore

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shore ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You seem to be truly in the middle of nowhere. The beach is like that you'd expect to see in a

dream. Miles of saffron sand stretch to the north and south. The only sign of life is a very faint and distant wisp of smoke over the southern horizon. There is little sound, only the roar of the ivory crested waves as they crash onto the shoreline just to the west. This place looks almost as if a timeless, long forgotten stretch of beach. Though, even so, there seems to be a well-trodden path to the east...

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What a long day it's been. It is night and the fires have died down. The only hares on sentry duty this evening are privates, and from the loud snoring coming from various areas of the camp, it would seem that most if not all of the recruits are asleep. There is silence, until... suddenly, several hooded creatures steal through the camp. They carry dark sacks in their paws, but no apparent weaponry. Each squats down by what appear to be all recruits.

Dandelion tosses a little in his sleep, unable to get really comfortable due to the sore paw. Leaning against his pack alongside the spear is his crutch, although he doesnt really need it any longer.

Quinten is not asleep slightly more used to long marches then the other recruits Quinten is huddled by the coals of a dying fire squinting at the words on a piece of parchment in his paws. With less time for reading he takes every oppurtunity he can. So intent on his reading that he's oblivious to the hooded figure crouched down behind him ears laying down his back and a frown on his muzzle as he tries to work out th epuzzle befor ehim.

A tall and slim creature is kneeling silently beside Dandelion. Unable to see properly with the hood up, they throw back their hood to reveal... Taye. His eyes glint in the moonlight as he silent plucks up the spear, standing away from Dandelion as he goes to deposit the weapon elsewhere. He passes another hooded private who is, like the rest of them, in the process of disarming the sleeping recruits.

The private behind Quinten would be Seven, seeing rather well with the hood pulled up, which is odd. The sniper had no trouble disarming the recruit as his stuff was left beside the blankets. For a brief moment he watches Taye move about, just waiting for something.

Tossing again, Dandelion grumbles something in his sleep, and gropes for something next to him that isn't there. Eventually he gives up.

Quinten shifts agianst the firelight and mutters trying to read his scroll, after a moment he gives up and stands up still facing the fire and stretches the short buck reaching up above his head and yawning. "oooooh time to fall in i think." He murmurs softly to himself and scratches an ear.

One person who is neither recruit nor private yet stirs a little, 'feeling' the others mover around her, her ears twitch.. before her brown eyes slowly open and she murmurs something inaudible to no one in general. "Mm..?" She slowly sits up, looking around, a soft frown crossing her lips, as she asks softly, "What's up..?" )

Once all of the privates are once again standing, they all look around at each other. Several of the more senior privates raise a paw in the air and helicopter their fingers. There's the signal. Taye has crouched back down beside Dandelion, and, as do several others, he suddenly leans forward, trying to fit the sack quickly over the younger buck's head. There is a drawstring which he tries to tighten. And if he's successful with this, he goes to roughly grab

Dandelion up, as the whole area erupts in shouting. "GERRUP!" "MOVE!" "SHUT UP!" All in exaggerated, gruff tones.

Seven is quite convincing in his role. He has to spring up to be taller than Quint once again so he can fit the bag over the other hare's head, trying to tighten it and drag him backward roughly. "Don' y'figh, bunneh.." Would be snarled between his teeth very close to the recruit's ear. His already gruff accent is exaggerated, sounding very much like a vermin.. But he's had practice.

Dandelion, being rather used to rough awakenings and elder brothers pulling pranks is on his feet quickly, arms scrambling to get the bag off of his head while snarling and hissing curses.

In a room page-pose, Taye nods. Cool beans. XD

Quinten yelps in shock as the sack descends over his head and the recruit is yanked backwards off his feet by the stronger sniper, he hears that voice in his ear and slumps still and boffs softly, "Oh gods...no...please....no...." panicing he thrases and screams, "Yinten...help...." then he goes silent again.

Looking around a moment, Kana gives an inaudible yawn, murmuring soft enough only the hare right by her(Who happens to be one who's supposed to be lacking a bag) "Oh.. it's that time.. right.." She then kinda just lays back down, and closes her eyes, waiting for them to finish. Breathing heavily with a bit of saltwater dabbed in certain spots so that she emulates being poisoned, or something like that. Mmyes.

"Move in yer /dead/!" is Taye's gruff snarl. He presses what might possibly feel like a blade to Dandelion's back, but is actually just a bit of driftwood. He yanks back on the sack, to draw the other buck off balance in order to grab at one of his paws to pull it behind his back.

Seven tugs Quinten forcefully to his front, tying the drawstrings so that the bag can not be pulled off, before both arms go out to capture the recruit's arms and jerked them behind his back. His knee goes forward to throw him to the sand so that he may bind his paws. A little rough, Sev? Nahhhh. :D "Shutup w'yer panickin'."

Either Dandelion has seen through the ruse, or he still thinks it's a game with his brothers, but he doesn't seem to take the threatening 'blade' seriously, launching instead into a confused offensive. He throws himself in the direction he is pulled off balance, yanking his arm upwards as it's grabbed, in order to elbow at where he presumes his assailant is.

Sadly Sevens gruff vermin attack doesn't do anything to calm Quinten down...if anything the recruit goes mad twisting and wriggling and trying to roll out from under the beast ontop of him or at least move. Lashing out with months of unarmed combat training he attempts to shift Seven off him and forwards into the coals of the fire. He doesn't stand much of a chance from here really but he's gone into a mad panic.

A gruff voice calls out, "Stop yer strugglin' or th' girl dies!" One of the Privates is standing nearby Kana with a blade gently against her neck.. she gives a very exaggerated whimper, also purposefully weak, somehow. She shivers a bit, seeming /very/ scared... and heck, if you're good at being naturally scared, you can probably fake it, can't you?

The elbow is stopped by an arm twisted around so that the elbow finds its way into /his/ elbow. It goes immediately numb and tingly, at which point he shouts out. He goes to shove Dandelion forward, trying to get a leg out in front of his to trip him to the ground. That's maybe a little rough, too, but he can't be the one /not/ to be able to subdue his recruit. There are repercussions for /those/ privates. XD "Ya hear that? Stay down 'n' shut up or the hare gel gets it!" He is trying to make his voice believable as a vermin, he really is.

Seven shifts to straddle Quinten's back and throw all his weight into him so that he won't be toppled forward into the coals. That'd hurt. One paw keeps the recruit's paws held tight to his back while reaching forward to grab his ears through the bag and jerk the younger buck's head back. Snarls at him again. "Or.. could jus' break yer neck. Aye?"

Quinten squeaks and goes still panting and wide eyed under the hood, the young buck then breaks and starts to sob, body shivering, this ontop of everything else that has happened to him in the last month is way too much. He just starts to sob pitifully into his hood and lies there as still as if his neck had just been broken.

Dandelion goes quite numb from the hit too, and so doesn't parry the shove exceptionally well, landing on his face in the sand. And then he hears the threat, and at the same time it dawns on him he's not in his bed at home, nor in the mountain, and his elder brothers aren't here to pull a prank on him... The struggling ceases as quickly as it started.

Seven blinks. He glances around to try to find Taye, then looks down to the sobbing buck beneath him, not sure what to do if they start breaking down into tears. Erf. The buck finishes tying Quinten's paws and begins to drag him up to seek out Taye so he might ask.

As soon as Dandelion's struggles stop, Taye falls down on top of him, straddling his legs as he goes to grab his arms behind him, to tie his arms securely. Little does he know that his actions are a mirror of the vermin in the mountain two nights ago. "That's bettah, ya bloody idjit. Maybe ya won't have t' die /aftah/ all..." Snarl-growly-snarl. Honestly, though. Some of the privates' acting is... pretty awful. It's up to Dandelion to determine how good or bad Taye's is. He goes to drag him up by the back of his tunic.

Good or bad acting aside, Dandelion is still struggling to get to grips with the situation. Getting tied up was never part of any game he's played so far, and although the voice making the threats sounds funny, he doesn't know how real vermin sound like...

Quinten stumbles along ahead of Seven body shaking and still sobbing, the occasional name cried out in pleading, the names of his missing and suposed dead triplet siblings. Quints just had another nasty shock, the privates acting my not be up to scratch but Sev's not accting...he's speaking from experience and Quints having a bad time of it.

Kana quietly lays there now, feigning poison, while the private calls out, "Good.. good.. now th' doe'll survive th' poison.." It says in a gruff voice, and.. Kana /almost/ has to suppress a giggle as she lays there quietly.

Seven waits until he thinks Taye has complete control of the situation, going to nudge him silently in the leg while snapping out to Quint. "Stop yer cryin'." Another glance is sent down at the other buck, ears folding over.

Taye has control! Aha! A grin /briefly/ flashes out before he hears Quinten's sobbing and feels Seven's nudge. He looks around, eyebrows raising. 'What?' he silently mouths. He then starts pushing Dandelion forward by his tied wrists as the other privates start the recruits toward the water's edge.

Seven leans over to whisper to Taye, ears flickering with a worried expression as he keeps his voice very low. This done so only the other private can hear. "I don' know if 'e's alrigh'..."

Quinten seems to deflate and sag against his captors arms arms and whimpers letting him push him along, stumbling and tripping as he tries not to sob, and fails the recruit is shaking and drawing deep ragged breaths.

Dandelion grumbles and turns his head this way and that, trying to get his bearings while stumbling along.

Taye's ears flatten back. He shrugs uncertainly, looking around at the other privates and then back to Seven as they continue along. He stops briefly, looking around uncertainly until he sees a private who is sans recruit. He shoves Dandelion his way, nodding his head to him. Then, in a gruff voice. "Take 'im with the othahs." This other private takes hold of him, turning to lead him away, to where the rest of the recruits have been shoved, about a foot deep into the water. That taken care of, Taye turns to study Quinten, looking veeeery unsure. He leans over to return whisper.

"... Maybe we tell 'im? I mean, there's /always/ some recruit who sobs like a baby, but... I dunno." He shrugs.

Slowly, Kana starts to stand, looking towards the others with a bit of an amused look.. before quietly mimicing whimpering some more, this time standing, though.. before she looks towards

Taye, and gives a bit of a thumbs-up, not all that easy to do as a hare, but somehow she manages to do it anyway.

Ah, the water. Dandelion hadn't managed to get his bearings right and wasn't prepared for that. A shove in the back and suddenly Dandelion's foot is in water instead of air, and he falls headlong into the water.

Quinten seems to be calming down somewhat, his sobbing slowly coming under control but he's still shaking like a leaf. If sev lays off the full blown vermin for a bit Quint will probably be ok. Right up until he hears the splash and yelps again and freezes panting and shivering in the night air.

Seven keeps his paw cupped upon one of the recruit's biceps to hold him up since Quinten seems to want to be incooperative in the 'standing up' sense. Finally he just shrugs and goes to lead the younger hare towards the water, finally pushing his hood back all the way.

Taye looks a little less into the 'game' now that they've traumatized a friend. -.- But he shrugs also and continues forward, watching the privates as they shove the recruits, more than just Dandelion falling as they bark orders at them. Hum.

His head under water, and without the use of his arms to help him in the struggle to get up,

Dandelion goes from "what is going on?" to "they are trying to drown me!" in less than a second. He panics, and starts to thresh in the water, kicking up a lot of spray, but not getting anywhere nearer getting on his feet.

Seven to the rescue!! The buck runs forward after shoving Quint to stand with the others. "Ye idiot!!" Well that was barked more like himself, though it is still plenty 'vermin-like'. He goes to snatch Dandelion by his arm and tug him upward so that he can breathe, though.. wet bag on his head? Maybe not such a good thing.

Shaking her head a bit, Kana sits down, to just quietly watch now.. finding this all too.. mean, maybe? What was the point of this again? She looks up towards the sky quietly for a moment, before back towards those in the water. Haha, wet people. And she doesn't get to get wet too. Yay.

Okay, maybe he's not going to die just yet... but the wet back sticking to his face makes it difficult for Dandelion to breathe, not to mention that he's now cold... But at least he's clever enough not to pull away and risk falling over again.

What do you want to whisper?

Quinten stumbles to a halt next to the other recruits and shivers trying not to start sobbing again, he is somewhat comforted when a low voice asks, "Quin tha you? Calm down dude or we're in trouble." He recognises the voice of one of the other recruits and manages to calm himself down somewhat.

Bradge is a little confused as to what this is all about. But hey. He just sits there, kneeling in the water. He can't see anything, the sack over his head obstructing his vision. Ho, hum. Otter instincts take in, and he falls over, swimming forward into deeper water and sorta... Havin' a good ol' time.

Seven is growing tired of this and he is eyeing Dandelion worriedly. Finally the sniper grunts. "This is stupid." In his calm tone. The buck goes to untie the drawstrings on the bag around Dan's head so he can tug it off. "Dan, ye alrigh'?"

Dandelion takes a long, grateful gasp of air, and then turns around, frightened expression turning through confusion to anger. "Wha's going on!?" he shouts, starting to struggle to free his arms.

About a bazillion groans of disappointment go up the very second Seven lets the cat out of the bag. The rest of the recruits grow still as it slowly sinks in that... yeah, this is a big joke. Soon enough, they're all shouting to be let go, and shoving at the now ineffectual privates. Grump. Taye watches all of this for a moment before he wades into the water, diving in to swim after Bradge. "Oy! Bradge. Wait! I'll untie ya..." He's not sure whether to be happy or grumbly about this turn of events.

"Oh come on, stop grumping. At least you weren't actually caught by vermin." A very actually alright Kana says, stretching a bit, "If this was a real situation.. likely you'd be dead, so just be thankful." She says calmly, before laying back down, comfortably dry.

Quinten sags in relief as the bags is pulled off his head, He glares at the private who did it and lashes out without thinking shoving them back into the water, which starts what would be a rather comical domino effect as he grabs the beast next to him, half the privates and recruits landing in the water. Quinten however lets out one last cry and turns to run away from the camp and into the darkness out the other side, the last sight of him ducking behind a sand dune and huddling down to collect himself.

Seven doesn't care about all the groans and grumbles, or the fact that he may be kicked a little later on. The private goes to untie Dandelion. "Eh. Stupid joke." Is his gruff response, shaking his head a little about the whole thing. A few glares are sent to some of the more disappointed hares, ears pinning back. Right before half of the beasts in the water go down in a flailing mess. The buck watches this, making sure to stay back with Dandelion.

The otter has gone under! Apparently, Bradge isn't bothered, whether this was a joke or not. He's having a little too much fun. After all, swimming in the oceans is really cool, with those waves and all... So when Taye's coming out after him, he has no idea. He comes up from the water, and treads with his tail and legs. "Hey, mates, why didja put these things over our heads? Can't tell where I am, or nothin'!" He's yelling this out towards the sea, rather than the shores.

Dandelion rubs his sore wrists to get some circulation back. "What'd you do to Quint?" he asks, seeing the other recruit make off, and then he suddenly realises how cold he is, hurrying back to the backpack and his change of clothes.

- End Log

Please see logs under - Rise and Fall of Salamandastron for logs 142 - 146