Slaver Attack Part 1

-This takes place a little before Slaver Attack part two, a bit further South on the dirt road-

Dag pushes out of the grasslands and onto the dirt road; his pack is laden with ore gleaned from surface lodes. He pants slightly as a mild perspiration moistens his brow; the beaver is packing a good deal of weight and is making heavy use of his double handed hammer as a walking staff. The heat of the summer lessens for no beast though and the sound of insects chirping in the high grass only seems to stress the solitude of this place.

Aeris follows closely behind the beaver, not carrying nearly as much as him, but still pitching in, a smaller bag of ores slung over one shoulder. She swings her sling idly at her side as the walk along.

Dag pauses on the stretch of dirt for a moment to catch his wind, swiping one paw across his brow he comments “Tis almost too hot for things like this ain't it?” with a roll of his shoulders he readjusts the weight of his pack.

Even the ottermaid has a sheen of sweat on her forehead, and nods, "Aye, next time ya do this, do it when it's not so damned hot, alright?"

Dag chuckles as he shakes his head, once the echoes die away he says " If'ns I's could control the weather I's would there miss Aeris, course I's don't think every beast would be pleased about it. " Unnoticed by Dag several points in the tall grass rustle faster than the slight wind blows and begin to slowly converge on their position.

Aeris shrugs, "Eh well, let's at least get back to the abbey an' get a cool drink." she looks around, but fails to notice the movement in the grass.

Four of Nikita's brothers Dragit, Meat, Tannit, and Pordis had been following Dag and Aeris since last night, and had planned on dropping in on the pair while they dozed, but since one of their number, Kreenee, had been slain they are without a decent tracker and lost the pair in the darkness. Now though it has been easy to follow the wide path that the hefty beaver cut through the grass, and with the pair on the road it looks as though it will be easy for them to take the pair. Dag turns to the north and brings a paw up to shade his eyes as he looks for a sign of the abbey in the distance. " Well looks like we 'as a ways ta go afore we gets back to da abbey, I's think we drifted farther south then I's had planned on a goin. "

Aeris follows his gaze, wiping sweat from her brow and pushing a stray strand of hair from her eyes, "Hm, looks like it. Well let's get walking." she says, taking a few steps forward, bringing her even with Dag.

Dag Starts off to the north nodding to Aeris and offering " Yep, now I's can't wait fer a slug o cool October ale once we's get there. " As his comment finishes four pairs of eyes watch them from the edge of the grass, with hand signals to each other to hopefully avoid detection they prepare to spring on the pair.

"Mm, sounds good to me," the otter smiles. She follows behind Dag, wrapping her sling around her wrist and adjusting the bag of ore on her shoulder as she walks, unaware of the eyes watching them from the grass.

The slight breeze dose betray one thing though, the smell of unwashed rats. As Dag catches the all too familiar sent he puts a paw to one of the straps of his pack and throws it off his shoulder as he chokes up on his hammer with the other paw, his eyes begin to casually look from side to side as he says " At least we will be able ta enjoy /proper/ company there. " Dag was never one for subtlety. The motions are not lost on the watchers and three bows are strung as silently as possible, while one set of knuckles are flexed.

As quickly as the sling wrapped up around her arm, it’s back out and loaded, the bag of ore immediately on the ground. She gets into a loose fighting stance. "What is it?" she asks the beaver, her voice low and dangerous.

Dag drops his pack on the packed dirt of the path with a thud and says one word " Rats " As if summoned by the word the four brothers step onto the path about 15 feet behind the pair, Three with arrows knocked and bows drawn. Dragit is the one that speaks first as he levels the bow on Dag " Set et down der beaver yer ain' gonna be able ter use et, an same with you river dog, we will fill yer both with shafts afore yer's could lose one pebble heh.” As the rat speaks Dag begins to inch closer to Aeris as he goes through the motions of lowering his hammer.

Aeris turns to face the brothers, still twirling her swing slowly, "To @#!*% with that..." she mutters, eyeing the rats carefully. She can see Dag moving in her peripheral vision, and chances a glance over her shoulder at him, meeting his eyes.

Dag meets Aeris's eyes and winks with his left eye as he lunges forward trying to put his bulk between the archers line of fire and Aeris. As he raises his hammer all three arrows fly, but only one of the rats is a competent bow beast, two arrows fly wide of Dag's body, one of the two lodges in his tail, the third however pins his right paw to the haft of his hammer. Dag grunts as the arrows strike and he makes to bash over the speaker Dragit as the rat loses another arrow, this one buries itself in Dag's left thigh, but doesn't stop his momentum as he plows Dragit over, The other two brothers Tannit and Pordis fumble with reloading their bows as Meat steps towards Aeris ignoring his other brothers plight.

"Dag!' Aeris yells in concern as she sees three arrows hit Dag. She steps towards him, but draws back two paces as the huge rat towers over her, "Woah there, big and stupid," she mutters, twirling her swing and preparing to release it.

Dag Remains on his feet after knocking Dragit to the ground, he kicks the rat in the face as he turns to Tannit and starts lumbering towards the still fumbling rat. Dag bellows “RUN!” as he leaves Dragit totally still as he takes an arrow in the back from Pordis. The last arrow seems to have some effect on Dag as he slows for a moment then swings his hammer at Tannins, only the haft of the weapon connects cracking a few of the rats ribs. Meat however pays what’s going on behind him no mind, he only as eyes for the otter maid as he advances; he stoops slightly and puts his arms out in a wrestling stance as he gets nearer to Aeris.

The otteress has absolutely no intention of wrestling with the giant rat, and she twirls her sling twice over her head before releasing it, aiming for the giant's head. She does not heed the beaver's warning, because as soon as that stone is away, she loads another, preparing to hurl it at another target, Pordis.

Dag stumbles slightly after his blow to Tannit, then sags slightly as he stomps on the rats arm with a satisfying crunch, as he turns to Pordis the beaver moans as he rips his right paw up from the hammers haft and wields the weapon in his left. He starts to stagger towards Pordis as the rat fumbles with another arrow. The rock Aeris aimed at Meats head was left loose from too short a distance to be avoided, it slams into Meats nose whose eyes immediately begin to water, his vision blurry and his nose dribbling crimson he still advances however.

Aeris steps away from the huge angry rat, releasing the stone towards Pordis, though it's a moving shot, so not as accurate. She grits her teeth, seeing Dag in pain; she looks at Meat, just making sure she's not about to be tackled, and lunges towards the nearest rat.

Dag keeps stepping towards Pordis even as the rat knocks another arrow, Aeris's sling stone however pops the tricep of the arm he holds the bow with, and with the lack of thought that comes naturally to one as bright as Pordis, he lets go of the bow and it snaps back towards him, numbing his other paw in the process. As a red stain begins to bloom on the back of Dag's vest he turns from Pordis to Meat and he stumbles towards the rat as Aeris makes her lunge towards Pordis. With his own vision blurring Dag teeters towards meat. Meat tries to reach out and snatch Aeris as she makes her move, unaware of Dag looming up behind him.

Meat's paws don't quite close around Aeris, but they do knock her off balance, flying into Pordis sideways, elbow first into the rat.

Pordis falls into a heap as Aeris's elbow hammers into his sternum and his bow gets tangled up with his footpaws, aiding in his down fall. After meat makes his bid for Aeris, Dag lays his bloody right paw on Meats shoulder; the arrow that still protrudes from Dag's paw pierces the rats flesh as Dag spins him so that they are face to face. Meat smiles as he balls up a fist and slams it right next to the arrow that sticks from Dag's thigh, Dag's eyes narrow as he half growls, half grunts. Dag's hammer falls from his left paw as he uses it to grab Meats head, then Dag pulls with both paws as he slams the top of his skull into Meats face.

Aeris grabs onto Pordis' throat, shaking him violently, yelling expletives and all manner of threats. She's in a pure rage now and someone better get her off of Pordis if he wants to make it through the rest of the day.

Dag shakes Meat back from himself and looks at the rats face, Meat's nose is slightly crooked and is bleeding profusely as well as a touch or red dribbling from the corner of the rats mouth, the rat still smiles at Dag though as he bunches the muscles in his neck and slams his own forehead into Dag's nose, normally a head bashing contest such as this would be no problem for Dag, but with four arrows in him and a decent amount of his own blood staining his fur he sees stars for a moment and his grip on Meat loosens Long enough for the rat to grab Dag's shoulders, As Meat Brings his head forward to repeat the motion Dag comes to and sweeps Meat's paws sideways with his one still good leg, Dag can't support himself on the wounded leg alone though and Meat drags him down as the rat's head bounces off of Dag's shoulder. Once on the ground Dag nearly blacks out, in this space of time Meat straddles Dag from the side and curls up a fist to bring down on Dag's head. Dag has enough time to throw his right paw up at Meat, flinging blood in the rats eye's as the arrow shaft that still pierces Dag's paw snaps against Meats face and the rat's blow pounds dirt. Pordis struggles wildly as Aeris clamps down on his throat, with bot h of his paws numbed however it is to little effect.

Aeris sees that Dag is having a rough time, and slams Pordis' head against the surface of the road, sparing him a death by strangulation but leaving him unconscious. She grabs a dagger from the rat's belt and runs at Meat, not that the small blade will do a lot.

Meat's head pops up as Dag's blood adds more blur to his already water filled eyes, the knock of the arrow draws a gash on Meat's cheek that adds more crimson to the rats face. The fist that Meat had thrown misses Dag's head, but plops down on the beaver’s ear with a hard packing sound. That pain is minor to Dag's other hurts, he shifts his paws to Meat's throat then pulls Meat down as hard as he can, straining his arms as the dirt around the pair begins to accumulate a decent amount of blood from both combatants. Meat is too occupied with Dag to pay any mind to Aeris, that would also put a strain on his mental facilities to think about more than one thing at once.

The rat is big enough that Aeris, with her fairly thin, lithe frame, can use his leg as a boost to jump up and grab onto his neck, and she does just that, slashing at Meat's back wildly, entirely focused on helping Dag. She doesn’t notice Tanit struggles to his knees behind her. He falls a few times, but eventually gets up.

Meat was beginning to reach for Dag's throat as Aeris lands on his back, the dagger is painful to Meat, but not all that effective yet, the rat reaches behind himself with his right arm to swat at Aeris as he tries to beat Dag in the face with his left fist. Dag applies all the pressure that he can with both paws, the beaver didn't manage to get his thumbs on Meat's larynx, and that is all that saves Meat from an immediately crushed throat. The big rat's eyes do begin to shake as lack of oxygen takes its toll though.

Aeris jams the dagger into meat's arm as it reaches back for her, leaving it in as she jumps off of the rat, hitting the ground a little harder than she intended. Tanit gets to his feet, picking up one of his swords, but he's still not a factor in the fight yet.

Meat gurgles as the dagger enters his arm, a few of his blows connected with Dag's face but the beaver manages to stay conscious if barely, His grip however stays tight on Meat's throat. As the big rat begins to weaken Dag pushes the rat up and off of himself while keeping his paws locked around the rats neck. Dag very shakily gets to his feet and lifts Meat up with him, once standing Dag strikes Meat in the face with his forehead repeatedly until the rat's eyes roll back, only then does Dag let Meat drop.

The otteress watches in shock as Dag overpowers the huge rat, but is snapped back to reality as she hears Tanit yell behind her, swinging his sword wildly. She dodges backwards to avoid the blows, back towards Dag. She's lost the dagger and her sling is no good, so she's left basically weaponless, agilely dodging blows from the rat.

Dag groggily turns his head towards Aeris and Tannit, with his head spinning from the loss of blood and a possibly punctured lung Dag reaches down and grabs his hammer. Some things seem to be going to slow while at the same time some are going to fast to Dag, he takes a few steps towards Tanit's flailing form then switches his hammer to only his left paw and throws the weapon towards the rat, his aim is poor however due to many factors. Once the weapon leaves his paw he calls out “Aeris!”

Aeris looks over at Dag as he calls her name, a mistake that earns her a slice across her left arm. As she recoils back, she gasps as the heavy metal hammer slams into Tanit’s shoulder, the sword flying from his reach as the crack of breaking bone is heard. He yelps in pain and turns, running for the tall grass on one side of the road. Aeris holds a paw to her wound and moves to check on Dag, "Yew alright big guy?" she asks, though she knows he's far from alright.

Dag stumbles over to get his hammer then he turns to look at Aeris, now that the adrenaline is wearing down its quite clear that Dag is already getting pale, most of the lower part of the back of his vest has blossomed red and his nose bleeds freely. His left ear has already started to swell up and his lips are split in a few places, the arrows in his thigh back and paw are still in place, the one that struck his tail appears to of been knocked out at some point. Once his eyes settle on Aeris's own wound her words register and he weakly says “I’s been hurt worse afore, I's think, are ya alright?” as he finishes speaking he starts to lean heavily on his hammer.

Aeris curses, "Dag, we need ta get yew back to tha abbey, right now. If ya can still walk, c'mon, if not, I’ll help ya." she offers him a paw, though there's little chance she could support his weight if push came to shove.

Dag nods weakly as he shifts the hammer under his left armpit to take some of the weight off of his injured left leg. He looks back at the rats lying on the road way before he starts to shamble down the road, he knows that he needs to move, if he stops he will be in serious trouble, he also knows that he might not be able to make it back. “Let’s get a..." Dag coughs at this point and his paw comes away bloody, however with his lips split and his paw having an arrow through it it’s hard to tell what’s bleeding.

Aeris doesn't have the physical strength needed to properly help Dag back, so she acts more as a guide, leading him and calling out encouragement where needed. With any luck they'll make it back to the abbey soon.

Dag stumbles pretty slowly after following Aeris's directions most of the way back to Redwall. Dag had been leaving a dribbling trail of crimson for some time now, and his steps have been progressively slow and slower. Once at the gates he leans totally on his hammer for a moment then very quietly says “Aeris... I's can't see anythin..." his eyes are closed and his last words are followed by his knees buckling and his form toppling over.

Aeris bites her lip, running to Dag. She crouches down beside him, "C'mon, Dag, we're right here, just a little further, mate." She sprints to the gates, pounding on the wood with a clenched fist, yelling, "Help! Help! C'mon! We need a healer!" her cries are eventually answered, and Redwall beasts hurry out. Aeris watches docilely, holding her wound, which drips crimson down her arm, staining her fur red. It takes three healers and two strong guards to heft Dag's limp form onto a stretcher and get him inside. As they pass, Aeris overhears one of the healers say something grim about Dag's wounds, and it brings a tear to her eye. She follows the healers inside as the heavy wood gates close behind her.