The Ongoing Saga of Camp Willow - YES we still exist!
Characters Involved: Zephyr, Pheone, Raina, Hyron
Redwall may be known for its meticulous record keeping and host of beasts with great knowledge, but Camp Willow is more laid back, a school of hard knocks of sorts. At least, that's how it seems to Raina. She appreciates the cheer and vigor of the place, as there's nothing better to vanquish a blue mood, but she's still more comfortable in the quiet, still moments. Thus, it is fortunate for her that there's one place in Camp Willow where book knowledge reigns, even if it's seldom visited by the other more adventuresome otters. On the particular afternoon, the slim ottermaid sits on the floor with her back against the far wall, an old map spread across her thighs. Her fingertip traces slowly over the skillfully illuminated parchement, focusing in the Northern Lands at the moment.
There's a pad, pad, pad from the hallway outside the library and the door swings open with a creak. It's Zephyr, clearing suffering from a bout of responsibility. She's got a mug of steaming hot tea in her paw and a look of resignation on her face. With a sigh, the otteress faces the room, scans it, nods a greeting to Raina and then skims across the floor to the shelving where she selects an huge book. Zephyr can't manage it with one paw so she sets her tea down on a nearby table and then hauls the silly thing out of its space on the shelf. 'Ooof.' With a thunk, she places it on the table and randomly opens it to a page somewhere near the middle. Dust flies out and she waves it away. 'Ugghh'.
Also figuring that the place will be rather deserted and quiet Pheone slips in through the opening a short bit after Zephyr and stops just inside the entrance, seeing that the place isn't deserted already makes him think about turning around and making a run for it. Looking around and seeing that both Raina and Zephyr are in attendance Pheone starts to pull an about face for the way back out, he doesn't feel like getting Zephyred again any time soon. Another thing of note is that the fiddle that Pheone had with him on his other occasions is absent, the otters paws are apparently totally empty, to better help a speedy retreat.
Zephyr recieves a polite, if a little sheepish, smile from Raina in response to her greeting, watching the other otter for a few moments. She seems rather impressed with the tome Zephyr's selected, and makes the rather rash assumption that Zephyr was opening it to where she last left off, making the first half an impressive bit of reading. Her eyes flick up again, see Pheone, and then dart back down, remembering the cold shoulder she recieved trying to talk to the otter and not feeling in the mood to be humiliated again. Her jaw sets and she looks back down at her map, her knees retracting a little closer to her chest and her tail curling around the front of her ankles.
Zephyr looks relieved for a moment when she sees Pheone enter and then attempt to leave. "Wait!" She commands. Well, doesn't command, really, just sort of says. "I've run into you a few times now, friend, and still don't know your name. I think that two otters who've shared a swimming hole really ought to be better acquainted, eh?" She grins. "I'm Zephyr, acting Skipper of Camp Willow."
It's not the wait that stops Pheone, he almost makes it out the door when he hears the part about acting skipper and stops. Well, isn't that great, the acting skipper was acting like a loon and now only knocked him into the river be he threw her in there as well, just great. Turning back slowly Pheone gives a formal bow saying " Skipper. " and once he is straight again he says " Pheone. " and starts to turn away again to make an escape. Pheone thinks that he needs to re evaluate things now and trying to do that with the skipper here isn't going to help matters all that much.
Surprise surprise, the broody otter is making a run for it, or at least wants to. What else is new. Raina puts her map aside with infinite care, standing up and stretching, giving a little yawn. Then, she gently pads over to the table where Zephyr was sitting, leaning over a bit to peer at the pages of the great big book she was reading. Zephyr must be really smart, she thinks, biting her lip. Did she say she was acting skipper? That sounds great. She places a fingertip on the paper of the book, her claw underlying a word she doesn't recognize and shivers to try and pronounce.
The book is all hand-written and there are a myriad of different handwritings to compare. The word that Raina is presently pointing at is 'capitolize' which, ironically, is not capitalized and yet falls at the beginning of a sentence. The title of the book is 'A History of Camp Willow' and is basically exactly that. The stories of everything that has occurred in the camp since someone thought to write it down. Since Pheone seems eager to take off, Zephyr sort of explains to Raina why the book is out on the table. Also, to the room in general. "Got word earlier that a party from th' abbey is coming in sometime soon. Jus' wanted to see what we'd done in the past. They didn't say why they were comin', just that they were."
With nothing stopping him Pheone heads out the door and is off and away back to go brood some place in silence. Pheone has allot on his mind and so isn't very sociable now, but maybe someday he will be.
The ottermaid's head jerks up suddenly as Zephyr speaks, her finger leaving the page as if the parchement was red hot. "Oh, well, that's.. nice." she says, with a little smile. "I've never been there." she says, adding hurriedly. "Redwall, I mean." Her paws fall to her sides. "Do you think they'll stay long?" she asks, her eyes finding the bookshelf nearby intensely interesting at this very moment, studying the worn spines of the books as if her life depended on memorizing them.
Hyron has arrived.
Zephyr isn't sure what she said to terrorize the other otter so she doesn't do anything about it. "Hopefully not. We're jus' tryin' to get by as it is." For a camp with a socialistic government, they really don't keep track of what is going where. "Jus' realized today that we're way behind on preparations for the winter. An' it's nearly here." She sighs.
Hyron Walks into the room, and spreads out his hands in warm greeting. "Friends! Aah, the joys of seeing those of your own kind. Only just now I encountered a very eccentric squirrel by the Name of Amarro, she said I'd find some of my own here."
The girl's eyes widen a bit. "Well, that's.. reassuring," she says, making drifting eye contact for but the briefest of seconds, stepping away from the table with the book, her tail swishing through the air behind her as if she's searching to make sure nothing is behind her for her to back into. "Do you know.. who's coming? Tomorrow, I mean." she looks down, "It's alright if you don't know, I was just.. curious." Her head rises swiftly as Hyron makes his entrance, giving him a little wave.
Zephyr is confused by Hyron's entrance and looks at him funny. "Er..hello. Good to see you." She nods. "Who are you?"
Hyron Apologises for his peculiar entrance and speaks in a deep voice. "Hello! My name is Hyron, Son of Brimrose of Holt Lutra from the shores to the east. I'm pleased to finally find some fellow otters, my company so far has been only a brief meeting with Logalog of the Guosim and the eccentric squirrel i mentioned earlier. Oh, and a rather unpleasant encounter with a group of sea rats. I came seeking council at Redwall Abbey, but with a Fox as champion, is it safe? Vermin like foxes and peaceful folk living together in harmony is something strange, If I do say so."
"Redwall has a fox for a champion?" Raina asks, her brow furrowing slightly. She turns to find a book or map or something else to bury her nose into, but then seems to remember her manners, "Um, I'm Raina. It's.. nice to meet you." she gives Hyron a little smile.
Zephyr grins broadly. "Hello, Hyron. I am Zephyr, acting Skipper of Camp Willow. It is lovely to have you aboard and you are more than welcome to stay here if you like. The squirrel Amarro is known to us and is...friendly. As for your question about the Abbey...the situation is...interesting. But then you can see for yourself tomorrow when they come. I don't know why they're coming. The fox is...well-intentioned. But I do not trust him. Others have their own opinions." She shrugs. "Have you eaten? Do you need a place to stay?"
Hyron Drifts away into a daydream, speaking softly. "Does an otter ever need more than the rivers that he stays beside? Does an otter need more than a pan of otter and hotroot soup? Does an otter need more than his fellows?
Looking up, Hyron clears his throat and stands. "Speaking of Shrimp and Hotroot soup.."
Raina opens her mouth for a second to deliver a snappy retort to the male's dreamy reply, but thinks better of it. She doesn't want to be rude. Sometimes her mouth just works faster than her brain. She goes back over to where seh was sitting and crouches, rolling up the map she was looking at carefully and placing it back in the carrying case from whenst it came, hanging it on the end of a bookshelf which a handful of other maps, easily accessable for when an otter at the camp gets an itch to go exploring. She steps up to Zephyr, clearing her throat softly, looking down.
"You. I like you." Zephyr laughs at Hyron's response. "You can stay by the river if you want but we also have respectable cabins if you start getting rained on. As for soup, the chow hall is most always open and you can get soup there - if they have it." She looks thoughtful. "But we're otters, so they usually do." Unfortunately, Zeph doesn't know the shy otter's name but tries to be helpful, "Yes? Uh...yes?"
She smiles nervously, actually making eye contact for several long seconds. "Raina.." she says, flushing a bit, sensing you're seeking her name. "I was just wondering if, if it would be okay, if I tagged along tomorrow?" there's a long pause. "When you meet with the Redwallers, I mean." she shuffles her feet a little, her tailtip dragging across the floor.
Zephyr shrugs and nods. "Sure. I'm just going to greet them and ask them what they need. If they have that fox with them I'm not going to offer much hospitality." The temporary Skipper looks guilty about this. "Champion or no, it's just...odd." Research is hopeless. Zephyr closes the book with a muffled thud and places it back on its home shelf. "We'll be meeting them in the north main grounds whenever they show up. I've instructed the guards to escort them there. Hopefully nothing is attacking the abbey. That's usually why they show up." Zeph chuckles lightly.
"You don't think they'd be asking us to, y'know, to fight, do you?" she asks, looking up at you. she looks squeamish just at the thought.
Zephyr does not know. "I don't know. But what else could we provide that they'd be asking for? Food?" She spreads her paws out. "Goodness knows they've got enough of that at the Abbey. And besides, historically, we've always just been a private army for the Abbey. But this time..." She shakes her head. "There are so few otters and we're so short on supplies that...logistically it just isn't possible." Oh Zephyr. You've grown so much. She shakes her head. "But don't worry about it. If that's what they want, I'll only call for volunteers. No one will be forced to do something they don't want to."
She nods vigorously. "Okay." there's a pause, the otter's eyes studying a tabletop several paces away. "Will.. you have to volunteer? As Skipper?" she bites her lip. "I know you can't be, like, forced to volunteer, but.."
Zephyr shakes her head. "I won't, no. I have to be here to run Camp Willow until Hallow gets back. They can't expect me to do that AND fight some ridiculous war that they've entangled themselves in yet again. We've got our own issues. Plus, I just plain don't like that fox." There's a stubborn look on her face and she looks angry. "But don't worry about it. We aren't responsible for anyone but ourselves."
Raina gives a slow nod, one of understanding, and you can bet that she'll be thinking the conversation over for a while after this. "Well.." she starts. "It was nice talking to you, um, Skipper?" she says, flushing as she struggles to know what to call you. "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess," she says, starting to leave, "If that's still okay.." she trails off, slipping into the hallway and away.
Raina has disconnected.
"Of course, of course. It'll be good to have you there." Zeph watches Raina leave and then finds a seat and grabs her mug of tea which has now gone cold. There's a lot going through her mind presently and she isn't quite sure how to process it all. "Oh Hallow....come back soon." She tilts back in the chair and gripes at the ceiling. "This is way harder than you said it'd be."
Realizing after the fact that running off like that was more than a little rude Pheone decided to make it up a bit by coming back with some food and drink. It's nothing special, only oat farls, cheese, and cider but at short notice that's all that Pheone could come up with. Missing Raina by a few minuets Pheone comes back with the food for three and notices that its down to one otter now, the worst of the bunch and one that he needs to show more respect. That doesn't however stop him from pausing at the door way and waiting as he subconsciously tries to find a way to back off again.
Zephyr has the chair precariously leaning on two legs and sheepishly drops back down to all four when she sees Pheone come back. Skippers don't do that. Balancing is for dibbuns. "Hello again, Pheone." She eyes him. He's definitely older than her (sorry) and has probably seen more. "Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?" Please don't run off, please don't run off…
There it is again, that urge to simply scoot out of here with an apology, what has happened to you? Pheone thinks as he starts forcing himself forward. Putting on a false grin Pheone starts forward saying " Sure, an sorry about earlier, have allot on me mind I do. " If the eyes that aren't smiling don't make it obvious the slight straining of putting some forced carefulness into his voice should make it abundantly clear that Pheone is uncomfortable. Pheone stops when he reaches Zephyr's table and swings the stoppered flaggon onto it before setting the tray down with the farls and cheese.
"Sit, sit, sit, sit!" Zephyr urges, pointing out the various chairs scattered around. "No worries, mate. It's tough times for everybody." She notes the false grin and she also sees the discomfort. But, dangit, she's the Skipper, and the other otters WILL like her. "Not sure if you heard or not, but we got a delegation from the abbey comin' in tomorrow." She reaches for a farl and sort of leaves that statement hanging there, awaiting a response.
With a slight wave of his paw Pheone refuses the chair for now, he is far to jittery to stay seated. Beginning to pace he says " Well? I don't know what ta tell ya there Skipper, I ain't really been there nor met the creatures, I came from down south a ways an by passed the place on me way here, so I ain't so sure what I could say on em other than what I heard and that's all second paw. " Still uncomfortable Pheone starts to pace faster now that he said his piece and it's still plain as day that the otter isn't acting right.
Zephyr sighs. "Pheone. What is the matter? I'm not going to bite you, goodness, I'm not even going to yell. Why are you acting this way?" She vaguely waves a paw to indicate the nervousness and the pacing. "You're going to make yourself sick."
Stopping, Pheone faces Zephyr saying " I don't want ta talk about it skipper, not right now any way, I have my own things ta wrestel with an right now bein around boisterisness, beasts, an questions just leaves me a wantin ta move on. " The pacing had stopped but now it has turned into a backward shuffle, Pheone figures he just made more of a fool of himself and is working up to getting good and mad at himself.
Zephyr eyes him skeptically for a few moments before returning her attentions to the farl in her paw. "Fair enough." Bite bite, chew chew. She's known enough otters with strange backgrounds. "How long you been around these parts?"
The backward retreat stops for now as Pheone makes his reply " Only round a month or so skipper. " Now that he has a mad started at himself atleast he isn't acting so nervous or fleeting but those bits are replaced now with curtness and a gaze that is fixed at the wall behind Zephyr.
Well this is just awkward. Hallow didn't explain how lonely this job would be. Now that she's got the word Skipper attached to her name, nobeast is comfortable around her. She's just asking questions, for crying out loud! Zephyr finishes off her farl and carefully brushes the crumbs onto the dirt floor. "Well, if you're curious, the Redwallians should be here sometime tomorrow, provided they don't wander into an ambush or sommat." Clearly she has little respect for the Abbey dwellers. "It might be interesting, you should come watch." She goes to stand up and then realizes that her comment might be taken as an order somehow. "That is, if you want to and you have nothing else going on. You don't have to by any means, just thought it'd be interesting." For fun, she tries to make eye contact with Pheone.
Making eye contact with Pheone will involve getting directly in his line of sight as his eyes are still fixed in place. It's not the position that makes Pheone act this way, its his own personal baggage and he has to get it sorted out before he will be much good for anything in terms of niceties. " Understood Skipper, in that case I will keep my distance, what I have heard about that lot leads me to believe that I wouldn't want to bother em or be bothered by em. " Still on curtness Pheone is finding it hard to keep his mad going. Now if it was an order to something else that didn't involve being social Pheone would be glad, something that he could do mindlessly right now would be great.
Zephyr doesn't know Pheone well enough to give him any high-level responsibility and she isn't really the type to just give commands willy-nilly because she can. "Well, I'm going to go check out our food stores to see if the situation is as bad as it's been described to me." She stands up and checks to make sure the room is generally clean. "Thanks for the food, by the way, and it was...good to finally talk to you." For real. Without throwing him in the water or tripping over him. "I hope you stick around." And she genuinely means this. "Have a good evening, sir."
With a "Yes Skipper. Good day Skipper. " Pheone collects the remainder of what he had brought in and makes for the door himself, he still has enough mad left to go for a good sulk on the river bank and that's exactly what he intends to do.
END
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