Traitor In Our Midst...
The Characters
Turmal Fyrpels, a mouse.
Bottlebrush, A.K.A. Deadeye, a fox.
Shadow-Wolfbane, a vixen.
Anba Hor, the Torturer.
Flicktail, Champion of the Order of Redwall.
Mayeul Fyrpels, a mouse.
Duchess Hortense, a squirrelmaid.
Adriana Scabbia D'Saavik, Baroness of Ibil, a stoatmaid.
Benar AmarroSon, Former Corporal in the Army of Southsward under the Regent Eugene Maltazar, Master of Floret, a squirrel.
Leonard, a squirrel.
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Redwall Abbey: Great Hall
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Bottlebrush is sitting in a chair, the fox looking to be quite sound asleep now. His muzzle tucked down against his chest and the firelight playing off his bad eye.
Turmal is sneaking around; the mouse wasn't expecting the fox to be down here at this time, and is trying to be quiet as he limps over to a chair. He winces, his one leg cramping up... this makes him stop before he's at his seat.
Bottlebrush twitches an ear but otehrwise does not move, he foxes slow, even breathing showing he is quite deep in his nap.
Shadow-wolfbane arrives from the Abbey Kitchen..
Shadow-wolfbane has arrived.
Turmal looks over and decides he doesn't have to be as careful as he first thought. He hops on the one leg the rest of the way to the chair... then, grinning, he takes his scabbard off of his belt and /drops/ it on the adjacent table. It thuds loudly as it hits the wood.
Shadow-wolfbane eats some of fresh baked pasty.
Bottlebrush jumps, his head snapping up and his good eye snapping open when that thud sounds. The foxes paw is halfway inside his robe before he blinks and looks around, spotting Turmal, "..Oh.." He leans back, "Turmal."
Shadow-wolfbane shake head at Bottlebrush and Turmal
Turmal snerks, and turns his head to the fire, "Hmm, yes, me. I still have to get used to that name again... he looks back at Shadow-wolfbane, his hideously scarred face twisting into a frown, "What's the matter with you?"
Bottlebrush grunts softly, "Oh sit down, Turmal. It seems like every time you appear, you sound ready for a fight."
Shadow-wolfbane turns and says nothing.
Turmal was going to sit down, but now at the suggestion of the fox he leans casually against the arm, "Ready for a fight? /Somebody/ has to be... were you not aware that a full-blown battle took place here not weeks ago?"
Bottlebrush smirks softly, "I am quite aware, Turmal. Did you forget that I tend to heal what goodbeasts manage to not die outright in said battles?"
Turmal finally sits, looking over at Shadow-wolfbane oddly a bit before turning back to the fox, "You'd think she's never seen the likes of deformed creatures before... and I'm afraid I didn't stay in that sick-infested place long enough to see you, or I would have said hi earlier..."
Turmal adds, "And by saying hi, I mean finding some way of making your day a living nightmare."
Bottlebrush chuckles lightly, "We tend to be a rare sight.." He then shrugs, "I am usually bustling around, doing what is needed by the Healers. I am not an official healerbeast so I lend my skil where I am told too. Sometimes I help heal, sometime I am cleaning or putting away sheets." The fox then smirks to Turmal, "Trust me, you do that just by showing up."
Shadow-wolfbane giggles...
Turmal snaps his head towards the vixen, "Oh and what's so funny?! You keep laughing, and you'll have a face like mine in short order." His yell makes him cough and gasp for air, as he leans over in the chair..
Shadow-wolfbane backs off.
Bottlebrush arches a brow and eyes Turmal coolly, "You even try to harm a female and you and I will scuffle like we did at the party seasons ago. This time, I know I can fight."
Shadow-wolfbane say cooly to Bottlebrush "i maybe fox but im no vermin"
Turmal has stopped coughing and is silently thinking... he finally says, "You know, I had almost forgotten that incident. I had /wanted/ to forget that you were making a fool of me, with the mousemaid that /I/ would have danced with."
Turmal adds, "And don't make the mistake of thinking that that's the /only/ reason I didn't like you."
Shadow-wolfbane asks "was she pritty?"
Bottlebrush sighs softly, "Turmal..I did not try to make a fool of you. I invited Sivaine to dance because she was being kind to me while half teh abbey was eyeing me with distrust." His face then hardens and he frowns to the mouse, "Oh, I'm sure you hated me from the moment you clapped eyes on me. You just /knew/ I had to be evil and should be killed, eh?" His good eye looks towards Shadow, "Siv? Yes, she is very pretty. Last I heard, she took a husband and moved away."
Turmal doesn't look at the vixen, and just answers, "She was gorgeous. I haven't seen her, I doubt she's still around... she was an artist." He sighs and leans a cheek on his paw. "It must have been too long ago for you, because it wasn't Sivaine - it was her sister.. she was the compassionate one."
Shadow-wolfbane look down at flor "oh...."
Bottlebrush thinks a moment and twitches an ear, "Oh! Yes..I do rememeber properly now. It got rearranged in my mind because Siv and I became rather good friends after..I rarely spoke with Ardice without Siv around." He then grunts, "You still had no reason to be angry. Not like we would have become more than friends or anythin'..Kinda hard to impress a lady when a half-dead face."
Shadow-wolfbane sits down in a chair…
Turmal shakes his head, "Just... stop... this is all in the past - just another thing in my life gone horribly awry..." He mumbles, leaning over the arm and looking out into space, "Huh, vermin are so good, then why do they ruin /everything/ for me..."
Bottlebrush frowns again, "You ruined it for yourself, Turmal. You and your temper. You attacked me at the party simply because I was making friends and you felt angry. You rode me hard about being a vermin up until the day you supposedly died. You would lash out at anyone who did you the slightest wrong..How was that the fault of anyone but you?" It's brutal but it's the truth as he sees it.
Turmal shoots Bottlebrush a furious glance, and gives up on it... "You know, I don't know what I expected when I came back here - maybe that I would like you vermin again, finally be able to be happy... not a chance. Since I've been here, I've given you all every chance, but you prove yourselves again and again." He pauses, "Why should I set myself up for disappointment, and waste energy deciding if I should trust one vermin or another?"
Bottlebrush gets to his paws, "If I recall right, you were the first to slip into old patterns, Turmal! I stayed civil and even admitted that you were right about me being DeadEye...but of course, nothing is ever you. Ever since I met you, you blame everyone and act like you are perfect!" The fox then shrugs, "And why should we 'vermin' trust you? I get the feeling you would treat the Champion with disrespect, since he is a fox."
Oh, that... Turmal laughs as the fox finishes his thoughts, and waves his scarred paw at him, "Perfect, oh yes... I'm perfectly brutalized and beaten, that's what is perfect about me. I'm the first to tell you how weak I am. But that weakness stems from doubting what my brother now knows - that you, or Flicktail, are no different than the killer that's been running rampant on your watch!" He gets up and grabs his scabbard as he does, standing as best he can in a threatening posture.
Anba_Hor comes from the entry.
Anba_Hor has arrived.
Bottlebrush snarls and tries to push Turmal back towards a wall while he goes for his scabbard, "My watch!? I am not a warrior, you daft mouse! I heal beasts! And don't you /ever/, /EVER/ claim I am like him! I was possibly the kindest vermin leader known!" He does not look kind right at the moment! He looks like any stories of the 'evil DeadEye' that may have been said in places.
Shadow-wolfbane cries " stop it!"
Shadow-wolfbane says, "this is an abbey not a place to fight!"
Turmal knowingly lets the fox threaten him... in the mouse's mind, further incriminating the vermin leader. "Kindest vermin leader... somehow, those last two words just take the punch right out of the word 'kind'." He backs up to the wall and doesn't blink, "What are you going to do now? Send me to the infirmary again? You were good at that..."
Bottlebrush tilts his head slowly and squints his good eye at Turmal, "When did I ever send you to the infirmary? I never knew I could fight until after I found my past..which was after I thought you were dead!" Shadows shout is ignored, the fox rather angry.
Anba_Hor enters as the silly old grey fox that he's been playing for the past few weeks. He looks over at Shadow-wolfbane, "These gentlemen fightin' over ye? I'd take the fox over the mouse... he looks more like y'type. Hehehe..." He 'hobbles' over to where she is, putting on a charming smile. Meanwhile, the others ignore him...
Turmal hahs, "That didn't stop you - apparently you had it in you all along... explain how, if I attacked you, that /I/ ended up in the sickbay, hmm?? You /must/ have fought back!"
Bottlebrush takes a step back and crosses his arms, one paw slipping into his robes, "At the party? Other beasts pulled you off of me! They had to use force to keep you from killing me! I curled up into a little ball whie you pounded on me!"
Turmal yells and launches at Bottlebrush, going for his neck, "You..... arrghhhh... /LIAR!!!/" His frustration is at a maximum, and he's stubborn even if not one-hundred percent sure of his memory of the event, "You brought them upon me by pretending to be innocent!! Your whole life is a lie!!!"
Shadow-wolfbane stands up and run to them "STOP!"
Bottlebrush looks startled for a moment, his paws going to Turmals wrists while he stumbles backwards and then falls onto his back. The fox bares his teeth and snarls as he speaks, "So is yours! You, who claim to be so good and so innocent!" He tries to roll and get on top, the fox going for Turmals throat now while he gurgles, "You, who once claimed to be a warrior! You are just as bad as the vermin you claim everyone else to be!"
Anba_Hor frowns, well it seems those two fools upset his company. /Nobody/ interrupts him while he's with company... the fox decides the Hall is relatively vacant enough... he /rips/ off his disguise and clears his throat loudly. "Now... which one of you two, DeadEye or the King Killer, is going to kill whom? Would you both work together for a common threat such as I?" He blows a kiss to the vixen, "How about a proper duel for the lass?" He takes out a dagger from his cloak, ready to throw it!
Shadow-wolfbane turns, "No dont throw it!!! They’re not fighting over me".
Turmal looks past Bottlebrush on the ground and is frozen still. Then, something overcomes him as the realization of this opportunity dawns on him. "You'll die before you're able to leave this abbey, what is in your head, vermin, that makes you think you're now safe?"
Bottlebrush's head turns and he blinks when he sees Anba, the fox pushes up to his paws and a knife is in his paw in the blink of an eye. A sharp eye would catch that he dipped into his robe to get it! It's in a standard throwing grip and the fox crouches low, his upper body swaying to stay in motion, "For once, I agree with my friend here."
Anba_Hor hmms, "Friend?! Oh... I didn't pick up on that friendly tone you were taking with him just a moment ago..." He laughs, "Safe? I'm never safe, and I rather don't like the concept. What's to think about? I'm going to kill you two, and you are going to die as a result." He takes off the robe that has hidden his tattoos until now. "I could easily take an inferior fox and a sickly mouse, I think, if I can make a badger into a rug."
Shadow-wolfbane sits down on chair…
Turmal stands up and circles around the fox, increasing the angle between him and Bottlebrush to keep the fox on his toes. No point in coming from the same direction if there are two of you... "You are stupid to be so bold - you haven't yet fought either of us... what makes you so certain you are better-trained?" If he had his sword... he could just chop this ugly creature up in no time...
Shadow-wolfbane takes out a dirk.
Shadow-wolfbane stands up.
Bottlebrush keeps that knife held and eyes Anba carefully while he circles as well. He moves slow enough that Turmal can get directly across from him so whomever Anba faces, his back is to another beast, "You did make a mistake, Anba. We both have reason to kill you and we both have the means. Your ego will be your undoing.."
Shadow-wolfbane smirks " i'll be here if you need any help....."
Anba_Hor's head twitches in three directions, around to Turmal, and back at Shadow-wolfbane... at her, he smirks, "Sorry it couldn't have worked out between us - but as you seem to be on their side, you'll have to die as well." He throws a dagger at Turmal, ducking and rolling towards the vixen and kicking out at her legs, throwing a second dagger at the other standing fox's head.
The blade comes too fast at him to avoid... he's knicked by the edge of the blade before able to move fully out of its way, but this doesn't stop him... he lunges forward with his scabbard, swinging it violently and hoping to crack the stupid vermin's head open!
Bottlebrush weaves to the side, the head an easy target to move out of the way of a dagger. His arm cocks back to throw but pauses as he sees Turmal going in and Anba trying to trip Shadow, "Hells gates! Someone give me an opening to put this in his throat!" He then blinks and touches the side of his head, finding blood from where he was nicked as well, "Or his head!"
Shadow-wolfbane drops to the floor!
Anba_Hor raises a third dagger, taken from his belt at the vixen, "How does it feel to be on the verge of your own end? Unfair? Heh..." He chuckles a deep, rumbling chuckle as the dagger is about to come down on the innocent female!
Bottlebrush watches that dagger raise and his is out of his paw in a flash of steel. Rather than aim for the neck or head, both of which he shouted out, he aims for between the shoulders. A bigger (and there for easier to hit) target that is harder to move out of the way than ones neck or head!
Turmal meanwhile, is almost upon the fox, who appears to be too overwhelmed by force to possibly retaliate... In slow motion, he's running with the scabbard, the dagger from Bottlebrush is coming straight for the middle of his back, and the vixen still has her weapon but is down... he notices all of this and then comes to the horrifying realization moments before he's upon the fox. Oh no... in that instant, he tries to stop his momentum to no avail...
Anba_Hor kicks out at Turmal from the ground, watching as the mouse falls directly into the path of the blade - he rolls out of the way to position himself for the fatal blow should Bottlebrush's blade be too inaccurate.
Bottlebrush is quick on the situation, the fox drawing another throwing knife from within his vest while he starts to move with a loud snarl, "ANBA!" He shouts, trying to get the foxes attention while he throws this dagger at Anbas left leg! His other paw is dipping into his robe to draw a third from his sleeve of five across his chest. He's hoping to tag the fox or make him shift and miss his chance at an attack.
It happens instantaneously... Turmal was already close to the fox when Bottlebrush threw the blade, and he falls a fraction of a second after the blade leaves BB's paws, but it's enough. The blade embeds itself in his shoulder, as the mouse screams and flails his arms. His scabbard clangs loudly on the floor and the mouse lands on the stone with a crunch.
Anba_Hor is too distracted by the second blade to land the fatal blow... BB's blade is a direct hit and the fox grunts, /pulling/ it out and brandishing both his and BB's blades at him. He steps on Turmal's body and runs at Bottlebrush, one blade in one paw raised, the other held underpaw to swipe at the fox's side. "Come and get your death, DeadEye..."
Bottlebrush has his good eye on that raised paw and yelps loudly when the other knife catches his side, the fox leaping back to avoid a swing from that second arm. HIs dagger is tossed to his primary paw and he weaves to Anbas left before he suddenly twirls the knife in his paw to reverse it and jukes to the foxes right while darting in, trying to drag the weapon across Anbas chest while his free paw comes up in anticipation of catching one of Anbas paws, "I'll send you to hells gates before I go!"
Shadow-wolfbane gasps.
Shadow-wolfbane looks at Turmal " are you ok?"
Anba_Hor meanwhile is matching every move from the fox with his own daggers, quickly trying other angles and leaving form to the wind as the knives barely clash before being thrusted in again and again. This is a knife-fight in every sense of the word, and the fox is good at knife-fighting. He grabs the fox's free paw, trying to force his strength on Bottlebrush with that arm while the dagger hacks at the knife.
Turmal looks up at the fox, looking about ready to go back unconscious while mumbling, "Feels numb... in my back..." The mouse's head flops back down, but he's still conscious, breathing.
Bottlebrush is managing to, barely, keep Anbas knives at bay with a little training in boxing he got from his time in Halyard. Even with only one dagger, his free paw will hit Anbas off-paw wrist to stop his swing, but he does not have the skill to follow up so he is quite on the defensive and taking small nicks and cuts. WHen his free paw is grabbed, the fox does not jerk away, but instead jerks in towards himself, trying to pull ANba too close to swing properly, and tries to bury his teeth in Anbas forearm with a snarl!
Shadow-wolfbane turns around, aims and throws her dirk at Anba!
Anba_Hor knees at Bottlebrush's midsection as he's brought in close, and drops all of his blades and grabs /both/ of BB's paws. The other fox is still armed, but Anba Hor may be able to use his own weapons against him depending on who is the stronger fox. Suddenly, the evil torturer feels a rush of air and a dull thud to his back. Strange, that an object would hit him in such a way - and then stay... there... then it dawns on him, that he's been impaled by a knife! The fox lets go and falls back to the ground, trying to pull the blade out but feeling his arms start to drain of energy...
Bottlebrush grunts as he is kneed, the action causing him to double over and miss his chance at his bite. The fox drops to one knee as Anba goes down and he eyes the fellow fox, "Go to hells gates. I hope to see you greet me the day I follow!" The fox lunges forwards and attempts to drive his dagger into the side of Anbas neck.
Anba_Hor falls back and finally gets the dagger out, and weakly grabs and pulls the fox's knife arm down with him. Hopefully just the weight of the fox falling will bring the other down... but Anba is getting weaker and weaker as blood pools around him.
Bottlebrush gives a hiss as his arm is grabbed, the fox trying, for just a moment, to drive it forwards before he notices the blood. The fox then tries to jerk his arm away and scoot away, his good eye on Anba, "Looks like you will not walk away."
Shadow-wolfbane .................
Anba_Hor chuckles, shrugging, "There's a far greater evil coming after me... Turmal's brother's kingdom isn't the only people I've sold out - and soon you will all be... laid t...to waste..." The fox shudders and falls over on his face, the dirk sticking up out of him. Is he finally dead?
Shadow-wolfbane walk over to where Anba lay in a pool of his own blood.
Turmal groans and coughs, blood coming up with it and spotting the stone floor red. "Ugh... feels, what... Bottlebrush!!" He tries to get up but falls back on his stomach, his own arms too weak. "G... get... m..." He goes unconscious again.
Bottlebrush carefully inches past Anba and moves to Turmal, the fox nursing his wounds but also quick to pull that dagger out of Turmals back. He pulls it stright up so it does not cause more damage coming out, and pulls his small healers kit out of his robes. It's enough to staunch any serious bleeding bu t he does try to get the mouse to his paws with a wince, "Up we go, Turmal. We need to hit the infirmary and get a beast to clean this up before the dibbuns wake tomorrow.." He then twitches an ear, "I'll become a vermin again before I let the Abbey get laid to waste.." He mutters.
Turmal groans, "No...N... in...firmary..." He is completely limp in the arms that carry him, "Is... h- d..."
Bottlebrush nods, "Yes, infirmary and yes, he is dead..WE need to get patched up before we join him!" He starts to carry Turmal with a pained groan.
Anba_Hor is still on the ground. He's on his belly, blood in a pool all around him... the fox seems to be dead, but then one never knows.. the scene doesn't seem right - everything's too quiet, and another set of eyes somewhere can almost be felt watching...
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Meanwhile, in the Infirmary…
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Flicktail comes in from the Infirmary...
Flicktail has arrived.
Flicktail walks in with some honey combs
Bottlebrush is away at the moment, gathering all that he needs to take care of himself and the mouse, while Turmal lies in the bed next to Mayeul... he coughs as he breathes, the familiar bloody cough that he's used to... although it's not a terrible amount of it. He's been poisoned too, although he doesn't yet know it. The mouse stirs and leans up, wincing as a sharp pain stabs his shoulder again and again, even after the dagger has been extracted. "Ughhh..."
Flicktail still has the antidote for that one poisioned fellow, and theyhave all teh stuff from Anba hor's lair "wello...ay oi been lookin fer ye....
Mayeul stirs as well, for the first time since he started napping. The mouse is getting better all the time, but seems deeply psychologically disturbed... "A-aunt claire... a...aunt cl..." He grabs the sheets with wide eyes as his younger brother coughs, "Who... what's that..."
Turmal groans even louder, although recognizing the voice, "F...flick... n-no, get away! B-b-bottle... b-b-b-bottle..." He's trying to say something, but it's not coming out! He ignores his brother - his world is one of pain and Flicktail, and that's all his mind can handle right now...
Flicktail Blinks unsure but doesn't approach, shrugging non commitally while giving an injured dibbun a honeycomb and smiling at her
Mayeul's eyes bulge as he looks over and sees... a ghost! He leaps up onto the bed and points, "N-n-no, you... you're not alive! You're not alive!!" He stumbles back and gets tangled in the sheets, falling back off the bed and onto the floor! "N-n-no... fox, tricking me again... tricks, I won't fall for your tricks!"
Flicktail Doesn't pay Mayeul much mine, Mayeul is just Mayeul
Turmal continues babbling, "B-b-bottle... b-b-br....sh." He coughs and hacks, his head rolling around the pillow, "H...he'... ssta...b..."
Flicktail says, "Well e be tain care of lad, oi saw im oer at e side..Oi will go checks on im"
Mayeul waits for Flicktail to leave and then crawls over to the bed… no… it can’t be. He peeks up over the bed mat, putting his paws on the edge and looking across the bed at a beast that should be dead! And wearing that other mouse’s clothes! “Z… Z… T… T…”
Turmal looks over but doesn’t register his brother… he is somewhat more quiet now, his breathing steady, and his eyes drifting shut. The mouse feels weak from exerting himself when he shouldn’t have…
Mayeul suddenly changes mood… from awe and fright to complete anger. In fact, his moods change a lot in the short time that this is all dawning on him. “You… you you you… you fraud!! And… I… I did… I went through /hell/ for you! You stay there and I hope you die again!” He storms out to the hall, realizing his disgust.
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Meanwhile (again), back in Great Hall…
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Bottlebrush and Turmal have just left the fox to bleed and die. He's on the floor, unconscious, in a growing pool of blood - not looking good. He finally groans, turning over on his side, his blood-soaked cloak matted to the wound in his back.
Hortense saunters into the Great Hall, smiling and carrying a large pack on her back. "Good afternoon, every--" Her words are cut short as she spots the fox on the floor. Her eyes widen and she looks like she's going to faint.
The little squirrel is the first to arrive upon the scene, lucky for the fox. Anba Hor spots her and reaches out to her, "H...hel...p..." His arm goes limp and he tries to crawl towards her on the ground, the cloak staining the stones on the floor with red streaks as he goes. "He...lp..."
Hortense looks down at the fox, still staring at him. "Wh...what happened here?"
Anba_Hor can't say a whole lot in his state of shock; his thoughts are rushing madly and incoherently in his mind, "H... f...fox, mo...use, att....ahhh...ked. T.... t.... take me away f..... from he..." The fox's eyes roll up into his head and he goes unconscious again.
Hortense looks in both directions. She seems to be the only one in the Great Hall. "Uh..." The squirrel glances back at the fox and drops her pack on the floor. She attempts to pick him up. Maybe she can take him to the infirmary. But foxes are much larger than squirrels, and she finds that she can't actually hold him, let alone walk with a fox in her arms. She looks around again. There's nobody in sight. She lets out a great cry of "Help!"
Anba_Hor, with all the moving, comes awake again, and grabs the squirrel's forearm, "N...no! No!" He seems to be protesting her shouts, but it's not entirely clear what he's doing. The fox points over to a grey fox mask, on the floor... "N...o..."
Hortense stops shouting and looks at the fox. "....What?" She looks at the mask. She hadn't noticed that before. She walks over to the mask and picks it up.
Anba_Hor, with the strength he has, rips off a part of his cloak... nearly strangling himself in the process... and attempts to wrap it tightly around his midriff, over the wound. He has some trouble tying it tightly. "M...my d...disg....uise. Th... they c....an't k....kno......." He faints again, seemingly going in and out of consciousness from the loss of blood.
Hortense looks at the mask. "Your...disguise?"
Anba_Hor can't answer... but she might notice that the fox has grey arms and a neck, and a black face - highly unusual coloration for a fox...
Hortense frowns, and takes a closer look at the fox. He has a very strange fur color for a fox... She glances at the mask again. Maybe he needs it. She carefully puts the mask on the fox and sits back. "Now what?" she mumbles to herself.
The mask form-fits neatly and suddenly the fox is the silly, bumbling alter-ego from before. Although he's not quite in the mood to be acting silly at the moment... he comes to again, desperate... "T...tak...e a d...d-dagger..." He looks in the direction of a dagger thrown on the ground, "P...put it...n... the fire.... s..ear the f...flesh... shut...."
Hortense hesitates for a moment, and then nods. She goes to pick up the dagger and walks over to the fire. She comes back a minute later and slowly pries the piece of cloth from around the fox so that she can get at his wound. She winces. This wound isn't pretty. She tries to look at the fox's face instead of at the wound. "Hope this helps..."
Anba_Hor yells loudly as the red-hot blade sears the wound and cauterizes it. The fox gets close to the squirrel, the lifeless pure-white eyes staring at her, gasping out, "T...take me awa...y from here!", before the pain makes him black out for a last time...
Hortense nearly drops the blade as the fox speaks to her, shaking with fear. Finally she pulls herself together. She glares at the fox. "How am I supposed to get you out of here?" she growls, not really expecting a response. She walks in a circle around him, and then attempts to drag him away by pulling on his paws.
Anba_Hor is much too heavy for that, at least over any great distance... the fox is limp, so his weight is all dead weight. The profuse bleeding seems to have stopped, but the cloak-bandage has been soaked so thoroughly that he still leaves a messy blood trail when she drags him. So far, though, nobeast else is in the hall..
Hortense sees that the dragging idea won't work for much longer, and goes around to the other side of the fox to try to push him along.
Anba_Hor just sort of flops in odd angles when pushed, his front half not wanting to go in the same direction as his bottom half. At one point, his torso is 180 degrees from his feet, probably not a good thing... still, the fox is indifferent to it all as he lays there unconscious...
Hortense growls and rushes to the fox's legs and tries to push from there. She runs back to his torso and pushes from there. She begins to switch between the two, but this doesn't seem much better than pulling the fox...
The Great Hall doors both open and three beasts arrive on the scene, a stoat and two burly rats to be exact. "Would you look at this place, exquisite architecture, wonderful gardens-dear me what the 'ell happened to you?" The stoat seemed to be speaking to the rats flanking her, head roving the hall and lips blabbering away. That is until she comes within a few feet of the fox.
Hortense looks up, and she smiles. "Oh good! Somebody's here! Help me get this poor fellow outside!"
Anba_Hor is taken for a ride the whole time, abused almost as badly as he had abused so many others... but he still doesn't come to this time. The grey paint starts to come off, on the remaining cloak and on his tunic, and also the squirrel, depending on how she's pulling and pushing him.
Adriana blinks, utterly confused. "Move him outside? Why not to the infirmary? That would make more sense..." She trails off, eyeing the fox with her arms folded.
Hortense shrugs. "He said he wanted to go outside...who am I to refuse?"
Anba_Hor's tongue starts to loll out, as he's left face-up. His muzzle hangs open, revealing his larger than normal fangs. He looks rather helpless otherwise...
"Well," Adriana starts to examine her claws, not at all concerned about the possibly dying fox it seems, "you are no one really, seeing as you cannot move him."
Hortense glares at the stoat. "Well, then, why don't YOU move the fox, then?"
Anba_Hor doesn't favor either one or the other it seems, so he doesn't protest. Or was there another reason?
Adriana sighs, "Oh very well, if you insist." She turns to one of her cronies, "Get that poor beast out of here then." She's not about to do it herself, that's why they invented hired help.
Hortense sighs, a little frustrated with the stoat. "Thank you."
Adriana nods curtly, "Not at all, I apologize if I have been rude, this is now what I...expected to find here." While she is speaking the two rats go over the the fox and move to grab him under the shoulders and by his feet.
Hortense raises an eyebrow, but nods and looks at the rats. "I think he meant outside the Abbey...I don't know why he doesn't want to get help from the Abbeybeasts, but..."
When his cloak is shifted by one of the rats, a set of daggers is revealed in his belt, caked at the end with a strange white powder...
Adriana shrugs, "If he wants to die out in the woods, so be it, he is not my problem." She catches sight of the daggers and their whiteness, "Hello, hold him there for a second." She goes over and bends down, examining the weapons closely, "Now that does not look healthy." A claw tip is held just above one of the blades, then travels up to the hilt of the dagger, to steal, or not to steal.
Anba_Hor would certainly kill the stoat if he was awake and able to do so... but for the moment, the fox does nothing, which might be interpretted to the theivish types as a form of silent approval?
Benar arrives from the Staircase..
Benar has arrived.
Hortense watches Adriana. "What are you doing?"
Benar walks down the stairs, the novices habit swirling around his ankles as he enters the Great Hall, he pauses at the sight of all the strangers and inclines his head to them. "Good Day to you all... welcome to Redwall Abbey."
Adriana says, "Well he does owe me, I am apparently doing his wishes according to this squirrel." Adriana is talking more to herself than anyone else, and in a moment she straitens up and backs away from the limp fox, who is a dagger short now. "Nothing, just examining that curious powder. Get him out of here you two." She ushers the guards to carry the disguised mass murder out of the building."
Anba_Hor is dragged, leaving a long red trail that grows lighter and lighter until there is no trace... but the rats are undoubtedly too late for the new arrival not to notice...
Benar stares at the fox as he is dragged out. "What the.... what is going on?" The Novice stands up a bit straighter and looks around the room.
Hortense watches the rats carry Anba Hor out. She looks at Benar. "Oh, um, there was a fox...but he's being taken care of now."
Adriana looks up at the novice, having just noticed him. "Good question, I walked in here and found this squirrel standing over that fox, and she asked me to get him out of the building so, I did." Her voice and demeanor are perfectly calm, as if this thing happens everyday.
Benar blinks, noting the dagger Adriana is holding "How did he get a weapon past the gate guards!" he moves to the doors and looks outside frowning, "The guards should be searching every one thorougly since that nasty busy with Abner... " he frowns and turns back to Hortense, taking in her clothing and inclines his head, "Duchess.... may I ask why that fox had to be removed from the Abbey? A member of the order should have been sent for before the hospitality of the Abbey was withdrawn."
Hortense blinks. "He...said he wanted to get away from this place. I don't know why he said that, but...he seemed very serious..."
Adriana shrugs, "How should I know? But seeing as I am the one who followed through his wish, I will keep it." Pulling a silk handkerchief from her belt she wipes the powder from the dagger and tucks it into her belt.
Benar nods his had and eyes that powder, "if that was Anba Hor... I must insist he be detained for questioning in the future... but it seems I must speak to the Champion about his abitly to bring weapons past the gate guards. I will have to ask you to leave your new dagger in the gate house."
Adriana raises an eyebrow, "Anba Hor? Are your referring to a fox that goes around torturing beasts? I ran into a one eyed member of my kin that spoke of such a beast, white eyes used poison...daggers." She looks at the handkerchief, white in places from wiping the dagger down.
Benar is looking at the Handkerchief as well, "Indeed.. I would suggest maybe burning that Miss.. ? I am sorry I did not catch your name."
Adriana scowls at the handkerchief, "He better hope he dies before I find him, this was finest silk." Looping the ruined bit of silk back into her belt she rearranges her features, and gives the novice a curt nod, "I am Adriana Scabbia D'Saavik, Baroness of Ibil. I realize that you have never heard of it, for it is far south of here beyond the port of Aclidia."
Mayeul arrives from the Staircase..
Mayeul has arrived.
Benar smiles softly, folding his arms into his habit sleeves, "I am Benar AmarroSon, Former Corporal in the Army of Southsward under the Regent Eugene Maltazar, Master of Floret." he bows, "Having come from Southsward I can say that I have heard of your lands if not of you personally."
Mayeul walks down after, looking much more gaunt and frail than before. Still, he's better than has been recently. The mouse's ear is torn, and walks unsteadily now. He sees all the blood and gasps, "W...what's all this? Does this have to do with my brother up in the infirmary?" He's still shocked about all of that...
Adriana looks over to the mouse, "Unless your brother is a grey fox with a terrible wound...no." She smiles back at the novice, "A military beast left the field of battle to be a monk, interesting."
Benar smiles softly and bows to the Baroness, "I did, I was born here in Mossflower, after 7 seasons in the army I decided I wished to return home. So I was discharged with honour and have joined the order." He then turns to Mayeul and kneels down "I am Novice Benar what is this about your brother?"
Mayeul looks confused by the answer that the stoat gives... and shrugs it off, not knowing very many /grey/ foxes. "Well it's a right mess - looks like he's dragged himself or another out." The mouse looks at Benar, "Turmal. I thought he was dead, and then he just sort of showed up in the infirmary tonight. I was so mad, I had to get some air... unless there's something out there at the other end of that blood trail that I don't want to encounter?" He looks nervously at the doors.
Benar says, "Ah no nothing to worry about about that... it was an earlier incident with a fox who has been put out of the abbey grounds. I should deal with that." he heads off to get a mop and bucket"
"Probably dumped in the ditch knowing those two," Adriana murmurs to herself. "And should you be up and about? You look...disheveled." She thinks about that last word before spitting it out, afraid of insulting someone, maybe?
Mayeul stays and looks curiously at the stoat... "Yes, well being tortured almost to the point of death will do that to you. I'm glad it's all over, however I am not glad that I lived through all of it." He studies her, "And who are you? I've not seen you around before..."
Benar looks up and frowns at Mayeul. "Well you are safe here in the abbey I assure you. If there is anything I can do to help you please just ask."
Mayeul chuckles, "Huh! If you could manage to find... what's his name, Anba Hor - and kill him, I would be grateful." He goes to find a seat.
Benar says, "Ah well I think he was in here earlier actually... I think he's the fox the kind Stoat and Baroness had tossed back out." he frowns. "At this rate the Abbot is just going to deny entry to any fox to the abbey until he is dealt with. We have children playing on the front lawns!""
Mayeul looks up instantly, "You say you had him... here? And he was at the mercy of those two and nothing else was done?!" He starts to get up, but figures it would be a bad idea to start a fight in his condition, "Uhhh, you've made a terrible mistake..."
Adriana looks indigent, "Do not get angered with me, sir. I had no knowledge of this beast prior to last night, so I doubt I would have recognized him. I assure you if I ever run across him again I will run him though, his dagger ruined perfectly fine silk."
Benar says, "I sadly did not know what was going on. I enterred the room to find the fox being dragged out. Before it dawned on me who it might have been it was too late." He folds his arms into his sleeves. "I have asked the baroness and Duchess in future call upon a member of the order before making decisions on the behalf of the abbey.""
Mayeul sighs... he leans back and stares up at the vaulted ceiling high above, shaking his head, "I'm sure there won't be a next time... I'm sure he wanted to kill me. I should probably leave and stop putting this abbey in such dangerous situations."
Adriana snorts, "If he wanted to kill you today he would have had a time of it, he was unconscious and bleeding all over the place."
Benar says, "Nonsense Master Mayeul. If you leave here he will have you right where he wants you and we will be unable to help." he looks at Adriana then, "Baroness... may I ask why was he unconcious and bleeding?""
Adriana shrugs, "I have no idea, he was like that when I came through the door. Perhaps ask that squirrel, or shall I say, the Duchess, she was here first."
Mayeul looks from Benar to Adriana, and from Adriana to the Duchess, intrigued to know himself...
Benar frowns, "I'd not have put it past him to be trying to get himsel finto the infirmary. I just wish I knew how he got weapons past the gate guards... irt should be impossible."
Mayeul huffs, "He's probably a lot smarter than all of us... he'd find a way. If he's been going around as a grey fox and going in and out of the abbey for a while, he may have had somebeast inside working with him, going to the gatehouse for him..."
Adriana again shrugs, "Perhaps you should find more attentive guards, or as he said," she jerks her head towards Mayeul, "you may have a traitor in your midst."
Benar sighs and massages his temples, "We already had to deal with one when they let him in through the north wall gate during the attack! But.. no the weapons would not be taken out of the gate house. Only given to beasts leaving the abbey."
Mayeul frowns at the look Adriana gives him and turns to Benar, only at the last moment taking his eyes off of the stoat, "I think then that it's likely either 1. this traitor is /still/ working with him, or 2. that the traitor is quite simply one of the guard."
Adriana looks from Benar to Mayeul and back again, "Perhaps you should just shut foxes out then, it would certainly eliminate his chances of getting in the main gate."
Mayeul raises a paw, "I second that... what do we need them for, anyhow?"
Benar sighs, "It'd be easier if the abbey champion was not a fox.... "
Adriana represses a smile, "Yes, that could be problematic, but the rest of that kind is nothing but trouble, filthy scavengers and back-stabbers if you ask me."
Mayeul, although agreeing with the stoat, has to ask, "You have an awful lot to say about foxes, being a vermin yourself..."
Benar sighs and nods, "Well..erm... we have two fox brothers who are the sweetest beasts you ever met.."
"Oh, well perhaps I spoke prematurely then." Adriana then gives Mayeul a not-too-nice glare, but doesn't retort.
Mayeul is too weak to say anything in response... he just lies in the chair and waits to fall asleep. Which is difficult, knowing the blood of the fox that's been after you is all around you, and is somewhere in a ditch - quite possibly alive. He closes his eyes.
Benar has finished mopping the floor by this point so at least the blood stains are gone.
"The only other obvious choice you beasts have is to go after him, if he is still alive then he cannot have gotten far..." The Baroness interrupts the momentary silence after taking a seat on the end of a table.
Mayeul's eyes open, "If he's still alive, then whoever dragged him out is probably already dead."
Benar sighs and shakes his head, "I am a Novice of Redwall, unless the abbey comes under attack again... I will not go on a "hunt"
Adriana glances at the doors, "That would explain their absence..." She states with small shrug. "And it was only a suggestion Novice Benar, nothing more."
Mayeul raises an eyebrow, and coughs, "You certainly exhibit quite a lack of empathy for these... friends of yours?"
Adriana shakes her head, "Merely mercenaries, cheap ones at that, not overly bright either."
Mayeul laughs, "Then your mercenaries and the one hired for me will get along just fine, I suppose." Mercenaries, what creatures! Arguably the most evil creatures of all would be mercenaries, although there are the stupid and desperate ones...
Benar shakes his head and moves to the door, "Well for now... I have chores to be taken care of in the kiln. If you will all exuse me"
"Of course," Adriana smiles a little and nods to Benar, then it's back to Mayeul, "If this Anba beast has any intelligence he will kill them before they get drunk, and proceed to tell the world all about him."
Mayeul nods, and rests his head back on the back of the chair. "He will, no doubt. Or find some use for them, perhaps to find that dagger of his you have... by the way, that's a very bad idea." He nods his head at the weapon.
Adriana looks down at it, "Oh really, why? Is he that fond of them?"
Mayeul snorts, "Oh, extremely... it's the only weapon he'll use. They're enough, believe me - better than virtually any other in his paws. Once he finds out that you have it, there's not a single place you'll be safe. Well, you saw how he was able to come into the abbey armed." He exhales, and looks at her, "Don't expect any protection in here, either - I made that mistake a long time ago."
Adriana pulls the dagger from her belt, holding it in the palm of her hand for a moment before dipping down and tucking the weapon into her boot and pulling her trouser leg over it, "If he wants it he can come get it, I've shed enough blood in the arena of Aclidia not to be afraid of a fox. Besides, now I have to burn a fine silk handkerchief because he laces his daggers with poison...the coward."
Mayeul sighs, "Whatever you say... perhaps you could be the one to finally rid us of him, but I doubt it very much. I think the only thing that will do that is money - and I thought he already got his share from that employer of his, but I guess not..."
Adriana raises an eyebrow, "How much money?"
Mayeul shrugs, "I don't know... but he has more money than a king, whoever he is - because when the king whose service I was in didn't pay him... he went to this other creature. Now it looks like his entire people, my friends, will all suffer for it."
Mayeul adds, staring into the fireplace, "Suffer because of me, no less..."
Adriana shifts uncomfortably, not because of the table, but because what she's about to say. "Then perhaps the only way to get rid of him is to give him what he wants..."
Mayeul points to himself, "Me? Well, sure he wants to kill me... but that's because of how much I know - he won't get any money for that. He's already gotten what he needs out of me that translates to payment. His employer will soon take his slavers to my former home and ransack the place. I wouldn't mind dying at all, to be honest with you... but I don't think that is what is keeping him."
Leonard arrives from the Staircase..
Leonard has arrived.
Adriana sighs, "Why does he want to kill you then?"
Mayeul shakes his head, "It was just unfinished business... and I know where he lives, although I suppose more than enough do now... also maybe because I foiled his plan to kill a stoat, a while back... I let him go..."
Adriana shakes her head slowly, "So that is it then? He wants you dead because of a stoat? How juvenile."
A grumble and a shuffle of tired paws announced Leonard's arrival, the prematurely-graying squirrel finding his way into the GreatHall by means of the library- another thick and dusty volume stuffed unfederneath his arm. However, there were already a few beasts occupying the space, and Len paused for a moment, hesitating before deciding that he could tune out the mindless chatter. He took a seat by the fire, settling slowly before offering a half-hearted wave to the gathered beasts. He would at least say 'hello
Mayeul shrugs, "Like I said - it's not his primary objective anymore. In fact I don't know /what/ he'd be doing here... I was under the impression he'd accomplished what he came here to do." The mouse inhales deeply, and winces at a pain in his side.
Adriana nods curtly to the new beast before reengaging Mayeul, "Well, I don't think his plan for being here went well...unless he came in here just to bleed all over the place and then want to get out again. By the way, I am not sure I caught your name."
Mayeul hesitates before answering, "Mayeul... Fyrpels. Brother is Turmal Fyrpels, up in the infirmary... and I wonder if he had anything to do with why the fox was injured, since he was brought up just before I came down..."
Mayeul apologizes, "Sorry, thinking out loud I suppose..."
As a healer, Leonard found the conversation more interesting than a nasty old book. Sick and bleeding beasts tended to catch his attention; however, his grumpy disposition kept him from entering the talk- he could listen and pretend to read.
Adriana dismisses his latter comment with a wave of her paw, "It may be a valid possibility, perhaps the fox snuck in here and your brother recognized him, the two fight and end up wounded. I am Adriana Scabbia D'Saavik, Baroness of Ibil, a truly lovely vineyard to the south and east of the port of Aclidia."
Mayeul raises a brow, "South and east? I come from the area around the Great Inland Lake... I've actually been to that port. Funny thing.." He winces again, rubbing his side, "But you wouldn't have heard of where I'm from - we keep our location safe from virtually all outsiders. Which is why that information was so valuable to start..."
Leonard fidgeted slightly in his chair. "Ah- I'm sorry I've been away, but whats happened?"
Adriana glances over at the squirrel, "Oh, nothing important really. Well earlier a fox who we suspect to be Anba Hor was found in here bleeding everywere. My guards carried him out and we were discussing how to deal with him."
Leonard raised an eyebrow, his ever-present frown deepening. "Stabbed?"
Mayeul shrugs, "Was he stabbed, Adriana?"
Adriana shrugs, "That squirrel Duchess had already seared the wound shut when I came in, and I did not pay much attention to the wound, just his daggers." She doesn't snap at the mouse's non-formal addressing of her, she's not that uptight.
Mayeul has had enough of calling kings and baronesses and other public officials by their titles. He was actually the mouse that announced such titles /for/ them, and it annoyed him to revert back to that. "Well, there it is... we don't know. But seeing as how the Great Hall makes for relatively close combat, and with all the blood, one could assume..."
Leonard frowned again, grumbling softly. "Searin' wounds shut, always a bit dodgy- causes more pain than helps." He fell back into his silent brooding, coming out of it as Mayeul spoke. "Ah...of course...right.
Adriana says, "He would have needed to get out though, fast. He would not have had time to bandage it."
Leonard shook his head slowly. "Wont do 'im well in the long run- though if he is who ye say he is- it don't really matter..."
Mayeul nods, "All true... although it doesn't really matter how fast you get out of a place when you're bleeding the whole way. Even one who isn't as good as I am in tracking and scouting, could find him."
Adriana nods, "On a somewhat related subject, are there any taverns or the like where I could find some new, better guards? Mine are either lying dead somewhere or off with that fox..."
Mayeul yawns and closes his eyes, secretly wide awake. He simply wants to withdrawal from all of the drama, and at least /try/ to get a nap in. See what abbey life has done him?!
Leonard thought a moment. "I dunno of any. But if ye be needin' a beast of the medicinal studies I'd offer myself up." he turned to Mayeul a moment, smirking slightly. He'd pulled the same maneuver many times.
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