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Post by taggle on Oct 22, 2006 18:57:43 GMT -5
A boat bobbed up and down lazily in the mid-day heat, keeping time with the tide. The sun beat down on the large boat and the surrounding coastline. Upon the deck of the boat, bodies were strewn everywhere, vermin and hare alike. The rigging was in poor condition, the sails tatterd and torn, and one of the three masts was missing. The rudder was tied in position, and one of the cabin doors rocked back and forth slowly on its hinges. The sun caught the shiny silvery glint of something in the cabin...
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Arlan the shield was alive! Wounded in a dozen places, and delirious and unconscious from the lack of food, the great striped badger clung grimly on to life. In his hands, he held his huge two handed battle-sword, still bloodstained from the battle. The sun shone on the humongus silver blade, dimly catching the glint from off of it. It was an old warriors trick so your mates would find you. Arlan was sitting on the cabin floor, his back to one of the walls. He was surrounded by ten vermin, corsairs, all slain. He had drifted for days like this, the only living being on a ship of the dead. He had eat nor drunk in days, his body not allowing him to wake up in a desperate attempt at self-conservation. Not that there was food to be found anyway. The food lockers had been exhausted long ago. But, what could you expect when travelling on a ship full of hares? Now they were all dead, all except Arlan the shield, who clung doggedly on to life, hoping some-one would find him. He was un-aware that his ship had been left high and dry by the tide on dry land for the first time in more than a season. Dry land called Mossflower to be exact.
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Post by Redstripe the Strong on Oct 23, 2006 16:43:01 GMT -5
Erebus looked at the ship that was marooned on the beach-head,"Hmmm, maybe they have seen my father." He pulled out his sword the Eye of Balor and ran around the ship looking for a way on. He found it, a loose rope ladder flopped in the breeze on one side of the ship,"Here we are." He grabbed it and pulled on it a few times testing stability. It snapped,"Blasts!" He kicked the ladder,"Fergit it." He pulled out his second sword and stabbed one in the ship the the other. Following this succesion he climbed the ship and stood on the deck. Bodies everywhere, hares, rats, foxes, weasles, and stoats."By the Egg, what happened here?" He looked around and saw an impressive site, a badger standing in the center of the slaughter, his sword glinting in the midday sun."Whew, thats impressive, died on his feet." He walked closer and looked the badger over, he starred hard at him and saw that he was still breathing,"By the Shell he is still alive!"
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Post by earthpelt on Oct 23, 2006 16:49:18 GMT -5
"Come on! Yer takin' t' long!" Bravespirit called over her shoulder as she wandered through the fringe of the woods, speaking to her twin brother. "Huh, always th' slow one." The young badger muttered in ill temper, her dark eyes shifting restlessly to the sky. "Are ye' plannin' on comin' sometime this season Loyal? 'Cause if ye' aren't I'll just keep going." Bravespirit barked, though it was a idle threat, and the youngster stopped walking. The badger crossed her arms across her chest, small ears flicking in annoyance. The youngster's dark eyes caught the glint of Arlan's sword on the beach, and she glanced over in that direction. Her dark eyes widened in surprise. "Loyal!" She roared aloud.
Loyalheart snorted as his twin sister told him he was taking to long. "Take it easy Brave! We might need this." The male badger grunted, inspecting a plant he had spotted while he and his sister were wandering through the woods. If one of us gets hurt, this could help. The wise youngster thought, but upon closer inspection he decided this was in fact, not what he was looking for. "I'm comin'!" He barked back, and lumbered after his sister. He was still fairly far behind, and the dense woods kept his sister out of sight, which was why nervousness swept over him when Bravespirit shouted his name. Loyalheart moved swiftly, for a badger, and was quickly at her side. "Wot is it - ?" He trailed off at sight of the ship.
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Post by taggle on Oct 23, 2006 16:54:00 GMT -5
tumbling through his shifting dreams of darkness, the badger returned from the verge of the dark forest. He saw somebeast standing over him. He could dimly hear the cabin door creaking. He really had meant to fix that. " be ye friend or foe?" he asked through cracked lips, and a parched throat, ignoring his wounds for the moment. "w-where.. am I?" he asked, struggling to get up. If only starpaw were here.. but starpaw was dead. Like all the rest...
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Post by Redstripe the Strong on Oct 23, 2006 16:57:22 GMT -5
Erebus nodded,"I be freind." The otter pulled out a small canteen, well small compared to Arlan,"Ere mate, drink this." He opened it and handed it to the badger as he surveyed the area,"Some big raid I suppose, pirates testin their luck aboard a ship with fighten ares?"
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Post by taggle on Oct 23, 2006 17:03:25 GMT -5
Arlan drank slow and deep of the canteen. Which to a badger his size meant it was all but gone in one gulp. " thank ye..and aye.. there vermin chased us for nigh' on a season.. but we finally slayed them all. I have payed a high price for this victory though, as you can well see.." he said, wiping off his battle-sword on his now torn green homespun tunic. He sheathed the sword, in the process revealing a heavy wound running diagonally across his chest. His keen ears pivoted and he picked up the sound of some beast shouting in the forest. " we've got company" he said, standing up.
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Post by earthpelt on Oct 23, 2006 17:08:16 GMT -5
Bravespirit was the first to recover from the shock of seeing the strange sight of a ship beached upon the sand. "Come on Loyal! We have t' go see wot it's doin' here!" The young female badger grunted, and with that tore away from her twin brother, cloak flowing out from behind her and sand spraying out from beneath her large footpaws. If she had been a bit older, and had her weapon unsheathed, it would have appeared that she was a Badger Lady of Salamandastron, racing to protect whatever beast was alive on the ship from a threat. But instead, she was a reckless youngster, simply searching for something to do. She stopped once beside the ship, breathing hard. Bravespirit looked up at the hull, wondering how to get up.
Loyalheart shook his head at the suggestion, and was about to open his mouth to tell her it might be vermin and would be dangerous when his twin raced away. "Wot are ye' doin' ye' silly girl!" He barked out in frustration, shaking some debris that had shot out from under her sister's footpaws from his great striped head. "Brave no!" Loyalheart cried after his twin, and with a frustrated sigh sped after his sister. He to, if a bit older, would have looked like a Badger Lord. He stopped to the right of his twin, and his dark eyes were firm as he stared at her. "All right, we're here. There's no way t' get up, so we might as well go all right?" The youngster said, his brows raising quizzically.
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Post by taggle on Oct 24, 2006 8:31:31 GMT -5
Arlan walked out onto the deck of the ship, looking at his fallen hares. They didn't deserve to die. he sighed deeply, surveying the ruins of his once great ship and hares. He looked down the side of his ship to see a badger standing there. "hello!" he called out, and with one leap, jumed off the side of the ship beside her, sending up a cloud of sand when he landed. " who are you?" he asked politely. ( say i had an idea.. feel free to turn it down though..what if arlan was like braves and loyals long lost brother?)
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Post by earthpelt on Oct 24, 2006 16:45:50 GMT -5
(XD That might be fun!)
"Aw come on Loyal, just a quick peek an' then we'll go!" Bravespirit begged her twin, desperate for something to do. The badger did not wait for her brother to answer, (something she did quite often) and studied the hull quietly, her keen dark eyes searching for something to help them up. She saw the broken ladder sprawled on the sand, and looked up to see the other end dangling just out of reach. Bravespirit also saw the holes Erebus' swords had made. "Lookit, this could work!" The badger said to her brother, and was about to test them out when Arlan spoke to them. Startled, she looked up just in time to see him jump down. "My name's Bravespirit!" The badger said, quickly recovering.
"But what if it's a trap?" Loyalheart asked, always the thoughtful one. With an exasperated sigh the young male badger watched his sister search for a way to get up, knowing he would be powerless to try and stop her. He put a paw in the hilt of his rapier, just in case this was a trap and his sister needed help. "Nay, the 'oles are t' small Brave." Loyalheart said quietly, in response to his sister's simplistic thinking. The male badger jumped as Arlan's voice reached his small ears, and he almost whipped out his rapier, but relaxed when he saw it was a badger and not vermin. Stepping to one side to give Arlan room, Loyalheart dipped his head politely. "And I am Loyalheart. Who are you?" He asked.
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Post by taggle on Oct 24, 2006 16:49:30 GMT -5
" my name is Arlan. I come from the northlands." he said bowing politley, trying not to wince from speaking. his throat was still very dry. " it'd be best if you didn't go up there.. there was much tragedy" he said,hoping they would not notice his bloodstained sword, which with its sapphire hilt shined like a beacon in the dark, and the gaping wound across his chest.
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Post by earthpelt on Oct 24, 2006 18:15:15 GMT -5
Bravespirit looked up at Arlan, and noticed he looked...vaguely familiar. The young female badger subconsciously tipped her striped head to one side, something that she did when she was thinking hard and her brow furrowed thoughtfully. Finally, she shook her head slightly, so slightly it was hard to tell she moved at all. "Somethin' bad happened up there then?" Bravespirit asked stupidly, her simple way of thinking not registering the fact that the stench of death and blood that tickled her nose meant something. The female's dark eyes, which were as sharp as her Father's had been, caught the gleam of the bloodstained blade. Bravespirit's dark eyes widened at the sight, but she did not say anything.
"Welcome t' Mossflower then Master Arlan." Loyalheart said politely, returning the bow deeply. It went without saying the young male badger was much more mature and respectful then his twin. Once he had straightened up, he too, noticed the fact that Arlan looked faintly familiar, but he said nothing about it. Loyalheart cuffed the back of his sister's head lightly. "O' course somethin' bad happened Brave, use that brain o' yours eh?" The youngster said, but he did not use a harsh tone of voice. Loyalheart's nose twitched as he scented blood, and his dark eyes moved away from his sister and back to Arlan. Unlike his sister, Loyalheart noticed the wound, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from saying something.
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Post by taggle on Oct 24, 2006 18:31:32 GMT -5
" mossflower.." Arlan said, letting the word roll off his tongue. He didn't know how to say it subtly si he just came out and said it. " you two look...vaguely familiar, but i'm sure we never met. I came from the northlands." he said, the sound of the waves in the background. He noticed loyalheart noticed his wound. "bother" he thought, " i was hoping he wouldn't notice that." " do you know of any..healing herbs?" he asked them, looking into bravespirits eyes searching for..something.
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Post by earthpelt on Oct 24, 2006 18:45:44 GMT -5
Bravespirit growled in ill temper as her brother's paw met the back of her head, and shook it violently. "Well sorry! I jus' thought I should ask." The badger muttered, rubbing the spot and glaring at her twin. She looked back up at Arlan and nodded slightly. "Aye, I have th' same feeling." Bravespirit said quietly, referring to what the other badger had said about them looking familiar. The female badger gestured to her twin at the mention of healing herbs with a large paw. "Ask 'im, I know nay a thing about 'erbs." She grunted. It was true, Bravespirit had never had the patience to deal with learning all the different plants. The female met Arlan's gaze, and could not look away.
Loyalheart rolled his eyes. "Warn me next time ya' try t' think then all right?" He said, using his dry, sarcastic sense of humor. The youngster blinked up at Arlan, wondering if that was what he might look like once fully grown. "Aye...ya' look a bit like someone we knew." Loyalheart said softly. 'e looks a bit like Papa. The young male thought, but pushed the thought aside as Arlan asked about herbs. He was about to open his mouth to say he had not-to-bad knowledge in the ways of healing when his twin said so herself. Instead, Loyalheart nodded. "Aye, I do know a bit." He said, smiling slightly at his sister as if he knew something she did not. Huh, that's why it's important t' know Brave. He taunted silently.
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Post by taggle on Oct 24, 2006 18:51:41 GMT -5
" holdon a tick.. i've forgotten something." he said, and with that unsheathed his humongus sword, that shined in the daylight, with its sapphire pommel, and ddrove it into the wood of the ship. all the way to the hilt. ( sorry bout the drama.. only way to get up.. and arlan is not fully grown.. hes more like.. a teenager.. almost an adult. older then braver and loyal though) He pulled himself up on the hilt, and jumped from the hilt to the deck of the ship. His humongus from dissapears from view and you hear the sounds of beams of wood being shifted out of the way as he makes his way into the bowels of the ship. ( the ship suffered internal damage.. hes gettin his havvysack lol)
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Post by earthpelt on Oct 24, 2006 19:11:16 GMT -5
(...Riiiiight, I knew that *shifty eyes*)
Bravespirit ignored her brother's sarcasm, knowing she was the type to talk first and listen later and not caring what her twin thought. The female watched the other badger, curiosity filling her dark eyes. Aside from her twin brother and Father, Arlan was the only other male badger she had seen in her fairly short life, and it was interesting to her to see how strong he was. She turned to her brother, her dark eyes bright with questions. "Did ya' see that Loyal? Great seasons, is that wot you'll look like afta a while?" Bravespirit asked, not caring if her brother knew or not. The female badger looked at the hilt of the blade protruding from the ship's hull, and had a urge to reach out and touch it. Fortunately, she kept back.
Loyalheart nodded slightly in acknowledgment to Arlan, and watched with concealed awe as he climbed back aboard the ship. He was snapped from his thoughts when his small ears picked up the sound of his sister saying the shorter version of his name. Loyalheart listened, and shrugged his growing-broader-everyday shoulders. "Dunno, I hope so though." He said, and a small smile spread across his features. "Cause afta a while ya' will get inta trouble that ya' can't get out of, an' then who'll save ya' but yer dear twin brother?" Loyalheart teased, taking his paw off the hilt of his rapier and lightly hitting his twin sister's shoulder with a balled up fist.
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