The Return to noonvale

[LordStripetail]

A grey wind swept through the open Abbey gates, as martin Stirred from his slumber. He was reaching past his middle seasons now, yet his skills had not diminished, he was still the fierce warrior he had been in his youth. The Abbey was nearly compete, it would be a couple more seasns, and then it would be finished. Nearby Abess Germaine and his ally Gonff prince of mousethreieves were overseeeing the laying of the beam on the roof of the Abbey. It was treacherous work, one false move, and the unfortunate mouse, otter, or mole would plummet to his end. even worse if the beam wasn't laid properly, the whole roof could collaspse, and that was something nobody wanted, it had taken several seasons just to reach this point..

[LordStripetail]

As Martin watched the ongoing costruction he thought back to when he had first come to Mossflower, dragging his fathers rusty sword.. The epic batle with Tsarmina of the Thousandeyes had wiped away nearly all the memories of his youth, all he could remeber was leaving his home near the sea and wandering south.. had he not been captured by ta\sarmiina and her horde of vermin, he would have continued on, and only the fates where he might have ended up.. He had not found a mate..because.. he was not interested in finding one.. he was a axchelor.. and we prefered that lifestyle..

[Gyre]

High above the grounds, Gonff shouted to the creatures guiding the other end of the beam.
"Oi, mate! Slow it down a bit! We're not in place yet!"
The big tattooed otter who was doing most of the lifting on the far end, looked up sheepishly, and replied loudly with a whiskery grin.
"Sorry. I forgot.." On either side of the otter were a mole and a mouse, not helping as much as they seemed to think they were. After realizing that he was no longer helping, the mouse dropped his hands and did his best to give moral support. On Gonff's end however, it took him, four moles and a squirrel to do what the otter seemed to be doing too easily. Gonff strained to get the beam into the notch, where it would lay perfectly, but it simply would not go..
"We need this end raised a little more!" The mousetheif shouted to the creatures down below that were manning the wheel, and ropes and pulleys.
"We can't just pick the whole bloody thing up like this beast over here!" Gonff shouted, trying to keep from laughing as he glanced back at the otter's clownish grin.

[LordStripetail]

Martin laughed, Gonff was also the prince of jokesters, he always was pulling fast ones, usually on his wife columbine, and those normally involves snitching her pies and blaming it on his kids when caught, as he sometimes was...

[Gyre]

as the creatures below yanked on the ropes, Gonff's end of the beam shot up a few feet rather than a few inches. The mouse clung to the end of it and was taken for a ride, leaving the other creatures behind and helpless. They chattered and shouted down at the beast manning the ropes, but it was Gonff who manage to be heard, his tail spinning as he tried to keep balance.
"Martin! Get your tail over here and help the oaf with the rope!"

[LordStripetail]

Martin shrugged and got up, and walked over to the otter, who was struggling with the ropes. they had become twisted tgether, and his attempts to unknot them had caused the beam to fly upwards..
"Mate just forget about the knots. We'll untangle them when that beam is pout into place.." Martin said to the otters. as he reached in and put his weight into pulling on the ropes. Martin was strong for his kind, and the otter, forgetting about the knots, put in his own efforts. Slowly, very slowly, the beam was slightly lowered.

[InkBlot]

Margur the molebabe was the main reason of all the innaccuracies, popping up here and there to cause some mischief. "Hurr, Zurrs, ee moight want to move ee rope a'further left" With that, he jumped onto the knotted end of one of the ropes and swung a little distance, be fore rolling off into the dirt and laughing. "Hurrhurrhurr"

[Gyre]

Gonff's toes touched the ground first, and he groped around with them to be sure he was soundly on the scaffolding. Soon the beam was level, and with the help of the moles and and mice, the second end of the beam slid into place.
"Oi think thoi beamer iz in a good spot!" One of the moles shouted down, thumping the beam experimentally with his heavy digging claw. Behin the mole, Gonff nimbly hopped up on the beam and walked out to the center of it where the ropes were tied. Standing before the entire work crew, the jaunty mouse did a little jig before sliding own the ropes. This drew a ripple of laughter from the beasts around him.
He landed a few feet from Martin, and flicked his companion a salute. "Thank you mate. That beam's sittin' plum and pretty." he thumbed up at the massive piece of the roof. "Time for lunch, you think? Or are you beasties feeling ambitious about the construction today?"
Gonff made a face, as if bracing himself for Martin of the abbess to give the crew another massive task.

[LordStripetail]

"Next time, my good mice and otters, stop if the ropes get entangled. Gonff could have been in a very sticky spot.." The Abess scolded them. "and we wouldn't want that now would we...?" Some of them laughed at this.. Gonff was usually in some sort of trouble, alghough no one wanted to see him hurt.

[Gyre]

"That's right you oafs!" Gonff shouted in a mock rage. "I could have been squashed in that notch like a bug! I'd be hautin' this place for years to come..." He pointed directly at the otter who was finishing untangling the ropes. the creature looked up humbly, but Gonff was trying not to laugh.
"And you would be the one picking bits o' me out of the ceiling for ten seasons!"

[LordStripetail]

Martin laugheed heartily as the otter looked apologetically at Gonff for his error...Gonff was trying not to laugh, but he had a smirk on his face..

[LordStripetail]

Now now' The abess said, cutting. 'let us take a break shall we/ Lunch should be nearly ready. Winter is approaching, and we need to prepare." She said turning in toward the Main hall. "The winds are growing chill, and the leaves have nearly all fallen off the trees. "

[LordStripetail]

As they made their way inside, Martin followed behind. Suddenly he stopped. An image of his past flashed before his eyes. He saw himself in his younger seasons, with two other mice. One was about the same age as he, the other was younger than a few seasons 'return." a voice abruptly spoke out. Return" the voice echoed then faded, as did the memory. Martin remained still for a few moments, than noticed everyone looking at him..

[Gyre]

Gonff stepped up beside Martin and lay a paw on his friend's shoulder.
"You alright mate? .." Gonff asked in a voice so quiet that only Martin heard. "Do you want me to distract the prying eyes?" The mouse had his little reed flute sticking out of his belt. His paw rest on it.

[LordStripetail]

Yes, Please' Martin said. That memory or whatever it was had been very vivid. Apparenly he had healed enough that some of his memories had come back, but he didn't remember those mice..Could they have been friends of his in his youth? No.. all the friends he had in his youth, he knew well, those mice were strange...