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Post by superswede on May 21, 2010 7:21:03 GMT -5
The road was dusty, patched with weeds and debris; clearly disused and unmaintained for some time. It was a mess to travel on, and once he even had to climb over a large fallen oak that blocked the path. But, it was better than bushwhacking through the thick trees and undergrowth that lined either side of the path; the forest had been fairly open for a few days after he left home, but had grown increasingly tangled as he progressed on his journey. Stumbling upon this road was a stroke of luck.
Strolling along the overgrown road, Tyko whistled ceaselessly, twirling his sling with a sort of reckless nonchalance. He wasn't worried about running into vermin; yes, he had seen them before when mangy bandits tried attacking Streambar, but his family had always sent those packing. He had no conception of vermin being dangerous; more like pests, which occasionally showed up to cause a bit of excitement, and easily sent away again. Besides, what were the chances of him running into a rat or weasel here? No one lived in this place as far as he could tell, meaning that there was no one to steal from either. He could defend himself if he needed to, but right now that wasn't an issue for him.
It had been shaded in the wood; but the sun glared unfiltered down upon the open road, and Tyko was feeling a little winded by the trek and the heat. Glancing about, he spotted a thick tree standing just off the edge of the path, which was easily accessed and provided good shade. Scrambling down the ditch and up the other side, the otter sat down by the roots of the tree, sighing pleasantly as the cool shade wore down the effect of the sun. For a few minutes, Tyko didn't do anything, other than catch his breath and rest. Then he picked up his whistling again, and reached for a little broken stick lying in the grass. Drawing his short knife, he began chipping at the bark, smoothing the wood and shaping it with practiced ease. It was too thin to be turned into anything recognizable, and he couldn't think of any reason why he would need such a stick at the moment, but it was relaxing work, and kept his paws busy.
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Post by Silver Sweetfur on May 21, 2010 19:10:30 GMT -5
In the woods a small mouse knelt next to his caretaker. Her name was aster and she had brought him safely from their home by the sea, they had been continuing the journey along an old road when Aster began gasping about water and dragged them off the road. Scamp wasn’t sure if there really was any water though as she fell to the ground and hadn’t moved since.
Suddenly the sound of someone whistling could be heard and the little mouse scampered to the path in time to see a large otter sit under a nearby tree. The tiny mouse wandered up behind the Otter and began tugging on his tail.
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Post by superswede on May 22, 2010 6:21:22 GMT -5
With a few flourishing strokes of his knife, Tyko finished his latest piece; such a small stick only took a couple of minutes to smooth and shape. Then he paused to examine his handiwork. The tip of the stick was pointed, and the entire piece of wood was shaped rather like a needle; only it was far too large a needle to be useful to anyone, except perhaps a badger. He had met a badger once; an old roving male who had passed by Streambar when he was young, and who was apparently an old friend of his father. But Tyko was hardly going to track down the old badger and give this stick to him.
Just as he was about to set down the stick and continue on his walk, something tugged on his tail. "What the- YEEOOWCH!!" Tyko was so surprised that he accidentally pricked himself with the stick, right into his sensitive paw. He tossed the offending object down in the ditch, bouncing to his feet and turned around, fully prepared to smack a throwing pebble into someone's eye. He saw nothing. Then he looked down.
"Hey matey, what are you yankin' on me rudder for?" Tyko demanded, though his fierce expression softened at the realization that this was just a babe, a little mouse lad.
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Post by Silver Sweetfur on May 22, 2010 10:24:47 GMT -5
Now that he had the big otter’s attention the tiny mouse sat down beside the otter still clinging to the tail with one hand and sucking on his other paw. This adult was not going to get out of his sight… the tiny mouse was sick of having caretakers go away. After a few seconds of silence the small mouse reached back into the woods and dragged out a branch to the otter, he had carved up the other one… maybe he would stay to carve this one.
“Stay with Scamp” the mouse babe said firmly patting the otter and smiled as he still held the others tail hostage.
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Post by superswede on May 22, 2010 14:52:36 GMT -5
Tyko was dumbfounded. A moment ago, he had been completely alone in these woods; now there was a mousebabe clinging to his tail. A young 'un in a place like this! Surely no one actually lived among the gnarled trees. The otter sat down gingerly, trying to find some comfortable position without squashing the babe who still firmly held onto his tail. "Scamp, eh? My name's Tyko." He glanced up, seeing no one else hiding in the underbrush. "Shouldn't you be with your mama, Scamp? You look pretty young to be out here by yourself. This is some pretty rough countryside." This mousebabe seemed like a sweet little rascal, but Tyko was not so sure he could 'stay with Scamp'. He couldn't hang out here forever; and he couldn't bring the mouse with him either, stealing him away from his parents.
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Post by Silver Sweetfur on May 22, 2010 15:23:31 GMT -5
“Aster fall down” Scamp muttered as his eyes watered and a whimper escaped his little throat. He reached for Tyco’s paw with his free one and hugged the tail tighter so Tyco couldn’t escape before nodding back toward the way he had come from. Maybe this new adult could help Aster?
“Scamp no have mama, just Aster” he pouted. If how many times Aster had run away from what she called vermin was any indication ‘pretty rough’ was an understatement and Scamp would like to be back by the sea playing with his siblings right now… but the village had been attacked by creatures Aster had called Stoats “Stoats mean, no home”
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Post by superswede on May 22, 2010 16:00:29 GMT -5
Tyko's expression went blank. Stoats. That explained quite a lot. But who was Aster? Perhaps she needed help; Scamp said she had fallen down. "Alright," Tyko said, gently patting the mousebabe's head with his free paw, "Why don't we go back to Aster and see if she's alright? It's not safe out here for a little Scamp like you." Tyko picked up the sturdy branch that the mouse had dragged along, and hefted it in his paw. It wasn't enormous, or else Scamp wouldn't have been able to move it; but it would do for beating back tangled bushes, if Aster was vey far. Scamp was small, and could probably slink through most of the underbrush; but Tyko, though not so large as his brother, was a fully grown otter, after all. These wild woods were dense and dangerous; he wondered why on earth Scamp and Aster would wander here. But if stoats had destroyed their home, as Scamp seemed to suggest, then perhaps they had no choice.
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Post by Silver Sweetfur on May 22, 2010 16:25:19 GMT -5
Scamp paused and nodded before tugging on the paw now in his grip, it wasn’t a far way to go but a steep decline away from the road. At the bottom of the slope Scamp suddenly let go and began running to Aster’s side. The female mouse was still alive, but barely, taking deep gasping breaths as she lay prone and unconscious. If her appearance was anything to go by the fact that the pair had come this far was an achievement, beneath her pale cream fur one could see she was frail perhaps one who had spent most of her life indoors or was frequently ill. She had a pack on her back and some sort of harness pieced together on her front, probably to carry Scamp when he got tired.
“Aster? Up now?” Scamp shook her gently revealing a bandage on one arm and paw as her sleeve shifted. When there was no response the little mouse gave Tyco a ‘fix it, please?’ look
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Post by superswede on May 22, 2010 17:24:33 GMT -5
Tyko stumbled a little going down the slope, Scamp was in a hurry and the terrain was treacherous. At the bottom, he followed the mousebabe, immediately spotting the pale mouse slumped in the grass. Jogging towards her, the otter knelt beside the mouse, taking hold of her paw. The gentle pulse was weak and erratic; she seemed to be hovering on the brink. Scooping his arms under Aster's head and shoulders, he propped her up against himself, straightening out her back to ease her breathing. As he did so he started rooting around in his lightweight traveller's pack, tugging out a little cask of water. He popped off the lid with his teeth, and held the birchbark cask to Aster's lips, a couple of drops at a time; if she swallowed, good, if not then perhaps it would trickle down her throat; but she might also accidentally inhale it, and therefore he wanted to be sure she swallowed before allowing her any steady stream of water. Tyko's eyes glanced down, noting the bandage; it was probably filthy, after lying here in the dirt, and judging by the mouse's condition, she probably hadn't had the strength to change it lately; perhaps not the clarity of mind either.
"Scamp?" Tyko addressed the mousebabe in a very serious tone, "Aster needs your help. Here, take this, give her water, small drops, just a wee bit at a time; like when you was just a wee one and your mama fed you slowly to make sure you didn't choke." The otter passed the watercask over to Scamp, and still leaning Aster against his shoulder, reached across her and removed the old bandage. He peeked in his pack, but realized he had nothing to make another from; the only cloth he had was the tunic he was wearing. But it was cleaner than the bandage; he had taken a swim in the creek just a few hours ago. Tyko tugged at the hem, but it was a sturdy material, so he took up his little carving knife and sawed off a long strip from the bottom of his tunic, wrapping it around Aster's arm carefully.
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Post by Silver Sweetfur on May 22, 2010 20:26:33 GMT -5
Scamp quietly took the cask and slowly dripped a minute amount down her throat. What good would it do? But he kept at it anyway.
Aster slowly came around and felt someone re-bandaging her arm. She tried to tell them it was pointless and choked on some water. And she heard someone incredibly small back away from her head.
“Please –cough- please leave me behind. The child….- cough- is he ok?” taking a deep breathe she paused and opened her eyes a crack. There was a kindly looking otter and her own darling nephew safe right next to her.
“Abbey… do you know the way?” Aster had heard stories even copied firsthand accounts about the kindness of a red stone Abbey deep in the woods of Mossflower. “Take him –cough- there, please” with that her breathing grew worse and eventually ceased.
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Post by superswede on May 23, 2010 4:59:17 GMT -5
Tyko could see that it was no use. She was too far gone. "Don't worry, ma'am, I'll take care of 'im," he said, but then realized she probably had not even heard his words. There was no movement left in this weak little body; the mouse was limp, and not even the slightest breath stirred her chest. Tyko gently eased her back down into the grass, and stood up. There was nothing left to do here. It felt wrong to just leave Scamp's beloved caretaker lying there, but Tyko didn't have the means to bury her; digging a grave with just his paws would take all day, and he sensed it would be wiser to leave with Scamp as soon as possible, for the babe's sake. He was young, and the young are resilient and easily distracted; once they were out of sight, perhaps he would forget for a while and be cheerful. But staying here, he was more likely to burst into tears or summat, and Tyko didn't know anything about cheering up bawling little 'uns.
"Abbey... must be that Redwall place," the otter mused quietly. His mother had told him stories about Redwall Abbey when he was knee-high to a watershrimp, but she had said it was a myth of ages long past. It was supposed to be located in the woods of Mossflower somewhere, which would be this wild country now, but could it really still exist? Time would have it crumbled into ruins. "Well, a promise is a promise, and I don't have any other place in mind, so the Abbey it is, if we can find it, if it even still exists."
Kneeling down to Scamp's eye level, Tyko nodded to him gravely. "We need to leave Aster now. She is at the gates of the Dark Forest already, and I don't think she wants us to stay here. Now, I'm not sure where this Abbey is, but that road up there had to lead somewhere, at some point in time, right? Well, maybe it still does lead somewhere. Better than trekking through the trees, anyway." Tyko stood up, and started trudging back up the slope to the road.
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Post by Silver Sweetfur on May 23, 2010 8:31:57 GMT -5
“Wedrall?”Little Scamp whispered the name quietly to himself. He could speak well for his age but that was a word he had never heard before, then he realize Tyco meant the same place Aster had wanted to go. “Abbey?”
Scamp gave Aster another shake or two before turning back to look at Tyco… The otter was almost to the bottom of the slope! Little legs powering fast out of the terror of being left alone Scamp scurried to catch the larger woodlander.
“Wait!” The mouse babe called at the top of his voice. “No leave Scamp!” he kept running and just as he caught the end of the tail… tripped and fell, but he thankfully managed to keep his grip.
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Post by superswede on May 23, 2010 8:49:49 GMT -5
"Don't worry, matey, I'm not going to leave you," Tyko said with surprise as Scamp latched onto his tail again. "Although, it's a bit tricky to walk with you clinging on me tail all the time. Here, I'll hold your paw, and that way I can walk and you can make sure I don't leave, alright?" Twisting around, he carefully loosed the mousebabe's grip on Tyko's tail, transferring the little paw into his own large one. Then he scooped up the fallen mouse, carrying him up the steep slope and setting him down once they reached the relatively easily traversed road, still holding Scamp's paw firmly. "Alright, let's see if we can find the Abbey then." He glanced up and down the road. "Well, I came from that way, and I was on the road for quite a while without seeing anything, so I guess we'll go the other way." The otter chuckled to himself suddenly. "Guess this makes me your mama now, huh? Or papa..." He wrinkled his nose. "How 'bout I'm just Tyko. Uncle, or friend, or official paw-holder, or nothin' at all." Feeling that his ramblings to himself were getting awkward, he fell silent for a moment; then he started whistling a soft, cheery tune.
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Post by Silver Sweetfur on May 23, 2010 9:21:11 GMT -5
Happy that he wasn’t getting left behind anymore Scamp quietly allowed himself to be carried up the hill and gently held Tyco’s paw as he started walking in the direction the otter indicated.
He paused and listened when Tyco began rambling and gave him the same smile you would give to an old beast who called you a whippersnapper or told you to stop running inside when you were out on the beach, as he smiled the mouse babe patted the big paw in his grip.
“Tyco” Scamp confirmed to the otter as they walked and Tyco began whistling again… maybe when he got older Tyco would teach him the words? His Father had taught them the words to songs he sung while fishing, and Scamp’s Mother had made him sleep outside the house when Scamp and his sister had sung it at meal time, even though everyone else… even Aster had been laughing. “Good song” Scamp muttered enjoying the tune quite a bit.
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Post by superswede on May 23, 2010 15:21:00 GMT -5
Tyko glanced down at the rascally Scamp. "You like it? Just a little tune I made up on the spot. I'm a horrible singer, sound like a duck with pondweed stuck in 'is throat, but I like whistling. Cheers me up when the water's rough, y'know?" The otter glanced up at the sky, squinting at the sun between the rows of trees that lined the road. "How far d'you reckon it is," he muttered, mostly to himself, "They say it's in Mossflower, and I'd guess that's these woods here, but forests can be pretty big, y'know? If we don't find it by dark, then we need to get off the road and find some place to make berth for the night, in the trees where vermin won't find us. Not sure who'd be bothered to wander around here except us, but you never know." Tyko had his doubts that this Redwall place even existed; maybe in the distant past, if it wasn't just a story, but now? Still? But, he could always try to find it. Maybe they would get lucky. It wasn't as though he had anywhere else to go; and chasing dreams was Tyko's specialty.
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