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Post by blackfox7 on Apr 26, 2011 13:11:25 GMT -5
The black weasel's eyes followed the path of Kolia's dagger like an excited cat. The pupils tightened into tiny pinpoint slits as he spotted the soldier falling back. "One whelp? Ha!", Senn began, lurching swiftly to the window. He stopped on a dime, thrusting his right claw out and grabbing the ferret's neck in mid-fall. He silently hoped the Red Horde beast might still be alive so he could snap it's filthy spine himself, but it was for naught. He wrenched the gory blade out of the creature's skull,"I could carry both and be spry as a flatland hare." He bragged openly, but both he and the troop outside knew his estimate was closer to accurate than it seemed. A wriggling worm of thought invaded his twisted thought processes: Did he want to run? Why not slaughter the lot--NO NO NO! The weasel mother and her two young ones wouldn't get far that way. He liked them; didn't quite know why. The babes reminded him of what he had been before the Reds had figured in his fates. He decided to keep his sword and many daggers sheathed...for now...
Outside Hemlock heard a noise from the now darkened field. He squinted, but wasn't able to see his scout clearly. "What's going on over there?!" he whispered harshly to the stoat Captain, who was farther around to the window side of the dwelling, "What's happened? Can you see anything?!? Well?!?!" The soldiers feared the worst, clutching their weaponry tighter: Pikes, batons, swords and bows gave a collective shiver.
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carabadgermum
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the paw that rocks the cradle rules the world
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Post by carabadgermum on Apr 26, 2011 15:15:08 GMT -5
Kolia wasn't really listening to what he said as she slipped into the bedroom and began tearing sheets off the bed tying one around her shoulders the way she had done many times to carry both whelps as they traveled. But they had grown so much since she had given up on searching for Roask. She was glad to have a second set of paws to carry one of them.
"Up now, come on." she whispered to the snoozing duo.
Thunder opened his eyes and yawned looking confusedly up at his mother. "What's goin' on?"
"We're going on a little trip." She told him. "Uncle Senn is going to carry you nice and easy so once your settled you can go right back to sleep."
The weaselmum ushered one sleepy little whelp out of the room looking back over her shoulder to see that the other was also beginning to wake. She tail signed to the mute one to tell him to get ready to go.
Once in the main room of the cabin again she yanked the dagger out of Senn's paw, hurriedly wiped the blood and brains off onto a discarded dishtowel and thrust it into her belt. "Don't you know how to shut your muzzle?" She growled at Senn. "It won't be long before they realize that one's not coming back."
Thunder saw the ferret's body on the floor and gasped.
Kolia covered his eyes and tossed a sheet to the black weasel. "Tie that around your shoulders like a sling and I'll lift this one up into it."
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Post by blackfox7 on Apr 26, 2011 15:51:41 GMT -5
Senn did as he was bidden, tying the sheet into a makeshift babe-carrier. He grinned broadly at the mother weasel's fierce remark.
"As a matter of fact, I do not," his grinned broadly, but his tone was hushed at the thought of Red Horde pursuers being close by. Stooping, he relieved the carcass on the floor of a long wooden baton with a small ball of iron at the tip. Well, this'll come in useful, he thought to himself. He held out the sling meant for Thunder in his other paw and waited to accept the little one as cargo, "Agree with you though. The scum'll come looking for their little pal sooner or later. Best to skitter off before they come for the party." He continued smiling but closed his lips together in a grim line.
The Field Marshal regained his nerve. Of course one soldier wasn't going to come back! Though he hadn't seen the slaying occur he figured the ferret had gone one of two ways: He'd either deserted for want of not facing the dreaded Senn, or he'd been killed by the night terror. Arrogantly Hemlock assumed that the female couldn't have played any role. Waving a mailed paw, he motioned his two Captains over, the stoat and an odd creature that looked like a large weasel with cat-like eyes and retractible claws (Mongoose. A rare beast in the Mossflower region).
"I don't like this. Captains, take ten each and encircle the clearing. Get some troops into the trees over there. If you come across that scout and he's still breathing, kill 'im. We don't enlist deserters or weaklings here." The mongoose and stoat nodded, paw-picking some fresh soldiers. Rats, weasels, otters, squirrels and foxes began creeping along the edges of the wood, trying to reach the trees on the other side their commander had pointed out. Their progress was painfully slow--briars and pricker bushes grew thick on the west side of the woods. Silence was more important than speed ,though, for the high-strung warbeasts. None wanted to be caught alone by their quarry like the ferret had been...
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carabadgermum
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the paw that rocks the cradle rules the world
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Post by carabadgermum on Apr 29, 2011 13:43:43 GMT -5
The weaselmum scooped Thunder up into her arms she pressed his sling and stones into his paw and then it may have looked for all the world as of the mother were giving her babe a tight hug but with one of his ears pressed against her chest and the other covered with her paw she hissed menacingly at Senn, "If my son comes to any harm while he is in your care I swear you will beg me to kill you as fast as I did that ferret."
Two sharp knocks on the bedroom door behind her let Kolia know that she hadn't been as successful at keeping her other son from hearing her oath. In fact when she looked behind her and saw what Lightning was tailsigning, she almost had to laugh. "Of course you can help me finish him off if it comes to that."
Lightning glared at the black weasel to let him know without words that he was just as serious about his brother's safety. His own sling was already loaded and clutched tightly in his paw.
Without another word, Kolia bundled Thunder into Senn's carrier and lifted Lightning into her own. "Let's go. Nothing here to get sentimental about."
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Post by blackfox7 on Apr 29, 2011 14:56:14 GMT -5
Silently matching Lightning's fierce glare with a blank look from his icy eyes, Senn nodded to the weasel mother and allowed himself a small crafty smile.
She wants to go, and quickly, eh? he thought to himself. Swiftly and smoothly, he sprung like a squirrel onto the narrow windowsill and hung there for a moment with his footclaws, just long enough to wink and say:
"No worries, Mama Hawk. I'll keep your chickie niiiice and safe!"
Hopping deftly to the ground outside the little building, he scanned the night quickly with his predatory gaze. He snuffed the air. Presenses appeared scattered about in his mind's eye: enemies. They were all too far away and in such a darkness that they could not make out the black weasel, even with the pale sling across his back that was practically illuminated. To the Red Horde's soldiers it was yet another indistinct tree trunk or stone. Senn's face split ear to ear. They would never know what killed them in this black of night. Then he felt the warm weasel whelp against his back. His grin faded. Ah, well. There would be another day.
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carabadgermum
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the paw that rocks the cradle rules the world
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Post by carabadgermum on May 2, 2011 14:48:16 GMT -5
Lightning hated being trussed up in the sling this way especially away from his brother. He felt even more dumb than usual with his tail squashed beneath him and no twin to translate the things he wanted to say. He could of course kick and scratch and bite to get his mother's attention if he wanted to but he knew that would be a distraction to their flight and then if he actually wanted to convey a message it would take forever for him to get untangled from this mess to get his point across. Still he had his paws free and his sling and pebbles were ready to use. If he saw one of 'the enemy' he wouldn't waste time making conversation he would take them out and leave Mumma free to do the running for both of them.
Kolia also exited quickly through the window and made sure her daggers were close to paw. Scanning the surroundings she saw the movement in the tree fringe. "They're trying to surround us! Make for the river!" She whispered urgently "I'll be right behind you."
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Post by blackfox7 on May 3, 2011 12:07:56 GMT -5
The black weasel turned and grinned playfully at Kolia's whispered command. She had doubted his grandiose claim of being 'The fastest Beast Alive' before--they all had. Now was his time to show off, his most enjoyed pastime aside from scragging Reds. With a lighter-than-air bound the black-furred weasel was off (Not at full speed though. He had no desire to leave the mother and her mute baby in his dust.). His sinewy legs pumped like pistons, the furry webs between his toes from being born a Northern weasel muffling the sound of his muffled pawsteps. Hard ebony nails cut into the turf, providing traction for his slender frame. Thunder hardly bounced; the movement was fluid and swift like the running of a stag. And ever his sensed the "Momma Hawk" at his back. He marvelled. She was a fleet-footed creature too. How nice of her not to hold him down.
Senn spied one of the soldiers out in front of him. A solidly-built bankvole, nearly the size of a rat, this Red was a rare catch indeed. The vole never had the chance to use his longbow, or even cry out. It had not even seen Sennveil coming until it was too late. Snickering malevolently, the weasel came up behind him and grabbed the vole's chin in one paw and shoulder in the other. He wrenched hard to the side, and the creature died with an expression of surprise on its face. The vole fell.
One down, Senn thought with a sly smile, who knows how many more to go...
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carabadgermum
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the paw that rocks the cradle rules the world
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Post by carabadgermum on May 3, 2011 13:05:58 GMT -5
At first Thunder covered his eyes with his paws, he wasn't even aware of the murder of the vole, but once he got used to the sensation of speed he looked around and whooped at the landscape flying past them. "Gates, you are fast, Uncle Senn!" Mumma would have probably tweaked his ear for the use of the profanity but she wasn't close enough to hear it so the little whelp giggled and enjoyed the ride.
Kolia smiled appreciatively at both the black weasel's speed and his efficient dispatch of the Red. "Keep your eyes open and your sling ready." She whispered to Lightning. "I don't want to have to stop to pull my dagger out of somebeast." She could feel his nod and knew he didn't really need to be reminded. Her eyes caught a movement to their right but she didn't even have to speak before the stone shot out over her shoulder and laid a hedgehog out flat. She didn't look to see but the scream that followed led her to believe that the creatures spines had taken out a second Red when he fell back. "Two for one. That's my boy." All the while she never broke stride, keeping up easily with Senn, and not even becoming short of breath. She was a natural sprinter though and couldn't keep this pace up forever.
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Post by blackfox7 on May 5, 2011 15:32:48 GMT -5
Bounding over a downed beech log, Senn gave a throaty little cackle at Thunder's naughty language. What a little scamp! Besides, the little bairn had complemented his speed. The black weasel liked him!
When the scream of the spiked soldier rang out all the Reds scattered at the side of the clearing became alert, but the night had fallen well and truly on Mossflower Country, and the assorted heavily-armored beasts could only see as far as the paws in front of their own faces and the ghostly trunks of the nearest trees. The mongoose captain stood stock still. For a moment he had a flash of fear--how near was the General's lethal battleslave? The big beast could see the figure of Field Marshal Hemlock to his left, hanging back as usual, with a squad of ten pikebeasts surrounding the squirrel for protection. "Which way did that come from?!?" the stoat captain hissed urgently. The mongoose shrugged as if he did not know. But he really did--he was merely reluctant to go near the fleeing weasels. He had seen sights in the battleslave arena that would strike a more peaceable beast dumb--a good many of them committed by that black-furred weasel! "Let's find out. I don't know if it will do any good, but bring some of your archers. Pikes too. We'll need them..." The stoat and mongoose waved over a score of the required troops and began padding into the woodlands in a police line, sheilds raised. They were cautious, trotting slowly. They didn't want to run smack into their maddened target's eager claws.
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carabadgermum
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the paw that rocks the cradle rules the world
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Post by carabadgermum on May 5, 2011 16:02:51 GMT -5
Kolia could hear the commotion of the soldiers now behind her. The main group couldn't be that far back. She didn't dare look back to check. She was beginning to tire and knew they could overtake her if she didn't think of something soon. But then there was the question of Senn who was speeding away a head of her. She couldn't call out to him for fear of revealing both their locations but she had to do something. She whistled through her teeth, sounding not unlike a hawk. No time to muse at the irony of the nickname the black weasel had given her. When he looked back she would point up and then up she would go. Climbing was something else she had learned during her travels from a pine marten. The creatures behind might have climbers among them also but hopefully in the dark they wouldn't think to look up and would run right on past beneath her.
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Post by blackfox7 on May 5, 2011 16:27:26 GMT -5
Hemlock cringed and threw himself flat at the screeching cry that sounded roughly like a sparrowhawk, or maybe a goshawk. He couldn't be sure. Picking himself up he turned red with embarassment: Of course it wasn't a real hawk! It was somebeast signaling, but none of his field unit used bird calls. The Raddhiyans had before the Red Horde had conquered them and aquired those wrethed weasel twins, but usually they use the croaking calls of ravens or the tszeeeer! of a gyrfalcon. It must be their quarry. "Towards the river! All of you--fast pace! Move out!!" The snarling squirrel barked out orders. Sixty more mixed rats, weasels, foxes, otters. squirrels, spikedogs and the like marched off, their ironshod footpaws and tough, steel plate armor tramping and clanking in a riotous din. And the Field Marshal followed--at the back and guarded by four bowbeasts.
Senn also heard the false hawk's cry, and turning his head, caught the gesture of the mother weasel. "Hold on, me bold little warrior--'S gonna be a bumpy ride up!" he whispered to the weaselbabe, adopting a rougish brogue. A mighty three-topped oak loomed into view, and like a beast with no fear of death the black weasel made for it at a breakneck pace. Two paces from colliding with the huge rough trunk he launched himself into the air. He stuck to the craggy bark as if his paws were velcro, and with the baton he'd swiped from the dead Red between his teeth he vaulted himself up like an exploring cat: Forepaws first, with a few swift kicks at the trunk with his footpaws, the black claws gripping and digging in. Soon he was crouched on a hefty branch about mid-way up, hidden by darkness and foliage. He saw Kolia approaching at a swift lope, looking awfully tired for the load on her back. He pursed his lips and gave a quick kjak!--kjak! to point his new partner in the direction of his hiding place. It was the distress call of a nesting nightjar. She'd know it was an imitation, being a skilled tracker and all--but the Reds probably wouldn't.
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carabadgermum
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Post by carabadgermum on May 6, 2011 14:40:49 GMT -5
Thunder wanted to get in on the fun too. Mumma had taught him all about singing like a birdy but something held him back before he uttered his very own specialty, a lark's cry. It was almost as if his silent brother had told him to keep his mouth shut and so he did.
Kolia heard the nightjar call and knew exactly what it meant. She launched herself at the three topped oak as soon as it came into sight and then scaled up even with Senn. She nodded silent thanks to the black weasel and then focused on calming her breathing and heart rate. The plan beginning to form in her mind was to wait until the Reds passed them and then choose a new path in a completely different direction. Again the area terrain appeared in her minds eye and the proper course practically charted itself. She nodded again to her new partner this time with a slight smile.
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Post by blackfox7 on May 8, 2011 12:05:23 GMT -5
The black weasel snickered quietly with a paw over his mouth at the sight that approached the tree hiding place.
The troop, led by the mongoose and stoat captains and a rank of pikebeasts twenty wide, thundered through the night foliage, their large, heavy weapons lowered out in front of them. That rank was followed by two of archers, and that by a sort of untidy jumble of the remaining twenty Taskmasters and regular swrodbeasts. As the lead rank tore on in the night it was easy to see that the soldiers weren't very much able to see; each Red tripped at least once on some rotten log, jutting piece of sandstone, or living shrub. One soldier, a pine marten, had his pike out and accidentally ran it point-first into the three-topped oak as the Reds hurried past. The poor creature was pole-vaulted into the sturdy trunk and, regardless of his helm, was thrown to the ground out cold. The ranks behind him merely parted and flowed around the tree, indifferent to their fellow beast-at-arms. Hemlock, at the rear, paused to sniff disdainfully at the still form, but carried on anyhow. They needed to catch up to their fleetpawed target.
Sennveil's eyes were riveted on the unconcious pine marten. He stayed himself until the sounds of the Red's field unit were fairly distant, but he could contain himself no longer. His hard ebony claws out, the black weasel's pinpoint slit pupils took on a crazed glint, and he crept wraithlike down the tree. For a moment the former battleslave savored the moment, then he drew forth his curved single-edged sword and tested the blade with his paw. He prodded lightly at the prone form's shoulder until the marten stirred, then the Red's eyes came to rest on Senn. He opened his mouth, but his voice was not there to scream with. Senn raised the sword and flicked it forward, burying the sickle-like lower length into the soldier's neck. The creature gurgled and fell, blood peppering the oak tree's trunk and the weasel's clothing alike. Sennveil Reavear smiled slowly in barbaric satisfaction.
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carabadgermum
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Post by carabadgermum on May 9, 2011 19:46:48 GMT -5
At the sight of the carnage Thunder could keep himself quiet no longer. The lark's cry he had been holding back burst forth from the little whelp. It may not have been so bad if the sound had come in the full sun of day so good was the interpretation but now in the dark of night it would be a dead give away.
Kolia didn't bother with climbing. She dropped from her branch in one bound and pulled Senn along as she took off again perpendicular to their previous flight. She kept her voice low but urgent. "Run!" The weaselmum was glad for the bit of rest they had been able to catch in the tree but she knew now that they were once again running for their lives.
((so do we want them to actually get caught or will they get away?))
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Post by blackfox7 on May 10, 2011 19:21:23 GMT -5
(I'm thinking Kolia gets away with her precious cargo at least. But I'd like for Senn to get the lead out sometime--what'll happen to him I have no idea. but there's gonna be some carnage) Hemlock whirled around at the untimely cry of the lark. His acid green eyes bulged in a fury at being momentarily duped. "Imbeciles--TROOP, ABOUT FACE! RALLY TO ME!!!", he roared to the regiment skidding to a halt in the distance. Eager to not be severly punished for lagging, a dozen swordbeasts who were in the back put on a spurt of speed and rushed in a file past their commander. Most of them were rats--brown rats, black rats, and waterats--but one was the mongoose captain. The officer pounded ahead of his subordinates and whirled a broad scimitar. He would claim the credit, while the deadly black weasel's back was turned. The former snake serial killer grinned with delight. Senn at first scrabbled instinctively at the weaselmother's claws grasping his shirt and roughly towing him along. Then, as reason returned to him, the black weasel urged his long, gracile legs to move and swiftly, but not painfully, wrenched Kolia's grip away. "Yes, run, I understand that!" he seethed, his anger only half-hearted, reflex even,"And I can run on my own, thank you!" He took a peek over his shoulder and glared death at the sprinting form gaining on them, "'Scuse I. Got to deal with them!" He hissed from between gritted fangs. His icy eyes had a reddish sheen to them, as if suffused with blood. He unslung the babe-carrier with a wide-eyed Thunder in it from his back and held it out to the whelp's mother. "I'm the one they want, Momma Hawk--take your little one and go." He smiled, hatred of the approaching enemy seeming to shine off every snow-white tooth,"And even if they take me I'll be sure to send most of 'em off to Hellgaes where they belong!"
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