Background for characters...

The Ferravale tavern...

Raymond enters the tavern looking around before he finds a place to sit.

Scioto looks over at Raymond when he enters, he is sat down ib one of the booths as its easyier to lean back with out falling here, he sighs,least the tavern is cleaned up now.

Raymond nods "Sir..feeling any better than you were?"

Scioto shakes his head" Not really,no andwont be for a long time"

Raymond asks, "Thats understood sir, alot has happen, maybe time off?"

Scioto shakes his head "No time off, can't have time off, too much to do and repair, build"

Raymond gets some ale and sips it, "Why not sir, I could help with some things"

Scioto sighs, "Going to take alot more than helping, I need help finding Blisa, I can't lose her too"

Raymond says, "And I can be in charge of that""

Scioto leans back and sighs, "Whatever...probally do a better job than me"

Raymond is confused now, "What does that mean sir?"

Scioto frowns "It means I failed, I should of stoped it from happening, I should of got there sooner, then it would not of happen"

Raymond ears go back, "Umm,...well you had no way of knowing what would happen sir."

Scioto closes his one good eye and shakes his head, "You don;t understand, I failed them, should of ran faster, got there sooner...and I didn't get there in time."

Raymond is not sure wat to say, he tries though "Alot was going on sir, at the walls, inside the village...the raverns and crows, the monitors...you could of gotten more injured that you did in fact."

Scioto shakes his head as he opens his eyes, "They blocked my home, I got in yes but..."He stops, he has relived the sence over and over again in his mind, he lets a tear escape, "I saw it..it happen, they died, in front of me and I failed to stop it, I failed them I...if only had gotten there just a few secounds sooner would of saved them"

The rain is coming down gently and lightly outside, almost as if the weather was quietly sharing the Chieftans' grief. Through the mist the shape of a hooded figure slowly comes into view, and soon the creature enters the tavern. Throwing back the hood of her cloak, the warriormouse DoraRose is revealed. She looks around the room, then makes her way over to where Scioto and Raymond are. She offers a small smile in greeting.

Raymond starts to say mor "Sir, I..." He sees Dorarose and speaks to her "Hello miss, can't say its good traverl weather right now"

Scioto glaces at Dorarose and Raymond, he shakes his head and leans back in his chair, he has yet to even drink his ale.

DoraRose nods. "Indeed. I am happy that I came here last night instead of waiting 'till this morning." she sits down and orders some tea, just plain ole tea. Looking levely at the Scioto, she folds her paws on the table and asks, "And how are you this wet day?" Oo, a loaded question! Nice...

Raymond stands "I..should get back to my post, check on the other guards and, well talk later" He slips out quietly leaving the two to talk.

Scioto is quiet then speaks "I feel like a failure, thats what. I failed my family"

DoraRose arches her eyebrow. "How did you fail them?" A ratmaid brings the tea and the mouse pays for it, then turns her gaze back to the cat.

Scioto frowns "I should of got there sooner, then may of been able to stop him from killing them or grabbing Blisa, but Blisa was no where around just...", He shakes his head to make the image go away. "I am supposed to protect them and the vilage, and I barely got the village back as it was"

DoraRose looks down into her tea as she slowly stirs it. She sits that way for a while. Then, without looking up, she says in a quiet voice, "I will not say that I know what you are going through. But I do have an idea. I am going to tell you something I have not told anybeast anywhere."

Scioto at first seems like he rather not listen but then he turns to her to listen, "What's that?" His voice is sad right now and he doesn't really feel too chieftain-like.

DoraRose looks directly into his eyes, and anger, sorrow and, above all else, a deep deep pain are clearly emblazoned in her countanance. "What happened when Stormfeather killed my sister." she bites her lip and looks away,, quietly adding, "I died that day."

Scioto listens "You, look alive to me"

"Dorrozzze?" comes a small, distinctively reptilian voice from just outside the tavern door, which opens a crack as a familiar scaley head peeks in.

DoraRose laughs softly at the cat's words. "I died on the /inside/. You should understand..." her voice fades away as she hears the reptilian voice. "Zarok?" she looks sharply at the door.

Scioto nods slowly, he turns as he sees the dibbun monitor and watches it closely, he speaks " You two....know one another?"

"Um, yezz?" Zarok offers to both DoraRose and Scioto. Perhaps a bit put off by the devastation in the village, he shuffles into the tavern and scrambles into a seat near the two older beasts.

DoraRose nods at Scioto's question, then stands before the dibbun, paws on hips and a rather ticked off expression on her face. "Did you follow me?"

Scioto says, "Whom ever is in charge the dibbuns, needs replaced to let one wander out alone with danges all over."

"Um...yezzz," Zarok admits, hanging his head. "But had to!"

DoraRose tilts her head. "Oh, really? And why was that?" Yeah, she's not too pleased with him right now...

Scioto shakes his head, "Its dangerous, after all the...trouble here"

"That why I came," Zarok protests. "An' there...badnezz here...."

Scioto shakes his head and stands getting ready to leave, he is a little unsteady but not as much as yesterday "I have things to do.."He looks at Dorarose "He is your friend so your resposibity" He then walks off to have a meeting with his guards.

DoraRose frowns. "Yes, and that is why I carry a sword! Zarok, honey..." she bends down to look the lizard in the eye. "There is badness and there are evil creatures everywhere. You could've gotten hurt, and what will Oz say when he comes back and finds out that you left Redwall?"

Zarok hangs his head even lower. "I...zzorry...but me take care of mezzzelf, an' youz. Ozz..." he trails off and glances around the tavern, scrambling from his perch on the stool, whispering, "Can we talk ssssomewhere elzze? Feel like beazztss watching usss."

DoraRose sighs and closes her eyes, then nods. "Yes, we may. But you have a /big/ lecture in store for you, mister." she begins to walk out the door.

~*And they wander off...*~

FV:Orchards

You have come upon a large orchards that has apple trees in one area, pear trees in another, some peach trees and some walnut and almond trees in another area of the orchards. A couple plum trees are on the far side of the orchards and on the sides some blackberry bushes and wild strawberries.A path heads back to the fields where crops grow.

Exits: [B]ack to Fields

Zarok trots out into the orchards, where it's suitably isolated. He glances over his shoulder to make sure DoraRose is still with him. He tastes the (mostly) fresh autumn air, then suddenly goes rigid...but not noticably.

DoraRose is trotting behind the lizard, hood up over her ears with rain dripping off the edge. She looks to be in a rather foul mood.

The rain saturates the lizard, pattering loudly on his hard skin and running through the indentations between each of his scales. Zarok still sniffs the air. Did he really just smell what he thought he did, or was the rain interfering with his sense of smell?

DoraRose is now behind the lizard and puts her paw on his shoulder. "What do you smell?" she whispers, not looking quite as upset as she had a few moments ago, but she still looks rather miffed.

"It NEKTZOR!" Zarok gasps finally, and sprints off into the trees.

Oh, yeah, that so didn't help her mood any. DoraRose groans, then sighs, following the dibbun to where-ever-it-is that he's going. "Zarok! Stop doing that! Where are you going?"

"Bad thingzz!" Zarok calls behind him as he sprints into a clearing up ahead, out of sight. However, a sharp intake of breath and a small cry can be heard.

"Zarok!" DoraRose screams, drawing her sword. She runs at a breakneck speed into the trees, ready to kill any creature that might be attacking the dibbun.

In the clearing, Zarok is hunched over a dark form with an arrow protruding from its right eye socket. A strangled sob forces itself from the reptile's throat as he turns it on its back and sees something that clearly has upset him.

DoraRose doesn't think anything, only /Save Zarok..save Zarok...don't let him become another Lily.../. She grabs him and draws him back, holding him to her, sword at the ready.

"It...it..." Zarok chokes on his words and points with a claw at the crumpled, dead monitor that lays spread-eagled on the ground against the base of a tree.

DoraRose looks at the dead monitor and relaxes slightly, but she keeps her sword out, just in case. She holds Zarok tighter, closer to her, under her cloak. "What? What is it, love?"

"I knowzz him...he...related!" Zarok mumbles. "/Bad/, bad, bad...It...Zee?" He points to something on the monitor's left shoulder blade.

DoraRose moves around the dibbun and looks. She sees a strange symbol, which makes her frown. Kneeling before the living lizard, she puts a comforting paw on his shoulder and gently asks, "What's so special about that? Lots of creatures have tattoos."

"Norra...tattoo...izza sscar!" Zarok mumbles. "Rakthor tribe-lizards have...th'...th'..." The symbol is six claws focused in a spiral around a central point. But they look so /real/.

DoraRose says, "Rakthor...is that the tribe you're from?" she gently strokes his head, sword still in paw and eyes and mind on the alert, ready for any attack.

At this point Zarok has lost the power of speech, and he wordlessly lifts the left side of his vest, just enough to reveal, burned into his skin...Six charred claw shapes.

DoraRose starts, and tears begin to form in her eyes. Who would do this to an inoccent dibbun? She hugs him close, burying her face in his shoulder and saying soothingly, "It's alright, they're not here. I'll protect you, don't worry."

"They're...they..wuzz...It...old tribe," Zarok mumbles in broken speech. "I..wuzz one in Tribe."

DoraRose lays her sword on the ground and takes Zarok's face in both paws, looking him in the eye. "Your story may not have such a happy beggining, but that doesn't make you who you are. It's the rest of your story, and who you choose to be. Don't be scared. You can choose your own path."

"They...find me," Zarok mumbles. "Rakthor /came./" He gives a little sniffle, wiping a paw across his snout, then, as the mousemaid's words pass through his awareness, into his very being, his very /soul/...The light of fear and grief fades in his eyes, and a strong, pure sheen flashes across the lizard's black pupils.

DoraRose goes to pick the dibbun up...after she sheaths her sword, of course. "Come on...let's go somewhere a little less spooky."

Zarok speaks with more calm and conviction in his voice than he's had in a long time as the mousemaid picks him up. He seems to have a /purpose/ now, a goal. "I kill Rakthor," he says simply.

DoraRose hugs the little dibbun close. He's almost too big for her to pick up. "Maybe you should let me do that..." she murmers, walking out of the trees.

"No, you already gorra killabeast," Zarok says with a wry smile.

DoraRose returns the wry smile. "Then I shall have to kill 2."

"That work, I guezzz...." With that, Zarok falls asleep in the mousemaid's arms.

DoraRose smiles and wanders back to the main part of the town.