Blisa, Ferdinand and Zee walk into a bar... (EDITED, with friends added XD)
FV:Tavern
Outside a sign swings on a rusty creaking frame above the doorway of the tavern depicting a faded painting of what appears to be three rather rich looking skeletons slumped over a table around a black chalice, perhaps such a thing could be taken as a warning but it doesn't appear to work on the locals. The noise within on a normal day is usually heard before the door is even opened and only rises in volume when one actually steps inside.
There are the typical qualities of a tavern within, from the bar to the chairs and booths and the odd drunk who never seems to move it's the little details which encourage a patron to pay his tab if he likes his fingers. One look at some of the staff or customers might give the impression but the room is decorated to the fiercer tastes with bones, mostly skulls cropping up here and there to fill a gap on a shelf or decorating the walls above the doorways, fireplace and bar, a pair of axes joining the one over the fire with some signs that they've been yanked off to join in a fight a couple of times. Some of the comfier chairs are lined with fur and very rarely one might be found with a few pointed bits of bone to decorate the back. Despite the looks there is entertainment and fun to be had, some form of music usually played on a small stage in the corner and at least one bouncer usually tries to keep the peace while beasts gamble, drink and be merry.
A small door behind the bar leads out the back to the kitchen and cellars while one wall has been opened up in a wide arch to increase the space off into the next room where what seems to be a wooden fence with gates on either end has been set up as a fighting pit as further entertainment and something to bet over.
Exits: [UP] Stairs, [K]itchen, [F]ighting [P]it, [Out]
Zee the badger. Blisa the cat and Ferdinand the ferret. Samara the squirrel. Dylan the lizard. Scioto the cat. Oakenpaw the hare.
Zee is sitting at a table by himself and has a glass of ale in front of him, so far he is just stareing at it quietly. It seems no one really pays the old badger to much attention.
Except for Blisa. The second she walks through the front door, she spots him, and she makes a beeline for him, Ferdinand trailing on her heels. She plops herself down across from the badger and says, "Hi."
Zee nods a hello "Well, hello there How is your day today? I think I may know ya lass, then I do forget sometimes so may need reminded"
The young cat smiles. "I'm alright, I guess, thanks. I'm Blisa Wyrmtamer, Scioto's daughter. And my bodyguard is Ferdinand." The ferret smiles and sits down after ordering some tea for the 2 of them. "So how are you?" she continues, leaning on the table.
Zee offers a smile "I am doing good today, not much to say it's a nice day and I try to enjoy every moment I can of my days, hard to say how many I have left."
Blisa nods. "That is very wise. I never really spend much time thinking about that, but perhaps I should..." the teas arrive, and Ferdinand takes a quick sip from his.
Zee chuckles "Why? Your so young lass, look at me I be old!" He does frown some "Yet in better health than me nephew is sadly"
Blisa stares at her tea as she stirs it. "I almost died the other week. That crazy mouse Irinevok tried to kill me, and he came frighteningly close to killing me." Ferdinand coughs and says quietly, "You mean Zork, right?"
Zee nods as he pushes his ale aside, he looks to be thinking on some things. "Is Chiefy busy tomorrow?"
It's with a good deal of huffing and puffing that a squirrel, a wooden crate, and a large backpack stuff themselves through the door. Sam is clutching the box to her chest, the backpack making it difficult for her to push her way into the tavern. But she makes it! From the looks of it she had been out in the wilderness for a good while - her clothes dirty, twigs and leaves stuck in her tail fur. She offers a curt nod to the beasts there before dumping all of her things next to a chair and putting the box on the table, starting to rummage through her pockets for her coins as she makes her way to the bar.
The door doesn't wait long before it opens again, this time a bit more violently. While not covered in mud or nature the lizard is equally worse for ware. His clothes, a vest and breeches hang loosely from his scrawny frame and are in need of a good wash. His red scales have lost their shine and the wide brim hat is a bit shriveled from rain. The look on the lizards face is anything but friendly.
Only after a quick glance around the room does his paw release its hold of the long sword sheathed at his side. Stomping his feet the lizard walks boldly to the bar, right behind the squirrel. He brushes past her, leaning against the bar.
Blisa shrugs. "I honestly don't know. Even if he is, you could probably, like, schedule an appointment or something. Or you could try to talk to him during his lunch hour...or however long he takes to eat lunch." Ferdinand watches the newcomers enter the tavern, smiling slightly at the squirrel's plight, silently wondering about the box. Narrowing his strange golden eyes, he watches the lizard closely, not liking the look on his face. Not at all.
Zee nods as he takes a drink of ale, he is not really paying attention to any beast else "Ok, need to ask him something important, I am sure he won't care much."
Samara isn't bothered by her fellow newcomer, she likes a sour face - it's more honest than smiling all the time, anyway. She ignores him for the time being, pulling a few choice coins from her pocket and sliding them across the bar. "I'll eat whatever you have made already and... eh, just some juice or something." A glance is passed towards Zee as he speaks, too tired to care much for this important thing they speak of.
The rat behind the bar raises an eyebrow. "Juice? Here?" The burly beasts scoffs but shakes his head. To each their own he guesses. He gives the lizard next to the squirrel a side long glance, "What kin I help you with mate?"
"I'm looking for grilled fox steaks." DYlan says impatiently, "Prefurably taken from the pot bellied pond scum you lot call your head guard. The guards told me Bandit is usually found here...have you seen him? Big brown fox, ya high?"
The bar keep rolls his eyes and shakes his head. Slamming his fist on to the bar Dylan hisses, "To the dark forest with that fox!"
Blisa nods, then her attention is drawn by what the lizard is saying. Quickly turning back to the badger, she whispers, "Excuse me a moment, sorry." She then stands and walks over to the irate reptile, a suspicious Ferdinand following closely behind, and says, "Bandit has been missing for a while now. May I ask what you want with him?" She does have her dirk and dagger with her, and Ferdinand of course has his sabre, so if things take a nasty turn, they'll be able to stop it. (Hopefully...)
Zee nods as he lets the kitten tend to what they need to tend to, he then stands slowly and gets his staff, he glaces at the others and stands there for now.
"Aye, juice or something. Milk, if you don't have any juice. Do you have rooms to rent here?" Samara's withering stare to the barkeep is interrupted by the ruckus next to her. She raises an eyebrow and stares at the lizard - that was certainly...unexpected. She takes a plate of mushy rice and some cooked fish from the rat, sighing and scratching at a spot on her shoulder and opens her mouth to deliver some scathingly dry remark to the lizard before somebeast else strikes up a conversation with him and the squirrel notes the weapons everyone has tucked away - well...maybe this is going to be interesting after all.
The rat is interrupted from answering Samara's question by the lizard's antics. Dylan stares down at the young cat and then to her body guard, "Yeah, I want to find that sorry fox and cut him open like a melon. He paid me to go on some wild goose chase to find the villages kidnapped daughter. I spend a week out there starvin' in the toolies, getting rained on, shot at by deformed foxes and I come back to find that he isn't here to bleedin' pay me!" The lizard pulls his hat low over his head in anger, "That fat, mange filled...MAMMAL!" he hisses.
Dylan then pauses. His hat lifts up slowly as he stares down at the feline again, this time with confusion, "Wait..."
Blisa stifles a smile and covers it up with sarcasm. "Yeah, and you did a bang-up job of finding me. Thanks." Rolling her green eyes, she crosses her arms and shifts her weight so most of it is on 1 leg. "Maybe you should, oh, I don't know, find out all the facts about stuff /before/ you come in here and start yellin' like a maniac." Ferdinand has his paw resting on his sabre hilt, but he nods politely to the squirrelmaid before turning his attention back to the grumpy lizard guy.
Zee decides to let the others handle it and maybe some guards he can tell to slip into the tavern, either way he heads to the entry "I have to go visit with some beast, more than one really and then talk ta chiefy tomorrow ya all have a good day now" He then walks on outside.
Samara raises an eyebrow. "Sounds like a lot of pointless fuss. Calm down a bit and maybe you'll do a proper job worthy of payment next time." It appears that they had milk on hand at the bar, and she takes the glass and her plate and squeezes past the conversation to rejoin her belongings at a table further back, tearing into her halfhearted meal like it was a 5-star feast.
The lizard grows hot with anger even under his red scales both to the squirrel's comment and the sarcastic cat. "Done a better job? DONE A BETTER JOB?" All this work, and the cat was safe the whole time. Dylan bites his lip and for a long moment looks like he is about to lay into them with how he feels. Instead Dylan straitens himself up. Taking his hat off he places it on the bar and turns from the feline and her guard, "excuse me a moment." Dylan walks to the nearest wall where he begins to slowly beat his head against it.
Blisa watches him for a few minutes, blinking. She then goes over to him and says, "I'm sure you were very close, and that's why Irirnevok kept moving around in the forest. Maybe that's why he all of a sudden tried to kill me and Marek." Ferdinand, who had followed, suddenly looks sick and distraught and has to lean against a table.
Overdramatic would be an understatement, and as Sam scarfs down the rest of her meal she rolls her eyes. "Come off it, some of us are trying to relax and you're not the only one whose had it rough." She takes a sip of milk. "You are, however, the only one throwing a tantrum like a dibbun who didn't get his way." She pulls her kerchief from her head, musses with her bangs, and uses it to wipe at the corner of her mouth. "A week you said?" She scoffs, but her continued scolding would have to wait as the drama thickens. Well, this IS interesting - kidnapping and an attempted murder most foul. All rather troublesome, if you ask her. "It sounds like the one who should be complaining is the one trying to make you feel better, and if that doesn't shame you then nothing will."
Thunk Thunk Thunk.
Even while the feline is trying to comfort the lizard he continues to beat his head against the wall. This action stops after the squirrel speaks. His head twists slowly around, both eyes lock onto the squirrel with murderous intent. This was in every way possible, adding insult to injury for Dylan. It was true of course he realizes, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
For once he is speechless. Moving past, the chieftain's daughter and her body guard Dylan recovers his hat, "Pious does not become you woodlander." The lizard secures his hat on top of his head, "But now that you have my attention..." he hisses, "I don't seem to recall asking for your opinion..."
Blisa is also speechless (it's a miracle!). She's never really had a complete stranger stand up for her like that. It feels pretty amazing, to be honest. She snaps back into reality and goes to tug on the lizard's tail. "Oi, no fighting! If you didn't want random beasts' opinions, then you shouldn't've come in here and started spewing your feelings to all and asundry." Ferdinand loosens his sabre in its sheath, just in case.
Samara smirks. Angry, are we? "No, you didn't ask. But you invited it by banging your head against the wall. Who does that? And now you stomp over here and try to intimidate me into, what, an apology?" The diminutive squirrel stands up, barely coming up to his chest, and glowers up at him. A little more height and she would have been, as they say, 'getting in his face'. "You are going to apologize to me for causing a scene and disrupting my dinner, and apologize to the cat for failing in your duty, like a proper beast does when they've shamed themselves." Her voice has taken a low tone, stern and unwavering.
The lizard leans backward when the squirrel throws herself forward like a crazy angry person. Which to Dylan, she might as well be. He half turns to see the cat pulling at his tail. With a sigh he rubs at his eyes. The lizard has a sword. He has a problem easily solved by a sword. And he is running out of reasons not to use it! Dylan curses himself, he is a bandit for Pete's sakes! A poor bandit who tried to do good for once and this was his reward? To be scolded by some crazy woodlander? "This...is why I stopped involving myself in other peoples troubles." Dylan says aloud before he yanks his tail free of the kitten's grip.
"You want an apology? You? Ok. I'm sorry you're crazy. Happy now? Oh, not good enough? How about this." The lizard turns suddenly towards Blisa, "And I am most certainly sorry that you keep endangering beasts by getting yourself into danger. And I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help. Hopefully the day where no one can come save your hide, will never come."
With that Dylan hat tips both beasts, he steps around the squirrel and walks for the door. A small storm cloud following in his wake.
Blisa stares at the lizard as he walks out the door. She actually was not wanting an apology, and now she's struggling to not feel hurt. She hides it with false bravado, shouting, "May an eagle steal your soup!!" After he's gone, she sits down and stares at the tabletop, struggling to not even look like she's on the verge of crying. She's still very much not over the affects of her kidnapping and imprisonment. Ferdinand releases his sabre hilt and rests a paw on her shoulder, looking at the squirrel. "Thank you for doing that even though you didn't have to."
Samara doesn't move, just smirks. "I appreciate your apology, sir. Safe travels." She doesn't try to stop him otherwise, but settles into her seat and, pushing her empty plate away, she pulls the crate to her and slides the lid free. Taking a sip of her milk, she pulls her journal and pencil from her belt and lifts her spectacles to her nose before peering over at the cat and body guard. "You're right, his mother should have done it seasons ago." She pulls something from the crate - two thin pieces of bark tied together, sandwiching something in between them. Untying them, she delicately removes a small, dried herb and arranges her work things on the table to comfortably get to it. But she peers up over her spectacles and considers the two for a moment. "You shouldn't get so upset over that." Her eyes return to her journal. "Weak minds lash out when they've been outdone. I'm glad it didn't come to blows though, it is always embarrassing to be bested by somebeast half your size." Moody from her travels, it would seem that the lack of company has taken it's toll on her personal interactions. Her attention returns to the two at the table. "So, you get kidnapped and dragged about the woods for a bit? I assume you are someone of import, or related to someone of import?" She starts jotting down notes as she speaks.
Blisa sniffs and waves her paws near her face. "I know, but I can't help it!" she sounds like she's on the verge of crying. She starts wiping something from her eyes. The ferret sits beside her and hugs her gently as he murmurs, "Mith Blitha ith the daughter of the Chieftain of Ferravale, Thir Thcioto. I am Ferdinand, her bodyguard, even though I thometimeth don't do a good job of it...."
Scioto pushes open the door to the tavern and enters, a couple guards beside him as he is talking with them and nods, "Ok...thank you" He says to the guards and dismisses them as they exit the tavern and he heads to where he usually sits down this time of day.
Only when he is outside the bar does Dylan pause. He takes a ragged breath. Bandits don't cry, bandits don't cry. He proved to be quite the gentle beast in there didn't he. Dylan scowls but he reminds himself that he is in fact, a bandit. Despite the fact that he is so poor at it that he doesn't even have a bounty in Mossflower worth the effort to come after him. At least he hasn't seen any in Ferravale yet.
That...needs to change thinks Dylan. No more Mr. Nice lizard. Unless he forgot why he became a bandit in the first place. Who cares if one little cat cries, certainly not him, nope, no way.
Despite this Dylan walks with his shoulders hung low, paws thrust into his pockets. He stops when a beast calls him over from an alley way. "Psst, hey buddy, over here." The lizard looks up to see a grey furred weasel leaning against the wall of the alley behind the tavern. Dylan takes a moment to examine the emancipated looking creature before he replies, "Fargo?"
"Oh good, someone does remember me." The weasel smiles. He waves for the lizard to follow him. "Come here for a sec...I have a job for you."
The lizard narrows his eyes, "My experience with jobs lately has been...rather poor."
"Oh trust me, you are going to love this one..." With out much more ceremony the weasel walks deeper into the ally. Dylan hesitates for a moment then shrugs. What does he have to lose...
Samara nods. "I figured." She doesn't offer anything further to the conversation, becoming absorbed in her work, flipping the brittle plant over to write about the abaxial side of the leaves. Her ear twitches towards the door as it swings open once more, but she doesn't pay it any attention past that - choosing to sip at her drink and throw herself into the more logical and predictable world of plant matter.
Blisa sniffs, stands, and walks over to her father, going to crawl into his lap and wrap her arms around his neck, aiming to hide her face on his chest. Ferdinand follows and sits opposite his boss, watching the squirrelmaid closely, curious about her work.
Scioto blinks and looks down at Blisa and looks totally confused on why she is suddenly doing this , "Blisa? Is everything alright?"
So this must be the person of import whose title led to his daughter's capture. Funny how that happens when you have power, and Sam will always be grateful to have been born a nobody, to more nobodies. She flips a page back, refers to the sketch of the specimen she did before it was dried, and examines it a moment. Jots something down, pauses, and then glances up at the father and daughter. "A simple beast yelled at her."
Blisa nods and lets the tears flow now that her face is hidden from everyone's view. Ferdinand also nods and points at the squirrel with his thumb. "What the thaid. A lizard thaid that he wath 'thorry' that Mith Blitha 'endangerth' beathtth by getting kidnapped that he hoped the next time the was captured, that nobeatht would be able to thave her." He makes sure and communicates the falseness of the words said to the young cat.
Scioto listens as he nods, "Well, I see...she is safe now though and thats what matters."
Oakenpaw comes galloping in.
"Yes that was the gist of it." Sam drolls, licking her thumb and turning the page of her journal before, with painstaking care, beginning to rewrap the plant that she had, with an equal amount of care, unwrapped previously. "She was not in any danger, he did not have the strength or skill to back up his crude intimidation tactics." Placing the specimen back into the crate and sliding the lid back into place, she sets about the arduous task of gathering her many belongings. "I still want a room!" she calls, brusquely to the rat behind the bar before slinging her backpack over one shoulder, groaning a bit as she catches its weight. "It's been almost a month since I've slept in a real bed and taken a real bath, I wish to get to it." Gathering herself and her things up, she excuses herself with a nod and heads up the stairs.
Blisa just huddles in deeper against her father, hiding her tears. Ferdinand nods and waves as he watches the squirrel head up the stairs, then he turns to the healer hare. "Good day."
Scioto watches as the squirrel heads off and then looks at Blisa, still unsure what's really going on, "You know, we should do something. Not sure what"
Oakenpaw cocks his head lifting his ear, and says softly "Why th' tears?
Ferdinand shakes his head. "A thtupid beatht yelled at her and thaid thoem terrible thingth." Blisa peeks up at her father's faces, sniffs, and whispers hopefully, "Maybe a picnic or a little trek through the woods or something?"
Oakenpaw smiles and kneels down "Maybe Blissa would like to go on a gallop wi' me? if her father says ok? and we could bring a pic nick back pack...."
Scioto clears his throat "I can not say if she wants to or not, I am not her. "
Blisa smiles slightly, but just shrugs irritatingly. Ferdinand coughs slightly. "Perhapth you could check the wallth and make a picnic out of that. It would be good training and bonding time."
Scioto says, "Yes a father daughter time together, but only father and daughter time as I do need to maybe take a day off."
Oakenpaw asks, "Where is her snake? I would like to be more friends wi' 'im"
"Basil's at home, probably in his cellar getting fat on cheese. Daddy, I have a splitting headache. I'm gonna go home and lay down. I love you." Blisa goes to give her father a light kiss on the cheek, then slides to the floor and heads out the door. Ferdinand stands and follows, murmuring good-byes to the other 2 malebeasts. Then they are gone.
Oakenpaw says, "Every beast loves Blisa you know Chief Chap"
Scioto says, "Not every beast does, a couple in the village seem to dislike her"
Oakenpaw says, "They best not let ME find out"
And so Blisa goes home and lays down, her headache evolving into a massive migraine. Poor kitty :( Thanks for reading!
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