Fishing for Dibbuns

A peaceful day at the pond turns into anything but for Braxton the badger dibbun ,Bandit the fox, Lacota the Squirrel and Flicktail the fox.

Braxton is outside and trying to avoid a very loud hedgehog, the..in his mind..horrible Sister May, he frowns and ducks behind a tree again, as she yells "Get yer fur back here right now!! You broke the chalk board and left Jax with a bloody snout..again"

It has been Bandit's custom to come to the abbey pond when he needs time alone to think. The fox doesn't look too affected by the winter chill and snow on the ground even though he is wearing only a vest and trousers. He sighs, he really could stand to lose a few pounds of winter weight he guesses. The fox is standing here, hands in pockets staring out across the frozen lake in front of him. His ears twitch at the interruption and he turns around at the hedgehogs shout.

Braxton frowns at Sister May who still looks around, the hedgehog finally gives up as the badger pokes his head out from behind one of the trees and tries to tiptoe across some snow that had fallen, it happens to cover the pond which is ok, long as he stays away from the middle area of the pond.

Lacota is taking a stroll, the kitchen under control of novices for now. He waves to May, approaching the pond.

Sister May hummphs "That badger dibbun is getting on my nerves, he broke a chalkboard and got into another fight with Jax, he needs a serious time out."

Bandit shakes his head to sister May's display and shrugs it off. The fox has yet to see Braxton on the pond. Standing not too far away from the squirrel and hedgehog he greets them , "good morning. Sounds like Brax is giving you a pawfull."

Lacota sighs. "Young Braxton needs time, Sister. I was able to get him to listen while I talked yesterday, which is no small feat."

Braxton rolls his eyes, maybe he should just run away, the idea strikes him as a good one as he goes to head towards the entry, this after he falls and slides some few feet backwards, he growls and slams a fist down on the ground only to learn its not so much ground, it's ice and ice doesnt like being punched it seems and the further one goes onto the pond the ice is thinner, he blinks a couple times as he looks at the crack he made and frowns, he goes to try and slowly get off his back and get on all fours at first.

The fox catches the sight of the dibbun finely out of the corner of his eye finely. His head snaps around and he shouts, "Brax! What in the blazes are you doing!"

Lacota looks toward the badger and pales. "Braxton! Don't move! The ice is cracking!" He looks around. "Bandit, what are we going to do?"

Braxton frowns deeply he already is on all fours and just wants off the ice, he moves a little ways towards the shore only to slip and make the ice crack more, he whimpers and now shivers some, He stays on his stomach side and tries to stay still, which is hard when your shivering.

The fox lets out a curse, pauses to appologize to the sister for it, then dashes off towards the ice while saying, "Lacota! Go grab some rope! May! Grab some towels." The fox pauses short of the pond, working his way around and closer to brax without actually touching the ice. Fools rush in after all and all he would do is probibly break the already thin ice. Instead he cups his paws together shouting, "Brax! Stay still! Don't move!"

Lacota frowns. "Right, and where on earth is rope stored at?"

Bandit face paws, "The towels are for if he falls in. Now will you lot quit your yammering for a second?" rubbing his eyes he tries to think. Where in the bleedin abbey do they keep rope, "Check the guard shack...maybe the bell tower...better yet, do you think you could get across the ice with out breaking it Lacota?" What they need here is an otter, the fox thinks. If the ice breaks the last thing you want to do is jump in after the drowning person.

Lacota nods, looking at the cracking ice. "I have an idea. I'm quite a bit lighter than you, Bandit, so I *think* I may be able to lay on the ice and try to reach him to pull him to safety."

Braxton just watches them in silence as he stays still and un-moving, a small whimper is heard, the ice doesn't crack anymore at least

Bandit nods to the squirrel, "If you think you can do it, then go for it. I'm going to try to get some rope, May, go find us some help." The fox doesn't wait to see if the hedgehog responds to his orders or not before turning for the guard shack.

Sister may has went to get some towels and blankets laying them down, she frowns and waits as she is not able to swim herself, yeah maybe she should go get someone too.

Lacota nods, and creeps forward slowly, then lays flat on the ice at the edge of the pond, pushing himself toward Braxton very slowly and carefully. "Lad, stay calm, I'm going to pull you *slowly* to safety, alright?" He reaches out to grab ahold of the badgers paws. "Grab my paws, Braxton, but don't make *any* sudden movements."

Bandit has made it to the door of guardhouse, he should be disturbed at how easy it is to get into the unguarded building but for now is thankful. After a long breathless moment he emerges victorious brandishing rope over his shoulder. He pauses to tie one end into a knot, "Just hold on Lacota! I'm coming!" The fox hopes the squirrel can hear him.

Braxton frowns as he looks at Lacota, least the squirrel is on the ice that's thicker right now Braxton is not as he oddly scoots a little away from the squirrel at first, he gulps then goes to reach towards him slowly but when he went backwards at first he went back on the even thinner ice and it cracks loudly and he gasps and starts to panic making his legs fall threw the ice, still out of reach of the squirrel he tries to make his way further onto the ice, for now manages to keep waist up out of the very cold water.

Lacota grimaces, as the sounds of ice cracking fill the air. "Don't struggle, Braxton." He inches further forward. "Reach!"

Bandit comes running down the path to the pond swinging the rope in the air as he does. "Lacota! Catch!" He tosses the rope to the squirrel hoping the knot on the end doesn't smack him in the back of the head and grips his end firmly, ready to pull. By now some of the abbey beasts have noticed the commotion, some of the guards are even starting to realize the danger.

Braxton may be a trouble maker, may seem to hate all but he is above all a dibbun still and right now a cold, scared and sobbing dibbun, he reaches towards Lacota best he can and whimpers as some ice cracks and makes him sink since his footpaws were already in the pond, he coughs and panics more as he grabs the ice and somehow manages to get above the ice a little again and shivers even more, he bushes the squirrels finger tips and slowly scoots forwards manages to get a weak grip.

Lacota grips Braxton's paw firmly. "Alright, lad, I've got you." He can't reach the rope yet, so instead he tries to scoot backwards slowly toward the shore, ignoring the sound of more cracking. "I'll get you out of this, Braxton, I promise."

Bandit grits his teeth. Blast, his aim was too short. "Rope's just to your left Lacota!" He shouts. By now a few abbey beasts have gathered around him and sister May. A few otter guards have appeared, the usually sour looking Logan and the heavy set carter. Carter begins to take a step forward and his fellow otter stops him, "No...if we go out there it will only break the ice." Bandit agrees. "Yeah...just be ready to go get them if they fall in." The fox hopes it doesn't come to that. One can still die simply by falling into the fridged water, even if briefly.

Braxton whimpers but decides to trust the squirrel, he shivers as he did fall in for a few secounds but got right back onto the ice, he scooots fowards carefully as Lacota scoots backwards, he sneezes a couple times as he does so.

Lacota continues to scoot backwards extremely slowly. "You're doing great, Braxton, we're almost there. Just a little more." He tries to reach for the rope with his free paw. "I'm not sure how much longer the ice will hold, Bandit...it keeps cracking, but we can't move any faster, or it may all give way.

Bandit shouts back, "Then MOVE you dolt!" The fox gets ready to pull. "Forget about the ice! Just grab the rope!"

Braxton eyes go wide at the may give way but is wise in his young seasons and doesnt panic, he takes a few deep breaths and shivers slightly and moves slowly forwards as Lacota goes backwards, the ice slowly gets thicker as they get nearer and nearer to the shoreline.

Lacota grabs the rope, and scoots back even further, his feet now touching the shore. "Ok, Braxton, I'm going to pull you all the way toward me."

Braxton nods slowly, he still shivers and has a very scared look on his face but seems to trust Lacota to help him the rest of the way to the shoreline, he sneezes and shivers some.

The abbey beasts start to pull the beasts towards the shoreline and safety. "Just a...little farther!" Bandit shouts as the ice where they were begins to crack apart.

Lacota is pulled closer to the shore, gripping Braxton's paw tightly, the cracking sounds getting frightfully louder. "Faster!"

Braxton whimpers, the abbey beasts pulling the rope does manage to get them both to the thicker ice and fianlly to shore and its only then does the dibbun relax some, he shivers some still and sneezes a couple times again.

Flicktail Walks over and offers the Fryer his paw

The fox on the other end of the rope finely collapses as the two are brought to saftey. A shout of cheer raises among the beasts and the squirrel and dibbun are quickly surrounded by concerned abey dwellers.

Flicktail looks at bandit "How kin ya be cold wi all that insulation?

Bandit laughs, "It's all the insulation that's the problem...not the cold." The fox breaths heavily, "Looks like those two are safe. I'm going to go try and find a healer just in case." Bandit picks himself up and trots off to the abbey.

Braxton shivers, he is cold as he is wet from the pond and ice water, he stays lays on teh ground and looks at the varies beasts and frowns.

Flicktail offers braxton his heavy wool cloak