In the Garden
In Redwall Abbey's Great Hall...
Leon has been helping in the kitchen today some and seemly busy, or least was busy.
DoraRose has been outside for most of the day. She now slowly and quietly opens the main doors, entering the Great Hall.
Leon nods to a novice as he holds a basket, "Thanks " he says quietly, he has yet to notice Dorarose.
DoraRose smiles a small smile at the sound of Leon's voice. She walks quietly over, looking curiously at the basket, but as of yet she stays silent.
Leon turns and about walks into Dorarose, "Oh sorry I.." He then sees her and smiles a little "Hello Dorarose...how are you doing?"
DoraRose's smile widens as she answers, with a happy laugh in her voice, "I am well, thank you. And you?"
Leon holds the basket, "I am fine, just getting together this..basket for something and see was about to look for you but if your busy it can wait"
DoraRose raises an eyebrow, but keeps her smile. "Oh, no, I'm not busy at all. I'm more than willing to help."
Leon seems unsure of what to say "Umm, well you could help but not really something to help with its mainly a...question to ask, me to ask you."
DoraRose nods, gazing into the other mouse's eyes with her ever-present smile. "Ok. What is it?"
Leon blinks and starts to stutter a little "I..I..wanted if you umm..." He stops and tries to relax some before speaking again, "If you would like to go on a picnic lunch, with me, in the rose garden today..here soon, if not its ok, just a simple lunch of some coridal and there is cheese,sliced fruit,some salad and some scones."
DoraRose blushes and glances away, then turns back, looks Leon in the eye... and nods. "That sounds nice."
Leon looks worried at first when she looks away and starts to frown, when she says yes however he smiles, "Ok then, I guess to the rose garden then."
DoraRose nods again. "Indeed." here she pauses, her smile fadeing slightly as she adds, "I'm not sure where that is."
Leon says, "Its off the open ground area."
And off they go...
RW Abbey: Late Rose Garden
The Rose garden offers solitude and peace from every-day life of the abbey. A feeling of tranquility is presented through the roses and the open area that seems to flow over everything around.
Buds stud the plants along with greenery that shows through the last remnants of icicles that simplly /won't/ leave. The last vestige of the winter snow has long since melted from the trainquil little spot -- seeing as it's a popular place for young couples it's no wonder that the new carpet of grass under foot is now trampled flat. As it matures it will come back, but for now, it can remain flat. The little buds are already showing their colors, even a few of the early-bloomers beginning to come out and open up. A lovely place to represent spring, no?
Exits: [O]pen [G]round
Leon carries the basket and sits it down, he lays out a blanket and flattens it out nicely,its a simple off white blanket, he then sits out the lunch he mnetioned ealier and smiles, he looks over his shoulder to see is she did follow or not.
DoraRose did indeed follow, and she is now looking around with a peacful look on her face. Holding 1 of the rosebuds in her paw, she gazes at the ancient plant and whispers, "It's beautiful."
Leon smiles "Yes its the garden of the late rose, named after Martin the warrior's first and only love, think supposed to of been grown from a plant where she used to live ummm....noonvale,yes that was it"
DoraRose frowns slightly as a shadow of --memory?-- passes over her face. Shaking herself, her smile returns and she sits on the blanket, gazing around her. "Didn't she die?"
Leon lays a paw on her shoulder "You alright? and yeah..she died but we dont need to talk of....let's just enjoy a picnic with a..friend"
DoraRose turns her sunny smile to Leon. "Yes, I'm fine. I don't mind talking about that." she turns and goes to lift the cloth from the basket. "What's for lunch... or tea, or whatever."
Leon chuckles, "Sliced fruit, there is cherry cordial, some bread and cheese, blueberry and honey scones, also some water and a salad..simple lunch"
DoraRose takes the cloth from off the basket and digs out a blueberry scone. She begins to nibble on it as she digs out more food. Opening the cherry cordial, she sniffs it and wrinkles her nose. "Does this have alchohol?"
Leon shakes his head "No, codrial doesnt usually, there is also water if you rather have that, Dorarose." He smiles as he says her name and gets a scone himself and takes a bite, he watches her and takes a quick glace around before foucusing on her again.
DoraRose closes the cordial and takes out the water instead. Sipping some, she takes a peice of chees and nibbles it, too. "Do you mind my asking where you're from?" she casts a quick smile at him, then continues fiddling with the food and drink.
Leon smiles "Sure, I am from eastern Mossflower, by a stream."
DoraRose looks at him, a slightly incredulous smile on her face. "Were you ever on the Eastern Plains? That's my home -- those of us that live there know it as Tuscani."
Leon shakes his head, "No, didn't live that far, close maybe, I am guessing its a nice place."
DoraRose has fineshed her scone and gets another. Her smile is now slightly malencholy as she answers, "Oh, some aspects are nice -- like the eternal breeze, and the larks. But it is also full of evil. I guess everyplace is, it's just some places hide it better. Slavery is legal there. My father hated it, but he couldn't do a thing about it."
Leon frowns "Well slavery is frowned upon here and always will be, no wonder you wanted to leave."
DoraRose squashes her scone, a fire burning in her eyes. She looks at the crumbs in her paw. "I didn't want to leave. I'm following the fox named Stormfeather because he murdured my sister." Good heavens! Is she going to cry?
Leon listens, he watches her mash the scone and frowns, he takes a sip of coiral after pouring some and a bite of sliced pear, "Umm...I be careful, could be dangerous to follow him and.."
DoraRose turns to Leon, all trace of a smile gone, anger, bitterness, and a deep pain in her eyes. "I don't care! I'm not going to stop until he's dead!" And she is now crying.
Leon forgets about the rest of his scone and sits it down, "But what if...if you end up dead? What then?" He goes to hug her if she allows it.
DoraRose would normaly allow a hug, but she is in terrible pain and a great, burning anger. She doesn't fight it, but neither does she seem open to it. "I will not die. I swore an oath on my sister's spilled blood and upon my sword. I will not die, nor rest, nor stop, until he is dead." She is almost sobbing...almost, but not quite.
Leon still gently hugs her, "You need to relax, your stress yourself out and could make yourself ill, others will help you find whoever it is but, they could be anywhere right now."
DoraRose wipes her eyes. Stupid tears. Stupid, stupid tears. "But it's been so long... it's almost been 4 seasons. An...and if anyone helps me, they...they'll get hurt..." And the tears are still coming.
Leon sighs, he tries his best to help her feel better, "I...be willing to help, somehow, I don't want to see you hurt..I.." He pauses and goes on, "Your my friend."
DoraRose nods and breaks down in heart-rending sobs. She leans against Leon's shoulder, her face buried in her paws.
Leon frowns, he pats her on the back and speaks softly, "It's alright, it's ok....don't cry."
DoraRose has a good, long cry. Soon she is no longer sobbing so violently, although tears are still flowing down her cheeks. Stupid tears. Stupid heart. Why did the heart have to feel anything?
Leon has been quiet, just being there for her and offering a shoulder to cry on, he looks around and back to her,he looks worried but doesn't say anything.
DoraRose finally seems to be in control of herself again. She sits up, wiping tears from her eyes. She looks embarassed as she says, "Thanks..." noticing Leon's worried look, she quickly adds, "What's wrong?"
Leon answers, "I was worried about you, that's all...I.." he stops and sighs, he offers a smile "You ok now?"
DoraRose nods, still wiping away tears. "Yeah, I think so." she sighs also, then returns his smile. "I think I'm OK." she tosses her former scone into the grass and get another.
Leon smiles "I am glad that your ok now, hate to see a friend upset and your a....very good friend to me and." He stops again "And well...you are a friend" He repeats and looks at the ground, he gets some cheese and bread,nibbleing it and sips a little coridal.
DoraRose seems to be sharing his akwardness. She sips her water and nibbles her scone, looking at the sky. Without looking at Leon, she asks "If you had to tell someone the most important thing in the world, but you couldn't figure out how, or you knew they wouldn't believe it, what would you do?"
Leon shrugs, "Not sure, guess would depend on what it was they needed to hear and why wouldn't they believe it?"
DoraRose shrugs also, then turns and looks Leon in the eye. "It's a question 1 of my father's clients asked my siblings and me once. My sister, LilyMoore, appearantly got the right answer. She said, 'I'd try.' That made the old otter very pleased." she doesn't really seem sad as she says this.
Leon looks confused, "Ummm, try and what?"
DoraRose smiles. "Try your hardest and tell them." she looks away and eats her scone. But at least she's smiling again.
Leon blinks and nods "Oh tell them the important thing, I see."
DoraRose nods. "Yes... the important thing." she seems to be hungry all of a sudden. She begins to dish up salad. "Want some, Leon?" her smile is back to its sunny self, as if nothing had happened.
Leon blinks, he smiles "Sure salad is good, I'll have some Dorarose." He keeps a smile.
DoraRose hands him a plate of salad, then picks up her own and begins to eat. She looks at the rosebush and asks, "What happened to Martin after LateRose died?"
Leon eats some salad, "He wandered south and came to Mossflower, he helped free slaves of a wildcat,forgot her name but he and her fought,he won and soon afterwards he helped build Redwall Abbey, a safe home for beasts to live in peace."
DoraRose eats more salad. "He must've been a great warrior. Did he have a weapon?" Of course the warrior would ask about a weapon.
Leon nods "Yes a sword, made out of a star that fell from the sky, it's still around, the sword that is."
DoraRose looks surprised. "A fallen star? I thought they were only myths." She eats another bite of salad, then adds, "Where is the sword now?"
Leon listens and nods, "The sword was passed down from champion to champion of Redwall threwout all these seasons."
DoraRose cocks her head slightly. You can almost /see/ her mind at work. "So, Flicktail has the sword now?"
Leon nods, he then tilts his head, "Why?" he asks after a moment, "He is the champion of Redwall after all."
DoraRose smiles and looks at her plate. "My father is the greatest weapons-smith in all of Tuscani. I would love to be able to tell him about it."
Leon says, "Oh, well maybe one day your see your father again."
DoraRose nods. "I plan to. I will go back home when I... finesh my quest, and my parents shall be able to live in peace, knowing justice has been served. And I would be free to live wherever I chose, instead of wandering from place to place." she looks into Leons' eyes, adding "He would love to hear about a sword made from a fallen star."
Leon frowns some "You would leave here and....go home, but..." He watches her.
DoraRose smiles kindly, fineshing his sentence. "But I will most likely come back." She keeps his gaze for a moment longer, then returns to eating the remains of her salad.
Leon looks relieved at this, "Thats good cause I was worried for a moment cause I.." He stands and spills his coridal all over his shirt and eeps, he goes to clean it, "I..ca..car..ummm...abou..errrr..." He frowns and shakes his head, he backs into one of the bushes and eeps again, about three thorns in his leg,he grits his teeth, "Ouchie...s...soory I...ohhhhhhh"He then decides he is just making himself look dumb and rushes off.
DoraRose stands when Leon did, an alarmed look on her face as he backs into the bush. She takes a step forward to help, but he rushes off before she could. "Leon! Leon, wait!" she takes a few steps after him then stops, watching him go. "/Leon.../" she whispers, placing her paw over her heart. Her stupid heart. Why did it have to feel anything other than hate?
