Out In The Storm
( Streamheart heads out in an Ice and Snow storm to look for the missing Starlight and it doesn't end too well)
Starts in the Redwall Abbey entry, Then the dirt road and woods and back to the abbey, involved in this is Oz,Bandit,Zinnia,Streamheart,Npc Guards, an NPC ferret named Patch..enjoy!
Streamheart has on a thick cloak with a hood and starts to head to the exit; she shivers at the cold rain that has some ice balls forming in it now.
Oz frowns, he can't see but he knows this weather is not good, he speaks with a guard when one notices Streamheart, "I would wait to go out in this, looks like going to get worse" Oz frowns "Great...then it is winter guess”
Streamheart blinks, "I don't care..I have to go out, I have a bad feeling Starlight is out there, she is NOT in the abbey nowhere and I have not seen her for 2 days now."
Having finished his exercises in the training yard, yes, don't looked so shocked. The fox DOES exercises on occasion...every now and then...Bandit the fox is walking along the exit when he catches Streamheart out of the corner of his eye, Bandit continues to walk on but pauses. He takes a heavy sigh and decides to see what is going on. "Howdy Streamheart where do you think your going out in a storm like this?"
Oz steps closer , "Starlight was not with Lee? Sister May thought she was" He leans on his staff.
Zinnia looks around and sighs, she hates winter, she arches an eyebrow at the missing dibbun and listens for now.
Streamheart looks at Bandit, "Yes I won’t go far, but need to look before it gets worse, I will be fine"
The fox looks at the weather and then gives the otter a disbelieving look, "Not alone you are not. And what's this about Star being missing? When did she go missing?"
Streamheart says, "She went missing a couple days ago, I am worried about her"
Zinnia speaks up "A little otter dibbun?"
Oz sighs, "If there is a storm coming, be it ice or snow it won’t be good to go out in, I got caught in a blizzard couple winters ago that was not fun" He tilts his head remembering Zinnia's voice from before.
Streamheart looks hopeful, "Yes yes...please did you see her? She is just a dibbun and normally wouldn’t go with anyone, let alone outside" She describes the otter dibbun to the badger maid.
Zinnia listens carefully" Yeah, may of seen her but I don't know which way she was taken." Yes she said taken, "Or maybe she was not taken and was just upset, she was with some cat and a weasel, but then I didn’t see where they went as two rats and the other cat attacked me, they were gone once I was helped and nowhere in sight."
Oz walks towards where he believes Zinnia is, "What did the cat look like, details are good" He doesn’t look at right at her, sort of off to the side or seems he is looking off to the side.
Bandit pauses as he listens in on this. He feels his eye twitch. "Bleedin heck." The fox says as he shakes his head. "Streamheart, wait here until I get back, I'm going to grab my sword, when I get back I want to know where you saw this otter dibbun was 'taken'." The very fat vulpine walks off to the guard shack muttering something about 'crazy woodlander always getting into trouble...'
Streamheart was feeling ill and now she feels more ill, she looks ready to barf but takes a deep breath and frowns, "No...no..she could of been.." Ok she said cat not fox so that’s good, or seems good, "I am going out to look" A strong wind blows about then as she pays it no mind, her mind is made up and she heads out to the road as the rain starts to get a mix of icy stuff.
Zinnia frowns, "I.." she looks at Oz and peers at him, a small gasp is let out but otherwise, "Well can give guards or another an idea. A black furred cat, but she was with another female black and white cat with a longbow" She frowns at the icy rain and seems like she rather duck back into the cottage.
Oz hears the gasp, "Something wrong, besides the weather and Streamheart stay please" He doesn’t see his question is too late, she left already, he shivers a little himself as another cold blast of air hits.
Zinnia answers, "You’re...blind, I had an idea in the infirm earlier, it’s why you carry the staff isn’t it?"
Bandit returns with his sword tied to the belt of his pudgy waist line. "Where is Streamheart?" The fox asks then rolls his eyes, "Don't you beasts ever know how to listen!" The fox stomps off toward the gate stopping in front of a guard, "You, I need your cloak." The hare looks at the fox like he's crazy, "And why on earth would I..." Bandit glares at the hare, growling at him as he does, the hare gulps and hands over his cloak. "Thanks," turning back to Oz as he throws the cloak over his shoulders Bandit says, "Ozzy, do me a favor and get a search party ready. If Star is out in this we need to find her. I'm going after Streamheart before she gets herself into some kind of trouble." The fox turns again and marches out the gate after the otter.
Streamheart is already on the road, slushy stuff is in places where it rained earlier and now its freezing some as temperatures drop, she frowns and holds her head as this weather makes her feel worse but she walks onwards and looks for clues or tracks, she is failing and feeling worse from stress and whatever else is making her feel like she wants to barf, in fact she does but she doesn’t stop walking...and walking.
Oz nods "Yes I have been a few weeks now, fully now..had been slowly losing vision for a season now it’s..." He listens to Bandit and nods "Good idea, and need to make sure beasts that don’t need out get inside" He calls over a guard to help him look and another he has get a couple other guards together to look for the otter dibbun starlight.
Zinnia frowns not that he can see that, "I didn’t mean to try and get the staff from you earlier I was..I tend to panic when beasts suddenly go towards me and they said restrains and..sort of lost it, wouldn't of been good if got the staff from you trust me"
Somewhere behind the otter Bandit is calling out Streamheart's name. When that doesn't work the fox curses before dropping to the ground. He sniffs at the air then heads off in the realitive direction of the walking otter. "BLeedin Redwallers are going to get me killed one day..."
Oz nods "Your forgiven Zinnia, now get back inside." He heads inside with a guard and calls over Sister May to also help, luckily not many are outside as it was just after dinner so they are inside and the rain earlier made it soggy then, he sighs the two guards can help find the missing Starlight, the third can help make sure no one else is out in this weather and maybe help make sure a warm fire is in the fireplace as well.
Streamheart is walking ahead of the fox, she has been out for maybe 15 minutes and shivers, "Starlight!" Yeah like that was a good idea, she frowns as she sees no tracks or clues and the wind is strong now, she coughs and looks to head back but is slightly turned around some as to the right path.
Zinnia gets inside as she hopes anyone else and that dibbun is ok, she fears it’s the same one she saw but is unsure.
Streamheart gets further, a lone ferret is also out in this, probably separated from his group or just ill luck, he cusses loudly and sees the otter maid, she frowns.
The ferret is bad news, he DID get separated from the others, he grins as he sees the otter maid , "Are we alone. All alone.WHAO!" He slips on the ice and cusses more.
Bandit is struggling in the weather. Cloak wrapped tightly around his body. "Blast it Stream heart...where ARE you." He sniffs the air and his eyes widen. "I...I lost her scent..." No, how is this possible? How can he lose her scent in only a simple ice storm! The fox is becoming frantic. He does NOT want to be the one to tell Lee his daughter AND wife have gone missing.
Streamheart sees the ferret and frowns, she picks up a rock and throws it at the ferret, she coughs again and sniffs, her cloak is thick but the wind is bad.
The ferret is hit on the ear with the rock, "Hey..no fair, Aster gonna like you, your full of spunk!" He goes to rush over to the otter and finds ice and falls sideways back onto the road, he gets out a dagger and goes to throw it at the otter maid.
Streamheart gasps, she is not a fighter and never was, the dagger misses anything vital but does sink into her lower leg and causes her to not be able to run as fast, on top of cold wind and icy rain its slippery and wet outside and she shivers, she coughs roughly and groans as she limps and then falls onto the path, she crawls towards a hollowed out tree and shivers badly, she looks at the dagger and frowns, it hurts and she is unsure how to remove it, she tries to pull and her energy level is down so it stays for now, but she will bleed less.
The ferret grins when he hits the otter maid, but loses sight of her when she falls and crawls off, "Come out come out...I won’t hurt you..much, I can take you to other woodies..and your be slaves together..." He yells "COME OUT NOW!"
Bandit's ears perk at the sound carried through the wind. His head snaps to the left. "Streamheart?" no...this does not sound like stream heart. Reguardless of who it is Bandit darts off to his left, trying to locate the source of the outburst.
Streamheart is in the hollowed out tree trunk thing and keeping from most of the icy mix, she coughs and pulls her cloak closer around her.
The ferret looks around "Come out otter, come on...Patch won’t hurt ya..just give ya to Aster, I don’t have all night come oh its bloody cold"
Bandit comes running around the bend. He skids to a halt once he lays eyes on the ferret. The fox can't help but blink in surprise at this unusual discovery, "What in the blazes are you doing?" He asks simply. Then bandit's nose catches the scent of fresh blood in the air and Streamheart's scent. The fox's look turns from confusion into a fierce scowl. "Where is the otter."
Streamheart stays where she is, one it’s very windy and two her leg hurts badly and well she is ill, more so now.
The ferret know as Patch glares at the fox, "She is my slave, once find her for Aster so step away and.." Ok he has no clue she is real close, "She is mine"
The fox can't believe what he is hearing. Of all the places to get into a fight he never expected it to be here. Then again, maybe he did. The fox goes for the sword at his side, "Old Rusty" he calls it. A curved rapier salvaged from the confines of the guard shack almost a season ago. He keeps his paw rested on the hilt but doesn’t draw it yet. "No. She is not 'yours'. She is my friend. If you want to go home to your friends tonight I recommend you walk away. Right. Now." He doubts this will work. After all bandit must appear like a big fat fluffy wood lander fox to the ferret. And his kind never seem to get the hint. Well, at least he tried.
Streamheart stays in her hollowed out tree, it helps some, she can hear words but not so sure what they are, she slowly sits down and frowns.
The ferret goes to charge the fat fox, "A friend of a woodie, that’s sick...or ya just want her as a slave" He swings at the fox with a cutlass he has and is a little off balance as he was never taught to fight in a storm.
Reflexes take over and muscles buried under a near season of overeating and drinking force the fox to draw his own blade before he even realizes it. Bandit parries the thrust, then slashes at the ferret, aiming for his stomach.
The ferret was expecting an easy kill, but gets a shock and an escaped gasp as he looks down at a deep slash wound to the stomach area, he steps backwards and still looks in shock, he recovers a little and swings at the fox again, probably missing.
Streamheart blinks and groans weakly, she is maybe going to pass out and is too cold to yell out for help, then again she rather not let the ferret know she is nearby.
The fox is more than surprised when the ferret is still standing. He'll give the ferret credit for his endurance. He blocks in time to keep the enemy blade from killing him but the edge still catches him on the arm. "Blast it..."
The ferret goes to swing again and slips on the icy path, he ends up cracking a couple ribs and an arm, he breaths in and out and would stand but is losing blood and soon his life as well.
Streamheart frowns at as the sounds of fighting become less, she is going to pass out but at least she is alive, unlike the ferret it seems.
Bandit is on the ferret as soon as he is on the ground. He raises the blade high and swings. The fox manages to stop his rapier only a few inches from the ferret’s throat. He breaths heavily until his old pirate ways finely subside. Taking a step back he watches the ferret pass away. "I...I'm sorry..."
The ferret is dead on the road
Streamheart is barely awake, the winds lessen a little but all the ice and some snow remain, she groans from the hollowed tree she took shelter in.
Bandit can only stare at the ferret before him. He watches the lifeless form of Patch until he remembers why he is out here, "Streamheart..." he breaths then shouts "Streamheart!" That ferret was after someone...and he found the scent of blood BEFORE killing Patch. "Streamheart!" the fox shouts, even more desperate this time while looking for the lost otter.
Streamheart opens her eyes more as she hears the fox and coughs, she groans she feels ill and now more so, she tries to call out and only lets out a sort of cough, she tries to stand and falls forwards.
Bandit scoures the road and the forest around it. He pulls at his ears when he can't find the otter right away. He can imagine, vividly, having to tell Lee that his wife and daughter may be kidnapped, missing in a storm, or killed for no reason. His arm stings where the blade kissed him but he is so full of adrenaline and fear he can hardly pay it any mind right now. Then the fox catches a glimpse of the otters cloak in the snow. "Streamheart!" The pudgy fox rushes to her side, sliding across an ice patch as he does but righting himself quickly enough. He comes to her side, "Blast it all..." Scooping the otter up in his arms he carries the otter back, back in the direction of Redwall.
Streamheart weakly starts to panic and sees Bandit, she groans and luck is on his side as she has no energy to barf on him, she shivers and allows herself to pass out.
