Procurement

In which Slade finds an otter for a vest

Characters: Slade, Charolet, Rueben

The mossflower woods took on a different look after night fell. The woods lost their friendly and colorful appeal. The wind took on a sinister howl as it traveled through the leaves of trees twisted by the darkness of the moonless sky. The clouds were thick, blocking out most of the stars.

The night was warm during the summer months and insects could be heard buzzing about the area. Off in the distance the crack of thunder could be heard, issuing yet another rain storm on the horizon.

Rueben the Lark moves swiftly through the woodlands, glancing occasionally over his shoulder. The bard had noticed, about a mile back, that something, or someone, was following him. At first he thought it was merely his imagination, but as darkness set in and the night lulled on, his imagination mounted into an unstoppable avalanche. The otter's only wish now is to reach home happily and without mishap.

Oh what a horrible thing to be out alone at night in woods such as this with an overactive imagination. The way the trees transform themselves in the dark, becoming tall and gruesome creatures, their branches closely resembling the sound of a rustling in the bushes.

To be perfectly fair, there were quite the number of monsters in the woods these days. Snakes, birds of prey, bandits and beasts that still had too much wild in their heart to live in civilization.

One didn't need to go far to imagine unspeakable horrors with so many dangers lurking about the woods these days.

Like the loud snap of a twig to the otter's left. That at the very least, was not made by the wind

Rueben has never had a heart of steel. That's why he's a bard instead of his father's much prefered choice of a warrior. Singing tales of dastardly bravery is much easier than actually doing them. He stops walking and looks sharply to his left, venturing to say in a squeak of a voice, "Is anyone thar?" He pulls his harp from his back and holds it protectively to his chest; his wide eyes darting from one patch of shadows to another

Only silence replies to the otters question. The wind blowing through the trees comes to a pause. Everything seems to stand still, hinging on this moment in time that seems to stretch on forever. Then 'it' appears.

Where the beast came from is impossible to say. Maybe it was standing behind the bard the whole time, or worse maybe it was just unnaturally quiet. The beast was a scraggly creature with shadows concealing most of its features. At first glance it looks like a fox holding a spear in one paw. In the darkness it appears horribly deformed until it becomes apparent that this is a creature with a fox hide conforming like a cloak around its skinny body

The creature shakes its spear at the otter and hisses loudly. It crouches close to the ground and begins to approach the bard.

The silence consumes Rueben and for a moment and he stands stock still, staring fixedly into the woods. The hiss is what gives away the creature, and Rueben whirls to face it. He gasps and takes a rapid set of steps backwards, "Go away you fiend! Don't come any closer!" He reaches behind him and yanks out his dagger from his belt. Judging by how he holds the weapon, he's used it before.

The beast doesn't seem to notice the otters apparent skills with the blade, or possibly just not care. She raises to her full height, which is still considerably shorter than the otter and waves her spear into the air, hissing loudly as she does. As the beast does she reveals that she gives the otter a glimps of herself under the hood.

It is a squirrel with red fur under the hide of a red fox. Her chest is covered by an almost tribal like bead vest. With her free paw she reaches around under the cloak. It's hard to imagine exactly where the squirrel was keeping the small buckler of a shield, although that is not probibly the first question most beasts ask when they see the skull of a badger decorativly made into a shield with a wooden, leather bound handle made into the base of the bone, just bellow the jaw. The sheild is decorated with bright and colorfull feathers.

Armed with her...unusual choice of weapons the fox like squirrel advances on the otter, thrusting forward with her spear.

Rueben is visibly confused by the creature before him, but he doesn't ponder it long, as the appearance of the badger skull buckler and the use of the spear keep him from over thinking how friendly this squirrel might be. While Rueben knows how to use the dagger, he's still no fighter. He steps back to dodge the thrust, however, he misjudges how far he needs to step and still remains in range of the spear! He takes the tip of the spear to his lower left arm, creating a painful gash, which he tolds tightly to the side of his body. He grits his teeth and starts to move to the side, staying as far away from the creature as he can and hoping against hope he can slip away without anymore trouble.

The squirrel hisses again at the otter. Waves the spear about above her head by its end before bringing it closer to her body. She leaps forward with the spear out stretched. The stone blade of the shaft misses the otter's head by inches, burying itself deep into the bark of the tree.

The hissing immediately stops. She gives the spear an experimental tug. When it doesn't come free she grips it with both paws, even while still holding the shield. She grunts loudly but the spear remains firmly fused with the tree.

Rueben lets out a small squeak of fright and squeezes his eyes shut as the spear comes so close to connecting to his head. However, when no pain explodes from his skull, he opens his eyes to find the spear stuck in the tree! What luck! He pauses for a moment, not entirely sure what to do. Should he kill the squirrel? No, that's much to much work. Plus, killing was never something on his bucket list. He settles for darting off into the woods, running blindly away from the crazy squirrel.

The squirrel chitters an insult as she continues pulling on the spear even as the otter is fleeing. Both feet on the tree she pulls with both paws until the spear comes free with a loud pop. The squirrel lands on her back and quickly rolls to her feet, giving chase with an angry ferral shout.

The otter doesn't have to run for long until the site of a camp fire appears through the trees. There, in the thick of the woods is a small camp fire with a pair of empty sleeping bags. Sitting on a moss covered log next to the fire is a titan of a beast. The burly badger wearing a wide rimmed hat with a feather in it. With the warm night air the badger has his long trench coat hanging from a low hanging tree branch. He prods the fire he made with a long stick and whistles to himself as he does.

Salvation! Rueben catches sight of the camp fire and starts running for it with a passion. By the time he reaches the edge of the fire light, he chest is heaving madly. He staggers towards the badger, one paw outstretched, "Help! -pant pant- Please, you have to help me! -pant pant- Some crazy squirrel is trying to kill me!" He stops walking and puts his paws on his knees, catching his breath.

The badger looks up from the fire with a wide eyed confused look. His gaze narrows though when the otter relates his story. Rubbing his eyes Slade sighs deeply, "I see." Then a large welcoming grin splits the badgers face in half. He stands up, crossing around the fire saying, "Ah, you ran into Charolet. She is ah sneaky beast dat one, she knows how to be blending into the shadows of de woods, she knows how to set de traps, plan de ambushes, and she knows 'des woods like de back of her own paw. But in de end..." the big badger is close now, practically looming over the otter. With a welcoming grin still plastered on his face the badger grabs the otter by the shoulder, going to help him stand up strait. And then stabs forward with a knife drawn so quickly from his belt that it's blur is hardly seen. He thrusts the curved and serrated blade strait towards Rueben's belly. His tone turns less soothing and more...disappointed, "She has yet to learn dat de simplest approach is often de best one."

Rueben eyes widen and he looks up sharply, “Wait, you know her?!” He starts to stand straighter; his eyes darting to the nearest points of escape. However, Slade’s welcoming smile causes his to hesitate a moment to long. Surely someone with such a kindly grin couldn’t have intent of harm, especially a badger, one of the noblest beasties around. Wrong. Oh so wrong. The dagger enters his stomach smoothly and the otter seems to fold up around the blade; sagging to the ground with a drawn out groan of pain.

The badger leans forward, whispering, "Sorry mate...I needed an otter hide and you drew the short straw...ifin it's any consolation though, you will make a fine vest..." IN one swift motion the badger runs the blade upward across the rest of the otter's midriff. He let's the beast fall and steps back. A moment later the squirrel appears from the bushes. She looks from the otter to the badger, "You know the deal, I caught him, you get to do the rest." The squirrel sighs, rolling her eyes. She peers intently at the otter and then back to the badger. Rubbing his eyes Slade waves a paw in the air, "Fine, we can cook him for breakfast. Don't blame me if you have a stomach ache this time..." The badger wanders off to clean his blade while the squirrel draws her own knife. The night was getting late but there was still much work to be done...

Thanks for reading!