Quinten Log 97 - 21 03 2006

Salamandastron: Leaders' Office

• -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Salamandastron *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

This room is obviously and strictly all business. The walls are bare,

except for the occasional military decoration of crossed swords or what

have you, as well as the occasional, dim candle. In the room, there is

an ornately carved, oak desk, behind which rests a comfortable arm

chair. In front of the desk two slightly less comfortable and

straight-backed chairs sit, most likely to keep the occupants on their toes. The

desk is often covered by stacks of papers, sometimes haphazard, and

sometimes neatly placed, depending upon the officer using the room at any

given time.

• -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

All of the last minute preparations for the trip to the abbey are being

prepared, and that does not exclude paperwork. Inventories of supplies

for the trip have been written up, and new rosters for the recruit

classes have been written, to name just a couple of the tasks the Colonel

has done. She looks to be studiously working on a new task, just at the

moment, her head bent as she writes away.

There is a knock at the open doorway, it's quinten standing in his

uniform with a clipboard in one paw and a bag in the other "Colonel, sorry

to interupt but the Major asked me to let you know that we are all

packed and ready to go. Each recruit will be kitted out with full

travelling kit"

Zoe_Lang looks up at the sound of Quinten's entrance, her ears perking

expectantly. She listens to his report and offers a nod. "Thank ya,

Recruit. So, are ya lookin' forward t' the trip?"

Quinten looks up and nods "Yes Ma'am, i've never been on a long trip

with the patrol, nor seen the abbey, i just hope you don't drive us into

the ground by making us march to first, I've even managed to get almost

everything wrapped up before i leave."

Zoe_Lang chuckles at the recruit's enthusiasm, setting down her writing

quill in order to sit back more comfortably in her chair. She folds her

paws over her stomach, smiling. "Aye? Very good, lad. I seem yer sense

of time's improved a great deal since ya first arrived. Good job of it,

lad." She gives an acknowledging nod.

Quinten smiles and salutes happy for the praise "Thanks Ma'am, i don't

think i've been late for anything in months now...though its a shame i

can't finsih the latest life at Sala before i leave"

At mention of his little side venture, the Colonel sits up a bit

straighter. "Well, m'sure you'll be able t' finish it while we're travelin'.

Plenty o' evenings to work with, eh?" Then, thoughtfully, "So, what got

you started on writin' these things, anyway? They seem rathah popular."

Quinten shrugs his shoulders "Aye'm not sure ma'am, i was bored one day

during me free time and started writing and its just kinda run away

from there." he tilts his head and smiles "You think we'll have time to

finish that interview?"

Ooh, /that's/ a good question. She'd just about forgotten they hadn't

finished. She rubs her face, considering for a moment. In the end, after

some silent figuring in which her mouth moves but no sound comes out,

she nods. "I've got time now if ya think you do."

Quinten Smiles and picks up a quill off the desk next to the door "If

your sure ma'am, i only had a few more questions to ask"

Zoe_Lang inclines her bent head in a nod, making a sideways twirling

gesture with a finger; the universal 'yes, let's get on with it' gesture.

She sits up, then, nodding to the seat opposite. "'Tis fine, lad, of

course. There ought always be a record fer the new generation."

Quinten smiles and sits down, placing a fresh sheet of paper on his

clipboard and dips his quill in the ink "Ok Ma'am, well my last question

was Do you have any family? and if so what they are like?"

The question gives her a moment's pause. She smiles, somewhat. "...

Well, aye. Lots o' family, actually. My family goes back in the patrol a

long way. Actually, Majah Jarril'll 'n' I are distantly related, though

we nevah knew it 'til we discovahed the connection in one o' the

journals in the library." She chuckles, then waves a paw dismissively, as if

to say that this is neither here nor there. "Well, let's see. My

parents were in the patrol, but they died shortly aftah I was born. I went t'

live with my Aunt Hannah - she lives a coupla day's journey down the

shore. So m'real family's there - dozens o' relatives, cousins 'n'

cousins' lev'rets. I've also got aniece 'n' nephew, though they're not at the

mountain righ' now." Pause, breathe. "An' then, o'course, m'daughtah

Keita, 'n' Lieutenant Oxeye 'n' Miette." Ahhh, there. Done.

Quinten nods and writes it all down as you speak "I didn't know you and

the Major were family. Nor that you another daughter ma'am, I've heard

of Miette of course but not Keita, what is she like?" he then looks up

"Hey wait, surely not Keita the owner of the tavern in Halyard?"

At Quinten's surprise, the Colonel smiles, looking down with a small

nod. "Aye, the very same. What, ya can't see the family resemblance?" She

chuckles, seeing as how there isn't any, really, save for maybe the

eyes.

Quinten shakes his head "I've never spoken to her Ma'am, only ever been

to Halyard the once and i don't think i'm gonna have chance to go back,

not after what happened" he looks down at his page of writing and nods

"Ok Colonel, i just have a few more questions if you have time for

them?"

Zoe_Lang manages not to smirk at mention of 'what happened'. Instead,

she dips her head in a serious nod, clearing her throat. "Aye, sure. Go

ahead - continue."

Quinten looks down and then up again, peering out the door then back at

her "I should not really be asking you this Colonel, but...well now the

Major has left us, will you be replacing him on the senior staff"

Zoe_Lang's immediate response is a slight furrowing of her brow, and

then the slightest of head shakes whilst she lowers her gaze, busying her

paws with straightening some papers. "You really should /not/ be askin'

that, Recruit," to echo his own words.

Quinten nods and shifts quesions "So ma'am how far will you be coming

with us to Redwall?"

Zoe_Lang gives an approving nod at the shift of questions, and so she

continues, "All the way, lad. I'll be spendin' some short amount o' time

at the abbey t' visit with some old friends o' mine, 'n' to make sure

that you lot're on the righ' track."

Quinten nods and writes that down "Ok ma'am, any idea how many Novices

will be coming back? In Exchange for us?" he smirks "And i bet you

cannot wait, a mountain full of well behaved Redwallers compared to us

rough and ready military recruits"

Zoe_Lang smiles at the question. "Now, Recruit, you ought t' know that

I wouldn't trade the lot o' you fer anyone, no mattah how well

behaved." She chuckles, then, and shrugs. "I haven't any idea how many

Novices'll be returnin'. There're guardians t' be asked 'n' arrangements t' be

made. We'll know bettah once we arrive."

Quinten nods and looks down at a note of his and ten back up "I wanted

to ask Zoe, if they are coming here to train as recruits, how will that

work in regards to the abbey elders dislike of weaponry? I can't see

them being happy with their young ones learning weapory"

Zoe_Lang's eyebrows go up. "Well, lad, I imagine they'll feel just fine

- because the Ordah beasts have no problem with weaponry." She smiles

and lets him think about that one for a moment before relenting with an

explanation. "They're pledged to the Chartah of the Ordah. It says,

aye, that they're t' forsake all unnecesary forms o' violence, but it

/also/ says that in times when the life o' Redwall is threatened by war,

that it is /then/ their duty t' take up arms." She makes an expansive

gesture, "Duly, they'll not be expected t' seek /out/ violence, just as we

don't expect you t' do, but they will be taught t' defend themselves

'n' their kin should the need evah arise. There is nothin' violent about

bein' prepared."

Quinten smirks and lets his ears fall back "Not meant to, aye ma'am,

sorry we wind up in trouble so often." he grins and leans back "Ok ma'am

that answered that question, now i have anoter, How long will we be

there for?"

"Until ya've completed yer trainin' as a Novice, lad." She smiles

slightly, not giving him more information than that. She leans back again,

folding her paws together.

Quinten nods his head and writes that down "Thanks ma'am for that

informative answer" he grins up at her a tad cheekily, "So does this mean

we'll be in habits?"

Zoe_Lang roooolls her eyes and laughs, "Ah spirits, I /hope/ not, lad."

She drops a wink and a grin. "But that'll be up t' the Brothahs 'n'

Sistahs. I imagine you'll still have use o' yer weapons durin' yer recruit

trainin' sessions."

Quinten nods and sighs "Aye ma'am twice the pain, Novice training AND

Recruit training...it'll be rather hard on us..." he looks at his notes

and nods "Well ma'am i think that is more then enough to be going on

with, i'm huappy to round it up there"

Zoe_Lang inclines her head. "Aye, lad, very good then." Her eyes shift

to her paperwork once more, already gearing up to return to it. "We'll

be leavin' in the next few hours, so be ready. Say yer goodbyes if ya

need to."

Quinten salutes "Yes ma'am aye'll go say gudbye to mister Ender"

"There's a good lad," Zoe replies with an approving nod, and when she

glances up to see the recruit, she returns it with one of her own.

"We'll see ya shortly, then." And back down her head goes, paw picking up

quill to return to work.

Quinten salutes and moves out of the room heading off to find the

grumpy old rabbit in his wheelchair

End of Log - For Now - Moving to later that day

Salamandastron: Niche

• -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* Salamandastron *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

You are next to a niche in the side of the mountain, which blocks out

everything to the west with its immense rocky bulk. Just barely

visible is a small fissure in the rock, through which it looks like you could

'enter' the mountain.

• -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The large gathering of hares situated just outside the mountain are

possibly the best example of organized chaos ever. Hares are wandering

about helter-skelter, conversations flowing here and there, but almost all

of them look sharp in their uniforms, with their traveling packs in

order. Even the officers are milling about, chatting about this and that

while they wait for the last group of hares to arrive. And is that them

at the niche now? A line of hares appear, headed up by a major and then

a lieutenant. Zoe smirks, limping toward a low boulder which she climbs

up upon to get some height over the rest. She raises her paws. "...

A'right! We're all here, /finally/," and she glances at the new arrivals.

"You know the drill. Time t' move out!" She watches for a moment as the

officers start their patrols moving, and then jumps down to join a

major or two.

Latchers watches from the Niche, longingly, while he munches a carrot.

Tobias shoulders his pack once again, turning to a fellow fighter in

mock surprise. "I'd have never believed it if Oi hadn't have seen it with

my own two eyes. The Colonel, before one of the biggest marches in a

few seasons, making a speech lasting less than a minute! Phah! What is

the world coming to?" He moves about with the rest of them, the light of

adventure in his eyes.

Jarril is the major that is last to come out from the mountain and as

usual the hare is traveling light. Stopping for a moment he looks about

on the beach and smiles, muttering to himself. "Let's hope I'll see

this place again." He turns around to look for the hares in his patrol

and makes his way over to them.

Flaxpaw waves at the leveret as she joins the others in moving out.

then her eyes start to roam over the crowd, looking for other hares she

knows. one in particualr, but....well, hope springs eternal. Flax turns

her attention back to the moving line, falling in next to a healer

recruit she knows vaguely. she smiles companionable, but keeps silent.

Quinten is stood in line with a bunch of recruits carrying a full pack

and dressed for the journey, his uniform clean and pressed, hears raked

back at a sensible angle. He is just behind Flaxpaw and grins "At least

we are leaving, i can't wait to see what the journey will be like"

Latchers munches the carrot, when it falls out of his hands and rolls

off towards Quinten. He walks over to get it.

Zoe_Lang separates from the majors after a brief conversation, limping

up between the ranks until she glances to the side and sees none other

than Quinten - and Flaxpaw. He grins. "Got that writin' o' yers packed,

Recruit?"

Quinten grins and tips his ears to the Colonel, not seeing Latcher's

carrot as he is moving ahead with the others, away from it and the

mountain "Aye ma'am i've got it packed away, Life on the move, life on route

to Redwall, need a new title for it now"

Latchers stumble son his way to get the carrot, and starts rolling

towards the group like a...well... a fluffy, brown bowling ball.

Flaxpaw reaches down to try to stop the rolling dibbun, attention fully

on him now.

( A concerned look is adopted by Tobias, who (after a few minutes of

marching), taps a Hare in front of him on the shoulder. "You sure this is

the right way, Ol' Chap? I was certain Mossflower was to the West." The

Hare's reply is inaudible, but notably strained, and Tobias stiffens

immediately. "Well, a bit brusque, if you ask me. I wasn't hired as a

Navigator, oh no. My family has long served proudly as fighters, and

that's what I do." )

The patrol of Jarril's has made it to the front as the hare begins to

make sure that he has a few of his runners moving on ahead for scouting

purposes, just as some will be around the sides or behind making sure

no surprises come from there. Keeping quiet, the major is in full alert

mode, having a face that he isn't to be disturbed unless it's official

patrol business.

Zoe_Lang chuckles, dipping her head in an appreciative nod. "Aye, well,

don't forget that we're leavin' the mountain behind, but not the

Patrol. Aye? Life on Patrol, eh?" She grins and shrugs, then glances down in

surprise as Flaxpaw reaches down to stop a rolling ball of fur.

Latchers misses Flaxpaw and goes carrening towards the Colonel.

Quinten smiles happily and darts around Flaxpaw as she stops to catch

the dibbun, still running along with the Colonel, getting further from

the mountain as they move out. "Good idea ma'am thanks" he smiles at her

happily, he has a new name now for his work and is moving away from the

mountain

Flaxpaw carries on running with the rest, someone will look after the

dibbun. off to a good start on the trip.

Taking the patrol in his stride, this being many patrols, Jarril looks

on ahead and see's the signs from the far up ahead scouters that it's

still clear and relaxes just a tiny bit.

Tobias waves a paw at the Recruits, raising his voice only slightly,

"Stir your stumps lads and lasses, you'll thank me when you've the hearth

fires of Redwall Abbey and a hot meal to attend to!" Tobias is rather

short, and his strides must increase to match those of others, but he

shows no sign of difficulty.

"Welcome, a'course." It's then that she sees Flaxpaw miss the rolling

dibbun, and she bends down, quickly reaching out to snatch the small

leveret up. "'Ey, there!" She grins.

Quinten chuckles and slows down as the Colonel grabs the dibbun "We

seem to have a stow away ma'am, want me to run him back to the niche?" he

then glances at Tobias and grins at him, he may be short but Quinten is

the shortest of them all,"

Latchers says, "Hewo, Kerno Mam!"

"Why hullo there, young lad," the Colonel replies with a smile, halting

her steps for a moment. "You lookin' to join the perilous hares on

patrol or somethin'?" She holds up a stalling finger to Quinten, for the

moment.

Latchers nods. "I wanna basha vomin inna 'ead!"

Tobias calls toward the front of the Patrol, "I say, Colonel Ma'am, I

believe he's enlisting for Patrol duty. I have an extra spear he can

borrow!"

Quinten comes to a halt and waits at-ease just ahead of the colonel,

watching the others move ahead of them. "Oh hooo we have a right perilous

hare here ma'am" he smiles at the young one.

Latchers giggles, and digs a carrot out of his shirt, and brandishes it

like a sword.

Zoe_Lang chuckles, ruffling the fur between the leveret's ears. "An'

one day you'll get t' do jus' that, m'sure! But fer /now/," she says with

understanding regret, "Why doncha stay at the mountain 'n' be here t'

show us the way when we return, eh?"

Latchers makes a salute with the hand the carrot is in. "Yes mam!"

Quinten smiles softly and nods to the little one "Aye you have a new

friend to meet, Benar is his name, he's a squirrel about your age."

Tobias gives a joking grumble. "Ma'am! That's not fair, now I have to

carry this dratted thing all the way to Redwall! Dereliction of duty, I

say!" Appearing insulted, he maintains the swift pace of the Patrol.

Latchers says, "Reawwy?"

Zoe_Lang bobs her head in a nod, setting the toddler down onto the

ground with a smile. Her ears twitch forward toward Tobias with an amused

chuckle, but for the moment she doesn't respond whilst she pats Latchers

on the head. "You go on, then. Some of us'll be back in a moon 'r two.

Be ready fer us, a'right?"

Latchers nods, and heads back towards the Niche.

Quinten smiles and waves goodbye to the leveret "See you soon little

chum, i'll bring you something back from Redwall"

Latchers asks, "What'll ya bwing me back?"

You say, "You'll see""

Zoe_Lang looks from Latchers to Quinten, starting to slowly step after

the patrol. For the moment, though, she keeps herself turned toward the

two. "Keep everyone on their toes fer me, lad!" And with that, she

turns, starting to pick up pace to catch up with the others.

Latchers nods.

Quinten smiles and salutes latcher and then heads off after the

colonel, pack jolting as he moves ahead to catch up to her, jogging alongside

her after a few moments "He was a nice little one"

Zoe_Lang mm-hms her reply, keeping her eyes forward until she's fallen

back into step with the other hares. Only then does she glance to the

side at Quinten, nodding. "Aye. He'll make a good Patrollah one o' these

days." She looks about to say something further, but just then one of

the majors, jogging back to have a word with her, appears. She sends an

apologetic look to Quinten and gives a salute, moving off with the

major as their voices drop into the usual 'officer talk' murmur.

In a room page-pose, Zoe_Lang must away to figure what to cook. ;) I'll

be back for some RPage sometime later. ;)

Quinten nods understandingly and heads off to catch up with the rest of

the recruits, falling into steps with them

Latchers disappears into the Niche.

Western Shore

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shore ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pale blue sky meets glassy green as you look out over the ocean to the

west. Gentle waves lap at the sand you stand upon. The sea is calm, and

so is the overall aura of the beach. A cool, salty breeze whisks

through and is gone as suddenly as it came. The distant cry of a gull, the

splash of a fish, and suddenly, all is still again.

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End Log -