SPLOOSH! Pop goes the fox and not again!

The sun is getting lower in the sky but it is still far from setting, a slight chill wind blows the smells of all of the ripe fruits that have been harvested from the orchards all around the abbey. Strolling by the pond comes a mouse baring a book held flat in one paw and a stick of charcoal in the other, spread over the top of the book is a sheet of relatively clear parchment. On the parchment there appears to be a rough tracery of of the abbey, very similar to the one that he had been working on the other night. Ilari appears to be only somewhat aware of his surroundings as he adds small things to the drawing, he is moving at a rather slow pace in a none to certain direction, maybe towards the gatehouse?

At first the area seems empty, and the coat, sash, and wooden sword strewn on the ground seem abandoned. But if any beast were observant, they'd notice that the surface of the pond is covered in ripples, though for once the autumn air is relatively still. Then suddenly, a hare appears! Rue bobs to the surface some way out, her head fur undone and hanging in sopping waves around her shoulders like seaweed.

Amarro isn't actually in the pond area yet but is headed that direction from the orchards where she's been admiring the changing color of the leaves on the fruit trees. She appears relaxed and her usual neutral expression is still that: neutral. She ambles out of the foliage, paws clasped behind her back and strides short and unhurried, anticipating a mug of tea and perhaps a hot scone from the kitchens.

Hood raised against the chill, Asgerdr descends the wall top nearest the pond. She appears to be in no great hurry, stumping down the steps with paws stuffed into the pockets of her long coat and eyes gazing up at the abbey. A strange expression is stretched across her features at the moment, somewhere between awe and...incredulity? By accident rather than purpose her feet carry her towards the pond.

Another beautiful day in the abbey where the sun is shining even as it sets, the beasts are happy, and the food is nearly constantly being eaten yet never seems to run out. It makes Caddock /sick/! Seeing all this indulgence after living in the North lands is nothing short of awe-inspiring grotesque, and Caddock is all too eager to escape outside after a very hurried dinner. Continuing the tour he'd been giving himself of the abbey earlier, he walks through the grounds and takes a look at what the high walls must look like to a defender, rather than an invader. Shaking his head at the sight, his eyes alight on Ilari, and remembering the rather nasty insult that was thrown at his back the previous night, the fox stalks over, his boots not making any noise at all on the soft grass as he approaches Ilari. Soon he's behind him, and he leans over the mouse and stares down at him, letting Ilari sit in his shadow. With a voice drenched in syrupy-sweet scorn, Caddock speaks, "Well /hello/ there, mousey

"Well /hello/ there, mousey! Starting a new drawing? That's nice. By the way, what was it you called me last night? Oh yes... 'fat bottomed, duster tailed, slop faced, excuse for a toad's uncle'. Did I miss anything?"

Blissfully unaware of all of the other beasts movements Ilari continues his on his little weaving pat until shadow covers his work, the mouse starts to move away, until he hears the one voice that he really didn't want to hear. As the mouse turns slowly to look up at the fox his face sets into a frozen look of utter horror, especially as the insult he had thrown at the foxes back the other night is repeated. Now starts the stammering " I-I... y-yy-yes? y-yo-you f-f-f-for-forgot u-u-ugly. " and there ends the mouses small amount of courage as he starts to tremble in the shadow of the fox.

Once she has once more refilled her lungs, Rue lays her ears flat against her head, hearing the sly tones of Caddock, and sinks down so that her eyes are /just/ above the water line. Jeez, just listening to him talk that way could give you diabetes. Her one eye glints as she stares at the fox, then noticing the other two approaching from her unique vantage point. The triumph of feeling invisible is overshadowed as suddenly her privacy is infringed upon. Can't a beast take a swim without any beast pestering her?

Amarro tips her ears back and sighs audibly when she spots the fox bothering Ilari. Again. The squirrel knows she should get involved and resigns herself to doing so but she'll wait a few moments to see what actually happens. Besides, it could turn out to be nothing. The soft crunching noises she'd been making with her foot paws stop as she draws to a halt, arms folded across her chest, observing.

The sound of Caddock's incensed voice is enough to knock Asgerdr's head back down to earth. Her gaze is drawn to the mouse and the otter fur wearing vulpine, and the sight of the pair causes a humorous twinge to pull at the side of her lips. She sidles up closer to them, just close enough to overhear their conversation without thrusting herself in the middle of whatever con-fab they're engaged in.

At Ilari's surprising boldness, the fox's simpering grin becomes a bit more strained, then seems to reassert itself as he gains control, the corner of his untorn cheek turning up, and the torn cheek somehow becoming even more gruesomely smile-like. It's not a very pleasant look to bear on one's face at all, but all things considered, it fits the fox rather well. Caddock lets out a short laugh that sounds almost genuine. "Yes, ugly. I did forget that, didn't I?" The saccharine tone somehow becomes even more grotesque, as though Caddock is talking to a particularly unintelligent or young dibbun. But quick as a flash and without warning, the fox reaches down with both paws, intending to grab Ilari under his arms and haul him up into the air and off his feet.

Ilari quakes more and more as he sees the reaction of his words on the foxes face, the mouse can't help but wonder what made him say that or that now things can only get worse. And here comes the worse, in the form of any fox paws. As Caddock's paws descend upon Ilari the mouse reacts true to any bookish nerd, he freezes. At least until the paws grab on to him, then up come Ilari's arms, swinging the book about and sending his parchment drifting off in the breeze as he stammers " S-s-s-ss-stop! pu-p-pp-put m-m-me d-down! " Of course now the fox will have to deal with a struggling mouse in an over sized tunic that seems to be going everywhere at once. To add to everything else the charcoal stick in the mouses paw gets broken as he flails about and adds some charcoal dust to the proceedings.

Well, this is an interesting turn of events. A stream of bubbles erupts from Rue's mouth, whether do to laughing or cursing, it's hard to tell, her furrowed brow a lot less expressive these days with only half the ordinary amount of eyes. She bobs up quickly to grab another mouthful of air and then sinks back down, slowly treading closer to the shore, all the better to see the proceedings. Sure, she won't miss an opportunity to antagonize vermin, but she feels no real camaraderie with Ilari, so for now, she does nothing to help. Just like he did last night.

"Hey!" Amarro does the first thing that comes to mind and races across the small expanse separating her from the fox and mouse. Upon reaching them she quickly draws her fist back level with her eyes and sends a punch flying at the fox's face. She's just about had /enough/ of this vermin and she doesn't care if violence shouldn't be the answer. "You drop him /right now/!"

With things heating up as they are, one would assume that a perfectly sane vermin such as Asgerdr would be riveted by the displays of violence, and indeed she most certainly is. "My, my..." she murmurs to herself, retrieving a flash from inside her coat and knocking back a swig of its contents with a grimace. "If only we had dinner to go with the show."

The first time one of Ilari's flailing, though light, limbs whacks Caddock in the face, the fox learns his lesson and holds him out at arm's length, and is rather pleased to find this helps with the over sized robe problem as well. Though even as he's assaulting Ilari, he can't help but wonder just /why/ the abbey's robes never seem to fit anyone. With long, fast strides, the fox begins to walk towards the the pond, only to be accosted by Amarro. The blow thwacks him on the side of his muzzle, and stuns him for a moment, though the fox recovers fairly quickly. He spits out a gob of red spit, his sharp teeth having gashed open his lip rather nicely, then shrugs to Amarro, his voice dangerously level and calm. "You want me to put him down? Fine. As you wish, squirrel." The fox's arms pull back and he sweeps the mouse to the side of his body, then with a fierce growl and a throw that would have impressed a Long Patrol javelineer, Caddock releases the mouse, sending him sailing through the air and into the pond. Splash!

Ilari continues to struggle as best a small mouse can, until he is held away from the fox. Now with out anything to really push off of or any real leverage the mouse squeaks with dismay. As Amarro arrives on the scene Ilari has a small surge of hope, but that vanishes as soon as the foxes grip on him does. For the brief moment that the mouse is flying through the air his flailing stops. The mouse has about enough time to think on how things could possibly be any worse right now, as he thinks that he is going to hit the ground at any moment. And then it gets worse, SPLOOSH he hits the water side on and has about enough time for a strangled squeak before his head goes under. Down sinks the mouse with book still in paw, a few bubbles float up from the spot but no mouse.

There is a secondary splash as Rue's head disappears, the hare no longer bothering to keep quiet. Just because she holds a grudge against some beast doesn't mean she's going to let them drown. A moment later her foot paws break the surface and kick, indicating the doe has just gone into a dive. She learned to swim in the surf of the western shore; to her the depths of a pond are nothing. The weight of a mouse with a waterlogged habit, though...What seems like several minutes slowly pass, with nary a sign of life except a sudden burst of bubbles, but then, there! Off to the left, a few feet from the bank! Rue's head bobs up first, Ilari's head coming in at close second. Her paw releases his collar and shoves him harshly forward, sending him to the shallows where he can stand.

Amarro only waits long enough to ensure that Ilari is alright before whirling on the fox. Her typically steady expression is dark and her eyes are narrow, teeth gritted in anger. "I should've known it was a mistake to allow one of your ilk into our abbey." Her paws clench and unclench as if they have a mind of their own. "You will leave. Now. Collect your belongings from your room and your sword from the gatehouse. You are no longer welcome at Redwall."

Asgerdr's whole face lights up when the mouse gets airborne, and if it wasn't obvious enough, her mirth is expressed in a cackling laugh that echoes across the grounds. Perhaps throwing caution to the winds, she sidles closer to the fox and squirrel. "Awww, come on now, ye aren't gonna displace a beast for something like that, would ya?"

A rather raucous laugh sounds from Caddock's throat, as to a vermin like him, this is obviously high comedy. He folds his arms and looks particularly pleased with himself for his throw, and he seems even more pleased when he sees that it's Rue who has to fetch the mouse from the bottom of the pond. Killing had never been his intention. If it had, he'd done it in a far less public way. He calls out to the mouse laying on the shore, "You draw far better than you swim, mousey!" Strangely, Caddock looks more surprised than dismayed at Amarro's words, as though they're issuing a penalty far less severe than he expected. It takes a little while for him to recover, and he turns to her, folding his arms, and is about to speak when he realizes that he's got a surprise ally. "Much, appreciated, my friend! But as for you, squirrel, on whose authority do you banish me from the grounds? Are you the abbot? Did he turn over all his authority over to you?" The fox gives a shrug. "I see no reason to pay hee

heed to the demands of someone who isn't in charge. Besides, he deserved a good dunking."

Ilari doesn't struggle as he is pulled up, in fact he isn't really moving at all, even when shoved onto the shore his eyes stay shut. One thing that more of the attentive abbey beasts would know is that Ilari pretty much never gets into the pond, much less goes for a swim. So now with his tunic a large sopping wet mass the mouse lays on the shore of the pond for all intents looking like he might of drowned after his little sojourn towards the bottom of the pond. Still clutched in the mouses paw however is the book he had been tossed in with, a text on architecture.

Head fur plastered to her face, hose darkened to the color of charcoal, tunic clinging to her shoulders and ribs...Rue is more thoroughly wet than she'd meant to be, but she doesn't notice that quite yet. Her foot paws make loud sucking sounds as she lifts them from the muck of the shoreline, making her way to Ilari's side. "Oi, OI!" She yells, dropping to her knees. Maybe anger will get the water out of his lungs. Or failing that...The door begins to pound the mouses back hard. She assumes, and not inappropriately so, the Ilari is unconscious.

"I am sure the father abbot would see my side of things." Amarro says in a low, hushed tone. She notices Asgerdr's appearance but does not acknowledge it as doing so would only distract her from the matter at hand. "You have come in, taken advantage of our gracious hospitality, insulted our traditions and made a menace of yourself. Such behavior is not welcome anywhere, much less at Redwall."

"Oh, I dunno, bet your abbot figure would find it at least a little funny, tree mouse." Asgerdr swigs back more of whatever is in the flask. "Tell me," she passes to suppress a shudder before continuing, "just what traditions did our friend here violate? By the looks of it he was showing the little bugger a lesson."

Caddock gives Asgerdr a firm clap on the shoulder, a very companionable gesture for a vermin. "It was indeed! It'll be a long time before mousey over there shoots off his mouth to beasts he thinks are too far away to hear him!" The fox grins, not willing to back down, refolding his arms and letting the gauntlet he managed to smuggle in glint in the sunlight, the threat unspoken, but obvious. Whose idea was it to let him keep that anyhow? "As it is, you still have no authority to kick me out /or/ to speak for the abbot. If he wants me to go, he can get those old bones up and tell me himself! But until he does that... I'm not budging. I have things that need doing here. As for your traditions... what have I violated? Refresh my memory, squirrel. There's two vermin here who're very interested in that."

Ilari doesn't answer to the hare's yells, but the smacks on the back do cause the mouse to start coughing violently. After coughing up what feels like to the mouse half of the pond he rolls onto his side and looks up at the hare all squinty eyed. With watter still dripping off of the mouse he coughingly stammers " T-t-t-tt-tha-thanks. " before getting to his knees. Its only then that Ilari thinks of the book, its completely soaked, probably ruined now. With a little simper the mouse stares at the book for awhile then the thought that his second rendition of his drawing might of survived this hits him, he looks about for it and is grateful to see that it survived! It is however right over next to /that/ fox.

"Dinnae mention it." As soon as Rue sees that Ilari is alright...or at least breathing, she's up and away. As she strides to her pile of clothes it is clear she no longer limps, and from the sound of her speech her nose is doing loads better as well. She stops for a moment, a thought coming to her, and wrings the front of her tunic out. The other half of the pond cascades down to her foot paws, but when she releases the cloth it is still sopping wet, clinging to the fur on her form as if by spatic electricity. Great, so she's wet, freezing, and surrounded by beasts she has no reason to like. Well, she knows one thing that gets you warm. The doe plucks the training sword from the ground and strides purposefully, though not hastily, towards Caddock. Through a streak of luck, his back is now turned to her...

"Oh put your toy away, fox. What are you going to do, bash me to death?" Amarro shakes her head disdainfully. "And if you would /listen/ to me when I speak to you, you would be much less confused. I never said you violated anything. I believe 'insulted' was the word. Why yes, yes it was." Rue's movement does not go unnoticed but Amarro manages to give no indication that something is possibly about to happen. "I would count ridiculing the belief that beasts can still talk to the spirit of Martin the warrior as insulting tradition, yes?" She pauses for a very brief second, "Oh, I'm sorry, do I need to define 'ridicule' for you?"

There's less mirth in Asgerdr's expression when the squirrel finishes, but like any vermin worth her salt she fires back with renewed gusto. "Oh, so we should all just abide by the whimsical's of some long dead mouse? That same mouse that sits pretty in that tapestry and watches with a smile as beasts like us are driven out?" The whole time she's speaking, Asgerdr's smile slowly fades more and more, until there's little more than a sneer left in its place.

The fingers on the gauntlet clink together as the fox flexes them. "I've done that before, actually. One does not attain a title like 'Caddock the Steelpaw' without deserving it. But no... I have no intention of hitting you unless you make me." Ah, truly Asgerdr is a weasel after Caddock's own heart! Her words are nothing short of a relief to his ears after he's been surrounded by abbey logic for such a long time, and he shoots back with his own input on it. "And was it not you who said that he'd have happily kicked me out were he still alive?" The fox lets out a vulgar sounding "snerk" noise, as if he's about to spit. "Come now, why should I have any respect for someone who's made a reputation happily killing my kind and is now revered for it? Let me tell you this, squirrel." A metal finger points at Amarro. "I've read enough histories to know full well that your abbey isn't as spotless as you want, and there's quite a few vermin skeletons in its basement."

Once on his feet Ilari starts to wring out his thoroughly drenched tunic as he tries to think of how to recover his latest rendition of the abbey. Its about then that the mouses notices that all of the other beasts starting to congregate near the fox, near /his/ drawing and no one seems to of noticed it yet. Trying to be as unobtrusive as he can Ilari starts back towards the group with the sole intent of getting his parchment and getting out of there. Stealth however is not one of the mouses strong points, especially not soaking wet. Approaching from a different angle than Rue Ilari's tunic makes wet slapping sounds as he moves closer to his objective.

Having set out before Ilari, Rue of course reaches her destination before he does. To her, this fight isn't about right versus wrong, wood lander versus vermin. It's about this fox, and how much she can't stand his smug, torn up face. As she nears, it is apparent her face is set in a sneer, and she hefts the wooden sword over her shoulder. Really it's more of a club, but it can do some damage, heavier than her normal weapon, and she swings it with a swift downward arc that is as graceful as it is violent. If all goes as planned, the distracted fox will get a lovely crack on the soft of his head. Payback.

"If you don't like it, then leave!" Amarro laughs. "We don't require anyone to believe as we do but if you're going to be in here, living in our dormitory, eating our food and using our library, then yes, you /should/ abide by the whims of a long dead mouse. Otherwise there is a whole, huge forest out there for you to have fun in, doing whatever you please." Amarro waves an expansive paw towards Mossflower. "It is rather quaint that you all think that you can waltz in here, intimidate a few beasts and think you run the place."

"Oh, really?" Asgerdr leans in closer to the squirrel, the smirk rising slowly at her words. "Tell us, squirrel, who's doing the intimidating 'round here? Cause the way I see it, you walked up and laid a paw on the good sir without any cause, and then you stand there all high and mighty and tell him he isn't welcome anymore. I thought this place was supposed to be open for all, and here you stand like the queen of the red castle, acting like you own the whole place!" If it had not been for her hood still being raised, she might have seen the hare waltzing up behind the fox. As it is, her peripherals are currently blocked by the inside of her garment.

At this point, Caddock's smile has entirely faded away, though the gap in his face makes him seem like he's still smirking out of one corner of his mouth while the other is turned down. "Ketral Vane had an entire forest to waltz around in as he pleased. Hellgates! One could even argue that he owned the land he lived in, but no! You Woodlanders thought it best to remind him that Mossflower Woods isn't free either, and he was killed!" A snarl passes the fox's lips. "Climb off your pedestal when you're around me, squirrel! I'm not some stupid vermin who's avoided the abbey library like a plague. There's plenty of accounts in there that made my skin crawl. Believe me, I take no pleasure in being he-" Thwack! The fox is cut off by a sudden impact to the back of his skull, and he totters forwards a bit, stumbling down into a kneel, one paw moving to the back of his head as he tries not to black out. The blow has clearly dazed him, as when he looks back up at Amarro, she can easily see that he's more confused than angry.

Ilari stops in his tracks as he sees the violence committed against the fox, at first he feels appalled then he starts to giggle, then he starts to laugh aloud. The laughter from the mouse stops with a quick squeak though as he remembers that members of the order are not supposed to find amusement in others pain. Now hoping that his laughter had not drawn to much attention to himself Ilari starts creeping towards his drawing again. As the mouse nears his parchment he slows, the sounds of his wet tunic slapping against him hardly seems to diminish though. Stopping there the mouse realizes that he will ruin the paper if he doesn't at least get a hair drier than he is now, so he starts to wring out the selves of his tunic.

Rue has no interest in the discussion going on between these beasts, but she chimes in anyway, seeing as she's just violently inserted herself into their little circle. "Bloody Hell, ya think ya'd get used ta a beast, but he jus' gets moah self-righteous each minute ya know him, aye?" She shoves the fox forward with a bare foot paw. It's a light tap, but in his state, She has no idea how strong it feels to him. The training sword is brought to rest on her shoulder again and she looks between the two females, no mind payed to Ilari. She is dripping wet, and with her lack of bulky coat and her fur flattened by water, she looks like she's nothing but skin and bones. "Righ'. Shall I dispose o' this pretentious little sod, wot?" She bends down, as if to grab Caddock by the heels and drag him away.

Amarro is momentarily at a loss for adequate words. She gapes at the sprawled fox at her feet and then back at the randomly violent hare whom she recognizes but doesn't know the name of. "Uhm, no, don't dispose of him...err, take him away, no. Wait." The squirrel kneels down next to him and carefully removes his hat, doing her best to ignore the otter fur, and shakes her head when she sees the resulting wound. "He's going to need a healer, he's in no condition to be out on his own." Amarro looks up a Rue, no condemnation in her eyes as she understands /exactly/ why the hare did what she did. "We should probably get him up to the infirm now, yes?"

Violence! Unfortunately, it isn't directed at the right beasts in this situation, and Asgerdr suddenly finds herself between an ideological squirrel and a hare with a veritable club. She takes a moment to ponder this, taking advantage of the woodlanders being busy with concerns over the dazed fox, and therefore practically ignoring her. Internally she must some to the conclusion that further spouting will most likely result in her being carried off to the infirmary alongside the fox, where she would be surrounded by near-unfriendly woodlanders. So, like any sensible creature, she leaves. No fancy words or sarcastic quips, she just slinks away quietly whilst they are looking over the vulpine. Her exit is nearly pure stealth, but she treads on something that causes a subtle crunch beneath her foot, and she's forced to halt her retreat to flick away a scrap of paper that's attached itself to the heel of her boot. With that done the weasel departs across the grounds, leaving the fox to whatever fate the Redwallers have in store for him.

Dimly Caddock is aware of Rue's words, and how she's talking about him as though he's not there, as though he's just dead weight, and he doesn't like it... but trying to growl is making his head feel like there's some supremely tiny dormice trying to bore their way out of his skull from within, so he stops. What's more, the push sends him sprawling forwards, clutching the bleeding gash that the impact caused, though he supposes he should be thankful that he was wearing his furred hat, otherwise he could have easily had his skull cracked wide open. Brilliantly colored lights dance in front of his eyes, and no amount of blinking will make them go away, as doesn't the steady ringing in his ears. The pain is intense, and he would /love/ to stand up and re-break Rue's nose, but there's just absolutely no way that he'll be able to do that when he's too dazed to remain on his knees. And so Caddock simply lays on the ground with both paws clasped over his head.

The mouse had just finished wringing out his sleeves and was starting to bend down and reach for the paper when the crunch and ripping starts. Ilari watches with a mixture of horror and outrage as his second try at that drawing is utterly ruined and again its all because of /that/ fox. The mouse makes it back to his knees for the second time in under half an hour and reaches for the now crinkled and torn sheet of what was a basic outline of the abbey. Once the mouse has hold of the ruined paper he just stares at it, dripping on it occasionally as his brows work up and down between anger and sorrow. Oh that fox is going to get it if this mouse can help it.

"Wot?!" Rue seems very perplexed by everything that's coming out of Amarro's mouth. "Aye, take 'im away." She nods. What, you think was meant /killing/ him? No, disposing of him is just throwing him out of the gates! If he just so /happens/ to die out there, well... She straightens, drops the sword to the ground carelessly, and places her paws on her hips. During all this commotion, the weasel barely even got a second glance from the doe. "Wot ya talkin' about, he's /fine./ He did tha-" She stops herself. For reasons she is not entirely aware of, she does /not/ want this law abiding squirrel to know exactly what went down two nights prior. But she simply coughs into her fist, rubs some water from the sewn up seam in her empty eye socket, and continues on. "I mean, lookit him, he's concious!" She points as the fox falls over and slowly cluthes his skull. Apparently in the Long Patrol, as long as you're moving, you're fine. "He's liftin' his arms an' wotnot! Ya see that! Dinnae worry, Wot am I going ta do? Bludgeon him in full view o' ya lot?!"

"I'm not blaming you." Amarro shakes her head and laughs. "Honestly, I would've done it myself if you hadn't come along. But still, we can't leave him moaning on the lawn." The squirrel straightens up slowly and looks around to see if anyone seems to be coming to the fox's aid which no one is. "I'll head on up and get a healer for him. He probably doesn't need to actually go to the infirm, they can probably patch him up right here." She doesn't wait for a response to her plan but just takes off for the main building at a rather leisurely pace. "I'll be right back!"

Almost entirely unable to move, the fox can do little more than groan, starting to curl up into himself, the blow having caused an impressive headache that's starting to make him nauseous. He keeps his ears flattened to his head, and can only sort of moan out his thoughts, which sound an awful lot like, "H-hate you... hate you all... d-die..." Eventually he tries to rise up, but simply falls back down with a throaty groan.

Ilari crumples up the drawing in his paw and stomps over towards the wounded fox, bumping off of Rue with out an apology, as he goes the parchment gets crumpled into a ball. Raising up his arm Ilari stops a short ways out of arms reach and throws the wad of paper as hard as he can at the foxes nose along with some pond water stuttering " T-t-t-that's t-the s-ss-s-second -o-one t-th-that y-yo-yy-you h-h-have r-r-ruined y-yy-you ug-u-ugly f-fat b-bottomed d-du-duster t-tailed sl-slop f-f-faced ex-excuse f-for a t-t-t-toads u-u-uncle! " With that said the mouse turns on his heel and starts towards the gatehouse.

Rue definitely does not like the sound of Amarro's plan, though she's mum as to why. The reality is, the doe reset her nose herself, and is quite worried that any healer that may come will want to inspect /her/ as well, and at least order her to wash her socket out after having gone for a swim in the pond. She crouches near Caddock's foot paws and frowns, watching Ilari with a beady eye until he traipses away. Then she leans forward and wraps an arm around the tod's waist, trying to force him back into a kneel. "Aye, I heard. Ya hate every beast an' every plant and the rest. Big baddie ya are, wot." She scoffs, and begins to hoist him away in the opposite direction of the building, before the threatened healer has a chance to appear.

Caddock's a heavy beast, being a male fox, but for someone fit like Rue he's not too hard to get to his feet. As Rue starts to pick him up, he has the semblance of mind to snag his hat from the ground, and at the very least he seems to be able to cooperate, though he leans on her like a dead weight as they start to walk, the fox seeming to have trouble keeping his foot paws moving in the right direction. He groans in pain as they walk, a paw still on his head to try and staunch the blood flow. "D-don't touch me..." he says in a low undertone, though he doesn't put up much of a fuss as she guides him inside. He mumbles under his breath, though Rue is no doubt close enough to hear. "Gonna... kill that mouse in his sleep..."