The Dibbun and the Maimed

Characters: Thane, Christopher, William, Wilco, Maimed

Location: Ferravale

Town Center

The sun is high in the sky on this clear day, but that doesn't really matter. Its COLD. In fact, its cold enough that Christopher broke out his heavier winter coat. He, and unfortunately Thane, are out today, walking, and talking. Thane has is arms folded, and a frown frozen on his face. They both sound rather frustrated, although it could just be because they're talking in that language the stoats seem to do better with when people are around.

William and his daughter Wilco are also out and about in the chilly air. The older rat is posting a notice in the town square and the dibbun just decided to tag along. Will slowly thinks on how to word his ad, something he should have done before leaving the shop, as his dibbun pokes about the square with in sight of her father. Koby kicks at an empty bottle laying in the street. The glass bottle rolls quite nicely until it bumps into a rock with the unpleasent sound of glass on stone. The bottle cracks a bit but doesn't break. Koby bends down and tries to pick up the rock but it's too big for her to lift by herself. Annoyed she kicks at the rock, and hops about holding her sore footpaw afterwards. Will turns to look, hearing her howl from hitting the rock. "Did you step on something?" he asks concerned, his note pushed to the side in the face of a possibly hurt daughter.

Chris and Thane keep talking for a few moments before the older of the two glance up, spotting the rats. His frustrated expression fades into a smile. "Hey Will! Koby!" he calls out. Thane just glances up and frowns a little bit more, shrugging his shoulders indifferently.

William turns and looks over at the stoat. "Hey, Chris-a-bell," he calls out just to annoy his nephew. "What are you two doing out here?" he asks he helps Wilco sit down so he can look at her foot. The dibbun sulks and pulls her foot away. "I'm fine," she whines wanting to get up and run around some more.

Christopher's ears flatten a bit when he's call Chris-a-bell like that. Thane arches an eyebrow at the name and grins before the stoats head over. "Hey...erm...rat things..." he says before chuckling a bit, glancing down at Wilco with a smile. Unlike Thane of course, who just frowns.

William supposed he deserves that. "That's 'uncle' rat thing, t you," he teases letting the stoat get away with calling him a thing this time. Wilco stares at the stoats a little confused. Sure she was told she once had otter grandparents and stoat cousins, but she'd never really seen any of them since she was a baby. "Uh, hi," she says unsure what she should say. She knows the older one visited before and brought sweets so he must be ok. She's not sure about the frowny one though.

"Yeah...well. How did I end up with a rat uncle anyway?" Chris smirks a bit before he glances towards Thane, who clearly doesn't want to be there. He's a little taller than Wilco. And maybe a little older. "Will...Koby, this is Thane..."

"You were just born lucky, I guess," Will replies. "Hello, Thane," the older rat says glancing down at the smaller stoat. "I heard you're staying with your uncle here," he says omiting all the other things he's hear about his great nephew. Wilco continues to stare at her cousins. "Hello, uh Chris ... and Thane," she says. Her mother had told her that she and Thane had been nearly like twins when they were babies, always together. Looking at the stoat, she couldn't really see it.

The stoats watch them for a few moments before Thane shakes his head. "I was thinking about it. But I turned them down." he says with a smirk. "If I want to hurt somebody, I'll do it when I want to. Not on command of others. I'm not a slave." Christopher was about to thwack the younger stoat on the head again but decided not to at the last second, making Thane flinch and growl. His eyes slide from his uncle down to Wilco, to whom he just stares.

William frowns at Thane. "And why would you want to hurt somebeast?" he asks wondering just what the stoat might mean by that. "Your young still, a great many beasts could easily kill you. You don't want to get in a fight you could die in do you?" he asks. There doesn't seem to be any rule against weapons here like at Redwall and the rat is armed with a sword as is his custom. He has been teaching his daughter to use a sling when he can find time to do so.

Koby stands up and brushes her paws against her dress to get the dirt off it. "What you lookin' at?" she asks Thane, not caring to be stared at. Will cuffs her ear automatically, "Try an use those manners I've been tryin' t teach you," he reminds her. He didn't hit her hard, just enough to discourage her.

Thane just shrugs at the question, ignoring the first part. "I'd like to see them try to kill me." he grumbles out. That's when Chris gives Thane another thwack on the back of the head. "Shuddup. I know for a fact, Thane, there are better fighters out there than YOU...your father for instance." he shakes his head slowly. "Don't mind him, Will...he's not had a chance to LEARN yet."

Koby rubs the side of her face and scowls at her father, ducking another blow. "He'll learn soon enough," Will says. He frowns down at his daughter, "This one could stand t learn a few things a well."

Thane turns quickly to his uncle and growls. "Hit me again, I bloody da-AGH!" he drops to his knees, clutching his head after Christopher interrupted him with a much harder clop to the head. "Okay..." he smirks a bit, folding his arms. Thane growls and stands slowly before turning, starting to walk away from the group.

William chuckles a bit as Thane gets what's comming to him. Wilco griamces as the young stoat is knocked down. Will ignores the dibbuns for the moment and addresses Chris. "I was thinking of takin' on a few beasts t help in my shop. Been real busy workin' on the walls. Was goona put notice up in case anybeast was lookin' for work," the rat says as Wilco wanders off to poke at things.

Tottering slightly, though whether this is due to the mug of excessively cheap grog or his lack of a tail is anyone's guess, Maimed makes his way through the town center back to his usual haunt when he's jostled by Thane. The mug of ale is tilted, spilling the contents down the front of Maimed's tunic, soaking it through as the owner cats a death-glare at Thane's back, though he makes no move to prevent the stoat from stalking off. Instead he merely continues to amble his way to his alleyway, approaching the rats as he does so.

William continues to talk with Chris about what he should put on his notice about wanting some help in his shop. Wilco the rat dibbun watches Thane storm off and frowns at him. "Um, hello," she says look up at the strange fox. "Uh, do you need something?" she asks a little bothered by his appearance. Her father hasn't bothered to adknowledge the fox yet.

Maimed seems a bit too miffed over losing his mug of grog to acknowledge either the dibbun or Chris at first, then gives the rat a somewhat blank gaze, a bit surprised at how direct she is, considering his appearance. He reaches into his satchel and pulls out his tin cup, holding it down at the rat's eye level so she can see that there's but one coin in it, hoping that she'll add to it. Since Chris is related to Thane, Maimed gives him only an irritated, half-hearted wave in return, considering him responsible for his nephew's behavior.

Wilco thinks a moment and fishes in the pocket of her dress for something to put in the cup. Her mother made sure to add pockets to the dibbun's dress just so she could carry stuff around. The rat pulls out four coins and a few candied chestnuts and drops the lot into the cup. She smiles at the fox hoping her small offering will do.

Chris watches Wilco put the nuts in his begging cup, making him chuckle quietly. He goes over to his...uhm. Well, he's not exactly sure what his relation to her is before kneeling down. "Here..." he says, pulling out three coins, offering it to Wilco. "Why don't you put this in the cup instead." She blinks a bit but does as she's instructed by the stoat. After all, he did give her sweets once... "There!" he smiles before picking her up into his arms.

Maimed lifts an eyebrow, wholly impressed with the dibbun's charity, reflecting that a dibbun has officially given a better donation than the "seasoned" warrior Maimed met the previous day. He gives the dibbun a grateful nod, then gives the same to Chris for his donation, counting up the coins. His eyes smile as he realizes that, with the amount he has, he could easily buy another ale and perhaps even a bit of bread. Even the chestnuts will be put to use, as they'll be rather useful for sucking on during those times when water is scarce. In his gratitude, Maimed sifts through his satchel, looking for something appropriate to give the dibbun. He takes out a flower he'd collected and hands it to her, hoping that she's got enough sense not to put random flowers in her mouth.

Wilco smiles as she takes the flower from the fox. "Wow, thanks! Its pretty." Chris smiles brightly at that himself actually. "Here..." he going to take the flower from her and then tuck it into her ear. "Now its even more pretty." he smiles before setting the dibbun down on the ground again.

Maimed catches the glance that William gives him as well as the shake of his head, figuring that it's the same disapproval that most give towards their young ones associating with mangey beggars. He backs off away from the dibbun and leans against the wall of a building closer to Chris, not wanting to give any reason for her father to think that he's a threat to his little one.

Christopher chuckles a bit at Will's reaction, the stoat shaking his head. "Meh, don't worry about him Will. I don't think he'd hurt anybody unless he had to." he smiles as best as he can before glancing towards Maimed again. "So...doing well? Erm...better?" he asks, tilting his head slowly.

William motions for Wilco to come back over to him, but she ignores him. The young ratmaid walks over to Chris and looks at the fox to try to see through his face wrappings.

At noticing that the ratmaid is staring at his face, the fox unconsciously pulls the facewrap tighter around his head, knowing full well that letting anyone see what he really looks like usually elicits some interesting reactions that he just doesn't feel like having to deal with. Still, he reaches into his pack and pulls out his blackboard, writing on it and turning it about to show Chris, "Thanks for the vote of trust, but he won't listen to you."

Koby reads the board and looks up at the fox. "So you can't talk," she says. Bright isn't she. "My Mum can't see. She used t do th sort thing you do before she met my dad," she says. "Do you have a name?" she asks the begger.

Maimed nods to the affirmative at Koby's statement, but can't suppress a shudder at the idea of being blind. Whatever his other faults were, the fox has always prided himself on being keen-sighted, and dreads the day that it'll start to degenerate. When Kody asks him his name, he erases the board with a forearm and writes down his answer, turning it about so she can read, "It's not my real name, but everyone calls me Maimed."

"I'm Koby," the ratmaid says, "That's my dad," she points over at Will. "And that's one of our stoats. I think he's my cousin or something. Our famlies kinda mixed up. Dad says we used t have otters. I had a brother that was a squirrel once, but he went off t live by himself and bother squirrelmaids." Will rolls his eye, but doesn't correct her. He isn't sure what is adoptive son is doing these days so she may not be too far off the mark.

Maimed can't help but be a little amused at Koby's boldness, surprised that a dibbun would so freely volunteer so much family information to some mangey beggar. He nods to her as she speaks, listening and actually seeming to enjoy being spoken to, considering that it's likely been an extremely long time since anyone has spoken to him as if he's a normal beast. He writes down a bit more. "You don't say? Why such a mixed family?"

Koby shrugs, "Dad adopted a lot of beasts when he was little like me 'cause he didn't have any family. Lot of beasts died an we don't have otters anymore now either. I don't remember th otters, but Dad does an he liked them a lot. My gran'dad an gran'mum was otters," the dibbun explains. "Gran'Dad was a big giant otter an old an a great fighter long time ago," she says, "but he wasn't very smart. Gran'Mum was smart but she couldn't hear stuff. I don't think her an Mum go on well."

Maimed nods once more as the dibbun explains her family, unable to resist letting out a wistful sigh. It's been so long since he's seen his own family he doesn't even know if they'd remember him... The diversity of Koby's family seems to bother him somewhat, and he gives her a sidelong glance as he writes down something new. "You didn't have any shrews or mice in your family, did you?"

Koby scrunches up her face in thought. "Uh, I don't think so. Dad was friends with some mouse when he was real little but that mouse ran off an got killed or something ages ago. We don't have any shrews, but Mum knows lots of shrew songs. Her family lived by a river. The otters moved away and we moved away when I was a baby, so it was just me, Mum an Dad for a long time til we got here an found some our stoats were here. Chris' Dad is kinda my Dad's brother somehow an wrote saying my Gran'Mum is still alive an he's seen her some. They're at Redwall with my Mum," the dibbun says. Will frowns at the little maid for tell so much. "Koby, don't bother beasts," he warns her as she's a bit too far away to smack.

At the mention of the abbey Maimed grows a bit more reserved, knowing full well it's reputation for playing host to quite a few mice and an occassional visit from the Guosim shrews. The mention of shrew songs doesn't reassure him much either. His eyes narrow, and he writes down on more thing, actually shuddering as he does so. From the look on his face, the dibbun's reaction will likely determine whether or not he'd care to continue to associate with her. " Do you know any badgers?"

Koby shakes her head. "I don't know any. There was on that stayed a while before I was born but he wasn't family. I don't think Mum liked him much. I've never seen a mouse before. Mum said they look like small rats and that they taste good. She's not really supposed t say that last part, but she does anyway and she has a big stick that hurts,” the dibbun says.

Maimed nods and lets out a relieved sigh, the answer seeming to have been good enough for him. His eyes are still narrowed, and he writes down one more thing on his board. "I don't care much for badgers, either." He can't seem to help but shudder at the thought of them. As to how mice taste, he actually has no idea.

"Do you do any work or anything t get coins or just stand around and wait for some beast t give you some?" the ratmaid asks knowing only what her Mum had told her about her own days on the streets literally singing for her supper.

Maimed can't sing at all, obviously. He shakes his head at the question and writes down a new answer. "No one will hire me to do anything." He shrugs, then writes a little more. "So I just wait for coins." He doesn't mention what skills he does have though, not wanting anyone, least of all a talkative dibbun, to know what he used to do with his life.

Koby isn't always this talkative, but the fox reminds her of the stories her mother would tell of her times begging when she was young. "Why?" she asks, "Does it have t do with why you cover your face?" she asks quietly. "Leave th begger alone, Koby, you might catch somethin'" Will hollers at his wayward daughter to try and distract her from her new 'friend'. Maybe he shouldn't be so selective about who she plays with if it causes her to latch onto tramps. Maybe her being an only child had something to do with it, but that can't be helped.

Maimed gives the dibbun a slow nod to answer her question, his eyes taking on a forlorn and pained quality to them. But they quickly change at William's shouting, the absolutely unsubtle nature of his concern causing the fox to feel an intense twinge of anger. His eyes become a great deal colder now, hardening as he erases the board with a forearm and writes something new, letting the dibbun see. "Your father is calling you. We need to stop talking." He turns away from the dibbun, facing the opposite direction, ignoring her now.

The dibbun scowls at her father. "If Mum was here she'd let me talk to him!" she protests. Will hesitates as he tries to think up a good response. He isn't sure what Amy would do in this situation off hand, but can't let Wilco back talk him in the middle of town either. "You don't know that," he says firmly, "and either way she's not here. An I say you need t get back over here if you want your hide to stay intact," he growls a bit. The threat may be a little much, but who knows what the fox could do to the ratling or what illness he may be carrying. Wilco grumbles something rather rude under her breath and stomps over to her father.

Maimed's head dips a bit and his ears flatten as the dibbun leaves, and the fox prepares to spend the rest of his day in a foul sulk. As the dibbun starts to protest, Maimed waves her away, not wanting to get in trouble with her father or rouse his suspicions that he might be a bad influence. His concern about the fox's various illnesses might have a bit of truth to it, though most of them are, by and large, caused by a poor diet and lack of protection from the cold.

The dibbun sulks as well. Will chooses not to cuff her since she did come this time. "Why can't Mum be here now?!" she whines wishing she could hav been allowed to chat more with the fox. Her father sighs. "Because th road here is being watched by birds an lizards an lots of beasts that could hurt her," he explains as if he's had to do this a lot. "But she can just beat them up," the ratling protests, she's so sure her blind mother can lick any beast reality is unable to sink in. Besides she really misses her mum and doesn't care if she's being unreasonable about it. "I'm gonna catch those birds an rip their wings off so Mum can get here faster!" she declares nodding to herself as if that settles the matter.

Faced with the loss of one of the few beasts who's willing to speak with him as though he's an actual living creature rather than just some pitable being, the fox stares into his tin cup for a moment, debating what to do with the money. On one paw, he needs to eat, but on the other paw... yes, a drink is definitely in store here. The fox skulks off towards the tavern, intending to buy as much cheap grog as he can to help improve his mood and stave away the humiliation he feels at William calling out his lot in life.

William writes on the paper he'd brought with him and tacks it to a nearby wall with many other bits of paper. The new ad proclaims that the pottery shop is taking apprentices and looking for an extra beast to run the shop part while Will does the making stuff part, but in nicer words. Wilco tugs on her dad's tail to hurry him up. "Can we maybe stop by the bakery before we go home?" she asks even though the owner of said bakery has been loitering around the square.