The Thief, The Squirrel, and The Snake

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-Somewhere in Mossflower, between Redwall and the Guosim Camp-

Well, that wasn't so bad. It turns out Digby wasn't as friendly as Ferilla thought he might be, but she still came away with a fair bit of coin. She wasn't cheated too badly, at least. At this point, she thinks, re-attaching the coin purse to her belt, she'll take what she can get. On her way back to the Guosim camp, she's following a small stream that will eventually lead her to the river and the camp. In addition to her usual kit, she carries a thick silver candlestick in her non-dominant paw, used to give Digby an idea of what they were trying to move. Less success in that endeavor, as it happens.

The forest around the ermine is alive with the sounds of buzzing insects and birds. Nature itself lends it to creating a pleasant day. The trees provide cool shade along the river which bubbles and churns gently as the water rushes off to lands unknown. Then off in the distance around the bend of the river there is a beast standing near the bank of the stream. It is a fox, a red one, his clothes are torn and weathered, barely hanging off of the beasts body. His fur, once glossy red is now dirty and unkempt. He paces back and forth biting at his paws nervously. "Got to find someone...got to find someone...she will be so angry...oh what am I going to do what am I going to do I’m going to be late I'm going to be LATE!"

Coming around the bend, Ferilla spies the frantic-looking fox. Her free paw drifts to her sword hilt slowly as she approaches. "Hello there." she says evenly, squinting a little as she looks the fox over. Egh, he's almost as filthy as Vannon, and near as skinny too. Avoid close contact.

The fox cranes his head around in a way that would probably be slightly painful. he claps his paws together and announces to the heavens, "Thank the stars a living beast!" He shuffles quickly towards the beast, "You won't believe how happy I am to find another soul out here this deep in the woodlands. I mean, sometimes otters come this way but...and ermine! A fellow vermin! Oh happy day!" a serious look over comes the fox and he crouches low. His eye shift about the forest before locking on the ermine, "Please, please you have to help! M-my...wife, yes my wife and I were traveling and we...and we fell down this hole. Well she did I didn't obviously but the point is her leg is broke and she needs help. Help real bad!" he begins to whine. "Please say you can help..."

As he advances, Ferilla retreats, keeping several paces between the two of them at all times. "Calm down, crazy fox." she says as he begins to ramble, resting the heavy silver candle stick on her shoulder in a casual gesture, her fingertips drumming on the shaft of the silver item. "Yer wife, eh?" she asks, "What's her name, an' where's this hole?" she gives a quick glance around, seeing if she can spot what the fox was trying to see when he looked around. "An' anyway, I’m no healer." she adds.

The fox exclaims, "I don't care! You can help me move her out of the hole so we can find one!" The fox snaps loudly. A nervous smile returns shortly thereafter, "Please...come this way. You can help! Yes you can help!" the fox darts off into the trees, as if vanishing into the woods. His head appears over a bush, "This way! Its not far! I swear!" he pauses before

disappearing again. "Please...you are my only hope..." The fox never answered the first question..."

Well, this is clearly not a trap, he's not acting suspiciously at all. Ferilla sighs, glancing around in the trees, and slips the coin pouch off her belt, stashing it in under a small bush and hoping nobody's watching her currently. She keeps the candlestick, figuring if nothing else she can use it to bludgeon the idiot fox. "This is so stupid.." she mutters, heading off into the underbrush after the fox, watching her step in case the idea is to catch /her/ in a pit trap.

It is actually rather ironic that she should be worried about pit traps... It doesn't take long for the fox to lead the ermine to their destination which is in fact, a giant hole in the ground. The term giant being relative to a beasts size, but suffice to say that there is a rather large hole in the earth located near the base of a very large tree. The chamber below is too dark to see properly only that it is indeed deep and continues at a steep slant under the tree and possibly farther into the earth. The fox points at the open hole with both paws, "See! Right there! She is in there!" The fox begins pacing around the hole, pulling at his ears, "Please! She...she stopped responding to my calls a little while ago. Can...can you see her?" The fox peers over the edge of the hole, "I can't see her! What if she's dead! Or dying! What if something horrible has happened to her!" He flails his arms before biting at his paws.

Her head swiveling side to side to look for other, more intimidating beasts, Ferilla approaches the hole, staying several paces behind the fox. "Call her name again." she advises him, circling over to a side of the hole where the fox can't easily shove her in and peers in as best she can, not focusing too closely on the pit, as she's more worried about being pushed into the pit herself. "How far down is she?" she asks.

The fox doesn't answer, not at first. Neither do the birds or the buzzing insects which have fallen silent. The only sound is that of the fox, darting away from the hole. His tail can barely be seen before vanishing into a set of bushes to the ermines right. He turns and calls out from the woods, "Oh! Her name was Tulip!" His uncontrollable giggles can be heard moving away from the hole. And then comes the rustle, the shifting of dirt and stone. A smell comes from the hole, that of rot and decay as something moves about inside. Then come the eyes, large, unblinking eyes. The creatures head comes forward, stopping just short of the light. The shape of the creatures head is distinct, marking it as something reptilian. "HellossSSss..."

The ermine lets loose a string of remarkably explicit curses in the retreating fox's direction, springing back from the chasm and drawing her sword with the hiss of steel on leather. Why she doesn't just run too is a fairly good question, as it's unlikely the fox would be able to stop her. As the serpent's head rises, and the smell becomes more distinct and infinitely ranker, she backs away a little more, covering her nose with her arm, making a low grumble of strong distaste. "Hey ugly." she replies, shifting into a low stance, letting the candlestick drop as she shifts to a side-on stance, offering less of a target.

From a low perch in a nearby alder, curious eyes have beheld most of the drama unfolding below since the fox's arrival with the ermine. Sat in a crook up against the trunk of the tree, his clothes blending well with the organic tones of the forest, Magramba watches with mild interest as the snake appears from the hole. It would seem he may have been keeping tabs on the fox's little games. What's really intriguing is when the ermine stands her ground. "Brave, or stupid?" The squirrel latches on to a branch overhead, where his cloak is hanging, leveraging himself upward to better see through the foliage. "Brave... or stupid?" That is the question, it seems.

Even coming from a deep pit the beast continues to rise above the ermine. The creature’s scales are a combination of bright and dark greens that seems to shine in the sun light. The snake has fins on the side of its head, marking it as one of the dreaded adders living in Mossflower. Her tongue flickers as she looks upon the ermine with a bemused smile, "Now let'ssSSss not be rude dearie...no need for name calling." The snake's head remains still while the rest of her body continues to still pour out of the den behind her. "Oh...you looksSSsso adorable, with your metal toothpick...I could just 'eat you up'."

"I'd like to think I’d be a fitting last meal." she says evenly, backing off just a little more as she sees the sheer size of the thing. She's well out of effective range for her sword, even with a lunge, but she doesn't look to eager to be on the offensive immediately. Her violet eyes meet the snake's, a steely glare fixed on Tulip. It's the look of someone who's dead set on being defiant until the end. She gives a quick glance behind her, backing off towards an area that's more clear of brush, making it clear that escape is not off the list, she's just not eager to turn her back on the thing.

Ears pricked forward, Magramba catches the dialogue on-going between the two. "Not stupid." Hm. That leaves brave, then. It's patently against the warrior's usual policy to help the more vermin-y types, but snakes are a special case, and Ferilla's behavior shows that she's not total scum, or at least there's a chance in that direction. Eyes darting upwards, he surveys the tree above him, then flicks to the adjacent tree. Let's get squirrel-y. Using that innate climbing agility, Magramba makes his way closer, stopping in a beech behind and to the right of Ferilla's spot on the ground, hopefully avoiding detection, and readies his bow.

The snake advances. Its tail can now be completely seen coming out of her den. The snake seems to smile in a smug and haughty way as she draws closer towards her meal. "I actually haven’t decided ifsssSSsss I am going to eat you yet..." The snake waves her tail in the air like one would an idle hand while she speaks, "On the one sside I am hungry, and sssery tired of ottersss...but on the other...you seem a ssSsso clean and fluffy. I jusSSt want to wrapss around you and 'squeeze' you and hugssSSs you and pop your little head off!" The beast begins to close in on the ermine, trying to get ahead of her, and eventually around her with her long scaly body. She doesn't appear to have noticed the danger lurking above...

"Oh, that's just delightful, an' I’d love to join you for a cuddle session, but it turns out I’ve got somewhere to be!" At the end of her sentence Ferilla grits her teeth and lunges at the reptile, making a swift upwards cut towards the patch of scales just behind Tulip's 'fins', keeping the attack controlled and easy to recover from, knowing that over-extending herself means death in this case. Her follow through, whether her attack hits or not, is to pirouette left along the body of the snake and try to leap up onto it, with the goal of planting a palm on the monster's spine and vaulting over to freedom.

Up in the tree, Magramba coolly nocks an arrow to his string, pulling it back until the fletching tickles his cheek. The squirrel's eyes narrow as he eyes his target, the eye of the snake, holding steady as the ermine launches her assault, then letting loose after the reptile reacts. Hopefully he doesn't hit Ferilla.

Fortunately for the ermine, with her working her way down the snake's body before vaulting over, she's safely out of harm's way of the arrow. In fact, there's so much adrenaline pumping through her that she hardly seems to notice that an arrow had entered the fray at all. As soon as her feet hit the ground on the other side of the snake, she spins about a quarter turn, aiming to slash lengthwise down the snake's body.

Well darn. That's the problem with bows, is that moving targets are rather tricky. It's really hard to be effective against something moving as quickly as a snake, too. Magramba lowers his bow, considering briefly whether it's even worth it to take another shot. It seems he decides not, as he hangs the weapon carelessly on a branch and scoots down to the lower boughs, dropping onto the forest floor and drawing his sword. After another beat of hesitation, he lopes towards the snake, putting a free paw against his cheek and shouting, "Snake!" much like a rappeler would yell 'rock'.

First came the ermine's blade, raking up the length of her body, leaving a shallow bloody groove in its wake. The snake let out a loud yell that filled the forest and sent birds flying in all directions. Oh, Tulip was most certainly NOT going to eat the ermine. She was going to crush her into paste THEN eat what was left. Then came the squirrel. A fluffy fuzzy about to be bloodied and bruised squirrel. The snake turns to see the ermine beating feet away from her, then swivels her head toward the offending woodlander and narrow's her eyes as much as her species permits, "Why did you launch an arrow at my head?" She says calmly before lunging forward, snapping her jaws at his head.

The squirrel's powers of observation and ability to state the obvious leave Ferilla absolutely speechless. Actually, that might be the giant angry snake. It's a toss-up. Either way, she's gone, flicking the blood from her sword and getting ready to make her- wait. The candlestick. It's laying at the edge of the pit, where she dropped it. It was the biggest of what she stole, and theoretically the most valuable, that's why she brought it to the fence. She wasn't leaving without that. With a curse, she sprints off, hoping to avoid the snake, swipe up the silverware, and then be on her way. Hopefully it actually goes like that, with the squirrel distracting.

The blade strikes true! Unfortunately that is all it strikes, slashing across her scales but unable to penetrate her thick reptilian meat. It still hurts like heck though and the snake lets him know how she feels, by swinging her heavy tail down towards the squirrel repeatedly. "DIE you evil little tree climbing moussse!" The snake then twists her head around to see the ermine has backtracked her way around her! Oh what nerve! "I will rip out your skullsss and force feed them too you!" She yells, turning for the Ermine.

After the first tail-lash smacks his arm, nearly causing Magramba to drop his sword, and the second lands on his shoulder, bending him over, the warrior decides that this is one of the cases where discretion is the better part of valor. Taking the opportunity presented by the ermine who was so happily ditching him a moment before, Magramba takes off back the way he came, apparently ditching his cloak and bow in their respective trees. He'll be back for them when the snake has gone back into its hole. Probably.

Hoofing it towards the candlestick, Ferilla curses again, shoving her sword in its sheath hurriedly and diving for the item, scooping it up and rolling to cushion her landing so she can spring to her feet and get out of here. That is the plan, at least, unless the snake intervenes while she's doing this.

The snake’s teeth strike the ground where she was, brushing by her tail. As her head hits the earth the snake continues to move forward, slithering with unnatural speed after the ermine, "I will murder you dead!" She shouts behind her, making a zig zag pattern as she fallows the beast into the woods.

After a short distance it's becoming clear that Ferilla, ducking low branches and avoiding small dips in the ground covered in underbrush that seems specially made to tangle feet, is not going to be able to outrun the snake, who can pass easily over all of these obstacles. So the ermine, doing what seems fitting, whirls about, bringing the heavy silver candlestick up into a ready stance, the surface shining in the afternoon sunlight, and prepares to smash the snake right in the fangs with the thing, then scamper again, back towards her stashed bag of coins and then far, far away.

The ermine turns just in time to see the snake's head poised to strike, her head mere feet away from gobbling her up and giving her a clear view of the inside of her gullet. Then the candlestick strikes the snake alongside her right fang. Tulip reels backward, tail clasping tight over her muzzle, "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaAAAAAaah!" She screams before she muzzles herself. The snake rolls back and forth on the ground, chanting muffled curses that no mammal has ever dared to hear before.

The victorious ermine smirks a little, "Chew on that, scaly." she taunts, before scampering away as fast as her feet can carry her. She may have been on the winning side this time, but she doesn't expect her luck to hold out against a monster like that twice.