The return of Anomen or The squirrel leader learns some heartbreaking news
RW Abbey: Entry
You stand on a grassy sward between two cottages. To the south you see a small, calm pond. To the north lies an open space where the Abbey has its feasts in the warmer seasons. To the east is the Great Hall, a massive structure that rises far above the abbey walls and is completed with large towers that pierce upwards into the sky. The main building is completed with a large, iron banded door that would allow one into the Great Hall.
[It's late summer/very early autumn; harvest time! :D]
Exits/Entrances:
[G]reat [H]all [C]limb to the [R]amparts [A]bbey [P]ond
[Ga]te [H]ouse [Leave] through the gates [Open] Ground
[C]hampion's [C]ottage
Anomen the male squirrel. DoraRose the female mouse.
Anomen is here, but has a cloak with hood up, on right now as he looks around the entry as he stands quietlike. A bushy tail will give away the fact he is a squirrel.
DoraRose exits the gatehouse, dressed in her regular green dress and blue apron. She notices the squirrel standing in the entryway and sighs. Being nice may be the right thing to do, but it is very exhausting sometimes. She forces a smile (that she hopes doesn't look strained) and approaches him. "Good day. Welcome to Redwall Abbey."
Anomen turns and studies the mousemaid as he takes off his hood. He is wearing a regular tunic and has some sort of reddish dye in his headfur in places, but only small amounts. "Good day...I was...visiting maybe, it's been a while since I been here. I am hoping to ask Abbot Lorimis something...of course if he is busy I can come back later."
DoraRose pauses, sadness enveloping her face. Well, this is amazing. "I'm sorry to tell you, sir, but.....but Abbot Lorimis....he died a few months ago. I am so sorry." Not the way she wanted to spend her day. "Elder Benar is Abbot now."
Anomen frowns at this, "Oh...." He seems lost for words and finally finds his voice "I see...if I had known I wouldn't of asked...and Benar is an excellent choice for abbot, they choose well I am sure he has done a very good job. Guess I will speak to him then."
The mouse smiles softly. "I'm afraid that I can't tell you where Abbot Benar is right now, but I'm sure you'll find him within the next day or so. I'm DoraRose Strongheart, by the way." She holds out her paw to him. She obviously doesn't recognize him.
Anomen nods "Anomen, I use to be a guard here before...well" He frowns "Anyways...things have changed and I was hoping to come back here. I know Benar from a trip me and him took, some others were with us as well." He tries to remember and smiles "Friar Lacota and Zinnia was with us in fact, the trip went ok and I had left a while, but as said things sadly change"
DoraRose nods, listening. "I'm sorry the things changed." she pauses, then brightens a little. "Oh! You mean the trip to Salamandastron during the takeover of the Abbey by Marek. I remember that a group had gone to get help. I'm so glad that y'all did.....we desperately needed the Long Patrol's assistance then." She's starting to remember! Yay!
Anomen smiles and nods "Yeah Marek needed stopped and he was, but he most likely is far from a threat now, least hope so.....so how is the abbey doing, besides abbot Lorimis passing away, I will have to pay my respects later."
"I'd be willing to show you his grave if you'd like to pay your respects now," Dora offers, pointing to the graveyard. "And the Abbey has been doing well. This is the first season since I've been here that we haven't had a warlord trying to take over. The harvest is going well, and we should be more than ready to meet winter head-on." She pauses, her sadness returning. "Although we lost our Blacksmith to the Dark Forest a few weeks ago....fortunately, his apprentice is here and has accepted the role in his stead."
Anomen nods as he is listening and smiles "I am glad the harvest is doing so well and sounds as if the abbey is doing well also..." He stops as she gets to the part of the blacksmith and frowns "Dead?...Has anyone else I know...died recently?" Then maybe who he is thinking of wasn't the blacksmith, it could of very well of been some beast else, but he frowns as if deep down he knows who it was, he then speaks again "The...former Blacksmith...Zork right?" He waits on a reply.
DoraRose looks back to the squirrel, her sadness deepening as she feels compassion for him. "Yes, Zork. He died a couple of weeks ago, at the beginning of the harvest." She looks to the ground. "We....many of us are still in shock about it....."
Anomen frowns, "What happen?...I mean I have a guess on Lorimis...Lorimis was fairly old, I mean like the oldest beast I ever knew. But last I seen...Zork, it was before the Marek takeover...I don't remember if he helped in the fight, I am thinking something, forgot what...prevented him from it."
DoraRose shakes her head slowly. "Zork died in the orchards. He had been forced to give up the life of a Warrior because his heart was weak. My grandmother, Angela Quietfeet, thinks that the weakness in his heart is what eventually killed him. His death was, as far as she can tell, quiet and peaceful, and he was in a minimum of pain. He was found by those who love him, and if he had any last strands of life in him when they found him, at least he was surrounded by those who cared about him."
Anomen nods slowly "That is good...that he had loved ones around then when he died." He sighs "How is Oz and Zinnia handling this...are they doing ok?"
DoraRose sighs, too, and shakes her head. "Well, from what I've seen, Oz is handling it about as well as expected. I think h eis understandably sad, but not overly so. Zinnia, on the other paw.....I don't think she's handling it very well at all. She seems to have become a recluse, closing herself off from those who love her and want to help her. She had been locking herself in the bookbinding room, but I don't think she's doing that anymore."
Anomen frowns" Poor Zinnia, I can understand I mean he was her father and she is still young...I mean I know not a dibbun and please don't say I called her young I just mean...well barely out of adolescence..."
DoraRose smiles softly. "I understand what you mean. I agree, she has every right to be depressed. I just wish she was more open to the help us, her friends, are trying to give her."
Anomen says, "I am unsure how to help, I know when I was here...and Treesong died, I...I was so upset"
DoraRose goes to lay a sympathetic paw on the squirrel's arm. "I'm sorry. I, too, understand how it feels to loose a loved one. I think the best way to help Zinnia is to be there for her, and hopefully she's soon open herself up to us."
Anomen says, "I hope someone helps Zinnia soon, it can be hard to get over a death and a family member is harder"
DoraRose nods sadly. "It took me many seasons to recover from the death of my baby sister. My daughter, Lily, I know is trying her hardest to cheer Zinnia up, but I'm not sure how well it's working...."
Anomen says, "Maybe Benar can help, or..Oz..unless she is avoding them as well"
DoraRose nods sadly. "She seems to be avoiding just about everybeast" She gestures towards the graveyard again. "Would you like to visit their graves?"
Anomen nods "Yes...let's do that I should pay my respects to my friends"
RW Abbey: Graveyard
This is a small natural clearing in the forest growth. Ancient trees tower over the area, arching over to make an interlaced roof on the clearing, keeping the area dark and shaded through the day and night. The floor is bare except for some small plants and forest mulch. As an entrance to this place, there are two large oaks that have branches that grew together to form a natural arch. At the foot of the largest one, between the roots, a fresh mound has been dug. In the clearing there are small patches of freshly turned earth, and rocks lining a few of them. A burial ground. In the shadows of this place, there is silence for the dead.
[36mYou are standing by the edge of the graveyard. You may [enter] to pay your respects.
(See [grave help] for a full list of commands.)[0m
Exits: [O]pen [G]round
DoraRose goes to lead the squirrel to the graves of their mutual friends. She stays silent, head bowed in respect, letting him do what he needs to in order to say good-bye.
Anomen looks around and frowns, he first goes to an older gravestone and sighs as he traces a name...Treesong, its then and only then he walks over to Lorimis grave and then Zork's grave, spending a little time at each and frowns, a few tears fall and he goes back over to the mousemaid "It's...been a while...since been here...I should should, I mean the day I left." He frowns "I was rather rude and mean to Brother Leon, I am so sorry"
DoraRose smiles and goes to lay a paw on his shoulder. "It's alright," she whispers. "I understand that losing a loved one can feel like your heart has been ripped out of your chest, and I think that Leon understands, aswell. If you stick around a few days, I'm sure you'll see him. Talk to him then."
Anomen nods, he looks back to the 3 graves he visited and sighs, "I...need some rest. I am sorry I brought up sadness this was not my aim...but I thank you fro telling me about Lorimis and Zork..You can tell Abbot Benar I am back at the abbey...also inform him I am not leader of the Gawtribe anymore...I can say more later...good day" He then heads to the bunk room quietly.
DoraRose watches him go, then sits down on Lorimis' grave. Tracing the name carved into the headstone, she sighs, suddenly seeming weighted down by the entire world. Closing her eyes, she leans her head back onto the stone and starts to sing in her clear, beautiful voice. It's a song about birth and death, comings and goings, beginnings and endings. It seems ancient, and is not from the land of Mossflower. And it seems to help rid the mouse Warrior of her sorrowful ache.
Thanks for reading! Wasn't this sad? :(
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