Vested Interests
Characters: Slade the badger, Bindi the rat, Coaxoch the lizard
Setting: Bindi meets up with Slade at the 'Black Gull Tavern' to receive the vest he ordered two weeks ago. Things take an unexpected and possibly gnarly turn.
On the tail edge of a rain storm the air in Mossflower was humid and slightly chilled. The ground was wet without becoming muddy and the clouds blocked out the stars of the night sky. Off in the south thunder crackles across the landscape.
Along the road the black gull tavern lights up the woods with light pouring through the windows. Inside there is a modest bunch of vermin and one or two braver woodlanders. One of whom is resting at a table in the far back corner. The badger is busy devouring a cooked wood pidgeon, his hat placed on the end of the chair next to him. The badger has a burlap sack at his side.
The door of the tavern opens to admit yet another patron, this one being the one and only Bindi Little Rat, here to complete a certain deal. He enters the tavern well enough and stands at the door for a moment, letting his eyes adjust to the lower light level and take in the room as a whole. After a pause, Bindi starts to head towards the back of the tavern, expecting the badger to be in the same place as last time. With him he has a long bundle wrapped in some dirty burlap.
Feet propped up on the table Slade pauses in feasting to prod at a button that came undone on his own vest."Looks like I need to fix myself up a new vest as well..." Or eat less, the badger thinks quietly to himself. He lifts up his eyes and catches sight of the rat. Bindi after all was not one you could miss in a crowd...no matter how much you tried. Woodpidgeon leg in mouth the badger stands up and waves to the rat, gesturing him closer.
Bindi catches sight of Slade and stops, for a moment regretting his decision to hire the badger. Maybe this isn't such a good idea. Making a vest can't be that hard, right? Maybe he can slip away and make his own vest before the the tanner catches sig- Ah, to late. The little rat gulps and takes a deep breath, rebuilding his resolve as he starts towards the badger once again, "Evenin' Slade." Bindi mentally pats himself on the back for keeping his voice steady.
"Evening yerself." The badger growls even with a smile on his face. "DO you got my payment or not?" The badger taps at the table while ripping the flesh from the birds leg, "I ain't one to waste with trivial like words." In truth the badger doubted that the rat would come through on his bargin, reguardless of that fact he could still sell an otter hide to almost any vermin beast...if he did manage to pay him, with a sword no less, then all the better. He raps a claw on the table as he waits.
Bindi nods rapidly, saying as he sets the bundle on the table, "Aye Slade, yew know I'd neva try an double cross an 'onerable one such as yerself." He gives his most winning smile, which, considering his dental health, if more of a losing smile. The little rat starts to unwrap the bundle, revealing the tip of a blade and slowly, the entirety of the sword. As he unwraps, however, a sheet of paper slips from the cloth and floats gently to the floor. Bindi scrambles to pick it up and stuffs it into the band of his loincloth, shaking his head as he shoves the sword across the table towards the badger, "'Ere is 'tis, as grand as Oi promised." Maybe not /quite/ as grand, but close enough. The sword's blade is in fine condition, except for a small nick in the blade close to the hilt. Said hilt is wrapped tightly in leather. The socket that once held a pommel stone is, as promised, empty. It's clear the sword once belonged to someone else, for along the blade are etched the initials 'O.R.P'
Setting his leg of wood pidgeon on the table Slade continues to chew with his mouth open even as he takes the blade. He picks up the sword, examines the lettering closely, he even tests the weight, "WeEell'p...the good news is that I'm not goin ta gut ya with yer own blade mate." The badger gestures to the blade with his free paw, "But that's only cause I'm afraid it would fall apart in me paws if I tried." He stands up, slamming the blade onto the table, "What are ya trying to pull? This isna sword, it's a metal club! You expect me to be usin this junk? For real?" He spits bits of wood pigeon across the room as he snarls at the rat.
Coaxoch rubs his eyes as he slips into the tavern. The trip has been quite long, and the lizard yawns, not bothering to cover his mouth like any decent beast, and showing off a maw full of gleaming white teeth. The scent of meat wafts out for anybeast who's too close to him, and it doesn't take him long to find a suitable place as the bar. "Burning water." is all he says before tossing a couple of coins onto the counter, leaving the bartender to just guess what on earth he means. In the end, the bartender shrugs and passes him an ale, which is apparently close enough to what Coaxoch wants. With flicking movements, Coaxoch peers around the bar, looking at everyone and everything. Prey. Prey. Not prey. Prey... no wait. Too aware, not prey. When his eyes eventually reach the badger and the rat, he stares without shyness. The rat is definitely prey, perhaps the badger's?
Bindi winces as he is sprayed with bits of wood pigeon. Well, that didn't go as planned. The little rat holds out his paws in a placating gesture, trying to calm the badger down for the sake of his own health. He's dealt with angry bosses before, but never an angry badger, "Oy, calm down now mate! Oi'll get ye' somethin'else if this don't suit your fancy!" On a desperate spurr of the moment action, Bindi yanks the paper out of the band of his loincloth and spreads it out on the table, "Aye! See, look 'ere! It's a noice..." Well, what in tarnation is it? The rat takes a moment to relize it's a map or some sort, and he's quick to explain it as so, "It's a noice map! Oi bet it leads to some kind 'o treasure or somethin'. Or mebbe some sort of magical blade that'll make up for tha' old thing" He gestures to the current sword in Slade's paw. At the moment, he doesn't notice the enterence of the lizard, to caught up in saving his skin.
This only causes the badger to growl further. It's rather clear that he is not going to get much more out of this rat. All he has left is his hide and a loin cloth, both of which Slade has no desire to take or re sell. At this point all the rat has left to give the badger is the satisfaction of ending him. The badger leans forward, peering intently at the rat with his paw on the map. He doesn't bother with words this time, he just stares at Bindi, as if looking for an excuse not to add him to the menue...or maybe he jsut likes to watch others squirm...
The growling doesn't seem like it's a good sign, though Coaxoch is more familiar with loud hissing as the catch-all show of aggression... that and an extended frill. He keeps staring firmly at the badger and the rat. It's going to be interesting to see what happens, because the badger looks fully ready to start taking the smaller beast apart, which is just /always/ entertaining! However... he does want to see what that piece of paper has on it, and if it gets soaked with blood, it'll be much harder to read... Slipping out of his seat, Coaxoch walks to the table and takes hold of the edge of the paper, attempting to slip it from under the rat's paw and read it himself.
Bindi gulps and seems to shrink a little under the badger's gaze, cursing himself mentally for not sending a middle man. Ah well, to late for that now. Initially when the lizard tries to pull the paper from under his paw, Bindi pushes down harder and gives Coaxoch an annoyed glance, not liking the idea of his only hope being snatched away. However...maybe this could work. Suddenly the little rat shoves the map towards the lizard, screeching, "Oy, ya lizard lips! Don't get mixed up in alla' this!" Hoping that was enough to distract Slade for a moment, Bindi scrambles under the table and grabs for the burlap sack, being surprisingly agile for his girth and overall condition
The badger twists his head around to a lizard stealing his map! "H-hey! That's mine!" He shouts while swinging the blade downward to pin the map to the table. If he cuts a lizards head in two, well, that's just a bonus. Little did the badger realize that the rat was making off with his illgotten goods...
All of a sudden an awful lot of really stupid things are happening all at once. The rat's screeching about something stupid, as prey usually does when they think that they're about to end up in some kind of danger... but then the badger speaks up and slams a knife down on the table. Coaxoch doesn't move his hand, instead just spreading his fingers so the knife can pass between them, leaning on the table and putting his weight on his new claim. "Not yoursss anymore. Badger not want thisss, Coaxoch taking it." And then the rat's scrambling to try and get away from, presumably everyone. "Rat getting away. Jussst ssso badger knowsss."
Bindi grabs the sack and is just making his way out from under the table when the lizard has the bright idea to tell the badger about a certain escape, "Dagnabit lizard lips! This coulda' worked out jus' foin!" While he's saying this, the little rat is also making his way into a standing position and pulling out his dagger, whirling to face Slade, "Now listen, Slade, this can be noice an' easy. Yew take tha' map, and Oi'll 'ave me vest. Fair's fair."
THe badger blinks first at 'lizard lips'. "Whaaa...?" Turning to see the rat has made off with his loot! He was going to sell that loot to him anyway but still! Witha savage yell the badger picks up his new sword and takes a step forward, only to yelp in surprise as it remains rooted to the table. "Dang blasted bleeding turnip eating double crossing..." The badger continues as he puts a foot on the table and pulls.
To no avail.
"Oh to the blazes with it!" The badger is always fond of hte most easy solutions. SO he simply grabs each end of the table and grunts with effor tas he hurls it toward the rat. Some...alchohol may be involved in his actions...
Even with all his weight leaning against the table, there's just plain nothing Coaxoch can do against the full, ridiculous strength of an overreacting badger. He stumbles backwards as the whole table comes up from the ground and pushes him backwards, the lizard folding his arms and fixing the badger with a dark scowl. He /really/ did want that piece of paper. At the very least he's getting the entertainment that the pair seemed to promise earlier.
Ferris dutifully drags another drunk to the lounge.
Bindi holds both his dagger and the sack out in front of him, trying his best to keep as many things between himself, the badger, and Coaxoch as possible, "Now, now Slade, calm down, thin-" Bindi lets out a yelp as the table comes soaring towards him and he leaps out of the way, tackeling an innocent bystander as he does so. He disentagles himself from the stoat and starts to run for the door. Time to ditch this lemon aid stand!
The badger however only continues to growl and spit at the rat, the fur of his neck seems to stand on end. It is only when Slade sees teh terrified looks of the tavern goers that he realizes that he is over reacting...if just a little bit. He realizes that this may not be the best place for a woodlander to start a fight, even for a badger.
But when the rat makes a break for it the badger's anger returns, "Bindi you little rat! So help me..." He takes one step forward and snorts, there is no way he is going to catch up with the rat. Then, slowly, he turns back to the lizard behind him. It is quite a large lizard, tribal looking. Probibly Ferral. But the badger's wrath has been invoked and someone has to pay the price, "You...you were working wid'th him...weren't you..."
Impassive reptillian eyes watch Bindi sprint towards the door, figuring that would be the end of it and that Coaxoch could then go back to his drink. Of course... then the badger decides to turn and look at him, then blame him for working with the rat to accomplish... what? It doesn't make sense, but Coaxoch has always considered badgers to be exceptionally stupid beasts, so no shock that there's no logic. The lizard pulls his macuahuitl from under his cloak, holding the weapon pointing downwards. "No. Not working with rat."
Bindi shoves the door out of his way and leaps into the outdoors, hitting the road at a run. He could have stayed to help the lizard, but then again, survival of the fittest! Which, wouldn't be Bindi, considering he stops running after a few meters, panting like a the billows of a blacksmith. Ah well, time to head back to head quarters! The little rat soon disapears into the night, sticking to the shadows of the road.
The badger looks over the lizard, peering deeply at the beast and drumming his fingers over the hilt of his own blade. "Oh, you weren't were ya?" He scoffs. Slade's eyes seem to flair then they soften as his inherrient lazy nature takes over. "Fine, beat it before aie beat you." Picking up his hat and coat from the chair by the table he used to sit at the badger turns for the door himself. Maybe the badger could stomp the lizard flat...then what? Give 15 or so angry vermin an excuse to pick a fight with a badger? Or worse, get banned from the tavern? No, he wasn't thinking clearly. Such thinking was for children.
No, Slade was going to hunt down this little runt of a rat, and his possible scaley accomplis and then tan their hides in the cover and safety of the woods. That sounded MUCH more reasonable, he thought with a grin.
Staring at the badger, Coaxoch looks at what he considers a very slow ticking clock considering all his options, of which there's far too few to require this much thought. Coaxoch's tongue flicks from between his lips, then puts away his weapon as the badger seems to decide against putting up some kind of ridiculous fight. Just to show that he's not intimidated, Coaxoch goes to the bar, swigging back the last few gulps of his ale, then pushes past the badger so he can leave first. Of course, since it's hard to move a mountain, in the end Coaxoch just ends up elbowing Slade a couple times, something it's unlikely such a large beast would even notice. Bad on the road then.
After the two beasts make their rather abrupt departure the tavern returns to normalcy, or its version of it. Chit chat and conversation returns and the ppor bartender sobs silently to himself, examining the broken furnature across the room.
Interestingly enough a lone fox from the bar picks himself and his ale up before shuffling off towards the sight of the thrown table. Might as well see if there was anything valuable they were fighting over. He takes the sword out of the wood and examines it. With a shrug he puts it into his belt, then pauses. He bends over and picks up the slightly torn map. A smile crosses Dale the bounty hunters lips and he quickly stuffs the map into his breast pocket. And others told him he should cut back on the ale, just wasting his life and his money they said.
Well, it might be wasting his life but as for money...it looks like visiting a tavern is going to be filling his coffers with coin once again...
- Thanks for reading!*
