What Happen To Uncle Zee and Where is My Father's Sword!
RW Abbey: Bookbinding Room
This is a moderately sized room with a table that runs the full length of the
wall. It's rather stuffy, as there are no windows and only one door. The table
is neatly arranged with all the tools necessary for binding books, stacks of
spare parchment and spools of thread, as well as several clay ink pots and
quills made of pigeon feathers. There are some books set at one end in a neat
stack, all of which seem to be damaged in some way. A stack of scrolls, barely
readable do to water stains, are on a shelf near the door. A chair is sat by
the table and a small desk close to the doorway.
Exits: [B]ack
Zinnia just avoids the door, heck she dragged a pillow and blanket in here and can sleep in here, she is not meaning to seem...well mean, she is not coming out tonight and decides to fall asleep instead.
Flicktail knocks on the door
Zinnia looks up at the knock and rubs her eyes as she was asleep, “Who is it?" She asks, she doesn't go over to the door.
Flicktail asks, "It’s Flicktail, may I enter Sister?"
Zinnia sighs, she is quiet for a long while and then goes to unlock the door and steps back, "What do you want?" She asks flat toned, "I..was busy in here"
Flicktail blink blinks and stammers "I...I’m sorry..I will go I did not mean to disturb you" He carries a book in his paw.
Zinnia frowns, "I..its fine I..guess." She looks at the book and back to him, “You wanted something or just checking on me?"
Flicktail says, "I...well f it is no problem." He holds up an old book, it looks to be just a fiction book but it is very old, in tatters, the binding coming apart "I..I didn't know who else. I found it. Are you ok? Can I help?"
Zinnia takes the book and goes to lay it down on the table, "I am fine" She says softly, "I will fix it, maybe couple days I been fixing a lot of books last couple days...like 5 that normally take a week."
Flicktail says, "You don't seem fine" The champion says timidly
Zinnia glares at him, "Let me guess you DON'T want the book fixed?"
Flicktail says, "of course I do......you...are just...scaring me"
Zinnia still glares and then frowns, scaring is not something she wants to be known for as she goes to sit down and lets a couple tears fall, "I'm..s..sorry Flicktail." She looks over the book he had and looks back to him, "I will fix...maybe by tomorrow, how is that?"
Flicktail enters and see's the tears "I'm a friend and I want to help.”
Zinnia sighs, "I..didn't mean to scare you forgive me."
Flicktail says, "It's but, I stayed because I feel like you need a friend"
Zinnia shrugs, she looks at a pile of 5 books that are fixed now and gets a cloth to clean them off, she starts to clean them slowly and stays quiet for now as she cleans the books and lays them in a new pile. "You can...help me put the new books out.." She says softly.
Flicktail nods and moves to help but says "Is it your Uncle Zee?”
Zinnia looks up at him "Is..what my Uncle?" She goes to stand, "I am..gonna go to Ferravale and visit him soon, why?"
Flicktail says, "I saw the tears Zinnia, I feared you had some ill news"
Zinnia takes a deep breath and tries to not yell, "My uncle is fine ok, he just doesn’t like to visit the abbey and I am going to Ferravale and no one will stop me from going, I..need to talk to him"
Flicktail asks, "Stop you? I will help you if I can."
Zinnia asks, "Help me what? It’s a half a day walk."
Flicktail says, "Well it sounded like you thought someone would stop you, if they would I would prevent that"
Zinnia frowns, she goes to walk past him and on down the stairs "I...need to get something ok, then I am leaving..."
Flicktail asks, "May I walk with you? I will stay if you wish it..."
Zinnia frowns, she doesn't seem to care too much as she goes down one of the halls and returns with a silver box she opens with a key, she takes out another...yes key and closes the box back sitting it down, she then locks the door to the book binding room as the box will be safer there, even if its empty she wants it to stay safe.
Flicktail waits patiently for her, having sent a novice to retrieve his sword for a journey outside the abbey
Zinnia puts the key in her pocket and looks at him "I..should be ok and will be back....sometime" She says the last part slowly.
Flicktail says, "It will be safer if I travel with you then I can leave if you want"
Zinnia says, "Travel with me, I don’t care, it’s just Ferravale. I will be ok""
Flicktail nods and walks along with her in silence if she wishes but he does say "You know I will ALWAYS be your friend”
FV:Town Center
The gravelly path through the village gets wider the further into the village it travels until at the center of the village it splits off into four around a large fire pit just waiting for any excuse for a feast or celebration and still showing the bones and a few broken mugs from the last one around the edges. A large longhouse for meetings has been built on one side of the road, standing important, decorated with carved wood, shields, weapons, furs and a large skull over the door with the large similarly fearsomely decorated house of the chief sitting proudly beside it.
Meek in comparison across the road a smaller wooden building bares a misspelled sign over the door naming it the 'Infermery'. A few trees dot the edges of the clearing but buildings take over in most directions, only the north showing some vegetation within the village walls. To the west houses seem to spring up and take over the land while noise and masses of beasts take over the south around the market and shops. Down the eastern trail the village gates can just be seen with the tavern close by.
Exits: [A]banded [W]arehouse, [T]own [H]all, [In]firm, [C]hieftain's [H]ome, [N]orth, [S]outh, [W]est, [E]ast
Zinnia has walked for a little under half a day to get here, she had looked over the town and had started to get slightly annoyed. The hut was locked and when she looked in the window no one was there, he wasn’t at the tavern..so where was he?
Flicktail walks with Zinnia, quietly and helps her look
Scioto is on patrol and in fact getting ready to get some sleep, he blinks when he sees the badger and Flicktail and walks over, "What is this? I am usually told when I have Redwallers visit me."
Zinnia turns to Scioto and speaks "I was..looking for my Uncle Zee. He wasn’t home or in the tavern, where is he?"
Flicktail says, "We were not visiting you, per se, Chief"
Scioto rises an eyebrow at Flicktail, "But your here, and you didn’t say anything beforehand. I do not like sudden visits to my village like this." He looks at Zinnia, "Your Uncle is not here, where is he I do not know."
Zinnia frowns, "W..What do you mean you don't know where he is?"
Flicktail says, "It was not a planned trip Chief. Zinnia is worried about her uncle"
Scioto narrows his eyes and looks at the badger, "He is not here..no one knows where he is right now..why are you looking for him anyways?"
Zinnia frowns and pulls out a key, she frowns more, "How c..could?..When was the last time some beast saw him?"
Scioto looks at the key and frowns, he then answers "2..maybe 3 weeks ago. I am sorry we have looked for him but one can only look for someone for so long," He sighs, he knows what the key is, "And he left that chest with me, safe keeping I guess."
Zinnia frowns deeply, great more worry now.
FV:Chieftain's Home:Main Room
The inside of the home is large, a door leads to the sleeping quarters and another to a kitchen area. This room has a large window looking outside with nice navy blue curtains on it. The floor is wooden and a large fireplace keeps the room warm in those cold months. Above the fireplace is a large painting of the Chieftain and his mate. In the room also is a table and a few chairs to sit in.A large bookcase is by a far wall with many books of all kinds on it.
Exits: [B]ack, [Bed]room, [K]itchen
Scioto sighs and leads her into his home” Ok the chest is here,” He shows the chest and points to it.” Zee left it here, I have no clue why.”
Zinnia goes to open it and blinks, she sees the armor and a..wait key? She frowns at it and looks to the chieftain, "W..where is the blade? Where is the sword!! The Blade of the Northwind Storms!"
Scioto holds up a paw. "Calm down, this wasn't my idea...it was his own, someone named Hyde has the blade..and where is he, I have no clue, meet him once and he is strange"
Flicktail steps inside and simply listens as Zinnia's moral support
Zinnia sits down as tears go down her face, she holds the key and decides she has to find Hyde then, fine...she lays down, “That blade is all...had..." She looks tried and worn out" What if Uncle Zee is in..t..trouble." She just sobs and ends up falling asleep on where she is. Well Scioto has a house guest for the night weather he wants it or not :P.
Scioto frowns and looks at Flicktail, "I did not plan to" He sighs deeply and stares at the door paws folded over his chest, in deep thought" And its late I can’t have you leave either....well whats your opinion on staying the night, but maybe waking to a snake saying hello...with cheese buns?"
Flicktail says, "I have been trying to get your daughter to let me meet the snake for moons Chief. Thank you for the invitation"
Scioto frowns "I am not sure it’s wise to be alone with that snake...I will give it orders not to eat you, just don’t accept a cheese bun from you, he must likely will want you to be tasteing like them before he tries to eat you."
Scioto say, "I will have a guard stand watch...I don’t want to have to go tell Benar...gee so sorry the snake ate them...that would cause a war.."
Flicktail chuckles "I do not think he will eat us, but post your guard if you wish my very dear friend”
Scioto say, "Don’t be so sure...." He goes to talk to the guards and then comes back and nods to the fox, "they are standing watch and it’s not a joke. The snake may think your food or something..." He sighs as he sits down, this will be a long night and he has plans to have a long talk with the badger in the morning as well. "Also I did not mean to upset her, I only spoke the truth I have no idea where Zee is, he is missing"
Flicktail says, "Well that’s ok chief .I will now begin searching for him as well and I am sure there are beasts in Ferravale who. Have information, for the right price"
Scioto nods "If you want to help fine but I have no clue where to start...well one beast may know, he saw some beasts around the same time but was injured"
Flicktail asks, "Who is this beast?"
Scioto say, "Marek...he had been away a couple days and came limping back and passed out....he was attacked and mentioned seeing the badger and even had his staff, Maybe Zee tried to help him I don’t know. There is many who still hate Marek and doesn’t trust him"
Flicktail says, "I consider him a friend now he will help me."
Scioto says, "I believe he also looked for Zee as well, but no luck"
Flicktail says, "Now we will look together"
Scioto sighs "I need to rest, but first.." He looks outside and whistles and a hawk comes flying over to the house. Scioto writes a quick note and gives it to the hawk and speaks to it and it flies off. “I told the hawk to let the abbey guars know your here"
Flicktail stretches "I will seek him in the morning, it's neem along walk. I shall rest now, thank you Chief"
Scioto nods "Good night my friend"
The next Morning and still in the chieftains home we find Flicktail off to most likely talk to beasts around the village and Scioto waiting on Zinnia to awaken. =
Zinnia slowly wakes up and sits up where she had fallen asleep. She rubs her eyes and looks around.
Scioto is sitting in one of his chairs and arms folded over his chest, “Morning..now explain why you’re here, I have a feeling it’s not cause your worried for you Uncle, or least it didn’t start that way.”
Zinnia feels the tears come, “I..got use to Uncle Zee not visiting, and wondered about the no letter..but no, my…” Tears go down her face “My papa he..he died a couple days ago and his armor and sword is all I have left of him, to help me remember him and I..I want to tell Uncle Zee….tha…that Papa died”
Scioto frowns, “Your father?..Wait Zork is dead?”
Zinnia nods and a sob escapes, “Yes, he died in the orchards couple days ago..round lunch time and..and it..I miss him.”
Scioto rarely shows any tender side, unless it’s for Blisa of course, but rarely for any best else. He is the tough obey my rules and don’t dare surprise me type, he wants his village in order and hates surprise visits and deep down dislikes Redwallers staying long but the crying badger...He walks over and goes to place his arms around her in a sort of friendly hug “I am..sorry to hear this, I am also sorry to not know where Zee is, but I do know this, he is one very tough old badger and I am sure where ever he is , he is ok.”
Zinnia allows the hug and quickly wipes away the tears, she tells herself the crying has to stop now, she steps back and clears her throat, “T..Thank you, do you have any idea where Hyde is this?” She has to lock away her depression and sadness even if it hurts more later, which it mostly likely will.
Scioto nods, “Now all I know is he said Hyde was given the blade, and Hyde was in the northlands somewhere, maybe Zee was on his way there, it’s possible he got out of trouble or just sees in trouble. I have had beasts look for the badger and no luck, even the hawk, there was a report that Longfang is dead though, some eagle and that Longfang had a couple beasts that work for him still around, but that they headed north as well, but still…no badgers. I am unsure what to tell you but you shouldn’t go off somewhere on your own.”
Zinnia nods, she clears her throat and has decided to push her depression, her wanting to cry out, deep down into her. The frown stays on her face and keeps her smile locked away, for who knows how long and a sense of loss is seen in her eyes. Her eyes have lost that sparkle of life and energy they once had, she then speaks in a flat tried sort of tone, strangely no emotion in her voice, as if she dislikes emotions now. “Ok..thank you for the info Sir Scioto, I need to get back to the abbey, I can’t go anywhere till my father’s funeral, tell Blisa she can come and you can too..well if you wish. Tell Flicktail I went home, good day.” She then walks out and will head back to the abbey.
Scioto watches her and frowns, his ears go flat against his head but he decides not to follow her back to the abbey, not to make sure she gets there ok as something tells him to leave her alone.
FV:Guardhouse
The guardhouse comprises of a reasonably spacious wooden building with just one room in it and bars on all the windows. A few bunks for off duty guards back up against the wall furthest from the door often with at least one snoring lump in them. A couple of weapon racks hang out by other walls near a space of sawdust covered floor where training or just the occasional fight takes place while at a safe distance a round table surrounded by chairs holds the remains of a bit of food and drink, a tatty old pack of cards and a few dice to play with.
Exits: [H]ead Guard's Office, [Exit]
The guard shack was unusually quiet today, but busy. Guards came into the guard shack, grabbed their equipment and assignments and quietly shuffled out. There was a heavy tension in the air. Occasionally a guard beast would offer a scowl at the direction of the Head Guard Office before heading out for their duties.
The office of the head guard wasn't too fancy really, the only decoration was the pike head mounted across from the door so the first thing people would see before visiting with Bandit was a pair of snarling pointed teeth coming at them eat them.
The head guard himself nearly vanished behind the clutter of paperwork upon his desk. Somewhere behind that wall of job orders and reports there was a heavy set brown fox dressed in chainmail, quietly doodling away on a report with a quill pen
Zinnia decides to slip into here, maybe cause it’s quiet and she just needs to get somewhere, or maybe cause it's cooler in here than other places. She doesn't notice Bandit, and stays right outside the office as she sits down by the wall and stares at the other wall. A weasel guard tilts his head and looks at her, "Hey what ya doin' in here woodlander?" And Zinnia sends him a death glare, and the guard yelps and decides to leave, rather quickly.
Ferrevales finest in action, Bandit thinks as he rubs at his eyes. He has yet to notice the badger from behind his little fortress of reports and papers. The fox stands to his full height, adjusting the belt around his mid-section.
Bandit would have been called burly if not for his rather expansive midriff. Secular life has not been kind to the obese fox at all and it’s clear the chain mail under his blue tabbard is in need of being refit.
The fox opens his mouth in preparation to scold some poor beast, woodlander or otherwise, when he sees the badger at his door. "Zinnia?" He says in a shocked tone. "Zin! Don't just stand there, come on in! Come on in!" He gestures for the badger to come fulling into his office.
Zinnia looks into the office and stands slowly, she looks like she hasn't had any sleep in a couple days, she glances at the office, "Interesting place." She says quietly. She fiddles with a key around her neck that she has placed on a small chain.
Bandit didn't get to be head guard by being blind to those around him. He can easily tell that the badger is distressed even if he may not know the exact reason. He moves around the badger and closes the door behind her, "It's a bit of a walk between here and Redwall lass. Is everything ok?" The fox sits on the edge of his desk, "In case you haven’t heard the...creature...that attacked you on the road has been dealt with. He was apparently eaten by an eagle. Probably still digesting in its gullet by now. He won't ever try to hurt another badger again."
Zinnia nods, she seems unaffected by what he just said, and normally she probably would be. "That’s nice..." She moves head fur from her face and frowns, "Scioto said..Uncle Zee is missing..and no one knows..w..where." She looks ready to cry, "W..What else is gonna happen. I can't..can't lose..anyone else."
Oh great. Something bad DID happen. Bandit bites his lip as he ponders what to say. Comforting others will never be his forte. "Now don't cry, don't cry." The heavy set fox makes a mental note to have more chairs brought into his office as he tries to direct Zinnia to sit in his chair. "Zee is missing?" He raises an eyebrow, "Why don't you start at the beginning..."
Zinnia frowns, she isn’t sure of the whole story, "I..d..don't know, not seen him since the summer feast...few weeks ago, I didn’t know he was missing, like 2-3 weeks..think." She wipes away a tear, "I came to get something, but he only had his armor, someone else has his sword...and I wanted to tell him..." She has yet to get out, tell her uncle what.
Bandit considers patting the badger on the shoulder then thinks better of it. Zinnia mentioned Scioto knew Zee was missing? Then why didn't the head guard know? Maybe the cat hasn't had the time to tell him, or maybe he wanted Bandit to focus on more important tasks? No, probably not the latter. "Ok...did Zee mention where he was going? Was he acting strangely before he left? And why would someone else have his sword?"
Zinnia shrugs, she coughs a little as she holds back tears, "Uncle Zee was ..was keeping Papa's..." She frowns" Papa's sword safe...and I was gonna...maybe see if I could keep it..and I don't know where Uncle Zee is, he rarely visited the abbey, he always stayed here...but now he is missing..my world is falling apart..Uncle Zee is missing and..Papa..." And now she just cries, well she tried to hold back tears, didn’t work.
The fox's ears lift up, then settle back to their normal place when realization dawns on him. The fox's heart feels heavy but his expression remains neutral. "Something happened to Zork?" The fox leans back on his desk, rocking back and forth for a moment, "Oh Zinnia I'm so sorry. Last time I saw him I knew he wasn't doing well but...well..." The fox's voice trails off until he coughs politely to keep himself from choking up. "What, what happened. If you don't mind me asking."
Zinnia lets a sob or two escape, she finally answers after a short while "He died...he's dead, he's gone."
Bandit bites his lip again. He sighs deeply. He can't tell if he has endurance to not cry immediately as well, or if he is just too jaded. Unfortunately for Zin, the fox never learned comforting words to impart to beasts in times like this. "I had a feeling something like this was going to happen eventually. He wasn't looking too good last time I saw him. I'm sorry Zinnia, Zork was a good beast. We, we will all miss him. We will also find your uncle. He probably just needs some time alone as well to...process this." The fox offers the badger a shallow hug, because in reality that is all he can do. "Do you need food? I can arrange for one of the guards to take you somewhere to eat, or if you need a place to stay I can have one of the guards arrange a place for you at the inn. "
Zinnia frowns, "I..might stay a day or two, then I have to get back to the abbey. But Uncle Zee wouldn’t of know about Papa"
The fox's ears fidget again. "You don't say." So the badger disappeared for other reasons. The fox didn't need to ask if the badger had enemies. He already knew the answer to that. "I'll look into this myself. Ok ZInnia? I'm sure your uncle is just fine." Lier, the fox thinks. When is anyone who disappears around here 'just fine'? "Here, I'll have a guard escort you to the inn. Tell Liam I'll cover the cost. Stay there as long as you need. When you get hungry tell the guard and he will bring you something to fill your belly, ok?"
Bandit stands. He opens the door for Zinnia to leave.
Zinnia just nods as she heads to the Inn, least for now as she will wait till little later to head home as right now she just can't..maybe this afternoon."Ok...thank you."
The fox nods, "Think nothing of it. Zork was practically family...and you Redwallers took me in for a while too. It's the least I can do." The fox adds, "Don't worry about your uncle. We /will/ find him." Just like we /will/ keep Longfang in prison. Just like we /will/ keep beasts from attacking people on the roads. Thinks Bandit with a grimace. "When you get back to the abbey give the beasts my regards, please."
Zinnia nods "I am going back tomorrow maybe." She then heads to the Inn, she will eat something later on. She frowns as she lays down, weather she goes home tomorrow or not remains in question.
