Nowhere to Go [open]

[Poizuun]

Mezla Deepriver

Dreary drizzles. That was all that was going on today, it seemed. But that didn't stop Mezla Deepriver from going about her daily chores. From all of the melting snow and rain, the River Moss had rose quite a bit, flooding a few of her deeper burrows, so she preferred to stay outside, rather than inside and deal with figuring out which tunnels were flooded and which ones were safe. It was an important thing to do, but also one of her least favorite chores. So instead of that, she was out collecting mushrooms and other roots and plants that would help her to make her dinner. She'd collected various tasty things, plenty of mushrooms and watercress, even a few wild onions and a couple of abandoned bird eggs. Overall, it was a successful outing.

The lanky otter paused at one point to take a break. She stopped at a large, flat rock and sat down, taking the pouch of food from her shoulders and setting it beside her, followed shortly by her quiver and bow. She leaned back and then laid completely down. She stared up at the pale gray clouds, blinking as larger droplets struck around her eyes. Mezla thought about many things as she laid there, nothing really in particular, but she just allowed her mind to wander about. Eventually she grabbed one of her arrows from the quiver and played with the feathers, inspecting the shaft with a keen eye. She made every arrow by hand and trusted them over any other weapon anyone else had given her.

{ooc} AAAAAAAND FAIL ENDING

[Lemon Zinger]

"Is the bally arrow speaking to you?" Reyldran asked, his head popping up over some bushes. He had been resting his eyes a moment while trying to scrounge up brekkers. He was getting annoyed though, because (in his own words) "there's not a bally thing is blinkin' forest that would make a decent brekkers!"

Of course, his short rest did nothing to satisfy his stomach, which was still protesting loudly about his lack of food. When he heard the otter, he about charged for her, just happy to see another creature besides Celadin. When he saw her inspecting her arrow though, it made him think of Celadin and how she was leading him out here chasing a feeling when he was starving. He asked because, if arrows really did speak, then maybe he'd know where to get some answers.

However, he didn't want this otter to think he had bees in his brain (though they would have lots of room in his stomach) and so he jumped out from behind the bush offering her a paw. "Name's Lance Corporal Reyldran Meret Treestar. What about you? Have any food by chance?" Of course, food was the first thing on his mind.

[Poizuun]

Mezla Deepriver

The red otter was up the moment she heard the bushes rustle. She didn't waste the time trying to grab her bow and fire the arrow that she was holding, so she just stood with the arrow raised and ready to stab whatever popped out. When she saw it was a hare, she didn't lower the arrow in the slightest. She narrowed her black eyes. "You gotta do some searchin' in dis forest iffen you wanna eat." She backed up a little on her rock, arrow still lifted, and stood in front of her bag of mushrooms, ready to defend it from the stranger. She'd worked hard for the food she had collected and wasn't about to share it with a beast she didn't know. "M'name's Deepriver." She said shortly. "And dere's plenny o' food around da forest. You just gotta look fer it." She backed up more and then used the arrow to pick up her bag and set it across her shoulders. "I werked fer my food. An' it ain't look like yer gonna be starvin' anytime soon. Y'can do some foragin' for yerself, just like I did." She then picked up her quiver and bow, notching the arrow upon the bowstring. Mezla Deepriver wasn't about to share her hard-earned vittles with a stranger that couldn't bother to find his own.

[Lemon Zinger]

"Steady on old chap I don't want to fight! Can you just point me in a good direction wot wot?" Reyldran dropped his lance, currently employed as a walking stick, for good measure. He didn't want to fight this otter, and he was beginning to wonder if she was at all prone to violence. He'd only asked for a bit of bally help, why did she have to get so dashedly defensive? Of course he kept these thoughts to himself.

Celadin was glad she'd gone after Reyldran. His forages usually took some time, but never quite this long, not without there being trouble. She watched from her concealment way back among the trees. Unable to make out words she just watched with narrowed eyes as Reyldran dropped his weapon. Celadin had a shaft on her crossbow and had it pointed at the otter in moments. "Harm him and die." Celadin called out loudly. Much as she didn't always get along with him, Reyldran was her friend.

Reyldran could see this was about to get too far out of hand. "No, drop it Cela!" He called. The badger eyed him with confusion, but when he gave her a sharp nod she lowered the weapon with a grunt. "Pardon my friend, she just needs me to be her bally food forager wot wot." He said, trying to be lighthearted about the matter. He picked up his lance slowly and backed away. "Any helpful directions for me?" He asked one last time.

[Poizuun]

Mezla Deepriver

When the badger suddenly appeared with her crossbow pointed at Mezla, the otter's first instinct was to fire an arrow before the badger could. Luckily for the badger, it was a warning shot and embedded itself in the tree behind her. But she notched another arrow, tightening the bowstring. "You don' point no weapons at me widout any repercussions." She growled, curling her lip. When the badger lowered her weapon, the otter also lowered hers, eyeing her carefully. She then looked at the hare again, shifting a bit to be sure the satchel across her shoulders was safely placed and guarded. "I found my mushrooms over dere a ways." Mezla Deepriver nodded her head to the left. "And dere's some watercress along da river along wid other water plants on da banks. If you want meats, you gotta do some fishin' wid dat crossbow o' yer friend's and a piece o' string." She grinned, sticking her tongue between her teeth. Mezla liked to think of herself as the best bowfisher in the area. Mostly because she was the only bowfisher in the area, but that didn't dampen her pride in the title.

[Lemon Zinger]

Celadin noted the arrow, but didn't fire on Mezla. For some reason she trusted Reyldran. "Thank you." She said gruffly, coming over to walk by Reyldran. the hair could take a hint and turned to walk away, but listened for any warning of further hostilities. They reached the river and he reached up to pull out one of Celadin's arrows, but the Badger waved him off. "Watercress and mushrooms will do fine." She told him.
"But I want a real meal, no more of this eating on the bally go!" He said, indignant.
"Then use your lance." Celadin said.
"You're a cruel excuse for a friend, Celadin Silverfur." Reyldran pouted. "Wish that otter would've hit your blinking arm or something, then maybe you'd be grateful for my company!"
"You're company means ceaseless talking and complaining." Celadin replied evenly.
Reyldran hrumphed loudly and turned to stand over the stream. A fish swam close by and he chucked his lance at it. He missed though, and it bounced back, hitting him on his nose.
"Ow!" He cried, holding his nose and sitting down hard on the beach. Celadin hadn't seen what happened, but she had to restrain her laughter.
"Did the fish bite you?" She asked.
"No!" He said, his voice sounding strange because he was holding his nose. Then he realized his lance was still in the water, and beginning to get away. "My wance!" He cried.
"What?" Celadin was confused.
"My wance!" This time the hare pointed, and Celadin turned to see the lance in the middle of the river. Neither of them did much swimming, so they weren't sure at first what to do.

[Poizuun]

Mezla Deepriver

Mezla heard their commotion and rolled her eyes. She shifted from her rock, un-notching her arrow and returning it to the quiver and then looping the bow over her shoulders. She moved swiftly to where the badger and hare were, analyzing what had happened and seeing the lance out in the river. She rolled her eyes again, stripping off her bow, quiver, and bag of food, setting it on the bank. "Never leave bowfishing to creatures dat don' know what dey're doing." She looked to the badger, feeling like she would be the more trustworthy one, despite their initial greeting. "Don' be lettin' dat 'are-creature near my stuff." She said and then slid into the water, barely causing a ripple.

The lance wiggled about and then disappeared under the water. Mezla returned quickly and shook off her fur. She offered it to the hare and revealled the fish wriggling at the end of it. "You aim for da fishes dat are close to you, 'are-beast. Not da ones dat are in da middle of da river. You did not even put a rope on da end of your lance. You're not an otter, silly 'are-beast." She smiled, actually meaning it this time, rather than in a mocking sense. "Dere are big fishes down dere dat you can't fight while holdin' yer breath and trying to get yer lance. Dat's why you need da string."

[Lemon Zinger]

Celadin chuckled as Reyldran sent a shocked look at Mezla when she first dove into the river. "You heard her, no going near her belongings, sticky-fingers."
"I am not!" Reyldran protested. His nose wasn't throbbing quite so much now, but it was still sore.
They waiting a moment until the otter returned, and Celadin smiled at her kindly, trying to seem more friendly then their first encounter. Reyldran was sitting with his mouth agape at something else, and Celadin then noticed the fish
Reyldran's eyes widened at the sight of the fish on the end of the lance as he accepted it from the clever fisher. "I say, your a very good fisher there mate, why don't you give me a lesson?" Celadin rolled her eyes. Her comrade could only think of his stomach. Still, she wouldn't interfere if Mezla was willing to give a quick lesson, since it might shut him up for awhile.

[Poizuun]

Mezla Deepriver

Mezla smiled between the badger and the hare, but when the hare complimented her on her fishing, she shook her head, chuckling. "You did dat y'self." She laughed. "Dere was a big pike after me, I didn' have time ta be goin' after any other fishes down dere. Dey all hid anyway when da creature showed up." She nodded her head at the river where a well-timed splash occurred as the pike thrashed after its prey in the river.

When the hare asked her to teach him how to bowfish, the otter swelled a bit with pride at passing on the trade to another beast. "Well, it's easier if you're an otter, but I'm shore an 'are-beast kin learn iffen 'e really wants ta." She smiled and bounced over to her quiver and bow and then pulled a long length of string from her bag and tied it to an arrow, hooking it securely to a special notch she carved in the shaft. "If da arrow gets stuck somewheres cuz you missed, you gotta swim for it. Dat's why it's easy for an otter to go bowfishin'." She notched the arrow, took aim, and fired. The line went taught and she began pulling, talking as she did. "You gotta have da toughest string or rope you kin find for when you hook da big ones. Like I got here." Her muscles clenched and her webbed paws drug through the grass a bit, but she just kept pulling until the big pike that had been hunting was on the bank, wriggling listlessly as the arrow buried in its back did its work.

"But I says you don' be goin' for da big ones like him quite yet, 'are-beast. You should be goin' for da guppies." She leaned down to remove the arrow when the pike suddenly lurched and sunk its teeth into her arm. She shook the dying thing off, ignoring the bleeding. "And you don' do dat and be reckless wid da big toothy ones to show off."

[Lemon Zinger]

Celadin took a seat in the shade of a tree, ready to watch Reyldran attempt to fish. She was prepared for a good laugh or too, but over all wished him luck. Because if there were any more pikes down there the gluttonous hare would need it. He looked back towards her, but they both knew he couldn't bend her bow. At least not the way it was. She sighed, bringing up the weapon and loosening the bowstring so the hair could actually draw the arrows a little. He wouldn't need any great range, just enough to get an arrow into the water. She then handed him a spare bowstring and one of the arrows. When he reached for them, she didn't let go at first.

"Break anything and you'll wish you hadn't woken up hungry." She said firmly. They were friends, but Reyldran knew Celadin was not the sort of creature to take lightly. While she would never harm him, or allow harm to befall him, a few nights without supper or having to do extra guard duties would quickly teach him never to be careless again. He smiled cheerfully at her. "No worries marm, I'll have 'em back to you in tip-top shape after I snag us a fish or two wot!" He said, leaping back over beside (but not too close) to Mezla. He was still about wary about the pike, who'd struck with awesome speed. he just wanted a few small fish, nothing like the whopper sitting at the otter's feet. He tied the bowstring to the arrow and then held the other end in his hand. He notched the arrow and (with great effort) took aim. The bow was not too big for him, but it made the drawback a little more difficult. He waited, breathless, for any signs of life.

There was a great splash as a fish jumped halfway up to catch a fly. Reyldran shot at it, but as he drew back the arrow he could tell he missed. "Cheeky blighter disappeared." He grumbled, earning a snort from Celadin. "If it just disappeared you should still be able to shoot it. It's when something vanishes that you will loose it." She retorted. Reyldran shot her a look, both of his ears standing up like flagpoles. "Just you wait, I'll catch one and when I do I'll not share!" He said, snorting as if to say he'd won. Celadin rolled her eyes. This hair was the reason her fur was already silver...

[Poizuun]

Mezla Deepriver

Mezla chuckled at the hare and badger's exchange. She didn't really have too many friends, being so defensive and territorial with strangers. She didn't get this bantering. Ever. Usually the only visitors she got were vermin looking for shelter from all of the spring storms, which she always dispatched quickly. Otherwise, if other good creatures were passing by and she was in her holt, she just let them continue on their way. It wasn't exactly a good life for the otter, but it was a life that was free, and that was all she really wanted. "Well, if you wanna hog yer catch, I'll share da pike with yer friend. But let's see ya catch da fishes first before ya start hoggin' 'em."

{ooc} crap. i'm still half asleep, so sorry zinger.

[Lemon Zinger]

(I like)

Celadin gave Melza a smile. "I don't want to be any trouble." She said softly. She felt a bit sorry for Melza, who was not only interrupted by her gluttonous friend but now stuck hearing him whine as he drew back the bow again, only to smack his arm with the bowstring as he shot without meaning to because he could no longer stand to hold it at the ready. Reyldran hopped around on the beach like a madbeast, whimpering and clutching his arm. Celadin smiled thinly. At least this was somewhat entertaining. "Breakfast worth all this?" She called to him.

Reyldran finally stopped hopping around and he shot her an angry look of defiance. "If I was back at Salamandastron I wouldn't have to go to all this trouble." He hissed. Celadin knew it was just a blurted remark of pain and embarrassment, but it stung nonetheless.

"You can go back at any time you know." She replied. She hadn't asked for him to come and she was beginning to be convinced she didn't need him. Reyldran went back once more to try and Celadin looked back at Melza. "Sorry about this. We can move downriver if we're bugging you."

(Again, sorry!)