The Beach- A Beginning

[Noitamina]

Mossflower has enjoyed a long peacetime. The forest and the crops of Redwall have been plentiful. The failed invasion of Redwall has been all but forgotten and the few vermin clans have been noticeably less active.

Unbeknownst to the Abbey-Dwellers, a fierce and bloodthirsty Warlord has been gathering a Horde on the banks of the River Moss. Driven by a lust for gold and the need for sacrifices, he's set his sights on the Abbey, like so many before him.

What will happen? That's up to you. Eulalia!

And.... Begin!

[flint]

It was difficult to say which one could be said to have one the fight in terms of pure grappling; the shark had at least three teeth imbedded in the otter's shoulder, certainly, and could account for more than a few bruises, but the otter had one driven the claws of his right paw deep into the back of the shark's head, and was gripping the midsection of the fish with his legs. What could be said without any difficulty at all was that when the two bodies washed up onto the beach, the shark was definately dead, a sword driven deep into it's stomach, its eyes devoid of focus.

It was trickier to determine whether or not the otter was dead, until his tail began to twitch, making a bloody swishing-design in the sand.

Though the left eye had been long since sightless, it seemed to flicker as a gurgling, feeble laugh co-mingled with the choking up of seawater. "Haar... caff... ye can't get me, fish... harr... no, ye can't take old Savage... harr...Gimme back me blade, ye great tuna!" Wrenching the weapon free, Flint Savage scrabbled backwards away from the corpse, laughing without heed to the bleeding sockets where his teeth used to be. "I gullied ye, aye! I said I would! Ye couldn't take me, nay. Not you, an' not the others... it's mine, d'ye hear?"

A look of shocked realization washed over the salty features of Flint's face, followed quickly by a quick search of his inner coat pockets, and finally a self satisfied smile. "No, they can' get me. Not now, aye. It's mine, I tell ye." The heat of the sun coupled with the loss of blood was too much for the otter, who fell back on the sand, grinning sharply up at the sun. "Ye can't get ol' Captain Flint Savage now, no sir, not one of ye."

[rushingwater18]

Wanderer was in the lead, and she had decided to go down to the shore of the ocean. The beach, obviously. Robin was just trying to keep up with her.
Wanderer went to the water's edge, letting her feet soak in the gentle waves. Then she stiffened, just as Robin arrived, out of breath.
"Dear, slow down a bit. I'm-"
"Shh!" interrupted Wanderer, pressing a paw to her husband's lips. "Some beast's injured; I can smell blood!"
Together, they quickly made their way down the coast. Wandered squeaked when she saw the shark, but quickly passed it to get to the otter on the other side. she gave a gasp of horror at the sight of the mangled seadog. "Oh, Stars. What on earth...?"
"Must have been the shark."
"Must have."

[flint]

After spending a great deal of time being snuck up on by cut-throat vagabonds, one developed a nack for hearing others approaching. Unfortunately for Captain Savage, he was in such a condition that he didn't even become aware of the mice until their voices managed to reach the faintest part of his brain. Leaping to his feet, the otter whipped out his swords, pointing the tips at the newcomers as if they were capable of shooting some kind of projectile.

"Hold it there, ye black hearted vermin!" he barked, his staggering knees betraying the fact he was in no position to back up anything he was about to say. "Ye stay back! I'll flay the lot of ye, so help me! Cross me, I'll be darin' ye!" They were rats, he was sure of it. There was a great deal of salt stinging his eyes, and the loss of blood surely wasn't helping, but he was certain they were rats. "I den' know how ye tracked me here, but ye'd best be headin' back where ye came! It's mine, see? Ye won't take it, mark me!"

Without any kind of strength left to back up his words, Savage fell backwards, landing heavily on his tail. Groaning, the otter blinked away the spots which had appeared, and finding, once the multicolored specks had vanished, that there were not two rats in front of him, but rather a pair of mice. Taking a second to make sure it wasn't a trick of the light, Flint gasped out a laugh of relief. "Oh, shiver me swords," he managed to get out at last. "Shiver me swords, mates! A pair of mice, it be, and me yammering on about rats! Oh, me friends, ye can't go doin' that to old Captain Savage. His old heart can't handle scares like that these days, make no mistake!"

[rushingwater18]

Wanderer had drawn her own sword, but then was staring at him in confusion as he started talking about scares. Robin gently lowered her sword with his paws, stepping forward. "Hallo, good sir. Now, hold still. I've got some bandages right here for you, just wait a moment." He pulled his bag forward, and shuffled through it for a minute, then said "Aha." He pulled forth a roll of linen, and kneeled next to the otter, wrapping the worst of the wounds in the cloth and talking to Wanderer the whole time, issuing instructions. she had so far been sent to gather wood and light a fire.
"Now, see if you can find this otter a fish. Or even if you can find a way to heat this water."
Alas, there was no wy to heat water (for soup), but soon a fat fish was cooking over the fir on a spit that was slowly being turned by Wanderer, as well as some nuts and berries that had been wrapped in leaves and shoved near some coals to roast them. Robin finally finished witht eh otter, saying "Well, now, that should do it. I'm Robin, by the way, and this is my wife, Wanderer." Wanderer waved sullenly from the fireside.

[flint]

Now this was far preferable to anything Flint could have hoped for: not being killed was always the optimal course, but being patched up and fed without having to go to his knees for the favors was nothing short of saintly, and he told the mice so. "By all the spirits known to beast or bird, if you aren't the finest pair this otter has clapped his eye on in many a season. If I had half the kindness in my heart that the two of ye have, I should be wearing white without an ounce of guilt, if ye follow me." Whether they did or not was any beast's guess.

Feeling almost relaxed, the otter gave a sigh of satisfaction as he soaked up the warm sunshine. "Wanderer and Robin, eh? A smart couple to be sure. And where are my manners, after such good treatment? Captain Flint Savage, at your service. Ye can call me one of those, or all three, if ye prefer. Though I should feel ungrateful if I made ye call me Captain."

Using his good eye, Flint scanned the sea line, pleased that there was still a distinct lack of ships. The one good thing about going overboard was there wasn't a great deal of trail to leave for unwanted pursuers. Of course, when the one doing the running didn't know where it was he had run to, things got more complicated. "Ye've done me a great favor, lad and lass, though I should ask ye for another, in spite of meself. This beach isn't where old Flint went to bed last night, and is as familiar as a stranger to him. Might ye enlighten a lost sea otter as to where he's washed up?"

[rushingwater18]

Wanderer began speaking. "Well, um... Flint, I'm not quite sure. We think there's a settlement of some sort over there, at that mountain." she pointed at the giant mountian that didn't look very far "But we aren't sure. We think it's Salamandastron, the great mountain of the Badger Lord. It is talked about in the great stories of Martin the Warrior." she paused, sighing, thinking of the storied that had been told about the place.
Robin stepped in for her "That's where we were headed. Just to see what it's like. We're traveling, you see, from our home, just to explore." He then sniffed, smelling the fish. "I think this is done. Here." he grunted, taking the fish off the fire and handing it to the otter. Wnaderer took the nuts from the fireside and gave half of the portion to her husband, and they began talking and arguing over their favorite stories of Martin the Warrior; Robin's favorite was of Matthias, actually, when he defeated Cluny the Scourge. Wanderer was siding with the story of Tsarmina, when Martin came to Mossflower.

[flint]

Salamandastron.

The first thing that popped into Flint's head was that he had, in fact, died, and his soul had washed up at the foot of the fabled bane of all sea farers. It was a cursed place, by all accounts. Not a beast who had ever boarded a ship saw the Mountain and lived, as the stories went. It was from this place that long eared spirits of vengeance sought out all corsairs, led by a devil in badger form. Aye, tis true, Flint could remember being told, the place of Salamandastron be cursed. There's not a Jack rat safe once the badgers start visiting yer dreams. Tis a mark as good as a black spot fer signalling when a pirate's to cash in his chips.

Just as he had switched from confrontational to conversational, Savage now became uneasy, borderlining panic. "Salamandastron!" he muttered aloud to himself, forgetting the mice were there. "Escaping one death only to find another!" Rolling his sightless eye at Wanderer as if it could indeed pick up her presence, the otter shuddered. "Ye ought not go seekin' for such things, Ma'am Wanderer, and you, Master Robin! Take it from one who's spent his life staring danger in the face and laughing at the sight!" He went for his swords, but instead drew his arms up around his chest as if trying to warm a shiver. "Though ye have less to worry than I, tis more likely true than not. More seasons than I can rightly remember that I've been at sea, and from the first day, I was told to avoid a place called Salamandastron. The bane of all who man ships, it's said! Ye ever hear tell of a rat named Gabool the Wild? Never set eyes on the mountain, but they still found him. King of Pirates, he was, and even he not safe from the curse!"

Practically twitching, Flint wrung water out of his shirt cuffs in a nervous fit.

[rushingwater18]

Wanderer looked at the otter quizzically. "Pirate? You're a pirate?" she said, her paw instinctively going to her sword hilt at the word.
Robin put his paw on her shoulder. "We can find elsewhere to be, Flint. We could take you back to Redwall. The Skipper of Otters lives there, as well as many otherbeasts. I'm sure that you'd be taken care of, at least until you're better."
Wanderer had been thinking as her husband talked. "Have you ever heard of a mouse called Feder? Or a ferret named.... Um, named, ah... Raven, I think?"

((Okay, my char Raven's past was that she had been thrown off of a ship along with a mouse named Feder because she took care of him as a stowaway. So she used to be a corsair. Can Flint be her ex-captain? or whatever.))

[flint]

Seeing Wanderer go for her sword, Flint raised his paws defensively before him. "Hold now, don't paint old Flint wrong. I've never hit a beast that didn't deserve it one way or another, and I've never done anything to a ship that it wouldn't have done to me in turn. But I've seen a few things in my day, aye, and done some of them, like it as not. I've sailed with some beasts much worse than I am, and some much better, if ye follow me. Point is, if there's anything good to be said about the place as it bears to sea folk, I've not heard it."

In his excitement, Flint could feel what little strength he still possessed rapidly dissapearing. He liked the sound of this Redwall place, but whether or not he'd make it anywhere in one piece without some medical attention now was not of good odds. "I may take ye up on that offer, Robin, though I be in your debt already. Now, a Raven, say ye?" Flint scratched his chin in thought. "It does ring a bell, that, but I'll be scarred if I could put a face to it. Met with a few calling themselves a Raven of some sorts..." He could remember a Raven, and a Fenner to boot; he hadn't been captain at the time, but as he felt he was walking on thin ice as it was, Savage thought better than to confess at this moment in time.

Curse it all, he didn't want to go to the mountain! But staying on the beach here and withering into dust was hardly appealing either. "Now, mates," Flint mumbled. "Yer a good pair, make no mistake, and I trust ye like I trust some beast I've known me whole life. Old Flint needs to be patched up afore he makes it near Redwall, and he needs it quick. But I'd be telling a fib if I said I wasn't shaking in me boots about going near the mountain. But if ye tell me certain that if we go there, all will be well, than I'll believe ye."

[rushingwater18]

Robin smiled "Well, I can't be sure; we've never been there. We may as well take you back to Redwall. but lets rest here the night."
Robin laid out his bag like a pillow and took up a good position for sleeping.
"Why's youm bring up that young Feder feller?" his wife asked as she mimicked his bed-mode.
"Felt like he right thing to do; anything to help the poor young'un. He looked terrified. I do wish he'd of stayed with us."
"Yeah, he needed feeding"
The pair of mice quickly fell asleep.

[flint]

And if they of all creatures couldn't vouch for the mountain, then it was as likely as not that Flint had been right about it. With more regard for saftey than cordial behaviour, the otter kicked sand over the fire to smother it. No point in giving out markers where they were.

The bleeding had at least stopped, and the Captain wasn't walking towards Death's door just yet, but by thunder, he hurt all over! A narrow escape it had been, and not just from the shark. They wouldn't be happy with him, no sir. Not happy.

He was as tired as could be, make no mistake, but Flint Savage wasn't about to put his head down and snooze in front of a cursed mountain. Turning his back to the mice, he kept watch over the rocky cathedral in the distance, waiting for anything undesirable to happen.

A shiver passed down the scars going the length of his back. He pulled out the map.

The trip through the sea hadn't done it a great deal of favors, but it was still legible.

"Ye can't get ol' Flint, no sir," he mumbled, putting the map back into his coat pocket. "If I've got badger-demons to worry about, you lot have a sight worse, make no mistake. It's mine, ye see. It's mine..."

And in spite of his best intentions, Captain Savage fell asleep.

[rushingwater18]

Robin woke first, and woke both Flint and Wanderer. “c’mon.” he told them, looking southward. “We need to go back to the Abbey.”
Wanderer nodded, getting to her paws and stuffing anything that may have been left on the floor in her bag. “C’mon, Mister Captain Flint.” She said. “To Redwall!” she shouted, and charged in that direction.

[flint]

Captain Savage gave a laugh as he limped as best he could after the mouse. "Belay the running, there, Marm! Ol' Flinty wasn't built for it. Just stay in sight, if ye please, and I'll hop in yer wake." If age hadn't seen to it that running wasn't much of an option, than being twenty-four hours off of fighting a shark certainly did. But the otter was glad to have the mountain at his back, and dissapearing slowly as he went.

[rushingwater18]

Robin sighed. "It's alright. She does that to me, too. She just has to be in front. Or so she thinks. Just let her run. She acts like a dibbun sometimes." he rolled his eyes.
"Do not!" called Wanderer from a little bit ahead.
After a while of traveling, the Abbey was in sight.

((to the abbey!))