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Post by Margorr on Jan 21, 2016 20:26:10 GMT -5
((Just a little side plot to give the Vermin something to do while we wait for stuff))
Spotting Bruke wandering around camp, Margorr stalked her until she was in a quiet area. He gave a low whistle to grab her attention, and hurried to catch up to her.
“Bruke.” He whispered, leaning in close to her. “We’ve got a situation. This one, I’m afraid, is on you.”
He knew Bruke’s past as a slaver, and he knew Argrav was aware of that fact too. As such, Bruke had a small degree of authority over the few slaves Argrav still kept for himself. However, still unbeknownst to Argrav, one of his favored, an albino hedgehog, had somehow managed to slip camp in the night.
“You know that hedgehog that the Captain keeps with him? He’s gone. Slipped off into the woods. It’s not my job to keep slaves, but you, isn’t that part of your job? I don’t want to be there when you tell the Captain. Of course, the Captain doesn’t have to know, not if we leave now. How far can an aging hedgehog get?”
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Post by Doggo on Jan 21, 2016 21:13:15 GMT -5
The news from Margorr sent a wave of frustration through Bruke, and she gritted her teeth. Here she'd thought things were finally going a bit more smoothly, and now this happens! Those slaves were usually obedient for the most part, especially that old-timer, and she had hardly thought any special attention was needed, considering how many other things she had to oversee. Now she'd have to go chasing runaways like she used to, and she only hoped that that hedgehog hadn't made it too far yet. Chasing slaves in thick woods was much harder than on the open plains, and even back then Bruke would somehow lose obvious tracks in the snow.
"It's always the quiet ones, everytime." She muttered darkly. "Do you know the general direction he's gone? In that case, let's get a move on!"
Running towards the woods, Bruke quickly scanned for if any of her trackers had returned. She was bound to get lost without one as long as she was leading, but letting Margorr lead would just make her seem incompetent, and she couldn't afford to lose face considering how the current situation was due to her negligence.
Unfortunately for her, none of the trackers had returned, but Fratch was loitering about, clearly having shirked his duties once more. Before the hapless ferret realized what was happening, Bruke had already roped him into coming with them, and the group of three had entered into the forest proper.
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Post by Margorr on Jan 22, 2016 1:44:29 GMT -5
Bruke had luckily gone off in the same direction the hedgehog had. Margorr followed her, and that poor ferret she roped into joining them. Tracking the hedgehog would be easy. He'd seen the tracks earlier, and they had been fairly fresh. Not to mention the hedgehog's white coloration would make him easier to spot. The only concern Margorr had was that this was the same general direction as Redwall Abbey. If the hedgehog somehow managed to get there before they caught him, he'd tip off the Abbeybeasts.
Margorr knew he could easily track down their missing slave, it's part of what he had trained in, but he kind of liked watching Bruke wander about. She wasn't the most competent tracker he'd come to find out through serving with her, but she did her job well, which he respected a lot.
"Any sign of our fugitive?"
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Post by Doggo on Jan 22, 2016 14:32:22 GMT -5
Bruke looked hurriedly around the surrounding woods for any tracks left by the hedgehog, failing to notice the obvious set of footprints and disturbed leaf litter that led straight away from the camp. Fratch, who had been muttering in annoyance since they left the camp, couldn't help but grin at Bruke's frustration when he was sure she wasn't looking his direction.
"That geezer must've covered his tracks, I reckon, it won't be easy. Fratch, you're supposed the be the tracker right now, so quit your bellyachin' and get to it!"
Fratch immediately pointed at the glaringly obvious tracks at his feet, which ran straight for quite a distance.
"Ah, I see. Hmm very clever, hiding his tracks in plain sight. He's a sly one, I'll give him that..." Bruke stammered.
The three began to follow the tracks, with Fratch in the lead.
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Post by Margorr on Jan 26, 2016 1:40:35 GMT -5
Margorr smirked when Fratch pointed out the tracks. He'd seen them himself, before the ferret had pointed them out. They were still rather fresh, and it didn't look as though the hedgehog had tried very hard to cover up where he was going. The deeper into the woods they went, the thicker the brush got, which would have slowed them down had the hedgehog even bothered to try and hide his tracks. The trail of broken branches and disturbed loam kept the trail obvious.
Wanting to keep himself in greater favor with the Captain, and feeling they were getting close to catching their fugitive, Margorr pushed himself past Bruke and Fratch.
"I'll take the lead from here." He said, making sure to keep a few paces ahead of the others. He glanced back to see the look on Bruke's face when he announced that, and took one misstep and got sucked straight down to his waist in swamp. He scrambled to grab onto something, but the more he moved, the more the thick mud dragged him down.
"Somebeast give me something to grab onto!" He shouted, starting to panic.
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Post by Doggo on Jan 26, 2016 19:10:19 GMT -5
Bruke opened her mouth to admonish Margorr for his impudence, only to stop short as he suddenly disappeared from view. Still gaping at the empty space where he'd been standing, she then directed her gaze downward to see that he had sunken into a deep patch of mire that had been hidden under the leafy detritus. Fratch, who had been about to step into the same spot, gave a hoarse gasp and quickly backed away a few steps in a panic.
Hearing Margorr shout for help, Bruke hurriedly looked about for anything she could use. There were surprisingly few branches nearby, and none of them seemed thick or long enough. Her mace would be too short to reach that far without requiring her to step into the mire, and her whip was too thin to withstand that much weight.
Fratch, who had mostly recovered from his scare, remembered that he was carrying a length of rope, although he wasn't sure if it would be sufficient given how old and frayed it was. Still, with no other option, he tied one end to the trunk of a nearby tree, and tossed the other end toward Margorr.
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Post by Margorr on Jan 28, 2016 21:35:59 GMT -5
Margorr grabbed onto the end of the rope as soon as it hit the marsh near him. He slowly pulled himself out of the muck, until he was on solid land again. He lay there panting, trying to recover his breath, and calm down. Regaining his breath, Margorr got up off the ground and did his best to brush off some of the muck. The stoat cursed inwardly, his clothes would be a pain to clean up later. He'd worry about that when they got back to camp though, now it was time to regain some of his dignity.
"Huh, marshlands. That hog must have walked right into them, same as we did. Let the toads have him, I'm not risking myself or you two to go get some aging hedgehog." He turned and started walking back towards camp.
"We'd best think of what we're going to tell Argrav."
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bye!
