"A New Journey" (based on Watership Down)

Myrkin · **Reply #260 on:** February 27, 2011, 05:50:38 PM

Arvens glanced shortly at Cinankhen and nodded his head in somewhat impatient manner. The rain was getting thicker and thicker, so he wanted to get inside as much as everybody else. The mouse the guided them was already in the chapel. Arvens followed her. Luckily, most part of the roof of the chapel was still intact, so they would have some shelter. Arvens shook his wet fur and looked around to see if everybody else had got into this place.

At that moment Neltita and Thyme just run in, "What a weather out there! I wouldn't like to stay in the open now" doe said "Thank you for leading us here," she addressed the mouse.

Thyme sneezed strongly, "I wish this place was a bit closer. Then I wouldn't catch this cold...", he sneezed again.

Campion1 · **Reply #261 on:** February 27, 2011, 06:30:34 PM

Rankin limped in and let himself ease unto the floor, finally out of the rain. "Finally..." He thought. The strain he was putting himself through to hold himself up was let go after what seemed for Frith knows how much time. His paw had looked scabbed up now, blood mixed with soaked water.

"Hope I don't get an infection from this.." He mumbled, and tried to shake some of the water off his paw

Myrkin · **Reply #262 on:** February 27, 2011, 06:55:38 PM

Neltita looked at Rankin's wound with concern. She noticed that a fresh blood was flowing out it and Rankin seemed to tired from running to do something about it. Neltita hopped closer to brown rabbit.

"Let's clean this wound, before you got some infection, Rankin" she started licking buck's injured paw to stop bleeding. She tried to be gentle, as not to cause him too much pain.

"What happened to him?" mouse asked, a bit worried that the scent of blood could attract some predator into the chapel.

"Weasel attacked him, but we menaged to drive it off," Arvens explained "I'm Arvens. The injured rabbit is called Rankin. Neltita is the one who is helping him. The sneezing fellow over there is called Thyme. Others are Cinankhen and Mayberry. What's your name?"

"I am Meadrah," mouse answered.

Campion1 · **Reply #263 on:** February 27, 2011, 07:08:57 PM

Rankin was surprised...

"Ah! No, it's OK.." Rankin protested, but he didn't move.. He was a little embarrassed at the situation.

Myrkin · **Reply #264 on:** February 27, 2011, 07:18:43 PM

Thyme observed the scene intently. There was a fleeting feeling of jealousy in his mind, but he shook his head to get rid off it. Rankin needed help with his injury and Neltita was giving it. Surely, there was nothing more to it or at least he hoped there wasn't.

"There. It shouldn't bleed so much now, but you should let this paw rest," Neltita said to Rankin after finishing cleaning his wound.

Malte279 · **Reply #265 on:** February 27, 2011, 07:22:50 PM

Upon entering the chappel Cinankhen had wandered off taking as much of a look around as the dim light, and the ocassionaly flash of a lightning outside allowed. Debris was lying around and some charred beams suggested that fire had played a role in the damaging of this human burrow. The fire couldn't have spread far however as much of the other human stuff standing and lying around seemed to have remained untouched by any flames. It did not look like the humans had made any attempts to repair any of this place and maybe none had even been there by the time it was damaged. In any case the debris was lying around randomly and in some cases they seemed to be piled in a rather shaky manner causing Cinankhen to ignore any curiousity and stay away from these spots lest he be squished by some heavy beams loosing ballance or shifting around at the slightest touch. At one spot he found something that he believed he had once heard about, but never ever seen. Nor had he any clue how it was called it was a kind of block made of a pile of sheets of a strange and very thin wide material that the humans had addorned with countless tiny images that didn't make any sense to him at all. Cinankhen sighed and shoved it aside after some futile attempts to make any sense out of it.
"Come the day that a rabbit can make sense of humans that rabbit is probably crazy." he muttered to himself and dared to get closer to a kind of pedestal at the one end of the room. Located near the spot where the roof of the building had collapsed there was quite a lot of debris lying around and remembering his intention not to end up squished under some kind of manmade debris Cinankhen was already in the motion of turning back when in a flash of lightning another human item caught his attention.
Reflecting the light of the lightning falling through the hole in the roof there was a... thing made out of a transparent greenish material. It looked like a kind of tube that was narrowing quite a bit to one end. Taking a step closer he noticed that it seemed to contain something and giving it a slight touch which made the thing roll a short distance he recognized that it was a small amount of some kind of dark liquid.

Campion1 · **Reply #266 on:** February 27, 2011, 07:26:26 PM

Rankin looked at it... Less blood, wound looks dry and revovering. "Looks much better now.."

He made his comment quietly, but didn't make eye contact with Neltita... "Thanks..."

Myrkin · **Reply #267 on:** February 27, 2011, 07:37:24 PM

Neltita smiled, "You welcome," she hopped away to dry her fur and she noticed Thyme's look. There was something strange in a way he glanced at Rankin, then at her again.

"What?" she asked him, but he just averted his gaze and said nothing. She didn't have a chance for futher inquiry as someone else spoke up:

"Meadrah! What did you brought to our home?"

They turned around to see a female mouse, with hreir mice by her side. She seemed to be bigger than the mouse, who guided them to this place.

"Hello, mom," Meadrah said, looking a bit abashed "These rabbits were looking for some shelter, so I lead them here..."

Malte279 · **Reply #268 on:** February 27, 2011, 08:27:14 PM

Cinankhen who had caught the angry tone in the voice of the elder mouse immediately abandoned the strange artifact he had found and hurried to the side of Meadrah, though always keeping some distance. Putting on the most disarming smile he could possibly manage he bowed his head to her and with the most charming voice he could muster he said: "You must be the landlady of this place, the mother of Meadrah, and matriarch of your family. It is a great honor to make your aquaintance. Think not that it was our intention to tresspass your home. Far had we travelled while Frith shows his rage and conceals his face with one of our group wounded by the claws of a weasel when in the woods we met your kind and benevolent daughter who offered us shelter for our friend to recover and for us to rest till Frith's face will shine down upon us again. If by doing so she did not act in your own best interest I beg you to lay the blame on us rather than your daughter's pity with four wretched wanderers."

Myrkin · **Reply #269 on:** February 28, 2011, 02:57:53 PM

Meadrah's mother was clearly impressed by Cinankhen's little speech and noble manners. Her face softened.

"The honor is all mine, rabbit. I can see now that you are one noble creature" mice leader said with wide smile "I wish some of us would behave like you just have. It will be a pleasure for us to host you and your friends here. I am Dara. What are you called, if may I ask?"

"He is called Cinankhen, mother" Meadrah said, before introducing other rabbits.

Campion1 · **Reply #270 on:** March 01, 2011, 12:16:28 AM

"Mice..." Rankin thought.. The only kind of mice or rats he encountered until now were the ones that ate dead flesh. He didn't know the difference, so he didn't comment...

Malte279 · **Reply #271 on:** March 01, 2011, 09:49:46 AM

"May I ask...", Cinankhen said looking alternately at Dara and Meadrah, "...if you were here already at a time when humans still came here or know anyone who did? May I ask if you know what damaged this place to the point that humans no longer come here..." suddenly he appeared a bit startled "...they don't come here anymore, do they?"

Myrkin · **Reply #272 on:** March 01, 2011, 06:19:29 PM

"There was a fire then, but I wasn't even born at that time, so I couldn't tell you much more than that," Dara responded "There is one among us, who had seen the whole thing. We could bring him to you. Old Marvin likes to talk about past. As for humans, they rarely come here, the last I saw came here a season ago, looked around a bit and left."

Malte279 · **Reply #273 on:** March 01, 2011, 06:55:51 PM

The light of another lightning was flashing through the hole in the roof and the rolling thunder followed almost instantly. Chinankhen cast a worried look upwards.
"I would love to hear the tales of Old Marvin gatherer and spreader of tales that I am. But what is of the most immediate interest for me now is if the fire back then might have had something to do with a..." another flash and thunder interrupted him, "...with a thunderstorm?" Cinankhen concluded the sentence.

Myrkin · **Reply #274 on:** March 03, 2011, 06:52:01 PM

Dara tried to remember what Old Malvin had said about the fire. Of all things he had seen in his life, that one event was the only one he didn't like to talk about, so Dara knew no more than a couple details of it. After a few moments of thinking she answered Cinankhen's question:

"The fire was caused by a human. That's what Malvin told us, who were born after fire. Many mice died in it."

Malte279 · **Reply #275 on:** March 03, 2011, 06:55:51 PM

Cinankhen nooded with a face combining rather oddly the apparent relief that the current thunderstorm might not pose an immediate danger to the place where they were right now and uneasiness about the realization that this had been a place of a rather grizzly history.

Campion1 · **Reply #276 on:** March 03, 2011, 07:53:45 PM

After figuring that he wasn't in clear danger, Rankin laid down his head and tried to let himself get some rest. He knew it would be best for he and his paw after the confrontation with the Weasel.. after about a minute, he drifted off.

Myrkin · **Reply #277 on:** March 03, 2011, 08:10:39 PM

Arvens checked if Rankin was alright. The injury seemed tobe already healing, as no fresh blood was flowing. He turned to mice leader and even though he wasn't as good with words as Cinankhen, he tried to make his best impression.

"Thank you for letting us stay here, Dara. It is very kind of you."

"Hmm... Yes. I suppose it is.," Dara replied "At this time we usually gather to tell and listen to stories. Maybe you could tell some? It would be very interesting to hear what happened in some other places."

Malte279 · **Reply #278 on:** March 03, 2011, 08:23:18 PM

A broad smile was comming over Cinankhen's face as he heard this and he was nodding eagerly almost as if he had been waiting for this for a long time already.
"Most happy would I be
to tell tales old and new
to share with you our lore
and hear some from you"

Myrkin · **Reply #279 on:** March 04, 2011, 04:03:08 PM

"Bring Old Malvin here, Meadrah," Dara said to her daughter "He would hate to miss good storytelling."

Meadrah just nodded and run towards the place, where mice had made their nests. Meanwhile, Arvens sat in such a way that he could observe the entrance to the chapel. The weasel could still be following them and even if it did not, it was better not to take chances.