Siege of Bastia: The Conclusion

[Carrow]

Carrow nodded resolutely. "You're right. We have all those sorts of things to look forward to as well," he responded to Caden, refraining to admit that while he was looking forward to the fleet action, he was also very scared. If it hadn't been for the fact that he knew he'd have his friends beside him, the mouse would have been on the verge of deciding to back out. He was finding that for all the changes he'd made over the last few months, he was still afraid of skirmishes like the sort he'd be getting himself into in a matter of weeks.

He couldn't help but look a little apprehensive, and when Ladorak told him, along with Caden and Selvis, to stay where they were as he went to inspect the potential battery site, the rodent had half a mind to disobey the command and keep going. He had a bad feeling about this place, for some reason he couldn't explain... and then moments later, he realised why he had been so apprehensive. A fragment of a cannonball struck Ladorak Fugate, and the stoat went to ground. Despite seeing the shell and watching it explode, nobeast had any chance to warn him. Carrow was stunned by how fast it all happened; he felt as though he had been hit too. Tears started to fall from his eyes as he ran forward with Caden and Selvis, all three extremely anxious about the stoat's condition.

An immense sense of relief passed over Selvis when he reached the stoat Captain's side. It didn't look like he had been hurt too badly, but the weasel looked over at Carrow and found, to his dismay, that the field mouse was still crying. Caden had sped over to the stoat's left side and was easing the coat off his left shoulder. Selvis could see Carrow pale slightly as he noticed the blood. The weasel was much better at dealing with sights like this than his mouse companion was, so didn't take the sight too badly. It still troubled him to see that Ladorak had been hurt.

Carrow felt a paw clasp around his own, and for the moment that he was able to wipe tears from his eyes, the mouse noticed that Tally was there beside him. He smiled a little, despite the trepidation that was coursing through him. All of a sudden he feared that he himself could be hit, and it didn't do his fragile nerves any good. He felt his paw being dropped, and smiled again as he noticed Tally grab a pawful of his shirt. He ruffled her ears fondly. "Thanks," he said gently, glad she found comfort in his presence, though for the life of him he couldn't see why this was so.

The mouse, with Tally still beside him, moved forward with Selvis to inspect the damage that had been done. Thankfully it wasn't much, and this brought Carrow out of the momentary sadness that had swept over him. Maybe it wasn't going to be so bad after all. Despite this, his voice sounded small and frightened as he spoke. "A-a-are you alright, sir? You don't seem to be in too much of a bad way, thank the seasons. Need a paw getting back to camp? If you're not feeling up to marking the site... you could maybe get one of us to do it for you? I'd be glad to," he offered, trying to be of assistance. He liked helping others out after all.

[Ladorak]

The jacket was eased off of him, and though the blood was on his brown fur, Caden did his best to wipe it away, though of course did what Molly suggested, and tried not to get any of it on his new suit. "It... it doesn't look like more than a cut!" Caden said, nearly collapsing as he let the air out of his lungs, the relief nearly indescribable to him. It was as if fifty tons of weights had suddenly lifted from his body, and he ran his paw down the bleeding cut. "It's deep... but I don't think it got anything inside." he said, his unsteady and shaky breathing starting to come a little more under control.

"That's good." the stoat said, groaning a little as he sat back. "My, my, that was certainly a close shave." he said, smiling up at everyone who was looking down at him. "No, Carrow. That's quite alright. I think it's time we all got back. We can mark the sites out later. I think I should be OK heading back on my own." He reached out and rubbed Caden's forehead with his paw, and then started to get back up to standing. Caden was there to assist the wobbly stoat, and he used both Molly and his ward for support.

"OK... OK... here we go. There... no real harm done. Just need a good bath and a bandage. No point in placing me on the wounded list. I'm still in command of this siege after all, and they ARE going to surrender, if I have anything to say about it." He paused, letting the stinging sensation in his backside subside a little before he started walking forward. "I'm OK... just a little unsteady from the wind being knocked out of me." He explained.

Caden started to carry the now jacketless stoat's coat, and rolled it up in such a way as to have all the blood on the inside. Already, the cut on Ladorak's back was starting to clot, though it would need to be cleaned up a bit before it could be dressed. "See, Carrow? Heheh, this is combat, but nothing to be too terribly afraid of. I got lucky. Just a scratch. It's all random. I came out of this one alright." He gave the mouse a pat on the head as well as he walked by. "Now... I'll get some water for a bath... and then we'll see about that cake." the stoat Captain suggested.

Caden stayed close by his guardian's side, and he only wished he had something to hold to the back of the bleeding stoat, but knew that it wasn't more than ten minutes back to camp. "Could you help me carry the jacket, Carrow? I don't want to bunch it up too much." the albino said, his voice distant but still there as he passed by the mouse. The white furred marten managed to muster a smile, and held it out for the mouse to take. "I'm so glad he's OK." He said in a much lower voice. "Am I scared? Yeah... but it's like Ladorak said. If we can't pawdle this... how are we going to pawdle REAL combat?" he mumbled, keeping his voice low as he let Ladorak walk slightly ahead of him.

"Just a cut Selvis, that's all." Ladorak said to the long tail as he walked by him, and gave him a smile. "I'll be fine." he was certainly making the effort to assure all of the assembled beasts of the lack of damage dealt to him, as he wanted to keep them assured and confident, in order to help keep their morale bolstered after all.

[Carrow]

Selvis was greatly relieved to hear Caden's pronouncement, but the longtail, who had been standing back a little as there were already enough creaures crowding round the stoat captain as it was, had been keeping a close eye on Carrow, and was just a little bit concerned about the rodent's reaction to Ladorak's slight injury. Of course, he didn't know that when a similar injury had been inflicted on the field mouse (who had been sheltered from physical pain for four whole years before the incident occurred, and as such had been completely unprepared for it) when he'd gone to Whistleminster almost a year and a half ago, he had actually fainted.

Carrow was dry-eyed as he smiled at the mustelid, who was helped back up onto his paws by Caden and Molly. "Alright, that's fine, sir. I was just wondering, is all. The most important thing at the moment is for you to get cleaned up after what happened. You'll be right as rain in no time, I'm sure," he said resolutely, despite still looking pale. He had been completely taken aback by the incident... but there was something he had been trying desperately not to think about in the wake of seeing Ladorak go down.

He had after all been thinking of joining the stoat. If he had gone through with it, and the same thing had happened, he would have been hit too. Ladorak's height would have meant the same part of his anatomy was injured, but the mouse, who was more than a foot shorter, would have been struck somewhere else... his back probably would have been hit, and Carrow was still aware of the scar he carried from the assault a few years ago. If that laceration had been opened... Just in time, Carrow wrenched his mind away from such grisly thoughts and tuned into what Ladorak was telling him.

He nodded slightly. There was no point in him trying to sound brave - because in his mind, he wasn't, and unlikely to ever be, that kind of creature - so he decided to be honest. "Yes, sir, I know. I guess I'm just not used to seeing things like this even now. I can't help it. I'm sorry." The mouse didn't want to linger too long on his own shortcomings, as his mood had tended to fluctuate wildly over the last while, and he didn't want to bring himself down again. He was going to see this siege through to the bitter end, no matter what happened.

So he changed the subject, smiling as Ladorak patted him on the head. "We're definitely going through with the cake, then? That's good! We'll all feel better after some of that - as I'm sure you will after your bath. Take care, sir," he said softly, padding over to Caden, glad to see that the blood was hidden from view. Carrow didn't do well with such sights, and had therefore been spared another moment of weakness. "Yes, Caden, certainly," he replied, smiling himself, trying desperately to mask his insecurity. "I'm happy to see he didn't come out of it too badly, by his own admission. He's right, though... and that makes me wonder about myself. I'm sorry, Caden, but I struggled with seeing him like that, just then... what does that say about me and my chances in this fleet battle?," he asked uncertainly. It was more self-doubt than actual fear; the mouse just couldn't see it for what it was.

Selvis, who had returned Ladorak's smile as the stoat had passed him, padded over to his two companions, giving Carrow a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Oh, you shouldn't worry about that, Carrow. I know it might seem daunting now, as I'm sure we're all scared somehow, but Caden and I are trying very hard not to show it. Could you try that too, Carrow?," the weasel asked his mouse friend gently. "Listen carefully, mate: you're not going to be alone in this one. We're coming with you as well, see? We'll be with you every step of the way," he assured the rodent, smiling at him. Selvis also had a few ideas of his own as to how he could help the mouse, knowing that if he lost so much as one night of sleep over this, his whole routine might unravel. As Carrow had said himself, the endless sleepless nights he had endured when he was younger had ruined his body clock, and the longtail was worried that the mouse would slip back into old habits if he started passing restless nights again. He needed to speak to his rodent friend about this.

[spender]

Tally dangled from Carrow's shirt, still. She leaned away from him, dipping one leg low to let her other paw brush against a raggedy broad-leafed plant along the way. When she came up, she had two leaves stuck between her claws. She carried these for a while, before suddenly stepping in front of Carrow and forcing him to stop. She reached up and lifted the brim of his hat, and slipped one leaf under it. When she let go, the hat pinned the leaf to his head.

"You shouldn't be scared," she said.

Then she held the other one up to her own noggin--it was off-center, and its shadow appeared to be her white splotch. She stood, admiring his own leaf for a second or two, before taking another pawful of his shirt and resuming the walk.

And then, after a second or two of that, let go of his shirt and grasped his paw.

Molly grinned and left them alone. She leaned her head on Ladorak's shoulder.

"So," she said. "Cake next, and I'll give him my present then. And a special gift to you, tonight, I think is in order. You'll need someone to patch that up... it might as well be someone who does a better job at backrubs than that kook of a doctor back on the ship..."

---

"Care to enlighten me as to what that was all about?"

"Cranky Spender, or my little meeting with the Captain?" Peskers grinned. She perched herself on the log beside Elle and flumped her footpaws in the dirt, waggling them to and fro.

"I, uh... I won't be joining you back on the ship after this." She gazed over the fire, any sharpness in her eyes going glossy and blank, like Spender when he was deep in what passed for thought in his little head. "I've been saving my pay, though, so we should manage. I'll find somewhere nice... on the edge of a town, somewhere close to a port... Maybe find work at a farm. Farms are alright, y'know. It's hard work, but steady. And no one tries to put a cannonball through your ears."

She paused to reflect about that last statement, tilting her head towards the sounds of the siege.

She folded her paws over her stomach. It wasn't until she flattened her shirt that it became easier to tell what was going on.

"I'm guessing I'm due in August. Probably. Beechy--Elle... promise me something? Promise me you'll read my letters to him. He'll never ask for help. And promise me he'll write back. And visit. A lot. I don't want to have to miss you lot too much."

[Ladorak]

"Oh, Kasal?" Ladorak asked with a chuckle. "He's not THAT bad. Horrible personality, yes, but there's no better Surgeon in the fleet..." he trailed off, not wanting to add "when he's not doing some crazy experiment on a patient, or making foolish bets".

They arrived presently back at the camp, and Ladorak turned to address the striplings. "I'm going to bathe and wash this blood off, and then we'll wheel out the cake, sing our happy Birthdays, and get one last present from Molly, as she's indicated." He once more didn't mention that she apparently wanted to give him something a little further on as well.

"I shall return then, in a little while." the stoat pivoted back around, and started walking towards his tent. Caden was left with the others, and turned to face them.

"Well, I'm glad that's over. That made me jump out of my pelt, I won't lie." he admitted. He shook his head, flushing a bit. "Some Birthday... having my dad injured... but I guess it WAS some Birthday, because he wasn't seriously hurt. It could've been a lot worse... and having him safe is the best present I could have asked for. Though in all honesty, I picked the wrong career if I let this get to me too much." he stated. "Of course... I can't pretend like I don't care. I guess I see this in two ways, really. One... yes of course I care, and would be devastated if something ever happened to any of us... but two, I also chose this life, and it does make me feel alive, and makes me that much more thankful for the good times I do have. We all chose this life. We could've lived on land... and probably been bored out of our minds farming... not that there's anything wrong with farming." he said, raising his paws defensively.

"It's just... this is so much more... fulfilling to me." he closed his eyes and raised his snout skyward. "So in the end... I won't complain. I won't get worried. Well maybe inside, but I can't overtly. Otherwise, I should just drop out now and sail back home. And there would be no point to that. I don't think I could live again, knowing I wasn't giving my all." he explained, lowering his snout and opening his eyes to gaze at his two friends.

[bookity101]

Elle started fussing with her almost charcoal sticks in the fireplace after Polly sat down, smirking a little as she turned to again to her;

"I think I understand the cranky Spender bit just fine thanks Ferry."

But her playful demeaner soon dropped as she listened to her friend. It seemed that the Captain was making her leave after all.

"Farms are nice I guess, never really been on one myself. for an extended period of time so I wouldn't know about the cannon ball part." Ell e mustered a half smile as she moved to sit back on the bench beside her. Her smile froze a little when Peskers flattened her shirt. Of course, she had half-way expected this to be one of the reasons Polly wasn't allowed back but it was still a kind of shock as Polly wasn't that much older than she was. Elle listend solemly to what she was asked. Before she answered, she looked around, checking that no one was in eyeshot. Good, just the other beast in the vicinity that might over hear anything would be Spender, who seemed to be quite happy conked out on the ground. She reached out, covering Polly's paw's with her own.

"I promise Polly. I'll write as often as I can and include something from him or about him when I do... and I'll even keep an eye on him for you, if you want me to. I'll have to explain to Caden what's going on though." She sqeezed her friends paw before reaching out to fiddle with the sticks again. She bit her lip as a thought she had been trying to keep out of her mind flitted by.

"What would you think if, well more likely when, I have to leave the ship too, if I were to come join you?" She paused a beat then shook her head slightly. "Nevermind, don't answer that if you don't want to." One paw slipped into her pocket, where she felt the slightly crinkled sheet of paper. Withdrawing it, she held it out for the other female to take.

"Here. I've been meaning to give this to you all day, seems more appropiate now..." Elle chewed her lip as she withdrew a stick from the fire, setting it to the side so it would cool off.

"If you wanted me to.. I could do a head shot of Spender for you..." She pitched her voice low again, just incase someone was behind them. "...so litle one knows what Dad looks like."

[Carrow]

Carrow was a little surprised when Tally moved in front of him, and even more so when the mousemaid reached up and gently lifted the rbim of his cap before placing what appeared to be a leaf beneath it. Said leaf was indeed pinned to the mouse's head when Tally was done. He smiled a little when she told him that he shouldn't be scared, but he could only smile a bit, because her comment brought the fact that he was indeed frightened into greater focus, for reasons he didn't really want to go into.

The feel of her paw in his comforted him a little thought, and he patted her head gently (careful not to disturb the leaf too much) before turning around when Ladorak addressed the group. He was going to speak again, but thought better of it. All of a sudden, he wasn't really feeling all that talkative. Selvis spoke instead. "Alright, sir. We're looking forward to that, of course... and it can't be just me who's intrigued about this present you're getting from Molly, Caden!," he exclaimed, smiling as his curiosity came to the fore again.

Carrow was however moved to speak again when Caden had finished talking to him and Selvis. His voice carried a little uncertainty, and he spoke hesitantly, for all the world the exact same creature he was when he'd met the pine marten in Whistleminster almost a whole eighteen months ago. "I have to admit... maybe I'm letting things like this get to me a little too much, but all the same, there..." The field mouse sighed, anxiously scuffing his footpaws, aware of Tally's presence which would make the admission all the more embarrassing for him. "There are days when I really wonder whether I'm cut out for all this. Tally, you said I shouldn't be scared... I can't even imagine what you've been through, and you're telling me not to be frightened... You're much braver than I am."

Blushing furiously, he tried to articulate his thoughts, but the rodent wasn't a confident speaker, so he had to take things slowly. "Don't get me wrong, now: I love the life here and, well, I'm glad to actually be doing something with my existence, because, as I've said before, my time aboard this ship has given my life meaning. I didn't think it really had one before that night in the palace, Caden," he told his pine marten friend. "I met you, I met Elle, I met Ladorak... my life changed so much... but the point I'm trying to make is that... if I hadn't, would I still have joined up? Right now, I don't know. I was quite sure of things at the time... but I... I really don't think I'm the kind of creature for something like this. I'm not brave enough...," he finished despairingly, biting his lip.

Selvis was surprised. He'd never thought Carrow actually felt this way. The mouse was one step away from actually calling himself some sort of coward, it seemed. The weasel had to say something, regardless of how little difference it might make. His voice was soft as he tried to be as comforting as he could to his conflicted companion. "Great seasons, Carrow! Why'd you only tell us you felt this way now? There's an easy remedy for that: we'll just have to help you become braver and more confident, if that's what you want. Look how far you've come already, right? Your life has changed a lot, as you said yourself, and you have good friends that can stick by you and lend a paw with these things." Carrow couldn't bring himself to respond. He knew the longtail was right, but he was hurting inside: not depressed (as those days were largely behind him) but more insecure than he had felt for a good while.

[spender]

"I'll... just... go help him," Molly said, darting into the tent after Ladorak. She popped out again a second or two later. "Tally--be good! You know. As usual. Stay there with Carrow, is what I mean."

Tally rubbed her nose with her free paw. She'd forgotten about her own leaf, and it fluttered off behind her.

"I'm not a brafe," she said, a little hurt and defensive. "I'm a mouse. You are a mouse, too. Beink a mouse is better den beink a brafe."

Her tail-tip curled and began to tilt towards Carrow, began to softly rub against his own, before she snapped it back around her legs and bowed her head in apology.

---

"Thanks, Beech," Polly said. "I'll always make sure there's room for you in my life. Just, ah, don't get Caden in too much trouble, mmhm? Be smarter than I was."

She took the paper and immediately grinned at it.

"Either you are really good, or this scene has happened so many times we might as well have been posing for it. I'm going to say both. Look at him... oblivious little monster..." She folded it away carefully and put it n a pocket. "And, a picture of Spender would be... wonderful. For me as well as her. Him. It. Them." She stuck out her tongue and chuckled.

"You know... Don't let them worry too much. The jacks, that is. Don't let them blame Spender. This was what I wanted all along. I got impatient. I could have spent more time with him... so it's my fault. Not his. Or Willard's. He called me out to the Captain... he'll do the same to you. Be careful around him, but don't... don't treat him badly. We're the ones breaking the law. I can't blame him. In fact, if he hadn't... if I were allowed to back to the ship, after this... I'm not actually sure if things would have gone as well for me. So long as I stay out of range of Bastia's guns, I'll survive. Who knows what might have happened to us if I'd gone back, where I might have ended up in a few months?"

She scooted down to the ground and leaned against the log, looking up at the sky.

"This is a good place for me, for us. Oh... here they come now. Must be time for cake soon."

She waved at them and then went to go rouse Spender by tackling him from behind and shouting in his ear. His present box and bag went flying, and the two ferrets had a bit of a fist-fight before Spender realised who she was and broke it off. He would have a black eye in a bit, but it would be next to impossible to tell through his mask.

He sat with a huff and rubbed at his elbow, where he'd been bitten. Peskers collected his presents and stacked them neatly, grinning all the while.

"So how'd it go with finding a spot?" she asked them.

[bookity101]

Elle nodded along to what she was being told, realizing that there was a lot of truth in what was being said, and making a mental promise never to jeopardize her position on the ship, or the respect Ladorak had for Caden for the sake of something that would easily wait. Her attention turned more fully to tending the fire as Ferry turned to the rhetorical side of her circumstances. Her attention was called back to the beasts around her by the enthusiastic wrestling match that commenced as part of Spender's wake up process.

Elle rolled her eyes at the wrestling ferrets, knowing there would be no way that either of them would change to much as they both loved to fight and argue with the best of them. She glanced up from what she was doing to send a smile to the approaching figures, half way realizing that the Captain and Jis Serra were no longer accompanying them.

She waved once before turning back to the task of removing the now ready make shift charcoal pieces, setting them aside, already working out a timetable for getting the projects she wanted done as quickly as possible, with one ear tuned to any further conversation around of course...

[Ladorak]

"It was... dangerous." Caden admitted. "Ladorak took a hit, but fortunately, it seems like only a scratch. I guess it got us all thinking on the shortness of life." he said, shaking his head. "I think that Selvis is right though, Carrow." he turned to face the quavering mouse.

"We'll need to help you get better at this... and used to it. I'm probably just as scared as you are... I'm just not showing it right now." he said. "I care so much about Ladorak... and what just happened now... I practically jumped out of my pelt. You have no idea what I'd do if something worse happened to him." the marten left it at that though, not wanting to distress his mouse further.

"But I act strong for all of our sakes. There's no point in worrying unless something really DOES happen. It COULD have been worse, yeah, but it wasn't, so instead, I think we should thank our stars for seeing us through each battle, and be grateful for how lucky we are that we cleared another milestone... see what I mean?" he asked, giving the mouse a smile.

"This isn't a time to be worrying on the what ifs. This is a time to be joyous and happy that we made it through. Appreciate our lives more, so to speak. We've been very fortunate today, and should hold onto that as long as we possibly can. I hope you at least can do that." the albino stated, still smiling and even managing to calm himself down a bit with is own words.