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Post by Carrow on Jul 24, 2011 17:33:09 GMT -5
Selvis was right behind his pine marten companion, quite eager to see how everything went now that he had put his name forward and volunteered to take part in the assault. He hoped he'd make it back without being injured or anything similar, because that was the absolute last thing he needed at this stage. Much like Carrow, the longtail was none too fond of being incapacitated.
He nodded at Warwick, who was just behind them. The stoat had certainly chosen well. "I have to say, Jal Norwich, that you've made good choices for your weapons in this assault. I'm not entirely certain what I'm going to be using - I have experience with a number of different weapons, so i have a larger selection to choose from than most..."
He trailed off a moment before brightening up again, clapping his paws. "Got it!," he exclaimed, eyes sparkling. "In a way, Caden," he told the albino Midshipjack, "it was a bit more convenient for me that we were briefly distracted by Spender back there," he murmured, rolling his eyes a little as he hadn't quite bought the ferret's story, "because that gave me a bit more time to make up my mind as to what sort of weapons I would use. I've made my decision, and I'm quite certain it's the best one I could have made," he commented, chuckling a little as they continued on their way up.
The mustelid could see Ladorak at one of the batteries, and felt a tremble of anticipation run through him as he thought of the upcoming assault. He wasn't exactly relishing it, but he was certainly more excited than particularly scared - even if he was no longer all that confident in himself, In that respect, he was getting better, but it was in small steps. He was completely comfortable about the assault, however, and one thing hadn't changed about him despite everything else that had was that there wasn't very much that could knock him off-balance when he felt as confident as he now did.
Thinking of this jogged his memory about another creature who wasn't entirely confident about certain things, and he had Caden and his fear of heights in mind. He was well aware that an ascent like this wouldn't be the easiest thing for the marten, and kept one eye on his progress as they continued upwards.
"That can wait just a moment, though, I think. You alright, Caden?," he asked gently, putting a paw on his fellow mustelid's shoulder just in case, because he didn't want to run even the slightest risk of something happening to his companion. "I'm just going to help you steady yourself, there, mate," he told Caden reassuringly, offering him a warm smile.
Back down below, Carrow had managed to shake off the feeling of anxiety that had swept over him when he'd told everybeast else that he wouldn't be attending. He was actually feeling considerably more cheerful about things now, even if the curious look Warwick had given him before the stoat Petty Officer had departed had made him tense up a little. It had been a look that had, at least to his mind, said that its wearer thought odd his decision to stay behind, and if he were honest, the mouse didn't particularly blame him.
He had however rather liked the first impression he'd got of the stoat. He seemed cheerful enough, and that was absolutely fine in Carrow's book. Another cheerful addition to their group would help things. Caden was quite happy with how things were at this point, but Selvis still seemed slightly out of sorts - something the two of them needed to talk about when they got the chance (and Selvis was of the same opinion, though he was planning on shying away from telling the rodent the real reason for his rough patch; again, just in case) - so in a way Warwick would balance things out a bit.
The stoat's suggestion that he'd bring Carrow back a Rosferian officer's sword made the mouse raise his eyebrows slightly. "Y'know, I might actually like that if you manage to do it, sir!," he responded, eyes twinkling mischievously. Maybe he'd have Archie's present sorted out by the time the stoat got back - he reckoned she'd like to have something like that! For decorative purposes only of course.
"Warwick Norwich, eh? Delighted to meet you! You're the Petty Officer I've been hearing about, I'm assuming! My name's Cerinus Apodemus! I'm not sure which one you think is more of a mouthful, but you don't have to call me it if you don't want to, don't worry!," he exclaimed, chuckling. "Most creatures call me Carrow, actually! I'll see you later, then! You too, Caden and Selvis! Best of luck with the assault!"
With this done, the mouse looked up at Molly, smiling right back at her. "Miss Serra," he began, his smile widening slightly, "if that question was supposed to be, 'Would you look after Tally for me?', well, I think we both know the answer to that already. Yes, of course I would! Now, where has she got to...," he wondered aloud, before spotting her in the wet sand. "Aha. Excuse me a moment."
He went straight over to the mousemaid and, in quite a no-nonsense manner, put his arms around her and lifted her out of the sucking sand and bringing her someplace drier, just a few yards away, back on the shore. The field mouse then set Tally down... but his arms remained around her. Carrow was simply overjoyed to see her, and he wasn't embarrassed to show it. He pulled her in close, speaking right into her ear. "Well, hello there. Looks like I'm going to manage to spend some time with you after all," he said softly, ruffling her ears in a comforting manner.
The mouse chose to ignore Spender's wailing. It was more irritating than anything else; he knew the ferret wasn't really sick at all, so if he was looking for sympathy there would be none forthcoming from the rodent. The same couldn't be said for ocean, though: he was having a terrible time of it, and the mouse's heart went out to the stricken ermine.
Still hugging Tally, he called softly across to Ocean. "Still hanging in there Ocean, are you? That's good, what you're trying to do there: I know it seems you aren't getting much relief, and I'm sorry I can't really be of assistance or anything, but just try your best to relax. Would you like us to stay with you for a bit and keep you company? I can do that, at least," he suggested, smiling a little.
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Post by warwick on Jul 24, 2011 22:17:15 GMT -5
"Oh... oh my," Warwick winced, his ears twitching. That ferret could make one terrble din when he wanted to. He could not help but feel a little concerned for his fellow mustelid. He was quite unfamiliar with this seajack's regular behaviour, so took it on faith that the melodramatic display was indicative of a real problem.
"Ah... er, right then. Keep your chins up then, you two!' Warwick said to Ocean and Spender, with a few alarmed blinks. Seemed the sailors were dropping with infirmities left and right! He was grateful that so far, he seemed unaffected by this strange malady.
"Tarra, er, Jal Carrow!" Warwick nodded his farewell to the mouse. A spritely sort of fellow, he seemed. The name Cerinus Apodemus admittedly had a nice cadence to it as well. The stoat followed on with Selvis, pleased to hear that his request was acceptable. "Thank you, sir."
"Spender, is it? Seems to be a bit of... sniff... name confusion," Warwick mused to himself. Of course, the ferret had been playing around before. So, Spender it was. The stoat ascended with his new peers, sniffing and panting a bit. Quite a bit of work, getting up a hill in this heat. His paw restlessly fiddled with his neckcloth to loosen it. The swim had done him good though, and the occasional breath of a breeze was bliss.
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Post by spender on Jul 25, 2011 3:48:41 GMT -5
Molly kept a respectful distance from Ladorak, behind the jacks that had come along from the beach. She would get her turn. She probably should have gone back to their tent, changed into something a little more appropriate for being out of the water in, but she didn't have the energy. She was conflicted, unsure if getting out of her miserably sticky clothes would be preferable, or if being dry again would be worse.
At any rate, she didn't want to miss what he had to say to the striplings—assuming she heard him at all over the cannons. They were loud, certainly, but it was not the noise that distracted her. It was everything else. The smoke, the recoil, the acrid burning powder, the wooshing and whistling of shots flinging wildly through the air. Everything about them riled the jill in ways she could not explain. Just about the only thing better than a gun was a short dirk; the closer she got to blood, the better, and sometimes the bayonet on the end of her rifle was just too far away.
Molly grinned wickedly as these thoughts plagued her, and rocked back and forth on her paws.
Tally, meanwhile, was having a minor panic attack. She was out of the dark muddy sand, but it was still all over her footpaws, clinging wetly. The sensation took her to dark places in her memory, of hot and dusty streets. She preferred these memories to the ones from the manor, where everything was dark and clean, but they were still not quite up there with her newer memories, of musty timbers and warmth and coolness and using forks and wearing clothes where the only holes were for limbs or buttons.
Carrow's hug was comforting, however. Tally braved the feeling around her footpaws and raised her umbrella to shade them both.
"Oh no," she said quietly, so as not to hurt his ear. "My sandvich!" She pointed back at the coracle. There, in a little pail under the seat, would be her sandwich, only half-eaten. She didn't want another crab to walk on it.
Spender stopped whinging as Warwick vanished up the cliff. Phew. Now he didn't have to worry about disappointing his possible new friend, he could concentrate on what really mattered: playing ball with Ocean in the shallows.
Tally's little outburst, however, intrigued him, and he flumped over to the boat to inspect it for sandwiches. He found the pail and held it up to his nose. Ewww... It had lettuce in it. Pass.
"'Ere," he said, plopping the bucket down beside the mice.
He returned to the boat, found Tally's mug of juice (empty), tossed it over to them as well, and then flipped the coracle over and crabbed around towards Ocean, scooping up his ball into the depths of his new shell along the way.
"Snip-snip," he said, reaching out a paw and making clasping motions. "Hey, 's nice an' cool under 'ere! Wotcher, Ocean, there's room for one more."
Tally stared in horror at this display. Her little boat was now a crab!
As she watched, Spender's ball rolled out from under the shell and gently bounced off Ocean's shoulder.
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Post by Ladorak on Jul 25, 2011 9:30:36 GMT -5
Ladorak was watching the fall of the shot, nodding each time a shell exploded, carving out a nice chunk in the walls of the fort. They would be able to pour in soon enough, as that gap was growing ever larger.
The return fire from the fort was pretty fierce, and shells burst all about him, but he stood his ground. He was undeterred by their efforts to knock out the batteries he'd put in place, and he was defying them this way as well.
As it turned out though, it may not have been the best thing to do, though Ladorak would never be far from the frontlines regardless of what he was doing. It was in his nature, and he was not going to shirk his duties. He would be in the thickest of the combat if he could help it, and right now that was here.
Just as he was bending his head to start taking notes on a few things, his world exploded in front of him. Rocks, sand, and dirt flew up as a shell struck the sandbags, scattering the gunners and knocking them off their paws. Ladorak too felt some rocks strike his chest, and felt a particular fragment impact his face, right above his right eye. He was thrown onto his back, blood seeping out of the numerous cuts all about his countenance and covering his rust colored fur. Sand, rocks, and debris had worked all about his features, splattering his face and chest before they settled back down in rising clouds of dust.
The stoat tried to hiss as his paw shot up to his right eye, but the impact had knocked the wind out of him, and he could utter no sound as he lay there. He was temporarily deafened by the explosion as well, and could only hear a ringing in his ears, everything else muffled or mute.
Caden's eyes widened as he saw it. "Not again!" he gasped, and started charging forward, unable to answer Selvis's question as he saw his guardian go down. "Ladorak!" he called out. "Ladorak!" He eschewed the formality of his title, instead using his first name as he would someone much closer to him.
The stoat was struggling to push himself up, and recover from the loss of air that had been sapped from his body. There were cuts all over his face, from what he could tell, but the whole thing stung, so it was hard to narrow down where they were. There was blood in his eyes as well, but he found he was unable to open his right one. It throbbed with pain, and he pressed his paw against it, trying to dull the sensation. Shaking his head, his hearing gradually returned to him as the gunners who had been knocked down around him unsteadily began to pull themselves to their paws.
Caden ran around to the frontside of the Captain, and gasped a little as he saw the blood all over the stoat's features. His right eye appeared to be forced shut, and he had a paw intermittently over it. His pince nez were miraculously untouched however, though it was certainly the strangest sight seeing them still perched on the end of his snout like that. They were covered in grime however, and would need to be cleaned.
"Selvis." Caden said, noting that the weasel had of course run up there with him, along with everyone else. "Molly. Can you maybe get your arms under his armpits? Try to hoist him up a little?" the marten asked, thankful that it only seemed to be Ladorak's face that was injured. He was alive... but the state of his right eye worried the albino. He could feel the pulse pounding in his head again, the same as the last time this had happened.
Ladorak was beginning to focus his left eye on Caden, struggling to peer through the pince nez, only to see a brown cloud, and abandoned that idea in favor of just looking over the spectacles. He was wiping the blood off his face with his free paw, though it was still smeared about in his fur. "I'm fine... 'm fine!" he struggled to say.
"Warwick... Petty Officer Norwich." Caden said, shaking his head a little. "Fetch the doctor if you can." he ordered. The doctor would be the Army's doctor, not Greg Kasal from the ship. Kasal preferred the cooler confines of the 64 than he did the blazing rock of Personza.
The wounded stoat was trying to push himself up, and Caden reached out a paw for him to grasp on to. "I don't know how many times you're planning on giving me a heart attack on this island, dad, but please... let's try and make this the last time." the albino half joked and half fussed. Ladorak caught hold of the paw, and waited for Molly and Selvis to grasp his arms and begin hoisting before he'd put his leg muscles to work in raising himself up. It was more difficult with the wind knocked out of you, after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ocean could see Spender using the coracle like a crab's shell, and then the sight vanished as the sea once again washed over him, and he closed his eyes, not wanting to get salt in there. Opening them as he felt the waves recede, the ermine saw the ball bounce against his shoulder, and he batted it back as best he could, being the only thing he could manage at the moment. It was hardly a game, but at least it was still a back and forth type of thing that he could keep going, if that's what Spender had in mind.
"You can stay if you want." he said, his words slurring a little due to his state. "I'll be happy to have you, all the same. I'll be heading up when I'm ready... maybe I can try and race Spender up the cliffs... and lose... because I doubt I'd be able to run with this abdominal pain." he said, giving off a small smile as his abdomen once again growled and he held his side, turning the smile into a flinch.
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Post by Carrow on Jul 25, 2011 10:21:14 GMT -5
Selvis's heart started racing when he saw Caden call out Ladorak's name. For a moment the longtail wondered what could possibly have happened to the stoat, but then his pine marten friend began charging forward and the weasel couldn't help but fear the worst. From his friend's comment he guessed that Ladorak had been injured again, to some extent.
This was more worrying for Selvis than he'd ever really admit. On Bastia he'd suffered only a scratch, but... He couldn't allow himself to finish that thought, not when his heart was already sinking in his chest as he tried his best to keep up with Caden, who was running hell-for-leather at this point. The heights didn't seem to bother him at all, or at least not now his guardian was in danger.
He kept close to the albino marten, and ran straight for Ladorak when he'd crested the hill. Pine marten and weasel reached the fallen stoat at pretty much the same time, and Selvis was unable to keep from gasping when he saw the blood all over Ladorak's face. It's just as well Carrow isn't here, he thought. The mouse hates the sight of blood... and if he saw this he'd probably faint.
The stoat's right eye seemed to be in a state, but at least their Captain was alive. The Ferlusanian longtail was eager to carry out Caden's request, and so, with a nod, he moved behind Ladorak, gently easing him up into more of a sitting position, speaking softly to him as he did so. "There we go... have to help you sit up first before we can move you, sir. I'm going to take a firm hold of you now - hopefully it won't hurt, but you need to get back on your paws.
"Molly," he addressed the Captain's fiancée, "I'm not going to be able to lift him by myself, so you can put your arms around him, just below where mine will be, and between the two of us we'll be able to get Jal Fugate back to standing again, alright?" He listened to Ladorak telling them he was fine. He wasn't sure whether the stoat really felt that way or not, but Selvis was of the opinion he definitely needed to get his eye looked at.
He wrapped his arms around Ladorak, just as Caden had suggested, watching as the stoat took Caden's paw. It probably wouldn't take three creatures to help him back up, but Selvis wasn't going to leave anything to chance, and he doubted Caden was either. He crouched, looking over at Molly and waiting for her to act. Once she had done so, they'd be able to hoist Ladorak back up - and then get him some medical attention.
--
Carrow gently stroked Tally's forehead, smiling warmly at her before finally releasing her. "D'you want the rest of that sandwich?," he asked her, once the mousemaid had brought up that particular subject. "I'll go out and get it for you if you want," he murmured. "Well wait, nevermind that; here comes Spender, it seems," he commented, sighing a little. What was with him today?
The ferret did however retrieve Tally's sandwich, and as he tossed the bucket back over to the pair of rodents, Carrow caught it and set it down. "It would seem your sandwich is still there!," he exclaimed softly, his eyes twinkling slightly as the mug of juice, which, as both mice were currently unaware of, had actually contained lemon rum, was also tossed back to him.
"Cor...," he said gently, whiskers twitching a little, "no juice left. Shame. I might have needed a drop of something myself. I'm not sure I have anything back at camp either - and besides, I wouldn't really want to go back and get it if I did, because I don't want to leave you here. Unless, of course, you wanted to come with me. I think we should stay put for now, though."
The field mouse was currently watching Spender's display, which was amusing enough; this was one of the rare times when the ferret actually made him laugh, in fact, as he found himself chuckling a little at the sight of him. He caught Tally's expression and patted her shoulder gently. "Nothing to be afraid of, Tally, 's just Spender larking about," he told her softly, tail brushing against her ankles in a comforting manner.
He listened to Ocean and shook his head a little. "As much as Spender might want something like that, and even if you wanted to do it, I'm honestly not sure you should be doing anything like that in your current state. We don't want you to faint or anything similar, so you should probably stay here and take it easy. Maybe take a small rest if you feel you need it."
Taking Tally's paw gently, and lifting the bucket with his free paw lest the mousemaid did indeed still want her sandwich, he padded over to Ocean and crouched down beside him, noticing the grimace that the ermine made. Abdominal pains... oh dear. He looked to be in a bad state, but it certainly wasn't the worst case scenario. He looked him over, concern written across his features. "I'll stay here for a bit, though. Is the salt water helping you much, mate?," he asked kindly.
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Post by spender on Jul 26, 2011 1:55:38 GMT -5
"Dis sandvich," Tally said, pointing at the bucket, "iss too bik for mein ot'er white patch." She patted her stomach. Carrow wouldn't know, but Tally's front had another patch of white fur, much bigger than the one on her head. "Iss for Carrow to be eatink now. Dere iss muskerd on it."
Carrow was leading her back to the water now, she realised. She pulled against him feebly, too weak and too weak-willed to really put up any sort of resistance. "Um," she said, too quietly to hear. They stopped near Ocean. She stamped her footpaws up and down quickly, not letting them touch the murkier sand for too long.
In the end she simply let go of his paw and began stepping backwards, keeping a firm eye on crab-Spender and the lapping waves. After a few steps she turned around and bolted back towards the cliff face. There, in the meager shade, she found a patch of grass and began to scuff the sand off as best she could.
Her ears flicked worriedly; somewhere above there was the echo of battle, of guns and shells, and this she was used to. But another sound briefly pierced the air, a sound that scared the mouse with its familiarity. Facing the cliff, she stared up at the sky, as if she might be able to see what was going on at the top.
Spender missed Ocean's returning serve. The ball struck the boat at the same time as Spender's head did from the opposite side, and due to his lack of visibility, did not see it roll away into the surf.
Figuring Ocean wasn't up to rolling the ball around, Spender began to explore his new world, making tracks up and down the beach. His tail strung out one end, and his whiskers out the other. The coracle circled around a few times, then came to a rest.
For a while nothing happened. Then it began to buck. Softly at first, then faster and higher. Spurts of sand flew out the rear. Eventually the bucking settled down again, and a rhythmical "tfft" could be heard from within.
Then Spender's tail vanished, and all was still and silent.
But between the lifeless coracle and Ocean's still form, a crack began to appear along the wet sand...
Molly blinked, stunned by the explosion. So near and so loud, she had shrieked in glee and lost herself in the moment.
She shrieked again not long after, but for an entirely different reason. Caden and Selvis were already responding. It took Molly a few more seconds to snap out of her daze and follow them.
"Ladorak! Get away—get away from him!"
She fell to her knees beside him, brushed aside Selvis's arms and wrapped her own around him, pulling him close to her chest. She rocked slightly, trying to find balance to lift him, and scanned his damaged face. He was alive! That was all she currently needed to know.
Caden and Selvis's instructions never made it through. Molly had no need of aid from them. Ignoring the two striplings, she simply shifted one arm to Ladorak's lower back, and stood up.
Ladorak was larger than her, as male stoats are wont to be compared to their female counterparts, but his size and weight seemed to have no consequence on Molly's movements. She lifted him as though he were a young kit, the hocks of his legs cradled over her arm, with her other behind his shoulders, her paw wrapped through his armpit and clutched tight against his chest.
"Where's the doctor?" she shouted hoarsely as she stomped away from the scene of the explosion. "Where's the bloody doctor!?"
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Post by Ladorak on Jul 27, 2011 23:18:26 GMT -5
"Agh!" Ladorak was surprised at her resilience, and she hefted him up into her arms like he was nothing. This simply wouldn't do. Caden could only stare, wide eyed, as Molly began wandering off, looking for the bloody doctor.
"Please..." he muttered, pushing against her chest a bit. "I should be able to walk, dear. Just needed to recover my breath was all." he insisted.
"It's this way!" Caden shouted, running ahead of her as he pointed at the tent in the distance that housed the doctor. Come on Warwick... where was he? Caden looked around, but couldn't immediately see the stoat Quarter Gunner.
Ladorak pushed against his eye again, trying to ease the pain. "I hope I'm not blinded." he mumbled. "My left eye's fine... I just... don't want to open my right one right now." he said, fearing the worst. "That really hit me when I wasn't expecting it." he half joked.
Caden decided to keep on the lookout for Warwick and the doc, but if neither showed up, Molly had every right to storm in there.
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Ocean thought a moment. "Yeah... I think so." he said, nodding. "Not my favorite feeling... as I still don't like the water, but it's better than nothing. I'll just have to make do." he said, rubbing his side as it gurgled again.
"Oh... Spender's certainly been quiet." he said, his fever pushing him into another weary position, and he had somehow missed his brother tunneling underground. Normally, he would have caught him right away, but his almost delirious state caused him to miss the obvious. The world was already spinning for him, and he couldn't really focus.
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Post by warwick on Jul 28, 2011 5:11:36 GMT -5
"Warwick... Petty Officer Norwich... Fetch the doctor if you can..."
Warwick's paw touched his forehead once more and the stoat was already gone, darting away from the front lines down the slope. The surgon had secreted his grisly place of operations on the seaward side of an outcrop of rock. It would be a most peculiar and accurate shell that would find it's way to the doctor's place of refuge. Another brisk salute and the blinking young stoat came face to face with a badger.
"Woss wrong with ye? Apart from that neckcloth," the surgeon asked, washing his bloody paws in his basin. The doctor's table more resembled a butcher's shop, complete with mangled animals sat on the bench, victims that had already succumbed to the fort's blustering resistance. The short, sharp greeting sent Warwick into a stutter.
"Ah, er, C-captain Fugate is wounded, sah. Officers under his c-command request your attendance upon his injury, sah. Squeak!" Warwick blurted. The badger was almost a foot taller than him, heavy and swathed in a bloody apron. The big surgeon blinked and roughly shoved the stoat onto the table.
"Ah, there is sommat wrong with ye, in't there? Shell percussion get to you?"
"I'm unharmed, sah!"
"Doctor Lester, I am. How many claws am I holdin' up?"
"Three, sah. Please-" Warwick was cut off as the surgeon slapped him across the face. The heavy, stonelike paw seemed to rattle Warwick's skull. His cheek stung, then grew hot. He blinked, jittering on the table for want of an escape.
"Did ye feel that, laddy?"
"Yes, Doctor Lester."
"Then get outta my surgery, ye loon. Ye're fine, now get back to stickin' sharp metal things up Rosferian backsides. Give their surgeons sommat to do. Shoo!" The badger had to wrestle the stoat out of the tent, his big black claws scrabbling to scruff the squirming, lither mustelid by his neck.
"CAPTAIN FUGATE OF HMS AGAMEMNON IS ABOUT TO DIE IF YOU DONT-" Warwick screeched. He was silenced as the doctor pulled him off his feet with one arm.
"Fugate? Dyin'? Well why din'tcha say so, lad?!" Lester boomed. He harrumphed and snatch a few tools of his trade, storing them in the apron's frayed front pocket. Then he was lumbering up the hill, deftly ignoring the sounds of shells exploding. Warwick trotted after his new black and white-furred companion, sniffing.
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Post by Carrow on Jul 28, 2011 11:54:26 GMT -5
Selvis, meanwhile, followed along beside Caden and behind Molly, who was now carrying Ladorak, his mind left reeling by the stoat jill's rebuke. He tried to remember, just what had he been doing wrong? Only following instructions from his superior officer (and more importantly, his good friend), but of course Molly had seemed to want absolutely no help.
He just couldn't understand that. Sure, she was upset, but had she really needed to do that? To say those words to him? Get away from him, she'd said - no, she'd roared. Screamed at him as if he had been intent on doing her beloved Ladorak further harm somehow.
Then again, he thought bitterly, isn't this just the same thing again, where I think I'm helping but am just making things worse in reality? Yeah, that's probably it. I'm sorry I even offered to help. I forgot all I did was make things worse. Thanks, Molly. Thank you very much for reminding me of that fact. I'm as good as useless, aren't I?
Thoughts like this began filling his mind as he caught up with Caden, and then tried to keep up with him as he ran ahead, pointing to the tent which the doctor was hopefully in.Ladorak was now trying to extricate himself from Molly's hold, even telling her that he was able to walk just fine. Selvis sighed deeply, realising what this meant: all the stoat Captain had really needed was to get to his feet... something Selvis could have helped him with just fine, but Molly had jumped the gun and cast the longtail's assistance aside as though it were worth nothing, which it seemed to be, at least in Selvis's mind.
The mustelid was devastated. Not simply because his help had been refused (that just made things worse), but because Ladorak was injured again, and this time it was much worse than before. He knew instinctively that some sort of damage had been done; it didn't look like an injury like that would leave Ladorak unscathed - but they'd all have to wait until Warwick returned before finding out what had happened to him.
He was unable to keep from crying; this was brought on by a combination of the fact that he perceived himself as far more of a hindrance than a help, and the fact that he just couldn't bear to think of Ladorak's injury. The tears began falling from his eyes as he tried not to completely lose his composure. The balance in his life had become far more delicate since his time on the Orion... and it had been upset again.
--
Carrow couldn't help but smile as Tally offered him the sandwich. "Oh really now? There's muskerd... er, mustard on it?" The mouse nodded agreeably, licking his lips. He was, once again, starvished. "Sounds good to me!" He continued to lead Tally towards Ocean, hoping for a scenario whereby the three of them would be able to sit and talk for a while. As it was, though, Tally wasn't in the right form for that.
The rodent felt her let go of his paw for some reason, and then watched despairingly as she turned and bolted for the cliff-face. He wasn't quite sure what that was all about. He wanted to go after her right away, but Ocean was speaking to him and he felt that he couldn't just ignore the ermine, especially not in his current condition, so he strained his ears to catch what the mustelid was telling him.
"It's something you could probably get adjusted to, if you gave it a chance, mind," he responded, smiling at Ocean as he patted the ermine's paw in a comforting manner. "I'm glad it's helping a little. You need everything you can get after all - anything that might be able to help your fever. I wouldn't count my chickens just yet, mate," he said softly, yet his voice still carried a note of cheerfulness. "You may grow to like the water yet."
He caught Ocean's comment regarding Spender, and turned around to see the ferret, who was currently masquerading as a crab (at least, that's what it looked like to Carrow). "He's keeping himself busy, alright, just in a less boisterous manner than we're used to. You'd scarcely believe it if I told you, Ocean, but you can take my word for it - Spender would appear to be actually tunnelling in Tally's coracle!"
The mouse chuckled. "Wonder where that'll lead him. Speaking of Tally... I'll be back in a moment, alright?," he assured Ocean before standing up and jogging back to the cliff face. He could see a slightly worried expression on his mousemaid's features (he really did think of her as 'his' now, and most definitely in a romantic sense - they were a perfect match after all) so, when he reached her, the field mouse put his arms around her and held her close, whispering to her. "What is it, Tally? Anything wrong?"
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Post by Ladorak on Jul 28, 2011 23:31:29 GMT -5
((I'll just hold off on Ocean for now until Spender posts. ) The large badger doctor hove into sight ahead, and Caden sighed with relief. "Here," he was saying. "Let me take a look. We need to get him into the aid station." The aid station was clustered around the rest of the tents, and actually was a series of tents that served as various hospitals, mostly to house the sick, as there were way more sick on this island than wounded. All the tents were far enough back that they were out of range of the forts here, as was the custom. "Heh... I bet... Admiral Hood will be offering to send over his personal Surgeon from the Victory... but I won't need it. Or at least... I doubt I will." the stoat said. Caden could tell Selvis was crying, but he wasn't sure why. Battle fatigue? Breaking down because of the stress? It didn't seem like a good thing to be doing, and he would have to address that later on, if he could. Selvis had been so out of sorts lately. Ever since Caden had talked to him during what was now called the Glorious First of June. But why? Was Caden really that harsh? It unsettled the marten, and caused his anxiety to rise, complicating his fears over Ladorak's condition. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some time later, about forty-five minutes or so, Ladorak Fugate could hear the words "alright, you may open your eyes now." playing out. He did so, slowly letting his world slide into focus. One eye was black, the other was perfect. The doctor placed the spectacles back onto his snout, the pince nez clamping down into place. Blinking a few times, it took the stoat a moment to realize that yes, he was indeed blind in his right eye. He waved a paw in front of it just to be sure, but found that his blind spot on his right side had grown. "Theeeere you are." the doctor was saying. "Now... the cuts to your face are all superficial. They'll heal in a manner of weeks. You'll look like your old, dashing and handsome self once again, which is probably good news for your fiancee, eh?" he winked over at Molly. "You won't even be able to tear you WERE cut up in the first place... though..." he reached a claw out, and tapped Ladorak's right brow over his eye. "That cut... will leave a permanent scar. It turns out a fragment of rock or a cluster of sand cut through your brow, and down into your eyelid, striking your eye. The eyelid itself will heal, and physically... the eye looks fine. But something tells me... you can't see out of it." Ladorak nodded in confirmation of this. "Well, that's to be expected I suppose. However, from what I could tell, the damage doesn't seem to be too severe, and you SHOULD regain a margin of sight in it, if not fully recover over time. I wouldn't be surprised if you could see just fine out of it in a few weeks." the badger's words caused the stoat to unconsciously smile, and he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. "Just give it some time. Your eyeball suffered a trauma after all, and it's common to lose sight in it after such a wound. I mean if you look in a mirror..." He reached over for one that hung precariously off a night stand, and moved it in front of the stoat's face. "You can see that your eye looks perfectly fine. No bleeding. No marks. No nothing." The stoat blinked in surprise, noticing that yes indeed, his right eye appeared perfectly normal. It was still as verdant as ever, and not a mark was visible upon it. It looked rather strange in fact, simply because he had no vision in it, yet to see his reflection, one would be unable to guess anything was wrong... aside from the cuts all over his face. They had been cleaned and most were scabbed over by now. "Hah... I look like I've been in a regular scrap." he said, turning his head from left to right to get a better look. "And you said these will all heal?" The badger nodded. "Indeed, Captain Fugate. There's no reason any of them should leave a scar... except of course for that one." He pointed to the prominent one that ran across his right brow. "That... probably will. The cut was rather deep, and it passed through your skin before exiting the lower side into the eyelid. That took a chunk out, so you'll have a mark there the rest of your life. As for your eye... just stay hopeful. I've seen similar things like this before, and it should recover in time." he stated. "Well... I suppose that's a relief." the stoat said, gazing around the room at everyone gathered there. "I guess I'll just keep wearing the spectacles until my eyesight returns. Won't prevent me from taking part in the combat, either." he declared gamely. "So... how do I look?" his question was directed at Molly, and he fixed her with his eyes, though of course could see her out of only one of them. Caden started to relaxed, and exhaled, feeling his tension begin to wash away somewhat. "What a relief!" he exclaimed. "I thought the damage was far worse... but the doc seems to think he'll recover. That's good news." He looked over at Selvis, trying to discern how the weasel was taking things.
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