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Post by Carrow on Jun 5, 2011 13:52:41 GMT -5
Carrow couldn't help but smile a little at Tally's response to his praise of her bravery. The mousemaid had taken him up the wrong way, but the field mouse didn't mind that at all. In fact, her innocence seemed to be rather charming to him - not that she wasn't anyway! - and the gentle rubbing of her tail against his own made him giggle a little. It was certainly a ticklish sensation, but the external reaction was nothing compared to the inward one. He felt a tremble of joy shoot up his spine; Tally's gentle stroking movement was immensely reasuring to him, so when she bowed her head in apology for it, he patted it soothingly, trying to tell her she had done nothing wrong.
The rodent was growing ever more fond of her as time went on. For a moment he was lost in the dreamy haze that seemed to envelop his mind whenever she was in his company and did something, anything at all, that he approved of. He felt himself being gently lifted from his dazed state as Caden began to speak, feeling even more comforted now that his pine marten companion was speaking to him. This was one of those times where advice or assistance from just one of his friends wasn't enough, and he was still smiling as he listened to the albino marten speak, letting him talk uninterrupted.
Carrow couldn't help but notice how confident in his own speaking ability the marten sounded. In direct contrast to him, he didn't trip over his words or stammer through sentences like the mouse was prone to do. His voice was clear and confident, and this aided the marten further in driving his point home. Once he had finished speaking, Carrow made as if to respond, but first had to clear his throat, as it had become rather dry in the wake of Tally's actions. She seemed to have a hold on his mind at certain times, and his chest burned with affection for her. If only he could tell her just how he felt...
Once he felt himself able to talk again, the field mouse was still unable to speak clearly. His speech was halting, slow, not confident at all, like he didn't trust himself to say what he really felt. He was unsure where this had come out of. "Thanks, Caden. I'd really appreciate any help you could give me with this. I know it's more of a problem on my end, but I've tried almost everything I could possibly think of -" aside from one thing that I'd been using for something entirely different, he thought; might need to give that a whirl - "and nothing has seemed to work. I'm not sure what the problem is. I certainly need help with it, and I'd be honoured if you could offer assistance.
"I'll be honest though: I've always been a 'what if' kind of creature... probably more so than is healthy at times," he added, chuckling ruefully, "but yes, you're right. Sometimes I wonder what is stopping me from doing that, in fact. For instance... did I think I'd make it through my first year at sea in one piece? There were some times I really wasn't sure about that. I've always been..." He sighed. He'd have to tone down his next word so he didn't slide into self-pity again. "... Fragile, and there have been times when it's been quite simply impossible to escape from that. A lot of things about me may have changed, but that definitely hasn't.
"Maybe I should start appreciating my life more though, as you said. I've been so focused on work and things these past few weeks that it's been a little difficult for me to properly let go and enjoy myself at times, and then something like this happens... puts it all in perspective, really. I'm not quite sure that I can do that properly, Caden, but I am at least going to try, and what better day to start doing so than one like this? A dear friend's birthday?," he wondered, smiling at his pine marten friend. Selvis smiled too, noting that Carrow looked more cheerful already. The rodent's mood had been quite changeable over the previous while, going from elation to anxiety, and then to fear, and then to self-doubt. Maybe settling his nerves wasn't the only thing the mouse needed help with.
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Post by Ladorak on Jun 5, 2011 19:37:56 GMT -5
Caden shook his head. "To me... that's just silly. A 'what if' kind of guy? What's the point of that? I bet between the two of us, we both could come up with some pretty crazy ideas about the future, and what it would hold in store. But what's the sense in crying over the milk if it hasn't been spilled yet? Your fear of it being spilled isn't an excuse either." He said, smirking and shaking a finger in the mouse's direction.
"That's no way to live. It would be utterly pointless to just sit here and have the two of us come up with all the disasters we think MIGHT occur in our future. Rather, why not focus on what's going on now? We didn't lose Ladorak, and none of us got hurt. I don't see any point in worrying about what MIGHT or might NOT happen. Just seems really silly. I don't think I've ever thought about things that way." he admitted, shrugging his shoulders.
Ladorak's tent flap was pushed back, and the stoat emerged, wearing a new jacket, and probably sporting a bandage of some kind underneath that. In his paws was a cake, lathered in chocolate icing and spelling out "Happy Birthday Caden" on top of it. There were wooden plates stacked underneath, and wooden forks on the side. It was smaller, and had only a few candles, but it would do. Ladorak beamed. "Guess I forgot that I told the cook about this much earlier than I let on! And a one, two, and a three... Happy Birthday to you!" Ladorak began singing, flourishing the cake a bit before he set it down on the log in front of the marten. "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Caden! Haaaaappy Birthday tooooooo... youuuuuuu." He sang out, his voice a bit lower than it normally was as he ran through the notes, his pitch more of a baritone when he sang.
He smiled as he pulled back, and motioned for Caden to go ahead and make his wish.
The delighted albino marten thought a moment, playing something out in his mind. Having settled on what he thought was good enough, he took in a deep inhalation, and puffed out, his fat cheeks losing their balloon like shape as he extinguished the small flames in one breath. "Alright! Good job!" Ladorak praised, and clapped his paws. "Now let's start cutting this sucker up, and enjoying us some chocolate cake!" he produced a knife from his belt, and began slicing the cake up into equal bits, putting the slices on wooden plates that he'd procured from the Agamemnon. "And I think Molly wished to give you something as well." He murmured, focusing more on the slicing of the cake and dividing it up.
Caden took his, and also a wooden fork (once again from the ship), and began to dig in eagerly.
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Post by Carrow on Jun 6, 2011 10:32:51 GMT -5
Carrow nodded, smiling a little, even if inside he did feel a little embarrassed about the way he saw things, particularly when Caden playfully admonished him for it. The way the marten said it made it all sound so simple, but Carrow couldn't help but wonder how he managed to do that - how anybeast did. He had always been afraid of the future, sometimes completely terrified of it, and he supposed he could try taking a leaf out of his friend's, or indeed, possibly friends', book (as Selvis struck him as the sort of creature who did the same thing) and give a new outlook on life a try.
The pine marten said it was no way to live, but in reality it was all Carrow had ever known, and he could guess why. Inwardly, he knew that this hyper-cautious approach to life stemmed from the time he had spent recuperating after he'd been assaulted at school. He'd been completely broken by that, and had just about managed to piece himself back together again, with the help of everybeast who wanted to assist him. He'd been living in fear from one day to the next, needing to be put to sleep by Archie every night, and by day asking himself searching questions about his life.
The field mouse had never been sure about much. Indeed, when it came down to it, the only thing he could really count on was the friendships he had. This on its own was enough to sustain him, but there were some times he wished for just a little more certainty. It had been months since he'd heard from Archie: he was unsure what had become of her or how she was doing. He constantly thought of her, but never seemed too worried. After all, when you're can take good care of yourself as well as a Dibbun who's clinging to you because you're all he's got left, and you're only seventeen, you're nothing if not capable.
It was going to be a tough habit to break, but he knew he'd have the support of his companions. Selvis was certainly planning to help the mouse. Caden had finished speaking now, and the longtail could see his rodent friend's pensive expression. Carrow had a lot on his mind. Those searching questions were there again, only this time they were of a different nature. Carrow knew he hadn't a hope of figuring himself out, but he needed answers to these questions all the same. A thought sparked in his mind, and he brightened up. Yes... of course. That's what he had to do.
"Thanks for the advice, mate," he told Caden gently, his smile widening. "It might be hard for me, but I'll see what I can do with it." His eyes sparkled, too, when Ladorak reappeared, cake in paws. The mouse gasped. That cake looked positively delectable. Could he remember the last time he'd had anything like that? Now that he thought about it, he couldn't. Times had been hard for him when he'd been younger. Cake of any sort had been hard to come by in Poppyville; the chocolate variety even more so. If he'd ever had it before, it must have been too long ago for him to remember. Maybe... when his parents had been alive?
Carrow joined in with the singing, and so too did Selvis. The weasel had a strong baritone voice, and he was in fact already thinking of other uses for his singing abilities even as he studied the scene around him. Carrow was closer to a tenor than anything else; his voice had broken, of course, but being a mouse meant it hadn't broken all that much. He didn't sing too often, but gave it his best performance nonetheless. They watched as Caden stepped forward, made his wish and extinguished the candles in one blow, joining Ladorak in applauding. The look of delight on his friend's face meant that Carrow never once stopped smiling.
Soon it was his turn to receive some cake, and the eager look on his face said it all. Murmuring a soft 'thank you' to Ladorak, scarcely able to believe his luck, the mouse took the cake, along with a fork, before returning to Caden. "Y'know, I don't recall ever having something like this before," he admitted. Sometimes it pained him to think of his past like that... but on a day like today it didn't hurt as much as usual.
The duo were soon joined by Selvis, who looked particularly pleased with his slice. "You look like you're enjoying that, Caden!," he exclaimed, smiling. "It's little wonder - the cook's done a marvelous job... oh, and did I mention I haven't even tasted it yet?," he added, chuckling before breaking a piece off and doing just that, murmuring appreciatively once he'd swallowed it. "OK, so it didn't just look marvelous after all! Been quite an eventful day so far, eh?," he asked the albino marten.
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Post by spender on Jun 6, 2011 23:09:07 GMT -5
It only took a single nudge from Peskers to the still-dweepy Spender before he said "thank you" for his slice of cake. He then proceeded to get icing all over his face, despite the fact that he was actually rather proficient with getting his fork into his mouth.
Peskers, meanwhile, was sure he was doing it on purpose so he would have a reason to ask her to lick it off him. At least, that was what she hoped he would ask. She accepted her own slice very gratefully, and uttered a quick "hope you'll heal up soon, sir" to Ladorak.
Tally was a little less enthused about her slice; or rather, she was perfectly enthused about the slice, but not entirely certain about the fork. It was not until she managed to get Molly's attention that her fears were put to rest by the stoat jill patting her head and giving her the go-ahead. Tally turned to Carrow and announced:
"I can use dis fork." She held the fork up for him to see, and then proceeded to jam the wrong end into her cake. Molly turned it around for her. Tally's eyes widened at the novelty of it all.
"Well," Molly said, clapping her paws together and smiling at all the cake-eating little critters, "I suppose it's time for..."
She paused, an eye-whisker raised as a new distraction toddled over.
Reisender, the scruffy little son of scruffy little Keinruf, had his arms held out like a zombie. Piled on them was a scarf, yellow and black striped. He bustled up to Caden, dropped the scarf on the log, gave him a toothy grin, and then spun around and shouted, "I WANNA CAKE NOW!"
Molly glared at Keinruf, who slouched against a tree a long enough ways away to not have to deal with any of it. When the little pine marten was quieted down, she began again.
"Caden... I have nothing to give you." She let this sink in for a moment. "Nothing physical, anyway. Well, that's not entirely true, either." She spread her arms out. "It's me. It's not much—no matter what Laddy thinks—but it was all I could think of that you needed. Really needed. Books, sweets, scarves, models, pictures—these are all very nice things, and I hope you treasure them as much as the beasts who gave them to you. But when you get right down to it, you could live without these things, couldn't you? But there's something else you've been living without, and I intend to put a stop to that today. Today, Caden, I'm going to give you something you should have had on your very first birthday. If you'll let me."
Now Molly knelt, shuffling forward to put her paws on his knees. She would have taken his paws, but he was still holding his plate.
"I want to be your mother."
The moment was of course ruined by Spender, who chose that precise moment to belch, having eaten his slice in three bites.
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Post by Ladorak on Jun 7, 2011 22:38:59 GMT -5
Caden was a bit frozen by this, pausing in mid chew as she wrapped her arms about his knees. He supposed it was better than her wrapping her arms about his waist and squashing his cake against his new uniform. He glanced up at Ladorak, who seemed just as surprised.
She was certainly preparing herself for becoming a mother. Ladorak felt as if she didn't necessarily have to feel obligated to do this. She generally hated young ones, or at least... she HAD... back in the day. But maybe that was then. She had changed from when he'd last known her. He inwardly hoped that she wouldn't feel as if she had to put this forward just because they were to be wed. But... ultimately, he did have to applaud her effort. She was really going the extra mile in this case, and it impressed him, and helped to reassure him.
He shrugged, and just nodded at Caden. Caden took the hint, and looked down at her. "Aw... well thanks Molly. I guess we WILL be a family soon, after all, won't we? It would be nice to have a mother in my life." he didn't have to go into details about why his past mother was no longer a real option. "I went eleven years without a father, and it's been about ten since I've had a mother. So sure... I'd be happy to accept." he said, grinning with chocolate covered teeth. It was a little gross, but still got the message across.
He turned to his friends, nodding. "Yes... it most certainly has. Why another week or two and we'll be off to the Atlantic, so those blasted Rosferians better surrender in that time." he said, shaking his fork in the direction of Bastia. Little did he know, but the Rosferians would surrender without warning in another week.
It would catch everyone by surprise, but when the garrison marched out into captivity (revealing the TRUE extent of their strength), it was discovered they were running on no food, and in desperate starvation, had finally surrendered. Much to everyone's amazement, the garrison was 6,000 strong, MUCH stronger than Ladorak's predictions. Compared to the 1,500 besieging them, it was a wonder they had surrendered at all.
But to see such a large group surrendering to such a small one built a real sense of accomplishment in the crew and soldiers. They took pride now in their work, and even Colonel D'Aubant had moved his army out of San Fiorenzo, though ultimately his participation was little more than a parade. The lion's share of the credit went to Ladorak Fugate, who had stuck by his guns and commanded resolutely throughout it all. D'Aubant was soon replaced by General Charles Stuart, who had come out from Gibraltar and promised full army cooperation from that point on.
It was certainly quite the way to end a siege that had lasted a month and a half. But this day was a Birthday that Caden would always remember. The presents had been there, and so had his friends. He had been made an offer for a mother, and it seemed as if things were finally taking a new turn in his life. A new chapter was starting for all of them, and they faced the prospects of a naval battle in the weeks to come, as well as another siege upon their return, as Calvi still needed to be taken.
Either way, Caden knew he'd remember his 14th Birthday. It had been a real celebration, and he hoped to face many more in the years ahead. Instilled with this new sense of accomplishment of having taken down a garrison much larger than their besieging force, new challenges and adventures awaited our heroes in the months to come, but no matter what happened in the future, Caden made a promise to himself that he'd always remember this day, and strive to ensure that his Birthday wish would come true.
END
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