Holidays in Tuscany

[Carrow]

Carrow listened, spellbound, as the stoat related his experience of the fabled Redwall to him. He made it sound just like the rodent had imagined it in his mind. Archie had told him things about it when he was with her, and he'd often imagined swapping his life in Muggidrear for one at the Abbey. It had sounded as wonderful to him then as it did now, with his Captain talking about it and the mustelid's words acting so vividly on his mind.

He nodded enthusiastically when Ladorak revealed his desire to make a hypothetical place of his own like Redwall. It was the kind of peaceful and tranquil place that the field mouse had desired to one day reside in as well. Now that he had a commitment to the Navy, such concerns had been pushed to the back of his mind for a good few years, of course. It was a long-term dream of his: to settle down somewhere he could live simply - if he made it out of this war still in one piece, that is.

"You and I seem to share the same dream, sir," he said in just as soft a voice, as he felt that Ladorak should be made aware of this. It wasn't the only thing he felt he had in common with the stoat, of course. He was about to say more about this when Ocean came up to them, looking like he needed to have a word with Ladorak. The mouse fell silent and simply listened as the two stoats, one who remained white all year round, and one who was well on his way to a snowy coat, conversed.

He was worried about Molly as well. Even though they scarcely spoke - and indeed, the only times that clearly stuck out in his mind were that time when he was speaking with her after Spender had broken Caden's arm, and their meeting when Carrow had been in the Sick Tent at Calvi) - seeing anybeast in a state of general confusion (or even hearing about it) was never good. His whiskers twitched anxiously as he listened to their conversation, and when Ladorak addressed him again, he raised his head from where he had nervously looking down at his footpaws.

"That seems like a good idea, sir. You definitely should be there for her; I know I would be if I were in the same position. I'd like to go back in, yes., and thank you for wanting to include me in this," he said gently, smiling at the stoat. When the mustelid mentioned his food, the mouse's stomach rumbled again. There was no denying that he was hungry... but then Ocean mentioned Tally, and the rodent's eyes lit up. So THAT's where she'd been...

His stomach twisted into knots as he realised he had just missed her when in the cathedral earlier. He took merely a few seconds to make up his mind. "It would appear I have to choose between my heart and my stomach, you two," he said softly, smiling to himself. "I'm going to go with my heart and take my chances. If it turns out I miss my food, well, so be it, but I'm not going to miss this chance to spend time with Tally. I've waited too long to see her again. I'll come in with you both," he said resolutely.

--

"Oh, of course, of course," Selvis responded gently, shaking his head. "I didn't quite mean it like that, more in the kind of way that it's something for you to aim towards. I didn't receive any artillery training before I actually joined the Agamemnon, so it would be nice, assuming you do decide to join, if you ended up on the gun crew I currently serve on so I'd be able to have a closer look at how good you are," he told the zorilla with a smile on his features.

"In fact, I have the good fortune to serve on the same crew as all four of my companions that I mentioned to you earlier on... as well as a certain other creature who I've never quite been able to see eye-to-eye with," he muttered, eyes narrowing a little as he thought of Spender. They had gotten off on the wrong paw to begin with and things had just gone from there. Even if they were on better terms than before, he still wasn't entirely comfortable with being around the ferret.

"Our Gunner's very good, though, since you asked, and I reckon he'll teach you well," he said with a nod, letting his fellow mustelid launch into his explanation of how he'd found like at the academy he'd spent a few years at. It did indeed sound interesting to the longtail, who was unable to keep his eyes from widening in wonderment as the zorilla pointed out the location of the fortress he had been in. In the middle of a lake?!, he thought. Well, that's certainly unique, you're right.

"I might have liked to serve Ferlusan myself, you know," he said softly, "it was just that I didn't feel I was cut out for military life, and I wasn't too sure about following my father into service in the Merchant Marine. Enlisting in the Navy seemed like a viable option for a while, and then I was told that I'd be setting my standards too low if I threw my lot in with Ferlusan. I decided, over a few weeks at the start of last year, to pledge my allegiance to Welkin if such an opportunity ever arose, and well... here we are."

He spread his paws wide to emphasise his point. "Discipline and military order - that's very good, because it means we'll hardly see you acting up on the ship if you decide to come with us," he said mischievously, winking at the zorilla and rubbing his paws in an eager fashion.. "Before you come to any sort of conclusion about what it is you would like to do, I would suggest that you meet my companions later on. As I mentioned earlier, they helped me make up my mind, so perhaps they could do the same for you, you never know.

"As for me, I went straight from school into Naval service. I dropped out at the end of term last year once I'd made my mind up. I could have gone through the rest of the educational system and resigned myself to quite an uninteresting and not very financially-rewarding existence in Crittenden or somewhere similar, and I'd always been told I was bright enough to stick with it... but it wasn't enough for me. I needed some kind of excitement in my life. It was no wonder my Dad left when he did, now that I think about it...," he said, voice softer now... more contemplative.

[Ladorak]

Nodding at Carrow, Ladorak looked ovar at Caden. "All done, Caden? Hate to interrupt, but I want you to head into the cathedral with me. Molly's in there and well... it might be time but... I just want to make sure." He said, inhaling.

Caden looked up from his game, and frowned down at the board. "Sorry, Spender. We'll have to do this another time. I'll see you later." he slid out of his chair, and moved over to Ladorak.

Ocean shook his head at Carrow though. "Oh no... I'm not going back in there. She didn't seem to be particularly... happy to see me, for some reason." the ermine said, shrugging. It was rather stupid in all honesty... Molly had been the one to ask him HOW a mother and her kit could have changed everything, and Ocean had attempted to explain it for her, yet she'd seemed to resent that right out. Unless of course she was resenting his speculationos... but either way, he was entitled to his opinion, and he couldn't personally give a damn about what the Captain's possible future wife thought of him. He was most likely screwed on his career track anyway, so what was one more nail in the coffin? He didn't particularly care about trying to divine her intentions.

He moved over to Spender, flicking his ears. "So what's eating you?" he asked, sitting down opposite him at the table now. "You haven't been your usual self." he stated, interlacing his claws and resting the paws in his lap. "I mean no jokes, no having fun... just sulking. You said something about Warwick... but what do you care about that bloke for anyway? The guy's a chump!" he spat. "Couldn't even make a blasted commitment to the Navy... or at least his comrades. Yet you get all mopey when he leaves. The guy never did a thing for you. Or at least nothing lasting." he shook his head.

"You want to have some real fun? Don't put your faith in chumps who come from rich families and think that life is a free ride for 'em. That's not how life works. I don't get why you're so hung up on him. Never did a single thing for any of us. Well... he got me swimming I guess... but still. He was barely with us, and your'e acting like he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Really, Spender? What does that make me? Chopped liver?" he asked, raising a brow and putting his paws on his chest. He had known... his brother couldn't hide many things from him, especially these days. Ocean could put two and two together.

He HAD known of course that Warwick had taken care of them in the sick tent... a rather merciful act on his part... and while it was a good deed, he hadn't been around much after that. Why Spender would get stuck on someone like that... when he never seemed to care whether or not someone was being nice to him regardless, it just... mystified Ocean. He could also see how Spender might have enjoyed the random antics of Warwick... but they were harldy random enough to have kept Spender entartained for long, in his mind.

"Now come on..." the red clad ermine pushed the chair back and stepped out of it. "What do you REALLY want to do today? You don't want to sit here moping... at least the Spender I know wouldn't do that." Ocean smirked now, hoping at least his brother would tell him so that he'd get an idea of where to take him. Spender made sense on a good day, but this was just... not like at him all.

Ladorak reached into his pocket, paid the bill, and told the waiter to keep the lasagna cooking as they'd be back. He then began jogging across the square to the cathedral, mouse and marten in tow as the white, pink, and green marble grew larger over them, imposing its presence in the world with all its pompous splendor. Ladorak couldn't tell if it felt ominous or not.

Moving into the darker interior, Ladorak looked about, panning his head from left to right. He didn't... see her, so hopefully she hadn't moved on. She couldn't possibly be in a confessional, right? "I'll take the right. You two take the left." the stoat suggested, keeping his voice low.

Nodding, Caden began to move with Carrow down the left side of the massive cathedral. "This place is so big..." he muttered. "She could be anywhere in here."

Ladorak began walking down the right side of the church (the side Molly was actually on), looking about him and trying to catch a sight of each face as they moved by, or stood off to the side marveling at some statue or piece of artwork. Or talking. Or praying. This place was large enough to fit a ship!.

"Molly?" he called out softly, whispering, but in a loud sort of way that echoed easily in here. "Molly?"

Caden didn't exactly call out her name, as he was a bit more self-conscious than Ladorak was. He settled for shoving his paws into his pockets and scanning around for any sign of what may be his future step-mother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The zorilla at first seemed puzzled at the mention of keeping himself out of trouble. "Vell... I vouldn't realy..." but he stopped as Selvis explained, and he realized now it was a joke. "Ahh... you joke. Yes, yes, very good." he said, smiling and nodding now.

"Vell, if everyone starts on ze gun crew, ah, but here you are talking as if I'm going to join." he said, laughing a little now as he interrupted himself. "You must be really hoping for me to do so." his smile widened, but in a good way. He wouldn't hold it against the weasel. He must have been impressed with his tales of the academy, and the striped polecat had to admit that it did have a certain charm to it.

He listened as the weasel suggested meeting his friends, as it was the deciding factor for him in joining up. "Hmm might I ask you, Selvis... vhat vas it about zese friends of yours?" he asked. "I am fascinated, as you said zey vere ze real reason you decided to commit to Velkin. Vhat are zey like, and why did zey sway you so?" he asked, clasping his paws behind his back as they moved from one room of paintings into another.

[Carrow]

Carrow merely nodded in response to Ocean's declination of his offer. The mouse understood perfectly well what it was like to be around creatures who weren't particularly happy to see him - all too well in fact - and so realised that Molly might have been slightly agitated (and cconfused, as the ermine had mentioned earlier) and decided to take things out on the ermine. He might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time - again, the mouse could understand that.

Before departing with Caden and Ladorak, the rodent glanced back at the sullen Spender. There appeared to be a direct correlation to the apparent vanishing-into-thin-air of Warwick Norwich and the ferret's current state. He hadn't seemed himself since the day that Warwick had left... for whatever reason that might have been. The two had seemed to get on well, from what the mouse had seen - then again, most of his memories of the stoat were hazy, due to the clearest recollections coming from a time when he had been suffering from heat-related exhaustion.

Carrow had missed Warwick too, for a brief time. He'd been looking forward to getting to know him, and perhaps even striking up a companionship with him, but he had come and gone without so much as a 'farewell'. When he'd realised the mustelid wasn't going to come back any time soon, he had simply moved on. He had others who cared about him just as much as he did them - a pine marten, an ermine, a weasel and a mouse. He was admittedly still struggling to put his affection for them all into words, but he was improving nonetheless.

He watched as Ladorak paid the bill, smiling slightly as he hard the instructions for the lasagne to remain attended to, before he broke into a jog alongside Caden as they caught up to the stoat, who definitely seemed nervous about what might be to come. The mouse stripling felt a little anxious himself. He wanted to speak to Tally, even just for a few minutes if he could manage it at all, (as he simply loved being in her company), but he hadn't seen her in so long. Would she even remember what he'd told her on Calvi? Three months was a long time...

They entered the cathedral, and as they did so, Carrow became acutely aware of the sheer size of the place. He'd realised it was a large building beforepaw, of course, but as the three of them were simply looking for one creature out of what appeared to be hundreds, the scale of the cathedral was brought home to him. He nodded as Ladorak suggested that they split up, before starting off with Caden down the left side of the church, his brown eyes displaying his slightly pensive mood.

He nodded again at Caden's comment, unable to keep himself from responding to it, despite the fact that there were a considerable number of butterflies in his stomach now. "I'm sure we'll find her - I didn't see her come out before now, so it stands to reason that she's still around here somewhere... and if we can find her, we'll almost certainly find Tally as well." He sighed a little, wondering what the outcome of their meeting would be.

He began softly calling her name, along with that of the stoat jill. His voice carried around the spacious confines of the cathedral. "Molly? Tally? Are you there?" His voice sounded smaller than it should have done in a place like this, a clear sign of his anxiety. Wanting to strike up a conversation between himself and his pine marten companion, as the silence unnerved him slightly, he asked, in just as soft a voice: "While we're here, I wanted to ask, since we've had a busy day and everything... what's been your favourite bit of the trip so far?"

--

Selvis's long tail swayed from side to side in a cheerful manner as the zorilla caught the jocular tone of his comment. Heinrich had already shown himself to have a sense of humour, and it was something the weasel felt the two of them shared. He liked it when his jokes were appreciated, and the mustelid was cottoning on to him rather quickly. Selvis was admitedlly a little surprised they'd managed to hit it off so quickly, but then again he did think of the zorilla as a warm and inviting sort.

"Ah, well I can't deny that it would be very nice to have a creature such as yourself amongst our crew. I reckon you'd fit in rather well with us, if you want me to be honest about it. At the very least you seem to have an idea of what you'd be getting yourself into. Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure I did when I was joining up. I came along for the adventure and companionship, and then everything else came afterwards," he admitted, smiling from ear to ear.

The large smile remained on his face as Heinrich enquired about his friends. "Well, Scharnhorst," he said gently his tail still swaying to and fro, almost taking on a mind of its own now, a sure indicator of how relaxed the longtail felt in the presence of the Hanoverian mustelid, "now that you ask, I should indeed tell you a little about them. I mentioned a pine marten, a beech marten and a mouse earlier, did I not?," he asked, hoping to jog Heinrich's memory.

"Hmm, where should I start? As said, they can introduce themselves, and probably do a better job of it than I ever could, but let me fill you in on them all the same. The beech marten in our little group is rather quiet. He doesn't say very much, but that's just fine by me, because he lets his actions do the talking. He's very interested in painting and drawing, and could certainly show you a little of that if you asked him to. ...He's not around very much these days, though... prefers to keep to himself usually, but if you run into him, you'll certainly know about it."

The weasel clasped his own paws behind has back now as he warmed to his theme. "The rodent I'm friends with is a field mouse. He's rather shy, and prone to feeling a little nervous. He's very eager to make new friends, though - one could almost say that he thrives on it; it's his lifeblood, almost. He has his own talents, though I'll let you hear more about those from him. He can usually tell right away whether he can become friendly with new creatures he meets. He might be slightly bashful, and maybe his nerves get the better of him sometimes, but he's the sort that'll take a shine to you rather quickly, I'm sure.

"Finally, we have another marten in our 'circle', as you might call it. He a pine marten, and an albino one at fact, but that's not what makes him stand out: he's one of the most steadfast creatures I've ever had the good fortune to meet, and will do his utmost for anybeast he's friends with. He's also fond of meeting potential companions, and he's very easy to rely upon as well. I see more than just a little of our Captain in him - now, he's a stoat, and is similarly willing to help out any member of his crew that might require his assistance. My pine marten pal, though, he's lent me a paw a number of times this year, and I'm very grateful to him for it.

"Put them all together, and you get three creatures who are, in various different ways, comforting, caring and above all, as loyal as you could possibly get. They were the ones who convinced me to join simply because they were, even then, very easy to get along with. There's a strong sense of camaraderie between us, and it's no stretch to say we've all become rather close in the last year-and-a-half.

"You'll find plenty to like about them, I've no doubt about that," he finished, still smiling widely, his tail whipping up a storm. He talked about his friends in glowing terms, and it was no wonder: they'd been there for him all through the past year, which had certainly been rough, but was also something he was more than ready to put behind him.

[spender]

"What's that? Something good?"

"Yeah..."

But by the time he said it, Caden was already gone. Spender reached out and moved the King's bishop out into the field, not noticing that the white side hadn't had a turn, nor bothering to correct his earlier mistake.

His ears were flicked, but that act might as well have been the final light switch being turned off in a closing bar, for all the life signs Spender was showing as Ocean sat down and talked at him. The stoat's words either went in one ear and out the other, or never found the ear entrance at all and were possibly lodged somewhere in his sinuses, wondering where they'd made a wrong turn.

It was just as well. Had Spender actually listened to half of what Ocean said, the chess board might have found itself projected into Ocean's face.

Something else had taken hold in the ferret's addled brain, and it was more powerful than anger, betrayal, hatred, or whatever other emotion usually infested him. It was an idea. These came along so rarely, he didn't know what to do with it, other than act on it in the simplest way possible.

Spender grabbed the wine bottle, stood up, said, "I'm going to Corsica!" and bolted away from the cafe without paying.

---

"That's a sin, too?"

Molly clutched her head in her paws, almost tearing her ears out. She could hardly see, but couldn't tell if that was because of the darkness of the confessional, or the tears in her eyes. She rocked back and forth on the little seat, her mind feverish.

"Enough. That's enough. I need... time."

Before the stranger behind the grate could say goodbye, she was out, slipping through the door like a puff of smoke.

She heard her name being called, but didn't bother to stop and look. They were looking for her, they would find her sometime. They would also find Tally, still curled up on the pew, sleeping away. Sleep sounded really good to Molly. Dreams made more sense than the waking world.

The stoat jill scurried for the front doors. There had to be somewhere she could find the silence she needed to think.

Paper! Write down the words one at a time, like catching rain in a thimble. She could arrange them afterwards, without forgetting what they were.

After the cool, darkened interior of the cathedral, the light in the piazza completed her blinding. Squinting uselessly, she grabbed pawfuls of her dress and slipped down the steps. Unable to see a young kit playing on the bottom step with his sister, or hear his warnings over the noise of a passing horse carriage, she tumbled right over the poor creature and went sprawling into the street—after clipping the front corner of the carriage and spinning off, narrowly missing the wheels.

She went down without so much as a squeak. Gasping, she stared at the sky, suddenly so clear. The sun, the whispy clouds, the blueness that was deeper than the ocean... It quickly became blotted.

She raised a paw to her face, found it sticky and hot. She was bleeding. Well, that wasn't anything she didn't know how to deal with. Just had to find a doctor. Yeah...

Molly stood up. She took two steps, spun halfway around as all sense of balance left her, and collapsed again.

Only then did she begin to cry in earnest.

[Ladorak]

"Um... well... we haven't been on shore for too long, a week or two maybe at most. But I... have to admit... it was most likely the Uffizi Gallery." Caden said. "Never been in a museum before... we didn't have those back where I came from. So seeing all that on such a scale for the first time... hey... you know what I'd like to see?" he asked in a distracted fashion, somewhat changing the subject.

"This duomo may be big, but I heard there's an even bigger one in Milan. That though... is a bit further away. A few good days' ride by carriage, if I read correctly." he was looking off to his right now, over in Ladorak's direction, and just by chance happened to glimpse Molly emerging from a confessional several paces behind the stoat. Raising his brows, he watched as she began stumbling toward the door.

"Psst! Ladorak!" he hissed, calling out to him from across the cathedral. The stoat turned, looking over in his ward's direction quizzically, before the marten started motioning frantically with his arms, to which Ladorak turned and narrowed his eyes, scanning the room around him.

"Molly!" he breathed, seeing her throwing the doors open. "Molly!'" He called, disturbing the tranquility of the chapel. Racing toward her, he was too late before she had vanished out into the piazza.

"She didn't have Tally with her... that means she could still be in here... why leave a young mouse like that in here by herself?" Caden mused aloud, though granted, Molly could have left Tally in a far WORSE place than the biggest cathedral in Florence. Biting his lip, Caden pondered a moment. "Um... I really want to go with him, but we should probably find Tally first. If we do, I'll go outside and try and find Ladorak. If I can't, we'll meet back at the cafe, alright?" he asked, moving further into the interior now, looking all about him as he tried to locate Carrow's friend.

Ladorak bounded out of the church just in time to see Molly strike the side of the carriage, recover, and then spin onto the ground. "Molly!" He cried, charging down the steps and leaping over the astonished kits who were playing there.

"Molly!" he landed roughly, losing his own balancing and practically stumbling down on top of her. "My word, you're bleeding!" he gasped, surprised at the sight of the blood. He wasn't averse to it, but the fact that he saw her in such a state here was unexpected, as the piazza was so nice... but she was so disheveled. It wasn't usually like her to be crying in the middle of a massive public square.

"Molly! What's wrong?" he asked, holding her tightly against him as he brought himself up to a sitting position, and she with him. He didn't want to give the wrong idea to these Calgarians, after all, as he was starting to get some nervous stares. "Hey... shhhh, shhhh." he said, rubbing a paw on the side of her head. "What's wrong? Is... is it me?" he asked, in a half panicked tone. "Did I do something? What's the matter?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No!" Ocean gasped, as Spender bolted away from the table. What the hell was wrong with him? All this over Warwick? But then he said Corsica... and that word didn't click with him at first. Corsica was the ancient name of Personza, but when he realized he must have been referencing Peskers, he shot out of his chair and chased his brother down.

Throwing his arms around him, he pulled him up tightly against him. "What do you mean going there!? Desert your post!?" he demanded angrily. "They'll kill you! Have you forgotten you're in this for six years!?" He had no intention of getting rough with Spender, but if the dense ferret tried to break free, he'd whack him upside the head. He wasn't about to watch as Spender got himself killed. A sailor, particulary a sailor who could only speak Common, stuck out like a sore thumb in a city, and was relatively easy to track down, usually due to his clothing, his drunken nature, and his inability to speak the native tongue.

"Spender... listen to me... she wouldn't want you to die for her needlessly like that! That wouldn't make any sense! You visit her when you can..." he grunted. "But if you really want to see her, you should transfer to a ship that's based there... most of the fleet is there now. But... know this... if you do that... there's no guarantee they'll stay there forever... and no guarantee you'll get a Captain as forgiving and caring as Fugate! He's bailed you out so many times you didn't deserve! You owe him!" he was a year older than his brother, 17, and with Spender at 16 (almost 17), he was now considered an adult, and his punishments would be far more severe than if he were a kit. That much Ocean knew, and he wasn't going to sit idly by and let his brother get himself killed over stupid things.

"I let you go and you're dead... don't do this!" he pleaded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scharnhorst nodded with closed eyes as he soaked all the information into his brain, letting it lap at the sides like a sponge in shallow water.

"Hmmm... I see. I see. A quiet one... one who speaks through actions..." he speculated. "Zen a mouse... who you said is prone to nervousness... interestingly enough." Mice were strange breeds indeed. There were enough of them that weren't sentient to feed a population of mustelids and carnivores for awhile, yet there were enough sentient ones as well to easily take care of themselves. It was natural for them to be more nervous.

"And ze marten... a devoted sort of fellow... from vhat you told me. I vould be interested to meet zem at some point. Do you have a companion zat you are closest to out of all three?" he asked.

"I of course do not vant to ask you to pick favorites, if you don't vant to, but it sounds like all three of zem make you vant to fight for zem. Zat's a good thing... and one thing I am fascinated in, as said. And ze discipline on board. I know in ze army it can be harsh, depending on vhat nation you vork for... Delorn is ze vorst... but ze navy can have harsh discipline too. You said your Captain is... alvays villing to help, ja? Vell he must be a generous one zen... I've heard zere are others not so generous, ja?" he asked now, adopting a more serious face.

[spender]

"Huh? Wot're you on about?" Spender scrunched up his face. Ocean was so balmy sometimes. "'m not leavin'... just goin' to see Polly. 's not far, right? Just closer to th'ocean. Not you, th'other one. We're not on th'ship now, right? Not in trouble fer that now, so 'm finkin', leave 'ese boogers 'ere, I go see Polly, come back when everrryones done bein' borin', hurrah, 's Christmas, eggnog an' cake."

He raised the wine bottle around Ocean's arm and chugged another few gulps down.

"Which way's it?" He pointed down the nearest alley. "This'n? That'n? Gotta fin' a horse."

In Spender's mind, Personza (or Corsica, as he remembered from Polly's letter when she had decided to try to give him some history on the place), wasn't an island, but just another place along the coast. All of the places they had visited were just different spots on one long beach. The sea wasn't so much a body of water that connected everything together, but rather somewhere the ship went because they were told to. He had no notion of direction, no ability to comprehend the different countries and climates, no appreciation for the scale of the world. He was convinced Polly was only a day's ride away.

---

Molly's head swam. She'd never understood the phrase before, but she did now. It was like her skull was pulsating with each stroke, yet sinking deeper and deeper. Her ears rang for a moment, then quickly stopped. Silence fell. No more clatter of hoof and wheel, no more distant shouting, just a gentle buzz. She felt she was being touched, picked up. The movement made her stomach swirl and her head pulsed faster, more intensely.

The jill was in a bad state. The cut above her eyes was blinding her with her own blood, and now it was beginning to dribble out her ears from within. Her sobbing was interrupting her breathing; her chest heaved with each ragged attempt.

But she smelled him. Her whiskers and nose gave her all the senses she needed. She wanted to say she was sorry, but now she couldn't remember what for. She reached a paw up blindly, pawing at his face before finding his cheek and stroking him back.

"I... I... I just wanted... a face... small Calgarian... boat... isn't it... my... my straight... my sorples... verbs nurn..."

Her voice weakend, words slurring. Her sobbing relaxed, until her chest gave one last massive heave and part of her breakfast spilled from the corner of her mouth. Then she fell limp in Ladorak's arms, still breathing, but barely.

[Ladorak]

((I guess you can be the doctor, Spendy, since I'm not sure your plans for this, and unsure how he'd get news about her otherwise. Also, I can edit if need be, if you DIDN'T want her at the hospital... though I would've preferred a heads up beforehand. ))

"It's at minimum two days..." Ocean murmured. "Minimum, Spender. You need to find a stage coach that will take you to Livorno, first of all, which takes about a day to reach from here. Then... you need to find a ship that's even going to Personza... but not many do, or at least... none in Calgary would. It's a former Rosferian turned Welkinite colony... Calgarians have no reason to go there, nor does Personza have anything to trade them for. It's a self-sufficient island that produces all its own food... so good luck finding a ship."

He shook his head. "If you DO get one... you're looking at a one to three day voyage, depending on the winds. It's an island Spender... you can't just hop over there. Not only that... but you look like you're too drunk to even find your way out of this piazza, much less to Livorno. It's a bad idea... as passage to there from here is very slim." he shook his head, and roughly shoved his paw into Spender's pockets.

"First... I am NOT paying for your damn bottle of wine. You are. Trying to leave me with the bill." Feeling his paw close around some coins, he pulled them out to look them over. "Aha... THIS should be sufficient!" he exclaimed, holding up a shilling. "Depending on how expensive the bottle was, I'll get you your change, so DON'T got wandering off and trying to find this island on your own... that's a dumb idea that would hardly work... at least in your state." he muttered.

He gave Spender the rest of his pay, and looked about him now back to the cafe, releasing the ferret from his grip. "Stay here... alright? We should ask the Captain for advice if you want to visit Personza." and we'd probably be heading there once the refit is over with anyway, he didn't add. Turning to jog back over to the cafe, the ermine pawed the waiter the shilling and motioned to the table with the wine bottle on it. "Per..." what the blazes was wine in Calgarian? He couldn't speak it at all, and really only spoke Rosferian fluently, due to the Grand Master of the Knights being a Rosferian.

"Do you speak... Rosferian?" he asked, in slow Common, to which the waiter shook his head. "For the wine. Wine." he emphasized, trying to point out the bottle. The waiter nodded in understanding, and took the shilling. "Hey! I want change. Change!" He added, shaking the shilling as the waiter grasped it. "Change."

"Si signore. Moneta. Resto." Resto? That seriously meant change? Ugh... this language was so confusing! The waiter vanished, yanking the shilling away, but returned presently with a few coins, all Calgarian. They were... denari, or something like that. There was no way the Calgarian would have had pence. Denari would be the equivalent. Hefting them in his paw, the ermine nodded, thanked the waiter, and turned around, looking for his brother, and hoping he hadn't wandered out of the piazza.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ladorak blinked as she knocked his spectacles from his face, pawing at him before finally stroking him. He could see her well enough, as she was right up against him, though she was a little blurry. "Molly?" he asked softly, watching as she seemed to suffer some sort of fainting spell, her words completely incoherent... and was that... blood... coming from her ears? There might be internal damage!

"My god!" he whispered, shaking his head frantically. "No... no... no... no!" his exclamations gradually got louder and louder, until he had nearly shouted that last bit. Fumbling for his spectacles, he rapidly placed them back upon his snout and stood up, hauling her up to standing, though she was completely limp.

"I need a doctor..." he said, starting to sob a little as he frantically looked about him. "Dottore!" he cried, using the Calgarian word for doctor. "Dottore!" He looked around, trying to find a cab of some kind. There were a few over by the Baptistry, resting under the shadow of the marble building. He looked behind him, wondering where Caden and Carrow were. "CADEN!" he shouted, his voice roaring out back toward the cathedral's entrance, but coming out very cracked and shrill. "CADEN!"

Inside the cathedral, Caden at first didn't hear the shouts, but finally, it registered in his brain, clawing its way through the distracted fog he found himself in. "That's Ladorak!" the marten exclaimed. "Keep looking! I'll be right back!" he said, and raced immediately for the door. He had to skirt around a few onlookers, sliding on the polished marble floor as he skidded up to the opening. Squinting, he saw Molly in the stoat's arms, looking dead for all he knew. "What happened!?" he asked, breathlessly.

"I don't know. She needs medical attention. Do you know the way back to the Pitti Palace?"

"Yes... yes of course!" the albino said with a nod. "I should go with you though!"

"No... stay there! Don't leave Carrow. If anything, get back to the cafe and find Ocean. Tell him what's happened. Head back to the Palace when you're done. I'll see you there, alright?" he asked, pointing right at him.

"A... alright." the marten said, feeling a knot forming in his throat. "Alright. I'll see you... back at the palace." he nodded, turning to see if Carrow had managed to locate Tally or not.

Ladorak began moving his fiancee across the street to the Baptistry. "I need help!" he called, and one of the lounging cab drivers immediately perked up, and raced over. "Dottore. Ho bisogno di un dottore. Per favore!" nodding, the cab driver helped heft the prone jill into the cab, and Ladorak scrambled aboard, wiping tears from his eyes as the carriage clattered off.

The doctor's office, as it turned out, was not terribly far, as there was one that serviced the Piazza area, and in fact was a small hospital dating to medieval times in the city. Of course, hospitals today were different than the medieval period, as those were more hospices, but in the 18th Century they offered medical care.

It was some time later that Ladorak found himself sitting in a chair in a hallway of the stone building, wringing his paws and waiting for news from the doctor. Most would speak Common, but he was concerned for his fiancee's condition. Blood from the ears wasn't a good sign... and there were so many things untreatable in this day and age. Was it a concussion? Something worse?

He squeezed his paws tightly together, lips pursed, deep frown upon his face as he waited, shifting uncomfortably in the chair. Please let her be alright... he never prayed to any sort of god, but he was praying fervently now, pouring his heart out to some invisible being and asking it to not take her from this plane. His face remained stoic, but pain was clearly written deep within his eyes. Had too much time elapsed? Had he done enough? What more could he do?

[Carrow]

"I agree, it was probably the Uiffizi Gallery for me as well," Carrow responded, nodding gently. "The museums we did have in Muggidrear, Archie and I couldn't even afford the price of admission, most of the time, and then when we did have enough to visit, there always seemed to be something else that came up. We couldn't afford anything other than the absolute basics, back then... which is why I'm glad she's doing a little better now because she's started up her parlour again," he admitted, smiling a little.

His eyes sparkled slightly when Caden mentioned seeing a place like the Uffizi for the first time. It must have left quite an impression on him, from the way he was talking about it, but then the marten changed the subject slightly, and the rodent found himself listening intently as the pine marten mentioned there being an even bigger cathedral in Milan. "Hmm, I hadn't heard about this before, but it certainly seems like it might be worth a visit sometime, if we can manage it.

"My knowledge of Calgarian geography is minimal at best, I must admit, but if I recall right, Milan is a good distance to the north of where we are now. A few days by carriage... sounds about right, yes. I'll have to mention this to Ladorak at some point," he told his companion, about to say more but instead falling silent as the albino flagged Molly and called to Ladorak. The stoat jill burst through the doors; from what the field mouse could make out she didn't seem to be in a good way at all.

This was worrying him slightly, and his worries were compounded by the fact that he and Caden had still not managed to discern Tally's whereabouts. He bit his lip as well, ears twitching anxiously as he listened to his friend. "Yes... she must still be in here somewhere... but where?," he wondered, clearly nervous about things now. He nodded readily as Caden made his suggestions. "OK, that's fine. Let's hope we DO find her then, because it's clear you want to be there for Ladorak," he said warmly, tail flicking about behind him as he scanned everywhere around him.

It took a few more moments for the field mouse to find the creature he was looking for. These moments were nerve-wracking, with the rodent rendered unable to speak, whimpering softly to himself every now and then as it dawned on him that, in relative terms, Tally was the proverbial needle in a haystack. He wasn't going to give up, though, and would have preffered to wear himself out looking for her than abandon his search.

All of a sudden, he heard Caden's name being called from outside. That sounded like... Ladorak? Caden sounded anxious too, so Carrow nodded and returned to his searching.It was more by luck than judgement he did eventually find her, curled up on the pew and snoozing, tail dangling over the edge of the seat. He padded gently over to her as he waited on Caden's return.

The marten soon returned, and as Carrow beckoned him over, he noted the look on his face. He looked like he'd been spooked by something. "Found her!," he whispered. "She's just up ahead. You don't look too good though, mate... is there anything wrong? What's happened to Molly?," he asked, finding himself trembling a little. "Has Ladorak told you anything else? Will you hang on here, or do you have somewhere to go? I'm going to make sure to take Tally with me, in any case. I'm not going to let her out of my sight for anything!," he promised, shaking the marten's paw warmly. "Thanks for helping me look for her. I need to check in with her now, so you can stay if you want, but if you have somewhere to be, tell me where we can meet up with you," he asked, wondering what was going on with Molly and feeling slightly shaken by it all. He was struggling to keep up.

He sat down beside beside the slumbering Tally, gently stroking her ears to try and get her attention. He wasn't sure how deep a sleeper she could be - deeper than he was used to, no doubt, but that wasn't saying much; even though Carrow was now finally able to get some rest when he needed it, he wasn't exactly the kind of mouse who could sleep through a thunderstorm. "Tally?," he softly called to her, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes before he brushed them away. It had been too long since he'd seen her last, and he regretted that. "It's me, Carrow."

--

"He certainly is a devoted creature, you're correct on that point," Selvis responded, eyes gleaming now. To the longtail, Caden really seemed like the kind of marten who would do anything for his friends. Selvis would try to reciprocate, of course - there was nothing that frustrated him more than feeling he wasn't able to help those he was close to. It was this that had contributed to the fragile emotional state he had been in for most of the year, though of course, it hadn't been the main cause.

"Hmmm," he murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "Now I think about it, I've probably become closer to my pine marten friend in recent months. He's been there for me a lot, you see, and he's very reliable, as I said. I have... a very deep affection for all three of my companions though, so this isn't about 'picking favourites', Scharnhorst," he told the zorilla with a shake of his head, "but if I had to be honest, I've been closer to the pine marten as of late.

"Since you've asked, though, I've felt closest to each of them at various times over the last year and a half. All three of them are good at listening and offering advice, I've found - despite what they may say themselves. They're all quite modest creatures, but they certainly can't deny that they've helped me quite a bit since I met them - and I've done my best for them, in turn," he told his fellow mustelid. "And yes, of course, I do want to fight for them. They mean so much to me that I struggle to put it into words sometimes," he admitted as the pair continued their journey through the gallery.

"As for our Captain, well, I haven't met any other creature like him. He's gentle and kind, and always makes sure there's enough of him to go around for all of his crew. I'm sure there are some Captains out there who demand loyalty through being tough with those under their command, but our Captain much prefers to earn it, and I'm rather glad I'm serving under him. He's helped me out as well.

"At the same time, he knows when to lay down the law. Rule-breakers are always swiftly punished, and there's one particular member of our crew who's a bit of a firebrand - you could almost say he goes around looking for trouble, at least it seems that way to me," he revealed with a small chuckle. "He's a ferret, and he's around here somewhere - I didn't see too much of him when I was in here earlier, and knowing him it's almost certain that he's left now.

"He's had more than a few run-ins with the Captain, and I daresay that he's learned some well-deserved lessons," he commented, smiling thinly. "Our Captain runs a tight ship, I think - overall, I think he's a rather inspiring creature. He can be strict when imposing punishments at times, as I've seen, but then at the same time it's better to be strict with those things every now and then... especially if those involved deserve it," he said, his voice softening once again.

[spender]

Spender stood in the same place Ocean had left him. Apart from a slight listing to the left, he hadn't moved at all. The slump had come back to his body; his arms and neck sagged, and he stared unblinking at the street. If he had curly fur, it would have fallen straight. If he had any pink besides his nose, it would have turned to grey. He had utterly deflated.

A breeze blew through the piazza, pulling the picture of Polly out of his paw. The paper drifted a few feet, then settled down to scrape along the ground whenever a gust deigned to whiff at it.

---

The doctor, a gaunt and hassled least weasel, gently eased into the hallway and tucked his paws into his coat pockets.

"Signore? Er, Jal... Fugate," he said, doing his best to recall the information he'd been provided with. Welkinites. Why couldn't they get injured in their own country?

"The jill is... bad condition. Skull fracture, here..." The doctor pulled his paw out to point above his own eye, just forward of the ear. "Much damage, inside. We are thinking, inner ear. You say, she speaking silly, throwing up, and get up and fall before this? Signs say, vertigo. We are thinking, also concussion. She is sleeping, too early to know if hearing is damaged. We are thinking, not good to wake her yet. We clean up blood, stitches for scar, and there will be much bruising. You wish to see her?"

---

Tally yawned. She didn't bother opening her eyes; the voice was enough.

One leg was draped over the seat; Tally pushed against the floor, propelling herself forward so that her head was in Carrow's lap, and then tucked the leg back. Her tail re-curled.

From beneath the folds of her ruffled dress, her forepaws produced a pewter bottle, which Molly had provided her, so that she could drink without spilling, as she was so prone to. There was warm milk inside, which to Tally was a unique treat—half because getting fresh drinking milk at sea was very difficult (if any ship had cows, most of that milk went to other purposes) and half because she simply had never had anything quite so delicious in all her life. The only thing she liked more was apple or cucumber juice.

Fumbling a little, the drowsy mousemaid brought the bottle to her mouth and jammed it between her lips with a little pop. She sucked at it for a few seconds while her paw wormed its way to find Carrow's. Paw located, she gave it a little squeeze before dozing off again.

This lasted only a few seconds before old instincts kicked in and she sat bolt upright, eyes wide. Her bottle dangled from her teeth for a moment before dropping into her lap. She blinked and yawned again, covering her mouth with a paw.

"Gut mornink? Carrow? Carrow! Ce-ri-nus. Iss time for, for haffink breakfast?"

[Ladorak]

Ladorak stood as the doctor approached. He continued to nervously wring his paws as he listened about the fracture. A fracture... that could lead to brain damage. Though no one quite knew how the brain worked, they knew that a blow there or a serious penetration to that area could do quite a bit of damage, if not outright kill you.

"Yes... yes please." he said, nodding a bit frantically. Hearing damage!? How ironic would that be? His own right eye sightless, and one of her ears deaf? Would it really be so? Of course... if that was it... he supposed he could live with that. But why had she run? What was she running from? She had injured herself quite severely in doing so.

Walking down the hall and into the doorway that led to her room, the stoat gazed upon her bed now. Best not to wake her... right. His paws still strangled each other as he took a seat by her bedside, and looked down at her, bandages swaddling her head. Taking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes. "How could this have happened?" he murmured. "She wasn't even in combat... why did this occur?" she wanted to stay on shore, and yet, it was on shore where she had ended up getting injured. It was supposedly safer here... but was it really?

Opening his eyes to look her over now, the stoat drew his lips tightly together, and tried to assuage the growing nausea in his stomach. "How could this have happened?" he asked quietly again, knowing she couldn't hear him. He would stay by her until she awakened... no matter how long it took.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caden slowly walked over to Carrow, glad they had found Tally, but scared out of his mind by what he had seen in the street. It wasn't like he hadn't seen violence before... he'd seen plenty of it, but seeing it accidentally occur like this... it had left him shaken, for whatever reason. He flashed back to that time in Muggidrear, when that carriage had broken loose and nearly killed him and Carrow.

"Uh... Carrow... I think... I think Molly might be dead." he said, his voice deathly low. "See... I saw her in the street with a lot of blood... Ladorak with his arms around her... he wasn't even sure if she was alive or not. I... I'm really worried about that." he said, stopping suddenly when Tally came awake. These words weren't for her ears.

He sank into the pew next to Carrow, a distant look in his pink eyes as he regarded Tally and Carrow with a smile, albeit a small one as his mind kept traveling back to what he'd seen in the street. What had happened? How bad was it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ocean could gratefully see that Spender was still there, dejected and defeated. Raising his brows, the ermine trotted back over to his brother, digging into his pockets to bring out the denari. "I couldn't get you any pence. So you may as well spend this denari while here." he explained, pawing it over to Spender, though noticing he wasn't looking particularly... chipper.

"Uhhh... you... alright there, mate?" he asked, something striking his ankle as he looked down to see the paper Spender had been carrying blown up against his leg. "Huh..." reaching down, the red clad ermine picked it up, and unfolded it. "You miss her?" he asked, raising his eyes to the ferret and frowning, but in a serious manner. "Well... after the refit, we'll be back around Personza... that's our main base now, after all. So you'll probably see a bit more of her in the coming months. Just have to wait for the refit on the ship to be completed." He explained. "Though...." he paused to think here a moment, wondering if he could really go through with this.

Sighing, he looked around him. "If you wanted to visit... I could get you to a stage depot. But look... if we're required to sail at a moment's notice, you'd have to be present for that. I wouldn't recommend long voyages like this. And on top of that, I don't know if you'd even be able to find a ship in Livorno that would go there. Of course... Sardinia is another option, as that is a Calgarian province, though it's owned by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, and they're way to the north of here, near Genoa. I don't know... do you write..." He hesitated again, as he remembered his brother probably couldn't write. "Um... can you write letters to her? Wouldn't that help? If you can't write them, I could write them for you, and read them when they came in." he suggested.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Vell he should be harsh vhen ze need calls for it." Scharnhorst quickly stepped in. "After all, a Captain zat's too soft gains no respect. He needs to put his paw down vhen ze need arises." he outlined. "Zat's how I see it at least. Too harsh and you are labelled as a tyrant... too soft and you're viewed as veak and to be taken advantage of. Zere is a fine line I think. It sounds as if your Captain realizes zis. He vins respect by being generous and kind, but still knows vhen to put ze stomp on, as ve sometimes say." he stated, smiling now.

"I can understand zo. Your Captain does sound fair overall. Zat's a good thing. I vould like to meet him at some point, perhaps. So ze pine marten might be your favorite. Ze... albino?" he asked again, making sure he had heard correctly.

"Heh... I see... very good, very good. Your uh... nation zo. Ferlusan. You already told me your reasons make you comfortable for joining Velkin... but have you heard ze latest? Rosferia recaptured its border forts in September, so zey may be entering your country soon from ze north... and already have in fact in ze vestern Pyrenees. I tend to keep abreast of ze military goings on in each country you see... and Ferlusan vould soon be subject to invasion it seems. I don't mean to alarm you of course... your army is still zere, as are your border forts, but how do you feel about zat particular development?" the zorilla asked, looking over at the weasel with sympathy.

"It vill be interesting to see how Dugommier does on his upcoming campaign, as he is undefeated so far in zis var. A real military prodigy, as zey say." the striped polecat commented, referring of course to the Rosferian commander who had driven the Ferlusanian invasion out of southern Rosferia and back into Ferlusan earlier this year. He was now poised to enter Ferlusan, what with the fortress of Bellegarde having finally surrendered after a lengthy siege and passing back into Rosferian paws. Of course, what neither of them could have known just yet (as news took awhile to circulate throughout the continent) was that Dugommier and the Ferlusanian commander, Luis Firmin de Carvajal, were both dead, killed in one of the largest battles on Ferlusanian soil this half of the 18th Century. it had ended in a very damaging Ferlusanian defeat, but that of course would become more common knowledge in a week or so here.