Let's Get Down to Business (To Defeat...The Moles!)

[Zevka]

A restless Zevka paced up and down the camp, casting an occasional glance at where Nessa was busying herself with trying not to be noticed by anybeast. The marteness had hoped that the air had cleared while she was talking to Poko, but they had come back a good while later, and the argument from earlier still hung over the camp like a muggy haze. She stalked over to Nyika, gravitating to her distinct appearance of boredom.

"I need to get some air, Nyika. Want to come with me? We could see if there's anything else to eat out there, while we're at it."

"I could go for a walk right now, too," Nyika replied as she stretched out, claws peeking out.

"Good. Let me go get Poko."

"Does she really have to go with us?" Nyika asked, her tone leaving little doubt as to the desired response.

Zevka did not oblige her. "Yes."

They found Poko sitting by the fire, tossing ice chips into the flames.

"Hey, Poko. We're going to go look around for a bit. Do you want to come with us?"

"My toe is still..." Poko shot a glance at Istvan, who stared right back at her. "Actually, that sounds like a plan."

The three females made their way into the woods right outside the camp. A light snow had started to fall, and the light refracted beautifully off of the snow that had already accumulated. The effect would have been picturesque, had they been there by choice.

"So, either of you know a decent hangover cure?" Zevka asked, breaking the contemplative silence. "I usually could go for some eggs at a time like this, but somehow, I think that would just make the situation with Noonahootin even worse...actually, scratch that. I'd take a whole woodpigeon. Marinated, nicely seasoned with some sage and rosemary, out of the pan just barely long enough to not burn your mouth..." The marten's voice took on a distinctly wistful tone.

"I prefer fish; they don't talk back when you eat them. Even wood pigeons can get a little affronted," Nyika replied.

"I think I'd settle for some clothes that are dry and don't make me look like a hedgehog," Poko grumbled. She brightened. "But after that, some hot cider, and some hot stuffed pierogi."

"Ooh...I'd have some river shrimp, with vinegar and hotroot. And some of those damson and raspberry turnovers they sell up the street from the circus." Nyika chimed in.

"I love damson! I'll get one of those after my woodpigeon...or maybe I'll get the woodpigeon in a turnover, too." Zevka frowned down at her tunic, which was beginning to look a bit under the weather. "Something clean would be nice. And I might go see that red squirrel -- Terrence, I think? -- and see if he can't make me look civilized again."

"I'm just waiting for the summer. Long naps in the sun are wonderful," Nyika sighed.

"You can keep your nap! I want to go do things when we get out of here!" Poko chimed in. "I'll climb up the tallest building I can find, I'll go swim in that little stream near Yew -- and it wont be cold! I'll grab some pretty things in town, and then go run in the fields!

"Yes. When I find Mekad, we're going to just have this whole day of street theatre and side alley magicians and watching those live fights they sometimes have in town."

"Don't forget the warm nutbread with redcurrant jelly!" Poko added.

Zevka and Nyika both groaned in unison. "I think we're actually just torturing ourselves at this point," Zevka laughed.

"Speak for yourself," Poko said dreamily.

They walked in silence for a bit. Nyika, seemingly lost in her own thoughts, began to wander further and further ahead of the two mustelids. Zevka let her go. She paused, and Poko followed suit.

"Hey Poko?" The marteness unhooked the sheathed dagger from her belt, and handed it to Poko. "I think it might be a good time to give you this."

Poko's eyes went wide as she slowly reached out to accept the dagger, handling it like it was something precious.

"Try to conceal that, if you can. Istvan is much, much stronger than you -- if you just lunge at him, he can stop you easily. But if he picks you up, and you can get an arm free, you can go for the face, the neck, his paws and wrists, and so on. You might be able to do enough damage to escape. Same goes for the moles. Don't go charging at them. Wait until they get close."

Poko's eyes grew wide at the suggestions. She swallowed and looked down at the weapon

Turning back to Poko, the marteness looked her straight in the eye. "Are you sure you're ready for this, Poko? Don't be afraid to say 'no;' if you aren't, you could wind up hurting yourself."

"I..." The ferret's brow creased as she looked longingly at the coveted blade. She stroked it, then hugged the scabbard to her chest. "I'm ready."

"Zevka! Poko! Get over here, I found something!" Nyika's voice rang out from some ways ahead. The cat sounded startled, but not truly frightened.

"What is it, Nyika?" Zevka replied.

"Dead beasts!"

Poko rolled her eyes, but Zevka frowned and walked forward a few steps, paw on the hilt of her sabre. The marteness craned her neck forward, trying to see what lay ahead.

Sometimes, I wonder if those 'spectacle' things would be a good idea...

"The kind I can see, Nyika?"

"Just come over here!" the wildcat responded.

Zevka and Poko walked towards Nyika's voice, its owner standing in a small clearing in the forest. The sight that confronted them was a fox's half-frozen paw sticking up from the snow. Zevka grimaced, and walked into the clearing. Just visible over the top of the snow were the bodies of several other beasts. Zevka walked over to one of them, a squirrel. It was impossible to tell for sure how long he had been dead. Eyeless sockets and a tongueless mouth grimaced at her from a skull whose partially fur-less skin had taken on a leathery look. Apparently, the ravens had found fresher victuals, and nature had taken its own sweet time with the normal process of decomposition.

"These aren't...they couldn't be Dewhurst players..." Poko muttered.

Zevka brushed away some of the snow covering the squirrel's chest. The body had been mostly stripped, leaving the squirrel's chest wound exposed to the snow. She looked around at the mixed group. Woodlander or vermin, male or female, rich or poor, good or bad...they had all wound up more or less the same.

"No, I think they must have been from --" Zevka's throat tightened horribly as her eyes went wide upon seeing the carcass of what had once been a wildcat with black-spotted grey fur. The marteness bounded over to the corpse, almost barrelling over Poko in the process. Immediately, all sense of hygiene or propriety tossed aside, she began digging furiously, then seized the corpse under its arms and dragged it into a more upright position, trying to get a better look at it. Little scraps of cold-embalmed skin and fur rubbed off on the marteness, but she didn't care.

"Zevka, what are you--" Nyika started to say.

"QUIET!" Zevka snapped without a break in her efforts. This corpse still had some clothing on it, which Zevka immediately sniffed at, then pulled away from the corpse. She continued to examine the body for a few moments. Poko and Nyika exchanged a glance, wondering if their friend had taken leave of her sanity. Finally, the marteness sat back, eyes closed, tears welling up behind her eyes.

"Zevka..." Poko started to walk towards the marteness, concern audible in her voice.

"I'm alright! It's not him! It's not Mekad!" The marteness suddenly started laughing. "I...I just lost my head there for a moment! What was I thinking -- of course it isn't him! Why am I here? I'm here because Mekad sent me a letter, a letter that only he could have written! I just...I just...I saw the wildcat, the color of his fur, and for a moment...I just forgot. I actually thought it was him for a moment. But it's not him. Too tall. Too paunchy. Wrong scent. Wrong tattoos."

The marteness suddenly realized the disgusting nature of what she had just done, and what was on her clothes and fur. She grimaced, closing her eyes as she tried to keep her composure. "I don't suppose there is some way I can get this stuff off of myself really, really quickly while still looking tough?"

"Uggghh." Poko made a sickened face, brushing unconsciously at her arm as she stared at a bit of gray fur dangling off Zevka's elbow, stuck there by some sort of sticky black rot.

Zevka regained her composure as she finished cleaning her paws and tunic off with snow. "Well, it looks like the moles may not have totally finished looting this group, whoever they were."

"They were another expedition, but not like ours. This one seems to have been expecting a fight," Nyika said.

Zevka caught herself glancing around uneasily, almost in spite of herself. "Are any of them...still around?"

Nyika shook her head. "Nope. They've all moved on by now. But look at them. A mix of vermin and woodlanders, but unlike ours, there are no kits, no oldbeasts, nobeast who looks crippled. Their clothing looks like it was meant for winter, but none of it is very fancy. It all fits together."

Zevka considered this for a moment. "That makes sense. And I do remember hearing about another party that didn't ever make it home, during last winter. But why would they just march off into the mountains ready for a fight? The point of going into the mountains isn't to chase moles, the point is to travel to Carrigul. What happened to them?"

The marteness frowned. "I know it's distasteful, but we have to search the bodies for anything useful."

Poko made a face. "Do we have to?"

Nyika had already started to move towards one of the squirrels. "They are well past having any more desire for their belongings. These beasts are all on the other side now."

Poko still looked troubled. "Can we at least cover them?"

Zevka looked at the young ferret. "Yes, we can do that."

The search of the bodies was not as productive as Zevka had hoped, but it did yield one relatively nice cloak that had had only limited contact with decomposing flesh. They also found a long length of rough rope, some bandages and a few bottles and flasks, although none were labeled. The only weapon was a halberd that presented the same problem to Zevka, Nyika and Poko that had probably saved it from the moles -- it was just too big for them to move.

"We need to head back. I have some talking I have to do with Noonahootin -- I have to tell him what we found here, and see if he knows anything. He may be a stodgy old prat, but we all need each other right now, and he is a captain in the Yew Guard. Need to talk to Nessa, too." She looked at Nyika and Poko. "We're going to give teaching you how to fight one more attempt."


--

When the trio finally reached the camp again, Zevka immediately sought out the owl, while Poko and Nyika went to go sit down. The distance between the two of them suddenly seemed like it was taking her a long time to traverse. As her path took her past Goragula, she knelt down next to the toad, making sure that her back was superimposed between Noonahootin and Greenfleck.

"Greenfleck, I found this cloak out there. I thought it might be useful to you," she said aloud. Her voice became much quieter. "Otter's getting worse. He tried to cut Poko, he may try again. We need to think of something, and fast."

Goragula's cold gaze made the marteness glad that they were discussing somebeast else. "I don't need to do much more thinking."

"We'll talk later," Zevka muttered, as she got up and started on the walk towards Noonahootin.

Noonahootin's back was to the marteness as she approached. His head swivelled around to face her.

"Miss Blackbriar." The owl's voice was rather chilly, but had none of the anger behind it that had been so abundant before. If anything, the owl seemed to hesitate just a bit.

"Captain."

The two stood there awkwardly for a moment. Finally, Zevka broke the silence.

"So. We had a pretty nasty argument."

"Indeed."

"And that's not good at all," Zevka continued, as a more meaningful statement struggled valiantly to climb its way up her throat, its muscles bulging with strain as it fought a losing battle to keep climbing.

"Most certainly not," Noonahootin replied.

"No, definitely isn't."

"By no means."

The marteness and the owl stood there for a few minutes before Zevka could finally force the words out of her muzzle.

"I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. We have more than enough problems as it is without me throwing rocks at you."

"Indeed...which is all the more reason why I should not have lost my temper like that. A captain in the Yew Guard does not throw tantrums."

Zevka blinked in surprise. "I...did say some rather awful things."

"Yes. But that does not make my response to the situation logical or right. Ordering Guardsbeast Fern to shun you when we're all trying to survive...was not the best course of action." The rest of the owl's body turned to face Zevka. "And perhaps your heart was in the right place. You come from a good family, Miss Blackbriar, and you've had an education. Descendant of Ashleg, if I recall."

Zevka raised an eyebrow. "I think you may actually be the first beast I've met to figure that out without being told. His second daughter was one of my father's ancestors. Ashleg has way too many descendants running around -- Mum was the most eligible jill in miles when she was my age because of the fact that she didn't have a flipping thing to do with him." She shook her head. "Where did you find that out, anyways?"

"Unintended Nobility: A History of Ashleg and his Progeny, by Sazlit Ashtown."

Zevka leaned forward. "I...really must get the name of your bookseller if we ever get back to Yew. I didn't know there were copies floating around this far South. That was one thing I miss about Stevat Academy -- such a library there. Even had a Commentaries on Senviat Tavvus and His Campaigns. One of my favorites."

Noonahootin nodded. "Whatever else you may be, Miss Blackbriar, yooHoo are certainly not rabble."

Zevka suddenly laughed a bit. "You know something, Noonahootin? I think I know why we don't like each other: in some ways, we're just too damn similar to get along." She became more serious. "Well, I think we're in agreement, then."

"Indeed."

"So...I've been thinking. We can't just sit here and wait for the moles to come and get us. We need to have a plan," Zevka said.

"Quite right. The primary problem is that our conditions do not lend themselves to an offensive. Three able-bodied guardbeasts, yourself and Greenfleck, accompanied by two beasts who cannot fight and one with little experience, and with few weapons between us. We don't even have a bow, while the moles surely have some kind of projectile. We need at all costs to avoid becoming too exposed to their fire."

"Yes, we do, and as if that wasn't enough, we have to be careful what we stand or sleep on, because they could tunnel right under us." Zevka frowned. "I wonder...do you think we can get enough good quality branches to make some spears or javelins? Give us something to throw at them?"

"Any wood we use for that is wood we can't burn."

"I know, but we have enough of it, we really need more weapons, and I can't think of what else to use."

"The Mother has given us plenty of rocks, and many beasts have wielded a sling." Istvan had seen Zevka and Noonahootin's conversation, and decided to join in.

Zevka pressed her teeth shut behind her lips, absolutely determined not to say to Istvan any of the things that were springing into her mind.

Damn you, Greenfleck, but you have a point...no use in pushing him. Especially now.

"That's...not a bad idea, Istvan."

"No, it certainly is not." Noonahootin looked pensive. "They will want to prepare to attack by sending scouts. If we could capture one..."

"Greenfleck could take care of the rest," Zevka said.

Istvan frowned, but Noonahootin did not seem perturbed.

"I suppose he could."

Zevka's stomach growled. The marteness snapped her claws. "That's another thing. Moles are herbivores. It is much too cold up here for them to grow much during most of the year. So where are their supplies? Do they have a storehouse or something? They can't just survive on caravans. There simply are not enough of them, and they don't keep any kind of regular schedule." The marteness paused.

"By the way, we found the remains of another expedition. Moles got them, then crows. But that just proves my point -- this sort of thing is just too rare for it to keep them alive all year."

"They have stores somewhere. If we could destroy them somehow, raid them, that'd be handy. Is it possible, do you think, to...coerce one of their own into poisoning their own supplies?" Noonahootin asked. Istvan looked slightly surprised. Zevka grinned.

"I like the way you think. Too bad we don't have much poison. Well, any poison, really, except for..." Zevka jerked her paw at Greenfleck.

Istvan looked increasingly uncomfortable, and Noonahootin noticed.

?Easy on, Corporal. They have no qualms with killing us. I'm sure your All-Mother would forgive her most dedicated priest if he sent a few heretics her way." Noonahootin said.

Zevka couldn't resist a smile at this statement.

Istvan still looked unsettled. "I...was not entirely prepared to give multiple beasts a bloodless death. If their blood remains trapped in their bodies..."

"Well...I suppose you could always do penance for them, right?" Zevka said, not feeling much sorrow at the idea of Istvan bleeding himself a bit more. "You are the All Mother's favorite, most loyal follower. Surely she would accept a sacrifice from you."

Istvan was not amused. Zevka decided not to push the issue.

"I also think that we should make a real effort at making sure Poko and Nyika learn how to defend themselves. We can't always be protecting them every minute of the day. They need to be able to survive if the moles get the drop on us."

"Agreed. Perhaps you could do that later today."

The marten nodded. "I'd love to..." Zevka hesitated for a few moments. "But it would be very useful if I had another beast to help me out..." I can't NOT push my luck with an opening like this.

Noonahootin harrumphed. Zevka got the impression he knew where she was going. "Why don't you get started. I will...decide who should help you. As I recall, Guardsbeast Fern is a good fighter. I will send her over when she gets back from fishing."

Zevka nodded, trying very hard not to grin widely. "I think I will do just that..."

As she walked away from Noonahootin, it occurred to Zevka that she had not asked Noonahootin as much about the remains as she had meant to.

Hmm. I'll have to ask him about that at some point...after the fighting lesson!

Letting her smile grow wider, Zevka began planning out a lesson in her head.

--

"So, let's see if we can't keep this one both productive and semi-civilized!" Zevka was stretching as she spoke to Nyika and Poko. The ferret sprite looked both excited and a bit apprehensive as she glanced at Nyika, who merely gave her a slightly nervous glance and flexed her paws. Her claws did not come out. They did not have to.

"Like I said before, this is no substitute for years of experience. If you can get away, then do so. But by the time we finish this, I want you to be able to at least give one of those moles a few nasty injuries. You do have somewhat of an advantage -- you're bigger and faster above ground, and you have fangs. You, Nyika, have claws, and Poko has my dagger. Now, what we're going to do..." Zevka's ears perked up as she heard footsteps.

"The Cap'n tol' me tae come and help yae out with this, Zevka," Nessa said as she strode over to the marteness. "Somethin' about teachin' Nyika and Poko how to fight?"

"Exactly!' Zevka said happily.

"Ah...dinnae think that he was goin' to let me, Zevka. Glad Ah was wrong."

"Me too."

Both jills were grinning like loons.

Zevka pulled her scabbard off of her belt, and removed the sword, leaning it against a rock. She whirled the empty scabbard around a few times. "Since Poko has a dagger, I'm going to start with some really basic bladework. Nyika, we'll get you a blade as soon as we can. I'm sorry. Tonight, we're also going to take some branches and see if we can't make some spears or javelins with fire-hardened points. Under normal circumstances, you would never want to be caught without a real weapon."

"Ha!"

Zevka turned around and looked at Nessa. "Something funny about that?"

Nessa gave a cocky grin. "What the deuce are ye talkin' about, Zevka? Ye don' need a weapon -- Ah never do."

Zevka blinked. "Wait -- you fight unarmed by choice?"

Nessa flexed a bit. "Ah've had a lot of practice, and a great teacher."

"Yes, but what if the beast you're up against has a bow? Or throwing knives? Or a spear or a sword?"

"That's whah ye need to be quick!"

Zevka still looked dubious. This seemed to just make Nessa more eager. "Ah'll show ye, Zevka!"

Zevka whirled her "sword" a few times, then took up a fencing position. "You're on, Nessa."

Nessa quickly dashed in towards Zevka, ducking under the pine marten's swing of her scabbard, but failing to tackle the marteness, who sidestepped the otter and then lunged forward. Nessa was too quick, however, and grabbed ahold of Zevka's wrist, pulling the pine marteness in. Zevka let out a loud exhalation as Nessa whirled her onto the floor and then dropped down to pin her.

The otter looked up at Nyika and Poko. "See! Don't ever underestimate the -- hey!"

Zevka had taken advantage of the otter's distraction to slip out of her hold and reverse their positions, shoving Nessa down into the snow. The two jills grappled for a bit, until Zevka managed to put Nessa into a loose headlock.

"Hey, I grew up wrestling a wildcaaaa---!" Zevka's eyes widened as Nessa was able to flip her over and pin her again.

Wouldn't Risk just lovethis... Zevka thought, as, after a few moments of struggling, she decided to tap out. Zevka suddenly felt a small surge of sadness well up in her at the ferret's absence. She would have never imagined that she would actually miss the kind of crass humor in which Risk had specialized.

The moment passed as Nessa helped the marteness stand up, a smirk hovering on her muzzle. "Ah told ye so..."

"So, let's try this again!" Zevka said, trying to look stern.

"Careful what ye ask fer, Zevka!"

Zevka swung her scabbard "sword" at Nessa, who dodged the initial swing, but didn't quite manage to escape the secondary flick of Zevka's wrist that sent the tip of the scabbard scoring across Nessa's hip. The otter stepped inside Zevka's next jab. Zevka managed to avoid the two punches that Nessa sent at her face, although she might not have been able to do that if Nessa's paws had been moving at full speed. The marteness leapt back and managed to score a very solid hit across Nessa's left forearm, but before she could try to repeat the move, Nessa had stepped in, grabbed Zevka's shoulder with her right paw and swept Zevka off her balance. The marteness crashed down into the snow, and this time Nessa was faster about pinning her.

"Ah win again."

Zevka sat up. "Yes, but this is why I was telling both of you to run if you can. Nessa did beat me, but I got in what would have been some nasty slashes. Nessa would have been left bleeding heavily, and either injury could easily go septic in these mountains, with no real healers in our group.

Nessa frowned. "Aye, that's trae..."

The two jills got up again. This time, Zevka backed up further. As Nessa moved in, Zevka pulled her arm back and threw her scabbard. Caught completely off guard, Nessa yelped as the tip of the scabbard hit her hard in the ribs.

"Oy! What's the big idea, Zevka?"

Zevka gestured at Nessa. "Sometimes, throwing your blade is the best policy. Especially one like the one I gave you, Poko. It flies pretty well. And it's a good trick to know."

Nessa smirked. "Not if'n it's me..."

"Oh, SCAT!" Zevka's eyes widened as the otter charged her.

Several exchanges later, Poko finally spoke up for both herself and Nyika. The two younger beasts were still seated where they had first sat down to watch the two older females.

"Umm...that looks like a lot of fun, but can we really use all of this stuff?"

Zevka's ear twitched. "You know what, Nessa? She has a point. Maybe we should start with something more basic."

Nessa chuckled. "Heh. Reckon ye're right, Zevka. Gather round, everybeast, and watch close. This is how ye punch a beast so they feel it..."