The Judges' Picks!

[Opal]

Character's name: Chokk Wulgar

Category: Male Beaver

Application:

Sand crunched beneath the beaver?s footpaws as he made his way along the river. Chokk?s whiskers twitched as his eyes lifted from beneath bushy brows to scan his territory.

?Smooth and tranquil. Just as ye should be,? He sighed. 

If nothing else was dependable he could always count on his river. It was the only thing Chokk truly trusted.  There was nobeast he could count on, nobeast who would keep their promises. There had been a time when the beaver thought differently, but that seemed so long ago.

?Chokk! Oh Mr. Wulgar?? A hogwife in a cooking apron came running up the river bank.

The beaver began to walk away as though he had not heard the hogwife?s call.

?Chokk Wulgar! I know ye can ?ear me! Now stop right there!?
The beaver stopped walking away though he did not turn around. He waited until his assailant had caught up and then listened to her with his back turned.

?There?s trouble. Real trouble Mr. Wulgar,? She panted.

?Aye Mrs. Pennybank when has there not been trouble?? He muttered.

?Well, are ye not goin? to do sommat about it??

The beaver spun around, frustration building up behind his words. ?How many times do I have to tell you? There?s nothing?? He took a deep breath as he realized he was fairly shouting at the hogwife. The beaver continued in as civil a tone as he could muster. ?Mrs. Pennybank, there?s nothing I can do. Everything has changed since that fortress was built. You can?t trust beasts anymore. Everything has gone wrong!?

?Perhaps ye cannot trust others Chokk, but it is still possible to do so. One wrong doing towards ye doesn?t mean that??

Her words were cut short as the beaver retorted. ?I know what ye are going to say Mrs. Pennybank. Please save your words. Leave me alone. I only wish to be left alone.?

?Don?t you see that?s not possible?? The hogwife cocked her head and stared at Chokk. Her eyes softened as she spoke. ?I need your help Mr. Wulgar. We need your help. Everybeast listens to you. It is not that you cannot help. You will not. Please consider those that have been friends to you. Those who have fought beside you.?

The beaver took a deep breath and let it out slowly between his over-sized front teeth. His whiskers twitched as he eyed the hogwife. He nodded once and spoke decisively. ?Alright, tell me what the trouble is. I?m not promising my help, but tell me what has happened.?

?More have gone missing,? Mrs. Pennybank spoke in a hushed tone as if sharing a well kept secret.  ?It?s little Biddy and Gurda, Twilla bankvole?s daughters. They disappeared not an hour ago. They were out playing by the river and now...? The hogwife took a furtive glance over her shoulder. ?Now they?re gone!?

Chokk nodded. It had happened many times since the building of the fortress. Beasts were going missing from his territory. Usually it was young ones, but sometimes adults as well. The beaver?s expression hardened. It was the wolves. The wolves were responsible for this. They were responsible for great hurt in the beaver?s life and they continued to cause pain to others. Their fortress was like blight in the land. Mossflower needed to be rid of Kotir! But how could a beaver leading a band of river dwellers hope to withstand such evil?

?Tell Darsa to gather our warriors, we will hold Counsel in one hour,? The beaver?s eyes narrowed as he glared in the direction of Kotir. Something had to be done.

[Opal]

Character's Name: Tobias Forst

Category: Male Mink

Application:

?You rang??

Toby leaned on the stone doorway, waiting for either orders or criticisms on his lousy performance. He scanned the room where his father had set up office, the lord?s bedroom. The day?s dying sunlight streamed through the westward lancets. His father stood over the only piece of furniture in the room, a large table layered with blueprints. The young mink preferred working in the cellar. There weren?t any drafts, and there was no need to go out for a drink.

Darius looked up from the blueprints with a slight wince, as though it pained him to separate from his work. ?Yes, yes. I wanted to tell you that I am returning to Rolf?s castle.?

Toby turned his eyes to the ceiling. ?Thank the Fates! When are we leaving??

Darius smiled. Toby knew he had hoped for too much. ?You are mistaken. I am leaving. You are not.?

Toby?s one door home slammed shut before he even took a step toward it. ?What do you expect me to do here, then??

?Your job.? His father?s voice stiffened into a lecture. ?Why do you think I had you sketch half these plans? Why have I sent you to instruct the foremen??

Toby gave his practically rehearsed answer. ?Practice??

The architect walked around the room, paws behind his back, looking at the floor plans propped up under the lancet sills. ?Precisely. Practice. Now the time to practice is over, and the time to work has begun. You will finish this castle.?

Toby didn?t believe it. All those times his father told him that they would co-build this castle, he thought it was just because he would assist him, not because he would actually build half the thing.

?You think I?m actually capable of doing that?? he asked.

Darius stopped and examined his son as he would one of his blueprints. ?Under my instruction, you have been adequately prepared.? His falsely confident tone sounded as doubtful as Toby felt. The elder mink sensed another sarcastic response and added quickly, ?I?m warning you, Tobias, if you??

?For the thousandth time, Father, call me Toby. Everybeast does.?

?And for the thousandth time, I will call you nothing other than what your mother named you,? he replied. ?I am?

?What do you think she would have said to this?? Toby dared him to lie.

Darius did not respond for a few moments. ?I think that she would have agreed with my decision,? he said slowly.

He lied. Toby permitted his father to finish his speech, too stunned to interject.

Darius walked over to the table and extracted a blueprint from the pile. ?As I was saying, I am leaving tomorrow. I will tell Rolf that the castle should be nearly finished in time for his nephew?s nameday next spring. I have made sure that a few beasts around here will keep an eye on you. If you do not perform well, or miss the deadline, your chances of coming home will decrease significantly.?

He rolled up the blueprint and offered it to Toby. ?I am trying to give you a good future, Tobias. Now make sure they?re reinforcing the ceiling of the entrance hall.?

Toby snatched the plans out of his paws, looking straight into his deceptively soft eyes. ?Alright,? he muttered.

The new head architect fumed while he walked down the corridor. There was nothing but stone, slaves, and guards here. How was he going to survive the next few seasons?

[Opal]

Character's name: Luka "The Limper" Graves

Category: Male Fox

Application:

"Who are we, but pieces on a chessboard, eh?" Luka 'The Limper' Graves questioned. The adult fox's brown eyes locked on his audience: a crimson apple. Confused, he rubbed his chin skeptically, disagreeing with the apple's statement.

"Posh, I was once a sir knight?a royal guard?but see how quickly that was stripped from me? No sooner had I donned my armor, was I struck down?still think the whole thing was a setup, a conspiracy!" the disgruntled fox murmured, limping about the kitchen, ignoring the slaves that cleaned the floor.

Ears perked high, he winced, reaching down to rub his right leg. "Oh, feeling sore today are we? Hard to pick up on lefty's slack, ain't it? I know, the war wound means you're picking up for him, but don't give up on me now."  Rising up, he brushed off his stained clothes as if the action was not in vain. He stopped. Glancing down at his belly, he groaned, ears planted against his head. His tummy had definitely seen better days! No, he was not fat, but he certainly wasn't the fit beast he was supposed to be.

Just as the rough furred beast became content with his status, his ears went skyward again. Pulling the apple to eye level he growled deeply. "Oh, so I'm fat now, eh? Shall we see what happened to your family over in the cauldron?" A beast of his word, he showed the apple the bubbling brew.

"Hah, I won't do it you say? Watch me." Tirelessly, he sliced the red rioter into pieces and plopped it into a cauldron. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Didn't see that coming, didja?"

One of the slaves, a squirrel maid, giggled. When Luka's gaze landed on her, she immediately returned to scrubbing. Used to the fox's mindless rambling, it was hard not to laugh?until that fateful cold gaze landed on her.

Luka paused. She was looking thin. Nonchalantly, he tossed a spare apple to the floor. "Go on, eat up."

Returning to his duties, the fox ignored her response. Limping back to his ingredients list, Luka intended to finish his recipe with strict adherence for the first time in weeks.

"Oh, Luka The Limper, how goes chef duty? An upstart guard now a plump cook; might as well be in shackles yaself. Pathetic." Phelix snorted, leaning on the kitchen doorframe. "See you're still feedin' those blighta's scraps too! Ain't your job to feed them, is'ta feed us 'n the royalty?guess scaffold collapsing messed up your brain too!"

Luka snickered, leaning on the kitchen cabinets. Upon hearing a creak he stood up from it shamefully. Sighing, he rubbed the juice off of his kitchen knife onto his clothes. "Dunno why I bother cleaning this or myself, but more curiously, why do you bother stopping here? You know I could've beat you any day. I was on the rise to captain in just a couple seasons. What were you?"

"Ah but, who beat who now, eh? While you're here talkin' to food and throwin' scraps to the only beasts more pitiful than you, I'm doin' my job."

"I feed you, do I not?" Luka smirked.

"Yes, oh, and I like my Apple Weed Surprise gooey, however you do that! Good day, Limper."

The stoat was off before Luka could muster a response. However, the cook had no care for the matter. "Extra gooey, no problem." With mischievous eyes, he scanned the area. Not one guard.

He spat into the cauldron. "Voil?. Extra gooey."

[Opal]

Character name: Rousseau

Category: Female Rat

Application:

Boom! Creak were the sounds the mast of The Rosemary Flower made as it was shattered, crashing onto the deck of the woodlander vessel and making it groan from the impact.  A plethora of goodbeasts were seen leaping into the grey depths of the ocean, struggling against the inevitable destruction of the ship only to get crushed beneath the crashing torrent brought on by the ongoing tempest.  Lightning fell from the clouds, adding grisly intrigue to the scene.

Captain Rousseau of The Crimson Lass stared at the spectacle carefully inside of her cabin, eyeing over every detail of her handiwork.  The stormy waves were the perfect shade of grey as they drowned the helpless victims.  The creaking timbers were a gorgeous, soft ivory-bark color made miniscule by the destruction and the heap of beasts lying dead in their wake. It was with these few details that the rat found a twisted beauty to the scene, something only comparable to a serpent as it struck.  Yet, despite this, the pirate captain found herself frowning.

It was almost perfect, yet she knew something was missing.

Rousseau, adjusting her eye patch, dipped her paintbrush into a canister of paint and continued on her current masterpiece, gritting her teeth as the thin fibers of the brush touched canvas. Shutting her remaining eye, she took a breath.

?Cap?n Rouss!?

The rat stopped her paw from jerking at the sudden shout, glancing frantically at her work to see if it hadn?t been damaged.  She noticed a slight coffee-colored spot she had added to the grey sea. 

?Bloody fools,? she spat. ?What? What d? ya want?? She threw open the door, laying eyes on her first mate, a lanky weasel named Willump, with a knife at his neck.  A tall stoat stood behind him, grasping the blade tightly.

Rousseau took a step back.  With all seriousness, she said, ?Status report, Will?.  I?d like ta know why somebeast has a knife at yer neck and why ya thought it important enough ta interrupt my work.?

?Mutiny, ma?am!?

The rat sighed.  She glanced to her nearly-completed art. ?I don?t have time fer this,? she mumbled. ?You! Stoat.  Name yerself!?

?Blacktail.?

?Blacktail, then,? she restated sullenly. ?Me first mate said mutiny.  I hope ya realize that?s only punishable by a blade shoved in yer gizzard.  I?d express yer grievances now, ?afore we get blood on my carpet.?

?We want a headin?,? he sneered. ?The crew ain?t seen ya fer days and the only orders ye?ve given are simply te get to Kotir.  An? while we?ve all been workin? ourselves to the bone tryin? to figure out where in blazes we are, you?ve been in here paintin? a picture.  We think it?s time fer a change?? It was here that Rousseau lost interest and stared back at her work. 

It was a color that was missing, she realized, but which one? A grey? Brown? Malachite? Aquamarine?

?Are ya even listenin??? The dagger Blacktail held at Willump?s throat was abruptly knocked away by the blade of a rapier.  Rousseau held the hilt deftly.

?Don?t rush perfection,? she replied coldly.

The stoat stepped back. ?Perfection?? he said. ?Ya think yore perfect?? Rousseau kicked the dagger away and stared her nemesis down with an eye like steel.  She realized what color would bring her masterpiece together.  ?Yore the worst cap?n in the seas.?  She could accept that. ?Yore lazy and incompetent.? Agreed. ?And yore ?perfect? art??

She clenched her teeth.

?? Pah, I?ve seen better.?

The color was crimson.

?I?ll give ya a headin?.?

Rousseau?s blade was as delicate as her brush.

[Opal]

Character's name:  Rallentando

Category: Female rabbit

Application:

"It was a moonless, foggy night, " Rallentando intoned dramatically. "The kind of night unfit for a young doe to be snooping in, but snooping I was. Fifteen chestnuts' worth of snoop! An entire week's pay, and it had dropped into my lap like that."

"Don't gotta brag about it," her sister whispered. "It's only sunset, too."

"Shush, you." Rallentando tweaked the younger rabbit's ear. She coughed into her paw and continued.

"Inside the log all was bright and cheery. The family sat around their table, supping supper. I like that. Supping supper." She knelt and scribbled in her notebook, then stretched to her tippy-paws to peer over the window ledge again. "But not all was right in this home. One of those rabbits... was a thief!"

The front door burst open and the mood was pierced by a howl from Hellgates.

"Rall, Alle! I am NOT calling you again! Come inside for supper or it will be gone!"

The two does put their ears back and shuffled into the nook under the curve of their log home.

"Largo! No seconds, wait for your sisters. Look at you, you are roly-poly..." The door slammed shut.

"Momma's maaaaad," Allegro whispered.

"Momma's always mad." Rallentando rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I think Largo's our suspect. Momma's right, he is very fat. I don't think the others would do it. Largo is a greedy guts."

They crawled out, but this time Rallentando didn't bother spying again.

"Alle, after I close this case for you, I am going to leave home."

"Whyyyyyyy?"

"I want to have adventures! I want to tell stories! Important stories, with magnitude, like Pop-pop. That is a word he taught me, 'magnitude'. It means 'relative importance'. And Poppa's a relative, too, and he is very important."

"You're going to make Poppa come back? But he's gone to Kay-Oh-Tee-Ee-Are! There is WOLVES there. And they are oh so much meaner than foxes. You mustn't!"

"I will be careful, Alle. I am a spy. Aren't I?"

"Yes, but. You are not very good..."

Rallentando bopped her on the nose with her notebook.

"I AM good, I just don't brag about everything I spy on."

"You kind of do."

"That is for drama purposes. Spying together is no fun if you don't describe things like Pop-pop. Sometimes talking aloud helps me remember when I can't write it down, too."

"You're weird, Rall."

This earned the younger rabbit another nose bop as well as a fond head ruffling.

"I forgive you that comment... and for getting mud on my new dress when you wore it last night and thought it would be romantic to dance in the moonlight. Momma's furious about it, but I told her I dropped it from the washing line. See? I am a good spy. And you're my favourite sister. So I know you won't tell anyone where I've gone. Right?"

"R...right! Um, I'm sorry for that..."

"Don't worry about it, Alle. You know, even the best spies get caught." Rallentando patted her backside. "So if I ever get caught, I will be tougher for it. I think we better go in now. Put these in your ears and bob."

She held out her paw, full of nettles.

"You got stuck in a bush and that's why we're late. I saved you."

"Okay." Allegro tugged an ear down and began applying them. "Rall? What are we going to do about Largo stealing my chestnuts?"

Rallentando smiled and began slowly rubbing her paws together.

"Put a bucket filled with swamp slime over the door when he comes outside tomorrow."

"Evil!"