Go Team Ve...Odyssey! (RP)

[Risk]

He'd missed the circus by a little more than a day. It shouldn't have been a big deal. He had other things to do. He had to find Risk, apologize in pop's stead, bring him back- Sere needed him, pop needed him... he needed him. It didn't matter if he was ready or not, old enough or not. Risk was his friend. He couldn't just abandon the ferret... even if the ferret had abandoned them.

But missing the circus was just the crust on the pie. Pop never let them go see neat things, and he'd nearly had a chance, and it was gone. This was so... so... un-champion.

There was nothing left to do about it save chase them through the mountains and catch the next show.

And so, with his proud chest thrust out and a swagger that threatened to loose his kilt (which he had fashioned out of his blanket in a rebellious fit prior to running away from home), he marched up to the Yew gate, thrust a paw at the mountains in the distance, and proclaimed, "I, Dank Odyssey, am going to Carrigul!"

The two guards at the gate looked at each other, waited ten seconds, and then laughed.

"Lookit the wee fox! Gonna git 'isself keeled!"

"I am not wee! I am nearly sixteen! I have got my own kerchief!"

The second guard was a little more helpful, but no less demeaning.

"Doncha know there's been a blizzard, wee foxy? Ain't nobeast makin' it through the pass for a week! Aye, and crows spotted flyin' hereabouts, dangerous ilk, them."

"I know how to fight crows! I know how to fight blizzards!"

Dank didn't know what a blizzard was, but he was certain it was fightable. Risk had fought just about every manner of beast at one time or another. A blizzard didn't scare him one bit!

Maybe their armour was ticklish and that was why they'd collapsed laughing.

Oh, well, there was no convincing them. Oh, they might let him pass, but that wasn't the issue. No, his pride had been wounded. If Risk taught him one thing, it was that you took your revenge as soon as you could. Or maybe it was how to debone fish. Or was it how to tie an ascot? Or was it how to break someone's arm in four places before strangling them with their own tail? Or was it- well. Risk had taught him a lot. Still, the revenge thing was definitely important.

So he kicked both guards between their tails and legged it into the nearest tavern. He waited under a table for four hours, playing with his tail, untying and re-tying his ascot, making mock-stabs at the air with a butter knife he'd found. When the coast was most likely clear, he got up and climbed onto his table and held his arms out.

"Everybeast! Attention please!" The clamour dimmed for a moment. "I am going to Carrigul to see the circus!"

"So?" somebeast said.

"So I am going to lead a caravan. I want only the biggest and best fighters! There is a blizzard in the mountains, but have no fear! I, Dank Odyssey, will be there to fight it! And the crows! I am a master of fighting things, for you see, I have been trained by Risk the Cutter himself! Aye, the very same! The Butcher of the Badger Prince, the Hero of New Marshank! With the skills bestowed upon me, safe passage is assured! So, my fellow beasts, who is with me? Who will brave the perils to come see the circus?"

The tavern was quiet. Dank began to worry. Eventually somebeast spoke up.

"Get off my table."

[Balmafula]

A few awkward moments passed and then everybeast went back to their business, leaving a disgruntled Dank still standing on the table.

"Er, hem. 'scuse me."

A squirrel, just barely out of his kit seasons, had sidled up beside him. Fairly average for his species, the only oddity about him was the pair of dark-tinted goggles that made his expression somewhat hard to read. He frowned at the fox. However, he ended up merely leering at somewhere around his midriff. Pulling up a chair, he hopped atop it and tried again.

"You... want to go to the circus?" he asked, tufted ears angled forward.

[Risk]

"Oh, aye!"

Dank stepped to the edge of the table, causing it to tip- the hedgehog at the other end grabbed it and held it steady with a glare. The fox stepped off onto the chair beside the squirrel, then to the ground. They were now nearly equal in height.

"I ain't never seen the circus, won't it be neat? There'll be... candy apples! An', an'..." He held out his paws, waving them as he struggled to think of what else would be at a circus. That was the problem- he'd never been, so he didn't know. "An' candy oranges. It'll be champion! So!" He whirled and pointed at the squirrel. "You're coming! Else you wouldn't have asked. That's deductive reasoning! But you are not very big, an' you don't look like a very good fighter... Let's see..."

Dank picked up his chair and hefted it. "Dodge this!" He swung it at the squirrel, while the hedgehog shook his head in amazement.

[Balmafula]

"Grk!"

The squirrel fell back, but turned an undignified tumble into a half-hearted backwards somersault ending in a paw-stand. He stood up and dusted himself off. All in all, this only seemed to further his irritation.

"I-I never agreed to this, you daft fool! Carrigul's rotten. So's the circus. Doubly so for the circus at Carrigul." He coughed into his paw. "I wouldn't know. But, I'm sure it's true!"

[Sycamore]

"You were trained by Risk th' Cutter?" a low voice spoke from amidst the crowd. It belonged to a youngish looking otterlad wearing britches and an open vest. Sidling up to Dank, the otterlad stood at his full height, glaring down at the ferret jack, or so he would have liked. The truth was that Dank was a good two heads taller, and the otterlad could raise himself no higher than the ferret's chest.

"Risk the Cutter cut up me pa," he said, his voice dangerous. He pawed the dagger at his belt. "Are ye a cutter, too?"