A Winter's Night...

[Terragon Scrufftail]

*He doesn't know who he had hoped to meet there, but Ashnel had been heading for the Tavern. Arriving there, he found few creatures about and hurriedly purchased a bottle of ale before making his way back towards the settlement...*

*The night is cold, and the ground hard beneath Ashnel's feet. Though his eyes are shadowed with tiredness, the ale, oddly enough, clears his head for a moment or so... at least, long enough for him to regrettfully wish he'd brought gluwine or wamr mulled wine instead. But another few sips begin to cloud his mind and instead of returning straight to Starsett Hollow, Ashnel's wanderings take him - not to Citadel Clearing - but to one of the clearings beyond it, near the meadow and the lake.*

*A stream, making lonely musical notes as it trickles down towards the lake, is frozen at the edges and in the clearing the greenery of spring has disappeared, turning the fairy tale-like glade into a faded bonfire of fallen leaves and branches. But still, beneath the cover of darkness, it seems to retain some of the lost beauty of earlier in the year and Ashnel unsteadily climbs into a silver birch, still clutching the bottle of ale in one paw, nearly slipping more than once. From here, the Terraluxian Captain can see the meadow... more memories.*

*It is freezing despite his cloak, which Ashnel removes and arranges into a cushion-ish shape to sit on. For the first time, it truly hits him what Terragon went through when Oakbark left. Ayeny had gone on an expedition into Mossflower to visit relatives and though he had insisted upon accompanying her, they had finally agreed for her to go along... spring had faded along with much of Ashnel's hope of Ayeny ever returning. He takes another sip of ale, another attempt of many to make himself forget.*

OOC: Heh. 'How You Remind Me,' Nickleback.

[Tinsy Stormsight]

Fifteen men on a dead man's chest...
Lonas strolled through the woods, staring up at the stars. The song had been stuck in his head all week. It was some pirate ditty he'd learned back in the day. The golden squirrel wasn't sure why he'd just remembered it now. Possibly it had something to do with the massive drunk he'd gone on when Jon had kicked the bucket.
Yo ho and a bottle of rum..
"I don't even like rum," he mutters, and pads on through the cold night. This had been the first in many where he wasn't drinking or losing card games to Rippla. The headache had faded off with the icy breeze, and a quick pick-me-up from the barley wine stores. (Regen had suggested this. Apparently some sort of 'alchohol heals all' kind of thing.)
...drink and the devil will do the rest...
Or drink, anyway. He was a baptized man, and didn't intend to meet the devil. Besides, Lonas wasn't dead yet - although when he'd woken up this morning, he'd sure wished he were. There was a downside to every good thing.
Including, of course, one of the best things. Being in love. Or, at least, what was supposed to be one of the best things. Lonas was beginning to agree with the weasel Rippla...women were something to be avoided.
Can't trust 'im, tho'...poor guy's an 'eadcase. Not even th' worst o' weasel dames'll go for a beast with a face like 'is.
He paused, stopping to stare at a wilted leaf that fluttered down out of an oak. A vague memory of the weasel's face flitted through his mind. Scarred, the old wound crossing over one eye and ending on the other side of his face. Lip twisted into a permanent sneer. The weasel had a hand of those wierd Norse cards in his paw, and his dark eyes were lit as usual with a coldly triummphant look. Or maybe it was just cold. Hard t' tell, sometimes.
Or a personality, f' that matter. Lonas smiled, almost fondly, at the thought, then continued, reminding himself in a low mutter, "Can't trust 'im."

Several minutes later, he paused on his slightly unsteady way. Somebeast was sitting in a clearing ahead of him, probably on a cloak. The squirrel's posture suggested that it was Ashnel, staring ahead and drinking something.
The golden squirrel rearranged his second-best cloak (faded blue, ragged on the bottom) and strolled into the clearing, dead grass crunching like snow under his boots. He stopped again next to the beast and said, his Spanish accent thick and heavy, "Ashn'l. What're ye' doin, out 'ere by yerself? Ain't Terri an' Miss Angl'fall'n 'spectin' ye?"
He winced a bit at his own words and smacked his lips once or twice. Damn, my accent's 'eavier 'n Reg's. An flavored wit' pirate t' boot. How long'v I been drunk?...

[Terragon Scrufftail]

*Ashnel's laugh is a loud smirk, and though deep in thought and self-pity, he still has the grace to attempt to disguise the mirthlessness. He is nearly pleased to see Lonas, who he recognises nearly at once without turning.* Terri and Danni' are at Starsett Hollow... *Through the fumes of the alcohol, he realises he hasn't answered Lonas' question and half-attempts to do so.* I said I was going for a walk. *This is said more sullenly than he intends and Ashnel's head turns to apologise.* Sorry... *He makes an effort.* And yourself? What're you doing out here, Lonas? I didn't notice you in the Whispering Willow.

[Tinsy Stormsight]

"I," the squirrel responds loftily, "am givin' up drink'n. Fer t'night, at least."
Lonas pauses, considers this response distractedly, and adds, "'M also out fer a walk, ev'n though it's cold. Thinkin' about stuff..."
He pauses, trying to remember exactly what he'd been thinking about. Rippla...a leaf...Oakrose, of course..ah, yes. That was it. Somewhere in his line of thought had been a vague memory of warm Spanish isles, and a small 'pirate' ship.
"Aye, thinkin' about a vacation. Go down south, see th' family..no, not th' family, I guess. See th' taverns." Lonas smiles vaguely at the thought, wiggling his paws in the cold air. "Also, get warm."
...bottle o' rum.
"They've got rum down there," the squirrel comments as an afterthought. "Good rum..or at least, better rum. None o' this watery Saxon swill. Barley wine 'n ale, too. An' th' business on th' ports is good."

He glances up at the sky again, admires the stars up in the cold sky, and asks distractedly, "What 'bout you?"

[Terragon Scrufftail]

*Ashnel turns away as Lonas glances up at the stars, eyes cast downwards, staring at the flat meadows. He cannot bear to see the stars tonight.* Thinking, *He confesses, more bitterly than before. Not fair on Lonas... A sluggish voice tells him. He drowns it with another long, mournful sip from the bottle in his paw. Nearly empty, Ashnel holds it loosely in one paw and rests his head wearily on the other. I hate myself, he decides slowly and the small voice still tries to tell him this is ridiculous, that he is drunk. Not had enough to be drunk.* What'ya thinking? *He asks Lonas, finding it easier to half-listen to the other's friendly babble than speak himself. Given up drink? Any other time, Ashnel would have applauded and with a near-eccentric grin would have insisted on inviting Lonas to supper at Starsett Hollow. It occurs to him that he hasn't eaten since a little before midday and he tries to remember if there is any food in his pockets, not being able to summon up the energy to return to the Whispering Willow.*

OOC: Ashnel's two-day crisis. He sulks for two days, then organises a 'brilliant' new quest to the mountains to explore.

[Tinsy Stormsight]

What'ya thinking?
Lonas considered this, still staring upwards. He'd been thinking alot recently..although the thoughts tended to run together. It was hard to remember them.
"I'm thinkin'..." A vague recollection of the Arkains, a rather unpleasant scene with his faction of brothers. That was the time they'd fought over the wine business, and Regen had tried to stab Jon, and they'd had a duel there in the middle of Corin's wedding party. Fortunately, Richard had whacked them both on the head with a wooden plate before they stabbed eachother. Lonas was pretty sure neither remembered a thing about it.
"I'm thinkin' there's not enough room in th' world fer my fam'ly. And," he adds a moment later, "I oughta stick 'em all in a ship an' sail off the edge o' the world. That'll take care of 'em. 'Course, I'll be gone too, but.."
He smiled, proud of his statement. Something else nagged at him a moment later...he frowned at the north star. "I think th' edge o' the world is somewhere in th' East...past all the Sarac'ns. An' then past the farthest ports, th ones where th' only beasts that live are lizards."
Lonas recalled a sea-chart in his father's study. Past the far east, where giant lizards talked, there had been a patch of water with no waves in it. "Then ye' come t' doldrums, an' then there's monsters. Dragons an' merbeasts an' th' like. Then, just when ye' think ye'll go on f'rever, y' come t' a huge waterfall..there's no escapin' It then." The squirrel paused, trying to remember. There'd been a picture of a big scaly beast with tounge forked and eyes all a-blaze. "Aye, a big monster, an' ye fall off int' 'is mouth..I'm pretty sure that's meant t' be th' devil. Then ye're off t' meet th' Maker."
"Or, as it were, th' devil. If ye go that far, ye've killed off all yer crew b'fore they kill you. Also, ye've fallen int' his mouth, an so..aye, well, ye get th' point."
Lonas glanced down again, studied the bottle in Ashnel's paw for a moment, and commented, "Yer drink's empty, mate." Probably unnecessary, but who cared?

[Terragon Scrufftail]

Hmph, *Ashnel replies, his eyes narrowed at the meadow. He re-thinks what Lonas has said, about the ships, the end of the world.* Anywhere worse th'n that, d'y' think? *He asks, with another loud smirk.* I reckon there is, *Ashnel continues after another moment of thought, his speech slurred.*
Used t' know somebeast... used t' smoke seeds - poppy seeds - all the time. Him, that is... no' me. Gave 'm nightmares, but he didn't care. Said the nightmares were safer than reality; they always come to an end, reality doesn't ev'r. *Another pause, followed by another of the squirrel's loud smirks.* Does it...?
Eh, no worse than it, if you believe in that. The end of the world, edge of the world, devil. *He waves a paw vaguely at these things and gives another laugh, loud and short. A bark of mirth that breaks and crumbles down.* S*d it. *Ashnel mutters, only partly audible.*
*About to put his head in both paws, he remembers the bottle of ale and holds it up to the moonlight.* Bottle empty, d'y' say?

OOC: Loud smirk... like The Janitor from "Scrubs" does.

[Tinsy Stormsight]

"Well," Lonas said after a moment of thought, "Seems t' me like hell might be wors'n fallin' off th' edge - but I don't hate 'em that much."
He glanced up at the stars again - one of them seemed reddish. Might be that one planet, the one they'd named after "Reckon all this stuff 'bout the world bein' round is true? I heard somethin' about it last time I was at th' Salamandastron port. Some guy from Italia, th' one who brought that wine shipment."
"Anyhow, 'e says there's a fella down in civilized lands what says th' world is round. Tried t' feed me some stuff about fish in a river an' th' sun..I weren't listenin.'"
He shrugged. "Pers'nally, I didn't b'lieve a word of it."

[Terragon Scrufftail]

Dunno, *Ashnel answers. He gives a ragged, noisy cough and looks from Lonas up to the reddish-coloured star, following his gaze.* Wha' shape'd y' say the sun is? Kinda... round, *He says the word oddly. Ashnel seems in an odd state for one who appears to have only drunk a single bottle of ale.* Fish in th'sun, did he say? *He repeats, not quite following the conversation.* I heard o' flyin' fish... maybe tha''s how they got up there, eh? Lonas, *Ashnel says, suddenly serious. He turns from the star to stare at the other squirrel, eyes wide, his speech clearer.* Do you... d'you have any of that wine left? The stuff the Italian brought? *By his tone of voice, 'one' might think Ashnel was on his death bed.*

*Terragon looks surreptitiously (sp?) out of the window, attempting to appear casual. Somebeast walks into the room and she quickly wheels around, a look of nonchalance fixed carelessly upon her face.* Ashnel no' back ye'? *Danniar. Terragon shruggs.* Doesn't look like it. Probably ran into somebeast or went down to the Whispering Willow. *Danniar raises an eyebrow in disbelief.*
What?
Don' y'think we should go an' look f' 'im?
Wh-
Y' saw 'is express'n as 'e lef' too, Terri. Don' y'think we should go an' look f' Ash'? *Danniar repeats.*
No, Danni, *Terragon answers, blushing beneath her fur, her voice higher than normal and frank.* I don't think. *And she turns away to stare out of the window again, making no attempt to disguise it now and she wonders what in Mossflower has happened to Ashnel Alashia.*

[Tinsy Stormsight]

"Fish in a river." Lonas frowns thoughtfully. He was pretty sure the guy had mentioned this wierd scientist was a heretic. Might want to mention that, before Ashnel started getting ideas.
"Dunno if y' should take it all seriously, though. Ever'beast knows th' world is flat."
He thinks for a moment about the flying fish - sounded like a load of wierdness to him. The golden squirrel had, of course, heard about flying fish. All captains knew about them; they were on a par with 'here be monsters,' sort of a point-of-no-return signal. And, like monsters, improbable even to superstitious merchant sailors. Fish with wings, huh. That an' flying mice.
The wine, though... "Aye, we've got in in th' Apoth'cary. I s'pose ye might find a little in th' Tavern, but I think it all got drank up last time there was a birthday party."
It had been quite popular - but then, the red was a good wine. Good wines were hard to find here in the north, so Lonas wasn't really suprised about that. He had heard they made wine out of blackberries up here, they were so desperate for grapes. In fact, he might have drank some of that stuff before..not that he would've remembered. Lonas had drunk bad wine before.
"I dunno if you wanna stop by the store now, though. Rippla sleeps there at night, 's why those gypsies didn't break in when they came through." The golden squirrel grinned - the thieves in question had decided Rippla was some kind of Norse demon, done all their lucky charms, and stayed as far away from the weasel as possible.

[Terragon Scrufftail]

*Ashnel laughs. Rippla has his uses, then.* Have you ever been sober since you came to Terralux, Lonas? *He asks, shifting slightly so he is with his back to the meadow now. Perhaps in his usually frame of mind, Ashnel would not of asked the question so directly, or even at all. A sudden memory comes back to him, unbidden, irrelevant.*
*"You know," Ayeny had said seriously, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on his. "You can't solve everyone's problems. Sometimes they've got to make mistakes to learn from them. Or at least be given the chance to make that mistake," She had added this quickly, before he could object. "It's not like anyone we're speaking of is really that young, anymore - not even Arven and Talis, really."*
And did you ever meet Ayeny or Arven?

[Tinsy Stormsight]

"Aye...I didn't drink much when Oakrose was around. B'fore, at least." Lonas rubbed his paws together to warm them, sitting on the grass. He'd decided his feet hurt. "Gotta make a good impression, right? 'Course, it doesn't really matter now..."
He smiled vaguely, shifting about until he sat cross-legged on the cold grass. "'Sides, I like t' drink."
He considered the other question for a second. The squirrel didn't think he'd seen anyone called 'Ayeny'. He'd heard Ashnel was married to somebeast, and Regen had mentioned meeting the girl once or twice a while back..
And he'd never heard a thing about someone called Arven. Well, he'd read a book about one, but it probably wasn't the same squirrel.
"Don't think so. Regen mentioned an Ayeny once, I think. An' I never heard anyth'ng about somebeast called Arven. Well, I have..It's a popul'r name in these parts."
The squirrel he'd met was an old one in a shop farther down south. "Th' one I met looked t' be fifty, was sellin' packs o' cards an' dice by the wayside. Said 'is name was Arven van Dur'mberg, an' was some kinda mystic being from way up north. Wanted me t' believe 'e was descended from either a vampire or Constantine th' Great."
"Prob'ly not th' one you're lookin' for."

[Terragon Scrufftail]

Thought Constantine was an otter, *Ashnel mutters thickly.* Nah... tha' was... *He frowns, trying to correct himself.* Cogidub-wha's-his-name? Ah don't remember now. Bu' one o' the old Kings, Emperors - *He gestures wildly, not sure which title to use.* - was an ott'r. Yeah, Arv'n, *He continues, giving up.* No' his real name, *Ashnel's speech is becoming more slurred again.* Good friend o' Terri's. And mine. *He adds as an afterthought.*
Come t' Starsett Hollow, why don' y', Lonas *Ashnel offers, impulsively and without thinking.* Have a drink if y'like. Terri'll tell you abou' Arven. Probably hasn' ev'n noticed I'm gone.

[Stoakly Centurio]

*The ferret strolls non-chalantly through the woods. He pauses for a moment, hears so talking to his left, and smiles. Stoakly knows this place too well; it has been his home for a while now, but he left to find adventure. Grinning, he looks through the trees and sees the lake. Two squirrels are sitting by it, and he knows exactly who they are. Ashnel and Lonas!

Stoakly hops through a thick line of trees, hoping to be able to hear their conversation. Over the sounds of nature, he can hear them chatting away. Before he barges in, he decides to wait a while and make sure he knows what they're talking about. They seem so gloomy... what's happened to Terralux since I left? Shaking the thoughts away, he steps in closer.

They're talking about hell! He suddenly feels a bit pessimistic, and his heart drops. Perhaps a warlord was coming, and they were talking about death? No, no, of course not! Taking a deep breath, the ferret, clad in his best green tunic with brown boots, steps through the line of trees and into the clearing.

He walks up closer and grins.* Who died? What 'appened? Oh, I see, y' all feel sad because I've been gone f' too long, huh? It's okay, lil' guys, Stoak' is 'ere now, an' I'll make everything better.

*Laughing, he continues and sits down next to them.* Ah, it's good t' be back, eh? Terri'll want t' see me. But then again, I guess I always did converse with the females 'ere, didn't I? I never really got t' know you, Lonas. Ash', I've known y' f' a long time, so we're good, an' Reg'...

Well, Reg' an' I never talked much after th' whole Adoni thing. My travels were great, though; I fought in a couple of battles with a troop called Gonza Guardians. Cap'n Gonza had somethin' against a vermin tribe up in th' north, apparently. Then I sailed all the way to Adael an' back, saw a bit of th' Crystal Forest, where Adoni used t' be an Officer.

*Stopping, he suddenly realizes he is rambling.* Ah, there I go again, ramblin' about my journey. I'll tell y' guys the rest later, but tell me, what 'appened with Terralux?

[Terragon Scrufftail]

*Ashnel curses and blinks, another frown creasing his brow.* Adoni? *He says simply, before his frown deepens. No, the ferret had just said something about Adoni's death. The creature standing before him was -* Stoakly Centurio! *He beams and stands unsteadily. Taking his cloak in one paw - the one that still holds the ale bottle - he hops from his perch in the tree, landing on all fours. He clambers to his footpaws again and sways a little.* Where in Hell Gates h've y' been? *He is still obviously drunk and nearly drops the bottle. Terragon didn't say he was coming back... but he... he hasn't turned against us, has he? Course not. The alcohol makes Ashnel's mind more suspicious, and yet he cannot help but smile at the sight of Stoakly.*