Halyard Village: West Square

Surrounded on most sides by short, squat buildings, none any higher than two levels, the main square of this small, sea-side village is covered in a fine layer of dirt, which mostly covers the old cobble stone beneath. Many of the buildings lining the square are homes, though some are places of business - and, of course, there are the obligatory pubs. However, pubs are not the only staple of a small village, especially not this one. Scattered here and there upon sidewalks and in front of stores, various fishing nets and traps lie about, most considerably worse for wear. It's obviously a fishing village. Beyond that, a dirt road runs north and south from the square, with a small scattering of homes, and behind these, a backdrop of trees. Meanwhile, beyond the trees lies the shore.

Yawning and stretching and blinking against the sun, Dandelion shows every sign of having recently gotten up after spending a night sleeping in the forest. His uniform is looking none too smart, and his fur is all touseled as well. He staggers out on the road from the trees, looking around in a daze, not quite awake yet.

Avoryn looks at the sleepy hare and raises an eyebrow.

Dandelion yawns again and rolls his shoulders a bit, trying to loosen up stiff joints, and then he's finally awake, and spots the badger. "Oh, hello." he says, surprised, and starts to fuss with his uniform.

Avoryn says, "hello"

Apple comes padding down the street yawning and looking tired, carrying a bundle in one arm and peering about her, she spots the young buck and Avoryn and walks towards them

Everyone is sleepy this morning? Well, Zeraph has to be different in a lot of situations, so the officer strides into the western square with a spear across his shoulders seeming completely awake but not so chipper anyway. A glance goes to the group already present, then he singles in on the only recruit among the bunch. And over he goes.

Dandelion senses the officer with that sixth sense recruits tend to develop, and the effect is a flurry of activity as he tries to erase every sign of having slept out in the forest. "Ah... good morning, sah!" he yelps, straightening up and saluting with nervous zeal.

Avoryn chuckles to himself.

Apple yawns and pads to a stop and peers at the officer "Lt. Zeraph isn't it? Well be welcoom tae Halyard wee one"

Zeraph peers at Dandelion as he stops without a couple of feet of the nervous hare. The salute isn't returned - not yet at least. "Hmm. Good morning." He straightens a little, the tall buck looking down to the younger one with an almost accusing expression. "And where would the rest of you be?" Of course, speaking of the recruits. His ear spasms backward as Apple addresses him and he only cast a side glance to the badger.

Jesse the Minstrel walks down the road, everything in his pack, harp strapped to his shoulder. He's whistling a tune.

"Wha? Uh..." Dandelion starts, glancing over his shoulder as if expecting more recruits to appear from the forest any moment now. Unfortunately for him, one does, a brown-furred doe, who quickly makes herself scarce again at the sight of Zeraph. "Uh... I wouldn' know, sah." he replies, truthfully.

Avoryn looks to apple "so, is the newborn okay newborn?

Ever observant - as he would be the one designated to 'baby-sit' the younger lot - Zeraph's glance turns to something over Dande's head all together, when the doe hurries from sight. But he caught it. Both brows shoot up into a surprised expression, letting the spear drop from his shoulders to just rest in one paw at his side. Well, the next thing to do is send that gaze to the buck before him, brows furrowing a little though. All thoughts of the other recruits have disappeared from his mind. This poor teen is /his/ now. "What was that?"

Apple blinks and watches the doe running away with a puzzled frown "Well thar is definatly nut somethin ye see every day"

Dandelion seems to shrink under the officer's gaze, eyes going wide, lower jaw dropping slightly, and his left foot starting to tap nervously on the ground. "W...what was what, sah?"

Jesse looks at what's going on as he whistles, and sits down on a barrel.

The head of the spear is dropped a little, to rest on the ground beside Dandelion's left foot as Zeraph peers more closely at the recruit. He looks him over as if possibly able to stare through him. Hmm.. "Go get that doe. Now." Serious. "We're going to have a 'talk'."

Apple just stands there watching and shakes her head but doesn't say anything,"

Jesse crosses his legs, and watches, thinking this wouldn't quite be the time for music.

Dandelion blinks a couple of times in rapid succession while he's trying to think of a good excuse, but settles for a meek, "Yes, sah..." as he turns around to where he assumes the doe is hiding. "Uh... Dana?" he calls out, voice rather weak and shaky for some reason.

Avoryn sits down on a rock and listens

Zeraph leans back again, arms folding and watching shaky recruit as he calls for this Dana. The officer will just wait for now. If she doesn't come out willingly, he'll have to go in and get her. And that won't be so pleasant.

The rock that Avoryn is sitting on is slippery, and thus, he topples over. He quickly regains his posture and sits on a barrel relatively near Jesse.

Apple settles down to stroking her babies sleeping head and watching with a wry smile

"Dana?" Dandelion calls again, and this time the doe comes out from the forest, looking none too eager to face the officer. She's a fighter recruit, the same age as Dandelion, and with her uniform and fur in just about the same touseld state. She goes to stand next to Dandelion, and salutes the officer meekly. "Suh."

Bunting removes his hat and fans himself with it. He shuffles over towards Avoryn and Jesse and sits down in the dirt.

Avoryn says, "This is a little bit of an awkward moment... "

Even though Raph was expecting it, when Dana comes into view, and he takes in the sight of both of them together, he looks startled to say the least. Oh dear. What did he do wrong? The Lieutenant grunts, brows furrowing. "Well... that's the last 'Festival' for you two." He starts back towards the entrance. "Come on." Not even looking back to see if they're following. But they better.

Avoryn looks towards the Tavern "Well, If you'll excuse me, I think It's about time I had something to eat" He says quietly

Jesse nods.

Both recruits protest at the same time, the buck with a "Aw, but..." and the doe with a "We didn't..." but as the officer turns away the fall quiet and follow him away, footsteps rather heavy.

(This OOC talk intentionally left in)
Zeraph room-pages, "Well. Off to the mountain and Jarril we go. XD".
Dandelion room-pages, "Uhoh. o,O;"
Zeraph room-pages, "Bwahaha.".

Salamandastron: Leaders' Office

This room is obviously and strictly all business. The walls are bare, except for the occasional military decoration of crossed swords or what have you, as well as the occasional, dim candle. In the room, there is an ornately carved, oak desk, behind which rests a comfortable arm chair. In front of the desk two slightly less comfortable and straight-backed chairs sit, most likely to keep the occupants on their toes. The desk is often covered by stacks of papers, sometimes haphazard, and sometimes neatly placed, depending upon the officer using the room at any given time.

The life of a Major isn't exactly all simple that lower ranks think, most of it is writing down reports or reading them and at the moment, only Jarril's ear tips are sticking up from behind a tall pile of recruit, patrol, meeting and sick reports. Only the sound of a quill scratching against the paper from behind the pile can be heard, as well as the major muttering to himself.

There is a quick wrap on the door, before Zeraph just opens it to poke his head inside and see who is at the desk. Well, the ear tips look familiar, so he goes with what he had been told previously and clears his throat. "Major. We have a problem."

The sound of carefully written words change as Jarril curses from making a mistake in the report before poking his head around from the pile of work. "Zeraph... Ya kidding me, right? Please tell me that this is some cruel joke?"

With ears pinning back, Raph shakes his head. "Sorry, sah. No joke." He leans back out of view, then pushes the door all the way to bring the two recruits into focus. He goes to usher them into the room in front of him, looking unhappy.

Trailing behind Zeraph are Dandelion and Dana, both recruits looking a bit smarter now, uniform-wise, having had time to adjust their garments. Both are also quite miserable-looking, heads hanging, eyes wide, shoulders drooping and looking overall gloomy.

Jarril gives a slight frown, ducks his head behind the pile of work and gets up after a few seconds. Picking up the work he places it around to the back shelf in the room to get some room and view across the table. No words are spoken during this time until the major is sitting back down in the chair again. "Ya two, at attention NOW!" Turning his head to Zeraph. "Report lieutenant."

"It comes to my attention, that these two." Zeraph gestures to the hapless teens as he says this. "Didn't stay where they were supposed to last night. They were alone in the woods together." He looks the recruits up and down, noting that they have straightened their uniforms. "Course, they looked worse than this when I first got a hold of them."

Jarril "I see..." Turning his head to the other two in the room. "Care ta explain why ya weren't were ya supposed ta be last night?"

Both recruits have had ample time to imagine all the terrible things the major can, and will do with them, and they practically jump out of their clothes, snapping to attention when ordered to do so, standing very still except for the inavoidable nervous fidgeting. "Well, we..." Dandelion and Dana start at almost the same time, interrupting each other.

Jarril gives both Dandelion and Dana a rather nasty look to hurry up and choose who's going ta speak. "One at a time." He looks at Dandelion. "Ya first."

Zeraph goes quiet, leaned against the wall near the door with it now closed. No escape. The Lieutenant is scowling, that is, thinking of all the horrible things they possibly /did/. Almost like it's his fault too. Crud.

Dandelion looks to the doe for support, and then to the lieutenant... no support there. "Well... We... sort of lost track of the others... because we left early and all..."

Jarril asks, "And where were ya supposed ta be?"

Dandelion visibly shrinks a couple of inches under the officer's gaze, lower lip starting to tremble. "I... don't know, sah." he says quietly.

Jarril nods his head. "Right, fine. We talk about this later." He noticed Zeraph had left and frowns a bit. "For the time being, ya ta stay in the mountain, all privilages ta go ta the festival revoked until we get ta the bottom of this."

Dandelion sighs a collective deep sigh together with Dana. "Yes, sah." they reply.

Jarril adds. "Unless ya do have something ta tell me as next time the punishment I will come up with will be more servere."

Seeing as the major seems busy, but not having been dismissed yet, Dandelion and Dana just stand around, still in attention, looking increasingly uncomfortable.

Jarril gets up from the chair and slams his paw down onto the desk. "Are ya acting deaf and dumb now. I said if ya had anything ta tell me, wot!" He pauses and frowns. "Apparantely not, so be it. Get out of here. Ya had ya chance of making things go easy on ya. Soon as we know what did happen I can assure ya that neither will be heading ta the abbey."

Dandelion salutes, along with Dana, who slinks out the door, tugging him along by the paw and looking as though she's about to cry. Dande on his part doesn't look that much better himself.