Salamandastron: Darklett's Dormitory(#73936RA) -------------- Salamandastron --------------- This is one of the dormitories of the mountain of Salamandastron. The room is sparsely furnished, the perilous hare that inhabits it no doubt too busy to have time to collect many things. A small oak table is on one side of the room with four chairs made of cherry wood sitting around it. Against the opposite wall sits a mattress, barely more than a sturdy rectangular sack of carefully stuffed with hay. Another oaken door rather near the bed leads off to a small closet. ------------------------------------- Visible Exits: [Out] to Hallway

After falling from using her crutch, Audri slowly hopped back to her da's room, dragging 'unken along slowly, leaving her crutch somewhere in the mountain. Audri now sits in her pillow fort, curled up into a tiny fluffball, sniffling while she nibbles on a scone, 'unken keeping watch by the opening.

Darklett happens to be -in- his dorm at the time, so he spots the squirrelmaid as she walks in, his brow furrowed in worry. "Auree, where did your crutch go?" He stands from his spot on his mattress, walking to the entrance of the pillow fort and peering in.

"Wost it onna staiws." Audri mumbles, tail moving up to cover her face while she scoots to stare at the wall. "Don't wike it t'aww."

"You have to get used to it..." Darklett insists. "Unless you don't want to walk. It's your quickest way of getting around, Auree, I know it's hard at first, but you'll learn how to use them."

Audri sniffles, paw sneaking back to grab 'unken, dragging him over. "Ah just stay in 'ewe. Fowevah."

Darklett darts his eyes to the side, then peeks back in. "...That's not reasonable, you have to at least -eat.-"

Ergh. Audri's ears droop, glancing at her little snack pile, which was almost gone. "But Ah faww on da staiws, and 'unken doesn't wike 'em eithah."

"Auree, you've just got to be careful. You can't rush things on crutches." Darklett pokes his head inside the pillow fort. "I'm not always gonna be around to carry you, you know."

Audri nods, resting her chin on her knees, still staring at the wall. "Ah know. Was goin swow, but didn't wowk. 'uwtah too."

Darklett sits down on the outside of the fort. "Are you sure you don't want to give the crutch another try, Auree?"

Audri lets out a heavy sigh while setting 'unken down, before crawling out of the fort with a few little squeaks. "Ah guess. But Ah not gonna wike it."

Darklett smiles at the little squirrel's decision. "Alright, thanks, Auree. I don't want you to not walk, so please get used to the crutches as quickly as you can. It'll be all healed up before you even know it." He smiles assuringly.

Audri nods, ears still drooped. "'ay. Gots ta go get it dough, so Ah can pwaktice."

Darklett grins. "I'll go get it, alright? Be right back." He hops up and disappears outside. A minute or so later, he reappears with the crutch, gently sliding it into the pillow fort.

Audri sniffles, eyes staring down at the crutch, nose crinkling up. With another sigh, Audri crawls out, tail pulling her crutch along. She gives it another look, before standing it up to lean against. "'oo evah 'ave a crutch?"

Darklett nods quickly. "Yes, I did. Not that long ago, actually. It was tough for me at first, too, but I got used to it." He pats her on the shoulder.

Audri stares up at him, lips pursed together. "Why 'oo 'ave 'un?" She asks, taking a few wobbly steps towards the bed.

Darklett grins. "Well, I got shot in the leg by an arrow. It's a long story, heh." Ooh. Audri's ears perk, the kit hobbling around the room at a very slow wobbly pace. "Ah wanna 'eaw it. Stowies nice, and 'unken wikes em."

Darklett smirks. It figures. "Heh..." He scratches the back of his head, behind his ears. "Well, it's not that -good- of a story. In fact, it's not a good one at all. You see, there was this doe..." He begins, situating himself more comfortably.

Audri hobbles over to the pillow fort, grabbing 'unken quickly, before attempting to hobble back towards the bed. But, she stumbles since its rather hard to drag a doll around, falling on her knees with a squeak. Giving up on practicing, Audri hugs 'unken close, listening quietly.

Darklett halts his story when she falls, frowning... Rather than ask about her, he continues. "This doe was named Charsina, she fell in love with me... for some reason. Well, I didn't love her back, and she didn't like that."

Audri's ears perk, nose scrunching up. "Wike dat othah doe who wikah ya?" She asks, paw absently rubbing at her knee. Darklett raises his brow, wondering for a few seconds how she figured that out, then realizes she's talking about Sorrel. He then nods. "Yeah, kinda like her. Except Charsina was -really- angry with me... She started shooting arrows at me."

"But, ya not post ta shoot at othahs. Not nice." Audri nods, ears drooping some.

Darklett shakes his head. "No, you're not supposed to. But she did. I was scared for my life, so I went to report her to the Colonel... But as I was walking away, she shot me in the back of the leg, buried the arrow deep in my calf muscle."

1. o Audri's eyes go wide, mouth dropping open with a quiet ooo. But then, she cants her head, lips pursed together. "What a cawf muskwe?"

Darklett smirks to himself. "Ah, yes. It's this muscle, right here." He tips his leg to the side and points to his calf, poking it a few times. "This one, right here. If it gets injured, it makes it really hard to walk."

Audri nods, looking at his leg, then peering down at her own wrapped leg, nose crinkling up. "So, dat 'un Ah 'uwtah?"

Darklett nods. "Yes, that one. That's why you need a crutch to walk, you see? But yours isn't as bad as mine was. You'll be walking quicker than I got to, don't you worry about that."

Audri nods again, crawling over to sit on his lap, leaving 'unken to guard the evil crutch. "Ah gots question? Whewe 'oo go when 'oo go way fowevah?"

Darklett hmms? Erk. "..." Darklett looks to the side uncomfortably. "Uh... I don't know, really. I have no idea."

"Oh." Audri ears fall again, tail poofing out while she crawls off his lap. She crawls up on the bed burrowing under a blanket, being strangely quiet.

"Auree?" Darklett peers at the lump of blanket worriedly. "Are you alright?"

Audri's nose peeking out, giving a quick shake before retreating. "No. avin ba 'weams gin."

Darklett has to take a few seconds to decipher the dibbunspeak, but when he does, he looks quite stressed over it. "Again? About the same things?"

Audri nods from under her blanket, the tip of her poofed tail showing. "U'uh. Bout da boat 'n stuff."

Darklett frowns. "Are you scared they're gonna come back? They can't..."

"Wittwe bit. 'n what dey did." Audri mumbles, peeking out from under her covers. "'oo suwe dey nevah come back?"

Darklett nods. "I'm very sure. They're gone, long gone now. Never to hurt you again, Auree, don't worry." He gets up and sits next to her, hugging her. "There's no reason to be scared... " Audri hugs him back, still sniffling. "But..but tis scawy. 'n seems weaw 'n stuff. 'n dey said dey come back..."

Darklett shakes his head. "Y'know what? Next time you have that dream, I want you to get up in their face and say, 'You can't get me!' and stick out your tongue, make faces at 'em, alright?" He grins down at the little squirrel.

Audri stares up at him, not looking to sure of that. "Ah don't wanna do dat. Did dat once 'n twas bad." Audri nods.

Darklett gulps, his eartips folding just slightly. "Oh..." After that, he's fresh out of good ideas, so he stays quiet, thinking of what could possibly help.

Audri glances up at him, frowning slightly, so she gets him another hug. "'oo evah been on a boat?" She mumbles quietly, rubbing at her cheek.

Darklett thinks for a while, then shakes his head. "No, I haven't ever. Why do you ask?"

Audri shrugs. "Wondahin." Audri sniffles some more, paw pulling the blanket up around her, while her tail begins to depoof. "'oo gots any famiwie?"

Darklett nods. "Yeah, I've got some family. I've got a brother, his name's Keiran. He's a season older than me, lives to the east of here, at a place called Redwall."

Audri nods, rubbing her cheek again, before lying down beside him. "'ay. 'oo evah see 'im evah?"

Darklett shakes his head, almost sadly. "No, I don't. We live too far away, don't really get much of a chance."

"Oh. 'oo miss 'im den? Ah 'ad a bwothah once..Ah fink." Audri mumbles, hugging her tail close since 'unken was off on the floor.

Darklett nods. "Yeah, I do miss him sometimes. It's only natural, though. You had a brother? Was he older or younger than you?"

Audri nose crinkles up, claw tapping her chin in thought. "...Owdah. But..'e went way." Darklett's head looks to the ground. "..." He really has no idea what to say to comfort the dibbun, so he just gives her another hug. "Don't worry, they're not gonna come back. They're all gone, now."

Audri snuggles into the hare, a tiny yawn escaping past her lips. "'ay. 'oo gonna be 'ewe awhiwe or 'oo gots ta go on patwow gin?"

"I think I'm gonna be here a while, Auree." Darklett hugs the dibbun tight, giving her a few pats on her back. "I shouldn't be on another patrol for a little bit."

Audri smiles at that, ears perking up. "'ay. 'oo's gots ta come paint wif 'unken n me. Tis wots o fun, but 'oo gets messy."

"Maybe I will, but I'll leave most of the work to you." Darklett grins, looking over at his new dagger rack, which is in use right now. "You did a great job of that dagger rack, I have to say."

Audri grins, glancing over at it. "Twas wots o' wowk. Wot 'awdah den paintin piktuwes." She then looks down at 'unken, nose wrinkling up. "'oo get 'unken pwease?"

Darklett nods, then quickly gets up, leaning over to 'unken and picking him up, handing him over to Auree. "Here you go, Auree. I'm glad you made it, it's probably going to be needed soon. I'm thinking about getting another set of throwing knives, but I don't know from where."

"Fank 'oo." Audri mumbles, grabbing unken quickly, giving the doll a hug. "Twy de awmowy. Wots o em in dewe."

Darklett shakes his head. "No, no... Those are mostly used, or... uh, not fit for me. I want some that are custom made... Real nice ones." He relaxes, sighing. As if this is what he dreams of at night. XD "Probably costs a load of money, though," he adds. "I'll just have to make do, I guess."

Audri's ears droop, sniffling for some unknown reason. "What's moonee?" She asks, staring up at him with a curious look.

Darklett thinks of how to explain money to the squirrel. "Uhh, let's see. It's something you use to trade for things. You can use it to pay for food, or other things, too."

Audri nods, setting 'unken to the side. "'ay." She then crawls off the bed, over towards the far corner where another pillow fort is, which she slips into.

Darklett hmms? "Where you going, Auree?" He watches her crawl off to the pillow fort curiously.

"Gettin somefin." Audri replies, rummaging through her secret stash of items. With a happy squeak, the kit crawls back out and back towards the bed, her dress covered in dirt and dust from the floor. Plopping down, Audri pulls something from her pocket, holding it up to Dark. "Dis moonee?" In her paw, she holds a fairly good sized gemstone of a dark blue color.

Darklett chuckles. Aww, isn't this cute, she's going to get him some random thing she picked up to trade. Hee. "Let's see what you've got he--" Choke, sputter.

Hrm. Audri stares at Dark curiously, canting her head to the side. "'oo aw'ight?"

Darklett's eyes are glued open. "Y-yes. Yeah, I'm alright. Where did you get that, Auree?" O_O

Audri nods, though she still doesn't believe he's alright. "Boat. Bwothah ide some fow dey..got wid o 'im. So, Ah gots 'em now." Audri mumbles, claw tapping at the gem in her paw. "Ah fink it pweddy Ah do."

Darklett gulps. "W-wh... That... can't be real." He takes the squirrel's paw and lifts it up as he inspects the gem. "...Auree, this's probably worth a great deal."

Audri shrugs, letting him take it. "'ad wots on boat. Gots 'em when dey gave beasts way to othahs. Ah wiked ta pway with 'em, but dey gets mad."

Darklett swallows, taking the gem and looking at it. "...Wow, Auree... Do you have a lot of these?"

Audri nods. "U'uh. 'unken and me pway with 'em."

Darklett blinks. "...Here, take this back... And don't show them to anybeast else, okay?"

Audri nods again, sticking the gem back in her pocket. "Ah won't. Tis a secwet. So 'oo no teww eithah."

Darklett shakes his head. "No, I'm not telling -anybeast.- Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." He smiles at Auree, giving her a pet behind the ears. "Hey, let's get some sleep, okay?"

"'ay." Audri crawls off again though, quickly putting her treasure back in its place before going back to the bed. Grabbing 'unken, she curls up around him, resting her head on his back.

Darklett gets up and goes to his bed, crawling into it and slipping underneath the covers. Woah. x.x He's got something -else- to keep his trap shut about. "G'night, Auree."

"Night da." Audri mumbles, already falling asleep while she holds 'unken tightly.