Log Date 6-5-04
Characters involved: Belliger, Kala, Cadogan

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GUOSIM Camp - Central Fire Pit
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Upon arriving at this clearing, it's significant to note the vastness of the camp. Foliage has been stripped away to create a settlement of tents and the like. Dominating the center is a massive pit, most likely used as a bonfire in the evening hours, filled with wood and circumferenced by rocks. Around those are logs that have been split in half and are now used as sitting areas for the occupants of this colonization in Mossflower. Two other clearings branch out from this one - multiple tents able to be seen off in the distance in one, and an area not quite distinguishable in the other. Ahead, its flap typically yawning open for entrance, is a large tent. Above, on a slab of wood above the entrance, is scrawled in block-like writing: G.U.O.S.I.M. Meeting Tent

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Sitting in a tree near the camp is Cad. Oddly he's not our roaming the wilds, picking fights with vermin or making weapons and traps. He's simply sitting there, eyes closed and grunts.

Belliger enters the firepit area from the camping grounds, and looks around. Seeing nobeast, he takes a seat by the fire, and stares. Being in the middle of nowhere has its advantages, but it's darn boring sometimes.

The shrew doesn't say a word. Cadogan opens his eyes and watches Belliger mainly, and flinches. He rests a paw on his bruised arm.

Kala makes little secret about her approach to the camp. Her rustling can be heard quite plainly in the underbrush. She's circling the fire, getting a good luck before she emerges.

"Bell." Cadogans snaps out and motions towards the brush from his perch.

Belliger raises an eyebrow as Kala enters, and he's about to wave, but his name's spoken from behind him. He turns around and walks over to the tree. "Cad? What're ye doin' up in tha' tree?"

"Saw her..nevermind." Cadogan doesn't answer Belliger's question. He simply rubs his shoulder and arm lightly and turns his back to him.

"You ought to have quieter lookouts," Kala remarks. She strolls right up to the firepit and takes a seat. She appears quite unarmed.

Belliger wasn't going to take any defense against Kala, after all, shrews are always welcome in this camp. "Aye. Or less eccentric." He chuckles as he looks up at Cad. "Y'a'right up there?" He starts making his way towards the firepit where Kala is. "Y'know where y'stumbled, 'ere, miss?"

The shrew doesn't answer. Cadogan just sits on the limb, leaning against the trunk of the tree. Cadogan watches the grounds near the camp but his eyes don't go to the other shrews.

Kala says, dryly, "Unless you two are a pair of extremely well disguised rats, this would obviously be the shrew camp."

"...Aye, y'right." Belliger starts to ponder the reason she referred to it as "the shrew camp," but shrugs it off. "Y'interested?" The shrew's recruiting self seems to never die. He raises both his eyebrows at Kala, awaiting the response he thinks is coming.

Kala says, "You're not my type."

Belliger smiles thinly. He obviously appreciates a good joke... Or at least he hopes she was joking, because it'd be embarrassing if she was really that stupid. "I meant in th'GUOSIM. Y'interested in the -GUOSIM?-"

Kala rests her paws on her bent knees. "The Guosim? Oh yes, I'm interested in the Guosim. Let me know if you see them, eh?"

Belliger tilts his head to the side, and just kinda lets gravity do its work, so that his head's nearly on his shoulder. "Are y'jokin'? Th'Guosim's righ' 'ere!"

Kala says, "I don't see any Guosim. Not yet, anyways. Just two scruffy looking shrews."

The shrew slowly climbs down the tree. Cadogan gets to the bottom and wanders towards his tent.

Belliger clenches his teeth, speaking through them. "Y'wanna join up 'r not? I've done mos' o' th'recruitin' f'th'GUOSIM, anyway."

Kala smiles tightly. "I talked to your Log-a-Log, such as she is. I'll tell you what I told her. I'm here to see what's what. If I find it to my liking, I'll stay. If not, I'll leave. And until I leave, I'll do what she needs."

Belliger lowers his head, but keeps his eyes on Kala, left eyebrow quirked. "Fair 'nough. She don' even know this's 'ere though, she thinks th'Guosim's jus' me, 'er, an' another named Riddock, an', o'course, maybe y'self."

Kala says, "Well if she's your Log-a-Log, it would probably be a good plan to let her know where her camp is."

Belliger shrugs. "You, me, 'n Riddock are actually th'only Guosim shrews that e'er met th'Log-a-Log... S'kinda gonna be a s'prise for 'er. Planned on 'eadin' up there soon t'show 'er th'fruits of my recruitin' journey." He smiles in self-satisfaction, looking around at the camp.

"Mmm." Kala likewise looks about the camp, but naturally, she doesn't allow any hint of approval to show on her face. "How many so far?"

"Countin' ye, two short of a score an' a 'alf." Belliger nods at the number, still smiling, except now the expression covers a greater portion of the shrew's face.

Belliger continues his smile. "Seventeen of 'em showed up all a' once,
was a stroke o' luck, y'know."

Kala asks, "Pretty quick to toss their life's lot in, aren't they?"

Belliger finally sits down on a log outside the fire. "They were sorta a group like th'Guosim a'ready. The group's leader, Jim, is s'posedly a stron' believer in strength 'n numbers. An' they turned out no' t'be too bad o'fighters with a li'l trainin'."

Kala asks, "So this Jim, he just came down and decided to join up with someone he doesn't even know? Just like that? Seems right foolish to me."

Belliger smirks. "I choose not t'complain too much 'bout good thin's."

Kala says, "It may not be a good thing if they're that willing to follow just anyone to their deaths, shrew-bob. Think on that a little."

Belliger twists his mouth to the side. "Well, if'n we c'n do thin's right, we won't 'ave t'worry 'bout tha' -to their deaths- d'tail. I a'ready did my part f'that, nonstop battle trainin' in th'trainin' grounds..." In fact, now that he mentions it, a beast can hear faint sounds of wooden weapons clacking together from that direction. Hey, it's their only form of entertainment around here.

Belliger adds: "Oh, an' m'name's Belliger. It'd be fer th'better if'n I caught y'name, too."

Kala asks, "What's that matter? Training makes you less likely to die, it doesn't make you invincible. If we have to fight someone or something, chances are some of us are going to kick it. I'd like to know who I'm kicking it for, and why, before I go and sign up on the jolly Guosim wagon." She lifts her head. "Kala."

Belliger nods. "But 't -does- give us an edge... I'm s'prised at 'ow many beasts are so willin' t'lay their lives down, I even make sure i's known t'them afore they join up tha' they may die, an' so far, tha's been a chance they're all willin' t'take. Agin, I don' complain 'bout th'good things. All I c'n do is 'elp make sure they 'ave th'bes' chance possible against their foes."

Kala says, "Heh. So you have a band of suicidals. Good show there, Belliger. I'm sure they'll die pretty on you."

Belliger is getting -real- sick of this. "Lissen up, Kala. Y'dealin' with a group o'shrews who're willin' t'fight. When y'willin' t'fight, y'take th'chance that y'might -fall.- If'n y'don' want t'take tha' chance, then by all means, y'can turn 'roun' an' leave... 'cause y'don' belong 'ere." Belliger glares at Kala over the fire. "This's y'chance t'turn back. Once ye've made th'committment, y'stick to't."

Kala crosses her arms. "Oh, mark me, if you lot of dunderheads are all as fluff filled as I've seen, I'll leave, sure enough. You can bet your whiskers I'm not going to stick around to get my throat cut if I don't see anything worth fighting for."

Belliger lowers his head and brings his gaze up. "Fluff filled?" His paw lowers to his scimitar. Now it's personal. "I'll show ye yore insides!"

"Aye." Kala shows her teeth. "Fluff filled." She's unarmed, so she doesn't reach for any weapon, obviously.

Belliger walks around the fire, then notices that Kala's unarmed... This seems a little unfair to him, but she should have thought about that before she insulted him and the whole Guosim! He circles around the fire, advancing on the other shrew.

Kala stands, almost leisurely. Likely she's doing that to be insulting. Once on her feet, she adopts a stance of sorts. "Sure you know how to use that thing, fluff-head? I wouldn't want you to fall and chop your nose off, or something."

Belliger growls... He doesn't want to kill the shrew, so he sheaths his scimitar and unsheathes his short sword, which is decidedly easier to control. He continues advancing on Kala, slowing his pace as he grows nearer, keeping on guard. A boxer. Great.

Kala grins. She begins backing up, circling around the fire, just so that she can keep a measured few feet between them. "Bigger sword too much for you, I see."

Belliger growls louder, and decides also to sheath his short sword... He remembers from his Cadogan recruit that it's very hard to fight with a sharp weapon when you can't kill your opponent... So, he himself takes a boxing stance, matching speeds with Kala, now taunting her with his own paw.

Kala begins backing up at a faster pace. Her paws raise with fists clenched, but despite her remarks, she doesn't make any movement to jab Belliger. "Well? We don't have all night, shrew-bob."

Belliger smiles at her hesitation, and decides to finally retort. "Don' 'ave th'guts t'throw th'firs' punch? Aww, maybe y'belong right in 'ere with us fluff filled shrews..." He matches speeds with Kala again.

Kala abruptly stops moving backwards, just as soon as Belliger has taken his first two steps at the increased speed. She makes a quick diagonal step forward, on the side away from the fire, and drags her left leg into Belliger's path with a quick hook toward his ankles.

Belliger is taken surprise by the move, and almost trips into the fire. He wretches his body to twist away from the fire, though, and finds himself on his back, quickly scrambling to get up. Belliger by -no- means is built like a boxer. Belliger resumes his stance, eyeing Kala... Okay, he can figure this boxing thing out...

Kala looks even more derisive than she did before, with upturned nose and narrowed eyes. "I suppose they call that maneuver the Guosim Fluff-Flop. Very impressive. Let me know when you get tired."

Belliger growls, feeling even more insulted, and, brining back his left paw, dashes forward and aims a powerful jab directly at the shrew's face. Powerful, because he has -no range whatsoever.-

Kala sidesteps the rush with the arm closest to Belliger held out straight, palm open. The blow she attempts to deliver is a slap with the heel of her palm toward his face, not a punch, and it isn't likely to do more than sting if it lands. Her arms aren't built up enough to issue a lot of force from that position.

Belliger turns his face as he's slapped. Boxing is harder than it looks. Luckily, there isn't much power behind this attack, and it allows Belliger to throw another powerful punch with his right paw towards Kala's stomach.

This one connects quite cleanly. Kala tries to twist, but she's far too slow, and she buckles back several steps with a wheeze. Her eyes narrow, and she takes the two steps back toward Belliger at a run. This time she returns the punch, aimed just for the side of his jaw.

Aha. Power seems to work. And now that he's got the hang of it, he thinks he can take this shrew now... He sees the punch coming... Yeah, it's like any other weapon, Belliger... And dodges, ducking to the side and half-crouching, delivering a left pawed jab at Kala's rib cage.

Kala turns her hip into this jab, so that it lands on her side. The padded vest she wears absorbs at least some of the impact. Almost before it hits, she executes two swift downward pummels toward Belliger's head.

Whapwhap. The two swift downward pummels are followed by two rapid sounds, and then a thud as Belliger ends up face-down in the dirt. He begins to push himself up, a little slower this time.

Kala seizes the opportunity. She echoes the maneuver as he's pushing himself up, though this time she's aiming at the back of his head.

But, just as she threw the punches, Belliger leapt from all fours to tackle Kala at her midsection. So, this time the punches land on his back, but are mostly ignored (for now, they'll probably bruise up -real good- later) as momentum carries him further towards the other shrew.

"Oof!" Kala is tackled to the ground. On impact, she jabs upward at both sides of Belliger's face, and attempts to bring her knee up into his abdomen. "Get off me, fluff. I told you I wasn't your type!"

Belliger grunts as he takes all of these blows seemingly at once... Blood trickles out of the shrew's mouth, and he's winded by the knee to the stomach, but this doesn't stop the enraged shrew from launching his head swiftly down to Kala's forehead. Not the most conventional way of fighting, but then again, they're a GUERILLA union of shrews, not the royal army.

Kala's vision explodes into colorful stars. That will smart. She brings her knee up again, but this time she's aiming a little lower. Dirty fighter.

Yeah, that's one way to get an enraged shrew off of you. Belliger instantly rolls to the side, off of Kala, eyes clenched shut as he curls up, bringing both his paws to cover... down there. His eyes eventually open, and he looks bug-eyed for the moment. No, -THAT- will smart. The shrew manages, however, to start to get up, albeit rather slowly and painfully.

Kala bounds to her feet, as well as can be expected considering her head is still reeling from the headbutt he gave her. She sniffs and wipes the side of her muzzle with the back of her clenched paw. "Tired yet?"

Belliger doesn't answer the question, as he manages to stand, slightly crouched, still feeling the waves of pain from the low blow. "That... wosn'... nice..." He doesn't look as if he's going to avenge himself readily, but... he does. He uncrouches himself, and you can tell he's still feeling the pain from his face. It's one thing to get smashed... down there... But to lose your dignity at the same time? Might as well just lop his head off. He advances forward, taking his boxing stance again. "C'mon..." Yeah. What a trooper.

Kala assumes her stance as well. "You first, shrew-bob."

Belliger nods, and lunges forward, feigning a right jab, but as he brings the right paw forward, he hooks his left paw (if she hasn't figured it out yet, the shrew's left-pawed) under and upwards in a strength-filled last ditch effort uppercut to Kala's jaw.

Kala's left paw raises to fend off the feint, and her right tries to deflect the actual punch. It's a little slow, so her jaw is grazed by Belliger's knuckles. She lowers her head and bulls toward the other shrew's chest.

Belliger allows the shrew's head to collide with his chest, but he starts falling backwards, hoping to absorb the most of the blow... It does so, but once again, that's gonna leave a bruise for later. As he falls backward, he attempts to grab a hold on Kala's lowered head and drive it into the ground.

Eep. Kala struggles as she's grabbed, going into a flurry of movement. Most of it is pummels aimed at his sides and mid-section. She'd go for the knee attack again, except her paws are scrabbling for a foothold.

Belliger keeps a tight headlock on Kala's... head, throughout the barrage of punches, and he lifts it up to pound it into the ground again. He tries momentarily to stretch his legs and trip the scampering Kala's legs, but alas, he's too short. Curses.

Kala continues her furious flurries, until the second time her head connects with the ground. She then stops, panting heavily, with a snoutful of dirt.

She stopped? Okay.... Belliger lets go of the shrew's head, and rolls to the side tiredly, away from her. He's panting heavily, as well, and lays on his stomach, the side of his face in the dirt as he watches the other shrew. "Fluffy... 'nough... for ye?"

Kala sits up as she's released. Dirty, and quite tired. She curls her lip. "Almost. Beat up the enemy next time though, it gets more accomplished." She tosses her head. That's right. Regain dignity.

Belliger slowly sits up as well. He aches. "Good fight..." Still manages to keep his custom of sportsmanship, even when it hasn't been shown to him. He slowly stands up, and begins to walk towards the campgrounds... A bit awkwardly, for obvious reasons. He turns around. "'ope t'see ye still 'ere in th'mornin'. There's plenty o'tents back 'ere f'you t'sleep 'n... Jus' pick one that ain' got a sign on 't, an' i's yours, if y'want it." And, he struts carefully back to his tent.