Ahhhhh... the peace of fishing. There's nothing like it; standing up to your knees in the stream, waiting, watching for the fish to come by. The sound of the brook babbling all around you; the whisper of the trees in the light summer's breeze. It's been two summers since Notchear got her second name, and now she's busy hunting her namesake for dinner.
Mackerel's eyes dart over the surface of the stream, searching for the tale-tell shapes and movements of her dinner-to-be.
Mackerel snaps her arms downward, kicking up a gush of water that has hardly had time to fall before she straightens, holding onto something yummy.
As it's early summer, the fish are plentiful; it just takes a bit of patience. Patience that's rewarded; a silver fish struggles in her arms.
Mackerel smiles, baring her teeth at the fish in her hands, "Why hello, dinner."
Sharp snapping sounds startle the hunter in her triumph; those almost sounded like gunshots.
Mackerel looks up, almost dropping her catch, "Wha??"
A shout floats over the nearby hill. "Yaeha! Yer dead, you lizard thing!"
"..an' now, ah'll take yer treasure stick!"
Mackerel looks curious and starts to wade toward the edge of the stream, absently tossing the fish back into the water. "You got lucky today. Don't let me see you again."
Crashing sounds, and a hurtling figure comes crashing through the underbrush further down the stream; a young fox, carrying a knobbly stick in one hand. At full tilt, he splashes into the stream. 'Ick! Water!"
A scruffy young vulpine, no more than about ten, Muldoon's out here
on the frontier because his pa works for the railroad. Since he's not old
enough to work the rails and he hates being water kit, he sneaks off as often
as possible. Besides, there's Injuns in them thar hills!
Muldoon looks down. "Gaw. Now ah've got water in me boots."
Mackerel breaks into a jog, kicking up a lot of water as she covers the distance toward Muldoon. "What's goin' on?"
Muldoon sighs, and wades back to the shore, sitting down on a large rock and pulling one off.
Muldoon looks up and freezes. "Ahhh! Injun!"
Mackerel flicks her ears back and slows her approach.
Muldoon drops his boot, tail bristling and ears flat back, baring his teeth. "Stay back! A-a-ahve got a gun!"
Mackerel stops, her hackles rising visibly.
Muldoon fumbles at his belt, and comes up with the aforementioned weapon; his hand shakes as he levels it at the panther. "G'wan, get outta here..", he half-growls, half-squeaks.
Muldoon motions with the gun, like he's seen in those Tom Mynx films.
Mackerel slowly backs into the middle of the stream, "What are you so scared of?"
Muldoon furrows his brow. "I don't know what yer saying, Injun..just go 'way.. leave me alone. My tressur stick. Ah killed th' lizard fer it."
Muldoon nods, indicating the long staff lying against the rock. At this distance, it's clearly no ordinary treebranch.
Mackerel glances at the stick, following your gaze, "A stick? You threaten me for a STICK?"
Muldoon grits his teeth, trying vainly to steady his gun hand with the other hand. "Ah dunno what ye're sayin', but them sounds like fightin' words... ah'm warnin' ye, get back.."
Mackerel laughs aloud and wades back downstream, shaking her head. "Stupid fox."
Muldoon exhales a sigh of relief as the feline turns her back on him, walking away. "Stupid cat. It was a cap pistol.", he chuckles nervously.
Muldoon pauses as he notices for the first time his boots floated downstream, past the cat.
Muldoon thinks . o O { Poppa will have my hide if I lose my boot.. paid two dollars for 'em..}
Mackerel sees the boot and laughs again, pouncing on it and holding it up.
Muldoon grins weakly. "Uhoh."
Muldoon gets up, scooping up the six-foot long stick and half-walking, half-hopping on the rocky shore towards the feline. "Gimme that back.."
Mackerel looks at the boot for a second, then at the fox, then jumps out of the stream and into the trees on the opposite side.
Muldoon hops a bit further, then looks dismayed at the ease of which the cat crosses the water. . o O {Probably leeches in the stream, what chews on feets without boots. }
Muldoon sighs, and draws his gun again, pointing out the boot with the staff.
Muldoon says, "C'mon, lemme have that back, or else!"
Mackerel steps behind a tree a little further away, keeping an eye on the fox.
Muldoon licks his muzzle, eyeing the placement of the rocks in the stream, trying to figure out if it's possible to cross without setting foot in the water. He picks a likely path and starts crossing, all the while trying to keep the gun pointed at the panther.
Muldoon says, "Ah'm warnin' ye! Ah'm a crack shot an' ah cn' hit a tin can at ten paces!""
Muldoon thinks . o O { ..a tomato tin, but she doesn't have to know that. }
Mackerel swishes her tail slowly, then tosses the boot at Muldoon. o O { I have no idea what possessed me to take that. It's not like it would have fit.}
Muldoon, faced with the dilemma of two full hands and an incoming flying object, drops the gun, catching the boot. The gun hits the rock and goes off with a sharp 'POP!' The fox over balances, falling off the rock into the knee deep portion of the river with a splash, going under the surface briefly.
Mackerel ducks behind the tree at the sound of the 'POP!', peeking out a second later to see what happened.
Muldoon comes up screaming. "AHHEH! Giant LEECH! It's GOT ME! AAAH!", he yells, throwing the boot away and attempting to do the same with the staff, but it's stuck in his gunbelt.
Mackerel ducks behind the tree again, peeking out with one eye.
Muldoon spins in place, shrieking and trying to struggle with the wriggling large lump in his shirt.
Muldoon hops around madly, yipping and going up on one foot as he cuts his foot on a submerged rock. "Ahiee!"
Mackerel cautiously steps out from behind the tree and pads to the edge of the stream, trying to figure out just what in the world you are screaming for.
Muldoon spins around, and suddenly, abruptly, disappears in a flash of white light and the sound of an invisible bell tolling.
The discarded boot floats in the middle of the stream, in a slow circle.
Mackerel jumps back into the woods with a shout! "Wha?!?"
Mackerel slowly creeps out of the woods, keeping an eye on the boot and another on the place where the fox vanished.
"..looking all over for you. Hm. What'd you do... rock?", a quiet voice floats down on the wind from over the same hill the fox came over.
Mackerel steps into the stream and grabs the boot before crossing to the other side and following the sound of the voice.
The old grey coyote the elders call White Eyes appears at the top of the hill. "Thought I scented someone else. Hello. Mackerel Notchear, isn't it?"
Mackerel nods slowly. "It is, White Eyes."
Wanderer nods and absently pets the green igeckona on his shoulder; the little reptile looks like he's been accosted by a rock or two. "I'm sorry to disturb your fishing, then. I see you've caught a boot."
Mackerel looks down at the boot in her hand, "I...yes. It belongs to somebody who just disappeared."
Wanderer hmms softly. "And here I was about to lay a curse on those who litter needlessly. Disappeared, you say?"
Mackerel nods again, pointing back at the stream, "I..well, I swiped it. He was threatening me, I think, and I felt like getting back at him, so I took it and ran into the woods. When he tried to follow me, he fell into the water, then disappeared."
Wanderer walks to the edge of the stream bank. "The stream isn't that deep here, though."
Wanderer walks agilely along the stones. "Show me where he disappeared?"
Mackerel follows White Eyes until he reaches the point where the fox vanished. "..He didn't go under. There was a bright flash, and something that sounded like a bell. Then he was gone."
Wanderer pauses. "Oh dear." His brows furrow, and you could swear his eyes glow white. "As I suspected.." He turns back to you. "Was he, perchance, carrying a staff?"
Mackerel nods, "Yes..he was. He made a big issue of it, too. He looked at it when he was threatening me..I think it was important to him.
Wanderer frowns. "Well, that was my staff he had."
Wanderer pauses, ears flicking back. "Hm. What did this person look like? They weren't.. well, they didn't look kinda mysterious, like me, did they?"
Mackerel looks at the boot in her hand and blinks, "Oh." She looks up and shakes her head, "No. Fox. Young I think. Two belts, one boot, and the sti..your staff."
Wanderer furrows his brow. "That doesn't make sense. Someone's apprentice, perhaps.. " He pauses. "The only way that staff gets triggered -- it's got strong spirit magic, by the way... is if you go through a complex dance step pattern."
Mackerel blinks, "Err..He was doing something in the water. Jumping around and shouting..."
Wanderer swishes his tail. "I see. Either that fox is very unlucky, or very talented..." He pauses. "How long ago did this happen?"
Mackerel thinks, "Only a few moments. The time to bring a pail of water to a boil."
Wanderer nods. "Okay. I'll be able to go after him, then." He looks at you. "Thanks for your help.."
Mackerel blinks, "Hey..wait. You're just going to run off? I want to know what happened!"
Wanderer grins mysteriously. "Maybe I'll tell you later."
Wanderer closes his eyes, concentrating; the water seems to swirl oddly around the coyote's feet.
Mackerel reaches out to Wanderer. "HEY!"
Wanderer jumps straight up.. you get a hold of his sash belt.. and *pop!*
At the now-deserted stream, Tekton falls into the stream with a splash, as the spell-meant-for-two takes exactly two.
Tekton surfaces and crawls onto a rock with a disgusted "Mrp."
..meanwhile...
Mackerel feels like she's been hit by one of those 'trains.' Her head hurts and she's dizzy, even if she's sitting on something soft.
Mackerel groans and leans forward clutching her stomach.
Wanderer uffs and fights the dizziness in his own head. "You need to get off of me.."
Mackerel shifts her weight forward and rolls off White Eyes, ending up on her hands and knees.
Wanderer grabs for the panther's arm; for a second she thinks she's going to black out, as her vision goes utterly black for a brief second.
Wanderer sits up, clutching his head, letting go. "Well, at least I know you came with me."
Mackerel gasps for air, turning her head to look at Wanderer. "Where..are..we..?
Wanderer chuckles softly. "I wish I knew."
Mackerel groans and falls onto her side. "I wish .. you hadn't said .. that."
Wanderer flicks his ears in the direction of Mackerel's voice. "Could have been worse. You -are- in one piece, after all. I told you to stay there.."
Wanderer rubs the back of his head.
Mackerel mutters something, then, "I had no idea that I was GOING anywhere."
Wanderer licks the end of his muzzle idly. "Right. Do you see my staff anywhere, perchance? Or that fox?"
It's a large, grassy meadow you sit in; no sign of water anywhere nearby. There's a copse of trees leading into a darker forest some hundred feet off; night's falling.
Mackerel looks around, managing to push herself up on one elbow, "No...I don't see anything but those trees."
Lying on the ground next to the coyote, and a little bit behind him, is the missing staff, as well as a large mackerel. The panther's stomach turns.
Wanderer scratches behind one ear, shaking his head to clear the last of the dizziness. "Well, we may be here awhile, if this is the wrong place.. it's going to take me a bit to recharge without my staff." He sniffs the air. "Air's too dry for a storm.. and.. fish?"
Mackerel looks away quickly, groaning.."on second thought.
Mackerel gestures vaguely toward you, taking deep gulps of air to calm her stomach, "...behind you."
Wanderer turns, reaching around behind him, patting the fish absently before finding the staff. "All right. We found what we came for, and our thief has flown the coop. You want this mackerel, Mackerel?
Mackerel shakes her head quickly, "Ohno.."
Wanderer nods, getting to his feet. "All right. Well, stand near me, and we'll get you home."
Mackerel stands up, studiously not looking at the fish. "I hope this is nicer than the first trip."