Welcome to Gaia! ::

Eula didn't say anything, but clearly was still a little embarrassed by the situation. "Well, I ju-" she started before a paw descended on her head, ruffling her fur.

She blinked a couple times, not at all accustomed to having her head ruffled like a child. Pivoting in her chair, she watched Sasha go by. "Good morn...ing," she tried, but Sasha just kept walking.

Shrugging, she returned her attention to Donato, dropping her voice. "Apparently one of Radaz's stooges is here to hear the verdict. Turan and Kusaa went out to talk to him." And she cast a look at the Great Hall door, clearly wishing she could be out there to have her say.

Tannia glanced and up and smiled warmly at her cousin. "Good morning. You look like you slept well," she greeted as she casually slid a plate of scones toward Sasha.

Tracy lit up again, waving enthusiastically. She was clearly fond of the attention that was often given to her. She carefully altered her position on Tannia's lap and slid down, then turned and climbed into Sasha's lap to offer her a big hug around the neck.

Eula was fully prepared for this to be an eventful day, who wasn't? But she definitely wasn't prepared for the next surprise as she looked up, and her gaze went past Donato with a look of surprised shock.

"My, what ungenerous guards y'have out there, wot. 'Specially that one chuff of a brushtail, mumblin' something about not gettin' enough sleep. What twisted their ears up, eh? What happened to friendly welcomes at Redwall?"

"Jamie."

Eula was only offered a wink in reply as the tall, attractive young Long Patroller with the sea-green eyes playfully nudged Donato, taking a seat by him. "Share the wealth, chap, I came in time for breakfast for a reason!"

Eula just blinked several times, her mind racing with so many questions, that she was at a total loss. "Where, how, what are you doing here?!"

Jamie passed a look across the table, smiling. "Aw, was jealous of your father and your little squirt of a brother comin' to visit. Speakin' of which, that little squirt beat the frontunner in a footrace last week," Jamie chuckled, shaking his head. He slid a sideways glance to Donato. "Hey there, ol' thing, pass the tea? I'm parched."

::Kusaa's face, as always, was unreadable, as she only nodded, as the pair made their way up the steps, a calm, slow pace to Kusaa's strides there, with no immediate urgency it seemed, as she spoke quietly, knowing at least no guards littered the winding stairs to overhear...::

I thank you, Turan.

I needed to know I'm not the only one holding onto faith. ::She turned, looking out past the spire as several guards still watched on, unsure of what to do themselves here...::

::But Kusaa, seemingly satisfied now Turan had passed this so called 'test of faith', brought him up to the ramparts, where the guards seemed frozen in place, peering over....::

::Kusaa gave a nod to Turan, as she stepped forward, looking down also, with a good deal less slackjawed-ness than any of the guards seemed to muster together...:: Alright, messenger, you shall hear fro-

::And then she stopped, and almost the same as the guards, she too seemed frozen on the spot, caught in a sudden gorgon's spell as they all could look down, and all could see below them, as the body of the rat messenger lay upon the path, slain by a single, terrible wound, that seemed to rend him open from neck to tail... and upon him, standing in full, ridiculous garb of ludicrous red and blue, with bright frills and bows, with a brim smirk upon his black muzzle, and a glint in his red eyes, the fox stood, waving up::

Good day Redwallers, I ask you pardon the intrusion...

But I'm afraid I just couldn't wait to see the answer of my invitation by myself...

::Radaz stood, flashing a wicked grin upon them, as he threw his arms wide open:: Aren't you going to invite me in!?

Donato listened to their exchange while he ate. Fox, hoarde, abbess....Got it. Um, military stuff...? Wanting to see the look on Eula's face... Ah. There was something to relate to. He smirked a bit over his tea, but listened up again as talk returned to this hoarde business. He said nothing when Jamie suggested finding out on his own whether Radaz did, in fact, have a real hoarde at his command.

"Hm? Oh, well; other than all this, things are fine. I look after the orphaned Dibbuns now, and Eula's our recorder."

((Babysitting hardcore!))

::Kusaa slid her glance over to Turan, silent, but she shook her head... she would give no signal to start moving the guard about or organise them to let the fox in... if there was any reason the fox had tried to catch them off guard here, they weren't about ready to take the bait!::

::The FOX however, seemed to make the job a good deal easier as he clicked his tongue suddenly:: Ah, it can't be helped, merely strolled along and thought I'd save us some time...

::And he grabbed a limp arm from the now-dead rat, motioning a wave backward:: You all enjoy breakfast, I'll go sit down and wait til you're all nice and ready to welcome me in...

::And with a hum along his path, he began walking back towards a shady tree, dragging his rat companion with him...::

::Confident enough that speaking amongst themselves was at least safe again, Kusaa did find her voice again:: I'm not the most knowledgable of any creature's habits... but am I the only one who sees something not quite right about this fox?

::And as she spoke, Radaz plopped himself down under the tree, and then, with an eager rub of the paws, pulled his dead rat underling over... and bit down, fangs working their way into the rat's flesh and rending open as he began to cannibalise him with such a look of sheer childish delight, while blood spurted down over his black fur and the comical outfit he'd chosen::

::And Kusaa, deadpan as ever:: ...I don't even know where to begin on this one.

Turan hadn't even been watching Radaz, but Kusaa's comment and the shocked looks on the guards' faces obligated him to turn and see what was going on. He immediately closed his eyes and shook his head once. He had no encouraging words for his company at that point. Turning away, he spoke in an emotionless, monotone voice. "Station guards at every entrance, I want at least four on each wall top. Rotate them regularly every four hours. Any caught napping or inattentive will be dealt with by me personally."

With that, he turned and made his way back down the wallsteps, heading back to Great Hall.

---------------

Eula grinned, pleased that Donato had defended himself. Jamie could be quite pompous and bigheaded and Eula didn't like to let him sit on his little pedestal all the time.

Jamie smirked a little, the slightest sign of respect for Donato having fought back. He rather thought the other hare would just brush it off and not reply. Nevertheless, he went on with a careless wave of his paw. "Anybeast could do it. Not willingly I admit, so I wonder how you got stuck with the bloody job. Terribly sorry, chap. What a headache, wot? Still, there're more important things to do. Especially now, eh?"

Eula was both indignant and amused at the same time. Jamie had said his remark with such a casual air it was almost hard to perceive the disdain in it. Eula was mildly impressed by the tactic. Still. Had she really ever been like that? What a pain.

"How long can you stay?" she asked, changing the topic. While she wanted Donato to continue defending himself, she also didn't want Jamie's ridiculous remark to spark a real argument.

"Mm," Jamie paused to think as he ate some more, almost already finished with his second plate of food. "I was really only s'posed to stay a week tops, but if there's vermin about I can make the decision to stay without havin' to return to report before if need be." He took a sip of his drink. "Not sure yet how much trouble you lot are actually in."

Eula didn't feel compelled to relate her foreshadowing dreams to the dining hare. Although, she realized, he was the sort to be enthusiastic about danger. She said nothing, allowing Jamie to go for his third plate of food. Eyes wandering, she saw Turan enter the hall. She stood to go to him, but it proved pointless when Turan walked over to Eula himself.

"Message delivered?" she asked, rolling her eyes as if at the triviality of the situation, but the expression on Turan's face brought a more serious look to her features.

"You could say that."

"What happened?"

Turan shook his head a little, which Eula took to mean that Turan would tell her later. He kept his voice low, but not too quiet so Donato and Jamie could still hear. "You need to go ahead and be armed at all times, all right?" He waited for Eula's nod and he continued in a serious tone. "Eula, listen, don't mess around with this. Don't instigate. I need you to take this seriously, can you do that?"

Eula pursed her lips a bit there. "I can do that," she replied noncommittally.

Turan gave her a dark look, knowing how Eula could twist situations when she gave such ambiguous replies. He didn't pursue it.

He glanced across the table at Donato. "Hey Donato. I need you to make sure that no Dibbuns, under any circumstances, are on the walltops, all right? I'd actually prefer they were kept inside as much as possible, not even out on the grounds."

Then his eyes landed on the unfamiliar hare in Long Patrol garb sitting beside Donato. He was pretty sure he had ordered a lock-down. No one in or out. Shaking his head with an exasperated sigh, he greeted Jamie questioningly. "Hello?"

"Hullo, sah! Name's Jamie. I actually visited 'bout... five years ago? Was at your weddin' actually. Hope you an' the missus are doing well."

Turan just stared at Jamie with a raised eyebrow.

Jamie cleared his throat. "Well, I was jus' comin' for a visit, wot. But I thought I'd head out an' see what sort of horde this Radaz fellow has, if any."

Turan seemed to consider the offer for a moment, but really he was just thinking of a polite way of saying no. Coming up short, his reservoir of kindness running low, he could only say "I don't think so, Jamie."

Jamie clicked his tongue, looking at Turan. "With all due respect, sah, I'd be working under the Long Patrol, not yourself. I wasn't exactly askin' permission."

Turan should've known better than to test a Long Patrol hare. He shook his head. "Then I suppose it is up to you then."

"I was thinking I'd go with him. Safety in numbers."

"No." No need to drudge up a polite reply there.

Eula was surprised by Donato's frustrated response. There was not many creatures he used such a tone with. She couldn't even count the number of creatures on a paw. She was glad she had changed the subject.

Jamie didn't reply, only smirked again without looking at Donato. He found it humorous how Donato had used reading as a comparison to watching Dibbuns. Reading, of ALL things. Undoubtedly another of the odd hare's dubious hobbies. He said nothing when Eula offered to run off to recon with him, but frowned a little when Turan said she couldn't go. Oh well, if he knew Eula at all, she'd go against orders anyway.

Turan nodded at Donato. "I know it's a lot to ask, but I'd just rather be on the safe side. Don't be concerned though, there's no imminent danger, no sign of attack at the moment. But we don't need a kidnapping and ransom case right now. I'll try to make sure you aren't alone all day stuck inside with the Dibbuns."

He turned to Eula. "You already know I'm going to need you this evening, but until then I ordered guards at all entrances and on the walltops. I want you to help oversee the rotations, and deal with any guards who aren't doing their job properly. If any of them give you trouble, talk to me, don't start a fight. See that no one is let outside of the abbey walls. No one except the guards should be on the walltops."

Eula smiled in that understanding, yet not entirely agreeable way that drew another dark look from Turan.

He was quiet for a few moments, lost in thought. He felt like there was more he should be doing, but everything seemed so much at a standstill until Radaz was to come and speak that evening. He shook his head. "I guess that's all for now. But make yourself available," again directed at Eula.

((I'm cool with skipping ahead. To when Radaz comes? Do you want me to start it?))

"All right, does everyone remember their responsibilities?" Turan asked the small assembled group outside of the gatehouse. Going in turn, he addressed Eula, Kusaa, Tannia and Whisper. "You lot flank Radaz. Watch him at ALL times. Be intimidating, but don't-" and this he directed very seriously at Eula, "-be insulting."

He turned to Sideswipe. "We'll make sure he has absolutely nothing dangerous on him. Then, we stay at Faith's side. "

The sun was going down over the western woodlands, casting brilliant shades of orange, red and pink throughout the sky on the clear, cool autumn evening. "We make this meeting as brief as possible. Get him in and out. Don't argue with him, do NOT instigate."

Eula had come out dressed down in a plain green tunic. Her ring-hilted rapier sat sheathed on her hip, looking as natural as any clothing on her. She only smiled mildly to herself whenever Turan addressed her personally. It could also be noted how Eula had yet to promise against causing any such problems.

Tannia was there, not looking terribly pleased to be so. She had left Tracy with Donato, as if the poor hare didn't have enough Dibbuns to deal with. Belted at her side was her trusty dirk. It had been awhile since anyone had seen her with any form of weapon in her possession.

"Any questions?"