Sly as a Fox

[Vexa Blueclaw]

Vexa Blueclaw

The night was a dark one, moonless and cloudy but warm with no real threat of rain in the air. The darkness would send dibbuns to bed and put warriors on guard but still only a single beast seemed to be out and roaming, moving like a shadow. Hidden in a grey cloak that seemed burnt at the hem was a graceful figure making her way toward the fabled gates of Fort Emerald Bay. Like any traveler, the beast was armed but most of her weapons were hidden ones. The most obvious perhaps was the handsome bow and quiver full of arrows strapped across her cloaked back. Slung alongside the quiver were two sheaths, too long for normal knives and too short for any sort of sword. Long knives the beast had practiced with for many years, deadly and graceful weapons. At her hip the beast carried a sling and stone pouch on one side, three throwing knives on the other.

Heavily armed and yet moving easily, the creature stopped before the fort gates. Amber eyes glinted in the gloom as black paws moved from the inner folds of the cloak to push back the hood revealing the sly but beautiful face of a blue-black vixen. Her amber eyes burned in the nighttime gloom, appraising the gates and fortress before her. The corner of the vixen's mouth twitched in a small smile.

Vexa Blueclaw, mistress of many long range weapons, had arrived. She left her heartache in the past, taking the name of her love and moving forward. Who knew an orphaned wretch from a northern tribe could make it so far south? Vexa let herself smile at the victory, small compared to her others but still oh so important.

Standing in the nighttime gloom, dark cloak wrapped around her despite the summer warmth, Vexa waited and watched the sleepy fort. Her right paw flexed slowly but apart from that the vixen made no movement.

[Moontouch Icebrink]

Moontouch could not sleep. Normally the gentle rock of her ship upon the night waves would soothe and lull her into a fitful sleep full of dreams, but for some reason tonight it felt strange. It has been some time since she has slept in her own bunk in her own cabin on her own ship, been so long away from the fort in search of herself (who she swears she had lost but had found again). So, checking on the little otter kit tucked safely in her own little bunk above Moon’s bed, she had strolled from the docks to take a stroll through the grounds. She eventually made her way to the ramparts where she has often found the moonlight the most bright and her soul the most quieted in the luminescent glow of its friendly pale face.

She feels at ease and with peace most of the way around the fort until she reaches the stretch above the gate, pausing and getting the feeling that someone was there, watching. The fur on the back of her neck stands on end and her ice blue eyes flash as she ducks to blend with the shadow of the battlements, peaking her head between the ammo slits and casting her gaze about once. She almost missed it, but on the second trip across the roadway her eyes detect the dark smudge standing there. She curses her lack of weaponry, silently, calling down from her hiding place.

“I know you’re there! What is it that you wish in the middle of the night, beast?” What? She isn’t at all certain what the creature might be or whether it is male or females. “Beast” seemed the most appropriate term in her ignorance. She sniffs on the air, trying to pick up any trace of a scent so she can better identify the ‘spot’ down below, to no avail. The wind is not favorably directed towards her. She snorts with disfavor, feeling quite defenseless even behind the huge walls of the fort.
~Moontouch

(OOC: Hope this is okay! Moontouch really is a great gal.)

[Vexa Blueclaw]

The keen eyes of an experienced archer and long-distance weapons mistress, Vexa caught sight of a shadow moving atop the fort ramparts. Her flexing paw stilled, drifting back into the folds of her dark cloak, a claw stroking the handle of a thin throwing dagger. A voice broke the summer night's stillness, making Vexa's black ears twitch beneath the cloak hood. Behind her, the blue-black vixen's fluffy white-tipped tail flicked. Angling her head, Vexa let the hood of her cloak fall back to reveal her black-blue face, amber eyes flashing in the moonlight. Narrowing her eyes, Vexa studied the creature atop the fort wall. Some sort of otter or weasel perhaps? From the distance and in the gloom of night not even Vexa's keen eyes could tell quite which, only that she saw no flash of a sword in the moonlight.

"I hear the skills of a tracker are needed here" Vexa replied, her voice clear in the summer darkness. "You are unarmed, I am armed and yet I intend no harm. Come from the battlements, I will throw down my weapons and speak with you. If you will not, I will leave and return in daylight in search of a more civil welcome rather then shouting in the dark."

Her voice had just a hint of teasing to it, assuring the beast atop the wall she would make good on her word if they creature didn't come down but she meant no real harm to anyone within the sleeping fort. She wasn't really trying to be sneaky or pull a fast one on the fort guard, she just didn't like the idea of shouting when she stood on the forest side of the battlements. Of course her keen ears had caught no signs of harm coming upon her but Vexa wasn't exactly known for her luck.

As for disarming, Vexa would do so if the beast came down, she was good for her word but only if the other proved to also be as unarmed as Vexa believed her to be. Vexa was no fool and knew quite a bit about concealed weapons since she herself often concealed her throwing daggers. The long knives and archery equipment weren't as easy to conceal so Vexa didn't try but she always kept a little "assurance" hidden up her sleeve somewhere on her person when confronting others. At the moment however, Vexa's conduct here would decide her fate, whether she was shot down by fort guards or offered a place among whatever places this fort had for warriors.

[Moontouch Icebrink]

It all seems like a sneaky beast’s ploy to get the doors opened by an unarmed dweller of the fort for an easy kill that will allow them to leave themselves (and whoever else) into the fort to do whatever dastardly deeds they would do. Doesn’t this one think that the request is kind of a suspicious one? Moontouch wouldn’t be quite so worried if she had her swords on her, but she’s completely and truthfully unarmed and would be at the mercy of a stranger’s word, in the dark. There are plenty of things the black rudder-tailed captain has to think about besides her own safety, though, too: the rest of the fort, for example, and her tiny little otter kit still sleeping soundly in her little bunk bed back on the Midnight Moon. Who would take care of her kit if something would happen to the mother? Not her sniveling, backer-outter father, who isn’t around; but that’s not exactly the topic here.

But then her pride is also on the line. She’s no coward and is certainly not going to be called out onto the carpet for not being ‘civil’. Moony is a very civil otter, friendly and open and a great friend. Besides, she doesn’t want to be called a coward for not taking a simple risk. She can just peek out, take a sniff and if something doesn’t smell or feel right she can pull straight back in and lock the doors up so tight nobody would be able to get in. The rudder-tailed beast nods her tail once and disappears for a moment, popping back up momentarily to call down. “I’m coming down. But for your sake you better not be yanking my whiskers.”

Moontouch leaves the wall for good then, making her way down the stairs towards one of the side doors at a leisure pace so that she has time to think before she gets to the bottom of the wall. She works at the bolts on the strong side door, working slowly as she listens for anything suspicious. Still nothing, so she opens it slowly on its well-oiled hinges and sticks her head out, nose twitching slightly. Moon catches the scent of a fox, then, and instantly feels like the situation fit. “Halloo? I ain’t no uncivil beast, and I’ll be happy to prove it, but I ain’t daft neither, mate.”
~Moontouch

[Vexa Blueclaw]

When the otter atop the wall decided to come down, Vexa made good on her word. With great care Vexa removed her bow and quiver from her back, laying them on the path with the utmost care. She slipped the two long knives off and laid them beside the full quiver before unbuckling the belt that held four flat throwing daggers at her hip. With the belt came a pouch of sling stones and a handmade sling to lay atop the pile of weapons. Double checking to make sure that was everything, Vexa stepped back from the weapons still wrapped in her cloak. As she moved, the fort doors creaked open and Vexa's vivid amber eyes fell upon Moontouch Icebrink properly for the first time, taking in posture and searching for concealed weapons more out of habit than anything. Once she was certain the otter was indeed unarmed, Vexa allowed herself to relax a little, the tension leaving her lithe dark-furred frame.

"Whisker yanking is for dibbuns good otter, I like to think my standards are higher" Vexa replied lightly, amber eyes dancing with gentle mirth. "Had you allowed me entrance at once, then I would have thought you daft."

Vexa inclined her head lightly, sweeping the cloak aside to show the otter she truly was unarmed but for the small pile of long range weapons laying a few pawsteps away between the mismatched pair. She wouldn't want any thoughts of doubt floating about in the otter's mind. Vexa liked to think others knew she was honest but then again, she was a fox. Foxes were known to be sly and sneaky. Vexa was no exception but her slyness was put more toward uses such as pranks or harmless jokes to bring laughter to a downed group.

"What work is there for a tracker and archer within the walls of this fort?" Vexa asked, twitching her ears slightly, watching the newcomer curiously.

[Moontouch Icebrink]

Moontouch takes no offense to Vexa’s comments about whiskers and dibbuns and, noting the line of weapons ont eh ground, that the fox had made good on her word, steps out from behind the door. She doesn’t want to be known as anything but bold; she ain’t no timid churchmouse, but a strong and capable otter warrior. She makes an effort to straighten her tunic and takes a harmless step forward and out of the doorway. “Plenty,” she states quickly, whiskers twitching slightly as she does. “There’s always need for skilled trackers and sharp arches at this fort.”

And it’s true. “The foot troops are always on the look out for talented trackers and archers are welcome in any division.” She motions over her shoulder as she talks as if affirming her words with gesture. A smile has started on her furry black mouth as she grows more comfortable and confident as no sense of danger tweaks her instincts. Yet she doesn’t drop her guard completely as that has gotten many beasts in trouble in the past. She’s vowed to be smarter than that.
~Moontouch

(OOC: Sorry it’s short. *wince*)