Chapter 1 - Introductions

Bay is a brave little mouse - always had a sense of adventure, loved loved LOVED being a Sparrow Rider, soaring above her home settlement, keeping an eye out for incoming threats, on occasion raining mousy wrath down from above on the rare occasions they were attacked. Probably the hardest part for Bay about leaving with Sky to head out for adventures in the wide world, was leaving behind Brown Muffin, her sparrow steed - they had been working together for many years, love each other, and Bay misses her dearly.

But the call to see more, to experience more, was too strong for her. So, finally, she resolved, it was time to head out and learn more of what the world has to offer. She hopes she will experience marvels, feel and see and learn new things! But she is also ready to look out for herself, her companions...! And hopefully also do some good for others along the way.

Bay hefts her trident and runs over towards the sounds of the cries. She's a good-hearted generous mouse, and would want to help out someone in distress if she could!

Seeing the scene before them, Bay shouts out:

"Hey! Rat! What are you doing there?! Stop throwing those stones this instant!"

With that, Bay moves towards the rat, her fur standing up straight, a look of fury in her eyes at what seems to be a scene of bullying and malice.

"Dear me...! What on earth is going on here?" Sky calls out incredulously as her nose twitches and her whiskers immediately start to vibrate. Her luminous eyes dart around the scene quickly to see if there is anything dangerous about. More dangerous than the stone throwing rodent before them.

Her ears twitch as well, however this has more to do with the distinctive sound of the falling pips than with the pleading creature. Sky glances at Bay as she orders the attacker to stop and admires her friend's determination, before taking a place next to her. One hand rests on the hilt of her sword - more for show than with actual intent. She is certain Hazel is by their side as always and likes their current odds ... and the possible compensation of their heroic actions.

"Explain yourself, vagrant!"

It seems her grandstanding has done little to dissuade the rat from entering violent conflict. Sky ignores the blood rushing in her ears and draws her sword. She would not let that stick come down on her friends.

Although the motion is less fluid than she hoped it would be, Sky's sword is out and she moves forward to meet the brute. Sharp end in front, that's the important part. She focuses on the offending stick as well, its length and thickness and tries to calculate its reach and weight. Each blow that is about to come has a certain chance of hitting her and she likes to be prepared - ideally to get out of the way before being clobbered.

Hazel looks at the rat with her deep, black button eyes and twitches her delicate whiskers. The lightly clad woman stands proud and upright, holding her bow and arrow in skillful paws. She hasn't pulled the string yet, but she will do so quickly if the situation requires it.

The hazelnut brown mouse tilts her head slightly and replies admonishingly: "Now there are four of us and you are alone - rat. Wouldn't you like to think about it again, before you do something... rash?"

Confident that she and her two daring friends could scare the rat away, Hazel tries words one last time before taking action.

Bay is furious - letting all her anger out here, blazing it all directly at this rat. But she still sees what Hazel is trying here, and yeah, Bay would be much happier if we could get through this without coming to more blows.

Bay, though, doesn't feel any uncertainty about how to push forward here - this rat isn't for persuading, it's for scaring out of its skin...

"Rat! You've tasted some of what we three have got coming for you! Three hardened mouse warriors against a mangy ner-do-well rat? I know who comes out best here...!"

Bay moves closer to the rat, huge-for-her double-handed trident pushed out towards it.

"We're giving you until the count of three to scram - or you'll be tasting even more of our mousy steel!

Pointing her pointy nose, pointedly up to Gideon, Hazel asks: "How did you get up there in the first place... stranger?" Talking to three women without giving his own name first. How rude of this keg-bellied rat-victim!

Nonetheless, looking for something that could aid this ... wealthy mouse to get out of his predicament, the brown furred archer tries to see if there is a rickety wagon, a barrel, or even a ladder to help him.

She would do so anyway, a fellow mouse in need and so on, but knowledge of a mystery seems too redolent of adventure and fame to be passed lightly.

Bay's eyes light up at this talk of skills and valour and adventure...! That's exactly what this band of friends was looking for when they left Muusdorf!

And for sure she wants to help out this, hm, indisposed stranger they've encountered.

Various ideas go through her head about how they might be able to help him down...

- Strike through and break his belt with Bay's long trident, and cushion his fall as he, er, descends from the branch?
- Throwing something up to weigh down the end of the branch, hopefully bringing Mr Hanging Mouse closer to the ground?
- Climbing up the tree themselves, and somehow helping him down? But that sounds very difficult.
- Building an acrobatic tower of three mice to reach up and help him down?

None of them sounds easy!

Bay's favourite would be to climb the tree and with the use of some rope or something like that, work out a way to lower Mr Hanging Mouse down to the ground - hm, although, do they have any rope with them here?

With a sideways glance and a shrug Sky gets closer to the tree to climb it. Unfortunately the bark turns out to be rotting away and she cannot get a good foothold. "Sorry, I'll try again. And Gideon, if you fall ... we'd almost certainly catch you in any case."

Sky takes a run-up towards the trunk and manages to get quite a bit higher this time. She even manages to grab onto a bit of the branch the fat mouse is hanging on before she slips...

Laying her bow to the side, Hazel opens the clasp that holds her traveling cloak and folds it quiet nicely. Then the brown mouse crack her tiny mouse knuckles with intention in her eyes and steps under the tree. "I will catch you." she proclaims.

All of this would seem rather comical to an onlooker, as Hazel is the smallest of the three Muusdorf adventurers.

"Thank you!" Sky exclaims, thinking Hazel means her rather than the strange fellow. She is hanging onto the branch with her hands, while she is trying to get a good position for her feet. The blue-coated mouse shimmies towards Gideon with her fingers and gets close, but without the help of her feet she is not strong enough to secure her own position.

It turns out that the bark is not the only thing half-rotten. A sudden cracking noise makes Sky's heart jump. She looks to the source and sees that the branch cannot carry their combined weight for much longer. With a desperate determination Sky builds up some momentum and swings herself towards the equally worried mouse hanging upside down in front of her. She manages to grab onto his jacket, the piece of clothing immediately slides down, the buttons tear of, then the weak wood breaks and both, Sky and Gideon, plummet downwards.

Because of the momentum, Hazel cannot anticipate their trajectory fast enough. Sky falls to the ground not far from her friend's outstretched hands. The ground is soft enough though and for a split second Sky feels relieved - that is until - BAM! - the fat mouse lands directly on top of her. The mouse is so stunned that it takes her a moment to throw Gideon off and curse under her whiskers. When she tries to get up, Sky feels a sharp pain where the heavier mouse has landed. ""Told you we'd catch you" she says in a strained voice as her hands rub over the ribs that are very likely cracked. She breathes with some difficulty.