With Swords, Claws, and Teeth Bared

"Sorry friend, I have only heard crazy rumors about the Queen's Grace meeting one in the woods yesterday. Not anything else out of the ordinary. A couple of dwarf tracks yesterday in the snow right by the sledge trail while I was hunting. I am off to hunt now actually. This area has a delightful number of non-talking rodents and rabbits that stray in from the Western Wild. Would you care to come and hunt with me? Sometimes there are even some non-talking stags who come out of yonder forest." WoodSpry did not really wait for the wolf's reaction but started to move slowly almost beckoning the wolf to follow but rather wishing he wouldn't. Her Majesty's wolves were not company that WoodSpry liked to keep. He was not on her side at any rate. He just knew that he had to be careful when dealing with her people because not taking care could cost one his life.
 
Agraf's eyes glinted. "Perhaps I would care to hunt with you. There's a food hoarder in this neighborhood, and that's a hunt that Her Majesty would fully approve of. Someone's getting double rations."
 
Flakefeather changed his own plan on the spur of the moment. He had intended to approach the Wolf openly, and say that he had seen signs of humans passing by; that he thought they were trying to mask their passage with the animal tracks, while following a planned trail as indicated by the arrow-scratches. But now that the Bobcat was with the Wolf, the Bluejay became worried that his trick might misfire, and the Bobcat would suffer for it as the Wolf became suspicious.

So instead, he kept out of their sight, and began speaking in a voice which he counted on the Wolf to hear just faintly. He made up a name for a supposed companion whom he would pretend to address---

"You see, Roughtail, I _told_ you it was no use trying to interest the Bobcat in joining our hoarding scheme! He's loyal to the Queen; he would have turned us in as soon as we made the suggestion. Come on, let's get flying before they identify us!" And Flakefeather took off on an evasive course, keeping trees between himself and the groundwalkers.
 
Agraf's ears pricked at the sound of Flakefeather's high voice. But Jadis had not promoted him to lieutenant because he was a fool. Perhaps the bird was right, and the Bobcat before him might not be hoarding food. He certainly didn't look the sort. But if a bird would depend on such methods to defend him, WoodSpry was just as certainly no friend of the Queen. "On second thought," he said, "I might find a more loyal Narnian to hunt with." So saying, he galloped away, his gray legs like shifting smudges against the snow.
 
All Flakefeather could do for the moment was to keep flying away. If he returned to Woodspry's vicinity, and were known to have done so, this would completely destroy any remaining credibility in his effort to make the Bobcat seem (from the tyrant's viewpoint) "innocent." But since he had kept where the Wolf could not see him, any later sighting would not prove him to have been the unseen talker. So the Bluejay resolved that he _would_ keep an eye out for any chance to spy from high up on the evil beast.
 
Susan had watched the whole thing and heard all that was said. She had, out of pure curiosity, started to follow the bobcat and wolf as they moved away and had also heard Flakefeather. The kitten's ears flattened back on her head as the wolf turned and moved past her hiding spot. She just hoped that she was far enough back from the path that he wouldn't notice her. She began to creep slowly backwards, then stopped. It would look extremely suspicious if someone saw her and thought she was slinking around, maybe even spying. Quickly she stood up and started walking in a more relaxed way. She still remained partially crouched though, as if she were hunting.

'No wolf's gonna find fault with me. At any rate I'm certianly not hoarding food, Marble and I barely have enough to survive. I hope whoever's keeping 'extra' though won't get in trouble, whether its the bird or somebody else.' she thought.
 
Agraf's frustration grew with every lope of his powerful legs. No humans, no hoarders. Nothing. And he a lieutenant of Her Majesty. He plowed through the snow and into the entrance of his cave. It was rugged and roughly furnished--the home of a Narnian Wolf. He flopped onto a pile of skins and closed his eyes, hoping that sleep would rid him of his frustrations.
 
NPC's: Meanwhile, many miles east of the scene of all this excitement, two Satyr sisters who were cousins to Exeter the Expendable came to a sad end. Sylvia the Silly and Irina the Irrational each made up an accusation of treason against the other one, hoping to get the other one's rations. Both accusations were believed, and both Satyrettes had their heads chopped off by a Minotaur on executioner duty.

Back in Woodspry's neighborhood, the mother Rabbit who had spoken with the Bobcat was lying low, ready to be taken in control by any player who had use for her as part of a conversation.
 
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Susan had been moving amongst the trails of various small animals in the forest, her mind now taken back to her original task of hunting. She had just caught onto a particularly fresh scent when she heard a noise. Lifting her head she saw the entrance to a cave. As she did so she was imeadiatly hit with the overpowering scent of a wolf. Her senses screamed for her to get out of there, but she was curious now; could this be the same wolf she had seen earlier? If so it might be a good idea to know where he lived so that she wouldn't run into him in the future, or at least that's what she told herself.
Creeping closer to the den she could see the wolf curled up asleep inside. It was the same one she had seen earlier. Strange that she should run across him twice now today, even though he had been unaware of her prescense the first time.

'And you'd better get out of here before he becomes aware of you this time.' she told herself. However she was still only a kitten and kittens, even ones living during the time of the Witch, could be very mischevious. Scrambling to the top of the wolf's den Susan let out a loud yowl and then turned and skidded down, running away as fast as she could, adrenaline pulsing through her.
'Yeah, that was smart,' she thought to herself, 'Make the wolf, an ally of the witch, mad at you. He could probably even track you and then eat you. In one gulp. Still.... at least I let everybody know something was there. I'll probably have to spend the night in a friendly tree so that I can't be attacked during the night. Oh well.' she smiled, her brother Marble would kill her if he found out what she'd done.

Just to be safe Susan found a tree that she knew wasn't on the witch's side of near any of /her/ trees and climbed into it. She nestled into the branches and crouched there, watching the world below her silently.
 
During the movements of Susan the Kitten, Flakefeather the Bluejay had done enough aerial meandering to feel confident that his NOW re-entering the area of recent events would not cause anyone to associate HIM with those events. Thus it was that he heard the Kitten's yowl, and soon caught sight of her fleeing away from what looked like an inhabited den. This interested Flakefeather enough that he kept her under observation until she chose her tree perch.

Alighting in the same tree, well out of reach of any lunge that she could make, he quietly asked her, "Are you a Talking Beast?"

NOTE: Any action by the Wolf Lieutenant, in whatever Glenburne posts next, is likely to occur, or at least to begin, three minutes or more before Flakefeather's approach to Susan. Unless, of course, Glenburne also wants to skip ahead some in time.
 
OOC: Fact Check here: Sorry guys, I think it might be my fault because I seem to have given everyone the opinion that Jadis did not let the animals store food or that she rationed the food that they ate. I only intended to say that Jadis carefully controlled the food that came into Narnia From OTHER Places. Maybe a food smuggler would be more worth the wolf's while than a food hoarder. We know for a fact that the Beavers and Tumnus stored food. We also know that many animals are by nature food hoarders. The Queen disapproved of Gluttony, yes, but there is simply no evidence to back up food hoarding being a crime in the book. Nor is there evidence to say that a greenhouse or something of that nature would be illegal. In my earlier post about his greenhouse not being monitored like the others in the neighborhood I was actually trying to imply that the queen may have thought they were getting seeds from an outside source, a source that would be aiding or abetting the queen's enemies. The queen has a monopoly on cereal grains and anything that can not be grown in a greenhouse or taken from the wintery land. She can use that monopoly to keep control over residents; she would not want that to be jeopardized. Honestly, in the wake of human entry into Narnia, the Queen has bigger problems on her hands than animals getting double rations. But this OOC is too long as it is any further communications shall be in the OOC thread.
 
Susan jumped as she heard a voice beside her. She was still breathing hard from her run so she guessed the noise must've masked any small sounds the bird might have made as it landed.

"Of course I am," she said, "And I see you're a talking bird, which is rather unfortunate for me, since my hunting keeps getting delayed."
 
"Then I shall not long detain you. But because I see that you are no friend of the Police Wolves, I must say this: if you are one who hopes for the return of Aslan and the end of the perpetual winter, count me as your friend. My name is Flakefeather." While saying this, the Bluejay was scanning the terrain below, in case the Wolf Lieutenant might have emerged from his den after Susan's disturbance.
 
WoodSpry hunted for a bit and caught a couple of nice mice and a shrew. He did not take long to clean his kills and then he moved on. He was on his way home when he nearly walked into the middle of yet another set of the Secret Police. He avoided them for the most part, but it convinced him that something MAJOR had gotten Her Majesty's dander up. Something more than just idle rumors. He nearly made it home when he caught sight of a beaver skulking near the faun's house. WoodSpry would have checked it out but he had had way too much excitement for one day and went home the rest of the way without bothering to stop. He got home and cooked the Food he had caught [since it seemed to be the thing that talking animals did] and sat down to a late lunch. Maybe he would chance another trip out after a nice nap.
 
Meanwhile, at the home of Satyr Exeter, since now only one bed needed to be used, Exeter took some of the covers from his deceased mother's bed and tacked them over a leaky window, the better to retain the relative warmth from the hearth fires he was able to have every alternate day.
 
A giant black dog has been roaming about for hours. Since she got up this morning she has been all over Lantern Waste sniffing for any possible sign of the humans. She is beside herself with glee. And in her mirth she has probably trapsed through any viable evidence that Lucy and Edmund were ever there. Mia hasn't talked anyone all day as she has pretty much had her nose to the ground. Some light flurries here and there over night have made the trail dead. Now she is just roaming around trying to clear her head and be able to deal with day to day life until more is known when she happens upon the tree that Flakefeather and Susan are in.
 
{ I venture to assume that Mia's timing is such that not much time has passed since the last post to feature the bird and the kitten. }

"Look down there," Flakefeather said quietly to Susan. "Is that one of the Police Wolves?" He was concerned for the Kitten if this were so; HE could fly away at need, but she couldn't.
 
At that moment, Mia flopped over on her side by the tree and started rolling in the snow. She had had a long morning and she was content. After a good roll, Mia flipped to her belly and then got up into a sitting position and started wagging her tail. She looked up at where she heard the voice and saw the bluejay, not necessarily the kitten. "Hello, bird. You talk. I haven't seen a talking bird like you before. It must be true. Everything I have been hearing." Her body language spoke to the fact that she was excited and her tail was wagging against the base of the tree with a loud thud.
 
MOZART, it should still be all right for you to post, retroactively, some comment which Susan might have made to Flakefeather just before what I am now writing. I am currently assuming that Susan is cautiously trying to avoid being noticed by Mia.


Flakefeather once again purposely drew attention to himself. Descending to a lower perch --still high enough that he would be able to get clear if this beast tried to catch him-- he spoke to the dog:

"You do not see Talking Birds because they are able to get OUT of Narnia. The White Witch has used Harpies to try to prevent aerial escapes, but most fleeing birds, intelligent or not, have been able to evade those monsters. I am the only Talking Bird of my particular kind to have remained in Narnia, and I stay by choice." He still hesitated to tell his name.
 
Mia thought for a second and was about to say something when her nose picked up a scent. "I smell cat and wolves. Stupid infernal Secret Police. Always sticking their noses where they do not belong. Most of the wolves are pretty far off yet, one isn't. Well, if I couldn't find any scents earlier, they won't either. They think they are better than us dogs. They think that because they have given themselves to slavery to their mistress they are invincible, I think not." She said this last with an almost angry chuff.
 
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