The Start of Something...

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

"Well It was our pleasure to..." he said with a grin. He turned to the Largest otter in the group. He had slick, blackish, fur and was quiet muscular for an otter. He look as if he could even be quiet a match for even a young badger. His eyes had a faint red hue to them, almost a diluted, milky, red color. He wore a black tunic and long-coat which were in much better condition than the rest of the crew and had a Massive, over-sized, meat cleaver on his belt. Around his neck he bore a blue medallion which was obviously some kind of heirloom. He had no scaring whatsoever on his body and if one looked closely one could see some kind of dark red tattoo on lower part of his neck which was covered by his long-coat.

The Skipper turned to him. "Undertaker. Lets get rid of these bodies." he looked up at the sky and could see it was clouding up and was beginning to drizzle. "It'll rain soon...care to come in?" he ask Natasha pointing a thumb at the top of the mountain/clifftop.

[Scarlet]

Natasha looked up at the creature who was now towering over them. She was positively awe-struck by his massive size and fierce warrior type looks. Occupied with sizing the beast in front of her up, taking in his large meat cleaver and red eyes, she hardly heard Skipper's offer for shelter. A puzzled look glanced across Natasha's face as she looked at the seemingly bare cliff, but she quickly hid her puzzlement. " Of course. Thank you. I would hate to have had to go..." She said, for it was true. She was so curious... At times she cursed her curiosity, but most normally she just let it take her where it may. Many times has she nearly lost her head because of this. "I can help with the bodies, if need be. It may surprise you that I am not unaccustomed to such things." Natasha offered with a smile.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

"Non-sense...your a lady...I wouldn't have you moving such things..." he said looking at her with a grin, jokingly...He meant it though...

"Foller me..." he said grabbing his haversack from the ground and slinging it over his shoulder. He began walking up the winding path. "Watch yer step matey. One little slip and its a long drop to tha' rocks." He said looking over and hugging the side as much as possible without looking ridiculous. They finally reached the top to the overlook in front of the entrance to the cave/cavern. He looked over and out over the sea. One could see for miles and miles out. It was the perfect Location for keep watch over that which he protected with a steel paw...

He looked to his left and could see a large Mountain/volcano sticking out from the dunes in the far, far, far distance. Salamandastron. He looked up and it began to rain.

[Scarlet]

Natasha understood. Obviously this Skipper was a more gentlmanly pirate himself, and for that Natasha was glad, for she really would rather not have helped with the bodies anyway. She simply nodded at his words, as he seemed to mean them. She smiled at him, and let him lead her where he may. And that seemed to be to a dangerous spot where she could trip and fall off the cliff face. She side stepped ginerly along the edge, hugging the rock against her back as she followed Skipper. Her paws became a little sweaty as she assesed the hieghth of her position. She never was one for climbing and being anywhere above ground level.

Wanting to hide her dislike, almost fear, of hieghts, she put on a nonchalant face that looked like 'Yeah, whatever, I'm over 50 feet above the ground, so what?'. It seemed a little silly to do so, though, because her shoulders were literally shaking, if only a little. She was majorly relieved when she was no longer on the edge of the cliff path and was finally in a larger space where she could scoot away from the deadly drop-off.

When her paws had stopped shaking and were mostly dried, she looked out at the view. It was simply breath-taking. The ocean was a deep cobalt color, with speckles and stripes of white where the foam gathered at the tops of the waves. They crash against the shore, then get pulled back into the ocean, like giant hands trying to grasp the land and then falling back unsuccesfully. It seemed redundant to Natasha that the waves would continue in thier hopeless quest to be on land, but she was amazed at their determination. The sun created a white and yellow stripe down the middle of the ocean, as it was starting to be lowered down into the thrashing waves, a sign of evening to come.

" Wow, the view up here is incredible... Is it always this breath-taking?" Natasha wondered aloud, half asking Skipper a question, half talking to herself. That's when she noticed the rain that began to fall from the gray-white clouds above.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

"Oh aye...Always...you should see it in the early parts of tha' summer..." He said hunching his back as the rain hit him. "Lesget inside shall we?" He said walking into the cave entrance. It was much warmer there. There were torches lit every few yards to light the way. As the entered the main chamber though Natasha would be able to see it was massive. There was a crystal clear pool of water in the middle about 20 feet wide all around that if swam to the bottom would lead outside. Around all sides of the chamber were other small openings that would lead to sleeping quarters, kitchens, weapons store, etc. Beside the pool of water was a lit fire with several otters around it. Although the enter cavern was filled with many otters as well and not all of them being inside. On the opposite side of the main entrance there was an exit that would lead to mossflower woods if one were to follow it all the way out which might take a day or two.

"Make yourself at home..." the Skipper said. "Don't let the others bother ye and if they do just tell me..." He said before looking over to the infirmary area seeing the otters he had just shot still on the cot, a pool of blood trickling from their head and hands.

[Scarlet]

Natasha was thankful to get out of the now pouring rain. Stepping gingerly around the small puddle of water that had formed in a slight hollow of the rock, she followed Skipper down the entrance. As Natasha stepped into the main chamber, her jaw dropped a tad, unbeknownst to her. Awestruck by the giant 'room' and crystal clear pool, she was at a loss for words for some time. Her eyes wandered the massive confines of Skipper's holt, flicking from the pool to the fire, glancing around at the many entrances to other rooms. She recognized what seemed to be the kitchen, and then her eyes found the infirmary.

Natasha, as always, had curiousity burning a hole in her pocket at the sight of the dead otters. Finding her voice again, she looked at Skipper for the first time in a few minutes and found he was looking at in the same direction, towards the infirmary. " What happened here?" Natasha asked, her voice tinted with wonder, awe, curiousity and disgust. Disgust because of the sight of the dead otters, curiousity as to why they were dead. Awe and wonder alone belonged to the very sight of the holt, which was very beautiful as the water reflected off the sides of the cavern and tinted the walls slightly blue.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

The Skipper looked over at Natasha. "Oh...uh..." He started as he pointed to the dead corpses. "That one fell...and startled that one...so that one shot the other in the leg...that one wanted to dull tha' pain so me matey Undertaker accidentally killed him with a rock...That one thought it was funny that he died...so I wanted to show him just how funny it was to tha' other..." He said rubbing the back of his neck. "I think he got tha' point...If he thought it was funny that a fellow comrade got killed...then...Well I cant have any of those kinds in my holt...wouldn't spell for good fortune...'eh?" he said looking back at the fire.

He pulled a passing otter aside. "Get those corpses outta' tha' missus's sight will ya'? Burn 'em and float em...any good mate of mine deserves that much..." He said respectfully. "So 'eh...whatcha' doin all tha' way out 'ere?" He asked adding a few small twigs to the fire to keep it going while his clothes dried on his back. He waited for an answer patiently as he rubbed the scar across his right eye.

[Scarlet]

Natasha nod, pretending to understand why he had had to have killed that other otter. She still wasn't quite used to this whole heartless killing, piratey thing yet. She wasn't brought up that way. In fact, she was brought up the total opposite. She used to be one of those good vermin, who lived peacefully with the other creatures around where she used to live. She was brought up a lady of the house, for her parents were far from poor. They lived in a nice stone castle type place.

She absent mindedly scooted closer to the fire, relishing the heat against her fur. It felt nice comared to the rather chilly weather outdoors. She watched the tiny embers spark up when Skipper tossed the twigs onto the fire, the tiny little flecks of orange quickly disapearing against the cold rock floor.
"So 'eh...whatcha' doin all tha' way out 'ere?"
Natasha tried to think of an answer to Skipp's expected question, but it was difficult. Truth be told, she had no idea why she was out here. She had no reason to be wandering around recklessly, alone. But then, what was reason?
"I wanted to see what it was like up here. You know, a completely off-track adventure." The last part was mostly true; This was definately off-track. But truthfully, Natasha couldn't care less about where she was or what it looked like. True, she had noticed the beautiful sunset, but she had always been drawn to the sunlight. It was in her nature to look the way the sun was and actual see. How she got here was all kind of a blur, she just walked and walked. She took notice of other creatures, and all the noises, but not the path in front of her. Had it been hard? She knew not.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

"Well...Im sure yer adventures been a little...eh...rough...so far...aye?" he said referring to the two dead otters and the little mishap with the beast outside. "Im guessing...you're...alone...I mean...by yourself...Judgin' by how long it took ye to answer...somethin' musta' happened...I dont wanna pry....but...do you mind?" He asked very curious to her history.

[Scarlet]

Natasha wasn't the sort to hand out information about her past to just anyone, so she kept her answer brief. " Well, lets just say I'm... trying to find someone." She said, though that still didn't really cover why she was out here. Not many vermin lived so near to Salamandastron. " I preffer to travel alone at times, as I am sure most of us tend to. " She added.


[Sorry, really short...]