A Storm of Fortune

[Taggle]

Taggle ran through the sand, eyes wide with terror. The rain beat with a steady rhythm onto his head, thunder booming through the sky. For a brief moment, a crackle of lightning lit up the sea, a black, whirling, churning mass.
The little mouse looked out at the sea, hearing the tide breathe in and out with a rush. To his mind, it was a snake, coiling and ready to strike at any moment. Taggle tripped over a peice of driftwood, letting out a squeak of dismay as he fell face first into the sand, ripping his brown pants. He pushed himself to his footpaws and stumbled forward, gasping for breath. His hurried escape had caught up with him.
After hobbling a few more feet the little mouse looked up at the cliffs and fell over, spiraling into a deep, black sleep.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

This was a violent storm indeed. The tide was high enough to launch a good midsized ship from the shore below. The waves however would make it difficult seeing they were 20 foot swells and would easily demolish the ship or at least wash it back ashore. A shadowy figure was leaning over the edge of the Skipper of sea otter's holt overlook and was looking down. The shadowed silhouette had spotted something on the shore below. The Silhouette disappeared from the edge of the jutting overlook.

Minutes later a figure appeared and towered over the mousebabe on the shore. It knelt down and took of the hook that was covering his head. It was an otter. He didn't look all that fierce with the exception of the usual razor sharp teeth. The otter also had an eye patch over his right eye. He looked down at the mousebabe and shrugged. Not right fer a mousebabe to be out 'ere all alone-like... he thought to himself as he scooped the mousebabe up in his arms.

The Otter was one named One-eye. He was the only beast that was actually awake in the holt at the time. He carried the mousebabe inside and put on on the floor next to the fire. He grabbed a blanket and covered him up before sitting down on a nearby stump warming his own self by the fire. How did a mousebabe end up all alone all the way out here...?

[Taggle]

The mousebabe woke up a while later, eyes wide. He squeaked loudly at the fire, and backed away from it and the large, eyepatched otter, crinkling. The little mouse grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around himself, dripping wet still.
He twisted one of his legs at an odd angle, looking around the holt, then back at the otter. Taggle tilted his head curiously, tracing over his own eye where an eyepatch would be if he had one, remaining silent as he swung his long, pink tail back and forth. Taggle hiccuped suddenly, then shivered.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

One-eye turned his head upon hearing the squeak. He smiled and grabbed a bowl that was next him. "Ya hungry? " he asked holding the bowl out to the mousebabe which was filled with freshly peel shrimp. "Got some vittles 'ere if ya are?" he said putting the bowl next to em. "Why ya all tha' way out 'ere?"

Watching the mousebabe trace his eye he put a paw to his eye-patch. "Oh that. Uh...gotta keep it safe incase I get ina dark spot...that doesn't make sense does it 'eh?"

[Taggle]

The mousebabe shook his head, and traced his eye again, then looked down into the soup, leaning down with caution to sniff it, then looked back up, as if asking permission.
He threaded his tail into somewhat of a coil, hugging it close to himself. The little mouse's gaunt features were drawn out in the firelight, his pale brown fur and hungry eyes flickering. Water dripped from his clothes onto to the floor, making a small puddle around him.
His ribs were almost visible through the shirt. He moved to pull the blanket closer about him, crinkling softly, dipping a paw slowly into the soup.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

As the dibbun looked back up for permission, One-eye nodded with a friendly smile, something the dibbun wouldn't likely see alot of here.

The Dibbun was dripping with water. He was likely to catch a cold. " 'ere.... Take those wet clothes off and wrap yourself in tha' blanket." The Dibbun looked very malnourished. Over time though with the holt he would be well fed. "You 'avent been eatin' much av' ye? Where did you come from?" He asked poking the fire with a another log before dropping it to burn with the rest.

[Taggle]

Taggle backed into the darkiness a bit, struggling to pull off his wet clothes. The little mouse threw them into a pile, then shivered, wrapping himself back up in a blanket. He poked the wet shirt, pants, and diaper with his foot, then nudged them closer to the fire to dry off. Through a gap in the blanket, one could see the tiny little scars and marks on his bony chest.
The mousebabe leaned down to slurp at the soup, then ate it noisily, tail begging to wag back and forth. He finished it in record time and licked his whiskers, setting the bowl back down. "Thank you.." he mumbled in a high pitched, still-childish voice.
He began to examine the otter once more, shivering as each wave crested upon the shore, still sounding as if it were a large snake in his mind.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

The Mousebabe seemed alot happier now than he did earlier,...or at least more comfortable. He grinned, finding the way the dibbun nudged his cloths quiet humorous...that is until his saw the scars through the blanket. "Oh no..." he thought shaking his head back and forth. "Not at this age...'e's too young..."

"Thank you..."

He smiled and nodded his head. "Yer welcome matey..." he said looking around for a cup. "Ya thirsty? Ya look it..." he said getting up and dipping a metal cup into the pool of water in the center of the cave he inspected it before holding it out to the dibbun. He noticed the dibbun shivering at the sound of the waves. "Whats wrong? What, the sea? You don't like it?" he asked.

[Taggle]

Taggle sniffed the cup and took it slowly, looking up again to make sure it was ok. The cub squeaked a bit as a large wave hit the shore with a hissing sound. He dropped the cup and backed away. "Notta sea....das a snake.." The little mouse whimpered. He picked the cup back up and looked back down into it, splaying his ears. "Sowwy.." he mumbled.
His tail wriggled back and forth with a nervous twitch, a few chunks missing from it, continuing to jump with every falling wave.

[Skipper Of Sea Otters]

One-eye was the affectionate type...He was very good with dibbuns...even though he wasn't around them much...he used to have a little one of his own. Seeing the little one jump at the sound of each wave kind of amused him in a way but more than that softened him a bit seeing that the mousebabe might not have seen the sea.

"Sowwy.." he mumbled.

"Its fine matey....c'mere...." he said opening his arms out to hold the dibbun if he needed comforting.