Side Adventure The Interrogation of the Innocent (and Exhausted)

[FinnianBrightfur]

"Finn, leave him be. Let the poor mouse sleep."

"I am leaving him be!" Finn hissed in reply, keeping his voice low so as not to wake Elliot. The foxkit lingered over the mouse as he slept, tail swishing with curious excitement.

"No you aren't!" murmured Arthur in reply.

"Yes I am! I'm like... a whole foot away from him!" came the indignant reply. It had only been a day since they'd hauled the waterlogged beast aboard -- and all the crew was bristling with rumors about pirates, ministries, and escapades on the high seas. All this was more than fascinating to a young kit like Finn, and it was nigh impossible to pull the boy away.

Was he breathing? Finn leaned closer to check, eyes squinting.

"No, you aren't!" insisted Arthur a little more emphatically. "You've practically got your nose -- FINNIAN!" But the marten's warning was too late. Having caught a whiff of something uncerain, Finn began to root around for it's source. Before he even knew it, he'd pushed his snoot right up the poor mouse's ear.

SNUFFLE SNUFF SNUFF SNIFF SNUFFLE SNUFF.

Arthur groaned, and covered his face with a paw.

 

[Elliot Berkshaw]

Elliot was sitting on a grassy hill with huge white fluffy clouds scattered about a bright blue sky. He was alone out here in this strange space.

He didn’t quite know where he was - a dream? - but it was nice.

Except - there was something - invading the -

Flowers swept past him from a powerful wind. Some of these flowers brushed past his furry face, and he instinctually raised his remaining paw to swat them away -

Whatever he touched felt harder than a mere flower. It was fluffy, sure, but there was weight behind the …fur?

Fur? That wasn’t his, was it? No, then whose was -

Elliot blinked, and suddenly he was not on that grassy hill under the sky, but in a hammock in a ship’s infirmary. “…What?” He squeaked out, half asleep and bewildered.

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn was so engrossed in his (rather intrusive) examination of the mouse that he entirely missed the paw rushing up to swat him away. The foxkit made a noise not unlike a distressed goose, and stumbled backwards in surprise.

"Vulpuz's saggy left...! Oh, you're awake!" he cried cheerfully.

"Well, he is now..." said Arthur in resignation, paw still clasped over his eyes.

Oblivious of Arthur's displeasure, the foxkit quickly returned to the hammock, tail swishing with excitement. "How are ya feelin'? I've never met someone missing a WHOLE ARM! Does it hurt? Is it true there were pirates?"

 

[Elliot Berkshaw]

Elliot continued to stare up at Finn with sightly wide eyes as he ignored the fox for now and focused on Arthur. “… What time is it?” Something was bothering him, and the longer he laid there, the more he knew what it was.

“You…” His gaze flickered around the small wooden room, as if looking for something, the mouse unconsciously shifted in his given hammock.

Oh how he had always loathed asking for help, especially for something like this. Words failed him, instead, Elliot stared at the pine marten with almost pleading eyes, his ears flat against his head.

What made matters worse was the fox kit who would not leave him alone. Elliot felt slightly apologetic to the kit but he needed to properly wake up first. And eat and drink. And…

 

[Arthur Barrett]

Arthur slowly wiped his paw down the front of his face, attempting to regain his professional composure. "Good evening, Elliot," he said, pushing himself up to stand. "It has been only a day since we pulled you out of the water -- it is the second bell, five fifteen. You'll excuse my... Over eager assistant..." he said, leering at the young todd.

Grasping Finn by the scruff, Arthur lifted him an inch off the ground, and set him aside. "Normally I'd not tolerate such behavior in my infirmary -- but seeing as young Mr. Brightfur is now under the auspices of the captain, I can't exactly send him down to the bilge pumps myself. Though, the captain still may find some additional labor for him to teach him not to disregard the warnings of the warrant officers?" he said sternly with a side eye to the kit. Finn wilted appropriately, and opened his muzzle to apologize, but a sharp look from the pine marten said it may be best to wait until later.

Hearing the dry rasp in Elliot's throat, Arthur produced a small cup of water for the mouse. "Are you hungry? You should eat something to regain your strength..."

 

[Elliot Berkshaw]

Elliot gladly excepted the offered water. He supposed his discomfort could wait a while - he was rather hungry after all. “Evening?” he questioned. “…I do tend to sleep a lot regardless of circumstance.” the mouse mused aloud. “…Yes some food would be good, thank you mister Barrett.”

He eyed Finn. “I know you have a lot of questions for me, once I get myself situated, you can ask whatever you want, but not until then.”

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn gave a little squawk as he was scruffed. Though he usually found it quite undignified, he'd gotten rather used to it. That, and he'd grown rather fond of Mr. Barrett, rough edges and all. Even though he was pushed aside, Finn quickly relocated to another part of the cot, and watched the mouse closely. "So is it true about the -- oh!" he said, folding his ears back when he saw how weak the mouse was still. With a glance toward Arthur, he flagged his tail. "D'you want me to go get 'im some food?"

With a nod, Arthur sent the younger todd trotting off to the galley. The marten let out a soft sigh, and watched as Finn left. "He means well..." he said, apologetically. "You'll forgive me, but... there seems to be something on your mind. Is there something you wished to talk about?"

 

[Elliot Berkshaw]

Elliot watched as Finn left the room. “Two things. One, where are my belongings - the coin pouch and dagger, and second…” He looked at the door for a few seconds before he eyed Arthur, the mouse again giving the pine marten something of a pained expression. “Are you by chance wanting to perform any tests while we wait? Preferably of the… how should I put this… hm… ‘see if everything still works as intended’ variety? We’ll need to be somewhat quick about it if this is to be done before he gets back…Do note that I’m extremely reluctant to ask for help for something like this, as I can’t walk currently and I currently can’t support my weight very well…” He seemed hesitant and even humiliated to even suggest such a thing.

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

The marten peaked his eyebrows at the first request. "Ah, your personal effects! They were never far from you... here they are!" Reaching up over the mouse's head, Arthur took a small satchel off a hook, and lowered it down carefully for the mouse to inspect. "I believe you'll find everything in order." Resting one paw on the bulkhead, Arthur leaned over the mouse's bunk, and frowned in slight confusion. "...tests? My dear mouse, we gave you a thorough examination, I'm quite certain the only thing they cut off was your arm!" he said with a puzzled frown.

And then with a pause, he realized what the mouse meant. "Ahhhh yes! Oh good heavens. May I introduce to you, the ministries latest invention, the bed pan?"

- - - - -

Several moments later, Finn returned with a tray of food. Nothing extravagant, but tasty none the less. A buttered biscuit, a slice of hard tack, an orange, and a mug of hot tea. The foxkit carefully passed the tray over, and drew up a little chair to sit next to the mouse and keep him company while he ate. In the mean time, Finn produced a small apple to cronch on quietly.

 

[Elliot Berkshaw]

The bed pan was indeed a truly marvelous invention. Elliot felt sorry for the poor souls who hadn’t been able to use it before, he dreaded to think of any bedside alternatives, though he didn’t dwell on these thoughts for too long - the food was here.

Needless to say, Elliot felt a lot better after Finn brought the food. It was really good food too, at least to Elliot.

He knew Finn was staring at him the entire time he slowly ate the offered food (and tried to balance the tray across his lap and legs) but he ignored the child for now.

His coin pouch and dagger were very close by, and Elliot knew Finn would ask about those.

The mouse soon finished the food and set the tray on a nearby table - slowly but surely - and finally paid attention to Finn. “I am fed, watered, and well rested. You may ask your questions now, Finn, thank you for being patient and for assisting Mister Barrett.”

 

[FinnianBrightfur]

Finn did stare quite a bit... but with a disapproving look from Arthur, the foxkit busied himself with a small broom. There wasn't much dust or dirt, as Arthur kept things meticulously clean -- but the grumpy old marten seemed to approve. Stepping out into his quarters, he left the two alone. As Finn worked, he softly sang a somber little tune.

"Cold winds blow across th'harbor...
Cold winds on th'inland seas...
Same winds that called my father!
Cold winds are calling me..."

Though his eyes were focused down on his work, his ears kept swiveled back to listen for Elliot. The moment he heard the mouse begin to speak, he stowed the broom, and zipped his way back over with an excited gecker. A stool was drawn up post haste, and the foxkit clambered up atop of it -- and every thought that was running through his head came spilling out in almost one breath. "Everyone's sayin' you musta fought off at least like six pirates by y'rself! I never met any y'see, but we were out at Urk on the last trip and there were shrews -- and they weren't any good at all. I reckon pirates are worse, but we were tryin' t'negotiate with them and y'see cap'n Talinn (of course he's not cap'n now, but he was) told me to try and get them a gift, and I found this loaf of banana bread, but I couldn't find any hats whatsoever, and when I came back Silvie was up dancing on the rail and fell in and we had this huge battle, and Morgan got hit with an arrow and nearly keel hauled herself."

As if the verbal assault had been quite reasonable, Finn flagged his tail. "So... ...so it wasn't really like pirates but it was the closest I've ever seen!"

 

[Elliot Berkshaw]

“I didn’t fight any pirates, no.” Elliot smiled as he listened to Finn go on and on about some place called Urk. “I tried to fight a wildcat and lost. Well, more like I ran away from them and they caught up to me.

“I woke up sometime later - I never did figure out how much time passed - in the infirmary of a ship. This ship had crimson sails and the captain was a weasel named Ashfoot. I… guess he’s renowned for something? From what I remember, no one was happy I told them all of that earlier.”