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Taking first watch for the night together while Darjeeling and Rooibos slept, Peppermint and Bohea decided to pass the time with a friendly game of cards. The quest was a lengthy one for the Rodent Adventure Group, but it was only passing through low level threat areas of the woodland, so neither felt any need to actually pay much attention.

While Bohea was always doing her best to learn new card games and improve her ability to play them, Peppermint always distracted herself in the match to make things a little more fair. In a way she had grown appreciative of Bohea talking fair and forward, something that had both formed a good bond between the two. 

This evening Peppermint decided she'd try to think back to when the two first met while she played, before there was any Rodent Adventure Group, and indeed before any Avala descendants could even adventure. It proved a good enough distraction to even the card match.

---

Back when the two were being trialled to potentially become part of what eventually became the Rodent Adventure Group, Bohea had confronted Peppermint. The squirrel was terrified by her fellow rodent. The grasshopper mouse was almost the opposite of Peppermint: Outgoing, forceful, a will of iron and she just loved to brawl. 

Just seeing Bohea in action during the trials initial combat round was enough to cause Peppermint to start to doubt she even belonged in the trials, to doubt if she could even be an Adventure Scout, let alone an actual Adventurer. After the grasshopper mouse was caught off guard in first trials and punched straight into the dirt by her tiger opponent, she just got straight back up again and fought on with a grin with her body broken a bit but mind unchanged.  The very thought that Peppermint was trialling to be a representative of her people, to show that Avalans can be responsible, well it was laughable when she saw someone like Bohea stride into training fights without fear.

So when this small powerhouse of confidence and energy marched straight up to the red squirrel playing solitaire in the corner at the first evening's tavern break, Peppermint was unsure if Bohea was going to just exclaim her as pathetic or drag her out herself and humiliate her.

The truth at first seemed not too far off. Standing before Pepper, Bohea grinned with her paws on her hips, sizing up the squirrel. "Alright, you and me. One v. One." She stated with relish, less a request and more a statement of what will happen very shortly.

Peppermint froze. Did Bohea mean in the tavern? Exactly what did this mouse have in mind? She had overheard from another couple potentials, two strange rabbit-like sisters with long tails, that grasshopper mice has predatory instincts second to none, were resistant to poisons and felt no pain if they wished it. Did this mean this rodent was going to lay some sort of beat-down in the middle of the tavern floor?

The silence between the two was deafening. And certainly enough for a couple other initiates to look over, a larger serval with swelling on one side of his face at the next table pausing to see what was happening between the two. Bohea herself stayed as still as Peppermint, her grin a contrast to Peppermints own wide eye surprised expression. Finally, the mouse spoke, repeating her statement "So? You and me, one v. one right now?"

It was all Peppermint could do to nod slightly, opening and closing her maw silently as she tried to think of an answer. With Peppermints bow still being outside in the Guild's lockup and her style of physical avoidance in fight the squirrel knew she'd be at a disadvantage in this fight, though the word 'hopeless' crossed her mind.

Nodding in satisfaction, Bohea took another step close, the mouse imposing over the squirrel despite Peppermint actually being the taller of the two. She could almost feel herself shrinking down before Bohea's confidence.

"Alright then, this better be a good fight. Last couple idiot wanted to brawl and couldn't even throw a decent punch, let alone actually throw me." She jerked her chin over to the serval in the next table who quickly looked away. "Cats and mice, he said. Big feline like him can take a punch from a mouse, he said. Didn't even have a healing potion. Idiot! Anyway, what'll it be, eh? You a brawler too? " 

Peppermint could only listen as her mind unlocked itself slowly, the understanding of what Bohea said not helping  the squirrels pessimistic outlook much at all. Blinking at the question, she managed to utter words in a reply, though for some reason her voice felt weak as it left her lips, and as she tried to speak lower after the first word her lungs simply would not let her. "N.. I'm.. I'm more a rogue class.. th.. they locked my bow up outside training.. Next to the swords.."

"Pha! Don't need that rubbish to fight! 'Sides, I heard anyone who makes it to this Adventure Group's gonna get new stuff. So what'll it be Rogue, you use sommit other then strength? Whatcha wanna fight with?" The mouse tilted her head, expecting a reply almost impatiently.

Glancing about, Peppermint could almost feel a social version of the fight or flight instinct starting to kick in. Her eyes moved to Bohea, looking at her up and down, before glancing to the serval for but a moment before she muttered "Uh.." and went to look at her own pack next to her chair. Finally her eyes went to her cards. 

After a second of staring at those cards a moment of realisation hit her: Bohea had never said the fight would be physical. Peppermint might be able to simply make the grasshopper mouse give up by offering a 'battle' of cards. One mention of a game of wits, and someone like Bohea would likely give up, or at the least scoff and leave the squirrel alone. Looking back towards Bohea, who she could have sworn was tapping her paw on her hips, Peppermint meekly pointed towards the cards. "How.. how about those?" She whispered.

Bohea paused, her smile dropping while slowly looking at the cards and then back to peppermint, her pose remaining as she did so. Then after a moment of regarding the squirrel sitting before her, the grasshopper mouse broke out in a grin. "Aye, that'll do it! Just go easy on me, eh? I haven't played card games much!"