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XI

Survive

"How long's it gunna be 'til you get that through yore thick skull, Kurwin?!"

The indignant ferret glared at Dirtfoot with annoyance before he sighed. "I am fully aware of wot that shrew could do to us."

The rat scoffed as he folded his arms. "You sure as hell don't act like it, Cap'n!"

It was still in the middle of the night. Tegast was still trapped beneath the tree hollow somewhere on the other side of the forest. But Kurwin the Flayer and all his soldiers were busy patrolling the woods, keeping watch on a night as dreary and as dark as this one. While the trackers and corsairs all observed the area, making sure nobeast was spying on them, Kurwin, Traegar, Fleckle, and all of Kurwin's top lieutenants were discussing their next move inside a large tent built beside a beech tree. As always, Dirtfoot was causing most of the arguments within the group, with very few beasts backing him up.

"We've been after these squirrels fer days now an' ain't yielded no results! Wot're we s'posed to do: wander 'round the woods until we get lucky?"

"Err, isn't that wot we've been doin' already?" asked Fleckle.

Kurwin looked at Fleckle and scowled.

"Well, it is! I'm jus' sayin'!"

Ishlin wiped his maw with his arm after he lowered the bottle of grog he was drinking from. "Dirtfoot's got a point, Cap'n. Log-a-Log told us to find all these squirrels an' they'll lead us to their camp! But all the squirrels we've found were just scouts, nobeast important! I say we go back to that prickly li'l bastard and make him tells us where this camp is! Slay all his shrews if it'll make 'im listen!"

"Everybeast slow down," Traegar said in an equally indignant, vociferous voice. "We've got enough enemies as it is. We don't need the Guosim pissed at us too; goin' to war with Log-a-Log is suicidal."

"And findin' this camp filled with dozens an' dozens of highly-trained squirrels isn't?!" asked Dirtfoot.

Kronno had been leaning against the tent's central pole for a while, but she couldn't help but poke fun at Dirtfoot for his brief moment of weakness.

"S'matter, Dirtfoot? Yew scared o' a few tree climbers?"

Dirtfoot snarled and started to go for his cutlass when the shaggy ferret who had graying fur interrupted them before the argument escalated any further.

"I got a suggestion, Cap'n," he said in his soft, but still noticeable voice.

"Then speak it!"

The shaggy ferret scratched the fur on his neck, causing several loose strands to fall out. "Wot if we try to capture one of these squirrels alive, instead of killin' them all when we see 'em? If these squirrels are part of the MSB, then maybe one of 'em knows where the camp we're lookin' for is."

Kurwin laughed as he pointed at the shaggy ferret and wagged his tail. "Y'see mates? That's wot happens when you all use yer brains every once in a while!"

Dirtfoot scoffed again. "Won't do much good. Every squirrel we've killed was nowhere near the camp!"

"No shit, Dirtfoot," said Stinkfoot. "That's 'cos you an' Bloodbrain keep killing all the squirrels. How are we gonna follow these ants to their anthill if we keep slaying them long before they even reach the hill? If we can't follow 'em, best we can do is question one an' see wot he or she says. We don't have any other options right now."

"We could keep wandering around until we find something."

Traegar sighed. "Fleckle..."

"I'm jus' sayin'!"

"So that leads us back to the overall point of this conversation," said a quiet rat lieutenant, "can we trust Log-a-Log?"

"Why shouldn't we?" asked Kurwin.

"'Cos he could be leadin' us into a trap, sah! Wouldn't be surprised if he already alerted them squirrels on wot we intend to do!" shouted Ishlin.

Glud scratched behind his left ear. "It is possible that Log-a-Log could backstab us, Cap'n. You were drunk at the time he told you about their camp; he probably used that opportunity to take advantage of you."

"Even so," said the ferret loudly, "Log-a-Log's given us useful information before. An' wot he's said so far's been right. We've been running into MSB squirrels; I know their camp is near here."

"Wot if the squirrels want to get caught?! D'you ever think--"

"Now yore jus' being paranoid, Dirtfoot. Yore sayin' the squirrels intentionally put themselves in harm's way so we could follow an invisible trail of bread crumbs that'll lead us to Hellgates?"

"That's exactly wot I'm sayin'!"

Kurwin shook his head. "Anybeast else agree with Dirtfoot?"

The other rat lieutenant in the tent spoke up again. "Even if Log-a-Log ain't set out to kill us now, he will betray us eventually. Everybeast in this tent knows that. We have t'slay him sooner or later."

Kurwin grinned. "Later, Muslar. I'm tryin' to make friends, not slay 'em. The day Brugo an' his shrews become worthless to us, we'll kill 'em. Until then, we're gonna treat the Shrew Chieftain as an ally, not an enemy! Is that clear?"

Most of the lieutenants nodded their heads or said "aye" in approval, although certain beasts like Muslar and Dirtfoot just mumbled in agreement. Kurwin knew that everybeast wouldn't agree--they rarely ever did. But all he needed was a majority vote, which was what he got this time around.

"Good! So all we gotta do now is worry about takin' out these squirrels."

Kronno stared at Ishlin as he downed more grog before she snatched the bottle from his paw. "Fer starters, we should stop gettin' drunk on this filth."

"We might need more corsairs too," Glud added. "Couldn't hurt to have a few more beasts on our side."

"An' where would we find all these beasts on such short notice, Glud? Hope that a swan swoops down from the sky an' shits 'em all out for us?"

The old shaggy ferret scowled at the rat, but much to everybeast's surprise, Kurwin agreed with him.

"Exactly, Dirtfoot. I'm aware that we could be underestimating our enemy, but wot other option do we have? The beasts we could ally ourselves with are scattered across the lands; we'd end up wastin' even more time trying to find another tribe or group of corsairs to join us! Right now we have over two hundred beasts in our army. That'll have to do until we run into more vermin. But if we decide to find more allies now instead of attackin' the camp, those tree climbers will notice their scouts are missin' and will know somebeast is planning to strike at their camp. Then we'll be in trouble."

Most of the beasts in the tent understood their captain's logic and nodded their heads in agreement. Even Muslar and Dirtfoot found themselves agreeing with the scarred ferret, despite knowing that there was something off about their "friend" Log-a-Log. If killing all these squirrels meant they had a better chance at driving all the goodbeasts out of the woods, then so be it.

"If nobeast has any other questions, feel free to go back outside an' keep watch fer more squirrels who could be spyin' on us! Can't have any tree climber listening in on wot we're chattin' about."

Ishlin nodded. "We're on it, Cap'n!"

All of Kurwin's high-ranking vermin, along with Fleckle, walked out of the tent without any further questioning. Just as Traegar was about to join them, Kurwin grasped the weasel's left shoulder and held him back.

"Not you, Trae."

The weasel blinked and waited for all the vermin to walk outside the tent before he turned around. Kurwin sighed as he leaned against the table, and now Traegar could see the tired old ferret he was looking at the morning he walked into what used to be a proud and majestic pirate ship. He didn't seem drunk this time around, but he was definitely lethargic.

"What is it?"

Kurwin folded his arms. "Dirtfoot might be right about Log-a-Log. Why else would he seem so adamant about wanting me to go find Blackheart? He prob'ly was expectin' me to find him so his soldiers could spring a trap on us! But then he changed his mind; he-he told me to show these woodlanders some force, an' then warned me about this Urth...wotever--some Badger Lord."

Traegar shrugged. "Log-a-Log does know a lot of beasts 'round these woods, Cap'n."

"No, it...he sounded like he wanted me to get caught by the Badger Lord...like he wants me to attract his attention."

The weasel chuckled. "Need I remind you that we found you passed out in yore own puddle of piss that night?"

Kurwin looked away and scratched his neck. "So maybe I drank too much grog..."

"You have to trust somebeast other than vermin, sah. We can't even trust ourselves; the least we could do is trust a neutral party, fer now anyway. Besides, if Log-a-Log is tryin' to plot against us, there's no reason why we can't play along and beat 'im at his own game."

Kurwin started to smirk. "Yes, that's a very good point. Hmph...we should attack this camp and attract attention! That Badger Lord will come runnin' towards us before we know it! And after we kill 'im and I cut off that stripedog's head, I'll gladly tell everybeast that it was Log-a-Log who betrayed this country's Badger Lord! Then he'll have to side with us--that or he'll die once those woodlanders learn about his deceit! Hehehe, it's perfect! No matter wot we do, everythin' will work in our favour!"

Traegar couldn't help but stare at his captain with wide eyes. "Um...Cap'n? You...you said kill a 'Badger Lord,' right? Not jus' any ol' badger, but a fucking Badger Lord?"

Kurwin growled as the wicked grin grew even more. "Yes, Traegar. We're going to kill the Badger Lord of Salamandastron."

---

Stop thinking, Tegast told himself. Just stop thinking an' move yore fuckin' paw! The lizard was about to lunge. He knew it. He had to strike--right now, right this very second. It was either that or die. And despite everything he had gone through, despite knowing he'd be alone once again, the young rat didn't want to die. So he shouted and struck the lizard. He plunged his dagger deep into the reptile's throat, causing the beast to cry out in a gurgled voice. The monitor lizard thrashed around and tried to take out the dagger, but Tegast was too quick. Whimpering and shouting, Tegast stabbed the lizard in the throat again and again and again, not caring how much noise he was making. He could feel warm fluids spraying all over his body and getting onto his paws; there was no need to question what it was. After being punctured several times in the neck, the reptile collapsed to the ground and let out a gurgled moan before he lay still. Panting and shivering, the young rat quickly removed his blade and stepped out of the tree hollow, leaving the lizard's body to rot.

"I heard zomething!"

Tegast didn't hesitate. He threw himself into another nearby bush and crouched down, hoping none of the lizards would catch his scent. Three sets of footpaws quickly scurried along the ground and rushed over to the tree Tegast was just hiding in. This time he didn't peek through the bushes; he wasn't taking any chances now.

"Fuck! One of thoze dirty ratz zlew Palik!"

There was a brief pause, followed by a strange slurping sound.

"Good! I haven't eaten all night! An' you all know how Krazzak feelz about wazting food!"

Tegast didn't want to think about what the lizard in front of the bush started to do. But when he heard vicious snarling and the sound of flesh tearing, the rat felt vomit coming up his throat. He quickly covered his maw with both paws and retched softly, feeling the bile fill his mouth. He shut his eyes and forced himself to swallow his vomit before it flew out and splashed onto the ground. He couldn't leave this bush until the lizards were gone, and puking would only hurt his chance of escape.

"Yez...eat up. You ztay here, keep watch. The two of uz will find Gila and more of thoze ztinky ratz!"

Tegast heard various footsteps afterwards that grew quieter and quieter. But the sound of somebeast munching on another beast's corpse was still abundant and filling his ears. The rat was glad that he wasn't getting blood all over his footpaws again, but the din was still revolting. The lizard growled and slurped as he tore away more flesh and wagged his tail. The rat cautiously moved some of the sticks and leaves aside so he could see where the other monitor lizard was and exhaled. He was a few feet away and had his back turned. Tegast carefully took a few steps backwards and stepped out of the bush. He turned around and quickly walked away, still crouching in case the reptiles were closer than he thought. The rat heard a faint whump! that was followed by a soft thud. Tegast immediately fell face down on the ground, with his dagger resting beneath his chest. An arrow lodged itself into the ground just beside him, and the lizard who fired it just jumped down from the tree branch he was standing on.

"Hmm...could have zworn I zaw..."

The lizard mumbled to himself as he walked forward, moving his paw along the ground so he could find the arrow he just fired. His fingers almost grazed Tegast's tail, the claws just above his flesh. Tegast shut his eyes and mouth, hoping that the lizard didn't see him and would go away. Luckily for him, the lizard found his shaft before he found the young rat. He pulled the arrow from the ground and promptly set it back into his quiver. The rat waited for the lizard to walk away before he slowly lifted his head, breathing heavily. The lizard took a few steps away before he stuck his tongue out and hissed. The monitor lizard noticed a foul scent in the air and growled. He began to turn around.

"Wait a minute..."

The panting young rat rolled over into a nearby ditch, taking the dagger with him. He held it firmly as he lied on his back, looking up at all the tree branches blocking his view of the starry sky. Tegast heard more footsteps again; the archer had caught his scent and was getting closer. The rat heard a few tiny rocks fall into the ditch and felt some dirt fall onto his body. He glanced to his right and saw part of the lizard's toes sticking out beside the ditch. The lizard flicked his tongue out again; the scent was overwhelming now. He turned around and growled, letting his tail flop down into the ditch. And right on top of Tegast's body. The rat squealed.

"What--"

The archer yelped when Tegast stabbed him in the tail. He rose from the ditch and grabbed the reptile's legs, desperate to yank him into the ditch. The lizard panicked, slipped, and fell right on top of the rat. Tegast panted and swore over and over again as he tried to crawl out from underneath the reptile. He grabbed his dagger, only to shout when the lizard grabbed him from behind and tried to break his neck. Tegast used his teeth to his advantage again, biting down on the lizard's paw so he could get free. The lizard shouted, and Tegast turned around and started to stab erratically and furiously. He didn't know where he was stabbing the lizard; he just wanted him dead. The stench of blood irritated his nose as the fluids splashed all over his face and body. The reptile kept fighting off Tegast, snarling and shouting as he lashed his claws at him and tried to bite him. But after a while, the lizard slipped in his own blood and fell down, giving Tegast the opportunity to stab him in the head multiple times.

By the time the scuffle was over, Tegast was shuddering uncontrollably, he had a few claws marks on his abdomen, and blood wound up getting all over his body and paws. The rat couldn't rest; the wounds he suffered were only scratches. He crawled out of the ditch and started to sprint, not caring if anybeast saw him now.

"WE FOUND 'EM!!"

Tegast turned around, but he didn't see the lizards behind him. He heard the sound of more footpaws rushing across the soil. After looking backwards, Tegast jerked his head forward and grunted when he ran straight into another beast. Both creatures fell down and groaned, feeling like somebeast just whacked them in the head with a hammer. When Tegast sat up, he looked down at the creature on the ground and noticed he had the same scent and thick tail he had. The other creature sat up and was about to scream when Tegast sprang forward and covered his mouth with his paw.

"Shut up! I'm not one of those lizards so be quiet! We gotta hide!"

The other beast took a few deep breaths. The paw around his muzzle was furry, not scaly; whoever was talking to him was telling the truth. The creature nodded his head slowly, and Tegast took his paw away.

"Wh-who are you?"

"Doesn't matter. ...Who are you?"

The other creature gave the same response. "Doesn't matter. We're both rats, an' we're both bein' chased by some monitors who wanna eat us!"

"Why? Wot d'you guys do to 'em?"

"Nothing! We-we just...we were just lookin' for food! We saw some meat on the ground, stole it, cooked it. Then when we were eating, we heard those reptiles talking, so we...kind of listened to wot they were saying. Then the lizards found out we stole their food an' were eavesdropping and started chasin' us!"

This rat's no different from me, thought Tegast. The young rat was about to say something when the rats saw a spark, followed by a bright orange flame that rose from the ground.

"Hide!"

Both rats quickly sprinted to a thick tree as they pressed their backs against it and crouched down. The other rat was taking quiet breaths while Tegast was trying to fight off a sudden headache as he shook over and over again, unable to control himself. As the rodents concealed themselves, a few lizards dragged a grunting and struggling duo over to the orange flames and set them down on their knees. Tegast peeked around the corner of the tree and saw the two rats kneeling. A couple of lizards that were completely black stood beside the rats, hissing, laughing, and drooling as they poked their swords at them and made sure they didn't try to run away.

"Shit...they got 'em," whispered the other rat.

"Friends of yores?" Tegast asked.

"Something like that."

After a brief moment, the rats smelled another repulsive reptilian odor that was much different from the monitor lizards' scent. They heard giant footsteps getting closer to their location; whoever was coming was huge. The beast heading for the campfire the lizards built was almost the size of a wearet, and just as murderous. Tegast peeked around the corner of the tree and looked at the approaching beast with wide eyes. The beast was much taller than Tegast and the other rat; he even towered over some of the already burly monitor lizards. His head was almost entirely black, but everything below his neck consisted of orange scales, with black scales occasionally going along the body in a horizontal stripe pattern. The young rat also noticed how corpulent this lizard was. His whole body looked bloated and chunky; even his tail was thicker than a regular lizard's tail was. His arms and legs weren't very long, but the paws were still average-sized and had deadly claws on them. A distended belly bulged against the lizard's clothing.

"We've found the other two ratz, Mighty Gila! What shall we do with them?"

Gila turned and faced the two rats. As ugly as Gila was, he looked more hygienic than the other lizards. His turquoise shirt was sleek and smooth. His long shorts almost went down to his footpaws; they matched the color of his shirt and were made out of the same smooth material. There even seemed to be a logo on the front of his shirt, some kind of gaping green maw that had a yellow gas cloud coming out of it. Gila's pale, purplish tongue slid out of his mouth for a brief moment, and he started to grin widely.

"Fuck you! Fuck all of you disgusting beasts! There's no fuckin' way we're--"

The rat who spoke out against the reptiles squealed when Gila grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off his footpaws relatively easily. Gila giggled nonchalantly as he brought the rodent down to his head. The rat tried to kick the giant lizard and tried to claw his eyes out, but nothing worked. Gila blinked before he slowly opened his large mouth and proceeded to exhale in the rat's face. Almost instantly, the rat stopped kicking and thrashing. His face was clouded with saliva and the beast's hot breath, and the rodent began to feel weak. Gila only had to breathe in the rat's face for a few seconds before the effects began to kick in. Gila calmly put the rat on the ground and grinned as he stepped aside. All the lizards stared at the rodent, who was groaning and looked like he had been poisoned. He covered his nose, but the stench of Gila's breath was already deteriorating his olfactory sense. The rat covered his mouth as he started to vomit, the bile getting all over his paw. Then he collapsed to his knees and began to throw up all over the ground, unable to get away from the smell.

"HAHAHAHAAAAA!! Nobeazt can withztand the power of Gila the Putrid'z powerful breath!" shouted a black monitor lizard.

Tegast and the rodent adjacent from him weren't even near the lizard and they had to cover their noses.

"Urgh, can you smell that?" asked Tegast.

"Wot the hell kinda lizard has breath that foul?!"

Gila crouched down beside the sick rodent and grabbed his right arm. Then he opened his mouth again and bit down on the limb, making sure his teeth dug deep into the flesh. The sick rodent shouted in pain before Gila opened his maw and let go of the beast's arm. After biting the rat, Gila walked over to the other captured rodent and sat down beside him.

"My friendz here give me too much credit. It'z not me breath ye need to worry about. It'z me bite!" snarled Gila, as he flashed his teeth at the rat.

The rat next to Gila was on the verge of vomiting too, even as he plugged his nose. He looked over at his friend and watched as the rodent slouched over beside the fire and began to shudder and moan, feeling a little cold.

"...What did you do?"

Gila flicked his pale tongue out his mouth. "Poizon mate! Juzt zome nazty poizon ye ratz don't like! Y'zee, thiz iz the fun part! Now the two of uz c'n watch az ye friend zufferz aaaaaaalllll night long! He'll get chillz, ztart shaking, an' he'll be moaning until hiz voize getz hoarze or hiz tongue zwellz up! Maybe we'll get lucky an' he'll ztart puking again. Hehe, he might even get the trotz!"

Gila turned and faced the rat with a nasty grin. "Ye wanna zuffer the zame fate as ye mate?"

"N...no..."

"Good! Then tell ole Gila the Putrid where the rezt of ye matez are!"

There was nothing Tegast or the other crouching rat could do. The captured rat pointed in the same direction that led to the trees the two rats were hiding behind. Gila laughed before he gestured for the black monitors to start patrolling in the designated area.

"Zmart choize, rat!" said Gila, as he wrapped an arm around the rodent's shoulders. "Now zit by ye ole pal Gila an' watch az ye mate zlowly zlipz away..."

Tegast closed his eyes and swore. "Wot're we gonna do now? I don't think we can outrun 'em!"

The other rat peeked around the corner of the tree he was hiding behind before he quickly sprinted over to the same tree Tegast was crouching beside.

"I think I zaw one!"

Tegast was getting irritated now. "Wot are you doin'?!"

"Sorry mate."

Before Tegast could say anything, the older rat grabbed his face with his entire right paw. He violently slammed the back of Tegast's head against the tree twice, seconds before shoving the wounded rat out into the open for the lizards to find. Then the older rat took flight, leaving Tegast all by himself. Tegast groaned as he slowly began to get on his knees and paws, his head throbbing from all the pain. By the time Tegast was finally on his footpaws, two black monitors were standing in front of him, and Gila had his dark brown eyes locked directly on him.

"How lovely! Another ztinky rat who can join uz az we watch ye mate here zuccumb to my poizon!"

Tegast grunted as he wearily started to hold up his dagger and pointed it at the black lizards.

"Get...get back," the young rat said drowsily.

"Aren't ye a rude little zcamp? I haven't even threatened ye yet, an' thiz iz how ye gonna treat me?"

"Yore not eatin' me...I don't care how hungry you are."

"Hungry?" Gila the Putrid laughed and stuck his tongue out, hissing. He patted his huge gut and began to grin. "Az ye c'n zee, I've had me fill of food for today! Could prob'ly go a whole week without meat! Az for Grengaz and Erzgee o'er there, well...that'z a different ztory!"

The lizard on Tegast's left, Grengas, lunged for the small rodent, eager to taste his tender flesh. The young rat quickly hopped out the way and turned around, preparing to run away. The rodent shouted when Erzgee stomped on his tail in an attempt to stop him, but Tegast fought back by hurling his dagger at the lizard. He needed to be fast; he had no time to try and stab either of them. Unfortunately for Tegast, he merely bonked the reptile in the face with the dagger as opposed to hitting him with the pointy end of the blade. But the lizard was stunned long enough for him to lift his footpaw and let go of Tegast. The young rat sprinted from the black lizards until he was far away from the campfire. But the darkness didn't protect him. There were still monitor lizards in the area, sniffing, sprinting, and drooling as they hunted down Tegast and the other rodent he was talking to. Tegast headed for a tree and immediately took a sharp left, throwing himself down a short hill. But that wasn't good enough. Another lizard caught his scent and snarled as he began to sprint towards him.

"GOTCHA, RAT!!"

Tegast froze when he heard a blood-curdling scream, followed by a sickening squish and a muffled groan. The other rat Tegast was just talking to must've been spotted and was just killed. For a brief moment, Tegast felt sorry for the vermin, but he quickly realized the danger he was in and resumed running. Tegast ran in a zigzag motion, in case any archers fired at him or anybeast threw knives at him. He heard a massive thunk as a shaft buried itself into the trunk of a tree. Tegast shouted and ducked before immediately turning and heading to his right. Then he blinked a few times and started to slow down. All this stress on his body was finally taking its toll, and his head injury only made it worse. The young rat took a few deep breaths as he heard his heartbeat and felt the back of his head throbbing. He tried to run, but he only found himself struggling to move forward, and at one point he almost tripped.

Tegast screamed as he felt a stinging pain in his midriff. Somebeast had just stabbed him. He could already feel the blood running down his sides. A surge of adrenaline rushed into the rat's body and he began to fight. He jerked himself around and shouted as the lizard who stabbed him tried to plunge his dagger into the rodent's skull. The stench of the reptile's breath brought Tegast out of his stupor and made him more alert. Tegast was holding the lizard's arm as the predator snarled and hissed in his prey's face. Tegast whimpered and fell to his knees, fully aware that the blade was getting closer to him. He let go of the lizard's arm and jerked his head to the right, screaming when the dagger scratched his head and nearly took off his left ear. Tegast threw himself forward and bit down on the lizard's flesh hard. He could taste the predator's disgusting blood in his mouth and wanted to vomit. The lizard howled in pain as he dropped his dagger somewhere on the ground.

Tegast let go of the lizard and started to run his paws along the ground, looking for any sort of weapon he could find. He couldn't find the dagger, but he did pick up a fairly large rock. The monitor lizard shouted when Tegast smashed the rock against his left footpaw, breaking two of the toes. Then the rodent hurled it at the lizard's chest, nearly crushing a few ribs. The reptile coughed and was knocked onto his back. Before the reptile could even get up, Tegast was already on top of him, screaming and swearing as he violently lifted the rock and smashed it against the reptile's head and neck over and over again. He could hear bones breaking and flesh squishing as fluids exploded out of the lizard's body. The same warm fluids splattered all over his face and body; Tegast heard a disturbing squelch and assumed he just crushed the lizard's brains. He stopped bludgeoning the reptile and panted as he moved his paws along the ground again to find the dagger. His health deteriorating, Tegast sniffled and breathed heavily as the wound in his midriff antagonized him. He grasped the dagger's blade and winced as he picked it up and stood.

Tegast dragged his footpaws along the ground as swiftly as he could, unable to run anymore. He could hear the monitors snarling and hissing in the distance, but nobeast was getting close to him. Still, he needed to put some distance between himself and the predators. When Tegast came across a hill, he blinked and looked down the steep structure. Knowing his night couldn't get any worse, Tegast tucked the dagger into his waistsash and started to head down the hill. The slope was so steep that Tegast found himself sliding multiple times. At one point he sat down and let gravity do the rest, which led to him rushing towards a huge obstacle and shouting when he banged his footpaw against it. The rat tumbled and rolled his way through the grass, dirt, and weak branches that had fallen from some of the trees. Eventually he reached the base of the hill and found himself lying face down near a patch of soggy leaves. The rat grunted and moaned softly a few times as he forced himself to stand up, legs shaking. He felt more bile rushing up his throat and couldn't hold it back this time. The rat leaned forward and vomited all over the ground, creating gurgled noises as the fluids splashed in front of his footpaws.

Tegast coughed and wiped his mouth with a paw before he held his side and resumed dragging his footpaws along the ground. His vision was going in and out; the rodent knew he was going to lose consciousness soon. Chances were, the lizards would find his wounded body and pick the flesh clean from his bones. Maybe he'd bleed out, and his rotting corpse would be left for the crows. Or maybe... Tegast started to let out muffled shouts when somebeast crept behind him and covered his mouth.

"Shh! Calm down--calm down mate! I ain't one of them lizards! I'm a friend!"

The rodent blinked and panted a few times before the mysterious beast slowly lowered his paw and exhaled.

"Can you walk?"

"Y...yeah, just...move slowly," said Tegast weakly.

Tegast turned around and saw the beast in front of him nod. Seconds later, the two of them were gradually walking along the soil, with the mysterious beast leading Tegast to a strange area. The rat noticed that this section of the woods wasn't heavily populated with trees or bushes; it was mostly just a flat area. The rat began to question how this would be a safe place to hide, considering how the lizards could easily spot them. But then the beast stopped walking, crouched down, and then started to mess around with an object he left on the ground that had a small flame inside of it. Tegast heard quiet squeaking as the beast twisted a knob. Then the tiny fire inside the glass-like container grew and gave off radiance so the beasts could see well. Tegast could tell by the shape of the object that it was an oil lamp. The beast used the object to illuminate the area around him, which led to him snickering when he brushed a patch of dirt aside and found something hard buried into the soil.

"There it is," he muttered to himself.

Tegast thought the beast was only playing with the dirt and grass, but then he saw the beast grab a chunk of the grass and lift it right off the ground. Tegast heard a loud squeak as the grass "opened" up, revealing a large hole for them to fit in. It wasn't grass at all. It was a hidden trap door that was concealed with dirt and grass, which led down into a giant tunnel built by moles.

"Now just make sure you follow me! It's easy to get lost down here."

Tegast nodded slowly, almost on the verge of passing out. Tegast stepped down the hole first, grunting when he landed on the bottom and almost fell. The other beast began to crawl into the hole and made sure he covered it back up with the hidden door again so nobeast would know the difference. The beast climbed down the hole with his shining lamp and stepped in front of Tegast so he could lead the way. The two creatures crouched down as they walked through the dusty tunnel, the soil occasionally falling from the ceiling onto their heads. The beast put his lamp down for a brief moment so he could grab what appeared to be a large stone. But the "stone" was actually a door that had been built around the now dried-up mud and earth. After the beast pulled the door open, he exhaled, picked the lamp back up, and resumed walking through the tunnels as he crouched.

"You all right back there?"

"Yeah...just...I'm just tired..."

"We're almost there mate. Jus' another minute or two!"

Tegast knew he wouldn't last that long, but he kept moving regardless. After crouching for a little while, both beasts were able to stand up as they ventured their way through a series of twisting tunnels and secret passageways that led to various areas all underground. Tegast thought he saw a skull on the ground and quickly looked away. The last thing he needed to be reminded of was that he could die down here if he went the wrong way. So he stayed close to the kindbeast, panting and wincing as the wound in his midriff kept getting worse the further along he progressed. Eventually, the rat had to drag his footpaws along the soil again as he pressed a paw against the tunnel walls and walked behind the beast.

"Hehe, guess I found ya at the right time mate! Jus' up here is...um, mate?"

The beast stopped walking and turned around when he noticed how quiet Tegast was. Then he saw just how serious his wound was and nearly dropped his lamp as Tegast continued to bleed.

"Help..."

Tegast took a few deep breaths as he held his side and his vision became blurry. Then he collapsed to the ground and passed out.

---

Tegast slowly opened his eyes sometime later. Only, his wound wasn't hurting so much, and he was surrounded with a bright light that nearly blinded him. He wrinkled his nose, and the delightful fragrance of fresh food soared into his lungs. The rat grunted as he turned his head and sat up from the floor, pressing his back against the wall. As Tegast looked around, he was stunned at the room he and the other beast were currently staying in. It had a few chairs to sit in, a short but comfortable bed in the corner, a table to eat at, and a few cupboards to store food inside. Tegast honestly thought the beast just dragged him into an underground section of the place called Redwall. The cave-like room looked like it was only fit for a few beasts--moles, obviously--but anybeast could live down here, so long as they knew how to find food and evade predators.

"Well, look who decided to finally wake up!" shouted the beast.

Tegast blinked as he gritted his teeth and stood up and held his side. He could still feel the blood that had stained his tunic and shorts, but it was damp now, and his wound only felt like it was stinging as opposed to being excruciating. Tegast lifted his tunic and looked at the wound on his side, breathing heavily as he did so.

"I stopped the bleeding as much as I could, rubbed some poultice on it an' such. Couldn't seal the wound though; I didn't know whether or not the shock would kill you. 'Sides, it ain't as bad as it looks!"

Tegast lowered his tunic as he slowly walked over to the creature who helped him. He was a watervole with prickly brown fur all over his body. He only wore tattered blue clothing that looked fancy at one point, but had slowly become damaged over time until his clothes looked more like filthy rags. At the same time, the vole himself looked well-groomed. He still carried the odor most voles had, but his claws weren't long, his fur wasn't shaggy, and the beast had a plump belly, so he knew how to stay fed at least.

"Who are you?" the rat asked.

"Name's Grustur! I'd shake yer paw, but...looks like ya got blood all over it."

Tegast blinked as he stared at the vole, who broke out into laughter after the brief awkward silence.

"Nah, I'm jus' messin' with ya!"

The watervole walked over to Tegast and extended a paw. Tegast winced as he reached forward and shook it firmly, despite how he was feeling.

"I'm Tegast. I take it this is yore home? You live underground?"

Grustur chuckled as he walked over to one of the cupboards and opened it up, revealing a stash of fresh bread with butter and honey, some crunchy nuts, green apples, cheese, and even a bottle of warm milk. The vole took out the bottle of milk and a few apples and slices of bread as he spoke to the rat.

"Nah, I don't live here. This is jus' one of my, err, hideouts. Y'see, I'm--"

Tegast ignored everything Grustur began to say the second he set the food down in front of him. The rat lunged for a slice of bread and voraciously began to shovel it all into his mouth. Grustur looked at the rat with wide eyes and stepped back as the young rodent scarfed as much food as he could. He stuffed his mouth with more warm, sweet bread and gulped hard before the rat snatched up an apple and started to crunch into it multiple times, taking in the delicious, sweet, and tart flavor. The apple juice was dripping down his mouth and chin, but the rat didn't seem to take notice of it. He left the half-eaten apple on the table before he picked up more bread and gobbled another slice down. His mouth was still full when he grabbed the container of milk, unscrewed the lid, and proceeded to drink from the bottle. Tegast tilted his head back as he gulped, causing some of the milk to drip out the corners of his mouth.

"Slow down mate! Yer gonna end up choking to death! Or givin' yourself some mighty bad gas!"

Grustur took the bottle away from Tegast. And as if on cue, the rodent opened his mouth and burped heartily, with some of the chewed-up pieces of bread flying out of his maw. He coughed a few more times before he started to take deep breaths.

"You see?"

Tegast blinked and looked at the mess he made on the table. Then he noticed that milk was dripping from his chin, which he promptly wiped off with his left arm. He glanced over at the watervole and realized he was being rude.

"Sorry...just don't come across vittles like this very often."

Grustur chuckled. "No need to apologize!" The watervole looked at his bottle of milk and noticed the various chunks of bread floating around inside. "Although I am a bit irritated that you got all yer food in my milk. ...Ah well."

Grustur started to drink from the milk container anyway, despite the bread chunks inside of it. He sat down on the opposite end of the table and set down the bottle so he could grab one of the green apples.

"Like I was saying," he started, before biting into the apple, "I'm a thief. I go 'round these woods every day and night lookin' fer things very valuable or shiny to purloin."

Tegast blinked. "Wot?"

"Steal, mate. Hehe, you'd be surprised at all the vittles an' treasure you can find out in these parts! Swords with pommels shaped like a beast's head, daggers with platinum blades, pearls, rubies as big as this apple I'm eating, fancy necklaces, an' lots an' lots of vittles! All that food you saw in the cupboard isn't even mine!"

Tegast couldn't help but frown. "So you steal from beasts."

"Yeah, but it's not like I torment beasts who are so hungry they can't even walk. What kinda asshole steals from somebeast like that? No, all the beasts I steal from are usually too fat to be eatin' all the vittles they got, too rich to even notice that the vittles or treasure I stole from them goes missin', or too evil an' wicked to deserve the treasure and food they got."

Tegast helped himself to another slice of bread. "So you steal from the rich an' evil and give to the needy?"

Grustur snickered and bit into his apple again. "Not really. I steal from the rich an' just keep their treasure for myself! But I do help beasts sometimes if I can. If I just stole a bunch of vittles, I'm not gonna walk past a starving beast lyin' on the ground. If some vermin are tormenting a hedgehog or mouse or tryin' to rape them an' I got a sword or dagger on me, I'm gonna send them straight to Hellgates! I figure fer everytime I steal somethin' I shouldn't, I help a goodbeast in return so everythin' balances out. I helped you hide from those lizards, didn't I?"

Tegast nodded as he finished another slice of bread. "I s'pose that's true. But if this isn't yore home, wot is it? Where d'you live?"

Grustur bit into the apple again and shrugged. "Nowhere really. I just keep on the go, exploring all the corners of the woods until I get bored or find another place to stash all my treasures. As far as I know, this place used to be a mole's home, but he or she died or left it behind. So now, whenever I arrive to this part of the forest, I usually stop by here to stash more treasure or vittles in the cupboards, an' if I'm in trouble, I stay down here fer a few hours, or 'til morning."

Grustur finished his apple and tossed the bare core on the floor before he swallowed hard and looked around the room.

"Honestly, I don't think I could live down here. It's too quiet. Don't get me wrong; this is a lovely place to stay. But after a while, you'd go crazy from being alone fer so long. Yer muscles would shrink, you'd start to stink, you'd get lazier an' fatter, to the point where you prefer to shit in the corner of the room instead of climbing out the tunnels and loosening yer bowels outside. An', well, next thing you know, yer insane and livin' in a stinky-ass hole."

Tegast couldn't help but smirk widely at Grustur after hearing his unfortunate choice of words. The vole blinked and frowned, suddenly realizing what he just said.

"...Wait. That didn't come out right."

Tegast chuckled. "I think it did."

Grustur awkwardly scratched his head before he drank more milk. The watervole set the bottle down and sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

"My goodness, I've spent all this time talkin' about myself, but I don't know a thing about you!"

Tegast started to frown. He was hoping this beast didn't pry into his personal life; he didn't want to be reminded of everything he had been going through once again.

"I, uh...I-I live a borin' life...you know. I just...walk everywhere."

"I saw some of them lizards tonight, y'know. Almost got caught by 'em. Heard some of the commotion goin' on too beyond that hill. Bloodthirsty lizards chasing after a beast as young as you and clawing at yer chest and stabbing you doesn't sound boring."

Tegast huffed. "I used to be in a tribe, okay? ...My family, I mean."

Fuck it, thought Tegast. May as well tell him. "They're dead."

Grustur frowned as he looked at the rat with genuine remorse on his face. "...Shit, I'm sorry mate. So you've been out here all by yerself tonight?"

The rat blinked and slowly nodded. "Yes. It wasn't the lizards that killed them though. It were hares...an' some badger, I guess."

"Hares and...wait, Urthquake the fucking Tough and the Long Patrol killed yer tribe?"

Tegast's ears perked. "That's wot his name is?"

"What the hell d'you all do to piss him off?!"

"Nothing," Tegast snarled. "I was...my dad told me to go catch some fish, so I did. When I got back to my tribe, everybeast was dead. ...Well, no, not everybeast; I found a vole who was alive, but he'd already been hit with three arrows. Shortly after he told me who attacked the tribe, well..."

Grustur shook his head. "That's just horrible."

Tegast paused as he looked down at the table, his eyes suddenly watering. "They killed my li'l brother, Grustur. Somebeast snapped his neck."

Grustur exhaled, realizing the story was getting grimmer the further along Tegast went.

"Fer fuck's sake..."

"Sure, yeah, he was annoying...an' yeah, we got into fights, but he was my brother. He was barely eight seasons old! Wot kind of creature kills somebeast that young fer no fuckin' reason?!"

"Tegast--"

"They snapped his neck, Grustur! Wot..."

Tegast couldn't continue. He just sat in his chair and started to shake as he sobbed and felt a few tears running down his face. The watervole wasn't sure what to do. It was rare for him to meet anybeast who seemed to have suffered this much, and whenever he did, he usually just left them alone to deal with their problems on their own. The rat sniffled a few times and wiped his eyes. He shook his head and whimpered, suddenly realizing how alone he was.

"You've been alone long before you even ran into those lizards," Grustur concluded.

Tegast nodded slowly. "I don't know who those lizards are. I don't know wot they want with me. I was just outside trying to cook food when they showed up and tried to kill me. A lot of shit's happened to me in the past several days, but I don't--"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Tegast sniffled and nodded. "...Thank you."

Grustur gave the young rat a moment to pull himself together, only breaking the silence by heading over to the cupboard again so he could take out a few slices of cheese resting on a plate. He started to stuff a few pieces in his mouth when he walked back over to the table and set the plate down and returned to his seat. The watervole wasn't surprised when he saw Tegast reach forward so he could snatch a few slices from the plate.

"So what's yer plan, mate? You can't keep wanderin' around these woods aimlessly."

"Wot else am I s'posed to do? I've got no other friends or family. All I can think of is...I dunno, findin' a new tribe to join."

"I guess that could work," said Grustur reluctantly.

Tegast put another slice of cheese in his mouth. "Wot do you think I should do: go to that place everybeast fantasizes about--um, Redwall?"

Grustur rubbed his nose. "Maybe. I dunno if they're so, well, you know, intolerant when it comes to vermin nowadays. But it's worth a shot."

Tegast blinked. "You've been there?"

Grustur smirked. "Maybe once or twice."

"How-how was it? Is it just like everybeast dreams about? Is it really this magical paradise that everybeast wishes to live in?"

Grustur laughed. "Of course it is! Everybeast was so kind and helpful, little proper at times, and some were kinda prissy, but I didn't care. They sang songs all the time, some of the warriors told stories about their epic battles in the Northlands, they gave me a tour of the whole place an' shared all their history with me, and all those vittles..."

Grustur shuddered as he made a pleasurable growling noise and almost began to drool. "I can't even begin to tell you about all the scrumptious food they have there!"

Tegast started to smile. "Sounds like an amazing place. I'm not sure why my dad talked about Redwall like it's a cesspool."

Grustur shrugged. "We're vermin mate. Vermin an' Redwallers have a very bad history; I'll just leave it at that. They have a tough time trusting beasts like you an' me."

"I thought you said they were nice to you?"

Grustur awkwardly turned his head away and scratched himself. "Yeah, but...I may or may not have been caught tryin' to steal some of their vases an' swords. And they may or may not have banned me from returning to Redwall."

Tegast huffed. "Are you serious?"

"They had a bunch of stuff; I didn't think they'd give a shit if a few things went missing! 'Sides, it's not like they need all that stuff anyway. An' it's not like I harmed anybeast there or threatened anybeast or tried to steal the tapestry of Martin the Warrior. Guess that's why all they did was ban me, instead of killin' me. The Redwallers are kinda prissy and filthy rich, yeah, but you don't wanna fuck with them. Trust me; it will not work out in your favour."

"I see wot you mean. So I should head there then?"

Grustur shrugged. "Up to you mate. It depends on who the Abbot of Redwall is an' how they operate in this generation. Sometimes the Redwallers will let in vermin so long as they behave themselves. Other times the Redwallers will shoot an arrow at you the second they get a whiff of yer stench. All I know is that yer better off in some kinda group than bein' out there alone, unless you're a professional like me. Even then, I don't like to be alone all the time."

Tegast swallowed the cheese he was chewing on before he blinked. "Well, um, d'you think I could come with you? At least until we reach Redwall or find another tribe. I can take it from there."

"Ehh, maybe...I'll sleep on it."

"We could watch each other's backs! You steal the food we need whenever we get hungry, an' I'll keep watch, warn you if somebeast is coming! If we run into more lizards, both of us can help each other sneak away from them safely! Plus I know how to catch and gut fish an' snakes, so you won't have t'worry 'bout finding meat! I could cook it for us! And I can--"

"Okay, okay, I got it!" Grustur chuckled. "Maybe it is better if you travel with me."

Tegast smiled as he wagged his tail. "Thank you, Grustur!"

"I'm serious, Tegast. Believe it or not, but I've run into my share of lizards too, and I don't mean just tonight. All I know about 'em so far is--"

"--that their breath stinks of otter shit and rotting corpses?"

Grustur smirked. "Well, that, but I think they're monitor lizards, the kind I thought were only on Sampetra. I'm not sure what they want or what they're planning, but after what I've seen, and what I'm assuming you went through tonight, it's prob'ly best if we travel together; we might have better luck at avoiding them. And if not, then two swords are better than one in a fight."

The rat nodded. "Okay."

"But we'll worry about that tomorrow. Fer now, you should prob'ly get some more sleep."

The young rat stretched out his arms as he exhaled and lifted up his tunic. His wound still stung, but it wasn't close to hurting as much as it did a few hours ago. Tegast stood up from his seat and headed over to the mole-sized bed in the corner of the room.

"Yeah, it's been a long week. I'll see you in the morning, Grustur."

"All right then. Goodnight!"

Tegast carefully got into the bed, grunting a few times as he felt the stinging sensation in his side again. But once the rat got situated on the bed, he exhaled and started to go to sleep. While Tegast began to relax and tried to have a pleasant dream, Grustur stayed up and continued to eat and drink, glad that he finally had some company tonight. But at the same time, he was worried about Tegast, as well as himself.

Something told Grustur that bringing Tegast along with him would only make his life and his evasion of the lizards harder, not easier.