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General Gash had commanded all his garrisoned troops to board their respective vessels and set sail for Eshin as soon as possible. That night, the rat general walked along the western shoreline of Mochizuki waiting for Shraggs and his ship Sharkblood to take him west. He paused for a while and sniffed the air. He smelt something burning, Gash peered through his spyglass at the horizon. One of his ships was on fire. Gash ran to the shoreline and saw debris floating on the tide line. He saw another burning hulk further up the shore washed up by the tide. When he got closer, Gash could still read the name of the ship amid the smouldering timbers; Sharkblood. All around him were corpses of his troops, he recognized Major Queek among the dead. Suddenly, the rat felt something grab his leg. There, half buried in the sand, lay Shraggs with sand crusting over his wounds. "Shraggs, what happened?" "Wearets... Roygel came lookin' fer ya. Me an' the lads told 'im we's ain't seen ya. Then 'is tribe boarded me ship and the slaughter began. He finished it all off by burnin' me lovely Sharkblood. Sorry mate, we were no match fer 'em," said Shraggs before his eyes glazed over and collapsed back onto the shifting sands. "Aw, poor, poor Shraggs!" Gash turned round like a shot and saw Roygel and a group of wearets surround him. The Stormvermin general instinctively drew his sword. "Oi's put dat away if Oi was yous. Make it easier fer us," said Roygel. Gash looked around him and refused to yield, "Easier? For what?" The massive wearet chieftain brandished his club menacingly. "Gettin' rid of yous and gettin' da rest uv you rats back in line," said Roygel. "When the Honoured Claw learns of this, he'll have your head," said Gash readying himself for a charge. "When 'e learns? Rererere, fool! Da 'Onoured Claw ordered me ter do it!" Gashs' eyes went wide, his rank wasn't going to save him this time. Gash then thought of this as the perfect time to finally issue his challenge, the rat gritted his teeth, "Then come on you thick headed rabble. I'm more than a match for all of you!" * Over the course of the night, Sandokhan had told the slaves of his plans to teach them the sword. Many of the slaves were lesser Samurai who had some basic knowledge of of the art, but nothing that would prove useful in battle. Elmtail and Fujokai offered to teach archery skills and George paw-to-paw fighting. Cheek had decided to let Sandokhan train him in sword skill. But the fox had plans for Mattimeo and Wataru. He sat the mouse and otter down as he briefed him on their task, "Wataru, when I was recovering I had an idea. Do you remember the mouse-maid Tigerlilly?" "Remember, how could I forget? Her relentless pestering of Ryu used to drive me insane," Wataru remarked. "Have you heard from her at all?" Wataru thought hard on the matter, "Well, I do remember seeing her at Tin-Jins' monastery after Niji gate fell. Losing Ryu broke her heart, I hear she lives out her life alone in the foothills of Kuma Mountain." "Isn't that where the dragon is supposed to live?" Mattimeo asked. "Matty, that's just a legend," Wataru scoffed. "Regardless," Sandokhan continued, "I want you two to go to Kuma Mountain and find Tigerlilly." "It'll take us quite some time getting there. With all the paths and roads swarming with Stormvermin patrols we'll have to go cross country," Wataru explained. Mattimeo then rose from his seat, "How long exactly?" "About... two or three days getting there and another two to get back here," the otter replied. "Better get a move on," Mattimeo motioned. Wataru and Mattimeo retired to their dormitories to prepare themselves. Sandokhan noticed Farlo had been standing by the back wall of the cavern. "Farlo? I thought you and Glendal would've been making plans to return to Lanka by now." "There is nothing left for us there anymore. Besides it seems you may need my help," said Farlo. Sandokhan smiled, "You may be right. But our numbers are still too small for pitched battle and if we do raids, trying to grind the Eshin army down, it could take seasons even years to liberate Jima." Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed throughout the caves. Allyosha came bursting into the fox's' presence, bending over trying to catch his breath. "What is it Allyosha?" "My Lord, you'll never believe this," he panted. After a few deep breathes the mouse regained his composure and made his report, "I've just heard from our spies, the Stormvermin troop patrols throughout most of Jima have all been replaced by wearet berzerkers," Allyosha explained. "Go on," Sandokhan replied. "Ever since General Gashs' failure in protecting Jagee, Claw has grown increasingly paranoid. He's even convinced himself that his most closest advisors are conspiring against him. From what I've heard Claw sent the wearet high-chieftain to kill Gash and his inner circle of officers and the Stormvermin are in an uproar over the whole affair. There's even talk that Claw might have an uprising on his paws and also there's been skirmishes between Stormvermin rats and wearets in Yoshino Province." Sandokhan was lost for words, the unstoppable and undefeatable momentum of the Eshin army was starting to collapse in on itself. "In that case we won't have to lift a claw," Farlo commented. "Think about it Sandokhan. If Claws' army are going at each others' throats the in-fighting might exhaust them both," he added. "And if the wearets emerge victorious, then what? We'll be back right where we started. I'd rather fight Stormvermin rats than those unstable juggernauts," said Sandokhan. "You've done well Allyosha, go tell Lord Fujokai exactly what you have told me," he added before Allyosha bowed politely and left Sandokhan and Farlo to look for the white wolf.

While walking around the vast cave system, Sandokhan stopped by a cavern the monks had turned into a shrine. The cave was decorated with numerous trinkets of silver and gold with silk awnings hanging from the stalactites that jutted down from the rocky ceiling. In the center of the stone floor was an idol of a mouse sitting cross-legged made from gold, which the monks had draped in chains of wild flowers. The monks of Tin-Jins' order had gathered some plates of food and placed them before the statue whilst chanting their mantras. "'Tis a bit rude, wot! I mean not having the common decency to attend a meal," Sandokhan urged George to be quiet. "Sorry, old chap," the hare whispered. "What are they doing?" "It's like saying grace more or less. They believe that idol is an embodiment of the enlightened one and he always gets first taste of the food we eat. They fast, pray, meditate, trying to reach enlightenment, inner peace and wisdom. Trying to better themselves through the perfection of their souls," the fox explained. "How's the old leg?" "It still pains me to walk on it but it is getting better. If Jagee had practiced his sword skill as much as he fantasized about killing me I would've lost the entire leg," Sandokhan replied. "There was something else I wanted to ask you. We'll soon start training the slaves we freed, would you be so kind to teach them paw-to-paw combat?" "Of course, of course. When do we start?" "Tomorrow."