Yuuda awoke to the sound of Andrew's voice. "Yuuda! Yuuda! Yuuuuudaaaa!"

The weasel painfully strained opened his eyes. The rat was eating a honey cake and grinning stupidly. Yuuda smiled weakly in return. "So you finally decide to get off your bottom and come with us for once. My fortunes are all ready looking bright."

Andrew scowled at the accusation. "After much contemplation, I've decided to come only on the condition that we travel only at night while we're in that region. We may have to be more vigilant and cautious, but the chance of an attack would go down significantly."

The weasel nodded sleepily, his eyes half closed. "Travel at night, be vigilant, got it." He was about to lapse back into unconsciousness until Andrew shook him roughly awake.

"Get up! Weren't you the one that got all huffy about me not going!? I need you to make sure you understand this well enough to explain to John in the morning."

"Yes, but it's still-" Yuuda glanced over to the clock mounted on the wall. "3 in the morning!? What are you doing awake at this time? And why are you bothering me? Is John even awake? This is a dream right?"

"One, because I needed to inform you of my decision, two, because John is less compassionate, and no to three and four."

The weasel blinked and then yawned. "Oh. Can I go back to sleep again?"

"Yes you can, but are you SURE you can remember that?"

"Yeah," said the weasel, nodding his head.

"Okay, I'm going back to bed now. I just wanted to tell you this ASAP because of your outburst last night. "
"Alright, alright! I understand it crystal clear! Good night!" And for the second time that night, Yuuda went back to the land of dreams and shadows.

"Good morning, everyone!" shouted John in his unmistakably loud and high-pitched voice. As usual, he was smoking one of his extra thick cigars, the ones he broke out whenever there was a special occasion.

Yuuda snapped awake immediately from the dining table chair. Despite his weariness, he knew better than to cross John in the morning. Rubbing his eyes in discomfort, he trudged over to the washroom to get ready for breakfast.

Andrew on the other hand, simply groaned quietly and turned over in his bed sheets. Seeing this sorry lack of self-discipline, the ferret marched over into the barracks and forcibly tore the coverings off the rat.

"Come on, Andrew! What are you waiting for, breakfast in bed?" he said with disgust.

"That would be nice, Mom," mumbled the rat, still dreaming of home.

The ferret's eye involuntarily twitched. Without another word, he took the cigar from his mouth and crushed the end onto the rat's rump.

"AAAHHH!" screamed the rat in pain and surprise, grabbing his large posterior with both paws.

Yuuda heard the commotion and burst out of the restroom, his face still lathered with soap. "What in the Gates are going on!" he shouted in surprise. The sight of Andrew hopping around the barracks with both paws on his bottom answered his question.

"You gave him one of your morning motivators, didn't you, you dirty ferret!" laughed the weasel, barely able to contain his mirth.

"Sure did, but it's a pity. I wasted a good cigar!" chuckled the ferret. "I didn't hurt you too badly, did I, Drew?"

The rat shot him a dirty look. "No you didn't, but you could have seriously injured me! I could have been lamed permanently! Thankfully, it's just a light burn. Hardly fitting to treat your only navigator," he grumbled, rubbing the burnt spot.

"I got some aloe in the restroom. Need help applying it!?" squealed the weasel with laughter, barely able to breathe from the hilarity.

"Hmph. I can take care of myself," said the rat with as much dignity as possible, and strode into the restroom and locked the door.

"So," began John, wiping a tear from his eye, "Do you know what I want for breakfast?"

The weasel scratched his head at this strange question. "Ummm. Toast?"

"Toast?" replied the ferret, an unusual smile on his face. "Toast? You expect me to eat toast?"

"Ummm…Yes?" said Yuuda, a little confused.

"I-Want-WAFFLES!!!!!!!!!," screamed John to his partner, grabbing the weasel by his shoulders and shaking him. "WAFFLES! WE CAN"T GET TREASURE WITHOUT WAFFOOOOS!!"

"Um…Okay…Waffles it is then!"

15 minutes later

"So, how do you like them waffles?" asked Yuuda to his friends. "My mother didn't spend her entire time just teaching me book stuff, you know." At John's request, the weasel whipped up a rather large batch of waffles, and liberally flavored them with the preserves he got from the cellar.

Andrew frowned while chewing. "If duffin tafe fery goof" he garbled through a mouthful of bread.

"Finish chewing," said John, elbowing Andrew in the ribs.

The rat swallowed. "It doesn't taste very good, but the jam that you got back from that shack made up for it. I'll rate it 3 out of 5."

"I think it tastes great, Yuuda. As a waffle connoisseur myself, I think it's pretty high quality for someone who grew up with a non-OT mother to learn all their cooking skills from," said the ferret, spearing a chunk of waffle with his fork.

"Thanks, at least someone appreciates my culinary prowess," said the weasel, cutting his own waffle into identical square chunks.
"I never said your cooking was bad, Yuuda. It's better than starving at least," said John, dumping the contents of a strawberry preserve jar onto his dish. "Besides, you'll have a wife to go back to, don't you?"

"Yeah, but that depends on whether this mission succeeds or not…"
Yuuda's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. Andrew abruptly stood up from the table.

"That must be him, I'll go get the door!" He was about to get up until John grabbed his arm before he could run off.

"Who exactly is him?" inquired the ferret suspiciously, one paw on his knife.

"Our guide," he said curtly and without another word, he ran up to the door and opened it. Both the ferret's and weasel's eyes grew wide at the sight of the beast.

The visitor was a rather large specimen of a river otter. He was garbed in rather simple clothing, a tunic and trousers, but the most striking features were the numerous and colorful arm tattoos and the presence of a gigantic broadsword on his back. He looked like the very definition of a high roller mercenary.

"These your pals, Drew?" said the otter, his voice sounding like a deep wardrum. His dark eyes flicked to John and Yuuda.

"Yes. Ummm, do you want to get-oomph!" began the rat before being pushed aside by the huge otter. He crossed over to the pair with in a matter of moments, his pawsteps shaking the glasses and silverware with every step. He stopped right in front of the ferret, and John stared straight back at him, not breaking eye contact. A few tense moments passed. Both Yuuda and Andrew unconsciously put their paws on their weapon hilts. However, they did not expect the otter to burst out laughing and offer out a heavily inked, webbed paw to John.

"Pleased to meet you, um John, right? I've heard quite a lot about you from Drew over here. Oh, and I'm James by the way, James Fairweather."

The ferret cautiously took James's paw and shook it.

"Likewise. But how do you know Andrew?" inquired the ferret, giving a sideways look over to the rat.

"Oh, me and him go way back. The Guild worked pretty close to us smugglers. I actually met him back when the government of Diamond Fire was somewhat existent," explained the otter, still pumping the ferret's paw.

"You can give back my paw now, Fairweather."

"Oh, sorry about that. Constant hours of punting does that." apologized the otter, releasing his death grip on John's paw. " Last night, he asked me to come and guide you guys into the region. Dangerous place, and it's gotten worse ever since the OT troops pulled out, but thank the Dark Forest, it isn't a nightmare anymore like it was during the war."

While they were conversing, Yuuda went over to Andrew and whispered into his ear. "I don't trust him. Smugglers will cut their own pelts off it means they can turn a profit."

"Don't worry. This guy's a professional. He proved to be invaluable aid to the Guild and OT military back during the civil war," whispered back Andrew from the corner of his mouth.

"And you must be Yuuda!" exclaiming the otter, seemingly materializing out of nowhere in front of them and badly startling the weasel.

"I've also heard quite a lot from you. Drew seems to put quite a lot of faith in your skills. I've heard that you even hauled out some of that old badger forged steel?"

"That was sort of luck more than skill," admitted the weasel, flushing with pride.

"Oho! So modest! We need more of your kind in the smuggling business!" chortled the otter, slapping Yuuda on the back hard enough to make him stagger.

"Thank you for the kind offer, but my line of profession pays well enough. I've had enough action for a lifetime. I've got a wife and dibbun back at home."

The otter nodded in understanding. "A family beast, huh? I understand your goals. But first, let's get down to business."

PS: Waffles aren't that hard to make. Just some batter and a waffle iron is practically all that's required.