Author's Note - Plot! What's a plot? Ripred would rather continue having feasts.

Disclaimer - I own nothing. Well... I own my socks, but that's about it. The Underland Chronicles belongs to Suzanne Collins, and if you haven't already, you should go read the Hunger Games Trilogy as well. If the fantastic authoress herself should ever stumble upon this, she is welcome to it. Any part or whole of this story is hers for the taking, cause i'd love to see a sixth book.


Chapter 7 - Tartarus


"When you can't run, you crawl, and when you can't crawl, you find someone to carry you." - Malcolm Reynolds


They gathered in the high hall the next morning. When Gregor and Luxa arrived, most of the packing had already been completed. Apollo was loaded down with several bags of food, and a few torches. Of course they would not need as many since Luxa would be the only one who would need one.

Gregor saw that there were a few people passed out in the chairs still lining the room, and occasionally a person would come up from the second floor with a plate of food or drink of some kind. It seemed that the Mareth was right about the Underlanders making the most of the opportunities for celebration.

Twitchtip, Ripred, Lizzy, and the two pups were talking off to one side of the room, presumably making plans for babysitting. Stellovet seemed to have sulked most of the night as she was still sitting, unconscious, in the same chair she had taken when Gregor had left.

Hazard looked like he was still running on sugar from the previous night. He was sitting in a group of kids about his own age, playing some sort of board game, and fidgeting constantly.

Mareth looked truly exhausted. Gregor went over to talk to him.

"How long has it been since you last slept?"

"Oh... I would have to say about a day and a half? I could not miss the celebration though! Congratulations, by the way. Your Highness!" Mareth and Gregor both laughed at that.

"Well, if I am king, then I order you to go to bed!"

"Yes sir!" The soldier grinned, gave a salute, and headed toward the door.

"Overlander!" Howard was running toward him.

"Hey Howard. How's it going?"

"Very well actually. I am sorry I could not stay as long as I would have liked at the party, but I had early morning duties in the hospital. I only have a few minutes off right now. I've got something for you." Howard handed Gregor a small folded cloth.

Gregor took it and unfolded it. Inside was a slightly curved object. It was smooth, and completely, flawlessly black. It had a small ridge cut around the wide end, and had a thin metal chain attached to the indention. He recognized it immediately.

"Is this... His claw?" Gregor held the necklace reverently.

"Yes. I thought you might like to keep a piece of him close to your heart... Especially considering the first stop on your journey."

"Thank you Howard..." Gregor carefully put the chain over his head and slipped the claw under his shirt. When he looked up, he caught his breath. Nerissa was standing there beside her cousin as if she had appeared from nowhere.

"Greetings Warrior. I came to wish you well on your quest." She was as pale as she had been in his dream and possibly thinner.

"Thank you Nerissa. And I am not the warrior anymore. The warrior is dead." He felt himself on guard, the fear from his nightmare lingering even now.

"Yes... I suppose that is true... But you remain the Warrior nonetheless. Here." She reached out and put a slip of paper into his shirt pocket. He forced himself not to flinch away from her. When she turned and walked away, he shivered.

"Is she alright Howard?"

"I... I do not know Gregor. She has been getting more like a corpse for months... She rarely eats or sleeps, and when she does, it is very little. Generally she only wants a little tea and spends all of her time in the prophecy room."

"She won't last long like this... Is there anything you can do?"

"As far as sleep goes, I could easily drug her and put her in a hospital bed for a few days, but in her condition, there is no way to know if she would ever wake back up. I can only bring her food and encourage her to eat it, which I do often."

"I do not know how well Luxa would handle losing another cousin..."

"I promise, Gregor. I will do everything I can to keep her alive and try to improve her health, but it still might not be enough."

"I know. Thank you. For everything Howard." The young doctor nodded sadly and headed off to his duties. Luxa appeared by his side.

"Do you have all you want to bring? We should go say good bye to your family. There is no telling how long we will be away." He took her hand without question and they went to his families quarters.

Gregor's parents handled things well, he thought. They at least didn't break down sobbing, certain he would never return, nor did they forbid him to go. Luxa stayed and talked with them while he went and packed the last of the things he thought he might need.

A roll of duct tape, two flash lights and extra batteries, a can of root beer, his music player, and his black plastic bat all got stuffed haphazardly into a sturdy backpack. He strapped on his broken sword and headed back out to his family.

"Be safe. Both of you." His father said as they left.

"See you soon." Gregor replied.

Gregor and Luxa sat together on Aurora, while Twitchtip and Ripred were to ride on Apollo. Twitchtip leaped up nimbly, as she had always been an incredible jumper. Ripred on the other hand kept trying to scale the bat like a steep wall, leaping as high as he could, then trying to get a grip with his claws. Apollo was not enjoying it.

"You know, you could just jump off the balcony and let me catch you. It would be easier on both of us... Ouch!"

"I am not flinging myself off of this building to save you a few nicks and scratches!" Ripred growled as he slid off yet again. "My leg still isn't as strong as it used to be..."

Gregor hadn't thought about it before, but Ripred was far from a young rat. His gray fur might have a bit of aged silver mixed in now. And the leg which had been broken during the war had healed, but it was still noticeable weaker. If he and Gregor were to fight, it might be close.

He walked over slowly and stealthily. The distracted rat leaped and at the top of his arc, Gregor bent his knees, put his shoulder against the rats feet, and shoved as hard as he could, giving the rat the extra few inches he needed.

"There. That wasn't so hard." Twitchtip laughed at her mate's display and Apollo winced as Luxa rubbed his scratched up side.

"We have time to apply some medication to these scratches if you like, Apollo."

"No, I will be fine. Let's be on our way as soon as possible."

They all mounted up. Gregor looked around the high hall and briefly wondered if he would ever return here. He felt Luxa wrap her arms around him and smiled. He had to return so he could bring her back safely.

Gregor looked over at the older rager. "So. What's your plan?"

The rat grinned at the use of his own repeated question. "To the Plains of Tartarus. We will visit the cavern where you fought, then we will decide our next move."

The flight took a few hours, during which Gregor and Luxa talked about their past adventures. It had been four years since they had left Regalia together on a journey like this. It brought back memories, good and bad, of the many times before.

"You know, I think this is the first time that no one has gotten unknowingly dragged into danger with us." Gregor commented. Luxa raised an eyebrow then considered a moment. Boots had been with them on almost every journey, And Hazard had accompanied them on the fourth, along with Thalia. Lizzy had even been brought along on the last fiasco.

"You are correct. Perhaps it is a good sign. Maybe we will not lose anyone this time..." For a moment they both sat together in silence remembering the ones who had died on their journeys. Treflex. Tick. Gox. Henry. Pandora. Hamnet. Frill. Mange. Thalia. The nibblers. All the many, many lives that had been lost during the last war...

"We will all return home alive." He raised a hand to his chest. He felt the cool surface of the claw against his skin.

"I believe you are right" She leaned her head against his back and wrapped her arms around him. Then she sat up. "What is the paper in your pocket? I saw Nerissa give it to you before we left."

"I don't know. I haven't looked at it yet." They dug out a flash light and unrolled the small paper.

Six will go, though five are called, and seven will return.

"What do you think that means Gregor?" Luxa asked.

"Well the prophecy called for five people. Two born to kill, both their mates, and one other. But we are also bringing Aurora, so that makes six. But the seven returning..."

He was lost. Were they going to take a prisoner? Or... He looked over at Twitchtip asleep next to Ripred on Apollo's wide back. He felt the warmth of the girl behind him. Would they be gone long enough for a child to be born on this trip?

"We will have to wait and see. This seems like something that Nerissa has written herself. How it will come to pass will not be clear until it has happened." He could tell from her voice though that she may have the same concerns.

Eventually they landed on a familiar ledge. The same one they had camped in before the battle. Below, Gregor could see the large, flat, open space where they had fought. He saw the tunnel they had followed that led to the cavern. Their destination.

"We'll let the bats rest here for a few hours then we will continue on our way. Do you remember if the tunnel forks any Gregor?" Ripred asked.

"No. It was one solid tunnel that came out in the cavern. There is no chance of getting lost."

They sat in three separate spots. The bats, the rats, and the humans. It felt like the meeting to decide who would look for the cure, only friendlier. Luxa whispered in his ear. "Are you more worried about seeing remains, or nothing at all?"

"I don't know really... Probably which ever one is there will be worse in my mind..." He put his palms to his eyes as he examined the cavern with his echolocation. It continued to amaze him how much detail he was beginning to pick up.

"I will go in first and tell you... So you would be prepared. Like you did for me with the plague victims..." She had a concerned look on her face. Gregor sighed and shook his head.

"No. I'll be fine. As long as you are there with me." He smiled at her as she kissed him.

"I promise." With that she put her back against his and her head on his shoulder and started dozing lightly.

Gregor found he could pick out the weaving pattern on his and Luxa's clothes easily. Better than he could by sight. He could even detect the difference in density and thickness of their pants, shirts, and undergarments by how hard they appeared in his mind. He could detect the raised scar tissue that covered most of the big gray rat's body beneath his fur.

He cleared his mind and tried not to arrange the noises of his breathing into pictures. It did make it difficult to fall asleep occasionally.

The bats were refreshed and ready to go in under two hours. They swooped down to the tunnel and followed it quickly. It took a matter of minutes to reach the cavern. They landed a few yards early and walked in. He stepped into the cavern and immediately found himself in a pool up to his ankles.

He looked around. Up on a ledge, he saw part of the skeleton of a small underland rat. It had been picked clean and broken repeatedly by scavengers. He saw a few long bones, maybe ribs, poking from the surface of the pool. He could make out a tiny trickle of water coming down from the wall.

How could such a small trickle, that must have been their for ages before, have filled such a large cavern? He could see no sign of his bond. Perhaps he was beneath the surface. But more likely, he had been carried off and devoured.

The smell of decay was over powering. His shock and adrenaline had masked it for a moment or two, but now he was gagging. He could see the others were in no better shape. Except maybe Ripred. Twitchtip had already run for air. Even damaged, she had an incredible sense of smell.

Then Luxa flipped on her flash light. Gregor vomited. Right into the ankle deep pool of crimson.

When they had all left the horrid cavern and washed their feet and legs, Ripred proposed his idea. "Some of the blood congealed in whatever cracks the water used to escape through. The room proceeded to fill with the immense amount of blood from the bane's body and the water."

The others just nodded. Twitchtip had also vomited, and taken a while to recover after the overwhelming stench. Luxa was very pale at the sight of so much blood in one place. Gregor was by far the worse off. He was still shaking uncontrollably.

If it had merely been the experience itself, he may have coped better. But it was so horrifyingly like his nightmare he had expected to see a rotting corpse of a bat rise from the slime. Luxa put her arms around him and even Ripred looked at him sympathetically.

"There is no reason to return to that room. We would catch something worse than the plague if we went swimming around in a pool of blood. It looks like we need a new plan."

"Ripred... I think that we should get a bit farther away before we stop to make plans. The smell carries even here." Twitchtip looked at her mate.

"Yes. You are right. Lets go." The rat made it on to Apollo's back in only five tries this time.

They flew to a small cave a great distance from the pool of blood. Luxa and Gregor sat back to back, wrapped in a blanket. Soon Luxa was breathing lightly and it was only Gregor and Ripred awake.

"How are you holding up Overlander?"

"I... As well as can be expected I guess."

"Better, I think. That was the most emotion I've seen out of you in four years, and believe me, I've been watching."

"But you told Lizzy..."

"I know. But I honestly thought that your lives would be better without the underland. I wanted to keep an eye on you in case you needed my help, but otherwise I had no intention of interfering."

"Until you needed us for a prophesy."

"Until YOU needed a prophesy! Gregor, I do not know what exactly is going to happen, but it's supposed to bring you back. It's supposed to bring life back to the Warrior."

"Who says I want to bring the Warrior back?"

"You are the Warrior. Since your bond died, there has been something missing in you. I see it in your eyes. Others must too. Of course with all the things in your eyes, I doubt that is what they notice. I've seen how they avoid you. I went through it too. Even before I was a complete outcast for wanting peace, the other rats could see a dangerousness in me that I could not yet see myself."

"Dangerousness?"

"I was deadly. Powerful. Stronger and faster and smarter than any of them. That alone scared many. But when I lost my family, I was broken. A friend once told me that I had the eyes of a corpse then. I had power and no purpose. I had no desire to live. Then I began fighting for peace. Fighting so no one else would have to suffer as I had."

"And it helped the pain?"

"Not at first. But it began to let me see myself as others did. Have you ever been outside in the cold for a very long time, and then gone into the warmth and realized just how cold you were? It was like that. I suddenly understood how dead I had been. But it takes time to give life to a corpse."

"You think I am going to find something like that while we're away?"

"I hope so. Gregor I think that your family may not notice because they have been with you the whole time and may rightfully attribute any changes to maturity or trauma. And Luxa was certainly so happy to see you again she would eagerly disregard anything out of the ordinary in your behavior. But I see it."

"What do you see?"

"I see myself. I see you hold her hand but keep her on your left. Away from your sword arm. I see that you never pick up Boots. I see that you spend every possible minute alone. You pause before responding to people who are close to you. When you close your eyes, I see your muscles tense. When you look at your wife or your family, I see your fear. I hear a note of despair even when you laugh."

"I... How can I not see these things?"

"Because you are dead. A part of you is no longer there."

"What will it take to get it back?"

"I don't know. Maybe a purpose. A reason to keep on fighting. Maybe more pain."

"I have a reason to keep fighting. I have Luxa and my family."

"I know. I am just telling you what I think are possibilities. Maybe..." The rat looks at the girl leaned against the younger rager's back. "Maybe you will get some great joy put back into you. Like a child..."

"You read the prophesy that Nerissa gave me, didn't you?"

"Yes. The possibility had already crossed my mind though."

"We aren't going to be gone that long, and there is no way we would risk having a child on this trip."

"Yes. You are probably right. I do not think we are meant to know what is coming."

"Yeah. If we did, we'd probably be too scared to keep going. Well, all of us but you."

"I'm beginning to see the end coming for me. I'm not as young as I used to be. The rager effects are getting harder on me every time. But I'm not dead yet. I've still got some fight left in me. Now get some sleep. We're heading for Atlantis next."

Gregor relaxed a little back against Luxa. He closed his eyes and thought about all the rat had said. Was he really like that? He tried to run through the things he had mentioned. Then he had to force himself to untense his muscles. Even here, leaned against his wife and sitting next to perhaps the single deadliest creature in the underland, he could not be at peace.

He did not remember ever drifting off. He just remembered Luxa shaking him awake and trying to pretend he hadn't reached for his sword. The journey to the lost city was longer than he remembered. They flew for hours on end. It was definitely not the rout they had taken before.

"Ripred, why aren't we going back the way we came?"

"We went through a one way tunnel. Something Sandwich made. A stone door seamlessly hidden in the cave ceiling that had a hidden trigger to open and close it on each side. I believe he may have put it there on his way to the city for the final time, to stop others from coming after him."

"He did not realize there were other entrances?"

"Things change. Slowly, but new caves and tunnels do form."

"Oh..."

They arrived with the flashlights off. Gregor guided Luxa to an overhang and then turned on the lights for her. She gasped in astonishment.

"Gregor it is so beautiful! You did not tell me... I could never have imagined anything made from earth and stone could be more beautiful than Regalia..."

"Neither could I, until I saw it for myself. Ripred, can we have some time to explore?"

"Yes, but not more than a couple of hours. The bats could use a rest anyway."

Gregor took Luxa's hand and guided her through the streets. They watched the stories in the streets and the pictures on the walls. They walked through the forest of emeralds and even visited Sandwich's grave. Then Ripred was calling them back.

They went to a tunnel Gregor recognized. He finally remembered when they came to a fork in the path. One path marked with a hand and a claw interlocked, and one with a hand holding a sword.

"What is down the other tunnel Ripred?" Gregor asked.

"Nothing. A dead end."

"No that isn't right." Twitchtip was sniffing down the tunnel. The group followed her into a small cavern with smooth walls on all sides. She ran her nose over every inch. "I smell other rats..."

Gregor and Luxa immediately turned to the entrance, swords drawn.

"Not that way, beyond this wall."

"But... How can you smell through solid stone?" Luxa asked.

"It isn't solid. It is a door!" Gregor ran over and began running his hands over the surface. Near the ceiling, he found a small hole. It was too deep for his finger to hit the bottom, and no animal could maneuver a claw up to such an angle.

"It has to be the latch... But why would he make it unopenable?" Gregor wondered.

"What was the other tunnel like?" Ripred asked suddenly.

"It was ridiculous. It was obviously made for a human with echolocation. Some of the spots seemed built specifically for me. Why?"

"What if this is the same way?"

"I already tried. My fingers aren't long enough. Or strong enough to flip a stone latch."

Luxa smiled and tapped her chest. Gregor took a few moments, then slowly pulled the claw necklace from under his shirt. He smiled at the black object and then carefully slid it into the latch. It fit as though it were molded for it.

With a faint grating that escalated to a near deafening roar, the wall slid into the floor and Twitchtip breathed in air that had not seen visitors in hundreds of years.


Ripred is by far my favorite character in the series, followed by Lizzy, Luxa, and Ares.

Read and Review!