(Serious) Author's Note: Thanks to richards25, krikanalo and Theonewhoweaveswords for reviewing the last chapter!

In response to Theonewhoweaveswords' review, there will be some chapters based on Sunny, just not yet. She'll have her time later in the story.

I should also mention that the bearded man was the Man With a Beard But No Hair. I just couldn't use his 'proper' name without having introduced his partner in crime, the Woman With Hair But No Beard.

Chapter Twelve

Violet was concentrating.

She had risen early before dawn, when the night was still black. Leaving a note for Arlo at their tent, she had left the debris site behind, heading for the Firestarter base at the edge of the mountains.

She only had to walk a mile, so it took her very little time to get close, but then approached much more cautiously so as to not get caught. It was still dark, so there was no danger of her being spotted, but she didn't want to be heard by anyone who might happen to be on guard.

As the sun rose over the Hinterlands from the east, Violet was out of sight of the base, hidden by the curved walls of the mountains. Slowly creeping round the steep sides of the mountain so that she was just able to see the base, Violet took care to make sure that she was hidden from sight by some loose boulders that had fallen from the mountains and lay and the foot of the hills.

There, by the light of the new dawn, Violet took her ribbon from her pocket, tied up her long hair, and started to think.

How can we get in there and find Klaus?

There was no obvious way in. One heavily fortified gatehouse looked to be the only way in and out of the base. The only other way in would be over the walls. It seemed as though that would be impossible, though, as one mountain was far too steep to climb, and the other was too open, and she was sure that both Arlo and herself would be spotted if they attempted to climb into the base from that side.

And then Violet suddenly had an idea.

It was late morning by the time that Arlo woke to find Violet's note outside the tent.

"Violet?" he called, not expecting an answer, but he heard her call out almost immediately.

"I'm over here," he heard her call out from the wrecked helicopter. "What is it?"

"What're you doing?" Arlo asked, walking towards her, but as soon as he saw her, he knew that she was inventing.

"What're you trying to build?" he asked, walking up to where Violet was searching, looking for compatible pieces of bend metal.

"Something that'll get us into that base," she said, smiling.

"You really think we'll be able to?" Arlo asked, to which his friend nodded.

"We should be able to," she replied. "It seems as though, due to its remote location, the base is poorly guarded. Twenty men at most."

"Twenty men?" Arlo exclaimed. "How're we going to get past all of them?"

"Quite easily," was Violet's reply. "The base is so large that whole sections are completely undefended at times. Earlier, I noticed a ten-minute period where nobody was on the front wall."

"Really?" Arlo said, raising an eyebrow. Maybe the base would be easier to infiltrate - where "infiltrate" here means "find a way in, find Klaus, and get out without being spotted" - than he had first thought.

"Yes," Violet replied. "I should be able to make something that'll get us over the wall easily."

"So why do you need all this metal?" Arlo asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Violet said, with the same foolish, cocky grin that Arlo had often worn himself. "I'm going to make a grappling hook."

Now, why didn't I think of that before, Arlo thought, figuratively kicking himself for his stupidity.

"The only problem is that I'm going to need the guy ropes from the tent to tie these pieces of metal together to make the hook, and use the rest of the guy ropes to make the rope."

"Do you think there'll be enough rope there?" Arlo asked, unsure of whether the idea was going to work or not.

"It should do," Violet said confidently. "Now, go and fetch me that rope. I've got work to do."

It was the middle of the afternoon by the time that Violet and Arlo lay hidden at the foot of the base's walls, their makeshift grappling hook. In this context, the word "makeshift" here means "made from scrap metal and guy ropes, so the grappling hook might be a complete disaster," so Violet was understandably anxious as she finally saw that the coast was clear, and threw the hook up at the wall, hoping for it to reach over the wall, and get a purchase on anything at the top. Unfortunately for Violet, the hook didn't even reach the the top of the wall, but instead it crashed into it with a metallic clang! and then landed back at her feet again.

"Let me have a go," Arlo said quietly but impatiently, but Violet shook her head and threw again. This time, the hook didn't even touch the wall but went straight up in the air, only to land again at Violet's feet. A third attempt was just as unsuccessful at the first two, so when the hook landed on the ground by their feet again, Arlo picked it up before Violet did, and threw it with all his might. The grappling hook soared over the top of the wall, and Arlo pulled on the rope a couple of times. Nothing gave, so he was convinced that the hook was secure. Looking at Violet with a look that seemed to say "I told you so," Arlo put both his hands on the rope and started climbing.

It wasn't an easy climb considering that he only had one good leg (he was able to walk now, but climbing was still a lot of effort), and Arlo had to use his arms almost exclusively to pull himself onto the top of the wall. With Arlo up and signalling down that the coast was clear, Violet began to start the climb. Although she was much more scared than Arlo had been, she managed to calm herself by making sure to only look at the rope she was holding, and the climb seemed to pass quickly. Soon Violet and Arlo were alone on top of the high stone wall, trying to regain their breath. Arlo put down his rucksack (they had agreed to bring everything with them, aside from their tent, which they had packed up and left hidden in the wreckage of Jacques Snicket's helicopter) and pulled out a water bottle, drinking from it desperately.

Violet, who knew that they had little time on the wall before they would be spotted, scanned the base for any signs of her little brother, when her eyes settled on a group of armed men surrounding a boy and another, older man. Was this Klaus? She couldn't tell from her distance. But she had a hunch, and that was better than nothing.

Of course, having a hunch can be a very dangerous thing indeed, especially when it turns out that your hunch was wrong. For instance, I once had a hunch that a cave I was going to explore would be full of vicious bats, and entered the cave fully equipped to fend off the aforementioned bats. However, my hunch was incorrect, and instead I walked into a cave to find a hibernating bear. Of course, I was not prepared for this, and my expedition had a very different outcome to the one I was hoping for.

But on this day at the Firestarter base, Violet Baudelaire's hunch turned out to be useful, as it gave her an incentive to venture further into the base, which was almost deserted due to the congregation in the square at the centre of the base. It was easy for Violet and Arlo to slip through between buildings and down back passages through the base without getting caught, even at walking pace.

Whatever's going on today, it must be important, Violet thought as she crept through the base, with Arlo keeping an eye out behind her.

As Violet and Arlo drew closer to the centre of the base, they began to hear angry voices echo out towards them. There was definitely a couple of men who were getting very animated and vocal about something, although Violet couldn't hear clearly enough to work out what was being said. Then she heard another, quiet, terriefied voice, and she knew that her hunch had been right all along. She wasn't even sure if that was a good thing or not, but at least she now knew where Klaus was.

"It's Klaus," she whispered to Arlo as they crept along another back passage, pausing for a moment as a guard passed by twenty yards ahead of them, unsuspecting. Arlo merely nodded as a way of reply, and the two tried to pick up their pace slightly as Violet became more eager to see her younger brother again.

The pair of them stumbled across the main square by accident.

Violet, who was leading, turned a corner in an alley, expecting another back passage, but walked straight out into the square.

There were at least fifteen or twenty men in the centre of the square, all of them wielding harpoon guns, and surrounding two figures. Violet didn't recognise one of them , who was a bald, bearded man, but she definitely recognised the person he was talking to in his high, scratchy voice. In the centre of the circle stood a terrified Klaus, who had little he could do but whatever was asked of him. At least, at that moment, there had been no violence.

Violet struggled not to let out a startled gasp as she quickly moved back into the shadows, scared of drawing attention to herself. However, Arlo, who hadn't seen what was round the corner, continued walking forward, collided with Violet and both of them collapsed to the floor in an ungainly heap, falling forward into the square as they landed.

"Bloody hell," Arlo swore as he landed heavily on his injured leg, but Violet wasn't the only person to hear him. As he struggled to pull himself to his feet, he looked up straight into the eyes of one of the guards.

For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other emotionlessly, then the guard's eyes narrowed a she realised who they were, and he called out quickly and loudly.

"Intruders!" he yelled. "Intruders at the square!"

Violet and Arlo only had a split second to get to their feet before all hell broke loose.

And then they ran.

(Serious) Author's Note: Please review! I appreciate any (and all) support! :)