Zs99: Haha! I just finished downloading Watership Down! I love Kehaar! "You stoopid bunnehs!" Hahaha! I just love how he reacts to everything! Ah hem! ANYWAY...! I've finally managed to finished 25! Sigh...I'm very tired...yawn...VERY tired...we had this stupid thing at school today...kinda pointless at the moment, but what the hell! Read (if you're on this one, I should hope you're reading) and review (thankee kindly to all who did)!

Ryne bared her fangs and snarled as the bear charged towards her, roaring savagely as his claws tore up grass and savaged the ground. Ryne ran forward and leapt, moving to the side as she avoided a blow from Madara's right paw, which was now missing a claw.

Madara reared back and fell as Ryne bit deeply into his facial weak point. She let go and jumped backwards, landing next to Flippy. "Let's move, now!" Flippy turned and ran after Ryne. Madara righted himself and barreled after them, roaring in rage. Ryne perked her ears. "What did he say?"

"Why would you think I'd know!?" Ryne glared at him. "You're a bear!" Flippy concentrated on what laid ahead of him. "You stereotypical...! Fine. He said that he'll get redemption if he can bring one of us to Akakabuto." Ryne smiled. "Oh really-watch out!"

Ryne suddenly shoved Flippy. A second later, Madara's huge paw thudded down where he had been. Ryne leapt up and launched herself back at Madara, but the bear evaded and sank his fangs into Ryne's tail. With a jerk of his head, he swung her into the air. Ryne twisted her body and slammed her fangs hard into Madara's weak spot. The bear roared in pain and staggered backwards again.

The Akita let go and landed next to Flippy. Madara steadied himself and stood roaring at them as blood splattered from his face. He charged again, completely ignoring the wound. Flippy threw a knife at him, sending it deep into Madara's cheek, but the bear ignored it and continued the attack.

Flippy jumped backwards as Madara slashed at him. "My God! He must have a major tolerance for pain or something!!" Ryne ran off again. "Yeah, ya think!?" Flippy ran after her as Madara lunged, fastening his teeth into the bark of a tree. He jaws contracted, slashing easily through the wood as he ripped a huge section away and flung it to the side. Madara swung around, roaring angrily, and took off after them.

(Timeskip--10 minutes)

"Is it just me, or is something wrong here?" Flippy asked as he continued to run beside Ryne. Ryne lifted one ear and rotated it around. "If you're talking about the extreme lack of Madara or Madara noises, then, yeah, I think something's wrong. Other than that, everything's just peachy!" Flippy glared at Ryne as she stopped and looked behind them, her ears perked and rotating.

"How can a bear that big just vanish?" Flippy asked at he peered into the surrounding woodland. Ryne closed her eyes and listened. Everything was silent, but a very faint noise came to her, sending a chill down her spine. Her fur fluffed out in agitation. "Hmm...follow me." Ryne leapt up and landed on a branch. She turned and looked down at Flippy. "I heard something that really disturbs me. Hurry it up!"

Ryne turned forward and waited. When the branch shook, she took off, leaping from branch to branch. "But...!" Before he finished, Ryne was gone. Flippy rolled his eyes and leapt after her.

The branches sped by in a brown blur as Flippy looked around, trying to locate Ryne, who had seemingly vanished off the face of the planet. Suddenly, a red paw shot out in front of him and grabbed a pawful of his jacket, pulling him to the side. He opened his mouth to yell, but Ryne clapped a paw to his mouth and held a finger to her mouth. She turned her head and jerked it in a direction.

Flippy looked to the side and saw the huge form of Madara moving through the forest. He stopped and swung his head around. Dangling, seemingly-lifeless, his red tail clamped in the bear's mouth, was KuroKaze. The black cat's eyes were shut and the rest of his body hung limply downward. After scanning the area, Madara turned forward again and quickly moved off, towards Gajou, where Akakabuto waited.

When Madara vanished, Flippy wrenched Ryne's paw from his face. "Why didn't you help!?" Ryne looked after Madara and spoke with a cold indifference. "What difference would it make? You yourself saw what Madara's capable of." Flippy stared dumbfounded at her. "How can you just say that?! Are really gonna let him kill Kuro!?" Flippy growled angrily as he shook Ryne by the shoulders.

Ryne's eyes went slitted. She grabbed him by the jacket and spun him around, slamming his back to the tree. Shock swam in Flippy's black eyes as she snarled at him. "I don't know who you think you are, talking to me like that!! If Madara meant to kill Kuro, he wouldn't go through the trouble of carrying his body back to Akakabuto! Besides," She let go and backed up, her eyes still flashing angrily, "why would Madara kill someone that could have valuable info for him?! He's probably hoping to get back onto Aka's good side, if that's possible!"

Flippy scratched his head. "Ok, I get it. Sorry. I just..." Ryne flicked her ears at him. "Yes?" He shook his head miserably. "Never mind. What'll be do about Kuro?" Flippy asked quickly, hoping to change the conversation. Ryne sighed, then looked up and to the side, tapping her jaw line lightly. "Well, I need to talk with Fyre and everyone before I decide anything." She crossed her arms and looked at Flippy. "We don't have the time to stand here and talk! Let's go!"

"What!?" Silver's ears stood straight up and quivered slightly. Slip looked down miserably. "Yeah, Ryne said Madara got Kuro..." Silver crossed her arms and paced around on her hind legs, a skill she had mastered after being around Kuro and Slip. Being a Lera, she had only been able to stand upright on her back legs at first, but, after a few days of training with Kuro, she had just as much skill as the half-Varg, half-Lera cat himself.

"I knew something bad would happen..." Silver mumbled as she gnawed on a claw anxiously. Slip lifted his head as Switch walked out of the meeting area, his face hard as usual. "What's gonna happen, Switch?" Silver jerked her head to face the green bear and was instantly launching questions at him. "What happened? What's Ryne gonna do? Is Kuro dead? What is Lobster-Back gonna do to him? What-?"

Switch held up both paws. "Stop it!" The mongoose snapped her mouth shut, but kept her wide eyes trained on Switch. Switch crossed his arms. "Look, if you want to know anything, ask either Ryne, Fyre, Sarge, or Flip." Slip sighed. Even though he was now against Akakabuto, Switch still didn't call Flip 'Flippy'.

Alam suddenly launched himself through the entrance and skidded to a halt in the sand. Switch looked cautiously at the Shepherd. He wasn't used to the presence of the WarDogs yet. Alam merely glanced at him, then padded back to the room. Silver walked away from Switch and sat next to Slip. "What do ya think Alam's inna hurry for?" Slip shook his head. "Beats me. But, I don't think my brother likes him very much..."

Switch scowled at the black bear. "Just because I joined them, doesn't mean I trust anyone, not yet at least..." Everyone turned their heads towards the entrance as a sudden scuffling of paws echoed through HQ.

A slate-gray fox with black Tora-ge markings and a missing left ear had slipped through the opening and stood looking around. Switch recognized who it was and quickly pulled out a blade. He moved quickly to stand in front of his brother and Silver, holding the knife in front of him while he placed a paw on a sword. Slip looked around his brother with Silver.

"Switch, who's that?!" Switch continued to glare at the fox, who was staring coolly at him. "Her name and title's Morgan the Torturer." Morgan narrowed her eyes at him. "I'd very much prefer 'Morgan the Information Extractor', thank you very much!" Switch continued, completely ignoring what Morgan had said. "She works for Viktor and she's the one who tortured Ryne!"

Silver gasped and Slip started shivering violently. Morgan closed her eyes and massaged the side of her head. "Yeah, I did that, but I'm not your-!" She snapped her eyes open as a blade pressed itself against her throat. Switch's voice whispered close to her right ear. "I don't believe you, vermin."

She sighed. "Just give me a chance to explain." "The only thing I'll give you is a slit throat, fox!!" Morgan acted quickly. She slammed her elbow into Switch's stomach and grabbed the knife at the same time. The blade sunk into her paw, but she ignored it as she wrenched it from Switch's paw. With a flick of her paw, she sent it thudding deep into the wall. Morgan spun around and pulled out both of Switch's swords, holding them in the shape of an X on his neck.

Switch stood still but glared defiantly at Morgan. The fox panted slightly as she spoke. "Now will you listen?" He continued to glare, not saying a word. "I'll take that as a yes. I might've worked for Viktor and I might've tortured Ryne, but now I'm working "undercover" for Ryne."

Slip stopped shivering. "Really?" "Really." Slip turned his head as Ryne padded into the room. She nodded at Morgan. "So, what are you doing here? Has anything happened?" Morgan removed the swords and dropped them at Switch's paws. "Yes..." Morgan touched the stump of her ear gently. "But I'm afraid it's bad news. Viktor survived the blast."

Alam snarled and bared his fangs. "That devil! He really IS a devil!" Ryne breathed out deeply, angry that they had failed, yet again, to kill the demon Shepherd. Morgan kept quiet for a second, then continued. "And, although you probably already know this, The Impaler captured your little kitty friend...KazeKuro?" Ryne nodded. "KuroKaze, Flippy and I witnessed it. But, we have a plan."

Morgan perked her ear. "What it is?" From the corner, Crow listened as Ryne explained what would take place, a few hours from now.

KuroKaze groaned as he slowly started to come around. He opened his eyes, only to close them quickly as sharp pain shot through his skull. He raised a shaky paw and rubbed his head, feeling a warm wet spot. The black cat sniffed, smelling the salty scent of blood.

He rolled over and hit something metal. His head forgotten, Kuro leapt up and backed away, rubbing his eyes as they burned. Eventually, his eyes became accustomed to the bright light. The cat cocked his head to the side and stared at the cage. Curled up inside, there was a red porcupine. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she trembled violently.

Kuro took a step closer and peered at her. "Hey..." Her eyes squeezed shut tighter. "Please, just leave me alone! I don't want to die!" Kuro blinked a couple of times. "Why would I want to kill ya? I'm not with Lobster-Back!" Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at the black cat.

"I-If you're not with him, who are you and why are you here?" Kuro flinched and touched his head again. "My name's KuroKaze and, well, although I'm ashamed to admit it, I got captured by Mr. Impaler! How long have you been here?" He asked, just noticing how thin and emaciated she looked.

"I don't remember...I gave up counting awhile back." Kuro growled and flicked his tail. "Then I'll help you get out!" He declared as he moved towards the cage. The porcupine suddenly shut her eyes and curled tighter. Kuro stopped and looked up, finally taking everything in.

He was in a huge pit with sheer walls. Dried blood was smeared here and there and there were bones littering the floor. KuroKaze turned his head up and jumped in shock. The entire rim was full of bears and several of Akakabuto's black Varg. Kuro put his back to the cage and looked around. "What the-! Where'd they come from!?"

The young cat shivered and crouched down when a huge bear appeared, his one yellow eye glaring down at him and his crest of red fur bristling. "You and your pathetic friends are fools to think you can overthrow me! You'll die slowly, along with my spawn!" He reared up and slammed his paws down hard, shaking the entire area, roaring all the while.

An icy claw of fear gripped Kuro. All of the bears and Varg had started stamping their paws, making the whole cavern shake and rumble. He heard the porcupine whimper in fear, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the demon bear. Which meant that he didn't take notice to the black Akita standing still, waiting to make a move.

Akakabuto glared down his snout at the cat, then lifted his right paw and whacked the floor one last time. The stamping faded quickly, everyone terrified that they'd draw the attention of their leader. Kuro shook himself and turned to the porcupine. "Here! We need to get away, NOW!"

She suddenly opened her eyes and screamed. In her terrified eyes, Kuro saw a huge beast come out of a cave. Quickly, Kuro dodged to the side as a large clawed paw shattered the ground were he stood. KuroKaze's eyes went wide as he stared into the face of a monster.