(Author's Note: At this point in the story, at the end of Week Four after Orlic's death [that unfortunate vixen took a native rat's slingstone to the back of the head, poor dear], the ROC:S Coordinator Roxie threw us remaining five contestants a major curve ball: As a consolation prize for being the first player voted off, Levet's author was allowed to make a surprise post, throwing the rest of us off. Levet's post had all of us suddenly and mysteriously on a ship without any explanation, sailing away from the island. My fellow players howled, convinced that the site had somehow been hacked, but I reacted by immediately composing and posting the following installment to explain Levet's unexpected reappearance and put the story back on track.)

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"Only a Dream?"

Vodola sat up, the humid night silent and still around her. The usual tropical nighttime background noise of uncountable insects was absent, creating an eerie hush over the plateau. Into the darkness, Vodola said, "I just had the strangest dream ... "

She didn't think anybeast else would be awake to hear her soft utterance, but Tundra answered her immediately. "Aye, me too ... "

"About Levet," Cayenne said at nearly the same time.

Vodola got up and walked over to the two otters. "We all had the same dream?" She was incredulous. And yet ...

"We were on a ship," Cayenne said, "heading off the island. We'd gotten safely past the reef, and the volcano had blown ... "

Tundra nodded, her silvery head visible in the moonlight. "He said I'd know th' weather, 'fore it even happened ... "

"And that I'd sniff trouble, before it came," picked up Cayenne.

"And I'll be able to see two days' march away," said Vodola. "But this is preposterous! We can't all have had the same dream!"

"But we just did," Cayenne pointed out.

"Don't know what it means," Tundra sighed, "but a sign like this's not t' be ignored."

The sound of pawsteps echoed from the tunnel leading up to the plateau. Vinklinar and Pyr emerged into the moonlight. Seeing that the others were already awake, Pyr said, "Something very strange just happened to us down there. I know Vink and I were supposed to be on sentry duty, but we must have both dozed off - how I can't explain. But we both woke up just now from a dream .. and we'd had the same one!"

"Was it about Levet?" Vodola asked, dreading the answer.

"How did you know?" Vinklinar gasped in surprise.

"We all had it too," Cayenne told him.

For long moments the five surviving castaways stood or sat in silence, digesting this uncanny turn of events. At last Cayenne broke the silence. "Levet's ghost came to us. That's the only explanation. We couldn't all have had the same dream unless somebeast gave it to us."

"I don't believe in ghosts," Vodola stated stubbornly.

"Then how d'you explain this?" Tundra asked.

"I can't." Vodola rose and crossed to the tunnel entrance. "The only thing I know for sure is that I'm certainly not going to be able to get any more sleep tonight. Cayenne, let's go down and take our turn at guarding the tunnel. Pyr and Vink have done their shift ... even if they did nap during part of it!"