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start of round two.

Chapter 23. I want to break free

by Flynn

Why? Why had she been so foolish? She had blindly come running at the first chance she got, but what had she run into? Her passions had clearly taken control of her, a mistake, even for one such as her. She had hitherto been called reckless, headstrong, all the words that were typically used to describe a rash young beast. They had been right of course, all of them. Whatever happened next, she could not act on her own. She now had to work together with other beasts if she was to survive. Everything in her power must be done, to escape this deathtrap.

After dinner, she had immediately slipped out the corner. It was better not to get caught up in the shouting match that inevitably would happen. Besides, she had needed to clear her head and fully digest what the Professor had said. It was plain now, that defense parameters needed to be set. She had prepared for the possible defense of her room, but where would a second sanctuary exist if needed? It was imperative to find out if there was such a room that could be easily defended.

The Armoury, would be her first stop. This time, she needed a possible defense against multiple beasts. Swords were obviously out of the question, as they could be useless in a tight corner. For the same reasons, the daggers and suchlike were useless. The flail-like maces looked like a good option, but they were far out of her reach on a high shelf. That left projectile weapons and others with a long reach. Flynn had taken a full quiver of arrows and a bow. She also had taken 2 pikes with her. It had been a heavy load to carry, but somehow, she had managed.

She had gone somewhere; she did not remember exactly where in the castle it was. Flynn knew it was not on the main floor. There she set up the quiver and bows in a hidden place and proceeded to position the pikes. It had taken many hours that much was certain, and these pikes were placed in such a way as to mean death to any beast that chanced to be careless.

When the cautious defender had stepped out of this proposed safe haven she had felt confident. Confident enough to walk the halls of the castle at night unarmed. Cockiness is always dangerous, even if it does not kill you; it is still a foolish thing. The bump on the head was not remembered, neither was the odd whiff of gas. Either way, Flynn woke up the next morning on the floor of the Ballroom. It appeared to be morning anyways, as the bustle of other beasts could clearly be heard.

Flynn stood up straight, assessing her situation. Gazing around her, she saw the bow lying on the ground with its string cut. Lined up next to the bow, were all of the arrow shafts she had intended to use. They were all neatly broken in half at their midpoint. No traces that any other beasts save her were in the room. Without any warning, Flynn fell to her knees and vomited. She beat her paws against the cold floor in frustration, tears streaming from her cheeks.

Skipper, did I come here for me or you? It should have been obvious should it? How could I have possibly mistaken Faliss or any of his creatures for the killer? Was it my desire to pin the blame on somebody I did not even know? I ran around in circles, looking for 'revenge', but what was I avenging? Do I even know who I am, or what kind of beast I am? Am I a Warrior or am I just Lost?

She knew not how long she lay on the floor. The way she felt then, it seemed as she was there for hours. She just let it all out, pounding the floor and crying. It was lucky for her indeed that the door to the Ballroom was closed, thereby preserving her dignity her dignity. If any beast had seen this unsettling display, Flynn might have had a hard time explaining it.

"Ugh" It was now clearly time to get up and do something. First of all, she had to check her room, and assess how safe it was. After that, it would be wise to meet up with the others. Flynn stood up and exited the Ballroom, to her destination. She took with her the top part of the arrow shafts, for broken though they were, could still be useful.

She reached her room, without seeing another beast. The minute she stepped inside, she knew something was definitely wrong. The desk in the corner of the room was ajar. Whatever had been in that desk was probably long gone now. Flynn did not even bother to inspect it as she set up the hiding place for the arrow shafts. Securing the bed was her primary objective, and she made amply sure that no stray beast could use it without injury.

There, the defense of the room seemed just about right. It was probably time to head out in search of the others now. The curious thing was that she had not seen or heard any beast yet. When she had first woken up, there had been noises, presumably from creatures breakfasting. Now however, there was a silence. This was definitely a silence that demanded explanation.

Flynn headed outside with caution, being careful not to make any revealing noise. There was no telling what the servants had been told about them. After all, had they not been commanded to kill them all if things did not go according to plan? That was certainly a valid cause for concern. The next thing to do then was to defend themselves against the servants. Maybe she could change the other guest's opinion of her by co-operating with them. It was a start, everyone needed to fight together sometime.

The otter entered the Armoury by the southern end, and perceived that she was alone. It was just as well, for she did not wish to be disturbed at this time. Right now she had to decide which weapons to distribute among her fellow guests. There were different strength levels among the others and she needed to try to accommodate them all. Flynn had just made her decisions when she heard a noise behind her. That annoying fox came into the room and slammed the door. Unaware of prior occupation, he nearly bumped right into her.

"Hey! Watch where you're going vermin!" Flynn snarled upon being bumped back by his clumsiness. She was surprised at how fast that comment had slipped out of her. That certainly was not the best way to greet someone, but he was stupid and clumsy.

The fox backed up immediately with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry, I were looking for the dining room," he mumbled. "The one from last night."

"A likely story," Flynn spat the words, never taking her eyes off the fox. "You're after weapons. I know your type, vermin. You'll kill us all in our sleep as soon as look at us! Well I'm onto your little game, vermin. I'm going to get the others, and then we'll see who'll be the first!"

Now, wait a minute!" Sootpaws protested in vain, Flynn swept past him, slamming the armoury door behind her. She needed to get this moron with the program, and soon. This fool needed to hear what she had to say. Regrettably, he was backing up rapidly, possibly scared from the dagger she held in her hand. "I'm not goin' to hurt you! Look at me, I'm useless! I couldn't hit a…"

Suddenly the fox made a break for the door, thinking his life was in danger. Flynn moved to stop him, but then the fox suddenly lost balance and lurched toward the ground. Time suddenly seemed to slow to a crawl for a few short moments. Flynn noticed then that her footpaw was resting on a boot lace which was still attached to its shoe. The shoe had still been attached to its owner, who was now falling in suspended animation.

Time suddenly returned to normal. The shoelace was jerked from under Flynn's foot as Sootpaws fell against one of the weapon racks. The impact caused on of the highest shelves to shudder, and break in too. Flynn could only watch as a heavy old ornamental mace fell off of the shelf, -right onto Sootpaw's head. The fox barely had a chance to say anything before he was brained by the weight of the mace.

Flynn stared at the slumped body of the fox on the floor. He was clearly dead; his skull had been dented badly by the impact. Suddenly her knees began to shake violently, in an attempt to steady them; she clutched them with her paws. Flynn felt sick immediately, she vomited repeatedly in quick succession.

She.....She had…killed him….No, it had been an accident, how was she to have known that he had loose bootlaces? He had been an innocent, at least as far as she knew. A foolish one to be sure, but he had seemed fairly incapable of harm. What separated vermin from goodbeasts after all? Surely it was the intent ,and the meaning behind acts that determined what a beast was.

This was sure to ruin her chances of successful teamwork, unless they never knew. She knew, had known from the start that none of these beast had killed Skipper. That meant that for now, there was no reason to distrust the other guests…even those commonly labeled as 'vermin.' For all she knew, 'vermin' did not refer to particular races of beasts, but could apply to any beast for actions of a villainous nature.
The door clicked as the handle was turned. Undoubtedly otherbeasts had heard the commotion and hurried to the scene. Flynn hastily stood up and repositioned herself so that she was standing further away from the body.

When the door opened, Quincy stood in the doorway with an utter look of surprise on his face. He looked down at the slain fox, then up at Flynn.

"Vermin, got what she deserved," Flynn muttered under her breath

Events then proceeded to progress in a blur. The hare asked her a question that she vaguely heard. The servants carried the body out, all without much response from Flynn.

Then they were alone in the room and time returned to normal. Flynn looked up at the hare. "Well?" Quincy asked at length , "Is there a reason you're still here?"

Flynn raised her head so that she was staring directly at the hare. "Yes, Iv'e changed my mind.....about everything. I really think we all need to band together in order to survive."

She then said the thing she thought she never would say.....

"I now have no qualms about working with any of the other guests."