"Okay." Quillus whispered as the sounds of battle raged on just outside the door. "There's a big fight going on outside. We'll use the distraction to sneak out of this hell-hole of a city and then run as far away as possible." He took a deep breath and opened the door. "We just have to be quiet so that noone notices us-"
"There he is!" Shouted Putana, hurling her cleaver at him. Quillus did not even flinch when it struck the wall next to him. Her accuracy was getting worse it seemed. "Get him!"
The porcupine only just managed to slam the door shut in time, as no less than fifty sharp, bladed projectiles slammed into it with avengeance.
"That was way too close for comfort!" He squeaked, shaking in fear.
Then the door shook wildly, as his enemies began to beat it like a drum.
Licky took off into a side-room.
"Hey! Hey come back! Licky! I can't hold this door alone! I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna di-aow!" The door was shoved open with great force, and slammed Quillus into the wall.
In strolled the deranged-looking feline Quillus had faced earlier. "Ohoho, hiding are we?" It took a deep sniff of the air. "Nice try, but I can smell you. Your fear is intoxicating and you were intoxicating to begin with." Without further ado the feline turned and slammed the door shut. There was nowhere to run anymore, Quillus was pinned to the door by his own cursed spines. Down crouched the feline, so that they were almost nose-to-nose. "Nothing personal but you have a lot of meat on your bones."
Quillus whimpered and shut his eyes as the feline opened wide.
A growl stopped him in his tracks. The deranged-looking feline spun round to find Licky, fully-armoured and enraged. Before Quillus got so much as a scratch, the ambiguous feline was bitten on the leg and dragged away by the furious bear. In the dim light Quillus could only see vague-outlines of ripped-out intestines and torn-off arms.
It was a rather gruesome sight, but Quillus had seen worse. Plus it was fittingly ironic that bits of cannibal would end up between her teeth. And much more preferable to bring eaten alive himself.
"Nothing personal." Quillus couldn't resist saying as Licky crushed and tore the screaming feline apart. "But she's the only one allowed to lick me."
And, fittingly, as soon as she was done with the now-deceased cannibal, she licked him. Quillus, not the cannibal.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Next time you go and get armour though, tell me first!" Licky blinked, knowing full well that was impossible. "I thought you abandoned me, okay? I was scared- you know I have issues. Now get me out this door"
Locking her jaws over his middle as gently as was possible and being mindful of her sharp, blood-stained teeth, she gently tugged him out of the door. Quillus came free with several small popping sounds, like a thousand tiny bottles being uncorked. As soon as he was free, she licked him again and he was a little sick of it now.
"Will you stop doing that?" The porcupine complained. She didn't stop until Quillus shoved her nose away. "I said stop it! Okay? We're on a battlefield and if I die I don't want it to be covered in spit."
Licky drooped down and let her eyes widen into the irrefutable puppy-dog eyes she'd been doing since she was a cub.
"One more. That's it." Quillus said, avoiding eye contact.
One lick later he sat atop of her, idly scratching behind one of her ears.
"I'm probably going to regret this, but the quickest way out is through that door. You've got armour on and I'm a survivor..." A particularly loud battle cry from behind the door told him that going through there was definitely not a good idea. "So if there's no backdoor we'll go that way, b-but hopefully there's a backdoor. Or multiple!"
"But we can't leave." Blacktooth was saying as everyone started leaving. "What about my bro?" Noone seemed to hear him so the fat sable repeated the question, more stubbornly this time. "What about my bro!?"
"He's drawing the fire." Vera explained as, her composure regained, she beckoned the occupants of the room out. "Distracting the crazy bear thing so we can leave."
Blacktooth was momentarily dumbstruck. It was not like Splintnose to make noble sacrifices. Then his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Is he doing that on purpose?"
Vera paused momentarily.
*Flashback*
"Guys wait for me! Slow down! Hey! Which way did you go!?" Splintnose raced past the hall Vera and Inkling had darted into, the black bear thing slowly catching up to him.
*Flashback*
"Yes." The she-wolf replied, without a trace of hesitation. "He said he could outrun anything and wanted to buy us all time to escape."
"But how's he going to get out then?" Blacktooth insisted, refusing to be calmed.
"Through the door." Vera replied, growing slightly annoyed.
"But what if he can't reach the handle?"
Inkling facepalmed. "You want your brother back, go get him. But nobody here is going to throw their life away for him."
"That is true." Green-eyes said, standing up. "Please point me towards the exit."
"But Greenie! You're the strongest guy here! You can beat up a bear thing any day!"
The big wolf glared. "I have already saved everyone else! Be grateful!"
"But my bro-"
"I'll get him." Tian Yi snapped, far louder than she had expected to. Suddenly everyone present stopped evacuating and looked in her direction. She raised a paw before anyone could ask any questions or jump to conclusions. "Not because I love him or anything like that- I- I- I'm going now, okay? Surya, Padma, stay together and stay with these guys. Get out of the city. I'll catch up."
If the bear thing was who she strongly suspected it was that was highly unlikely. But she was sick of running and hiding and cowering. She had done nothing for the mission so far and planned on changing that right now. She would rescue Splintnose and overcome her insurmountable fear and kick something. And then the next time her siblings went on a rescue mission she could help out… although hopefully there would be no rescue missions in the near future.
It was definitely not because of love, although no doubt the rumours would persevere. So long as Sanjay didn't get his paws on them…
It did not take her long to find Splintnose, and when she did, the albino threw himself into her 'waiting' paws. The hug was brief, both because she did not return it (too preoccupied widening her eyes in horror at the sight of Bei) and because he did not have the best of grips.
"I knew you'd come back for me!" Splintnose forgot entirely about Bei. This was the best thing he could have asked for. It was not exactly a smile but the fact that she was willing to risk life and limb for him was somehow much better! And it gave him the confidence needed to, while going rose red and staring at the floor, his paws rubbing his blushing cheeks, ask her out. "This might seem a little sudden, b-but I-I- was just, I was wondering if you'd do me the honour of-"
It was just then that he remembered Bei. Despite being a panda, his pursuer was in excellent shape and frighteningly fast and now that he'd stopped running, very close.
"Running for your life!"
Tian Yi was two steps ahead of him, rather literally, but Bei was now in striking distance. The black-furred panda hurled her fan with avengeance (or rather, copious amounts of anger and rage). Tian Yi did not dodge so much as fall over but it saved her life all the same.
The pillars were less lucky. The disc, as if trying to show off how sharp it was (or, alternatively, how badly made the pillars were) sliced through them with ease. Most toppled like cards, but one or two managed to stand upright- until the disc came back around and tore them off too.
Bei caught her weapon and flipped it back into fan form, and now began to approach at a slower pace. She needed these slaves alive. Which, in hindsight, made dropping a bunch of pillars on them seem stupid.
Luckily for all parties involved Tian Yi and Splintnose were miraculously unharmed. Terrified, yes. Scrambling over and around the fallen pillars, yes. But that was better than the alternative.
Still, Bei growled. Her offensive streak had not done her any favours, and now blocked the path to her quarry. Pandas were good climbers, but usually much slower. Bei had already gotten halfway through the pillar pile by the time Tian Yi and Splintnose (who was waiting for her) reached the end.
Luckily for the albino and his beloved, the roof, unstable due to the loss of it's pillars, decided to collapse on Bei.
"Woohoo! We've got a panther pancake on our paws now! Do you think we can-" Splintnose's cheer ended at the sound of Bei roaring. The roof might have slowed her down but it had also made her angrier than usual. Which was not good when survival was your top priority.
As fast as a hummingbird's flapping wings, Tian Yi and Splintnose turned and sprinted away.
"We're all in agreement though, aren't we? Aprons are valuable pieces of equipment and a fine form of clothing. They cover up the abdomen and torso very well, while leaving a nice fresh breeze around your hips-"
"For the love of whoever God is." One of the slavers, currently reading about some Western religions of interest he could perhaps make money from, snapped. "We get it. You like to walk around naked and you love aprons. Now will you please shut up."
The bunny growled and spied an abandoned knife cart in the distance. Stomping over he picked a long, sharp blade, determined to stab the uncultured swine. Aprons were clothes, and very fashionable.
Before he could stab anything, however, a small armada of slaves came charging in from the street. Deliberately stomping over him, or so it felt like, they emptied the shop of weapons and went back the way they came.
Miraculously, the rabbit was still alive, although his apron was now torn in several places and barely hanging on.
"Useless!" He shouted, and hopped to the top of Vera's staircase. "Listen up all of you! You just let a bunch of slaves stampede right past you! How stupid do you feel?"
Before anyone could answer, the (ironwood) door was slammed over him and Vera Darkrose and her tigers (plus Inkling, Green-eyes and the kids) stampeded right past the group of befuddled slavers.
Blacktooth, who was pulling up the rear (already sweating profusely) was slammed hard into the ground by one vicious gorilla.
"I got this one boys, you head for the rest!"
By pure good fortune a bed flew out one of the windows and although it broke over the gorilla's head, it still knocked him out.
Blacktooth, holding his pants up to prevent them from falling down, shot off far faster than someone of his weight ought to have been capable of. Leaving the slavers all sorts of confused.
Unable to permanently outrun Bei, the two had decided to try their luck at hiding. The expression was you can hide, but you can't run, after all, wasn't it?
Of course, hiding was so much easier if the person you were hiding with wasn't talking so much.
"If it's any consolation." Splintnose was whispering. "There's noone I would rather die alongside. I mean, I don't wanna die but it'd be kinda poetic if we meet our ends together, don't you think?"
"Poetic? I barely know you!" Tian Yi hissed back.
The sable's ears flattened. "I know! I know! Sorry, that was stupid. I don't want you to die poetically. O-or at all- gah, I'm sorry. I just can't help it. You're prrrretty."
Even if she did end up surviving Bei the Black and the aforementioned army approaching this was likely to be the only chance she had at rationalising the sable's crush on her. "So you like me because I'm pretty, is that it?" A 'yes' would be easier to reject but a 'no' made no sense because they didn't know each other…
"Well… yes… and no?" The sable bit his lip. He had to be very careful with what he said here, lest he accidentally say something stupid. "I- I don't get it either. Love lightning? Cupid's arrow? I just saw you an-and my heart melted an-and then you saved my life like three times and your brother pulled teeth out of my butt." He could not make himself look at her. "The only girls I ever talked to were my grandma and Secrat and the occasional lady I robbed but those were rare, and mostly they'd stuff a purse down my throat... And I'm not like horny or anything… I mean I could be? I've nev-never f-felt like this before so I don't even know what it is. But I-er love you. I just do." There was a long pause wherein neither Tian Yi or Splintnose spoke. The former was mulling over all that had been said, the latter was wondering if he'd accidentally said something stupid.
"I-Is that, um, a decent answer?"
Tian Yi opened her mouth to reply but shut it again when the door burst open and in stomped a growling Bei.
Barely a second later the bed was lifted off the ground and thrown out if the window with extreme prejudice. Unbeknownst to all present, it saved Blacktooth's life.
"M-maybe we should have hidden under the blankets." Splintnose squeaked.
Bei raised a leg and tried to stomp Tian Yi into the floorboards. She would have succeeded too, had the jackal not rolled out of the way. Splintnose, his love for Tian Yi clouding his judgement (common sense and survival instincts) bit that very same leg with his exceptionally small fangs. Bei kicked him into a wall which he hit with a splat and a groan, before sliding slowly to the floor.
Tian Yi ducked Bei's incoming warfan and rolled out of the way of the second swing, but was grabbed by the tail and swung into Splintnose- just as the sable cut the chandelier loose.
The metal head, all the candles, even the chain holding it up, stood no chance against Bei's head.
"That usually works." Came Splintnose's muffled voice before Bei kicked the two through the wall. Tian Yi and Splintnose hit the floor running (well what they actually did was hit the floor, groan in pain for a bit, remember Bei and then run for their lives again).
"So…" Splintnose began. "We're both going to die so I'm going to start ticking off my bucket list... Er- um- j-just for references… D-does this count as a date?"
Footnote: There are quite a lot of running gags or rather tropes that I use in my fics. Ironwood doors and furniture are basically indestructible, chandeliers falling on someone is an instant knock-out etc etc As you can see I'm playing a little bit with that in these finale chapters. Still quite a few to go actually but it's neater to cut it off here and I have quite a bit of the next few chapters already done so all is good.