Chapter 3
"Damn it! What do you mean we're stuck?" O'Neal screamed. The dialing device was smashed into small pieces. They were in a cavern of some sort. They all had a flare in paw for light.
"Sir, I think we have bigger problems." Carter said, pulling the bolt on her MP5 back and letting the spring snap it back into place with a metallic click.
"What? What could be worse?" O'Neal asked.
"Thank you for being sso nice asss to ssstand there for my convenience." A hissing voice echoed from the tunnel ahead of them. Soon the head of an enormous adder loomed out of the darkness. "You will enjoy eternity after thisss kisss. Look at you fate and go to ssleep." All of the team except for Jackson looked at the snake's eyes; he was still fumbling with the vest's fasteners. He looked up and saw the snake sliding leisurely toward Carter. Without thinking he drew both pistols and fired two magazines into the snake, breaking the spell on the rest of the team. Soon all that was left of the adder was a pile of bones and bits of scales.
"That was a close one, thanks Jackson." Carter said, still staring at the heap of organic matter that had been the snake, her paw was still holding the MP5 in a death grip.
"I know you would have done the same for me, wouldn't you?" He asked, his glasses sliding down his nose.
"Uh, sure we would. Right T'Ilk!?" O'Neal said looking at the jackal holding the staff weapon.
"Yes." He said, raising an eyebrow.
"We should try to find some kind of settlement, we can put a beacon near the gate so it will be easier to find." Carter said, her ears finally coming down after being up straight in the shooting. The team walked out of the cavern, and into a maze of tunnels. They came to a fork, one to the left, one to right.
"Alright, let's see how our luck is." O'Neal said, producing a combat knife and flipping it into the air. It seemed to stay in the air for an eternity, but it finally hit the ground. It sunk it the soft sandstone!
"Dammit! Guess our luck isn't all that great. Any ideas?" He asked, pulling the knife out of the ground. Jackson seemed to be engrossed in some carvings on the wall.
"Hey, I think I found a way out!" Jackson yelled triumphantly. Everyone else looked perplexed, except for T'Ilk, who just raised a questioning eyebrow. "Look, there are arrows carved into the rock, going towards the snake's lair." Everyone shuddered at the mention of it. O'Neal caught on first.
"If we follow the opposite way the arrow is pointing, then we find a way out! Good job." The otter said, adjusting the sling on his P-90. They followed the arrows, and soon found the entrance/exit. When they got outside, Jackson squeaked in triumph again.
"I knew we'd be on a planet with lots of sun, but you all said that we wouldn't need our sunglasses." He said, pulling out his sunglasses and showing that he would not be blinded like them. T'Ilk looked around and mentioned that it looked like a quarry. The team walked all around looking for a place to walk out of it. When they finally found one, there seemed to be a settlement of some type near a river. It turned out that it was a group of otters on a fishing trip.
"'Ey, who's there? Speak up, or this stone's gonna find a new 'ome on your head." One big otter yelled as SG-1 approached. The team stepped out into plain view. All the otters came up to O'Neal and asked what he was doing traveling at his age. He explained that his team was traveling to a settlement so that they could get some supplies and make some repairs.
"Wot kind o' repairs do ye need? We got the best boat fixers in all of Mossflower comin' soon." An otter with many scars on his face and shoulders. "If it's a boat, then the Guosim can fix it. Those shrews fixed me boat in less than a day!"
"Well, it's not exactly a boat. It's made of metal, hard metal!" O'Neal said to the other otter.
"Then you'll be wantin' to go to Redwall Abbey. When the Guosim come, we'll all go with ye. I hear that a feast is going to be in full swing by noon in three days. By the way, I'm Luke. But just call me by my title, Skipper."
"Alright Skipper. I assume that that singing coming from the Guosim." Jackson said, pointing down the river.
"Aye, and Log-a-log looks like he'll want some food." An otter said, hefting a pot of river water over the fire.
"Ahoy, Skip! Well, looks like me old friend found some new ones! Wot is he?" An older, rounder shrew said as he jumped to shore.
"They're travelers in need of a smith, so at dawn I'll take em to Redwall. Pity you'll miss the feast, Log-a-log." Skipper said, slapping the shrew's shoulders.
"Miss a Redwall feast? Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss one for anything, except a Badger-forged rapier!" Log-a-log said, scaring Jackson. This made the otters and shrews laugh.
"So, what can you do to earn your supper?" Skipper asked, tears of mirth streaming down his face from seeing the mouse fall.
"We can out do your crews in weaponry, and if you don't believe me, watch this!" O'Neal said, pulling a quarter out of his pocket. He asked an otter to toss the coin at a tree. The otter looked at the O'Neal as he adjusted the strap on the
P-90, but he slipped the coin into her sling and spun it experimentally. Then without warning, let it fly at the old tree. With a blaze of fire, deafening staccato, and ring of brass hitting the sand the coin hit the tree.
"You made all that noise and you missed?" Asked a shrew. But O'Neal only walked to the tree and withdrew a jagged piece of metal. He placed in the paw of the shrew, who gasped. "You did hit it, a lot!"
"I told you. We have better weapons."
"Apparently so!" Skipper said taking O'Neal's paw. The rest of the night was spent showing off weapons and eating.