Chapter 10

A warm gust of wind blew past the three travelers as the morning sun beat down on their backs. Rosethorn's footpaw strayed near the water's edge as she looked up at the sky, shading her eyes from the burning sun.

"There might be a sudden storm, you know."

Tossing an apple to both the eagle and the mouse, Diathus the haremaid shrugged and continued munching on hers, stating nonchalantly, "Aye, so we might as well enjoy the good weather we now, right? Sky, ye suggested we follow the river instead of crossin' it. Is there any reason for the decision?"

Skydrop nodded his burly head as he bolted the apple down quickly. "Aye, lassie, there's a gurt big redstone house oop ahead o' us, an' it looks like a nice place wid good beasties, so Ah thought we could stay there an' rest a bit. I hope they haven't seen me yet, lassie. I might have fright'ned them because o' mah size."

Diathus nodded thoughtfully, chewing on her apple reflectively. Swallowing, she grinned and took a mighty leap. She landed in front of Skydrop and Rosethorn and turned around, winking.

"Good idea, Sky. Well, Rosethorn, ye could be right, so let's get as far as we can today before it rains." The hare dashed forward without any warning, leaving the two behind. Skydrop stared after his comrade in surprise, then gave a great flap of his wings and soared off into the air. Rosethorn, seeing she was last, ran after the two, shouting out in a disappointed voice.

"Wait up, you two! Don't leave a poor mousemaid behind! Hang on!"



It was around noon when the first clap of thunder was heard. Skydrop's head shot up and he stared at the sky, urging the mousemaid and the hare to keep going.

"Come on, lassies. Let's find some shelter afore the first raindrop hits thee ground."

Quickening their paces, Rosethorn, Diathus, and Skydrop rushed forward, peering around in search for a cave. Pushing past a few ferns and branches, the haremaid felt something cold on her back. Rain. Urgently, she looked closer and went deeper when she felt a slight opening. She felt around until she realized it was a small cave.

"Rosethorn! Sky!"

Her two traveling companions rushed over, trying to shield themselves from the rain.

"Och, lassie, 'ave ye found somethin'?"

Diathus pushed Rosethorn into the cave with no second thought. She rushed inside as she pulled Skydrop with her. Rosethorn nodded at her thankfully, though she couldn't be seen since it was so dark.

"A cave. How nice. A bit damp, but 'tis all we have."

But Diathus felt something was wrong. Her nose twitched irritably as she smelt some sort of aroma. Something like smoke. Walking past Skydrop and Rosethorn, the hare felt her way near the back of the cave. Feeling her way around, she searched the corners, making sure there was nothing there, until her paw touched something. She didn't have time to identify what it was, because the next second, her paw was pushed away roughly, followed by a low growl. Panic rushed through her mind as she yelled called back to her friends.

"The cave's occupied! Get out of here!"

Then everything went blank.



Rosethorn and Skydrop were already facing difficulties of their own. They were being attacked, by whom they did not know. When they heard Diathus's cry, the fought their way to the cave entrance, but the creature wouldn't let them go. The beast was clinging to the mousemaid viciously, preventing her from leaving, and Skydrop couldn't go without her. So the eagle flung himself onto the creature and started pecking at him or her with his sharp, pointed beak, causing shrieks of pain from the creatures. He was stopped when a rough voice called out, "Let go of her or your friend here dies."

The word 'Diathus' ran through Skydrop's brain and he immediately let go of his victim.

There was silence as he heard the creature scramble to her friend, and the silence continued. Suddenly, the cave was lit by a warm, glowing fire. He saw two figures clearly. One was a squirrel, and the other was another hare. The eagle's face lit up with a smile as he saw the other hare, but it immediately disappeared when he saw Diathus, out cold.

At the signs of the bruises the squirrel had, Skydrop guessed that she was the one who attacked him.

The hare by the fire finally turned his attention to Skydrop and Rosethorn. He had a small smile on his face as he spoke. "Hello there. My name is Tamarillo, an' that o'er there is Miameep, but I call her Mia. Wot do ye want? Are ye friend or foe?"

Rosethorn stepped up and extended her paw, which the hare shook willingly. "My name is Rosethorn, the eagle is Skydrop. Our friend that you knocked out over there is Diathus. We only came here because we needed shelter from the rain, and I think it's a bit obvious that we're friends."

The squirrel sprang up, her eyes blazing madly. "Obvious? How do we know that you're not a rat in disguise? An' how do we know that the eagle isn't workin' for vermin?" The squirrel turned to Diathus's unconscious form on the ground. "An'.an' how do we know that she isn't.isn't a stoat with long ears?"

She was silenced by a stern glare from the hare. "I'll tell ye why, Mia. It's because the mouse wouldn't extend her paw if she was a rat, the eagle wouldn't have stopped attackin' ye if he was evil, an'." The hare walked over to Diathus and started nudging her, trying to get her to wake up while he finished. "she wouldn't have two goodbeast comrades if she were a stoat. Now, anything else, Mia?"

The squirrel glared at Rosethorn and Skydrop before stomping off to her seat by the fire.

Diathus groaned as she peeked open her eyes. Her head was throbbing and she was all dizzy. The hare looked up and she came face to face with the hare, who smiled.

"Well now, looks like ye've finally awoken, er, Diathus, I do believe? No matter. My name is Tamarillo an' the squirrel o'er there is my friend Mia. Please pardon her if she's rude to ye. She's had a hard past, an' she won't e'er ferget it. An' sorry about that bump on the head. I thought ye were, beg pardon, miss, some sort of stoat or weasel."

Mia chuckled from her spot by the fire and spoke to her friend without looking up. "Ye see, Tamar? I told ye that she looked somethin' like a stoat."

Diathus got up and brushed herself off indignantly. "Humph. A stoat or a weasel indeed. You know that I look like no such creature. I'm a hare, an' I look like one too. If ye don't realize that, perhaps ye need to get yore eyes checked."

Tamarillo grinned as he patted the hare on the back reassuringly. "Ah, don't worry, mate. Ye know we was only jokin'. Imagine mistakin' ye pretty self as a stoat or a weasel or somethin' o' that sort."

Diathus broke out into a smile and sat down by the fire next to Mia. "O'course I knew ye were jokin'. I know I don't look like a stoat or weasel. Especially not one like Sinzord or.Vermeng.'

Mia jumped up suddenly as Diathus said the last name, the fire and rage that shone in the squirrel's eyes before returning. "Vermeng!"

Skydrop waddled over the Marele and looked at her questionably. "Ye knoo o' Vermeng?"

Mia didn't answer; she just stood there shaking with fury. Rosethorn turned to Tamarillo, worry for Marele showing in her soft eyes. "What's wrong with your friend? Does she know of Vermeng?"

The hare sighed and beckoned her over to the fire, where Diathus and Skydrop had already taken a seat. Gently, he pushed the squirrel down, making her sit back down onto a log by the fire. He, too, also took a seat and began explaining.

"Mia was a slave aboard Vermeng's ship, er, Carassan, I do believe. I also believe ye were a slave too? Anyway, she was just a little babe when the corsair captured her village of squirrels and chained 'em below deck, forcin' 'em to row the oars. She stayed on that ship for many seasons, rowin' an' such. Then one day, she got sick. Terribly sick. Vermeng and the slave captain, er, Ragfang, saw this an' decided to have a little fun wid her, seein' that she could no longer pull an' pull an oar. So they tied large rocks onto her footpaws and pushed her into the sea, watchin' her struggle against the rollin' waves. When they thought that she had drowned, they carried on wid wot they were doin' before. But me friend here hadn't drowned. No, she's much stronger than that, y'see. So she swam to shore, an' lucky fer her, I was passin' by. I took pity on her an' brought her too my cave, which is the one ye all are sittin' in at the moment, an' I nursed her back t'health. She still hates Ragfang an' she hates Vermeng even more."

Diathus nodded slowly, her paws fidgeting around. Finally, she spoke. "Well, er, I dunno wot to say. I was a slave too, y'see, but I wasn't thrown off board, I escaped from me chains and Skydrop here helped me escape. We met Rosethorn later on bein' attacked by rats. That basically covers our story. Say, Tamarillo, where d'ye come from?"

The hare shrugged as he fed the fire some twigs, not looking up as he replied. "Er, I dunno, really. I think I came from the fire mountain, Salamandastron, though I don't know how I came to be here. Don't really recall these things, y'know." Tamarillo looked pass Skydrop, who was sitting across from him, and stole a glance outside. "Looks like the sun has come up, mates."

Diathus turned around and nodded. She stood up, stretched, and grabbed her haversack, headed to the door. "Well then, we're off. Come on, Rosethorn. Skydrop, let's get goin'." Before the haremaid left the cave, she turned around and smiled cheerfully. "Um, I say, do ye two have anythin' to do or anywhere to be, cause we're goin' to that big redstone house up ahead, but ye two look like ye know this forest better than us, so would ye mind if, um, ye came wid us jus' in case we get lost?"

Tamarillo returned the smile and bounded up to her. "If ye mean 'would ye like to come wid us,' sure we would, right Mia?"

The squirrel, who had recovered from her anger, bounced up and landed right beside Tamarillo. "We haven't done a lot o' things these days. Jus' been eatin' an' drinkin' an' sleepin'; 'twill be nice for us to go out an' do somethin' else fer a change. So we're comin' wid ye three!"

Rosethorn grabbed the haversack from Diathus's paws and swung it over her shoulder, grinning at Mia. "Right then, let's get a move on. We want to get there as soon as we can, right?"

Mia stuck a paw into the haversack and pulled out a strawberry. The squirrel took a big bite out of it and grinned. "Righto, mate. But it don't matter to me when we get there, as long as there's food a plenty."

With that, the five travelers set off, singing ditties, exchanging jokes, enjoying life to the fullest, not knowing what lied ahead of them in the futures.