Jickador Aldo
If there was one thing in the world of which Jickador Aldo was most afraid, it would have to be losing control of a situation. He had been face to face with his worst fear ever since being captured by the slavers nearly a season ago, but now he was beginning to regain a sense of balance. The circumstances that had brought him to his current position had left him in tatters, bruised and cut in nearly every place imaginable, and his handsome black vest was torn and caked in mud. He had struggled harder than ever in his life during the months of his captivity, but the last hour had been the hardest of all. Driven by the hope of freedom, pursued by some unseen demon, he had ran like a madbeast through the swamp, ignoring all injuries and hardly even looking to see if his chain-mates were keeping up. Now, all of that was nearly behind him. Though he had been stripped of his weapons and much of his pride, the company he now found himself in consisted of an elderly she-mouse and a foolish hamster, neither of which seemed extremely capable. Yes, Jick was in his element, and he reveled in the helpless looks he saw printed on the faces of his companions.
Chuckling silently, he gave Dorog a friendly pat on the back. "Well Dorie, me' mate, looks like we're in a bit of a pickle. Ye' can bet yer rudder though that ol' Jick'll have an idea any minute now!" He winked roguishly at the hamster, hoping secretly that he was right. Bending down, he began to closely examine the chains around his battered footpaws.
Only once before in his life had Jick been chained, and he had not managed to free himself on that occasion. It had been when he was still young, and he could remember the details quite clearly at this particular moment. Several of his shrew "friends" had overcome him late one night in a deserted part of the woods and chained him to a tree, leaving him to die. Desperation had filled him after an entire night of trying to escape the cruel device, and he had cried for help. Fortunately, an old beaver heard his distressed calls and came to help him, bringing an axe that he kept in his home. The axe had shattered the chains, and the sea otter was freed. That very morning he had returned to the shrews' lakeside home, found his captors asleep in their tents, and awoke them to cut their throats. One by one…
"It seems your idea is a little slow in coming, eh Jicks?" Lalilly's voice brought Jickador back to reality with a start, and he chuckled aloud at his own surprise. The older mouse was growing impatient, so Jick decided to stand up and look busy.
Seeing a fairly large rock jutting out of the mist shortly ahead, the otter thought aloud. "Per'aps we could smash these blasted chains on that rock o'er there. What do ye' say, mates?"
Shrugging their shoulders, the other two agreed it was worth a try. Jick, being the strongest, lifted the length of chain between him and Dorie and brought it down hard against the jagged piece of stone. The effort proved fruitless, and only caused the hamster to lose his footing and come crashing to the ground in a ball of fur. Lal giggled quietly, and Jick gave a wry smile as he helped an indignant Dorie back to his feet. The malicious otter was confident that he would soon find a way to be rid of these chains, and then it would only be left to decide what to do with the other two. At the moment it seemed wise to have them as allies, because one could never know what dangers lurked in a swamp such as this. Of course there was no sport in keeping them as friends, so the disguise would only last until he perceived the time was right.
He was in control of the situation.