The pain seared through his body once more. Yugo, with renewed strength, pulled the javelin out of his chest, and stood straight. He saw the hole in his chest where the javelin had been; grow smaller, as the pain grew weaker.
"What just happened?" He asked himself. He then saw Sango's body.
"Sango!" he gasped. "That blot must've been some sort of door leading to the Dark Forest. Sango had pushed me back through and I am living once more."
Yugo then remembered Sango's words before he had pushed him through. He remembered Baro, and tried not to let the Bloodwrath get a hold of him. He would continue his search for Baro, and this mouse that his father had told him to seek out. With this new determination, Yugo pulled his scimitar out of the slain rat, and set off northeast, heading to a village inhabited by mice. Although he had no idea of it, Yugo was heading to Noonvale.
Night had covered Mossflower in a sea of darkness. The only light provided to Martin was the moon, the stars, and the ever-weakening fire in front of him. Martin could not rest. He had no rest, nor sleep, for three days now. He felt himself weak, but he could not sleep. He could not forget Rose.
"Why couldn't I have saved her?" He thought, growing steadily angry with himself. He grabbed his sword, and with a heave of strength, managed to push it, half the blade length, into the woodland floor.
"Why was it her? Why wasn't it me? Urran Voh and Aryah have perfect reason to be angry with me," Martin thought. Then, he remembered Badrang.
"No, it wasn't my fault." He then saw Badrang's image, come forth into his mind.
"It wasn't my fault," He repeated. "It was all your fault! All you vermin are the same! You all ruin lives of innocent creatures!" He yelled out while swinging away at the image of Badrang.
Badrang then disappeared, and Martin was alone once more. Martin had no idea how correct he was about vermin, for Yugo, at that same moment, was thinking of how unjustly his family, friends, and Sango were taken away from him, by vermin.
Dawn arrived as normal, which promised another hot and humid day. This would not break Yugo's morale, however; he was intent on finding, and slaying, Baro, and his entire pack of rag tag vermin. Breakfast was quick, a short meal of rye bread, a slice of cheese, some fruits he had found, and a drink of fresh spring water, and Yugo was off on his travels again. He did not travel long until he heard a hoarse, deep voice, bellowing out:
If you have lost it all,
You must keep on going.
Even if you fall,
You must keep on going.
Hearing the source of the noise getting closer, Yugo quickly scaled a nearby sycamore, and watched. He picked out a figure of a hedgehog, nearing and he relaxed. He quickly came down to the ground, right in front the creature.
"Where did you come from?" The hedgehog called out, startled.
"Do not worry, I mean you no harm. I just need to find a group of vermin I am hunting. Their leader is Baro, a fox, and I seek to kill him." Yugo told him.
"That was very forward. You must be determined to find this fox. My name is Pallum. I have not heard of the vermin you seek. But, the leader of the place that I stay, Noonvale, might know. Also, you could get some sleep, and continue traveling by night, when it is cooler," The hedgehog replied.
"My name is Yugo. Thank you, Pallum, I would like that very much."
And with that, Yugo and Pallum set out, continuing northeast, towards Noonvale.
It was around midmorning when Pallum and Yugo arrived at Noonvale. Pallum led Yugo to Urran Voh, the leader of Noonvale, as was customary to bring guests to him first. Urran Voh was a mouse. He was inside his small abode, lying peacefully on his bed, and thinking. Pallum walked quietly in.
"This is Yugo. He's new here. He is searching for a vermin group that is led by a fox by the name of Baro and wishes to stay until evening," Pallum said.
Urran Voh looked up at Yugo. He did not like him one bit. He was a warrior, he could tell by his eyes. Anger started to fill inside of him.
" I have not heard of such vermin before. And why do you wish to stay here in Noonvale, squirrel," He growled.
"Pallum said that I may be able to rest here, and continue on my travels at night. And if it's not too much of a problem, I prefer to be addressed with the name Yugo." Yugo replied.
"Those vermin that you are looking for are after you, aren't they? You want to stay here and bring trouble upon these peaceful mice. All you warriors are the same, heartless," Urran Voh replied.
"Actually, I am pursuing the group of vermin. It's obviously too much trouble for me to remain here. I shall be on my way then," Yugo said.
As Yugo walked out, a female mouse stopped him. It was Aryah.
"Wait, Yugo," She said.
She then looked at Urran Voh.
"Why must you treat everyone like they are vermin? Rose died by vermin. I have accepted that fact. Why can't you?" She said to him.
"Because it was not vermin that killed her! It was that rag tag warrior, Martin. He ruined our lives and brought us sorrow and grief. Why must this warrior be different?" He replied.
As they argued, Yugo sat silently, taking in all he was hearing, but understanding nothing. Who was Rose? Who was Martin?
At a brief stop in their argument, Yugo spoke up.
"Sir, marm, its fine. I can continue on. It is clearly a problem of personal matters, and I do not wish to intrude on that." He said.
"No wait. It's ok Yugo. You may stay," Aryah told him.
Urran Voh opened his mouth, but kept silent.
"Thank you, marm. Now, where may I stay?"
As Pallum escorted Yugo to an empty house, he couldn't help but ask him about Martin and Rose.
Pallum's face grew grim, and Yugo thought that it must be some personal matter, that was going to remain personal.
"If you don't want to answer, Pallum, I understand," Yugo said.
"No, I think it would do me good to tell you about it. I need to talk about it anyway. What do you say I tell you over a cup of tea?"
"Ok," Yugo replied. "But, what's tea?"
Pallum smiled.
"You'll see," He said.