3

Hale was a reclusive creature; the stoat loved nothing more than to sit in his den where no one would disturb him, left to his own thoughts and designs. He was enjoying a fine nap in his favorite chair when he received his first visitors in years.

Jugga burst in, his vermin cronies trailing behind him. He jostled the old beast from his chair and waved a dagger in his face.

"You got somefin' o' ours?" the rat threatened, "Cuz it be ours now! Ye gotta problem wif' it?" The other vermin were already hard at work tearing the place apart, sending parchment and furniture flying as they grabbed anything of value.

Hale smiled, "It's been a while since I had guests." He stood, oblivious to the weapon that nearly took off a whisker, "And you brought friends? My, how nice."

Jugga gave the old stoat a kick in the shin, "Gerrof yer feet, ol' man afore I take 'em off fer ya." He smiled as the ancient beast fell to his knees, then turned his attention to a drawing hanging on the wall. "What's this then?" he asked, his question more of a statement.

"Oh that's just something I drew in my free time. It's a plan for a machine that can fling things around really easily." Hale rose once again, "Of course, the landing is always a problem."

Jugga stopped his men, "Really?" his tone with Hale has improved upon hearing this, "Tell me more."

Hale grinned from ear to ear, "Such a nice little vermin," he remarked, "Well, you see, it works a little like this…"

Meanwhile, back at the Abbey…

Blanka dozed in a nice sunlight corner of the courtyard. It was all he really did with himself all day. He was in the middle of a lovely dream when he was interrupted by some manner of high pitched screaming. "Whuzziz?" he slurred, still snoring, "Don' ye worry, likkle one. Oi'll keep yoo safe fro' those verm'n." He went back to snoring, but then he was interrupted again by the commotion going on. "Whutz a feller go'ah do t'get a nap round 'ere?"

Felix stopped to catch his breath, hands on his thighs. "Didn't…think a pudgy little…thing like…him could…could run so fast."

Blanka, still rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes, approached him, "Pardon 'ee mizz. Oi was wundrin' if 'n yoo 'aven't seen moi mates 'n…" he finally got a good look at who he was talking to as his eyes focused, "Oi di'nt know th'were two foxes roun' 'ere. An' a likkle lady it' that! Yoo shud meet moi pal Felicks."

"Blanka, it's me!" He whispered, following it up with a "Don't ask."

Sister Zonita finally caught up with the fox, hard put to suppress giggles, "Isn't that the sweetest thing? Even your friends can't tell it's you when…"

Felix retracted an arm from the dress sleeve, "That tears it! This stupid thing's coming off!" He began wrestling with it, trying to liberate himself.

"What?" Sister Zonita looked around, "Here? Now? Oh, no, no, no, no, you will do no such thing! There are Dibbuns and ladies out here and…" She clamped her paws over her eyes.

Free of the embarrassing garment, Felix unrolled his tunic sleeves and pant legs. "What are you babbling about, Sister?"

Zonita gave a small peek through her digits, and then put her hands down entirely. "Oh, yes… well…Ahem! Make sure you put that away. And…uh, watch your tone talking to me; I wouldn't think twice about puttin' you in the corner, you know."

Blanka had pieced it together and couldn't help breaking into a smile, "Oi think she s'posed yoo plum nekkid unner that."

Felix laughed, understanding it now, "As if I'd ever be caught dead in my skivvies in public. It'd probably be less embarrassing than this thing though," He draped his new costume over his shoulder and removed the ribbon from his head. "Have you seen Boora?"

"Nurr, oi 'aven't," the sleepy mole replied, "Oi wuz a s'eepin 'ill a likkle whoile ago." He yawned, "Oi'm goin' back to moi nap, Felicks. Noitey Noit!" With that he returned to his little corner, and was snoring loudly in short order. Before the fox could look for his other friend, he was suddenly swamped by the Dibbuns.

"Come an' play wi' us, Felix." The little squirrelbabe said grabbing on to his tail. The others began chattering excitedly, leading him on, pulling him by the hands, the tail, the leg fur.

"All right, all right, ya little devils," he caved, "Just watch the tail. I'd like to keep it on my rump thank you."

Back to the rat, somewhere in Mossflower

"Why'd we leave that ol' beast 'lone boss?" the ferret complained the loudest, "We coulda done some serious damage ta-urk!" Jugga took his subordinate by his big nose, twisting violently.

"Wake up, Nobby!" he tossed the squealing ferret sprawling to the ground. "That thing he just showed us, don't you see what we could do with it? With a few lil' changes, we could use that thing to wreak terror on them keeps. Imagine the plunder past dem walls!"

That got the gang's attention, and they all nodded vigorously. Back at the little hut, Hale was still smiling.

"I'm so glad I could make them so happy." Once he closed the door, however, his mood flipped around instantly. "That'll keep them busy for a while, and hopefully get a few of those vermin outta my sight!" He took a deep breath, returned to his chair, and fell asleep almost instantly.