Chapter 123
On their way to the harvester, Chuck remembered the little creatures that he wanted to show Kahlan, so he took her to one of the little rooms. She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she looked at the little creatures around her.
Cam laughed at her. "Willie said it was safe to let them all out of their cages and let them be together, so that's what we did."
Rossi chuckled, and then looked down at a small creature who was tugging on his pant's leg. His brows rose. "And who are you?" he asked it with a gentle voice.
"That's Muffit, he's a daggit, and I think he wants you to pick him up," Nate told him. He was sitting on the floor holding two little furred things.
Rossi huffed. "Does he really?" he asked with a grin and then picked the thing up. It had hooves and horns like a male sheep, but the rest of it looked more like a bear or a badger. He'd thought it fat, but then winced when he realized that it just had a lot of extra skin from where it used to be fat. He hugged it to his stomach with one hand and then rubbed the fluffy thing's chin with his other. "Have these guys been fed?"
Nate nodded. "The bastard actually had several bags of feed for them; he just chose not to use it."
"And what are those two cute things?" Kahlan asked as she knelt down by Nate and pet one of the creatures he was holding.
"These are umae, and the boy here is Ralphie. This little girl is Midge. They're only babies," he explained.
A shrill vibrating noise made her turn to the corner. She frowned as she looked at a tall cage on the floor.
Nate winced. "The kressels are too scared to come out."
Kahlan sighed and moved to the small cage. The door on it was wide open, and something tiny, white, and furry was huddled in the back corner. She frowned. "There's more than one in there?"
Nate nodded. "They are very small even fully grown. There was three, but I don't know if they have all survived." He shook his head. "They lay eggs like a chicken, but they only do it every so often when they are healthy. The harvester would get mad at them when they didn't produce an egg. He was too much of an idiot to realize that their condition is what kept them from producing."
Kahlan shook her head. "You, poor things." She looked at Nate. "Have they eaten?"
"No, I think they're too stressed."
She leaned in closer to the opening. "You're going to be ok, guys. We're going to get you away from here. I promise," she told them.
The noises coming from them shifted to a lower tone, and slowly, three pairs of tiny, black eyes turned to her. She smiled. "There you go. You can come out and eat. We will not hurt you."
They started to shift, and she could tell that they really wanted to come out, but fear kept them rooted in place. She smiled at them as she put out her hand behind her. "Give me some food, Chuck."
He grabbed a small pile of it and put it in her hand, and she put it inside the cage. "I really hope you guys eat, even if you don't come out."
The closest one to her reached its long beak out and grabbed one of the little, dry pellets. It gobbled it down without chewing and then let out a noise. The other two stretched out enough to also grab some of the food and she smiled again. "There you go," she told them and then eyed what was in the corner.
She sighed as she looked at Nate. "They won't come out because there's an egg in there."
Nate laughed. "He finally gets an egg, and he's the one locked up. That's perfect!"
Kahlan nodded her agreement and then looked at the wall. There were several shelves on it holding little, beaked creatures of various colors. They all had big ears and eyes, and some of them even had fluffy tails.
Chuck laughed at Kahlan's look. "And now you know where the person who invented the Furby got his inspiration."
She laughed as she stepped up to them. They were all making soft noises. She looked at Nate. "And what are these things?"
He laughed. "They are oncilla. There are many different breeds of them, but they are still rare. The harvester got a lot of money for them."
She shook her head as she reached out to one intent on petting the nearest one's head. When her hand was close, it reached out and nipped at her with its beak. She gasped and pulled her hand back as she winced. There was a drop of blood where the little thing's beak had pierced her skin. "How come they're not as friendly as the others?"
Cam laughed. "That is friendly. You should have seen how bad they were when we first came in here. I thought they were going to attack me," he explained.
She frowned as she watched him stick a pellet in his thigh pocket. When the pocket moved, she frowned even more. "What do you have, Cameron?"
He smiled. "Something that your daughter would love," he told her as he waved her closer. Once she was next to him, he pulled the top of the pocket away from his leg enough for her to see what was in it.
Her eyes grew wide. "Is that a white bat?"
"Sort of," Willie told her as he came into the room. "It's a wingjack, and while it has some of the characteristics of normal bats, it's like a marsupial, too."
Cam nodded. "It's supposed to be in a pouch, so that's why it's in my pocket."
Kahlan laughed. "It's adorable. They all are."
Chuck laughed. "Yeah, but wait until you see this one," he told her and then dug into a pile of hay and came up with something furry in his hands. It was squirming to get away from him, and the noise that left it made them think it was upset at being disturbed.
She giggled and went to him. "Oh my God," she exclaimed as she reached out her hands intent on taking it, but she didn't have to as the thing jumped to her. It was mainly dark colored, but it had stark white striping on its tail that extended up its belly and onto its chest. Its head was dark brown. Its ears were large, erect, and cream-colored; and its eyes were big and green.
"That's a thumper, and his name is Juni," Nate explained.
Chuck laughed when it basically climbed up Kahlan, snaked around the back of her neck, and then settled on her shoulder.
She reached up and scratched its head as she smiled at it. "It's nice to meet you, Juni. I'm Kay."
It licked her chin, and most of them laughed. Willie frowned, though. "I've never seen one that acted like that. Most of the time they're too wild to be calm around beings taller than a couple feet."
Kahlan looked at him as she continued to pet Juni. She shrugged. "Maybe it was born in captivity."
His brows rose as he considered it. "That could be. Normally they are raised for their fur."
An angry look overtook her features. "That's disgusting."
Rossi's look agreed with her, but then he smiled at Kahlan. "You better watch it, Kiddo. With that stripe on its tail, maybe it can spray like a skunk."
Her eyes shot to his, and he laughed. She shook her head and looked at the thumper still close to her face. "Don't you dare get any kind of stink on me."
It licked her cheek, and they all laughed.
XXXXX
Even though Hotch's leg was feeling better by the minute, he still made sure to walk with a limp because he didn't want Red to know the werewolf had let him eat.
Red reached up and grabbed the back of Hotch's hair and pulled him to a stop.
Hotch grunted and then shot a look to the leprechaun. You could have just told me to stop.
Red's look dared him to complain, so Hotch bit his tongue and looked at the floor. Red giggled and then reached for the muzzle. He ripped it off, and while it didn't really hurt, Hotch let out a yelp to keep up appearances. Red giggled again and then grabbed his arm and started back down the passageway.
When they finally got close to the holding cell, one of the skeleton guards passed them. He was pushing a small cart and there were several empty, wooden dishes on it. Red gestured to it and giggled again. "Aww, looks like ye missed feeding time, git."
Hotch let out a heavy sigh to feign disappointment. "Of course, I did." And that's probably the main reason you sent me to that room, isn't it, you son of a bitch? He was relieved, though, to see all his labyrinth companions unharmed and in the cage.
Red giggled again and shoved him towards the door. "Maybe, if ye behave yeself tomorrow, maybe ye can be here for feeding time, or maybe not."
As he unlocked the door, Hotch mentally winced. Feeding time? He shook his head. We're all animals to them. Of course, they call it feeding time and not dinner time.
Once Red had the door open, he turned and grabbed the chain hooked to Hotch's wrists and pulled him into the cage and proceeded to hook the chain to the ceiling like before.
Hotch knew better than to say anything, and that made Red smile. He reached up and pat Hotch's cheek. "Have a good night, git."
Hotch pulled away from him, and Red giggled as he moved towards the door.
Once he was out of sight, Hotch looked at his cellmates. When his eyes landed on the goatman, he mentally frowned at the smirk on the furred face.
The goatman stood up and pointed to him. "You all chose to follow this beast and look where it got you, attacked and hurt!"
Hotch stared him down. "I supposed you made it through."
The goatman raised his chin. "I did."
Hotch huffed. "A lot of good it did you. You're still here with us."
The goatman took a step towards him. "Yes, but I was rewarded for finding my way to the end!"
"Rewarded how?" Maxin asked.
The goatman smiled. "I was rewarded with all the real food I could eat, and all you idiots got was some mush and a hard biscuit!" he yelled to them and then looked back to Hotch. "Or nothing to eat at all!"
Hotch couldn't tell if the others were regretting their decision to follow him or not, but he locked eyes with the fur covered man. "You're right. I haven't fed, but you're really close," he uttered in a harsh tone, and then licked his lips for emphasis.
The goatman's eyes widened, and he took a step back. "Touch me, blood sucker, and you will regret it!"
Hotch took a deep breath. "Somehow I doubt that."
Copper looked at Tucker, and they both chuckled. The goatman shot them a dirty look, huffed, and then went back to his corner.
Copper shook his head as he went to Hotch. He looked the vampire up and down and then frowned. "Did that damn water monster attack you, too?"
Hotch frowned for a second and then sighed. "No, but I got to take a shower." He sat down, and Copper sat down next to him.
Copper held out his hand. "I know you don't normally eat regular food, but since you weren't here, I figured they weren't going to feed you." He had half a biscuit in his hand.
Hotch smiled. "Thank you for thinking of me, but no thank you. You eat it."
"I'm alright. It's hard as a rock, but at least it fills the belly."
Hotch shook his head. "I could eat it, but it wouldn't effect my hunger one way or the other, so there's no sense wasting it on me." He didn't want to tell him about the werewolf feeding him because there were too many ears around them.
"You sure?" Copper asked. "I really don't want it. It is rather tasteless."
"Then give it to Dag or somebody or save it if you can. Who knows when they'll feed you again."
Copper sighed, nodded, and then looked to Dag as he held the biscuit up.
Dag smiled, and Copper tossed it to him, and then he stuffed it into a pocket.
"I suggest we all try to get some sleep while we have the chance," the birdman told them.
"Yes," Maxin agreed and then stretched out on the floor, and his family joined him.
Copper looked at Hotch and then sighed. "You can't even lay down."
Hotch shrugged. "I'll be alright." He leaned closer to the faun and lowered his voice. "Go find a spot before you have to cuddle up to that blob thing."
Copper's face scrunched up as his eyes shot to the disgusting thing, and then he nodded. He moved closer to Tucker, and soon everyone was lying down. Hotch sighed quietly. And what will happen tomorrow?
XXXXX
After figuring out where the captive beings were going to go to either be set free or to recuperate, Kahlan had Cam get his computer and the vampires to interrogate the harvester. They got all the information out of him that they could: his client list, lists of hunters he dealt with, and other harvesters that he knew of. It was a very long list, and Rossi sighed. He knew it would take them a long time to track all the people down. But I don't care how long it takes as long as one of them lead us to Aaron!
Once they were done with Brian, Kahlan looked at the frightened man. He was trembling, but being compelled to stay still and silent, there wasn't much else he could do.
Rossi studied her. "While I know you think it's fitting for these beings to be able to get their hands on him, I think that might be too much for them."
She frowned as she looked at him. "Meaning?"
He smirked. "These wonderful creatures are not malicious by nature, you can tell that, and I'm afraid they will go against that nature to get their revenge. And you and I both know, Kiddo, that that isn't good for them."
She sighed as she nodded. "Yeah. While it might make them feel better right now, they will regret it later."
He put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze.
She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. "I don't want them to get their hands dirty, but I do think they deserve to have a say."
Chuck smiled. "You have a plan."
She smiled. "Of course, I do. Tell Sebastian to take Brian to the cave and get everyone else down there."
He nodded and left as Rossi looked at her with suspicious eyes. "You're not going to kill him in front of them?"
She balked. "No. They don't need to see that either." He breathed a sigh of relief but then frowned by the evil smile that grew on her face. She giggled. "Death would be much too nice of a sentence for him," she told him and then went down the hall.
He shook his head as he watched her walk away and then looked toward the ceiling. Thank you, God, for putting her on our side. He shook his head some more and went to the witch's room.
She smiled at him. "David."
He gave her a grin. "Kahlan would like you all in the cave, so I'm offering my assistance," he told her with a little bow of his head.
She laughed as she started to get up, and he moved and helped her up. She grabbed the crook of his elbow and started for the door. "If I was younger and you weren't attached, this might be taken as more than just a friendly gesture."
He smiled at her. "With as beautiful as you are, I wouldn't have a chance."
She laughed again. "A charmer, just like your father."
He took a deep breath and almost asked her how she knew that but decided against it.
She pulled him closer. "I can see those who love you around you, David." She stopped and looked him in the eyes. "Just because someone dies that doesn't mean they are gone."
He studied her and then smiled. "That's very nice to know. Thank you."
She huffed. "You know they are there, David. You feel them, don't you?"
He took a deep breath and then nodded. "Yes, ma'am, I do, but it's really nice having it confirmed."
She placed a wrinkled hand over his chest and locked eyes with him. "And just so you know, your real son, James, doesn't feel any jealousy over your love for Aaron. In fact, he is happy you have someone to fill the void until you are reunited with him again."
Rossi's eyes filled, and he tried to swallow the lump that grew in his throat as he searched the green eyes before him.
She nodded. "And you will be reunited with both of them: Aaron in this life, and James in the next." A tear fell down his cheek, and she reached up and wiped it away with maternal fingers. "I hope that brings you some solace."
He nodded as a smile grew on his face. "Yes, ma'am, it does. Thank you," he told her with a shaky voice.
She smiled and started walking again. "You call me 'ma'am' one more time, David, and I will hex you. My name is Gwenith."
He chuckled. "Well, Gwenith, we better get to the cave before the young ones start things without us."
She huffed. "Young ones? You do know a couple of those vampires are almost as old as dirt, right?"
He laughed.
