"Where'd the horde go?" A dark grey and black wildcat said as he rubbed the slumber from his eyes. He had been lying asleep in the grass beneath a large oak tree when the morning sunlight had awoken him.
"Whaddaya mean where'd it go? Vilis yarr as dumb as ya look if ya forgot where the horde is. It wuz your idea we come out here, ter begin with." Said a young brown fox as he slowly scaled down from the tree he had slept in.
"Yer father wants ye to become the next leader of the horde but ye don't even know where tha horde is?" The fox grumbled. "That's why I, Mudpelt the Barbarian, am gonna take that title from yew." The fox said as he landed on the soft grass underneath the tree with a flourish.
"Iz it mornin' already." Said a plump rat as he rubbed his eyes awake. "I'm hungry I wonder iv Slitnose's got any extra vikkles for us? What were we doing out here anyway? My back hurts." The fat rat complained and chattered all at once.
"We wuz plannin' on how to get into that squirrel castle. So, we came out this way to scout any hidden entrances to find us some treasure." Mudpelt said twirling a small, curved knife in his paw. "Then Darkeye got stuck in the tree and wouldn't come down."
The three vermin looked up to see their friend clutching tightly to one of the lowest branches in the tree. The ferret was oddly petrified of heights, which is odd considering he was the one who had volunteered to be the first to scale the oak.
"Ya gotta come down now Darkeye. You don't want us going to get some hordbeast to bring ya down." Vilis called up to his friend, who was barely out of his reach if he jumped as high as he could. "We'll tell them this was your idea and then you'll get put on mess duty for a fortnight."
"Mebbe a squirrel will come and shoot ye out of the tree. Then you'll be dead and dere wouldn't be any reason to get a hordebeast mad at us." Mudpelt called up mockingly.
"Don't say that!" Darkeye responded, his voice in a panic.
"Oi Darkeye it's not that far. Ya just needs to back up and slide down the trunk." The rat said with a bit more kindness than the other two.
The ferret started to crawl back along the branch. Very slowly at first then as he gained confidence a little faster.
"Come on Darkeye it's not far you can do it!" Vilis called out. The rest of the vermin's voices joined in, supporting, and degrading their friend.
The ferret's tail just about touched the trunk of the oak when a warm summer breeze blew through the tree, shaking the branches. Darkeye let out a shriek and held on to the branch with both claws, eyes wide in terror.
"I can't do it!" Cried the ferret his eyes clenched in fear. "I'm gonna fall and die and then mum is gonna be mad at me!" Darkeye said wailing.
"Stupid whelp, we should leave him here!" Mudpelt snarled. Ignoring him Vilis walked towards the trunk of the oak.
"Grubby, Mudpelt catch us if we fall out of the tree."
"Yes sah!" Saluted the rat, while the fox grumbled and ignored him.
Vilis climbed up the oak to the branch his friend was on.
"Ya gotta come down one way or the other." Vilis said as he pulled Darkeye's tail.
"No! Go get one of your father's soldiers to get me down!" The ferret complained.
Seeing Darkeye wasn't going to budge, Vilis began to jump up and down on the branch. Shaking it like it was caught in a cruel winter storm. Mudpelt and Grubby began to laugh as Darkeye's grip began to loosen.
"Stop that I'm gonna fall!" Darkeye called desperately.
"I'll stop when you climb down on your own!" Vilis barked at him.
"Alright I will, just stop!"
Vilis stopped shaking the tree branch and grabbed the ferret by the collar of his vest. Reluctantly, Darkeye loosened his grip on the branch enough for Villis to move him to the trunk of the oak.
"Now climb down Darkeye! Ya scared toad!" Called Mudpelt from below. He was hungry and wanted to get back to the horde where a warm meal awaited him.
"But what iv I cut up my vest." Bemoaned the ferret.
Vilis had had enough of this and started kicking at Darkeye's claws.
"Get down the tree or I'll force you down it." He snapped and pushed the ferret's head down with his footpaw.
Darkeye lost his grip and slid down the side of the oak, landing on Mudpelt and Grubby at the bottom of it. Vilis jumped off the branch and rolled to a stop in the soft grass, while the other vermin picked themselves up.
"See Darkeye that wasn't very hard, was it?"
"Shuddup Vilis you could've given me a warning." Lashed Darkeye, rubbing the side he landed on. "I cut my vest my mum's gonna be mad."
"He did warn ya mate. We all did!" Snapped Mudpelt kicking at him. "And who cares about yer vest, when we get inta that castle we'll never run out of vests!"
"Or gold!"
"Or vikkles!"
"I'm hungry! Now kin we go home and get some vikkles?" Grubby said joyfully as he jumped to his feet. "Err, which way is home? I can't see the flags or the tents."
"It's back that way ya fat rat. Why don't you use your snout to lead us back." Growled Mudpelt gesturing in a random direction as he got to his footpaws.
"I can't smell any right now, an' I forgot which way we came." Responded the rat sniffing about.
Vilis looked around. He could see the peaks and spires of Castle Floret just above the trees to his right.
"The horde was camped to the south of the castle, and we went around to the west." The wildcat said pondering and chattering to himself like he had seen his father do countless times before.
"That means we head that way." Vilis pointed southeast. "And we'll be at the horde."
"You brought us here, now bring us home." Smartly remarked Mudpelt.
"When we tell my father about the crack in the wall, we'll have that castle, an' all the squirrel's treasure, an' we'll be kings of all Mossflower!" Vilis proudly proclaimed which elicited a cheer from the vermin.
The young vermin gathered their bearings and began to head through the warm summer forest back to the horde they called home. The sweet wind rustled the trees and sent green leaves slowly drifting to the forest floor below. Beneath the canopy of oaks, the vermin threw acorns and stones at each other as they wandered to find their horde. All while being under the watchful eye of Castle Floret.