Chapter 13

The Importance of Loyalty


Durkfor Ventultro was lost. With Thaddeus' directions, it was only a matter of time, but he still felt irritated. Well, there was nothing he could do now. All that was left to do was find the tower and figure things out from there. At the same time, he was searching everywhere for other prisoners who may be hiding. His ears flopped down as he pondered to himself. Were Farshawn and Kallius really hiding away somewhere? Hopefully, they would be okay. Durkfor liked them a lot. He and Kallius especially got along. Borsen didn't like them though, he seemed to have animosity toward Kallius in particular-

C'mon Durkfor! Can't ya go an hour without thinkin' bout Borsen? Not every thought has t'include him. Stop thinkin' 'bout him! Durkfor pulled on his ears with a growl. Why is it so hard to focus?

Durkfor looked around. The oppressive silence around him only further hammered in the fact that he was alone. His heart pounded, just wishing to be around anybeast. He so desperately wanted to run back to the glade, searching for Borsen while he called his- Stop!

The hare shivered. Back at the abbey, whenever Borsen disappeared, there were many other beasts to talk to and be around. Here, he was utterly alone. An uneasy feeling of dread formed in his stomach. "At least give me somebeast t'talk to," Durkfor pleaded quietly. Why couldn't he have just stuck with Thaddeus?

But while remembering his earlier interaction with the mouse, Durkfor felt a flash of irritation. But that irritation quickly turned to heavy guilt when he realised where that irritation came from. What Thaddeus said about Borsen wasn't even that bad, and frankly, it was deserved, but Durkfor still got annoyed by it. What's wrong wit' me? What've I done?

Durkfor sighed. He needed somebeast to ground him right now.

So, when he heard the sound of somebeast walking towards him, he got excited. But instead, he was knocked to the ground as something leapt onto his back. As he struggled to get away, he heard somebeast laughing above him. "Gahahah! Alright boys, that's one fer us!"

Durkfor was only able to turn his head slightly, but it was enough to see his assailant. A short-looking pine marten was sitting on him, with an axe raised in the air. Durkfor felt a surge of panic and screamed. "Borsen, help!"

At once, the pine marten froze. He scrambled off of Durkfor, much to the hare's confusion. "Oh, you're th'hare Tiviko warned us 'bout? Please don't tell Borsen!" Durkfor stood up slowly and saw a group of around ten beasts. It seemed that they were all following this pine marten. "That otter's scary, I'm outta here!" Without giving his group a chance to chime in, the pine marten ran, causing the rest of the group to run off as well.

"Marls, at least capture 'im!"

"No way, I'm leavin'!"

Huh, that was strange. A feeling of warmness spread through him as he realised Borsen did, in fact, protect him- No, stop thinkin' 'bout him… But thanks, Borsen.


Around 20 minutes later, Durkfor began to follow a path in the woods. Why not? Paths led to buildings, and some of the prisoners may be hiding in them. But this path seemed a bit odd. The forest started to thin out near the end and led toward a large number of caves. In front of them were many tents, campfires, barrels, and tools. Durkfor tilted his head in confusion as he walked up to one of the caves. This appeared to be a mining camp of sorts, considering the minecart tracks leading out a few of the caves. Would anybeast even be hiding in a mine? Mines were creepy. Small, enclosed spaces were creepy. Being trapped underground was creepy.

But on the off-chance somebeast was hiding here, he should check. Besides, this wasn't the worst spot to hide if you weren't scared of it. Durkfor took a cursory glance at the caves and tents, searching for any recent signs that anybeast was here, which, given the large area, it took a while. He was about to give up when he noticed what looked like drag marks in the mud, drag marks about the size of a large crate that led toward one of the caves. Durkfor cocked his head and began following the trail. Given the rain, this was definitely made recently. Durkfor shuddered. This cave had many branching paths for whatever reason, one of which had an upturned minecart propped over it, blocking most of the entrance. Durkfor couldn't think of a reason the guards would hide away in a mine, so this was definitely one of the prisoners.

Durkfor timidly lifted his paw and rapped at the door with a fist. "Hi? Hello? Anybeast there?" There was no response, but he could hear shuffling on the other side. After a couple of moments of silence, somebeast finally spoke.

"Who're ye? Are ye a prisoner?" A gravelly voice asked cautiously.

The voice didn't sound familiar. Durkfor mostly zoned out on the ship, so he wouldn't know if this was one of the other prisoners. "Uh, my name is Durkfor Ventultro. I'm from Redwall Abbey."

The voice went silent as if they were debating whether to believe him or not. But given how long that silence lasted, it seemed they didn't believe him. "Them bastards got all kinds o' info on us. How dae ah know ye ain't just pretendin'-"

"If you're a prisoner, put your chains down here," a smaller voice popped up. Durkfor looked down to see a small brown paw poke out of a gap between the minecart and the ground. The paw waved and quickly retreated back behind the minecart. Durkfor blinked a couple of times, wondering what the goal was here. He knelt down on the ground and grabbed the chain attached to his metal collar, pushing it through the gap as he was told. "He's okay," the smaller voice muttered a moment later.

"Are ye sure, lad?" The other voice asked. After a couple of moments, there was a scraping sound as a large mountain hare pulled the minecart away from the entrance, and Durkfor got to put a face to the voices. On the other side were two beasts wearing collars like he was. One was a small, frail-looking otter wearing an oversized blue cloak, and a large, burly mountain hare wearing a heavy dark-blue coat. It was Toran Firepool and Ahlrath Palaechia.

Now that Durkfor could see their faces, he felt that he should at least say hi again. "Hi, I'm-"

"Nae, hold on," Ahlrath narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the other hare. "Aren't ye th'blasted hare that's wit' th'otter?"

Durkfor chuckled nervously, "Aye, but I left 'im hours ago."

"Ah know th'two o' ye are friends, ye aren't helpin' him, aye?"

"No! I- we're just friends. I'm not helpin' him or th'guards. Hare's honour." Durkfor placed a paw on his chest as he spoke.

Ahlrath sighed and nodded apologetically. "Just had tae ask. Y'know."

Durkfor bowed, "No, 'tis fine. Things are… bad. Ahlrath stepped aside and let Durkfor in the tunnel. Durkfor watched in awe as Ahlrath pushed the minecart back in front of the entrance with ease.

Panting, Ahlrath turned back to Durkfor and nodded half-heartedly. "Ye ain't hurt, are ye?

"Nope."

Ahlrath nodded. "Good." The mountain hare sat on the ground next to Toran. There was an awkward feeling in the air as neither Toran nor Ahlrath knew what to say.

Durkfor took it upon himself to get a conversation going. "So, what're your names?"

"Ahlrath," the mountain hare answered. He then motioned to the otter sitting next to him. "An' this lad's Toran." Toran glanced up at Durkfor before immediately looking back at the ground.

As Durkfor looked at Toran, he started to feel even worse. Borsen was helping that wildcat, and that wildcat was willing to capture a child. If he found Toran, would Borsen kill him? Stop thinkin' 'bout Borsen. Durkfor wanted to think of something positive right now. Putting on a smile, he asked, "Hey, what if I told ya I some o' th'other prisoners are workin' together t'find a way out, eh?"

Neither Ahlrath nor Toran had a reaction. Ahlrath simply responded dryly with, "Ye don't say." Now that Durkfor said it out loud, it didn't seem as good of an idea either. Obviously, some of the prisoners would be working together; Toran and Ahlrath were working together too.

But Toran and Ahlrath looked so dejected that Durkfor couldn't help but add, "Kallius has already found a way out, I'm certain." Ahlrath immediately began to grumble.

Toran's eyes lit up. "Really?"

His ears flopping down, Durkfor nodded. "Yup!" He didn't even think anybeast knew a way out yet, but the words were out of his mouth before he could think what he was doing.

Toran blinked and looked up at Ahlrath. "Um, I think we go."

Ahlrath looked concernedly at Toran, "Lad, ah dinnae want ye t'get hurt." Toran played with his tie, looking over at the entrance. "I wanna go home," he mumbled.

Ahlrath relented, groaning as he shook his head. "Toran. Goo outside fer a bit," he said sharply.

Toran nodded and jogged toward the minecart, crawling through a gap in the rock to the outside. Durkfor was left with Ahlrath in the tunnel; Durkfor began to feel scared as Ahlrath slowly turned toward him with an enraged snarl on his face. "Why did ye say that?"

Durkfor gulped. Keeping up the lie, he tried to say, "Kallius knows-"

"Nae," Ahlrath growled harshly and moved closer to Durkfor. Durkfor couldn't help but shrink into himself with how scary Ahlrath looked right now. The mountain hare looked absolutely livid. "Are ye tellin' th'truth 'bout an escape, or nae?"

Durkfor hesitated before answering, "Yes." But that hesitation was enough for Ahlrath to know he was lying.

"Ye piece o'... Raise the lad's hope up like that an' break it when there ain't one, huh? Ye know there's nae way outta here, aye? Have ye ever heard o' Tiviko? Not many beasts do, but ah have. There's nae way we're leavin' this island." Ahlrath's face was a combination of both anger and extreme fear as he clenched his paws. "The lad now thinks ye know a way outta here. Dinnae break that hope. Dae ye know what it does tae a beast, especially a child when…?" Ahlrath didn't finish, but he hoped he got the point across because he didn't want to finish.

"What's wrong wit' givin' him a bit o' hope? I'll make sure he gets back home," Durkfor mumbled.

"Nae, promise. Promise that ye'll get him outta here. Dae whatever it takes. 'Specially make sure that friend o' yers donnae get t'him."

A bit scared of Ahlrath, Durkfor raised a paw. "I promise."

Ahlrath continued growling as he stood up, fixing his coat. "Ye better."

Durkfor watched as Ahlrath walked toward the minecart. Without turning around, Ahlrath added, "Sorry fer gettin' mad, but ye realise what ye did, aye?"

Durkfor gulped, "Yup." Even though he wasn't sure. There's a chance for th'rest o' ya, an' I just wanted t'make sure he knew that. Why are ya gettin' so angry?

Ahlrath turned back to face Durkfor, narrowing his eyes at the other hare. "Look, ah know ah said there ain' a way out, an' there prolly is nae one… But ah know Tiviko. He ain't scared by much, but from what we saw on th'ship, that otter friend o' yers does. 'Tis a very slim chance, but maybe…" Ahlrath didn't finish, but Durkfor understood where he was getting at. "Nevermind. Let's goo."


Noruth Peltameo was getting nervous. For the past hour or so, he and Rianne Wurtil had been walking around the island in search of Crookedfang. The blood trail that came from the rat's arm had stopped, so they were forced to guess where the rat had gone, which, considering the rat in question was Crookedfang, he was worried. Who knows where he went? And what if he was killed while they were separated? Whatever the case, they needed to find him as soon as possible. "Did'ee follow thoyt river?" Noruth asked suddenly. Rianne looked up at him, then toward the river.

"I don't think so. He seems more like the type to run blindly into the trees," Rianne answered. Noruth seemed unconvinced. Crookedfang did happen to know a decent amount about edible plants, so he likely knew his way around a forest. More importantly, Crookedfang didn't seem to take stealth into account, if their first meeting was any indication, so he wouldn't worry about being out in the open by following a river.

"Oi thoynk ee be followin' th'river," Noruth declared, marching down the riverbank before Rianne could get a word in.

"Hey, c'mon, what if we get caught by Borsen," Rianne brought up nervously, "He might still be around here, and I think we'd fare better if we checked the forest first."

"We be lukkin' fer Crookedfang, oi be followin' th'river."

Rianne sighed, Noruth didn't want to budge, "Look, I want to find Crookedfang too, but searching is not going to do us any good if Borsen comes out and kills us. Besides, he's an otter, I wouldn't put it past him to be searching the rivers too."

Noruth shook his head, "Gudd point marm, but ee's a sea otter. We be fine," he answered, completely missing the point. Regardless, Noruth seemed dead set on following the river, so Rianne had no choice but to go along. She didn't want to be alone after all. But oi be sure oi'm roight! Noruth thought confidently to himself.

The two prisoners followed the riverbank for a short while until they saw a building in the distance. Rianne seemed confused, "A fishing hut? Why is it out in the middle of nowhere like this? Why would anybeast live alone here?" Noruth shrugged, not even knowing what a fishing hut was.

Rianne and Noruth walked into the structure, Rianne scrunching her face with disgust at the old wooden floors and broken furniture. "Dear Martin, why is everything abandoned?"

Noruth shrugged once more. "Crookedfang?" He called out, much to Rianne's chagrin.

"Stop yelling, just look for him," Rianne snapped. She rolled her eyes as she began to walk around, grimacing as she looked around. Even though he was supposed to be looking for Crookedfang, he couldn't help but wonder what happened here. The mole heard a thud coming from Rianne's direction and he turned around. Rianne was standing in the corner of the room and leaning over a hatch on the ground. "What is this?" She asked.

"A hatch," Noruth answered unhelpfully.

Rianne scoffed, "Do you think I should check down here?" Noruth cocked his head. It was at least worth looking to see what was there in case they found something useful. As he looked up at Rianne's face, however, he could tell that she was scared. She didn't want to go through the hatch.

No matter, Noruth puffed out his chest and walked over to the trapdoor, "No matter marm, oi'll checkit." With less care than he probably should have, he pulled open the trapdoor and leapt down. He fell to the stone floor with a resounding thud, pain jolting through his body.

"There's a ladder!" Rianne called down in disbelief. Noruth lifted his head, dazed, and looked around.

"Boi gumm, this room be big." He stood up and looked around. Though he couldn't see much on account of how dark it is, he could see that the room was big. Bigger than he expected anyway. He could see an abundance of crates, barrels, shelves, and other containers. Curious, he waddled over to the closest barrel and peered inside. To his disappointment, it was empty.

"See anything?" Rianne asked from above.

Noruth shook his head even though Rianne couldn't see him, "Burr no, oi ain't be seein'-"

"AAAHHHHH!"

Noruth fell over, scrambling to hide inside of the barrel as a scream erupted from behind him. He shook, cowering in fear as the scream was suddenly replaced with a cackle.

"Gahahaha! Oy, ya shoulda seen d'look on yer face! I didn't, but I bet t'was funny!"

Noruth's fear (mostly) evaporated as soon as he recognised that voice. He began to laugh nervously as he poked his head out of the barrel. There he saw Crookedfang, doubled over and laughing hysterically. "Gahahaha! Ah. How are ya doin' matey?"

Before Noruth answered, he looked over at the trapdoor where the light was filtering in. Rianne's shadow was missing as if she moved away from the hatch. Had she left? Just to make sure, Noruth called out, "Burr aye, it be Crookedfang. Cumm say 'ello!"

Faintly, he could hear Rianne call back, "No thanks. Tell that stupid rat to stop being so loud! Why did you scream, you stupid idiot?"

Crookedfang shrugged, "Oy, 'tis fine. How're ya matey?"

Still laughing nervously, Noruth answered, "Oi be doin' gudd. Hoy, whurr you be hidin'?"

Crookedfang pointed behind him even though that wasn't where he was hiding. "Dere's a lotta places t'hide in 'ere. So, how're you an' Riyan?"

"Arr, we be foine." Noruth crawled out of the barrel and walked over to the ladder, climbing up. Once he got to the top, Noruth looked down to see Crookedfang struggling to climb the ladder. The rat was noticeably flinching whenever he put weight on his right arm. "You'm be okay Crookedfang?"

Crookedfang pulled himself up onto the floor and stood up with a forced grin. "Aye, I'm fine."

Rianne, who was keeping her distance for a reason unknown to Noruth, scoffed, "Hello Crookedfang." When she looked at the rat's arm which was wrapped with part of Crookedfang's vest, she flinched. "Hey, when was the last time you washed that vest you're wearing?" Crookedfang shrugged, causing Rianne to groan. "Don't wrap an open wound with a dirty piece of cloth like that. It's gonna get infected."

Crookedfang smirked confidently, "Oy, I been sick many a times, I'll be fine."

"Not here you won't. You may've outrun Borsen now, but if you get sick, I'd reckon you'd be too slow to escape."

"I always git away, I'll be-"

"Hey, moron, remember when he was skinning your arm? Yeah, it hurt, right? I heard you scream. If you don't want to feel that again, let me do something about that." That got Crookedfang to reconsider. Noruth felt bad for the rat. Even if it got Crookedfang to think about it, did Rianne have to remind him? "Follow me, we have to clean out the wound. Better safe than sorry." Begrudgingly, Crookedfang followed Rianne to the river outside. The healer sat Crookedfang down by the water and gently grabbed his arm. "Ugh, do you ever clean your fur? It's so coarse."

Crookedfang shrugged, "I dunno."

Noruth sat down on Crookedfang's left and turned toward the rat, "Dozzit hurt?"

Crookedfang smiled awkwardly, "I dunno. I'm fine." Noruth looked at the rat's face with concern. From the way Crookedfang was breathing, he could tell he was in a lot of pain.

"Takeit easy, arr?" Noruth asked quietly.

"Ya know I- ngh! I will," Crookedfang responded with a shaky smile.

After Rianne cleaned out Crookedfang's arm as best as she could, she got to work re-wrapping the wound. However, with a lack of supplies, she had to do her best with what they found in the fishing hut, which wasn't much. The entire time this was happening, Noruth was talking to Crookedfang to distract him from the pain.

"Ho urr, Crookedfang, o'er 'ere, what be yon favr'te place in th'world?"

"Oh lord, d'ship, Vulcan's ship, next?"

"Who be Vulcan?"

"Ow- nevermind, next question?"

"If'n you cudd go t'any place, whurr wudd you go?"

"Back on d- Ngh! Tornear told us 'bout 'is home 'fore, seems- argh! Seems fun."

Noruth racked his brains for more questions to ask, but he couldn't think of any. He wanted to distract Crookedfang from the pain, he felt so bad watching him suffer like this (even if it was helping him). What could he do to distract Crookedfang?

Luckily, Noruth didn't have to think long. Though it was faint, the sound of a bird singing could be heard in the distance. Noruth didn't think anything of it, but Crookedfang's face instantly brightened up. The rat's legs began to kick excitedly in the river with a big smile on his face. "I know. I know! Dat's Vhyn, dat's Vhyn! Vhyn's here! He's alive! Oh let's go! C'mon! I wanna see 'im! Let's-"

"Stop moving, damn it," Rianne snapped, "I'm almost done, just gotta secure this wrap to your arm."

Crookedfang was practically bouncing with joy. Whatever that bird singing meant, Crookedfang found it to be a good thing. Noruth just thought Crookedfang liked birds. Strangely enough, however, Noruth hadn't seen a single bird during their time here so far.

"C'mon, we gotta go! Vhyn's o'er dere! Hurry up Riyan, we gotta go see Vhyn!"

"Keep moving, and it's going to take longer," Rianne grumbled.

Crookedfang kept bouncing excitedly, "Oy, d'two o' youse are gonna love Vhyn! He's tall, an' orange, an' a great fox! Ooh, I wonder if Gurn, Bolgash, an' Tornear's dere too. Bolgash's funny, you'll love 'er. Gurn's strong an' nice, Tornear's smart, oy, hurry up Riyan!"

Noruth was excited. If they were as good as Crookedfang was making them out to be, he was sure everything would go well. Rianne, however, seemed reluctant. "Hey, Crookedfang? Are you sure they're gonna like Noruth and I going along with them? We're not v- We're not part of your crew, so is that going to go over well with the fox?"

"Oy, Vhyn's prolly not gonna like d'two o' youse at first, he don' like strangers." Crookedfang admitted, much to Rianne's annoyance. "But dat ain't matter, you twose are wit' me now. Not many beasts would search fer me an' patch my arm like dis, so who cares? I'll make sure Vhyn's glad to have youse on board, I swears it!" The rat declared, pulling Noruth close with his left arm and attempting to do the same with Rianne.

"Keep. Your. Arm. Down," Rianne spat. Crookedfang finally kept his arm still, if only because it'd get him to Vhynias faster. Rianne finished wrapping up Crookedfang's arm and cringed. Given their lack of supplies, they couldn't do much, but it was at least better than the vest-bandage.

Crookedfang immediately shot up and took off in the direction of the bird call, only stopping once to call back to Rianne and Noruth, "C'mon!"

Noruth waddled after Crookedfang, excited to have more beasts on paw. As he looked back, however, he saw Rianne trailing behind, clearly nervous. Cocking his head, he walked back over to Rianne and asked, "You okay, marm?"

Rianne hesitated, not answering for a couple of moments. "They're not going to like us being there, are they?"

"Burr, Crookedfang said e'll tolk t'em, aye?" Noruth responded reassuringly.

Rianne scoffed, "Yeah, and Crookedfang definitely seemed the most respected to them back on the ship. He'll be able to convince the fox for sure," she said sarcastically.

Noruth twiddled his claws together, not understanding what Rianne was talking about.

"Nevermind, let's just follow the stupid rat." Walking side-by-side, Rianne and Noruth followed Crookedfang toward the bird call, and towards Vhynias.


As of the current moment, Tiviko's crew was split up into three groups. The first group, led by Ayers, was supposed to guard and rebuild The Twilight Serpent. The second group, led by Tiviko, was roaming the island in search of prisoners to either capture or kill depending on their importance. And then there was the third group, who, by Tiviko's plan, wasn't supposed to exist. Nine beasts from Tiviko's crew followed a short pine marten as he led them around the shore. He reasoned that if Tiviko and that scary otter were searching the island's inner parts, he should search the outer parts.

To Marlus, today was a successful day. Well, if you ignored the ship crashing, he killed Puck (Tiviko was not happy when he found that out. But who cared? Puck was going to die anyway, or so he heard), chased after some prisoners (and failed, but that rat was fast), laid out a trap for those two weasels (that failed too, and it ended up killing his friend. But whatever), found Durkfor (and immediately fled, but he had a good reason), and… okay, maybe today wasn't that successful. But the day was still young, and he knew he could still prove himself to Tiviko.

Marlus began to grin. He could already imagine Tiviko's face when he reports back how many prisoners he's killed. After the Tornear and Gurnilal fiasco, however, he decided he needed a new plan. He decided to take a page from one of Tiviko's captures a long time ago and try to find one of the three prisoners that are supposed to be spared and work with them. That way, Tiviko wouldn't get mad at him for working with the prisoners. There were two big problems, however. The first was that he was terrified that if he accidentally hurt Durkfor, Borsen would rip him apart, so he wanted to stay away from Durkfor. The second problem was that searching the whole island for two prisoners is much easier said than done.

So without any concrete ideas, Marlus decided to simply wander around, hoping those two would reveal themselves. An unlikely wish, but who knows? Anything is possible…


Waves crashed against the rocks on the western side of the island, sending spray and foamy water onto a stone pathway. The path curled up the beach, leading up to an opening in the cliff face. Tucked away in the massive alcove in the cliff were the remnants of a temple, a massive stone structure that was crumbling with age. The entire building was covered in vines and moss, and if it had been any darker, it would've been difficult to see under the rock.

The temple boasted two floors, though the first was more of a courtyard. Statues made of wood and stone littered the gravel floor, some in fragments lying on the ground. Two sets of stairs led up to the second floor, which had multiple small rooms. The balcony overlooked the entrance to the temple, allowing anybeast inside to keep watch. The temple was surrounded by cliffs, so there was only one direction to look out for.

And luckily for Yos Peonymaid, there were many places to hide. The temple was so large that she could hide and not be found anywhere. It helped that she was the smallest out of all the prisoners. Currently, her plan was just to hide in the temple, which wasn't great considering food and water was an issue she'd have to deal with, but she'll cross that when she gets there. Before anything else, she wanted to find the best spot to hide. There was a lot of ground to cover. As she walked through the stone hallways on the second floor, she saw a large door. Curious, she opened it only to realise it just led out into the balcony.

The view was nice at least. It wasn't anything she hadn't seen before, having lived on a large island her whole life, but it was nice. Whoever built this temple knew what they were doing. As she looked out onto the shoreline though, she saw something heading in her direction and her heart stopped.

Right on the far end of the beach was a group of vermin being led by a pine marten. The dark cloaks they were wearing were instantly recognisable. Yos held back the urge to scream and scurried back inside, hoping they didn't see her. Her heart pounded in her chest as she ran into the closest room, hiding behind a table of some sort. Her body shook with fear and she wanted to cry, but all she could do was stay silent as she eventually heard the sound of somebeast calling out from below.


"Who's there?" Marlus yelled from the courtyard. He could've sworn he saw somebeast. The red poncho they were wearing was visible from far away. As soon as he saw that poncho, he got excited. This was his chance to show Tiviko what he could do! Motioning for his group to follow, he ran up the stairs only to be disappointed with the number of rooms he saw. With his group of ten, it wouldn't take long to search, but it was still inconvenient. Removing his axe from his belt, Marlus went over to the balcony where he saw Yos and then to the room closest to that. Better to start there and branch out, after all.

Marlus gave a smug smile. As soon as he entered the room, he saw a chain poking out from behind a table. That was one of the prisoners for sure. "Hey! Everyone o'er here!" He called out. As the other beasts following him filed into the room, he could hear whimpering coming from behind the table.

Holding his axe out defensively, he walked over to the other side of the table to find Yos cowering in fear, pressing her body against the table. Though he tried to hide it, Marlus' excitement was clear. What a lucky day for me! Tiviko's gonna be so proud o' me.

Trying to come off as threatening as possible, Marlus slammed the blade of his axe into the stone table, tossing small bits of rock onto the floor. "Well well. What do we have here? You're one o' the prisoners, ain'tcha?"

Yos could only stare with wide eyes at the pine marten who continued without letting her answer, "Yos Peonymaid, prisoner number two; captured to be executed because of her close relationship with Queen Kamirus of Exterras. Did I get that right?"

"Please don't hurt me," Yos whimpered, pressing further into the table.

Marlus raised the axe, pretending that he was about to kill her. Yos screamed, crying out with fear as she raised her paws. "Don't hurt me, I didn't do anything!"

The pine marten grinned, bingo. He could see it in her face, that moment of desperation where somebeast would do anything to stay alive. Marlus lowered the axe, adding a bit of hesitation to his voice as he spoke, "Well, I guess we could use some help here. There's 19- no, 17 o'er prisoners running 'round 'sides you, and that's a lot."

Marlus looked out into the hallway, there were many rooms and places to hide. It was a fair place to hide out with only one entrance and exit. However, this also made it a good place to set a trap. Marlus glanced back at Yos and rested his axe on his shoulder, "I reckon some o' the o'er prisoners'll trust you. If you can manage to lead some o' them in this temple by tomorrow, me an' my buddies'll have an easy time pickin' them off. In return… I can get Tiviko to letcha live. Wouldn't want to anger your dear Queen Kamirus, so I think I can make a case." Marlus shrugged, smiling apologetically. "Tiviko will listen to me, I'm his number two."

The other beasts with Marlus scoffed indignantly but otherwise said nothing. Tiviko has done something like this before, and it's been effective. When Marlus was the one doing the planning, however, they had their doubts.

Fortunately for them, Yos was desperate enough to nod and agree. "Yes, I'll do whatever, just please don't hurt me!"

Marlus puffed out his chest proudly. He was ready to walk out and leave when a ferret in his group shoved him with a snicker. "Marls, aren'tcha fergettin' somethin'?"

"Oh," Marlus turned back to Yos. "We'll be here by… let's say noon tomorrow. If there ain't at least two o'er prisoners here, we'll kill you. Aye?"

Yos nodded frantically. The ferret shoved Marlus again. "Watch it," Marlus growled. The pine marten crossed his arms and glared down at Yos. "Don't even think 'bout declinin' this deal, by the way. There's only one way outta this island, and that's through Tiviko's ship. Even if you decide to run and hide from us, we'll find you. O' course, if you want outta this deal…"

Marlus swung his axe at the vole, tapping Yos' collar with the blade. Yos fell over with a squeak and backed into the corner of the room. Marlus chuckled darkly, sheathing his axe behind his back. "You have a lil' o'er a day, that should be easy 'nuff, even for somebeast like you."

Grumbling, the ferret stepped forward and added, "If'n ya want a more immediate reward, we'll getcher sum vikkles. Sumdin' o'er dan d'bread on d'ship. We won't hunt'cha 'till noon tomorrow too. So, do ya agree t'help us?"

Yos nodded, "Y- yes." The ferret stuck their tongue out at Marlus, and the marten shoved him.

Snickering, Marlus and his group left the room, walking down the stairs and away from the temple. "Remember, we'll find you!" One of them called out from below. Yos ran toward the balcony and watched as the group left her sight, receding further and further away from the shoreline. Yos breathed out a sigh of relief and slumped down against the edge of the balcony. They were gone, and she was still alive.

However, it slowly dawned on her how serious Marlus' proposal was. As it stood, it was either help him corral some prisoners into the temple, or die. But helping the beasts that captured her seemed like a bad idea. If the other prisoners found out, they would kill her for sure. But if what Marlus said was true, this would at least give her a chance at escape. Sure, she could band with the other prisoners, but what could they do? They're about as useful as a pile of rocks. So with little hesitation, Yos settled on her plan for the next 26 and a half hours: Try to convince any prisoner she finds to hide out in the temple. Easier said than done, but who knows, a lot of the prisoners seem stupid.

Her body trembled as she slowly walked down the steps of the temple. Even though what the pine marten said seemed correct, something still felt off. Whoever wanted this captured me because I am Queen Kamirus' tailor? Why not capture the queen herself? Perhaps they thought it would be easier to capture me. What would their goal be for executing me, then? On that note, what is with the other prisoners?

Given what she saw on the ship, she seemed to be the second prisoner captured in this batch after the small-looking otter (Toran). Was that otter important somehow? Probably not, he didn't seem familiar and looked malnourished, so he definitely wasn't important. As for the prisoners that came after her, only one of them struck her as familiar. One of the vermin from that group of five seemed… odd. Granted, she wasn't that aware of matters outside of her island, so if any of them were important, she wouldn't know anyway.

Yos shook her head. Dwelling on the reasons for the other prisoners' captures didn't matter right now, especially when she was looking to help capture them.

She walked down the shoreline, listening to the waves crash against the rocky shoreline. It reminded her of home, kind of. She moved up and past the trees, heading into the forest. Even with the promise of safety for a day, it didn't ease her tense nerves in the slightest. After all, the only beasts promising her safety was the group led by the pine marten. There are more beasts in Tiviko's crew after all. The trees seemed to glare down at her, shrouding the forest floor with darkness as the branches waved eerily above her. The light that filtered through the trees appeared more like blinking eyes to her than anything. Yos pulled her poncho above her mouth, shivering uncomfortably as paranoia rushed through her. Which of the prisoners would be the easiest to lead to the temple? Most of them definitely would kill her if they found out.

The forest was strangely silent, other than the sound of a bird singing in the distance. She thought about calling for help to see if any of the prisoners would come to her aid, but she knew some of them might actually run away from any loud noises. That, and it'd be stupid to yell.

As she tried to come up with ways to lead prisoners to the temple, she heard the faint sound of somebeast humming. Humming? Who would be stupid enough to do that right now? Even if it was a guard, it'd still be pretty stupid. Yos timidly walked over to the source of the sound, hiding behind a bush. For the second time that day, Yos tried to resist the urge to groan. Once again, she came across Bolgash Wolters, who was humming a tune and holding onto some kind of red bag. But what stuck out to Yos was the two knives she had tucked in her belt.

Nope! If she tried to trick her, she'd be killed for sure. Yos held her breath and waited for Bolgash to pass by.

Unfortunately, Bolgash just so happened to look in her direction. Yos froze. What? Can she see me? Eugh, please don't…

Bolgash looked more bored than anything as she walked over to Yos' hiding place, pushing aside the branches to come face-to-face with a mortified Yos. Bolgash smirked, chuckling slightly. "Oh, 'tis you. Ya look even more pathetic than th'mouse I found earlier. Nice poncho." Rather casually, Bolgash pulled out the dagger in her belt and raised it high above her head.

Yos' eyes went wide as she screamed. She had to do something, fast! From what little she knew about this stoat; she pleaded using the first thing that came to mind. "Wait! I haven't thanked you yet for earlier! Don't hurt me!"

Bolgash raised an eyebrow. "Aye, ya haven't. So…?"

"Th- thank you for saving me. And you- and I think you're really pretty," Yos stammered.

Bolgash snickered and lowered her arm. "Yer damn right I am."

Yos racked her brain for more flattering things to say. "That armour looks really nice on you. And, erm, you're really strong and smart, so much more than I. So… don't hurt me?"

Bolgash began to laugh. To Yos' relief, she tucked her knife back in her belt. "Aye, yer right!" Bolgash stood confidently and ran a paw through her head fur.

"And- and for a wonderful beast like you, I know a hi-"

'Hey ya better come wit' me, I heard Vhynias's stupid birdcall just now an' I already like ya more than Crookedfang or Gurnilal, so why don'tcha come wit' me?" Bolgash grasped Yos by the wrist and began to pull her, much to her dismay. Yos wanted to run away, but the two knives Bolgash had stopped her from doing so.

Bolgash grinned, "An' ya better give me that poncho, or else I'll kill ya." She laughed again, though Yos didn't find it funny. "I'm just joking, say it was funny. Well, maybe I'm joking. I want that poncho."

"I- it was funny," Yos mumbled. She really didn't want to be with Bolgash, but if going along with her led to more prisoners… Well, then maybe it was worth it.


And so, with Crookedfang and Bolgash heading toward the bird call, Vhynias Sharptail's group of five was soon to gain Crookedfang, Rianne, Noruth, Bolgash, and Yos. With such a large group, they theoretically should be able to organise a way out.

But as everybeast in the group would find out, an escape plan is a lot harder to execute when none of them trusts each other.