Chapter 14

Vhynias Sharptail


Thirty minutes after Vhynias' second birdcall, five beasts were lounging around a hillside on the west side of the island. "How long has it been?" Tornear Burke asked flatly as he reclined against a large rock.

Gurnilal Speareye shrugged and glanced up at Vhynias Sharptail, who was crouched on top of the rock. "I dunno. Should I check on'im?" The fox was clearly nervous. His ears drooped more than usual and he was tapping his footpaw rapidly.

Tornear leaned closer to Gurnilal and whispered, "And leave me with them? Thanks, Gurn," he said sarcastically, glancing toward the two otters sitting nearby, Miena Dawnraft and Ulfrad Shorepass. Miena mockingly gagged at them, and then Ulfrad told her to stop.

"Ye do that wit' yer friends. Ye don't do that wit' vermin that can kill ye."

"What? I was joking, " Miena said defensively. "Sorry. Thought they'd think t'was funny."

Tornear rolled his eyes and whispered to Gurnilal, "But okay. You go check on Vhyn. He's probably more stressed than the two of us." Gurnilal nodded and stood up. She climbed up the boulder Vhynias was sitting on and waved a paw in front of his face.

"Hey Vhyn," Gurnilal greeted.

Vhynias limply waved and, without skipping a beat, asked, "Do ya think Crooked and Bolgash got lost? It's been, what, half an hour? Where are they?" He hugged his legs closer to his body, staring out into the woods below.

Trying to cheer Vhynias up, Gurnilal pointed out "Well, Crooked gits distracted easily, an' Bolgash… Well, she, um… Prolly… Also got lost," she said unconvincingly. Vhynias snorted. "But don' worry, Vhyn. If'n I know Crooked, he's fine. I swear th' rat's always fine."

"Right," Vhynias mumbled, "What was it that beasts called him at our old crew? The unkillable-"

"Unkillable rat," Gurnilal finished. "Exactly. Crooked's gonna be fine." She didn't bother adding what she thought about Bolgash because, to be frank, Gurnilal didn't like Bolgash as much as the others.

Vhynias didn't respond. As usual, he didn't know what to say in situations like this. Without anything to say, Vhynias and Gurnilal sat there in silence. Even if Crookedfang and Bolgash took days to get there, Vhynias would make sure they'd wait. We're not leaving 'til all of us are here, Vhynias thought sharply. But as he looked down at Tornear, Miena, and Ulfrad below, he sighed. Tornear was already arguing with the pair. Vhynias didn't care to pay attention to what they were fighting about, but the fact they were arguing was less than great. "This is gonna be a long day, ain't it?" Vhynias mumbled.


With nothing else to do while waiting, Vhynias and Gurnilal decided to just sit on the rock together playing games. It was an activity they often did together when the situation allowed it.

"Right now, I'm looking at…" Vhynias looked around for something to point out to Gurnilal. "Something… red. Try to guess what it is."

Gurnilal looked at Vhynias' face and looked over to where he was facing. "Th' flower o'er 'ere?" She asked.

Vhynias snorted. "Aye. Your turn."

"Aye." Gurnilal turned around, looking for something more difficult than a flower. As she was looking around, she spotted something uphill. Her eyes grew wide as she locked gazes with Crookedfang, who was with a mole and a hedgehog. "I see a one-eyed rat wearing a vest," Gurnilal said excitedly.

Vhynias turned around in confusion to see Crookedfang sprint down the hill towards them with a big smile. "Vhyn! Gurn!" The rat cheered out. He scrambled up the rock and lept onto Vhynias, hugging him across the waist. "Vhyn! I heard yer birdy call!"

Vhynias awkwardly patted Crookedfang on the back. He didn't like hugs. "Er, that's great. Nice to see you too, Crooked."

Hearing Crookedfang, Tornear climbed up the rock with a smirk. "It sounded like there was a stupid rat up here, is it who I think it is?"

"Tornear! 's me, Crookedfang!"

"I can see that."

The four of them stood on top of the rock as Crookedfang exchanged greetings with all of them. Vhynias was so glad to see Crookedfang here, but when he looked up the hill toward the mole and hedgehog he brought with him, Vhynias chuckled nervously. "Hey, Crooked? Who're they?"

Crookedfang blinked as if he forgot they were there. His eyes lit up as he pulled away from Vhynias and lept down the rock (landing on his stomach), and ran over to Rianne Wurtil and Noruth Peltameo. "Oy! Vhyn! Dese two helped me. Riyan an' Noruff!" He patted both of them on the back and pushed them closer to the rock. "Dis is Vhyn, see? I told'ja he's tall an' orange!" Noruth bowed politely, while Rianne seemed frozen.

"... Crooked, can I talk to ya for a bit?" Vhynias asked flatly. Crookedfang nodded eagerly and scrambled up the rock. Vhynias looked over nervously as Rianne and Noruth walked up to the two otters and began chatting with them. Four of us, four of them… "Crooked? I don't like 'em. The mole and the hedgehog? I don't like 'em."

The rat chuckled, "Oy, dere fine! We were in a empty town, den a hill, den I got attacked by a otter, an' dey helped my arm." Crookedfang held up his arm, which had some kind of wrap attached to it. Gurnilal, Vhynias, and Tornear went dead silent as they looked at the bandage. Fear burned its way up Vhynias' spine and he whimpered anxiously.

"I'm glad you're alive, Crooked," Vhynias mumbled. He looked down at Rianne and Noruth. Did they really help Crookedfang? The rat couldn't have healed himself on his own, but Vhynias still felt that cloud of uneasiness in his head. The fox looked over at the abbeydwellers for clarification, only to find them looking back up at him.


"Ugh, why're they lookin' at us?" Ulfrad grumbled as he looked up at the vermin on the rock. Tornear, Crookedfang and Vhynias were staring at them.

Noruth bounced excitedly as he explained, "Oh, Crookedfang be a foine rat, ee's-"

"Crookedfang's nice, got it," Rianne commented flatly. "More importantly, how are you holding up, Skipper? Get into any trouble?"

"Cool as a cucumber," Miena answered. "We're just fine here, we haven't seen anybeast other than the fox."

Rianne scoffed, "You're lucky. Oh by the way, you might want to watch out. We ran into Borsen near the viewing platform over there," Rianne pointed to where they got attacked by Borsen. "It's bad. It's really bad if you run into him. He skinned Crookedfang's arm and tried to kill us."

"Knew there was something off 'bout him," Ulfrad grumbled as he crossed his arms.

"Good job, when did you figure that out? When he kidnapped us?" Rianne muttered dryly.

Noruth piped in, adding something unrelated to the conversation. "How be the foxybeast? Crookedfang said he be great."

Miena chuckled, "He's fine. He's about as threatening as a fish outta water. His two friends, on the other hand, are slightly more worrisome. But they haven't attacked us yet, so maybe we'll live 'til noon," The Skipper said jokingly. Once again, Ulfrad didn't find her jokes funny.

"Oi'm gonna talk wit' Crookedfang," Noruth said casually, waddling over to the rock Vhynias' crew were standing on. "Hoi Crookedfang!" The mole greeted. Crookedfang grinned and pulled the mole up, much to Vhynias' displeasure.

The fox groaned, "Crooked, this was supposed to be a private conversation. That's why we're whispering."

Noruth shook his head. "Don' worry zurr, oi not be listenin'."

Tornear whispered sharply in Vhynias' ear and the fox sighed. "Crooked, why don't you play with your friend over there?" He pointed further into the trees.

Crookedfang nodded eagerly, "Ya gottit Vhyn! C'mon Noruff." Vhynias watched as the two lept off of the rock and waddled into the trees. The fox sighed and rubbed his temple. Why Crookedfang, why? This always happens anytime we go somewhere. I didn't want you to become close with anybeast this easily.

"Stupid rat," Tornear muttered. "Right, so what's the plan, Vhyn? Are we going to do something about those otters following you, or…?" He asked sharply.

Vhynias sighed, tugging on his collar. "Nope. They're maybe helpful right now… That, and Gurn doesn't want them to leave."

Gurnilal shrugged apologetically. "Well…"

Tornear looked at Gurnilal and softened his tone, "It's fine," he muttered. "Just make sure they aren't going to leave us out to dry if we get attacked."

Vhynias blinked. Convincing beasts not to do stuff wasn't his strong suit. Well, talking to beasts, in general, wasn't. It didn't help that he felt intimidated by those otters down there. "They're… not going to, I hope."

"Confident as always," Tornear replied jokingly.

"Yup." Vhynias nodded. "But they don't seem like they want to hurt us… for the most part." Gurnilal agreed, but she felt it was because of the weapons she and Tornear carried. You always listen to the beasts with the weapons. "And I want to keep it that way," the fox continued, "Nobeast has to hurt each other. We just have to work together. Got it?" Gurnilal and Tornear nodded. They would do anything Vhynias asked of them anyway. "Good. Now, I just hope everything goes right from here," the fox muttered.

As if on cue, they heard Rianne yell out, "What did you do to him, you monster!"

Confused, Vhynias turned to see Bolgash Wolters walk up the hill accompanied by a tiny vole, Yos Peonymaid. Bolgash was holding some sort of improvised red bag in her paw, which the hogmaid seemed to focus on. "That red vest, that's Thaddeus'. What did you do to him?"

Bolgash smirked, "Whaddya mean? I made this bag myself."

Vhynias groaned with irritation. So much for everything going right. "Calm down everybeast," he demanded hesitantly.

Vhynias' words didn't reach the two as Rianne pointed accusingly at the vest, "You didn't make that, where did you find red cloth on this island? Oh wait, you didn't! Because that belongs to Thaddeus!"

"This doesn't belong to any stupid mouse, I just found it," Bolgash argued.

"I never said Thaddeus was a mouse, you did do it!" Rianne yelled angrily.

Vhynias was in awe that somebeast could lie so confidently when it was so blatantly obvious she was caught. "Bolgash, just…" Vhynias mumbled.

"Hey, why does yer knife have blood on it?" Ulfrad pointed out, noticing that both knives in Bolgash's belt had blood on them.

Bolgash grinned, "Got in a bit o' trouble. I'm fine, o' course."

"We're not worried 'bout ye," Ulfrad hissed. "Whose blood is it?"

"None o' yer concern."

Ulfrad stammered angrily, "O' course 'tis our concern! If yer hurtin' beasts fer no reason, we have good reason to be worried!"

"Whaddya have to be worried 'bout? I ain't gonna hurt ya yet," Bolgash said casually.

"You stabbed Thaddeus, didn't you? And what do you mean, 'yet'?" Rianne accused.

Vhynias just wanted to hide. Damn it Bolgash, was it so hard not to attack any of the prisoners? The argument was only getting worse and he was worried a fight was going to break out. He tried to call out, to say something to diffuse the situation, but a familiar, paralysing fear held his mouth shut. Why couldn't he say anything? At this rate, somebeast is going to get hurt. C'mon, say something, you stupid fox…

Luckily, Gurnilal noticed Vhynias' nervousness and spoke up on his behalf. "Hey! Everybeast settle down!" She yelled, slapping her cutlass against the rock with a clanging sound. The arguing quickly stopped and Gurnilal continued, "Bolgash, we need to talk wit' ya. Why didja do that?"

Smirking at the abbeydwellers, Bolgash climbed up on the rock and shrugged casually. "I was hungry, an' the mouse had-"

"Okay, before you continue," Vhynias interrupted, well aware the abbeydwellers were probably eavesdropping on them, "The mouse is alive, aye?"

Bolgash nodded. "Oh, aye. Unless the idiot got himself killed while I was gone, he should still be alive."

Vhynias sighed, "Good." The fox groaned loudly, burying his snout into his paws. "Ugh, if I knew you and Crooked brought more beasts with ya, I wouldn't've let Gurn keep the otters around."

Gurnilal smiled apologetically, "Um, well, they're alive as much as me and ya, so… Yeah, they should get outta here too."

"Aye, I agree, but I don't want to be the one to help 'em," Vhynias muttered nervously, "None of them trusts me, but they're still looking at me to save us all. That's a lot of pressure…" Gurnilal looked down at the abbeydwellers. They didn't seem to be going anywhere, and that blue otter (Miena) did seem to want to work with them. Somehow, Vhynias got put in charge of… nine other beasts.

Tornear chimed in, "But hey, if you're feeling overwhelmed, remember that we're here to help, Vhyn."

"Thanks, Tornear." Vhynias thought to himself. Ten beasts including himself were here. If they wanted to get off this island, what would they need? Food and water are a must, weapons would be good, and then they actually needed to find a way out of here. As of right now, the wildcat's ship was the only way off the island, but taking it over is easier said than done.

Hmm… Crooked said there was a town somewhere. It's a long shot, but could there be any boats here? Maybe, maybe not. But it's probably worth checking. Anything as long we have another escape because that ship terrifies me. Vhynias called for Crookedfang to come over. The rat stopped talking to Noruth about knives and ran over to Vhynias, "Here, cap'n!"

Vhynias waved half-heartedly. "Hi Crooked. Y'know that town you mentioned? Was there anything there?"

"I dunno," Crookedfang admitted. "Everytin' was destroyed. But t'was very, very big, so mebbe we missed sometin?"

"... Okay," Vhynias said slowly. "So… What about you, Gurn and Tornear? Find anything?"

"We found a shack, and it seemed somebeast lived in there a long time ago," Tornear answered. "But we didn't find anything except for a stupid pine marten."

Vhynias sighed. "Bolgash? Find anything?"

"Nope. First thing I did was take a nap," she admitted proudly.

The fox grunted irately. "Son of a- okay. Well, if there's a town and a shack, odds are, there's more buildings. Might be worth checking… Okay. We need to get organised. I'm thinking we split into groups to get stuff done." The fox sighed. "Guess I'll have to announce that to everybeast."

"Should we get down?" Tornear asked.

"Sure," Vhynias nodded.

The other four beasts in Vhynias' crew jumped off the rock, leaving Vhynias standing alone. Already, he could feel his heart starting to pound in his chest. To his left, Miena, Ulfrad, and Rianne were whispering to each other. To the right, Bolgash, Tornear, Gurnilal, and Crookedfang were waiting for Vhynias to speak. In the middle, Yos was standing away from everybeast, while Noruth was playing with the grass. Taking a deep breath, Vhynias clasped his paws behind his back and addressed everybeast. "Attention, uh, everybeast look up here." Once he got all of their attention, he decided to continue.

"Let me get something outta the way, first. I know that some of ya are thinking that we can't trust each other, and that's true. Wait, hm…" He was only a sentence in, and he could already see Miena stifling a laugh, and Ulfrad looking at him accusingly. Great. "What I mean is… Okay, I'm just going to be blunt. I know for a fact that some of youse are already thinking that you can't trust the other beasts in this group, and… well, you have good reasons for that, I guess."

Rianne glared at Bolgash, who was still carrying Thaddeus' vest. Bolgash only made an obscene gesture in response. Ulfrad and Tornear were eying each other suspiciously, Yos still kept her distance from everybeast, and although Miena was smiling, she seemed to be watching everybeast carefully, anticipating an attack. Vhynias's gaze swept over everybeast and he continued, "I get that tensions are high and that you probably hate most of the beasts in this group. I hate most of you too. But if we want to escape alive, we can't be fighting. And back at Vulcan's- I mean, our old captain's ship, whenever…"

Vhynias stopped himself before he could continue. His mouth hang agape as he slowly looked over at Tornear and Gurnilal, both of whom began to look uncomfortable. Vhynias gestured with his paws as if he were asking, "Is it okay for me to tell them this?" The two weasels looked at each other, whispering something that Vhynias couldn't hear. Eventually, Gurnilal looked back up at Vhynias and nodded.

The lanky fox closed his eyes and sighed. "Back at our old captain's ship, we'd have to do… certain things, that were usually pretty dangerous, like right now." It seemed that Ulfrad wanted to ask what those "certain things" were, but he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut. "We'd usually be working in groups. Groups with beasts we liked, and beasts we hated. But we learned that you have to work with all of them, no matter how awful they were, because when the crew fought and argued all the time, everybeast suffered. Including those friends that are with you. So please, let's not fight, scheme, betray, or anything like that unless you want to sentence your friends to a bloody end." Vhynias' voice wavered as he finished, and he looked over at his crew, Gurnilal, Tornear, Crookedfang, and Bolgash. I need everybeast to work together. These four need to survive, I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to them.

After Vhynias' speech, Miena crossed her arms with a smirk. "Good on ye, but what are we gonna do?"

Vhynias growled softly and buried his paws in his coat pockets. "Well… I think we need to get a plan down. I don't know how long we're gonna be here, so I think we should split into three groups. One group finds food. The second group finds weapons, and the third finds shelter. We're against a wildcat who has a lot more resources than we do, so this will help us gain… I don't want to say an advantage, but it'll help. I think. Maybe. Plus, smaller groups are harder to find than if all 10 of us travelled together."

Noruth raised his paw excitedly, "Ooh! Thoyt be soundin' fun! Oi wanna be in a group wit' Crookedfang!"

Crookedfang grinned, "Oy, put me wit' Noruff!

"Not yet, damn it," Vhynias snapped. "Um… I don't know what y'all are good at, so just put yerself in whatever group ye think ye'd be good at, aye?"

"That sounds like it could be exploited," Ulfrad muttered.

"Well don't exploit it then," Gurnilal remarked.

"Just shut up and get into groups!" Tornear yelled.

Vhynias decided to call his crew in for one last meeting. After talking it over, they decided to have at least one of them in every group. Seemed like a fair way to make sure nobeast steps out of line. However, when the groups were formed, Vhynias was starting to regret splitting up like this.

The first group, who were supposed to find weapons, was comprised of Tornear, Miena, and Bolgash. Vhynias was worried that the three of them would just antagonise each other instead of working, because of course they would.

He had similar worries for the second group, who were supposed to find food. Rianne, Noruth, and Crookedfang seemed to work together well enough, but with the addition of Ulfrad, he was worried for Crookedfang.

The final group he had the least worries about. He, Yos, and Gurnilal were going to find a safe place to rest and recuperate. He needed to speak to Gurnilal alone anyway. Yos seemed a bit peculiar though. She hadn't said anything the entire time.

Vhynias looked around at the different groups and felt nervous. Hopefully, the other beasts would protect his crew and vice versa. Otherwise, everything for the past 13 seasons would go to waste. Addressing the full group one last time, Vhynias took a deep breath and spoke, "Well… remember to help the other beasts in your group. Not just for them, because the fate of the group affects you too. I have nothing else to say, so…" the fox took in the faces of his crew one more time. If his plan goes right, all of his crew should be alive, but he still felt nervous leaving them. After all, he knew himself that even the most well-designed plans can go bad, and this wasn't the most secure plan he'd come up with.

"So, what else is there to say, other than goodbye, and good luck."


Midwyng Copetigo was asleep. They were finally asleep. Art Swiftpaw stared up at the bat who was hanging upside-down from a tree. After the fiasco at the barn, they got far enough away for Art to feel comfortable letting Midwyng rest. It did irk the squirrel a bit that he still had to stay in the general area, but if Midwyng was caught alone, they'd be dead for sure. Even though he was supposed to stay nearby, however, Art didn't want to sit around and do nothing. Even when he was supposed to be resting, he wanted to be contributing somehow.

After mulling it over in his head, Art got up, sickle in paw. The sickle was an okay weapon. It was better than nothing at least. But just in case he needed to attack from far away, he needed a ranged weapon. I think I'll go for a sling. Seems easier than a spear anyway. At least I know how to make a sling. Ravi told me how to make them…

Besides, he was a lot faster than he was strong. Carrying a sling seemed easier than lugging around a spear. Art got up, glancing back up at Midwyng to ensure they were okay, then began walking away to search for suitable plant fibres. "I'll only be gone for a bit," he muttered, "I'm not leaving you, Midwyng." Holding his sickle defensively in his paws, his eyes scanned his surroundings, ready to run back if he heard somebeast approaching. After all, Tiviko's crew seemed to be travelling in groups, and he was in no position to fight them.

… As strange as it was, however, he already started to miss Midwyng. No, that wasn't right. He just hated being alone. The eerily silent forest filled him with a sense of dread, slowly inching its way up his spine. The trees themselves seemed to stretch out beyond his view, almost like an insatiable monster.

Hey, Art. Aren't you supposed to be protecting somebeast right now? What are you doing leaving them alone like this? They're asleep. They can't defend themselves.

"I am protecting them. I'm just giving myself another way of defending ourselves, what's the issue with that?" Art muttered sharply to himself.

Is this really for them? Or is this for your own selfish wants?

"This is helping both of us, I swear."

But something will go wrong. What if you go back only to find them dead?

"They're not stupid, they'll flee."

They have a broken wing and they can't use their legs. Are you sure they'll flee?

"I'm sure…"

Even the strongest beasts can be cut down, just like that. Remember?

"Stop."

Thoughts began to bounce back and forth in his head. The squirrel growled, furiously trying to clear his mind. Think of something else, Art. What was one of the things that Ravi told you to do? Just focus on what's around you. That usually works. "Right now, you're walking up a hill, looking for materials to make a sling. There's nobeast around, and that's a good thing. It's quiet. Judging from the sun's position, it's… going to be noon in a couple of hours."

Art's head whipped around as he scanned the forest. Huh. Now that it was brighter, could he try getting a vantage point again? He sheathed his sickle before rubbing his paws together. With a grunt, he jogged to the closest tree and hoisted himself up. Within a matter of seconds, he was at the top. The branch he was clinging onto was swaying from the wind and the weight, but otherwise, it held. Without the protection of the forest, the wind rushed through his fur, causing him to shiver. He was disappointed, however, to find out that all he could see were the treetops. The squirrel shook his head and prepared to climb down when his eye caught a couple of things.

The first was far off in the distance. He could see some sort of tower rising high above the trees. He squinted to get a better look, but he couldn't make anything out. "Could somebody be hiding there?" He mused to himself. For the first time in a while, he began to feel excited. But he stopped himself. After all, it could be empty.

The second thing he noticed was a small break in the trees to his left. Art cocked his head. He could see a flash of white through the leaves. It was slowly moving forward. It must be another beast. Muttering, Art narrowed his eyes. It seemed too small to be one of Tiviko's groups, and he didn't think the guards were even wearing white. Art began to smile. It must be another prisoner. He scrambled down the tree, nearly slipping halfway down. He leapt off the trunk and landed on the ground with a thud.

Art sheathed his sickle and began walking toward the beast he saw. He considered staying quiet and sneaking toward them, but catching them by surprise may scare them. Besides, he didn't see any of Tiviko's guards while he was up in the tree.

As he moved closer and closer to the figure, however, something changed. Art could hear the figure running away from him. "Oh dear Martin," the squirrel mumbled. He whipped his head in Midwyng's direction and grunted. "I'll be back, I promise. Just gotta catch this guy." Turning back toward the figure, he broke out into a sprint.

Art ran through the forest with ease, sidestepping trees and leaping over rocks and sticks without fail. "Wait! I'm not gonna hurt you!" He called out. With how easily Art navigated the forest, it took no time at all until he saw that flash of white again. Before he could call out again, the figure disappeared, seemingly falling through the ground. The confusion Art then felt was quickly replaced by alarm. With a grunt, Art threw himself to the side. Pain shot through his body as he tumbled, but he eventually rolled to a stop. Slightly dazed, Art stood up and walked over to where the figure fell. There was a large depression in the ground, seemingly caused by a sinkhole. Art would've found it funny that the figure fell if it wasn't for the fact that he didn't see them climb out. Before he could jump down to check on them, the voice called out, clearly in pain.

"Hng… Is that you Art? Oh lord, I thought you were someone else. Ow." Art recognised the voice immediately. It belonged to Thaddeus Elderbark. Even though Art didn't like him on a personal level, seeing somebeast he recognised felt great.

"Do you need help?" Art called down.

"What do you think?"

Art snorted and began climbing down. "Don't get sore with me, I'm trying to help, idiot."

"Oh c'mon, what did I do? You're the one that started chasing me!"

Art sighed. "You heard me call out. You should've known I wouldn't hurt you."

Thaddeus scoffed. "Oh right. The last prisoner I saw stabbed me, and I don't know you that well either."

"Right, right, just shut up and stay there." Art dropped to the ground and turned around. Lying on the rocky ground was the mouse, his paws covered in blood-


A mouse was lying crumpled on the grass face-down. All Arthur could do was shiver as blood began to pool beneath the mouse. The squirrel whimpered, crawled closer to the mouse, and cried out for help.


Art had to stop himself from gagging. He began to shiver as he saw Thaddeus lying on the ground, blood covering his paws and white tunic. Why are you shaking? Stop it, you baby. Everything's fine. It's not him, it's Thaddeus. Stop being scared.

Thaddeus saw Art standing there, staring at him and took it as Art making fun of him. "Stop looking at me like that, hurry up and help me."

Art blinked out of his daze and nodded, "Right. Sorry," he muttered.

The mouse seemed confused. "What, you're not going to yell at me? I thought you were."

"What makes you think that?"

Thaddeus scoffed as if it was obvious, "You yelled at me on the ship."

Art stammered in response, "I mean- yeah, of course. You wouldn't stop yelling at Farshawn when we were trying to be quiet. Have you ever heard me yell at anybeast at the abbey?"

"Uh… a couple of times, I think?" Thaddeus answered, unsure. "You yelled at… hm…"

Art couldn't take his eyes off Thaddeus' bleeding paws, and he asked, "That went all the way through, huh?"

Thaddeus grumbled. "Yeah. It hurts a lot too, so can you hurry up and help? Do you even know first-aid?"

"A little bit, but I don't know what to do about that," the squirrel said slowly.

The mouse sucked in air as he looked at his paws. "Ugh, really? I feel like I only see you in the infirmary. That, or working, doing something alone, or you're with that one librarian." Huh, you're not that different from Borsen in that regard. I don't think you have friends either, so you're just like that otter, Thaddeus mused.

"I… yeah, but don't just call him that one librarian. He has a name," Art growled, his voice suddenly more dangerous, almost overly so.

Thaddeus sighed, "I'll ask him his name when I get back it's not important right now. Can you just help me?"

The squirrel's face grew red with fury and his paws reached for his sickle. Thaddeus' eyes grew wide and he shrunk back in himself. Luckily, Art didn't pull out the sickle. "You'll ask him later? He died a season ago, you damned selfish good-for-nothing bastard!" Art snarled, stomping closer to Thaddeus.

Thaddeus leaned back out of fear. He did? I didn't realise… Oh wow. That makes me sound really awful. "You're getting a bit personal," he mumbled.

"You think?" Art snapped.

"Look, I'm sorry," Thaddeus quickly apologised. Why was Art being so scary? He got angry too fast."And for the record, I'm not a good-for-nothing-"

"Oh really? Say that again, Thaddeus. Aren't you the beast who weasels his way out of every job assigned to him, forcing others to do what you're supposed to do? Pouting every time you have to do work?" Thaddeus froze as he stared up at Art. The squirrel's fists clenched tightly as he spat at the mouse. "Taking from everyone while never giving back, blaming others for everything wrong with you, and talking your way out of trouble while never changing? Are you sure you're not a good-for-nothing? Because I think you're a leech on the abbey!"

Thaddeus stared wordlessly at Art. What… was that? No, I'm trying to change, I swear. I've been trying ever since we got captured. The mouse opened his mouth to rebuke, but he couldn't. What Art said was true. But he was trying to change here, it wasn't too late, right? "Hey, Art? Um, there's a tower somewhere, I don't remember how to get there, but-"

"I know where it is already," Art muttered coldly.

"Kallius and Farshawn are trying to gather the prisoners there. I'm trying to help them, okay?" Thaddeus said defensively. When it didn't seem like Art was going to calm down, Thaddeus added, "Also, um, sorry about your loss."

Art growled as he looked up at the sky, wiping his face with his paws. "Thanks," he muttered begrudgingly. Damn Thaddeus. How could you not know he died? He was such an amazing mouse that I can't even… Art looked down at Thaddeus again, eyes fixed on the blood pooling around his paws. Art groaned and closed his eyes. I know you hate him, Art, but exploding like that was exactly what Ravi didn't want you to do. What's wrong with you? Just help Thaddeus, even if you want to punch him in the face. Promise to uphold good at all costs. That's what he told you.

"Sorry," Art grumbled. "Talk about Ravi like that again though, and I'm going to punch you."

Thaddeus nodded quickly. "Noted."

In the tense silence that followed, Art felt that he should offer some help after yelling at him. "By the way, you said you were helping Kallius with something, do you need help with that?" Art asked reluctantly.

Thaddeus winced as he tried to stand up. "Maybe, um, I see you have a weapon. I'm trying to find food to bring back to the tower, and I think having you around would be nice. I've already been attacked."

"By who?"

"That one stoat with the blue armour," Thaddeus answered. He looked down at his paws which… started to feel numb a bit ago. That didn't seem good. At least it didn't hurt as much.

Art sighed. "Do you need me to cut some bandages for your paws?" Thaddeus shrugged. Art grumbled and began slicing off the hemline of his habit. Oh well, everybeast said it was too big for him anyway. Art thought back to all the times Rianne had to dress his wounds and he explained, "We need to wash that out first. Does it hurt?"

"Uh… What do you mean by hurt?"

"Dear Martin," Art grumbled and began leading Thaddeus to where he left Midwyng. "Here, let's wrap those paws and then look for food. Oh, speaking of which, if we are travelling together, there's a bat's sleeping over there that I'm with. They're going to make fun of you a lot so just know that."

Thaddeus blinked. "Wait, huh?"

"Just ignore it, they're… okay otherwise. Kind of."

Thaddeus followed Art toward Midwyng, and for most of the walk, neither of them spoke. Thaddeus still felt awkward after Art blew up at him. "Um, were you close with Ravi?" He asked, trying to curry favour with the squirrel.

Art grumbled uncomfortably. "Yes."

"Huh." It made sense, considering how much time Art spent with him, to the point where Art didn't have any other friends. Now that he thought about it, Thaddeus barely knew anything about Art. "You're a really strange squirrel, you know that?"

Art sighed heavily, not bothering to hide his disdain. "What makes you think that?"

"I- I mean, it's true," Thaddeus stuttered defensively. "I'm not insulting you or anything, you seem nice, helpful, and polite back home. I'm just saying that you're… Different. Yeah."

"Just shut up and follow me to the stupid bat," Art snapped.

Thaddeus grumbled indignantly to himself. Why am I being told off by a kid? He's like, what, seven seasons younger than me? I don't know how old he is, but this is stupid. The two of them didn't talk anymore until they eventually reached the tree where Art left Midwyng. The bat was still hanging upside-down, fast asleep. Never having seen a bat before, Thaddeus was unnerved. Crossing his arms, he wearily walked up to the bat, looking up and down at them. "Is it awake?"

Art stared blankly at Midwyng as he walked over, raising a paw in the air as if he were about to slap the bat awake. The squirrel's paw shook for a few moments before he lowered his paw and leaned against the tree "No, but I guess we can let them sleep for a bit longer. Only for a little bit. In the meantime, let's get those paws dressed and find some food. After Midwyng- that's the bat's name, by the way, after they wake up, we'll head to that tower."

Thaddeus rubbed his arm nervously as he looked at Art. This squirrel would surely be the one to help him, right? But Thaddeus couldn't help but feel irritated. The stupid kid was scaring him and ordering him around, who was he to do that?

"C'mon, hurry up," Art barked. Then again, now's not the time to argue. I don't want to argue and get hurt again like what happened with the stoat. Begrudgingly, Thaddeus followed Art as he led him through the trees. Almost immediately, the squirrel began picking some dandelions (Were those edible? Thaddeus didn't know). Art muttered to Thaddeus, "Remind me to make a sling later. I might need to make a bag too. I should also probably scout ahead once we're done." Thaddeus frowned at the idea of having to help Art do this other stuff, but he kept his mouth shut.

In place of a bag, Thaddeus would carry everything they collected (After wrapping his paws, of course). The two of them continued searching for supplies for half an hour until Art woke up Midwyng. Then, the three of them headed off toward the stone tower, where Kallius and Farshawn would be waiting for them.