Chapter 17

Anchors


Two beasts sat in silence against a fallen log. Less than an hour ago, the cold afternoon silence was broken by frenzied screaming, stopping three beasts in their tracks. Ahlrath Palaechia sternly told his two companions to stay put while he checked out the noise. Toran Firepool didn't know how long it'd been since he left, but he was starting to shake nervously. The hare sitting next to him, Durkfor Ventultro, wasn't feeling good either. He couldn't make out who was screaming but knowing one of the prisoners was likely dead chilled him to the bone.

Minutes passed by without a word. Durkfor was too worried to talk while Toran had nothing to discuss. He wasn't nervous or anything. Toran would bet that he could scream as loud as he could, attract all the guards here, and he would still be safe. After all, what did the wildcat say back on the ship? "I'll even tell my crew to not hurt him under any circumstances?" If anything happened, he knew he could hide behind Durkfor. In fact, Toran began to feel so safe that he was starting to get bored waiting for Ahlrath to come back. Where was he? The otter looked up at Durkfor and quietly asked, "see him, yet?"

Durkfor shook his head. "I don't… he's gonna come back. Don't worry." Toran couldn't help but feel annoyed by that response. Ahlrath was amazing. Of course, he would come back. Ahlrath was probably the strongest and largest beast Toran had seen (not including that wearet that showed up back home because it felt unfair to include them). What mattered to Toran was how soon. The young otter turned away and began fidgeting with his tie.

A set of branches next to Durkfor started to rustle. The hare spun around holding his bindle defensively, relieved to see it was only Ahlrath. "Ah'm here, don' worry."

Toran sighed with relief and ran over to Ahlrath, hugging his waist. Ahlrath didn't reciprocate. When he looked up at the mountain hare's grim expression, he knew it was something serious. "We've gotta leave. Now."

Durkfor gulped. The hare's ears drooped slightly as he nervously asked, "uh… what didja see? It wasn't… was it somebeast from Redwall?"

Ahlrath didn't immediately answer. The mountain hare shuddered as the image of what he saw flashed in his mind once more. Blood was splashed everywhere, and in the centre of it all was a horribly mutilated mouse. With the way the mouse was dressed, he knew they were from Redwall Abbey. Staring Durkfor straight in the eye, Ahlrath shook his head. "Nay. 'Tis wasnae one o' yer abbey friends."

Durkfor sighed with relief while Toran looked up strangely. Ahlrath glanced at the small otter and grimaced. If ye can tell I'm lying, do nae say anythin'. Now's not th'time tae get all sad, we need tae get outta here.

Luckily, Toran seemed to take the hint and didn't out him. "So," Durkfor spoke up, "should we get movin'?"

Ahlrath nodded urgently. He really didn't want to meet whoever was depraved enough to do… that. "C'mon," he said. Toran grabbed his bag and walked beside Ahlrath. Durkfor picked up his bindle and followed solemnly. Ahlrath pushed aside vegetation and guided Toran through the forest. At the same time, the mountain hare was scanning the trees for any movement.

Toran felt odd. What was it that he was told back home? "Dead beasts don't need to eat," or something to that effect? Toran opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he looked back at Durkfor. The otter tugged on Ahlrath's coat to get his attention. The mountain hare stopped, knelt, and asked, "what?"

"Um," Toran began quietly, "did the… body have anything?"

Ahlrath's face stiffened. "Whaddya mean?"

Toran rubbed his arm awkwardly as he repeated what he'd been told, "So y'know how beasts carry stuff 'round? And when they… um, they don't need it anymore?"

Realising what Toran was getting at, Ahlrath shook his head sternly. "Nay, I didnae take anythin' an' ah'm not goin' tae. Ah ain't disrespectin' th' dead."

Toran's eyes went wide. How come nobeast told him? "That's disrespectful? Sorry."

Ahlrath grumbled, "yer fine." He stood back up and continued guiding his group. The mountain hare seemed distracted, however, and Toran couldn't figure out why. Ahlrath's paws were tapping his side whenever they weren't brushing aside undergrowth, and he was muttering under his breath.

Toran cocked his head. "Are y'okay?"

"Aye," Ahlrath responded curtly.

"Are you sure?"

"Toran," Ahlrath said sharply, but still trying to control his voice, "a beast is dead. I'm a bit on edge."

Toran nodded apologetically and went quiet. Still, he could sense that Ahlrath was lying, and from the way Ahlrath glanced at Durkfor, it seemed to relate to him. Speaking of Durkfor, it was blatantly obvious he was hiding something. Toran gazed owlishly at the hare who looked away with his ears drooping slightly. Could he be more obvious?

Oh well. He could bring it up later. He knew he would have time. With Ahlrath protecting him and Durkfor acting as a shield, Toran felt like he was safe. All that he had to do was stay near them.


"I can't handle being here, anymore," Ulfrad Shorepass grumbled to Rianne Wurtil, who was still very much on edge. The hogmaid was antsy. Her eyes twitched around the surrounding forest for anybeast that might attack them. For the past couple of hours, she, Ulfrad, and those two morons have been walking around and collecting food because Vhynias said so. Needless to say, Rianne was worried. Her and Ulfrad's arms were full of food so neither of them were able to defend themselves.

"Where do you think the wildcat is, right now?" Rianne asked wearily.

Ulfrad grumbled. "We don't know. But given how far away the scream was, I don't think we'll find him anytime soon. Just try to calm down."

"You calm down," Rianne retorted.

"… What?"

"How are you not freaking out? Somebeast is dead!"

Ulfrad looked down at the food he was carrying. "Beasts die every day. 'Tis the same here." Once he looked at Rianne's angry face, he shook his head. "But I get what yer tryin' t'say. But I do think we're fine, fer now."

"Right, because you know so much," Rianne muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing."

Ulfrad growled at her. "If ye have somethin' t'say, say it."

"Ok then," Rianne began, "I think you're insane if you think we're fine. Do you really think whoever did them in is the only one wandering around? They have more beasts than prisoners. Have you heard the term 'divide and conquer' before? I don't think you have, moron. There's probably many of them crawling around for us."

"Hey, don't call me a moron. O' course, I heard that term before," Ulfrad said sternly.

Rianne scoffed. "Fine. Let's just get this done as fast as possible so-"

She was interrupted by a short yelp coming from behind. Rianne grumbled and spun around. "And you two, shut up!"

Noruth Peltameo and Crookedfang, who were also in the food collecting group, stopped what they were doing and looked at Rianne. Crookedfang took the blueberry he was balancing on his nose and grinned. "I was just teachin' 'im how t'balance-"

"Oi dropped it," Noruth chimed in sadly.

"Stop playing wit' yer food," Ulfrad scolded.

Crookedfang smirked and tossed the blueberry in Ulfrad's arms. "Oy, ya work hard, ya play hard. I've found mosta d'food, so guess what?"

"I get it. Just play quietly so we don't get found," Rianne cut in. Admittedly, as annoying as Crookedfang was, he has been useful when it came to foraging. Noruth, not so much.

Ulfrad sighed heavily and spoke in a hushed tone to Rianne. "I wish we could ditch 'em. The rat's as stupid as a frog with brain damage and the mole hasn't done anything."

Rianne couldn't help but snicker. "You're right about that. Not sure about ditching them, though.

Ulfrad mulled it over and shook his head. "I was… joking."

Rianne scoffed. "Sure you were."

"So ye wouldn't want to ditch 'em?" Ulfrad asked.

"Eh. I don't know. They're good. Helpful, too." Rianne thought back to their encounter with Borsen earlier that day and shuddered. Even though Crookedfang was found first, it still made her feel guilty that she did nothing to help, even if it was Borsen there.

Ulfrad looked at her, unamused. "Ye think that's helpful?" He said, motioning to Crookedfang and Noruth.

"Oy! Noruff! Wanna see if'n I kin balance dis knife on my nose?" Crookedfang said excitedly, pulling out his kitchen knife.

Noruth grinned. "Ooh, thart be soundin' fun!"

Rianne watched blankly for a few moments and turned back to Ulfrad. "No."

Ulfrad groaned. "I shoulda switched groups back there. I could be lookin' fer weapons with Miena right now."

Rianne thought about who was in that group and frowned. "I don't know if I'd prefer that. The weasel and the stoat seem awful."

"Ye got that right," Ulfrad agreed.

"And at least we know Crookedfang is not going to stab me in the back," Rianne grumbled. In fact, Rianne found it strange how fast Crookedfang warmed up to them. In comparison to the rest of the fox's crew, Crookedfang seemed out of place for reasons she could not explain.

"That's… maybe true," Ulfrad admitted. "Doesn't mean I have to like him."

As if on cue, Crookedfang came up to Ulfrad, holding out some kind of leaf. "Tall ting, I found a buncha dis leaf. Noruff says 'tis bad, but I likes it 'cause I like sour stuff. Ya want t'try?"

"No. Go away," Ulfrad snapped. Crookedfang shrugged and walked back to Noruth. Ulfrad wanted to do nothing more than slap Crookedfang, but the rat had a knife. Plus, he had no doubt Crookedfang would go complain to Vhynias and that would be the end of that. For whatever reason, Miena wanted to work with the fox.

"How are we on food?" Rianne asked out of the blue. "Do you think this is enough to feed ten beasts?"

Ulfrad shook his head. "No, but we're not lookin' fer a Redwall-Abbey-grade grand feast. We're just tryna keep our energy up."

Rianne sighed. "That sucks. Oh well. Crookedfang can probably make something out of this."

"I wouldn't trust anythin' that rat makes," Ulfrad remarked flatly.

"I didn't either, at first. But as I just said, I don't think he's going to poison us or anything. He's uh, friendly." Almost overly so given the circumstances, which made Rianne suspicious. He fit in with those four other vermin, so maybe there was something she was missing?

"Heads up," Ulfrad said, bringing Rianne out of her pondering. Ulfrad tapped his footpaw on the grass and, upon closer inspection, Rianne saw an arrow lying on the grass. "What kinda moron drops stuff like this?" Ulfrad muttered.

Rianne felt fear prickling at the back of her neck. "So what was that you said again about us being fine? Do you think they're nearby?"

Ulfrad shrugged. "Regardless, I think we should start heading back."

The hogmaid nodded. "Hey, morons," she called at Noruth and Crookedfang. "We're going back. Crookedfang, where are we meeting up with the fox?"

Crookedfang shrugged. "I fergot. Don' worry, we'll find 'im!" Ulfrad grumbled tiredly in response. The rat ran off, this time making sure the others were right behind him. It peeved Ulfrad to think that he had to follow this rat who seemed to have no idea what he was doing, but at least he knew how to find food. For most of the walk, Crookedfang and Noruth were talking about random stuff until Rianne told them to be quiet in case the guards were nearby. Then they started to whisper.

Ulfrad was about to snap at them again when they suddenly heard yelling up ahead. All four of them froze in place.

Crookedfang's ears twitched as he tried to make out the voice. He cupped his paws around his ear to listen better, then frowned. "Dat's not Vhyn."

"'Tis anybeast we know? Ulfrad whispered.

Crookedfang didn't respond for a brief moment, and then he shook his head. "Dunno."

Rianne's head whipped toward Ulfrad, panicked. "What in hellgates do we do?" She whispered. The scream from earlier came back into her mind and she shivered.

Noruth waddled up to a hollow log and pointed at it. "Maybe we be a hidin'?"

Ulfrad wasn't too enthused about hiding. He beckoned Crookedfang over and gestured toward the voices. "Rat. Scout it out and see if there's a way 'round them."

Rianne opened her mouth in protest. "I don't want him to go there. He'll get stabbed again."

In contrast to Rianne, however, Crookedfang immediately saluted and grinned. "Ya got it. I'll be back inna moment." Before anybeast could stop him, he had already ran off, crashing through the dense foliage.

As the shouting got louder and louder, Crookedfang slowed down, trying to stay hidden. The voices seemed to only get angrier as he approached.

"C'mon, Kaj! At least let me hold it!"

"No. Yarr gonna shoot yerself."

"Hey, I made a deal wit' one' o' th'prisoners. I'm not stupid!"

"I didn't call ya stupid."

"You thought it!"

"Everybeast tinks it, Marls. Yarr stupid as a rat, an' dats not me tryna be mean."

"Hey!" A third voice called out indignantly.

"How're you so mean, Kaj? I'd shoot you if I had the crossbow. Give it to me!"

"Dat's why I ain't letting ya have it. Ya've got a trigger finger."

Crookedfang almost laughed at the absurdity of the exchange. Then he remembered he was supposed to be scouting and moved closer. The arguing only intensified and by the time he was able to get a look at the voices, he could see eight or so beasts watching two others wrestling for some kind of big T-shaped stick. Crookedfang had no idea what it was, though judging from the conversation, it was a crossbow, and it can shoot things. One of the beasts looked familiar, however…

The larger figure, a ferret, ripped the stick out of the smaller figure's, a pine marten, paws. "Marls," they scolded flatly. "Keep yer paws off o' dis ting. Yer gonna kill somebeast."

Marlus stood up, growling indignantly. Crookedfang grimaced. This pine marten was chasing him after the ship crashed. Luckily, he managed to get away, but seeing him again annoyed him to no end. "Of course, I'm gonna kill somebeast! One of the prisoners. Now give me the crossbow, Kaj. I'm leading this group, so give it to me!"

The ferret, Kajiir, sighed. "I shoulda stayed wit' Tiviko."

While the two were arguing, Crookedfang was examining the group. In total, there were ten of them. They all seemed distracted enough that sneaking past them may be easy. None of them carried ranged weapons other than the crossbow, so they could maybe outrun them. Then again, Crookedfang still didn't fully understand what a crossbow was, so running might still be risky. Committing all of this to memory, he turned to return back to the group. In a couple of minutes, he was back with Ulfrad, Rianne, and Noruth. Noruth smiled. "Ooh, you'm back!"

"So what did ye see?" Ulfrad asked.

Crookedfang made a T-shape with his arms. "Dis! Dey were arguin' o'er dis fer some reason. I dunno what it is. Dere's ten o' dem and none o' dem can shoot us." Crookedfang relayed the rest of the information to them (including the fact that they seemed more focused on arguing with each other than hunting for them).

"Well, that's good news for us," Rianne remarked.

Ulfrad nodded and began walking. "Aye. Let's get moving. Be careful, everybeast. Try not to drop the food either." The rest of the group nodded in affirmation and began following Ulfrad. The otter led them on a path around the guards, hoping they wouldn't be seen. The four of them were dead silent, knowing that making any sound could cause their demise. Ulfrad was scanning the ground, trying to avoid stepping on anything loud.

Ulfrad's ears twitched as he strained to listen in on the guards. He narrowed his eyes as he realised the arguing had stopped. Turning to his group, he mouthed, "hurry."

They walked faster, looking around for anybeast in the distance. Everything was mostly quiet until Crookedfang heard wood rattling to his left. He turned.

Crookedfang's eyes went wide as he threw himself to the ground, scrambling for cover behind a tree as an arrow flew past his stomach. Rianne screamed and dropped the food. The four prisoners quickly ran for cover. Kajiir lightly smacked Marlus upside the head and snarled, "I gave ya d'crossbow and ya miss!"

Rianne was shaking. Her breathing was heavy as she looked around the trunk to see the ferret reloading the crossbow. She turned around, looking for where Crookedfang and Noruth had hidden.

But before Rianne could do anything, she felt a paw grab her by the arm. Rianne was pulled away, leaving Noruth and Crookedfang behind with the guards.


Noruth was shivering as he pressed his body against the trunk. Crookedfang, sitting next to him, pulled out his knife with one paw and patted Noruth on the shoulder. "Oy, Noruff, calm down."

"Boi gumm, Crooked, what do we do? Oi dunno what be happenin'," Noruth whimpered, twiddling his digging claws as he peered out at the guards.

Crookedfang shook Noruth with a paw. "Oy, Noruff, calm down matey. Look. We'll be fine. Hey." Crookedfang forced Noruth to look him in the eye. Noruth's breathing slowly calmed as he looked at Crookedfang.

But that panic rushed back as a clunk rang out, followed by something slamming into the tree they were leaning against. Kajiir's voice rang out in the distance, punctuated by Marlus. "Aye. So. C'mon, rat, yer not even on d'list, yer-"

"Lemme kill the rat, I didn't get him earlier!" Marlus complained.

"What? No," Kajiir hissed. "Come out wit' yer paws up, an' I won't slay ya."

"But I will!"

"Marls, shut up."

"There's ten of us, and two o' them. I say we just surround them! Go!" Marlus commanded.

Kajiir sighed and began to move around the tree, keeping their distance.

Growling, Crookedfang sheathed his knife and grabbed Noruth's paw, pulling him so the tree was obscuring Kajiir's view. Then, they ran. "Get them!" Marlus cried out. Drawing their weapons, the rest of Marlus' group gave chase. Kajiir gave an annoyed grunt and lowered the crossbow. Instead of running straight ahead like the rest of the group, they ran to the west, trying to intercept the two prisoners.

Up ahead, Crookedfang was panting heavily, struggling to pull Noruth along with him. The mole looked back at the beasts chasing them and whimpered. "Crooked, oi be soiry! If oi weren't here, you'd be losts faster w'out me!"

Crookedfang shook his head and grinned. "Don' worry, I ain't leaving youse behind." Hearing that made Noruth feel guilty. The rat's smile was strained and it was clear he couldn't keep pulling him for much longer. Already, they were starting to slow down. Noruth peered back at the guards. Well, ain't this a familiar scene…

Noruth could feel the rat's grasp on his paw slipping. At that moment, he knew what to do.

"Crooked, run!"

Before Crookedfang could ask what the mole meant, he felt Noruth pry his paw off of his. Crookedfang watched as Noruth ran down an incline, turning back once to give an assuring smile to Crookedfang before continuing.

Marlus stopped for a brief moment, confused about what to do. He turned to the rest of his group and commanded, "Follow the mole, I'll get the rat!" As the rest of the guards ran after Noruth, Marlus looked back at Crookedfang and grinned. "You're mine, rat!"

Without Noruth, however, Crookedfang quickly grew worried. He stopped for just a moment to look where the mole had ran. He couldn't see him or his pursuers through the trees. He was about to run after him when he saw Marlus charge toward him. Crookedfang spun around and took off. I just need t'run. I kin find Noruff later. I kin outrun 'im, I kin-

Crookedfang was suddenly jerked to the ground. He tried to lift his head only to find that Marlus had grabbed the chains attached to his collar. The pine marten grinned madly. Crookedfang stopping to check on Noruth was all the time he had needed. The rat frantically clawed at the ground, searching for traction. Marlus leaned back, pulling with both paws. "No use tryin' to run, rat! You're dead!" He snarled. His eyes burning with hatred, Marlus used one paw to reach for the axe attached to his back.

With only one paw on the chain, however, Crookedfang yanked and the chain slipped from Marlus' grasp. In one swift movement, Crookedfang scrambled onto his footpaws and pulled out the knife tucked into his sash. The rat's vision narrowed as Marlus pulled out his hand axe. The two of them stood there unmoving; their eyes locked in a deadly standoff. The rat felt he was at a disadvantage, but he couldn't fail. He needed to get back to Vhynias.

Marlus' paw twitched. With a roar, the pine marten charged.


Kajiir jogged through the forest, their mind focused on the task at paw. Their arms began to ache with how long they were holding the crossbow, but they needed to be able to shoot at a moment's notice. They followed Marlus' group from a distance, weaving through the thicker areas of the forest like a snake. Everything should be going fine. They outnumbered the group of prisoners they were following, and they actually had weapons. Things shouldn't be going wrong.

But then they heard Marlus demand they separate. Kajiir narrowed their eyes and slowed down. Given the number of prisoners, separating wasn't strange given they still had the numbers, but Marlus wasn't exactly the smartest. A bubble of anxiety began to rise up in their chest. Their face stiffened as they realised Marlus probably decided to chase the rat alone. That certainly sounds like something he'd do; he had been complaining about not catching the rat ever since he got away this morning. Kajiir grumbled as they changed their plan. They wanted to make sure Marlus was alright. As annoying, stupid, and hot-headed as he was, Kajiir liked him a lot. "Marls, ya moron, where're ya?" They called out.

They stumbled down uneven terrain, nearly falling and dropping the crossbow at certain points. "Marls! Wait up!" They called out once more. Stupid pine marten, why didja do dis?

Kajiir lept down a small cliff, dropping the crossbow on the ground. They grumbled anxiously. It better not fire. Takes forever t'load d'ting. The ferret picked up the crossbow and continued jogging towards Marlus.

Eventually, carrying the crossbow grew to be too much and they stopped, setting the crossbow against the tree to rest their arms. They gazed in the direction they heard Marlus yell and thought, dear lord, d'two o' em run fast.

The ferret rolled their shoulders as they tried to get back to following Marlus as fast as possible. Before they could, they heard a rustling in the bushes to their right. Kajiir spun around and quickly grabbed the crossbow, swinging it toward the sound.

Their sharp eyes scanned the foliage for any movement. There wasn't any. Sighing, they set the crossbow against the tree and fidgeted nervously. Marls better be alright.


Marlus swung the axe ferociously, swiping at Crookedfang as he twisted out of harm's way. With a shorter weapon, there wasn't much Crookedfang could do in terms of attacking. At least, not right now. The rat's heart pounded in his chest. Marlus' feral snarls tore through the air with every swing. Crookedfang tightened his grip on his knife and grimaced. He may not have the advantage when it came to weapons, but he certainly did when it came to speed.

Crookedfang threw himself to the ground, just narrowly avoiding another frenzied swing from the axe. Before the rat could get up, Marlus kicked him in the stomach. Crookedfang groaned as the marten stomped down, over and over again. "Who's runnin' now? Coward!" Marlus spat. Out of desperation, Crookedfang lashed out, slicing the marten's ankle.

Marlus yelped as he crumpled to the ground, dropping his axe out of reflex. Without giving him a chance to get up, Crookedfang lept on top of the marten. The two combatants writhed and tumbled on the ground, snarling like mad beasts. Blinding pain shot through the right side of Crookedfang's body. That's when he realised he made a mistake.

Grinning, Marlus grabbed Crookedfang's right arm- the one flayed by Borsen that very morning- and slammed it into the dirt. The rat howled with pain as stars danced in his vision. Crookedfang swung the knife clumsily at Marlus but the marten simply knocked it out of his paws.

Marlus rolled Crookedfang onto his stomach, pinning his right arm against his back. Marlus was panting heavily; his paws groped the ground in search of a nearby weapon. To his disappointment, there wasn't anything that he could grab without letting go of Crookedfang. Keeping his eyes locked on the rat's neck, Marlus called out, "Kaj! Get over here! I got the rat!"

Blood was starting to soak the wrappings on Crookedfang's arm. Still, the rat struggled, writhing under Marlus' hold as he tried to escape. In response, Marlus dug his claws into and twisted the rat's arm, eliciting a grunt from Crookedfang as his struggling ceased.

"Would you just stop?" Marlus sneered, "you and all o' your friends shoulda just given up. Nobeast gets past Tiv. I swear, that wildcat would be a legend if he didn't want to stay hidden." Marlus' voice was filled with admiration as he spoke, and something about it rang familiar to Crookedfang. "He's a master o' life an' death! He chose to let us live, and he chose to kill you all. Kaj? Where are you? Hurry up so we can kill him!"

As Crookedfang lay there, he wanted to scream. It was all so unfair! He wanted to be back with Vhynias. The fox was way too amazing to stick with a rat like him, but he did. He was supposed to help Vhynias. He was supposed to help Noruth. He was supposed to help Tornear, Gurnilal, Bolgash, Rianne, and Ulfrad. And yet, he failed.

Minutes passed without a sound. Anytime Crookedfang struggled, Marlus clawed his arm, putting an end to that. There was some rustling in the bushes behind them followed by the familiar sound of rattling wood. Marlus sighed. "Finally, Kaj. What took you so-"

Clunk!

Marlus let out a howl as an arrow buried itself in his back. He fell on top of Crookedfang. The rat's eyes grew wide as he pushed the marten off with his uninjured paw and scrambled up. Turning toward the assailant, he saw Noruth struggling to hold up the crossbow, his eyes wide with fear.

"Oi didn't slay 'im, did oi? S'ee alive? Please tell me 'ee is!" The mole whimpered.

Still somewhat dazed, Crookedfang looked down at Marlus, who was curled up on the grass. The rat shook his head. He half-walked half-stumbled toward the mole and pulled him tight for a hug. Noruth dropped the crossbow and returned the gesture. "Are ya okay?" Crookedfang mumbled.

Noruth quickly glanced backwards. "Oi should be arsking you thart! Crooked, are-"

"I am," he answered quickly. "How didja get 'way?"

"Oi dug an' buried moiself an' waitin' 'till they passed. Let's goo, 'fore the ferret gets here," Noruth said urgently.

As if on cue, Kajiir tumbled through the trees with an arrow wound in his side. They had a panicked look in their eyes as they scanned the clearing. Ignoring Noruth and Crookedfang, the ferret picked up the crossbow and ran towards Marlus. Noruth couldn't move. Although Crookedfang was urging him to go, he couldn't look away from the two beasts. Kajiir crouched near Marlus, muttering to him and checking if he was okay. Noruth's body began to grow hot as his heart felt like lead.

Slowly, Kajiir looked up at the two prisoners. They shakily raised the crossbow and aimed it at them. Even still, Noruth couldn't move. All he could pay attention to was how Kajiir was kneeling in front of Marlus, shielding him from harm.

Kajiir lowered the crossbow with a snarl and helped Marlus up. "Screw it, we don' have time fer dis," they said in a quivering voice. "Marls, we're gonna getcha fixed up, aye?"

Marlus' face radiated hatred as he glared at Crookedfang, but he otherwise didn't object as Kajiir began to lead him away.

And just like that, Noruth and Crookedfang were left alone. The mole stared at the ground with a grim expression. Kajiir was so worried they didn't even notice the crossbow wasn't loaded. Noruth felt sick to his stomach.


"I can't believe you left them behind!" Rianne hissed at an unrepentant Ulfrad. As it turned out, Ulfrad was the one who pulled her away. He led her to a set of trees on top of a nearby hill, and more importantly, away from Noruth and Crookedfang.

The otter crossed his arms and bared his teeth. "If we stayed behind, there'd be four bodies instead o' two. I know ye don't like it, but I doubt ye know how to handle yerself in a fight and I'm not useful in a fight myself. 'Tis better fer the whole group to lose two instead of four beasts."

Rianne glared daggers at Ulfrad, even if his thoughts were correct. "Shouldn't we at least try to help?"

"If ye can think of a way to help them, I'm all ears," Ulfrad replied, annoyed.

Rianne silently stared at Ulfrad's unflinching face, angrily wishing she could do something. Damn it, Rianne, two beasts need your help. Think of something, come on! Ulfrad is right, you can't fight or do anything like that, so what can you do at this moment? What can you do?

"So what? You just want us to leave them to die?" Rianne grumbled.

Ulfrad's patience began to wear thin. "Ye want me to be blunt? Aye," he spat. "The two of us ain't good fer helpin' them. If we go, we're dead, too. Now, let's go 'fore we get caught."

As much as Rianne didn't want to admit it, Ulfrad was right. There wasn't much the two of them could do to help them, but… "Is there really nothing you can think of?"

Ulfrad grumbled under his breath. "Look, I know ye like them. Lord knows why, but ye do. I also know that yer talkin' bout goin' in and savin' them. But if we were with them right now, ye wouldn't help. Yer a healer. Not somebeast trained to fight. Ye wouldn't know what to do in that scenario. Am I wrong?"

Rianne didn't answer as she stared at the otter. Ulfrad sighed grimly as he turned to leave. "I'm going to look fer the fox. Either come wit' me, or don't. I advise ye to come. I don't want ye to get hurt, aye?"

Rianne nodded slowly as she began to follow Ulfrad. The otter didn't know where he was going, but hopefully, he was headed in the right direction. He grunted to himself. Of course, he felt bad for Noruth, but he couldn't take the risk of saving him. Nice beasts finish last. If yer too nice, ye don't succeed. That rat trusts everybeast way too quickly. He's going to be hurt because of that, eventually. Now it was a matter of explaining this to the fox, who he'd guess wouldn't be happy.

"Oi! Wait up!" A familiar voice rang out. Rianne turned around in shock to see Crookedfang and Noruth walking up the hill towards them. The mole looked shaken while the rat's right arm was soaked with blood. Other than that, they were still alive. Rianne couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

"You two are okay, thank Martin," she muttered guiltily. She looked back at Ulfrad to see if he would say anything, but he simply nodded and continued walking. Rianne slowed down so she was at the same pace as Noruth and Crookedfang.

For most of the walk, none of them spoke. Crookedfang was even more injured, they lost the food they had collected, Noruth felt guilty for shooting Marlus, and Rianne felt guilty for not helping.

Eventually, Noruth broke the silence. He looked sheepishly at Rianne and asked, "um, miz Rianne, can I speak wit' Crooked alone?"

Rianne nodded. "Yeah. Hey, Crookedfang. We're going to need to take a look at that arm when we find your fox friend."

Crookedfang nodded. Rianne jogged up ahead to where Ulfrad was. Alone, Crookedfang turned to Noruth. "What's up?"

Noruth twiddled his digging claws as he stared at the ground. "Soory."

Crookedfang grinned and wrapped his uninjured arm around the mole. "Oi, what do ya gotta be sorry 'bout?"

"Well, oi be draggen you down back thurr. If'n you were alone, you wouldn't've gutten hurt."

The rat pulled Noruth in closer, "I ain't leavin' ya. Who cares if ya slows me down? Ya don't."

"But I do."

"Who cares? I don'," Crookedfang stated adamantly. "Vhyn doesn't stay wit' us 'cuz we help 'im- well, we do. He sticks wit' us 'cuz he's great an' nice an' amazing an' orange an' tall an' he likes us. An' ya know what? I likes ya, Noruff. So I ain't gonna abandon ya. Please don' leave like dat, again. Ya scared me."

Noruth couldn't help but smile at the rat's words. It still made him feel guilty that he would willingly throw himself in danger for beasts that he'd known for less than a day, but it still made him feel warm.

"'Sides," Crookedfang continued, "I owe ya anyway. Ya saved my tail twice today. Ya stabbed d'otter an' ya shot d'marten."

At the mention of the pine marten, Noruth's smile faltered. "Oi hope 'ee be okay."

Crookedfang snorted. "I don'. He tried t'kill us."

Noruth looked up blankly at Crookedfang as he tried to think about how to put his thoughts into words. "Well… You like they friends o' yon's. 'Ee weasels an' fox, aye?"

Crookedfang nodded, not understanding where this was going.

"Oi just be thinken thurr friends, too. 'Ee ferret an' 'ee pine marten. Th'ferret even spared us so they could help thurr friend farster."

Crookedfang nodded slowly, still not really understanding. But as the mole's voice grew heavier, he couldn't help but feel sad as well.

"Back at 'ee bunkhouse at Sotak's Isle, thurr wurr losts o' guards. Some bad." Noruth pointed to the scars on his face. "But thurr wurr good ones, too. Some o' 'em wurr friends with 'ee other prisoners. 'Ee guard oi was friends with was a real nice beast. But oi felt sad. T'was clear 'ee didn't want to be thurr. Losts o' beasts wurr forced thurr. When oi saw 'ee ferret leave t'help his friend, oi thoughts back to then. Oi just wonder if'n they really want t'be here." The mole threw his paws up and shrugged. "Oi don' know. Oi just feel bad hurting them, s'all."

Crookedfang stared at the grass. What Noruth just said rang an uncomfortably familiar bell. Not for him specifically, but…

"Hey, rat," Ulfrad called out from ahead. "Can you help me find where yer fox friend is? Ye probably know where he's hidin' up."

Crookedfang glanced at Noruth and patted him on the back with a grin. "Oi, cheer up, ya big ox. C'mon, let's go find Vhyn. Oh, an' if I'm gettin' attacked, ya don' have t'help or stick wit' me. Ya don' have t'bloody yer paws."

Noruth snickered. As awkward as Crookedfang's attempt to cheer him up was, it was still an attempt. He and Crookedfang walked past Ulfrad as the rat tried to lead them towards Vhynias.

But there was still that worry in the back of Noruth's mind as he gazed at the rat. He just hoped nobeast would take advantage of that loyalty.