Chapter 45

Deadly Apologies

Miena Dawnraft winced as the sunlight seemed to grow in intensity. Wherever she and Crookedfang were going, it must be near one of the many mines on the island with fewer trees. The ottermaid's throat tightened as she remembered what happened the last time she stayed too long at one. She shook her head and groaned. Instead of thinking about what happened, she focused on the missing tooth in her mouth. Damn rat. If it were a few hours earlier, she would've wished death upon Crookedfang, but now, since she was being nice, all she wanted was for him to be very violently attacked. She could tell the rat felt similarly if the way he growled whenever he put pressure on his left leg was any indication. Miena found him a sturdy piece of foundation to use as a cane, but it didn't take the pain off entirely. Honestly, it pissed her off that she lost to Crookedfang considering he was smaller and couldn't use his right arm. Thinking about it again riled her to the point where she asked, "So, how's yer leg holdin' up, Crookedfang?"

Crookedfang glared at Miena and snarled, "Just as fine's always. How bout'cha shut yer mout' an' mind'jer bizness 'fore I beat'cha up again."

Miena grinned spitefully and limply aimed a dagger at Crookedfang. "Aye? Try me again, pipsqueak."

Crookedfang growled and swung the dagger Ayers gave him at Miena. "Don' ferget, riverdog, I've beaten ya once an' I can do it again."

"Want me to shoot yer other leg?"

"Like ya could wit' yarr busted up shoulder. Ya don' got d'strengch ter kill me."

"Wanna try?" Miena bared her fangs.

"Ya know I want ter," Crookedfang spat. However, despite their anger, both knew that they wouldn't fight each other anytime soon. Well, at least until they returned home. As much as Miena hated to admit it, she did respect Crookedfang as a survivor. God knows how he's still alive.

Miena snorted and tucked the dagger in her bag. "Ye know, I've been meanin' to ask ever since I saw ye, what's with the eye wrap?"

"Whaddya mean?" Crookedfang raised a brow. "My eye's gone. I ain' got it."

"Oh, I figured that out already. I just mean, ye don't seem like the type to care 'bout hidin' that."

"Oh!" Crookedfang tugged at the bandage covering his eye and giggled. "Tornear an' Gurn said I should keep it. Aye, uh, Gurn said it made me look fierce while Tornear thought I looked cute."

"Adorable," Miena sarcastically agreed.

Crookedfang huffed and frowned. "Well, yer dress looks stupid."

Miena nodded dramatically. "Aye, I'll keep yer opinion in mind on the off chance we get off this island and I can change clothes."

"Oy, stop talkin' like we won'! We're gonna beat up d'wildcat an' make 'im take us outta here!" Crookedfang leapt excitedly before remembering his leg was injured and stumbling to the ground with a yelp.

Miena grinned and shook her head contemptuously. "Aye, sure, whatever ye say, Crookedfang. Whatever ye say."

Miena's prediction turned out to be correct. They were heading towards a mine. What neither she nor Crookedfang expected was its sheer size. A massive hole in the earth opened up in front of them, going down farther than Miena thought was ever possible. Whoever dug this quarry was either desperate or stupid. Considering the other buildings on the island, Miena guessed a mix of both.

"Woah," Crookedfang exclaimed. "This ting is huuuge!" The rat limped to the edge of the quarry while Miena looked at the set of buildings erected around the perimeter, the largest of all being a storehouse with an opening in the side to allow a massive crane to poke over the mines.

Miena whistled. "Wow. This place is amazin'. Kinda makes me wonder why they needed all this stone, though. Then again, I don't know enough 'bout minin' to say anythin' 'bout-"

"Oy, riverdog, shut it, what's dat down dere?" Crookedfang's question didn't initially spark interest, largely because the rat seemed like he'd get distracted by a butterfly. Miena shrugged and walked over.

"What, did ye see a bee or somethin'?"

"Nay, dere's like a lotta beasts down dere!"

Miena raised a brow. "Seriously?" As she stood by the edge, she could confirm that what Crookedfang said was true. A large number of beasts were heading down the many paths and bridges leading lower into the quarry. She could even point to one beast at the front, Tiviko Polonuk. "I don't get it, there's nothin' down there. Even if yer searchin' fer prisoners, ye'd have to be stupid to…" Miena trailed off as realisation hit her. The only reason Tiviko would be heading down there was if a prisoner was already at the bottom.

Crookedfang waivered. "Meena, look down dere, by dat lower entrance." Miena turned and sure enough, there was somebeast at the bottom. While it'd normally be hard to tell who it was, the red and yellow habit stuck out to Miena like a signal fire.

"Oh… no."

Sitting on the stone oblivious to what was about to happen was Rianne Wurtil. The hogmaid seemed to be resting but from the angle of the cliffs, it didn't look like she could see the guards coming towards her. At this rate, it would be too late until she noticed. What the heck is she doin' all the way down there!?

Crookedfang's eyes widened. "Riyan! We've gotta help her, we can' let 'er die!"

Miena glanced at Crookedfang. The rat shook as he looked around frantically. She hastily nodded and motioned to the crane. "Aye. Get to the crane, I've got an idea."

Crookedfang limped as quickly as possible but Miena realised that his leg was slowing him down exponentially. My bad. With no time to waste, she grabbed Crookedfang and helped him walk up the steps leading towards the crane. Once inside, Miena shoved Crookedfang towards the giant crank at the end of the room. "Wait fer my signal, go, go!"

Miena dashed to the edge. Rianne still hadn't noticed the guards were approaching. She reached into her bag, pulled out a dagger, and tossed it down into the quarry.

On the ground, Rianne yelped as the blade clattered to the rock beside her. She looked up and faintly saw somebeast waving to her from the crane. "What? Is that Miena?"

"They're coming!" Miena screamed. "The wildcat's coming, get on the platform, get on, now!"

Rianne swivelled around fearfully before dashing between the boxes on the crane's platform. Miena turned to Crookedfang and ordered, "Now! Start pulling!"

Crookedfang grunted with exertion as he turned the crank as fast as he could.

Rianne yelped as the platform began to rise. Only now, she could see Tiviko and the group of beasts he brought with him. Her eyes widened and she shrunk into the boxes.

Tiviko snarled. He sprinted to the rising platform and jumped, reaching to the hogmaid with an outstretched paw. Rianne screamed but the wildcat only managed to scrape the bottom. Tiviko turned to his group and yelled, "You six at the end, go up and take care of the crane, everyone else, grab your weapons and intercept the platform, go, go!"

Rianne whimpered as a few of the guards ran up to the crane and it only worsened when she saw some heading to the bridges near the platform's path. She clutched her hatchet and warned, "They're coming up the path!"

Miena growled. She pulled the crossbow off her back and lay it on the windowsill for support. "Crookedfang, how are ye doin' wit' the crane?"

"Shaddup, I'm goin' as fast as I kin!"

"Well, go faster! They're catchin' up to-"

"Den I need help pullin'!" He snarled furiously. Miena scowled and left the crossbow by the window before standing next to Crookedfang and helping him pull.

Rianne yelped as the platform rose faster. In front of her, beasts were racing up the paths and bridges and a few of them were getting concernedly close. Rianne whimpered and grabbed her hatchet and the dagger Miena tossed.

Something jolted the platform down. Rianne screamed and fumbled for her weapons as she saw a ferret struggling to climb onto the lift. She shut her eyes, raised her hatchet, and slammed it onto the ferret's paws in a spray of blood. The ferret screamed before falling to the rocks below with a thud.

"Meena, how close're dey?" Crookedfang asked. Miena pulled away from the crank and looked out the window.

"We can get a bit more in, just keep goin', I'll deal wit' it when they come!"

Rianne opened her eyes and saw a set of guards standing on one of the bridges with javelins and throwing knives. Her cold, shaking paws tore the lid off one of the boxes and held it up.

"Launch!" One of them yelled. Rianne screamed and held the lid over her head, crawling into the box for a bit of extra security as knives and javelins pelted the platform. Once it was over, she threw the lid at the beasts on the bridge, startling them but otherwise having no effect.

Meanwhile, Miena stopped helping Crookedfang crank and ran to the window. Six guards were heading for the storehouse. She grabbed a hold of the crossbow with a shaking paw and shot an arrow into a rat, jerking them to the ground. "Crookedfang, how good are ye at throwin' knives?"

"Great! Tornear tau-"

"Tell me later, switch places!" She ordered. Crookedfang let go of the crank to let Miena pull while he reached into his knapsack and pulled out a strangely familiar set of throwing knives. He staggered to the window and aimed, sending a knife cleanly into an unlucky stoat.

"Take cover!" One of them ordered while gesturing to the others. Crookedfang had no time to take another one down before they all ran into the various abandoned buildings around the quarry.

Crookedfang scoffed. "Dey've hidden. I dunno where dey are."

"Dang it, Crookedfang! Is it so hard to keep track of-"

"Dere're four of 'em an' dey all scattered! Whaddya want from me!?"

"By the claw," Miena grumbled. "Rianne! Hold on!" She yelled before reaching into Crookedfang's bag and pulling out a small knife to help the rat deal with the flanking enemy.

Rianne scowled. "What do you mean 'hold on'!? I'm in the bloody sky!" She snarled. Rianne scanned for potential threats and saw a bridge below her that somebeast could get onto her platform with. A couple of guards also noticed and were running to it. Rianne looked around for a solution. She couldn't fight, so what could she do? Rianne stalked to the side farthest from the bridge and pushed the crates to make a wall of sorts. It wouldn't stop them, but that wasn't what she was going for. She waited until they got closer and closer before gripping a box. Rianne shoved one of the boxes off right as a rat jumped off the bridge, knocking his head and stunning him enough to cause him to miss the platform and fall onto the rocks below. Her head felt dizzy for a moment but now was not the time to falter.

Up in the crane, Miena and Crookedfang scanned the rocky landscape for any guards trying to ambush them. Miena took the time to reload the crossbow while Crookedfang eyed the abandoned buildings. They waited in tense silence until a shuffling behind them drew their attention. A weasel was crawling through the opening meant for the crane. Crookedfang pounced but due to his injured leg, wasn't quick enough to avoid the weasel swinging a spear handle into his ankle. Crookedfang yelped and fell to the ground. At the same time, the remaining three guards came out of hiding and ran for the crane. Miena propped the crossbow against a windowsill and pulled the trigger, catching a fox in the stomach.

Miena turned and saw Crookedfang wrestling with the weasel on the ground, eyes widening when she saw the weasel easily pin him against the ground. Miena ran and kicked the weasel in the temple as hard as she could, stunning them. Crookedfang used the opening to kick them off with his free leg, knocking them off the crane and falling into the quarry with a scream.

The door opened behind them. Miena grabbed Crookedfang, shoved him out of the crane's opening, and helped him hide in a crawlspace underneath the storehouse. Miena crouched and listened to the guards debate whether or not to chase after them when she heard the crane begin to move. She hurriedly whispered a plan to Crookedfang and slinked to the main entrance.

Rianne was out of boxes but nobeast was trying to jump on the platform anymore. She flinched as the lift began to move- not up, but down. She looked up and screamed, "Miena? What's going on up there!?"

One of the guards, a stoat, was cranking while the other, a rat, kept guard with a sword. All of a sudden, a head poked up from the window, sending a throwing knife right into the stoat's stomach and causing them to stagger into the wall. The rat turned as Miena opened the main door and tackled them to the ground. Crookedfang painfully pulled himself inside the building with a grunt, watching as the stoat tried to recover from the knife in their stomach. Meanwhile, Miena had the rat pinned to the ground and eagerly pulled out the small knife to finish them off. Crookedfang stood up using the wall as support and growled, aiming a dagger at the weasel. The weasel looked between Miena, Crookedfang, and the rat on the ground before turning and running out the front door.

Crookedfang chuckled and limped to the crank as the rat yelped behind him from Miena plunging a knife into their face.

The platform began to move again, much to Rianne's delight. She looked up to see if she could catch a glimpse of Miena when something made her blood run cold.

She didn't know how or when, but high above her, Tiviko had climbed onto the thick rope holding up the platform and was cutting into it with a dagger. She looked around for a bridge or a ledge to jump to. There was none. Her heart raced and she screamed. "Miena! Tiviko's cutting the rope! Mienaaa!"

Miena turned away from the barely conscious rat and ran to the opening. Sure enough, Tiviko was slicing into the rope with a dagger. She scowled and looked at Crookedfang. "There's not enough time to pull it up, help me find a way to get the wildcat off!"

Crookedfang stopped cranking and searched his supplies for anything of use, grinning as he realised something they could do. "I've got it!"

Miena saw what the rat was talking about. "That's stupid, ye need both arms fer that."

Crookedfang smirked. "An'? Ya have one an' I've got one, too."

Miena sighed. "Screw it."

Rianne aimed the dagger Miena gave her and realised Tiviko was too high to throw a dagger at. The hogmaid began to whimper. "Miena! Miena help!" She screamed again. Tiviko ignored her, sawing the rope with grim determination. Rianne yelped as the lift shook.

Tiviko let out a scream and let go of the rope. His left shoulder blade had an arrow awkwardly protruding out of it. He hastily grabbed the rope with his right and swung himself onto the ledge he used to climb onto the rope. He glared spitefully up at the crane and then at his downed crew members before retreating. Rianne followed his sight. Up in the storehouse, Miena and Crookedfang held onto a bow. Miena kept it steady while Crookedfang held onto the string. Rianne sighed with relief and looked around. "Oh, thank Martin! Get me up, please!"

Crookedfang saluted before he and Miena walked to the crane. They cranked the lift the rest of the way up, allowing Rianne to finally set foot on the ground once more. She walked into the storage building and sighed. All at once, the adrenaline faded and all Rianne was left with was exhaustion. Before she could thank the two for saving her, she was quickly hugged tightly by Crookedfang. "Riyan! Yer alive!"

"Yeah, hey Crookedfang," she replied awkwardly. "Thanks for getting me out of there. You too, Miena."

Miena grinned wryly. "Hey, don't sweat it. We can catch up later, we need to leave 'fore these lowlives recover and come after us," she said, lightly kicking the rat still curled up on the ground with a deep cut in its face.

Rianne eyed the rat somewhat guiltily even if she was pissed that they tried to kill her, Miena, and Crookedfang. She looked up at the other two prisoners and nodded. "Alright, let's just get out of here, first."

Fortunately, the guards didn't seem interested in chasing after them. Rianne still couldn't believe that she was alive. A strange feeling of mortality washed over her as she stared at Miena and Crookedang, the rat now cheerfully rambling while Miena occasionally replied with a quip or an unusually harsh jab at Crookedfang's expense. She looked at the trees, swaying gently with the afternoon breeze and sighed. Dear Martin, I just want to go home, but at least I'm alive. How much longer will I get to be like this? Will I get to go home? I don't know. I guess there is a chance, but a very small one. Maybe… no, I still can't bring myself to think optimistically, but there is a chance at least, so I guess we might as well fight for that.

Rianne looked at Crookedfang and said, "Hey, I know I already said this, but thank you two, seriously."

"Oy, don' mention it, now," Crookedfang replied. "O' course we'd save ya!"

Rianne nodded and looked Crookedfang up and down, taking special notice of the rat's limp which he didn't have when they were last together. She noticed it back at the storehouse and didn't want to bring it up, but now that they were relatively safe, she asked, "So, why do both of you look so beat up? Was this because of what happened at the temple?"

Miena laughed from the back of the group. "No, ask the little arsehole, I bet he'll rat us out. Y'know, cause he's a-"

"I tried ter kill 'er an' we fought," Crookedfang explained simply.

"Excuse me?" Rianne raised a brow.

Miena waved it aside. "Ignore that. All that matters is that Crookedfang and I are tryin' to find Gurnilal and maybe bring everyone together again."

"That went great last time," Rianne noted dryly.

"Well… I'll take my part o' the blame fer that, I wasn't the most cooperative, an' neither was Ulfrad. Speakin' of which, what happened to ye after the temple was attacked?"

Rianne rubbed the back of her neck. "So… I escaped with Gurnilal and we eventually found Art."

"Who?" Crookedfang tilted his head.

"He's a squirrel from my abbey. He's a bit taller than me, has brown fur, and an oversized habit. Actually, it doesn't really matter who he is," Rianne said bitterly. "Art and I left Gurnilal, he fought Borsen, failed, and we had to escape in the mines to survive. After that, he pulled a sickle on me, so I ran. I thought he was going to hurt me. I don't know how long I was walking, but I found myself at the bottom of that quarry, and now we're here."

"Ya left Gurn?" Crookedfang exclaimed.

"Art pulled a weapon on ye?" Miena said at the same time.

Rianne groaned. "Yes, Art threatened me with a sickle and Crookedfang, I'm sorry, I mean it. I didn't..." She trailed off as Crookedfang slowed to a stop, folding his arms and glaring at her. Rianne sighed. "Crookedfang, I'm sorry. I was being stupid. I thought that I could trust your group- screw it, vermin, back at the temple, but when I was alone with her, I got scared. I really… Ugh." If Crookedfang's scowl meant anything, it was that Rianne wasn't doing a good job apologising. "I realise I'm wrong now, but at the moment… Look, I've been scared of vermin my whole life, and I still am. Even when I look at you I get a little antsy. It's going to take me more than a day with you and your friends to get over it. I'm trying though, I'm trying not to be scared because I realise you're a nice beast. Look, when we all get back together, I'll do my best to work with you, I won't let a mistake like that happen again. I'm sorry."

Crookedfang stared at Rianne for a few seconds before shrugging. "Dat's a lotta words an' I don' really git it, but I'll fergive ya anyway."

"She's sayin' that she's sorry fer leavin' yer friend," Miena explained condescendingly.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Rianne said. "But now that I'm done explaining myself, it's time for you two. What in hellgates do you two mean 'I tried to kill her'?! Because I'm not letting that part go yet."

Miena chuckled tiredly. "Short version is that Ulfrad and I did something stupid, and we-"

"Ya killed Vhyn," Crookedfang growled.

"Aye, that. Crookedfang found out and we had a bit of a scuffle afterwards. Before ye ask, we more or less sorted it out."

Rianne glanced sceptically between the two. Well, that explains the animosity, but still. She and Ulfrad killed Vhynias? Even I had to admit I found him scary, and that I'm not exactly… sad over the fact he's gone, but still, why would you ever do that? The hogmaid looked at the ground. "Well, if that's the case, where's Ulfrad?" Did Crookedfang kill him? Why isn't he here?

"Good question," Miena smiled hollowly. "Why don't ye go find Borsen and ask him? 'Tis his fault," she said harshly.

Something about Miena's tone made Rianne uneasy. "You're not also going to go after him, are you?"

Miena shook her head. "Nah. Well, not now, at least."

Rianne narrowed her eyes. She didn't know Miena well, but if she was even as remotely angry as Art, that would be worrying. Come to think of it, did she and Crookedfang really 'sort things out'? Rianne couldn't imagine the two making up so easily after trying to kill each other, even if right now, they agreed to work together. Is this really something they're going to drop so soon? I wasn't there, so I don't know what happened, but I feel like it'd take time to move on from that, she mused. "Just don't do anything stupid you two, lest we repeat what happened at the temple."

Crookedfang smirked and crossed his arms. "We won'! Next time, we'll git a bigger temple wit' better hidin' spots!"

"No, that's not what I- nevermind."

Miena chuckled. "'Tis nice havin' ye around again, Rianne. Don't worry 'bout me or Crookedfang," Miena reassured her. "We ain't gonna cause unnecessary fightin' this time. Well, not physically, at least. Maybe this rat'll start barkin' at me 'bout how we split up fer tasks."

"Go eat a mushroom an' die," Crookedfang snapped.

Rianne groaned as the two continued to argue. She tried to take solace in the fact that they hadn't killed each other yet, but it made her a bit more sceptical that everyone could come together. However, with the biggest sources of conflict, Ulfrad and Vhynias, gone, maybe things would be different. Things had to be different. Rianne's paws shook as she thought back to being on that crane.

Please let this time go differently. We can't keep being dragged down like this. Even if we end up falling by the wildcat's paws, please at least let us do it as one group.

Rianne glared irately between the arguing pair and tapped Crookedfang on the shoulder. "Hey, stop."

Crookedfang opened his mouth to argue and glanced at Rianne. He slowly turned to Miena and shut his mouth altogether. Miena did as well. Eventually, Crookedfang began speaking again, but this time just to talk about random mushrooms because his threat to Miena reminded him of cooking.

Rianne smiled slightly and let her paws fall limply to her sides. Maybe things will be different. Until we get better medical supplies, this might be all I can do, but that's fine. It's a change, and even if we don't get out of here, it might be nice for all of us to be together.