A Vacation turns into a Nightmare: Day Two

Characters: Kentar, Garnet----- Aikuen, Robin, Kara

Location: Somewhere Underground, Shoreline

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Day two of the stoat's capture. They've been starved for the past two days so far, but ever since they were told their family and friends were murdered, Kentar's been coming up with a plan to escape. And he's been filling Garnet in on it. "The next time a guard comes in, I'm going to hide behind the door and as soon as its open, I'm going to attack and knock him out...then we'll take the weapons and get out of here...got it?" he left out some of the more finer details.

Garnet is beginning to lose it slightly. Though she has kept it together for the time being. Its kinda hard though, when she has a starving child in her arms. She was able to sneak in a little food, that was tucked into her tunic. They didn't find it, when she was searched. She gave it to Chris immediately. That has kept the little stoat quite for the time being. Until he gets hungry again. She looks over to Kentar slowly, and nods, "Right..." she says quietly. She doesn't like it. But doesn't see any other way.

Kentar takes a deep breath and then goes to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll get us out of here. I promise you." he whispers. "And you too Chris." he wiggles a finger at his son, then sighs. After a few moments, the sound of a guard coming down. "Get ready." The stoat dashes to one side of the door and the next thing that happens, is the emerging of the sound of the key in the door.

Garnet nods at Kentar, and goes over to the wall she was near to lean against. When the key is heard, she holds Chris tighter to her, she will not lose him. She takes a deep breath and mumbles something, to protect Kentar, and them. She feels sick.

The door opens. A rat steps in. THUD! Then he hits the floor after Kentar smacked him over the head with a rock from the small bag of rocks that belonged to Kluna. He bends over and grabs the key to the door before taking EVERY weapon on that rat. A long sword, and two daggers. That will come in handy. He peers outside the door once before motioning for Garnet to follow, after handing her one of the two daggers. "Stay close, and keep Chris quiet."

Garnet closed her eyes, as it all happened. She doesn't want to see it. After the thud she creaks an eye open. Then opens both at what she sees. She gets up slowly, and walks over to him. She takes another stuttered breath, as she takes the dagger. She shakes uncontrollably. She tucks it in her tunic, before rubbing Chris' back, to help him stay asleep. Then she moves behind him, and says softly, "Lets... lets go..." the sooner the better.

Kentar whispers quietly. "We'll get out of here." he says to her quietly, wanting her hope to be up. The stoats reach the end of the hall, and there's a door. He opens it slowly to find three different ways to go. Left, right and right ahead. He lets Garnet go out first, holding the door open for her, knowing there's no one there yet. "Which way..." he hrms.

Garnet is semi lifted. But she wont be fully, until they are out of here. So far so good. Then they get to the mulitroom. She blinks and says, "I...I.. I don't know..." she is a little hesitant to step out, but after she peers a little bit, she slowly walks in.

Kentar takes a deep breath and starts on down the left hall. "This way. The smell of death is thinner this way." he says, sniffing. The nose that knows. "So love. What's the first thing your going to do when we get out of here today? Or...tonight."

Garnet follows just behind and to the side of him. She looks down at the question, "I... I dont know..." So many things. Maybe try to find the bodies of there friends. So many things. But she mainly just wants to escape, "I want to go home..." she finally says.

Kentar nods slowly and takes her paw. "We'll go home then." he says quietly. "As soon as we're out. We'll go. We'll go far from here. And never ever come back." he sighs quietly. "I'm sorry I wanted to take this stupid trip."

Garnet lets him take her paw, she is still feeling sick. About everything. She smiles faintly before it disappears into sadness. She walks along with him, and sighs, "Its... Not... Not your fault..." its her fault. She let him change her mind. Plus... the other thing. The whole reason why they were caught. She starts to tear up at that thought. If it wasn't for her. Everyone would still be alive... Its all her fault. As tears began to fall down her face.

Kentar looks to the tears his wife lets fall. He slowly stops and sheathes his dagger, wrapping his arms around her, hugging tightly. "Its not yours either...it's mine. I'm the one who wanted to come out here...." he sighs quietly. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is we need to get out of here."

Garnet at first, pushes him away, "No! I killed them! I Killed them... there dead... because of me..." she then leans and buries her face into his chest, "I killed them..." and she cries into his fur, letting him hug her. It keeps her from breaking down completely. She nods slowly, still crying, "I want to leave... I want to forget... I want too..."

Kentar keeps himself from crying. "You did no such thing." he says firmly. He pushes her away just enough so that he can look her right into the eyes. "Listen. Nothing you could have done would change anything. You didn't know that by coming here...we'd....leave alone." he's losing the battle. He can't afford to get distracted right now. "Its not your fault...say it."

Garnet looks at him, and she breaths funny. She blinks at him and says, "Its... Not my fault... Its not my fault" though she knows it is. There is nothing to change that. She also cant be distracted. Have to escape, have to get out of here. Cry later. She licks her teeth, and nods firmly, "Lets... keep on..." she says very softly.

Kentar nods slowly but first gives her a good hug. But then there's a voice. "Oh really? Keep on going where, exactly, hrmm?" There's a big stoat in their way now. Bigger then Kentar. "Step out of our way." and to his surprise. The stoat does just that. IF, though, Garnet looks closely, she'll recognize that stoat. Maybe as her brother.

Garnet is doing better until she hears that voice. She knows that voice. Its all very familiar to her. And she moves away, to hide a bit behind Kentar. It is her brother. She nudges Kentar a little bit, "Come on..." she hopes she can trust him now.

"Your not going anywhere. Not without this anyways." that stoat holds out parchment. "I helped you once, I'll help you again." Why her other brother isn't there, is a mistery but why this one is helping is also one too. "Its a map." Kentar pauses and takes it before nodding. "Thanks." He then goes off with Garnet. "Who was that?"

Garnet smiles a little bit, as it seems her brother is going to help her this time. She says "Thank you..." and before she could say his name, she goes after Kentar. She walks alongside him, feeling a bit better than before. But still feels like crud, and wants to get out of here, "Ummm... Just someone... who helped me out before... When... i was escaping my father..." she says softly, as she looks down.

Kentar ohs a little and nods slightly as they go. "Good...It means we've got an ally here." he sighs then grins as he unrolls a map. "Okay. The doors of the prison are here..." he points. And we went this way...so..." he eyes the map. "Oh no." The stoat blinks and looks up.

Garnet looks over as he unrolls the map. Then she blinks at the last part, "What? What is it?!" she becomes alarmed and holds Chris closer to her. This is not good!

Kentar sighs. "Apparently there's two doors in that long hall where the cells are...and we went out the wrong one." He says. "Which means we need to go back."

Garnet was about the hear, that this way is a trap. There going to be killed by spikes. You know. All that nonsense. She blinks at him, as he says they just went the long way. She takes a deep breath and says, "Okay... so lets go back... hurry... before we realize we are gone.

"PRISONER ESCAPE! ESCAPE! THEY'VE ESCAPED! GUARDS, GUARDS!" Too late. Seems they've noticed. "Come on, this way can still get us out will just take longer." he grabs her wrist and starts to run, the stoat leading her down several different halls. They run into a rat though, which is quickly removed by a hurl of his dagger.

Garnet goes wide eyed, "Oh... Hurry!" and she runs along with him, so she is not just being dragged all over the place. They go pretty much everywhere. At least to her anyway, and when the rat is killed, a bit of blood spatters on her, and she Ecks! And feels sick again.

Kentar got covered a bit in the blood too but ignores it. He pauses to get his dagger before looking to the map again. "Uh..." he pauses then nods. "This way. Quick!" He doesn't realize he took a wrong turn.

Garnet bounces on her footpads, "Hurry! Please!" and they are off again. She couldn't read the map anyway. So she doesn't know that they took the wrong route, even if he asked her.

Kentar leads her down the hall but then to a dead end. "Oh no." he feels the wall. "We got to go back. We took the wrong hall..." but as he turns, there's a group of beasts. Armed with bows. Not the best weapon to use in a hall way, but they're not that bright. He gets in front of Garnet...and says nothing.

Garnet is could just break down again at the dead end. No. They were so close. She could feel freedom. And now, its slipping though her paws. She turns to see the bow beasts, and she turns away putting her back to them. Kentar is protecting her, and she is protecting Chris. She closes her eyes, and cringes. Expecting to be mowed down. This is not helping her.

Kentar draws his sword as the first arrow is fired. His blade deflects it away but it was pure luck. Nothing but luck. Its the second and third arrows that hit their target, even though he tried to do the same again. One hits him in the shoulder while the other hits him in the arm, making him yelp. No, he doesn't go down after all his family is in danger. "When I tell you to run, run." he says. And that's when he switches paws with his sword, starting to charge the bow beasts while they're rearming their arrows. "NOW!"

Garnet blinks and has a hard time breathing has she see what he is doing. This cant be. But she does do what she is told. And when he says 'now', she puts all of her remaining energy in her legs, making them go. Running as fast as she can, While Kentar distracts them. It cant end like this.

It doesn't. Yet anyways. Those beasts are too busy dealing with Kentar to realize Garnet's gone. A few thuds are heard...few whistles of arrows going through the air. Then nothing.

Garnet just keeps on running, until its quiet again. She slows her pace, and glances behind her. Nothing. She begins to sob softly and rest against the wall, for a bit. She as lost all her energy. She believes that he is dead... The loss of Kentar. Is taken its toll on her.

Minutes pass. And nothing. But then. "Oh come on, you're staining your clothes with your tears...can't have that." Says a voice. Then a set of arms wrapped in bandages wraps around her into a hug. "Mainly because I'm not dead. Not yet anyways."

Garnet was about to fall to the ground, only thing keeping her up was her tail, as a prop. Then the voice comes in. She doesn't recognize it at all. Cant even hear the words. And she just lets whoever, come. She cant move anymore. Then she blinks as she is hugged. She looks up slowly, and is caught off guard. It takes her brain awhile to whirl back into existence, "Ke...Kent...Kentar?"

Kentar shakes his head. "No, there's only one of us here. Kentar. I don't know Ke or Kent." he chuckles. When Garnet looks up, she can see him. He's been in better shape. Bandaged up with just parts of random tunics. Blood stained fur. Few open cuts on his face. But he seems fine. "Lets get out of here." he doesn't mention his broken snout or the fact he hasn't had time to pop it back in place. Even though it should be painfully obvious.

Garnet she blinks at him, still not believing it. Her brains seems to have stopped processing information. She just stands there looking at him. And then nods slowly at the last thing.

Kentar gives her cheek a quick kiss. "Come on. Lets get out of here. Quick." The stoat nods. "I know the way out." he goes to grab her paw to lead her down the corridor.

Garnet blinks at the Kiss. Well, she continues to blink anyway. Then she is lead by her paw by Kentar. And she just blinks away. Still not saying anything. Just keeping a firm grip on Chris, and being lead by him.

Kentar sighs a little and keeps leading. "What's wrong love? Its me...it really is me." he says. "Go ahead and punch me if you don't believe me. Or listen to the crunch." He sets his snout back with a loud crunch and a yelp. "Ow..."

Garnet is still not getting it. She knows its her husband. She knows that. But something is not right. IT just happens when you believe something died. That probably wont change until later. When it finally dawns on her. She just looks at him, and does flinch at the crunch. And she cringes and looks away. That didn't help. Just hurting the problem.

Kentar blinks. "Yeah, that didn't help. Anyways, come on, lets get out of here." The stoat runs up. Then to a dead end. Or what looks to be a dead end anyways.

Garnet blinks at him, and chuckles. She is still Garnet. Just give her time. She is lead to the dead end, and she looks at him. Like, what the heck? Its a dead end. Wrong way! She glances behind her, to see another route. She only thinks its a dead end. Thats it.

Kentar grins as he eyes the dead end. "Garnet. Do me a favor please." he says simply. "Look up." The stoat points upward with a bad paw. "See that?" He grins nice and wide. "That, is our way out." "Hey!? Do you hear that?! I think Aik and Robin are back!" Then a head pokes into view. "Aik! Robin, that you!?"

Garnet tilts his head at him, and then looks up. She smiles a little bit. And then can hear voices. A jump start, perhaps? She blinks heavily, "Kentar... We... we're... FREE!" she nearly jump up and down. THERE NOT DEAD! They have come to rescue us! She goes over and hugs Kentar, "We're free Kentar! Come on!" he brain is working again.

"Aik? Robin?!" Kentar blinks. "JAsper, is that you!?" "Kentar? Haha! By seasons, your alive! Hahahaha! Get some rope! Quick! The stoats are alive! Haha!" "They're not dead! Not dead, hahaha!!!" Kentar dances around before hugging his wife nice and tight. "Chris goes up first." he says when the rope is finally lowered.

Garnet nods quickly and has a hard time trying to figure out how to attach Chris to the rope. She just goes for tying it around his waist. Tightly, but not to tight to hurt him. If she was still in the right mind, she would have just gone up first, with Chris in her arms. But she didn't think of it. She is just to glad to be able to get away!

The babe gets a kiss from his father before the rope is pulled up. Chris was safe now, in the hands of the best soldier in the eastern lands. But before the rope could come down again, there were voices. And beasts. Lots of beasts. All armed and all ready to attack the two stoats. "Jasper, get down here, we need you!" Kentar calls out drawing his sword.

Garnet smiles, as Chris is safely away. Then she looks toward the noise. No. Not now. Not again. She look at Kentar, and then she looks at the noise. She is no good in a fight. She would just be a hindrance in this sort of situation. Before Jasper jumps down to help him, she yells, "Wait... Pull me up first!" and she grabs onto the rope. She gives a kiss to Kentar and says, "Come back alive... Please..." and she climbs while being pulled. And she is safely away. Though she is crying for leaving him like this.

As soon as Garnet is up, Jasper, and several other soldiers jump down to Kentar's aid in the middle of the battle. He's doing well on his own even with his injuries but he's quickly taken down and knocked out. Jasper takes down a few of the vermin horde before getting taken down himself, knocked out and dragged off, just like Kentar. The remains of the evil group are disposed of quickly by the soldiers that were left behind. But they're too wounded and tired to give chase. One by one, they climb their way out, before setting down to regroup. "Don't worry Marm." says a mouse to Garnet. "Kentar's in good paws with Sir Jasper there. They'll protect each other. Nothing will happen, you'll see..."

Garnet shakes her head, "He is gone again. I left him... Again. I shouldn't have. I should have stayed and help. Should have done...something..." she sighs and wipes her eyes, with the back of her paw. The sniffs, and she goes back to her air of silence. No point in talking. Its all her fault.

Before anyone decides to leave her, that mouse returns Chris to her arms. "If it makes ye feel better, marm, Kentar would want it this way. Ye and ye son safe..." he sighs then turns to go help the others.

Garnet takes Chris and starts to rock him slowly. He has awoken, and starts to reach for his mum, "Da-das..." he says, and giggles. Garnet blinks and shakes her head, as she begins to cry. Curling up her legs, to make a tight a ball as she can. After a bit, she is helped up, and taken back to wherever the rest are. She needs to rest. And they know it.

Somewhere else

The three stoats, Kentar, Garnet, and Christopher have been missing now for about a day and a half and the search party has been forced to stop and rest. Mainly by Robin. The young stoat's injuries forcing him to take a break every so often. Some of Jasper's troops are scouting while others are taking a break too. Robin really hasn't said much since his parent's were taken, and what he has said, has been things in the way of /its all my fault/. He sits next to the fire, eyeing it as if it was about to kill him.

Aikuen has been with the search parties, searching with every ounce of strength that he can. He has to find them. How could the tracks just disappear like that. Not a trace of anything. The otter just cant understand it. And its frustrates him to no end. He and a group of other scouts return back to camp, flora of the forest growing on them apparently. He walks up to the fire and tosses his new javelin into the ground, with anger. He is still wearing his fighters outfit. Headband, knuckle wraps, the black make up to make him look tribal. Of of course, the streak of Kentar's blood right under his left chest. Though its beginning to smear. He eyes Robin, "How many times have i told you... Snap out of it..." he would slap the stoat again. But it just delays the stoat, before he goes back to his 'All his fault' thing. The otter sighs and plops down, rubbing his temples, "Still no trace of them..."

A short distance from the camp, carefully placed between a narrow dip between two dunes, a ferret watches the camp closely. Unknown to them she's been following for a while, avoiding the scouts was easy, and they're not likely to find her now, lying in the sand with he legs dug in and her upper self under a sand covered piece of scrap sail cloth found on the beach. From under her cover, Kara's movements are are restricted to slow breaths and rolling a small stone around in her mouth.

Robin huhs as the otter comes back. "Sorry. I'm just. I just feel so guilty. I didn't mean for them to get captured." he says. "I know I couldn't have done anything...I just miss them so much." he scratches his head and then sighs again when the otter says there's still no sign. "So Aikuen. What are we going to do now?" he asks. "We can't really keep looking this way. There's no more tracks. No more blood. Nothing."

Aikuen shakes his head, "And how many times do i have to tell you... Cloudy mind gets you killed. Focus on our objective..." The otter pulls his own knuckles in and out of their socket. Something he doesn't normally do in front of beasts, but he doesn't care. He is frustrated. He grunts at the next part, "What we keep on doing is..." he sighs, "We cant give up if that's what you mean... there has to be something anything..." he grunts, "But there is nothing!" he growls. He takes a deep breath, "What do you suggest..." he is open to ideas.

Robin hangs his head and doesn't seem to have caught what the otter did with his knuckles. "I don't know what we do. How can we keep searching when we could have already missed them? How can we look when we don't know where to go?" he asks, sighing and looking to the sky. "The blood trail just stopped. Didn't fade. Just stopped." he says. "How is that possible?" The injured stoat has no idea that they're being followed.

Aikuen sighs, "I have no idea mate..." he doesn't answer, as he has plenty of reasons why, and they're all bad news. The otter decides to throw the young stoat a bone. Maybe get him to feel better in the process, "Come on mate..." Aik gets up and picks up his javelin. As always, before leaving camp, the otter checks his weapons, and licks his blades, "Lets go do some ranging... get your mind off things... the scouts are still out there... we will find them..." he adds.

Robin huhs and looks up at the otter, tilting his head, the stoat standing and fixing his bad arm into the sling a little more. "Do ranging?" he asks, tilting his head before following slowly. "I hope we do. I really don't want...to...not."

Kara, from her spot can't hear a word they're saying, although she could give them an answer. She debates going down there in her head, on the one part what's the point of laying here in the sand, the camped beasts are clearly on the hunt for something, but then again a random ferret strolling into the place might not be welcome.

Aikuen smiles a bit, just for the sake of the stoat, "Of course we will find them." and sighs at the last part. He picks up the pace a bit and starts to jog away from the camp, "Ranging..." he explains, "Is like scouting... but from greater distances... away from the camp. Get the lay of the land... and such... Keep up..."

Robin ohs a little and nods a bit, starting to jog next to Aik, keeping close. "But. I do have a question..." he sighs a bit. "What will happen if we don't find them?" he asks. He really can't help but wonder.

That seems to be Kara's cue to move. Wiggling her legs out of the sands she back out from under the canvas scrap and raises herself to a crouch. Folding the cloth neatly she scoots along behind the dunes, keeping the two in sight whilst on the lookout for other beasts, there's a rather large dune up ahead, if anywhere that's where she'll come down in front of them.

Aikuen sighs, as he really doesn't want to answer that, "We will find them... But..." he shakes his head, "If after two weeks... we cant... I'm calling off the search... and... pronouncing them... Its standard protocol..." he takes a deep breath, "Dead..." its true, "Those who wish to continue searching... may... but you can no longer force them..." He is keeping his eyes and ears up and about, and did catch the whiff of something. But assumes its the ocean playing tricks on his.

Robin nods very slowly and blinks away tears at the thought of them being dead. "Alright." he whispers quietly still following, head down now, not watching where he's going. What a great way to turn of age. Looking for his family.

Kara has successfully pulled ahead of the two. Keeping low she scuttles up the side of the dune and waits, waits until they're just below her before standing up fully and ascending the last few feet of the dune. "In a big hurry I can see, I would slow down before you break your ankle in the sand," she talks just loud enough for them to hear, her posture a little slumped and that same club, now finished, held loosely in one paw.

Aikuen has keeping the pace slow for the stoat. First range, so he is not going to go in a full blown sprint. Keep his energy up to keep him well for the next couple of days, and so he can heal on time. Cant stress the stoat too much. As soon as the ferret stands up. He stops immediately and holds the javelin, and aims to kill. When he sees its just the ferret. He curses to himself, but chuckles a bit, as she doesn't know 'Aik'. He lowers the javelin, point first in the sand "Yes... ferret... were in a big hurry... so if you mind... We will worry about our ankles ourselves, thank you..." he says in his normal voice.

Robin looks more and more like Kentar everyday and now, it might be a little harder to tell the two apart, aside from obvious scars, attire, and the fact Robin has two eyes and Kentar only has the one. The stoat looks up and stops, tilting his head to the ferret but says nothing. Aik can handle this.

Kara shakes her head, laughing. "You speak too soon, you're obviously looking for something or someone very important, I've been watching your lot for a while. Now I don't know where what your looking for went, but I can tell you where your trail disappeared to." She leaves off there, watching the pair intensely.

Aikuen tilts his head at her, and blinks. Not really expecting that. His brain refocuses and he asks, less forcefully then what he said a minute ago, "What?... You do? That's... " he smiles a bit, "Great!... Please tell us! Please..." a glimmer of hope.

Its Robin who gets more then just a glimmer, in fact he almost breaks into tears of joy, just waiting for her to tell them. In fact, that would really make his day. It really would.

Kara squints down at the two, "I didn't say I knew where they went, just where the trail got off to." Deciding that it's fairly safe, she slides down the length of the dune, coming to a stop a few feet from them. "Your quarry obviously took to the shallows, where the tide would wash away their prints. Now, this leaves two answers to the went problem. Either they hoped on a boat and are gone, or they meant to loose you for a little while, in which case you'll find more tracks where they got out." She mimics all of that with little paw gestures, a flattened paw swaying back and forth out to sea for the first option, and two claws pretending to be legs running away for the second.

Aikuen blinks and frowns a little bit. He knew that. He has looked for that. And no... they haven't found anything. He sighs and says, "Thank you for that... But... we have already looked for that... The tracks and blood stop right smack dab in the middle middle of the beach. It didn't lead to the shallows... But thank you, all the same..." he sighs and seems let down, looking to Robin.

Robin's would be tears of sheer joy actually turn into tears of full disappointment. He actually starts to sob right there, so much so he has to sit down. He curls himself into a ball for a few minutes before finally laying face down in the sand. What a huge let down. Honestly, he thought he might have a chance. But that was only for a few moments.

Kara looks down at the sobbing stoat with a mixed look of amazement and disgust, "Seriously? You are the worst pair of...whatever you are's I've seen. Whoever you're after can't move as fast in the shallows as you can on the beach, and they'll be even slower if they have captives. You should be moving before they too far ahead, honestly you two and that lot back there are terrible."

Aikuen has had really enough of Kara, he pops his neck, and clenches his fits, popping every bone in his paw. He takes a deep breath, "Listen... ferret... They are NOT!" a lot of emphasis on the not, "... in the shallows... we have been up and down the this beach... in sprint formation for the past few days..." he takes another breath to control himself, "I have not slept a wink... i have been on scout duty. I have looked, probed... and searched the entire area... from the villages on... Nothing..." one more breath, "Then you come in here... with that mish mash... Stuff i already knew. Stuff i have already checked... Those were the first things that crossed my mind... Were terrible?... Idiot ferret..." he grows out. He lives the stoat to wallow for a moment. Must focus all energy in not hitting her.

Kara fingers then end of her club, her head tilted down a little and eyes looks focused on his expression, "I'd choose your next action carefully, sir." She twists her neck from side to side, not in the brutal 'lets go punch a rock and bang our barbarian head against a tree' sort of way, but an elegant stretch. "They may just be your, and that miniature version of your stoat friend's last. You treat me like I have no idea what I'm doing, an odd thing to say seeing as I've followed you since your departure without being seen by any of you 'not terrible' folks. You've been up and down this beach in a mad dash...made your merry way inland and made more noise than a drunk badger...and then came back out here and charged around some more. You're obviously confused, they eyes you have now aren't seeing much, so why are you berating a more attuned pair that's standing...right...in...front...of...you?"

Aikuen sighs and tries to reason, while she is still talking, "Listen Kara... You don't want to fight me... You may do some damage, but i will kill you in the end, if that happens. I'm a professional solder... Champion paw fighter. And Blade master... I was killing beasts and hunting my enemies... before you were even born. I have trained all my life... not to take crud from beasts like you. Normally i would have killed you by now. But... we need you... your an excellent scout and tracker. We could use your help... And i know our standards are not... up to snuff to what you think. But it gets results, rather then being sneaky thought the undergrowth..." he shakes his head and tosses his javelin in front of him. He goes over to Robin, and taps him, "Come on matey... Lets head back..." he looks back to Kara, "I'm Captain Aikuen... Commandeer of this little rescue mission... we have food, shelter, and a warm place to rest. Come with us, and help. if not..." he gives a small salute.

Robin stands very, very slowly sniffling and drying his eyes before turning and slowly making his way back to camp. He can't believe the days he's having.

Kara waits, waits until both their backs are turned before the eye roll comes. Inside her head she's shifting through the pile of what she considers garbage that he just handed her. Champion paw fighter? Blade master? Killing before she was born? Dult! At length she does follow them, but at a distance.

Aikuen walks beside Robin, and taps him on the shoulder, "Come on mate... lets pick up the pace so we can get back before the food is all gone..." he picks up the pace again, and runs back to camp. If Kara is following him. He doesn't know. And really could care less. The otter arrives at the camp and orders a few beast around to gather around him. He needs to do get the next scouting part ready before he eats.

Robin doesn't move any faster. He's tired, and very sore. Too much so to move any quicker when he doesn't have to. Eventually though he does sit down with a hard thud at the camp on a dune of sand but when he does, there's a loud hollow sound, one that he, and many others miss.

Kara lopes into the camp from the dune side, brushing sand from her bag, which she probably buried at some point. Passing by the stoat without a second though she pauses, looking over her shoulder with a furrowed brow. "Do that again," she not so clearly intends for the stoat to get up and sit down.

Aikuen has finished ordering the scouts, when he hears the thud. He blinks and holds a paw in the air at the troops, "Stay here..." he walks over to Robin and Kara and looks to where the stoat is sitting and he blinks, "Is it really that simple?" he nods at Kara, "Aye... give a good whack..." he waits.

Robin huhs and tilts his head. He stands. Then lands again with a thud, the same sound...sounding. But again, Robin doesn't hear it. "What?" he asks.

Kara hehs, "I dare say I think I know where the trail went, either that or your friends rear is hollow." She lets the otter do the honors of getting the stoat to move.

Aikuen blinks. Well that was the last place he would ever have thought. He chuckles too and looks to Kara, "With Kentar's family... i would not be surprised..." he looks over to the troops in formation and whistles. They break rank and begin going back to their fires. Getting ready. Aik smiles and looks to Robin, "Move it or lose it... I think we found the trail again..." he looks to Kara, "Are you into digging?" he grins and starts feeling around for an edge.

Kara raises an eyebrow, "You can't seriously intend to funnel that lot through a tunnel, if there's someone on the other side they'll kill you, one by one." She's not about to offer a solution to the problem at the moment, and as to digging she's already there.

Robin huhs then knocks on the sand, hearing...hollow. Well, that really made him jump the stoat turning around to start clearing sand away. Aik should find no edge. At all. But Robin's sand clearing shows off a wooden door with the letters 'H-D' on it and only more sand is cleared away with Kara's help. "Wow. Its...real." he falls back onto his rear, inching away slowly.

Aikuen eyes her for a moment but cant help but laugh, "Your just a ray of sunshine! Aren't yah! Were going in there not matter what you say... You don't have to come..." he blinks and stands up when the sand is pushed way revealing the door. Aik walks off it, "Whats real?" he asks Robin. Just looks like a door, with writing on it.

Kara glances sideways at the otter, "Oh be my guest to get slaughtered in there. This tunnel is probably strait, just a way to loose you and get away clean. If I'm right then it will open up somewhere with a lot of cover, and maybe a few beasts to stay behind and kill anything coming out, that is why I'm staying up here." The initials make no impact on her, she doesn't even bother commenting on them.

Robin gulps. "I've heard stories from my family a while ago...of doors buried in the sand to a horrible place that was lost a long, long time ago, before I was born. A place full of traps, and horrible...things. A place that if somebeast were to be taken down there...would never be seen again...alive..." he gulps. "If...that's where...mum and dad...are...I don't know if we should go in there. If we can even get past the door. Its probably locked."

"Okay," Kara is obviously not taking the stoat seriously, "that's a nice midnight tale, but seriously, when has a lock stopped anyone that /really/ wanted to get in? This is a wood door, someone break it open."

Aikuen looks to Kara, "Come on. Live a little. Cant always live in fear. For then, what's the point in living!" he points at the door, "This is our only lead. And if it is, as you say, Ill tell them you said hi. As i slaughter them... " he seems very confident. Not the first time he has done this. He looks to Robin though and moves his head back, "Listen Robin... If your parents are down there... in that hell... we are going to find them. Rescue them. And kill all who did anything to them... you have my promise..." he then nods a little at the next part. He walks on the door and looks to Kara, "Patience... Never broke a lock before?" he chuckles, and pulls out a dagger and slides it up and down the space between the doors. Looking for a bolt.

There's not even a lock. The door is not locked. Robin stands up a little and takes a deep breath, nodding slowly. "Alright..." All of a sudden, Aik's dagger hits something that triggers both side of the door to collapse inward, showing a long, tunnel going down on a sharp angle. Maybe an old mine shaft or something.

Kara sneers a little, "I fear only the things I can control, otter. There's no point in worrying about things I can't." She vividly curses when the tunnel is open, obviously not happy about the incline.

Aikuen slides the dagger up and down, when suddenly he goes wide wide, "Oh sh-..." and he falls with the doors into the angle and rolls down a way. He blinks and stands back up to dust himself off, picking splinters and other riffraff that decided to latch onto his fur. He is not hurt, a few scraps and a bruise here and there. He curses to himself and says back in the darkness, "Boy... Its dark in here! Get a torch, numb skulls..." yah he is fine. The otter looks around in the blackness, holding his dagger back pawed. He will kill anything that moves toward him.

Robin can't help but to yelp as the otter falls, running forward. "Are you..." he pauses as what he hears. "Yep. He's fine." he chuckles a little before lighting a torch and taking a deep breath. "I'll go first...er...Kara? You can go third if you want. The rest of you follow. One of you though, go back and get rope. I don't know if this is the only way out so you'll have to be ready for when we get back." he nods once before slowly going down, torch in paw. When he gets down there, there's. Bodies everywhere. Fresh ones. All seemingly to have just fallen where they stood.

Kara had already followed them down, but not out of concern for the otter. "Oh, that's beautiful, what a nice little hole in the ground." She's obviously talking about the bodies.

Aikuen waits for the torch. And the light does hit him, he had his dagger aimed at the tunnel wall. He chuckles a little bit before something catches his eye... and he has to look down. The otter, goes wide eyed once more and steps off the shirt of some dead beast. He blinks away the images. Focus. He aims his dagger down the tunnel. He eyes it for a minute and nods. He sheaths his dagger, and pulls out his short sword. He whispers to Robin, "You fellin' all right?" keeping his eyes on the tunnel. But then he sighs and has to look back at Kara, and whispers "Please... i already made enough noise... lets try not to bring more attention to ourselves..." he shakes his head, and places a claw to his lips. Quite please.

Robin almost faints but then sees a light from above. Maybe he should go towards it? No, wait. Its the door they came from. "Alright..." he draws his sword. "Watch out for any traps. The stories of this place...are horrible." he sighs, starting to walk along slowly, avoiding the dead guys. They go for a few moments and then are quickly clear of the bodies.

Kara is very much unconcerned with the bodies, even stepping on a few. Unlike the other two she doesn't have a short sword, and here a longsword would be too long, so she draws dirk and club, the stoat and otter just better hope she can throw over their heads without cracking their skulls.

Aikuen is glad to be rid of the bodies. Probably some sort of scare tactic. The otter walks with Robin, and whispers from the side of his mouth, as he looks at what's ahead and on the floor for traps, "Robin... Careful where you swing that blade of yours... might get real tight soon..." he eyes what's ahead, and he flips his sword to make it back pawed. In favor of paw to blade fighting.

The stoat nods a little bit but says nothing. The deeper into what looks to be a maze of stone and grime the more powerful the smell of death gets. After a few moments more, they come to a cross roads. They've got three choices. Left, right, or forward. "Which way?"

"Whatever way smells worst." It's a simple answer that is whispered by Kara, and not one that seems to even care.

Aikuen rubs his nose. The smell of death does not bode well with his nostrils. He gets to the crossroad and looks each way. All dark. He then listens to Kara and nods slightly. Makes since. The otter walk a little bit into the left one. Sniff. A little bit to the right one. Snuff. And a bit into the straight one. Hack. He coughs a little and walks back to Robin, "I vote going straight..."

The stoat nods a little but then looks left, then right. After a moment of looking, there's a light at the end of the right tunnel and its getting bigger. A loud 'THERES NO WAY OUT, NO WAY OUT, AHHHH!' is heard and then all of a sudden a large rat runs by with a torch, not even stopping, just running left and then vanishing. "Pleasant. That really can't be good."

The rat runs right in front of Kara, who looks mildly suprised. "Hmm, well I'd say that we better leave ourselves someway of marking the way we came in. And yes, the smell is strongest going straight."

Aikuen watches as the rat runs by. That was surprising. He blinks and nods slightly, as it pops in his mind. "I get it..." he looks to the others, "Its a maze...." he nods at Kara's idea, "Agreed. Lets mark the straight path, and head down it first... Keep each other in paw distance... watch the corners... Don't know... what could be lurking..." he looks down each path once more, seeing if any more random rats will appear.

The stoat nods then slowly goes along the forward path, taking a deep breath, scared of what might happen if they get lost. After a few moments, if anyone was behind them, they would see the group vanish into darkness. The four soldiers, ferret, otter, and the stoat press on into the unknown.