Prone To Wander (rough draft)

Chapter Fourteen

Ruben went ahead of the girls, and hopped up onto Quinn's paw with the pups. It was quickly lowered, “Wait a minute,” Quinn said, “I can't hold everyone in one paw. Go on all of you, get off.”

The three squirrels did get down. Ruben picked up Gabriel to help him, and saw that his fore paws were still bound. “Well, that won't do,” he said, and sat with his nephew to try and work the knot loose.

“So Quinn, I see you've met Gabriel, and it seems you met Jacob too,” said Ruben, then he gestured for the girls to come closer, “This is Jacob's mate, Kalah, and their daughter, Yakira.”

“It's nice to meet both of you,” Quinn said.

“Thank you,” Kalah replied, a bit shakily, “For helping us escape.”

“Yes well, I don't know that I really did much,” Quinn replied, and tapped Ruben's head with a claw.

Ruben had just managed to undo the knot and let Gabriel run back to the others. He looked up at the raccoon, “Did you need something?” he asked.

“What was the dog's name?” Quinn asked in a dry tone.

Ruben's ears pinned back, “Her name is Niki,” he answered.

“Well, at this moment,” Quinn replied, “I am indescribably grateful for you're insane tendency to make friends with vicious creatures.”

“Oh, is that your new hobby?” Jacob asked his brother, “Because it would explain the raccoons.” He was smiling, but seemed to rethink his words, and looked up at Quinn, “I'm sorry, I don't mean any offense.”

“None taken,” Quinn replied, “Brothers always tease each other, don't they?” He then turned back to Ruben, “Now, I want to hear about how you convinced that monster to help us.”

“I didn't need to,” Ruben said, “Niki was as much a captive as anyone else. She was just getting her own revenge on the villains.”

“I want to hear the story anyway!” Malaki chimed in, “I couldn't see a dog from the tree, how big was it?”

At this request, everyone agreed that they all wanted to hear each others stories. The tree had been a safer place in the midst of danger, but since all threats seemed to have fled, the entire group decided to set up camp on the ground. They thought of setting up in the clearing. But when Jacob and Ruben went to investigate, they decided against it. They couldn't see a single ermine, not even a dead one, but there was blood. More than that, there were lots of little half-built houses they'd been making for themselves, and weapons tossed about, and it made the whole place feel eerie. Jacob did manage to spot, and retrieve, a very strong looking axe, and slung it in his empty holster. He said it was a nice replacement for the one they had stolen from him. Ruben also retrieved a weapon, his makeshift bow, but all he really wanted from it was the string.

In the end, the group set up camp not far from the base of the tree. That way, if they needed to run for any reason, they could get off the ground quickly. They collected dry wood from the clearing (as plenty had been set aside for the building of the the weasels houses), and used it to start a small but cheery camp fire. There was talk of hunting, but no one really had the energy. Thankfully, they found a blackberry bush near by, and brought as many to their little campsite as possible. When everything was in place, they all settled in and the stories began.

Since everyone knew how the squirrels had been captured, their stories started where ours did. They started with Ruben alone in another forest, until he was caught by a raccoon... who spared his life.

“Why did you let me go?” Ruben asked, after telling of his secret departure from the tree house, “You never really gave a reason.”

Quinn's ears pinned, his gaze shifted, and he scratched his neck. Ruben was still staring at him.

“There I was, wishing for all the world that I could've had just a chance to save my family... how could I take that chance away from someone else?”

Ruben's shoulders sunk, “I'm sorry,” he said, “I didn't mean to dig at old wounds.”

Quinn wrapped a paw around him, “That's alright. I'm just glad I got to be apart of someone's family being rescued.”

Malaki, who had been sitting with the kits, suddenly dashed up onto Quinn's shoulder and buried himself in the thick gray fur. “What do you mean by “someone's family” uncle Quinn? We're all the same family now, aren't we?”

“That's a good point,” Ruben said, smiling.

“Alright then,” Quinn conceded, “I'm glad I got to help rescue my new family.”

The raccoon suddenly felt a tapping on his paw, and saw to his surprise that Gabriel had ventured over. The pups ears were flat, and he seemed to shrink into the ground when Quinn looked at him, but he still managed to ask quietly, “Uncle Quinn, can I sit with Malaki?”

“Well, of course you can, come on up,” was the reply.

The boys invited their sister to come sit on the raccoons shoulders as well, but Yakira was more hesitant. She said a very polite, “No thank you” and stayed close to her mother and father instead.

The stories continued. In fact it seemed as if they would never end, and no one wanted them to. It was just past sunset when Malaki finally got to hear how Ruben had helped the dog escape it's chain.

“Is she really that much bigger than uncle Quinn?” he asked.

“Yes,” Ruben answered, “She almost stepped on me trying jump out of that pit... and would've killed me if she had.”

“Then she is a monster?” Malaki ventured.

“No, Niki isn't a monster,” Ruben said thoughtfully, “She was just very angry, and rightfully so. And despite that, she was still willing to leave the other captives unharmed. I think, really, she only wanted justice to be served to those villains.”

“I must say, she seemed perfectly content to be the one serving it to them,” Jacob added. “I've never seen anything that terrifying in my life.”

“So, Niki's not a monster. Does that mean she's your friend?” Malaki asked, trying again to understand.

“Apparently,” Quinn interjected, “She was about to kill me, and only stopped because she saw you,” and he pointed at Ruben.

“But wait, how did she get chained down in a pit?” Kelly asked, “That's what I keep wondering.”

“I don't know,” Ruben confessed, “She wouldn't tell me.”

“Well, what I keep wondering is if I can learn to make a bow and arrows,” Cavan pushed in. “Would you show me how, uncle Ruben?”

“I'd be glad to. I already offered to show Quinn, we'll make a class out of it,” Ruben said cheerfully.

Kalah gave a nervous smile, “You're going to teach the raccoons how to make better weapons?”

“No you've misunderstood,” Ruben answered, “I'm going to teach my new brother and nephew how to make better weapons... and how to use them of course.”

“Oh, of course,” Kalah replied, almost under her breath.

“You know, I'm wondering something myself, since we're on random topics,” Quinn said, looking at Kalah. “Why don't you have those white patches, like the others? You don't look like them.”

“Is that an insult or a compliment? I can't tell,” She replied smiling, her smile vanished the next moment however, as she remembered what creature she was talking to.

But Quinn smiled back at her, pleased to see that she was starting to relax, and said, “Consider it a compliment.”

“The markings come from our side of the family,” Jacob answered for his mate, “They say some ancestors of ours were kept as pets by humans, and they lost half their color. The patches get smaller every generation. One day, the squirrels in our family will most likely all look normal again.”

It was during this short speech (which was very familiar to him), that Malaki went to get some more wood for the fire. There was a pile between the camp and the tree, so he had no need to go far. He grabbed a piece, and was thinking it was a good size to make into a staff, when he could've sworn he saw the tree moving. The young squirrel looked, dropped the stick, and stared with wide eyes and bristled fur. There before him was the enormous dog, she was settling in with a shoulder against the tree, and didn't even seem to realize he was there. He glanced back at the others, who were all talking and joking, unaware of the beast beyond the firelight. Malaki wondered if it was safe to move... if the deal with his uncle was over, the dog might eat him. Not that he was big enough to even make a mouthful.