Prone To Wander (rough draft)

Chapter Twenty Two

When Arkadi turned away, Jacob walked over to Quinn and pulled his axe from it's holster, saying, “If that's what I think it is, I'd love to be the one to end it for you.” And he pressed the axe blade against the ermine's throat.

“If you're going to kill me, please just get it over with.”

“Don't look at me,” Quinn said, “I wanted to kill you ages ago.”

“Vincent!” Ruben cried. He rushed over, and placed a paw on his brother's axe handle. “Put it down Jacob, don't take your anger out on him.”

“You would seriously defend this beast? After what he's done?”

“Yes. None of us would have made it here without his help.”

The axe was suddenly pulled down, and Jacob turned to see Malaki clinging to it. “You remember the story about the coyote, don't you? Vincent is the one who risked his life so we could get away.”

Jacob returned the weapon to his hip, but looked up at Quinn, “Well brother, if the weasel belongs to you, I guess it's yours to deal with. Will you let it go, or should we make room over the fire?”

“I don't think I'll do either of those things at the moment,” he replied, and called the kits over. Gabriel and Yakira came with them, but stopped in their tracks when they saw what Quinn was holding.

“You two remember our little captive, don't you?” Quinn asked as Cavan and Kelly ran up.

“Yes, I remember,” said Cavan, “How did you get away from the coyote?”

“Let's save the questions for now. I need you to keep an eye on him for me, apparently he “belongs” to me now, and I'm not sure what to do. So, the two of you can have him for awhile, just don't let him get away... though if Arkadi eats him, it'll save me some trouble.”

Vincent was handed over to Cavan, who took the creature with both paws. He and Kelly could see that the captive made Gabriel and Yakira nervous, so they took him a little ways off and tried to persuade the ermine to tell of his escape. Malaki wanted to go along, mostly to reassure his would-be rescuer, but the others insisted he tell them what had happened first.

When Malaki had finished recounting the events, everyone was at a loss.

“He actually managed to get you away from Arkadi?” Ruben asked.

“Yes, and he almost got himself killed... by the way, did you know the dogs eat foxes?”

“Who told you that?”

“No one. I saw Arkadi come back from hunting, and he'd caught a big fox for them to eat.”

“That's interesting, but beside the point,” Kalah chimed in. “Now, if this “Vincent” is some kind of friend, then what do we do with him? I hate to think of him being eaten by the dogs, or Quinn for that matter, especially after risking his life to save my son.”

“But Malaki wasn't in danger,” Jacob argued.

“Maybe I wasn't really in danger, but he was.”

Everyone fell silent for a moment. The sound of the kits laughing and playing caught Quinn's attention, and he looked to see them chasing the ermine. At first he thought it was an attempted escape, and was going to deal with it. Then he saw the creature stop, turn to the kits and say something. The chase, stop and conversation was repeated. Curiousity got ahold of him, and Quinn ambled over to ask what they were doing.

“Vincent was showing us how to catch a mouse,” Kelly said, “You have to stay low to the ground, so they don't run under you to get away.”

Quinn looked over at the ermine, “You're letting them play hunting games... with you?”

“They said they wouldn't bite.”

Malaki came dashing up and leapt onto Cavan's head, “I'll play too, and I'll bet no one can catch me!”

Quinn kept watching the games in amazement, until Ruben came up beside him and asked, “Is there something to be worried about?”

“No, but I think I have an idea on how that little weasel can keep his skin.”

“Well, what is it?”

“Predators need prey to practice on. No, don't look at me like that, hear me out. What if that was his job, or at least his purpose? Weasels are smart and quick, it would be a good way for the kits to learn. And someday, not too far ahead, it would be a good way for puppies to learn too.”

“Interesting... and what does he do when no one's practicing.”

Quinn shrugged, “Not sure. Someone would have to keep an eye on him. Or we could make a place to keep him locked up.”

“Like they did to other creatures,” Ruben sighed. “That sounds like a miserable life, brother.”

“Maybe we should ask him what he'd prefer. I won't eat him, so that's not an option, he can either stay and help the kits and puppies learn to hunt, or he can try to leave, and be hunted for real.”

“Or maybe we should ask the others what they think, before we offer Vincent any options. I know how Jacob feels about him, and I can't imagine Niki would thrilled to have him around.”

It was decided that Quinn would share his idea with the others in camp, and Ruben would discuss things with the dogs. Once they had the others opinions, a decision could be made.

Jacob was surprisingly in favor of Quinn's plan to “keep” the ermine. He thought it was a kind of poetic justice, to turn the tables on it. Kalah didn't have any real objections, though she thought it sounded a bit cruel. Gabriel and Yakira were asked for their opinions too. The pups didn't like the ermine, but in the end they said, “If uncle Quinn does keep it, he wouldn't let the weasel hurt anyone.”

When Ruben presented the idea to the dogs, it didn't go so smoothly.

“You actually want to keep one of those evil little beasts around?” Niki growled, and her fur bristled.

“Well... yes, it's...” Ruben's reply was cut off by a snapping of powerful jaws. He jumped backward and stared up at his friend, “I'm sorry, Niki.” He choked out, “I can't imagine how you feel about them all. I'll talk to Quinn, and we'll get rid of the weasel.”

Arkadi, who had up till then been silent, suddenly chimed in with, “Why don't you hear your friend out instead of scaring him?”

Niki looked at her mate in surprise, then turned back to Ruben. He was crouched on the ground infront of her paws... and for the first time since escaping the pit, she saw the squirrel tremble. The anger faded away, she whined and reached down to nuzzle her friend.

“I'm sorry,” she said, “That was uncalled for. What were you trying to say?”

With the dogs nose, and teeth, so close to him, Ruben hesitated to say anymore. But he couldn't blame his friend for losing her temper, not after what those villains had put her through. He sighed, and patted the big black nose, which nuzzled him again. Suddenly, Akadi's muzzle pushed between them and he grabbed Ruben by the belt.

He placed the squirrel in the middle of the litter, “You're safe there, go ahead and finish.”

Ruben patted the little noses that pushed into him, and smiled, “Alright then... It's just that, we never would have been able to help anyone if wasn't for Vincent. We were trapped by a coyote, down by the river, and he lured it away so we could escape. I know he was apart of what was done to you, and to other creatures, but he's been trying to right his wrongs... can't we give him, even one chance?”

“I'll go along with it,” Arkadi said, “If he's kept locked up, or supervised. If I ever see the weasel wandering on his own however, he's fair game.”

“I want to meet him,” Niki said. “Bring him here, I won't make up my mind until we talk.”

“Thank you, I think you're both being more than fair.” With that, Ruben said his good-byes and headed back toward the camp, to retrieve the captive.